Guidance, Navigation and Control of World's

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Guidance, Navigation and Control of World's 79 JSTS Vol. 27, No. 1 2. Tsuda,Y., Saiki,S., Mimasu,Y., Funase,R., “Sun-Earth Based Spin Axis Determination for Interplanetary Missions and Its Application to IKAROS”, 2011 AIAA/AAS Astrodynamics Specialist Conference, AAS11-448, Girdwood, Alaska, GUIDANCE, NAVIGATION AND CONTROL OF 2011.8.2. WORLD’S FIRST SOLAR POWER SAIL IKAROS 3. Tsuda,Y., ”An Attitude Control Strategy for Spinner Solar Sail”, 17th IFAC Symposium on Automatic Control in Aerospace, WE-P02, 2007.6.25-29 Toulouse 1 2 3 1 4. Saiki, T., Nakaya, K., Yamamoto, T., Tsuda, Y., Mori, O., Kawaguchi, J., “Development of a Small-spin-axis Controller Yuichi TSUDA , Tomohiro YAMAGUCHI , Hitoshi IKEDA , Yuya MIMASU , 1 1 1 and Its Application to a Solar Sail Subpayload Satellite”, Transaction of the Japan Society for Aeronautical and Spae Takanao SAIKI , Hiroshi TAKEUCHI , Masaki NAKAMIYA Sciences, Space Technology Japan, Vol. 7, pp.25-32, 2009. 5. Saiki, T., Tsuda, Y., Funase, R., Mimasu, Y., Shirasawa, Y., IKAROS Demonstration Team, “Attitude Operation 1Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan Results of Solar Sail Demonstrator IKAROS”, 28th International Symposium on Space Technology and Science, ISTS 2The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan ISTS-o-4-11v, Okinawa, Japan, 2011. 3 6. Yamamoto, T., Mori, O., Shida, M. and Kawaguchi, J., “Development of Gas-Liquid Equilibrium Thruster for the Small Satellite,” 25th Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan International Symposium on Space Technology and Science, 2006-k-32, Kanazawa, June 4-11, 2006. 7. Yamamoto,T., Mori,O., Sawada,H. and Funase,R., “System Safety Activity for IKAROS Spacecraft,” 61st International Astronautical Abstract Congress, IAC-10.D5.1.10, Prague, Sep.27-Oct.1, 2010. This paper summarizes the guidance, navigation and control of the world’s first solar power sail 8. Funase, R., Shirasawa, Y., Mimasu, Y., Mori, O., Tsuda, Y., Saiki, T., Kawaguchi, J., "On-orbit Verification of Fuel-Free Attitude IKAROS. During the 1.5 years of its interplanetary flight, IKAROS has carried out the guidance, Control System for Spinning Solar Sail Utilizing Solar Radiation Pressure", Advances in Space Research, Vol.48, Issue 11, pp.1740-1746, 2 2011. navigation and control experiments using the large solar radiation force generated by its 200 m solar 9. Mori,O., Sawada,H., Hanaoka,F., Kawaguchi,J., Shirasawa,Y., Sugita,M., Miyazaki,Y., Sakamoto,H. and Funase,R., "Development of sail. Since solar radiation pressure is the main controllable force for a solar sail, its modeling is the key Deployment System for Small Size Solar Sail Mission," Transactions of Japan Society for Aeronautical and Space Sciences, Space factor for a successful guidance. A precise solar radiation pressure modeling for this spinning solar sail Technology Japan, Vol. 7, No. ists26, pp. Pd_87-Pd_94 (2009). has been performed in order to support the navigation and guidance using the large membrane. Due to 10. Sawada, H., Mori, O., Okuizumi, N., Shirasawa, Y., Miyazaki, Y., Natori, M., Matunaga ,S., Furuya, H. and Sakamoto, H., "Mission the complexity of the sail surface and shape, the refinement of the SRP model is done after the Report on The Solar Power Sail Deployment Demonstration of IKAROS," 12th AIAA Gossamer Systems Forum, AIAA 