WorldWideScience

Sample records for timing explorer mission

  1. Mars Exploration 2003 to 2013 - An Integrated Perspective: Time Sequencing the Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Briggs, G.; McKay, C.

    2000-01-01

    The science goals for the Mars exploration program, together with the HEDS precursor environmental and technology needs, serve as a solid starting point for re-planning the program in an orderly way. Most recently, the community has recognized the significance of subsurface sampling as a key component in "following the water". Accessing samples from hundreds and even thousands of meters beneath the surface is a challenge that will call for technology development and for one or more demonstration missions. Recent mission failures and concerns about the complexity of the previously planned MSR missions indicate that, before we are ready to undertake sample return and deep sampling, the Mars exploration program needs to include: 1) technology development missions; and 2) basic landing site assessment missions. These precursor missions should demonstrate the capability for reliable & accurate soft landing and in situ propellant production. The precursor missions will need to carry out close-up site observations, ground-penetrating radar mapping from orbit and conduct seismic surveys. Clearly the programs should be planned as a single, continuous exploration effort. A prudent minimum list of missions, including surface rovers with ranges of more than 10 km, can be derived from the numerous goals and requirements; they can be sequenced in an orderly way to ensure that time is available to feed forward the results of the precursor missions. One such sequence of missions is proposed for the decade beginning in 2003.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. Evolution of Orion Mission Design for Exploration Mission 1 and 2

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gutkowski, Jeffrey P.; Dawn, Timothy F.; Jedrey, Richard M.

    2016-01-01

    The evolving mission design and concepts of NASA’s next steps have shaped Orion into the spacecraft that it is today. Since the initial inception of Orion, through the Constellation Program, and now in the Exploration Mission frame-work with the Space Launch System (SLS), each mission design concept and pro-gram goal have left Orion with a set of capabilities that can be utilized in many different mission types. Exploration Missions 1 and 2 (EM-1 and EM-2) have now been at the forefront of the mission design focus for the last several years. During that time, different Design Reference Missions (DRMs) were built, analyzed, and modified to solve or mitigate enterprise level design trades to ensure a viable mission from launch to landing. The resulting DRMs for EM-1 and EM-2 were then expanded into multi-year trajectory scans to characterize vehicle performance as affected by variations in Earth-Moon geometry. This provides Orion’s subsystems with stressing reference trajectories to help design their system. Now that Orion has progressed through the Preliminary and Critical Design Reviews (PDR and CDR), there is a general shift in the focus of mission design from aiding the vehicle design to providing mission specific products needed for pre-flight and real time operations. Some of the mission specific products needed include, large quantities of nominal trajectories for multiple monthly launch periods and abort options at any point in the mission for each valid trajectory in the launch window.

  5. 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.

  6. 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.)

  7. Mission-directed path planning for planetary rover exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tompkins, Paul

    2005-07-01

    Robotic rovers uniquely benefit planetary exploration---they enable regional exploration with the precision of in-situ measurements, a combination impossible from an orbiting spacecraft or fixed lander. Mission planning for planetary rover exploration currently utilizes sophisticated software for activity planning and scheduling, but simplified path planning and execution approaches tailored for localized operations to individual targets. This approach is insufficient for the investigation of multiple, regionally distributed targets in a single command cycle. Path planning tailored for this task must consider the impact of large scale terrain on power, speed and regional access; the effect of route timing on resource availability; the limitations of finite resource capacity and other operational constraints on vehicle range and timing; and the mutual influence between traverses and upstream and downstream stationary activities. Encapsulating this reasoning in an efficient autonomous planner would allow a rover to continue operating rationally despite significant deviations from an initial plan. This research presents mission-directed path planning that enables an autonomous, strategic reasoning capability for robotic explorers. Planning operates in a space of position, time and energy. Unlike previous hierarchical approaches, it treats these dimensions simultaneously to enable globally-optimal solutions. The approach calls on a near incremental search algorithm designed for planning and re-planning under global constraints, in spaces of higher than two dimensions. Solutions under this method specify routes that avoid terrain obstacles, optimize the collection and use of rechargable energy, satisfy local and global mission constraints, and account for the time and energy of interleaved mission activities. Furthermore, the approach efficiently re-plans in response to updates in vehicle state and world models, and is well suited to online operation aboard a robot

  8. 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.

  9. Micro-Inspector Spacecraft for Space Exploration Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mueller, Juergen; Alkalai, Leon; Lewis, Carol

    2005-01-01

    NASA is seeking to embark on a new set of human and robotic exploration missions back to the Moon, to Mars, and destinations beyond. Key strategic technical challenges will need to be addressed to realize this new vision for space exploration, including improvements in safety and reliability to improve robustness of space operations. Under sponsorship by NASA's Exploration Systems Mission, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), together with its partners in government (NASA Johnson Space Center) and industry (Boeing, Vacco Industries, Ashwin-Ushas Inc.) is developing an ultra-low mass (missions. The micro-inspector will provide remote vehicle inspections to ensure safety and reliability, or to provide monitoring of in-space assembly. The micro-inspector spacecraft represents an inherently modular system addition that can improve safety and support multiple host vehicles in multiple applications. On human missions, it may help extend the reach of human explorers, decreasing human EVA time to reduce mission cost and risk. The micro-inspector development is the continuation of an effort begun under NASA's Office of Aerospace Technology Enabling Concepts and Technology (ECT) program. The micro-inspector uses miniaturized celestial sensors; relies on a combination of solar power and batteries (allowing for unlimited operation in the sun and up to 4 hours in the shade); utilizes a low-pressure, low-leakage liquid butane propellant system for added safety; and includes multi-functional structure for high system-level integration and miniaturization. Versions of this system to be designed and developed under the H&RT program will include additional capabilities for on-board, vision-based navigation, spacecraft inspection, and collision avoidance, and will be demonstrated in a ground-based, space-related environment. These features make the micro-inspector design unique in its ability to serve crewed as well as robotic spacecraft, well beyond Earth-orbit and into arenas such

  10. Scientific Challenges for a New X-ray Timing Mission

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lamb, Frederick K.

    2004-01-01

    The Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) is an immensely successful mission of exploration and discovery. It has discovered a wealth of rapid X-ray variability phenomena that can be used to address fundamental questions concerning the properties of dense matter and strong gravitational fields as well as important astrophysical questions. It has answered many questions and is likely to answer many more, but to follow up fully on the major discoveries RXTE has made will require a new X-ray timing mission with greater capabilities. This introduction to the present volume describes briefly the advantages of X-ray timing measurements for determining the properties of dense matter and strong gravitational fields, indicates some of the key scientific questions that can be addressed using X-ray timing, and summarizes selected achievements of the RXTE mission. It concludes by citing some of the scientific capabilities a proposed follow-on mission will need in order to be successful

  11. Telecommunications and navigation systems design for manned Mars exploration missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hall, Justin R.; Hastrup, Rolf C.

    1989-06-01

    This paper discusses typical manned Mars exploration needs for telecommunications, including preliminary navigation support functions. It is a brief progress report on an ongoing study program within the current NASA JPL Deep Space Network (DSN) activities. A typical Mars exploration case is defined, and support approaches comparing microwave and optical frequency performance for both local in situ and Mars-earth links are described. Optical telecommunication and navigation technology development opportunities in a Mars exploration program are also identified. A local Mars system telecommunication relay and navigation capability for service support of all Mars missions has been proposed as part of an overall solar system communications network. The effects of light-time delay and occultations on real-time mission decision-making are discussed; the availability of increased local mass data storage may be more important than increasing peak data rates to earth. The long-term frequency use plan will most likely include a mix of microwave, millimeter-wave and optical link capabilities to meet a variety of deep space mission needs.

  12. 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.

  13. 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.

  14. 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

  15. Biomedical Aspects of Lunar and Mars Exploration Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Charles, John B.

    2006-01-01

    Recent long-range planning for exploration-class missions has emphasized the need for anticipating the medical and human factors aspects of such expeditions. Missions returning Americans to the moon for stays of up to 6 months at a time will provide the opportunity to demonstrate the means to function safely and efficiently on another planet. Details of mission architectures are still under study, but a typical Mars design reference mission comprises a six-month transit from Earth to Mars, eighteen months in residence on Mars, and a six-month transit back to Earth. Physiological stresses will come from environmental factors such as prolonged exposure to radiation, weightlessness en route to Mars and then back to Earth, and low gravity and a toxic atmosphere while on Mars. Psychological stressors will include remoteness from Earth, confinement, and potential interpersonal conflicts, all complicated by circadian alterations. Medical risks including trauma must be considered. The role of such risk-modifying influences as artificial gravity and improved propulsion technologies to shorten round-trip time will also be discussed. Results of planning for assuring human health and performance will be presented.

  16. 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

  17. Cost-Effective Icy Bodies Exploration using Small Satellite Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jonsson, Jonas; Mauro, David; Stupl, Jan; Nayak, Michael; Aziz, Jonathan; Cohen, Aaron; Colaprete, Anthony; Dono-Perez, Andres; Frost, Chad; Klamm, Benjamin; hide

    2015-01-01

    It has long been known that Saturn's moon Enceladus is expelling water-rich plumes into space, providing passing spacecraft with a window into what is hidden underneath its frozen crust. Recent discoveries indicate that similar events could also occur on other bodies in the solar system, such as Jupiter's moon Europa and the dwarf planet Ceres in the asteroid belt. These plumes provide a possible giant leap forward in the search for organics and assessing habitability beyond Earth, stepping stones toward the long-term goal of finding extraterrestrial life. The United States Congress recently requested mission designs to Europa, to fit within a cost cap of $1B, much less than previous mission designs' estimates. Here, innovative cost-effective small spacecraft designs for the deep-space exploration of these icy worlds, using new and emerging enabling technologies, and how to explore the outer solar system on a budget below the cost horizon of a flagship mission, are investigated. Science requirements, instruments selection, rendezvous trajectories, and spacecraft designs are some topics detailed. The mission concepts revolve around a comparably small-sized and low-cost Plume Chaser spacecraft, instrumented to characterize the vapor constituents encountered on its trajectory. In the event that a plume is not encountered, an ejecta plume can be artificially created by a companion spacecraft, the Plume Maker, on the target body at a location timed with the passage of the Plume Chaser spacecraft. Especially in the case of Ceres, such a mission could be a great complimentary mission to Dawn, as well as a possible future Europa Clipper mission. The comparably small volume of the spacecraft enables a launch to GTO as a secondary payload, providing multiple launch opportunities per year. Plume Maker's design is nearly identical to the Plume Chaser, and fits within the constraints for a secondary payload launch. The cost-effectiveness of small spacecraft missions enables the

  18. 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.

  19. 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.

  20. Human and Robotic Mission to Small Bodies: Mapping, Planning and Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neffian, Ara V.; Bellerose, Julie; Beyer, Ross A.; Archinal, Brent; Edwards, Laurence; Lee, Pascal; Colaprete, Anthony; Fong, Terry

    2013-01-01

    This study investigates the requirements, performs a gap analysis and makes a set of recommendations for mapping products and exploration tools required to support operations and scientific discovery for near- term and future NASA missions to small bodies. The mapping products and their requirements are based on the analysis of current mission scenarios (rendezvous, docking, and sample return) and recommendations made by the NEA Users Team (NUT) in the framework of human exploration. The mapping products that sat- isfy operational, scienti c, and public outreach goals include topography, images, albedo, gravity, mass, density, subsurface radar, mineralogical and thermal maps. The gap analysis points to a need for incremental generation of mapping products from low (flyby) to high-resolution data needed for anchoring and docking, real-time spatial data processing for hazard avoidance and astronaut or robot localization in low gravity, high dynamic environments, and motivates a standard for coordinate reference systems capable of describing irregular body shapes. Another aspect investigated in this study is the set of requirements and the gap analysis for exploration tools that support visualization and simulation of operational conditions including soil interactions, environment dynamics, and communications coverage. Building robust, usable data sets and visualisation/simulation tools is the best way for mission designers and simulators to make correct decisions for future missions. In the near term, it is the most useful way to begin building capabilities for small body exploration without needing to commit to specific mission architectures.

  1. 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.

  2. A Strategic Approach to Medical Care for Exploration Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Canga, Michael A.; Shah, Ronak V.; Mindock, Jennifer A.; Antonsen, Erik L.

    2016-01-01

    Exploration missions will present significant new challenges to crew health, including effects of variable gravity environments, limited communication with Earth-based personnel for diagnosis and consultation for medical events, limited resupply, and limited ability for crew return. Providing health care capabilities for exploration class missions will require system trades be performed to identify a minimum set of requirements and crosscutting capabilities, which can be used in design of exploration medical systems. Medical data, information, and knowledge collected during current space missions must be catalogued and put in formats that facilitate querying and analysis. These data are used to inform the medical research and development program through analysis of risk trade studies between medical care capabilities and system constraints such as mass, power, volume, and training. Medical capability as a quantifiable variable is proposed as a surrogate risk metric and explored for trade space analysis that can improve communication between the medical and engineering approaches to mission design. The resulting medical system design approach selected will inform NASA mission architecture, vehicle, and subsystem design for the next generation of spacecraft.

  3. 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

  4. 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.

  5. Mars Exploration Rover Spirit End of Mission Report

    Science.gov (United States)

    Callas, John L.

    2015-01-01

    The Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Spirit landed in Gusev crater on Mars on January 4, 2004, for a prime mission designed to last three months (90 sols). After more than six years operating on the surface of Mars, the last communication received from Spirit occurred on Sol 2210 (March 22, 2010). Following the loss of signal, the Mars Exploration Rover Project radiated over 1400 commands to Mars in an attempt to elicit a response from the rover. Attempts were made utilizing Deep Space Network X-Band and UHF relay via both Mars Odyssey and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Search and recovery efforts concluded on July 13, 2011. It is the MER project's assessment that Spirit succumbed to the extreme environmental conditions experienced during its fourth winter on Mars. Focusing on the time period from the end of the third Martian winter through the fourth winter and end of recovery activities, this report describes possible explanations for the loss of the vehicle and the extent of recovery efforts that were performed. It offers lessons learned and provides an overall mission summary.

  6. Exploration-Related Research on the International Space Station: Connecting Science Results to the Design of Future Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rhatigan, Jennifer L.; Robinson, Julie A.; Sawin, Charles F.; Ahlf, Peter R.

    2005-01-01

    In January, 2004, the US President announced a vision for space exploration, and charged NASA with utilizing the International Space Station (ISS) for research and technology targeted at supporting the US space exploration goals. This paper describes: 1) what we have learned from the first four years of research on ISS relative to the exploration mission, 2) the on-going research being conducted in this regard, 3) our current understanding of the major exploration mission risks that the ISS can be used to address, and 4) current progress in realigning NASA s research portfolio for ISS to support exploration missions. Specifically, we discuss the focus of research on solving the perplexing problems of maintaining human health on long-duration missions, and the development of countermeasures to protect humans from the space environment, enabling long duration exploration missions. The interchange between mission design and research needs is dynamic, where design decisions influence the type of research needed, and results of research influence design decisions. The fundamental challenge to science on ISS is completing experiments that answer key questions in time to shape design decisions for future exploration. In this context, exploration-relevant research must do more than be conceptually connected to design decisions-it must become a part of the mission design process.

  7. Modeling and Simulation for Multi-Missions Space Exploration Vehicle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chang, Max

    2011-01-01

    Asteroids and Near-Earth Objects [NEOs] are of great interest for future space missions. The Multi-Mission Space Exploration Vehicle [MMSEV] is being considered for future Near Earth Object missions and requires detailed planning and study of its Guidance, Navigation, and Control [GNC]. A possible mission of the MMSEV to a NEO would be to navigate the spacecraft to a stationary orbit with respect to the rotating asteroid and proceed to anchor into the surface of the asteroid with robotic arms. The Dynamics and Real-Time Simulation [DARTS] laboratory develops reusable models and simulations for the design and analysis of missions. In this paper, the development of guidance and anchoring models are presented together with their role in achieving mission objectives and relationships to other parts of the simulation. One important aspect of guidance is in developing methods to represent the evolution of kinematic frames related to the tasks to be achieved by the spacecraft and its robot arms. In this paper, we compare various types of mathematical interpolation methods for position and quaternion frames. Subsequent work will be on analyzing the spacecraft guidance system with different movements of the arms. With the analyzed data, the guidance system can be adjusted to minimize the errors in performing precision maneuvers.

  8. European Space Agency's Fluorescence Explorer Mission: Concept and Applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mohammed, G.; Moreno, J. F.; Goulas, Y.; Huth, A.; Middleton, E.; Miglietta, F.; Nedbal, L.; Rascher, U.; Verhoef, W.; Drusch, M.

    2012-12-01

    The Fluorescence Explorer (FLEX) is a dedicated satellite for the detection and measurement of solar-induced fluorescence (SIF). It is one of two candidate missions currently under evaluation by ESA for deployment in its Earth Explorer 8 program, with Phase A/B1 assessments now underway. FLEX is planned as a tandem mission with ESA's core mission Sentinel-3, and would carry an instrument, FLORIS, optimized for discrimination of the fluorescence signal in terrestrial vegetation. The FLEX mission would be the first to be focussed upon optimization of SIF detection in terrestrial vegetation, and using finer spatial resolution than is available with current satellites. It would open up a novel avenue for monitoring photosynthetic function from space, with diverse potential applications. Plant photosynthetic tissues absorbing sunlight in the wavebands of photosynthetically active radiation (400 to 700 nm) emit fluorescence in the form of red and far-red light. This signal confers a small but measurable contribution to apparent reflectance spectra, and with appropriate analysis it may be detected and quantified. Over the last 15-20 years, techniques for SIF detection have progressed from contact or near-contact methods using single leaves to remote techniques using airborne sensors and towers over plant canopies. Ongoing developments in instrumentation, atmospheric correction procedures, signal extraction techniques, and utilization of the SIF signal itself are all critical aspects of progress in this area. The FLEX mission would crystallize developments to date into a state-of-the-art pioneering mission targeting actual photosynthetic function. This compares to existing methods which address only potential function. Thus, FLEX could serve to provide real-time data on vegetation health and stress status, and inputs for parameterization of photosynthetic models (e.g. with measures of light-use efficiency). SIF might be correlated or modelled to photosynthetic rates or

  9. 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

  10. 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

  11. Exploring the martian moons a human mission to Deimos and Phobos

    CERN Document Server

    von Ehrenfried, Manfred “Dutch”

    2017-01-01

    This book explores the once popular idea of 'Flexible Path' in terms of Mars, a strategy that would focus on a manned orbital mission to Mars's moons rather than the more risky, expensive and time-consuming trip to land humans on the Martian surface. While currently still not the most popular idea, this mission would take advantage of the operational, scientific and engineering lessons to be learned from going to Mars's moons first. Unlike a trip to the planet's surface, an orbital mission avoids the dangers of the deep gravity well of Mars and a very long stay on the surface. This is analogous to Apollo 8 and 10, which preceded the landing on the Moon of Apollo 11. Furthermore, a Mars orbital mission could be achieved at least five years, possibly 10 before a landing mission. Nor would an orbital mission require all of the extra vehicles, equipment and supplies needed for a landing and a stay on the planet for over a year. The cost difference between the two types of missions is in the order of tens of billi...

  12. Mars Relay Satellite: Key to Enabling Low-Cost Exploration Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hastrup, R.; Cesarone, R.; Miller, A.

    1993-01-01

    Recently, there has been increasing evidence of a renewed focus on Mars exploration both by NASA and the international community. The thrust of this renewed interest appears to be manifesting itself in numerous low-cost missions employing small, light weight elements, which utilize advanced technologies including integrated microelectronics. A formidable problem facing these low-cost missions is communications with Earth. Providing adequate direct-link performance has very significant impacts on spacecraft power, pointing, mass and overall complexity. Additionally, for elements at or near the surface of Mars, there are serious connectivity constraints, especially at higher latitudes, which lose view of Earth for up to many months at a time. This paper will discuss the role a Mars relay satellite can play in enabling and enhancing low-cost missions to Mars...

  13. Trailblazing Medicine Sustaining Explorers During Interplanetary Missions

    CERN Document Server

    Seedhouse, Erik

    2011-01-01

    To prepare for the day when astronauts leave low-Earth orbit for long-duration exploration missions, space medicine experts must develop a thorough understanding of the effects of microgravity on the human body, as well as ways of mitigating them. To gain a complete understanding of the effects of space on the human body and to create tools and technologies required for successful exploration, space medicince will become an increasingly collaborative discipline incorporating the skills of physicians, biomedical scientists, engineers, and mission planners. Trailblazing Medicine examines the future of space medicine in relation to human space exploration; describes what is necessary to keep a crew alive in space, including the use of surgical robots, surface-based telemedicine, and remote emergency care; discusses bioethical problems such as euthanasia, sex, and precautionary surgery; investigates the medical challenges faced by interplanetary astronauts; details the process of human hibernation.

  14. The Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment Mission and its Potential Contributions to Human Exploration of Asteroids

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abell, Paul A.; Rivkin, Andy S.

    2014-01-01

    The joint ESA and NASA Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment (AIDA) mission will directly address aspects of NASA's Asteroid Initiative and will contribute to future human exploration. The NASA Asteroid Initiative is comprised of two major components: the Grand Challenge and the Asteroid Mission. The first component, the Grand Challenge, focuses on protecting Earth's population from asteroid impacts by detecting potentially hazardous objects with enough warning time to either prevent them from impacting the planet, or to implement civil defense procedures. The Asteroid Mission, involves sending astronauts to study and sample a near-Earth asteroid (NEA) prior to conducting exploration missions of the Martian system, which includes Phobos and Deimos. AIDA's primary objective is to demonstrate a kinetic impact deflection and characterize the binary NEA Didymos. The science and technical data obtained from AIDA will aid in the planning of future human exploration missions to NEAs and other small bodies. The dual robotic missions of AIDA, ESA's Asteroid Impact Monitor (AIM) and NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), will provide a great deal of technical and engineering data on spacecraft operations for future human space exploration while conducting in-depth scientific examinations of the binary target Didymos both prior to and after the kinetic impact demonstration. The knowledge gained from this mission will help identify asteroidal physical properties in order to maximize operational efficiency and reduce mission risk for future small body missions. The AIDA data will help fill crucial strategic knowledge gaps concerning asteroid physical characteristics that are relevant for human exploration considerations at similar small body destinations.

  15. 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.

  16. Missions to Near-Earth Asteroids: Implications for Exploration, Science, Resource Utilization, and Planetary Defense

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abell, P. A.; Sanders, G. B.; Mazanek, D. D.; Barbee, B. W.; Mink, R. G.; Landis, R. R.; Adamo, D. R.; Johnson, L. N.; Yeomans, D. K.; Reeves, D. M.; Drake, B. G.; Friedensen, V. P.

    2012-12-01

    Introduction: In 2009 the Augustine Commission identified near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) as high profile destinations for human exploration missions beyond the Earth-Moon system as part of the Flexible Path. More recently the U.S. presidential administration directed NASA to include NEAs as destinations for future human exploration with the goal of sending astronauts to a NEA in the mid to late 2020s. This directive became part of the official National Space Policy of the United States of America as of June 28, 2010. NEA Space-Based Survey and Robotic Precursor Missions: The most suitable targets for human missions are NEAs in Earth-like orbits with long synodic periods. However, these mission candidates are often not observable from Earth until the timeframe of their most favorable human mission opportunities, which does not provide an appropriate amount of time for mission development. A space-based survey telescope could more efficiently find these targets in a timely, affordable manner. Such a system is not only able to discover new objects, but also track and characterize objects of interest for human space flight consideration. Those objects with characteristic signatures representative of volatile-rich or metallic materials will be considered as top candidates for further investigation due to their potential for resource utilization and scientific discovery. Once suitable candidates have been identified, precursor spacecraft are required to perform basic reconnaissance of a few NEAs under consideration for the human-led mission. Robotic spacecraft will assess targets for potential hazards that may pose a risk to the deep space transportation vehicle, its deployable assets, and the crew. Additionally, the information obtained about the NEA's basic physical characteristics will be crucial for planning operational activities, designing in-depth scientific/engineering investigations, and identifying sites on the NEA for sample collection. Human Exploration

  17. Advances in Autonomous Systems for Missions of Space Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gross, A. R.; Smith, B. D.; Briggs, G. A.; Hieronymus, J.; Clancy, D. J.

    New missions of space exploration will require unprecedented levels of autonomy to successfully accomplish their objectives. Both inherent complexity and communication distances will preclude levels of human involvement common to current and previous space flight missions. With exponentially increasing capabilities of computer hardware and software, including networks and communication systems, a new balance of work is being developed between humans and machines. This new balance holds the promise of meeting the greatly increased space exploration requirements, along with dramatically reduced design, development, test, and operating costs. New information technologies, which take advantage of knowledge-based software, model-based reasoning, and high performance computer systems, will enable the development of a new generation of design and development tools, schedulers, and vehicle and system health monitoring and maintenance capabilities. Such tools will provide a degree of machine intelligence and associated autonomy that has previously been unavailable. These capabilities are critical to the future of space exploration, since the science and operational requirements specified by such missions, as well as the budgetary constraints that limit the ability to monitor and control these missions by a standing army of ground- based controllers. System autonomy capabilities have made great strides in recent years, for both ground and space flight applications. Autonomous systems have flown on advanced spacecraft, providing new levels of spacecraft capability and mission safety. Such systems operate by utilizing model-based reasoning that provides the capability to work from high-level mission goals, while deriving the detailed system commands internally, rather than having to have such commands transmitted from Earth. This enables missions of such complexity and communications distance as are not otherwise possible, as well as many more efficient and low cost

  18. Launch and Assembly Reliability Analysis for Human Space Exploration Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cates, Grant; Gelito, Justin; Stromgren, Chel; Cirillo, William; Goodliff, Kandyce

    2012-01-01

    NASA's future human space exploration strategy includes single and multi-launch missions to various destinations including cis-lunar space, near Earth objects such as asteroids, and ultimately Mars. Each campaign is being defined by Design Reference Missions (DRMs). Many of these missions are complex, requiring multiple launches and assembly of vehicles in orbit. Certain missions also have constrained departure windows to the destination. These factors raise concerns regarding the reliability of launching and assembling all required elements in time to support planned departure. This paper describes an integrated methodology for analyzing launch and assembly reliability in any single DRM or set of DRMs starting with flight hardware manufacturing and ending with final departure to the destination. A discrete event simulation is built for each DRM that includes the pertinent risk factors including, but not limited to: manufacturing completion; ground transportation; ground processing; launch countdown; ascent; rendezvous and docking, assembly, and orbital operations leading up to trans-destination-injection. Each reliability factor can be selectively activated or deactivated so that the most critical risk factors can be identified. This enables NASA to prioritize mitigation actions so as to improve mission success.

  19. The High Energy Transient Explorer (HETE): Mission and science overview

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ricker, G.R.; Crew, G.B.; Doty, J.P.; Vanderspek, R.; Villasenor, J.; Atteia, J.-L.; Fenimore, E.E.; Galassi, M.; Graziani, C.; Lamb, D.Q.; Hurley, K.; Jernigan, J.G.; Kawai, N.; Matsuoka, M.; Pizzichini, G.; Shirasaki, Y.; Tamagawa, T.; Vedrenne, G.; Woosley, S.E.; Yoshida, A.

    2003-01-01

    The High Energy Transient Explorer (HETE ) mission is devoted to the study of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) using soft X-ray, medium X-ray, and gamma-ray instruments mounted on a compact spacecraft. The HETE satellite was launched into equatorial orbit on 9 October 2000. A science team from France, Japan, Brazil, India, Italy, and the US is responsible for the HETE mission, which was completed for ∼ 1/3 the cost of a NASA Small Explorer (SMEX). The HETE mission is unique in that it is entirely 'self-contained', insofar as it relies upon dedicated tracking, data acquisition, mission operations, and data analysis facilities run by members of its international Science Team. A powerful feature of HETE is its potential for localizing GRBs within seconds of the trigger with good precision (∼ 10') using medium energy X-rays and, for a subset of bright GRBs, improving the localization to ∼ 30''accuracy using low energy X-rays. Real-time GRB localizations are transmitted to ground observers within seconds via a dedicated network of 14 automated 'Burst Alert Stations', thereby allowing prompt optical, IR, and radio follow-up, leading to the identification of counterparts for a large fraction of HETE -localized GRBs. HETE is the only satellite that can provide near-real time localizations of GRBs, and that can localize GRBs that do not have X-ray, optical, and radio afterglows, during the next two years. These capabilities are the key to allowing HETE to probe further the unique physics that produces the brightest known photon sources in the universe. To date (December 2002), HETE has produced 31 GRB localizations. Localization accuracies are routinely in the 4'- 20' range; for the five GRBs with SXC localization, accuracies are ∼1-2'. In addition, HETE has detected ∼ 25 bursts from soft gamma repeaters (SGRs), and >600 X-ray bursts (XRBs)

  20. Energy Management of the Multi-Mission Space Exploration Vehicle Using a Goal-Oriented Control System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Braman, Julia M. B.; Wagner, David A.

    2010-01-01

    Safe human exploration in space missions requires careful management of limited resources such as breathable air and stored electrical energy. Daily activities for astronauts must be carefully planned with respect to such resources, and usage must be monitored as activities proceed to ensure that they can be completed while maintaining safe resource margins. Such planning and monitoring can be complex because they depend on models of resource usage, the activities being planned, and uncertainties. This paper describes a system - and the technology behind it - for energy management of the NASA-Johnson Space Center's Multi-Mission Space Exploration Vehicles (SEV), that provides, in an onboard advisory mode, situational awareness to astronauts and real-time guidance to mission operators. This new capability was evaluated during this year's Desert RATS (Research and Technology Studies) planetary exploration analog test in Arizona. This software aided ground operators and crew members in modifying the day s activities based on the real-time execution of the plan and on energy data received from the rovers.

  1. Nuclear power technology requirements for NASA exploration missions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bloomfield, H.S.

    1990-01-01

    This paper discusses how future exploration of the Moon and Mars will mandate developments in many areas of technology. In particular, major advances will be required in planet surface power systems and space transportation systems. Critical nuclear technology challenges that can enable strategic self-sufficiency, acceptable operational costs and cost-effective space transportation goals for NASA exploration missions have been identified. Critical technologies for surface power systems include stationary and mobile nuclear reactor and radio-isotope heat sources coupled to static and dynamic power conversion devices. These technologies can provide dramatic reductions in mass leading to operational and transportation cost savings. Critical technologies for space transportation systems include nuclear thermal rocket and nuclear electric propulsion options which present compelling concepts for significantly reducing mass, cost or travel time required for Earth-Mars transport

  2. Study of space reactors for exploration missions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cliquet, Elisa; Ruault, Jean-Marc; Masson, Frederic, E-mail: elisa.cliquet@cnes.fr, E-mail: frederic.masson@cnes.fr [Centre National d' Etudes Spatiales (CNES), Paris (France); Roux, Jean-Pierre; Paris, Nicolas; Cazale, Brice; Manifacier, Laurent, E-mail: jean-pierre.roux@areva.com [AREVA TA, Aix en Provence, (France); Poinot-Salanon, Christine, E-mail: christine.poinot@cea.fr [Comissariado a l' Energie Atomique et Aux Energies alternatives (CEA), Paris (France)

    2013-07-01

    Nuclear propulsion has been studied for many decades. The power density of nuclear fission is much higher than chemical process, and for missions to outer solar system requiring several hundred of kilowatts, or for flexible manned missions to Mars requiring several megawatts, nuclear electric propulsion might be the only option offering a reasonable mass in low earth orbit. Despite the existence of low power experiences - SNAP10 in the 60's or Buk/Topaz in the 60-80's - no high power reactor has been developed: investment cost, long term time frame, high technological challenges and radioactive hazards are the main challenges we must overtake. However, it seems reasonable to look at the technical challenges that have to be overcome for a next generation of nuclear electric systems for space exploration. This paper will present some recent studies going on in France, on space reactors for exploration. Three classes of power have been considered: 10kWe, 100kWe, and several megawatts. Available data from previous studies and developments performed in Russia, USA], and Europe, have been collected and gave us a large overview of potential technical solutions. This was the starting point of a trade-off analysis aiming at the selection of the best options, with regards to the technological readiness level in France and Europe. The resulting preliminary designs will be presented and critical technologies needing maturation activities will be highlighted. (author)

  3. Study of space reactors for exploration missions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cliquet, Elisa; Ruault, Jean-Marc; Masson, Frederic; Roux, Jean-Pierre; Paris, Nicolas; Cazale, Brice; Manifacier, Laurent; Poinot-Salanon, Christine

    2013-01-01

    Nuclear propulsion has been studied for many decades. The power density of nuclear fission is much higher than chemical process, and for missions to outer solar system requiring several hundred of kilowatts, or for flexible manned missions to Mars requiring several megawatts, nuclear electric propulsion might be the only option offering a reasonable mass in low earth orbit. Despite the existence of low power experiences - SNAP10 in the 60's or Buk/Topaz in the 60-80's - no high power reactor has been developed: investment cost, long term time frame, high technological challenges and radioactive hazards are the main challenges we must overtake. However, it seems reasonable to look at the technical challenges that have to be overcome for a next generation of nuclear electric systems for space exploration. This paper will present some recent studies going on in France, on space reactors for exploration. Three classes of power have been considered: 10kWe, 100kWe, and several megawatts. Available data from previous studies and developments performed in Russia, USA], and Europe, have been collected and gave us a large overview of potential technical solutions. This was the starting point of a trade-off analysis aiming at the selection of the best options, with regards to the technological readiness level in France and Europe. The resulting preliminary designs will be presented and critical technologies needing maturation activities will be highlighted. (author)

  4. 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.

  5. Target selection and mass estimation for manned NEO exploration using a baseline mission design

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boden, Ralf C.; Hein, Andreas M.; Kawaguchi, Junichiro

    2015-06-01

    In recent years Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) have received an increased amount of interest as a target for human exploration. NEOs offer scientifically interesting targets, and at the same time function as a stepping stone for achieving future Mars missions. The aim of this research is to identify promising targets from the large number of known NEOs that qualify for a manned sample-return mission with a maximum duration of one year. By developing a baseline mission design and a mass estimation model, mission opportunities are evaluated based on on-orbit mass requirements, safety considerations, and the properties of the potential targets. A selection of promising NEOs is presented and the effects of mission requirements and restrictions are discussed. Regarding safety aspects, the use of free-return trajectories provides the lowest on-orbit mass, when compared to an alternative design that uses system redundancies to ensure return of the spacecraft to Earth. It is discovered that, although a number of targets are accessible within the analysed time frame, no NEO offers both easy access and high incentive for its exploration. Under the discussed aspects a first human exploration mission going beyond the vicinity of Earth will require a trade off between targets that provide easy access and those that are of scientific interest. This lack of optimal mission opportunities can be seen in the small number of only 4 NEOs that meet all requirements for a sample-return mission and remain below an on-orbit mass of 500 metric Tons (mT). All of them require a mass between 315 and 492 mT. Even less ideal, smaller asteroids that are better accessible require an on-orbit mass that exceeds the launch capability of future heavy lift vehicles (HLV) such as SLS by at least 30 mT. These mass requirements show that additional efforts are necessary to increase the number of available targets and reduce on-orbit mass requirements through advanced mission architectures. The need for on

  6. Robotic Reconnaissance Missions to Small Bodies and Their Potential Contributions to Human Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abell, P. A.; Rivkin, A. S.

    2015-01-01

    Introduction: Robotic reconnaissance missions to small bodies will directly address aspects of NASA's Asteroid Initiative and will contribute to future human exploration. The NASA Asteroid Initiative is comprised of two major components: the Grand Challenge and the Asteroid Mission. The first component, the Grand Challenge, focuses on protecting Earth's population from asteroid impacts by detecting potentially hazardous objects with enough warning time to either prevent them from impacting the planet, or to implement civil defense procedures. The Asteroid Mission involves sending astronauts to study and sample a near- Earth asteroid (NEA) prior to conducting exploration missions of the Martian system, which includes Phobos and Deimos. The science and technical data obtained from robotic precursor missions that investigate the surface and interior physical characteristics of an object will help identify the pertinent physical properties that will maximize operational efficiency and reduce mission risk for both robotic assets and crew operating in close proximity to, or at the surface of, a small body. These data will help fill crucial strategic knowledge gaps (SKGs) concerning asteroid physical characteristics that are relevant for human exploration considerations at similar small body destinations. Small Body Strategic Knowledge Gaps: For the past several years NASA has been interested in identifying the key SKGs related to future human destinations. These SKGs highlight the various unknowns and/or data gaps of targets that the science and engineering communities would like to have filled in prior to committing crews to explore the Solar System. An action team from the Small Bodies Assessment Group (SBAG) was formed specifically to identify the small body SKGs under the direction of the Human Exploration and Operations Missions Directorate (HEOMD), given NASA's recent interest in NEAs and the Martian moons as potential human destinations [1]. The action team

  7. Exploration Life Support Technology Development for Lunar Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ewert, Michael K.; Barta, Daniel J.; McQuillan, Jeffrey

    2009-01-01

    Exploration Life Support (ELS) is one of NASA's Exploration Technology Development Projects. ELS plans, coordinates and implements the development of new life support technologies for human exploration missions as outlined in NASA's Vision for Space Exploration. ELS technology development currently supports three major projects of the Constellation Program - the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), the Altair Lunar Lander and Lunar Surface Systems. ELS content includes Air Revitalization Systems (ARS), Water Recovery Systems (WRS), Waste Management Systems (WMS), Habitation Engineering, Systems Integration, Modeling and Analysis (SIMA), and Validation and Testing. The primary goal of the ELS project is to provide different technology options to Constellation which fill gaps or provide substantial improvements over the state-of-the-art in life support systems. Since the Constellation missions are so challenging, mass, power, and volume must be reduced from Space Shuttle and Space Station technologies. Systems engineering analysis also optimizes the overall architecture by considering all interfaces with the life support system and potential for reduction or reuse of resources. For long duration missions, technologies which aid in closure of air and water loops with increased reliability are essential as well as techniques to minimize or deal with waste. The ELS project utilizes in-house efforts at five NASA centers, aerospace industry contracts, Small Business Innovative Research contracts and other means to develop advanced life support technologies. Testing, analysis and reduced gravity flight experiments are also conducted at the NASA field centers. This paper gives a current status of technologies under development by ELS and relates them to the Constellation customers who will eventually use them.

  8. Orion's Powered Flight Guidance Burn Options for Near Term Exploration Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fill, Thomas; Goodman, John; Robinson, Shane

    2018-01-01

    NASA's Orion exploration spacecraft will fly more demanding mission profiles than previous NASA human flight spacecraft. Missions currently under development are destined for cislunar space. The EM-1 mission will fly unmanned to a Distant Retrograde Orbit (DRO) around the Moon. EM-2 will fly astronauts on a mission to the lunar vicinity. To fly these missions, Orion requires powered flight guidance that is more sophisticated than the orbital guidance flown on Apollo and the Space Shuttle. Orion's powered flight guidance software contains five burn guidance options. These five options are integrated into an architecture based on a proven shuttle heritage design, with a simple closed-loop guidance strategy. The architecture provides modularity, simplicity, versatility, and adaptability to future, yet-to-be-defined, exploration mission profiles. This paper provides a summary of the executive guidance architecture and details the five burn options to support both the nominal and abort profiles for the EM-1 and EM-2 missions.

  9. 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.

  10. 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

  11. Overview of an Integrated Medical System for Exploration Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watkins, Sharmila; Rubin, David

    2013-01-01

    The Exploration Medical Capability (ExMC) element of the NASA Human Research Program (HRP) is charged with addressing the risk of unacceptable health and mission outcomes due to limitations of inflight medical capabilities. The Exploration Medical System Demonstration (EMSD) is a project within the ExMC element aimed at reducing this risk by improving the medical capabilities available for exploration missions. The EMSD project will demonstrate, on the ground and on ISS, the integration of several components felt to be essential to the delivery of medical care during long ]duration missions outside of low Earth orbit. The components of the EMSD include the electronic medical record, assisted medical procedure software, medical consumables tracking technology and RFID ] tagged consumables, video conferencing capability, ultrasound device and probes (ground demonstration only), peripheral biosensors, and the software to allow communication among the various components (middleware). This presentation seeks to inform our international partners of the goals and objectives of the EMSD and to foster collaboration opportunities related to this and future projects.

  12. Exploring exoplanet populations with NASA's Kepler Mission.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Batalha, Natalie M

    2014-09-02

    The Kepler Mission is exploring the diversity of planets and planetary systems. Its legacy will be a catalog of discoveries sufficient for computing planet occurrence rates as a function of size, orbital period, star type, and insolation flux. The mission has made significant progress toward achieving that goal. Over 3,500 transiting exoplanets have been identified from the analysis of the first 3 y of data, 100 planets of which are in the habitable zone. The catalog has a high reliability rate (85-90% averaged over the period/radius plane), which is improving as follow-up observations continue. Dynamical (e.g., velocimetry and transit timing) and statistical methods have confirmed and characterized hundreds of planets over a large range of sizes and compositions for both single- and multiple-star systems. Population studies suggest that planets abound in our galaxy and that small planets are particularly frequent. Here, I report on the progress Kepler has made measuring the prevalence of exoplanets orbiting within one astronomical unit of their host stars in support of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's long-term goal of finding habitable environments beyond the solar system.

  13. Modular Power Standard for Space Explorations Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oeftering, Richard C.; Gardner, Brent G.

    2016-01-01

    Future human space exploration will most likely be composed of assemblies of multiple modular spacecraft elements with interconnected electrical power systems. An electrical system composed of a standardized set modular building blocks provides significant development, integration, and operational cost advantages. The modular approach can also provide the flexibility to configure power systems to meet the mission needs. A primary goal of the Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Modular Power System (AMPS) project is to establish a Modular Power Standard that is needed to realize these benefits. This paper is intended to give the space exploration community a "first look" at the evolving Modular Power Standard and invite their comments and technical contributions.

  14. JESTR: Jupiter Exploration Science in the Time Regime

    Science.gov (United States)

    Noll, Keith S.; Simon-Miller, A. A.; Wong, M. H.; Choi, D. S.

    2012-01-01

    Solar system objects are inherently time-varying with changes that occur on timescales ranging from seconds to years. For all planets other than the Earth, temporal coverage of atmospheric phenomena is limited and sparse. Many important atmospheric phenomena, especially those related to atmospheric dynamics, can be studied in only very limited ways with current data. JESTR is a mission concept that would remedy this gap in our exploration of the solar system by ncar-continuous imaging and spectral monitoring of Jupiter over a multi-year mission lifetime.

  15. Human and Robotic Exploration Missions to Phobos Prior to Crewed Mars Surface Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gernhardt, Michael L.; Chappell, Steven P.; Bekdash, Omar S.; Abercromby, Andrew F.

    2016-01-01

    Phobos is a scientifically significant destination that would facilitate the development and operation of the human Mars transportation infrastructure, unmanned cargo delivery systems and other Mars surface systems. In addition to developing systems relevant to Mars surface missions, Phobos offers engineering, operational, and public engagement opportunities that could enhance subsequent Mars surface operations. These opportunities include the use of low latency teleoperations to control Mars surface assets associated with exploration science, human landing-site selection and infrastructure development which may include in situ resource utilization (ISRU) to provide liquid oxygen for the Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV). A human mission to Mars' moons would be preceded by a cargo predeploy of a surface habitat and a pressurized excursion vehicle (PEV) to Mars orbit. Once in Mars orbit, the habitat and PEV would spiral to Phobos using solar electric propulsion based systems, with the habitat descending to the surface and the PEV remaining in orbit. When a crewed mission is launched to Phobos, it would include the remaining systems to support the crew during the Earth-Mars transit and to reach Phobos after insertion in to Mars orbit. The crew would taxi from Mars orbit to Phobos to join with the predeployed systems in a spacecraft that is based on a MAV, dock with and transfer to the PEV in Phobos orbit, and descend in the PEV to the surface habitat. A static Phobos surface habitat was chosen as a baseline architecture, in combination with the PEV that was used to descend from orbit as the main exploration vehicle. The habitat would, however, have limited capability to relocate on the surface to shorten excursion distances required by the PEV during exploration and to provide rescue capability should the PEV become disabled. To supplement exploration capabilities of the PEV, the surface habitat would utilize deployable EVA support structures that allow astronauts to work

  16. CarbonSat: ESA's Earth Explorer 8 Candidate Mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meijer, Y. J.; Ingmann, P.; Löscher, A.

    2012-04-01

    The CarbonSat candidate mission is part of ESA's Earth Explorer Programme. In 2010, two candidate opportunity missions had been selected for feasibility and preliminary definition studies. The missions, called FLEX and CarbonSat, are now in competition to become ESA's eighth Earth Explorer, both addressing key climate and environmental change issues. In this presentation we will provide a mission overview of CarbonSat with a focus on science. CarbonSat's primary mission objective is the quantification and monitoring of CO2 and CH4 sources and sinks from the local to the regional scale for i) a better understanding of the processes that control carbon cycle dynamics and ii) an independent estimate of local greenhouse gas emissions (fossil fuel, geological CO2 and CH4, etc.) in the context of international treaties. A second priority objective is the monitoring/derivation of CO2 and CH4 fluxes on regional to global scale. These objectives will be achieved by a unique combination of frequent, high spatial resolution (2 x 2 km2) observations of XCO2 and XCH4 coupled to inverse modelling schemes. The required random error of a single measurement at ground-pixel resolution is of the order of between 1 and 3 ppm for XCO2 and between 9 and 17 ppb for XCH4. High spatial resolution is essential in order to maximize the probability for clear-sky observations and to identify flux hot spots. Ideally, CarbonSat shall have a wide swath allowing a 6-day global repeat cycle. The CarbonSat observations will enable CO2 emissions from coal-fired power plants, localized industrial complexes, cities, and other large emitters to be objectively assessed at a global scale. Similarly, the monitoring of natural gas pipelines and compressor station leakage will become feasible. The detection and quantification of the substantial geological greenhouse gas emission sources such as seeps, volcanoes and mud volcanoes will be achieved for the first time. CarbonSat's Greenhouse Gas instrument will

  17. NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations: Science Operations Development for Human Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bell, Mary S.

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) mission 16 in 2012 was to evaluate and compare the performance of a defined series of representative near-Earth asteroid (NEA) extravehicular activity (EVA) tasks under different conditions and combinations of work systems, constraints, and assumptions considered for future human NEA exploration missions. NEEMO 16 followed NASA's 2011 Desert Research and Technology Studies (D-RATS), the primary focus of which was understanding the implications of communication latency, crew size, and work system combinations with respect to scientific data quality, data management, crew workload, and crew/mission control interactions. The 1-g environment precluded meaningful evaluation of NEA EVA translation, worksite stabilization, sampling, or instrument deployment techniques. Thus, NEEMO missions were designed to provide an opportunity to perform a preliminary evaluation of these important factors for each of the conditions being considered. NEEMO 15 also took place in 2011 and provided a first look at many of the factors, but the mission was cut short due to a hurricane threat before all objectives were completed. ARES Directorate (KX) personnel consulted with JSC engineers to ensure that high-fidelity planetary science protocols were incorporated into NEEMO mission architectures. ARES has been collaborating with NEEMO mission planners since NEEMO 9 in 2006, successively building upon previous developments to refine science operations concepts within engineering constraints; it is expected to continue the collaboration as NASA's human exploration mission plans evolve.

  18. Exploring exoplanet populations with NASA’s Kepler Mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Batalha, Natalie M.

    2014-01-01

    The Kepler Mission is exploring the diversity of planets and planetary systems. Its legacy will be a catalog of discoveries sufficient for computing planet occurrence rates as a function of size, orbital period, star type, and insolation flux. The mission has made significant progress toward achieving that goal. Over 3,500 transiting exoplanets have been identified from the analysis of the first 3 y of data, 100 planets of which are in the habitable zone. The catalog has a high reliability rate (85–90% averaged over the period/radius plane), which is improving as follow-up observations continue. Dynamical (e.g., velocimetry and transit timing) and statistical methods have confirmed and characterized hundreds of planets over a large range of sizes and compositions for both single- and multiple-star systems. Population studies suggest that planets abound in our galaxy and that small planets are particularly frequent. Here, I report on the progress Kepler has made measuring the prevalence of exoplanets orbiting within one astronomical unit of their host stars in support of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s long-term goal of finding habitable environments beyond the solar system. PMID:25049406

  19. Robotic Missions to Small Bodies and Their Potential Contributions to Human Exploration and Planetary Defense

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abell, Paul A.; Rivkin, Andrew S.

    2015-01-01

    Introduction: Robotic missions to small bodies will directly address aspects of NASA's Asteroid Initiative and will contribute to future human exploration and planetary defense. The NASA Asteroid Initiative is comprised of two major components: the Grand Challenge and the Asteroid Mission. The first component, the Grand Challenge, focuses on protecting Earth's population from asteroid impacts by detecting potentially hazardous objects with enough warning time to either prevent them from impacting the planet, or to implement civil defense procedures. The Asteroid Mission involves sending astronauts to study and sample a near-Earth asteroid (NEA) prior to conducting exploration missions of the Martian system, which includes Phobos and Deimos. The science and technical data obtained from robotic precursor missions that investigate the surface and interior physical characteristics of an object will help identify the pertinent physical properties that will maximize operational efficiency and reduce mission risk for both robotic assets and crew operating in close proximity to, or at the surface of, a small body. These data will help fill crucial strategic knowledge gaps (SKGs) concerning asteroid physical characteristics that are relevant for human exploration considerations at similar small body destinations. These data can also be applied for gaining an understanding of pertinent small body physical characteristics that would also be beneficial for formulating future impact mitigation procedures. Small Body Strategic Knowledge Gaps: For the past several years NASA has been interested in identifying the key SKGs related to future human destinations. These SKGs highlight the various unknowns and/or data gaps of targets that the science and engineering communities would like to have filled in prior to committing crews to explore the Solar System. An action team from the Small Bodies Assessment Group (SBAG) was formed specifically to identify the small body SKGs under the

  20. Human missions to Mars enabling technologies for exploring the red planet

    CERN Document Server

    Rapp, Donald

    2016-01-01

    A mission to send humans to explore the surface of Mars has been the ultimate goal of planetary exploration since the 1950s, when von Braun conjectured a flotilla of 10 interplanetary vessels carrying a crew of at least 70 humans. Since then, more than 1,000 studies were carried out on human missions to Mars, but after 60 years of study, we remain in the early planning stages. The second edition of this book now includes an annotated history of Mars mission studies, with quantitative data wherever possible. Retained from the first edition, Donald Rapp looks at human missions to Mars from an engineering perspective. He divides the mission into a number of stages: Earth’s surface to low-Earth orbit (LEO); departing from LEO toward Mars; Mars orbit insertion and entry, descent and landing; ascent from Mars; trans-Earth injection from Mars orbit and Earth return. For each segment, he analyzes requirements for candidate technologies. In this connection, he discusses the status and potential of a wide range of el...

  1. Scientific Objectives of China Chang E 4 CE-4 Lunar Far-side Exploration Mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Hongbo; Zeng, Xingguo; Chen, Wangli

    2017-10-01

    China has achieved great success in the recently CE-1~CE-3 lunar missions, and in the year of 2018, China Lunar Exploration Program (CLEP) is going to launch the CE-4 mission. CE-4 satellite is the backup satellite of CE-3, so that it also consists of a Lander and a Rover. However, CE-4 is the first mission designed to detect the far side of the Moon in human lunar exploration history. So the biggest difference between CE-4 and CE-3 is that it will be equipped with a relay satellite in Earth-Moon-L2 Point for Earth-Moon Communication. And the scientific payloads carried on the Lander and Rover will also be different. It has been announced by the Chinese government that CE-4 mission will be equipped with some new international cooperated scientific payloads, such as the Low Frequency Radio Detector from Holland, Lunar Neutron and Radiation Dose Detector from Germany, Neutral Atom Detector from Sweden, and Lunar Miniature Optical Imaging Sounder from Saudi Arabia. The main scientific objective of CE-4 is to provide scientific data for lunar far side research, including: 1)general spatial environmental study of lunar far side;2)general research on the surface, shallow layer and deep layer of lunar far side;3)detection of low frequency radio on lunar far side using Low Frequency Radio Detector, which would be the first time of using such frequency band in lunar exploration history .

  2. Multi-Modal Neurodiagnostic Tool for Exploration Missions, Phase II

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — NASA has a critical requirement for a neurodiagnostic tool that can be used to monitor the behavioral health of the crew during long duration exploration missions....

  3. MISSION PROFILE AND DESIGN CHALLENGES FOR MARS LANDING EXPLORATION

    OpenAIRE

    J. Dong; Z. Sun; W. Rao; Y. Jia; L. Meng; C. Wang; B. Chen

    2017-01-01

    An orbiter and a descent module will be delivered to Mars in the Chinese first Mars exploration mission. The descent module is composed of a landing platform and a rover. The module will be released into the atmosphere by the orbiter and make a controlled landing on Martian surface. After landing, the rover will egress from the platform to start its science mission. The rover payloads mainly include the subsurface radar, terrain camera, multispectral camera, magnetometer, anemometer to achiev...

  4. Ultra Long-Life Spacecraft for Long Duration Space Exploration Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chau, Savio

    2002-01-01

    After decades of Solar System exploration, NASA has almost completed the initial reconnaissance, and has been planning for landing and sample return missions on many planets, satellites, comets, and asteroids. The next logical step of space exploration is to expand the frontier into other missions within and outside the solar system. These missions can easily last for more than 30 to 50 years. Most of the current technologies and spacecraft design techniques are not adequate to support such long life missions. Many breakthrough technologies and non-conventional system architecture have to develop in order to sustain such long life missions.Some of these technologies are being developed by the NASA Exploration Team (neXt). Based on the projected requirements for ultra long life missions, the costs and benefits of the required technologies can be quantified. The ultra long-life space system should have four attributes: long-term survivability, administration of consumable resources, evolvability and adaptability, and low-cost long-term operations of the spacecraft. The discussion of survivability is the focus of this paper. Conventional fault tolerant system design has to tolerate only random failures, which can be handled effectively by dual or triple redundancy for a relatively short time. In contrast, the predominant failure mode in an ultra long-life system is the wear-out of components. All active components in the system are destined to fail before the end of the mission. Therefore, an ultra long-life system would require a large number of redundant components. This would be impractical in conventional fault tolerant systems because their fault tolerance techniques are very inefficient. For instance, a conventional dual-string avionics system duplicates the all the components including the processor, memory, and I/O controllers on a spacecraft. However, when the same component in both strings fail (e.g., the processor), the system will fail although all other

  5. Anaesthesia in austere environments: literature review and considerations for future space exploration missions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Komorowski, Matthieu; Fleming, Sarah; Mawkin, Mala; Hinkelbein, Jochen

    2018-01-01

    Future space exploration missions will take humans far beyond low Earth orbit and require complete crew autonomy. The ability to provide anaesthesia will be important given the expected risk of severe medical events requiring surgery. Knowledge and experience of such procedures during space missions is currently extremely limited. Austere and isolated environments (such as polar bases or submarines) have been used extensively as test beds for spaceflight to probe hazards, train crews, develop clinical protocols and countermeasures for prospective space missions. We have conducted a literature review on anaesthesia in austere environments relevant to distant space missions. In each setting, we assessed how the problems related to the provision of anaesthesia (e.g., medical kit and skills) are dealt with or prepared for. We analysed how these factors could be applied to the unique environment of a space exploration mission. The delivery of anaesthesia will be complicated by many factors including space-induced physiological changes and limitations in skills and equipment. The basic principles of a safe anaesthesia in an austere environment (appropriate training, presence of minimal safety and monitoring equipment, etc.) can be extended to the context of a space exploration mission. Skills redundancy is an important safety factor, and basic competency in anaesthesia should be part of the skillset of several crewmembers. The literature suggests that safe and effective anaesthesia could be achieved by a physician during future space exploration missions. In a life-or-limb situation, non-physicians may be able to conduct anaesthetic procedures, including simplified general anaesthesia.

  6. Manned Mission Space Exploration Utilizing a Flexible Universal Module

    Science.gov (United States)

    Humphries, P.; Barez, F.; Gowda, A.

    2018-02-01

    The proposed ASMS, Inc. "Flexible Universal Module" is in support of NASA's Deep Space Gateway project. The Flexible Universal Module provides a possible habitation or manufacturing environment in support of Manned Mission for Space Exploration.

  7. Integration of CubeSat Systems with Europa Surface Exploration Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Erdoǧan, Enes; Inalhan, Gokhan; Kemal Üre, Nazım

    2016-07-01

    Recent studies show that there is a high probability that a liquid ocean exists under thick icy surface of Jupiter's Moon Europa. The findings also show that Europa has features that are similar to Earth, such as geological activities. As a result of these studies, Europa has promising environment of being habitable and currently there are many missions in both planning and execution level that target Europa. However, these missions usually involve extremely high budgets over extended periods of time. The objective of this talk is to argue that the mission costs can be reduced significantly by integrating CubeSat systems within Europa exploration missions. In particular, we introduce an integrated CubeSat-micro probe system, which can be used for measuring the size and depth of the hypothetical liquid ocean under the icy surface of Europa. The systems consist of an entry module that houses a CubeSat combined with driller measurement probes. Driller measurement probes deploy before the system hits the surface and penetrate the surface layers of Europa. Moreover, a micro laser probe could be used to examine the layers. This process enables investigation of the properties of the icy layer and the environment beneath the surface. Through examination of different scenarios and cost analysis of the components, we show that the proposed CubeSat systems has a significant potential to reduce the cost of the overall mission. Both subsystem requirements and launch prices of CubeSats are dramatically cheaper than currently used satellites. In addition, multiple CubeSats may be used to dominate wider area in space and they are expandable in face of potential failures. In this talk we discuss both the mission design and cost reduction aspects.

  8. 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.

  9. NASA Instrument Cost Model for Explorer-Like Mission Instruments (NICM-E)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Habib-Agahi, Hamid; Fox, George; Mrozinski, Joe; Ball, Gary

    2013-01-01

    NICM-E is a cost estimating relationship that supplements the traditional NICM System Level CERs for instruments flown on NASA Explorer-like missions that have the following three characteristics: 1) fly on Class C missions, 2) major development led and performed by universities or research foundations, and 3) have significant level of inheritance.

  10. NASA-ESA Joint Mission to Explore Two Worlds of Great Astrobiological Interest - Titan and Enceladus

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reh, K.; Coustenis, A.; Lunine, J.; Matson, D.; Lebreton, J.-P.; Erd, C.; Beauchamp, P.

    2009-04-01

    Rugged shorelines, laced with canyons, leading to ethane/methane seas glimpsed through an organic haze, vast fields of dunes shaped by alien sciroccos… An icy moon festooned with plumes of water-ice and organics, whose warm watery source might be glimpsed through surface cracks that glow in the infrared… The revelations by Cassini-Huygens about Saturn's crown jewels, Titan and Enceladus, have rocked the public with glimpses of new worlds unimagined a decade before. The time is at hand to capitalize on those discoveries with a broad mission of exploration that combines the widest range of planetary science disciplines—Geology, Geophysics, Atmospheres, Astrobiology,Chemistry, Magnetospheres—in a single NASA/ESA collaboration. The Titan Saturn System Mission will explore these exciting new environments, flying through Enceladus' plumes and plunging deep into Titan's atmosphere with instruments tuned to find what Cassini could only hint at. Exploring Titan with an international fleet of vehicles; from orbit, from the surface of a great polar sea, and from the air with the first hot air balloon to ride an extraterrestrial breeze, TSSM will turn our snapshot gaze of these worlds into an epic film. This paper will describe a collaborative NASA-ESA Titan Saturn System Mission that will open a new phase of planetary exploration by projecting robotic presence on the land, on the sea, and in the air of an active, organic-rich world.

  11. Mission Operations of the Mars Exploration Rovers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bass, Deborah; Lauback, Sharon; Mishkin, Andrew; Limonadi, Daniel

    2007-01-01

    A document describes a system of processes involved in planning, commanding, and monitoring operations of the rovers Spirit and Opportunity of the Mars Exploration Rover mission. The system is designed to minimize command turnaround time, given that inherent uncertainties in terrain conditions and in successful completion of planned landed spacecraft motions preclude planning of some spacecraft activities until the results of prior activities are known by the ground-based operations team. The processes are partitioned into those (designated as tactical) that must be tied to the Martian clock and those (designated strategic) that can, without loss, be completed in a more leisurely fashion. The tactical processes include assessment of downlinked data, refinement and validation of activity plans, sequencing of commands, and integration and validation of sequences. Strategic processes include communications planning and generation of long-term activity plans. The primary benefit of this partition is to enable the tactical portion of the team to focus solely on tasks that contribute directly to meeting the deadlines for commanding the rover s each sol (1 sol = 1 Martian day) - achieving a turnaround time of 18 hours or less, while facilitating strategic team interactions with other organizations that do not work on a Mars time schedule.

  12. Defining Medical Capabilities for Exploration Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hailey, M.; Antonsen, E.; Blue, R.; Reyes, D.; Mulcahy, R.; Kerstman, E.; Bayuse, T.

