PICS (Passive Inspection CubeSat)
PICS (Passive Inspection CubeSat)
PICS (Passive Inspection CubeSat)
PICS (Passive Inspection CubeSat)
PICS (Passive Inspection CubeSat)
PICS (Passive Inspection CubeSat)
PICS (Passive Inspection CubeSat)
PICS (Passive Inspection CubeSat)
PICS (Passive Inspection CubeSat)
PICS (Passive Inspection CubeSat)
PICS (Passive Inspection CubeSat)
PICS (Passive Inspection CubeSat)
PICS (Passive Inspection CubeSat)
PICS (Passive Inspection CubeSat)
Name PICS (Passive Inspection CubeSat)
Type CubeSat
Units or mass 1U
Mass in kg 2.7 kg
Organisation Brigham Young University
Institution University
Entity Academic / Education
Nation US
Launch brokerer NASA CSLI / ELaNa
Oneliner

Demonstrate performing inspection, maintenance and assembly on another spacecraft plus LED flash array.

Description

Demonstration mission of a spacecraft capable of performing inspection, maintenance and assembly on another spacecraft. It will demonstrate ultrafast booting and power-up operation of system electronics and the low-risk inspection of the exterior of a spacecraft by a passive, flyaway probe.

The two flight systems deployed simultaneously will enable the collection of image data from each other as well as the parent spacecraft. After deployment, they rapidly bootup and image the launch vehicle. Out of view of the upper stage, each will characterize the other’s tumble using the cameras.

Each PIC has a spherical camera array (360°x180°), supported by flash LEDs. This camera array maintains visual of its target, regardless of deployment tumble, so no active navigation systems are necessary. Each PIC consists primarily of custom electrical, mechanical, and thermal subsystems developed by the undergraduate team during the last year.

Sources [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
Photo sources [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

Related Spacecraft

Name Status Launch Orbit
PICS 1 (Passive Inspection CubeSat, PIC-A, PICA) No signal (Un-dated update on the official website, but one LED flash was captured on the launcher camera) 2021-01-17 500 km, 60.7 deg
PICS 2 (Passive Inspection CubeSat, PIC-B, PICB) No signal (Un-dated update on the official website, but one LED flash was captured on the launcher camera) 2021-01-17 500 km, 60.7 deg

Last modified: 2023-06-09
Detailed PICS (Passive Inspection CubeSat) entry in the Database
Full Nanosats Database (much more data)

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