Soviet proposals on the militarization of space

The USSR has submitted several proposals to the United Nations in recent years which are aimed at avoiding the militarization of outer space. This article examines three of the proposals and evaluates them in the context of existing treaties, to see whether or not they could resolve the political and legal problems which might arise. The reactions of the United Nations General Assembly and individual nations are also considered. The author concludes that several questions regarding the military aspects of space activity are left unresolved by the Soviet proposals.     

Geometric reasoning under uncertainty for map-based localization

Map-based navigation in outdoor terrain lacking man-made structures or other highly distinctive landmarks can produce severe localization problems. This paper presents an approach to navigation which implements high level geometric reasoning and matching strategies based on those used by skilled human navigators. This approach, which is demonstrated on a real example involving imagery of mountainous terrain obtained with a video camera and USGS map data, is designed to avoid many of the pitfalls occurring when an attempt is made to navigate by modeling the environment mathematically. It exploits feature attributes which cannot be easily expressed quantitatively but are central to the successful human navigation process.     

The Brazilian scientific microsatellite SACI-1

The National Space Research Institute (INPE) is developing the first Brazilian Scientific Microsatellite (SACI-1) based on the vanguard technology and on the experience acquired through projects developed by Brazilian Space Program. The SACI-1 is a 750km polar orbit satellite. The spacecraft will combine spin stabilization with geomagnetic control and has a total mass of 60 kg. The overall dimensions are 640×470×470 mm. The SACI-1 satellite shall be launched together with CBERS (China-Brazil Earth Resource Satellite). Its platform is being designed for multiple mission applications. The Brazilian Academy of Sciences has selected four scientific payloads that characterize the mission. The scientific experiments are: ORCAS (Solar and Anomalous Cosmic Rays Observation in the Magnetosphere), PLASMEX (Study of Plasma Bubbles), FOTSAT (Airglow Photometer), and MAGNEX (Geomagnetic Experiment).     

Mars Direct: Humans to the red planet by 1999

“Mars Direct”, is an approach to the space Exploration Initiative that allows for the rapid initiation of manned Mars exploration, possibly as early as 1999. The approach does not require any on-orbit assembly or refueling or any support from the Space Station or other orbital infrastructure. Furthermore, the Mars Direct plan is not merely a “flags and footprints” one-shot expedition, but puts into place immediately an economical method of Earth-Mars transportation, real surface exploratory mobility, and significant base capabilities that can evolve into a mostly self-sufficient Mars settlement. This paper presents both the initial and evolutionary phases of the Mars Direct plan. In the initial phase, only chemical propulsion is used, sendig 4 persons on conjunction class Mars exploratory missions. Two heavy lift booster launches are required to support each mission. The first launch delivers an unfueled Earth Return Vehicle (ERV) to the martian surface, where it fills itself with methane/oxygen bipropellant manufactured primarily out of indigenous resources. After propellant production is completed, a second launch delivers the crew to the prepared site, where they conduct regional exploration for 1.5 years and then return directly to Earth in the ERV. In the second phase of Mars Direct, nuclear thermal propulsion is used to cut crew transit times in half, increase cargo delivery capacity, and to create the potential for true global mobility through the use of CO₂ propelled ballistic hopping vehicles (“NIMFs”). In this paper we present both phases of the Mars Direct plan, including mission architecture, vehicle designs, and exploratory strategy leading to the establishment of a 48 person permanent Mars base. Some speculative thoughts on the possibility of actually colonizing Mars are also presented.     

Automorphogenesis and gravitropism of plant seedlings grown under microgravity conditions.

Plant seedlings exhibit automorphogenesis on clinostats. The occurrence of automorphogenesis was confirmed under microgravity in Space Shuttle STS-95 flight. Rice coleoptiles showed an inclination toward the caryopsis in the basal region and a spontaneous curvature in the same adaxial direction in the elongating region both on a three-dimensional (3-D) clinostat and in space. Both rice roots and Arabidopsis hypocotyls also showed a similar morphology in space and on the 3-D clinostat. In rice coleoptiles, the mechanisms inducing such an automorphic curvature were studied. The faster-expanding convex side of rice coleoptiles showed a higher extensibility of the cell wall than the opposite side. Also, in the convex side, the cell wall thickness was smaller, the turnover of the matrix polysaccharides was more active, and the microtubules oriented more transversely than the concave side, and these differences appear to be causes of the curvature. When rice coleoptiles grown on the 3-D clinostat were placed horizontally, the gravitropic curvature was delayed as compared with control coleoptiles. In clinostatted coleoptiles, the corresponding suppression of the amyloplast development was also observed. Similar results were obtained in Arabidopsis hypocotyls. Thus, the induction of automorphogenesis and a concomitant decrease in graviresponsiveness occurred in plant shoots grown under microgravity conditions.     

