Fuel consumption and collision avoidance strategy in multi-static orbit formations

This paper analyses the fuel consumption of interferometric radar missions employing small satellite formations like, e.g., Cross-track Pendulum, Cartwheel, CarPe, or Trinodal Pendulum. Individual analytic expressions are provided for each of the following contributions: separation from a simultaneously injected master satellite, formation set-up, orbit maintenance, formation maintenance, and distance maintenance. For this, a general system of equations is derived describing the relative motion of the small satellites in a co-rotating reference frame. The transformation into Keplerian elements is carried out. To evaluate fuel consumption, three master satellites are assumed in different orbital heights, which are typical for Earth observation missions. The size of the exemplarily analysed formations is defined by remote sensing aspects and their respective fuel requirements are estimated. Furthermore, a collision avoidance concept is introduced, which includes a formation separation and formation set-up after a desired time period.     

The X/X/KA-band deep space transponder for the BepiColombo mission to mercury

This paper reports the main characteristics of the deep space transponder (DST) equipment that has been designed, developed and tested by Thales Alenia Space—Italy (TAS-I) for the European Space Agency (ESA) BepiColombo mission to Mercury.     

Analytical solutions for the relative motion of spacecraft subject to Lorentz-force perturbations

A spacecraft capable of producing higher-than-natural electrostatic charges may achieve propellantless orbital maneuvering via the Lorentz-force interaction with a planetary magnetic field. Development of maneuver strategies for these propellantless vehicles is complicated by the fact that the perturbative Lorentz force acts along only a single line of action at any instant. Relative-motion dynamical models are developed that lead to approximate analytical solutions for the motion of charged spacecraft subject to the Lorentz force. These solutions indicate that the principal effects of the Lorentz force on a spacecraft in a circular orbit are to change the intrack position and to change the orbit plane. A rendezvous example is presented in which a spacecraft with a specific charge of ?3.81 $\times$ 10^?4 C/kg reaches a target vehicle initially 10 km away (on the same equatorial low-Earth orbit) in 1 day. Fly-around maneuvers may be achieved in low-Earth orbit with specific charges on the order of 0.001 C/kg.     

A new universal equation for the time of transfer between two points of the central gravitational field

The paper presents the derivation of two new equations for calculating the time of transfer between two points of the central gravitational field: for hyperbolic orbits and the universal equation for elliptical and hyperbolic orbits. In the paper we have used as an independent variable, instead of the linear elements (semimajor axis, focal parameter of orbit or a chord connecting the ends of boundary radii of transfer), the angular parameter—the angle between the radius vector of an initial point of transfer and the vector of initial velocity of transfer. Paper’s material is a continuation of that presented in the “Space research“ Journal, vol. 2, March–April, 2009.     

Identification of failures in a set of sensors of a spacecraft

A method to find and identify failures in a spacecraft’s set of sensitive elements that measure vector quantities of different nature is discussed.     

Preservation of martian organic and environmental records: final report of the Mars biosignature working group

The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) has an instrument package capable of making measurements of past and present environmental conditions. The data generated may tell us if Mars is, or ever was, able to support life. However, the knowledge of Mars' past history and the geological processes most likely to preserve a record of that history remain sparse and, in some instances, ambiguous. Physical, chemical, and geological processes relevant to biosignature preservation on Earth, especially under conditions early in its history when microbial life predominated, are also imperfectly known. Here, we present the report of a working group chartered by the Co-Chairs of NASA's MSL Project Science Group, John P. Grotzinger and Michael A. Meyer, to review and evaluate potential for biosignature formation and preservation on Mars. Orbital images confirm that layered rocks achieved kilometer-scale thicknesses in some regions of ancient Mars. Clearly, interplays of sedimentation and erosional processes govern present-day exposures, and our understanding of these processes is incomplete. MSL can document and evaluate patterns of stratigraphic development as well as the sources of layered materials and their subsequent diagenesis. It can also document other potential biosignature repositories such as hydrothermal environments. These capabilities offer an unprecedented opportunity to decipher key aspects of the environmental evolution of Mars' early surface and aspects of the diagenetic processes that have operated since that time. Considering the MSL instrument payload package, we identified the following classes of biosignatures as within the MSL detection window: organism morphologies (cells, body fossils, casts), biofabrics (including microbial mats), diagnostic organic molecules, isotopic signatures, evidence of biomineralization and bioalteration, spatial patterns in chemistry, and biogenic gases. Of these, biogenic organic molecules and biogenic atmospheric gases are considered the most definitive and most readily detectable by MSL.     

