The human/robot interface

The use of telerobotic technology in space exploration is examined. Early aspirations for anthropomorphic designs and advances in the field are reviewed. The application of human factors engineering to robotics design and the human-machine interface are examined. New strategies in design and automation are presented.     

Microwave burst of November 17, 1991: Evidence of fragmented particle injection into a coronal loop

The unusual event of November 17, 1991 07:04 UT, observed at 2.5 and 2.85 GHz, is analysed. The event reveals the sophisticated superfine time structure including sudden reductions and quasi-periodic pulsations. We shown that the sudden reductions (30–100 ms) can be driven by upward injected 100 keV electron beams filling the losscone of the coronal magnetic trap. The nonlinear oscillations of Langmuir waves provide the best fit for the pulsation observed. A reduced steady-state level of the pulsation phase is connected with quasi-continuous injection of electrons. The physical parameters of the radio source are found for the event.     

Did life exist on Mars? Search for organic and inorganic signatures, one of the goals for “SAM” (sample analysis at Mars)

Observation of Mars shows signs of a past Earth-like climate, and, in that case, there is no objection to the possible development of life, in the underground or at the surface, as in the terrestrial primitive biosphere. Sample analysis at Mars (SAM) is an experiment which may be proposed for atmospheric, ground and underground in situ measurements. One of its goals is to bring direct or indirect information on the possibility for life to have developed on Mars, and to detect traces of past or present biological activity. With this aim, it focuses on the detection of organic molecules: volatile organics are extracted from the sample by simple heating, whereas refractory molecules are made analyzable (i.e. volatile), using derivatization technique or fragmentation by pyrolysis. Gaseous mixtures thus obtained are analyzed by gas chromatography associated to mass spectrometry. Beyond organics, carbonates and other salts are associated to the dense and moist atmosphere necessary to the development of life, and might have formed and accumulated in some places on Mars. They represent another target for SAM. Heating of the samples allows the analysis of structural gases of these minerals (CO₂ from carbonates, etc.), enabling to identify them. We also show, in this paper, that it may be possible to discriminate between abiotic minerals, and minerals (shells, etc.) created by living organisms.     

A space radiation shielding model of the Martian radiation environment experiment (MARIE)

The 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft was launched towards Mars on April 7, 2001. Onboard the spacecraft is the Martian radiation environment experiment (MARIE), which is designed to measure the background radiation environment due to galactic cosmic rays (GCR) and solar protons in the 20–500 MeV/n energy range. We present an approach for developing a space radiation-shielding model of the spacecraft that includes the MARIE instrument in the current mapping phase orientation. A discussion is presented describing the development and methodology used to construct the shielding model. For a given GCR model environment, using the current MARIE shielding model and the high-energy particle transport codes, dose rate values are compared with MARIE measurements during the early mapping phase in Mars orbit. The results show good agreement between the model calculations and the MARIE measurements as presented for the March 2002 dataset.     

Microwave imaging observation of an electron stream in a solar flare

We report a Nobeyama Radioheliograph (NoRH) microwave observation of a propagating feature of non thermal emission in a solar flare. The flare had a very extended source well resolved by NoRH. In the rising phase of the microwave burst, a non-thermal gyrosynchrotron source was observed by the high-rate (10 images per second) observations to propagate from one end of the loop to the other with a speed of 9 × 10⁴ km s⁻¹. We interpret this non-thermal propagating source is emitted from streaming electrons.     

Heavy ion observations by MARIE in cruise phase and Mars orbit

The charged particle spectrum for nuclei from protons to neon, (charge Z=10) was observed during the cruise phase and orbit around Mars by the MARIE charged particle spectrometer on the Odyssey spacecraft. The cruise data were taken between April 23, 2001 and mid-August 2001. The Mars orbit data were taken March 5, 2002 through May 2002 and are scheduled to continue until August 2004. Charge peaks are clearly separated for charges up to Z=10. Especially prominent are the carbon and oxygen peaks, with boron and nitrogen also clearly visible. Although heavy ions are much less abundant than protons in the cosmic ray environment, it is important to determine their abundances because their ionization energy losses (proportional to Z²) are far more dangerous to humans and to instruments. Thus the higher charged nuclei make a significant contribution to dose and dose equivalent received in space. Results of the charged particle spectrum measurements will be reported.     

