Modernization of NASA's Johnson Space Center Chamber: A Liquid Nitrogen System to Support Cryogenic Vacuum Optical Testing of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)

Science.gov (United States)

Garcia, Sammy; Homan, Jonathan; Montz, Michael

2016-01-01

NASA is the mission lead for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the next of the “Great Observatories”, scheduled for launch in 2018. It is directly responsible for the integration and test (I&T) program that will culminate in an end-to-end cryo vacuum optical test of the flight telescope and instrument module in Chamber A at NASA Johnson Space Center. Historic Chamber A is the largest thermal vacuum chamber at Johnson Space Center and one of the largest space simulation chambers in the world. Chamber A has undergone a major modernization effort to support the deep cryogenic, vacuum and cleanliness requirements for testing the JWST. This paper describes the steps performed in efforts to convert the existing the 60’s era Liquid Nitrogen System from a forced flow (pumped) process to a natural circulation (thermo-siphon) process. In addition, the paper will describe the dramatic conservation of liquid nitrogen to support the long duration thermal vacuum testing. Lastly, describe the simplistic and effective control system which results in zero to minimal human inputs during steady state conditions.

Planning JWST NIRSpec MSA spectroscopy using NIRCam pre-images

Science.gov (United States)

Beck, Tracy L.; Ubeda, Leonardo; Kassin, Susan A.; Gilbert, Karoline; Karakla, Diane M.; Reid, I. N.; Blair, William P.; Keyes, Charles D.; Soderblom, D. R.; Peña-Guerrero, Maria A.

2016-07-01

The Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) is the work-horse spectrograph at 1-5microns for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). A showcase observing mode of NIRSpec is the multi-object spectroscopy with the Micro-Shutter Arrays (MSAs), which consist of a quarter million tiny configurable shutters that are 0. ''20×0. ''46 in size. The NIRSpec MSA shutters can be opened in adjacent rows to create flexible and positionable spectroscopy slits on prime science targets of interest. Because of the very small shutter width, the NIRSpec MSA spectral data quality will benefit significantly from accurate astrometric knowledge of the positions of planned science sources. Images acquired with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) have the optimal relative astrometric accuracy for planning NIRSpec observations of 5-10 milli-arcseconds (mas). However, some science fields of interest might have no HST images, galactic fields can have moderate proper motions at the 5mas level or greater, and extragalactic images with HST may have inadequate source information at NIRSpec wavelengths beyond 2 microns. Thus, optimal NIRSpec spectroscopy planning may require pre-imaging observations with the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) on JWST to accurately establish source positions for alignment with the NIRSpec MSAs. We describe operational philosophies and programmatic considerations for acquiring JWST NIRCam pre-image observations for NIRSpec MSA spectroscopic planning within the same JWST observing Cycle.

Commentary: JWST near-infrared detector degradation— finding the problem, fixing the problem, and moving forward

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bernard J. Rauscher

2012-06-01

Full Text Available The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST is the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. JWST will be an infrared-optimized telescope, with an approximately 6.5 m diameter primary mirror, that is located at the Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point. Three of JWST’s four science instruments use Teledyne HgCdTe HAWAII-2RG (H2RG near infrared detector arrays. During 2010, the JWST Project noticed that a few of its 5 μm cutoff H2RG detectors were degrading during room temperature storage, and NASA chartered a “Detector Degradation Failure Review Board” (DD-FRB to investigate. The DD-FRB determined that the root cause was a design flaw that allowed indium to interdiffuse with the gold contacts and migrate into the HgCdTe detector layer. Fortunately, Teledyne already had an improved design that eliminated this degradation mechanism. During early 2012, the improved H2RG design was qualified for flight and JWST began making additional H2RGs. In this article, we present the two public DD-FRB “Executive Summaries” that: (1 determined the root cause of the detector degradation and (2 defined tests to determine whether the existing detectors are qualified for flight. We supplement these with a brief introduction to H2RG detector arrays, some recent measurements showing that the performance of the improved design meets JWST requirements, and a discussion of how the JWST Project is using cryogenic storage to retard the degradation rate of the existing flight spare H2RGs.

Bringing the Science of JWST to the Public

Science.gov (United States)

Green, Joel D.; Smith, Denise A.; Lawton, Brandon L.; Meinke, Bonnie K.; Jirdeh, Hussein

2017-01-01

The James Webb Space Telescope is the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. STScI and the Office of Public Outreach are committed to bringing awareness of the technology, the excitement, and the future science potential of this great observatory to the public and to the scientific community, prior to its 2018 launch. The challenges in ensuring the high profile of JWST (understanding the infrared, the vast distance to the telescope's final position, and the unfamiliar science territory) requires us to lay the proper background, particularly in the area of spectroscopy. We currently engage the full range of the public and scientific communities using a variety of high impact, memorable initiatives, in combination with modern technologies to extend reach, linking the science goals of Webb to the ongoing discoveries being made by Hubble. Webbtelescope.org, the public hub for scientific information related to JWST, is now open. We have injected Webb-specific content into ongoing outreach programs: for example, partnering with high impact science communicators such as MinutePhysics to produce timely and concise content; partnering with musicians and artists to link science and art. Augmented reality apps showcase NASA’s telescopes in a format usable by anyone with a smartphone, and visuals from increasingly affordable 3D VR technologies.

From the Big Bang to the Nobel Prize and the JWST

Science.gov (United States)

Mather, John C.

2007-01-01

I will describe the history of the universe, from the Big Bang to 2013, when the JWST is to be launched to look back towards our beginnings. I will discuss how the COBE results led to the Nobel Prize, how the COBE results have been confirmed and extended, and their implications for future observations. The James Webb Space Telescope will be used to examine every part of our history from the first stars and galaxies to the formation of individual stars and planets and the delivery of life-supporting materials to the Earth. I will describe the plans for the JWST and how observers may use it. With luck, the JWST may produce a Nobel Prize for some discovery we can only guess today.

The James Webb Space Telescope Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Sonneborn, George

2010-01-01

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a large aperture, cryogenic, infrared-optimized space observatory under development by NASA for launch in 2014. The European and Canadian Space Agencies are mission partners. JWST will find and study the first galaxies that formed in the early universe, peer through dusty clouds to see AGN environments and stars forming planetary systems at high spatial resolution. The breakthrough capabilities of JWST will enable new studies of star formation and evolution in the Milky Way, including the Galactic Center, nearby galaxies, and the early universe. JWST's instruments are designed to work primarily in the infrared range of 1 - 28 microns, with some capability in the visible. JWST will have a segmented primary mirror, approximately 6.5 meters in diameter, and will be diffraction-limited at wavelength of 2 microns (0.1 arcsec resolution). The JWST observatory will be placed in a L2 orbit by an Ariane 5 launch vehicle provided by ESA. The observatory is designed for a 5-year prime science mission, with propellant for 10 years of science operations. The instruments will provide broad- and narrow-band imaging, coronography, and multi-object and integral-field spectroscopy (spectral resolution of 100 to 3,000) across the 1 - 28 micron wavelength range. Science and mission operations will be conducted from the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland.

Observing outer planet satellites (except Titan) with JWST: Science justification and observational requirements

Science.gov (United States)

Kestay, Laszlo P.; Grundy, Will; Stansberry, John; Sivaramakrishnan, Anand; Thatte, Deepashri; Gudipati, Murthy; Tsang, Constantine; Greenbaum, Alexandra; McGruder, Chima

2016-01-01

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will allow observations with a unique combination of spectral, spatial, and temporal resolution for the study of outer planet satellites within our Solar System. We highlight the infrared spectroscopy of icy moons and temporal changes on geologically active satellites as two particularly valuable avenues of scientific inquiry. While some care must be taken to avoid saturation issues, JWST has observation modes that should provide excellent infrared data for such studies.

Astrophysics in the Next Decade: JWST and Concurrent Facilities

CERN Document Server

Thronson, Harley A; Tielens, Alexander; The James Webb Space Telescope and Concurrent Facilities

2009-01-01

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), planned for operation in about five years, will have the capability to investigate – and answer – some of the most challenging questions in astronomy. Although motivated and designed to study the very early Universe, the performance of the observatory’s instruments over a very wide wavelength range will allow the world’s scientific community unequaled ability to study cosmic phenomena as diverse as small bodies in the Solar System and the formation of galaxies. As part of preparation to use JWST, a conference was held in Tucson, Arizona in 2007 that brought together astronomers from around the world to discuss the mission, other major facilities that will operate in the coming decade, and major scientific goals for them. This book is a compilation of those presentations by some of the leading researchers from all branches of astronomy. This book also includes a "pre-history" of JWST, describing the lengthy process and some of the key individuals that initiat...

Telescope Innovations Improve Speed, Accuracy of Eye Surgery

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

One of the main components of NASA's vision for the future of space exploration will actually have a keen eye for the past. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), scheduled to launch in 2018, will have spectacular sight, after it reaches orbit, one of its main goals is to observe the first galaxies that formed in the early universe. "JWST offers new capabilities in the infrared well beyond what we can see from current telescopes, either on the ground or in space. It will let us explore the early universe, extrasolar planets, and really, all branches of astrophysics," says Lee Feinberg, optical telescope element manager for the JWST at Goddard Space Flight Center. Building such a keen space telescope is an astronomic task. Because JWST will gaze over such incredible distances, it requires very large mirrors. In fact, the primary mirror will be more than two stories in diameter and consists of 18 separate segments. Each segment must be perfectly smooth, flat, and scratch-free in order to deliver a view 13 billion light years away. Construction of the 18 mirror segments involved measuring, grinding, polishing, and testing - and more measuring, grinding, polishing, and testing - and more measuring, grinding, polishing, and testing (you get the idea). One of the most time consuming steps of the mirror development process, the grinding phase, can take years.

Community Targets for JWST's Early Release Science Program: Evaluation of Transiting Exoplanet WASP-63b.

Science.gov (United States)

Kilpatrick, Brian; Cubillos, Patricio; Bruno, Giovanni; Lewis, Nikole K.; Stevenson, Kevin B.; Wakeford, Hannah; Blecic, Jasmina; Burrows, Adam Seth; Deming, Drake; Heng, Kevin; Line, Michael R.; Madhusudhan, Nikku; Morley, Caroline; Waldmann, Ingo P.; Transiting Exoplanet Early Release Science Community

2017-06-01

We present observations of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) ``A Preparatory Program to Identify the Single Best Transiting Exoplanet for JWST Early Release Science" for WASP-63b, one of the community targets proposed for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Early Release Science (ERS) program. A large collaboration of transiting exoplanet scientists identified a set of ``community targets" which meet a certain set of criteria for ecliptic latitude, period, host star brightness, well constrained orbital parameters, and strength of spectroscopic features. WASP-63b was one of the targets identified as a potential candidate for the ERS program. It is presented as an inflated planet with a large signal. It will be accessible to JWST approximately six months after the planned start of Cycle 1/ERS in April 2019 making it an ideal candidate should there be any delays in the JWST timetable. Here, we observe WASP-63b to evaluate its suitability as the best target to test the capabilities of JWST. Ideally, a clear atmosphere will be best suited for bench marking the instruments ability to detect spectroscopic features. We can use the strength of the water absorption feature at 1.4 μm as a way to determine the presence of obscuring clouds/hazes. The results of atmospheric retrieval are presented along with a discussion on the suitability of WASP-63b as the best target to be observed during the ERS Program.

New Frontiers for Massive Star Winds: Imaging and Spectroscopy with the James Webb Space Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Sonneborn, George

2007-01-01

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a large, infrared-optimized space telescope scheduled for launch in 2013. JWST will find the first stars and galaxies that formed in the early universe, connecting the Big Bang to our own Milky Way galaxy. JWST will peer through dusty clouds to see stars forming planetary systems, connecting the Milky Way to our own Solar System. JWST's instruments are designed to work primarily in the infrared range of 1 - 28 microns, with some capability in the visible range. JWST will have a large mirror, 6.5 meters in diameter, and will be diffraction-limited at 2 microns (0.1 arcsec resolution). JWST will be placed in an L2 orbit about 1.5 million km from the Earth. The instruments will provide imaging, coronography, and multi-object and integral-field spectroscopy across the full 1 - 28 micron wavelength range. The breakthrough capabilities of JWST will enable new studies of massive star winds from the Milky Way to the early universe.

Strategies for Constraining the Atmospheres of Temperate Terrestrial Planets with JWST

Science.gov (United States)

Batalha, Natasha E.; Lewis, Nikole K.; Line, Michael R.; Valenti, Jeff; Stevenson, Kevin

2018-04-01

The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is expected to discover dozens of temperate terrestrial planets orbiting M-dwarfs with atmospheres that could be followed up with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Currently, the TRAPPIST-1 system serves as a benchmark for determining the feasibility and resources required to yield atmospheric constraints. We assess these questions and leverage an information content analysis to determine observing strategies for yielding high-precision spectroscopy in transmission and emission. Our goal is to guide observing strategies of temperate terrestrial planets in preparation for the early JWST cycles. First, we explore JWST’s current capabilities and expected spectral precision for targets near the saturation limits of specific modes. In doing so, we highlight the enhanced capabilities of high-efficiency readout patterns that are being considered for implementation in Cycle 2. We propose a partial saturation strategy to increase the achievable precision of JWST's NIRSpec Prism. We show that JWST has the potential to detect the dominant absorbing gas in the atmospheres of temperate terrestrial planets by the 10th transit using transmission spectroscopy techniques in the near-infrared (NIR). We also show that stacking ⪆10 transmission spectroscopy observations is unlikely to yield significant improvements in determining atmospheric composition. For emission spectroscopy, we show that the MIRI Low Resolution Spectroscopy (LRS) is unlikely to provide robust constraints on the atmospheric composition of temperate terrestrial planets. Higher-precision emission spectroscopy at wavelengths longward of those accessible to MIRI LRS, as proposed in the Origins Space Telescope concept, could help improve the constraints on molecular abundances of temperate terrestrial planets orbiting M-dwarfs.

The Impact of JWST Broadband Filter Choice on Photometric Redshift Estimation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bisigello, L.; Caputi, K. I.; Colina, L.

2016-01-01

The determination of galaxy redshifts in the James Webb Space Telescope's (JWST) blank-field surveys will mostly rely on photometric estimates, based on the data provided by JWST's Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) at 0.6–5.0 μm and Mid Infrared Instrument (MIRI) at λ 5.0 μm. In this work we analyze...... the impact of choosing different combinations of NIRCam and MIRI broadband filters (F070W to F770W), as well as having ancillary data at λ 0.6 μm, on the derived photometric redshifts (z phot) of a total of 5921 real and simulated galaxies, with known input redshifts z = 0–10....

Launch Window Trade Analysis for the James Webb Space Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Wayne H.; Richon, Karen

2014-01-01

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a large-scale space telescope mission designed to study fundamental astrophysical questions ranging from the formation of the universe to the origin of planetary systems and the origins of life. JWSTs orbit design is a Libration Point Orbit (LPO) around the Sun-Earth/Moon (SEM) L2 point for a planned mission lifetime of 10.5 years. The launch readiness period for JWST is from Oct 1st, 2018 November 30th, 2018. This paper presents the first launch window analysis for the JWST observatory using finite-burn modeling; previous analysis assumed a single impulsive midcourse correction to achieve the mission orbit. The physical limitations of the JWST hardware stemming primarily from propulsion, communication and thermal requirements alongside updated mission design requirements result in significant launch window within the launch readiness period. Future plans are also discussed.

Advancing Absolute Calibration for JWST and Other Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Rieke, George; Bohlin, Ralph; Boyajian, Tabetha; Carey, Sean; Casagrande, Luca; Deustua, Susana; Gordon, Karl; Kraemer, Kathleen; Marengo, Massimo; Schlawin, Everett; Su, Kate; Sloan, Greg; Volk, Kevin

2017-10-01

We propose to exploit the unique optical stability of the Spitzer telescope, along with that of IRAC, to (1) transfer the accurate absolute calibration obtained with MSX on very bright stars directly to two reference stars within the dynamic range of the JWST imagers (and of other modern instrumentation); (2) establish a second accurate absolute calibration based on the absolutely calibrated spectrum of the sun, transferred onto the astronomical system via alpha Cen A; and (3) provide accurate infrared measurements for the 11 (of 15) highest priority stars with no such data but with accurate interferometrically measured diameters, allowing us to optimize determinations of effective temperatures using the infrared flux method and thus to extend the accurate absolute calibration spectrally. This program is integral to plans for an accurate absolute calibration of JWST and will also provide a valuable Spitzer legacy.

Challenges with Electrical, Electronics, and Electromechanical Parts for James Webb Space Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Jah, Muzar A.; Jeffers, Basil S.

2016-01-01

James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is the space-based observatory that will extend the knowledge gained by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Hubble focuses on optical and ultraviolet wavelengths while JWST focuses on the infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, to see the earliest stars and galaxies that formed in the Universe and to look deep into nearby dust clouds to study the formation of stars and planets. JWST, which commenced creation in 1996, is scheduled to launch in 2018. It includes a suite of four instruments, the spacecraft bus, optical telescope element, Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM, the platform to hold the instruments), and a sunshield. The mass of JWST is approximately 6200 kg, including observatory, on-orbit consumables and launch vehicle adaptor. Many challenges were overcome while providing the electrical and electronic components for the Goddard Space Flight Center hardware builds. Other difficulties encountered included developing components to work at cryogenic temperatures, failures of electronic components during development and flight builds, Integration and Test electronic parts problems, and managing technical issues with international partners. This paper will present the context of JWST from a EEE (electrical, electronic, and electromechanical) perspective with examples of challenges and lessons learned throughout the design, development, and fabrication of JWST in cooperation with our associated partners including the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the European Space Agency (ESA), Lockheed Martin and their respective associated partners. Technical challenges and lessons learned will be discussed.

Galaxies in the Diffuse Baryon Field Approaching Reionization: A Joint Study with JWST, HST, and Large Telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Simcoe, Robert

2017-08-01

Our team is conducting a dedicated survey for emission-line galaxies at 5 6 quasars, using JWST/NIRCAM's slitless grism in a 110 hour GTO allocation. We have acquired deep near-IR spectra of the QSOs, revealing multiple heavy-element absorption systems and probing the HI optical depth within each object's survey volume. These data will provide the first systematic view of the circumgalactic medium at z > 4, allowing us to study early metal enrichment, correlations of the intergalactic HI optical depth with galaxy density, and the environment of the quasar hosts. These fields generally do not have deep multicolor photometry that would facilitate selection of broadband dropout galaxies for future observation with JWST/NIRSPEC. However during long spectroscopic integrations with NIRCAM's long channel we will obtain deep JWST photometry in F115W and F200W, together with F356W for wavelength calibration. Here we request 30 orbits with HST/ACS to acquire deep optical photometry that (together with the JWST IR bands) will constrain SED models and enable dropout selection of fainter objects. For lower redshift objects the rest-UV ACS data will improve estimates of star formation rate and stellar mass. Within a Small-GO program scope we will obtain sensitivity similar to CANDELS-Deep in all six fields, and approximately double the size of our galaxy sample appropriate for JWST/NIRSPEC followup at redshifts approaching the reionization epoch.

Optical modeling activities for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST): IV. Overview and introduction of MATLAB based toolkits used to interface with optical design software

Science.gov (United States)

Howard, Joseph M.

2007-09-01

This paper is part four of a series on the ongoing optical modeling activities for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The first two papers discussed modeling JWST on-orbit performance using wavefront sensitivities to predict line of sight motion induced blur, and stability during thermal transients. The third paper investigates the aberrations resulting from alignment and figure compensation of the controllable degrees of freedom (primary and secondary mirrors), which may be encountered during ground alignment and on-orbit commissioning of the observatory. The work here introduces some of the math software tools used to perform the work of the previous three papers of this series. NASA has recently approved these in-house tools for public release as open source, so this presentation also serves as a quick tutorial on their use. The tools are collections of functions written for use in MATLAB to interface with optical design software (CODE V, OSLO, and ZEMAX) using either COM or DDE communication protocol. The functions are discussed, and examples are given.

Contamination control requirements implementation for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), part 2: spacecraft, sunshield, observatory, and launch

Science.gov (United States)

Wooldridge, Eve M.; Schweiss, Andrea; Henderson-Nelson, Kelly; Woronowicz, Michael; Patel, Jignasha; Macias, Matthew; McGregor, R. Daniel; Farmer, Greg; Schmeitzky, Olivier; Jensen, Peter; Rumler, Peter; Romero, Beatriz; Breton, Jacques

2014-09-01

This paper will continue from Part 1 of JWST contamination control implementation. In addition to optics, instruments, and thermal vacuum testing, JWST also requires contamination control for a spacecraft that must be vented carefully in order to maintain solar array and thermal radiator thermal properties; a tennis court-sized sunshield made with 1-2 mil Kapton™ layers that must be manufactured and maintained clean; an observatory that must be integrated, stowed and transported to South America; and a rocket that typically launches commercial payloads without contamination sensitivity. An overview of plans developed to implement contamination control for the JWST spacecraft, sunshield, observatory and launch vehicle will be presented.

James Webb Space Telescope Optical Telescope Element Mirror Development History and Results

Science.gov (United States)

Feinber, Lee D.; Clampin, Mark; Keski-Kuha, Ritva; Atkinson, Charlie; Texter, Scott; Bergeland, Mark; Gallagher, Benjamin B.

2012-01-01

In a little under a decade, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) program has designed, manufactured, assembled and tested 21 flight beryllium mirrors for the James Webb Space Telescope Optical Telescope Element. This paper will summarize the mirror development history starting with the selection of beryllium as the mirror material and ending with the final test results. It will provide an overview of the technological roadmap and schedules and the key challenges that were overcome. It will also provide a summary or the key tests that were performed and the results of these tests.

Solar System Observations with the James Webb Space Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Norwood, James; Hammel, Heidi; Milam, Stefanie; Stansberry, John; Lunine, Jonathan; Chanover, Nancy; Hines, Dean; Sonneborn, George; Tiscareno, Matthew; Brown, Michael;

Extrasolar Planets Observed with JWST and the ELTs

Science.gov (United States)

Deming, L. Drake

2010-01-01

The advent of cryogenic space-borne infrared observatories such as the Spitzer Space Telescope has lead to a revolution in the study of planets and planetary systems orbiting sun-like stars. Already Spitzer has characterized the emergent infrared spectra of close-in giant exoplanets using transit and eclipse techniques. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will be able to extend these studies to superEarth exoplanets orbiting in the habitable zones of M-dwarf stars in the near solar neighborhood. The forthcoming ground-based Extremely Large Telescopes (ELTs) will playa key role in these studies, being especially valuable for spectroscopy at higher spectral resolving powers where large photon fluxes are needed. The culmination of this work within the next two decades will be the detection and spectral characterization of the major molecular constituents in the atmosphere of a habitable superEarth orbiting a nearby lower main sequence star.

The Building Blocks for JWST I and T (Integrations and Test) to Operations - From Simulator to Flight Units

Science.gov (United States)

Fatig, Curtis; Ochs, William; Johns, Alan; Seaton, Bonita; Adams, Cynthia; Wasiak, Francis; Jones, Ronald; Jackson, Wallace

2012-01-01

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Project has an extended integration and test (I&T) phase due to long procurement and development times of various components as well as recent launch delays. The JWST Ground Segment and Operations group has developed a roadmap of the various ground and flight elements and their use in the various JWST I&T test programs. The JWST Project s building block approach to the eventual operational systems, while not new, is complex and challenging; a large-scale mission like JWST involves international partners, many vendors across the United States, and competing needs for the same systems. One of the challenges is resource balancing so simulators and flight products for various elements congeal into integrated systems used for I&T and flight operations activities. This building block approach to an incremental buildup provides for early problem identification with simulators and exercises the flight operations systems, products, and interfaces during the JWST I&T test programs. The JWST Project has completed some early I&T with the simulators, engineering models and some components of the operational ground system. The JWST Project is testing the various flight units as they are delivered and will continue to do so for the entire flight and operational system. The JWST Project has already and will continue to reap the value of the building block approach on the road to launch and flight operations.

Experimental Validation of Advanced Dispersed Fringe Sensing (ADFS) Algorithm Using Advanced Wavefront Sensing and Correction Testbed (AWCT)

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xu; Shi, Fang; Sigrist, Norbert; Seo, Byoung-Joon; Tang, Hong; Bikkannavar, Siddarayappa; Basinger, Scott; Lay, Oliver

2012-01-01

Large aperture telescope commonly features segment mirrors and a coarse phasing step is needed to bring these individual segments into the fine phasing capture range. Dispersed Fringe Sensing (DFS) is a powerful coarse phasing technique and its alteration is currently being used for JWST.An Advanced Dispersed Fringe Sensing (ADFS) algorithm is recently developed to improve the performance and robustness of previous DFS algorithms with better accuracy and unique solution. The first part of the paper introduces the basic ideas and the essential features of the ADFS algorithm and presents the some algorithm sensitivity study results. The second part of the paper describes the full details of algorithm validation process through the advanced wavefront sensing and correction testbed (AWCT): first, the optimization of the DFS hardware of AWCT to ensure the data accuracy and reliability is illustrated. Then, a few carefully designed algorithm validation experiments are implemented, and the corresponding data analysis results are shown. Finally the fiducial calibration using Range-Gate-Metrology technique is carried out and a <10nm or <1% algorithm accuracy is demonstrated.

Phase-Retrieval Uncertainty Estimation and Algorithm Comparison for the JWST-ISIM Test Campaign

Science.gov (United States)

Aronstein, David L.; Smith, J. Scott

2016-01-01

Phase retrieval, the process of determining the exitpupil wavefront of an optical instrument from image-plane intensity measurements, is the baseline methodology for characterizing the wavefront for the suite of science instruments (SIs) in the Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM) for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). JWST is a large, infrared space telescope with a 6.5-meter diameter primary mirror. JWST is currently NASA's flagship mission and will be the premier space observatory of the next decade. ISIM contains four optical benches with nine unique instruments, including redundancies. ISIM was characterized at the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in Greenbelt, MD in a series of cryogenic vacuum tests using a telescope simulator. During these tests, phase-retrieval algorithms were used to characterize the instruments. The objective of this paper is to describe the Monte-Carlo simulations that were used to establish uncertainties (i.e., error bars) for the wavefronts of the various instruments in ISIM. Multiple retrieval algorithms were used in the analysis of ISIM phase-retrieval focus-sweep data, including an iterativetransform algorithm and a nonlinear optimization algorithm. These algorithms emphasize the recovery of numerous optical parameters, including low-order wavefront composition described by Zernike polynomial terms and high-order wavefront described by a point-by-point map, location of instrument best focus, focal ratio, exit-pupil amplitude, the morphology of any extended object, and optical jitter. The secondary objective of this paper is to report on the relative accuracies of these algorithms for the ISIM instrument tests, and a comparison of their computational complexity and their performance on central and graphical processing unit clusters. From a phase-retrieval perspective, the ISIM test campaign includes a variety of source illumination bandwidths, various image-plane sampling criteria above and below the Nyquist- Shannon

Spitzer/JWST Cross Calibration: IRAC Observations of Potential Calibrators for JWST

Science.gov (United States)

Carey, Sean J.; Gordon, Karl D.; Lowrance, Patrick; Ingalls, James G.; Glaccum, William J.; Grillmair, Carl J.; E Krick, Jessica; Laine, Seppo J.; Fazio, Giovanni G.; Hora, Joseph L.; Bohlin, Ralph

2017-06-01

We present observations at 3.6 and 4.5 microns using IRAC on the Spitzer Space Telescope of a set of main sequence A stars and white dwarfs that are potential calibrators across the JWST instrument suite. The stars range from brightnesses of 4.4 to 15 mag in K band. The calibration observations use a similar redundancy to the observing strategy for the IRAC primary calibrators (Reach et al. 2005) and the photometry is obtained using identical methods and instrumental photometric corrections as those applied to the IRAC primary calibrators (Carey et al. 2009). The resulting photometry is then compared to the predictions based on spectra from the CALSPEC Calibration Database (http://www.stsci.edu/hst/observatory/crds/calspec.html) and the IRAC bandpasses. These observations are part of an ongoing collaboration between IPAC and STScI investigating absolute calibration in the infrared.

Pathways Towards Habitable Planets: Capabilities of the James Webb Space Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Clampin, Mark

2009-01-01

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a large aperture (6.5 meter), cryogenic space telescope with a suite of near and mid-infrared instruments covering the wavelength range of 0.6 m to 28 m. JWST s primary science goal is to detect and characterize the first galaxies. It will also study the assembly of galaxies, star formation, and the formation of evolution of planetary systems. We also review the expected scientific performance of the observatory for observations of exosolar planets by means of transit photometry and spectroscopy, and direct coronagraphic imaging and address its role in the search for habitable planets.

Solar System Observations with the James Webb Space Telescope

OpenAIRE

Norwood, James; Hammel, Heidi; Milam, Stefanie; Stansberry, John; Lunine, Jonathan; Chanover, Nancy; Hines, Dean; Sonneborn, George; Tiscareno, Matthew; Brown, Michael; Ferruit, Pierre

2014-01-01

The James Webb Space Telescope will enable a wealth of new scientific investigations in the near- and mid-infrared, with sensitivity and spatial/spectral resolution greatly surpassing its predecessors. In this paper, we focus upon Solar System science facilitated by JWST, discussing the most current information available concerning JWST instrument properties and observing techniques relevant to planetary science. We also present numerous example observing scenarios for a wide variety of Solar...

An Information-theoretic Approach to Optimize JWST Observations and Retrievals of Transiting Exoplanet Atmospheres

Science.gov (United States)

Howe, Alex R.; Burrows, Adam; Deming, Drake

2017-01-01

We provide an example of an analysis to explore the optimization of observations of transiting hot Jupiters with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to characterize their atmospheres based on a simple three-parameter forward model. We construct expansive forward model sets for 11 hot Jupiters, 10 of which are relatively well characterized, exploring a range of parameters such as equilibrium temperature and metallicity, as well as considering host stars over a wide range in brightness. We compute posterior distributions of our model parameters for each planet with all of the available JWST spectroscopic modes and several programs of combined observations and compute their effectiveness using the metric of estimated mutual information per degree of freedom. From these simulations, clear trends emerge that provide guidelines for designing a JWST observing program. We demonstrate that these guidelines apply over a wide range of planet parameters and target brightnesses for our simple forward model.

AN INFORMATION-THEORETIC APPROACH TO OPTIMIZE JWST OBSERVATIONS AND RETRIEVALS OF TRANSITING EXOPLANET ATMOSPHERES

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Howe, Alex R.; Burrows, Adam [Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, 1085 S. University, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States); Deming, Drake, E-mail: arhowe@umich.edu, E-mail: burrows@astro.princeton.edu, E-mail: ddeming@astro.umd.edu [Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742 (United States)

2017-01-20

We provide an example of an analysis to explore the optimization of observations of transiting hot Jupiters with the James Webb Space Telescope ( JWST ) to characterize their atmospheres based on a simple three-parameter forward model. We construct expansive forward model sets for 11 hot Jupiters, 10 of which are relatively well characterized, exploring a range of parameters such as equilibrium temperature and metallicity, as well as considering host stars over a wide range in brightness. We compute posterior distributions of our model parameters for each planet with all of the available JWST spectroscopic modes and several programs of combined observations and compute their effectiveness using the metric of estimated mutual information per degree of freedom. From these simulations, clear trends emerge that provide guidelines for designing a JWST observing program. We demonstrate that these guidelines apply over a wide range of planet parameters and target brightnesses for our simple forward model.

Future space-based direct imaging platforms: high fidelity simulations and instrument testbed development

Science.gov (United States)

Hicks, Brian A.; Eberhardt, Andrew; SAINT, VNC, LUVOIR

2017-06-01

The direct detection and characterization of habitable zone (HZ) Earth-like exoplanets is predicated on light gathering power of a large telescope operating with tens of millicarcsecond angular resolution, and at contrast scales on the order of 0.1 ppb. Accessing a statistically significant sample of planets to search for habitable worlds will likely build on the knowledge and insfrastructure gained through JWST, later advancing to assembly in space or formation flying approaches that may eventually be used to achieve even greater photometric sensitivity or resolution. in order to address contrast, a means of starlight suppression is needed that contends with complex aperture diffraction. The Visible Nulling Coronagraph (VNC) is one such approach that destructively interferes starlight to enable detection and characterization of extrasolar objects.The VNC is being incorporated into an end-to-end telescope-coronagraph system demonstrator called the Segmented Aperture Interferometric Nulling Testbed (SAINT). Development of the VNC has a rich legacy, and successfully demonstrating its capability with SAINT will mark milestones towards meeting the high-contrast direct imaging needs of future large space telescopes. SAINT merges the VNC with an actively-controlled segmented aperture telescope via a fine pointing system and aims to demonstrate 1e-8 contrast nulling of a segmented aperture at an inner working angle of four diffraction radii over a 20 nm visible bandpass. The system comprises four detectors for wavefront sensing, one of which is the high-contrast focal plane. The detectors provide feedback to control the segmented telescope primary mirror, a fast steering mirror, a segmented deformable mirror, and a delay stage. All of these components must work in concert with passive optical elements that are designed, fabricated, and aligned pairwise to achieve the requisite wavefront symmetry needed to push the state of the art in broadband destructive interferometric

James Webb Space Telescope Observations of Stellar Occultations by Solar System Bodies and Rings

Science.gov (United States)

Santos-Sanz, P.; French, R. G.; Pinilla-Alonso, N.; Stansberry, J.; Lin, Z-Y.; Zhang, Z-W.; Vilenius, E.; Mueller, Th.; Ortiz, J. L.; Braga-Ribas, F.;

The MEarth Project: Finding the Best Targets for Atmospheric Characterization with JWST

Science.gov (United States)

Berta-Thompson, Z.

2014-04-01

If we want to directly observe the radius, orbit, mass, and atmosphere of a small, cool, habitable exoplanet, our best opportunity is to find such a planet transiting a small, cool, nearby M dwarf star. The MEarth Project is an ongoing all-sky survey for Earth-like planets transiting the closest, smallest M dwarfs in the Galaxy. MEarth aims to find good targets for atmospheric characterization with JWST and the next generation of enormous ground-based telescopes. This poster provides a status update on the MEarth Project, including the progress we've made over the past five years with 8 telescopes in the Northern hemisphere and promising early results from our new installation of 8 more telescopes in the Southern hemisphere.

Probing the Dusty Stellar Populations of the Local Volume Galaxies with JWST /MIRI

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jones, Olivia C.; Meixner, Margaret [Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD, 21218 (United States); Justtanont, Kay [Department of Earth and Space Sciences, Chalmers University of Technology, Onsala Space Observatory, SE-439 92 Onsala (Sweden); Glasse, Alistair [UK Astronomy Technology Centre, Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ (United Kingdom)

2017-05-20

The Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) for the James Webb Space Telescope ( JWST ) will revolutionize our understanding of infrared stellar populations in the Local Volume. Using the rich Spitzer -IRS spectroscopic data set and spectral classifications from the Surveying the Agents of Galaxy Evolution (SAGE)–Spectroscopic survey of more than 1000 objects in the Magellanic Clouds, the Grid of Red Supergiant and Asymptotic Giant Branch Star Model (grams), and the grid of YSO models by Robitaille et al., we calculate the expected flux densities and colors in the MIRI broadband filters for prominent infrared stellar populations. We use these fluxes to explore the JWST /MIRI colors and magnitudes for composite stellar population studies of Local Volume galaxies. MIRI color classification schemes are presented; these diagrams provide a powerful means of identifying young stellar objects, evolved stars, and extragalactic background galaxies in Local Volume galaxies with a high degree of confidence. Finally, we examine which filter combinations are best for selecting populations of sources based on their JWST colors.

Can JWST Follow Up on Gravitational-Wave Detections?

Science.gov (United States)

Kohler, Susanna

2016-02-01

Bitten by the gravitational-wave bug? While we await Thursdays press conference, heres some food for thought: if LIGO were able to detect gravitational waves from compact-object mergers, how could we follow up on the detections? A new study investigates whether the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will be able to observe electromagnetic signatures of some compact-object mergers.Hunting for MergersStudying compact-object mergers (mergers of black holes and neutron stars) can help us understand a wealth of subjects, like high-energy physics, how matter behaves at nuclear densities, how stars evolve, and how heavy elements in the universe were created.The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) is searching for the signature ripples in spacetime identifying these mergers, but gravitational waves are squirrelly: LIGO will only be able to localize wave sources to tens of square degrees. If we want to find out more about any mergers LIGO discovers in gravitational waves, well need a follow-up search for electromagnetic counterparts with other observatories.The Kilonova KeyOne possible electromagnetic counterpart is kilonovae, explosions that can be produced during a merger of a binary neutron star or a neutron starblack hole system. If the neutron star is disrupted during the merger, some of the hot mass is flung outward and shines brightly by radioactive decay.Kilonovae are especially promising as electromagnetic counterparts to gravitational waves for three reasons:They emit isotropically, so the number of observable mergers isnt limited by relativistic beaming.They shine for a week, giving follow-up observatories time to search for them.The source location can beeasily recovered.The only problem? We dont currently have any sensitive survey instruments in the near-infrared band (where kilonova emission peaks) that can provide coverage over tens of square degrees. Luckily, we will soon have just the thing: JWST, launching in 2018!JWSTs

CHARACTERIZING TRANSITING EXOPLANET ATMOSPHERES WITH JWST

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Greene, Thomas P. [NASA Ames Research Center, Space Science and Astrobiology Division, M.S. 245-6, Moffett Field, CA 94035 (United States); Line, Michael R.; Montero, Cezar; Fortney, Jonathan J. [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States); Lustig-Yaeger, Jacob [Department of Astronomy, Box 351580, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195 (United States); Luther, Kyle, E-mail: tom.greene@nasa.gov [Department of Physics, University of California, 366 LeConte Hall MC 7300, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States)

2016-01-20

We explore how well spectra from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will likely constrain bulk atmospheric properties of transiting exoplanets. We start by modeling the atmospheres of archetypal hot Jupiter, warm Neptune, warm sub-Neptune, and cool super-Earth planets with atmospheres that are clear, cloudy, or of high mean molecular weight (HMMW). Next we simulate the λ = 1–11 μm transmission and emission spectra of these systems for several JWST instrument modes for single-transit or single-eclipse events. We then perform retrievals to determine how well temperatures and molecular mixing ratios (CH{sub 4}, CO, CO{sub 2}, H{sub 2}O, NH{sub 3}) can be constrained. We find that λ = 1–2.5 μm transmission spectra will often constrain the major molecular constituents of clear solar-composition atmospheres well. Cloudy or HMMW atmospheres will often require full 1–11 μm spectra for good constraints, and emission data may be more useful in cases of sufficiently high F{sub p} and high F{sub p}/F{sub *}. Strong temperature inversions in the solar-composition hot-Jupiter atmosphere should be detectable with 1–2.5+ μm emission spectra, and 1–5+ μm emission spectra will constrain the temperature–pressure profiles of warm planets. Transmission spectra over 1–5+ μm will constrain [Fe/H] values to better than 0.5 dex for the clear atmospheres of the hot and warm planets studied. Carbon-to-oxygen ratios can be constrained to better than a factor of 2 in some systems. We expect that these results will provide useful predictions of the scientific value of single-event JWST spectra until its on-orbit performance is known.

The James Webb Space Telescope's Plan for Operations and Instrument Capabilities for Observations in the Solar System

Science.gov (United States)

Milam, Stefanie N.; Stansberry, John A.; Sonneborn, George; Thomas, Cristina

2016-01-01

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is optimized for observations in the near- and mid-infrared and will provide essential observations for targets that cannot be conducted from the ground or other missions during its lifetime. The state-of-the-art science instruments, along with the telescope's moving target tracking, will enable the infrared study, with unprecedented detail, for nearly every object (Mars and beyond) in the Solar System. The goals of this special issue are to stimulate discussion and encourage participation in JWST planning among members of the planetary science community. Key science goals for various targets, observing capabilities for JWST, and highlights for the complementary nature with other missions/observatories are described in this paper.

The James Webb Space Telescope's Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam): Making Models, Building Understanding

Science.gov (United States)

McCarthy, D. W., Jr.; Lebofsky, L. A.; Higgins, M. L.; Lebofsky, N. R.

2011-09-01

Since 2003, the Near Infrared Camear (NIRCam) science team for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has conducted "Train the Trainer" workshops for adult leaders of the Girl Scout of the USA (GSUSA), engaging them in the process of scientific inquiry and equipping them to host astronomy-related activities at the troop level. Training includes topics in basic astronomy (night sky, phases of the Moon, the scale of the Solar System and beyond, stars, galaxies, telescopes, etc.) as well as JWST-specific research areas in extra-solar planetary systems and cosmology, to pave the way for girls and women to understand the first images from JWST. Participants become part of our world-wide network of 160 trainers teaching young women essential STEM-related concepts using astronomy, the night sky environment, applied math, engineering, and critical thinking.

Nurturing The STEM Pipeline: Graduate Student Leadership In NIRCam's Ongoing E/PO Mission For JWST

Science.gov (United States)

Schlingman, Wayne M.; Stock, N.; Teske, J.; Tyler, K.; Biller, B.; Donley, J.; Hedden, A.; Knierman, K.; Young, P.

2011-01-01

The Astronomy Camp for Girl Scout Leaders is an education and public outreach (E/PO) program offered by the science team of the Near-InfraRed Camera (NIRCam) for NASA's 6.5-meter James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Since 2003, astronomy graduate students have helped design and lead biannual "Train the Trainer” workshops for adults from the Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA), engaging these trainers in the process of scientific inquiry and equipping them to host astronomy-related activities at the troop level. These workshops have helped revise the national GSUSA badge curriculum and directly benefitted thousands of young girls of all ages, not only in general science and math education but also in specific astronomical and technological concepts relating to JWST. To date, nine graduate students have become members of NIRCam's E/PO team. They have developed curriculum and activities used to teach concepts in stellar nucleosynthesis, lookback time, galaxy classification, etc. They have also contributed to the overall strategic approach and helped lead more general activities in basic astronomy (night sky, phases of the Moon, the scale of the Solar System and beyond, stars, galaxies, telescopes, etc.) as well as JWST-specific research areas in extrasolar planetary systems and cosmology, to pave the way for girls and women to understand the first images from JWST. The resulting experience has empowered these students to propose and to develop their own E/PO programs after graduation as postdocs and young faculty. They also continue as part of NIRCam's growing worldwide network of 160 trainers teaching young women essential STEM-related concepts using astronomy, the night sky environment, applied math, engineering, and critical thinking. NIRCam and its E/PO program are funded by NASA under contract NAS5-02105.

The Transiting Exoplanet Community Early Release Science Program for JWST

Science.gov (United States)

Berta-Thompson, Zachory K.; Batalha, Natalie M.; Stevenson, Kevin B.; Bean, Jacob; Sing, David K.; Crossfield, Ian; Knutson, Heather; Line, Michael R.; Kreidberg, Laura; Desert, Jean-Michel; Wakeford, Hannah; Crouzet, Nicolas; Moses, Julianne I.; Benneke, Björn; Kempton, Eliza; Lopez-Morales, Mercedes; Parmentier, Vivien; Gibson, Neale; Schlawin, Everett; Fraine, Jonathan; Kendrew, Sarah; Transiting Exoplanet Community ERS Team

2018-06-01

The James Webb Space Telescope offers astronomers the opportunity to observe the composition, structure, and dynamics of transiting exoplanet atmospheres with unprecedented detail. However, such observations require very precise time-series spectroscopic monitoring of bright stars and present unique technical challenges. The Transiting Exoplanet Community Early Release Science Program for JWST aims to help the community understand and overcome these technical challenges as early in the mission as possible, and to enable exciting scientific discoveries through the creation of public exoplanet atmosphere datasets. With observations of three hot Jupiters spanning a range of host star brightnesses, this program will exercise time-series modes with all four JWST instruments and cover a full suite of transiting planet characterization geometries (transits, eclipses, and phase curves). We designed the observational strategy through an open and transparent community effort, with contributions from an international collaboration of over 100 experts in exoplanet observations, theory, and instrumentation. Community engagement with the project will be centered around open Data Challenge activities using both simulated and real ERS data, for exoplanet scientists to cross-validate and improve their analysis tools and theoretical models. Recognizing that the scientific utility of JWST will be determined not only by its hardware and software but also by the community of people who use it, we take an intentional approach toward crafting an inclusive collaboration and encourage new participants to join our efforts.

JWST Associations overview: automated generation of combined products

Science.gov (United States)

Alexov, Anastasia; Swade, Daryl; Bushouse, Howard; Diaz, Rosa; Eisenhamer, Jonathan; Hack, Warren; Kyprianou, Mark; Levay, Karen; Rahmani, Christopher; Swam, Mike; Valenti, Jeff

2018-01-01

We are presenting the design of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Data Management System (DMS) automated processing of Associations. An Association captures the relationship between exposures and higher level data products, such as combined mosaics created from dithered and tiled observations. The astronomer’s intent is captured within the Proposal Planning System (PPS) and provided to DMS as candidate associations. These candidates are converted into Association Pools and Association Generator Tables that serve as input to automated processing which create the combined data products. Association Pools are generated to capture a list of exposures that could potentially form associations and provide relevant information about those exposures. The Association Generator using definitions on groupings creates one or more Association Tables from a single input Association Pool. Each Association Table defines a set of exposures to be combined and the ruleset of the combination to be performed; the calibration software creates Associated data products based on these input tables. The initial design produces automated Associations within a proposal. Additionally this JWST overall design is conducive to eventually produce Associations for observations from multiple proposals, similar to the Hubble Legacy Archive (HLA).

Line of Sight Stabilization of James Webb Space Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Meza, Luis; Tung, Frank; Anandakrishnan, Satya; Spector, Victor; Hyde, Tupper

2005-01-01

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) builds upon the successful flight experience of the Chandra Xray Telescope by incorporating an additional LOS pointing servo to meet the more stringent pointing requirements. The LOS pointing servo, referred to in JWST as the Fine Guidance Control System (FGCS), will utilize a Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS) as the sensor, and a Fine Steering Mirror (FSM) as the actuator. The FSM is a part of the Optical Telescope Element (OTE) and is in the optical path between the tertiary mirror and the instrument focal plane, while the FGS is part of the Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM). The basic Chandra spacecraft bus attitude control and determination architecture, utilizing gyros, star trackers/aspect camera, and reaction wheels, is retained for JWST. This system has achieved pointing stability of better than 0.5 arcseconds. To reach the JWST requirements of milli-arcsecond pointing stability with this ACS hardware, the local FGCS loop is added to the optical path. The FGCS bandwidth is about 2.0 Hz and will therefore attenuate much of the spacecraft ACS induced low frequency jitter. In order to attenuate the higher frequency (greatet than 2.0 Hz) disturbances associated with reaction wheel static and dynamic imbalances, as well as bearing run-out, JWST will employ a two-stage passive vibration isolation system consisting of (1) 7.0 Hz reaction wheel isolators between each reaction wheel and the spacecraft bus, and (2) a 1.0 Hz tower isolator between the spacecraft bus and the Optical Telescope Element (OTE). In order to sense and measure the LOS, the FGS behaves much like an autonomous star tracker that has a very small field of view and uses the optics of the telescope. It performs the functions of acquisition, identification and tracking of stars in its 2.5 x 2.5 arcminute field of view (FOV), and provides the centroid and magnitude of the selected star for use in LOS control. However, since only a single star is being tracked

Observing the Atmospheres of Known Temperate Earth-sized Planets with JWST

Science.gov (United States)

Morley, Caroline V.; Kreidberg, Laura; Rustamkulov, Zafar; Robinson, Tyler; Fortney, Jonathan J.

2017-12-01

Nine transiting Earth-sized planets have recently been discovered around nearby late-M dwarfs, including the TRAPPIST-1 planets and two planets discovered by the MEarth survey, GJ 1132b and LHS 1140b. These planets are the smallest known planets that may have atmospheres amenable to detection with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). We present model thermal emission and transmission spectra for each planet, varying composition and surface pressure of the atmosphere. We base elemental compositions on those of Earth, Titan, and Venus and calculate the molecular compositions assuming chemical equilibrium, which can strongly depend on temperature. Both thermal emission and transmission spectra are sensitive to the atmospheric composition; thermal emission spectra are sensitive to surface pressure and temperature. We predict the observability of each planet’s atmosphere with JWST. GJ 1132b and TRAPPIST-1b are excellent targets for emission spectroscopy with JWST/MIRI, requiring fewer than 10 eclipse observations. Emission photometry for TRAPPIST-1c requires 5-15 eclipses; LHS 1140b and TRAPPIST-1d, TRAPPIST-1e, and TRAPPIST-1f, which could possibly have surface liquid water, may be accessible with photometry. Seven of the nine planets are strong candidates for transmission spectroscopy measurements with JWST, although the number of transits required depends strongly on the planets’ actual masses. Using the measured masses, fewer than 20 transits are required for a 5σ detection of spectral features for GJ 1132b and six of the TRAPPIST-1 planets. Dedicated campaigns to measure the atmospheres of these nine planets will allow us, for the first time, to probe formation and evolution processes of terrestrial planetary atmospheres beyond our solar system.

HST PanCET Program: A Cloudy Atmosphere for the Promising JWST Target WASP-101b

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wakeford, H. R.; Mandell, A. [Planetary Systems Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States); Stevenson, K. B.; Lewis, N. K. [Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Sing, D. K.; Evans, T. [Astrophysics Group, Physics Building, University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter EX4 4QL (United Kingdom); López-Morales, M. [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Marley, M. [NASA Ames Research Center, MS 245-5, Moffett Field, CA 94035 (United States); Kataria, T. [NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109 (United States); Ballester, G. E. [Department of Planetary Sciences and Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, 1541 E Univ. Boulevard, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States); Barstow, J. [Physics and Astronomy, University College London, London (United Kingdom); Ben-Jaffel, L. [Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris, CNRS, UMR 7095 and Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Paris 6, 98 bis bd Arago, F-75014 Paris (France); Bourrier, V.; Ehrenreich, D. [Observatoire de l’Université de Genève, 51 chemin des Maillettes, CH-1290 Sauverny (Switzerland); Buchhave, L. A. [Centre for Star and Planet Formation, Niels Bohr Institute and Natural History Museum, University of Copenhagen, Øster Voldgade 5-7, DK-1350 Copenhagen K (Denmark); García Muñoz, A., E-mail: hannah.wakeford@nasa.gov [Zentrum für Astronomie und Astrophysik, Technische Universität Berlin, D-10623 Berlin (Germany); and others

2017-01-20

We present results from the first observations of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Panchromatic Comparative Exoplanet Treasury program for WASP-101b, a highly inflated hot Jupiter and one of the community targets proposed for the James Webb Space Telescope ( JWST ) Early Release Science (ERS) program. From a single HST Wide Field Camera 3 observation, we find that the near-infrared transmission spectrum of WASP-101b contains no significant H{sub 2}O absorption features and we rule out a clear atmosphere at 13 σ . Therefore, WASP-101b is not an optimum target for a JWST ERS program aimed at observing strong molecular transmission features. We compare WASP-101b to the well-studied and nearly identical hot Jupiter WASP-31b. These twin planets show similar temperature–pressure profiles and atmospheric features in the near-infrared. We suggest exoplanets in the same parameter space as WASP-101b and WASP-31b will also exhibit cloudy transmission spectral features. For future HST exoplanet studies, our analysis also suggests that a lower count limit needs to be exceeded per pixel on the detector in order to avoid unwanted instrumental systematics.

The James Webb STEM Innovation Project: Bringing JWST to the Education Community

Science.gov (United States)

Eisenhamer, Bonnie; Harris, J.; Ryer, H.; Taylor, J.; Bishop, M.

2012-01-01

Building awareness of a NASA mission prior to launch and connecting that mission to the education community can be challenging. In order to address this challenge, the Space Telescope Science Institute's Office of Public Outreach has developed the James Webb STEM innovation Project (SIP) - an interdisciplinary project that focuses on the engineering aspects and potential scientific discoveries of JWST, while incorporating elements of project-based learning. Students in participating schools will use skills from multiple subject areas to research an aspect of the JWST's design or potential science and create models, illustrated essays, or technology-based projects to demonstrate their learning. Student projects will be showcased during special events at select venues in the project states - thus allowing parents and community members to also be benefactors of the project. Currently, the SIP is being piloted in New York, California, and Maryland. In addition, we will be implementing the SIP in partnership with NASA Explorer Schools in the states of New Mexico, Michigan, Texas, Tennessee, and Iowa.

Characterizing Rosetta Stone Exoplanets with JWST Transit Spectroscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, Nikole K.; Clampin, Mark; Seager, Sara; Valenti, Jeff A.; Mountain, Matt; JWST Telescope Scientist GTO Team

2017-06-01

JWST will for the first time provide for spectroscopic (R > 100) observation of systems hosting transiting exoplanets over the critical wavelength range from 0.6 to 28.5 microns. Our team will take advantage of JWST's spectral coverage and resolution to characterize a small number of exoplanets in exquisite detail. We plan to focus our efforts on single representative members of the hot-Jupiter, warm-Neptune, and temperate-Earth populations in both transmission and emission over the full wavelength range of JWST. Our JWST observations will hopefully become 'Rosetta Stones' that will serve as benchmarks for further observations of planets within each representative population and a lasting legacy of the JWST mission. Here we will describe our observational plan and how we turned our science goals into an implemented Cycle 1 JWST program.

High Contrast Vacuum Nuller Testbed (VNT) Contrast, Performance and Null Control

Science.gov (United States)

Lyon, Richard G.; Clampin, Mark; Petrone, Peter; Mallik, Udayan; Madison, Timothy; Bolcar, Matthew R.

2012-01-01

Herein we report on our Visible Nulling Coronagraph high-contrast result of 109 contrast averaged over a focal planeregion extending from 14 D with the Vacuum Nuller Testbed (VNT) in a vibration isolated vacuum chamber. TheVNC is a hybrid interferometriccoronagraphic approach for exoplanet science. It operates with high Lyot stopefficiency for filled, segmented and sparse or diluted-aperture telescopes, thereby spanning the range of potential futureNASA flight telescopes. NASAGoddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) has a well-established effort to develop the VNCand its technologies, and has developed an incremental sequence of VNC testbeds to advance this approach and itsenabling technologies. These testbeds have enabled advancement of high-contrast, visible light, nulling interferometry tounprecedented levels. The VNC is based on a modified Mach-Zehnder nulling interferometer, with a W configurationto accommodate a hex-packed MEMS based deformable mirror, a coherent fiber bundle and achromatic phase shifters.We give an overview of the VNT and discuss the high-contrast laboratory results, the optical configuration, criticaltechnologies and null sensing and control.

High contrast vacuum nuller testbed (VNT) contrast, performance, and null control

Science.gov (United States)

Lyon, Richard G.; Clampin, Mark; Petrone, Peter; Mallik, Udayan; Madison, Timothy; Bolcar, Matthew R.

2012-09-01

Herein we report on our Visible Nulling Coronagraph high-contrast result of 109 contrast averaged over a focal plane region extending from 1 - 4 λ/D with the Vacuum Nuller Testbed (VNT) in a vibration isolated vacuum chamber. The VNC is a hybrid interferometric/coronagraphic approach for exoplanet science. It operates with high Lyot stop efficiency for filled, segmented and sparse or diluted-aperture telescopes, thereby spanning the range of potential future NASA flight telescopes. NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) has a well-established effort to develop the VNC and its technologies, and has developed an incremental sequence of VNC testbeds to advance this approach and its enabling technologies. These testbeds have enabled advancement of high-contrast, visible light, nulling interferometry to unprecedented levels. The VNC is based on a modified Mach-Zehnder nulling interferometer, with a “W” configuration to accommodate a hex-packed MEMS based deformable mirror, a coherent fiber bundle and achromatic phase shifters. We give an overview of the VNT and discuss the high-contrast laboratory results, the optical configuration, critical technologies and null sensing and control.

Simulated JWST/NIRISS Spectroscopy of Anticipated TESS Planets and Selected Super-Earths Discovered from K2 and Ground-Based Surveys

Science.gov (United States)

Louie, Dana; Albert, Loic; Deming, Drake

2017-01-01

The 2018 launch of James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), coupled with the 2017 launch of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), heralds a new era in Exoplanet Science, with TESS projected to detect over one thousand transiting sub-Neptune-sized planets (Ricker et al, 2014), and JWST offering unprecedented spectroscopic capabilities. Sullivan et al (2015) used Monte Carlo simulations to predict the properties of the planets that TESS is likely to detect, and published a catalog of 962 simulated TESS planets. Prior to TESS launch, the re-scoped Kepler K2 mission and ground-based surveys such as MEarth continue to seek nearby Earth-like exoplanets orbiting M-dwarf host stars. The exoplanet community will undoubtedly employ JWST for atmospheric characterization follow-up studies of promising exoplanets, but the targeted planets for these studies must be chosen wisely to maximize JWST science return. The goal of this project is to estimate the capabilities of JWST’s Near InfraRed Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS)—operating with the GR700XD grism in Single Object Slitless Spectrography (SOSS) mode—during observations of exoplanets transiting their host stars. We compare results obtained for the simulated TESS planets, confirmed K2-discovered super-Earths, and exoplanets discovered using ground-based surveys. By determining the target planet characteristics that result in the most favorable JWST observing conditions, we can optimize the choice of target planets in future JWST follow-on atmospheric characterization studies.

Unveiling the First Black Holes With JWST:Multi-wavelength Spectral Predictions

Science.gov (United States)

Natarajan, Priyamvada; Pacucci, Fabio; Ferrara, Andrea; Agarwal, Bhaskar; Ricarte, Angelo; Zackrisson, Erik; Cappelluti, Nico

2017-04-01

Growing supermassive black holes (˜ {10}9 {M}⊙ ) that power luminous z> 6 quasars from light seeds—the remnants of the first stars—within a Gyr of the Big Bang poses a timing challenge. The formation of massive black hole seeds via direct collapse with initial masses ˜ {10}4{--}{10}5 {M}⊙ alleviates this problem. Viable direct-collapse black hole formation sites, the satellite halos of star-forming galaxies, merge and acquire stars to produce a new, transient class of high-redshift objects, obese black hole galaxies (OBGs). The accretion luminosity outshines that of the stars in OBGs. We predict the multi-wavelength energy output of OBGs and growing Pop III remnants at z = 9 for standard and slim disk accretion, as well as high and low metallicities of the associated stellar population. We derive robust selection criteria for OBGs—a pre-selection to eliminate blue sources, followed by color-color cuts ([{F}090W-{F}220W]> 0;-0.3sift out OBGs from other bright, high- and low-redshift contaminants in the infrared. OBGs with predicted {M}{AB}< 25 are unambiguously detectable by the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), on the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). For parameters explored here, growing Pop III remnants with predicted {M}{AB}< 30 will likely be undetectable by JWST. We demonstrate that JWST has the power to discriminate between initial seeding mechanisms.

Observing the Spectra of MEarth and TRAPPIST Planets with JWST

Science.gov (United States)

Morley, Caroline; Kreidberg, Laura; Rustamkulov, Zafar; Robinson, Tyler D.; Fortney, Jonathan J.

2017-10-01

During the past two years, nine planets close to Earth in radius have been discovered around nearby M dwarfs cooler than 3300 K. These planets include the 7 planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system and two planets discovered by the MEarth survey, GJ 1132b and LHS 1140b (Dittmann et al. 2017; Berta-Thompson et al. 2015; Gillon et al. 2017). These planets are the smallest planets discovered to date that will be amenable to atmospheric characterization with JWST. They span equilibrium temperatures from ˜130 K to >500 K, and radii from 0.7 to 1.43 Earth radii. Some of these planets orbit as distances potentially amenable to surface liquid water, though the actual surface temperatures will depend strongly on the albedo of the planet and the thickness and composition of its atmosphere. The stars they orbit also vary in activity levels, from the quiet LHS 1140b host star to the more active TRAPPIST-1 host star. This set of planets will form the testbed for our first chance to study the diversity of atmospheres around Earth-sized planets. Here, we will present model spectra of these 9 planets, varying the composition and the surface pressure of the atmosphere. We base our elemental compositions on three outcomes of planetary atmosphere evolution in our own solar system: Earth, Titan, and Venus. We calculate the molecular compositions in chemical equilibrium. We present both thermal emission spectra and transmission spectra for each of these objects, and make predictions for the observability of these spectra with different instrument modes with JWST.

Vacuum Nuller Testbed (VNT) Performance, Characterization and Null Control: Progress Report

Science.gov (United States)

Lyon, Richard G.; Clampin, Mark; Petrone, Peter; Mallik, Udayan; Madison, Timothy; Bolcar, Matthew R.; Noecker, M. Charley; Kendrick, Stephen; Helmbrecht, Michael

2011-01-01

Herein we report on the development. sensing and control and our first results with the Vacuum Nuller Testbed to realize a Visible Nulling Coronagraph (VNC) for exoplanet coronagraphy. The VNC is one of the few approaches that works with filled. segmented and sparse or diluted-aperture telescope systems. It thus spans a range of potential future NASA telescopes and could be Hown as a separate instrument on such a future mission. NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) has a well-established effort to develop VNC technologies. and has developed an incremental sequence of VNC testbeds to advance this approach and the enabling technologies associated with it. We discuss the continued development of the vacuum Visible Nulling Coronagraph testbed (VNT). Tbe VNT is an ultra-stable vibration isolated testbed that operates under closed-loop control within a vacuum chamber. It will be used to achieve an incremental sequence of three visible-light nulling milestones with sequentially higher contrasts of 10(sup 8), 10(sup 9) and ideally 10(sup 10) at an inner working angle of 2*lambda/D. The VNT is based on a modified Mach-Zehnder nulling interferometer, with a "W" configuration to accommodate a hex-packed MEMS based deformable mirror, a coherent fiber bundle and achromatic phase shifters. We discuss the initial laboratory results, the optical configuration, critical technologies and the null sensing and control approach.

Vacuum nuller testbed (VNT) performance, characterization and null control: progress report

Science.gov (United States)

Lyon, Richard G.; Clampin, Mark; Petrone, Peter; Mallik, Udayan; Madison, Timothy; Bolcar, Matthew R.; Noecker, M. Charley; Kendrick, Stephen; Helmbrecht, Michael

2011-10-01

Herein we report on the development, sensing and control and our first results with the Vacuum Nuller Testbed to realize a Visible Nulling Coronagraph (VNC) for exoplanet coronagraphy. The VNC is one of the few approaches that works with filled, segmented and sparse or diluted-aperture telescope systems. It thus spans a range of potential future NASA telescopes and could be flown as a separate instrument on such a future mission. NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) has a well-established effort to develop VNC technologies, and has developed an incremental sequence of VNC testbeds to advance this approach and the enabling technologies associated with it. We discuss the continued development of the vacuum Visible Nulling Coronagraph testbed (VNT). The VNT is an ultra-stable vibration isolated testbed that operates under closed-loop control within a vacuum chamber. It will be used to achieve an incremental sequence of three visible-light nulling milestones with sequentially higher contrasts of 108, 109, and ideally 1010 at an inner working angle of 2*λ/D. The VNT is based on a modified Mach-Zehnder nulling interferometer, with a "W" configuration to accommodate a hex-packed MEMS based deformable mirror, a coherent fiber bundle and achromatic phase shifters. We discuss the initial laboratory results, the optical configuration, critical technologies and the null sensing and control approach.

Matlab based Toolkits used to Interface with Optical Design Software for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Howard, Joseph

2007-01-01

The viewgraph presentation provides an introduction to the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The first part provides a brief overview of Matlab toolkits including CodeV, OSLO, and Zemax Toolkits. The toolkit overview examines purpose, layout, how Matlab gets data from CodeV, function layout, and using cvHELP. The second part provides examples of use with JWST, including wavefront sensitivities and alignment simulations.

European agreement on James Webb Space Telescope's Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) signed

Science.gov (United States)

2004-06-01

Artist's impression of the JWST hi-res Size hi-res: 1601 kb Credits: ESA Artist's impression of the JWST An artist's impression of the selected design for the JWST spacecraft. Northrop Grumman and Ball Aerospace are the prime contractors for JWST. Artist's impression of the JWST Credits: ESA Artist's impression of the JWST An artist's impression of the selected design for the JWST spacecraft. Northrop Grumman and Ball Aerospace are the prime contractors for JWST. Observing the first light, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will help to solve outstanding questions about our place in the evolving Universe. MIRI, the Mid-Infrared Instrument, is one of the four instruments on board the JWST, the mission scheduled to follow on the heritage of Hubble in 2011. MIRI will be built in cooperation between Europe and the United States (NASA), both equally contributing to its funding. MIRI’s optics, core of the instrument, will be provided by a consortium of European institutes. According to this formal agreement, ESA will manage and co-ordinate the whole development of the European part of MIRI and act as the sole interface with NASA, which is leading the JWST project. This marks a difference with respect to the previous ESA scientific missions. In the past the funding and the development of the scientific instruments was agreed by the participating ESA Member States on the basis of purely informal arrangements with ESA. In this case, the Member States involved in MIRI have agreed on formally guaranteeing the required level of funding on the basis of a multi-lateral international agreement, which still keeps scientists in key roles. Over the past years, missions have become more complex and demanding, and more costly within an ever tighter budget. They also require a more and more specific expertise which is spread throughout the vast European scientific community. As a result, a new management procedure for co-ordination of payload development has become a necessity to

JWST Lifting System

Science.gov (United States)

Tolleson, William

2012-01-01

A document describes designing, building, testing, and certifying a customized crane (Lifting Device LD) with a strong back (cradle) to facilitate the installation of long wall panels and short door panels for the GHe phase of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The LD controls are variable-frequency drive controls designed to be adjustable for very slow and very-short-distance movements throughout the installation. The LD has a lift beam with an electric actuator attached at the end. The actuator attaches to a rectangular strong back (cradle) for lifting the long wall panels and short door panels from a lower angle into the vertical position inside the chamber, and then rotating around the chamber for installation onto the existing ceiling and floor. The LD rotates 360 (in very small increments) in both clockwise and counterclockwise directions. Eight lifting pads are on the top ring with 2-in. (.5-cm) eye holes spaced evenly around the ring to allow for the device to be suspended by three crane hoists from the top of the chamber. The LD is operated by remote controls that allow for a single, slow mode for booming the load in and out, with slow and very slow modes for rotating the load.

