Model-Based FDI for Agile Spacecraft with Multiple Actuators Working Simultaneously E

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Model-Based FDI for Agile Spacecraft with Multiple Actuators Working Simultaneously E Model-based FDI for Agile Spacecraft with Multiple Actuators Working Simultaneously E. Lopez i de la Encarnacion Technische Universiteit Delft Model-based FDI for Agile Spacecraft with Multiple Actuators Working Simultaneously by E. Lopez i de la Encarnacion in partial fulfillement of the requirements to obtain the degree of Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering at the Delft University of Technology, to be defended publicly on 12th June 2019 at 9.00am. Student number: 4617266 Project duration: July 16, 2018 – June 12, 2019 Thesis committee: Dr.ir. R. Fónod, TU Delft, supervisor Dr. A. Cervone, TU Delft, committee chair Dr.ir. E. van Kampen, TU Delft, external examinator An electronic version of this thesis is available at http://repository.tudelft.nl/. Cover image credits: European Space Agency Preface This report presents the MSc thesis project Model-based FDI for Agile Spacecraft with Multiple Actuators Working Simultaneously, the bases of which is a novel fault detection and isolation strategy applied to agile spacecrafts that use multiple actuators together and tested using Monte Carlo campaigns. It has been written to partially fulfill the requirements to obtain the degree of Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering at the Delft University of Technology. The research project and the writing of this thesis has been done from July 2018 to May 2019. The development of this research project has been done at Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, in Friedrichshafen, Germany, within the Attitude and Orbit Control System and Guidance, Navigation, and Control (AOCS/GNC) department. The definition of the thesis goals and scope was done in accordance with my company supervisor, Patrick Bergner, and my thesis supervisor, Róbert Fónod. The thesis presented some difficulties, the fault detection and isolation field is very broad and there are so many strategies that can be used to achieve the defined goals. However, a good literature research and the help and advice of both my supervisors, who were always available and willing to respond to my inquiries, allowed me to accomplish this thesis with satisfaction. In addition, this project allowed me to submit, together with both supervisors, a conference paper to the Automatic Control in Aerospace 2019 (ACA2019) conference, which has been accepted for publication. Therefore, I would to sincerely thank both my supervisors for their support, guidance, and supervision during all these months. I also want to thank all the Airbus colleagues, employ- ees, interns, and thesis students, who help me going through and gave their advice when I needed it. To my family and friends: I would like to thank you for supporting me and keep me motivated when I was discouraged. And specially thank to my parents who have always been there for me and encouraged me to pursue my dreams. I hope you find it interesting and enjoy reading it. E. Lopez i de la Encarnacion Sabadell, May 2019 iii Abstract Current and future space missions require agile and reliable spacecraft capable of trailing and keeping the required attitude. Most of the agile spacecraft missions are near-Earth based but some are placed far away from Earth and its influence. One example of such missions is the Athena mission, which requires the spacecraft to perform fast and large-angle attitude slew manoeuvres. Such manoeuvres often imply simultaneous use of multiple actuators such as thrusters and reaction wheels (RWs). A fault in any of these actuators might lead to partial or full damage of sensitive spacecraft instruments. In this research project, a novel model- based Fault Detection and Isolation (FDI) strategy is proposed, which is able to detect and isolate various actuator faults, such as stuck-open/closed thruster, thruster leakage, loss of effectiveness of all thrusters, and change of RW friction torque due to change of Coulomb and/or viscosity factor. Moreover, the proposed FDI strategy is also able to detect and isolate faults affecting the RWs tachometer. The design of the FDI algorithm is based on a multi- plicative extended Kalman filter, a generalised likelihood ratio thresholding of the residual signals, and a logic algorithm which unequivocally link the faults to the symptoms. The performance and robustness of the proposed FDI strategy are evaluated using Monte Carlo simulations