[Myanmar mission].

Science.gov (United States)

Alfandari, B; Persichetti, P; Pelissier, P; Martin, D; Baudet, J

2004-06-01

The authors report the accomplishment of humanitarian missions in plastic surgery performed by a small team in town practice in Yangon, about their 3 years experience in Myanmar with 300 consultations and 120 surgery cases. They underline the interest of this type of mission and provide us their reflexion about team training, the type of relation with the country where the mission is conducted and the type of right team.

Retrouver des films et des émissions de télévison sur Google

OpenAIRE

Ginouvès, Véronique

2007-01-01

Google et l'image animée En janvier 2005, Google a lancé une version bêta d'un moteur qui indexe le contenu des émissions de télévision : http://video.google.com/ Au départ, les chaînes indexées étaient : ABC (KGO), KRON, PBS, C-SPAN, C-SPAN-2, KQED, NBC (KNTV), Fox-News. La présentation des émissions est très claire : elles sont découpées en fonction de leur contenu, une description signalétique et un résumé et des mots-clés s'affichent à droite de l'écran,... Une aide à la recherche est a...

Business analysis: The commercial mission of the International Asteroid Mission

Science.gov (United States)

The mission of the International Asteroid Mission (IAM) is providing asteroidal resources to support activities in space. The short term goal is to initiate IAM by mining a near-Earth, hydrous carbonaceous chondrite asteroid to service the nearer-term market of providing cryogenic rocket fuel in low lunar orbit (LLO). The IAM will develop and contract for the building of the transportation vehicles and equipment necessary for this undertaking. The long-term goal is to expand operations by exploiting asteroids in other manners, as these options become commercially viable. The primary business issues are what revenue can be generated from the baseline mission, how much will the mission cost, and how funding for this mission can be raised. These issues are addressed.

Student Trade Missions: An Experiential Learning Opportunity

Science.gov (United States)

Audet, Josée; Marcotte, Geneviève

2018-01-01

In response to the criticisms addressed to business schools, teaching formulas that foster experiential learning are increasingly being put forward. The Missions Commerciales de l'Université Laval (MCUL--Université Laval Trade Missions) is a training program designed to foster experiential learning. This program extends over an entire academic…

A mission to Mercury and a mission to the moons of Mars

Science.gov (United States)

1993-07-01

Two Advanced Design Projects were completed this academic year at Penn State - a mission to the planet Mercury and a mission to the moons of Mars (Phobos and Deimos). At the beginning of the fall semester the students were organized into six groups and given their choice of missions. Once a mission was chosen, the students developed conceptual designs. These designs were then evaluated at the end of the fall semester and combined into two separate mission scenarios. To facilitate the work required for each mission, the class was reorganized in the spring semester by combining groups to form two mission teams. An integration team consisting of two members from each group was formed for each mission team so that communication and exchange of information would be easier among the groups. The types of projects designed by the students evolved from numerous discussions with Penn State faculty and mission planners at the Lewis Research Center Advanced Projects Office. Robotic planetary missions throughout the solar system can be considered valuable precursors to human visits and test beds for innovative technology. For example, by studying the composition of the Martian moons, scientists may be able to determine if their resources may be used or synthesized for consumption during a first human visit.

Discovery touches down after successful mission STS-95

Science.gov (United States)

1998-01-01

Orbiter Discovery touches down on runway 33 at the Shuttle Landing Facility after a successful mission of nearly nine days and 3.6 million miles. Main gear touchdown was at 12:04 p.m. EST, landing on orbit 135. The STS-95 crew consists of Mission Commander Curtis L. Brown Jr.; Pilot Steven W. Lindsey; Mission Specialist Scott E. Parazynski; Mission Specialist Stephen K. Robinson; Payload Specialist John H. Glenn Jr., a senator from Ohio; Mission Specialist Pedro Duque, with the European Space Agency (ESA); and Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai, M.D., with the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA). The mission included research payloads such as the Spartan solar-observing deployable spacecraft, the Hubble Space Telescope Orbital Systems Test Platform, the International Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker, as well as the SPACEHAB single module with experiments on space flight and the aging process.

Bomber Deterrence Missions: Criteria To Evaluate Mission Effectiveness

Science.gov (United States)

2016-02-16

international security, the practice of general deterrence usually occurs when nations feel insecure , suspicious or even hostility towards them but...both a deterrence and assurance mission even though it was not planned or advertised as such. Since the intent of this mission was partly perceived

The Impact of Mission Duration on a Mars Orbital Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Arney, Dale; Earle, Kevin; Cirillo, Bill; Jones, Christopher; Klovstad, Jordan; Grande, Melanie; Stromgren, Chel

2017-01-01

Performance alone is insufficient to assess the total impact of changing mission parameters on a space mission concept, architecture, or campaign; the benefit, cost, and risk must also be understood. This paper examines the impact to benefit, cost, and risk of changing the total mission duration of a human Mars orbital mission. The changes in the sizing of the crew habitat, including consumables and spares, was assessed as a function of duration, including trades of different life support strategies; this was used to assess the impact on transportation system requirements. The impact to benefit is minimal, while the impact on cost is dominated by the increases in transportation costs to achieve shorter total durations. The risk is expected to be reduced by decreasing total mission duration; however, large uncertainty exists around the magnitude of that reduction.

Logistics Needs for Potential Deep Space Mission Scenarios Post Asteroid Crewed Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Lopez, Pedro, Jr.

2015-01-01

A deep-space mission has been proposed to identify and redirect an asteroid to a distant retrograde orbit around the moon, and explore it by sending a crew using the Space Launch System and the Orion spacecraft. The Asteroid Redirect Crewed Mission (ARCM), which represents the third segment of the Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM), could be performed on EM-3 or EM-4 depending on asteroid return date. Recent NASA studies have raised questions on how we could progress from current Human Space Flight (HSF) efforts to longer term human exploration of Mars. This paper will describe the benefits of execution of the ARM as the initial stepping stone towards Mars exploration, and how the capabilities required to send humans to Mars could be built upon those developed for the asteroid mission. A series of potential interim missions aimed at developing such capabilities will be described, and the feasibility of such mission manifest will be discussed. Options for the asteroid crewed mission will also be addressed, including crew size and mission duration.

Formation Control of the MAXIM L2 Libration Orbit Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Folta, David; Hartman, Kate; Howell, Kathleen; Marchand, Belinda

2004-01-01

The Micro-Arcsecond X-ray Imaging Mission (MAXIM), a proposed concept for the Structure and Evolution of the Universe (SEU) Black Hole Imager mission, is designed to make a ten million-fold improvement in X-ray image clarity of celestial objects by providing better than 0.1 micro-arcsecond imaging. Currently the mission architecture comprises 25 spacecraft, 24 as optics modules and one as the detector, which will form sparse sub-apertures of a grazing incidence X-ray interferometer covering the 0.3-10 keV bandpass. This formation must allow for long duration continuous science observations and also for reconfiguration that permits re-pointing of the formation. To achieve these mission goals, the formation is required to cooperatively point at desired targets. Once pointed, the individual elements of the MAXIM formation must remain stable, maintaining their relative positions and attitudes below a critical threshold. These pointing and formation stability requirements impact the control and design of the formation. In this paper, we provide analysis of control efforts that are dependent upon the stability and the configuration and dimensions of the MAXIM formation. We emphasize the utilization of natural motions in the Lagrangian regions to minimize the control efforts and we address continuous control via input feedback linearization (IFL). Results provide control cost, configuration options, and capabilities as guidelines for the development of this complex mission.

TandEM: Titan and Enceladus mission

Science.gov (United States)

Coustenis, A.; Atreya, S.K.; Balint, T.; Brown, R.H.; Dougherty, M.K.; Ferri, F.; Fulchignoni, M.; Gautier, D.; Gowen, R.A.; Griffith, C.A.; Gurvits, L.I.; Jaumann, R.; Langevin, Y.; Leese, M.R.; Lunine, J.I.; McKay, C.P.; Moussas, X.; Muller-Wodarg, I.; Neubauer, F.; Owen, T.C.; Raulin, F.; Sittler, E.C.; Sohl, F.; Sotin, Christophe; Tobie, G.; Tokano, T.; Turtle, E.P.; Wahlund, J.-E.; Waite, J.H.; Baines, K.H.; Blamont, J.; Coates, A.J.; Dandouras, I.; Krimigis, T.; Lellouch, E.; Lorenz, R.D.; Morse, A.; Porco, C.C.; Hirtzig, M.; Saur, J.; Spilker, T.; Zarnecki, J.C.; Choi, E.; Achilleos, N.; Amils, R.; Annan, P.; Atkinson, D.H.; Benilan, Y.; Bertucci, C.; Bezard, B.; Bjoraker, G.L.; Blanc, M.; Boireau, L.; Bouman, J.; Cabane, M.; Capria, M.T.; Chassefiere, E.; Coll, P.; Combes, M.; Cooper, J.F.; Coradini, A.; Crary, F.; Cravens, T.; Daglis, I.A.; de Angelis, E.; De Bergh, C.; de Pater, I.; Dunford, C.; Durry, G.; Dutuit, O.; Fairbrother, D.; Flasar, F.M.; Fortes, A.D.; Frampton, R.; Fujimoto, M.; Galand, M.; Grasset, O.; Grott, M.; Haltigin, T.; Herique, A.; Hersant, F.; Hussmann, H.; Ip, W.; Johnson, R.; Kallio, E.; Kempf, S.; Knapmeyer, M.; Kofman, W.; Koop, R.; Kostiuk, T.; Krupp, N.; Kuppers, M.; Lammer, H.; Lara, L.-M.; Lavvas, P.; Le, Mouelic S.; Lebonnois, S.; Ledvina, S.; Li, Ji; Livengood, T.A.; Lopes, R.M.; Lopez-Moreno, J. -J.; Luz, D.; Mahaffy, P.R.; Mall, U.; Martinez-Frias, J.; Marty, B.; McCord, T.; Salvan, C.M.; Milillo, A.; Mitchell, D.G.; Modolo, R.; Mousis, O.; Nakamura, M.; Neish, Catherine D.; Nixon, C.A.; Mvondo, D.N.; Orton, G.; Paetzold, M.; Pitman, J.; Pogrebenko, S.; Pollard, W.; Prieto-Ballesteros, O.; Rannou, P.; Reh, K.; Richter, L.; Robb, F.T.; Rodrigo, R.; Rodriguez, S.; Romani, P.; Bermejo, M.R.; Sarris, E.T.; Schenk, P.; Schmitt, B.; Schmitz, N.; Schulze-Makuch, D.; Schwingenschuh, K.; Selig, A.; Sicardy, B.; Soderblom, L.; Spilker, L.J.; Stam, D.; Steele, A.; Stephan, K.; Strobel, D.F.; Szego, K.; Szopa,

2009-01-01

TandEM was proposed as an L-class (large) mission in response to ESA’s Cosmic Vision 2015–2025 Call, and accepted for further studies, with the goal of exploring Titan and Enceladus. The mission concept is to perform in situ investigations of two worlds tied together by location and properties, whose remarkable natures have been partly revealed by the ongoing Cassini–Huygens mission. These bodies still hold mysteries requiring a complete exploration using a variety of vehicles and instruments. TandEM is an ambitious mission because its targets are two of the most exciting and challenging bodies in the Solar System. It is designed to build on but exceed the scientific and technological accomplishments of the Cassini–Huygens mission, exploring Titan and Enceladus in ways that are not currently possible (full close-up and in situ coverage over long periods of time). In the current mission architecture, TandEM proposes to deliver two medium-sized spacecraft to the Saturnian system. One spacecraft would be an orbiter with a large host of instruments which would perform several Enceladus flybys and deliver penetrators to its surface before going into a dedicated orbit around Titan alone, while the other spacecraft would carry the Titan in situ investigation components, i.e. a hot-air balloon (Montgolfière) and possibly several landing probes to be delivered through the atmosphere.

Aquarius and the Aquarius/SAC-D Mission

Science.gov (United States)

LeVine, D. M.; Lagerloef, G. S. E.; Torrusio, S.

2010-01-01

Aquarius is a combination L-band radiometer and scatterometer designed to map the salinity field at the ocean surface from space. It will be flown on the Aquarius/SAC-D mission, a partnership between the USA space agency (NASA) and Argentine space agency (CONAE). The mission is composed of two parts: (a) The Aquarius instrument being developed as part of NASA.s Earth System Science Pathfinder (ESSP) program; and (b) SAC-D the fourth spacecraft service platform in the CONAE Satellite de Aplicaciones Cientificas (SAC) program. The primary focus of the mission is to monitor the seasonal and interannual variations of the salinity field in the open ocean. The mission also meets the needs of the Argentine space program for monitoring the environment and for hazard detection and includes several instruments related to these goals.

Wide angle view of MOCR activity during STS-3 mission

Science.gov (United States)

1982-01-01

Wide angle view of Mission Operation Control Room (MOCR) activity during Day 2 of STS-3 mission. This view shows many of th consoles, tracking map, and Eidophor-controlled data screens. Flight controllers in the foreground are (l.r.) R. John Rector and Chares L. Dumie. They are seated at the EECOM console. The 'thermodillo' contraption, used by flight controllers to indicate the Shuttle's position in relation to the sun for various tests, can be seen at right (28732); closeup view of the 'thermodillo'. The position of the armadillo's tail indicates position of the orbiter in relation to sun (28733); Mission Specialist/Astronaut Sally K. Ride, STS-3 orbit team spacecraft communicator (CAPCOM), talks to flight director during mission control center activity. Mission Specialist/Astronaut George D. Nelson, backup orbit team CAPCOM, watches the monitor at his console (28734).

Investigation of dust particles with future Russian lunar missions: achievements of further development of PmL instrument.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuznetsov, Ilya; Zakharov, Alexander; Afonin, Valeri; Seran, Elena; Godefroy, Michel; Shashkova, Inna; Lyash, Andrey; Dolnikov, Gennady; Popel, Sergey; Lisin, Evgeny

2016-07-01

, solar emission. Dust analyzer instrument PmL for future Russian lander missions intends for investigation the dynamics of dusty plasma near lunar surface. PmL consists of three parts in the case of Luna-Glob: Impact Sensor and two Electric Field Sensors (EFC). There are 9 parts of PmL instrument for Luna-Resource mission: two Impact Sensors, 5 EFC (three on the Boom and two on the lander) and 2 Solar Wind and Dust Analyzers. These days the engineering model of PmL for LG-mission is finished. We obtained first practical results from the simulating chambers with dust particles injectors and plasma inside. All the important achievements are presented in this report as well as the roadmap for further development of PmL instruments in both of Russian lunar missions.

Discovery prepares to land after successful mission STS-95

Science.gov (United States)

1998-01-01

Orbiter Discovery prepares to land on runway 33 at the Shuttle Landing Facility. Discovery returns to Earth with its crew of seven after successfully completing mission STS-95, lasting nearly nine days and 3.6 million miles. The crew members are Mission Commander Curtis L. Brown Jr., Pilot Steven W. Lindsey, Mission Specialist Scott E. Parazynski, Mission Specialist Stephen K. Robinson, Payload Specialist John H. Glenn Jr., senator from Ohio, Mission Specialist Pedro Duque, with the European Space Agency (ESA), and Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai, with the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA). The mission included research payloads such as the Spartan solar- observing deployable spacecraft, the Hubble Space Telescope Orbital Systems Test Platform, the International Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker, as well as the SPACEHAB single module with experiments on space flight and the aging process.

The STEREO Mission

CERN Document Server

2008-01-01

The STEREO mission uses twin heliospheric orbiters to track solar disturbances from their initiation to 1 AU. This book documents the mission, its objectives, the spacecraft that execute it and the instruments that provide the measurements, both remote sensing and in situ. This mission promises to unlock many of the mysteries of how the Sun produces what has become to be known as space weather.

Biosentinel: Improving Desiccation Tolerance of Yeast Biosensors for Deep-Space Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Dalal, Sawan; Santa Maria, Sergio R.; Liddell, Lauren; Bhattacharya, Sharmila

2017-01-01

BioSentinel is one of 13 secondary payloads to be deployed on Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1) in 2019. We will use the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a biosensor to determine how deep-space radiation affects living organisms and to potentially quantify radiation levels through radiation damage analysis. Radiation can damage DNA through double strand breaks (DSBs), which can normally be repaired by homologous recombination. Two yeast strains will be air-dried and stored in microfluidic cards within the payload: a wild-type control strain and a radiation sensitive rad51 mutant that is deficient in DSB repairs. Throughout the mission, the microfluidic cards will be rehydrated with growth medium and an indicator dye. Growth rates of each strain will be measured through LED detection of the reduction of the indicator dye, which correlates with DNA repair and the amount of radiation damage accumulated. Results from BioSentinel will be compared to analog experiments on the ISS and on Earth. It is well known that desiccation can damage yeast cells and decrease viability over time. We performed a screen for desiccation-tolerant rad51 strains. We selected 20 re-isolates of rad51 and ran a weekly screen for desiccation-tolerant mutants for five weeks. Our data shows that viability decreases over time, confirming previous research findings. Isolates L2, L5 and L14 indicate desiccation tolerance and are candidates for whole-genome sequencing. More time is needed to determine whether a specific strain is truly desiccation tolerant. Furthermore, we conducted an intracellular trehalose assay to test how intracellular trehalose concentrations affect or protect the mutant strains against desiccation stress. S. cerevisiae cell and reagent concentrations from a previously established intracellular trehalose protocol did not yield significant absorbance measurements, so we tested varying cell and reagent concentrations and determined proper concentrations for successful

VEGA Space Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Moroz, V.; Murdin, P.

2000-11-01

VEGA (mission) is a combined spacecraft mission to VENUS and COMET HALLEY. It was launched in the USSR at the end of 1984. The mission consisted of two identical spacecraft VEGA 1 and VEGA 2. VEGA is an acronym built from the words `Venus' and `Halley' (`Galley' in Russian spelling). The basic design of the spacecraft was the same as has been used many times to deliver Soviet landers and orbiter...

STS-37 Mission Specialist (MS) Ross during simulation in JSC's FB-SMS

Science.gov (United States)

1991-01-01

STS-37 Mission Specialist (MS) Jerry L. Ross 'borrows' the pilots station to rehearse some of his scheduled duties for his upcoming mission. He is on the flight deck of the fixed-based (FB) shuttle mission simulator (SMS) during this unsuited simulation. The SMS is part of JSC's Mission Simulation and Training Facility Bldg 5.

Mission Specialist Scott Parazynski arrives at KSC

Science.gov (United States)

1998-01-01

STS-95 Mission Specialist Scott E. Parazynski notes the time on his watch upon his late arrival aboard a T-38 jet at the Shuttle Landing Facility. Parazynski's first plane experienced problems at the stop at Tyndall AFB and he had to wait for another jet and pilot to finish the flight to KSC. He joined other crewmembers Mission Commander Curtis L. Brown Jr., Pilot Steven W. Lindsey, Mission Specialist Stephen K. Robinson, Payload Specialist John H. Glenn Jr., senator from Ohio, Mission Specialist Pedro Duque, with the European Space Agency (ESA), and Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai, with the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA), for final pre-launch preparations. STS-95 is expected to launch at 2 p.m. EST on Oct. 29, last 8 days, 21 hours and 49 minutes, and land at 11:49 a.m. EST on Nov. 7.

The Exo-S probe class starshade mission

Science.gov (United States)

Seager, Sara; Turnbull, Margaret; Sparks, William; Thomson, Mark; Shaklan, Stuart B.; Roberge, Aki; Kuchner, Marc; Kasdin, N. Jeremy; Domagal-Goldman, Shawn; Cash, Webster; Warfield, Keith; Lisman, Doug; Scharf, Dan; Webb, David; Trabert, Rachel; Martin, Stefan; Cady, Eric; Heneghan, Cate

2015-09-01

Exo-S is a direct imaging space-based mission to discover and characterize exoplanets. With its modest size, Exo-S bridges the gap between census missions like Kepler and a future space-based flagship direct imaging exoplanet mission. With the ability to reach down to Earth-size planets in the habitable zones of nearly two dozen nearby stars, Exo-S is a powerful first step in the search for and identification of Earth-like planets. Compelling science can be returned at the same time as the technological and scientific framework is developed for a larger flagship mission. The Exo-S Science and Technology Definition Team studied two viable starshade-telescope missions for exoplanet direct imaging, targeted to the $1B cost guideline. The first Exo-S mission concept is a starshade and telescope system dedicated to each other for the sole purpose of direct imaging for exoplanets (The "Starshade Dedicated Mission"). The starshade and commercial, 1.1-m diameter telescope co-launch, sharing the same low-cost launch vehicle, conserving cost. The Dedicated mission orbits in a heliocentric, Earth leading, Earth-drift away orbit. The telescope has a conventional instrument package that includes the planet camera, a basic spectrometer, and a guide camera. The second Exo-S mission concept is a starshade that launches separately to rendezvous with an existing on-orbit space telescope (the "Starshade Rendezvous Mission"). The existing telescope adopted for the study is the WFIRST-AFTA (Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope Astrophysics Focused Telescope Asset). The WFIRST-AFTA 2.4-m telescope is assumed to have previously launched to a Halo orbit about the Earth-Sun L2 point, away from the gravity gradient of Earth orbit which is unsuitable for formation flying of the starshade and telescope. The impact on WFIRST-AFTA for starshade readiness is minimized; the existing coronagraph instrument performs as the starshade science instrument, while formation guidance is handled by the

STS-61 Space Shuttle mission report

Science.gov (United States)

Fricke, Robert W., Jr.

1994-02-01

The STS-61 Space Shuttle Program Mission Report summarizes the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) servicing mission as well as the Orbiter, External Tank (ET), Solid Rocket Booster (SRB), Redesigned Solid Rocket Motor (RSRM), and the Space Shuttle main engine (SSME) systems performance during the fifty-ninth flight of the Space Shuttle Program and fifth flight of the Orbiter vehicle Endeavour (OV-105). In addition to the Orbiter, the flight vehicle consisted of an ET designated as ET-60; three SSME's which were designated as serial numbers 2019, 2033, and 2017 in positions 1, 2, and 3, respectively; and two SRB's which were designated BI-063. The RSRM's that were installed in each SRB were designated as 360L023A (lightweight) for the left SRB, and 360L023B (lightweight) for the right SRB. This STS-61 Space Shuttle Program Mission Report fulfills the Space Shuttle Program requirement as documented in NSTS 07700, Volume 8, Appendix E. That document requires that each major organizational element supporting the Program report the results of its hardware evaluation and mission performance plus identify all related in-flight anomalies. The primary objective of the STS-61 mission was to perform the first on-orbit servicing of the Hubble Space Telescope. The servicing tasks included the installation of new solar arrays, replacement of the Wide Field/Planetary Camera I (WF/PC I) with WF/PC II, replacement of the High Speed Photometer (HSP) with the Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement (COSTAR), replacement of rate sensing units (RSU's) and electronic control units (ECU's), installation of new magnetic sensing systems and fuse plugs, and the repair of the Goddard High Resolution Spectrometer (GHRS). Secondary objectives were to perform the requirements of the IMAX Cargo Bay Camera (ICBC), the IMAX Camera, and the Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS) Calibration Test.

FY15 Gravitational-Wave Mission Activities Project

Science.gov (United States)

Stebbins, Robin T.

2014-01-01

The Gravitational-Wave (GW) team at Goddard provides leadership to both the US and international research communities through science and conceptual design competencies. To sustain the US effort to either participate in the GW mission that ESA selected for the L3 opportunity or to initiate a NASA-led mission, the Goddard team will engage in the advancement of the science and the conceptual design of a future GW mission. We propose two tasks: (1) deliver new theoretical tools to help the external research community understand how GW observations can contribute to their science and (2) explore new implementations for laser metrology systems based on techniques from time-domain reflectometry and laser communications.

A Small Mission Concept to the Sun-Earth Lagrangian L5 Point for Innovative Solar, Heliospheric and Space Weather Science

Science.gov (United States)

Lavraud, B.; Liu, Y.; Segura, K.; He, J.; Qin, G.; Temmer, M.; Vial, J.-C.; Xiong, M.; Davies, J. A.; Rouillard, A. P.;

Parker Solar Probe: A NASA Mission to Touch the Sun: Mission Status Update

Science.gov (United States)

Fox, N. J.

2017-12-01

The newly renamed, Parker Solar Probe (PSP) mission will be the first mission to fly into the low solar corona, revealing how the corona is heated and the solar wind and energetic particles are accelerated, solving fundamental mysteries that have been top priority science goals since such a mission was first proposed in 1958. The scale and concept of such a mission has been revised at intervals since that time, yet the core has always been a close encounter with the Sun. The primary science goal of the Parker Solar Probe mission is to determine the structure and dynamics of the Sun's coronal magnetic field, understand how the solar corona and wind are heated and accelerated, and determine what mechanisms accelerate and transport energetic particles. PSP uses an innovative mission design, significant technology development and a risk-reducing engineering development to meet the science objectives. In this presentation, we provide an update on the progress of the Parker Solar Probe mission as we prepare for the July 2018 launch.

Logistics Needs for Potential Deep Space Mission Scenarios Post Asteroid Redirect Crewed Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Lopez, Pedro, Jr.; Shultz, Eric; Mattfeld, Bryan; Stromgren, Chel; Goodliff, Kandyce

2015-01-01

The Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) is currently being explored as the next step towards deep space human exploration, with the ultimate goal of reaching Mars. NASA is currently investigating a number of potential human exploration missions, which will progressively increase the distance and duration that humans spend away from Earth. Missions include extended human exploration in cis-lunar space which, as conceived, would involve durations of around 60 days, and human missions to Mars, which are anticipated to be as long as 1000 days. The amount of logistics required to keep the crew alive and healthy for these missions is significant. It is therefore important that the design and planning for these missions include accurate estimates of logistics requirements. This paper provides a description of a process and calculations used to estimate mass and volume requirements for crew logistics, including consumables, such as food, personal items, gasses, and liquids. Determination of logistics requirements is based on crew size, mission duration, and the degree of closure of the environmental control life support system (ECLSS). Details are provided on the consumption rates for different types of logistics and how those rates were established. Results for potential mission scenarios are presented, including a breakdown of mass and volume drivers. Opportunities for mass and volume reduction are identified, along with potential threats that could possibly increase requirements.

End of mission report on seismic safety review mission for Belene NPP site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gurpinar, A.; Mohammadioun, B.; Schneider, H.; Serva, L.

1995-01-01

Upon the invitation of the Bulgarian government through the Committee for the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy and within the framework of the implementation of the Technical Cooperation project BUL/9/012 related to site and seismic of NPPs, a mission visited Sofia 3 - 7 July 1995. The mission constituted a follow-up of the interim review of subjects related to tectonic stability and seismic hazard characterization of the site which was performed in September 1993. The main objective of the mission was the final review of the subjects already reviewed in September 1993 as well as issues related to geotechnical engineering and foundation safety. The main terms of reference of the present mission was to verify the implementation of the recommendations of the Site Safety Review Mission of June 1990. This document gives findings on geology-tectonics, seismology and foundation safety. In the end conclusions and recommendations of the mission are presented

B plant mission analysis report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lund, D.P.

1995-01-01

This report further develops the mission for B Plant originally defined in WHC-EP-0722, ''System Engineering Functions and Requirements for the Hanford Cleanup Mission: First Issue.'' The B Plant mission analysis will be the basis for a functional analysis that breaks down the B Plant mission statement into the necessary activities to accomplish the mission. These activities are the product of the functional analysis and will then be used in subsequent steps of the systems engineering process, such as identifying requirements and allocating those requirements to B Plant functions. The information in this mission analysis and the functional and requirements analysis are a part of the B Plant technical baseline

Missions to Venus

Science.gov (United States)

Titov, D. V.; Baines, K. H.; Basilevsky, A. T.; Chassefiere, E.; Chin, G.; Crisp, D.; Esposito, L. W.; Lebreton, J.-P.; Lellouch, E.; Moroz, V. I.; Nagy, A. F.; Owen, T. C.; Oyama, K.-I.; Russell, C. T.; Taylor, F. W.; Young, R. E.

2002-10-01

Venus has always been a fascinating objective for planetary studies. At the beginning of the space era Venus became one of the first targets for spacecraft missions. Our neighbour in the solar system and, in size, the twin sister of Earth, Venus was expected to be very similar to our planet. However, the first phase of Venus spacecraft exploration in 1962-1992 by the family of Soviet Venera and Vega spacecraft and US Mariner, Pioneer Venus, and Magellan missions discovered an entirely different, exotic world hidden behind a curtain of dense clouds. These studies gave us a basic knowledge of the conditions on the planet, but generated many more questions concerning the atmospheric composition, chemistry, structure, dynamics, surface-atmosphere interactions, atmospheric and geological evolution, and the plasma environment. Despite all of this exploration by more than 20 spacecraft, the "morning star" still remains a mysterious world. But for more than a decade Venus has been a "forgotten" planet with no new missions featuring in the plans of the world space agencies. Now we are witnessing the revival of interest in this planet: the Venus Orbiter mission is approved in Japan, Venus Express - a European orbiter mission - has successfully passed the selection procedure in ESA, and several Venus Discovery proposals are knocking at the doors of NASA. The paper presents an exciting story of Venus spacecraft exploration, summarizes open scientific problems, and builds a bridge to the future missions.

STS-95 Mission Specialist Duque suits up during TCDT

Science.gov (United States)

1998-01-01

STS-95 Mission Specialist Pedro Duque of Spain, representing the European Space Agency, suits up in the Operations and Checkout Building prior to his trip to Launch Pad 39-B. Duque and the rest of the STS-95 crew are at KSC to participate in the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT) which includes mission familiarization activities, emergency egress training, and a simulated main engine cutoff. The other crew members are Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai (M.D., Ph.D.), representing the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA), Pilot Steven W. Lindsey, Mission Specialist Scott E. Parazynski, Mission Specialist Stephen K. Robinson, Payload Specialist John H. Glenn Jr., senator from Ohio, and Mission Commander Curtis L. Brown. The STS-95 mission, targeted for liftoff on Oct. 29, includes research payloads such as the Spartan solar-observing deployable spacecraft, the Hubble Space Telescope Orbital Systems Test Platform, the International Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker, as well as the SPACEHAB single module with experiments on space flight and the aging process. Following the TCDT, the crew will be returning to Houston for final flight preparations.

No mission is impossible for LHCb

CERN Multimedia

CERN Bulletin

2011-01-01

Time: 01:37:51 am, 3 October, 2011. The LHC is producing million collisions per second in its detectors. But at that time, one collision is “more special” than the others in the LHCb detector: the milestone of 1 inverse femtobarn of luminosity is surpassed. What was considered as “mission impossible” at the beginning of the year is now “mission accomplished”.   Mike Lamont (Operations Group Leader), Pierluigi Campana (LHCb Spokesperson), Steve Myers (Director for Accelerators and Technology), and Paul Collier (Head of the Beams Department) celebrate the LHCb milestone. LHCb is the CERN experiment specialising in the study of b-quarks, whose properties and behaviour are likely to provide physicists with important hints on several physics processes, including some new physics. “One inverse femtobarn of luminosity corresponds to about seventy billion b-quark pairs decayed in the LHCb detector,” explains Pierluigi Cam...

75 FR 28547 - Aerospace Supplier Mission to Russia

Science.gov (United States)

2010-05-21

... name of a U.S. firm and have at least 51 percent U.S. content of the value of the finished product or service. Selection Criteria for Participation Selection will be based on the following criteria.... Timeframe for Recruitment and Applications Mission recruitment will be conducted in an open and public...

Solar Probe Plus: A NASA Mission to Touch the SunMission Status Update

Science.gov (United States)

Fox, N. J.

2016-12-01

Solar Probe Plus (SPP), currently in Phase D, will be the first mission to fly into the low solar corona, revealing how the corona is heated and the solar wind and energetic particles are accelerated, solving fundamental mysteries that have been top priority science goals since such a mission was first proposed in 1958. The scale and concept of such a mission has been revised at intervals since that time, yet the core has always been a close encounter with the Sun. The primary science goal of the Solar Probe Plus mission is to determine the structure and dynamics of the Sun's coronal magnetic field, understand how the solar corona and wind are heated and accelerated, and determine what mechanisms accelerate and transport energetic particles. SPP uses an innovative mission design, significant technology development and a risk-reducing engineering development to meet the SPP science objectives. In this presentation, we provide an update on the progress of the Solar Probe Plus mission as we prepare for the July 2018 launch.

The Messenger Mission to Mercury

CERN Document Server

Domingue, D. L

2007-01-01

NASA’s MESSENGER mission, launched on 3 August, 2004 is the seventh mission in the Discovery series. MESSENGER encounters the planet Mercury four times, culminating with an insertion into orbit on 18 March 2011. It carries a comprehensive package of geophysical, geological, geochemical, and space environment experiments to complete the complex investigations of this solar-system end member, which begun with Mariner 10. The articles in this book, written by the experts in each area of the MESSENGER mission, describe the mission, spacecraft, scientific objectives, and payload. The book is of interest to all potential users of the data returned by the MESSENGER mission, to those studying the nature of the planet Mercury, and by all those interested in the design and implementation of planetary exploration missions.

Synergies Between the Kepler, K2 and TESS Missions with the PLATO Mission (Revised)

Science.gov (United States)

Jenkins, Jon M.

2017-01-01

Two transit survey missions will have been flown by NASA prior to the launch of ESA's PLATO Mission in 2026, laying the groundwork for exoplanet discovery via the transit method. The Kepler Mission, which launched in 2009, collected data on its 100+ square degree field of view for four years before failure of a reaction wheel ended its primary mission. The results from Kepler include 2300+ confirmed or validated exoplanets, 2200+ planetary candidates, 2100+ eclipsing binaries. Kepler also revolutionized the field of asteroseismology by measuring the pressure mode oscillations of over 15000 solar-like stars spanning the lifecycle of such stars from hydrogen-burning dwarfs to helium-burning red giants. The re-purposed Kepler Mission, dubbed K2, continues to observe fields of view in and near the ecliptic plane for 80 days each, significantly broadening the scope of the astrophysical investigations as well as discovering an additional 156 exoplanets to date. The TESS mission will launch in 2017 to conduct an all-sky survey for small exoplanets orbiting stars 10X closer and 100X brighter than Kepler exoplanet host stars, allowing for far greater follow-up and characterization of their masses as well as their sizes for at least 50 small planets. Future assets such as James Webb Space Telescope, and ground-based assets such as ESOs Very Large Telescope (VLT) array, the Exremely Large Telescope (ELT), and the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) will be able to characterize the atmospheric composition and properties of these small planets. TESS will observe each 24 X 96 field of view for 30 days and thereby cover first the southern and then the northern hemisphere over 13 pointings during each year of the primary mission. The pole-most camera will observe the James Webb continuous viewing zone for one year in each hemisphere, permitting much longer period planets to be detected in this region. The PLATO mission will seek to detect habitable Earth-like planets with an instrument

EUCLID mission design

Science.gov (United States)

Wallner, Oswald; Ergenzinger, Klaus; Tuttle, Sean; Vaillon, L.; Johann, Ulrich

2017-11-01

EUCLID, a medium-class mission candidate of ESA's Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 Program, currently in Definition Phase (Phase A/B1), shall map the geometry of the Dark Universe by investigating dark matter distributions, the distance-redshift relationship, and the evolution of cosmic structures. EUCLID consists of a 1.2 m telescope and two scientific instruments for ellipticity and redshift measurements in the visible and nearinfrared wavelength regime. We present a design concept of the EUCLID mission which is fully compliant with the mission requirements. Preliminary concepts of the spacecraft and of the payload including the scientific instruments are discussed.

Mission operations technology

Science.gov (United States)

Varsi, Giulio

In the last decade, the operation of a spacecraft after launch has emerged as a major component of the total cost of the mission. This trend is sustained by the increasing complexity, flexibility, and data gathering capability of the space assets and by their greater reliability and consequent longevity. The trend can, however, be moderated by the progressive transfer of selected functions from the ground to the spacecraft and by application, on the ground, of new technology. Advances in ground operations derive from the introduction in the mission operations environment of advanced microprocessor-based workstations in the class of a few million instructions per second and from the selective application of artificial intelligence technology. In the last few years a number of these applications have been developed, tested in operational settings and successfully demonstrated to users. Some are now being integrated in mission operations facilities. An analysis of mission operations indicates that the key areas are: concurrent control of multiple missions; automated/interactive production of command sequences of high integrity at low cost; automated monitoring of spacecraft health and automated aides for fault diagnosis; automated allocation of resources; automated processing of science data; and high-fidelity, high-speed spacecraft simulation. Examples of major advances in selected areas are described.

Potential Astrophysics Science Missions Enabled by NASA's Planned Ares V

Science.gov (United States)

Stahl, H. Philip; Thronson, Harley; Langhoff, Stepheni; Postman, Marc; Lester, Daniel; Lillie, Chuck

2009-01-01

NASA s planned Ares V cargo vehicle with its 10 meter diameter fairing and 60,000 kg payload mass to L2 offers the potential to launch entirely new classes of space science missions such as 8-meter monolithic aperture telescopes, 12- meter aperture x-ray telescopes, 16 to 24 meter segmented telescopes and highly capable outer planet missions. The paper will summarize the current Ares V baseline performance capabilities and review potential mission concepts enabled by these capabilities.

Mission Specialist Scott Parazynski arrives late at KSC

Science.gov (United States)

1998-01-01

The T-38 jet aircraft arrives at the Shuttle Landing Facility carrying STS-95 Mission Specialist Scott E. Parazynski (second seat). The pilot is astronaut Kent Rominger. Parazynski's first plane experienced problems at the stop at Tyndall AFB and he had to wait for another jet and pilot to finish the flight to KSC. He joined other crewmembers Mission Commander Curtis L. Brown Jr., Pilot Steven W. Lindsey, Mission Specialist Stephen K. Robinson, Payload Specialist John H. Glenn Jr., senator from Ohio, Mission Specialist Pedro Duque, with the European Space Agency (ESA), and Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai, with the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA), for final pre-launch preparations. STS-95 is expected to launch at 2 p.m. EST on Oct. 29, last 8 days, 21 hours and 49 minutes, and land at 11:49 a.m. EST on Nov. 7.

Liquid Effluents Program mission analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lowe, S.S.

1994-01-01

Systems engineering is being used to identify work to cleanup the Hanford Site. The systems engineering process transforms an identified mission need into a set of performance parameters and a preferred system configuration. Mission analysis is the first step in the process. Mission analysis supports early decision-making by clearly defining the program objectives, and evaluating the feasibility and risks associated with achieving those objectives. The results of the mission analysis provide a consistent basis for subsequent systems engineering work. A mission analysis was performed earlier for the overall Hanford Site. This work was continued by a ''capstone'' team which developed a top-level functional analysis. Continuing in a top-down manner, systems engineering is now being applied at the program and project levels. A mission analysis was conducted for the Liquid Effluents Program. The results are described herein. This report identifies the initial conditions and acceptable final conditions, defines the programmatic and physical interfaces and sources of constraints, estimates the resources to carry out the mission, and establishes measures of success. The mission analysis reflects current program planning for the Liquid Effluents Program as described in Liquid Effluents FY 1995 Multi-Year Program Plan

Lunar Exploration Missions Since 2006

Science.gov (United States)

Lawrence, S. J. (Editor); Gaddis, L. R.; Joy, K. H.; Petro, N. E.

2017-01-01

The announcement of the Vision for Space Exploration in 2004 sparked a resurgence in lunar missions worldwide. Since the publication of the first "New Views of the Moon" volume, as of 2017 there have been 11 science-focused missions to the Moon. Each of these missions explored different aspects of the Moon's geology, environment, and resource potential. The results from this flotilla of missions have revolutionized lunar science, and resulted in a profoundly new emerging understanding of the Moon. The New Views of the Moon II initiative itself, which is designed to engage the large and vibrant lunar science community to integrate the results of these missions into new consensus viewpoints, is a direct outcome of this impressive array of missions. The "Lunar Exploration Missions Since 2006" chapter will "set the stage" for the rest of the volume, introducing the planetary community at large to the diverse array of missions that have explored the Moon in the last decade. Content: This chapter will encompass the following missions: Kaguya; ARTEMIS (Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence, and Electrodynamics of the Moon’s Interaction with the Sun); Chang’e-1; Chandrayaan-1; Moon Impact Probe; Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO); Lunar Crater Observation Sensing Satellite (LCROSS); Chang’e-2; Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL); Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE); Chang’e-3.

The Chang'e 3 Mission Overview

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Chunlai; Liu, Jianjun; Ren, Xin; Zuo, Wei; Tan, Xu; Wen, Weibin; Li, Han; Mu, Lingli; Su, Yan; Zhang, Hongbo; Yan, Jun; Ouyang, Ziyuan

2015-07-01

The Chang'e 3 (CE-3) mission was implemented as the first lander/rover mission of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program (CLEP). After its successful launch at 01:30 local time on December 2, 2013, CE-3 was inserted into an eccentric polar lunar orbit on December 6, and landed to the east of a 430 m crater in northwestern Mare Imbrium (19.51°W, 44.12°N) at 21:11 on December 14, 2013. The Yutu rover separated from the lander at 04:35, December 15, and traversed for a total of 0.114 km. Acquisition of science data began during the descent of the lander and will continue for 12 months during the nominal mission. The CE-3 lander and rover each carry four science instruments. Instruments on the lander are: Landing Camera (LCAM), Terrain Camera (TCAM), Extreme Ultraviolet Camera (EUVC), and Moon-based Ultraviolet Telescope (MUVT). The four instruments on the rover are: Panoramic Camera (PCAM), VIS-NIR Imaging Spectrometer (VNIS), Active Particle induced X-ray Spectrometer (APXS), and Lunar Penetrating Radar (LPR). The science objectives of the CE-3 mission include: (1) investigation of the morphological features and geological structures of and near the landing area; (2) integrated in-situ analysis of mineral and chemical composition of and near the landing area; and (3) exploration of the terrestrial-lunar space environment and lunar-based astronomical observations. This paper describes the CE-3 objectives and measurements that address the science objectives outlined by the Comprehensive Demonstration Report of Phase II of CLEP. The CE-3 team has archived the initial science data, and we describe data accessibility by the science community.

Integrated Human-Robotic Missions to the Moon and Mars: Mission Operations Design Implications

Science.gov (United States)

Mishkin, Andrew; Lee, Young; Korth, David; LeBlanc, Troy

2007-01-01

For most of the history of space exploration, human and robotic programs have been independent, and have responded to distinct requirements. The NASA Vision for Space Exploration calls for the return of humans to the Moon, and the eventual human exploration of Mars; the complexity of this range of missions will require an unprecedented use of automation and robotics in support of human crews. The challenges of human Mars missions, including roundtrip communications time delays of 6 to 40 minutes, interplanetary transit times of many months, and the need to manage lifecycle costs, will require the evolution of a new mission operations paradigm far less dependent on real-time monitoring and response by an Earthbound operations team. Robotic systems and automation will augment human capability, increase human safety by providing means to perform many tasks without requiring immediate human presence, and enable the transfer of traditional mission control tasks from the ground to crews. Developing and validating the new paradigm and its associated infrastructure may place requirements on operations design for nearer-term lunar missions. The authors, representing both the human and robotic mission operations communities, assess human lunar and Mars mission challenges, and consider how human-robot operations may be integrated to enable efficient joint operations, with the eventual emergence of a unified exploration operations culture.

GRACE Status at Mission End

Science.gov (United States)

Tapley, B. D.; Flechtner, F. M.; Watkins, M. M.; Bettadpur, S. V.

2017-12-01

The twin satellites of the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) were launched on March 17, 2002 and have operated for nearly 16 years. The mission objectives are to observe the spatial and temporal variations of the Earth's mass through its effects on the gravity field at the GRACE satellite altitude. The mass changes observed are related to both the changes within the solid earth and the change within and between the Erath system components. A significant cause of the time varying mass is water motion and the GRACE mission has provided a continuous decade long measurement sequence which characterizes the seasonal cycle of mass transport between the oceans, land, cryosphere and atmosphere; its inter-annual variability; and the climate driven secular, or long period, mass transport signals. The fifth reanalysis on the mission data set, the RL05 data, were released in mid-2013. With the planned launch of GRACE Follow-On in early 2018, plans are underway for a reanalysis that will be consistent with the GRACE FO processing standards. The mission is entering the final phases of its operation life with mission end expected to occur in early 2018. The current mission operations strategy emphasizes extending the mission lifetime to obtain an overlap with the GRACE FO. This presentation will review the mission status and the projections for mission lifetime, describe the current operations philosophy and its impact on the science data, discuss the issues related to achieving the GRACE and GRACE FO connection and discuss issues related to science data products during this phase of the mission period.

STS-37 crewmembers train in JSC's FB shuttle mission simulator (SMS)

Science.gov (United States)

1991-01-01

STS-37 Commander Steven R. Nagel (left) and Mission Specialist (MS) Jerry L. Ross rehearse some of their scheduled duties on the flight deck of JSC's fixed-based (FB) shuttle mission simulator (SMS) located in the Mission Simulation and Training Facility Bldg 5. During the unsuited simulation, Nagel reviews checklist while seated at the commanders station as Ross looks on from the pilots station.

Overview of Mission Design for NASA Asteroid Redirect Robotic Mission Concept

Science.gov (United States)

Strange, Nathan; Landau, Damon; McElrath, Timothy; Lantoine, Gregory; Lam, Try; McGuire, Melissa; Burke, Laura; Martini, Michael; Dankanich, John

2013-01-01

Part of NASA's new asteroid initiative would be a robotic mission to capture a roughly four to ten meter asteroid and redirect its orbit to place it in translunar space. Once in a stable storage orbit at the Moon, astronauts would then visit the asteroid for science investigations, to test in space resource extraction, and to develop experience with human deep space missions. This paper discusses the mission design techniques that would enable the redirection of a 100-1000 metric ton asteroid into lunar orbit with a 40-50 kW Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) system.

Mission requirements for a manned earth observatory. Task 2: Reference mission definition and analyiss, volume 2

Science.gov (United States)

1973-01-01

The mission requirements and conceptual design of manned earth observatory payloads for the 1980 time period are discussed. Projections of 1980 sensor technology and user data requirements were used to formulate typical basic criteria pertaining to experiments, sensor complements, and reference missions. The subjects discussed are: (1) mission selection and prioritization, (2) baseline mission analysis, (3) earth observation data handling and contingency plans, and (4) analysis of low cost mission definition and rationale.

Community College Mission: A '60s Mission Looking at a Y2K World.

Science.gov (United States)

Levin, Bernard H.

Although the world has changed considerably in the past three decades, community colleges and their guiding missions have largely not adapted to changing conditions. College mission statements tend to be unfocused documents that provide overly broad goals. In the business world, the mission statements of effective companies are brief, crisp, and…

Mission operations update for the restructured Earth Observing System (EOS) mission

Science.gov (United States)

Kelly, Angelita Castro; Chang, Edward S.

1993-01-01

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Earth Observing System (EOS) will provide a comprehensive long term set of observations of the Earth to the Earth science research community. The data will aid in determining global changes caused both naturally and through human interaction. Understanding man's impact on the global environment will allow sound policy decisions to be made to protect our future. EOS is a major component of the Mission to Planet Earth program, which is NASA's contribution to the U.S. Global Change Research Program. EOS consists of numerous instruments on multiple spacecraft and a distributed ground system. The EOS Data and Information System (EOSDIS) is the major ground system developed to support EOS. The EOSDIS will provide EOS spacecraft command and control, data processing, product generation, and data archival and distribution services for EOS spacecraft. Data from EOS instruments on other Earth science missions (e.g., Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM)) will also be processed, distributed, and archived in EOSDIS. The U.S. and various International Partners (IP) (e.g., the European Space Agency (ESA), the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) of Japan, and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA)) participate in and contribute to the international EOS program. The EOSDIS will also archive processed data from other designated NASA Earth science missions (e.g., UARS) that are under the broad umbrella of Mission to Planet Earth.

Intelligent Mission Controller Node

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Perme, David

2002-01-01

The goal of the Intelligent Mission Controller Node (IMCN) project was to improve the process of translating mission taskings between real-world Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence (C41...

Life support approaches for Mars missions

Science.gov (United States)

Drysdale, A. E.; Ewert, M. K.; Hanford, A. J.

Life support approaches for Mars missions are evaluated using an equivalent system mass (ESM) approach, in which all significant costs are converted into mass units. The best approach, as defined by the lowest mission ESM, depends on several mission parameters, notably duration, environment and consequent infrastructure costs, and crew size, as well as the characteristics of the technologies which are available. Generally, for the missions under consideration, physicochemical regeneration is most cost effective. However, bioregeneration is likely to be of use for producing salad crops for any mission, for producing staple crops for medium duration missions, and for most food, air and water regeneration for long missions (durations of a decade). Potential applications of in situ resource utilization need to be considered further.

Mission of Mercy.

Science.gov (United States)

Humenik, Mark

2014-01-01

Some dentists prefer solo charity work, but there is much to be said for collaboration within the profession in reaching out to those who are dentally underserved. Mission of Mercy (MOM) programs are regularly organized across the country for this purpose. This article describes the structure, reach, and personal satisfaction to be gained from such missions.

Mission Analysis for the Don Quijote Phase-A Study

Science.gov (United States)

Cano, Juan L.; Sanchez, Mariano; Cornara, Stefania; Carnelli, Ian

2007-01-01

The Don Quijote Phase-A study is a definition study funded by ESA and devoted to the analysis of the possibilities to deflect a Near Earth Object (NEO) in the range of 300-800 m diameter. DEIMOS Space S.L. and EADS Astrium have teamed up within this study to form one of the three consortia that have analyzed these aspects for ESA. Target asteroids for the mission are 1989 ML, 2002 AT4 and Apophis. This paper presents the mission analysis activities within the consortium providing: low-thrust interplanetary rendezvous Orbiter trajectories to the target asteroids, ballistic interplanetary trajectories for the Impactor, Orbiter arrival description at the asteroids, Orbiter stable orbits characterization at the asteroid, deflection determination by means of a Radio Science Experiment (RSE) as well as the mission timelines and overall mission scenarios.

The Stellar Imager (SI)"Vision Mission"

Science.gov (United States)

Carpenter, Ken; Danchi, W.; Leitner, J.; Liu, A.; Lyon, R.; Mazzuca, L.; Moe, R.; Chenette, D.; Karovska, M.; Allen, R.

2004-01-01

The Stellar Imager (SI) is a "Vision" mission in the Sun-Earth Connection (SEC) Roadmap, conceived for the purpose of understanding the effects of stellar magnetic fields, the dynamos that generate them, and the internal structure and dynamics of the stars in which they exist. The ultimate goal is to achieve the best possible forecasting of solar/stellar magnetic activity and its impact on life in the Universe. The science goals of SI require an ultra-high angular resolution, at ultraviolet wavelengths, on the order of 100 micro-arcsec and thus baselines on the order of 0.5 km. These requirements call for a large, multi-spacecraft (less than 20) imaging interferometer, utilizing precision formation flying in a stable environment, such as in a Lissajous orbit around the Sun-Earth L2 point. SI's resolution will make it an invaluable resource for many other areas of astrophysics, including studies of AGN s, supernovae, cataclysmic variables, young stellar objects, QSO's, and stellar black holes. ongoing mission concept and technology development studies for SI. These studies are designed to refine the mission requirements for the science goals, define a Design Reference Mission, perform trade studies of selected major technical and architectural issues, improve the existing technology roadmap, and explore the details of deployment and operations, as well as the possible roles of astronauts and/or robots in construction and servicing of the facility.

A Saturn Ring Observer Mission Using Multi-Mission Radioisotope Power Systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abelson, Robert D.; Spilker, Thomas R.; Shirley, James H.

2006-01-01

Saturn remains one of the most fascinating planets within the solar system. To better understand the complex ring structure of this planet, a conceptual Saturn Ring Observer (SRO) mission is presented that would spend one year in close proximity to Saturn's A and B rings, and perform detailed observations and measurements of the ring particles and electric and magnetic fields. The primary objective of the mission would be to understand ring dynamics, including the microphysics of individual particles and small scale (meters to a few kilometers) phenomena such as particle agglomeration behavior. This would be accomplished by multispectral imaging of the rings at multiple key locations within the A and B rings, and by ring-particle imaging at an unprecedented resolution of 0.5 cm/pixel. The SRO spacecraft would use a Venus-Earth-Earth-Jupiter Gravity Assist (VEEJGA) and be aerocaptured into Saturn orbit using an advanced aeroshell design to minimize propellant mass. Once in orbit, the SRO would stand off from the ring plane 1 to 1.4 km using chemical thrusters to provide short propulsive maneuvers four times per revolution, effectively causing the SRO vehicle to 'hop' above the ring plane. The conceptual SRO spacecraft would be enabled by the use of a new generation of multi-mission Radioisotope Power Systems (RPSs) currently being developed by NASA and DOE. These RPSs include the Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG) and Stirling Radioisotope Generator (SRG). The RPSs would generate all necessary electrical power (≥330 We at beginning of life) during the 10-year cruise and 1-year science mission (∼11 years total). The RPS heat would be used to maintain the vehicle's operating and survival temperatures, minimizing the need for electrical heaters. Such a mission could potentially launch in the 2015-2020 timeframe, with operations at Saturn commencing in approximately 2030

Integrated payload and mission planning, phase 3. Volume 3: Ground real-time mission operations

Science.gov (United States)

White, W. J.

1977-01-01

The payloads tentatively planned to fly on the first two Spacelab missions were analyzed to examine the cost relationships of providing mission operations support from onboard vs the ground-based Payload Operations Control Center (POCC). The quantitative results indicate that use of a POCC, with data processing capability, to support real-time mission operations is the most cost effective case.

A decision model for planetary missions

Science.gov (United States)

Hazelrigg, G. A., Jr.; Brigadier, W. L.

1976-01-01

Many techniques developed for the solution of problems in economics and operations research are directly applicable to problems involving engineering trade-offs. This paper investigates the use of utility theory for decision making in planetary exploration space missions. A decision model is derived that accounts for the objectives of the mission - science - the cost of flying the mission and the risk of mission failure. A simulation methodology for obtaining the probability distribution of science value and costs as a function spacecraft and mission design is presented and an example application of the decision methodology is given for various potential alternatives in a comet Encke mission.

