Estimating Radiative Momentum Transfer Through a Thermal Analysis of the Pioneer Anomaly

A methodology based on point-like sources is discussed, enabling a reliable estimate of the acceleration of the Pioneer 10 and 11 probes caused by thermal effects. A sensitivity analysis of the several parameters of the model allows for a clear indication of the possible thermal origin of the so-called Pioneer anomaly.     

The search for extraterrestrial artifacts (SETA)

The rationale for the use of interstellar artifacts by intelligent life in the universe is described. The advantages of using interstellar probes as a means of exploration and communication are presented and shown to be significant enough to counter the time, energy, and technology arguments generally raised against contact via extraterrestrial artifacts. Four classes of artifacts are defined: Those seeking contact, those seeking to avoid contact, those intended to provide a passive technological threshold for detection, and those for which detection is irrelevant. The Search for Extraterrestrial Artifacts (SETA) is based on the latter two classes. Under the assumption that an extraterrestrial probe will be interested in life in our solar system, a near-Earth search space is defined. This search space is accessible to us now with ground and satellite observing facilities. The current observational status of SETA is reviewed and contrasted with the achievable detection limits for the different parts of the search space.     

Sub-pixel mineral mapping of a porphyry copper belt using EO-1 Hyperion data

The main aim of the present study was to examine the feasibility of the EO-1 Hyperion data in discriminating and mapping diagnostic alteration minerals around porphyry copper deposits (PCDs), verified by field surveys and laboratory analyses. A partial sub-pixel method, mixture tuned matched filtering (MTMF), was implemented on a pre-processed and calibrated Hyperion dataset. The tested area is situated at the Central Iranian Volcano-Sedimentary Complex, where abundant porphyry copper deposits like Sarcheshmeh, Darrehzar, and Sereidun are located. The characteristic alteration minerals identified by Hyperion data included biotite, muscovite, illite, kaolinite, goethite, hematite, jarosite, pyrophyllite, and chlorite. Discrimination of these minerals especially biotite and iron oxide (hematite and goethite) can provide valuable evidences for PCD exploration projects. Results revealed that Hyperion data prove to be powerful in discriminating and mapping various types of alteration zones while the data were subjected to adequate pre-processing.     

Vertical TEC in the equatorial anomaly region from satellite altimetry data

The high-precision demands imposed by the ocean altimetry community of the late 1980 resulted in the TOPEX/Poseidon mission. This mission was the first to carry as its main instrument a dual-frequency sea-altimeter on board a satellite. This instrument together with other state-of-the-art technologies involved in the mission, led to sea-height determinations with precision better than 2 cm. As a by-product, the TOPEX/Poseidon mission provided vertical TEC determinations that since they became available, have demonstrated to be a powerful tool for ionospheric studies.     

Inter-satellite ranging and inter-satellite communication links for enhancing GNSS satellite broadcast navigation data

Recently the European Space Agency (ESA) has initiated a number of exploratory Projects, within the General Studies Programme (GSP), to analyze what potential improvements on a GNSS system navigation determination and dissemination performance could be brought by introducing inter-satellite ranging & inter-satellite communication-links. The key improvements targeted by these Projects are the enhancement of the orbit and clock prediction accuracy and the reduction of the dependency from ground infrastructure. Both projects adopted the Galileo system architecture as the initial working point.