and carefully defined FDI performance indices. In addition, the influence of faults’ magnitudes, times of fault occurrence, and uncertainties’ magnitudes on the FDI sys- tem performance are evaluated. Preliminary results suggest promising performance in terms of detection/isolation times, miss-detection/isolation rates, and false alarm rates. Also, un- certainties on the spacecraft inertia seem to have a negative impact on the FDI performance. In order to fully understand the research project presented here, graduate-level knowledge on rigid body dynamics and kinematics, control theory, and filters applied to estimation might be required. If any of these areas are not known by the reader, it is recommended to read some of the associated literature referenced in the bibliography. v Contents List of Figures ix List of Tables xi Nomenclature xvi Notation xvi 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Background . 1 1.2 Motivation . 3 1.3 The Scope of this Research . 4 1.4 Research Objectives, Framework, and Questions . 4 1.4.1 Research Objectives . 4 1.4.2 Research Framework . 5 1.4.3 Research Questions . 5 2 Theoretical Background 7 2.1 Athena Mission Description . 7 2.1.1 Space Environment . 7 2.1.2 Spacecraft Characteristics . 7 2.1.3 AOCS Equipment. 8 2.2 Fault Detection and Isolation. 9 2.2.1 FDI Architectures . 10 2.2.2 Model-Based FDI . 12 2.3 Spacecraft Attitude Representation . 15 3 Study Case Description and Methodology 17 3.1 Definition of the Study Case . 17 3.1.1 Environment . 17 3.1.2 AOCS Equipment: Sensors and Actuators . 18 3.1.3 Spacecraft’s Dynamics and Kinematics . 20 3.1.4 Faults . 21 3.1.5 Uncertainties . 22 3.2 Methodology for Evaluation of the FDI System . 22 3.2.1 Test Campaigns . 22 3.2.2 Evaluation Criteria . 23 3.2.3 Post-Processing . 24 4 Proposed FDI Strategy 25 4.1 FDI Strategy . 25 4.1.1 Kalman Filter . 25 4.1.2 Extended Kalman Filter . 26 4.1.3 Multiplicative Extended Kalman Filter . 27 4.1.4 State Estimation . 29 4.1.5 Residual Generation . 32 4.1.6 Fault Detection Algorithm . 32 4.1.7 Fault Isolation Algorithm . 33 vii viii Contents 5 Simulation Results 35 5.1 Simulator . 35 5.1.1 Workflow . 35 5.1.2 Structure and Functionality. 36 5.1.3 Missing Features in the Simulator . 37 5.2 Study Case Parameters Definition. 39 5.3 Sample Runs Analysis . 43 5.3.1 Fault-Free. 43 5.3.2 Leakage Fault . 44 5.3.3 Loss of Effectiveness Fault . 45 5.3.4 Stuck Close Fault. 46 5.3.5 Stuck Open Fault . 47 5.3.6 Reaction Wheel Friction Fault . 48 5.3.7 Reaction Wheel Tachometer Fault. 49 5.4 Monte Carlo Analysis. 49 5.4.1 Test Campaign Without Uncertainties . 50 5.4.2 Test Campaign With Uncertainties. 59 5.5 Discussion on Simulation Results . 64 6 Conclusions and Recommendations 65 6.1 Research Sub-Questions . 65 6.1.1 Sub-Question: Study Case Model . 65 6.1.2 Sub-Question: Methodology . 66 6.1.3 Sub-Question: AOCS FDI System. 66 6.1.4 Sub-Question: FDI System Performance . 67 6.2 Research Question . 67 6.3 Recommendations and Future Work . 68 A Appendix: Derivations 71 A.1 Process Noise Matrix Q . 71 A.2 Power Spectral Density and Variance . 74 B Appendix: Validation and Verification 75 B.1 Thruster Reaction Control System. 75 B.1.1 Individual Test . 75 B.1.2 Multiple Test . 76 B.1.3 Monte Carlo Test . 76 B.2 Kalman Filter . 78 C Appendix: Additional Simulation Figures 81 C.1 Sample Runs of Interest . 81 C.1.1 Stuck Open Fault With Highest Time To Detection . 81 C.1.2 Stuck Close Fault With Highest Time To Detection . 82 C.2 Additional Simulation Results Figures . 83 C.3 Uncertainties Correlations . 84 Bibliography 85 List of Figures 1.1 Research framework ................................... 6 2.1 L2 Earth-Sun Halo Orbit. ................................ 8 2.2 ESA design: Athena spacecraft in deployed configuration. ............. 8 2.3 Hybrid expert based architecture. ........................... 10 2.4 Simplified model-based FDI architecture. ...................... 11 2.5 General model-based FDI architecture. ........................ 13 3.1 ESA design: Athena spacecraft in deployed configuration with fixed-body frame. 20 5.1 Top-level architecture of the GAFE Simulator. Source: GAFE Users’ Manual. 36 5.2 Comparison between real scenario PWM signal and simulation scenario PWM signal of single thruster during a single cycle. .................... 39 5.3 Comparation between real scenario PWM signal and simulation scenario PWM signal of single thruster during a single cycle. .................... 39 5.4 Maximum, minimum, and limiting generated torque per axis. .......... 40 5.5 RCS torque envelope. ...................................
