A systems-level performance history of get away specials after 25 space shuttle missions

Summarized are the results of a thorough performance study of Get Away Special (GAS) payloads conducted in 1986. During the study, a complete list of standard and non-standard GAS payloads vs. Shuttle mission was constructed, including specific titles for the experiments in each canister. A broad data base for each canister and each experiment was then compiled. Performance results were then obtained for all but a few experiments. The canisters and experiments were subsequently categorized according to the degree of experiment success. For those experiments experiencing failures or anomalies, several correlations and generalizations were extracted from individual subsystem performance data. Recommendations are made which may enhance the success and performance of future GAS payloads

RocketPod™: A Method for Launching CubeSat-Class Payloads on ELVs and Spacecraft

RocketPod™ is a novel approach for carrying CubeSat-class secondary payloads to orbit aboard rockets and spacecraft at very low cost. The idea employs architectural features and mechanical, electrical and operational interfaces that are similar to Ecliptic’s RocketCam™ family of onboard video systems, which have been used successfully since 1997 on dozens of space missions. The most notable feature of the system is its ability to carry payloads on the exterior of a launch vehicle, outside the primary fairing and away from the primary payload. For rocket launches, both externally mounted (on the exterior skin of the host rocket) and internally mounted (inside the volume enclosed by the main payload fairing) pod carriers have been assessed. Payloads could be deployable free-flyer satellites or non-deployable attached experiments. Potential RocketPod applications on spacecraft include deploying inspector satellites, sub-satellites, other sensors or piggyback technology experiments. All payloads would be required to meet CubeSat-like interfaces and weigh 1 to 2 kg. A RocketPod-based program could start in early 2006 that would enable a cost-effective series of secondary payload launches with relatively short payload integration cycle times (much less than one year) and a variety of flexible mission options

To the Moon from a B-52: Robotic Lunar Exploration using the Pegasus Winged Rocket and Ballistic Lunar Capture

A subset of the presently-defined NASA robotic lunar exploration objectives may be achievable with a new mission architecture involving the Pegasus winged rocket, small satellites, and a new class of Earth-Moon trajectories incorporating ballistic lunar capture. Enabling this potentially low-cost method of lunar exploration - perhaps for a few tens of millions of dollars per mission - is the application of the Weak Stability Boundary Theory developed by Belbruno during 1987-89, which leads to ballistic ( maneuverless ) Earth-Moon trajectories. On such a path, a spacecraft could be orbited at the Moon for little additional ∆ V (\u3c 50 m/s for minor trajectory correction maneuvers) beyond that supplied by the Pegasus for the initial Earth departure burn, resulting in a significant propellant savings. (Additional maneuvers would then be required to establish a more useful lunar orbit.) The price for this savings is an extended trip time to the Moon of 3-5 months. This type of trajectory is presently being demonstrated for the first time by the Japanese Hiten spacecraft, using an application developed in 1990 by Belbruno and James K. Miller at JPL; it may also be employed for the Japanese Lunar-A penetrator mission in 1996. If conventional Hohmann-like Earth-Moon transfers are employed, present versions of the Pegasus - even if outfitted with a small fourth stage can deliver only modest-sized spacecraft to the Moon (\u3c 50 kg), most likely not big enough to address presently-defined NASA robotic lunar exploration objectives. In contrast, if the ballistic capture technique is employed in conjunction with four-stage. versions of Pegasus, an additional 15 to 30 kg or more of spacecraft mass is gained, resulting in 65-80 kg small satellites which may be able to accomplish some meaningful objectives at the Moon, including gravity field determination, magnetospheric studies, and other related fields, particles and waves objectives. Advertised growth versions of the Pegasus combined with recent developments in small-satellite technology may allow for more capable satellites to reach the Moon, perhaps enabling the achievement of more demanding objectives. In the current tight budgetary climate, this new mission architecture may allow for incremental achievement of some NASA lunar science objectives by enabling significant enhancements in delivered small lunar satellite mass and capability while at the same time reducing the total mission costs for simple lunar missions. This lower-cost way of reaching the Moon may also provide an avenue for pursuing attractive commercial lunar activities and interesting lunar-based small-satellite constellation concepts

