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At least 775 records · Page 43
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2020

Solar System Exploration Augmented by In-Situ Resource Utilization: Human Mercury and Saturn Exploration

Human and robotic missions to Mercury and Saturn are presented and analyzed. Unique elements of the local planetary environments are discussed and included in the analyses and assessments. Historical studies of space exploration, in-situ resource utilization (ISRU), and industrialization all point to the vastness of natural resources in the solar system. Advanced propulsion benefitted from these resources in many ways. While advanced propulsion systems were proposed in these historical studies, further investigation of nuclear options using high power nuclear thermal and nuclear pulse propulsion as well as advanced chemical propulsion can significantly enhance these scenarios. Updated analyses based on these historical visions will be presented. Nuclear thermal propulsion and ISRU enhanced chemical propulsion landers are assessed for Mercury missions. At Saturn, nuclear pulse propulsion with alternate propellant feed systems and Titan exploration with chemical propulsion options are discussed.

Palaszewski, Bryan A.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Solid C triple bond N bearing material on outer solar system bodies

Recent telescopic observations have led to the identification of cyanogroup-containing molecules in the dark surface solids of several D-class asteroids, cometary dusts, and the rings of Uranus, as well as the low-albedo atmosphere of Iapetus. The occurrence of the 2.2-micron overtone of C triple-bond N's stretching fundamental mode in all four classes of small solar system bodies is presently suggested to serve as a diagnostic of both exposure duration and degree of modification of surface materials.

Cruikshank, Dale P.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Live Iron-60 in the early solar system

Isotopic analyses of nickel in samples from the differentiated meteorite Chervony Kut revealed the presence of relative excesses of Ni-60 ranging from 2.4 up to 50 parts per 10 exp 4. These isotopic excesses are from the decay of the now extinct short-lived nuclide Fe-60 and provide clear evidence for the existence of Fe-60 over large scales in the early solar system. Not only was Fe-60 present at the time of melting and differentiation (that is, Fe-Ni fractionation) of the parent body of Chervony Kut but also later at the time when basaltic magma solidified at or near the surface of the planetesimal. The inferred abundance of Fe-60 suggests that its decay alone could have provided sufficient heat to melt small (diameters of several hundred kilometers) planetary bodies shortly after their accretion.

Shukolyukov, A.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Solar System Exploration Augmented by In-Situ Resource Utilization: Human Mercury and Saturn Exploration

Human and robotic missions to Mercury and Saturn are presented and analyzed. Unique elements of the local planetary environments are discussed and included in the analyses and assessments. Using historical studies of space exploration, in-situ resource utilization (ISRU), and industrialization all point to the vastness of natural resources in the solar system. Advanced propulsion benefitted from these resources in many way. While advanced propulsion systems were proposed in these historical studies, further investigation of nuclear options using high power nuclear thermal and nuclear pulse propulsion as well as advanced chemical propulsion can significantly enhance these scenarios. Updated analyses based on these historical visions will be presented. Nuclear thermal propulsion and ISRU enhanced chemical propulsion landers are assessed for Mercury missions. At Saturn, nuclear pulse propulsion with alternate propellant feed systems and Titan exploration with chemical propulsion options are discussed.

Palaszewski, Bryan↗
NASA NTRS1977

Clues in the rare gas isotopes to early solar system history

The results of the radioactive dating and the discovery of gas-rich meteorites on the Moon surface are reviewed. Special attention is paid to the extinct radioactivity iodine-129. This radioactivity is produced by r-process of nucleosynthesis and it decays with a half-life of 17 m.y. It provides a clock sensitive to small changes in the early years of the solar system.

Reynolds, J. H.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Organics in Meteorites, False Biomarkers, and the Search for Life in the Solar System

The tons of extraterrestrial organic material that come to the Earth every day probably helped to made the Earth habitable, and possibly played a role in the origin of life. At the astrochemistry lab (http://www.astrochem.org) we investigate the formation and distribution of organic molecules in space and consider the impact such molecules may have on the habitability of planets and the search for life in the Solar System. The organic compounds in meteorites include amino acids, aromatics of various sorts including purine and pyrimidine bases, and fatty acids that form bi-layer vesicles. The origin of many of these species remains mysterious, but in recent years we and others have performed experiments that suggest low temperature radiation chemistry could account for the presence and deuterium enrichment of many of these molecules.