Recommended publications
  • Precollimator for X-Ray Telescope (Stray-Light Baffle) Mindrum Precision, Inc Kurt Ponsor Mirror Tech/SBIR Workshop Wednesday, Nov 2017
    Mindrum.com Precollimator for X-Ray Telescope (stray-light baffle) Mindrum Precision, Inc Kurt Ponsor Mirror Tech/SBIR Workshop Wednesday, Nov 2017 1 Overview Mindrum.com Precollimator •Past •Present •Future 2 Past Mindrum.com • Space X-Ray Telescopes (XRT) • Basic Structure • Effectiveness • Past Construction 3 Space X-Ray Telescopes Mindrum.com • XMM-Newton 1999 • Chandra 1999 • HETE-2 2000-07 • INTEGRAL 2002 4 ESA/NASA Space X-Ray Telescopes Mindrum.com • Swift 2004 • Suzaku 2005-2015 • AGILE 2007 • NuSTAR 2012 5 NASA/JPL/ASI/JAXA Space X-Ray Telescopes Mindrum.com • Astrosat 2015 • Hitomi (ASTRO-H) 2016-2016 • NICER (ISS) 2017 • HXMT/Insight 慧眼 2017 6 NASA/JPL/CNSA Space X-Ray Telescopes Mindrum.com NASA/JPL-Caltech Harrison, F.A. et al. (2013; ApJ, 770, 103) 7 doi:10.1088/0004-637X/770/2/103 Basic Structure XRT Mindrum.com Grazing Incidence 8 NASA/JPL-Caltech Basic Structure: NuSTAR Mirrors Mindrum.com 9 NASA/JPL-Caltech Basic Structure XRT Mindrum.com • XMM Newton XRT 10 ESA Basic Structure XRT Mindrum.com • XMM-Newton mirrors D. de Chambure, XMM Project (ESTEC)/ESA 11 Basic Structure XRT Mindrum.com • Thermal Precollimator on ROSAT 12 http://www.xray.mpe.mpg.de/ Basic Structure XRT Mindrum.com • AGILE Precollimator 13 http://agile.asdc.asi.it Basic Structure Mindrum.com • Spektr-RG 2018 14 MPE Basic Structure: Stray X-Rays Mindrum.com 15 NASA/JPL-Caltech Basic Structure: Grazing Mindrum.com 16 NASA X-Ray Effectiveness: Straylight Mindrum.com • Correct Reflection • Secondary Only • Backside Reflection • Primary Only 17 X-Ray Effectiveness Mindrum.com • The Crab Nebula by: ROSAT (1990) Chandra 18 S.
    [Show full text]
  • X-Ray and Gamma-Ray Variability of NGC 1275
    galaxies Article X-ray and Gamma-ray Variability of NGC 1275 Varsha Chitnis 1,*,† , Amit Shukla 2,*,† , K. P. Singh 3 , Jayashree Roy 4 , Sudip Bhattacharyya 5, Sunil Chandra 6 and Gordon Stewart 7 1 Department of High Energy Physics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Homi Bhabha Road, Mumbai 400005, India 2 Discipline of Astronomy, Astrophysics and Space Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Indore, Khandwa Road, Simrol, Indore 453552, India 3 Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Mohali, Knowledge City, Sector 81, SAS Nagar, Manauli 140306, India; [email protected] 4 Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Ganeshkhind, Pune 411 007, India; [email protected] 5 Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Homi Bhabha Road, Mumbai 400005, India; [email protected] 6 Centre for Space Research, North-West University, Potchefstroom 2520, South Africa; [email protected] 7 Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] (V.C.); [email protected] (A.S.) † These authors contributed equally to this work. Received: 30 June 2020; Accepted: 24 August 2020; Published: 28 August 2020 Abstract: Gamma-ray emission from the bright radio source 3C 84, associated with the Perseus cluster, is ascribed to the radio galaxy NGC 1275 residing at the centre of the cluster. Study of the correlated X-ray/gamma-ray emission from this active galaxy, and investigation of the possible disk-jet connection, are hampered because the X-ray emission, particularly in the soft X-ray band (2–10 keV), is overwhelmed by the cluster emission.