A Student Spacecraft for In-Orbit Test of NASA Tracking Programs

The spacecraft SURFSAT-1, now being designed, built, tested, and integrated by undergraduate college students, is to be launched as a secondary payload on a NASA rocket in the spring of 1995. The spacecraft consists of two boxes, roughly 12 x 12 x 16 , mounted permanently to the avionics bay structure of the second stage of a Delta II launch vehicle which will carry the Canadian RADARSAT Base. The boxes are powered by their own solar cells with no electrical connection to the second stage structure other then grounding. When in orbit the spacecraft, which will cost less than $2.5M, including test and launch integration, will be used routinely for several years as a test vehicle for NASA. The spacecraft will carry low-power radio transmitters which radiate milliwatts of power in three microwave bands to NASA tracking stations for deep space communication R&D, for testing a new set of earth orbiter tracking stations, and for training tracking station operators

Paper Session II-A - ISOBUS A Faster, Better, Cheaper Tool for Space Flight Experiments

Space exploration and related investigations have been suffering from programmatic inefficiencies inherent to customized projects. One-of-a-kind space investigations such as experiments, installations, platforms, and missions all lack the profit-driven architectures and money-making methodologies that characterize commercial enterprise. The foundation of long-tenm commercial success is in the smart and efficient utilization of capital investment. An enterprise that throws away its tools, its infrastructure, its expertise, and its capital, every time it completes a project is not likely to be able to afford to do so again and again. When resources are scarce, one must utilize them efficiently. Proven commercial methodologies such as standardization, mass production, miniaturization, modular interchangeability, and reusability . of tools, facilities, and resources are the principal techniques by which products can be created faster-better-cheaper. Commercial investigators in intensely competitive fields, such as biotechnology, have successfully applied these principles to their experimental setups, tools, and support systems. We must similarly employ commercial principles if we are to survive the expensive challenge of future space exploration. This paper introduces a faster-bettercheaper\u27\u27 approach for space investigators. The approach employs a tool called ISOBUS

The ISOSAT Small Satellite: A Design in Isogrid Technology

ISOSAT, a small hexagonal shaped satellite structure, was designed and constructed in the Industrial Technology Department at Utah State University as a senior research project using automated manufacturing techniques and incorporating the Isogrid structure concept. Isogrid applications can be found in projects such as Skylab, most cylindrical structural elements of the Delta rocket and in the engine shrouds of Boeing\u27s new 777 commercial airliners. The basis of the Isogrid is the repeating pattern of equilateral triangles which make up the structure. This pattern, machined into solid aluminum plates, results in a substantial weight savings with an acceptable reduction in structural strength. The intersections of adjacent triangles are referred to as nodes. These nodes serve as uniformly distributed attachment points for the mounting of instrumentation and other hardware

