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At least 1,243 records · Page 69

Multi-Sensor Testing for Automated Rendezvous and Docking Sensor Testing at the Flight Robotics Lab

The Exploration Systems Architecture defines missions that require rendezvous, proximity operations, and docking (RPOD) of two spacecraft both in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and in Low Lunar Orbit (LLO). Uncrewed spacecraft must perform automated and/or autonomous rendezvous, proximity operations and docking operations (commonly known as AR&D). The crewed missions may also perform rendezvous and docking operations and may require different levels of automation and/or autonomy, and must provide the crew with relative navigation information for manual piloting. The capabilities of the RPOD sensors are critical to the success ofthe Exploration Program. NASA has the responsibility to determine whether the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) contractor-proposed relative navigation sensor suite will meet the requirements. The relatively low technology readiness level of AR&D relative navigation sensors has been carried as one of the CEV Project's top risks. The AR&D Sensor Technology Project seeks to reduce the risk by the testing and analysis of selected relative navigation sensor technologies through hardware-in-the-Ioop testing and simulation. These activities will provide the CEV Project information to assess the relative navigation sensors maturity as well as demonstrate test methods and capabilities. The first year of this project focused on a series of "pathfinder" testing tasks to develop the test plans, test facility requirements, trajectories, math model architecture, simulation platform, and processes that will be used to evaluate the Contractor-proposed sensors. Four candidate sensors were used in the first phase of the testing. The second phase of testing used four sensors simultaneously: two Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Advanced Video Guidance Sensors (AVGS), a laser-based video sensor that uses retroreflectors attached to the target vehicle, and two commercial laser range finders. The multi-sensor testing was conducted at MSFC's Flight Robotics Laboratory (FRL) using the FRL's 6-DOF gantry system, called the Dynamic Overhead Target System (DOTS). The target vehicle for "docking" in the laboratory was a mockup that was representative of the proposed CEV docking system, with added retroreflectors for the AVGS.' The multi-sensor test configuration used 35 open-loop test trajectories covering three major objectives: (l) sensor characterization trajectories designed to test a wide range of performance parameters; (2) CEV-specific trajectories designed to test performance during CEV-like approach and departure profiles; and (3) sensor characterization tests designed for evaluating sensor performance under more extreme conditions as might be induced during a spacecraft failure or during contingency situations. This paper describes the test development, test facility, test preparations, test execution, and test results of the multisensor series oftrajectories

Brewster, Linda L.↗

CALIPSO Satellite Lidar Identification Of Elevated Dust Over Australia Compared With Air Quality Model PM60 Forecasts

Global measurements of the vertical distribution of clouds and aerosols have been recorded by the lidar on board the CALIPSO (Cloud Aerosol Lidar Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations) satellite since June 2006. Such extensive, height-resolved measurements provide a rare and valuable opportunity for developing, testing and validating various atmospheric models, including global climate, numerical weather prediction, chemical transport and air quality models. Here we report on the initial results of an investigation into the performance of the Australian Air Quality Forecast System (AAQFS) model in forecasting the distribution of elevated dust over the Australian region. The model forecasts of PM60 dust distribution are compared with the CALIPSO lidar Vertical Feature Mask (VFM) data product. The VFM classifies contiguous atmospheric regions of enhanced backscatter as either cloud or aerosols. Aerosols are further classified into six subtypes. By comparing forecast PM60 concentration profiles to the spatial distribution of dust reported in the CALIPSO VFM, we can assess the model s ability to predict the occurrence and the vertical and horizontal extents of dust events within the study area.

Young, Stuart A.↗

Aerosol Profile Measurements from the NASA Langley Research Center Airborne High Spectral Resolution Lidar

Since achieving first light in December of 2005, the NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) Airborne High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) has been involved in seven field campaigns, accumulating over 450 hours of science data across more than 120 flights. Data from the instrument have been used in a variety of studies including validation and comparison with the Cloud- Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) satellite mission, aerosol property retrievals combining passive and active instrument measurements, aerosol type identification, aerosol-cloud interactions, and cloud top and planetary boundary layer (PBL) height determinations. Measurements and lessons learned from the HSRL are leading towards next-generation HSRL instrument designs that will enable even further studies of aerosol intensive and extensive parameters and the effects of aerosols on the climate system. This paper will highlight several of the areas in which the NASA Airborne HSRL is making contributions to climate science.