    [Show full text]
  • Executive Summary
    The Boston University Astronomy Department Annual Report 2010 Chair: James Jackson Administrator: Laura Wipf 1 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary 5 Faculty and Staff 5 Teaching 6 Undergraduate Programs 6 Observatory and Facilities 8 Graduate Program 9 Colloquium Series 10 Alumni Affairs/Public Outreach 10 Research 11 Funding 12 Future Plans/Departmental Needs 13 APPENDIX A: Faculty, Staff, and Graduate Students 16 APPENDIX B: 2009/2010 Astronomy Graduates 18 APPENDIX C: Seminar Series 19 APPENDIX D: Sponsored Project Funding 21 APPENDIX E: Accounts Income Expenditures 25 APPENDIX F: Publications 27 Cover photo: An ultraviolet image of Saturn taken by Prof. John Clarke and his group using the Hubble Space Telescope. The oval ribbons toward the top and bottom of the image shows the location of auroral activity near Saturn’s poles. This activity is analogous to Earth’s aurora borealis and aurora australis, the so-called “northern” and “southern lights,” and is caused by energetic particles from the sun trapped in Saturn’s magnetic field. 3 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY associates authored or co-authored a total of 204 refereed, scholarly papers in the disciplines’ most The Department of Astronomy teaches science to prestigious journals. hundreds of non-science majors from throughout the university, and runs one of the largest astronomy degree The funding of the Astronomy Department, the Center programs in the country. Research within the for Space Physics, and the Institute for Astrophysical Astronomy Department is thriving, and we retain our Research was changed this past year. In previous years, strong commitment to teaching and service. only the research centers received research funding, but last year the Department received a portion of this The Department graduated a class of twelve research funding based on grant activity by its faculty.
    [Show full text]
  • Solar Orbiter and Sentinels
    HELEX: Heliophysical Explorers: Solar Orbiter and Sentinels Report of the Joint Science and Technology Definition Team (JSTDT) PRE-PUBLICATION VERSION 1 Contents HELEX Joint Science and Technology Definition Team .................................................................. 3 Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................. 4 1.0 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 6 1.1 Heliophysical Explorers (HELEX): Solar Orbiter and the Inner Heliospheric Sentinels ........ 7 2.0 Science Objectives .............................................................................................................................. 8 2.1 What are the origins of the solar wind streams and the heliospheric magnetic field? ............. 9 2.2 What are the sources, acceleration mechanisms, and transport processes of solar energetic particles? ........................................................................................................................................ 13 2.3 How do coronal mass ejections evolve in the inner heliosphere? ............................................. 16 2.4 High-latitude-phase science ......................................................................................................... 19 3.0 Measurement Requirements and Science Implementation ........................................................ 20
    [Show full text]
  • Particle Background for Equatorial Low Earth Orbit (ELEO)
    Particle background for Equatorial Low Earth Orbit (ELEO) Yashvi Sharma August 11, 2020 1 Introduction An important consideration for X-ray and Gamma ray missions is the particle background environ- ment. Focusing telescopes with lower effective area are only background limited at the fainter end of sensitivity. On the other hand, collimators and concentrators have larger effective area hence there primary concern is to both limit and model the background to get better sensitivity. It can be achieved through employing shielding systems and careful modeling of radiation environment (see figure ?? for state of the art simulation efforts) and choosing the orbit in accordance with science objectives and background limitations. Low Earth Orbit (LEO) is the most commonly used orbit for imaging satellites, communication satellites (network) and many different space telescopes (Hubble, AGILE, ASTROSAT, etc.) and space stations (ISS, Tiangong-2). It is defined to be less than 2000 km in altitude or with less than 128 minutes period and with eccentricity within 0.25. Thus, it requires less energy for satellite placement (although does require frequent orbital corrections due to orbital decay), provides good bandwidth and low latency for communication (although the window for communication is short due to smaller orbits) and is more easily accessible for servicing of space stations and satellites. Moreover, it is between the Earth's upper atmosphere and inner Van Allen radiation belt to keep the high energy particle background to the minimum. Figure 1: Simulated background environment using MGGPOD 1 2 Particle Background for ELEO missions The particle background for an unshielded detector in LEO is primarily made up of cosmic diffuse radiation (below 150 keV) and albedo glow of Earth from interaction of cosmic rays with atmosphere (above 150 keV).
