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NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE)
Geophysical Research Abstracts Vol. 13, EGU2011-5107-2, 2011 EGU General Assembly 2011 © Author(s) 2011 NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) Richard Elphic (1), Gregory Delory (1,2), Anthony Colaprete (1), Mihaly Horanyi (3), Paul Mahaffy (4), Butler Hine (1), Steven McClard (5), Joan Salute (6), Edwin Grayzeck (6), and Don Boroson (7) (1) NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA USA ([email protected]), (2) Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA USA, (3) Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO USA, (4) NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD USA, (5) LunarQuest Program Office, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL USA, (6) Planetary Science Division, Science Mission Directorate, NASA, Washington, DC USA, (7) Lincoln Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Lexington MA USA Nearly 40 years have passed since the last Apollo missions investigated the mysteries of the lunar atmosphere and the question of levitated lunar dust. The most important questions remain: what is the composition, structure and variability of the tenuous lunar exosphere? What are its origins, transport mechanisms, and loss processes? Is lofted lunar dust the cause of the horizon glow observed by the Surveyor missions and Apollo astronauts? How does such levitated dust arise and move, what is its density, and what is its ultimate fate? The US National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council decadal surveys and the recent “Scientific Context for Exploration of the Moon” (SCEM) reports have identified studies of the pristine state of the lunar atmosphere and dust environment as among the leading priorities for future lunar science missions. -
MARS SCIENCE LABORATORY ORBIT DETERMINATION Gerhard L. Kruizinga(1)
MARS SCIENCE LABORATORY ORBIT DETERMINATION Gerhard L. Kruizinga(1), Eric D. Gustafson(2), Paul F. Thompson(3), David C. Jefferson(4), Tomas J. Martin-Mur(5), Neil A. Mottinger(6), Frederic J. Pelletier(7), and Mark S. Ryne(8) (1-8)Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, California 91109, +1-818-354-7060, fGerhard.L.Kruizinga, edg, Paul.F.Thompson, David.C.Jefferson, tmur, Neil.A.Mottinger, Fred.Pelletier, [email protected] Abstract: This paper describes the orbit determination process, results and filter strategies used by the Mars Science Laboratory Navigation Team during cruise from Earth to Mars. The new atmospheric entry guidance system resulted in an orbit determination paradigm shift during final approach when compared to previous Mars lander missions. The evolving orbit determination filter strategies during cruise are presented. Furthermore, results of calibration activities of dynamical models are presented. The atmospheric entry interface trajectory knowledge was significantly better than the original requirements, which enabled the very precise landing in Gale Crater. Keywords: Mars Science Laboratory, Curiosity, Mars, Navigation, Orbit Determination 1. Introduction On August 6, 2012, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) and the Curiosity rover successful performed a precision landing in Gale Crater on Mars. A crucial part of the success was orbit determination (OD) during the cruise from Earth to Mars. The OD process involves determining the spacecraft state, predicting the future trajectory and characterizing the uncertainty associated with the predicted trajectory. This paper describes the orbit determination process, results, and unique challenges during the final approach phase. -
LADEE PDS Mission Description Center Document Document No: DES-12.LADEE.LPMD Rev.: 1.5 Effective Date: 05-13-2014
Ames Research Title: LADEE PDS Mission Description Center Document Document No: DES-12.LADEE.LPMD Rev.: 1.5 Effective Date: 05-13-2014 Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) LADEE PDS Mission Description th May 13 , 2014 Ames Research Center Moffett Field, California National Aeronautics and Space Administration i Ames Research Title: LADEE PDS Mission Description Center Document Document No: DES-12.LADEE.LPMD Rev.: 1.5 Effective Date: 05-13-2014 This document is approved in accordance with LADEE Configuration Management Plan, C04.LADEE.CM, paragraph 3.6.1.1 Document Release Routing Approval Process. Page three of this document contains the approved routed release of this document. Approval Signatures _______________________________________ ___________ Butler Hine Date LADEE Project Manager _______________________________________ ___________ Gregory T. Delory Date LADEE Deputy Project Scientist _______________________________________ ___________ Date _______________________________________ ___________ Date ii Ames Research Title: LADEE PDS Mission Description Center Document Document No: DES-12.LADEE.LPMD Rev.: 1.5 Effective Date: 05-13-2014 This page is reserved for routing approval document iii Ames Research Title: LADEE PDS Mission Description Center Document Document No: DES-12.LADEE.LPMD Rev.: 1.5 Effective Date: 05-13-2014 REVISION HISTORY Rev. Description of Change Author(s) Effective Date 1.0 Initial draft G. Delory Nov 1, 2012 1.1 Resolved several TBDs G. Delory Nov 29, 2012 Updated TOC and prepared for conversion to PDF March 21, 1.2 G. Delory 2012 Baseline March 21, NC G. Delory 2012 Edited mission objective #2 as per PDS peer review 1.3 G. Delory April 4, 2013 results Updated mission timeline and orbit plots to reflect as- 1.4 G. -