Prime focus architectures for large space telescopes: reduce surfaces to save cost

Science.gov (United States)

Breckinridge, J. B.; Lillie, C. F.

2016-07-01

Conceptual architectures are now being developed to identify future directions for post JWST large space telescope systems to operate in the UV Optical and near IR regions of the spectrum. Here we show that the cost of optical surfaces within large aperture telescope/instrument systems can exceed $100M/reflection when expressed in terms of the aperture increase needed to over come internal absorption loss. We recommend a program in innovative optical design to minimize the number of surfaces by considering multiple functions for mirrors. An example is given using the Rowland circle imaging spectrometer systems for UV space science. With few exceptions, current space telescope architectures are based on systems optimized for ground-based astronomy. Both HST and JWST are classical "Cassegrain" telescopes derived from the ground-based tradition to co-locate the massive primary mirror and the instruments at the same end of the metrology structure. This requirement derives from the dual need to minimize observatory dome size and cost in the presence of the Earth's 1-g gravitational field. Space telescopes, however function in the zero gravity of space and the 1- g constraint is relieved to the advantage of astronomers. Here we suggest that a prime focus large aperture telescope system in space may have potentially have higher transmittance, better pointing, improved thermal and structural control, less internal polarization and broader wavelength coverage than Cassegrain telescopes. An example is given showing how UV astronomy telescopes use single optical elements for multiple functions and therefore have a minimum number of reflections.

The "Very Cool" James Webb Space Telescope!

Science.gov (United States)

Teague, Peter J. B.

2018-01-01

For over twenty years, scientists, engineers, technicians, and other personnel have been working on the next generation space telescope. As a partnership between NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), CSA (Canadian Space Agency), and ESA (European Space Angency), the James Webb Space Telescope will complement the previous research performed by the Hubble by utilizing a larger primary mirror, which will also be optimized for infrared wavelengths. This combination will allow JWST to collect data and take images of light having traveled over 13.7 billion light years. This presentation will focus on the mission, as well as the contamination control challenges during the integration and testing in the NASA Goddard Spacecraft Systems Development and Integration Facility (SSDIF), one of the largest cleanrooms in the world. Additional information will be presented regarding space simulation testing down to a cool 20 degrees Kelvin [-424 degrees Fahrenheit] that will occur at Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX, and more testing and integration to happen at Northrop Grumman Corp., in Redondo Beach, CA. Launch of the JWST is currently scheduled for the spring of 2019 at Ariane Spaceport in French Guiana, South America.

Recovering the Properties of High-redshift Galaxies with Different JWST Broadband Filters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bisigello, L.; Caputi, K. I.; Colina, L.

2017-01-01

Imaging with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will allow observations of the bulk of distant galaxies at the epoch of reionization. The recovery of their properties, such as age, color excess , specific star formation rate (sSFR), and stellar mass, will mostly rely on spectral energy...... of these galaxy properties. We performed our tests on a sample of 1542 simulated galaxies, with known input properties, at z = 7–10. We found that, with only eight NIRCam broadbands, we can recover the galaxy age within 0.1 Gyr and the color excess within 0.06 mag for 70% of the galaxies. Additionally...

Trace explosives sensor testbed (TESTbed)

Science.gov (United States)

Collins, Greg E.; Malito, Michael P.; Tamanaha, Cy R.; Hammond, Mark H.; Giordano, Braden C.; Lubrano, Adam L.; Field, Christopher R.; Rogers, Duane A.; Jeffries, Russell A.; Colton, Richard J.; Rose-Pehrsson, Susan L.

2017-03-01

A novel vapor delivery testbed, referred to as the Trace Explosives Sensor Testbed, or TESTbed, is demonstrated that is amenable to both high- and low-volatility explosives vapors including nitromethane, nitroglycerine, ethylene glycol dinitrate, triacetone triperoxide, 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, pentaerythritol tetranitrate, and hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine. The TESTbed incorporates a six-port dual-line manifold system allowing for rapid actuation between a dedicated clean air source and a trace explosives vapor source. Explosives and explosives-related vapors can be sourced through a number of means including gas cylinders, permeation tube ovens, dynamic headspace chambers, and a Pneumatically Modulated Liquid Delivery System coupled to a perfluoroalkoxy total-consumption microflow nebulizer. Key features of the TESTbed include continuous and pulseless control of trace vapor concentrations with wide dynamic range of concentration generation, six sampling ports with reproducible vapor profile outputs, limited low-volatility explosives adsorption to the manifold surface, temperature and humidity control of the vapor stream, and a graphical user interface for system operation and testing protocol implementation.

Reliable Transport over SpaceWire for James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Focal Plane Electronics (FPE) Network

Science.gov (United States)

Rakow, Glenn; Schnurr, Richard; Dailey, Christopher; Shakoorzadeh, Kamdin

2003-01-01

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) faces difficult technical and budgetary challenges to overcome before it is scheduled launch in 2010. The Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM), shares these challenges. The major challenge addressed in this paper is the data network used to collect, process, compresses and store Infrared data. A total of 114 Mbps of raw information must be collected from 19 sources and delivered to the two redundant data processing units across a twenty meter deployed thermally restricted interface. Further data must be transferred to the solid-state recorder and the spacecraft. The JWST detectors are kept at cryogenic temperatures to obtain the sensitivity necessary to measure faint energy sources. The Focal Plane Electronics (FPE) that sample the detector, generate packets from the samples, and transmit these packets to the processing electronics must dissipate little power in order to help keep the detectors at these cold temperatures. Separating the low powered front-end electronics from the higher-powered processing electronics, and using a simple high-speed protocol to transmit the detector data minimize the power dissipation near the detectors. Low Voltage Differential Signaling (LVDS) drivers were considered an obvious choice for physical layer because of their high speed and low power. The mechanical restriction on the number cables across the thermal interface force the Image packets to be concentrated upon two high-speed links. These links connect the many image packet sources, Focal Plane Electronics (FPE), located near the cryogenic detectors to the processing electronics on the spacecraft structure. From 12 to 10,000 seconds of raw data are processed to make up an image, various algorithms integrate the pixel data Loss of commands to configure the detectors as well as the loss of science data itself may cause inefficiency in the use of the telescope that are unacceptable given the high cost of the observatory. This

James Webb Space Telescope Core 2 Test - Cryogenic Thermal Balance Test of the Observatorys Core Area Thermal Control Hardware

Science.gov (United States)

Cleveland, Paul; Parrish, Keith; Thomson, Shaun; Marsh, James; Comber, Brian

2016-01-01

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, will be the largest astronomical telescope ever sent into space. To observe the very first light of the early universe, JWST requires a large deployed 6.5-meter primary mirror cryogenically cooled to less than 50 Kelvin. Three scientific instruments are further cooled via a large radiator system to less than 40 Kelvin. A fourth scientific instrument is cooled to less than 7 Kelvin using a combination pulse-tube Joule-Thomson mechanical cooler. Passive cryogenic cooling enables the large scale of the telescope which must be highly folded for launch on an Ariane 5 launch vehicle and deployed once on orbit during its journey to the second Earth-Sun Lagrange point. Passive cooling of the observatory is enabled by the deployment of a large tennis court sized five layer Sunshield combined with the use of a network of high efficiency radiators. A high purity aluminum heat strap system connects the three instrument's detector systems to the radiator systems to dissipate less than a single watt of parasitic and instrument dissipated heat. JWST's large scale features, while enabling passive cooling, also prevent the typical flight configuration fully-deployed thermal balance test that is the keystone of most space missions' thermal verification plans. This paper describes the JWST Core 2 Test, which is a cryogenic thermal balance test of a full size, high fidelity engineering model of the Observatory's 'Core' area thermal control hardware. The 'Core' area is the key mechanical and cryogenic interface area between all Observatory elements. The 'Core' area thermal control hardware allows for temperature transition of 300K to approximately 50 K by attenuating heat from the room temperature IEC (instrument electronics) and the Spacecraft Bus. Since the flight hardware is not available for test, the Core 2 test uses high fidelity and flight-like reproductions.

Optical transmission for the James Webb Space Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Lightsey, Paul A.; Gallagher, Benjamin B.; Nickles, Neal; Copp, Tracy

2012-09-01

The fabrication and coating of the mirrors for the James Webb Space Telescope has been completed. The spectral reflectivity of the protected gold coated beryllium mirrors has been measured. The predicted end-of-life transmission through the telescope builds from these values. The additional phenomena that have been analyzed are contamination effects and effects of the environment for the JWST operation about the Earth-Sun L2 Lagrange libration point. The L2 environment analysis has been based on radiation testing of mirror samples and hypervelocity testing to assess the micrometeoroid impact effects. The mirror showed no change in reflectance over the VIS-SWIR wavelengths after exposure to 6-9 Grad (Si) that simulated 6 years orbiting the L2 Lagrange point. The effects of hypervelocity particle impacts on the mirrors from test data has been extrapolated to the to the anticipated flux characteristics for micrometeoroids at the L2 environment. The results show that the micrometeoroid effects are orders of magnitude below the particulate contamination effects. The final end-of-life transmission for the mirrors including all of these phenomena will meet the performance requirements for JWST.

The Segmented Aperture Interferometric Nulling Testbed (SAINT) I: overview and air-side system description

Science.gov (United States)

Hicks, Brian A.; Lyon, Richard G.; Petrone, Peter; Ballard, Marlin; Bolcar, Matthew R.; Bolognese, Jeff; Clampin, Mark; Dogoda, Peter; Dworzanski, Daniel; Helmbrecht, Michael A.; Koca, Corina; Shiri, Ron

2016-07-01

This work presents an overview of the Segmented Aperture Interferometric Nulling Testbed (SAINT), a project that will pair an actively-controlled macro-scale segmented mirror with the Visible Nulling Coronagraph (VNC). SAINT will incorporate the VNC's demonstrated wavefront sensing and control system to refine and quantify end-to-end high-contrast starlight suppression performance. This pathfinder testbed will be used as a tool to study and refine approaches to mitigating instabilities and complex diffraction expected from future large segmented aperture telescopes.

JWST-MIRI spectrometer main optics design and main results

Science.gov (United States)

Navarro, Ramón; Schoenmaker, Ton; Kroes, Gabby; Oudenhuysen, Ad; Jager, Rieks; Venema, Lars

2017-11-01

MIRI ('Mid InfraRed Instrument') is the combined imager and integral field spectrometer for the 5-29 micron wavelength range under development for the James Webb Space Telescope JWST. The flight acceptance tests of the Spectrometer Main Optics flight models (SMO), part of the MIRI spectrometer, are completed in the summer of 2008 and the system is delivered to the MIRI-JWST consortium. The two SMO arms contain 14 mirrors and form the MIRI optical system together with 12 selectable gratings on grating wheels. The entire system operates at a temperature of 7 Kelvin and is designed on the basis of a 'no adjustments' philosophy. This means that the optical alignment precision depends strongly on the design, tolerance analysis and detailed knowledge of the manufacturing process. Because in principle no corrections are needed after assembly, continuous tracking of the alignment performance during the design and manufacturing phases is important. The flight hardware is inspected with respect to performance parameters like alignment and image quality. The stability of these parameters is investigated after exposure to various vibration levels and successive cryogenic cool downs. This paper describes the philosophy behind the acceptance tests, the chosen test strategy and reports the results of these tests. In addition the paper covers the design of the optical test setup, focusing on the simulation of the optical interfaces of the SMO. Also the relation to the SMO qualification and verification program is addressed.

Studying Galaxy Formation with the Hubble, Spitzer and James Webb Space Telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Gardner, Jonathan P.

2009-01-01

The deepest optical to infrared observations of the universe include the Hubble Deep Fields, the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey and the recent Hubble Ultra-Deep Field. Galaxies are seen in these surveys at redshifts z greater than 6, less than 1 Gyr after the Big Bang, at the end of a period when light from the galaxies has reionized Hydrogen in the inter-galactic medium. These observations, combined with theoretical understanding, indicate that the first stars and galaxies formed at z greater than 10, beyond the reach of the Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes. To observe the first galaxies, NASA is planning the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), a large (6.5m), cold (less than 50K), infrared-optimized observatory to be launched early in the next decade into orbit around the second Earth-Sun Lagrange point. JWST will have four instruments: The Near-Infrared Camera, the Near-Infrared multi-object Spectrograph, and the Tunable Filter Imager will cover the wavelength range 0.6 to 5 microns, while the Mid-Infrared Instrument will do both imaging and spectroscopy from 5 to 28.5 microns. In addition to JWST's ability to study the formation and evolution of galaxies, I will also briefly review its expected contributions to studies of the formation of stars and planetary systems, and discuss recent progress in constructing the observatory.

High-contrast visible nulling coronagraph for segmented and arbitrary telescope apertures

Science.gov (United States)

Hicks, Brian A.; Lyon, Richard G.; Bolcar, Matthew R.; Clampin, Mark; Petrone, Peter

2014-08-01

Exoplanet coronagraphy will be driven by the telescope architectures available and thus the system designer must have available one or more suitable coronagraphic instrument choices that spans the set of telescope apertures, including filled (off-axis), obscured (e.g. with secondary mirror spiders and struts), segmented apertures, such as JWST, and interferometric apertures. In this work we present one such choice of coronagraph, known as the visible nulling coronagraph (VNC), that spans all four types of aperture and also employs differential sensing and control.

Creating the Deep Space Environment for Testing the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) at NASA Johnson Space Center's Chamber A

Science.gov (United States)

Homan, Jonathan L.; Cerimele, Mary P.; Montz, Michael E.; Bachtel, Russell; Speed, John; O'Rear, Patrick

2013-01-01

Chamber A is the largest thermal vacuum chamber at the Johnson Space Center and is one of the largest space environment chambers in the world. The chamber is 19.8 m (65 ft) in diameter and 36.6 m (120 ft) tall and is equipped with cryogenic liquid nitrogen panels (shrouds) and gaseous helium shrouds to create a simulated space environment. It was originally designed and built in the mid 1960 s to test the Apollo Command and Service Module and several manned tests were conducted on that spacecraft, contributing to the success of the program. The chamber has been used since that time to test spacecraft active thermal control systems, Shuttle DTO, DOD, and ESA hardware in simulated Low Earth Orbit (LEO) conditions. NASA is now moving from LEO towards exploration of locations with environments approaching those of deep space. Therefore, Chamber A has undergone major modifications to enable it to simulate these deeper space environments. Environmental requirements were driven, and modifications were funded by the James Webb Space Telescope program, and this telescope which will orbit Solar/Earth L2, will be the first test article to benefit from the chamber s new capabilities. To accommodate JWST, the Chamber A high vacuum system has been modernized, additional LN2 shrouds have been installed, the liquid nitrogen system has been modified to remove dependency on electrical power and increase its reliability, a new helium shroud/refrigeration system has been installed to create a colder more stable and uniform heat sink, and the controls have been updated to increase the level of automation and improve operator interfaces. Testing of these major modifications was conducted in August of 2012 and this initial test was very successful, with all major systems exceeding their performance requirements. This paper will outline the changes in overall environmental requirements, discuss the technical design data that was used in the decisions leading to the extensive modifications

XML: James Webb Space Telescope Database Issues, Lessons, and Status

Science.gov (United States)

Detter, Ryan; Mooney, Michael; Fatig, Curtis

2003-01-01

This paper will present the current concept using extensible Markup Language (XML) as the underlying structure for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) database. The purpose of using XML is to provide a JWST database, independent of any portion of the ground system, yet still compatible with the various systems using a variety of different structures. The testing of the JWST Flight Software (FSW) started in 2002, yet the launch is scheduled for 2011 with a planned 5-year mission and a 5-year follow on option. The initial database and ground system elements, including the commands, telemetry, and ground system tools will be used for 19 years, plus post mission activities. During the Integration and Test (I&T) phases of the JWST development, 24 distinct laboratories, each geographically dispersed, will have local database tools with an XML database. Each of these laboratories database tools will be used for the exporting and importing of data both locally and to a central database system, inputting data to the database certification process, and providing various reports. A centralized certified database repository will be maintained by the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. One of the challenges for the database is to be flexible enough to allow for the upgrade, addition or changing of individual items without effecting the entire ground system. Also, using XML should allow for the altering of the import and export formats needed by the various elements, tracking the verification/validation of each database item, allow many organizations to provide database inputs, and the merging of the many existing database processes into one central database structure throughout the JWST program. Many National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) projects have attempted to take advantage of open source and commercial technology. Often this causes a greater reliance on the use of Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS), which is often limiting

Optical Coating Performance for Heat Reflectors of the JWST-ISIM Electronic Component

Science.gov (United States)

Rashford, Robert A.; Perrygo, Charles M.; Garrison, Matthew B.; White, Bryant K.; Threat, Felix T.; Quijada, Manuel A.; Jeans, James W.; Huber, Frank K.; Bousquet, Robert R.; Shaw, Dave

2011-01-01

A document discusses a thermal radiator design consisting of lightweight composite materials and low-emittance metal coatings for use on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) structure. The structure will have a Thermal Subsystem unit to provide passive cooling to the Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM) control electronics. The ISIM, in the JWST observatory, is the platform that provides the mounting surfaces for the instrument control electronics. Dissipating the control electronic generated-heat away from JWST is of paramount importance so that the spacecraft s own heat does not interfere with the infrared-light gathering of distant cosmic sources. The need to have lateral control in the emission direction of the IEC (ISIM Electronics Compartment) radiators led to the development of a directional baffle design that uses multiple curved mirrorlike surfaces. This concept started out from the so-called Winston non-imaging optical concentrators that use opposing parabolic reflector surfaces, where each parabola has its focus at the opposite edge of the exit aperture. For this reason they are often known as compound parabolic concentrators or CPCs. This radiator system with the circular section was chosen for the IEC reflectors because it offers two advantages over other designs. The first is that the area of the reflector strips for a given radiator area is less, which results in a lower mass baffle assembly. Secondly, the fraction of energy emitted by the radiator strips and subsequently reflected by the baffle is less. These fewer reflections reduced the amount of energy that is absorbed and eventually re-emitted, typically in a direction outside the design emission range angle. A baffle frame holds the mirrors in position above a radiator panel on the IEC. Together, these will direct the majority of the heat from the IEC above the sunshield away towards empty space.

Cryo-Vacuum Testing of the Integrated Science Instrument Module for the James Webb Space Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Kimble, Randy A.; Davila, P. S.; Drury, M. P.; Glazer, S. D.; Krom, J. R.; Lundquist, R. A.; Mann, S. D.; McGuffey, D. B.; Perry, R. L.; Ramey, D. D.

2011-01-01

With delivery of the science instruments for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) expected in 2012, current plans call for the first cryo-vacuum test of the Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM) to be carried out at GSFC in early 2013. Plans are well underway for conducting this ambitious test, which will perform critical verifications of a number of optical, thermal, and operational requirements of the IS 1M hardware, at its deep cryogenic operating temperature. We describe here the facilities, goals, methods, and timeline for this important Integration & Test milestone in the JWST program.

Simulated JWST/NIRISS Transit Spectroscopy of Anticipated TESS Planets Compared to Select Discoveries from Space-Based and Ground-Based Surveys

Science.gov (United States)

Louie, Dana; Deming, Drake; Albert, Loic; Bouma, Luke; Bean, Jacob; Lopez-Morales, Mercedes

2018-01-01

The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) will embark in 2018 on a 2-year wide-field survey mission of most of the celestial sky, discovering over a thousand super-Earth and sub-Neptune-sized exoplanets potentially suitable for follow-up observations using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Bouma et al. (2017) and Sullivan et al. (2015) used Monte Carlo simulations to predict the properties of the planetary systems that TESS is likely to detect, basing their simulations upon Kepler-derived planet occurrence rates and photometric performance models for the TESS cameras. We employed a JWST Near InfraRed Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS) simulation tool to estimate the signal-to-noise (S/N) that JWST/NIRISS will attain in transmission spectroscopy of these anticipated TESS discoveries, and we then compared the S/N for anticipated TESS discoveries to our estimates of S/N for 18 known exoplanets. We analyzed the sensitivity of our results to planetary composition, cloud cover, and presence of an observational noise floor. We find that only a few anticipated TESS discoveries in the terrestrial planet regime will result in better JWST/NIRISS S/N than currently known exoplanets, such as the TRAPPIST-1 planets, GJ1132b, or LHS1140b. However, we emphasize that this outcome is based upon Kepler-derived occurrence rates, and that co-planar compact systems (e.g. TRAPPIST-1) were not included in predicting the anticipated TESS planet yield. Furthermore, our results show that several hundred anticipated TESS discoveries in the super-Earth and sub-Neptune regime will produce S/N higher than currently known exoplanets such as K2-3b or K2-3c. We apply our results to estimate the scope of a JWST follow-up observation program devoted to mapping the transition region between high molecular weight and primordial planetary atmospheres.

James Webb Telescope's Near Infrared Camera: Making Models, Building Understanding

Science.gov (United States)

Lebofsky, Larry A.; McCarthy, D. W.; Higgins, M. L.; Lebofsky, N. R.

2010-10-01

The Astronomy Camp for Girl Scout Leaders is a science education program sponsored by NASA's next large space telescope: The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The E/PO team for JWST's Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam), in collaboration with the Sahuaro Girl Scout Council, has developed a long-term relationship with adult leaders from all GSUSA Councils that directly benefits troops of all ages, not only in general science education but also specifically in the astronomical and technology concepts relating to JWST. We have been training and equipping these leaders so they can in turn teach young women essential concepts in astronomy, i.e., the night sky environment. We model what astronomers do by engaging trainers in the process of scientific inquiry, and we equip them to host troop-level astronomy-related activities. It is GSUSA's goal to foster girls’ interest and creativity in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, creating an environment that encourages their interests early in their lives while creating a safe place for girls to try and fail, and then try again and succeed. To date, we have trained over 158 leaders in 13 camps. These leaders have come from 24 states, DC, Guam, and Japan. While many of the camp activities are related to the "First Light” theme, many of the background activities relate to two of the other JWST and NIRCam themes: "Birth of Stars and Protoplanetary Systems” and "Planetary Systems and the Origin of Life.” The latter includes our own Solar System. Our poster will highlight the Planetary Systems theme: 1. Earth and Moon: Day and Night; Rotation and Revolution. 2. Earth/Moon Comparisons. 3. Size Model: The Diameters of the Planets. 4. Macramé Planetary (Solar) Distance Model. 5.What is a Planet? 6. Planet Sorting Cards. 7. Human Orrery 8. Lookback Time in Our Daily Lives NIRCam E/PO website: http://zeus.as.arizona.edu/ dmccarthy/GSUSA

AN IMAGE-PLANE ALGORITHM FOR JWST'S NON-REDUNDANT APERTURE MASK DATA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Greenbaum, Alexandra Z. [Johns Hopkins University Department of Physics and Astronomy 3400 North Charles, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Pueyo, Laurent; Sivaramakrishnan, Anand [Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Lacour, Sylvestre [LESIA, CNRS/UMR-8109, Observatoire de Paris, UPMC, Université Paris Diderot 5 place Jules Janssen, 92195 Meudon (France)

2015-01-10

The high angular resolution technique of non-redundant masking (NRM) or aperture masking interferometry (AMI) has yielded images of faint protoplanetary companions of nearby stars from the ground. AMI on James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)'s Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS) has a lower thermal background than ground-based facilities and does not suffer from atmospheric instability. NIRISS AMI images are likely to have 90%-95% Strehl ratio between 2.77 and 4.8 μm. In this paper we quantify factors that limit the raw point source contrast of JWST NRM. We develop an analytic model of the NRM point spread function which includes different optical path delays (pistons) between mask holes and fit the model parameters with image plane data. It enables a straightforward way to exclude bad pixels, is suited to limited fields of view, and can incorporate effects such as intra-pixel sensitivity variations. We simulate various sources of noise to estimate their effect on the standard deviation of closure phase, σ{sub CP} (a proxy for binary point source contrast). If σ{sub CP} < 10{sup –4} radians—a contrast ratio of 10 mag—young accreting gas giant planets (e.g., in the nearby Taurus star-forming region) could be imaged with JWST NIRISS. We show the feasibility of using NIRISS' NRM with the sub-Nyquist sampled F277W, which would enable some exoplanet chemistry characterization. In the presence of small piston errors, the dominant sources of closure phase error (depending on pixel sampling, and filter bandwidth) are flat field errors and unmodeled variations in intra-pixel sensitivity. The in-flight stability of NIRISS will determine how well these errors can be calibrated by observing a point source. Our results help develop efficient observing strategies for space-based NRM.

Benchmarking GJ436b for JWST

Science.gov (United States)

Parmentier, Vivien; Stevenson, Kevin; Crossfield, Ian; Morley, Caroline; Fortney, Jonathan; Showman, Adam; Lewis, Nikole; Line, Mike

2017-10-01

GJ436b is a slightly eccentric, Neptune size planet with an equilibrium temperature of approximately 770K, it is the only Neptune size planet with a thermal emission measurement. With the coming JWST GTO observations of it's emission spectrum, GJ436b will become a benchmark object of the population of Neptune-size planets that will be discovered by TESS and characterized by JWST in the coming years. The current set of 19 secondary eclipses observed by Spitzer points toward a metal-rich, well mixed, tidally heated atmosphere in disequilibrium chemistry. However, no self-consistent forward models are currently able to fit the dayside spectrum of the planet, whereas retrieval models lead to solutions that are inconsistent with the observed planet density. Clearly, some piece of the puzzle is missing to understand the atmospheric properties of this planet. Although the coming JWST observations will likely improve our understanding of this planet, it won't be able to break the degeneracies between metallicity, internal flux and energy redistribution. We propose to observe a full phase curve of GJ436b at 3.6 microns. We will obtain a measurement of the nightside flux of GJ436b at 3.6 microns. Combined with the already observed 8 microns phase curve, we will obtain the first low resolution spectrum of the nightside of a Neptune size exoplanet. By comparing the nightside flux at 3.6 and 8 microns, we will be able to place constraints on the tidal heating and the metallicity of GJ436b that will be complimentary to the the dayside spectrum that will be obtained with JWST. As seen with the example of hot Jupiters, for which much more data is available, measurements of the nightside spectrum is fundamental to understand the planet atmosphere as a whole and correctly interpret the dayside emission. As a consequence, the proposed observation is crucial for the interpretation of the coming JWST observations. As a secondary goal, our observation should be able to confirm the

Wavefront-Error Performance Characterization for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM) Science Instruments

Science.gov (United States)

Aronstein, David L.; Smith, J. Scott; Zielinski, Thomas P.; Telfer, Randal; Tournois, Severine C.; Moore, Dustin B.; Fienup, James R.

2016-01-01

The science instruments (SIs) comprising the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM) were tested in three cryogenic-vacuum test campaigns in the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)'s Space Environment Simulator (SES). In this paper, we describe the results of optical wavefront-error performance characterization of the SIs. The wavefront error is determined using image-based wavefront sensing (also known as phase retrieval), and the primary data used by this process are focus sweeps, a series of images recorded by the instrument under test in its as-used configuration, in which the focal plane is systematically changed from one image to the next. High-precision determination of the wavefront error also requires several sources of secondary data, including 1) spectrum, apodization, and wavefront-error characterization of the optical ground-support equipment (OGSE) illumination module, called the OTE Simulator (OSIM), 2) plate scale measurements made using a Pseudo-Nonredundant Mask (PNRM), and 3) pupil geometry predictions as a function of SI and field point, which are complicated because of a tricontagon-shaped outer perimeter and small holes that appear in the exit pupil due to the way that different light sources are injected into the optical path by the OGSE. One set of wavefront-error tests, for the coronagraphic channel of the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) Longwave instruments, was performed using data from transverse translation diversity sweeps instead of focus sweeps, in which a sub-aperture is translated andor rotated across the exit pupil of the system.Several optical-performance requirements that were verified during this ISIM-level testing are levied on the uncertainties of various wavefront-error-related quantities rather than on the wavefront errors themselves. This paper also describes the methodology, based on Monte Carlo simulations of the wavefront-sensing analysis of focus-sweep data, used to establish the

Optical Coating Performance and Thermal Structure Design for Heat Reflectors of JWST Electronic Control Unit

Science.gov (United States)

Quijada, Manuel A.; Threat, Felix; Garrison, Matt; Perrygo, Chuck; Bousquet, Robert; Rashford, Robert

2008-01-01

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) consists of an infrared-optimized Optical Telescope Element (OTE) that is cooled down to 40 degrees Kelvin. A second adjacent component to the OTE is the Integrated Science Instrument Module, or ISIM. This module includes the electronic compartment, which provides the mounting surfaces and ambient thermally controlled environment for the instrument control electronics. Dissipating the 200 watts generated from the ISIM structure away from the OTE is of paramount importance so that the spacecraft's own heat does not interfere with the infrared light detected from distant cosmic sources. This technical challenge is overcome by a thermal subsystem unit that provides passive cooling to the ISIM control electronics. The proposed design of this thermal radiator consists of a lightweight structure made out of composite materials and low-emittance metal coatings. In this paper, we will present characterizations of the coating emittance, bidirectional reflectance, and mechanical structure design that will affect the performance of this passive cooling system.

Simulation of Telescope Detectivity for Geo Survey and Tracking

Science.gov (United States)

Richard, P.

2014-09-01

As the number of space debris on Earths Orbit increases steadily, the need to survey, track and catalogue them becomes of key importance. In this context, CNES has been using the TAROT Telescopes (Rapid Telescopes for Transient Objects owned and operated by CNRS) for several years to conduct studies about space surveillance and tracking. Today, two testbeds of services using the TAROT telescopes are running every night: one for GEO situational awareness and the second for debris tracking. Additionally to the CNES research activity on space surveillance and tracking domain, an operational collision avoidance service for LEO and GEO satellites is in place at CNES for several years. This service named CAESAR (Conjunction Analysis and Evaluation: Alerts and Recommendations) is used by CNES as well as by external customers. As the optical debris tracking testbed based on TAROT telescopes is the first step toward an operational provider of GEO measures that could be used by CAESAR, simulations have been done to help choosing the sites and types of telescopes that could be added in the GEO survey and debris tracking telescope network. One of the distinctive characteristics of the optical observation of space debris compared to traditional astronomic observation is the need to observe objects at low elevations. The two mains reasons for this are the need to observe the GEO belt from non-equatorial sites and the need to observe debris at longitudes far from the telescope longitude. This paper presents the results of simulations of the detectivity for GEO debris of various telescopes and sites, based on models of the GEO belt, the atmosphere and the instruments. One of the conclusions is that clever detection of faint streaks and spread sources by image processing is one of the major keys to improve the detection of debris on the GEO belt.

The JWST/NIRCam Coronagraph: Mask Design and Fabrication

Science.gov (United States)

Krista, John E.; Balasubramanian, Kunjithapatha; Beichman, Charles A.; Echternach, Pierre M.; Green, Joseph J.; Liewer, Kurt M.; Muller, Richard E.; Serabyn, Eugene; Shaklan, Stuart B.; Trauger, John T.;

Segmented Aperture Interferometric Nulling Testbed (SAINT) II: component systems update

Science.gov (United States)

Hicks, Brian A.; Bolcar, Matthew R.; Helmbrecht, Michael A.; Petrone, Peter; Burke, Elliot; Corsetti, James; Dillon, Thomas; Lea, Andrew; Pellicori, Samuel; Sheets, Teresa; Shiri, Ron; Agolli, Jack; DeVries, John; Eberhardt, Andrew; McCabe, Tyler

2017-09-01

This work presents updates to the coronagraph and telescope components of the Segmented Aperture Interferometric Nulling Testbed (SAINT). The project pairs an actively-controlled macro-scale segmented mirror with the Visible Nulling Coronagraph (VNC) towards demonstrating capabilities for the future space observatories needed to directly detect and characterize a significant sample of Earth-sized worlds around nearby stars in the quest for identifying those which may be habitable and possibly harbor life. Efforts to improve the VNC wavefront control optics and mechanisms towards repeating narrowband results are described. A narrative is provided for the design of new optical components aimed at enabling broadband performance. Initial work with the hardware and software interface for controlling the segmented telescope mirror is also presented.

Vacuum Nuller Testbed Performance, Characterization and Null Control

Science.gov (United States)

Lyon, R. G.; Clampin, M.; Petrone, P.; Mallik, U.; Madison, T.; Bolcar, M.; Noecker, C.; Kendrick, S.; Helmbrecht, M. A.

2011-01-01

The Visible Nulling Coronagraph (VNC) can detect and characterize exoplanets with filled, segmented and sparse aperture telescopes, thereby spanning the choice of future internal coronagraph exoplanet missions. NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) has developed a Vacuum Nuller Testbed (VNT) to advance this approach, and assess and advance technologies needed to realize a VNC as a flight instrument. The VNT is an ultra-stable testbed operating at 15 Hz in vacuum. It consists of a MachZehnder nulling interferometer; modified with a "W" configuration to accommodate a hexpacked MEMS based deformable mirror (DM), coherent fiber bundle and achromatic phase shifters. The 2-output channels are imaged with a vacuum photon counting camera and conventional camera. Error-sensing and feedback to DM and delay line with control algorithms are implemented in a real-time architecture. The inherent advantage of the VNC is that it is its own interferometer and directly controls its errors by exploiting images from bright and dark channels simultaneously. Conservation of energy requires the sum total of the photon counts be conserved independent of the VNC state. Thus sensing and control bandwidth is limited by the target stars throughput, with the net effect that the higher bandwidth offloads stressing stability tolerances within the telescope. We report our recent progress with the VNT towards achieving an incremental sequence of contrast milestones of 10(exp 8) , 10(exp 9) and 10(exp 10) respectively at inner working angles approaching 2A/D. Discussed will be the optics, lab results, technologies, and null control. Shown will be evidence that the milestones have been achieved.

Detecting First Supernovae with JWST

Science.gov (United States)

Regos, Eniko; FLARE

2018-01-01

We have applied for a JWST ERS First Transients Survey, FLARE to answer empirically how the Universe made its first stars. To quest the epoch of reionization we target what happened to these first stars by observing the most luminous events, supernovae. These transients provide direct constraints on star formation rates and the initial mass function.These very rare events can be reached by JWST at 27 mag AB in 2 micron and 4.4 micron over a field of 0.1 square degree visited multiple times each year.The survey may detect massive Pop III SNe at redshifts up to 10, pinpointing the redshift of first stars, a key scientific goal of JWST.We explore all models of star formation history (derived from UV luminosity densities and IR data), DTD, top heavy IMF of early, low metallicity stars, and normalizations to data of SN Ia, II rates (SNLS, CLASH, CANDELS, SDSS, SVISS), as well as SLSN (ROTSE, SNLS) to estimate the expected SN rates as function of redshift.Population synthesis of double degenerate and single degenerate scenarios of SN Ia shows that the shape of the DTD is rather insensitive to the assumptions (common envelope prescription and metallicities, or retention efficiency of accreted H to white dwarf core and mass transfer rate).Indeed GOODS High z SN Ia rates imply substantial delay in their progenitor model, and Hubble Higher z SN search constrains delay time distribution models as well.SLSN (I, II /H/ and extreme rare pulsational pair instability) are magnetars (ULGRB) in high local star formation rate, faint, low metallicity galaxies.

Visible nulling coronagraphy testbed development for exoplanet detection

Science.gov (United States)

Lyon, Richard G.; Clampin, Mark; Woodruff, Robert A.; Vasudevan, Gopal; Thompson, Patrick; Chen, Andrew; Petrone, Peter; Booth, Andrew; Madison, Timothy; Bolcar, Matthew; Noecker, M. Charley; Kendrick, Stephen; Melnick, Gary; Tolls, Volker

2010-07-01

Three of the recently completed NASA Astrophysics Strategic Mission Concept (ASMC) studies addressed the feasibility of using a Visible Nulling Coronagraph (VNC) as the prime instrument for exoplanet science. The VNC approach is one of the few approaches that works with filled, segmented and sparse or diluted aperture telescope systems and thus spans the space of potential ASMC exoplanet missions. NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) has a well-established effort to develop VNC technologies and has developed an incremental sequence of VNC testbeds to advance the this approach and the technologies associated with it. Herein we report on the continued development of the vacuum Visible Nulling Coronagraph testbed (VNT). The VNT is an ultra-stable vibration isolated testbed that operates under high bandwidth closed-loop control within a vacuum chamber. It will be used to achieve an incremental sequence of three visible light nulling milestones of sequentially higher contrasts of 108, 109 and 1010 at an inner working angle of 2*λ/D and ultimately culminate in spectrally broadband (>20%) high contrast imaging. Each of the milestones, one per year, is traceable to one or more of the ASMC studies. The VNT uses a modified Mach-Zehnder nulling interferometer, modified with a modified "W" configuration to accommodate a hex-packed MEMS based deformable mirror, a coherent fiber bundle and achromatic phase shifters. Discussed will be the optical configuration laboratory results, critical technologies and the null sensing and control approach.

Extra Solar Planetary Imaging Coronagraph and Science Requirements for the James Webb Telescope Observatory

Science.gov (United States)

Clampin, Mark

2004-01-01

1) Extra solar planetary imaging coronagraph. Direct detection and characterization of Jovian planets, and other gas giants, in orbit around nearby stars is a necessary precursor to Terrestrial Planet Finder 0 in order to estimate the probability of Terrestrial planets in our stellar neighborhood. Ground based indirect methods are biased towards large close in Jovian planets in solar systems unlikely io harbor Earthlike planets. Thus to estimate the relative abundances of terrestrial planets and to determine optimal observing strategies for TPF a pathfinder mission would be desired. The Extra-Solar Planetary Imaging Coronagraph (EPIC) is such a pathfinder mission. Upto 83 stellar systems are accessible with a 1.5 meter unobscured telescope and coronagraph combination located at the Earth-Sun L2 point. Incorporating radiometric and angular resolution considerations show that Jovians could be directly detected (5 sigma) in the 0.5 - 1.0 micron band outside of an inner working distance of 5/D with integration times of -10 - 100 hours per observation. The primary considerations for a planet imager are optical wavefront quality due to manufacturing, alignment, structural and thermal considerations. pointing stability and control, and manufacturability of coronagraphic masks and stops to increase the planetary-to- stellar contrast and mitigate against straylight. Previously proposed coronagraphic concepts are driven to extreme tolerances. however. we have developed and studied a mission, telescope and coronagraphic detection concept, which is achievable in the time frame of a Discovery class NASA mission. 2) Science requirements for the James Webb Space Telescope observatory. The James Webb Space Observatory (JWST) is an infrared observatory, which will be launched in 201 1 to an orbit at L2. JWST is a segmented, 18 mirror segment telescope with a diameter of 6.5 meters, and a clear aperture of 25 mA2. The telescope is designed to conduct imaging and spectroscopic

Application of Molecular Adsorber Coatings in Chamber A for the James Webb Space Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Abraham, Nithin S.

2017-01-01

As a coating made of highly porous zeolite materials, the Molecular Adsorber Coating (MAC) was developed to capture outgassed molecular contaminants, such as hydrocarbons and silicones. For spaceflight applications, the adsorptive capabilities of the coating can alleviate on-orbit outgassing concerns on or near sensitive surfaces and instruments within the spacecraft. Similarly, this sprayable paint technology has proven to be significantly beneficial for ground-based space applications, in particular, for vacuum chamber environments. This presentation describes the application of the MAC technology for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC). The coating was used as a mitigation tool to entrap outgassed contaminants, specifically silicone-based diffusion pump oil, from within JSCs cryogenic optical vacuum chamber test facility called Chamber A. This presentation summarizes the background, fabrication, installation, chemical analysis test results, and future plans for the MAC technology, which was effectively used to protect the JWST test equipment from vacuum chamber contamination. As a coating made of highly porous zeolite materials, the Molecular Adsorber Coating (MAC) was developed to capture outgassed molecular contaminants, such as hydrocarbons and silicones. For spaceflight applications, the adsorptive capabilities of the coating can alleviate on-orbit outgassing concerns on or near sensitive surfaces and instruments within the spacecraft. Similarly, this sprayable paint technology has proven to be significantly beneficial for ground-based space applications, in particular, for vacuum chamber environments. This presentation describes the application of the MAC technology for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC). The coating was used as a mitigation tool to entrap outgassed contaminants, specifically silicone-based diffusion pump oil, from within JSCs cryogenic optical vacuum chamber test

Collecting the Puzzle Pieces: Completing HST's UV+NIR Survey of the TRAPPIST-1 System ahead of JWST

Science.gov (United States)

de Wit, Julien

2017-08-01

Using the Spitzer Space Telescope, our team has discovered 7 Earth-sized planets around the nearby Ultra-cool dwarf star TRAPPIST-1. These planets are the first to be simultaneously Earth-sized, temperate, and amenable for in-depth atmospheric studies with space-based observatories (notably, JWST). TRAPPIST-1's system thus provides us with the first opportunity to probe the atmospheres of Earth-sized exoplanets and search for signs of habitability beyond our solar system, which will require spectral information from the UV to the IR to complete their atmospheric puzzles.We request 114 HST orbits to complete the UV+NIR survey of the 7 planets in preparation for their in-depth followup with JWST. The suggested low-density of the planets combined with their complex orbital resonance chain indicate that they migrated inward to their current positions and may harbor large water rich reservoir or leftover primordial H2 atmospheres. We have already ruled out the presence of clear H2 atmospheres for the 5 innermost planets using WFC3 and are requesting 16 WFC3 orbits to complete the TRAPPIST-1 NIR reconnaissance survey. Our primary request consists in 98 STIS orbits to complete the survey for extended H-exospheres around each of the planets. H-exospheres are the most accessible observables for volatile reservoirs, which have not been ruled out by our WFC3 observations. Exosphere detection is only amenable using HST unique capabilities in the UV and are pivotal to guide JWST's in-depth followup. The combined information from HST's UV and NIR observations will allow us put the first critical pieces of the atmospheric puzzle in place for these temperate earth-sized worlds.

Optimal Strategies for Probing Terrestrial Exoplanet Atmospheres with JWST

Science.gov (United States)

Batalha, Natasha E.; Lewis, Nikole K.; Line, Michael

2018-01-01

It is imperative that the exoplanet community determines the feasibility and the resources needed to yield high fidelity atmospheric compositions from terrestrial exoplanets. In particular, LHS 1140b and the TRAPPIST-1 system, already slated for observations by JWST’s Guaranteed Time Observers, will be the first two terrestrial planets observed by JWST. I will discuss optimal observing strategies for observing these two systems, focusing on the NIRSpec Prism (1-5μm) and the combination of NIRISS SOSS (1-2.7μm) and NIRSpec G395H (3-5μm). I will also introduce currently unsupported JWST readmodes that have the potential to greatly increase the precision on our atmospheric spectra. Lastly, I will use information content theory to compute the expected confidence interval on the retrieved abundances of key molecular species and temperature profiles as a function of JWST observing cycles.

Practical Lessons From the First Decade of EPO Partnership Between NIRCam/JWST and the GSUSA

Science.gov (United States)

McCarthy, D.; Lebofsky, L. A.; Schlingman, W. M.; Higgins, M. L.

2013-04-01

Ten years ago the NIRCam science team proposed to conduct “Train the Trainer” workshops for adult leaders from all Girl Scout Councils in the U.S. with an aim to improving basic astronomy materials and to conveying mission-specific information about the science and technologies associated with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). To date we have conducted 20 workshops involving 225 adult leaders (41 U.S. states, Guam, Japan). During this time, the infrastructure of the GSUSA has evolved considerably, as has its approach to STEM education. Here we discuss how our ongoing workshops, educational activities, and our network of trained leaders have evolved to meet the continuing needs of girls and young women within the GSUSA's new framework of Journeys.

The JWST Extragalactic Mock Catalog: Modeling Galaxy Populations from the UV through the Near-IR over 13 Billion Years of Cosmic History

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, Christina C.; Curtis-Lake, Emma; Hainline, Kevin N.; Chevallard, Jacopo; Robertson, Brant E.; Charlot, Stephane; Endsley, Ryan; Stark, Daniel P.; Willmer, Christopher N. A.; Alberts, Stacey; Amorin, Ricardo; Arribas, Santiago; Baum, Stefi; Bunker, Andrew; Carniani, Stefano; Crandall, Sara; Egami, Eiichi; Eisenstein, Daniel J.; Ferruit, Pierre; Husemann, Bernd; Maseda, Michael V.; Maiolino, Roberto; Rawle, Timothy D.; Rieke, Marcia; Smit, Renske; Tacchella, Sandro; Willott, Chris J.

2018-06-01

We present an original phenomenological model to describe the evolution of galaxy number counts, morphologies, and spectral energy distributions across a wide range of redshifts (0.2colors, sizes, star formation, and chemical properties of the observed galaxy population. Unlike other existing approaches, our model includes a self-consistent treatment of stellar and photoionized gas emission and dust attenuation based on the BEAGLE tool. The mock galaxy catalogs generated with our new model can be used to simulate and optimize extragalactic surveys with future facilities such as the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), and to enable critical assessments of analysis procedures, interpretation tools, and measurement systematics for both photometric and spectroscopic data. As a first application of this work, we make predictions for the upcoming JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES), a joint program of the JWST/NIRCam and NIRSpec Guaranteed Time Observations teams. We show that JADES will detect, with NIRCam imaging, 1000s of galaxies at z ≳ 6, and 10s at z ≳ 10 at {m}{AB}≲ 30 (5σ) within the 236 arcmin2 of the survey. The JADES data will enable accurate constraints on the evolution of the UV luminosity function at z > 8, and resolve the current debate about the rate of evolution of galaxies at z ≳ 8. Ready-to-use mock catalogs and software to generate new realizations are publicly available as the JAdes extraGalactic Ultradeep Artificial Realizations (JAGUAR) package.

EXPLORING BIASES OF ATMOSPHERIC RETRIEVALS IN SIMULATED JWST TRANSMISSION SPECTRA OF HOT JUPITERS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rocchetto, M.; Waldmann, I. P.; Tinetti, G.; Venot, O.; Lagage, P.-O.

2016-01-01

With a scheduled launch in 2018 October, the James Webb Space Telescope ( JWST ) is expected to revolutionize the field of atmospheric characterization of exoplanets. The broad wavelength coverage and high sensitivity of its instruments will allow us to extract far more information from exoplanet spectra than what has been possible with current observations. In this paper, we investigate whether current retrieval methods will still be valid in the era of JWST , exploring common approximations used when retrieving transmission spectra of hot Jupiters. To assess biases, we use 1D photochemical models to simulate typical hot Jupiter cloud-free atmospheres and generate synthetic observations for a range of carbon-to-oxygen ratios. Then, we retrieve these spectra using TauREx, a Bayesian retrieval tool, using two methodologies: one assuming an isothermal atmosphere, and one assuming a parameterized temperature profile. Both methods assume constant-with-altitude abundances. We found that the isothermal approximation biases the retrieved parameters considerably, overestimating the abundances by about one order of magnitude. The retrieved abundances using the parameterized profile are usually within 1 σ of the true state, and we found the retrieved uncertainties to be generally larger compared to the isothermal approximation. Interestingly, we found that by using the parameterized temperature profile we could place tight constraints on the temperature structure. This opens the possibility of characterizing the temperature profile of the terminator region of hot Jupiters. Lastly, we found that assuming a constant-with-altitude mixing ratio profile is a good approximation for most of the atmospheres under study.

EXPLORING BIASES OF ATMOSPHERIC RETRIEVALS IN SIMULATED JWST TRANSMISSION SPECTRA OF HOT JUPITERS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rocchetto, M.; Waldmann, I. P.; Tinetti, G. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, Gower Street, WC1E6BT London (United Kingdom); Venot, O. [Instituut voor Sterrenkunde, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200D, B-3001 Leuven (Belgium); Lagage, P.-O., E-mail: m.rocchetto@ucl.ac.uk [Irfu, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay, F-9119 Gif-sur Yvette (France)

2016-12-10

With a scheduled launch in 2018 October, the James Webb Space Telescope ( JWST ) is expected to revolutionize the field of atmospheric characterization of exoplanets. The broad wavelength coverage and high sensitivity of its instruments will allow us to extract far more information from exoplanet spectra than what has been possible with current observations. In this paper, we investigate whether current retrieval methods will still be valid in the era of JWST , exploring common approximations used when retrieving transmission spectra of hot Jupiters. To assess biases, we use 1D photochemical models to simulate typical hot Jupiter cloud-free atmospheres and generate synthetic observations for a range of carbon-to-oxygen ratios. Then, we retrieve these spectra using TauREx, a Bayesian retrieval tool, using two methodologies: one assuming an isothermal atmosphere, and one assuming a parameterized temperature profile. Both methods assume constant-with-altitude abundances. We found that the isothermal approximation biases the retrieved parameters considerably, overestimating the abundances by about one order of magnitude. The retrieved abundances using the parameterized profile are usually within 1 σ of the true state, and we found the retrieved uncertainties to be generally larger compared to the isothermal approximation. Interestingly, we found that by using the parameterized temperature profile we could place tight constraints on the temperature structure. This opens the possibility of characterizing the temperature profile of the terminator region of hot Jupiters. Lastly, we found that assuming a constant-with-altitude mixing ratio profile is a good approximation for most of the atmospheres under study.

Standardization of XML Database Exchanges and the James Webb Space Telescope Experience

Science.gov (United States)

Gal-Edd, Jonathan; Detter, Ryan; Jones, Ron; Fatig, Curtis C.

2007-01-01

Personnel from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Project have been working with various standard communities such the Object Management Group (OMG) and the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) to assist in the definition of a common extensible Markup Language (XML) for database exchange format. The CCSDS and OMG standards are intended for the exchange of core command and telemetry information, not for all database information needed to exercise a NASA space mission. The mission-specific database, containing all the information needed for a space mission, is translated from/to the standard using a translator. The standard is meant to provide a system that encompasses 90% of the information needed for command and telemetry processing. This paper will discuss standardization of the XML database exchange format, tools used, and the JWST experience, as well as future work with XML standard groups both commercial and government.

Active galactic nucleus and quasar science with aperture masking interferometry on the James Webb Space Telescope

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ford, K. E. Saavik; McKernan, Barry [Department of Science, Borough of Manhattan Community College, City University of New York, New York, NY 10007 (United States); Sivaramakrishnan, Anand; Martel, André R.; Koekemoer, Anton [Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Lafrenière, David [Département de Physique, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128 Succ. Centre-ville, QC H3C 3J7 (Canada); Parmentier, Sébastien [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794 (United States)

2014-03-10

Due to feedback from accretion onto supermassive black holes (SMBHs), active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are believed to play a key role in ΛCDM cosmology and galaxy formation. However, AGNs extreme luminosities and the small angular size of their accretion flows create a challenging imaging problem. We show that the James Webb Space Telescope's Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (JWST-NIRISS) Aperture Masking Interferometry (AMI) mode will enable true imaging (i.e., without any requirement of prior assumptions on source geometry) at ∼65 mas angular resolution at the centers of AGNs. This is advantageous for studying complex extended accretion flows around SMBHs and in other areas of angular-resolution-limited astrophysics. By simulating data sequences incorporating expected sources of noise, we demonstrate that JWST-NIRISS AMI mode can map extended structure at a pixel-to-pixel contrast of ∼10{sup –2} around an L = 7.5 point source, using short exposure times (minutes). Such images will test models of AGN feedback, fueling, and structure (complementary with ALMA observations), and are not currently supported by any ground-based IR interferometer or telescope. Binary point source contrast with NIRISS is ∼10{sup –4} (for observing binary nuclei in merging galaxies), significantly better than current ground-based optical or IR interferometry. JWST-NIRISS's seven-hole non-redundant mask has a throughput of 15%, and utilizes NIRISS's F277W (2.77 μm), F380M (3.8 μm), F430M (4.3 μm), and F480M (4.8 μm) filters. NIRISS's square pixels are 65 mas per side, with a field of view ∼2' × 2'. We also extrapolate our results to AGN science enabled by non-redundant masking on future 2.4 m and 16 m space telescopes working at long-UV to near-IR wavelengths.

First light of an external occulter testbed at flight Fresnel numbers

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Yunjong; Sirbu, Dan; Hu, Mia; Kasdin, Jeremy; Vanderbei, Robert J.; Harness, Anthony; Shaklan, Stuart

2017-01-01

Many approaches have been suggested over the last couple of decades for imaging Earth-like planets. One of the main candidates for creating high-contrast for future Earth-like planets detection is an external occulter. The external occulter is a spacecraft flown along the line-of-sight of a space telescope to suppress starlight and enable high-contrast direct imaging of exoplanets. The occulter is typically tens of meters in diameter and the separation from the telescope is of the order of tens of thousands of kilometers. Optical testing of a full-scale external occulter on the ground is impossible because of the long separations. Therefore, laboratory verification of occulter designs is necessary to validate the optical models used to design and predict occulter performance. At Princeton, we have designed and built a testbed that allows verification of scaled occulter designs whose suppressed shadow is mathematically identical to that of space occulters. The goal of this experiment is to demonstrate a pupil plane suppression of better than 1e-9 with a corresponding image plane contrast of better than 1e-11. The occulter testbed uses a 77.2 m optical propagation distance to realize the flight Fresnel number of 14.5. The scaled mask is placed at 27.2 m from the artificial source and the camera is located 50.0 m from the scaled mask. We will use an etched silicon mask, manufactured by the Microdevices Lab(MDL) of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory(JPL), as the occulter. Based on conversations with MDL, we expect that 0.5 μm feature size is an achievable resolution in the mask manufacturing process and is therefore likely the indicator of the best possible performance. The occulter is illuminated by a diverging laser beam to reduce the aberrations from the optics before the occulter. Here, we present first light result of a sample design operating at a flight Fresnel number and the experimental setup of the testbed. We compare the experimental results with simulations

Predicting the High Redshift Galaxy Population for JWST

Science.gov (United States)

Flynn, Zoey; Benson, Andrew

2017-01-01

The James Webb Space Telescope will be launched in Oct 2018 with the goal of observing galaxies in the redshift range of z = 10 - 15. As redshift increases, the age of the Universe decreases, allowing us to study objects formed only a few hundred million years after the Big Bang. This will provide a valuable opportunity to test and improve current galaxy formation theory by comparing predictions for mass, luminosity, and number density to the observed data. We have made testable predictions with the semi-analytical galaxy formation model Galacticus. The code uses Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods to determine viable sets of model parameters that match current astronomical data. The resulting constrained model was then set to match the specifications of the JWST Ultra Deep Field Imaging Survey. Predictions utilizing up to 100 viable parameter sets were calculated, allowing us to assess the uncertainty in current theoretical expectations. We predict that the planned UDF will be able to observe a significant number of objects past redshift z > 9 but nothing at redshift z > 11. In order to detect these faint objects at redshifts z = 11-15 we need to increase exposure time by at least a factor of 1.66.

The Mid-Infrared Instrument for the James Webb Space Telescope, I: Introduction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rieke, G. H.; Wright, G. S.; Böker, T.

2015-01-01

MIRI (the Mid-Infrared Instrument for the James Webb Space Telescope [JWST]) operates from 5 to 28: 5 μm and combines over this range: (1) unprecedented sensitivity levels; (2) subarcsecond angular resolution; (3) freedom from atmospheric interference; (4) the inherent stability of observing...... in space; and (5) a suite of versatile capabilities including imaging, low- and medium-resolution spectroscopy (with an integral field unit), and coronagraphy. We illustrate the potential uses of this unique combination of capabilities with various science examples: (1) imaging exoplanets; (2) transit...

UV--Visible observations with HST in the JWST North Ecliptic Pole Time-Domain Field

Science.gov (United States)

Jansen, Rolf A.; Windhorst, Rogier; Grogin, Norman; Koekemoer, Anton; Royle, Patricia; Hathi, Nimish; Jones, Victoria; Cohen, Seth; Ashcraft, Teresa; Willmer, Christopher; Conselice, Christopher; White, Cameron; Frye, Brenda; HST-GO-15278 team; and the Webb Medium Deep Fields IDS GTO team.

2018-01-01

We report the first results from a UV–Visible HST imaging survey of the JWST North Ecliptic Pole (NEP) Time-Domain Field (TDF). Using CVZ and near-CVZ opportunities we observed the first two out of nine tiles with WFC3/UVIS in F275W and with ACS/WFC in F435W and F606W. Over the course of the next 13 months, this survey is designed to provide near-contiguous 3-filter coverage of the central r ≤ 5‧ of this new community field for time-domain science with JWST. The JWST NEP TDF is located within JWST's northern Continuous Viewing Zone, will span ~14‧ in diameter (~10‧ with NIRISS coverage), is devoid of sources bright enough to saturate the NIRCam detectors, has low Galactic foreground extinction, and will be roughly circular in shape (initially sampled during Cycle 1 at 4 distinct orientations with JWST/NIRCam — the JWST “windmill”). NIRISS slitless grism spectroscopy will be taken in parallel, overlapping an alternate NIRCam orientation. This is the only region in the sky where JWST can observe a clean extragalactic deep survey field of this size at arbitrary cadence or at arbitrary orientation. This will crucially enable a wide range of new and exciting time-domain science, including high redshift transient searches and monitoring (e.g., SNe), variability studies from Active Galactic Nuclei to brown dwarf atmospheres, as well as proper motions of extreme scattered Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud Objects, and of nearby Galactic brown dwarfs, low-mass stars, and ultracool white dwarfs. Ancillary data across the electromagnetic spectrum will exist for this field when JWST science operations commence in the second half of 2019. This includes deep (mAB ~ 26 mag) wide-field (~23‧×25‧) Ugriz photometry of this field and its surroundings from LBT/LBC and Subaru/HSC, JHK from MMT/MMIRS, VLA 3 GHz and VLBA 4.5 GHz radio observations, and Chandra/ACIS X-ray images. Proposals for (sub)mm observations and spectroscopy to mAB ~ 24 mag are pending.

The MEarth Project: Status Update and the Commissioning of a Brand New Telescope Array in the Southern Hemisphere

Science.gov (United States)

Berta-Thompson, Zachory K.; Irwin, Jonathan; Charbonneau, David; Newton, Elisabeth R.; Dittmann, Jason

2014-06-01

The MEarth Project is an ongoing all-sky survey for Earth-like planets transiting the closest, smallest M dwarfs. MEarth aims to find good targets for atmospheric characterization with JWST and the next generation of enormous ground-based telescopes. MEarth's yearly data releases, containing precise light curves of nearby mid-to-late M dwarfs, provide a unique window into the photometric variability of the stars that will forever be among the most interesting targets in the search for potentially habitable exoplanets. We present a status update on the MEarth Project, including a detailed map of the progress we’ve made so far with 8 telescopes in the Northern hemisphere and promising early results from our new installation of 8 more telescopes in the Southern hemisphere.

The DataTAG transatlantic testbed

CERN Document Server

Martin, O; Martin-Flatin, J P; Moroni, P; Nae, D; Newman, H; Ravot, S

2005-01-01

Wide area network testbeds allow researchers and engineers to test out new equipment, protocols and services in real-life situations, without jeopardizing the stability and reliability of production networks. The Data TransAtlantic Grid (DataTAG) testbed, deployed in 2002 between CERN, Geneva, Switzerland and StarLight, Chicago, IL, USA, is probably the largest testbed built to date. Jointly managed by CERN and Caltech, it is funded by the European Commission, the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. National Science Foundation. The main objectives of this testbed are to improve the Grid community's understanding of the networking issues posed by data- intensive Grid applications over transoceanic gigabit networks, design and develop new Grid middleware services, and improve the interoperability of European and U.S. Grid applications in High- Energy and Nuclear Physics. In this paper, we give an overview of this testbed, describe its various topologies over time, and summarize the main lessons learned after...

Preservation of Thermal Control Specular Gold Baffle Surface on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM) Electronics Compartment (IEC)

Science.gov (United States)

MonteedeGarcia, Kristina; Patel, Jignasha; Perry, Radford, III

2010-01-01

Extremely tight thermal control property degradation allowances on the vapor-deposited, gold-coated IEC baffle surface, made necessary by the cryogenic JWST Observatory operations, dictate tight contamination requirements on adjacent surfaces. Theoretical degradation in emittance with contaminant thickness was calculated. Maximum allowable source outgassing rates were calculated using worst case view factors from source to baffle surface. Tight requirements pushed the team to change the design of the adjacent surfaces to minimize the outgassing sources

The Mid-Infrared Instrument for the James Webb Space Telescope, II: Design and Build

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wright, G. S.; Wright, David; Goodson, G. B.

2015-01-01

The Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI) on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) provides measurements over the wavelength range 5 to 28: 5 µm. MIRI has, within a single "package," four key scientific functions: photometric imaging, coronagraphy, single-source low-spectral resolving power (R similar...... in terms of the "as-built" instrument. It also describes the test program that led to delivery of the tested and calibrated Flight Model to NASA in 2012, and the confirmation after delivery of the key interface requirements....

Lessons from Coronagraphic Imaging with HST that may apply to JWST

Science.gov (United States)

Grady, C. A.; Hines, Dean C.; Schneider, Glenn; McElwain, Michael W.

2017-06-01

One of the major capabilities offered by JWST is coronagraphic imaging from space, covering the near through mid-IR and optimized for study of planet formation and the evolution of planetary systems. Planning for JWST has resulted in expectations for instrument performance, observation strategies and data reduction approaches. HST with 20 years of coronagraphic imaging offers some experience which may be useful to those planning for JWST. 1) Real astronomical sources do not necessarily conform to expectations. Debris disks may be accompanied by more distant material, and some systems may be conspicuous in scattered light when offering only modest IR excesses. Proto-planetary disks are not constantly illuminated, and thus a single epoch observation of the source may not be sufficient to reveal everything about it. 2) The early expectation with NICMOS was that shallow, 2-roll observations would reveal a wealth of debris disks imaged in scattered light, and that only a limited set of PSF observations would be required. Instead, building up a library of spatially resolved disks in scattered light has proven to require alternate observing strategies, is still on-going, and has taken far longer than expected. 3) A wealth of coronagraphic options with an instrument may not be scientifically informative, unless there is a similar time investment in acquisition of calibration data in support of the science observations. 4) Finally, no one anticipated what can be gleaned from coronagraphic imaging. We should expect similar, unexpected, and ultimately revolutionary discoveries with JWST.

Fast Physics Testbed for the FASTER Project

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lin, W.; Liu, Y.; Hogan, R.; Neggers, R.; Jensen, M.; Fridlind, A.; Lin, Y.; Wolf, A.

2010-03-15

This poster describes the Fast Physics Testbed for the new FAst-physics System Testbed and Research (FASTER) project. The overall objective is to provide a convenient and comprehensive platform for fast turn-around model evaluation against ARM observations and to facilitate development of parameterizations for cloud-related fast processes represented in global climate models. The testbed features three major components: a single column model (SCM) testbed, an NWP-Testbed, and high-resolution modeling (HRM). The web-based SCM-Testbed features multiple SCMs from major climate modeling centers and aims to maximize the potential of SCM approach to enhance and accelerate the evaluation and improvement of fast physics parameterizations through continuous evaluation of existing and evolving models against historical as well as new/improved ARM and other complementary measurements. The NWP-Testbed aims to capitalize on the large pool of operational numerical weather prediction products. Continuous evaluations of NWP forecasts against observations at ARM sites are carried out to systematically identify the biases and skills of physical parameterizations under all weather conditions. The highresolution modeling (HRM) activities aim to simulate the fast processes at high resolution to aid in the understanding of the fast processes and their parameterizations. A four-tier HRM framework is established to augment the SCM- and NWP-Testbeds towards eventual improvement of the parameterizations.

A remote integrated testbed for cooperating objects

CERN Document Server

Dios, Jose Ramiro Martinez-de; Bernabe, Alberto de San; Ollero, Anibal

2013-01-01

Testbeds are gaining increasing relevance in research domains and also in industrial applications. However, very few books devoted to testbeds have been published. To the best of my knowledge no book on this topic has been published. This book is particularly interesting for the growing community of testbed developers. I believe the book is also very interesting for researchers in robot-WSN cooperation.This book provides detailed description of a system that can be considered the first testbed that allows full peer-to-peer interoperability between heterogeneous robots and ubiquitous systems su

A Business-to-Business Interoperability Testbed: An Overview

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kulvatunyou, Boonserm [ORNL; Ivezic, Nenad [ORNL; Monica, Martin [Sun Microsystems, Inc.; Jones, Albert [National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

2003-10-01

In this paper, we describe a business-to-business (B2B) testbed co-sponsored by the Open Applications Group, Inc. (OAGI) and the National Institute of Standard and Technology (NIST) to advance enterprise e-commerce standards. We describe the business and technical objectives and initial activities within the B2B Testbed. We summarize our initial lessons learned to form the requirements that drive the next generation testbed development. We also give an overview of a promising testing framework architecture in which to drive the testbed developments. We outline the future plans for the testbed development.