Obland, Michael D.↗

CALIPSO Observations of Stratospheric Aerosols: A Preliminary Assessment

We have examined the 532-nm aerosol backscatter coefficient measurements by the Cloud- Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) for their use in the observation of stratospheric aerosol. CALIPSO makes observations that span from 82 S to 82 N each day and, for each profile, backscatter coefficient values reported up to approx. 40 km. The possibility of using CALIPSO for stratospheric aerosol observations is demonstrated by the clear observation of the 20 May 2006 eruption of Montserrat in the earliest CALIPSO data in early June as well as by observations showing the 7 October 2006 eruption of Tavurvur (Rabaul). However, the very low aerosol loading within the stratosphere makes routine observations of the stratospheric aerosol far more difficult than relatively dense volcanic plumes. Nonetheless, we found that averaging a complete days worth of nighttime only data into 5-deg latitude by 1-km vertical bins reveals a stratospheric aerosol data centered near an altitude of 20 km, the clean wintertime polar vortices, and a small maximum in the lower tropical stratosphere. However, the derived values are clearly too small and often negative in much of the stratosphere. The data can be significantly improved by increasing the measured backscatter (molecular and aerosol) by approximately 5% suggesting that the current method of calibrating to a pure molecular atmosphere at 30 km is most likely the source of the low values.

Thomason, Larry W.↗

The Effect of Aerosols and Clouds on the Retrieval of Infrared Sea Surface Temperatures

Comparisons are performed between spatially averaged sea surface temperatures (ASST2) as derived from the second Along-Track Scanning Radiometer (ATSR-2) on board the second European Remote Sensing Satellite (ERS-2) and the NOAA-NASA Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) Oceans Pathfinder dataset (MPFSST). Difference maps, MPFSST 2 ASST2, along with the application of a simple statistical regression model to aerosol and cloud data from the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer ( TOMS), are used to examine the impact of possible aerosol and cloud contamination. Differences varied regionally, but the largest biases were seen off western Africa. Nighttime and daytime differences off western Africa were reduced from -0.5degrees to -0.2degreesC and from -0.1degrees to 0degreesC, respectively. Significant cloud flagging, based on the model, occurred in the Indian Ocean, the equatorial Pacific, and in the vicinity of the Gulf Stream. Comparisons of the MPFSST and the ASST2 with in situ data from the 2002 version of the World Oceanic Database (WOD02) off western Africa show larger mean differences for the MPFSST. The smallest mean differences occurred for nighttime ASST2 - WOD02 with a value of 0.0degrees +/- 0.4degreesC.

clouds↗

In-Situ and Experimental Evidence for Acidic Weathering of Rocks and Soils on Mars

Experimental data for alteration of synthetic Martian basalts at pH=0-1 indicate that chemical fractionations at low pH are vastly different from those observed during terrestrial weathering. Rock analyses from Gusev crater are well described by the relationships apparent from low pH experimental alteration data. A model for rock surface alteration is developed which indicates that a leached alteration zone is present on rock surfaces at Gusev. This zone is not chemically fractionated to a large degree from the underlying rock interior, indicating that the rock surface alteration process has occurred at low fluid-to-rock ratio. The geochemistry of natural rock surfaces analyzed by APXS is consistent with a mixture between adhering soil/dust and the leached alteration zone. The chemistry of rock surfaces analyzed after brushing with the RAT is largely representative of the leached alteration zone. The chemistry of rock surfaces analyzed after grinding with the RAT is largely representative of the interior of the rock, relatively unaffected by the alteration process occurring at the rock surface. Elemental measurements from the Spirit, Opportunity, Pathfinder and Viking 1 landing sites indicate that soil chemistry from widely separated locations is consistent with the low-pH, low fluid to rock ratio alteration relationships developed for Gusev rocks. Soils are affected principally by mobility of FeO and MgO, consistent with alteration of olivine-bearing basalt and subsequent precipitation of FeO and MgO bearing secondary minerals as the primary control on soil geochemistry.