Five Aerojet Boosters Set to Lift New Horizons Spacecraft
January 15, 2006 Five Aerojet Boosters Set to Lift New Horizons Spacecraft Aerojet Propulsion Will Support Both Launch Vehicle and Spacecraft for Mission to Pluto SACRAMENTO, Calif., Jan. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Aerojet, a GenCorp Inc. (NYSE: GY) company, will provide five solid rocket boosters for the launch vehicle and a propulsion system for the spacecraft when a Lockheed Martin Atlas® V launches the Pluto New Horizons spacecraft January 17 from Cape Canaveral, AFB. The launch window opens at 1:24 p.m. EST on January 17 and extends through February 14. The New Horizons mission, dubbed by NASA as the "first mission to the last planet," will study Pluto and its moon, Charon, in detail during a five-month- long flyby encounter. Pluto is the solar system's most distant planet, averaging 3.6 billion miles from the sun. Aerojet's solid rocket boosters (SRBs), each 67-feet long and providing an average of 250,000 pounds of thrust, will provide the necessary added thrust for the New Horizons mission. The SRBs have flown in previous vehicle configurations using two and three boosters; this is the first flight utilizing the five boosters. Additionally, 12 Aerojet monopropellant (hydrazine) thrusters on the Atlas V Centaur upper stage will provide roll, pitch, and yaw control settling burns for the launch vehicle main engines. Aerojet also supplies 8 retro rockets for Atlas Centaur separation. Aerojet also provided the spacecraft propulsion system, comprised of a propellant tank, 16 thrusters and various other components, which will control pointing and navigation for the spacecraft on its journey and during encounters with Pluto- Charon and, as part of a possible extended mission, to more distant, smaller objects in the Kuiper Belt. -
Spacecraft Trajectories in a Sun, Earth, and Moon Ephemeris Model
SPACECRAFT TRAJECTORIES IN A SUN, EARTH, AND MOON EPHEMERIS MODEL A Project Presented to The Faculty of the Department of Aerospace Engineering San José State University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering by Romalyn Mirador i ABSTRACT SPACECRAFT TRAJECTORIES IN A SUN, EARTH, AND MOON EPHEMERIS MODEL by Romalyn Mirador This project details the process of building, testing, and comparing a tool to simulate spacecraft trajectories using an ephemeris N-Body model. Different trajectory models and methods of solving are reviewed. Using the Ephemeris positions of the Earth, Moon and Sun, a code for higher-fidelity numerical modeling is built and tested using MATLAB. Resulting trajectories are compared to NASA’s GMAT for accuracy. Results reveal that the N-Body model can be used to find complex trajectories but would need to include other perturbations like gravity harmonics to model more accurate trajectories. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my family and friends for their continuous encouragement and support throughout all these years. A special thank you to my advisor, Dr. Capdevila, and my friend, Dhathri, for mentoring me as I work on this project. The knowledge and guidance from the both of you has helped me tremendously and I appreciate everything you both have done to help me get here. ii Table of Contents List of Symbols ............................................................................................................................... v 1.0 INTRODUCTION -
Space Sector Brochure
SPACE SPACE REVOLUTIONIZING THE WAY TO SPACE SPACECRAFT TECHNOLOGIES PROPULSION Moog provides components and subsystems for cold gas, chemical, and electric Moog is a proven leader in components, subsystems, and systems propulsion and designs, develops, and manufactures complete chemical propulsion for spacecraft of all sizes, from smallsats to GEO spacecraft. systems, including tanks, to accelerate the spacecraft for orbit-insertion, station Moog has been successfully providing spacecraft controls, in- keeping, or attitude control. Moog makes thrusters from <1N to 500N to support the space propulsion, and major subsystems for science, military, propulsion requirements for small to large spacecraft. and commercial operations for more than 60 years. AVIONICS Moog is a proven provider of high performance and reliable space-rated avionics hardware and software for command and data handling, power distribution, payload processing, memory, GPS receivers, motor controllers, and onboard computing. POWER SYSTEMS Moog leverages its proven spacecraft avionics and high-power control systems to supply hardware for telemetry, as well as solar array and battery power management and switching. Applications include bus line power to valves, motors, torque rods, and other end effectors. Moog has developed products for Power Management and Distribution (PMAD) Systems, such as high power DC converters, switching, and power stabilization. MECHANISMS Moog has produced spacecraft motion control products for more than 50 years, dating back to the historic Apollo and Pioneer programs. Today, we offer rotary, linear, and specialized mechanisms for spacecraft motion control needs. Moog is a world-class manufacturer of solar array drives, propulsion positioning gimbals, electric propulsion gimbals, antenna positioner mechanisms, docking and release mechanisms, and specialty payload positioners. -
