Use of Optical Characteristics to Identify Orbiting Material

Knowledge of the observable properties of orbital debris is necessary to validate debris models for both the low Earth orbit (LEO) and the geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO). Current methods determine the size and mass of orbital debris based on knowledge or assumption of the material type of the piece. Improvement in the knowledge of material is the goal of the research described herein. The process of using spectral absorption features to determine the material type is explored. A review of the optical measurements of orbital debris as well as current research in the area is discussed. Reflectances of common spacecraft materials are compared. The need for, and advances made possible by obtaining real data are explored. The prospects of the venture are investigated.     

Specification of the Earth’s plasmasphere with data assimilation

In this paper we report on initial work toward data assimilative modeling of the Earth’s plasmasphere. As the medium of propagation for waves which are responsible for acceleration and decay of the radiation belts, an accurate assimilative model of the plasmasphere is crucial for optimizing the accurate prediction of the radiation environments encountered by satellites. On longer time-scales the plasmasphere exhibits significant dynamics. Although these dynamics are modeled well by existing models, they require detailed global knowledge of magnetospheric configuration which is not always readily available. For that reason data assimilation can be expected to be an effective tool in improving the modeling accuracy of the plasmasphere. In this paper we demonstrate that a relatively modest number of measurements, combined with a simple data assimilation scheme, inspired by the ensemble Kalman filtering data assimilation technique does a good job of reproducing the overall structure of the plasmasphere including plume development. This raises hopes that data assimilation will be an effective method for accurately representing the configuration of the plasmasphere for space weather applications.     

Sulfur-oxidizing chemolithotrophic proteobacteria dominate the microbiota in high arctic thermal springs on Svalbard

The thermal springs Trollosen and Fisosen, located on the High Arctic archipelago Svalbard, discharge saline groundwaters rich in hydrogen sulfide and ammonium through a thick layer of permafrost. Large amounts of biomass that consist of filamentous microorganisms containing sulfur granules, as analyzed with energy dispersive X-ray analysis, were found in the outflow. Prokaryotic 16S rRNA gene libraries and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) analyses reported bacteria of the γ- and ?-proteobacterial classes as the dominant organisms in the filaments and the planktonic fractions, closely related to known chemolithoautotrophic sulfur oxidizers (Thiotrix and Sulfurovum). Archaea comprised ～1% of the microbial community, with the majority of sequences affiliated with the Thaumarchaeota. Archaeal and bacterial genes coding for a subunit of the enzyme ammonia monooxygenase (amoA) were detected, as well as 16S?rRNA genes of Nitrospira, all of which is indicative of potential complete nitrification in both springs. 16S rRNA sequences related to methanogens and methanotrophs were detected as well. This study provides evidence that the microbial communities in Trollosen and Fisosen are sustained by chemolithotrophy, mainly through the oxidation of reduced sulfur compounds, and that ammonium and methane might be minor, additional sources of energy and carbon.     

The Juno Magnetic Field Investigation

The Juno Magnetic Field investigation (MAG) characterizes Jupiter’s planetary magnetic field and magnetosphere, providing the first globally distributed and proximate measurements of the magnetic field of Jupiter. The magnetic field instrumentation consists of two independent magnetometer sensor suites, each consisting of a tri-axial Fluxgate Magnetometer (FGM) sensor and a pair of co-located imaging sensors mounted on an ultra-stable optical bench. The imaging system sensors are part of a subsystem that provides accurate attitude information (to ～20 arcsec on a spinning spacecraft) near the point of measurement of the magnetic field. The two sensor suites are accommodated at 10 and 12 m from the body of the spacecraft on a 4 m long magnetometer boom affixed to the outer end of one of ’s three solar array assemblies. The magnetometer sensors are controlled by independent and functionally identical electronics boards within the magnetometer electronics package mounted inside Juno’s massive radiation shielded vault. The imaging sensors are controlled by a fully hardware redundant electronics package also mounted within the radiation vault. Each magnetometer sensor measures the vector magnetic field with 100 ppm absolute vector accuracy over a wide dynamic range (to 16 Gauss = \(1.6 \times 10^{6}\mbox{ nT}\) per axis) with a resolution of ～0.05 nT in the most sensitive dynamic range (±1600 nT per axis). Both magnetometers sample the magnetic field simultaneously at an intrinsic sample rate of 64 vector samples per second. The magnetic field instrumentation may be reconfigured in flight to meet unanticipated needs and is fully hardware redundant. The attitude determination system compares images with an on-board star catalog to provide attitude solutions (quaternions) at a rate of up to 4 solutions per second, and may be configured to acquire images of selected targets for science and engineering analysis. The system tracks and catalogs objects that pass through the imager field of view and also provides a continuous record of radiation exposure. A spacecraft magnetic control program was implemented to provide a magnetically clean environment for the magnetic sensors, and residual spacecraft fields and/or sensor offsets are monitored in flight taking advantage of Juno’s spin (nominally 2 rpm) to separate environmental fields from those that rotate with the spacecraft.     

Polar CEPPAD/IPS energetic neutral atom (ENA) images of a substorm injection

The CEPPAD Imaging Proton Spectrometer on the POLAR spacecraft has proven to perform very well as an Energetic Neutral (ENA) atom imager, despite the fact that it was designed primarily for measuring energetic ions in-situ. ENAs emitted from the ring current can be detected during storm- as well as quiet-time conditions and can be monitored continuously for many hours at a time when Polar is situated in the polar cap. In addition, we are able to routinely detect ‘bursts’ of ENA emissions in response to substorm-associated ion injections. In this paper, we present ENA images of a single such event together with global auroral imager data from the POLAR VIS instrument. LANL geosynchronous energetic particle data, and ground magnetic Pi2 data in order to establish that such bursts are indeed caused by substorm injections.     

Flight demonstration of formation flying capabilities for future missions (NEAT pathfinder)

PRISMA is a demonstration mission for formation-flying and on-orbit-servicing critical technologies that involves two spacecraft launched in low Earth orbit in June 2010 and still in operation. Funded by the Swedish National Space Board, PRISMA mission has been developed by OHB-Sweden (formerly Swedish Space Corporation) with important contributions from the German Aerospace Centre (DLR/GSOC), the French Space Agency (CNES), and the Technical University of Denmark (DTU). The paper focuses on the last CNES experiment achieved in September 2012 that was devoted to the preparation of future astrometry missions illustrated by the NEAT and µ-NEAT mission concepts. The experiment consisted of performing the type of formation maneuvers required to point the two-satellite axis to a celestial target and maintain it fixed during the observation period. Achieving inertial pointing for a LEO formation represented a new challenge given the numerous constraints from propellant usage to star tracker blinding. The paper presents the experiment objectives in relation with the NEAT/µ-NEAT mission concept, describes its main design features along with the guidance and control algorithms evolutions and discusses the results in terms of performances achieved during the two rehearsals.     

Letting thoughts take wing

Recent developments in neuroelectronics are applied to aviation and airplane flight control instruments. Electromyographic control has been applied to flight simulations using the autopilot interface in order to use gestures to give bank and pitch commands to the autopilot. In other demonstrations, direct rate control was used to perform repeated successful landings and the damage-adaptive capability of inner-loop neural and propulsion-based controls was utilized.