Simulation model for the closed plant experiment facility of CEEF.

The Closed Ecology Experiment Facilities (CEEF) is a testbed for Controlled Ecological Life Support Systems (CELSS) investigations. CEEF including the physico-chemical material regenerative system has been constructed for the experiments of material circulation among plants, breeding animals and crew of CEEF. Because CEEF is a complex system, an appropriate schedule for the operation must be prepared in advance. The CEEF behavioral Prediction System, CPS, that will help to confirm the operation schedule, is under development. CPS will simulate CEEFs behavior with data (conditions of equipments, quantity of materials in tanks, etc.) of CEEF and an operation schedule that will be made by the operation team everyday, before the schedule will be carried out. The result of the simulation will show whether the operation schedule is appropriate or not. In order to realize CPS, models of the simulation program that is installed in CPS must mirror the real facilities of CEEF. For the first step of development, a flexible algorithm of the simulation program was investigated. The next step was development of a replicate simulation model of the material circulation system for the Closed Plant Experiment Facility (CPEF) that is a part of CEEF. All the parts of a real material circulation system for CPEF are connected together and work as a complex mechanism. In the simulation model, the system was separated into 38 units according to its operational segmentation. In order to develop each model for its corresponding unit, specifications for the model were fixed based on the specifications of the real part. These models were put into a simulation model for the system.     

Some spectroscopic problems of carbon stars

Some spectroscopic problems of carbon stars are described, with an historical sketch, and discussed mainly from the standpoint of observational data. The discussion concentrates on four items, namely: spectral classification in connection with R-N and C-types; spectral features including the identification problem; chemical composition from the curve of growth analysis; and the ¹²C/¹³C abundance ratio — mainly obtained from the CN bands analysis.     

Applications of stereoscopic height computations from dual geosynchronous satellite data/joint NASA-Japan stereo project

Stereoscopic heights of the top of an Oklahoma thunderstorm were computed, finding that high cloud tops are not always characterized by very cold IR temperature. The identical method was also applied to the computation of stereo heights based on GOES West and GMS stereo pairs obtained under the NASA-JAPAN cooperative program. It was found that stereo techniques are extremely useful in understanding the structure of thunderstorms in the United States, as well as that of hurricanes over the South Pacific.     

A debris image tracking using optical flow algorithm

This study proposes a motion detection and object tracking technique for GEO debris in a sequence of images. A couple of techniques (called the “stacking method” and “line-identifying technique”) were recently proposed to address the same problem. Although these techniques are effective at detecting the debris position and motion in the image sequences, there are some issues concerned with computational load and assumed debris motion. This study derives a method to estimate motion vectors of objects in image sequence and finally detect the debris locations by using a computer vision technique called an optical flow algorithm. The new method detects these parameters in low computational time in a serial manner, which implies that it has an advantage to track not only linear but also nonlinear motion of GEO debris more easily than the previous methods. The feasibility of the proposed methods is validated using real and synthesized image sequences which contain some typical debris motions.     

MPD arcjet system performance test

A new MPD (magnetoplasmadynamic) arcjet system was developed and tested to demonstrate its technological readiness for flight model design. The MPD arcjet, of quasisteady type, was repetitively operated. In the endurance test, more than 10⁵ shots were cleared in continuous operation. Some components cleared more than 10⁶ shots. Cathode erosion was markedly reduced through the use of newly developed material. Thermal data were obtained which define the thermal interface between the spacecraft and the MPD arcjet system. Waste heat from the electrodes was found to be 20–30% of the input power and to vary with repetition frequency. No technological difficulties are foreseen for further continuation of repetitive operation.     

Development of simultaneous imaging polarimeter for asteroids

We are currently developing a polarimeter to study surface physical properties of asteroids. To enhance polarimetric accuracy and observational efficiency, we newly devised the polarimeter whose measurements can provide the two Stokes parameters Q and U, simultaneously. The test-observations of the prototype polarimeter have been carried out in December 2003 and January 2004, mounted on the 101 cm telescope at Bisei Astronomical Observatory, Okayama, Japan. In the observations, unpolarized and polarized standard stars were observed to measure an instrumental polarization and its uncertainty. As a result, an instrumental polarization of 5.06 ± 0.18% has been measured.     

标准使世界更安全

我们都希望生活在一个更安全、更安定的世界里。然而,地震、飓风、洪水、交通事故、传染病和工业事故,除了给人类带来物质损失以外,每年还导致成千上万的人员伤亡。为了应对这些威胁,国际标准提供了广为认可的解决方案。国际标准在防止和减少人员伤亡以及物质损失方面所起到的重要作用日益突出,标准在这方面的应用也更加广泛。今年世界标准日的主题是"标准使世界更安全"。由国际电工委员会(IEC)、国际标准化组织(ISO)和国际电信联盟(ITU)这三大国际标准化组织所制定的国际标准构成了一个非常有价值的安全网络。IEC、ISO和ITU所涵盖…     

KIBO (Japanese Experiment Module in ISS) operations—2008/3–2009/10

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched its own first manned experiment facility in space called the KIBO (Japanese Experiment Module, JEM) in 2008 and 2009 and started operations as part of International Space Station (ISS). To accomplish this Operation, JAXA made its own ground facility in Tsukuba, Japan, called Space Station Integration and Promotion Center (SSIPC). Ground personnel at SSIPC called the JEM Flight Control Team (JFCT) operate the KIBO and have learnt many lessons during its operation. In this presentation, some topics are chosen and explained such as (1) crew/ground personnel interaction and (2) planning lessons learned for manned space activities.     

Outline of 500kg-class small satellite system study

On 1992 we started the study of 500kg-class satellite mainly for technology demonstration mission which contributes to mitigate the project risk. It goes without saying that this class of satellite is characterized by low cost and fast turn-around-time, but are different from the same class satellites which we'd developed in the '80s.

In this paper, we present the outline of this class of satellites, and focusing to Space Environments and Effects Observation Satellite(SEES) under pre-phase A. A lot of failures which have happened on orbit are caused by space environments. So it is necessary to understand in detail the behavior, and to develop technology to endure them.