Science Missions Using CubeSats

As the role of missions and experiments carried out in outer space becomes more and more essential in our understanding of many earthly problems, such as resource management, environmental problems, and disaster management, as well as space science questions, thanks to their lower cost and faster development process CubeSats can benefit humanity and therefore, young scientists and engineers have been motivated to research and develop new CubeSat missions. Not very long after their inception, CubeSats have evolved to become accepted platforms for scientific and commercial applications. The last couple of years showed that they are a feasible tool for conducting scientific experiments, not only in the Earth orbit but also in the interplanetary space. For many countries, a CubeSat mission could prompt the community and young teams around the world to build the national capacity to launch and operate national space missions. This paper presents an overview of the key scientific and engineering gateways opened up to the younger scientific community by the advent and adaptation of new technology into CubeSat missions. The role of cooperation and the opportunities for capacity-building and education are also explored. Thus, the present article also aims to provide useful recommendations to scientists, early-career researchers, engineers, students, and anyone who intends to explore the potential and opportunities offered by CubeSats and CubeSats-based missions.      

Establishing space industry in developing countries: Opportunities and difficulties

Although it is generally agreed that the outer space should be used for the benefit of all mankind, only a fraction of the countries have the necessary technological base for accessing space. Space technology, with its implications on science, economy and well-being of citizens, is mostly chosen as one of the priority areas for technological development by developing countries. However, there is already an over-capacity in global space industry and there are doubts on necessity of additional capacity establishment by developing countries. In this study, the importance and benefits of capacity-building in these countries are emphasized and the advantages and disadvantages that developing countries have in the framework of space technology acquisition are briefly presented. The feasibility of certain levels of space technology is discussed and the necessity of combining existing indigenous capabilities with technology obtained from foreign sources in the optimal way is stressed. We have also mentioned various general mechanisms of technology transfer and argued the importance of licensing in catching-up developed countries. After considering the necessary conditions of efficiency of technology, such as establishment of regional centers of space science and technology education by United Nations, joint development of space systems, complete technology transfer packages, cooperative space projects within regional organizations, coordinated constellations and special agreements with large space agencies, which are specific mechanisms already in use, are reviewed. Some typical examples of mechanisms are also given with special emphasize on small satellite technology that makes access to space affordable for many countries. Through sharing and analyzing the experience of developing countries in their odyssey of space capacity-building, the difficulties can be negotiated and the vicious circles can be broken. This study, in our view, is a step to incite a general discussion of obstacles and opportunities for developing countries, that could help them in using their limited resources effectively, hence, enable them to offer better conditions to their citizens and to contribute space science to a larger extend.     

The role of the space industry in building capacity in emerging space nations

The space industry in established space-faring nations is playing an increasingly important role in the development of capacity in emerging space nations. The role of industry ranges from provision of turn-key systems, to provision of training and joint development of satellites in partnership with emerging space countries. Ranked number 1 worldwide in terms of satellites ordered in 2006, Thales Alenia Space is at the heart of the most high performance satellite technologies in both civil and defense sectors. The company has been involved in parterships with a number of emerging space nations. This paper discusses several key factors for successful interaction of industry with national space programmes in emerging space nations.     

Space debris: Assessing risk and responsibility

We model the orbital debris environment by a set of differential equations with parameter values that capture many of the complexities of existing three-dimensional simulation models. We compute the probability that a spacecraft gets destroyed in a collision during its operational lifetime, and then define the sustainable risk level as the maximum of this probability over all future time. Focusing on the 900- to 1000-km altitude region, which is the most congested portion of low Earth orbit, we find that – despite the initial rise in the level of fragments – the sustainable risk remains below 10^-3${10}^{-3}$ if there is high (>98%) compliance to the existing 25-year postmission deorbiting guideline. We quantify the damage (via the number of future destroyed operational spacecraft) generated by past and future space activities. We estimate that the 2007 FengYun 1C antisatellite weapon test represents ≈1%$\approx 1\%$ of the legacy damage due to space objects having a characteristic size of ?10$?10$ cm, and causes the same damage as failing to deorbit 2.6 spacecraft after their operational life. Although the political and economic issues are daunting, these damage estimates can be used to help determine one-time legacy fees and fees on future activities (including deorbit noncompliance), which can deter future debris generation, compensate operational spacecraft that are destroyed in future collisions, and partially fund research and development into space debris mitigation technologies. Our results need to be confirmed with a high-fidelity three-dimensional model before they can provide the basis for any major decisions made by the space community.     