2011-1887, Denver, USA (2011). deployment in space with radiometric measurements. This solar sail navigation is also supported by the 11. Shirasawa, Y., Mori, O., Miyazaki, Y., Sakamoto, H., Hasome, M., Okuizumi, N., Sawada, H., Furuya, H., Matsunaga, S., Natori, M. precise delta-DOR (Differential One-way Range) measurements. These in-flight demonstrations with and Kawaguchi, J., "Analysis of Membrane Dynamics using Multi-Particle Model for Solar Sail Demonstrator IKAROS," 12th AIAA IKAROS enable the future deep space exploration with solar sailing technique. Gossamer Systems Forum, AIAA 2011-1890, Denver, USA (2011). 12. Miyazaki, Y., Shirasawa Y., Mori, O., Sawada, H., Okuizumi, M., Sakamoto, H., Matunaga, S., Furuya, H. and Natori, M., 1. Introduction "Conserving Finite Element Dynamics of Gossamer Structure and Its Application to Spinning Solar Sail IKAROS," 52nd AIAA/ASME/ASCE/AHS/ASC Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Conference, AIAA 2011-2181, Denver, USA (2011). Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched the solar sail demonstration spacecraft 13. Tsuda, Y., Saiki, T., Mimasu, Y., Yamaguchi, T., Ikeda, H., Nakamiya, M., Takeuchi, H. and IKAROS Demonstration “IKAROS” (Fig.1) on May 21, 2010. IKAROS was launched together with JAXA’s Venus climate Team, “Modeling of Solar Radiation Pressure Effect for Trajectory Guidance of Spinner Solar Sailer IKAROS”, 28th orbiter “AKATSUKI (Planet-C)” as an interplanetary piggy-back payload. The launch vehicle was H2A International Symposium on Space Technology and Science, ISTS ISTS-o-4-10v, Okinawa, Japan, 2011.6.11. and was launched from Tanegashima space center. 14. Tsuda,Y., Saiki,T., Mimasu,Y., Funase,R., “Modeling of Attitude Dynamics for IKAROS Solar Sail Demonstrator”, AAS/AIAA Space Flight Mechanics Meeting, AAS11-112, 2011.2.14, New Orleans 15. Tsuda, Y., Saiki, T., Funase, R., Shirasawa, Y., Mimasu, Y., “Shape Parameters Estimation of IKAROS Solar Sail JAXA has been proposing a concept of “Solar Power Sail” for future deep space exploration (Ref.1, 2). Using In-Flight Attitude Determination Data”, 12th AIAA Gossamer Systems Forum, 53-GSF-5-2, Apr.11,2011, Denver It combines the concept of solar sail (photon propulsion) with a larger power generation by flexible 16. Funase,R., Mimasu,Y., Chishiki,Y., Shirasawa,Y., Tsuda,Y., Saiki,T. and Kawaguchi,J., "Modeling and On-orbit Performance solar cells attached on the sail membrane. IKAROS is a precursor mission to demonstrate key Evaluation of Propellant-free Attitude Control System for Spinning Solar Sail via Optical Parameter Switching", Advances in the technologies requisite for the solar power sail concept, which are (1) deployment of large sail in space, Astronautical Sciences, Vol.142 (Also Proceedings of the AAS/AIAA Astrodynamics Specialist Conference, Girdwood, Alaaska, USA, (2) solar power generation by means of thin film solar cells attached on the sail, (3) confirming the July31 - August4 2011), pp.1737-1754, 2012. acceleration by solar radiation pressure acting on the sail and (4) demonstration of the interplanetary ⓒ Japanese Rocket Society 80 Fig. 1. A picture of IKAROS taken by DCAM (deployable camera) on June, 14, 2010, five days after the successful sail depoloyment. guidance and navigation of the solar sail spacecraft. IKAROS successfully deployed a 20 m span sail on June 9, and is now performing an interplanetary solar-sailing mission taking advantage