    [Show full text]
  • Hubble Space Telescope and Optical Data on SDSSJ0804+5103 (EZ Lyn) One Year After Outburst
    Hubble Space Telescope and Optical Data on SDSSJ0804+5103 (EZ Lyn) One Year After Outburst Dean M. Townsley – University of California et al. Deposited 08/23/2018 Citation of published version: Szkody, P., et al. (2013): Hubble Space Telescope and Optical Data on SDSSJ0804+5103 (EZ Lyn) One Year After Outburst. The Astronomical Journal, 145(5). http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0004-6256/145/5/121 © 2013. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A The Astronomical Journal, 145:121 (6pp), 2013 May doi:10.1088/0004-6256/145/5/121 C 2013. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A. HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE AND OPTICAL DATA ON SDSSJ0804+5103 (EZ Lyn) ONE YEAR AFTER OUTBURST∗ Paula Szkody1, Anjum S. Mukadam1, Edward M. Sion2,BorisT.Gansicke¨ 3, Arne Henden4, and Dean Townsley5 1 Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA; [email protected], [email protected] 2 Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, Villanova University, Villanova, PA 19085, USA; [email protected] 3 Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK; [email protected] 4 AAVSO, 49 Bay State Road, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; [email protected] 5 Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USA; [email protected] Received 2012 November 20; accepted 2013 February 25; published 2013 March 19 ABSTRACT We present an ultraviolet (UV) spectrum and light curve of the short orbital period cataclysmic variable EZ Lyn obtained with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope 14 months after its dwarf nova outburst, along with ground-based optical photometry.
    [Show full text]
  • 39 44 Commentary
    COMMENTARY Summer reading An Earth systems science agency 39 44 LETTERS I BOOKS I POLICY FORUM I EDUCATION FORUM I PERSPECTIVES Published papers are the currency of sci- LETTERS ence, and scientists need to do more to make edited by Jennifer Sills the publishing process more rapid, rational, and equitable, as well as less painful and frustrat- ing. We scientists have created the problems Painful Publishing discussed here, and it is up to us to fix them. MARTIN RAFF,1 ALEXANDER JOHNSON,2 BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE HAS NEVER BEEN MORE EXCITING OR PRODUCTIVE. RESEARCH TOOLS PETER WALTER3 have become increasingly powerful, and progress continues to accelerate. Yet, these are stressful 1Emeritus Professor, Department of Biology, University times for many biomedical scientists, because competition for grant support, jobs, and publish- College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK. 2Department of ing in the most prestigious journals is also accelerating. The stress associated with publishing Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA. 3Howard Hughes Medical experimental results—a process that can take as long as obtaining the results in the first place— Institute and Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, can drain much of the joy from practicing science. University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA. One problem with the current publication process arises from the overwhelming importance given to papers published in high-impact journals such as Science. Sadly, career advancement on July 29, 2008 can depend more on where you publish than what you publish. Consequently, authors are so The Enemy Within keen to publish in these select journals that THE NEWS OF THE WEEK STORY BY D.