    2018-01-01

    Exploration-class missions to the moon, Mars and beyond will require a significant change in medical capability from today's low earth orbit centric paradigm. Significant increases in autonomy will be required due to differences in duration, distance and orbital mechanics. Aerospace medicine and systems engineering teams are working together within ExMC to meet these challenges. Identifying exploration medical system needs requires accounting for planned and unplanned medical care as defined in the concept of operations. In 2017, the ExMC Clinicians group identified medical capabilities to feed into the Systems Engineering process, including: determining what and how to address planned and preventive medical care; defining an Accepted Medical Condition List (AMCL) of conditions that may occur and a subset of those that can be treated effectively within the exploration environment; and listing the medical capabilities needed to treat those conditions in the AMCL. This presentation will discuss the team's approach to addressing these issues, as well as how the outputs of the clinical process impact the systems engineering effort.

  13. Real-Time Science Operations to Support a Lunar Polar Volatiles Rover Mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heldmann, Jennifer L.; Colaprete, Anthony; Elphic, Richard C.; Mattes, Greg; Ennico, Kimberly; Fritzler, Erin; Marinova, Margarita M.; McMurray, Robert; Morse, Stephanie; Roush, Ted L.; hide

    2014-01-01

    Future human exploration of the Moon will likely rely on in situ resource utilization (ISRU) to enable long duration lunar missions. Prior to utilizing ISRU on the Moon, the natural resources (in this case lunar volatiles) must be identified and characterized, and ISRU demonstrated on the lunar surface. To enable future uses of ISRU, NASA and the CSA are developing a lunar rover payload that can (1) locate near subsurface volatiles, (2) excavate and analyze samples of the volatile-bearing regolith, and (3) demonstrate the form, extractability and usefulness of the materials. Such investigations are important both for ISRU purposes and for understanding the scientific nature of these intriguing lunar volatile deposits. Temperature models and orbital data suggest near surface volatile concentrations may exist at briefly lit lunar polar locations outside persistently shadowed regions. A lunar rover could be remotely operated at some of these locations for the approx. 2-14 days of expected sunlight at relatively low cost. Due to the limited operational time available, both science and rover operations decisions must be made in real time, requiring immediate situational awareness, data analysis, and decision support tools. Given these constraints, such a mission requires a new concept of operations. In this paper we outline the results and lessons learned from an analog field campaign in July 2012 which tested operations for a lunar polar rover concept. A rover was operated in the analog environment of Hawaii by an off-site Flight Control Center, a rover navigation center in Canada, a Science Backroom at NASA Ames Research Center in California, and support teams at NASA Johnson Space Center in Texas and NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida. We find that this type of mission requires highly efficient, real time, remotely operated rover operations to enable low cost, scientifically relevant exploration of the distribution and nature of lunar polar volatiles. The field

  14. Astronaut Clothing for Exploration Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poritz, Darwin H.; Orndoff, Evelyne; Kaspranskiy, Rustem R.; Schesinger, Thilini; Byrne, Vicky

    2016-01-01

    Astronaut clothes for exploration missions beyond low Earth orbit need to satisfy several challenges not met by the currently-used mostly-cotton clothing. A laundering system is not expected to be available, and thus soiled garments must be trashed. Jettisoning waste does not seem feasible at this time. The cabin oxygen concentration is expected to be higher than standard, and thus fabrics must better resist ignition and burning. Fabrics need to be identified that reduce logistical mass, that can be worn longer before disposal, that are at least as comfortable as cotton, and that resist ignition or that char immediately after ignition. Human factors and psychology indicate that crew well-being and morale require a variety of colors and styles to accommodate personal identity and preferences. Over the past four years, the Logistics Reduction Project under NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems Program has sponsored the Advanced Clothing System Task to conduct several ground studies and one ISS study. These studies have evaluated length of wear and personal preferences of commercially-available exercise- and routine-wear garments made from several fabrics (cotton, polyester, Merino wool, and modacrylic), woven and knitted. Note that Merino wool and modacrylic char like cotton in ambient air, while polyester unacceptably melts. This paper focuses on the two components of an International Space Station study, onboard and on the ground, with astronauts and cosmonauts. Fabrics were randomized to participants. Length of wear was assessed by statistical survival analysis, and preference by exact binomial confidence limits. Merino wool and modacrylic t-shirts were worn longer on average than polyester t-shirts. Interestingly, self-assessed preferences were inconsistent with length-of-wear behavior, as polyester was preferred to Merino wool and modacrylic.

  15. Exploring Cognition Using Software Defined Radios for NASA Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mortensen, Dale J.; Reinhart, Richard C.

    2016-01-01

    NASA missions typically operate using a communication infrastructure that requires significant schedule planning with limited flexibility when the needs of the mission change. Parameters such as modulation, coding scheme, frequency, and data rate are fixed for the life of the mission. This is due to antiquated hardware and software for both the space and ground assets and a very complex set of mission profiles. Automated techniques in place by commercial telecommunication companies are being explored by NASA to determine their usability by NASA to reduce cost and increase science return. Adding cognition the ability to learn from past decisions and adjust behavior is also being investigated. Software Defined Radios are an ideal way to implement cognitive concepts. Cognition can be considered in many different aspects of the communication system. Radio functions, such as frequency, modulation, data rate, coding and filters can be adjusted based on measurements of signal degradation. Data delivery mechanisms and route changes based on past successes and failures can be made to more efficiently deliver the data to the end user. Automated antenna pointing can be added to improve gain, coverage, or adjust the target. Scheduling improvements and automation to reduce the dependence on humans provide more flexible capabilities. The Cognitive Communications project, funded by the Space Communication and Navigation Program, is exploring these concepts and using the SCaN Testbed on board the International Space Station to implement them as they evolve. The SCaN Testbed contains three Software Defined Radios and a flight computer. These four computing platforms, along with a tracking antenna system and the supporting ground infrastructure, will be used to implement various concepts in a system similar to those used by missions. Multiple universities and SBIR companies are supporting this investigation. This paper will describe the cognitive system ideas under consideration and

  16. Space Resource Utilization: Near-Term Missions and Long-Term Plans for Human Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sanders, Gerald B.

    2015-01-01

    A primary goal of all major space faring nations is to explore space: from the Earth with telescopes, with robotic probes and space telescopes, and with humans. For the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), this pursuit is captured in three important strategic goals: 1. Ascertain the content, origin, and evolution of the solar system and the potential for life elsewhere, 2. Extend and sustain human activities across the solar system (especially the surface of Mars), and 3. Create innovative new space technologies for exploration, science, and economic future. While specific missions and destinations are still being discussed as to what comes first, it is imperative for NASA that it foster the development and implementation of new technologies and approaches that make space exploration affordable and sustainable. Critical to achieving affordable and sustainable human exploration beyond low Earth orbit (LEO) is the development of technologies and systems to identify, extract, and use resources in space instead of bringing everything from Earth. To reduce the development and implementation costs for space resource utilization, often called In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU), it is imperative to work with terrestrial mining companies to spin-in/spin-off technologies and capabilities, and space mining companies to expand our economy beyond Earth orbit. In the last two years, NASA has focused on developing and implementing a sustainable human space exploration program with the ultimate goal of exploring the surface of Mars with humans. The plan involves developing technology and capability building blocks critical for sustained exploration starting with the Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion crew spacecraft and utilizing the International Space Station as a springboard into the solar system. The evolvable plan develops and expands human exploration in phases starting with missions that are reliant on Earth, to performing ever more challenging and

  17. Middleware and Web Services for the Collaborative Information Portal of NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers Mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sinderson, Elias; Magapu, Vish; Mak, Ronald

    2004-01-01

    We describe the design and deployment of the middleware for the Collaborative Information Portal (CIP), a mission critical J2EE application developed for NASA's 2003 Mars Exploration Rover mission. CIP enabled mission personnel to access data and images sent back from Mars, staff and event schedules, broadcast messages and clocks displaying various Earth and Mars time zones. We developed the CIP middleware in less than two years time usins cutting-edge technologies, including EJBs, servlets, JDBC, JNDI and JMS. The middleware was designed as a collection of independent, hot-deployable web services, providing secure access to back end file systems and databases. Throughout the middleware we enabled crosscutting capabilities such as runtime service configuration, security, logging and remote monitoring. This paper presents our approach to mitigating the challenges we faced, concluding with a review of the lessons we learned from this project and noting what we'd do differently and why.

  18. SEXTANT - Station Explorer for X-ray Timing and Navigation Technology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mitchell, Jason W.; Hasouneh, Munther Abdel Hamid; Winternitz, Luke M. B.; Valdez, Jennifer E.; Price, Samuel R.; Semper, Sean R.; Yu, Wayne H.; Arzoumanian, Zaven; Ray, Paul S.; Wood, Kent S.; hide

    2015-01-01

    The Station Explorer for X-ray Timing and Navigation Technology (SEXTANT) is a technology demonstration enhancement to the Neutron-star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) mission, which is scheduled to launch in late 2016 and will be hosted as an externally attached payload on the International Space Station (ISS) via the ExPRESS Logistics Carrier (ELC). During NICER's 18-month baseline science mission to understand ultra-dense matter though observations of neutron stars in the soft X-ray band, SEXTANT will, for the first-time, demonstrate real-time, on-board X-ray pulsar navigation, which is a significant milestone in the quest to establish a GPS-like navigation capability that will be available throughout our Solar System and beyond. Along with NICER, SEXTANT has proceeded through Phase B, Mission Definition, and received numerous refinements in concept of operation, algorithms, flight software, ground system, and ground test capability. NICER/SEXTANT's Phase B work culminated in NASA's confirmation of NICER to Phase C, Design and Development, in March 2014. Recently, NICER/SEXTANT successfully passed its Critical Design Review and SEXTANT received continuation approval in September 2014. In this paper, we describe the X-ray pulsar navigation concept and provide a brief history of previous work, and then summarize the SEXTANT technology demonstration objective, hardware and software components, and development to date.

  19. The Neutral Mass Spectrometer on the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer Mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mahaffy, Paul R.; Hodges, R. Richard; Benna, Mehdi; King, Todd; Arvey, Robert; Barciniak, Michael; Bendt, Mirl; Carigan, Daniel; Errigo, Therese; Harpold, Daniel N.; hide

    2014-01-01

    The Neutral Mass Spectrometer (NMS) of the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) Mission is designed to measure the composition and variability of the tenuous lunar atmosphere. The NMS complements two other instruments on the LADEE spacecraft designed to secure spectroscopic measurements of lunar composition and in situ measurement of lunar dust over the course of a 100-day mission in order to sample multiple lunation periods. The NMS utilizes a dual ion source designed to measure both surface reactive and inert species and a quadrupole analyzer. The NMS is expected to secure time resolved measurements of helium and argon and determine abundance or upper limits for many other species either sputtered or thermally evolved from the lunar surface.

  20. Advances in Distributed Operations and Mission Activity Planning for Mars Surface Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fox, Jason M.; Norris, Jeffrey S.; Powell, Mark W.; Rabe, Kenneth J.; Shams, Khawaja

    2006-01-01

    A centralized mission activity planning system for any long-term mission, such as the Mars Exploration Rover Mission (MER), is completely infeasible due to budget and geographic constraints. A distributed operations system is key to addressing these constraints; therefore, future system and software engineers must focus on the problem of how to provide a secure, reliable, and distributed mission activity planning system. We will explain how Maestro, the next generation mission activity planning system, with its heavy emphasis on portability and distributed operations has been able to meet these design challenges. MER has been an excellent proving ground for Maestro's new approach to distributed operations. The backend that has been developed for Maestro could benefit many future missions by reducing the cost of centralized operations system architecture.

  1. Very High Spectral Resolution Imaging Spectroscopy: the Fluorescence Explorer (FLEX) Mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moreno, Jose F.; Goulas, Yves; Huth, Andreas; Middleton, Elizabeth; Miglietta, Franco; Mohammed, Gina; Nedbal, Ladislav; Rascher, Uwe; Verhoef, Wouter; Drusch, Matthias

    2016-01-01

    The Fluorescence Explorer (FLEX) mission has been recently selected as the 8th Earth Explorer by the European Space Agency (ESA). It will be the first mission specifically designed to measure from space vegetation fluorescence emission, by making use of very high spectral resolution imaging spectroscopy techniques. Vegetation fluorescence is the best proxy to actual vegetation photosynthesis which can be measurable from space, allowing an improved quantification of vegetation carbon assimilation and vegetation stress conditions, thus having key relevance for global mapping of ecosystems dynamics and aspects related with agricultural production and food security. The FLEX mission carries the FLORIS spectrometer, with a spectral resolution in the range of 0.3 nm, and is designed to fly in tandem with Copernicus Sentinel-3, in order to provide all the necessary spectral / angular information to disentangle emitted fluorescence from reflected radiance, and to allow proper interpretation of the observed fluorescence spatial and temporal dynamics.

  2. Cradle-to-Grave Logistic Technologies for Exploration Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Broyan, James L.; Ewert, Michael K.; Shull, Sarah

    2013-01-01

    Human exploration missions under study are very limited by the launch mass capacity of exiting and planned vehicles. The logistical mass of crew items is typically considered separate from the vehicle structure, habitat outfitting, and life support systems. Consequently, crew item logistical mass is typically competing with vehicle systems for mass allocation. NASA is Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Logistics Reduction and Repurposing (LRR) Project is developing four logistics technologies guided by a systems engineering cradle-to-grave approach to enable used crew items to augment vehicle systems. Specifically, AES LRR is investigating the direct reduction of clothing mass, the repurposing of logistical packaging, the processing of spent crew items to benefit radiation shielding and water recovery, and the conversion of trash to propulsion supply gases. 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 the mission duration increases. This paper provides a description, benefits, and challenges of the four technologies under development and a status of progress at the mid ]point of the three year AES project.

  3. Enhancing the Meaningfulness of Work for Astronauts on Long Duration Space Exploration Missions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Britt, Thomas W; Sytine, Anton; Brady, Ashley; Wilkes, Russ; Pittman, Rebecca; Jennings, Kristen; Goguen, Kandice

    2017-08-01

    Numerous authors have identified the stressors likely to be encountered on long duration space exploration missions (e.g., to Mars), including the possibility of significant crises, separation from family, boredom/monotony, and interpersonal conflict. Although many authors have noted that meaningful work may be beneficial for astronauts on these missions, none have detailed the sources of meaningful work for astronauts and how these sources may differ between astronauts. The present article identifies how engagement in meaningful work during long duration missions may mitigate the adverse effects of demands and increase the potential for benefits resulting from the missions. Semistructured interviews were conducted with nine NASA personnel, including astronauts, flight directors, and flight surgeons. Questions addressed sources of meaning for astronauts, characteristics of tasks that enhance vs. detract from meaning, and recommendations for enhancing meaning. Personnel mentioned contributing to humanity and the next generation, contributing to the mission, and exploration as the most meaningful aspects of their work. Characteristics of tasks that enhanced meaning included using a variety of skills, feeling personal control over their schedule, autonomy in the execution of tasks, and understanding the importance of the experiments conducted on the mission. Top recommendations to sustain meaning were insuring social needs were met through such activities as the strategic use of social media, giving astronauts autonomy as well as structure, and conducting training during transit. Implications are addressed for tailoring meaning-based interventions for astronauts participating on long duration missions and assessing the effectiveness of these interventions.Britt TW, Sytine A, Brady A, Wilkes R, Pittman R, Jennings K, Goguen K. Enhancing the meaningfulness of work for astronauts on long duration space exploration missions. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2017; 88(8):779-783.

  4. A robotic exploration mission to Mars and Phobos

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kerr, Justin H.; Defosse, Erin; Ho, Quang; Barriga, Ernisto; Davis, Grant; Mccourt, Steve; Smith, Matt

    1993-01-01

    This report discusses the design of a robotic exploration to Mars and Phobos. It begins with the mission's background and objectives, followed by a detailed explanation of various elements of Project Aeneas, including science, spacecraft, probes, and orbital trajectories. In addition, a description of Argos Space Endeavours, management procedures, and overall project costs are presented. Finally, a list of recommendations for future design activity is included.

  5. High-Efficiency Reliable Stirling Generator for Space Exploration Missions, Phase I

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — NASA needs advanced power-conversion technologies to improve the efficiency and reliability of power conversion for space exploration missions. We propose to develop...

  6. Mars mission opportunity and transit time sensitivity for a nuclear thermal rocket propulsion application

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Young, A.C.; Mulqueen, J.A.; Nishimuta, E.L.; Emrich, W.J.

    1993-01-01

    President George Bush's 1989 challenge to America to support the Space Exploration Initiative (SEI) of ''Back to the Moon and Human Mission to Mars'' gives the space industry an opportunity to develop effective and efficient space transportation systems. This paper presents stage performance and requirements for a nuclear thermal rocket (NTR) Mars transportation system to support the human Mars mission of the SEI. Two classes of Mars mission profiles are considered in developing the NTR propulsion vehicle performance and requirements. The two Mars mission classes include the opposition class and conjunction class. The opposition class mission is associated with relatively short Mars stay times ranging from 30 to 90 days and total mission duration of 350 to 600 days. The conjunction class mission is associated with much longer Mars stay times ranging from 500 to 600 days and total mission durations of 875 to 1,000 days. Vehicle mass scaling equations are used to determine the NTR stage mass, size, and performance range required for different Mars mission opportunities and for different Mars mission durations. Mission opportunities considered include launch years 2010 to 2018. The 2010 opportunity is the most demanding launch opportunity and the 2018 opportunity is the least demanding opportunity. NTR vehicle mass and size sensitivity to NTR engine thrust level, engine specific impulse, NTR engine thrust-to-weight ratio, and Mars surface payload are presented. NTR propulsion parameter ranges include those associated with NERVA, particle bed reactor (PBR), low-pressure, and ceramic-metal-type engine design

  7. Mars mission opportunity and transit time sensitivity for a nuclear thermal rocket propulsion application

    Science.gov (United States)

    Young, Archie C.; Mulqueen, John A.; Nishimuta, Ena L.; Emrich, William J.

    1993-01-01

    President George Bush's 1989 challenge to America to support the Space Exploration Initiative (SEI) of ``Back to the Moon and Human Mission to Mars'' gives the space industry an opportunity to develop effective and efficient space transportation systems. This paper presents stage performance and requirements for a nuclear thermal rocket (NTR) Mars transportation system to support the human Mars mission of the SEI. Two classes of Mars mission profiles are considered in developing the NTR propulsion vehicle performance and requirements. The two Mars mission classes include the opposition class and conjunction class. The opposition class mission is associated with relatively short Mars stay times ranging from 30 to 90 days and total mission duration of 350 to 600 days. The conjunction class mission is associated with much longer Mars stay times ranging from 500 to 600 days and total mission durations of 875 to 1,000 days. Vehicle mass scaling equations are used to determine the NTR stage mass, size, and performance range required for different Mars mission opportunities and for different Mars mission durations. Mission opportunities considered include launch years 2010 to 2018. The 2010 opportunity is the most demanding launch opportunity and the 2018 opportunity is the least demanding opportunity. NTR vehicle mass and size sensitivity to NTR engine thrust level, engine specific impulse, NTR engine thrust-to-weight ratio, and Mars surface payload are presented. NTR propulsion parameter ranges include those associated with NERVA, particle bed reactor (PBR), low-pressure, and ceramic-metal-type engine design.

  8. Solar discrepancies: Mars exploration and the curious problem of inter-planetary time

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mirmalek, Zara Lenora

    The inter-planetary work system for the NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) mission entailed coordinating work between two corporally diverse workgroups, human beings and solar-powered robots, and between two planets with asynchronous axial rotations. The rotation of Mars takes approximately 24 hours and 40 minutes while for Earth the duration is 24 hours, a differential that was synchronized on Earth by setting a clock forward forty minutes every day. The hours of the day during which the solar-powered rovers were operational constituted the central consideration in the relationship between time and work around which the schedule of MER science operations were organized. And, the operational hours for the rovers were precarious for at least two reasons: on the one hand, the possibility of a sudden and inexplicable malfunction was always present; on the other, the rovers were powered by solar-charged batteries that could simply (and would eventually) fail. Thus, the timetable for the inter-planetary work system was scheduled according to the daily cycle of the sun on Mars and a version of clock time called Mars time was used to keep track of the movement of the sun on Mars. While the MER mission was a success, it does not necessarily follow that all aspects of mission operations were successful. One of the central problems that plagued the organization of mission operations was precisely this construct called "Mars time" even while it appeared that the use of Mars time was unproblematic and central to the success of the mission. In this dissertation, Zara Mirmalek looks at the construction of Mars time as a tool and as a social process. Of particular interest are the consequences of certain (ostensibly foundational) assumptions about the relationship between clock time and the conduct of work that contributed to making the relationship between Mars time and work on Earth appear operational. Drawing on specific examples of breakdowns of Mars time as a support

  9. The lunar atmosphere and dust environment explorer mission (LADEE)

    CERN Document Server

    Russell, Christopher

    2015-01-01

    This volume contains five articles describing the mission and its instruments.  The first paper, by the project scientist Richard C. Elphic and his colleagues, describes the mission objectives, the launch vehicle, spacecraft and the mission itself.  This is followed by a description of LADEE’s Neutral Mass Spectrometer by Paul Mahaffy and company.  This paper describes the investigation that directly targets the lunar exosphere, which can also be explored optically in the ultraviolet.  In the following article Anthony Colaprete describes LADEE’s Ultraviolet and Visible Spectrometer that operated from 230 nm to 810 nm scanning the atmosphere just above the surface.  Not only is there atmosphere but there is also dust that putatively can be levitated above the surface, possibly by electric fields on the Moon’s surface.  Mihaly Horanyi leads this investigation, called the Lunar Dust Experiment, aimed at understanding the purported observations of levitated dust.  This experiment was also very succes...

  10. MISSION PROFILE AND DESIGN CHALLENGES FOR MARS LANDING EXPLORATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. Dong

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available An orbiter and a descent module will be delivered to Mars in the Chinese first Mars exploration mission. The descent module is composed of a landing platform and a rover. The module will be released into the atmosphere by the orbiter and make a controlled landing on Martian surface. After landing, the rover will egress from the platform to start its science mission. The rover payloads mainly include the subsurface radar, terrain camera, multispectral camera, magnetometer, anemometer to achieve the scientific investigation of the terrain, soil characteristics, material composition, magnetic field, atmosphere, etc. The landing process is divided into three phases (entry phase, parachute descent phase and powered descent phase, which are full of risks. There exit lots of indefinite parameters and design constrain to affect the selection of the landing sites and phase switch (mortaring the parachute, separating the heat shield and cutting off the parachute. A number of new technologies (disk-gap-band parachute, guidance and navigation, etc. need to be developed. Mars and Earth have gravity and atmosphere conditions that are significantly different from one another. Meaningful environmental conditions cannot be recreated terrestrially on earth. A full-scale flight validation on earth is difficult. Therefore the end-to-end simulation and some critical subsystem test must be considered instead. The challenges above and the corresponding design solutions are introduced in this paper, which can provide reference for the Mars exploration mission.

  11. Requirements for Designing Life Support System Architectures for Crewed Exploration Missions Beyond Low-Earth Orbit

    Science.gov (United States)

    Howard, David; Perry,Jay; Sargusingh, Miriam; Toomarian, Nikzad

    2016-01-01

    NASA's technology development roadmaps provide guidance to focus technological development on areas that enable crewed exploration missions beyond low-Earth orbit. Specifically, the technology area roadmap on human health, life support and habitation systems describes the need for life support system (LSS) technologies that can improve reliability and in-situ maintainability within a minimally-sized package while enabling a high degree of mission autonomy. To address the needs outlined by the guiding technology area roadmap, NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Program has commissioned the Life Support Systems (LSS) Project to lead technology development in the areas of water recovery and management, atmosphere revitalization, and environmental monitoring. A notional exploration LSS architecture derived from the International Space has been developed and serves as the developmental basis for these efforts. Functional requirements and key performance parameters that guide the exploration LSS technology development efforts are presented and discussed. Areas where LSS flight operations aboard the ISS afford lessons learned that are relevant to exploration missions are highlighted.

  12. Strategic Map for Achieving Enceladus Ocean Exploration in Our Time

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sherwood, B.

    2015-12-01

    At AGU 2014, the author presented a decomposition and sequencing of science questions and technical capabilities that define viable programmatic pathways to enable sample return and advanced in situ exploration of the Enceladan ocean, consistent with NASA mission-opportunity constraints. Elaborated and refined in 2015 via JpGU, AbSciCon, IAC, and COSPAR Water, this plan is now specific: discrete and integrated analyses and coordination actions that, if acted on by the community over the next 45 months, could result in Enceladus ocean exploration appearing in the next Planetary Decadal Survey's mission priorities, issued in 2021. At AGU 2015, a product-based, outcome-measurable, stepwise milestone plan is presented to catalyze the next level of community discussion. Topics covered by the action plan include: hypothesis-driven science questions; mission cost as a function of mission capability; mission selectability as a function of programmatic constraints and evaluation process; exploration technologies as a function of funding and schedule; international consensus on forward and backward planetary protection requirements and solutions for exploring worlds with astrobiologically significant liquid water; and strategic balance among major NASA planetary science initiatives. Key Decadal-runup milestones are analyzed with respect to stakeholders, success criteria, and - critically - calendar and precedence. These results then inform a multi-year action plan to generate, vet, and socialize throughout the community a set of technically and fiscally viable mission concepts, respectively enabled by an achievable technology development roadmap also detailed in the presentation. This can begin to align advocate actions toward a broad community goal of exploring the Enceladan ocean. Without such coordination, which must reach fruition by Sep 2019, the probability that the next Decadal could explicitly prioritize mission objectives for Enceladus ocean exploration - as one of

  13. Teamwork Training Needs Analysis for Long-Duration Exploration Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith-Jentsch, Kimberly A.; Sierra, Mary Jane

    2016-01-01

    The success of future long-duration exploration missions (LDEMs) will be determined largely by the extent to which mission-critical personnel possess and effectively exercise essential teamwork competencies throughout the entire mission lifecycle (e.g., Galarza & Holland, 1999; Hysong, Galarza, & Holland, 2007; Noe, Dachner, Saxton, & Keeton, 2011). To ensure that such personnel develop and exercise these necessary teamwork competencies prior to and over the full course of future LDEMs, it is essential that a teamwork training curriculum be developed and put into place at NASA that is both 1) comprehensive, in that it targets all teamwork competencies critical for mission success and 2) structured around empirically-based best practices for enhancing teamwork training effectiveness. In response to this demand, the current teamwork-oriented training needs analysis (TNA) was initiated to 1) identify the teamwork training needs (i.e., essential teamwork-related competencies) of future LDEM crews, 2) identify critical gaps within NASA’s current and future teamwork training curriculum (i.e., gaps in the competencies targeted and in the training practices utilized) that threaten to impact the success of future LDEMs, and to 3) identify a broad set of practical nonprescriptive recommendations for enhancing the effectiveness of NASA’s teamwork training curriculum in order to increase the probability of future LDEM success.

  14. Human Exploration using Real-Time Robotic Operations (HERRO): A space exploration strategy for the 21st century

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schmidt, George R.; Landis, Geoffrey A.; Oleson, Steven R.

    2012-11-01

    This paper presents an exploration strategy for human missions beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and the Moon that combines the best features of human and robotic spaceflight. This "Human Exploration using Real-time Robotic Operations" (HERRO) strategy refrains from placing humans on the surfaces of the Moon and Mars in the near-term. Rather, it focuses on sending piloted spacecraft and crews into orbit around Mars and other exploration targets of interest, and conducting astronaut exploration of the surfaces using telerobots and remotely-controlled systems. By eliminating the significant communications delay or "latency" with Earth due to the speed of light limit, teleoperation provides scientists real-time control of rovers and other sophisticated instruments. This in effect gives them a "virtual presence" on planetary surfaces, and thus expands the scientific return at these destinations. HERRO mitigates several of the major issues that have hindered the progress of human spaceflight beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO) by: (1) broadening the range of destinations for near-term human missions; (2) reducing cost and risk through less complexity and fewer man-rated elements; (3) offering benefits of human-equivalent in-situ cognition, decision-making and field-work on planetary bodies; (4) providing a simpler approach to returning samples from Mars and planetary surfaces; and (5) facilitating opportunities for international collaboration through contribution of diverse robotic systems. HERRO provides a firm justification for human spaceflight—one that expands the near-term capabilities of scientific exploration while providing the space transportation infrastructure needed for eventual human landings in the future.

  15. The Comet Radar Explorer Mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Asphaug, Erik; Belton, Mike; Bockelee-Morvan, Dominique; Chesley, Steve; Delbo, Marco; Farnham, Tony; Gim, Yonggyu; Grimm, Robert; Herique, Alain; Kofman, Wlodek; Oberst, Juergen; Orosei, Roberto; Piqueux, Sylvain; Plaut, Jeff; Robinson, Mark; Sava, Paul; Heggy, Essam; Kurth, William; Scheeres, Dan; Denevi, Brett; Turtle, Elizabeth; Weissman, Paul

    2014-11-01

    Missions to cometary nuclei have revealed major geological surprises: (1) Global scale layers - do these persist through to the interior? Are they a record of primary accretion? (2) Smooth regions - are they landslides originating on the surface? Are they cryovolcanic? (3) Pits - are they impact craters or sublimation pits, or rooted in the interior? Unambiguous answers to these and other questions can be obtained by high definition 3D radar reflection imaging (RRI) of internal structure. RRI can answer many of the great unknowns in planetary science: How do primitive bodies accrete? Are cometary nuclei mostly ice? What drives their spectacular activity and evolution? The Comet Radar Explorer (CORE) mission will image the detailed internal structure of the nucleus of 10P/Tempel 2. This ~16 x 8 x 7 km Jupiter Family Comet (JFC), or its parent body, originated in the outer planets region possibly millions of years before planet formation. CORE arrives post-perihelion and observes the comet’s waning activity from safe distance. Once the nucleus is largely dormant, the spacecraft enters a ~20-km dedicated Radar Mapping Orbit (RMO). The exacting design of the RRI experiment and the precise navigation of RMO will achieve a highly focused 3D radar reflection image of internal structure, to tens of meters resolution, and tomographic images of velocity and attenuation to hundreds of meters resolution, tied to the gravity model and shape. Visible imagers will produce maps of the surface morphology, albedo, color, texture, and photometric response, and images for navigation and shape determination. The cameras will also monitor the structure and dynamics of the coma, and its dusty jets, allowing their correlation in 3D with deep interior structures and surface features. Repeated global high-resolution thermal images will probe the near-surface layers heated by the Sun. Derived maps of thermal inertia will be correlated with the radar boundary response, and photometry and

  16. The New Planetary Science Archive (PSA): Exploration and Discovery of Scientific Datasets from ESA's Planetary Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heather, David; Besse, Sebastien; Vallat, Claire; Barbarisi, Isa; Arviset, Christophe; De Marchi, Guido; Barthelemy, Maud; Coia, Daniela; Costa, Marc; Docasal, Ruben; Fraga, Diego; Grotheer, Emmanuel; Lim, Tanya; MacFarlane, Alan; Martinez, Santa; Rios, Carlos; Vallejo, Fran; Saiz, Jaime

    2017-04-01

    -to-date with versions 3 and 4 of the PDS standards, as PDS4 will be used for ESA's ExoMars and upcoming BepiColombo missions. Users will have direct access to documentation, information and tools that are relevant to the scientific use of the dataset, including ancillary datasets, Software Interface Specification (SIS) documents, and any tools/help that the PSA team can provide. The new PSA interface was released in January 2017. The home page provides a direct and simple access to the scientific data, aiming to help scientists to discover and explore its content. The archive can be explored through a set of parameters that allow the selection of products through space and time. Quick views provide information needed for the selection of appropriate scientific products. During 2017, the PSA team will focus their efforts on developing a map search interface using GIS technologies to display ESA planetary datasets, an image gallery providing navigation through images to explore the datasets, and interoperability with international partners. This will be done in parallel with additional metadata searchable through the interface (i.e., geometry), and with a dedication to improve the content of 20 years of space exploration.

  17. The NASA GOLD Mission: Exploring the Interface between Earth and Space

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mason, T.; Costanza, B.

    2017-12-01

    NASA's Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk, or GOLD, mission will explore a little understood area close to home, but historically hard to observe: the interface between Earth and space, a dynamic area of near-Earth space that responds both to space weather above, and the lower atmosphere below. GOLD, scheduled to launch into geostationary orbit in early 2018, will collect observations with a 30-minute cadence, much higher than any mission that has come before it. This will enable GOLD to be the first mission to study the day-to-day weather of a region of space—the thermosphere and ionosphere—rather than its long-term climate. GOLD will explore the near-Earth space environment, which is home to astronauts, radio signals used to guide airplanes and ships, and satellites that provide our communications and GPS systems. GOLD's unprecedented images and data will enable research that can improve situational awareness to help protect astronauts, spacecraft, and humans on the ground. As part of the GOLD communications and outreach program, the Office of Communications & Outreach at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) is developing a suite of products and programs to introduce the science of the GOLD mission to a broad range of public audiences, including students, teachers, journalists, social media practitioners, and the wider planetary and Earth science communities. We plan to showcase with this poster some of the tools we are developing to achieve this goal.

  18. Habitability as a Tier One Criterion in Exploration Mission and Vehicle Design. Part 1; Habitability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adams, Constance M.; McCurdy, Matthew Riegel

    1999-01-01

    Habitability and human factors are necessary criteria to include in the iterative process of Tier I mission design. Bringing these criteria in at the first, conceptual stage of design for exploration and other human-rated missions can greatly reduce mission development costs, raise the level of efficiency and viability, and improve the chances of success. In offering a rationale for this argument, the authors give an example of how the habitability expert can contribute to early mission and vehicle architecture by defining the formal implications of a habitable vehicle, assessing the viability of units already proposed for exploration missions on the basis of these criteria, and finally, by offering an optimal set of solutions for an example mission. In this, the first of three papers, we summarize the basic factors associated with habitability, delineate their formal implications for crew accommodations in a long-duration environment, and show examples of how these principles have been applied in two projects at NASA's Johnson Space Center: the BIO-Plex test facility, and TransHab.

  19. Affordable Exploration of Mars: Recommendations from a Community Workshop on Sustainable Initial Human Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thronson, Harley; Carberry, Chris; Cassady, R. J.; Cooke, Doug; Hopkins, Joshua; Perino, Maria A.; Kirkpatrick, Jim; Raftery, Michael; Westenberg, Artemis; Zucker, Richard

    2013-01-01

    There is a growing consensus that within two decades initial human missions to Mars are affordable under plausible budget assumptions and with sustained international participation. In response to this idea, a distinguished group of experts from the Mars exploration stakeholder communities attended the "Affording Mars" workshop at George Washington University in December, 2013. Participants reviewed and discussed scenarios for affordable and sustainable human and robotic exploration of Mars, the role of the International Space Station over the coming decade as the essential early step toward humans to Mars, possible "bridge" missions in the 2020s, key capabilities required for affordable initial missions, international partnerships, and a usable definition of affordability and sustainability. We report here the findings, observations, and recommendations that were agreed to at that workshop.

  20. The esa earth explorer land surface processes and interactions mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Labandibar, Jean-Yves; Jubineau, Franck; Silvestrin, Pierluigi; Del Bello, Umberto

    2017-11-01

    The European Space Agency (ESA) is defining candidate missions for Earth Observation. In the class of the Earth Explorer missions, dedicated to research and pre-operational demonstration, the Land Surface Processes and Interactions Mission (LSPIM) will acquire the accurate quantitative measurements needed to improve our understanding of the nature and evolution of biosphere-atmosphere interactions and to contribute significantly to a solution of the scaling problems for energy, water and carbon fluxes at the Earth's surface. The mission is intended to provide detailed observations of the surface of the Earth and to collect data related to ecosystem processes and radiation balance. It is also intended to address a range of issues important for environmental monitoring, renewable resources assessment and climate models. The mission involves a dedicated maneuvering satellite which provides multi-directional observations for systematic measurement of Land Surface BRDF (BiDirectional Reflectance Distribution Function) of selected sites on Earth. The satellite carries an optical payload : PRISM (Processes Research by an Imaging Space Mission), a multispectral imager providing reasonably high spatial resolution images (50 m over 50 km swath) in the whole optical spectral domain (from 450 nm to 2.35 μm with a resolution close to 10 nm, and two thermal bands from 8.1 to 9.1 μm). This paper presents the results of the Phase A study awarded by ESA, led by ALCATEL Space Industries and concerning the design of LSPIM.

  1. Storyboard for the Medical System Concept of Operations for Mars Exploration Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Antonsen, Eric; Hailey, Melinda; Reyes, David; Rubin, David; Urbina, Michelle

    2017-01-01

    This storyboard conceptualizes one scenario of an integrated medical system during a Mars exploration mission. All content is for illustrative purposes only and neither defines nor implies system design requirement.

  2. A new systems engineering approach to streamlined science and mission operations for the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Butler, Madeline J.; Sonneborn, George; Perkins, Dorothy C.

    1994-01-01

    The Mission Operations and Data Systems Directorate (MO&DSD, Code 500), the Space Sciences Directorate (Code 600), and the Flight Projects Directorate (Code 400) have developed a new approach to combine the science and mission operations for the FUSE mission. FUSE, the last of the Delta-class Explorer missions, will obtain high resolution far ultraviolet spectra (910 - 1220 A) of stellar and extragalactic sources to study the evolution of galaxies and conditions in the early universe. FUSE will be launched in 2000 into a 24-hour highly eccentric orbit. Science operations will be conducted in real time for 16-18 hours per day, in a manner similar to the operations performed today for the International Ultraviolet Explorer. In a radical departure from previous missions, the operations concept combines spacecraft and science operations and data processing functions in a single facility to be housed in the Laboratory for Astronomy and Solar Physics (Code 680). A small missions operations team will provide the spacecraft control, telescope operations and data handling functions in a facility designated as the Science and Mission Operations Center (SMOC). This approach will utilize the Transportable Payload Operations Control Center (TPOCC) architecture for both spacecraft and instrument commanding. Other concepts of integrated operations being developed by the Code 500 Renaissance Project will also be employed for the FUSE SMOC. The primary objective of this approach is to reduce development and mission operations costs. The operations concept, integration of mission and science operations, and extensive use of existing hardware and software tools will decrease both development and operations costs extensively. This paper describes the FUSE operations concept, discusses the systems engineering approach used for its development, and the software, hardware and management tools that will make its implementation feasible.

  3. 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

  4. 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.

  5. Exploring Ocean-World Habitability within the Planned Europa Clipper Mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pappalardo, R. T.; Senske, D.; Korth, H.; Blaney, D. L.; Blankenship, D. D.; Collins, G. C.; Christensen, P. R.; Gudipati, M. S.; Kempf, S.; Lunine, J. I.; Paty, C. S.; Raymond, C. A.; Rathbun, J.; Retherford, K. D.; Roberts, J. H.; Schmidt, B. E.; Soderblom, J. M.; Turtle, E. P.; Waite, J. H., Jr.; Westlake, J. H.

    2017-12-01

    A key driver of planetary exploration is to understand the processes that lead to potential habitability across the solar system, including within oceans hosted by some icy satellites of the outer planets. In this context, it is the overarching science goal of the planned Europa Clipper mission is: Explore Europa to investigate its habitability. Following from this goal are three mission objectives: (1) Characterize the ice shell and any subsurface water, including their heterogeneity, ocean properties, and the nature of surface-ice-ocean exchange; (2) Understand the habitability of Europa's ocean through composition and chemistry; and (3) Understand the formation of surface features, including sites of recent or current activity, and characterize high science interest localities. Folded into these objectives is the desire to search for and characterize any current activity, notably plumes and thermal anomalies. A suite of nine remote-sensing and in-situ observing instruments is being developed that synergistically addresses these objectives. The remote-sensing instruments are the Europa UltraViolet Spectrograph (Europa-UVS), the Europa Imaging System (EIS), the Mapping Imaging Spectrometer for Europa (MISE), the Europa THErMal Imaging System (E-THEMIS), and the Radar for Europa Assessment and Sounding: Ocean to Near-surface (REASON). The instruments providing in-situ observations are the Interior Characterization of Europa using Magnetometry (ICEMAG), the Plasma Instrument for Magnetic Sounding (PIMS), the MAss Spectrometer for Planetary EXploration (MASPEX), and the SUrface Dust Analyzer (SUDA). In addition, gravity science can be achieved via the spacecraft's telecommunication system, and the planned radiation monitoring system could provide information on Europa's energetic particle environment. Working together, the mission's robust investigation suite can be used to test hypotheses and enable discoveries relevant to the interior, composition, and geology of

  6. MITEE: A new nuclear engine concept for ultra fast, lightweight solar system exploration missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Powell, James; Paniagua, John; Ludewig, Hans; Maise, George; Todosow, Michael

    1998-01-01

    A new ultra compact nuclear engine concept, MITEE (MIniature R_eactor E_nginE_), is described, and its performance evaluated for various solar system exploration missions. The MITEE concept is based on the Particle Bed Reactor (PBR), with modifications that enable a smaller, lighter nuclear engine. A range of MITEE Engine designs is described. Representative design parameters for the baseline MITEE reactor are: 75MW(th) power level, 1000 second Isp, 100 kilogram mass, 10 MW/Liter fuel element power density, 39 cm core diameter/height. Total engine mass, including turbo pump assembly, nozzles, controls, and contingency, is estimated to be 200 kilograms. Using the MITEE engine, ultra fast, lightweight solar system exploration missions are enabled. A range of such missions has been analyzed using the MULIMP code, and are described.

  7. The Scale of Exploration: Planetary Missions Set in the Context of Tourist Destinations on Earth

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garry, W. B.; Bleacher, L. V.; Bleacher, J. E.; Petro, N. E.; Mest, S. C.; Williams, S. H.

    2012-03-01

    What if the Apollo astronauts explored Washington, DC, or the Mars Exploration Rovers explored Disney World? We present educational versions of the traverse maps for Apollo and MER missions set in the context of popular tourist destinations on Earth.

  8. Medical and technology requirements for human solar system exploration missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nicogossian, Arnauld; Harris, Leonard; Couch, Lana; Sulzman, Frank; Gaiser, Karen

    1989-01-01

    Measures that need to be taken to cope with the health problems posed by zero gravity and radiation in manned solar system exploration missions are discussed. The particular systems that will be used aboard Space Station Freedom are addressed, and relevant human factors problems are examined. The development of a controlled ecological life support system is addressed.

  9. The Saturn Probe Interior and aTmosphere Explorer (SPRITE) Mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Simon, Amy; Banfield, Donald; Atkinson, David; SPRITE Science Team

    2018-01-01

    A key question in planetary science is how the planets formed in our Solar System, and, by extension, in exoplanet systems. The abundances of the noble gases (He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe), heavy elements (C, N, O, S), and their isotopes provide important forensic clues as to location and time of formation in the early Solar System. Jupiter and Saturn contain most of the planetary mass in our solar system, and their chemical fingerprints will distinguish between competing models of the formation of all the planets. After the end of the Cassini mission, some of these elements have only ambiguous values above the cloud tops, while others (particularly the noble gases) have not been measured at all. Resolving this requires direct in situ measurements. The proposed NASA New Frontiers Saturn PRobe Interior and aTmosphere Explorer (SPRITE) mission delivers an instrumented entry probe from a carrier relay spacecraft that also provides context imaging. The powerful probe instrument suite is comprised of a Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer, a Tunable Laser Spectrometer, and an Atmospheric Structure Instrument including a Doppler Wind Experiment and a simple backscatter nephelometer. These instruments measure the elemental and isotopic abundances of helium, the heavier noble gases, and the major elements, as well as constraining cloud properties, 3-D atmospheric dynamics, and disequilibrium chemistry to at least 10 bars in Saturn's troposphere. In situ measurements of Saturn's atmosphere by SPRITE will provide a significantly improved context for interpreting the results from the Galileo probe, Juno, and Cassini missions. SPRITE will revolutionize our understanding of the formation and evolution of the gas giant planets, and ultimately the present-day structure of the Solar System.

  10. Science and Reconnaissance from the Europa Clipper Mission Concept: Exploring Europa's Habitability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pappalardo, Robert; Senske, David; Prockter, Louise; Paczkowski, Brian; Vance, Steve; Goldstein, Barry; Magner, Thomas; Cooke, Brian

    2015-04-01

    Europa is recognized by the Planetary Science De-cadal Survey as a prime candidate to search for a pre-sent-day habitable environment in our solar system. As such, NASA has pursued a series of studies, facilitated by a Europa Science Definition Team (SDT), to define a strategy to best advance our scientific understanding of this icy world with the science goal: Explore Europa to investigate its habitability. (In June of 2014, the SDT completed its task of identifying the overarching science objectives and investigations.) Working in concert with a technical team, a set of mission archi-tectures were evaluated to determine the best way to achieve the SDT defined science objectives. The fa-vored architecture would consist of a spacecraft in Ju-piter orbit making many close flybys of Europa, con-centrating on remote sensing to explore the moon. In-novative mission design would use gravitational per-turbations of the spacecraft trajectory to permit flybys at a wide variety of latitudes and longitudes, enabling globally distributed regional coverage of Europa's sur-face, with nominally 45 close flybys, typically at alti-tudes from 25 to 100 km. This concept has become known as the Europa Clipper. The Europa SDT recommended three science ob-jectives for the Europa Clipper: Ice Shell and Ocean: Characterize the ice shell and any subsurface water, including their heterogeneity, ocean properties, and the nature of surface-ice-ocean exchange; Composition: Understand the habitability of Europa's ocean through composition and chemistry; and Geology: Understand the formation of surface features, including sites of recent or current activity, and characterize high science interest localities. The Europa SDT also considered implications of the Hubble Space Telescope detection of possible plumes at Europa. To feed forward to potential subsequent future ex-ploration that could be enabled by a lander, it was deemed that the Europa Clipper mission concept should provide the

  11. Reuniting the Solar System: Integrated Education and Public Outreach Projects for Solar System Exploration Missions and Programs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lowes, Leslie; Lindstrom, Marilyn; Stockman, Stephanie; Scalice, Daniela; Klug, Sheri

    2003-01-01

    The Solar System Exploration Education Forum has worked for five years to foster Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) cooperation among missions and programs in order to leverage resources and better meet the needs of educators and the public. These efforts are coming together in a number of programs and products and in '2004 - The Year of the Solar System.' NASA's practice of having independent E/PO programs for each mission and its public affairs emphasis on uniqueness has led to a public perception of a fragmented solar system exploration program. By working to integrate solar system E/PO, the breadth and depth of the solar system exploration program is revealed. When emphasis is put on what missions have in common, as well as their differences, each mission is seen in the context of the whole program.

  12. Advanced Exploration Technologies: Micro and Nano Technologies Enabling Space Missions in the 21st Century

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krabach, Timothy

    1998-01-01

    Some of the many new and advanced exploration technologies which will enable space missions in the 21st century and specifically the Manned Mars Mission are explored in this presentation. Some of these are the system on a chip, the Computed-Tomography imaging Spectrometer, the digital camera on a chip, and other Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) technology for space. Some of these MEMS are the silicon micromachined microgyroscope, a subliming solid micro-thruster, a micro-ion thruster, a silicon seismometer, a dewpoint microhygrometer, a micro laser doppler anemometer, and tunable diode laser (TDL) sensors. The advanced technology insertion is critical for NASA to decrease mass, volume, power and mission costs, and increase functionality, science potential and robustness.

  13. SPICE-Based Python Packages for ESA Solar System Exploration Mission's Geometry Exploitation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Costa, M.; Grass, M.

    2018-04-01

    This contribution outlines three Python packages to provide an enhanced and extended usage of SPICE Toolkit APIS providing higher-level functions and data quick-look capabilities focused on European Space Agency solar system exploration missions.

  14. Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) : Science Objectives, Mission and Instruments (abstract)

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gurvits, L.; Plaut, J.J.; Barabash, S.; Bruzzone, L.; Dougherty, M.; Erd, C.; Fletcher, L.; Gladstone, R.; Grasset, O.; Hartogh, P.; Hussmann, H.; Iess, L.; Jaumann, R.; Langevin, Y.; Palumbo, P.; Piccioni, G.; Titov, D.; Wahlund, J.E.

    2014-01-01

    The JUpiter ICy Moons Explorer (JUICE) is a European Space Agency mission that will fly by and observe the Galilean satellites Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, characterize the Jovian system in a lengthy Jupiter-orbit phase, and ultimately orbit Ganymede for in-depth studies of habitability, evolution

  15. Guiding Requirements for Designing Life Support System Architectures for Crewed Exploration Missions Beyond Low-Earth Orbit

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perry, Jay L.; Sargusingh, Miriam J.; Toomarian, Nikzad

    2016-01-01

    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) technology development roadmaps provide guidance to focus technological development in areas that enable crewed exploration missions beyond low-Earth orbit. Specifically, the technology area roadmap on human health, life support and habitation systems describes the need for life support system (LSS) technologies that can improve reliability and in-flight maintainability within a minimally-sized package while enabling a high degree of mission autonomy. To address the needs outlined by the guiding technology area roadmap, NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Program has commissioned the Life Support Systems (LSS) Project to lead technology development in the areas of water recovery and management, atmosphere revitalization, and environmental monitoring. A notional exploration LSS architecture derived from the International Space has been developed and serves as the developmental basis for these efforts. Functional requirements and key performance parameters that guide the exploration LSS technology development efforts are presented and discussed. Areas where LSS flight operations aboard the ISS afford lessons learned that are relevant to exploration missions are highlighted.

  16. Mission operations for unmanned nuclear electric propulsion outer planet exploration with a thermionic reactor spacecraft.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spera, R. J.; Prickett, W. Z.; Garate, J. A.; Firth, W. L.

    1971-01-01

    Mission operations are presented for comet rendezvous and outer planet exploration NEP spacecraft employing in-core thermionic reactors for electric power generation. The selected reference missions are the Comet Halley rendezvous and a Jupiter orbiter at 5.9 planet radii, the orbit of the moon Io. The characteristics of the baseline multi-mission NEP spacecraft are presented and its performance in other outer planet missions, such as Saturn and Uranus orbiters and a Neptune flyby, are discussed. Candidate mission operations are defined from spacecraft assembly to mission completion. Pre-launch operations are identified. Shuttle launch and subsequent injection to earth escape by the Centaur D-1T are discussed, as well as power plant startup and the heliocentric mission phases. The sequence and type of operations are basically identical for all missions investigated.

  17. Introduction of JAXA Lunar and Planetary Exploration Data Analysis Group: Landing Site Analysis for Future Lunar Polar Exploration Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Otake, H.; Ohtake, M.; Ishihara, Y.; Masuda, K.; Sato, H.; Inoue, H.; Yamamoto, M.; Hoshino, T.; Wakabayashi, S.; Hashimoto, T.

    2018-04-01

    JAXA established JAXA Lunar and Planetary Exploration Data Analysis Group (JLPEDA) at 2016. Our group has been analyzing lunar and planetary data for various missions. Here, we introduce one of our activities.

  18. Large Observatory for x-ray Timing (LOFT-P): a Probe-class mission concept study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilson-Hodge, Colleen A.; Ray, Paul S.; Chakrabarty, Deepto; Feroci, Marco; Alvarez, Laura; Baysinger, Michael; Becker, Chris; Bozzo, Enrico; Brandt, Soren; Carson, Billy; Chapman, Jack; Dominguez, Alexandra; Fabisinski, Leo; Gangl, Bert; Garcia, Jay; Griffith, Christopher; Hernanz, Margarita; Hickman, Robert; Hopkins, Randall; Hui, Michelle; Ingram, Luster; Jenke, Peter; Korpela, Seppo; Maccarone, Tom; Michalska, Malgorzata; Pohl, Martin; Santangelo, Andrea; Schanne, Stephane; Schnell, Andrew; Stella, Luigi; van der Klis, Michiel; Watts, Anna; Winter, Berend; Zane, Silvia

    2016-07-01

    LOFT-P is a mission concept for a NASA Astrophysics Probe-Class (matter? What are the effects of strong gravity on matter spiraling into black holes? It would be optimized for sub-millisecond timing of bright Galactic X-ray sources including X-ray bursters, black hole binaries, and magnetars to study phenomena at the natural timescales of neutron star surfaces and black hole event horizons and to measure mass and spin of black holes. These measurements are synergistic to imaging and high-resolution spectroscopy instruments, addressing much smaller distance scales than are possible without very long baseline X-ray interferometry, and using complementary techniques to address the geometry and dynamics of emission regions. LOFT-P would have an effective area of >6 m2, > 10x that of the highly successful Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE). A sky monitor (2-50 keV) acts as a trigger for pointed observations, providing high duty cycle, high time resolution monitoring of the X-ray sky with 20 times the sensitivity of the RXTE All-Sky Monitor, enabling multi-wavelength and multimessenger studies. A probe-class mission concept would employ lightweight collimator technology and large-area solid-state detectors, segmented into pixels or strips, technologies which have been recently greatly advanced during the ESA M3 Phase A study of LOFT. Given the large community interested in LOFT (>800 supporters*, the scientific productivity of this mission is expected to be very high, similar to or greater than RXTE ( 2000 refereed publications). We describe the results of a study, recently completed by the MSFC Advanced Concepts Office, that demonstrates that such a mission is feasible within a NASA probe-class mission budget.

  19. An Advanced Neutron Spectrometer for Future Manned Exploration Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Christl, Mark; Apple, Jeffrey A.; Cox, Mark D.; Dietz, Kurtis L.; Dobson, Christopher C.; Gibson, Brian F.; Howard, David E.; Jackson, Amanda C.; Kayatin, Mathew J.; Kuznetsov, Evgeny N.; hide

    2014-01-01

    An Advanced Neutron Spectrometer (ANS) is being developed to support future manned exploration missions. This new instrument uses a refined gate and capture technique that significantly improves the identification of neutrons in mixed radiation fields found in spacecraft, habitats and on planetary surfaces. The new instrument is a composite scintillator comprised of PVT loaded with litium-6 glass scintillators. We will describe the detection concept and show preliminary results from laboratory tests and exposures at particle accelerators

  20. Exploring Mission Concepts with the JPL Innovation Foundry A-Team

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ziemer, John K.; Ervin, Joan; Lang, Jared

    2013-01-01

    The JPL Innovation Foundry has established a new approach for exploring, developing, and evaluating early concepts called the A-Team. The A-Team combines innovative collaborative methods with subject matter expertise and analysis tools to help mature mission concepts. Science, implementation, and programmatic elements are all considered during an A-Team study. Methods are grouped by Concept Maturity Level (CML), from 1 through 3, including idea generation and capture (CML 1), initial feasibility assessment (CML 2), and trade space exploration (CML 3). Methods used for each CML are presented, and the key team roles are described from two points of view: innovative methods and technical expertise. A-Team roles for providing innovative methods include the facilitator, study lead, and assistant study lead. A-Team roles for providing technical expertise include the architect, lead systems engineer, and integration engineer. In addition to these key roles, each A-Team study is uniquely staffed to match the study topic and scope including subject matter experts, scientists, technologists, flight and instrument systems engineers, and program managers as needed. Advanced analysis and collaborative engineering tools (e.g. cost, science traceability, mission design, knowledge capture, study and analysis support infrastructure) are also under development for use in A-Team studies and will be discussed briefly. The A-Team facilities provide a constructive environment for innovative ideas from all aspects of mission formulation to eliminate isolated studies and come together early in the development cycle when they can provide the biggest impact. This paper provides an overview of the A-Team, its study processes, roles, methods, tools and facilities.

  1. A Management Model for International Participation in Space Exploration Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    George, Patrick J.; Pease, Gary M.; Tyburski, Timothy E.

    2005-01-01

    This paper proposes an engineering management model for NASA's future space exploration missions based on past experiences working with the International Partners of the International Space Station. The authors have over 25 years of combined experience working with the European Space Agency, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Canadian Space Agency, Italian Space Agency, Russian Space Agency, and their respective contractors in the design, manufacturing, verification, and integration of their elements electric power system into the United States on-orbit segment. The perspective presented is one from a specific sub-system integration role and is offered so that the lessons learned from solving issues of technical and cultural nature may be taken into account during the formulation of international partnerships. Descriptions of the types of unique problems encountered relative to interactions between international partnerships are reviewed. Solutions to the problems are offered, taking into consideration the technical implications. Through the process of investigating each solution, the important and significant issues associated with working with international engineers and managers are outlined. Potential solutions are then characterized by proposing a set of specific methodologies to jointly develop spacecraft configurations that benefits all international participants, maximizes mission success and vehicle interoperability while minimizing cost.

  2. The BIOMASS mission — An ESA Earth Explorer candidate to measure the BIOMASS of the earth's forests

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Scipal, K.; Arcioni, M.; Chave, J.

    2010-01-01

    The European Space Agency (ESA) released a Call for Proposals for the next Earth Explorer Core Mission in March 2005, with the aim to select the 7th Earth Explorer (EE-7) mission for launch in the next decade. Twenty-four proposals were received and subject to scientific and technical assessment...... of any current space systems capable of addressing this need....

  3. Small space reactor power systems for unmanned solar system exploration missions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bloomfield, H.S.

    1987-12-01

    A preliminary feasibility study of the application of small nuclear reactor space power systems to the Mariner Mark II Cassini spacecraft/mission was conducted. The purpose of the study was to identify and assess the technology and performance issues associated with the reactor power system/spacecraft/mission integration. The Cassini mission was selected because study of the Saturn system was identified as a high priority outer planet exploration objective. Reactor power systems applied to this mission were evaluated for two different uses. First, a very small 1 kWe reactor power system was used as an RTG replacement for the nominal spacecraft mission science payload power requirements while still retaining the spacecraft's usual bipropellant chemical propulsion system. The second use of reactor power involved the additional replacement of the chemical propulsion system with a small reactor power system and an electric propulsion system. The study also provides an examination of potential applications for the additional power available for scientific data collection. The reactor power system characteristics utilized in the study were based on a parametric mass model that was developed specifically for these low power applications. The model was generated following a neutronic safety and operational feasibility assessment of six small reactor concepts solicited from U.S. industry. This assessment provided the validation of reactor safety for all mission phases and generatad the reactor mass and dimensional data needed for the system mass model

  4. Safety Characteristics in System Application of Software for Human Rated Exploration Missions for the 8th IAASS Conference

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mango, Edward J.

    2016-01-01

    NASA and its industry and international partners are embarking on a bold and inspiring development effort to design and build an exploration class space system. The space system is made up of the Orion system, the Space Launch System (SLS) and the Ground Systems Development and Operations (GSDO) system. All are highly coupled together and dependent on each other for the combined safety of the space system. A key area of system safety focus needs to be in the ground and flight application software system (GFAS). In the development, certification and operations of GFAS, there are a series of safety characteristics that define the approach to ensure mission success. This paper will explore and examine the safety characteristics of the GFAS development. The GFAS system integrates the flight software packages of the Orion and SLS with the ground systems and launch countdown sequencers through the 'agile' software development process. A unique approach is needed to develop the GFAS project capabilities within this agile process. NASA has defined the software development process through a set of standards. The standards were written during the infancy of the so-called industry 'agile development' movement and must be tailored to adapt to the highly integrated environment of human exploration systems. Safety of the space systems and the eventual crew on board is paramount during the preparation of the exploration flight systems. A series of software safety characteristics have been incorporated into the development and certification efforts to ensure readiness for use and compatibility with the space systems. Three underlining factors in the exploration architecture require the GFAS system to be unique in its approach to ensure safety for the space systems, both the flight as well as the ground systems. The first are the missions themselves, which are exploration in nature, and go far beyond the comfort of low Earth orbit operations. The second is the current exploration

  5. The Primordial Inflation Explorer (PIXIE) Mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kogut, Alan J.; Chuss, David T.; Dotson, Jessie L.; Fixsen, Dale J.; Halpern, Mark; Hinshaw, Gary F.; Meyer, Stephan M.; Moseley, S. Harvey; Seiffert, Michael D.; Spergel, David N.; hide

    2011-01-01

    The Primordial Inflation Explorer (PIXIE) is an Explorer-class mission to map the absolute intensity and linear polarization of the cosmic microwave background and diffuse astrophysical foregrounds over the full sky from frequencies 30 GHz to 6 THz (I cm to 50 I-tm wavelength). PIXIE uses a polarizing Michelson interferometer with 2.7 K optics to measure the difference spectrum between two orthogonal linear polarizations from two co-aligned beams. Either input can view either the sky or a temperature-controlled absolute reference blackbody calibrator. The multimoded optics and high etendu provide sensitivity comparable to kilo-pixel focal plane arrays, but with greatly expanded frequency coverage while using only 4 detectors total. PIXIE builds on the highly successful COBEIFIRAS design by adding large-area polarization-sensitive detectors whose fully symmetric optics are maintained in thermal equilibrium with the CMB. The highly symmetric nulled design provides redundant rejection of major sources of systematic uncertainty. The principal science goal is the detection and characterization of linear polarization from an inflationary epoch in the early universe, with tensor-to-scalar ratio r much less than 10(exp -3). PIXIE will also return a rich data set constraining physical processes ranging from Big Bang cosmology, reionization, and large-scale structure to the local interstellar medium. Keywords: cosmic microwave background, polarization, FTS, bolometer

  6. Private ground infrastructures for space exploration missions simulations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Souchier, Alain

    2010-06-01

    The Mars Society, a private non profit organisation devoted to promote the red planet exploration, decided to implement simulated Mars habitat in two locations on Earth: in northern Canada on the rim of a meteoritic crater (2000), in a US Utah desert, location of a past Jurassic sea (2001). These habitats have been built with large similarities to actual planned habitats for first Mars exploration missions. Participation is open to everybody either proposing experimentations or wishing only to participate as a crew member. Participants are from different organizations: Mars Society, Universities, experimenters working with NASA or ESA. The general philosophy of the work conducted is not to do an innovative scientific work on the field but to learn how the scientific work is affected or modified by the simulation conditions. Outside activities are conducted with simulated spacesuits limiting the experimenter abilities. Technology or procedures experimentations are also conducted as well as experimentations on the crew psychology and behaviour.

