Optimal interplanetary rendezvous combining electric sail and high thrust propulsion system

The aim of this paper is to study, from a mission analysis point of view, the performance of a hybrid propulsion concept for a two-dimensional transfer towards a planet of the Solar System. The propulsion system is obtained by combining a chemical thruster, used for the phases of Earth escape and/or target planet capture, with an electric sail, which provides a continuous thrust during the heliocentric transfer. Two possible mission scenarios are investigated: in the first case the sailcraft reaches the target planet with zero hyperbolic excess velocity, thus performing a classical rendezvous mission in a heliocentric framework. In the second mission scenario, a given final hyperbolic excess velocity relative to the planet is tolerated in order to decrease the mission flight time. The amount of final hyperbolic excess velocity is used as a simulation parameter for a tradeoff study in which the minimum flight time is related to the total velocity variation required by the chemical thruster to accomplish the mission, that is, for Earth escape and planetary capture.     

Land surface temperature retrievals from satellite measurements

This paper discusses the importance of considering both atmospheric absorption and surface emittance in an accurate assessment of land surface temperature. This is obtained by combining the measurements in two spectrally close radiometric channels of NOAA-AVHRR/2 instruments (Split Window Channels), accurately simulated for different atmospheric and terrestrial conditions.

The approach, that usually takes into account the atmospheric effects, has been improved, with the addition of a term depending only upon surface emittance. The proposed algorithm, that provides an estimate of land surface temperature within ±1°C if spectral surface emittance is known, has been applied to AVHRR/2 data to obtain surface temperature maps of the Northern Italy.     

Determination of kinematic state of an orbiting multibody using GNSS signals

Precise attitude determination of the members of a free-flying multibody system is a not so immediate task, due essentially to the large motion of its appendages coupled with their relevant flexibility effects. In fact, sensors used to this aim in current projects, such as optical encoders usually positioned near the joints of each arm, are almost blind to these effects, and clusters of specific redundant sensors should, therefore, be required in order to reconstruct both elastic deformations and rigid motion.Satellite navigation systems (GNSS) offer a suitable and reliable solution to this problem. To exploit the phase of the signal, instead of the traditional pseudo random code, ensures a very high accuracy of the order of magnitude of centimeter. Such a process requires the solution of an initial ambiguity problem, related to the number of integer wavelength included in the length of the member.The aim of the paper is to investigate the capability of this GNSS based technique to reconstruct the kinematics of a flexible multibody system orbiting around the Earth. This analysis requires a simulation including both the multibody dynamics and the navigation system constellation to define the satellites lines-of-sight at each time step.Concerning multibody equations of motion, a Newtonian formulation is adopted in this work. A special attention is required about the choice of the state variables. As the internal forces are associated to the relative displacements between the bodies, which are small fractions of the distance of the multibody spacecraft from the center of the Earth, the task of obtaining these forces from inertial coordinates could be impossible from a numerical point of view. So, the problem is reformulated in such a way that the equation of motion of the system contains global equations, with no internal forces, and local equations, with internal forces. In the latter, only quantities of the same order of the spacecraft dimensions are present.Accuracies achievable in LEO orbit with current GPS and upcoming Galileo systems are evaluated to show the interest of the proposed technique.     

Survival of Deinococcus radiodurans against laboratory-simulated solar wind charged particles

In this experimental study, cells of the radiation-resistant bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans were exposed to several different sources of radiation chosen to replicate the charged particles found in the solar wind. Naked cells or cells mixed with dust grains (basalt or sandstone) differing in elemental composition were exposed to electrons, protons, and ions to determine the probability of cell survival after irradiation. Doses necessary to reduce the viability of cell population to 10% (LD(10)) were determined under different experimental conditions. The results of this study indicate that low-energy particle radiation (2-4?keV), typically present in the slow component of the solar wind, had no effect on dehydrated cells, even if exposed at fluences only reached in more than 1000 years at Sun-Earth distance (1 AU). Higher-energy ions (200?keV) found in solar flares would inactivate 90% of exposed cells after several events in less than 1 year at 1 AU. When mixed with dust grains, LD(10) increases about 10-fold. These results show that, compared to the highly deleterious effects of UV radiation, solar wind charged particles are relatively benign, and organisms protected under grains from UV radiation would also be protected from the charged particles considered in this study.     

Ion Irradiation and the Origin of Cometary Materials

For about 20 years laboratory research has been carried out on the effects induced by energetic ions on materials (ices, silicates, carbons) of cometary relevance. Here I present some recent results and outline the relevance such laboratory investigations might have for understanding the origin of cometary materials. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Is the Vela pulsar associated with the Vela SNR?

Optical data taken in January 1987 from La Silla, when compared with the discovery plate of 1975.2 show no proper motion for PSR 0833-45, while a very significant one was expected if the pulsar originated in the center of the Vela SNR, which has so far been associated with it. If such an association is to be retained, either an extreme asymmetry of the SNR is required, or both objects are much older than has so far been thought. Both alternatives have their difficulties, thus possibly casting doubts on the reality of this classic SNR/pulsar association.Based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory, La Silla, Chile.     

Preliminary validation of computational procedures for a new atmospheric ionizing radiation (AIR) model.

A new computational procedure to determine particle fluxes in the Earth's atmosphere is presented. The primary cosmic ray spectrum has been modeled through an analysis of simultaneous proton and helium measurements made on high altitude balloon flights and spacecraft. An improved global fit to the data was achieved through applying a unique technique utilizing the Fokker-Plank equation with a non-linear rigidity-dependent diffusion coefficient. The propagation of primary particles through the Earth's atmosphere is calculated with a three-dimensional Monte Carlo transport program called FLUKA. Primary protons and helium nuclei (alphas) are generated within the rigidity range of 0.5 GV-20 TV uniform in cos2 theta. For a given location, primaries above the effective cutoff rigidity are transported through the atmosphere. Alpha particles are initially transported with a separate package called HEAVY to simulate fragmentation. This package interfaces with FLUKA to provide interaction starting points for each nucleon originating from a helium nucleus. Results from this calculation are presented and compared to measurements.