Optical Design for a Cubesat: Unobscured Telescope,Using Freeform Mirrors and a Curved Detector

The possibility of constructing an optical scheme of a telescope for a small satellite based on mirrors with freeform surfaces and a curved photodetector is considered. It is shown that the use of a new element base allows the effective area of the main mirror to be maximized and the field of view up to 9.4 times to be increased in comparison with the classical scheme of the Ritchey–Chretien scheme in ensuring the high image quality.     

The Effects of Notch Filters on the Correlation Properties of a PN Signal

With wideband pseudo-noise (PN) communications systems, it is sometimes desirable to supplement the inherent interference rejection capabilities by adding notch filters to attenuate relatively narrowband interference. This correspondence presents an investigation of the effects of notch filters on the performance of PN correlation receivers. A theoretical analysis of the correlation drop due to filter distortion has been conducted and confirmed by experimentation. Additional measurements and analysis have established the trade-off between correlation drop and interference suppression as a function of interference bandwidth. A typical result is that by incurring a penalty of a 1-dB drop in correlation peak, interfering signals having bandwidths of 2 to 3 percent of the PN chip rate can be attenuated by 25 dB.     

Preliminary mission profile of Hera’s Milani CubeSat

CubeSats offer a flexible and low-cost option to increase the scientific and technological return of small-body exploration missions. ESA’s Hera mission, the European component of the Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment (AIDA) international collaboration, plans on deploying two CubeSats in the proximity of binary system 65803 Didymos, after arrival in 2027. In this work, we discuss the feasibility and preliminary mission profile of Hera’s Milani CubeSat. The CubeSat mission is designed to achieve both scientific and technological objectives. We identify the design challenges and discuss design criteria to find suitable solutions in terms of mission analysis, operational trajectories, and Guidance, Navigation, & Control (GNC) design. We present initial trajectories and GNC baseline, as a result of trade-off analyses. We assess the feasibility of the Milani CubeSat mission and provide a preliminary solution to cover the operational mission profile of Milani in the close-proximity of Didymos system.     

Observations of Extended Radio Emission in Clusters

We review observations of extended regions of radio emission in clusters; these include diffuse emission in ‘relics’, and the large central regions commonly referred to as ‘halos’. The spectral observations, as well as Faraday rotation measurements of background and cluster radio sources, provide the main evidence for large-scale intracluster magnetic fields and significant densities of relativistic electrons. Implications from these observations on acceleration mechanisms of these electrons are reviewed, including turbulent and shock acceleration, and also the origin of some of the electrons in collisions of relativistic protons by ambient protons in the (thermal) gas. Improved knowledge of non-thermal phenomena in clusters requires more extensive and detailed radio measurements; we briefly review prospects for future observations.     

The 22 GHz resource sharing experiment of the DAVID mission

The resource sharing experiment (RSE) of the DAVID (DAta and Video Interactive Distribution) multiexperiment mission of the Italian Space Agency (ASI) is described. The experiment envisages adaptively varying the robustness of signals down-transmitted, to a set (16) of Earth terminals by acting on their coding and spreading. During the DAVID satellite passes, each terminal determines autonomously its signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and transmits it to a central station which, by using this information, works out the parameters for the global system optimization and indicates, in real time, to the terminals which code and despreading factor they must utilize to receive the part of the signal addressed to them.     

Doppler ambiguity resolution using multiple PRF

An algorithm for velocity ambiguity resolution in coherent pulsed Doppler radar using multiple pulse repetition frequencies (PRF) is presented. It relies on the choice of particular values for the PRFs. The folded frequency of the target signal is obtained by averaging the folded frequency estimates for each PRF, and a quasi maximum likelihood criterion is maximized for ambiguity order estimation. The fast implementation of this nonambiguous estimation procedure is based on the fast Fourier transform (FFT), The proposed waveform allows full exploitation of any (even) number of PRFs, which appears to be important for estimation improvement. The effects of the waveform parameters and the folded frequency estimation variance on the performance of the ambiguity order estimation procedure are evaluated theoretically and through computer simulations. Mean square error (MSE) curves are given to assess the Doppler frequency estimation accuracy. Finally, the new method is compared with a classical technique and the implementation of the algorithm in a clutter environment is addressed.     

Thermal Properties of Icy Surfaces in the Outer Solar System

The thermal properties of airless icy surfaces are providing a wealth of information on their regolith structure after eons of space weathering. Numerous observations of the thermal cycles of Jupiter and Saturn icy satellites or Centaurs and TNOs have been acquired in the latest decades thanks to the Galileo and Cassini missions and to the Spitzer and Herschel telescopes. These observations and the latest developments on thermophysical modeling which have been achieved to link the thermal inertia to the regolith structure are reviewed here. Measured thermal inertias of these surfaces covered with water ice are very low, roughly between about 1 and 100 J/m²/K/s^1/2. Often interpreted as due to unconsolidated or highly porous regoliths, these low values may result from a composition of amorphous ice or from the roughness of grains defacing contacts in a regolith of normal compaction. Taken together, thermal inertias appear to increase with probed depth and to decrease with heliocentric distance. This latter effect can be easily reproduced if heat transfer is dominated by radiation in pores, despite low temperatures, because the conduction through grains is limited, either due to the presence of amorphous ice or because of the roughness of grains.     

Exploring The Saturn System In The Thermal Infrared: The Composite Infrared Spectrometer

The Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) is a remote-sensing Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS) on the Cassini orbiter that measures thermal radiation over two decades in wavenumber, from 10 to 1400 cm^{− 1} (1 mm to 7μ m), with a spectral resolution that can be set from 0.5 to 15.5 cm^{− 1}. The far infrared portion of the spectrum (10–600 cm^{− 1}) is measured with a polarizing interferometer having thermopile detectors with a common 4-mrad field of view (FOV). The middle infrared portion is measured with a traditional Michelson interferometer having two focal planes (600–1100 cm^{− 1}, 1100–1400 cm^{− 1}). Each focal plane is composed of a 1× 10 array of HgCdTe detectors, each detector having a 0.3-mrad FOV. CIRS observations will provide three-dimensional maps of temperature, gas composition, and aerosols/condensates of the atmospheres of Titan and Saturn with good vertical and horizontal resolution, from deep in their tropospheres to high in their mesospheres. CIRS’s ability to observe atmospheres in the limb-viewing mode (in addition to nadir) offers the opportunity to provide accurate and highly resolved vertical profiles of these atmospheric variables. The ability to observe with high-spectral resolution should facilitate the identification of new constituents. CIRS will also map the thermal and compositional properties of the surfaces of Saturn’s icy satellites. It will similarly map Saturn’s rings, characterizing their dynamical and spatial structure and constraining theories of their formation and evolution. The combination of broad spectral range, programmable spectral resolution, the small detector fields of view, and an orbiting spacecraft platform will allow CIRS to observe the Saturnian system in the thermal infrared at a level of detail not previously achieved.This revised version was published online in July 2005 with a corrected cover date.