Preliminary Results for the Multi-Robot, Multi-Partner, Multi-Mission, Planetary Exploration Analogue Campaign on Mount Etna

This paper was initially intended to report on the outcome of the twice postponed demonstration mission of the ARCHES project. Due to the global COVID pandemic, it has been postponed from 2020, then 2021, to 2022. Nevertheless, the development of our concepts and integration has progressed rapidly, and some of the preliminary results are worthwhile to share with the community to drive the dialog on robotics planetary exploration strategies. This paper includes an overview of the planned 4-week campaign, as well as the vision and relevance of the missiontowards the planned official space missions. Furthermore, the cooperative aspect of the robotic teams, the scientific motivation, the sub task achievements are summarised

New Mobile Telemetry Ground Station For Sounding Rocket, Stratospheric Balloon, And LEOP Satellite Support

The new telemetry station of the DLR Mobile Rocket Base (MORABA) is a fully equipped commanding, tracking, and data acquisition ground station developed particularly for sounding rockets and stratospheric research balloons. Furthermore, it serves as a support system for satellite missions during launch and early orbit phases. Its primary design goal was maximum mobility and versatility. Hence, the station is optimized for easy transportation in standard 20-foot ISO containers, fast setup, and highest independence regarding location and infrastructure. It can be operated at tropical temperatures and arctic condi-tions alike. The TT&C station comprises two independent antenna systems made by ORBIT Communication Systems. The main antenna features a segmented five-meter parabolic dish on a very fast eleva-tion-over-azimuth pedestal and an S-band tracking feed with supplementary acquisition aid. The feed supports simultaneous uplink and downlink in the S-band, both with polarization diversity for improved signal quality even under adverse conditions. A small 1.5-meter secondary antenna with autonomous tracking equipment provides backup to the main system for fast target acquisi-tion and wide angle tracking capability

Flying Boresight Source for Improved Testing and Calibration of Tracking Antennas and Advanced Flight Path Simulations

The application of ground-based boresight sources for calibration and testing of tracking antennas usually entails various difficulties, mostly due to unwanted ground effects. To avoid this problem, DLR MORABA developed a small, lightweight, frequency-adjustable S-band boresight source, mounted on a small remote-controlled multirotor aircraft. Highly accurate GPS-supported, position and altitude control functions allow both, very steady positioning of the aircraft in mid-air, and precise waypointbased, semi-autonomous flights. In contrast to fixed near-ground boresight sources this flying setup enables us to avoid obstructions in the Fresnel zone between source and antenna. Further, it minimizes ground reflections or other multipath effects which affect antenna calibrations. In addition, the large operating range of a flying boresight simplifies measurements in the far field of the antenna and permits undisturbed antenna pattern tests. A unique application is the realistic simulation of sophisticated flight paths, including overhead tracking and unusual trajectories of fast objects such as sounding rockets. Likewise, dynamic tracking tests are feasible which provide crucial information about the antenna pedestal performance, particularly at high elevations, and reveal weaknesses in the autotrack control loop

DLR's Mobile Rocket Base - Flight Opportunities for Israeli Universities and Research Institutes

The Mobile Rocket Base (MORABA), a departement of DLR’s Space Operations and Astronaut Training Institute fosters the national and international scientific community to prepare and implement sounding rocket and balloon borne experiments in the fields of aeronomy, astronomy, geophysics, hypersonic and especially microgravity research worldwide. In addition, satellite missions can be supported by mobile instrumentation radar for trajectory determination as well as with telemetry, telcommand and command (TT&C) ground stations. MORABA develops and provides mission support for a large number of mechanical and electrical flight systems for use on sounding rockets, balloons and short duration satellite missions. During the last four decades more than 200 campaigns have been performed in the Antarctic, Australia, Brazil, France, Greenland, India, Italy, Japan, Norway, Spain, Sweden and USA. Depending on the scientific aim, an appropriate launch range is selected and complemented or fully equipped with MORABA’s mobile infrastructure, such as launcher, telemetry and tracking stations. Converted surplus military or commercial rocket motors, as well as all necessary mechanical and electrical subsystems are developed and supplied by MORABA. For the launch of rockets, stability and performance calculations are carried out to ensure correct vehicle performance and to meet range safety aspects. This paper will give an overview of MORABA’s infrastructure for sounding rocket missions and it will focus on possible flight opportunities for Israeli universities and research institutes

The Network Infrastructure for the ROBEX Demomission Space

The demonstration mission space of the alliance Robotic Exploration of Extreme Environments (ROBEX) was a campaign on Mt. Etna in summer 2017. The network infrastructure and parts of the ground segment for this demonstration mission space were set up by the Mobile Rocket Base (MORABA) of the DLR. The ground segment included a control center which was based near Catania, Italy. Various terminals allowed for controlling a lander, a robotic rover and several experiment carriers which have been placed in 23 km airline distance on Mt. Etna. The distance was bridged by a radio link between the control center and a base camp at the demonstration site. From the base camp a shorter radio link of several hundreds of meters to the lander was established, and from there, the signal was distributed using several access points

First Results of the ROBEX Analogue Mission Campaign: Robotic Deployment of Seismic Networks for Future Lunar Missions

This paper presents first results of the analog mission campaign which was performed between the 12th of June and the 10th of July 2017 on Mount Etna in Europe, Italy. The aim of the ROBEX demonstration mission is to test and validate a complex robotic mission. This includes highly autonomous tasks with supervision from scientists to guarantee measurement of real and scientifically relevant data. The main scientific objective of the ROBEX mission, the detailed analysis of the lunar crust layers, that is replaced by the analysis of Etna lava layers in the demo mission, has been guiding the developments of the last four years. As key missions, a seismic network has been deployed and a seismic profile measurement has been conducted using only robots on the landing site. Additional experiments consisted of long term autonomous navigation, multi-robot mapping and exploration of craters as well as experiments with the aim of geological analyses and probe selection. During the one month analog campaign, a realistic mission scenario has been built up, including a control station approximately 30 km from the remote site

