Self contamination effects in the TAUVEX UV Telescope: Ground testing and computer simulation

The contamination effects due to outgassing from construction materials of the TAUVEX (Tel Aviv University UV Telescope) were evaluated using a combination of ground testing and computer simulations. Tests were performed from the material level of the system level including: (1) High sensitivity CVCM(10(exp -3 percent) measurements of critical materials. (2) Optical degradation measurements of samples specially contaminated by outgassing products at different contamination levels. (3) FTIR studies of chemical composition of outgassed products on above samples. (4) High resolution AFM studies of surface morphology of contaminated surfaces. The expected degradation of TAUVEX performance in mission was evaluated applying a computer simulation code using input parameters determined experimentally in the above tests. The results have served as guidelines for the proper selection of materials, cleanliness requirements, determination of the thermal conditions of the system and bakeout processes

Observational Evidence Linking Interstellar UV Absorption to PAH Molecules

Interstellar matter and star formatio

MARE: The Matroshka AstroRad Radiation Experiment on the NASA Orion EM-1 Mission to the Moon How we tackle the risk of radiation for human missions beyond Low Earth Orbit

NASA’s Human Research Program has organized and summarized five classifications of hazards for long duration human exploration missions beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO). These five hazards are 1) radiation, 2) isolation, 3) distance, 4) gravity fields and 5) the hostile/close environment inside the spacecraft. Leaving LEO and traveling in free space will expose the astronauts to a much harsher radiation environment than currently on board the International Space Station (ISS). The relevant radiation risks for these upcoming exploration missions, to the Moon, near Earth Asteroids and in the end to Mars need to be identified and dealt with to enable safe and secure human exploration. Within this context Orion, being NASA´s next generation spacecraft designed for human exploration of the solar systems will be the home of the next generation of astronauts. The upcoming NASA Orion Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1), being an unmanned test flight scheduled for 2020 venturing beyond LEO and into cislunar space offers the unique opportunity to house a variety of secondary research payloads to tackle the problem of radiation and radiation protection. One of these payloads is the Matroshka AstroRad Radiation Experiment (MARE), a science payload proposed by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the Israel Space Agency (ISA) and approved by NASA and manifested for flight aboard EM-1 in 2017. MARE will consist of two anthropomorphic female phantoms (torsos), named Helga and Zohar, located inside the Orion cabin at seat positions 3 and 4. Each of the phantoms will be equipped with a variety of active and passive radiation detectors to determine the skin and organ doses during this first flight beyond LEO in almost 50 years. In addition one of the phantoms (Zohar) will be equipped with a novel radiation protection vest (AstroRad) developed in cooperation between StemRad Ltd, Israel and Lockheed Martin. An ergonomic evaluation of the AstroRad is planned onboard ISS as early as 2019. With this flight configuration, Helga will act as the reference phantom while the protection properties of the AstroRad vest will be tested with Zohar. MARE is designed to provide a comprehensive picture of the radiation environment beyond LEO specific to the Orion vehicle and internal to human body analogs. This data set will inform about expected exposures, enable better planning by validating the operational toolsets used to predict crew radiation exposure risk on future Orion missions, and evaluate a potential countermeasure. MARE leverages the expertise and international collaboration heritage of the ISS Matroshka experiments, and expands it further by adding the mitigation component of the AstroRad shield. MARE represents a demonstration of science research opportunities aboard NASA’s next generation space exploration vehicle. The presentation will provide an overview of the current status of the experiment hardware design, presenting the first data on the special developed new active radiation detectors included in MARE and provide insights in the international team working together to ensure safe human travels for exploration missions

A Spaceborne Wind Sounder Lidar (SBL)

This paper presents a commercial oriented SpaceBorne wind sounder LIDAR (SBL) system, which is designed for advanced remote sensing purposes. The main objectives of SBL are the measurement of wind velocities, by measuring its Doppler shifted reflection from the various atmospheric layers. This represents a unique way to map the three dimensional wind field around the globe

DAVID: A Multi Spectral High-Resolution Small Satellite

DAVID is a small satellite for advanced remote sensing purposes - designed to meet the specific requirements of today\u27s and tomorrow\u27s Earth observation users in the fields of environmental monitoring, hazard warning and damage assessment. The development is a joint German-Israeli co-operative project. The satellite is designed to provide earth images with high spatial and spectral resolution and good radiometric sensitivity, despite its small size and low cost. It will have more spectral bands in the VIS/NIR range than sensors on most existing or planned multi-spectral high-resolution satellites and higher ground resolution than planned hyperspectral space sensors like LEWIS or MODIS. DAVID will be able to meet the actual tendencies in Earth observation by delivering 12 narrow bands with a spatial resolution of about 5 m. By its slewing capability DAVID will get the important performance gain of short data delivery times due to short target revisit cycles of 3 days can be established. This is particularly important for the monitoring of dynamic processes. Existing space-rated sub-systems will be used or adapted for this system, combined with new satellite and detector technologies, to achieve the low cost and high performance goals. The two principal companies involved, OHB System in Germany and El-Op in Israel are both experienced in the design and construction of space systems, some of which have already been successfully launched. In addition, another German company, GAF, is actively involved in the parameter defamation and image product distribution aspects of the system. A feasibility study has been completed. This paper will describe the updated system concept