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.     

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.     

Optimization of the tether-assisted return mission of a guided re-entry capsule

This paper presents the mission analysis of a tether-assisted payload retrieval from the International Space Station (ISS). The objective is to assess all relevant phases of such a mission in order to allow a comparison with a conventional mission employing a propulsive deorbitation. The controlled tether deployment procedure and the guided return flight of the released re-entry capsule are optimized. A preferable deployment strategy is identified that allows for favorable entry conditions and low flight loads. The optimal deployment trajectories serve as a basis for an optimal dynamic regulator. This approach is extended towards an adaptive concept, where artificial neural networks are applied to deployment control. For the guidance of the capsule a predictive concept is proposed that is based on the optimal re-entry trajectories identified previously. By applying these concepts, the attainable landing accuracy during return amounts to an average of 5 km, and the application of the tether system exhibits overall system mass advantages. This demonstrates that the tether-assisted return mission is a competitive alternative.     

Real time estimator for control of an orbiting single tether system

A real-time estimator is developed for the control of the Tether Dynamics Explorer (TDE) system. TDE is being used in a series of tethered satellite flight experiments whose purpose is to validate existing system models and test proposed control laws. Each experiment consists of an orbiting Delta II second stage which deploys toward the Earth a small box-shaped passive endbody at the end of a flexible tether. A discrete extended Kalman filter (DEKF) is presented which can operate in real time and in conjunction with control laws. This filter estimates the in-plane and out-of-plane tether libration angles and their rates from a proposed three-axis tether tension measurement device in the Delta second stage. The simulation results indicate that the DEKF can estimate the libration angle and their rates from a three-axis tension and length measurement with an acceptable error. The relatively simple computations required make this algorithm particularly well suited for real-time operation.<>     

Electrodynamic forces in tethered satellite systems. I. Systemcontrol

Part I of this work deals with the use of electrodynamic forces for control of tethered satellite system. A system formed by two massive end-bodies connected to each other by a current carrying tether is to be kept in an Earth-pointing orientation by means of joint actions of thrusters on one of the end-bodies and electrodynamic forces acting on the tether     

综合传感器系统--向纵深发展的航空电子综合技术

文章从传感器的重要性及"经济上可承受性"引出了"综合传感器系统(ISS)概念"并对其定义、实现方法和验证结果及目前存在问题进行了分析.特别是对孔径综合、射频综合和ISS管理做了图示说明.指出传感器综合技术是本世纪初航空电子的关键技术,对未来作战飞机有致关重要的影响,并就我国开展这项关键技术研究提出了有益建议.     

空间电动力绳系电流峰值点变化规律研究

为研究电流峰值点在几种影响因素下的变化规律,建立一种能够捕捉绳系电子发射与收集自洽平衡过程的新算法——电路空间耦合算法。为验证该方法的计算精度,以1.35kW霍尔推力器为等离子体源,在真空舱内开展绳系的电荷收集试验,在电路参数方面,计算精度约为12.8%,在场参数方面,计算精度约为3.6%。在此基础上,针对不同偏置电压、绳系长度以及绳系直径,对绳系的绳上电流分布、电势分布以及空间电势分布等参数进行数值计算。结果显示:电动力绳系的电流峰值点会随着偏置电压升高、绳系长度增加及绳系直径增大而发生比例上的向阳极端漂移,揭示了电子轨道运动限制的机制在各类壁面电荷输运机制中占优,导致电流峰值点漂移的产生。     

High rate data link front end design and performance during AlphaMagnetic Spectrometer Space Shuttle flight, May 1998

In June 1998, Metsahovi Radio Observatory participated in a 10-day shuttle mission, STS-91, ground support activity by receiving, archiving, and making available, the so-called High Rate Data (HRD) from Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS). The goal of this particle physics experiment project was to detect antimatter in space. Some aspects of the HRD link performance are discussed     

利用受限张力的拖曳变轨欠驱动姿态稳定策略

在空间绳系拖曳变轨中,目标和平台形成一种哑铃型绳系系统,且仅依靠有限的平台推力和系绳张力来抑制系绳的摆动。针对此类输入受限的欠驱动控制问题,提出了一种利用受限张力的姿态稳定策略。首先,推导了组合体姿态动力学模型。然后通过数值求解姿态平衡方程得出理论面内姿态指令,再采用高斯伪谱法对其优化获得实际指令。最后,基于分层滑模理论设计欠驱动张力控制律,并嵌入抗饱和模块以缓解张力饱和。仿真表明空间平台能在正向有限的张力控制下,平滑地收放系绳使面内角和绳长跟踪实际姿态指令。此外,所提策略对目标体摆动和传感器误差也具有良好的鲁棒性。     

Engineering test beds on the International Space Station

The International Space Station is a unique multi-faceted orbiting laboratory supporting research, development, test and evaluation of new innovative space and Earth-based applications. While NASA sponsored investigations on the ISS are focused largely on enabling future long duration human space exploration missions, Congress designated the US portion of the space station as a National Laboratory making its facilities available to other Federal agencies and private entities for non-exploration related ventures. RDT&E activities on the ISS encompass a number of technical areas including environmental control and life support, communications, materials science, guidance, navigation and control, propulsion, electrical power, and thermal control systems.     