Critical Robotic Lunar Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Plescia, J. B.

2018-04-01

Perhaps the most critical missions to understanding lunar history are in situ dating and network missions. These would constrain the volcanic and thermal history and interior structure. These data would better constrain lunar evolution models.

Global Precipitation Measurement Mission: Architecture and Mission Concept

Science.gov (United States)

Bundas, David

2005-01-01

The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Mission is a collaboration between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and other partners, with the goal of monitoring the diurnal and seasonal variations in precipitation over the surface of the earth. These measurements will be used to improve current climate models and weather forecasting, and enable improved storm and flood warnings. This paper gives an overview of the mission architecture and addresses some of the key trades that have been completed, including the selection of the Core Observatory s orbit, orbit maintenance trades, and design issues related to meeting orbital debris requirements.

A review of Spacelab mission management approach

Science.gov (United States)

Craft, H. G., Jr.

1979-01-01

The Spacelab development program is a joint undertaking of the NASA and ESA. The paper addresses the initial concept of Spacelab payload mission management, the lessons learned, and modifications made as a result of the actual implementation of Spacelab Mission 1. The discussion covers mission management responsibilities, program control, science management, payload definition and interfaces, integrated payload mission planning, integration requirements, payload specialist training, payload and launch site integration, payload flight/mission operations, and postmission activities. After 3.5 years the outlined overall mission manager approach has proven to be most successful. The approach does allow the mission manager to maintain the lowest overall mission cost.

FIREX mission requirements document for renewable resources

Science.gov (United States)

Carsey, F.; Dixon, T.

1982-01-01

The initial experimental program and mission requirements for a satellite synthetic aperture radar (SAR) system FIREX (Free-Flying Imaging Radar Experiment) for renewable resources is described. The spacecraft SAR is a C-band and L-band VV polarized system operating at two angles of incidence which is designated as a research instrument for crop identification, crop canopy condition assessments, soil moisture condition estimation, forestry type and condition assessments, snow water equivalent and snow wetness assessments, wetland and coastal land type identification and mapping, flood extent mapping, and assessment of drainage characteristics of watersheds for water resources applications. Specific mission design issues such as the preferred incidence angles for vegetation canopy measurements and the utility of a dual frequency (L and C-band) or dual polarization system as compared to the baseline system are addressed.

Dukovany ASSET mission preparation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kouklik, I.

1996-01-01

We are in the final stages of the Dukovany ASSET mission 1996 preparation. I would like to present some of our recent experiences. Maybe they would be helpful to other plants, that host ASSET missions in future

Dukovany ASSET mission preparation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kouklik, I [NPP Dukovany (Czech Republic)

1997-12-31

We are in the final stages of the Dukovany ASSET mission 1996 preparation. I would like to present some of our recent experiences. Maybe they would be helpful to other plants, that host ASSET missions in future.

Qualification of GPHS-RTG for the Galileo and Ulysses missions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cockfield, R.D.

1986-01-01

The General Purpose Heat Source - Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (GPHS-RTG)- was designed and built by General Electric under the sponsorship of the Department of Energy, Office of Special Nuclear Projects, to power both the Galileo and Ulysses spacecraft. Separate STS launches of these two spacecraft were planned for May, l986, but have now been delayed. Galileo will carry two RTGs, providing over 5l0 watts of electrical power at the end of a 4.2 year mission, and Ulysses' single RTG will provide over 250 watts of electrical power at the end of a 4.7 year mission. These power levels and mission durations may differ for delayed launch schedules. To ensure that the GPHS-RTG is qualified for the Galileo and Ulysses missions, a formal program, consisting of extensive analyses, inspections, demonstrations, and tests, was conducted. Requirements for qualification included such categories as electrical performance, life characteristics, dynamic capability, thermal characteristics, active cooling system performance, magnetic properties, nuclear criticality, gas management provisions, electrostatic cleanliness, mass properties, neutron emission rate, and micrometeoroid survivability. This paper addresses selected topics from this list and presents data to show that anticipated performance will meet or exceed design requirements as specified for a May, l986 launch

Environmental control and life support technologies for advanced manned space missions

Science.gov (United States)

Powell, F. T.; Wynveen, R. A.; Lin, C.

1986-01-01

Regenerative environmental control and life support system (ECLSS) technologies are found by the present evaluation to have reached a degree of maturity that recommends their application to long duration manned missions. The missions for which regenerative ECLSSs are attractive in virtue of the need to avoid expendables and resupply requirements have been identified as that of the long duration LEO Space Station, long duration stays at GEO, a permanently manned lunar base (or colony), manned platforms located at the earth-moon libration points L4 or L5, a Mars mission, deep space exploration, and asteroid exploration. A comparison is made between nonregenerative and regenerative ECLSSs in the cases of 10 essential functions.

Psychosocial interactions during ISS missions

Science.gov (United States)

Kanas, N. A.; Salnitskiy, V. P.; Ritsher, J. B.; Gushin, V. I.; Weiss, D. S.; Saylor, S. A.; Kozerenko, O. P.; Marmar, C. R.

2007-02-01

Based on anecdotal reports from astronauts and cosmonauts, studies of space analog environments on Earth, and our previous research on the Mir Space Station, a number of psychosocial issues have been identified that can lead to problems during long-duration space expeditions. Several of these issues were studied during a series of missions to the International Space Station. Using a mood and group climate questionnaire that was completed weekly by crewmembers in space and personnel in mission control, we found no evidence to support the presence of predicted decrements in well-being during the second half or in any specific quarter of the missions. The results did support the predicted displacement of negative feelings to outside supervisors among both crew and ground subjects. There were several significant differences in mood and group perceptions between Americans and Russians and between crewmembers and mission control personnel. Crewmembers related cohesion to the support role of their leader, and mission control personnel related cohesion to both the task and support roles of their leader. These findings are discussed with reference to future space missions.

Human exploration mission studies

Science.gov (United States)

Cataldo, Robert L.

1989-01-01

The Office of Exploration has established a process whereby all NASA field centers and other NASA Headquarters offices participate in the formulation and analysis of a wide range of mission strategies. These strategies were manifested into specific scenarios or candidate case studies. The case studies provided a systematic approach into analyzing each mission element. First, each case study must address several major themes and rationale including: national pride and international prestige, advancement of scientific knowledge, a catalyst for technology, economic benefits, space enterprise, international cooperation, and education and excellence. Second, the set of candidate case studies are formulated to encompass the technology requirement limits in the life sciences, launch capabilities, space transfer, automation, and robotics in space operations, power, and propulsion. The first set of reference case studies identify three major strategies: human expeditions, science outposts, and evolutionary expansion. During the past year, four case studies were examined to explore these strategies. The expeditionary missions include the Human Expedition to Phobos and Human Expedition to Mars case studies. The Lunar Observatory and Lunar Outpost to Early Mars Evolution case studies examined the later two strategies. This set of case studies established the framework to perform detailed mission analysis and system engineering to define a host of concepts and requirements for various space systems and advanced technologies. The details of each mission are described and, specifically, the results affecting the advanced technologies required to accomplish each mission scenario are presented.

Flight mission control for multiple spacecraft

Science.gov (United States)

Ryan, Robert E.

1990-10-01

A plan developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for mission control of unmanned spacecraft is outlined. A technical matrix organization from which, in the past, project teams were formed to uniquely support a mission is replaced in this new plan. A cost effective approach was needed to make best use of limited resources. Mission control is a focal point operations and a good place to start a multimission concept. Co-location and sharing common functions are the keys to obtaining efficiencies at minimum additional risk. For the projects, the major changes are sharing a common operations area and having indirect control of personnel. The plan identifies the still direct link for the mission control functions. Training is a major element in this plan. Personnel are qualified for a position and certified for a mission. This concept is more easily accepted by new missions than the ongoing missions.

NASA's Planetary Science Missions and Participations

Science.gov (United States)

Daou, Doris; Green, James L.

2017-04-01

NASA's Planetary Science Division (PSD) and space agencies around the world are collaborating on an extensive array of missions exploring our solar system. Planetary science missions are conducted by some of the most sophisticated robots ever built. International collaboration is an essential part of what we do. NASA has always encouraged international participation on our missions both strategic (ie: Mars 2020) and competitive (ie: Discovery and New Frontiers) and other Space Agencies have reciprocated and invited NASA investigators to participate in their missions. NASA PSD has partnerships with virtually every major space agency. For example, NASA has had a long and very fruitful collaboration with ESA. ESA has been involved in the Cassini mission and, currently, NASA funded scientists are involved in the Rosetta mission (3 full instruments, part of another), BepiColombo mission (1 instrument in the Italian Space Agency's instrument suite), and the Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer mission (1 instrument and parts of two others). In concert with ESA's Mars missions NASA has an instrument on the Mars Express mission, the orbit-ground communications package on the Trace Gas Orbiter (launched in March 2016) and part of the DLR/Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer instruments going onboard the ExoMars Rover (to be launched in 2018). NASA's Planetary Science Division has continuously provided its U.S. planetary science community with opportunities to include international participation on NASA missions too. For example, NASA's Discovery and New Frontiers Programs provide U.S. scientists the opportunity to assemble international teams and design exciting, focused planetary science investigations that would deepen the knowledge of our Solar System. The PSD put out an international call for instruments on the Mars 2020 mission. This procurement led to the selection of Spain and Norway scientist leading two instruments and French scientists providing a significant portion of another

Payload operations management of a planned European SL-Mission employing establishments of ESA and national agencies

Science.gov (United States)

Joensson, Rolf; Mueller, Karl L.

1994-01-01

Spacelab (SL)-missions with Payload Operations (P/L OPS) from Europe involve numerous space agencies, various ground infrastructure systems and national user organizations. An effective management structure must bring together different entities, facilities and people, but at the same time keep interfaces, costs and schedule under strict control. This paper outlines the management concept for P/L OPS of a planned European SL-mission. The proposal draws on the relevant experience in Europe, which was acquired via the ESA/NASA mission SL-1, by the execution of two German SL-missions and by the involvement in, or the support of, several NASA-missions.

Sustainable, Reliable Mission-Systems Architecture

Science.gov (United States)

O'Neil, Graham; Orr, James K.; Watson, Steve

2007-01-01

A mission-systems architecture, based on a highly modular infrastructure utilizing: open-standards hardware and software interfaces as the enabling technology is essential for affordable and sustainable space exploration programs. This mission-systems architecture requires (a) robust communication between heterogeneous system, (b) high reliability, (c) minimal mission-to-mission reconfiguration, (d) affordable development, system integration, and verification of systems, and (e) minimal sustaining engineering. This paper proposes such an architecture. Lessons learned from the Space Shuttle program and Earthbound complex engineered system are applied to define the model. Technology projections reaching out 5 years are mde to refine model details.

308 Building deactivation mission analysis report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lund, D.P.

1995-01-01

This report presents the results of the 308 Building (Fuels Development Laboratory) Deactivation Project mission analysis. Hanford systems engineering (SE) procedures call for a mission analysis. The mission analysis is an important first step in the SE process. The functions and requirements to successfully accomplish this mission, the selected alternatives and products will later be defined using the SE process

309 Building deactivation mission analysis report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lund, D.P.

1995-01-01

This report presents the results of the 309 Building (Plutonium Fuels Utilization Program) Deactivation Project mission analysis. Hanford systems engineering (SE) procedures call for a mission analysis. The mission analysis is an important first step in the SE process. The functions and requirements to successfully accomplish this mission, the selected alternatives and products will later be defined using the SE process

Crew Transportation System Design Reference Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Mango, Edward J.

2015-01-01

Contains summaries of potential design reference mission goals for systems to transport humans to andfrom low Earth orbit (LEO) for the Commercial Crew Program. The purpose of this document is to describe Design Reference Missions (DRMs) representative of the end-to-end Crew Transportation System (CTS) framework envisioned to successfully execute commercial crew transportation to orbital destinations. The initial CTS architecture will likely be optimized to support NASA crew and NASA-sponsored crew rotation missions to the ISS, but consideration may be given in this design phase to allow for modifications in order to accomplish other commercial missions in the future. With the exception of NASA’s mission to the ISS, the remaining commercial DRMs are notional. Any decision to design or scar the CTS for these additional non-NASA missions is completely up to the Commercial Provider. As NASA’s mission needs evolve over time, this document will be periodically updated to reflect those needs.

Improving the Operations of the Earth Observing One Mission via Automated Mission Planning

Science.gov (United States)

Chien, Steve A.; Tran, Daniel; Rabideau, Gregg; Schaffer, Steve; Mandl, Daniel; Frye, Stuart

2010-01-01

We describe the modeling and reasoning about operations constraints in an automated mission planning system for an earth observing satellite - EO-1. We first discuss the large number of elements that can be naturally represented in an expressive planning and scheduling framework. We then describe a number of constraints that challenge the current state of the art in automated planning systems and discuss how we modeled these constraints as well as discuss tradeoffs in representation versus efficiency. Finally we describe the challenges in efficiently generating operations plans for this mission. These discussions involve lessons learned from an operations model that has been in use since Fall 2004 (called R4) as well as a newer more accurate operations model operational since June 2009 (called R5). We present analysis of the R5 software documenting a significant (greater than 50%) increase in the number of weekly observations scheduled by the EO-1 mission. We also show that the R5 mission planning system produces schedules within 15% of an upper bound on optimal schedules. This operational enhancement has created value of millions of dollars US over the projected remaining lifetime of the EO-1 mission.

The Bible and mission in faith perspective: J.Hudson Taylor and the early China Inland Mission

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wigram, C.E.M.

2007-01-01

The thesis 'The Bible and Mission in Faith Perspective: J.Hudson Taylor and the Early China Inland Mission' by Christopher E.M. Wigram analysis the hermeneutical assumptions that underlay Hudson Taylor's approach to biblical interpretation, and the significance of his approach for the mission which

A Lunar L2-Farside Exploration and Science Mission Concept with the ORion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle and a Teleoperated Lander/Rover

Science.gov (United States)

Burns, Jack O.; Kring, David; Norris, Scott; Hopkins, Josh; Lazio, Joseph; Kasper, Justin

2012-01-01

A novel concept is presented in this paper for a human mission to the lunar L2 (Lagrange) point that would be a proving ground for future exploration missions to deep space while also overseeing scientifically important investigations. In an L2 halo orbit above the lunar farside, the astronauts would travel 15% farther from Earth than did the Apollo astronauts and spend almost three times longer in deep space. Such missions would validate the Orion MPCV's life support systems, would demonstrate the high-speed re-entry capability needed for return from deep space, and would measure astronauts' radiation dose from cosmic rays and solar flares to verify that Orion would provide sufficient protection, as it is designed to do. On this proposed mission, the astronauts would teleoperate landers and rovers on the unexplored lunar farside, which would obtain samples from the geologically interesting farside and deploy a low radio frequency telescope. Sampling the South Pole-Aitkin basin (one of the oldest impact basins in the solar system) is a key science objective of the 2011 Planetary Science Decadal Survey. Observations of the Universe's first stars/galaxies at low radio frequencies are a priority of the 2010 Astronomy & Astrophysics Decadal Survey. Such telerobotic oversight would also demonstrate capability for human and robotic cooperation on future, more complex deep space missions.

The PROPEL Electrodynamic Tether Demonstration Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Bilen, Sven G.; Johnson, C. Les; Wiegmann, Bruce M.; Alexander, Leslie; Gilchrist, Brian E.; Hoyt, Robert P.; Elder, Craig H.; Fuhrhop, Keith P.; Scadera, Michael

2012-01-01

The PROPEL ("Propulsion using Electrodynamics") mission will demonstrate the operation of an electrodynamic tether propulsion system in low Earth orbit and advance its technology readiness level for multiple applications. The PROPEL mission has two primary objectives: first, to demonstrate the capability of electrodynamic tether technology to provide robust and safe, near-propellantless propulsion for orbit-raising, de-orbit, plane change, and station keeping, as well as to perform orbital power harvesting and formation flight; and, second, to fully characterize and validate the performance of an integrated electrodynamic tether propulsion system, qualifying it for infusion into future multiple satellite platforms and missions with minimal modification. This paper provides an overview of the PROPEL system and design reference missions; mission goals and required measurements; and ongoing PROPEL mission design efforts.

Orbit determination for ISRO satellite missions

Science.gov (United States)

Rao, Ch. Sreehari; Sinha, S. K.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has been successful in using the in-house developed orbit determination and prediction software for satellite missions of Bhaskara, Rohini and APPLE. Considering the requirements of satellite missions, software packages are developed, tested and their accuracies are assessed. Orbit determination packages developed are SOIP, for low earth orbits of Bhaskara and Rohini missions, ORIGIN and ODPM, for orbits related to all phases of geo-stationary missions and SEGNIP, for drift and geo-stationary orbits. Software is tested and qualified using tracking data of SIGNE-3, D5-B, OTS, SYMPHONIE satellites with the help of software available with CNES, ESA and DFVLR. The results match well with those available from these agencies. These packages have supported orbit determination successfully throughout the mission life for all ISRO satellite missions. Member-Secretary

Composable Mission Framework for Rapid End-to-End Mission Design and Simulation, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The innovation proposed here is the Composable Mission Framework (CMF) a model-based software framework that shall enable seamless continuity of mission design and...

Centralized mission planning and scheduling system for the Landsat Data Continuity Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Kavelaars, Alicia; Barnoy, Assaf M.; Gregory, Shawna; Garcia, Gonzalo; Talon, Cesar; Greer, Gregory; Williams, Jason; Dulski, Vicki

2014-01-01

Satellites in Low Earth Orbit provide missions with closer range for studying aspects such as geography and topography, but often require efficient utilization of space and ground assets. Optimizing schedules for these satellites amounts to a complex planning puzzle since it requires operators to face issues such as discontinuous ground contacts, limited onboard memory storage, constrained downlink margin, and shared ground antenna resources. To solve this issue for the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM, Landsat 8), all the scheduling exchanges for science data request, ground/space station contact, and spacecraft maintenance and control will be coordinated through a centralized Mission Planning and Scheduling (MPS) engine, based upon GMV’s scheduling system flexplan9 . The synchronization between all operational functions must be strictly maintained to ensure efficient mission utilization of ground and spacecraft activities while working within the bounds of the space and ground resources, such as Solid State Recorder (SSR) and available antennas. This paper outlines the functionalities that the centralized planning and scheduling system has in its operational control and management of the Landsat 8 spacecraft.

STS-95 Mission Highlights Resources Tape

Science.gov (United States)

1999-01-01

The STS-95 flight crew, Commander Curtis L. Brown, Pilot Steven W. Lindsey, Mission Specialists Scott E. Parazynski, Stephen K. Robinson, and Pedro Duque, and Payload Specialists Chiaki Mukai and John H. Glenn present a video overview of their space flight. They are seen performing pre-launch activities such as eating the traditional breakfast, crew suit-up, and the ride out to the launch pad. Also, included are various panoramic views of the shuttle on the pad. The crew is readied in the 'white room' for their mission. After the closing of the hatch and arm retraction, launch activities are shown including countdown, engine ignition, launch, and the separation of the Solid Rocket Boosters. Once on-orbit the primary objectives include conducting a variety of science experiments in the pressurized SPACEHAB module, the deployment and retrieval of the Spartan free-flyer payload, and operations with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Orbiting Systems Test (HOST) and the International Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker (IEH) payloads being carried in the payload bay. Throughout the presentation, the astronauts take turns narrating particular aspects of the mission with which they were involved.

Spacelab Mission Implementation Cost Assessment (SMICA)

Science.gov (United States)

Guynes, B. V.

1984-01-01

A total savings of approximately 20 percent is attainable if: (1) mission management and ground processing schedules are compressed; (2) the equipping, staffing, and operating of the Payload Operations Control Center is revised, and (3) methods of working with experiment developers are changed. The development of a new mission implementation technique, which includes mission definition, experiment development, and mission integration/operations, is examined. The Payload Operations Control Center is to relocate and utilize new computer equipment to produce cost savings. Methods of reducing costs by minimizing the Spacelab and payload processing time during pre- and post-mission operation at KSC are analyzed. The changes required to reduce costs in the analytical integration process are studied. The influence of time, requirements accountability, and risk on costs is discussed. Recommendation for cost reductions developed by the Spacelab Mission Implementation Cost Assessment study are listed.

Spacelab life sciences 2 post mission report

Science.gov (United States)

Buckey, Jay C.

1994-01-01

Jay C. Buckey, M.D., Assistant Professor of Medicine at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas served as an alternate payload specialist astronaut for the Spacelab Life Sciences 2 Space Shuttle Mission from January 1992 through December 1993. This report summarizes his opinions on the mission and offers suggestions in the areas of selection, training, simulations, baseline data collection and mission operations. The report recognizes the contributions of the commander, payload commander and mission management team to the success of the mission. Dr. Buckey's main accomplishments during the mission are listed.

The 'Granite' collegial mission of dialogue. Report; Mission collegiale de concertation Granite. Rapport

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Boisson, P; Huet, Ph; Mingasson, J

2000-06-01

The aim of the 'Granite' collegial mission of dialogue is to inform the French authorities, associations and population about the project of construction of an underground laboratory for the study of the disposal of high level and long-life radioactive wastes in a granitic environment. The aim of the dialogue was not to select a site but to collect the public reactions and advices about such a project. However, such a dialogue has partially failed because of a misunderstanding of the population about the aims of the mission. However, the mission has collected many point of views and questions which are developed in this report. The first and second chapters recall the process of the mission and its progress, while a third chapter stresses on the questions asked by the public and which concern the fear of nuclear wastes and the incompatibility between the disposal of wastes and the socio-economical development of the region concerned. Thanks to the lessons drawn from this experience, the mission has formulated some recommendations (chapter 4) concerning the need for a better information of the population about any topic in relation with the radioactive wastes. Some complementary information is provided in appendixes. (J.S.)

IRIS Mission Operations Director's Colloquium

Science.gov (United States)

Carvalho, Robert; Mazmanian, Edward A.

2014-01-01

Pursuing the Mysteries of the Sun: The Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) Mission. Flight controllers from the IRIS mission will present their individual experiences on IRIS from development through the first year of flight. This will begin with a discussion of the unique nature of IRISs mission and science, and how it fits into NASA's fleet of solar observatories. Next will be a discussion of the critical roles Ames contributed in the mission including spacecraft and flight software development, ground system development, and training for launch. This will be followed by experiences from launch, early operations, ongoing operations, and unusual operations experiences. The presentation will close with IRIS science imagery and questions.

MMPM - Mars MetNet Precursor Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Harri, A.-M.; Schmidt, W.; Pichkhadze, K.; Linkin, V.; Vazquez, L.; Uspensky, M.; Polkko, J.; Genzer, M.; Lipatov, A.; Guerrero, H.; Alexashkin, S.; Haukka, H.; Savijarvi, H.; Kauhanen, J.

2008-09-01

We are developing a new kind of planetary exploration mission for Mars - MetNet in situ observation network based on a new semi-hard landing vehicle called the Met-Net Lander (MNL). The eventual scope of the MetNet Mission is to deploy some 20 MNLs on the Martian surface using inflatable descent system structures, which will be supported by observations from the orbit around Mars. Currently we are working on the MetNet Mars Precursor Mission (MMPM) to deploy one MetNet Lander to Mars in the 2009/2011 launch window as a technology and science demonstration mission. The MNL will have a versatile science payload focused on the atmospheric science of Mars. Detailed characterization of the Martian atmospheric circulation patterns, boundary layer phenomena, and climatology cycles, require simultaneous in-situ measurements by a network of observation posts on the Martian surface. The scientific payload of the MetNet Mission encompasses separate instrument packages for the atmospheric entry and descent phase and for the surface operation phase. The MetNet mission concept and key probe technologies have been developed and the critical subsystems have been qualified to meet the Martian environmental and functional conditions. Prototyping of the payload instrumentation with final dimensions was carried out in 2003-2006.This huge development effort has been fulfilled in collaboration between the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), the Russian Lavoschkin Association (LA) and the Russian Space Research Institute (IKI) since August 2001. Currently the INTA (Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial) from Spain is also participating in the MetNet payload development. To understand the behavior and dynamics of the Martian atmosphere, a wealth of simultaneous in situ observations are needed on varying types of Martian orography, terrain and altitude spanning all latitudes and longitudes. This will be performed by the Mars MetNet Mission. In addition to the science aspects the

Mission to the Solar System: Exploration and Discovery. A Mission and Technology Roadmap

Science.gov (United States)

Gulkis, S. (Editor); Stetson, D. S. (Editor); Stofan, E. R. (Editor)

1998-01-01

Solar System exploration addresses some of humanity's most fundamental questions: How and when did life form on Earth? Does life exist elsewhere in the Solar System or in the Universe? - How did the Solar System form and evolve in time? - What can the other planets teach us about the Earth? This document describes a Mission and Technology Roadmap for addressing these and other fundamental Solar System Questions. A Roadmap Development Team of scientists, engineers, educators, and technologists worked to define the next evolutionary steps in in situ exploration, sample return, and completion of the overall Solar System survey. Guidelines were to "develop aa visionary, but affordable, mission and technology development Roadmap for the exploration of the Solar System in the 2000 to 2012 timeframe." The Roadmap provides a catalog of potential flight missions. (Supporting research and technology, ground-based observations, and laboratory research, which are no less important than flight missions, are not included in this Roadmap.)

Mission Critical Occupation (MCO) Charts

Data.gov (United States)

Office of Personnel Management — Agencies report resource data and targets for government-wide mission critical occupations and agency specific mission critical and/or high risk occupations. These...

Evaluation of full and degraded mission reliability and mission dependability for intermittently operated, multi-functional systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sols, Alberto; Ramirez-Marquez, Jose E.; Verma, Dinesh; Vitoriano, Begona

2007-01-01

Availability is one of the metrics often used in the evaluation of system effectiveness. Its use as an effectiveness metric is often dictated by the nature of the system under consideration. While some systems operate continuously, many others operate on an intermittent basis where each operational period may often involve a different set of missions. This is the most likely scenario for complex multi-functional systems, where each specific system mission may require the availability of a different combination of system elements. Similarly, for these systems, not only is it important to know whether a mission can be initiated, it is just as important to know whether the system is capable of completing such a mission. Thus, for these systems, additional measures become relevant to provide a more holistic assessment of system effectiveness. This paper presents techniques for the evaluation of both full and degraded mission reliability and mission dependability for coherent, intermittently operated multi-functional systems. These metrics complement previously developed availability and degraded availability measures of multi-functional systems, in the comprehensive assessment of system effectiveness

Multi-Mission SDR, Phase II

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Wireless transceivers used for NASA space missions have traditionally been highly custom and mission specific. Programs such as the GRC Space Transceiver Radio...

The NASA X-Ray Mission Concepts Study

Science.gov (United States)

Petre, Robert; Ptak, A.; Bookbinder, J.; Garcia, M.; Smith, R.; Bautz, M.; Bregman, J.; Burrows, D.; Cash, W.; Jones-Forman, C.;

Science Mission Definition Studies for TROPIX

Science.gov (United States)

Fennell, J. F.

1997-01-01

This document summarizes the results of mission definition studies for solar electric propulsion missions that have been carried out over the last approximately three years. The major output from the studies has been two proposals which were submitted to NASA in response to Announcements of Opportunity for missions and an ongoing Global Magnetospheric Dynamics mission study. The bulk of this report consists of copies of the proposals and preliminary materials from the GMD study that will be completed in the coming months.

The Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM)

Science.gov (United States)

Abell, Paul; Gates, Michele; Johnson, Lindley; Chodas, Paul; Mazanek, Dan; Reeves, David; Ticker, Ronald

2016-07-01

To achieve its long-term goal of sending humans to Mars, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) plans to proceed in a series of incrementally more complex human spaceflight missions. Today, human flight experience extends only to Low-Earth Orbit (LEO), and should problems arise during a mission, the crew can return to Earth in a matter of minutes to hours. The next logical step for human spaceflight is to gain flight experience in the vicinity of the Moon. These cis-lunar missions provide a "proving ground" for the testing of systems and operations while still accommodating an emergency return path to the Earth that would last only several days. Cis-lunar mission experience will be essential for more ambitious human missions beyond the Earth-Moon system, which will require weeks, months, or even years of transit time. In addition, NASA has been given a Grand Challenge to find all asteroid threats to human populations and know what to do about them. Obtaining knowledge of asteroid physical properties combined with performing technology demonstrations for planetary defense provide much needed information to address the issue of future asteroid impacts on Earth. Hence the combined objectives of human exploration and planetary defense give a rationale for the Asteroid Re-direct Mission (ARM). Mission Description: NASA's ARM consists of two mission segments: 1) the Asteroid Redirect Robotic Mission (ARRM), the first robotic mission to visit a large (greater than ~100 m diameter) near-Earth asteroid (NEA), collect a multi-ton boulder from its surface along with regolith samples, demonstrate a planetary defense technique, and return the asteroidal material to a stable orbit around the Moon; and 2) the Asteroid Redirect Crewed Mission (ARCM), in which astronauts will take the Orion capsule to rendezvous and dock with the robotic vehicle, conduct multiple extravehicular activities to explore the boulder, and return to Earth with samples. NASA's proposed

IceBridge Mission Flight Reports

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The IceBridge Mission Flight Reports data set contains flight reports from NASA Operation IceBridge Greenland, Arctic, Antarctic, and Alaska missions. Flight reports...

Mission,System Design and Payload Aspects of ESA's Mercury Cornerstone Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Ferri, A.; Anselmi, A.; Scoon, G. E. N.

1999-09-01

Aim of this paper is to summarise the 1-year study performed by Alenia Aerospazio in close co-operation with the European Space Agency, on the Mercury Cornerstone System and Technology Study, as a part of Horizon 2000+ Scientific Programme plan. ESA's definition study towards a mission to Mercury conceives the launch of a S/C in 2009, on a two to three years journey, plus a one-year scientific observations and data take. The mission's primary objectives are manyfolded, aiming at approaching basic scientific questions on the origin and evolution of Mercury: identify and map the chemical and mineral composition of the surface, measure the topography of surface landforms, define the gravitational field, investigate particles and magnetic fields. The mission is also intended to resolve the librational state of the planet, in a system experiment requiring high accuracy inertial attitude (arcsecond level) and orbit (m-level) reconstitution. This experiment will allow to infer whether Mercury has a molten core, which is crucial to theories of magnetic field generation, and theories of the thermal history of terrestrial type planets. A hard-lander is planned to perform in-situ surface geochemical analysis. The mission is expected to provide scientists with a global portrait of Mercury returning about 1200 Gbits of scientific data, during a 1-year observation phase. The crucial aspects of the spacecraft design have to do with the high-temperature and high-radiation environment. Thermal control is achieved by a combination of orbit selection, attitude law, and special design provisions for IR shielding and HT insulation. Ad-hoc design provisions are envisaged for power and antenna mechanisms. Though the conceptual objectives of this industrial study focused on system architectures and enabling technologies for a "Cornerstone" class mission, in this paper emphasis is given on the scientific payload aspects.

Towards A Shared Mission

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Staunstrup, Jørgen; Orth Gaarn-Larsen, Carsten

A mission shared by stakeholders, management and employees is a prerequisite for an engaging dialog about the many and substantial changes and challenges currently facing universities. Too often this essen-tial dialog reveals mistrust and misunderstandings about the role and outcome of the univer......A mission shared by stakeholders, management and employees is a prerequisite for an engaging dialog about the many and substantial changes and challenges currently facing universities. Too often this essen-tial dialog reveals mistrust and misunderstandings about the role and outcome...... on a shared mission aiming at value creation (in the broadest interpretation). One important aspect of choosing value as the cornerstone of the mission of universities is to stress that the outcome is measured by external stakeholders and by their standards. Most of the paper is devoted to discussing value...... it possible to lead through processes that engage and excite while creating transparency and accountability. The paper will be illustrated with examples from Denmark and the Helios initiative taken by the Danish Academy of Technical Sciences (ATV) under the headline “The value creating university – courage...

Mission-Critical Systems Design Framework

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kyriakos Houliotis

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Safety-critical systems are well documented and standardized (e.g. IEC 61508, RTCA DO-178B within system design cycles. However in Defence and Security, systems that are critical to the success of a Mission are not defined within the literature nor are there any guidelines in defining criticality in their design or operational capabilities. When it comes to Vetronics (Vehicle Electronics, a mission-critical system, is a system with much complexity and mixed criticality levels that is a part of the overall platform (military vehicle offering integrated system capabilities. In this paper, a framework is presented, providing guidelines in designing efficiently and effectively mission-critical systems considering principles of Interoperable Open Architectures (IOA, mission-critical integrity levels and following new standardization activities such as NATO Generic Vehicle Architecture (NGVA. A Defensive Aid Suite (DAS system is used as a case study to illustrate how this framework can be exploited. The indention of this extension is to provide an approach to precisely estimate threats in order to de-risk missions in the very early stages.

Approach to Spacelab Payload mission management

Science.gov (United States)

Craft, H. G.; Lester, R. C.

1978-01-01

The nucleus of the approach to Spacelab Payload mission management is the establishment of a single point of authority for the entire payload on a given mission. This single point mission manager will serve as a 'broker' between the individual experiments and the STS, negotiating agreements by two-part interaction. The payload mission manager, along with a small support team, will represent the users in negotiating use of STS accommodations. He will provide the support needed by each individual experimenter to meet the scientific, technological, and applications objectives of the mission with minimum cost and maximum efficiency. The investigator will assume complete responsibility for his experiment hardware definition and development and will take an active role in the integration and operation of his experiment.

NASA 14 Day Undersea Missions: A Short-Duration Spaceflight Analog for Immune System Dysregulation

Science.gov (United States)

Crucian, B. E.; Stowe, R. P.; Mehta, S. K.; Quiriarte, H.; Pierson, D. L.; Sams, C. F.

2010-01-01

BACKGROUND Spaceflight-associated immune dysregulation (SAID) occurs during spaceflight and may represent specific clinical risks for exploration-class missions. An appropriate ground analog for spaceflight-associated immune dysregulation would offer a platform for ground-evaluation of various potential countermeasures. This study evaluated the NASA Undersea Mission Operations ( NEEMO ), consisting of 14 day undersea deployment at the Aquarius station, as an analog for SAID. Sixteen Aquanauts from missions NEEMO-12, 13 and 14 participated in the study. RESULTS Mid-mission alterations leukocyte distribution occurred, including granulocytosis and elevations in central-memory CD8+ T-cells. General T cell function was reduced during NEEMO missions in roughly 50% of subjects. Secreted cytokines profiles were evaluated following whole blood stimulation with CD3/CD28 (T cells) or LPS (monocytes). T cell production of IFNg, IL-5, IL-10, IL-2, TNFa and IL-6 were all reduced before and during the mission. Conversely, monocyte production of TNFa, IL-10, IL-6, IL-1b and IL-8 were elevated during mission, moreso at the MD-14 timepoint. Antibodies to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) viral capsid antigen and early antigen were increased in approximately 40% of the subjects. Changes in EBV tetramer-positive CD8+ T-cells exhibited a variable pattern. Antibodies against Cytomegalovirus (CMV) were marginally increased during the mission. Herpesvirus reactivation was determined by PCR. EBV viral load was generally elevated at L-6. Higher levels of salivary EBV were found during the NEEMO mission than before and after as well as than the healthy controls. No VZV or CMV was found in any pre, during and after NEEMO mission or control samples. Plasma cortisol was elevated at L-6. CONCLUSION Unfortunately, L-6 may be too near to mission start to be an appropriate baseline measurement. The general immune changes in leukocyte distribution, T cell function, cytokine production, virus specific

EU Police Mission and EU Mission for Security Sector Reform in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Højstrup Christensen, Gitte; Mandrup, Thomas

after the signing of two peace agreements (EUSEC). The EUPOL mission was terminated in 2014 and the EUSEC in 2016. Both missions were successful in some areas and failed in others. Despite their shortcomings, the EUPOL and EUSEC missions can provide valuable lessons for future EU Common Security...

ACADEMIC MISSION - FROM AUTOCRACY TO BUREAUCRACY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

LIVIU NEAMŢU

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The mission is generic expression of reason for the existence of an organization. Organizational mission ensure continuity of existence beyond the objectives and targets of activities. It is the expression of an organization's responsibilities towards the environment in which it belongs. As the organization grows and its activities or environmental conditions change, managers adapt their strategies, but stated mission will remain valid for a period of time or unchanged throughout the life of the organization. All managerial elements of the organization are aligned with stated mission, starting from the organization structure, management behavior or specific business processes. The focus of the mission of an higher education institution on a need or several integrated needs, on customers who manifest this need and on how they can be met, that really means defining of its strategic domanin, as a sphere of influence of the organization in their environment. In this sphere of influence, three components integrate on three levels of the mission: to establish needs; identify the customer type to which an organization adress and key competencies that differentiate it from the rest competitors. To that context identifies four specific forms of academic institutions starting from their mission and strategic area: autocratic academic institutions, meritocrate academic institutions, democratic academic institutions, bureaucrats academic institutions.

INIR: Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review Missions. Guidance on Preparing and Conducting INIR Missions (Rev. 1)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2011-04-01

The IAEA's Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review (INIR) missions are designed to assist Member States, at their request, in evaluating the status of their national infrastructure for the introduction of a nuclear power programme. Each INIR mission is coordinated and led by the IAEA and conducted by a team of international experts drawn from Member States who have experience in different aspects of developing and deploying nuclear infrastructure. The IAEA publication Milestones in the Development of a National Infrastructure for Nuclear Power (IAEA Nuclear Energy Series No. NG-G-3.1) contains a description of 19 infrastructure issues to be considered during the different stages of development of a nuclear power programme. The starting point for an INIR mission is a self-evaluation performed by the Member State against these infrastructure issues. Following the self-evaluation, the INIR mission reviews the status of the national nuclear infrastructure, identifies existing gaps in specific infrastructure-related areas and proposes recommendations to fill these gaps. The INIR mission provides Member State representatives with an opportunity to have in depth discussions with international experts about experiences and best practices in different countries. In developing its recommendations, the INIR team takes into account the comments made by the relevant national organizations. Implementation of any of the team's recommendations is at the discretion of the Member State requesting the mission. The results of the INIR mission are expected to help the Member State to develop an action plan to fill any gaps, which in turn will help the development of the national nuclear infrastructure. The IAEA stands ready to assist, as requested and appropriate, in the different steps of this action plan. This guidance publication is directed to assist in preparing and conducting the INIR missions. It was developed under the coordination of the IAEA Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure

Linking Knowledge and Skills to Mission Essential Competency-Based Syllabus Development for Distributed Mission Operations

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Symons, Steve; France, Michael; Bell, Jeffrey; Bennett, Jr, Winston

2006-01-01

... of Mission Essential Competencies (MECs). MECs are defined as the higher order individual, team, and inter-team competencies that a fully prepared pilot, crew, or flight requires for successful mission completion under adverse conditions...

Social Tagging of Mission Data

Science.gov (United States)

Norris, Jeffrey S.; Wallick, Michael N.; Joswig, Joseph C.; Powell, Mark W.; Torres, Recaredo J.; Mittman, David S.; Abramyan, Lucy; Crockett, Thomas M.; Shams, Khawaja S.; Fox, Jason M.;

SPICE for ESA Planetary Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Costa, M.

2018-04-01

The ESA SPICE Service leads the SPICE operations for ESA missions and is responsible for the generation of the SPICE Kernel Dataset for ESA missions. This contribution will describe the status of these datasets and outline the future developments.

Parametric cost estimation for space science missions

Science.gov (United States)

Lillie, Charles F.; Thompson, Bruce E.

2008-07-01

Cost estimation for space science missions is critically important in budgeting for successful missions. The process requires consideration of a number of parameters, where many of the values are only known to a limited accuracy. The results of cost estimation are not perfect, but must be calculated and compared with the estimates that the government uses for budgeting purposes. Uncertainties in the input parameters result from evolving requirements for missions that are typically the "first of a kind" with "state-of-the-art" instruments and new spacecraft and payload technologies that make it difficult to base estimates on the cost histories of previous missions. Even the cost of heritage avionics is uncertain due to parts obsolescence and the resulting redesign work. Through experience and use of industry best practices developed in participation with the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA), Northrop Grumman has developed a parametric modeling approach that can provide a reasonably accurate cost range and most probable cost for future space missions. During the initial mission phases, the approach uses mass- and powerbased cost estimating relationships (CER)'s developed with historical data from previous missions. In later mission phases, when the mission requirements are better defined, these estimates are updated with vendor's bids and "bottoms- up", "grass-roots" material and labor cost estimates based on detailed schedules and assigned tasks. In this paper we describe how we develop our CER's for parametric cost estimation and how they can be applied to estimate the costs for future space science missions like those presented to the Astronomy & Astrophysics Decadal Survey Study Committees.

The deep space 1 extended mission

Science.gov (United States)

Rayman, Marc D.; Varghese, Philip

2001-03-01

The primary mission of Deep Space 1 (DS1), the first flight of the New Millennium program, completed successfully in September 1999, having exceeded its objectives of testing new, high-risk technologies important for future space and Earth science missions. DS1 is now in its extended mission, with plans to take advantage of the advanced technologies, including solar electric propulsion, to conduct an encounter with comet 19P/Borrelly in September 2001. During the extended mission, the spacecraft's commercial star tracker failed; this critical loss prevented the spacecraft from achieving three-axis attitude control or knowledge. A two-phase approach to recovering the mission was undertaken. The first involved devising a new method of pointing the high-gain antenna to Earth using the radio signal received at the Deep Space Network as an indicator of spacecraft attitude. The second was the development of new flight software that allowed the spacecraft to return to three-axis operation without substantial ground assistance. The principal new feature of this software is the use of the science camera as an attitude sensor. The differences between the science camera and the star tracker have important implications not only for the design of the new software but also for the methods of operating the spacecraft and conducting the mission. The ambitious rescue was fully successful, and the extended mission is back on track.

Massively Clustered CubeSats NCPS Demo Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Robertson, Glen A.; Young, David; Kim, Tony; Houts, Mike

2013-01-01

Technologies under development for the proposed Nuclear Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (NCPS) will require an un-crewed demonstration mission before they can be flight qualified over distances and time frames representative of a crewed Mars mission. In this paper, we describe a Massively Clustered CubeSats platform, possibly comprising hundreds of CubeSats, as the main payload of the NCPS demo mission. This platform would enable a mechanism for cost savings for the demo mission through shared support between NASA and other government agencies as well as leveraged commercial aerospace and academic community involvement. We believe a Massively Clustered CubeSats platform should be an obvious first choice for the NCPS demo mission when one considers that cost and risk of the payload can be spread across many CubeSat customers and that the NCPS demo mission can capitalize on using CubeSats developed by others for its own instrumentation needs. Moreover, a demo mission of the NCPS offers an unprecedented opportunity to invigorate the public on a global scale through direct individual participation coordinated through a web-based collaboration engine. The platform we describe would be capable of delivering CubeSats at various locations along a trajectory toward the primary mission destination, in this case Mars, permitting a variety of potential CubeSat-specific missions. Cameras on various CubeSats can also be used to provide multiple views of the space environment and the NCPS vehicle for video monitoring as well as allow the public to "ride along" as virtual passengers on the mission. This collaborative approach could even initiate a brand new Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) program for launching student developed CubeSat payloads beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO) on future deep space technology qualification missions. Keywords: Nuclear Propulsion, NCPS, SLS, Mars, CubeSat.

Gas mission; Mission gaz

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2001-07-01

This preliminary report analyses the desirable evolutions of gas transport tariffing and examines some questions relative to the opening of competition on the French gas market. The report is made of two documents: a synthesis of the previous report with some recommendations about the tariffing of gas transport, about the modalities of network access to third parties, and about the dissociation between transport and trade book-keeping activities. The second document is the progress report about the opening of the French gas market. The first part presents the European problem of competition in the gas supply and its consequences on the opening and operation of the French gas market. The second part presents some partial syntheses about each topic of the mission letter of the Ministry of Economics, Finances and Industry: future evolution of network access tariffs, critical analysis of contractual documents for gas transport and delivery, examination of auxiliary services linked with the access to the network (modulation, balancing, conversion), consideration about the processing of network congestions and denied accesses, analysis of the metering dissociation between the integrated activities of gas operators. Some documents are attached in appendixes: the mission letter from July 9, 2001, the detailed analysis of the new temporary tariffs of GdF and CFM, the offer of methane terminals access to third parties, the compatibility of a nodal tariffing with the presence of three transport operators (GdF, CFM and GSO), the contract-type for GdF supply, and the contract-type for GdF connection. (J.S.)

Mission Reliability Estimation for Repairable Robot Teams

Science.gov (United States)

Trebi-Ollennu, Ashitey; Dolan, John; Stancliff, Stephen

2010-01-01

A mission reliability estimation method has been designed to translate mission requirements into choices of robot modules in order to configure a multi-robot team to have high reliability at minimal cost. In order to build cost-effective robot teams for long-term missions, one must be able to compare alternative design paradigms in a principled way by comparing the reliability of different robot models and robot team configurations. Core modules have been created including: a probabilistic module with reliability-cost characteristics, a method for combining the characteristics of multiple modules to determine an overall reliability-cost characteristic, and a method for the generation of legitimate module combinations based on mission specifications and the selection of the best of the resulting combinations from a cost-reliability standpoint. The developed methodology can be used to predict the probability of a mission being completed, given information about the components used to build the robots, as well as information about the mission tasks. In the research for this innovation, sample robot missions were examined and compared to the performance of robot teams with different numbers of robots and different numbers of spare components. Data that a mission designer would need was factored in, such as whether it would be better to have a spare robot versus an equivalent number of spare parts, or if mission cost can be reduced while maintaining reliability using spares. This analytical model was applied to an example robot mission, examining the cost-reliability tradeoffs among different team configurations. Particularly scrutinized were teams using either redundancy (spare robots) or repairability (spare components). Using conservative estimates of the cost-reliability relationship, results show that it is possible to significantly reduce the cost of a robotic mission by using cheaper, lower-reliability components and providing spares. This suggests that the

Trajectory Design Considerations for Exploration Mission 1

Science.gov (United States)

Dawn, Timothy F.; Gutkowski, Jeffrey P.; Batcha, Amelia L.; Williams, Jacob; Pedrotty, Samuel M.

2018-01-01

Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1) will be the first mission to send an uncrewed Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) to cislunar space in the fall of 2019. EM-1 was originally conceived as a lunar free-return mission, but was later changed to a Distant Retrograde Orbit (DRO) mission as a precursor to the Asteroid Redirect Mission. To understand the required mission performance (i.e., propellant requirement), a series of trajectory optimization runs was conducted using JSC's Copernicus spacecraft trajectory optimization tool. In order for the runs to be done in a timely manner, it was necessary to employ a parallelization approach on a computing cluster using a new trajectory scan tool written in Python. Details of the scan tool are provided and how it is used to perform the scans and post-process the results. Initially, a scan of daily due east launched EM-1 DRO missions in 2018 was made. Valid mission opportunities are ones that do not exceed the useable propellant available to perform the required burns. The initial scan data showed the propellant and delta-V performance patterns for each launch period. As questions were raised from different subsystems (e.g., power, thermal, communications, flight operations, etc.), the mission parameters or data that were of interest to them were added to the scan output data file. The additional data includes: (1) local launch and landing times in relation to sunrise and sunset, (2) length of eclipse periods during the in-space portion of the mission, (3) Earth line of sight from cislunar space, (4) Deep Space Network field of view looking towards cislunar space, and (5) variation of the downrange distance from Earth entry interface to splashdown. Mission design trades can also be performed based on the information that the additional data shows. For example, if the landing is in darkness, but the recovery operations team desires a landing in daylight, then an analysis is performed to determine how to change the mission design

Réduction globale des émissions de mercure dans les exploitations ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

28 avr. 2016 ... La Convention de Minamata sur le mercure constitue le fer de lance des efforts déployés à l'échelle mondiale pour réduire les émissions. Elle fournit des mécanismes de contrôle et de réduction des émissions visant tous les processus de production et de transformation ainsi que toutes les industries ...

Hierarchthis: An Interactive Interface for Identifying Mission-Relevant Components of the Advanced Multi-Mission Operations System

Science.gov (United States)

Litomisky, Krystof

2012-01-01

Even though NASA's space missions are many and varied, there are some tasks that are common to all of them. For example, all spacecraft need to communicate with other entities, and all spacecraft need to know where they are. These tasks use tools and services that can be inherited and reused between missions, reducing systems engineering effort and therefore reducing cost.The Advanced Multi-Mission Operations System, or AMMOS, is a collection of multimission tools and services, whose development and maintenance are funded by NASA. I created HierarchThis, a plugin designed to provide an interactive interface to help customers identify mission-relevant tools and services. HierarchThis automatically creates diagrams of the AMMOS database, and then allows users to show/hide specific details through a graphical interface. Once customers identify tools and services they want for a specific mission, HierarchThis can automatically generate a contract between the Multimission Ground Systems and Services Office, which manages AMMOS, and the customer. The document contains the selected AMMOS components, along with their capabilities and satisfied requirements. HierarchThis reduces the time needed for the process from service selections to having a mission-specific contract from the order of days to the order of minutes.

The Double Star mission

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liu

2005-11-01

Full Text Available The Double Star Programme (DSP was first proposed by China in March, 1997 at the Fragrant Hill Workshop on Space Science, Beijing, organized by the Chinese Academy of Science. It is the first mission in collaboration between China and ESA. The mission is made of two spacecraft to investigate the magnetospheric global processes and their response to the interplanetary disturbances in conjunction with the Cluster mission. The first spacecraft, TC-1 (Tan Ce means "Explorer", was launched on 29 December 2003, and the second one, TC-2, on 25 July 2004 on board two Chinese Long March 2C rockets. TC-1 was injected in an equatorial orbit of 570x79000 km altitude with a 28° inclination and TC-2 in a polar orbit of 560x38000 km altitude. The orbits have been designed to complement the Cluster mission by maximizing the time when both Cluster and Double Star are in the same scientific regions. The two missions allow simultaneous observations of the Earth magnetosphere from six points in space. To facilitate the comparison of data, half of the Double Star payload is made of spare or duplicates of the Cluster instruments; the other half is made of Chinese instruments. The science operations are coordinated by the Chinese DSP Scientific Operations Centre (DSOC in Beijing and the European Payload Operations Service (EPOS at RAL, UK. The spacecraft and ground segment operations are performed by the DSP Operations and Management Centre (DOMC and DSOC in China, using three ground station, in Beijing, Shanghai and Villafranca.

FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC Spacecraft Constellation System, Mission Results, and Prospect for Follow-On Mission

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chen-Joe Fong

2009-01-01

Full Text Available The FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC spacecraft constellation consisting of six LEO satellites is the world's first operational GPS Radio Occultation (RO mission. The mission is jointly developed by Taiwan¡¦s National Space Organization (NSPO and the United States¡¦UCAR in collaboration with NSF, USAF, NOAA, NASA, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the US Naval Research Laboratory. The FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC satellites were successfully launched from Vandenberg US AFB in California at 0140 UTC 15 April 2006 into the same orbit plane of the designated 516 km altitude. The mission goal is to deploy the six satellites into six orbit planes at 800 km altitude with a 30-degree separation for evenly distributed global coverage. All six FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC satellites are currently maintaining a satisfactory good state-of-health. Five out of six satellites have reached their final mission orbit of 800 km as of November 2007. The data as received by FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC satellites constellation have been processed in near real time into 2500 good ionospheric profiles and 1800 good atmospheric profiles per day. These have outnumbered the worldwide radiosondes (~900 mostly over land launched from the ground per day. The processed atmospheric RO data have been assimilated into the Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP models for real-time weather prediction and typhoon/hurricane forecasting by many major weather centers in the world. This paper describes the FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC satellite constellation system performance and the mission results that span the period from April 2006 to October 2007; and reviews the prospect of a future follow-on mission.

75 FR 43919 - Energy and Infrastructure Mission to Saudi Arabia: Third City Stop Added to the Trade Mission...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-27

... and Dhahran; and Networking receptions in two cities of the trade mission. Proposed Mission Timetable... Saudi Arabia: Third City Stop Added to the Trade Mission Itinerary AGENCY: International Trade... expansion at Jubail Industrial City II with around 20 petrochemical and infrastructure projects worth more...

An Assessment of Aerocapture and Applications to Future Missions to Uranus and Neptune

Science.gov (United States)

Beauchamp, P. M.; Spilker, T. R.

2017-12-01

Our investigation examined the current state of readiness of aerocapture at several destinations of interest, including Uranus and Neptune, to identify what technologies are needed, and to determine if a technology demonstration mission is required, prior to the first use of aerocapture for a science mission. The study team concluded that the current state of readiness is destination dependent, with aerocaptured missions feasible at Venus, Mars, and Titan with current technologies. The use of aerocapture for orbit insertion at the ice giant planets Uranus and Neptune requires at least additional study to assess the expected performance of new guidance, navigation, and control algorithms, and possible development of new hardware, such as a mid-L/D entry vehicle shape or new thermal protection system materials. A variety of near-term activities could contribute to risk reduction for missions proposing use of aerocapture, but a system-level technology demonstration mission is not deemed necessary before the use of aerocapture for a NASA science mission.

INTEGRITY -- Integrated Human Exploration Mission Simulation Facility

Science.gov (United States)

Henninger, D.; Tri, T.; Daues, K.

It is proposed to develop a high -fidelity ground facil ity to carry out long-duration human exploration mission simulations. These would not be merely computer simulations - they would in fact comprise a series of actual missions that just happen to stay on earth. These missions would include all elements of an actual mission, using actual technologies that would be used for the real mission. These missions would also include such elements as extravehicular activities, robotic systems, telepresence and teleoperation, surface drilling technology--all using a simulated planetary landscape. A sequence of missions would be defined that get progressively longer and more robust, perhaps a series of five or six missions over a span of 10 to 15 years ranging in durat ion from 180 days up to 1000 days. This high-fidelity ground facility would operate hand-in-hand with a host of other terrestrial analog sites such as the Antarctic, Haughton Crater, and the Arizona desert. Of course, all of these analog mission simulations will be conducted here on earth in 1-g, and NASA will still need the Shuttle and ISS to carry out all the microgravity and hypogravity science experiments and technology validations. The proposed missions would have sufficient definition such that definitive requirements could be derived from them to serve as direction for all the program elements of the mission. Additionally, specific milestones would be established for the "launch" date of each mission so that R&D programs would have both good requirements and solid milestones from which to build their implementation plans. Mission aspects that could not be directly incorporated into the ground facility would be simulated via software. New management techniques would be developed for evaluation in this ground test facility program. These new techniques would have embedded metrics which would allow them to be continuously evaluated and adjusted so that by the time the sequence of missions is completed

Definition phase of Grand Tour missions/radio science investigations study for outer planets missions

Science.gov (United States)

Tyler, G. L.

