Overcoming Molehills and Mountains Implementing a New Program
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Mission to Jupiter
This book attempts to convey the creativity, Project A History of the Galileo Jupiter: To Mission The Galileo mission to Jupiter explored leadership, and vision that were necessary for the an exciting new frontier, had a major impact mission’s success. It is a book about dedicated people on planetary science, and provided invaluable and their scientific and engineering achievements. lessons for the design of spacecraft. This The Galileo mission faced many significant problems. mission amassed so many scientific firsts and Some of the most brilliant accomplishments and key discoveries that it can truly be called one of “work-arounds” of the Galileo staff occurred the most impressive feats of exploration of the precisely when these challenges arose. Throughout 20th century. In the words of John Casani, the the mission, engineers and scientists found ways to original project manager of the mission, “Galileo keep the spacecraft operational from a distance of was a way of demonstrating . just what U.S. nearly half a billion miles, enabling one of the most technology was capable of doing.” An engineer impressive voyages of scientific discovery. on the Galileo team expressed more personal * * * * * sentiments when she said, “I had never been a Michael Meltzer is an environmental part of something with such great scope . To scientist who has been writing about science know that the whole world was watching and and technology for nearly 30 years. His books hoping with us that this would work. We were and articles have investigated topics that include doing something for all mankind.” designing solar houses, preventing pollution in When Galileo lifted off from Kennedy electroplating shops, catching salmon with sonar and Space Center on 18 October 1989, it began an radar, and developing a sensor for examining Space interplanetary voyage that took it to Venus, to Michael Meltzer Michael Shuttle engines. -
Shock Connectivity and the Late Cycle 24 Solar Energetic Particle Events in July and September 2017
Shock Connectivity and the Late Cycle 24 Solar Energetic Particle Events in July and September 2017 J.G. Luhmann1, M.L. Mays2, Yan Li1, C.O. Lee1, H. Bain3, D. Odstrcil4, R.A. Mewaldt5, C.M.S. Cohen5, D. Larson1, Gordon Petrie6 1Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley. 2CCMC, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. 3NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center. 4George Mason University. 5California Institute of Technology. 6NSO. Corresponding author: Janet Luhmann ([email protected]) Key Points: Observer shock connectivity explains the SEP observations during the July and September 2017 events. The July and September 2017 solar and SEP events had similar characteristics due to similar source region and eruptions. The July and September 2017 events seemed to arise in conjunction with the appearance of a pseudostreamer, a possible alternate ICME source. This article has been accepted for publication and undergone full peer review but has not been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process which may lead to differences between this version and the Version of Record. Please cite this article as doi: 10.1029/2018SW001860 © 2018 American Geophysical Union. All rights reserved. Abstract As solar activity steadily declined toward the cycle 24 minimum in the early months of 2017, the expectation for major Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) events diminished with the sunspot number. It was thus surprising (though not unprecedented) when a new, potentially significant active region rotated around the East limb in early July that by mid-month was producing a series of coronal eruptions, reaching a crescendo around July 23. This series, apparently associated with the birth of a growing pseudostreamer, produced the largest SEP event(s) seen since the solar maximum years. -
Comet Lemmon, Now in STEREO 25 April 2013, by David Dickinson
Comet Lemmon, Now in STEREO 25 April 2013, by David Dickinson heads northward through the constellation Pisces. NASA's twin Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft often catch sungrazing comets as they observe the Sun. Known as STEREO A (Ahead) & STEREO B (Behind), these observatories are positioned in Earth leading and trailing orbits. This provides researchers with full 360 degree coverage of the Sun. Launched in 2006, STEREO also gives us a unique perspective to spy incoming sungrazing comets. Recently, STEREO also caught Comet 2011 L4 PanSTARRS and the Earth as the pair slid into view. Another solar observing spacecraft, the European Space Agencies' SOlar Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) has been a prolific comet discoverer. Amateur comet sleuths often catch new Kreutz group sungrazers in the act. Thus far, SOHO has Animation of Comet 2012 F6 Lemmon as seen from discovered over 2400 comets since its launch in NASA’s STEREO Ahead spacecraft. Credit: 1995. SOHO