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NASA NTRS2017

The Astromaterials X-Ray Computed Tomography Laboratory at Johnson Space Center

The Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office at NASA's Johnson Space Center (hereafter JSC curation) is the past, present, and future home of all of NASA's astromaterials sample collections. JSC curation currently houses all or part of nine different sample collections: (1) Apollo samples (1969), (2) Lunar samples (1972), (3) Antarctic meteorites (1976), (4) Cosmic Dust particles (1981), (5) Microparticle Impact Collection (1985), (6) Genesis solar wind atoms (2004); (7) Stardust comet Wild-2 particles (2006), (8) Stardust interstellar particles (2006), and (9) Hayabusa asteroid Itokawa particles (2010). Each sample collection is housed in a dedicated clean room, or suite of clean rooms, that is tailored to the requirements of that sample collection. Our primary goals are to maintain the long-term integrity of the samples and ensure that the samples are distributed for scientific study in a fair, timely, and responsible manner, thus maximizing the return on each sample. Part of the curation process is planning for the future, and we also perform fundamental research in advanced curation initiatives. Advanced Curation is tasked with developing procedures, technology, and data sets necessary for curating new types of sample collections, or getting new results from existing sample collections [2]. We are (and have been) planning for future curation, including cold curation, extended curation of ices and volatiles, curation of samples with special chemical considerations such as perchlorate-rich samples, and curation of organically- and biologically-sensitive samples. As part of these advanced curation efforts we are augmenting our analytical facilities as well. A micro X-Ray computed tomography (micro-XCT) laboratory dedicated to the study of astromaterials will be coming online this spring within the JSC Curation office, and we plan to add additional facilities that will enable nondestructive (or minimally-destructive) analyses of astromaterials in the near future (micro-XRF, confocal imaging Raman Spectroscopy). These facilities will be available to: (1) develop sample handling and storage techniques for future sample return missions; (2) be utilized by PET for future sample return missions; (3) be used for retroactive PET (Positron Emission Tomography)-style analyses of our existing collections; and (4) for periodic assessments of the existing sample collections. Here we describe the new micro-XCT system, as well as some of the ongoing or anticipated applications of the instrument.

Zeigler, R. A.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Evaluation of Low-Pressure Cold Plasma for Disinfection for ISS Grown Produce and Metallic Instrumentation

Cold plasma (CP) cleaning is a dry, non-thermal process, which can provide broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity yet reportedly causes little to no damage to the object being sanitized. Since cold plasma uses no liquids, it has the distinct advantage when used in microgravity of not having to separate liquids from the item being cleaned. This paper will present results on an effort to use low pressure CP to disinfect or sterilize materials for in space applications. Exposure times from 0 to 60 minutes and pressures ranging from 10 to 100 Pa were used to optimize plasma parameters to achieve acceptable kill rates for 3 bacteria, Bacillus cereus, E. coli and Bacillus pumulis SAFR-32 and one fungi, Aspergillus niger. These tests were done on produce and metal coupons to simulate medical equipment. Produce testing was not successful, with unacceptable kill rates and the produce being negatively impacted by exposure to the plasma. The plasma caused a 5 log reduction in the number of viable bacteria on metal coupon tests, which placed the number of viable bacteria below the detection limit. This is a very promising result showing that sterilization of medical equipment with cold plasma is feasible. Scanning Electron Microscope images were taken before and after exposure. The images after plasma exposure shows that the bacteria spores have been physically affected, as their size has gotten smaller and the appearance has changed.

Hintze, Paul E.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Evaluation of Low-Pressure Cold Plasma for Disinfection of ISS Grown Produce and Metallic Instrumentation

Cold plasma (CP) cleaning is a dry, non-thermal process, which can provide broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity yet reportedly causes little to no damage to the object being sanitized. Since cold plasma uses no liquids, it has the distinct advantage when used in microgravity of not having to separate liquids from the item being cleaned. This paper will present results on an effort to use low pressure CP to disinfect or sterilize materials for in space applications. Exposure times from 0 to 60 minutes and pressures ranging from 0.10 to 1.0 mbar were used to optimize plasma parameters. Tests were done on produce and metal coupons to simulate medical equipment. Escherichia coli was used as the challenge organism on produce and Bacillus pumilus SAFR-32 was used on metal surfaces. Produce testing was not successful, with unacceptable kill rates and the produce being negatively impacted by exposure to the plasma. The plasma caused a 5 log reduction in the number of viable bacteria on metal coupon tests, which placed the number of viable bacteria below the detection limit. This is a very promising result showing that sterilization of medical equipment with cold plasma is feasible. Scanning Electron Microscope images were taken before and after exposure. The images after plasma exposure show that the bacteria spores have been physically affected, as their size has gotten smaller and their appearance has changed.

