Model implementation for dynamic computation of system cost for advanced life support.

Life support system designs for long-duration space missions have a multitude of requirements drivers, such as mission objectives, political considerations, cost, crew wellness, inherent mission attributes, as well as many other influences. Evaluation of requirements satisfaction can be difficult, particularly at an early stage of mission design. Because launch cost is a critical factor and relatively easy to quantify, it is a point of focus in early mission design. The method used to determine launch cost influences the accuracy of the estimate. This paper discusses the appropriateness of dynamic mission simulation in estimating the launch cost of a life support system. This paper also provides an abbreviated example of a dynamic simulation life support model and possible ways in which such a model might be utilized for design improvement.     

Multiple Sun–Earth Saddle Point flybys for LISA Pathfinder

LISA Pathfinder is an ESA mission due to be launched in the next two years. The gravity gradiometer onboard has the sensitivity required to test predictions by gravitational theories proposed as alternatives to Dark Matter such as TeVeS. Within the Solar System measurable effects are predicted only in the vicinity of gravitational saddle points (SP). For this reason it has been proposed to fly LPF by the Earth–Sun SP, at some 259,000 km from Earth. This could be done in an extension to the nominal mission which uses a Lissajous orbit about the Earth–Sun L1 point. The responsibility for LPF mission design lies with ESA/ESOC, who have designed the transfer trajectories, orbits about L1, and station keeping strategies. This article describes an analysis performed by Astrium to support a suggestion for a possible mission extension to a saddle point crossing. With only very limited fuel availability, reaching the saddle point is a significant challenge. In this article, we present recent advances in the work on trajectory design. It is demonstrated that reaching the SP is feasible once the LPF mission is completed. Furthermore, in a significant enhancement, it is demonstrated that trajectories including more than one SP flyby are possible, thus improving the science return for this proposed mission extension.     

Mars Sample Return: Do Australians trust NASA?

Mars Sample Return (MSR) represents an important scientific goal in space exploration. Any sample return mission will be extremely challenging from a scientific, economic and technical standpoint. But equally testing, will be communicating with a public that may have a very different perception of the mission. A MSR mission will generate international publicity and it is vital that NASA acknowledge the nature and extent of public concern about the mission risks and, perhaps equally importantly, the public’s confidence in NASA’s ability to prepare for and manage these risks. This study investigated the level of trust in NASA in an Australian population sample, and whether this trust was dependent on demographic variables. Participants completed an online survey that explored their attitudes towards NASA and a MSR mission. The results suggested that people believe NASA will complete the mission successfully but have doubts as to whether NASA will be honest when communicating with the public. The most significant finding to emerge from this study was that confidence in NASA was significantly (p < 0.05) related to the respondent’s level of knowledge regarding the risks and benefits of MSR. These results have important implications for risk management and communication.     

“嫦娥4号”中继星任务分析与系统设计

作为"嫦娥4号"任务的重要组成部分,中继星将为着陆器和巡视器提供中继通信支持。不同于其它月球探测器,中继星首次选择了绕地月L2平动点运行的晕(Halo)轨道以保证对月球背面的着陆器和巡视器提供连续的中继通信服务,面临诸多技术挑战。在对中继星任务特点进行分析的基础上,梳理了研制中的技术难题,包括使命轨道的选择、使命轨道的到达和长期维持、中继通信体制选择等,并提出了解决方案。中继星的总体设计方案概述也在文中给出。     

基于实时观测数据的大气密度模式修正

针对国际大气密度模式NRLMSISE-00, 以中国神舟飞船探测数据为基础, 提出一种基于实时大气密度观测数据的模式修正方法. 通过计算分析模式计算结果与探测数据的误差分布特征, 针对地磁相对平静期(Ap≤ 30)模式计算的误差特点, 建立了一种平均误差修正方法, 即认为在相对平静期, 在相同纬度和地方时, 模式误差基本相同, 某一时刻模式预测误差可以近似用与其相同纬度和地方时的平均误差来替代, 从而对模式预测结果进行修正. 以神舟4号探测数据为基础, 通过对模式预测结果采用两种方式进行修正, 可以看到模式误差得到了一定的改善. 采用误差库累积准实时修正, 修正后的误差由原来的20 %降至6 %; 采用误差库5天滑动预报修正后, 模式提前1, 2, 3天的预测误差由原来的20 %分别降至7.8 %, 9.4 %和10.5%.      

