Erdbeobachtende missionen—Anforderungen und konzepte

(Earth Observation Missions—Requirements and Concepts)—Ten years ago, on 23 July 1972. NASA launched the first satellite specifically designed for Earth observation. With Landsat 1 the importance and attractiveness of remote sensing from space increased worldwide.The paper presents in an overview former remote sensing missions with their applications and the system elements required for gathering Earth observation information. Main elements are the sensors (optical, microwave, and other instruments), the platforms (satellites, space stations, aircraft and Earth based stations) and their orbits.It is shown how these elements are interrelated and which constraints must be considered for planning an Earth observation mission. The feasibility, the amount of hard- and software, the costs, and the performance of a system are decisive for the realization of a satellite concept.Examples for different concepts investigated to date at Dornier System are given; included is the first ESA Remote Sensing Satellite ERS-1, which is now under definition at Dornier System, the main contractor of ESA.     

A failure of international space cooperation: the International Earth Observing System

This paper examines the failure of the Earth Observation International Coordination Working Group to implement an International Earth Observation System. Tracing the history of both the Group and the mission concept, it explains the political and organizational failures that took place. It shows that these failures were linked to different approaches to international cooperation in Earth observation data policy. The main points of contention existed between Working Group members, NASA and ESA. NASA favored formal and binding legal arrangements, while ESA preferred to avoid institutionalized legal commitments. Success in coordinating and harmonizing data policy on a multilateral basis for Earth observation missions is more likely to be achieved by pursuing agreement on general principles and terms of reference than by seeking specific legal agreements.     

Dream project: Applications of earth observations to disaster risk management

The field of disaster risk management is relatively new and takes a structured approach to managing uncertainty related to the threat of natural and man-made disasters. Disaster risk management consists primarily of risk assessment and the development of strategies to mitigate disaster risk. This paper will discuss how increasing both Earth observation data and information technology capabilities can contribute to disaster risk management, particularly in Belize. The paper presents the results and recommendations of a project conducted by an international and interdisciplinary team of experts at the 2009 session of the International Space University in NASA Ames Research Center (California, USA). The aim is to explore the combination of current, planned and potential space-aided, airborne, and ground-based Earth observation tools, the emergence of powerful new web-based and mobile data management tools, and how this combination can support and improve the emerging field of disaster risk management. The starting point of the project was the World Bank’s Comprehensive Approach to Probabilistic Risk Assessment (CAPRA) program, focused in Central America. This program was used as a test bed to analyze current space technologies used in risk management and develop new strategies and tools to be applied in other regions around the world.     

The NASA Astrobiology Roadmap

The NASA Astrobiology Roadmap provides guidance for research and technology development across the NASA enterprises that encompass the space, Earth, and biological sciences. The ongoing development of astrobiology roadmaps embodies the contributions of diverse scientists and technologists from government, universities, and private institutions. The Roadmap addresses three basic questions: how does life begin and evolve, does life exist elsewhere in the universe, and what is the future of life on Earth and beyond? Seven Science Goals outline the following key domains of investigation: understanding the nature and distribution of habitable environments in the universe, exploring for habitable environments and life in our own Solar System, understanding the emergence of life, determining how early life on Earth interacted and evolved with its changing environment, understanding the evolutionary mechanisms and environmental limits of life, determining the principles that will shape life in the future, and recognizing signatures of life on other worlds and on early Earth. For each of these goals, Science Objectives outline more specific high priority efforts for the next three to five years. These eighteen objectives are being integrated with NASA strategic planning.     

The NASA Astrobiology Roadmap

The NASA Astrobiology Roadmap provides guidance for research and technology development across the NASA enterprises that encompass the space, Earth, and biological sciences. The ongoing development of astrobiology roadmaps embodies the contributions of diverse scientists and technologists from government, universities, and private institutions. The Roadmap addresses three basic questions: How does life begin and evolve, does life exist elsewhere in the universe, and what is the future of life on Earth and beyond? Seven Science Goals outline the following key domains of investigation: understanding the nature and distribution of habitable environments in the universe, exploring for habitable environments and life in our own solar system, understanding the emergence of life, determining how early life on Earth interacted and evolved with its changing environment, understanding the evolutionary mechanisms and environmental limits of life, determining the principles that will shape life in the future, and recognizing signatures of life on other worlds and on early Earth. For each of these goals, Science Objectives outline more specific high-priority efforts for the next 3-5 years. These 18 objectives are being integrated with NASA strategic planning.     

