The role of space related non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in capacity building

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) play a unique role in international affairs, providing access to resources, expertise, and assistance to supplement State resources. Sometimes the diplomatic skills and unofficial access of NGOs to policymakers through Track Two diplomacy can move a previously stalled critical issue forward and assist policymakers from different countries to find common ground outside official channels. Because they work outside of official channels, they are not bound by State policy that may inhibit negotiations between States. Some also have a convening power that sometimes makes it possible for State representatives to meet discipline experts and each other for informal discussions on issues of mutual interest. Finally, NGOs can draw attention to issues that may be overlooked or avoided by State organizations.     

Space Weather applications with CDPP/AMDA

AMDA (Automated Multi-Dataset Analysis), a new data analysis service, recently opened at the French Plasma Physics Data Center (CDPP). AMDA is developed according to the Virtual Observatory paradigm: it is a web-based facility for on-line analyses of space physics. Data may come from its own local database as well as remote ones. This tool allows the user to perform classical manipulations such as data visualization, parameter computation and data extraction. AMDA also offers innovative functionalities such as event searches on the content of the data in either visual or automated ways, generation, use and management of time tables (event lists). The general functionalities of AMDA are presented in the context of Space Weather with example scientific use cases.     

Conceptual design of a bioregenerative life support system containing crops and silkworms

This article summarizes a conceptual design of a bioregenerative life support system for permanent lunar base or planetary exploration. The system consists of seven compartments – higher plants cultivation, animal rearing, human habitation, water recovery, waste treatment, atmosphere management, and storages. Fifteen kinds of crops, such as wheat, rice, soybean, lettuce, and mulberry, were selected as main life support contributors to provide the crew with air, water, and vegetable food. Silkworms fed by crop leaves were designated to produce partial animal nutrition for the crew. Various physical-chemical and biological methods were combined to reclaim wastewater and solid waste. Condensate collected from atmosphere was recycled into potable water through granular activated carbon adsorption, iodine sterilization, and trace element supplementation. All grey water was also purified though multifiltration and ultraviolet sterilization. Plant residue, human excrement, silkworm feces, etc. were decomposed into inorganic substances which were finally absorbed by higher plants. Some meat, ingredients, as well as nitrogen fertilizer were prestored and resupplied periodically. Meanwhile, the same amount and chemical composition of organic waste was dumped to maintain the steady state of the system. A nutritional balanced diet was developed by means of the linear programming method. It could provide 2721 kcal of energy, 375.5 g of carbohydrate, 99.47 g of protein, and 91.19 g of fat per capita per day. Silkworm powder covered 12.54% of total animal protein intakes. The balance of material flows between compartments was described by the system of stoichiometric equations. Basic life support requirements for crews including oxygen, food, potable and hygiene water summed up to 29.68 kg per capita per day. The coefficient of system material closure reached 99.40%.     

Low-latitude ionospheric scintillations and total electron content obtained with the CITRIS instrument on STPSat1 using radio transmissions from DORIS ground beacons

The primary objective of the Scintillation and Tomography Receiver in Space (CITRIS) is to detect ionospheric irregularities from space at low latitude. For this purpose, the satellite receiver uses the UHF and S-Band transmissions of the ground network of Doppler Orbitography and Radiopositioning Integrated by Satellite (DORIS) beacons. CITRIS, developed at the Naval Research Laboratory, differs from the normal DORIS receiver by being able to capture and store the complex amplitude of the 401.25 and 2036.25 MHz transmissions at 200 Hz sample rate. Ground processing of the CITRIS data yields total electron content (TEC) and both phase and amplitude scintillations. With CITRIS flying on the US Space Test Program (STP) satellite STPSat1, 2 years of data were collected and processed to determine the fluctuations in ionospheric TEC and radio scintillations associated with equatorial irregularities. CITRIS flights over DORIS transmitters yield direct measurements of the horizontal plasma density fluctuations associated with equatorial plasma bubbles. Future flights of CITRIS can provide valuable complements to other satellite instruments such as GPS occultation receivers used to estimate vertical electron density profiles in the ionosphere.     