A Possible Flyby Anomaly for Juno at Jupiter
A possible flyby anomaly for Juno at Jupiter L. Acedo,∗ P. Piqueras and J. A. Mora˜no Instituto Universitario de Matem´atica Multidisciplinar, Building 8G, 2o Floor, Camino de Vera, Universitat Polit`ecnica de Val`encia, Valencia, Spain December 14, 2017 Abstract In the last decades there have been an increasing interest in im- proving the accuracy of spacecraft navigation and trajectory data. In the course of this plan some anomalies have been found that cannot, in principle, be explained in the context of the most accurate orbital models including all known effects from classical dynamics and general relativity. Of particular interest for its puzzling nature, and the lack of any accepted explanation for the moment, is the flyby anomaly discov- ered in some spacecraft flybys of the Earth over the course of twenty years. This anomaly manifest itself as the impossibility of matching the pre and post-encounter Doppler tracking and ranging data within a single orbit but, on the contrary, a difference of a few mm/s in the asymptotic velocities is required to perform the fitting. Nevertheless, no dedicated missions have been carried out to eluci- arXiv:1711.08893v2 [astro-ph.EP] 13 Dec 2017 date the origin of this phenomenon with the objective either of revising our understanding of gravity or to improve the accuracy of spacecraft Doppler tracking by revealing a conventional origin. With the occasion of the Juno mission arrival at Jupiter and the close flybys of this planet, that are currently been performed, we have developed an orbital model suited to the time window close to the ∗E-mail: [email protected] 1 perijove. -
NASA-Funded Scientists Interested in Giving Presentations Are Invited to Join the New NASA SMD Scientist Speaker’S Bureau!
Welcome! Planetary Science E/PO Community Tag-up December 13, 2012 MESSENGER Finds New Evidence for Water Ice at Mercury's Poles Today • Community News and Announcements! • News from HQ – Data Call – Update on NASA Education Plan and Communications Plan • It’s A New Moon Campaign / LADEE Launch Events • AGU Reflections • LPSC Plans Community News & Announcements Science and E/PO Highlights A new episode of active volcanism on Venus? Halfway Between Uranus and Neptune, New Horizons Cruises On Early career scientists compete to convey their science to the public in three minutes … no PowerPoints! AGU, LPSC, and more! Finals: April 2014 at National Geographic Headquarters Winner competes in FameLab International in NASA's GRAIL Creates Most the UK in June 2014 Accurate Moon Gravity Map Science and E/PO Highlights NASA Mars Rover Fully Analyzes First Soil Samples Voyager 1 Encounters New Region in Deep Space What is Creating Gullies on Vesta? Opportunity Rover Finishes Walkabout on Mars Crater Rim Science and E/PO Highlights News from HQ • Data Call! Due … NOW! Really … no point in waiting to see if the world ends … • Recent governance changes: How the new NASA Education Plan and Communication Plan requirements will be implemented It’s A New Moon • Overall Strategy – take advantage of the excitement leading up to and during this mission to continue the successful “It’s A New Moon” public outreach program, highlighting the range of current NASA robotic lunar science missions, Lunar educational and public outreach activities, and building on the success and lessons learned from the GRAIL and LRO missions. -
Planetary Science
Mission Directorate: Science Theme: Planetary Science Theme Overview Planetary Science is a grand human enterprise that seeks to discover the nature and origin of the celestial bodies among which we live, and to explore whether life exists beyond Earth. The scientific imperative for Planetary Science, the quest to understand our origins, is universal. How did we get here? Are we alone? What does the future hold? These overarching questions lead to more focused, fundamental science questions about our solar system: How did the Sun's family of planets, satellites, and minor bodies originate and evolve? What are the characteristics of the solar system that lead to habitable environments? How and where could life begin and evolve in the solar system? What are the characteristics of small bodies and planetary environments and what potential hazards or resources do they hold? To address these science questions, NASA relies on various flight missions, research and analysis (R&A) and technology development. There are seven programs within the Planetary Science Theme: R&A, Lunar Quest, Discovery, New Frontiers, Mars Exploration, Outer Planets, and Technology. R&A supports two operating missions with international partners (Rosetta and Hayabusa), as well as sample curation, data archiving, dissemination and analysis, and Near Earth Object Observations. The Lunar Quest Program consists of small robotic spacecraft missions, Missions of Opportunity, Lunar Science Institute, and R&A. Discovery has two spacecraft in prime mission operations (MESSENGER and Dawn), an instrument operating on an ESA Mars Express mission (ASPERA-3), a mission in its development phase (GRAIL), three Missions of Opportunities (M3, Strofio, and LaRa), and three investigations using re-purposed spacecraft: EPOCh and DIXI hosted on the Deep Impact spacecraft and NExT hosted on the Stardust spacecraft. -