The transition from research to operations in Earth observation: the case of NASA and NOAA in the US

That basic scientific research often leads to new insights, concepts, and inventions that can have important practical applications and benefits is an established element of the rationale for federal government investment in research and technology. The way in which scientific studies of the Earth from space make their way into practical approaches to environmental measurements and management presents an enlightening case study of the research-to-applications transfer process. This article discusses how fundamental concepts of technology transfer and diffusion are illustrated in the process of transitioning Earth science research into operations at the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), particularly as it is presented in the National Research Council study, Satellite Observations of the Earth's Environment: Accelerating the Transition of Research to Operations. The authors assert that successful and efficient transitions of this type require not only a detailed understanding of the technologies involved but an appropriately developed social structure to better facilitate those transitions.     

The enigma of small satellites for earth observation

Small satellites have captured a continuously increasing share of the market in the fields of science, technology and recently also in the telecommunications and Earth observation areas. User requirements and market opportunities for space based satellite systems for Earth observation products have grown substantially in the past decade. Criteria for the utilization of different classes of satellite systems (small and large) and analogies to developments in other areas, e.g. the telecommunications field are discussed. The end to end character of service and product oriented systems as key criteria for market success in the scientific, applications and commercial areas is underlined. Recent developments in the global change, the Earth observation applications and commercial sectors are reviewed and compared. Opportunities for small satellites in the field are related to technology advancements, cost reduction options, and progress in the state of the art in system design.     

The NASA astrobiology program

The new discipline of astrobiology addresses fundamental questions about life in the universe: "Where did we come from?" "Are we alone in the universe?" "What is our future beyond the Earth?" Developing capabilities in biotechnology, informatics, and space exploration provide new tools to address these old questions. The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has encouraged this new discipline by organizing workshops and technical meetings, establishing a NASA Astrobiology Institute, providing research funds to individual investigators, ensuring that astrobiology goals are incorporated in NASA flight missions, and initiating a program of public outreach and education. Much of the initial effort by NASA and the research community was focused on determining the technical content of astrobiology. This paper discusses the initial answer to the question "What is astrobiology?" as described in the NASA Astrobiology Roadmap.     

A method of controlling asteroid collision with the Earth

The planet Earth has endured unwelcome “visitations” of space rocks many times. NASA and agencies of other nations have proposed concepts on how asteroids, in possible collision with planet Earth, can be diverted. These methods range from impulsive techniques using explosives, conventional and nuclear, to the slow nudging action of a spacecraft with powerful thrust. A methods not described elsewhere in any research, as far as the author knows, is presented in this paper. The methods of electrostatics will be employed to show how the new deflection concept can be developed to avoid asteroid collision with Earth.     

The Mars Sample Return Project.

The Mars Sample Return (MSR) Project is underway. A 2003 mission to be launched on a Delta III Class vehicle and a 2005 mission launched on an Ariane 5 will culminate in carefully selected Mars samples arriving on Earth in 2008. NASA is the lead agency and will provide the Mars landed elements, namely, landers, rovers, and Mars ascent vehicles (MAVs). The French Space Agency CNES is the largest international partner and will provide for the joint NASA/CNES 2005 Mission the Ariane 5 launch and the Earth Return Mars Orbiter that will capture the sample canisters from the Mars parking orbits the MAVs place them in. The sample canisters will be returned to Earth aboard the CNES Orbiter in the Earth Entry Vehicles provided by NASA. Other national space agencies are also expected to participate in substantial roles. Italy is planning to provide a drill that will operate from the Landers to provide subsurface samples. Other experiments in addition to the MSR payload will also be carried on the Landers. This paper will present the current status of the design of the MSR missions and flight articles.     

Earth remote sensing as an effective tool for the development of advanced innovative educational technologies

Current educational system is facing a contradiction between the fundamentality of engineering education and the necessity of applied learning extension, which requires new methods of training to combine both academic and practical knowledge in balance. As a result there are a number of innovations being developed and implemented into the process of education aimed at optimizing the quality of the entire educational system. Among a wide range of innovative educational technologies there is an especially important subset of educational technologies which involve learning through hands-on scientific and technical projects. The purpose of this paper is to describe the implementation of educational technologies based on small satellites development as well as the usage of Earth remote sensing data acquired from these satellites. The increase in public attention to the education through Earth remote sensing is based on the concern that although there is a great progress in the development of new methods of Earth imagery and remote sensing data acquisition there is still a big question remaining open on practical applications of this kind of data. It is important to develop the new way of thinking for the new generation of people so they understand that they are the masters of their own planet and they are responsible for its state. They should desire and should be able to use a powerful set of tools based on modern and perspective Earth remote sensing. For example NASA sponsors “Classroom of the Future” project. The Universities Space Research Association in United States provides a mechanism through which US universities can cooperate effectively with one another, with the government, and with other organizations to further space science and technology, and to promote education in these areas. It also aims at understanding the Earth as a system and promoting the role of humankind in the destiny of their own planet. The Association has founded a Journal of Earth System Science Education. Authors describe an effective model of educational technology developed in the Center for Earth Remote Sensing of Bauman Moscow State Technical University and based on scientific and educational organizations integration in the field of applied studies. The paper also presents how students are being trained to acquire and process satellite imagery data from Terra and Aqua satellites. It also reveals the results of space monitoring for Russia's ecologically complex regions conducted by Bauman Moscow State Technical University students in cooperation with specialists from the Laboratory for Aerospace Methods of Moscow State University named after M. Lomonosov.     

