The Japanese Experiment Module

This paper describes Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) which is a Japanese contribution to International Space Station (SS) Program. First half of phase B study of JEM was completed last March successfully. JEM primary function and basic configuration has been established. JEM consists of a Pressurized Module (PM), an Exposed Facility (EF), a scientific/equipment airlock, a local remote manipulator, and an Experimental Logistic Module (ELM). With all those hardware elements, JEM will accommodate general scientific and technology development research (some of which are to utilize the advantage of microgravity environment), and also accommodate control panels for the Space Station Mobile Remote Manipulator System and attached payloads.     

国际空间站有效载荷安全性认证工作探讨

通过介绍NASA针对航天飞机、国际空间站等航天器上有效载荷安全性认证方面的组织机构及其职责、需开展认证的有效栽荷及其分类、典型有效载荷的安全性技术要求、有效载荷安全性认证工作流程等方面的内容,提出我国空间站工程在有效载荷安全性认证方面开展相关工作的启示和建议,为后续空间站载荷开展上站认证、确保载荷在轨安全及空间站平台安全提供参考。     

Space Station Payload Accommodation

The unique characteristics of the Space Station are changing the ways payloads are designed and accommodated for orbital flight. Station accommodations need to be versatile and operationally flexible to permit integration of many types of equipment in a variety of modes; and autonomous to render each payload independent or invisible to the rest of the system and other mission equipment. This paper presents the various categories of Space Station payloads, the user facilities that are being designed to accommodate them, illustrates through scientific and commercial scenarios the utilization of those facilities, and identifies the factors that must be considered to make the Space Station an effective tool for the users.     

International Space Station power storage upgrade planned

As the Earth-orbit International Space Station (ISS) grows, it needs more power which is generated by solar panels. For periods in which the planet Earth occults sunlight, energy is stored in the biggest set of batteries ever flown in space. Reliability of power is important in a space station because a failure requires costly launch of replacement components. Even greater importance results when astronauts work in the station. A power failure that causes the astronauts to perish would be a very serious event. The first battery-containing "integrated equipment module" was launched November 30, 2000 and installed on port 6 of the International Space Station. Two more modules will be launched by the United States; to be launched in 2004 is the European Space Agency's "attached COLUMBUS APM laboratory," which will have its own power system. Unexpected battery-related events occurred in the integrated equipment module during its first year-and-a-half in orbit. The problems and their solutions were described in papers presented at the 37/sup th/ Intersociety Energy Conversion Engineering Conference. Since the International Space Station carries more battery cells than any other spacecraft, the in-flight performance data from its battery assembly can be useful to engineers who design power supplies for other spacecraft. We, therefore, summarize the battery development process, the adopted design, and an unexpected in-flight battery degradation and its correction.     

Space: where are we headed?

In a new column, the author reviews NASA space activities since the beginning of 2003 and looks at plans for the future. Topics include the Space Shuttle Columbia, what's in store for the International Space Station (ISS), the development of an orbital space plane, orbiter safety upgrades, and the future of space exploration and research beyond the ISS. He presents arguments for sending astronauts to asteroids, the Moon, and Mars.     

Life sciences

Space life sciences research activities are reviewed for 2003. Many life sciences experiments were lost with the tragic loss of STS-107. Life sciences experiments continue to fly as small payloads to the International Space Station (ISS) via the Russian Progress vehicle. Health-related studies continue with the Martian Radiation Environment Experiment (MARIE) aboard the Odyssey spacecraft, collecting data on the radiation environment in Mars orbit. NASA Ames increased nanotechnology research in all areas, including fundamental biology, bioastronautics, life support systems, and homeland security. Plant research efforts continued at NASA Kennedy, testing candidate crops for ISS. Research included plant growth studies at different light intensities, varying carbon dioxide concentrations, and different growth media. Education and outreach efforts included development of a NASA/USDA program called Space Agriculture in the Classroom. Canada sponsored a project called Tomatosphere, with classrooms across North America exposing seeds to simulated Mars environment for growth studies. NASA's Office of Biological and Physical Research released an updated strategic research plan.     

Conversations with John H. Glenn Jr. Interview by Frank Sietzen Jr

Senator Glenn is interviewed about his experiences on Friendship 7 and the Shuttle Discovery, expectations of early astronauts, lunar missions, the International Space Station, international dimensions of space activities, public confidence in NASA, attracting young people to the aerospace industry, highlights of his career, and the future of flight.     

