Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Overview: The Instrument Suite and Mission

NASA’s Lunar Precursor Robotic Program (LPRP), formulated in response to the President’s Vision for Space Exploration, will execute a series of robotic missions that will pave the way for eventual permanent human presence on the Moon. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is first in this series of LPRP missions, and plans to launch in October of 2008 for at least one year of operation. LRO will employ six individual instruments to produce accurate maps and high-resolution images of future landing sites, to assess potential lunar resources, and to characterize the radiation environment. LRO will also test the feasibility of one advanced technology demonstration package. The LRO payload includes: Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) which will determine the global topography of the lunar surface at high resolution, measure landing site slopes, surface roughness, and search for possible polar surface ice in shadowed regions, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) which will acquire targeted narrow angle images of the lunar surface capable of resolving meter-scale features to support landing site selection, as well as wide-angle images to characterize polar illumination conditions and to identify potential resources, Lunar Exploration Neutron Detector (LEND) which will map the flux of neutrons from the lunar surface to search for evidence of water ice, and will provide space radiation environment measurements that may be useful for future human exploration, Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment (DLRE) which will chart the temperature of the entire lunar surface at approximately 300 meter horizontal resolution to identify cold-traps and potential ice deposits, Lyman-Alpha Mapping Project (LAMP) which will map the entire lunar surface in the far ultraviolet. LAMP will search for surface ice and frost in the polar regions and provide images of permanently shadowed regions illuminated only by starlight. Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation (CRaTER), which will investigate the effect of galactic cosmic rays on tissue-equivalent plastics as a constraint on models of biological response to background space radiation. The technology demonstration is an advanced radar (mini-RF) that will demonstrate X- and S-band radar imaging and interferometry using light weight synthetic aperture radar. This paper will give an introduction to each of these instruments and an overview of their objectives.     

Some Technical Issues of an Optically Focused Small Space Debris Tracking and Cataloging System

Congressional language in the 1998 US Senate Armed Services Committee authorization bill directed ... the Secretary of the (United States) Air Force to undertake a design study of a system that could catalog and track debris down to one centimeter in size out to 1000kilometer in altitude. The US Air Force Research Laboratory, in conjunction with other US National Laboratories and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) conducted a study that examined what technical systems and operations would be required to perform such a mission. This paper outlines the study process, details the findings, draws conclusions, and makes recommendations as to what would be needed to develop an optically based system capable of cataloging and tracking small debris in low Earth orbit.     

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.     

Rethinking public–private space travel

On May 24, 2012 SpaceX's Dragon capsule was launched and in doing so became the first commercially built vehicle to berth with and carry cargo to the International Space Station (ISS). It successfully completed its mission and returned to the Pacific Ocean on May 31, 2012.¹ The docking of Dragon represented a historic moment where a commercial enterprise managed to achieve that which had previously only been accomplished by governments. “In the history of spaceflight – only four entities have launched a space capsule into orbit and successfully brought it back to Earth: the United States, Russia, China, and SpaceX”.² While this is a monumental accomplishment for private industry, we cannot ignore the value of public–private partnerships and the role that government played in enabling this incredible achievement.In this paper I will examine how public–private partnerships are enabling the development of the commercial space industry, viewed through the lens of the Rethinking Business Institutional Hybrid Framework put forward by University of Oxford professors Marc Ventresca and Alex Nichols in their Rethinking Business MBA course. I intend to demonstrate that the NASA versus Commercial Space argument is a false dichotomy and that only by working together can both sectors continue to push the boundaries of space travel and exploration. I plan to do this by first discussing how the NASA-SpaceX partnership came about and the reasoning behind it. I will then explore what a public–private partnership (PPP) is, as compared to other government privatization schemes, and explain why Space Act Agreements are significantly different from anything done previously. I will then analyze the impact of these agreements and outline their benefits in order to demonstrate the value they create, especially in areas of mutual value creation and economic development.     