of the Earth-Venus leg of the interplanetary trajectory (Ref.3). The spacecraft mass is 307kg and is equipped with a rectangular solar sail which weights 16kg with the minimum thickness of 7.5um. The solar sail is deployed and kept extended by centrifugal force due to the spacecraft spinning. Thus it does not have any rigid member to support the extension of the sail, enabling to realize very light and simple sail support mechanism. The deployment process was measured and recorded by several onboard equipments, such as cameras, attitude sensors and some surface sensor on the sail (Ref.3). In this paper, a navigation and guidance technique for the solar sail is demonstrated with the IKAROS flight data. Section 2 describes the trajectory and attitude design concepts of the IKAROS spacecraft. Many constraints for the mission design are explained. In Section 3, three topics of the flight data analysis for the navigation and the guidance are described. Firstly, the solar sail acceleration is evaluated from the radiometric tracking data considering the attitude error due to the solar sail flexibility. Secondly, the guidance test is performed using the SRP force by changing the attitude. The navigation tests using the delta-DOR measurements are described afterwards. Finally, conclusions are given in Section 4. 2. Mission Design 2.1. Trajectory plan IKAROS was launched as one of the piggy back payloads of H-IIA flight #17, whose main payload was JAXA’s Venus explorer AKATSUKI (Planet-C). Hence the trajectory design of IKAROS was tightly 81 JSTS Vol. 27, No. 1 Fig. 1. A picture of IKAROS taken by DCAM (deployable camera) on June, 14, 2010, five days after the successful sail depoloyment. Fig. 2. IKAROS trajectory toward Venus. Left figure is drawn in J2000EQ inertial frame. Right guidance and navigation of the solar sail spacecraft. figure is drawn in Sun-Earth fixed frame. IKAROS successfully deployed a 20 m span sail on June 9, and is now performing an interplanetary constrained by the primary payload, which was targeted to Venus. It was to take about solar-sailing mission taking advantage of the Earth-Venus leg of the interplanetary trajectory (Ref.3). six months to reach and fly by the planet, after which it was to continue its path by The spacecraft mass is 307kg and is equipped with a rectangular solar sail which weights 16kg with the orbiting the Sun while solar-sailing. The original ballistic trajectory injected by the minimum thickness of 7.5um. The solar sail is deployed and kept extended by centrifugal force due to launch vehicle was such that it exactly intercepted Venus (i.e. a typical Hohmann the spacecraft spinning. Thus it does not have any rigid member to support the extension of the sail, transfer). IKAROS attempted to escape from this Venus intercepting trajectory by means enabling to realize very light and simple sail support mechanism. The deployment process was of solar sailing (Fig. 2). measured and recorded by several onboard equipments, such as cameras, attitude sensors and some surface sensor on the sail (Ref.3). Although the trajectory was optimized exclusively for AKATUSKI, the Venus transfer orbit is quite beneficial for IKAROS, because (1) it is an interplanetary trajectory, in In this paper, a navigation and guidance technique for the solar sail is demonstrated with the IKAROS which the only major perturbation source is solar radiation pressure, thus pure solar flight data.