Hintze, Paul E.↗
NASA NTRS2017

The Spectral and Chemical Measurement of Pollutants on Snow Near South Pole, Antarctica

Remote sensing of light-absorbing particles (LAPs), or dark colored impurities, such as black carbon (BC) and dust on snow, is a key remaining challenge in cryospheric surface characterization and application to snow, ice, and climate models. We present a quantitative data set of in situ snow reflectance, measured and modeled albedo, and BC and trace element concentrations from clean to heavily fossil fuel emission contaminated snow near South Pole, Antarctica. Over 380 snow reflectance spectra (350-2500 nm) and 28 surface snow samples were collected at seven distinct sites in the austral summer season of 2014-2015. Snow samples were analyzed for BC concentration via a single particle soot photometer and for trace element concentration via an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer. Snow impurity concentrations ranged from 0.14 to 7000 part per billion (ppb) BC, 9.5 to 1200 ppb sulfur, 0.19 to 660 ppb iron, 0.013 to 1.9 ppb chromium, 0.13 to 120 ppb copper, 0.63 to 6.3 ppb zinc, 0.45 to 82 parts per trillion (ppt) arsenic, 0.0028 to 6.1 ppb cadmium, 0.062 to 22 ppb barium, and 0.0044 to 6.2 ppb lead. Broadband visible to shortwave infrared albedo ranged from 0.85 in pristine snow to 0.62 in contaminated snow. LAP radiative forcing, the enhanced surface absorption due to BC and trace elements, spanned from less than 1 W m(exp. -2) for clean snow to approximately 70 W m(exp. -2) for snow with high BC and trace element content. Measured snow reflectance differed from modeled snow albedo due to specific impurity-dependent absorption features, which we recommend be further studied and improved in snow albedo models.

pollution↗
NASA NTRS2015

Radiation Environment Model of Protons and Heavier Ions at Jupiter

We performed an in depth study of the methods used to review the geometric factors (GF) and sensitivity to charge particles of the Energetic Particle Detector instrument on board the Galileo Spacecraft. Monte Carlo simulations were performed to understand the interactions of electrons and ions (i. e., protons and alphas) with the sensitive regions of the instrument. The DC0 and B0 channels were studied with the intention of using them to update the jovian proton radiation model. The results proved that the B0 is a clean proton chanel without any concerns for contamination by heavier ions and electrons. In contrast, DC0 was found to be contaminated by electrons. Furthermore, we also found out that the B2 channel is a clean alpha particle channel (in other words, no contamination by electrons and/or protons).

Jupiter Radiation Environment↗
NASA NTRS2018

Costs and Risks of Continuous Purges for Instruments

As instruments are built, tested, and launched, they are exposed to environments that have various levels of cleanliness. Often, Scientists and Contamination Control Engineers specify a purge to mitigate the instrument's exposure to a non-clean environment, protect sensitive optics from a specific threat, such as water, or as insurance against things going wrong in a clean environment. The cost of the purge, in effort, dollars and risk, is often understated when the requirements are being established, and the need for purge is not clearly justifiable. This paper will more clearly define some of the costs and risks associated with the continuous purging of instruments during the course of building, testing and launching instruments.

Secunda, M.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Numerical Investigation of Ion Transport in the MOMA Ion Mass Spectrometer

The Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer (MOMA) is a miniature ion trap mass spectrometer designed for the upcoming ExoMars Rover mission. The spectrometer uses laser desorption to ionize a Martian soil sample within an instrument internal clean zone maintained at ambient Martian pressure. A high-speed aperture valve transiently opens to allow ionized constituents, along with the ambient gas, to enter a vacuum cavity containing a linear ion trap mass spectrometer. The ambient clean zone and the vacuum cavity are connected via a few centimeter long aperture valve ion guide tube. In this paper, we present results from a recently completed numerical investigation of ion transport from the ion source across the ion guide. Specifically, we focus on collisional coupling between ions and the neutral molecules flowing into the vacuum cavity. The simulation domain contains the ambient region, and we consider the variation in ion conductance with ambient pressure. We also analyze the impact of a fixed potential bias applied to the aperture valve. Simulations are performed with a two-dimensional axisymmetric PIC / DSMC code Starfish. Numerical results are compared to experimental data.

