Triton, Pluto, Centaurs, and Trans-Neptunian Bodies

The diverse populations of icy bodies of the outer Solar System (OSS) give critical information on the composition and structure of the solar nebula and the early phases of planet formation. The two principal repositories of icy bodies are the Kuiper belt or disk, and the Oort Cloud, both of which are the source regions of the comets. Nearly 1000 individual Kuiper belt objects have been discovered; their dynamical distribution is a clue to the early outward migration and gravitational scattering power of Neptune. Pluto is perhaps the largest Kuiper belt object. Pluto is distinguished by its large satellite, a variable atmosphere, and a surface composed of several ices and probable organic solid materials that give it color. Triton is probably a former member of the Kuiper belt population, suggested by its retrograde orbit as a satellite of Neptune. Like Pluto, Triton has a variable atmosphere, compositionally diverse icy surface, and an organic atmospheric haze. Centaur objects appear to come from the Kuiper belt and occupy temporary orbits in the planetary zone; the compositional similarity of one well studied Centaur (5145 Pholus) to comets is notable. New discoveries continue apace, as observational surveys reveal new objects and refined observing techniques yield more physical information about specific bodies.     

Sensor systems signal processing platform

A field programmable gate array-based computing platform for high-speed sensors such as short-range radars is presented. The circuit performs necessary A/D conversions, raw data stream compression and target detection, and constructs a message structure suitable for external displays. In the prototype, USB is the connecting path to a laptop computer. An elementary pulse radar is utilized as an application example. An application interest would be in collision avoidance systems. Observed data transfer rates with real radar input signals were 36 Mbytes/s when typical target detection algorithms were applied.     

Simulation of launch and re-entry acceleration profiles for testing of shuttle and unmanned microgravity research payloads

Microgravity experiments designed for execution in Get-Away Special canisters, Hitchhiker modules, and Reusable Re-entry Satellites will be subjected to launch and re-entry accelerations. Crew-dependent provisions for preventing acceleration damage to equipment or products will not be available for these payloads during flight; therefore, the effects of launch and re-entry accelerations on all aspects of such payloads must be evaluated prior to flight. A procedure was developed for conveniently simulating the launch and re-entry acceleration profiles of the Space Shuttle (3.3 and 1.7 × g maximum, respectively) and of two versions of NASA's proposed materials research Re-usable Re-entry Satellite (8 × g maximum in one case and 4 × g in the other). By using the 7 m centrifuge of the Gravitational Plant Physiology Laboratory in Philadelphia it was found possible to simulate the time dependence of these 5 different acceleration episodes for payload masses up to 59 kg. A commercial low-cost payload device, the “Materials Dispersion Apparatus” of Instrumentation Technology Associates was tested for (1) integrity of mechanical function, (2) retention of fluid in its compartments, and (3) integrity of products under simulated re-entry g-loads. In particular, the sharp rise from 1 g to maximum g-loading that occurs during re-entry in various unmanned vehicles was successfully simulated, conditions were established for reliable functioning of the MDA, and crystals of 5 proteins suspended in compartments filled with mother liquor were subjected to this acceleration load.     

Organic chemistry in Titan's atmosphere: new data from laboratory simulations at low temperature.

Many experiments have already been carried out to simulate organic chemistry on Titan, the largest satellite of Saturn. They can provide fruitful information on the nature of minor organic constituents likely to be present in Titan's atmosphere, both in gas and aerosol phases. Indeed, all the organic compounds but one already detected in Titan's atmosphere have been identified in simulation experiments. The exception, C4N2, as well as other compounds expected in Titan from theoretical modeling, such as other N-organics, and polyynes, first of all C6H2, have never been detected in experimental simulation thus far. All these compounds are thermally unstable, and the temperature conditions used during the simulation experiments were not appropriate. We have recently started a new program of simulation experiments with temperature conditions close to that of Titan's environment. It also uses dedicated analytical techniques and procedures compatible with the analysis of organics only stable at low temperatures, as well solid products of low stability in the presence of O2 and H2O. Spark discharge of N2-CH4 gas mixtures was carried out at low temperature in the range 100-150 K. Products were analysed by FTIR, GC and GC-MS techniques. GC-peaks were identified by their mass spectrum, and, in most cases, by comparison of the retention time and mass spectrum with standard ones. We report here the first detection in Titan simulation experiments of C6H2 and HC5N. Their abundance is a few percent relative to C4H2 and HC3N, respectively. Preliminary data on the solid products indicate an elemental composition corresponding to (H11C11N)n. These results open new prospects in the modeling of Titan's haze making.     

Temperature structure and dynamics of the middle atmosphere of Venus

The definitive data set for the mean thermal structure of the Venusian middle atmosphere is published for the first time. Some recent interim results on a modelling study to interpret the measured thermal field in terms of the global dynamics are also presented. These indicate that (a) the zonal winds on Venus fall to very low values above about 90 km, (b) there is a strong mid-latitude jet which circles the planet approximately every two days, (c) the observed solar tides are dominated by the semi-diurnal component, in agreement with theory.     

An Application of Kalman Filtering and Time Averaging to Inertial Guidance Evaluation

A method is developed for estimating circular error probable values and circular error probable rate values of an inertial navigation system using the concepts of Kalman filtering and time averaging.     

Resonant sensor for high accuracy pressure measurement usingsilicon technology

A resonant-element transducer developed for aerospace applications using micromachined silicon technology is described. The sensor is a beam supported over a square diaphragm. The resonant frequency of the beam is proportional to the applied pressure on the diaphragm. Results presented show that the prototype's performance rivals that of current high-accuracy pressure transducers     

Results from the Energetic Gamma-Ray Experiment Telescope (EGRET) on the Compton Observatory

The Energetic Gamma-Ray Experiment Telescope (EGRET) on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory covers the high energy gamma ray energy range, approximately 30 MeV to 30 GeV, with a sensitivity considerably greater than earlier high energy gamma-ray satellites. Thus far, 4 pulsars have been detected and their properties measured, including in 3 cases the energy spectrum as a function of phase. The details of the galactic plane are being mapped and a spectra of the center region has been obtained in good agreement with that expected from cosmic ray interactions. The Magellanic clouds have been examined with the Large Magellanic Cloud having been detected at a level consistent with it having a cosmic ray density compatible with quasi-stable equilibrium. Sixteen Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN's) have been seen thus far with a high degree of certainty including 12 quasars and 4 BL Lac objects, but no Seyferts. Time variation has been detected in some of these AGN's.     

Adaptive imaging for forward-looking ground penetrating radar

Most of the current forward-looking ground-penetrating radar (FLGPR) systems use conventional delay-and-sum (DAS) based methods to form radar images for detection of the target (such as a landmine). However, DAS is a data-independent approach which is known to suffer from low resolution and poor interference and clutter rejection capability. We present a data-adaptive imaging approach for FLGPR image formation based on APES (amplitude and phase estimation) and rank-deficient RCB (robust Capon beamforming). Due to the data-adaptive nature of both APES and RCB, our approach has better resolution and much better interference and clutter rejection capability than the standard DAS-based imaging methods. The excellent performance of the proposed method is demonstrated using experimental data collected via two FLGPR systems recently developed by PSI (Planning Systems, Inc.) and SRI (Stanford Research Institute).