969 research outputs found
Comments on the commercialization of expendable launch vehicles
The President's national space policy encourages private sector investment and involvement in civil space activities. Last November, the President designated the Department of Transportation as lead agency for the commercialization of expendable launch vehicles. This presents a substantial challenge to the United States Government, since the guidelines and requirements that are set now will have great influence on whether American firms can become a viable competitive industry in the world launch market. There is a dual need to protect public safety and free the private sector launch industry from needless regulatory barriers so that it can grow and prosper
Theoretical Transmission Spectra During Extrasolar Giant Planet Transits
The recent transit observation of HD 209458 b - an extrasolar planet orbiting
a sun-like star - confirmed that it is a gas giant and determined that its
orbital inclination is 85 degrees. This inclination makes possible
investigations of the planet atmosphere. In this paper we discuss the planet
transmission spectra during a transit. The basic tenet of the method is that
the planet atmosphere absorption features will be superimposed on the stellar
flux as the stellar flux passes through the planet atmosphere above the limb.
The ratio of the planet's transparent atmosphere area to the star area is
small, approximately 10^{-3} to 10^{-4}; for this method to work very strong
planet spectral features are necessary. We use our models of close-in
extrasolar giant planets to estimate promising absorption signatures: the
alkali metal lines, in particular the Na I and K I resonance doublets, and the
He I - triplet line at 1083.0 nm. If successful, observations
will constrain the line-of-sight temperature, pressure, and density. The most
important point is that observations will constrain the cloud depth, which in
turn will distinguish between different atmosphere models. We also discuss the
potential of this method for EGPs at different orbital distances and orbiting
non-solar-type stars.Comment: revised to agree with accepted paper, ApJ, in press. 12 page
The agency makes the (online) news world go round: The impact of news agency content on print and online news
The Size Distribution of Trans-Neptunian Bodies
[Condensed] We search 0.02 deg^2 for trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) with
m<=29.2 (diameter ~15 km) using the ACS on HST. Three new objects are
discovered, roughly 25 times fewer than expected from extrapolation of the
differential sky density Sigma(m) of brighter objects. The ACS and other recent
TNO surveys show departures from a power law size distribution. Division of the
TNO sample into ``classical Kuiper belt'' (CKB) and ``Excited'' samples reveals
that Sigma(m) differs for the two populations at 96% confidence. A double power
law adequately fits all data. Implications include: The total mass of the CKB
is ~0.010 M_Earth, only a few times Pluto's mass, and is predominately in the
form of ~100 km bodies. The mass of Excited objects is perhaps a few times
larger. The Excited class has a shallower bright-end size distribution; the
largest objects, including Pluto, comprise tens of percent of the total mass
whereas the largest CKBOs are only ~2% of its mass. The predicted mass of the
largest Excited body is close to the Pluto mass; the largest CKBO is ~60 times
less massive. The deficit of small TNOs occurs for sizes subject to disruption
by present-day collisions, suggesting extensive depletion by collisions. Both
accretion and erosion appearing to have proceeded to more advanced stages in
the Excited class than the CKB. The absence of distant TNOs implies that any
distant (60 AU) population must have less than the CKB mass in the form of
objects 40 km or larger. The CKB population is sparser than theoretical
estimates of the required precursor population for short period comets, but the
Excited population could be a viable precursor population.Comment: Revised version accepted to the Astronomical Journal. Numerical
results are very slightly revised. Implications for the origins of
short-period comets are substantially revised, and tedious material on
statistical tests has been collected into a new Appendi
De-biased Populations of Kuiper Belt Objects from the Deep Ecliptic Survey
The Deep Ecliptic Survey (DES) discovered hundreds of Kuiper Belt objects
from 1998-2005. Follow-up observations yielded 304 objects with good dynamical
classifications (Classical, Scattered, Centaur, or 16 mean-motion resonances
with Neptune). The DES search fields are well documented, enabling us to
calculate the probability of detecting objects with particular orbital
parameters and absolute magnitudes at a randomized point in each orbit.