Interview with Rex Ridenoure

У овој тези изучавамо линеарно уређене структуре и њихове потпуне теорије. Главни технички алат који користимо у нашој анализи су кондензације, тј. разлагање уређења у конвексне делове и изучавање количничке структуре и структуре делова. Уводимо униформно дефинабилну кондензацију cδ која разлаже уређење у највеће конвексне делове чије су теорије првог реда једноставне: они су или густа или дискретна уређења. Изучавамо cδ количничке структуре које су експанзије одређених простих пребројивих дискретних уређења и дајемо детаљан опис оних које имају Кантор-Бендиксонов ранг 1. Такође користимо кондензацију cδ да докажемо да је свако линеарно уређење проширено са коначно много унарних предиката и релација еквиваленција са конвексним класама интерпретабилно у чистом линеарном уређењу. Уводимо својства линеарне и јаке линеарне бинарности за линеарно уређене структуре и њихове потпуне теорије. У случају теорије, дефиниција описује особину групе аутоморфизама њеног засићеног модела. Доказујемо да је свака потпуна теорија линеарног уређења са унарним предикатима и релацијама еквиваленције са конвексним класама јако линеарно бинарна. Главни резултат тврди да је јако линеарно бинарна структура дефиниционо еквивалентна линеарном уређењу са додатим унарним предикатима и релацијама еквиваленције са конвексним класама. У доказу дајемо опис дефинабилних скупова произвољног линеарног уређења са унарним предикатима и релацијама еквиваленције са конвексним класама.We study linearly ordered structures and their complete theories. The main technical tools used in the analysis are condensations, i.e. partitioning the ordering into convex parts and then studying the quotient structure and that of the parts. We introduce a uniformly definable condensation relation cδ that decomposes the ordering into largest convex pieces whose first order theory is simple: they are either dense or discrete orderings. We study cδ quotient structures that are expansions of certain simple countable discrete orderings and give a precise description of those having Cantor Bendixson rank 1. We also use the condensation cδ to prove that any linear ordering expanded by finitely many unary predicates and equivalence relations with convex classes is interpretable in a pure linear ordering. We introduce notions of linear and strong linear binarity for linearly ordered structures and their complete theories. In the case of a theory, the defining condition expresses a property of the automorphism group of its saturated model. We prove that any complete theory of a linear ordering with unary predicates and equivalence relations with convex classes is strongly linearly binary. The main result states that a strongly linearly binary structure is definitionally equivalent to a linear ordering with unary predicates and equivalence relation with convex classes added. In the proof we give a description of definable sets in any linear ordering with unary predicates and equivalence relations with convex classes

Small Spinning Landers for Solar System Exploration Missions

The spinning lander is a novel concept for safely landing and hopping on unimproved surfaces virtually anywhere in the solar system. It was first conceived in the early 1960s by satellite industry pioneer Harold Rosen, but not applied to an actual mission design until 2007-2008 as a Google Lunar XPRIZE team entry. Key to this new lander concept is the dual-spin spacecraft system approach developed and matured by Rosen and his Hughes Space & Communications, Inc. team starting in the late 1960s—a simple, scalable spacecraft architecture which dominated the communications satellite arena for nearly 25 years. Rosen’s GLXP entry featured a compelling spinning lander design which was small, simple, elegant and low-cost. The overall spinning lander concept has been patented and is now being further developed and marketed by Ecliptic Enterprises Corporation. Assessments of various spinning lander concepts for solar system exploration were conducted by Ecliptic during 2010-2011, and by Ecliptic and JPL during 2011-2012. Since 2013, increased popularity of the CubeSat standard for deep-space mission applications has encouraged investigation of CubeSat-class spinning landers, especially for lunar missions. This paper summarizes the genesis, development, advantages and mission applications of the spinning lander concept and highlights recent CubeSat-class studies

Light to Sound: The Remote Acoustic Sensing Satellite (RASSat)

“In space, no one can hear you scream,” as the tagline from the sci-fi film Aliens goes. But what if there were a way of “hearing” in space, moving in-space video from the Silent Era to a more contemporary cinematic experience? How could this capability be applied to shape future spacecraft and mission designs? Such a capability can be effectively incorporated into a 3U CubeSat using a measurement technique called Remote Acoustic Sensing (RAS). “RASSat” uses advanced optical sensors to view and recover audio from distant objects that have weak optical modulations produced by local sound and vibration sources; the modulated light sources and the RAS sensor are passively coupled at the speed of light, yielding a variety of interesting sounds across the entire human auditory range. RAS field demonstrations and analyses have identified and characterized terrestrial sound sources observable from LEO, along with associated acousto-optic modulation mechanisms. RASSat sensitivity is such that both day and night strong, easily detectable terrestrial acousto-optic emitters abound, and applications to Space Situational Awareness and planetary exploration are also evident. This paper provides an overview of the RAS measurement technique and recent terrestrial demonstrations, and highlights key RASSat design features, performance capabilities and applications