Recommended publications
  • China's Touch on the Moon
    commentary China’s touch on the Moon Long Xiao As well as being a milestone in technology, the Chang’e lunar exploration programme establishes China as a contributor to space science. With much still to learn about the Moon, fieldwork beyond Earth’s orbit must be an international effort. hen China’s Chang’e 3 spacecraft geological history of the landing site. touched down on the lunar High-resolution images have shown rocky Wsurface on 14 December 2013, terrain with outcrops of porphyritic basalt, it was the first soft landing on the Moon such as Loong Rock (Fig. 2). Analysis since the Soviet Union’s Luna 24 mission of data collected by the penetrating in 1976. Following on from the decades- Chang’e 3 radar should lead to identification of the old triumphs of the Luna missions and underlying layers of regolith, impact breccia NASA’s Apollo programme, the Chang’e and basalt. lunar exploration programme is leading the China’s robotic field geologist Yutu has charge of a new generation of exploration Basalt outcrop Yutu rover stalled in its traverse of the lunar surface, on the lunar surface. Much like the earlier but plans for the Chang’e 5 sample-return space programmes, the China National mission are moving forward. The primary Space Administration (CNSA) has been objective of the mission will be to return developing its capabilities and technologies 100 m 2 kg of samples from the surface and depths step by step in a series of Chang’e missions UNIVERSITY STATE © NASA/GSFC/ARIZONA of up to 2 m, probably also in the relatively of increasing ambition: orbiting and Figure 1 | The Chinese Chang’e 3 spacecraft and smooth northern Mare Imbrium.
    [Show full text]
  • Highlights in Space 2010
    International Astronautical Federation Committee on Space Research International Institute of Space Law 94 bis, Avenue de Suffren c/o CNES 94 bis, Avenue de Suffren UNITED NATIONS 75015 Paris, France 2 place Maurice Quentin 75015 Paris, France Tel: +33 1 45 67 42 60 Fax: +33 1 42 73 21 20 Tel. + 33 1 44 76 75 10 E-mail: : [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Fax. + 33 1 44 76 74 37 URL: www.iislweb.com OFFICE FOR OUTER SPACE AFFAIRS URL: www.iafastro.com E-mail: [email protected] URL : http://cosparhq.cnes.fr Highlights in Space 2010 Prepared in cooperation with the International Astronautical Federation, the Committee on Space Research and the International Institute of Space Law The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs is responsible for promoting international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space and assisting developing countries in using space science and technology. United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs P. O. Box 500, 1400 Vienna, Austria Tel: (+43-1) 26060-4950 Fax: (+43-1) 26060-5830 E-mail: [email protected] URL: www.unoosa.org United Nations publication Printed in Austria USD 15 Sales No. E.11.I.3 ISBN 978-92-1-101236-1 ST/SPACE/57 *1180239* V.11-80239—January 2011—775 UNITED NATIONS OFFICE FOR OUTER SPACE AFFAIRS UNITED NATIONS OFFICE AT VIENNA Highlights in Space 2010 Prepared in cooperation with the International Astronautical Federation, the Committee on Space Research and the International Institute of Space Law Progress in space science, technology and applications, international cooperation and space law UNITED NATIONS New York, 2011 UniTEd NationS PUblication Sales no.
    [Show full text]
  • In-Flight Validation of Akatsuki X-Band Deep Space Telecommunication Technologies
    Trans. JSASS Aerospace Tech. Japan Vol. 10, No. ists28, pp. To_3_7-To_3_12, 2012 Topics In-FlightIn-Flight Validation Validation of Akatsuki of Akatsuki X-Band X-Band Deep SpaceDeep SpaceTelecommu- Telecommunicationnication Technologies Technologies By Tomoaki TODA and Nobuaki ISHII Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Sagamihara, Japan (Received June 24th, 2011) Akatsuki is the Japanese first Venus exploration program. The spacecraft was successfully launched in May 21st 2010 from Tanegashima Space Center via H II-A vehicle. One of her missions is a flight demonstration of her telecommunication system developed for supporting Japanese future deep space missions. During her half-year cruising phase heading for Venus, we had conducted checkouts of the system. The key technologies are a deep space transponder, a set of onboard antennas, and power amplifiers. They all were newly introduced into Akatsuki. Their performances had been tested through the half-year operations and been investigated by using collective data obtained in the experiments. Our regenerative ranging was also demonstrated in these activities. We proved that the newly introduced telecommunication system worked exactly as we had designed and that the system performances were the same as evaluated on the ground. In this paper, we will summarize these in-flight validations for the Akatsuki telecommunication system. Key Words: Akatsuki, PLANET-C, Deep Space Telecommunications, Regenerative Ranging 1. Introduction block diagram of Akatsuki. The redundancy is given to TRPs and 10 W solid-state power amplifiers (SSPAs). The TWTA is Akatsuki is the Venus exploration program of Japan Aero- provided for the increase of scientific data acquisition.