The status of space science and technology in developed countries — The european experience

Space research in Western Europe began in the form of independent national space programmes confined in the first instance to the use of sounding rockets. These early steps were soon supplemented by bilateral collaborative projects with the USA and USSR whose agencies provided the satellite launch vehicles that Europe lacked at that time.In 1962 as a result of an agreement between ten member states the European Space Research Organisation (ESRO) was established for the purpose of carrying out a programme of space science. ESRO was succeeded in 1974 by the European Space Agency (ESA) with a much broader range of activities covering both scientific research and the application of space technology together with the development of launch vehicles.At the present time the totality of space activities of the ESA member states is made up of national programmes and collaborative projects with other nations and agencies together with participation in the agreed ESA programme. Because of its essentially non-military character, its relatively modest level of funding and its multinational nature the European experience with ESA may provide some useful guidance in the development of space science and technology elsewhere in the world.     

航天器与空间碎片的混合编队重构控制与应用

针对空间碎片清理问题,提出了一种利用航天器与空间碎片混合编队队形重构控制技术捕获碎片的方法。首先,分析了地/月—日系L2拉格朗日平动点附近的限制性三体环境,并建立了编队卫星相对运动动力学模型;其次,提出了以太阳光压力作为航天器与空间碎片编队队形重构的控制力,实现各从星接近空间碎片的目的;最后,设计了基于线性二次型的最优控制器,并在Matlab/Simulink环境下进行仿真实验。仿真结果表明该方法可控制从星到达期望的位置(空间碎片的位置),且太阳帆板的姿态变化在可控范围内,进而证明了该方案可以应用于复杂空间环境下的碎片清理任务。     

The iron Kα-line diagnostics of the rotating black hole metric in Seyfert galaxies

Observations of Seyfert galaxies in X-ray region reveal the wide emissive lines in their spectra, which can arise in inner parts of accretion disks, where the effects of General Relativity (GR) must be taken into account. A spectrum of a solitary emission line of a hot spot in Kerr accretion disk is simulated depending on the radial coordinate r and the angular momentum a = J/M of a black hole, under the assumption of equatorial circular motion of a hot spot. It is shown that the characteristic two-peak line profile with the sharp edges arises at a large distance (about r ≈ (3–10) r_g). The inner regions emit the line, which is observed with one maximum and extremely wide red wing. We present results of simulations for the isothermal and Shakura–Sunayev disks.     

应用于空间微生物防护的多尺度杂化抗菌剂研究

由于航天员的参与,载人航天活动中难以避免微生物防护的问题,而航天器环境密闭、空间狭小,难以采用地面常用的喷洒一次性有机消毒剂、紫外线杀菌等方式进行微生物防护。通过采用无机抗菌剂,结合纳米技术和杂化结构耦合所产生的协同作用来获得综合性能优异的无机抗菌剂,并采用适当的技术将其应用到航天器上是一种可行的办法。通过热分解前驱体和还原金属离子的方法分别在T-ZnO和CNTs上杂化纳米银和纳米铜,获得了多尺度纳米杂化抗菌剂。采用表面涂覆、浸渍和挤压法及活化接枝的方法分别探究了纳米抗菌剂在铝合金、芳纶布和树脂等材料中的应用。3种基体材料经抗菌改性后对大肠杆菌、金黄色葡萄球菌、白色念珠菌的抗菌率都可达到99.9%,对黑曲霉及其孢子的防霉等级都达到了0级,而且改性后的材料具有很好的耐老化、耐水性及良好的耐擦洗性能。该方法在深空探测活动中的微生物防护方面有很大发展前景。     