Development Progress of China's First Mars Exploration Mission: Its Scientific Objectives and Payloads

China's first Mars exploration mission is scheduled to be launched in 2020. It aims not only to conduct global and comprehensive exploration of Mars by use of an orbiter but also to carry out in situ observation of key sites on Mars with a rover. This mission focuses on the following studies:topography, geomorphology, geological structure, soil characteristics, water-ice distribution, material composition, atmosphere and ionosphere, surface climate, environmental characteristics, Mars internal structure, and Martian magnetic field. It is comprised of an orbiter, a lander, and a rover equipped with 13 scientific payloads. This article will give an introduction to the mission including mission plan, scientific objectives, scientific payloads, and its recent development progress.      

The L5 mission for space weather forecasting

We have studied a number of interplanetary space mission scenarios for space weather research and operational forecasting experiments and concluded that a spacecraft should be deployed at the L5 point of the Sun–Earth system to enable remote sensing of the Sun and interplanetary space and in situ measurements of solar wind plasma and high energy solar particle events. The L5 point is an appropriate position for making side-view observations of geo-effective coronal mass ejections and interplanetary plasma clouds.Here, we describe briefly the mission plan and the ongoing BBM development of important subsystems such as the wide field coronal imager (WCI) and the mission processor. The WCI will have a large CCD array with 16-bit sampling, to achieve a dynamic range of several thousand in order to detect very small deviations due to plasma clouds under zodiacal light contaminations a hundred times brighter than the clouds. The L5 mission we propose will surely contribute to the construction of an international space weather observation network.     

Rapid impactor sample return (RISR) mission scenario

Due to the long lead time and great expense of traditional sample return mission plans to Mars or other astronomical bodies, there is a need for a new and innovative way to return materials, potentially at a lower cost. The Rapid Impactor Sample Return (RISR) mission is one such proposal. The general mission scenario involves a single pass of Mars, a Martian moon or an asteroid at high speeds (7 km/s), with the sample return vehicle skimming just 1 or 2 m above a high point (such as a top ridge on Olympus Mons on Mars) and releasing an impactor. The impactor strikes the ground, throwing up debris. The debris with roughly the same forward velocity will be captured by the sample return vehicle and returned to Earth. There is no delay or orbit in the vicinity of Mars or the asteroid: RISR is a one-pass mission. This paper discusses some of the details of the proposal. Calculations are presented that address the question of how much material can be recovered with this technique. There are concerns about the effect of Mars tenuous atmosphere. However, it will be noted that such issues do not occur for RISR style missions to Phobos, Deimos, or asteroids and Near Earth Objects (NEOs). Recent test results in the missile defense community (IFTs 6–8 in 2001, 2002) have scored direct hits at better than 1 m accuracy with closing velocities of 7.6 km/s, giving the belief that accuracy and sensing issues are developed to a point that the RISR mission scenario is feasible.     

Spacecraft Design-for-Demise implementation strategy & decision-making methodology for low earth orbit missions

Space missions designed to completely ablate upon an uncontrolled Earth atmosphere reentry are likely to be simpler and cheaper than those designed to execute controlled reentry. This is because mission risk (unavailability) stemming from controlled reentry subsystem failure(s) is essentially eliminated. NASA has not customarily implemented Design-for-Demise meticulously. NASA has rather approached Design-for-Demise in an ad hoc manner that fails to entrench Design-for-Demise as a mission design driver. Thus, enormous demisability challenges at later formulation stages of missions aspired to be demisable are evident due to these perpetuated oversights in entrenching Design-for-Demise practices. The investigators hence propose a strategy for a consistent integration of Design-for-Demise practices in all phases of a space mission lifecycle. Secondly, an all-inclusive risk-informed, decision-making methodology referred to as Analytic Deliberative Process is proposed. This criterion facilitates in making a choice between an uncontrolled reentry demisable or controlled reentry. The authors finally conceive and synthesize Objectives Hierarchy, Attributes, and Quantitative Performance Measures of the Analytical Deliberative Process for a Design-for-Demise risk-informed decision-making process.     

Life support approaches for Mars missions.

Life support approaches for Mars missions are evaluated using an equivalent system mass (ESM) approach, in which all significant costs are converted into mass units. The best approach, as defined by the lowest mission ESM, depends on several mission parameters, notably duration, environment and consequent infrastructure costs, and crew size, as well as the characteristics of the technologies which are available. Generally, for the missions under consideration, physicochemical regeneration is most cost effective. However, bioregeneration is likely to be of use for producing salad crops for any mission, for producing staple crops for medium duration missions, and for most food, air and water regeneration for long missions (durations of a decade). Potential applications of in situ resource utilization need to be considered further.     