Extending Supernova Spectral Templates for Next Generation Space Telescope Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Roberts-Pierel, Justin; Rodney, Steven A.; Steven Rodney

2018-01-01

Widely used empirical supernova (SN) Spectral Energy Distributions (SEDs) have not historically extended meaningfully into the ultraviolet (UV), or the infrared (IR). However, both are critical for current and future aspects of SN research including UV spectra as probes of poorly understood SN Ia physical properties, and expanding our view of the universe with high-redshift James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) IR observations. We therefore present a comprehensive set of SN SED templates that have been extended into the UV and IR, as well as an open-source software package written in Python that enables a user to generate their own extrapolated SEDs. We have taken a sampling of core-collapse (CC) and Type Ia SNe to get a time-dependent distribution of UV and IR colors (U-B,r’-[JHK]), and then generated color curves are used to extrapolate SEDs into the UV and IR. The SED extrapolation process is now easily duplicated using a user’s own data and parameters via our open-source Python package: SNSEDextend. This work develops the tools necessary to explore the JWST’s ability to discriminate between CC and Type Ia SNe, as well as provides a repository of SN SEDs that will be invaluable to future JWST and WFIRST SN studies.

The readout and control system of the mid-size telescope prototype of the Cherenkov telescope array

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oya, I; Anguner, O; Birsin, E; Schwanke, U; Behera, B; Melkumyan, D; Schmidt, T; Sternberger, R; Wegner, P; Wiesand, S; Fuessling, M

2014-01-01

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is one of the major ground-based astronomy projects being pursued and will be the largest facility for ground-based y-ray observations ever built. CTA will consist of two arrays: one in the Northern hemisphere composed of about 20 telescopes, and the other one in the Southern hemisphere composed of about 100 telescopes, both arrays containing telescopes of different type and size. A prototype for the Mid-Size Telescope (MST) with a diameter of 12 m has been installed in Berlin and is currently being commissioned. This prototype is composed of a mechanical structure, a drive system and mirror facets mounted with powered actuators to enable active control. Five Charge-Coupled Device (CCD) cameras, and a wide set of sensors allow the evaluation of the performance of the instrument. The design of the control software is following concepts and tools under evaluation within the CTA consortium in order to provide a realistic test-bed for the middleware: 1) The readout and control system for the MST prototype is implemented with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) Common Software (ACS) distributed control middleware; 2) the OPen Connectivity-Unified Architecture (OPC UA) is used for hardware access; 3) the document oriented MongoDB database is used for an efficient storage of CCD images, logging and alarm information: and 4) MySQL and MongoDB databases are used for archiving the slow control monitoring data and for storing the operation configuration parameters. In this contribution, the details of the implementation of the control system for the MST prototype telescope are described.

The readout and control system of the mid-size telescope prototype of the Cherenkov Telescope Array

Science.gov (United States)

Oya, I.; Anguner, O.; Behera, B.; Birsin, E.; Fuessling, M.; Melkumyan, D.; Schmidt, T.; Schwanke, U.; Sternberger, R.; Wegner, P.; Wiesand, S.; Cta Consortium,the

2014-06-01

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is one of the major ground-based astronomy projects being pursued and will be the largest facility for ground-based y-ray observations ever built. CTA will consist of two arrays: one in the Northern hemisphere composed of about 20 telescopes, and the other one in the Southern hemisphere composed of about 100 telescopes, both arrays containing telescopes of different type and size. A prototype for the Mid-Size Telescope (MST) with a diameter of 12 m has been installed in Berlin and is currently being commissioned. This prototype is composed of a mechanical structure, a drive system and mirror facets mounted with powered actuators to enable active control. Five Charge-Coupled Device (CCD) cameras, and a wide set of sensors allow the evaluation of the performance of the instrument. The design of the control software is following concepts and tools under evaluation within the CTA consortium in order to provide a realistic test-bed for the middleware: 1) The readout and control system for the MST prototype is implemented with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) Common Software (ACS) distributed control middleware; 2) the OPen Connectivity-Unified Architecture (OPC UA) is used for hardware access; 3) the document oriented MongoDB database is used for an efficient storage of CCD images, logging and alarm information: and 4) MySQL and MongoDB databases are used for archiving the slow control monitoring data and for storing the operation configuration parameters. In this contribution, the details of the implementation of the control system for the MST prototype telescope are described.

Simulated JWST/NIRISS Transit Spectroscopy of Anticipated Tess Planets Compared to Select Discoveries from Space-based and Ground-based Surveys

Science.gov (United States)

Louie, Dana R.; Deming, Drake; Albert, Loic; Bouma, L. G.; Bean, Jacob; Lopez-Morales, Mercedes

2018-04-01

The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) will embark in 2018 on a 2 year wide-field survey mission, discovering over a thousand terrestrial, super-Earth and sub-Neptune-sized exoplanets ({R}pl}≤slant 4 {R}\\oplus ) potentially suitable for follow-up observations using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). This work aims to understand the suitability of anticipated TESS planet discoveries for atmospheric characterization by JWST’s Near InfraRed Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS) by employing a simulation tool to estimate the signal-to-noise (S/N) achievable in transmission spectroscopy. We applied this tool to Monte Carlo predictions of the TESS expected planet yield and then compared the S/N for anticipated TESS discoveries to our estimates of S/N for 18 known exoplanets. We analyzed the sensitivity of our results to planetary composition, cloud cover, and presence of an observational noise floor. We find that several hundred anticipated TESS discoveries with radii 1.5 {R}\\oplus R}pl}≤slant 2.5 {R}\\oplus will produce S/N higher than currently known exoplanets in this radius regime, such as K2-3b or K2-3c. In the terrestrial planet regime, we find that only a few anticipated TESS discoveries will result in higher S/N than currently known exoplanets, such as the TRAPPIST-1 planets, GJ1132b, and LHS1140b. However, we emphasize that this outcome is based upon Kepler-derived occurrence rates, and that co-planar compact multi-planet systems (e.g., TRAPPIST-1) may be under-represented in the predicted TESS planet yield. Finally, we apply our calculations to estimate the required magnitude of a JWST follow-up program devoted to mapping the transition region between hydrogen-dominated and high molecular weight atmospheres. We find that a modest observing program of between 60 and 100 hr of charged JWST time can define the nature of that transition (e.g., step function versus a power law).

Testbed for High-Acuity Imaging and Stable Photometry

Science.gov (United States)

Gregory, James

This proposal from MIT Lincoln Laboratory (LL) accompanies the NASA/APRA proposal enti-tled THAI-SPICE: Testbed for High-Acuity Imaging - Stable Photometry and Image-Motion Compensa-tion Experiment (submitted by Eliot Young, Southwest Research Institute). The goal of the THAI-SPICE project is to demonstrate three technologies that will help low-cost balloon-borne telescopes achieve diffraction-limited imaging: stable pointing, passive thermal stabilization and in-flight monitoring of the wave front error. This MIT LL proposal supplies a key element of the pointing stabilization component of THAI-SPICE: an electronic camera based on an orthogonaltransfer charge-coupled device (OTCCD). OTCCD cameras have been demonstrated with charge-transfer efficiencies >0.99999, noise of 90%. In addition to supplying a camera with an OTCCD detector, MIT LL will help with integration and testing of the OTCCD with the THAI-SPICE payload’s guide camera.

77 FR 18793 - Spectrum Sharing Innovation Test-Bed Pilot Program

Science.gov (United States)

2012-03-28

.... 120322212-2212-01] Spectrum Sharing Innovation Test-Bed Pilot Program AGENCY: National Telecommunications... Innovation Test-Bed pilot program to assess whether devices employing Dynamic Spectrum Access techniques can... Spectrum Sharing Innovation Test-Bed (Test-Bed) pilot program to examine the feasibility of increased...

Virtual Factory Testbed

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Laboratory Consortium — The Virtual Factory Testbed (VFT) is comprised of three physical facilities linked by a standalone network (VFNet). The three facilities are the Smart and Wireless...

Comparison of wavefront control algorithms and first results on the high-contrast imager for complex aperture telescopes (hicat) testbed

Science.gov (United States)

Leboulleux, L.; N'Diaye, M.; Mazoyer, J.; Pueyo, L.; Perrin, M.; Egron, S.; Choquet, E.; Sauvage, J.-F.; Fusco, T.; Soummer, R.

2017-09-01

The next generation of space telescopes for direct imaging and spectroscopy of exoplanets includes telescopes with a monolithic mirror, such as the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) [1] and Large Ultra-Violet Optical Infrared (LUVOIR) telescopes with segmented primary mirror, like ATLAST [2, 3] or HDST [4].

Model-based thermal system design optimization for the James Webb Space Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Cataldo, Giuseppe; Niedner, Malcolm B.; Fixsen, Dale J.; Moseley, Samuel H.

2017-10-01

Spacecraft thermal model validation is normally performed by comparing model predictions with thermal test data and reducing their discrepancies to meet the mission requirements. Based on thermal engineering expertise, the model input parameters are adjusted to tune the model output response to the test data. The end result is not guaranteed to be the best solution in terms of reduced discrepancy and the process requires months to complete. A model-based methodology was developed to perform the validation process in a fully automated fashion and provide mathematical bases to the search for the optimal parameter set that minimizes the discrepancies between model and data. The methodology was successfully applied to several thermal subsystems of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Global or quasiglobal optimal solutions were found and the total execution time of the model validation process was reduced to about two weeks. The model sensitivities to the parameters, which are required to solve the optimization problem, can be calculated automatically before the test begins and provide a library for sensitivity studies. This methodology represents a crucial commodity when testing complex, large-scale systems under time and budget constraints. Here, results for the JWST Core thermal system will be presented in detail.

Development of a space-systems network testbed

Science.gov (United States)

Lala, Jaynarayan; Alger, Linda; Adams, Stuart; Burkhardt, Laura; Nagle, Gail; Murray, Nicholas

1988-01-01

This paper describes a communications network testbed which has been designed to allow the development of architectures and algorithms that meet the functional requirements of future NASA communication systems. The central hardware components of the Network Testbed are programmable circuit switching communication nodes which can be adapted by software or firmware changes to customize the testbed to particular architectures and algorithms. Fault detection, isolation, and reconfiguration has been implemented in the Network with a hybrid approach which utilizes features of both centralized and distributed techniques to provide efficient handling of faults within the Network.

The design and implementation of the LLNL gigabit testbed

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Garcia, D. [Lawrence Livermore National Labs., CA (United States)

1994-12-01

This paper will look at the design and implementation of the LLNL Gigabit testbed (LGTB), where various high speed networking products, can be tested in one environment. The paper will discuss the philosophy behind the design of and the need for the testbed, the tests that are performed in the testbed, and the tools used to implement those tests.

A development roadmap for critical technologies needed for TALC: a deployable 20m annular space telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Sauvage, Marc; Amiaux, Jérome; Austin, James; Bello, Mara; Bianucci, Giovanni; Chesné, Simon; Citterio, Oberto; Collette, Christophe; Correia, Sébastien; Durand, Gilles A.; Molinari, Sergio; Pareschi, Giovanni; Penfornis, Yann; Sironi, Giorgia; Valsecchi, Giuseppe; Verpoort, Sven; Wittrock, Ulrich

2016-07-01

Astronomy is driven by the quest for higher sensitivity and improved angular resolution in order to detect fainter or smaller objects. The far-infrared to submillimeter domain is a unique probe of the cold and obscured Universe, harboring for instance the precious signatures of key elements such as water. Space observations are mandatory given the blocking effect of our atmosphere. However the methods we have relied on so far to develop increasingly larger telescopes are now reaching a hard limit, with the JWST illustrating this in more than one way (e.g. it will be launched by one of the most powerful rocket, it requires the largest existing facility on Earth to be qualified). With the Thinned Aperture Light Collector (TALC) project, a concept of a deployable 20 m annular telescope, we propose to break out of this deadlock by developing novel technologies for space telescopes, which are disruptive in three aspects: • An innovative deployable mirror whose topology, based on stacking rather than folding, leads to an optimum ratio of collecting area over volume, and creates a telescope with an eight times larger collecting area and three times higher angular resolution compared to JWST from the same pre-deployed volume; • An ultra-light weight segmented primary mirror, based on electrodeposited Nickel, Composite and Honeycomb stacks, built with a replica process to control costs and mitigate the industrial risks; • An active optics control layer based on piezo-electric layers incorporated into the mirror rear shell allowing control of the shape by internal stress rather than by reaction on a structure. We present in this paper the roadmap we have built to bring these three disruptive technologies to technology readiness level 3. We will achieve this goal through design and realization of representative elements: segments of mirrors for optical quality verification, active optics implemented on representative mirror stacks to characterize the shape correction

Advanced Artificial Intelligence Technology Testbed

Science.gov (United States)

Anken, Craig S.

1993-01-01

The Advanced Artificial Intelligence Technology Testbed (AAITT) is a laboratory testbed for the design, analysis, integration, evaluation, and exercising of large-scale, complex, software systems, composed of both knowledge-based and conventional components. The AAITT assists its users in the following ways: configuring various problem-solving application suites; observing and measuring the behavior of these applications and the interactions between their constituent modules; gathering and analyzing statistics about the occurrence of key events; and flexibly and quickly altering the interaction of modules within the applications for further study.

Exploration Systems Health Management Facilities and Testbed Workshop

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Scott; Waterman, Robert; McCleskey, Carey

2004-01-01

Presentation Agenda : (1) Technology Maturation Pipeline (The Plan) (2) Cryogenic testbed (and other KSC Labs) (2a) Component / Subsystem technologies (3) Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) (3a) System / Vehic1e technologies (4) EL V Flight Experiments (Flight Testbeds).

Simbol-X: Synergies with JWST, ALMA and Herschel

Science.gov (United States)

Maiolino, R.

2009-05-01

I discuss the synergies between Simbol-X and three among the major astronomical facilities that, in the next decade, will be operative in the infrared-millimeter spectral range, namely JWST, Herschel and ALMA. I first provide a brief overview of the main features and observing capabilities offered by these facilities. Then I will discuss a few research fields (mostly extragalactic) that will geatly benefit of the joint exploitation of Simbol-X and these IR-mm observatories.

Environment Emulation For Wsn Testbed

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Radosław Kapłoniak

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The development of applications for wireless sensor networks is a challenging task. For this reason, several testbed platforms have been created. They simplify the manageability of nodes by offering easy ways of programming and debugging sensor nodes. These platforms, sometimes composed of dozens of sensors, provide a convenient way for carrying out research on medium access control and data exchange between nodes. In this article, we propose the extension of the WSN testbed, which could be used for evaluating and testing the functionality of sensor networks applications by emulating a real-world environment.

The Mechanical Design of a Kinematic Mount for the Mid Infrared Instrument Focal Plane Module on the James Webb Space Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Thelen, Michael P.; Moore, Donald M.

2009-01-01

The detector assembly for the Mid Infrared Instrument (MIRI) of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is mechanically supported in the Focal Plane Module (FPM) Assembly with an efficient hexapod design. The kinematic mount design allows for precision adjustment of the detector boresight to assembly alignment fiducials and maintains optical alignment requirements during flight conditions of launch and cryogenic operations below 7 Kelvin. This kinematic mounting technique is able to be implemented in a variety of optical-mechanical designs and is capable of micron level adjustment control and stability over wide dynamic and temperature ranges.

Modular Orbital Demonstration of an Evolvable Space Telescope (MODEST)

Science.gov (United States)

Baldauf, Brian; Conti, Alberto

2016-01-01

The "Search for Life" via imaging of exoplanets is a mission that requires extremely stable telescopes with apertures in the 10 m to 20 m range. The High Definition Space Telescope (HDST) envisioned for this mission would have an aperture >10 m, which is a larger payload than what can be delivered to space using a single launch vehicle. Building and assembling the mirror segments enabling large telescopes will likely require multiple launches and assembly in space. Space-based telescopes with large apertures will require major changes to system architectures.The Optical Telescope Assembly (OTA) for HDST is a primary mission cost driver. Enabling and affordable solutions for this next generation of large aperture space-based telescope are needed.This paper reports on the concept for the Modular Orbital Demonstration of an Evolvable Space Telescope (MODEST), which demonstrates on-orbit robotic and/or astronaut assembly of a precision optical telescope in space. It will also facilitate demonstration of active correction of phase and mirror shape. MODEST is proposed to be delivered to the ISS using standard Express Logistics Carriers (ELCs) and can mounted to one of a variety of ISS pallets. Post-assembly value includes space, ground, and environmental studies, and a testbed for new instruments. This demonstration program for next generation mirror technology provides significant risk reduction and demonstrates the technology in a six-mirror phased telescope. Other key features of the demonstration include the use of an active primary optical surface with wavefront feedback control that allows on-orbit optimization and demonstration of precise surface control to meet optical system wavefront and stability requirements.MODEST will also be used to evaluate advances in lightweight mirror and metering structure materials such as SiC or Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer that have excellent mechanical and thermal properties, e.g. high stiffness, high modulus, high thermal

Nuclear Instrumentation and Control Cyber Testbed Considerations – Lessons Learned

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jonathan Gray; Robert Anderson; Julio G. Rodriguez; Cheol-Kwon Lee

2014-08-01

Abstract: Identifying and understanding digital instrumentation and control (I&C) cyber vulnerabilities within nuclear power plants and other nuclear facilities, is critical if nation states desire to operate nuclear facilities safely, reliably, and securely. In order to demonstrate objective evidence that cyber vulnerabilities have been adequately identified and mitigated, a testbed representing a facility’s critical nuclear equipment must be replicated. Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has built and operated similar testbeds for common critical infrastructure I&C for over ten years. This experience developing, operating, and maintaining an I&C testbed in support of research identifying cyber vulnerabilities has led the Korean Atomic Energy Research Institute of the Republic of Korea to solicit the experiences of INL to help mitigate problems early in the design, development, operation, and maintenance of a similar testbed. The following information will discuss I&C testbed lessons learned and the impact of these experiences to KAERI.

Dr. Tulga Ersal at NSF Workshop Accessible Remote Testbeds ART'15

Science.gov (United States)

Event Archives Dr. Tulga Ersal at NSF Workshop Accessible Remote Testbeds ART'15 On November 12th, Dr Workshop on Accessible Remote Testbeds (ART'15) at Georgia Tech. From the event website: The rationale behind the ART'15 workshop is that remote-access testbeds could, if done right, significantly change how

The Use of the Molecular Adsorber Coating Technology to Mitigate Vacuum Chamber Contamination During Pathfinder Testing for the James Webb Space Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Abraham, Nithin S.; Hasegawa, Mark M.; Wooldridge, Eve M.; Henderson-Nelson, Kelly A.

2016-01-01

As a coating made of highly porous zeolite materials, the Molecular Adsorber Coating (MAC) was developed to capture outgassed molecular contaminants, such as hydrocarbons and silicones. For spaceflight applications, the adsorptive capabilities of the coating can alleviate on-orbit outgassing concerns on or near sensitive surfaces and instruments within the spacecraft. Similarly, this sprayable paint technology has proven to be significantly beneficial for ground based space applications, in particular, for vacuum chamber environments. This paper describes the recent use of the MAC technology during Pathfinder testing of the Optical Ground Support Equipment (OGSE) for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC). The coating was used as a mitigation tool to entrap persistent outgassed contaminants, specifically silicone based diffusion pump oil, from within JSC's cryogenic optical vacuum chamber test facility called Chamber A. This paper summarizes the sample fabrication, installation, laboratory testing, post-test chemical analysis results, and future plans for the MAC technology, which was effectively used to protect the JWST test equipment from vacuum chamber contamination.

SSERVI Analog Regolith Simulant Testbed Facility

Science.gov (United States)

Minafra, J.; Schmidt, G. K.

2016-12-01

SSERVI's goals include supporting planetary researchers within NASA, other government agencies; private sector and hardware developers; competitors in focused prize design competitions; and academic sector researchers. The SSERVI Analog Regolith Simulant Testbed provides opportunities for research scientists and engineers to study the effects of regolith analog testbed research in the planetary exploration field. This capability is essential to help to understand the basic effects of continued long-term exposure to a simulated analog test environment. The current facility houses approximately eight tons of JSC-1A lunar regolith simulant in a test bin consisting of a 4 meter by 4 meter area. SSERVI provides a bridge between several groups, joining together researchers from: 1) scientific and exploration communities, 2) multiple disciplines across a wide range of planetary sciences, and 3) domestic and international communities and partnerships. This testbed provides a means of consolidating the tasks of acquisition, storage and safety mitigation in handling large quantities of regolith simulant Facility hardware and environment testing scenarios include, but are not limited to the following; Lunar surface mobility, Dust exposure and mitigation, Regolith handling and excavation, Solar-like illumination, Lunar surface compaction profile, Lofted dust, Mechanical properties of lunar regolith, and Surface features (i.e. grades and rocks) Numerous benefits vary from easy access to a controlled analog regolith simulant testbed, and planetary exploration activities at NASA Research Park, to academia and expanded commercial opportunities in California's Silicon Valley, as well as public outreach and education opportunities.

Unique Spectroscopy and Imaging of Mars with the James Webb Space Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Villanueva, Geronimo L.; Altieri, Francesca; Clancy, R. Todd; Encrenaz, Therese; Fouchet, Thierry; Hartogh, Paul; Lellouch, Emmanuel; Lopez-Valverde, Miguel A.; Mumma, Michael J.; Novak, Robert E.;

A Reconfigurable Testbed Environment for Spacecraft Autonomy

Science.gov (United States)

Biesiadecki, Jeffrey; Jain, Abhinandan

1996-01-01

A key goal of NASA's New Millennium Program is the development of technology for increased spacecraft on-board autonomy. Achievement of this objective requires the development of a new class of ground-based automony testbeds that can enable the low-cost and rapid design, test, and integration of the spacecraft autonomy software. This paper describes the development of an Autonomy Testbed Environment (ATBE) for the NMP Deep Space I comet/asteroid rendezvous mission.

Implementation of standard testbeds for numerical relativity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Babiuc, M C [Department of Physics and Physical Science, Marshall University, Huntington, WV 25755 (United States); Husa, S [Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Max-Wien-Platz 1, 07743 Jena (Germany); Alic, D [Department of Physics, University of the Balearic Islands, Cra Valldemossa km 7.5, 07122 Palma de Mallorca (Spain); Hinder, I [Center for Gravitational Wave Physics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 (United States); Lechner, C [Weierstrass Institute for Applied Analysis and Stochastics (WIAS), Mohrenstrasse 39, 10117 Berlin (Germany); Schnetter, E [Center for Computation and Technology, 216 Johnston Hall, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803 (United States); Szilagyi, B; Dorband, N; Pollney, D; Winicour, J [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Gravitationsphysik (Albert-Einstein-Institut), Am Muehlenberg 1, 14076 Golm (Germany); Zlochower, Y [Center for Computational Relativity and Gravitation, School of Mathematical Sciences, Rochester Institute of Technology, 78 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, New York 14623 (United States)

2008-06-21

We discuss results that have been obtained from the implementation of the initial round of testbeds for numerical relativity which was proposed in the first paper of the Apples with Apples Alliance. We present benchmark results for various codes which provide templates for analyzing the testbeds and to draw conclusions about various features of the codes. This allows us to sharpen the initial test specifications, design a new test and add theoretical insight.

Transit Recovery of Kepler-167e: Providing JWST with an Unprecedented Jupiter-analog Exoplanet Target

Science.gov (United States)

Dalba, Paul; Muirhead, Philip; Tamburo, Patrick

2018-05-01

The Kepler Mission has uncovered a handful of long-period transiting exoplanets that orbit in the cold outer reaches of their systems, despite their low transit probabilities. Recent work suggests that cold gas giant exoplanet atmospheres are amenable to transmission spectroscopy (the analysis of the transit depth versus wavelength) enabling novel tests of planetary formation and evolution theories. Of particular scientific interest is Kepler-167e, a low-eccentricity Jupiter-analog exoplanet with a 1,071-day orbital period residing well beyond the snow-line. Transmission spectroscopy of Kepler-167e from JWST can reveal the composition of this planet's atmosphere, constrain its heavy-element abundance, and identify atmospheric photochemical processes. JWST characterization also enables unprecedented direct comparison with Jupiter and Saturn, which show a striking diversity in physical properties that is best investigated through comparative exoplanetology. Since Kepler only observed two transits of Kepler-167e, it is not known if this exoplanet exhibits transit timing variations (TTVs). About half of Kepler's long-period exoplanets have TTVs of up to 40 hours. Such a large uncertainty jeopardizes attempts to characterize the atmosphere of this unique Jovian exoplanet with JWST. To mitigate this risk, the upcoming third transit of Kepler-167e must be observed to test for TTVs. We propose a simple 10-hour, single-channel observation to capture ingress or egress of the next transit of Kepler-167e in December 2018. In the absence of TTVs, our observation will reduce the ephemeris uncertainty from an unknown value to approximately 3 minutes, thereby removing the risk in future transit observations with JWST. The excellent photometric precision of Spitzer is sufficient to identify the transit of Kepler-167e. Given the timing and nature of this program, Spitzer is the only observatory--on the ground or in space--that can make this pivotal observation.

Coordinating space telescope operations in an integrated planning and scheduling architecture

Science.gov (United States)

Muscettola, Nicola; Smith, Stephen F.; Cesta, Amedeo; D'Aloisi, Daniela

1992-01-01

The Heuristic Scheduling Testbed System (HSTS), a software architecture for integrated planning and scheduling, is discussed. The architecture has been applied to the problem of generating observation schedules for the Hubble Space Telescope. This problem is representative of the class of problems that can be addressed: their complexity lies in the interaction of resource allocation and auxiliary task expansion. The architecture deals with this interaction by viewing planning and scheduling as two complementary aspects of the more general process of constructing behaviors of a dynamical system. The principal components of the software architecture are described, indicating how to model the structure and dynamics of a system, how to represent schedules at multiple levels of abstraction in the temporal database, and how the problem solving machinery operates. A scheduler for the detailed management of Hubble Space Telescope operations that has been developed within HSTS is described. Experimental performance results are given that indicate the utility and practicality of the approach.

Why are freeform telescopes less alignment sensitive than a traditional unobscured TMA?

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Kevin P.; Schiesser, Eric; Rolland, Jannick P.

2015-10-01

As freeform optical systems emerge as interesting and innovative solutions for imaging in 3D packages there is an assumption they are going to be more sensitive particularly at assembly. While it is true that the clocking of the component becomes a relatively weak new tolerance, for the most effective new class of freeform systems the alignment sensitivity is actually lower in most cases than for a comparable traditional unobscured three mirror anastigmatic (TMA) telescope. Traditional unobscured TMA telescopes, whose designs emerged in the mid-70s and which begin to appear as hardware in the literature in the early 90s, are based on using increasingly offset apertures with otherwise coaxial rotationally symmetric mirrors. The mirrors (typically 3 to correct spherical, coma, and astigmatism) have evolved to contain more high order terms as the designs are pushed to more compact and wider field packages - the NIRCAM camera for the JWST is an excellent example of this [1]. As the higher order terms are added, the mirrors become increasingly sensitive to decenters and tilts. An emerging class of freeform telescopes that provide wider field of view and/or faster f/numbers than the traditional TMA are based on a strategy where the surface shape remains a low order Zernike-type surface even in compact, unobscured packages. This optical design strategy results in an optical form that is not only higher performance but simultaneously less sensitive to alignment.

A Novel UAV Electric Propulsion Testbed for Diagnostics and Prognostics

Science.gov (United States)

Gorospe, George E., Jr.; Kulkarni, Chetan S.

2017-01-01

This paper presents a novel hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testbed for systems level diagnostics and prognostics of an electric propulsion system used in UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicle). Referencing the all electric, Edge 540T aircraft used in science and research by NASA Langley Flight Research Center, the HIL testbed includes an identical propulsion system, consisting of motors, speed controllers and batteries. Isolated under a controlled laboratory environment, the propulsion system has been instrumented for advanced diagnostics and prognostics. To produce flight like loading on the system a slave motor is coupled to the motor under test (MUT) and provides variable mechanical resistance, and the capability of introducing nondestructive mechanical wear-like frictional loads on the system. This testbed enables the verification of mathematical models of each component of the propulsion system, the repeatable generation of flight-like loads on the system for fault analysis, test-to-failure scenarios, and the development of advanced system level diagnostics and prognostics methods. The capabilities of the testbed are extended through the integration of a LabVIEW-based client for the Live Virtual Constructive Distributed Environment (LVCDC) Gateway which enables both the publishing of generated data for remotely located observers and prognosers and the synchronization the testbed propulsion system with vehicles in the air. The developed HIL testbed gives researchers easy access to a scientifically relevant portion of the aircraft without the overhead and dangers encountered during actual flight.

Cryogenic Photogrammetry and Radiometry for the James Webb Space Telescope Microshutters

Science.gov (United States)

Chambers, Victor J.; Morey, Peter A.; Zukowski, Barbara J.; Kutyrev, Alexander S.; Collins, Nicholas R.

2012-01-01

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) relies on several innovations to complete its five year mission. One vital technology is microshutters, the programmable field selectors that enable the Near Infrared Spectrometer (NIRSpec) to perform multi-object spectroscopy. Mission success depends on acquiring spectra from large numbers of galaxies by positioning shutter slits over faint targets. Precise selection of faint targets requires field selectors that are both high in contrast and stable in position. We have developed test facilities to evaluate microshutter contrast and alignment stability at their 35K operating temperature. These facilities used a novel application of image registration algorithms to obtain non-contact, sub-micron measurements in cryogenic conditions. The cryogenic motion of the shutters was successfully characterized. Optical results also demonstrated that shutter contrast far exceeds the NIRSpec requirements. Our test program has concluded with the delivery of a flight-qualified field selection subsystem to the NIRSpec bench.

The Space Infrared Interferometric Telescope (SPIRIT)

Science.gov (United States)

Leisawitz, David T.

2014-01-01

The far-infrared astrophysics community is eager to follow up Spitzer and Herschel observations with sensitive, high-resolution imaging and spectroscopy, for such measurements are needed to understand merger-driven star formation and chemical enrichment in galaxies, star and planetary system formation, and the development and prevalence of water-bearing planets. The Space Infrared Interferometric Telescope (SPIRIT) is a wide field-of-view space-based spatio-spectral interferometer designed to operate in the 25 to 400 micron wavelength range. This talk will summarize the SPIRIT mission concept, with a focus on the science that motivates it and the technology that enables it. Without mentioning SPIRIT by name, the astrophysics community through the NASA Astrophysics Roadmap Committee recently recommended this mission as the first in a series of space-based interferometers. Data from a laboratory testbed interferometer will be used to illustrate how the spatio-spectral interferometry technique works.

Smart Antenna UKM Testbed for Digital Beamforming System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2009-03-01

Full Text Available A new design of smart antenna testbed developed at UKM for digital beamforming purpose is proposed. The smart antenna UKM testbed developed based on modular design employing two novel designs of L-probe fed inverted hybrid E-H (LIEH array antenna and software reconfigurable digital beamforming system (DBS. The antenna is developed based on using the novel LIEH microstrip patch element design arranged into 4×1 uniform linear array antenna. An interface board is designed to interface to the ADC board with the RF front-end receiver. The modular concept of the system provides the capability to test the antenna hardware, beamforming unit, and beamforming algorithm in an independent manner, thus allowing the smart antenna system to be developed and tested in parallel, hence reduces the design time. The DBS was developed using a high-performance TMS320C6711TM floating-point DSP board and a 4-channel RF front-end receiver developed in-house. An interface board is designed to interface to the ADC board with the RF front-end receiver. A four-element receiving array testbed at 1.88–2.22 GHz frequency is constructed, and digital beamforming on this testbed is successfully demonstrated.

Development of a Tethered Formation Flight Testbed for ISS, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The development of a testbed for the development and demonstration of technologies needed by tethered formation flying satellites is proposed. Such a testbed would...

SSERVI Analog Regolith Simulant Testbed Facility

Science.gov (United States)

Minafra, Joseph; Schmidt, Gregory; Bailey, Brad; Gibbs, Kristina

2016-10-01

The Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI) at NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley was founded in 2013 to act as a virtual institute that provides interdisciplinary research centered on the goals of its supporting directorates: NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) and the Human Exploration & Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD).Primary research goals of the Institute revolve around the integration of science and exploration to gain knowledge required for the future of human space exploration beyond low Earth orbit. SSERVI intends to leverage existing JSC1A regolith simulant resources into the creation of a regolith simulant testbed facility. The purpose of this testbed concept is to provide the planetary exploration community with a readily available capability to test hardware and conduct research in a large simulant environment.SSERVI's goals include supporting planetary researchers within NASA, other government agencies; private sector and hardware developers; competitors in focused prize design competitions; and academic sector researchers.SSERVI provides opportunities for research scientists and engineers to study the effects of regolith analog testbed research in the planetary exploration field. This capability is essential to help to understand the basic effects of continued long-term exposure to a simulated analog test environment.The current facility houses approximately eight tons of JSC-1A lunar regolith simulant in a test bin consisting of a 4 meter by 4 meter area, including dust mitigation and safety oversight.Facility hardware and environment testing scenarios could include, Lunar surface mobility, Dust exposure and mitigation, Regolith handling and excavation, Solar-like illumination, Lunar surface compaction profile, Lofted dust, Mechanical properties of lunar regolith, Surface features (i.e. grades and rocks)Numerous benefits vary from easy access to a controlled analog regolith simulant testbed, and

Wavefront control performance modeling with WFIRST shaped pupil coronagraph testbed

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Hanying; Nemati, Bijian; Krist, John; Cady, Eric; Kern, Brian; Poberezhskiy, Ilya

2017-09-01

NASA's WFIRST mission includes a coronagraph instrument (CGI) for direct imaging of exoplanets. Significant improvement in CGI model fidelity has been made recently, alongside a testbed high contrast demonstration in a simulated dynamic environment at JPL. We present our modeling method and results of comparisons to testbed's high order wavefront correction performance for the shaped pupil coronagraph. Agreement between model prediction and testbed result at better than a factor of 2 has been consistently achieved in raw contrast (contrast floor, chromaticity, and convergence), and with that comes good agreement in contrast sensitivity to wavefront perturbations and mask lateral shear.

Detecting Proxima b’s Atmosphere with JWST Targeting CO{sub 2} at 15 μ m Using a High-pass Spectral Filtering Technique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Snellen, I. A. G.; Van Dishoeck, E. F.; Brandl, B. R.; Van Eylen, V. [Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, Postbus 9513, 2300 RA Leiden (Netherlands); Désert, J.-M.; Waters, L. B. F. M.; Dominik, C.; Birkby, J. L. [Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy, University of Amsterdam, P.O. Box 94249, 1090 GE Amsterdam (Netherlands); Robinson, T. [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States); Meadows, V. [Astronomy Department, University of Washington (United States); Henning, T.; Bouwman, J. [Max-Planck-Institute for Astronomy, Koenigstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg (Germany); Lahuis, F.; Min, M. [SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research, Sorbonnelaan 2, 3584 CA Utrecht (Netherlands); Lovis, C. [Observatoire de Genève, Université de Genève, 51 chemin des Maillettes, 1290 Versoix (Switzerland); Sing, D. [School of Physics, University of Exeter, Exeter (United Kingdom); Anglada-Escudé, G. [School of Physics and Astronomy, Queen Mary University of London, 327 Mile End Road, London E1 4NS (United Kingdom); Brogi, M., E-mail: snellen@strw.leidenuniv.nl [Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309 (United States)

2017-08-01

Exoplanet Proxima b will be an important laboratory for the search for extraterrestrial life for the decades ahead. Here, we discuss the prospects of detecting carbon dioxide at 15 μ m using a spectral filtering technique with the Medium Resolution Spectrograph (MRS) mode of the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) on the James Webb Space Telescope ( JWST ). At superior conjunction, the planet is expected to show a contrast of up to 100 ppm with respect to the star. At a spectral resolving power of R  = 1790–2640, about 100 spectral CO{sub 2} features are visible within the 13.2–15.8 μ m (3B) band, which can be combined to boost the planet atmospheric signal by a factor of 3–4, depending on the atmospheric temperature structure and CO{sub 2} abundance. If atmospheric conditions are favorable (assuming an Earth-like atmosphere), with this new application to the cross-correlation technique, carbon dioxide can be detected within a few days of JWST observations. However, this can only be achieved if both the instrumental spectral response and the stellar spectrum can be determined to a relative precision of ≤1 × 10{sup −4} between adjacent spectral channels. Absolute flux calibration is not required, and the method is insensitive to the strong broadband variability of the host star. Precise calibration of the spectral features of the host star may only be attainable by obtaining deep observations of the system during inferior conjunction that serve as a reference. The high-pass filter spectroscopic technique with the MIRI MRS can be tested on warm Jupiters, Neptunes, and super-Earths with significantly higher planet/star contrast ratios than the Proxima system.

Probing the TRAPPIST-1 System with K2, JWST, and Beyond

Science.gov (United States)

Luger, Rodrigo; Lustig-Yaeger, Jacob; Agol, Eric; TRAPPIST-1 Collaboration

2018-01-01

I will discuss recent work I have done to characterize TRAPPIST-1, a nearby exoplanet system hosting seven terrestrial-size planets, three of which are in the habitable zone. In the first part of this talk, I will report on my efforts to constrain the orbital properties of the smallest and farthest out planet in the system, TRAPPIST-1h, from K2 data de-trended with my systematics correction pipeline, EVEREST. I will further discuss how the detection of TRAPPIST-1h with K2 confirmed the intricate resonant structure of the system, whose planets are all linked to their neighbors via three-body Laplace resonances. This is the longest known chain in any exoplanet system and holds important clues for the formation and migration of the TRAPPIST-1 planets. In the second part of this talk, I will discuss ongoing work to characterize the TRAPPIST-1 system via planet-planet occultations (PPOs), events during which one planet occults the disk of another, imparting a small photometric signal as its thermal or reflected light is blocked. Because of the extreme coplanarity of the system, PPOs should occur on average 1 - 2 times per day in TRAPPIST-1. I will discuss how the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will likely be able to detect PPOs in this system in the mid-infrared, and how these can be used to place exquisite constraints on the masses, eccentricities, and mutual inclinations of its planets. I will also show how photodynamical modeling of these events can eventually be used to reveal a planet's day/night temperature contrast, infer various atmospheric properties, and construct crude two-dimensional surface maps of alien worlds.

Results from a multi aperture Fizeau interferometer ground testbed: demonstrator for a future space-based interferometer

Science.gov (United States)

Baccichet, Nicola; Caillat, Amandine; Rakotonimbahy, Eddy; Dohlen, Kjetil; Savini, Giorgio; Marcos, Michel

2016-08-01

In the framework of the European FP7-FISICA (Far Infrared Space Interferometer Critical Assessment) program, we developed a miniaturized version of the hyper-telescope to demonstrate multi-aperture interferometry on ground. This setup would be ultimately integrated into a CubeSat platform, therefore providing the first real demonstrator of a multi aperture Fizeau interferometer in space. In this paper, we describe the optical design of the ground testbed and the data processing pipeline implemented to reconstruct the object image from interferometric data. As a scientific application, we measured the Sun diameter by fitting a limb-darkening model to our data. Finally, we present the design of a CubeSat platform carrying this miniature Fizeau interferometer, which could be used to monitor the Sun diameter over a long in-orbit period.

Towards standard testbeds for numerical relativity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alcubierre, Miguel; Allen, Gabrielle; Bona, Carles; Fiske, David; Goodale, Tom; Guzman, F Siddhartha; Hawke, Ian; Hawley, Scott H; Husa, Sascha; Koppitz, Michael; Lechner, Christiane; Pollney, Denis; Rideout, David; Salgado, Marcelo; Schnetter, Erik; Seidel, Edward; Shinkai, Hisa-aki; Shoemaker, Deirdre; Szilagyi, Bela; Takahashi, Ryoji; Winicour, Jeff

2004-01-01

In recent years, many different numerical evolution schemes for Einstein's equations have been proposed to address stability and accuracy problems that have plagued the numerical relativity community for decades. Some of these approaches have been tested on different spacetimes, and conclusions have been drawn based on these tests. However, differences in results originate from many sources, including not only formulations of the equations, but also gauges, boundary conditions, numerical methods and so on. We propose to build up a suite of standardized testbeds for comparing approaches to the numerical evolution of Einstein's equations that are designed to both probe their strengths and weaknesses and to separate out different effects, and their causes, seen in the results. We discuss general design principles of suitable testbeds, and we present an initial round of simple tests with periodic boundary conditions. This is a pivotal first step towards building a suite of testbeds to serve the numerical relativists and researchers from related fields who wish to assess the capabilities of numerical relativity codes. We present some examples of how these tests can be quite effective in revealing various limitations of different approaches, and illustrating their differences. The tests are presently limited to vacuum spacetimes, can be run on modest computational resources and can be used with many different approaches used in the relativity community

Towards standard testbeds for numerical relativity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alcubierre, Miguel [Inst. de Ciencias Nucleares, Univ. Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Apartado Postal 70-543, Mexico Distrito Federal 04510 (Mexico); Allen, Gabrielle; Goodale, Tom; Guzman, F Siddhartha; Hawke, Ian; Husa, Sascha; Koppitz, Michael; Lechner, Christiane; Pollney, Denis; Rideout, David [Max-Planck-Inst. fuer Gravitationsphysik, Albert-Einstein-Institut, 14476 Golm (Germany); Bona, Carles [Departament de Fisica, Universitat de les Illes Balears, Ctra de Valldemossa km 7.5, 07122 Palma de Mallorca (Spain); Fiske, David [Dept. of Physics, Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742-4111 (United States); Hawley, Scott H [Center for Relativity, Univ. of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712 (United States); Salgado, Marcelo [Inst. de Ciencias Nucleares, Univ. Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Apartado Postal 70-543, Mexico Distrito Federal 04510 (Mexico); Schnetter, Erik [Inst. fuer Astronomie und Astrophysik, Universitaet Tuebingen, 72076 Tuebingen (Germany); Seidel, Edward [Max-Planck-Inst. fuer Gravitationsphysik, Albert-Einstein-Inst., 14476 Golm (Germany); Shinkai, Hisa-aki [Computational Science Div., Inst. of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN), Hirosawa 2-1, Wako, Saitama 351-0198 (Japan); Shoemaker, Deirdre [Center for Radiophysics and Space Research, Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY 14853 (United States); Szilagyi, Bela [Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Univ. of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260 (United States); Takahashi, Ryoji [Theoretical Astrophysics Center, Juliane Maries Vej 30, 2100 Copenhagen, (Denmark); Winicour, Jeff [Max-Planck-Inst. fuer Gravitationsphysik, Albert-Einstein-Institut, 14476 Golm (Germany)

2004-01-21

In recent years, many different numerical evolution schemes for Einstein's equations have been proposed to address stability and accuracy problems that have plagued the numerical relativity community for decades. Some of these approaches have been tested on different spacetimes, and conclusions have been drawn based on these tests. However, differences in results originate from many sources, including not only formulations of the equations, but also gauges, boundary conditions, numerical methods and so on. We propose to build up a suite of standardized testbeds for comparing approaches to the numerical evolution of Einstein's equations that are designed to both probe their strengths and weaknesses and to separate out different effects, and their causes, seen in the results. We discuss general design principles of suitable testbeds, and we present an initial round of simple tests with periodic boundary conditions. This is a pivotal first step towards building a suite of testbeds to serve the numerical relativists and researchers from related fields who wish to assess the capabilities of numerical relativity codes. We present some examples of how these tests can be quite effective in revealing various limitations of different approaches, and illustrating their differences. The tests are presently limited to vacuum spacetimes, can be run on modest computational resources and can be used with many different approaches used in the relativity community.

A Testbed For Validating the LHC Controls System Core Before Deployment

CERN Document Server

Nguyen Xuan, J

2011-01-01

Since the start-up of the LHC, it is crucial to carefully test core controls components before deploying them operationally. The Testbed of the CERN accelerator controls group was developed for this purpose. It contains different hardware (PPC, i386) running various operating systems (Linux and LynxOS) and core software components running on front-ends, communication middleware and client libraries. The Testbed first executes integration tests to verify that the components delivered by individual teams interoperate, and then system tests, which verify high-level, end-user functionality. It also verifies that different versions of components are compatible, which is vital, because not all parts of the operational LHC control system can be upgraded simultaneously. In addition, the Testbed can be used for performance and stress tests. Internally, the Testbed is driven by Atlassian Bamboo, a Continuous Integration server, which builds and deploys automatically new software versions into the Test...

AMS San Diego Testbed - Calibration Data

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Transportation — The data in this repository were collected from the San Diego, California testbed, namely, I-15 from the interchange with SR-78 in the north to the interchange with...

Mounted Smartphones as Measurement and Control Platforms for Motor-Based Laboratory Test-Beds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jared A. Frank

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Laboratory education in science and engineering often entails the use of test-beds equipped with costly peripherals for sensing, acquisition, storage, processing, and control of physical behavior. However, costly peripherals are no longer necessary to obtain precise measurements and achieve stable feedback control of test-beds. With smartphones performing diverse sensing and processing tasks, this study examines the feasibility of mounting smartphones directly to test-beds to exploit their embedded hardware and software in the measurement and control of the test-beds. This approach is a first step towards replacing laboratory-grade peripherals with more compact and affordable smartphone-based platforms, whose interactive user interfaces can engender wider participation and engagement from learners. Demonstrative cases are presented in which the sensing, computation, control, and user interaction with three motor-based test-beds are handled by a mounted smartphone. Results of experiments and simulations are used to validate the feasibility of mounted smartphones as measurement and feedback control platforms for motor-based laboratory test-beds, report the measurement precision and closed-loop performance achieved with such platforms, and address challenges in the development of platforms to maintain system stability.

Mounted Smartphones as Measurement and Control Platforms for Motor-Based Laboratory Test-Beds.

Science.gov (United States)

Frank, Jared A; Brill, Anthony; Kapila, Vikram

2016-08-20

Laboratory education in science and engineering often entails the use of test-beds equipped with costly peripherals for sensing, acquisition, storage, processing, and control of physical behavior. However, costly peripherals are no longer necessary to obtain precise measurements and achieve stable feedback control of test-beds. With smartphones performing diverse sensing and processing tasks, this study examines the feasibility of mounting smartphones directly to test-beds to exploit their embedded hardware and software in the measurement and control of the test-beds. This approach is a first step towards replacing laboratory-grade peripherals with more compact and affordable smartphone-based platforms, whose interactive user interfaces can engender wider participation and engagement from learners. Demonstrative cases are presented in which the sensing, computation, control, and user interaction with three motor-based test-beds are handled by a mounted smartphone. Results of experiments and simulations are used to validate the feasibility of mounted smartphones as measurement and feedback control platforms for motor-based laboratory test-beds, report the measurement precision and closed-loop performance achieved with such platforms, and address challenges in the development of platforms to maintain system stability.

High Precision Testbed to Evaluate Ethernet Performance for In-Car Networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Revsbech, Kasper; Madsen, Tatiana Kozlova; Schiøler, Henrik

2012-01-01

Validating safety-critical real-time systems such as in-car networks often involves a model-based performance analysis of the network. An important issue performing such analysis is to provide precise model parameters, matching the actual equipment. One way to obtain such parameters is to derive...... them by measurements of the equipment. In this work we describe the design of a testbed enabling active measurements on up to 1 [Gb=Sec] Copper based Ethernet Switches. By use of the testbed it self, we conduct a series of tests where the precision of the testbed is estimated. We find a maximum error...

Kodak Mirror Assembly Tested at Marshall Space Flight Center

Science.gov (United States)

2003-01-01

This photo (a frontal view) is of one of many segments of the Eastman-Kodak mirror assembly being tested for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) project at the X-Ray Calibration Facility at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). MSFC is supporting Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in developing the JWST by taking numerous measurements to predict its future performance. The tests are conducted in a vacuum chamber cooled to approximate the super cold temperatures found in space. During its 27 years of operation, the facility has performed testing in support of a wide array of projects, including the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), Solar A, Chandra technology development, Chandra High Resolution Mirror Assembly and science instruments, Constellation X-Ray Mission, and Solar X-Ray Imager, currently operating on a Geostationary Operational Environment Satellite. The JWST is NASA's next generation space telescope, a successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, named in honor of NASA's second administrator, James E. Webb. It is scheduled for launch in 2010 aboard an expendable launch vehicle. It will take about 3 months for the spacecraft to reach its destination, an orbit of 940,000 miles in space.

Development of Liquid Propulsion Systems Testbed at MSFC

Science.gov (United States)

Alexander, Reginald; Nelson, Graham

2016-01-01

As NASA, the Department of Defense and the aerospace industry in general strive to develop capabilities to explore near-Earth, Cis-lunar and deep space, the need to create more cost effective techniques of propulsion system design, manufacturing and test is imperative in the current budget constrained environment. The physics of space exploration have not changed, but the manner in which systems are developed and certified needs to change if there is going to be any hope of designing and building the high performance liquid propulsion systems necessary to deliver crew and cargo to the further reaches of space. To further the objective of developing these systems, the Marshall Space Flight Center is currently in the process of formulating a Liquid Propulsion Systems testbed, which will enable rapid integration of components to be tested and assessed for performance in integrated systems. The manifestation of this testbed is a breadboard engine configuration (BBE) with facility support for consumables and/or other components as needed. The goal of the facility is to test NASA developed elements, but can be used to test articles developed by other government agencies, industry or academia. Joint government/private partnership is likely the approach that will be required to enable efficient propulsion system development. MSFC has recently tested its own additively manufactured liquid hydrogen pump, injector, and valves in a BBE hot firing. It is rapidly building toward testing the pump and a new CH4 injector in the BBE configuration to demonstrate a 22,000 lbf, pump-fed LO2/LCH4 engine for the Mars lander or in-space transportation. The value of having this BBE testbed is that as components are developed they may be easily integrated in the testbed and tested. MSFC is striving to enhance its liquid propulsion system development capability. Rapid design, analysis, build and test will be critical to fielding the next high thrust rocket engine. With the maturity of the

High Contrast Imaging of Exoplanets and Exoplanetary Systems with JWST

Science.gov (United States)

Hinkley, Sasha; Skemer, Andrew; Biller, Beth; Baraffe, I.; Bonnefoy, M.; Bowler, B.; Carter, A.; Chen, C.; Choquet, E.; Currie, T.; Danielski, C.; Fortney, J.; Grady, C.; Greenbaum, A.; Hines, D.; Janson, M.; Kalas, P.; Kennedy, G.; Kraus, A.; Lagrange, A.; Liu, M.; Marley, M.; Marois, C.; Matthews, B.; Mawet, D.; Metchev, S.; Meyer, M.; Millar-Blanchaer, M.; Perrin, M.; Pueyo, L.; Quanz, S.; Rameau, J.; Rodigas, T.; Sallum, S.; Sargent, B.; Schlieder, J.; Schneider, G.; Stapelfeldt, K.; Tremblin, P.; Vigan, A.; Ygouf, M.

2017-11-01

JWST will transform our ability to characterize directly imaged planets and circumstellar debris disks, including the first spectroscopic characterization of directly imaged exoplanets at wavelengths beyond 5 microns, providing a powerful diagnostic of cloud particle properties, atmospheric structure, and composition. To lay the groundwork for these science goals, we propose a 39-hour ERS program to rapidly establish optimal strategies for JWST high contrast imaging. We will acquire: a) coronagraphic imaging of a newly discovered exoplanet companion, and a well-studied circumstellar debris disk with NIRCam & MIRI; b) spectroscopy of a wide separation planetary mass companion with NIRSPEC & MIRI; and c) deep aperture masking interferometry with NIRISS. Our primary goals are to: 1) generate representative datasets in modes to be commonly used by the exoplanet and disk imaging communities; 2) deliver science enabling products to empower a broad user base to develop successful future investigations; and 3) carry out breakthrough science by characterizing exoplanets for the first time over their full spectral range from 2-28 microns, and debris disk spectrophotometry out to 15 microns sampling the 3 micron water ice feature. Our team represents the majority of the community dedicated to exoplanet and disk imaging and has decades of experience with high contrast imaging algorithms and pipelines. We have developed a collaboration management plan and several organized working groups to ensure we can rapidly and effectively deliver high quality Science Enabling Products to the community.

Mounted Smartphones as Measurement and Control Platforms for Motor-Based Laboratory Test-Beds

OpenAIRE

Jared A. Frank; Anthony Brill; Vikram Kapila

2016-01-01

Laboratory education in science and engineering often entails the use of test-beds equipped with costly peripherals for sensing, acquisition, storage, processing, and control of physical behavior. However, costly peripherals are no longer necessary to obtain precise measurements and achieve stable feedback control of test-beds. With smartphones performing diverse sensing and processing tasks, this study examines the feasibility of mounting smartphones directly to test-beds to exploit their em...

Wireless Sensor Networks TestBed: ASNTbed

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Dludla, AG

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have been used in different types of applications and deployed within various environments. Simulation tools are essential for studying WSNs, especially for exploring large-scale networks. However, WSN testbeds...

Growth plan for an inspirational test-bed of smart textile services

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wensveen, S.A.G.; Tomico, O.; Bhomer, ten M.; Kuusk, K.

2015-01-01

In this pictorial we visualize the growth plan for an inspirational test-bed of smart textile product service systems. The goal of the test-bed is to inspire and inform the Dutch creative industries of textile, interaction and service design to combine their strengths and share opportunities. The

Wireless Testbed Bonsai

Science.gov (United States)

2006-02-01

wireless sensor device network, and a about 200 Stargate nodes higher-tier multi-hop peer- to-peer 802.11b wireless network. Leading up to the full ExScal...deployment, we conducted spatial scaling tests on our higher-tier protocols on a 7 × 7 grid of Stargates nodes 45m and with 90m separations respectively...onW and its scaled version W̃ . III. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP Description of Kansei testbed. A stargate is a single board linux-based computer [7]. It uses a

The AGN-Star Formation Connection: Future Prospects with JWST

Science.gov (United States)

Kirkpatrick, Allison; Alberts, Stacey; Pope, Alexandra; Barro, Guillermo; Bonato, Matteo; Kocevski, Dale D.; Pérez-González, Pablo; Rieke, George H.; Rodríguez-Muñoz, Lucia; Sajina, Anna; Grogin, Norman A.; Mantha, Kameswara Bharadwaj; Pandya, Viraj; Pforr, Janine; Salvato, Mara; Santini, Paola

2017-11-01

The bulk of the stellar growth over cosmic time is dominated by IR-luminous galaxies at cosmic noon (z=1{--}2), many of which harbor a hidden active galactic nucleus (AGN). We use state-of-the-art infrared color diagnostics, combining Spitzer and Herschel observations, to separate dust-obscured AGNs from dusty star-forming galaxies (SFGs) in the CANDELS and COSMOS surveys. We calculate 24 μm counts of SFGs, AGN/star-forming “Composites,” and AGNs. AGNs and Composites dominate the counts above 0.8 mJy at 24 μm, and Composites form at least 25% of an IR sample even to faint detection limits. We develop methods to use the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) on JWST to identify dust-obscured AGNs and Composite galaxies from z˜ 1{--}2. With the sensitivity and spacing of MIRI filters, we will detect >4 times as many AGN hosts as with Spitzer/IRAC criteria. Any star formation rates based on the 7.7 μm PAH feature (likely to be applied to MIRI photometry) must be corrected for the contribution of the AGN, or the star formation rate will be overestimated by ˜35% for cases where the AGN provides half the IR luminosity and ˜50% when the AGN accounts for 90% of the luminosity. Finally, we demonstrate that our MIRI color technique can select AGNs with an Eddington ratio of {λ }{Edd}˜ 0.01 and will identify AGN hosts with a higher specific star formation rate than X-ray techniques alone. JWST/MIRI will enable critical steps forward in identifying and understanding dust-obscured AGNs and the link to their host galaxies.

SCDU Testbed Automated In-Situ Alignment, Data Acquisition and Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Werne, Thomas A.; Wehmeier, Udo J.; Wu, Janet P.; An, Xin; Goullioud, Renaud; Nemati, Bijan; Shao, Michael; Shen, Tsae-Pyng J.; Wang, Xu; Weilert, Mark A.;

Integrating Simulated Physics and Device Virtualization in Control System Testbeds

OpenAIRE

Redwood , Owen; Reynolds , Jason; Burmester , Mike

2016-01-01

Part 3: INFRASTRUCTURE MODELING AND SIMULATION; International audience; Malware and forensic analyses of embedded cyber-physical systems are tedious, manual processes that testbeds are commonly not designed to support. Additionally, attesting the physics impact of embedded cyber-physical system malware has no formal methodologies and is currently an art. This chapter describes a novel testbed design methodology that integrates virtualized embedded industrial control systems and physics simula...

Design of aircraft cabin testbed for stress free air travel experiment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tan, C.F.; Chen, W.; Rauterberg, G.W.M.

2009-01-01

The paper presents an aircraft cabin testbed that is designed and built for the stress free air travel experiment. The project is funded by European Union in the aim of improving air travel comfort during long haul flight. The testbed is used to test and validate the adaptive system that is capable

Versatile Electric Propulsion Aircraft Testbed, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — An all-electric aircraft testbed is proposed to provide a dedicated development environment for the rigorous study and advancement of electrically powered aircraft....

Mounted Smartphones as Measurement and Control Platforms for Motor-Based Laboratory Test-Beds †

Science.gov (United States)

Frank, Jared A.; Brill, Anthony; Kapila, Vikram

2016-01-01

Laboratory education in science and engineering often entails the use of test-beds equipped with costly peripherals for sensing, acquisition, storage, processing, and control of physical behavior. However, costly peripherals are no longer necessary to obtain precise measurements and achieve stable feedback control of test-beds. With smartphones performing diverse sensing and processing tasks, this study examines the feasibility of mounting smartphones directly to test-beds to exploit their embedded hardware and software in the measurement and control of the test-beds. This approach is a first step towards replacing laboratory-grade peripherals with more compact and affordable smartphone-based platforms, whose interactive user interfaces can engender wider participation and engagement from learners. Demonstrative cases are presented in which the sensing, computation, control, and user interaction with three motor-based test-beds are handled by a mounted smartphone. Results of experiments and simulations are used to validate the feasibility of mounted smartphones as measurement and feedback control platforms for motor-based laboratory test-beds, report the measurement precision and closed-loop performance achieved with such platforms, and address challenges in the development of platforms to maintain system stability. PMID:27556464

Data Distribution Service-Based Interoperability Framework for Smart Grid Testbed Infrastructure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tarek A. Youssef

2016-03-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the design and implementation of a communication and control infrastructure for smart grid operation. The proposed infrastructure enhances the reliability of the measurements and control network. The advantages of utilizing the data-centric over message-centric communication approach are discussed in the context of smart grid applications. The data distribution service (DDS is used to implement a data-centric common data bus for the smart grid. This common data bus improves the communication reliability, enabling distributed control and smart load management. These enhancements are achieved by avoiding a single point of failure while enabling peer-to-peer communication and an automatic discovery feature for dynamic participating nodes. The infrastructure and ideas presented in this paper were implemented and tested on the smart grid testbed. A toolbox and application programing interface for the testbed infrastructure are developed in order to facilitate interoperability and remote access to the testbed. This interface allows control, monitoring, and performing of experiments remotely. Furthermore, it could be used to integrate multidisciplinary testbeds to study complex cyber-physical systems (CPS.

Comparison of two matrix data structures for advanced CSM testbed applications

Science.gov (United States)

Regelbrugge, M. E.; Brogan, F. A.; Nour-Omid, B.; Rankin, C. C.; Wright, M. A.

1989-01-01

The first section describes data storage schemes presently used by the Computational Structural Mechanics (CSM) testbed sparse matrix facilities and similar skyline (profile) matrix facilities. The second section contains a discussion of certain features required for the implementation of particular advanced CSM algorithms, and how these features might be incorporated into the data storage schemes described previously. The third section presents recommendations, based on the discussions of the prior sections, for directing future CSM testbed development to provide necessary matrix facilities for advanced algorithm implementation and use. The objective is to lend insight into the matrix structures discussed and to help explain the process of evaluating alternative matrix data structures and utilities for subsequent use in the CSM testbed.

Holodeck Testbed Project

Science.gov (United States)

Arias, Adriel (Inventor)

2016-01-01

The main objective of the Holodeck Testbed is to create a cost effective, realistic, and highly immersive environment that can be used to train astronauts, carry out engineering analysis, develop procedures, and support various operations tasks. Currently, the Holodeck testbed allows to step into a simulated ISS (International Space Station) and interact with objects; as well as, perform Extra Vehicular Activities (EVA) on the surface of the Moon or Mars. The Holodeck Testbed is using the products being developed in the Hybrid Reality Lab (HRL). The HRL is combining technologies related to merging physical models with photo-realistic visuals to create a realistic and highly immersive environment. The lab also investigates technologies and concepts that are needed to allow it to be integrated with other testbeds; such as, the gravity offload capability provided by the Active Response Gravity Offload System (ARGOS). My main two duties were to develop and animate models for use in the HRL environments and work on a new way to interface with computers using Brain Computer Interface (BCI) technology. On my first task, I was able to create precise computer virtual tool models (accurate down to the thousandths or hundredths of an inch). To make these tools even more realistic, I produced animations for these tools so they would have the same mechanical features as the tools in real life. The computer models were also used to create 3D printed replicas that will be outfitted with tracking sensors. The sensor will allow the 3D printed models to align precisely with the computer models in the physical world and provide people with haptic/tactile feedback while wearing a VR (Virtual Reality) headset and interacting with the tools. Getting close to the end of my internship the lab bought a professional grade 3D Scanner. With this, I was able to replicate more intricate tools at a much more time-effective rate. The second task was to investigate the use of BCI to control

Mini-mast CSI testbed user's guide

Science.gov (United States)

Tanner, Sharon E.; Pappa, Richard S.; Sulla, Jeffrey L.; Elliott, Kenny B.; Miserentino, Robert; Bailey, James P.; Cooper, Paul A.; Williams, Boyd L., Jr.; Bruner, Anne M.

1992-01-01

The Mini-Mast testbed is a 20 m generic truss highly representative of future deployable trusses for space applications. It is fully instrumented for system identification and active vibrations control experiments and is used as a ground testbed at NASA-Langley. The facility has actuators and feedback sensors linked via fiber optic cables to the Advanced Real Time Simulation (ARTS) system, where user defined control laws are incorporated into generic controls software. The object of the facility is to conduct comprehensive active vibration control experiments on a dynamically realistic large space structure. A primary goal is to understand the practical effects of simplifying theoretical assumptions. This User's Guide describes the hardware and its primary components, the dynamic characteristics of the test article, the control law implementation process, and the necessary safeguards employed to protect the test article. Suggestions for a strawman controls experiment are also included.

Use of Tabu Search in a Solver to Map Complex Networks onto Emulab Testbeds

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

MacDonald, Jason E

2007-01-01

The University of Utah's solver for the testbed mapping problem uses a simulated annealing metaheuristic algorithm to map a researcher's experimental network topology onto available testbed resources...

Development of a smart-antenna test-bed, demonstrating software defined digital beamforming

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kluwer, T.; Slump, Cornelis H.; Schiphorst, Roelof; Hoeksema, F.W.

2001-01-01

This paper describes a smart-antenna test-bed consisting of ‘common of the shelf’ (COTS) hardware and software defined radio components. The use of software radio components enables a flexible platform to implement and test mobile communication systems as a real-world system. The test-bed is

Polishing, coating and integration of SiC mirrors for space telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Rodolfo, Jacques

2017-11-01

In the last years, the technology of SiC mirrors took an increasingly significant part in the field of space telescopes. Sagem is involved in the JWST program to manufacture and test the optical components of the NIRSpec instrument. The instrument is made of 3 TMAs and 4 plane mirrors made of SiC. Sagem is in charge of the CVD cladding, the polishing, the coating of the mirrors and the integration and testing of the TMAs. The qualification of the process has been performed through the manufacturing and testing of the qualification model of the FOR TMA. This TMA has shown very good performances both at ambient and during the cryo test. The polishing process has been improved for the manufacturing of the flight model. This improvement has been driven by the BRDF performance of the mirror. This parameter has been deeply analysed and a model has been built to predict the performance of the mirrors. The existing Dittman model have been analysed and found to be optimistic.

Closing the contrast gap between testbed and model prediction with WFIRST-CGI shaped pupil coronagraph

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Hanying; Nemati, Bijan; Krist, John; Cady, Eric; Prada, Camilo M.; Kern, Brian; Poberezhskiy, Ilya

2016-07-01

JPL has recently passed an important milestone in its technology development for a proposed NASA WFIRST mission coronagraph: demonstration of better than 1x10-8 contrast over broad bandwidth (10%) on both shaped pupil coronagraph (SPC) and hybrid Lyot coronagraph (HLC) testbeds with the WFIRST obscuration pattern. Challenges remain, however, in the technology readiness for the proposed mission. One is the discrepancies between the achieved contrasts on the testbeds and their corresponding model predictions. A series of testbed diagnoses and modeling activities were planned and carried out on the SPC testbed in order to close the gap. A very useful tool we developed was a derived "measured" testbed wavefront control Jacobian matrix that could be compared with the model-predicted "control" version that was used to generate the high contrast dark hole region in the image plane. The difference between these two is an estimate of the error in the control Jacobian. When the control matrix, which includes both amplitude and phase, was modified to reproduce the error, the simulated performance closely matched the SPC testbed behavior in both contrast floor and contrast convergence speed. This is a step closer toward model validation for high contrast coronagraphs. Further Jacobian analysis and modeling provided clues to the possible sources for the mismatch: DM misregistration and testbed optical wavefront error (WFE) and the deformable mirror (DM) setting for correcting this WFE. These analyses suggested that a high contrast coronagraph has a tight tolerance in the accuracy of its control Jacobian. Modifications to both testbed control model as well as prediction model are being implemented, and future works are discussed.