    [Show full text]
  • The Heliogyro Reloaded
    THE HELIOGYRO RELOADED W. K. Wilkie, J. E. Warren Structural Dynamics Branch NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA M. W. Thomson, P. D. Lisman, P. E. Walkemeyer Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA D. V. Guerrant, D. A. Lawrence Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences University of Colorado Boulder, CO ABSTRACT The heliogyro is a high-performance, spinning solar sail architecture that uses long - order of kilometers - reflective membrane strips to produce thrust from solar radiation pressure. The heliogyro’s membrane “blades” spin about a central hub and are stiffened by centrifugal forces only, making the design exceedingly light weight. Blades are also stowed and deployed from rolls; eliminating deployment and packaging problems associated with handling extremely large, and delicate, membrane sheets used with most traditional square-rigged or spinning disk solar sail designs. The heliogyro solar sail concept was first advanced in the 1960s by MacNeal. A 15 km diameter version was later extensively studied in the 1970s by JPL for an ambitious Comet Halley rendezvous mission, but ultimately not selected due to the need for a risk-reduction flight demonstration. Demonstrating system-level feasibility of a large, spinning heliogyro solar sail on the ground is impossible; however, recent advances in microsatellite bus technologies, coupled with the successful flight demonstration of reflectance control technologies on the JAXA IKAROS solar sail, now make an affordable, small-scale heliogyro technology flight demonstration potentially feasible. In this paper, we will present an overview of the history of the heliogyro solar sail concept, with particular attention paid to the MIT 200-meter-diameter heliogyro study of 1989, followed by a description of our updated, low-cost, heliogyro flight demonstration concept.
    [Show full text]
  • October 2016 ASTRO-H Spacecraft Fragments Inside
    National Aeronautics and Space Administration OrbitalQuarterly Debris News Volume 20, Issue 4 October 2016 ASTRO-H Spacecraft Fragments Inside... During Payload Check-out Operations New SOZ Breakup in July 2016 2 The ASTRO-H/Hitomi/New X-Ray Telescope actual rotation of the spacecraft. The ACS assessed the BeiDou G2 Spacecraft (NeXT) high energy astrophysics observatory satellite spacecraft to be in a critical situation and attempted to Fragments in GEO Orbit 2 experienced an operationally-induced fragmentation use the RCS to enter a Safe-Hold mode. Unfortunately, event on 26 March 2016 at approximately 1:42 GMT. incorrect thruster control parameters led to the thrusters WorldView 2 Spacecraft The spacecraft (International Designator 2016-012A, increasing the angular acceleration of the spacecraft. As Fragments in July 2016 3 U.S. Strategic Command [USSTRATCOM] Space rotational speed exceeded design parameters, several Indian RISAT-1 Spacecraft Surveillance Network [SSN] catalog number 41337), major components separated from the spacecraft, Experiences Possible managed and operated by the Japan Aerospace leading to mission loss. JAXA post mortem analyses Fragmentation 4 Exploration Agency (JAXA) but including payloads from NASA/Goddard Space continued on page 2 Disposal of GOES-3 4 Flight Center, the Canadian UNCOPUOS Reaches Space Agency, and the European Consensus on First Set of Space Agency, had concluded Guidelines for Long-term its Phase 0 Critical Operations Sustainability of OSA 5 Phase and was approximately 60% complete in its Initial Changes to ODPO Website 6 Function Check Phase. The ISS Debris Avoidance Process 7 spacecraft had been on-orbit slightly over one month and CubeSat PMD by Drag was in a 31.0° inclination, 578 Enhancement 8 by 536 km orbit at the time of Abstracts 10 the event.