Juno Observations of Large-Scale Compressions of Jupiter's Dawnside
PUBLICATIONS Geophysical Research Letters RESEARCH LETTER Juno observations of large-scale compressions 10.1002/2017GL073132 of Jupiter’s dawnside magnetopause Special Section: Daniel J. Gershman1,2 , Gina A. DiBraccio2,3 , John E. P. Connerney2,4 , George Hospodarsky5 , Early Results: Juno at Jupiter William S. Kurth5 , Robert W. Ebert6 , Jamey R. Szalay6 , Robert J. Wilson7 , Frederic Allegrini6,7 , Phil Valek6,7 , David J. McComas6,8,9 , Fran Bagenal10 , Key Points: Steve Levin11 , and Scott J. Bolton6 • Jupiter’s dawnside magnetosphere is highly compressible and subject to 1Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, Maryland, USA, 2NASA Goddard Spaceflight strong Alfvén-magnetosonic mode Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA, 3Universities Space Research Association, Columbia, Maryland, USA, 4Space Research coupling 5 • Magnetospheric compressions may Corporation, Annapolis, Maryland, USA, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA, 6 7 enhance reconnection rates and Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas, USA, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Texas at San increase mass transport across the Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, USA, 8Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA, magnetopause 9Office of the VP for the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA, • Total pressure increases inside the 10Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado -
Dawn Mission to Vesta and Ceres Symbiosis Between Terrestrial Observations and Robotic Exploration
Earth Moon Planet (2007) 101:65–91 DOI 10.1007/s11038-007-9151-9 Dawn Mission to Vesta and Ceres Symbiosis between Terrestrial Observations and Robotic Exploration C. T. Russell Æ F. Capaccioni Æ A. Coradini Æ M. C. De Sanctis Æ W. C. Feldman Æ R. Jaumann Æ H. U. Keller Æ T. B. McCord Æ L. A. McFadden Æ S. Mottola Æ C. M. Pieters Æ T. H. Prettyman Æ C. A. Raymond Æ M. V. Sykes Æ D. E. Smith Æ M. T. Zuber Received: 21 August 2007 / Accepted: 22 August 2007 / Published online: 14 September 2007 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2007 Abstract The initial exploration of any planetary object requires a careful mission design guided by our knowledge of that object as gained by terrestrial observers. This process is very evident in the development of the Dawn mission to the minor planets 1 Ceres and 4 Vesta. This mission was designed to verify the basaltic nature of Vesta inferred both from its reflectance spectrum and from the composition of the howardite, eucrite and diogenite meteorites believed to have originated on Vesta. Hubble Space Telescope observations have determined Vesta’s size and shape, which, together with masses inferred from gravitational perturbations, have provided estimates of its density. These investigations have enabled the Dawn team to choose the appropriate instrumentation and to design its orbital operations at Vesta. Until recently Ceres has remained more of an enigma. Adaptive-optics and HST observations now have provided data from which we can begin C. T. Russell (&) IGPP & ESS, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1567, USA e-mail: [email protected] F. -
NASA Ames Research Center Intelligent Systems and High End Computing
NASA Ames Research Center Intelligent Systems and High End Computing Dr. Eugene Tu, Director NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000 A 80-year Journey 1960 Soviet Union United States Russia Japan ESA India 2020 Illustration by: Bryan Christie Design Updated: 2015 Protecting our Planet, Exploring the Universe Earth Heliophysics Planetary Astrophysics Launch missions such as JWST to Advance knowledge unravel the of Earth as a Determine the mysteries of the system to meet the content, origin, and universe, explore challenges of Understand the sun evolution of the how it began and environmental and its interactions solar system and evolved, and search change and to with Earth and the the potential for life for life on planets improve life on solar system. elsewhere around other stars earth “NASA Is With You When You Fly” Safe, Transition Efficient to Low- Growth in Carbon Global Propulsion Operations Innovation in Real-Time Commercial System- Supersonic Wide Aircraft Safety Assurance Assured Ultra-Efficient Autonomy for Commercial Aviation Vehicles Transformation NASA Centers and Installations Goddard Institute for Space Studies Plum Brook Glenn Research Station Independent Center Verification and Ames Validation Facility Research Center Goddard Space Flight Center Headquarters Jet Propulsion Wallops Laboratory Flight Facility Armstrong Flight Research Center Langley Research White Sands Center Test Facility Stennis Marshall Space Kennedy Johnson Space Space Michoud Flight Center Space Center Center Assembly Center Facility