Breida, Lubos↗
NASA NTRS2018

Analysis of High-Speed Aerodynamics of a Swept Wing with Seamless Flaps

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis was conducted to evaluate the high-speed aerodynamics of a Gulfstream GIII airplane (Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation, Savannah, Georgia) swept wing modified with an experimental seamless, compliant flap called the Adaptive Compliant Trailing Edge (ACTE) flap for airworthiness. The high-speed aerodynamics of the modified ACTE wing were analyzed at a Mach number of 0.85 and an altitude of 40,000 ft. A polyhedral finite-volume unstructured Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes CFD code was used with a two-equation turbulence model. Wing aerodynamics sensitivities to lift coefficients, airplane engine operation, vortex generators (VGs), and ACTE flap deflections were examined. High-speed flow over the clean GIII wing without VGs was found to be complex with outboard shock and boundary-layer interactions causing flow separation over the upper wing surface upstream of the aileron, which could result in buffet and controllability problems at higher lift coefficient values. The VGs were found to improve the high-speed aerodynamics of the clean wing, as expected; however, ACTE flap deflections of as little as 1 to 2 deg were found to negate all of the aerodynamic benefits provided by the VGs at high speeds.

wings↗
NASA NTRS2018

Design of Distributed Mail-Slot Propulsion System on a Hybrid Wingbody Aircraft

This paper deals with designing a thrust distribution strategy when a Turboelectric Distributed Propulsion (TeDP) system of 16 embedded propulsors is installed on an aerodynamically optimized hybrid wing-body configuration. This HWB previously designed to satisfy conditions of trim, longitudinally static stability and specific cargo space is employed as the baseline configuration for the current study of seeking an optimal propulsion/power system. According to the nature of the entrance flow condition for each distributed propulsion passage in hybrid wing-body aircraft, the ingested boundary layer thickness differs and results in different propulsive reaction. An optimal distribution of thrust and power output is determined by how the system utilizes the propulsive characteristics of each passage. The design space and the number of design variables are selected and described accordingly. An actuator disk model is employed to model thrust generation and shaft power from the propulsor. To carry out the optimization of the propulsion/power system on a computationally expensive CFD model, a Kriging method in conjunction with a Genetic Algorithm (GA) is applied. Throughout the design process, the propulsion performances of the sampled propulsion/power system are analyzed and compared to those of a clean flow engine. The performance metrics includes mass flow rate, fan pressure ratio besides the thrust and shaft power. Minimization of total shaft power from the distributed engine is performed at multiple thrust levels. The benefit of boundary layer ingestion propulsion system is quantified via comparison of thrust equivalent, shaft power and mass flow equivalent clean flow engines with CFD based system design.