Adaptive Optics Simulation for the World's Largest Telescope on Multicore Architectures with Multiple GPUs

KAUST Repository

Ltaief, Hatem

2016-06-02

We present a high performance comprehensive implementation of a multi-object adaptive optics (MOAO) simulation on multicore architectures with hardware accelerators in the context of computational astronomy. This implementation will be used as an operational testbed for simulating the de- sign of new instruments for the European Extremely Large Telescope project (E-ELT), the world\\'s biggest eye and one of Europe\\'s highest priorities in ground-based astronomy. The simulation corresponds to a multi-step multi-stage pro- cedure, which is fed, near real-time, by system and turbulence data coming from the telescope environment. Based on the PLASMA library powered by the OmpSs dynamic runtime system, our implementation relies on a task-based programming model to permit an asynchronous out-of-order execution. Using modern multicore architectures associated with the enormous computing power of GPUS, the resulting data-driven compute-intensive simulation of the entire MOAO application, composed of the tomographic reconstructor and the observing sequence, is capable of coping with the aforementioned real-time challenge and stands as a reference implementation for the computational astronomy community.

INFN Tier-1 Testbed Facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gregori, Daniele; Cavalli, Alessandro; Dell'Agnello, Luca; Dal Pra, Stefano; Prosperini, Andrea; Ricci, Pierpaolo; Ronchieri, Elisabetta; Sapunenko, Vladimir

2012-01-01

INFN-CNAF, located in Bologna, is the Information Technology Center of National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN). In the framework of the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid, INFN-CNAF is one of the eleven worldwide Tier-1 centers to store and reprocessing Large Hadron Collider (LHC) data. The Italian Tier-1 provides the resources of storage (i.e., disk space for short term needs and tapes for long term needs) and computing power that are needed for data processing and analysis to the LHC scientific community. Furthermore, INFN Tier-1 houses computing resources for other particle physics experiments, like CDF at Fermilab, SuperB at Frascati, as well as for astro particle and spatial physics experiments. The computing center is a very complex infrastructure, the hardaware layer include the network, storage and farming area, while the software layer includes open source and proprietary software. Software updating and new hardware adding can unexpectedly deteriorate the production activity of the center: therefore a testbed facility has been set up in order to reproduce and certify the various layers of the Tier-1. In this article we describe the testbed and the checks performed.

[Taylor and Hill, Incorporated's JSC Cryo Chamber A

Science.gov (United States)

Morales, Rito

2008-01-01

NASA commissioned construction of an environmental simulation test chamber which was completed in 1964 at Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas. The facility, Chamber A, was invaluable for testing spacecraft and satellites before deployment to space. By testing spacecraft in an environment similar to the one they would be functioning in, potential problems could be addressed before launch. A new addition to NASA's observatory inventory is called the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), after a former Administrator of NASA. The new telescope will have 7 times the mirror area of the Hubble, with a target destination approximately one million miles from earth. Scheduled for launch in 2013, the JWST will allow scientists the ability to see, for the first time, the first galaxies that formed in the early Universe. Pre-launch testing of JWST must be performed in environments that approximate its final target space environment as closely as possible.

Definition study for variable cycle engine testbed engine and associated test program

Science.gov (United States)

Vdoviak, J. W.

1978-01-01

The product/study double bypass variable cycle engine (VCE) was updated to incorporate recent improvements. The effect of these improvements on mission range and noise levels was determined. This engine design was then compared with current existing high-technology core engines in order to define a subscale testbed configuration that simulated many of the critical technology features of the product/study VCE. Detailed preliminary program plans were then developed for the design, fabrication, and static test of the selected testbed engine configuration. These plans included estimated costs and schedules for the detail design, fabrication and test of the testbed engine and the definition of a test program, test plan, schedule, instrumentation, and test stand requirements.

University of Florida Advanced Technologies Campus Testbed

Science.gov (United States)

2017-09-21

The University of Florida (UF) and its Transportation Institute (UFTI), the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) and the City of Gainesville (CoG) are cooperating to develop a smart transportation testbed on the University of Florida (UF) main...

NBodyLab: A Testbed for Undergraduates Utilizing a Web Interface to NEMO and MD-GRAPE2 Hardware

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, V. L.; Teuben, P. J.; Penprase, B. E.

An N-body simulation testbed called NBodyLab was developed at Pomona College as a teaching tool for undergraduates. The testbed runs under Linux and provides a web interface to selected back-end NEMO modeling and analysis tools, and several integration methods which can optionally use an MD-GRAPE2 supercomputer card in the server to accelerate calculation of particle-particle forces. The testbed provides a framework for using and experimenting with the main components of N-body simulations: data models and transformations, numerical integration of the equations of motion, analysis and visualization products, and acceleration techniques (in this case, special purpose hardware). The testbed can be used by students with no knowledge of programming or Unix, freeing such students and their instructor to spend more time on scientific experimentation. The advanced student can extend the testbed software and/or more quickly transition to the use of more advanced Unix-based toolsets such as NEMO, Starlab and model builders such as GalactICS. Cosmology students at Pomona College used the testbed to study collisions of galaxies with different speeds, masses, densities, collision angles, angular momentum, etc., attempting to simulate, for example, the Tadpole Galaxy and the Antenna Galaxies. The testbed framework is available as open-source to assist other researchers and educators. Recommendations are made for testbed enhancements.

Optical Network Testbeds Workshop

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Joe Mambretti

2007-06-01

This is the summary report of the third annual Optical Networking Testbed Workshop (ONT3), which brought together leading members of the international advanced research community to address major challenges in creating next generation communication services and technologies. Networking research and development (R&D) communities throughout the world continue to discover new methods and technologies that are enabling breakthroughs in advanced communications. These discoveries are keystones for building the foundation of the future economy, which requires the sophisticated management of extremely large qualities of digital information through high performance communications. This innovation is made possible by basic research and experiments within laboratories and on specialized testbeds. Initial network research and development initiatives are driven by diverse motives, including attempts to solve existing complex problems, the desire to create powerful new technologies that do not exist using traditional methods, and the need to create tools to address specific challenges, including those mandated by large scale science or government agency mission agendas. Many new discoveries related to communications technologies transition to wide-spread deployment through standards organizations and commercialization. These transition paths allow for new communications capabilities that drive many sectors of the digital economy. In the last few years, networking R&D has increasingly focused on advancing multiple new capabilities enabled by next generation optical networking. Both US Federal networking R&D and other national R&D initiatives, such as those organized by the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) of Japan are creating optical networking technologies that allow for new, powerful communication services. Among the most promising services are those based on new types of multi-service or hybrid networks, which use new optical networking

Context-aware local Intrusion Detection in SCADA systems : a testbed and two showcases

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Chromik, Justyna Joanna; Haverkort, Boudewijn R.H.M.; Remke, Anne Katharina Ingrid; Pilch, Carina; Brackmann, Pascal; Duhme, Christof; Everinghoff, Franziska; Giberlein, Artur; Teodorowicz, Thomas; Wieland, Julian

2017-01-01

This paper illustrates the use of a testbed that we have developed for context-aware local intrusion detection. This testbed is based on the co-simulation framework Mosaik and allows for the validation of local intrusion detection mechanisms at field stations in power distribution networks. For two

An adaptable, low cost test-bed for unmanned vehicle systems research

Science.gov (United States)

Goppert, James M.

2011-12-01

An unmanned vehicle systems test-bed has been developed. The test-bed has been designed to accommodate hardware changes and various vehicle types and algorithms. The creation of this test-bed allows research teams to focus on algorithm development and employ a common well-tested experimental framework. The ArduPilotOne autopilot was developed to provide the necessary level of abstraction for multiple vehicle types. The autopilot was also designed to be highly integrated with the Mavlink protocol for Micro Air Vehicle (MAV) communication. Mavlink is the native protocol for QGroundControl, a MAV ground control program. Features were added to QGroundControl to accommodate outdoor usage. Next, the Mavsim toolbox was developed for Scicoslab to allow hardware-in-the-loop testing, control design and analysis, and estimation algorithm testing and verification. In order to obtain linear models of aircraft dynamics, the JSBSim flight dynamics engine was extended to use a probabilistic Nelder-Mead simplex method. The JSBSim aircraft dynamics were compared with wind-tunnel data collected. Finally, a structured methodology for successive loop closure control design is proposed. This methodology is demonstrated along with the rest of the test-bed tools on a quadrotor, a fixed wing RC plane, and a ground vehicle. Test results for the ground vehicle are presented.

Cooperative Search with Autonomous Vehicles in a 3D Aquatic Testbed

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

Cooperative Search with Autonomous Vehicles in a 3D Aquatic Testbed Matthew Keeter1, Daniel Moore2,3, Ryan Muller2,3, Eric Nieters1, Jennifer...Many applications for autonomous vehicles involve three-dimensional domains, notably aerial and aquatic environments. Such applications include mon...TYPE 3. DATES COVERED 00-00-2012 to 00-00-2012 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Cooperative Search With Autonomous Vehicles In A 3D Aquatic Testbed 5a

PEER Testbed Study on a Laboratory Building: Exercising Seismic Performance Assessment

OpenAIRE

Comerio, Mary C.; Stallmeyer, John C.; Smith, Ryan; Makris, Nicos; Konstantinidis, Dimitrios; Mosalam, Khalid; Lee, Tae-Hyung; Beck, James L.; Porter, Keith A.; Shaikhutdinov, Rustem; Hutchinson, Tara; Chaudhuri, Samit Ray; Chang, Stephanie E.; Falit-Baiamonte, Anthony; Holmes, William T.

2005-01-01

From 2002 to 2004 (years five and six of a ten-year funding cycle), the PEER Center organized the majority of its research around six testbeds. Two buildings and two bridges, a campus, and a transportation network were selected as case studies to “exercise” the PEER performance-based earthquake engineering methodology. All projects involved interdisciplinary teams of researchers, each producing data to be used by other colleagues in their research. The testbeds demonstrat...

Modular Algorithm Testbed Suite (MATS): A Software Framework for Automatic Target Recognition

Science.gov (United States)

2017-01-01

NAVAL SURFACE WARFARE CENTER PANAMA CITY DIVISION PANAMA CITY, FL 32407-7001 TECHNICAL REPORT NSWC PCD TR-2017-004 MODULAR ...31-01-2017 Technical Modular Algorithm Testbed Suite (MATS): A Software Framework for Automatic Target Recognition DR...flexible platform to facilitate the development and testing of ATR algorithms. To that end, NSWC PCD has created the Modular Algorithm Testbed Suite

Easy as Pi: A Network Coding Raspberry Pi Testbed

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chres W. Sørensen

2016-10-01

Full Text Available In the near future, upcoming communications and storage networks are expected to tolerate major difficulties produced by huge amounts of data being generated from the Internet of Things (IoT. For these types of networks, strategies and mechanisms based on network coding have appeared as an alternative to overcome these difficulties in a holistic manner, e.g., without sacrificing the benefit of a given network metric when improving another. There has been recurrent issues on: (i making large-scale deployments akin to the Internet of Things; (ii assessing and (iii replicating the obtained results in preliminary studies. Therefore, finding testbeds that can deal with large-scale deployments and not lose historic data in order to evaluate these mechanisms are greatly needed and desirable from a research perspective. However, this can be hard to manage, not only due to the inherent costs of the hardware, but also due to maintenance challenges. In this paper, we present the required key steps to design, setup and maintain an inexpensive testbed using Raspberry Pi devices for communications and storage networks with network coding capabilities. This testbed can be utilized for any applications requiring results replicability.

The Living With a Star Space Environment Testbed Program

Science.gov (United States)

Barth, Janet; LaBel, Kenneth; Day, John H. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

NASA has initiated the Living with a Star (LWS) Program to develop the scientific understanding to address the aspects of the Connected Sun-Earth system that affects life and society. The Program Architecture includes science missions, theory and modeling and Space Environment Testbeds (SET). This current paper discusses the Space Environment Testbeds. The goal of the SET program is to improve the engineering approach to accomodate and/or mitigate the effects of solar variability on spacecraft design and operations. The SET Program will infuse new technologies into the space programs through collection of data in space and subsequent design and validation of technologies. Examples of these technologies are cited and discussed.

Graphical interface between the CIRSSE testbed and CimStation software with MCS/CTOS

Science.gov (United States)

Hron, Anna B.

1992-01-01

This research is concerned with developing a graphical simulation of the testbed at the Center for Intelligent Robotic Systems for Space Exploration (CIRSSE) and the interface which allows for communication between the two. Such an interface is useful in telerobotic operations, and as a functional interaction tool for testbed users. Creating a simulated model of a real world system, generates inevitable calibration discrepancies between them. This thesis gives a brief overview of the work done to date in the area of workcell representation and communication, describes the development of the CIRSSE interface, and gives a direction for future work in the area of system calibration. The CimStation software used for development of this interface, is a highly versatile robotic workcell simulation package which has been programmed for this application with a scale graphical model of the testbed, and supporting interface menu code. A need for this tool has been identified for the reasons of path previewing, as a window on teleoperation and for calibration of simulated vs. real world models. The interface allows information (i.e., joint angles) generated by CimStation to be sent as motion goal positions to the testbed robots. An option of the interface has been established such that joint angle information generated by supporting testbed algorithms (i.e., TG, collision avoidance) can be piped through CimStation as a visual preview of the path.

Diffraction-based analysis of tunnel size for a scaled external occulter testbed

Science.gov (United States)

Sirbu, Dan; Kasdin, N. Jeremy; Vanderbei, Robert J.

2016-07-01

For performance verification of an external occulter mask (also called a starshade), scaled testbeds have been developed to measure the suppression of the occulter shadow in the pupil plane and contrast in the image plane. For occulter experiments the scaling is typically performed by maintaining an equivalent Fresnel number. The original Princeton occulter testbed was oversized with respect to both input beam and shadow propagation to limit any diffraction effects due to finite testbed enclosure edges; however, to operate at realistic space-mission equivalent Fresnel numbers an extended testbed is currently under construction. With the longer propagation distances involved, diffraction effects due to the edge of the tunnel must now be considered in the experiment design. Here, we present a diffraction-based model of two separate tunnel effects. First, we consider the effect of tunnel-edge induced diffraction ringing upstream from the occulter mask. Second, we consider the diffraction effect due to clipping of the output shadow by the tunnel downstream from the occulter mask. These calculations are performed for a representative point design relevant to the new Princeton occulter experiment, but we also present an analytical relation that can be used for other propagation distances.

Implementation of a virtual link between power system testbeds at Marshall Spaceflight Center and Lewis Research Center

Science.gov (United States)

Doreswamy, Rajiv

1990-01-01

The Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) owns and operates a space station module power management and distribution (SSM-PMAD) testbed. This system, managed by expert systems, is used to analyze and develop power system automation techniques for Space Station Freedom. The Lewis Research Center (LeRC), Cleveland, Ohio, has developed and implemented a space station electrical power system (EPS) testbed. This system and its power management controller are representative of the overall Space Station Freedom power system. A virtual link is being implemented between the testbeds at MSFC and LeRC. This link would enable configuration of SSM-PMAD as a load center for the EPS testbed at LeRC. This connection will add to the versatility of both systems, and provide an environment of enhanced realism for operation of both testbeds.

Cognitive Medical Wireless Testbed System (COMWITS)

Science.gov (United States)

2016-11-01

Number: ...... ...... Sub Contractors (DD882) Names of other research staff Inventions (DD882) Scientific Progress This testbed merges two ARO grants...bit 64 bit CPU Intel Xeon Processor E5-1650v3 (6C, 3.5 GHz, Turbo, HT , 15M, 140W) Intel Core i7-3770 (3.4 GHz Quad Core, 77W) Dual Intel Xeon

A Method to Analyze Threats and Vulnerabilities by Using a Cyber Security Test-bed of an Operating NPP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Yong Sik; Son, Choul Woong; Lee, Soo Ill

2016-01-01

In order to implement cyber security controls for an Operating NPP, a security assessment should conduct in advance, and it is essential to analyze threats and vulnerabilities for a cyber security risk assessment phase. It might be impossible to perform a penetration test or scanning for a vulnerability analysis because the test may cause adverse effects on the inherent functions of ones. This is the reason why we develop and construct a cyber security test-bed instead of using real I and C systems in the operating NPP. In this paper, we propose a method to analyze threats and vulnerabilities of a specific target system by using a cyber security test-bed. The test-bed is being developed considering essential functions of the selected safety and non-safety system. This paper shows the method to analyze threats and vulnerabilities of a specific target system by using a cyber security test-bed. In order to develop the cyber security test-bed with both safety and non-safety functions, test-bed functions analysis and preliminary threats and vulnerabilities identification have been conducted. We will determine the attack scenarios and conduct the test-bed based vulnerability analysis

A Method to Analyze Threats and Vulnerabilities by Using a Cyber Security Test-bed of an Operating NPP

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Yong Sik; Son, Choul Woong; Lee, Soo Ill [KHNP CRI, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-10-15

In order to implement cyber security controls for an Operating NPP, a security assessment should conduct in advance, and it is essential to analyze threats and vulnerabilities for a cyber security risk assessment phase. It might be impossible to perform a penetration test or scanning for a vulnerability analysis because the test may cause adverse effects on the inherent functions of ones. This is the reason why we develop and construct a cyber security test-bed instead of using real I and C systems in the operating NPP. In this paper, we propose a method to analyze threats and vulnerabilities of a specific target system by using a cyber security test-bed. The test-bed is being developed considering essential functions of the selected safety and non-safety system. This paper shows the method to analyze threats and vulnerabilities of a specific target system by using a cyber security test-bed. In order to develop the cyber security test-bed with both safety and non-safety functions, test-bed functions analysis and preliminary threats and vulnerabilities identification have been conducted. We will determine the attack scenarios and conduct the test-bed based vulnerability analysis.

A Mid-IR Census of Dusty Supernovae From the Past Decade In Preparation for JWST

Science.gov (United States)

Fox, Ori; Andrews, Jennifer; Arendt, Rick; Clayton, Geoff; Dwek, Eli; Filippenko, Alex; Johansson, Joel; Kelly, Patrick; Krafton, Kelsie; Marston, Tony; Mauerhan, Jon; Szalai, Tamas; Van Dyk, Schuyler

2018-05-01

Over the past decade, our team has shown that a surprising number of different supernova (SN) subclasses have members that exhibit mid-infrared (mid-IR) emission from warm dust at late times (>100 days post-explosion). This work has used Spitzer 3.6 and 4.5 micron imaging to constrain the dust origin and heating mechanisms, but a number of questions still remain. How much dust can SNe IIP produce in their ejecta? What progenitor can produce such extreme mass-loss events required to form the large, dense, pre-existing dust shells observed in so many cases? Many of these SNe remain bright today, in some cases more than a decade after discovery. Continued mid-IR monitoring is necessary to answer these questions by measuring the full extent of either the newly formed dust mass or pre-existing dust shell. Furthermore, Spitzer observations of both old and new SNe will provide up to date flux estimates as we prepare for continued observations with JWST. This proposal will cap off nearly a decade of work and bridge the gap to the first few cycles of JWST.

Impact of clouds in the JWST and LUVOIR simulated transmission spectra of TRAPPIST-1 planets in the habitable zone

Science.gov (United States)

Fauchez, Thomas; Turbet, Martin; Mandell, Avi; Kopparapu, Ravi Kumar; Arney, Giada; Domagal-Goldman, Shawn

2018-06-01

M-dwarfs are the most common type of stars in our galaxy. Ultra-cool dwarfs (T Earth and frequent planetary transits.Atmospheric properties are major components of planet habitability. However, the detectability of gaseous features on rocky planets in the HZ may be severely impacted by the presence of clouds and/or hazes in their atmosphere. We have already seen this phenomenon in the “flat” transit transmission spectra of larger exoplanets such as GJ 1214b, WASP-31b, WASP-12b and HATP-12b.In this work, we use the LMDG global climate model to simulate several possibilities of atmospheres for TRAPPIST-1 e, f and 1g: 1) Archean Earth, 2) modern Earth and 3) CO2-dominated atmospheres. We also calculate synthetic transit spectra using the GSFC Planetary Spectrum Generator (PSG), and determine the number of transits needed to observe key spectral features for both JWST and future telescopes (ARIEL, LUVOIR, HabEx). We will identify differences in the spectra of cloudy vs non-cloudy, and determine how much information on spatial variability in atmosphere characteristics can be extracted from time-resolved transit and eclipse mapping. A particular attention will be given to the impact of the atmospheric variability when adding transit spectra, and how this may affect atmospheric parameter retrievals.

The UV attenuation in JWST target VV 191

Science.gov (United States)

Holwerda, Benne

2017-08-01

We aim to map the UV-near-IR attenuation curve along many sightlines within nearby disk galaxies to resolve a large fundamental uncertainty in galaxy evolution studies: the variance in the attenuation curve within an indivual galaxy disk on linear scales relatively blue elliptical beautifully backlights the outer disk of a foreground face-on spiral galaxy.Dither strategy:We opt for a 2-point dither in the case of the F336W observations (1 orbit) and a 3pt dither strategy for the F225W observations. The 9 orbits for the F225W observations are broken into three groupings of 3 orbits in the 3 dither pattern. This is to ensure correction of cosmics and detector artifacts. Our secondary aim is an HST/JWST image with good public outreach potential and our aim is to maximize image quality for this reason as well.

Development of an automated data acquisition and processing pipeline using multiple telescopes for observing transient phenomena

Science.gov (United States)

Savant, Vaibhav; Smith, Niall

2016-07-01

We report on the current status in the development of a pilot automated data acquisition and reduction pipeline based around the operation of two nodes of remotely operated robotic telescopes based in California, USA and Cork, Ireland. The observatories are primarily used as a testbed for automation and instrumentation and as a tool to facilitate STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) promotion. The Ireland node is situated at Blackrock Castle Observatory (operated by Cork Institute of Technology) and consists of two optical telescopes - 6" and 16" OTAs housed in two separate domes while the node in California is its 6" replica. Together they form a pilot Telescope ARrAy known as TARA. QuickPhot is an automated data reduction pipeline designed primarily to throw more light on the microvariability of blazars employing precision optical photometry and using data from the TARA telescopes as they constantly monitor predefined targets whenever observing conditions are favourable. After carrying out aperture photometry, if any variability above a given threshold is observed, the reporting telescope will communicate the source concerned and the other nodes will follow up with multi-band observations, taking advantage that they are located in strategically separated time-zones. Ultimately we wish to investigate the applicability of Shock-in-Jet and Geometric models. These try to explain the processes at work in AGNs which result in the formation of jets, by looking for temporal and spectral variability in TARA multi-band observations. We are also experimenting with using a Twochannel Optical PHotometric Imaging CAMera (TOΦCAM) that we have developed and which has been optimised for simultaneous two-band photometry on our 16" OTA.

Analysis, Modeling, and Simulation (AMS) Testbed Development and Evaluation to Support Dynamic Mobility Applications (DMA) and Active Transportation and Demand Management (ATDM) Programs - calibration Report for Phoenix Testbed : Final Report. [supporting datasets - Phoenix Testbed

Science.gov (United States)

2017-07-26

The datasets in this zip file are in support of FHWA-JPO-16-379, Analysis, Modeling, and Simulation (AMS) Testbed Development and Evaluation to Support Dynamic Mobility Applications (DMA) and Active Transportation and Demand Management (ATDM) Program...

COLUMBUS as Engineering Testbed for Communications and Multimedia Equipment

Science.gov (United States)

Bank, C.; Anspach von Broecker, G. O.; Kolloge, H.-G.; Richters, M.; Rauer, D.; Urban, G.; Canovai, G.; Oesterle, E.

2002-01-01

The paper presents ongoing activities to prepare COLUMBUS for communications and multimedia technology experiments. For this purpose, Astrium SI, Bremen, has studied several options how to best combine the given system architecture with flexible and state-of-the-art interface avionics and software. These activities have been conducted in coordination with, and partially under contract of, DLR and ESA/ESTEC. Moreover, Astrium SI has realized three testbeds for multimedia software and hardware testing under own funding. The experimental core avionics unit - about a half double rack - establishes the core of a new multi-user experiment facility for this type of investigation onboard COLUMBUS, which shall be available to all users of COLUMBUS. It allows for the connection of 2nd generation payload, that is payload requiring broadband data transfer and near-real-time access by the Principal Investigator on ground, to test highly interactive and near-realtime payload operation. The facility is also foreseen to test new equipment to provide the astronauts onboard the ISS/COLUMBUS with bi- directional hi-fi voice and video connectivity to ground, private voice coms and e-mail, and a multimedia workstation for ops training and recreation. Connection to an appropriate Wide Area Network (WAN) on Earth is possible. The facility will include a broadband data transmission front-end terminal, which is mounted externally on the COLUMBUS module. This Equipment provides high flexibility due to the complete transparent transmit and receive chains, the steerable multi-frequency antenna system and its own thermal and power control and distribution. The Equipment is monitored and controlled via the COLUMBUS internal facility. It combines several new hardware items, which are newly developed for the next generation of broadband communication satellites and operates in Ka -Band with the experimental ESA data relay satellite ARTEMIS. The equipment is also TDRSS compatible; the open loop

Evolving Design Criteria for Very Large Aperture Space-Based Telescopes and Their Influence on the Need for Integrated Tools in the Optimization Process

Science.gov (United States)

Arnold, William R., Sr.

2015-01-01

NASA's Advanced Mirror Technology Development (AMTD) program has been developing the means to design and build the future generations of space based telescopes. With the nearing completion of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the astrophysics community is already starting to define the requirements for follow on observatories. The restrictions of available launch vehicles and the possibilities of planned future vehicles have fueled the competition between monolithic primaries (with better optical quality) and segmented primaries (with larger apertures, but with diffraction, costs and figure control issues). Regardless of the current shroud sizes and lift capacities, these competing architectures share the need for rapid design tools. As part of the AMTD program a number of tools have been developed and tested to speed up the design process. Starting with the Arnold Mirror Modeler (which creates Finite Element Models (FEM) for structural analysis) and now also feeds these models into thermal stability analyses. They share common file formats and interchangeable results. During the development of the program, numerous trade studies were created for 4 meter and 8 meter monolithic primaries, complete with support systems. Evaluation of these results has led to a better understanding of how the specification drives the results. This paper will show some of the early trade studies for typical specification requirements such as lowest mirror bending frequency and suspension system lowest frequency. The results use representative allowable stress values for each mirror substrate material and construction method and generic material properties. These studies lead to some interesting relationships between feasible designs and the realities of actually trying to build these mirrors. Much of the traditional specifications were developed for much smaller systems, where the mass and volume of the primary where a small portion of the overall satellite. JWST shows us that as

Prognostics-Enabled Power Supply for ADAPT Testbed, Phase II

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Ridgetop's role is to develop electronic prognostics for sensing power systems in support of NASA/Ames ADAPT testbed. The prognostic enabled power systems from...

Towards a Perpetual Sensor Network Testbed without Backchannel

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Johansen, Aslak; Bonnet, Philippe; Sørensen, Thomas

2012-01-01

The sensor network testbeds available today rely on a communication channel different from the mote radio - a backchannel - to facilitate mote reprogramming, health monitoring and performance analysis. Such backchannels are either supported as wired communication channels (USB or Ethernet), or vi...

Data dissemination in the wild: A testbed for high-mobility MANETs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vingelmann, Peter; Pedersen, Morten Videbæk; Heide, Janus

2012-01-01

This paper investigates the problem of efficient data dissemination in Mobile Ad hoc NETworks (MANETs) with high mobility. A testbed is presented; which provides a high degree of mobility in experiments. The testbed consists of 10 autonomous robots with mobile phones mounted on them. The mobile...... information, and the goal is to convey that information to all devices. A strategy is proposed that uses UDP broadcast transmissions and random linear network coding to facilitate the efficient exchange of information in the network. An application is introduced that implements this strategy on Nokia phones...

Automatic Integration Testbeds validation on Open Science Grid

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Caballero, J; Potekhin, M; Thapa, S; Gardner, R

2011-01-01

A recurring challenge in deploying high quality production middleware is the extent to which realistic testing occurs before release of the software into the production environment. We describe here an automated system for validating releases of the Open Science Grid software stack that leverages the (pilot-based) PanDA job management system developed and used by the ATLAS experiment. The system was motivated by a desire to subject the OSG Integration Testbed to more realistic validation tests. In particular those which resemble to every extent possible actual job workflows used by the experiments thus utilizing job scheduling at the compute element (CE), use of the worker node execution environment, transfer of data to/from the local storage element (SE), etc. The context is that candidate releases of OSG compute and storage elements can be tested by injecting large numbers of synthetic jobs varying in complexity and coverage of services tested. The native capabilities of the PanDA system can thus be used to define jobs, monitor their execution, and archive the resulting run statistics including success and failure modes. A repository of generic workflows and job types to measure various metrics of interest has been created. A command-line toolset has been developed so that testbed managers can quickly submit 'VO-like' jobs into the system when newly deployed services are ready for testing. A system for automatic submission has been crafted to send jobs to integration testbed sites, collecting the results in a central service and generating regular reports for performance and reliability.

Automatic Integration Testbeds validation on Open Science Grid

Science.gov (United States)

Caballero, J.; Thapa, S.; Gardner, R.; Potekhin, M.

2011-12-01

A recurring challenge in deploying high quality production middleware is the extent to which realistic testing occurs before release of the software into the production environment. We describe here an automated system for validating releases of the Open Science Grid software stack that leverages the (pilot-based) PanDA job management system developed and used by the ATLAS experiment. The system was motivated by a desire to subject the OSG Integration Testbed to more realistic validation tests. In particular those which resemble to every extent possible actual job workflows used by the experiments thus utilizing job scheduling at the compute element (CE), use of the worker node execution environment, transfer of data to/from the local storage element (SE), etc. The context is that candidate releases of OSG compute and storage elements can be tested by injecting large numbers of synthetic jobs varying in complexity and coverage of services tested. The native capabilities of the PanDA system can thus be used to define jobs, monitor their execution, and archive the resulting run statistics including success and failure modes. A repository of generic workflows and job types to measure various metrics of interest has been created. A command-line toolset has been developed so that testbed managers can quickly submit "VO-like" jobs into the system when newly deployed services are ready for testing. A system for automatic submission has been crafted to send jobs to integration testbed sites, collecting the results in a central service and generating regular reports for performance and reliability.

Implementation of a RPS Cyber Security Test-bed with Two PLCs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shin, Jinsoo; Heo, Gyunyoung; Son, Hanseong; An, Yongkyu; Rizwan, Uddin

2015-01-01

Our research team proposed the methodology to evaluate cyber security with Bayesian network (BN) as a cyber security evaluation model and help operator, licensee, licensor or regulator in granting evaluation priorities. The methodology allowed for overall evaluation of cyber security by considering architectural aspect of facility and management aspect of cyber security at the same time. In order to emphasize reality of this model by inserting true data, it is necessary to conduct a penetration test that pretends an actual cyber-attack. Through the collaboration with University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, which possesses the Tricon a safety programmable logic controller (PLC) used at nuclear power plants and develops a test-bed for nuclear power plant, a test-bed for reactor protection system (RPS) is being developed with the PLCs. Two PLCs are used to construct a simple test-bed for RPS, bi-stable processor (BP) and coincidence processor (CP). By using two PLCs, it is possible to examine cyber-attack against devices such as PLC, cyber-attack against communication between devices, and the effects of a PLC on the other PLC. Two PLCs were used to construct a test-bed for penetration test in this study. Advantages of using two or more PLCs instead of single PLC are as follows. 1) Results of cyber-attack reflecting characteristics among PLCs can be obtained. 2) Cyber-attack can be attempted using a method of attacking communication between PLCs. True data obtained can be applied to existing cyber security evaluation model to emphasize reality of the model

Implementation of a RPS Cyber Security Test-bed with Two PLCs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shin, Jinsoo; Heo, Gyunyoung [Kyung Hee Univ., Yongin (Korea, Republic of); Son, Hanseong [Joongbu Univ., Geumsan (Korea, Republic of); An, Yongkyu; Rizwan, Uddin [University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana (United States)

2015-10-15

Our research team proposed the methodology to evaluate cyber security with Bayesian network (BN) as a cyber security evaluation model and help operator, licensee, licensor or regulator in granting evaluation priorities. The methodology allowed for overall evaluation of cyber security by considering architectural aspect of facility and management aspect of cyber security at the same time. In order to emphasize reality of this model by inserting true data, it is necessary to conduct a penetration test that pretends an actual cyber-attack. Through the collaboration with University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, which possesses the Tricon a safety programmable logic controller (PLC) used at nuclear power plants and develops a test-bed for nuclear power plant, a test-bed for reactor protection system (RPS) is being developed with the PLCs. Two PLCs are used to construct a simple test-bed for RPS, bi-stable processor (BP) and coincidence processor (CP). By using two PLCs, it is possible to examine cyber-attack against devices such as PLC, cyber-attack against communication between devices, and the effects of a PLC on the other PLC. Two PLCs were used to construct a test-bed for penetration test in this study. Advantages of using two or more PLCs instead of single PLC are as follows. 1) Results of cyber-attack reflecting characteristics among PLCs can be obtained. 2) Cyber-attack can be attempted using a method of attacking communication between PLCs. True data obtained can be applied to existing cyber security evaluation model to emphasize reality of the model.

Liverpool Telescope and Liverpool Telescope 2

Science.gov (United States)

Copperwheat, C. M.; Steele, I. A.; Barnsley, R. M.; Bates, S. D.; Clay, N. R.; Jermak, H.; Marchant, J. M.; Mottram, C. J.; Piascik, A.; Smith, R. J.

2016-12-01

The Liverpool Telescope is a fully robotic optical/near-infrared telescope with a 2-metre clear aperture, located at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos on the Canary Island of La Palma. The telescope is owned and operated by Liverpool John Moores University, with financial support from the UK's Science and Technology Facilities Council. The telescope began routine science operations in 2004 and is a common-user facility with time available through a variety of committees via an open, peer reviewed process. Seven simultaneously mounted instruments support a broad science programme, with a focus on transient follow-up and other time domain topics well suited to the characteristics of robotic observing. Development has also begun on a successor facility, with the working title `Liverpool Telescope 2', to capitalise on the new era of time domain astronomy which will be brought about by the next generation of survey facilities such as LSST. The fully robotic Liverpool Telescope 2 will have a 4-metre aperture and an improved response time. In this paper we provide an overview of the current status of both facilities.

Variable Coding and Modulation Experiment Using NASA's Space Communication and Navigation Testbed

Science.gov (United States)

Downey, Joseph A.; Mortensen, Dale J.; Evans, Michael A.; Tollis, Nicholas S.

2016-01-01

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)'s Space Communication and Navigation Testbed on the International Space Station provides a unique opportunity to evaluate advanced communication techniques in an operational system. The experimental nature of the Testbed allows for rapid demonstrations while using flight hardware in a deployed system within NASA's networks. One example is variable coding and modulation, which is a method to increase data-throughput in a communication link. This paper describes recent flight testing with variable coding and modulation over S-band using a direct-to-earth link between the SCaN Testbed and the Glenn Research Center. The testing leverages the established Digital Video Broadcasting Second Generation (DVB-S2) standard to provide various modulation and coding options. The experiment was conducted in a challenging environment due to the multipath and shadowing caused by the International Space Station structure. Performance of the variable coding and modulation system is evaluated and compared to the capacity of the link, as well as standard NASA waveforms.

Prospects for Detecting Thermal Emission from Terrestrial Exoplanets with JWST

Science.gov (United States)

Kreidberg, Laura

2018-01-01

A plethora of nearby, terrestrial exoplanets has been discovered recently by ground-based surveys. Excitingly, some of these are in the habitable zones of their host stars, and may be hospitable for life. However, all the planets orbit small, cool stars and have considerably different irradiation environments from the Earth, making them vulnerable to atmospheric escape, erosion and collapse. Atmosphere characterization is therefore critical to assessing the planets' habitability. I will discuss possible JWST thermal emission measurements to determine the atmospheric properties of nearby terrestrial planets. I will focus on prospects for detecting physically motivated atmospheres for planets orbiting LHS 1140, GJ 1132, and TRAPPIST-1. I will also discuss the potential for using phase curve observations to determine whether an atmosphere has survived on the non-transiting planet Proxima b.

A Battery Certification Testbed for Small Satellite Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Cameron, Zachary; Kulkarni, Chetan S.; Luna, Ali Guarneros; Goebel, Kai; Poll, Scott

2015-01-01

A battery pack consisting of standard cylindrical 18650 lithium-ion cells has been chosen for small satellite missions based on previous flight heritage and compliance with NASA battery safety requirements. However, for batteries that transit through the International Space Station (ISS), additional certification tests are required for individual cells as well as the battery packs. In this manuscript, we discuss the development of generalized testbeds for testing and certifying different types of batteries critical to small satellite missions. Test procedures developed and executed for this certification effort include: a detailed physical inspection before and after experiments; electrical cycling characterization at the cell and pack levels; battery-pack overcharge, over-discharge, external short testing; battery-pack vacuum leak and vibration testing. The overall goals of these certification procedures are to conform to requirements set forth by the agency and identify unique safety hazards. The testbeds, procedures, and experimental results are discussed for batteries chosen for small satellite missions to be launched from the ISS.

Multi-level infrastructure of interconnected testbeds of large-scale wireless sensor networks (MI2T-WSN)

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Abu-Mahfouz, Adnan M

2012-06-01

Full Text Available are still required for further testing before the real implementation. In this paper we propose a multi-level infrastructure of interconnected testbeds of large- scale WSNs. This testbed consists of 1000 sensor motes that will be distributed into four...

The Airborne Optical Systems Testbed (AOSTB)

Science.gov (United States)

2017-05-31

are the Atlantic Ocean and coastal waterways, which reflect back very little light at our SWIR operating wavelength of 1064 nm. The Airborne Optical...demonstrate our typical FOPEN capabilities, figure 5 shows two images taken over a forested area near Burlington, VT. Figure 5(a) is a 3D point...Systems Testbed (AOSTB) 1 - 6 STO-MP-SET-999 (a) (b) Fig. 5. Ladar target scan of a forested area in northern Vermont

The Living With a Star Space Environment Testbed Payload

Science.gov (United States)

Xapsos, Mike

2015-01-01

This presentation outlines a brief description of the Living With a Star (LWS) Program missions and detailed information about the Space Environment Testbed (SET) payload consisting of a space weather monitor and carrier containing 4 board experiments.

Ghost telescope and ghost Fourier telescope with thermal light

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gong Wenlin; Han Shensheng

2011-01-01

As important observation tools, telescopes are very useful in remote observations. We report a proof-of-principle experimental demonstration of ghost telescope scheme and show that, by measuring the intensity correlation of two light fields and only changing the position of the detector in the reference path, ghost telescope and ghost Fourier telescope can be obtained even if a single-pixel detector is fixed in Fresnel region of the object. Differences between conventional telescope and ghost telescope are also discussed.

Advances in Telescope and Detector Technologies - Impacts on the Study and Understanding of Binary Star and Exoplanet Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Guinan, Edward F.; Engle, Scott; Devinney, Edward J.

2012-04-01

)), and space missions, such as the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the possible NASA Explorer Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS - recently approved for further study) and Gaia (due for launch during 2013) will all be discussed. Also highlighted are advances in interferometers (both on the ground and from space) and imaging now possible at sub-millimeter wavelengths from the Extremely Long Array (ELVA) and Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA). High precision Doppler spectroscopy, for example with HARPS, HIRES and more recently the Carnegie Planet Finder Spectrograph, are currently returning RVs typically better than ~2-m/s for some brighter exoplanet systems. But soon it should be possible to measure Doppler shifts as small as ~10-cm/s - sufficiently sensitive for detecting Earth-size planets. Also briefly discussed is the impact these instruments will have on the study of eclipsing binaries, along with future possibilities of utilizing methods from the emerging field of Astroinformatics, including: the Virtual Observatory (VO) and the possibilities of analyzing these huge datasets using Neural Network (NN) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies.

Embedded Sensors and Controls to Improve Component Performance and Reliability -- Bench-scale Testbed Design Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Melin, Alexander M. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Kisner, Roger A. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Drira, Anis [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Reed, Frederick K. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

2015-09-01

Embedded instrumentation and control systems that can operate in extreme environments are challenging due to restrictions on sensors and materials. As a part of the Department of Energy's Nuclear Energy Enabling Technology cross-cutting technology development programs Advanced Sensors and Instrumentation topic, this report details the design of a bench-scale embedded instrumentation and control testbed. The design goal of the bench-scale testbed is to build a re-configurable system that can rapidly deploy and test advanced control algorithms in a hardware in the loop setup. The bench-scale testbed will be designed as a fluid pump analog that uses active magnetic bearings to support the shaft. The testbed represents an application that would improve the efficiency and performance of high temperature (700 C) pumps for liquid salt reactors that operate in an extreme environment and provide many engineering challenges that can be overcome with embedded instrumentation and control. This report will give details of the mechanical design, electromagnetic design, geometry optimization, power electronics design, and initial control system design.

A Multi-Vehicles, Wireless Testbed for Networked Control, Communications and Computing

Science.gov (United States)

Murray, Richard; Doyle, John; Effros, Michelle; Hickey, Jason; Low, Steven

2002-03-01

We have constructed a testbed consisting of 4 mobile vehicles (with 4 additional vehicles being completed), each with embedded computing and communications capability for use in testing new approaches for command and control across dynamic networks. The system is being used or is planned to be used for testing of a variety of communications-related technologies, including distributed command and control algorithms, dynamically reconfigurable network topologies, source coding for real-time transmission of data in lossy environments, and multi-network communications. A unique feature of the testbed is the use of vehicles that have second order dynamics. Requiring real-time feedback algorithms to stabilize the system while performing cooperative tasks. The testbed was constructed in the Caltech Vehicles Laboratory and consists of individual vehicles with PC-based computation and controls, and multiple communications devices (802.11 wireless Ethernet, Bluetooth, and infrared). The vehicles are freely moving, wheeled platforms propelled by high performance dotted fairs. The room contains an access points for an 802.11 network, overhead visual sensing (to allow emulation of CI'S signal processing), a centralized computer for emulating certain distributed computations, and network gateways to control and manipulate communications traffic.

SCaN Testbed Software Development and Lessons Learned

Science.gov (United States)

Kacpura, Thomas J.; Varga, Denise M.

2012-01-01

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has developed an on-orbit, adaptable, Software Defined Radio (SDR)Space Telecommunications Radio System (STRS)-based testbed facility to conduct a suite of experiments to advance technologies, reduce risk, and enable future mission capabilities on the International Space Station (ISS). The SCAN Testbed Project will provide NASA, industry, other Government agencies, and academic partners the opportunity to develop and field communications, navigation, and networking technologies in the laboratory and space environment based on reconfigurable, SDR platforms and the STRS Architecture.The SDRs are a new technology for NASA, and the support infrastructure they require is different from legacy, fixed function radios. SDRs offer the ability to reconfigure on-orbit communications by changing software for new waveforms and operating systems to enable new capabilities or fix any anomalies, which was not a previous option. They are not stand alone devices, but required a new approach to effectively control them and flow data. This requires extensive software to be developed to utilize the full potential of these reconfigurable platforms. The paper focuses on development, integration and testing as related to the avionics processor system, and the software required to command, control, monitor, and interact with the SDRs, as well as the other communication payload elements. An extensive effort was required to develop the flight software and meet the NASA requirements for software quality and safety. The flight avionics must be radiation tolerant, and these processors have limited capability in comparison to terrestrial counterparts. A big challenge was that there are three SDRs onboard, and interfacing with multiple SDRs simultaneously complicatesd the effort. The effort also includes ground software, which is a key element for both the command of the payload, and displaying data created by the payload. The verification of

Information Content Analysis for Selection of Optimal JWST  Observing Modes for Transiting Exoplanet Atmospheres

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Batalha, Natasha E. [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA 16802 (United States); Line, M. R., E-mail: neb149@psu.edu [School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ 85282 (United States)

2017-04-01

The James Webb Space Telescope ( JWST ) is nearing its launch date of 2018, and is expected to revolutionize our knowledge of exoplanet atmospheres. In order to specifically identify which observing modes will be most useful for characterizing a diverse range of exoplanetary atmospheres, we use an information content (IC) based approach commonly used in the studies of solar system atmospheres. We develop a system based upon these IC methods to trace the instrumental and atmospheric model phase space in order to identify which observing modes are best suited for particular classes of planets, focusing on transmission spectra. Specifically, the atmospheric parameter space we cover is T  = 600–1800 K, C/O = 0.55–1, [M/H] = 1–100 × Solar for an R  = 1.39 R{sub J}, M  = 0.59 M{sub J} planet orbiting a WASP-62-like star. We also explore the influence of a simplified opaque gray cloud on the IC. We find that obtaining broader wavelength coverage over multiple modes is preferred over higher precision in a single mode given the same amount of observing time. Regardless of the planet temperature and composition, the best modes for constraining terminator temperatures, C/O ratios, and metallicity are NIRISS SOSS+NIRSpec G395. If the target’s host star is dim enough such that the NIRSpec prism is applicable, then it can be used instead of NIRISS SOSS+NIRSpec G395. Lastly, observations that use more than two modes should be carefully analyzed because sometimes the addition of a third mode results in no gain of information. In these cases, higher precision in the original two modes is favorable.

ASE-BAN, a Wireless Body Area Network Testbed

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Jens Kargaard; Karstoft, Henrik; Toftegaard, Thomas Skjødeberg

2010-01-01

/actuators attached to the body and a host server application. The gateway uses the BlackFin BF533 processor from Analog Devices, and uses Bluetooth for wireless communication. Two types of sensors are attached to the network: an electro-cardio-gram sensor and an oximeter sensor. The testbed has been successfully...

Hubble Space Telescope: a Vision to 2020 and Beyond: The Hubble Source Catalog

Science.gov (United States)

Strolger, Louis-Gregory

2016-01-01

The Hubble Source Catalog (HSC) is an initiative centered on what science would be enabled by a master catalog of all the sources HST has imaged over its lifetime. The first version of this catalog was released in early 2015, and included approximately 30 million sources from archived direct imaging with WFPC2, ACS (through 2011), and WFC3 (to 2014). Version 2, scheduled for release in early 2016, will feed off the Hubble Legacy Archive DR9 release, updating the ACS sources with more detections, and more direct imaging, through to mid-2015. This talk will overview the properties and goals of the HSC in terms of its source detection, object resolution, confusion limits, and overall astrometric and photometric precision. I will also discuss the connections to other MAST activities (e.g., the Discovery Portal interface), to STScI and user products (e.g., the Spectroscopic Catalog and High-Level Science Products), and to community resources (e.g., Pan-STARRS, SDSS, and eventually GAIA). The HSC successfully amalgamates the diverse observations with HST, and despite the limitations in uniformity on the sky, will be an important reference for JWST, LSST, and other future telescopes.

Augmenting the Funding Sources for Space Science and the ASTRO-1 Space Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Morse, Jon

2015-08-01

The BoldlyGo Institute was formed in 2013 to augment the planned space science portfolio through philanthropically funded robotic space missions, similar to how some U.S. medical institutes and ground-based telescopes are funded. I introduce BoldlyGo's two current projects: the SCIM mission to Mars and the ASTRO-1 space telescope. In particular, ASTRO-1 is a 1.8-meter off-axis (unobscured) ultraviolet-visible space observatory to be located in a Lagrange point or heliocentric orbit with a wide-field panchromatic camera, medium- and high-resolution spectrograph, and high-contrast imaging coronagraph and/or an accompanying starshade/occulter. It is intended for the post-Hubble Space Telescope era in the 2020s, enabling unique measurements of a broad range of celestial targets, while providing vital complementary capabilities to other ground- and space-based facilities such as the JWST, ALMA, WFIRST-AFTA, LSST, TESS, Euclid, and PLATO. The ASTRO-1 architecture simultaneously wields great scientific power while being technically viable and affordable. A wide variety of scientific programs can be accomplished, addressing topics across space astronomy, astrophysics, fundamental physics, and solar system science, as well as being technologically informative to future large-aperture programs. ASTRO-1 is intended to be a new-generation research facility serving a broad national and international community, as well as a vessel for impactful public engagement. Traditional institutional partnerships and consortia, such as are common with private ground-based observatories, may play a role in the support and governance of ASTRO-1; we are currently engaging interested international organizations. In addition to our planned open guest observer program and accessible data archive, we intend to provide a mechanism whereby individual scientists can buy in to a fraction of the gauranteed observing time. Our next step in ASTRO-1 development is to form the ASTRO-1 Requirements Team

How to find and type red/brown dwarf stars in near-infrared imaging space observatories

Science.gov (United States)

Willemn Holwerda, Benne; Ryan, Russell; Bridge, Joanna; Pirzkal, Nor; Kenworthy, Matthew; Andersen, Morten; Wilkins, Stephen; Trenti, Michele; Meshkat, Tiffany; Bernard, Stephanie; Smit, Renske

2018-01-01

Here we evaluate the near-infrared colors of brown dwarfs as observed with four major infrared imaging space observatories: the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the EUCLID mission, and the WFIRST telescope. We use the splat ISPEX spectroscopic library to map out the colors of the M, L, and T-type brown dwarfs. We identify which color-color combination is optimal for identifying broad type and which single color is optimal to then identify the subtype (e.g., T0-9). We evaluate each observatory separately as well as the the narrow-field (HST and JWST) and wide-field (EULID and WFIRST) combinations.HST filters used thus far for high-redshift searches (e.g. CANDELS and BoRG) are close to optimal within the available filter combinations. A clear improvement over HST is one of two broad/medium filter combinations on JWST: pairing F140M with either F150W or F162M discriminates well between brown dwarf subtypes. The improvement of JWST the filter set over the HST one is so marked that any combination of HST and JWST filters does not improve the classification.The EUCLID filter set alone performs poorly in terms of typing brown dwarfs and WFIRST performs only marginally better, despite a wider selection of filters. A combined EUCLID and WFIRST observation, using WFIRST's W146 and F062 and EUCLID's Y-band, allows for a much better discrimination between broad brown dwarf categories. In this respect, WFIRST acts as a targeted follow-up observatory for the all-sky EUCLID survey. However, subsequent subtyping with the combination of EUCLID and WFIRST observations remains uncertain due to the lack of medium or narrow-band filters in this wavelength range. We argue that a medium band added to the WFIRST filter selection would greatly improve its ability to preselect against brown dwarfs in high-latitude surveys.

LOS Throughput Measurements in Real-Time with a 128-Antenna Massive MIMO Testbed

OpenAIRE

Harris, Paul; Zhang, Siming; Beach, Mark; Mellios, Evangelos; Nix, Andrew; Armour, Simon; Doufexi, Angela; Nieman, Karl; Kundargi, Nikhil

2017-01-01

This paper presents initial results for a novel 128-antenna massive Multiple-Input, Multiple- Output (MIMO) testbed developed through Bristol Is Open in collaboration with National Instruments and Lund University. We believe that the results presented here validate the adoption of massive MIMO as a key enabling technology for 5G and pave the way for further pragmatic research by the massive MIMO community. The testbed operates in real-time with a Long-Term Evolution (LTE)-like PHY in Time Div...

ATST telescope mount: telescope of machine tool

Science.gov (United States)

Jeffers, Paul; Stolz, Günter; Bonomi, Giovanni; Dreyer, Oliver; Kärcher, Hans

2012-09-01

The Advanced Technology Solar Telescope (ATST) will be the largest solar telescope in the world, and will be able to provide the sharpest views ever taken of the solar surface. The telescope has a 4m aperture primary mirror, however due to the off axis nature of the optical layout, the telescope mount has proportions similar to an 8 meter class telescope. The technology normally used in this class of telescope is well understood in the telescope community and has been successfully implemented in numerous projects. The world of large machine tools has developed in a separate realm with similar levels of performance requirement but different boundary conditions. In addition the competitive nature of private industry has encouraged development and usage of more cost effective solutions both in initial capital cost and thru-life operating cost. Telescope mounts move relatively slowly with requirements for high stability under external environmental influences such as wind buffeting. Large machine tools operate under high speed requirements coupled with high application of force through the machine but with little or no external environmental influences. The benefits of these parallel development paths and the ATST system requirements are being combined in the ATST Telescope Mount Assembly (TMA). The process of balancing the system requirements with new technologies is based on the experience of the ATST project team, Ingersoll Machine Tools who are the main contractor for the TMA and MT Mechatronics who are their design subcontractors. This paper highlights a number of these proven technologies from the commercially driven machine tool world that are being introduced to the TMA design. Also the challenges of integrating and ensuring that the differences in application requirements are accounted for in the design are discussed.

The Electrostatic Actuated Next Generation Microshutter Arrays

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The field of view required for future missions is much larger than James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). We need to use electrostatic actuation to replace magnetic...

Current Developments in DETER Cybersecurity Testbed Technology

Science.gov (United States)

2015-12-08

Management Experimental cybersecurity research is often inherently risky. An experiment may involve releasing live malware code, operating a real botnet...imagine a worm that can only propagate by first contacting a “propagation service” (T1 constraint), composed with a testbed firewall (T2...experiment. Finally, T1 constraints might be enforced by (1) explicit modification of malware to constrain its behavior, (2) implicit constraints

Operation Duties on the F-15B Research Testbed

Science.gov (United States)

Truong, Samson S.

2010-01-01

This presentation entails what I have done this past summer for my Co-op tour in the Operations Engineering Branch. Activities included supporting the F-15B Research Testbed, supporting the incoming F-15D models, design work, and other operations engineering duties.

Construction of test-bed system of voltage management system to ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Construction of test-bed system of voltage management system to apply physical power system. ... Journal of Fundamental and Applied Sciences ... system of voltage management system (VMS) in order to apply physical power system.

Development of a Testbed for Wireless Underground Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mehmet C. Vuran

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Wireless Underground Sensor Networks (WUSNs constitute one of the promising application areas of the recently developed wireless sensor networking techniques. WUSN is a specialized kind of Wireless Sensor Network (WSN that mainly focuses on the use of sensors that communicate through soil. Recent models for the wireless underground communication channel are proposed but few field experiments were realized to verify the accuracy of the models. The realization of field WUSN experiments proved to be extremely complex and time-consuming in comparison with the traditional wireless environment. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work that proposes guidelines for the development of an outdoor WUSN testbed with the goals of improving the accuracy and reducing of time for WUSN experiments. Although the work mainly aims WUSNs, many of the presented practices can also be applied to generic WSN testbeds.

Development of nickel hydrogen battery expert system

Science.gov (United States)

Shiva, Sajjan G.

1990-01-01

The Hubble Telescope Battery Testbed employs the nickel-cadmium battery expert system (NICBES-2) which supports the evaluation of performances of Hubble Telescope spacecraft batteries and provides alarm diagnosis and action advice. NICBES-2 also provides a reasoning system along with a battery domain knowledge base to achieve this battery health management function. An effort to modify NICBES-2 to accommodate nickel-hydrogen battery environment in testbed is described.

Implementation of a Wireless Time Distribution Testbed Protected with Quantum Key Distribution

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bonior, Jason D [ORNL; Evans, Philip G [ORNL; Sheets, Gregory S [ORNL; Jones, John P [ORNL; Flynn, Toby H [ORNL; O' Neil, Lori Ross [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL); Hutton, William [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL); Pratt, Richard [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL); Carroll, Thomas E. [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)

2017-01-01

Secure time transfer is critical for many timesensitive applications. the Global Positioning System (GPS) which is often used for this purpose has been shown to be susceptible to spoofing attacks. Quantum Key Distribution offers a way to securely generate encryption keys at two locations. Through careful use of this information it is possible to create a system that is more resistant to spoofing attacks. In this paper we describe our work to create a testbed which utilizes QKD and traditional RF links. This testbed will be used for the development of more secure and spoofing resistant time distribution protocols.

Laser guide stars for daytime thermal IR observations

Science.gov (United States)

Beckers, Jacques M.

2008-04-01

In connection with the planning for Extremely Large Telescopes, I revisit a 2001 paper in which Cacciani and I describe the use of Sodium Laser Guide Stars (LGSs) for diffraction limited daytime astronomical observations. The enabling technology for seeing LGSs in broad daylight is the availability of very narrow band magneto-optical filters. Considering the dominance of the atmospheric scattering of sunlight at wavelengths below 3.5 μm, daytime use is only indicated for mid- and thermal IR observations. The launch of the 6.5 meter aperture James Web Space Telescope (JWST) appears to be assured and planned for 2013, preceding the most optimistic projections for the completion date of the first ELT. The projected thermal background of the JWST is very much less than that of ground-based telescopes so that any competing ground-based observations are limited to those parameters not covered by the JWST: angular resolution (requiring apertures > 6.5 meter) and spectral resolution (R>3000). I compare the benefits of daytime observations with Na-LGS equipped telescopes and interferometers at moderate latitudes and in the Antarctic (specifically Dome C). In both cases daytime observations extend the amount of observing time available for TIR observations. Antarctic observations have the advantage of having very good seeing during the daytime, significantly better than nighttime seeing. In contrast the seeing at moderate latitude sites significantly deteriorates during daytime resulting in lower quality observations than during nighttime. In addition Antarctic sites are less hostile to maintenance and operations during daytime (summer) observations as compared to nighttime (winter) observations.

Phased Array Antenna Testbed Development at the NASA Glenn Research Center

Science.gov (United States)

Lambert, Kevin M.; Kubat, Gregory; Johnson, Sandra K.; Anzic, Godfrey

2003-01-01

Ideal phased array antennas offer advantages for communication systems, such as wide-angle scanning and multibeam operation, which can be utilized in certain NASA applications. However, physically realizable, electronically steered, phased array antennas introduce additional system performance parameters, which must be included in the evaluation of the system. The NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) is currently conducting research to identify these parameters and to develop the tools necessary to measure them. One of these tools is a testbed where phased array antennas may be operated in an environment that simulates their use. This paper describes the development of the testbed and its use in characterizing a particular K-Band, phased array antenna.

A Matlab-Based Testbed for Integration, Evaluation and Comparison of Heterogeneous Stereo Vision Matching Algorithms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raul Correal

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Stereo matching is a heavily researched area with a prolific published literature and a broad spectrum of heterogeneous algorithms available in diverse programming languages. This paper presents a Matlab-based testbed that aims to centralize and standardize this variety of both current and prospective stereo matching approaches. The proposed testbed aims to facilitate the application of stereo-based methods to real situations. It allows for configuring and executing algorithms, as well as comparing results, in a fast, easy and friendly setting. Algorithms can be combined so that a series of processes can be chained and executed consecutively, using the output of a process as input for the next; some additional filtering and image processing techniques have been included within the testbed for this purpose. A use case is included to illustrate how these processes are sequenced and its effect on the results for real applications. The testbed has been conceived as a collaborative and incremental open-source project, where its code is accessible and modifiable, with the objective of receiving contributions and releasing future versions to include new algorithms and features. It is currently available online for the research community.

Deciphering the Hot Giant Atmospheres Orbiting Nearby Extrasolar Systems with JWST

Science.gov (United States)

Afrin Badhan, Mahmuda; Batalha, Natasha; Deming, Drake; Domagal-Goldman, Shawn; HEBRARD, Eric; Kopparapu, Ravi Kumar; Irwin, Patrick Gerard Joseph

2016-10-01

Unique and exotic planets give us an opportunity to understand how planetary systems form and evolve over their lifetime, by placing our own planetary system in the context of the vastly different extrasolar systems that are being continually discovered by present space missions. With orbital separations that are less than one-tenth of the Mercury-Sun distance, these close-in planets provide us with valuable insights about the host stellar atmosphere and planetary atmospheres subjected to their enormous stellar insolation. Observed spectroscopic signatures reveal all spectrally active species in a planet, along with information about its thermal structure and dynamics, allowing us to characterize the planet's atmosphere. NASA's upcoming missions will give us the high-resolution spectra necessary to constrain the atmospheric properties with unprecedented accuracy. However, to interpret the observed signals from exoplanetary transit events with any certainty, we need reliable atmospheric retrieval tools that can model the expected observables adequately. In my work thus far, I have built a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) convergence scheme, with an analytical radiative equilibrium formulation for the thermal structures, within the NEMESIS atmospheric modeling tool, to allow sufficient (and efficient) exploration of the parameter space. I also augmented the opacity tables to improve the speed and reliability of retrieval models. I then utilized this upgraded version to infer the pressure-temperature (P-T) structures and volume-mixing ratios (VMRs) of major gas species in hot Jupiter dayside atmospheres, from their emission spectra. I have employed a parameterized thermal structure to retrieve plausible P-T profiles, along with altitude-invariant VMRs. Here I show my retrieval results on published datasets of HD189733b, and compare them with both medium and high spectral resolution JWST/NIRSPEC simulations. In preparation for the upcoming JWST mission, my current work

LTE-Advanced/WLAN testbed

OpenAIRE

Plaisner, Denis

2017-01-01

Táto práca sa zaoberá skúmaním a vyhodnocovaním komunikácie štandardov LTE-Advance a WiFi (IEEE 802.11n/ac). Pri jednotlivých štandardoch je preskúmaný chybový parameter EVM. Pre prácu s jednotlivými štandardmi je navrhnuté univerzálne pracovisko (testbed). Toto univerzálne pracovisko slúži na nastavovanie vysielacieho a prijímacieho zariadenia a na spracovávanie prenášaných signálov a ich vyhodnocovanie. Pre túto prácu je vybrané prostredie Matlab, cez ktoré sa ovládajú použité prístroje ako...

Building a ROS-Based Testbed for Realistic Multi-Robot Simulation: Taking the Exploration as an Example

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhi Yan

2017-09-01

Full Text Available While the robotics community agrees that the benchmarking is of high importance to objectively compare different solutions, there are only few and limited tools to support it. To address this issue in the context of multi-robot systems, we have defined a benchmarking process based on experimental designs, which aimed at improving the reproducibility of experiments by making explicit all elements of a benchmark such as parameters, measurements and metrics. We have also developed a ROS (Robot Operating System-based testbed with the goal of making it easy for users to validate, benchmark, and compare different algorithms including coordination strategies. Our testbed uses the MORSE (Modular OpenRobots Simulation Engine simulator for realistic simulation and a computer cluster for decentralized computation. In this paper, we present our testbed in details with the architecture and infrastructure, the issues encountered in implementing the infrastructure, and the automation of the deployment. We also report a series of experiments on multi-robot exploration, in order to demonstrate the capabilities of our testbed.

Evolving Design Criteria for Very Large Aperture Space Based Telescopes and Their Influence on the Need for Integrated Tools in the Optimization Process

Science.gov (United States)

Arnold, William R., Sr.

2015-01-01

NASA's Advanced Mirror Technology Development (AMTD) program has been developing the means to design and build the future generations of space based telescopes. With the nearing completion of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the astrophysics community is already starting to define the requirements for follow-on observatories. The restrictions of available launch vehicles and the possibilities of planned future vehicles have fueled the competition between monolithic primaries (with better optical quality) and segmented primaries (with larger apertures, but with diffraction, costs and figure control issues). Regardless of the current shroud sizes and lift capacities, these competing architectures share the need for rapid design tools. As part of the AMTD program a number of tools have been developed and tested to speed up the design process. Starting with the Arnold Mirror Modeler (which creates Finite Element Models (FEM) for structural analysis) and now also feeds these models into thermal stability analyses. They share common file formats and interchangeable results. During the development of the program, numerous trade studies were created for 4-meter and 8-meter monolithic primaries, complete with support systems. Evaluation of these results has led to a better understanding of how the specification drives the results. This paper will show some of the early trade studies for typical specification requirements such as lowest mirror bending frequency and suspension system lowest frequency. The results use representative allowable stress values for each mirror substrate material and construction method and generic material properties. These studies lead to some interesting relationships between feasible designs and the realities of actually trying to build these mirrors. Much of the traditional specifications were developed for much smaller systems, where the mass and volume of the primary where a small portion of the overall satellite. JWST shows us that as

Recent Successes and Future Plans for NASA's Space Communications and Navigation Testbed on the International Space Station

Science.gov (United States)

Reinhart, Richard C.; Sankovic, John M.; Johnson, Sandra K.; Lux, James P.; Chelmins, David T.