1972-01-01

Scientific instrumentation for satellite communication and radio tracking systems in the outer planet exploration mission is discussed. Mission planning considers observations of planetary and satellite-masses, -atmospheres, -magnetic fields, -surfaces, -gravitational fields, solar wind composition, planetary radio emissions, and tests of general relativity in time delay and ray bending experiments.

Mission Level Autonomy for USSV

Science.gov (United States)

Huntsberger, Terry; Stirb, Robert C.; Brizzolara, Robert

2011-01-01

On-water demonstration of a wide range of mission-proven, advanced technologies at TRL 5+ that provide a total integrated, modular approach to effectively address the majority of the key needs for full mission-level autonomous, cross-platform control of USV s. Wide baseline stereo system mounted on the ONR USSV was shown to be an effective sensing modality for tracking of dynamic contacts as a first step to automated retrieval operations. CASPER onboard planner/replanner successfully demonstrated realtime, on-water resource-based analysis for mission-level goal achievement and on-the-fly opportunistic replanning. Full mixed mode autonomy was demonstrated on-water with a seamless transition between operator over-ride and return to current mission plan. Autonomous cooperative operations for fixed asset protection and High Value Unit escort using 2 USVs (AMN1 & 14m RHIB) were demonstrated during Trident Warrior 2010 in JUN 2010

Space Mission Human Reliability Analysis (HRA) Project

Science.gov (United States)

Boyer, Roger

2014-01-01

The purpose of the Space Mission Human Reliability Analysis (HRA) Project is to extend current ground-based HRA risk prediction techniques to a long-duration, space-based tool. Ground-based HRA methodology has been shown to be a reasonable tool for short-duration space missions, such as Space Shuttle and lunar fly-bys. However, longer-duration deep-space missions, such as asteroid and Mars missions, will require the crew to be in space for as long as 400 to 900 day missions with periods of extended autonomy and self-sufficiency. Current indications show higher risk due to fatigue, physiological effects due to extended low gravity environments, and others, may impact HRA predictions. For this project, Safety & Mission Assurance (S&MA) will work with Human Health & Performance (HH&P) to establish what is currently used to assess human reliabiilty for human space programs, identify human performance factors that may be sensitive to long duration space flight, collect available historical data, and update current tools to account for performance shaping factors believed to be important to such missions. This effort will also contribute data to the Human Performance Data Repository and influence the Space Human Factors Engineering research risks and gaps (part of the HRP Program). An accurate risk predictor mitigates Loss of Crew (LOC) and Loss of Mission (LOM).The end result will be an updated HRA model that can effectively predict risk on long-duration missions.

GSFC Safety and Mission Assurance Organization

Science.gov (United States)

Kelly, Michael P.

2010-01-01

This viewgraph presentation reviews NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's approach to safety and mission assurance. The contents include: 1) NASA GSFC Background; 2) Safety and Mission Assurance Directorate; 3) The Role of SMA-D and the Technical Authority; 4) GSFC Mission assurance Requirements; 5) GSFC Systems Review Office (SRO); 6) GSFC Supply Chain Management Program; and 7) GSFC ISO9001/AS9100 Status Brief.

Updated Heliostorm Warning Mission: Enhancements Based on New Technology

Science.gov (United States)

Young, Roy M.

2010-01-01

The Heliostorm (also referred to as Geostorm) mission has been regarded as the best choice for the first application of solar sail technology. The objective of Heliostorm is to obtain data from an orbit station slightly displaced from the ecliptic at or nearer to the Sun than 0.98 AU, which places it twice as close to the sun as Earth's natural L1 point at 0.993 AU. Heliostorm has been the subject of several mission studies over the past decade, with the most complete study conducted in 1999 in conjunction with a proposed New Millennium Program (NMP) Space Technology 5 (ST-5) flight opportunity. Recently, over a two and one-half year period dating from 2002 through 2005, NASA s In-Space Propulsion Technology Program (ISTP) matured solar sail technology from laboratory components to fully integrated systems, demonstrated in as relevant a space environment as could feasibly be simulated on the ground. Work under this program has yielded promising results for enhanced Heliostorm mission performance. This paper will present the preliminary results of an updated Heliostorm mission design study including the enhancements incorporated during the design, development, analysis and testing of the system ground demonstrator.

The OICETS mission

Science.gov (United States)

Jono, Takashi; Arai, Katsuyoshi

2017-11-01

The Optical Inter-orbit Communications Engineering Test Satellite (OICETS) was successfully launched on 23th August 2005 and thrown into a circular orbit at the altitude of 610 km. The main mission is to demonstrate the free-space inter satellite laser communications with the cooperation of the Advanced Relay and Technology Mission (ARTEMIS) geostationary satellite developed by the European Space Agency. This paper presents the overview of the OICETS and laser terminal, a history of international cooperation between Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and ESA and typical results of the inter-orbit laser communication experiment carried out with ARTEMIS.

An Evaluation of Antarctica as a Calibration Target for Passive Microwave Satellite Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Edward

2012-01-01

Passive microwave remote sensing at L-band (1.4 GHz) is sensitive to soil moisture and sea surface salinity, both important climate variables. Science studies involving these variables can now take advantage of new satellite L-band observations. The first mission with regular global passive microwave observations at L-band is the European Space Agency's Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS), launched November, 2009. A second mission, NASA's Aquarius, was launched June, 201l. A third mission, NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) is scheduled to launch in 2014. Together, these three missions may provide a decade-long data record -- provided that they are intercalibrated. The intercalibration is best performed at the radiance (brightness temperature) level, and Antarctica is proving to be a key calibration target. However, Antarctica has thus far not been fully characterized as a potential target. This paper will present evaluations of Antarctica as a microwave calibration target for the above satellite missions. Preliminary analyses have identified likely target areas, such as the vicinity of Dome-C and larger areas within East Antarctica. Physical sources of temporal and spatial variability of polar firn are key to assessing calibration uncertainty. These sources include spatial variability of accumulation rate, compaction, surface characteristics (dunes, micro-topography), wind patterns, and vertical profiles of density and temperature. Using primarily SMOS data, variability is being empirically characterized and attempts are being made to attribute observed variability to physical sources. One expected outcome of these studies is the potential discovery of techniques for remotely sensing--over all of Antarctica--parameters such as surface temperature.

Kepler Mission: A Mission to Find Earth-size Planets in the Habitable Zone

Science.gov (United States)

Borucki, W. J.

2003-01-01

The Kepler Mission is a Discovery-class mission designed to continuously monitor the brightness of 100,000 solar-like stars to detect the transits of Earth-size and larger planets. It is a wide field of view photometer Schmidt-type telescope with an array of 42 CCDs. It has a 0.95 m aperture and 1.4 m primary and is designed to attain a photometric precision of 2 parts in 10(exp 5) for 12th magnitude solar-like stars for a 6 hr transit duration. It will continuously observe 100,000 main-sequence stars from 9th to 14th magnitude in the Cygnus constellation for a period of four years with a cadence of 4/hour. An additional 250 stars can be monitored at a cadence of l/minute to do astro-seismology of stars brighter than 11.5 mv. The photometer is scheduled to be launched into heliocentric orbit in 2007. When combined with ground-based spectrometric observations of these stars, the positions of the planets relative to the habitable zone can be found. The spectra of the stars are also used to determine the relationships between the characteristics of terrestrial planets and the characteristics of the stars they orbit. In particular, the association of planet size and occurrence frequency with stellar mass and metallicity will be investigated. Based on the results of the current Doppler-velocity discoveries, over a thousand giant planets will also be found. Information on the albedos and densities of those giants showing transits will be obtained. At the end of the four year mission, hundreds of Earth-size planets should be discovered in and near the HZ of their stars if such planets are common. A null result would imply that terrestrial planets in the HZ are very rare and that life might also be quite rare.

Les composés organiques volatils réduction des émissions de COV dans l'industrie

CERN Document Server

2013-01-01

Cet ouvrage propose des solutions techniques et une méthodologie pour réduire les émissions de composés organiques volatils (COV) dans l’atmosphère. Il permet : • de connaître l’impact des COV sur l’environnement et sur la santé, ainsi que les réglementations applicables en France et en Europe ; • de choisir les solutions d’amélioration disponibles (prévention, réduction à la source par secteur industriel, technologies de traitement et méthodes de mesure) ; • d’obtenir les clés pour mett re en place une démarche de réduction des émissions de COV (les étapes et les accompagnements possibles) ; • d’observer des exemples réussis d’investissement dans l’industrie. Cet ouvrage est un outil de travail indispensable pour les entreprises concernées par cett e problématique. Il donne les éléments essentiels pour aborder sereinement une démarche de réduction des émissions de COV. Points forts : • Des données rassemblées par un réseau d’experts spécialisés dans...

The Mothership Mission Architecture

Science.gov (United States)

Ernst, S. M.; DiCorcia, J. D.; Bonin, G.; Gump, D.; Lewis, J. S.; Foulds, C.; Faber, D.

2015-12-01

The Mothership is considered to be a dedicated deep space carrier spacecraft. It is currently being developed by Deep Space Industries (DSI) as a mission concept that enables a broad participation in the scientific exploration of small bodies - the Mothership mission architecture. A Mothership shall deliver third-party nano-sats, experiments and instruments to Near Earth Asteroids (NEOs), comets or moons. The Mothership service includes delivery of nano-sats, communication to Earth and visuals of the asteroid surface and surrounding area. The Mothership is designed to carry about 10 nano-sats, based upon a variation of the Cubesat standard, with some flexibility on the specific geometry. The Deep Space Nano-Sat reference design is a 14.5 cm cube, which accommodates the same volume as a traditional 3U CubeSat. To reduce cost, Mothership is designed as a secondary payload aboard launches to GTO. DSI is offering slots for nano-sats to individual customers. This enables organizations with relatively low operating budgets to closely examine an asteroid with highly specialized sensors of their own choosing and carry out experiments in the proximity of or on the surface of an asteroid, while the nano-sats can be built or commissioned by a variety of smaller institutions, companies, or agencies. While the overall Mothership mission will have a financial volume somewhere between a European Space Agencies' (ESA) S- and M-class mission for instance, it can be funded through a number of small and individual funding sources and programs, hence avoiding the processes associated with traditional space exploration missions. DSI has been able to identify a significant interest in the planetary science and nano-satellite communities.

Core Science Systems--Mission overview

Science.gov (United States)

Gallagher, Kevin T.

2012-01-01

The Core Science Systems Mission Area delivers nationally focused Earth systems and information science that provides fundamental research and data that underpins all Mission Areas of the USGS, the USGS Science Strategy, and Presidential, Secretarial, and societal priorities. —Kevin T. Gallagher, Associate Director, Core Science Systems

STS-62 Space Shuttle mission report

Science.gov (United States)

Fricke, Robert W., Jr.

1994-01-01

The STS-62 Space Shuttle Program Mission Report summarizes the Payload activities as well as the Orbiter, External Tank (ET), Solid Rocket Booster (SRB), Redesigned Solid Rocket Motor (RSRM), and the Space Shuttle main engine (SSHE) systems performance during the sixty-first flight of the Space Shuttle Program and sixteenth flight of the Orbiter vehicle Columbia (OV-102). In addition to the Orbiter, the flight vehicle consisted of an ET designated as ET-62; three SSME's which were designated as serial numbers 2031, 2109, and 2029 in positions 1, 2, and 3, respectively; and two SRB's which were designated BI-064. The RSRM's that were installed in each SRB were designated as 360L036A (lightweight) for the left SRB, and 36OWO36B (welterweight) for the right SRB. This STS-62 Space Shuttle Program Mission Report fulfills the Space Shuttle Program requirement as documented in NSTS 07700, Volume 8, Appendix E. That document requires that each major organizational element supporting the Program report the results of its hardware evaluation and mission performance plus identify all related in-flight anomalies. The primary objectives of the STS-62 mission were to perform the operations of the United States Microgravity Payload-2 (USMP-2) and the Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology-2 (OAST-2) payload. The secondary objectives of this flight were to perform the operations of the Dexterous End Effector (DEE), the Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet/A (SSBUV/A), the Limited Duration Space Environment Candidate Material Exposure (LDCE), the Advanced Protein Crystal Growth (APCG), the Physiological Systems Experiments (PSE), the Commercial Protein Crystal Growth (CPCG), the Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus (CGBA), the Middeck Zero-Gravity Dynamics Experiment (MODE), the Bioreactor Demonstration System (BDS), the Air Force Maui Optical Site Calibration Test (AMOS), and the Auroral Photography Experiment (APE-B).

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.

48 CFR 752.7013 - Contractor-mission relationships.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Contractor-mission....7013 Contractor-mission relationships. For use in all USAID contracts involving performance overseas.... Contractor-Mission Relationships (OCT 1989) (a) The Contractor acknowledges that this contract is an...

The LISA Pathfinder Mission

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Armano, M; Audley, H; Born, M; Danzmann, K; Diepholz, I; Auger, G; Binetruy, P; Baird, J; Bortoluzzi, D; Brandt, N; Fitzsimons, E; Bursi, A; Caleno, M; Cavalleri, A; Cesarini, A; Dolesi, R; Ferroni, V; Cruise, M; Dunbar, N; Ferraioli, L

2015-01-01

LISA Pathfinder (LPF), the second of the European Space Agency's Small Missions for Advanced Research in Technology (SMART), is a dedicated technology validation mission for future spaceborne gravitational wave detectors, such as the proposed eLISA mission. LISA Pathfinder, and its scientific payload - the LISA Technology Package - will test, in flight, the critical technologies required for low frequency gravitational wave detection: it will put two test masses in a near-perfect gravitational free-fall and control and measure their motion with unprecedented accuracy. This is achieved through technology comprising inertial sensors, high precision laser metrology, drag-free control and an ultra-precise micro-Newton propulsion system. LISA Pathfinder is due to be launched in mid-2015, with first results on the performance of the system being available 6 months thereafter.The paper introduces the LISA Pathfinder mission, followed by an explanation of the physical principles of measurement concept and associated hardware. We then provide a detailed discussion of the LISA Technology Package, including both the inertial sensor and interferometric readout. As we approach the launch of the LISA Pathfinder, the focus of the development is shifting towards the science operations and data analysis - this is described in the final section of the paper (paper)

Titan Orbiter Aerorover Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Sittler Jr., E. C.; Acuna, M.; Burchell, M. J.; Coates, A.; Farrell, W.; Flasar, M.; Goldstein, B. E.; Gorevan, S.; Hartle, R. E.; Johnson, W. T. K.

2001-01-01

We propose a combined Titan orbiter and Titan Aerorover mission with an emphasis on both in situ and remote sensing measurements of Titan's surface, atmosphere, ionosphere, and magnetospheric interaction. The biological aspect of the Titan environment will be emphasized by the mission (i.e., search for organic materials which may include simple organics to 'amono' analogues of amino acids and possibly more complex, lightening detection and infrared, ultraviolet, and charged particle interactions with Titan's surface and atmosphere). An international mission is assumed to control costs. NASA will provide the orbiter, launch vehicle, DSN coverage and operations, while international partners will provide the Aerorover and up to 30% of the cost for the scientific instruments through collaborative efforts. To further reduce costs we propose a single PI for orbiter science instruments and a single PI for Aerorover science instruments. This approach will provide single command/data and power interface between spacecraft and orbiter instruments that will have redundant central DPU and power converter for their instruments. A similar approach could be used for the Aerorover. The mission profile will be constructed to minimize conflicts between Aerorover science, orbiter radar science, orbiter radio science, orbiter imaging science, and orbiter fields and particles (FP) science. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.

JPL future missions and energy storage technology implications

Science.gov (United States)

Pawlik, Eugene V.

1987-01-01

The mission model for JPL future programs is presented. This model identifies mission areas where JPL is expected to have a major role and/or participate in a significant manner. These missions are focused on space science and applications missions, but they also include some participation in space station activities. The mission model is described in detail followed by a discussion on the needs for energy storage technology required to support these future activities.

Mission Techniques for Exploring Saturn's icy moons Titan and Enceladus

Science.gov (United States)

Reh, Kim; Coustenis, Athena; Lunine, Jonathan; Matson, Dennis; Lebreton, Jean-Pierre; Vargas, Andre; Beauchamp, Pat; Spilker, Tom; Strange, Nathan; Elliott, John

2010-05-01

The future exploration of Titan is of high priority for the solar system exploration community as recommended by the 2003 National Research Council (NRC) Decadal Survey [1] and ESA's Cosmic Vision Program themes. Cassini-Huygens discoveries continue to emphasize that Titan is a complex world with very many Earth-like features. Titan has a dense, nitrogen atmosphere, an active climate and meteorological cycles where conditions are such that the working fluid, methane, plays the role that water does on Earth. Titan's surface, with lakes and seas, broad river valleys, sand dunes and mountains was formed by processes like those that have shaped the Earth. Supporting this panoply of Earth-like processes is an ice crust that floats atop what might be a liquid water ocean. Furthermore, Titan is rich in very many different organic compounds—more so than any place in the solar system, except Earth. The Titan Saturn System Mission (TSSM) concept that followed the 2007 TandEM ESA CV proposal [2] and the 2007 Titan Explorer NASA Flagship study [3], was examined [4,5] and prioritized by NASA and ESA in February 2009 as a mission to follow the Europa Jupiter System Mission. The TSSM study, like others before it, again concluded that an orbiter, a montgolfiѐre hot-air balloon and a surface package (e.g. lake lander, Geosaucer (instrumented heat shield), …) are very high priority elements for any future mission to Titan. Such missions could be conceived as Flagship/Cosmic Vision L-Class or as individual smaller missions that could possibly fit within NASA's New Frontiers or ESA's Cosmic Vision M-Class budgets. As a result of a multitude of Titan mission studies, several mission concepts have been developed that potentially fit within various cost classes. Also, a clear blueprint has been laid out for early efforts critical toward reducing the risks inherent in such missions. The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief overview of potential Titan (and Enceladus) mission

NASA Program Office Technology Investments to Enable Future Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Thronson, Harley; Pham, Thai; Ganel, Opher

2018-01-01

The Cosmic Origins (COR) and Physics of the Cosmos (PCOS) Program Offices (POs) reside at NASA GSFC and implement priorities for the NASA HQ Astrophysics Division (APD). One major aspect of the POs’ activities is managing our Strategic Astrophysics Technology (SAT) program to mature technologies for future strategic missions. The Programs follow APD guidance on which missions are strategic, currently informed by the NRC’s 2010 Decadal Survey report, as well as APD’s Implementation Plan and the Astrophysics Roadmap.In preparation for the upcoming 2020 Decadal Survey, the APD has established Science and Technology Definition Teams (STDTs) to study four large-mission concepts: the Origins Space Telescope (née, Far-IR Surveyor), Habitable Exoplanet Imaging Mission, Large UV/Optical/IR Surveyor, and Lynx (née, X-ray Surveyor). The STDTs will develop the science case and design reference mission, assess technology development needs, and estimate the cost of their concept. A fifth team, the L3 Study Team (L3ST), was charged to study potential US contributions to ESA’s planned Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) gravitational-wave observatory.The POs use a rigorous and transparent process to solicit technology gaps from the scientific and technical communities, and prioritize those entries based on strategic alignment, expected impact, cross-cutting applicability, and urgency. For the past two years, the technology-gap assessments of the four STDTs and the L3ST are included in our process. Until a study team submits its final report, community-proposed changes to gaps submitted or adopted by a study team are forwarded to that study team for consideration.We discuss our technology development process, with strategic prioritization informing calls for SAT proposals and informing investment decisions. We also present results of the 2017 technology gap prioritization and showcase our current portfolio of technology development projects. To date, 96 COR and 86

Mission Specialist Pedro Duque smiles at camera while at Launch Pad 39B

Science.gov (United States)

1998-01-01

STS-95 Mission Specialist Pedro Duque of Spain, with the European Space Agency (ESA), smiles for the camera from Launch Pad 39B. The STS-95 crew were making final preparations for launch, targeted for liftoff at 2 p.m. on Oct. 29. Other crew members not shown are Mission Commander Curtis L. Brown Jr., Pilot Steven W. Lindsey, Mission Specialists Scott E. Parazynski, Stephen K. Robinsion, and and Payload Specialists John H. Glenn Jr., senator from Ohio, and Chiaki Mukai, with the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA). The STS-95 mission is expected to last 8 days, 21 hours and 49 minutes, returning to KSC at 11:49 a.m. EST on Nov. 7.

Solar Probe Plus: Mission design challenges and trades

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Yanping

2010-11-01

NASA plans to launch the first mission to the Sun, named Solar Probe Plus, as early as 2015, after a comprehensive feasibility study that significantly changed the original Solar Probe mission concept. The original Solar Probe mission concept, based on a Jupiter gravity assist trajectory, was no longer feasible under the new guidelines given to the mission. A complete redesign of the mission was required, which called for developing alternative trajectories that excluded a flyby of Jupiter. Without the very powerful gravity assist from Jupiter it was extremely difficult to get to the Sun, so designing a trajectory to reach the Sun that is technically feasible under the new mission guidelines became a key enabler to this highly challenging mission. Mission design requirements and challenges unique to this mission are reviewed and discussed, including various mission scenarios and six different trajectory designs utilizing various planetary gravity assists that were considered. The V 5GA trajectory design using five Venus gravity assists achieves a perihelion of 11.8 solar radii ( RS) in 3.3 years without any deep space maneuver (DSM). The V 7GA trajectory design reaches a perihelion of 9.5 RS using seven Venus gravity assists in 6.39 years without any DSM. With nine Venus gravity assists, the V 9GA trajectory design shows a solar orbit at inclination as high as 37.9° from the ecliptic plane can be achieved with the time of flight of 5.8 years. Using combined Earth and Venus gravity assists, as close as 9 RS from the Sun can be achieved in less than 10 years of flight time at moderate launch C3. Ultimately the V 7GA trajectory was chosen as the new baseline mission trajectory. Its design allowing for science investigation right after launch and continuing for nearly 7 years is unprecedented for interplanetary missions. The redesigned Solar Probe Plus mission is not only feasible under the new guidelines but also significantly outperforms the original mission concept

NASA Laboratory Analysis for Manned Exploration Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Krihak, Michael K.; Shaw, Tianna E.

2014-01-01

The Exploration Laboratory Analysis (ELA) project supports the Exploration Medical Capability Element under the NASA Human Research Program. ELA instrumentation is identified as an essential capability for future exploration missions to diagnose and treat evidence-based medical conditions. However, mission architecture limits the medical equipment, consumables, and procedures that will be available to treat medical conditions during human exploration missions. Allocated resources such as mass, power, volume, and crew time must be used efficiently to optimize the delivery of in-flight medical care. Although commercial instruments can provide the blood and urine based measurements required for exploration missions, these commercial-off-the-shelf devices are prohibitive for deployment in the space environment. The objective of the ELA project is to close the technology gap of current minimally invasive laboratory capabilities and analytical measurements in a manner that the mission architecture constraints impose on exploration missions. Besides micro gravity and radiation tolerances, other principal issues that generally fail to meet NASA requirements include excessive mass, volume, power and consumables, and nominal reagent shelf-life. Though manned exploration missions will not occur for nearly a decade, NASA has already taken strides towards meeting the development of ELA medical diagnostics by developing mission requirements and concepts of operations that are coupled with strategic investments and partnerships towards meeting these challenges. This paper focuses on the remote environment, its challenges, biomedical diagnostics requirements and candidate technologies that may lead to successful blood-urine chemistry and biomolecular measurements in future space exploration missions.

The 'Granite' collegial mission of dialogue. Report; Mission collegiale de concertation Granite. Rapport

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Boisson, P.; Huet, Ph.; Mingasson, J

2000-06-01

The aim of the 'Granite' collegial mission of dialogue is to inform the French authorities, associations and population about the project of construction of an underground laboratory for the study of the disposal of high level and long-life radioactive wastes in a granitic environment. The aim of the dialogue was not to select a site but to collect the public reactions and advices about such a project. However, such a dialogue has partially failed because of a misunderstanding of the population about the aims of the mission. However, the mission has collected many point of views and questions which are developed in this report. The first and second chapters recall the process of the mission and its progress, while a third chapter stresses on the questions asked by the public and which concern the fear of nuclear wastes and the incompatibility between the disposal of wastes and the socio-economical development of the region concerned. Thanks to the lessons drawn from this experience, the mission has formulated some recommendations (chapter 4) concerning the need for a better information of the population about any topic in relation with the radioactive wastes. Some complementary information is provided in appendixes. (J.S.)

NASA CYGNSS Mission Overview

Science.gov (United States)

Ruf, C. S.; Balasubramaniam, R.; Gleason, S.; McKague, D. S.; O'Brien, A.

2017-12-01

The CYGNSS constellation of eight satellites was successfully launched on 15 December 2016 into a low inclination (tropical) Earth orbit. Each satellite carries a four-channel bi-static radar receiver that measures GPS signals scattered by the ocean, from which ocean surface roughness, near surface wind speed, and air-sea latent heat flux are estimated. The measurements are unique in several respects, most notably in their ability to penetrate through all levels of precipitation, made possible by the low frequency at which GPS operates, and in the frequent sampling of tropical cyclone intensification and of the diurnal cycle of winds, made possible by the large number of satellites. Engineering commissioning of the constellation was successfully completed in March 2017 and the mission is currently in the early phase of science operations. Level 2 science data products have been developed for near surface (10 m referenced) ocean wind speed, ocean surface roughness (mean square slope) and latent heat flux. Level 3 gridded versions of the L2 products have also been developed. A set of Level 4 products have also been developed specifically for direct tropical cyclone overpasses. These include the storm intensity (peak sustained winds) and size (radius of maximum winds), its extent (34, 50 and 64 knot wind radii), and its integrated kinetic energy. Assimilation of CYGNSS L2 wind speed data into the HWRF hurricane weather prediction model has also been developed. An overview and the current status of the mission will be presented, together with highlights of early on-orbit performance and scientific results.

Advances in Architectural Elements For Future Missions to Titan

Science.gov (United States)

Reh, Kim; Coustenis, Athena; Lunine, Jonathan; Matson, Dennis; Lebreton, Jean-Pierre; Vargas, Andre; Beauchamp, Pat; Spilker, Tom; Strange, Nathan; Elliott, John

2010-05-01

The future exploration of Titan is of high priority for the solar system exploration community as recommended by the 2003 National Research Council (NRC) Decadal Survey [1] and ESA's Cosmic Vision Program themes. Recent Cassini-Huygens discoveries continue to emphasize that Titan is a complex world with very many Earth-like features. Titan has a dense, nitrogen atmosphere, an active climate and meteorological cycles where conditions are such that the working fluid, methane, plays the role that water does on Earth. Titan's surface, with lakes and seas, broad river valleys, sand dunes and mountains was formed by processes like those that have shaped the Earth. Supporting this panoply of Earth-like processes is an ice crust that floats atop what might be a liquid water ocean. Furthermore, Titan is rich in very many different organic compounds—more so than any place in the solar system, except Earth. The Titan Saturn System Mission (TSSM) concept that followed the 2007 TandEM ESA CV proposal [2] and the 2007 Titan Explorer NASA Flagship study [3], was examined [4,5] and prioritized by NASA and ESA in February 2009 as a mission to follow the Europa Jupiter System Mission. The TSSM study, like others before it, again concluded that an orbiter, a montgolfiere hot-air balloon and a surface package (e.g. lake lander, Geosaucer (instrumented heat shield), …) are very high priority elements for any future mission to Titan. Such missions could be conceived as Flagship/Cosmic Vision L-Class or as individual smaller missions that could possibly fit into NASA New Frontiers or ESA Cosmic Vision M-Class budgets. As a result of a multitude of Titan mission studies, a clear blueprint has been laid out for the work needed to reduce the risks inherent in such missions and the areas where advances would be beneficial for elements critical to future Titan missions have been identified. The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief overview of the flagship mission architecture and

The Aquarius Ocean Salinity Mission High Stability L-band Radiometer

Science.gov (United States)

Pellerano, Fernando A.; Piepmeier, Jeffrey; Triesky, Michael; Horgan, Kevin; Forgione, Joshua; Caldwell, James; Wilson, William J.; Yueh, Simon; Spencer, Michael; McWatters, Dalia;

It Takes a Village. Collaborative Outer Planet Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Rymer, A. M.; Turtle, E. P.; Hofstadter, M. D.; Simon, A. A.; Hospodarsky, G. B.

2017-01-01

A mission to one or both of our local Ice Giants (Uranus and Neptune) emerged as a high priority in the most recent Planetary Science Decadal Survey and was also specifically mentioned supportively in the Heliophysics Decadal Survey. In 2016, NASA convened a science definition team to study ice giant mission concepts in more detail. Uranus and Neptune represent the last remaining planetary type in our Solar System to have a dedicated orbiting mission. The case for a Uranus mission has been made eloquently in the Decadal Surveys. Here we summarize some of the major drivers that lead to enthusiastic support for an Ice Giant mission in general, and use the example of a Uranus Mission concept to illustrate opportunities such a mission might provide for cross-division collaboration and cost-sharing.

Plutonium Finishing Plant Transition Project mission analysis report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Courson, D.B.

1994-01-01

This report defines the mission for the Plutonium Finishing Plant Transition Project (PFPTP) using a systems engineering approach. This mission analysis will be the basis for the functional analysis which will further define and break down the mission statement into all of the detailed functions required to accomplish the mission. The functional analysis is then used to develop requirements, allocate those requirements to functions, and eventually be used to design the system. This report: presents the problem which will be addressed, defines PFP Transition Project, defines the overall mission statement, describes the existing, initial conditions, defines the desired, final conditions, identifies the mission boundaries and external interfaces, identifies the resources required to carry out the mission, describes the uncertainties and risks, and discusses the measures which will be used to determine success

DYNAMIC: A Decadal Survey and NASA Roadmap Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Paxton, L. J.; Oberheide, J.

2016-12-01

In this talk we will review the DYNAMIC mission science and implementation plans. DYNAMIC is baselined as a two satellite mission to delineate the dynamical behavior and structure of the ionosphere, thermosphere and mesosphere system. DYNAMIC was considered the top priority in the Decadal Survey upper atmosphere missions by the AIMI panel. The NASA Heliophysics Roadmap recommended that consideration be given to flying DYNAMIC as the STP 5 (next STP mission) rather than IMAP given the time-lag between the Decadal Survey recommendations and the flight of the STP 5 mission. It certainly seems as though STP 5 will be the IMAP mission. In that case what is the status of DYNAMIC? DYNAMIC could be STP 6 or some portion of the DYNAMIC mission could be executed as the next MidEx mission. In this talk we discuss the DYNAMIC science questions and goals and how they might be addressed. We note that DYNAMIC is not a mission just for the space community. DYNAMIC will enable new groundbased investigations and provide a global context for the long and rich history of groundbased observations of the dynamical state of the ITM system. Issues include: How and to what extent do waves and tides in the lower atmosphere contribute to the variability and mean state of the IT system? [Mission driver: Must have two spacecraft separated in local solar time in near polar orbits] How does the AIM system respond to outside forcing? [Mission Driver: Must measure high latitude inputs] How do neutral-plasma interactions produce neutral and ionospheric density changes over regional and global scales? [Mission Driver: Must measure all major species (O, N2, O2, H, He) and their ions] What part of the IT response occurs in the form of aurorally generated waves? [Mission Driver: Must measure small and mesoscale phenomena at high latitudes] What is the relative importance of thermal expansion, upwelling and advection in defining total mass density changes? [Mission Driver: Must determine the mid

Stakeholder Orientation in Cruise Lines’ Mission Statements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lara Penco

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Consistent with the extant management literature, mission statements are crucial for the sustainability and growth of any firms and have been considered to be a tool for the strategic management process. Despite the considerable attention awarded to this theme, the role of the mission statement in the strategic management of tourism firms has not been sufficiently highlighted. The present paper tries to bridge this literature gap and aims to (i analyze the content of mission statements; and (ii investigate the stakeholder orientation of cruise line mission statements. We apply a content analysis method to analyze the mission statements of 44 cruise lines, employing three different perspectives: (1 the inclusion of stakeholder groups; (2 mentions of specific “mission” components; (3 reference to four goals usually assigned to mission statements. The analysis was performed using the software package QDA-Miner. The results suggest that it is possible to identify four clusters of firms that present similar content in their mission statements, and that cruise companies tend to reserve a major attention to customers. This contribution presents some valuable research implications mainly useful for researchers and academics, but also maybe of benefit to professionals and investors.

ESASky: a new Astronomy Multi-Mission Interface

Science.gov (United States)

Baines, D.; Merin, B.; Salgado, J.; Giordano, F.; Sarmiento, M.; Lopez Marti, B.; Racero, E.; Gutierrez, R.; De Teodoro, P.; Nieto, S.

2016-06-01

ESA is working on a science-driven discovery portal for all its astronomy missions at ESAC called ESASky. The first public release of this service will be shown, featuring interfaces for sky exploration and for single and multiple targets. It requires no operational knowledge of any of the missions involved. A first public beta release took place in October 2015 and gives users world-wide simplified access to high-level science-ready data products from ESA Astronomy missions plus a number of ESA-produced source catalogues. XMM-Newton data, metadata and products were some of the first to be accessible through ESASky. In the next decade, ESASky aims to include not only ESA missions but also access to data from other space and ground-based astronomy missions and observatories. From a technical point of view, ESASky is a web application that offers all-sky projections of full mission datasets using a new-generation HEALPix projection called HiPS; detailed geometrical footprints to connect all-sky mosaics to individual observations; direct access to the underlying mission-specific science archives and catalogues. The poster will be accompanied by a demo booth at the conference.

SMART-1 technology, scientific results and heritage for future space missions

Science.gov (United States)

Foing, B. H.; Racca, G.; Marini, A.; Koschny, D.; Frew, D.; Grieger, B.; Camino-Ramos, O.; Josset, J. L.; Grande, M.; Smart-1 Science; Technology Working Team

2018-02-01

ESA's SMART-1 mission to the Moon achieved record firsts such as: 1) first Small Mission for Advanced Research and Technology; with spacecraft built and integrated in 2.5 years and launched 3.5 years after mission approval; 2) first mission leaving the Earth orbit using solar power alone; 3) most fuel effective mission (60 L of Xenon) and longest travel (13 months) to the Moon!; 4) first ESA mission reaching the Moon and first European views of lunar poles; 5) first European demonstration of a wide range of new technologies: Li-Ion modular battery, deep-space communications in X- and Ka-bands, and autonomous positioning for navigation; 6) first lunar demonstration of an infrared spectrometer and of a Swept Charge Detector Lunar X-ray fluorescence spectrometer; 7) first ESA mission with opportunity for lunar science, elemental geochemistry, surface mineralogy mapping, surface geology and precursor studies for exploration; 8) first controlled impact landing on the Moon with real time observations campaign; 9) first mission supporting goals of the International Lunar Exploration Working Group (ILEWG) in technical and scientific exchange, international collaboration, public and youth engagement; 10) first mission preparing the ground for ESA collaboration in Chandrayaan-1, Chang' E1 and future international lunar exploration. We review SMART-1 highlights and new results that are relevant to the preparation for future lunar exploration. The technology and methods had impact on space research and applications. Recent SMART-1 results are relevant to topics on: 1) the study of properties of the lunar dust, 2) impact craters and ejecta, 3) the study of illumination, 4) radio observations and science from the Moon, 5) support to future missions, 6) identifying and characterising sites for exploration and exploitation. On these respective topics, we discuss recent SMART-1 results and challenges. We also discuss the use of SMART-1 publications library. The SMART-1 archive

The Ulysses mission: An introduction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marsden, R.G.

1996-01-01

On 30 September 1995, Ulysses completed its initial, highly successful, survey of the polar regions of the heliosphere in both southern and northern hemispheres, thereby fulfilling its prime mission. The results obtained to date are leading to a revision of many earlier ideas concerning the solar wind and the heliosphere. Now embarking on the second phase of the mission, Ulysses will continue along its out-of-ecliptic flight path for another complete orbit of the Sun. In contrast to the high-latitude phase of the prime mission, which occurred near solar minimum, the next polar passes (in 2000 and 2001) will take place when the Sun is at its most active

Mars Stratigraphy Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Budney, C. J.; Miller, S. L.; Cutts, J. A.

2000-01-01

The Mars Stratigraphy Mission lands a rover on the surface of Mars which descends down a cliff in Valles Marineris to study the stratigraphy. The rover carries a unique complement of instruments to analyze and age-date materials encountered during descent past 2 km of strata. The science objective for the Mars Stratigraphy Mission is to identify the geologic history of the layered deposits in the Valles Marineris region of Mars. This includes constraining the time interval for formation of these deposits by measuring the ages of various layers and determining the origin of the deposits (volcanic or sedimentary) by measuring their composition and imaging their morphology.

(abstract) Telecommunications for Mars Rovers and Robotic Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Cesarone, Robert J.; Hastrup, Rolf C.; Horne, William; McOmber, Robert

1997-01-01

Telecommunications plays a key role in all rover and robotic missions to Mars both as a conduit for command information to the mission and for scientific data from the mission. Telecommunications to the Earth may be accomplished using direct-to-Earth links via the Deep Space Network (DSN) or by relay links supported by other missions at Mars. This paper reviews current plans for missions to Mars through the 2005 launch opportunity and their capabilities in support of rover and robotic telecommunications.

Mission analysis for the Martian Moons Explorer (MMX) mission

Science.gov (United States)

Campagnola, Stefano; Yam, Chit Hong; Tsuda, Yuichi; Ogawa, Naoko; Kawakatsu, Yasuhiro

2018-05-01

Mars Moon eXplorer (MMX) is JAXA's next candidate flagship mission to be launched in the early 2020s. MMX will explore the Martian moons and return a sample from Phobos. This paper presents the mission analysis work, focusing on the transfer legs and comparing several architectures, such as hybrid options with chemical and electric propulsion modules. The selected baseline is a chemical-propulsion Phobos sample return, which is discussed in detail with the launch- and return-window analysis. The trajectories are optimized with the jTOP software, using planetary ephemerides for Mars and the Earth; Earth re-entry constraints are modeled with simple analytical equations. Finally, we introduce an analytical approximation of the three-burn capture strategy used in the Mars system. The approximation can be used together with a Lambert solver to quickly determine the transfer Δ v costs.

Telecentre Network Startup : Bangladesh - Mission 2011 | IDRC ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

The second generation of telecentres has seen the emergence of national-level networks in various parts of the word including the Ugandan Telecentre Network, Mission 2007 in India and Mission Swaabhimaan in Nepal. Telecentre stakeholders in Bangladesh would like to replicate the methodology used in Mission 2007, ...

ESA's Multi-mission Sentinel-1 Toolbox

Science.gov (United States)

Veci, Luis; Lu, Jun; Foumelis, Michael; Engdahl, Marcus

2017-04-01

The Sentinel-1 Toolbox is a new open source software for scientific learning, research and exploitation of the large archives of Sentinel and heritage missions. The Toolbox is based on the proven BEAM/NEST architecture inheriting all current NEST functionality including multi-mission support for most civilian satellite SAR missions. The project is funded through ESA's Scientific Exploitation of Operational Missions (SEOM). The Sentinel-1 Toolbox will strive to serve the SEOM mandate by providing leading-edge software to the science and application users in support of ESA's operational SAR mission as well as by educating and growing a SAR user community. The Toolbox consists of a collection of processing tools, data product readers and writers and a display and analysis application. A common architecture for all Sentinel Toolboxes is being jointly developed by Brockmann Consult, Array Systems Computing and C-S called the Sentinel Application Platform (SNAP). The SNAP architecture is ideal for Earth Observation processing and analysis due the following technological innovations: Extensibility, Portability, Modular Rich Client Platform, Generic EO Data Abstraction, Tiled Memory Management, and a Graph Processing Framework. The project has developed new tools for working with Sentinel-1 data in particular for working with the new Interferometric TOPSAR mode. TOPSAR Complex Coregistration and a complete Interferometric processing chain has been implemented for Sentinel-1 TOPSAR data. To accomplish this, a coregistration following the Spectral Diversity[4] method has been developed as well as special azimuth handling in the coherence, interferogram and spectral filter operators. The Toolbox includes reading of L0, L1 and L2 products in SAFE format, calibration and de-noising, slice product assembling, TOPSAR deburst and sub-swath merging, terrain flattening radiometric normalization, and visualization for L2 OCN products. The Toolbox also provides several new tools for

The Economics of NASA Mission Cost Reserves

Science.gov (United States)

Whitley, Sally; Shinn, Stephen

2012-01-01

Increases in NASA mission costs have led to analysis of the causes and magnitude of historical mission overruns as well as mitigation and prevention attempts. This paper hypothesizes that one cause is that the availability of reserves may reduce incentives to control costs. We draw a comparison to the insurance concept of moral hazard, and we use actuarial techniques to better understand the increase in mission costs due to the availability of reserves. NASA's CADRe database provided the data against which we tested our hypothesis and discovered that there is correlation between the amount of available reserves and project overruns, particularly for mission hardware cost increases. We address the question of how to prevent reserves from increasing mission spending without increasing cost risk to projects.

PUREX Plant deactivation mission analysis report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lund, D.P.

1995-01-01

The purpose of the PUREX Deactivation Project mission analysis is to define the problem to be addressed by the PUREX mission, and to lay the ground work for further system definition. The mission analysis is an important first step in the System Engineering (SE) process. This report presents the results of the PUREX Deactivation Project mission analysis. The purpose of the PUREX Deactivation Project is to prepare PUREX for Decontamination and Decommissioning within a five year time frame. This will be accomplished by establishing a passively safe and environmentally secure configuration of the PUREX Plant, that can be preserved for a 10-year horizon. During deactivation, appropriate portions of the safety envelop will be maintained to ensure deactivation takes place in a safe and regulatory compliant manner

Mission to the comets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hughes, D.

1980-01-01

The plans of space agencies in the United States and Europe for an exploratory comet mission including a one year rendezvous with comet Temple-2 and a fast fly-by of comet Halley are discussed. The mission provides an opportunity to make comparative measurements on the two different types of comets and also satisfies the three major scientific objectives of cometary missions namely: (1) To determine the chemical nature and the physical structure of cometary nuclei, and the changes that occur with time and orbital position. (2) To study the chemical and physical nature of the atmospheres and ionospheres of comets, the processes that occur in them, and their development with time and orbital position. (3) To determine the nature of the tails of comets and the processes by which they are formed, and to characterise the interaction of comets with solar wind. (UK)

Country programming mission. Namibia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1991-01-01

In response to a request from the Government of Namibia conveyed in a letter dated 29 November 1990 IAEA provided a multi-disciplinary Programming Mission which visited Namibia from 15 - 19 July 1991. The terms of reference of the Mission were: 1. To assess the possibilities and benefits of nuclear energy applications in Namibia's development; 2. To advise on the infrastructure required for nuclear energy projects; 3. To assist in the formulation of project proposals which could be submitted for Agency assistance. This report is based on the findings of the Mission and falls into 3 sections with 8 appendices. The first section is a country profile providing background information, the second section deals with sectorial needs and institutional review of the sectors of agriculture including animal production, life sciences (nuclear medicine and radiotherapy) and radiation protection. The third section includes possible future technical co-operation activities

IntroductionThe Cluster mission

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Fehringer

Full Text Available The Cluster mission, ESA’s first cornerstone project, together with the SOHO mission, dating back to the first proposals in 1982, was finally launched in the summer of 2000. On 16 July and 9 August, respectively, two Russian Soyuz rockets blasted off from the Russian cosmodrome in Baikonour to deliver two Cluster spacecraft, each into their proper orbit. By the end of August 2000, the four Cluster satellites had reached their final tetrahedral constellation. The commissioning of 44 instruments, both individually and as an ensemble of complementary tools, was completed five months later to ensure the optimal use of their combined observational potential. On 1 February 2001, the mission was declared operational. The main goal of the Cluster mission is to study the small-scale plasma structures in three dimensions in key plasma regions, such as the solar wind, bow shock, magnetopause, polar cusps, magnetotail and the auroral zones. With its unique capabilities of three-dimensional spatial resolution, Cluster plays a major role in the International Solar Terrestrial Program (ISTP, where Cluster and the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO are the European contributions. Cluster’s payload consists of state-of-the-art plasma instrumentation to measure electric and magnetic fields from the quasi-static up to high frequencies, and electron and ion distribution functions from energies of nearly 0 eV to a few MeV. The science operations are coordinated by the Joint Science Operations Centre (JSOC, at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (UK, and implemented by the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC, in Darmstadt, Germany. A network of eight national data centres has been set up for raw data processing, for the production of physical parameters, and their distribution to end users all over the world. The latest information on the Cluster mission can be found at http://sci.esa.int/cluster/.

IntroductionThe Cluster mission

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. P. Escoubet

2001-09-01

Full Text Available The Cluster mission, ESA’s first cornerstone project, together with the SOHO mission, dating back to the first proposals in 1982, was finally launched in the summer of 2000. On 16 July and 9 August, respectively, two Russian Soyuz rockets blasted off from the Russian cosmodrome in Baikonour to deliver two Cluster spacecraft, each into their proper orbit. By the end of August 2000, the four Cluster satellites had reached their final tetrahedral constellation. The commissioning of 44 instruments, both individually and as an ensemble of complementary tools, was completed five months later to ensure the optimal use of their combined observational potential. On 1 February 2001, the mission was declared operational. The main goal of the Cluster mission is to study the small-scale plasma structures in three dimensions in key plasma regions, such as the solar wind, bow shock, magnetopause, polar cusps, magnetotail and the auroral zones. With its unique capabilities of three-dimensional spatial resolution, Cluster plays a major role in the International Solar Terrestrial Program (ISTP, where Cluster and the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO are the European contributions. Cluster’s payload consists of state-of-the-art plasma instrumentation to measure electric and magnetic fields from the quasi-static up to high frequencies, and electron and ion distribution functions from energies of nearly 0 eV to a few MeV. The science operations are coordinated by the Joint Science Operations Centre (JSOC, at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (UK, and implemented by the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC, in Darmstadt, Germany. A network of eight national data centres has been set up for raw data processing, for the production of physical parameters, and their distribution to end users all over the world. The latest information on the Cluster mission can be found at http://sci.esa.int/cluster/.

Mission Applications Support at NASA: Coastal Applications of SWOT Mission Data

Science.gov (United States)

Srinivasan, M. M.; Peterson, C. A.; Chao, Y.

2014-12-01

The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission is an international collaboration of two scientific communities focused on a better understanding of the world's oceans and its terrestrial surface waters. SWOT will produce the first global survey of Earth's surface water by measuring sea surface height and the heights, slopes, and inundated areas of rivers, lakes, and wetlands. These coastal, lake and river measurements will be useful for monitoring the hydrologic cycle, flooding, and climate impacts of a changing environment. NASA and their French, Canadian and the United Kingdom space agency partners are developing new wide swath altimetry technology that will cover most of the world's ocean and surface freshwater bodies, and will have the capability to make observations with unprecedented resolution compared to existing technologies and will have the capability of measuring how water bodies change over time. Along with existing altimetry datasets, simulated SWOT data sets are being planned to assess the quality and potential value of anticipated SWOT measurements to both oceanography and hydrology applications. With the surface water measurements anticipated from SWOT, a broad range of applications may inform coastal managers and marine operators of offshore conditions and currents relevant to their regions. One study proposed to the NASA ASP would highlight coastal and estuary applications potential of the future SWOT mission. This study would promote the use of remote sensing measurements to improve the understanding, monitoring and management of estuaries and deltas for a broad range of users. In addition, the AirSWOT airborne mission to demonstrate the wide swath technology of SWOT is providing preliminary data products in inland and coastal regions that may be useful for early assessment by users of the future value of SWOT. NASA's Applied Sciences Program (ASP), along with the international SWOT project teams, is supporting a program that promotes

Mechanical design of the Mars Pathfinder mission

Science.gov (United States)

Eisen, Howard Jay; Buck, Carl W.; Gillis-Smith, Greg R.; Umland, Jeffrey W.

1997-01-01

The Mars Pathfinder mission and the Sojourner rover is reported on, with emphasis on the various mission steps and the performance of the technologies involved. The mechanical design of mission hardware was critical to the success of the entry sequence and the landing operations. The various mechanisms employed are considered.

Pastoral ministry in a missional age: Towards a practical theological understanding of missional pastoral care

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guillaume H. Smit

2015-03-01

Full Text Available This article concerns itself with the development of a missional ecclesiology and the practices that may accept the challenge of conducting pastoral ministry in the context of South African, middleclass congregations adapting to a rapidly changing, post-apartheid environment. Some practical theological perspectives on pastoral counselling are investigated, whilst Narrative Therapy is explored as an emerging theory of deconstruction to enable the facilitating of congregational change towards a missional understanding of church life in local communities. Subsequently, the theological paradigm of missional ecclesiology is investigated before drawing the broad lines of a theory for pastoral ministry within missional ecclesiology.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: In this article, a missional base theory is proposed for pastoral counselling, consisting of interdisciplinary insights gained from the fields of Missiology, Practical Theology, Narrative Therapy and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. The implications of this proposal for the development of a missional pastoral theory focus on the following three aspects:� re-establishing pastoral identity: exploring Christ� pastoral development: intentional faith formation� pastoral ministry: enabling Christ-centred lives.In such a missional pastoral theory four practices should be operationalised: first of all, a cognitive approach to increasing knowledge of the biblical narrative is necessary. This provides the hermeneutical skills necessary to enable people to internalise the biblical ethics and character traits ascribed to the Christian life. Secondly, a pastoral theory needs to pay close attention to development of emotional intelligence. Thirdly, this should be done in the context of small groups, where the focus falls on the personality development of members. Finally, missional pastoral theory should also include the acquisition of life coaching skills, where leaders can be

Teamwork Reasoning and Multi-Satellite Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Marsella, Stacy C.; Plaunt, Christian (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

NASA is rapidly moving towards the use of spatially distributed multiple satellites operating in near Earth orbit and Deep Space. Effective operation of such multi-satellite constellations raises many key research issues. In particular, the satellites will be required to cooperate with each other as a team that must achieve common objectives with a high degree of autonomy from ground based operations. The multi-agent research community has made considerable progress in investigating the challenges of realizing such teamwork. In this report, we discuss some of the teamwork issues that will be faced by multi-satellite operations. The basis of the discussion is a particular proposed mission, the Magnetospheric MultiScale mission to explore Earth's magnetosphere. We describe this mission and then consider how multi-agent technologies might be applied in the design and operation of these missions. We consider the potential benefits of these technologies as well as the research challenges that will be raised in applying them to NASA multi-satellite missions. We conclude with some recommendations for future work.

Euclid Mission: Mapping the Geometry of the Dark Universe. Mission and Consortium Status

Science.gov (United States)

Rhodes, Jason

2011-01-01

Euclid concept: (1) High-precision survey mission to map the geometry of the Dark Universe (2) Optimized for two complementary cosmological probes: (2a) Weak Gravitational Lensing (2b) Baryonic Acoustic Oscillations (2c) Additional probes: clusters, redshift space distortions, ISW (3) Full extragalactic sky survey with 1.2m telescope at L2: (3a) Imaging: (3a-1) High precision imaging at visible wavelengths (3a-2) Photometry/Imaging in the near-infrared (3b) Near Infrared Spectroscopy (4) Synergy with ground based surveys (5) Legacy science for a wide range of in astronomy

Accompanied by the Shuttle Training Aircraft, Discovery touches down after successful mission STS-95

Science.gov (United States)

1998-01-01

The Shuttle Training Aircraft (top) seems to chase orbiter Discovery as it touches down at the Shuttle Landing Facility after a successful mission of nearly nine days and 3.6 million miles. Main gear touchdown was at 12:04 p.m. EST, landing on orbit 135. In the background, right, is the Vehicle Assembly Building. The STS-95 crew consists of Mission Commander Curtis L. Brown Jr.; Pilot Steven W. Lindsey; Mission Specialist Scott E. Parazynski; Mission Specialist Stephen K. Robinson; Payload Specialist John H. Glenn Jr., senator from Ohio; Mission Specialist Pedro Duque, with the European Space Agency (ESA); and Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai, with the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA). The mission included research payloads such as the Spartan solar-observing deployable spacecraft, the Hubble Space Telescope Orbital Systems Test Platform, the International Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker, as well as the SPACEHAB single module with experiments on space flight and the aging process.

Cryogenic propulsion for lunar and Mars missions

Science.gov (United States)

Redd, Larry

1988-01-01

Future missions to the moon and Mars have been investigated with regard to propulsion system selection. The results of this analysis show that near state-of-the-art LO2/LH2 propulsion technology provides a feasible means of performing lunar missions and trans-Mars injections. In other words, existing cryogenic space engines with certain modifications and product improvements would be suitable for these missions. In addition, present day cryogenic system tankage and structural weights appear to scale reasonably when sizing for large payload and high energy missions such as sending men to Mars.

The EXIST Mission Concept Study

Science.gov (United States)

Fishman, Gerald J.; Grindlay, J.; Hong, J.