Toward a global space exploration program: A stepping stone approach

In response to the growing importance of space exploration in future planning, the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) Panel on Exploration (PEX) was chartered to provide independent scientific advice to support the development of exploration programs and to safeguard the potential scientific assets of solar system objects. In this report, PEX elaborates a stepwise approach to achieve a new level of space cooperation that can help develop world-wide capabilities in space science and exploration and support a transition that will lead to a global space exploration program. The proposed stepping stones are intended to transcend cross-cultural barriers, leading to the development of technical interfaces and shared legal frameworks and fostering coordination and cooperation on a broad front. Input for this report was drawn from expertise provided by COSPAR Associates within the international community and via the contacts they maintain in various scientific entities. The report provides a summary and synthesis of science roadmaps and recommendations for planetary exploration produced by many national and international working groups, aiming to encourage and exploit synergies among similar programs. While science and technology represent the core and, often, the drivers for space exploration, several other disciplines and their stakeholders (Earth science, space law, and others) should be more robustly interlinked and involved than they have been to date. The report argues that a shared vision is crucial to this linkage, and to providing a direction that enables new countries and stakeholders to join and engage in the overall space exploration effort. Building a basic space technology capacity within a wider range of countries, ensuring new actors in space act responsibly, and increasing public awareness and engagement are concrete steps that can provide a broader interest in space exploration, worldwide, and build a solid basis for program sustainability. By engaging developing countries and emerging space nations in an international space exploration program, it will be possible to create a critical bottom-up support structure to support program continuity in the development and execution of future global space exploration frameworks. With a focus on stepping stones, COSPAR can support a global space exploration program that stimulates scientists in current and emerging spacefaring nations, and that will invite those in developing countries to participate—pursuing research aimed at answering outstanding questions about the origins and evolution of our solar system and life on Earth (and possibly elsewhere). COSPAR, in cooperation with national and international science foundations and space-related organizations, will advocate this stepping stone approach to enhance future cooperative space exploration efforts.     

Longevity in space; Experiment on the life span of Paramecium cell clone in space

Life span is the most interesting and also the most important biologically relevant time to be investigated on the space station. As a model experiment, we proposed an investigation to assess the life span of clone generation of the ciliate Paramecium. In space, clone generation will be artificially started by conjugation or autogamy, and the life span of the cell populations in different gravitational fields (microgravity and onboard 1 x g control) will be precisely assessed in terms of fission age as compared with the clock time. In order to perform the space experiment including long-lasting culture and continuous measurement of cell division, we tested the methods of cell culture and of cell-density measurement, which will be available in closed environments under microgravity. The basic design of experimental hardware and a preliminary result of the cultivation procedure are described.     

Living plant systems: How robust are they in the absence of gravity?

The following hierarchical levels can be recognised in plant systems: cells, organs, organisms and gamodemes (interbreeding members of a community). Each level in this ‘living hierarchy’ is both defined and supported by a similar set of sub-systems. Within this framework of plant organization, two complementary questions are relevant for interpreting plant-oriented space experiments: 1) What role, if any, does gravity play in enabling the development of each organizational level? and 2) Does abnormal development in an altered gravity environment indicate sub-system inefficiency? Although a few representatives of the various organizational levels in plant systems have already been the subject of microgravity experiments in space laboratories—from cells in culture to gamodemes, the latter being found in some Closed Environment Life Support Systems—it would be of interest to investigate additional systems with respect to their response to microgravity. Recognition of the sub-systems at each level might be relevant not only for a more complete understanding of plant development but also for the successful cultivation and propagation of plants during long-term space flights and the establishment of plants in extra-terrestrial environments.     

Antioxidant capacity reduced in scallions grown under elevated CO2 independent of assayed light intensity

Long-duration manned space missions mandate the development of a sustainable life support system and effective countermeasures against damaging space radiation. To mitigate the risk of inevitable exposure to space radiation, cultivation of fresh fruits and vegetables rich in antioxidants is an attractive alternative to pharmacological agents. However it has yet to be established whether antioxidant properties of crops can be preserved or enhanced in a space environment where environmental conditions differ from that which plants have acclimated to on earth. Scallion (Allium fistulosum) rich in antioxidant vitamins C and A, and flavonoids was used as a model plant to study the impact of a range of CO₂ concentrations and light intensities that are likely encountered in a space habitat on food quality traits. Scallions were hydroponically grown in controlled environmental chambers under a combination of 3 CO₂ concentrations of 400, 1200 and 4000 μmol mol⁻¹ and 3 light intensity levels of 150, 300, 450 μmol m⁻² s⁻¹. Total antioxidant activity (TAA) of scallion extracts was determined using a radical cation scavenging assay. Both elevated CO₂ and increasing light intensity enhanced biomass accumulation, but effects on TAA (based on dry weight) differed. TAA was reduced for plants grown under elevated CO₂, but remained unchanged with increases in light intensity. Elevated CO₂ stimulated greater biomass production than antioxidants, while an increase in photosynthetic photo flux promoted the synthesis of antioxidant compounds at a rate similar to that of biomass. Consequently light is a more effective stimulus than CO₂ for antioxidant production.     