2014-01-01

Flexible and extensible space communications architectures and technology are essential to enable future space exploration and science activities. NASA has championed the development of the Space Telecommunications Radio System (STRS) software defined radio (SDR) standard and the application of SDR technology to reduce the costs and risks of using SDRs for space missions, and has developed an on-orbit testbed to validate these capabilities. The Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Testbed (previously known as the Communications, Navigation, and Networking reConfigurable Testbed (CoNNeCT)) is advancing SDR, on-board networking, and navigation technologies by conducting space experiments aboard the International Space Station. During its first year(s) on-orbit, the SCaN Testbed has achieved considerable accomplishments to better understand SDRs and their applications. The SDR platforms and software waveforms on each SDR have over 1500 hours of operation and are performing as designed. The Ka-band SDR on the SCaN Testbed is NASAs first space Ka-band transceiver and is NASA's first Ka-band mission using the Space Network. This has provided exciting opportunities to operate at Ka-band and assist with on-orbit tests of NASA newest Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS). During its first year, SCaN Testbed completed its first on-orbit SDR reconfigurations. SDR reconfigurations occur when implementing new waveforms on an SDR. SDR reconfigurations allow a radio to change minor parameters, such as data rate, or complete functionality. New waveforms which provide new capability and are reusable across different missions provide long term value for reconfigurable platforms such as SDRs. The STRS Standard provides guidelines for new waveform development by third parties. Waveform development by organizations other than the platform provider offers NASA the ability to develop waveforms itself and reduce its dependence and costs on the platform developer. Each of these

A MIMO-OFDM Testbed for Wireless Local Area Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Conrat Jean-Marc

2006-01-01

Full Text Available We describe the design steps and final implementation of a MIMO OFDM prototype platform developed to enhance the performance of wireless LAN standards such as HiperLAN/2 and 802.11, using multiple transmit and multiple receive antennas. We first describe the channel measurement campaign used to characterize the indoor operational propagation environment, and analyze the influence of the channel on code design through a ray-tracing channel simulator. We also comment on some antenna and RF issues which are of importance for the final realization of the testbed. Multiple coding, decoding, and channel estimation strategies are discussed and their respective performance-complexity trade-offs are evaluated over the realistic channel obtained from the propagation studies. Finally, we present the design methodology, including cross-validation of the Matlab, C++, and VHDL components, and the final demonstrator architecture. We highlight the increased measured performance of the MIMO testbed over the single-antenna system.

A Testbed Environment for Buildings-to-Grid Cyber Resilience Research and Development

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sridhar, Siddharth; Ashok, Aditya; Mylrea, Michael E.; Pal, Seemita; Rice, Mark J.; Gourisetti, Sri Nikhil Gup

2017-09-19

The Smart Grid is characterized by the proliferation of advanced digital controllers at all levels of its operational hierarchy from generation to end consumption. Such controllers within modern residential and commercial buildings enable grid operators to exercise fine-grained control over energy consumption through several emerging Buildings-to-Grid (B2G) applications. Though this capability promises significant benefits in terms of operational economics and improved reliability, cybersecurity weaknesses in the supporting infrastructure could be exploited to cause a detrimental effect and this necessitates focused research efforts on two fronts. First, the understanding of how cyber attacks in the B2G space could impact grid reliability and to what extent. Second, the development and validation of cyber-physical application-specific countermeasures that are complementary to traditional infrastructure cybersecurity mechanisms for enhanced cyber attack detection and mitigation. The PNNL B2G testbed is currently being developed to address these core research needs. Specifically, the B2G testbed combines high-fidelity buildings+grid simulators, industry-grade building automation and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems in an integrated, realistic, and reconfigurable environment capable of supporting attack-impact-detection-mitigation experimentation. In this paper, we articulate the need for research testbeds to model various B2G applications broadly by looking at the end-to-end operational hierarchy of the Smart Grid. Finally, the paper not only describes the architecture of the B2G testbed in detail, but also addresses the broad spectrum of B2G resilience research it is capable of supporting based on the smart grid operational hierarchy identified earlier.

A demonstration of remote survey and characterization of a buried waste site using the SRIP [Soldier Robot Interface Project] testbed

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burks, B.L.; Richardson, B.S.; Armstrong, G.A.; Hamel, W.R.; Jansen, J.F.; Killough, S.M.; Thompson, D.H.; Emery, M.S.

1990-01-01

During FY 1990, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) supported the Department of Energy (DOE) Environmental Restoration and Waste Management (ER ampersand WM) Office of Technology Development through several projects including the development of a semiautonomous survey of a buried waste site using a remotely operated all-terrain robotic testbed borrowed from the US Army. The testbed was developed for the US Army's Human Engineering Laboratory (HEL) for the US Army's Soldier Robot Interface Project (SRIP). Initial development of the SRIP testbed was performed by a team including ORNL, HEL, Tooele Army Depot, and Odetics, Inc., as an experimental testbed for a variety of human factors issues related to military applications of robotics. The SRIP testbed was made available to the DOE and ORNL for the further development required for a remote landfill survey. The robot was modified extensively, equipped with environmental sensors, and used to demonstrate an automated remote survey of Solid Waste Storage Area No. 3 (SWSA 3) at ORNL on Tuesday, September 18, 1990. Burial trenches in this area containing contaminated materials were covered with soil nearly twenty years ago. This paper describes the SRIP testbed and work performed in FY 1990 to demonstrate a semiautonomous landfill survey at ORNL. 5 refs

On-wire lithography-generated molecule-based transport junctions: a new testbed for molecular electronics.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Xiaodong; Jeon, You-Moon; Jang, Jae-Won; Qin, Lidong; Huo, Fengwei; Wei, Wei; Mirkin, Chad A

2008-07-02

On-wire lithography (OWL) fabricated nanogaps are used as a new testbed to construct molecular transport junctions (MTJs) through the assembly of thiolated molecular wires across a nanogap formed between two Au electrodes. In addition, we show that one can use OWL to rapidly characterize a MTJ and optimize gap size for two molecular wires of different dimensions. Finally, we have used this new testbed to identify unusual temperature-dependent transport mechanisms for alpha,omega-dithiol terminated oligo(phenylene ethynylene).

Real-Time Simulation and Hardware-in-the-Loop Testbed for Distribution Synchrophasor Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matthias Stifter

2018-04-01

Full Text Available With the advent of Distribution Phasor Measurement Units (D-PMUs and Micro-Synchrophasors (Micro-PMUs, the situational awareness in power distribution systems is going to the next level using time-synchronization. However, designing, analyzing, and testing of such accurate measurement devices are still challenging. Due to the lack of available knowledge and sufficient history for synchrophasors’ applications at the power distribution level, the realistic simulation, and validation environments are essential for D-PMU development and deployment. This paper presents a vendor agnostic PMU real-time simulation and hardware-in-the-Loop (PMU-RTS-HIL testbed, which helps in multiple PMUs validation and studies. The network of real and virtual PMUs was built in a full time-synchronized environment for PMU applications’ validation. The proposed testbed also includes an emulated communication network (CNS layer to replicate bandwidth, packet loss and collisions conditions inherent to the PMUs data streams’ issues. Experimental results demonstrate the flexibility and scalability of the developed PMU-RTS-HIL testbed by producing large amounts of measurements under typical normal and abnormal distribution grid operation conditions.

Embedded Sensors and Controls to Improve Component Performance and Reliability -- Loop-scale Testbed Design Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Melin, Alexander M. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Kisner, Roger A. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

2016-09-01

Embedded instrumentation and control systems that can operate in extreme environments are challenging to design and operate. Extreme environments limit the options for sensors and actuators and degrade their performance. Because sensors and actuators are necessary for feedback control, these limitations mean that designing embedded instrumentation and control systems for the challenging environments of nuclear reactors requires advanced technical solutions that are not available commercially. This report details the development of testbed that will be used for cross-cutting embedded instrumentation and control research for nuclear power applications. This research is funded by the Department of Energy's Nuclear Energy Enabling Technology program's Advanced Sensors and Instrumentation topic. The design goal of the loop-scale testbed is to build a low temperature pump that utilizes magnetic bearing that will be incorporated into a water loop to test control system performance and self-sensing techniques. Specifically, this testbed will be used to analyze control system performance in response to nonlinear and cross-coupling fluid effects between the shaft axes of motion, rotordynamics and gyroscopic effects, and impeller disturbances. This testbed will also be used to characterize the performance losses when using self-sensing position measurement techniques. Active magnetic bearings are a technology that can reduce failures and maintenance costs in nuclear power plants. They are particularly relevant to liquid salt reactors that operate at high temperatures (700 C). Pumps used in the extreme environment of liquid salt reactors provide many engineering challenges that can be overcome with magnetic bearings and their associated embedded instrumentation and control. This report will give details of the mechanical design and electromagnetic design of the loop-scale embedded instrumentation and control testbed.

Torpedo and countermeasures modelling in the Torpedo Defence System Testbed

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Benders, F.P.A.; Witberg, R.R.; H.J. Grootendorst, H.J.

2002-01-01

Several years ago, TNO-FEL started the development of the Torpedo Defence System Testbed (TDSTB) based on the TORpedo SIMulation (TORSIM) model and the Maritime Operations Simulation and Evaluation System (MOSES). MOSES provides the simulation and modelling environment for the evaluation and

Probing the End of the IMF in NGC 2024 with NIRCam on JWST: Assessing the Impact of Nebular Emission in Galactic Star Forming Regions

Science.gov (United States)

Suri, Veenu; Meyer, Michael; Greenbaum, Alexandra Z.; Bell, Cameron; Beichman, Charles; Gordon, Karl D.; Greene, Thomas P.; Hodapp, K.; Horner, Scott; Johnstone, Doug; Leisenring, Jarron; Manara, Carlos; Mann, Rita; Misselt, K.; Raileanu, Roberta; Rieke, Marcia; Roellig, Thomas

2018-01-01

We describe observations of the embedded young cluster associated with the HII region NGC 2024 planned as part of the guaranteed time observing program for the James Webb Space Telescope with the NIRCam (Near Infrared Camera) instrument. Our goal is to obtain a census of the cluster down to 2 Jupiter masses, viewed through 10-20 magnitudes of extinction, using multi-band filter photometry, both broadband filters and intermediate band filters that are expected to be sensitive to temperature and surface gravity. The cluster contains several bright point sources as well as extended emission due to reflected light, thermal emission from warm dust, as well as nebular line emission. We first developed techniques to better understand which point sources would saturate in our target fields when viewed through several JWST NIRCam filters. Using images of the field with the WISE satellite in filters W1 and W2, as well as 2MASS (J and H) bands, we devised an algorithm that takes the K-band magnitudes of point sources in the field, and the known saturation limits of several NIRCam filters to estimate the impact of the extended emission on survey sensitivity. We provide an overview of our anticipated results, detecting the low mass end of the IMF as well as planetary mass objects likely liberated through dynamical interactions.

Analysis, modeling, and simulation (AMS) testbed development and evaluation to support dynamic mobility applications (DMA) and active transportation and demand management (ATDM) programs : Dallas testbed analysis plan.

Science.gov (United States)

2016-06-16

The primary objective of this project is to develop multiple simulation Testbeds/transportation models to evaluate theimpacts of DMA connected vehicle applications and the active and dynamic transportation management (ATDM)strategies. The outputs (mo...

Creating the Thermal Environment for Safely Testing the James Webb Space Telescope at the Johnson Space Center's Chamber A

Science.gov (United States)

Homan, Jonathan L.; Lauterbach, John; Garcia, Sam

2016-01-01

Chamber A is the largest thermal vacuum chamber at the Johnson Space Center and is one of the largest space environment chambers in the world. The chamber is 19.8 m (65 ft) in diameter and 36.6 m (120 ft) tall and is equipped with cryogenic liquid nitrogen panels (shrouds) and gaseous helium shrouds to create a simulated space environment. The chamber was originally built to support testing of the Apollo Service and Command Module for lunar missions, but underwent major modifications to be able to test the James Webb Space Telescope in a simulated deep space environment. To date seven tests have been performed in preparation of testing the flight optics for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Each test has had a uniquie thermal profile and set of thermal requirements for cooling down and warming up, controlling contamination, and releasing condensed air. These range from temperatures from 335K to 15K, with tight uniformity and controllability for maintining thermal stability and pressure control. One unique requirement for two test was structurally proof loading hardware by creating thermal gradients at specific temperatures. This paper will discuss the thermal requirements and goals of the tests, the original requirements of the chamber thermal systems for planned operation, and how the new requirements were met by the team using the hardware, system flexiblilty, and engineering creativity. It will also discuss the mistakes and successes to meet the unique goals, especially when meeting the thermal proof load.

Evaluation of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) for Weather and Climate using the Multi-testbed approach

Science.gov (United States)

Baker, B.; Lee, T.; Buban, M.; Dumas, E. J.

2017-12-01

Evaluation of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) for Weather and Climate using the Multi-testbed approachC. Bruce Baker1, Ed Dumas1,2, Temple Lee1,2, Michael Buban1,21NOAA ARL, Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division, Oak Ridge, TN2Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Oak Ridge, TN The development of a small Unmanned Aerial System (sUAS) testbeds that can be used to validate, integrate, calibrate and evaluate new technology and sensors for routine boundary layer research, validation of operational weather models, improvement of model parameterizations, and recording observations within high-impact storms is important for understanding the importance and impact of using sUAS's routinely as a new observing platform. The goal of the multi-testbed approach is to build a robust set of protocols to assess the cost and operational feasibility of unmanned observations for routine applications using various combinations of sUAS aircraft and sensors in different locations and field experiments. All of these observational testbeds serve different community needs, but they also use a diverse suite of methodologies for calibration and evaluation of different sensors and platforms for severe weather and boundary layer research. The primary focus will be to evaluate meteorological sensor payloads to measure thermodynamic parameters and define surface characteristics with visible, IR, and multi-spectral cameras. This evaluation will lead to recommendations for sensor payloads for VTOL and fixed-wing sUAS.

Large Scale Data Mining to Improve Usability of Data: An Intelligent Archive Testbed

Science.gov (United States)

Ramapriyan, Hampapuram; Isaac, David; Yang, Wenli; Morse, Steve

2005-01-01

Research in certain scientific disciplines - including Earth science, particle physics, and astrophysics - continually faces the challenge that the volume of data needed to perform valid scientific research can at times overwhelm even a sizable research community. The desire to improve utilization of this data gave rise to the Intelligent Archives project, which seeks to make data archives active participants in a knowledge building system capable of discovering events or patterns that represent new information or knowledge. Data mining can automatically discover patterns and events, but it is generally viewed as unsuited for large-scale use in disciplines like Earth science that routinely involve very high data volumes. Dozens of research projects have shown promising uses of data mining in Earth science, but all of these are based on experiments with data subsets of a few gigabytes or less, rather than the terabytes or petabytes typically encountered in operational systems. To bridge this gap, the Intelligent Archives project is establishing a testbed with the goal of demonstrating the use of data mining techniques in an operationally-relevant environment. This paper discusses the goals of the testbed and the design choices surrounding critical issues that arose during testbed implementation.

Weaving a Webb story: Communicating Science for JWST

Science.gov (United States)

Lockwood, Alexandra

2018-01-01

NASA’s next great observatory is an impressive and complex mission with many tales to tell. Science is a collection of stories and Webb will be a storytelling machine. How are we preparing to share the scientific news to come from this amazing telescope? From news releases to multimedia content to a vast online presence, the stories of the James Webb Space Telescope will require crafting in order to impact the widest audience. We discuss the art of storytelling based on messaging, goals, mediums, and audience, and how you can apply the same principles to communicating your own research.

Thermal and Electrical Conductivity Measurements of CDA 510 Phosphor Bronze

Science.gov (United States)

Tuttle, James E.; Canavan, Edgar; DiPirro, Michael

2009-01-01

Many cryogenic systems use electrical cables containing phosphor bronze wire. While phosphor bronze's electrical and thermal conductivity values have been published, there is significant variation among different phosphor bronze formulations. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will use several phosphor bronze wire harnesses containing a specific formulation (CDA 510, annealed temper). The heat conducted into the JWST instrument stage is dominated by these harnesses, and approximately half of the harness conductance is due to the phosphor bronze wires. Since the JWST radiators are expected to just keep the instruments at their operating temperature with limited cooling margin, it is important to know the thermal conductivity of the actual alloy being used. We describe an experiment which measured the electrical and thermal conductivity of this material between 4 and 295 Kelvin.

Conceptual Design and Cost Estimate of a Subsonic NASA Testbed Vehicle (NTV) for Aeronautics Research

Science.gov (United States)

Nickol, Craig L.; Frederic, Peter

2013-01-01

A conceptual design and cost estimate for a subsonic flight research vehicle designed to support NASA's Environmentally Responsible Aviation (ERA) project goals is presented. To investigate the technical and economic feasibility of modifying an existing aircraft, a highly modified Boeing 717 was developed for maturation of technologies supporting the three ERA project goals of reduced fuel burn, noise, and emissions. This modified 717 utilizes midfuselage mounted modern high bypass ratio engines in conjunction with engine exhaust shielding structures to provide a low noise testbed. The testbed also integrates a natural laminar flow wing section and active flow control for the vertical tail. An eight year program plan was created to incrementally modify and test the vehicle, enabling the suite of technology benefits to be isolated and quantified. Based on the conceptual design and programmatic plan for this testbed vehicle, a full cost estimate of $526M was developed, representing then-year dollars at a 50% confidence level.

THAI-SPICE: Testbed for High-Acuity Imaging – Stable Photometry and ImageMotion Compensation Experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Young, Eliot

THAI-SPICE is the Testbed for High-Acuity Imaging - Stable Photometry and ImageMotion Compensation Experiment - It is a lead proposal, accompanied by a coInstitutional proposal from MIT LL. The overarching goal of THAI-SPICE is to advance balloonborne telescopes to the point where they can surpass HST in terms of spatial resolution in visible wavelengths and surpass the Kepler mission in terms of observing exoplanet transits. Balloon-borne telescopes are becoming an important part of NASA's observing programs - each 100-day super-pressure balloon flight will provide 1000 hours of dark time observing, equivalent to about 1/3 of the total on-target time allocated in an HST cycle across its entire portfolio of science programs. However, balloon-borne telescopes face unique challenges from the stratospheric thermal environment and the pointing stability of a suspended platform. This proposal will study and test three areas of development that will enable high-acuity image quality and stable photometry from balloon-borne telescopes. - Passive thermal control and stabilization of balloon-borne OTAs (Optical Tube Assemblies). Recent modeling suggests that an appropriate arrangement of sunshields, earth-shields and telescope insulation can reduce diurnal temperature excursions from more than 40°C to less than 2°C. Furthermore, modeling also suggests that the steadystate temperature of an OTA can be reduced to temperatures near 180 K, an advantage for infrared observing programs. However, most modeling packages (e.g., Thermal Desktop) do not accurately account for convection in the 3 torr or 8 torr environment of zeropressure or super-pressure balloons. In fact, it is hard to tell whether radiation or convection is a more significant cooling mechanism at super-pressure balloon altitudes. We propose to verify or update Thermal Desktop results with a series of experiments using an instrumented OTA and sun- and earth-shields. The payoff from this experiment will be balloon

Software Testbed for Developing and Evaluating Integrated Autonomous Subsystems

Science.gov (United States)

Ong, James; Remolina, Emilio; Prompt, Axel; Robinson, Peter; Sweet, Adam; Nishikawa, David

2015-01-01

To implement fault tolerant autonomy in future space systems, it will be necessary to integrate planning, adaptive control, and state estimation subsystems. However, integrating these subsystems is difficult, time-consuming, and error-prone. This paper describes Intelliface/ADAPT, a software testbed that helps researchers develop and test alternative strategies for integrating planning, execution, and diagnosis subsystems more quickly and easily. The testbed's architecture, graphical data displays, and implementations of the integrated subsystems support easy plug and play of alternate components to support research and development in fault-tolerant control of autonomous vehicles and operations support systems. Intelliface/ADAPT controls NASA's Advanced Diagnostics and Prognostics Testbed (ADAPT), which comprises batteries, electrical loads (fans, pumps, and lights), relays, circuit breakers, invertors, and sensors. During plan execution, an experimentor can inject faults into the ADAPT testbed by tripping circuit breakers, changing fan speed settings, and closing valves to restrict fluid flow. The diagnostic subsystem, based on NASA's Hybrid Diagnosis Engine (HyDE), detects and isolates these faults to determine the new state of the plant, ADAPT. Intelliface/ADAPT then updates its model of the ADAPT system's resources and determines whether the current plan can be executed using the reduced resources. If not, the planning subsystem generates a new plan that reschedules tasks, reconfigures ADAPT, and reassigns the use of ADAPT resources as needed to work around the fault. The resource model, planning domain model, and planning goals are expressed using NASA's Action Notation Modeling Language (ANML). Parts of the ANML model are generated automatically, and other parts are constructed by hand using the Planning Model Integrated Development Environment, a visual Eclipse-based IDE that accelerates ANML model development. Because native ANML planners are currently

Distributed computing testbed for a remote experimental environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Butner, D.N.; Casper, T.A.; Howard, B.C.; Henline, P.A.; Davis, S.L.; Barnes, D.

1995-01-01

Collaboration is increasing as physics research becomes concentrated on a few large, expensive facilities, particularly in magnetic fusion energy research, with national and international participation. These facilities are designed for steady state operation and interactive, real-time experimentation. We are developing tools to provide for the establishment of geographically distant centers for interactive operations; such centers would allow scientists to participate in experiments from their home institutions. A testbed is being developed for a Remote Experimental Environment (REE), a ''Collaboratory.'' The testbed will be used to evaluate the ability of a remotely located group of scientists to conduct research on the DIII-D Tokamak at General Atomics. The REE will serve as a testing environment for advanced control and collaboration concepts applicable to future experiments. Process-to-process communications over high speed wide area networks provide real-time synchronization and exchange of data among multiple computer networks, while the ability to conduct research is enhanced by adding audio/video communication capabilities. The Open Software Foundation's Distributed Computing Environment is being used to test concepts in distributed control, security, naming, remote procedure calls and distributed file access using the Distributed File Services. We are exploring the technology and sociology of remotely participating in the operation of a large scale experimental facility

Solar Resource Assessment with Sky Imagery and a Virtual Testbed for Sky Imager Solar Forecasting

Science.gov (United States)

Kurtz, Benjamin Bernard

In recent years, ground-based sky imagers have emerged as a promising tool for forecasting solar energy on short time scales (0 to 30 minutes ahead). Following the development of sky imager hardware and algorithms at UC San Diego, we present three new or improved algorithms for sky imager forecasting and forecast evaluation. First, we present an algorithm for measuring irradiance with a sky imager. Sky imager forecasts are often used in conjunction with other instruments for measuring irradiance, so this has the potential to decrease instrumentation costs and logistical complexity. In particular, the forecast algorithm itself often relies on knowledge of the current irradiance which can now be provided directly from the sky images. Irradiance measurements are accurate to within about 10%. Second, we demonstrate a virtual sky imager testbed that can be used for validating and enhancing the forecast algorithm. The testbed uses high-quality (but slow) simulations to produce virtual clouds and sky images. Because virtual cloud locations are known, much more advanced validation procedures are possible with the virtual testbed than with measured data. In this way, we are able to determine that camera geometry and non-uniform evolution of the cloud field are the two largest sources of forecast error. Finally, with the assistance of the virtual sky imager testbed, we develop improvements to the cloud advection model used for forecasting. The new advection schemes are 10-20% better at short time horizons.

SCASim: A Flexible and Reusable Detector Simulator for the MIRI instrument of the JWST

Science.gov (United States)

Beard, S.; Morin, J.; Gastaud, R.; Azzollini, R.; Bouchet, P.; Chaintreuil, S.; Lahuis, F.; Littlejohns, O.; Nehme, C.; Pye, J.

2012-09-01

The JWST Mid Infrared Instrument (MIRI) operates in the 5-28μm wavelength range and can be configured for imaging, coronographic imaging, long-slit, low-resolution spectroscopy or medium resolution spectroscopy with an integral field unit. SCASim is one of a suite of simulators which operate together to simulate all the different modes of the instrument. These simulators are essential for the efficient operation of MIRI; allowing more accurate planning of MIRI observations on sky or during the pre-launch testing of the instrument. The data generated by the simulators are essential for testing the data pipeline software. The simulators not only need to reproduce the behaviour of the instrument faithfully, they also need to be adaptable so that information learned about the instrument during the pre-launch testing and in-orbit commissioning can be fed back into the simulation. SCASim simulates the behaviour of the MIRI detectors, taking into account cosmetic effects, quantum efficiency, shot noise, dark current, read noise, amplifier layout, cosmic ray hits, etc... The software has benefited from three major design choices. First, the development of a suite of MIRI simulators, rather than single simulator, has allowed MIRI simulators to be developed in parallel by different teams, with each simulator able to concentrate on one particular area. SCASim provides a facility common to all the other simulators and saves duplication of effort. Second, SCASim has a Python-based object-oriented design which makes it easier to adapt as new information about the instrument is learned during testing. Third, all simulator parameters are maintained in external files, rather than being hard coded in the software. These design choices have made SCASim highly reusable. In its present form it can be used to simulate any JWST detector, and it can be adapted for future instruments with similar, photon-counting detectors.

M1 mirror print-through investigation and performance on the thermo-opto-mechanical testbed for the Space Interferometry Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Feria, V. Alfonso; Lam, Jonathan; Van Buren, Dave

2006-06-01

SIM PlanetQuest (SIM) is a large (9-meter baseline) space-borne optical interferometer that will determine the position and distance of stars to high accuracy. With microarcsecond measurements SIM will probe nearby stars for Earth-sized planets. To achieve this precision, SIM requires very tight manufacturing tolerances and high stability of optical components. To reduce technical risks, the SIM project developed an integrated thermal, mechanical and optical testbed (TOM3) to allow predictions of the system performance at the required high precision. The TOM3 testbed used full-scale brassboard optical components and picometer-class metrology to reach the SIM target performance levels. During the testbed integration and after one of the testbed mirrors, M1, was bonded into its mount, some surface distortion dimples that exceeded the optical specification were discovered. A detailed finite element model was used to analyze different load cases to try to determine the source of the M1 surface deformations. The same model was also used to compare with actual deformations due to varied thermal conditions on the TOM3 testbed. This paper presents the studies carried out to determine the source of the surface distortions on the M1 mirror as well as comparison and model validation during testing. This research was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Social media analytics and research testbed (SMART: Exploring spatiotemporal patterns of human dynamics with geo-targeted social media messages

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiue-An Yang

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The multilevel model of meme diffusion conceptualizes how mediated messages diffuse over time and space. As a pilot application of implementing the meme diffusion, we developed the social media analytics and research testbed to monitor Twitter messages and track the diffusion of information in and across different cities and geographic regions. Social media analytics and research testbed is an online geo-targeted search and analytics tool, including an automatic data processing procedure at the backend and an interactive frontend user interface. Social media analytics and research testbed is initially designed to facilitate (1 searching and geo-locating tweet topics and terms in different cities and geographic regions; (2 filtering noise from raw data (such as removing redundant retweets and using machine learning methods to improve precision; (3 analyzing social media data from a spatiotemporal perspective; and (4 visualizing social media data in diagnostic ways (such as weekly and monthly trends, trend maps, top media, top retweets, top mentions, or top hashtags. Social media analytics and research testbed provides researchers and domain experts with a tool that can efficiently facilitate the refinement, formalization, and testing of research hypotheses or questions. Three case studies (flu outbreaks, Ebola epidemic, and marijuana legalization are introduced to illustrate how the predictions of meme diffusion can be examined and to demonstrate the potentials and key functions of social media analytics and research testbed.

Inspiring the Next Generation: Astronomy Catalyzes K12 STEM Education

Science.gov (United States)

Borders, Kareen; Thaller, Michelle; Winglee, Robert; Borders, Kyla

2017-06-01

K-12 educators need effective and relevant astronomy professional development. NASA's Mission Science provides innovative and accessible opportunities for K-12 teachers. Science questions involve scale and distance, including Moon/Earth scale, solar system scale, and distance of objects in the universe. Teachers can gain an understanding of basic telescopes, the history of telescopes, ground and satellite based telescopes, and models of JWST Telescope. An in-depth explanation of JWST and Spitzer telescopes gave participants background knowledge for infrared astronomy observations. During teacher training, we taught the electromagnetic spectrum through interactive stations. The stations included an overview via lecture and power point, the use of ultraviolet beads to determine ultraviolet exposure, the study of lenticulars and diagramming of infrared data, looking at visible light through diffraction glasses and diagramming the data, protocols for using astronomy based research in the classroom, and infrared thermometers to compare environmental conditions around the observatory. An overview of LIDAR physics was followed up by a simulated LIDAR mapping of the topography of Mars.We will outline specific steps for K-12 infrared astronomy professional development, provide data demonstrating the impact of the above professional development on educator understanding and classroom use, and detail future plans for additional K-12 professional development.Funding was provided by Washington STEM, NASA, and the Washington Space Grant Consortium.

Benchmarking Diagnostic Algorithms on an Electrical Power System Testbed

Science.gov (United States)

Kurtoglu, Tolga; Narasimhan, Sriram; Poll, Scott; Garcia, David; Wright, Stephanie

2009-01-01

Diagnostic algorithms (DAs) are key to enabling automated health management. These algorithms are designed to detect and isolate anomalies of either a component or the whole system based on observations received from sensors. In recent years a wide range of algorithms, both model-based and data-driven, have been developed to increase autonomy and improve system reliability and affordability. However, the lack of support to perform systematic benchmarking of these algorithms continues to create barriers for effective development and deployment of diagnostic technologies. In this paper, we present our efforts to benchmark a set of DAs on a common platform using a framework that was developed to evaluate and compare various performance metrics for diagnostic technologies. The diagnosed system is an electrical power system, namely the Advanced Diagnostics and Prognostics Testbed (ADAPT) developed and located at the NASA Ames Research Center. The paper presents the fundamentals of the benchmarking framework, the ADAPT system, description of faults and data sets, the metrics used for evaluation, and an in-depth analysis of benchmarking results obtained from testing ten diagnostic algorithms on the ADAPT electrical power system testbed.

Observing the Sun with Coronado telescopes telescopes

CERN Document Server

Pugh, Philip

2007-01-01

The Sun provides amateur astronomers with one of the few opportunities for daytime astronomy. In order to see the major features of our nearest star, special telescopes that have a very narrow visible bandwidth are essential. The bandwidth has to be as narrow as 1 A- 10-10 m (1 Angstrom) and centred on the absorption line of neutral hydrogen. This makes many major features of the Suna (TM)s chromosphere visible to the observer. Such narrow-band "Fabry-Perot etalon filters" are high technology, and until the introduction of the Coronado range of solar telescopes, were too expensive for amateur use. The entry-level Coronado telescope, the PST (Personal Solar Telescope) costs under 500. Solar prominences (vast columns of plasma, best seen at the edge of the solar disk), filaments, flares, sunspots, plage and active regions are all visible and can be imaged to produce spectacular solar photographs. Philip Pugh has assembled a team of contributors who show just how much solar work can be done with Coronado telesco...

Space Station technology testbed: 2010 deep space transport

Science.gov (United States)

Holt, Alan C.

1993-01-01

A space station in a crew-tended or permanently crewed configuration will provide major R&D opportunities for innovative, technology and materials development and advanced space systems testing. A space station should be designed with the basic infrastructure elements required to grow into a major systems technology testbed. This space-based technology testbed can and should be used to support the development of technologies required to expand our utilization of near-Earth space, the Moon and the Earth-to-Jupiter region of the Solar System. Space station support of advanced technology and materials development will result in new techniques for high priority scientific research and the knowledge and R&D base needed for the development of major, new commercial product thrusts. To illustrate the technology testbed potential of a space station and to point the way to a bold, innovative approach to advanced space systems' development, a hypothetical deep space transport development and test plan is described. Key deep space transport R&D activities are described would lead to the readiness certification of an advanced, reusable interplanetary transport capable of supporting eight crewmembers or more. With the support of a focused and highly motivated, multi-agency ground R&D program, a deep space transport of this type could be assembled and tested by 2010. Key R&D activities on a space station would include: (1) experimental research investigating the microgravity assisted, restructuring of micro-engineered, materials (to develop and verify the in-space and in-situ 'tuning' of materials for use in debris and radiation shielding and other protective systems), (2) exposure of microengineered materials to the space environment for passive and operational performance tests (to develop in-situ maintenance and repair techniques and to support the development, enhancement, and implementation of protective systems, data and bio-processing systems, and virtual reality and

The end-to-end testbed of the optical metrology system on-board LISA Pathfinder

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Steier, F; Cervantes, F Guzman; Marin, A F GarcIa; Heinzel, G; Danzmann, K [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Gravitationsphysik (Albert-Einstein-Institut) and Universitaet Hannover (Germany); Gerardi, D, E-mail: frank.steier@aei.mpg.d [EADS Astrium Satellites GmbH, Friedrichshafen (Germany)

2009-05-07

LISA Pathfinder is a technology demonstration mission for the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). The main experiment on-board LISA Pathfinder is the so-called LISA Technology Package (LTP) which has the aim to measure the differential acceleration between two free-falling test masses with an accuracy of 3 x 10{sup -14} ms{sup -2} Hz{sup -1/2} between 1 mHz and 30 mHz. This measurement is performed interferometrically by the optical metrology system (OMS) on-board LISA Pathfinder. In this paper, we present the development of an experimental end-to-end testbed of the entire OMS. It includes the interferometer and its sub-units, the interferometer backend which is a phasemeter and the processing of the phasemeter output data. Furthermore, three-axes piezo-actuated mirrors are used instead of the free-falling test masses for the characterization of the dynamic behaviour of the system and some parts of the drag-free and attitude control system (DFACS) which controls the test masses and the satellite. The end-to-end testbed includes all parts of the LTP that can reasonably be tested on earth without free-falling test masses. At its present status it consists mainly of breadboard components. Some of those have already been replaced by engineering models of the LTP experiment. In the next steps, further engineering and flight models will also be inserted in this testbed and tested against well-characterized breadboard components. The presented testbed is an important reference for the unit tests and can also be used for validation of the on-board experiment during the mission.

Design and construction of a 76m long-travel laser enclosure for a space occulter testbed

Science.gov (United States)

Galvin, Michael; Kim, Yunjong; Kasdin, N. Jeremy; Sirbu, Dan; Vanderbei, Robert; Echeverri, Dan; Sagolla, Giuseppe; Rousing, Andreas; Balasubramanian, Kunjithapatham; Ryan, Daniel; Shaklan, Stuart; Lisman, Doug

2016-07-01

Princeton University is upgrading our space occulter testbed. In particular, we are lengthening it to 76m to achieve flightlike Fresnel numbers. This much longer testbed required an all-new enclosure design. In this design, we prioritized modularity and the use of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) and semi-COTS components. Several of the technical challenges encountered included an unexpected slow beam drift and black paint selection. Herein we describe the design and construction of this long-travel laser enclosure.

Autonomous power expert fault diagnostic system for Space Station Freedom electrical power system testbed

Science.gov (United States)

Truong, Long V.; Walters, Jerry L.; Roth, Mary Ellen; Quinn, Todd M.; Krawczonek, Walter M.

1990-01-01

The goal of the Autonomous Power System (APS) program is to develop and apply intelligent problem solving and control to the Space Station Freedom Electrical Power System (SSF/EPS) testbed being developed and demonstrated at NASA Lewis Research Center. The objectives of the program are to establish artificial intelligence technology paths, to craft knowledge-based tools with advanced human-operator interfaces for power systems, and to interface and integrate knowledge-based systems with conventional controllers. The Autonomous Power EXpert (APEX) portion of the APS program will integrate a knowledge-based fault diagnostic system and a power resource planner-scheduler. Then APEX will interface on-line with the SSF/EPS testbed and its Power Management Controller (PMC). The key tasks include establishing knowledge bases for system diagnostics, fault detection and isolation analysis, on-line information accessing through PMC, enhanced data management, and multiple-level, object-oriented operator displays. The first prototype of the diagnostic expert system for fault detection and isolation has been developed. The knowledge bases and the rule-based model that were developed for the Power Distribution Control Unit subsystem of the SSF/EPS testbed are described. A corresponding troubleshooting technique is also described.

Development of optical packet and circuit integrated ring network testbed.

Science.gov (United States)

Furukawa, Hideaki; Harai, Hiroaki; Miyazawa, Takaya; Shinada, Satoshi; Kawasaki, Wataru; Wada, Naoya

2011-12-12

We developed novel integrated optical packet and circuit switch-node equipment. Compared with our previous equipment, a polarization-independent 4 × 4 semiconductor optical amplifier switch subsystem, gain-controlled optical amplifiers, and one 100 Gbps optical packet transponder and seven 10 Gbps optical path transponders with 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) client-interfaces were newly installed in the present system. The switch and amplifiers can provide more stable operation without equipment adjustments for the frequent polarization-rotations and dynamic packet-rate changes of optical packets. We constructed an optical packet and circuit integrated ring network testbed consisting of two switch nodes for accelerating network development, and we demonstrated 66 km fiber transmission and switching operation of multiplexed 14-wavelength 10 Gbps optical paths and 100 Gbps optical packets encapsulating 10GbE frames. Error-free (frame error rate optical packets of various packet lengths and packet rates, and stable operation of the network testbed was confirmed. In addition, 4K uncompressed video streaming over OPS links was successfully demonstrated. © 2011 Optical Society of America

Showing Complex Astrophysical Settings Through Virtual Reality

Science.gov (United States)

Green, Joel; Smith, Denise; Smith, Louis Chad; Lawton, Brandon; Lockwood, Alexandra; Jirdeh, Hussein

2018-01-01

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), NASA’s next great observatory launching in spring 2019, will routinely showcase astrophysical concepts that will challenge the public's understanding. Emerging technologies such as virtual reality bring the viewer into the data and the concept in previously unimaginable immersive detail. For example, we imagine a spacefarer inside a protoplanetary disk, seeing the accretion process directly. STScI is pioneering some tools related to JWST for showcasing at AAS, and in local events, which I highlight here. If we develop materials properly tailored to this medium, we can reach more diverse audiences than ever before.

Enhancing Ground Based Telescope Performance with Image Processing

Science.gov (United States)

2013-11-13

called the hybrid diversity algorithm ( HDA ) that is based on the Gerchberg-Saxton algorithm with another process to perform phase-unwraping [36, 45...47]. The HDA requires phase diversity similar to the LM least squares method used for characterizing the HST [32]. The problem of generating...addition, the new phase retrieval algorithm proposed in this chapter has the advantage over NASA’s hybrid diversity algorithm ( HDA ) planned for use on JWST

Passive Thermal Design Approach for the Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Testbed Experiment on the International Space Station (ISS)

Science.gov (United States)

Siamidis, John; Yuko, Jim

2014-01-01

The Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Program Office at NASA Headquarters oversees all of NASAs space communications activities. SCaN manages and directs the ground-based facilities and services provided by the Deep Space Network (DSN), Near Earth Network (NEN), and the Space Network (SN). Through the SCaN Program Office, NASA GRC developed a Software Defined Radio (SDR) testbed experiment (SCaN testbed experiment) for use on the International Space Station (ISS). It is comprised of three different SDR radios, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) radio, Harris Corporation radio, and the General Dynamics Corporation radio. The SCaN testbed experiment provides an on-orbit, adaptable, SDR Space Telecommunications Radio System (STRS) - based facility to conduct a suite of experiments to advance the Software Defined Radio, Space Telecommunications Radio Systems (STRS) standards, reduce risk (Technology Readiness Level (TRL) advancement) for candidate Constellation future space flight hardware software, and demonstrate space communication links critical to future NASA exploration missions. The SCaN testbed project provides NASA, industry, other Government agencies, and academic partners the opportunity to develop and field communications, navigation, and networking technologies in the laboratory and space environment based on reconfigurable, software defined radio platforms and the STRS Architecture.The SCaN testbed is resident on the P3 Express Logistics Carrier (ELC) on the exterior truss of the International Space Station (ISS). The SCaN testbed payload launched on the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) and was installed on the ISS P3 ELC located on the inboard RAM P3 site. The daily operations and testing are managed out of NASA GRC in the Telescience Support Center (TSC).

The Orlando TDWR testbed and airborne wind shear date comparison results

Science.gov (United States)

Campbell, Steven; Berke, Anthony; Matthews, Michael

1992-01-01

The focus of this talk is on comparing terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR) and airborne wind shear data in computing a microburst hazard index called the F factor. The TDWR is a ground-based system for detecting wind shear hazards to aviation in the terminal area. The Federal Aviation Administration will begin deploying TDWR units near 45 airports in late 1992. As part of this development effort, M.I.T. Lincoln Laboratory operates under F.A.A. support a TDWR testbed radar in Orlando, FL. During the past two years, a series of flight tests has been conducted with instrumented aircraft penetrating microburst events while under testbed radar surveillance. These tests were carried out with a Cessna Citation 2 aircraft operated by the University of North Dakota (UND) Center for Aerospace Sciences in 1990, and a Boeing 737 operated by NASA Langley Research Center in 1991. A large data base of approximately 60 instrumented microburst penetrations has been obtained from these flights.

The MIRI Medium Resolution Spectrometer calibration pipeline

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Labiano, A.; Azzollini, R.; Bailey, J.; Beard, S.; Dicken, D.; García-Marín, M.; Geers, V.; Glasse, A.; Glauser, A.; Gordon, K.; Justtanont, K.; Klaassen, P.; Lahuis, F.; Law, D.; Morrison, J.; Müller, M.; Rieke, G.; Vandenbussche, B.; Wright, G.

2016-01-01

The Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) Medium Resolution Spectrometer (MRS) is the only mid-IR Integral Field Spectrometer on board James Webb Space Telescope. The complexity of the MRS requires a very specialized pipeline, with some specific steps not present in other pipelines of JWST instruments,

Analysis, modeling, and simulation (AMS) testbed development and evaluation to support dynamic mobility applications (DMA) and active transportation and demand management (ATDM) programs - evaluation summary for the San Diego testbed

Science.gov (United States)

2017-08-01

The primary objective of this project is to develop multiple simulation testbeds and transportation models to evaluate the impacts of Connected Vehicle Dynamic Mobility Applications (DMA) and Active Transportation and Demand Management (ATDM) strateg...

Analysis, Modeling, and Simulation (AMS) Testbed Development and Evaluation to Support Dynamic Mobility Applications (DMA) and Active Transportation and Demand Management (ATDM) Programs - Evaluation Report for the San Diego Testbed

Science.gov (United States)

2017-07-01

The primary objective of this project is to develop multiple simulation testbeds and transportation models to evaluate the impacts of Connected Vehicle Dynamic Mobility Applications (DMA) and Active Transportation and Demand Management (ATDM) strateg...

Development of an Experimental Testbed for Research in Lithium-Ion Battery Management Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mehdi Ferdowsi

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Advanced electrochemical batteries are becoming an integral part of a wide range of applications from household and commercial to smart grid, transportation, and aerospace applications. Among different battery technologies, lithium-ion (Li-ion batteries are growing more and more popular due to their high energy density, high galvanic potential, low self-discharge, low weight, and the fact that they have almost no memory effect. However, one of the main obstacles facing the widespread commercialization of Li-ion batteries is the design of reliable battery management systems (BMSs. An efficient BMS ensures electrical safety during operation, while increasing battery lifetime, capacity and thermal stability. Despite the need for extensive research in this field, the majority of research conducted on Li-ion battery packs and BMS are proprietary works conducted by manufacturers. The available literature, however, provides either general descriptions or detailed analysis of individual components of the battery system, and ignores addressing details of the overall system development. This paper addresses the development of an experimental research testbed for studying Li-ion batteries and their BMS design. The testbed can be configured in a variety of cell and pack architectures, allowing for a wide range of BMS monitoring, diagnostics, and control technologies to be tested and analyzed. General considerations that should be taken into account while designing Li-ion battery systems are reviewed and different technologies and challenges commonly encountered in Li-ion battery systems are investigated. This testbed facilitates future development of more practical and improved BMS technologies with the aim of increasing the safety, reliability, and efficiency of existing Li-ion battery systems. Experimental results of initial tests performed on the system are used to demonstrate some of the capabilities of the developed research testbed. To the authors�

An Overview of NASA's Subsonic Research Aircraft Testbed (SCRAT)

Science.gov (United States)

Baumann, Ethan; Hernandez, Joe; Ruhf, John C.

2013-01-01

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Dryden Flight Research Center acquired a Gulfstream III (GIII) aircraft to serve as a testbed for aeronautics flight research experiments. The aircraft is referred to as SCRAT, which stands for SubsoniC Research Aircraft Testbed. The aircraft's mission is to perform aeronautics research; more specifically raising the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of advanced technologies through flight demonstrations and gathering high-quality research data suitable for verifying the technologies, and validating design and analysis tools. The SCRAT has the ability to conduct a range of flight research experiments throughout a transport class aircraft's flight envelope. Experiments ranging from flight-testing of a new aircraft system or sensor to those requiring structural and aerodynamic modifications to the aircraft can be accomplished. The aircraft has been modified to include an instrumentation system and sensors necessary to conduct flight research experiments along with a telemetry capability. An instrumentation power distribution system was installed to accommodate the instrumentation system and future experiments. An engineering simulation of the SCRAT has been developed to aid in integrating research experiments. A series of baseline aircraft characterization flights has been flown that gathered flight data to aid in developing and integrating future research experiments. This paper describes the SCRAT's research systems and capabilities.

The DAG project, a 4m class telescope: the telescope main structure performances

Science.gov (United States)

Marchiori, G.; Busatta, A.; Ghedin, L.; Marcuzzi, E.; Manfrin, C.; Battistel, C.; Pirnay, O.; Flebus, Carlo; Yeşilyaprak, C.; Keskin, O.; Yerli, S.

2016-07-01

Dogu Anatolu Gözlemevi (DAG-Eastern Anatolia Observatory) Project is a 4m class optical, near-infrared Telescope and suitable enclosure which will be located at an altitude of 3.170m in Erzurum, Turkey. The DAG telescope is a project fully funded by Turkish Ministry of Development and the Atatürk University of Astrophysics Research Telescope - ATASAM. The Project is being developed by the Belgian company AMOS (project leader), which is also the optics supplier and EIE GROUP, the Telescope Main Structure supplier and responsible for the final site integration. The design of the Telescope Main Structure fits in the EIE TBO Program which aims at developing a Dome/Telescope systemic optimization process for both performances and competitive costs based on previous project commitments like NTT, VLT, VST and ASTRI. The optical Configuration of the DAG Telescope is a Ritchey-Chretien with two Nasmyth foci and a 4m primary thin mirror controlled in shape and position by an Active Optic System. The main characteristics of the Telescope Main Structure are an Altitude-Azimuth light and rigid structure system with Direct Drive Systems for both axis, AZ Hydrostatic Bearing System and Altitude standard bearing system; both axes are equipped with Tape Encoder System. An innovative Control System characterizes the telescope performance.

Genetic Algorithm Phase Retrieval for the Systematic Image-Based Optical Alignment Testbed

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Jaime; Rakoczy, John; Steincamp, James

2003-01-01

Phase retrieval requires calculation of the real-valued phase of the pupil fimction from the image intensity distribution and characteristics of an optical system. Genetic 'algorithms were used to solve two one-dimensional phase retrieval problem. A GA successfully estimated the coefficients of a polynomial expansion of the phase when the number of coefficients was correctly specified. A GA also successfully estimated the multiple p h e s of a segmented optical system analogous to the seven-mirror Systematic Image-Based Optical Alignment (SIBOA) testbed located at NASA s Marshall Space Flight Center. The SIBOA testbed was developed to investigate phase retrieval techniques. Tiphilt and piston motions of the mirrors accomplish phase corrections. A constant phase over each mirror can be achieved by an independent tip/tilt correction: the phase Conection term can then be factored out of the Discrete Fourier Tranform (DFT), greatly reducing computations.

Design and Prototyping of a Satellite Antenna Slew Testbed

Science.gov (United States)

2013-12-01

beers and kind advice gave me a family away from home. To my familia here in the Bay Area; their constant support, understanding and surprise...Encoder Cable Maxon 275934 2 CAB 29 EPOS Power Cable Maxon 275829 2 CAB 30 Misc Hardware** NPS 30 - - Bill of Materials 35 closely match the actual ...computed trajectory. The position and velocity results were then implemented on the testbed motors for comparison of actual versus commanded values

First-order error budgeting for LUVOIR mission

Science.gov (United States)

Lightsey, Paul A.; Knight, J. Scott; Feinberg, Lee D.; Bolcar, Matthew R.; Shaklan, Stuart B.

2017-09-01

Future large astronomical telescopes in space will have architectures that will have complex and demanding requirements to meet the science goals. The Large UV/Optical/IR Surveyor (LUVOIR) mission concept being assessed by the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center is expected to be 9 to 15 meters in diameter, have a segmented primary mirror and be diffraction limited at a wavelength of 500 nanometers. The optical stability is expected to be in the picometer range for minutes to hours. Architecture studies to support the NASA Science and Technology Definition teams (STDTs) are underway to evaluate systems performance improvements to meet the science goals. To help define the technology needs and assess performance, a first order error budget has been developed. Like the JWST error budget, the error budget includes the active, adaptive and passive elements in spatial and temporal domains. JWST performance is scaled using first order approximations where appropriate and includes technical advances in telescope control.

Exoplanet Observing: From Art to Science

Science.gov (United States)

Conti, Dennis M.; Gleeson, Jack

2017-06-01

This paper will review the now well-established best practices for conducting high precision exoplanet observing with small telescopes. The paper will also review the AAVSO's activities in promoting these best practices among the amateur astronomer community through training material and online courses, as well as through the establishment of an AAVSO Exoplanet Database. This latter development will be an essential element in supporting followup exoplanet observations for upcoming space telescope missions such as TESS and JWST.

Exoplanet Observing: from Art to Science (Abstract)

Science.gov (United States)

Conti, D. M.; Gleeson, J.

2017-12-01

(Abstract only) This paper will review the now well-established best practices for conducting high precision exoplanet observing with small telescopes. The paper will also review the AAVSO's activities in promoting these best practices among the amateur astronomer community through training material and online courses, as well as through the establishment of an AAVSO Exoplanet Database. This latter development will be an essential element in supporting followup exoplanet observations for upcoming space telescope missions such as TESS and JWST.

Design of a low-power testbed for Wireless Sensor Networks and verification

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Hoesel, L.F.W.; Dulman, S.O.; Havinga, Paul J.M.; Kip, Harry J.

In this document the design considerations and component choices of a testbed prototype device for wireless sensor networks will be discussed. These devices must be able to monitor their physical environment, process data and assist other nodes in forwarding sensor readings. For these tasks, five

TESTING THE APODIZED PUPIL LYOT CORONAGRAPH ON THE LABORATORY FOR ADAPTIVE OPTICS EXTREME ADAPTIVE OPTICS TESTBED

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thomas, Sandrine J.; Dillon, Daren; Gavel, Donald; Soummer, Remi; Macintosh, Bruce; Sivaramakrishnan, Anand

2011-01-01

We present testbed results of the Apodized Pupil Lyot Coronagraph (APLC) at the Laboratory for Adaptive Optics (LAO). These results are part of the validation and tests of the coronagraph and of the Extreme Adaptive Optics (ExAO) for the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI). The apodizer component is manufactured with a halftone technique using black chrome microdots on glass. Testing this APLC (like any other coronagraph) requires extremely good wavefront correction, which is obtained to the 1 nm rms level using the microelectricalmechanical systems (MEMS) technology, on the ExAO visible testbed of the LAO at the University of Santa Cruz. We used an APLC coronagraph without central obstruction, both with a reference super-polished flat mirror and with the MEMS to obtain one of the first images of a dark zone in a coronagraphic image with classical adaptive optics using a MEMS deformable mirror (without involving dark hole algorithms). This was done as a complementary test to the GPI coronagraph testbed at American Museum of Natural History, which studied the coronagraph itself without wavefront correction. Because we needed a full aperture, the coronagraph design is very different from the GPI design. We also tested a coronagraph with central obstruction similar to that of GPI. We investigated the performance of the APLC coronagraph and more particularly the effect of the apodizer profile accuracy on the contrast. Finally, we compared the resulting contrast to predictions made with a wavefront propagation model of the testbed to understand the effects of phase and amplitude errors on the final contrast.

Testbed model and data assimilation for ARM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Louis, J.F.

1992-01-01

The objectives of this contract are to further develop and test the ALFA (AER Local Forecast and Assimilation) model originally designed at AER for local weather prediction and apply it to three distinct but related purposes in connection with the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program: (a) to provide a testbed that simulates a global climate model in order to facilitate the development and testing of new cloud parametrizations and radiation models; (b) to assimilate the ARM data continuously at the scale of a climate model, using the adjoint method, thus providing the initial conditions and verification data for testing parameumtions; (c) to study the sensitivity of a radiation scheme to cloud parameters, again using the adjoint method, thus demonstrating the usefulness of the testbed model. The data assimilation will use a variational technique that minimizes the difference between the model results and the observation during the analysis period. The adjoint model is used to compute the gradient of a measure of the model errors with respect to nudging terms that are added to the equations to force the model output closer to the data. The radiation scheme that will be included in the basic ALFA model makes use of a gen two-stream approximation, and is designed for vertically inhonogeneous, multiple-scattering atmospheres. The sensitivity of this model to the definition of cloud parameters will be studied. The adjoint technique will also be used to compute the sensitivities. This project is designed to provide the Science Team members with the appropriate tools and modeling environment for proper testing and tuning of new radiation models and cloud parametrization schemes

The OGC Innovation Program Testbeds - Advancing Architectures for Earth and Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Bermudez, L. E.; Percivall, G.; Simonis, I.; Serich, S.

2017-12-01

The OGC Innovation Program provides a collaborative agile process for solving challenging science problems and advancing new technologies. Since 1999, 100 initiatives have taken place, from multi-million dollar testbeds to small interoperability experiments. During these initiatives, sponsors and technology implementers (including academia and private sector) come together to solve problems, produce prototypes, develop demonstrations, provide best practices, and advance the future of standards. This presentation will provide the latest system architectures that can be used for Earth and space systems as a result of the OGC Testbed 13, including the following components: Elastic cloud autoscaler for Earth Observations (EO) using a WPS in an ESGF hybrid climate data research platform. Accessibility of climate data for the scientist and non-scientist users via on demand models wrapped in WPS. Standards descriptions for containerize applications to discover processes on the cloud, including using linked data, a WPS extension for hybrid clouds and linking to hybrid big data stores. OpenID and OAuth to secure OGC Services with built-in Attribute Based Access Control (ABAC) infrastructures leveraging GeoDRM patterns. Publishing and access of vector tiles, including use of compression and attribute options reusing patterns from WMS, WMTS and WFS. Servers providing 3D Tiles and streaming of data, including Indexed 3d Scene Layer (I3S), CityGML and Common DataBase (CDB). Asynchronous Services with advanced pushed notifications strategies, with a filter language instead of simple topic subscriptions, that can be use across OGC services. Testbed 14 will continue advancing topics like Big Data, security, and streaming, as well as making easier to use OGC services (e.g. RESTful APIs). The Call for Participation will be issued in December and responses are due on mid January 2018.

Design, Development, and Testing of a UAV Hardware-in-the-Loop Testbed for Aviation and Airspace Prognostics Research

Science.gov (United States)

Kulkarni, Chetan; Teubert, Chris; Gorospe, George; Burgett, Drew; Quach, Cuong C.; Hogge, Edward

2016-01-01

The airspace is becoming more and more complicated, and will continue to do so in the future with the integration of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), autonomy, spacecraft, other forms of aviation technology into the airspace. The new technology and complexity increases the importance and difficulty of safety assurance. Additionally, testing new technologies on complex aviation systems & systems of systems can be very difficult, expensive, and sometimes unsafe in real life scenarios. Prognostic methodology provides an estimate of the health and risks of a component, vehicle, or airspace and knowledge of how that will change over time. That measure is especially useful in safety determination, mission planning, and maintenance scheduling. The developed testbed will be used to validate prediction algorithms for the real-time safety monitoring of the National Airspace System (NAS) and the prediction of unsafe events. The framework injects flight related anomalies related to ground systems, routing, airport congestion, etc. to test and verify algorithms for NAS safety. In our research work, we develop a live, distributed, hardware-in-the-loop testbed for aviation and airspace prognostics along with exploring further research possibilities to verify and validate future algorithms for NAS safety. The testbed integrates virtual aircraft using the X-Plane simulator and X-PlaneConnect toolbox, UAVs using onboard sensors and cellular communications, and hardware in the loop components. In addition, the testbed includes an additional research framework to support and simplify future research activities. It enables safe, accurate, and inexpensive experimentation and research into airspace and vehicle prognosis that would not have been possible otherwise. This paper describes the design, development, and testing of this system. Software reliability, safety and latency are some of the critical design considerations in development of the testbed. Integration of HITL elements in

The large binocular telescope.

Science.gov (United States)

Hill, John M

2010-06-01

The Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) Observatory is a collaboration among institutions in Arizona, Germany, Italy, Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio, and Virginia. The telescope on Mount Graham in Southeastern Arizona uses two 8.4 m diameter primary mirrors mounted side by side. A unique feature of the LBT is that the light from the two Gregorian telescope sides can be combined to produce phased-array imaging of an extended field. This cophased imaging along with adaptive optics gives the telescope the diffraction-limited resolution of a 22.65 m aperture and a collecting area equivalent to an 11.8 m circular aperture. This paper describes the design, construction, and commissioning of this unique telescope. We report some sample astronomical results with the prime focus cameras. We comment on some of the technical challenges and solutions. The telescope uses two F/15 adaptive secondaries to correct atmospheric turbulence. The first of these adaptive mirrors has completed final system testing in Firenze, Italy, and is planned to be at the telescope by Spring 2010.

BEATBOX v1.0: Background Error Analysis Testbed with Box Models

Science.gov (United States)

Knote, Christoph; Barré, Jérôme; Eckl, Max

2018-02-01

The Background Error Analysis Testbed (BEATBOX) is a new data assimilation framework for box models. Based on the BOX Model eXtension (BOXMOX) to the Kinetic Pre-Processor (KPP), this framework allows users to conduct performance evaluations of data assimilation experiments, sensitivity analyses, and detailed chemical scheme diagnostics from an observation simulation system experiment (OSSE) point of view. The BEATBOX framework incorporates an observation simulator and a data assimilation system with the possibility of choosing ensemble, adjoint, or combined sensitivities. A user-friendly, Python-based interface allows for the tuning of many parameters for atmospheric chemistry and data assimilation research as well as for educational purposes, for example observation error, model covariances, ensemble size, perturbation distribution in the initial conditions, and so on. In this work, the testbed is described and two case studies are presented to illustrate the design of a typical OSSE experiment, data assimilation experiments, a sensitivity analysis, and a method for diagnosing model errors. BEATBOX is released as an open source tool for the atmospheric chemistry and data assimilation communities.

BEATBOX v1.0: Background Error Analysis Testbed with Box Models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Knote

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The Background Error Analysis Testbed (BEATBOX is a new data assimilation framework for box models. Based on the BOX Model eXtension (BOXMOX to the Kinetic Pre-Processor (KPP, this framework allows users to conduct performance evaluations of data assimilation experiments, sensitivity analyses, and detailed chemical scheme diagnostics from an observation simulation system experiment (OSSE point of view. The BEATBOX framework incorporates an observation simulator and a data assimilation system with the possibility of choosing ensemble, adjoint, or combined sensitivities. A user-friendly, Python-based interface allows for the tuning of many parameters for atmospheric chemistry and data assimilation research as well as for educational purposes, for example observation error, model covariances, ensemble size, perturbation distribution in the initial conditions, and so on. In this work, the testbed is described and two case studies are presented to illustrate the design of a typical OSSE experiment, data assimilation experiments, a sensitivity analysis, and a method for diagnosing model errors. BEATBOX is released as an open source tool for the atmospheric chemistry and data assimilation communities.

A commercial space technology testbed on ISS

Science.gov (United States)

Boyle, David R.

2000-01-01

There is a significant and growing commercial market for new, more capable communications and remote sensing satellites. Competition in this market strongly motivates satellite manufacturers and spacecraft component developers to test and demonstrate new space hardware in a realistic environment. External attach points on the International Space Station allow it to function uniquely as a space technology testbed to satisfy this market need. However, space industry officials have identified three critical barriers to their commercial use of the ISS: unpredictable access, cost risk, and schedule uncertainty. Appropriate NASA policy initiatives and business/technical assistance for industry from the Commercial Space Center for Engineering can overcome these barriers. .

A technical description of the FlexHouse Project Testbed

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Jens Otto

2000-01-01

This paper describes the FlexHouse project testbed; a server dedicated to experiments within the FlexHouse project. The FlexHouse project is a project originating from The Business Computing Research Group at The Aarhus School of Business. The purpose of the project is to identify and develop...... methods that satisfy the following three requirements. Flexibility with respect to evolving data sources. Flexibility with respect to change of information needs. Efficiency with respect to view management....

Testbed for a LiFi system integrated in streetlights

OpenAIRE

Monzón Baeza, Victor; Sánchez Fernández, Matilde Pilar; García-Armada, Ana; Royo, A.

2015-01-01

Proceeding at: 2015 European Conference on Networks and Communications (EuCNC) took place June 29 - July 2 in Paris, France. In this paper, a functional LiFi real-time testbed implemented on FPGAs is presented. The setup evaluates the performance of our design in a downlink scenario where the transmitter is embedded on the streetlights and a mobile phone’s camera is used as receiver, therefore achieving the goal of lighting and communicating simultaneously. To validate the ...

Cryogenic Pupil Alignment Test Architecture for Aberrated Pupil Images

Science.gov (United States)

Bos, Brent; Kubalak, David A.; Antonille, Scott; Ohl, Raymond; Hagopian, John G.

2009-01-01

A document describes cryogenic test architecture for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) integrated science instrument module (ISIM). The ISIM element primarily consists of a mechanical metering structure, three science instruments, and a fine guidance sensor. One of the critical optomechanical alignments is the co-registration of the optical telescope element (OTE) exit pupil with the entrance pupils of the ISIM instruments. The test architecture has been developed to verify that the ISIM element will be properly aligned with the nominal OTE exit pupil when the two elements come together. The architecture measures three of the most critical pupil degrees-of-freedom during optical testing of the ISIM element. The pupil measurement scheme makes use of specularly reflective pupil alignment references located inside the JWST instruments, ground support equipment that contains a pupil imaging module, an OTE simulator, and pupil viewing channels in two of the JWST flight instruments. Pupil alignment references (PARs) are introduced into the instrument, and their reflections are checked using the instrument's mirrors. After the pupil imaging module (PIM) captures a reflected PAR image, the image will be analyzed to determine the relative alignment offset. The instrument pupil alignment preferences are specularly reflective mirrors with non-reflective fiducials, which makes the test architecture feasible. The instrument channels have fairly large fields of view, allowing PAR tip/tilt tolerances on the order of 0.5deg.

Analysis, Modeling, and Simulation (AMS) Testbed Development and Evaluation to Support Dynamic Mobility Applications (DMA) and Active Transportation and Demand Management (ATDM) Programs : Evaluation Report for the San Diego Testbed : Draft Report.

Science.gov (United States)

2017-07-01

The primary objective of this project is to develop multiple simulation testbeds and transportation models to evaluate the impacts of Connected Vehicle Dynamic Mobility Applications (DMA) and Active Transportation and Demand Management (ATDM) strateg...

PlanetLab Europe as Geographically-Distributed Testbed for Software Development and Evaluation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dan Komosny

2015-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we analyse the use of PlanetLab Europe for development and evaluation of geographically-oriented Internet services. PlanetLab is a global research network with the main purpose to support development of new Internet services and protocols. PlanetLab is divided into several branches; one of them is PlanetLab Europe. PlanetLab Europe consists of about 350 nodes at 150 geographically different sites. The nodes are accessible by remote login, and the users can run their software on the nodes. In the paper, we study the PlanetLab's properties that are significant for its use as a geographically distributed testbed. This includes node position accuracy, services availability and stability. We find a considerable number of location inaccuracies and a number of services that cannot be considered as reliable. Based on the results we propose a simple approach to nodes selection in testbeds for geographically-oriented Internet services development and evaluation.

Sensing across large-scale cognitive radio networks: Data processing, algorithms, and testbed for wireless tomography and moving target tracking

Science.gov (United States)

Bonior, Jason David

As the use of wireless devices has become more widespread so has the potential for utilizing wireless networks for remote sensing applications. Regular wireless communication devices are not typically designed for remote sensing. Remote sensing techniques must be carefully tailored to the capabilities of these networks before they can be applied. Experimental verification of these techniques and algorithms requires robust yet flexible testbeds. In this dissertation, two experimental testbeds for the advancement of research into sensing across large-scale cognitive radio networks are presented. System architectures, implementations, capabilities, experimental verification, and performance are discussed. One testbed is designed for the collection of scattering data to be used in RF and wireless tomography research. This system is used to collect full complex scattering data using a vector network analyzer (VNA) and amplitude-only data using non-synchronous software-defined radios (SDRs). Collected data is used to experimentally validate a technique for phase reconstruction using semidefinite relaxation and demonstrate the feasibility of wireless tomography. The second testbed is a SDR network for the collection of experimental data. The development of tools for network maintenance and data collection is presented and discussed. A novel recursive weighted centroid algorithm for device-free target localization using the variance of received signal strength for wireless links is proposed. The signal variance resulting from a moving target is modeled as having contours related to Cassini ovals. This model is used to formulate recursive weights which reduce the influence of wireless links that are farther from the target location estimate. The algorithm and its implementation on this testbed are presented and experimental results discussed.

Accelerating Innovation that Enhances Resource Recovery in the Wastewater Sector: Advancing a National Testbed Network.

Science.gov (United States)

Mihelcic, James R; Ren, Zhiyong Jason; Cornejo, Pablo K; Fisher, Aaron; Simon, A J; Snyder, Seth W; Zhang, Qiong; Rosso, Diego; Huggins, Tyler M; Cooper, William; Moeller, Jeff; Rose, Bob; Schottel, Brandi L; Turgeon, Jason

2017-07-18

This Feature examines significant challenges and opportunities to spur innovation and accelerate adoption of reliable technologies that enhance integrated resource recovery in the wastewater sector through the creation of a national testbed network. The network is a virtual entity that connects appropriate physical testing facilities, and other components needed for a testbed network, with researchers, investors, technology providers, utilities, regulators, and other stakeholders to accelerate the adoption of innovative technologies and processes that are needed for the water resource recovery facility of the future. Here we summarize and extract key issues and developments, to provide a strategy for the wastewater sector to accelerate a path forward that leads to new sustainable water infrastructures.