2008-01-01

EXIST is a mission designed to find and study black holes (BHs) over a wide range of environments and masses, including: 1) BHs accreting from binary companions or dense molecular clouds throughout our Galaxy and the Local Group, 2) supermassive black holes (SMBHs) lying dormant in galaxies that reveal their existence by disrupting passing stars, and 3) SMBHs that are hidden from our view at lower energies due to obscuration by the gas that they accrete. 4) the birth of stellar mass BHs which is accompanied by long cosmic gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) which are seen several times a day and may be associated with the earliest stars to form in the Universe. EXIST will provide an order of magnitude increase in sensitivity and angular resolution as well as greater spectral resolution and bandwidth compared with earlier hard X-ray survey telescopes. With an onboard optical-infra red (IR) telescope, EXIST will measure the spectra and redshifts of GRBs and their utility as cosmological probes of the highest z universe and epoch of reionization. The mission would retain its primary goal of being the Black Hole Finder Probe in the Beyond Einstein Program. However, the new design for EXIST proposed to be studied here represents a significant advance from its previous incarnation as presented to BEPAC. The mission is now less than half the total mass, would be launched on the smallest EELV available (Atlas V-401) for a Medium Class mission, and most importantly includes a two-telescope complement that is ideally suited for the study of both obscured and very distant BHs. EXIST retains its very wide field hard X-ray imaging High Energy Telescope (HET) as the primary instrument, now with improved angular and spectral resolution, and in a more compact payload that allows occasional rapid slews for immediate optical/IR imaging and spectra of GRBs and AGN as well as enhanced hard X-ray spectra and timing with pointed observations. The mission would conduct a 2 year full sky survey in

The inner magnetosphere imager mission

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnson, L.; Herrmann, M.

1993-01-01

After 30 years of in situ measurements of the Earth's magnetosphere, scientists have assembled an incomplete picture of its global composition and dynamics. Imaging the magnetosphere from space will enable scientists to better understand the global shape of the inner magnetosphere, its components and processes. The proposed inner magnetosphere imager (IMI) mission will obtain the first simultaneous images of the component regions of the inner magnetosphere and will enable scientists to relate these global images to internal and external influences as well as local observations. To obtain simultaneous images of component regions of the inner magnetosphere, measurements will comprise: the ring current and inner plasma sheet using energetic neutral atoms; the plasmasphere using extreme ultraviolet; the electron and proton auroras using far ultraviolet (FUV) and x rays; and the geocorona using FUV. The George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is performing a concept definition study of the proposed mission. NASA's Office of Space Science and Applications has placed the IMI third in its queue of intermediate-class missions for launch in the 1990's. An instrument complement of approximately seven imagers will fly in an elliptical Earth orbit with a seven Earth Radii (R E ) altitude apogee and approximately 4,800-kin altitude perigee. Several spacecraft concepts were examined for the mission. The first concept utilizes a spinning spacecraft with a despun platform. The second concept splits the instruments onto a spin-stabilized spacecraft and a complementary three-axis stabilized spacecraft. Launch options being assessed for the spacecraft range from a Delta 11 for the single and dual spacecraft concepts to dual Taurus launches for the two smaller spacecraft. This paper will address the mission objectives, the spacecraft design considerations, the results of the MSFC concept definition study, and future mission plans

Preliminary design of an asteroid hopping mission

Science.gov (United States)

Scheppa, Michael D.

In 2010, NASA announced that its new vision is to support private space launch operations. It is anticipated that this new direction will create the need for new and innovative ideas that push the current boundaries of space exploration and contain the promise of substantial gain, both in research and capital. The purpose of the study is to plan and estimate the feasibility of a mission to visit a number of near Earth asteroids (NEAs). The mission would take place before the end of the 21st century, and would only use commercially available technology. Throughout the mission design process, while holding astronaut safety paramount, it was the goal to maximize the return while keeping the cost to a minimum. A mission of the nature would appeal to the private space industry because it could be easily adapted and set into motion. The mission design was divided into three main parts; mission timeline, vehicle design and power sources, with emphasis on nuclear and solar electric power, were investigated. The timeline and associated trajectories were initially selected using a numerical estimation and then optimized using Satellite Tool Kit (STK) 9.s's Design Explorer Optimizer [1]. Next, the spacecraft was design using commercially available parts that would support the mission requirements. The Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR) was and instrumental piece in maximizing the number of NEAs visited. Once the spacecraft was designed, acceptable power supply options were investigated. The VASIMR VX-200 requires 200 kilowatts of power to maintain thrust. This creates the need for a substantial power supply that consists of either a nuclear reactor of massive solar arrays. STK 9.1's Design Explorer Optimizer was able to create a mission time line that allowed for the exploration of seven NEAs in under two years, while keeping the total mission DeltaV under 71 kilometers per second. Based on these initial findings, it is determined that a mission of this

The Europa Ocean Discovery mission

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Edwards, B.C. [Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States); Chyba, C.F. [Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States); Abshire, J.B. [National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Greenbelt, MD (United States). Goddard Space Flight Center] [and others

1997-06-01

Since it was first proposed that tidal heating of Europa by Jupiter might lead to liquid water oceans below Europa`s ice cover, there has been speculation over the possible exobiological implications of such an ocean. Liquid water is the essential ingredient for life as it is known, and the existence of a second water ocean in the Solar System would be of paramount importance for seeking the origin and existence of life beyond Earth. The authors present here a Discovery-class mission concept (Europa Ocean Discovery) to determine the existence of a liquid water ocean on Europa and to characterize Europa`s surface structure. The technical goal of the Europa Ocean Discovery mission is to study Europa with an orbiting spacecraft. This goal is challenging but entirely feasible within the Discovery envelope. There are four key challenges: entering Europan orbit, generating power, surviving long enough in the radiation environment to return valuable science, and complete the mission within the Discovery program`s launch vehicle and budget constraints. The authors will present here a viable mission that meets these challenges.

Mars MetNet Mission Status

Science.gov (United States)

Harri, A.-M.; Aleksashkin, S.; Arruego, I.; Schmidt, W.; Genzer, M.; Vazquez, L.; Haukka, H.; Palin, M.; Nikkanen, T.

2015-10-01

New kind of planetary exploration mission for Mars is under development in collaboration between the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), Lavochkin Association (LA), Space Research Institute (IKI) and Institutio Nacional de Tecnica Aerospacial (INTA). The Mars MetNet mission is based on a new semihard landing vehicle called MetNet Lander (MNL). The scientific payload of the Mars MetNet Precursor [1] mission is divided into three categories: Atmospheric instruments, Optical devices and Composition and structure devices. Each of the payload instruments will provide significant insights in to the Martian atmospheric behavior. The key technologies of the MetNet Lander have been qualified and the electrical qualification model (EQM) of the payload bay has been built and successfully tested.

MIV Project: Mission scenario

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ravazzotti, Mariolina T.; Jørgensen, John Leif; Thuesen, Gøsta

1997-01-01

Under the ESA contract #11453/95/NL/JG(SC), aiming at assessing the feasibility of Rendez-vous and docking of unmanned spacecrafts, a msiision scenario was defined. This report describes the secquence of manouvres and task allocations for such missions.......Under the ESA contract #11453/95/NL/JG(SC), aiming at assessing the feasibility of Rendez-vous and docking of unmanned spacecrafts, a msiision scenario was defined. This report describes the secquence of manouvres and task allocations for such missions....

Understanding NEOs: The Role of Characterization Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Morrison, David

2007-10-01

NEOs are important from multiple perspectives, including science, hazard mitigation, space resources, and as targets for human missions. Much can be learned from ground-based studies, especially with radar, but the unique value of in situ investigation has been shown by missions such as NEAR-Shoemaker and Hayabusa to asteroids Eros and Itokawa, and Deep Impact and Stardust to comets. The next mission targets are likely to be NEAs in the subkilometer size range. Because these smaller objects are much more numerous, they are the objects we most need to understand from a defense perspective, and they are also the most likely targets for early human missions. However, there are unique challenges in sending spacecraft to investigate sub-km asteroids. Reconnaissance flybys are of little use, orbiting requires active control, and landing on such a low-gravity surface is perhaps better described as docking. Yet we need to operate close to the target, and probably to land, to obtain crucial information about interior structure. This paper deals primarily with small landers like the Near Earth Asteroid Trailblazer Mission (NEAT) studied at Ames Research Center. The NEAT objectives are to provide global reconnaissance (shape, mass, density, dynamical state), in situ surface characterization, and long-term precision tracking. Alternative approaches use deep-penetrating radar and electromagnetic sounding to probe interior structure. A third class of missions is ballistic impactors such as the ESA Don Quijote, which test one of the technologies for deflecting small asteroids. If the targets are selected for their accessibility, such missions could be implemented with low-cost launchers such as Pegasus, Falcon, or Minotaur. Such missions will have high science return. But from the perspective of defense, we have not yet developed a consensus strategy for the role of such characterization missions.

Planetary protection considerations for sample-return missions

Science.gov (United States)

Rummel, J.

The analysis on Earth of materials returned from other solar system bodies, and beyond, is likely one of the most effective ways for us to learn about the origins, history, and present state of the universe outside of our home planet. In the past, the Apollo missions were able to return large quantities of material from the Moon, while missions currently flying (Genesis and Stardust) intend to return much smaller quantities of material. Planned and conceptualized future missions (cf., MUSES-C) intend to return a wide variety of samples such as those from a near-Earth asteroid, the surface and atmosphere of Mars , and perhaps once more from the Earth's Moon. In some cases, the bodies targeted for sample return missions may have the capability of harboring indigenous life, while in other cases there is scant possibility of that. Considerations in determining the potential for extraterrestrial contamination from sample return missions have been studied, and include such factors as the availability of liquid water in or on the target body, the availability of m tabolicallye useful energy sources, the likelihood that organic matter was available, and the overall temperature and radiation history of the sampled areas. Also of note is the potential that the natural influx to Earth of that materials in question (e.g., meteorites, etc.) might overwhelm the ability of a targeted sample-return mission to contribute something novel to the Earth's environment. Missions thought to pose a risk of extraterrestrial biological contamination are subject to a containment provision that may be very difficult to implement on a single, moderate-cost mission, but such steps are necessary to protect both our own planet and the health of solar-system exploration missions and the science they can do.

A Centaur Reconnaissance Mission: a NASA JPL Planetary Science Summer Seminar mission design experience

Science.gov (United States)

Chou, L.; Howell, S. M.; Bhattaru, S.; Blalock, J. J.; Bouchard, M.; Brueshaber, S.; Cusson, S.; Eggl, S.; Jawin, E.; Marcus, M.; Miller, K.; Rizzo, M.; Smith, H. B.; Steakley, K.; Thomas, N. H.; Thompson, M.; Trent, K.; Ugelow, M.; Budney, C. J.; Mitchell, K. L.

2017-12-01

The NASA Planetary Science Summer Seminar (PSSS), sponsored by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), offers advanced graduate students and recent doctoral graduates the unique opportunity to develop a robotic planetary exploration mission that answers NASA's Science Mission Directorate's Announcement of Opportunity for the New Frontiers Program. Preceded by a series of 10 weekly webinars, the seminar is an intensive one-week exercise at JPL, where students work directly with JPL's project design team "TeamX" on the process behind developing mission concepts through concurrent engineering, project design sessions, instrument selection, science traceability matrix development, and risks and cost management. The 2017 NASA PSSS team included 18 participants from various U.S. institutions with a diverse background in science and engineering. We proposed a Centaur Reconnaissance Mission, named CAMILLA, designed to investigate the geologic state, surface evolution, composition, and ring systems through a flyby and impact of Chariklo. Centaurs are defined as minor planets with semi-major axis that lies between Jupiter and Neptune's orbit. Chariklo is both the largest Centaur and the only known minor planet with rings. CAMILLA was designed to address high priority cross-cutting themes defined in National Research Council's Vision and Voyages for Planetary Science in the Decade 2013-2022. At the end of the seminar, a final presentation was given by the participants to a review board of JPL scientists and engineers as well as NASA headquarters executives. The feedback received on the strengths and weaknesses of our proposal provided a rich and valuable learning experience in how to design a successful NASA planetary exploration mission and generate a successful New Frontiers proposal. The NASA PSSS is an educational experience that trains the next generation of NASA's planetary explorers by bridging the gap between scientists and engineers, allowing for participants to learn

New Global Missions for Strategic Command

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Graham, David

2002-01-01

.... The focus of this White Paper is on the external decisions that will be needed to provide the Command with a clear mission, and the authority, resources and organizational support necessary to perform the mission...

Mercury Lander Mission Concept Study Summary

Science.gov (United States)

Eng, D. A.

2018-05-01

Provides a summary of the Mercury Lander Mission Concept Study performed as part of the last Planetary Decadal Survey. The presentation will focus on engineering trades and the challenges of developing a Mercury lander mission.

Applied research of Primary Pump Mission Profile construction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zheng, Gang-yang; Zhang, Zhi-jian; Ye, Quan-liu; Du, Zhi-hao; Ma, Ying-fei; Zhang, Hua-zhi

2017-01-01

Highlights: • Minimum Associated Subtask (MAS) and Minimum Effective Component (MEC) are presented in Mission Profile analysis. • Via applying MAS and MEC, Mission Profile plays a more important role in complex system reliability analysis. • Mission Profile has already been used in the reliability analysis of localized Chinese 1000 MW NPP Primary Pump. - Abstract: The traditional Mission Profile analysis did not clarify the accurate concept of minimum subtask and component. However, there are several components, which could be the influencing key element of the system reliability; and there are several subtasks, which could be used as a basic and crucial mission. In this paper, traditional method of Mission Profile has been extended by incorporating two new ideas: Minimum Associated Subtask (MAS) and Minimum Effective Component (MEC). This method of Mission Profile modeling is derived from Chinese 1000 MW NPP Primary Pump localization. A case study on Primary Pump reliability has been presented; then, MAS and MEC have been existed as vital elements in its lifecycle profile construction. By means of MAS and MEC, Mission Profile plays a more important role on complex system (Primary Pump) reliability analysis.

Sleep and cognitive function of crewmembers and mission controllers working 24-h shifts during a simulated 105-day spaceflight mission

Science.gov (United States)

Barger, Laura K.; Wright, Kenneth P.; Burke, Tina M.; Chinoy, Evan D.; Ronda, Joseph M.; Lockley, Steven W.; Czeisler, Charles A.

2014-01-01

The success of long-duration space missions depends on the ability of crewmembers and mission support specialists to be alert and maintain high levels of cognitive function while operating complex, technical equipment. We examined sleep, nocturnal melatonin levels and cognitive function of crewmembers and the sleep and cognitive function of mission controllers who participated in a high-fidelity 105-day simulated spaceflight mission at the Institute of Biomedical Problems (Moscow). Crewmembers were required to perform daily mission duties and work one 24-h extended duration work shift every sixth day. Mission controllers nominally worked 24-h extended duration shifts. Supplemental lighting was provided to crewmembers and mission controllers. Participants' sleep was estimated by wrist-actigraphy recordings. Overall, results show that crewmembers and mission controllers obtained inadequate sleep and exhibited impaired cognitive function, despite countermeasure use, while working extended duration shifts. Crewmembers averaged 7.04±0.92 h (mean±SD) and 6.94±1.08 h (mean±SD) in the two workdays prior to the extended duration shifts, 1.88±0.40 h (mean±SD) during the 24-h work shift, and then slept 10.18±0.96 h (mean±SD) the day after the night shift. Although supplemental light was provided, crewmembers' average nocturnal melatonin levels remained elevated during extended 24-h work shifts. Naps and caffeine use were reported by crewmembers during ˜86% and 45% of extended night work shifts, respectively. Even with reported use of wake-promoting countermeasures, significant impairments in cognitive function were observed. Mission controllers slept 5.63±0.95 h (mean±SD) the night prior to their extended duration work shift. On an average, 89% of night shifts included naps with mission controllers sleeping an average of 3.4±1.0 h (mean±SD) during the 24-h extended duration work shift. Mission controllers also showed impaired cognitive function during extended

Fast mission reliability prediction for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andrews, J.D.; Poole, J.; Chen, W.H.

2013-01-01

There is currently a significant interest in the use of autonomous vehicles in many industrial sectors. One such example is the ever increasing use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), particularly in military operations. This enables dangerous missions to be accomplished without risk to a pilot. UAVs also have potential civil applications which would require their certification and the demonstration that they are able to respond safety to any potential circumstances. The aircraft would therefore need to be capable of responding safely to the occurrence of component failures, the emergence of threats such as other aircraft in the neighboring airspace, and changing weather conditions. The likelihood that an aircraft will successfully complete any mission can be predicted using phased mission analysis techniques. The predicted mission unreliability can be updated in response to changing circumstances. In the event that the likelihood of mission failure becomes too high then changes have to be made to the mission plan. If these calculations could be carried out fast enough then the quantification procedure could be used to establish an acceptable response to any new conditions. With a view to using the methodology in the context described above, this paper investigates ways in which phased mission analysis can be improved to reduce the calculation time. The methodology improves the processing capability for a UAV phased mission analysis by taking into account the specific characteristics of the fault tree structures which provide the causes of phase failure for a UAV mission. It also carries out as much of the quantification as possible in advance of the mission plan being formulated

Dawn Mission Update

Science.gov (United States)

Sykes, M. V.; Russell, C. T.; Coradini, A.; Christensen, U.; de Sanctis, M. C.; Feldman, W. C.; Jaumann, R.; Keller, U.; Konopliv, A. S.; McCord, T. B.; McFadden, L. A.; McSween, H. Y.; Mottola, S.; Neukum, G.; Pieters, C. M.; Prettyman, T. H.; Raymond, C. A.; Smith, D. E.; Williams, B. G.; Wise, J.; Zuber, M. T.

2004-11-01

Dawn, the ninth Discovery mission, will be the first spacecraft to rendezvous with two solar system bodies, the main belt asteroids Vesta and Ceres. This is made possible by utilizing ion propulsion to reach its targets and to maneuver into (and depart) orbits about these bodies. Vesta and Ceres are two terrestrial protoplanets that have survived since the earliest epoch of the solar system and will provide important insights into planet building processes and their evolution under very different circumstances, with and without water. Dawn carries a double framing camera, a visible and infrared mapping spectrometer, and a gamma ray and neutron detector. At Vesta our studies will include the volcanic emplacement of basalts, its differentiation, the possible exposure of its interior near the south pole. At Ceres our studies will include the role of water in its evolution, hydration processes on its surface, and the possible existence of a subsurface ocean. The mission has passed its critical design review and is scheduled to be launched in June 2006 with arrival at Vesta in 2011 and Ceres in 2015. Operation strategies will be presented. Groundbased observations of Vesta, Ceres, and Vesta family members over broad wavelengths, periods and phases will play an important role in detailed mission planning.

Collaboration support system for "Phobos-Soil" space mission.

Science.gov (United States)

Nazarov, V.; Nazirov, R.; Zakharov, A.

2009-04-01

Rapid development of communication facilities leads growth of interactions done via electronic means. However we can see some paradox in this segment in last times: Extending of communication facilities increases collaboration chaos. And it is very sensitive for space missions in general and scientific space mission particularly because effective decision of this task provides successful realization of the missions and promises increasing the ratio of functional characteristic and cost of mission at all. Resolving of this problem may be found by using respective modern technologies and methods which widely used in different branches and not in the space researches only. Such approaches as Social Networking, Web 2.0 and Enterprise 2.0 look most prospective in this context. The primary goal of the "Phobos-Soil" mission is an investigation of the Phobos which is the Martian moon and particularly its regolith, internal structure, peculiarities of the orbital and proper motion, as well as a number of different scientific measurements and experiments for investigation of the Martian environment. A lot of investigators involved in the mission. Effective collaboration system is key facility for information support of the mission therefore. Further to main goal: communication between users of the system, modern approaches allows using such capabilities as self-organizing community, user generated content, centralized and federative control of the system. Also it may have one unique possibility - knowledge management which is very important for space mission realization. Therefore collaboration support system for "Phobos-Soil" mission designed on the base of multilayer model which includes such levels as Communications, Announcement and Information, Data sharing and Knowledge management. The collaboration support system for "Phobos-Soil" mission will be used as prototype for prospective Russian scientific space missions and the presentation describes its architecture

Cassini Solstice Mission Maneuver Experience: Year Two

Science.gov (United States)

Arrieta, Juan; Ballard, Christopher G.; Hahn, Yungsun

2012-01-01

The Cassini Spacecraft was launched in October 1997 on a mission to observe Saturn and its moons; it entered orbit around Saturn in July 2004 for a nominal four-year Prime Mission, later augmented by two extensions: the Equinox Mission, from July 2008 through September 2010, and the Solstice Mission, from October 2010 through September 2017. This paper provides an overview of the maneuver activities from August 2011 through June 2012 which include the design of 38 Orbit Trim Maneuvers--OTM-288 through OTM-326-- for attaining 14 natural satellite encounters: seven with Titan, six with Enceladus, and one with Dione.

Possible LISA Technology Applications for Other Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Livas, Jeffrey

2018-01-01

The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) has been selected as the third large class mission launch opportunity of the Cosmic Visions Program by the European Space Agency (ESA). LISA science will explore a rich spectrum of astrophysical gravitational-wave sources expected at frequencies between 0.0001 and 0.1 Hz and complement the work of other observatories and missions, both space and ground-based, electromagnetic and non-electromagnetic. Similarly, LISA technology may find applications for other missions. This paper will describe the capabilities of some of the key technologies and discuss possible contributions to other missions.

A missional perspective on funerals and bereavement counselling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter Kotze

2015-08-01

Full Text Available This article deals with the importance of a missional approach to the funeral and bereavement counselling process in congregational praxis in the midst of a context of secularisation. The creation of a missional perspective on the funeral and bereavement counselling could support the nature and praxis of a congregation in a secular society, especially if the congregation finds its relevance in the expression of the missio Dei. The basic theoretical research for missional ecclesiology, which is the systematic study directed toward greater knowledge of the fundamental aspects of missional ecclesiology (National Science Foundation 1953:38, is based on the premise that God is the source of all missions. The expression missio Dei means to join God in the mission he is already busy with in the world. As the one who sends, God the Father sends the Son, the Son sends the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit sends the church. The church only participates in the mission God is already busy with. It is a mission that uses both words and deeds and brings hope in the midst of tragedy. It is the hope of the kingdom of God and the incarnation of Christ that can already be experienced and expressed in the present. It is also the hope of the transformation of everything to form a new heaven and earth. Hope and mission can therefore not be separated. The concretisation of the expression of the kingdom of Christ in the world is hope, and a strong emphasis is therefore placed on mission as action in hope. Hope must be present where tragedy reigns, and the funeral and bereavement counselling can be used as a vehicle for this hope. Hope can then become an instrument of healing. The church can thus participate in God’s mission in the midst of tragedy and make an impact on society by taking on a missional character of hope.

Lean Mission Operations Systems Design - Using Agile and Lean Development Principles for Mission Operations Design and Development

Science.gov (United States)

Trimble, Jay Phillip

2014-01-01

The Resource Prospector Mission seeks to rove the lunar surface with an in-situ resource utilization payload in search of volatiles at a polar region. The mission operations system (MOS) will need to perform the short-duration mission while taking advantage of the near real time control that the short one-way light time to the Moon provides. To maximize our use of limited resources for the design and development of the MOS we are utilizing agile and lean methods derived from our previous experience with applying these methods to software. By using methods such as "say it then sim it" we will spend less time in meetings and more time focused on the one outcome that counts - the effective utilization of our assets on the Moon to meet mission objectives.

A Tripartite Frontier: Funding the Church of the Nazarene Medical Mission, 1911- 1939

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bonsile Rachel Ndlangamandla

2015-02-01

Full Text Available

Abstract

Couched within the context of social history of medicine, this study explores the trajectory of the Church of the Nazarene medical mission from 1911, when the Nazarene missionaries experienced their first ‘surgical’ service, to 1939 when the Church of the Nazarene had established a medical unit. The absence of large- scale biomedical facilities for the Swazi gave the Nazarene Christian missionaries the impression that they had a health burden to carry. How to fund the Nazarene frontier medical mission was the question that brought the church, the state, and the Swazi together. The study purports to discuss the tripartite funding of the Nazarene biomedical mission using information obtained from the Church of the Nazarene documents and government annual reports housed in the Swaziland National Archives. The significance of this ground- breaking study lies in its ability to evince the subtle nuances of the trajectory of multiple Christian medical mission encounters through the prism of multi- sectoral funding.

Encadrée dans le domaine de l'histoire sociale de la médecine, cette étude explore la trajectoire de l'Église de la mission médicale Nazaréen de 1911, quand les missionnaires nazaréens expérimentés ont entrepris leur première intervention «chirurgicale », jusqu’à 1939, année au cours de laquelle l'Église des Nazaréens a installé   une unité médicale. Les missionnaires chrétiens nazaréens estimaient qu'ils avaient un devoir médical à assurer à l’égard des Swazi qui étaient dépourvus de toutes infrastructures  biomédicales. La question de savoir comment financer la mission médicale nazaréenne outre-mer a été la principale préoccupation de cette église, de l’État et des Swazi eux-mêmes.   La présente étude examine le financement tripartite de la mission biomédicale nazaréenne, en

NASA Technology Demonstrations Missions Program Overview

Science.gov (United States)

Turner, Susan

2011-01-01

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Fiscal Year 2010 (FY10) budget introduced a new strategic plan that placed renewed emphasis on advanced missions beyond Earth orbit. This supports NASA s 2011 strategic goal to create innovative new space technologies for our exploration, science, and economic future. As a result of this focus on undertaking many and more complex missions, NASA placed its attention on a greater investment in technology development, and this shift resulted in the establishment of the Technology Demonstrations Missions (TDM) Program. The TDM Program, within the newly formed NASA Office of the Chief Technologist, supports NASA s grand challenges by providing a steady cadence of advanced space technology demonstrations (Figure 1), allowing the infusion of flexible path capabilities for future exploration. The TDM Program's goal is to mature crosscutting capabilities to flight readiness in support of multiple future space missions, including flight test projects where demonstration is needed before the capability can transition to direct mission The TDM Program has several unique criteria that set it apart from other NASA program offices. For instance, the TDM Office matures a small number of technologies that are of benefit to multiple customers to flight technology readiness level (TRL) 6 through relevant environment testing on a 3-year development schedule. These technologies must be crosscutting, which is defined as technology with potential to benefit multiple mission directorates, other government agencies, or the aerospace industry, and they must capture significant public interest and awareness. These projects will rely heavily on industry partner collaboration, and funding is capped for all elements of the flight test demonstration including planning, hardware development, software development, launch costs, ground operations, and post-test assessments. In order to inspire collaboration across government and industry

The mission execution crew assistant : Improving human-machine team resilience for long duration missions

OpenAIRE

Neerincx, M.A.; Lindenberg, J.; Smets, N.J.J.M.; Bos, A.; Breebaart, L.; Grant, T.; Olmedo-Soler, A.; Brauer, U.; Wolff, M.

2008-01-01

Manned long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars set high operational, human factors and technical demands for a distributed support system, which enhances human-machine teams' capabilities to cope autonomously with unexpected, complex and potentially hazardous situations. Based on a situated Cognitive Engineering (sCE) method, we specified a theoretical and empirical founded Requirements Baseline (RB) for such a system (called Mission Execution Crew Assistant; MECA), and its rational consi...

The Mars 2020 Rover Mission: EISD Participation in Mission Science and Exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Fries, M.; Bhartia, R.; Beegle, L.; Burton, A. S.; Ross, A.

2014-01-01

The Mars 2020 Rover mission will search for potential biosignatures on the martian surface, use new techniques to search for and identify tracelevel organics, and prepare a cache of samples for potential return to Earth. Identifying trace organic compounds is an important tenet of searching for potential biosignatures. Previous landed missions have experienced difficulty identifying unambiguously martian, unaltered organic compounds, possibly because any organic species have been destroyed on heating in the presence of martian perchlorates and/or other oxidants. The SHERLOC instrument on Mars 2020 will use ultraviolet (UV) fluorescence and Raman spectroscopy to identify trace organic compounds without heating the samples.

Calculation of Operations Efficiency Factors for Mars Surface Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Laubach, Sharon

2014-01-01

The duration of a mission--and subsequently, the minimum spacecraft lifetime--is a key component in designing the capabilities of a spacecraft during mission formulation. However, determining the duration is not simply a function of how long it will take the spacecraft to execute the activities needed to achieve mission objectives. Instead, the effects of the interaction between the spacecraft and ground operators must also be taken into account. This paper describes a method, using "operations efficiency factors", to account for these effects for Mars surface missions. Typically, this level of analysis has not been performed until much later in the mission development cycle, and has not been able to influence mission or spacecraft design. Further, the notion of moving to sustainable operations during Prime Mission--and the effect that change would have on operations productivity and mission objective choices--has not been encountered until the most recent rover missions (MSL, the (now-cancelled) joint NASA-ESA 2018 Mars rover, and the proposed rover for Mars 2020). Since MSL had a single control center and sun-synchronous relay assets (like MER), estimates of productivity derived from MER prime and extended missions were used. However, Mars 2018's anticipated complexity (there would have been control centers in California and Italy, and a non-sun-synchronous relay asset) required the development of an explicit model of operations efficiency that could handle these complexities. In the case of the proposed Mars 2018 mission, the model was employed to assess the mission return of competing operations concepts, and as an input to component lifetime requirements. In this paper we provide examples of how to calculate the operations efficiency factor for a given operational configuration, and how to apply the factors to surface mission scenarios. This model can be applied to future missions to enable early effective trades between operations design, science mission

Mars MetNet Mission Payload Overview

Science.gov (United States)

Harri, A.-M.; Haukka, H.; Alexashkin, S.; Guerrero, H.; Schmidt, W.; Genzer, M.; Vazquez, L.

2012-09-01

A new kind of planetary exploration mission for Mars is being developed in collaboration between the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), Lavochkin Association (LA), Space Research Institute (IKI) and Institutio Nacional de Tecnica Aerospacial (INTA). The Mars MetNet mission [1] is based on a new semi-hard landing vehicle called MetNet Lander (MNL). The scientific payload of the Mars MetNet Precursor mission is divided into three categories: Atmospheric instruments, Optical devices and Composition and structure devices. Each of the payload instruments will provide crucial scientific data about the Martian atmospheric phenomena.

Mars MetNet Mission Status

Science.gov (United States)

Harri, Ari-Matti; Aleksashkin, Sergei; Arruego, Ignacio; Schmidt, Walter; Genzer, Maria; Vazquez, Luis; Haukka, Harri

2015-04-01

New kind of planetary exploration mission for Mars is under development in collaboration between the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), Lavochkin Association (LA), Space Research Institute (IKI) and Institutio Nacional de Tecnica Aerospacial (INTA). The Mars MetNet mission is based on a new semi-hard landing vehicle called MetNet Lander (MNL). The scientific payload of the Mars MetNet Precursor [1] mission is divided into three categories: Atmospheric instruments, Optical devices and Composition and structure devices. Each of the payload instruments will provide significant insights in to the Martian atmospheric behavior. The key technologies of the MetNet Lander have been qualified and the electrical qualification model (EQM) of the payload bay has been built and successfully tested. 1. MetNet Lander The MetNet landing vehicles are using an inflatable entry and descent system instead of rigid heat shields and parachutes as earlier semi-hard landing devices have used. This way the ratio of the payload mass to the overall mass is optimized. The landing impact will burrow the payload container into the Martian soil providing a more favorable thermal environment for the electronics and a suitable orientation of the telescopic boom with external sensors and the radio link antenna. It is planned to deploy several tens of MNLs on the Martian surface operating at least partly at the same time to allow meteorological network science. 2. Scientific Payload The payload of the two MNL precursor models includes the following instruments: Atmospheric instruments: 1. MetBaro Pressure device 2. MetHumi Humidity device 3. MetTemp Temperature sensors Optical devices: 1. PanCam Panoramic 2. MetSIS Solar irradiance sensor with OWLS optical wireless system for data transfer 3. DS Dust sensor The descent processes dynamic properties are monitored by a special 3-axis accelerometer combined with a 3-axis gyrometer. The data will be sent via auxiliary beacon antenna throughout the

Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) Mission Attitude Ground System Design

Science.gov (United States)

Sedlak, Joseph E.; Superfin, Emil; Raymond, Juan C.

2011-01-01

This paper describes the attitude ground system (AGS) design to be used for support of the Magnetospheric MultiScale (MMS) mission. The AGS exists as one component of the mission operations control center. It has responsibility for validating the onboard attitude and accelerometer bias estimates, calibrating the attitude sensors and the spacecraft inertia tensor, and generating a definitive attitude history for use by the science teams. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in Greenbelt, Maryland is responsible for developing the MMS spacecraft, for the overall management of the MMS mission, and for mission operations. MMS is scheduled for launch in 2014 for a planned two-year mission. The MMS mission consists of four identical spacecraft flying in a tetrahedral formation in an eccentric Earth orbit. The relatively tight formation, ranging from 10 to 400 km, will provide coordinated observations giving insight into small-scale magnetic field reconnection processes. By varying the size of the tetrahedron and the orbital semi-major axis and eccentricity, and making use of the changing solar phase, this geometry allows for the study of both bow shock and magnetotail plasma physics, including acceleration, reconnection, and turbulence. The mission divides into two phases for science; these phases will have orbit dimensions of l.2xl2 Earth radii in the first phase and l.2x25 Earth radii in the second in order to study the dayside magnetopause and the nightside magnetotail, respectively. The orbital periods are roughly one day and three days for the two mission phases. Each of the four MMS spacecraft will be spin stabilized at 3 revolutions per minute (rpm), with the spin axis oriented near the ecliptic north pole but tipped approximately 2.5 deg towards the Sun line. The main body of each spacecraft will be an eight-sided platform with diameter of 3.4 m and height of 1.2 m. Several booms are attached to this central core: two axial booms of 14.9 m length, two radial

Synoptic of the propositions of the greenhouse effect mission and the OPECST report; Synoptique des propositions de la Mission effet de serre et du rapport de l'OPECST

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nifenecker, H

2006-09-15

This synoptic provides an evaluation of the propositions for two reports on the climatic change: the report Mission of the Greenhouse effect of the National Assembly and the report OPECST of the Parliamentary Office of the Evaluation of the Scientific Choices and techniques. The evaluation concerns the reduction objectives, the implications of the local government, the formation information and mobilization, the financial aspects, the ternary sector and the buildings, the transports, the research programs, the energy, industry, enterprises and products. (A.L.B.)

Deep Space 2: The Mars Microprobe Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Smrekar, Suzanne; Catling, David; Lorenz, Ralph; Magalhães, Julio; Moersch, Jeffrey; Morgan, Paul; Murray, Bruce; Presley-Holloway, Marsha; Yen, Albert; Zent, Aaron; Blaney, Diana

The Mars Microprobe Mission will be the second of the New Millennium Program's technology development missions to planetary bodies. The mission consists of two penetrators that weigh 2.4 kg each and are being carried as a piggyback payload on the Mars Polar Lander cruise ring. The spacecraft arrive at Mars on December 3, 1999. The two identical penetrators will impact the surface at ~190 m/s and penetrate up to 0.6 m. They will land within 1 to 10 km of each other and ~50 km from the Polar Lander on the south polar layered terrain. The primary objective of the mission is to demonstrate technologies that will enable future science missions and, in particular, network science missions. A secondary goal is to acquire science data. A subsurface evolved water experiment and a thermal conductivity experiment will estimate the water content and thermal properties of the regolith. The atmospheric density, pressure, and temperature will be derived using descent deceleration data. Impact accelerometer data will be used to determine the depth of penetration, the hardness of the regolith, and the presence or absence of 10 cm scale layers.

AGILE: A gamma-ray mission

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tavani, M.; Caraveo, P.; Mereghetti, S.; Perotti, F.; Vercellone, S.; Barbiellini, G.; Budini, G.; Longo, F.; Prest, M.; Vallazza, E.; Cocco, V.; Morselli, A.; Picozza, P.; Pittori, C.; Costa, E.; Feroci, M.; Lapshov, I.; Morelli, E.; Rubini, A.; Soffitta, P.

2000-01-01

AGILE is an innovative, cost-effective gamma-ray mission selected by the Italian Space Agency for a Program of Small Scientific Missions. The AGILE gamma-ray imaging detector (GRID, made of a Silicon tracker and CsI Mini-Calorimeter) is designed to detect and image photons in the 30 MeV-50 GeV energy band with good sensitivity and very large field of view (FOV ∼3 sr). The X-ray detector, Super-AGILE, sensitive in the 10-40 keV band and integrated on top of the GRID gamma-ray tracker will provide imaging (1-3 arcmin) and moderate spectroscopy. For selected sky areas, AGILE might achieve a flux sensitivity (above 100 MeV) better than 5x10 -8 ph cm 2 s -1 at the completion of its scientific program. AGILE will operate as an Observatory open to the international community and is planned to be operational during the year 2002 for a nominal 2-year mission. It will be an ideal 'bridge' between EGRET and GLAST, and the only mission entirely dedicated to high-energy astrophysics above 30 MeV during that period

A brief history of Sandia's National security missions.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Drewien, Celeste A. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); O' Canna, Myra Lynn [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Stikar, John Anthony. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

2014-09-01

To help members of the workforce understand what factors contribute to Sandia National Laboratories national security mission, the authors describe the evolution of Sandias core mission and its other mission components. The mission of Sandia first as a division of Los Alamos and later as Sandia Corporation underlies our core nuclear weapon mission of today. Sandias mission changed in 1963 and twice more in the 1970s. This report should help staff and management appreciate the need for mission evolution. A clear definition and communication of a consistent corporate mission statement is still needed.

LISA Mission and System architectures and performances

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gath, Peter F; Weise, Dennis; Schulte, Hans-Reiner; Johann, Ulrich

2009-01-01

In the context of the LISA Mission Formulation Study, the LISA System was studied in detail and a new baseline architecture for the whole mission was established. This new baseline is the result of trade-offs on both, mission and system level. The paper gives an overview of the different mission scenarios and configurations that were studied in connection with their corresponding advantages and disadvantages as well as performance estimates. Differences in the required technologies and their influence on the overall performance budgets are highlighted for all configurations. For the selected baseline concept, a more detailed description of the configuration is given and open issues in the technologies involved are discussed.

LISA Mission and System architectures and performances

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gath, Peter F; Weise, Dennis; Schulte, Hans-Reiner; Johann, Ulrich, E-mail: peter.gath@astrium.eads.ne [Astrium GmbH Satellites, 88039 Friedrichshafen (Germany)

2009-03-01

In the context of the LISA Mission Formulation Study, the LISA System was studied in detail and a new baseline architecture for the whole mission was established. This new baseline is the result of trade-offs on both, mission and system level. The paper gives an overview of the different mission scenarios and configurations that were studied in connection with their corresponding advantages and disadvantages as well as performance estimates. Differences in the required technologies and their influence on the overall performance budgets are highlighted for all configurations. For the selected baseline concept, a more detailed description of the configuration is given and open issues in the technologies involved are discussed.

Lessons learned from IAEA fire safety missions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, S.P.

1998-01-01

The IAEA has conducted expert missions to evaluate fire safety at the following nuclear power plants: the Zaporozhe plant in the Ukraine, the Borselle plant in the Netherlands, the Medzamor plant in Armenia, the Karachi plant in Pakistan, the Temelin plant in the Czech Republic, and the Laguna Verde plant in Mexico. The scope of these missions varied in subject and depth. The teams sent from the IAEA consisted of external fire experts and IAEA staff. All the missions were of great use to the host countries. The participating experts also benefited significantly. A summary of the missions and their findings is given. (author)

Chandrayaan-2: India's First Soft-landing Mission to Moon

Science.gov (United States)

Mylswamy, Annadurai; Krishnan, A.; Alex, T. K.; Rama Murali, G. K.

2012-07-01

latitude location is preferred from scientific interest. Multiple communication links involving Rover-Lander-Earth, Orbiter-Earth and Rover-Orbiter will be implemented. Scientific Payloads:, The scientific payloads on orbiter include a Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC-2), an Imaging Infra-Red Spectrometer (IIRS), a Dual Band (L&S-Band) Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), a Collimated Large Area Soft x-ray Spectrometer (CLASS), and a Chandra's Atmospheric Composition Explorer(ChACE-2). TMC with two cameras will provide 3D imaging and DEM, while the IIRS will cover the 0.8-5 micron region at high spectral resolution using a grating spectrograph coupled to an active cooler based MCT array detector. It will provide information on mineral composition and detect OH and H2O and also measure thermal emission from the lunar surface. CLASS is an improved version of C1XS flown on Chandrayaan-1 and will employ swept charge detector (SCD) for detection of X-rays from lunar surface during solar flares.ChACE-2 is a modified version of ChACE-1, one of the instruments on Moon Impact Probe (MIP) that provided hints for the presence of water molecule in lunar exosphere. The Synthetic Aperture Radar will include both L (1.25 GHz) and S (2.5 GHz) bands with selectable resolution of up to a few meters. A radiating patch arrangement is designed for the integrated L-band and S-band antenna. There will be two payloads on the Rover: an Alpha Particle induced X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) and a Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) for studies of chemical composition and volatiles present in lunar surface material near the landing site. The Lander Craft will have suite of instruments to study both physical and chemical properties of the landing site. It will have direct communication link to Earth Stations. The Lander will also act as the relay for communication with the Rover. The design and development of the various mission elements as well as of the scientific payloads are currently in progress both in

The Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (HIAD) Mission Applications Study

Science.gov (United States)

Bose, David M.; Winski, Richard; Shidner, Jeremy; Zumwalt, Carlie; Johnston, Christopher O.; Komar, D. R.; Cheatwood, F. M.; Hughes, Stephen J.

2013-01-01

The objective of the HIAD Mission Applications Study is to quantify the benefits of HIAD infusion to the concept of operations of high priority exploration missions. Results of the study will identify the range of mission concepts ideally suited to HIADs and provide mission-pull to associated technology development programs while further advancing operational concepts associated with HIAD technology. A summary of Year 1 modeling and analysis results is presented covering missions focusing on Earth and Mars-based applications. Recommended HIAD scales are presented for near term and future mission opportunities and the associated environments (heating and structural loads) are described.

2015 Science Mission Directorate Technology Highlights

Science.gov (United States)

Seablom, Michael S.

2016-01-01

The role of the Science Mission Directorate (SMD) is to enable NASA to achieve its science goals in the context of the Nation's science agenda. SMD's strategic decisions regarding future missions and scientific pursuits are guided by Agency goals, input from the science community including the recommendations set forth in the National Research Council (NRC) decadal surveys and a commitment to preserve a balanced program across the major science disciplines. Toward this end, each of the four SMD science divisions -- Heliophysics, Earth Science, Planetary Science, and Astrophysics -- develops fundamental science questions upon which to base future research and mission programs. Often the breakthrough science required to answer these questions requires significant technological innovation, e.g., instruments or platforms with capabilities beyond the current state of the art. SMD's targeted technology investments fill technology gaps, enabling NASA to build the challenging and complex missions that accomplish groundbreaking science.

MIOSAT Mission Scenario and Design

Science.gov (United States)

Agostara, C.; Dionisio, C.; Sgroi, G.; di Salvo, A.

2008-08-01

MIOSAT ("Mssione Ottica su microSATellite") is a low-cost technological / scientific microsatellite mission for Earth Observation, funded by Italian Space Agency (ASI) and managed by a Group Agreement between Rheinmetall Italia - B.U. Spazio - Contraves as leader and Carlo Gavazzi Space as satellite manufacturer. Several others Italians Companies, SME and Universities are involved in the development team with crucial roles. MIOSAT is a microsatellite weighting around 120 kg and placed in a 525 km altitude sun-synchronuos circular LEO orbit. The microsatellite embarks three innovative optical payloads: Sagnac multi spectral radiometer (IFAC-CNR), Mach Zehender spectrometer (IMM-CNR), high resolution pancromatic camera (Selex Galileo). In addition three technological experiments will be tested in-flight. The first one is an heat pipe based on Marangoni effect with high efficiency. The second is a high accuracy Sun Sensor using COTS components and the last is a GNSS SW receiver that utilizes a Leon2 processor. Finally a new generation of 28% efficiency solar cells will be adopted for the power generation. The platform is highly agile and can tilt along and cross flight direction. The pointing accuracy is in the order of 0,1° for each axe. The pointing determination during images acquisition is <0,02° for the axis normal to the boresight and 0,04° for the boresight. This paper deals with MIOSAT mission scenario and definition, highlighting trade-offs for mission implementation. MIOSAT mission design has been constrained from challenging requirements in terms of satellite mass, mission lifetime, instrument performance, that have implied the utilization of satellite agility capability to improve instruments performance in terms of S/N and resolution. The instruments provide complementary measurements that can be combined in effective ways to exploit new applications in the fields of atmosphere composition analysis, Earth emissions, antropic phenomena, etc. The Mission

Micro-Pressure Sensors for Future Mars Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Catling, David C.

1996-01-01

The joint research interchange effort was directed at the following principal areas: u further development of NASA-Ames' Mars Micro-meteorology mission concept as a viable NASA space mission especially with regard to the science and instrument specifications u interaction with the flight team from NASA's New Millennium 'Deep-Space 2' (DS-2) mission with regard to selection and design of micro-pressure sensors for Mars u further development of micro-pressure sensors suitable for Mars The research work undertaken in the course of the Joint Research Interchange should be placed in the context of an ongoing planetary exploration objective to characterize the climate system on Mars. In particular, a network of small probes globally-distributed on the surface of the planet has often been cited as the only way to address this particular science goal. A team from NASA Ames has proposed such a mission called the Micrometeorology mission, or 'Micro-met' for short. Surface pressure data are all that are required, in principle, to calculate the Martian atmospheric circulation, provided that simultaneous orbital measurements of the atmosphere are also obtained. Consequently, in the proposed Micro-met mission a large number of landers would measure barometric pressure at various locations around Mars, each equipped with a micro-pressure sensor. Much of the time on the JRI was therefore spent working with the engineers and scientists concerned with Micro-met to develop this particular mission concept into a more realistic proposition.

A Korean perspective on megachurches as missional churches

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cornelius J.P. Niemandt

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Both the megachurch and the missional church are on-going global phenomena. Working from the premise that the church has to be missional, this article operates from a Korean perspective and researches whether a megachurch can be missional. The megachurch is not simply a very large church in terms of membership or the physical size of its building(s � because of the influence of the interaction between socio-cultural, historical, and theological backgrounds, the megachurch has its own missiological and ecclesiological perspectives. The megachurch understands that the growth of an individual church implies the expansion of the kingdom of God, which means that the individual church has a responsibility to be both functionally and structurally sound, in order to ensure the efficient growth of the kingdom. This is an influential tendency that is found not only in larger size churches, but in all churches who are trying to achieve the quantitative growth of the church by way of evangelisation. The Korean megachurches, represented by the Poongsunghan Church, display these characteristics. The missional church is not simply a mission-driven church, sending many missionaries to other countries; the missional church believes that all churches are sent to the world by God, who wants to reconcile the whole universe with himself. The implication of this is that the church has to restore its missional essence in order to be able to participate in the mission of God. Thus, the missional church is a reforming movement that witnesses to God�s rule by recovering its apostolic nature. The characteristics of this movement are clearly visible in one of the case studies � the Bundang Woori Church. The importance of the missional movement for Korean churches is emphasised.Interdisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The research is a case study of Korean megachurches from a missional perspective. The research represents a critique of practises in

Faith 7 L. Gordon Cooper, Jr., and the final Mercury mission

CERN Document Server

Burgess, Colin

2016-01-01

This book celebrates the final spaceflight in the Mercury series, flown by NASA astronaut Gordon Cooper, who led an adventurous life in the cockpit of airplanes and spacecraft alike, and on his Mercury mission he became the last American ever to rocket into space alone. He flew in the Mercury and Gemini programs and served as head of flight crew operations in both the Apollo and Skylab programs. His final Mercury mission closed out a pivotal chapter in American spaceflight. Based on extensive research and first-person interviews, this is a complete history of the Faith 7 flight and its astronaut. Cooper later gained notoriety following the release of the movie, The Right Stuff, in which he was depicted by Dennis Quaid, but Burgess discovers there was even more drama to his story. This recounting of the final Mercury 7 flight completes Burgess's investigation of the early spaceflight program in thrilling fashion.

Logistics Reduction Technologies for Exploration Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Broyan, James L., Jr.; Ewert, Michael K.; Fink, Patrick W.

2014-01-01

Human exploration missions under study are limited by the launch mass capacity of existing and planned launch vehicles. The logistical mass of crew items is typically considered separate from the vehicle structure, habitat outfitting, and life support systems. Although mass is typically the focus of exploration missions, due to its strong impact on launch vehicle and habitable volume for the crew, logistics volume also needs to be considered. NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Logistics Reduction and Repurposing (LRR) Project is developing six logistics technologies guided by a systems engineering cradle-to-grave approach to enable after-use crew items to augment vehicle systems. Specifically, AES LRR is investigating the direct reduction of clothing mass, the repurposing of logistical packaging, the use of autonomous logistics management technologies, the processing of spent crew items to benefit radiation shielding and water recovery, and the conversion of trash to propulsion gases. Reduction of mass has a corresponding and significant impact to logistical volume. The reduction of logistical volume can reduce the overall pressurized vehicle mass directly, or indirectly benefit the mission by allowing for an increase in habitable volume during the mission. The systematic implementation of these types of technologies will increase launch mass efficiency by enabling items to be used for secondary purposes and improve the habitability of the vehicle as mission durations increase. Early studies have shown that the use of advanced logistics technologies can save approximately 20 m(sup 3) of volume during transit alone for a six-person Mars conjunction class mission.

EOS Aqua: Mission Status at Earth Science Constellation

Science.gov (United States)

Guit, Bill

2016-01-01

This is an EOS Aqua Mission Status presentation to be given at the MOWG meeting in Albuquerque NM. The topics to discus are: mission summary, spacecraft subsystems summary, recent and planned activities, inclination adjust maneuvers, propellant usage and lifetime estimate, and mission summary.

Identification of Mission Sensitivities with Mission Modeling from the One System Organization at Hanford - 13292

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Belsher, Jeremy D.; Pierson, Kayla L. [Washington River Protection Solutions, LLC, Richland, WA 99352 (United States); Gimpel, Rod F. [One System - Waste Treatment Project, Richland, WA 99352 (United States)

2013-07-01

The Hanford site in southeast Washington contains approximately 207 million liters of radioactive and hazardous waste stored in 177 underground tanks. The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of River Protection is currently managing the Hanford waste treatment mission, which includes the storage, retrieval, treatment and disposal of the tank waste. Two recent studies, employing the modeling tools managed by the One System organization, have highlighted waste cleanup mission sensitivities. The Hanford Tank Waste Operations Simulator Sensitivity Study evaluated the impact that varying 21 different parameters had on the Hanford Tank Waste Operations Simulator model. It concluded that inaccuracies in the predicted phase partitioning of a few key components can result in significant changes in the waste treatment duration and in the amount of immobilized high-level waste that is produced. In addition, reducing the efficiency with which tank waste is retrieved and staged can increase mission duration. The 2012 WTP Tank Utilization Assessment concluded that flowsheet models need to include the latest low-activity waste glass algorithms or the waste treatment mission duration and the amount of low activity waste that is produced could be significantly underestimated. (authors)

Human missions to Mars: issues and challenges

Science.gov (United States)

Race, M.; Kminek, G.

Recent announcements of the planned future human exploration of Mars by both European and US space agencies have raised a host of questions and challenges that must be addressed in advance of long-duration human missions. While detailed mission planning is a long way off, numerous issues can already be identified in the broad context of planetary protection. In this session, a panel of experts will provide brief overviews of the types of challenges ahead, such as the protection of the martian environment; the integration of human and robotic mission elements and operations; precursor scientific information necessary to plan human missions; development and use of nuclear and other technologies for the protection and support of astronauts during the mission; protection of Earth upon return; and societal and ethical questions about human exploration. The session has been designed to encourage and incorporate audience participation in the discussion about the issues and challenges ahead.

Open Source Next Generation Visualization Software for Interplanetary Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Trimble, Jay; Rinker, George

2016-01-01

Mission control is evolving quickly, driven by the requirements of new missions, and enabled by modern computing capabilities. Distributed operations, access to data anywhere, data visualization for spacecraft analysis that spans multiple data sources, flexible reconfiguration to support multiple missions, and operator use cases, are driving the need for new capabilities. NASA's Advanced Multi-Mission Operations System (AMMOS), Ames Research Center (ARC) and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) are collaborating to build a new generation of mission operations software for visualization, to enable mission control anywhere, on the desktop, tablet and phone. The software is built on an open source platform that is open for contributions (http://nasa.github.io/openmct).

A trainlike vehicle for intervention missions inside nuclear plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Littmann, F.; Villedieu, E.; Chameaud, H.

1992-01-01

The Unite Robotique (part of the Direction of Advanced Technologies of Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique) has worked on nuclear robotics in the field of master/slave manipulators with their associated computer-aided teleoperation controls and mobile robots. The CENTAURE mobile robot is tracked (for stair climbing) and articulated (for obstacle crossing and turning on stair landings) with a mobile platform (for increasing stability), designed for inspection missions. For intervention missions, a vehicle is needed with larger payload capabilities (volume and mass) but with the same geometrical and environmental constraints. This paper deals with a new kind of trainlike vehicle designed for intervention missions inside nuclear facilities after an incident or accident. This idea was conceived in 1986 for the EUREKA program advanced mobile robot for civilian safety and is now entering a new phase with the TELEMAN program technology for advanced locomotion systems (in partnership with Kernforschungszentrum Karlsruhe for the locomotion and Cybernetix for the tests) with the building of a two-module linkage mockup and a locomotion mockup

The complete integration of MissionLab and CARMEN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

FJ Serrano Rodriguez

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Nowadays, a major challenge in the development of advanced robotic systems is the creation of complex missions for groups of robots, with two main restrictions: complex programming activities not needed and the mission configuration time should be short (e.g. Urban Search And Rescue. With these ideas in mind, we analysed several robotic development environments, such as Robot Operating System (ROS, Open Robot Control Software (OROCOS, MissionLab, Carnegie Mellon Robot Navigation Toolkit (CARMEN and Player/Stage, which are helpful when creating autonomous robots. MissionLab provides high-level features (automatic mission creation, code generation and a graphical mission editor that are unavailable in other significant robotic development environments. It has however some weaknesses regarding its map-based capabilities. Creating, managing and taking advantage of maps for localization and navigation tasks are among CARMEN’s most significant features. This fact makes the integration of MissionLab with CARMEN both possible and interesting. This article describes the resulting robotic development environment, which makes it possible to work with several robots, and makes use of their map-based navigation capabilities. It will be shown that the proposed platform solves the proposed goal, that is, it simplifies the programmer’s job when developing control software for robot teams, and it further facilitates multi-robot deployment task in mission-critical situations.