Hybrid Wingbody↗
NASA NTRS2018

The Importance of Contamination Knowledge - Insights into Mars Sample Return

The Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC), in Houston, TX (henceforth Curation Office) manages the curation of all past, present, and future extraterrestrial samples returned by NASA missions and shared collections from international partners, preserving their integrity for future scientific study while providing the samples to the international community in a fair and unbiased way. The Curation Office also curates all reference and witness materials for each mission (e.g., flight and non-flight hardware coupons; lubricants; non-flight, flight-like, and flown witness plates). These reference and witness materials provide the scientific community with the fundamental ability to reconstruct the contamination/alteration history of the sample collection through the course of the mission, with the overall goal of strengthening the scientific conclusions drawn from the study of returned materials. The information gained from characterizing the physical, biological, inorganic, and organic chemical properties of reference and witness materials is defined as the Contamination Knowledge (CK) of the sample collection. Unlike the data collected for Contamination Control (CC) and Planetary Protection (PP), CK is exclusively concerned with preserving reference and witness materials for study by future scientists upon sample return. Although CC and PP data collected for sample integrity and forward contamination purposes can be complementary to CK, they are two separate data sets with distinct objectives. A robust collection of samples for CK is necessary to allow the extraterrestrial material in a returned sample to be distinguished from terrestrial contamination. Traditionally CK is utilized by sample scientists in order to accomplish the mission’s scientific objectives, however this information can also be utilized by the Office of Planetary Protection to help evaluate the presence of any back contamination. Mars 2020, the first phase of a potential multipart Mars Sample Return (MSR) campaign, is expected to contribute to NASA’s Mars Exploration Program Science Goals by filling in knowledge gaps concerning: 1) the existence of past or present life on Mars, 2) the past and present climate of Mars, 3) the geology of Mars, and 4) hazards associated with human exploration of Mars. Although there is debate concerning which samples will best answer these questions, the necessity for proper sample blanks is well-understood. The CC and PP requirements, driven by the restricted Class V mission designation, are the most stringent of any sample return mission in recent history. The extremely low levels of allowable terrestrial contamination on the spacecraft and rover can complicate these analyses given the detection limits of current analytical instrumentation, especially in the case of biological contamination. By collecting and curating unanalyzed samples specifically for CK, future sample scientists will not be relegated to: 1) relying on data collected using possibly obsolete tools and techniques for return sample blanks, or 2) using remnants of extracted and/or cultured samples from ATLO (Assembly, Test, and Launch Operations), which could be incompatible with the desired experimental endpoints or state-of-the-art techniques available at the time of sample return.The addition of biological experimental endpoints to a sample return campaign’s objectives broadens the requisite range in preservation environments (e.g. inert ultra-pure nitrogen gaseous environment at 18 degrees Centigrade versus less than or equal to minus 80 degrees Centigrade) and types of CK samples. As a result, the Curation Office will also curate the following CK samples at less than or equal to minus 80 degrees Centigrade for the Mars 2020 mission: 1) unanalyzed swabs and wipes in sterile containers, 2) all recirculation filters from the clean rooms used for sample and caching subsystem assembly and all filters from the laminar flow benches used to assemble sample intimate hardware, and 3) witness plates collecting airborne contamination within the assembly clean rooms. It has been Curation Office policy since the Apollo missions to preserve as many pristine samples as possible for future scientific research. Although CK is required to be collected for all stages of the MSR campaign, the CK for the Mars 2020 mission is the most critical for understanding contamination in the returned samples given the intimacy between the Martian samples and the Mars 2020 flight hardware. This presentation highlights the importance of CK for sample return missions as well as the traditional and novel types of CK samples required for a successful MSR campaign.

Harrington, A. D.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Recent Upgrades for the NASA Ames Vertical Gun Range

Recent upgrades to the performance capabilities of the NASA Ames Vertical Gun Range(AVGR) are presented. Upgrades include: the successful implementation of a fast-acting, gun gases suppression valve to minimize target contamination and perturbations to both the target and ejecta; powder gun and light-gas gun operational parameter adjustments to provide clean, low speed test conditions; a liquid nitrogen-based system and methodology for chilling targets and/or other impact chamber situated equipment; and imaging system capabilities enhancements to enable observing 50 micrometer particles traveling at 2 km/s. Many of these performance improvements were motivated by AVGR customer requirements for very clean shot conditions at speeds below 1.9 km/s and to provide testing in support of proposed NASA missions to Enceladus and 16-Psyche.

AVGR↗
NASA NTRS2017

Identifying the Effects of X-Ray Computed Tomography on Mars 2020 Tier I Organic Compounds

Mars sample return presents unique challenges for the clean collection, containment, curation and processing of samples. The related issues of life detection and Planetary Protection are of particular importance when developing successful strategies for the acquisition and handling of Mars returned samples. In order to achieve the Mars Sample Return (MSR) science goals, reliable analyses will depend on overcoming some challenging signal/noise-related issues, such that sparse Martian organic compounds will need to be reliably analyzed against the contamination background arising from the complicated MSR campaign. Reliable analyses will depend on clean acquisition, as well as robust documentation of all aspects of both the development and management of the cache.

Weizenbach, L. C.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Relationships Between the Planetary Boundary Layer Height and Surface Pollutants Derived from Lidar Observations over China: Regional Pattern and Influencing Factors

