Design of Simple Low-Cost Mars Microlander

This paper describes the development of a simple low-cost Mars microlander that is matched to the capabilities of the recently-approved Mars Micromission program. This particular microlander design is intended to fill a capability gap between two existing landing systems: the large sophisticated soft landers like Mars Polar Lander and the miniaturized DS-2-class penetrators. This microlander would be able to deliver (in a controlled manner) a small but sophisticated science payload to multiple, exciting but risky landing sites (as an example for our point design, we have used the delivery of the 60% scale Sojourner-class minirover). The unique attribute of this design is the maximum exploitation of existing technology that is integrated in a unprecedented-simple lander system configuration. This inherent simplicity results in the system that is simultaneously low-cost and robust (and thus reliable). Two key technologies are employed in the microlander design: small solid rocket propulsion (commercially available) with adequate performance, and integrated FM-CW radar sensor (also commercially available) that is used as the only guidance sensor.The lander design is intended to be field tested soon in order to maximize the probability of mission success

CAPSTONE: A CubeSat Pathfinder for the Lunar Gateway Ecosystem

The cislunar environment is about to get much busier and with this increase in traffic comes an increase in the demand for limited resources such as Earth based tracking of and communications with assets operating in and around the Moon. With the number of NASA, commercial, and international missions to the Moon growing rapidly in the next few years, the need to make these future endeavors as efficient as possible is a challenge that is being solved now. Advanced Space is aiming to mitigate these resource limitations by enabling the numerous spacecraft in the cislunar environment to navigate autonomously and reduce the need for oversubscribed ground assets for navigation and maneuver planning. Scheduled to launch on a Rocket Lab Electron in October 2021, the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) mission will leverage a 12U CubeSat to demonstrate both the core software for the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System (CAPS) as well as a validation of the mission design and operations of the Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO) that NASA has baselined for the Artemis Lunar Gateway architecture. Currently being developed in a Phase III of NASA’s SBIR program, our CAPS software will allow missions to manage themselves and enable more critical communications to be prioritized between Earth and future cislunar missions without putting these missions at increased risk. CAPSTONE is the pathfinder mission for NASA’s Artemis program. The overall mission will include collaboration with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) operations team at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center to demonstrate inter-spacecraft ranging between the CAPSTONE spacecraft and LRO and with the NASA Gateway Operations team at NASA Johnson Space Center to inform the requirements and autonomous mission operations approach for the eventual Gateway systems. Critical success criteria for CAPSTONE in this demonstration are a transfer to and arrival into an NRHO, semi-autonomous operations and orbital maintenance of a spacecraft in an NRHO, collection of inter-spacecraft ranging data, and execution of the CAPS navigation software system on-board the CAPSTONE spacecraft. Advanced Space along with our partners at NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, Advanced Exploration Systems, Launch Services Program, NASA Ames Small Spacecraft Office, Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems and Rocket Lab, envision the CAPSTONE mission as a key enabler of both NASA’s Gateway operations involving multiple spacecraft and eventually the ever-expanding commercial cislunar economy. This low cost, high value mission will demonstrate an efficient low energy orbital transfer to the lunar vicinity and an insertion and operations approach to the NRHO that ultimately will demonstrate a risk reducing validation of key exploration operations and technologies required for the ultimate success of NASA’s lunar exploration plans, including the planned human return to the lunar surface. This presentation will include the current mission status (which would include the launch and early mission operations), the operations plan for the NRHO, and lessons learned to date in order to inform future CubeSat pathfinders in support of national exploration and scientific objectives

SeaWiFS technical report series. Volume 23: SeaWiFS prelaunch radiometric calibration and spectral characterization

Based on the operating characteristics of the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS), calibration equations have been developed that allow conversion of the counts from the radiometer into Earth-existing radiances. These radiances are the geophysical properties the instrument has been designed to measure. SeaWiFS uses bilinear gains to allow high sensitivity measurements of ocean-leaving radiances and low sensitivity measurements of radiances from clouds, which are much brighter than the ocean. The calculation of these bilinear gains is central to the calibration equations. Several other factors within these equations are also included. Among these are the spectral responses of the eight SeaWiFS bands. A band's spectral response includes the ability of the band to isolate a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum and the amount of light that lies outside of that region. The latter is termed out-of-band response. In the calibration procedure, some of the counts from the instrument are produced by radiance in the out-of-band region. The number of those counts for each band is a function of the spectral shape of the source. For the SeaWiFS calibration equations, the out-of-band responses are converted from those for the laboratory source into those for a source with the spectral shape of solar flux. The solar flux, unlike the laboratory calibration, approximates the spectral shape of the Earth-existing radiance from the oceans. This conversion modifies the results from the laboratory radiometric calibration by 1-4 percent, depending on the band. These and other factors in the SeaWiFS calibration equations are presented here, both for users of the SeaWiFS data set and for researchers making ground-based radiance measurements in support of Sea WiFS