  7. Telescience - Concepts and contributions to the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marchant, Will; Dobson, Carl; Chakrabarti, Supriya; Malina, Roger F.

    1987-01-01

    It is shown how the contradictory goals of low-cost and fast data turnaround characterizing the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) mission can be achieved via the early use of telescience style transparent tools and simulations. The use of transparent tools reduces the parallel development of capability while ensuring that valuable prelaunch experience is not lost in the operations phase. Efforts made to upgrade the 'EUVE electronics' simulator are described.

  8. 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.

  9. In-Space Propulsion Technology Products for NASA's Future Science and Exploration Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, David J.; Pencil, Eric; Peterson, Todd; Dankanich, John; Munk, Michelle M.

    2011-01-01

    Since 2001, the In-Space Propulsion Technology (ISPT) project has been developing and delivering in-space propulsion technologies that will enable or enhance NASA robotic science missions. These in-space propulsion technologies are applicable, and potentially enabling, for future NASA flagship and sample return missions currently being considered, as well as having broad applicability to future competed mission solicitations. The high-temperature Advanced Material Bipropellant Rocket (AMBR) engine providing higher performance for lower cost was completed in 2009. Two other ISPT technologies are nearing completion of their technology development phase: 1) NASA's Evolutionary Xenon Thruster (NEXT) ion propulsion system, a 0.6-7 kW throttle-able gridded ion system; and 2) Aerocapture technology development with investments in a family of thermal protection system (TPS) materials and structures; guidance, navigation, and control (GN&C) models of blunt-body rigid aeroshells; aerothermal effect models: and atmospheric models for Earth, Titan, Mars and Venus. This paper provides status of the technology development, applicability, and availability of in-space propulsion technologies that have recently completed their technology development and will be ready for infusion into NASA s Discovery, New Frontiers, Science Mission Directorate (SMD) Flagship, and Exploration technology demonstration missions

  10. Advanced Nuclear Power Concepts for Human Exploration Missions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Robert L. Cataldo; Lee S. Mason

    2000-01-01

    The design reference mission for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) human mission to Mars supports a philosophy of living off the land in order to reduce crew risk, launch mass, and life-cycle costs associated with logistics resupply to a Mars base. Life-support materials, oxygen, water, and buffer gases, and the crew's ascent-stage propellant would not be brought from Earth but rather manufactured from the Mars atmosphere. The propellants would be made over ∼2 yr, the time between Mars mission launch window opportunities. The production of propellants is very power intensive and depends on type, amount, and time to produce the propellants. Closed-loop life support and food production are also power intensive. With the base having several habitats, a greenhouse, and propellant production capability, total power levels reach well over 125 kW(electric). The most mass-efficient means of satisfying these requirements is through the use of nuclear power. Studies have been performed to identify a potential system concept, described in this paper, using a mobile cart to transport the power system away from the Mars lander and provide adequate separation between the reactor and crew. The studies included an assessment of reactor and power conversion technology options, selection of system and component redundancy, determination of optimum separation distance, and system performance sensitivity to some key operating parameters

  11. The Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) - Time to Launch!

    Science.gov (United States)

    McComas, David

    The Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) mission is scheduled to launch in mid-July 2008, right around the time of this COSPAR meeting. IBEX will make the first global observations of the heliosphere's interaction with the interstellar medium. IBEX achieves these breakthrough observations by traveling outside of the Earth's magnetosphere in a highly elliptical orbit and taking global Energetic Neutral Atoms (ENA) images with two very large aperture single pixel ENA cameras. IBEX-Lo makes measurements in 8 contiguous energy pass bands covering from ˜10 eV to 2 keV; IBEX-Hi similarly covers from ˜300 eV to 6 keV in 6 contiguous pass bands. IBEX's high-apogee (˜50RE ) orbit enables heliospheric ENA measurements by providing viewing from far outside the earth's relatively bright magnetospheric ENA emissions. The IBEX cameras view perpendicular to the spacecraft's sun-pointed spin axis. Each six months, the spacecraft spin and progression of the sun-pointing spin axis as the Earth moves around the Sun lead naturally to global, all-sky images. IBEX is the first mission to achieve a high altitude from a standard Pegasus launch vehicle. We accomplish this by adding the propulsion from an IBEX-supplied solid rocket motor and the spacecraft's hydrazine propulsion system. Additional information on IBEX is available at www.ibex.swri.edu. This talk, on behalf of the IBEX science and engineering teams, will summarize the IBEX science and mission and will provide an up-to-the-minute update on the status of the mission, including any new information on the launch and commissioning status.

  12. Outreach for Cassini Huyghens mission and future Saturn and Titan exploration: From the Antikythera Mechanism to the TSSM mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moussas, Xenophon; Bampasidis, Georgios; Coustenis, Athena; Solomonidou, Anezina

    2010-05-01

    These days Outreach is an activity tightly related to success in science. The public with its great interest to space and astronomy in general, the solar system exploration and Saturn and Titan in particular, loves the scientific outcome of Cassini and Huygens. This love of the public gives a lot, as its known interest to space, persuades politicians and policy makers to support space and future Saturn and Titan explorations. We use the scientific results from Cassini and Huyghens together with a mosaic from ancient science concerning the history of solar system exploration, such as the oldest known complex astronomical device, the Antikyhtera Mechanism, in outreach activities to ensure future missions and continuous support to present ones. A future mission to the Saturnian System focusing on exotic Titan will broaden people's interest not only to Physics and Astronomy, but to Mechanics, Technology and even Philosophy as well, since, obviously, the roots of the vast contribution of Space Science and Astronomy to the contemporary society can be traced back to the first astronomers of Antiquity. As an example we use the Antikythera Mechanism, a favourite astronomical device for the public, which is the first geared astronomical device ever, constructed that combines the spirit of the ancient Astronomy and scientific accuracy. It is common belief that Astronomy and Astrophysics is a perfect tool to easily involve people in Science, as the public is always interested in space subjects, captivated by the beauty and the mystery of the Universe. Years after the successful entry, descent and landing of the Huygens probe on Titan's surface, the outstanding achievements of the Cassini-Huygens mission enhance the outreach potential of Space Science. Titan is an earth-like world, embedded in a dense nitrogen atmospheric envelop and a surface carved by rivers, mountains, dunes and lakes, its exploration will certainly empower the perspective of the society for space activities

  13. Potential Applications for Radioisotope Power Systems in Support of Human Exploration Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cataldo, Robert L.; Colozza, Anthony J.; Schmitz, Paul C.

    2013-01-01

    Radioisotope power systems (RPS) for space applications have powered over 27 U.S. space systems, starting with Transit 4A and 4B in 1961, and more recently with the successful landing of the Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity in August 2012. RPS enable missions with destinations far from the Sun with faint solar flux, on planetary surfaces with dense or dusty atmospheres, and at places with long eclipse periods where solar array sizes and energy storage mass become impractical. RPS could also provide an enabling capability in support of human exploration activities. It is envisioned that with the higher power needs of most human mission concepts, a high efficiency thermal-to-electric technology would be required such as the Advanced Stirling Radioisotope generator (ASRG). The ASRG should be capable of a four-fold improvement in efficiency over traditional thermoelectric RPS. While it may be impractical to use RPS as a main power source, many other applications could be considered, such as crewed pressurized rovers, in-situ resource production of propellants, back-up habitat power, drilling, any mobile or remote activity from the main base habitat, etc. This paper will identify potential applications and provide concepts that could be a practical extension of the current ASRG design in providing for robust and flexible use of RPS on human exploration missions.

  14. Combining meteorites and missions to explore Mars.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCoy, Timothy J; Corrigan, Catherine M; Herd, Christopher D K

    2011-11-29

    Laboratory studies of meteorites and robotic exploration of Mars reveal scant atmosphere, no evidence of plate tectonics, past evidence for abundant water, and a protracted igneous evolution. Despite indirect hints, direct evidence of a martian origin came with the discovery of trapped atmospheric gases in one meteorite. Since then, the study of martian meteorites and findings from missions have been linked. Although the meteorite source locations are unknown, impact ejection modeling and spectral mapping of Mars suggest derivation from small craters in terrains of Amazonian to Hesperian age. Whereas most martian meteorites are young ( 4.5 Ga and formation of enriched and depleted reservoirs. However, the history inferred from martian meteorites conflicts with results from recent Mars missions, calling into doubt whether the igneous histor y inferred from the meteorites is applicable to Mars as a whole. Allan Hills 84001 dates to 4.09 Ga and contains fluid-deposited carbonates. Accompanying debate about the mechanism and temperature of origin of the carbonates came several features suggestive of past microbial life in the carbonates. Although highly disputed, the suggestion spurred interest in habitable extreme environments on Earth and throughout the Solar System. A flotilla of subsequent spacecraft has redefined Mars from a volcanic planet to a hydrologically active planet that may have harbored life. Understanding the history and habitability of Mars depends on understanding the coupling of the atmosphere, surface, and subsurface. Sample return that brings back direct evidence from these diverse reservoirs is essential.

  15. The AstroBiology Explorer (ABE) Mission Concept

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sandford, Scott A.

    2004-01-01

    Infrared spectroscopy in the 2.5-16 micron range is a principle means by which organic compounds can be detected and identified in space via their vibrational transitions. Ground-based, airborne, and spaceborne IR spectral studies have already demonstrated that a significant fraction of the carbon in the interstellar medium (ISM) resides in the form of complex organic molecular species. Unfortunately, neither the distribution of these materials nor their genetic and evolutionary relationships with each other or their environments are well understood. The Astrobiology Explorer (ABE) is a MIDEX mission concept currently under study by a team of partners: NASA's Ames Research Center, Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corporation, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. ABE will conduct IR spectroscopic observations to address outstanding important problems in astrobiology, astrochemistry, and astrophysics. The core observational program would make fundamental scientific progress in understanding (1) The evolution of ices and organic matter in dense molecular clouds and young forming stellar systems, (2) The chemical evolution of organic molecules in the ISM as they transition from AGB outflows to planetary nebulae to the general diffuse ISM to HII regions and dense clouds, (3) The distribution of organics in the diffuse ISM, (4) The nature of organics in the Solar System (in comets, asteroids, satellites), and (5) The nature and distribution of organics in local galaxies. The technical considerations of achieving these science objectives in a MIDEX-sized mission will be presented.

  16. Enabling Laser and Lidar Technologies for NASA's Science and Exploration Mission's Applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Upendra N.; Kavaya, Michael J.

    2005-01-01

    NASA s Laser Risk Reduction Program, begun in 2002, has achieved many technology advances in only 3.5 years. The recent selection of several lidar proposals for Science and Exploration applications indicates that the LRRP goal of enabling future space-based missions by lowering the technology risk has already begun to be met.

  17. Advances in Laser/Lidar Technologies for NASA's Science and Exploration Mission's Applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Upendra N.; Kavaya, Michael J.

    2005-01-01

    NASA's Laser Risk Reduction Program, begun in 2002, has achieved many technology advances in only 3.5 years. The recent selection of several lidar proposals for Science and Exploration applications indicates that the LRRP goal of enabling future space-based missions by lowering the technology risk has already begun to be met.

  18. WAVE-E: The WAter Vapour European-Explorer Mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jimenez-LLuva, David; Deiml, Michael; Pavesi, Sara

    2017-04-01

    In the last decade, stratosphere-troposphere coupling processes in the Upper Troposphere Lower Stratosphere (UTLS) have been increasingly recognized to severely impact surface climate and high-impact weather phenomena. Weakened stratospheric circumpolar jets have been linked to worldwide extreme temperature and high-precipitation events, while anomalously strong stratospheric jets can lead to an increase in surface winds and tropical cyclone intensity. Moreover, stratospheric water vapor has been identified as an important forcing for global decadal surface climate change. In the past years, operational weather forecast and climate models have adapted a high vertical resolution in the UTLS region in order to capture the dynamical processes occurring in this highly stratified region. However, there is an evident lack of available measurements in the UTLS region to consistently support these models and further improve process understanding. Consequently, both the IPCC fifth assessment report and the ESA-GEWEX report 'Earth Observation and Water Cycle Science Priorities' have identified an urgent need for long-term observations and improved process understanding in the UTLS region. To close this gap, the authors propose the 'WAter Vapour European - Explorer' (WAVE-E) space mission, whose primary goal is to monitor water vapor in the UTLS at 1 km vertical, 25 km horizontal and sub-daily temporal resolution. WAVE-E consists of three quasi-identical small ( 500 kg) satellites (WAVE-E 1-3) in a constellation of Sun-Synchronous Low Earth Orbits, each carrying a limb sounding and cross-track scanning mid-infrared passive spectrometer (824 cm-1 to 829 cm-1). The core of the instruments builds a monolithic, field-widened type of Michelson interferometer without any moving parts, rendering it rigid and fault tolerant. Synergistic use of WAVE-E and MetOp-NG operational satellites is identified, such that a data fusion algorithm could provide water vapour profiles from the

  19. Extracting Hydrologic Understanding from the Unique Space-time Sampling of the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) Mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nickles, C.; Zhao, Y.; Beighley, E.; Durand, M. T.; David, C. H.; Lee, H.

    2017-12-01

    The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite mission is jointly developed by NASA, the French space agency (CNES), with participation from the Canadian and UK space agencies to serve both the hydrology and oceanography communities. The SWOT mission will sample global surface water extents and elevations (lakes/reservoirs, rivers, estuaries, oceans, sea and land ice) at a finer spatial resolution than is currently possible enabling hydrologic discovery, model advancements and new applications that are not currently possible or likely even conceivable. Although the mission will provide global cover, analysis and interpolation of the data generated from the irregular space/time sampling represents a significant challenge. In this study, we explore the applicability of the unique space/time sampling for understanding river discharge dynamics throughout the Ohio River Basin. River network topology, SWOT sampling (i.e., orbit and identified SWOT river reaches) and spatial interpolation concepts are used to quantify the fraction of effective sampling of river reaches each day of the three-year mission. Streamflow statistics for SWOT generated river discharge time series are compared to continuous daily river discharge series. Relationships are presented to transform SWOT generated streamflow statistics to equivalent continuous daily discharge time series statistics intended to support hydrologic applications using low-flow and annual flow duration statistics.

  20. An overview of the solar, anomalous, and magnetospheric particle explorer (SAMPEX) mission

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baker, D.N.; Mason, G.M.; Figueroa, O.; Colon, G.; Watzin, J.G.; Aleman, R.M.

    1993-01-01

    The scientific objective of the NASA Small-class Explorer Mission SAMPEX are summarized. A brief history of the Small Explorer program is provided along with a description of the SAMPEX project development and structure. The spacecraft and scientific instrument configuration is presented. The orbit of SAMPEX has an altitude of 520 by 670 km and an 82 degree inclination. Maximum possible power is provided by articulated solar arrays that point continuously toward the sun. Highly sensitive science instruments point generally toward the local zenith, especially over the terrestrial poles, in order to measure optimally the galactic and solar cosmic ray flux. Energetic magnetospheric particle precipitation is monitored at lower geomagnetic latitudes. The spacecraft uses several innovative approaches including an optical fiber bus, powerful onboard computers, and large solid state memories (instead of tape recorders). Spacecraft communication and data acquisition are discussed and the space- and ground-segment data flows are summarized. A mission lifetime of 3 years is sought with the goal of extending data acquisition over an even longer portion of the 11-year solar activity cycle

  1. Mission control team structure and operational lessons learned from the 2009 and 2010 NASA desert RATS simulated lunar exploration field tests

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bell, Ernest R.; Badillo, Victor; Coan, David; Johnson, Kieth; Ney, Zane; Rosenbaum, Megan; Smart, Tifanie; Stone, Jeffry; Stueber, Ronald; Welsh, Daren; Guirgis, Peggy; Looper, Chris; McDaniel, Randall

    2013-10-01

    The NASA Desert Research and Technology Studies (Desert RATS) is an annual field test of advanced concepts, prototype hardware, and potential modes of operation to be used on human planetary surface space exploration missions. For the 2009 and 2010 NASA Desert RATS field tests, various engineering concepts and operational exercises were incorporated into mission timelines with the focus of the majority of daily operations being on simulated lunar geological field operations and executed in a manner similar to current Space Shuttle and International Space Station missions. The field test for 2009 involved a two week lunar exploration simulation utilizing a two-man rover. The 2010 Desert RATS field test took this two week simulation further by incorporating a second two-man rover working in tandem with the 2009 rover, as well as including docked operations with a Pressurized Excursion Module (PEM). Personnel for the field test included the crew, a mission management team, engineering teams, a science team, and the mission operations team. The mission operations team served as the core of the Desert RATS mission control team and included certified NASA Mission Operations Directorate (MOD) flight controllers, former flight controllers, and astronaut personnel. The backgrounds of the flight controllers were in the areas of Extravehicular Activity (EVA), onboard mechanical systems and maintenance, robotics, timeline planning (OpsPlan), and spacecraft communicator (Capcom). With the simulated EVA operations, mechanized operations (the rover), and expectations of replanning, these flight control disciplines were especially well suited for the execution of the 2009 and 2010 Desert RATS field tests. The inclusion of an operations team has provided the added benefit of giving NASA mission operations flight control personnel the opportunity to begin examining operational mission control techniques, team compositions, and mission scenarios. This also gave the mission operations

  2. JUICE: A European mission to explore the emergence of habitable worlds around gas giants

    Science.gov (United States)

    Witasse, O.

    2017-09-01

    JUICE - JUpiter ICy moons Explorer - is the first large mission in the ESA Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 programme. The mission was selected in May 2012 and adopted in November 2014. The implementation phase started in July 2015, following the selection of the prime industrial contractor, Airbus Defense and Space (Toulouse, France). Due to launch in June 2022 and arrival at Jupiter in October 2029, it will spend at least three ½ years making detailed observations of Jupiter and three of its largest moons, Ganymede, Callisto and Europa.

  3. Exploring the Limits of High Altitude GPS for Future Lunar Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ashman, Benjamin W.; Parker, Joel J. K.; Bauer, Frank H.; Esswein, Michael

    2018-01-01

    An increasing number of spacecraft are relying on the Global Positioning System (GPS) for navigation at altitudes near or above the GPS constellation itself - the region known as the Space Service Volume (SSV). While the formal definition of the SSV ends at geostationary altitude, the practical limit of high-altitude space usage is not known, and recent missions have demonstrated that signal availability is sufficient for operational navigation at altitudes halfway to the moon. This paper presents simulation results based on a high-fidelity model of the GPS constellation, calibrated and validated through comparisons of simulated GPS signal availability and strength with flight data from recent high-altitude missions including the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite 16 (GOES-16) and the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission. This improved model is applied to the transfer to a lunar near-rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO) of the class being considered for the international Deep Space Gateway concept. The number of GPS signals visible and their received signal strengths are presented as a function of receiver altitude in order to explore the practical upper limit of high-altitude space usage of GPS.

  4. Balancing burn-in and mission times in environments with catastrophic and repairable failures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bebbington, Mark; Lai, C.-D.; Zitikis, Ricardas

    2009-01-01

    In a system subject to both repairable and catastrophic (i.e., nonrepairable) failures, 'mission success' can be defined as operating for a specified time without a catastrophic failure. We examine the effect of a burn-in process of duration τ on the mission time x, and also on the probability of mission success, by introducing several functions and surfaces on the (τ,x)-plane whose extrema represent suitable choices for the best burn-in time, and the best burn-in time for a desired mission time. The corresponding curvature functions and surfaces provide information about probabilities and expectations related to these burn-in and mission times. Theoretical considerations are illustrated with both parametric and, separating the failures by failure mode, nonparametric analyses of a data set, and graphical visualization of results.

  5. Farside explorer : Unique science from a mission to the farside of the moon

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mimoun, D.; Wieczorek, M.A.; Gurvits, L.

    2012-01-01

    Farside Explorer is a proposed Cosmic Vision medium-size mission to the farside of theMoon consisting of two landers and an instrumented relay satellite. The farside of the Moon is a unique scientific platform in that it is shielded from terrestrial radio-frequency interference, it recorded the

  6. Asteroid exploration and utilization: The Hawking explorer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carlson, Alan; Date, Medha; Duarte, Manny; Erian, Neil; Gafka, George; Kappler, Peter; Patano, Scott; Perez, Martin; Ponce, Edgar; Radovich, Brian

    1991-01-01

    The Earth is nearing depletion of its natural resources at a time when human beings are rapidly expanding the frontiers of space. The resources which may exist on asteroids could have enormous potential for aiding and enhancing human space exploration as well as life on Earth. With the possibly limitless opportunities that exist, it is clear that asteroids are the next step for human existence in space. This report comprises the efforts of NEW WORLDS, Inc. to develop a comprehensive design for an asteroid exploration/sample return mission. This mission is a precursor to proof-of-concept missions that will investigate the validity of mining and materials processing on an asteroid. Project STONER (Systematic Transfer of Near Earth Resources) is based on two utilization scenarios: (1) moving an asteroid to an advantageous location for use by Earth; and (2) mining an asteroids and transporting raw materials back to Earth. The asteroid explorer/sample return mission is designed in the context of both scenarios and is the first phase of a long range plane for humans to utilize asteroid resources. The report concentrates specifically on the selection of the most promising asteroids for exploration and the development of an exploration scenario. Future utilization as well as subsystem requirements of an asteroid sample return probe are also addressed.

  7. A Sustainable, Reliable Mission-Systems Architecture that Supports a System of Systems Approach to Space Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watson, Steve; Orr, Jim; O'Neil, Graham

    2004-01-01

    A mission-systems architecture based on a highly modular "systems of systems" infrastructure utilizing open-standards hardware and software interfaces as the enabling technology is absolutely essential for an affordable and sustainable space exploration program. This architecture requires (a) robust communication between heterogeneous systems, (b) high reliability, (c) minimal mission-to-mission reconfiguration, (d) affordable development, system integration, and verification of systems, and (e) minimum sustaining engineering. This paper proposes such an architecture. Lessons learned from the space shuttle program are applied to help define and refine the model.

  8. Conformal Ablative Thermal Protection System for Planetary and Human Exploration Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beck, R.; Arnold, J.; Gasch, M.; Stackpole, M.; Wercinski, R.; Venkatapathy, E.; Fan, W.; Thornton, J; Szalai, C.

    2012-01-01

    The Office of Chief Technologist (OCT), NASA has identified the need for research and technology development in part from NASAs Strategic Goal 3.3 of the NASA Strategic Plan to develop and demonstrate the critical technologies that will make NASAs exploration, science, and discovery missions more affordable and more capable. Furthermore, the Game Changing Development Program (GCDP) is a primary avenue to achieve the Agencys 2011 strategic goal to Create the innovative new space technologies for our exploration, science, and economic future. In addition, recently released NASA Space Technology Roadmaps and Priorities, by the National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academy of Sciences stresses the need for NASA to invest in the very near term in specific EDL technologies. The report points out the following challenges (Page 2-38 of the pre-publication copy released on February 1, 2012): Mass to Surface: Develop the ability to deliver more payload to the destination. NASA's future missions will require ever-greater mass delivery capability in order to place scientifically significant instrument packages on distant bodies of interest, to facilitate sample returns from bodies of interest, and to enable human exploration of planets such as Mars. As the maximum mass that can be delivered to an entry interface is fixed for a given launch system and trajectory design, the mass delivered to the surface will require reductions in spacecraft structural mass more efficient, lighter thermal protection systems more efficient lighter propulsion systems and lighter, more efficient deceleration systems. Surface Access: Increase the ability to land at a variety of planetary locales and at a variety of times. Access to specific sites can be achieved via landing at a specific location(s) or transit from a single designated landing location, but it is currently infeasible to transit long distances and through extremely rugged terrain, requiring landing close to the site of

  9. 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.

  10. Evolvable Mars Campaign Long Duration Habitation Strategies: Architectural Approaches to Enable Human Exploration Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Simon, Matthew A.; Toups, Larry; Howe, A. Scott; Wald, Samuel I.

    2015-01-01

    The Evolvable Mars Campaign (EMC) is the current NASA Mars mission planning effort which seeks to establish sustainable, realistic strategies to enable crewed Mars missions in the mid-2030s timeframe. The primary outcome of the Evolvable Mars Campaign is not to produce "The Plan" for sending humans to Mars, but instead its intent is to inform the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate near-term key decisions and investment priorities to prepare for those types of missions. The FY'15 EMC effort focused upon analysis of integrated mission architectures to identify technically appealing transportation strategies, logistics build-up strategies, and vehicle designs for reaching and exploring Mars moons and Mars surface. As part of the development of this campaign, long duration habitats are required which are capable of supporting crew with limited resupply and crew abort during the Mars transit, Mars moons, and Mars surface segments of EMC missions. In particular, the EMC design team sought to design a single, affordable habitation system whose manufactured units could be outfitted uniquely for each of these missions and reused for multiple crewed missions. This habitat system must provide all of the functionality to safely support 4 crew for long durations while meeting mass and volume constraints for each of the mission segments set by the chosen transportation architecture and propulsion technologies. This paper describes several proposed long-duration habitation strategies to enable the Evolvable Mars Campaign through improvements in mass, cost, and reusability, and presents results of analysis to compare the options and identify promising solutions. The concepts investigated include several monolithic concepts: monolithic clean sheet designs, and concepts which leverage the co-manifested payload capability of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) to deliver habitable elements within the Universal Payload Adaptor between the SLS upper stage and the Orion

  11. Risk Assessment of Bone Fracture During Space Exploration Missions to the Moon and Mars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lewandowski, Beth E.; Myers, Jerry G.; Nelson, Emily S.; Griffin, Devon

    2008-01-01

    The possibility of a traumatic bone fracture in space is a concern due to the observed decrease in astronaut bone mineral density (BMD) during spaceflight and because of the physical demands of the mission. The Bone Fracture Risk Module (BFxRM) was developed to quantify the probability of fracture at the femoral neck and lumbar spine during space exploration missions. The BFxRM is scenario-based, providing predictions for specific activities or events during a particular space mission. The key elements of the BFxRM are the mission parameters, the biomechanical loading models, the bone loss and fracture models and the incidence rate of the activity or event. Uncertainties in the model parameters arise due to variations within the population and unknowns associated with the effects of the space environment. Consequently, parameter distributions were used in Monte Carlo simulations to obtain an estimate of fracture probability under real mission scenarios. The model predicts an increase in the probability of fracture as the mission length increases and fracture is more likely in the higher gravitational field of Mars than on the moon. The resulting probability predictions and sensitivity analyses of the BFxRM can be used as an engineering tool for mission operation and resource planning in order to mitigate the risk of bone fracture in space.

  12. FLEX (Fluorescence Explorer mission: Observation fluorescence as a new remote sensing technique to study the global terrestrial vegetation state

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. Moreno

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available FLEX (Fluorescence EXplorer is a candidate for the 8th ESA’s Earth Explorer mission. Is the first space mission specifically designed for the estimation of vegetation fluorescence on a global scale. The mission is proposed to fly in tandem with the future ESA´s Sentinel-3 satellite. It is foreseen that the information obtained by Sentinel-3 will be supplemented with that provided by FLORIS (Fluorescence Imaging Spectrometer onboard FLEX. FLORIS will measure the radiance between 500 and 800 nm with a bandwidth between 0.1 nm and 2 nm, providing images with a 150 km swath and 300 m pixel size. This information will allow a detailed monitoring of vegetation dynamics, by improving the methods for the estimation of classical biophysical parameters, and by introducing a new one: fluorescence. This paper presents the current status of FLEX mission in A/B1 phase and the different ongoing studies, campaigns and projects carried out in support of the FLEX mission.

  13. Enhancements and Evolution of the Real Time Mission Monitor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goodman, M.; Blakeslee, R.; Hardin, D.; Hall, J.; He, Y.; Regner, K.

    2008-12-01

    The Real Time Mission Monitor (RTMM) is a visualization and information system that fuses multiple Earth science data sources, to enable real time decision-making for airborne and ground validation experiments. Developed at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Marshall Space Flight Center, RTMM is a situational awareness, decision-support system that integrates satellite imagery, radar, surface and airborne instrument data sets, model output parameters, lightning location observations, aircraft navigation data, soundings, and other applicable Earth science data sets. The integration and delivery of this information is made possible using data acquisition systems, network communication links, network server resources, and visualizations through the Google Earth virtual earth application. RTMM has proven extremely valuable for optimizing individual Earth science airborne field experiments. Flight planners, mission scientists, instrument scientists and program managers alike appreciate the contributions that RTMM makes to their flight projects. RTMM has received numerous plaudits from a wide variety of scientists who used RTMM during recent field campaigns including the 2006 NASA African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses (NAMMA), 2007 Tropical Composition, Cloud, and Climate Coupling (TC4), 2008 Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites (ARCTAS) missions, the 2007-2008 NOAA-NASA Aerosonde Hurricane flights and the 2008 Soil Moisture Active-Passive Validation Experiment (SMAP-VEX). Improving and evolving RTMM is a continuous process. RTMM recently integrated the Waypoint Planning Tool, a Java-based application that enables aircraft mission scientists to easily develop a pre-mission flight plan through an interactive point-and-click interface. Individual flight legs are automatically calculated for altitude, latitude, longitude, flight leg distance, cumulative distance, flight leg time, cumulative time, and

  14. 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.

  15. Global auroral imaging instrumentation for the dynamics explorer mission

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Frank, L.A.; Craven, J.D.; Ackerson, K.L.; English, M.R.; Eather, R.H.; Carovillano, R.L.

    1981-01-01

    The instrumentation for gaining global images of the auroral oval from the high-altitude spacecraft of the Dynamics Explorer Mission is described. Three spin-scan auroral imaging (SAI) photometers are expected to be able to effectively view the dim emissions from earth in the presence of strong stray light sources near their fields-of-view along the sunlit portion of the spacecraft orbit. A special optical design which includes an off-axis parabolic mirror as the focusing element and super-reflecting mirror surfaces is used to minimize the effects of stray light. The rotation of the spacecraft and an instrument scanning mirror provide the two-dimensional array of pixels comprising an image frame. (orig.)

  16. Fission Power System Technology for NASA Exploration Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mason, Lee; Houts, Michael

    2011-01-01

    Under the NASA Exploration Technology Development Program, and in partnership with the Department of Energy (DOE), NASA is conducting a project to mature Fission Power System (FPS) technology. A primary project goal is to develop viable system options to support future NASA mission needs for nuclear power. The main FPS project objectives are as follows: 1) Develop FPS concepts that meet expected NASA mission power requirements at reasonable cost with added benefits over other options. 2) Establish a hardware-based technical foundation for FPS design concepts and reduce overall development risk. 3) Reduce the cost uncertainties for FPS and establish greater credibility for flight system cost estimates. 4) Generate the key products to allow NASA decisionmakers to consider FPS as a preferred option for flight development. In order to achieve these goals, the FPS project has two main thrusts: concept definition and risk reduction. Under concept definition, NASA and DOE are performing trade studies, defining requirements, developing analytical tools, and formulating system concepts. A typical FPS consists of the reactor, shield, power conversion, heat rejection, and power management and distribution (PMAD). Studies are performed to identify the desired design parameters for each subsystem that allow the system to meet the requirements with reasonable cost and development risk. Risk reduction provides the means to evaluate technologies in a laboratory test environment. Non-nuclear hardware prototypes are built and tested to verify performance expectations, gain operating experience, and resolve design uncertainties.

  17. Cascade Storage and Delivery System for a Multi Mission Space Exploration Vehicle (MMSEV)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yagoda, Evan; Swickrath, Michael; Stambaugh, Imelda

    2012-01-01

    NASA is developing a Multi Mission Space Exploration Vehicle (MMSEV) for missions beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO). The MMSEV is a pressurized vehicle used to extend the human exploration envelope for Lunar, Near Earth Object (NEO), and Deep Space missions. The Johnson Space Center is developing the Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) for the MMSEV. The MMSEV s intended use is to support longer sortie lengths with multiple Extra Vehicular Activities (EVAs) on a higher magnitude than any previous vehicle. This paper presents an analysis of a high pressure oxygen cascade storage and delivery system that will accommodate the crew during long duration Intra Vehicular Activity (IVA) and capable of multiple high pressure oxygen fills to the Portable Life Support System (PLSS) worn by the crew during EVAs. A cascade is a high pressure gas cylinder system used for the refilling of smaller compressed gas cylinders. Each of the large cylinders are filled by a compressor, but the cascade system allows small cylinders to be filled without the need of a compressor. In addition, the cascade system is useful as a "reservoir" to accommodate low pressure needs. A regression model was developed to provide the mechanism to size the cascade systems subject to constraints such as number of crew, extravehicular activity duration and frequency, and ullage gas requirements under contingency scenarios. The sizing routine employed a numerical integration scheme to determine gas compressibility changes during depressurization and compressibility effects were captured using the Soave-Redlich-Kwong (SRK) equation of state. A multi-dimensional nonlinear optimization routine was used to find the minimum cascade tank system mass that meets the mission requirements. The sizing algorithms developed in this analysis provide a powerful framework to assess cascade filling, compressor, and hybrid systems to design long duration vehicle ECLSS architecture. 1

  18. Cryosphere campaigns in support of ESA's Earth Explorers Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Casal, Tânia; Davidson, Malcolm; Plank, Gernot; Floberghagen, Rune; Parrinello, Tommaso; Mecklenburg, Susanne; Drusch, Matthias; Fernandez, Diego

    2014-05-01

    In the framework of its Earth Observation Programmes the European Space Agency (ESA) carries out ground based and airborne campaigns to support geophysical algorithm development, calibration/validation, simulation of future spaceborne Earth observation missions, and applications development related to land, oceans, atmosphere and solid Earth. ESA has conducted over 110 airborne and ground measurements campaigns since 1981 and this presentation will describe three campaigns in Antarctica and the Arctic. They were undertaken during the calibration/validation phase of Earth Explorer (EE) missions, such as SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity), GOCE (Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer) and CryoSat-2. In support of SMOS and GOCE, the DOMECair airborne campaign took place in Antarctica, in the Dome C region in the middle of January 2013. The two main objectives were a) to quantify and document the spatial variability in the DOME C area (SMOS) and b) to fill a gap in the high-quality gravity anomaly maps in Antarctica where airborne gravity measurements are sparse (GOCE). Results from the campaign for the SMOS component, showed that the DOME C area is not as spatially homogenous as previously assumed, therefore comparisons of different missions (e.g. SMOS and NASA's Aquarius) with different footprints must be done with care, highlighting once again the importance of field work to test given assumptions. One extremely surprising outcome of this campaign was the pattern similarity between the gravity measurements and brightness temperature fields. To date, there has never been an indication that L-Band brightness temperatures could be correlated to gravity, but preliminary analysis showed coincident high brightness temperature with high gravity values, suggesting that topography may influence microwave emissions. Also in support of SMOS, the SMOSice airborne campaign has been planned in the Arctic. It was motived by a previous ESA SMOSice study that

  19. Re-exploration after open heart surgery at the madras medical mission, chennai, India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Okonta, Ke; Rajan, S

    2011-04-01

    Re-explorations after open-heart surgery is a necessity in this Cardiac Center when a patient is obviously bleeding or shows features of cardiovascular instability. Timely intervention may reduce morbidity and mortality. This study aims to correlate the indications with the operative findings for re-explorations after open-heart surgeries as a way of justifying early surgical intervention. Between May2005 and April2011, 10,083 open-heart surgeries were performed in the Adult Cardiac Surgical Unit of the department of cardiac surgery, Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, Madras Medical Mission, Chennai, India. The demographic data, the initial diagnoses, the types of surgery, the indications for re-exploration, the intraoperative findings, the timing, the estimated blood loss and treatment for the 362 patients who had reexploration were analysed using the Predictive Analysis Soft -ware(PASW)18. Out of the 10,083 patients who had cardiac operation within the period of study, three hundred and sixty two (3.6%) patients had re-exploration shortly after the operation. Males were 311(85.9%) while 51(14.1%) were female patients with mean age of 56.7+12.5years .The mean time interval between the primary surgery and the re-exploratory operation was 2.31+1.47hours and the mean chest tube drainage before re-exploration was 770.9+28.8ml. Coronary Artery Diseases (CAD) was the initial diagnosis 258 (71.3%) patients and Coronary Artery Bypass(CABG) operation was the initial surgery in 254(70.2%)patients, CABG and valve in 12(3.3%)patients, Valve surgery alone in 70(19.3%) patients, Bentall procedure(homograft aortic root replacement)in 13(3.6%) patients, others such as off-pump coronary artery bypass, Dor procedure(patch restoration of left ventricle by incising the aneurysm without excising it), pericardiectomy and thromboembelectomy in 13(3.6%). The indications for re-exploration were post operative haemorrhage in 283(78.2%) patients, Cardiac tamponade in 41(11.3%)patients

  20. 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.

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. A High Power Solar Electric Propulsion - Chemical Mission for Human Exploration of Mars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burke, Laura M.; Martini, Michael C.; Oleson, Steven R.

    2014-01-01

    Recently Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) as a main propulsion system has been investigated as an option to support manned space missions to near-Earth destinations for the NASA Gateway spacecraft. High efficiency SEP systems are able to reduce the amount of propellant long duration chemical missions require, ultimately reducing the required mass delivered to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) by a launch vehicle. However, for long duration interplanetary Mars missions, using SEP as the sole propulsion source alone may not be feasible due to the long trip times to reach and insert into the destination orbit. By combining an SEP propulsion system with a chemical propulsion system the mission is able to utilize the high-efficiency SEP for sustained vehicle acceleration and deceleration in heliocentric space and the chemical system for orbit insertion maneuvers and trans-earth injection, eliminating the need for long duration spirals. By capturing chemically instead of with low-thrust SEP, Mars stay time increases by nearly 200 days. Additionally, the size the of chemical propulsion system can be significantly reduced from that of a standard Mars mission because the SEP system greatly decreases the Mars arrival and departure hyperbolic excess velocities (V(sub infinity)).

  4. Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer Mission Attitude Determination and Control Concept

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bladt, Jeff; Deininger, William D.; Kalinowski, William C.; Boysen, Mary; Bygott, Kyle; Guy, Larry; Pentz, Christina; Seckar, Chris; Valdez, John; Wedmore, Jeffrey; hide

    2018-01-01

    The goal of the Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) Mission is to expand understanding of high-energy astrophysical processes and sources, in support of NASA's first science objective in Astrophysics: "Discover how the universe works." X-ray polarimetry is the focus of the IXPE science mission. Polarimetry uniquely probes physical anisotropies-ordered magnetic fields, aspheric matter distributions, or general relativistic coupling to black-hole spin-that are not otherwise measurable. The IXPE Observatory consists of Spacecraft and Payload modules. The Payload includes three polarization sensitive, X-ray detector units (DU), each paired with its corresponding grazing incidence mirror module assemblies (MMA). A deployable boom provides the correct separation (focal length) between the DUs and MMAs. These Payload elements are supported by the IXPE Spacecraft. A star tracker is mounted directly with the deployed Payload to minimize alignment errors between the star tracker line of sight (LoS) and Payload LoS. Stringent pointing requirements coupled with a flexible structure and a non-collocated attitude sensor-actuator configuration requires a thorough analysis of control-structure interactions. A non-minimum phase notch filter supports robust control loop stability margins. This paper summarizes the IXPE mission science objectives and Observatory concepts, and then it describes IXPE attitude determination and control implementation. IXPE LoS pointing accuracy, control loop stability, and angular momentum management are discussed.

  5. Human Missions to Near-Earth Asteroids: An Update on NASA's Current Status and Proposed Activities for Small Body Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abell, P. A.; Mazanek, D. D.; Barbee, B. W.; Mink, R. G.; Landis, R. R.; Adamo, D. R.; Johnson, L. N.; Yeomans, D. K.; Reeves, D. M.; Larman, K. T.; hide

    2012-01-01

    Over the past several years, much attention has been focused on the human exploration of near-Earth asteroids (NEAs). Two independent NASA studies examined the feasibility of sending piloted missions to NEAs, and in 2009, the Augustine Commission identified NEAs as high profile destinations for human exploration missions beyond the Earth-Moon system as part of the Flexible Path. More recently the current U.S. presidential administration directed NASA to include NEAs as destinations for future human exploration with the goal of sending astronauts to a NEA in the mid to late 2020s. This directive became part of the official National Space Policy of the United States of America as of June 28, 2010.

  6. Online stochastic UAV mission planning with time windows and time-sensitive targets

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

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

    2014-01-01

    In this paper we simultaneously consider three extensions to the standard Orienteering Problem (OP) to model characteristics that are of practical relevance in planning reconnaissance missions of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). First, travel and recording times are uncertain. Secondly, the

  7. Physicochemical and biological technologies for future exploration missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Belz, S.; Buchert, M.; Bretschneider, J.; Nathanson, E.; Fasoulas, S.

    2014-08-01

    Life Support Systems (LSS) are essential for human spaceflight. They are the key element for humans to survive, to live and to work in space. Ambitious goals of human space exploration in the next 40 years like a permanently crewed surface habitat on Moon or a manned mission to Mars require technologies which allow for a reduction of system and resupply mass. Enhancements of existing technologies, new technological developments and synergetic components integration help to close the oxygen, water and carbon loops. In order to design the most efficient LSS architecture for a given mission scenario, it is important to follow a dedicated design process: definition of requirements, selection of candidate technologies, development of possible LSS architectures and characterisation of LSS architectures by system drivers and evaluation of the LSS architectures. This paper focuses on the approach of a synergetic integration of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells (PEFC) and microalgae cultivated in photobioreactors (PBR). LSS architectures and their benefits for selected mission scenarios are demonstrated. Experiments on critical processes and interfaces were conducted and result in engineering models for a PEFC and PBR system which fulfil the requirements of a synergetic integrative environment. The PEFC system (about 1 kW) can be operated with cabin air enriched by stored or biologically generated oxygen instead of pure oxygen. This offers further advantages with regard to thermal control as high oxygen concentrations effect a dense heat production. The PBR system consists of an illuminated cultivation chamber (about 5 l), a nutrients supply and harvesting and analytics units. Especially the chamber enables a microgravity adapted cultivation of microalgae. However, the peripheral units still have to be adapted in order to allow for a continuous and automated cultivation and harvesting. These automation processes will be tested and evaluated by means of a parabolic

  8. The Focusing Optics X-ray Solar Imager Small Explorer Concept Mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Christe, Steven; Shih, Albert Y.; Dennis, Brian R.; Glesener, Lindsay; Krucker, Sam; Saint-Hilaire, Pascal; Gubarev, Mikhail; Ramsey, Brian

    2016-05-01

    We present the FOXSI (Focusing Optics X-ray Solar Imager) small explorer (SMEX) concept, a mission dedicated to studying particle acceleration and energy release on the Sun. FOXSI is designed as a 3-axis stabilized spacecraft in low-Earth orbit making use of state-of-the-art grazing incidence focusing optics combined withpixelated solid-state detectors, allowing for direct imaging of solar X-rays. The current design being studied features multiple telescopes with a 14 meter focal length enabled by a deployable boom.FOXSI will observe the Sun in the 3-100 keV energy range. The FOXSI imaging concept has already been tested on two sounding rocket flights, in 2012 and 2014 and on the HEROES balloon payload flight in 2013. FOXSI will image the Sun with an angular resolution of 5'', a spectral resolution of 0.5 keV, and sub-second temporal resolution. FOXSI is a direct imaging spectrometer with high dynamic range and sensitivity and will provide a brand-new perspective on energy release on the Sun. We describe the mission and its science objectives.

  9. Funding and Strategic Alignment Guidance for Infusing Small Business Innovation Research Technology Into Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate Projects for 2016

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Hung D.; Steele, Gynelle C.

    2017-01-01

    This report is intended to help NASA program and project managers incorporate Small Business Innovation Research Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) technologies into NASA Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) projects. Other Government and commercial projects managers can also find this useful. Space Transportation; Life Support and Habitation Systems; Extra-Vehicular Activity; High EfficiencySpace Power; Human Exploration and Operations Mission,

  10. 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.

  11. 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

  12. Lunar and Planetary Robotic Exploration Missions in the 20th Century

    Science.gov (United States)

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

    2003-07-01

    The prospect of traveling to the planets was science fiction at the beginning of the 20th Century and science fact at its end. The space age was born of the Cold War in the 1950s and throughout most of the remainder of the century it provided not just an adventure in the exploration of space but a suspenseful drama as the US and USSR competed to be first and best. It is a tale of patience to overcome obstacles, courage to try the previously impossible and persistence to overcome failure, a tale of both fantastic accomplishment and debilitating loss. We briefly describe the history of robotic lunar and planetary exploration in the 20th Century, the missions attempted, their goals and their fate. We describe how this enterprise developed and evolved step by step from a politically driven competition to intense scientific investigations and international cooperation.

  13. Space Launch System for Exploration and Science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klaus, K.

    2013-12-01

    Introduction: The Space Launch System (SLS) is the most powerful rocket ever built and provides a critical heavy-lift launch capability enabling diverse deep space missions. The exploration class vehicle launches larger payloads farther in our solar system and faster than ever before. The vehicle's 5 m to 10 m fairing allows utilization of existing systems which reduces development risks, size limitations and cost. SLS lift capacity and superior performance shortens mission travel time. Enhanced capabilities enable a myriad of missions including human exploration, planetary science, astrophysics, heliophysics, planetary defense and commercial space exploration endeavors. Human Exploration: SLS is the first heavy-lift launch vehicle capable of transporting crews beyond low Earth orbit in over four decades. Its design maximizes use of common elements and heritage hardware to provide a low-risk, affordable system that meets Orion mission requirements. SLS provides a safe and sustainable deep space pathway to Mars in support of NASA's human spaceflight mission objectives. The SLS enables the launch of large gateway elements beyond the moon. Leveraging a low-energy transfer that reduces required propellant mass, components are then brought back to a desired cislunar destination. SLS provides a significant mass margin that can be used for additional consumables or a secondary payloads. SLS lowers risks for the Asteroid Retrieval Mission by reducing mission time and improving mass margin. SLS lift capacity allows for additional propellant enabling a shorter return or the delivery of a secondary payload, such as gateway component to cislunar space. SLS enables human return to the moon. The intermediate SLS capability allows both crew and cargo to fly to translunar orbit at the same time which will simplify mission design and reduce launch costs. Science Missions: A single SLS launch to Mars will enable sample collection at multiple, geographically dispersed locations and a

  14. 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

  15. 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.

  16. Implications of Wind-Assisted Aerial Navigation for Titan Mission Planning and Science Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elfes, A.; Reh, K.; Beauchamp, P.; Fathpour, N.; Blackmore, L.; Newman, C.; Kuwata, Y.; Wolf, M.; Assad, C.

    2010-01-01

    The recent Titan Saturn System Mission (TSSM) proposal incorporates a montgolfiere (hot air balloon) as part of its architecture. Standard montgolfiere balloons generate lift through heating of the atmospheric gases inside the envelope, and use a vent valve for altitude control. A Titan aerobot (robotic aerial vehicle) would have to use radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) for electric power, and the excess heat generated can be used to provide thermal lift for a montgolfiere. A hybrid montgolfiere design could have propellers mounted on the gondola to generate horizontal thrust; in spite of the unfavorable aerodynamic drag caused by the shape of the balloon, a limited amount of lateral controllability could be achieved. In planning an aerial mission at Titan, it is extremely important to assess how the moon-wide wind field can be used to extend the navigation capabilities of an aerobot and thereby enhance the scientific return of the mission. In this paper we explore what guidance, navigation and control capabilities can be achieved by a vehicle that uses the Titan wind field. The control planning approach is based on passive wind field riding. The aerobot would use vertical control to select wind layers that would lead it towards a predefined science target, adding horizontal propulsion if available. The work presented in this paper is based on aerodynamic models that characterize balloon performance at Titan, and on TitanWRF (Weather Research and Forecasting), a model that incorporates heat convection, circulation, radiation, Titan haze properties, Saturn's tidal forcing, and other planetary phenomena. Our results show that a simple unpropelled montgolfiere without horizontal actuation will be able to reach a broad array of science targets within the constraints of the wind field. The study also indicates that even a small amount of horizontal thrust allows the balloon to reach any area of interest on Titan, and to do so in a fraction of the time needed

  17. Real-time data system: Incorporating new technology in mission critical environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muratore, John F.; Heindel, Troy A.

    1990-01-01

    If the Space Station Freedom is to remain viable over its 30-year life span, it must be able to incorporate new information systems technologies. These technologies are necessary to enhance mission effectiveness and to enable new NASA missions, such as supporting the Lunar-Mars Initiative. Hi-definition television (HDTV), neural nets, model-based reasoning, advanced languages, CPU designs, and computer networking standards are areas which have been forecasted to make major strides in the next 30 years. A major challenge to NASA is to bring these technologies online without compromising mission safety. In past programs, NASA managers have been understandably reluctant to rely on new technologies for mission critical activities until they are proven in noncritical areas. NASA must develop strategies to allow inflight confidence building and migration of technologies into the trusted tool base. NASA has successfully met this challenge and developed a winning strategy in the Space Shuttle Mission Control Center. This facility, which is clearly among NASA's most critical, is based on 1970's mainframe architecture. Changes to the mainframe are very expensive due to the extensive testing required to prove that changes do not have unanticipated impact on critical processes. Systematic improvement efforts in this facility have been delayed due to this 'risk to change.' In the real-time data system (RTDS) we have introduced a network of engineering computer workstations which run in parallel to the mainframe system. These workstations are located next to flight controller operating positions in mission control and, in some cases, the display units are mounted in the traditional mainframe consoles. This system incorporates several major improvements over the mainframe consoles including automated fault detection by real-time expert systems and color graphic animated schematics of subsystems driven by real-time telemetry. The workstations have the capability of recording

  18. An integrated mission approach to the space exploration initiative will ensure success

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Coomes, E.P.; Dagle, J.E.; Bamberger, J.A.; Noffsinger, K.E.

    1991-01-01

    The direction of the American space program, as defined by President Bush and the National Commission on Space, is to expand human presence into the solar system. Landing an American on Mars by the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing is the goal. This challenge has produced a level of excitement among young Americans not seen for nearly three decades. The exploration and settlement of the space frontier will occupy the creative thoughts and energies of generations of Americans well into the next century. The return of Americans to the moon and beyond must be viewed as a national effort with strong public support if it is to become a reality. Key to making this an actuality is the mission approach selected. Developing a permanent presence in space requires a continual stepping outward from Earch in a logical progressive manner. If we seriously plan to go and to stay, then not only must we plan what we are to do and how we are to do it, we must address the logistic support infrastructure that will allow us to stay there once we arrive. A fully integrated approach to mission planning is needed if the Space exploration Initiative (SEI) is to be successful. Only in this way can a permanent human presence in space be sustained. An integrated infrastructure approach would reduce the number of new systems and technologies requiring development. The resultant horizontal commonality of systems and hardware would reduce the direct economic impact of SEI while an early return on investment through technology spin-offs would be an economic benefit by greatly enhancing our international technical competitiveness. If the exploration, development, and colonization of space is to be affordable and acceptable, careful consideration must be given to such things as ''return on investment'' and ''commercial product potential'' of the technologies developed

  19. Inspiring the Next Generation through Real Time Access to Ocean Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bell, K. L.; Ballard, R. D.; Witten, A. B.; O'Neal, A.; Argenta, J.

    2011-12-01

    Using live-access exposure to actual shipboard research activities where exciting discoveries are made can be a key contributor to engaging students and their families in learning about earth science and STEM subjects. The number of bachelor's degrees awarded annually in the Earth sciences peaked at nearly 8000 in 1984, and has since declined more than 50%; for the last several years, the number of bachelor's degrees issued in U.S. schools in the geosciences has hovered around 2500 (AGI, 2009). In 2008, the last year for which the data are published, only 533 Ph.D.s were awarded in Earth, Atmospheric and Ocean sciences (NSF, 2009). By 2030, the supply of geoscientists for the petroleum industry is expected to fall short of the demand by 30,000 scientists (AGI, 2009). The National Science Foundation (NSF) reports that minority students earn approximately 15% of all bachelor's degrees in science and engineering, but only 4.6% of degrees in the geosciences. Both of these percentages are very low in comparison to national and state populations, where Hispanics and African-Americans make up 29% of the U.S. overall. The Ocean Exploration Trust (OET) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to explore the world's ocean, and to capture the excitement of that exploration for audiences of all ages, but primarily to inspire and motivate the next generation of explorers. The flagship of OET's exploratory programs is the Exploration Vessel Nautilus, on which annual expeditions are carried out to support our mission. The ship is equipped with state of the art satellite telecommunications "telepresence" technology that enables 24/7 world-wide real time access to the data being collected by the ships remotely operated vehicles. It is this "live" access that affords OET and its partners the opportunity to engage and inspire audiences across the United States and abroad. OET has formed partnerships with a wide-range of educational organizations that collectively offer life-time

  20. Exploring Europa's Habitability: Science achieved from the Europa Orbiter and Clipper Mission Concepts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Senske, D. A.; Prockter, L. M.; Pappalardo, R. T.; Patterson, G. W.; Vance, S.

    2012-12-01

    Europa is a prime candidate in the search for present-day habitable environments in our solar system. Europa is unique among the large icy satellites because it probably has a saltwater ocean today beneath an ice shell that is geodynamically active. The combination of irradiation of its surface and tidal heating of its interior could make Europa a rich source of chemical energy for life. Perhaps most importantly, Europa's ocean is believed to be in direct contact with its rocky mantle, where conditions could be similar to those on Earth's biologically rich sea floor. Hydrothermal zones on Earth's seafloor are known to be rich with life, powered by energy and nutrients that result from reactions between the seawater and the warm rocky ocean floor. Life as we know it depends on three principal "ingredients": 1) a sustained liquid water environment; 2) essential chemical elements that are critical for building life; and 3) a source of energy that could be utilized by life. Europa's habitability requires understanding whether it possesses these three ingredients. NASA has enlisted a study team to consider Europa mission options feasible over the next decade, compatible with NASA's projected planetary science budget and addressing Planetary Decadal Survey priorities. Two Europa mission concepts (Orbiter and multiple flyby—call the "Clipper") are undergoing continued study with the goal to "Explore Europa to investigate its habitability." Each mission would address this goal in complementary ways, with high science value of its own. The Orbiter and Clipper architectures lend themselves to specific types of scientific measurements. The Orbiter concept is tailored to the unique geophysical science that requires being in orbit at Europa. This includes confirming the existence of an ocean and characterizing that ocean through geophysical measurements of Europa's gravitational tides and magnetic induction response. It also includes mapping of the global morphology and

  1. Application of Emerging Pharmaceutical Technologies for Therapeutic Challenges of Space Exploration Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Putcha, Lakshmi

    2011-01-01

    An important requirement of therapeutics for extended duration exploration missions beyond low Earth orbit will be the development of pharmaceutical technologies suitable for sustained and preventive health care in remote and adverse environmental conditions. Availability of sustained, stable and targeted delivery pharmaceuticals for preventive health of major organ systems including gastrointestinal, hepato-renal, musculo-skeletal and immune function are essential to offset adverse effects of space environment beyond low Earth orbit. Specifically, medical needs may include multi-drug combinations for hormone replacement, radiation protection, immune enhancement and organ function restoration. Additionally, extended stability of pharmaceuticals dispensed in space must be also considered in future drug development. Emerging technologies that can deliver stable and multi-therapy pharmaceutical preparations and delivery systems include nanotechnology based drug delivery platforms, targeted-delivery systems in non-oral and non-parenteral formulation matrices. Synthetic nanomaterials designed with molecular precision offer defined structures, electronics, and chemistries to be efficient drug carriers with clear advantages over conventional materials of drug delivery matricies. Nano-carrier materials like the bottle brush polymers may be suitable for systemic delivery of drug cocktails while Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles or (SPIONS) have great potential to serve as carriers for targeted drug delivery to a specific site. These and other emerging concepts of drug delivery and extended shelf-life technologies will be reviewed in light of their application to address health-care challenges of exploration missions. Innovations in alternate treatments for sustained immune enhancement and infection control will be also discussed.

  2. Collecting, Managing, and Visualizing Data during Planetary Surface Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Young, K. E.; Graff, T. G.; Bleacher, J. E.; Whelley, P.; Garry, W. B.; Rogers, A. D.; Glotch, T. D.; Coan, D.; Reagan, M.; Evans, C. A.; Garrison, D. H.

    2017-12-01

    While the Apollo lunar surface missions were highly successful in collecting valuable samples to help us understand the history and evolution of the Moon, technological advancements since 1969 point us toward a new generation of planetary surface exploration characterized by large volumes of data being collected and used to inform traverse execution real-time. Specifically, the advent of field portable technologies mean that future planetary explorers will have vast quantities of in situ geochemical and geophysical data that can be used to inform sample collection and curation as well as strategic and tactical decision making that will impact mission planning real-time. The RIS4E SSERVI (Remote, In Situ and Synchrotron Studies for Science and Exploration; Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute) team has been working for several years to deploy a variety of in situ instrumentation in relevant analog environments. RIS4E seeks both to determine ideal instrumentation suites for planetary surface exploration as well as to develop a framework for EVA (extravehicular activity) mission planning that incorporates this new generation of technology. Results from the last several field campaigns will be discussed, as will recommendations for how to rapidly mine in situ datasets for tactical and strategic planning. Initial thoughts about autonomy in mining field data will also be presented. The NASA Extreme Environments Mission Operations (NEEMO) missions focus on a combination of Science, Science Operations, and Technology objectives in a planetary analog environment. Recently, the increase of high-fidelity marine science objectives during NEEMO EVAs have led to the ability to evaluate how real-time data collection and visualization can influence tactical and strategic planning for traverse execution and mission planning. Results of the last few NEEMO missions will be discussed in the context of data visualization strategies for real-time operations.

  3. 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

  4. Risk based decision tool for space exploration missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meshkat, Leila; Cornford, Steve; Moran, Terrence

    2003-01-01

    This paper presents an approach and corresponding tool to assess and analyze the risks involved in a mission during the pre-phase A design process. This approach is based on creating a risk template for each subsystem expert involved in the mission design process and defining appropriate interactions between the templates.

  5. Interactive Exploration Robots: Human-Robotic Collaboration and Interactions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fong, Terry

    2017-01-01

    For decades, NASA has employed different operational approaches for human and robotic missions. Human spaceflight missions to the Moon and in low Earth orbit have relied upon near-continuous communication with minimal time delays. During these missions, astronauts and mission control communicate interactively to perform tasks and resolve problems in real-time. In contrast, deep-space robotic missions are designed for operations in the presence of significant communication delay - from tens of minutes to hours. Consequently, robotic missions typically employ meticulously scripted and validated command sequences that are intermittently uplinked to the robot for independent execution over long periods. Over the next few years, however, we will see increasing use of robots that blend these two operational approaches. These interactive exploration robots will be remotely operated by humans on Earth or from a spacecraft. These robots will be used to support astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS), to conduct new missions to the Moon, and potentially to enable remote exploration of planetary surfaces in real-time. In this talk, I will discuss the technical challenges associated with building and operating robots in this manner, along with lessons learned from research conducted with the ISS and in the field.

  6. Science Enabling Exploration: Using LRO to Prepare for Future Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lawrence, S.; Jolliff, B. L.; Stopar, J.; Speyerer, E. J.; Petro, N. E.

