Development of a thin section device for space exploration: Rock cutting mechanism

We have developed a rock cutting mechanism for in situ planetary exploration based on abrasive diamond impregnated wire. Performance characteristics of the rock cutter, including cutting rate on several rock types, cutting surface lifetime, and cut rock surface finish are presented. The rock cutter was developed as part of a broader effort to develop an in situ automated rock thin section (IS-ARTS) instrument. The objective of IS-ARTS was to develop an instrument capable of producing petrographic rock thin sections on a planetary science spacecraft. The rock cutting mechanism may also be useful to other planetary science missions with in situ instruments in which sub-sampling and rock surface preparation are necessary.     

Minor objects in the solar system

The present status of theory and experiment relating to interplanetary bodies larger than molecules but smaller than asteroids is reviewed. The dynamics, nature, and origins of these objects are considered. The evidences from rocket and spacecraft measurements, meteor observations, terrestrial accretion and light-scattering phenomena are presented. The various lines of research are leading to a better understanding of these bodies, but there are many uncertainties to be resolved.This article was written independently but with approval of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The views or conclusions contained herein should not be interpreted as representing the official opinion of NASA.     

Preface

Journal of Reducing Space Mission Cost -     

Be stars in young clusters in the Magellanic Clouds

A substantial fraction (typically 10%) of Galactic B stars consists of Be stars. While Galactic Be stars have been fairly well investigated, very little is known about the Be star content of the Magellanic Clouds (MCs). We present a refined method of Be star identification by CCD photometry and apply it to four young clusters and associations in the MCs. We find NGC 330 in the SMC to be exceptionally rich in Be stars, while the fraction is clearly lower in the similarly aged LMC clusters NGC 2004 and NGC 1818. NGC 2044, a very young region in the LMC, contains almost no Be stars. Among very early-type B stars in the investigated MC clusters we find the largest number of Be stars, while in the Milky Way this is shifted to somewhat later types. In the LMC, there may be a second frequency peak around B6.Based on observations obtained at the 2.2m MPIA telescope at ESO, La Silla, Chile, partly on time granted by the MPIA, Heidelberg.     

The Scientific Measurement System of the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) Mission

The Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission to the Moon utilized an integrated scientific measurement system comprised of flight, ground, mission, and data system elements in order to meet the end-to-end performance required to achieve its scientific objectives. Modeling and simulation efforts were carried out early in the mission that influenced and optimized the design, implementation, and testing of these elements. Because the two prime scientific observables, range between the two spacecraft and range rates between each spacecraft and ground stations, can be affected by the performance of any element of the mission, we treated every element as part of an extended science instrument, a science system. All simulations and modeling took into account the design and configuration of each element to compute the expected performance and error budgets. In the process, scientific requirements were converted to engineering specifications that became the primary drivers for development and testing. Extensive simulations demonstrated that the scientific objectives could in most cases be met with significant margin. Errors are grouped into dynamic or kinematic sources and the largest source of non-gravitational error comes from spacecraft thermal radiation. With all error models included, the baseline solution shows that estimation of the lunar gravity field is robust against both dynamic and kinematic errors and a nominal field of degree 300 or better could be achieved according to the scaled Kaula rule for the Moon. The core signature is more sensitive to modeling errors and can be recovered with a small margin.     

An anti-image interference quadrature IF architecture for satellite receivers

Since Global Navigation Satellite System（GNSS） signals span a wide range of frequency, wireless signals coming from other communication systems may be aliased and appear as image interference. In quadrature intermediate frequency（IF） receivers, image aliasing due to in-phase and quadrature（I/Q） channel mismatches is always a big problem. I/Q mismatches occur because of gain and phase imbalances between quadrature mixers and capacitor mismatches in analog-to-digital converters（ADC）. As a result, the dynamic range and performance of a receiver are severely degraded. In this paper, several popular receiver architectures are summarized and the image aliasing problem is investigated in detail. Based on this analysis, a low-IF architecture is proposed for a single-chip solution and a novel and feasible anti-image algorithm is investigated. With this anti-image digital processing, the image reject ratio（IRR） can reach approximately above50 dB, which relaxes image rejection specific in front-end circuit designs and allows cheap and highly flexible analog front-end solutions. Simulation and experimental data show that the antiimage algorithm can work effectively, robustly, and steadily.     

Assessing the robustness of the emergence of intelligence: testing the selfish biocosm hypothesis (#IAA-00-IAA.9.2.06)

The Selfish Biocosm hypothesis asserts that the anthropic qualities which our universe exhibits can be explained as incidental consequences of a cosmological replication cycle in which a cosmologically extended biosphere supplies two of the essential elements of self-replication identified by von Neumann.Further, the hypothesis asserts that the emergence of life and intelligence are key epigenetic thresholds in the cosmological replication cycle, strongly favored by the physical laws and constants of inanimate nature. A falsifiable implication of the hypothesis is that the emergence of increasingly intelligent life is a robust phenomenon, stongly favored by the natural processes of biological evolution     

Impact at the Permo-Triassic boundary: a critical evaluation

The recognition in 1980 of a signature of an extraterrestrial impact at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary and its apparent involvement with the mass extinction generated considerable enthusiasm for impacts at other mass extinctions. Numerous claims of impact evidence for the Permo-Triassic mass extinction (251.6 Ma), the largest of the Phanerozoic mass extinctions, have generally been rejected, found wanting, or been difficult to reproduce. Despite this lack of repeatable support, considerable available evidence is consistent with an impact, including the rapidity of extinction, coincident carbon shift, and evident correlation between terrestrial and marine extinctions. However attractive the hypothesis, the coincidence with the Siberian flood basalts and the complex nature of the carbon shift are in conflict with an impact. The most intriguing possibility is that the greatest mass extinction of the Phanerozoic left signals very similar to the end-Cretaceous mass extinction but was produced by entirely Earth-bound processes. If true, this would tell us far more about the nature of ecosystems and how they fail than would identification of another impact.     

Balloon film strain measurement

In order to understand the state of stress in scientific balloons, a need exists for the measurement of film deformation in flight. The results of a flight test program are reported where material strain was measured for the first time during the inflation, launch, ascent and float of a typical natural shape, zero pressure scientific balloon.