Micromission spacecraft: a low-cost, high-capability platform for space science missions

The Ball Micromission Spacecraft (MSC) is a multi-purpose platform capable of supporting science missions at distances from the Sun ranging from 0.7 to 1.7 AU. In the baseline scenario, MSC is launched as a secondary payload on an Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou, French Guiana, to GTO using the Ariane 5 structure for auxiliary payloads (ASAP5). The maximum launch wet mass is 242 Kg and can include up to 45 Kg of payload depending on AV needs. The on-board propulsion system is used for maneuvering in the Earth-Moon system and injecting the spacecraft into its final orbit or trajectory. For Mars missions, MSC enables orbiting Mars for science payloads and/or communications and navigation assets, or for precision Mars fly-bys to drop up to six probes. The micromissions spacecraft bus can be used for science targets other than Mars, including the Moon, Earth, Venus, Earth-Sun Lagrange points, or other small bodies. This paper summarizes the current spacecraft concept and describes the multimission spacecraft bus implementation in more detail.     

空间站微重力环境研究与分析

太空中的微重力环境对基础科学研究和新技术开发具有重要意义,为了满足未来我国空间站开展微重力科学实验的需求,需要对空间站上的微重力水平进行分析和评估,指导高微重力要求实验载荷的布局和微重力实验期间的飞行任务规划。空间站上的微重力水平用加速度值度量,通常可以分为准稳态加速度、瞬态加速度和振动加速度。针对此问题调研总结了国际空间站的微重力研究情况,并以400 km轨道高度上100吨级"T"字型积木式空间站作为算例,估算其准稳态加速度大小及分布,并初步分析瞬态加速度水平的量级。结果表明,空间站准稳态加速度水平在1μgn量级,主要贡献来自重力梯度效应;瞬态加速度可达103μgn量级。文章对将来我国空间站微重力应用支持的设计工作有一定的借鉴意义。     

Space Shuttle UHF communications performance evaluation

Computational investigations and experimental measurements were performed to evaluate the Space Shuttle UHF communication system performance for payload bay antenna at the proposed new location. To insure adequate communication coverage at relocated new location, the link margin for the Extravehicular Activity (EVA) astronauts and between Space Shuttle Orbiter and International Space Station (SSO-ISS) during rendezvous were analyzed. The multipath effects from the vehicle structures surrounding the antenna were investigated. The Radio Frequency (RF) electromagnetic radiation to the Orbiter Docking System (ODS) pyrotechnics was also analyzed to ensure the EMC/EMI compliances.     

New ideas for affordable space missions

In September 1995, NASA-Goddard held a workshop on low-cost access to space for science missions. The workshop provided briefings on balloons, sounding rockets, Shuttle payloads, and low-cost free-flyer concepts, to provide options of getting experiments into space. This report is the result of a panel session organized with the aim of generating new ideas beyond those presented in the workshop. In addition to the authors, Orlando Figueroa and Paul Ondrus of NASA-Goddard and Richard Zwirnbaum of Computer Sciences Corp. participated in the discussions. The ideas presented do not necessarily reflect the current thinking of NASA managers. Although the panel discussion was focused on the kinds of science missions usually funded by NASA, most of the ideas that were generated are relevant to military and commercial missions as well.     

The STRV family of spacecraft

In 1990, the Space Department of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) initiated the Space Technology Research Vehicle (STRV) programme. The aim was to design, build, test and launch a relatively low-cost satellite weighing only 50kg and carrying a variety of experimental payloads derived primarily from MoD-sponsored research within the Department. What is the status of this programme 10 years later?     

The automated transfer vehicle

The development of the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) was confirmed at the October 1995 ESA Ministerial Council meeting in Toulouse by the ESA Member States as part of the programme for European participation in the International Space Station. The ATV will be a servicing and logistics vehicle for periodically resupplying the Station. It will be operational from early 2003, flying servicing missions about eight times until 2013 or more, depending on the Station's lifetime extension. ATV will be the tool to pay in kind for Europe's share of the Station common operations costs.     