Manned Mars flyby mission and configuration concept

Science.gov (United States)

Young, Archie; Meredith, Ollie; Brothers, Bobby

1986-01-01

A concept is presented for a flyby mission of the planet. The mission was sized for the 2001 time period, has a crew of three, uses all propulsive maneuvers, and requires 442 days. Such a flyby mission results in significantly smaller vehicles than would a landing mission, but of course loses the value of the landing and the associated knowledge and prestige. Stay time in the planet vicinity is limited to the swingby trajectory but considerable time still exists for enroute science and research experiments. All propulsive braking was used in the concept due to unacceptable g-levels associated with aerobraking on this trajectory. LEO departure weight for the concept is approximately 594,000 pounds.

Nano-Satellite Secondary Spacecraft on Deep Space Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Klesh, Andrew T.; Castillo-Rogez, Julie C.

2012-01-01

NanoSat technology has opened Earth orbit to extremely low-cost science missions through a common interface that provides greater launch accessibility. They have also been used on interplanetary missions, but these missions have used one-off components and architectures so that the return on investment has been limited. A natural question is the role that CubeSat-derived NanoSats could play to increase the science return of deep space missions. We do not consider single instrument nano-satellites as likely to complete entire Discovery-class missions alone,but believe that nano-satellites could augment larger missions to significantly increase science return. The key advantages offered by these mini-spacecrafts over previous planetary probes is the common availability of advanced subsystems that open the door to a large variety of science experiments, including new guidance, navigation and control capabilities. In this paper, multiple NanoSat science applications are investigated, primarily for high risk/high return science areas. We also address the significant challenges and questions that remain as obstacles to the use of nano-satellites in deep space missions. Finally, we provide some thoughts on a development roadmap toward interplanetary usage of NanoSpacecraft.

Artificial intelligence techniques for scheduling Space Shuttle missions

Science.gov (United States)

Henke, Andrea L.; Stottler, Richard H.

1994-01-01

Planning and scheduling of NASA Space Shuttle missions is a complex, labor-intensive process requiring the expertise of experienced mission planners. We have developed a planning and scheduling system using combinations of artificial intelligence knowledge representations and planning techniques to capture mission planning knowledge and automate the multi-mission planning process. Our integrated object oriented and rule-based approach reduces planning time by orders of magnitude and provides planners with the flexibility to easily modify planning knowledge and constraints without requiring programming expertise.

STS-29 Commander Coats in JSC fixed base (FB) shuttle mission simulator (SMS)

Science.gov (United States)

1986-01-01

STS-29 Discovery, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 103, Commander Michael L. Coats sits at commanders station forward flight deck controls in JSC fixed base (FB) shuttle mission simulator (SMS). Coats, wearing communications kit assembly headset and flight coveralls, looks away from forward control panels to aft flight deck. Pilots station seat back appears in foreground. FB-SMS is located in JSC Mission Simulation and Training Facility Bldg 5.

13 CFR 108.120 - Economic development primary mission.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 13 Business Credit and Assistance 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Economic development primary mission. 108.120 Section 108.120 Business Credit and Assistance SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION NEW MARKETS... Economic development primary mission. The primary mission of a NMVC Company must be economic development of...

Cometary Coma Chemical Composition (C4) Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Carle, Glenn C.; Clark, Benton C.; Knocke, Philip C.; OHara, Bonnie J.; Adams, Larry; Niemann, Hasso B.; Alexander, Merle; Veverka, Joseph; Goldstein, Raymond; Huebner, Walter;

Low Thrust Trajectory Design for GSFC Missions

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The Evolutionary Mission Trajectory Generator (EMTG) is a global trajectory optimization tool. EMTG is intended for use in designing interplanetary missions which...

Component Verification and Certification in NASA Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Giannakopoulou, Dimitra; Penix, John; Norvig, Peter (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

Software development for NASA missions is a particularly challenging task. Missions are extremely ambitious scientifically, have very strict time frames, and must be accomplished with a maximum degree of reliability. Verification technologies must therefore be pushed far beyond their current capabilities. Moreover, reuse and adaptation of software architectures and components must be incorporated in software development within and across missions. This paper discusses NASA applications that we are currently investigating from these perspectives.

Human interactions during Shuttle/Mir space missions

Science.gov (United States)

Kanas, N.; Salnitskiy, V.; Grund, E. M.; Weiss, D. S.; Gushin, V.; Kozerenko, O.; Sled, A.; Marmar, C. R.

2001-01-01

To improve the interpersonal climate of crewmembers involved with long-duration space missions, it is important to understand the factors affecting their interactions with each other and with members of mission control. This paper will present findings from a recently completed NASA-funded study during the Shuttle/Mir program which evaluated in-group/out-group displacement of negative emotions; changes in tension, cohesion, and leader support over time; and cultural differences. In-flight data were collected from 5 astronauts, 8 cosmonauts, and 42 American and 16 Russian mission control personnel who signed informed consent. Subjects completed a weekly questionnaire that assessed their mood and perception of their work group's interpersonal climate using questions from well-known, standardized measures (Profile of Mood States, Group and Work Environment Scales) and a critical incident log. There was strong evidence for the displacement of tension and dysphoric emotions from crewmembers to mission control personnel and from mission control personnel to management. There was a perceived decrease in commander support during the 2nd half of the missions, and for American crewmembers a novelty effect was found on several subscales during the first few months on-orbit. There were a number of differences between American and Russian responses which suggested that the former were less happy with their interpersonal environment than the latter. Mission control personnel reported more tension and dysphoria than crewmembers, although both groups scored better than other work groups on Earth. Nearly all reported critical incidents came from ground subjects, with Americans and Russians showing important differences in response frequencies.

Possible LISA follow-on mission scientific objectives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bender, Peter L; Begelman, Mitchell C; Gair, Jonathan R

2013-01-01

A major objective that has been suggested for a follow-on mission to a Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA)-type mission is to investigate more completely how intermediate mass black holes were formed and grew in the early universe, before they evolved into the much more massive black holes at the centers of many galaxies today. The actual design of such a follow-on mission will of course depend on what is observed by a LISA-type mission, such as the recently modified proposal for an evolved LISA mission, with the interferometer arm lengths between spacecraft reduced from 5 million to 1 million km. However, the sensitivity goals of a follow-on mission are likely to be influenced strongly by the desire to be able to see mergers of 10 M ⊙ black holes with roughly 3000 M ⊙ or larger intermediate mass black holes out to as large redshifts as possible. Approximate calculations of the expected signal-to-noise have been made for a possible LISA follow-on mission that was suggested about eight years ago (Bender and Begelman 2005 Trends in Space Science and Cosmic Vision 2020 (Noordwijk: ESA Publications Division) pp 33–38), and was called the Advanced Laser Interferometer Antenna. Based on the calculations, it appears that detections out to a redshift of 10 would be possible for 10 M ⊙ black holes spiraling into perhaps 5000 M ⊙ or larger intermediate mass black holes if the extragalactic gravitational wave background due to close white dwarf binaries is in the currently estimated range. (paper)

Antenna System for Nano-satelite Mission GOMX-3

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tatomirescu, Alexandru; Pedersen, Gert F.; Christiansen, J.

2016-01-01

In this paper, we present the antenna design for a nano-satellite mission launched in September, the GOMX-3 mission. Some of the key design challenges are discussed and the chosen solutions are presented. In an effort to minimize development and manufacturing costs for future missions, this study...

Understanding NASA surface missions with the PDS Analyst's Notebook

Science.gov (United States)

Stein, T.

2011-10-01

Planetary data archives of surface missions contain data from numerous hosted instruments. Because of the nondeterministic nature of surface missions, it is not possible to assess the data without understanding the context in which they were collected. The PDS Analyst's Notebook (http://an.rsl.wustl.edu) provides access to Mars Exploration Rover (MER) [1] and Mars Phoenix Lander [2] data archives by integrating sequence information, engineering and science data, observation planning and targeting, and documentation into web-accessible pages to facilitate "mission replay." In addition, Lunar Apollo surface mission data archives and LCROSS mission data are available in the Analyst's Notebook concept, and a Notebook is planned for Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission.

Advances in Astromaterials Curation: Supporting Future Sample Return Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, C. A.; Zeigler, R. A.; Fries, M. D..; Righter, K.; Allton, J. H.; Zolensky, M. E.; Calaway, M. J.; Bell, M. S.

2015-01-01

NASA's Astromaterials, curated at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, are the most extensive, best-documented, and leastcontaminated extraterrestrial samples that are provided to the worldwide research community. These samples include lunar samples from the Apollo missions, meteorites collected over nearly 40 years of expeditions to Antarctica (providing samples of dozens of asteroid bodies, the Moon, and Mars), Genesis solar wind samples, cosmic dust collected by NASA's high altitude airplanes, Comet Wild 2 and interstellar dust samples from the Stardust mission, and asteroid samples from JAXA's Hayabusa mission. A full account of NASA's curation efforts for these collections is provided by Allen, et al [1]. On average, we annually allocate about 1500 individual samples from NASA's astromaterials collections to hundreds of researchers from around the world, including graduate students and post-doctoral scientists; our allocation rate has roughly doubled over the past 10 years. The curation protocols developed for the lunar samples returned from the Apollo missions remain relevant and are adapted to new and future missions. Several lessons from the Apollo missions, including the need for early involvement of curation scientists in mission planning [1], have been applied to all subsequent sample return campaigns. From the 2013 National Academy of Sciences report [2]: "Curation is the critical interface between sample return missions and laboratory research. Proper curation has maintained the scientific integrity and utility of the Apollo, Antarctic meteorite, and cosmic dust collections for decades. Each of these collections continues to yield important new science. In the past decade, new state-of-the-art curatorial facilities for the Genesis and Stardust missions were key to the scientific breakthroughs provided by these missions." The results speak for themselves: research on NASA's astromaterials result in hundreds of papers annually, yield fundamental

Space nuclear tug mission applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hodge, J.R.; Rauen, L.A.

1996-01-01

An initial assessment indicates that the NEBA-1 and NEBA-3 bimodal reactor designs can be integrated into a reusable tug which is capable of supporting many missions including GSO delivery, GSO retrieval, lunar trajectory deliveries, interplanetary deliveries, and a variety of satellite servicing. The tug close-quote s nuclear thermal propulsion provides timely transport and payload delivery, with GSO deliveries on the order of 3 endash 7 days. In general, the tug may provide a number of potential benefits to users. The tug may, for example, extend the life of an existing on-orbit spacecraft, boost spacecraft which were not delivered to their operational orbit, offer increased payload capability, or possibly allow payloads to launch on smaller less expensive launch vehicles. Reusing the tug for 5 or 10 missions requires total reactor burn times of 50 and 100 hours, respectively. Shielding, boom structure, and radiator requirements were identified as key factors in the configuration layout. Economic feasibility is still under evaluation, but preliminary estimates indicate that average flight costs may range from $32 M to $34 M for a 10-mission vehicle and from $39 M to $42 M for a 5-mission vehicle. copyright 1996 American Institute of Physics

The HAMMER: High altitude multiple mission environmental researcher

Science.gov (United States)

Hayashi, Darren; Zylla, Cara; Amaro, Ernesto; Colin, Phil; Klause, Thomas; Lopez, Bernardo; Williamson, Danna

1991-01-01

At the equator, the ozone layer ranges from 65,000 to 130,000+ feet which is beyond the capabilities of the ER-2, NASA's current high altitude reconnaissance aircraft. The Universities Space Research Association, in cooperation with NASA, is sponsoring an undergraduate program which is geared to designing an aircraft that can study the ozone layer at the equator. This aircraft must be able to satisfy four mission profiles. Mission one is a polar mission which ranges from Chile to the South Pole and back to Chile, a total range of 6000 n. mi. at 100,000 feet with a 2500 lb. payload. The second mission is also a polar mission with a decreased altitude of 70,000 feet and an increased payload of 4000 lb. For the third mission, the aircraft will take-off at NASA Ames, cruise at 100,000 feet carrying a 2500 lb. payload, and land in Puerto Montt, Chile. The final mission requires the aircraft to take-off at NASA Ames, cruise at 100,000 feet with a 1000 lb. payload, make an excursion to 120,000 feet, and land at Howard AFB, Panama. All three missions require that a subsonic Mach number is maintained due to constraints imposed by the air sampling equipment. The aircraft need not be manned for all four missions. Three aircraft configurations were determined to be the most suitable for meeting the above requirements. The performance of each configuration is analyzed to investigate the feasibility of the project requirements. In the event that a requirement can not be obtained within the given constraints, recommendations for proposal modifications are given.

Resumes of the Bird mission

Science.gov (United States)

Lorenz, E.; Borwald, W.; Briess, K.; Kayal, H.; Schneller, M.; Wuensten, Herbert

2004-11-01

The DLR micro satellite BIRD (Bi-spectral Infra Red Detection) was piggy- back launched with the Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C3 into a 570 km circular sun-synchronous orbit on 22 October 2001. The BIRD mission, fully funded by the DLR, answers topical technological and scientific questions related to the operation of a compact infra- red push-broom sensor system on board of a micro satellite and demonstrates new spacecraft bus technologies. BIRD mission control is conducted by DLR / GSOC in Oberpfaffenhofen. Commanding, data reception and data processing is performed via ground stations in Weilheim and Neustrelitz (Germany). The BIRD mission is a demonstrator for small satellite projects dedicated to the hazard detection and monitoring. In the year 2003 BIRD has been used in the ESA project FUEGOSAT to demonstrate the utilisation of innovative space technologies for fire risk management.

Strategic Approaches to Trading Science Objectives Against Measurements and Mission Design: Mission Architecture and Concept Maturation at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Science.gov (United States)

Case, K. E.; Nash, A. E., III

2017-12-01

Earth Science missions are increasingly challenged to improve our state of the art through more sophisticated hypotheses and inclusion of advanced technologies. However, science return needs to be constrained to the cost environment. Selectable mission concepts are the result of an overlapping Venn diagram of compelling science, feasible engineering solutions, and programmatic acceptable costs, regardless of whether the science investigation is Earth Venture or Decadal class. Since the last Earth Science and Applications Decadal Survey released in 2007, many new advanced technologies have emerged, in instrument, SmallSat flight systems, and launch service capabilities, enabling new mission architectures. These mission architectures may result in new thinking about how we achieve and collect science measurements, e.g., how to improve time-series measurements. We will describe how the JPL Formulation Office is structured to integrate methods, tools, and subject matter experts to span the mission concept development lifecycle, and assist Principal Investigators in maturing their mission ideas into realizable concepts.

Cost Analysis In A Multi-Mission Operations Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Newhouse, M.; Felton, L.; Bornas, N.; Botts, D.; Roth, K.; Ijames, G.; Montgomery, P.

2014-01-01

Spacecraft control centers have evolved from dedicated, single-mission or single missiontype support to multi-mission, service-oriented support for operating a variety of mission types. At the same time, available money for projects is shrinking and competition for new missions is increasing. These factors drive the need for an accurate and flexible model to support estimating service costs for new or extended missions; the cost model in turn drives the need for an accurate and efficient approach to service cost analysis. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Huntsville Operations Support Center (HOSC) at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) provides operations services to a variety of customers around the world. HOSC customers range from launch vehicle test flights; to International Space Station (ISS) payloads; to small, short duration missions; and has included long duration flagship missions. The HOSC recently completed a detailed analysis of service costs as part of the development of a complete service cost model. The cost analysis process required the team to address a number of issues. One of the primary issues involves the difficulty of reverse engineering individual mission costs in a highly efficient multimission environment, along with a related issue of the value of detailed metrics or data to the cost model versus the cost of obtaining accurate data. Another concern is the difficulty of balancing costs between missions of different types and size and extrapolating costs to different mission types. The cost analysis also had to address issues relating to providing shared, cloud-like services in a government environment, and then assigning an uncertainty or risk factor to cost estimates that are based on current technology, but will be executed using future technology. Finally the cost analysis needed to consider how to validate the resulting cost models taking into account the non-homogeneous nature of the available cost data and the

Launch Opportunities for Jupiter Missions Using the Gravity Assist

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Young-Joo Song

2004-06-01

Full Text Available Interplanetary trajectories using the gravity assists are studied for future Korean interplanetary missions. Verifications of the developed softwares and results were performed by comparing data from ESA's Mars Express mission and previous results. Among the Jupiter exploration mission scenarios, multi-planet gravity assist mission to Jupiter (Earth-Mars-Earth-Jupiter Gravity Assist, EMEJGA trajectory requires minimum launch energy (C3 of 29.231 km2/s2 with 4.6 years flight times. Others, such as direct mission and single-planet(Mars gravity assist mission, requires launch energy (C3 of 75.656 km^2/s^2 with 2.98 years flight times and 63.590 km2/s2 with 2.33 years flight times, respectively. These results show that the planetary gravity assists can reduce launch energy, while EMEJGA trajectory requires the longer flight time than the other missions.

Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) space to ground mission data architecture

Science.gov (United States)

Nelson, Jack L.; Ames, J.A.; Williams, J.; Patschke, R.; Mott, C.; Joseph, J.; Garon, H.; Mah, G.

2012-01-01

The Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) is a scientific endeavor to extend the longest continuous multi-spectral imaging record of Earth's land surface. The observatory consists of a spacecraft bus integrated with two imaging instruments; the Operational Land Imager (OLI), built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corporation in Boulder, Colorado, and the Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS), an in-house instrument built at the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). Both instruments are integrated aboard a fine-pointing, fully redundant, spacecraft bus built by Orbital Sciences Corporation, Gilbert, Arizona. The mission is scheduled for launch in January 2013. This paper will describe the innovative end-to-end approach for efficiently managing high volumes of simultaneous realtime and playback of image and ancillary data from the instruments to the reception at the United States Geological Survey's (USGS) Landsat Ground Network (LGN) and International Cooperator (IC) ground stations. The core enabling capability lies within the spacecraft Command and Data Handling (C&DH) system and Radio Frequency (RF) communications system implementation. Each of these systems uniquely contribute to the efficient processing of high speed image data (up to 265Mbps) from each instrument, and provide virtually error free data delivery to the ground. Onboard methods include a combination of lossless data compression, Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) data formatting, a file-based/managed Solid State Recorder (SSR), and Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) forward error correction. The 440 Mbps wideband X-Band downlink uses Class 1 CCSDS File Delivery Protocol (CFDP), and an earth coverage antenna to deliver an average of 400 scenes per day to a combination of LGN and IC ground stations. This paper will also describe the integrated capabilities and processes at the LGN ground stations for data reception using adaptive filtering, and the mission operations approach fro- the LDCM

Blast-Off on Mission: SPACE

Science.gov (United States)

2003-01-01

Part of NASA's mission is to inspire the next generation of explorers. NASA often reaches children - the inventors of tomorrow - through teachers, reporters, exhibit designers, and other third-party entities. Therefore, when Walt Disney Imagineering, the creative force behind the planning, design, and construction of Disney parks and resorts around the world, approached NASA with the desire to put realism into its Mission: SPACE project, the Agency was happy to offer its insight.

Space Mission Concept Development Using Concept Maturity Levels

Science.gov (United States)

Wessen, Randii R.; Borden, Chester; Ziemer, John; Kwok, Johnny

2013-01-01

Over the past five years, pre-project formulation experts at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has developed and implemented a method for measuring and communicating the maturity of space mission concepts. Mission concept development teams use this method, and associated tools, prior to concepts entering their Formulation Phases (Phase A/B). The organizing structure is Concept Maturity Level (CML), which is a classification system for characterizing the various levels of a concept's maturity. The key strength of CMLs is the ability to evolve mission concepts guided by an incremental set of assessment needs. The CML definitions have been expanded into a matrix form to identify the breadth and depth of analysis needed for a concept to reach a specific level of maturity. This matrix enables improved assessment and communication by addressing the fundamental dimensions (e.g., science objectives, mission design, technical risk, project organization, cost, export compliance, etc.) associated with mission concept evolution. JPL's collaborative engineering, dedicated concept development, and proposal teams all use these and other CML-appropriate design tools to advance their mission concept designs. This paper focuses on mission concept's early Pre-Phase A represented by CMLs 1- 4. The scope was limited due to the fact that CMLs 5 and 6 are already well defined based on the requirements documented in specific Announcement of Opportunities (AO) and Concept Study Report (CSR) guidelines, respectively, for competitive missions; and by NASA's Procedural Requirements NPR 7120.5E document for Projects in their Formulation Phase.

Mission statements: selling corporate values to employees.

Science.gov (United States)

Klemm, M; Sanderson, S; Luffman, G

1991-06-01

This article investigates the reasons for the increasing use of the Company Mission Statement. Using information from a survey of U.K. companies in 1989 it looks at the types of statements issued by companies, their content, usage, and value to managers. Of particular interest is whether the mission is primarily used for the motivation of staff, or for external image building. Related issues are the value of the mission drafting process in bringing managers together to agree common objectives and the use of a hierarchy of statements to reconcile internal and external stakeholders' interests. The conclusion is that the Mission, which includes a statement of company values, is an important tool for managers to assert their leadership within the organization.

A Cubesat Asteroid Mission: Propulsion Trade-offs

Science.gov (United States)

Landis, Geoffrey A.; Oleson, Steven R.; McGuire, Melissa L.; Bur, Michael J.; Burke, Laura M.; Fittje, James E.; Kohout, Lisa L.; Fincannon, James; Packard, Thomas W.; Martini, Michael C.

2014-01-01

A conceptual design was performed for a 6-U cubesat for a technology demonstration to be launched on the NASA Space Launch System (SLS) test launch EM-1, to be launched into a free-return translunar trajectory. The mission purpose was to demonstrate use of electric propulsion systems on a small satellite platform. The candidate objective chosen was a mission to visit a Near-Earth asteroid. Both asteroid fly-by and asteroid rendezvous missions were analyzed. Propulsion systems analyzed included cold-gas thruster systems, Hall and ion thrusters, incorporating either Xenon or Iodine propellant, and an electrospray thruster. The mission takes advantage of the ability of the SLS launch to place it into an initial trajectory of C3=0.

Robustness of mission plans for unmanned aircraft

Science.gov (United States)

Niendorf, Moritz

This thesis studies the robustness of optimal mission plans for unmanned aircraft. Mission planning typically involves tactical planning and path planning. Tactical planning refers to task scheduling and in multi aircraft scenarios also includes establishing a communication topology. Path planning refers to computing a feasible and collision-free trajectory. For a prototypical mission planning problem, the traveling salesman problem on a weighted graph, the robustness of an optimal tour is analyzed with respect to changes to the edge costs. Specifically, the stability region of an optimal tour is obtained, i.e., the set of all edge cost perturbations for which that tour is optimal. The exact stability region of solutions to variants of the traveling salesman problems is obtained from a linear programming relaxation of an auxiliary problem. Edge cost tolerances and edge criticalities are derived from the stability region. For Euclidean traveling salesman problems, robustness with respect to perturbations to vertex locations is considered and safe radii and vertex criticalities are introduced. For weighted-sum multi-objective problems, stability regions with respect to changes in the objectives, weights, and simultaneous changes are given. Most critical weight perturbations are derived. Computing exact stability regions is intractable for large instances. Therefore, tractable approximations are desirable. The stability region of solutions to relaxations of the traveling salesman problem give under approximations and sets of tours give over approximations. The application of these results to the two-neighborhood and the minimum 1-tree relaxation are discussed. Bounds on edge cost tolerances and approximate criticalities are obtainable likewise. A minimum spanning tree is an optimal communication topology for minimizing the cumulative transmission power in multi aircraft missions. The stability region of a minimum spanning tree is given and tolerances, stability balls

CHEOPS: A transit photometry mission for ESA's small mission programme

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Queloz D.

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Ground based radial velocity (RV searches continue to discover exoplanets below Neptune mass down to Earth mass. Furthermore, ground based transit searches now reach milli-mag photometric precision and can discover Neptune size planets around bright stars. These searches will find exoplanets around bright stars anywhere on the sky, their discoveries representing prime science targets for further study due to the proximity and brightness of their host stars. A mission for transit follow-up measurements of these prime targets is currently lacking. The first ESA S-class mission CHEOPS (CHaracterizing ExoPlanet Satellite will fill this gap. It will perform ultra-high precision photometric monitoring of selected bright target stars almost anywhere on the sky with sufficient precision to detect Earth sized transits. It will be able to detect transits of RV-planets by photometric monitoring if the geometric configuration results in a transit. For Hot Neptunes discovered from the ground, CHEOPS will be able to improve the transit light curve so that the radius can be determined precisely. Because of the host stars' brightness, high precision RV measurements will be possible for all targets. All planets observed in transit by CHEOPS will be validated and their masses will be known. This will provide valuable data for constraining the mass-radius relation of exoplanets, especially in the Neptune-mass regime. During the planned 3.5 year mission, about 500 targets will be observed. There will be 20% of open time available for the community to develop new science programmes.

Planetary protection implementation on future Mars lander missions

Science.gov (United States)

Howell, Robert; Devincenzi, Donald L.

1993-01-01

A workshop was convened to discuss the subject of planetary protection implementation for Mars lander missions. It was sponsored and organized by the Exobiology Implementation Team of the U.S./Russian Joint Working Group on Space Biomedical and Life Support Systems. The objective of the workshop was to discuss planetary protection issues for the Russian Mars '94 mission, which is currently under development, as well as for additional future Mars lander missions including the planned Mars '96 and U.S. MESUR Pathfinder and Network missions. A series of invited presentations was made to ensure that workshop participants had access to information relevant to the planned discussions. The topics summarized in this report include exobiology science objectives for Mars exploration, current international policy on planetary protection, planetary protection requirements developed for earlier missions, mission plans and designs for future U.S. and Russian Mars landers, biological contamination of spacecraft components, and techniques for spacecraft bioload reduction. In addition, the recent recommendations of the U.S. Space Studies Board (SSB) on this subject were also summarized. Much of the discussion focused on the recommendations of the SSB. The SSB proposed relaxing the planetary protection requirements for those Mars lander missions that do not contain life detection experiments, but maintaining Viking-like requirements for those missions that do contain life detection experiments. The SSB recommendations were found to be acceptable as a guide for future missions, although many questions and concerns about interpretation were raised and are summarized. Significant among the concerns was the need for more quantitative guidelines to prevent misinterpretation by project offices and better access to and use of the Viking data base of bioassays to specify microbial burden targets. Among the questions raised were how will the SSB recommendations be integrated with existing

Planetary protection implementation on future Mars lander missions

Science.gov (United States)

Howell, Robert; Devincenzi, Donald L.

1993-06-01

A workshop was convened to discuss the subject of planetary protection implementation for Mars lander missions. It was sponsored and organized by the Exobiology Implementation Team of the U.S./Russian Joint Working Group on Space Biomedical and Life Support Systems. The objective of the workshop was to discuss planetary protection issues for the Russian Mars '94 mission, which is currently under development, as well as for additional future Mars lander missions including the planned Mars '96 and U.S. MESUR Pathfinder and Network missions. A series of invited presentations was made to ensure that workshop participants had access to information relevant to the planned discussions. The topics summarized in this report include exobiology science objectives for Mars exploration, current international policy on planetary protection, planetary protection requirements developed for earlier missions, mission plans and designs for future U.S. and Russian Mars landers, biological contamination of spacecraft components, and techniques for spacecraft bioload reduction. In addition, the recent recommendations of the U.S. Space Studies Board (SSB) on this subject were also summarized. Much of the discussion focused on the recommendations of the SSB. The SSB proposed relaxing the planetary protection requirements for those Mars lander missions that do not contain life detection experiments, but maintaining Viking-like requirements for those missions that do contain life detection experiments. The SSB recommendations were found to be acceptable as a guide for future missions, although many questions and concerns about interpretation were raised and are summarized. Significant among the concerns was the need for more quantitative guidelines to prevent misinterpretation by project offices and better access to and use of the Viking data base of bio-assays to specify microbial burden targets. Among the questions raised were how will the SSB recommendations be integrated with existing

IMPaCT - Integration of Missions, Programs, and Core Technologies

Science.gov (United States)

Balacuit, Carlos P.; Cutts, James A.; Peterson, Craig E.; Beauchamp, Patricia M.; Jones, Susan K.; Hang, Winnie N.; Dastur, Shahin D.

2013-01-01

IMPaCT enables comprehensive information on current NASA missions, prospective future missions, and the technologies that NASA is investing in, or considering investing in, to be accessed from a common Web-based interface. It allows dependencies to be established between missions and technology, and from this, the benefits of investing in individual technologies can be determined. The software also allows various scenarios for future missions to be explored against resource constraints, and the nominal cost and schedule of each mission to be modified in an effort to fit within a prescribed budget.

Missions and planning for nuclear space power

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buden, D.

1979-01-01

Requirements for electrical and propulsion power for space are expected to increase dramatically in the 1980s. Nuclear power is probably the only source for some deep space missions and a major competitor for many orbital missions, especially those at geosynchronous orbit. Because of the potential requirements, a technology program on reactor components has been initiated by the Department of Energy. The missions that are foreseen, the current reactor concept, and the technology program plan are described

Formation Control for the MAXIM Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Luquette, Richard J.; Leitner, Jesse; Gendreau, Keith; Sanner, Robert M.

2004-01-01

Over the next twenty years, a wave of change is occurring in the space-based scientific remote sensing community. While the fundamental limits in the spatial and angular resolution achievable in spacecraft have been reached, based on today s technology, an expansive new technology base has appeared over the past decade in the area of Distributed Space Systems (DSS). A key subset of the DSS technology area is that which covers precision formation flying of space vehicles. Through precision formation flying, the baselines, previously defined by the largest monolithic structure which could fit in the largest launch vehicle fairing, are now virtually unlimited. Several missions including the Micro-Arcsecond X-ray Imaging Mission (MAXIM), and the Stellar Imager will drive the formation flying challenges to achieve unprecedented baselines for high resolution, extended-scene, interferometry in the ultraviolet and X-ray regimes. This paper focuses on establishing the feasibility for the formation control of the MAXIM mission. MAXIM formation flying requirements are on the order of microns, while Stellar Imager mission requirements are on the order of nanometers. This paper specifically addresses: (1) high-level science requirements for these missions and how they evolve into engineering requirements; and (2) the development of linearized equations of relative motion for a formation operating in an n-body gravitational field. Linearized equations of motion provide the ground work for linear formation control designs.

Red Dragon drill missions to Mars

Science.gov (United States)

Heldmann, Jennifer L.; Stoker, Carol R.; Gonzales, Andrew; McKay, Christopher P.; Davila, Alfonso; Glass, Brian J.; Lemke, Larry L.; Paulsen, Gale; Willson, David; Zacny, Kris

2017-12-01

We present the concept of using a variant of a Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) Dragon space capsule as a low-cost, large-capacity, near-term, Mars lander (dubbed ;Red Dragon;) for scientific and human precursor missions. SpaceX initially designed the Dragon capsule for flight near Earth, and Dragon has successfully flown many times to low-Earth orbit (LEO) and successfully returned the Dragon spacecraft to Earth. Here we present capsule hardware modifications that are required to enable flight to Mars and operations on the martian surface. We discuss the use of the Dragon system to support NASA Discovery class missions to Mars and focus in particular on Dragon's applications for drilling missions. We find that a Red Dragon platform is well suited for missions capable of drilling deeper on Mars (at least 2 m) than has been accomplished to date due to its ability to land in a powered controlled mode, accommodate a long drill string, and provide payload space for sample processing and analysis. We show that a Red Dragon drill lander could conduct surface missions at three possible targets including the ice-cemented ground at the Phoenix landing site (68 °N), the subsurface ice discovered near the Viking 2 (49 °N) site by fresh impact craters, and the dark sedimentary subsurface material at the Curiosity site (4.5 °S).

Nuclear risk analysis of the Ulysses mission

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bartram, B.W.; Vaughan, F.R.; Englehart, D.R.W.

1991-01-01

The use of a radioisotope thermoelectric generator fueled with plutonium-238 dioxide on the Space Shuttle-launched Ulysses mission implies some level of risk due to potential accidents. This paper describes the method used to quantify risks in the Ulysses mission Final Safety Analysis Report prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy. The starting point for the analysis described herein is following input of source term probability distributions from the General Electric Company. A Monte Carlo technique is used to develop probability distributions of radiological consequences for a range of accident scenarios thoughout the mission. Factors affecting radiological consequences are identified, the probability distribution of the effect of each factor determined, and the functional relationship among all the factors established. The probability distributions of all the factor effects are then combined using a Monte Carlo technique. The results of the analysis are presented in terms of complementary cumulative distribution functions (CCDF) by mission sub-phase, phase, and the overall mission. The CCDFs show the total probability that consequences (calculated health effects) would be equal to or greater than a given value

Accessing Information on the Mars Exploration Rovers Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Walton, J. D.; Schreiner, J. A.

2005-12-01

In January 2004, the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) mission successfully deployed two robotic geologists - Spirit and Opportunity - to opposite sides of the red planet. Onboard each rover is an array of cameras and scientific instruments that send data back to Earth, where ground-based systems process and store the information. During the height of the mission, a team of about 250 scientists and engineers worked around the clock to analyze the collected data, determine a strategy and activities for the next day and then carefully compose the command sequences that would instruct the rovers in how to perform their tasks. The scientists and engineers had to work closely together to balance the science objectives with the engineering constraints so that the mission achieved its goals safely and quickly. To accomplish this coordinated effort, they adhered to a tightly orchestrated schedule of meetings and processes. To keep on time, it was critical that all team members were aware of what was happening, knew how much time they had to complete their tasks, and could easily access the information they need to do their jobs. Computer scientists and software engineers at NASA Ames Research Center worked closely with the mission managers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to create applications that support the mission. One such application, the Collaborative Information Portal (CIP), helps mission personnel perform their daily tasks, whether they work inside mission control or the science areas at JPL, or in their homes, schools, or offices. With a three-tiered, service-oriented architecture (SOA) - client, middleware, and data repository - built using Java and commercial software, CIP provides secure access to mission schedules and to data and images transmitted from the Mars rovers. This services-based approach proved highly effective for building distributed, flexible applications, and is forming the basis for the design of future mission software systems. Almost two

Mars Mission Concepts: SAR and Solar Electric Propulsion

Science.gov (United States)

Elsperman, M.; Klaus, K.; Smith, D. B.; Clifford, S. M.; Lawrence, S. J.

2012-12-01

Introduction: The time has come to leverage technology advances (including advances in autonomous operation and propulsion technology) to reduce the cost and increase the flight rate of planetary missions, while actively developing a scientific and engineering workforce to achieve national space objectives. Mission Science at Mars: A SAR imaging radar offers an ability to conduct high resolution investigations of the shallow (Models uniquely useful for exploration planning and science purposes. Since the SAR and the notional high-resolution stereo imaging system would be huge data volume producers - to maximize the science return we are currently considering the usage of laser communications systems; this notional spacecraft represents one pathway to evaluate the utility of laser communications in planetary exploration while providing useful science return.. Mission Concept: Using a common space craft for multiple missions reduces costs. Solar electric propulsion (SEP) provides the flexibility required for multiple mission objectives. SEP provides the greatest payload advantage albeit at the sacrifice of mission time. Our concept involves using a SEP enabled space craft (Boeing 702SP) with a highly capable SAR imager that also conducts autonomous rendezvous and docking experiments accomplished from Mars orbit. Our concept of operations is to launch on May 5, 2018 using a launch vehicle with 2000kg launch capacity with a C3 of 7.4. After reaching Mars it takes 145 days to spiral down to a 250 km orbit above the surface of Mars when Mars SAR operations begin. Summary/Conclusions: A robust and compelling Mars mission can be designed to meet the 2018 Mars launch window opportunity. Using advanced in-space power and propulsion technologies like High Power Solar Electric Propulsion provides enormous mission flexibility to execute the baseline science mission and conduct necessary Mars Sample Return Technology Demonstrations in Mars orbit on the same mission. An

Mission analysis report for single-shell tank leakage mitigation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cruse, J.M.

1994-01-01

This document provides an analysis of the leakage mitigation mission applicable to past and potential future leakage from the Hanford Site's 149 single-shell high-level waste tanks. This mission is a part of the overall missions of the Westinghouse Hanford Company Tank Waste Remediation System division to remediate the tank waste in a safe and acceptable manner. Systems engineers principles are being applied to this effort. Mission analysis supports early decision making by clearly defining program objectives. This documents identifies the initial conditions and acceptable final conditions, defines the programmatic and physical interfaces and constraints, estimates the resources to carry out the mission, and establishes measures of success. The results of the mission analysis provide a consistent basis for subsequent systems engineering work

The Ionospheric Connection Explorer Mission: Mission Goals and Design

Science.gov (United States)

Immel, T. J.; England, S. L.; Mende, S. B.; Heelis, R. A.; Englert, C. R.; Edelstein, J.; Frey, H. U.; Korpela, E. J.; Taylor, E. R.; Craig, W. W.; Harris, S. E.; Bester, M.; Bust, G. S.; Crowley, G.; Forbes, J. M.; Gérard, J.-C.; Harlander, J. M.; Huba, J. D.; Hubert, B.; Kamalabadi, F.; Makela, J. J.; Maute, A. I.; Meier, R. R.; Raftery, C.; Rochus, P.; Siegmund, O. H. W.; Stephan, A. W.; Swenson, G. R.; Frey, S.; Hysell, D. L.; Saito, A.; Rider, K. A.; Sirk, M. M.

2018-02-01

The Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON, is a new NASA Explorer mission that will explore the boundary between Earth and space to understand the physical connection between our world and our space environment. This connection is made in the ionosphere, which has long been known to exhibit variability associated with the sun and solar wind. However, it has been recognized in the 21st century that equally significant changes in ionospheric conditions are apparently associated with energy and momentum propagating upward from our own atmosphere. ICON's goal is to weigh the competing impacts of these two drivers as they influence our space environment. Here we describe the specific science objectives that address this goal, as well as the means by which they will be achieved. The instruments selected, the overall performance requirements of the science payload and the operational requirements are also described. ICON's development began in 2013 and the mission is on track for launch in 2018. ICON is developed and managed by the Space Sciences Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, with key contributions from several partner institutions.

The Europa Clipper Mission Concept

Science.gov (United States)

Pappalardo, Robert; Goldstein, Barry; Magner, Thomas; Prockter, Louise; Senske, David; Paczkowski, Brian; Cooke, Brian; Vance, Steve; Wes Patterson, G.; Craft, Kate

2014-05-01

A NASA-appointed Science Definition Team (SDT), working closely with a technical team from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), recently considered options for a future strategic mission to Europa, with the stated science goal: Explore Europa to investigate its habitability. The group considered several mission options, which were fully technically developed, then costed and reviewed by technical review boards and planetary science community groups. There was strong convergence on a favored architecture consisting of a spacecraft in Jupiter orbit making many close flybys of Europa, concentrating on remote sensing to explore the moon. Innovative mission design would use gravitational perturbations of the spacecraft trajectory to permit flybys at a wide variety of latitudes and longitudes, enabling globally distributed regional coverage of the moon's surface, with nominally 45 close flybys at altitudes from 25 to 100 km. We will present the science and reconnaissance goals and objectives, a mission design overview, and the notional spacecraft for this concept, which has become known as the Europa Clipper. The Europa Clipper concept provides a cost-efficient means to explore Europa and investigate its habitability, through understanding the satellite's ice and ocean, composition, and geology. The set of investigations derived from the Europa Clipper science objectives traces to a notional payload for science, consisting of: Ice Penetrating Radar (for sounding of ice-water interfaces within and beneath the ice shell), Topographical Imager (for stereo imaging of the surface), ShortWave Infrared Spectrometer (for surface composition), Neutral Mass Spectrometer (for atmospheric composition), Magnetometer and Langmuir Probes (for inferring the satellite's induction field to characterize an ocean), and Gravity Science (to confirm an ocean).The mission would also include the capability to perform reconnaissance for a future lander

78 FR 38690 - Aerospace Executive Service Trade Mission at the Singapore Airshow 2014

Science.gov (United States)

2013-06-27

... of a U.S. firm and have at least 51 percent U.S. content of the value of the finished product or... http://www.singaporeair show.com .sg/. Selection Criteria for Participation Selection will be based on.... Timeframe for Recruitment and Applications Mission recruitment will be conducted in an open and public...

Software engineering processes for Class D missions

Science.gov (United States)

Killough, Ronnie; Rose, Debi

2013-09-01

Software engineering processes are often seen as anathemas; thoughts of CMMI key process areas and NPR 7150.2A compliance matrices can motivate a software developer to consider other career fields. However, with adequate definition, common-sense application, and an appropriate level of built-in flexibility, software engineering processes provide a critical framework in which to conduct a successful software development project. One problem is that current models seem to be built around an underlying assumption of "bigness," and assume that all elements of the process are applicable to all software projects regardless of size and tolerance for risk. This is best illustrated in NASA's NPR 7150.2A in which, aside from some special provisions for manned missions, the software processes are to be applied based solely on the criticality of the software to the mission, completely agnostic of the mission class itself. That is, the processes applicable to a Class A mission (high priority, very low risk tolerance, very high national significance) are precisely the same as those applicable to a Class D mission (low priority, high risk tolerance, low national significance). This paper will propose changes to NPR 7150.2A, taking mission class into consideration, and discuss how some of these changes are being piloted for a current Class D mission—the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS).

Preliminary analysis of space mission applications for electromagnetic launchers

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, L. A.; Rice, E. E.; Earhart, R. W.; Conlon, R. J.

1984-01-01

The technical and economic feasibility of using electromagnetically launched EML payloads propelled from the Earth's surface to LEO, GEO, lunar orbit, or to interplanetary space was assessed. Analyses of the designs of rail accelerators and coaxial magnetic accelerators show that each is capable of launching to space payloads of 800 KG or more. A hybrid launcher in which EML is used for the first 2 KM/sec followed by chemical rocket stages was also tested. A cost estimates study shows that one to two EML launches per day are needed to break even, compared to a four-stage rocket. Development models are discussed for: (1) Earth orbital missions; (2) lunar base supply mission; (3) solar system escape mission; (4) Earth escape missions; (5) suborbital missions; (6) electromagnetic boost missions; and (7) space-based missions. Safety factors, environmental impacts, and EML systems analysis are discussed. Alternate systems examined include electrothermal thrustors, an EML rocket gun; an EML theta gun, and Soviet electromagnetic accelerators.

CEO Sites Mission Management System (SMMS)

Science.gov (United States)

Trenchard, Mike

2014-01-01

Late in fiscal year 2011, the Crew Earth Observations (CEO) team was tasked to upgrade its science site database management tool, which at the time was integrated with the Automated Mission Planning System (AMPS) originally developed for Earth Observations mission planning in the 1980s. Although AMPS had been adapted and was reliably used by CEO for International Space Station (ISS) payload operations support, the database structure was dated, and the compiler required for modifications would not be supported in the Windows 7 64-bit operating system scheduled for implementation the following year. The Sites Mission Management System (SMMS) is now the tool used by CEO to manage a heritage Structured Query Language (SQL) database of more than 2,000 records for Earth science sites. SMMS is a carefully designed and crafted in-house software package with complete and detailed help files available for the user and meticulous internal documentation for future modifications. It was delivered in February 2012 for test and evaluation. Following acceptance, it was implemented for CEO mission operations support in April 2012. The database spans the period from the earliest systematic requests for astronaut photography during the shuttle era to current ISS mission support of the CEO science payload. Besides logging basic image information (site names, locations, broad application categories, and mission requests), the upgraded database management tool now tracks dates of creation, modification, and activation; imagery acquired in response to requests; the status and location of ancillary site information; and affiliations with studies, their sponsors, and collaborators. SMMS was designed to facilitate overall mission planning in terms of site selection and activation and provide the necessary site parameters for the Satellite Tool Kit (STK) Integrated Message Production List Editor (SIMPLE), which is used by CEO operations to perform daily ISS mission planning. The CEO team

Hybrid rocket propulsion systems for outer planet exploration missions

Science.gov (United States)

Jens, Elizabeth T.; Cantwell, Brian J.; Hubbard, G. Scott

2016-11-01

Outer planet exploration missions require significant propulsive capability, particularly to achieve orbit insertion. Missions to explore the moons of outer planets place even more demanding requirements on propulsion systems, since they involve multiple large ΔV maneuvers. Hybrid rockets present a favorable alternative to conventional propulsion systems for many of these missions. They typically enjoy higher specific impulse than solids, can be throttled, stopped/restarted, and have more flexibility in their packaging configuration. Hybrids are more compact and easier to throttle than liquids and have similar performance levels. In order to investigate the suitability of these propulsion systems for exploration missions, this paper presents novel hybrid motor designs for two interplanetary missions. Hybrid propulsion systems for missions to Europa and Uranus are presented and compared to conventional in-space propulsion systems. The hybrid motor design for each of these missions is optimized across a range of parameters, including propellant selection, O/F ratio, nozzle area ratio, and chamber pressure. Details of the design process are described in order to provide guidance for researchers wishing to evaluate hybrid rocket motor designs for other missions and applications.

Optimization of vehicle weight for Mars excursion missions

Science.gov (United States)

Ferebee, Melvin J., Jr.

1991-01-01

The excursion class mission to Mars is defined as a mission with one year durations coupled with a stay time of up to 30 days. The fuel budget for such a mission is investigated. The overall figure of merit in such an assessment is the vehicle weight ratio, the ratio between the wet vehicle weight to the dry vehicle weight. It is necessary to minimize the overall fuel budget for the mission in order to maximize the benefits that could be obtained by sending humans to Mars. Assumptions used in the analysis are: each mission will depart and terminate in low-earth-orbit (LEO) (500 km circular) and the maximum stay time at Mars is 30 days. The maximum mission duration is one year (355-375 days). The mass returned to LEO is 135,000 kg, the dropoff mass left at Mars is 168,000 kg. Three propulsive techniques for atmospheric interface are investigated: aerobraking, all-chemical propulsion, and nuclear thermal propulsion. By defining the fuel requirements, the space transfer vehicle's configuration is defined.

Proceedings from the 2nd International Symposium on Formation Flying Missions and Technologies

Science.gov (United States)

2004-01-01

Topics discussed include: The Stellar Imager (SI) "Vision Mission"; First Formation Flying Demonstration Mission Including on Flight Nulling; Formation Flying X-ray Telescope in L2 Orbit; SPECS: The Kilometer-baseline Far-IR Interferometer in NASA's Space Science Roadmap Presentation; A Tight Formation for Along-track SAR Interferometry; Realization of the Solar Power Satellite using the Formation Flying Solar Reflector; SIMBOL-X : Formation Flying for High-Energy Astrophysics; High Precision Optical Metrology for DARWIN; Close Formation Flight of Micro-Satellites for SAR Interferometry; Station-Keeping Requirements for Astronomical Imaging with Constellations of Free-Flying Collectors; Closed-Loop Control of Formation Flying Satellites; Formation Control for the MAXIM Mission; Precision Formation Keeping at L2 Using the Autonomous Formation Flying Sensor; Robust Control of Multiple Spacecraft Formation Flying; Virtual Rigid Body (VRB) Satellite Formation Control: Stable Mode-Switching and Cross-Coupling; Electromagnetic Formation Flight (EMFF) System Design, Mission Capabilities, and Testbed Development; Navigation Algorithms for Formation Flying Missions; Use of Formation Flying Small Satellites Incorporating OISL's in a Tandem Cluster Mission; Semimajor Axis Estimation Strategies; Relative Attitude Determination of Earth Orbiting Formations Using GPS Receivers; Analysis of Formation Flying in Eccentric Orbits Using Linearized Equations of Relative Motion; Conservative Analytical Collision Probabilities for Orbital Formation Flying; Equations of Motion and Stability of Two Spacecraft in Formation at the Earth/Moon Triangular Libration Points; Formations Near the Libration Points: Design Strategies Using Natural and Non-Natural Ares; An Overview of the Formation and Attitude Control System for the Terrestrial Planet Finder Formation Flying Interferometer; GVE-Based Dynamics and Control for Formation Flying Spacecraft; GNC System Design for a New Concept of X

The THEMIS Mission

CERN Document Server

Burch, J. L

2009-01-01

The THEMIS mission aims to determine the trigger and large-scale evolution of substorms by employing five identical micro-satellites which line up along the Earth's magnetotail to track the motion of particles, plasma, and waves from one point to another and for the first time, resolve space-time ambiguities in key regions of the magnetosphere on a global scale. The primary goal of THEMIS is to elucidate which magnetotail process is responsible for substorm onset at the region where substorm auroras map: (i) local disruption of the plasma sheet current (current disruption) or (ii) the interaction of the current sheet with the rapid influx of plasma emanating from reconnection. The probes also traverse the radiation belts and the dayside magnetosphere, allowing THEMIS to address additional baseline objectives. This volume describes the mission, the instrumentation, and the data derived from them.

Spacelab 3 mission

Science.gov (United States)

Dalton, Bonnie P.

1990-01-01

Spacelab-3 (SL-3) was the first microgravity mission of extended duration involving crew interaction with animal experiments. This interaction involved sharing the Spacelab environmental system, changing animal food, and changing animal waste trays by the crew. Extensive microbial testing was conducted on the animal specimens and crew and on their ground and flight facilities during all phases of the mission to determine the potential for cross contamination. Macroparticulate sampling was attempted but was unsuccessful due to the unforseen particulate contamination occurring during the flight. Particulate debris of varying size (250 micron to several inches) and composition was recovered post flight from the Spacelab floor, end cones, overhead areas, avionics fan filter, cabin fan filters, tunnel adaptor, and from the crew module. These data are discussed along with solutions, which were implemented, for particulate and microbial containment for future flight facilities.

Urinary albumin in space missions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cirillo, Massimo; De Santo, Natale G; Heer, Martina

2002-01-01

Proteinuria was hypothesized for space mission but research data are missing. Urinary albumin, as index of proteinuria, was analyzed in frozen urine samples collected by astronauts during space missions onboard MIR station and on ground (control). Urinary albumin was measured by a double antibody...... radioimmunoassay. On average, 24h urinary albumin was 27.4% lower in space than on ground; the difference was statistically significant. Low urinary albumin excretion could be another effect of exposure to weightlessness (microgravity)....

The ENVISAT Atmospheric Chemistry mission (GOMOS, MIPAS and SCIAMACHY) -Instrument status and mission evolution

Science.gov (United States)

Dehn, Angelika

The ENVISAT ESA's satellite was launched on a polar orbit on March 2002. It carries on-board three atmospheric chemistry instruments: GOMOS, MIPAS and SCIAMACHY [1]. At the present time, although the mission expected lifetime of 5 years has been already exceeded, all the payload modules are in good to excellent status. The only limiting factor is the available fuel that is used for orbit control manoeuvre. A new strategy was proposed [2] that will allow to save fuel and to extend the mission up to 2013. Following this strategy, the altitude of the orbit will be lowered by 17 km starting from end of 2010 and the inclination will be allowed to drift. The new orbit scenario will result in a new repeating cycle with a variation of the Mean Local Solar Time (MLST). This will have an impact on both the in-flight operations, on the science data and on the mission. The simulations carried out for the atmospheric chemistry instruments show that the new orbit strategy will neither have a significant impact in the instrument operations nor on the quality of the science data. Therefore we expect that the atmospheric mission will continue nominally until the end of the platform life time, providing to the scientist a unique dataset of the most important geophysical parameters (e.g., trace gases, clouds, and aerosol) spanning a time interval of about 11 years. The aim of this paper is to review the overall ENVISAT atmospheric mission status for the past, present and future. The evolution of the instrument performances since launch will be analyzed with focus on the life-limited items monitoring. The tuning of the instrument in-flight operations decided to cope with instrument degradation or scientific needs will be described. The lessons learned on how to operate and monitor the instruments will be highlighted. Finally the expected evolution of the instrument performances until the ENVISAT end-of-life will be discussed. [1] H. Nett, J. Frerick, T. Paulsen, and G. Levrini, "The

DoD Global Information Grid Mission Assurance

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Bargar, Anthony

2008-01-01

... for espionage and the criminal theft of data. GIG mission assurance works to ensure the DoD is able to accomplish its critical missions when networks, services, or information are unavailable, degraded, or distrusted...

The Lobster Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Barthelmy, Scott

2011-01-01

I will give an overview of the Goddard Lobster mission: the science goals, the two instruments, the overall instruments designs, with particular attention to the wide-field x-ray instrument (WFI) using the lobster-eye-like micro-channel optics.

Implementation Options for the PROPEL Electrodynamic Tether Demonstration Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Bilen, Sven G.; Johnson, C. Les; Gilchrist, Brian E.; Hoyt, Robert P.; Elder, Craig H.; Fuhrhop, Keith P.; Scadera, Michael; Stone, Nobie

2014-01-01

The PROPEL ("Propulsion using Electrodynamics") flight demonstration mission concept will demonstrate the use of an electrodynamic tether (EDT) for generating thrust, which will allow the propulsion system to overcome the limitations of the rocket equation. The mission concept has been developed by a team of government, industry, and academia partners led by NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). PROPEL is being designed for versatility of the EDT system with multiple end users in mind and to be flexible with respect to platform. Previously, we reported on a comprehensive mission design for PROPEL with a mission duration of six months or longer with multiple mission goals including demonstration of significant boost, deboost, inclination change, and drag make-up activities. To explore a range of possible configurations, primarily driven by cost considerations, other mission concept designs have been pursued. In partnership with the NASA's Office of Chief Technologist (OCT) Game Changing Program, NASA MSFC Leadership, and the MSFC Advanced Concepts Office, a mission concept design was developed for a near-term EDT propulsion flight validation mission. The Electrodynamic Tether Propulsion Study (ETPS) defined an EDT propulsion system capable of very large delta-V for use on future missions developed by NASA, DoD, and commercial customers. To demonstrate the feasibility of an ETPS, the study focused on a space demonstration mission concept design with configuration of a pair of tethered satellite busses, one of which is the Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV). The HTV would fly its standard ISS resupply mission. When resupply mission is complete, the ISS reconfigures and releases the HTV to perform the EDT experiment at safe orbital altitudes below the ISS. Though the focus of this particular mission concept design addresses a scenario involving the HTV or a similar vehicle, the propulsion system's capability is relevant to a number of applications, as noted above

Heuristics Applied in the Development of Advanced Space Mission Concepts

Science.gov (United States)

Nilsen, Erik N.