First Results from the ROBEX Demonstration Mission on Mt. Etna: A modular lunar architecture deployed to perform seismic experiments on a volcano as terrestrial validation of a lunar mission scenario

In the past 4 years, the ROBEX (Robotic exploration under extreme environments) alliance members have developed technologies to be used as key infrastructural elements supporting a lunar robotic surface exploration scenario consisting of modular landing systems, mobile elements and deployable instrument carriers equipped with seismic sensors. The systems have been developed along a lunar exploration scenario, called Active Seismic Network, supposed to investigate amongst others the subsurface layering on the moon. As flight opportunities and funding for real lunar missions are limited, analogue field testing is one of the few possibilities to validate such a coherent science and mission scenario and all its required technologies including their interactions. Terrestrial analog testing is a widespread methodology in planetary science and exploration technology development serving several purposes ranging from knowledge increase regarding planetary processes, testing of methodologies and strategies including training of personnel and offering also the possibility of engaging the public by performing outreach activities. A thorough investigation of terrestrial analogue sites has revealed Mount Etna at Sicily Italy, in a region which is characterized by active volcanism, to comply best with the technical and programmatic requirements and constraints for the terrestrial analogue field test in the ROBEX frame. The chosen region is characterized by a constant micro seismicity induced by volcanic activity and deep earthquakes that are localized in a similar depth range as expected in a lunar environment. This provides an excellent matching of the overall scientific and technological testing environment with the lunar one. Based on the realistic lunar exploration scenario, a mission scenario has been derived for the field test, which is designed to not only demonstrate technology, but to also generate meaningful scientific data and validate measurement methodologies for future lunar applications. Furthermore some key elements of the architecture, for example the LSS (Locomotion sub system) of the rover shall also be tested against applicable technological requirements. First results of tests will be presented revealing insight into aspects related to the overall mission scenario, including automatic sequencing, autonomy requirements, scientist and control centre interaction and measurement methods, all of which provide valuable input for future mission and system design. Still, the terrestrial analogue is by definition different from the lunar environment, leading to modifications and simplifications in the test equipment which shall also be covered in this paper exemplarily for the Instrument Carriers (Remote Units) and the lander (Surface Explorations Model)

VLM-1 - Vehicle Design and Analysis (XTRAS-TN-VLM-20150302)

This report is a summary of the activities performed by the X-TRAS (Expertise Raumtransportsysteme) group within the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in 2014, based on the data and design created by the VLM-1 development team of DLR and the Brazilian Aerospace Technology and Science Department (DCTA/IAE). The analyses were conducted with the present configuration of the VLM-1 Carrier, which is close to the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) of the Vehicle. VLM-1 is a three-staged solid propellant rocket, capable of scientific suborbital and microsatellite launches. The first two stages feature identical S50 solid rocket motors with thrust vector control and a fixed-nozzle, spin stabilized S44 solid rocket motor in third stage on top. Its maiden flight will take place at Alcantara launch site (Centro de Lançamento de Alcântara) in Brazil. VLM-1 unites flightproven, robust sounding rocket heritage technology and hardware, newly developed motors and structures, and advanced control systems in order to provide efficient launch services. Investigations in this report include, but are not limited to: aerodynamics, trajectory and performance, load analysis, control systems and flight stability, guidance and navigation, mechanical design, separation processes, trust vector control, solid rocket motors, electrical and RF systems, ground infrastructure, fairing separation, launcher testing and qualification, costs, mission cases, and future upgrades; The VLM-1 launcher’s capabilities and system design are described and analyzed in this case study

Protein kinase D2 regulates migration and invasion of U87MG glioblastoma cells in vitro

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common malignant brain tumor, which, despite combined modality treatment, reoccurs and is invariably fatal for affected patients. Recently, a member of the serine/threonine protein kinase D (PRKD) family, PRKD2, was shown to be a potent mediator of glioblastoma growth. Here we studied the role of PRKD2 in U87MG glioblastoma cell migration and invasion in response to sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P), an activator of PRKD2 and a GBM mitogen. Time-lapse microscopy demonstrated that random cell migration was significantly diminished in response to PRKD2 silencing. The pharmacological PRKD family inhibitor CRT0066101 decreased chemotactic migration and invasion across uncoated or matrigel-coated Transwell inserts. Silencing of PRKD2 attenuated migration and invasion of U87MG cells even more effectively. In terms of downstream signaling, CRT0066101 prevented PRKD2 autophosphorylation and inhibited p44/42 MAPK and to a smaller extent p54/46 JNK and p38 MAPK activation. PRKD2 silencing impaired activation of p44/42 MAPK and p54/46 JNK, downregulated nuclear c-Jun protein levels and decreased c-JunS73 phosphorylation without affecting the NFκB pathway. Finally, qPCR array analyses revealed that silencing of PRKD2 downregulates mRNA levels of integrin alpha-2 and -4 (ITGA2 and -4), plasminogen activator urokinase (PLAU), plasminogen activator urokinase receptor (PLAUR), and matrix metallopeptidase 1 (MMP1). Findings of the present study identify PRKD2 as a potential target to interfere with glioblastoma cell migration and invasion, two major determinants contributing to recurrence of glioblastoma after multimodality treatment