Jet DECEMBER Propulsion 2006 Laboratory volume 36

number 17

2006 INREVIEW By Mark Whalen

JPL has once again closed out the

year in style. Less than a month after

the announcement that Mars Global

Surveyor has likely finished its operat-

ing career, the most productive Mars

mission in history came through with

the explosive news in December that

its photographs have revealed bright

new deposits in two gullies on Mars

that suggest water carried sediment

A gully as imaged by Mars Global Surveyor liquid water was involved in its genesis. through them sometime during the is shown at left in August 1999 and at right However, this observation and a similar in September 2005. The images show the light-toned flow in Terra Sirenum to- past seven years. southeast wall of an unnamed crater in the gether show that some gully sites are Centauri Montes region. No light-toned indeed changing today, providing tanta- In the meantime, the Laboratory con- deposit was present in August 1999, but lizing evidence there might be sources of appeared by February 2004. The new light- liquid water beneath the surface of Mars tinues its studies of the solar system toned flow, by itself, does not prove that right now. and beyond, with 15 spacecraft, two

rovers, seven science instruments

and three Earth observatories all

meeting or exceeding their require-

ments. Following are some highlights,

chronologically, from 2006.

Continued on page 2 2

niverse CONT'D

U 2006INREVIEW

A new image from the Galaxy Evolution Explorer completed MARCH a multi-wavelength, neon-col- Cassini found what may be evidence ored portrait of the enormous of liquid water reservoirs that erupt in Cartwheel galaxy after a smaller Yellowstone-like geysers on Saturn’s galaxy plunged through it, trigger- moon Enceladus. The rare occurrence ing ripples of sudden, brief star of liquid water so near the surface raises formation. The false-color com- many new questions about the mysteri- posite image shows the Cartwheel ous moon. “If we are right, we have sig- galaxy as seen by Galaxy Evolution nificantly broadened the diversity of solar Explorer in ultraviolet light (blue); system environments where we might the Hubble Space Telescope in possibly have conditions suitable for visible light (green); the Spitzer living organisms,” said Carolyn Porco, Space Telescope in infrared (red); Cassini imaging team leader. ... and the Chandra X-ray Observa- tory (purple). The Cartwheel is a A new mosaic of Mars’ Valles Marineris, monstrous 2.5 times the size of the the biggest canyon in the solar system, Milky Way. ... January merged hundreds of photos from Mars Odyssey, offering scientists and the The Stardust sample return public an online resource for exploring mission returned safely to Earth the entire canyon in detail. ... Jan. 15 when the capsule carrying cometary and interstellar particles successfully touched down at in the desert salt flats of the U.S. Air Force Utah Test and Training Range, delivering to the interna- tional science community material that has been unaltered since the formation of our solar system. A few days later, the science team observed thousands of impacts on the aerogel within the particle cap- ture cells. ...

FEBRuary Spitzer identified two huge “hypergiant” stars circled by monstrous disks of what might be planet-forming dust. The findings surprised astronomers because stars as big as these were thought to be inhospitable to planets. Dusty disks around stars may be signposts for present or future planetary systems. ...

Studies released in February showed the loss of ice from Greenland doubled over the last 10 years, as its glaciers flowed faster into the ocean in response to a generally warmer climate, and the entire Antarctic ice sheet's mass has decreased significantly from 2002 to 2005. The Greenland studies used data from Canadian and European satellites, while the Antarctica study was based on data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (Grace). ... 3 MAY niverse