Grouping objects together by dynamical class leads, we estimate the orbital
element distributions (a, e, i) for the largest three classes (Classical, 3:2,
and Scattered) using maximum likelihood. Using H-magnitude as a proxy for the
object size, we fit a power law to the number of objects for 8 classes with at
least 5 detected members (246 objects). The best Classical slope is
alpha=1.02+/-0.01 (observed from 5<=H<=7.2). Six dynamical classes (Scattered
plus 5 resonances) are consistent in slope with the Classicals, though the
absolute number of objects is scaled. The exception to the power law relation
are the Centaurs (non-resonant with perihelia closer than Neptune, and thus
detectable at smaller sizes), with alpha=0.42+/-0.02 (7.5<H<11). This is
consistent with a knee in the H-distribution around H=7.2 as reported elsewhere
(Bernstein et al. 2004, Fraser et al. 2014). Based on the Classical-derived
magnitude distribution, the total number of objects (H<=7) in each class are:
Classical (2100+/-300 objects), Scattered (2800+/-400), 3:2 (570+/-80), 2:1
(400+/-50), 5:2 (270+/-40), 7:4 (69+/-9), 5:3 (60+/-8). The independent
estimate for the number of Centaurs in the same H range is 13+/-5. If instead
all objects are divided by inclination into "Hot" and "Cold" populations,
following Fraser et al. (2014), we find that alphaHot=0.90+/-0.02, while
alphaCold=1.32+/-0.02, in good agreement with that work.Comment: 26 pages emulateapj, 6 figures, 5 tables, accepted by A
Do Proto-Jovian Planets Drive Outflows?
We discuss the possibility that gaseous giant planets drive strong outflows
during early phases of their formation. We consider the range of parameters
appropriate for magneto-centrifugally driven stellar and disk outflow models
and find that if the proto-Jovian planet or accretion disk had a magnetic field
of >~ 10 Gauss and moderate mass inflow rates through the disk of less than
10^-7 M_J/yr that it is possible to drive an outflow. Estimates based both on
scaling from empirical laws observed in proto-stellar outflows and the
magneto-centrigugal disk and stellar+disk wind models suggest that winds with
mass outflow rates of 10^-8 M_J/yr and velocities of order ~ 20 km/s could be
driven from proto-Jovian planets. Prospects for detection and some implications
for the formation of the solar system are briefly discussed.Comment: AAS Latex, accepted for Ap
Constraining the Physical Properties of Near-Earth Object 2009 BD
We report on Spitzer Space Telescope IRAC observations of near-Earth object
(NEO) 2009 BD that were carried out in support of the NASA Asteroid Robotic
Retrieval Mission (ARRM) concept. We did not detect 2009 BD in 25 hrs of
integration at 4.5 micron. Based on an upper-limit flux density determination
from our data, we present a probabilistic derivation of the physical properties
of this object. The analysis is based on the combination of a thermophysical
model with an orbital model accounting for the non-gravitational forces acting
upon the body. We find two physically possible solutions. The first solution
shows 2009 BD as a 2.9+/-0.3 m diameter rocky body (rho = 2.9+/-0.5 g cm-3)
with an extremely high albedo of 0.85(+0.20/-0.10) that is covered with
regolith-like material, causing it to exhibit a low thermal inertia (Gamma =
30(+20/-10) SI units). The second solution suggests 2009 BD to be a 4+/-1 m
diameter asteroid with pV = 0.45(+0.35/-0.15) that consists of a collection of
individual bare rock slabs (Gamma = 2000+/-1000 SI units, rho = 1.7(+0.7/-0.4)
g cm-3). We are unable to rule out either solution based on physical reasoning.
2009 BD is the smallest asteroid for which physical properties have been
constrained, in this case using an indirect method and based on a detection
limit, providing unique information on the physical properties of objects in
the size range smaller than 10 m.Comment: 28 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Optical Guidance System /OGS/ for rendezvous and docking Final report
Optical guidance system for Apollo rendezvous and dockin
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