Plasma Flow and Related Phenomena in Planetary Aeronomy

Understanding the processes involved in the interaction of solar system bodies with plasma flows is fundamental to the entire field of space physics. The features of the interaction can be very different, depending upon the properties of the incident plasma as well as the nature of the obstacle. The properties of the atmosphere/ionosphere associated with the obstacle are of particular importance into understanding the plasma interaction process, especially for non-magnetized obstacle. This paper discusses in detail the roles of the atmosphere and ionosphere systems of plasma interaction around Venus, Mars, comets and some particular satellites. The coupling between magnetosphere and ionosphere is also discussed for Earth and Giant planets.     

Fragmentation of 1 GeV/nucleon iron ions in thick targets relevant for space exploration.

We have measured charged nuclear fragments produced by 1 GeV/nucleon 56Fe ions interacting with aluminium, polyethylene and lead. These materials are relevant for assessment of radiation risk for manned space flight. The data will be presented in a form suitable for comparison with models of nuclear fragmentation and transport, including linear energy transfer (LET) spectrum, fluence for iron and fragments, event-tack- and event-dose-averaged LET, total dose and iron contribution to dose.     

Modularity and Spacecraft Cost

From computers to aeronautics, many industries have achieved great cost savings through the use of modular engineering approaches. In standardizing interfaces between elements and by reusing functional units, projects can achieve direct reductions in required development labor and secondary savings from enhanced reliability via improved process control from manufacturing identical units. Issues involved in the extension of modular design to the space industry are discussed. A cost model is developed to resolve some of the conflicting advantages and disadvantages between modular and customized designs. Key regimes are identified that represent the best opportunities for applying modular concepts.     

Noise, Radar Moving-Window Detectors, and False Returns

Moving-window false report probability is shown to overestimate effects of noise. "False-report-start" probability is calculated and compared to the usual false report probability. The ratio of the two exceeds a simple function of window length, threshold, and noise probability, which is tabulated for some representative values.     

Proportional Tracking with Clipped-input Matched Filters

A proportional boresight-error measurement is described for tracking systems that is applicable to envelope-producing matched filters with hard-limited inputs. The error response is derived as a function of input SNR and the filter output SNR is estimated.     

The Solar Energetic Particle Ionic Charge Analyzer (SEPICA) and the Data Processing Unit (S3DPU) for SWICS,SWIMS and SEPICA

The Solar Energetic Particle Ionic Charge Analyzer (SEPICA) is the main instrument on the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) to determine the ionic charge states of solar and interplanetary energetic particles in the energy range from ≈0.2 MeV nucl−1 to ≈5 MeV charge−1. The charge state of energetic ions contains key information to unravel source temperatures, acceleration, fractionation and transport processes for these particle populations. SEPICA will have the ability to resolve individual charge states and have a substantially larger geometric factor than its predecessor ULEZEQ on ISEE-1 and -3, on which SEPICA is based. To achieve these two requirements at the same time, SEPICA is composed of one high-charge resolution sensor section and two low- charge resolution, but large geometric factor sections. The charge resolution is achieved by the focusing of the incoming ions, through a multi-slit mechanical collimator, deflection in an electrostatic analyzer with a voltage up to 30 kV, and measurement of the impact position in the detector system. To determine the nuclear charge (element) and energy of the incoming ions, the combination of thin-window flow-through proportional counters with isobutane as counter gas and ion-implanted solid state detectors provide for 3 independent ΔE (energy loss) versus E (residual energy) telescopes. The multi-wire proportional counter simultaneously determines the energy loss ΔE and the impact position of the ions. Suppression of background from penetrating cosmic radiation is provided by an anti-coincidence system with a CsI scintillator and Si-photodiodes. The data are compressed and formatted in a data processing unit (S3DPU) that also handles the commanding and various automatted functions of the instrument. The S3DPU is shared with the Solar Wind Ion Charge Spectrometer (SWICS) and the Solar Wind Ion Mass Spectrometer (SWIMS) and thus provides the same services for three of the ACE instruments. It has evolved out of a long family of data processing units for particle spectrometers. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Nonlinear Estimation with Radar Observations

The nonlinearities of the radar measurement model equation are examined and their influence upon the accuracy of filtering and smoothing is determined. A simple algorithm by which the effects from these nonlinearities can be significantly reduced is derived. It consists of processing the radar observations in this order: azimuth, elevation, and range, using the azimuth residual to evaluate the elevation residual, and then using this combined result to evaluate the range residual. The accuracy of estimates obtained via the algorithm is compared with and shown to be superior to that of the extended Kalman filter (EKF). Furthermore, use of the algorithm does not increase the computational complexity of estimation beyond that of the EKF.     

Michelson Interferometer for Global High-Resolution Thermospheric Imaging (MIGHTI): Monolithic Interferometer Design and Test

The design and laboratory tests of the interferometers for the Michelson Interferometer for Global High-resolution Thermospheric Imaging (MIGHTI) instrument which measures thermospheric wind and temperature for the NASA-sponsored Ionospheric Connection (ICON) Explorer mission are described. The monolithic interferometers use the Doppler Asymmetric Spatial Heterodyne (DASH) Spectroscopy technique for wind measurements and a multi-element photometer approach to measure thermospheric temperatures. The DASH technique and overall optical design of the MIGHTI instrument are described in an overview followed by details on the design, element fabrication, assembly, laboratory tests and thermal control of the interferometers that are the heart of MIGHTI.     

Michelson Interferometer for Global High-Resolution Thermospheric Imaging (MIGHTI): Instrument Design and Calibration

The Michelson Interferometer for Global High-resolution Thermospheric Imaging (MIGHTI) instrument was built for launch and operation on the NASA Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) mission. The instrument was designed to measure thermospheric horizontal wind velocity profiles and thermospheric temperature in altitude regions between 90 km and 300 km, during day and night. For the wind measurements it uses two perpendicular fields of view pointed at the Earth’s limb, observing the Doppler shift of the atomic oxygen red and green lines at 630.0 nm and 557.7 nm wavelength. The wavelength shift is measured using field-widened, temperature compensated Doppler Asymmetric Spatial Heterodyne (DASH) spectrometers, employing low order échelle gratings operating at two different orders for the different atmospheric lines. The temperature measurement is accomplished by a multichannel photometric measurement of the spectral shape of the molecular oxygen A-band around 762 nm wavelength. For each field of view, the signals of the two oxygen lines and the A-band are detected on different regions of a single, cooled, frame transfer charge coupled device (CCD) detector. On-board calibration sources are used to periodically quantify thermal drifts, simultaneously with observing the atmosphere. The MIGHTI requirements, the resulting instrument design and the calibration are described.     

Assessing the performance of a heuristic simulated annealing algorithm for the design of distributed satellite systems

A heuristic multidisciplinary design optimization technique has been investigated for applicability to the conceptual design of distributed satellite systems. Different permutations of a simulated algorithm are applied to the problem of developing a systems architecture that minimizes a multicriterion metric (cost per image) for the NASA Origins Terrestrial Planet Finder mission. It was found that the efficiency of the simulated annealing algorithm could be improved by modifying the degrees of freedom within the algorithm. Further, a methodology has been developed for finding the Pareto-optimal set of design solutions within the system trade space when the distributed satellite system is modeled as a multi-objective design problem. These advances combine to yield new tools for systems engineers exploring the trade space of distributed satellite systems during the conceptual design stage.