Bernstein, Todd↗
NASA NTRS2006

Is Q for Quantum? From Quantum Mechanics to Formation of the Solar System

The realization in 1985 that fullerenes exist in nature [1] as a third form of carbon-carbon clustering, continues to inspire new areas of research. In particular, the study of closed-cage endohedral fullerenes [2-6] is of scientific interest because of its potential application in a number of promising fields from medical imaging to astrophysics. One of these is to provide a possible chronometer for studying the age and origin of certain astromaterials in the solar system. Fullerenes are closed carbon cages that are fundamentally related to a long-standing debate over the "Q-Phase" origin of planetary noble gases in carbonaceous chondrites [7]. Although Q-phase has been identified as the carrier of planetary noble gases [8- 10], its physical nature has not been explained. Our limited understanding of it is based primarily on the laboratory chemical processing which it survives as well as the fact that it must have been widely distributed in the solar nebula [11]. Yet as important as it might be while preoccupying some 30 years of research, the question of what actually is Q-phase remains unresolved.

Wilson, T. L.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Application of the inner solar system cratering record to the Earth

The cratering records on the Moon, Mercury, and Mars are studied to provide constraints on: (1) terrestrial conditions prior to about 3.8 Ga, (2) why biology was not extensively established prior to 3.5 Ga, (3) whether impact-induced volcanism can explain some feature of the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary event, and (4) how common large single-impact events are in the inner solar system. Earth underwent a period of high impact rates and large basin-forming events early in its history, based on the cratering record retained in the Lunar, Mercurian, and Martian highlands. The widespread occurrence of life around 3.5 Ga is linked to the cessation of high impact rates. Impact of a 10-km-diam object into terrestrial oceans could excavate through crustal material and into mantle reservoirs, creating extended basaltic volcanic activity. Scaling laws, coupled with the record retained on Lunar and Martian plains, indicate that between one and seven craters of 90 km diam or greater could have formed on Earth in the past 65 million years.

Barlow, Nadine G.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Primitive Liquid Water of the Solar System in an Aqueous Altered Carbonaceous Chondrite

Non-destructive 3D observations of the aqueous altered CM chondrite Sutter's Mill using scanning imaging x-ray microscopy (SIXM) showed that some of calcite and enstatite grains contain two-phase inclusion, which is most probably composed of liquid water and bubbles. This water should be primitive water responsible for aqueous alteration in an asteroid in the early solar system.

Tsuchiyama, A.↗
NASA NTRS1991

The Voyager ultraviolet spectrometers - Astrophysical observations from the outer solar system

The main characteristics of the ultraviolet spectrometers on board the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft and the astrophysical experiments being currently conducted are reviewed. The spectrometers are sensitive over the wavelength range of 50 to 170 nm, which is observable only from space. The experiments include a program of stellar and nonstellar observations, monitoring of the ultraviolet flux from the sun, and studies of the interstellar wind entering the solar system. Several specific observations of particular interest are discussed.

Linick, S. H.↗
NASA NTRS2016

The James Webb Space Telescope's Plan for Operations and Instrument Capabilities for Observations in the Solar System

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is optimized for observations in the near- and mid-infrared and will provide essential observations for targets that cannot be conducted from the ground or other missions during its lifetime. The state-of-the-art science instruments, along with the telescopeʼs moving target tracking, will enable the infrared study, with unprecedented detail, for nearly every object (Mars and beyond) in the Solar System. The goals of this special issue are to stimulate discussion and encourage participation in JWST planning among members of the planetary science community. Key science goals for various targets, observing capabilities for JWST, and highlights for the complementary nature with other missions/observatories are described in this paper.

Milam, Stefanie N.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Structure and evolutionary history of the solar system. IV

The chemical composition of planets and satellites, the origin of meteorites, and the location and structure of different secondary bodies are discussed in this concluding installment of the history of the Galaxy. Several traditional concepts are reviewed and rejected, and it is argued that with the empirical evidence now available it is possible to suggest a series of basic processes leading to the present structure of the planets and solar system.

Alfven, H.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Impact delivery and erosion of planetary oceans in the early inner solar system

The terrestrial planets may have acquired oceans of water (and other surface volatiles) as a late-accreting veneer from impacts of comets and carbonaceous asteroids during the period of heavy bombardment 4.5 to 3.5 Gyr ago. On any given body, the efficiency of this mechanism depended on a competition between impact delivery of new volatiles and impact erosion of those already present. For the larger worlds of the inner Solar System, this competition strongly favored the net accumulation of planetary oceans.