The science case and data processing strategy for the Thinned Aperture Light Collector (TALC): a project for a 20 m far-infrared space telescope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sauvage, Marc; Durand, Gilles A.; Rodriguez, Louis R.; Starck, Jean-Luc; Ronayette, Samuel; Aussel, Herve; Minier, Vincent; Motte, Frederique; Pantin, Eric J.; Sureau, Florent

2014-01-01

The future of far-infrared observations rests on our capacity to reach sub-arc-second angular resolution around 100 μm, in order to achieve a significant advance with respect to our current capabilities. Furthermore, by reaching this angular resolution we can bridge the gap between capacities offered by the JWST in the near infrared and those allowed by ALMA in the submillimeter, and thus benefit from similar resolving capacities over the whole wavelength range where interstellar dust radiates and where key atomic and molecular transitions are found. In an accompanying paper, we present a concept of a deployable annular telescope, named TALC for Thinned Aperture Light Collector, reaching 20 m in diameter. Being annular, this telescope features a main beam width equivalent to that of a 27 m telescope, i.e. an angular resolution of 0.92'' at 100 μm. In this paper we focus on the science case of such a telescope as well on the aspects of unconventional data processing that come with this unconventional optical configuration. The principal science cases of TALC revolve around its imaging capacities, that allow resolving the Kuiper belt in extra-solar planetary systems, or the filamentary scale in star forming clouds all the way to the Galactic Center, or the Narrow Line Region in Active Galactic Nuclei of the Local Group, or breaking the confusion limit to resolve the Cosmic Infrared Background. Equipping this telescope with detectors capable of imaging polarimetry offers as well the extremely interesting perspective to study the influence of the magnetic field in structuring the interstellar medium. We will then present simulations of the optical performance of such a telescope. The main feature of an annular telescope is the small amount of energy contained in the main beam, around 30% for the studied configuration, and the presence of bright diffraction rings. Using simulated point spread functions for realistic broad-band filters, we study the observing

An Approach for Smart Antenna Testbed

Science.gov (United States)

Kawitkar, R. S.; Wakde, D. G.

2003-07-01

The use of wireless, mobile, personal communications services are expanding rapidly. Adaptive or "Smart" antenna arrays can increase channel capacity through spatial division. Adaptive antennas can also track mobile users, improving both signal range and quality. For these reasons, smart antenna systems have attracted widespread interest in the telecommunications industry for applications to third generation wireless systems.This paper aims to design and develop an advanced antennas testbed to serve as a common reference for testing adaptive antenna arrays and signal combining algorithms, as well as complete systems. A flexible suite of off line processing software should be written using matlab to perform system calibration, test bed initialization, data acquisition control, data storage/transfer, off line signal processing and analysis and graph plotting. The goal of this paper is to develop low complexity smart antenna structures for 3G systems. The emphasis will be laid on ease of implementation in a multichannel / multi-user environment. A smart antenna test bed will be developed, and various state-of-the-art DSP structures and algorithms will be investigated.Facing the soaring demand for mobile communications, the use of smart antenna arrays in mobile communications systems to exploit spatial diversity to further improve spectral efficiency has recently received considerable attention. Basically, a smart antenna array comprises a number of antenna elements combined via a beamforming network (amplitude and phase control network). Some of the benefits that can be achieved by using SAS (Smart Antenna System) include lower mobile terminal power consumption, range extension, ISI reduction, higher data rate support, and ease of integration into the existing base station system. In terms of economic benefits, adaptive antenna systems employed at base station, though increases the per base station cost, can increase coverage area of each cell site, thereby reducing

A Testbed to Evaluate the FIWARE-Based IoT Platform in the Domain of Precision Agriculture

Science.gov (United States)

Martínez, Ramón; Pastor, Juan Ángel; Álvarez, Bárbara; Iborra, Andrés

2016-01-01

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) represent one of the most promising technologies for precision farming. Over the next few years, a significant increase in the use of such systems on commercial farms is expected. WSNs present a number of problems, regarding scalability, interoperability, communications, connectivity with databases and data processing. Different Internet of Things middleware is appearing to overcome these challenges. This paper checks whether one of these middleware, FIWARE, is suitable for the development of agricultural applications. To the authors’ knowledge, there are no works that show how to use FIWARE in precision agriculture and study its appropriateness, its scalability and its efficiency for this kind of applications. To do this, a testbed has been designed and implemented to simulate different deployments and load conditions. The testbed is a typical FIWARE application, complete, yet simple and comprehensible enough to show the main features and components of FIWARE, as well as the complexity of using this technology. Although the testbed has been deployed in a laboratory environment, its design is based on the analysis of an Internet of Things use case scenario in the domain of precision agriculture. PMID:27886091

Developing the science product algorithm testbed for Chinese next-generation geostationary meteorological satellites: Fengyun-4 series

Science.gov (United States)

Min, Min; Wu, Chunqiang; Li, Chuan; Liu, Hui; Xu, Na; Wu, Xiao; Chen, Lin; Wang, Fu; Sun, Fenglin; Qin, Danyu; Wang, Xi; Li, Bo; Zheng, Zhaojun; Cao, Guangzhen; Dong, Lixin

2017-08-01

Fengyun-4A (FY-4A), the first of the Chinese next-generation geostationary meteorological satellites, launched in 2016, offers several advances over the FY-2: more spectral bands, faster imaging, and infrared hyperspectral measurements. To support the major objective of developing the prototypes of FY-4 science algorithms, two science product algorithm testbeds for imagers and sounders have been developed by the scientists in the FY-4 Algorithm Working Group (AWG). Both testbeds, written in FORTRAN and C programming languages for Linux or UNIX systems, have been tested successfully by using Intel/g compilers. Some important FY-4 science products, including cloud mask, cloud properties, and temperature profiles, have been retrieved successfully through using a proxy imager, Himawari-8/Advanced Himawari Imager (AHI), and sounder data, obtained from the Atmospheric InfraRed Sounder, thus demonstrating their robustness. In addition, in early 2016, the FY-4 AWG was developed based on the imager testbed—a near real-time processing system for Himawari-8/AHI data for use by Chinese weather forecasters. Consequently, robust and flexible science product algorithm testbeds have provided essential and productive tools for popularizing FY-4 data and developing substantial improvements in FY-4 products.

Development and experimentation of an eye/brain/task testbed

Science.gov (United States)

Harrington, Nora; Villarreal, James

1987-01-01

The principal objective is to develop a laboratory testbed that will provide a unique capability to elicit, control, record, and analyze the relationship of operator task loading, operator eye movement, and operator brain wave data in a computer system environment. The ramifications of an integrated eye/brain monitor to the man machine interface are staggering. The success of such a system would benefit users of space and defense, paraplegics, and the monitoring of boring screens (nuclear power plants, air defense, etc.)

Operating performance of the gamma-ray Cherenkov telescope: An end-to-end Schwarzschild–Couder telescope prototype for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dournaux, J.L., E-mail: jean-laurent.dournaux@obspm.fr [GEPI, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, CNRS, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Université Paris Diderot, Place J. Janssen, 92190 Meudon (France); De Franco, A. [Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3RH (United Kingdom); Laporte, P. [GEPI, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, CNRS, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Université Paris Diderot, Place J. Janssen, 92190 Meudon (France); White, R. [Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Saupfercheckweg 1, 69117 Heidelberg (Germany); Greenshaw, T. [University of Liverpool, Oliver Lodge Laboratory, P.O. Box 147, Oxford Street, Liverpool L69 3BX (United Kingdom); Sol, H. [LUTH, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, CNRS, Université Paris Diderot, Place J. Janssen, 92190 Meudon (France); Abchiche, A. [CNRS, Division technique DT-INSU, 1 Place Aristide Briand, 92190 Meudon (France); Allan, D. [Department of Physics and Centre for Advanced Instrumentation, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE (United Kingdom); Amans, J.P. [GEPI, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, CNRS, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Université Paris Diderot, Place J. Janssen, 92190 Meudon (France); Armstrong, T.P. [Department of Physics and Centre for Advanced Instrumentation, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE (United Kingdom); Balzer, A.; Berge, D. [GRAPPA, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam (Netherlands); Boisson, C. [LUTH, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, CNRS, Université Paris Diderot, Place J. Janssen, 92190 Meudon (France); and others

2017-02-11

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) consortium aims to build the next-generation ground-based very-high-energy gamma-ray observatory. The array will feature different sizes of telescopes allowing it to cover a wide gamma-ray energy band from about 20 GeV to above 100 TeV. The highest energies, above 5 TeV, will be covered by a large number of Small-Sized Telescopes (SSTs) with a field-of-view of around 9°. The Gamma-ray Cherenkov Telescope (GCT), based on Schwarzschild–Couder dual-mirror optics, is one of the three proposed SST designs. The GCT is described in this contribution and the first images of Cherenkov showers obtained using the telescope and its camera are presented. These were obtained in November 2015 in Meudon, France.

The University of Canberra quantum key distribution testbed

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ganeshkumar, G.; Edwards, P.J.; Cheung, W.N.; Barbopoulos, L.O.; Pham, H.; Hazel, J.C.

1999-01-01

Full text: We describe the design, operation and preliminary results obtained from a quantum key distribution (QKD) testbed constructed at the University of Canberra. Quantum cryptographic systems use shared secret keys exchanged in the form of sequences of polarisation coded or phase encoded single photons transmitted over an optical communications channel. Secrecy of this quantum key rests upon fundamental laws of quantum physics: measurements of linear or circular photon polarisation states introduce noise into the conjugate variable and so reveal eavesdropping. In its initial realisation reported here, pulsed light from a 650nm laser diode is attenuated by a factor of 10 6 , plane-polarised and then transmitted through a birefringent liquid crystal modulator (LCM) to a polarisation sensitive single photon receiver. This transmitted key sequence consists of a 1 kHz train of weak coherent 100ns wide light pulses, polarisation coded according to the BB84 protocol. Each pulse is randomly assigned one of four polarisation states (two orthogonal linear and two orthogonal circular) by computer PCA operated by the sender ('Alice'). This quaternary polarisation shift keyed photon stream is detected by the receiver ('Bob') whose computer (PCB) randomly chooses either a linear or a circular polarisation basis. Computer PCB is also used for final key selection, authentication, privacy amplification and eavesdropping. We briefly discuss the realisation of a mesoscopic single photon QKD source and the use of the testbed to simulate a global quantum key distribution system using earth satellites. Copyright (1999) Australian Optical Society

The CMS Integration Grid Testbed

CERN Document Server

Graham, G E; Aziz, Shafqat; Bauerdick, L.A.T.; Ernst, Michael; Kaiser, Joseph; Ratnikova, Natalia; Wenzel, Hans; Wu, Yu-jun; Aslakson, Erik; Bunn, Julian; Iqbal, Saima; Legrand, Iosif; Newman, Harvey; Singh, Suresh; Steenberg, Conrad; Branson, James; Fisk, Ian; Letts, James; Arbree, Adam; Avery, Paul; Bourilkov, Dimitri; Cavanaugh, Richard; Rodriguez, Jorge Luis; Kategari, Suchindra; Couvares, Peter; DeSmet, Alan; Livny, Miron; Roy, Alain; Tannenbaum, Todd; Graham, Gregory E.; Aziz, Shafqat; Ernst, Michael; Kaiser, Joseph; Ratnikova, Natalia; Wenzel, Hans; Wu, Yujun; Aslakson, Erik; Bunn, Julian; Iqbal, Saima; Legrand, Iosif; Newman, Harvey; Singh, Suresh; Steenberg, Conrad; Branson, James; Fisk, Ian; Letts, James; Arbree, Adam; Avery, Paul; Bourilkov, Dimitri; Cavanaugh, Richard; Rodriguez, Jorge; Kategari, Suchindra; Couvares, Peter; Smet, Alan De; Livny, Miron; Roy, Alain; Tannenbaum, Todd

2003-01-01

The CMS Integration Grid Testbed (IGT) comprises USCMS Tier-1 and Tier-2 hardware at the following sites: the California Institute of Technology, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, the University of California at San Diego, and the University of Florida at Gainesville. The IGT runs jobs using the Globus Toolkit with a DAGMan and Condor-G front end. The virtual organization (VO) is managed using VO management scripts from the European Data Grid (EDG). Gridwide monitoring is accomplished using local tools such as Ganglia interfaced into the Globus Metadata Directory Service (MDS) and the agent based Mona Lisa. Domain specific software is packaged and installed using the Distrib ution After Release (DAR) tool of CMS, while middleware under the auspices of the Virtual Data Toolkit (VDT) is distributed using Pacman. During a continuo us two month span in Fall of 2002, over 1 million official CMS GEANT based Monte Carlo events were generated and returned to CERN for analysis while being demonstrated at SC2002. ...

PROSPECTS FOR CHARACTERIZING THE ATMOSPHERE OF PROXIMA CENTAURI b

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kreidberg, Laura [Harvard Society of Fellows, Harvard University, 78 Mt. Auburn Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Loeb, Abraham, E-mail: laura.kreidberg@cfa.harvard.edu [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)

2016-11-20

The newly detected Earth-mass planet in the habitable zone of Proxima Centauri could potentially host life—if it has an atmosphere that supports surface liquid water. We show that thermal phase curve observations with the James Webb Space Telescope ( JWST ) from 5–12 μ m can be used to test for the existence of such an atmosphere. We predict the thermal variation for a bare rock versus a planet with 35% heat redistribution to the nightside and show that a JWST phase curve measurement can distinguish between these cases at 4 σ confidence, assuming photon-limited precision. We also consider the case of an Earth-like atmosphere, and find that the 9.8 μ m ozone band could be detected with longer integration times (a few months). We conclude that JWST observations have the potential to put the first constraints on the possibility of life around the the solar system’s nearest star.

PROSPECTS FOR CHARACTERIZING THE ATMOSPHERE OF PROXIMA CENTAURI b

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kreidberg, Laura; Loeb, Abraham

2016-01-01

The newly detected Earth-mass planet in the habitable zone of Proxima Centauri could potentially host life—if it has an atmosphere that supports surface liquid water. We show that thermal phase curve observations with the James Webb Space Telescope ( JWST ) from 5–12 μ m can be used to test for the existence of such an atmosphere. We predict the thermal variation for a bare rock versus a planet with 35% heat redistribution to the nightside and show that a JWST phase curve measurement can distinguish between these cases at 4 σ confidence, assuming photon-limited precision. We also consider the case of an Earth-like atmosphere, and find that the 9.8 μ m ozone band could be detected with longer integration times (a few months). We conclude that JWST observations have the potential to put the first constraints on the possibility of life around the the solar system’s nearest star.

Cooperating expert systems for Space Station - Power/thermal subsystem testbeds

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, Carla M.; Weeks, David J.; Sundberg, Gale R.; Healey, Kathleen L.; Dominick, Jeffrey S.

1988-01-01

The Systems Autonomy Demonstration Project (SADP) is a NASA-sponsored series of increasingly complex demonstrations to show the benefits of integrating knowledge-based systems with conventional process control in real-time, real-world problem domains that can facilitate the operations and availability of major Space Station distributed systems. This paper describes the system design, objectives, approaches, and status of each of the testbed knowledge-based systems. Simplified schematics of the systems are shown.

An innovative telescope control system architecture for SST-GATE telescopes at the CTA Observatory

Science.gov (United States)

Fasola, Gilles; Mignot, Shan; Laporte, Philippe; Abchiche, Abdel; Buchholtz, Gilles; Jégouzo, Isabelle

2014-07-01

SST-GATE (Small Size Telescope - GAmma-ray Telescope Elements) is a 4-metre telescope designed as a prototype for the Small Size Telescopes (SST) of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), a major facility for the very high energy gamma-ray astronomy of the next three decades. In this 100-telescope array there will be 70 SSTs, involving a design with an industrial view aiming at long-term service, low maintenance effort and reduced costs. More than a prototype, SST-GATE is also a fully functional telescope that shall be usable by scientists and students at the Observatoire de Meudon for 30 years. The Telescope Control System (TCS) is designed to work either as an element of a large array driven by an array controller or in a stand-alone mode with a remote workstation. Hence it is built to be autonomous with versatile interfacing; as an example, pointing and tracking —the main functions of the telescope— are managed onboard, including astronomical transformations, geometrical transformations (e.g. telescope bending model) and drive control. The core hardware is a CompactRIO (cRIO) featuring a real-time operating system and an FPGA. In this paper, we present an overview of the current status of the TCS. We especially focus on three items: the pointing computation implemented in the FPGA of the cRIO —using CORDIC algorithms— since it enables an optimisation of the hardware resources; data flow management based on OPCUA with its specific implementation on the cRIO; and the use of an EtherCAT field-bus for its ability to provide real-time data exchanges with the sensors and actuators distributed throughout the telescope.

Classic Telescopes A Guide to Collecting, Restoring, and Using Telescopes of Yesteryear

CERN Document Server

English, Neil

2013-01-01

Classic Telescopes explores the exciting world of telescopes past, as well as the possibilities involved in acquiring these instruments. What are classic telescopes? First, the book takes a look at the more traditional telescopes built by the great instrument makers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and the dynastic houses founded by the likes of John Dollond, Alvan Clark, Thomas Cooke & Sons and Carl Zeiss, plus some lesser-known luminaries, including John Brashear, John Calver, and Henry Fitz. Instruments constructed from the 1950s until as recently as the early 1990s are now also considered 'classic.' There is thus a very active market for buying and selling these 'modern' classics. The author examines some of the most talked about instruments on the amateur Internet forums, including the Unitron refractors, the Questar 90, a classic 6-inch reflector, the RV-6; a 3-inch F/15 achromat by Fullerscopes; the time-honored AstroScan Richfield reflector; and many, many more. Classic telescopes are of...

Establishment of a sensor testbed at NIST for plant productivity monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Allen, D. W.; Hutyra, L.; Reinmann, A.; Trlica, A.; Marrs, J.; Jones, T.; Whetstone, J. R.; Logan, B.; Reblin, J.

2017-12-01

Accurate assessments of biogenic carbon fluxes is challenging. Correlating optical signatures to plant activity allows for monitoring large regions. New methods, including solar-induced fluorescence (SIF), promise to provide more timely and accurate estimate of plant activity, but we are still developing a full understanding of the mechanistic leakage between plant assimilation of carbon and SIF. We have initiated a testbed to facilitate the evaluation of sensors and methods for remote monitoring of plant activity at the NIST headquarters. The test bed utilizes a forested area of mature trees in a mixed urban environment. A 1 hectare plot within the 26 hectare forest has been instrumented for ecophysiological measurements with an edge (100 m long) that is persistently monitored with multimodal optical sensors (SIF spectrometers, hyperspectral imagers, thermal infrared imaging, and lidar). This biological testbed has the advantage of direct access to the national scales maintained by NIST of measurements related to both the physical and optical measurements of interest. We offer a description of the test site, the sensors, and preliminary results from the first season of observations for ecological, physiological, and remote sensing based estimates of ecosystem productivity.

The Objectives of NASA's Living with a Star Space Environment Testbed

Science.gov (United States)

Barth, Janet L.; LaBel, Kenneth A.; Brewer, Dana; Kauffman, Billy; Howard, Regan; Griffin, Geoff; Day, John H. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

NASA is planning to fly a series of Space Environment Testbeds (SET) as part of the Living With A Star (LWS) Program. The goal of the testbeds is to improve and develop capabilities to mitigate and/or accommodate the affects of solar variability in spacecraft and avionics design and operation. This will be accomplished by performing technology validation in space to enable routine operations, characterize technology performance in space, and improve and develop models, guidelines and databases. The anticipated result of the LWS/SET program is improved spacecraft performance, design, and operation for survival of the radiation, spacecraft charging, meteoroid, orbital debris and thermosphere/ionosphere environments. The program calls for a series of NASA Research Announcements (NRAs) to be issued to solicit flight validation experiments, improvement in environment effects models and guidelines, and collateral environment measurements. The selected flight experiments may fly on the SET experiment carriers and flights of opportunity on other commercial and technology missions. This paper presents the status of the project so far, including a description of the types of experiments that are intended to fly on SET-1 and a description of the SET-1 carrier parameters.

Alignment and phasing of deployable telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Woolf, N. J.; Ulich, B. L.

1983-01-01

The experiences in coaligning and phasing the Multi-Mirror Telescope (MMT), together with studies in setting up radio telescopes, are presented. These experiences are discussed, and on the basis they furnish, schemes are suggested for coaligning and phasing four large future telescopes with complex primary mirror systems. These telescopes are MT2, a 15-m-equivalent MMT, the University of California Ten Meter Telescope, the 10 m sub-mm wave telescope of the University of Arizona and the Max Planck Institute for Radioastronomy, and the Large Deployable Reflector, a future space telescope for far-IR and sub-mm waves.

OVERVIEW OF THE ATACAMA COSMOLOGY TELESCOPE: RECEIVER, INSTRUMENTATION, AND TELESCOPE SYSTEMS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Swetz, D. S.; Devlin, M. J.; Dicker, S. R.; Ade, P. A. R.; Amiri, M.; Battistelli, E. S.; Burger, B.; Halpern, M.; Hasselfield, M.; Appel, J. W.; Essinger-Hileman, T.; Fisher, R. P.; Fowler, J. W.; Hincks, A. D.; Jarosik, N.; Chervenak, J.; Doriese, W. B.; Hilton, G. C.; Irwin, K. D.; Duenner, R.

2011-01-01

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope was designed to measure small-scale anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background and detect galaxy clusters through the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect. The instrument is located on Cerro Toco in the Atacama Desert, at an altitude of 5190 m. A 6 m off-axis Gregorian telescope feeds a new type of cryogenic receiver, the Millimeter Bolometer Array Camera. The receiver features three 1000-element arrays of transition-edge sensor bolometers for observations at 148 GHz, 218 GHz, and 277 GHz. Each detector array is fed by free space millimeter-wave optics. Each frequency band has a field of view of approximately 22' x 26'. The telescope was commissioned in 2007 and has completed its third year of operations. We discuss the major components of the telescope, camera, and related systems, and summarize the instrument performance.

Overview of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Receiver, Instrumentation, and Telescope Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Swetz, D. S.; Ade, P. A. R.; Amiri, M.; Appel, J. W.; Battistelli, E. S.; Burger, B.; Chervenak, J.; Devlin, M. J.; Dicker, S. R.; Doriese, W. B.; Dünner, R.; Essinger-Hileman, T.; Fisher, R. P.; Fowler, J. W.; Halpern, M.; Hasselfield, M.; Hilton, G. C.; Hincks, A. D.; Irwin, K. D.; Jarosik, N.; Kaul, M.; Klein, J.; Lau, J. M.; Limon, M.; Marriage, T. A.; Marsden, D.; Martocci, K.; Mauskopf, P.; Moseley, H.; Netterfield, C. B.; Niemack, M. D.; Nolta, M. R.; Page, L. A.; Parker, L.; Staggs, S. T.; Stryzak, O.; Switzer, E. R.; Thornton, R.; Tucker, C.; Wollack, E.; Zhao, Y.

2011-06-01

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope was designed to measure small-scale anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background and detect galaxy clusters through the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect. The instrument is located on Cerro Toco in the Atacama Desert, at an altitude of 5190 m. A 6 m off-axis Gregorian telescope feeds a new type of cryogenic receiver, the Millimeter Bolometer Array Camera. The receiver features three 1000-element arrays of transition-edge sensor bolometers for observations at 148 GHz, 218 GHz, and 277 GHz. Each detector array is fed by free space millimeter-wave optics. Each frequency band has a field of view of approximately 22' × 26'. The telescope was commissioned in 2007 and has completed its third year of operations. We discuss the major components of the telescope, camera, and related systems, and summarize the instrument performance.

Development of Research Reactor Simulator and Its Application to Dynamic Test-bed

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kwon, Kee Choon; Park, Jae Chang; Lee, Seung Wook; Bang, Dane; Bae, Sung Won

2014-01-01

We developed HANARO and the Jordan Research and Training Reactor (JRTR) real-time simulator for operating staff training. The main purpose of this simulator is operator training, but we modified this simulator as a dynamic test-bed to test the reactor regulating system in HANARO or JRTR before installation. The simulator configuration is divided into hardware and software. The simulator hardware consists of a host computer, 6 operator stations, a network switch, and a large display panel. The simulator software is divided into three major parts: a mathematical modeling module, which executes the plant dynamic modeling program in real-time, an instructor station module that manages user instructions, and a human machine interface (HMI) module. The developed research reactors are installed in the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute nuclear training center for reactor operator training. To use the simulator as a dynamic test-bed, the reactor regulating system modeling software of the simulator was replaced by a hardware controller and the simulator and target controller were interfaced with a hard-wired and network-based interface

Adaptive Coding and Modulation Experiment With NASA's Space Communication and Navigation Testbed

Science.gov (United States)

Downey, Joseph; Mortensen, Dale; Evans, Michael; Briones, Janette; Tollis, Nicholas

2016-01-01

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)'s Space Communication and Navigation Testbed is an advanced integrated communication payload on the International Space Station. This paper presents results from an adaptive coding and modulation (ACM) experiment over S-band using a direct-to-earth link between the SCaN Testbed and the Glenn Research Center. The testing leverages the established Digital Video Broadcasting Second Generation (DVB-S2) standard to provide various modulation and coding options, and uses the Space Data Link Protocol (Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) standard) for the uplink and downlink data framing. The experiment was conducted in a challenging environment due to the multipath and shadowing caused by the International Space Station structure. Several approaches for improving the ACM system are presented, including predictive and learning techniques to accommodate signal fades. Performance of the system is evaluated as a function of end-to-end system latency (round-trip delay), and compared to the capacity of the link. Finally, improvements over standard NASA waveforms are presented.

Development of Research Reactor Simulator and Its Application to Dynamic Test-bed

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kwon, Kee Choon; Park, Jae Chang; Lee, Seung Wook; Bang, Dane; Bae, Sung Won [KAERI, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2014-08-15

We developed HANARO and the Jordan Research and Training Reactor (JRTR) real-time simulator for operating staff training. The main purpose of this simulator is operator training, but we modified this simulator as a dynamic test-bed to test the reactor regulating system in HANARO or JRTR before installation. The simulator configuration is divided into hardware and software. The simulator hardware consists of a host computer, 6 operator stations, a network switch, and a large display panel. The simulator software is divided into three major parts: a mathematical modeling module, which executes the plant dynamic modeling program in real-time, an instructor station module that manages user instructions, and a human machine interface (HMI) module. The developed research reactors are installed in the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute nuclear training center for reactor operator training. To use the simulator as a dynamic test-bed, the reactor regulating system modeling software of the simulator was replaced by a hardware controller and the simulator and target controller were interfaced with a hard-wired and network-based interface.

Survey of Enabling Technologies for CAPS

Science.gov (United States)

Antol, Jeffrey; Mazanek, Daniel D.; Koons, Robert H.

2005-01-01

The enabling technologies required for the development of a viable Comet/Asteroid Protection System (CAPS) can be divided into two principal areas: detection and deflection/orbit modification. With the proper funding levels, many of the technologies needed to support a CAPS architecture could be achievable within the next 15 to 20 years. In fact, many advanced detection technologies are currently in development for future in-space telescope systems such as the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), formerly known as the Next Generation Space Telescope. It is anticipated that many of the JWST technologies would be available for application for CAPS detection concepts. Deflection/orbit modification technologies are also currently being studied as part of advanced power and propulsion research. However, many of these technologies, such as extremely high-output power systems, advanced propulsion, heat rejection, and directed energy systems, would likely be farther term in availability than many of the detection technologies. Discussed subsequently is a preliminary examination of the main technologies that have been identified as being essential to providing the element functionality defined during the CAPS conceptual study. The detailed requirements for many of the technology areas are still unknown, and many additional technologies will be identified as future in-depth studies are conducted in this area.

Static and dynamic optimization of CAPE problems using a Model Testbed

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

This paper presents a new computer aided tool for setting up and solving CAPE related static and dynamic optimisation problems. The Model Testbed (MOT) offers an integrated environment for setting up and solving a very large range of CAPE problems, including complex optimisation problems...... and dynamic optimisation, and how interfacing of solvers and seamless information flow can lead to more efficient solution of process design problems....

DISCRIMINATING BETWEEN CLOUDY, HAZY, AND CLEAR SKY EXOPLANETS USING REFRACTION

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Misra, Amit K.; Meadows, Victoria S. [Astronomy Department, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195 (United States)

2014-11-01

We propose a method to distinguish between cloudy, hazy, and clear sky (free of clouds and hazes) exoplanet atmospheres that could be applicable to upcoming large aperture space- and ground-based telescopes such as the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT). These facilities will be powerful tools for characterizing transiting exoplanets, but only after a considerable amount of telescope time is devoted to a single planet. A technique that could provide a relatively rapid means of identifying haze-free targets (which may be more valuable targets for characterization) could potentially increase the science return for these telescopes. Our proposed method utilizes broadband observations of refracted light in the out-of-transit spectrum. Light refracted through an exoplanet atmosphere can lead to an increase of flux prior to ingress and subsequent to egress. Because this light is transmitted at pressures greater than those for typical cloud and haze layers, the detection of refracted light could indicate a cloud- or haze-free atmosphere. A detection of refracted light could be accomplished in <10 hr for Jovian exoplanets with JWST and <5 hr for super-Earths/mini-Neptunes with E-ELT. We find that this technique is most effective for planets with equilibrium temperatures between 200 and 500 K, which may include potentially habitable planets. A detection of refracted light for a potentially habitable planet would strongly suggest the planet was free of a global cloud or haze layer, and therefore a promising candidate for follow-up observations.

DISCRIMINATING BETWEEN CLOUDY, HAZY, AND CLEAR SKY EXOPLANETS USING REFRACTION

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Misra, Amit K.; Meadows, Victoria S.

2014-01-01

We propose a method to distinguish between cloudy, hazy, and clear sky (free of clouds and hazes) exoplanet atmospheres that could be applicable to upcoming large aperture space- and ground-based telescopes such as the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT). These facilities will be powerful tools for characterizing transiting exoplanets, but only after a considerable amount of telescope time is devoted to a single planet. A technique that could provide a relatively rapid means of identifying haze-free targets (which may be more valuable targets for characterization) could potentially increase the science return for these telescopes. Our proposed method utilizes broadband observations of refracted light in the out-of-transit spectrum. Light refracted through an exoplanet atmosphere can lead to an increase of flux prior to ingress and subsequent to egress. Because this light is transmitted at pressures greater than those for typical cloud and haze layers, the detection of refracted light could indicate a cloud- or haze-free atmosphere. A detection of refracted light could be accomplished in <10 hr for Jovian exoplanets with JWST and <5 hr for super-Earths/mini-Neptunes with E-ELT. We find that this technique is most effective for planets with equilibrium temperatures between 200 and 500 K, which may include potentially habitable planets. A detection of refracted light for a potentially habitable planet would strongly suggest the planet was free of a global cloud or haze layer, and therefore a promising candidate for follow-up observations

Workshop “Science with the VLT in the ELT Era”

CERN Document Server

Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings

2008-01-01

The Workshop ‘Science with the VLT in the ELT era’ was organised by ESO as a forum for the astronomical community to debate its expected future use of ESO’s Very Large Telescope ( and its VLTI interferometric mode) when other facilities such as ALMA, JWST and, hopefully, at least one extremely large 30-40m class telescope will be operating. VLT/I science highlights were presented, future science priorities argued, synergies between the VLT and the future facilities confirmed and specific new VLT/I instruments proposed.

Alt-Az Spacewatch Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Gehrels, Tom

1997-01-01

This grant funded about one third of the cost of the construction of a telescope with an aperture 1.8 meters in diameter to discover asteroids and comets and investigate the statistics of their populations and orbital distributions. This telescope has been built to the PI's specifications and installed in a dome on Kitt Peak mountain in Arizona. Funds for the dome and building were provided entirely by private sources. The dome building and telescope were dedicated in a ceremony at the site on June 7, 1997. The attached abstract describes the parameters of the telescope. The telescope is a new item of capital property. It is permanently located in University of Arizona building number 910 in the Steward Observatory compound on Kitt Peak mountain in the Tohono O'odham Nation, Arizona. fts property tag number is A252107. This grant did not include funds for the coma corrector lens, instrument derotator, CCD detector, detector electronics, or computers to acquire or process the data. It also did not include funds to operate the telescope or conduct research with it. Funds for these items and efforts are pending from NASA and other sources.

Analysis, modeling, and simulation (AMS) testbed development and evaluation to support dynamic mobility applications (DMA) and active transportation and demand management (ATDM) programs — evaluation report for ATDM program. [supporting datasets - Pasadena Testbed

Science.gov (United States)

2017-07-26

This zip file contains POSTDATA.ATT (.ATT); Print to File (.PRN); Portable Document Format (.PDF); and document (.DOCX) files of data to support FHWA-JPO-16-385, Analysis, modeling, and simulation (AMS) testbed development and evaluation to support d...

The Living With a Star Space Environment Testbed Experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Xapsos, Michael A.

2014-01-01

The focus of the Living With a Star (LWS) Space Environment Testbed (SET) program is to improve the performance of hardware in the space radiation environment. The program has developed a payload for the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Demonstration and Science Experiments (DSX) spacecraft that is scheduled for launch in August 2015 on the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. The primary structure of DSX is an Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) Secondary Payload Adapter (ESPA) ring. DSX will be in a Medium Earth Orbit (MEO). This oral presentation will describe the SET payload.

EPIC: A Testbed for Scientifically Rigorous Cyber-Physical Security Experimentation

OpenAIRE

SIATERLIS CHRISTOS; GENGE BELA; HOHENADEL MARC

2013-01-01

Recent malware, like Stuxnet and Flame, constitute a major threat to Networked Critical Infrastructures (NCIs), e.g., power plants. They revealed several vulnerabilities in today's NCIs, but most importantly they highlighted the lack of an efficient scientific approach to conduct experiments that measure the impact of cyber threats on both the physical and the cyber parts of NCIs. In this paper we present EPIC, a novel cyber-physical testbed and a modern scientific instrument that can pr...

The great Melbourne telescope

CERN Document Server

Gillespie, Richard

2011-01-01

Erected at Melbourne Observatory in 1869, the telescope was the second largest in the world, designed to explore the nature of the nebulae in the southern skies. Richard Gillespie, head of the History and Technology department at the Melbourne museum has written an entertaining account of the telescope's extraordinary history and tells the story through an amazing cast of characters whose lives intersected with the telescope.

Scientific Performance Analysis of the SYZ Telescope Design versus the RC Telescope Design

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Donglin; Cai, Zheng

2018-02-01

Recently, Su et al. propose an innovative design, referred as the “SYZ” design, for China’s new project of a 12 m optical-infrared telescope. The SYZ telescope design consists of three aspheric mirrors with non-zero power, including a relay mirror below the primary mirror. SYZ design yields a good imaging quality and has a relatively flat field curvature at Nasmyth focus. To evaluate the science-compatibility of this three-mirror telescope, in this paper, we thoroughly compare the performance of SYZ design with that of Ritchey–Chrétien (RC) design, a conventional two-mirror telescope design. Further, we propose the Observing Information Throughput (OIT) as a metric for quantitatively evaluating the telescopes’ science performance. We find that although a SYZ telescope yields a superb imaging quality over a large field of view, a two-mirror (RC) telescope design holds a higher overall throughput, a better diffraction-limited imaging quality in the central field of view (FOV < 5‧) which is better for the performance of extreme Adaptive Optics (AO), and a generally better scientific performance with a higher OIT value. D. Ma & Z. Cai contributed equally to this paper.

Development of a Remotely Operated Vehicle Test-bed

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Biao WANG

2013-06-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the development of a remotely operated vehicle (ROV, designed to serve as a convenient, cost-effective platform for research and experimental validation of hardware, sensors and control algorithms. Both of the mechanical and control system design are introduced. The vehicle with a dimension 0.65 m long, 0.45 m wide has been designed to have a frame structure for modification of mounted devices and thruster allocation. For control system, STM32 based MCU boards specially designed for this project, are used as core processing boards. And an open source, modular, flexible software is developed. Experiment results demonstrate the effectiveness of the test-bed.

Testbed diversity as a fundamental principle for effective ICS security research

OpenAIRE

Green, Benjamin; Frey, Sylvain Andre Francis; Rashid, Awais; Hutchison, David

2016-01-01

The implementation of diversity in testbeds is essential to understanding and improving the security and resilience of Industrial Control Systems (ICS). Employing a wide spec- trum of equipment, diverse networks, and business processes, as deployed in real-life infrastructures, is particularly diffi- cult in experimental conditions. However, this level of di- versity is key from a security perspective, as attackers can exploit system particularities and process intricacies to their advantage....

The CMS integration grid testbed

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Graham, Gregory E.

2004-08-26

The CMS Integration Grid Testbed (IGT) comprises USCMS Tier-1 and Tier-2 hardware at the following sites: the California Institute of Technology, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, the University of California at San Diego, and the University of Florida at Gainesville. The IGT runs jobs using the Globus Toolkit with a DAGMan and Condor-G front end. The virtual organization (VO) is managed using VO management scripts from the European Data Grid (EDG). Gridwide monitoring is accomplished using local tools such as Ganglia interfaced into the Globus Metadata Directory Service (MDS) and the agent based Mona Lisa. Domain specific software is packaged and installed using the Distribution After Release (DAR) tool of CMS, while middleware under the auspices of the Virtual Data Toolkit (VDT) is distributed using Pacman. During a continuous two month span in Fall of 2002, over 1 million official CMS GEANT based Monte Carlo events were generated and returned to CERN for analysis while being demonstrated at SC2002. In this paper, we describe the process that led to one of the world's first continuously available, functioning grids.

Virtual Telescope Alignment System

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Next-generation space telescopes require two spacecraft to fly in a coordinated fashion in space forming a virtual telescope. Achieving and maintaining this precise...

A Monocular Vision Measurement System of Three-Degree-of-Freedom Air-Bearing Test-Bed Based on FCCSP

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Zhanyu; Gu, Yingying; Lv, Yaoyu; Xu, Zhenbang; Wu, Qingwen

2018-06-01

A monocular vision-based pose measurement system is provided for real-time measurement of a three-degree-of-freedom (3-DOF) air-bearing test-bed. Firstly, a circular plane cooperative target is designed. An image of a target fixed on the test-bed is then acquired. Blob analysis-based image processing is used to detect the object circles on the target. A fast algorithm (FCCSP) based on pixel statistics is proposed to extract the centers of object circles. Finally, pose measurements can be obtained when combined with the centers and the coordinate transformation relation. Experiments show that the proposed method is fast, accurate, and robust enough to satisfy the requirement of the pose measurement.

Creative thinking of design and redesign on SEAT aircraft cabin testbed: a case study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tan, C.F.; Chen, W.; Rauterberg, G.W.M.

2009-01-01

this paper, the intuition approach in the design and redesign of the environmental friendly innovative aircraft cabin simulator is presented.. The aircraft cabin simulator is a testbed that used for European Project SEAT (Smart tEchnologies for Stress free Air Travel). The SEAT project aims to

EMERGE - ESnet/MREN Regional Science Grid Experimental NGI Testbed

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mambretti, Joe; DeFanti, Tom; Brown, Maxine

2001-07-31

This document is the final report on the EMERGE Science Grid testbed research project from the perspective of the International Center for Advanced Internet Research (iCAIR) at Northwestern University, which was a subcontractor to this UIC project. This report is a compilation of information gathered from a variety of materials related to this project produced by multiple EMERGE participants, especially those at Electronic Visualization Lab (EVL) at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), Argonne National Lab and iCAIR. The EMERGE Science Grid project was managed by Tom DeFanti, PI from EVL at UIC.

Real-Time Emulation of Heterogeneous Wireless Networks with End-to-Edge Quality of Service Guarantees: The AROMA Testbed

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna Umbert

2010-01-01

Full Text Available This work presents and describes the real-time testbed for all-IP Beyond 3G (B3G heterogeneous wireless networks that has been developed in the framework of the European IST AROMA project. The main objective of the AROMA testbed is to provide a highly accurate and realistic framework where the performance of algorithms, policies, protocols, services, and applications for a complete heterogeneous wireless network can be fully assessed and evaluated before bringing them to a real system. The complexity of the interaction between all-IP B3G systems and user applications, while dealing with the Quality of Service (QoS concept, motivates the development of this kind of emulation platform where different solutions can be tested in realistic conditions that could not be achieved by means of simple offline simulations. This work provides an in-depth description of the AROMA testbed, emphasizing many interesting implementation details and lessons learned during the development of the tool that may result helpful to other researchers and system engineers in the development of similar emulation platforms. Several case studies are also presented in order to illustrate the full potential and capabilities of the presented emulation platform.

Development of an autonomous power system testbed

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barton, J.R.; Adams, T.; Liffring, M.E.

1985-01-01

A power system testbed has been assembled to advance the development of large autonomous electrical power systems required for the space station, spacecraft, and aircraft. The power system for this effort was designed to simulate single- or dual-bus autonomous power systems, or autonomous systems that reconfigure from a single bus to a dual bus following a severe fault. The approach taken was to provide a flexible power system design with two computer systems for control and management. One computer operates as the control system and performs basic control functions, data and command processing, charge control, and provides status to the second computer. The second computer contains expert system software for mission planning, load management, fault identification and recovery, and sends load and configuration commands to the control system

Test-bed for the remote health monitoring system for bridge structures using FBG sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Chin-Hyung; Park, Ki-Tae; Joo, Bong-Chul; Hwang, Yoon-Koog

2009-05-01

This paper reports on test-bed for the long-term health monitoring system for bridge structures employing fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors, which is remotely accessible via the web, to provide real-time quantitative information on a bridge's response to live loading and environmental changes, and fast prediction of the structure's integrity. The sensors are attached on several locations of the structure and connected to a data acquisition system permanently installed onsite. The system can be accessed through remote communication using an optical cable network, through which the evaluation of the bridge behavior under live loading can be allowed at place far away from the field. Live structural data are transmitted continuously to the server computer at the central office. The server computer is connected securely to the internet, where data can be retrieved, processed and stored for the remote web-based health monitoring. Test-bed revealed that the remote health monitoring technology will enable practical, cost-effective, and reliable condition assessment and maintenance of bridge structures.

Status of the Visible Nulling Coronagraph Technology Demonstration Program

Science.gov (United States)

Clampin, M.; Lyon, R.

2012-01-01

We report on the development, sensing and control of the Vacuum Nuller Testbed to realize a Visible Nulling Coronagraphy (VNC) for exoplanet detection and characterization. The VNC is one of the few approaches that works with filled, segmented and sparse or diluted-aperture telescope systems. It thus spans a range of potential future NASA telescopes and could be flown as a separate instrument on such a future mission. NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center has an established effort to develop VNC technologies, and an incremental sequence of testbeds to advance this approach and its critical technologies. We will highlight results demonstrating the achievement of our TDEM contrast milestones, and highlight the performance of our wavefront sensing and control concept.

Mechanical design of SST-GATE, a dual-mirror telescope for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

Science.gov (United States)

Dournaux, Jean-Laurent; Huet, Jean-Michel; Amans, Jean-Philippe; Dumas, Delphine; Laporte, Philippe; Sol, Hélène; Blake, Simon

2014-07-01

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) project aims to create the next generation Very High Energy (VHE) gamma-ray telescope array. It will be devoted to the observation of gamma rays over a wide band of energy, from a few tens of GeV to more than 100 TeV. Two sites are foreseen to view the whole sky where about 100 telescopes, composed of three different classes, related to the specific energy region to be investigated, will be installed. Among these, the Small Size class of Telescopes, SSTs, are devoted to the highest energy region, to beyond 100 TeV. Due to the large number of SSTs, their unit cost is an important parameter. At the Observatoire de Paris, we have designed a prototype of a Small Size Telescope named SST-GATE, based on the dual-mirror Schwarzschild-Couder optical formula, which has never before been implemented in the design of a telescope. Over the last two years, we developed a mechanical design for SST-GATE from the optical and preliminary mechanical designs made by the University of Durham. The integration of this telescope is currently in progress. Since the early stages of mechanical design of SST-GATE, finite element method has been used employing shape and topology optimization techniques to help design several elements of the telescope. This allowed optimization of the mechanical stiffness/mass ratio, leading to a lightweight and less expensive mechanical structure. These techniques and the resulting mechanical design are detailed in this paper. We will also describe the finite element analyses carried out to calculate the mechanical deformations and the stresses in the structure under observing and survival conditions.

Design and Development of a 200-kW Turbo-Electric Distributed Propulsion Testbed

Science.gov (United States)

Papathakis, Kurt V.; Kloesel, Kurt J.; Lin, Yohan; Clarke, Sean; Ediger, Jacob J.; Ginn, Starr

2016-01-01

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC) (Edwards, California) is developing a Hybrid-Electric Integrated Systems Testbed (HEIST) Testbed as part of the HEIST Project, to study power management and transition complexities, modular architectures, and flight control laws for turbo-electric distributed propulsion technologies using representative hardware and piloted simulations. Capabilities are being developed to assess the flight readiness of hybrid electric and distributed electric vehicle architectures. Additionally, NASA will leverage experience gained and assets developed from HEIST to assist in flight-test proposal development, flight-test vehicle design, and evaluation of hybrid electric and distributed electric concept vehicles for flight safety. The HEIST test equipment will include three trailers supporting a distributed electric propulsion wing, a battery system and turbogenerator, dynamometers, and supporting power and communication infrastructure, all connected to the AFRC Core simulation. Plans call for 18 high performance electric motors that will be powered by batteries and the turbogenerator, and commanded by a piloted simulation. Flight control algorithms will be developed on the turbo-electric distributed propulsion system.

A low-cost test-bed for real-time landmark tracking

Science.gov (United States)

Csaszar, Ambrus; Hanan, Jay C.; Moreels, Pierre; Assad, Christopher

2007-04-01

A low-cost vehicle test-bed system was developed to iteratively test, refine and demonstrate navigation algorithms before attempting to transfer the algorithms to more advanced rover prototypes. The platform used here was a modified radio controlled (RC) car. A microcontroller board and onboard laptop computer allow for either autonomous or remote operation via a computer workstation. The sensors onboard the vehicle represent the types currently used on NASA-JPL rover prototypes. For dead-reckoning navigation, optical wheel encoders, a single axis gyroscope, and 2-axis accelerometer were used. An ultrasound ranger is available to calculate distance as a substitute for the stereo vision systems presently used on rovers. The prototype also carries a small laptop computer with a USB camera and wireless transmitter to send real time video to an off-board computer. A real-time user interface was implemented that combines an automatic image feature selector, tracking parameter controls, streaming video viewer, and user generated or autonomous driving commands. Using the test-bed, real-time landmark tracking was demonstrated by autonomously driving the vehicle through the JPL Mars yard. The algorithms tracked rocks as waypoints. This generated coordinates calculating relative motion and visually servoing to science targets. A limitation for the current system is serial computing-each additional landmark is tracked in order-but since each landmark is tracked independently, if transferred to appropriate parallel hardware, adding targets would not significantly diminish system speed.

Evaluasi Kinerja Layanan IPTV pada Jaringan Testbed WiMAX Berbasis Standar IEEE 802.16-2004

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Prasetiyono Hari Mukti

2015-09-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a performance evaluation for IPTV Services over WiMAX testbed based on IEEE Standard 802.16-2004 will be described. The performance of the proposed system is evaluated in terms of delay, jitter, throughput and packet loss. Service performance evaluations are conducted on network topology of point-to-point in the variation of background traffic with different scheduling types. Background traffic is injected into the system to give the sense that the proposed system has variation traffic load. Scheduling type which are used in this paper are Best Effort (BE, Non-Real-Time Polling Service (nrtPS, Real-Time Polling Service (rtPS and Unsolicited Grant Service (UGS. The expemerintal results of IPTV service performance over the testbed network show that the maximum average of delay, jitter, packet loss and jitter are 16.581 ms, 58.515 ms, 0.67 Mbps dan 10.96%, respectively.

The first telescope of the HEGRA air Cherenkov imaging telescope array

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mirzoyan, R.; Kankanian, R.; Krennrich, F.; Mueller, N.; Sander, H.; Sawallisch, P.; Aharonian, F.; Akhperjanian, A.; Beglarian, A.; Fernandez, J.; Fonseca, V.; Grewe, W.; Heusler, A.; Konopelko, A.K.; Lorenz, E.; Merck, M.; Plyasheshnikov, A.V.; Renker, D.; Samorski, M.; Sauerland, K.; Smarsch, E.; Stamm, W.; Ulrich, M.; Wiedner, C.A.; Wirth, H.

1994-01-01

In search of VHE γ ray emission from cosmic point sources a system of imaging Cherenkov telescopes is constructed at present on the Canarian island of La Palma; the first telescope has been operational since 1992. The Cherenkov light from air shower particles is collected by a 5 m 2 reflector. The camera at the focus contains 37 photomultipliers which sample the images of the Cherenkov flashes. The subsequent image analysis allows the discrimination of γ ray induced events from the much more abundant charged cosmic ray induced showers. The telescope has an effective energy threshold for γ showers of about 1.5 TeV. During the first year of operation a signal from the Crab nebula was detected. ((orig.))

Real-time remote diagnostic monitoring test-bed in JET

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Castro, R.; Kneupner, K.; Vega, J.; De Arcas, G.; Lopez, J.M.; Purahoo, K.; Murari, A.; Fonseca, A.; Pereira, A.; Portas, A.

2010-01-01

Based on the remote experimentation concept oriented to long pulse shots, a test-bed system has been implemented in JET. Its main functionality is the real-time monitoring, on remote, of a reflectometer diagnostic, to visualize different data outputs and status information. The architecture of the system is formed by: the data generator components, the data distribution system, an access control service, and the client applications. In the test-bed there is one data generator, which is the acquisition equipment associated with the reflectometer diagnostic that generates data and status information. The data distribution system has been implemented using a publishing-subscribing technology that receives data from data generators and redistributes them to client applications. And finally, for monitoring, a client application based on JAVA Web Start technology has been used. There are three interesting results from this project. The first one is the analysis of different aspects (data formats, data frame rate, data resolution, etc) related with remote real-time diagnostic monitoring oriented to long pulse experiments. The second one is the definition and implementation of an architecture, flexible enough to be applied to different types of data generated from other diagnostics, and that fits with remote access requirements. Finally, the third result is a secure system, taking into account internal networks and firewalls aspects of JET, and securing the access from remote users. For this last issue, PAPI technology has been used, enabling access control based on user attributes, enabling mobile users to monitor diagnostics in real-time, and enabling the integration of this service into the EFDA Federation (Castro et al., 2008 ).

Real-time remote diagnostic monitoring test-bed in JET

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Castro, R., E-mail: rodrigo.castro@ciemat.e [Asociacion EURATOM/CIEMAT para Fusion, Madrid (Spain); Kneupner, K. [EURATOM/UKAEA Fusion Association, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, OX14 3DB (United Kingdom); Vega, J. [Asociacion EURATOM/CIEMAT para Fusion, Madrid (Spain); De Arcas, G.; Lopez, J.M. [Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, Grupo I2A2, Madrid (Spain); Purahoo, K. [EURATOM/UKAEA Fusion Association, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, OX14 3DB (United Kingdom); Murari, A. [Associazione EURATOM-ENEA per la Fusione, Consorzio RFX, 4-35127 Padova (Italy); Fonseca, A. [Associacao EURATOM/IST, Lisbon (Portugal); Pereira, A.; Portas, A. [Asociacion EURATOM/CIEMAT para Fusion, Madrid (Spain)

2010-07-15

Based on the remote experimentation concept oriented to long pulse shots, a test-bed system has been implemented in JET. Its main functionality is the real-time monitoring, on remote, of a reflectometer diagnostic, to visualize different data outputs and status information. The architecture of the system is formed by: the data generator components, the data distribution system, an access control service, and the client applications. In the test-bed there is one data generator, which is the acquisition equipment associated with the reflectometer diagnostic that generates data and status information. The data distribution system has been implemented using a publishing-subscribing technology that receives data from data generators and redistributes them to client applications. And finally, for monitoring, a client application based on JAVA Web Start technology has been used. There are three interesting results from this project. The first one is the analysis of different aspects (data formats, data frame rate, data resolution, etc) related with remote real-time diagnostic monitoring oriented to long pulse experiments. The second one is the definition and implementation of an architecture, flexible enough to be applied to different types of data generated from other diagnostics, and that fits with remote access requirements. Finally, the third result is a secure system, taking into account internal networks and firewalls aspects of JET, and securing the access from remote users. For this last issue, PAPI technology has been used, enabling access control based on user attributes, enabling mobile users to monitor diagnostics in real-time, and enabling the integration of this service into the EFDA Federation (Castro et al., 2008 ).

Infrared up-conversion telescope

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2014-01-01

There is presented to an up-conversion infrared telescope (110) arranged for imaging an associated scene (130), wherein the up-conversion infrared telescope (110) comprises a non-linear crystal (120) arranged for up-conversion of infrared electromagnetic radiation, and wherein a first optical...

Implementation of Real-Time Feedback Flow Control Algorithms on a Canonical Testbed

Science.gov (United States)

Tian, Ye; Song, Qi; Cattafesta, Louis

2005-01-01

This report summarizes the activities on "Implementation of Real-Time Feedback Flow Control Algorithms on a Canonical Testbed." The work summarized consists primarily of two parts. The first part summarizes our previous work and the extensions to adaptive ID and control algorithms. The second part concentrates on the validation of adaptive algorithms by applying them to a vibration beam test bed. Extensions to flow control problems are discussed.

Parametric cost models for space telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Stahl, H. Philip; Henrichs, Todd; Dollinger, Courtnay

2017-11-01

Multivariable parametric cost models for space telescopes provide several benefits to designers and space system project managers. They identify major architectural cost drivers and allow high-level design trades. They enable cost-benefit analysis for technology development investment. And, they provide a basis for estimating total project cost. A survey of historical models found that there is no definitive space telescope cost model. In fact, published models vary greatly [1]. Thus, there is a need for parametric space telescopes cost models. An effort is underway to develop single variable [2] and multi-variable [3] parametric space telescope cost models based on the latest available data and applying rigorous analytical techniques. Specific cost estimating relationships (CERs) have been developed which show that aperture diameter is the primary cost driver for large space telescopes; technology development as a function of time reduces cost at the rate of 50% per 17 years; it costs less per square meter of collecting aperture to build a large telescope than a small telescope; and increasing mass reduces cost.

Parametric Cost Models for Space Telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Stahl, H. Philip; Henrichs, Todd; Dollinger, Courtney

2010-01-01

Multivariable parametric cost models for space telescopes provide several benefits to designers and space system project managers. They identify major architectural cost drivers and allow high-level design trades. They enable cost-benefit analysis for technology development investment. And, they provide a basis for estimating total project cost. A survey of historical models found that there is no definitive space telescope cost model. In fact, published models vary greatly [1]. Thus, there is a need for parametric space telescopes cost models. An effort is underway to develop single variable [2] and multi-variable [3] parametric space telescope cost models based on the latest available data and applying rigorous analytical techniques. Specific cost estimating relationships (CERs) have been developed which show that aperture diameter is the primary cost driver for large space telescopes; technology development as a function of time reduces cost at the rate of 50% per 17 years; it costs less per square meter of collecting aperture to build a large telescope than a small telescope; and increasing mass reduces cost.

Coral-based Proxy Records of Ocean Acidification: A Pilot Study at the Puerto Rico Test-bed Site

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Coral cores collected nearby the Atlantic Ocean Acidification Test-bed (AOAT) at La Parguera, Puerto Rico were used to characterize the relationship between...

The Living With a Star Program Space Environment Testbed

Science.gov (United States)

Barth, Janet; Day, John H. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

This viewgraph presentation describes the objective, approach, and scope of the Living With a Star (LWS) program at the Marshall Space Flight Center. Scientists involved in the project seek to refine the understanding of space weather and the role of solar variability in terrestrial climate change. Research and the development of improved analytic methods have led to increased predictive capabilities and the improvement of environment specification models. Specifically, the Space Environment Testbed (SET) project of LWS is responsible for the implementation of improved engineering approaches to observing solar effects on climate change. This responsibility includes technology development, ground test protocol development, and the development of a technology application model/engineering tool.

Smart Grid: Network simulator for smart grid test-bed

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lai, L C; Ong, H S; Che, Y X; Do, N Q; Ong, X J

2013-01-01

Smart Grid become more popular, a smaller scale of smart grid test-bed is set up at UNITEN to investigate the performance and to find out future enhancement of smart grid in Malaysia. The fundamental requirement in this project is design a network with low delay, no packet drop and with high data rate. Different type of traffic has its own characteristic and is suitable for different type of network and requirement. However no one understands the natural of traffic in smart grid. This paper presents the comparison between different types of traffic to find out the most suitable traffic for the optimal network performance.

Optimizing Electric Vehicle Coordination Over a Heterogeneous Mesh Network in a Scaled-Down Smart Grid Testbed

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bhattarai, Bishnu Prasad; Lévesque, Martin; Maier, Martin

2015-01-01

High penetration of renewable energy sources and electric vehicles (EVs) create power imbalance and congestion in the existing power network, and hence causes significant problems in the control and operation. Despite investing huge efforts from the electric utilities, governments, and researchers......, smart grid (SG) is still at the developmental stage to address those issues. In this regard, a smart grid testbed (SGT) is desirable to develop, analyze, and demonstrate various novel SG solutions, namely demand response, real-time pricing, and congestion management. In this paper, a novel SGT...... is developed in a laboratory by scaling a 250 kVA, 0.4 kV real low-voltage distribution feeder down to 1 kVA, 0.22 kV. Information and communication technology is integrated in the scaled-down network to establish real-time monitoring and control. The novelty of the developed testbed is demonstrated...

Telescience testbed: Operational support functions for biomedical experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Yamashita, Masamichi; Watanabe, Satoru; Shoji, Takatoshi; Clarke, Andrew H.; Suzuki, Hiroyuki; Yanagihara, Dai

A telescience testbed was conducted to study the methodology of space biomedicine with simulated constraints imposed on space experiments. An experimental subject selected for this testbedding was an elaborate surgery of animals and electrophysiological measurements conducted by an operator onboard. The standing potential in the ampulla of the pigeon's semicircular canal was measured during gravitational and caloric stimulation. A principal investigator, isolated from the operation site, participated in the experiment interactively by telecommunication links. Reliability analysis was applied to the whole layers of experimentation, including design of experimental objectives and operational procedures. Engineering and technological aspects of telescience are discussed in terms of reliability to assure quality of science. Feasibility of robotics was examined for supportive functions to reduce the workload of the onboard operator.

A Real-Time GPP Software-Defined Radio Testbed for the Physical Layer of Wireless Standards

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schiphorst, Roelof; Hoeksema, F.W.; Slump, Cornelis H.

2005-01-01

We present our contribution to the general-purpose-processor-(GPP)-based radio. We describe a baseband software-defined radio testbed for the physical layer of wireless LAN standards. All physical layer functions have been successfully mapped on a Pentium 4 processor that performs these functions in

A Method to Derive Monitoring Variables for a Cyber Security Test-bed of I and C System

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Han, Kyung Soo; Song, Jae Gu; Lee, Joung Woon; Lee, Cheol Kwon [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2013-10-15

In the IT field, monitoring techniques have been developed to protect the systems connected by networks from cyber attacks and incidents. For the development of monitoring systems for I and C cyber security, it is necessary to review the monitoring systems in the IT field and derive cyber security-related monitoring variables among the proprietary operating information about the I and C systems. Tests for the development and application of these monitoring systems may cause adverse effects on the I and C systems. To analyze influences on the system and safely intended variables, the construction of an I and C system Test-bed should be preceded. This article proposes a method of deriving variables that should be monitored through a monitoring system for cyber security as a part of I and C Test-bed. The surveillance features and the monitored variables of NMS(Network Management System), a monitoring technique in the IT field, were reviewed in section 2. In Section 3, the monitoring variables for an I and C cyber security were derived by the of NMS and the investigation for information used for hacking techniques that can be practiced against I and C systems. The monitoring variables of NMS in the IT field and the information about the malicious behaviors used for hacking were derived as expected variables to be monitored for an I and C cyber security research. The derived monitoring variables were classified into the five functions of NMS for efficient management. For the cyber security of I and C systems, the vulnerabilities should be understood through a penetration test etc. and an assessment of influences on the actual system should be carried out. Thus, constructing a test-bed of I and C systems is necessary for the safety system in operation. In the future, it will be necessary to develop a logging and monitoring system for studies on the vulnerabilities of I and C systems with test-beds.

NASA Langley's AirSTAR Testbed: A Subscale Flight Test Capability for Flight Dynamics and Control System Experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Jordan, Thomas L.; Bailey, Roger M.

2008-01-01

As part of the Airborne Subscale Transport Aircraft Research (AirSTAR) project, NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) has developed a subscaled flying testbed in order to conduct research experiments in support of the goals of NASA s Aviation Safety Program. This research capability consists of three distinct components. The first of these is the research aircraft, of which there are several in the AirSTAR stable. These aircraft range from a dynamically-scaled, twin turbine vehicle to a propeller driven, off-the-shelf airframe. Each of these airframes carves out its own niche in the research test program. All of the airplanes have sophisticated on-board data acquisition and actuation systems, recording, telemetering, processing, and/or receiving data from research control systems. The second piece of the testbed is the ground facilities, which encompass the hardware and software infrastructure necessary to provide comprehensive support services for conducting flight research using the subscale aircraft, including: subsystem development, integrated testing, remote piloting of the subscale aircraft, telemetry processing, experimental flight control law implementation and evaluation, flight simulation, data recording/archiving, and communications. The ground facilities are comprised of two major components: (1) The Base Research Station (BRS), a LaRC laboratory facility for system development, testing and data analysis, and (2) The Mobile Operations Station (MOS), a self-contained, motorized vehicle serving as a mobile research command/operations center, functionally equivalent to the BRS, capable of deployment to remote sites for supporting flight tests. The third piece of the testbed is the test facility itself. Research flights carried out by the AirSTAR team are conducted at NASA Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. The UAV Island runway is a 50 x 1500 paved runway that lies within restricted airspace at Wallops Flight Facility. The

A Method to Derive Monitoring Variables for a Cyber Security Test-bed of I and C System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Han, Kyung Soo; Song, Jae Gu; Lee, Joung Woon; Lee, Cheol Kwon

2013-01-01

In the IT field, monitoring techniques have been developed to protect the systems connected by networks from cyber attacks and incidents. For the development of monitoring systems for I and C cyber security, it is necessary to review the monitoring systems in the IT field and derive cyber security-related monitoring variables among the proprietary operating information about the I and C systems. Tests for the development and application of these monitoring systems may cause adverse effects on the I and C systems. To analyze influences on the system and safely intended variables, the construction of an I and C system Test-bed should be preceded. This article proposes a method of deriving variables that should be monitored through a monitoring system for cyber security as a part of I and C Test-bed. The surveillance features and the monitored variables of NMS(Network Management System), a monitoring technique in the IT field, were reviewed in section 2. In Section 3, the monitoring variables for an I and C cyber security were derived by the of NMS and the investigation for information used for hacking techniques that can be practiced against I and C systems. The monitoring variables of NMS in the IT field and the information about the malicious behaviors used for hacking were derived as expected variables to be monitored for an I and C cyber security research. The derived monitoring variables were classified into the five functions of NMS for efficient management. For the cyber security of I and C systems, the vulnerabilities should be understood through a penetration test etc. and an assessment of influences on the actual system should be carried out. Thus, constructing a test-bed of I and C systems is necessary for the safety system in operation. In the future, it will be necessary to develop a logging and monitoring system for studies on the vulnerabilities of I and C systems with test-beds

Development of a mid-sized Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cameron, Robert A.

2012-06-28

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is a ground-based observatory for very high-energy (10 GeV to 100 TeV) gamma rays, planned for operation starting in 2018. It will be an array of dozens of optical telescopes, known as Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (ACTs), of 8 m to 24 m diameter, deployed over an area of more than 1 square km, to detect flashes of Cherenkov light from showers initiated in the Earth's atmosphere by gamma rays. CTA will have improved angular resolution, a wider energy range, larger fields of view and an order of magnitude improvement in sensitivity over current ACT arrays such as H.E.S.S., MAGIC and VERITAS. Several institutions have proposed a research and development program to eventually contribute 36 medium-sized telescopes (9 m to 12 m diameter) to CTA to enhance and optimize its science performance. The program aims to construct a prototype of an innovative, Schwarzschild-Couder telescope (SCT) design that will allow much smaller and less expensive cameras and much larger fields of view than conventional Davies-Cotton designs, and will also include design and testing of camera electronics for the necessary advances in performance, reliability and cost. We report on the progress of the mid-sized SCT development program.

A telescope with augmented reality functions

Science.gov (United States)

Hou, Qichao; Cheng, Dewen; Wang, Qiwei; Wang, Yongtian

2016-10-01

This study introduces a telescope with virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) functions. In this telescope, information on the micro-display screen is integrated to the reticule of telescope through a beam splitter and is then received by the observer. The design and analysis of telescope optical system with AR and VR ability is accomplished and the opto-mechanical structure is designed. Finally, a proof-of-concept prototype is fabricated and demonstrated. The telescope has an exit pupil diameter of 6 mm at an eye relief of 19 mm, 6° field of view, 5 to 8 times visual magnification , and a 30° field of view of the virtual image.

