The Experimental Albertan satellite #1 (Ex-Alta 1) was a three-unit cube satellite (CubeSat) developed at the University of Alberta (UAlberta). As the first ‘made in Alberta’ spacecraft, the Ex-Alta 1 CubeSat was the Canadian contribution to the international QB50 CubeSat constellation mission ( www.qb50.eu ). Ex-Alta 1’s mission incorporated four science objectives, two technical objectives, and one educational outreach objective. These are reviewed in the context of the Ex-Alta 1 mission design, as well as future CubeSat constellation missions that may follow demonstration missions such as Ex-Alta 1 and the experiences of the QB50 project. In support of its objectives, Ex-Alta 1 flew the multi-needle Langmuir probe (m-NLP) QB50 standardized payload, a UAlberta developed miniaturized digital fluxgate magnetometer (DFGM) mounted on a two-element articulated deployable boom, a radiation dosimeter from Teledyne, and an open source onboard computer (OBC) developed at UAlberta. Ex-Alta 1 was released by a NanoRacks deployer from the International Space Station on May 26, 2017, and commanded and controlled from a ground-station developed and operated at UAlberta. Ex-Alta 1 operated continuously throughout its mission until it burned up in the atmosphere on November 14, 2018. The last two-way contact occurred on that day at 07:49:29 UTC, when the spacecraft reported an onboard temperature of 47 °C in eclipse at an altitude of 152 km and which marked the effective end of the mission. This paper provides an overview of the Ex-Alta 1 mission, its development, the spacecraft and mission design, and reports preliminary results from the payload focusing on the DFGM instrument. We also report briefly on related education and outreach activities, including the development and delivery of curriculum-targeted and CubeSat focused classroom sessions inspired by the Ex-Alta 1 mission to school pupils in Alberta.

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阿尔伯塔实验卫星 #1（Ex-Alta 1）立方体卫星任务

阿尔伯塔实验卫星#1（Ex-Alta 1）是阿尔伯塔大学（UAlberta）开发的三单元立方体卫星（CubeSat）。作为第一艘“阿尔伯塔制造”航天器，Ex-Alta 1 CubeSat 是加拿大对国际 QB50 CubeSat 星座任务 (www.qb50.eu) 的贡献。Ex-Alta 1 的任务包括四项科学目标、两项技术目标和一项教育推广目标。这些是在 Ex-Alta 1 任务设计以及未来可能遵循 Ex-Alta 1 等示范任务和 QB50 项目经验的 CubeSat 星座任务的背景下进行审查的。为了支持其目标，Ex-Alta 1 使用了多针朗缪尔探针 (m-NLP) QB50 标准化有效载荷，一个 UAlberta 开发的微型数字磁通门磁力计 (DFGM) 安装在一个两元件铰接式可展开吊臂上，一个来自 Teledyne 的辐射剂量计，以及一个在 UAlberta 开发的开源机载计算机 (OBC)。Ex-Alta 1 于 2017 年 5 月 26 日由国际空间站的 NanoRacks 部署人员发布，并由在阿尔伯塔开发和运营的地面站进行指挥和控制。Ex-Alta 1 在整个任务中持续运行，直到 2018 年 11 月 14 日在大气层中燃烧。最后一次双向接触发生在当天 07:49:29 UTC，当时航天器报告的机载温度为 47° C 在 152 公里的高度发生日食，这标志着任务的有效结束。本文概述了 Ex-Alta 1 任务、其发展、航天器和任务设计，并报告来自有效载荷的初步结果，重点是 DFGM 仪器。我们还简要报告了相关的教育和外展活动，包括受 Ex-Alta 1 任务对艾伯塔省中学生的启发，开发和提供以课程为目标和以 CubeSat 为重点的课堂课程。