2006INREVIEW APRIL U The Cassini-Huygens mission team was honored with an Aero- space Laurel award by the editors of Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine. Aviation Week presented the award for the successful land- Spitzer snapped a picture of the bits and pieces making up ing of the European Space Agency’s Comet 73P/Schwassman-Wachmann 3, which broke apart on Huygens probe on Saturn’s moon its periodic journey around the sun. Spitzer’s infrared eyes were Titan, and for the science return and able to see the dusty comet bits lining the trail because the dust inspiring images from the Cassini is warmed by sunlight and glows at infrared wavelengths. Most of orbiter. ... the dust particles, specifically the millimeter-sized nuggets, had never been seen before. ... A globe-spanning constellation of six weather and climate research satel- Cassini observed icy jets and plumes indicating active geysers lites launched from Vandenberg Air CloudSat mission, whose spewing from Saturn’s moon Enceladus—an active, icy world Force Base April 14 on a five-year cloud-profiling radar is more with an unusually warm south pole—may have performed an mission. The Constellation Observing than 1,000 times more sensitive unusual trick for a planetary body. Research showed Enceladus System for Meteorology, Ionosphere than typical weather radar, was rolled over, literally, explaining why the moon’s hottest spot is at and Climate network (Cosmic) is ex- joined on its launch rocket by the south pole. pected to improve weather forecasts, Calipso (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar “It’s astound- monitor climate change and enhance and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite ing that Cassini space weather research. JPL de- Observations). The satellites found a region of signed Cosmic’s primary instru- will fly in formation in NASA’s current geologi- ment, a science global positioning “A-Train” constellation, which cal activity on an system receiver, based on its proven also includes NASA’s Aqua and icy moon that we BlackJack space receiver. “Cosmic Aura satellites and a French would expect to be is a prime example of transitioning satellite called Parasol. ... frigidly cold, espe- NASA remote sensing technology into cially down at this operational weather forecasting,” said moon's equivalent Tony Mannucci, supervisor of JPL’s of Antarctica,” Ionospheric and Atmospheric Remote said JPL planetary Sensing Group. ... scientist Bob Pap- palardo. ... Two satellites were launched April 28 from Vandenberg Air Force Base on missions to reveal the inner secrets of clouds and aerosols, tiny particles suspended in the air. JPL’s

The first images from JUNE CloudSat revealed never- before-seen 3-D details University scientists using about clouds. “We’re seeing Global Positioning the atmosphere as we’ve System (GPS) software never seen it before,” said developed by JPL showed CloudSat Project Manager that GPS can determine, Deborah Vane. “We’re no within minutes, whether an longer looking at clouds earthquake is big enough like images on a flat piece to generate an ocean-wide of paper, but instead we’re tsunami. “This technique peering into the clouds and improves rapid estimates seeing their layered com- of the true size of great plexity.” ... earthquakes and advances real-time tsunami modeling capabilities,” said JPL geologist Frank Webb. ... 4

niverse A team led by Son Nghiem of the U JULY Polar Remote Sensing Group used JPL’s QuikScat satel- Scientists using space-based measure- lite to measure the extent and ments directly monitored and measured distribution of perennial and the complete cycle of water movement seasonal sea ice in the Arc- for an entire continent. Using data from tic. While the total area of all Quick Scatterometer (QuikScat), Arctic sea ice was stable in Gravity Recovery and Climate winter, the distribution of seasonal Experiment (Grace) and Tropi- and perennial sea ice changed sig- cal Rainfall Measuring Mission nificantly. “If the seasonal ice in the (TRMM), a JPL science team observed east Arctic Ocean were to be removed the seasonal cycling of water into and by summer melt, a vast ice-free out of South America. The findings are area would open up,” said Ng- significant because until now there had hiem. “Such an ice-free area been no direct way to monitor continen- would have profound impacts tal water balance. ... on the environment, as well as on marine transportation Tom May, manager of JPL’s Business and commerce.” ... Opportunities Office and Supplier Di- versity Program, was selected as one A NASA and university study of the year’s 50 influential minorities provided unique insights into the in business by the Minority Business and sources of pollutants in Earth’s atmo- Professional Network Inc. May, who re- sphere and how they are transported ceived the 2006 Award for Excellence and around the world. For the first time, researchers used simultaneous Leadership, was one of 50 people from observations of carbon monoxide and ozone from space to differenti- the federal, corporate and small business ate between ozone produced from human activity and from natural sector honored for their professional ex- sources. The observations were obtained from JPL’s Tropospheric cellence and strong leadership. ... Emission Spectrometer instrument onboard NASA’s Aura satellite. ... SEPTEMBER

AUGUST

A new image from Spitzer probed deep into the clouds of dust that permeate the Orion nebula and its surrounding regions. The strik- ing false-color picture showed pinkish swirls of dust speckled with stars, some of which are orbited by disks of planet-forming dust. Spitzer’s powerful infrared vision was able to unearth nearly 2,300 such planet-forming disks in the Orion cloud complex. ...

