RAVAN: CubeSat Demonstration for Multi-Point Earth Radiation Budget Measurements.

The Radiometer Assessment using Vertically Aligned Nanotubes (RAVAN) 3U CubeSat mission is a pathfinder to demonstrate technologies for the measurement of Earth's radiation budget, the quantification of which is critical for predicting the future course of climate change. A specific motivation is the need for lower-cost technology alternatives that could be used for multi-point constellation measurements of Earth outgoing radiation. RAVAN launched 11 November 2016, into a nearly 600-km, Sun-synchronous orbit, and collected data for over 20 months.

Quantitative analysis of parallel nanowire array assembly by dielectrophoresis.

We describe an assembly technique useful for generating ordered arrays of nanowires (NWs) between electrodes via dielectrophoresis (DEP) and an analysis technique useful for extracting quantitative information about the local electric fields and dielectrophoretic forces from video microscopy data. By tuning the magnitude of the applied electric fields such that the attractive forces on the NWs are of the same order of magnitude as the Brownian forces, and by taking advantage of the inter-NW repulsive forces during DEP, NWs can be assembled into parallel arrays with high reproducibility. By employing a particle-tracking code and analysis of NW motion, we demonstrate a method for quantitative mapping of the dielectrophoretic torques and NW-surface interactions as a function of position on the substrate, which allows a more complete understanding of the dynamics of the assembly and the ability to control these parameters for precise assembly.