Earth based observations of the STS-11 space shuttle mission on orbit and during reentry

While much of what is known about the performance of spacecraft in flight is learned by monitoring telemetry data streams, this paper describes some unique observations made with ground-based astronomical equipment, done in conjunction with the tenth flight of the U.S. Space Shuttle. The study had two main objectives: to test the ability of low-cost, low-light-level television equipment to monitor satellites in orbit, and to attempt visual and photographic observation of the reentry characteristics of a Space Shuttle Orbiter. Both efforts met with considerable success and are described herein.     

Sample acquisition, processing and handling systems for future Mars missions

The next generation of Mars exploration robotics will have equipment to acquire subsurface samples, process and refine them, and transfer them to science instruments for observation. In 2003, MD Robotics and NORCAT, under contract with the Canadian Space Agency, designed, developed and tested building block technologies for a sample acquisition, processing and handling system for a future Mars mission. Four key technologies were developed to support this system: drill bit development for varied substrates, sample acquisition mechanisms to acquire cores at depth, material transport technologies to move waste material up the hole, and sample reduction technologies, studying the means to efficiently reduce samples into uniform particle sizes. This paper will discuss the technology development, the driving requirements and the test results.     

RADAR “SAIL” satellite concept

The Radar SAIL concept is based on the use of a rectangular antenna lying in the dawn-dusk orbital plane with the length (along speed vector) smaller than the height. Such geometry makes it possible to place the solar cells on the back of the antenna, to use gravity gradient stabilisation, and to implement multipath-free GPS interferometric measurement of the antenna deformation thus allowing structural relaxation. Less obviously, the geometry favours the RADAR design too, by allowing grating lobes and therefore a lower density of built-in electronic in the active antenna. The antenna can be thin and packed for launch inside a cylinder-shaped bus having pyrotechnic doors for the antenna deployement and bearing the rest of the payload and the service equipment. With respect to a standard design of performant missions, cost savings come from the bus, whose functions (AOCS, power supply) are simplified, from the launch since the mass budget and the stowing configuration become compatible with medium size rockets (LLV2/3, DELTA-LITE, LM-4.), and from the active antenna built-in electronics.

The RADAR SAIL concept is all the more cost effective when the mission requires a large, high and short antenna, i.e. high resolution (<5m), low frequency band (L or S or even P), high revisiting, multiple frequencies. Mission implementation and funding can be favored by the new capability to share the satellite between autonomous regional operators. Combined with ground DBF (digital beam forming) technique, the concept allows extremely simple and low cost missions providing a fixed wide swath (10 to 15 m resolution within 500km to 1000 km swath) for systematic surveillance or monitoring.     

Planet temperatures with surface cooling parameterized

A semigray (shortwave and longwave) surface temperature model is developed from conditions on Venus, Earth and Mars, where the greenhouse effect is mostly due to carbon dioxide and water vapor. In addition to estimating longwave optical depths, parameterizations are developed for surface cooling due to shortwave absorption in the atmosphere, and for convective (sensible and latent) heat transfer. An approximation to the Clausius–Clapeyron relation provides water–vapor feedback. The resulting iterative algorithm is applied to three “super-Earths” in the Gliese 581 system, including the “Goldilocks” planet g (Vogt et al., 2010). Surprisingly, none of the three appear habitable. One cannot accurately locate a star’s habitable zone without data or assumptions about a planet’s atmosphere.     

Sandwich module prototype progress for space solar power

Space solar power (SSP) has been broadly defined as the collection of solar energy in space and its wireless transmission for use on earth. This approach potentially gives the benefit of provision of baseload power while avoiding the losses due to the day/night cycle and tropospheric effects that are associated with terrestrial solar power. Proponents have contended that the implementation of such systems could offer energy security, environmental, and technological advantages to those who would undertake their development. Among recent implementations commonly proposed for SSP, the modular symmetrical concentrator (MSC) and other modular concepts have received considerable attention. Each employs an array of modules for performing conversion of concentrated sunlight into microwaves or laser beams for transmission to earth. While prototypes of such modules have been designed and developed previously by several groups, none have been subjected to the challenging conditions inherent to the space environment and the possible solar concentration levels in which an array of modules might be required to operate. The research described herein details our team's efforts in the development of photovoltaic arrays, power electronics, microwave conversion electronics, and antennas for microwave-based “sandwich” module prototypes. The implementation status and testing results of the prototypes are reviewed.     

Planetesimals and Satellitesimals: Formation of the Satellite Systems

The origin of the regular satellites ties directly to planetary formation in that the satellites form in gas and dust disks around the giant planets and may be viewed as mini-solar systems, involving a number of closely related underlying physical processes. The regular satellites of Jupiter and Saturn share a number of remarkable similarities that taken together make a compelling case for a deep-seated order and structure governing their origin. Furthermore, the similarities in the mass ratio of the largest satellites to their primaries, the specific angular momenta, and the bulk compositions of the two satellite systems are significant and in need of explanation. Yet, the differences are also striking. We advance a common framework for the origin of the regular satellites of Jupiter and Saturn and discuss the accretion of satellites in gaseous, circumplanetary disks. Following giant planet formation, planetesimals in the planet’s feeding zone undergo a brief period of intense collisional grinding. Mass delivery to the circumplanetary disk via ablation of planetesimal fragments has implications for a host of satellite observations, tying the history of planetesimals to that of satellitesimals and ultimately that of the satellites themselves. By contrast, irregular satellites are objects captured during the final stages of planetary formation or the early evolution of the Solar System; their distinct origin is reflected in their physical properties, which has implications for the subsequent evolution of the satellites systems.     

A solar wind driven model of geosynchronous plasma moments

We describe a tabular specification model of the density and temperature of ions and electrons at geosynchronous orbit as a function of magnetic local time and solar wind parameters. This model can be used to provide boundary conditions for numerical ring current models. Unlike previous specification models of geosynchronous plasma moments, this model is parameterized by upstream solar wind conditions. We find that solar wind parameters are a better predictor of geosynchronous ion density than magnetospheric indices, and as upstream parameters they are often more appropriate as model inputs since they causally precede the model outputs. Of the upstream parameters that were tested, the best predictors of geosynchronous conditions were the solar wind flow pressure and the magnitude and Z-component of the interplanetary magnetic field.     

Starting to partner with NASA in space and Earth science

NASA research programs offer many opportunities for productive partnerships with investigators in other countries. While spacecraft projects are complex and very expensive, there are other, lower-cost partnerships that can yield important scientific results and offer excellent opportunities for building up new space and Earth science programs and for training new researchers.     

Smart sensor Web: tactical battlefield visualization using sensor fusion

Smart sensor Web (SSW) is a recent DUSD (S&T) initiative inspired by extraordinary technological advances in sensors and microelectronics and by the emergence of the Internet as a real-time communication tool. The overall vision for SSW is an intelligent, Web-centric distribution and fusion of sensor information that provides greatly enhanced situational awareness, on demand, to warfighters at lower echelons. Emphasis is on multi-sensor fusion of large arrays of local sensors, joined with other assets, to provide real-time imagery, weather, targeting information, mission planning, and simulations for military operations on land, sea, and air. This paper gives an overview of this new initiative, highlights some of the technology challenges in sensor/information fusion, and presents a program approach for near-term demonstrations and long-term solutions, involving the DoD, National Labs, commercial industry, and academia.