The INFRARED SPACE OBSERVATORY (ISO)

The INFRARED SPACE OBSERVATORY (ISO), a project of the European Space Agency (ESA), will make various astronomical observations in the wavelength range of 2 to 200 μm. Two-thirds of its observing time will be available to guest observers via the traditional route of proposal submission. ISO will be launched in 1995 by an Ariane 4 from Kourou (Guyana) and be brought into a very elongated orbit with a 24hr period of which 16 hr can be used for astronomical observations. The payload module is essentially a large cryostat with a tank that will be filled with over 2000 litres of superfluid helium to keep the instruments cold (2 to 4 K) during an expected lifetime of 18 months. Inside the dewar, there is a Ritchey-Chretien telescope with a primary mirror of diameter 60cm. Four instruments, each provided by a different PI consortium, share the ISO focal plane. These instruments are : a photometer, a camera and two spectrometers — one for the wavelength range 2–45 μm and the other for 45–180 μm.     

Reconfigurable NDI controller using inertial sensor failuredetection & isolation

A modified derivation of nonlinear dynamic inversion provides the theoretical underpinnings for a reconfigurable control law for aircraft that have suffered combinations of actuator failures, missing effector surfaces, and aerodynamic changes. The approach makes use of acceleration feedback to extract information pertaining to any aerodynamic change and thus does not require a complete aerodynamic model of the aircraft. The control law does require feedback of effector positions to accommodate actuator dynamics. Both accelerometer and rate gyro failure detection and isolation (FDI) systems are implemented, allowing up to three independent failures for each FDI system as long as they are in different axes. Nonlinear simulation results show that the FDI systems improve the robustness to accelerometer/rate gyro uncertainties. An advanced tailless aircraft model is used to demonstrate the concepts. The simulation includes accelerometer and rate gyro noise and bias, failures due to accelerometers, rate gyros, and actuators, and modeled missing surfaces that cause airplane aerodynamic changes     

Observer-type Kalman innovation filter for uncertain linear systems

An observer-type of Kalman innovation filtering algorithm to find a practically implementable "best" Kalman filter, and such an algorithm based on the evolutionary programming (EP) optima-search technique, are proposed, for linear discrete-time systems with time-invariant unknown-but-hounded plant and noise uncertainties. The worst-case parameter set from the stochastic uncertain system represented by the interval form with respect to the implemented "best" filter is also found in this work for demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed filtering scheme. The new EP-based algorithm utilizes the global optima-searching capability of EP to find the optimal Kalman filter and state estimates at every iteration, which include both the best possible worst case Interval and the optimal nominal trajectory of the Kalman filtering estimates of the system state vectors. Simulation results are included to show that the new algorithm yields more accurate estimates and is less conservative as compared with other related robust filtering schemes     

The Freja ultraviolet imager

Auroral images acquired by satellite instrumentation have proven to be a crucial component of the scientific equiry into the physical processes of the Earth's magnetosphere. TheFreja mission provided an opportunity to extend these measurements into the temporal and spatial regime commonly associated with ground-based optical imagers. Employing the basic procedure used successfully in theViking program allowed image repetition rates of 6 s to be achieved with simultaneous exposure of all pixels within the field-of-view. Typical exposure times of 0.3 s required development of an improved image intensifier system and operational requirements resulted in image formats covering approximately one-third of a spin. Simultaneously exposing two broad-band UV cameras, the instrument generates in its normal operational mode 264.6 kbytes per image pair. Results from initial operations confirm the design approach and suggest such imagers can be routinely included on challenging low cost missions such asFreja.     

Implementation of hand geometry: an analysis of user perspectives and system performance

This discusses the implementation issues of installing a commercially available hand geometry system in the current infrastructure of Purdue University's Recreational Sports Center. In addition to a performance analysis of the system, a pre- and post-data collection survey was distributed to the 129 test subjects gathering information on perceptions of biometrics, in particular hand geometry, as well as participants' thoughts and feelings during their interaction with the hand geometry device. The results of the survey suggest that participants were accepting of hand geometry. Additionally, analyses of the participants' survey responses revealed that 93% liked using hand geometry, 98% thought it was easy to use, and 87% preferred it to the existing card-based system, while nobody thought the device invaded their personal privacy. System performance achieved a 3-try match rate of 99.02% (FRR 0.98%) when "gaming"/potential impostor attempts were removed from analysis. The failure to enroll rate was zero. Statistical analyses exposed a significant difference in the scores of attempts made by users with prior hand geometry usage, and subjects that could not straighten out their hand on the device. However, there were no statistical difference in the effects of rings/no rings, improper hand placements/proper hand placements, or gender on hand geometry score.     