Hurowitz, J. A.↗

A Theoretical Investigation of Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessel (COPV) Mechanics Applied to NASA Full Scale Tests

A theoretical investigation of the factors controlling the stress rupture life of the National Aeronautics and Space Agency's (NASA) composite overwrapped pressure vessels (COPVs) continues. Kevlar(TradeMark) fiber overwrapped tanks are of particular concern due to their long usage and the poorly understood stress rupture process in Kevlar(TradeMark) filaments. Existing long term data show that the rupture process is a function of stress, temperature and time. However, due to the presence of a load sharing liner, the manufacturing induced residual stresses and the complex mechanical response, the state of actual fiber stress in flight hardware and test articles is not clearly known. This paper is a companion to the experimental investigation reported in [1] and develops a theoretical framework necessary to design full-scale pathfinder experiments and accurately interpret the experimentally observed deformation and failure mechanisms leading up to static burst in COPVs. The fundamental mechanical response of COPVs is described using linear elasticity and thin shell theory and discussed in comparison to existing experimental observations. These comparisons reveal discrepancies between physical data and the current analytical results and suggest that the vessel's residual stress state and the spatial stress distribution as a function of pressure may be completely different from predictions based upon existing linear elastic analyses. The 3D elasticity of transversely isotropic spherical shells demonstrates that an overly compliant transverse stiffness relative to membrane stiffness can account for some of this by shifting a thin shell problem well into the realm of thick shell response. The use of calibration procedures are demonstrated as calibrated thin shell model results and finite element results are shown to be in good agreement with the experimental results. The successes reported here have lead to continuing work with full scale testing of larger NASA COPV hardware.

Greene, N.↗

Entry, Descent, and Landing Communications for the 2007 Phoenix Mars Lander

This paper addresses NASA's requirement on the 2007 Phoenix Mars Lander to provide spacecraft communications during entry, descent, and landing on Mars to allow the identification of probable root cause should any mission failure occur. The Phoenix mission launched on 4 August 2007 and will land on 25 May 2008 on the northern plains of Mars to conduct a three-month study of the Martian environment. The paper discusses the architectural trades in designing a communications link and surveys the entry, descent, and landing communications approaches taken by previous missions. It then discusses the Phoenix-specific constraints and degrees of freedoms and presents a novel and robust implementation approach to entry, descent, and landing communications. The overall methodology and conclusions described herein can serve as a pathfinder for the entry, descent, and landing communications architecture and implementation of future Mars landed missions.

communications↗

The Fourier-Kelvin Stellar Interferometer a Low Complexity, Low Cost Space Mission for High-Resolution Astronomy and Direct Exoplanet Detection

The Fourier-Kelvin Stellar Interferometer (FKSI) is a mission concept for a spacecraft-borne nulling interferometer for high-resolution astronomy and the direct detection of exoplanets and assay of their environments and atmospheres. FKSI is a high angular resolution system operating in the near to midinfrared spectral region and is a scientific and technological pathfinder to the Darwin and Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) missions. The instrument is configured with an optical system consisting, depending on configuration, of two 0.5 - 1.0 m telescopes on a 12.5 - 20 m boom feeding a symmetric, dual Mach- Zehnder beam combiner. We report on progress on our nulling testbed including the design of an optical pathlength null-tracking control system and development of a testing regime for hollow-core fiber waveguides proposed for use in wavefront cleanup. We also report results of integrated simulation studies of the planet detection performance of FKSI and results from an in-depth control system and residual optical pathlength jitter analysis.