Thyrotropin receptor and membrane interactions in FRTL-5 thyroid cell strain in microgravity

The aim of this work was to analyze the possible alteration of thyrotropin (TSH) receptors in microgravity, which could explain the absence of thyroid cell proliferation in the space environment. Several forms of the TSH receptor are localized on the plasma membrane associated with caveolae and lipid rafts. The TSH regulates the fluidity of the cell membrane and the presence of its receptors in microdomains that are rich in sphingomyelin and cholesterol. TSH also stimulates cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) accumulation and cell proliferation. Reported here are the results of an experiment in which the FRTL-5 thyroid cell line was exposed to microgravity during the Texus-44 mission (launched February 7, 2008, from Kiruna, Sweden). When the parabolic flight brought the sounding rocket to an altitude of 264?km, the culture media were injected with or without TSH in the different samples, and weightlessness prevailed on board for 6 minutes and 19 seconds. Control experiments were performed, in parallel, in an onboard 1g centrifuge and on the ground in Kiruna laboratory. Cell morphology and function were analyzed. Results show that in microgravity conditions the cells do not respond to TSH treatment and present an irregular shape with condensed chromatin, a modification of the cell membrane with shedding of the TSH receptor in the culture medium, and an increase of sphingomyelin-synthase and Bax proteins. It is possible that real microgravity induces a rearrangement of specific sections of the cell membrane, which act as platforms for molecular receptors, thus influencing thyroid cell function in astronauts during space missions.     

Sunspot dynamics are reflected in human physiology and pathophysiology

Periodic episodes of increased sunspot activity (solar electromagnetic storms) occur with 10-11 and 5-6 year periodicities and may be associated with measurable biological events. We investigated whether this sunspot periodicity characterized the incidence of Pap smear-determined cervical epithelial histopathologies and human physiologic functions. From January 1983 through December 2003, monthly averages were obtained for solar flux and sunspot numbers; six infectious, premalignant and malignant changes in the cervical epithelium from 1,182,421 consecutive, serially independent, screening Pap smears (59°9″N, 4°29″E); and six human physiologic functions of a healthy man (oral temperature, pulse, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, respiration, and peak expiratory flow), which were measured ～5 times daily during ～34,500 self-measurement sessions (44°56″N, 93°8″W). After determining that sunspot numbers and solar flux, which were not annually rhythmic, occurred with a prominent 10-year and a less-prominent 5.75-year periodicity during this 21-year study span, each biological data set was analyzed with the same curve-fitting procedures. All six annually rhythmic Pap smear-detected infectious, premalignant and malignant cervical epithelial pathologies showed strong 10-year and weaker 5.75-year cycles, as did all six self-measured, annually rhythmic, physiologic functions. The phases (maxima) for the six histopathologic findings and five of six physiologic measurements were very near, or within, the first two quarters following the 10-year solar maxima. These findings add to the growing evidence that solar magnetic storm periodicities are mirrored by cyclic phase-locked rhythms of similar period length or lengths in human physiology and pathophysiology.     

On the stabilization of ribose by silicate minerals

The RNA-world theory hypothesizes that early Earth life was based on the RNA molecule. However, the notion that ribose, the sugar in RNA, is unstable still casts a serious doubt over this theory. Recently, it has been found that the silicate-mediated formose reaction facilitates the stabilization of ribose. Using accurate quantum chemical calculations, we determined the relative stability of the silicate complexes of arabinose, lyxose, ribose, and xylose with the intent to determine which would form predominantly from a formose-like reaction. Five stereoisomers were investigated for each complex. The stereoisomers of 2:1 ribose-silicate are the more stable ones, to the extent that the least stable of these is even more stable than the most stable stereoisomer of the other 2:1 sugar-silicate complexes. Thus, thermodynamically, a formose-like reaction in the presence of silicate minerals should preferentially form the silicate complex of ribose over the silicate complex of arabinose, lyxose, and xylose.     

Adsorption of amino acids (ALA, CYS, HIS, MET) on zeolites: fourier transform infrared and Raman spectroscopy investigations

Minerals adsorb more amino acids with charged R-groups than amino acids with uncharged R-groups. Thus, the peptides that form from the condensation of amino acids on the surface of minerals should be composed of amino acid residues that are more charged than uncharged. However, most of the amino acids (74%) in today's proteins have an uncharged R-group. One mechanism with which to solve this paradox is the use of organophilic minerals such as zeolites. Over the range of pH (pH 2.66-4.50) used in these experiments, the R-group of histidine (His) is positively charged and neutral for alanine (Ala), cysteine (Cys), and methionine (Met). In acidic hydrothermal environments, the pH could be even lower than those used in this study. For the pH range studied, the zeolites were negatively charged, and the overall charge of all amino acids was positive. The conditions used here approximate those of prebiotic Earth. The most important finding of this work is that the relative concentrations of each amino acid (X=His, Met, Cys) to alanine (X/Ala) are close to 1.00. This is an important result with regard to prebiotic chemistry because it could be a solution for the paradox stated above. Pore size did not affect the adsorption of Cys and Met on zeolites, and the Si/Al ratio did not affect the adsorption of Cys, His, and Met. ZSM-5 could be used for the purification of Cys from other amino acids (Student-Newman-Keuls test, p<0.05), and mordenite could be used for separation of amino acids from each other (Student-Newman-Keuls test, p<0.05). As shown by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectra, Ala interacts with zeolites through the [Formula: see text] group, and methionine-zeolite interactions involve the COO, [Formula: see text], and CH(3) groups. FT-IR spectra show that the interaction between the zeolites and His is weak. Cys showed higher adsorption on all zeolites; however, the hydrophobic Van der Waals interaction between zeolites and Cys is too weak to produce any structural changes in the Cys groups (amine, carboxylic, sulfhydryl, etc.); thus, the FT-IR and Raman spectra are the same as those of solid Cys.