NMP space environmental monitor (SEM): preliminary design concept

The New Millennium Program is examining the possibility of developing a low-cost space environmental monitor (SEM) for inclusion on its technology validation flights to monitor the space environment. The raison d'etre for this effort follows from the need to characterize the validation environment so that future users can extrapolate or scale NMP test results to their end-use environment. The short-term objective is to develop a "hockey-puck" size diagnostic package available from commercial sources. The environments of interest are contamination, atomic oxygen, ionizing radiation, cosmic radiation, EMI, and temperature. This paper describes the process by which sensors were chosen, discusses each sensor in detail, and describes a conceptual design that includes a microcontroller data logger with data storage and interfaces to the sensors and spacecraft.