    [Show full text]
  • Everything You've Heard About Agile Development Is Wrong
    2016 ASTRONOMICAL DATA ANALYSIS SYSTEMS AND SOFTWARE CONFERENCE Tutorials T1: Simon O'Toole Australian Astronomical Observatory Everything you’ve heard about Agile development is wrong ora sess. dalle I propose an educational session on Agile software development. There are many astronomical projects where using Agile methods can lead to great efficiency gains. This is especially important in a time of ever-limited ora relazione dalle resources. I will put to rest many of the misconceptions about Agile and provide an overview of the various Agile methodologies. The main focus of the session will be to introduce the common Agile techniques and the basics of prioritisation and timeboxing. The goal of the tutorial is to teach skills that can be incorporated into new, and even existing, astronomical software projects. Tutorial abstract TRIESTE, ITALY 16 - 20 October 2016 2016 ASTRONOMICAL DATA ANALYSIS SYSTEMS AND SOFTWARE CONFERENCE Tutorials T2: Thomas Robitaille Freelance Scientific Software Developer Multi-dimensional linked data exploration with glue ora sess. dalle Modern data analysis and research projects often incorporate multi-dimensional data from several sources, and new insights are increasingly driven by the ability to interpret data in the context of other data. Glue ora relazione dalle (http://www.glueviz.org) is a graphical environment built on top of the standard scientific Python stack to visualize relationships within and between data sets. With glue, users can load and visualize multiple related data sets simultaneously, specify the logical connections that exist between data, and this information is transparently used as needed to enable visualization across files. Glue includes a number of data viewers such as a scatter plot viewer, an image viewer, and more advanced 3D viewers, and also provides a mechanism for users to build their own custom visualizations.
    [Show full text]
  • Presentazione Di Powerpoint
    ASI Science Programme: Current and Future Space Missions Barbara Negri - Italian Space Agency (ASI) Head of Exploration and Observation of the Universe Department Vulcano Workshop 2016 – Frontier Objects in Astrophisycs and Particle Physics Observing the Universe Activities of ASI’s Department for the Exploration and Observation of the Universe (EOS) are organized into three main lines: • Exploration of the Solar System (heliophysics, planetology of the Solar System and exo-planets) • Cosmology and Fundamental Physics (general relativity, theory of gravitation, universe on a large scale and early universe) • High Energy Astrophysics (astrophysics and astroparticles) Scientific activities are carried out in collaboration with the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), the National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), the National Research Council (CNR) and a number of Universities. ASI has launched national scientific satellites and participated in major missions by ESA, NASA and other agencies (JAXA, Roscosmos, etc.) 17- 2 ASI involvement in Science Space Programme ASI involvement in space programs can be grouped as follows: - ESA Scientific Programme: • Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 (mandatory Science Programme): • Not mandatory programme: ExoMars Programme: - ExoMars 2016 (launch: 16 March 2016) - ExoMars 2018 (launch: 2020) - Programs in cooperation with other agencies (NASA, JAXA, Roscosmos, etc ...) - Missions In Operation (Planetary, Astrophysics, Astroparticles) - National scientific satellites in orbit: AGILE and LARES 17- 3 ESA Scientific Programme building blocks 4 COSMIC VISION 2015-2025 1. Large missions, L 2. Medium missions, M 3. Small missions, S 4. Opportunity missions, O (previously known as cooperative) 5. Missions in operation 6. Basic activities a. Preparation for the future b. Technology development ESA programs, I 5 •Horizon 2000+ Cornerstone: GAIA, advanced astrometry, adopted: 2000; launched Dec.
    [Show full text]
  • Small Bodies Science with the Twinkle Space Telescope
    Small bodies science with the Twinkle space telescope Billy Edwards Sean Lindsay Giorgio Savini Giovanna Tinetti Claudio Arena Neil Bowles Marcell Tessenyi Billy Edwards, Sean Lindsay, Giorgio Savini, Giovanna Tinetti, Claudio Arena, Neil Bowles, Marcell Tessenyi, “Small bodies science with the Twinkle space telescope,” J. Astron. Telesc. Instrum. Syst. 5(3), 034004 (2019), doi: 10.1117/1.JATIS.5.3.034004. Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems 5(3), 034004 (Jul–Sep 2019) Small bodies science with the Twinkle space telescope Billy Edwards,a,* Sean Lindsay,b Giorgio Savini,a,c Giovanna Tinetti,a,c Claudio Arena,a Neil Bowles,d and Marcell Tessenyia,c aUniversity College London, Department of Physics and Astronomy, London, United Kingdom bUniversity of Tennessee, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Knoxville, Tennessee, United States cBlues Skies Space Ltd., London, United Kingdom dUniversity of Oxford, Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Planetary Physics, Clarendon Laboratory, Oxford, United Kingdom Abstract. Twinkle is an upcoming 0.45-m space-based telescope equipped with a visible and two near-infrared spectrometers covering the spectral range 0.4 to 4.5 μm with a resolving power R ∼ 250 (λ < 2.42 μm) and R ∼ 60 (λ > 2.42 μm). We explore Twinkle’s capabilities for small bodies science and find that, given Twinkle’s sensitivity, pointing stability, and spectral range, the mission can observe a large number of small bodies. The sensitivity of Twinkle is calculated and compared to the flux from an object of a given visible magnitude. The number, and brightness, of asteroids and comets that enter Twinkle’s field of regard is studied over three time periods of up to a decade.