    2016-12-01

    Discoveries from LRO have transformed our understanding of the Moon (e. g., [1],[2],[3]), but LRO's instruments were originally designed to collect the measurements required to enable future lunar surface exploration [3]. A high lunar exploration priority is the collection of new samples and their return to Earth for comprehensive analysis [4]. The importance of sample return from South Pole-Aitken is well-established [Jolliff et al., this conference], but there are numerous other locations where sample return will yield important advances in planetary science. Using new LRO data, we have defined an achievability envelope based on the physical characteristics of successful lunar landing sites [5]. Those results were then used to define 1km x 1km regions of interest where sample return could be executed, including: the basalt flows in Oceanus Procellarum (22.1N, 53.9W), the Gruithuisen Domes (36.1N, 39.7W), the Dewar cryptomare (2.2S, 166.8E), the Aristarchus pyroclastic deposit (24.8N, 48.5W), the Sulpicius Gallus formation (19.9N, 10.3E), the Sinus Aestuum pyroclastic deposit (5.2N, 9.2W), the Compton-Belkovich volcanic complex (61.5N, 99.9E), the Ina Irregular Mare Patch (18.7N, 5.3E), and the Marius Hills volcanic complex (13.4N, 55.9W). All of these locations represent safe landing sites where sample returns are needed to advance our understanding of the evolution of the lunar interior and the timescales of lunar volcanism ([6], [7]). If LRO is still active when any future mission reaches the surface, LRO's capability to rapidly place surface activities into broader geologic context will provide operational advantages. LRO remains a unique strategic asset that continues to address the needs of future missions. References: [1] M. S. Robinson et al., Icarus, 252, 229-235, 2015. [2] S. E. Braden et al. Nat. Geosci., 7, 11, 787-791, 2014. [3] J. W. Keller et al. Icarus, 273, 2-24, 2016. [4] LEAG, Lunar Exploration Roadmap, 2011. [5] S. J. Lawrence et al., LPI

  7. 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.

  8. Exploring Frameworks to Integrate Globalization, Mission, and Higher Education: Case Study Inquiry at Two Higher Education Institutions in the Pacific Northwest

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gustafson, Jacqueline N.

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to explore the merits of three conceptual frameworks that emerged from a synthesis of literature related to globalization, mission, and higher education. The first framework, higher education and mission, included three frames: important, not important, and emergent. The second framework, globalization and higher…

  9. Exploration of Icy Moons in the Outer Solar System: Updated Planetary Protection Requirements for Missions to Enceladus and Europa

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rummel, J. D.; Race, M. S.

    2016-12-01

    Enceladus and Europa are bodies with icy/watery environments and potential habitable conditions for life, making both of great interest in astrobiological studies of chemical evolution and /or origin of life. They are also of significant planetary protection concern for spacecraft missions because of the potential for harmful contamination during exploration. At a 2015 COSPAR colloquium in Bern Switzerland, international scientists identified an urgent need to establish planetary protection requirements for missions proposing to return samples to Earth from Saturn's moon Enceladus. Deliberations at the meeting resulted in recommended policy updates for both forward and back contamination requirements for missions to Europa and Enceladus, including missions sampling plumes originating from those bodies. These recently recommended COSPAR policy revisions and biological contamination requirements will be applied to future missions to Europa and Encealadus, particularly noticeable in those with plans for in situ life detection and sample return capabilities. Included in the COSPAR policy are requirementsto `break the chain of contact' with Europa or Enceladus, to keep pristine returned materials contained, and to complete required biohazard analyses, testing and/or sterilization upon return to Earth. Subsequent to the Bern meeting, additional discussions of Planetary Protection of Outer Solar System bodies (PPOSS) are underway in a 3-year study coordinated by the European Science Foundation and involving multiple international partners, including Japan, China and Russia, along with a US observer. This presentation will provide science and policy updates for those whose research or activities will involve icy moon missions and exploration.

  10. Forecasting Proximal Femur and Wrist Fracture Caused by a Fall to the Side during Space Exploration Missions to the Moon and Mars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lewandowski, Beth E.; Myers, Jerry G.; Sulkowski, C.; Ruehl, K.; Licata, A.

    2008-01-01

    The possibility of bone fracture in space is a concern due to the negative impact it could have on a mission. The Bone Fracture Risk Module (BFxRM) developed at the NASA Glenn Research Center is a statistical simulation that quantifies the probability of bone fracture at specific skeletal locations for particular activities or events during space exploration missions. This paper reports fracture probability predictions for the proximal femur and wrist resulting from a fall to the side during an extravehicular activity (EVA) on specific days of lunar and Martian exploration missions. The risk of fracture at the proximal femur on any given day of the mission is small and fairly constant, although it is slightly greater towards the end of the mission, due to a reduction in proximal femur bone mineral density (BMD). The risk of wrist fracture is greater than the risk of hip fracture and there is an increased risk on Mars since it has a higher gravitational environment than the moon. The BFxRM can be used to help manage the risk of bone fracture in space as an engineering tool that is used during mission operation and resource planning.

  11. Human Exploration Using Real-Time Robotic Operations (HERRO)- Crew Telerobotic Control Vehicle (CTCV) Design

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oleson, Steven R.; McGuire, Melissa L.; Burke, Laura; Chato, David; Fincannon, James; Landis, Geoff; Sandifer, Carl; Warner, Joe; Williams, Glenn; Colozza, Tony; hide

    2010-01-01

    The HERRO concept allows real time investigation of planets and small bodies by sending astronauts to orbit these targets and telerobotically explore them using robotic systems. Several targets have been put forward by past studies including Mars, Venus, and near Earth asteroids. A conceptual design study was funded by the NASA Innovation Fund to explore what the HERRO concept and it's vehicles would look like and what technological challenges need to be met. This design study chose Mars as the target destination. In this way the HERRO studies can define the endpoint design concepts for an all-up telerobotic exploration of the number one target of interest Mars. This endpoint design will serve to help planners define combined precursor telerobotics science missions and technology development flights. A suggested set of these technologies and demonstrator missions is shown in Appendix B. The HERRO concept includes a crewed telerobotics orbit vehicle as well three Truck rovers, each supporting two teleoperated geologist robots Rockhounds (each truck/Rockhounds set is landed using a commercially launched aeroshell landing system.) Options include a sample ascent system teamed with an orbital telerobotic sample rendezvous and return spacecraft (S/C) (yet to be designed). Each truck rover would be landed in a science location with the ability to traverse a 100 km diameter area, carrying the Rockhounds to 100 m diameter science areas for several week science activities. The truck is not only responsible for transporting the Rockhounds to science areas, but also for relaying telecontrol and high-res communications to/from the Rockhound and powering/heating the Rockhound during the non-science times (including night-time). The Rockhounds take the place of human geologists by providing an agile robotic platform with real-time telerobotics control to the Rockhound from the crew telerobotics orbiter. The designs of the Truck rovers and Rockhounds will be described in other

  12. Moon Diver: A Discovery Mission Concept for Understanding the History of the Mare Basalts Through the Exploration of a Lunar Mare Pit

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kerber, L.; Nesnas, I.; Keszthelyi, L.; Head, J. W.; Denevi, B.; Hayne, P. O.; Mitchell, K.; Ashley, J. W.; Whitten, J. L.; Stickle, A. M.; Parness, A.; McGarey, P.; Paton, M.; Donaldson-Hanna, K.; Anderson, R. C.; Needham, D.; Isaacson, P.; Jozwiak, L.; Bleacher, J.; Parcheta, C.

    2018-04-01

    Moon Diver is a Discovery-class mission concept designed to explore a lunar mare pit. It would be the first mission to examine an in-place bedrock stratigraphy on the Moon, and the first to venture into the subsurface of another planetary body.

  13. Next Generation Life Support Project: Development of Advanced Technologies for Human Exploration Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barta, Daniel J.

    2012-01-01

    Next Generation Life Support (NGLS) is one of several technology development projects sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration s Game Changing Development Program. NGLS is developing life support technologies (including water recovery, and space suit life support technologies) needed for humans to live and work productively in space. NGLS has three project tasks: Variable Oxygen Regulator (VOR), Rapid Cycle Amine (RCA) swing bed, and Alternative Water Processing. The selected technologies within each of these areas are focused on increasing affordability, reliability, and vehicle self sufficiency while decreasing mass and enabling long duration exploration. The RCA and VOR tasks are directed at key technology needs for the Portable Life Support System (PLSS) for an Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU), with focus on prototyping and integrated testing. The focus of the Rapid Cycle Amine (RCA) swing-bed ventilation task is to provide integrated carbon dioxide removal and humidity control that can be regenerated in real time during an EVA. The Variable Oxygen Regulator technology will significantly increase the number of pressure settings available to the space suit. Current spacesuit pressure regulators are limited to only two settings while the adjustability of the advanced regulator will be nearly continuous. The Alternative Water Processor efforts will result in the development of a system capable of recycling wastewater from sources expected in future exploration missions, including hygiene and laundry water, based on natural biological processes and membrane-based post treatment. The technologies will support a capability-driven architecture for extending human presence beyond low Earth orbit to potential destinations such as the Moon, near Earth asteroids and Mars.

  14. Evolution of Requirements and Assumptions for Future Exploration Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Molly; Sargusingh, Miriam; Perry, Jay

    2017-01-01

    NASA programs are maturing technologies, systems, and architectures to enabling future exploration missions. To increase fidelity as technologies mature, developers must make assumptions that represent the requirements of a future program. Multiple efforts have begun to define these requirements, including team internal assumptions, planning system integration for early demonstrations, and discussions between international partners planning future collaborations. For many detailed life support system requirements, existing NASA documents set limits of acceptable values, but a future vehicle may be constrained in other ways, and select a limited range of conditions. Other requirements are effectively set by interfaces or operations, and may be different for the same technology depending on whether the hard-ware is a demonstration system on the International Space Station, or a critical component of a future vehicle. This paper highlights key assumptions representing potential life support requirements and explanations of the driving scenarios, constraints, or other issues that drive them.

  15. Hot-Fire Test of Liquid Oxygen/Hydrogen Space Launch Mission Injector Applicable to Exploration Upper Stage

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barnett, Greg; Turpin, Jason; Nettles, Mindy

    2015-01-01

    This task is to hot-fire test an existing Space Launch Mission (SLM) injector that is applicable for all expander cycle engines being considered for the exploration upper stage. The work leverages investment made in FY 2013 that was used to additively manufacture three injectors (fig. 1) all by different vendors..

  16. The 2nd Generation Real Time Mission Monitor (RTMM) Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blakeslee, Richard; Goodman, Michael; Meyer, Paul; Hardin, Danny; Hall, John; He, Yubin; Regner, Kathryn; Conover, Helen; Smith, Tammy; Lu, Jessica; hide

    2009-01-01

    The NASA Real Time Mission Monitor (RTMM) is a visualization and information system that fuses multiple Earth science data sources, to enable real time decisionmaking for airborne and ground validation experiments. Developed at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Marshall Space Flight Center, RTMM is a situational awareness, decision-support system that integrates satellite imagery and orbit data, radar and other surface observations (e.g., lightning location network data), airborne navigation and instrument data sets, model output parameters, and other applicable Earth science data sets. The integration and delivery of this information is made possible using data acquisition systems, network communication links, network server resources, and visualizations through the Google Earth virtual globe application. In order to improve the usefulness and efficiency of the RTMM system, capabilities are being developed to allow the end-user to easily configure RTMM applications based on their mission-specific requirements and objectives. This second generation RTMM is being redesigned to take advantage of the Google plug-in capabilities to run multiple applications in a web browser rather than the original single application Google Earth approach. Currently RTMM employs a limited Service Oriented Architecture approach to enable discovery of mission specific resources. We are expanding the RTMM architecture such that it will more effectively utilize the Open Geospatial Consortium Sensor Web Enablement services and other new technology software tools and components. These modifications and extensions will result in a robust, versatile RTMM system that will greatly increase flexibility of the user to choose which science data sets and support applications to view and/or use. The improvements brought about by RTMM 2nd generation system will provide mission planners and airborne scientists with enhanced decision-making tools and capabilities to more

  17. Systems Engineering for Space Exploration Medical Capabilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mindock, Jennifer; Reilly, Jeffrey; Rubin, David; Urbina, Michelle; Hailey, Melinda; Hanson, Andrea; Burba, Tyler; McGuire, Kerry; Cerro, Jeffrey; Middour, Chris; hide

    2017-01-01

    Human exploration missions that reach destinations beyond low Earth orbit, such as Mars, will present significant new challenges to crew health management. For the medical system, lack of consumable resupply, evacuation opportunities, and real-time ground support are key drivers toward greater autonomy. Recognition of the limited mission and vehicle resources available to carry out exploration missions motivates the Exploration Medical Capability (ExMC) Element's approach to enabling the necessary autonomy. The Element's work must integrate with the overall exploration mission and vehicle design efforts to successfully provide exploration medical capabilities. ExMC is applying systems engineering principles and practices to accomplish its goals. This paper discusses the structured and integrative approach that is guiding the medical system technical development. Assumptions for the required levels of care on exploration missions, medical system goals, and a Concept of Operations are early products that capture and clarify stakeholder expectations. Model-Based Systems Engineering techniques are then applied to define medical system behavior and architecture. Interfaces to other flight and ground systems, and within the medical system are identified and defined. Initial requirements and traceability are established, which sets the stage for identification of future technology development needs. An early approach for verification and validation, taking advantage of terrestrial and near-Earth exploration system analogs, is also defined to further guide system planning and development.

  18. 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.

  19. 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.

  20. An integrated mission approach to the space exploration initiative will ensure success

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coomes, Edmund P.; Dagle, Jefferey E.; Bamberger, Judith A.; Noffsinger, Kent E.

    1991-01-01

    The direction of the American space program, as defined by President Bush and the National Commission on Space, is to expand human presence into the solar system. Landing an American on Mars by the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing is the goal. This challenge has produced a level of excitement among young Americans not seen for nearly three decades. The exploration and settlement of the space frontier will occupy the creative thoughts and energies of generations of Americans well into the next century. The return of Americans to the moon and beyond must be viewed as a national effort with strong public support if it is to become a reality. Key to making this an actuality is the mission approach selected. Developing a permanent presence in space requires a continual stepping outward from Earch in a logical progressive manner. If we seriously plan to go and to stay, then not only must we plan what we are to do and how we are to do it, we must address the logistic support infrastructure that will allow us to stay there once we arrive. A fully integrated approach to mission planning is needed if the Space exploration Initiative (SEI) is to be successful. Only in this way can a permanent human presence in space be sustained. An integrated infrastructure approach would reduce the number of new systems and technologies requiring development. The resultant horizontal commonality of systems and hardware would reduce the direct economic impact of SEI while an early return on investment through technology spin-offs would be an economic benefit by greatly enhancing our international technical competitiveness. If the exploration, development, and colonization of space is to be affordable and acceptable, careful consideration must be given to such things as ``return on investment'' and ``commercial product potential'' of the technologies developed. This integrated approach will win the Congressional support needed to secure the financial backing necessary to assure

  1. Proton-Exchange-Membrane Fuel Cell Powerplants Developed and Tested for Exploration Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoberecht, Mark A.; Pham, Nang T.

    2005-01-01

    Proton-exchange-membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) technology has received major attention for terrestrial applications, such as the automotive and residential markets, for the past 20 years. This attention has significantly advanced the maturity of the technology, resulting in ever more compact, efficient, reliable, and inexpensive PEMFC designs. In comparison to the terrestrial operating environment, the space operating environment is much more demanding. Microgravity to high-gravity loads and the need to use pure oxygen (rather than air) as the fuel cell oxidizer place more stringent demands on PEMFC technology. NASA and its partners from industry are leveraging terrestrial PEMFC advancements by conducting parallel space technology development for future exploration missions. A team from the NASA Glenn Research Center, NASA Johnson Space Center, and NASA Kennedy Space Center recently completed the first phase of a PEMFC powerplant development effort for exploration missions. The industry partners for this phase of the development effort were ElectroChem, Inc., and Teledyne Energy Systems, Inc. Under contract to Glenn, both of these industry partners successfully designed, fabricated, and tested a breadboard PEMFC powerplant in the 1- to 5-kW power range. These powerplants were based on existing company-proprietary fuel cell stack designs, combined with off-the-shelf components, which formed the balance of the powerplant design. Subsequent to the contractor development efforts, both powerplants were independently tested at Johnson to verify operational and performance characteristics, and to determine suitability for further technology development in the second phase of the NASA-led effort. Following the independent NASA testing, Teledyne Energy Systems, Inc., was selected to develop an engineering model PEMFC powerplant. This effort was initiated by the 2nd Generation Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) Program Office in 2001; it transitioned to the Next Generation Launch

  2. Proton-Exchange-Membrane Fuel Cell Powerplants Developed and Tested for Exploration Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoberecht, Mark A.; Pham, Nang T.

    2005-06-01

    Proton-exchange-membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) technology has received major attention for terrestrial applications, such as the automotive and residential markets, for the past 20 years. This attention has significantly advanced the maturity of the technology, resulting in ever more compact, efficient, reliable, and inexpensive PEMFC designs. In comparison to the terrestrial operating environment, the space operating environment is much more demanding. Microgravity to high-gravity loads and the need to use pure oxygen (rather than air) as the fuel cell oxidizer place more stringent demands on PEMFC technology. NASA and its partners from industry are leveraging terrestrial PEMFC advancements by conducting parallel space technology development for future exploration missions. A team from the NASA Glenn Research Center, NASA Johnson Space Center, and NASA Kennedy Space Center recently completed the first phase of a PEMFC powerplant development effort for exploration missions. The industry partners for this phase of the development effort were ElectroChem, Inc., and Teledyne Energy Systems, Inc. Under contract to Glenn, both of these industry partners successfully designed, fabricated, and tested a breadboard PEMFC powerplant in the 1- to 5-kW power range. These powerplants were based on existing company-proprietary fuel cell stack designs, combined with off-the-shelf components, which formed the balance of the powerplant design. Subsequent to the contractor development efforts, both powerplants were independently tested at Johnson to verify operational and performance characteristics, and to determine suitability for further technology development in the second phase of the NASA-led effort. Following the independent NASA testing, Teledyne Energy Systems, Inc., was selected to develop an engineering model PEMFC powerplant. This effort was initiated by the 2nd Generation Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) Program Office in 2001; it transitioned to the Next Generation Launch

  3. Trades Between Opposition and Conjunction Class Trajectories for Early Human Missions to Mars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mattfeld, Bryan; Stromgren, Chel; Shyface, Hilary; Komar, David R.; Cirillo, William; Goodliff, Kandyce

    2014-01-01

    Candidate human missions to Mars, including NASA's Design Reference Architecture 5.0, have focused on conjunction-class missions with long crewed durations and minimum energy trajectories to reduce total propellant requirements and total launch mass. However, in order to progressively reduce risk and gain experience in interplanetary mission operations, it may be desirable that initial human missions to Mars, whether to the surface or to Mars orbit, have shorter total crewed durations and minimal stay times at the destination. Opposition-class missions require larger total energy requirements relative to conjunction-class missions but offer the potential for much shorter mission durations, potentially reducing risk and overall systems performance requirements. This paper will present a detailed comparison of conjunction-class and opposition-class human missions to Mars vicinity with a focus on how such missions could be integrated into the initial phases of a Mars exploration campaign. The paper will present the results of a trade study that integrates trajectory/propellant analysis, element design, logistics and sparing analysis, and risk assessment to produce a comprehensive comparison of opposition and conjunction exploration mission constructs. Included in the trade study is an assessment of the risk to the crew and the trade offs between the mission duration and element, logistics, and spares mass. The analysis of the mission trade space was conducted using four simulation and analysis tools developed by NASA. Trajectory analyses for Mars destination missions were conducted using VISITOR (Versatile ImpulSive Interplanetary Trajectory OptimizeR), an in-house tool developed by NASA Langley Research Center. Architecture elements were evaluated using EXploration Architecture Model for IN-space and Earth-to-orbit (EXAMINE), a parametric modeling tool that generates exploration architectures through an integrated systems model. Logistics analysis was conducted using

  4. The MARS2013 Mars analog mission.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Groemer, Gernot; Soucek, Alexander; Frischauf, Norbert; Stumptner, Willibald; Ragonig, Christoph; Sams, Sebastian; Bartenstein, Thomas; Häuplik-Meusburger, Sandra; Petrova, Polina; Evetts, Simon; Sivenesan, Chan; Bothe, Claudia; Boyd, Andrea; Dinkelaker, Aline; Dissertori, Markus; Fasching, David; Fischer, Monika; Föger, Daniel; Foresta, Luca; Fritsch, Lukas; Fuchs, Harald; Gautsch, Christoph; Gerard, Stephan; Goetzloff, Linda; Gołebiowska, Izabella; Gorur, Paavan; Groemer, Gerhard; Groll, Petra; Haider, Christian; Haider, Olivia; Hauth, Eva; Hauth, Stefan; Hettrich, Sebastian; Jais, Wolfgang; Jones, Natalie; Taj-Eddine, Kamal; Karl, Alexander; Kauerhoff, Tilo; Khan, Muhammad Shadab; Kjeldsen, Andreas; Klauck, Jan; Losiak, Anna; Luger, Markus; Luger, Thomas; Luger, Ulrich; McArthur, Jane; Moser, Linda; Neuner, Julia; Orgel, Csilla; Ori, Gian Gabriele; Paternesi, Roberta; Peschier, Jarno; Pfeil, Isabella; Prock, Silvia; Radinger, Josef; Ramirez, Barbara; Ramo, Wissam; Rampey, Mike; Sams, Arnold; Sams, Elisabeth; Sandu, Oana; Sans, Alejandra; Sansone, Petra; Scheer, Daniela; Schildhammer, Daniel; Scornet, Quentin; Sejkora, Nina; Stadler, Andrea; Stummer, Florian; Taraba, Michael; Tlustos, Reinhard; Toferer, Ernst; Turetschek, Thomas; Winter, Egon; Zanella-Kux, Katja

    2014-05-01

    We report on the MARS2013 mission, a 4-week Mars analog field test in the northern Sahara. Nineteen experiments were conducted by a field crew in Morocco under simulated martian surface exploration conditions, supervised by a Mission Support Center in Innsbruck, Austria. A Remote Science Support team analyzed field data in near real time, providing planning input for the management of a complex system of field assets; two advanced space suit simulators, four robotic vehicles, an emergency shelter, and a stationary sensor platform in a realistic work flow were coordinated by a Flight Control Team. A dedicated flight planning group, external control centers for rover tele-operations, and a biomedical monitoring team supported the field operations. A 10 min satellite communication delay and other limitations pertinent to human planetary surface activities were introduced. The fields of research for the experiments were geology, human factors, astrobiology, robotics, tele-science, exploration, and operations research. This paper provides an overview of the geological context and environmental conditions of the test site and the mission architecture, in particular the communication infrastructure emulating the signal travel time between Earth and Mars. We report on the operational work flows and the experiments conducted, including a deployable shelter prototype for multiple-day extravehicular activities and contingency situations.

  5. eXTP: Enhanced X-Ray Timing and Polarimetry Mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, S. N.; Feroci, M.; Santangelo, A.; Dong, Y. W.; Feng, H.; Lu, F. J.; Nandra, K.; Wang, Z. S.; Zhang, S.; Bozzo, E.; hide

    2016-01-01

    eXTP is a science mission designed to study the state of matter under extreme conditions of density, gravity and magnetism. Primary goals are the determination of the equation of state of matter at supra-nuclear density, the measurement of QED effects in highly magnetized star, and the study of accretion in the strong-field regime of gravity. Primary targets include isolated and binary neutron stars, strong magnetic field systems like magnetars, and stellar-mass and supermassive black holes. The mission carries a unique and unprecedented suite of state-of-the-art scientific instruments enabling for the first time ever the simultaneous spectral-timing-polarimetry studies of cosmic sources in the energy range from 0.5-30 keV (and beyond). Key elements of the payload are: the Spectroscopic Focusing Array (SFA) - a set of 11 X-ray optics for a total effective area of approx. 0.9 m(exp. 2) and 0.6 m(exp. 2) at 2 keV and 6 keV respectively, equipped with Silicon Drift Detectors offering less than 180 eV spectral resolution; the Large Area Detector (LAD) - a deployable set of 640 Silicon Drift Detectors, for a total effective area of approx. 3.4 m(exp. 2), between 6 and 10 keV, and spectral resolution better than 250 eV; the Polarimetry Focusing Array (PFA) - a set of 2 X-ray telescope, for a total effective area of 250 cm(exp. 2) at 2 keV, equipped with imaging gas pixel photoelectric polarimeters; the Wide Field Monitor (WFM) - a set of 3 coded mask wide field units, equipped with position-sensitive Silicon Drift Detectors, each covering a 90 degrees x 90 degrees field of view. The eXTP international consortium includes major institutions of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Universities in China, as well as major institutions in several European countries and the United States. The predecessor of eXTP, the XTP mission concept, has been selected and funded as one of the so-called background missions in the Strategic Priority Space Science Program of the Chinese

  6. 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

  7. Predictions of space radiation fatality risk for exploration missions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cucinotta, Francis A; To, Khiet; Cacao, Eliedonna

    2017-05-01

    In this paper we describe revisions to the NASA Space Cancer Risk (NSCR) model focusing on updates to probability distribution functions (PDF) representing the uncertainties in the radiation quality factor (QF) model parameters and the dose and dose-rate reduction effectiveness factor (DDREF). We integrate recent heavy ion data on liver, colorectal, intestinal, lung, and Harderian gland tumors with other data from fission neutron experiments into the model analysis. In an earlier work we introduced distinct QFs for leukemia and solid cancer risk predictions, and here we consider liver cancer risks separately because of the higher RBE's reported in mouse experiments compared to other tumors types, and distinct risk factors for liver cancer for astronauts compared to the U.S. The revised model is used to make predictions of fatal cancer and circulatory disease risks for 1-year deep space and International Space Station (ISS) missions, and a 940 day Mars mission. We analyzed the contribution of the various model parameter uncertainties to the overall uncertainty, which shows that the uncertainties in relative biological effectiveness (RBE) factors at high LET due to statistical uncertainties and differences across tissue types and mouse strains are the dominant uncertainty. NASA's exposure limits are approached or exceeded for each mission scenario considered. Two main conclusions are made: 1) Reducing the current estimate of about a 3-fold uncertainty to a 2-fold or lower uncertainty will require much more expansive animal carcinogenesis studies in order to reduce statistical uncertainties and understand tissue, sex and genetic variations. 2) Alternative model assumptions such as non-targeted effects, increased tumor lethality and decreased latency at high LET, and non-cancer mortality risks from circulatory diseases could significantly increase risk estimates to several times higher than the NASA limits. Copyright © 2017 The Committee on Space Research (COSPAR

  8. A Mission Concept: Re-Entry Hopper-Aero-Space-Craft System on-Mars (REARM-Mars)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davoodi, Faranak

    2013-01-01

    Future missions to Mars that would need a sophisticated lander, hopper, or rover could benefit from the REARM Architecture. The mission concept REARM Architecture is designed to provide unprecedented capabilities for future Mars exploration missions, including human exploration and possible sample-return missions, as a reusable lander, ascend/descend vehicle, refuelable hopper, multiple-location sample-return collector, laboratory, and a cargo system for assets and humans. These could all be possible by adding just a single customized Re-Entry-Hopper-Aero-Space-Craft System, called REARM-spacecraft, and a docking station at the Martian orbit, called REARM-dock. REARM could dramatically decrease the time and the expense required to launch new exploratory missions on Mars by making them less dependent on Earth and by reusing the assets already designed, built, and sent to Mars. REARM would introduce a new class of Mars exploration missions, which could explore much larger expanses of Mars in a much faster fashion and with much more sophisticated lab instruments. The proposed REARM architecture consists of the following subsystems: REARM-dock, REARM-spacecraft, sky-crane, secure-attached-compartment, sample-return container, agile rover, scalable orbital lab, and on-the-road robotic handymen.

  9. MEMS applications in space exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tang, William C.

    1997-09-01

    Space exploration in the coming century will emphasize cost effectiveness and highly focused mission objectives, which will result in frequent multiple missions that broaden the scope of space science and to validate new technologies on a timely basis. MEMS is one of the key enabling technology to create cost-effective, ultra-miniaturized, robust, and functionally focused spacecraft for both robotic and human exploration programs. Examples of MEMS devices at various stages of development include microgyroscope, microseismometer, microhygrometer, quadrupole mass spectrometer, and micropropulsion engine. These devices, when proven successful, will serve as models for developing components and systems for new-millennium spacecraft.

  10. TDEM for Martian in situ resource prospecting missions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    G. Tacconi

    2003-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a TDEM (Time Domain Electromagnetic Methods application, addressed to the search for water on Mars. In this context, the opportunities for a TDEM system as payload in a future mission are investigated for different in situ exploration scenarios. The TDEM sounding capability is evaluated with respect to the expected Martian environment, and some considerations are made about the many unknown variables (above all the background EM noise and the subsoil composition altogether with the limited resources availability (mission constraints in mass, time and power and the way they could represent an obstacle for operations and measurements.

  11. Safe passage: astronaut care for exploration missions

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Ball, John; Evans, Charles H

    2001-01-01

    .... As space missions increase in duration from months to years and extend well beyond Earth’s orbit, so will the attendant risks of working in these extreme and isolated environmental conditions...

  12. Unveiling Mercury's Mysteries with BepiColombo - an ESA/JAXA Mission to Explore the Innermost Planet of our Solar System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Benkhoff, J.

    2017-12-01

    NASA's MESSENGER mission has fundamentally changed our view of the innermost planet. Mercury is in many ways a very different planet from what we were expecting. Now BepiColombo has to follow up on answering the fundamental questions that MESSENGER raised and go beyond. BepiColombo is a joint project between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The Mission consists of two orbiters, the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO). The mission scenario foresees a launch of both spacecraft with an ARIANE V in October 2018 and an arrival at Mercury in 2025. From their dedicated orbits the two spacecraft will be studying the planet and its environment. BepiColombo will study and understand the composition, geophysics, atmosphere, magnetosphere and history of Mercury, the least explored planet in the inner Solar System. In addition, the BepiColombo mission will provide a rare opportunity to collect multi-point measurements in a planetary environment. This will be particularly important at Mercury because of short temporal and spatial scales in the Mercury's environment. The foreseen orbits of the MPO and MMO will allow close encounters of the two spacecrafts throughout the mission. The MPO scientific payload comprises eleven instruments/instrument packages; The MMO comprises 5 instruments/instrument packages to the the study of the environment. The MPO will focus on a global characterization of Mercury through the investigation of its interior, surface, exosphere and magnetosphere. In addition, it will be testing Einstein's theory of general relativity. Together, the scientific payload of both spacecraft will provide the detailed information necessary to understand Mercury and its magnetospheric environment and to find clues to the origin and evolution of a planet close to its parent star. The BepiColombo mission will complement and follow up the work of NASA's MESSENGER mission by

  13. NEEMO 18-20: Analog Testing for Mitigation of Communication Latency During Human Space Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chappell, Steven P.; Beaton, Kara H.; Miller, Matthew J.; Graff, Trevor G.; Abercromby, Andrew F. J.; Gernhardt, Michael L.; Halcon, Christopher

    2016-01-01

    NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) is an underwater spaceflight analog that allows a true mission-like operational environment and uses buoyancy effects and added weight to simulate different gravity levels. Three missions were undertaken from 2014-2015, NEEMO's 18-20. All missions were performed at the Aquarius undersea research habitat. During each mission, the effects of communication latencies on operations concepts, timelines, and tasks were studied. METHODS: Twelve subjects (4 per mission) were weighed out to simulate near-zero or partial gravity extravehicular activity (EVA) and evaluated different operations concepts for integration and management of a simulated Earth-based science team (ST) to provide input and direction during exploration activities. Exploration traverses were preplanned based on precursor data. Subjects completed science-related tasks including pre-sampling surveys, geologic-based sampling, and marine-based sampling as a portion of their tasks on saturation dives up to 4 hours in duration that were designed to simulate extravehicular activity (EVA) on Mars or the moons of Mars. One-way communication latencies, 5 and 10 minutes between space and mission control, were simulated throughout the missions. Objective data included task completion times, total EVA times, crew idle time, translation time, ST assimilation time (defined as time available for ST to discuss data/imagery after data acquisition). Subjective data included acceptability, simulation quality, capability assessment ratings, and comments. RESULTS: Precursor data can be used effectively to plan and execute exploration traverse EVAs (plans included detailed location of science sites, high-fidelity imagery of the sites, and directions to landmarks of interest within a site). Operations concepts that allow for pre-sampling surveys enable efficient traverse execution and meaningful Mission Control Center (MCC) interaction across communication latencies and can be

  14. Learning from the Mars Rover Mission: Scientific Discovery, Learning and Memory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Linde, Charlotte

    2005-01-01

    Purpose: Knowledge management for space exploration is part of a multi-generational effort. Each mission builds on knowledge from prior missions, and learning is the first step in knowledge production. This paper uses the Mars Exploration Rover mission as a site to explore this process. Approach: Observational study and analysis of the work of the MER science and engineering team during rover operations, to investigate how learning occurs, how it is recorded, and how these representations might be made available for subsequent missions. Findings: Learning occurred in many areas: planning science strategy, using instrumen?s within the constraints of the martian environment, the Deep Space Network, and the mission requirements; using software tools effectively; and running two teams on Mars time for three months. This learning is preserved in many ways. Primarily it resides in individual s memories. It is also encoded in stories, procedures, programming sequences, published reports, and lessons learned databases. Research implications: Shows the earliest stages of knowledge creation in a scientific mission, and demonstrates that knowledge management must begin with an understanding of knowledge creation. Practical implications: Shows that studying learning and knowledge creation suggests proactive ways to capture and use knowledge across multiple missions and generations. Value: This paper provides a unique analysis of the learning process of a scientific space mission, relevant for knowledge management researchers and designers, as well as demonstrating in detail how new learning occurs in a learning organization.

  15. Benefits to the Europa Clipper Mission Provided by the Space Launch System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Creech, Stephen D.; Patel, Keyur

    2013-01-01

    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) proposed Europa Clipper mission would provide an unprecedented look at the icy Jovian moon, and investigate its environment to determine the possibility that it hosts life. Focused on exploring the water, chemistry, and energy conditions on the moon, the spacecraft would examine Europa's ocean, ice shell, composition and geology by performing 32 low-altitude flybys of Europa from Jupiter orbit over 2.3 years, allowing detailed investigations of globally distributed regions of Europa. In hopes of expediting the scientific program, mission planners at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory are working with the Space Launch System (SLS) program, managed at Marshall Space Flight Center. Designed to be the most powerful launch vehicle ever flown, SLS is making progress toward delivering a new capability for exploration beyond Earth orbit. The SLS rocket will offer an initial low-Earth-orbit lift capability of 70 metric tons (t) beginning with a first launch in 2017 and will then evolve into a 130 t Block 2 version. While the primary focus of the development of the initial version of SLS is on enabling human exploration missions beyond low Earth orbit using the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, the rocket offers unique benefits to robotic planetary exploration missions, thanks to the high characteristic energy it provides. This paper will provide an overview of both the proposed Europa Clipper mission and the Space Launch System vehicle, and explore options provided to the Europa Clipper mission for a launch within a decade by a 70 t version of SLS with a commercially available 5-meter payload fairing, through comparison with a baseline of current Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) capabilities. Compared to that baseline, a mission to the Jovian system could reduce transit times to less than half, or increase mass to more than double, among other benefits. In addition to these primary benefits, the paper will

  16. 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.

  17. A Subjective Assessment of Alternative Mission Architecture Operations Concepts for the Human Exploration of Mars at NASA Using a Three-Dimensional Multi-Criteria Decision Making Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tavana, Madjid

    2003-01-01

    The primary driver for developing missions to send humans to other planets is to generate significant scientific return. NASA plans human planetary explorations with an acceptable level of risk consistent with other manned operations. Space exploration risks can not be completely eliminated. Therefore, an acceptable level of cost, technical, safety, schedule, and political risks and benefits must be established for exploratory missions. This study uses a three-dimensional multi-criteria decision making model to identify the risks and benefits associated with three alternative mission architecture operations concepts for the human exploration of Mars identified by the Mission Operations Directorate at Johnson Space Center. The three alternatives considered in this study include split, combo lander, and dual scenarios. The model considers the seven phases of the mission including: 1) Earth Vicinity/Departure; 2) Mars Transfer; 3) Mars Arrival; 4) Planetary Surface; 5) Mars Vicinity/Departure; 6) Earth Transfer; and 7) Earth Arrival. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and subjective probability estimation are used to captures the experts belief concerning the risks and benefits of the three alternative scenarios through a series of sequential, rational, and analytical processes.

  18. Nuclear Electric Propulsion Application: RASC Mission Robotic Exploration of Venus

    Science.gov (United States)

    McGuire, Melissa L.; Borowski, Stanley K.; Packard, Thomas W.

    2004-01-01

    The following paper documents the mission and systems analysis portion of a study in which Nuclear Electric Propulsion (NEP) is used as the in-space transportation system to send a series of robotic rovers and atmospheric science airplanes to Venus in the 2020 to 2030 timeframe. As part of the NASA RASC (Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts) program, this mission analysis is meant to identify future technologies and their application to far reaching NASA missions. The NEP systems and mission analysis is based largely on current technology state of the art assumptions. This study looks specifically at the performance of the NEP transfer stage when sending a series of different payload package point design options to Venus orbit.

  19. Conformal Ablative Thermal Protection System for Planetary and Human Exploration Missions:An Overview of the Technology Maturation Effort

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beck, Robin A S.; Arnold, James O.; Gasch, Matthew J.; Stackpoole, Margaret M.; Prabhu, Dinesh K.; Szalai, Christine E.; Wercinski, Paul F.; Venkatapathy, Ethiraj

    2013-01-01

    The Office of Chief Technologist, NASA identified the need for research and technology development in part from NASAs Strategic Goal 3.3 of the NASA Strategic Plan to develop and demonstrate the critical technologies that will make NASAs exploration, science, and discovery missions more affordable and more capable. Furthermore, the Game Changing Development Program is a primary avenue to achieve the Agencys 2011 strategic goal to Create the innovative new space technologies for our exploration, science, and economic future. The National Research Council (NRC) Space Technology Roadmaps and Priorities report highlights six challenges and they are: Mass to Surface, Surface Access, Precision Landing, Surface Hazard Detection and Avoidance, Safety and Mission Assurance, and Affordability. In order for NASA to meet these challenges, the report recommends immediate focus on Rigid and Flexible Thermal Protection Systems. Rigid TPS systems such as Avcoat or SLA are honeycomb based and PICA is in the form of tiles. The honeycomb systems are manufactured using techniques that require filling of each (38 cell) by hand, and in a limited amount of time all of the cells must be filled and the heatshield must be cured. The tile systems such as PICA pose a different challenge as the low strain-to-failure and manufacturing size limitations require large number of small tiles with gap-fillers between the tiles. Recent investments in flexible ablative systems have given rise to the potential for conformal ablative TPS. A conformal TPS over a rigid aeroshell has the potential to solve a number of challenges faced by traditional rigid TPS materials. The high strain-to-failure nature of the conformal ablative materials will allow integration of the TPS with the underlying aeroshell structure much easier and enable monolithic-like configuration and larger segments (or parts) to be used. By reducing the overall part count, the cost of installation (based on cost comparisons between blanket

  20. Human Exploration Mission Capabilities to the Moon, Mars, and Near Earth Asteroids Using ''Bimodal'' NTR Propulsion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stanley K. Borowski; Leonard A. Dudzinski; Melissa L. McGuire

    2000-01-01

    The nuclear thermal rocket (NTR) is one of the leading propulsion options for future human exploration missions because of its high specific impulse (Isp ∼ 850 to 1000 s) and attractive engine thrust-to-weight ratio (∼ 3 to 10). Because only a minuscule amount of enriched 235 U fuel is consumed in an NRT during the primary propulsion maneuvers of a typical Mars mission, engines configured both for propulsive thrust and modest power generation (referred to as 'bimodal' operation) provide the basis for a robust, power-rich stage with efficient propulsive capture capability at the moon and near-earth asteroids (NEAs), where aerobraking cannot be utilized. A family of modular bimodal NTR (BNTR) space transfer vehicles utilize a common core stage powered by three ∼15-klb f engines that produce 50 kW(electric) of total electrical power for crew life support, high data rate communications with Earth, and an active refrigeration system for long-term, zero-boiloff liquid hydrogen (LH 2 ) storage. This paper describes details of BNTR engines and designs of vehicles using them for various missions

  1. Atrial Fibrillation During an Exploration Class Mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lipsett, Mark; Hamilton, Douglas; Lemery, Jay; Polk, James

    2011-01-01

    This slide presentation reviews a possible scenario of an astronaut having Atrial Fibrillation during a Mars Mission. In the case review the presentation asks several questions about the alternatives for treatment, medications and the ramifications of the decisions.

  2. Strategic Implications of Human Exploration of Near-Earth Asteroids

    Science.gov (United States)

    Drake, Bret G.

    2011-01-01

    The current United States Space Policy [1] as articulated by the White House and later confirmed by the Congress [2] calls for [t]he extension of the human presence from low-Earth orbit to other regions of space beyond low-Earth orbit will enable missions to the surface of the Moon and missions to deep space destinations such as near-Earth asteroids and Mars. Human exploration of the Moon and Mars has been the focus of numerous exhaustive studies and planning, but missions to Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs) has, by comparison, garnered relatively little attention in terms of mission and systems planning. This paper examines the strategic implications of human exploration of NEAs and how they can fit into the overall exploration strategy. This paper specifically addresses how accessible NEAs are in terms of mission duration, technologies required, and overall architecture construct. Example mission architectures utilizing different propulsion technologies such as chemical, nuclear thermal, and solar electric propulsion were formulated to determine resulting figures of merit including number of NEAs accessible, time of flight, mission mass, number of departure windows, and length of the launch windows. These data, in conjunction with what we currently know about these potential exploration targets (or need to know in the future), provide key insights necessary for future mission and strategic planning.

  3. Providing Survivable Real-Time Communication Service for Distributed Mission Critical Systems

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Zhao, Wei; Bettati, Riccardo; Vaidya, Nitin

    2005-01-01

    This document is the final report for Providing Survivable Real-Time Communication Service for Distributed Mission Critical Systems, a Texas A AND M project funded through the DARPA Fault Tolerant Networks Program...

  4. Assessing the Biohazard Potential of Putative Martian Organisms for Exploration Class Human Space Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Warmflash, David; Larios-Sanz, Maia; Jones, Jeffrey; Fox, George E.; McKay, David S.

    2007-01-01

    Exploration Class missions to Mars will require precautions against potential contamination by any native microorganisms that may be incidentally pathogenic to humans. While the results of NASA's Viking biology experiments of 1976 have been generally interpreted as inconclusive for surface organisms, the possibility of native surface life has never been ruled out and more recent studies suggest that the case for biological interpretation of the Viking Labeled Release data may now be stronger than it was when the experiments were originally conducted. It is possible that, prior to the first human landing on Mars, robotic craft and sample return missions will provide enough data to know with certainty whether or not future human landing sites harbor extant life forms. However, if native life is confirmed, it will be problematic to determine whether any of its species may present a medical risk to astronauts. Therefore, it will become necessary to assess empirically the risk that the planet contains pathogens based on terrestrial examples of pathogenicity and to take a reasonably cautious approach to bio-hazard protection. A survey of terrestrial pathogens was conducted with special emphasis on those pathogens whose evolution has not depended on the presence of animal hosts. The history of the development and implementation of Apollo anticontamination protocol and recent recommendations of the NRC Space Studies Board regarding Mars were reviewed. Organisms can emerge in nature in the absence of indigenous animal hosts and both infectious and non-infectious human pathogens are theoretically possible on Mars. The prospect of Martian surface life, together with the existence of a diversity of routes by which pathogenicity has emerged on Earth, suggests that the possibility of human pathogens on Mars, while low, is not zero. Since the discovery and study of Martian life can have long-term benefits for humanity, the risk that Martian life might include pathogens should not

  5. Observing ice clouds in the submillimeter spectral range: the CloudIce mission proposal for ESA's Earth Explorer 8

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. A. Buehler

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Passive submillimeter-wave sensors are a way to obtain urgently needed global data on ice clouds, particularly on the so far poorly characterized "essential climate variable" ice water path (IWP and on ice particle size. CloudIce was a mission proposal to the European Space Agency ESA in response to the call for Earth Explorer 8 (EE8, which ran in 2009/2010. It proposed a passive submillimeter-wave sensor with channels ranging from 183 GHz to 664 GHz. The article describes the CloudIce mission proposal, with particular emphasis on describing the algorithms for the data-analysis of submillimeter-wave cloud ice data (retrieval algorithms and demonstrating their maturity. It is shown that we have a robust understanding of the radiative properties of cloud ice in the millimeter/submillimeter spectral range, and that we have a proven toolbox of retrieval algorithms to work with these data. Although the mission was not selected for EE8, the concept will be useful as a reference for other future mission proposals.

  6. Magnetic Satellite Missions and Data

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Olsen, Nils; Kotsiaros, Stavros

    2011-01-01

    Although the first satellite observations of the Earth’s magnetic field were already taken more than 50 years ago, continuous geomagnetic measurements from space are only available since 1999. The unprecedented time-space coverage of this recent data set opened revolutionary new possibilities...... for exploring the Earth’s magnetic field from space. In this chapter we discuss characteristics of satellites measuring the geomagnetic field and report on past, present and upcoming magnetic satellite missions. We conclude with some basics about space magnetic gradiometry as a possible path for future...... exploration of Earth’s magnetic field with satellites....

  7. OHB's Exploration Capabilities Overview Relevant to Mars Sample Return Mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jaime, A.; Gerth, I.; Rohrbeck, M.; Scheper, M.

    2018-04-01

    The presentation will give an overview to all the OHB past and current projects that are relevant to the Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission, including some valuable lessons learned applicable to the upcoming MSR mission.

  8. Coupling Immersive Experiences with the Use of Mission Data to Encourage Students' Interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math: Examples from the Mars Exploration Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klug, S. L.; Valderrama, P.; Viotti, M. A.; Watt, K.; Wurman, G.

    2004-12-01

    existence for over two years and has been used by teachers and students from across the US. The Mars Exploration Student Data Team Program was created and prototyped during the Mars Exploration Rover mission this past January through April. Over 500 students from 25 schools from across the US participated in real-time data analysis using the Mars Odyssey and Mars Global Surveyor infrared instruments -Thermal Emission Spectrometer - TES and THEMIS to monitor the rover landing sites. This program utilized a virtual team format and allowed high school students to collaborate with other teams that were, at times, thousands of miles away to implement real-time observations. This program will be carried forward to several of the upcoming missions. Finally, the Athena Student Intern Program is the higher end of involvement for students and teachers. These students and teachers were competitively selected to spend a week during the mission operations of the rovers at JPL. All of these programs have a common thread..ownership of the experience. By empowering the next generation of learners with the knowledge that they can be part of their future through such immersive experiences before they reach college, they will be ready to take on harder challenges that will reach higher towards new frontiers

  9. Exploration Medical Cap Ability System Engineering Overview

    Science.gov (United States)

    McGuire, K.; Mindock, J.

    2018-01-01

    Deep Space Gateway and Transport missions will change the way NASA currently practices medicine. The missions will require more autonomous capability compared to current low Earth orbit operations. For the medical system, lack of consumable resupply, evacuation opportunities, and real-time ground support are key drivers toward greater autonomy. Recognition of the limited mission and vehicle resources available to carry out exploration missions motivates the Exploration Medical Capability (ExMC) Element's approach to enabling the necessary autonomy. The ExMC Systems Engineering team's mission is to "Define, develop, validate, and manage the technical system design needed to implement exploration medical capabilities for Mars and test the design in a progression of proving grounds." The Element's work must integrate with the overall exploration mission and vehicle design efforts to successfully provide exploration medical capabilities. ExMC is using Model-Based System Engineering (MBSE) to accomplish its integrative goals. The MBSE approach to medical system design offers a paradigm shift toward greater integration between vehicle and the medical system, and directly supports the transition of Earth-reliant ISS operations to the Earth-independent operations envisioned for Mars. This talk will discuss how ExMC is using MBSE to define operational needs, decompose requirements and architecture, and identify medical capabilities needed to support human exploration. How MBSE is being used to integrate across disciplines and NASA Centers will also be described. The medical system being discussed in this talk is one system within larger habitat systems. Data generated within the medical system will be inputs to other systems and vice versa. This talk will also describe the next steps in model development that include: modeling the different systems that comprise the larger system and interact with the medical system, understanding how the various systems work together, and

  10. Analog Testing of Operations Concepts for Mitigation of Communication Latency During Human Space Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chappell, Steven P.; Abercromby, Andrew F.; Miller, Matthew J.; Halcon, Christopher; Gernhardt, Michael L.

    2016-01-01

    OBJECTIVES: NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) is an underwater spaceflight analog that allows a true mission-like operational environment and uses buoyancy effects and added weight to simulate different gravity levels. Three missions were undertaken from 2014-2015, NEEMO's 18-20. All missions were performed at the Aquarius undersea research habitat. During each mission, the effects of varying operations concepts and tasks type and complexity on representative communication latencies associated with Mars missions were studied. METHODS: 12 subjects (4 per mission) were weighed out to simulate near-zero or partial gravity extravehicular activity (EVA) and evaluated different operations concepts for integration and management of a simulated Earth-based science backroom team (SBT) to provide input and direction during exploration activities. Exploration traverses were planned in advance based on precursor data collected. Subjects completed science-related tasks including presampling surveys, geologic-based sampling, and marine-based sampling as a portion of their tasks on saturation dives up to 4 hours in duration that were to simulate extravehicular activity (EVA) on Mars or the moons of Mars. One-way communication latencies, 5 and 10 minutes between space and mission control, were simulated throughout the missions. Objective data included task completion times, total EVA times, crew idle time, translation time, SBT assimilation time (defined as time available for SBT to discuss data/imagery after it has been collected, in addition to the time taken to watch imagery streaming over latency). Subjective data included acceptability, simulation quality, capability assessment ratings, and comments. RESULTS: Precursor data can be used effectively to plan and execute exploration traverse EVAs (plans included detailed location of science sites, high-fidelity imagery of the sites, and directions to landmarks of interest within a site). Operations concepts that

  11. The Mars Microprobe Mission: Advanced Micro-Avionics for Exploration Surface

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blue, Randel

    2000-01-01

    The Mars Microprobe Mission is the second spacecraft developed as part of the New Millennium Program deep space missions. The objective of the Microprobe Project is to demonstrate the applicability of key technologies for future planetary missions by developing two probes for deployment on Mars. The probes are designed with a single stage entry, descent, and landing system and impact the Martian surface at speeds of approximately 200 meters per second. The microprobes are composed of two main sections, a forebody section that penetrates to a depth below the Martian surface of 0.5 to 2 meters, and an aftbody section that remains on the surface. Each probe system consists of a number of advanced technology components developed specifically for this mission. These include a non-erosive aeroshell for entry into. the atmosphere, a set of low temperature batteries to supply probe power, an advanced microcontroller to execute the mission sequence, collect the science data, and react to possible system fault conditions, a telecommunications subsystem implemented on a set of custom integrated circuits, and instruments designed to provide science measurements from above and below the Martian surface. All of the electronic components have been designed and fabricated to withstand the severe impact shock environment and to operate correctly at predicted temperatures below -100 C.

  12. MESSENGER, MErcury: Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging; A Mission to Orbit and Explore the Planet Mercury

    Science.gov (United States)

    1999-01-01

    MESSENGER is a scientific mission to Mercury. Understanding this extraordinary planet and the forces that have shaped it is fundamental to understanding the processes that have governed the formation, evolution, and dynamics of the terrestrial planets. MESSENGER is a MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging mission to orbit Mercury for one Earth year after completing two flybys of that planet following two flybys of Venus. The necessary flybys return significant new data early in the mission, while the orbital phase, guided by the flyby data, enables a focused scientific investigation of this least-studied terrestrial planet. Answers to key questions about Mercury's high density, crustal composition and structure, volcanic history, core structure, magnetic field generation, polar deposits, exosphere, overall volatile inventory, and magnetosphere are provided by an optimized set of miniaturized space instruments. Our goal is to gain new insight into the formation and evolution of the solar system, including Earth. By traveling to the inner edge of the solar system and exploring a poorly known world, MESSENGER fulfills this quest.

  13. Education and Public Outreach and Engagement at NASA's Analog Missions in 2012

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watkins, Wendy L.; Janoiko, Barbara A.; Mahoney, Erin; Hermann, Nicole B.

    2013-01-01

    Analog missions are integrated, multi-disciplinary activities that test key features of future human space exploration missions in an integrated fashion to gain a deeper understanding of system-level interactions and operations early in conceptual development. These tests often are conducted in remote and extreme environments that are representative in one or more ways to that of future spaceflight destinations. They may also be conducted at NASA facilities, using advanced modeling and human-in-the-loop scenarios. As NASA develops a capability driven framework to transport crew to a variety of space environments, it will use analog missions to gather requirements and develop the technologies necessary to ensure successful exploration beyond low Earth orbit. NASA s Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Division conducts these high-fidelity integrated tests, including the coordination and execution of a robust education and public outreach (EPO) and engagement program for each mission. Conducting these mission scenarios in unique environments not only provides an opportunity to test the EPO concepts for the particular future-mission scenario, such as the best methods for conducting events with a communication time delay, but it also provides an avenue to deliver NASA s human space exploration key messages. These analogs are extremely exciting to students and the public, and they are performed in such a way that the public can feel like part of the mission. They also provide an opportunity for crew members to obtain training in education and public outreach activities similar to what they would perform in space. The analog EPO team is responsible for the coordination and execution of the events, the overall social media component for each mission, and public affairs events such as media visits and interviews. They also create new and exciting ways to engage the public, manage and create website content, coordinate video footage for missions, and coordinate and integrate

  14. Robust Exploration and Commercial Missions to the Moon Using LANTR Propulsion and Lunar Liquid Oxygen Derived from FeO-Rich Pyroclastic Deposits

    Science.gov (United States)

    Borowski, Stanley K.; Ryan, Stephen W.; Burke, Laura M.; McCurdy, David R.; Fittje, James E.; Joyner, Claude R.

    2017-01-01

    The nuclear thermal rocket (NTR) has frequently been identified as a key space asset required for the human exploration of Mars. This proven technology can also provide the affordable access through cislunar space necessary for commercial development and sustained human presence on the Moon. It is a demonstrated technology capable of generating both high thrust and high specific impulse (Isp approx.900 s) twice that of todays best chemical rockets. Nuclear lunar transfer vehicles consisting of a propulsion stage using three approx.16.5 klbf Small Nuclear Rocket Engines (SNREs), an in-line propellant tank, plus the payload can enable a variety of reusable lunar missions. These include cargo delivery and crewed lunar landing missions. Even weeklong tourism missions carrying passengers into lunar orbit for a day of sightseeing and picture taking are possible. The NTR can play an important role in the next phase of lunar exploration and development by providing a robust in-space lunar transportation system (LTS) that can allow initial outposts to evolve into settlements supported by a variety of commercial activities such as in-situ propellant production used to supply strategically located propellant depots and transportation nodes. The use of lunar liquid oxygen (LLO2) derived from iron oxide (FeO)-rich volcanic glass beads, found in numerous pyroclastic deposits on the Moon, can significantly reduce the launch mass requirements from Earth by enabling reusable, surface-based lunar landing vehicles (LLVs) using liquid oxygen/hydrogen (LO2/H2) chemical rocket engines. Afterwards, a LO2/H2 propellant depot can be established in lunar equatorial orbit to supply the LTS. At this point a modified version of the conventional NTR called the LOX-augmented NTR, or LANTR is introduced into the LTS allowing bipropellant operation and leveraging the mission benefits of refueling with lunar-derived propellants for Earth return. The bipropellant LANTR engine utilizes the large

  15. Applications of MEMS for Space Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tang, William C.

    1998-03-01

    Space exploration in the coming century will emphasize cost effectiveness and highly focused mission objectives, which will result in frequent multiple missions that broaden the scope of space science and to validate new technologies on a timely basis. Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) is one of the key enabling technologies to create cost-effective, ultra-miniaturized, robust, and functionally focused spacecraft for both robotic and human exploration programs. Examples of MEMS devices at various stages of development include microgyroscope, microseismometer, microhygrometer, quadrupole mass spectrometer, and micropropulsion engine. These devices, when proven successful, will serve as models for developing components and systems for new-millennium spacecraft.

  16. Exploring Earthquakes in Real-Time

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bravo, T. K.; Kafka, A. L.; Coleman, B.; Taber, J. J.

    2013-12-01

    Earthquakes capture the attention of students and inspire them to explore the Earth. Adding the ability to view and explore recordings of significant and newsworthy earthquakes in real-time makes the subject even more compelling. To address this opportunity, the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS), in collaboration with Moravian College, developed ';jAmaSeis', a cross-platform application that enables students to access real-time earthquake waveform data. Students can watch as the seismic waves are recorded on their computer, and can be among the first to analyze the data from an earthquake. jAmaSeis facilitates student centered investigations of seismological concepts using either a low-cost educational seismograph or streamed data from other educational seismographs or from any seismic station that sends data to the IRIS Data Management System. After an earthquake, students can analyze the seismograms to determine characteristics of earthquakes such as time of occurrence, distance from the epicenter to the station, magnitude, and location. The software has been designed to provide graphical clues to guide students in the analysis and assist in their interpretations. Since jAmaSeis can simultaneously record up to three stations from anywhere on the planet, there are numerous opportunities for student driven investigations. For example, students can explore differences in the seismograms from different distances from an earthquake and compare waveforms from different azimuthal directions. Students can simultaneously monitor seismicity at a tectonic plate boundary and in the middle of the plate regardless of their school location. This can help students discover for themselves the ideas underlying seismic wave propagation, regional earthquake hazards, magnitude-frequency relationships, and the details of plate tectonics. The real-time nature of the data keeps the investigations dynamic, and offers students countless opportunities to explore.

  17. The Planetary Science Archive (PSA): Exploration and discovery of scientific datasets from ESA's planetary missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vallat, C.; Besse, S.; Barbarisi, I.; Arviset, C.; De Marchi, G.; Barthelemy, M.; Coia, D.; Costa, M.; Docasal, R.; Fraga, D.; Heather, D. J.; Lim, T.; Macfarlane, A.; Martinez, S.; Rios, C.; Vallejo, F.; Said, J.

    2017-09-01

    The Planetary Science Archive (PSA) is the European Space Agency's (ESA) repository of science data from all planetary science and exploration missions. The PSA provides access to scientific datasets through various interfaces at http://psa.esa.int. All datasets are scientifically peer-reviewed by independent scientists, and are compliant with the Planetary Data System (PDS) standards. The PSA has started to implement a number of significant improvements, mostly driven by the evolution of the PDS standards, and the growing need for better interfaces and advanced applications to support science exploitation.

  18. 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

  19. 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

  20. Einstein Gravity Explorer–a medium-class fundamental physics mission

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schiller, S.; Tino, G.M.; Gill, E.

    2008-01-01

    The Einstein Gravity Explorer mission (EGE) is devoted to a precise measurement of the properties of space-time using atomic clocks. It tests one of the most fundamental predictions of Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity, the gravitational redshift, and thereby searches for hints of quantum

  1. Mars Exploration Rover Terminal Descent Mission Modeling and Simulation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raiszadeh, Behzad; Queen, Eric M.

    2004-01-01

    Because of NASA's added reliance on simulation for successful interplanetary missions, the MER mission has developed a detailed EDL trajectory modeling and simulation. This paper summarizes how the MER EDL sequence of events are modeled, verification of the methods used, and the inputs. This simulation is built upon a multibody parachute trajectory simulation tool that has been developed in POST I1 that accurately simulates the trajectory of multiple vehicles in flight with interacting forces. In this model the parachute and the suspended bodies are treated as 6 Degree-of-Freedom (6 DOF) bodies. The terminal descent phase of the mission consists of several Entry, Descent, Landing (EDL) events, such as parachute deployment, heatshield separation, deployment of the lander from the backshell, deployment of the airbags, RAD firings, TIRS firings, etc. For an accurate, reliable simulation these events need to be modeled seamlessly and robustly so that the simulations will remain numerically stable during Monte-Carlo simulations. This paper also summarizes how the events have been modeled, the numerical issues, and modeling challenges.

  2. (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.

  3. Multimission nuclear electric propulsion system for outer planet exploration missions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mondt, J.F.

