An ethical duty: Let astronautical development unfold – to make the people more secure

In examining alternative space-development models, one observes that Heinlein postulated the first Moon flight as the outcome of the focused action of an individual – building upon an ample commercial aerospace transportation infrastructure. The same technological basis and entrepreneurial drive would then sustain a fast human and economic expansion on three new planets. Instead, historically, humans reached the Moon thanks to a “Faustian bargain” between astronautical developers and governments. This approach brought the early Apollo triumphs, but it also created the presumption of this method as the sole one for enabling space development. Eventually, the application of this paradigm caused the decline of the astronautical endeavor. Thus, just as conventional methods became unable to sustain the astronautical endeavor, space development appeared as vital, e.g., to satisfy the people?s basic needs (metabolic resources, energy, materials, and space), as shown elsewhere. Such an endeavor must grow from actions generating new wealth through commercial activities to become self-supporting. Acquisition and distribution of multiform space resources call, however, for a sound ethical environment, as predatory governments can easily forfeit those resources.     

Landmark Navigation Rule, a New Navigation Device

Two new methods of landmark navigation were recently presented. The landmarks are assumed to be within sight of the navigator but with unknown positions. Both methods require computations which are time consuming when a computer is not available. This correspondence presents the concept of a new navigation device called ?landmark navigation rule? which eliminates all the computation effort required in both new methods. The device is simple in construction, lightweight, and consumes no power.     

Flutter and Time Errors in Instrumentation Magnetic Recorders

Flutter and time errors are critical factors in all instrumentation recording. This paper presents analytically the relationship between flutter, time base error, and time base error difference (sometimes called jitter), and the effects of these factors on direct and FM recording. Methods of measuring these quantities are discussed and experimental examples are given. Finally, a measurement method for the interchannel time error is presented, and some trends of correlation among all channels are discussed.     

Optimum Strategies for Minimum Time Frequency Transitions in Phase-Locked Loops

Pontryagin's maximum principle is applied to minimize the time for a phase-locked loop to lock to a step change in frequency. In particular, a Type II phase-locked loop is considered in detail. Phase control and frequency control of the input signal are analyzed with the nonlinearity of the phase detector taken into consideration. It is shown that application of Pontryagin's maximum principle offers a decided advantage in shortening this time by proper control.     

Growth and development of cultured carrot cells and embryos under spaceflight conditions

Morphogenetically competent proembryonic cells and well-developed somatic embryos of carrot at two levels of organization were exposed for 18.5 days to a hypogravity environment aboard the Soviet Biosatellite Cosmos 1129. It was confirmed that cultured totipotent cells of carrot can give rise to embryos with well-developed roots and minimally developed shoots. It was also shown that the space hypogravity environment could support the further growth of already-organized, later somatic embryonic stages and give rise to fully developed embryo-plantlets with roots and shoots.     

New insights into Titan's organic chemistry in the gas and aerosol phases.

Titan, the largest satellite of Saturn, with a dense atmosphere very rich in organics, and many couplings in the various parts of its "geofluid", is a reference for studying prebiotic chemistry on a planetary scale. New data have been obtained from experiments simulating this organic chemistry (gas and aerosol phases), within the right ranges of temperature and a careful avoiding of any chemical contamination. They show a very good agreement with the observational data, demonstrating for the first time the formation of all the organic species already detected in Titan atmosphere including, at last, C4N2, together with many other species not yet detected in Titan. This strongly suggests the presence of more complex organics in Titan's atmosphere and surface, including high molecular weight polyynes and cyanopolyynes. The NASA-ESA Cassini-Huygens mission has been successfully launched in October 1997. The Cassini spacecraft will reach the Saturn system in 2004 and become an orbiter around Saturn, while the Huygens probe will penetrate into Titan's atmosphere. In situ measurements, in particular from Huygens GC-MS and ACP instruments, will provide a detailed analysis of the organics present in the air, aerosols, and surface. This very ambitious mission should yield much information of crucial importance for our knowledge of the complexity of Titan's chemistry, and, more generally for the field of exobiology.     

Study of cosmic rays and light flashes on board Space Station MIR: the SilEye experiment.

The SilEye experiment aims to study the cause and processes related to the anomalous Light Flashes (LF) perceived by astronauts in orbit and their relation with Cosmic Rays. These observations will be also useful in the study of the long duration manned space flight environment. Two PC-driven silicon detector telescopes have been built and placed aboard Space Station MIR. SilEye-1 was launched in 1995 and provided particles track and LF information; the data gathered indicate a linear dependence of FLF(Hz) ( 4 2) 10(3) 5.3 1.7 10(4) Fpart(Hz) if South Atlantic Anomaly fluxes are not included. Even though higher statistic is required, this is an indication that heavy ion interactions with the eye are the main LF cause. To improve quality and quantity of measurements, a second apparatus, SilEye-2, was placed on MIR in 1997, and started work from August 1998. This instrument provides energetic information, which allows nuclear identification in selected energy ranges; we present preliminary measurements of the radiation field inside MIR performed with SilEye-2 detector in June 1998.     

Local-area helioseismology as a diagnostic tool for solar variability

Dynamical and thermal variations of the internal structure of the Sun can affect the energy flow and result in variations in irradiance at the surface. Studying variations in the interior is crucial for understanding the mechanisms of the irradiance variations. “Global” helioseismology based on analysis of normal mode frequencies, has helped to reveal radial and latitudinal variations of the solar structure and dynamics associated with the solar cycle in the deep interior. A new technique, - “local-area” helioseismology or heliotomography, offers additional potentially important diagnostics by providing three-dimensional maps of the sound speed and flows in the upper convection zone. These diagnostics are based on inversion of travel times of acoustic waves which propagate between different points on the solar surface through the interior. The most significant variations in the thermodynamic structure found by this method are associated with sunspots and complexes of solar activity. The inversion results provide evidence for areas of higher sound speed beneath sunspot regions located at depths of 4–20 Mm, which may be due to accumulated heat or magnetic field concentrations. However, the physics of these structures is not yet understood. Heliotomography also provides information about large-scale stable longitudinal structures in the solar interior, which can be used in irradiance models. This new diagnostic tool for solar variability is currently under development. It will require both a substantial theoretical and modeling effort and high-resolution data to develop new capabilities for understanding mechanisms of solar variability.     

Mars Phobos and Deimos Survey (M-PADS) – A martian Moons orbiter and Phobos lander

We describe a Mars ‘Micro Mission’ for detailed study of the martian satellites Phobos and Deimos. The mission involves two ∼330 kg spacecraft equipped with solar electric propulsion to reach Mars orbit. The two spacecraft are stacked for launch: an orbiter for remote investigation of the moons and in situ studies of their environment in Mars orbit, and another carrying a lander for in situ measurements on the surface of Phobos (or alternatively Deimos). Phobos and Deimos remain only partially studied, and Deimos less well than Phobos. Mars has almost always been the primary mission objective, while the more dedicated Phobos project (1988–89) failed to realise its full potential. Many questions remain concerning the moons’ origins, evolution, physical nature and composition. Current missions, such as Mars Express, are extending our knowledge of Phobos in some areas but largely neglect Deimos. The objectives of M-PADS focus on: origins and evolution, interactions with Mars, volatiles and interiors, surface features, and differences. The consequent measurement requirements imply both landed and remote sensing payloads. M-PADS is expected to accommodate a 60 kg orbital payload and a 16 kg lander payload. M-PADS resulted from a BNSC-funded study carried out in 2003 to define candidate Mars Micro Mission concepts for ESA’s Aurora programme.