The Genesis Solar-Wind Collector Materials

Genesis (NASA Discovery Mission #5) is a sample return mission. Collectors comprised of ultra-high purity materials will be exposed to the solar wind and then returned to Earth for laboratory analysis. There is a suite of fifteen types of ultra-pure materials distributed among several locations. Most of the materials are mounted on deployable panels (‘collector arrays’), with some as targets in the focal spot of an electrostatic mirror (the ‘concentrator’). Other materials are strategically placed on the spacecraft as additional targets of opportunity to maximize the area for solar-wind collection. Most of the collection area consists of hexagonal collectors in the arrays; approximately half are silicon, the rest are for solar-wind components not retained and/or not easily measured in silicon. There are a variety of materials both in collector arrays and elsewhere targeted for the analyses of specific solar-wind components. Engineering and science factors drove the selection process. Engineering required testing of physical properties such as the ability to withstand shaking on launch and thermal cycling during deployment. Science constraints included bulk purity, surface and interface cleanliness, retentiveness with respect to individual solar-wind components, and availability. A detailed report of material parameters planned as a resource for choosing materials for study will be published on a Genesis website, and will be updated as additional information is obtained. Some material is already linked to the Genesis plasma data website (genesis.lanl.gov). Genesis should provide a reservoir of materials for allocation to the scientific community throughout the 21st Century. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Huygens Probe Aerosol Collector Pyrolyser Experiment

ACP's main objective is the chemical analysis of the aerosols in Titan's atmosphere. For this purpose, it will sample the aerosols during descent and prepare the collected matter (by evaporation, pyrolysis and gas products transfer) for analysis by the Huygens Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer (GCMS). A sampling system is required for sampling the aerosols in the 135'32 km and 22'17 km altitude regions of Titan's atmosphere. A pump unit is used to force the gas flow through a filter. In its sampling position, the filter front face extends a few mm beyond the inlet tube. The oven is a pyrolysis furnace where a heating element can heat the filter and hence the sampled aerosols to 250 °C or 600 °C. The oven contains the filter, which has a thimble-like shape (height 28 mm). For transferring effluent gas and pyrolysis products to GCMS, the carrier gas is a labeled nitrogen ¹⁵N₂, to avoid unwanted secondary reactions with Titan's atmospheric nitrogen. Aeraulic tests under cold temperature conditions were conducted by using a cold gas test system developed by ONERA. The objective of the test was to demonstrate the functional ability of the instrument during the descent of the probe and to understand its thermal behavior, that is to test the performance of all its components, pump unit and mechanisms. In order to validate ACP's scientific performance, pyrolysis tests were conducted at LISA on solid phase material synthesized from experimental simulation. The chromatogram obtained by GCMS analysis shows many organic compounds. Some GC peaks appear clearly from the total mass spectra, with specific ions well identified thanks to the very high sensitivity of the mass spectrometer. The program selected for calibrating the flight model is directly linked to the GCMS calibration plan. In order not to pollute the two flight models with products of solid samples such as tholins, we excluded any direct pyrolysis tests through the ACP oven during the first phase of the calibration. Post probe descent simulation of flight results are planned, using the much representative GCMS and ACP spare models. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Comet Geology with Deep Impact Remote Sensing

The Deep Impact mission will provide the highest resolution images yet of a comet nucleus. Our knowledge of the makeup and structure of cometary nuclei, and the processes shaping their surfaces, is extremely limited, thus use of the Deep Impact data to show the geological context of the cratering experiment is crucial. This article briefly discusses some of the geological issues of cometary nuclei.     