The Gemini 8-Meter Telescopes Project

Science.gov (United States)

Boroson, Todd A.

1995-05-01

The Gemini 8-Meter Telescopes Project is an international partnership to build and operate two 8-meter telescopes, one on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, and one on Cerro Pachon, Chile. The telescopes will be international facilities, open to the scientific communities of the six member countries, the United States (50%), the United Kingdom (25%), Canada (15%), Chile (5%), Argentina (2.5%), and Brazil (2.5%). The telescopes are designed to exploit the best atmospheric conditions at these excellent sites. Near diffraction limited performance will be delivered at 2.2 microns and longward, with minimal degradation of the best seeing conditions at shorter wavelengths. The telescopes and facilities are designed to achieve emissivity opportunity. First light for the Mauna Kea telescope is expected in late 1998, and for the Cerro Pachon telescope in mid-2000. This talk will report on construction progress, the instrumental capabilities, and operations strategies being considered. The Gemini 8-meter Telescopes Project is managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), Inc. under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation which serves as executive agency for the Gemini partner countries. U.S. participation in the project is through the U.S. Gemini Program, a division of the National Optical Astronomy Observatories. NOAO is operated by AURA, Inc. under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation.

Pre-selecting muon events in the camera server of the ASTRI telescopes for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

Science.gov (United States)

Maccarone, Maria C.; Mineo, Teresa; Capalbi, Milvia; Conforti, Vito; Coffaro, Martina

2016-08-01

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) represents the next generation of ground based observatories for very high energy gamma ray astronomy. The CTA will consist of two arrays at two different sites, one in the northern and one in the southern hemisphere. The current CTA design foresees, in the southern site, the installation of many tens of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes of three different classes, namely large, medium, and small, so defined in relation to their mirror area; the northern hemisphere array would consist of few tens of the two larger telescope types. The telescopes will be equipped with cameras composed either of photomultipliers or silicon photomultipliers, and with different trigger and read-out electronics. In such a scenario, several different methods will be used for the telescopes' calibration. Nevertheless, the optical throughput of any CTA telescope, independently of its type, can be calibrated analyzing the characteristic image produced by local atmospheric highly energetic muons that induce the emission of Cherenkov light which is imaged as a ring onto the focal plane if their impact point is relatively close to the telescope optical axis. Large sized telescopes would be able to detect useful muon events under stereo coincidence and such stereo muon events will be directly addressed to the central CTA array data acquisition pipeline to be analyzed. For the medium and small sized telescopes, due to their smaller mirror area and large inter-telescope distance, the stereo coincidence rate will tend to zero; nevertheless, muon events will be detected by single telescopes that must therefore be able to identify them as possible useful calibration candidates, even if no stereo coincidence is available. This is the case for the ASTRI telescopes, proposed as pre-production units of the small size array of the CTA, which are able to detect muon events during regular data taking without requiring any dedicated trigger. We present two fast

Cost Modeling for Space Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Stahl, H. Philip

2011-01-01

Parametric cost models are an important tool for planning missions, compare concepts and justify technology investments. This paper presents on-going efforts to develop single variable and multi-variable cost models for space telescope optical telescope assembly (OTA). These models are based on data collected from historical space telescope missions. Standard statistical methods are used to derive CERs for OTA cost versus aperture diameter and mass. The results are compared with previously published models.

Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope [WFIRST]: telescope design and simulated performance

Science.gov (United States)

Goullioud, R.; Content, D. A.; Kuan, G. M.; Moore, J. D.; Chang, Z.; Sunada, E. T.; Villalvazo, J.; Hawk, J. P.; Armani, N. V.; Johnson, E. L.; Powell, C. A.

2012-09-01

The Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) mission concept was ranked first in new space astrophysics missions by the Astro2010 Decadal Survey, incorporating the Joint Dark Energy Mission payload concept and multiple science white papers. This mission is based on a space telescope at L2 studying exoplanets [via gravitational microlensing], probing dark energy, and surveying the near infrared sky. Since the release of the Astro2010 Decadal Survey, the team has been working with the WFIRST Science Definition Team to refine mission and payload concepts. We present the current interim reference mission point design of the payload, based on the use of a 1.3m unobscured aperture three mirror anastigmat form, with focal imaging and slit-less spectroscopy science channels. We also present the first results of Structural/Thermal/Optical performance modeling of the telescope point design.

Hartman Testing of X-Ray Telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Saha, Timo T.; Biskasch, Michael; Zhang, William W.

2013-01-01

Hartmann testing of x-ray telescopes is a simple test method to retrieve and analyze alignment errors and low-order circumferential errors of x-ray telescopes and their components. A narrow slit is scanned along the circumference of the telescope in front of the mirror and the centroids of the images are calculated. From the centroid data, alignment errors, radius variation errors, and cone-angle variation errors can be calculated. Mean cone angle, mean radial height (average radius), and the focal length of the telescope can also be estimated if the centroid data is measured at multiple focal plane locations. In this paper we present the basic equations that are used in the analysis process. These equations can be applied to full circumference or segmented x-ray telescopes. We use the Optical Surface Analysis Code (OSAC) to model a segmented x-ray telescope and show that the derived equations and accompanying analysis retrieves the alignment errors and low order circumferential errors accurately.

SCIENTIFIC EFFICIENCY OF GROUND-BASED TELESCOPES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abt, Helmut A.

2012-01-01

I scanned the six major astronomical journals of 2008 for all 1589 papers that are based on new data obtained from ground-based optical/IR telescopes worldwide. Then I collected data on numbers of papers, citations to them in 3+ years, the most-cited papers, and annual operating costs. These data are assigned to four groups by telescope aperture. For instance, while the papers from telescopes with an aperture >7 m average 1.29 more citations than those with an aperture of 2 to 7 m) telescopes. I wonder why the large telescopes do so relatively poorly and suggest possible reasons. I also found that papers based on archival data, such as the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, produce 10.6% as many papers and 20.6% as many citations as those based on new data. Also, the 577.2 papers based on radio data produced 36.3% as many papers and 33.6% as many citations as the 1589 papers based on optical/IR telescopes.

Robotic and Survey Telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Woźniak, Przemysław

Robotic telescopes are revolutionizing the way astronomers collect their dataand conduct sky surveys. This chapter begins with a discussion of principles thatguide the process of designing, constructing, and operating telescopes andobservatories that offer a varying degree of automation, from instruments remotelycontrolled by observers to fully autonomous systems requiring no humansupervision during their normal operations. Emphasis is placed on designtrade-offs involved in building end-to-end systems intended for a wide range ofscience applications. The second part of the chapter contains descriptions ofseveral projects and instruments, both existing and currently under development.It is an attempt to provide a representative selection of actual systems thatillustrates state of the art in technology, as well as important ideas and milestonesin the development of the field. The list of presented instruments spans the fullrange in size starting from small all-sky monitors, through midrange robotic andsurvey telescopes, and finishing with large robotic instruments and surveys.Explosive growth of telescope networking is enabling entirely new modesof interaction between the survey and follow-up observing. Increasingimportance of standardized communication protocols and software is stressed.These developments are driven by the fusion of robotic telescope hardware,massive storage and databases, real-time knowledge extraction, and datacross-correlation on a global scale. The chapter concludes with examplesof major science results enabled by these new technologies and futureprospects.

Aerodynamic design of the National Rotor Testbed.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kelley, Christopher Lee [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

2015-10-01

A new wind turbine blade has been designed for the National Rotor Testbed (NRT) project and for future experiments at the Scaled Wind Farm Technology (SWiFT) facility with a specific focus on scaled wakes. This report shows the aerodynamic design of new blades that can produce a wake that has similitude to utility scale blades despite the difference in size and location in the atmospheric boundary layer. Dimensionless quantities circulation, induction, thrust coefficient, and tip-speed-ratio were kept equal between rotor scales in region 2 of operation. The new NRT design matched the aerodynamic quantities of the most common wind turbine in the United States, the GE 1.5sle turbine with 37c model blades. The NRT blade design is presented along with its performance subject to the winds at SWiFT. The design requirements determined by the SWiFT experimental test campaign are shown to be met.

Test-bed Assessment of Communication Technologies for a Power-Balancing Controller

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Findrik, Mislav; Pedersen, Rasmus; Hasenleithner, Eduard

2016-01-01

and control. In this paper, we present a Smart Grid test-bed that integrates various communication technologies and deploys a power balancing controller for LV grids. Control performance of the introduced power balancing controller is subsequently investigated and its robustness to communication network cross......Due to growing need for sustainable energy, increasing number of different renewable energy resources are being connected into distribution grids. In order to efficiently manage a decentralized power generation units, the smart grid will rely on communication networks for information exchange...

Amateur Telescope Making

Science.gov (United States)

Tonkin, Stephen

Many amateur astronomers make their own instruments, either because of financial considerations or because they are just interested. Amateur Telescope Making offers a variety of designs for telescopes, mounts and drives which are suitable for the home-constructor. The designs range from simple to advanced, but all are within the range of a moderately well-equipped home workshop. The book not only tells the reader what he can construct, but also what it is sensible to construct given what time is available commercially. Thus each chapter begins with reasons for undertaking the project, then looks at theoretical consideration before finishing with practical instructions and advice. An indication is given as to the skills required for the various projects. Appendices list reputable sources of (mail order) materials and components. The telescopes and mounts range from "shoestring" (very cheap) instruments to specialist devices that are unavailable commercially.

Review of lunar telescope studies at MSFC

Science.gov (United States)

Hilchey, John D.; Nein, Max E.

1993-09-01

In the near future astronomers can take advantage of the lunar surface as the new 'high ground' from which to study the universe. Optical telescopes placed and operated on the lunar surface would be successors to NASA's Great Observatories. Four telescopes, ranging in aperture from a 16-m, IR/Vis/UV observatory down to a 1-m, UV 'transit' instrument, have been studied by the Lunar Telescope Working Group and the LUTE (lunar telescope ultraviolet experiment) Task Team of the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). This paper presents conceptual designs of the telescopes, provides descriptions of the telescope subsystem options selected for each concept, and outlines the potential evolution of their science capabilities.

Ames life science telescience testbed evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

Haines, Richard F.; Johnson, Vicki; Vogelsong, Kristofer H.; Froloff, Walt

1989-01-01

Eight surrogate spaceflight mission specialists participated in a real-time evaluation of remote coaching using the Ames Life Science Telescience Testbed facility. This facility consisted of three remotely located nodes: (1) a prototype Space Station glovebox; (2) a ground control station; and (3) a principal investigator's (PI) work area. The major objective of this project was to evaluate the effectiveness of telescience techniques and hardware to support three realistic remote coaching science procedures: plant seed germinator charging, plant sample acquisition and preservation, and remote plant observation with ground coaching. Each scenario was performed by a subject acting as flight mission specialist, interacting with a payload operations manager and a principal investigator expert. All three groups were physically isolated from each other yet linked by duplex audio and color video communication channels and networked computer workstations. Workload ratings were made by the flight and ground crewpersons immediately after completing their assigned tasks. Time to complete each scientific procedural step was recorded automatically. Two expert observers also made performance ratings and various error assessments. The results are presented and discussed.

The Submillimeter Telescope (SMT) project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martin, R.N.; Baars, J.W.M.

1990-01-01

To exploit the potential of submillimeter astronomy, the Submillimeter Telescope (SMT) will be located at an altitude of 3178 meters on Emerald Peak 75 miles northeast of Tucson in Southern Arizona. The instrument is an altazimuth mounted f/13.8 Cassegrain homology telescope with two Nasmyth and bent Cassegrain foci. It will have diffraction limited performance at a wavelength of 300 microns and an operating overall figure accuracy of 15 microns rms. An important feature of the SMT is the construction of the primary and secondary reflectors out of aluminum-core CFRP face sheet sandwich panels, and the reflector backup structure and secondary support out of CFRP structural elements. This modern technology provides both a means for reaching the required precision of the SMT for both night and day operation (basically because of the low coefficient of thermal expansion and high strength-to-weight ratio of CFRP) and a potential route for the realization of lightweight telescopes of even greater accuracy in the future. The SMT will be the highest accuracy radio telescope ever built (at least a factor of 2 more accurate than existing telescopes). In addition, the SMT will be the first 10 m-class submillimeter telescope with a surface designed for efficient measurements at the important 350 microns wavelength atmospheric window. 9 refs

History of Robotic and Remotely Operated Telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Genet, Russell M.

2011-03-01

While automated instrument sequencers were employed on solar eclipse expeditions in the late 1800s, it wasn't until the 1960s that Art Code and associates at Wisconsin used a PDP minicomputer to automate an 8-inch photometric telescope. Although this pioneering project experienced frequent equipment failures and was shut down after a couple of years, it paved the way for the first space telescopes. Reliable microcomputers initiated the modern era of robotic telescopes. Louis Boyd and I applied single board microcomputers with 64K of RAM and floppy disk drives to telescope automation at the Fairborn Observatory, achieving reliable, fully robotic operation in 1983 that has continued uninterrupted for 28 years. In 1985 the Smithsonian Institution provided us with a suburb operating location on Mt. Hopkins in southern Arizona, while the National Science Foundation funded additional telescopes. Remote access to our multiple robotic telescopes at the Fairborn Observatory began in the late 1980s. The Fairborn Observatory, with its 14 fully robotic telescopes and staff of two (one full and one part time) illustrates the potential for low operating and maintenance costs. As the information capacity of the Internet has expanded, observational modes beyond simple differential photometry opened up, bringing us to the current era of real-time remote access to remote observatories and global observatory networks. Although initially confined to smaller telescopes, robotic operation and remote access are spreading to larger telescopes as telescopes from afar becomes the normal mode of operation.

Prospects for γ-ray imaging telescopes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carter, J.N.; Dean, A.J.; Ramsden, D.

1981-01-01

Apart from the requirement for a new, high angular-resolution gamma-ray telescope for the more precise location of known COS-B gamma-ray sources, there is also a need for another instrument that can be used in a search for the gamma-ray emission from specific X-ray-emitting objects. If there is to be any hope of relating gamma ray emission to specific candidate X-ray objects, then an angular resolution of typically a few minutes of arc is required to resolve adjacent sources in crowded regions of the sky such as the galactic centre. Efforts to improve the angular resolution of track-chamber telescopes are compared. For energies close to 1 MeV telescopes have either used collimators to restrict the field of view or have made use of the kinematics of the Compton scattering process to determine the direction of the incident photon. The use of coded aperture techniques in high angular resolution X-ray astronomy telescopes is reviewed. A practical telescope for astronomy at high energies described by Carter is mentioned. At low energies an imaging telescope could be constructed by making use of position-sensitive detectors initially developed for use in medical physics. Such a telescope is outlined in general terms and its benefits and uses given. (U.K.)

SABA: A Testbed for a Real-Time MIMO System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brühl Lars

2006-01-01

Full Text Available The growing demand for high data rates for wireless communication systems leads to the development of new technologies to increase the channel capacity thus increasing the data rate. MIMO (multiple-input multiple-output systems are best qualified for these applications. In this paper, we present a MIMO test environment for high data rate transmissions in frequency-selective environments. An overview of the testbed is given, including the analyzed algorithms, the digital signal processing with a new highly parallel processor to perform the algorithms in real time, as well as the analog front-ends. A brief overview of the influence of polarization on the channel capacity is given as well.

X-ray Pulsar Navigation Algorithms and Testbed for SEXTANT

Science.gov (United States)

Winternitz, Luke M. B.; Hasouneh, Monther A.; Mitchell, Jason W.; Valdez, Jennifer E.; Price, Samuel R.; Semper, Sean R.; Yu, Wayne H.; Ray, Paul S.; Wood, Kent S.; Arzoumanian, Zaven;

Development and application of an actively controlled hybrid proton exchange membrane fuel cell - Lithium-ion battery laboratory test-bed based on off-the-shelf components

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yufit, V.; Brandon, N.P. [Dept. Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College, London SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom)

2011-01-15

The use of commercially available components enables rapid prototyping and assembling of laboratory scale hybrid test-bed systems, which can be used to evaluate new hybrid configurations. The development of such a test-bed using an off-the-shelf PEM fuel cell, lithium-ion battery and DC/DC converter is presented here, and its application to a hybrid configuration appropriate for an unmanned underwater vehicle is explored. A control algorithm was implemented to regulate the power share between the fuel cell and the battery with a graphical interface to control, record and analyze the electrochemical and thermal parameters of the system. The results demonstrate the applicability of the test-bed and control algorithm for this application, and provide data on the dynamic electrical and thermal behaviour of the hybrid system. (author)

Status of the MAGIC telescopes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Colin, Pierre; Carmona, Emiliano; Schweizer, Thomas; Sitarek, Julian [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Physik, Werner-Heisenberg Institut, Muenchen (Germany)

2010-07-01

MAGIC is a system of two 17-m Cherenkov telescopes located on La Palma (Canary islands),sensitive to gamma-rays above 30 GeV. It has been recently upgraded by a second telescope which strongly improves the sensitivity, particularly at low energy. Here we present the status of the MAGIC telescopes and an overview of the recent results obtained in single or stereoscopic mode. We also discuss the real performance of the new stereoscopic system based on Crab Nebula observations.

Performance of the Multi-Spectral Solar Telescope Array. III - Optical characteristics of the Ritchey-Chretien and Cassegrain telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Hoover, Richard B.; Baker, Phillip C.; Hadaway, James B.; Johnson, R. B.; Peterson, Cynthia; Gabardi, David R.; Walker, Arthur B., Jr.; Lindblom, J. F.; Deforest, Craig; O'Neal, R. H.

1991-12-01

The Multi-Spectral Solar Telescope Array (MSSTA), which is a sounding-rocket-borne observatory for investigating the sun in the soft X-ray/EUV and FUV regimes of the electromagnetic spectrum, utilizes single reflection multilayer coated Herschelian telescopes for wavelengths below 100 A, and five doubly reflecting multilayer coated Ritchey-Chretien and two Cassegrain telescopes for selected wavelengths in the EUV region between 100 and 1000 A. The paper discusses the interferometric alignment, testing, focusing, visible light testing, and optical performance characteristics of the Ritchey-Chretien and Cassegrain telescopes of MSSTA. A schematic diagram of the MSSTA Ritchey-Chretien telescope is presented together with diagrams of the system autocollimation testing.

Telescopes and Techniques

CERN Document Server

Kitchin, C R

2013-01-01

Telescopes and Techniques has proved itself in its first two editions, having become probably one of the most widely used astronomy texts, both for amateur astronomers and astronomy and astrophysics undergraduates. Both earlier editions of the book were widely used for introductory practical astronomy courses in many universities. In this Third Edition the author guides the reader through the mathematics, physics and practical techniques needed to use today's telescopes (from the smaller models to the larger instruments installed in many colleges) and how to find objects in the sky. Most of the physics and engineering involved is described fully and requires little prior knowledge or experience. Both visual and electronic imaging techniques are covered, together with an introduction to how data (measurements) should be processed and analyzed. A simple introduction to radio telescopes is also included. Brief coverage of the more advanced topics of photometry and spectroscopy are included, but mainly to enable ...

A testbed to explore the optimal electrical stimulation parameters for suppressing inter-ictal spikes in human hippocampal slices.

Science.gov (United States)

Min-Chi Hsiao; Pen-Ning Yu; Dong Song; Liu, Charles Y; Heck, Christi N; Millett, David; Berger, Theodore W

2014-01-01

New interventions using neuromodulatory devices such as vagus nerve stimulation, deep brain stimulation and responsive neurostimulation are available or under study for the treatment of refractory epilepsy. Since the actual mechanisms of the onset and termination of the seizure are still unclear, most researchers or clinicians determine the optimal stimulation parameters through trial-and-error procedures. It is necessary to further explore what types of electrical stimulation parameters (these may include stimulation frequency, amplitude, duration, interval pattern, and location) constitute a set of optimal stimulation paradigms to suppress seizures. In a previous study, we developed an in vitro epilepsy model using hippocampal slices from patients suffering from mesial temporal lobe epilepsy. Using a planar multi-electrode array system, inter-ictal activity from human hippocampal slices was consistently recorded. In this study, we have further transferred this in vitro seizure model to a testbed for exploring the possible neurostimulation paradigms to inhibit inter-ictal spikes. The methodology used to collect the electrophysiological data, the approach to apply different electrical stimulation parameters to the slices are provided in this paper. The results show that this experimental testbed will provide a platform for testing the optimal stimulation parameters of seizure cessation. We expect this testbed will expedite the process for identifying the most effective parameters, and may ultimately be used to guide programming of new stimulating paradigms for neuromodulatory devices.

The South Pole Telescope

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ruhl, J.E.; Ade, P.A.R.; Carlstrom, J.E.; Cho, H.M.; Crawford,T.; Dobbs, M.; Greer, C.H.; Halverson, N.W.; Holzapfel, W.L.; Lanting,T.M.; Lee, A.T.; Leitch, E.M.; Leong, J.; Lu, W.; Lueker, M.; Mehl, J.; Meyer, S.S.; Mohr, J.J.; Padin, S.; Plagge, T.; Pryke, C.; Runyan, M.C.; Schwan, D.; Sharp, M.K.; Spieler, H.; Staniszewski, Z.; Stark, A.A.

2004-11-04

A new 10 meter diameter telescope is being constructed for deployment at the NSF South Pole research station. The telescope is designed for conducting large-area millimeter and sub-millimeter wave surveys of faint, low contrast emission, as required to map primary and secondary anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background. To achieve the required sensitivity and resolution, the telescope design employs an off-axis primary with a 10 m diameter clear aperture. The full aperture and the associated optics will have a combined surface accuracy of better than 20 microns rms to allow precision operation in the submillimeter atmospheric windows. The telescope will be surrounded with a large reflecting ground screen to reduce sensitivity to thermal emission from the ground and local interference. The optics of the telescope will support a square degree field of view at 2mm wavelength and will feed a new 1000-element micro-lithographed planar bolometric array with superconducting transition-edge sensors and frequency-multiplexed readouts. The first key project will be to conduct a survey over 4000 degrees for galaxy clusters using the Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect. This survey should find many thousands of clusters with a mass selection criteria that is remarkably uniform with redshift. Armed with redshifts obtained from optical and infrared follow-up observations, it is expected that the survey will enable significant constraints to be placed on the equation of state of the dark energy.

Commissioning and first tests of the MAGIC telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Baixeras, C.; Bastieri, D.; Bigongiari, C.; Blanch, O.; Blanchot, G.; Bock, R.; Bretz, T.; Chilingarian, A.; Coarasa, J. A.; Colombo, E.; Contreras, J. C.; Corti, D.; Cortina, J.; Domingo, C.; Domingo, E.; Ferenc, D.; Fernández, E.; Flix, J.; Fonseca, V.; Font, L.; Galante, N.; Gaug, M.; Garczarczyk, M.; Gebauer, J.; Giller, M.; Goebel, F.; Hengstebeck, T.; Jacone, P.; de Jager, O. C.; Kalekin, O.; Kestel, M.; Kneiske, T.; Laille, A.; López, M.; López, J.; Lorenz, E.; Mannheim, K.; Mariotti, M.; Martínez, M.; Mase, K.; Merck, M.; Meucci, M.; Miralles, L.; Mirzoyan, R.; Moralejo, A.; Wilhelmi, E. Oña; Orduña, R.; Paneque, D.; Paoletti, R.; Pascoli, D.; Pavel, N.; Pegna, R.; Peruzzo, L.; Piccioli, A.; Roberts, A.; Reyes, R.; Saggion, A.; Sánchez, A.; Sartori, P.; Scalzotto, V.; Schweizer, T.; Sillanpaa, A.; Sobczynska, D.; Stamerra, A.; Stepanian, A.; Stiehler, R.; Takalo, L.; Teshima, M.; Tonello, N.; Torres, A.; Turini, N.; Vitale, V.; Volkov, S.; Wagner, R. M.; Wibig, T.; Wittek, W.

2004-02-01

Major Atmospheric Gamma Imaging Cherenkov telescope is starting its operations with a set of engineering runs to tune the telescope subsystem elements to be ready for the first physics campaign. Many technical improvements have been developed and implemented in several elements of the telescope to reach the lowest energy threshold ever obtained by an Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope. A general description of the telescope is presented. The commissioning of the telescope's elements is described and the expected performances are reviewed with the final detector set-up.

European Extremely Large Telescope: progress report

Science.gov (United States)

Tamai, R.; Spyromilio, J.

2014-07-01

The European Extremely Large Telescope is a project of the European Southern Observatory to build and operate a 40-m class optical near-infrared telescope. The telescope design effort is largely concluded and construction contracts are being placed with industry and academic/research institutes for the various components. The siting of the telescope in Northern Chile close to the Paranal site allows for an integrated operation of the facility providing significant economies. The progress of the project in various areas is presented in this paper and references to other papers at this SPIE meeting are made.

Preliminary Cost Model for Space Telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Stahl, H. Philip; Prince, F. Andrew; Smart, Christian; Stephens, Kyle; Henrichs, Todd

2009-01-01

Parametric cost models are routinely used to plan missions, compare concepts and justify technology investments. However, great care is required. Some space telescope cost models, such as those based only on mass, lack sufficient detail to support such analysis and may lead to inaccurate conclusions. Similarly, using ground based telescope models which include the dome cost will also lead to inaccurate conclusions. This paper reviews current and historical models. Then, based on data from 22 different NASA space telescopes, this paper tests those models and presents preliminary analysis of single and multi-variable space telescope cost models.

Merz telescopes a global heritage worth preserving

CERN Document Server

2017-01-01

This book comprises a fascinating collection of contributions on the Merz telescopes in Italy that collectively offer the first survey on historical large refracting telescopes in the country, drawing on original documents and photographs. It opens with a general introduction on the importance of Merz telescopes in the history of astronomy and analyses of the local and international contexts in which the telescopes were made. After examination of an example of the interaction between the maker and the astronomer in the construction and maintenance of these refractors, the history of the Merz telescopes at the main Italian observatories in the nineteenth century is described in detail. Expert testimony is also provided on how these telescopes were successfully used until the second half of the twentieth century for research purposes, thus proving their excellent optical qualities.

FloorNet: Deployment and Evaluation of a Multihop Wireless 802.11 Testbed

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zink Michael

2010-01-01

Full Text Available A lot of attention has been given to multihop wireless networks lately, but further research—in particular, through experimentation—is needed. This attention has motivated an increase in the number of 802.11-based deployments, both indoor and outdoor. These testbeds, which require a significant amount of resources during both deployment and maintenance, are used to run measurements in order to analyze and understand the limitation and differences between analytical or simulation-based figures and the results from real-life experimentation. This paper makes two major contributions: (i first, we describe a novel wireless multihop testbed, which we name FloorNet, that is deployed and operated under the false floor of a lab in our Computer Science building. This false floor provides a strong physical protection that prevents disconnections or misplacements, as well as radio shielding (to some extent thanks to the false floor panels—this later feature is assessed through experimentation; (ii second, by running exhaustive and controlled experiments we are able to analyze the performance limits of commercial off-the-shelf hardware, as well as to derive practical design criteria for the deployment and configuration of mesh networks. These results both provide valuable insights of wireless multihop performance and prove that FloorNet constitutes a valuable asset to research on wireless mesh networks.

Interactive aircraft cabin testbed for stress-free air travel system experiment: an innovative concurrent design approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tan, C.F.; Chen, W.; Rauterberg, G.W.M.

2009-01-01

In this paper, a study of the concurrent engineering design for the environmental friendly low cost aircraft cabin simulator is presented. The study describes the used of concurrent design technique in the design activity. The simulator is a testbed that was designed and built for research on

Report of the Interagency Optical Network Testbeds Workshop 2 September 12-14, 2006 NASA Ames Research Center

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Joe Mambretti Richard desJardins

2006-05-01

A new generation of optical networking services and technologies is rapidly changing the world of communications. National and international networks are implementing optical services to supplement traditional packet routed services. On September 12-14, 2005, the Optical Network Testbeds Workshop 2 (ONT2), an invitation-only forum hosted by the NASA Research and Engineering Network (NREN) and co-sponsored by the Department of Energy (DOE), was held at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. The aim of ONT2 was to help the Federal Large Scale Networking Coordination Group (LSN) and its Joint Engineering Team (JET) to coordinate testbed and network roadmaps describing agency and partner organization views and activities for moving toward next generation communication services based on leading edge optical networks in the 3-5 year time frame. ONT2 was conceived and organized as a sequel to the first Optical Network Testbeds Workshop (ONT1, August 2004, www.nren.nasa.gov/workshop7). ONT1 resulted in a series of recommendations to LSN. ONT2 was designed to move beyond recommendations to agree on a series of “actionable objectives” that would proactively help federal and partner optical network testbeds and advanced research and education (R&E) networks to begin incorporating technologies and services representing the next generation of advanced optical networks in the next 1-3 years. Participants in ONT2 included representatives from innovative prototype networks (Panel A), basic optical network research testbeds (Panel B), and production R&D networks (Panels C and D), including “JETnets,” selected regional optical networks (RONs), international R&D networks, commercial network technology and service providers (Panel F), and senior engineering and R&D managers from LSN agencies and partner organizations. The overall goal of ONT2 was to identify and coordinate short and medium term activities and milestones for researching, developing, identifying

Open-Source Based Testbed for Multioperator 4G/5G Infrastructure Sharing in Virtual Environments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ricardo Marco Alaez

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Fourth-Generation (4G mobile networks are based on Long-Term Evolution (LTE technologies and are being deployed worldwide, while research on further evolution towards the Fifth Generation (5G has been recently initiated. 5G will be featured with advanced network infrastructure sharing capabilities among different operators. Therefore, an open-source implementation of 4G/5G networks with this capability is crucial to enable early research in this area. The main contribution of this paper is the design and implementation of such a 4G/5G open-source testbed to investigate multioperator infrastructure sharing capabilities executed in virtual architectures. The proposed design and implementation enable the virtualization and sharing of some of the components of the LTE architecture. A testbed has been implemented and validated with intensive empirical experiments conducted to validate the suitability of virtualizing LTE components in virtual infrastructures (i.e., infrastructures with multitenancy sharing capabilities. The impact of the proposed technologies can lead to significant saving of both capital and operational costs for mobile telecommunication operators.

Creating the Deep Space Environment for Testing the James Webb Space Telescope at NASA Johnson Space Center's Chamber A

Science.gov (United States)

Homan, Jonathan L.; Cerimele, Mary P.; Montz, Michael E.; Bachtel, Russell; Speed, John; O'Rear, Patrick

2013-01-01

Chamber A is the largest thermal vacuum chamber at the Johnson Space Center and is one of the largest space environment chambers in the world. The chamber is 19.8 m (65 ft.) in diameter and 36.6 m (120 ft.) tall and is equipped with cryogenic liquid nitrogen panels (shrouds) and gaseous helium shrouds to create a simulated space environment. It was originally designed and built in the mid 1960 s to test the Apollo Command and Service Module and several manned tests were conducted on that spacecraft, contributing to the success of the program. The chamber has been used since that time to test spacecraft active thermal control systems, Shuttle DTO, DOD, and ESA hardware in simulated Low Earth Orbit (LEO) conditions. NASA is now moving from LEO towards exploration of locations with environments approaching those of deep space. Therefore, Chamber A has undergone major modifications to enable it to simulate these deeper space environments. Environmental requirements were driven, and modifications were funded by the James Webb Space Telescope program, and this telescope, which will orbit Solar/Earth L2, will be the first test article to benefit from the chamber s new capabilities. To accommodate JWST, the Chamber A high vacuum system has been modernized, additional LN2 shrouds have been installed, the liquid nitrogen system has been modified to minimize dependency on electrical power and increase its reliability, a new helium shroud/refrigeration system has been installed to create a colder more stable and uniform heat sink, and the controls have been updated to increase the level of automation and improve operator interfaces. Testing of these major modifications was conducted in August of 2012 and this initial test was very successful, with all major systems exceeding their performance requirements. This paper will outline the changes in overall environmental requirements, discuss the technical design data that was used in the decisions leading to the extensive

Creating the Deep Space Environment for Testing the James Webb Space Telescope at the Johnson Space Center's Chamber A

Science.gov (United States)

Homan, Jonathan L.; Cerimele, Mary P.; Montz, Michael E.

2012-01-01

Chamber A is the largest thermal vacuum chamber at the Johnson Space Center and is one of the largest space environment chambers in the world. The chamber is 19.8 m (65 ft) in diameter and 36.6 m (120 ft) tall and is equipped with cryogenic liquid nitrogen panels (shrouds) and gaseous helium shrouds to create a simulated space environment. It was originally designed and built in the mid 1960's to test the Apollo Command and Service Module and several manned tests were conducted on that spacecraft, contributing to the success of the program. The chamber has been used since that time to test spacecraft active thermal control systems, Shuttle DTO, DOD, and ESA hardware in simulated Low Earth Orbit (LEO) conditions. NASA is now moving from LEO towards exploration of locations with environments approaching those of deep space. Therefore, Chamber A has undergone major modifications to enable it to simulate these deeper space environments. Environmental requirements were driven, and the modifications were funded, by the James Webb Space Telescope program, and this telescope which will orbit Solar/Earth L2, will be the first test article to benefit from the chamber s new capabilities. To accommodate JWST, the Chamber A high vacuum system has been modernized, additional LN2 shrouds have been installed, the liquid nitrogen system has been modified to remove dependency on electrical power and increase its reliability, a new helium shroud/refrigeration system has been installed to create a colder more stable and uniform heat sink and, the controls have been updated to increase the level of automation and improve operator interfaces. Testing of these major modifications was conducted in August 2012 and this initial test was very successful, with all major systems exceeding their performance requirements. This paper will outline the changes in the overall environmental requirements, discuss the technical design data that was used in the decisions leading to the extensive

Open principle for large high-resolution solar telescopes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hammerschlag, R.H.; Bettonvil, F.C.M.; Jägers, A.P.L.; Sliepen, G.

2009-01-01

Vacuum solar telescopes solve the problem of image deterioration inside the telescope due to refractive index fluctuations of the air heated by the solar light. However, such telescopes have a practical diameter limit somewhat over 1 m. The Dutch Open Telescope (DOT) was the pioneering demonstrator

High-Resolution Adaptive Optics Test-Bed for Vision Science

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilks, S.C.; Thomspon, C.A.; Olivier, S.S.; Bauman, B.J.; Barnes, T.; Werner, J.S.

2001-01-01

We discuss the design and implementation of a low-cost, high-resolution adaptive optics test-bed for vision research. It is well known that high-order aberrations in the human eye reduce optical resolution and limit visual acuity. However, the effects of aberration-free eyesight on vision are only now beginning to be studied using adaptive optics to sense and correct the aberrations in the eye. We are developing a high-resolution adaptive optics system for this purpose using a Hamamatsu Parallel Aligned Nematic Liquid Crystal Spatial Light Modulator. Phase-wrapping is used to extend the effective stroke of the device, and the wavefront sensing and wavefront correction are done at different wavelengths. Issues associated with these techniques will be discussed

Analysis of polarization introduced due to the telescope optics of the Thirty Meter Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Anche, Ramya Manjunath; Sen, Asoke Kumar; Anupama, Gadiyara Chakrapani; Sankarasubramanian, Kasiviswanathan; Skidmore, Warren

2018-01-01

An analytical model has been developed to estimate the polarization effects, such as instrumental polarization (IP), crosstalk (CT), and depolarization, due to the optics of the Thirty Meter Telescope. These are estimated for the unvignetted field-of-view and the wavelengths of interest. The model estimates an IP of 1.26% and a CT of 44% at the Nasmyth focus of the telescope at the wavelength of 0.6 μm at field angle zero with the telescope pointing to zenith. Mueller matrices have been estimated for the primary, secondary, and Nasmyth mirrors. It is found that some of the Mueller matrix elements of the primary and secondary mirrors show a fourfold azimuthal antisymmetry, which indicates that the polarization at the Cassegrain focus is negligible. At the inclined Nasmyth mirror, there is no azimuthal antisymmetry in the matrix elements, and this results in nonzero values for IP and CT, which would negatively impact the polarization measurements at the telescope focus. The averaged Mueller matrix is estimated at the Nasmyth focus at different instrument ports and various zenith angles of the telescope. The variation in the Mueller matrix elements for different coatings is also estimated. The impact of this polarization effect on the science case requirements has been discussed. This analysis will help in achieving precise requirements for future instruments with polarimetric capability.

Optical Design of the STAR-X Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Saha, Timo T.; Zhang, William W.; McClelland, Ryan S.

2017-01-01

Top-level science goals of the Survey and Time-domain Astrophysical Research eXplorer (STAR-X) include: investigations of most violent explosions in the universe, study of growth of black holes across cosmic time and mass scale, and measure how structure formation heats majority of baryons in the universe. To meet these goals, the field-of-view of the telescope should be about 1 square-degree, the angular resolution should be 5 arc-seconds or below across large part of the field-of-view. The on-axis effective area at 1 KeV should be about 2,000 sq cm. Payload cost and launch considerations limit the outer diameter, focal length, and mass to 1.3 meters, 5 meters, and 250 kilograms, respectively. Telescope design is based on a segmented meta-shell approach we have developed at Goddard Space Flight Center for the STAR-X telescope. The telescope shells are divided into 30-degree segments. Individual telescopes and meta-shells are nested inside each other to meet the effective area requirements in 0.5 - 6.0 KeV range. We consider Wolter-Schwarzschild, and Modified-Wolter-Schwarzschild telescope designs as basic building blocks of the nested STAR-X telescope. These designs offer an excellent resolution over a large field of views. Nested telescopes are vulnerable to stray light problems. We have designed a multi-component baffle system to eliminate direct and single-reflection light paths inside the telescopes. Large number of internal and external baffle vane structures are required to prevent stray rays from reaching the focal plane. We have developed a simple ray-trace based tool to determine the dimensions and locations of the baffles. In this paper, we present the results of our trade studies, baffle design studies, and optical performance analyses of the STAR-X telescope.

Technological Aspects of Creating Large-size Optical Telescopes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. V. Sychev

2015-01-01

Full Text Available A concept of the telescope creation, first of all, depends both on a choice of the optical scheme to form optical radiation and images with minimum losses of energy and information and on a choice of design to meet requirements for strength, stiffness, and stabilization characteristics in real telescope operation conditions. Thus, the concept of creating large-size telescopes, certainly, involves the use of adaptive optics methods and means.The level of technological capabilities to realize scientific and engineering ideas define a successful development of large-size optical telescopes in many respects. All developers pursue the same aim that is to raise an amount of information by increasing a main mirror diameter of the telescope.The article analyses the adaptive telescope designs developed in our country. Using a domestic ACT-25 telescope as an example, it considers creation of large-size optical telescopes in terms of technological aspects. It also describes the telescope creation concept features, which allow reaching marginally possible characteristics to ensure maximum amount of information.The article compares a wide range of large-size telescopes projects. It shows that a domestic project to create the adaptive ACT-25 super-telescope surpasses its foreign counterparts, and there is no sense to implement Euro50 (50m and OWL (100m projects.The considered material gives clear understanding on a role of technological aspects in development of such complicated optic-electronic complexes as a large-size optical telescope. The technological criteria of an assessment offered in the article, namely specific informational content of the telescope, its specific mass, and specific cost allow us to reveal weaknesses in the project development and define a reserve regarding further improvement of the telescope.The analysis of results and their judgment have shown that improvement of optical largesize telescopes in terms of their maximum

Neutrino telescopes in the World

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ernenwein, J.-P.

2007-01-01

Neutrino astronomy has rapidly developed these last years, being the only way to get specific and reliable information about astrophysical objects still poorly understood.Currently two neutrino telescopes are operational in the World: BAIKAL, in the lake of the same name in Siberia, and AMANDA, in the ices of the South Pole. Two telescopes of the same type are under construction in the Mediterranean Sea: ANTARES and NESTOR. All these telescopes belong to a first generation, with an instrumented volume smaller or equal to 0.02 km3. Also in the Mediterranean Sea, the NEMO project is just in its starting phase, within the framework of a cubic kilometer size neutrino telescope study. Lastly, the ICECUBE detector, with a volume reaching about 1 km3, is under construction on the site of AMANDA experiment, while an extension of the BAIKAL detector toward km3 is under study. We will present here the characteristics of these experiments, as well as the results of their observations

The Liverpool Telescope: rapid follow-up observation of targets of opportunity with a 2 m robotic telescope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gomboc, Andreja; Bode, Michael F.; Carter, David; Mundell, Carol G.; Newsam, Andrew; Smith, Robert J.; Steele, Iain A.

2004-01-01

The Liverpool Telescope, situated at Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, La Palma, Canaries, is the first 2-m, fully instrumented robotic telescope. It recently began observations. Among Liverpool Telescope's primary scientific goals is to monitor variable objects on all timescales from seconds to years. An additional benefit of its robotic operation is rapid reaction to unpredictable phenomena and their systematic follow up, simultaneous or coordinated with other facilities. The Target of Opportunity Programme of the Liverpool Telescope includes the prompt search for and observation of GRB and XRF counterparts. A special over-ride mode implemented for GRB/XRF follow-up enables observations commencing less than a minute after the alert, including optical and near infrared imaging and spectroscopy. In particular, the moderate aperture and rapid automated response make the Liverpool Telescope excellently suited to help solving the mystery of optically dark GRBs and for the investigation of currently unstudied short bursts and XRFs

ANTARES: The first undersea neutrino telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Ageron, M.; Aguilar, J. A.; Al Samarai, I.; Albert, A.; Ameli, F.; André, M.; Anghinolfi, M.; Anton, G.; Anvar, S.; Ardid, M.; Arnaud, K.; Aslanides, E.; Assis Jesus, A. C.; Astraatmadja, T.; Aubert, J.-J.; Auer, R.; Barbarito, E.; Baret, B.; Basa, S.; Bazzotti, M.; Becherini, Y.; Beltramelli, J.; Bersani, A.; Bertin, V.; Beurthey, S.; Biagi, S.; Bigongiari, C.; Billault, M.; Blaes, R.; Bogazzi, C.; de Botton, N.; Bou-Cabo, M.; Boudahef, B.; Bouwhuis, M. C.; Brown, A. M.; Brunner, J.; Busto, J.; Caillat, L.; Calzas, A.; Camarena, F.; Capone, A.; Caponetto, L.; Cârloganu, C.; Carminati, G.; Carmona, E.; Carr, J.; Carton, P. H.; Cassano, B.; Castorina, E.; Cecchini, S.; Ceres, A.; Chaleil, Th.; Charvis, Ph.; Chauchot, P.; Chiarusi, T.; Circella, M.; Compère, C.; Coniglione, R.; Coppolani, X.; Cosquer, A.; Costantini, H.; Cottini, N.; Coyle, P.; Cuneo, S.; Curtil, C.; D'Amato, C.; Damy, G.; van Dantzig, R.; de Bonis, G.; Decock, G.; Decowski, M. P.; Dekeyser, I.; Delagnes, E.; Desages-Ardellier, F.; Deschamps, A.; Destelle, J.-J.; di Maria, F.; Dinkespiler, B.; Distefano, C.; Dominique, J.-L.; Donzaud, C.; Dornic, D.; Dorosti, Q.; Drogou, J.-F.; Drouhin, D.; Druillole, F.; Durand, D.; Durand, R.; Eberl, T.; Emanuele, U.; Engelen, J. J.; Ernenwein, J.-P.; Escoffier, S.; Falchini, E.; Favard, S.; Fehr, F.; Feinstein, F.; Ferri, M.; Ferry, S.; Fiorello, C.; Flaminio, V.; Folger, F.; Fritsch, U.; Fuda, J.-L.; Galatá, S.; Galeotti, S.; Gay, P.; Gensolen, F.; Giacomelli, G.; Gojak, C.; Gómez-González, J. P.; Goret, Ph.; Graf, K.; Guillard, G.; Halladjian, G.; Hallewell, G.; van Haren, H.; Hartmann, B.; Heijboer, A. J.; Heine, E.; Hello, Y.; Henry, S.; Hernández-Rey, J. J.; Herold, B.; Hößl, J.; Hogenbirk, J.; Hsu, C. C.; Hubbard, J. R.; Jaquet, M.; Jaspers, M.; de Jong, M.; Jourde, D.; Kadler, M.; Kalantar-Nayestanaki, N.; Kalekin, O.; Kappes, A.; Karg, T.; Karkar, S.; Karolak, M.; Katz, U.; Keller, P.; Kestener, P.; Kok, E.; Kok, H.; Kooijman, P.; Kopper, C.; Kouchner, A.; Kretschmer, W.; Kruijer, A.; Kuch, S.; Kulikovskiy, V.; Lachartre, D.; Lafoux, H.; Lagier, P.; Lahmann, R.; Lahonde-Hamdoun, C.; Lamare, P.; Lambard, G.; Languillat, J.-C.; Larosa, G.; Lavalle, J.; Le Guen, Y.; Le Provost, H.; Levansuu, A.; Lefèvre, D.; Legou, T.; Lelaizant, G.; Lévéque, C.; Lim, G.; Lo Presti, D.; Loehner, H.; Loucatos, S.; Louis, F.; Lucarelli, F.; Lyashuk, V.; Magnier, P.; Mangano, S.; Marcel, A.; Marcelin, M.; Margiotta, A.; Martinez-Mora, J. A.; Masullo, R.; Mazéas, F.; Mazure, A.; Meli, A.; Melissas, M.; Migneco, E.; Mongelli, M.; Montaruli, T.; Morganti, M.; Moscoso, L.; Motz, H.; Musumeci, M.; Naumann, C.; Naumann-Godo, M.; Neff, M.; Niess, V.; Nooren, G. J. L.; Oberski, J. E. J.; Olivetto, C.; Palanque-Delabrouille, N.; Palioselitis, D.; Papaleo, R.; Păvălaş, G. E.; Payet, K.; Payre, P.; Peek, H.; Petrovic, J.; Piattelli, P.; Picot-Clemente, N.; Picq, C.; Piret, Y.; Poinsignon, J.; Popa, V.; Pradier, T.; Presani, E.; Prono, G.; Racca, C.; Raia, G.; van Randwijk, J.; Real, D.; Reed, C.; Réthoré, F.; Rewiersma, P.; Riccobene, G.; Richardt, C.; Richter, R.; Ricol, J. S.; Rigaud, V.; Roca, V.; Roensch, K.; Rolin, J.-F.; Rostovtsev, A.; Rottura, A.; Roux, J.; Rujoiu, M.; Ruppi, M.; Russo, G. V.; Salesa, F.; Salomon, K.; Sapienza, P.; Schmitt, F.; Schöck, F.; Schuller, J.-P.; Schüssler, F.; Sciliberto, D.; Shanidze, R.; Shirokov, E.; Simeone, F.; Sottoriva, A.; Spies, A.; Spona, T.; Spurio, M.; Steijger, J. J. M.; Stolarczyk, Th.; Streeb, K.; Sulak, L.; Taiuti, M.; Tamburini, C.; Tao, C.; Tasca, L.; Terreni, G.; Tezier, D.; Toscano, S.; Urbano, F.; Valdy, P.; Vallage, B.; van Elewyck, V.; Vannoni, G.; Vecchi, M.; Venekamp, G.; Verlaat, B.; Vernin, P.; Virique, E.; de Vries, G.; van Wijk, R.; Wijnker, G.; Wobbe, G.; de Wolf, E.; Yakovenko, Y.; Yepes, H.; Zaborov, D.; Zaccone, H.; Zornoza, J. D.; Zúñiga, J.

2011-11-01

The ANTARES Neutrino Telescope was completed in May 2008 and is the first operational Neutrino Telescope in the Mediterranean Sea. The main purpose of the detector is to perform neutrino astronomy and the apparatus also offers facilities for marine and Earth sciences. This paper describes the design, the construction and the installation of the telescope in the deep sea, offshore from Toulon in France. An illustration of the detector performance is given.

ANTARES: The first undersea neutrino telescope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ageron, M.; Aguilar, J.A.; Al Samarai, I.; Albert, A.; Ameli, F.; Andre, M.; Anghinolfi, M.; Anton, G.; Anvar, S.; Ardid, M.; Arnaud, K.; Aslanides, E.; Assis Jesus, A.C.; Astraatmadja, T.; Aubert, J.-J.; Auer, R.; Barbarito, E.; Baret, B.

2011-01-01

The ANTARES Neutrino Telescope was completed in May 2008 and is the first operational Neutrino Telescope in the Mediterranean Sea. The main purpose of the detector is to perform neutrino astronomy and the apparatus also offers facilities for marine and Earth sciences. This paper describes the design, the construction and the installation of the telescope in the deep sea, offshore from Toulon in France. An illustration of the detector performance is given.

James Webb Space Telescope Studies of Dark Energy

Science.gov (United States)

Gardner, Jonathan P.; Stiavelli, Massimo; Mather, John C.

2010-01-01

time-variable source gives the angular diameter distance through measured time delays of multiple images. Finally, the growth of structure can also be constrained by measuring the mass of the largest galaxy clusters over cosmic time. HST has contributed to the study of dark energy through SN1a and gravitational lensing, as discussed above. HST has also helped to characterize galaxy clusters and the HST-measured constraints on the current Hubble constant H(sub 0) are relevant to the interpretation of dark energy measurements (Riess et al 2009a). HST has not been used to constrain BAO as the large number of galaxy redshifts required, of order 100 million, is poorly matched to HST's capabilities. As the successor to HST, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST; Gardner et al 2006) will continue and extend HST's dark energy work in several ways.

The Dutch Open Telescope: History, Status, Prospects

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rutten, R.J.

1999-01-01

After many years of persistent telescope design and telescope construction, R.H. Hammerschlag has installed his Dutch Open Telescope (DOT) on La Palma. I brie y review its history and design. The future of optical solar physics at Utrecht hinges on a recently-funded three- year DOT science

A virtual reality environment for telescope operation

Science.gov (United States)

Martínez, Luis A.; Villarreal, José L.; Ángeles, Fernando; Bernal, Abel

2010-07-01

Astronomical observatories and telescopes are becoming increasingly large and complex systems, demanding to any potential user the acquirement of great amount of information previous to access them. At present, the most common way to overcome that information is through the implementation of larger graphical user interfaces and computer monitors to increase the display area. Tonantzintla Observatory has a 1-m telescope with a remote observing system. As a step forward in the improvement of the telescope software, we have designed a Virtual Reality (VR) environment that works as an extension of the remote system and allows us to operate the telescope. In this work we explore this alternative technology that is being suggested here as a software platform for the operation of the 1-m telescope.

LSST telescope and site status

Science.gov (United States)

Gressler, William J.

2016-07-01

The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) Project1 received its construction authorization from the National Science Foundation in August 2014. The Telescope and Site (T and S) group has made considerable progress towards completion in subsystems required to support the scope of the LSST science mission. The LSST goal is to conduct a wide, fast, deep survey via a 3-mirror wide field of view optical design, a 3.2-Gpixel camera, and an automated data processing system. The summit facility is currently under construction on Cerro Pachón in Chile, with major vendor subsystem deliveries and integration planned over the next several years. This paper summarizes the status of the activities of the T and S group, tasked with design, analysis, and construction of the summit and base facilities and infrastructure necessary to control the survey, capture the light, and calibrate the data. All major telescope work package procurements have been awarded to vendors and are in varying stages of design and fabrication maturity and completion. The unique M1M3 primary/tertiary mirror polishing effort is completed and the mirror now resides in storage waiting future testing. Significant progress has been achieved on all the major telescope subsystems including the summit facility, telescope mount assembly, dome, hexapod and rotator systems, coating plant, base facility, and the calibration telescope. In parallel, in-house efforts including the software needed to control the observatory such as the scheduler and the active optics control, have also seen substantial advancement. The progress and status of these subsystems and future LSST plans during this construction phase are presented.

Microgrid testbeds around the world: State of art

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hossain, Eklas; Kabalci, Ersan; Bayindir, Ramazan; Perez, Ronald

2014-01-01

Highlights: • A detail discussion on microgrid project around the world such as North American, Europe, and Japan. • Key benefits of microgrid, issues with on-site generation, features. • Why we need distributed generation system with a brief introduction. • Distributed generation technologies with cost analysis. • The overview on existing distribution network. - Abstract: This paper deals with the recent evolution of microgrids being used around the world in real life applications as well as laboratory application for research. This study is intended to introduce the subject by reviewing the components level, structure and types of microgrid applications installed as a plant or modeled as a simulation environment. The paper also presents a survey regarding published papers on why the microgrid is required, and what the components and control systems are which constitute the actual microgrid studies. It leads the researcher to see the microgrid in terms of the actual bigger picture of today and creates a new outlook about the potential developments. Additionally, comparison of microgrids in various regions based on several parameters allows researchers to define the required criteria and features of a special microgrid that is chosen for a particular scenario. The authors of this paper also tabulated all the necessary information about microgrids, and proposed a standard microgrid for better power quality and optimizing energy generation. Consequently, it is focused on inadequate knowledge and technology gaps in the power system field with regards to the future, and it is this which has been illustrated for the reader. The existing microgrid testbeds all around the world have been studied and analyzed and several of them are explained as an example in this study. Later, those investigated distribution systems are classified based on region (North America, Europe and Asia) and, as presented in literature, a significant amount of deviation has been found

Automatic Photoelectric Telescope Service

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Genet, R.M.; Boyd, L.J.; Kissell, K.E.; Crawford, D.L.; Hall, D.S.; BDM Corp., McLean, VA; Kitt Peak National Observatory, Tucson, AZ; Dyer Observatory, Nashville, TN)

1987-01-01

Automatic observatories have the potential of gathering sizable amounts of high-quality astronomical data at low cost. The Automatic Photoelectric Telescope Service (APT Service) has realized this potential and is routinely making photometric observations of a large number of variable stars. However, without observers to provide on-site monitoring, it was necessary to incorporate special quality checks into the operation of the APT Service at its multiple automatic telescope installation on Mount Hopkins. 18 references

The ATHENA telescope and optics status

Science.gov (United States)

Bavdaz, Marcos; Wille, Eric; Ayre, Mark; Ferreira, Ivo; Shortt, Brian; Fransen, Sebastiaan; Collon, Maximilien; Vacanti, Giuseppe; Barriere, Nicolas; Landgraf, Boris; Haneveld, Jeroen; van Baren, Coen; Zuknik, Karl-Heintz; Della Monica Ferreira, Desiree; Massahi, Sonny; Christensen, Finn; Krumrey, Michael; Burwitz, Vadim; Pareschi, Giovanni; Spiga, Daniele; Valsecchi, Giuseppe; Vernani, Dervis; Oliver, Paul; Seidel, André

2017-08-01

The work on the definition and technological preparation of the ATHENA (Advanced Telescope for High ENergy Astrophysics) mission continues to progress. In parallel to the study of the accommodation of the telescope, many aspects of the X-ray optics are being evolved further. The optics technology chosen for ATHENA is the Silicon Pore Optics (SPO), which hinges on technology spin-in from the semiconductor industry, and uses a modular approach to produce large effective area lightweight telescope optics with a good angular resolution. Both system studies and the technology developments are guided by ESA and implemented in industry, with participation of institutional partners. In this paper an overview of the current status of the telescope optics accommodation and technology development activities is provided.

Development of research reactor simulator and its application to dynamic test-bed

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kwon, Kee-Choon; Baang, Dane; Park, Jae-Chang; Lee, Seung-Wook; Bae, Sung Won

2014-01-01

We developed a real-time simulator for 'High-flux Advanced Neutron Application ReactOr (HANARO), and the Jordan Research and Training Reactor (JRTR). The main purpose of this simulator is operator training, but we modified this simulator into a dynamic test-bed (DTB) to test the functions and dynamic control performance of reactor regulating system (RRS) in HANARO or JRTR before installation. The simulator hardware consists of a host computer, 6 operator stations, a network switch, and a large display panel. The software includes a mathematical model that implements plant dynamics in real-time, an instructor station module that manages user instructions, and a human machine interface module. The developed research reactor simulators are installed in the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute nuclear training center for reactor operator training. To use the simulator as a dynamic test-bed, the reactor regulating system modeling software of the simulator was replaced by actual RRS cabinet, and was interfaced using a hard-wired and network-based interface. RRS cabinet generates control signals for reactor power control based on the various feedback signals from DTB, and the DTB runs plant dynamics based on the RRS control signals. Thus the Hardware-In-the-Loop Simulation between RRS and the emulated plant (DTB) has been implemented and tested in this configuration. The test result shows that the developed DTB and actual RRS cabinet works together simultaneously resulting in quite good dynamic control performances. (author)

Hard x-ray telescope mission

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gorenstein, P.; Worrall, D.; Joensen, K.D.

1996-01-01

The Hard X-Ray Telescope was selected for study as a possible new intermediate size mission for the early 21st century. Its principal attributes are: (1) multiwavelength observing with a system of focussing telescopes that collectively observe from the UV to over 1 MeV, (2) much higher sensitivity...

Real-Time Remote Diagnostic Monitoring Test-bed in JET

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Castro, R. [Asociation Euratom/CIEMAT para Fusion, Madrid (Spain); Kneupner, K.; Purahoo, K. [EURATOM/UKAEA Fusion Association, Abingdon (United Kingdom); Vega, J.; Pereira, A.; Portas, A. [Association EuratomCIEMAT para Fusion, Madrid (Spain); De Arcas, G.; Lopez, J.M. [Universidad Politecnica de Madrid (Spain); Murari, A. [Consorzio RFX, Padova (Italy); Fonseca, A. [Associacao URATOM/IST, Lisboa (Portugal); Contributors, J.E. [JET-EFDA, Abingdon (United Kingdom)

2009-07-01

Based on the remote experimentation concept oriented to long pulse shots, a test-bed system has been implemented in JET. It integrates 2 functionalities. The first one is the real-time monitoring, on remote, of a reflectometer diagnostic, to visualize different data outputs and status information. The second one is the integration of dotJET (Diagnostic Overview Tool for JET), which internally provides at JET an overview about the current diagnostic systems state, in order to monitor, on remote, JET diagnostics status. The architecture of the system is formed by: the data generator components, the data distribution system, an access control service, and the client applications. In the test-bed there are two data generators: the acquisition equipment associated with the reflectometer diagnostic that generates data and status information, and dotJET server that centralize the access to the status information of JET diagnostics. The data distribution system has been implemented using a publishing-subscribing technology that receives data from data generators and redistributes them to client applications. And finally, for monitoring, a client application based on Java Web Start technology, and a dotJET client application have been used. There are 3 interesting results from this project. The first one is the analysis of different aspects (data formats, data frame rate, data resolution, etc) related with remote real-time diagnostic monitoring oriented to long pulse experiments. The second one is the definition and implementation of a flexible enough architecture, to be applied to different types of data generated from other diagnostics, and that fits with remote access requirements; and the third one is to have achieved a secure system, taking into account internal networks and firewalls aspects in JET, and securing the access from remote users. For this last issue, PAPI technology has been used, enabling access control based on user attributes, enabling mobile users to

Implementation of Motion Simulation Software and Visual-Auditory Electronics for Use in a Low Gravity Robotic Testbed

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, William Campbell

2011-01-01

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is developing the All-Terrain Hex-Limbed Extra-Terrestrial Explorer (ATHLETE) to assist in manned space missions. One of the proposed targets for this robotic vehicle is a near-Earth asteroid (NEA), which typically exhibit a surface gravity of only a few micro-g. In order to properly test ATHLETE in such an environment, the development team has constructed an inverted Stewart platform testbed that acts as a robotic motion simulator. This project focused on creating physical simulation software that is able to predict how ATHLETE will function on and around a NEA. The corresponding platform configurations are calculated and then passed to the testbed to control ATHLETE's motion. In addition, imitation attitude, imitation attitude control thrusters were designed and fabricated for use on ATHLETE. These utilize a combination of high power LEDs and audio amplifiers to provide visual and auditory cues that correspond to the physics simulation.

The Fourier-Kelvin Stellar Interferometer (FKSI) Nulling Testbed II: Closed-loop Path Length Metrology And Control Subsystem

Science.gov (United States)

Frey, B. J.; Barry, R. K.; Danchi, W. C.; Hyde, T. T.; Lee, K. Y.; Martino, A. J.; Zuray, M. S.

2006-01-01

The Fourier-Kelvin Stellar Interferometer (FKSI) is a mission concept for an imaging and nulling interferometer in the near to mid-infrared spectral region (3-8 microns), and will be a scientific and technological pathfinder for upcoming missions including TPF-I/DARWIN, SPECS, and SPIRIT. At NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, we have constructed a symmetric Mach-Zehnder nulling testbed to demonstrate techniques and algorithms that can be used to establish and maintain the 10(exp 4) null depth that will be required for such a mission. Among the challenges inherent in such a system is the ability to acquire and track the null fringe to the desired depth for timescales on the order of hours in a laboratory environment. In addition, it is desirable to achieve this stability without using conventional dithering techniques. We describe recent testbed metrology and control system developments necessary to achieve these goals and present our preliminary results.

21 CFR 886.5870 - Low-vision telescope.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Low-vision telescope. 886.5870 Section 886.5870...) MEDICAL DEVICES OPHTHALMIC DEVICES Therapeutic Devices § 886.5870 Low-vision telescope. (a) Identification. A low-vision telescope is a device that consists of an arrangement of lenses or mirrors intended for...

The NIRspec assembly integration and test status

Science.gov (United States)

Wettemann, Thomas; Ehrenwinkler, Ralf; Johnson, Thomas E.; Maschmann, Marc; Mosner, Peter; te Plate, Maurice; Rödel, Andreas

2017-11-01

The Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) is one of the four instruments on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) scheduled for launch in 2018. NIRSpec has been manufactured and tested by an European industrial consortium led by Airbus Defence and Space and delivered to the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA in September 2013. Since then it has successfully been integrated into the JWST Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM) and is currently in ISIM Cryo-Vacuum Test#2. Since however two of its most important assemblies, the Focal Plane Assembly (FPA) and the Micro-Shutter Assembly (MSA) need to be replaced by new units we will present the status of the instrument, the status of its new flight assemblies in manufacturing and testing and give an outlook on the planned exchange activities and the following instrument re-verification.

Constraining Lyman continuum escape using Machine Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Giri, Sambit K.; Zackrisson, Erik; Binggeli, Christian; Pelckmans, Kristiaan; Cubo, Rubén; Mellema, Garrelt

2018-05-01

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will observe the rest-frame ultraviolet/optical spectra of galaxies from the epoch of reionization (EoR) in unprecedented detail. While escaping into the intergalactic medium, hydrogen-ionizing (Lyman continuum; LyC) photons from the galaxies will contribute to the bluer end of the UV slope and make nebular emission lines less prominent. We present a method to constrain leakage of the LyC photons using the spectra of high redshift (z >~ 6) galaxies. We simulate JWST/NIRSpec observations of galaxies at z =6-9 by matching the fluxes of galaxies observed in the Frontier Fields observations of galaxy cluster MACS-J0416. Our method predicts the escape fraction fesc with a mean absolute error Δfesc ~ 0.14. The method also predicts the redshifts of the galaxies with an error .

Mid Infrared Instrument cooler subsystem test facility overview

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, B.; Zan, J.; Hannah, B.; Chui, T.; Penanen, K.; Weilert, M.

2017-12-01

The Cryocooler for the Mid Infrared Instrument (MIRI) on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) provides cooling at 6.2K on the instrument interface. The cooler system design has been incrementally documented in previous publications [1][2][3][4][5]. It has components that traverse three primary thermal regions on JWST: Region 1, approximated by 40K; Region 2, approximated by 100K; and Region 3, which is at the allowable flight temperatures for the spacecraft bus. However, there are several sub-regions that exist in the transition between primary regions and at the heat reject interfaces of the Cooler Compressor Assembly (CCA) and Cooler Control Electronics Assembly (CCEA). The design and performance of the test facility to provide a flight representative thermal environment for acceptance testing and characterization of the complete MIRI cooler subsystem are presented.

A numerical testbed for remote sensing of aerosols, and its demonstration for evaluating retrieval synergy from a geostationary satellite constellation of GEO-CAPE and GOES-R

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Jun; Xu, Xiaoguang; Ding, Shouguo; Zeng, Jing; Spurr, Robert; Liu, Xiong; Chance, Kelly; Mishchenko, Michael

2014-01-01

We present a numerical testbed for remote sensing of aerosols, together with a demonstration for evaluating retrieval synergy from a geostationary satellite constellation. The testbed combines inverse (optimal-estimation) software with a forward model containing linearized code for computing particle scattering (for both spherical and non-spherical particles), a kernel-based (land and ocean) surface bi-directional reflectance facility, and a linearized radiative transfer model for polarized radiance. Calculation of gas absorption spectra uses the HITRAN (HIgh-resolution TRANsmission molecular absorption) database of spectroscopic line parameters and other trace species cross-sections. The outputs of the testbed include not only the Stokes 4-vector elements and their sensitivities (Jacobians) with respect to the aerosol single scattering and physical parameters (such as size and shape parameters, refractive index, and plume height), but also DFS (Degree of Freedom for Signal) values for retrieval of these parameters. This testbed can be used as a tool to provide an objective assessment of aerosol information content that can be retrieved for any constellation of (planned or real) satellite sensors and for any combination of algorithm design factors (in terms of wavelengths, viewing angles, radiance and/or polarization to be measured or used). We summarize the components of the testbed, including the derivation and validation of analytical formulae for Jacobian calculations. Benchmark calculations from the forward model are documented. In the context of NASA's Decadal Survey Mission GEO-CAPE (GEOstationary Coastal and Air Pollution Events), we demonstrate the use of the testbed to conduct a feasibility study of using polarization measurements in and around the O 2 A band for the retrieval of aerosol height information from space, as well as an to assess potential improvement in the retrieval of aerosol fine and coarse mode aerosol optical depth (AOD) through the

Full-Scaled Advanced Systems Testbed: Ensuring Success of Adaptive Control Research Through Project Lifecycle Risk Mitigation

Science.gov (United States)

Pavlock, Kate M.

