BHEX Mini

Ref Bari

Ref Bari

Physics MS, Brown

Analysis of Binary Black Holes via Neural Networks (under Prof. Brendan Keith, Brown)
- Funded under NSF Neural DynAMO Grant
“Nitrogen Outgassing from Water Worlds” (R.Bari et. al., under review, The Astrophysical Journal 2025)
“Reflection from Relativistic Light Sails” (R. Bari, The Astronomical Journal 2024)
“Simulating the Action Principle in Optics” (R. Bari, The Physics Teacher 2023)
Spin Qubit CNN Researcher at the Meriles Condensed Matter Lab
“A Path Integral Derivation of Hawking Radiation” (MS Thesis)

Binary Black Holes

Physics MS, Brown

Analysis of Binary Black Holes via Neural Networks (Prof. Brendan Keith, Brown)
- Funded under NSF Neural DynAMO Grant

Binary Black Holes

Physics MS, Brown

Brown Space Engineering

Spaceflight Heritage

EQUiSat

SBUDNIC

PVDX

Black Holes: An Intro

BHEX

EHT

LIGO

Penrose

Ghez

Einstein

Schwarschild

Oppenheimer

Kerr

Hawking

Black Holes: An Intro

BHEX

EHT

LIGO

Penrose

Ghez

Einstein

Schwarschild

Oppenheimer

Kerr

Hawking

Black Holes: An Intro

G\propto T

(1915)

Albert Einstein

Black Holes: An Intro

(1916)

Karl Schwarschild

ds^2 = -(1-2M/r)dt^2+\\(1-2M/r)dr^2 +r^2 d\Omega^2

Black Holes: An Intro

(1939)

Robert Oppenheimer

Black Holes: An Intro

(1960)

Roy Kerr

Black Holes: An Intro

S\propto A

(1975)

Stephen Hawking

Black Holes: An Intro

(1998)

Andrea Ghez

Black Holes: An Intro

(2015)

LIGO Collaboration

Black Holes: An Intro

(2017)

Event Horizon Telescope (EHT)

Black Holes: An Intro

(2031)

Black Hole Explorer Satellite (BHEX) Mission

Black Holes: An Intro

BHEX

EHT

LIGO

Penrose

Ghez

Einstein

Schwarschild

Oppenheimer

Kerr

Hawking

Black Holes: An Intro

BHEX

EHT

LIGO

Penrose

Ghez

Einstein

Schwarschild

Oppenheimer

Kerr

Hawking

\text{Shepherd Doelman}

\text{Shepherd Doelman}

Imaging a Black Hole

Black Hole (M87)

Black Holes: An Intro

(2017)

Event Horizon Telescope (EHT)

Black Holes: An Intro

(2031)

Black Hole Explorer Satellite (BHEX) Mission

Imaging a Black Hole

(The black hole explorer: Motivation and vision, Johnson et. al., 2024)

Imaging a Black Hole

Imaging a Black Hole

Imaging a Black Hole

Imaging a Black Hole

Spaceflight Heritage

SBUDNIC

PVDX

1U CubeSat (1.3 kg, 10x10x10 cm)
Payload: High-Power LED Array + LiFePO4 Batteries (<6 kg)
ADCS: Passive Magnetic Atitude Control System
Power Generated: 1.3W (Top+Bottom Panels) & .7W (Side)
Total Cost: $5000
- All components built in-house at Brown Engineering Lab

EQUiSat

Spaceflight Heritage

SBUDNIC

PVDX

1U CubeSat (1.3 kg, 10x10x10 cm)
Payload: High-Power LED Array + LiFePO4 Batteries (<6 kg)
ADCS: Passive Magnetic Atitude Control System
Power Generated: 1.3W (Top+Bottom Panels) & .7W (Side)
Total Cost: $5000
- All components built in-house at Brown Engineering Lab

EQUiSat

3U CubeSat (3 kg, 30x10x10 cm)
Payload: Ham Radio Transceiver, 2 Cameras, Arduino Nano
ADCS: Spring-Loaded + Aerodynamic Drag Sail
Power Generated: 1.3W (Top+Bottom Panels) & .7W (Side)
Total Cost: $10,000
- 3D-Printed Components at BDW

