@inproceedings{a82a0def347e4a0b8fdea2e2a43aaeb0,
title = "Assembly, integration, and testing of the Star-Planet Activity Research CubeSat (SPARCS)",
abstract = "We discuss the final assembly, integration, and testing of the Star-Planet Activity Research CubeSat. SPARCS is a 6U CubeSat mission designed to monitor the dual-channel, far-UV (153-176 nm) and near-UV (258-308 nm) photometric activity of nearby low mass stars to advance our understanding of their evolution, activity, and the habitability of surrounding exoplanets. This paper details the assembly of the SPARCS instrument and the testing process to characterize and validate the performance of the payload prior to spacecraft integration. To test SPARCS, we have established a customized CubeSat AIT laboratory and thermal vacuum chamber at ASU equipped to handle CubeSats requiring meticulous contamination control for work in the FUV. After a brief overview of these facilities and the testing plan, we will detail the methods and data used to verify the performance of SPARCS and generate calibration products to reduce raw flight data to high-quality science products. The result will be the delivery of the first highly sensitive FUV astrophysics CubeSat which will inform exoplanet environments and future observations of these systems by facilities like the Habitable Worlds Observatory.",
keywords = "AIT, Calibration, CubeSat, delta-doping, SPARCam, SPARCS, Thermal vacuum testing, Ultraviolet",
author = "Logan Jensen and Johnathan Gamaunt and Paul Scowen and Nathaniel Struebel and Liam O'Mara and Neil Naik and David Ardila and Jim Austin and Travis Barman and Christophe Basset and Matthew Beasley and Lee Bernard and Judd Bowman and Nathaniel Butler and Dawn Gregory and April Jewell and Mary Knapp and Daniel Jacobs and Matthew Kolopanis and Cristy Ladwig and Joe Llama and Victoria Meadows and Shouleh Nikzad and Sarah Peacock and Tahina Ramiaramanantsoa and Titu Samson and Evgenya Shkolnik and Mark Swain and Todd Veach",
note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2024 SPIE.; Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2024: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray ; Conference date: 16-06-2024 Through 21-06-2024",
year = "2024",
doi = "10.1117/12.3018163",
language = "English (US)",
series = "Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering",
publisher = "SPIE",
editor = "{den Herder}, {Jan-Willem A.} and Shouleh Nikzad and Kazuhiro Nakazawa",
booktitle = "Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2024",
}