2011-01-01

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Dryden Flight Research Center completed flight testing of adaptive controls research on the Full-Scale Advance Systems Testbed (FAST) in January of 2011. The research addressed technical challenges involved with reducing risk in an increasingly complex and dynamic national airspace. Specific challenges lie with the development of validated, multidisciplinary, integrated aircraft control design tools and techniques to enable safe flight in the presence of adverse conditions such as structural damage, control surface failures, or aerodynamic upsets. The testbed is an F-18 aircraft serving as a full-scale vehicle to test and validate adaptive flight control research and lends a significant confidence to the development, maturation, and acceptance process of incorporating adaptive control laws into follow-on research and the operational environment. The experimental systems integrated into FAST were designed to allow for flexible yet safe flight test evaluation and validation of modern adaptive control technologies and revolve around two major hardware upgrades: the modification of Production Support Flight Control Computers (PSFCC) and integration of two, fourth-generation Airborne Research Test Systems (ARTS). Post-hardware integration verification and validation provided the foundation for safe flight test of Nonlinear Dynamic Inversion and Model Reference Aircraft Control adaptive control law experiments. To ensure success of flight in terms of cost, schedule, and test results, emphasis on risk management was incorporated into early stages of design and flight test planning and continued through the execution of each flight test mission. Specific consideration was made to incorporate safety features within the hardware and software to alleviate user demands as well as into test processes and training to reduce human factor impacts to safe and successful flight test. This paper describes the research configuration

A Numerical Testbed for Remote Sensing of Aerosols, and its Demonstration for Evaluating Retrieval Synergy from a Geostationary Satellite Constellation of GEO-CAPE and GOES-R

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jun; Xu, Xiaoguang; Ding, Shouguo; Zeng, Jing; Spurr, Robert; Liu, Xiong; Chance, Kelly; Mishchenko, Michael I.

2014-01-01

We present a numerical testbed for remote sensing of aerosols, together with a demonstration for evaluating retrieval synergy from a geostationary satellite constellation. The testbed combines inverse (optimal-estimation) software with a forward model containing linearized code for computing particle scattering (for both spherical and non-spherical particles), a kernel-based (land and ocean) surface bi-directional reflectance facility, and a linearized radiative transfer model for polarized radiance. Calculation of gas absorption spectra uses the HITRAN (HIgh-resolution TRANsmission molecular absorption) database of spectroscopic line parameters and other trace species cross-sections. The outputs of the testbed include not only the Stokes 4-vector elements and their sensitivities (Jacobians) with respect to the aerosol single scattering and physical parameters (such as size and shape parameters, refractive index, and plume height), but also DFS (Degree of Freedom for Signal) values for retrieval of these parameters. This testbed can be used as a tool to provide an objective assessment of aerosol information content that can be retrieved for any constellation of (planned or real) satellite sensors and for any combination of algorithm design factors (in terms of wavelengths, viewing angles, radiance and/or polarization to be measured or used). We summarize the components of the testbed, including the derivation and validation of analytical formulae for Jacobian calculations. Benchmark calculations from the forward model are documented. In the context of NASA's Decadal Survey Mission GEOCAPE (GEOstationary Coastal and Air Pollution Events), we demonstrate the use of the testbed to conduct a feasibility study of using polarization measurements in and around the O2 A band for the retrieval of aerosol height information from space, as well as an to assess potential improvement in the retrieval of aerosol fine and coarse mode aerosol optical depth (AOD) through the

NN-SITE: A remote monitoring testbed facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kadner, S.; White, R.; Roman, W.; Sheely, K.; Puckett, J.; Ystesund, K.

1997-01-01

DOE, Aquila Technologies, LANL and SNL recently launched collaborative efforts to create a Non-Proliferation Network Systems Integration and Test (NN-Site, pronounced N-Site) facility. NN-Site will focus on wide area, local area, and local operating level network connectivity including Internet access. This facility will provide thorough and cost-effective integration, testing and development of information connectivity among diverse operating systems and network topologies prior to full-scale deployment. In concentrating on instrument interconnectivity, tamper indication, and data collection and review, NN-Site will facilitate efforts of equipment providers and system integrators in deploying systems that will meet nuclear non-proliferation and safeguards objectives. The following will discuss the objectives of ongoing remote monitoring efforts, as well as the prevalent policy concerns. An in-depth discussion of the Non-Proliferation Network Systems Integration and Test facility (NN-Site) will illuminate the role that this testbed facility can perform in meeting the objectives of remote monitoring efforts, and its potential contribution in promoting eventual acceptance of remote monitoring systems in facilities worldwide

Development of a hardware-in-the-loop testbed to demonstrate multiple spacecraft operations in proximity

Science.gov (United States)

Eun, Youngho; Park, Sang-Young; Kim, Geuk-Nam

2018-06-01

This paper presents a new state-of-the-art ground-based hardware-in-the-loop test facility, which was developed to verify and demonstrate autonomous guidance, navigation, and control algorithms for space proximity operations and formation flying maneuvers. The test facility consists of two complete spaceflight simulators, an aluminum-based operational arena, and a set of infrared motion tracking cameras; thus, the testbed is capable of representing space activities under circumstances prevailing on the ground. The spaceflight simulators have a maximum of five-degree-of-freedom in a quasi-momentum-free environment, which is produced by a set of linear/hemispherical air-bearings and a horizontally leveled operational arena. The tracking system measures the real-time three-dimensional position and attitude to provide state variables to the agents. The design of the testbed is illustrated in detail for every element throughout the paper. The practical hardware characteristics of the active/passive measurement units and internal actuators are identified in detail from various perspectives. These experimental results support the successful development of the entire facility and enable us to implement and verify the spacecraft proximity operation strategy in the near future.

Link Adaptation for Mitigating Earth-To-Space Propagation Effects on the NASA SCaN Testbed

Science.gov (United States)

Kilcoyne, Deirdre K.; Headley, William C.; Leffke, Zach J.; Rowe, Sonya A.; Mortensen, Dale J.; Reinhart, Richard C.; McGwier, Robert W.

2016-01-01

In Earth-to-Space communications, well-known propagation effects such as path loss and atmospheric loss can lead to fluctuations in the strength of the communications link between a satellite and its ground station. Additionally, the typically unconsidered effect of shadowing due to the geometry of the satellite and its solar panels can also lead to link degradation. As a result of these anticipated channel impairments, NASA's communication links have been traditionally designed to handle the worst-case impact of these effects through high link margins and static, lower rate, modulation formats. The work presented in this paper aims to relax these constraints by providing an improved trade-off between data rate and link margin through utilizing link adaptation. More specifically, this work provides a simulation study on the propagation effects impacting NASA's SCaN Testbed flight software-defined radio (SDR) as well as proposes a link adaptation algorithm that varies the modulation format of a communications link as its signal-to-noise ratio fluctuates. Ultimately, the models developed in this work will be utilized to conduct real-time flight experiments on-board the NASA SCaN Testbed.

Scientific management of Space Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Odell, C. R.

1981-01-01

A historical summay is given on the science management of the Space Telescope, the inception of which began in 1962, when scientists and engineers first recommended the development of a nearly diffraction limited substantial-size optical telescope. Phase A, the feasibility requirements generation phase, began in 1971 and consisted largely of NASA scientists and a NASA design. Phase B, the preliminary design phase, established a tiered structure of scientists, led by the Large Space Telescope operations and Management Work Group. A Mission Operations Working Group headed six instrument definition teams to develop the essential instrument definitions. Many changes took place during Phase B, before design and development, which began in 1978 and still continues today.

An ODMG-compatible testbed architecture for scalable management and analysis of physics data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malon, D.M.; May, E.N.

1997-01-01

This paper describes a testbed architecture for the investigation and development of scalable approaches to the management and analysis of massive amounts of high energy physics data. The architecture has two components: an interface layer that is compliant with a substantial subset of the ODMG-93 Version 1.2 specification, and a lightweight object persistence manager that provides flexible storage and retrieval services on a variety of single- and multi-level storage architectures, and on a range of parallel and distributed computing platforms

Remote secure observing for the Faulkes Telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Robert J.; Steele, Iain A.; Marchant, Jonathan M.; Fraser, Stephen N.; Mucke-Herzberg, Dorothea

2004-09-01

Since the Faulkes Telescopes are to be used by a wide variety of audiences, both powerful engineering level and simple graphical interfaces exist giving complete remote and robotic control of the telescope over the internet. Security is extremely important to protect the health of both humans and equipment. Data integrity must also be carefully guarded for images being delivered directly into the classroom. The adopted network architecture is described along with the variety of security and intrusion detection software. We use a combination of SSL, proxies, IPSec, and both Linux iptables and Cisco IOS firewalls to ensure only authenticated and safe commands are sent to the telescopes. With an eye to a possible future global network of robotic telescopes, the system implemented is capable of scaling linearly to any moderate (of order ten) number of telescopes.

Single particle detecting telescope system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamamoto, I.; Tomiyama, T.; Iga, Y.; Komatsubara, T.; Kanada, M.; Yamashita, Y.; Wada, T.; Furukawa, S.

1981-01-01

We constructed the single particle detecting telescope system for detecting a fractionally charged particle. The telescope consists of position detecting counters, wall-less multi-cell chambers, single detecting circuits and microcomputer system as data I/0 processor. Especially, a frequency of double particle is compared the case of the single particle detecting with the case of an ordinary measurement

Building the Hubble Space Telescope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

O'dell, C.R.

1989-01-01

The development of the design for the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is discussed. The HST optical system is described and illustrated. The financial and policy issues related to the development of the HST are considered. The actual construction of the HST optical telescope is examined. Also, consideration is given to the plans for the HST launch

Lee Sang Gak Telescope (LSGT): A Remotely Operated Robotic Telescope for Education and Research at Seoul National University

Science.gov (United States)

Im, Myungshin; Choi, Changsu; Kim, Kihyun

2015-08-01

We introduce the Lee Sang Gak Telescope (LSGT), a remotely operated, robotic 0.43-meter telescope. The telescope was installed at the Siding Spring Observatory, Australia, in 2014 October, to secure regular and exclusive access to the dark sky and excellent atmospheric conditions in the southern hemisphere from the Seoul National University (SNU) campus. Here, we describe the LSGT system and its performance, present example images from early observations, and discuss a future plan to upgrade the system. The use of the telescope includes (i) long-term monitoring observations of nearby galaxies, active galactic nuclei, and supernovae; (ii) rapid follow-up observations of transients such as gamma-ray bursts and gravitational wave sources; and (iii) observations for educational activities at SNU. Based on observations performed so far, we find that the telescope is capable of providing images to a depth of R=21.5 mag (point source detection) at 5-σ with 15 min total integration time under good obs-erving conditions.

NASA Robotic Neurosurgery Testbed

Science.gov (United States)

Mah, Robert

1997-01-01

The detection of tissue interface (e.g., normal tissue, cancer, tumor) has been limited clinically to tactile feedback, temperature monitoring, and the use of a miniature ultrasound probe for tissue differentiation during surgical operations, In neurosurgery, the needle used in the standard stereotactic CT or MRI guided brain biopsy provides no information about the tissue being sampled. The tissue sampled depends entirely upon the accuracy with which the localization provided by the preoperative CT or MRI scan is translated to the intracranial biopsy site. In addition, no information about the tissue being traversed by the needle (e.g., a blood vessel) is provided. Hemorrhage due to the biopsy needle tearing a blood vessel within the brain is the most devastating complication of stereotactic CT/MRI guided brain biopsy. A robotic neurosurgery testbed has been developed at NASA Ames Research Center as a spin-off of technologies from space, aeronautics and medical programs. The invention entitled "Robotic Neurosurgery Leading to Multimodality Devices for Tissue Identification" is nearing a state ready for commercialization. The devices will: 1) improve diagnostic accuracy and precision of general surgery, with near term emphasis on stereotactic brain biopsy, 2) automate tissue identification, with near term emphasis on stereotactic brain biopsy, to permit remote control of the procedure, and 3) reduce morbidity for stereotactic brain biopsy. The commercial impact from this work is the potential development of a whole new generation of smart surgical tools to increase the safety, accuracy and efficiency of surgical procedures. Other potential markets include smart surgical tools for tumor ablation in neurosurgery, general exploratory surgery, prostate cancer surgery, and breast cancer surgery.

Carbon Fiber Mirror for a CubeSat Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Young-Soo; Jang, Jeong Gyun; Kim, Jihun; Nam, Uk Won

2017-08-01

Telescope mirrors made by carbon fibers have been increasingly used especially for space applications, and they may replace the traditional glass mirrors. Glass mirrors are easy to fabricate, but needed to be carefully handled as they are brittle. Other materials have also been considered for telescope mirrors, such as metals, plastics, and liquids even. However glass and glass ceramics are still commonly and dominantly used.Carbon fiber has mainly been used for mechanical supports like truss structure and telescope tubes, as it is stiff and light-weight. It can also be a good material for telescope mirrors, as it has additional merits of non-brittle and very low thermal expansion. Therefore, carbon fiber mirror would be suitable for space telescopes which should endure the harsh vibration conditions during launch.A light-weight telescope made by carbon fiber has been designed for a small satellite which would have much less weight than conventional ones. In this poster, mirror materials are reviewed, and a design of carbon fiber telescope is presented and discussed.

A free market in telescope time?

Science.gov (United States)

Etherton, Jason; Steele, Iain A.; Mottram, Christopher J.

2004-09-01

As distributed systems are becoming more and more diverse in application there is a growing need for more intelligent resource scheduling. eSTAR Is a geographically distributed network of Grid-enabled telescopes, using grid middleware to provide telescope users with an authentication and authorisation method, allowing secure, remote access to such resources. The eSTAR paradigm is based upon this secure, single sign-on, giving astronomers or their agent proxies direct access to these telescopes. This concept, however, involves the complex issue of how to schedule observations stored within physically distributed media, on geographically distributed resources. This matter is complicated further by the varying degrees of constraints placed upon observations such as timeliness, atmospheric and meteorological conditions, and sky brightness to name a few. This paper discusses a free market approach to this scheduling problem, where astronomers are given credit, instead of time, from their respective TAGs to spend on telescopes as they see fit. This approach will ultimately provide a community-driven schedule, genuine indicators of the worth of specific telescope time and promote a more efficient use of that time, as well as demonstrating a 'survival of the fittest' type selection.

Ground-Based Telescope Parametric Cost Model

Science.gov (United States)

Stahl, H. Philip; Rowell, Ginger Holmes

2004-01-01

A parametric cost model for ground-based telescopes is developed using multi-variable statistical analysis, The model includes both engineering and performance parameters. While diameter continues to be the dominant cost driver, other significant factors include primary mirror radius of curvature and diffraction limited wavelength. The model includes an explicit factor for primary mirror segmentation and/or duplication (i.e.. multi-telescope phased-array systems). Additionally, single variable models based on aperture diameter are derived. This analysis indicates that recent mirror technology advances have indeed reduced the historical telescope cost curve.

Care of astronomical telescopes and accessories a manual for the astronomical observer and amateur telescope maker

CERN Document Server

Pepin, M Barlow

2005-01-01

Commercially-made astronomical telescopes are better and less expensive than ever before, and their optical and mechanical performance can be superb. When a good-quality telescope fails to perform as well as it might, the reason is quite probably that it needs a little care and attention! Here is a complete guide for anyone who wants to understand more than just the basics of astronomical telescopes and accessories, and how to maintain them in the peak of condition. The latest on safely adjusting, cleaning, and maintaining your equipment is combined with thoroughly updated methods from the old masters. Here, too, are details of choosing new and used optics and accessories, along with enhancements you can make to extend their versatility and useful lifetime. This book is for you. Really. Looking after an astronomical telescope isn't only for the experts - although there are some things that only an expert should attempt - and every serious amateur astronomer will find invaluable information here, gleaned from ...

GRANITE- A steroscopic imaging Chernkov telescope system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shubnell, M.; Akerlof, C.W.; Cawley, M.F.; Chantell, M.; Fegan, D.J.; Fennell, S.; O'Flaherty, K.S.; Freeman, S.; Frishman, D.; Gaidos, J.A.; Hagan, J.; Harris, K.; Hillas, A.M.; Kerrick, A.D.; Lamb, R.C.; Lappin, T.; Lawrence, M.A.; Levy, H.; Lewis, D.A.; Meyer, D.I.; Mohanty, G.; Punch, M.; Reynolds, P.T.; Rovero, A.C.; Sembroski, G.; Weaverdyck, C.; Weekes, T.C.; Whitaker, T.; Wilson, C.

1993-01-01

A second 10 meter class imaging telescope was constructed on Mt. Hopkins, Arizona, the site of the original 10 meter Whipple Cherenkov telescope. The twin telescope system with a 140 meter base line will allow both a reduction in the energy threshold and an improvement in the rejection of the hardonic background. The new telescope started operation in December 1991. With the final completion of the first installation stage (GRANITE I) during spring 92, it is now operating simultaneously with the orginal reflector. We describe in this paper design and construction of the new instrument and demonstrate the capability of the experiment to record coincident events

Overdenture dengan Pegangan Telescopic Crown

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pambudi Santoso

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Kaitan presisi merupakan alat retensi mekanis yang menghubungkan antara satu atau lebih pegangan gigi tiruan, yang bertujuan untuk menambah retensi dan/atau stabilisasi. Kaitan presisi dapat digunakan secara luas pada gigi tiruan cekat, gigi tiruan sebagian lepasan, overdenture, implant untuk retensi overdenture, dan protesa maksilo fasial. Overdenture dengan kaitan presisi dapat membantu dalam pembagian beban kunyah, meminimalkan trauma pada gigi pegangan dan jaringan lunak, meminimalkan resorbsi tulang, dan meningkatkan estetik dan pengucapan suara. Salah satu jenis dari kaitan presisi adalah telescopic crown, terdiri dari 2 macam mahkota, yaitu mahkota primer yang melekat secara permanen pada gigi penyangga, dan mahkota sekunder yang melekat pada gigi tiruan. Tujuan pemaparan kasus ini adalah untuk memberikan informasi tentang rehabilitasi pasien edentulous sebagian rahang atas dengan telescopic crown..  Pasien wanita berusia 45 tahun datang ke klinik prostodonsia RSGM Prof.Soedomo dengan keluhan ingin dibuatkan gigi tiruan. Pasien kehilangan gigi 11 12 15 16 17 21 22 24 25 26 dan 27 yang diindikasikan untuk pembuatan overdenture gigi tiruan sebagian lepasan (GTS kerangka logam dengan pegangan telescopic crown pada gigi 13 dan 14 dengan sistem parallel-sided crown. Tahap-tahap pembuatan telescopic crown yaitu mencetak model study dengan catatan gigit pendahuluan. Perawatan saluran dilakukan pada akar gigi 13, dilanjutkan pemasangan pasak fiber serta rewalling dinding bukal. Gigi 13 dan 14 dilakukan preparasi mahkota penuh, dilanjutkan dengan pencetakan model kerja untuk coping primer dan kerangka logam dengan metode double impression. Coping primer disementasi pada gigi penyangga, dilanjutkan pasang coba coping sekunder beserta kerangka logam. Selanjutnya dilakukan pencatatan gigit, pencetakan model kerja, penyusunan gigi dan pasang coba penyusunan gigi pada pasien. Prosedur dilanjutkan dengan proses di laboratorium, serta insersi pada

Trick or Treat and Telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Buratti, Bonnie J.; Meinke, Bonnie K.; Schmude, Richard W.

2017-10-01

Based on an activity that DPS member Richard Schmude Jr. has been doing for years, with over 5000 children reached, DPS initiated in 2016 a pilot program entitled “Trick-or-Treat and Telescopes.” DPS encouraged its members to put out their telescopes during trick-or-treat time on Halloween, in their own lawns or in a neighbor’s lawn with better viewing (or more traffic). The program will be continued in 2017. This year should offer good viewing with a waxing gibbous moon and Saturn visible. The program was also advertised though the Night Sky Network, a consortium of astronomy clubs. The following website gives advice and connections to resources.https://dps.aas.org/education/trick-or-treat-and-telescopes acknowledged.

Optical testbed for the LISA phasemeter

Science.gov (United States)

Schwarze, T. S.; Fernández Barranco, G.; Penkert, D.; Gerberding, O.; Heinzel, G.; Danzmann, K.

2016-05-01

The planned spaceborne gravitational wave detector LISA will allow the detection of gravitational waves at frequencies between 0.1 mHz and 1 Hz. A breadboard model for the metrology system aka the phasemeter was developed in the scope of an ESA technology development project by a collaboration between the Albert Einstein Institute, the Technical University of Denmark and the Danish industry partner Axcon Aps. It in particular provides the electronic readout of the main interferometer phases besides auxiliary functions. These include clock noise transfer, ADC pilot tone correction, inter-satellite ranging and data transfer. Besides in LISA, the phasemeter can also be applied in future satellite geodesy missions. Here we show the planning and advances in the implementation of an optical testbed for the full metrology chain. It is based on an ultra-stable hexagonal optical bench. This bench allows the generation of three unequal heterodyne beatnotes with a zero phase combination, thus providing the possibility to probe the phase readout for non-linearities in an optical three signal test. Additionally, the utilization of three independent phasemeters will allow the testing of the auxiliary functions. Once working, components can individually be replaced with flight-qualified hardware in this setup.

Termite: Emulation Testbed for Encounter Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rodrigo Bruno

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Cutting-edge mobile devices like smartphones and tablets are equipped with various infrastructureless wireless interfaces, such as WiFi Direct and Bluetooth. Such technologies allow for novel mobile applications that take advantage of casual encounters between co-located users. However, the need to mimic the behavior of real-world encounter networks makes testing and debugging of such applications hard tasks. We present Termite, an emulation testbed for encounter networks. Our system allows developers to run their applications on a virtual encounter network emulated by software. Developers can model arbitrary encounter networks and specify user interactions on the emulated virtual devices. To facilitate testing and debugging, developers can place breakpoints, inspect the runtime state of virtual nodes, and run experiments in a stepwise fashion. Termite defines its own Petri Net variant to model the dynamically changing topology and synthesize user interactions with virtual devices. The system is designed to efficiently multiplex an underlying emulation hosting infrastructure across multiple developers, and to support heterogeneous mobile platforms. Our current system implementation supports virtual Android devices communicating over WiFi Direct networks and runs on top of a local cloud infrastructure. We evaluated our system using emulator network traces, and found that Termite is expressive and performs well.

Optical testbed for the LISA phasemeter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schwarze, T S; Fernández Barranco, G; Penkert, D; Gerberding, O; Heinzel, G; Danzmann, K

2016-01-01

The planned spaceborne gravitational wave detector LISA will allow the detection of gravitational waves at frequencies between 0.1 mHz and 1 Hz. A breadboard model for the metrology system aka the phasemeter was developed in the scope of an ESA technology development project by a collaboration between the Albert Einstein Institute, the Technical University of Denmark and the Danish industry partner Axcon Aps. It in particular provides the electronic readout of the main interferometer phases besides auxiliary functions. These include clock noise transfer, ADC pilot tone correction, inter-satellite ranging and data transfer. Besides in LISA, the phasemeter can also be applied in future satellite geodesy missions. Here we show the planning and advances in the implementation of an optical testbed for the full metrology chain. It is based on an ultra-stable hexagonal optical bench. This bench allows the generation of three unequal heterodyne beatnotes with a zero phase combination, thus providing the possibility to probe the phase readout for non-linearities in an optical three signal test. Additionally, the utilization of three independent phasemeters will allow the testing of the auxiliary functions. Once working, components can individually be replaced with flight-qualified hardware in this setup. (paper)

A decade of cost-reduction in very large telescopes - The SST as prototype of special-purpose telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Harlan J.

1989-10-01

Many design and technical innovations over the past ten or fifteen years have reduced the costs of very large telescopes by nearly an order of magnitude over those of classical designs. Still a further order of magnitude reduction is possible if the telescope is specialized for on-axis spectroscopy, giving up especially the luxuries of wide field, multiple focal positions, and access to all the sky at will. The SST (Spectroscopic Survey Telescope) will use eighty-five 1-m circular mirrors mounted in a steel frame composed of hundreds of interlocking tetrahedrons, keeping a fixed elevation angle of 60 deg with rotation only in azimuth. Using an optical fiber it will feed as much light to spectrographs as can be done by a conventional 8-m telescope, yet has a target basic completion cost of only $6 million.

Design and development of telescope control system and software for the 50/80 cm Schmidt telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, T. S.; Banavar, R. N.

2012-09-01

In this paper, we describe the details of telescope controller design for the 50/80 cm Schmidt telescope at the Aryabhatta Research Institute of observational sciencES. The GUI based software for commanding the telescope is developed in Visual C++. The hardware architecture features a distributed network of microcontrollers over CAN. The basic functionality can also be implemented using the dedicated RS232 port per board. The controller is able to perform with negligible rms velocity errors. At fine speeds limit cycles are exhibited due to nonlinear friction. At speeds over 3.90 × 10-02 radians/sec, the PI controller performs with peak errors less than 1%.

Simulation and track reconstruction for beam telescopes

CERN Document Server

Maqbool, Salman

2017-01-01

Beam telescopes are used for testing new detectors under development. Sensors are placed and a particle beam is passed through them. To test these novel detectors and determine their properties, the particle tracks need to be reconstructed from the known detectors in the telescope. Based on the reconstructed track, it’s predicted hits on the Device under Test (DUT) are compared with the actual hits on the DUT. Several methods exist for track reconstruction, but most of them don’t account for the effects of multiple scattering. General Broken Lines is one such algorithm which incorporates these effects during reconstruction. The aim of this project was to simulate the beam telescope and extend the track reconstruction framework for the FE-I4 telescope, which takes these effects into account. Section 1 introduces the problem, while section 2 focuses on beam telescopes. This is followed by the Allpix2 simulation framework in Section 3. And finally, Section 4 introduces the Proteus track reconstruction framew...

Habitable Exoplanet Imager Optical Telescope Concept Design

Science.gov (United States)

Stahl, H Philip

2017-01-01

The Habitable Exoplanet Imaging Mission (HabEx) is one of four missions under study for the 2020 Astrophysics Decadal Survey. Its goal is to directly image and spectroscopically characterize planetary systems in the habitable zone of Sun-like stars. Additionally, HabEx will perform a broad range of general astrophysics science enabled by 100 to 2500 nm spectral range and 3 x 3 arc-minute FOV. Critical to achieving the HabEx science goals is a large, ultra-stable UV/Optical/Near-IR (UVOIR) telescope. The baseline HabEx telescope is a 4-meter off-axis unobscured three-mirror-anastigmatic, diffraction limited at 400 nm with wavefront stability on the order of a few 10s of picometers. This paper summarizes the opto-mechanical design of the HabEx baseline optical telescope assembly, including a discussion of how science requirements drive the telescope's specifications, and presents analysis that the baseline telescope structure meets its specified tolerances.

Simulation and Track Reconstruction for Beam Telescopes

CERN Document Server

Maqbool, Salman

2017-01-01

Beam telescopes are an important tool to test new detectors under development in a particle beam. To test these novel detectors and determine their properties, the particle tracks need to be reconstructed from the known detectors in the telescope. Based on the reconstructed track, its predicted position on the Device under Test (DUT) are compared with the actual hits on the DUT. Several methods exist for track reconstruction, but most of them do not account for the effects of multiple scattering. General Broken Lines is one such algorithm which incorporates these effects during reconstruction. The aim of this project was to simulate the beam telescope and extend the track reconstruction framework for the FE-I4 telescope, which takes these effects into account. Section 1 introduces the problem, while section 2 focuses on beam telescopes. This is followed by the Allpix2 simulation framework in Section 3. And finally, Section 4 introduces the Proteus track reconstruction framework along with the General Broken ...

Habitable exoplanet imager optical telescope concept design

Science.gov (United States)

Stahl, H. Philip

2017-09-01

The Habitable Exoplanet Imaging Mission (HabEx) is one of four missions under study for the 2020 Astrophysics Decadal Survey. Its goal is to directly image and spectroscopically characterize planetary systems in the habitable zone of Sunlike stars. Additionally, HabEx will perform a broad range of general astrophysics science enabled by 100 to 2500 nm spectral range and 3 x 3 arc-minute FOV. Critical to achieving the HabEx science goals is a large, ultra-stable UV/Optical/Near-IR (UVOIR) telescope. The baseline HabEx telescope is a 4-meter off-axis unobscured three-mirroranastigmatic, diffraction limited at 400 nm with wavefront stability on the order of a few 10s of picometers. This paper summarizes the opto-mechanical design of the HabEx baseline optical telescope assembly, including a discussion of how science requirements drive the telescope's specifications, and presents analysis that the baseline telescope structure meets its specified tolerances.

Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Infrastructure for the ASTRI SST-2M telescope prototype for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

Science.gov (United States)

Gianotti, F.; Tacchini, A.; Leto, G.; Martinetti, E.; Bruno, P.; Bellassai, G.; Conforti, V.; Gallozzi, S.; Mastropietro, M.; Tanci, C.; Malaguti, G.; Trifoglio, M.

2016-08-01

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) represents the next generation of ground-based observatories for very high energy gamma-ray astronomy. The CTA will consist of two arrays at two different sites, one in the northern and one in the southern hemisphere. The current CTA design foresees, in the southern site, the installation of many tens of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes of three different classes, namely large, medium and small, so defined in relation to their mirror area; the northern hemisphere array would consist of few tens of the two larger telescope types. The Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) is developing the Cherenkov Small Size Telescope ASTRI SST- 2M end-to-end prototype telescope within the framework of the International Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) project. The ASTRI prototype has been installed at the INAF observing station located in Serra La Nave on Mt. Etna, Italy. Furthermore a mini-array, composed of nine of ASTRI telescopes, has been proposed to be installed at the Southern CTA site. Among the several different infrastructures belonging the ASTRI project, the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) equipment is dedicated to operations of computing and data storage, as well as the control of the entire telescope, and it is designed to achieve the maximum efficiency for all performance requirements. Thus a complete and stand-alone computer centre has been designed and implemented. The goal is to obtain optimal ICT equipment, with an adequate level of redundancy, that might be scaled up for the ASTRI mini-array, taking into account the necessary control, monitor and alarm system requirements. In this contribution we present the ICT equipment currently installed at the Serra La Nave observing station where the ASTRI SST-2M prototype will be operated. The computer centre and the control room are described with particular emphasis on the Local Area Network scheme, the computing and data storage system, and the

Design of a nickel-hydrogen battery simulator for the NASA EOS testbed

Science.gov (United States)

Gur, Zvi; Mang, Xuesi; Patil, Ashok R.; Sable, Dan M.; Cho, Bo H.; Lee, Fred C.

1992-01-01

The hardware and software design of a nickel-hydrogen (Ni-H2) battery simulator (BS) with application to the NASA Earth Observation System (EOS) satellite is presented. The battery simulator is developed as a part of a complete testbed for the EOS satellite power system. The battery simulator involves both hardware and software components. The hardware component includes the capability of sourcing and sinking current at a constant programmable voltage. The software component includes the capability of monitoring the battery's ampere-hours (Ah) and programming the battery voltage according to an empirical model of the nickel-hydrogen battery stored in a computer.

Radiation beamline testbeds for the simulation of planetary and spacecraft environments for human and robotic mission risk assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Wilkins, Richard

The Center for Radiation Engineering and Science for Space Exploration (CRESSE) at Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, Texas, USA, is establishing an integrated, multi-disciplinary research program on the scientific and engineering challenges faced by NASA and the inter-national space community caused by space radiation. CRESSE focuses on space radiation research directly applicable to astronaut health and safety during future long term, deep space missions, including Martian, lunar, and other planetary body missions beyond low earth orbit. The research approach will consist of experimental and theoretical radiation modeling studies utilizing particle accelerator facilities including: 1. NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL) at Brookhaven National Laboratory; 2. Proton Synchrotron at Loma Linda University Med-ical Center; and 3. Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Specifically, CRESSE investigators are designing, developing, and building experimental test beds that simulate the lunar and Martian radiation environments for experiments focused on risk assessment for astronauts and instrumentation. The testbeds have been designated the Bioastronautics Experimental Research Testbeds for Environmental Radiation Nostrum Investigations and Education (BERT and ERNIE). The designs of BERT and ERNIE will allow for a high degree of flexibility and adaptability to modify experimental configurations to simulate planetary surface environments, planetary habitats, and spacecraft interiors. In the nominal configuration, BERT and ERIE will consist of a set of experimental zones that will simulate the planetary atmosphere (Solid CO2 in the case of the Martian surface.), the planetary surface, and sub-surface regions. These experimental zones can be used for dosimetry, shielding, biological, and electronic effects radiation studies in support of space exploration missions. BERT and ERNIE are designed to be compatible with the

Space Telescope maintenance and refurbishment

Science.gov (United States)

Trucks, H. F.

1983-01-01

The Space Telescope (ST) represents a new concept regarding spaceborne astronomical observatories. Maintenance crews will be brought to the orbital worksite to make repairs and replace scientific instruments. For major overhauls the telescope can be temporarily returned to earth with the aid of the Shuttle. It will, thus, be possible to conduct astronomical studies with the ST for two decades or more. The five first-generation scientific instruments used with the ST include a wide field/planetary camera, a faint object camera, a faint object spectrograph, a high resolution spectrograph, and a high speed photometer. Attention is given to the optical telescope assembly, the support systems module, aspects of mission and science operations, unscheduled maintenance, contingency orbital maintenance, planned on-orbit maintenance, ground maintenance, ground refurbishment, and ground logistics.

Eyes on the sky a spectrum of telescopes

CERN Document Server

Graham-Smith, Francis

2016-01-01

Astronomy is experiencing a golden age, with a new generation of innovative telescopes yielding a flood of information on the Universe. This book traces the development of telescopes from Galileo to the present day, and explains the basic principles of telescopes that operate in different parts of electromagnetic spectrum.

Optical Design for a Survey X-Ray Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Saha, Timo T.; Zhang, William W.; McClelland, Ryan S.

2014-01-01

Optical design trades are underway at the Goddard Space Flight Center to define a telescope for an x-ray survey mission. Top-level science objectives of the mission include the study of x-ray transients, surveying and long-term monitoring of compact objects in nearby galaxies, as well as both deep and wide-field x-ray surveys. In this paper we consider Wolter, Wolter-Schwarzschild, and modified Wolter-Schwarzschild telescope designs as basic building blocks for the tightly nested survey telescope. Design principles and dominating aberrations of individual telescopes and nested telescopes are discussed and we compare the off-axis optical performance at 1.0 KeV and 4.0 KeV across a 1.0-degree full field-of-view.

A Physical Model-based Correction for Charge Traps in the Hubble Space Telescope ’s Wide Field Camera 3 Near-IR Detector and Its Applications to Transiting Exoplanets and Brown Dwarfs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhou, Yifan; Apai, Dániel; Schneider, Glenn [Department of Astronomy/Steward Observatory, The University of Arizona, 933 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States); Lew, Ben W. P., E-mail: yzhou@as.arizona.edu [Department of Planetary Science/Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, The University of Arizona, 1640 E. University Boulevard, Tucson, AZ 85718 (United States)

2017-06-01

The Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) near-IR channel is extensively used in time-resolved observations, especially for transiting exoplanet spectroscopy as well as brown dwarf and directly imaged exoplanet rotational phase mapping. The ramp effect is the dominant source of systematics in the WFC3 for time-resolved observations, which limits its photometric precision. Current mitigation strategies are based on empirical fits and require additional orbits to help the telescope reach a thermal equilibrium . We show that the ramp-effect profiles can be explained and corrected with high fidelity using charge trapping theories. We also present a model for this process that can be used to predict and to correct charge trap systematics. Our model is based on a very small number of parameters that are intrinsic to the detector. We find that these parameters are very stable between the different data sets, and we provide best-fit values. Our model is tested with more than 120 orbits (∼40 visits) of WFC3 observations and is proved to be able to provide near photon noise limited corrections for observations made with both staring and scanning modes of transiting exoplanets as well as for starting-mode observations of brown dwarfs. After our model correction, the light curve of the first orbit in each visit has the same photometric precision as subsequent orbits, so data from the first orbit no longer need to be discarded. Near-IR arrays with the same physical characteristics (e.g., JWST/NIRCam ) may also benefit from the extension of this model if similar systematic profiles are observed.

ANTARES : The first undersea neutrino telescope

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ageron, M.; Aguilar, J. A.; Al Samarai, I.; Albert, A.; Ameli, F.; Andre, M.; Anghinolfi, M.; Anton, G.; Anvar, S.; Ardid, M.; Arnaud, K.; Aslanides, E.; Jesus, A. C. Assis; Astraatmadja, T.; Aubert, J. -J.; Auer, R.; Barbarito, E.; Baret, B.; Basa, S.; Bazzotti, M.; Becherini, Y.; Beltramelli, J.; Bersani, A.; Bertin, V.; Beurthey, S.; Biagi, S.; Bigongiari, C.; Billault, M.; Blaes, R.; Bogazzi, C.; de Botton, N.; Bou-Cabo, M.; Boudahef, B.; Bouwhuis, M. C.; Brown, A. M.; Brunner, J.; Busto, J.; Caillat, L.; Calzas, A.; Camarena, F.; Capone, A.; Caponetto, L.; Carloganu, C.; Carminati, G.; Carmona, E.; Carr, J.; Carton, P. H.; Cassano, B.; Castorina, E.; Cecchini, S.; Ceres, A.; Chaleil, Th; Charvis, Ph; Chauchot, P.; Chiarusi, T.; Circella, M.; Compere, C.; Coniglione, R.; Coppolani, X.; Cosquer, A.; Costantini, H.; Cottini, N.; Coyle, P.; Cuneo, S.; Curtil, C.; D'Amato, C.; Damy, G.; van Dantzig, R.; De Bonis, G.; Decock, G.; Decowski, M. P.; Dekeyser, I.; Delagnes, E.; Desages-Ardellier, F.; Deschamps, A.; Destelle, J. -J.; Di Maria, F.; Dinkespiler, B.; Distefano, C.; Dominique, J. -L.; Donzaud, C.; Dornic, D.; Dorosti, Q.; Drogou, J. -F.; Drouhin, D.; Druillole, F.; Durand, D.; Durand, R.; Eberl, T.; Emanuele, U.; Engelen, J. J.; Ernenwein, J. -P.; Escoffier, S.; Falchini, E.; Favard, S.; Fehr, F.; Feinstein, F.; Ferri, M.; Ferry, S.; Fiorello, C.; Flaminio, V.; Folger, F.; Fritsch, U.; Fuda, J. -L.; Galata, S.; Galeotti, S.; Gay, P.; Gensolen, F.; Giacomelli, G.; Gojak, C.; Gomez-Gonzalez, J. P.; Goret, Ph.; Graf, K.; Guillard, G.; Halladjian, G.; Hallewell, G.; van Haren, H.; Hartmann, B.; Heijboer, A. J.; Heine, E.; Hello, Y.; Henry, S.; Hernandez-Rey, J. J.; Herold, B.; Hoessl, J.; Hogenbirk, J.; Hsu, C. C.; Hubbard, J. R.; Jaquet, M.; Jaspers, M.; de Jong, M.; Jourde, D.; Kadler, M.; Kalantar-Nayestanaki, N.; Kalekin, O.; Kappes, A.; Karg, T.; Karkar, S.; Karolak, M.; Katz, U.; Keller, P.; Kestener, P.; Kok, E.; Kok, H.; Kooijman, P.; Kopper, C.; Kouchner, A.; Kretschmer, W.; Kruijer, A.; Kuch, S.; Kulikovskiy, V.; Lachartre, D.; Lafoux, H.; Lagier, P.; Lahmann, R.; Lahonde-Hamdoun, C.; Lamare, P.; Lambard, G.; Languillat, J-C; Larosa, G.; Lavalle, J.; Le Guen, Y.; Le Provost, H.; LeVanSuu, A.; Lefevre, D.; Legou, T.; Lelaizant, G.; Leveque, C.; Lim, G.; Lo Presti, D.; Loehner, H.; Loucatos, S.; Louis, F.; Lucarelli, F.; Lyashuk, V.; Magnier, P.; Mangano, S.; Marcel, A.; Marcelin, M.; Margiotta, A.; Martinez-Mora, J. A.; Masullo, R.; Mazeas, F.; Mazure, A.; Meli, A.; Melissas, M.; Migneco, E.; Mongelli, M.; Montaruli, T.; Morganti, M.; Moscoso, L.; Motz, H.; Musumeci, M.; Naumann, C.; Naumann-Godo, M.; Neff, M.; Niess, V.; Nooren, G. J. L.; Oberski, J. E. J.; Olivetto, C.; Palanque-Delabrouille, N.; Patioselitis, D.; Papaleo, R.; Pavalas, G. E.; Payet, K.; Payre, P.; Peek, H.; Petrovic, J.; Piattelli, P.; Picot-Clemente, N.; Picq, C.; Piret, Y.; Poinsignon, J.; Popa, V.; Pradier, T.; Presani, E.; Prono, G.; Racca, C.; Raia, G.; van Randwijk, J.; Real, D.; Reed, C.; Rethore, F.; Rewiersma, P.; Riccobene, G.; Richardt, C.; Richter, R.; Ricol, J. S.; Rigaud, V.; Roca, V.; Roensch, K.; Rolin, J. -F.; Rostovtsev, A.; Rottura, A.; Roux, J.; Rujoiu, M.; Ruppi, M.; Russo, G. V.; Salesa, F.; Salomon, K.; Sapienza, P.; Schmitt, F.; Schoeck, F.; Schuller, J. -P.; Schuessler, F.; Sciliberto, D.; Shanidze, R.; Shirokov, E.; Simeone, F.; Sottoriva, A.; Spies, A.; Spona, T.; Spurio, M.; Steijger, J. J. M.; Stolarczyk, Th; Streeb, K.; Sulak, L.; Taiuti, M.; Tamburini, C.; Tao, C.; Tasca, L.; Terreni, G.; Tezier, D.; Toscano, S.; Urbano, F.; Valdy, P.; Vallage, B.; Van Elewyck, V.; Vannoni, G.; Vecchi, M.; Venekamp, G.; Verlaat, B.; Vernin, P.; Virique, E.; de Vries, G.; Wijnker, G.; Wobbe, G.; de Wolf, E.; Yakovenko, Y.; Yepes, H.; Zaborov, D.; Zaccone, H.; Zornoza, J. D.; Zuniga, J.; van Wijk, R.

2011-01-01

The ANTARES Neutrino Telescope was completed in May 2008 and is the first operational Neutrino Telescope in the Mediterranean Sea. The main purpose of the detector is to perform neutrino astronomy and the apparatus also offers facilities for marine and Earth sciences. This paper describes the

Optimal networks of future gravitational-wave telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Raffai, Péter; Gondán, László; Heng, Ik Siong; Kelecsényi, Nándor; Logue, Josh; Márka, Zsuzsa; Márka, Szabolcs

2013-08-01

We aim to find the optimal site locations for a hypothetical network of 1-3 triangular gravitational-wave telescopes. We define the following N-telescope figures of merit (FoMs) and construct three corresponding metrics: (a) capability of reconstructing the signal polarization; (b) accuracy in source localization; and (c) accuracy in reconstructing the parameters of a standard binary source. We also define a combined metric that takes into account the three FoMs with practically equal weight. After constructing a geomap of possible telescope sites, we give the optimal 2-telescope networks for the four FoMs separately in example cases where the location of the first telescope has been predetermined. We found that based on the combined metric, placing the first telescope to Australia provides the most options for optimal site selection when extending the network with a second instrument. We suggest geographical regions where a potential second and third telescope could be placed to get optimal network performance in terms of our FoMs. Additionally, we use a similar approach to find the optimal location and orientation for the proposed LIGO-India detector within a five-detector network with Advanced LIGO (Hanford), Advanced LIGO (Livingston), Advanced Virgo, and KAGRA. We found that the FoMs do not change greatly in sites within India, though the network can suffer a significant loss in reconstructing signal polarizations if the orientation angle of an L-shaped LIGO-India is not set to the optimal value of ˜58.2°( + k × 90°) (measured counterclockwise from East to the bisector of the arms).

Active control of the Chinese Giant Solar Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Dai, Yichun; Yang, Dehua; Jin, Zhenyu; Liu, Zhong; Qin, Wei

2014-07-01

The Chinese Giant Solar Telescope (CGST) is the next generation solar telescope of China with diameter of 8 meter. The unique feature of CGST is that its primary is a ring, which facilitates the polarization detection and thermal control. In its present design and development phase, two primary mirror patterns are considered. For one thing, the primary mirror is expected to construct with mosaic mirror with 24 trapezoidal (or petal) segments, for another thing, a monolithic mirror is also a candidate for its primary mirror. Both of them depend on active control technique to maintain the optical quality of the ring mirror. As a solar telescope, the working conditions of the CGST are quite different from those of the stellar telescopes. To avoid the image deterioration due to the mirror seeing and dome seeing, especially in the case of the concentration of flux in a solar telescope, large aperture solar projects prefer to adopt open telescopes and open domes. In this circumstance, higher wind loads act on the primary mirror directly, which will cause position errors and figure errors of the primary with matters worse than those of the current 10-meter stellar telescopes with dome protect. Therefore, it gives new challenges to the active control capability, telescope structure design, and wind shielding design. In this paper, the study progress of active control of CGST for its mosaic and monolithic mirror are presented, and the wind effects on such two primary mirrors are also investigated.

EUSO-TA prototype telescope

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bisconti, Francesca, E-mail: francesca.bisconti@kit.edu

2016-07-11

EUSO-TA is one of the prototypes developed for the JEM-EUSO project, a space-based large field-of-view telescope to observe the fluorescence light emitted by cosmic ray air showers in the atmosphere. EUSO-TA is a ground-based prototype located at the Telescope Array (TA) site in Utah, USA, where an Electron Light Source and a Central Laser Facility are installed. The purpose of the EUSO-TA project is to calibrate the prototype with the TA fluorescence detector in presence of well-known light sources and cosmic ray air showers. In 2015, the detector started the first measurements and tests using the mentioned light sources have been performed successfully. A first cosmic ray candidate has been observed, as well as stars of different magnitude and color index. Since Silicon Photo-Multipliers (SiPMs) are very promising for fluorescence telescopes of next generation, they are under consideration for the realization of a new prototype of EUSO Photo Detector Module (PDM). The response of this sensor type is under investigation through simulations and laboratory experimentation.

EUSO-TA prototype telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Bisconti, Francesca; JEM-EUSO Collaboration

2016-07-01

EUSO-TA is one of the prototypes developed for the JEM-EUSO project, a space-based large field-of-view telescope to observe the fluorescence light emitted by cosmic ray air showers in the atmosphere. EUSO-TA is a ground-based prototype located at the Telescope Array (TA) site in Utah, USA, where an Electron Light Source and a Central Laser Facility are installed. The purpose of the EUSO-TA project is to calibrate the prototype with the TA fluorescence detector in presence of well-known light sources and cosmic ray air showers. In 2015, the detector started the first measurements and tests using the mentioned light sources have been performed successfully. A first cosmic ray candidate has been observed, as well as stars of different magnitude and color index. Since Silicon Photo-Multipliers (SiPMs) are very promising for fluorescence telescopes of next generation, they are under consideration for the realization of a new prototype of EUSO Photo Detector Module (PDM). The response of this sensor type is under investigation through simulations and laboratory experimentation.

A Functional Neuroimaging Analysis of the Trail Making Test-B: Implications for Clinical Application

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mark D. Allen

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Recent progress has been made using fMRI as a clinical assessment tool, often employing analogues of traditional “paper and pencil” tests. The Trail Making Test (TMT, popular for years as a neuropsychological exam, has been largely ignored in the realm of neuroimaging, most likely because its physical format and administration does not lend itself to straightforward adaptation as an fMRI paradigm. Likewise, there is relatively more ambiguity about the neural systems associated with this test than many other tests of comparable clinical use. In this study, we describe an fMRI version of Trail Making Test-B (TMTB that maintains the core functionality of the TMT while optimizing its use for both research and clinical settings. Subjects (N = 32 were administered the Functional Trail Making Test-B (f-TMTB. Brain region activations elicited by the f-TMTB were consistent with expectations given by prior TMT neurophysiological studies, including significant activations in the ventral and dorsal visual pathways and the medial pre-supplementary motor area. The f-TMTB was further evaluated for concurrent validity with the traditional TMTB using an additional sample of control subjects (N = 100. Together, these results support the f-TMTB as a viable neuroimaging adaptation of the TMT that is optimized to evoke maximally robust fMRI activation with minimal time and equipment requirements.

Development of the quality control system of the readout electronics for the large size telescope of the Cherenkov Telescope Array observatory

Science.gov (United States)

Konno, Y.; Kubo, H.; Masuda, S.; Paoletti, R.; Poulios, S.; Rugliancich, A.; Saito, T.

2016-07-01

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is the next generation VHE γ-ray observatory which will improve the currently available sensitivity by a factor of 10 in the range 100 GeV to 10 TeV. The array consists of different types of telescopes, called large size telescope (LST), medium size telescope (MST) and small size telescope (SST). A LST prototype is currently being built and will be installed at the Observatorio Roque de los Muchachos, island of La Palma, Canary islands, Spain. The readout system for the LST prototype has been designed and around 300 readout boards will be produced in the coming months. In this note we describe an automated quality control system able to measure basic performance parameters and quickly identify faulty boards.

Supernovae and cosmology with future European facilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Hook, I M

2013-06-13

Prospects for future supernova surveys are discussed, focusing on the European Space Agency's Euclid mission and the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT), both expected to be in operation around the turn of the decade. Euclid is a 1.2 m space survey telescope that will operate at visible and near-infrared wavelengths, and has the potential to find and obtain multi-band lightcurves for thousands of distant supernovae. The E-ELT is a planned, general-purpose ground-based, 40-m-class optical-infrared telescope with adaptive optics built in, which will be capable of obtaining spectra of type Ia supernovae to redshifts of at least four. The contribution to supernova cosmology with these facilities will be discussed in the context of other future supernova programmes such as those proposed for DES, JWST, LSST and WFIRST.

Characterization of exoplanet atmospheres using high-dispersion spectroscopy with the E-ELT and beyond

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Snellen Ignas

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Ground-based high-dispersion (R ∼ 100,000 spectroscopy provides unique information on exoplanet atmospheres, inaccessible from space - even using the JWST or other future space telescopes. Recent successes in transmission- and dayside spectroscopy using CRIRES on the Very Large Telescope prelude the enormous discovery potential of high-dispersion spectrographs on the E-ELT, such as METIS in the thermal infrared, and HIRES in the optical/near-infrared. This includes the orbital inclination and masses of hundred(s of non-transiting planets, line-by-line molecular band spectra, planet rotation and global wind patterns, longitudinal spectral variations, and possibly isotopologue ratios. Thinking beyond the E-ELT, we advocate that ultimately a systematic search for oxygen in atmospheres of nearby Earth-like planets can be conducted using large arrays of relatively low-cost flux collector telescopes equipped with high-dispersion spectrographs.

An SDR-Based Real-Time Testbed for GNSS Adaptive Array Anti-Jamming Algorithms Accelerated by GPU

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hailong Xu

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Nowadays, software-defined radio (SDR has become a common approach to evaluate new algorithms. However, in the field of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS adaptive array anti-jamming, previous work has been limited due to the high computational power demanded by adaptive algorithms, and often lack flexibility and configurability. In this paper, the design and implementation of an SDR-based real-time testbed for GNSS adaptive array anti-jamming accelerated by a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU are documented. This testbed highlights itself as a feature-rich and extendible platform with great flexibility and configurability, as well as high computational performance. Both Space-Time Adaptive Processing (STAP and Space-Frequency Adaptive Processing (SFAP are implemented with a wide range of parameters. Raw data from as many as eight antenna elements can be processed in real-time in either an adaptive nulling or beamforming mode. To fully take advantage of the parallelism resource provided by the GPU, a batched method in programming is proposed. Tests and experiments are conducted to evaluate both the computational and anti-jamming performance. This platform can be used for research and prototyping, as well as a real product in certain applications.

EDUCATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS ON REMOTE ACCESS TELESCOPES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ivan P. Kriachko

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this article is to show the way of overcoming one of the major problems of astronomy teaching methods in upper secondary school – organization of educational astronomical observations. Nowadays it became possible to perform such observations on remote access telescopes. By using up-to-date informational and communicational technologies, having an opportunity to work with robotic telescopes allows us to organize a unique cognitive and research oriented activities for students while conducting their specialized astronomical studies. Below here is given a brief description of the most significant robotic telescopes and the way of the usage of open remote access telescopic network which was created by professors and scientists of Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, USA.

Development of a SiPM Camera for a Schwarzschild-Couder Cherenkov Telescope for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

CERN Document Server

Otte, A N; Dickinson, H.; Funk, S.; Jogler, T.; Johnson, C.A.; Karn, P.; Meagher, K.; Naoya, H.; Nguyen, T.; Okumura, A.; Santander, M.; Sapozhnikov, L.; Stier, A.; Tajima, H.; Tibaldo, L.; Vandenbroucke, J.; Wakely, S.; Weinstein, A.; Williams, D.A.

2015-01-01

We present the development of a novel 11328 pixel silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) camera for use with a ground-based Cherenkov telescope with Schwarzschild-Couder optics as a possible medium-sized telescope for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). The finely pixelated camera samples air-shower images with more than twice the optical resolution of cameras that are used in current Cherenkov telescopes. Advantages of the higher resolution will be a better event reconstruction yielding improved background suppression and angular resolution of the reconstructed gamma-ray events, which is crucial in morphology studies of, for example, Galactic particle accelerators and the search for gamma-ray halos around extragalactic sources. Packing such a large number of pixels into an area of only half a square meter and having a fast readout directly attached to the back of the sensors is a challenging task. For the prototype camera development, SiPMs from Hamamatsu with through silicon via (TSV) technology are used. We give ...

Thermal design trades for SAFIR architecture concepts

Science.gov (United States)

Yorke, Harold W.; Paine, Christopher; Bradford, Matt; Dragovan, Mark; Nash, Al; Dooley, Jennifer; Lawrence, Charles

2004-01-01

SAFIR is a IO-meter, 4 K space telescope optimized for wavelengths between 20 microns and 1 mm. The combination of aperture diameter and telescope temperature will provide a raw sensitivity improvement of more than a factor of 1000 over presently-planned missions. The sensitivity will be comparable to that of the JWST and ALMA, but at the critical far-IR wavelengths where much of the universe's radiative energy has emerged since the origin of stars and galaxies. We examine several of the critical technologies for SAFIR which enable the large cold aperture, and present results of studies examining the telescope optics and the spacecraft thermal architecture. Both the method by which the aperture is filled, and the overall optical design for the telescope can impact the potential scientific return of SAFIR. Thermal architecture that goes far beyond the sunshades developed for the James Webb Space Telescope will be necessary to achieve the desired sensitivity of SAFIR. By combining active and passive cooling at critical points within the observatory, a significant reduction of the required level of active cooling can be obtained.

The Falcon Telescope Network

Science.gov (United States)

Chun, F.; Tippets, R.; Dearborn, M.; Gresham, K.; Freckleton, R.; Douglas, M.

2014-09-01

The Falcon Telescope Network (FTN) is a global network of small aperture telescopes developed by the Center for Space Situational Awareness Research in the Department of Physics at the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA). Consisting of commercially available equipment, the FTN is a collaborative effort between USAFA and other educational institutions ranging from two- and four-year colleges to major research universities. USAFA provides the equipment (e.g. telescope, mount, camera, filter wheel, dome, weather station, computers and storage devices) while the educational partners provide the building and infrastructure to support an observatory. The user base includes USAFA along with K-12 and higher education faculty and students. Since the FTN has a general use purpose, objects of interest include satellites, astronomical research, and STEM support images. The raw imagery, all in the public domain, will be accessible to FTN partners and will be archived at USAFA in the Cadet Space Operations Center. FTN users will be able to submit observational requests via a web interface. The requests will then be prioritized based on the type of user, the object of interest, and a user-defined priority. A network wide schedule will be developed every 24 hours and each FTN site will autonomously execute its portion of the schedule. After an observational request is completed, the FTN user will receive notification of collection and a link to the data. The Falcon Telescope Network is an ambitious endeavor, but demonstrates the cooperation that can be achieved by multiple educational institutions.

Processing of data from innovative parabolic strip telescope.

Science.gov (United States)

Kosejk, Vladislav; Novy, J.; Chadzitaskos, Goce

2015-12-01

This paper presents an innovative telescope design based on the usage of a parabolic strip fulfilling the function of an objective. Isaac Newton was the first to solve the problem of chromatic aberration, which is caused by a difference in the refractive index of lenses. This problem was solved by a new kind of telescope with a mirror used as an objective. There are many different kinds of telescopes. The most basic one is the lens telescope. This type of a telescope uses a set of lenses. Another type is the mirror telescope, which employs the concave mirror, spherical parabolic mirror or hyperbolically shaped mirror as its objective. The lens speed depends directly on the surface of a mirror. Both types can be combined to form a telescope composed of at least two mirrors and a set of lenses. The light is reflected from the primary mirror to the secondary one and then to the lens system. This type is smaller-sized, with a respectively reduced lens speed. The telescope design presented in this paper uses a parabolic strip fulfilling the function of an objective. Observed objects are projected as lines in a picture plane. Each of the lines of a size equal to the size of the strip corresponds to the sum of intensities of the light coming perpendicular to the objective from an observed object. A series of pictures taken with a different rotation and processed by a special reconstruction algorithm is needed to get 2D pictures. The telescope can also be used for fast detection of objects. In this mode, the rotation and multiple pictures are not needed, just one picture in the focus of a mirror is required to be taken.

Designing, Implementing and Documenting the Atlas Networking Test-bed.

CERN Document Server

Martinsen, Hans Åge

The A Toroidal LHC ApparatuS (Atlas) experiment at the Large Hadron Colider (LHC) in European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Geneva is a production environment. To develop new architectures, test new equipment and evaluate new technologies a well supported test bench is needed. A new one is now being commissioned and I will take a leading role in its development, commissioning and operation. This thesis will cover the requirements, the implementation, the documentation and the approach to the different challenges in implementing the testbed. I will be joining the project in the early stages and start by following the work that my colleagues are doing and then, as I get a better understanding, more responsibility will be given to me. To be able to suggest and implement solutions I will have to understand what the requirements are and how to achieve these requirements with the given resources.

Simulation to Flight Test for a UAV Controls Testbed

Science.gov (United States)

Motter, Mark A.; Logan, Michael J.; French, Michael L.; Guerreiro, Nelson M.

2006-01-01

The NASA Flying Controls Testbed (FLiC) is a relatively small and inexpensive unmanned aerial vehicle developed specifically to test highly experimental flight control approaches. The most recent version of the FLiC is configured with 16 independent aileron segments, supports the implementation of C-coded experimental controllers, and is capable of fully autonomous flight from takeoff roll to landing, including flight test maneuvers. The test vehicle is basically a modified Army target drone, AN/FQM-117B, developed as part of a collaboration between the Aviation Applied Technology Directorate (AATD) at Fort Eustis, Virginia and NASA Langley Research Center. Several vehicles have been constructed and collectively have flown over 600 successful test flights, including a fully autonomous demonstration at the Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) UAV Demo 2005. Simulations based on wind tunnel data are being used to further develop advanced controllers for implementation and flight test.

Optimal networks of future gravitational-wave telescopes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raffai, Péter; Márka, Zsuzsa; Márka, Szabolcs; Gondán, László; Kelecsényi, Nándor; Heng, Ik Siong; Logue, Josh

2013-01-01

We aim to find the optimal site locations for a hypothetical network of 1–3 triangular gravitational-wave telescopes. We define the following N-telescope figures of merit (FoMs) and construct three corresponding metrics: (a) capability of reconstructing the signal polarization; (b) accuracy in source localization; and (c) accuracy in reconstructing the parameters of a standard binary source. We also define a combined metric that takes into account the three FoMs with practically equal weight. After constructing a geomap of possible telescope sites, we give the optimal 2-telescope networks for the four FoMs separately in example cases where the location of the first telescope has been predetermined. We found that based on the combined metric, placing the first telescope to Australia provides the most options for optimal site selection when extending the network with a second instrument. We suggest geographical regions where a potential second and third telescope could be placed to get optimal network performance in terms of our FoMs. Additionally, we use a similar approach to find the optimal location and orientation for the proposed LIGO-India detector within a five-detector network with Advanced LIGO (Hanford), Advanced LIGO (Livingston), Advanced Virgo, and KAGRA. We found that the FoMs do not change greatly in sites within India, though the network can suffer a significant loss in reconstructing signal polarizations if the orientation angle of an L-shaped LIGO-India is not set to the optimal value of ∼58.2°( + k × 90°) (measured counterclockwise from East to the bisector of the arms). (paper)

Hubble Space Telescope: The Telescope, the Observations & the Servicing Mission

Science.gov (United States)

1999-11-01

Today the HST Archives contain more than 260 000 astronomical observations. More than 13 000 astronomical objects have been observed by hundreds of different groups of scientists. Direct proof of the scientific significance of this project is the record-breaking number of papers published : over 2400 to date. Some of HST's most memorable achievements are: * the discovery of myriads of very faint galaxies in the early Universe, * unprecedented, accurate measurements of distances to the farthest galaxies, * significant improvement in the determination of the Hubble constant and thus the age of the Universe, * confirmation of the existence of blacks holes, * a far better understanding of the birth, life and death of stars, * a very detailed look at the secrets of the process by which planets are created. Europe and HST ESA's contribution to HST represents a nominal investment of 15%. ESA provided one of the two imaging instruments - the Faint Object Camera (FOC) - and the solar panels. It also has 15 scientists and computer staff working at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore (Maryland). In Europe the astronomical community receives observational assistance from the Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility (ST-ECF) located in Garching, Munich. In return for ESA's investment, European astronomers have access to approximately 15% of the observing time. In reality the actual observing time competitively allocated to European astronomers is closer to 20%. Looking back at almost ten years of operation, the head of ST-ECF, European HST Project Scientist Piero Benvenuti states: "Hubble has been of paramount importance to European astronomy, much more than the mere 20% of observing time. It has given the opportunity for European scientists to use a top class instrument that Europe alone would not be able to build and operate. In specific areas of research they have now, mainly due to HST, achieved international leadership." One of the major reasons for

Development of the quality control system of the readout electronics for the large size telescope of the Cherenkov Telescope Array observatory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Konno, Y.; Kubo, H.; Masuda, S. [Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto (Japan); Paoletti, R.; Poulios, S. [SFTA Department, Physics Section, University of Siena and INFN, Siena (Italy); Rugliancich, A., E-mail: andrea.rugliancich@pi.infn.it [SFTA Department, Physics Section, University of Siena and INFN, Siena (Italy); Saito, T. [Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto (Japan)

2016-07-11

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is the next generation VHE γ-ray observatory which will improve the currently available sensitivity by a factor of 10 in the range 100 GeV to 10 TeV. The array consists of different types of telescopes, called large size telescope (LST), medium size telescope (MST) and small size telescope (SST). A LST prototype is currently being built and will be installed at the Observatorio Roque de los Muchachos, island of La Palma, Canary islands, Spain. The readout system for the LST prototype has been designed and around 300 readout boards will be produced in the coming months. In this note we describe an automated quality control system able to measure basic performance parameters and quickly identify faulty boards. - Highlights: • The Dragon Board is part of the DAQ of the LST Cherenkov telescope prototype. • We developed an automated quality control system for the Dragon Board. • We check pedestal, linearity, pulse shape and crosstalk values. • The quality control test can be performed on the production line.

Visible nulling coronagraph testbed results

Science.gov (United States)

Lyon, Richard G.; Clampin, Mark; Woodruff, Robert A.; Vasudevan, Gopal; Thompson, Patrick; Petrone, Peter; Madison, Timothy; Rizzo, Maxime; Melnick, Gary; Tolls, Volker

2009-08-01

We report on our recent laboratory results with the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Visible Nulling Coronagraph (VNC) testbed. We have experimentally achieved focal plane contrasts of 1 x 108 and approaching 109 at inner working angles of 2 * wavelength/D and 4 * wavelength/D respectively where D is the aperture diameter. The result was obtained using a broadband source with a narrowband spectral filter of width 10 nm centered on 630 nm. To date this is the deepest nulling result with a visible nulling coronagraph yet obtained. Developed also is a Null Control Breadboard (NCB) to assess and quantify MEMS based segmented deformable mirror technology and develop and assess closed-loop null sensing and control algorithm performance from both the pupil and focal planes. We have demonstrated closed-loop control at 27 Hz in the laboratory environment. Efforts are underway to first bring the contrast to > 109 necessary for the direct detection and characterization of jovian (Jupiter-like) and then to > 1010 necessary for terrestrial (Earth-like) exosolar planets. Short term advancements are expected to both broaden the spectral passband from 10 nm to 100 nm and to increase both the long-term stability to > 2 hours and the extent of the null out to a ~ 10 * wavelength / D via the use of MEMS based segmented deformable mirror technology, a coherent fiber bundle, achromatic phase shifters, all in a vacuum chamber at the GSFC VNC facility. Additionally an extreme stability textbook sized compact VNC is under development.