won't see PanSTARRS or Lemmon in NASA/GSFC; animation created by Robert Kaufman its LASCO C3 camera but will catch a glimpse of Comet 2012 S1 ISON as it nears the Sun late this coming November. An icy interloper was in the sights of a NASA Like SOHO and NASA's Solar Dynamics spacecraft this past weekend. Comet 2012 F6 Observatory, data from the twin STEREO Lemmon passed through the field of view of spacecraft is available for daily perusal on their NASA's HI2A camera as seen from its solar website. We first saw this past weekend's observing STEREO Ahead spacecraft. As seen in animation of Comet Lemmon passing through the animation above put together by Robert STEREO's field of view on the Yahoo Kaufman, Comet Lemmon is now displaying a fine STEREOHunters message board. -
Building Nustar's Mirrors
20 | ASK MAGAZINE | STORY Title BY BUILDING NUSTAR’S MIRRORS Intro Many NASA projects involve designing and building one-of-a-kind spacecraft and instruments. Created for particular, unique missions, they are custom-made, more like works of technological art than manufactured objects. Occasionally, a mission calls for two identical satellites (STEREO, the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory, for instance). Sometimes multiple parts of an instrument are nearly identical: the eighteen hexagonal beryllium mirror segments that will form the James Webb Space Telescope’s mirror are one example. But none of this is mass production or anything close to it. nn GuisrCh/ASA N:tide CrothoP N:tide GuisrCh/ASA nn Niko Stergiou, a contractor at Goddard Space Flight Center, helped manufacture the 9,000 mirror segments that make up the optics unit in the NuSTAR mission. ASK MAGAZINE | 21 BY WILLIAM W. ZHANG The mirror segments my group has built for NuSTAR, the the interior surface and a bakeout, dries into a smooth and clean Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, are not mass produced surface, very much like glazed ceramic tiles. Finally we had to either, but we make them on a scale that may be unique at NASA: map the temperatures inside each oven to ensure they would we created more than 20,000 mirror segments over a period of two provide a uniform heating environment so the glass sheets years. In other words, we’re talking about some middle ground could slump in a controlled and gradual way. Any “wrinkles” between one-of-a-kind custom work and industrial production. -
The Van Allen Probes' Contribution to the Space Weather System
L. J. Zanetti et al. The Van Allen Probes’ Contribution to the Space Weather System Lawrence J. Zanetti, Ramona L. Kessel, Barry H. Mauk, Aleksandr Y. Ukhorskiy, Nicola J. Fox, Robin J. Barnes, Michele Weiss, Thomas S. Sotirelis, and NourEddine Raouafi ABSTRACT The Van Allen Probes mission, formerly the Radiation Belt Storm Probes mission, was renamed soon after launch to honor the late James Van Allen, who discovered Earth’s radiation belts at the beginning of the space age. While most of the science data are telemetered to the ground using a store-and-then-dump schedule, some of the space weather data are broadcast continu- ously when the Probes are not sending down the science data (approximately 90% of the time). This space weather data set is captured by contributed ground stations around the world (pres- ently Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute and the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Czech Republic), automatically sent to the ground facility at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Phys- ics Laboratory, converted to scientific units, and published online in the form of digital data and plots—all within less than 15 minutes from the time that the data are accumulated onboard the Probes. The real-time Van Allen Probes space weather information is publicly accessible via the Van Allen Probes Gateway web interface. INTRODUCTION The overarching goal of the study of space weather ing radiation, were the impetus for implementing a space is to understand and address the issues caused by solar weather broadcast capability on NASA’s Van Allen disturbances and the effects of those issues on humans Probes’ twin pair of satellites, which were launched in and technological systems. -
Observational Artifacts of Nustar: Ghost-Rays and Stray-Light
Observational Artifacts of NuSTAR: Ghost-rays and Stray-light Kristin K. Madsena, Finn E. Christensenb, William W. Craigc, Karl W. Forstera, Brian W. Grefenstettea, Fiona A. Harrisona, Hiromasa Miyasakaa, and Vikram Ranaa aCalifornia Institute of Technology, 1200 E. California Blvd, Pasadena, USA bDTU Space, National Space Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Elektronvej 327, DK-2800 Lyngby, Denmark cSpace Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA ABSTRACT The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR), launched in June 2012, flies two conical approximation Wolter-I mirrors at the end of a 10.15 m mast. The optics are coated with multilayers of Pt/C and W/Si that operate from 3{80 keV. Since the optical path is not shrouded, aperture stops are