Advanced flight computing technologies for validation by NASA's new millennium program

The New Millennium Program (NMP) consists of a series of Deep-Space and Earth Orbiting missions that are technology-driven, in contrast to the more traditional science-driven space exploration missions of the past. These flights are designed to validate technologies that will enable a new era of low-cost highly miniaturized and highly capable spacebome applications in the new millennium. In addition to the series of flight projects managed by separate flight teams, the NMP technology initiatives are managed by the following six focused technology programs: Microelectronics Systems, Autonomy, Telecommunications, Instrument Technologies and Architectures, In-Situ Instruments and Micro-electromechanical Systems, and Modular and Multifunctional Systems. Each technology program is managed as an Integrated Product Development Team (IPDT) of government, academic, and industry partners. In this paper, we will describe elements of the technology roadmap proposed by the NMP Microelectronics IPDT. Moreover, we will relate the proposed technology roadmap to existing NASA technology development programs, such as the Advanced Flight Computing (AFC) program, and the Remote Exploration and Experimentation (REE) program, which constitute part of the on-going NASA technology development pipeline. We will also describe the Microelectronics Systems technologies that have been accepted as part of the first New Millennium Deep-Space One spacecraft, which is an asteroid fly-by mission scheduled for launched in July 1998.     

New technologies and data integration

The fourth workshop of the Earth Observation Data Policy and Europe (EOPOLE) project was held in Brussels, Belgium, 18–20 October 1999 at the offices of the European Commission DG Research, with Yves Reginster of Gere SA, Luxembourg, as guest speaker. The purpose of the workshop was to discuss the data policy issues raised by new technologies and by integrating Earth observation (EO) data with non-EO data. They included risks and reliability of output products, transfer of experience with new projects and intellectual property rights.     

Earth observation data archiving in the USA and Europe

The growing number of Earth observation satellites are producing exponential increases in the amount of data produced. These data sets contain valuable information on the state of the environment to accurately monitor and predict the impact of global change. Global change investigations require access to long-term data. This paper is a review of the current archiving practices of NOAA, NASA, SPOT, ESA and the DLR. It is demonstrated that despite recognition at a regional and organisational level of the importance of data archiving much work remains to be done. Funding responsibility is identified as a particularly problematic area of data archiving: it is an issue along with the need for easy accessibility and adequate metadata that will need to be resolved to ensure that future generations have access to adequate Earth observation data archives.     

DORIS系统自主在轨实时定轨的实现与精度分析

国家科技重大专项高分辨率空间对地观测项目的实施,对卫星平台的自主在轨实时定轨提出了新的需求。由法国发展的DORIS实时定轨系统虽已成功应用于多个对地观测平台,但该系统从未公布其原始数据和数据处理的技术细节,因此本文尝试利用DORIS地面主控站提供的ENVISAT标准格式多普勒数据,假设星上自主定轨时采用相同的数据,基于卡尔曼滤波算法实现（仿真）自主实时定轨。计算表明仅考虑简单的非球形引力模型,对于位置误差1km,速度误差1m/s的初始条件,2小时后滤波趋于稳定,滤波精度为十米量级,速度精度为厘米每秒级。为提高滤波计算效率,对坐标系统转换进行简化后,定轨精度仍在十米量级。基于DORIS仿真测量数据滤波计算表明,随着测量精度的提高和每圈观测弧段的增加,滤波计算的精度也会得到有效提高。     

Earth as an extrasolar planet: Earth model validation using EPOXI earth observations