    1981-01-01

    A 100-kW reactor power system with a specific mass of 15 to 30 kg/kW/sub e/ and an electric thrust system with a specific mass of 5 to 10 kg/kW/sub e/ can be combined into a nuclear electric propulsion system. The system can be used for outer planet missions as well as earth orbital transfer vehicle missions. 5 refs

  4. A Dual Launch Robotic and Human Lunar Mission Architecture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, David L.; Mulqueen, Jack; Percy, Tom; Griffin, Brand; Smitherman, David

    2010-01-01

    This paper describes a comprehensive lunar exploration architecture developed by Marshall Space Flight Center's Advanced Concepts Office that features a science-based surface exploration strategy and a transportation architecture that uses two launches of a heavy lift launch vehicle to deliver human and robotic mission systems to the moon. The principal advantage of the dual launch lunar mission strategy is the reduced cost and risk resulting from the development of just one launch vehicle system. The dual launch lunar mission architecture may also enhance opportunities for commercial and international partnerships by using expendable launch vehicle services for robotic missions or development of surface exploration elements. Furthermore, this architecture is particularly suited to the integration of robotic and human exploration to maximize science return. For surface operations, an innovative dual-mode rover is presented that is capable of performing robotic science exploration as well as transporting human crew conducting surface exploration. The dual-mode rover can be deployed to the lunar surface to perform precursor science activities, collect samples, scout potential crew landing sites, and meet the crew at a designated landing site. With this approach, the crew is able to evaluate the robotically collected samples to select the best samples for return to Earth to maximize the scientific value. The rovers can continue robotic exploration after the crew leaves the lunar surface. The transportation system for the dual launch mission architecture uses a lunar-orbit-rendezvous strategy. Two heavy lift launch vehicles depart from Earth within a six hour period to transport the lunar lander and crew elements separately to lunar orbit. In lunar orbit, the crew transfer vehicle docks with the lander and the crew boards the lander for descent to the surface. After the surface mission, the crew returns to the orbiting transfer vehicle for the return to the Earth. This

  5. An Overview of Current and Future Stratospheric Balloon Mission Capabilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Michael

    The modern stratospheric balloon has been used for a variety of missions since the late 1940's. Capabilities of these vehicles to carry larger payloads, fly to higher altitudes, and fly for longer periods of time have increased dramatically over this time. In addition to these basic performance metrics, reliability statistics for balloons have reached unprecedented levels in recent years. Balloon technology developed in the United States in the last decade has the potential to open a new era in economical space science using balloons. As always, the advantage of the balloon platform is the fact that missions can be carried out at a fraction of the cost and schedule of orbital missions. A secondary advantage is the fact that instruments can be re-flown numerous times while upgrading sensor and data processing technologies from year to year. New mission capabilities now have the potential for enabling ground breaking observations using balloons as the primary platform as opposed to a stepping stone to eventual orbital observatories. The limit of very high altitude balloon missions will be explored with respect to the current state of the art of balloon materials and fabrication. The same technological enablers will also be applied to possibilities for long duration missions at mid latitudes with payloads of several tons. The balloon types and their corresponding mission profiles will be presented in a performance matrix that will be useful for potential scientific users in planning future research programs.

  6. 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)

  7. Exploration Mission Particulate Matter Filtration Technology Performance Testing in a Simulated Spacecraft Cabin Ventilation System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Agui, Juan H.; Vijayakumar, R.; Perry, Jay L.; Frederick, Kenneth R.; Mccormick, Robert M.

    2017-01-01

    Human deep space exploration missions will require advances in long-life, low maintenance airborne particulate matter filtration technology. As one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administrations (NASA) developments in this area, a prototype of a new regenerable, multi-stage particulate matter filtration technology was tested in an International Space Station (ISS) module simulation facility. As previously reported, the key features of the filter system include inertial and media filtration with regeneration and in-place media replacement techniques. The testing facility can simulate aspects of the cabin environment aboard the ISS and contains flight-like cabin ventilation system components. The filtration technology test article was installed at the inlet of the central ventilation system duct and instrumented to provide performance data under nominal flow conditions. In-place regeneration operations were also evaluated. The real-time data included pressure drop across the filter stages, process air flow rate, ambient pressure, humidity and temperature. In addition, two video cameras positioned at the filtration technology test articles inlet and outlet were used to capture the mechanical performance of the filter media indexing operation under varying air flow rates. Recent test results are presented and future design recommendations are discussed.

  8. Trojan Tour and Rendezvous (TTR): A New Frontiers Mission to Explore the Origin and Evolution of the Early Solar System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bell, J. F., III; Olkin, C.; Castillo, J. C.

    2015-12-01

    The orbital properties, compositions, and physical properties of the diverse populations of small outer solar system bodies provide a forensic map of how our solar system formed and evolved. Perhaps the most potentially diagnostic, but least explored, of those populations are the Jupiter Trojan asteroids, which orbit at ~5 AU in the L4 and L5 Lagrange points of Jupiter. More than 6200 Jupiter Trojans are presently known, but these are predicted to be only a small fraction of the 500,000 to 1 million Trojans >1 km in size. The Trojans are hypothesized to be either former Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) that were scattered into the inner solar system by early giant planet migration and then trapped in the 1:1 Jupiter mean motion resonance, or bodies formed near 5 AU in a much more quiescent early solar system, and then trapped at L4 and L5. The 2011 Planetary Science Decadal Survey identified important questions about the origin and evolution of the solar system that can be addressed by studying of the Trojan asteroids, including: (a) How did the giant planets and their satellite systems accrete, and is there evidence that they migrated to new orbital positions? (b) What is the relationship between large and small KBOs? Is the small population derived by impact disruption of the large one? (c) What kinds of surface evolution, radiation chemistry, and surface-atmosphere interactions occur on distant icy primitive bodies? And (d) What are the sources of asteroid groups (Trojans and Centaurs) that remain to be explored by spacecraft? The Trojan Tour and Rendezvous (TTR) is a New Frontiers-class mission designed to answer these questions, and to test hypotheses for early giant planet migration and solar system evolution. Via close flybys of a large number of these objects,, and orbital characterization of at least one large Trojan, TTR will enable the first-time exploration of this population. Our primary mission goals are to characterize the overall surface geology

  9. 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.

  10. Human Exploration System Test-Bed for Integration and Advancement (HESTIA) Support of Future NASA Deep-Space Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marmolejo, Jose; Ewert, Michael

    2016-01-01

    The Engineering Directorate at the NASA - Johnson Space Center is outfitting a 20-Foot diameter hypobaric chamber in Building 7 to support future deep-space Environmental Control & Life Support System (ECLSS) research as part of the Human Exploration System Test-bed for Integration and Advancement (HESTIA) Project. This human-rated chamber is the only NASA facility that has the unique experience, chamber geometry, infrastructure, and support systems capable of conducting this research. The chamber was used to support Gemini, Apollo, and SkyLab Missions. More recently, it was used to conduct 30-, 60-, and 90-day human ECLSS closed-loop testing in the 1990s to support the International Space Station and life support technology development. NASA studies show that both planetary surface and deep-space transit crew habitats will be 3-4 story cylindrical structures driven by human occupancy volumetric needs and launch vehicle constraints. The HESTIA facility offers a 3-story, 20-foot diameter habitat consistent with the studies' recommendations. HESTIA operations follow stringent processes by a certified test team that including human testing. Project management, analysis, design, acquisition, fabrication, assembly and certification of facility build-ups are available to support this research. HESTIA offers close proximity to key stakeholders including astronauts, Human Research Program (who direct space human research for the agency), Mission Operations, Safety & Mission Assurance, and Engineering Directorate. The HESTIA chamber can operate at reduced pressure and elevated oxygen environments including those proposed for deep-space exploration. Data acquisition, power, fluids and other facility resources are available to support a wide range of research. Recently completed HESTIA research consisted of unmanned testing of ECLSS technologies. Eventually, the HESTIA research will include humans for extended durations at reduced pressure and elevated oxygen to demonstrate

  11. Radioisotope fueled pulsed power generation system for propulsion and electrical power for deep space missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Howe, Troy

    Space exploration missions to the moon, Mars, and other celestial bodies have allowed for great scientific leaps to enhance our knowledge of the universe; yet the astronomical cost of these missions limits their utility to only a few select agencies. Reducing the cost of exploratory space travel will give rise to a new era of exploration, where private investors, universities, and world governments can send satellites to far off planets and gather important data. By using radioisotope power sources and thermal storage devices, a duty cycle can be introduced to extract large amounts of energy in short amounts of time, allowing for efficient space travel. The same device can also provide electrical power for subsystems such as communications, drills, lasers, or other components that can provide valuable scientific information. This project examines the use of multiple radioisotope sources combined with a thermal capacitor using Phase Change Materials (PCMs) which can collect energy over a period of time. The result of this design culminates in a variety of possible spacecraft with their own varying costs, transit times, and objectives. Among the most promising are missions to Mars which cost less than 17M, missions that can provide power to satellite constellations for decades, or missions that can deliver large, Opportunity-sized (185kg) payloads to mars for less than 53M. All made available to a much wider range of customer with commercially available satellite launches from earth. The true cost of such progress though lies in the sometimes substantial increase in transit times for these missions.

  12. 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.

  13. KEPLER Mission: development and overview

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Borucki, William J

    2016-01-01

    The Kepler Mission is a space observatory launched in 2009 by NASA to monitor 170 000 stars over a period of four years to determine the frequency of Earth-size and larger planets in and near the habitable zone of Sun-like stars, the size and orbital distributions of these planets, and the types of stars they orbit. Kepler is the tenth in the series of NASA Discovery Program missions that are competitively-selected, PI-directed, medium-cost missions. The Mission concept and various instrument prototypes were developed at the Ames Research Center over a period of 18 years starting in 1983. The development of techniques to do the 10 ppm photometry required for Mission success took years of experimentation, several workshops, and the exploration of many ‘blind alleys’ before the construction of the flight instrument. Beginning in 1992 at the start of the NASA Discovery Program, the Kepler Mission concept was proposed five times before its acceptance for mission development in 2001. During that period, the concept evolved from a photometer in an L2 orbit that monitored 6000 stars in a 50 sq deg field-of-view (FOV) to one that was in a heliocentric orbit that simultaneously monitored 170 000 stars with a 105 sq deg FOV. Analysis of the data to date has detected over 4600 planetary candidates which include several hundred Earth-size planetary candidates, over a thousand confirmed planets, and Earth-size planets in the habitable zone (HZ). These discoveries provide the information required for estimates of the frequency of planets in our galaxy. The Mission results show that most stars have planets, many of these planets are similar in size to the Earth, and that systems with several planets are common. Although planets in the HZ are common, many are substantially larger than Earth. (review article)

  14. Analysis of Temperature and Wind Measurements from the TIMED Mission: Comparison with UARS Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Frank; Mayr, Hans; Killeen, Tim; Russell, Jim; Reber, Skip

    2004-01-01

    We report on an analysis of temperature and wind data based respectively on measurements with the SABER (Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry) and TIDI (TIMED Doppler Interferometer) instruments on the TIMED (Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Mesosphere-Energetics and Dynamics) mission. Comparisons are made with corresponding results obtained from the HRDI (High Resolution Doppler Imager), MLS (Microwave Limb Sounder) and CLAES (Cryogenic Limb Array Etalon Spectrometer) instruments on the UARS (Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite) spacecraft. The TIMED and UARS instruments have important common and uncommon properties in their sampling of the data as a function local solar time. For comparison between the data from the two satellite missions, we present the derived diurnal tidal and zonal-mean variations of temperature and winds, obtained as functions of season, latitude, and altitude. The observations are also compared with results from the Numerical Spectral Model (NSM).

  15. Final Phase Flight Performance and Touchdown Time Assessment of TDV in RLV-TD HEX-01 Mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yadav, Sandeep; Jayakumar, M.; Nizin, Aziya; Kesavabrahmaji, K.; Shyam Mohan, N.

    2017-12-01

    RLV-TD HEX-01 mission was configured as a precursor flight to actual two stages to orbit vehicle. In this mission RLV-TD was designed as a two stage vehicle for demonstrating the hypersonic flight of a winged body vehicle at Mach No. 5. One of the main objectives of this mission was to generate data for better understanding of new technologies required to design the future vehicle. In this mission, the RLV-TD vehicle was heavily instrumented to get data related to performance of different subsystems. As per the mission design, RLV-TD will land in sea after flight duration of 700 s and travelling a distance of nearly 500 km in Bay of Bengal from the launch site for a nominal trajectory. The visibility studies for telemetry data of vehicle for the nominal and off nominal trajectories were carried out. Based on that, three ground stations were proposed for the telemetry data reception (including one in sea). Even with this scheme it was seen that during the final phase of the flight there will not be any ground station visible to the flight due to low elevation. To have the mission critical data during final phase of the flight, telemetry through INSAT scheme was introduced. During the end of the mission RLV-TD will be landing in the sea on a hypothetical runway. To know the exact time of touchdown for the flight in sea, there was no direct measurement available. Simultaneously there were all chances of losing ground station visibility just before touchdown, making it difficult to assess flight performance during that phase. In this work, telemetry and instrumentation scheme of RLV-TD HEX-01 mission is discussed with an objective to determine the flight performance during the final phase. Further, using various flight sensor data the touchdown time of TDV is assessed for this mission.

  16. Automation &robotics for future Mars exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schulte, W.; von Richter, A.; Bertrand, R.

    2003-04-01

    Automation and Robotics (A&R) are currently considered as a key technology for Mars exploration. initiatives in this field aim at developing new A&R systems and technologies for planetary surface exploration. Kayser-Threde led the study AROMA (Automation &Robotics for Human Mars Exploration) under ESA contract in order to define a reference architecture of A&R elements in support of a human Mars exploration program. One of the goals was to define new developments and to maintain the competitiveness of European industry within this field. We present a summary of the A&R study in respect to a particular system: The Autonomous Research Island (ARI). In the Mars exploration scenario initially a robotic outpost system lands at pre-selected sites in order to search for life forms and water and to analyze the surface, geology and atmosphere. A&R systems, i.e. rovers and autonomous instrument packages, perform a number of missions with scientific and technology development objectives on the surface of Mars as part of preparations for a human exploration mission. In the Robotic Outpost Phase ARI is conceived as an automated lander which can perform in-situ analysis. It consists of a service module and a micro-rover system for local investigations. Such a system is already under investigation and development in other TRP activities. The micro-rover system provides local mobility for in-situ scientific investigations at a given landing or deployment site. In the long run ARI supports also human Mars missions. An astronaut crew would travel larger distances in a pressurized rover on Mars. Whenever interesting features on the surface are identified, the crew would interrupt the travel and perform local investigations. In order to save crew time ARI could be deployed by the astronauts to perform time-consuming investigations as for example in-situ geochemistry analysis of rocks/soil. Later, the crew could recover the research island for refurbishment and deployment at another

  17. 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.

  18. Exploration Medical System Demonstration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rubin, D. A.; Watkins, S. D.

    2014-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Exploration class missions will present significant new challenges and hazards to the health of the astronauts. Regardless of the intended destination, beyond low Earth orbit a greater degree of crew autonomy will be required to diagnose medical conditions, develop treatment plans, and implement procedures due to limited communications with ground-based personnel. SCOPE: The Exploration Medical System Demonstration (EMSD) project will act as a test bed on the International Space Station (ISS) to demonstrate to crew and ground personnel that an end-to-end medical system can assist clinician and non-clinician crew members in optimizing medical care delivery and data management during an exploration mission. Challenges facing exploration mission medical care include limited resources, inability to evacuate to Earth during many mission phases, and potential rendering of medical care by non-clinicians. This system demonstrates the integration of medical devices and informatics tools for managing evidence and decision making and can be designed to assist crewmembers in nominal, non-emergent situations and in emergent situations when they may be suffering from performance decrements due to environmental, physiological or other factors. PROJECT OBJECTIVES: The objectives of the EMSD project are to: a. Reduce or eliminate the time required of an on-orbit crew and ground personnel to access, transfer, and manipulate medical data. b. Demonstrate that the on-orbit crew has the ability to access medical data/information via an intuitive and crew-friendly solution to aid in the treatment of a medical condition. c. Develop a common data management framework that can be ubiquitously used to automate repetitive data collection, management, and communications tasks for all activities pertaining to crew health and life sciences. d. Ensure crew access to medical data during periods of restricted ground communication. e. Develop a common data management framework that

  19. 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.

  20. Martian Multimedia: The Agony and Ecstasy of Communicating Real-Time, Authentic Science During the Phoenix Mars Mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bitter, C.; Buxner, S. R.

    2009-03-01

    The Phoenix Mars Mission faced robust communication challenges requiring real-time solutions. Managing the message from Mars and ensuring the highest quality of science data and news releases were our top priorities during mission surface operations.

  1. 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.

  2. Robust Exploration and Commercial Missions to the Moon Using Nuclear Thermal Rocket Propulsion and Lunar Liquid Oxygen Derived from FeO-Rich Pyroclasitc Deposits

    Science.gov (United States)

    Borowski, Stanley K.; Ryan, Stephen W.; Burke, Laura M.; McCurdy, David R.; Fittje, James E.; Joyner, Claude R.

    2018-01-01

    The nuclear thermal rocket (NTR) has frequently been identified as a key space asset required for the human exploration of Mars. This proven technology can also provide the affordable access through cislunar space necessary for commercial development and sustained human presence on the Moon. It is a demonstrated technology capable of generating both high thrust and high specific impulse (I(sub sp) approx. 900 s) twice that of today's best chemical rockets. Nuclear lunar transfer vehicles-consisting of a propulsion stage using three approx. 16.5-klb(sub f) small nuclear rocket engines (SNREs), an in-line propellant tank, plus the payload-are reusable, enabling a variety of lunar missions. These include cargo delivery and crewed lunar landing missions. Even weeklong ''tourism'' missions carrying passengers into lunar orbit for a day of sightseeing and picture taking are possible. The NTR can play an important role in the next phase of lunar exploration and development by providing a robust in-space lunar transportation system (LTS) that can allow initial outposts to evolve into settlements supported by a variety of commercial activities such as in-situ propellant production used to supply strategically located propellant depots and transportation nodes. The use of lunar liquid oxygen (LLO2) derived from iron oxide (FeO)-rich volcanic glass beads, found in numerous pyroclastic deposits on the Moon, can significantly reduce the launch mass requirements from Earth by enabling reusable, surface-based lunar landing vehicles (LLVs)that use liquid oxygen and hydrogen (LO2/LH2) chemical rocket engines. Afterwards, a LO2/LH2 propellant depot can be established in lunar equatorial orbit to supply the LTS. At this point a modified version of the conventional NTR-called the LO2-augmented NTR, or LANTR-is introduced into the LTS allowing bipropellant operation and leveraging the mission benefits of refueling with lunar-derived propellants for Earth return. The bipropellant LANTR

  3. Opportunities for Space Science Education Using Current and Future Solar System Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matiella Novak, M.; Beisser, K.; Butler, L.; Turney, D.

    2010-12-01

    The Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) office in The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) Space Department strives to excite and inspire the next generation of explorers by creating interactive education experiences. Since 1959, APL engineers and scientists have designed, built, and launched 61 spacecraft and over 150 instruments involved in space science. With the vast array of current and future Solar System exploration missions available, endless opportunities exist for education programs to incorporate the real-world science of these missions. APL currently has numerous education and outreach programs tailored for K-12 formal and informal education, higher education, and general outreach communities. Current programs focus on Solar System exploration missions such as the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM), Miniature Radio Frequency (Mini-RF) Moon explorer, the Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP), New Horizons mission to Pluto, and the Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics (TIMED) Satellite, to name a few. Education and outreach programs focusing on K-12 formal education include visits to classrooms, summer programs for middle school students, and teacher workshops. APL hosts a Girl Power event and a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Day each year. Education and outreach specialists hold teacher workshops throughout the year to train educators in using NASA spacecraft science in their lesson plans. High school students from around the U.S. are able to engage in NASA spacecraft science directly by participating in the Mars Exploration Student Data Teams (MESDT) and the Student Principal Investigator Programs. An effort is also made to generate excitement for future missions by focusing on what mysteries will be solved. Higher education programs are used to recruit and train the next generation of scientists and engineers. The NASA/APL Summer Internship Program offers a

  4. Assessing and Promoting Functional Resilience in Flight Crews During Exploration Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shelhamer, Mark

    2015-01-01

    NASA plans to send humans to Mars in about 20 years. The NASA Human Research Program supports research to mitigate the major risks to human health and performance on extended missions. However, there will undoubtedly be unforeseen events on any mission of this nature - thus mitigation of known risks alone is not sufficient to ensure optimal crew health and performance. Research should be directed not only to mitigating known risks, but also to providing crews with the tools to assess and enhance resilience, as a group and individually. We can draw on ideas from complexity theory and network theory to assess crew and individual resilience. The entire crew or the individual crewmember can be viewed as a complex system that is composed of subsystems (individual crewmembers or physiological subsystems), and the interactions between subsystems are of crucial importance for overall health and performance. An understanding of the structure of the interactions can provide important information even in the absence of complete information on the component subsystems. This is critical in human spaceflight, since insufficient flight opportunities exist to elucidate the details of each subsystem. Enabled by recent advances in noninvasive measurement of physiological and behavioral parameters, subsystem monitoring can be implemented within a mission and also during preflight training to establish baseline values and ranges. Coupled with appropriate mathematical modeling, this can provide real-time assessment of health and function, and detect early indications of imminent breakdown. Since the interconnected web of physiological systems (and crewmembers) can be interpreted as a network in mathematical terms, we can draw on recent work that relates the structure of such networks to their resilience (ability to self-organize in the face of perturbation). There are many parameters and interactions to choose from. Normal variability is an established characteristic of a healthy

  5. Assessing Space Exploration Technology Requirements as a First Step Towards Ensuring Technology Readiness for International Cooperation in Space Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laurini, Kathleen C.; Hufenbach, Bernhard; Satoh, Maoki; Piedboeuf, Jean-Claude; Neumann, Benjamin

    2010-01-01

    Advancing critical and enhancing technologies is considered essential to enabling sustainable and affordable human space exploration. Critical technologies are those that enable a certain class of mission, such as technologies necessary for safe landing on the Martian surface, advanced propulsion, and closed loop life support. Others enhance the mission by leading to a greater satisfaction of mission objectives or increased probability of mission success. Advanced technologies are needed to reduce mass and cost. Many space agencies have studied exploration mission architectures and scenarios with the resulting lists of critical and enhancing technologies being very similar. With this in mind, and with the recognition that human space exploration will only be enabled by agencies working together to address these challenges, interested agencies participating in the International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG) have agreed to perform a technology assessment as an important step in exploring cooperation opportunities for future exploration mission scenarios. "The Global Exploration Strategy: The Framework for Coordination" was developed by fourteen space agencies and released in May 2007. Since the fall of 2008, several International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG) participating space agencies have been studying concepts for human exploration of the moon. They have identified technologies considered critical and enhancing of sustainable space exploration. Technologies such as in-situ resource utilization, advanced power generation/energy storage systems, reliable dust resistant mobility systems, and closed loop life support systems are important examples. Similarly, agencies such as NASA, ESA, and Russia have studied Mars exploration missions and identified critical technologies. They recognize that human and robotic precursor missions to destinations such as LEO, moon, and near earth objects provide opportunities to demonstrate the

  6. 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.

  7. Archiving Data From the 2003 Mars Exploration Rover Mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arvidson, R. E.

    2002-12-01

    The two Mars Exploration Rovers will touch down on the red planet in January 2004 and each will operate for at least 90 sols, traversing hundreds of meters across the surface and acquiring data from the Athena Science Payload (mast-based multi-spectral, stereo-imaging data and emission spectra; arm-based in-situ Alpha Particle X-Ray (APXS) and Mössbauer Spectroscopy, microscopic imaging, coupled with use of a rock abrasion tool) at a number of locations. In addition, the rovers will acquire science and engineering data along traverses to characterize terrain properties and perhaps be used to dig trenches. An "Analyst's Notebook" concept has been developed to capture, organize, archive and distribute raw and derived data sets and documentation (http://wufs.wustl.edu/rover). The Notebooks will be implemented in ways that will allow users to "playback" the mission, using executed commands to drive animated views of rover activities, and pop-up windows to show why particular observations were acquired, along with displays of raw and derived data products. In addition, the archive will include standard Planetary Data System files and software for processing to higher-level products. The Notebooks will exist both as an online system and as a set of distributable Digital Video Discs or other appropriate media. The Notebooks will be made available through the Planetary Data System within six months after the end of observations for the relevant rovers.

  8. Writing the History of Space Missions: Rosetta and Mars Express

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coradini, M.; Russo, A.

    2011-10-01

    Mars Express is the first planetary mission accomplished by the European Space Agency (ESA). Launched in early June 2003, the spacecraft entered Mars's orbit on Christmas day of that year, demonstrating the new European commitment to planetary exploration. Following a failed attempt in the mid-­-1980s, two valid proposals for a European mission to Mars were submitted to ESA's decision-­-making bodies in the early 1990s, in step with renewed international interest in Mars exploration. Both were rejected, however, in the competitive selection process for the agency's Science Programme. Eventually, the Mars Express proposal emerged during a severe budgetary crisis in the mid-­-1990s as an exemplar of a "flexible mission" that could reduce project costs and development time. Its successful maneuvering through financial difficulties and conflicting scientific interests was due to the new management approach as well as to the public appeal of Mars exploration. In addition to providing a case study in the functioning of the ESA's Science Programme, the story of Mars Express discussed in this paper provides a case study in the functioning of the European Space Agency's Science Programme and suggests some general considerations on the peculiar position of space research in the general field of the history of science and technology.

  9. Developing Science Operations Concepts for the Future of Planetary Surface Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Young, K. E.; Bleacher, J. E.; Rogers, A. D.; McAdam, A.; Evans, C. A.; Graff, T. G.; Garry, W. B.; Whelley,; Scheidt, S.; Carter, L.; hide

    2017-01-01

    Through fly-by, orbiter, rover, and even crewed missions, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has been extremely successful in exploring planetary bodies throughout our Solar System. The focus on increasingly complex Mars orbiter and rover missions has helped us understand how Mars has evolved over time and whether life has ever existed on the red planet. However, large strategic knowledge gaps (SKGs) still exist in our understanding of the evolution of the Solar System (e.g. the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group, Small Bodies Analysis Group, and Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group). Sending humans to these bodies is a critical part of addressing these SKGs in order to transition to a new era of planetary exploration by 2050.

  10. The Bragg Reflection Polarimeter On the Gravity and Extreme Magnetism Small Explorer Mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allured, Ryan; Griffiths, S.; Daly, R.; Prieskorn, Z.; Marlowe, H.; Kaaret, P.; GEMS Team

    2011-09-01

    The strong gravity associated with black holes warps the spacetime outside of the event horizon, and it is predicted that this will leave characteristic signatures on the polarization of X-ray emission originating in the accretion disk. The Gravity and Extreme Magnetism Small Explorer (GEMS) mission will be the first observatory with the capability to make polarization measurements with enough sensitivity to quantitatively test this prediction. Students at the University of Iowa are currently working on the development of the Bragg Reflection Polarimeter (BRP), a soft X-ray polarimeter sensitive at 500 eV, that is the student experiment on GEMS. The BRP will complement the main experiment by making a polarization measurement from accreting black holes below the main energy band (2-10 keV). This measurement will constrain the inclination of the accretion disk and tighten measurements of black hole spin.

  11. MOM-E: Moon-Orbiting Mothership Explorer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murphy, Gloria A.

    2010-01-01

    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration proposed that a new class of robotic space missions and spacecrafts be introduced to "ensure that future missions are safe, sustainable and affordable". Indeed, the United States space program aims for a return to manned space missions beyond Earth orbit, and robotic explorers are intended to pave the way. This vision requires that all future missions become less costly, provide a sustainable business plan, and increase in safety. Over the course of several fast feasibility studies that considered the 3 drivers above, the small-scale, consumer-driven Moon-Orbiting Mothership Explorer (MOM-E) mission was born. MOM-E's goals are to enable space exploration by offering a scaled down platform which carries multiple small space explorers to the Moon. Each payload will be dropped at their desired destination, offering a competitive price to customers. MOM-E's current scope of operations is limited to the Moon and will be used as a proof of concept mission. However, MOM-E is specifically designed with the idea that the platform is scalable.

  12. 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).

  13. Life sciences - On the critical path for missions of exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sulzman, Frank M.; Connors, Mary M.; Gaiser, Karen

    1988-01-01

    Life sciences are important and critical to the safety and success of manned and long-duration space missions. The life science issues covered include gravitational physiology, space radiation, medical care delivery, environmental maintenance, bioregenerative systems, crew and human factors within and outside the spacecraft. The history of the role of life sciences in the space program is traced from the Apollo era, through the Skylab era to the Space Shuttle era. The life science issues of the space station program and manned missions to the moon and Mars are covered.

  14. 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.

  15. 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.

  16. Lunar mission design using nuclear thermal rockets

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stancati, M.L.; Collins, J.T.; Borowski, S.K.

    1991-01-01

    The NERVA-class Nuclear Thermal Rocket (NTR), with performance nearly double that of advanced chemical engines, has long been considered an enabling technology for human missions to Mars. NTR engines address the demanding trip time and payload delivery needs of both cargo-only and piloted flights. But NTR can also reduce the Earth launch requirements for manned lunar missions. First use of NTR for the Moon would be less demanding and would provide a test-bed for early operations experience with this powerful technology. Study of application and design options indicates that NTR propulsion can be integrated with the Space Exploration Initiative scenarios to deliver performance gains while managing controlled, long-term disposal of spent reactors to highly stable orbits

  17. Formulation Assessment and Support Team (FAST) for the Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mazanek, Daniel D.; Abell, Paul; Reeves, David M.; NASA Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) Formulation Assessment and Support Team (FAST)

    2016-10-01

    The Formulation Assessment and Support Team (FAST) for the Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) was a two-month effort, chartered by NASA, to provide timely inputs for mission requirement formulation in support of the Asteroid Redirect Robotic Mission (ARRM) Requirements Closure Technical Interchange Meeting held December 15-16, 2015. Additionally, the FAST was tasked with developing an initial list of potential mission investigations and providing input on potential hosted payloads and partnerships. The FAST explored several aspects of potential science benefits and knowledge gain from the ARM. Expertise from the science, engineering, and technology communities was represented in exploring lines of inquiry related to key characteristics of the ARRM reference target asteroid (2008 EV5) for engineering design purposes. Specific areas of interest included target origin, spatial distribution and size of boulders, surface geotechnical properties, boulder physical properties, and considerations for boulder handling, crew safety, and containment. In order to increase knowledge gain potential from the mission, opportunities for partnerships and accompanying payloads that could be provided by domestic and international partners were also investigated. The ARM FAST final report was publicly released on February 18, 2016 and represents the FAST's final product. The report and associated public comments are being used to support mission requirements formulation and serve as an initial inquiry to the science and engineering communities relating to the characteristics of the ARRM reference target asteroid. This report also provides a suggested list of potential investigations sorted and grouped based on their likely benefit to ARM and potential relevance to NASA science and exploration goals. These potential investigations could be conducted to reduce mission risks and increase knowledge return in the areas of science, planetary defense, asteroid resources and in-situ resource

  18. The Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Stage (NTPS): A Key Space Asset for Human Exploration and Commercial Missions to the Moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Borowski, Stanley K.; McCurdy, David R.; Burke, Laura M.

    2014-01-01

    The nuclear thermal rocket (NTR) has frequently been discussed as a key space asset that can bridge the gap between a sustained human presence on the Moon and the eventual human exploration of Mars. Recently, a human mission to a near Earth asteroid (NEA) has also been included as a "deep space precursor" to an orbital mission of Mars before a landing is attempted. In his "post-Apollo" Integrated Space Program Plan (1970 to 1990), Wernher von Braun, proposed a reusable Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Stage (NTPS) to deliver cargo and crew to the Moon to establish a lunar base initially before sending human missions to Mars. The NTR was selected because it was a proven technology capable of generating both high thrust and high specific impulse (Isp approx. 900 s)-twice that of today's best chemical rockets. During the Rover and NERVA programs, 20 rocket reactors were designed, built and successfully ground tested. These tests demonstrated the (1) thrust levels; (2) high fuel temperatures; (3) sustained operation; (4) accumulated lifetime; and (5) restart capability needed for an affordable in-space transportation system. In NASA's Mars Design Reference Architecture (DRA) 5.0 study, the "Copernicus" crewed NTR Mars transfer vehicle used three 25 klbf "Pewee" engines-the smallest and highest performing engine tested in the Rover program. Smaller lunar transfer vehicles-consisting of a NTPS with three approx. 16.7 klbf "SNRE-class" engines, an in-line propellant tank, plus the payload-can be delivered to LEO using a 70 t to LEO upgraded SLS, and can support reusable cargo delivery and crewed lunar landing missions. The NTPS can play an important role in returning humans to the Moon to stay by providing an affordable in-space transportation system that can allow initial lunar outposts to evolve into settlements capable of supporting commercial activities. Over the next decade collaborative efforts between NASA and private industry could open up new exploration and commercial

  19. The Role of Synthetic Biology in NASA's Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rothschild, Lynn J.

    2016-01-01

    The time has come to for NASA to exploit synthetic biology in pursuit of its missions, including aeronautics, earth science, astrobiology and most notably, human exploration. Conversely, NASA advances the fundamental technology of synthetic biology as no one else can because of its unique expertise in the origin of life and life in extreme environments, including the potential for alternate life forms. This enables unique, creative "game changing" advances. NASA's requirement for minimizing upmass in flight will also drive the field toward miniaturization and automation. These drivers will greatly increase the utility of synthetic biology solutions for military, health in remote areas and commercial purposes. To this end, we have begun a program at NASA to explore the use of synthetic biology in NASA's missions, particular space exploration. As part of this program, we began hosting an iGEM team of undergraduates drawn from Brown and Stanford Universities to conduct synthetic biology research at NASA Ames Research Center. The 2011 team (http://2011.igem.org/Team:Brown-Stanford) produced an award-winning project on using synthetic biology as a basis for a human Mars settlement.

  20. Critical early mission design considerations for lunar data systems architecture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hei, Donald J., Jr.; Stephens, Elaine

    1992-01-01

    This paper outlines recent early mission design activites for a lunar data systems architecture. Each major functional element is shown to be strikingly similar when viewed in a common reference system. While this similarity probably deviates with lower levels of decomposition, the sub-functions can always be arranged into similar and dissimilar categories. Similar functions can be implemented as objects - implemented once and reused several times like today's advanced integrated circuits. This approach to mission data systems, applied to other NASA programs, may result in substantial agency implementation and maintenance savings. In today's zero-sum-game budgetary environment, this approach could help to enable a lunar exploration program in the next decade. Several early mission studies leading to such an object-oriented data systems design are recommended.

  1. Desert RATS 2011: Near-Earth Asteroid Human Exploration Operations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abercromby, Andrew; Gernhardt, Michael L.; Chappel, Steve

    2012-01-01

    architecture as measured by increased Scientific Data Quality, EVA Exploration Time, Capability Assessment Ratings, and Overall Acceptability ratings by Crew, Mission Operations, Science, and Education & Public Outreach teams. A combination of text and voice was used to effectively communicate over the 100-second roundtrip communications latency and increased communication bandwidth yielded a small but practically significant improvement in Overall Acceptability as rated by the Science team, although the impact of bandwidth on scientific strategic planning was not assessed. No effect of increased bandwidth was observed with respect to Crew, Mission Operations, or EPO team ratings of Overall Acceptability.

  2. Orion Optical Navigation Progress Toward Exploration Mission 1

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holt, Greg N.; D'Souza, Christopher N.; Saley, David

    2018-01-01

    Optical navigation of human spacecraft was proposed on Gemini and implemented successfully on Apollo as a means of autonomously operating the vehicle in the event of lost communication with controllers on Earth. The Orion emergency return system utilizing optical navigation has matured in design over the last several years, and is currently undergoing the final implementation and test phase in preparation for Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1) in 2019. The software development is past its Critical Design Review, and is progressing through test and certification for human rating. The filter architecture uses a square-root-free UDU covariance factorization. Linear Covariance Analysis (LinCov) was used to analyze the measurement models and the measurement error models on a representative EM-1 trajectory. The Orion EM-1 flight camera was calibrated at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) electro-optics lab. To permanently stake the focal length of the camera a 500 mm focal length refractive collimator was used. Two Engineering Design Unit (EDU) cameras and an EDU star tracker were used for a live-sky test in Denver. In-space imagery with high-fidelity truth metadata is rare so these live-sky tests provide one of the closest real-world analogs to operational use. A hardware-in-the-loop test rig was developed in the Johnson Space Center Electro-Optics Lab to exercise the OpNav system prior to integrated testing on the Orion vehicle. The software is verified with synthetic images. Several hundred off-nominal images are also used to analyze robustness and fault detection in the software. These include effects such as stray light, excess radiation damage, and specular reflections, and are used to help verify the tuning parameters chosen for the algorithms such as earth atmosphere bias, minimum pixel intensity, and star detection thresholds.

  3. Enabling All-Access Mobility for Planetary Exploration Vehicles via Transformative Reconfiguration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferguson, Scott; Mazzoleni, Andre

    2016-01-01

    Effective large-scale exploration of planetary surfaces requires robotic vehicles capable of mobility across chaotic terrain. Characterized by a combination of ridges, cracks and valleys, the demands of this environment can cause spacecraft to experience significant reductions in operating footprint, performance, or even result in total system loss. Significantly increasing the scientific return of an interplanetary mission is facilitated by architectures capable of real-time configuration changes that go beyond that of active suspensions while concurrently meeting system, mass, power, and cost constraints. This Phase 1 report systematically explores how in-service architecture changes can expand system capabilities and mission opportunities. A foundation for concept generation is supplied by four Martian mission profiles spanning chasms, ice fields, craters and rocky terrain. A fifth mission profile centered on Near Earth Object exploration is also introduced. Concept generation is directed using four transformation principles - a taxonomy developed by the engineering design community to explain the cause of an architecture change and existing brainstorming techniques. This allowed early conceptual sketches of architecture changes to be organized by the principle driving the greatest increase in mission performance capability.

  4. Documenting of Geologic Field Activities in Real-Time in Four Dimensions: Apollo 17 as a Case Study for Terrestrial Analogues and Future Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feist, B.; Bleacher, J. E.; Petro, N. E.; Niles, P. B.

    2018-01-01

    During the Apollo exploration of the lunar surface, thousands of still images, 16 mm videos, TV footage, samples, and surface experiments were captured and collected. In addition, observations and descriptions of what was observed was radioed to Mission Control as part of standard communications and subsequently transcribed. The archive of this material represents perhaps the best recorded set of geologic field campaigns and will serve as the example of how to conduct field work on other planetary bodies for decades to come. However, that archive of material exists in disparate locations and formats with varying levels of completeness, making it not easily cross-referenceable. While video and audio exist for the missions, it is not time synchronized, and images taken during the missions are not time or location tagged. Sample data, while robust, is not easily available in a context of where the samples were collected, their descriptions by the astronauts are not connected to them, or the video footage of their collection (if available). A more than five year undertaking to reconstruct and reconcile the Apollo 17 mission archive, from launch through splashdown, has generated an integrated record of the entire mission, resulting in searchable, synchronized image, voice, and video data, with geologic context provided at the time each sample was collected. Through www.apollo17.org the documentation of the field investigation conducted by the Apollo 17 crew is presented in chronologic sequence, with additional context provided by high-resolution Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) images and a corresponding digital terrain model (DTM) of the Taurus-Littrow Valley.

  5. 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

  6. Darfur: the various Missions of a complex conflict.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wellington Pereira Carneiro

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available The conflict in Darfur represents the worst humanitarian crisis of the new millennium and took place at an extremely introspective time in the UN when all aspects of the peace missions were reviewed and reassessed. Mainly upon release of the Brahimi report published in the year 2000, when the failures in Rwanda, Somalia and Bosnia were conducive to the reassessment of the exaggerated optimism from end of the cold war. However, the complexity of the Darfur conflict demanded again a massive deployment of resources and troops in complex and daring peace missions. This article explores the gradual return to complex operations, first by missions led by regional actors, like AMIS (African Union and EUFOR (European Union. In this context the complex and multifunctional missions led by the UN return, incorporating the protection of populations at risk, human rights and governance, among other components. That way the hybrid UNAMID and MINURCAT appear with ambitious mandates. The UNAMID has to operate along with the display of the International Criminal Court jurisdiction over an ongoing conflict which will entail new developments and challenges.

  7. Propulsive maneuver design for the Mars Exploration Rover mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Potts, Christopher L.; Kangas, Julie A.; Raofi, Behzad

    2006-01-01

    Starting from approximately 150 candidate Martian landing sites, two distinct sites have been selected for further investigation by sophisticated rovers. The two rovers, named 'Spirit' and 'Opportunity', begin the surface mission respectively to Gusec Crater and Meridiani Planum in January 2004. the rovers are essentially robotic geologists, sent on a mission to research for evidence in the rocks and soil pertaining to the historical presence of water and the ability to possibly sustain life. Before this scientific search can commence, precise trajectory targeting and control is necessary to achieve the entry requirements for the selected landing sites within the constraints of the flight system. The maneuver design challenge is to meet or exceed these requirements while maintaining the necessary design flexibility to accommodate additional project concerns. Opportunities to improve performance and reduce risk based on trajectory control characteristics are also evaluated.

  8. The Cassini-Huygens mission

    CERN Document Server

    The joint NASA-ESA Cassini-Huygens mission promises to return four (and possibly more) years of unparalleled scientific data from the solar system’s most exotic planet, the ringed, gas giant, Saturn. Larger than Galileo with a much greater communication bandwidth, Cassini can accomplish in a single flyby what Galileo returned in a series of passes. Cassini explores the Saturn environment in three dimensions, using gravity assists to climb out of the equatorial plane to look down on the rings from above, to image the aurora and to study polar magnetospheric processes such as field-aligned currents. Since the radiation belt particle fluxes are much more benign than those at Jupiter, Cassini can more safely explore the inner regions of the magnetosphere. The spacecraft approaches the planet closer than Galileo could, and explores the inner moons and the rings much more thoroughly than was possible at Jupiter. This book is the second volume, in a three volume set, that describes the Cassini/Huygens mission. Thi...

  9. Planning and Management of Real-Time Geospatialuas Missions Within a Virtual Globe Environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nebiker, S.; Eugster, H.; Flückiger, K.; Christen, M.

    2011-09-01

    This paper presents the design and development of a hardware and software framework supporting all phases of typical monitoring and mapping missions with mini and micro UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles). The developed solution combines state-of-the art collaborative virtual globe technologies with advanced geospatial imaging techniques and wireless data link technologies supporting the combined and highly reliable transmission of digital video, high-resolution still imagery and mission control data over extended operational ranges. The framework enables the planning, simulation, control and real-time monitoring of UAS missions in application areas such as monitoring of forest fires, agronomical research, border patrol or pipeline inspection. The geospatial components of the project are based on the Virtual Globe Technology i3D OpenWebGlobe of the Institute of Geomatics Engineering at the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW). i3D OpenWebGlobe is a high-performance 3D geovisualisation engine supporting the web-based streaming of very large amounts of terrain and POI data.

  10. Exploring Mars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Breuil, Stéphanie

    2016-04-01

    Mars is our neighbour planet and has always fascinated humans as it has been seen as a potential abode for life. Knowledge about Mars is huge and was constructed step by step through numerous missions. It could be difficult to describe these missions, the associated technology, the results, the questions they raise, that's why an activity is proposed, that directly interests students. Their production is presented in the poster. Step 1: The main Mars feature and the first Mars explorations using telescope are presented to students. It should be really interesting to present "Mars Canals" from Percival Lowell as it should also warn students against flawed interpretation. Moreover, this study has raised the big question about extra-terrestrial life on Mars for the first time. Using Google Mars is then a good way to show the huge knowledge we have on the planet and to introduce modern missions. Step 2: Students have to choose and describe one of the Mars mission from ESA and NASA. They should work in pairs. Web sites from ESA and NASA are available and the teacher makes sure the main missions will be studied. Step 3: Students have to collect different pieces of information about the mission - When? Which technology? What were the main results? What type of questions does it raise? They prepare an oral presentation in the form they want (role play, academic presentation, using a poster, PowerPoint). They also have to produce playing cards about the mission that could be put on a timeline. Step 4: As a conclusion, the different cards concerning different missions are mixed. Groups of students receive cards and they have to put them on a timeline as fast as possible. It is also possible to play the game "timeline".

  11. 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.

  12. Exploring cosmic origins with CORE: Survey requirements and mission design

    Science.gov (United States)

    Delabrouille, J.; de Bernardis, P.; Bouchet, F. R.; Achúcarro, A.; Ade, P. A. R.; Allison, R.; Arroja, F.; Artal, E.; Ashdown, M.; Baccigalupi, C.; Ballardini, M.; Banday, A. J.; Banerji, R.; Barbosa, D.; Bartlett, J.; Bartolo, N.; Basak, S.; Baselmans, J. J. A.; Basu, K.; Battistelli, E. S.; Battye, R.; Baumann, D.; Benoít, A.; Bersanelli, M.; Bideaud, A.; Biesiada, M.; Bilicki, M.; Bonaldi, A.; Bonato, M.; Borrill, J.; Boulanger, F.; Brinckmann, T.; Brown, M. L.; Bucher, M.; Burigana, C.; Buzzelli, A.; Cabass, G.; Cai, Z.-Y.; Calvo, M.; Caputo, A.; Carvalho, C.-S.; Casas, F. J.; Castellano, G.; Catalano, A.; Challinor, A.; Charles, I.; Chluba, J.; Clements, D. L.; Clesse, S.; Colafrancesco, S.; Colantoni, I.; Contreras, D.; Coppolecchia, A.; Crook, M.; D'Alessandro, G.; D'Amico, G.; da Silva, A.; de Avillez, M.; de Gasperis, G.; De Petris, M.; de Zotti, G.; Danese, L.; Désert, F.-X.; Desjacques, V.; Di Valentino, E.; Dickinson, C.; Diego, J. M.; Doyle, S.; Durrer, R.; Dvorkin, C.; Eriksen, H. K.; Errard, J.; Feeney, S.; Fernández-Cobos, R.; Finelli, F.; Forastieri, F.; Franceschet, C.; Fuskeland, U.; Galli, S.; Génova-Santos, R. T.; Gerbino, M.; Giusarma, E.; Gomez, A.; González-Nuevo, J.; Grandis, S.; Greenslade, J.; Goupy, J.; Hagstotz, S.; Hanany, S.; Handley, W.; Henrot-Versillé, S.; Hernández-Monteagudo, C.; Hervias-Caimapo, C.; Hills, M.; Hindmarsh, M.; Hivon, E.; Hoang, D. T.; Hooper, D. C.; Hu, B.; Keihänen, E.; Keskitalo, R.; Kiiveri, K.; Kisner, T.; Kitching, T.; Kunz, M.; Kurki-Suonio, H.; Lagache, G.; Lamagna, L.; Lapi, A.; Lasenby, A.; Lattanzi, M.; Le Brun, A. M. C.; Lesgourgues, J.; Liguori, M.; Lindholm, V.; Lizarraga, J.; Luzzi, G.; Macìas-P{érez, J. F.; Maffei, B.; Mandolesi, N.; Martin, S.; Martinez-Gonzalez, E.; Martins, C. J. A. P.; Masi, S.; Massardi, M.; Matarrese, S.; Mazzotta, P.; McCarthy, D.; Melchiorri, A.; Melin, J.-B.; Mennella, A.; Mohr, J.; Molinari, D.; Monfardini, A.; Montier, L.; Natoli, P.; Negrello, M.; Notari, A.; Noviello, F.; Oppizzi, F.; O'Sullivan, C.; Pagano, L.; Paiella, A.; Pajer, E.; Paoletti, D.; Paradiso, S.; Partridge, R. B.; Patanchon, G.; Patil, S. P.; Perdereau, O.; Piacentini, F.; Piat, M.; Pisano, G.; Polastri, L.; Polenta, G.; Pollo, A.; Ponthieu, N.; Poulin, V.; Prêle, D.; Quartin, M.; Ravenni, A.; Remazeilles, M.; Renzi, A.; Ringeval, C.; Roest, D.; Roman, M.; Roukema, B. F.; Rubiño-Martin, J.-A.; Salvati, L.; Scott, D.; Serjeant, S.; Signorelli, G.; Starobinsky, A. A.; Sunyaev, R.; Tan, C. Y.; Tartari, A.; Tasinato, G.; Toffolatti, L.; Tomasi, M.; Torrado, J.; Tramonte, D.; Trappe, N.; Triqueneaux, S.; Tristram, M.; Trombetti, T.; Tucci, M.; Tucker, C.; Urrestilla, J.; Väliviita, J.; Van de Weygaert, R.; Van Tent, B.; Vennin, V.; Verde, L.; Vermeulen, G.; Vielva, P.; Vittorio, N.; Voisin, F.; Wallis, C.; Wandelt, B.; Wehus, I. K.; Weller, J.; Young, K.; Zannoni, M.

    2018-04-01

    Future observations of cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarisation have the potential to answer some of the most fundamental questions of modern physics and cosmology, including: what physical process gave birth to the Universe we see today? What are the dark matter and dark energy that seem to constitute 95% of the energy density of the Universe? Do we need extensions to the standard model of particle physics and fundamental interactions? Is the ΛCDM cosmological scenario correct, or are we missing an essential piece of the puzzle? In this paper, we list the requirements for a future CMB polarisation survey addressing these scientific objectives, and discuss the design drivers of the COREmfive space mission proposed to ESA in answer to the "M5" call for a medium-sized mission. The rationale and options, and the methodologies used to assess the mission's performance, are of interest to other future CMB mission design studies. COREmfive has 19 frequency channels, distributed over a broad frequency range, spanning the 60–600 GHz interval, to control astrophysical foreground emission. The angular resolution ranges from 2' to 18', and the aggregate CMB sensitivity is about 2 μKṡarcmin. The observations are made with a single integrated focal-plane instrument, consisting of an array of 2100 cryogenically-cooled, linearly-polarised detectors at the focus of a 1.2-m aperture cross-Dragone telescope. The mission is designed to minimise all sources of systematic effects, which must be controlled so that no more than 10‑4 of the intensity leaks into polarisation maps, and no more than about 1% of E-type polarisation leaks into B-type modes. COREmfive observes the sky from a large Lissajous orbit around the Sun-Earth L2 point on an orbit that offers stable observing conditions and avoids contamination from sidelobe pick-up of stray radiation originating from the Sun, Earth, and Moon. The entire sky is observed repeatedly during four years of continuous scanning

  13. Planetary Protection Issues in the Human Exploration of Mars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Criswell, Marvin E.; Race, M. S.; Rummel, J. D.; Baker, A.

    2005-01-01

    This workshop report, long delayed, is the first 21st century contribution to what will likely be a series of reports examining the effects of human exploration on the overall scientific study of Mars. The considerations of human-associated microbial contamination were last studied in a 1990 workshop ("Planetary Protection Issues and Future Mars Missions," NASA CP-10086, 1991), but the timing of that workshop allowed neither a careful examination of the full range of issues, nor an appreciation for the Mars that has been revealed by the Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Pathfinder missions. Future workshops will also have the advantage of Mars Odyssey, the Mars Exploration Rover missions, and ESA's Mars Express, but the Pingree Park workshop reported here had both the NCR's (1992) concern that "Missions carrying humans to Mars will contaminate the planet" and over a decade of careful study of human exploration objectives to guide them and to reconcile. A daunting challenge, and one that is not going to be simple (as the working title of this meeting, "When Ecologies Collide?" might suggest), it is clear that the planetary protection issues will have to be addressed to enable human explorers to safely and competently extend out knowledge about Mars, and its potential as a home for life whether martian or human.

  14. From Mars to Media: The Phoenix Mars Mission and the Challenges of Real-Time, Multimedia Science Communication and Public Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buxner, S.; Bitter, C.

    2008-12-01

    Although the Mars Exploration Rovers, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and Mars Odyssey Missions set the standard for science communication and public education about Mars, the Phoenix Mission was presented with robust new communication challenges and opportunities. The new frontier includes Web 2.0, international forums, internal and external blogs, social networking sites, as well as the traditional media and education outlets for communicating science and information. We will explore the highlights and difficulties of managing the 'message from Mars' in our current multimedia saturated world while balancing authentic science discoveries, public expectations, and communication demands. Our goal is to create a more science savvy public and a more communication oriented science community for the future. The key issues are helping the public and our scientists distinguish between information and knowledge and managing the content that connects the two.

  15. The PH-D proposal - A manned mission to PHOBOS and Deimos

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singer, S. F.

    The rationale for a manned mission to the satellites of Mars is discussed. The view has been expressed that NASA must define a major program to follow the Shuttle and to utilize it. However, such a program could not be initiated and proceed without public support, and to obtain this support, public interest would have to be excited. It is shown that, of a number of possible targets for manned exploration in the solar system, Mars appears to be the only possible candidate. Attention is given to a comparison of three Mars missions, a Mars 1984 mission, a manned landing on Mars surface, a manned landing on Phobos and Deimos (Ph-D project), putting men in Mars orbit, the capabilities of the Ph-D mission, a description of the spacecraft, a Ph-D project operations plan, and aspects of timing, technology, and costs.

  16. The JEM-EUSO mission to explore the extreme Universe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kajino, Fumiyoshi

    2010-01-01

    Accommodated on the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) of the International Space Station (ISS), the Extreme Universe Space Observatory JEM-EUSO will utilize the Earth's atmosphere as a giant detector of the extreme energy cosmic rays; the most energetic particles coming from the Universe. Looking downward the Earth from Space, JEM-EUSO will detect such particles by observing the fluorescence and Cherenkov photons produced during their pass in the atmosphere. The main objective of JEM-EUSO is doing astronomy and astrophysics through the particle channel with extreme energies above several times 10 19 eV with a significant statistics beyond the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin (GZK) cut-off. Moreover, JEM-EUSO could observe extremely high energy neutrinos. JEM-EUSO has been designed to operate for more than 3 years onboard the ISS orbiting around the Earth every 90 min at an altitude of about 400 km. JAXA has selected JEM-EUSO as one of the mission candidates of the second phase utilization of JEM/EF for the launch in mid 2010s.

  17. No time for dead time: timing analysis of bright black hole binaries with NuSTAR

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bachetti, Matteo; Harrison, Fiona A.; Cook, Rick

    2015-01-01

    Timing of high-count-rate sources with the NuSTAR Small Explorer Mission requires specialized analysis techniques. NuSTAR was primarily designed for spectroscopic observations of sources with relatively low count rates rather than for timing analysis of bright objects. The instrumental dead time ...... techniques. We apply this technique to NuSTAR observations of the black hole binaries GX 339-4, Cyg X-1, and GRS 1915+105....

  18. Stanford SsTO Mission to Mars: A Realistic, Safe and Cost Effective Approach to Human Mars Exploration Using the Stanford SsTO Launch System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Osborne, Robert D.

    1999-06-01

    In recent years, a lot of time and energy has been spent exploring possible mission scenarios for a human mission to Mars. NASA along with the privately funded Mars Society and a number of universities have come up with many options that could place people on the surface of Mars in a relatively short period of time at a relatively low cost. However, a common theme among all or at least most of these missions is that they require heavy lift vehicles such as the Russian Energia or the NASA proposed Magnum 100MT class vehicle to transport large payloads from the surface of Earth into a staging orbit about Earth. However, there is no current budget or any signs for a future budget to review the Russian Energia, the US made Saturn V, or to design and build a new heavy lift vehicle. However, there is a lot of interest and many companies looking into the possibility of "space planes". These vehicles will have the capability to place a payload into orbit without throwing any parts of the vehicle away. The concept of a space plane is basically that the plane is transported to a given altitude either by it's own power or on the back of another air worthy vehicle before the rocket engines are ignited. From this altitude, a Single Step to Orbit (SsTO) vehicle with a significant payload is possible. This report looks at the possibility of removing the requirement of a heavy lift vehicle by using the Stanford designed Single Step to Orbit.(SsTO) Launch Vehicle. The SsTO would eliminate the need for heavy lift vehicles and actually reduce the cost of the mission because of the very low costs involved with each SSTO launch. Although this scenario may add a small amount of risk assembling transfer vehicles in Earth orbit, it should add no additional risk to the crew.

  19. New Thematic Solar System Exploration Products for Scientists and Educators

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lowes, Lesile; Wessen, Alice; Davis, Phil; Lindstrom, Marilyn

    2004-01-01

    The next several years are an exciting time in the exploration of the solar system. NASA and its international partners have a veritable armada of spaceships heading out to the far reaches of the solar system. We'll send the first spacecraft beyond our solar system into interstellar space. We'll launch our first mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt and just our second to Mercury (the first in 30 years). We'll continue our intensive exploration of Mars and begin our detailed study of Saturn and its moons. We'll visit asteroids and comets and bring home pieces of the Sun and a comet. This is truly an unprecedented period of exploration and discovery! To facilitate access to information and to provide the thematic context for these missions NASA s Solar System Exploration Program and Solar System Exploration Education Forum have developed several products.

  20. Mission Control Operations: Employing a New High Performance Design for Communications Links Supporting Exploration Programs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jackson, Dan E., Jr.

    2015-01-01

    The planetary exploration programs demand a totally new examination of data multiplexing, digital communications protocols and data transmission principles for both ground and spacecraft operations. Highly adaptive communications devices on-board and on the ground must provide the greatest possible transmitted data density between deployed crew personnel, spacecraft and ground control teams. Regarding these requirements, this proposal borrows from research into quantum mechanical computing by applying the concept of a qubit, a single bit that represents 16 states, to radio frequency (RF) communications link design for exploration programs. This concept of placing multiple character values into a single data bit can easily make the evolutionary steps needed to meet exploration mission demands. To move the qubit from the quantum mechanical research laboratory into long distance RF data transmission, this proposal utilizes polarization modulation of the RF carrier signal to represent numbers from zero to fifteen. It introduces the concept of a binary-to-hexadecimal converter that quickly chops any data stream into 16-bit words and connects variously polarized feedhorns to a single-frequency radio transmitter. Further, the concept relies on development of a receiver that uses low-noise amplifiers and an antenna array to quickly assess carrier polarity and perform hexadecimal to binary conversion. Early testbed experiments using the International Space Station (ISS) as an operations laboratory can be implemented to provide the most cost-effective return for research investment. The improvement in signal-to-noise ratio while supporting greater baseband data rates that could be achieved through this concept justifies its consideration for long-distance exploration programs.

  1. Spectroscopy of Exoplanet Atmospheres with the FINESSE Explorer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deroo, Pieter; Swain, Mark R.; Green, Robert O.

    2012-01-01

    FINESSE (Fast INfrared Exoplanet Spectroscopic Survey Explorer) will provide uniquely detailed information on the growing number of newly discovered planets by characterizing their atmospheric composition and temperature structure. This NASA Explorer mission, selected for a competitive Phase A study, is unique in its breath and scope thanks to broad instantaneous spectroscopy from the optical to the mid-IR (0.7 - 5 micron), with a survey of exoplanets measured in a consistent, uniform way. For 200 transiting exoplanets ranging from Terrestrial to Jovians, FINESSE will measure the chemical composition and temperature structure of their atmospheres and trace changes over time with exoplanet longitude. The mission will do so by measuring the spectroscopic time series for a primary and secondary eclipse over the exoplanet orbital phase curve. With spectrophotometric precision being a key enabling aspect for combined light exoplanet characterization, FINESSE is designed to produce spectrophotometric precision of better than 100 parts-per-million per spectral channel without the need for decorrelation. The exceptional stability of FINESSE will even allow the mission to characterize non-transiting planets, potentially as part of FINESSE's Participating Scientist Program. In this paper, we discuss the flow down from the target availability to observations and scheduling to the analysis and calibration of the data and how it enables FINESSE to be the mission that will truly expand the new field of comparative exoplanetology.

  2. CryoSat: ESA's Ice Explorer Mission: status and achievements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parrinello, Tommaso; Mardle, Nicola; Hoyos Ortega, Berta; Bouzinac, Catherine; Badessi, Stefano; Frommknecht, Bjorn; Davidson, Malcolm; Fornari, Marco; Cullen, Robert

    2013-04-01

    CryoSat-2 was launched on the 8th April 2010 and it is the first European ice mission dedicated to monitoring precise changes in the thickness of polar ice sheets and floating sea ice over a 3-year period. Cryosat-2 carries an innovative radar altimeter called the Synthetic Aperture Interferometric Altimeter (SIRAL) with two antennas and with extended capabilities to meet the measurement requirements for ice-sheets elevation and sea-ice freeboard. Experimental evidence have shown that data is of high quality thanks to an altimeter that is behaving exceptional well within its design specifications. In April 2012, the first winter [2010 -2011] sea-ice variation map of the Arctic was released to the scientific community. Scope of this paper is to describe the current mission status and the main scientific achievements in the last twelve months. Topics will also include programmatic highlights and information on accessing Cryosat products following the new ESA Earth Observation Data Policy.

  3. Comparison of Propulsion Options for Human Exploration of Mars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Drake, Bret G.; McGuire, Melissa L.; McCarty, Steven L.

    2018-01-01

    NASA continues to advance plans to extend human presence beyond low-Earth orbit leading to human exploration of Mars. The plans being laid out follow an incremental path, beginning with initial flight tests followed by deployment of a Deep Space Gateway (DSG) in cislunar space. This Gateway, will serve as the initial transportation node for departing and returning Mars spacecraft. Human exploration of Mars represents the next leap for humankind because it will require leaving Earth on a long mission with very limited return, rescue, or resupply capabilities. Although Mars missions are long, approaches and technologies are desired which can reduce the time that the crew is away from Earth. This paper builds off past analyses of NASA's exploration strategy by providing more detail on the performance of alternative in-space transportation options with an emphasis on reducing total mission duration. Key options discussed include advanced chemical, nuclear thermal, nuclear electric, solar electric, as well as an emerging hybrid propulsion system which utilizes a combination of both solar electric and chemical propulsion.

  4. 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.

  5. The scientific objectives of the International Solar Polar Mission

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wenzel, K.-P.