The frequent occurrence of severe air pollution episodes in China has been a great concern and thus the focus of intensive studies. Planetary boundary layer height (PBLH) is a key factor in the vertical mixing and dilution of near-surface pollutants. However, the relationship between PBLH and surface pollutants, especially particulate matter (PM) concentration across China, is not yet well understood. We investigate this issue at 1600 surface stations using PBLH derived from space-borne and ground-based lidar, and discuss the influence of topography and meteorological variables on the PBLH–PM relationship. Albeit the PBLH–PM correlations are roughly negative for most cases, their magnitude, significance, and even sign vary considerably with location, season, and meteorological conditions. Weak or even uncorrelated PBLH–PM relationships are found over clean regions (e.g., Pearl River Delta), whereas nonlinearly negative responses of PM to PBLH evolution are found over polluted regions (e.g., North China Plain). Relatively strong PBLH–PM interactions are found when the PBLH is shallow and PM concentration is high, which typically corresponds to wintertime cases. Correlations are much weaker over the highlands than the plains regions, which may be associated with lighter pollution loading at higher elevations and contributions from mountain breezes. The influence of horizontal transport on surface PM is considered as well, manifested as a negative correlation between surface PM and wind speed over the whole nation. Strong wind with clean upwind air plays a dominant role in removing pollutants, and leads to obscure PBLH–PM relationships. A ventilation rate is used to jointly consider horizontal and vertical dispersion, which has the largest impact on surface pollutant accumulation over the North China Plain. As such, this study contributes to improved understanding of aerosol–planetary boundary layer (PBL) interactions and thus our ability to forecast surface air pollution.

Su, Tianning↗
NASA NTRS2018

PYSAT: Python Satellite Data Analysis Toolkit

A common problem in space science data analysis is combining complementary data sources that are provided and analyzed in different formats and programming languages. The Python Satellite Data Analysis Toolkit (pysat) addresses this issue by providing an open source toolkit that implements the general process of space science data analysis, from beginning to end, in an instrumentindependent manner. This toolkit uses an Instrument object that enables systematic analysis of science data from a variety of platforms within a single interface. Basic functions such as downloading, loading, and cleaning are included for all supported instruments. Common analysis routines are also included, which are instrument and data source independent. A nanokernel is used to provide instrument independence, it is attached to the Instrument object and mediates the systematic and arbitrary modification of loaded data. Pysat uses the nanokernel to improve the rigor of time series analysis, support onthefly orbit determination, and cleanly span file breaks. Pysat's functions and higherlevel scientific analysis features are validated through the use of unit testing. Further adoption by the community provides a set of scientific results produced by a common core, constituting a distributed heritage that supports the validity of the underlying processing and scientific output. These features are used to demonstrate consistency between derived electron density profiles and measured ion drifts, particularly downward ion drifts in the afternoon hours during extreme solar minimum. Pysat builds upon open source Python software that is freely available and encourages communitydriven development.

Stoneback, R.A.↗
NASA NTRS2020

Advanced Curation of Astromaterials for Planetary Science Over the Next Decade

Advanced curation is a cross-disciplinary field of research and development aiming to improve curation and sample acquisition practices in existing astromaterials collections and to enable future sample return activities.The primary result of advanced curation is to both reduce and quantify contamination to astromaterials and preserve the scientific integrity of all samples from mission inception to scientific analysis. Over the next decade, NASA should support advanced curation research and monitoring efforts as they pertain to improving our current collections and preparing for samples from current and future astromaterials acquisition activities.We highlight here five advanced curation activities of critical importance for the success of sample science supported by NASA over the coming decade, including: 1) supporting efforts to build contamination knowledge collections as part of sample return missions, which requires curation involvement from the earliest stages of sample return mission planning;2) supporting Earth-based astromaterials collection campaigns of meteorites and cosmic dust as they represent relatively inexpensive sample acquisition activities that continue to grow NASA’s astromaterials collections and enable new discoveries;3) preparing to curate and process samples under “cold” conditions to enable return of samples from volatile-rich Solar System targets like permanently shadowed regions on the lunar surface orcomets;4) determining how best to combine clean room technology and biosafety technology into one infrastructure to support curation of samples from bodies designated as Category V:Restricted Earth Return; and 5) supporting real-time monitoring and testing of curation labs to verify that sample processing environments remain clean from the standpoint of inorganic, organic, and biological contamination

