Electronics brain design for advanced microspacecraft

A brief history of NASA robotic spacecraft computing architectures is given. Changing needs driving changes in features (10x reduction in cost, various increases in capability, 10x to 100x reduction in power, mass and volume) for spacecraft computing are discussed. An architecture which addresses these changes is proposed. Finally, future directions of exploration for this spacecraft computing architecture are considered.     

The real aerospace plane

In this article reproduced from Aerospace, Spring 1986, James Haggerty reports on the US National Aerospace Plane (NASP) research programme. NASP is a joint Department of Defense/NASA programme to develop and demonstrate the technologies for a revolutionary class of aerospace vehicles, powered by airbreathing engines, that would have the capability to take off from and land horizontally on standard runways, cruise in the atmosphere at hypersonic speeds, or fly into low-Earth orbit. The Air Force has been named executive agency for the programme. NASA is charged with overall technology direction. Other DoD participants include DARPA, the Navy and the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization.

In April 1986, the USAF awarded development contracts to seven aerospace manufacturing firms. Contracts for air-frame design went to Boeing Aerospace Company, Lockheed Advanced Aeronautics Company, General Dynamics Corporation, McDonnell Douglas Corporation and Rockwell International Corporation. General Electric Company and Pratt & Whitney Division of United Technologies were awarded propulsion contracts.     

Extremophiles may be irrelevant to the origin of life

In recent years, Bacteria and Archaea have been discovered living in practically every conceivable terrestrial environment, including some previously thought to be too extreme for survival. Exploration of our solar system has revealed a number of extraterrestrial bodies that harbor environments analogous to many of the terrestrial environments in which extremophiles flourish. The recent discovery of more than 105 extrasolar planets suggests that planetary systems are quite common. These three findings have led some to speculate that life is therefore common in the universe, as life as we know it can seemingly survive almost anywhere there is liquid water. It is suggested here that while environments capable of supporting life may be common, this does not in itself support the notion that life is common in the universe. Given that interplanetary transfer of life may be unlikely, the actual origin of life may require specific environmental and geological conditions that may be much less common than the mere existence of liquid water.     

Studying the positioning accuracy for dynamic (moving) objects with the use of multifrequency oblique-incidence sounding of ionospheric radio channels by chirp signals

The paper presents the methods and algorithms for positioning the dynamic (moving) objects using the oblique-incidence ionospheric sounding by chirp signals. Full-scale experiments have been performed to determine a distance to an object and its location.     

Hard X-Ray/Soft Gamma-Ray Experiments and Missions: Overview and Prospects

Starting from 1960s, a great number of missions and experiments have been performed for the study of the high-energy sky. This review gives a wide vision of the most important space missions and balloon experiments that have operated in the 10–600 keV band, a crucial window for the study of the most energetic and violent phenomena in the Universe. Thus it is important to take the stock of the achievements to better establish what we have still to do with future missions in order to progress in this field, to establish which are the technologies required to solve the still open issues and to extend our knowledge of the Universe.     

The Noise Model of the SEIS Seismometer of the InSight Mission to Mars

The SEIS (Seismic Experiment for Interior Structures) instrument on board the InSight mission to Mars is the critical instrument for determining the interior structure of Mars, the current level of tectonic activity and the meteorite flux. Meeting the performance requirements of the SEIS instrument is vital to successfully achieve these mission objectives. The InSight noise model is a key tool for the InSight mission and SEIS instrument requirement setup. It will also be used for future operation planning. This paper presents the analyses made to build a model of the Martian seismic noise as measured by the SEIS seismometer, around the seismic bandwidth of the instrument (from 0.01 Hz to 1 Hz). It includes the instrument self-noise, but also the environment parameters that impact the measurements. We present the general approach for the model determination, the environment assumptions, and we analyze the major and minor contributors to the noise model.     

Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP): A New NASA Mission

The Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) is a revolutionary mission that simultaneously investigates two of the most important overarching issues in Heliophysics today: the acceleration of energetic particles and interaction of the solar wind with the local interstellar medium. While seemingly disparate, these are intimately coupled because particles accelerated in the inner heliosphere play critical roles in the outer heliospheric interaction. Selected by NASA in 2018, IMAP is planned to launch in 2024. The IMAP spacecraft is a simple sun-pointed spinner in orbit about the Sun-Earth L1 point. IMAP’s ten instruments provide a complete and synergistic set of observations to simultaneously dissect the particle injection and acceleration processes at 1 AU while remotely probing the global heliospheric interaction and its response to particle populations generated by these processes. In situ at 1 AU, IMAP provides detailed observations of solar wind electrons and ions; suprathermal, pickup, and energetic ions; and the interplanetary magnetic field. For the outer heliosphere interaction, IMAP provides advanced global observations of the remote plasma and energetic ions over a broad energy range via energetic neutral atom imaging, and precise observations of interstellar neutral atoms penetrating the heliosphere. Complementary observations of interstellar dust and the ultraviolet glow of interstellar neutrals further deepen the physical understanding from IMAP. IMAP also continuously broadcasts vital real-time space weather observations. Finally, IMAP engages the broader Heliophysics community through a variety of innovative opportunities. This paper summarizes the IMAP mission at the start of Phase A development.     

The Stressed State of a Stiffened Conical Shell with Thermal Protective Coating with Temperature-Dependent Properties

The equations of the mathematical model are solved in terms of special functions. The results for the design scheme of the aircraft forebody are obtained with a guaranteed accuracy by the stable method of functional normalization.