世界时与地球时转换经验公式的改进与比较

针对世界时与地球时的差值ΔT问题,提出了新的拟合多项式。基于美国海军天文台发布的1657年~2020年间的ΔT数据,以及IERS(International Earth Rotation and reference systems Service,国际地球自转和参考系服务组织)公报中公布的LS(Leap Seconds,跳秒)数据,在美国NASA(National Aeronautics and Space Administration,国家航空航天局)经验公式的基础上进行了改进,分别用3次、4次、5次、6次多项式进行拟合。然后,基于最小二乘法得到一组多项式经验公式,可适用于公元纪年、儒略日、简约儒略日以及从J2000.0起算的儒略世纪数等4种时间格式。通过精度计算表明,该组经验公式计算结果与USNO(United States Navy Observatory,美国海军天文台)基准序列的残差不超过±1.29s,与IERS基准序列的残差不超过±0.16s,整体优于NASA经验公式的计算精度。同时还给出了得到更高精度经验公式的拟合方法。     

A new window on the cosmos: The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA)

The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) is a joint US/German Project to develop and operate a gyrostabilized 2.5-m telescope in a Boeing 747-SP. This observatory will allow astronomical observations from 0.3 μm to sub-millimeter wavelengths at stratospheric altitudes as high as 45,000 ft where the atmosphere is not only cloud-free, but largely transparent at infrared wavelengths. The dynamics and chemistry of interstellar matter, and the details of embedded star formation will be key science goals. In addition, SOFIA’s unique portability will enable large-telescope observations at sites required to observe transient phenomena and location specific events. SOFIA will offer the convenient accessibility of a ground-based telescope for servicing, maintenance, and regular technology upgrades, yet will also have many of the performance advantages of a space-based telescope. Initially, SOFIA will fly with nine first-generation focal plane instruments that include broad-band imagers, moderate resolution spectrographs that will resolve broad features from dust and large molecules, and high resolution spectrometers capable of studying the chemistry and detailed kinematics of molecular and atomic gas. First science flights will begin in 2010, leading to a full operations schedule of about 120 8–10 h flights per year by 2014. The next call for instrument development that can respond to scientifically exciting new technologies will be issued in 2010. We describe the SOFIA facility and outline the opportunities for observations by the general scientific community with cutting edge focal plane technology. We summarize the operational characteristics of the first-generation instruments and give specific examples of the types of fundamental scientific studies these instruments are expected to make.     

基于eN-数据库方法复杂构型飞机转捩预测

为探索边界层转捩对大型运输机在起降条件和有较大层流区的巡航条件下的气动力精确计算问题，通过在三维RANS求解器中引入eN-数据库方法来预测飞行器表面的转捩位置，并探索转捩对气动力的影响规律。方法与目前流行的基于间歇因子控制方程的转捩预测方法相比，具有计算效率高、易于工程应用、且考虑TS不稳定性转捩因素的特点。在此基础上，通过计算NASA梯形翼来分析起降构型条件下气动力受转捩影响的规律，并通过计算DLR－F6翼身组合体来探索三维构型在巡航条件下的气动力精度。使用eN-数据库转捩判断方法的计算结果与实验值吻合较好，验证了所构建的基于RANS求解器的eN-数据库转捩预测方法的有效性，并为大型运输机气动力精确计算提供了分析工具。     

网格自适应策略在高升力构型计算中的应用

提出了一种基于多尺度网格误差分析的新型混合网格自适应局部加密策略。在初始网格基础上,通过多重网格计算,比较次细网格和细网格的计算结果,揭示出网格敏感区域,然后对这些网格敏感区域加密,计算自适应加密后的网格得到最终计算结果。相比于常规网格自适应策略,提出的新策略特别适合多种流动现象并存的高升力构型绕流流场计算中的敏感区域判断。NASA高升力全展构型的数值试验充分表明这种新策略的有效性。     

Two modest proposals for propelling NASA forward

The external and internal environments of NASA have been shifting, necessitating new approaches to problem solving and innovation. Based on a strategic alignment analysis, and an understanding of NASA's internal and external contexts, we have two modest proposals: First, give NASA flexibility to manage its human resources and infrastructure based on market-based, competitive, performance-oriented principles. Second, it is time for NASA to become a real network organization. One that is properly integrated both internally (across NASA centers) as well as externally with whatever organizations have superior space-related knowledge and technology, wherever they are.     

Mission success regulations,their effect on ELV launch success and the applicability to regulating commercial human spaceflight

As the human spaceflight industry grows the agencies charged with regulating that industry meet significant challenges. An improvement in launch success would improve the safety for the crew and passengers of a commercial human spaceflight. With respect to ELV launches, NASA's regulations over civil launches are mission success oriented while commercial launches regulated by the FAA-AST, the agency that will also be charged with human spaceflight, takes a more public safety oriented stance. A comparison of the launch success between civil and commercial launches is used to inform the decision on whether or not mission success would be an appropriate regulatory stance for the FAA-AST. The results show that there is no significant difference in launch success between civil and commercial ELV launches. Because of this and because the industry is wary of over regulation, there is indication that a mission success oriented stance might not be appropriate for regulating commercial human spaceflight.