基于数据驱动的移动目标卫星任务规划

卫星任务规划是卫星地球观测的重要前提。传统的卫星任务规划主要针对固定地面目标，不能满足日益复杂的任务需求。针对移动目标的卫星观测任务，提出了一种基于数据驱动的移动目标卫星任务规划方法。该方法在大量的移动目标数据的基础上，通过改进的长短期记忆神经网络算法预测了目标的未来轨迹和位置信息，并通过约束满足型遗传算法规划了基于预测算法结果的移动目标卫星观测任务。鉴于移动目标观测中约束和任务冲突的复杂性，约束满足型遗传算法以条件形式将约束嵌入到遗传算法中，并在算法中特别设计了冲突消除算子以解决任务冲突问题。仿真结果证明了该方法在解决移动目标卫星任务规划问题上具有优良的效率，并获得了很高的观测精度。     

An attempt to determine the ideal psychological profiles for crews of long term space missions.

This paper reviews possible psychological criteria for selection at individual level (personality, psychological stability, competence, social skills) as well as at crew level (crew size, gender, compatability, group homeostasis). Once astronauts have been selected an important effort will have to be made pre-flight to prepare the crew to the autonomy necessary for a Mars trip. During the mission psychological support will be important, but probably limited by the mission constraints. At this stage, mission success will probably rely mainly on the capacity of the crew to prevent and manage crises internally. Post-flight psychological support is necessary to help astronauts to readapt to a normal way of life on Earth.     

ASTEX: An in situ exploration mission to two near-Earth asteroids

ASTEX (ASTeroid EXplorer) is a concept study of an in situ exploration mission to two Near-Earth-Asteroids (NEAs), which consists of an orbiting element and two individual lander units. The target candidates have different mineralogical compositions, i.e. one asteroid is chosen to be of “primitive’’ nature, the other to be a fragment of a differentiated asteroid. The main scientific goals of the ASTEX mission are the exploration of the physical, geological, and mineralogical nature of the NEAs. The higher level goal is the provision of information and constraints on the formation and evolution of our planetary system. The study identified realistic mission scenarios, defined the strawman payload as well as the requirements and options for the spacecraft bus including the propulsion system, the landers, the launcher, and assessed and defined the requirements for the mission’s operational ground segment.     

Relativistic astrophysics explorer

The great success of the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) has shown that X-ray timing is an excellent tool for the study of strong gravitational fields and the measurement of fundamental physical properties of black holes and neutron stars. Here, we describe a next-generation X-ray timing mission, the Relativistic Astrophysics Explorer (RAE), designed to fit within the envelope of a medium-sized mission. The instruments will be a narrow-field X-ray detector array with an area of 6 m² equal to 10 times that of RXTE and a wide-field X-ray monitor. We describe the science made possible with this mission, the design of the instruments, and results on prototype large-area X-ray detectors.     

In-situ resource utilization technologies for Mars life support systems.

The atmosphere of Mars has many of the ingredients that can be used to support human exploration missions. It can be "mined" and processed to produce oxygen, buffer gas, and water, resulting in significant savings on mission costs. The use of local materials, called ISRU (for in-situ resource utilization), is clearly an essential strategy for a long-term human presence on Mars from the standpoints of self-sufficiency, safety, and cost. Currently a substantial effort is underway by NASA to develop technologies and designs of chemical plants to make propellants from the Martian atmosphere. Consumables for life support, such as oxygen and water, will probably benefit greatly from this ISRU technology development for propellant production. However, the buffer gas needed to dilute oxygen for breathing is not a product of a propellant production plant. The buffer gas needs on each human Mars mission will probably be in the order of metric tons, primarily due to losses during airlock activity. Buffer gas can be separated, compressed, and purified from the Mars atmosphere. This paper discusses the buffer gas needs for a human mission to Mars and consider architectures for the generation of buffer gas including an option that integrates it to the propellant production plant.     

Thermosphere density and wind measurements in the equatorial region using a constellation of drag balance nanospacecraft

A mission for in situ thermosphere density and winds measurement is described, based on nanospacecraft equipped with a drag balance instrument (DBI) and a GPS receiver. The mission is based on nanosatellite clusters deployed in three orbital planes. In this study, clusters of 10 nanospacecraft are considered, leading to a mission based on a total of 30 nanospacecraft. The geometry analyzed is a symmetrical one, including an equatorial orbit and two orbits with the same inclination and opposing ascending nodes. The main idea is that, by combining the accurate information on the satellite inertial position and velocity provided by the GPS receiver and the drag acceleration intensity provided by the DBI, due to the orbits’ geometrical configuration, both atmospheric drag and wind can be resolved in a region close to the orbit nodes. Exploiting the Earth oblateness effect, a complete scan of the equatorial regions can be accomplished in the short mission lifetime typical of very low Earth orbit satellites, even in high solar activity peaks, when the expected nanospacecraft lifetime is about 40 days.     