Space power for an expanded vision

The author suggests that the problem with the space program in the 1990s is that there are few short term benefits that the public can directly relate to and no long term vision that will motivate them. Recent surveys have shown that public would support an expanded space program if they understood the specific short term purpose that provides benefits coupled to a longer term vision. The author discusses a proposed space program that has a 100 Year Vision and a specific beneficial near term purpose. The specific near term purpose is to return to the Moon and develop He for nuclear fusion power on Earth, and then expand into the Solar System and eventually to the nearby stars with the purpose of finding new life as a long term vision. This is how the author sees it unfolding-in three Epochs. Epoch I is proposed as the minimum near term space program. Space Station Freedom in near-Earth orbit being serviced by the Space Shuttle, the National Aerospace Plane and the Single-Stage-To-Orbit Vehicle. Just above Freedom is an Earth Observing System Satellite that, as part of Mission to Planet Earth, will monitor and analyze our planet's ecological systems. There are also a great many scientific, defense and launch systems whose technologies will evolve to play critical roles in future epochs     

Life sciences

Space life sciences research activities are reviewed for the year. Highlights of animal studies were the first long-term flight of an animal enclosure module and an avian development facility on STS-108. Plant research efforts focused on a biomass production system for eventual use on the International Space Station (ISS), the PESTO experiment on ISS, and screening of several salad crop varieties for potential use in space. Health-related studies included the Martian Radiation Environment Experiment (MARIE) on the Mars Odyssey mission, presentation of results from NASA's Biomolecular Physics and Chemistry Program, and research related to human liver cell function in space through an agreement with StelSys. In industry and academia, a memorandum of understanding was signed between NASA and the biotechnology industry to enhance communication between NASA and the industry, expand commercial biotechnology space research and development, and expand formal and informal education of industry and the public regarding biotechnology and space research. NASA selected Purdue University to lead an NSCORT for advanced life support research to develop technologies to enable long-duration planetary mission and sustain human space colonies.     

基于冗余连接机制的SLE网络协议体系模型

CCSDS(Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems,空间数据系统咨询委员会)SLE(Space Link Extension,空间链路拓展)网络协议体系模型中,一个服务实例只支持建立一个物理通信链路,造成上层应用与下层链路耦合过强,存在一定的安全隐患。针对此问题,设计了基于冗余连接机制的SLE网络协议体系模型,该模型在现有的SLE网络协议体系模型中增加了逻辑连接层,支持单一服务实例同时使用多个物理链路进行空间数据传输,可根据多连接状态重新设计TML(Transport Mapping Layer,传输映射层)状态变换关系以及数据传输模式。该模型能够兼容现有的SLE网络传输体系模型,提高SLE服务的可靠性。     

An environment for the integration and test of the Space Stationdistributed avionics systems

An approach is described to supplying an environment for the integration and test of the Space Station distributed avionics systems. Background is included on the development of this concept including the lessons learned from Space Shuttle experience. The environment's relationship to the process flow of the Space-Station verification, from systems development to on-orbit verification, is presented. The uses of the environment's hardware implementation, called Data Management System (DMS) kits, are covered. It is explained how these DMS kits provide a development version of the Space-Station operational environment and how this environment allows system developers to verify their systems performance, fault detection, and recovery capability. Conclusions on how the use of the DMS kits, in support of this concept, will ensure adequate on-orbit test capability are included     

Clipper“快船”概念气动特性初探

设计新型高效低廉的运输工具,把有效载荷送入近地轨道是人们不断追求的目标.已成功实现载人天地往返的运输工具包括研制周期长、造价昂贵的可重复使用航天飞机和结构简单、一次性使用的载人飞船两类.为进一步降低发射成本,设计介于航天飞船和航天飞机之间的新型飞行器,集飞船和航天飞机特点于一体的升力再入飞船返回舱也许更为切实可行.俄罗斯联邦空问局提出的可多次使用"快船"概念值得关注,其升阻比高、机动性强、稳定性好、过载低、空间大、成本低,而且可以部分重复使用,代表了未来低成本天地往返运输系统的重要发展方向.     

可伸缩式转移居住舱结构方案的探讨

描述了一种新型的可伸缩式居住舱－可充气式转移居住舱（TransHab)。该项目可用于星际间的转移居住舱，也可装配到空间站上。发射时，所有要用到的仪器设备提前装入舱内，整个舱体呈收缩状态装入航天飞机的货舱内，待入轨后，舱体像气球一样充气展开。展开后舱体的容积大，而质量却轻得多。本文着重讨论了这种可充气转移居住舱的基本结构形式，并与其他几种美国先前研制的可伸缩结构进行了比较。提出了该种类型结构形式的技术难点，发展前景，以及我国进行该种结构研究的必要性。