Barry, R. K.↗

NASA's Earth Observations of the Global Environment: Our Changing Planet and the View from Space

Observations of the Earth from space over the past 30 years has enabled an increasingly detailed view of our Earth's atmosphere, land, oceans, and cryosphere, and its many alterations over time. With the advent of improvements in technology, together with increased understanding of the physical principles of remote sensing, it is now possible to routinely observe the global distribution of atmospheric constituents, including both cloud and aerosol optical properties, land surface reflectance, sea ice and glaciers, and numerous properties of the world's oceans. This talk will review the current status of recent NASA Earth observing missions, and summarize key findings. These missions include EOS missions such as Landsat 7, QuikScat, Terra, Jason-1, Aqua, ICESat, SORCE, and Aura, as well as Earth probe missions such as TRMM and SeaWiFS. Recent findings from Cloud- Sat and CALIPSO from the Earth System Science Pathfinder program will also be summarized, if time permits. Due to its wide utilization by the Earth science community, both in the US and abroad, special emphasis will be placed on the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), developed by NASA and launched onboard the Terra spacecraft in 1999 and the Aqua spacecraft in 2002. As the quintessential instrument of the Earth Observing System, it is widely used for studies of the oceans, land, and atmosphere, and its lengthening time series of Earth observations is finding utilization in many communities for both climate, weather, and applications use.

King, Michael D.↗

Surveillance and Control of Malaria Transmission in Thailand using Remotely Sensed Meteorological and Environmental Parameters

These slides address the use of remote sensing in a public health application. Specifically, this discussion focuses on the of remote sensing to detect larval habitats to predict current and future endemicity and identify key factors that sustain or promote transmission of malaria in a targeted geographic area (Thailand). In the Malaria Modeling and Surveillance Project, which is part of the NASA Applied Sciences Public Health Applications Program, we have been developing techniques to enhance public health's decision capability for malaria risk assessments and controls. The main objectives are: 1) identification of the potential breeding sites for major vector species; 2) implementation of a risk algorithm to predict the occurrence of malaria and its transmission intensity; 3) implementation of a dynamic transmission model to identify the key factors that sustain or intensify malaria transmission. The potential benefits are: 1) increased warning time for public health organizations to respond to malaria outbreaks; 2) optimized utilization of pesticide and chemoprophylaxis; 3) reduced likelihood of pesticide and drug resistance; and 4) reduced damage to environment. !> Environmental parameters important to malaria transmission include temperature, relative humidity, precipitation, and vegetation conditions. The NASA Earth science data sets that have been used for malaria surveillance and risk assessment include AVHRR Pathfinder, TRMM, MODIS, NSIPP, and SIESIP. Textural-contextual classifications are used to identify small larval habitats. Neural network methods are used to model malaria cases as a function of the remotely sensed parameters. Hindcastings based on these environmental parameters have shown good agreement to epidemiological records. Discrete event simulations are used for modeling the detailed interactions among the vector life cycle, sporogonic cycle and human infection cycle, under the explicit influences of selected extrinsic and intrinsic factors. The output of the model includes the individual infection status and the quantities normally observed in field studies, such as mosquito biting rates, sporozoite infection rates, gametocyte prevalence and incidence. Results are in good agreement with mosquito vector and human malaria data acquired by Coleman et al. over 4.5 years in Kong Mong Tha, a remote village in western Thailand. Application of our models is not restricted to the Greater Mekong Subregion. Our models have been applied to malaria in Indonesia, Korea, and other regions in the world with similar success.