1998-01-01

Advanced mission studies are the first step in determining the feasibility of a given space exploration concept. A space scientist develops a science goal in the exploration of space. This may be a new observation method, a new instrument or a mission concept to explore a solar system body. In order to determine the feasibility of a deep space mission, a concept study is convened to determine the technology needs and estimated cost of performing that mission. Heuristics are one method of defining viable mission and systems architectures that can be assessed for technology readiness and cost. Developing a viable architecture depends to a large extent upon extending the existing body of knowledge, and applying it in new and novel ways. These heuristics have evolved over time to include methods for estimating technical complexity, technology development, cost modeling and mission risk in the unique context of deep space missions. This paper examines the processes involved in performing these advanced concepts studies, and analyzes the application of heuristics in the development of an advanced in-situ planetary mission. The Venus Surface Sample Return mission study provides a context for the examination of the heuristics applied in the development of the mission and systems architecture. This study is illustrative of the effort involved in the initial assessment of an advance mission concept, and the knowledge and tools that are applied.

Evolution of Training in NASA's Mission Operations Directorate

Science.gov (United States)

Hutt, Jason

2012-01-01

NASA s Mission Operations Directorate provides all the mission planning, training, and operations support for NASA's human spaceflight missions including the International Space Station (ISS) and its fleet of supporting vehicles. MOD also develops and maintains the facilities necessary to conduct training and operations for those missions including the Mission Control Center, Space Station Training Facility, Space Vehicle Mockup Facility, and Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory. MOD's overarching approach to human spaceflight training is to "train like you fly." This approach means not only trying to replicate the operational environment in training but also to approach training with the same mindset as real operations. When in training, this means using the same approach for executing operations, responding to off-nominal situations, and conducting yourself in the operations environment in the same manner as you would for the real vehicle.

Nuclear propulsion tradeoffs for manned Mars missions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Walton, L.A.; Malloy, J.D.

1991-01-01

A conjunction class split/sprint manned Mars exploration mission was studied to evaluate tradeoffs in performance characteristics of nuclear thermal rockets. A Particle Bed Reactor-based nuclear thermal rocket was found to offer a 38% to 52% total mass savings compared with a NERVA-based nuclear thermal rocket for this mission. This advantage is primarily due to the higher thrust-to-weight ratio of the Particle Bed Reactor nuclear rocket. The mission is enabled by nuclear thermal rockets. It cannot be performed practically using chemical propulsion

Habitable Exoplanet Imaging Mission (HabEx): Architecture of the 4m Mission Concept

Science.gov (United States)

Kuan, Gary M.; Warfield, Keith R.; Mennesson, Bertrand; Kiessling, Alina; Stahl, H. Philip; Martin, Stefan; Shaklan, Stuart B.; amini, rashied

2018-01-01

The Habitable Exoplanet Imaging Mission (HabEx) study is tasked by NASA to develop a scientifically compelling and technologically feasible exoplanet direct imaging mission concept, with extensive general astrophysics capabilities, for the 2020 Decadal Survey in Astrophysics. The baseline architecture of this space-based observatory concept encompasses an unobscured 4m diameter aperture telescope flying in formation with a 72-meter diameter starshade occulter. This large aperture, ultra-stable observatory concept extends and enhances upon the legacy of the Hubble Space Telescope by allowing us to probe even fainter objects and peer deeper into the Universe in the same ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared wavelengths, and gives us the capability, for the first time, to image and characterize potentially habitable, Earth-sized exoplanets orbiting nearby stars. Revolutionary direct imaging of exoplanets will be undertaken using a high-contrast coronagraph and a starshade imager. General astrophysics science will be undertaken with two world-class instruments – a wide-field workhorse camera for imaging and multi-object grism spectroscopy, and a multi-object, multi-resolution ultraviolet spectrograph. This poster outlines the baseline architecture of the HabEx flagship mission concept.

The Impact of NATO/Multinational Military Missions on Health Care Management (l'Impact des missions OTAN/militaires internationales sur la gestion des soins de sante)

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

2001-01-01

... (peacekeeping, humanitarian, disaster relief, etc.). Most of these missions are performed by multinational forces, which requires the cooperation of all military services including the medical support systems...

A Lean, Fast Mars Round-trip Mission Architecture: Using Current Technologies for a Human Mission in the 2030s

Science.gov (United States)

Bailey, Lora; Folta, David; Barbee, Brent W.; Vaughn, Frank; Kirchman, Frank; Englander, Jacob; Campbell, Bruce; Thronson, Harley; Lin, Tzu Yu

2013-01-01

We present a lean fast-transfer architecture concept for a first human mission to Mars that utilizes current technologies and two pivotal parameters: an end-to-end Mars mission duration of approximately one year, and a deep space habitat of approximately 50 metric tons. These parameters were formulated by a 2012 deep space habitat study conducted at the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) that focused on a subset of recognized high- engineering-risk factors that may otherwise limit space travel to destinations such as Mars or near-Earth asteroid (NEA)s. With these constraints, we model and promote Mars mission opportunities in the 2030s enabled by a combination of on-orbit staging, mission element pre-positioning, and unique round-trip trajectories identified by state-of-the-art astrodynamics algorithms.

A framework for employing femtosatellites in planetary science missions, including a proposed mission concept for Titan

Science.gov (United States)

Perez, Tracie Renea Conn

Over the past 15 years, there has been a growing interest in femtosatellites, a class of tiny satellites having mass less than 100 grams. Research groups from Peru, Spain, England, Canada, and the United States have proposed femtosat designs and novel mission concepts for them. In fact, Peru made history in 2013 by releasing the first - and still only - femtosat tracked from LEO. However, femtosatellite applications in interplanetary missions have yet to be explored in detail. An interesting operations concept would be for a space probe to release numerous femtosatellites into orbit around a planetary object of interest, thereby augmenting the overall data collection capability of the mission. A planetary probe releasing hundreds of femtosats could complete an in-situ, simultaneous 3D mapping of a physical property of interest, achieving scientific investigations not possible for one probe operating alone. To study the technical challenges associated with such a mission, a conceptual mission design is proposed where femtosats are deployed from a host satellite orbiting Titan. The conceptual mission objective is presented: to study Titan's dynamic atmosphere. Then, the design challenges are addressed in turn. First, any science payload measurements that the femtosats provide are only useful if their corresponding locations can be determined. Specifically, what's required is a method of position determination for femtosatellites operating beyond Medium Earth Orbit and therefore beyond the help of GPS. A technique is presented which applies Kalman filter techniques to Doppler shift measurements, allowing for orbit determination of the femtosats. Several case studies are presented demonstrating the usefulness of this approach. Second, due to the inherit power and computational limitations in a femtosatellite design, establishing a radio link between each chipsat and the mothersat will be difficult. To provide a mathematical gain, a particular form of forward error

Social and Cultural Issues During Shuttle/Mir Space Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Kanas, Nick; Salnitskiy, Vyacheslav; Grund, Ellen M.; Gushin, Vadim; Weiss, Daniel S.; Kozerenko, Olga; Sled, Alexander; Marmar, Charles R.

2000-07-01

A number of interpersonal issues relevant to manned space missions have been identified from the literature. These include crew tension, cohesion, leadership, language and cultural factors, and displacement. Ground-based studies by others and us have clarified some of the parameters of these issues and have indicated ways in which they could be studied during actual space missions. In this paper, we summarize some of our findings related to social and cultural issues from a NASA-funded study conducted during several Shuttle/Mir space missions. We used standardized mood and group climate measures that were completed on a weekly basis by American and Russian crew and mission control subjects who participated in these missions. Our results indicated that American subjects reported more dissatisfaction with their interpersonal environment than their Russian counterparts, especially American astronauts. Mission control personnel were more dysphoric than crewmembers, but both groups were signficantly less dysphoric than other work groups on Earth. Countermeasures based on our findings are discussed which can be applied to future multicultural space missions.

Exploration Mission Benefits From Logistics Reduction Technologies

Science.gov (United States)

Broyan, James Lee, Jr.; Schlesinger, Thilini; Ewert, Michael K.

2016-01-01

Technologies that reduce logistical mass, volume, and the crew time dedicated to logistics management become more important as exploration missions extend further from the Earth. Even modest reductions in logical mass can have a significant impact because it also reduces the packing burden. NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems' Logistics Reduction Project is developing technologies that can directly reduce the mass and volume of crew clothing and metabolic waste collection. Also, cargo bags have been developed that can be reconfigured for crew outfitting and trash processing technologies to increase habitable volume and improve protection against solar storm events are under development. Additionally, Mars class missions are sufficiently distant that even logistics management without resupply can be problematic due to the communication time delay with Earth. Although exploration vehicles are launched with all consumables and logistics in a defined configuration, the configuration continually changes as the mission progresses. Traditionally significant ground and crew time has been required to understand the evolving configuration and locate misplaced items. For key mission events and unplanned contingencies, the crew will not be able to rely on the ground for logistics localization assistance. NASA has been developing a radio frequency identification autonomous logistics management system to reduce crew time for general inventory and enable greater crew self-response to unplanned events when a wide range of items may need to be located in a very short time period. This paper provides a status of the technologies being developed and there mission benefits for exploration missions.

FINESSE & CASE: Two Proposed Transiting Exoplanet Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Zellem, Robert Thomas; FINESSE and CASE Science Team

2018-01-01

The FINESSE mission concept and the proposed CASE Mission of Opportunity, both recently selected by NASA’s Explorer program to proceed to Step 2, would conduct the first characterizations of exoplanet atmospheres for a statistically significant population. FINESSE would determine whether our Solar System is typical or exceptional, the key characteristics of the planet formation mechanism, and what establishes global planetary climate by spectroscopically surveying 500 exoplanets, ranging from terrestrials with extended atmospheres to sub-Neptunes to gas giants. FINESSE’s broad, instantaneous spectral coverage from 0.5-5 microns and capability to survey hundreds of exoplanets would enable follow-up exploration of TESS discoveries and provide a broader context for interpreting detailed JWST observations. Similarly, CASE, a NASA Mission of Opportunity contribution to ESA’s dedicated transiting exoplanet spectroscopy mission ARIEL, would observe 1000 warm transiting gas giants, Neptunes, and super-Earths, using visible to near-IR photometry and spectroscopy. CASE would quantify the occurrence rate of atmospheric aerosols (clouds and hazes) and measure the geometric albedos of the targets in the ARIEL survey. Thus, with the selection of either of these two missions, NASA would ensure access to critical data for the U.S. exoplanet science community.

Reference Mission Version 3.0 Addendum to the Human Exploration of Mars: The Reference Mission of the NASA Mars Exploration Study Team. Addendum; 3.0

Science.gov (United States)

Drake, Bret G. (Editor)

1998-01-01

This Addendum to the Mars Reference Mission was developed as a companion document to the NASA Special Publication 6107, "Human Exploration of Mars: The Reference Mission of the NASA Mars Exploration Study Team." It summarizes changes and updates to the Mars Reference Missions that were developed by the Exploration Office since the final draft of SP 6107 was printed in early 1999. The Reference Mission is a tool used by the exploration community to compare and evaluate approaches to mission and system concepts that could be used for human missions to Mars. It is intended to identify and clarify system drivers, significant sources of cost, performance, risk, and schedule variation. Several alternative scenarios, employing different technical approaches to solving mission and technology challenges, are discussed in this Addendum. Comparing alternative approaches provides the basis for continual improvement to technology investment plan and a general understanding of future human missions to Mars. The Addendum represents a snapshot of work in progress in support of planning for future human exploration missions through May 1998.

The Van Allen Probes mission

CERN Document Server

Burch, James

2014-01-01

This collection of articles provides broad and detailed information about NASA’s Van Allen Probes (formerly known as the Radiation Belt Storm Probes) twin-spacecraft Earth-orbiting mission. The mission has the objective of achieving predictive understanding of the dynamic, intense, energetic, dangerous, and presently unpredictable belts of energetic particles that are magnetically trapped in Earth’s space environment above the atmosphere. It documents the science of the radiation belts and the societal benefits of achieving predictive understanding. Detailed information is provided about the Van Allen Probes mission design, the spacecraft, the science investigations, and the onboard instrumentation that must all work together to make unprecedented measurements within a most unforgiving environment, the core of Earth’s most intense radiation regions.
 This volume is aimed at graduate students and researchers active in space science, solar-terrestrial interactions and studies of the up...

The 1997 remote sensing mission to Kazakhstan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Steinmaus, K.; Robert, B.; Berezin, S.A.

1997-01-01

In June and July of 1997, the US Department of Energy, in cooperation with the Republic of Kazakhstan Ministry of Science - Academy of Science conducted a remote sensing mission to Kazakhstan. The mission was conducted as a technology demonstration under a Memorandum of Understanding between the United States Department of Energy and the Republic of Kazakhstan's Ministry of science - Academy of Science. The mission was performed using a US Navy P-3 Orion aircraft and imaging capabilities developed by the Department of Energy's Office of Non-proliferation and National Security. The imaging capabilities consisted of two imaging pods - a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) pod and a multi sensor imaging pod (MSI). Seven experiments were conducted to demonstrate how remote sensing can be used to support city planning, land cover mapping, mineral exploration, and non-proliferation monitoring. Results of the mission will be presented

An Atmospheric Variability Model for Venus Aerobraking Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Tolson, Robert T.; Prince, Jill L. H.; Konopliv, Alexander A.

2013-01-01

Aerobraking has proven to be an enabling technology for planetary missions to Mars and has been proposed to enable low cost missions to Venus. Aerobraking saves a significant amount of propulsion fuel mass by exploiting atmospheric drag to reduce the eccentricity of the initial orbit. The solar arrays have been used as the primary drag surface and only minor modifications have been made in the vehicle design to accommodate the relatively modest aerothermal loads. However, if atmospheric density is highly variable from orbit to orbit, the mission must either accept higher aerothermal risk, a slower pace for aerobraking, or a tighter corridor likely with increased propulsive cost. Hence, knowledge of atmospheric variability is of great interest for the design of aerobraking missions. The first planetary aerobraking was at Venus during the Magellan mission. After the primary Magellan science mission was completed, aerobraking was used to provide a more circular orbit to enhance gravity field recovery. Magellan aerobraking took place between local solar times of 1100 and 1800 hrs, and it was found that the Venusian atmospheric density during the aerobraking phase had less than 10% 1 sigma orbit to orbit variability. On the other hand, at some latitudes and seasons, Martian variability can be as high as 40% 1 sigmaFrom both the MGN and PVO mission it was known that the atmosphere, above aerobraking altitudes, showed greater variability at night, but this variability was never quantified in a systematic manner. This paper proposes a model for atmospheric variability that can be used for aerobraking mission design until more complete data sets become available.

Training Concept for Long Duration Space Mission

Science.gov (United States)

O'Keefe, William

2008-01-01

There has been papers about maintenance and psychological training for Long Duration Space Mission (LDSM). There are papers on the technology needed for LDSMs. Few are looking at how groundbased pre-mission training and on-board in-transit training must be melded into one training concept that leverages this technology. Even more importantly, fewer are looking at how we can certify crews pre-mission. This certification must ensure, before the crew launches, that they can handle any problem using on-board assets without a large ground support team.

UAV Mission Planning: From Robust to Agile

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Evers, L.; Barros, A.I.; Monsuur, H.; Wagelmans, A.

2015-01-01

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are important assets for information gathering in Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions. Depending on the uncertainty in the planning parameters, the complexity of the mission and its constraints and requirements, different planning methods might

Determining Mission Statement Effectiveness from a Fit Perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Toh Seong-Yuen

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to study the relationship between the organization's mission statement and its outcomes from a fit perspective in the alignment of the organization's structural and cultural elements. Based on an extension of Campbell's (1991 mission model by combination of ideas from two schools of thought in mission statement studies (structural and cultural, the authors introduce the concept of “fit” to show how it contributes towards a new mission statement model. The results show that both alignments are important to create a fit situation in order to positively impact organization outcomes. Based on Cohen (1988, the detected effect size of .322 is considered large. The managerial implication is that there should be more focus on managing organisational alignment to support a fit situation as this is instrumental to mission statement effectiveness. The originality of this study stems from the idea that while past studies develop model based on ideas from within the confine of a particular school of thought, this study is one of the first to combine ideas from both the structural and cultural schools of thought by extending Campbell's (1991 mission model using the fit perspective.

Asteroid Kinetic Impactor Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Chesley, Steven

2015-08-01

Asteroid impact missions can be carried out as a relatively low-cost add-ons to most asteroid rendezvous missions and such impact experiments have tremendous potential, both scientifically and in the arena of planetary defense.The science returns from an impactor demonstration begin with the documentation of the global effects of the impact, such as changes in orbit and rotation state, the creation and dissipation of an ejecta plume and debris disk, and morphological changes across the body due to the transmission of seismic waves, which might induce landslides and toppling of boulders, etc. At a local level, an inspection of the impact crater and ejecta blanket reveals critical material strength information, as well as spectral differences between the surface and subsurface material.From the planetary defense perspective, an impact demonstration will prove humankind’s capacity to alter the orbit of a potentially threatening asteroid. This technological leap comes in two parts. First, terminal guidance systems that can deliver an impactor with small errors relative to the ~100-200 meter size of a likely impactor have yet to be demonstrated in a deep space environment. Second, the response of an asteroid to such an impact is only understood theoretically due to the potentially significant dependence on the momentum carried by escaping ejecta, which would tend to enhance the deflection by tens of percent and perhaps as much as a factor of a few. A lack of validated understanding of momentum enhancement is a significant obstacle in properly sizing a real-world impactor deflection mission.This presentation will describe the drivers for asteroid impact demonstrations and cover the range of such concepts, starting with ESA’s pioneering Don Quijote mission concept and leading to a brief description of concepts under study at the present time, including the OSIRIS-REx/ISIS, BASiX/KIX and AIM/DART (AIDA) concepts.

Management of information for mission operations using automated keyword referencing

Science.gov (United States)

Davidson, Roger A.; Curran, Patrick S.

1993-01-01

Although millions of dollars have helped to improve the operability and technology of ground data systems for mission operations, almost all mission documentation remains bound in printed volumes. This form of documentation is difficult and timeconsuming to use, may be out-of-date, and is usually not cross-referenced with other related volumes of mission documentation. A more effective, automated method of mission information access is needed. A new method of information management for mission operations using automated keyword referencing is proposed. We expound on the justification for and the objectives of this concept. The results of a prototype tool for mission information access that uses a hypertextlike user interface and existing mission documentation are shared. Finally, the future directions and benefits of our proposed work are described.

MISSION AMONG THE JEWS 1. INTRODUCTION

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Nevertheless, if Gentile Christians speak with Jews they have to witness that Jesus is the Christ. They have to do so (at the very least) in order to explain to the Jews that they, as Gentiles, are also children of the God of Israel. Many books have been published on the method of mission with the focus on mission among the ...

Mars MetNet Precursor Mission Status

Science.gov (United States)

Harri, A.-M.; Aleksashkin, S.; Guerrero, H.; Schmidt, W.; Genzer, M.; Vazquez, L.; Haukka, H.

2013-09-01

We are developing a new kind of planetary exploration mission for Mars in collaboration between the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), Lavochkin Association (LA), Space Research Institute (IKI) and Institutio Nacional de Tecnica Aerospacial (INTA). The Mars MetNet mission is based on a new semi-hard landing vehicle called MetNet Lander (MNL). The scientific payload of the Mars MetNet Precursor [1] mission is divided into three categories: Atmospheric instruments, Optical devices and Composition and structure devices. Each of the payload instruments will provide significant insights in to the Martian atmospheric behavior. The key technologies of the MetNet Lander have been qualified and the electrical qualification model (EQM) of the payload bay has been built and successfully tested.

Software Schedules Missions, Aids Project Management

Science.gov (United States)

2008-01-01

NASA missions require advanced planning, scheduling, and management, and the Space Agency has worked extensively to develop the programs and software suites necessary to facilitate these complex missions. These enormously intricate undertakings have hundreds of active components that need constant management and monitoring. It is no surprise, then, that the software developed for these tasks is often applicable in other high-stress, complex environments, like in government or industrial settings. NASA work over the past few years has resulted in a handful of new scheduling, knowledge-management, and research tools developed under contract with one of NASA s partners. These tools have the unique responsibility of supporting NASA missions, but they are also finding uses outside of the Space Program.

Kepler Planet-Detection Mission: Introduction and First Results

Science.gov (United States)

2010-02-19

those predicted for gas giant planets. Since the first discoveries of planetarycompanions around pulsars (1, 2) andnormal stars (3), more than 400...52,496 in total). Analysis of these data sets also led to a series of astrophysical discoveries , including oscillations of giant stars and two... Discovery mission. Funding for this mission is provided by NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. Supporting Online Material www.sciencemag.org/cgi

SLS Launched Missions Concept Studies for LUVOIR Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Stahl, H. Philip; Hopkins, Randall C.

2015-01-01

NASA's "Enduring Quests Daring Visions" report calls for an 8- to 16-meter Large UV-Optical-IR (LUVOIR) Surveyor mission to enable ultra-high-contrast spectroscopy and coronagraphy. AURA's "From Cosmic Birth to Living Earth" report calls for a 12-meter class High-Definition Space Telescope to pursue transformational scientific discoveries. The multi-center ATLAST Team is working to meet these needs. The MSFC Team is examining potential concepts that leverage the advantages of the SLS (Space Launch System). A key challenge is how to affordably get a large telescope into space. The JWST design was severely constrained by the mass and volume capacities of its launch vehicle. This problem is solved by using an SLS Block II-B rocket with its 10-m diameter x 30-m tall fairing and 45 mt payload to SE-L2. Previously, two development study cycles produced a detailed concept called ATLAST-8. Using ATLAST-8 as a point of departure, this paper reports on a new ATLAST-12 concept. ATLAST-12 is a 12-meter class segmented aperture LUVOIR with an 8-m class center segment. Thus, ATLAST-8 is now a de-scope option.

SLS launched missions concept studies for LUVOIR mission

Science.gov (United States)

Stahl, H. Philip; Hopkins, Randall C.

2015-09-01

NASA's "Enduring Quests Daring Visions" report calls for an 8- to 16-m Large UV-Optical-IR (LUVOIR) Surveyor mission to enable ultra-high-contrast spectroscopy and coronagraphy. AURA's "From Cosmic Birth to Living Earth" report calls for a 12-m class High-Definition Space Telescope to pursue transformational scientific discoveries. The multi-center ATLAST Team is working to meet these needs. The MSFC Team is examining potential concepts that leverage the advantages of the SLS (Space Launch System). A key challenge is how to affordably get a large telescope into space. The JWST design was severely constrained by the mass and volume capacities of its launch vehicle. This problem is solved by using an SLS Block II-B rocket with its 10-m diameter x 30-m tall fairing and estimated 45 mt payload to SE-L2. Previously, two development study cycles produced a detailed concept called ATLAST-8. Using ATLAST-8 as a point of departure, this paper reports on a new ATLAST-12 concept. ATLAST-12 is a 12-m class segmented aperture LUVOIR with an 8-m class center segment. Thus, ATLAST-8 is now a de-scope option.

Solid Waste Management Requirements Definition for Advanced Life Support Missions: Results

Science.gov (United States)

Alazraki, Michael P.; Hogan, John; Levri, Julie; Fisher, John; Drysdale, Alan

2002-01-01

Prior to determining what Solid Waste Management (SWM) technologies should be researched and developed by the Advanced Life Support (ALS) Project for future missions, there is a need to define SWM requirements. Because future waste streams will be highly mission-dependent, missions need to be defined prior to developing SWM requirements. The SWM Working Group has used the mission architecture outlined in the System Integration, Modeling and Analysis (SIMA) Element Reference Missions Document (RMD) as a starting point in the requirement development process. The missions examined include the International Space Station (ISS), a Mars Dual Lander mission, and a Mars Base. The SWM Element has also identified common SWM functionalities needed for future missions. These functionalities include: acceptance, transport, processing, storage, monitoring and control, and disposal. Requirements in each of these six areas are currently being developed for the selected missions. This paper reviews the results of this ongoing effort and identifies mission-dependent resource recovery requirements.

NASA's Asteroid Redirect Mission: The Boulder Capture Option

Science.gov (United States)

Abell, Paul A.; Nuth, J.; Mazanek, D.; Merrill, R.; Reeves, D.; Naasz, B.

2014-01-01

NASA is examining two options for the Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM), which will return asteroid material to a Lunar Distant Retrograde Orbit (LDRO) using a robotic solar-electric-propulsion spacecraft, called the Asteroid Redirect Vehicle (ARV). Once the ARV places the asteroid material into the LDRO, a piloted mission will rendezvous and dock with the ARV. After docking, astronauts will conduct two extravehicular activities (EVAs) to inspect and sample the asteroid material before returning to Earth. One option involves capturing an entire small (approximately 4-10 m diameter) near-Earth asteroid (NEA) inside a large inflatable bag. However, NASA is examining another option that entails retrieving a boulder (approximately 1-5 m) via robotic manipulators from the surface of a larger (approximately 100+ m) pre-characterized NEA. This option can leverage robotic mission data to help ensure success by targeting previously (or soon to be) well-characterized NEAs. For example, the data from the Hayabusa mission has been utilized to develop detailed mission designs that assess options and risks associated with proximity and surface operations. Hayabusa's target NEA, Itokawa, has been identified as a valid target and is known to possess hundreds of appropriately sized boulders on its surface. Further robotic characterization of additional NEAs (e.g., Bennu and 1999 JU3) by NASA's OSIRIS REx and JAXA's Hayabusa 2 missions is planned to begin in 2018. The boulder option is an extremely large sample-return mission with the prospect of bringing back many tons of well-characterized asteroid material to the Earth-Moon system. The candidate boulder from the target NEA can be selected based on inputs from the world-wide science community, ensuring that the most scientifically interesting boulder be returned for subsequent sampling. This boulder option for NASA's ARM can leverage knowledge of previously characterized NEAs from prior robotic missions, which provides more

Mission Management Computer and Sequencing Hardware for RLV-TD HEX-01 Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Gupta, Sukrat; Raj, Remya; Mathew, Asha Mary; Koshy, Anna Priya; Paramasivam, R.; Mookiah, T.

2017-12-01

Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstrator Hypersonic Experiment (RLV-TD HEX-01) mission posed some unique challenges in the design and development of avionics hardware. This work presents the details of mission critical avionics hardware mainly Mission Management Computer (MMC) and sequencing hardware. The Navigation, Guidance and Control (NGC) chain for RLV-TD is dual redundant with cross-strapped Remote Terminals (RTs) interfaced through MIL-STD-1553B bus. MMC is Bus Controller on the 1553 bus, which does the function of GPS aided navigation, guidance, digital autopilot and sequencing for the RLV-TD launch vehicle in different periodicities (10, 20, 500 ms). Digital autopilot execution in MMC with a periodicity of 10 ms (in ascent phase) is introduced for the first time and successfully demonstrated in the flight. MMC is built around Intel i960 processor and has inbuilt fault tolerance features like ECC for memories. Fault Detection and Isolation schemes are implemented to isolate the failed MMC. The sequencing hardware comprises Stage Processing System (SPS) and Command Execution Module (CEM). SPS is `RT' on the 1553 bus which receives the sequencing and control related commands from MMCs and posts to downstream modules after proper error handling for final execution. SPS is designed as a high reliability system by incorporating various fault tolerance and fault detection features. CEM is a relay based module for sequence command execution.

CIRPLAST: Cleft Lip and Palate Missions in Peru.

Science.gov (United States)

Navarro, Carlos E

2015-06-01

The author presents a 20-year experience leading cleft lip and palate surgical volunteer missions in Peru for CIRPLAST, a nonprofit volunteer plastic surgery goodwill program that has provided free surgery for patients with cleft lip and palate deformities in remote areas of Peru. Surgical procedures were performed by the author, together with a group of experienced plastic surgeons, under the auspices of the Peruvian Plastic Surgery Society, and local health authorities. CIRPLAST missions are scheduled annually in different locations around Peru. Selected patients for surgery after adequate screening are photographed, and their cleft deformity is recorded. Scheduled patients or their parents, when they are minors, sign an informed consent form. Patients operated on in any given day are examined and photographed 1 day after surgery, before discharge. Between 30 and 35 patients are operated on at each mission site. About 2 weeks after the mission, patients are checked and photographed, and the outcome of surgery is recorded. Complications that may occur are recorded and treated by the CIRPLAST team as soon as possible. Almost all operations are performed under general endotracheal anesthesia coupled by local anesthesia containing a vasoconstrictor, to reduce bleeding and facilitate tissue dissection. All wounds of the lip and palate are closed with absorbable sutures, to avoid the need for suture removal. After cleft lip surgery, patients go to the recovery room for monitoring by nurses until they recover completely. A total of 6108 cleft lip and palate repairs, primary and secondary, were performed by CIRPLAST in 141 missions, between May 12, 1994, and October 15, 2014. The medical records of the 5162 patients (84.5%) who returned for follow-up (ranging from 12 days to 9 years) were reviewed retrospectively. Between 45% and 70% of the patients operated on a mission have returned for early follow-up and some the following year. There were 3176 males (51.9%) and 2932

Nanosatellite missions - the future

Science.gov (United States)

Koudelka, O.; Kuschnig, R.; Wenger, M.; Romano, P.

2017-09-01

In the beginning, nanosatellite projects were focused on educational aspects. In the meantime, the technology matured and now allows to test, demonstrate and validate new systems, operational procedures and services in space at low cost and within much shorter timescales than traditional space endeavors. The number of spacecraft developed and launched has been increasing exponentially in the last years. The constellation of BRITE nanosatellites is demonstrating impressively that demanding scientific requirements can be met with small, low-cost satellites. Industry and space agencies are now embracing small satellite technology. Particularly in the USA, companies have been established to provide commercial services based on CubeSats. The approach is in general different from traditional space projects with their strict product/quality assurance and documentation requirements. The paper gives an overview of nanosatellite missions in different areas of application. Based on lessons learnt from the BRITE mission and recent developments at TU Graz (in particular the implementation of the OPS-SAT nanosatellite for ESA), enhanced technical possibilities for a future astronomy mission after BRITE will be discussed. Powerful on-board computers will allow on-board data pre-processing. A state-of-the-art telemetry system with high data rates would facilitate interference-free operations and increase science data return.

Landsat Data Continuity Mission

Science.gov (United States)

,

2012-01-01

The Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) is a partnership formed between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to place the next Landsat satellite in orbit in January 2013. The Landsat era that began in 1972 will become a nearly 41-year global land record with the successful launch and operation of the LDCM. The LDCM will continue the acquisition, archiving, and distribution of multispectral imagery affording global, synoptic, and repetitive coverage of the Earth's land surfaces at a scale where natural and human-induced changes can be detected, differentiated, characterized, and monitored over time. The mission objectives of the LDCM are to (1) collect and archive medium resolution (30-meter spatial resolution) multispectral image data affording seasonal coverage of the global landmasses for a period of no less than 5 years; (2) ensure that LDCM data are sufficiently consistent with data from the earlier Landsat missions in terms of acquisition geometry, calibration, coverage characteristics, spectral characteristics, output product quality, and data availability to permit studies of landcover and land-use change over time; and (3) distribute LDCM data products to the general public on a nondiscriminatory basis at no cost to the user.

Draft 1988 mission plan amendment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1988-06-01

This draft 1988 amendment to the Mission Plan for the Civilian Radioactive Waste Management Program has been prepared by the US Department of Energy (DOE). The purpose is to inform the Congress of the DOE's plans for implementing the provisions of the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1987 (P.L. 100-203) for the Civilian Radioactive Waste Management Program. This document is being submitted in draft form to Federal agencies, states, previously affected Indian Tribes, affected units of local government, and the public. After the consideration of comments, this amendment will be revised as appropriate and submitted to the Congress. 39 refs., 7 figs., 4 tabs

The X-ray Astronomy Recovery Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Tashiro, M.; Kelley, R.

2017-10-01

On 25 March 2016, the Japanese 6th X-ray astronomical satellite ASTRO-H (Hitomi), launched on February 17, lost communication after a series of mishap in its attitude control system. In response to the mishap the X-ray astronomy community and JAXA analyzed the direct and root cause of the mishap and investigated possibility of a recovery mission with the international collaborator NASA and ESA. Thanks to great effort of scientists, agencies, and governments, the X-ray Astronomy Recovery Mission (XARM) are proposed. The recovery mission is planned to resume high resolution X-ray spectroscopy with imaging realized by Hitomi under the international collaboration in the shortest time possible, simply by focusing one of the main science goals of Hitomi Resolving astrophysical problems by precise high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy'. XARM will carry a 6 x 6 pixelized X-ray micro-calorimeter on the focal plane of an X-ray mirror assembly, and an aligned X-ray CCD camera covering the same energy band and wider field of view, but no hard X-ray or soft gamma-ray instruments are onboard. In this paper, we introduce the science objectives, mission concept, and schedule of XARM.

The Stellar Imager (SI) Mission Concept

Science.gov (United States)

Carpenter, Kenneth G.; Schrijver, Carolus J.; Lyon, Richard G.; Mundy, Lee G.; Allen, Ronald J.; Armstrong, Thomas; Danchi, William C.; Karovska, Margarita; Marzouk, Joe; Mazzuca, Lisa M.;

300 Area fuel supply facilities deactivation mission analysis report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lund, D.P.

1995-01-01

This report presents the results of the 300 Area fuel supply facilities (formerly call ''N reactor fuel fabrication facilities'') Deactivation Project mission analysis. Hanford systems engineering (SE) procedures call for a mission analysis. The mission analysis is an important first step in the SE process

Software Innovation in a Mission Critical Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Fredrickson, Steven

2015-01-01

Operating in mission-critical environments requires trusted solutions, and the preference for "tried and true" approaches presents a potential barrier to infusing innovation into mission-critical systems. This presentation explores opportunities to overcome this barrier in the software domain. It outlines specific areas of innovation in software development achieved by the Johnson Space Center (JSC) Engineering Directorate in support of NASA's major human spaceflight programs, including International Space Station, Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (Orion), and Commercial Crew Programs. Software engineering teams at JSC work with hardware developers, mission planners, and system operators to integrate flight vehicles, habitats, robotics, and other spacecraft elements for genuinely mission critical applications. The innovations described, including the use of NASA Core Flight Software and its associated software tool chain, can lead to software that is more affordable, more reliable, better modelled, more flexible, more easily maintained, better tested, and enabling of automation.

Surveillance mission planning for UAVs in GPS-denied urban environment

Science.gov (United States)

Pengfei, Wang

In this thesis, the issues involved in the mission planning of UAVs for city surveillance have been studied. In this thesis, the research includes two major parts. Firstly, a mission planning system is developed that generates mission plans for a group of fixed-wing UAVs with on-board gimballed cameras to provide continuous surveillance over an urban area. Secondly, the problem of perching location selection (as part of perch-and-stare surveillance mission) for rotary-wing UAVs in a GPS-denied environment is studied. In this kind of mission, a UAV is dispatched to perch on a roof of a building to keep surveillance on a given target. The proposed algorithms to UAV surveillance mission planning (fixed-wing and rotary-wing) have been implemented and tested. It represents an important step towards achieving autonomous planning in UAV surveillance missions.

Power system technologies for the manned Mars mission

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bents, D.; Patterson, M.J.; Berkopec, F.; Myers, I.; Presler, A.

1986-01-01

The high impulse of electric propulsion makes it an attractive option for manned interplanetary missions such as a manned mission to Mars. This option is, however, dependent on the availability of high energy sources for propulsive power in addition to that required for the manned interplanetary transit vehicle. Two power system technologies are presented: nuclear and solar. The ion thruster technology for the interplanetary transit vehicle is described for a typical mission. The power management and distribution system components required for such a mission must be further developed beyond today's technology status. High voltage-high current technology advancements must be achieved. These advancements are described. In addition, large amounts of waste heat must be rejected to the space environment by the thermal management system. Advanced concepts such as the liquid droplet radiator are discussed as possible candidates for the manned Mars mission. These thermal management technologies have great potential for significant weight reductions over the more conventional systems

Combustion-based power source for Venus surface missions

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Timothy F.; Paul, Michael V.; Oleson, Steven R.

2016-10-01

The National Research Council has identified in situ exploration of Venus as an important mission for the coming decade of NASA's exploration of our solar system (Squyers, 2013 [1]). Heavy cloud cover makes the use of solar photovoltaics extremely problematic for power generation for Venus surface missions. In this paper, we propose a class of planetary exploration missions (for use on Venus and elsewhere) in solar-deprived situations where photovoltaics cannot be used, batteries do not provide sufficient specific energy and mission duration, and nuclear systems may be too costly or complex to justify or simply unavailable. Metal-fueled, combustion-based powerplants have been demonstrated for application in the terrestrial undersea environment. Modified or extended versions of the undersea-based systems may be appropriate for these sunless missions. We describe systems carrying lithium fuel and sulfur-hexafluoride oxidizer that have the potential for many days of operation in the sunless craters of the moon. On Venus a system level specific energy of 240 to 370 We-hr/kg should be possible if the oxidizer is brought from earth. By using either lithium or a magnesium-based alloy fuel, it may be possible to operate a similar system with CO2 derived directly from the Venus atmosphere, thus providing an estimated system specific energy of 1100 We+PV-hr/kg (the subscript refers to both electrical and mechanical power), thereby providing mission durations that enable useful scientific investigation. The results of an analysis performed by the NASA Glenn COMPASS team describe a mission operating at 2.3 kWe+PV for 5 days (120 h), with less than 260 kg power/energy system mass total. This lander would be of a size and cost suitable for a New Frontiers class of mission.

Bobby Fong: Man on a Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Fong, Colin

2014-01-01

Bobby Fong, was president of Ursinus College until his death in September 2014 and is the only person to have served twice as chair of the AAC&U Board of Directors. In this article, his son Collin presents remarks made at the memorial service for his father. Collin describes his father as a man with a mission, and that mission was to make the…

Mission reliability of semi-Markov systems under generalized operational time requirements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, Xiaoyue; Hillston, Jane

2015-01-01

Mission reliability of a system depends on specific criteria for mission success. To evaluate the mission reliability of some mission systems that do not need to work normally for the whole mission time, two types of mission reliability for such systems are studied. The first type corresponds to the mission requirement that the system must remain operational continuously for a minimum time within the given mission time interval, while the second corresponds to the mission requirement that the total operational time of the system within the mission time window must be greater than a given value. Based on Markov renewal properties, matrix integral equations are derived for semi-Markov systems. Numerical algorithms and a simulation procedure are provided for both types of mission reliability. Two examples are used for illustration purposes. One is a one-unit repairable Markov system, and the other is a cold standby semi-Markov system consisting of two components. By the proposed approaches, the mission reliability of systems with time redundancy can be more precisely estimated to avoid possible unnecessary redundancy of system resources. - Highlights: • Two types of mission reliability under generalized requirements are defined. • Equations for both types of reliability are derived for semi-Markov systems. • Numerical methods are given for solving both types of reliability. • Simulation procedure is given for estimating both types of reliability. • Verification of the numerical methods is given by the results of simulation

Cyberinfrastructure for Aircraft Mission Support

Science.gov (United States)

Freudinger, Lawrence C.

2010-01-01

Forth last several years NASA's Airborne Science Program has been developing and using infrastructure and applications that enable researchers to interact with each other and with airborne instruments via network communications. Use of these tools has increased near realtime situational awareness during field operations, resulting it productivity improvements, improved decision making, and the collection of better data. Advances in pre-mission planning and post-mission access have also emerged. Integrating these capabilities with other tools to evolve coherent service-oriented enterprise architecture for aircraft flight and test operations is the subject of ongoing efforts.

The Gaia mission

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Collaboration, Gaia; Prusti, T.; de Bruijne, J. H. J.; Brown, A. G. A.; Vallenari, A.; Babusiaux, C.; Bailer-Jones, C. A. L.; Bastian, U.; Biermann, M.; Evans, D. W.; Eyer, L.; Jansen, F.; Jordi, C.; Klioner, S. A.; Lammers, U.; Lindegren, L.; Luri, X.; Mignard, F.; Milligan, D. J.; Panem, C.; Poinsignon, V.; Pourbaix, D.; Randich, S.; Sarri, G.; Sartoretti, P.; Siddiqui, H. I.; Soubiran, C.; Valette, V.; van Leeuwen, F.; Walton, N. A.; Aerts, C.; Arenou, F.; Cropper, M.; Drimmel, R.; Høg, E.; Katz, D.; Lattanzi, M. G.; O'Mullane, W.; Grebel, E. K.; Holland, A. D.; Huc, C.; Passot, X.; Bramante, L.; Cacciari, C.; Castañeda, J.; Chaoul, L.; Cheek, N.; De Angeli, F.; Fabricius, C.; Guerra, R.; Hernández, J.; Jean-Antoine-Piccolo, A.; Masana, E.; Messineo, R.; Mowlavi, N.; Nienartowicz, K.; Ordóñez-Blanco, D.; Panuzzo, P.; Portell, J.; Richards, P. J.; Riello, M.; Seabroke, G. M.; Tanga, P.; Thévenin, F.; Torra, J.; Els, S. G.; Gracia-Abril, G.; Comoretto, G.; Garcia-Reinaldos, M.; Lock, T.; Mercier, E.; Altmann, M.; Andrae, R.; Astraatmadja, T. L.; Bellas-Velidis, I.; Benson, K.; Berthier, J.; Blomme, R.; Busso, G.; Carry, B.; Cellino, A.; Clementini, G.; Cowell, S.; Creevey, O.; Cuypers, J.; Davidson, M.; De Ridder, J.; de Torres, A.; Delchambre, L.; Dell'Oro, A.; Ducourant, C.; Frémat, Y.; García-Torres, M.; Gosset, E.; Halbwachs, J. -L; Hambly, N. C.; Harrison, D. L.; Hauser, M.; Hestroffer, D.; Hodgkin, S. T.; Huckle, H. E.; Hutton, A.; Jasniewicz, G.; Jordan, S.; Kontizas, M.; Korn, A. J.; Lanzafame, A. C.; Manteiga, M.; Moitinho, A.; Muinonen, K.; Osinde, J.; Pancino, E.; Pauwels, T.; Petit, J. -M; Recio-Blanco, A.; Robin, A. C.; Sarro, L. M.; Siopis, C.; Smith, M.; Smith, K. W.; Sozzetti, A.; Thuillot, W.; van Reeven, W.; Viala, Y.; Abbas, U.; Abreu Aramburu, A.; Accart, S.; Aguado, J. J.; Allan, P. M.; Allasia, W.; Altavilla, G.; Álvarez, M. A.; Alves, J.; Anderson, R. I.; Andrei, A. H.; Anglada Varela, E.; Antiche, E.; Antoja, T.; Antón, S.; Arcay, B.; Atzei, A.; Ayache, L.; Bach, N.; Baker, S. G.; Balaguer-Núñez, L.; Barache, C.; Barata, C.; Barbier, A.; Barblan, F.; Baroni, M.; Barrado y Navascués, D.; Barros, M.; Barstow, M. A.; Becciani, U.; Bellazzini, M.; Bellei, G.; Bello García, A.; Belokurov, V.; Bendjoya, P.; Berihuete, A.; Bianchi, L.; Bienaymé, O.; Billebaud, F.; Blagorodnova, N.; Blanco-Cuaresma, S.; Boch, T.; Bombrun, A.; Borrachero, R.; Bouquillon, S.; Bourda, G.; Bouy, H.; Bragaglia, A.; Breddels, M. A.; Brouillet, N.; Brüsemeister, T.; Bucciarelli, B.; Budnik, F.; Burgess, P.; Burgon, R.; Burlacu, A.; Busonero, D.; Buzzi, R.; Caffau, E.; Cambras, J.; Campbell, H.; Cancelliere, R.; Cantat-Gaudin, T.; Carlucci, T.; Carrasco, J. M.; Castellani, M.; Charlot, P.; Charnas, J.; Charvet, P.; Chassat, F.; Chiavassa, A.; Clotet, M.; Cocozza, G.; Collins, R. S.; Collins, P.; Costigan, G.; Crifo, F.; Cross, N. J. G.; Crosta, M.; Crowley, C.; Dafonte, C.; Damerdji, Y.; Dapergolas, A.; David, P.; David, M.; De Cat, P.; de Felice, F.; de Laverny, P.; De Luise, F.; De March, R.; de Martino, D.; de Souza, R.; Debosscher, J.; del Pozo, E.; Delbo, M.; Delgado, A.; Delgado, H. E.; di Marco, F.; Di Matteo, P.; Diakite, S.; Distefano, E.; Dolding, C.; Dos Anjos, S.; Drazinos, P.; Durán, J.; Dzigan, Y.; Ecale, E.; Edvardsson, B.; Enke, H.; Erdmann, M.; Escolar, D.; Espina, M.; Evans, N. W.; Eynard Bontemps, G.; Fabre, C.; Fabrizio, M.; Faigler, S.; Falcão, A. J.; Farràs Casas, M.; Faye, F.; Federici, L.; Fedorets, G.; Fernández-Hernández, J.; Fernique, P.; Fienga, A.; Figueras, F.; Filippi, F.; Findeisen, K.; Fonti, A.; Fouesneau, M.; Fraile, E.; Fraser, M.; Fuchs, J.; Furnell, R.; Gai, M.; Galleti, S.; Galluccio, L.; Garabato, D.; García-Sedano, F.; Garé, P.; Garofalo, A.; Garralda, N.; Gavras, P.; Gerssen, J.; Geyer, R.; Gilmore, G.; Girona, S.; Giuffrida, G.; Gomes, M.; González-Marcos, A.; González-Núñez, J.; González-Vidal, J. J.; Granvik, M.; Guerrier, A.; Guillout, P.; Guiraud, J.; Gúrpide, A.; Gutiérrez-Sánchez, R.; Guy, L. P.; Haigron, R.; Hatzidimitriou, D.; Haywood, M.; Heiter, U.; Helmi, A.; Hobbs, D.; Hofmann, W.; Holl, B.; Holland, G.; Hunt, J. A. S.; Hypki, A.; Icardi, V.; Irwin, M.; Jevardat de Fombelle, G.; Jofré, P.; Jonker, P. G.; Jorissen, A.; Julbe, F.; Karampelas, A.; Kochoska, A.; Kohley, R.; Kolenberg, K.; Kontizas, E.; Koposov, S. E.; Kordopatis, G.; Koubsky, P.; Kowalczyk, A.; Krone-Martins, A.; Kudryashova, M.; Kull, I.; Bachchan, R. K.; Lacoste-Seris, F.; Lanza, A. F.; Lavigne, J. -B; Le Poncin-Lafitte, C.; Lebreton, Y.; Lebzelter, T.; Leccia, S.; Leclerc, N.; Lecoeur-Taibi, I.; Lemaitre, V.; Lenhardt, H.; Leroux, F.; Liao, S.; Licata, E.; Lindstrøm, H. E. P.; Lister, T. A.; Livanou, E.; Lobel, A.; Löffler, W.; López, M.; Lopez-Lozano, A.; Lorenz, D.; Loureiro, T.; MacDonald, I.; Magalhães Fernandes, T.; Managau, S.; Mann, R. G.; Mantelet, G.; Marchal, O.; Marchant, J. M.; Marconi, M.; Marie, J.; Marinoni, S.; Marrese, P. M.; Marschalkó, G.; Marshall, D. J.; Martín-Fleitas, J. M.; Martino, M.; Mary, N.; Matijevič, G.; Mazeh, T.; McMillan, P. J.; Messina, S.; Mestre, A.; Michalik, D.; Millar, N. R.; Miranda, B. M. H.; Molina, D.; Molinaro, R.; Molinaro, M.; Molnár, L.; Moniez, M.; Montegriffo, P.; Monteiro, D.; Mor, R.; Mora, A.; Morbidelli, R.; Morel, T.; Morgenthaler, S.; Morley, T.; Morris, D.; Mulone, A. F.; Muraveva, T.; Musella, I.; Narbonne, J.; Nelemans, G.; Nicastro, L.; Noval, L.; Ordénovic, C.; Ordieres-Meré, J.; Osborne, P.; Pagani, C.; Pagano, I.; Pailler, F.; Palacin, H.; Palaversa, L.; Parsons, P.; Paulsen, T.; Pecoraro, M.; Pedrosa, R.; Pentikäinen, H.; Pereira, J.; Pichon, B.; Piersimoni, A. M.; Pineau, F. -X; Plachy, E.; Plum, G.; Poujoulet, E.; Prša, A.; Pulone, L.; Ragaini, S.; Rago, S.; Rambaux, N.; Ramos-Lerate, M.; Ranalli, P.; Rauw, G.; Read, A.; Regibo, S.; Renk, F.; Reylé, C.; Ribeiro, R. A.; Rimoldini, L.; Ripepi, V.; Riva, A.; Rixon, G.; Roelens, M.; Romero-Gómez, M.; Rowell, N.; Royer, F.; Rudolph, A.; Ruiz-Dern, L.; Sadowski, G.; Sagristà Sellés, T.; Sahlmann, J.; Salgado, J.; Salguero, E.; Sarasso, M.; Savietto, H.; Schnorhk, A.; Schultheis, M.; Sciacca, E.; Segol, M.; Segovia, J. C.; Segransan, D.; Serpell, E.; Shih, I. -C; Smareglia, R.; Smart, R. L.; Smith, C.; Solano, E.; Solitro, F.; Sordo, R.; Soria Nieto, S.; Souchay, J.; Spagna, A.; Spoto, F.; Stampa, U.; Steele, I. A.; Steidelmüller, H.; Stephenson, C. A.; Stoev, H.; Suess, F. F.; Süveges, M.; Surdej, J.; Szabados, L.; Szegedi-Elek, E.; Tapiador, D.; Taris, F.; Tauran, G.; Taylor, M. B.; Teixeira, R.; Terrett, D.; Tingley, B.; Trager, S. C.; Turon, C.; Ulla, A.; Utrilla, E.; Valentini, G.; van Elteren, A.; Van Hemelryck, E.; van Leeuwen, M.; Varadi, M.; Vecchiato, A.; Veljanoski, J.; Via, T.; Vicente, D.; Vogt, S.; Voss, H.; Votruba, V.; Voutsinas, S.; Walmsley, G.; Weiler, M.; Weingrill, K.; Werner, D.; Wevers, T.; Whitehead, G.; Wyrzykowski, Ł.; Yoldas, A.; Žerjal, M.; Zucker, S.; Zurbach, C.; Zwitter, T.; Alecu, A.; Allen, M.; Allende Prieto, C.; Amorim, A.; Anglada-Escudé, G.; Arsenijevic, V.; Azaz, S.; Balm, P.; Beck, M.; Bernstein, H. -H; Bigot, L.; Bijaoui, A.; Blasco, C.; Bonfigli, M.; Bono, G.; Boudreault, S.; Bressan, A.; Brown, S.; Brunet, P. -M; Bunclark, P.; Buonanno, R.; Butkevich, A. G.; Carret, C.; Carrion, C.; Chemin, L.; Chéreau, F.; Corcione, L.; Darmigny, E.; de Boer, K. S.; de Teodoro, P.; de Zeeuw, P. T.; Delle Luche, C.; Domingues, C. D.; Dubath, P.; Fodor, F.; Frézouls, B.; Fries, A.; Fustes, D.; Fyfe, D.; Gallardo, E.; Gallegos, J.; Gardiol, D.; Gebran, M.; Gomboc, A.; Gómez, A.; Grux, E.; Gueguen, A.; Heyrovsky, A.; Hoar, J.; Iannicola, G.; Isasi Parache, Y.; Janotto, A. -M; Joliet, E.; Jonckheere, A.; Keil, R.; Kim, D. -W; Klagyivik, P.; Klar, J.; Knude, J.; Kochukhov, O.; Kolka, I.; Kos, J.; Kutka, A.; Lainey, V.; LeBouquin, D.; Liu, C.; Loreggia, D.; Makarov, V. V.; Marseille, M. G.; Martayan, C.; Martinez-Rubi, O.; Massart, B.; Meynadier, F.; Mignot, S.; Munari, U.; Nguyen, A. -T; Nordlander, T.; Ocvirk, P.; O'Flaherty, K. S.; Olias Sanz, A.; Ortiz, P.; Osorio, J.; Oszkiewicz, D.; Ouzounis, A.; Palmer, M.; Park, P.; Pasquato, E.; Peltzer, C.; Peralta, J.; Péturaud, F.; Pieniluoma, T.; Pigozzi, E.; Poels, J.; Prat, G.; Prod'homme, T.; Raison, F.; Rebordao, J. M.; Risquez, D.; Rocca-Volmerange, B.; Rosen, S.; Ruiz-Fuertes, M. I.; Russo, F.; Sembay, S.; Serraller Vizcaino, I.; Short, A.; Siebert, A.; Silva, H.; Sinachopoulos, D.; Slezak, E.; Soffel, M.; Sosnowska, D.; Straižys, V.; ter Linden, M.; Terrell, D.; Theil, S.; Tiede, C.; Troisi, L.; Tsalmantza, P.; Tur, D.; Vaccari, M.; Vachier, F.; Valles, P.; Van Hamme, W.; Veltz, L.; Virtanen, J.; Wallut, J. -M; Wichmann, R.; Wilkinson, M. I.; Ziaeepour, H.; Zschocke, S.

2016-01-01

Gaia is a cornerstone mission in the science programme of the EuropeanSpace Agency (ESA). The spacecraft construction was approved in 2006, following a study in which the original interferometric concept was changed to a direct-imaging approach. Both the spacecraft and the payload were built by

Solar-Electrochemical Power System for a Mars Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Withrow, Colleen A.; Morales, Nelson

1994-01-01

This report documents a sizing study of a variety of solar electrochemical power systems for the intercenter NASA study known as 'Mars Exploration Reference Mission'. Power systems are characterized for a variety of rovers, habitation modules, and space transport vehicles based on requirements derived from the reference mission. The mission features a six-person crew living on Mars for 500 days. Mission power requirements range from 4 kWe to 120 kWe. Primary hydrogen and oxygen fuel cells, regenerative hydrogen and oxygen fuel cells, sodium sulfur batteries advanced photovoltaic solar arrays of gallium arsenide on germanium with tracking and nontracking mechanisms, and tent solar arrays of gallium arsenide on germanium are evaluated and compared.