Global Response of Martian Plasma Environment to an Interplanetary Structure: From Ena and Plasma Observations at Mars

As a part of the global plasma environment study of Mars and its response to the solar wind, we have analyzed a peculiar case of the subsolar energetic neutral atom (ENA) jet observed on June 7, 2004 by the Neutral Particle Detector (NPD) on board the Mars Express satellite. The “subsolar ENA jet” is generated by the interaction between the solar wind and the Martian exosphere, and is one of the most intense sources of ENA flux observed in the vicinity of Mars. On June 7, 2004 (orbit 485 of Mars Express), the NPD observed a very intense subsolar ENA jet, which then abruptly decreased within ∼10 sec followed by quasi-periodic (∼1 min) flux variations. Simultaneously, the plasma sensors detected a solar wind structure, which was most likely an interplanetary shock surface. The abrupt decrease of the ENA flux and the quasi-periodic flux variations can be understood in the framework of the global response of the Martian plasma obstacle to the interplanetary shock. The generation region of the subsolar ENA jet was pushed towards the planet by the interplanetary shock; and therefore, Mars Express went out of the ENA jet region. Associated global vibrations of the Martian plasma obstacle may have been the cause of the quasi-periodic flux variations of the ENA flux at the spacecraft location.     

A bioreactor system for the nitrogen loop in a Controlled Ecological Life Support System.

As space missions become longer in duration, the need to recycle waste into useful compounds rises dramatically. This problem can be addressed by the development of Controlled Ecological Life Support Systems (CELSS) (i.e., Engineered Closed/Controlled Eco-Systems (ECCES)), consisting of human and plant modules. One of the waste streams leaving the human module is urine. In addition to the reclamation of water from urine, recovery of the nitrogen is important because it is an essential nutrient for the plant module. A 3-step biological process for the recycling of nitrogenous waste (urea) is proposed. A packed-bed bioreactor system for this purpose was modeled, and the issues of reaction step segregation, reactor type and volume, support particle size, and pressure drop were addressed. Based on minimization of volume, a bioreactor system consisting of a plug flow immobilized urease reactor, a completely mixed flow immobilized cell reactor to convert ammonia to nitrite, and a plug flow immobilized cell reactor to produce nitrate from nitrite is recommended. It is apparent that this 3-step bioprocess meets the requirements for space applications.     

GPS based onboard and onground orbit operations for small satellites

In extension to common applications such as groundtrack displays and antenna steering, the SGP4 orbit model is proposed for operational orbit determination in small satellite missions. SGP4 is an analytical orbit model for Low-Earth orbiting satellites that is widely used for the propagation of NORAD twoline elements. Twoline elements may hence be generated completely independent of NORAD. Their use as exclusive source of orbital information simplifies the operations concept and reduces mission costs through the extensive use of existing low-cost mission support software. Due to small computer resource requirements of 8–10kByte, the SGP4 model may also be applied for onboard orbit computations making use of e.g. a 80186 processor, thus ensuring full compatibility of ground-based and onboard operations. The proposed approach is particularly suited in combination with a space-borne GPS receiver, were the C/A-code navigation solutions are treated as measurements that are adjusted in a least-squares sense using the SGP4 model. As consequence, inherent drawbacks of the pure navigation solutions such as data gaps and scatter as well as limited velocity accuracy are avoided, while the operational navigation activities are kept at a minimum. The feasibility of the concept is illustrated based on real GPS navigation data from the TOPEX/Poseidon and the MIR space station with an inherent data quality of 50–100 m. It is shown that 3 hours of data within a 4 day period are sufficient to keep the position error within 4 km, that is considered sufficient for most applications.