Automation and robotics for COLUMBUS: An implementation concept for the free flying laboratory (MTFF)

With nearly forty percent of the funding, Germany is the main contributor to the European COLUMBUS Programme, followed by Italy, France and further ESA member states. The COLUMBUS elements are the Attached Laboratory (APM) to be permanently attached to the Space Station FREEDOM, the polar platform (PPF) and the Man Tended Free Flyer (MTFF). The latter element is regarded to be of special interest for the German micro-g community. Until now the implementation of A&R Technologies has not been included as part of the system concept for the COLUMBUS laboratory modules. Yet especially for the Free Flyer, a high degree of A&R will be indispensible. An A&R system concept and implementation options for A&R are given to make the COLUMBUS labs 'intelligent' laboratories in orbit

Database machines in support of very large databases

Software database management systems were developed in response to the needs of early data processing applications. Database machine research developed as a result of certain performance deficiencies of these software systems. This thesis discusses the history of database machines designed to improve the performance of database processing and focuses primarily on the Teradata DBC/1012, the only successfully marketed database machine that supports very large databases today. Also reviewed is the response of IBM to the performance needs of its database customers; this response has been in terms of improvements in both software and hardware support for database processing. In conclusion, an analysis is made of the future of database machines, in particular the DBC/1012, in light of recent IBM enhancements and its immense customer base

A novel interplanetary communications relay

A case study of a potential Earth-Mars interplanetary communications relay, designed to ensure continuous communications, is detailed. The relay makes use of orbits based on artificial equilibrium points via the application of continuous low thrust, which allows a spacecraft to hover above the orbital plane of Mars and thus ensure communications when the planet is occulted with respect to the Earth. The artificial equilibria of two different low-thrust propulsion technologies are considered: solar electric propulsion, and a solar sail/solar electric propulsion hybrid. In the latter case it is shown that the combination of sail and solar electric propulsion may prove advantageous, but only under specific circumstances of the relay architecture suggested. The study takes into account factors such as the spacecraft's power requirements and communications band utilized to determine the mission and system architecture. A detailed contingency analysis is considered for recovering the relay after increasing periods of spacecraft motor failure, and combined with a consideration for how best to deploy the relay spacecraft to maximise propellant reserves and mission duration

An overview of Mirjam and WeaveC

In this chapter, we elaborate on the design of an industrial-strength aspectoriented programming language and weaver for large-scale software development. First, we present an analysis on the requirements of a general purpose aspect-oriented language that can handle crosscutting concerns in ASML software. We also outline a strategy on working with aspects in large-scale software development processes. In our design, we both re-use existing aspect-oriented language abstractions and propose new ones to address the issues that we identified in our analysis. The quality of the code ensured by the realized language and weaver has a positive impact both on maintenance effort and lead-time in the first line software development process. As evidence, we present a short evaluation of the language and weaver as applied today in the software development process of ASML

The Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer Book 2018

(Abridged) This is the Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer 2018 book. It is intended as a concise reference guide to all aspects of the scientific and technical design of MSE, for the international astronomy and engineering communities, and related agencies. The current version is a status report of MSE's science goals and their practical implementation, following the System Conceptual Design Review, held in January 2018. MSE is a planned 10-m class, wide-field, optical and near-infrared facility, designed to enable transformative science, while filling a critical missing gap in the emerging international network of large-scale astronomical facilities. MSE is completely dedicated to multi-object spectroscopy of samples of between thousands and millions of astrophysical objects. It will lead the world in this arena, due to its unique design capabilities: it will boast a large (11.25 m) aperture and wide (1.52 sq. degree) field of view; it will have the capabilities to observe at a wide range of spectral resolutions, from R2500 to R40,000, with massive multiplexing (4332 spectra per exposure, with all spectral resolutions available at all times), and an on-target observing efficiency of more than 80%. MSE will unveil the composition and dynamics of the faint Universe and is designed to excel at precision studies of faint astrophysical phenomena. It will also provide critical follow-up for multi-wavelength imaging surveys, such as those of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, Gaia, Euclid, the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope, the Square Kilometre Array, and the Next Generation Very Large Array.Comment: 5 chapters, 160 pages, 107 figure

Electric solar wind sail applications overview

We analyse the potential of the electric solar wind sail for solar system space missions. Applications studied include fly-by missions to terrestrial planets (Venus, Mars and Phobos, Mercury) and asteroids, missions based on non-Keplerian orbits (orbits that can be maintained only by applying continuous propulsive force), one-way boosting to outer solar system, off-Lagrange point space weather forecasting and low-cost impactor probes for added science value to other missions. We also discuss the generic idea of data clippers (returning large volumes of high resolution scientific data from distant targets packed in memory chips) and possible exploitation of asteroid resources. Possible orbits were estimated by orbit calculations assuming circular and coplanar orbits for planets. Some particular challenge areas requiring further research work and related to some more ambitious mission scenarios are also identified and discussed.Comment: 18 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in ESTCube-1 special issue of Proceedings of the Estonian Academy of Science

Aeronautical engineering: A continuing bibliography with indexes (supplement 202)

This bibliography lists 447 reports, articles and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system in June 1986