The International Space Station: a question of federal funding andpolicy implications

A summary form is given of the author's full paper (ibid. vol. 33, p. 7, 1998). The ISS program is a huge investment by the U.S. government. It is estimated by NASA that the program will cost the American public more than $70 billion over a period of 30 years. Since the scientific impact of this program is relatively unknown (and uncertain), the question that policy makers will have to struggle with is whether the federal government should continue to fund the program, or to pull out from the program altogether, thus saving American taxpayers close to $30 billion. Although funding is a major concern, since the inclusion of Russia in the program, the ISS has also become a foreign policy tool. Therefore, additional questions about policy implications of the ISS program need to be addressed     

Ceramic photocell implants could restore sight

Researchers are perfecting the use of ceramic photocells for retinal implantation. The work is being done at the Space Vacuum Epitaxy Center in Houston, TX. The photocells are the results of experiments with oxide detectors conducted in space using the Wake Shield Facility. Artificial retinas are constructed of 100,000 microscopic ceramic detectors attached to a polymer film, which disintegrates after implantation. Initially, four arrays will be implanted, totalling 400,000 detectors per eye. If successful, two additional arrays would be implanted. Human trials are expected to begin in 2002.     

The European Columbus Programme

This paper describes the current status of the COLUMBUS Programme, Europe's contribution to the U.S. Space Station, which is being studied under contract to the European Space Agency. Twelve European nations are involved in and are contributing to this new space undertaking. The elements of the COLUMBUS Space Segment presently being considered by ESA are a Pressurized Laboratory Module (4 segment), permanently attached to the U.S. Space Station, dedicated to materials science, fluid physics and compatible life sciences, and a Polar Platform, configured to accommodate Earth observation, meteorology, communications and space science payloads. The reference launch vehicles are the Space Shuttle for the attached Module and Ariane 5 for the Polar Platform. The more recently added COLUMBUS flight configuration, the Man-Tended Free Flyer (MTFF), consists of a combination of two programme elements, the Resource Module and a 2-segment Pressurized Module. It is designed to provide all required resources and services to the various payloads in a continuous microgravity environment to perform material science, fluid physics and compatible life sciences experiments. The MTFF is carried into orbit by the European launcher Ariane 5. As an option, studies of an enhanced ground based EURECA carrier as a small co-orbiting platform, launched by the Space Shuttle, will be initiated. The primary function would be to accommodate space science and/or micro-g payloads. These EURECA studies are performed currently outside the COLUMBUS programme scope, and this option is therefore not addressed in detail in this paper.     

Experiences in Managing the Prometheus Project

Congress authorized NASA's Prometheus Project in February 2003, with the first Prometheus mission slated to explore the icy moons of Jupiter. The project had two major objectives: 1) to develop a nuclear reactor that would provide unprecedented levels of power and show that it could be processed safely and operated reliably in space for long-duration, deep-space exploration; and 2) to explore the three icy moons of Jupiter - Callisto, Ganymede, and Europa - and return science data that would meet the scientific goals as set forth in the Decadal Survey Report of the National Academy of Sciences. Early in project planning, it was determined that the development of the Prometheus nuclear-powered spaceship would be complex and require the intellectual knowledge residing at numerous organizations across the country. In addition, because of the complex nature of the project and the multiple partners, approaches beyond those successfully used to manage a typical JPL project would be needed. This describes the key experiences in managing Prometheus, which should prove useful for future projects of similar scope and magnitude.     

Steering the station back on course

Rising costs of the International Space Station prompted NASA to convene a panel of experts to assess the quality of ISS cost estimates and review program assumptions and requirements. The panel concluded that NASA was unable to accurately predict ISS costs or to support requests for increased funding for the ISS through 2006 and should maintain a U.S. core complete program with three-person crews with 6-month stays on the ISS. International response to the panel report was negative with space agencies from Japan, Russia, Canada, and Europe taking issue with the expected impact on ISS construction and use.     

Intelligent UUVs: Some issues on ROV dynamic positioning

Intelligent unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) fall under two main group categories: the remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), which are characterized by remote operation and presence of a tether cable; and the autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), which are characterized by their autonomous behavior and absence of a tether cable. One fundamental issue of the UUV design is the dynamic position control system. This system plays a crucial role together with the sensor architecture in the degree of system autonomy that can be achieved. This paper is concerned with a few issues when dynamically positioning remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs). By restricting the operating regime of ROVs to slow velocity requirements the paper investigates the implementation of a few decentralized control strategies and compare their performance measures, which are assessed by simulating a nonlinear ROV system model for each control strategy. Issues concerning input tracking, disturbance rejection, and plant variations are discussed. The evaluations consider the use of linear PID feedback and feedforward variants, and a robust nonlinear control strategies applied to a full order, fully coupled, and nonlinear vehicle model. These evaluations consider a vehicle undertaking standard mission activities where the tether cable dynamics, with load estimates obtained from a lumped mass cable model, and the vehicle actuator system are present. The paper shows that much of the performance deterioration may be attributed mainly due to cable inertia. The authors also verify that the nonlinear robust control strategy does not necessarily allow for better performance over the linear feedback control strategies implemented when vehicle motions are confined to slow velocity profiles. These and other partial results will aid the design of the control system for an underwater vehicle currently under construction     

空间绳系机器人捕获目标后的面内自适应回收方法

在空间绳系机器人(TSR)捕获目标星后,操作机构与目标星形成质量、惯量和系绳连接点位置等参数未知的组合体,且系绳长度、偏角与组合体姿态严重耦合,控制输入严格受限,回收控制十分困难。针对其回收难题,综合考虑系绳长度、系绳偏角与组合体姿态,利用拉格朗日法建立了轨道面内的动力学模型,并基于动态逆理论设计了一种自适应抗饱和回收控制方法。首先,在对组合体质量、惯量与系绳连接点进行在线估计的基础上,设计一种自适应动态逆回收控制器;然后,设计辅助变量对控制输入进行补偿,解决控制输入受限问题;最后进行仿真验证。仿真结果表明,在线估计器能够快速有效地估计组合体动力学参数,回收控制系统能够利用受限的控制输入克服抓捕时刻的系绳偏角和组合体姿态扰动,并沿设计的回收轨迹实现稳定有效回收。     

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.