Preliminary Development Plan Of The Alr, The Laser Rangefinder For The Aster Deep Space Mission To The 2001 Sn263 Asteroid

The Brazilian deep space mission ASTER, as temporarily named, plans to send a small spacecraft to encounter and investigate the triple asteroid 2001-SN263. The launch is scheduled (initially) to occur in 2015, arriving in 2018. The main motivation of the mission is the development of technology and expertise to leverage the national space sector. Within the scientific goals, the investigation of the still unknown asteroid 2001-SN263. The main project guideline is to aggregate the widest possible Brazilian involvement in the platform, the development and operation of subsystems, integration, payload, as well as in the tracking, navigation, guidance and control of the probe. To meet this guideline, among others, the decision for the development of a laser altimeter in Brazil to fly in the mission was taken. This effort is currently coordinated by a group of researchers from the aerospace engineering personnel of UFABC. This article presents the preliminary development plan for the design of this instrument, which was called ALR (ASTER Laser Rangefinder).33331338Araujo, R.A.N., Winter, O.C., Prado, A.F.B., De, A., Sukhanov, A., (2010) O Sistema Triplo De Asteróides 2001SN263: Dinâmica Orbital E Regiões De Estabilidade, , Trabalho apresentado no XV Colóquio Brasileiro de Dinâmica Orbital, Hotel Alpina, Teresópolis, RJ, BrasilBecker, T., Howell, E.S., Nolan, M.C., Magri, C., Physical Modeling of Triple Near-Earth Asteroid 153591(2001 SN263) (2008) American Astronomical Society, DPS Meeting #40, #28.06, 40, p. 437. , Bulletin of the American Astronomical SocietyCole, T.D., NEAR Laser Rangefinder: A tool for the mapping and topologic study of Asteroid 433 Eros (1998) JHU/APL Tech. Dig., 19 (2), pp. 142-157Hashimoto, T., Kubota, T., Mizuno, T., Light weight sensors for the autonomous asteroid landing of MUSES-C mission (2003) Acta Astronautica, 52 (2-6), pp. 381-388Nolan, M.C., Howell, E.S., Benner, L.A.M., Ostro, S.J., Giorgini, J.D., Magri, C., Margot, J., Shepard, M., Planetary Radar Imaging of Binary Asteroids (2008) Presentation in the Binary Asteroid Dynamics Workshop, , http://www.asu.cas.cz/~asteroid/paris/add-ons.htm, Observatory Meudon, Paris, France, fromReddy, V., Gaffey, M.J., Schaal, M., Takir, D., Physical Characterization of First Triplet Near-Earth Asteroid (153591) 2001 SN263 (2008) Asteroids, Comets, Meteors, , 2008 held July 14-18, In Baltimore, Maryland. LPI Contribution No. 1405, paper id. 8244Sukhanov, A.A., de Velho, H.F.C., Macau, E.E., Winter, O.C., The Aster project: Flight to a near-Earth asteroid (2010) Cosmic Research, 48 (5), pp. 443-450. , doi:10.1134/S0010952510050114Tsuno, K., Okumura, E., Katsuyama, Y., Mizuno, T., Hashimoto, T., Nakayama, M., Hashimoto, H., Lidar on board asteroid explorer Hayabusa (2006) Proc. 6th Internat. Conf. On Space Optics, , ESTEC, Noordwijk, The Netherlands (ESA SP-621, JuneWinter, O.C., de Araujo, R.A.N., de Prado, A.F.B.A., Sukhanov, A., A Study of the orbital dynamics of the asteroid 2001 SN263 (2010) Proceedings of the 9th Brazilian Conference on Dynamics Control and Their Applications. Serra Negra, SP, , http://www.sbmac.org.br/dincon/trabalhos/PDF/minisymposia/68649.pdf, ISSN 2178-3667, fro

NEOTROPICAL XENARTHRANS: a data set of occurrence of xenarthran species in the Neotropics

Xenarthrans – anteaters, sloths, and armadillos – have essential functions for ecosystem maintenance, such as insect control and nutrient cycling, playing key roles as ecosystem engineers. Because of habitat loss and fragmentation, hunting pressure, and conflicts with 24 domestic dogs, these species have been threatened locally, regionally, or even across their full distribution ranges. The Neotropics harbor 21 species of armadillos, ten anteaters, and six sloths. Our dataset includes the families Chlamyphoridae (13), Dasypodidae (7), Myrmecophagidae (3), Bradypodidae (4), and Megalonychidae (2). We have no occurrence data on Dasypus pilosus (Dasypodidae). Regarding Cyclopedidae, until recently, only one species was recognized, but new genetic studies have revealed that the group is represented by seven species. In this data-paper, we compiled a total of 42,528 records of 31 species, represented by occurrence and quantitative data, totaling 24,847 unique georeferenced records. The geographic range is from the south of the USA, Mexico, and Caribbean countries at the northern portion of the Neotropics, to its austral distribution in Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay. Regarding anteaters, Myrmecophaga tridactyla has the most records (n=5,941), and Cyclopes sp. has the fewest (n=240). The armadillo species with the most data is Dasypus novemcinctus (n=11,588), and the least recorded for Calyptophractus retusus (n=33). With regards to sloth species, Bradypus variegatus has the most records (n=962), and Bradypus pygmaeus has the fewest (n=12). Our main objective with Neotropical Xenarthrans is to make occurrence and quantitative data available to facilitate more ecological research, particularly if we integrate the xenarthran data with other datasets of Neotropical Series which will become available very soon (i.e. Neotropical Carnivores, Neotropical Invasive Mammals, and Neotropical Hunters and Dogs). Therefore, studies on trophic cascades, hunting pressure, habitat loss, fragmentation effects, species invasion, and climate change effects will be possible with the Neotropical Xenarthrans dataset