    [Show full text]
  • Deep Space Exploration Roadmap
    TABLE OF CONTENTS Deep Space Exploration Roadmap Chang'E-1 Chang'E-3 Chang'E-4 HX-1 Chang'E-P1 Chang'E-P2 ILRS 2007.10 2013.12 2018 2020 2023 2026 2030 Chang'E-2 T1 Reentry Chang'E-5 Chang'E-6 Asteroid HX-2 Jupiter Mission 2010.10 test 2014.10 2019 2020 Mission 2028 2030 2024 1 Deep Space Exploration Roadmap Chang'E-1 Chang'E-2 Chang'E-3 Launched in Oct., 2007; Launched in Oct., 2010; Launched on Dec. 2nd, Carried out lunar global 2013; Explored Sun-earth L2; survey through remote On Dec. 14th, 2013, S/C December 13th, 2012, flyby sensing. Obtained lunar successfully soft landed in Asteroid 4179 Toutatis. global image and elevation designated area of Sinus map with 120m in Iridium. resolution. Mapping the abundance and distribution of various chemical elements . 2 Deep Space Exploration Roadmap Chang’E-4 Mission Land at Aitken basin of moon farside by human S/C for the first time. Communicate relay at Earth-moon L2 point. Conduct low frequency radio observation, shallow structure investigation. At flight model development phase. Relay satellite Launched in May, 2018. 3 Deep Space Exploration Roadmap Chang'E-5 Mission Autonomous lunar sampling and return to the Earth. Launched by Long March 5 rocket at Wenchang Satellite Launch Center in 2019. Study topography and geological structure, mineral composition, regolith thickness and structure. 4 Deep Space Exploration Roadmap First Mars Mission HX-1 To be launched in 2020. Scientific Objective • Feature topography and geology and their variations; • Characterize soil and water-ice content.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Solar Sails
    . Cubillos, X. C. M.; Souza, L. C. G. Solar Sails – The Future of Exploration of The Space SOLAR SAILS – THE FUTURE OF EXPLORATION OF THE SPACE Ximena Celia Méndez Cubillos 1 Luiz Carlos Gadelha de Souza 2 National Institute for Space Research (INPE) Space Mechanics and Control Division (DMC), Avenida dos Astronautas, 1758 – P.O. Box 515, 12201-940 - São José dos Campos, SP, Brazil, [email protected], [email protected] Abstract: The research and curiosity about outer space had been always constant in the mankind. Looking for others planets, ways, civilizations wherever the exploration of the space will be a thing which the human desire. The challenge here for several years was the obtaining energy sufficient for the application of the missions. So, currently the major objective in the missions is offer more autonomy to the spacecrafts and consequently to lower the cost of the missions. Solar Sails have long been envisaged as an enabling technology because is a promising low-cost option for space exploration for it uses for propulsion an abundant resource in space: solar radiation. In this paper a mission catalogue is presented of an extensive range of solar sail applications, allowing the knowledge of the key features of missions which use solar sail propulsion. Keywords: Solar Sails, Space Exploration, Mission Applications. 1 Introduction The perception of solar sailing can be found back to the 17 th century afterward, solar sailing was articulated as an engineering principle in the early 20 th century by several authors. And into the 21 st century a significant amount of both theoretical and practical work has been performed, considering the astrodynamics, mission applications and technology requirements of solar sailing (Macdonald and McInnes, 2010).