Spaceflight Heritage

SBUDNIC

PVDX

1U CubeSat (1.3 kg, 10x10x10 cm)
Payload: High-Power LED Array + LiFePO4 Batteries (<6 kg)
ADCS: Passive Magnetic Atitude Control System
Power Generated: 1.3W (Top+Bottom Panels) & .7W (Side)
Total Cost: $5000
- All components built in-house at Brown Engineering Lab

EQUiSat

3U CubeSat (3 kg, 30x10x10 cm)
Payload: Ham Radio Transceiver, 2 Cameras, Arduino Nano
ADCS: Spring-Loaded + Aerodynamic Drag Sail
Power Generated: 1.3W (Top+Bottom Panels) & .7W (Side)
Total Cost: $10,000
- 3D-Printed Components at BDW

3U CubeSat (~6 kg, 30x10x10 cm)
Payload: Perovskite Solar Panels + Robotic Arm + Digital Display
ADCS: Magnetorquers
Total Cost: ~$30,000
- 3D-Printed Components at BDW
- CUBECOM S-Band Transceiver ($10,000)

Spaceflight Heritage

SBUDNIC

PVDX

EQUiSat

BHEX Mini

\text{MEO} (25,000 \text{ km})

\text{LEO} (400 \text{ km})

BHEX Mini

Imaging a Black Hole

Imaging a Black Hole

Imaging a Black Hole

Imaging a Black Hole

Imaging a Black Hole

Imaging a Black Hole

Imaging a Black Hole

99%

chance of failure

Reasons to Hope

Current proposal demonstrates ...
- A second satellite does increase the interferometric resolution

Reasons to Hope

Current proposal demonstrates ...
- A second satellite does increase the interferometric resolution
- The minimum weight for a second satellite is ~ 200 kg

Reasons to Hope

Current proposal demonstrates ...
- A second satellite does increase the interferometric resolution
- The minimum weight for a second satellite is ~ 200 kg
BHEX Team will meet in June

Reasons to Hope

Current proposal demonstrates ...
- A second satellite does increase the interferometric resolution
- The minimum weight for a second satellite is ~ 200 kg
BHEX Team will meet in June
Publish final BHEX Mini proposal on arXiv

Reasons to Hope

Current proposal demonstrates ...
- A second satellite does increase the interferometric resolution
- The minimum weight for a second satellite is ~ 200 kg
BHEX Team will meet in June
Publish final BHEX Mini proposal on arXiv
Creating an Ivy Space Coalition of interested partners in BHEX Mini

Reasons to Hope

Current proposal demonstrates ...
- A second satellite does increase the interferometric resolution
- The minimum weight for a second satellite is ~ 200 kg
BHEX Team will meet in June
Publish final BHEX Mini proposal on arXiv
Creating an Ivy Space Coalition of interested partners in BHEX Mini

Reasons to Hope

Current proposal demonstrates ...
- A second satellite does increase the interferometric resolution
- The minimum weight for a second satellite is ~ 200 kg
BHEX Team will meet in June
Publish final BHEX Mini proposal on arXiv
Creating an Ivy Space Coalition of interested partners in BHEX Mini

Reasons to Hope

Current proposal demonstrates ...
- A second satellite does increase the interferometric resolution
- The minimum weight for a second satellite is ~ 200 kg
BHEX Team will meet in June
Publish final BHEX Mini proposal on arXiv
Creating an Ivy Space Coalition of interested partners in BHEX Mini
Collaborating with Ben Hudson from BHEX

Reasons to Hope

Current proposal demonstrates ...
- A second satellite does increase the interferometric resolution
- The minimum weight for a second satellite is ~ 200 kg
BHEX Team will meet in June
Publish final BHEX Mini proposal on arXiv
Creating an Ivy Space Coalition of interested partners in BHEX Mini
Collaborating with Ben Hudson from BHEX
Descoping: AGN + Space-Space VLBI

BHEX Mini Timeline

Thursdays (6 PM) + Sundays (1:30 PM)

2 Weeks: 4/15-4/30 | Literature Review

BHEX Mini Timeline

Thursdays (6 PM) + Sundays (1:30 PM)

2 weeks: 5/1-5/15 | Simulations

BHEX Mini Timeline

Thursdays (6 PM) + Sundays (1:30 PM)

2 weeks: 5/15-5/30 | Systems Design

BHEX Mini

Physics

Engineering

Imaging

BHEX Mini

Physics

Imaging

Engineering

BHEX Mini

Physics

Imaging

Engineering

BHEX Mini

Physics

Imaging

Engineering

Physics

Questions:

What is the interferometric signature of the photon ring?
What are the orbital constraints on BHEX Mini if it seeks to detect n = 1 photon ring?
What is the geometry of a rotating black hole?
What is the photon ring?
Why is the photon ring "quantized" into subrings?
What is the black hole shadow, and how is it different from the photon ring?
What is the photon ring shape predicted by the Kerr Metric?
How exactly can constrain a black hole's spin by detecting the photon ring?
Can BHEX detect hawking radiation?
What is the critical curve for a photon ring?