The EPOXI Discovery Mission of Opportunity reused the Deep Impact flyby spacecraft to obtain spatially and temporally resolved visible photometric and moderate resolution near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopic observations of Earth. These remote observations provide a rigorous validation of whole-disk Earth model simulations used to better understand remotely detectable extrasolar planet characteristics. We have used these data to upgrade, correct, and validate the NASA Astrobiology Institute's Virtual Planetary Laboratory three-dimensional line-by-line, multiple-scattering spectral Earth model. This comprehensive model now includes specular reflectance from the ocean and explicitly includes atmospheric effects such as Rayleigh scattering, gas absorption, and temperature structure. We have used this model to generate spatially and temporally resolved synthetic spectra and images of Earth for the dates of EPOXI observation. Model parameters were varied to yield an optimum fit to the data. We found that a minimum spatial resolution of ～100 pixels on the visible disk, and four categories of water clouds, which were defined by using observed cloud positions and optical thicknesses, were needed to yield acceptable fits. The validated model provides a simultaneous fit to Earth's lightcurve, absolute brightness, and spectral data, with a root-mean-square (RMS) error of typically less than 3% for the multiwavelength lightcurves and residuals of ～10% for the absolute brightness throughout the visible and NIR spectral range. We have extended our validation into the mid-infrared by comparing the model to high spectral resolution observations of Earth from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder, obtaining a fit with residuals of ～7% and brightness temperature errors of less than 1?K in the atmospheric window. For the purpose of understanding the observable characteristics of the distant Earth at arbitrary viewing geometry and observing cadence, our validated forward model can be used to simulate Earth's time-dependent brightness and spectral properties for wavelengths from the far ultraviolet to the far infrared. Key Words: Astrobiology-Extrasolar terrestrial planets-Habitability-Planetary science-Radiative transfer. Astrobiology 11, 393-408.     

Combining solar science and asteroid science with the space weather observation network (SWON)

The peculiarity of space weather for Earth orbiting satellites, air traffic and power grids on Earth and especially the financial and operational risks posed by damage due to space weather, underline the necessity of space weather observation. The importance of such observations is even more increasing due to the impending solar maximum. In recognition of this importance we propose a mission architecture for solar observation as an alternative to already published mission plans like Solar Probe (NASA) or Solar Orbiter (ESA). Based upon a Concurrent Evaluation session in the Concurrent Engineering Facility of the German Aerospace Center, we suggest using several spacecraft in an observation network. Instead of placing such spacecraft in a solar orbit, we propose landing on several asteroids, which are in opposition to Earth during the course of the mission and thus allow observation of the Sun's far side. Observation of the far side is especially advantageous as it improves the warning time with regard to solar events by about 2 weeks. Landing on Inner Earth Object (IEO) asteroids for observation of the Sun has several benefits over traditional mission architectures. Exploiting shadowing effects of the asteroids reduces thermal stress on the spacecraft, while it is possible to approach the Sun closer than with an orbiter. The closeness to the Sun improves observation quality and solar power generation, which is intended to be achieved with a solar dynamic system. Furthermore landers can execute experiments and measurements with regard to asteroid science, further increasing the scientific output of such a mission. Placing the spacecraft in a network would also benefit the communication contact times of the network and Earth. Concluding we present a first draft of a spacecraft layout, mission objectives and requirements as well as an initial mission analysis calculation.     

NASA spinoffs to bioengineering and medicine

Through the active transfer of technology, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Technology Utilization (TU) Program assists private companies, associations, and government agencies to make effective use of NASA's technological resources to improve U.S. economic competitiveness and to provide societal benefit. Aerospace technology from areas such as digital image processing, space medicine and biology, microelectronics, optics and electrooptics, and ultrasonic imaging have found many secondary applications in medicine. Examples of technology spinoffs are briefly discussed to illustrate the benefits realized through adaptation of aerospace technology to solve health care problems. Successful implementation of new technologies increasingly requires the collaboration of industry, universities, and government, and the TU Program serves as the liaison to establish such collaborations with NASA. NASA technology is an important resource to support the development of new medical products and techniques that will further advance the quality of health care available in the U.S. and worldwide.     

Advancing Earth observation from space: A global challenge

Global Earth observation goes well beyond taking pictures of the Earth from space. Earth observation aims to identify and characterize planetary-scale processes that occur in the Earth interior or the world's oceans, at the Earth's surface or within the global atmosphere, on the basis of weak signals that may be detected in space. This is a truly challenging task that requires the dedicated efforts of professionals and firm public support commitments. The article reveals the scope of global Earth observation, highlights the technical and managerial challenges involved in undertaking it and discusses ways of making it more effective. Competent international cooperation and cost-sharing arrangements are essential for the ultimate success of existing and future activities in this field.     

NASA和ESA的空间系统维修性/维修技术研究

本文对维修性／维修工程技术在NASA和ESA的发展做了简要回顾，并从人的因素对空间系统的影响、承制方负责全寿命周期保障、改进的RCM方法、RMA信息的标准化、仿真技术、在轨维修等几个方面对NASA和ESA在维修性／维修工程领域的理论、技术，以及NASA和ESA在这些方面实施维修性／维修工程的情况作了介绍和分析，其中对改进的RCM方法作了详细的介绍。