    [Show full text]
  • Space Security 2010
    SPACE SECURITY 2010 spacesecurity.org SPACE 2010SECURITY SPACESECURITY.ORG iii Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publications Data Space Security 2010 ISBN : 978-1-895722-78-9 © 2010 SPACESECURITY.ORG Edited by Cesar Jaramillo Design and layout: Creative Services, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada Cover image: Artist rendition of the February 2009 satellite collision between Cosmos 2251 and Iridium 33. Artwork courtesy of Phil Smith. Printed in Canada Printer: Pandora Press, Kitchener, Ontario First published August 2010 Please direct inquires to: Cesar Jaramillo Project Ploughshares 57 Erb Street West Waterloo, Ontario N2L 6C2 Canada Telephone: 519-888-6541, ext. 708 Fax: 519-888-0018 Email: [email protected] iv Governance Group Cesar Jaramillo Managing Editor, Project Ploughshares Phillip Baines Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Canada Dr. Ram Jakhu Institute of Air and Space Law, McGill University John Siebert Project Ploughshares Dr. Jennifer Simons The Simons Foundation Dr. Ray Williamson Secure World Foundation Advisory Board Hon. Philip E. Coyle III Center for Defense Information Richard DalBello Intelsat General Corporation Theresa Hitchens United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research Dr. John Logsdon The George Washington University (Prof. emeritus) Dr. Lucy Stojak HEC Montréal/International Space University v Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE 1 Acronyms PAGE 7 Introduction PAGE 11 Acknowledgements PAGE 13 Executive Summary PAGE 29 Chapter 1 – The Space Environment:
    [Show full text]
  • Venus? Maybe Later. Article
    3/12/2020 Achieve3000: Lesson Printed by: Jessica Christian Printed on: March 12, 2020 Venus? Maybe Later. Article PART 1 TOKYO, Japan. A Japanese space probe was supposed to insert itself into orbit around Venus in December 2010, but it missed. Instead, the probe was captured by the sun's gravitational pull. While this was a huge setback for Japan's space program, all is not lost. The probe may be able to continue the mission to Venus in six years. The probe, named Akatsuki, journeyed for nearly eight months to reach the second planet, Venus. Akatsuki was expected to enter an elliptical orbit around the planet. To do this, the probe needed to fire its engines as it neared Venus. This would have pushed Akatsuki into the proper orbit. Mission officials said they briefly lost contact with the probe. The next day, Photo credit and all related images: officials were able to determine that Akatsuki's engines failed to fire for a AP/Akihiro Ikeshita via JAXA long enough period of time. This prevented the probe from attaining the The Japan Aerospace Exploration desired orbiting position around Venus. Agency (JAXA) sent a space probe to study Earth's neighbor, the planet Venus. The vessel was not able to Still, it wasn't all bad news. Officials said communication with the probe had enter Venus' orbit and won't be able been restored. Akatsuki appeared to be undamaged and working fine. The to attempt to do so again for six probe had passed Venus and headed off to orbit the sun.
    [Show full text]
  • Highlights in Space 2010
    International Astronautical Federation Committee on Space Research International Institute of Space Law 94 bis, Avenue de Suffren c/o CNES 94 bis, Avenue de Suffren 75015 Paris, France 2 place Maurice Quentin 75015 Paris, France UNITED NATIONS Tel: +33 1 45 67 42 60 75039 Paris Cedex 01, France E-mail: : [email protected] Fax: +33 1 42 73 21 20 Tel. + 33 1 44 76 75 10 URL: www.iislweb.com E-mail: [email protected] Fax. + 33 1 44 76 74 37 OFFICE FOR OUTER SPACE AFFAIRS URL: www.iafastro.com E-mail: [email protected] URL: http://cosparhq.cnes.fr Highlights in Space 2010 Prepared in cooperation with the International Astronautical Federation, the Committee on Space Research and the International Institute of Space Law The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs is responsible for promoting international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space and assisting developing countries in using space science and technology. United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs P. O. Box 500, 1400 Vienna, Austria Tel: (+43-1) 26060-4950 Fax: (+43-1) 26060-5830 E-mail: [email protected] URL: www.unoosa.org United Nations publication Printed in Austria USD 15 Sales No. E.11.I.3 ISBN 978-92-1-101236-1 ST/SPACE/57 V.11-80947—March*1180947* 2011—475 UNITED NATIONS OFFICE FOR OUTER SPACE AFFAIRS UNITED NATIONS OFFICE AT VIENNA Highlights in Space 2010 Prepared in cooperation with the International Astronautical Federation, the Committee on Space Research and the International Institute of Space Law Progress in space science, technology and applications, international cooperation and space law UNITED NATIONS New York, 2011 UniTEd NationS PUblication Sales no.