    1980-01-01

    The International Solar Polar Mission (I.S.P.M.), originally known as the Out-of-Ecliptic Mission, will be the first spacecraft mission to explore the third dimension of the heliosphere within a few astronomical units of the Sun and to view the Sun over the full range of heliographic latitudes. Its main objectives are to investigate, as a function of solar latitude, the properties of the interplanetary medium and the solar corona. The I.S.P.M. is a two spacecraft venture jointly conducted by E.S.A. and N.A.S.A. The two spacecraft will be injected into elliptical heliocentric orbits approximately at right angles to the ecliptic plane, by using the Jupiter gravity assist method, one northwards and the other southwards. After passing nearly above the poles of the Sun, each spacecraft crosses the ecliptic plane and passes over the other solar pole. The complete mission time from launch, foreseen for February 1983, to the second polar passage is approximately 42/3 years. This paper summarizes the main scientific objectives of the instruments to be carried on this exploratory mission. It concludes with an outline of the payload, the spacecraft, the trajectory and the mission schedule. (author)

  6. 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

  7. Mission Operations Planning with Preferences: An Empirical Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bresina, John L.; Khatib, Lina; McGann, Conor

    2006-01-01

    This paper presents an empirical study of some nonexhaustive approaches to optimizing preferences within the context of constraint-based, mixed-initiative planning for mission operations. This work is motivated by the experience of deploying and operating the MAPGEN (Mixed-initiative Activity Plan GENerator) system for the Mars Exploration Rover Mission. Responsiveness to the user is one of the important requirements for MAPGEN, hence, the additional computation time needed to optimize preferences must be kept within reasonabble bounds. This was the primary motivation for studying non-exhaustive optimization approaches. The specific goals of rhe empirical study are to assess the impact on solution quality of two greedy heuristics used in MAPGEN and to assess the improvement gained by applying a linear programming optimization technique to the final solution.

  8. Robotic exploration of the solar system

    CERN Document Server

    Ulivi, Paolo

    2008-01-01

    Presents a history of unmanned missions of exploration of our Solar System. This book provides technical descriptions of the spacecraft, of their mission designs and of instrumentations. It discusses scientific results together with details of mission management. It covers missions from the 1950s and some of the other missions and their results.

  9. 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.

  10. Cryosat: ESA'S Ice Explorer Mission, 6 years in operations: status and achievements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parrinello, Tommaso; Maestroni, Elia; Krassenburg, Mike; Badessi, Stefano; Bouffard, Jerome; Frommknecht, Bjorn; Davidson, Malcolm; Fornari, Marco; Scagliola, Michele

    2016-04-01

    CryoSat-2 was launched on the 8th April 2010 and it is the first European ice mission dedicated to monitoring precise changes in the thickness of polar ice sheets and floating sea ice over a 3-year period. CryoSat-2 carries an innovative radar altimeter called the Synthetic Aperture Interferometric Altimeter (SIRAL) with two antennas and with extended capabilities to meet the measurement requirements for ice-sheets elevation and sea-ice freeboard. Initial results have shown that data is of high quality thanks to an altimeter that is behaving exceptional well within its design specifications. The CryoSat mission reached its 6th years of operational life in April 2016. Since its launch has delivered high quality products to the worldwide cryospheric and marine community that is increasing every year. Scope of this paper is to describe the current mission status and its main scientific achievements. Topics will also include programmatic highlights and information on the next scientific development of the mission in its extended period of operations.

  11. Cryosat: ESA'S Ice Explorer Mission. Five years in operations: status and achievements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parrinello, Tommaso; Mardle, Nicola; Krassenburg, Mike; Badessi, Stefano; Bouffard, Jerome; Frommknecht, Bjorn; Fornari, Marco; Scagliola, Michele

    2015-04-01

    CryoSat-2 was launched on the 8th April 2010 and it is the first European ice mission dedicated to monitoring precise changes in the thickness of polar ice sheets and floating sea ice over a 3-year period. CryoSat-2 carries an innovative radar altimeter called the Synthetic Aperture Interferometric Altimeter (SIRAL) with two antennas and with extended capabilities to meet the measurement requirements for ice-sheets elevation and sea-ice freeboard. Initial results have shown that data is of high quality thanks to an altimeter that is behaving exceptional well within its design specifications. The CryoSat mission reached its 5th years of operational life in April 2015. Since its launch has delivered high quality products to the worldwide cryospheric and marine community that is increasing every year. Scope of this paper is to describe the current mission status and the main scientific achievements in the last twelve months. Topics will also include programmatic highlights and information on the next scientific development of the mission in its extended period of operations.

  12. The Sun and Heliosphere Explorer – The Interhelioprobe Mission

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Kuznetsov, V. D.; Zimovets, I.V.; Anufreychik, K.; Bezrukikh, V.; Chulkov, I. V.; Konovalov, A. A.; Kotova, G.A.; Kovrazhkin, R. A.; Moiseenko, D.; Petrukovich, A. A.; Remizov, A.; Shestakov, A.; Skalsky, A.; Vaisberg, O. L.; Verigin, M. I.; Zhuravlev, R. N.; Andreevskyi, S. E.; Dokukin, V. S.; Fomichev, V. V.; Lebedev, N. I.; Obridko, V. N.; Polyanskyi, V. P.; Styazhkin, V. A.; Rudenchik, E. A.; Sinelnikov, V. M.; Zhugzhda, Yu. D.; Ryzhenko, A. P.; Ivanov, A. V.; Simonov, A. V.; Dobrovolskyi, V. S.; Konstantinov, M. S.; Kuzin, S. V.; Bogachev, S. A.; Kholodilov, A. A.; Kirichenko, A. S.; Lavrentiev, E. N.; Reva, A. A.; Shestov, S. V.; Ulyanov, A. S.; Panasyuk, M. I.; Iyudin, A. F.; Svertilov, S. I.; Bogomolov, V. V.; Galkin, V. I.; Marjin, B. V.; Morozov, O. V.; Osedlo, V. I.; Rubinshtein, I. A.; Scherbovsky, B. Ya.; Tulupov, V. I.; Kotov, Yu. D.; Yurov, V. N.; Glyanenko, A. S.; Kochemasov, A. V.; Lupar, E. E.; Rubtsov, I. V.; Trofimov, Yu. A.; Tyshkevich, V. G.; Ulin, S. E.; Novikov, A. S.; Dmitrenko, V. V.; Grachev, V. M.; Stekhanov, V. N.; Vlasik, K. F.; Uteshev, Z. M.; Chernysheva, I. V.; Shustov, A. E.; Petrenko, D. V.; Aptekar, R. L.; Dergachev, V. A.; Golenetskii, S. V.; Gribovskyi, K. S.; Frederiks, D. D.; Kruglov, E. M.; Lazutkov, V. P.; Levedev, V. V.; Oleinik, F. P.; Palshin, V. D.; Repin, A. I.; Savchenko, M. I.; Skorodumov, D. V.; Svinkin, D. S.; Tsvetkova, A. S.; Ulanov, M. V.; Kozhevatov, I. E.; Sylwester, J.; Siarkowski, M.; Bąkała, J.; Szaforz, Ż.; Kowaliński, M.; Dudnik, O. V.; Lavraud, B.; Hruška, František; Kolmašová, Ivana; Santolík, Ondřej; Šimůnek, Jiří; Truhlík, Vladimír; Auster, H.-U.; Hilchenbach, M.; Venedictov, Yu.; Berghofer, G.

    2016-01-01

    Roč. 56, č. 7 (2016), s. 781-841 ISSN 0016-7932 Institutional support: RVO:68378289 Keywords : Sun * heliosphere * Interhelioprobe space mission * solar physics * heliospheric physics * solar-terrestrial relations Subject RIV: BN - Astronomy, Celestial Mechanics, Astrophysics Impact factor: 0.482, year: 2016 http://link.springer.com/article/10.1134/S0016793216070124

  13. Overview of NASA Finesse (Field Investigations to Enable Solar System Science and Exploration) Science and Exploration Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heldmann, J. L.; Lim, D.S.S.; Hughes, S.; Nawotniak, S. Kobs; Garry, B.; Sears, D.; Neish, C.; Osinski, G. R.; Hodges, K.; Downs, M.; hide

    2016-01-01

    NASA's FINESSE (Field Investigations to Enable Solar System Science and Exploration) project was selected as a research team by NASA's Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI). SSERVI is a joint Institute supported by NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD) and Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD). As such, FINESSE is focused on a science and exploration field-based research program to generate strategic knowledge in preparation for human and robotic exploration of other planetary bodies including our Moon, Mars moons Phobos and Deimos, and near-Earth asteroids. FINESSE embodies the philosophy that "science enables exploration and exploration enables science".

  14. The JEM-EUSO Mission to Explore the Extreme Universe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Medina-Tanco, G.

    2012-01-01

    The JEM-EUSO mission will explore the origin of the extreme energy comic-rays (EECRs) above 10 20 eV and and can shed new light on some topics of fundamental physics. It is planned to be launched by a H2B rocket on 2017 and transferred to ISS by the H2 Transfer Vehicle (HTV), where it will be attached to the external experiment platform of KIBO. The super-wide-field of view (60 degrees) telescope, with a diameter of about 2.5m looks down the night-side atmosphere of the Earth from ∼400 km of altitude, to detect near UV photons (330–400nm, both fluorescent and Cherenkov) emitted by giant air-showers produced by EECRs. The instrument is design to observe between 500 and 800 events above 55 EeV in its first 3 yr of operation, as well as an exposure larger than 1 million km 2 str yr at 3×10 20 eV 5 yr after launch. At these energies cosmic rays carry directional information and the arrival direction map will allow the identification of point sources of EECR, in case they exist, and of their astronomical counterparts. The comparison among the energy spectra of the spatially resolved individual sources will clarify the acceleration/emission mechanism, and also probe the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin process for the validation of Lorentz invariance up to γ∼10 11 . Neutral components (neutrinos and gamma rays) can also be detected if their fluxes are high enough. In fact, few cosmogenic neutrinos per year can be expected under conservative assumptions.

  15. The JEM-EUSO Mission to Explore the Extreme Universe

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Medina-Tanco, G. [Departamento de Fisica de Altas Energias, Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, A. P. 70-543, 04510, Mexico, D. F. (Mexico)

    2012-08-15

    The JEM-EUSO mission will explore the origin of the extreme energy comic-rays (EECRs) above 10{sup 20}eV and and can shed new light on some topics of fundamental physics. It is planned to be launched by a H2B rocket on 2017 and transferred to ISS by the H2 Transfer Vehicle (HTV), where it will be attached to the external experiment platform of KIBO. The super-wide-field of view (60 degrees) telescope, with a diameter of about 2.5m looks down the night-side atmosphere of the Earth from {approx}400 km of altitude, to detect near UV photons (330-400nm, both fluorescent and Cherenkov) emitted by giant air-showers produced by EECRs. The instrument is design to observe between 500 and 800 events above 55 EeV in its first 3 yr of operation, as well as an exposure larger than 1 million km{sup 2} str yr at 3 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 20}eV 5 yr after launch. At these energies cosmic rays carry directional information and the arrival direction map will allow the identification of point sources of EECR, in case they exist, and of their astronomical counterparts. The comparison among the energy spectra of the spatially resolved individual sources will clarify the acceleration/emission mechanism, and also probe the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin process for the validation of Lorentz invariance up to {gamma}{approx}10{sup 11}. Neutral components (neutrinos and gamma rays) can also be detected if their fluxes are high enough. In fact, few cosmogenic neutrinos per year can be expected under conservative assumptions.

  16. Development of autonomous multirotor platform for exploration missions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Czyba, Roman; Janik, Marcin; Kurgan, Oliver; Niezabitowski, Michał; Nocoń, Marek

    2016-01-01

    This paper outlines development process of unmanned multirotor aerial vehicle HF-4X, which consists of design and manufacturing semi-autonomous UAV dedicated for indoor flight, which would be capable of stable and controllable mission flight. A micro air vehicle was designed to participate in the International Micro Air Vehicle Conference and Flight Competition. In this paper much attention was paid to the structure of flight control system, stabilization algorithms, analysis of IMU sensors, fusion algorithms.

  17. Development of autonomous multirotor platform for exploration missions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Czyba, Roman; Janik, Marcin; Kurgan, Oliver; Niezabitowski, Michał; Nocoń, Marek

    2016-06-08

    This paper outlines development process of unmanned multirotor aerial vehicle HF-4X, which consists of design and manufacturing semi-autonomous UAV dedicated for indoor flight, which would be capable of stable and controllable mission flight. A micro air vehicle was designed to participate in the International Micro Air Vehicle Conference and Flight Competition. In this paper much attention was paid to the structure of flight control system, stabilization algorithms, analysis of IMU sensors, fusion algorithms.

  18. 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.

  19. Artificial Gravity: Will it Preserve Bone Health on Long-Duration Missions?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davis-Street, Janis; Paloski, William H.

    2005-01-01

    Prolonged microgravity exposure disrupts bone, muscle, and cardiovascular homeostasis, sensory-motor coordination, immune function, and behavioral performance. Bone loss, in particular, remains a serious impediment to the success of exploration-class missions by increasing the risks of bone fracture and renal stone formation for crew members. Current countermeasures, consisting primarily of resistive and aerobic exercise, have not yet proven fully successful for preventing bone loss during long-duration spaceflight. While other bone-specific countermeasures, such as pharmacological therapy and dietary modifications, are under consideration, countermeasure approaches that simultaneously address multiple physiologic systems may be more desirable for exploration-class missions, particularly if they can provide effective protection at reduced mission resource requirements (up-mass, power, crew time, etc). The most robust of the multi-system approaches under consideration, artificial gravity (AG), could prevent all of the microgravity-related physiological changes from occurring. The potential methods for realizing an artificial gravity countermeasure are reviewed, as well as selected animal and human studies evaluating the effects of artificial gravity on bone function. Future plans for the study of the multi-system effects of artificial gravity include a joint, cooperative international effort that will systematically seek an optimal prescription for intermittent AG to preserve bone, muscle, and cardiovascular function in human subjects deconditioned by 6 degree head-down-tilt-bed rest. It is concluded that AG has great promise as a multi-system countermeasure, but that further research is required to determine the appropriate parameters for implementation of such a countermeasure for exploration-class missions.

  20. Robotic exploration of the solar system

    CERN Document Server

    Ulivi, Paolo

    In Robotic Exploration of the Solar System, Paolo Ulivi and David Harland provide a comprehensive account of the design and managment of deep-space missions, the spacecraft involved - some flown, others not - their instruments, and their scientific results. This third volume in the series covers launches in the period 1997 to 2003 and features: - a chapter entirely devoted to the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn; - coverage of planetary missions of the period, including the Deep Space 1 mission and the Stardust and Hayabusa sample returns from comets and asteroids; - extensive coverage of Mars exploration, the failed 1999 missions, Mars Odyssey, Mars Express, and the twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity. The story will continue in Part 4.

  1. Performance deterioration modeling and optimal preventive maintenance strategy under scheduled servicing subject to mission time

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Li Dawei

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available Servicing is applied periodically in practice with the aim of restoring the system state and prolonging the lifetime. It is generally seen as an imperfect maintenance action which has a chief influence on the maintenance strategy. In order to model the maintenance effect of servicing, this study analyzes the deterioration characteristics of system under scheduled servicing. And then the deterioration model is established from the failure mechanism by compound Poisson process. On the basis of the system damage value and failure mechanism, the failure rate refresh factor is proposed to describe the maintenance effect of servicing. A maintenance strategy is developed which combines the benefits of scheduled servicing and preventive maintenance. Then the optimization model is given to determine the optimal servicing period and preventive maintenance time, with an objective to minimize the system expected life-cycle cost per unit time and a constraint on system survival probability for the duration of mission time. Subject to mission time, it can control the ability of accomplishing the mission at any time so as to ensure the high dependability. An example of water pump rotor relating to scheduled servicing is introduced to illustrate the failure rate refresh factor and the proposed maintenance strategy. Compared with traditional methods, the numerical results show that the failure rate refresh factor can describe the maintenance effect of servicing more intuitively and objectively. It also demonstrates that this maintenance strategy can prolong the lifetime, reduce the total lifetime maintenance cost and guarantee the dependability of system.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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; hide

    1994-01-01

    Cometary exploration remains of great importance to virtually all of space science. Because comets are presumed to be remnants of the early solar nebula, they are expected to provide fundamental knowledge as to the origin and development of the solar system as well as to be key to understanding of the source of volatiles and even life itself in the inner solar system. Clearly the time for a detailed study of the composition of these apparent messages from the past has come. A comet rendezvous mission, the Cometary Coma Chemical Composition (C4) Mission, is now being studied as a candidate for the new Discovery program. This mission is a highly-focussed and usefully-limited subset of the Cometary Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby (CRAF) Mission. The C4 mission will concentrate on measurements that will produce an understanding of the composition and physical makeup of a cometary nucleus. The core science goals of the C4 mission are 1) to determine the chemical, elemental, and isotopic composition of a cometary nucleus and 2) to characterize the chemical and isotopic nature of its atmosphere. A related goal is to obtain temporal information about the development of the cometary coma as a function of time and orbital position. The four short-period comets -- Tempel 1, Tempel 2, Churyumov-Gerasimenko, and Wirtanen -which all appear to have acceptable dust production rates, were identified as candidate targets. Mission opportunities have been identified beginning as early as 1998. Tempel I with a launch in 1999, however, remains the baseline comet for studies of and planning the C4 mission. The C4 mission incorporates two science instruments and two engineering instruments in the payload to obtain the desired measurements. The science instruments include an advanced version of the Cometary Ice and Dust Experiment (CIDEX), a mini-CIDEX with a sample collection system, an X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometer and a Pyrolysis-Gas Chromatograph, and a simplified version of the Neutral

  5. Preliminary results of the search for possible Martian landing sites to be considered for future European exploration missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, P.

    2007-08-01

    The recently adopted European Space Policy aims at expanding and coordinating the role and activities of Europe's space actors with the purpose of increasing both scientific knowledge in selected space domains and the European presence in the Solar System, as well as optimising the relevant societal benefits. With our Moon and in particular Mars as primary targets of exploration goals for the Solar System, and following a number of very successful orbital missions performing detailed remote sensing and mapping of these planetary bodies, probe landings on the surface of the Moon and Mars represent the next stepping stone of the exploration of our close planetary environment. Along with developing the hardware capabilities required for Europe to reach such ambitious goals, it therefore becomes increasingly important to pinpoint with precision a number of landing sites well suited for the safety and scientific success of future robotic missions. Focusing on Mars, and although a number of candidate landing sites and associated catalogs with available scientific justification already exist, the results being obtained by orbiters such as Mars Express and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are fundamentally transforming our knowledge of the planet's surface, which in turns highlights the need to review, update and revise the candidate sites for future landing missions on Mars. Detailed investigations of possible future Martian landing sites for European missions are ongoing, based on the wealth of scientific data and high-resolution mapping products available. In order to support the identification of suitable sites, various mapping products (geological, hyperspectral and compositional) can be consolidated, and various areas of Mars identified in the recent scientific literature as primary targets for landing can be taken into account for further, refined assessment of their suitability for landing. Seasonal and climatic effects potentially influencing landing shall also be

  6. TSSM: The in situ exploration of Titan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coustenis, A.; Lunine, J. I.; Lebreton, J. P.; Matson, D.; Reh, K.; Beauchamp, P.; Erd, C.

    2008-09-01

    The Titan Saturn System Mission (TSSM) mission was born when NASA and ESA decided to collaborate on two missions independently selected by each agency: the Titan and Enceladus mission (TandEM), and Titan Explorer, a 2007 Flagship study. TandEM, the Titan and Enceladus mission, was proposed as an L-class (large) mission in response to ESA's Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 Call. The mission concept is to perform remote and in situ investigations of Titan primarily, but also of Enceladus and Saturn's magentosphere. The two satellites are 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. TSSM will study Titan as a system, including its upper atmosphere, the interactions with the magnetosphere, the neutral atmosphere, surface, interior, origin and evolution, as well as the astrobiological potential of Titan. It 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 for Titan, several close flybys of Enceladus). One overarching goal of the TSSM mission is to explore in situ the atmosphere and surface of Titan. In the current mission architecture, TSSM consists of an orbiter (under NASA's responsibility) with a large host of instruments which would perform several Enceladus and Titan flybys before stabilizing in an orbit around Titan alone, therein delivering in situ elements (a Montgolfière, or hot air balloon, and a probe/lander). The latter are being studied by ESA. The balloon will circumnavigate Titan above the equator at an altitude of about 10 km for several months. The

  7. Assessing and Promoting Functional Resilience in Flight Crews During Exploration Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shelhamer, M.

    2015-01-01

    The NASA Human Research Program works to mitigate risks to health and performance on extended missions. However, research should be directed not only to mitigating known risks, but also to providing crews with tools to assess and enhance resilience, as a group and individually. We can draw on ideas from complexity theory to assess resilience. The entire crew or the individual crewmember can be viewed as a complex system composed of subsystems; the interactions between subsystems are of crucial importance. Understanding the interactions can provide important information even in the absence of complete information on the component subsystems. Enabled by advances in noninvasive measurement of physiological and behavioral parameters, subsystem monitoring can be implemented within a mission and during training to establish baselines. Coupled with mathematical modeling, this can provide assessment of health and function. Since the web of physiological systems (and crewmembers) can be interpreted as a network in mathematical terms, we can draw on recent work that relates the structure of such networks to their resilience (ability to self-organize in the face of perturbation). Some of the many parameters and interactions to choose from include: sleep cycles, coordination of work and meal times, cardiorespiratory rhythms, circadian rhythms and body temperature, stress markers and cognition, sleep and performance, immune function and nutritional status. Tools for resilience are then the means to measure and analyze these parameters, incorporate them into models of normal variability and interconnectedness, and recognize when parameters or their couplings are outside of normal limits.

  8. 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.

  9. 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.

  10. Human Assisted Robotic Vehicle Studies - A conceptual end-to-end mission architecture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lehner, B. A. E.; Mazzotta, D. G.; Teeney, L.; Spina, F.; Filosa, A.; Pou, A. Canals; Schlechten, J.; Campbell, S.; Soriano, P. López

    2017-11-01

    With current space exploration roadmaps indicating the Moon as a proving ground on the way to human exploration of Mars, it is clear that human-robotic partnerships will play a key role for successful future human space missions. This paper details a conceptual end-to-end architecture for an exploration mission in cis-lunar space with a focus on human-robot interactions, called Human Assisted Robotic Vehicle Studies (HARVeSt). HARVeSt will build on knowledge of plant growth in space gained from experiments on-board the ISS and test the first growth of plants on the Moon. A planned deep space habitat will be utilised as the base of operations for human-robotic elements of the mission. The mission will serve as a technology demonstrator not only for autonomous tele-operations in cis-lunar space but also for key enabling technologies for future human surface missions. The successful approach of the ISS will be built on in this mission with international cooperation. Mission assets such as a modular rover will allow for an extendable mission and to scout and prepare the area for the start of an international Moon Village.

  11. The new Planetary Science Archive: A tool for exploration and discovery of scientific datasets from ESA's planetary missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heather, David

    2016-07-01

    Introduction: The Planetary Science Archive (PSA) is the European Space Agency's (ESA) repository of science data from all planetary science and exploration missions. The PSA provides access to scientific datasets through various interfaces (e.g. FTP browser, Map based, Advanced search, and Machine interface): http://archives.esac.esa.int/psa All datasets are scientifically peer-reviewed by independent scientists, and are compliant with the Planetary Data System (PDS) standards. Updating the PSA: The PSA is currently implementing a number of significant changes, both to its web-based interface to the scientific community, and to its database structure. The new PSA will be up-to-date with versions 3 and 4 of the PDS standards, as PDS4 will be used for ESA's upcoming ExoMars and BepiColombo missions. The newly designed PSA homepage will provide direct access to scientific datasets via a text search for targets or missions. This will significantly reduce the complexity for users to find their data and will promote one-click access to the datasets. Additionally, the homepage will provide direct access to advanced views and searches of the datasets. Users will have direct access to documentation, information and tools that are relevant to the scientific use of the dataset, including ancillary datasets, Software Interface Specification (SIS) documents, and any tools/help that the PSA team can provide. A login mechanism will provide additional functionalities to the users to aid / ease their searches (e.g. saving queries, managing default views). Queries to the PSA database will be possible either via the homepage (for simple searches of missions or targets), or through a filter menu for more tailored queries. The filter menu will offer multiple options to search for a particular dataset or product, and will manage queries for both in-situ and remote sensing instruments. Parameters such as start-time, phase angle, and heliocentric distance will be emphasized. A further

  12. Thermosphere-ionosphere-mesosphere energetics and dynamics (TIMED). The TIMED mission and science program report of the science definition team. Volume 1: Executive summary

    Science.gov (United States)

    1991-01-01

    A Science Definition Team was established in December 1990 by the Space Physics Division, NASA, to develop a satellite program to conduct research on the energetics, dynamics, and chemistry of the mesosphere and lower thermosphere/ionosphere. This two-volume publication describes the TIMED (Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Mesosphere, Energetics and Dynamics) mission and associated science program. The report outlines the scientific objectives of the mission, the program requirements, and the approach towards meeting these requirements.

  13. Integrating and Visualizing Tropical Cyclone Data Using the Real Time Mission Monitor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goodman, H. Michael; Blakeslee, Richard; Conover, Helen; Hall, John; He, Yubin; Regner, Kathryn

    2009-01-01

    The Real Time Mission Monitor (RTMM) is a visualization and information system that fuses multiple Earth science data sources, to enable real time decision-making for airborne and ground validation experiments. Developed at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, RTMM is a situational awareness, decision-support system that integrates satellite imagery, radar, surface and airborne instrument data sets, model output parameters, lightning location observations, aircraft navigation data, soundings, and other applicable Earth science data sets. The integration and delivery of this information is made possible using data acquisition systems, network communication links, network server resources, and visualizations through the Google Earth virtual globe application. RTMM is extremely valuable for optimizing individual Earth science airborne field experiments. Flight planners, scientists, and managers appreciate the contributions that RTMM makes to their flight projects. A broad spectrum of interdisciplinary scientists used RTMM during field campaigns including the hurricane-focused 2006 NASA African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses (NAMMA), 2007 NOAA-NASA Aerosonde Hurricane Noel flight, 2007 Tropical Composition, Cloud, and Climate Coupling (TC4), plus a soil moisture (SMAP-VEX) and two arctic research experiments (ARCTAS) in 2008. Improving and evolving RTMM is a continuous process. RTMM recently integrated the Waypoint Planning Tool, a Java-based application that enables aircraft mission scientists to easily develop a pre-mission flight plan through an interactive point-and-click interface. Individual flight legs are automatically calculated "on the fly". The resultant flight plan is then immediately posted to the Google Earth-based RTMM for interested scientists to view the planned flight track and subsequently compare it to the actual real time flight progress. We are planning additional capabilities to RTMM including collaborations with the Jet Propulsion

  14. 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.

  15. Transmission Grating and Optics Technology Development for the Arcus Explorer Mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heilmann, Ralf; Arcus Team

    2018-01-01

    Arcus is a high-resolution x-ray spectroscopy MIDEX mission selected for a Phase A concept study. It is designed to explore structure formation through measurements of hot baryon distributions, feedback from black holes, and the formation and evolution of stars, disks, and exoplanet atmospheres. The design provides unprecedented sensitivity in the 1.2-5 nm wavelength band with effective area above 450 sqcm and spectral resolution R > 2500. The Arcus technology is based on 12 m-focal length silicon pore optics (SPO) developed for the European Athena mission, and critical-angle transmission (CAT) x-ray diffraction gratings and x-ray CCDs developed at MIT. The modular design consists of four parallel channels, each channel holding an optics petal, followed by a grating petal. CAT gratings are lightweight, alignment insensitive, high-efficiency x-ray transmission gratings that blaze into high diffraction orders, leading to high spectral resolution. Each optics petal represents an azimuthal sub-aperture of a full Wolter optic. The sub-aperturing effect increases spectral resolving power further. Two CCD readout strips receive photons from each channel, including higher-energy photons in 0th order. Each optics petal holds 34 SPO modules. Each grating petal holds 34 grating windows, and each window holds 4-6 grating facets. A grating facet consists of a silicon grating membrane, bonded to a flexure frame that interfaces with the grating window. We report on a sequence of tests with increasing complexity that systematically increase the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) for the combination of CAT gratings and SPOs towards TLR 6. CAT gratings have been evaluated in x rays for diffraction efficiency (> 30% at 2.5 nm) and for resolving power (R> 10,000). A CAT grating/SPO combination was measured at R ~ 3100 at blaze angles smaller than design values, exceeding Arcus requirements. Efficiency and resolving power were not impacted by vibration and thermal testing of gratings. A

  16. Exploitation and exploration dynamics in recessionary times

    OpenAIRE

    Walrave, B.

    2012-01-01

    Firm performance largely depends on the ability to adapt to, and exploit, changes in the business environment. That is, firms should maintain ecological fitness by reconfiguring their resource base to cope with emerging threats and explore new opportunities, while at the same time exploiting existing resources. As such, firms possessing the ability to simultaneously perform exploitative and explorative initiatives are more resilient. In this respect, the performance implications of balancing ...

  17. Ice Dragon: A Mission to Address Science and Human Exploration Objectives on Mars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stoker, Carol R.; Davila, A.; Sanders, G.; Glass, Brian; Gonzales, A.; Heldmann, Jennifer; Karcz, J.; Lemke, L.; Sanders, G.

    2012-01-01

    We present a mission concept where a SpaceX Dragon capsule lands a payload on Mars that samples ground ice to search for evidence of life, assess hazards to future human missions, and demonstrate use of Martian resources.

  18. Nuclear electric propulsion: A better, safer, cheaper transportation system for human exploration of Mars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Clark, J.S.; George, J.A.; Gefert, L.P.; Doherty, M.P.; Sefcik, R.J.

    1994-03-01

    NASA has completed a preliminary mission and systems study of nuclear electric propulsion (NEP) systems for 'split-sprint' human exploration and related robotic cargo missions to Mars. This paper describes the study, the mission architecture selected, the NEP system and technology development needs, proposed development schedules, and estimated development costs. Since current administration policy makers have delayed funding for key technology development activities that could make Mars exploration missions a reality in the near future, NASA will have time to evaluate various alternate mission options, and it appears prudent to ensure that Mars mission plans focus on astronaut and mission safety, while reducing costs to acceptable levels. The split-sprint nuclear electric propulsion system offers trip times comparable to nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) systems, while providing mission abort opportunities that are not possible with 'reference' mission architectures. Thus, NEP systems offer short transit times for the astronauts, reducing the exposure of the crew to intergalactic cosmic radiation. The high specific impulse of the NEP system, which leads to very low propellant requirements, results in significantly lower 'initial mass in low earth orbit' (IMLEO). Launch vehicle packaging studies show that the NEP system can be launched, assembled, and deployed, with about one less 240-metric-ton heavy lift launch vehicle (HLLV) per mission opportunity - a very Technology development cost of the nuclear reactor for an NEP system would be shared with the proposed nuclear surface power systems, since nuclear systems will be required to provide substantial electrical power on the surface of Mars. The NEP development project plan proposed includes evolutionary technology development for nuclear electric propulsion systems that expands upon SP-100 (Space Power - 100 kw(e)) technology that has been developed for lunar and Mars surface nuclear power

  19. Computer graphics aid mission operations. [NASA missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jeletic, James F.

    1990-01-01

    The application of computer graphics techniques in NASA space missions is reviewed. Telemetric monitoring of the Space Shuttle and its components is discussed, noting the use of computer graphics for real-time visualization problems in the retrieval and repair of the Solar Maximum Mission. The use of the world map display for determining a spacecraft's location above the earth and the problem of verifying the relative position and orientation of spacecraft to celestial bodies are examined. The Flight Dynamics/STS Three-dimensional Monitoring System and the Trajectroy Computations and Orbital Products System world map display are described, emphasizing Space Shuttle applications. Also, consideration is given to the development of monitoring systems such as the Shuttle Payloads Mission Monitoring System and the Attitude Heads-Up Display and the use of the NASA-Goddard Two-dimensional Graphics Monitoring System during Shuttle missions and to support the Hubble Space Telescope.

  20. 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.

  1. Science Parametrics for Missions to Search for Earth-like Exoplanets by Direct Imaging

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Robert A.

    2015-01-01

    We use Nt , the number of exoplanets observed in time t, as a science metric to study direct-search missions like Terrestrial Planet Finder. In our model, N has 27 parameters, divided into three categories: 2 astronomical, 7 instrumental, and 18 science-operational. For various "27-vectors" of those parameters chosen to explore parameter space, we compute design reference missions to estimate Nt . Our treatment includes the recovery of completeness c after a search observation, for revisits, solar and antisolar avoidance, observational overhead, and follow-on spectroscopy. Our baseline 27-vector has aperture D = 16 m, inner working angle IWA = 0.039'', mission time t = 0-5 yr, occurrence probability for Earth-like exoplanets η = 0.2, and typical values for the remaining 23 parameters. For the baseline case, a typical five-year design reference mission has an input catalog of ~4700 stars with nonzero completeness, ~1300 unique stars observed in ~2600 observations, of which ~1300 are revisits, and it produces N 1 ~ 50 exoplanets after one year and N 5 ~ 130 after five years. We explore offsets from the baseline for 10 parameters. We find that N depends strongly on IWA and only weakly on D. It also depends only weakly on zodiacal light for Z end-to-end efficiency for h > 0.2, and scattered starlight for ζ revisits, solar and antisolar avoidance, and follow-on spectroscopy are all important factors in estimating N.

  2. Cooperation and dialogical modeling for designing a safe Human space exploration mission to Mars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grès, Stéphane; Tognini, Michel; Le Cardinal, Gilles; Zalila, Zyed; Gueydan, Guillaume

    2014-11-01

    This paper proposes an approach for a complex and innovative project requiring international contributions from different communities of knowledge and expertise. Designing a safe and reliable architecture for a manned mission to Mars or the Asteroids necessitates strong cooperation during the early stages of design to prevent and reduce risks for the astronauts at each step of the mission. The stake during design is to deal with the contradictions, antagonisms and paradoxes of the involved partners for the definition and modeling of a shared project of reference. As we see in our research which analyses the cognitive and social aspects of technological risks in major accidents, in such a project, the complexity of the global organization (during design and use) and the integration of a wide and varie d range of sciences and innovative technologies is likely to increase systemic risks as follows: human and cultural mistakes, potential defaults, failures and accidents. We identify as the main danger antiquated centralized models of organization and the operational limits of interdisciplinarity in the sciences. Beyond this, we can see that we need to take carefully into account human cooperation and the quality of relations between heterogeneous partners. Designing an open, self-learning and reliable exploration system able to self-adapt in dangerous and unforeseen situations implies a collective networked intelligence led by a safe process that organizes interaction between the actors and the aims of the project. Our work, supported by the CNES (French Space Agency), proposes an innovative approach to the coordination of a complex project.

  3. 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.

  4. An agent-oriented approach to automated mission operations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Truszkowski, Walt; Odubiyi, Jide

    1994-01-01

    As we plan for the next generation of Mission Operations Control Center (MOCC) systems, there are many opportunities for the increased utilization of innovative knowledge-based technologies. The innovative technology discussed is an advanced use of agent-oriented approaches to the automation of mission operations. The paper presents an overview of this technology and discusses applied operational scenarios currently being investigated and prototyped. A major focus of the current work is the development of a simple user mechanism that would empower operations staff members to create, in real time, software agents to assist them in common, labor intensive operations tasks. These operational tasks would include: handling routine data and information management functions; amplifying the capabilities of a spacecraft analyst/operator to rapidly identify, analyze, and correct spacecraft anomalies by correlating complex data/information sets and filtering error messages; improving routine monitoring and trend analysis by detecting common failure signatures; and serving as a sentinel for spacecraft changes during critical maneuvers enhancing the system's capabilities to support nonroutine operational conditions with minimum additional staff. An agent-based testbed is under development. This testbed will allow us to: (1) more clearly understand the intricacies of applying agent-based technology in support of the advanced automation of mission operations and (2) access the full set of benefits that can be realized by the proper application of agent-oriented technology in a mission operations environment. The testbed under development addresses some of the data management and report generation functions for the Explorer Platform (EP)/Extreme UltraViolet Explorer (EUVE) Flight Operations Team (FOT). We present an overview of agent-oriented technology and a detailed report on the operation's concept for the testbed.

  5. Exploration Laboratory Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krihak, M.; Ronzano, K.; Shaw, T.

    2016-01-01

    The Exploration Laboratory Analysis (ELA) project supports the Exploration Medical Capability (ExMC) risk to minimize or reduce the risk of adverse health outcomes and decrements in performance due to in-flight medical capabilities on human exploration missions. To mitigate this risk, the availability of inflight laboratory analysis instrumentation has been identified as an essential capability for manned exploration missions. Since a single, compact space-ready laboratory analysis capability to perform all exploration clinical measurements is not commercially available, the ELA project objective is to demonstrate the feasibility of emerging operational and analytical capability as a biomedical diagnostics precursor to long duration manned exploration missions. The initial step towards ground and flight demonstrations in fiscal year (FY) 2015 was the down selection of platform technologies for demonstrations in the space environment. The technologies selected included two Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) performers: DNA Medicine Institutes rHEALTH X and Intelligent Optical Systems later flow assays combined with Holomics smartphone analyzer. The selection of these technologies were based on their compact size, breadth of analytical capability and favorable ability to process fluids in a space environment, among several factors. These two technologies will be advanced to meet ground and flight demonstration success criteria and requirements that will be finalized in FY16. Also, the down selected performers will continue the technology development phase towards meeting prototype deliverables in either late 2016 or 2017.

  6. Lunar Polar In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) as a Stepping Stone for Human Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sanders, Gerald B.

    2013-01-01

    A major emphasis of NASA is to extend and expand human exploration across the solar system. While specific destinations are still being discussed as to what comes first, it is imperative that NASA create new technologies and approaches that make space exploration affordable and sustainable. Critical to achieving affordable and sustainable exploration beyond low Earth orbit (LEO) are the development of technologies and approaches for advanced robotics, power, propulsion, habitats, life support, and especially, space resource utilization systems. Space resources and how to use them, often called In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU), can have a tremendous beneficial impact on robotic and human exploration of the Moon, Mars, Phobos, and Near Earth Objects (NEOs), while at the same time helping to solve terrestrial challenges and enabling commercial space activities. The search for lunar resources, demonstration of extraterrestrial mining, and the utilization of resource-derived products, especially from polar volatiles, can be a stepping stone for subsequent human exploration missions to other destinations of interest due to the proximity of the Moon, complimentary environments and resources, and the demonstration of critical technologies, processes, and operations. ISRU and the Moon: There are four main areas of development interest with respect to finding, obtaining, extracting, and using space resources: Prospecting for resources, Production of mission critical consumables like propellants and life support gases, Civil engineering and construction, and Energy production, storage, and transfer. The search for potential resources and the production of mission critical consumables are the primary focus of current NASA technology and system development activities since they provide the greatest initial reduction in mission mass, cost, and risk. Because of the proximity of the Moon, understanding lunar resources and developing, demonstrating, and implementing lunar ISRU

  7. IXPE - The Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramsey, Brian

    2014-01-01

    The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) is a Small Explorer Mission that will be proposed in response to NASA's upcoming Announcement of Opportunity. IXPE will transform our understanding of the most energetic and exotic astrophysical objects, especially neutron stars and black holes, by measuring the linear polarization of astronomical objects as a function of energy, time and, where relevant, position. As the first dedicated polarimetry observatory IXPE will add a new dimension to the study of cosmic sources, enlarging the observational phase space and providing answers to fundamental questions. IXPE will feature x-ray optics fabricated at NASA/MSFC and gas pixel focal plane detectors provided by team members in Italy (INAF and INFN). This presentation will give an overview of the proposed IXPE mission, detailing the payload configuration, the expected sensitivity, and a typical observing program.

  8. Moon manned missions radiation safety analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tripathi, R. K.; Wilson, J. W.; de Anlelis, G.; Badavi, F. F.

    An analysis is performed on the radiation environment found on the surface of the Moon, and applied to different possible lunar base mission scenarios. An optimization technique has been used to obtain mission scenarios minimizing the astronaut radiation exposure and at the same time controlling the effect of shielding, in terms of mass addition and material choice, as a mission cost driver. The optimization process has been realized through minimization of mass along all phases of a mission scenario, in terms of time frame (dates, transfer time length and trajectory, radiation environment), equipment (vehicles, in terms of shape, volume, onboard material choice, size and structure), location (if in space, on the surface, inside or outside a certain habitats), crew characteristics (number, gender, age, tasks) and performance required (spacecraft and habitat volumes), radiation exposure annual and career limit constraint (from NCRP 132), and implementation of the ALARA principle (shelter from the occurrence of Solar Particle Events). On the lunar surface the most important contribution to radiation exposure is given by background Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCR) particles, mostly protons, alpha particles, and some heavy ions, and by locally induced particles, mostly neutrons, created by the interaction between GCR and surface material and emerging from below the surface due to backscattering processes. In this environment manned habitats are to host future crews involved in the construction and/or in the utilization of moon based infrastructure. Three different kinds of lunar missions are considered in the analysis, Moon Base Construction Phase, during which astronauts are on the surface just to build an outpost for future resident crews, Moon Base Outpost Phase, during which astronaut crews are resident but continuing exploration and installation activities, and Moon Base Routine Phase, with long-term shifting resident crews. In each scenario various kinds of habitats

  9. 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...

  10. Exploration Technology Program plans and directions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aldrich, A.; Rosen, R.; Craig, M.; Mankins, J. C.

    During the first part of the next century, the United States will return to the Moon to create a permanent lunar base, and, before the year 2019, we will send a human mission to Mars. In addition to these human operations, the Space Exploration Initiative will integrally incorporate robotic lunar and Mars missions. In achieving these efforts to expand human presence and activity in space and also exerted and frontiers of human knowledge, the SEI will require an array of new technologies. Mission architecture definition is still underway, but previous studies indicate that the SEI will require developments in areas such as advanced engines for space transportation, in-space assembly and construction to support permanent basing of exploration systems in space, and advanced surface operations capabilities including adequate levels of power and surface roving vehicles, and technologies to support safely long-duration human operations in space. Plans are now being put into place to implement an Exploration Technology Program (ETP) which will develop the major technologies needed for SEI. In close coordination with other ongoing U.S. government research and development efforts, the ETP will provide in the near term clear demonstrations of potential exploration technologies, research results to support SEI architecture decisions, and a foundation of mature technology that is ready to be applied in the first round of SEI missions. In addition to the technology needed for the first round of SEI missions, the ETP will also put in place a foundation of research for longer-term technology needs—ultimately leading the human missions to Mars. The Space Exploration Initiative and the Exploration Technology Program will challenge the best and the brightest minds across government, industry and academia, inspiring students of all ages and making possible future terrestial applications of SEI technologies that may create whole new industries for the future.

  11. 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.

  12. Cryosat: ESA's ice Explorer Mission. 7 years in operations: status and future outlook

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parrinello, Tommaso

    2017-04-01

    CryoSat-2 was launched on the 8th April 2010 and it is the first European ice mission dedicated to monitoring precise changes in the thickness of polar ice sheets and floating sea ice over a 3-year period. CryoSat-2 carries an innovative radar altimeter called the Synthetic Aperture Interferometric Altimeter (SIRAL) with two antennas and with extended capabilities to meet the measurement requirements for ice-sheets elevation and sea-ice freeboard. Initial results have shown that data is of high quality thanks to an altimeter that is behaving exceptional well within its design specifications. Since its launch, CryoSat data has been used by different scientific communities on a number of Earth Science topics also beyond its prime mission objectives, cryosphere. Scope of this paper is to describe the current mission status and provide programmatic highlights and information on the next development of the mission in its extended period of operations (2017-2019).

  13. The Mars Astrobiology Explorer-Cacher (MAX-C): a potential rover mission for 2018. Final report of the Mars Mid-Range Rover Science Analysis Group (MRR-SAG) October 14, 2009.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-03-01

    This report documents the work of the Mid-Range Rover Science Analysis Group (MRR-SAG), which was assigned to formulate a concept for a potential rover mission that could be launched to Mars in 2018. Based on programmatic and engineering considerations as of April 2009, our deliberations assumed that the potential mission would use the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) sky-crane landing system and include a single solar-powered rover. The mission would also have a targeting accuracy of approximately 7 km (semimajor axis landing ellipse), a mobility range of at least 10 km, and a lifetime on the martian surface of at least 1 Earth year. An additional key consideration, given recently declining budgets and cost growth issues with MSL, is that the proposed rover must have lower cost and cost risk than those of MSL--this is an essential consideration for the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG). The MRR-SAG was asked to formulate a mission concept that would address two general objectives: (1) conduct high priority in situ science and (2) make concrete steps toward the potential return of samples to Earth. The proposed means of achieving these two goals while balancing the trade-offs between them are described here in detail. We propose the name Mars Astrobiology Explorer-Cacher(MAX-C) to reflect the dual purpose of this potential 2018 rover mission.

  14. 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.

  15. 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.

  16. CE-4 Mission and Future Journey to Lunar

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zou, Yongliao; Wang, Qin; Liu, Xiaoqun

    2016-07-01

    Chang'E-4 mission, being undertaken by phase two of China Lunar Exploration Program, represents China's first attempt to explore farside of lunar surface. Its probe includes a lander, a rover and a telecommunication relay which is scheduled to launch in around 2018. The scientific objectives of CE-4 mission will be implemented to investigate the lunar regional geological characteristics of landing and roving area, and also will make the first radio-astronomy measurements from the most radio-quiet region of near-earth space. The rover will opreate for at least 3 months, the lander for half a year, and the relay for no less than 3 years. Its scinetific instruments includes Cameras, infrared imaging spectrometer, Penetrating Radar onboard the rover in which is the same as the paylads on board the CE-3 rover, and a Dust-analyzer, a Temperature-instrument and a Wide Band Low Frequency Digital Radio Astronomical Station will be installed on board the lander. Our scientific goals of the future lunar exploration will aim at the lunar geology, resources and surface environments. A series of exploraion missions such as robotic exploration and non-manned lunar scientific station is proposed in this paper.

  17. Advanced concept for a crewed mission to the martian moons

    Science.gov (United States)

    Conte, Davide; Di Carlo, Marilena; Budzyń, Dorota; Burgoyne, Hayden; Fries, Dan; Grulich, Maria; Heizmann, Sören; Jethani, Henna; Lapôtre, Mathieu; Roos, Tobias; Castillo, Encarnación Serrano; Schermann, Marcel; Vieceli, Rhiannon; Wilson, Lee; Wynard, Christopher

    2017-10-01

    This paper presents the conceptual design of the IMaGInE (Innovative Mars Global International Exploration) Mission. The mission's objectives are to deliver a crew of four astronauts to the surface of Deimos and perform a robotic exploration mission to Phobos. Over the course of the 343 day mission during the years 2031 and 2032, the crew will perform surface excursions, technology demonstrations, In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) of the Martian moons, as well as site reconnaissance for future human exploration of Mars. This mission design makes use of an innovative hybrid propulsion concept (chemical and electric) to deliver a relatively low-mass reusable crewed spacecraft (approximately 100 mt) to cis-martian space. The crew makes use of torpor which minimizes launch payload mass. Green technologies are proposed as a stepping stone towards minimum environmental impact space access. The usage of beamed energy to power a grid of decentralized science stations is introduced, allowing for large scale characterization of the Martian environment. The low-thrust outbound and inbound trajectories are computed through the use of a direct method and a multiple shooting algorithm that considers various thrust and coast sequences to arrive at the final body with zero relative velocity. It is shown that the entire mission is rooted within the current NASA technology roadmap, ongoing scientific investments and feasible with an extrapolated NASA Budget. The presented mission won the 2016 Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts - Academic Linkage (RASC-AL) competition.

  18. Exploring with PAM: Prospecting ANTS Missions for Solar System Surveys

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clark, P. E.; Rilee, M. L.; Curtis, S. A.

    2003-01-01

    ANTS (Autonomous Nano-Technology Swarm), a large (1000 member) swarm of nano to picoclass (10 to 1 kg) totally autonomous spacecraft, are being developed as a NASA advanced mission concept. ANTS, based on a hierarchical insect social order, use an evolvable, self-similar, hierarchical neural system in which individual spacecraft represent the highest level nodes. ANTS uses swarm intelligence attained through collective, cooperative interactions of the nodes at all levels of the system. At the highest levels this can take the form of cooperative, collective behavior among the individual spacecraft in a very large constellation. The ANTS neural architecture is designed for totally autonomous operation of complex systems including spacecraft constellations. The ANTS (Autonomous Nano Technology Swarm) concept has a number of possible applications. A version of ANTS designed for surveying and determining the resource potential of the asteroid belt, called PAM (Prospecting ANTS Mission), is examined here.

  19. New Age for Lunar Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taylor, G. J.; Martel, L. M. V.

    2018-04-01

    Lunar-focused research and plans to return to the lunar surface for science and exploration have reemerged since the Space Policy Directive-1 of December 11, 2017 amended the National Space Policy to include the following, "Lead an innovative and sustainable program of exploration with commercial and international partners to enable human expansion across the solar system and to bring back to Earth new knowledge and opportunities. Beginning with missions beyond low-Earth orbit, the United States will lead the return of humans to the Moon for long-term exploration and utilization, followed by human missions to Mars and other destinations." In response to this revision, NASA proposes a Lunar Exploration and Discovery Program in the U.S. fiscal year 2019 Budget Request. It supports NASA's interests in commercial and international partnerships in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO), long-term exploration in Cislunar space beyond LEO, and research and exploration conducted on the Moon to inform future crewed missions, even to destinations beyond the Moon. (Cislunar refers to the volume of space between LEO and the Moon's orbital distance.) The lunar campaign strengthens the integration of human and robotic activities on the lunar surface with NASA's science, technology, and exploration goals.

  20. In-Situ Resource Utilization for Space Exploration: Resource Processing, Mission-Enabling Technologies, and Lessons for Sustainability on Earth and Beyond

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hepp, A. F.; Palaszewski, B. A.; Landis, G. A.; Jaworske, D. A.; Colozza, A. J.; Kulis, M. J.; Heller, R. S.

    2015-01-01

    As humanity begins to reach out into the solar system, it has become apparent that supporting a human or robotic presence in transit andor on station requires significant expendable resources including consumables (to support people), fuel, and convenient reliable power. Transporting all necessary expendables is inefficient, inconvenient, costly, and, in the final analysis, a complicating factor for mission planners and a significant source of potential failure modes. Over the past twenty-five years, beginning with the Space Exploration Initiative, researchers at the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC), academic collaborators, and industrial partners have analyzed, researched, and developed successful solutions for the challenges posed by surviving and even thriving in the resource limited environment(s) presented by near-Earth space and non-terrestrial surface operations. In this retrospective paper, we highlight the efforts of the co-authors in resource simulation and utilization, materials processing and consumable(s) production, power systems and analysis, fuel storage and handling, propulsion systems, and mission operations. As we move forward in our quest to explore space using a resource-optimized approach, it is worthwhile to consider lessons learned relative to efficient utilization of the (comparatively) abundant natural resources and improving the sustainability (and environment) for life on Earth. We reconsider Lunar (and briefly Martian) resource utilization for potential colonization, and discuss next steps moving away from Earth.

  1. Titan Exploration Using a Radioisotopically-Heated Montgolfiere Balloon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elliott, John O.; Reh, Kim; Spilker, Tom

    2007-01-01

    This paper describes results of a recent Titan exploration mission study; one which includes an aerial vehicle in the form of a hot air balloon, or montgolfiere. Unlike terrestrial montgolfieres which require burning fuel, the dual use of MMRTGs to provide a continuous source of heat as well as electrical power would give the balloon an inherent ability to float for a very long time in the atmosphere of Titan. It would ride with the easterly winds at a cruising altitude of about 10,000 km, occasionally changing altitude to take advantage of possible reverse wind directions and even descending to the surface to physically sample sites of interest. Seasonal and tidal north-south winds would allow the mission to explore different latitudes, which Cassini data have shown to be amazingly diverse in geologic nature. Communication from the aerial vehicle would be relayed through an accompanying orbiter spacecraft, as well as transmitted directly to Earth, providing the potential for data return from Titan's surface equivalent to that provided by many comparable orbiter missions at much closer destinations.

  2. Human Exploration Science Office (KX) Overview

    Science.gov (United States)

    Calhoun, Tracy A.

    2014-01-01

    The Human Exploration Science Office supports human spaceflight, conducts research, and develops technology in the areas of space orbital debris, hypervelocity impact technology, image science and analysis, remote sensing, imagery integration, and human and robotic exploration science. NASA's Orbital Debris Program Office (ODPO) resides in the Human Exploration Science Office. ODPO provides leadership in orbital debris research and the development of national and international space policy on orbital debris. The office is recognized internationally for its measurement and modeling of the debris environment. It takes the lead in developing technical consensus across U.S. agencies and other space agencies on debris mitigation measures to protect users of the orbital environment. The Hypervelocity Impact Technology (HVIT) project evaluates the risks to spacecraft posed by micrometeoroid and orbital debris (MMOD). HVIT facilities at JSC and White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) use light gas guns, diagnostic tools, and high-speed imagery to quantify the response of spacecraft materials to MMOD impacts. Impact tests, with debris environment data provided by ODPO, are used by HVIT to predict risks to NASA and commercial spacecraft. HVIT directly serves NASA crew safety with MMOD risk assessments for each crewed mission and research into advanced shielding design for future missions. The Image Science and Analysis Group (ISAG) supports the International Space Station (ISS) and commercial spaceflight through the design of imagery acquisition schemes (ground- and vehicle-based) and imagery analyses for vehicle performance assessments and mission anomaly resolution. ISAG assists the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) Program in the development of camera systems for the Orion spacecraft that will serve as data sources for flight test objectives that lead to crewed missions. The multi-center Imagery Integration Team is led by the Human Exploration Science Office and provides

  3. Enabling Communication and Navigation Technologies for Future Near Earth Science Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Israel, David J.; Heckler, Gregory; Menrad, Robert; Hudiburg, John; Boroson, Don; Robinson, Bryan; Cornwell, Donald

    2016-01-01

    In 2015, the Earth Regimes Network Evolution Study (ERNESt) proposed an architectural concept and technologies that evolve to enable space science and exploration missions out to the 2040 timeframe. The architectural concept evolves the current instantiations of the Near Earth Network and Space Network with new technologies to provide a global communication and navigation network that provides communication and navigation services to a wide range of space users in the near Earth domain. The technologies included High Rate Optical Communications, Optical Multiple Access (OMA), Delay Tolerant Networking (DTN), User Initiated Services (UIS), and advanced Position, Navigation, and Timing technology. This paper describes the key technologies and their current technology readiness levels. Examples of science missions that could be enabled by the technologies and the projected operational benefits of the architecture concept to missions are also described.

  4. 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

  5. Conformal Ablative Thermal Protection System for Planetary and Human Exploration Missions: Overview of the Technology Maturation Efforts Funded by NASA's Game Changing Development Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beck, Robin A.; Arnold, James O.; Gasch, Matthew J.; Stackpoole, Margaret M.; Fan, Wendy; Szalai, Christine E.; Wercinski, Paul F.; Venkatapathy, Ethiraj

    2012-01-01

    The Office of Chief Technologist (OCT), NASA has identified the need for research and technology development in part from NASA's Strategic Goal 3.3 of the NASA Strategic Plan to develop and demonstrate the critical technologies that will make NASA's exploration, science, and discovery missions more affordable and more capable. Furthermore, the Game Changing Development Program (GCDP) is a primary avenue to achieve the Agency's 2011 strategic goal to "Create the innovative new space technologies for our exploration, science, and economic future." In addition, recently released "NASA space Technology Roadmaps and Priorities," by the National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academy of Sciences stresses the need for NASA to invest in the very near term in specific EDL technologies. The report points out the following challenges (Page 2-38 of the pre-publication copy released on February 1, 2012): Mass to Surface: Develop the ability to deliver more payload to the destination. NASA's future missions will require ever-greater mass delivery capability in order to place scientifically significant instrument packages on distant bodies of interest, to facilitate sample returns from bodies of interest, and to enable human exploration of planets such as Mars. As the maximum mass that can be delivered to an entry interface is fixed for a given launch system and trajectory design, the mass delivered to the surface will require reduction in spacecraft structural mass; more efficient, lighter thermal protection systems; more efficient lighter propulsion systems; and lighter, more efficient deceleration systems. Surface Access: Increase the ability to land at a variety of planetary locales and at a variety of times. Access to specific sites can be achieved via landing at a specific location (s) or transit from a single designated landing location, but it is currently infeasible to transit long distances and through extremely rugged terrain, requiring landing close to the

  6. Exploration Medical System Demonstration Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chin, D. A.; McGrath, T. L.; Reyna, B.; Watkins, S. D.

    2011-01-01

    A near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) mission will present significant new challenges including hazards to crew health created by exploring a beyond low earth orbit destination, traversing the terrain of asteroid surfaces, and the effects of variable gravity environments. Limited communications with ground-based personnel for diagnosis and consultation of medical events require increased crew autonomy when diagnosing conditions, creating treatment plans, and executing procedures. Scope: The Exploration Medical System Demonstration (EMSD) project will be a test bed on the International Space Station (ISS) to show an end-to-end medical system assisting the Crew Medical Officers (CMO) in optimizing medical care delivery and medical data management during a mission. NEA medical care challenges include resource and resupply constraints limiting the extent to which medical conditions can be treated, inability to evacuate to Earth during many mission phases, and rendering of medical care by a non-clinician. The system demonstrates the integration of medical technologies and medical informatics tools for managing evidence and decision making. Project Objectives: The objectives of the EMSD project are to: a) Reduce and possibly eliminate the time required for a crewmember and ground personnel to manage medical data from one application to another. b) Demonstrate crewmember's ability to access medical data/information via a software solution to assist/aid in the treatment of a medical condition. c) Develop a common data management architecture that can be ubiquitously used to automate repetitive data collection, management, and communications tasks for all crew health and life sciences activities. d) Develop a common data management architecture that allows for scalability, extensibility, and interoperability of data sources and data users. e) Lower total cost of ownership for development and sustainment of peripheral hardware and software that use EMSD for data management f) Provide

  7. Advanced Exploration Systems Water Architecture Study Interim Results

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sargusingh, Miriam J.

    2013-01-01

    The mission of the Advanced Exploration System (AES) Water Recovery Project (WRP) is to develop advanced water recovery systems that enable NASA human exploration missions beyond low Earth orbit (LEO). The primary objective of the AES WRP is to develop water recovery technologies critical to near-term missions beyond LEO. The secondary objective is to continue to advance mid-readiness-level technologies to support future NASA missions. An effort is being undertaken to establish the architecture for the AES Water Recovery System (WRS) that meets both near- and long-term objectives. The resultant architecture will be used to guide future technical planning, establish a baseline development roadmap for technology infusion, and establish baseline assumptions for integrated ground and on-orbit Environmental Control and Life Support Systems definition. This study is being performed in three phases. Phase I established the scope of the study through definition of the mission requirements and constraints, as well as identifying all possible WRS configurations that meet the mission requirements. Phase II focused on the near-term space exploration objectives by establishing an International Space Station-derived reference schematic for long-duration (>180 day) in-space habitation. Phase III will focus on the long-term space exploration objectives, trading the viable WRS configurations identified in Phase I to identify the ideal exploration WRS. The results of Phases I and II are discussed in this paper.

  8. Multisensor Equipped Uav/ugv for Automated Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Batzdorfer, S.; Bobbe, M.; Becker, M.; Harms, H.; Bestmann, U.

    2017-08-01

    The usage of unmanned systems for exploring disaster scenarios has become more and more important in recent times as a supporting system for action forces. These systems have to offer a well-balanced relationship between the quality of support and additional workload. Therefore within the joint research project ANKommEn - german acronym for Automated Navigation and Communication for Exploration - a system for exploration of disaster scenarios is build-up using multiple UAV und UGV controlled via a central ground station. The ground station serves as user interface for defining missions and tasks conducted by the unmanned systems, equipped with different environmental sensors like cameras - RGB as well as IR - or LiDAR. Depending on the exploration task results, in form of pictures, 2D stitched orthophoto or LiDAR point clouds will be transmitted via datalinks and displayed online at the ground station or will be processed in short-term after a mission, e.g. 3D photogrammetry. For mission planning and its execution, UAV/UGV monitoring and georeferencing of environmental sensor data, reliable positioning and attitude information is required. This is gathered using an integrated GNSS/IMU positioning system. In order to increase availability of positioning information in GNSS challenging scenarios, a GNSS-Multiconstellation based approach is used, amongst others. The present paper focuses on the overall system design including the ground station and sensor setups on the UAVs and UGVs, the underlying positioning techniques as well as 2D and 3D exploration based on a RGB camera mounted on board the UAV and its evaluation based on real world field tests.