Francis M. McCubbin↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

CONTAMINATION CONTROL FOR ULTRA-SENSITIVE LIFE DETECTION SCIENCE MISSIONS

"This study report summarizes technological developments in science-required contamination control for cost-capped, life-detection missions in the Solar System. Technology advances focus on developing implementable strategies to restrict contamination of the spacecraft and instruments by the launch vehicle hardware. Secondary bake out operations during cruise further reduce molecular contaminants down to femtomolar levels in the sample path. The study validated a full-spacecraft, deployable barrier design as an effective strategy to isolate the spacecraft from the pre-launch processing and launch environment (e.g., fairing acoustic materials). It accommodates late mounting of RTGs and other required prelaunch activities. A new, high-fidelity physics, contamination-transport model for particles (including cells and their parts) and science-relevant molecules (e.g., possible biomolecules) was developed to validate the barrier concept. Importantly, this model takes into account the physics of extremely clean surfaces achieved by the best traditional contamination engineering. The ability to deal with very low levels of particulate and molecular contamination makes this model unique among standard contamination modeling approaches. Modeling also demonstrated that a high-temperature bake out during interplanetary cruise of the sample collector that comprises the largest surface area in the sample path for an Enceladus orbiter reference mission, was extremely effective. This study included the evaluation of other details necessary for an effective contamination control strategy for life detection missions including feasibility of achieving parts per trillion level cleanliness for semi-volatile hydrocarbons in nitrogen purge gas, identification of launch vehicle services required for the baseline contamination control, and defining additional contamination control measures to be taken during launch operations. Key results of the study are: • New spacecraft barrier design that accommodates RTGs is readily cleanable and repairable. Deployment of a 1/3 scale model was successfully demonstrated. • The barrier reduces particle contamination (likely biological) from fairing to spacecraft by 1e-2 to 1e-3. • On-cruise bake-out of critical surfaces significantly reduced molecular contamination (by as much as 1e-12). Subsequently, the probability of a surface contamination particle being transported to an instrument by an ice particle is less than 5.1e-5 (for microbes specifically, 4.39e-10). The report concludes that a full-spacecraft barrier designed specifically for life-detection missions that require stringent control of particulate and molecular contaminates is an effective means of mitigating risks of false positive and negative results for life signature investigations. Further, secondary cleaning steps for critical sections of the sample path can be highly effective at reducing molecular contaminants to low femtomolar levels."

Contamination↗
NASA NTRS2020

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: A CMB lensing mass map over 2100 square degrees of sky and its cross-correlation with BOSS-CMASS galaxies

We construct cosmic microwave background lensing mass maps using data from the 2014 and 2015 seasons of observations with the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT). These maps cover 2100 square degrees of sky and overlap with a wide variety of optical surveys. The maps are signal dominated on large scales and have fidelity such that their correlation with the cosmic infrared background is clearly visible by eye. We also create lensing maps with thermal Sunyaev-Zel’dovich contamination removed using a novel cleaning procedure that only slightly degrades the lensing signal-to-noise ratio. The cross-spectrum between the cleaned lensing map and the BOSS CMASS galaxy sample is detected at 10-σ significance, with an amplitude of A = 1.02±0.10 relative to the Planck best-fit LCDM cosmological model with fiducial linear galaxy bias. Our measurement lays the foundation for lensing cross-correlation science with current ACT data and beyond.

gravitational lensing↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

The Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) IV Pathfinder

Atmospheric aerosols and ozone are designated as observing system priorities in the 2017–2027 Decadal Survey report [1]. Accurate records of stratospheric aerosols are a vital piece of the puzzle regarding climate change. Stratospheric ozone has been the subject of observation and research for decades. Its importance is exhibited in the United States Clean Air Act [2], which mandates that NASA monitor atmospheric ozone. Measurements from satellites provided data on the initial decline of ozone in the late 1970s and early 1980s that supported the adoption of the Montreal Protocol, and current observations hint at a potential recovery. Adequate determination of that recovery requires continuous and, in the case of multiple instruments, overlapping data records. However, most current satellite systems are well beyond their expected lifetimes, and so we look towards the future of satellite observations of stratospheric ozone and aerosols to develop the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) IV Pathfinder. Enabled by the NASA Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO)’s Instrument Incubator Program (IIP), the SAGE IV Pathfinder project has developed and validated a prototype demonstration that paves the way for a future SAGE IV spaceflight mission. Utilizing solar occultation imaging, SAGE IV will be capable of measuring ozone, aerosol, and other trace gas species with the same quality as previous SAGE instruments but with greatly improved pointing knowledge. Furthermore, current technological advancements allow SAGE IV to fit within a CubeSat framework and make use of commercial hardware, significantly reducing the size and cost when compared with traditional missions and enabling sustainability of future measurements. SAGE IV will meet the definition of the newly-recommended Venture-Continuity missions by “bringing forward innovative approaches to sustain measurements at lower costs”. The latest results from development of the SAGE IV Pathfinder are presented. [1] “Thriving on Our Changing Planet: A Decadal Strategy for Earth Observation from Space,” National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2018. [2] “United State Clean Air Act,” 42 U.S.C. 767 1b(d)(2).

Robert Damadeo↗