SWE,a comprehensive plasma instrument for the WIND spacecraft

The Solar Wind Experiment (SWE) on the WIND spacecraft is a comprehensive, integrated set of sensors which is designed to investigate outstanding problems in solar wind physics. It consists of two Faraday cup (FC) sensors; a vector electron and ion spectrometer (VEIS); a strahl sensor, which is especially configured to study the electron strahl close to the magnetic field direction; and an on-board calibration system. The energy/charge range of the Faraday cups is 150 V to 8 kV, and that of the VEIS is 7 V to 24.8 kV. The time resolution depends on the operational mode used, but can be of the order of a few seconds for 3-D measurements. Key parameters which broadly characterize the solar wind positive ion velocity distribution function will be made available rapidly from the GGS Central Data Handling Facility.     

The effect of geocenter motion on Jason-2 orbits and the mean sea level

We compute a series of Jason-2 GPS and SLR/DORIS-based orbits using ITRF2005 and the std0905 standards ( Lemoine et al., 2010). Our GPS and SLR/DORIS orbit data sets span a period of 2 years from cycle 3 (July 2008) to cycle 74 (July 2010). We extract the Jason-2 orbit frame translational parameters per cycle by the means of a Helmert transformation between a set of reference orbits and a set of test orbits. We compare the annual terms of these time-series to the annual terms of two different geocenter motion models where biases and trends have been removed. Subsequently, we include the annual terms of the modeled geocenter motion as a degree-1 loading displacement correction to the GPS and SLR/DORIS tracking network of the POD process. Although the annual geocenter motion correction would reflect a stationary signal in time, under ideal conditions, the whole geocenter motion is a non-stationary process that includes secular trends. Our results suggest that our GSFC Jason-2 GPS-based orbits are closely tied to the center of mass (CM) of the Earth consistent with our current force modeling, whereas GSFC’s SLR/DORIS-based orbits are tied to the origin of ITRF2005, which is the center of figure (CF) for sub-secular scales. We quantify the GPS and SLR/DORIS orbit centering and how this impacts the orbit radial error over the globe, which is assimilated into mean sea level (MSL) error, from the omission of the annual term of the geocenter correction. We find that for the SLR/DORIS std0905 orbits, currently used by the oceanographic community, only the negligence of the annual term of the geocenter motion correction results in a – 4.67 ± 3.40 mm error in the Z-component of the orbit frame which creates 1.06 ± 2.66 mm of systematic error in the MSL estimates, mainly due to the uneven distribution of the oceans between the North and South hemisphere.     

Corrections of Satellite Positions in Near-Real Time

The influence of sudden increases of electron content on the accurate determination of the position of a satellite is investigated based on a spherically stratified ionospheric model. Using the total electron content information from Faraday rotation measurements, a procedure is presented whereby the corrections of satellite position due to the unpredicted electron increase can be accounted for without the need to know the spatial distribution of the additional electrons.     

Modes of uncontrolled rotational motion of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Progress M-29M</Emphasis> spacecraft

We have reconstructed the uncontrolled rotational motion of the Progress M-29M transport cargo spacecraft in the single-axis solar orientation mode (the so-called sunward spin) and in the mode of the gravitational orientation of a rotating satellite. The modes were implemented on April 3–7, 2016 as a part of preparation for experiments with the DAKON convection sensor onboard the Progress spacecraft. The reconstruction was performed by integral statistical techniques using the measurements of the spacecraft’s angular velocity and electric current from its solar arrays. The measurement data obtained in a certain time interval have been jointly processed using the least-squares method by integrating the equations of the spacecraft’s motion relative to the center of mass. As a result of processing, the initial conditions of motion and parameters of the mathematical model have been estimated. The motion in the sunward spin mode is the rotation of the spacecraft with an angular velocity of 2.2 deg/s about the normal to the plane of solar arrays; the normal is oriented toward the Sun or forms a small angle with this direction. The duration of the mode is several orbit passes. The reconstruction has been performed over time intervals of up to 1 h. As a result, the actual rotational motion of the spacecraft relative to the Earth–Sun direction was obtained. In the gravitational orientation mode, the spacecraft was rotated about its longitudinal axis with an angular velocity of 0.1–0.2 deg/s; the longitudinal axis executed small oscillated relative to the local vertical. The reconstruction of motion relative to the orbital coordinate system was performed in time intervals of up to 7 h using only the angularvelocity measurements. The measurements of the electric current from solar arrays were used for verification.     

A sample collector for robotic sample return missions III: Impact survivability studies

Laboratory impact tests have been performed on experimental versions of a proposed robotic sample collector for extraterrestrial samples. The collector consists of a retractable aluminum ring containing an impregnable silicone compound that is pressed into the surface of the body to be sampled. As part of a comprehensive program to evaluate this idea, we have performed tests to determine if the samples embedded in the collector medium can survive the impact forces experienced during direct reentry, such as that of the recent Genesis sample return mission. For the present study, samples of sand, rock, glass, and chalk were subjected to decelerations of 1440–2880 g using drop tests. We found that even the most fragile samples, chosen to be representative of a wide range of the types of materials found on the surface of asteroids that have currently been studied, can withstand impacts of the intensity experienced by a sample return capsule during direct reentry.