  9. MULTISENSOR EQUIPPED UAV/UGV FOR AUTOMATED EXPLORATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Batzdorfer

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available The usage of unmanned systems for exploring disaster scenarios has become more and more important in recent times as a supporting system for action forces. These systems have to offer a well-balanced relationship between the quality of support and additional workload. Therefore within the joint research project ANKommEn – german acronym for Automated Navigation and Communication for Exploration – a system for exploration of disaster scenarios is build-up using multiple UAV und UGV controlled via a central ground station. The ground station serves as user interface for defining missions and tasks conducted by the unmanned systems, equipped with different environmental sensors like cameras – RGB as well as IR – or LiDAR. Depending on the exploration task results, in form of pictures, 2D stitched orthophoto or LiDAR point clouds will be transmitted via datalinks and displayed online at the ground station or will be processed in short-term after a mission, e.g. 3D photogrammetry. For mission planning and its execution, UAV/UGV monitoring and georeferencing of environmental sensor data, reliable positioning and attitude information is required. This is gathered using an integrated GNSS/IMU positioning system. In order to increase availability of positioning information in GNSS challenging scenarios, a GNSS-Multiconstellation based approach is used, amongst others. The present paper focuses on the overall system design including the ground station and sensor setups on the UAVs and UGVs, the underlying positioning techniques as well as 2D and 3D exploration based on a RGB camera mounted on board the UAV and its evaluation based on real world field tests.

  10. A delay time model for a mission-based system subject to periodic and random inspection and postponed replacement

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang, Li; Ma, Xiaobing; Zhai, Qingqing; Zhao, Yu

    2016-01-01

    We propose an inspection and replacement policy for a single component system that successively executes missions with random durations. The failure process of the system can be divided into two states, namely, normal and defective, following the delay time concept. Inspections are carried out periodically and immediately after the completion of each mission (random inspections). The failed state is always identified immediately, whereas the defective state can only be revealed by an inspection. If the system fails or is defective at a periodic inspection, then replacement is immediate. If, however, the system is defective at a random inspection, then replacement will be postponed if the time to the subsequent periodic inspection is shorter than a pre-determined threshold, and immediate otherwise. We derive the long run expected cost per unit time and then investigate the optimal periodic inspection interval and postponement threshold. A numerical example is presented to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed maintenance policy. - Highlights: • A delay time model of inspection is introduced for mission-based systems. • Periodic and random inspections are performed to check the state. • Replacement of the defective system at a random inspection can be postponed.

  11. Reports and recommendations from COSPAR Planetary Exploration Committee (PEX) & International Lunar Exploration Working Group (ILEWG)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ehrenfreund, Pascale; Foing, Bernard

    2014-05-01

    In response to the growing importance of space exploration, the objectives of the COSPAR Panel on Exploration (PEX) are to provide high quality, independent science input to support the development of a global space exploration program while working to safeguard the scientific assets of solar system bodies. PEX engages with COSPAR Commissions and Panels, science foundations, IAA, IAF, UN bodies, and IISL to support in particular national and international space exploration working groups and the new era of planetary exploration. COSPAR's input, as gathered by PEX, is intended to express the consensus view of the international scientific community and should ultimately provide a series of guidelines to support future space exploration activities and cooperative efforts, leading to outstanding scientific discoveries, opportunities for innovation, strategic partnerships, technology progression, and inspiration for people of all ages and cultures worldwide. We shall focus on the lunar exploration aspects, where the COSPAR PEX is building on previous COSPAR, ILEWG and community conferences. An updated COSPAR PEX report is published and available online (Ehrenfreund P. et al, COSPAR planetary exploration panel report, http://www.gwu.edu/~spi/assets/COSPAR_PEX2012.pdf). We celebrate 20 years after the 1st International Conference on Exploration and Utilisation of the Moon at Beatenberg in June 1994. The International Lunar Exploration Working Group (ILEWG) was established the year after in April 1995 at an EGS meeting in Hamburg, Germany. As established in its charter, this working group reports to COSPAR and is charged with developing an international strategy for the exploration of the Moon (http://sci.esa.int/ilewg/ ). It discusses coordination between missions, and a road map for future international lunar exploration and utilisation. It fosters information exchange or potential and real future lunar robotic and human missions, as well as for new scientific and

  12. Human Mars Surface Mission Nuclear Power Considerations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rucker, Michelle A.

    2018-01-01

    A key decision facing Mars mission designers is how to power a crewed surface field station. Unlike the solar-powered Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) that could retreat to a very low power state during a Martian dust storm, human Mars surface missions are estimated to need at least 15 kilowatts of electrical (kWe) power simply to maintain critical life support and spacecraft functions. 'Hotel' loads alone for a pressurized crew rover approach two kWe; driving requires another five kWe-well beyond what the Curiosity rover’s Radioisotope Power System (RPS) was designed to deliver. Full operation of a four-crew Mars field station is estimated at about 40 kWe. Clearly, a crewed Mars field station will require a substantial and reliable power source, beyond the scale of robotic mission experience. This paper explores the applications for both fission and RPS nuclear options for Mars.

  13. NASA's interstellar probe mission

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liewer, P.C.; Ayon, J.A.; Wallace, R.A.; Mewaldt, R.A.

    2000-01-01

    NASA's Interstellar Probe will be the first spacecraft designed to explore the nearby interstellar medium and its interaction with our solar system. As envisioned by NASA's Interstellar Probe Science and Technology Definition Team, the spacecraft will be propelled by a solar sail to reach >200 AU in 15 years. Interstellar Probe will investigate how the Sun interacts with its environment and will directly measure the properties and composition of the dust, neutrals and plasma of the local interstellar material which surrounds the solar system. In the mission concept developed in the spring of 1999, a 400-m diameter solar sail accelerates the spacecraft to ∼15 AU/year, roughly 5 times the speed of Voyager 1 and 2. The sail is used to first bring the spacecraft to ∼0.25 AU to increase the radiation pressure before heading out in the interstellar upwind direction. After jettisoning the sail at ∼5 AU, the spacecraft coasts to 200-400 AU, exploring the Kuiper Belt, the boundaries of the heliosphere, and the nearby interstellar medium

  14. CryoSat: ESA's ice explorer mission. 4 years in operations: status and achievements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parrinello, T.; Mardle, N.; Ortega, B.; Bouffard, J.; Badessi, S.; Frommknecht, B.; Davidson, M.

    2014-12-01

    CryoSat-2 was launched on the 8th April 2010 and it is the first European ice mission dedicated to monitoring precise changes in the thickness of polar ice sheets and floating sea ice over a 3-year period. CryoSat-2 carries an innovative radar altimeter called the Synthetic Aperture Interferometric Altimeter (SIRAL) with two antennas and with extended capabilities to meet the measurement requirements for ice-sheets elevation and sea-ice freeboard. Initial results have shown that data is of high quality thanks to an altimeter that is behaving exceptional well within its design specifications. The CryoSat mission reached its 4th years of operational life in April 2014. Since its launch has delivered high quality products to the worldwide cryospheric and marine community that is increasing every year. Scope of this paper is to describe the current mission status and the main scientific achievements in the last twelve months. Topics will also include programmatic highlights and information on the next scientific development of the mission in its extended period of operations.

  15. Exploration Health Risks: Probabilistic Risk Assessment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rhatigan, Jennifer; Charles, John; Hayes, Judith; Wren, Kiley

    2006-01-01

    Maintenance of human health on long-duration exploration missions is a primary challenge to mission designers. Indeed, human health risks are currently the largest risk contributors to the risks of evacuation or loss of the crew on long-duration International Space Station missions. We describe a quantitative assessment of the relative probabilities of occurrence of the individual risks to human safety and efficiency during space flight to augment qualitative assessments used in this field to date. Quantitative probabilistic risk assessments will allow program managers to focus resources on those human health risks most likely to occur with undesirable consequences. Truly quantitative assessments are common, even expected, in the engineering and actuarial spheres, but that capability is just emerging in some arenas of life sciences research, such as identifying and minimize the hazards to astronauts during future space exploration missions. Our expectation is that these results can be used to inform NASA mission design trade studies in the near future with the objective of preventing the higher among the human health risks. We identify and discuss statistical techniques to provide this risk quantification based on relevant sets of astronaut biomedical data from short and long duration space flights as well as relevant analog populations. We outline critical assumptions made in the calculations and discuss the rationale for these. Our efforts to date have focussed on quantifying the probabilities of medical risks that are qualitatively perceived as relatively high risks of radiation sickness, cardiac dysrhythmias, medically significant renal stone formation due to increased calcium mobilization, decompression sickness as a result of EVA (extravehicular activity), and bone fracture due to loss of bone mineral density. We present these quantitative probabilities in order-of-magnitude comparison format so that relative risk can be gauged. We address the effects of

  16. A Comparison of Flow-Through Versus Non-Flow-Through Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Systems for NASA's Exploration Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoberecht, Mark A.

    2010-01-01

    As part of the Exploration Technology Development Program (ETDP) under the auspices of the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD), NASA is developing both primary fuel cell power systems and regenerative fuel cell (RFC) energy storage systems within the fuel cell portion of the Energy Storage Project. This effort is being led by the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) in partnership with the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC), Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC), and industrial partners. The development goals are to improve fuel cell and electrolysis stack electrical performance, reduce system mass, volume, and parasitic power requirements, and increase system life and reliability. A major focus of this effort has been the parallel development of both flow-through and non-flow-through proton exchange membrane (PEM) primary fuel cell power systems. The plan has been, at the appropriate time, to select a single primary fuel cell technology for eventual flight hardware development. Ideally, that appropriate time would occur after both technologies have achieved a technology readiness level (TRL) of six, which represents an engineering model fidelity PEM fuel cell system being successfully tested in a relevant environment. Budget constraints in fiscal year 2009 and beyond have prevented NASA from continuing to pursue the parallel development of both primary fuel cell options. Because very limited data exists for either system, a toplevel, qualitative assessment based on engineering judgement was performed expeditiously to provide guidance for a selection. At that time, the non-flow-through technology was selected for continued development because of potentially major advantages in terms of weight, volume, parasitic power, reliability, and life. This author believes that the advantages are significant enough, and the potential benefits great enough, to offset the higher state of technology readiness of flow-through technology. This paper

  17. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, a Planning Tool for Missions to the Moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keller, J. W.; Petro, N. E.

    2017-12-01

    The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission was conceived as a one year exploration mission to pave the way for a return to the lunar surface, both robotically and by humans. After a year in orbit LRO transitioned to a science mission but has operated in a duel role of science and exploration ever since. Over the years LRO has compiled a wealth of data that can and is being used for planning future missions to the Moon by NASA, other national agencies and by private enterprises. While collecting this unique and unprecedented data set, LRO's science investigations have uncovered new questions that motivate new missions and targets. Examples include: when did volcanism on the Moon cease, motivating a sample return mission from an irregular mare patch such as Ina-D; or, is there significant water ice sequestered near the poles outside of the permanently shaded regions? In this presentation we will review the data products, tools and maps that are available for mission planning, discuss how the operating LRO mission can further enhance future missions, and suggest new targets motivated by LRO's scientific investigations.

  18. Exploring ESASky

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Marchi, Guido; ESASky Team

    2017-06-01

    ESASky is a science-driven discovery portal for all ESA space astronomy missions. It also includes missions from international partners such as Suzaku and Chandra. The first public release of ESASky features interfaces for sky exploration and for single and multiple target searches. Using the application requires no prior-knowledge of any of the missions involved and gives users world-wide simplified access to high-level science-ready data products from space-based Astronomy missions, plus a number of ESA-produced source catalogues, including the Gaia Data Release 1 catalogue. We highlight here the latest features to be developed, including one that allows the user to project onto the sky the footprints of the JWST instruments, at any chosen position and orientation. This tool has been developed to aid JWST astronomers when they are defining observing proposals. We aim to include other missions and instruments in the near future.

  19. 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

  20. SCIENCE PARAMETRICS FOR MISSIONS TO SEARCH FOR EARTH-LIKE EXOPLANETS BY DIRECT IMAGING

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brown, Robert A.

    2015-01-01

    We use N t , the number of exoplanets observed in time t, as a science metric to study direct-search missions like Terrestrial Planet Finder. In our model, N has 27 parameters, divided into three categories: 2 astronomical, 7 instrumental, and 18 science-operational. For various ''27-vectors'' of those parameters chosen to explore parameter space, we compute design reference missions to estimate N t . Our treatment includes the recovery of completeness c after a search observation, for revisits, solar and antisolar avoidance, observational overhead, and follow-on spectroscopy. Our baseline 27-vector has aperture D = 16 m, inner working angle IWA = 0.039'', mission time t = 0-5 yr, occurrence probability for Earth-like exoplanets η = 0.2, and typical values for the remaining 23 parameters. For the baseline case, a typical five-year design reference mission has an input catalog of ∼4700 stars with nonzero completeness, ∼1300 unique stars observed in ∼2600 observations, of which ∼1300 are revisits, and it produces N 1 ∼ 50 exoplanets after one year and N 5 ∼ 130 after five years. We explore offsets from the baseline for 10 parameters. We find that N depends strongly on IWA and only weakly on D. It also depends only weakly on zodiacal light for Z < 50 zodis, end-to-end efficiency for h > 0.2, and scattered starlight for ζ < 10 –10 . We find that observational overheads, completeness recovery and revisits, solar and antisolar avoidance, and follow-on spectroscopy are all important factors in estimating N

  1. 76 FR 66692 - Executive-Led Trade Mission to Afghanistan

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-10-27

    ... business development trade mission to Kabul, Afghanistan in February 2012. This mission will be led by a..., architecture, transportation and logistics, and infrastructure); mining (including equipment, technology, and.... companies explore long-term business opportunities in Afghanistan and enhance U.S.--Afghan commercial...

  2. Communicating LightSail: Embedded Reporting and Web Strategies for Citizen-Funded Space Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hilverda, M.; Davis, J.

    2015-12-01

    The Planetary Society (TPS) is a non-profit space advocacy group with a stated mission to "empower the world's citizens to advance space science and exploration." In 2009, TPS began work on LightSail, a small, citizen-funded spacecraft to demonstrate solar sailing propulsion technology. The program included a test flight, completed in June 2015, with a primary mission slated for late 2016. TPS initiated a LightSail public engagement campaign to provide the public with transparent mission updates, and foster educational outreach. A credentialed science journalist was given unrestricted access to the team and data, and provided regular reports without editorial oversight. An accompanying website, sail.planetary.org, provided project updates, multimedia, and real-time spacecraft data during the mission. Design approaches included a clean layout with text optimized for easy reading, balanced by strong visual elements to enhance reader comprehension and interest. A dedicated "Mission Control" page featured social media feeds, links to most recent articles, and a ground track showing the spacecraft's position, including overflight predictions based on user location. A responsive, cross-platform design allowed easy access across a broad range of devices. Efficient web server performance was prioritized by implementing a static content management system (CMS). Despite two spacecraft contingencies, the test mission successfully completed its primary objective of solar sail deployment. Qualitative feedback on the transparent, embedded reporting style was positive, and website metrics showed high user retention times. The website also grew awareness and support for the primary 2016 mission, driving traffic to a Kickstarter campaign that raised $1.24 million. Websites constantly evolve, and changes for the primary mission will include a new CMS to better support multiple authors and a custom dashboard to display real-time spacecraft sensor data.

  3. The advanced composition explorer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stone, E.C.; Burlaga, L.F.; Cummings, A.C.; Feldman, W.C.; Frain, W.E.; Geiss, J.; Gloeckler, G.; Gold, R.E.; Hovestadt, D.; Krimigis, S.M.; Mason, G.M.; McComas, D.; Mewaldt, R.A.; Simpson, J.A.; von Rosenvinge, T.T.; Wiedenbeck, M.E.

    1990-01-01

    The Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) was recently selected as one of two new Explorer-class missions to be developed for launch during the mid-1990's ACE will observe particles of solar, interplanetary, interstellar, and galactic origins, spanning the energy range from that of the solar wind (∼1 keV/nucleon) to galactic cosmic ray energies (several hundred MeV/nucleon). Definitive studies will be made of the abundance of nearly all isotopes from H to Zn (1≤Z≤30), with exploratory isotope studies extending to Zr(Z=40). To accomplish this, the ACE payload includes six high-resolution spectrometers, each designed to provide the optimum charge, mass, or charge-state resolution in its particular energy range, and each having a geometry factor optimized for the expected flux levels, so as to provide a collecting power a factor of 10 to 1000 times greater than previous or planned experiments. The payload also includes several instruments of standard design that will monitor solar wind and magnetic field conditions and energetic H, He, and electron fluxes. We summarize here the scientific objectives, instrumentation, spacecraft, and mission approach that were defined for ACE during the Phase-A study period

  4. A MATLAB based Distributed Real-time Simulation of Lander-Orbiter-Earth Communication for Lunar Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choudhury, Diptyajit; Angeloski, Aleksandar; Ziah, Haseeb; Buchholz, Hilmar; Landsman, Andre; Gupta, Amitava; Mitra, Tiyasa

    Lunar explorations often involve use of a lunar lander , a rover [1],[2] and an orbiter which rotates around the moon with a fixed radius. The orbiters are usually lunar satellites orbiting along a polar orbit to ensure visibility with respect to the rover and the Earth Station although with varying latency. Communication in such deep space missions is usually done using a specialized protocol like Proximity-1[3]. MATLAB simulation of Proximity-1 have been attempted by some contemporary researchers[4] to simulate all features like transmission control, delay etc. In this paper it is attempted to simulate, in real time, the communication between a tracking station on earth (earth station), a lunar orbiter and a lunar rover using concepts of Distributed Real-time Simulation(DRTS).The objective of the simulation is to simulate, in real-time, the time varying communication delays associated with the communicating elements with a facility to integrate specific simulation modules to study different aspects e.g. response due to a specific control command from the earth station to be executed by the rover. The hardware platform comprises four single board computers operating as stand-alone real time systems (developed by MATLAB xPC target and inter-networked using UDP-IP protocol). A time triggered DRTS approach is adopted. The earth station, the orbiter and the rover are programmed as three standalone real-time processes representing the communicating elements in the system. Communication from one communicating element to another constitutes an event which passes a state message from one element to another, augmenting the state of the latter. These events are handled by an event scheduler which is the fourth real-time process. The event scheduler simulates the delay in space communication taking into consideration the distance between the communicating elements. A unique time synchronization algorithm is developed which takes into account the large latencies in space

  5. Solar Probe Plus: A NASA Mission to Touch the Sun

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fox, N. J.; Velli, M. M. C.; Kasper, J. C.; McComas, D. J.; Howard, R.; Bale, S. D.; Decker, R. B.

    2014-12-01

    Solar Probe Plus (SPP), currently in Phase C, 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. The SPP mission will achieve this by identifying and quantifying the basic plasma physical processes at the heart of the Heliosphere. SPP uses an innovative mission design, significant technology development and a risk-reducing engineering development to meet the SPP science objectives: 1) Trace the flow of energy that heats and accelerates the solar corona and solar wind; 2) Determine the structure and dynamics of the plasma and magnetic fields at the sources of the solar wind; and 3) Explore mechanisms that accelerate and transport energetic particles. In this presentation, we present Solar Probe Plus and examine how the mission will address the science questions that have remained unanswered for over 5 decades.

  6. Funding and Strategic Alignment Guidance for Infusing Small Business Innovation Research Technology Into NASA Programs Associated With the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Hung D.; Steele, Gynelle C.

    2015-01-01

    This report is intended to help NASA program and project managers incorporate Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) technologies that have gone through Phase II of the SBIR program into NASA Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) programs. Other Government and commercial project managers can also find this information useful.

  7. A Revolution in the Making: Advances in Materials That May Transform Future Exploration Infrastructures and Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harris, Charles E.; Dicus, Dennis L.; Shuart, Mark J.

    2001-01-01

    The NASA Strategic Plan identifies the long-term goal to provide safe and affordable space access, orbital transfer, and interplanetary transportation capabilities to enable research, human exploration, and the commercial development of space; and to conduct human and robotic missions to planets and other bodies in our solar system. Numerous scientific and engineering breakthroughs will be required to develop the technology necessary to achieve this goal. Critical technologies include advanced vehicle primary and secondary structure, radiation protection, propulsion and power systems, fuel storage, electronics and devices, sensors and science instruments, and medical diagnostics and treatment. Advanced materials with revolutionary new capabilities are an essential element of each of these technologies. This paper discusses those materials best suited for aerospace vehicle structure and highlights the enormous potential of one revolutionary new material, carbon nanotubes.

  8. The First Saildrone Scientific Mission: The Bering Sea

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cokelet, E. D.; Meinig, C.; Jenkins, R.; Lawrence-Slavas, N.; Mordy, C. W.; Tabisola, H. M.; Stabeno, P. J.; Cross, J. N.

    2016-02-01

    Unmanned surface vehicles (USV) are a rapidly advancing technology that has the potential to meet the requirement for long duration and economical scientific data collection with the ability for real-time data and adaptive sampling. In 2015, NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, the University of Washington and Saildrone Inc. explored the use of a novel USV technology in the Bering Sea. Two Saildrones, wind- and solar-powered autonomous surface vehicles that can be used for extended research missions in challenging environments, were equipped with a suite of meteorological and oceanographic sensors. Each Saildrone measured position, vehicle attitude, atmospheric pressure, wind speed and direction, PAR, air temperature, relative humidity, magnetic field strength, ocean skin temperature, water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen concentration, chlorophyll and CDOM fluorescence. Diagnostic data were transmitted ashore every 10 minutes via Iridium satellite and updated on a web site. Command and control information was sent to the Saildrones for setting waypoints, etc. One-minute data were transmitted ashore four times per day allowing measurements to be analyzed and plotted for scientific insight and mission guidance. During this first-ever scientific mission, lasting 97 days and covering over 7600 km each, the Saildrones successfully completed several scientific survey assignments. They encountered below-freezing temperatures and winds in excess of 20 kn several times with gusts of over 46 kn. Measurements were validated against shipboard and mooring observations. Saildrone sampling strategies were modified on the fly, first to measure the effects of sea-ice melt on surface cooling and freshening, and then to study the Yukon River plume. This mission demonstrated the capability of the Saildrone vehicle to be launched from a dock to conduct autonomous and adaptive oceanographic research in a harsh, high-latitude environment.

  9. 76 FR 14904 - Executive-Led Trade Mission to Afghanistan

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-03-18

    ... would enhance development of Afghanistan's industrial sector and lead to increased productivity and... business development trade mission to Kabul, Afghanistan in September 2011. This mission will be led by a.... companies explore long-term business opportunities in Afghanistan and enhance U.S.-Afghan commercial...

  10. International Uranium Resources Evaluation Project (IUREP) orientation phase mission report: Venezuela. Draft

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hetland, Donald L.; Obellianne, Jean-marie

    1981-04-01

    The IUREP Orientation Phase Mission to Venezuela believes that the Speculative Uranium Resources of that country fall between 2,000 and 42,000 tonnes. This assumes that a part of the Speculative Resources would be extracted as by-product uranium from wet-process phosphoric acid production. Past exploration in Venezuela has resulted in the discovery of very few uranium occurrences and radioactive anomalies except for the many airborne anomalies recorded on the Guayana Shield. To date no economic deposits or significant uranium occurrences have been found in Venezuela except for the uraniferous phosphorites in the Cretaceous Navey Formation which are very low grade. The uranium occurrences and radioactive anomalies can be divided according to host rock into: (1) Precambrian crystalline and sedimentary rocks, (2) Cretaceous phosphorite beds, (3) continental sandstone, and (4) granitic rocks. The greatest geological potential for further uranium resources is believed to exist in the crystalline and sedimentary Precambrian rocks of the Guayana Shield, but favorable geological potential also exist in younger continental sandstones. Since the Guayana Shield is the most promising for the discovery of economic uranium deposits most of the proposed exploration effort is directed toward that area. Considerable time, effort and capital will be required however, because of the severe logistical problems of exploration in this vast, rugged and inaccessable area, Meager exploration work done to date has been relatively negative suggesting the area is more of a thorium rather than a uranium province. However because of the possibility of several types of uranium deposits and because so little exploration work has been done, the Mission assigned a relatively small speculative potential to the area, i.e. 0 to 25,000 tonnes uranium. A small speculative potential (0 to 2,000 tonnes) was assigned to the El Baul area in Cojedes State, in the Llanos Province. This potential is postulated

  11. Space Weather opportunities from the Swarm mission including near real time applications

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Stolle, Claudia; Floberghagen, Rune; Luehr, Hermann

    2013-01-01

    Sophisticated space weather monitoring aims at nowcasting and predicting solar-terrestrial interactions because their effects on the ionosphere and upper atmosphere may seriously impact advanced technology. Operating alert infrastructures rely heavily on ground-based measurements and satellite...... these products in timely manner will add significant value in monitoring present space weather and helping to predict the evolution of several magnetic and ionospheric events. Swarm will be a demonstrator mission for the valuable application of LEO satellite observations for space weather monitoring tools....

  12. Evolving from Planning and Scheduling to Real-Time Operations Support: Design Challenges

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marquez, Jessica J.; Ludowise, Melissa; McCurdy, Michael; Li, Jack

    2010-01-01

    Versions of Scheduling and Planning Interface for Exploration (SPIFe) have supported a variety of mission operations across NASA. This software tool has evolved and matured over several years, assisting planners who develop intricate schedules. While initially conceived for surface Mars missions, SPIFe has been deployed in other domains, where people rather than robotic explorers, execute plans. As a result, a diverse set of end-users has compelled growth in a new direction: supporting real-time operations. This paper describes the new needs and challenges that accompany this development. Among the key features that have been built for SPIFe are current time indicators integrated into the interface and timeline, as well as other plan attributes that enable execution of scheduled activities. Field tests include mission support for the Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS), NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) and Desert Research and Technology Studies (DRATS) campaigns.

  13. The Polarized Radiation Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission

    CERN Document Server

    André, Philippe; Banday, Anthony; Barbosa, Domingos; Barreiro, Belen; Bartlett, James; Bartolo, Nicola; Battistelli, Elia; Battye, Richard; Bendo, George; Benoȋt, Alain; Bernard, Jean-Philippe; Bersanelli, Marco; Béthermin, Matthieu; Bielewicz, Pawel; Bonaldi, Anna; Bouchet, François; Boulanger, François; Brand, Jan; Bucher, Martin; Burigana, Carlo; Cai, Zhen-Yi; Camus, Philippe; Casas, Francisco; Casasola, Viviana; Castex, Guillaume; Challinor, Anthony; Chluba, Jens; Chon, Gayoung; Colafrancesco, Sergio; Comis, Barbara; Cuttaia, Francesco; D'Alessandro, Giuseppe; Da Silva, Antonio; Davis, Richard; de Avillez, Miguel; de Bernardis, Paolo; de Petris, Marco; de Rosa, Adriano; de Zotti, Gianfranco; Delabrouille, Jacques; Désert, François-Xavier; Dickinson, Clive; Diego, Jose Maria; Dunkley, Joanna; Enßlin, Torsten; Errard, Josquin; Falgarone, Edith; Ferreira, Pedro; Ferrière, Katia; Finelli, Fabio; Fletcher, Andrew; Fosalba, Pablo; Fuller, Gary; Galli, Silvia; Ganga, Ken; García-Bellido, Juan; Ghribi, Adnan; Giard, Martin; Giraud-Héraud, Yannick; Gonzalez-Nuevo, Joaquin; Grainge, Keith; Gruppuso, Alessandro; Hall, Alex; Hamilton, Jean-Christophe; Haverkorn, Marijke; Hernandez-Monteagudo, Carlos; Herranz, Diego; Jackson, Mark; Jaffe, Andrew; Khatri, Rishi; Kunz, Martin; Lamagna, Luca; Lattanzi, Massimiliano; Leahy, Paddy; Lesgourgues, Julien; Liguori, Michele; Liuzzo, Elisabetta; Lopez-Caniego, Marcos; Macias-Perez, Juan; Maffei, Bruno; Maino, Davide; Mangilli, Anna; Martinez-Gonzalez, Enrique; Martins, Carlos J.A.P.; Masi, Silvia; Massardi, Marcella; Matarrese, Sabino; Melchiorri, Alessandro; Melin, Jean-Baptiste; Mennella, Aniello; Mignano, Arturo; Miville-Deschênes, Marc-Antoine; Monfardini, Alessandro; Murphy, Anthony; Naselsky, Pavel; Nati, Federico; Natoli, Paolo; Negrello, Mattia; Noviello, Fabio; O'Sullivan, Créidhe; Paci, Francesco; Pagano, Luca; Paladino, Rosita; Palanque-Delabrouille, Nathalie; Paoletti, Daniela; Peiris, Hiranya; Perrotta, Francesca; Piacentini, Francesco; Piat, Michel; Piccirillo, Lucio; Pisano, Giampaolo; Polenta, Gianluca; Pollo, Agnieszka; Ponthieu, Nicolas; Remazeilles, Mathieu; Ricciardi, Sara; Roman, Matthieu; Rosset, Cyrille; Rubino-Martin, Jose-Alberto; Salatino, Maria; Schillaci, Alessandro; Shellard, Paul; Silk, Joseph; Starobinsky, Alexei; Stompor, Radek; Sunyaev, Rashid; Tartari, Andrea; Terenzi, Luca; Toffolatti, Luigi; Tomasi, Maurizio; Trappe, Neil; Tristram, Matthieu; Trombetti, Tiziana; Tucci, Marco; Van de Weijgaert, Rien; Van Tent, Bartjan; Verde, Licia; Vielva, Patricio; Wandelt, Ben; Watson, Robert; Withington, Stafford; Cabrera, Nicolas

    2014-01-01

    PRISM (Polarized Radiation Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission) was proposed to ESA in May 2013 as a large-class mission for investigating within the framework of the ESA Cosmic Vision program a set of important scientific questions that require high resolution, high sensitivity, full-sky observations of the sky emission at wavelengths ranging from millimeter-wave to the far-infrared. PRISM's main objective is to explore the distant universe, probing cosmic history from very early times until now as well as the structures, distribution of matter, and velocity flows throughout our Hubble volume. PRISM will survey the full sky in a large number of frequency bands in both intensity and polarization and will measure the absolute spectrum of sky emission more than three orders of magnitude better than COBE FIRAS. The aim of this Extended White Paper is to provide a more detailed overview of the highlights of the new science that will be made possible by PRISM

  14. Life sciences and Mars exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sulzman, Frank M.; Rummel, John D.; Leveton, Lauren B.; Teeter, Ron

    1990-01-01

    The major life science considerations for Mars exploration missions are discussed. Radiation protection and countermeasures for zero gravity are discussed. Considerations of crew psychological health considerations and life support systems are addressed. Scientific opportunities presented by manned Mars missions are examined.

  15. China's roadmap for planetary exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wei, Yong; Yao, Zhonghua; Wan, Weixing

    2018-05-01

    China has approved or planned a string of several space exploration missions to be launched over the next decade. A new generation of planetary scientists in China is playing an important role in determining the scientific goals of future missions.

  16. Planning For Multiple NASA Missions With Use Of Enabling Radioisotope Power

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    S.G. Johnson; K.L. Lively; C.C. Dwight

    2013-02-01

    Since the early 1960’s the Department of Energy (DOE) and its predecessor agencies have provided radioisotope power systems (RPS) to NASA as an enabling technology for deep space and various planetary missions. They provide reliable power in situations where solar and/or battery power sources are either untenable or would place an undue mass burden on the mission. In the modern era of the past twenty years there has been no time that multiple missions have been considered for launching from Kennedy Space Center (KSC) during the same year. The closest proximity of missions that involved radioisotope power systems would be that of Galileo (October 1989) and Ulysses (October 1990). The closest that involved radioisotope heater units would be the small rovers Spirit and Opportunity (May and July 2003) used in the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) mission. It can be argued that the rovers sent to Mars in 2003 were essentially a special case since they staged in the same facility and used a pair of small launch vehicles (Delta II). This paper examines constraints on the frequency of use of radioisotope power systems with regard to launching them from Kennedy Space Center using currently available launch vehicles. This knowledge may be useful as NASA plans for its future deep space or planetary missions where radioisotope power systems are used as an enabling technology. Previous descriptions have focused on single mission chronologies and not analyzed the timelines with an emphasis on multiple missions.

  17. 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.

  18. Adaptive Sampling of Time Series During Remote Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thompson, David R.

    2012-01-01

    This work deals with the challenge of online adaptive data collection in a time series. A remote sensor or explorer agent adapts its rate of data collection in order to track anomalous events while obeying constraints on time and power. This problem is challenging because the agent has limited visibility (all its datapoints lie in the past) and limited control (it can only decide when to collect its next datapoint). This problem is treated from an information-theoretic perspective, fitting a probabilistic model to collected data and optimizing the future sampling strategy to maximize information gain. The performance characteristics of stationary and nonstationary Gaussian process models are compared. Self-throttling sensors could benefit environmental sensor networks and monitoring as well as robotic exploration. Explorer agents can improve performance by adjusting their data collection rate, preserving scarce power or bandwidth resources during uninteresting times while fully covering anomalous events of interest. For example, a remote earthquake sensor could conserve power by limiting its measurements during normal conditions and increasing its cadence during rare earthquake events. A similar capability could improve sensor platforms traversing a fixed trajectory, such as an exploration rover transect or a deep space flyby. These agents can adapt observation times to improve sample coverage during moments of rapid change. An adaptive sampling approach couples sensor autonomy, instrument interpretation, and sampling. The challenge is addressed as an active learning problem, which already has extensive theoretical treatment in the statistics and machine learning literature. A statistical Gaussian process (GP) model is employed to guide sample decisions that maximize information gain. Nonsta tion - ary (e.g., time-varying) covariance relationships permit the system to represent and track local anomalies, in contrast with current GP approaches. Most common GP models

  19. Rover exploration on the lunar surface; a science proposal for SELENE-B mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sasaki, S.; Kubota, T.; Akiyama, H.; Hirata, N.; Kunii, Y.; Matsumoto, K.; Okada, T.; Otake, M.; Saiki, K.; Sugihara, T.

    LUNARSURFACE:ASCIENCES. Sasaki (1), T. Kubota (2) , H. Akiyama (1) , N. Hirata (3), Y. Kunii (4), K. Matsumoto (5), T. Okada (2), M. Otake (3), K. Saiki (6), T. Sugihara (3) (1) Department of Earth and Planetary Science, Univ. Tokyo, (2) Institute of Space and Astronautical Sciences, (3) National Space Development Agency of Japan, (4) Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Chuo Univ., (5) National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan, (6) Research Institute of Materials and Resources, Akita Univ. sho@eps.s.u -tokyo.ac.jp/Fax:+81-3-5841-4569 A new lunar landing mission (SELENE-B) is now in consideration in Japan. Scientific investigation plans using a rover are proposed. To clarify the origin and evolution of the moon, the early crustal formation and later mare volcanic processes are still unveiled. We proposed two geological investigation plans: exploration of a crater central peak to discover subsurface materials and exploration of dome-cone structures on young mare region. We propose multi-band macro/micro camera using AOTF, X-ray spectrometer/diffractometer and gamma ray spectrometer. Since observation of rock fragments in brecciaed rocks is necessary, the rover should have cutting or scraping mechanism of rocks. In our current scenario, landing should be performed about 500m from the main target (foot of a crater central peak or a cone/dome). After the spectral survey by multi-band camera on the lander, the rover should be deployed for geological investigation. The rover should make a short (a few tens meter) round trip at first, then it should perform traverse observation toward the main target. Some technological investigations on SELENE-B project will be also presented.

  20. 75 FR 60736 - Water Technology Trade Mission to India

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... mission will visit two cities: Bangalore and Mumbai, where participants will receive market briefings and... water technology show, as a platform for business meetings and networking with the option to exhibit... technologies. To explore these and other opportunities, the trade mission will visit two cities: Bangalore and...

  1. 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.

  2. Phobos Environment Model and Regolith Simulant for MMX Mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miyamoto, H.; Niihara, T.; Wada, K.; Ogawa, K.; Baresi, N.; Abell, Paul A.; Asphaug, E.; Britt, D.; Dodbiba, G.; Fujita, T.; hide

    2018-01-01

    Phobos and Deimos, the two moons of Mars, are considered to be scientifically important and potential human mission's target. Martian Moons eXplorer (MMX) is the JAXA's mission to explore Phobos (and/or Deimos), which is scheduled to be launched in 2024. The main spacecraft of MMX will perform in-situ observations of both Phobos and Deimos, land on one of them (most likely, Phobos), and bring samples back to Earth. Small landing modules may be included in the mission as for the Hayabusa-2 mission. The designs of both the landing and sampling devices depend largely on the surface conditions of the target body and on how this surface reacts to an external action in the low gravity conditions of the target. Thus, the Landing Operation Working Team (LOWT) of MMX, which is composed of both scientists and engineers, is studying Phobos' surface based on previous observations and theoretical/experimental considerations. Though engineering motivation initiated this activity, the results will be extremely useful for scientific purposes.

  3. Composites for Exploration Upper Stage

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fikes, J. C.; Jackson, J. R.; Richardson, S. W.; Thomas, A. D.; Mann, T. O.; Miller, S. G.

    2016-01-01

    The Composites for Exploration Upper Stage (CEUS) was a 3-year, level III project within the Technology Demonstration Missions program of the NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate. Studies have shown that composites provide important programmatic enhancements, including reduced weight to increase capability and accelerated expansion of exploration and science mission objectives. The CEUS project was focused on technologies that best advanced innovation, infusion, and broad applications for the inclusion of composites on future large human-rated launch vehicles and spacecraft. The benefits included near- and far-term opportunities for infusion (NASA, industry/commercial, Department of Defense), demonstrated critical technologies and technically implementable evolvable innovations, and sustained Agency experience. The initial scope of the project was to advance technologies for large composite structures applicable to the Space Launch System (SLS) Exploration Upper Stage (EUS) by focusing on the affordability and technical performance of the EUS forward and aft skirts. The project was tasked to develop and demonstrate critical composite technologies with a focus on full-scale materials, design, manufacturing, and test using NASA in-house capabilities. This would have demonstrated a major advancement in confidence and matured the large-scale composite technology to a Technology Readiness Level 6. This project would, therefore, have bridged the gap for providing composite application to SLS upgrades, enabling future exploration missions.

  4. POET: a SMEX mission for gamma ray burst polarimetry

    Science.gov (United States)

    McConnell, Mark L.; Baring, Matthew; Bloser, Peter; Dwyer, Joseph F.; Emslie, A. Gordon; Ertley, Camden D.; Greiner, Jochen; Harding, Alice K.; Hartmann, Dieter H.; Hill, Joanne E.; Kaaret, Philip; Kippen, R. M.; Mattingly, David; McBreen, Sheila; Pearce, Mark; Produit, Nicolas; Ryan, James M.; Ryde, Felix; Sakamoto, Takanori; Toma, Kenji; Vestrand, W. Thomas; Zhang, Bing

    2014-07-01

    Polarimeters for Energetic Transients (POET) is a mission concept designed to t within the envelope of a NASA Small Explorer (SMEX) mission. POET will use X-ray and gamma-ray polarimetry to uncover the energy release mechanism associated with the formation of stellar-mass black holes and investigate the physics of extreme magnetic ields in the vicinity of compact objects. Two wide-FoV, non-imaging polarimeters will provide polarization measurements over the broad energy range from about 2 keV up to about 500 keV. A Compton scatter polarimeter, using an array of independent scintillation detector elements, will be used to collect data from 50 keV up to 500 keV. At low energies (2{15 keV), data will be provided by a photoelectric polarimeter based on the use of a Time Projection Chamber for photoelectron tracking. During a two-year baseline mission, POET will be able to collect data that will allow us to distinguish between three basic models for the inner jet of gamma-ray bursts.

  5. Development of an Integrated Countermeasure Device for Long Duration Space Flight and Exploration Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, S. M. C.; Streeper, T.; Spiering, B. A.; Loehr, J. A.; Guilliams, M. E.; Bloomberg, J. J.; Mulavara, A. P.; Cavanagh, P. R.; Lang, T.

    2010-01-01

    Musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, and sensorimotor deconditioning have been observed consistently in astronauts and cosmonauts following long-duration spaceflight. Studies in bed rest, a spaceflight analog, have shown that high intensity resistive or aerobic exercise attenuates or prevents musculoskeletal and cardiovascular deconditioning, respectively, but complete protection has not been achieved during spaceflight. Exercise countermeasure hardware used during earlier International Space Station (ISS) missions included a cycle ergometer, a treadmill, and the interim resistive exercise device (iRED). Effectiveness of the countermeasures may have been diminished by limited loading characteristics of the iRED as well as speed restrictions and subject harness discomfort during treadmill exercise. The Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED) and the second generation treadmill were designed to address many of the limitations of their predecessors, and anecdotal reports from ISS crews suggest that their conditioning is better preserved since the new hardware was delivered in 2009. However, several countermeasure devices to protect different physiologic systems will not be practical during exploration missions when the available volume and mass will be severely restricted. The combined countermeasure device (CCD) integrates a suite of hardware into one device intended to prevent spaceflight-induced musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, and sensorimotor deconditioning. The CCD includes pneumatic loading devices with attached cables for resistive exercise, a cycle for aerobic exercise, and a 6 degree of freedom motion platform for balance training. In a proof of concept test, ambulatory untrained subjects increased muscle strength (58%) as well as aerobic capacity (26%) after 12-weeks of exercise training with the CCD (without balance training), improvements comparable to those observed with traditional exercise training. These preliminary results suggest that this CCD can

  6. 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

  7. NASA Technology Area 07: Human Exploration Destination Systems Roadmap

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kennedy, Kriss J.; Alexander, Leslie; Landis, Rob; Linne, Diane; Mclemore, Carole; Santiago-Maldonado, Edgardo; Brown, David L.

    2011-01-01

    This paper gives an overview of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Office of Chief Technologist (OCT) led Space Technology Roadmap definition efforts. This paper will given an executive summary of the technology area 07 (TA07) Human Exploration Destination Systems (HEDS). These are draft roadmaps being reviewed and updated by the National Research Council. Deep-space human exploration missions will require many game changing technologies to enable safe missions, become more independent, and enable intelligent autonomous operations and take advantage of the local resources to become self-sufficient thereby meeting the goal of sustained human presence in space. Taking advantage of in-situ resources enhances and enables revolutionary robotic and human missions beyond the traditional mission architectures and launch vehicle capabilities. Mobility systems will include in-space flying, surface roving, and Extra-vehicular Activity/Extravehicular Robotics (EVA/EVR) mobility. These push missions will take advantage of sustainability and supportability technologies that will allow mission independence to conduct human mission operations either on or near the Earth, in deep space, in the vicinity of Mars, or on the Martian surface while opening up commercialization opportunities in low Earth orbit (LEO) for research, industrial development, academia, and entertainment space industries. The Human Exploration Destination Systems (HEDS) Technology Area (TA) 7 Team has been chartered by the Office of the Chief Technologist (OCT) to strategically roadmap technology investments that will enable sustained human exploration and support NASA s missions and goals for at least the next 25 years. HEDS technologies will enable a sustained human presence for exploring destinations such as remote sites on Earth and beyond including, but not limited to, LaGrange points, low Earth orbit (LEO), high Earth orbit (HEO), geosynchronous orbit (GEO), the Moon, near

  8. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Environmental Control and Life Support (ECLS) Capability Roadmap Development for Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bagdigian, Robert M.; Carrasquillo, Robyn L.; Metcalf, Jordan; Peterson, Laurie

    2012-01-01

    NASA is considering a number of future human space exploration mission concepts. Although detailed requirements and vehicle architectures remain mostly undefined, near-term technology investment decisions need to be guided by the anticipated capabilities needed to enable or enhance the mission concepts. This paper describes a roadmap that NASA has formulated to guide the development of Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS) capabilities required to enhance the long-term operation of the International Space Station (ISS) and enable beyond-Low Earth Orbit (LEO) human exploration missions. Three generic mission types were defined to serve as a basis for developing a prioritized list of needed capabilities and technologies. Those are 1) a short duration micro gravity mission; 2) a long duration transit microgravity mission; and 3) a long duration surface exploration mission. To organize the effort, ECLSS was categorized into three major functional groups (atmosphere, water, and solid waste management) with each broken down into sub-functions. The ability of existing, flight-proven state-of-the-art (SOA) technologies to meet the functional needs of each of the three mission types was then assessed. When SOA capabilities fell short of meeting the needs, those "gaps" were prioritized in terms of whether or not the corresponding capabilities enable or enhance each of the mission types. The resulting list of enabling and enhancing capability gaps can be used to guide future ECLSS development. A strategy to fulfill those needs over time was then developed in the form of a roadmap. Through execution of this roadmap, the hardware and technologies needed to enable and enhance exploration may be developed in a manner that synergistically benefits the ISS operational capability, supports Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) development, and sustains long-term technology investments for longer duration missions. This paper summarizes NASA s ECLSS capability roadmap

  9. Intra-EVA Space-to-Ground Interactions when Conducting Scientific Fieldwork Under Simulated Mars Mission Constraints

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beaton, Kara H.; Chappell, Steven P.; Abercromby, Andrew F. J.; Lim, Darlene S. S.

    2018-01-01

    The Biologic Analog Science Associated with Lava Terrains (BASALT) project is a four-year program dedicated to iteratively designing, implementing, and evaluating concepts of operations (ConOps) and supporting capabilities to enable and enhance scientific exploration for future human Mars missions. The BASALT project has incorporated three field deployments during which real (non-simulated) biological and geochemical field science have been conducted at two high-fidelity Mars analog locations under simulated Mars mission conditions, including communication delays and data transmission limitations. BASALT's primary Science objective has been to extract basaltic samples for the purpose of investigating how microbial communities and habitability correlate with the physical and geochemical characteristics of chemically altered basalt environments. Field sites include the active East Rift Zone on the Big Island of Hawai'i, reminiscent of early Mars when basaltic volcanism and interaction with water were widespread, and the dormant eastern Snake River Plain in Idaho, similar to present-day Mars where basaltic volcanism is rare and most evidence for volcano-driven hydrothermal activity is relict. BASALT's primary Science Operations objective has been to investigate exploration ConOps and capabilities that facilitate scientific return during human-robotic exploration under Mars mission constraints. Each field deployment has consisted of ten extravehicular activities (EVAs) on the volcanic flows in which crews of two extravehicular and two intravehicular crewmembers conducted the field science while communicating across time delay and under bandwidth constraints with an Earth-based Mission Support Center (MSC) comprised of expert scientists and operators. Communication latencies of 5 and 15 min one-way light time and low (0.512 Mb/s uplink, 1.54 Mb/s downlink) and high (5.0 Mb/s uplink, 10.0 Mb/s downlink) bandwidth conditions were evaluated. EVA crewmembers communicated

  10. Exploitation and exploration dynamics in recessionary times

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Walrave, B.

    2012-01-01

    Firm performance largely depends on the ability to adapt to, and exploit, changes in the business environment. That is, firms should maintain ecological fitness by reconfiguring their resource base to cope with emerging threats and explore new opportunities, while at the same time exploiting

  11. NASA's Discovery Mission to (16) Psyche: Visiting a Metal World

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elkins-Tanton, L. T.; Bell, J. F., III

    2017-09-01

    The Psyche mission is one of NASA's most recent Discovery mission selections. It is designed to explore the large metallic Main Belt asteroid (16) Psyche and test the hypothesis that it is the exposed core of an ancient differentiated planetesimal.

  12. Anaphylaxis, Intra-Abdominal Infections, Skin Lacerations, and Behavioral Emergencies: A Literature Review of Austere Analogs for a near Earth Asteroid Mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chough, Natacha G.; Watkins, Sharmi; Menon, Anil S.

    2012-01-01

    As space exploration is directed towards destinations beyond low-Earth orbit, the consequent new set of medical risks will drive requirements for new capabilities and more resources to ensure crew health. The Space Medicine Exploration Medical Conditions List (SMEMCL), developed by the Exploration Medical Capability element of the Human Research Program, addresses the risk of "unacceptable health and mission outcomes due to limitations of in-flight medical capabilities". It itemizes 85 evidence-based clinical requirements for eight different mission profiles and identifies conditions warranting further research and technology development. Each condition is given a clinical priority for each mission profile. Four conditions -- intra-abdominal infections, skin lacerations, anaphylaxis, and behavioral emergencies -- were selected as a starting point for analysis. A systematic literature review was performed to understand how these conditions are treated in austere, limited-resource, space-analog environments (i.e., high-altitude and mountain environments, submarines, military deployments, Antarctica, isolated wilderness environments, in-flight environments, and remote, resource-poor, rural environments). These environments serve as analogs to spaceflight because of their shared characteristics (limited medical resources, delay in communication, confined living quarters, difficulty with resupply, variable time to evacuation). Treatment of these four medical conditions in austere environments provides insight into medical equipment and training requirements for exploration-class missions.

  13. The O/OREOS Mission - Astrobiology in Low Earth Orbit. [Astrobiology in Low Earth Orbit

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ehrenfreund, P.; Ricco, A. J.; Squires, D.; Kitts, C.; Agasid, E.; Bramall, N.; Bryson, K.; Chittenden, J.; Conley, C.; Cook, A.; hide

    2014-01-01

    The O/OREOS (Organism/Organic Exposure to Orbital Stresses) nanosatellite is the first science demonstration spacecraft and flight mission of the NASA Astrobiology Small- Payloads Program (ASP). O/OREOS was launched successfully on November 19, 2010, to a high-inclination (72 deg), 650-km Earth orbit aboard a US Air Force Minotaur IV rocket from Kodiak, Alaska. O/OREOS consists of 3 conjoined cubesat (each 1000 cu cm) modules: (i) a control bus; (ii) the Space Environment Survivability of Living Organisms (SESLO) experiment; and (iii) the Space Environment Viability of Organics (SEVO) experiment. Among the innovative aspects of the O/OREOS mission are a real-time analysis of the photostability of organics and biomarkers and the collection of data on the survival and metabolic activity for microorganisms at 3 times during the 6-month mission. We report on the spacecraft characteristics, payload capabilities, and present operational phase and flight data from the O/OREOS mission. The science and technology rationale of O/OREOS supports NASA0s scientific exploration program by investigating the local space environment as well as space biology relevant to Moon and Mars missions. It also serves as a precursor for experiments on small satellites, the International Space Station (ISS), future free-flyers and lunar surface exposure facilities.

  14. 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.

  15. 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

  16. Small Explorer project: Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite (SWAS). Mission operations and data analysis plan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Melnick, Gary J.

    1990-01-01

    The Mission Operations and Data Analysis Plan is presented for the Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite (SWAS) Project. It defines organizational responsibilities, discusses target selection and navigation, specifies instrument command and data requirements, defines data reduction and analysis hardware and software requirements, and discusses mission operations center staffing requirements.

  17. Decision Analysis Methods Used to Make Appropriate Investments in Human Exploration Capabilities and Technologies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williams-Byrd, Julie; Arney, Dale C.; Hay, Jason; Reeves, John D.; Craig, Douglas

    2016-01-01

    NASA is transforming human spaceflight. The Agency is shifting from an exploration-based program with human activities in low Earth orbit (LEO) and targeted robotic missions in deep space to a more sustainable and integrated pioneering approach. Through pioneering, NASA seeks to address national goals to develop the capacity for people to work, learn, operate, live, and thrive safely beyond Earth for extended periods of time. However, pioneering space involves daunting technical challenges of transportation, maintaining health, and enabling crew productivity for long durations in remote, hostile, and alien environments. Prudent investments in capability and technology developments, based on mission need, are critical for enabling a campaign of human exploration missions. There are a wide variety of capabilities and technologies that could enable these missions, so it is a major challenge for NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) to make knowledgeable portfolio decisions. It is critical for this pioneering initiative that these investment decisions are informed with a prioritization process that is robust and defensible. It is NASA's role to invest in targeted technologies and capabilities that would enable exploration missions even though specific requirements have not been identified. To inform these investments decisions, NASA's HEOMD has supported a variety of analysis activities that prioritize capabilities and technologies. These activities are often based on input from subject matter experts within the NASA community who understand the technical challenges of enabling human exploration missions. This paper will review a variety of processes and methods that NASA has used to prioritize and rank capabilities and technologies applicable to human space exploration. The paper will show the similarities in the various processes and showcase instances were customer specified priorities force modifications to the process. Specifically

  18. Printable Spacecraft: Flexible Electronic Platforms for NASA Missions. Phase One

    Science.gov (United States)

    Short, Kendra (Principal Investigator); Van Buren, David (Principal Investigator)

    2012-01-01

    Atmospheric confetti. Inchworm crawlers. Blankets of ground penetrating radar. These are some of the unique mission concepts which could be enabled by a printable spacecraft. Printed electronics technology offers enormous potential to transform the way NASA builds spacecraft. A printed spacecraft's low mass, volume and cost offer dramatic potential impacts to many missions. Network missions could increase from a few discrete measurements to tens of thousands of platforms improving areal density and system reliability. Printed platforms could be added to any prime mission as a low-cost, minimum resource secondary payload to augment the science return. For a small fraction of the mass and cost of a traditional lander, a Europa flagship mission might carry experimental printed surface platforms. An Enceladus Explorer could carry feather-light printed platforms to release into volcanic plumes to measure composition and impact energies. The ability to print circuits directly onto a variety of surfaces, opens the possibility of multi-functional structures and membranes such as "smart" solar sails and balloons. The inherent flexibility of a printed platform allows for in-situ re-configurability for aerodynamic control or mobility. Engineering telemetry of wheel/soil interactions are possible with a conformal printed sensor tape fit around a rover wheel. Environmental time history within a sample return canister could be recorded with a printed sensor array that fits flush to the interior of the canister. Phase One of the NIAC task entitled "Printable Spacecraft" investigated the viability of printed electronics technologies for creating multi-functional spacecraft platforms. Mission concepts and architectures that could be enhanced or enabled with this technology were explored. This final report captures the results and conclusions of the Phase One study. First, the report presents the approach taken in conducting the study and a mapping of results against the proposed

  19. 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.

  20. Ocean World Exploration and SLS: Enabling the Search for Life

    Science.gov (United States)

    Creech, Stephen D.; Vane, Greg

    2016-01-01

    Whether life exists on worlds other than Earth is one of the most compelling questions facing space science today. Given that, on Earth, life exists wherever water is found, worlds harboring large amounts of water are prime targets in the search for an answer to this question. Jovian moons Europa, Callisto, and Ganymede; Saturnian moons Enceladus and Titan; and possibly Neptune's Triton are all worlds in the outer solar system on which large quantities of water can be found in solid and liquid form. So compelling are these worlds as targets for scientific study that the United States Congress recently initiated a directive to NASA to create an "Ocean Worlds Exploration Program, comprised of frequent small, medium and large missions that poses the potential to revolutionize our understanding of the solar system and life within it, perhaps more profoundly event than the modern-day search for past or extant life on Mars. Any life detected at the remote "ocean worlds" in the outer solar system would likely have formed and evolved along an independent path from life on Earth itself, giving us a deeper understanding of the potential for broad variety amongst life in the universe. In NASA's robotic study of Mars, a key to the success of the "search for water" was the ability to conduct iterative exploration via a series of missions launched on a regular cadence based on 26-month cycles of prime planetary-alignment windows of reduced transit time. Through this cadence, NASA was able to send to Mars a series of orbiters and landers, using the knowledge gained from each mission to inform and refine the goals of the next. The ability to conduct iterative exploration in this manner could have a substantial impact on exploration of the "ocean worlds," allowing scientists to narrow their targets of interest in the search for life based on data sent back by successive missions. This ability is currently limited by the transit periods available from contemporary evolved expendable

  1. Haiti Start-Up mission design cold chain mango-avocado

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Oostewechel, René; Régis, Yves-Laurent; Brouwers, Jan

    2018-01-01

    This report shares the findings of the first start-up mission to Haiti, exploring all relevant elements pertaining to the design of the mango and avocado cold chain for fruit export to the USA, with the possibility to extend logistics services to other fruits like pineapple. Findings of the mission

  2. 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.

  3. 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

  4. The EUVE Mission at UCB: Squeezing More From Less

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stroozas, B. A.; Cullison, J. L.; McDonald, K. E.; Nevitt, R.; Malina, R. F.

    2000-05-01

    With 8 years on orbit, and over three years in an outsourced mode at U.C. Berkeley (UCB), NASA's Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) continues to be a highly mature and productive scientific mission. The EUVE satellite is extremely stable and exhibits little degradation in its original scientific capabilities, and science data return continues to be at the >99% level. The Project's very small, dedicated, innovative, and relatively cheap ( \\$1 million/year) support team at UCB continues to validate the success of NASA's outsourcing "experiment" while providing a very high science-per-dollar return on NASA's investment with no significant additional risk to the flight systems. The EUVE mission still has much more to offer in terms of important and exciting scientific discoveries as well as mission operations innovations. To highlight this belief the EUVE team at UCB continues to find creative ways to do more with less -- to squeeze the maximum out of available funds -- in NASA's "cheaper, better, faster" environment. This paper provides an overview of the EUVE mission's past, current, and potential future efforts toward automating and integrating its multi-functional data processing systems in proposal management, observation planning, mission operations and engineering, and the processing, archival, and delivery of raw telemetry and science data products. The paper will also discuss the creative allocation of the Project's few remaining personnel resources who support both core mission functions and new innovations, while at the same time minimizing overall risk and stretching the available budget. This work is funded through NASA/UCB Cooperative Agreement NCC5-138.

  5. Safety and Mission Assurance Knowledge Management Retention: Managing Knowledge for Successful Mission Operations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Teresa A.

    2006-01-01

    Knowledge Management is a proactive pursuit for the future success of any large organization faced with the imminent possibility that their senior managers/engineers with gained experiences and lessons learned plan to retire in the near term. Safety and Mission Assurance (S&MA) is proactively pursuing unique mechanism to ensure knowledge learned is retained and lessons learned captured and documented. Knowledge Capture Event/Activities/Management helps to provide a gateway between future retirees and our next generation of managers/engineers. S&MA hosted two Knowledge Capture Events during 2005 featuring three of its retiring fellows (Axel Larsen, Dave Whittle and Gary Johnson). The first Knowledge Capture Event February 24, 2005 focused on two Safety and Mission Assurance Safety Panels (Space Shuttle System Safety Review Panel (SSRP); Payload Safety Review Panel (PSRP) and the latter event December 15, 2005 featured lessons learned during Apollo, Skylab, and Space Shuttle which could be applicable in the newly created Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV)/Constellation development program. Gemini, Apollo, Skylab and the Space Shuttle promised and delivered exciting human advances in space and benefits of space in people s everyday lives on earth. Johnson Space Center's Safety & Mission Assurance team work over the last 20 years has been mostly focused on operations we are now beginning the Exploration development program. S&MA will promote an atmosphere of knowledge sharing in its formal and informal cultures and work processes, and reward the open dissemination and sharing of information; we are asking "Why embrace relearning the "lessons learned" in the past?" On the Exploration program the focus will be on Design, Development, Test, & Evaluation (DDT&E); therefore, it is critical to understand the lessons from these past programs during the DDT&E phase.

  6. IXPE: The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer, Implementing a Dedicated Polarimetry Mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramsey, Brian

    2014-01-01

    Only a few experiments have conducted x-ray polarimetry of cosmic sources since Weisskopf et al confirmed the 19% polarization of the Crab Nebula with the Orbiting Solar Observatory (OSO-8) in the 70's center dot The challenge is to measure a faint polarized component against a background of non-polarized signal (as well as the other, typical background components) center dot Typically, for a few % minimum detectable polarization, 106 photons are required. center dot So, a dedicated mission is vital with instruments that are designed specifically to measure polarization (with minimal systematic effects) Over the proposed mission life (2- 3 years), IXPE will first survey representative samples of several categories of targets: magnetars, isolated pulsars, pulsar wind nebula and supernova remnants, microquasars, active galaxies etc. The survey results will guide detailed follow-up observations. Precise calibration of IXPE is vital to ensuring sensitivity goals are met. The detectors will be characterized in Italy, and then a full calibration of the complete instrument will be performed at MSFC's stray light facility. Polarized flux at different energies Heritage: X-ray Optics at MSFC polarimetry mission.

  7. NASA's Space Launch System: A New Capability for Science and Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crumbly, Christopher M.; May, Todd A.; Robinson, Kimberly F.

    2014-01-01

    equipment they would need for extended trips to asteroids, the Moon, and Mars. SLS also offers substantial capability to support robotic science missions, offering benefits such as improved mass margins and radiation mitigation, and reduced mission durations. The SLS rocket, using significantly higher characteristic energy (C3), can more quickly and effectively take the mission directly to its destination, reducing trip time and cost. As this paper will explain, the SLS is making measurable progress toward becoming a global infrastructure asset for robotic and human scouts of all nations by providing the robust space launch capability to deliver sustainable solutions for advanced exploration.

  8. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission: 10 Years of Exploration from Mars Orbit

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnston, M. Daniel; Zurek, Richard W.