High accuracy satellite drag model (HASDM)

The dominant error source in force models used to predict low-perigee satellite trajectories is atmospheric drag. Errors in operational thermospheric density models cause significant errors in predicted satellite positions, since these models do not account for dynamic changes in atmospheric drag for orbit predictions. The Air Force Space Battlelab’s High Accuracy Satellite Drag Model (HASDM) estimates and predicts (out three days) a dynamically varying global density field. HASDM includes the Dynamic Calibration Atmosphere (DCA) algorithm that solves for the phases and amplitudes of the diurnal and semidiurnal variations of thermospheric density near real-time from the observed drag effects on a set of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) calibration satellites. The density correction is expressed as a function of latitude, local solar time and altitude. In HASDM, a time series prediction filter relates the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) energy index E_10.7 and the geomagnetic storm index a_p, to the DCA density correction parameters. The E_10.7 index is generated by the SOLAR2000 model, the first full spectrum model of solar irradiance. The estimated and predicted density fields will be used operationally to significantly improve the accuracy of predicted trajectories for all low-perigee satellites.     

Advanced architectures for real-time Delay-Doppler Map GNSS-reflectometers: The GPS reflectometer instrument for PAU (griPAU)

In recent years Global Navigation Satellite System’s signals Reflectometry (GNSS-R) has stood as a potential powerful remote sensing technique to derive scientifically relevant geophysical parameters such as ocean altimetry, sea state or soil moisture. This has brought out the need of designing and implementing appropriate receivers in order to track and process this kind of signals in real-time to avoid the storage of huge volumes of raw data. This paper presents the architecture and performance of the Global Positioning System (GPS) Reflectometer Instrument for PAU (griPAU), a real-time high resolution Delay-Doppler Map reflectometer, operating at the GPS L1 frequency with the C/A codes. The griPAU instrument computes 24 × 32 complex points DDMs with configurable resolution (Δf_Dmin = 20 Hz, Δτ_min = 0.05 chips) and selectable coherent (minimum = 1 ms, maximum = 100 ms for correlation loss Δρ < 90%) and incoherent integration times (minimum of one coherent integration period and maximum not limited but typically <1 s). A high sensitivity (DDM peak relative error = 0.9% and DDM volume relative error = 0.03% @ T_i = 1 s) and stability (Δρ/Δt = −1 s⁻¹) have been achieved by means of advanced digital design techniques.     

LND两年月表辐射剂量测量结果

月球表面的辐射剂量是影响航天员安全和月表驻留时间的重要参数,通过对月表的粒子辐射测量可以为航天员的辐射安全防护提供重要依据.利用嫦娥四号着陆器上搭载的月表中子与辐射剂量探测仪二年的观测数据得到:月表粒子辐射在硅中的平均总吸收剂量率为12.66±0.45μGy·h-1,中性粒子吸收剂量率为2.67±0.16μGy·h-1.辐射剂量率随时间出现缓慢的下降,LET谱的变化则很小.同时观测到了2020年12月太阳活动末期由于银河宇宙线福布斯下降导致的辐射剂量率降低.      

The Emergence of Life

The Rosetta observations have greatly advanced our knowledge of the cometary nucleus and its immediate environment. However, constraints on the mission (both planned and unplanned), the only partially successful Philae lander, and other instrumental issues have inevitably resulted in open questions. Surprising results from the many successful Rosetta observations have also opened new questions, unimagined when Rosetta was first planned. We discuss these and introduce several mission concepts that might address these issues. It is apparent that a sample return mission as originally conceived in the 1980s during the genesis of Rosetta would provide many answers but it is arguable whether it is technically feasible even with today’s technology and knowledge. Less ambitious mission concepts are described to address the suggested main outstanding scientific goals.