Chyba, Christopher F.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Small Solar Electric Propulsion Spacecraft Concept for Near Earth Object and Inner Solar System Missions

Near Earth Objects (NEOs) and other primitive bodies are exciting targets for exploration. Not only do they provide clues to the early formation of the universe, but they also are potential resources for manned exploration as well as provide information about potential Earth hazards. As a step toward exploration outside Earth's sphere of influence, NASA is considering manned exploration to Near Earth Asteroids (NEAs), however hazard characterization of a target is important before embarking on such an undertaking. A small Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) spacecraft would be ideally suited for this type of mission due to the high delta-V requirements, variety of potential targets and locations, and the solar energy available in the inner solar system.Spacecraft and mission trades have been performed to develop a robust spacecraft design that utilizes low cost, off-the-shelf components that could accommodate a suite of different scientific payloads for NEO characterization. Mission concepts such as multiple spacecraft each rendezvousing with different NEOs, single spacecraft rendezvousing with separate NEOs, NEO landers, as well as other inner solar system applications (Mars telecom orbiter) have been evaluated. Secondary launch opportunities using the Expendable Secondary Payload Adapter (ESPA) Grande launch adapter with unconstrained launch dates have also been examined.

Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP)↗
NASA NTRS1989

Planetary volcanism - A study of volcanic activity in the solar system

The nature of volcanic activity, theoretical models of its role in planetary evolution, and the evidence for volcanism on the planets and planetary satellites are examined in an introductory overview for advanced undergraduate and graduate students. Chapters are devoted to volcanism as a planetary process, the generation and evolution of magmas, magma ascent and eruption, the properties and behavior of volcanic flows, volcanic landforms, the distribution of volcanic rocks in the solar system, and volcanic plains and their development. Consideration is given to lunar volcanism, shield volcanoes and paterae, volcanism on Io, volcanism on icy satellites, and the rheological analysis of volcanic flows.

Cattermole, Peter↗
NASA NTRS2011

Operations Concept for a Solar System Internetwork

Space communications to date has been largely managed at the link layer, with simple point-to-point links between a spacecraft at Earth. However, future space exploration scenarios involve much richer communications scenarios, with complex network scenarios involving space assets communicating back to Earth via multiple intermediate relay service providers. To support these more complex network scenarios, the Space Internetworking Strategy Group has developed an operations concept for a Solar System Internetwork (SSI). The operations concept draws on the successes of the terrestrial Internet while addressing unique aspects of space communications. Key elements of the operations concept include a standardized network layer across the end-to-end SSI and the underlying processes for development of a contact plan that captures the link layer connectivity among SSI network nodes.

Edwards, Charles D., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Thermal histories, compositions and internal structures of the moons of the solar system

Thermal evolution models of satellites are discussed with emphasis placed on the fundamental physical processes common to all planetary bodies. A comparison is made between the different evolutionary tracks followed by individual satellites. Consideration is given to the compositions and structures of satellites, heat sources, relevant thermal and mechanical properties of the materials in satellite interiors, and heat transfer mechanisms. Thermal history scenarios are presented for the majority of the satellites of the solar system and these are related to the constraints imposed by surface geology.

Schubert, Gerald↗
NASA NTRS2003

Outer Solar System Nomenclature

This grant has supported work by T. Owen and B. A. Smith on planetary and satellite nomenclature, carried out under the general auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). The IAU maintains a Working Group on Planetary and Satellite Nomenclature (WGPSN) whose current chair is Prof.Kaare Aksnes of the Rosseland Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics in Oslo, Norway. Both Owen and Smith are members of the WGPSN; Owen as chair of the Outer Solar System Task Group, and Smith as chair of the Mars Task Group. The major activity during the last grant period (2002) was the approval of several new names for features on Mars by Smith's group and features on Jovian satellites plus new names for satellites of Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus by Owen's group. Much of this work was accomplished by e-mail exchanges, but the new nomenclature was formally discussed and approved at a meeting of the WGPSN held in conjunction with the Division for Planetary Sciences meeting in Birmingham, Alabama in October 2002.

Owen, Tobias C.↗