The Galaxy Evolution Explorer surveyed more than 800 nearby elliptical galaxies of various sizes. An intriguing pattern emerged: the more massive, or bigger, the galaxy, the less likely it was to have young stars. Because bigger galaxies are known to have bigger black holes, astronomers believe the black holes are responsible for the lack of youthful stars. The findings indicate that supermassive black holes in some giant galaxies create such a hostile environment that they shut down the formation of new stars. ... 5 CONT'D

2006INREVIEW niverse U A giant black hole was octoBER caught red-handed dipping into a cosmic cookie jar of stars by the Galaxy Evolu- tion Explorer. This is the first time as- tronomers have seen the whole process of a black hole eating a star, from its first to Cassini released a new view of Saturn that revealed previously un- nearly final bites. known faint rings. This panoramic view was created by combining a

total of 165 images taken by the Cassini wide-angle camera...... While most of the new impact craters JPL Director Charles Elachi was honored as one of “America’s found on Mars by the Best Leaders” by U.S. News & World Report, in collaboration with the Mars Global Sur- Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy veyor's Mars Orbiter School of Government. The award praised leaders who embody and Camera have dark define leadership and have achieved measurable results in their fields, ejecta patterns, a few challenged established processes and inspired a shared vision. The of them also have light- committee was particularly seeking leaders with resilience, adaptability toned ejecta, indicat- and sustainability who empower others and value their colleagues’ ing that the impacting personal growth. ... meteorite excavated to a depth where a light- An image from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s High toned material was Resolution Imaging Science Experiment shows “Victoria crater,” present. ... an impact crater near Mars’ equator. Layered sedimentary rocks are exposed along the inner wall of the crater, and boulders that have fallen from the crater wall are visible on the crater floor. Five days before this image was taken, Opportunity arrived at the rim of Victoria crater; DECEMBER the rover can be seen in this image, at roughly the “10 o’clock” position along the rim of the crater. ...

NovEMBER

Cassini saw something never before seen on another planet—a hurricane-like storm at Saturn’s south pole with a well-developed eye, ringed by towering clouds. The “hurricane” spans a dark area inside a thick, brighter ring of clouds. It is approxi- mately 8,000 kilometers (5,000 miles) across, or two-thirds the diameter of Earth. ... 6 niverse U Photos by Tom Wynne / JPL Photolab JPL / Wynne Tom by Photos Space Rewards don’t come without risks, and right now JPL is on the fast track to preparing a mission that balances the risks of the unknown with the possibilities for great payoffs for the Technology future of exploration. The next mission in NASA’s New Millennium Program, the JPL-managed 1234567 Space Technology 8, an Earth orbiter that seeks to validate four new sub- 8 system-level technologies never flown in space, successfully completed its confirmation review and has received a go-ahead from NASA Headquarters for implementation.

The seven-month mission is scheduled for launch in February 2009.

“We’ve finished formulation phases A and B, which is where you define the project, come up with a budget and develop a schedule,” noted Project Man- ager Mary Bothwell. “Phases C, D and E are the implementation phases, which means we are ready to build it, test it and fly it.”

Space Technology 8 doesn’t represent the typical JPL mission.

“On JPL’s long-duration, deep-space missions, we are busy trying to adjust the vehicle to accommodate the science instruments,” said project systems engineer Richard Bennett. “With ST8, we’re doing the exact opposite—we Demonstration adjust the experiments to accommodate the vehicle.” The four technologies that comprise the mission:

mission is • The UltraFlex-175 experiment, an ultra-lightweight solar panel array deployed on a mesh support system, meant to provide a significant advancement in power-to-mass performance over existing state-of- paving the the-art for high-power arrays. • The Sailmast, an ultra-lightweight graphite mast intended for solar sail propulsion systems but also for missions that need to place a sensor a way for long way from the spacecraft. The deployable boom is 40 meters (about 130 feet) long and weighs 1.6 kilograms (about 3.5 pounds).

• The Dependable Multiprocessor, which will provide onboard high-rate the future parallel processing for science data and autonomous control functions using commercial-off-the-shelf processors. The system includes soft- ware to detect and correct radiation-induced errors. By Mark Whalen • The Thermal Loop experiment, designed to efficiently cool small space- craft and small instruments with one cooling loop that may have differ- ent heat loads on various parts of it. This new technology will not only save mass but it will also allow greater design flexibility in deciding where components are placed. It will also minimize—if not eliminate— the need for supplemental electrical heaters. 7 niverse U

From left: Mary Bothwell, Art Chmielewski, Khanara Ellers, Steve Franklin, Richard Bennett.