A theoretical assessment of the feasibility of potential Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter radio occultation observations of the lunar ionosphere

The existence of a “dense” lunar ionosphere has been controversial for decades. Positive ions produced from the lunar surface and exosphere are inferred to have densities that are $?$${10}^6$ – ${10}^7$ m^?3 near the surface and smaller at higher altitudes, yet electron densities derived from radio occultation measurements occasionally exceed these values by orders of magnitude. For example, about 4% of the single-spacecraft radio occultation measurements from Kaguya/SELENE were consistent with peak electron densities of $~$$3\times {10}^8$ m^?3. Space plasmas should be neutral on macroscopic scales, so this represents a substantial discrepancy. Aditional observations of electron densities in the lunar ionosphere are critical to resolving this longstanding paradox. Here we theoretically assess whether radio occultation observations using two-way coherent S-band radio signals from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft could provide useful measurements of electron densities in the lunar ionosphere. We predict the uncertainty in a single LRO radio occultation measurement of electron density to be $~$$3\times {10}^8$ m^?3, comparable to occasional observations by Kaguya/SELENE of a dense lunar ionosphere. Thus an individual profile from LRO is unlikely to reliably detect the lunar ionosphere; however, averages of multiple ($~$10) LRO profiles acquired under similar geophysical and viewing conditions should be able to make reliable detections. An observing rate of six ingress occultations per day ($~$2000 per year) could be achieved with minimal impact on current LRO operations. This rate compares favorably with the 378 observations reported from the single-spacecraft experiment on Kaguya/SELENE between November 2007 and June 2009. The large number of observations possible for LRO would be sufficient to permit wide-ranging investigations of spatial and temporal variations in the poorly understood lunar ionosphere. These findings strengthen efforts to conduct such observations with LRO.     

Planet-B mission to Mars - 1998

PLANET-B is the Japanese Mars orbiter program. The primary objective of the program is to study the Martian aeronomy, putting emphasis on the interaction of the Martian upper atmosphere with the solar wind. The launch of the spacecraft is scheduled for August, 1998. The periapsis altitude and the apoapsis are 150 km and 15 Mars radii, respectively. The dry weight of the orbiter is 186 kg including 14 science instruments. Advanced technologies are employed in the design of the spacecraft in order to overcome the weight limitation. This paper describes the scientific objectives of the PLANET-B program and outline of the spacecraft system.     

Development of data base of the ionosphere disturbances

A properly weighted measure of histogram distortion is proposed to evaluate data with different time scales for any index in any field. This approach is applied to produce a long-term data base of disturbance measure of the geomagnetic indices and ionospheric VI sounding characteristics. It is shown that the ionosphere disturbances detected by the proposed technique include all the storm periods defined by the statistical procedure used earlier at IRPL, NBS, Washington, D.C.     

Modeling of “gradual” solar energeticparticle events using a stochastic differential equation method

We have modeled “gradual” solar energetic particle events through numerical simulations using a StochasticDifferential Equation (SDE) method. We consider that energetic particle events are roughly divided into two groups: (1) where the shock was driven by coronal mass ejections (CMEs) associated with large solar flares, and (2) where they have no related solar events apart from the CMEs. (The detailed classification of energetic particle events was discussed in our previous paper.) What we call “gradual” solar energetic particle events belong to the former group. Particles with energies greater than 10 MeV are observed within several hours after the occurrence of flares and CMEs in many gradual events. By applying the SDE method coupled with particle splitting to diffusive acceleration, we found that an injection of high energy particles is necessary for early enhancement of such a high-energy proton flux and that it should not be presumed that the solar wind particles act as the seed population.