Sun Sensor Based on a Luminance Spiking Pixel Array

We present a novel sun sensor concept. It is the very first sun sensor built with an address event representation spiking pixel matrix. Its pixels spike with a frequency proportional to illumination. It offers remarkable advantages over conventional digital sun sensors based on active pixel sensor (APS) pixels. Its output data flow is quite reduced. It is possible to resolve the sun position just receiving one single event operating in time-to-first-spike mode. It operates with a latency in the order of milliseconds. It has higher dynamic range than APS image sensors (higher than 100 dB). A custom algorithm to compute the centroid of the illuminated pixels is presented. Experimental results are provided.Universidad de Cádiz PR2016-072Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad TEC2015-66878-C3-1-RJunta de Andalucía TIC 2012- 2338Office of Naval Research (USA) N00014141035

Workshop on Advanced Technologies for Planetary Instruments, part 1

This meeting was conceived in response to new challenges facing NASA's robotic solar system exploration program. This volume contains papers presented at the Workshop on Advanced Technologies for Planetary Instruments on 28-30 Apr. 1993. This meeting was conceived in response to new challenges facing NASA's robotic solar system exploration program. Over the past several years, SDIO has sponsored a significant technology development program aimed, in part, at the production of instruments with these characteristics. This workshop provided an opportunity for specialists from the planetary science and DoD communities to establish contacts, to explore common technical ground in an open forum, and more specifically, to discuss the applicability of SDIO's technology base to planetary science instruments

Micro guidance and control synthesis: New components, architectures, and capabilities

New GN&C (guidance, navigation and control) system capabilities are shown to arise from component innovations that involve the synergistic use of microminiature sensors and actuators, microelectronics, and fiber optics. Micro-GN&C system and component concepts are defined that include micro-actuated adaptive optics, micromachined inertial sensors, fiber-optic data nets and light-power transmission, and VLSI microcomputers. The thesis is advanced that these micro-miniaturization products are capable of having a revolutionary impact on space missions and systems, and that GN&C is the pathfinder micro-technology application that can bring that about

A Low-Latency, Low-Power CMOS Sun Sensor for Attitude Calculation Using Photovoltaic Regime and On-Chip Centroid Computation

The demand for sun sensors has skyrocketed in the last years due to the huge expected deployment of satellites associated with the New Space concept. Sun sensors compute the position of the sun relative to the observer and play a crucial role in navigation systems. However, the sensor itself and the associated electronics must be able to operate in harsh environments. Thus, reducing hardware and post-processing resources improves the robustness of the system. Furthermore, reducing power consumption increases the lifetime of microsatellites with a limited power budget. This work describes the design, implementation, and characterization of a proof-of-concept prototype of a low-power, high-speed sun sensor architecture. The proposed sensor uses photodiodes working in the photovoltaic regime and event-driven vision concepts to overcome the limitations of conventional digital sun sensors in terms of latency, data throughput, and power consumption. The temporal resolution of the prototype is in the microsecond range with an average power consumption lower than 100 μW. Experimental results are discussed and compared with the state-of-the-art.Junta de Andalucía AT21_00096Office of Naval Research (ONR) N00014-19-1-2156Ministerio de Industria, Comercio y Turismo AEI-010500- 2022b-

GTOSat: Radiation Belt Dynamics from the Inside

GTOSat, a 6U SmallSat integrated and tested at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), has a scheduled launch date of July 31st, 2022, on an Atlas V. From a low inclination geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO), GTOSat has the primary science goal of advancing our quantitative understanding of acceleration and loss of relativistic electrons in the Earth’s outer radiation belt. It will measure energy spectra and pitch angles of both the seed and the energized electron populations simultaneously using a compact, high-heritage Relativistic Electron Magnetic Spectrometer (REMS) built by The Aerospace Corporation. A boom-mounted Fluxgate Magnetometer (FMAG), developed by NASA GSFC, will provide 3-axis knowledge of the ambient local magnetic field. The spacecraft bus uses a combination of commercial and in-house/custom designed components. Design, integration, and testing of the spacecraft bus was performed by a small, dedicated team at GSFC. Throughout development GTOSat has encountered numerous challenges, expected and unexpected, that we’re ready to share with the community