500 – 3200 Å observations of the interacting binary stars V356 Sgr and β Lyr

In this paper we present new results from the Voyager ultraviolet spectrometers and the IUE spacecraft on V356 Sgr and β Lyr. The V356 Sgr observations cover, in detail, two eclipses and include one IUE high dispersion SWP image. During both eclipses the total strength of the UV emission lines were found to be invariant. Also, an uneclipsed UV continuum was detected at wavelengths shorter than 1600 Å. The IUE high dispersion SWP spectrum revealed that the emission lines are extremely broad, almost symmetrical lines with weak, slightly blue shifted absorption components. No evidence of carbon is seen in the emission or absorption spectrum of V356 Sgr in eclipse. A model for the origin of the circumstellar matter in this binary system is presented. The Voyager ultraviolet observations of β Lyr show a strong far-UV continuum that is detectable down to 912 Å The far-UV continuum flux level was variable on time scales shorter than the orbital period and displayed no obvious orbital modulation or eclipses. The spectral shape of the far-UV continuum closely resembles that of a UX UMa type cataclysmic variable. On 16 August 1985 an rapid brightening of the far-UV continuum was observed which was also reminiscent of cataclysmic variables. Analysis of the β Lyr data suggest that the central object must be small, with a radius on the order of 1 R_⊙ or less.     

Error Analysis of Space-Stable Inertial Navigation Systems

The error equations for a space-stable inertial navigation system are derived. This is done by directly perturbing the mechanization equations in the inertial frame and then transforming in open-loop fashion to the local-level frame. A rotating inertial platform and velocity and altitude damping are considered. The relations between errors in space-stable and local-level systems are noted. Numerical results are presented for certain random error sources.     

Evaluating a multiple-hypothesis multitarget tracking algorithm

The performance evaluation of multiple-hypothesis, multitarget tracking algorithm is presented. We are primarily interested in target-detection/track-initiation capabilities as measures of performance. Through Monte Carlo simulations, a multiple-hypothesis tracking algorithm was evaluated in terms of 1) probability of establishing a track from target returns and 2) false track density. A radar was chosen as the sensor, and a general multiple-hypothesis, multitarget tracking algorithm was used in the Monte Carlo simulations. The simulation results predict the probability of establishing a track from returns of a target as well as the false track density per scan volume per unit time. The effects of the target radar cross section and the radar power, measured through the mean signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) were studied, as were the effects of detection threshold and track quality threshold. Computational requirements were also investigated     

The Galileo Dust Detector

The Galileo Dust Detector is intended to provide direct observations of dust grains with masses between 10^-19 and 10^-9 kg in interplanetary space and in the Jovian system, to investigate their physical and dynamical properties as functions of the distances to the Sun, to Jupiter and to its satellites, to study its interaction with the Galilean satellites and the Jovian magnetosphere. Surface phenomena of the satellites (like albedo variations), which might be effects of meteoroid impacts will be compared with the dust environment. Electric charges of particulate matter in the magnetosphere and its consequences will be studied; e.g., the effects of the magnetic field on the trajectories of dust particles and fragmentation of particles due to electrostatic disruption. The investigation is performed with an instrument that measures the mass, speed, flight direction and electric charge of individual dust particles. It is a multicoincidence detector with a mass sensitivity 10⁶ times higher than that of previous in-situ experiments which measured dust in the outer solar system. The instrument weighs 4.2 kg, consumes 2.4 W, and has a normal data transmission rate of 24 bits s^-1 in nominal spacecraft tracking mode. On December 29, 1989 the instrument was switched-on. After the instrument had been configured to flight conditions cruise science data collection started immediately. In the period to May 18, 1990 at least 168 dust impacts have been recorded. For 81 of these dust grains masses and impact speeds have been determined. First flux values are given.     

Stochastic Dynamic System Suboptimal Control with Uncertain Parameters

The control of a linear system with random coefficients is studied here. The cost function is of a quadratic form and the random coefficients are assumed to be partially observable by the controller. By means of the stochastic Bellman equation, the optimal control of stochastic dynamic models with partially observable coefficients is derived. The optimal control is shown to be a linear function of the observable states and a nonlinear function of random parameters. The theory is applied to an optimal control design of an aircraft landing in wind gust.     

Determination of Antenna Direction Using TV Signal-Strength Data

A unique method of determining a satellite's antenna direction error, which includes the effects of sensor-errors, reflector thermal distortion, etc., was developed. The principle of the method is to apply a nonlinear least squares method to variations in signal strength received simultaneously at various ground stations to obtain the movement of a premeasured antenna gain pattern. Applying this method to the Japanese medium-scale broadcast satellite for experimental purposes, the system's capability and usefulness were confirmed.