Qubesat for Aerothermodynamic Research and Measurement on AblatioN

International audienceThe preliminary design of the QARMAN re-entry CubeSat developed by the von Karman Institute is presented in this paper from de-orbiting to payload choices. It represents an ideal cost-efficient platform for re-entry flight test and validation of thermal protection system (TPS) materials with a demonstration flight scheduled for June 2015. The CubeSat comprises a standard double-unit platform with sensors for atmospheric research and a functional unit for essential satellite operations. A third unit accommodating an ablative heat shield is added to protect the vehicle against the extreme aerothermal conditions of the re-entry. The challenging aspect of the project lies on the constraining mass and form factor from the CubeSat standard, 3kg and 34x10x10 cm 3. Finally, the preliminary design of the vehicle results in a payload of 400 g collecting data all along the re-entry trajectory including the maximal heat flux conditions

In-Space Additive Manufacturing for Planetary Exploration

No abstract available

Asteroid deflection by leveraging rotational self-energy

A novel concept for the deflection of rotating asteroids is presented, based on the conversion of the asteroid rotational kinetic energy into translational kinetic energy. Such conversion is achieved using an orbital siphon, a tether-connected chain of masses, arranged vertically from the asteroid surface, which exploits the rotation of the asteroid for the delivery of mass from the asteroid to escape. Under the conditions to be discussed, the siphon can be initiated to ensure self-sustained flow of mass from the asteroid to escape. This mechanism is proposed to use a fraction of the asteroid as reaction mass, with the asteroid rotational kinetic energy leveraged to deliver the mass to escape and hence impart a reaction on the asteroid itself. Key parameters, such as velocity change, deflection duration, tension requirements and siphon length, are discussed. Deflection effectiveness is assessed for different release strategies. It is shown that typical velocity changes on the order of 1 cm/s can be achieved within a time window of a decade

Mars atmospheric characterization with a ChipSat swarm

A mission scenario is proposed, where a large number of centimeter-scale femto-spacecraft are dispersed from a CubeSat piggyback payload on a future Mars mission. This swarm would deliver real-time massively parallel sensing throughout entry, descent, and landing with in-orbit measurements, atmospheric characterization during descent, and even surface science upon landing. Because few entry profiles exist at present for the in situ atmospheric modeling of Mars, a ChipSat swarm offers a promising tool for cost-effective atmospheric characterization that could lower risks for ongoing Mars exploration programs

Solar System Swarm Probes: An Earth-based Technology Demonstrator

No abstract available

The Use of In-Space Manufactured Solid Foams for Aerocapture

No abstract available

A Fully Three-Dimensional Method for Facial Reconstruction Based on Deformable Models

International audienceTwo facial models corresponding to two deceased subjects have been manually created and the two corresponding skulls have been dissected and skeletonized. These pairs of skull/ facial data have been scanned with a CT scanner, and the computed geometric three-dimensional models of both skulls and facial tissue have been built. One set of skull/facial data will be used as a reference set whereas the second set is used as ground truth for validating our method. After a semi-automatic face-skull registration, we apply an original computing global parametric transformation T that turns the reference skull into the skull to be reconstructed. This algorithm is based upon salient lines of the skull called crest lines: more precisely the crest lines of the first skull are matched to the crest lines of the second skull by an iterative closest point algorithm. Then we apply this algorithm to the reference face to obtain the "unknown" face to be reconstructed. The reliability and difficulties of this original technique are then discussed

Mechanical Design of Self-Reconfiguring 4D-Printed OrigamiSats: A New Concept for Solar Sailing

In this article, a self-reconfiguring OrigamiSat concept is presented. The reconfiguration of the proposed OrigamiSat is triggered by combining the effect of 4D material (i.e. origami’s edges) and changes in the local surface optical properties (i.e., origami’s facets) to harness the solar radiation pressure acceleration. The proposed OrigamiSat uses the principle of solar sailing to enhance the effect of the Sun radiation to generate momentum on the Aluminised Kapton (Al-Kapton) origami surface by transitioning from mirror-like to diffusely reflecting optical properties of each individual facet. Numerical simulations have demonstrated that local changes in the optical properties can trigger reconfiguration. A minimum of 1-m edge size facet is required for a thick-origami to generate enough forces from the Sun radiation. The thick-origami pattern is 3D-printed directly on a thin Al-Kapton film (the solar sail substrate which is highly reflective). An elastic filament (thermoplastic polyurethane TPU) showed best performance when printing directly on the Al-Kapton and the Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene with carbon fiber reinforcement (ABS/cc) is added to augment the origami mechanical properties. The 4D material (shape memory polymer) is integrated only at specific edges to achieve self-deployment by applying heat. Two different folding mechanisms were studied: 1) the cartilage-like, where the hinge is made combining the TPU and the 4D material which make the mounts or valleys fully stretchable, and 2) the mechanical hinge, where simple hinges are made solely of ABS/cc. Numerical simulations have demonstrated that the cartilage-like hinge is the most suitable design for light-weight reconfigurable OrigamiSat when using the solar radiation pressure acceleration. We have used build-in electric board to heat up the 4D material and trigger the folding. We envisage embedding the heat wire within the 4D hinge in the future.</jats:p

Enabling and Enhancing Science Exploration Across the Solar System: Aerocapture Technology for SmallSat to Flagship Missions

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