Development of an improved ground-based prototype of space plant-growing facility

Based on a formerly developed ground-based prototype of space plant-growing facility, the development of its improved prototype has been finished, so as to make its operating principle better adapt to the space microgravity environment. According to the developing experience of its first generation prototype and detailed demonstration and design of technique plan, its blueprint design and machining of related components, whole facility installment, debugging and trial operations were all done gradually. Its growing chamber contains a volume of about 0.5 m³ and a growing area of approximate 0.5 m²; the atmospheric environmental parameters in the growing chamber and water content in the growing media were controlled totally and effectively; lighting source is a combination of both red and blue light emitting diodes (LED). The following demonstrating results showed that the entire system design of the prototype is reasonable and its operating principle can nearly meet the requirements of space microgravity environment. Therefore, our plant-growing technique in space was advanced further, which laid an important foundation for next development of the space plant-growing facility and plant-cultivating experimental research in space microgravity condition.     

Single-event upset in geostationary transfer orbit during solar-activity maximum period measured by the Tsubasa satellite

This paper reports single-event upset (SEU) occurrence related to the space radiation environment in geostationary transfer orbit during solar-activity maximum period measured by the Tsubasa satellite. Most SEUs are measured in the inner radiation belt, indicating that they are mainly caused by trapped protons. Thus, the spatial distribution and the temporal variation of the SEU count correlate well with those of trapped protons. The peak SEU rate appears around L = 1.4. The transition point from SEUs caused by trapped protons to those caused by galactic cosmic rays is around L = 2.6. During the experiment period, increased SEU count was sometimes detected due to solar and geomagnetic events outside the inner radiation belt.     

The global response of terrestrial ionosphere to the December 2015 space weather event

This paper investigates the ionospheric storm of December 19–21, 2015, which was initiated by two successive CME eruptions that caused a G3 space weather event. We used the in situ electron density (N_e) and electron temperature (T_e) and the Total Electron Content (TEC) measurements from SWARM-A satellite, as well as the O/N₂ observations from TIMED/GUVI to study the ionospheric impact. The observations reveal the longitudinal and hemispherical differences in the ionospheric response to the storm event. A positive ionospheric storm was observed over the American, African and Asian regions on 20 December, and the next day showed a negative storm. Both these exhibited hemispheric differences. A positive storm was observed over the East Pacific region on 21 December. It is seen that the net effect of both the disturbance dynamo electric field and composition differences become important in explaining the observed variability in topside ionospheric densities. In addition, we also discuss the T_e variations that occurred as a consequence of the space weather event.     

Technology challenges for space interferometry: The option of mid-infrared integrated optics

Nulling interferometry is a technique providing high angular resolution which is the core of the space missions Darwin and TPF. The first objective is to reach a deep degree of starlight cancelation in the range 6–20 μm, in order to observe and to characterize the signal from an earth-like planet. Among the numerous technological challenges involved in these missions, the question of the beam combination and wavefront filtering has an important place. A single-mode integrated optics (IO) beam combiner could support both the functions of filtering and the interferometric combination, simplifying the instrumental design. Such a perspective has been explored in this work within the project Integrated Optics for Darwin (IODA), which aims at developing a first IO combiner in the mid-infrared. The solutions reviewed here to manufacture the combiner here are based on infrared dielectric materials on one side, and on metallic conductive waveguides on the other side. With this work, additional inputs are offered to pursue the investigation on mid-infrared photonics devices.     

A linear stability analysis of large-Prandtl-number thermocapillary liquid bridges

A linear stability analysis is applied to determine the onset of oscillatory thermocapillary convection in cylindrical liquid bridges of large Prandtl numbers (4  Pr  50). We focus on the relationships between the critical Reynolds number Re_c, the azimuthal wave number m, the aspect ratio Γ and the Prandtl number Pr. A detailed Re_c–Pr stability diagram is given for liquid bridges with various Γ. In the region of Pr > 1, which has been less studied previously and where Re_c has been usually believed to decrease with the increase of Pr, we found Re_c exhibits an early increase for liquid bridges with Γ around one. From the computed surface temperature gradient, it is concluded that the boundary layers developed at both solid ends of liquid bridges strengthen the stability of basic axisymmetric thermocapillary convection at large Prandtl number, and that the stability property of the basic flow is determined by the “effective” part of liquid bridge.