Kiang, Richard K.↗

Modeling Malaria Transmission in Thailand and Indonesia

Malaria Modeling and Surveillance is a project in the NASA Applied Sciences Public Health Applications Program. The main objectives of this project are: 1) identification of the potential breeding sites for major vector species: 2) implementation of a malaria transmission model to identify they key factors that sustain or intensify malaria transmission; and 3) implementation of a risk algorithm to predict the occurrence of malaria and its transmission intensity. Remote sensing and GIs are the essential elements of this project. The NASA Earth science data sets used in this project include AVHRR Pathfinder, TRMM, MODIS, NSIPP and SIESIP. Textural-contextual classifications are used to identify small larval habitats. Neural network methods are used to model malaria cases as a function of precipitation, temperatures, humidity and vegetation. Hindcastings based on these environmental parameters have shown good agreement to epidemiological records. Examples for spatio-temporal modeling of malaria transmissions in Southeast Asia are given. Discrete event simulations were used for modeling the detailed interactions among the vector life cycle, sporogonic cycle and human infection cycle, under the explicit influences of selected extrinsic and intrinsic factors. The output of the model includes the individual infection status and the quantities normally observed in field studies, such as mosquito biting rates, sporozoite infection rates, gametocyte prevalence and incidence. Results are in good agreement with mosquito vector and human malaria data acquired by Coleman et al. over 4.5 years in Kong Mong Tha, a remote village in western Thailand. Application of our models is not restricted to Southeast Asia. The model and techniques are equally applicable to other regions of the world, when appropriate epidemiological and vector ecological parameters are used as input.

Kiang, Richard↗

CALIPSO Observations of Volcanic Aerosol in the Stratosphere

In the stratosphere, the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) has observed the presence of aerosol plumes associated with the eruptions several volcanoes including Montserrat (May 2006), Chaiten (May 2008), and Kasatochi (August 2008). While the dense ash plumes from these eruptions dissipate relatively quickly, CALIPSO continued to detect an enhanced aerosol layer from the Montserrat eruption from the initial observations in June 2006 well into 2008. Solar occultation missions were uniquely capable of monitoring stratospheric aerosol. However, since the end of long-lived instruments like the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE II), there has been no clear space-based successor instrument. A number of active instruments, some employing new techniques, are being evaluated as candidate sources of stratospheric aerosol data. Herein, we examine suitability of the CALIPSO 532-nm aerosol backscatter coefficient measurements.

Thomason, Larry W.↗

The CALIPSO Integrated Thermal Control Subsystem

The Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) is a joint NASA-CNES mission to study the Earth's cloud and aerosol layers. The satellite is composed of a primary payload (built by Ball Aerospace) and a spacecraft platform bus (PROTEUS, built by Alcatel Alenia Space). The thermal control subsystem (TCS) for the CALIPSO satellite is a passive design utilizing radiators, multi-layer insulation (MLI) blankets, and both operational and survival surface heaters. The most temperature sensitive component within the satellite is the laser system. During thermal vacuum testing of the integrated satellite, the laser system's operational heaters were found to be inadequate in maintaining the lasers required set point. In response, a solution utilizing the laser system's survival heaters to augment the operational heaters was developed with collaboration between NASA, CNES, Ball Aerospace, and Alcatel-Alenia. The CALIPSO satellite launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on April 26th, 2006. Evaluation of both the platform and payload thermal control systems show they are performing as expected and maintaining the critical elements of the satellite within acceptable limits.

Gasbarre, Joseph F.↗

Real-Time Detection of Dust Devils from Pressure Readings

A method for real-time detection of dust devils at a given location is based on identifying the abrupt, temporary decreases in atmospheric pressure that are characteristic of dust devils as they travel through that location. The method was conceived for use in a study of dust devils on the Martian surface, where bandwidth limitations encourage the transmission of only those blocks of data that are most likely to contain information about features of interest, such as dust devils. The method, which is a form of intelligent data compression, could readily be adapted to use for the same purpose in scientific investigation of dust devils on Earth. In this method, the readings of an atmospheric- pressure sensor are repeatedly digitized, recorded, and processed by an algorithm that looks for extreme deviations from a continually updated model of the current pressure environment. The question in formulating the algorithm is how to model current normal observations and what minimum magnitude deviation can be considered sufficiently anomalous as to indicate the presence of a dust devil. There is no single, simple answer to this question: any answer necessarily entails a compromise between false detections and misses. For the original Mars application, the answer was sought through analysis of sliding time windows of digitized pressure readings. Windows of 5-, 10-, and 15-minute durations were considered. The windows were advanced in increments of 30 seconds. Increments of other sizes can also be used, but computational cost increases as the increment decreases and analysis is performed more frequently. Pressure models were defined using a polynomial fit to the data within the windows. For example, the figure depicts pressure readings from a 10-minute window wherein the model was defined by a third-degree polynomial fit to the readings and dust devils were identified as negative deviations larger than both 3 standard deviations (from the mean) and 0.05 mbar in magnitude. An algorithm embodying the detection scheme of this example was found to yield a miss rate of just 8 percent and a false-detection rate of 57 percent when evaluated on historical pressure-sensor data collected by the Mars Pathfinder lander. Since dust devils occur infrequently over the course of a mission, prioritizing observations that contain successful detections could greatly conserve bandwidth allocated to a given mission. This technique can be used on future Mars landers and rovers, such as Mars Phoenix and the Mars Science Laboratory.