The Ballerina experiment on the Romer mission

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brandt, Søren Kristian

2001-01-01

The Romer mission has recently been approved as the next mission within the Danish Small Satellite Program. The scientific payload will consist of two separate experiments, the MONS and the Ballerina payloads. The primary objective of Ballerina is to provide accurate, real-time positions relayed...

Growing fresh food on future space missions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meinen, Esther; Dueck, Tom; Kempkes, Frank; Stanghellini, Cecilia

2018-01-01

This paper deals with vegetable cultivation that could be faced in a space mission. This paper focusses on optimization, light, temperature and the harvesting process, while other factors concerning cultivation in space missions, i.e. gravity, radiation, were not addressed. It describes the work

Influence of Customer Focused Mission Statement on Customer Satisfaction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chijioke Nwachukwu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of customer‑focused mission statements on customer satisfaction in selected cell phone manufacturing companies in the United States. The study employed content analysis for the mission statement and data from America customer satisfaction index (ACSI. In analysing our data, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression techniques were used. The result showed that product and service, technology, philosophy, self‑concept, and public image mission statement components are strongly positively correlated with customer satisfaction. Customer, survival, growth and profitability and market mission statement components are insignificantly negatively correlated with customer satisfaction. The study, therefore, recommends that companies that want to remain competitive by enhancing customer satisfaction should formulate mission statements from a customer perspective so that they include product and service, technology, philosophy, self‑concept, and public image components. The main limitation of the study represents the sample size and structure. This study empirically investigated the correlation and association of nine mission statement components with customer satisfaction.

Airborne Instrument Simulator for the Lidar Surface Topography (LIST) Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Anthony W.; Krainak, Michael A.; Harding, David J.; Abshire, James B.; Sun, Xiaoli; Cavanaugh, John; Valett, Susan; Ramos-Izquierdo, Luis

2010-01-01

In 2007, the National Research Council (NRC) completed its first decadal survey for Earth science at the request of NASA, NOAA, and USGS. The Lidar Surface Topography (LIST) mission is one of fifteen missions recommended by NRC, whose primary objectives are to map global topography and vegetation structure at 5 m spatial resolution, and to acquire global coverage with a few years. NASA Goddard conducted an initial mission concept study for the LIST mission 2007, and developed the initial measurement requirements for the mission.

Airborne Lidar Simulator for the Lidar Surface Topography (LIST) Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Anthony W.; Krainak, Michael A.; Abshire, James B.; Cavanaugh, John; Valett, Susan; Ramos-Izquierdo, Luis

2010-01-01

In 2007, the National Research Council (NRC) completed its first decadal survey for Earth science at the request of NASA, NOAA, and USGS. The Lidar Surface Topography (LIST) mission is one of fifteen missions recommended by NRC, whose primary objectives are to map global topography and vegetation structure at 5 m spatial resolution, and to acquire global surface height mapping within a few years. NASA Goddard conducted an initial mission concept study for the LIST mission in 2007, and developed the initial measurement requirements for the mission.

The 'Granite' collegial mission of dialogue. Report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boisson, P.; Huet, Ph.; Mingasson, J.

2000-06-01

The aim of the 'Granite' collegial mission of dialogue is to inform the French authorities, associations and population about the project of construction of an underground laboratory for the study of the disposal of high level and long-life radioactive wastes in a granitic environment. The aim of the dialogue was not to select a site but to collect the public reactions and advices about such a project. However, such a dialogue has partially failed because of a misunderstanding of the population about the aims of the mission. However, the mission has collected many point of views and questions which are developed in this report. The first and second chapters recall the process of the mission and its progress, while a third chapter stresses on the questions asked by the public and which concern the fear of nuclear wastes and the incompatibility between the disposal of wastes and the socio-economical development of the region concerned. Thanks to the lessons drawn from this experience, the mission has formulated some recommendations (chapter 4) concerning the need for a better information of the population about any topic in relation with the radioactive wastes. Some complementary information is provided in appendixes. (J.S.)

Guidelines for NASA Missions to Engage the User Community as a Part of the Mission Life Cycle

Science.gov (United States)

Escobar, V. M.; Friedl, L.; Bonniksen, C. K.

2017-12-01

NASA continues to improve the Earth Science Directorate in the areas of thematic integration, stakeholder feedback and Project Applications Program tailoring for missions to transfer knowledge between scientists and projects. The integration of application themes and the implementation of application science activities in flight projects have evolved to formally include user feedback and stakeholder integration. NASA's new Flight Applied Science Program Guidelines are designed to bridge NASA Earth Science Directorates in Flight, Applied Sciences and Research and Development by agreeing to integrate the user community into mission life cycles. Thus science development and science applications will guide all new instruments launched by NASAs ESD. The continued integration with the user community has enabled socio-economic considerations into NASA Earth Science projects to advance significantly. Making users a natural part of mission science leverages future socio-economic impact research and provides a platform for innovative and more actionable product to be used in decision support systems by society. This presentation will give an overview of the new NASA Guidelines and provide samples that demonstrate how the user community can be a part of NASA mission designs.

Swarm: ESA's Magnetic Field Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Plank, G.; Floberghagen, R.; Menard, Y.; Haagmans, R.

2013-12-01

Swarm is the fifth Earth Explorer mission in ESA's Living Planet Programme, and is scheduled for launch in fall 2013. The objective of the Swarm mission is to provide the best-ever survey of the geomagnetic field and its temporal evolution using a constellation of three identical satellites. The mission shall deliver data that allow access to new insights into the Earth system by improved scientific understanding of the Earth's interior and near-Earth electromagnetic environment. After launch and triple satellite release at an initial altitude of about 490 km, a pair of the satellites will fly side-by-side with slowly decaying altitude, while the third satellite will be lifted to 530 km to complete the Swarm constellation. High-precision and high-resolution measurements of the strength, direction and variation of the magnetic field, complemented by precise navigation, accelerometer and electric field measurements, will provide the observations required to separate and model various sources of the geomagnetic field and near-Earth current systems. The mission science goals are to provide a unique view into Earth's core dynamics, mantle conductivity, crustal magnetisation, ionospheric and magnetospheric current systems and upper atmosphere dynamics - ranging from understanding the geodynamo to contributing to space weather. The scientific objectives and results from recent scientific studies will be presented. In addition the current status of the project, which is presently in the final stage of the development phase, will be addressed. A consortium of European scientific institutes is developing a distributed processing system to produce geophysical (Level 2) data products for the Swarm user community. The setup of the Swarm ground segment and the contents of the data products will be addressed. In case the Swarm satellites are already in orbit, a summary of the on-going mission operations activities will be given. More information on Swarm can be found at www.esa.int/esaLP/LPswarm.html.

Mission aware energy saving strategies for Army ground vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

Dattathreya, Macam S.

Fuel energy is a basic necessity for this planet and the modern technology to perform many activities on earth. On the other hand, quadrupled automotive vehicle usage by the commercial industry and military has increased fuel consumption. Military readiness of Army ground vehicles is very important for a country to protect its people and resources. Fuel energy is a major requirement for Army ground vehicles. According to a report, a department of defense has spent nearly $13.6 billion on fuel and electricity to conduct ground missions. On the contrary, energy availability on this plant is slowly decreasing. Therefore, saving energy in Army ground vehicles is very important. Army ground vehicles are embedded with numerous electronic systems to conduct missions such as silent and normal stationary surveillance missions. Increasing electrical energy consumption of these systems is influencing higher fuel consumption of the vehicle. To save energy, the vehicles can use any of the existing techniques, but they require complex, expensive, and time consuming implementations. Therefore, cheaper and simpler approaches are required. In addition, the solutions have to save energy according to mission needs and also overcome size and weight constraints of the vehicle. Existing research in the current literature do not have any mission aware approaches to save energy. This dissertation research proposes mission aware online energy saving strategies for stationary Army ground vehicles to save energy as well as to meet the electrical needs of the vehicle during surveillance missions. The research also proposes theoretical models of surveillance missions, fuzzy logic models of engine and alternator efficiency data, and fuzzy logic algorithms. Based on these models, two energy saving strategies are proposed for silent and normal surveillance type of missions. During silent mission, the engine is on and batteries power the systems. During normal surveillance mission, the engine is

An X-ray perspective on a gamma-ray mission

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lund, Niels

2003-01-01

The most recent astrophysics mission of ESA is INTEGRAL, a mission dedicated to gamma-ray astronomy (Winkler et al. 2003). INTEGRAL carries two gamma-ray instruments: the imager, IBIS, and the spectrometer, SPI, and in addition an optical monitor, OMC, and an X-ray monitor, JEM-X. INTEGRAL is an ...... is an observatory mission with 70% of the observation time available to the general astronomical community through a peer-reviewed selection process. This paper describes the INTEGRAL mission primarily as seen from the JEM-X perspective....

Low Thrust Trajectory Design for GSFC Missions Project

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The Evolutionary Mission Trajectory Generator (EMTG) is a global trajectory optimization tool. EMTG is intended for use in designing interplanetary missions which...

Middleware Evaluation and Benchmarking for Use in Mission Operations Centers

Science.gov (United States)

Antonucci, Rob; Waktola, Waka

2005-01-01

Middleware technologies have been promoted as timesaving, cost-cutting alternatives to the point-to-point communication used in traditional mission operations systems. However, missions have been slow to adopt the new technology. The lack of existing middleware-based missions has given rise to uncertainty about middleware's ability to perform in an operational setting. Most mission architects are also unfamiliar with the technology and do not know the benefits and detriments to architectural choices - or even what choices are available. We will present the findings of a study that evaluated several middleware options specifically for use in a mission operations system. We will address some common misconceptions regarding the applicability of middleware-based architectures, and we will identify the design decisions and tradeoffs that must be made when choosing a middleware solution. The Middleware Comparison and Benchmark Study was conducted at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center to comprehensively evaluate candidate middleware products, compare and contrast the performance of middleware solutions with the traditional point- to-point socket approach, and assess data delivery and reliability strategies. The study focused on requirements of the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission, validating the potential use of middleware in the GPM mission ground system. The study was jointly funded by GPM and the Goddard Mission Services Evolution Center (GMSEC), a virtual organization for providing mission enabling solutions and promoting the use of appropriate new technologies for mission support. The study was broken into two phases. To perform the generic middleware benchmarking and performance analysis, a network was created with data producers and consumers passing data between themselves. The benchmark monitored the delay, throughput, and reliability of the data as the characteristics were changed. Measurements were taken under a variety of topologies, data demands

PLA Missions Beyond Taiwan

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Miller, Marc

2008-01-01

KEY INSIGHTS: *The PLA is being assigned and training for an increasing variety of missions, including nontraditional battlefields such as outer space and cyber space, as well as nontraditional functions...

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Planetary candidates from 1st yr K2 mission (Vanderburg+, 2016)

Science.gov (United States)

Vanderburg, A.; Latham, D. W.; Buchhave, L. A.; Bieryla, A.; Berlind, P.; Calkins, M. L.; Esquerdo, G. A.; Welsh, S.; Johnson, J. A.

2016-02-01

During Campaign 0, K2 observed a field centered at RAJ2000=06:33:11.14,DEJ2000=+21:35:16.40, for a period of 80 days between March and May of 2014. During Campaign 1, K2 observed a field centered at RAJ2000=11:35:45.51,DEJ2000=+01:25:02.28 for 83 days between June and August of 2014. Field 2 of the K2 mission is centered at RAJ2000=16:24:30.34,DEJ2000=-22:26:50.28, and was observed for 79 days between 2014 August and November. Field 3 of the K2 mission is centered at RAJ2000=22:26:39.68,DEJ2000=-11:05:47.99, and was observed for 69 days between 2014 November and 2015 February. We observed 68 stars with the high-resolution Tillinghast Reflector Echelle Spectrograph (TRES; on the 1.5m telescope at Fred L. Whipple Observatory (FLWO) on Mt. Hopkins, Arizona; R=44000) at least once, collecting a total of 101 spectra, and extracted the spectra using the procedure described in Buchhave et al. (2010, J/ApJ/720/1118). See tables 3 and 4. (4 data files).

Radioactive waste management. Ukraine. WAMAP mission to Ukraine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bergman, C.; Samiei, M.; Takats, F.

1993-01-01

In February 1992, the Ukrainian State Committee on Nuclear and Radiation Safety IAEA assisted in management of radwaste and spent fuel. A three member IAEA mission was sent to Ukraine for fact-finding. The present report discusses the outcome of this mission. It gives present legislation, regulations and organizational situation in Ukraine and generation and waste management of radioactive wastes. It discusses possible area of technical co-operation, conclusions and recommendations of the mission

5 CFR 2600.101 - Mission and history.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 5 Administrative Personnel 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Mission and history. 2600.101 Section 2600.101 Administrative Personnel OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS ORGANIZATION AND PROCEDURES ORGANIZATION AND FUNCTIONS OF THE OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS § 2600.101 Mission and history. (a) The Office of...

Basic radio interferometry for future lunar missions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Aminaei, Amin; Klein Wolt, Marc; Chen, Linjie; Bronzwaer, Thomas; Pourshaghaghi, Hamid Reza; Bentum, Marinus Jan; Falcke, Heino

2014-01-01

In light of presently considered lunar missions, we investigate the feasibility of the basic radio interferometry (RIF) for lunar missions. We discuss the deployment of two-element radio interferometer on the Moon surface. With the first antenna element is envisaged to be placed on the lunar lander,

Earth observations during Space Shuttle mission STS-45 Mission to Planet Earth - March 24-April 2, 1992

Science.gov (United States)

Pitts, David E.; Helfert, Michael R.; Lulla, Kamlesh P.; Mckay, Mary F.; Whitehead, Victor S.; Amsbury, David L.; Bremer, Jeffrey; Ackleson, Steven G.; Evans, Cynthia A.; Wilkinson, M. J.

1992-01-01

A description is presented of the activities and results of the Space Shuttle mission STS-45, known as the Mission to Planet Earth. Observations of Mount St. Helens, Manila Bay and Mt. Pinatubo, the Great Salt Lake, the Aral Sea, and the Siberian cities of Troitsk and Kuybyshev are examined. The geological features and effects of human activity seen in photographs of these areas are pointed out.

Study of Power Options for Jupiter and Outer Planet Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Landis, Geoffrey A.; Fincannon, James

2015-01-01

Power for missions to Jupiter and beyond presents a challenging goal for photovoltaic power systems, but NASA missions including Juno and the upcoming Europa Clipper mission have shown that it is possible to operate solar arrays at Jupiter. This work analyzes photovoltaic technologies for use in Jupiter and outer planet missions, including both conventional arrays, as well as analyzing the advantages of advanced solar cells, concentrator arrays, and thin film technologies. Index Terms - space exploration, spacecraft solar arrays, solar electric propulsion, photovoltaic cells, concentrator, Fresnel lens, Jupiter missions, outer planets.

Planetary Missions of the 20th Century*

Science.gov (United States)

Moroz, V. I.; Huntress, W. T.; Shevalev, I. L.

2002-09-01

Among of the highlights of the 20th century were flights of spacecraft to other bodies of the Solar System. This paper describes briefly the missions attempted, their goals, and fate. Information is presented in five tables on the missions launched, their goals, mission designations, dates, discoveries when successful, and what happened if they failed. More detailed explanations are given in the accompanying text. It is shown how this enterprise developed and evolved step by step from a politically driven competition to intense scientific investigations and international cooperation. Initially, only the USA and USSR sent missions to the Moon and planets. Europe and Japan joined later. The USSR carried out significant research in Solar System exploration until the end of the 1980s. The Russian Federation no longer supports robotic planetary exploration for economic reasons, and it remains to be seen whether the invaluable Russian experience in planetary space flight will be lost. Collaboration between Russian and other national space agencies may be a solution.

Using Natural Language to Enhance Mission Effectiveness

Science.gov (United States)

Trujillo, Anna C.; Meszaros, Erica

2016-01-01

The availability of highly capable, yet relatively cheap, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is opening up new areas of use for hobbyists and for professional-related activities. The driving function of this research is allowing a non-UAV pilot, an operator, to define and manage a mission. This paper describes the preliminary usability measures of an interface that allows an operator to define the mission using speech to make inputs. An experiment was conducted to begin to enumerate the efficacy and user acceptance of using voice commands to define a multi-UAV mission and to provide high-level vehicle control commands such as "takeoff." The primary independent variable was input type - voice or mouse. The primary dependent variables consisted of the correctness of the mission parameter inputs and the time needed to make all inputs. Other dependent variables included NASA-TLX workload ratings and subjective ratings on a final questionnaire. The experiment required each subject to fill in an online form that contained comparable required information that would be needed for a package dispatcher to deliver packages. For each run, subjects typed in a simple numeric code for the package code. They then defined the initial starting position, the delivery location, and the return location using either pull-down menus or voice input. Voice input was accomplished using CMU Sphinx4-5prealpha for speech recognition. They then inputted the length of the package. These were the option fields. The subject had the system "Calculate Trajectory" and then "Takeoff" once the trajectory was calculated. Later, the subject used "Land" to finish the run. After the voice and mouse input blocked runs, subjects completed a NASA-TLX. At the conclusion of all runs, subjects completed a questionnaire asking them about their experience in inputting the mission parameters, and starting and stopping the mission using mouse and voice input. In general, the usability of voice commands is acceptable

Planning for Planetary Science Mission Including Resource Prospecting, Phase II

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Advances in computer-aided mission planning can enhance mission operations and science return for surface missions to Mars, the Moon, and beyond. While the...

Space missions to the exoplanets: Will they ever be possible

Science.gov (United States)

Genta, Giancarlo

There is no doubt that the discovery of exoplanets has made interstellar space mission much more interesting than they were in the past. The possible discovery of a terrestrial type plane at a reasonable distance will give a strong impulse in this direction. However, there are doubts that such long range space mission will ever become feasible at all and, in case they will be, it is impossible to forecast a timeframe for them. At present, precursor interstellar missions are planned, but they fall way short from yielding interesting information about exoplanets, except perhaps in the case of missions to the focal line of the Sun’s gravitational lens, whose usefulness in this context is still to be demonstrated. They are anyway an essential step in the roadmap toward interstellar missions. Often the difficulties linked with interstellar missions are considered as related with the huge quantity of energy required for reaching the target star system within a reasonable timeframe. While this may well be a showstopper, it is not the only problem to be solved to make them possible. Two other issues are those linked with the probe’s autonomy and the telecommunications required to transmit large quantities of information at those distances. Missions to the exoplanets may be subdivided in the following categories: 1) robotic missions to the destination system, including flybys; 2) robotic missions including landing on an exoplanet; 3) robotic sample return missions; 4) human missions. The main problem to be solved for missions of type 1 is linked with propulsion and with energy availability, while autonomy (artificial intelligence) and telecommunication problems are more or less manageable with predictable technologies. Missions of type 2 are more demanding for what propulsion is concerned, but above all require a much larger artificial intelligence and also will generate a large amount of data, whose transmission back to Earth may become a problem. The suggestion of

New vision solar system exploration missions study: Analysis of the use of biomodal space nuclear power systems to support outer solar system exploration missions. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1995-12-08

This report presents the results of an analysis of the capability of nuclear bimodal systems to perform outer solar system exploration missions. Missions of interest include orbiter mission s to Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. An initial technology baseline consisting of a NEBA 10 kWe, 1000 N thrust, 850 s, 1500 kg bimodal system was selected, and its performance examined against a data base for trajectories to outer solar system planetary destinations to select optimal direct and gravity assisted trajectories for study. A conceptual design for a common bimodal spacecraft capable of performing missions to all the planetary destinations was developed and made the basis of end to end mission designs for orbiter missions to Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune. Concepts for microspacecraft capable of probing Jupiter`s atmosphere and exploring Titan were also developed. All mission designs considered use the Atlas 2AS for launch. It is shown that the bimodal nuclear power and propulsion system offers many attractive option for planetary missions, including both conventional planetary missions in which all instruments are carried by a single primary orbiting spacecraft, and unconventional missions in which the primary spacecraft acts as a carrier, relay, and mother ship for a fleet of micro spacecraft deployed at the planetary destination.

Agent-Supported Mission Operations Teamwork

Science.gov (United States)

Malin, Jane T.

2003-01-01

This slide presentation reviews the development of software agents to support of mission operations teamwork. The goals of the work was to make automation by agents easy to use, supervise and direct, manage information and communication to decrease distraction, interruptions, workload and errors, reduce mission impact of off-nominal situations and increase morale and decrease turnover. The accomplishments or the project are: 1. Collaborative agents - mixed initiative and creation of instructions for mediating agent 2. Methods for prototyping, evaluating and evolving socio-technical systems 3. Technology infusion: teamwork tools in mISSIons 4. Demonstrations in simulation testbed An example of the use of agent is given, the use of an agent to monitor a N2 tank leak. An incomplete instruction to the agent is handled with mediating assistants, or Intelligent Briefing and Response Assistant (IBRA). The IBRA Engine also watches data stream for triggers and executes Act-Whenever actions. There is also a Briefing and Response Instruction (BRI) which is easy for a discipline specialist to create through a BRI editor.

Do the Metrics Make the Mission?

Science.gov (United States)

2008-09-01

view that, “multidimensional peacekeeping missions are complex with many unknown variables and fall victim to mission creep once a peacekeeping...techniques for breeding and vaccinating cattle . Since the vaccination program was implemented, over “nine million heads of livestock have received...Procurement of equipment, fish feed and brood stock is in progress, while 1,500 fish pond owners have been supplied with fish fingerlings. As a result

Tank waste remediation system mission analysis report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Acree, C.D.

1998-01-01

The Tank Waste Remediation System Mission Analysis Report identifies the initial states of the system and the desired final states of the system. The Mission Analysis Report identifies target measures of success appropriate to program-level accomplishments. It also identifies program-level requirements and major system boundaries and interfaces

76 FR 58776 - U.S. Aerospace Supplier & Investment Mission

Science.gov (United States)

2011-09-22

.... products to enter Canada duty-free and therefore further contributes to the relatively low-cost, low-risk... 7 8:00-8:30 Mission Welcoming Remarks by Consul General/SCO & Mission Logistics Briefing. 8:30-9:30... mission must complete and submit an application form for consideration by the Department of Commerce. All...

An Analog Rover Exploration Mission for Education and Outreach

Science.gov (United States)

Moores, John; Campbell, Charissa L.; Smith, Christina L.; Cooper, Brittney A.

2017-10-01

This abstract describes an analog rover exploration mission designed as an outreach program for high school and undergraduate students. This program is used to teach them about basic mission control operations, how to manage a rover as if it were on another planetary body, and employing the rover remotely to complete mission objectives. One iteration of this program has been completed and another is underway. In both trials, participants were shown the different operation processes involved in a real-life mission. Modifications were made to these processes to decrease complexity and better simulate a mission control environment in a short time period (three 20-minute-long mission “days”). In the first run of the program, participants selected a landing site, what instruments would be on the rover - subject to cost, size, and weight limitations - and were randomly assigned one of six different mission operations roles, each with specific responsibilities. For example, a Science Planner/Integrator (SPI) would plan science activities whilst a Rover Engineer (RE) would keep on top of rover constraints. Planning consisted of a series of four meetings to develop and verify the current plan, pre-plan the next day's activities and uplink the activities to the “rover” (a human colleague). Participants were required to attend certain meetings depending upon their assigned role. To conclude the mission, students viewed the site to understand any differences between remote viewing and reality in relation to the rover. Another mission is currently in progress with revisions from the earlier run to improve the experience. This includes broader roles and meetings and pre-selecting the landing site and rover. The new roles are: Mission Lead, Rover Engineer and Science Planner. The SPI role was previously popular so most of the students were placed in this category. The meetings were reduced to three but extended in length. We are also planning to integrate this program

Ulysses, the end of an extraordinary mission

Science.gov (United States)

2008-06-01

Ulysses, a pioneering ESA/NASA mission, was launched in October 1990 to explore uncharted territories - the regions above and below the Sun’s poles - and study our star’s sphere of influence, or heliosphere, in the four dimensions of space and time. Originally designed for a lifetime of five years, the mission has surpassed all expectations. The reams of data Ulysses has returned have forever changed the way scientists view the Sun and its effect on the space surrounding it. Media representatives interested in attending the press conference are invited to register using the attached form. Those not able to attend will have the opportunity to follow the press conference using the following phone number: +33 1 56785733 (listening-mode only). The programme of the event is as follows: The Ulysses Legacy Press Conference 12 June 2008, 15:30, Room 137, ESA Headquarters, 8-10 rue Mario-Nikis, Paris Event programme 15:30 Welcome, by David Southwood, ESA Director of Science and Robotic Exploration (with a joint ESA/NASA statement) 15:40 Ulysses: a modern-day Odyssey, by Richard Marsden, ESA Ulysses Project Scientist and Mission Manager 15:50 The Ulysses scientific legacy: Inside the heliosphere, by Richard Marsden,ESA Ulysses Project Scientist and Mission Manager 16:00 The Ulysses scientific legacy: Outside the heliosphere, by Ed Smith, NASA Ulysses Project Scientist 16:10 Ulysses, the over-achiever: challenges and successes of a 17-year-old mission, by Nigel Angold, ESA Ulysses Mission Operations Manager 16:20 Questions and Answers, Panelists: David Southwood, Richard Marsden, Ed Smith, Nigel Angold and Ed Massey (NASA Ulysses Project Manager) 16:40 Interview opportunities 17:30 End of event

THE PLIGHT OF GERMAN MISSIONS IN MANDATE CAMEROON: AN HISTORICAL ANALYSIS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lang Michael Kpughe

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The First World War and its resultant Mandate and Trusteeship systems greatly affected the German mission enterprise in Cameroon. Apart from causing the forceful ousting of German missionaries from Cameroon, the British and the French whom the League of Nations and United Nations successively chose as administering powers within the Mandate and Trusteeship frameworks adopted hostile policies towards German missions. From the beginning of the war to the post-Second World War era, the foundation of German missions was seriously threatened. This paper critically examines the treatment of German missions in both British and French Cameroons during the Mandate and Trusteeship periods, focusing especially on the opposing attitudes of both administering powers towards the missions in their spheres of influence. The paper establishes that the administering powers’ treatment of German missions, which was underpinned by imperial and nationalist exigencies, roiled the attainment of the triple missionization agenda of planting self-supporting, self-governing and self-evangelizing churches. It thus argues that the First World War triggered the mistreatment of German missions, with some missions forced to terminate their activities while others were allowed to continue their mission work under difficult conditions.

Modeling and Simulation for Mission Operations Work System Design

Science.gov (United States)

Sierhuis, Maarten; Clancey, William J.; Seah, Chin; Trimble, Jay P.; Sims, Michael H.

2003-01-01

Work System analysis and design is complex and non-deterministic. In this paper we describe Brahms, a multiagent modeling and simulation environment for designing complex interactions in human-machine systems. Brahms was originally conceived as a business process design tool that simulates work practices, including social systems of work. We describe our modeling and simulation method for mission operations work systems design, based on a research case study in which we used Brahms to design mission operations for a proposed discovery mission to the Moon. We then describe the results of an actual method application project-the Brahms Mars Exploration Rover. Space mission operations are similar to operations of traditional organizations; we show that the application of Brahms for space mission operations design is relevant and transferable to other types of business processes in organizations.

Sample Handling Considerations for a Europa Sample Return Mission: An Overview

Science.gov (United States)

Fries, M. D.; Calaway, M. L.; Evans, C. A.; McCubbin, F. M.

2015-01-01

The intent of this abstract is to provide a basic overview of mission requirements for a generic Europan plume sample return mission, based on NASA Curation experience in NASA sample return missions ranging from Apollo to OSIRIS-REx. This should be useful for mission conception and early stage planning. We will break the mission down into Outbound and Return legs and discuss them separately.

NASA's Gravitational - Wave Mission Concept Study

Science.gov (United States)

Stebbins, Robin; Jennrich, Oliver; McNamara, Paul

2012-01-01

With the conclusion of the NASA/ESA partnership on the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) Project, NASA initiated a study to explore mission concepts that will accomplish some or all of the LISA science objectives at lower cost. The Gravitational-Wave Mission Concept Study consisted of a public Request for Information (RFI), a Core Team of NASA engineers and scientists, a Community Science Team, a Science Task Force, and an open workshop. The RFI yielded were 12 mission concepts, 3 instrument concepts and 2 technologies. The responses ranged from concepts that eliminated the drag-free test mass of LISA to concepts that replace the test mass with an atom interferometer. The Core Team reviewed the noise budgets and sensitivity curves, the payload and spacecraft designs and requirements, orbits and trajectories and technical readiness and risk. The Science Task Force assessed the science performance by calculating the horizons. the detection rates and the accuracy of astrophysical parameter estimation for massive black hole mergers, stellar-mass compact objects inspiraling into central engines. and close compact binary systems. Three mission concepts have been studied by Team-X, JPL's concurrent design facility. to define a conceptual design evaluate kt,y performance parameters. assess risk and estimate cost and schedule. The Study results are summarized.

PFERD Mission: Pluto Flyby Exploration/Research Design

Science.gov (United States)

Lemke, Gary; Zayed, Husni; Herring, Jason; Fuehne, Doug; Sutton, Kevin; Sharkey, Mike

1990-01-01

The Pluto Flyby Exploration/Research Design (PFERD) mission will consist of a flyby spacecraft to Pluto and its satellite, Charon. The mission lifetime is expected to be 18 years. The Titan 4 with a Centaur upper stage will be utilized to launch the craft into the transfer orbit. The proposal was divided into six main subsystems: (1) scientific instrumentation; (2) command, communications, and control: (3) altitude and articulation control; (4) power and propulsion; (5) structures and thermal control; and (6) mission management and costing. Tradeoff studies were performed to optimize all factors of design, including survivability, performance, cost, and weight. Problems encountered in the design are also presented.

AstroBiology Explorer Mission Concepts (ABE/ASPIRE)

Science.gov (United States)

Sandford, Scott; Ennico, Kimberly A.

2006-01-01

The AstroBiology Explorer (ABE) and the Astrobiology Space InfraRed Explorer (ASPIRE) Mission Concepts are two missions designed to address the questions (1) Where do we come from? and (2) Are we alone? as outlined in NASA s Origins Program using infrared spectroscopy to explore the identity, abundance, and distribution of molecules of astrobiological importance throughout the Universe. The ABE mission s observational program is focused on six tasks to: (1) Investigate the evolution of ice and organics in dense clouds and star formation regions, and the young stellar/planetary systems that form in them; (2) Measure the evolution of complex organic molecules in stellar outflows; (3) Study the organic composition of a wide variety of solar system objects including asteroids, comets, and the planets and their satellites; (4) Identify organic compounds in the diffuse interstellar medium and determine their distribution , abundance, and change with environment; (5) Detect and identify organic compounds in other galaxies and determine their dependence on galactic type; and (6) Measure deuterium enrichments in interstellar organics and use them as tracers of chemical processes. The ASPIRE mission s observational program expands upon ABE's core mission and adds tasks that (7) Address the role of silicates in interstellar organic chemistry; and (8) Use different resolution spectra to assess the relative roles and abundances of gas- and solid-state materials. ABE (ASPIRE) achieves these goals using a highly sensitive, cryogenically-cooled telescope in an Earth drift-away heliocentric orbit, armed with a suite of infrared spectrometers that cover the 2.5-20(40) micron spectral region at moderate spectral resolution (R>2000). ASPIRE's spectrometer complement also includes a high-resolution (R>25,000) module over the 4-8 micron spectral region. Both missions target lists are chosen to observe a statistically significant sample of a large number of objects of varied types in

Electrical Power System Architectures for In-House NASA/GSFC Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Yun, Diane D.

2006-01-01

This power point presentation reviews the electrical power system (EPS) architecture used for a few NASA GSFC's missions both current and planned. Included in the presentation are reviews of electric power systems for the Space Technology 5 (ST5) mission, the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) Mission, and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). There is a slide that compares the three missions' electrical supply systems.

Model-Based Trade Space Exploration for Near-Earth Space Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Cohen, Ronald H.; Boncyk, Wayne; Brutocao, James; Beveridge, Iain

2005-01-01

We developed a capability for model-based trade space exploration to be used in the conceptual design of Earth-orbiting space missions. We have created a set of reusable software components to model various subsystems and aspects of space missions. Several example mission models were created to test the tools and process. This technique and toolset has demonstrated itself to be valuable for space mission architectural design.

Xenon Acquisition Strategies for High-Power Electric Propulsion NASA Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Herman, Daniel A.; Unfried, Kenneth G.

2015-01-01

Solar electric propulsion (SEP) has been used for station-keeping of geostationary communications satellites since the 1980s. Solar electric propulsion has also benefitted from success on NASA Science Missions such as Deep Space One and Dawn. The xenon propellant loads for these applications have been in the 100s of kilograms range. Recent studies performed for NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) have demonstrated that SEP is critically enabling for both near-term and future exploration architectures. The high payoff for both human and science exploration missions and technology investment from NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) are providing the necessary convergence and impetus for a 30-kilowatt-class SEP mission. Multiple 30-50- kilowatt Solar Electric Propulsion Technology Demonstration Mission (SEP TDM) concepts have been developed based on the maturing electric propulsion and solar array technologies by STMD with recent efforts focusing on an Asteroid Redirect Robotic Mission (ARRM). Xenon is the optimal propellant for the existing state-of-the-art electric propulsion systems considering efficiency, storability, and contamination potential. NASA mission concepts developed and those proposed by contracted efforts for the 30-kilowatt-class demonstration have a range of xenon propellant loads from 100s of kilograms up to 10,000 kilograms. This paper examines the status of the xenon industry worldwide, including historical xenon supply and pricing. The paper will provide updated information on the xenon market relative to previous papers that discussed xenon production relative to NASA mission needs. The paper will discuss the various approaches for acquiring on the order of 10 metric tons of xenon propellant to support potential near-term NASA missions. Finally, the paper will discuss acquisitions strategies for larger NASA missions requiring 100s of metric tons of xenon will be discussed.

The growth of partnership in mission in global mission history during ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Partnership in mission came to be a byword for developing missionary relationships during the twentieth century. During this time its meaning and practice changed, often imperceptibly. This is seen in the regular conferences of the International Missionary Conference and its successors which had their origin in the ...

Evaluation of the electric utility missions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Syrota, J.

2000-01-01

The French law from February 10, 2000, about the modernization and development of the electric utility, has created new missions of public utility and foresees some compensation mechanisms for not handicapping the power operators in charge of these missions and for not creating competition distortions to their detriment on the European market. The author explains, first, the financial and economical stakes linked with these new missions. Then, he evokes the evolution of the energy context that has taken place between the 2. World war and the enforcement of the February 10, 2000 law, and he analyzes the systems foreseen for the power generation and distribution. For each public utility charge, the existing dispositions and those introduced by the law are analyzed and compared to the equivalent systems existing in other countries. Then, charge evaluation criteria and sharing rules and proposed. (J.S.)

Synthesis report about the after-mine mission; Rapport de synthese sur la mission apres-mine

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2003-07-01

The French ministry of economy finances and industry has assigned the mission of evaluating the after-mine management system to the general inspection of finances and the general council of mines. The after-mine management system encompasses all procedures of coal, iron and potash mines closing down, land reclamation and environmental remedial action and site rehabilitation. This document makes first a status of the problems generated by the stoppage of mining activities: technical aspects, costs, institutional, organisational and juridical aspects, conservation of competences, international benchmarking elements and good practices implemented in foreign countries. Then, in a second part, this report presents the recommendations of the after-mine mission about the mastery of after-mine costs in agreement with the respect of the technical and social goals, with the development of the after-mine institutional system with the scheduled disappearance of Charbonnages de France and Mines de Potasses d'Alsace companies, and with the conservation of competences in the framework of the post-mine operational structure proposed by the mission. (J.S.)

Synthesis report about the after-mine mission; Rapport de synthese sur la mission apres-mine

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2003-07-01

The French ministry of economy finances and industry has assigned the mission of evaluating the after-mine management system to the general inspection of finances and the general council of mines. The after-mine management system encompasses all procedures of coal, iron and potash mines closing down, land reclamation and environmental remedial action and site rehabilitation. This document makes first a status of the problems generated by the stoppage of mining activities: technical aspects, costs, institutional, organisational and juridical aspects, conservation of competences, international benchmarking elements and good practices implemented in foreign countries. Then, in a second part, this report presents the recommendations of the after-mine mission about the mastery of after-mine costs in agreement with the respect of the technical and social goals, with the development of the after-mine institutional system with the scheduled disappearance of Charbonnages de France and Mines de Potasses d'Alsace companies, and with the conservation of competences in the framework of the post-mine operational structure proposed by the mission. (J.S.)

Protection of Shipping: A Forgotten Mission with Many New Challenges

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Grubb, Michael C

2006-01-01

..." mission status, often leading to devastating losses of shipping when war came. Today, the protection of shipping mission still finds itself behind more high-profile missions such as strike warfare and ballistic missile defense...

Transportation Packages to Support Savannah River Site Missions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Opperman, E.

2001-01-01

The Savannah River Site's missions have expanded from primarily a defense mission to one that includes environmental cleanup and the stabilization, storage, and preparation for final disposition of nuclear materials. The development of packaging and the transportation of radioactive materials are playing an ever-increasing role in the successful completion of the site's missions. This paper describes the Savannah River Site and the three strategic mission areas of (1) nuclear materials stewardship, (2) environmental stewardship, and (3) nuclear weapons stockpile stewardship. The materials and components that need to be shipped, and associated packaging, will be described for each of the mission areas. The diverse range of materials requiring shipment include spent fuel, irradiated target assemblies, excess plutonium and uranium materials, high level waste canisters, transuranic wastes, mixed and low level wastes, and nuclear weapons stockpile materials and components. Since many of these materials have been in prolonged storage or resulted from disassembly of components, the composition, size and shape of the materials present packaging and certification challenges that need to be met. Over 30 different package designs are required to support the site's missions. Approximately 15 inbound shipping-legs transport materials into the Savannah River Site and the same number (15) of outgoing shipment-legs are carrying materials from the site for further processing or permanent disposal

The Application of LENR to Synergistic Mission Capabilities

Science.gov (United States)

Wells, Douglas P.; Mavris, Dimitri N.

2014-01-01

This paper presents an overview of several missions that exploit the capabilities of a Low Energy Nuclear Reaction (LENR) aircraft propulsion system. LENR is a form of nuclear energy and potentially has over 4,000 times the energy density of chemical energy sources. It does not have any harmful emissions or radiation which makes it extremely appealing. The global reliance on crude oil for aircraft energy creates the opportunity for a revolutionary change with LENR. LENR will impact aircraft performance capabilities, military capabilities, the environment, the economy, and society. Although there is a lot of interest in LENR, there is no proven theory that explains it. Some of the technical challenges are thermal runaway and start-up time. This paper does not explore the feasibility of LENR and assumes that a system is available. A non-dimensional aircraft mass (NAM) ratio diagram is used to explore the aircraft system design space. The NAM ratio diagram shows that LENR can enable long range and high speed missions. The design space exploration led to the conclusion that LENR aircraft would be well suited for high altitude long endurance (HALE) missions, including communications relay and scientific missions for hurricane tracking and other weather phenomena, military intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and airspace denial missions, supersonic passenger transport aircraft, and international cargo transport. This paper describes six of those missions.

Architecture oriented modeling and simulation method for combat mission profile

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

CHEN Xia

2017-05-01

Full Text Available In order to effectively analyze the system behavior and system performance of combat mission profile, an architecture-oriented modeling and simulation method is proposed. Starting from the architecture modeling,this paper describes the mission profile based on the definition from National Military Standard of China and the US Department of Defense Architecture Framework(DoDAFmodel, and constructs the architecture model of the mission profile. Then the transformation relationship between the architecture model and the agent simulation model is proposed to form the mission profile executable model. At last,taking the air-defense mission profile as an example,the agent simulation model is established based on the architecture model,and the input and output relations of the simulation model are analyzed. It provides method guidance for the combat mission profile design.

Mars Sample Return: Mars Ascent Vehicle Mission and Technology Requirements

Science.gov (United States)

Bowles, Jeffrey V.; Huynh, Loc C.; Hawke, Veronica M.; Jiang, Xun J.

2013-01-01

A Mars Sample Return mission is the highest priority science mission for the next decade recommended by the recent Decadal Survey of Planetary Science, the key community input process that guides NASAs science missions. A feasibility study was conducted of a potentially simple and low cost approach to Mars Sample Return mission enabled by the use of developing commercial capabilities. Previous studies of MSR have shown that landing an all up sample return mission with a high mass capacity lander is a cost effective approach. The approach proposed is the use of an emerging commercially available capsule to land the launch vehicle system that would return samples to Earth. This paper describes the mission and technology requirements impact on the launch vehicle system design, referred to as the Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV).

Benefits of advanced software techniques for mission planning systems

Science.gov (United States)

Gasquet, A.; Parrod, Y.; Desaintvincent, A.

1994-10-01

The increasing complexity of modern spacecraft, and the stringent requirement for maximizing their mission return, call for a new generation of Mission Planning Systems (MPS). In this paper, we discuss the requirements for the Space Mission Planning and the benefits which can be expected from Artificial Intelligence techniques through examples of applications developed by Matra Marconi Space.

Manned Mars mission communication and data management systems

Science.gov (United States)

White, Ronald E.

1986-01-01

A manned Mars mission will involve a small crew and many complex tasks. The productivity of the crew and the entire mission will depend significantly on effective automation of these tasks and the ease with which the crew can interface with them. The technology to support a manned Mars mission is available today; however, evolving software and electronic technology are enabling many interesting possibilities for increasing productivity and safety while reducing life cycle cost. Some of these advanced technologies are identified.

Review on abort trajectory for manned lunar landing mission

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

无

2010-01-01

Abort trajectory is a passage that ensures the astronauts to return safely to the earth when an emergency occurs. Firstly,the essential elements of mission abort are analyzed entirely based on summarizing the existing studies. Then,abort trajectory requirement and rational selection for different flight phases of typical manned lunar mission are discussed specifically. Considering a trade-off between the two primary constrains of an abort,the return time of flight and energy requirement,a general optimizing method for mission abort is proposed. Finally,some suggestions are given for China’s future manned lunar landing mission.

Planetary protection policy overview and application to future missions

Science.gov (United States)

Rummel, John D.

1989-01-01

The current status of planetary protection (quarantine) policy within NASA is discussed, together with the issues of planetary protection and back-contamination as related to future missions. The policy adopted by COSPAR in 1984 (and recently reaffirmed by the NASA Administrator) for application to all unmanned missions to other solar system bodies and all manned and unmanned sample return missions is examined. Special attention is given to the implementation of the policy and to the specific quarantine-related constraints on spacecraft involved in solar system exploration that depend on the nature of the mission and the identity of the target body.

STUDY REGARDING DIFFERENT TYPES OF AUDITOR’S MISSIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Botez

2013-12-01

Full Text Available After the involvement of the audit profession in several financial scandals, the international body of the profession, International Federation of Accountants – IFAC, has developed and published a conceptual framework and reviewed most of the reference standards in auditing to provide references regarding the responsibility of the professionals and the extent of their missions. Thus was established the use of a general term for professionals, the “practitioner”, in the context of specific missions using the “auditor”, “practitioner” or “accountant”. On the other hand, have been revised professional standards establish insurance missions and non-insurance operations, with their specific missions that do not provide insurance, including the recoding. The use of these references by audit professionals constitutes one of the “keys” to their success.

The growth of partnership in mission in global mission history during ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

p1243322

everywhere”. This kind of thinking undermined paternalistic “dominator” .... For Mott, the critical issue was: “If a church is truly indigenous, the church edifice is ... strong: The hour has come for passing from paternalism to partnership. It is something ...... cooperation in mission taking into consideration the experience acquired ...

Planning Coverage Campaigns for Mission Design and Analysis: CLASP for DESDynl

Science.gov (United States)

Knight, Russell L.; McLaren, David A.; Hu, Steven

2013-01-01

Mission design and analysis presents challenges in that almost all variables are in constant flux, yet the goal is to achieve an acceptable level of performance against a concept of operations, which might also be in flux. To increase responsiveness, automated planning tools are used that allow for the continual modification of spacecraft, ground system, staffing, and concept of operations, while returning metrics that are important to mission evaluation, such as area covered, peak memory usage, and peak data throughput. This approach was applied to the DESDynl mission design using the CLASP planning system, but since this adaptation, many techniques have changed under the hood for CLASP, and the DESDynl mission concept has undergone drastic changes. The software produces mission evaluation products, such as memory highwater marks, coverage percentages, given a mission design in the form of coverage targets, concept of operations, spacecraft parameters, and orbital parameters. It tries to overcome the lack of fidelity and timeliness of mission requirements coverage analysis during mission design. Previous techniques primarily use Excel in ad hoc fashion to approximate key factors in mission performance, often falling victim to overgeneralizations necessary in such an adaptation. The new program allows designers to faithfully represent their mission designs quickly, and get more accurate results just as quickly.

IAEA Remediation Mission Issues Final Report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2011-01-01

Full text: A team of international experts today completed their assessment of the strategy and plans being considered by the Japanese authorities to remediate the areas off-site TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (NPP). Their Final Report, delivered to the Japanese authorities, is available here. ''A lot of good work, done at all levels, is on-going in Japan in the area of environmental remediation,'' said Juan Carlos Lentijo, Team Leader and General Director for Radiation Protection at Spain's nuclear regulatory authority. In the report, Japan is encouraged to continue its remediation efforts, taking into account the advice provided by the Mission. ''In the early phases of the Fukushima Daiichi accident, a very cautious approach was adopted by the Japanese authorities in terms of dealing with the handling of residue materials. It is considered right to do so,'' Lentijo said. ''However, at this point in time, we see that there is room to take a more balanced approach, focussing on the real priority areas, classifying residue materials and adopting appropriate remediation measures on the basis of the results of safety assessments for each specific situation.'' The IAEA stands ready to support Japan as it continues its efforts to remediate the environment in the area off-site the Fukushima Daiichi NPP. The IAEA sent the mission to Japan from 7 to 15 October 2011 following a request from the country's government. The mission, comprising 12 international and IAEA experts from several countries, visited numerous locations in the Fukushima Prefecture and conducted meetings in Tokyo and Fukushima with Japanese officials from several ministries and institutions. A Preliminary Summary Report was issued on 14 October. Background The accident at the Fukushima Daiichi NPP has led to elevated levels of radiation over large areas. The Government of Japan has been formulating a strategy and plans to implement countermeasures to remediate these areas. The IAEA

IAEA Sends International Fact-finding Expert Mission to Japan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2011-01-01

Full text: The International Atomic Energy Agency will dispatch an international expert fact-finding mission to Japan. Based upon the agreement between the IAEA and the Government of Japan, the mission, comprising nearly 20 international and IAEA experts from a dozen countries, will visit Japan between 24 May and 2 June 2011. Under the leadership of Mr. Mike Weightman, HM Chief Inspector of Nuclear Installations of the United Kingdom, the mission will conduct fact-finding activities at Tokyo Electric Power Company's Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Station (NPS) site and in other locations. The expert mission will make a preliminary assessment of the safety issues linked with TEPCO's Fukushima Dai-ichi NPS accident following the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. During the mission, areas that need further exploration or assessment based on the IAEA safety standards will also be identified. In the course of the IAEA mission, the international experts will become acquainted with the Japanese lessons learned from the accident and will share their experience and expertise in their fields of competence with the Japanese authorities. Mr. Weightman will present the mission's report at the Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Safety organised by the IAEA in Vienna from 20 to 24 June 2011, as an important input in the process of reviewing and strengthening the global nuclear safety framework that will be launched by the Conference. (IAEA)

ESA strategy for human exploration and the Lunar Lander Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Gardini, B.

As part of ESAs Aurora Exploration programme, the Agency has defined, since 2001, a road map for exploration in which, alongside robotic exploration missions, the International Space Station (ISS) and the Moon play an essential role on the way to other destinations in the Solar System, ultimately to a human mission to Mars in a more distant future. In the frame of the Human Spaceflight programme the first European Lunar Lander Mission, with a launch date on 2018, has been defined, targeting the lunar South Pole region to capitalize on unique illumination conditions and provide the opportunity to carry out scientific investigations in a region of the Moon not explored so far. The Phase B1 industrial study, recently initiated, will consolidate the mission design and prepare the ground for the approval of the full mission development phase at the 2012 ESA Council at Ministerial. This paper describes the mission options which have been investigated in the past Phase A studies and presents the main activities foreseen in the Phase B1 to consolidate the mission design, including a robust bread-boards and technology development programme. In addition, the approach to overcoming the mission's major technical and environmental challenges and the activities to advance the definition of the payload elements will be described.

Xenon Acquisition Strategies for High-Power Electric Propulsion NASA Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Herman, Daniel A.; Unfried, Kenneth G.

2015-01-01

The benefits of high-power solar electric propulsion (SEP) for both NASA's human and science exploration missions combined with the technology investment from the Space Technology Mission Directorate have enabled the development of a 50kW-class SEP mission. NASA mission concepts developed, including the Asteroid Redirect Robotic Mission, and those proposed by contracted efforts for the 30kW-class demonstration have a range of xenon propellant loads from 100's of kg up to 10,000 kg. A xenon propellant load of 10 metric tons represents greater than 10% of the global annual production rate of xenon. A single procurement of this size with short-term delivery can disrupt the xenon market, driving up pricing, making the propellant costs for the mission prohibitive. This paper examines the status of the xenon industry worldwide, including historical xenon supply and pricing. The paper discusses approaches for acquiring on the order of 10 MT of xenon propellant considering realistic programmatic constraints to support potential near-term NASA missions. Finally, the paper will discuss acquisitions strategies for mission campaigns utilizing multiple high-power solar electric propulsion vehicles requiring 100's of metric tons of xenon over an extended period of time where a longer term acquisition approach could be implemented.

MDP: Reliable File Transfer for Space Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Rash, James; Criscuolo, Ed; Hogie, Keith; Parise, Ron; Hennessy, Joseph F. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

This paper presents work being done at NASA/GSFC by the Operating Missions as Nodes on the Internet (OMNI) project to demonstrate the application of the Multicast Dissemination Protocol (MDP) to space missions to reliably transfer files. This work builds on previous work by the OMNI project to apply Internet communication technologies to space communication. The goal of this effort is to provide an inexpensive, reliable, standard, and interoperable mechanism for transferring files in the space communication environment. Limited bandwidth, noise, delay, intermittent connectivity, link asymmetry, and one-way links are all possible issues for space missions. Although these are link-layer issues, they can have a profound effect on the performance of transport and application level protocols. MDP, a UDP-based reliable file transfer protocol, was designed for multicast environments which have to address these same issues, and it has done so successfully. Developed by the Naval Research Lab in the mid 1990's, MDP is now in daily use by both the US Post Office and the DoD. This paper describes the use of MDP to provide automated end-to-end data flow for space missions. It examines the results of a parametric study of MDP in a simulated space link environment and discusses the results in terms of their implications for space missions. Lessons learned are addressed, which suggest minor enhancements to the MDP user interface to add specific features for space mission requirements, such as dynamic control of data rate, and a checkpoint/resume capability. These are features that are provided for in the protocol, but are not implemented in the sample MDP application that was provided. A brief look is also taken at the status of standardization. A version of MDP known as NORM (Neck Oriented Reliable Multicast) is in the process of becoming an IETF standard.

Emblem for the first manned Skylab mission

Science.gov (United States)

1972-01-01

This is the emblem for the first manned Skylab mission. It wil be a mission of up to 28 days. The patch, designed by artist Kelly Freas, shows the Skylab silhouetted against the earth's globe, which in turn is eclipsing the Sun - showing the brilliant signet-ring pattern of the instant before total eclipse.

Planetary Mission Entry Vehicles Quick Reference Guide. Version 3.0

Science.gov (United States)

Davies, Carol; Arcadi, Marla

2006-01-01

This is Version 3.0 of the planetary mission entry vehicle document. Three new missions, Re-entry F, Hayabusa, and ARD have been added to t he previously published edition (Version 2.1). In addition, the Huyge ns mission has been significantly updated and some Apollo data correc ted. Due to the changing nature of planetary vehicles during the desi gn, manufacture and mission phases, and to the variables involved in measurement and computation, please be aware that the data provided h erein cannot be guaranteed. Contact Carol Davies at cdavies@mail.arc. nasa.gov to correct or update the current data, or to suggest other missions.

Applying Strategic Visualization(Registered Trademark) to Lunar and Planetary Mission Design

Science.gov (United States)

Frassanito, John R.; Cooke, D. R.

2002-01-01

NASA teams, such as the NASA Exploration Team (NEXT), utilize advanced computational visualization processes to develop mission designs and architectures for lunar and planetary missions. One such process, Strategic Visualization (trademark), is a tool used extensively to help mission designers visualize various design alternatives and present them to other participants of their team. The participants, which may include NASA, industry, and the academic community, are distributed within a virtual network. Consequently, computer animation and other digital techniques provide an efficient means to communicate top-level technical information among team members. Today,Strategic Visualization(trademark) is used extensively both in the mission design process within the technical community, and to communicate the value of space exploration to the general public. Movies and digital images have been generated and shown on nationally broadcast television and the Internet, as well as in magazines and digital media. In our presentation will show excerpts of a computer-generated animation depicting the reference Earth/Moon L1 Libration Point Gateway architecture. The Gateway serves as a staging corridor for human expeditions to the lunar poles and other surface locations. Also shown are crew transfer systems and current reference lunar excursion vehicles as well as the Human and robotic construction of an inflatable telescope array for deployment to the Sun/Earth Libration Point.

21st century early mission concepts for Mars delivery and earth return

Science.gov (United States)

Cruz, Manuel I.; Ilgen, Marc R.

1990-01-01

In the 21st century, the early missions to Mars will entail unmanned Rover and Sample Return reconnaissance missions to be followed by manned exploration missions. High performance leverage technologies will be required to reach Mars and return to earth. This paper describes the mission concepts currently identified for these early Mars missions. These concepts include requirements and capabilities for Mars and earth aerocapture, Mars surface operations and ascent, and Mars and earth rendezvous. Although the focus is on the unmanned missions, synergism with the manned missions is also discussed.