used to limit the field of view from background and sources outside the field of view. However, there is still a sliver of sky (∼1.0{4.0◦) where photons may bypass the optics altogether and fall directly on the detector array. We term these photons Stray-light. Additionally, there are also photons that do not undergo the focused double reflections in the optics and we term these Ghost Rays. We present detailed analysis and characterization of these two components and discuss how they impact observations. Finally, we discuss how they could have been prevented and should be in future observatories. Keywords: NuSTAR, Optics, Satellite 1. INTRODUCTION 1 arXiv:1711.02719v1 [astro-ph.IM] 7 Nov 2017 The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR), launched in June 2012, is a focusing X-ray observatory operating in the energy range 3{80 keV. -
Living with a Star Targeted Research and Technology (TR&T) Steering
Living with a Star Targeted Research and Technology (TR&T) Steering Committee Steering Committee Members: Liaison Members: Co-Chair: Eftyhia Zesta (GSFC) Terry Onsager (NOAA) Co-Chair: Mark Linton (NRL) Rodney Vierick (NOAA) Yuri Shprits (MIT) Ilia Roussev (NSF) Scott McIntosh (NCAR / HAO) Vyacheslav Lukin (NSF) Nathan Schwadron (UNH ex-chair) Masha Kuznetsova (GSFC / Community Karel Schrijver (Lockheed Martin) Coordinated Modeling Center) Jim Slavin (U Michigan) Mona Kessel (NASA HQ / Chadi Salem (UC Berkeley) Van Allen Probes) Alexa Halford (GSFC) Dean Pesnell (GSFC / Pontus Brandt (APL) Solar Dynamics Observatory) Tim Bastian (NRAO) David Sibeck (GSFC / Van Allen Probes) Kent Tobiska Adam Szabo (GSFC / Solar Probe Plus) (Space Environment Tech.) Chris St. Cyr (GSFC / Solar Orbiter) LWS Program Ex Officio: Elsayed Talaat & Jeff Morrill (NASA HQ), Shing Fung (GSFC) 2003 Science Definition Team Report: Living with a Star Objectives LWS initiative: goal-oriented research program targeting those aspects of the Sun-Earth system that directly affect life and society. The objectives of LWS will advance research in Sun-Earth system science to new territory, producing knowledge and understanding that society can ultimately utilize. 2003 LWS Science Definition Team Report: TR&T Program The Targeted Research and Technology (TR&T) component of LWS provides the theory, modeling, and data analysis necessary to enable an integrated, system-wide picture of Sun-Earth connection science with societal relevance. Science Definition Team (SDT) … formed -
Sentinelssentinels
SentinelsSentinels This LWS program element includes the Inner Heliospheric Sentinels (IHS) and the Far Side Sentinel (FSS) missions, each with its own distinct concept. And post o’er land and ocean without rest, They also serve who only stand and wait. On His Blindness Goddard Space Flight Center John Milton SentinelsSentinels StudyStudy ChronologyChronology Date Event Concept 1/13/00 Sentinels Briefing By A. Szabo Far Side Observer, L1 Cluster, NG STEREO 1/20/00 Preformulation Team Meeting Imaging/In-Situ Libration Point Measurements 2/2/00 Preformulation Team Meeting Emphasis On Heliospheric Elements 2/3/00 to 3/31/00 Libration Point Orbit Studies Orbit Trajectory Options 3/31/00 Preformulation Team Meeting Far Side Sentinel/4 Inner Heliospheric Sentinels 4/6/00 Sentinels Workshop 4 Satellite Constellation/Far Side Options 4/7/00 JPL Preliminary FSS Concept 3-Axis Spacecraft/5 Instruments/1 Launch 4/10/00 IMDC IHS Briefing 4 Spinning Satellites/4 Instruments/1 Launch 4/17/00 to 4/20/00 IMDC IHS Study 4 Spinning Satellites/4 Instruments/1 Launch 4/20/00 to 4/27/00 JPL FSS Concept/Cost Update Custom Spacecraft/5 Instruments/1 Launch 4/21/00 to 5/5/00 GSFC Mission Costing Far Side Sentinel/4 Inner Heliospheric Sentinels 5/25/00 FSS Mission Concept Summary Defined In Attached System/Subsystem Charts 5/31/00 Program Operating Plan Costed As Two Separate Missions Goddard Space Flight Center SentinelsSentinels ConceptConcept EvolutionEvolution LWS scientists initially considered a complement of spacecraft for the Sentinels mission that included a spacecraft observing the far side of the Sun, a cluster of satellites at L1, and two next-generation STEREO spacecraft. -
Little Books on Art General Editor: Cyril Davenport
L I TTL E B O O K S O N A R T GENERAL EDITOR : CY RIL DAVENPORT COR OT L I T T L E BO O K S O N A R T 1 01 2s 6d. n et Demy 6 0. S U B J E C T S I K N MINIATU RES . AL CE COR RA B DWA D ALMA CK OOKPLATES . E R R E H B WA T G E K A . L E RT. RS R AR T H B W T OMAN . AL ERS H MRS . A W Y T E ARTS OF JAPAN . C M S L E W R V N P T JE ELLE Y . C . DA E OR R R MRS . H . N N CH IST IN A T. JE ER R RS H N N R A T M . OU LADY IN . JE ER HR M B H N N C ISTIAN SY OLISM . JE ER W B ADLEY ILLUMINATED MSS . J . R R W ENAMELS . M S . NELSON DA SON R G N MEw FURNITU E . E A A R T I S T S R GEO GE PA TON OMNEY. R S R I N DU ER. L. JESS E ALLE IM REYNOLDS . J . S E W I R K TCH Y A S . D S E LE TT M SS E . PPN E H K IPT N HO R . P . K . S O T R R RAN CE Y ELL-GILL U NE . F S T RR H R H GAN MEw OGA T . -
The New Heliophysics Division Template