A comparative and numerical study of effects of gravity waves in small miss-distance and miss-time GPS radio occultation temperature profiles

The Global Positioning System (GPS) Radio Occultation (RO) technique has global coverage and is capable of generating high vertical resolution temperature profiles of the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere with sub-Kelvin accuracy and long-term stability, regardless of weather conditions. In this work, we take advantage of the anomalously high density of occultation events at the eastern side of the highest Andes Mountains during the initial mission months of COSMIC (Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere and Climate). This region is well-known for its high wave activity. We choose to study two pairs of GPS RO, both containing two occultations that occurred close in time and space. One pair shows significant differences between both temperature profiles. Numerical simulations with a mesoscale model were performed, in order to understand this discrepancy. It is attributed to the presence of a horizontal inhomogeneous structure caused by gravity waves.     

Trapped proton fluxes measured on board LEO satellites in comparison with models

The proton fluxes from the low-Earth orbital satellites databases (NPOES-17 and CORONAS-F) were analyzed for the quiet geomagnetic period in April 2005. The satisfactory consent was found between the experimental and the AP8 model fluxes of the trapped protons with energy more than ∼10 MeV. At the same time, trapped proton fluxes with energy less than 10 MeV measured by LEO satellites were higher than the ones predicted by the AP8 model in the region of the SAA (drift shell L < 1.5).     

Computer modelling of a penetrator thermal sensor

The Philae lander is part of the Rosetta mission to investigate comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. It will use a harpoon like device to anchor itself onto the surface. The anchor will perhaps reach depths of 1–2 m. In the anchor is a temperature sensor that will measure the boundary temperature as part of the MUPUS experiment. As the anchor attains thermal equilibrium with the comet ice it may be possible to extract the thermal properties of the surrounding ice, such as the thermal diffusivity, by using the temperature sensor data. The anchor is not an optimal shape for a thermal probe and application of analytical solutions to the heat equation is inappropriate. We prepare a numerical model to fit temperature sensor data and extract the thermal diffusivity. Penetrator probes mechanically compact the material immediately surrounding them as they enter the target. If the thermal properties, composition and dimensions of the penetrator are known, then the thermal properties of this pristine material may be recovered although this will be a challenging measurement. We report on investigations, using a numerical thermal model, to simulate a variety of scenarios that the anchor may encounter and how they will affect the measurement.     

Survival and death of the haloarchaeon Natronorubrum strain HG-1 in a simulated martian environment

Halophilic archaea are of interest to astrobiology due to their survival capabilities in desiccated and high salt environments. The detection of remnants of salty pools on Mars stimulated investigations into the response of haloarchaea to martian conditions. Natronorubrum sp. strain HG-1 is an extremely halophilic archaeon with unusual metabolic pathways, growing on acetate and stimulated by tetrathionate. We exposed Natronorubrum strain HG-1 to ultraviolet (UV) radiation, similar to levels currently prevalent on Mars. In addition, the effects of low temperature (4, −20, and −80 °C), desiccation, and exposure to a Mars soil analogue from the Atacama desert on the viability of Natronorubrum strain HG-1 cultures were investigated. The results show that Natronorubrum strain HG-1 cannot survive for more than several hours when exposed to UV radiation equivalent to that at the martian equator. Even when protected from UV radiation, viability is impaired by a combination of desiccation and low temperature. Desiccating Natronorubrum strain HG-1 cells when mixed with a Mars soil analogue impaired growth of the culture to below the detection limit. Overall, we conclude that Natronorubrum strain HG-1 cannot survive the environment currently present on Mars. Since other halophilic microorganisms were reported to survive simulated martian conditions, our results imply that survival capabilities are not necessarily shared between phylogenetically related species.     

Wide field cameras for SAX

SAX is an Italian X-ray satellite with a Dutch contribution that will be placed in orbit in 1994. The prime scientific object of SAX is to cover an energy bandwidth that ranges from 0.1 keV up to 200 keV. Among other instruments, SAX will consist of two X-ray Wide Field Cameras built by the Space Research Organisation Netherlands at Utrecht. The WFCs are based on the coded mask principle, the reconstruction of the image takes place on ground. The field of view is 20 degrees square full width at half maximum (FWHM), the angular resolution 5 arcminutes (FWHM) and the energy band ranges from 1.8 to 30 keV with a resolution of 18% at 6 keV. The sensitive area is 200 cm² at 6 keV. The mask pattern is based on a pseudo random array with 255 × 257 elements of 1 mm², 50% of which are transparent.