JPL feels comfortable with the heritage-proven spacecraft provided Ellers is familiar with Orbital, having worked with the company in by contractor Orbital Sciences Corp. The spacecraft bus is actually a preparing the Dawn mission for development. “Orbital has very good combination of two Orbital product lines—MicroStar avionics and a processes and is very focused on building spacecraft buses. We are LeoStar structure—noted flight system manager Steve Franklin, who working with them to look at the bigger picture; we need to help them oversees spacecraft bus and experiment integration. MicroStars have be our system integrator as well.” flown successfully more than 40 times. “It’s very exciting to be involved in demonstrating technology that will “ST8 is a fast-moving, low-cost mission, meaning we have to accept enable future missions,” said Bennett. “It’s a series of costs and techni- reasonable and carefully calculated risks,” said Franklin. cal/engineering tradeoffs. The key is to build relationships with team partners, motivate them to be active and engaged. By teleconference, In the tradition of the New Millennium Program, “We look at les- we have multiple technical working group meetings that cover software, sons learned from all missions in trying to figure out how to do or mission operations, risk identification and management. not do things,” said Bothwell. “In this case, Orbital’s experience is something that helps us address the risk. We need to understand the “We are trying hard to stress that system engineering and mission as- risks we’re taking and then satisfy Lab management and the chief surance should be viewed as an integrated approach. The combination engineer’s office that we really do understand what we’re going to lends itself to a better design.” build and that it meets the requirements we promised NASA.” The team faces a series of critical design reviews starting in the Space Technology 8 payload manager Art Chmielewski praised spring next year. The fast-paced mission will see only about eight the New Millennium Program manager, Chris Stevens, for providing months pass between the project preliminary design review and the the mission with funding for its own spacecraft and launch vehicle. spacecraft critical design review, then another seven months to the Chmielewski is also project manager for New Millennium’s Space start of spacecraft integration and test. Technology 6, which developed two technologies: the Autonomous Sciencecraft Experiment and the Inertial Stellar Compass. “For ASE Bothwell said the total workforce will be about 70 JPL full-time we investigated 131 different NASA and Department of Defense mis- equivalents over a four-year period. “The highest we’ll get to is 21 JPL sions before we found a ride,” he said. The Inertial Stellar Compass full-time equivalents in fiscal year 2008, which is the year we’re going also bounced among different carriers. “At one time our best chance to be integrating everything on the spacecraft,” she said. Most of the was to fly on a private spacecraft carrying human ashes into space. I JPL support, provided by Divisions 31, 34 and 35, will be in project love the comfort of Space Technology 8’s own ride to space.” systems engineering, flight systems and payload management. About 11 JPLers will be on staff for launch. Another improvement brought into Space Technology 8 from Space Technology 6’s experience is the New Millennium Program technol- Bothwell pointed to Deep Space 1, JPL’s New Millennium mission that ogy review board, led by Jack Stocky. “Jack found world experts who successfully demonstrated ion engine propulsion, for inspiration. “No- help us decide if a given technology is mature enough for flight and body in the scientific world wanted to use it until it was proven,” she what to demonstrate in space to infuse it into future missions,” said said. “Deep Space 1 took the risk out. Hopefully we can do the same Chmielewski. “We are thrilled that ST6’s Autonomous Sciencecraft thing. Experiment was immediately adopted by the Mars Exploration Rovers to look for clouds on Mars.” “We want to develop a robust system so that future project managers and future science experimenters can say ‘Wow! ST8 proved it and we One of the challenges for mission assurance manager Khanara now can use this technology with confidence.’” Ellers and her team is to keep from cutting corners due to schedule and cost pressures. 8 Pasadena, CA 91109. CA Pasadena, Drive, Grove Oak 4800 Laboratory, Propulsion Jet the of Education and Communications of Office the by published is Universe ’s on o s L’ P J Universe universe@jpl.nasa.gov http://dailyplanet JPL Photo Lab Photo JPL Photography DavidHinkle Production AudreySteffan Design Whalen Mark Editor l e c r u o s s w e n e n i E

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