Challenges of the rosetta sample return mission

Rosetta is a correrstone mission of the science programme of the European Space Agency (ESA) and it has been studied as a collaborative project with NASA. The major scientific objectives of Rosetta is to return cometary samples to Earth. About 20 kg of cometary material from up to 3m below the surface would be made available to the scientific community for analysis. Since relatively little is known a priory about the environment to be expected, the mission design must be based on a limited body of knowledge and rely on autonomy. The paper outlines the main mission characteristics and the experimental approach to demonstrate the mission feasibility.     

Mission simulation as an approach to develop requirements for automation in Advanced Life Support Systems.

This paper examines mission simulation as an approach to develop requirements for automation and robotics for Advanced Life Support Systems (ALSS). The focus is on requirements and applications for command and control, control and monitoring, situation assessment and response, diagnosis and recovery, adaptive planning and scheduling, and other automation applications in addition to mechanized equipment and robotics applications to reduce the excessive human labor requirements to operate and maintain an ALSS. Based on principles of systems engineering, an approach is proposed to assess requirements for automation and robotics using mission simulation tools. First, the story of a simulated mission is defined in terms of processes with attendant types of resources needed, including options for use of automation and robotic systems. Next, systems dynamics models are used in simulation to reveal the implications for selected resource allocation schemes in terms of resources required to complete operational tasks. The simulations not only help establish ALSS design criteria, but also may offer guidance to ALSS research efforts by identifying gaps in knowledge about procedures and/or biophysical processes. Simulations of a planned one-year mission with 4 crewmembers in a Human Rated Test Facility are presented as an approach to evaluation of mission feasibility and definition of automation and robotics requirements.     

Generic procedure for designing and implementing plan management systems for space science missions operations

This paper is one of the components of a larger framework of activities whose purpose is to improve the performance and productivity of space mission systems, i.e. to increase both what can be achieved and the cost effectiveness of this achievement. Some of these activities introduced the concept of Functional Architecture Module (FAM); FAMs are basic blocks used to build the functional architecture of Plan Management Systems (PMS). They also highlighted the need to involve Science Operations Planning Expertise (SOPE) during the Mission Design Phase (MDP) in order to design and implement efficiently operation planning systems. We define SOPE as the expertise held by people who have both theoretical and practical experience in operations planning, in general, and in space science operations planning in particular. Using ESA’s methodology for studying and selecting science missions we also define the MDP as the combination of the Mission Assessment and Mission Definition Phases. However, there is no generic procedure on how to use FAMs efficiently and systematically, for each new mission, in order to analyse the cost and feasibility of new missions as well as to optimise the functional design of new PMS; the purpose of such a procedure is to build more rapidly and cheaply such PMS as well as to make the latter more reliable and cheaper to run. This is why the purpose of this paper is to provide an embryo of such a generic procedure and to show that the latter needs to be applied by people with SOPE during the MDP. The procedure described here proposes some initial guidelines to identify both the various possible high level functional scenarii, for a given set of possible requirements, and the information that needs to be associated with each scenario. It also introduces the concept of catalogue of generic functional scenarii of PMS for space science missions. The information associated with each catalogued scenarii will have been identified by the above procedure and will be relevant only for some specific mission requirements. In other words, each mission that shares the same type of requirements that lead to a list of specific catalogued scenarii can use this latter list of scenarii (regardless of whether the mission is a plasma, planetary, astronomy, etc. mission). The main advantages of such a catalogue are that it speeds-up the execution of the procedure and makes the latter more reliable. Ultimately, the information associated to each relevant scenario (from the catalogue or freshly generated by the procedure) will then be used by mission designers to make informed decisions, including the modification of the mission requirements, for any missions. In addition, to illustrate the use of such a procedure, the latter is applied to a case study, i.e. the Cross-Scale mission. One of the outcomes of this study is an initial set of generic functional scenarii. Finally, although border line with the above purpose of this paper, we also discuss multi-spacecraft specific issues and issues related to the on-board execution of the plan update system (PUS). In particular, we show that the operation planning cost of N spacecraft is not equal to N times the cost of 1 spacecraft and that on-board non-synchronised operation will not require inter-spacecraft communication. We also believe that on-board PUS should be made possible for all missions as a standard.