8,300 research outputs found
Orbit and attitude determination results during launch support operations for SBS-5
Presented are orbit and attitude determination results from the launch of Satellite Business Systems (SBS)-5 satellite on September 8, 1988 by Arianespace. SBS-5 is a (HS-376) spin stabilized spacecraft. The launch vehicle injected the spacecraft into a low inclination transfer orbit. Apogee motor firing (AMF) attitude was achieved with trim maneuvers. An apogee kick motor placed the spacecraft into drift orbit. Postburn, reorientation and spindown maneuvers were performed during the next 25 hours. The spacecraft was on-station 19 days later. The orbit and attitude were determined by both an extended Kalman filter and a weighted least squares batch processor. Although the orbit inclination was low and the launch was near equinox, post-AMF analysis indicated an attitude declination error of 0.034 deg., resulting in a saving of 8.5 pounds of fuel. The AMF velocity error was 0.4 percent below nominal. The post-AMF drift rate was determined with the filter only 2.5 hours after motor firing. The filter was used to monitor and retarget the reorientation to orbit normal in real time
Development of TPS flight test and operational instrumentation
Thermal and flow sensor instrumentation was developed for use as an integral part of the space shuttle orbiter reusable thermal protection system. The effort was performed in three tasks: a study to determine the optimum instruments and instrument installations for the space shuttle orbiter RSI and RCC TPS; tests and/or analysis to determine the instrument installations to minimize measurement errors; and analysis using data from the test program for comparison to analytical methods. A detailed review of existing state of the art instrumentation in industry was performed to determine the baseline for the departure of the research effort. From this information, detailed criteria for thermal protection system instrumentation were developed
[TiII] and [NiII] emission from the strontium filament of eta Carinae
We study the nature of the [TiII] and [NiII] emission from the so-called
strontium filament found in the ejecta of eta Carinae. To this purpose we
employ multilevel models of the TiII and NiII systems which are used to
investigate the physical condition of the filament and the excitation
mechanisms of the observed lines. For the TiII ion, for which no atomic data
was previously available, we carry out ab initio calculations of radiative
transition rates and electron impact excitation rate coefficients. It is found
that the observed spectrum is consistent with the lines being excited in a
mostly neutral region with an electron density of the order of cm
and a temperature around 6000 K. In analyzing three observations with different
slit orientations recorded between March~2000 and November~2001 we find line
ratios that change among various observations, in a way consistent with changes
of up to an order of magnitude in the strength of the continuum radiation
field. These changes result from different samplings of the extended filament,
due to the different slit orientations used for each observation, and yield
clues on the spatial extent and optical depth of the filament. The observed
emission indicates a large Ti/Ni abundance ratio relative to solar abundances.
It is suggested that the observed high Ti/Ni ratio in gas is caused by dust-gas
fractionation processes and does not reflect the absolute Ti/Ni ratio in the
ejecta of \etacar. We study the condensation chemistry of Ti, Ni and Fe within
the filament and suggest that the observed gas phase overabundance of TiComment: 14 paginas, 12 figure
Non-imprisonment conditions on spacetime
The non-imprisonment conditions on spacetimes are studied. It is proved that
the non-partial imprisonment property implies the distinction property.
Moreover, it is proved that feeble distinction, a property which stays between
weak distinction and causality, implies non-total imprisonment. As a result the
non-imprisonment conditions can be included in the causal ladder of spacetimes.
Finally, totally imprisoned causal curves are studied in detail, and results
concerning the existence and properties of minimal invariant sets are obtained.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures. v2: improved results on totally imprisoned
curves, a figure changed, some misprints fixe
The HATNet and HATSouth Exoplanet Surveys
The Hungarian-made Automated Telescope Network (HATNet) has been in operation
since 2003, with the key science goal being the discovery and accurate
characterization of transiting extrasolar planets (TEPs) around bright stars.
Using six small, 11\,cm\ aperture, fully automated telescopes in Arizona and
Hawaii, as of 2017 March, it has discovered and accurately characterized 67
such objects. The HATSouth network of telescopes has been in operation since
2009, using slightly larger, 18\,cm diameter optical tubes. It was the first
global network of telescopes using identical instrumentation. With three
premier sites spread out in longitude (Chile, Namibia, Australia), the HATSouth
network permits round-the-clock observations of a 128 square arcdegree swath of
the sky at any given time, weather permitting. As of this writing, HATSouth has
discovered 36 transiting exoplanets. Many of the altogether ~100 HAT and
HATSouth exoplanets were the first of their kind. They have been important
contributors to the rapidly developing field of exoplanets, motivating and
influencing observational techniques, theoretical studies, and also actively
shaping future instrumentation for the detection and characterization of such
objects.Comment: Invited review chapter, accepted for publication in "Handbook of
Exoplanets", edited by H.J. Deeg and J.A. Belmonte, Springer Reference Work
The SWINDEX Experiment: mooring design and implementation. SWINDEX Technical Report 1991-1993
A note on Kerr/CFT and free fields
The near-horizon geometry of the extremal four-dimensional Kerr black hole
and certain generalizations thereof has an SL(2,R) x U(1) isometry group.
Excitations around this geometry can be controlled by imposing appropriate
boundary conditions. For certain boundary conditions, the U(1) isometry is
enhanced to a Virasoro algebra. Here, we propose a free-field construction of
this Virasoro algebra.Comment: 10 pages, v2: comments and references adde
Excitation of Sr II lines in Eta Carinae
We study the nature of the peculiar [Sr II] and Sr II emission filament found in the ejecta of Eta Carinae. To this purpose we carry out abinitio calculations of radiative transition probabilities and electron impact excitation rate coefficients for Sr II. Then we build a multilevel model for the system which is used to investigate the physical condition of the filament and the nature of the observed allowed and forbidden Sr II optical emission. It is found that the observed spectrum is consistent with the lines being pumped by the continuum radiation field in a mostly neutral region with electron density near 107cm-3 . Under these conditions, the observed emission can be explained without the need for a large Sr overabundance
High-Energy Neutrinos from Photomeson Processes in Blazars
An important radiation field for photomeson neutrino production in blazars is
shown to be the radiation field external to the jet. Assuming that protons are
accelerated with the same power as electrons and injected with a -2 number
spectrum, we predict that km^2 neutrino telescopes will detect about
1-to-several neutrinos per year from flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) such
as 3C 279. The escaping high-energy neutron and photon beams transport inner
jet energy far from the black-hole engine, and could power synchrotron X-ray
jets and FR II hot spots and lobes.Comment: revised paper (minor revisions), accepted for publication in PR
The Anti-Coincidence Detector for the GLAST Large Area Telescope
This paper describes the design, fabrication and testing of the
Anti-Coincidence Detector (ACD) for the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope
(GLAST) Large Area Telescope (LAT). The ACD is LAT first-level defense against
the charged cosmic ray background that outnumbers the gamma rays by 3-5 orders
of magnitude. The ACD covers the top and 4 sides of the LAT tracking detector,
requiring a total active area of ~8.3 square meters. The ACD detector utilizes
plastic scintillator tiles with wave-length shifting fiber readout. In order to
suppress self-veto by shower particles at high gamma-ray energies, the ACD is
segmented into 89 tiles of different sizes. The overall ACD efficiency for
detection of singly charged relativistic particles entering the tracking
detector from the top or sides of the LAT exceeds the required 0.9997.Comment: 33 pages, 19 figure
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