POES companion: Objectives, methodology, and benefits

POES Companion is a small satellite that would carry an atmospheric sounding instrument identical to one on a nearby operational polar orbiting spacecraft. The spacing between the two satellites would be controlled and variable. The mission is designed to establish the upper bound on the distance between the two satellites within which data from the instruments are statistically equivalent, and further would demonstrate that two neighboring spacecraft can be managed safely and efficiently. POES Companion will validate new Companion options outlined in this paper that could substantially reduce costs attributable to satellite-based atmospheric sounders for both operational and research programs.     

Suboptimal,two-burn,midlevel thrust,LEO-GEO transfer: Practical control schemes

This paper presentes the results of an algorithm developed at INTELSAT to (1) synthesize suboptimal, two-burn midlevel thrust, LEO-GEO transfer trajectories; (2) define practical steering laws to approximate the nominal trajectories; and (3) simulate their performance. Capabilities of the algorithm include: independently selectable constant thrust levels for the two burns, constant acceleration, staging, fixing the mass at either ends of the transfer. Figures of inefficiency versus ideally impulsive transfer are plotted for a reference constant thrust case over a range of initial accelerations. The diagram indicates that acceptable inefficiencies are attainable in the initial acceleration range above 0.1 g. A comparison with an optimal two-burn low-thrust transfer indicates negligible degradation in efficiency. The results of an application to INTELSAT VI are included.     

Cave biosignature suites: microbes,minerals, and Mars

Earth's subsurface offers one of the best possible sites to search for microbial life and the characteristic lithologies that life leaves behind. The subterrain may be equally valuable for astrobiology. Where surface conditions are particularly hostile, like on Mars, the subsurface may offer the only habitat for extant lifeforms and access to recognizable biosignatures. We have identified numerous unequivocally biogenic macroscopic, microscopic, and chemical/geochemical cave biosignatures. However, to be especially useful for astrobiology, we are looking for suites of characteristics. Ideally, "biosignature suites" should be both macroscopically and microscopically detectable, independently verifiable by nonmorphological means, and as independent as possible of specific details of life chemistries--demanding (and sometimes conflicting) criteria. Working in fragile, legally protected environments, we developed noninvasive and minimal impact techniques for life and biosignature detection/characterization analogous to Planetary Protection Protocols. Our difficult field conditions have shared limitations common to extraterrestrial robotic and human missions. Thus, the cave/subsurface astrobiology model addresses the most important goals from both scientific and operational points of view. We present details of cave biosignature suites involving manganese and iron oxides, calcite, and sulfur minerals. Suites include morphological fossils, mineral-coated filaments, living microbial mats and preserved biofabrics, 13C and 34S values consistent with microbial metabolism, genetic data, unusual elemental abundances and ratios, and crystallographic mineral forms.     

Responsibility,capability, and Active SETI: Policy,law, ethics,and communication with extraterrestrial intelligence

With recently growing interest in the Active Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), in which humankind would send intentional signals to extraterrestrial civilizations, there have been increased concerns about appropriate policy, as well as the role of space law and ethics in guiding such activities. Implicit in these discussions are notions of responsibility and capability that affect judgments about whether humans or other civilizations should initiate transmissions. Existing protocols that guide SETI research address transmissions from Earth, but there is debate over whether these guidelines should inform de novo transmissions as well. Relevant responsibilities to address include (1) looking out for the interests of humankind as a whole, (2) being truthful in interstellar messages, and (3) benefiting extraterrestrial civilizations. Our capabilities as a species and a civilization affect how well we can fulfill responsibilities, as seen when we consider whether we will be able to reach consensus about message contents (and whether that would be desirable), and whether we have the capacity to decode messages from beings that rely on different sensory modalities. The interplay of these responsibilities and capabilities suggests that humankind should place increased emphasis on Active SETI.     

Space,Language, and Ontology: A Response to Bateman

Abstract

Some of John Bateman's critiques of my article “Qualitative Spatial Reasoning in Interpreting Text and Narrative” are certainly valid. However, the alternative solutions that he proposes do not seem to me to be improvements.     

Shadow detection for mobile robots: Features,evaluation, and datasets

ABSTRACT

Shadows have long been a challenging topic for computer vision. This challenge is made even harder when we assume that the camera is moving, as many existing shadow detection techniques require the creation and maintenance of a background model. This article explores the problem of shadow modelling from a moving viewpoint (assumed to be a robotic platform) through comparing shadow-variant and shadow-invariant image features — primarily color, texture and edge-based features. These features are then embedded in a segmentation pipeline that provides predictions on shadow status, using minimal temporal context. We also release a public dataset of shadow-related image sequences, to help other researchers further develop shadow detection methods and to enable benchmarking of techniques.     