    [Show full text]
  • Observations of Arctic Snow and Sea Ice Thickness from Satellite and Airborne Surveys
    Observations of Arctic snow and sea ice thickness from satellite and airborne surveys Nathan Kurtz NASA Goddard Space Flight Center DeclineDecline inin ArcticArctic seasea iceice thicknessthickness andand volumevolume Kwok et al. (2009) Submarine and satellite records show large decline of Arctic sea ice thickness over the last three decades Model results show ~3000 km^3/decade decline since 1979 Major results on the retrieval of sea ice thickness and volume from satellite altimetry ICESat thickness fields (2004-2008) from ERS-1 and ERS-2 thickness fields Kwok et al., 2009 (1993-2001) from Laxon et al., 2003 CryoSat-2 thickness fields (2010-2012) from Laxon et al., 2013 Outline of major challenges There is still much debate about existing uncertainty and biases in the altimetry data records since 1 cm error in freeboard corresponds to ~10 cm error in ice thickness Major uncertainty sources of elevation and freeboard retrieval from altimeters Laser: open water identification, clouds/forward scattering Radar: waveform tracking, absorption/ penetration, snow and ice backscatter characteristics, off-nadir scattering Snow depth: needed for thickness retrievals, also impacts propagation speed of radar Sea ice and snow density: impacts sea ice thickness retrievals, propagation speed of radar Laser and radar altimetry for sea ice studies Laser and radar altimetry are used to find the freeboard Archimedes principle: assuming hydrostatic balance the buoyant force from the displaced water equals the weight of the snow and ice column ρs hs +ρi hi =ρw hi− ρw fb Rearranging gives ice thickness: ρs−ρw ρw hi= hs+ fbsi ρw− ρi ρw−ρi Linking satellite laser and radar altimetry through airborne and in-situ measurements - Producing a reconciled satellite data set requires consistent methods and assumptions be used in determination of sea ice thickness - Need for three tiered approach: 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Satellite Laser Ranging Tracking Through the Years C. Noll NASA
    Satellite Laser Ranging Tracking Through The Years C. Noll NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 690, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA. [email protected] Abstract Satellites equipped with retroreflectors have been tracked by laser systems since 1964. Satellite laser ranging supports a variety of geodetic, earth sensing, navigation, and space science applications. This poster will show the history of satellite laser ranging from the late 1960’s through the present and will include retro-equipped satellites on the horizon. Satellite Tracking History Initial laser ranges to a satellite in Earth orbit took place in 1964 with the launch of Beacon Explorer-B (BE-B), the first satellite equipped with laser retroreflectors. Since that time, the global network of laser ranging sites has tracked over eighty satellites including arrays placed on the Moon. Satellite and Lunar laser ranging continue to make important contributions to scientific investigations into solid Earth, atmosphere, and ocean processes. SLR also provides Precise Orbit Determination (POD) for several Earth sensing missions (e.g., altimetry, etc.), leading to more accurate measurements of ocean surface, land, and ice topography. Several of these missions have relied on SLR when other radiometric tracking systems have failed (e.g., GPS and DORIS on TOPEX/Poseidon, PRARE on ERS-1, GPS on METEOR-3M and GFO-1) making SLR the only method for providing the POD required for instrument data products. A list of satellites equipped with retroreflectors (past, current, and future) and tracked by SLR is shown in Table 1. The table summarizes the data yield (approximate through 2014) and includes a list of any co-located instrumentation (e.g., GNSS, DORIS, or PRARE).
    [Show full text]