The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) first dedicated exoplanetary spectroscopy mission, the Colorado Ultraviolet Transit Experiment (CUTE), is used to search for signatures of atmospheric escape, the process by which constituent gases depart a planetary atmosphere. Through transit spectroscopy, the signs of escape driven by the high level of ultraviolet (UV) radiation from their parent stars are detectable around close-in planets. CUTE is a 6U CubeSat developed and operated by the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) of the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado, United States; it looks for these signs of escape by surveying close-in extrasolar planets in the near-UV (2479 to 3306 Å) with 208×84 mm Cassegrain telescope-fed, UV-enhanced charged coupled device. Funded through a NASA ROSES proposal in 2017 and forced to deal with a worldwide pandemic during the heart of its fabrication and test program, CUTE has demonstrated the capability of small satellites to launch on schedule and perform challenging astronomical measurements. We will highlight the CUTE mission’s science objectives, implementation, and tribulations on its road to delivering a successful science program while discussing lessons learned pertaining to the development of CubeSat programs and the application of those lessons for a CUTE-style follow-on mission in the future.

中文翻译：

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科罗拉多紫外线凌日实验：美国国家航空航天局首个紫外线天文学立方体卫星的任务发展历史和未来可能性


美国国家航空航天局 (NASA) 的第一个专门的系外行星光谱任务是科罗拉多紫外线凌日实验 (CUTE)，用于寻找大气逃逸的特征，即成分气体离开行星大气层的过程。通过凌日光谱，可以在邻近行星周围检测到由母恒星发出的高强度紫外线 (UV) 辐射驱动的逃逸迹象。 CUTE是一颗6U立方体卫星，由美国科罗拉多州博尔德市科罗拉多大学大气与空间物理实验室（LASP）开发和运营；它通过使用 208×84 毫米卡塞格伦望远镜馈电、紫外线增强的电荷耦合装置在近紫外线（2479 至 3306 埃）范围内调查近距离太阳系外行星来寻找这些逃逸迹象。 CUTE 通过 2017 年 NASA ROSES 提案获得资助，并在其制造和测试计划的核心期间被迫应对全球流行病，它展示了小型卫星按计划发射并执行具有挑战性的天文测量的能力。我们将重点介绍 CUTE 任务的科学目标、实施以及在交付成功的科学计划过程中遇到的困难，同时讨论与 CubeSat 计划开发相关的经验教训以及将这些经验教训应用到 CUTE 式的后续任务中。未来。