Draft Strategic Laboratory Missions Plan. Volume II

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1996-03-01

This volume described in detail the Department's research and technology development activities and their funding at the Department's laboratories. It includes 166 Mission Activity Profiles, organized by major mission area, with each representing a discrete budget function called a Budget and Reporting (B ampersand R) Code. The activities profiled here encompass the total research and technology development funding of the laboratories from the Department. Each profile includes a description of the activity and shows how the funding for that activity is distributed among the DOE laboratories as well as universities and industry. The profiles also indicate the principal laboratories for each activity, as well as which other laboratories are involved. The information in this volume is at the core of the Strategic Laboratory Mission Plan. It enables a reader to follow funds from the Department's appropriation to a specific activity description and to specific R ampersand D performing institutions. This information will enable the Department, along with the Laboratory Operations Board and Congress, to review the distribution of R ampersand D performers chosen to execute the Department's missions

Draft Strategic Laboratory Missions Plan. Volume II

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1996-03-01

This volume described in detail the Department`s research and technology development activities and their funding at the Department`s laboratories. It includes 166 Mission Activity Profiles, organized by major mission area, with each representing a discrete budget function called a Budget and Reporting (B & R) Code. The activities profiled here encompass the total research and technology development funding of the laboratories from the Department. Each profile includes a description of the activity and shows how the funding for that activity is distributed among the DOE laboratories as well as universities and industry. The profiles also indicate the principal laboratories for each activity, as well as which other laboratories are involved. The information in this volume is at the core of the Strategic Laboratory Mission Plan. It enables a reader to follow funds from the Department`s appropriation to a specific activity description and to specific R & D performing institutions. This information will enable the Department, along with the Laboratory Operations Board and Congress, to review the distribution of R & D performers chosen to execute the Department`s missions.

Nuclear electric propulsion mission engineering study. Volume 2: Final report

Science.gov (United States)

1973-01-01

Results of a mission engineering analysis of nuclear-thermionic electric propulsion spacecraft for unmanned interplanetary and geocentric missions are summarized. Critical technologies associated with the development of nuclear electric propulsion (NEP) are assessed, along with the impact of its availability on future space programs. Outer planet and comet rendezvous mission analysis, NEP stage design for geocentric and interplanetary missions, NEP system development cost and unit costs, and technology requirements for NEP stage development are studied.

Abort Options for Human Missions to Earth-Moon Halo Orbits

Science.gov (United States)

Jesick, Mark C.

2013-01-01

Abort trajectories are optimized for human halo orbit missions about the translunar libration point (L2), with an emphasis on the use of free return trajectories. Optimal transfers from outbound free returns to L2 halo orbits are numerically optimized in the four-body ephemeris model. Circumlunar free returns are used for direct transfers, and cislunar free returns are used in combination with lunar gravity assists to reduce propulsive requirements. Trends in orbit insertion cost and flight time are documented across the southern L2 halo family as a function of halo orbit position and free return flight time. It is determined that the maximum amplitude southern halo incurs the lowest orbit insertion cost for direct transfers but the maximum cost for lunar gravity assist transfers. The minimum amplitude halo is the most expensive destination for direct transfers but the least expensive for lunar gravity assist transfers. The on-orbit abort costs for three halos are computed as a function of abort time and return time. Finally, an architecture analysis is performed to determine launch and on-orbit vehicle requirements for halo orbit missions.

Solar maximum mission

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ryan, J.

1981-01-01

By understanding the sun, astrophysicists hope to expand this knowledge to understanding other stars. To study the sun, NASA launched a satellite on February 14, 1980. The project is named the Solar Maximum Mission (SMM). The satellite conducted detailed observations of the sun in collaboration with other satellites and ground-based optical and radio observations until its failure 10 months into the mission. The main objective of the SMM was to investigate one aspect of solar activity: solar flares. A brief description of the flare mechanism is given. The SMM satellite was valuable in providing information on where and how a solar flare occurs. A sequence of photographs of a solar flare taken from SMM satellite shows how a solar flare develops in a particular layer of the solar atmosphere. Two flares especially suitable for detailed observations by a joint effort occurred on April 30 and May 21 of 1980. These flares and observations of the flares are discussed. Also discussed are significant discoveries made by individual experiments

SCOSII: ESA's new generation of mission control systems: The user's perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Kaufeler, P.; Pecchioli, M.; Shurmer, I.

1994-01-01

In 1974 ESOC decided to develop a reusable Mission Control System infrastructure for ESA's missions operated under its responsibility. This triggered a long and successful product development line, which started with the Multi Mission Support System (MSSS) which entered in service in 1977 and is still being used today by the MARECS and ECS missions; it was followed in 1989 by a second generation of systems known as SCOS-I, which was/is used by the Hipparcos, ERS-1 and EURECA missions and will continue to support all future ESCO controlled missions until approximately 1995. In the meantime the increasing complexity of future missions together with the emergence of new hardware and software technologies have led ESOC to go for the development of a third generation of control systems, SCOSII, which will support their future missions up to at least the middle of the next decade. The objective of the paper is to present the characteristics of the SCOSII system from the perspective of the mission control team; i.e. it will concentrate on the improvements and advances in the performance, functionality and work efficiency of the system.

Automated and Adaptive Mission Planning for Orbital Express

Science.gov (United States)

Chouinard, Caroline; Knight, Russell; Jones, Grailing; Tran, Daniel; Koblick, Darin

2008-01-01

The Orbital Express space mission was a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) lead demonstration of on-orbit satellite servicing scenarios, autonomous rendezvous, fluid transfers of hydrazine propellant, and robotic arm transfers of Orbital Replacement Unit (ORU) components. Boeing's Autonomous Space Transport Robotic Operations (ASTRO) vehicle provided the servicing to the Ball Aerospace's Next Generation Serviceable Satellite (NextSat) client. For communication opportunities, operations used the high-bandwidth ground-based Air Force Satellite Control Network (AFSCN) along with the relatively low-bandwidth GEO-Synchronous space-borne Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) network. Mission operations were conducted out of the RDT&E Support Complex (RSC) at the Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico. All mission objectives were met successfully: The first of several autonomous rendezvous was demonstrated on May 5, 2007; autonomous free-flyer capture was demonstrated on June 22, 2007; the fluid and ORU transfers throughout the mission were successful. Planning operations for the mission were conducted by a team of personnel including Flight Directors, who were responsible for verifying the steps and contacts within the procedures, the Rendezvous Planners who would compute the locations and visibilities of the spacecraft, the Scenario Resource Planners (SRPs), who were concerned with assignment of communications windows, monitoring of resources, and sending commands to the ASTRO spacecraft, and the Mission planners who would interface with the real-time operations environment, process planning products and coordinate activities with the SRP. The SRP position was staffed by JPL personnel who used the Automated Scheduling and Planning ENvironment (ASPEN) to model and enforce mission and satellite constraints. The lifecycle of a plan began three weeks outside its execution on-board. During the planning timeframe, many aspects could change the plan

Digital communication constraints in prior space missions

Science.gov (United States)

Yassine, Nathan K.

2004-01-01

Digital communication is crucial for space endeavors. Jt transmits scientific and command data between earth stations and the spacecraft crew. It facilitates communications between astronauts, and provides live coverage during all phases of the mission. Digital communications provide ground stations and spacecraft crew precise data on the spacecraft position throughout the entire mission. Lessons learned from prior space missions are valuable for our new lunar and Mars missions set by our president s speech. These data will save our agency time and money, and set course our current developing technologies. Limitations on digital communications equipment pertaining mass, volume, data rate, frequency, antenna type and size, modulation, format, and power in the passed space missions are of particular interest. This activity is in support of ongoing communication architectural studies pertaining to robotic and human lunar exploration. The design capabilities and functionalities will depend on the space and power allocated for digital communication equipment. My contribution will be gathering these data, write a report, and present it to Communications Technology Division Staff. Antenna design is very carefully studied for each mission scenario. Currently, Phased array antennas are being developed for the lunar mission. Phased array antennas use little power, and electronically steer a beam instead of DC motors. There are 615 patches in the phased array antenna. These patches have to be modified to have high yield. 50 patches were created for testing. My part is to assist in the characterization of these patch antennas, and determine whether or not certain modifications to quartz micro-strip patch radiators result in a significant yield to warrant proceeding with repairs to the prototype 19 GHz ferroelectric reflect-array antenna. This work requires learning how to calibrate an automatic network, and mounting and testing antennas in coaxial fixtures. The purpose of this

(abstract) Science-Project Interaction in the Low-Cost Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Wall, Stephen D.

1994-01-01

Large, complex, and highly optimized missions have performed most of the preliminary reconnaisance of the solar system. As a result we have now mapped significant fractions of its total surface (or surface-equivalent) area. Now, however, scientific exploration of the solar system is undergoing a major change in scale, and existing missions find it necessary to limit costs while fulfilling existing goals. In the future, NASA's Discovery program will continue the reconnaisance, exploration, and diagnostic phases of planetary research using lower cost missions, which will include lower cost mission operations systems (MOS). Historically, one of the more expensive functions of MOS has been its interaction with the science community. Traditional MOS elements that this interaction have embraced include mission planning, science (and engineering) event conflict resolution, sequence optimization and integration, data production (e.g., assembly, enhancement, quality assurance, documentation, archive), and other science support services. In the past, the payoff from these efforts has been that use of mission resources has been highly optimized, constraining resources have been generally completely consumed, and data products have been accurate and well documented. But because these functions are expensive we are now challenged to reduce their cost while preserving the benefits. In this paper, we will consider ways of revising the traditional MOS approach that might save project resources while retaining a high degree of service to the Projects' customers. Pre-launch, science interaction can be made simplier by limiting numbers of instruments and by providing greater redundancy in mission plans. Post launch, possibilities include prioritizing data collection into a few categories, easing requirements on real-time of quick-look data delivery, and closer integration of scientists into the mission operation.

Vital role of nuclear data in space missions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tripathi, R.K.

2008-01-01

Nasa has a new vision for space exploration in the 21. Century encompassing a broad range of human and robotic missions including missions to Moon, Mars and beyond. Exposure from the hazards of severe space radiation in deep space long duration missions is a critical design driver. Thus, protection from the hazards of severe space radiation is of paramount importance for the new vision. Accurate risk assessments critically depend on the accuracy of the input information about the interaction of ions with materials, electronics and tissues. We have discussed some of the state-of-the-art cross sections database at Nasa and have demonstrated the role nuclear interaction plays in space missions. The impact of the cross sections on space missions has been shown by the assessment of dose exposure on Moon surface behind a number of materials with increasing hydrogen contents known to be a better radiation shielding material. In addition we have examined an approach to introduce reliability based design methods into shield evaluation and optimization procedure as a means to assess and control the uncertainties in shield design. Applications to Lunar missions for short and long-term duration display a large impact on the design outcome and the choice of the materials. For short duration missions all the examined materials have similar performance. However, for career astronauts who are exposed to longer duration space radiation over the period of time the choice of material plays a very critical role. Computational procedures based on deterministic solution of the Boltzmann equation are well suited for such procedures allowing optimization processes to be implemented, evaluation of biologically important rare events,and rapid analysis of possible shield optimization outcomes resulting from the biological model uncertainty parameter space

Collaborative Mission Design at NASA Langley Research Center

Science.gov (United States)

Gough, Kerry M.; Allen, B. Danette; Amundsen, Ruth M.

2005-01-01

NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) has developed and tested two facilities dedicated to increasing efficiency in key mission design processes, including payload design, mission planning, and implementation plan development, among others. The Integrated Design Center (IDC) is a state-of-the-art concurrent design facility which allows scientists and spaceflight engineers to produce project designs and mission plans in a real-time collaborative environment, using industry-standard physics-based development tools and the latest communication technology. The Mission Simulation Lab (MiSL), a virtual reality (VR) facility focused on payload and project design, permits engineers to quickly translate their design and modeling output into enhanced three-dimensional models and then examine them in a realistic full-scale virtual environment. The authors were responsible for envisioning both facilities and turning those visions into fully operational mission design resources at LaRC with multiple advanced capabilities and applications. In addition, the authors have created a synergistic interface between these two facilities. This combined functionality is the Interactive Design and Simulation Center (IDSC), a meta-facility which offers project teams a powerful array of highly advanced tools, permitting them to rapidly produce project designs while maintaining the integrity of the input from every discipline expert on the project. The concept-to-flight mission support provided by IDSC has shown improved inter- and intra-team communication and a reduction in the resources required for proposal development, requirements definition, and design effort.

Gaia Space Mission and Quasars

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zwitter, Tomaž, E-mail: tomaz.zwitter@fmf.uni-lj.si [Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana (Slovenia)

2017-11-15

Quasars are often considered to be point-like objects. This is largely true and allows for an excellent alignment of the optical positional reference frame of the ongoing ESA mission Gaia with the International Celestial Reference Frame. But presence of optical jets in quasars can cause shifts of the optical photo-centers at levels detectable by Gaia. Similarly, motion of emitting blobs in the jet can be detected as proper motion shifts. Gaia's measurements of spectral energy distribution for around a million distant quasars is useful to determine their redshifts and to assess their variability on timescales from hours to years. Spatial resolution of Gaia allows to build a complete magnitude limited sample of strongly lensed quasars. The mission had its first public data release in September 2016 and is scheduled to have the next and much more comprehensive one in April 2018. Here we briefly review the capabilities and current results of the mission. Gaia's unique contributions to the studies of quasars are already being published, a highlight being a discovery of a number of quasars with optical jets.

K-Rankine systems for piloted and cargo Mars missions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mills, J.C.; Rovang, R.D.; Johnson, G.A.

1992-03-01

Studies are performed to demonstrate the attractiveness of potassium-Rankine (K-Rankine) nuclear electric propulsion (NEP) systems for both piloted and cargo Mars missions. The key results of the piloted mission study are that a full-up piloted mission can be accomplished with a trip time of less than 390 days with an attractive initial mass in low earth orbit (IMLEO) of 700 metric tons. This is achieved by coupling two advanced cermet fuel reactors (1550 K outlet temperature) to K-Rankine power-conversion systems to produce the 46 MWe needed to power advanced ion engines. This design approach offers an alternative to a more risky split-sprint mission where comparable trip times and IMLEO can be achieved with a nearer-term reactor (SP-100 at 1350 K outlet temperature) technology. The results of the cargo-mission study indicate that a lower-power K-Rankine system (5.5 MWe) operating at SP-100 reactor conditions would best perform a representative Mars cargo transport. A round-trip mission (480 days outbound; 600 day return) to Mars requires only 225 metric tons IMLEO and permit possible system reuse. 6 refs

MetNet Network Mission for Martian Atmospheric Investigations

Science.gov (United States)

Harri, A.-M.; Alexashkin, S.; Arrugeo, I.; Schmidt, W.; Vazquez, L.; Genzer, M.; Haukka, H.

2014-07-01

A new kind of planetary exploration mission for Mars called MetNet is being developed for martian atmospheric investigations. The eventual scope of the MetNet Mission is to deploy tens of small landers on the martian surface.

A mission executor for an autonomous underwater vehicle

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Yuh-Jeng; Wilkinson, Paul

1991-01-01

The Naval Postgraduate School has been conducting research into the design and testing of an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV). One facet of this research is to incrementally design a software architecture and implement it in an advanced testbed, the AUV II. As part of the high level architecture, a Mission Executor is being constructed using CLIPS (C Language Integrated Production System) version 5.0. The Mission Executor is an expert system designed to oversee progress from the AUV launch point to a goal area and back to the origin. It is expected that the executor will make informed decisions about the mission, taking into account the navigational path, the vehicle subsystem health, and the sea environment, as well as the specific mission profile which is downloaded from an offboard mission planner. Heuristics for maneuvering, avoidance of uncharted obstacles, waypoint navigation, and reaction to emergencies (essentially the expert knowledge of a submarine captain) are required. Many of the vehicle subsystems are modeled as objects using the CLIPS Object Oriented Language (COOL) embedded in CLIPS 5.0. Also, truth maintenance is applied to the knowledge base to keep configurations updated.

IAEA Completes Nuclear Security Review Mission in Indonesia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2014-01-01

A team of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) experts today completed a two-week mission to review nuclear security practices in Indonesia. At the request of the Indonesian Government, the IAEA conducted an International Physical Protection Advisory Service (IPPAS) mission that reviewed the current status of the State's Physical Protection Regime of nuclear and other radioactive material, as well as associated facilities and activities in Indonesia. This included the country's nuclear security-related legislative and regulatory framework and the physical protection systems at the nuclear research sites in Serpong, Bandung and Yogyakarta, as well as radioactive facilities at Bekasi and Cibitung. The mission also reviewed how the recommendations of previous IPPAS missions in 2001 and 2007 had been implemented. The IPPAS team concluded that, since the last missions, Indonesia has improved its national security regime, especially its legislation and regulations, and had introduced new physical protection equipment. It also found that areas remained that required attention and efforts were needed to reach an overall comprehensive and effective nuclear security regime. The team made a number of new recommendations and suggestions aimed at further strengthening the overall regime

Embracing the Mission: Catholic and Non-Catholic Faculty and Staff Perceptions of Institutional Mission and School Sense of Community

Science.gov (United States)

Ferrari, Joseph; Janulis, Patrick

2009-01-01

This study compared the perceptions of the mission identity and mission-driven campus activities of faculty (n = 305) and staff (n = 584) at a large urban Catholic university. Moreover, it compared employees who were self identified as Catholic (n = 375), Christian (n = 204), other faiths (n = 161), or no religious preference (n = 159).…

Low urinary albumin excretion in astronauts during space missions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cirillo, Massimo; De Santo, Natale G; Heer, Martina

2003-01-01

BACKGROUND: Physiological changes occur in man during space missions also at the renal level. Proteinuria was hypothesized for space missions but research data are missing. METHODS: Urinary albumin, as an index of proteinuria, and other variables were analyzed in 4 astronauts during space missions...... onboard the MIR station and on the ground (control). Mission duration before first urine collection in the four astronauts was 4, 26, 26, and 106 days, respectively. On the ground, data were collected 2 months before mission in two astronauts, 6 months after in the other astronauts. A total of twenty......-two 24-hour urine collections were obtained in space (n per astronaut = 1-14) and on the ground (n per astronaut = 2-12). Urinary albumin was measured by radioimmunoassay. For each astronaut, mean of data in space and on the ground was defined as individual average. RESULTS: The individual averages of 24...

Maintaining Mission Critical Systems in a 247 Environment

CERN Document Server

Curtis, Peter M

2011-01-01

"This book is meant to offer Architects, Property Mangers, Facility Managers, Building Engineers, Information Technology Professionals, Data Center Personnel, Electrical & Mechanical Technicians and students in undergraduate, graduate, or continuing education programs relevant insight into the Mission Critical Environment with an emphasis on business resiliency, data center efficiency, and green power technology. Industry improvements, standards, and techniques have been incorporated into the text and address the latest issues prevalent in the Mission Critical Industry. An emphasis on green technologies and certifications is presented throughout the book. In addition, a description of the United States energy infrastructure's dependency on oil, in relation to energy security in the mission critical industry, is discussed. In conjunction with this, either a new chapter will be created on updated policies and regulations specifically related to the mission critical industry or updates to policies and regula...

Triple F - A Comet Nucleus Sample Return Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Kueppers, Michael; Keller, Horst Uwe; Kuhrt, Ekkehard; A'Hearn, Michael; Altwegg, Kathrin; Betrand, Regis; Busemann, Henner; Capria, Maria Teresa; Colangeli, Luigi

2008-01-01

The Triple F (Fresh From the Fridge) mission, a Comet Nucleus Sample Return, has been proposed to ESA s Cosmic Vision program. A sample return from a comet enables us to reach the ultimate goal of cometary research. Since comets are the least processed bodies in the solar system, the proposal goes far beyond cometary science topics (like the explanation of cometary activity) and delivers invaluable information about the formation of the solar system and the interstellar molecular cloud from which it formed. The proposed mission would extract three samples of the upper 50 cm from three locations on a cometary nucleus and return them cooled to Earth for analysis in the laboratory. The simple mission concept with a touch-and-go sampling by a single spacecraft was proposed as an M-class mission in collaboration with the Russian space agency ROSCOSMOS.

A CubeSat Asteroid Mission: Design Study and Trade-Offs

Science.gov (United States)

Landis, Geoffrey A.; Oleson, Steven R.; McGuire, Melissa; Hepp, Aloysius; Stegeman, James; Bur, Mike; Burke, Laura; Martini, Michael; Fittje, James E.; Kohout, Lisa;

SMOS and SMAP: from Lessons Learned to Future Mission Requirements

Science.gov (United States)

Kerr, Y. H.; Wigneron, J. P.; Cabot, F.; Escorihuela, M. J.; Anterrieu, E.; Rouge, B.; Rodriguez Fernandez, N.; Bindlish, R.; Khazaal, A.; Al-Bitar, A.; Mialon, A.; Lesthievent, G.

2017-12-01

The SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity) satellite was successfully launched in November 2009. This ESA led mission for Earth Observation is dedicated to provide soil moisture over continental surface, vegetation water content over land, and ocean salinity. The Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity mission has now been collecting data for over 7 years. TheSoil Moisture Active and Passive for over 2 years.The two data set have been reprocessed (Version 620 for levels 1 and 2 and version 3 for level 3 CATDS) to be merged into one product, while operational near real time soil moisture data is now available and assimilation of SMOS data in NWP has proved successful. After 7 years of L-Band data acquisition, it seems important to start using data for having a look at anomalies and see how they can relate to large scale events. We have also produced a 15 year soil moisture data set by merging SMOS and AMSR using a neural network approach. The purpose of this communication is to present the two mission results after more than seven years in orbit in a climatic trend perspective, as through such a period anomalies can be detected. Thereby we benefit from consistent datasets provided through the latest reprocessing using most recent algorithm enhancements. Using the above mentioned products it is possible to follow large events such as the evolution of the droughts in North America, or water fraction evolution over the Amazonian basin. In this occasion we will focus on the analysis of SMOS and ancillary products anomalies to reveal two climatic trends, the temporal evolution of water storage over the Indian continent in relation to rainfall anomalies, and the global impact of El Nino types of events on the general water storage distribution. This presentation shows in detail the use of long term data sets of L-band microwave radiometry in two specific cases, namely droughts and water budget over a large basin. Several other analyses are under way currently. Obviously

Applications of nuclear reactor power systems to electric propulsion missions.

Science.gov (United States)

Schaupp, R. W.; Sawyer, C. D.

1971-01-01

The performance of nuclear electric propulsion systems (NEP) has been evaluated for a wide variety of missions in an attempt to establish the commonality of NEP system requirements. Emphasis was given to those requirements and system characteristics that serve as guidelines for current technology development programs. Various interactions and tradeoffs between NEP system and mission parameters are described. The results show that the most significant factors in selecting NEP system size are launch mode (direct or spiral escape) and, to a weaker extent, launch vehicle capability. Other factors such as mission, payload, and thrust time constraints, have little influence, thus allowing one NEP system to be used for many missions. The results indicated that a 100 kWe NEP would be suitable for most direct escape missions and a 250 kWe NEP system would be suitable for more demanding missions that use the spiral escape mode.

The art and science of mission patches and their origins in society

Science.gov (United States)

Brumfitt, A.; Thompson, L. A.; Raitt, D.

2008-06-01

Space exploration utilizes some of the latest and highest technology available to human kind; synonymous with space exploration is the mission patch. This specialized art form popularizes the exploration of space with millions of mission patches sold around the world. Space tourism and education centres like the Kennedy Space Centre rely heavily on each space shuttle launch to support their merchandising of mission patches, from the traditional sew on badge to T shirts. Do mission patches tell a story? Are they Art? What is the origin and role of this art form in society? The art form of space mission patches combines the 21st century relevance with heraldic origins predating the ninth century. The space mission patch is designed by the astronauts themselves if it is a manned mission. As an education tool teachers and educators use the space mission patch to engage their students in the excitement of space exploration, the mission patch design is utilized as an education tool in literature, science and art. The space mission patch is a particularly powerful message medium. This paper looks at the origins of the space mission patch, its relevance to art and its impact on society.

The Habitable Exoplanet Imaging Mission (HabEx)

Science.gov (United States)

Mennesson, B.

2017-12-01

The Habitable-Exoplanet Imaging Mission (HabEx) is a candidate flagship mission being studied by NASA and the astrophysics community in preparation for the 2020 Decadal Survey. The HabEx mission concept is a large ( 4 to 6.5m) diffraction-limited optical space telescope, providing unprecedented resolution and contrast in the optical, with likely extensions into the near UV and near infrared domains. One of the primary goals of HabEx is to answer fundamental questions in exoplanet science, searching for and characterizing potentially habitable worlds, providing the first complete "family portraits" of planets around our nearest Sun-like neighbors and placing the solar system in the context of a diverse set of exoplanets. We report here on our team's early efforts in defining a scientifically compelling HabEx mission that is technologically executable, and timely for the next decade. In particular, we present preliminary architectures trade study results, quantifying technical requirements and predicting scientific outcome for a small number of design reference missions. We describe here our currently favorite "hybrid" architecture and its expected capabilities in terms of low resolution (R= 70 to 140) reflected light spectroscopic measurements and orbit determination. Results are shown for different types of exoplanets, including potentially habitable exoplanets located within the snow line of nearby main sequence stars. This research was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

The SENTINEL-3 Mission: Overview and Status

Science.gov (United States)

Benveniste, J.; Mecklenburg, S.

2015-12-01

The Copernicus Programme, being Europe's Earth Observation and Monitoring Programme led by the European Union, aims to provide, on a sustainable basis, reliable and timely services related to environmental and security issues. The Sentinel-3 mission forms part of the Copernicus Space Component. Its main objectives, building on the heritage and experience of the European Space Agency's (ESA) ERS and ENVISAT missions, are to measure sea-surface topography, sea- and land-surface temperature and ocean- and land-surface colour in support of ocean forecasting systems, and for environmental and climate monitoring. The series of Sentinel-3 satellites will ensure global, frequent and near-real time ocean, ice and land monitoring, with the provision of observation data in routine, long term (up to 20 years of operations) and continuous fashion, with a consistent quality and a high level of reliability and availability. The Sentinel-3 missions will be jointly operated by ESA and EUMETSAT. ESA will be responsible for the operations, maintenance and evolution of the Sentinel-3 ground segment on land related products and EUMETSAT for the marine products. The Sentinel-3 ground segment systematically acquires, processes and distributes a set of pre-defined core data products. Sentinel-3A is foreseen to be launched at the beginning of November 2015. The paper will give an overview on the mission, its instruments and objectives, the data products provided, the mechanisms to access the mission's data, and if available first results.

Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review (INIR) Missions: The First Six Years

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2015-12-01

IAEA Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review (INIR) missions are designed to assist Member States in evaluating the status of their national infrastructure for the introduction of a nuclear power programme. INIR missions are conducted upon request from the Member State. Each INIR mission is coordinated and led by the IAEA and conducted by a team of IAEA staff and international experts drawn from Member States which have experience in different aspects of developing and deploying nuclear infrastructure. INIR missions cover the 19 infrastructure issues described in Milestones in the Development of a National Infrastructure for Nuclear Power, IAEA Nuclear Energy Series No. NG-G-3.1, published in 2007 and revised in 2015, and the assessment is based on an analysis of a self-evaluation report prepared by the Member State, a review of the documents it provides and interviews with its key officials. Phase 1 INIR missions evaluate the status of the infrastructure to achieve Milestone 1 (Ready to make a knowledgeable commitment to a nuclear power programme). Phase 2 INIR missions evaluate the status of the infrastructure to achieve Milestone 2 (Ready to invite bids/negotiate a contract for the first nuclear power plant). From 2009 to 2014, 14 IAEA INIR missions and follow-ups were conducted in States embarking on a nuclear power programme and one State expanding its programme. During this time, considerable experience was gained by the IAEA on the conduct of INIR missions, and this feedback has been used to continually improve the overall INIR methodology. The INIR methodology has thus evolved and is far more comprehensive today than in 2009. Despite the limited number of INIR missions conducted, some common findings were identified in Member States embarking on nuclear power programmes. This publication summarizes the results of the missions and highlights the most significant areas in which recommendations were made

Aerospace Engineering Space Mission Concept Feasibility Study: A Neptune Mission Design Example

Science.gov (United States)

Esper, Jaime

2007-01-01

This viewgraph document reviews the feasibility study of a mission to Neptune. Included are discussions of the science instruments, the design methodology, the trajectory, the spacecraft design, the alternative propulsion systems, (chemical, solar electric (SEP)), the communications systems, the power systems, the thermal system.

Practical methods for near-term piloted Mars missions

Science.gov (United States)

Zubrin, Robert M.; Weaver, David B.

1993-01-01

An evaluation is made of ways of using near-term technologies for direct and semidirect manned Mars missions. A notable feature of the present schemes is the in situ propellant production of CH4/O2 and H2O on the Martian surface in order to reduce surface consumable and return propellant requirements. Medium-energy conjunction class trajectories are shown to be optimal for such missions. Attention is given to the backup plans and abort philosophy of these missions. Either the Russian Energia B or U.S. Saturn VII launch vehicles may be used.

The SOLAR-C Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Suematsu, Y.

2015-12-01

The Solar-C is a Japan-led international solar mission planned to be launched in mid2020. It is designed to investigate the magnetic activities of the Sun, focusing on the study in heating and dynamical phenomena of the chromosphere and corona, and also to develop an algorithm for predicting short and long term solar evolution. Since it has been revealed that the different parts of the magnetized solar atmosphere are essentially coupled, the SOLAR-C should tackle the spatial scales and temperature regimes that need to be observed in order to achieve a comprehensive physical understanding of this coupling. The science of Solar-C will greatly advance our understanding of the Sun, of basic physical processes operating throughout the universe. To dramatically improve the situation, SOLAR-C will carry three dedicated instruments; the Solar UV-Vis-IR Telescope (SUVIT), the EUV Spectroscopic Telescope (EUVST) and the High Resolution Coronal Imager (HCI), to jointly observe the entire visible solar atmosphere with essentially the same high spatial resolution (0.1-0.3 arcsec), performing high resolution spectroscopic measurements over all atmospheric regions and spectro-polarimetric measurements from the photosphere through the upper chromosphere. In addition, Solar-C will contribute to our understanding on the influence of the Sun-Earth environments with synergetic wide-field observations from ground-based and other space missions. Some leading science objectives and the mission concept, including designs of the three instruments aboard SOLAR-C will be presented.

Tracking and data system support for the Mariner Mars 1971 mission. Volume 3: Orbit insertion through end of primary mission

Science.gov (United States)

Barnum, P. W.; Renzetti, N. A.; Textor, G. P.; Kelly, L. B.

1973-01-01

The Tracking and Data System (TDS) Support for the Mariner Mars 1971 Mission final report contains the deep space tracking and data acquisition activities in support of orbital operations. During this period a major NASA objective was accomplished: completion of the 180th revolution and 90th day of data gathering with the spacecraft about the planet Mars. Included are presentations of the TDS flight support pass chronology data for each of the Deep Space Stations used, and performance evaluation for the Deep Space Network Telemetry, Tracking, Command, and Monitor Systems. With the loss of Mariner 8 at launch, Mariner 9 assumed the mission plan of Mariner 8, which included the TV mapping cycles and a 12-hr orbital period. The mission plan was modified as a result of a severe dust storm on the surface of Mars, which delayed the start of the TV mapping cycles. Thus, the end of primary mission date was extended to complete the TV mapping cycles.

Idaho National Laboratory Mission Accomplishments, Fiscal Year 2015

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Allen, Todd Randall [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Wright, Virginia Latta [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

2015-09-01

A summary of mission accomplishments for the research organizations at the Idaho National Laboratory for FY 2015. Areas include Nuclear Energy, National and Homeland Security, Science and Technology Addressing Broad DOE Missions; Collaborations; and Stewardship and Operation of Research Facilities.

Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) Mission Level 4 Surface and Root Zone Soil Moisture (L4_SM) Product Specification Document

Science.gov (United States)

Reichle, Rolf H.; Ardizzone, Joseph V.; Kim, Gi-Kong; Lucchesi, Robert A.; Smith, Edmond B.; Weiss, Barry H.

2015-01-01

This is the Product Specification Document (PSD) for Level 4 Surface and Root Zone Soil Moisture (L4_SM) data for the Science Data System (SDS) of the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) project. The L4_SM data product provides estimates of land surface conditions based on the assimilation of SMAP observations into a customized version of the NASA Goddard Earth Observing System, Version 5 (GEOS-5) land data assimilation system (LDAS). This document applies to any standard L4_SM data product generated by the SMAP Project. The Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission will enhance the accuracy and the resolution of space-based measurements of terrestrial soil moisture and freeze-thaw state. SMAP data products will have a noteworthy impact on multiple relevant and current Earth Science endeavors. These include: Understanding of the processes that link the terrestrial water, the energy and the carbon cycles, Estimations of global water and energy fluxes over the land surfaces, Quantification of the net carbon flux in boreal landscapes Forecast skill of both weather and climate, Predictions and monitoring of natural disasters including floods, landslides and droughts, and Predictions of agricultural productivity. To provide these data, the SMAP mission will deploy a satellite observatory in a near polar, sun synchronous orbit. The observatory will house an L-band radiometer that operates at 1.40 GHz and an L-band radar that operates at 1.26 GHz. The instruments will share a rotating reflector antenna with a 6 meter aperture that scans over a 1000 km swath.

Solar Probe Plus: A mission to touch the sun

Science.gov (United States)

Kinnison, J.; Lockwood, M. K.; Fox, N.; Conde, R.; Driesman, A.

Solar Probe Plus (SPP), currently in Phase B, will be the first mission to fly into the low solar corona, revealing how the corona is heated and the solar wind is accelerated, solving two fundamental mysteries that have been top priority science goals since such a mission was first proposed in 1958. The scale and concept of such a mission has been revised at intervals since that time, yet the core has always been a close encounter with the Sun. SPP uses an innovative mission design, significant technology development and a risk-reducing engineering development to meet the SPP science objectives: 1) determine the structure and dynamics of the magnetic fields at the sources of the fast and slow solar wind, 2) trace the flow of energy that heats the corona and accelerates the solar wind. and 3) determine what mechanisms accelerate and transport energetic particles. In this paper, we present the Solar Probe Plus mission along with a brief comparison with some previous concepts for such a mission, and discuss the trade studies that led to the SPP implementation. We present a summary of the challenges associated with operation in the solar encounter environment and discuss the technology development and engineering trade studies to compose a mission that will not only survive this environment, but will provide the data needed to answer the science questions that have remained unanswered to date.

Instrument demonstration effort for the CLARREO mission

Science.gov (United States)

Grandmont, Frédéric; Moreau, Louis; Bourque, Hugo; Taylor, Joe; Girard, Frédéric; Larouche, Martin; Veilleux, James

2017-11-01

NASA and other national agencies ask the National Research Council (NRC) once every decade to look out ten or more years into the future and prioritize research areas, observations, and notional missions to make those observations. The latest such scientific community consultation referred to as the Decadal Survey (DS), was completed in 2007 [1]. DS thematic panels developed 35 missions from more than 100 missions proposed, from which the DS Executive Committee synthesized 17 missions, with suggested order presented in three time-phased blocks. The first block with aim for near term launch (2010-2013) included four missions. The Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO) mission is one of them. The CLARREO mission was classified as a Small Mission to be contained in a 300 M US$ budgetary envelope. CLARREO will provide a benchmark climate record that is global, accurate in perpetuity, tested against independent strategies that reveal systematic errors, and pinned to international standards. The long term objective thus suggests that NOAA or NASA will fly the CLARREO instrument suite on an operational basis following the first scientific experiment The CLARREO missions will conduct the following observations: 1. Absolute spectrally-resolved measurements of terrestrial thermal emission with an absolute accuracy of 0.1 K in brightness temperature (3σ or 99% confidence limits.) The measurements should cover most of the thermal spectrum. 2. Absolute spectrally-resolved measurements of the solar radiation reflected from Earth. The measurements should cover the part of the solar spectrum most important to climate, including the near-ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared. 3. Independent measurements of atmospheric temperature, pressure, and humidity using Global Positioning System (GPS) occultation measurements of atmospheric refraction. 4. Serve as a high accuracy calibration standard for use by the broadband CERES instruments on-orbit. Following

MIDN: A spacecraft Micro-dosimeter mission

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pisacane, V. L.; Ziegler, J. F.; Nelson, M. E.; Caylor, M.; Flake, D.; Heyen, L.; Youngborg, E.; Rosenfeld, A. B.; Cucinotta, F.; Zaider, M.; Dicello, J. F.

2006-01-01

MIDN (Micro-dosimetry instrument) is a payload on the MidSTAR-I spacecraft (Midshipman Space Technology Applications Research) under development at the United States Naval Academy. MIDN is a solid-state system being designed and constructed to measure Micro-dosimetric spectra to determine radiation quality factors for space environments. Radiation is a critical threat to the health of astronauts and to the success of missions in low-Earth orbit and space exploration. The system will consist of three separate sensors, one external to the spacecraft, one internal and one embedded in polyethylene. Design goals are mass <3 kg and power <2 W. The MidSTAR-I mission in 2006 will provide an opportunity to evaluate a preliminary version of this system. Its low power and mass makes it useful for the International Space Station and manned and unmanned interplanetary missions as a real-time system to assess and alert astronauts to enhanced radiation environments. (authors)

Advanced Chemical Propulsion for Science Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Liou, Larry

2008-01-01

The advanced chemical propulsion technology area of NASA's In-Space Technology Project is investing in systems and components for increased performance and reduced cost of chemical propulsion technologies applicable to near-term science missions. Presently the primary investment in the advanced chemical propulsion technology area is in the AMBR high temperature storable bipropellant rocket engine. Scheduled to be available for flight development starting in year 2008, AMBR engine shows a 60 kg payload gain in an analysis for the Titan-Enceladus orbiter mission and a 33 percent manufacturing cost reduction over its baseline, state-of-the-art counterpart. Other technologies invested include the reliable lightweight tanks for propellant and the precision propellant management and mixture ratio control. Both technologies show significant mission benefit, can be applied to any liquid propulsion system, and upon completion of the efforts described in this paper, are at least in parts ready for flight infusion. Details of the technologies are discussed.

Waste Management Options for Long-Duration Space Missions: When to Reject, Reuse, or Recycle

Science.gov (United States)

Linne, Diane L.; Palaszewski, Bryan A.; Gokoglu, Suleyman; Gallo, Christopher A.; Balasubramaniam, Ramaswamy; Hegde, Uday G.

2014-01-01

The amount of waste generated on long-duration space missions away from Earth orbit creates the daunting challenge of how to manage the waste through reuse, rejection, or recycle. The option to merely dispose of the solid waste through an airlock to space was studied for both Earth-moon libration point missions and crewed Mars missions. Although the unique dynamic characteristics of an orbit around L2 might allow some discarded waste to intersect the lunar surface before re-impacting the spacecraft, the large amount of waste needed to be managed and potential hazards associated with volatiles recondensing on the spacecraft surfaces make this option problematic. A second option evaluated is to process the waste into useful gases to be either vented to space or used in various propulsion systems. These propellants could then be used to provide the yearly station-keeping needs at an L2 orbit, or if processed into oxygen and methane propellants, could be used to augment science exploration by enabling lunar mini landers to the far side of the moon.

77 FR 35353 - Biotech Life Sciences Trade Mission to Australia

Science.gov (United States)

2012-06-13

... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE International Trade Administration Biotech Life Sciences Trade Mission to... Commercial Service (CS) is organizing a Biotech Life Sciences trade mission to Australia, October 29-November.... biotechnology and life science firms. The goals of the trade mission to Australia are to (1) increase U.S...

76 FR 17621 - Biotech Life Science Trade Mission to China

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-30

... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE International Trade Administration Biotech Life Science Trade Mission to... Commercial Service (CS) is organizing a Biotechnology Life Sciences trade mission to China on October 17-20... representatives from a variety of U.S. biotechnology and life science firms and trade organizations. The mission...

Emblem for the third manned Skylab mission - Skylab 4

Science.gov (United States)

1973-01-01

This is the emblem for the third manned Skylab mission. It will be a mission of up to 56 days. The symbols in the patch refer to the three major areas of investigation proposed in the mission. The tree represents man's natural environment and relates directly to the Skylab mission objectives of advancing the study of Earth resources. The hydrogen atom, as the basic building block of the universe, represents man's exploration of the physical world, his application of knowledge, and his development of technology. Since the Sun is composed primarily of hydrogen, it is appropriate that the symbol refers to the solar physics mission objectives. The human silhouette represents mankind and the human capacity to direct technology with a wisdom tempered by regard for his natural environment. It also directly relates to the Skylab medical studies of man himself. The rainbow, adopted from the Biblical story of the flood, symbolizes the promise that is offered man. It embraces man and extends to t

Mission Adaptive UAS Platform for Earth Science Resource Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Dunagan, S.; Fladeland, M.; Ippolito, C.; Knudson, M.

2015-01-01

NASA Ames Research Center has led a number of important Earth science remote sensing missions including several directed at the assessment of natural resources. A key asset for accessing high risk airspace has been the 180 kg class SIERRA UAS platform, providing mission durations of up to 8 hrs at altitudes up to 3 km. Recent improvements to this mission capability are embodied in the incipient SIERRA-B variant. Two resource mapping problems having unusual mission characteristics requiring a mission adaptive capability are explored here. One example involves the requirement for careful control over solar angle geometry for passive reflectance measurements. This challenges the management of resources in the coastal ocean where solar angle combines with sea state to produce surface glint that can obscure the ocean color signal. Furthermore, as for all scanning imager applications, the primary flight control priority to fly the UAS directly to the next waypoint should compromise with the requirement to minimize roll and crab effects in the imagery. A second example involves the mapping of natural resources in the Earth's crust using precision magnetometry. In this case the vehicle flight path must be oriented to optimize magnetic flux gradients over a spatial domain having continually emerging features, while optimizing the efficiency of the spatial mapping task. These requirements were highlighted in several recent Earth Science missions including the October 2013 OCEANIA mission directed at improving the capability for hyperspectral reflectance measurements in the coastal ocean, and the Surprise Valley Mission directed at mapping sub-surface mineral composition and faults, using high-sensitivity magentometry. This paper reports the development of specific aircraft control approaches to incorporate the unusual and demanding requirements to manage solar angle, aircraft attitude and flight path orientation, and efficient (directly geo-rectified) surface and sub

Radiation analysis for manned missions to the Jupiter system.

Science.gov (United States)

De Angelis, G; Clowdsley, M S; Nealy, J E; Tripathi, R K; Wilson, J W

2004-01-01

An analysis for manned missions targeted to the Jovian system has been performed in the framework of the NASA RASC (Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts) program on Human Exploration beyond Mars. The missions were targeted to the Jupiter satellite Callisto. The mission analysis has been divided into three main phases, namely the interplanetary cruise, the Jupiter orbital insertion, and the surface landing and exploration phases. The interplanetary phase is based on departure from the Earth-Moon L1 point. Interplanetary trajectories based on the use of different propulsion systems have been considered, with resulting overall cruise phase duration varying between two and five years. The Jupiter-approach and the orbital insertion trajectories are considered in detail, with the spacecraft crossing the Jupiter radiation belts and staying around the landing target. In the surface exploration phase the stay on the Callisto surface is considered. The satellite surface composition has been modeled based on the most recent results from the GALILEO spacecraft. In the transport computations the surface backscattering has been duly taken into account. Particle transport has been performed with the HZETRN heavy ion code for hadrons and with an in-house developed transport code for electrons and bremsstrahlung photons. The obtained doses have been compared to dose exposure limits. c2004 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mission analysis report for the Hanford Tanks Initiative

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schaus, P.S.

1997-01-01

This mission analysis report for the Hanford Tanks Initiative (HTI) supports the Hanford Site's Single-Shell Tank (SST) Waste Retrieval Program in its commitment to remove waste from the SSTs for treatment and final closure of the tanks. The results of the HTI will support the US Department of Energy's (DOE) privatization of retrieval efforts. This report addresses the HTI problem statement: Alternative technologies to past practice sluicing (PPS) have not yet been demonstrated to remove the hard heel from a sluiced tank or to remove waste from a leaking SST. Nor have performance-based criteria for cleanout and closure been demonstrated to the degree necessary to validate them as technically and economically achievable. This report also defines the mission statement and mission boundaries; the known interfaces, both programmatic and project; the mission level requirements; the test and evaluation methodology; and measures of success

Telecommunications Antennas for the Juno Mission to Jupiter

Science.gov (United States)

Vacchione, Joseph D.; Kruid, Ronald C.; Prata, Aluizio, Jr.; Amaro, Luis R.; Mittskus, Anthony P.

2012-01-01

The Juno Mission to Jupiter requires a full sphere of coverage throughout its cruise to and mission at Jupiter. This coverage is accommodated through the use of five (5) antennas; forward facing low gain, medium gain, and high gain antennas, and an aft facing low gain antenna along with an aft mounted low gain antenna with a torus shaped antenna pattern. Three of the antennas (the forward low and medium gain antennas) are classical designs that have been employed on several prior NASA missions. Two of the antennas employ new technology developed to meet the Juno mission requirements. The new technology developed for the low gain with torus shaped radiation pattern represents a significant evolution of the bicone antenna. The high gain antenna employs a specialized surface shaping designed to broaden the antenna's main beam at Ka-band to ease the requirements on the spacecraft's attitude control system.

Robotic planetary mission benefits from nuclear electric propulsion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kelley, J.H.; Yen, C.L.

1992-01-01

Several interesting planetary missions are either enabled or significantly enhanced by nuclear electric propulsion (NEP) in the 50 to 100 kW power range. These missions include a Pluto Orbiter/Probe with an 11-year flight time and several years of operational life in orbit versus a ballistic very fast (13 km/s) flyby which would take longer to get to Pluto and would have a very short time to observe the planet. (A ballistic orbiter would take about 40 years to get to Pluto.) Other missions include a Neptune Orbiter/Probe, a Jupiter Grand Tour orbiting each of the major moons in order, a Uranus Orbiter/Probe, a Multiple Mainbelt Asteroid Rendezvous orbiting six selected asteroids, and a Comet Nucleus Sample Return. This paper discusses potential missions and compares the nuclear electric propulsion option to the conventional ballistic approach on a parametric basis

Recommendation of a More Effective Alternative to the NASA Launch Services Program Mission Integration Reporting System (MIRS) and Implementation of Updates to the Mission Plan

Science.gov (United States)

Dunn, Michael R.

2014-01-01

Over the course of my internship in the Flight Projects Office of NASA's Launch Services Program (LSP), I worked on two major projects, both of which dealt with updating current systems to make them more accurate and to allow them to operate more efficiently. The first project dealt with the Mission Integration Reporting System (MIRS), a web-accessible database application used to manage and provide mission status reporting for the LSP portfolio of awarded missions. MIRS had not gone through any major updates since its implementation in 2005, and it was my job to formulate a recommendation for the improvement of the system. The second project I worked on dealt with the Mission Plan, a document that contains an overview of the general life cycle that is followed by every LSP mission. My job on this project was to update the information currently in the mission plan and to add certain features in order to increase the accuracy and thoroughness of the document. The outcomes of these projects have implications in the orderly and efficient operation of the Flight Projects Office, and the process of Mission Management in the Launch Services Program as a whole.

Mission hazard assessment for STARS Mission 1 (M1) in the Marshall Islands area

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Outka, D.E.; LaFarge, R.A.

1993-07-01

A mission hazard assessment has been performed for the Strategic Target System Mission 1 (known as STARS M1) for hazards due to potential debris impact in the Marshall Islands area. The work was performed at Sandia National Laboratories as a result of discussion with Kwajalein Missile Range (KMR) safety officers. The STARS M1 rocket will be launched from the Kauai Test Facility (KTF), Hawaii, and deliver two payloads to within the viewing range of sensors located on the Kwajalein Atoll. The purpose of this work has been to estimate upper bounds for expected casualty rates and impact probability or the Marshall Islands areas which adjoin the STARS M1 instantaneous impact point (IIP) trace. This report documents the methodology and results of the analysis.

41 CFR 101-28.302 - Mission of customer supply centers.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 true Mission of customer... DISTRIBUTION 28.3-Customer Supply Centers § 101-28.302 Mission of customer supply centers. Customer supply... of frequently needed common-use expendable items for the accomplishment of customer agency missions. ...

77 FR 21748 - Oil and Gas Trade Mission to Israel

Science.gov (United States)

2012-04-11

... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE International Trade Administration Oil and Gas Trade Mission to Israel... Foreign Commercial Service (CS), is organizing an Executive-led Oil and Gas Trade Mission to Israel.... The purpose of the mission is to introduce U.S. firms to Israel's rapidly expanding oil and gas market...

STS-78 Mission Insignia

Science.gov (United States)

1996-01-01

The STS-78 patch links past with present to tell the story of its mission and science through a design imbued with the strength and vitality of the 2-dimensional art of North America's northwest coast Indians. Central to the design is the space Shuttle whose bold lines and curves evoke the Indian image for the eagle, a native American symbol of power and prestige as well as the national symbol of the United States. The wings of the Shuttle suggest the wings of the eagle whose feathers, indicative of peace and friendship in Indian tradition, are captured by the U forms, a characteristic feature of Northwest coast Indian art. The nose of the Shuttle is the strong downward curve of the eagle's beak, and the Shuttle's forward windows, the eagle's eyes, represented through the tapered S forms again typical of this Indian art form. The basic black and red atoms orbiting the mission number recall the original NASA emblem while beneath, utilizing Indian ovoid forms, the major mission scientific experiment package LMS (Life and Materials Sciences) housed in the Shuttle's cargo bay is depicted in a manner reminiscent of totem-pole art. This image of a bird poised for flight, so common to Indian art, is counterpointed by an equally familiar Tsimshian Indian symbol, a pulsating sun with long hyperbolic rays, the symbol of life. Within each of these rays are now encased crystals, the products of this mission's 3 major, high-temperature materials processing furnaces. And as the sky in Indian lore is a lovely open country, home of the Sun Chief and accessible to travelers through a hole in the western horizon, so too, space is a vast and beckoning landscape for explorers launched beyond the horizon. Beneath the Tsimshian sun, the colors of the earth limb are appropriately enclosed by a red border representing life to the Northwest coast Indians. The Indian colors of red, navy blue, white, and black pervade the STS-78 path. To the right of the Shuttle-eagle, the constellation

The Ion Propulsion System for the Asteroid Redirect Robotic Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Herman, Daniel A.; Santiago, Walter; Kamhawi, Hani; Polk, James E.; Snyder, John Steven; Hofer, Richard; Sekerak, Michael

2016-01-01

The Asteroid Redirect Robotic Mission is a Solar Electric Propulsion Technology Demonstration Mission (ARRM) whose main objectives are to develop and demonstrate a high-power solar electric propulsion capability for the Agency and return an asteroidal mass for rendezvous and characterization in a companion human-crewed mission. This high-power solar electric propulsion capability, or an extensible derivative of it, has been identified as a critical part of NASA's future beyond-low-Earth-orbit, human-crewed exploration plans. This presentation presents the conceptual design of the ARRM ion propulsion system, the status of the NASA in-house thruster and power processing development activities, the status of the planned technology maturation for the mission through flight hardware delivery, and the status of the mission formulation and spacecraft acquisition.

Missional church and local constraints: A Dutch perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rein Brouwer

2009-09-01

Full Text Available The missional church concept promises to guide local churches in the direction of a new identity and mission. It is a response to a sense of ecclesiological and congregational urgency that is felt all over the world. In Africa, North America and Europe, churches and local faith communities have been challenged by the changes in the religious state of affairs since the 1960s. Whether we still call it �secularisation� or rephrase it as �differentiated transformation�, the face of religion is changing globally. In many parts of the world, this raises a feeling of crisis that gives way to the redef nition of the mission and purpose of the church. �Missional church�, however, is a precarious concept. Nobody disagrees with the intention but can it be more than an inspiring vision? In order to realise this vision, a multi-layered and multi-dimensional analysis of �culture� is essential. We should move the analysis beyond the philosophical interpretation of relatively abstract and evasive macro-level processes, such as �modernity� and �post-modernity�. The future of the missional church depends on a differentiated and empirical, informed perspective on culture. For this purpose, this article proposes the concept of ecology: A system of diverse populations, including populations of congregations and faith communities, that interacts with these populations and with their specific environments. Preparing a missional congregation for the future should be accompanied with a thorough empirical investigation into the ecology of the congregation. We should be thinking intensively about and looking for vital ecologies.

Woven TPS Enabling Missions Beyond Heritage Carbon Phenolic

Science.gov (United States)

Stackpoole, Margaret M.; Venkatapathy, Ethiraj; Feldman, Jay D.

2013-01-01

NASAs Office of the Chief Technologist (OCT) Game Changing Division recently funded an effort to advance a Woven TPS (WTPS) concept. WTPS is a new approach to producing TPS architectures that uses precisely engineered 3D weaving techniques to customize material characteristics needed to meet specific missions requirements for protecting space vehicles from the intense heating generated during atmospheric entry. Using WTPS, sustainable, scalable, mission-optimized TPS solutions can be achieved with relatively low life cycle costs compared with the high costs and long development schedules currently associated with material development and certification. WTPS leverages the mature state-of-the-art weaving technology that has evolved from the textile industry to design TPS materials with tailorable performance. Currently, missions anticipated encountering heat fluxes in the range of 1500 4000 Wcm2 and pressures greater than 1.5 atm are limited to using fully dense Carbon Phenolic. However, fully dense carbon phenolic is only mass efficient at higher heat fluxes g(reater than 4000 Wcm2), and current mission designs suffer this mass inefficiency for lack of an alternative mid-density TPS. WTPS not only bridges this mid-density TPS gap but also offers a replacement for carbon phenolic, which itself requires a significant and costly redevelopment effort to re-establish its capability for use in the high heat flux missions recently prioritized in the NRC Decadal survey, including probe missions to Venus, Saturn and Neptune. This presentation will overview the WTPS concept and present some results from initial testing completed comparing WTPS architectures to heritage carbon phenolic.

LISA Pathfinder: A Mission Status

Science.gov (United States)

Hewitson, Martin; LISA Pathfinder Team Team

2016-03-01