NASA Heliophysics Division Update Heliophysics Advisory Committee October 1, 2019 Dr. Nicola J. Fox Director, Heliophysics Division Science Mission Directorate 1 The Dawn of a New Era for Heliophysics Heliophysics Division (HPD), in collaboration with its partners, is poised like never before to -- Explore uncharted territory from pockets of intense radiation near Earth, right to the Sun itself, and past the planets into interstellar space. Strategically combine research from a fleet of carefully-selected missions at key locations to better understand our entire space environment. Understand the interaction between Earth weather and space weather – protecting people and spacecraft. Coordinate with other agencies to fulfill its role for the Nation enabling advances in space weather knowledge and technologies Engage the public with research breakthroughs and citizen science Develop the next generation of heliophysicists 2 Decadal Survey 3 Alignment with Decadal Survey Recommendations NASA FY20 Presidential Budget Request R0.0 Complete the current program Extended operations of current operating missions as recommended by the 2017 Senior Review, planning for the next Senior Review Mar/Apr 2020; 3 recently launched and now in primary operations (GOLD, Parker, SET); and 2 missions currently in development (ICON, Solar Orbiter) R1.0 Implement DRIVE (Diversify, Realize, Implemented DRIVE initiative wedge in FY15; DRIVE initiative is now Integrate, Venture, Educate) part of the Heliophysics R&A baseline R2.0 Accelerate and expand Heliophysics Decadal recommendation of every 2-3 years; Explorer mission AO Explorer program released in 2016 and again in 2019. Notional mission cadence will continue to follow Decadal recommendation going forward. Increased frequency of Missions of Opportunity (MO), including rideshares on IMAP and Tech Demo MO. -
The Highenergy Sun at High Sensitivity: a Nustar Solar Guest
The High-Energy Sun at High Sensitivity: a NuSTAR Solar Guest Investigation Program A concept paper submitted to the Space Studies Board Heliophysics Decadal Survey by David M. Smith, Säm Krucker, Gordon Hurford, Hugh Hudson, Stephen White, Fiona Harrison (NuSTAR PI), and Daniel Stern (NuSTAR Project Scientist) Figure 1: Artist©s conception of the NuSTAR spacecraft Introduction and Overview Understanding the origin, propagation and fate of non-thermal electrons is an important topic in solar and space physics: it is these particles that present a danger for interplanetary probes and astronauts, and also these particles that carry diagnostic information that can teach us about acceleration processes elsewhere in the heliosphere and throughout the universe. Such non-thermal electrons can be detected via their X-ray or gamma-ray emission, their radio emission, or directly in situ in interplanetary space. To date, the state of the art in solar hard x-ray imaging has been the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI), a NASA Small Explorer satellite launched in 2002, which uses an indirect imaging method (rotating modulation collimators) for hard x-ray imaging. This technique can provide high angular resolution, but it is limited in dynamic range and in sensitivity to small events, due to high background. High-energy imaging of the active Sun is technically easiest in the soft x-ray band (see, for example, the detailed and dynamic images returned by the soft x- ray imager on Hinode, as well as the corresponding telescopes on Yohkoh and GOES), but these x-rays are generally emitted by lower-energy thermal plasmas. -
Living with a Star Pre-Formulation Study
Living With a Star Pre-Formulation Study Volume 2 Mission Concept Descriptions August 1, 2000 G O D D A R D S P A C E F L I G H T C E N T E R AcknowledgementAcknowledgement The Living With a Star (LWS) study management acknowledges with gratitude the significant contributions to this volume made by GSFC engineering team and Integrated Mission Design Center (IMDC) personnel. A special note of thanks also goes to NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory personnel who developed the concept for the Far Side Sentinel mission and provided timely input to the mission study team. G O D D A R D S P A C E F L I G H T C E N T E R OverviewOverview This volume summarizes the results of a 6-month LWS pre-formulation study to develop initial concepts for a set of missions that form the basis for the NASA proposed space weather research network. Pre-formulation begins the process to define a viable and affordable concept for new NASA programs and projects. This step is followed by a more formal formulation phase to ensure that the program or project is ready to proceed into implementation. The policy and process are defined in NPD 7120.4A and NPG 7120.5A. G O D D A R D S P A C E F L I G H T C E N T E R TraceabilityTraceability A concerted effort has been made to maintain traceability of concepts and associated costs throughout the LWS program study. This added rigor will allow intelligent trade-offs to be performed and assessed as the program evolves over the months and years ahead.