Wagstaff, Kiri↗

Solar Sails

The Solar Sail Propulsion investment area has been one of the three highest priorities within the In-Space Propulsion Technology (ISPT) Project. In the fall of 2003, the NASA Headquarters' Science Mission Directorate provided funding and direction to mature the technology as far as possible through ground research and development from TRL 3 to 6 in three years. A group of experts from government, industry, and academia convened in Huntsville, Alabama to define technology gaps between what was needed for science missions to the inner solar system and the current state of the art in ultra1ightweight materials and gossamer structure design. This activity set the roadmap for development. The centerpiece of the development would be the ground demonstration of scalable solar sail systems including masts, sails, deployment mechanisms, and attitude control hardware and software. In addition, new materials would be subjected to anticipated space environments to quantify effects and assure mission life. Also, because solar sails are huge structures, and it is not feasible to validate the technology by ground test at full scale, a multi-discipline effort was established to develop highly reliable analytical models to serve as mission assurance evidence in future flight program decision-making. Two separate contractor teams were chosen to develop the SSP System Ground Demonstrator (SGD). After a three month conceptual mission/system design phase, the teams developed a ten meter diameter pathfinder set of hardware and subjected it to thermal vacuum tests to compare analytically predicted structural behavior with measured characteristics. This process developed manufacturing and handling techniques and refined the basic design. In 2005, both contractor teams delivered 20 meter, four quadrant sail systems to the largest thermal vacuum chamber in the world in Plum Brook, Ohio, and repeated the tests. Also demonstrated was the deployment and articulation of attitude control mechanisms. In conjunction with these tests, the stowed sails were subjected to launch vibration and ascent vent tests. Other investments studied radiation effects on the solar sail materials, investigated spacecraft charging issues, developed shape measuring techniques and instruments, produced advanced trajectory modeling capabilities, and identified and resolved gossamer structure dynamics issues. Technology validation flight and application to a He1iophysics science mission is on the horizon.

Young, Roy↗

Targeting and Localization for Mars Rover Operations

In this work we discuss how the quality of localization knowledge impacts the remote operation of rovers on the surface of Mars. We look at the techniques of localization estimation used in the Mars Pathfinder and Mars Exploration Rover missions. We examine the motivation behind the modes of targeting for different types of activities, such as navigation, remote science, and in situ science. We discuss the virtues and shortcomings of existing approaches and new improvements in the latest operations tools used to support the Mars Exploration Rover missions and rover technology development tasks at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. We conclude with future directions we plan to explore in improving the localization knowledge available for operations and more effective targeting of rovers and their instrument payloads.

remote rover operations↗

Comparison of Mars Atmospheric Density Estimates from Models to Measurements from Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Data

A recent study (Desai, 2008) has shown that the actual landing sites of Mars Pathfinder, the Mars Exploration Rovers (Spirit and Opportunity) and the Phoenix Mars Lander have been further downrange than predicted by models prior to landing Desai's reconstruction of their entries into the Martian atmosphere showed that the models consistently predicted higher densities than those found upon entry, descent and landing. Desai's results have raised a question as to whether there is a systemic problem within Mars atmospheric models. Proposal is to compare Mars atmospheric density estimates from Mars atmospheric models to measurements made by Mars Global Surveyor (MGS). Comparison study requires the completion of several tasks that would result in a greater understanding of reasons behind the discrepancy found during recent landings on Mars and possible solutions to this problem.

Justh, Hilary L.↗