    [Show full text]
  • Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer Mission Overview And
    Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer Mission Overview and Systems Engineering Status Janice Houston William Deininger NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Ball Aerospace Huntsville, AL 35812 1600 Commerce Street (256) 714-1702 Boulder, CO 80301 [email protected] (303) 939-5314 [email protected] Ettore Del Monte Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica Jennifer Erickson Rome, Italy Ball Aerospace [39] (064) 993-4675 1600 Commerce Street [email protected] Boulder, CO 80301 (303) 533-3170 William Kalinowski [email protected] Ball Aerospace 1600 Commerce Street Boulder, CO 80301 (303) 939-7161 [email protected] Abstract— The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) is and launch the IXPE observatory resulting in the collection of a space-based observatory that will have the capability to on-orbit scientific data measurements which are transmitted to measure the polarization of X-rays from astrophysical sources. ground stations and analyzed. IXPE will improve sensitivity over OSO-8, the only previous X- ray polarimeter, by two orders of magnitude in required The established systems engineering (SE) methods and teaming exposure time. IXPE will yield insight into our understanding approach to achieve the IXPE mission goals will be discussed. of X-ray production in objects such as neutron stars as well as For this paper, the focus is the IXPE observatory and the stellar and supermassive black holes. IXPE measurements will collaboration of NASA MSFC, Ball Aerospace and provide new dimensions for probing a wide range of cosmic X- IAPS/INAF. Our current focus is on requirements ray sources—including active galactic nuclei (AGN) and development and analysis along with definition of the interface microquasars, pulsars and pulsar wind nebulae, magnetars, control documents (ICD).
    [Show full text]
  • AGILE: an Italian Small Mission
    ASIASI andand bi/multilateralbi/multilateral SpaceSpace AstronomyAstronomy FacilitiesFacilities Paolo Giommi Italian Space Agency, ASI 10 February 2010 COPUOS - Vienna 1 AGILE: an Italian Small Mission AGILE: an Italian small scientific mission • Devoted to high-energy astrophysics • Optimized for a low-cost/high efficiency of scientific performance • Launched on April 23, 2007 from India • Active in synergy with other satellites and observatories around the world • Very important scientific results • An observatory also for Terrestrial phenomena The AGILE Payload: the most compact instrument for high- energy astrophysics It combines for the first time - a gamma-ray imager (30 MeV- 30 GeV) with a - hard X-ray imager (18-60 keV) with large FOVs (1-2.5 sr) and optimal angular resolution AGILE: 2 and 1/2 years in orbit… • ~ 14.500 orbits, February 9, 2010. • Very good scientific performance • Cycle-1: Dec. 2007- Nov. 2008 • Cycle-2: Dec. 2008- Nov. 2009 • Cycle-3: Dec. 2009- Nov. 2010 • Approved funding : end of 2010, mission extension to 2012 requested The data becomes public after 1 year AGILE’s scientific strengths • Combination of co-aligned gamma-ray (50 MeV – 5 GeV) and hard X-ray (20-60 keV) imagers • Optimal sensitivity near 100 MeV • Millisecond data acquisition • Cosmic and Terrestrial phenomena studied by the same Mission The AGILE gamma-ray sky (E > 100 MeV) 2 year exposure: July 2007 – June 2009 AGILE-2: 2-month intensity map (E > 100 MeV) (Nov.- Dec. 2009) preliminary Main scientific discoveries • The brightest gamma-ray blazars: (3C 454.3, PKS 1510-089, TX 0716+714, Mrk 421,…) • Several (~10) new Pulsars and PWNs • Discovery of gamma-ray transients in the Galaxy • Discovery of gamma-ray emission from Cygnus X-3 • Microquasar studies, Gal.
    [Show full text]