Advanced technologies for planetary instruments

The planetary science community described instrumentation needed for missions that may go into development during the next 5 to 10 years. Then the DoD community to informed their counterparts in planetary science about their interests and capabilities, and to described the BMDO technology base, flight programs, and future directions. The working group sessions and the panel discussion synthesized technical and programmatic issues from all the presentations, with a specific goal of assessing the applicability of BMDO technologies to science instrumentation for planetary exploration.edited by J. Appleby.Clementine II: A Double Asteroid Flyby and Impactor Mission / Boain, R.J. -- The APX Spectrometer for Martian Missions / Economou, T. -- Clementine Sensor Processing System / Feldstein, A.A. -- The Ultraviolet Plume Instrument (UVPI) / Horan, D.M. -- New Technologies for UV Detectors / Joseph, C.L

Microscope for biological research in space

Understanding how space environment affects on biological systems has become especially important now, when manned space exploration missions beyond the low Earth orbit are under planning. Mini Fluorescence Microscope is European Space Agency's project with an objective to develop a breadboard model of a microscope that could advance radiation and gravity related biological research in space. A flight model of the microscope would be developed in the subsequent project. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the potential of a miniaturized fluorescence microscope in space research. The thesis consists of three main topics. First, the purpose is to specify the fundamental questions in space biology that could be studied with microscopy approaches. Secondly, the state of the art in miniaturized microscopes and space microscopy are reviewed. Lastly, it is determined what are the potential platforms for this kind of instrument. Based on the review, applications for miniaturized fluorescence microscope in space research are diverse. The health threats for humans in space are more or less characterized, but the underlying cellular mechanisms are poorly understood and require more research. Studying the survivability of microorganisms would benefit space exploration in many ways, such as by supporting the further development of planetary protection policies. The smallest of the reviewed microscopes were not standalone instruments and the microscopes previously used in space were relatively large. There is a need for more independently functioning and compact space microscope. The potential platforms are facilities on-board the International Space Station, CubeSats and rovers.Suunniteltaessa miehitettyjä avaruuslentoja Maan matalan kiertoradan ulkopuolelle, on yhä tärkeämpää ymmärtää miten avaruusympäristö vaikuttaa biologisiin systeemeihin. Mini Fluorescence Microscope on Euroopan avaruusjärjestön projekti, jonka tavoitteena on kehittää prototyyppi mikroskoopista, joka edistäisi säteilyyn ja painovoimaan liittyvää biologista tutkimusta avaruudessa. Lentomalli mikroskoopista kehitettäisiin seuraavassa projektissa. Tämän tutkielman tarkoituksena on selvittää mitä pienikokoisen fluoresenssimikroskoopin käyttö mahdollistaisi avaruustutkimuksessa. Tutkielma koostuu kolmesta pääkohdasta. Ensimmäiseksi määritellään ne avaruusbiologian peruskysymykset, joita voitaisiin tutkia mikroskopiamenetelmillä. Seuraavaksi tarkastellaan pienikokoisten mikroskooppien ja avaruusmikroskooppien teknisiä ratkaisuja. Lopuksi määritellään mitkä olisivat mahdollisia käyttöalustoja tällaiselle mittalaitteelle. Tutkielman johtopäätös on, että pienikokoisella fluoresenssimikroskoopilla on monipuolisia sovelluskohteita avaruustutkimuksessa. Avaruusympäristön ihmiselle aiheuttamat terveysuhat ovat jokseenkin määritelty, mutta niiden taustalla olevia solutason mekanismeja ymmärretään huonosti. Mikrobien selviytymisen tutkiminen avaruusympäristössä tukisi esimerkiksi planeettojen suojelupolitiikan kehittämistä. Pienimmät tarkastelluista olemassa olevista mikroskoopeista eivät olleet itsenäisesti toimivia laitteita, ja avaruudessa käytetyt mikroskoopit olivat puolestaan suhteellisen suurikokoisia. Itsenäisemmin toimivalle kompaktille avaruusmikroskoopille on siis tarvetta. Mahdollisia käyttöalustoja ovat kansainvälisen avaruusaseman laitteistot, CubeSatit ja mönkijät