Statistical Relationships between Solar,Interplanetary, and Geomagnetic Disturbances, 1976–2000: 3

In this paper we continue the analysis of the influence of solar and interplanetary events on magnetic storms of the Earth that was started in [9, 10]. Different experimental results on solar-terrestrial physics are analyzed in the study and the effects are determined that arise due to differences in the methods used to analyze the data. The classifications of magnetic storms by the K _p and D _st indices, the solar flare classifications by optical and X-ray observations, and the classifications of different geoeffective interplanetary events are compared and discussed. It is demonstrated that quantitative estimations of the relationships between two types of events often depend on the direction in which the events are compared. In particular, it was demonstrated that the geoeffectiveness of halo CMEs (that is, the percentage of Earth-directed coronal mass ejections that result in geomagnetic storms) is 40–50%. Higher values given in some papers were obtained by another method, in which they were defined as the probability of finding candidates for a source of geomagnetic storms among CMEs, and, strictly speaking, these values are not true estimates of the geoeffectiveness. The latter results are also in contrast with the results of the two-stage tracing of the events: first a storm—an interplanetary disturbance, and then an interplanetary disturbance—a CME.     

Statistical Relationships between Solar, Interplanetary, and Geomagnetic Disturbances, 1976–2000: 2

In this paper we continue the analysis of the influence of solar and interplanetary events on magnetospheric storms that was started in [1]. Two data sets are additionally analyzed in the present study: solar flares of importance M5 and greater in 1976–2000 and halo CMEs observed by the SOHO spacecraft during the period of 1996–2000. It is demonstrated that the statistical characteristics of the new set of flares and of that analyzed before in [1] differ little, while the geoeffectiveness of the halo CMEs turned out to be much less than that of the previously published CMEs.     

Martian CH(4): sources, flux, and detection

Recent observations have detected trace amounts of CH(4) heterogeneously distributed in the martian atmosphere, which indicated a subsurface CH(4) flux of ~2 x 10(5) to 2 x 10(9) cm(2) s(1). Four different origins for this CH(4) were considered: (1) volcanogenic; (2) sublimation of hydrate- rich ice; (3) diffusive transport through hydrate-saturated cryosphere; and (4) microbial CH(4) generation above the cryosphere. A diffusive flux model of the martian crust for He, H(2), and CH(4) was developed based upon measurements of deep fracture water samples from South Africa. This model distinguishes between abiogenic and microbial CH(4) sources based upon their isotopic composition, and couples microbial CH(4) production to H(2) generation by H(2)O radiolysis. For a He flux of approximately 10(5) cm(2) s(1) this model yields an abiogenic CH(4) flux and a microbial CH(4) flux of approximately 10(6) and approximately 10(9) cm(2) s(1), respectively. This flux will only reach the martian surface if CH(4) hydrate is saturated in the cryosphere; otherwise it will be captured within the cryosphere. The sublimation of a hydrate-rich cryosphere could generate the observed CH(4) flux, whereas microbial CH(4) production in a hypersaline environment above the hydrate stability zone only seems capable of supplying approximately 10(5) cm(2) s(1) of CH(4). The model predicts that He/H(2)/CH(4)/C(2)H(6) abundances and the C and H isotopic values of CH(4) and the C isotopic composition of C(2)H(6) could reveal the different sources. Cavity ring-down spectrometers represent the instrument type that would be most capable of performing the C and H measurements of CH(4) on near future rover missions and pinpointing the cause and source of the CH(4) emissions.     

Microbial populations in Antarctic permafrost: biodiversity, state, age, and implication for astrobiology

Antarctic permafrost soils have not received as much geocryological and biological study as has been devoted to the ice sheet, though the permafrost is more stable and older and inhabited by more microbes. This makes these soils potentially more informative and a more significant microbial repository than ice sheets. Due to the stability of the subsurface physicochemical regime, Antarctic permafrost is not an extreme environment but a balanced natural one. Up to 10(4) viable cells/g, whose age presumably corresponds to the longevity of the permanently frozen state of the sediments, have been isolated from Antarctic permafrost. Along with the microbes, metabolic by-products are preserved. This presumed natural cryopreservation makes it possible to observe what may be the oldest microbial communities on Earth. Here, we describe the Antarctic permafrost habitat and biodiversity and provide a model for martian ecosystems.