    2016-01-01

    The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter ( MRO ) entered Mars orbit on March 10, 2006. After five months of aerobraking, a series of propulsive maneuvers were used to establish the desired low -altitude science orbit. The spacecraft has been on station in its 255 x 320 k m, sun -synchronous (approximately 3 am -pm ), primary science orbit since September 2006 performing both scientific and Mars programmatic support functions. This paper will provide a summary of the major achievements of the mission to date and the major flight activities planned for the remainder of its third Extended Mission (EM3). Some of the major flight challenges the flight team has faced are also discussed.

  9. Scientific Packages on Small Bodies, a Deployment Strategy for New Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tardivel, Simon; Scheeres, D. J.; Michel, P.

    2013-10-01

    The exploration of asteroids is currently a topic of high priority for the space agencies. JAXA will launch its second asteroid explorer, aimed at 1999 JU3, in the second half of 2014. NASA has selected OSIRIS-REx to go to asteroid Bennu, and it will launch in 2016. ESA is currently performing the assessment study of the MarcoPolo-R space mission, in the framework of the M3 (medium) competition of its Cosmic Vision Program, whose objective is now 2008 EV5. In the continuity of these missions, landing for an extended period of time on the ground to perform measurements seems a logical next step to asteroid exploration. Yet, the surface behavior of an asteroid is not well known and landing the whole spacecraft on it could be hazardous, and pose other mission operations problems such as ensuring communication with Earth. Hence, we propose a new approach to asteroid surface exploration. Using a mothership spacecraft, we will present how multiple landers could be deployed to the surface of an asteroid using ballistic trajectories. Combining a detailed simulation of the bouncing and contact dynamics on the surface with numerical and mathematical analysis of the flight dynamics near an asteroid, we show how landing pods could be distributed at the surface of a body. The strategy has the advantages that the mothership always maintains a safe distance from the surface and the landers do not need any GNC (guidance, navigation and control system) or landing apparatus. Thus, it allows for simple operations and for the design of lightweight landers with minimum platform overhead and maximum payload. These pods could then be used as a single measurement apparatus (e.g. seismometers) or as independent and different instruments, using their widespread distribution to gain both global and local knowledge on the asteroid.

  10. 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.

  11. Application of Solar-Electric Propulsion to Robotic and Human Missions in Near-Earth Space

    Science.gov (United States)

    Woodcock, Gordon R.; Dankanich, John

    2011-01-01

    Interest in applications of solar electric propulsion (SEP) is increasing. Application of SEP technology is favored when: (1) the mission is compatible with low-thrust propulsion, (2) the mission needs high total delta V such that chemical propulsion is disadvantaged; and (3) performance enhancement is needed. If all such opportunities for future missions are considered, many uses of SEP are likely. Representative missions are surveyed and several SEP applications selected for analysis, including orbit raising, lunar science, lunar exploration, lunar exploitation, planetary science, and planetary exploration. These missions span SEP power range from 10s of kWe to several MWe. Modes of use and benefits are described, and potential SEP evolution is discussed.

  12. 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.

  13. Advanced Technologies for Robotic Exploration Leading to Human Exploration: Results from the SpaceOps 2015 Workshop

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lupisella, Mark L.; Mueller, Thomas

    2016-01-01

    This paper will provide a summary and analysis of the SpaceOps 2015 Workshop all-day session on "Advanced Technologies for Robotic Exploration, Leading to Human Exploration", held at Fucino Space Center, Italy on June 12th, 2015. The session was primarily intended to explore how robotic missions and robotics technologies more generally can help lead to human exploration missions. The session included a wide range of presentations that were roughly grouped into (1) broader background, conceptual, and high-level operations concepts presentations such as the International Space Exploration Coordination Group Roadmap, followed by (2) more detailed narrower presentations such as rover autonomy and communications. The broader presentations helped to provide context and specific technical hooks, and helped lay a foundation for the narrower presentations on more specific challenges and technologies, as well as for the discussion that followed. The discussion that followed the presentations touched on key questions, themes, actions and potential international collaboration opportunities. Some of the themes that were touched on were (1) multi-agent systems, (2) decentralized command and control, (3) autonomy, (4) low-latency teleoperations, (5) science operations, (6) communications, (7) technology pull vs. technology push, and (8) the roles and challenges of operations in early human architecture and mission concept formulation. A number of potential action items resulted from the workshop session, including: (1) using CCSDS as a further collaboration mechanism for human mission operations, (2) making further contact with subject matter experts, (3) initiating informal collaborative efforts to allow for rapid and efficient implementation, and (4) exploring how SpaceOps can support collaboration and information exchange with human exploration efforts. This paper will summarize the session and provide an overview of the above subjects as they emerged from the SpaceOps 2015

  14. Deep space telecommunications, navigation, and information management. Support of the space exploration initiative

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hall, Justin R.; Hastrup, Rolf C.

    The United States Space Exploration Initiative (SEI) calls for the charting of a new and evolving manned course to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. This paper discusses key challenges in providing effective deep space telecommunications, navigation, and information management (TNIM) architectures and designs for Mars exploration support. The fundamental objectives are to provide the mission with means to monitor and control mission elements, acquire engineering, science, and navigation data, compute state vectors and navigate, and move these data efficiently and automatically between mission nodes for timely analysis and decision-making. Although these objectives do not depart, fundamentally, from those evolved over the past 30 years in supporting deep space robotic exploration, there are several new issues. This paper focuses on summarizing new requirements, identifying related issues and challenges, responding with concepts and strategies which are enabling, and, finally, describing candidate architectures, and driving technologies. The design challenges include the attainment of: 1) manageable interfaces in a large distributed system, 2) highly unattended operations for in-situ Mars telecommunications and navigation functions, 3) robust connectivity for manned and robotic links, 4) information management for efficient and reliable interchange of data between mission nodes, and 5) an adequate Mars-Earth data rate.

  15. 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.

  16. Real-Time Analytics Test System for Distributed Spacecraft Missions

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Upcoming DSM missions will produce unprecedented amounts of data during both I&T and flight, overwhelming current command/telemetry systems. The amount of data,...

  17. Deep space telecommunications, navigation, and information management - Support of the Space Exploration Initiative

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hall, Justin R.; Hastrup, Rolf C.

    1990-10-01

    The principal challenges in providing effective deep space navigation, telecommunications, and information management architectures and designs for Mars exploration support are presented. The fundamental objectives are to provide the mission with the means to monitor and control mission elements, obtain science, navigation, and engineering data, compute state vectors and navigate, and to move these data efficiently and automatically between mission nodes for timely analysis and decision making. New requirements are summarized, and related issues and challenges including the robust connectivity for manned and robotic links, are identified. Enabling strategies are discussed, and candidate architectures and driving technologies are described.

  18. 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.

  19. 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

  20. 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.

  1. Communication System Architecture for Planetary Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Braham, Stephen P.; Alena, Richard; Gilbaugh, Bruce; Glass, Brian; Norvig, Peter (Technical Monitor)

    2001-01-01

    Future human missions to Mars will require effective communications supporting exploration activities and scientific field data collection. Constraints on cost, size, weight and power consumption for all communications equipment make optimization of these systems very important. These information and communication systems connect people and systems together into coherent teams performing the difficult and hazardous tasks inherent in planetary exploration. The communication network supporting vehicle telemetry data, mission operations, and scientific collaboration must have excellent reliability, and flexibility.

  2. Conceptual Drivers for an Exploration Medical System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Antonsen, Erik; Hanson, Andrea; Shah, Ronak; Reed, Rebekah; Canga, Michael

    2016-01-01

    Interplanetary spaceflight, such as NASA's proposed three-year mission to Mars, provides unique and novel challenges when compared with human spaceflight to date. Extended distance and multi-year missions introduce new elements of operational complexity and additional risk. These elements include: inability to resupply medications and consumables, inability to evacuate injured or ill crew, uncharted psychosocial conditions, and communication delays that create a requirement for some level of autonomous medical capability. Because of these unique challenges, the approaches used in prior programs have limited application to a Mars mission. On a Mars mission, resource limitations will significantly constrain available medical capabilities, and require a paradigm shift in the approach to medical system design and risk mitigation for crew health. To respond to this need for a new paradigm, the Exploration Medical Capability (ExMC) Element is assessing each Mars mission phase-transit, surface stay, rendezvous, extravehicular activity, and return-to identify and prioritize medical needs for the journey beyond low Earth orbit (LEO). ExMC is addressing both planned medical operations, and unplanned contingency medical operations that meld clinical needs and research needs into a single system. This assessment is being used to derive a gap analysis and studies to support meaningful medical capabilities trades. These trades, in turn, allow the exploration medical system design to proceed from both a mission centric and ethics-based approach, and to manage the risks associated with the medical limitations inherent in an exploration class mission. This paper outlines the conceptual drivers used to derive medical system and vehicle needs from an integrated vision of how medical care will be provided within this paradigm. Keywords: (Max 6 keywords: exploration, medicine, spaceflight, Mars, research, NASA)

  3. Mission, Multiculturalism, and the Liberal Arts College: A Qualitative Investigation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aleman, Ana M. Martinez; Salkever, Katya

    2003-01-01

    Using qualitative methods, explored how faculty, administrators, and students at a liberal arts college understand the mission of liberal education and its relationship to their institutional goals for multicultural community. Interview data suggest that the traditional liberal educational mission of this college thwarts the development of…

  4. 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.

  5. Exploration Space Suit Architecture: Destination Environmental-Based Technology Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hill, Terry R.

    2010-01-01

    This paper picks up where EVA Space Suit Architecture: Low Earth Orbit Vs. Moon Vs. Mars (Hill, Johnson, IEEEAC paper #1209) left off in the development of a space suit architecture that is modular in design and interfaces and could be reconfigured to meet the mission or during any given mission depending on the tasks or destination. This paper will walk though the continued development of a space suit system architecture, and how it should evolve to meeting the future exploration EVA needs of the United States space program. In looking forward to future US space exploration and determining how the work performed to date in the CxP and how this would map to a future space suit architecture with maximum re-use of technology and functionality, a series of thought exercises and analysis have provided a strong indication that the CxP space suit architecture is well postured to provide a viable solution for future exploration missions. Through the destination environmental analysis that is presented in this paper, the modular architecture approach provides the lowest mass, lowest mission cost for the protection of the crew given any human mission outside of low Earth orbit. Some of the studies presented here provide a look and validation of the non-environmental design drivers that will become every-increasingly important the further away from Earth humans venture and the longer they are away. Additionally, the analysis demonstrates a logical clustering of design environments that allows a very focused approach to technology prioritization, development and design that will maximize the return on investment independent of any particular program and provide architecture and design solutions for space suit systems in time or ahead of being required for any particular manned flight program in the future. The new approach to space suit design and interface definition the discussion will show how the architecture is very adaptable to programmatic and funding changes with

  6. Low cost manned Mars mission based on indigenous propellant production

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bruckner, A. P.; Cinnamon, M.; Hamling, S.; Mahn, K.; Phillips, J.; Westmark, V.

    1993-01-01

    The paper describes a low-cost approach to the manned exploration of Mars (which involves an unmanned mission followed two years later by a manned mission) based on near-term technologies and in situ propellant production. Particular attention is given to the basic mission architecture and its major components, including the orbital analysis, the unmanned segment, the Earth Return Vehicle, the aerobrake design, life sciences, guidance, communications, power, propellant production, the surface rovers, and Mars science. Also discussed are the cost per mission over an assumed 8-yr initiative.

  7. Autonomous aerobraking for low-cost interplanetary missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carrelli, David; O'Shaughnessy, Daniel; Strikwerda, Thomas; Kaidy, James; Prince, Jill; Powell, Richard

    2014-01-01

    Aerobraking has previously been used to reduce the propellant required to deliver an orbiter to its desired final orbit. In principle, aerobraking should be possible around any target planet or moon having sufficient atmosphere to permit atmospheric drag to provide a portion of the mission ΔV, in lieu of supplying all of the required ΔV propulsively. The spacecraft is flown through the upper atmosphere of the target using multiple passes, ensuring that the dynamic pressure and thermal loads remain within the spacecraft's design parameters. NASA has successfully conducted aerobraking operations four times, once at Venus and three times at Mars. While aerobraking reduces the fuel required, it does so at the expense of time (typically 3-6 months), continuous Deep Space Network (DSN) coverage, and a large ground staff. These factors can result in aerobraking being a very expensive operational phase of the mission. However, aerobraking has matured to the point that much of the daily operation could potentially be performed autonomously onboard the spacecraft, thereby reducing the required ground support and attendant aerobraking related costs. To facilitate a lower-risk transition from ground processing to an autonomous capability, the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) has assembled a team of experts in aerobraking and interplanetary guidance and control to develop a high-fidelity, flight-like simulation. This simulation will be used to demonstrate the overall feasibility while exploring the potential for staff and DSN coverage reductions that autonomous aerobraking might provide. This paper reviews the various elements of autonomous aerobraking and presents an overview of the various models and algorithms that must be transformed from the current ground processing methodology to a flight-like environment. Additionally the high-fidelity flight software test bed, being developed from models used in a recent interplanetary mission, will be summarized.

  8. International cooperation for Mars exploration and sample return

    Science.gov (United States)

    Levy, Eugene H.; Boynton, William V.; Cameron, A. G. W.; Carr, Michael H.; Kitchell, Jennifer H.; Mazur, Peter; Pace, Norman R.; Prinn, Ronald G.; Solomon, Sean C.; Wasserburg, Gerald J.

    1990-01-01

    The National Research Council's Space Studies Board has previously recommended that the next major phase of Mars exploration for the United States involve detailed in situ investigations of the surface of Mars and the return to earth for laboratory analysis of selected Martian surface samples. More recently, the European space science community has expressed general interest in the concept of cooperative Mars exploration and sample return. The USSR has now announced plans for a program of Mars exploration incorporating international cooperation. If the opportunity becomes available to participate in Mars exploration, interest is likely to emerge on the part of a number of other countries, such as Japan and Canada. The Space Studies Board's Committee on Cooperative Mars Exploration and Sample Return was asked by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to examine and report on the question of how Mars sample return missions might best be structured for effective implementation by NASA along with international partners. The committee examined alternatives ranging from scientific missions in which the United States would take a substantial lead, with international participation playing only an ancillary role, to missions in which international cooperation would be a basic part of the approach, with the international partners taking on comparably large mission responsibilities. On the basis of scientific strategies developed earlier by the Space Studies Board, the committee considered the scientific and technical basis of such collaboration and the most mutually beneficial arrangements for constructing successful cooperative missions, particularly with the USSR.

  9. The Role of Cis-Lunar Space in Future Global Space Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bobskill, Marianne R.; Lupisella, Mark L.

    2012-01-01

    Cis-lunar space offers affordable near-term opportunities to help pave the way for future global human exploration of deep space, acting as a bridge between present missions and future deep space missions. While missions in cis-lunar space have value unto themselves, they can also play an important role in enabling and reducing risk for future human missions to the Moon, Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs), Mars, and other deep space destinations. The Cis-Lunar Destination Team of NASA's Human Spaceflight Architecture Team (HAT) has been analyzing cis-lunar destination activities and developing notional missions (or "destination Design Reference Missions" [DRMs]) for cis-lunar locations to inform roadmap and architecture development, transportation and destination elements definition, operations, and strategic knowledge gaps. The cis-lunar domain is defined as that area of deep space under the gravitational influence of the earth-moon system. This includes a set of earth-centered orbital locations in low earth orbit (LEO), geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO), highly elliptical and high earth orbits (HEO), earth-moon libration or "Lagrange" points (E-ML1 through E-ML5, and in particular, E-ML1 and E-ML2), and low lunar orbit (LLO). To help explore this large possibility space, we developed a set of high level cis-lunar mission concepts in the form of a large mission tree, defined primarily by mission duration, pre-deployment, type of mission, and location. The mission tree has provided an overall analytical context and has helped in developing more detailed design reference missions that are then intended to inform capabilities, operations, and architectures. With the mission tree as context, we will describe two destination DRMs to LEO and GEO, based on present human space exploration architectural considerations, as well as our recent work on defining mission activities that could be conducted with an EML1 or EML2 facility, the latter of which will be an emphasis of this

  10. Clementine: An inexpensive mission to the Moon and Geographos

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shoemaker, Eugene M.; Nozette, Stewart

    1993-03-01

    The Clementine Mission, a joint project of the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO) and NASA, has been planned primarily to test and demonstrate a suite of lightweight sensors and other lightweight spacecraft components under extended exposure to the space environment. Although the primary objective of the mission is to space-qualify sensors for Department of Defense applications, it was recognized in 1990 that such a mission might also be designed to acquire scientific observations of the Moon and of Apollo asteroid (1620) Geographos. This possibility was explored jointly by SDIO and NASA, including representatives from NASA's Discovery Program Science Working Group, in early 1991. Besides the direct return of scientific information, one of the benefits envisioned from a joint venture was the development of lightweight components for possible future use in NASA's Discovery-class spacecraft. In Jan. 1992, SDIO informed NASA of its intent to fly a 'Deep Space Program Science Experiment,' now popularly called Clementine; NASA then formed an advisory science working group to assist in the early development of the mission. The Clementine spacecraft is being assembled at the Naval Research Laboratory, which is also in charge of the overall mission design and mission operations. Support for mission design is being provided by GSFC and by JPL. NASA's Deep Space Network will be utilized in tracking and communicating with the spacecraft. Following a recommendation of the COMPLEX committee of the Space Science Board, NASA will issue an NRA and appoint a formal science team in early 1993. Clementine is a 3-axis stabilized, 200 kg (dry weight) spacecraft that will be launched on a refurbished Titan-2G. One of the goals has been to build two spacecraft, including the sensors, for $100M. Total time elapsed from the decision to proceed to the launch will be two years.

  11. NASA's Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter Missions: Discovering the Secrets of our Star

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zurbuchen, T.

    2017-12-01

    This session will explore the importance of the Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter missions to NASA Science, and the preparations for discoveries from these missions. NASA's Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter Missions have complementary missions and will provide unique and unprecedented contributions to heliophysics and astrophysics overall. These inner heliospheric missions will also be part of the Heliophysics System Observatory which includes an increasing amount of innovative new technology and architectures to address science and data in an integrated fashion and advance models through assimilation and system-level tests. During this talk, we will briefly explore how NASA Heliophysics research efforts not only increase our understanding and predictive capability of space weather phenomena, but also provide key insights on fundamental processes important throughout the universe.

  12. Near Earth Asteroid Scout: NASA's Solar Sail Mission to a NEA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Les; Lockett, Tiffany

    2017-01-01

    NASA is developing a solar sail propulsion system for use on the Near Earth Asteroid (NEA) Scout reconnaissance mission and laying the groundwork for their use in future deep space science and exploration missions. Solar sails use sunlight to propel vehicles through space by reflecting solar photons from a large, mirror-like sail made of a lightweight, highly reflective material. This continuous photon pressure provides propellantless thrust, allowing for very high Delta V maneuvers on long-duration, deep space exploration. Since reflected light produces thrust, solar sails require no onboard propellant. The Near Earth Asteroid (NEA) Scout mission, funded by NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems Program and managed by NASA MSFC, will use the sail as primary propulsion allowing it to survey and image Asteroid 1991VG and, potentially, other NEA's of interest for possible future human exploration. NEA Scout uses a 6U cubesat (to be provided by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory), an 86 m(exp. 2) solar sail and will weigh less than 12 kilograms. NEA Scout will be launched on the first flight of the Space Launch System in 2018. The solar sail for NEA Scout will be based on the technology developed and flown by the NASA NanoSail-D and The Planetary Society's Lightsail-A. Four approximately 7 m stainless steel booms wrapped on two spools (two overlapping booms per spool) will be motor deployed and pull the sail from its stowed volume. The sail material is an aluminized polyimide approximately 2.5 microns thick. As the technology matures, solar sails will increasingly be used to enable science and exploration missions that are currently impossible or prohibitively expensive using traditional chemical and electric propulsion systems. This paper will summarize the status of the NEA Scout mission and solar sail technology in general.

  13. Moon4You : a combined Raman/LIBS instrument for lunar exploration

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Laan, E.C.; Ahlers, B.; Westrenen, W.V.; Heiligers, J.; Wielders, A.

    2009-01-01

    Moon4You is a project led by the Dutch Organisation for Applied Scientific Research TNO, with partners from industry and universities in the Netherlands that aims to provide a combined Raman/LIBS instrument as scientific payload for lunar exploration missions. It is the first time that Raman

  14. Moon4You: A combined Raman / LIBS instrument for lunar exploration

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Laan, E.C.; Ahlers, B.; van Westrenen, W.; Heiligers, J.; Wielders, A.

    2009-01-01

    Moon4You is a project led by the Dutch Organisation for Applied Scientific Research TNO, with partners from industry and universities in the Netherlands that aims to provide a combined Raman/LIBS instrument as scientific payload for lunar exploration missions. It is the first time that Raman

  15. Mars Atmosphere Resource Verification INsitu (MARVIN) - In Situ Resource Demonstration for the Mars 2020 Mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sanders, Gerald B.; Araghi, Koorosh; Ess, Kim M.; Valencia, Lisa M.; Muscatello, Anthony C.; Calle, Carlos I.; Clark, Larry; Iacomini, Christie

    2014-01-01

    The making of oxygen from resources in the Martian atmosphere, known as In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU), has the potential to provide substantial benefits for future robotic and human exploration. In particular, the ability to produce oxygen on Mars for use in propulsion, life support, and power systems can provide significant mission benefits such as a reducing launch mass, lander size, and mission and crew risk. To advance ISRU for possible incorporation into future human missions to Mars, NASA proposed including an ISRU instrument on the Mars 2020 rover mission, through an announcement of opportunity (AO). The purpose of the the Mars Atmosphere Resource Verification INsitu or (MARVIN) instrument is to provide the first demonstration on Mars of oxygen production from acquired and stored Martian atmospheric carbon dioxide, as well as take measurements of atmospheric pressure and temperature, and of suspended dust particle sizes and amounts entrained in collected atmosphere gases at different times of the Mars day and year. The hardware performance and environmental data obtained will be critical for future ISRU systems that will reduce the mass of propellants and other consumables launched from Earth for robotic and human exploration, for better understanding of Mars dust and mitigation techniques to improve crew safety, and to help further define Mars global circulation models and better understand the regional atmospheric dynamics on Mars. The technologies selected for MARVIN are also scalable for future robotic sample return and human missions to Mars using ISRU.

  16. ispace's Polar Ice Explorer: Commerically Exploring the Poles of the Moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Calzada-Diaz, A.; Acierno, K.; Rasera, J. N.; Lamamy, J.-A.

    2018-04-01

    This work provides the background, rationales, and scientific objectives for the ispace Polar Ice Explorer Project, an ISRU exploratory mission that aims to provide data about the lunar polar environment.

  17. 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.

  18. Exploration Medical Capability - Technology Watch

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krihak, Michael; Watkins, Sharmila; Barr, Yael; Barsten, Kristina; Fung, Paul; Baumann, David

    2011-01-01

    The objectives of the Technology Watch process are to identify emerging, high-impact technologies that augment current ExMC development efforts, and to work with academia, industry, and other government agencies to accelerate the development of medical care and research capabilities for the mitigation of potential health issues that could occur during space exploration missions. The establishment of collaborations with these entities is beneficial to technology development, assessment and/or insertion. Such collaborations also further NASA s goal to provide a safe and healthy environment for human exploration. The Tech Watch project addresses requirements and capabilities identified by knowledge and technology gaps that are derived from a discrete set of medical conditions that are most likely to occur on exploration missions. These gaps are addressed through technology readiness level assessments, market surveys, collaborations and distributed innovation opportunities. Ultimately, these gaps need to be closed with respect to exploration missions, and may be achieved through technology development projects. Information management is a key aspect to this process where Tech Watch related meetings, research articles, collaborations and partnerships are tracked by the HRP s Exploration Medical Capabilities (ExMC) Element. In 2011, ExMC will be introducing the Tech Watch external website and evidence wiki that will provide access to ExMC technology and knowledge gaps, technology needs and requirements documents.

  19. Relay Telecommunications for the Coming Decade of Mars Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edwards, C.; DePaula, R.

    2010-01-01

    Over the past decade, an evolving network of relay-equipped orbiters has advanced our capabilities for Mars exploration. NASA's Mars Global Surveyor, 2001 Mars Odyssey, and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), as well as ESA's Mars Express Orbiter, have provided telecommunications relay services to the 2003 Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, and to the 2007 Phoenix Lander. Based on these successes, a roadmap for continued Mars relay services is in place for the coming decade. MRO and Odyssey will provide key relay support to the 2011 Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission, including capture of critical event telemetry during entry, descent, and landing, as well as support for command and telemetry during surface operations, utilizing new capabilities of the Electra relay payload on MRO and the Electra-Lite payload on MSL to allow significant increase in data return relative to earlier missions. Over the remainder of the decade a number of additional orbiter and lander missions are planned, representing new orbital relay service providers and new landed relay users. In this paper we will outline this Mars relay roadmap, quantifying relay performance over time, illustrating planned support scenarios, and identifying key challenges and technology infusion opportunities.

  20. Integrated Systems Health Management for Space Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uckun, Serdar

    2005-01-01

    Integrated Systems Health Management (ISHM) is a system engineering discipline that addresses the design, development, operation, and lifecycle management of components, subsystems, vehicles, and other operational systems with the purpose of maintaining nominal system behavior and function and assuring mission safety and effectiveness under off-nominal conditions. NASA missions are often conducted in extreme, unfamiliar environments of space, using unique experimental spacecraft. In these environments, off-nominal conditions can develop with the potential to rapidly escalate into mission- or life-threatening situations. Further, the high visibility of NASA missions means they are always characterized by extraordinary attention to safety. ISHM is a critical element of risk mitigation, mission safety, and mission assurance for exploration. ISHM enables: In-space maintenance and repair; a) Autonomous (and automated) launch abort and crew escape capability; b) Efficient testing and checkout of ground and flight systems; c) Monitoring and trending of ground and flight system operations and performance; d) Enhanced situational awareness and control for ground personnel and crew; e) Vehicle autonomy (self-sufficiency) in responding to off-nominal conditions during long-duration and distant exploration missions; f) In-space maintenance and repair; and g) Efficient ground processing of reusable systems. ISHM concepts and technologies may be applied to any complex engineered system such as transportation systems, orbital or planetary habitats, observatories, command and control systems, life support systems, safety-critical software, and even the health of flight crews. As an overarching design and operational principle implemented at the system-of-systems level, ISHM holds substantial promise in terms of affordability, safety, reliability, and effectiveness of space exploration missions.

  1. Design of Photovoltaic Power System for a Precursor Mission for Human Exploration of Mars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mcnatt, Jeremiah; Landis, Geoffrey; Fincannon, James

    2016-01-01

    This project analyzed the viability of a photovoltaic power source for technology demonstration mission to demonstrate Mars in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) to produce propellant for a future human mission, based on technology available within the next ten years. For this assessment, we performed a power-system design study for a scaled ISRU demonstrator lander on the Mars surface based on existing solar array technologies.

  2. Enhancing Team Performance for Long-Duration Space Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Orasanu, Judith M.

    2009-01-01

    Success of exploration missions will depend on skilled performance by a distributed team that includes both the astronauts in space and Mission Control personnel. Coordinated and collaborative teamwork will be required to cope with challenging complex problems in a hostile environment. While thorough preflight training and procedures will equip creW'S to address technical problems that can be anticipated, preparing them to solve novel problems is much more challenging. This presentation will review components of effective team performance, challenges to effective teamwork, and strategies for ensuring effective team performance. Teamwork skills essential for successful team performance include the behaviors involved in developing shared mental models, team situation awareness, collaborative decision making, adaptive coordination behaviors, effective team communication, and team cohesion. Challenges to teamwork include both chronic and acute stressors. Chronic stressors are associated with the isolated and confined environment and include monotony, noise, temperatures, weightlessness, poor sleep and circadian disruptions. Acute stressors include high workload, time pressure, imminent danger, and specific task-related stressors. Of particular concern are social and organizational stressors that can disrupt individual resilience and effective mission performance. Effective team performance can be developed by training teamwork skills, techniques for coping with team conflict, intracrew and intercrew communication, and working in a multicultural team; leadership and teamwork skills can be fostered through outdoor survival training exercises. The presentation will conclude with an evaluation of the special requirements associated with preparing crews to function autonomously in long-duration missions.

  3. Exploring the 'Right Size' for China's Military: PLA Missions, Functions, and Organizations

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Liang, Justin B; Snyder, Sarah K

    2007-01-01

    Key Points: *Sustained and large increases in China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) defense budget are likely in coming years as increasing national-level demands for new PLA missions require increasing capability...

  4. Adaptive Resource Estimation and Visualization for Planning Robotic Missions, Phase II

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — NASA's future human exploration missions will include remotely operated rovers performing surface exploration and science, as well as free-flyers to reduce the need...

  5. Adaptive Resource Estimation and Visualization for Planning Robotic Missions, Phase I

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — NASA's future human exploration missions will include remotely operated rovers performing surface exploration and science, as well as free-flyers to reduce the need...

  6. 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

  7. Implementing a Science-driven Mars Exploration Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garvin, J. B.

    2001-12-01

    NASA's newly restructured Mars Exploration Program (MEP) was developed on the basis of the goals, objectives, investigations, and prioritizations established by the Mars Exploration Payload Analysis Group (as summarized previously by Greeley et al., 2001). The underlying scientific strategy is linked to common threads which include the many roles water has played on and within Mars as a "system". The implementation strategy that has been adopted relies heavily on an ever-sharpening program of reconnaissance, beginning with the legacy of the Mars Global Surveyor, continuing with the multispectral and compositional observations of the Mars Odyssey orbiter, and extending to a first step in surface-based reconnaissance with the 2003 Mars Exploration Rovers. The results of MGS and Odyssey will serve to focus the trade space of localities where the record, for example, of persistent surface water may have been preserved in a mineralogical sense. The 2005 Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will further downselect the subset of sites on Mars where evidence of depositional patterns and aqueous mineralogies (i.e., diagenetic minerals) are most striking at scales as fine as tens to hundreds of meters. Reconnaissance will move to the surface and shallow subsurface in 2007 with the Mars "Smart Lander" (MSL), at which time an extensive array of mobile scientific exploration tools will be used to examine a locality at 10km traverse scales, ultimately asking scientific questions which can be classed as paleobiological (i.e., life inference). Further orbital reconnaissance may be undertaken in 2009, perhaps involving targeted multi-wavelength SAR imaging, in anticipation of a precisely targeted Mars Sample Return mission as early as 2011. This sequence of core program MEP missions will be amplified by the selection of PI-led SCOUT missions, starting in 2007, and continuing every other Mars launch opportunity.

  8. 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.

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

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jenkins, Jon M.

    2017-01-01

    composed of 26 small telescopes in several 2232 square deg FOVs with a range of observation durations over a mission lifetime of up to eight years. This paper summarizes the findings of the KeplerK2 missions, previews the likely results from the TESS mission, and explores the lessons learned and to be learned from these prior missions that can be incorporated into the observation and data reduction strategy for the PLATO Mission so as to maximize the science return.

  10. 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

  11. Psychosocial issues affecting crews during long-duration international space missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kanas, N.

    1998-01-01

    Psychosocial issues can negatively impact on crew performance and morale during long-duration international space missions. Major psychosocial factors that have been described in anecdotal reports from space and in studies from analog situations on Earth include: 1) crew heterogeneity due to gender differences, cultural issues, and work experiences and motivations; 2) language and dialect variations; and 3) task versus supportive leadership roles. All of these factors can lead to negative sequelae, such as intra-crew tension and cohesion disruptions. Specific sequelae that can result from single factors include subgrouping and scapegoating due to crew heterogeneity; miscommunication due to major or subtle language differences; and role confusion, competition, and status leveling due to inappropriate leadership role definition. It is time to conduct research exploring the impact of these psychosocial factors and their sequelae on space crews during actual long-duration international space missions.

  12. Spacelab Life Science-1 Mission Onboard Photograph

    Science.gov (United States)

    1995-01-01

    Spacelab Life Science -1 (SLS-1) was the first Spacelab mission dedicated solely to life sciences. The main purpose of the SLS-1 mission was to study the mechanisms, magnitudes, and time courses of certain physiological changes that occur during space flight, to investigate the consequences of the body's adaptation to microgravity and readjustment to Earth's gravity, and bring the benefits back home to Earth. The mission was designed to explore the responses of the heart, lungs, blood vessels, kidneys, and hormone-secreting glands to microgravity and related body fluid shifts; examine the causes of space motion sickness; and study changes in the muscles, bones, and cells. This photograph shows astronaut Rhea Seddon conducting an inflight study of the Cardiovascular Deconditioning experiment by breathing into the cardiovascular rebreathing unit. This experiment focused on the deconditioning of the heart and lungs and changes in cardiopulmonary function that occur upon return to Earth. By using noninvasive techniques of prolonged expiration and rebreathing, investigators can determine the amount of blood pumped out of the heart (cardiac output), the ease with which blood flows through all the vessels (total peripheral resistance), oxygen used and carbon dioxide released by the body, and lung function and volume changes. SLS-1 was launched aboard the Space Shuttle Orbiter Columbia (STS-40) on June 5, 1995.

  13. Ultra-Fast Flash Observatory: Fast Response Space Missions for Early Time Phase of Gamma Ray Bursts

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Park, I.H.; Ahmad, S.; Barrillon, P.

    2013-01-01

    One of the unexplored domains in the study of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) is the early time phase of the optical light curve. We have proposed Ultra-Fast Flash Observatory (UFFO) to address this question through extraordinary opportunities presented by a series of small space missions. The UFFO...

  14. The Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) on NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Riris, H.; Cavanaugh, J.; Sun, X.; Liiva, P.; Rodriguez, M.; Neuman, G.

    2017-11-01

    The Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) instrument [1-3] on NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission, launched on June 18th, 2009, from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, will provide a precise global lunar topographic map using laser altimetry. LOLA will assist in the selection of landing sites on the Moon for future robotic and human exploration missions and will attempt to detect the presence of water ice on or near the surface, which is one of the objectives of NASA's Exploration Program. Our present knowledge of the topography of the Moon is inadequate for determining safe landing areas for NASA's future lunar exploration missions. Only those locations, surveyed by the Apollo missions, are known with enough detail. Knowledge of the position and characteristics of the topographic features on the scale of a lunar lander are crucial for selecting safe landing sites. Our present knowledge of the rest of the lunar surface is at approximately 1 km kilometer level and in many areas, such as the lunar far side, is on the order of many kilometers. LOLA aims to rectify that and provide a precise map of the lunar surface on both the far and near side of the moon. LOLA uses short (6 ns) pulses from a single laser through a Diffractive Optical Element (DOE) to produce a five-beam pattern that illuminates the lunar surface. For each beam, LOLA measures the time of flight (range), pulse spreading (surface roughness), and transmit/return energy (surface reflectance). LOLA will produce a high-resolution global topographic model and global geodetic framework that enables precise targeting, safe landing, and surface mobility to carry out exploratory activities. In addition, it will characterize the polar illumination environment, and image permanently shadowed regions of the lunar surface to identify possible locations of surface ice crystals in shadowed polar craters.

  15. Cryosat: Esa's Ice Explorer Mission. Two YEARs in Operations: Status and Achievements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parrinello, T.; Mardle, N.; Hoyos, B.; Bouzinac, C.; Badessi, S.; Frommknecht, B.; Cullen, R.; Fornari, M.; Davidson, M.; Laxon, S.

    2012-12-01

    CryoSat-2 was launched on the 8th April 2010 and it is the first European ice mission dedicated to monitoring precise changes in the thickness of polar ice sheets and floating sea ice over a 3-year period. Cryosat-2 carries an innovative radar altimeter called the Synthetic Aperture Interferometric Altimeter (SIRAL) with two antennas and with extended capabilities to meet the measurement requirements for ice-sheets elevation and sea-ice freeboard. Experimental evidence have shown that data is of high quality thanks to an altimeter that is behaving exceptional well within its design specifications. After an intensive but rewarding six months of commissioning, the CryoSat mission entered the science phase in November last year. Data was released to the scientific community in February 2011 and since then, products have been systematically distributed to more than 150 Principal Investigators and used by more than 400 scientists worldwide. This community is increasing every day. In April 2012, the first winter [2010 -2011] sea-ice variation map of the Arctic was released to the scientific community. Scope of this paper is to describe the current mission status and the main scientific achievements in the last twelve months. Topics will also include programmatic highlights and information on accessing Cryosat products following the new ESA Earth Observation Data Policy.

  16. 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.

  17. Mars exploration study workshop 2

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duke, Michael B.; Budden, Nancy Ann

    1993-11-01

    A year-long NASA-wide study effort has led to the development of an innovative strategy for the human exploration of Mars. The latest Mars Exploration Study Workshop 2 advanced a design reference mission (DRM) that significantly reduces the perceived high costs, complex infrastructure, and long schedules associated with previous Mars scenarios. This surface-oriented philosophy emphasizes the development of high-leveraging surface technologies in lieu of concentrating exclusively on space transportation technologies and development strategies. As a result of the DRM's balanced approach to mission and crew risk, element commonality, and technology development, human missions to Mars can be accomplished without the need for complex assembly operations in low-Earth orbit. This report, which summarizes the Mars Exploration Study Workshop held at the Ames Research Center on May 24-25, 1993, provides an overview of the status of the Mars Exploration Study, material presented at the workshop, and discussions of open items being addressed by the study team. The workshop assembled three teams of experts to discuss cost, dual-use technology, and international involvement, and to generate a working group white paper addressing these issues. The three position papers which were generated are included in section three of this publication.

  18. A novel orbiter mission concept for venus with the EnVision proposal

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Oliveira, Marta R. R.; Gil, Paulo J. S.; Ghail, Richard

    2018-07-01

    In space exploration, planetary orbiter missions are essential to gain insight into planets as a whole, and to help uncover unanswered scientific questions. In particular, the planets closest to the Earth have been a privileged target of the world's leading space agencies. EnVision is a mission proposal designed for Venus and competing for ESA's next launch opportunity with the objective of studying Earth's closest neighbor. The main goal is to study geological and atmospheric processes, namely surface processes, interior dynamics and atmosphere, to determine the reasons behind Venus and Earth's radically different evolution despite the planets' similarities. To achieve these goals, the operational orbit selection is a fundamental element of the mission design process. The design of an orbit around Venus faces specific challenges, such as the impossibility of choosing Sun-synchronous orbits. In this paper, an innovative genetic algorithm optimization was applied to select the optimal orbit based on the parameters with more influence in the mission planning, in particular the mission duration and the coverage of sites of interest on the Venusian surface. The solution obtained is a near-polar circular orbit with an altitude of 259 km that enables the coverage of all priority targets almost two times faster than with the parameters considered before this study.

  19. Timing system design and tests for the Gravity Probe B relativity mission

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li, J; Keiser, G M; Ohshima, Y; Shestople, P; Lockhart, J M

    2015-01-01

    In this paper, we discuss the timing system design and tests for the NASA/Stanford Gravity Probe B (GP-B) relativity mission. The primary clock of GP-B, called the 16f o clock, was an oven-controlled crystal oscillator that produced a 16.368 MHz master frequency 3 . The 16f o clock and the 10 Hz data strobe, which was divided down from the 16f o clock, provided clock signals to all GP-B components and synchronized the data collection, transmission, and processing. The sampled data of science signals were stamped with the vehicle time, a counter of the 10 Hz data strobe. The time latency between the time of data sampling and the stamped vehicle time was compensated in the ground data processing. Two redundant global positioning system receivers onboard the GP-B satellite supplied an external reference for time transfer between the vehicle time and coordinated universal time (UTC), and the time conversion was established in the ground preprocessing of the telemetry timing data. The space flight operation showed that the error of time conversion between the vehicle time and UTC was less than 2 μs. Considering that the constant timing offsets were compensated in the ground processing of the GP-B science data, the time latency between the effective sampling time of GP-B science signals and the stamped vehicle time was verified to within 1 ms in the ground tests. (paper)

  20. Heliborne time-domain electromagnetic (TEM) surveys for uranium exploration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chaturvedi, A.K.

    2015-01-01

    Airborne geophysical surveys have been used extensively in petroleum, mineral exploration, and environmental mapping. Of all the geophysical methods, Electromagnetic (EM) methods, both ground and airborne are used to map the conductive ore bodies buried in the resistive bed rock. Mapping resistivity variations can help unravel complex geological problems and identify areas of hidden potential. Besides the traditional applications to ground water investigations and other natural resource exploration and geological mapping, a number of new applications have been reported. These include hazardous-waste characterization studies, precision agriculture applications, archaeological surveys etc. Airborne Electromagnetic (AEM) methods have undergone rapid improvements over the past few decades. Several new airborne Time Do-main EM (TDEM) systems appeared; existing systems were updated and/or enhanced. The use of natural field (passive) EM surveys continued to increase, with new or improved systems becoming available for both airborne and ground surveys. The number of large airborne survey systems with combined EM, magnetic, gravimetric and gamma-ray spectrometric capabilities also increased. Exploration of a mineral deposit is a multi-stage and multi-disciplinary approach that commences from regional investigations and concludes with establishing of a deposit. As economics play a major role in exploration, a proper integrated study is always beneficial in narrowing down the potential mineral target zones. Heliborne geophysical surveys are being conducted world-wide for exploration of base metals, gold, phosphorite, oil, uranium etc. that are very effective tool in identifying zones of interest accurately, economically and with less span of time. These surveys give a very good insight of surface and sub-surface geophysical signatures that can be attributed to geology with proper modeling. Heliborne Time - domain Electromagnetic (TEM) methods are well known for search of

  1. Planning, Implementation and Optimization of Future space Missions using an Immersive Visualization Environement (IVE) Machine

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harris, E.

    Planning, Implementation and Optimization of Future Space Missions using an Immersive Visualization Environment (IVE) Machine E. N. Harris, Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, CO and George.W. Morgenthaler, U. of Colorado at Boulder History: A team of 3-D engineering visualization experts at the Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company have developed innovative virtual prototyping simulation solutions for ground processing and real-time visualization of design and planning of aerospace missions over the past 6 years. At the University of Colorado, a team of 3-D visualization experts are developing the science of 3-D visualization and immersive visualization at the newly founded BP Center for Visualization, which began operations in October, 2001. (See IAF/IAA-01-13.2.09, "The Use of 3-D Immersive Visualization Environments (IVEs) to Plan Space Missions," G. A. Dorn and G. W. Morgenthaler.) Progressing from Today's 3-D Engineering Simulations to Tomorrow's 3-D IVE Mission Planning, Simulation and Optimization Techniques: 3-D (IVEs) and visualization simulation tools can be combined for efficient planning and design engineering of future aerospace exploration and commercial missions. This technology is currently being developed and will be demonstrated by Lockheed Martin in the (IVE) at the BP Center using virtual simulation for clearance checks, collision detection, ergonomics and reach-ability analyses to develop fabrication and processing flows for spacecraft and launch vehicle ground support operations and to optimize mission architecture and vehicle design subject to realistic constraints. Demonstrations: Immediate aerospace applications to be demonstrated include developing streamlined processing flows for Reusable Space Transportation Systems and Atlas Launch Vehicle operations and Mars Polar Lander visual work instructions. Long-range goals include future international human and robotic space exploration missions such as the development of a Mars

  2. Application of radioactive sources in analytical instruments for planetary exploration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Economou, T.E.

    2008-01-01

    Full text: In the past 50 years or so, many types of radioactive sources have been used in space exploration. 238 Pu is often used in space missions in Radioactive Heater Units (RHU) and Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTG) for heat and power generation, respectively. In 1960's, 2 ' 42 Cm alpha radioactive sources have been used for the first time in space applications on 3 Surveyor spacecrafts to obtain the chemical composition of the lunar surface with an instrument based on the Rutherford backscatterring of the alpha particles from nuclei in the analyzed sample. 242 Cm is an alpha emitter of 6.1 MeV alpha particles. Its half-life time, 163 days, is short enough to allow sources to be prepared with the necessary high intensity per unit area ( up to 470 mCi and FWHM of about 1.5% in the lunar instruments) that results in narrow energy distribution, yet long enough that the sources have adequate lifetimes for short duration missions. 242 Cm is readily prepared in curie quantities by irradiation of 241 Am by neutrons in nuclear reactors, followed by chemical separation of the curium from the americium and fission products. For long duration missions, like for example missions to Mars, comets, and asteroids, the isotope 244 Cm (T 1/2 =18.1 y, E α =5.8 MeV) is a better source because of its much longer half-life time. Both of these isotopes are also excellent x-ray excitation sources and have been used for that purpose on several planetary missions. For the light elements the excitation is caused mainly by the alpha particles, while for the heavier elements (> Ca) the excitation is mainly due to the x-rays from the Pu L-lines (E x =14-18 keV). 244 Cm has been used in several variations of the Alpha Proton Xray Spectrometer (APXS): PHOBOS 1 and 2 Pathfinder, Russian Mars-96 mission, Mars Exploration Rover (MER) and Rosetta. Other sources used in X-ray fluorescence instruments in space are 55 Fe and 109 Cd (Viking1,2, Beagle 2) and 57 Co is used in Moessbauer

  3. The Pathway to a Safe and Effective Medication Formulary for Exploration Spaceflight

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daniels, V. R.; Bayuse, T. M.; Mulcahy, R. A.; Mcguire, R. K. M.; Antonsen, E. L.

    2017-01-01

    PURPOSE: Exploration space missions pose several challenges to providing a comprehensive medication formulary designed to accommodate the size and space limitations of the spacecraft; while addressing the individual medications needs and preferences of the Crew; the negative outcome of a degrading inventory over time, the inability to resupply before expiration dates; and the need to properly forecast the best possible medication candidates to treat conditions that will occur in the future. METHODS: The Pharmacotherapeutics Discipline has partnered with the Exploration Medical Capabilities (ExMC) Element to develop and propose a research pathway that is comprehensively focused on evidence-based models and theories, as well as on new diagnostic tools and treatments or preventive measures aimed at closure of the Med02 “Pharmacy” Gap; defined in the Human Research Program’s (HRP) risk-based research strategy. The Med02 Gap promotes the challenge to identify a strategy to ensure that medications used to treat medical conditions during exploration space missions are available, safe, and effective. It is abundantly clear that pharmaceutical intervention is an essential component of risk management planning for astronaut healthcare during exploration space. However, the quandary still remains of how to assemble a formulary that is comprehensive enough to prevent or treat anticipated medical events; and is also chemically stable, safe, and robust enough to have sufficient potency to last for the duration of an exploration space mission. In cases where that is not possible, addressing this Gap requires exploration of novel drug development techniques, dosage forms, and dosage delivery platforms that enhance chemical stability as well as therapeutic effectiveness. RESULTS: The proposed research pathway outlines the steps, processes, procedures, and a research portfolio aimed at identifying a capability that will provide a safe and effective pharmacy for any specific

  4. The Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilson-Hodge, Colleen A.; Gendreau, K.; Arzoumanian, Z.

    2014-01-01

    The Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) is an approved NASA Explorer Mission of Opportunity dedicated to the study of the extraordinary gravitational, electromagnetic, and nuclear-physics environments embodied by neutron stars. Scheduled to be launched in 2016 as an International Space Station payload, NICER will explore the exotic states of matter, using rotation-resolved spectroscopy of the thermal and non-thermal emissions of neutron stars in the soft (0.2-12 keV) X-ray band. Grazing-incidence "concentrator" optics coupled with silicon drift detectors, actively pointed for a full hemisphere of sky coverage, will provide photon-counting spectroscopy and timing registered to GPS time and position, with high throughput and relatively low background. The NICER project plans to implement a Guest Observer Program, which includes competitively selected user targets after the first year of flight operations. I will describe NICER and discuss ideas for potential Be/X-ray binary science.

  5. Galileo and Ulysses missions safety analysis and launch readiness status

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cork, M.J.; Turi, J.A.

    1989-01-01

    The Galileo spacecraft will explore the Jupiter system and Ulysses will fly by Jupiter en route to a polar orbit of the sun. Both spacecraft are powered by general purpose heat source radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs). As a result of the Challenger accident and subsequent mission reprogramming, the Galileo and Ulysses missions' safety analysis had to be repeated. In addition to presenting an overview of the safety analysis status for the missions, this paper presents a brief review of the missions' objectives and design approaches, RTG design characteristics and development history, and a description of the safety analysis process. (author)

  6. NASA Facts, The Viking Mission.

    Science.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, DC. Educational Programs Div.

    Presented is one of a series of publications of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) facts about the exploration of Mars. The Viking mission to Mars, consisting of two unmanned NASA spacecraft launched in August and September, 1975, is described. A description of the spacecraft and their paths is given. A diagram identifying the…

  7. Exploration Medical System Technical Architecture Overview

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cerro, J.; Rubin, D.; Mindock, J.; Middour, C.; McGuire, K.; Hanson, A.; Reilly, J.; Burba, T.; Urbina, M.

    2018-01-01

    The Exploration Medical Capability (ExMC) Element Systems Engineering (SE) goals include defining the technical system needed to support medical capabilities for a Mars exploration mission. A draft medical system architecture was developed based on stakeholder needs, system goals, and system behaviors, as captured in an ExMC concept of operations document and a system model. This talk will discuss a high-level view of the medical system, as part of a larger crew health and performance system, both of which will support crew during Deep Space Transport missions. Other mission components, such as the flight system, ground system, caregiver, and patient, will be discussed as aspects of the context because the medical system will have important interactions with each. Additionally, important interactions with other aspects of the crew health and performance system are anticipated, such as health & wellness, mission task performance support, and environmental protection. This talk will highlight areas in which we are working with other disciplines to understand these interactions.

  8. 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.

  9. 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

  10. Nuclear propulsion for the space exploration initiative

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stanley, M.L.

    1991-01-01

    President Bush's speech of July 20, 1989, outlining a goal to go back to the moon and then Mars initiated the Space Exploration Initiative (SEI). The US Department of Defense (DOD), US Department of Energy (DOE), and NASA have been working together in the planning necessary to initiate a program to develop a nuclear propulsion system. Applications of nuclear technology for in-space transfer of personnel and cargo between Earth orbit and lunar or Martian orbit are being considered as alternatives to chemical propulsion systems. Mission and system concept studies conducted over the past 30 yr have consistently indicated that use of nuclear technology can substantially reduce in-space propellant requirements. A variety of nuclear technology options are currently being studied, including nuclear thermal rockets, nuclear electrical propulsion systems, and hybrid nuclear thermal rockets/nuclear electric propulsion concepts. Concept performance in terms of thrust, weight, power, and efficiency are dependent, and appropriate concept application is mission dependent (i.e., lunar, Mars, cargo, personnel, trajectory, transit time, payload). A comprehensive evaluation of mission application, technology performance capability and maturity, technology development programmatics, and safety characteristics is required to optimize both technology and mission selection to support the Presidential initiative

  11. Becoming Earth Independent: Human-Automation-Robotics Integration Challenges for Future Space Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marquez, Jessica J.

    2016-01-01

    Future exploration missions will require NASA to integrate more automation and robotics in order to accomplish mission objectives. This presentation will describe on the future challenges facing the human operator (astronaut, ground controllers) as we increase the amount of automation and robotics in spaceflight operations. It will describe how future exploration missions will have to adapt and evolve in order to deal with more complex missions and communication latencies. This presentation will outline future human-automation-robotic integration challenges.

  12. 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.

  13. The Ion Propulsion System for the Solar Electric Propulsion Technology Demonstration Mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herman, Daniel A.; Santiago, Walter; Kamhawi, Hani; Polk, James E.; Snyder, John Steven; Hofer, Richard R.; Parker, J. Morgan

    2015-01-01

    The Asteroid Redirect Robotic Mission is a candidate Solar Electric Propulsion Technology Demonstration Mission 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. The ion propulsion system must be capable of operating over an 8-year time period and processing up to 10,000 kg of xenon propellant. This high-power solar electric propulsion capability, or an extensible derivative of it, has been identified as a critical part of an affordable, beyond-low-Earth-orbit, manned-exploration architecture. Under the NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate the critical electric propulsion and solar array technologies are being developed. The ion propulsion system being co-developed by the NASA Glenn Research Center and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for the Asteroid Redirect Vehicle is based on the NASA-developed 12.5 kW Hall Effect Rocket with Magnetic Shielding (HERMeS0 thruster and power processing technologies. This paper presents the conceptual design for the ion propulsion system, the status of the NASA in-house thruster and power processing activity, and an update on flight hardware.

  14. The Space Medicine Exploration Medical Condition List

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watkins, Sharmi; Barr, Yael; Kerstman, Eric

    2011-01-01

    Exploration Medical Capability (ExMC) is an element of NASA s Human Research Program (HRP). ExMC's goal is to address the risk of the "Inability to Adequately Recognize or Treat an Ill or Injured Crewmember." This poster highlights the approach ExMC has taken to address this risk. The Space Medicine Exploration Medical Condition List (SMEMCL) was created to define the set of medical conditions that are most likely to occur during exploration space flight missions. The list was derived from the International Space Station Medical Checklist, the Shuttle Medical Checklist, in-flight occurrence data from the Lifetime Surveillance of Astronaut Health, and NASA subject matter experts. The list of conditions was further prioritized for eight specific design reference missions with the assistance of the ExMC Advisory Group. The purpose of the SMEMCL is to serve as an evidence-based foundation for the conditions that could affect a crewmember during flight. This information is used to ensure that the appropriate medical capabilities are available for exploration missions.

  15. Program options to explore ocean worlds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sherwood, B.; Lunine, J.; Sotin, C.; Cwik, T.; Naderi, F.

    2018-02-01

    Including Earth, roughly a dozen water ocean worlds exist in the solar system: the relict worlds Ceres and Mars, vast oceans inside most of the large Jovian and Saturnian icy moons, and Kuiper Belt Objects like Triton, Charon, and Pluto whose geologies are dominated by water and ammonia. Key pieces of the ocean-world science puzzle - which when completed may reveal whether life is widespread in the cosmos, why it exists where it does, and how it originates - are distributed among them. The eventual exploration of all these worlds will yield humanity's total tangible knowledge about life in the universe, essentially forever. Thus, their exploration has existential significance for humanity's self-regard, and indeed perhaps of our place in the natural scheme. The matter of planning how to pursue such a difficult and unprecedented exploration opportunity is therefore historic. The technical challenges are formidable, far harder than at Mars: missions to the Jovian and Saturnian ocean worlds are severely power-limited; trip times can be as much as a half decade and decade, respectively. And the science targets are global-scale oceans beneath kilometers of cryogenic ice. Reaching and exploring them would be a multi-generational undertaking, so again it is essential to plan and prepare. Today, we lack the instrumentation, subsystems, and remote operational-intelligence technologies needed to build and use exploration avatars as good as what we can envision needing. Each ocean world holds a piece of the puzzle, but the three priority targets are Europa at Jupiter, and Enceladus and Titan at Saturn. As with the systematic exploration of Mars, exploring these diverse worlds poses a complex technical and programmatic challenge - a strategic challenge - that needs to be designed and managed if each generation is to see its work bear fruit, and if the space science community is to make most effective use of the public money devoted to the quest. Strategic programs benefit from

  16. Mars MetNet Mission Pressure and Humidity Devices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haukka, H.; Harri, A.-M.; Schmidt, W.; Genzer, M.; Polkko, J.; Kemppinen, O.; Leinonen, J.

    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). MetBaro and MetHumi are part of the scientific payload of the MNL. Main scientific goal of both devices is to measure the meteorological phenomena (pressure and humidity) of the Martian atmosphere and complement the previous Mars mission atmospheric measurements (Viking and Phoenix) for better understanding of the Martian atmospheric conditions.

  17. Conformal Ablative Thermal Protection System for Small and Large Scale Missions: Approaching TRL 6 for Planetary and Human Exploration Missions and TRL 9 for Small Probe Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beck, R. A. S.; Gasch, M. J.; Milos, F. S.; Stackpoole, M. M.; Smith, B. P.; Switzer, M. R.; Venkatapathy, E.; Wilder, M. C.; Boghhozian, T.; Chavez-Garcia, J. F.

    2015-01-01

    In 2011, NASAs Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) funded an effort to develop an ablative thermal protection system (TPS) material that would have improved properties when compared to Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator (PICA) and AVCOAT. Their goal was a conformal material, processed with a flexible reinforcement that would result in similar or better thermal characteristics and higher strain-to-failure characteristics that would allow for easier integration on flight aeroshells than then-current rigid ablative TPS materials. In 2012, NASAs Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) began funding the maturation of the best formulation of the game changing conformal ablator, C-PICA. Progress has been reported at IPPW over the past three years, describing C-PICA with a density and recession rates similar to PICA, but with a higher strain-to-failure which allows for direct bonding and no gap fillers, and even more important, with thermal characteristics resulting in half the temperature rise of PICA. Overall, C-PICA should be able to replace PICA with a thinner, lighter weight, less complicated design. These characteristics should be particularly attractive for use as backshell TPS on high energy planetary entry vehicles. At the end of this year, the material should be ready for missions to consider including in their design, in fact, NASAs Science Mission Directorate (SMD) is considering incentivizing the use of C-PICA in the next Discovery Proposal call. This year both scale up of the material to large (1-m) sized pieces and the design and build of small probe heatshields for flight tests will be completed. NASA, with an industry partner, will build a 1-m long manufacturing demonstration unit (MDU) with a shape based on a mid LD lifting body. In addition, in an effort to fly as you test and test as you fly, NASA, with a second industry partner, will build a small probe to test in the Interactive Heating Facility (IHF) arc jet and, using nearly the

  18. CryoSat: ESA's ice explorer mission. One year in operations: status and achievements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parrinello, T.; Mardle, N.; Ortega, B. H.; Bouzinac, C.; Badessi, S.; Frommknecht, B.; Davidson, M.; Cullen, R.; Wingham, D.

    2012-04-01

    CryoSat-2 was launched on the 8th April 2010 and it is the first European ice mission dedicated to monitoring precise changes in the thickness of polar ice sheets and floating sea ice over a 3-year period. Cryosat-2 carries an innovative radar altimeter called the Synthetic Aperture Interferometric Altimeter (SIRAL) with two antennas and with extended capabilities to meet the measurement requirements for ice-sheets elevation and sea-ice freeboard. Initial results have shown that data is of high quality thanks to an altimeter that is behaving exceptional well within its design specifications. After an intensive but rewarding six months of commissioning, the CryoSat mission entered the science phase in November last year. Data was released to the scientific community in February 2011 and since then, products have been systematically distributed to more than 150 Principal Investigators and used by more than 400 scientists worldwide. This community is increasing every day. Scope of this paper is to describe the current mission status and the main scientific achievements since the start of the science phase. Topics will also include programmatic highlights and information on accessing Cryosat products following the new ESA Earth Observation Data Policy.

  19. CECE: Expanding the Envelope of Deep Throttling Technology in Liquid Oxygen/Liquid Hydrogen Rocket Engines for NASA Exploration Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giuliano, Victor J.; Leonard, Timothy G.; Lyda, Randy T.; Kim, Tony S.

    2010-01-01

    As one of the first technology development programs awarded by NASA under the Vision for Space Exploration, the Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR) Deep Throttling, Common Extensible Cryogenic Engine (CECE) program was selected by NASA in November 2004 to begin technology development and demonstration toward a deep throttling, cryogenic engine supporting ongoing trade studies for NASA s Lunar Lander descent stage. The CECE program leverages the maturity and previous investment of a flight-proven hydrogen/oxygen expander cycle engine, the PWR RL10, to develop and demonstrate an unprecedented combination of reliability, safety, durability, throttlability, and restart capabilities in high-energy, cryogenic, in-space propulsion. The testbed selected for the deep throttling demonstration phases of this program was a minimally modified RL10 engine, allowing for maximum current production engine commonality and extensibility with minimum program cost. Four series of demonstrator engine tests have been successfully completed between April 2006 and April 2010, accumulating 7,436 seconds of hot fire time over 47 separate tests. While the first two test series explored low power combustion (chug) and system instabilities, the third test series investigated and was ultimately successful in demonstrating several mitigating technologies for these instabilities and achieved a stable throttling ratio of 13:1. The fourth test series significantly expanded the engine s operability envelope by successfully demonstrating a closed-loop control system and extensive transient modeling to enable lower power engine starting, faster throttle ramp rates, and mission-specific ignition testing. The final hot fire test demonstrated a chug-free, minimum power level of 5.9%, corresponding to an overall 17.6:1 throttling ratio achieved. In total, these tests have provided an early technology demonstration of an enabling cryogenic propulsion concept with invaluable system-level technology data

  20. International Uranium Resources Evaluation Project (IUREP) orientation phase mission summary report: Burundi

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1985-01-01

    A report has recently been published which describes the findings of the International Uranium Resources Evaluation Project (IUREP) Mission to Burundi. The IUREP Orientation Phase Mission to Burundi estimates that the Speculative Resources of that country fall within the range of 300 to more than 4 100 tonnes of uranium. The potential is rather evenly distributed throughout the Proterozoic of Burundi in various geological environments (unconformity, hydrothermal, fault controlled, etc.). The mission recommends that over a period of five years U.S. $ 3 to 4.5 million be spent on exploration in Burundi, with even spending on the various exploration techniques as e.g. prospecting, drilling trenching, geophysical surveys, analyses, etc. (author)