Physics

Physics

BHEX Mini

Physics

Imaging

Engineering

Engineering

Questions:

How can we deploy a ~3m radio antenna from a CubeSat form factor?
What cryogenics (ie., MEMs) are compatible with a CubeSat, and will maintain antenna at ~4.5 K?
What are the mass + power requirements breakdown for BHEX & BHEX Mini?
Total cost for BHEX Mini?
How does interforemetric resolution scale with the diameter of the radio antenna?
How would BHEX Mini connect with ground stations? How would it connect with the main BHEX satellite?
What type of radio antenna would BHEX Mini have? (i.e., Phased Array, Standard, etc.)
What is the temperature requirement for the antenna?
How do you put a radio antenna on a CubeSat?
What type of cyrocooler will maintain the antenna at the required temperature?

Engineering

Engineering

BHEX Mini

Physics

Imaging

Imaging

Questions:

How will BHEX Mini interface with the main BHEX satellite and the Event Horizon Telescope?
What is the simplest possible way to do VLBI on a CubeSat?
How does Very-Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) work?
1. aka How do multiple radio telescopes combine into a single large telescope?
Why does going into space decrease the angular resolution?
What configuration of BHEX + BHEX Mini would minimize the angular resolution?

Imaging

Engineering

BHEX Mini

Physics

Imaging

Literature Review (4/15-4/30)

Systems Design (5/15-5/30)

Simulations (5/1-5/15)

Literature Review (4/15-4/30)

Systems Design (5/15-5/30)

Simulations (5/1-5/15)

Rick Fleeter

Ben Hudson

Agenda

Meeting with Jeffrey Olson (Lockheed Martin Cryocooler Engineer)
Meeting with Lucas Anderson (Orion Space Systems Engineer, CubeSat Cryostat Engineer)
Meeting with SEDS (National Chapters ➡️ Team)
Simulate BHEX Mini + BHEX at LEO/MEO with Ben Hudon's SpaceVLBI

Agenda

Meeting with Jeffrey Olson (Lockheed Martin Cryocooler Engineer)

4 Core Challenges

VLBI on a CubeSat

Radio Antenna

Data Downlink

Cryocooler

Pointing Accuracy

Radio Antenna

Data Downlink

Cryocooler

Pointing Accuracy

Radio Antenna

Data Downlink

Cryocooler

Pointing Accuracy

ACCS: Active CryoCubeSat

~60 K

6U (6 kg)

Radio Antenna

Data Downlink

Cryocooler

Pointing Accuracy

ACCS: Active CryoCubeSat

~60 K

6U (6 kg)

MIT TBIRD

CubeSat

200 Gb/s

6U (6 kg)

Radio Antenna

Data Downlink

Cryocooler

Pointing Accuracy

ACCS: Active CryoCubeSat

~60 K

6U (6 kg)

MIT TBIRD

CubeSat

200 Gb/s

6U (6 kg)

PVDX

~1° pointing

jitter tolerance

Literature Review (4/15-4/30)

Systems Design (5/15-5/30)

Simulations (5/1-5/15)

Rick Fleeter

Ben Hudson

Preliminary Simulations of BHEX (0 Degree Inclination)

Preliminary Simulations of BHEX (20 Degree Inclination)

Preliminary Simulations of BHEX (40 Degree Inclination)

Preliminary Simulations of BHEX (60 Degree Inclination)

Preliminary Simulations of BHEX (80 Degree Inclination)

Radio Antenna

Data Downlink

Cryocooler

Pointing Accuracy

ACCS: Active CryoCubeSat

~60 K

6U (6 kg)

MIT TBIRD

CubeSat

200 Gb/s

6U (6 kg)

PVDX

~1° pointing

jitter tolerance