Detailed Component Design for a Compact Environmental Anomaly Sensor (CEASE)

The outer space environment experienced by a modern, electronically sophisticated spacecraft can be very hostile due to interaction between its complex, sensitive electronics systems and the naturally occurring energetic particle population indigenous to the solar system. The Compact Environmental Anomaly Sensor (CEASE) is being developed as a small, low-power device to monitor space 'weather' and provide autonomous warnings of conditions that may cause operational anomalies in a host spacecraft. CEASE uses a two-element solid-state telescope and two radiation dosimeters to sample critical energetic particle fluxes and uses a sophisticated real-time processing program that can forecast hazardous environmental conditions before they effect the spacecraft. The spacecraft, in turn, can re-prioritize its operations, inhibit any anomaly sensitive operations such as attitude adjustments, or take any other prudent action suggested by the potential of erratic conditions. The CEASE instrument is forecast to be packaged as a 4 inch cube weighing 2 pounds and dissipating a maximum of 2 watts.