CAPSTONE: A Summary of Flight Operations to Date in the Cislunar Environment

The cislunar environment is about to get much busier and with this increase in traffic comes an increase in the demand for limited resources such as Earth based tracking of and communications with assets operating in and around the Moon. With the number of NASA, commercial, and international missions to the Moon growing rapidly, the need to make these future endeavors as efficient as possible is a challenge that is being solved now. Advanced Space is aiming to mitigate these resource limitations by enabling spacecraft in the cislunar environment to navigate autonomously and reduce the need for oversubscribed ground assets for navigation and maneuver planning. Launched in June 2022, the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) mission utilizes a 12U CubeSat to demonstrate both the core software for the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System (CAPS) as well as a validation of the mission design and operations of the Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO) that NASA has baselined for the Artemis Lunar Gateway architecture. The CAPS software enables cislunar missions to manage their navigation functions themselves and reduces the reliance on Earth based tracking requirements without putting these missions at increased risk. Upon arrival in the NRHO, the CAPSTONE spacecraft will soon initiate its navigation demonstration mission in collaboration with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) operations team at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center to demonstrate autonomous inter-spacecraft ranging and autonomous navigation between the CAPSTONE spacecraft and LRO. Critical success criteria for CAPSTONE in this demonstration are 1) semi-autonomous operations and orbital maintenance of a spacecraft in an NRHO, 2) collection of inter-spacecraft ranging data, and 3) execution of the CAPS navigation software system in autonomous mode on-board the CAPSTONE spacecraft. Additionally, CAPSTONE continues to demonstrate an innovative one-way ranging navigation approach utilizing a Chip Scale Atomic Clock (CSAC), unique firmware installed on the Iris radio, and onboard autonomous navigation algorithms developed JPL an implemented by Advanced Space. Advanced Space, along with our partners at NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, (STMD), Advanced Exploration Systems (AES), Launch Services Program (LSP), NASA Ames’ Small Spacecraft Office, the Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL), Terran Orbital and Rocket Lab, envision the CAPSTONE mission as a key enabler of both NASA’s upcoming Gateway operations involving multiple spacecraft and eventually the ever-expanding commercial cislunar economy. Over the next 21 months, CAPSTONE will demonstrate an efficient low energy orbital transfer to the lunar vicinity, an insertion into the NRHO, and a risk reducing validation of key exploration operations and technologies required for the ultimate success of NASA’s lunar exploration plans. This paper includes an overview of the mission, the current mission operational status, lessons learned from the launch, lunar transfer, and insertion into the NRHO, an overview of operations plan for the NRHO, and other lessons learned to date in order to inform future missions in support of national exploration and scientific objectives

CAPSTONE: A Summary of a Highly Successful Mission in the Cislunar Environment

NASA, Advanced Space, Terran Orbital, Rocket Lab, Stellar Exploration, JPL, the Space Dynamics Lab, and Tethers Unlimited have partnered to successfully develop, launch, and operate the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) mission, which is serving as a pathfinder for Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NHRO) operations around the Moon. This low-cost, high-value mission has demonstrated an efficient, low-energy orbital transfer to the Moon and a successful insertion into the Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO), the intended orbit for NASA\u27s Gateway lunar orbital platform. The mission is now demonstrating operations within the NRHO that ultimately will serve to reduce risk and validate key exploration operations and technologies required for the future success of NASA\u27s lunar exploration plans, including the planned human return to the lunar surface. Over the next 9+ months, CAPSTONE will continue to validate these key operations and navigation technologies required for the success of NASA\u27s lunar exploration plans. This paper will include an overview of the current mission status, lessons learned from the launch, transfer, and insertion into the NRHO, a summary of the challenges encountered thus far, and an overview of the successful mission operations technology demonstrations thus far

Phobos LIFE (Living Interplanetary Flight Experiment)

The Planetary Society's Phobos Living Interplanetary Flight Experiment (Phobos LIFE) flew in the sample return capsule of the Russian Federal Space Agency's Phobos Grunt mission and was to have been a test of one aspect of the hypothesis that life can move between nearby planets within ejected rocks. Although the Phobos Grunt mission failed, we present here the scientific and engineering design and motivation of the Phobos LIFE experiment to assist with the scientific and engineering design of similar future experiments. Phobos LIFE flew selected organisms in a simulated meteoroid. The 34-month voyage would have been the first such test to occur in the high-radiation environment outside the protection of Earth's magnetosphere for more than a few days. The patented Phobos LIFE “biomodule” is an 88 g cylinder consisting of a titanium outer shell, several types of redundant seals, and 31 individual Delrin sample containers. Phobos LIFE contained 10 different organisms, representing all three domains of life, and one soil sample. The organisms are all very well characterized, most with sequenced genomes. Most are extremophiles, and most have flown in low Earth orbit. Upon return from space, the health and characteristics of organisms were to have been compared with controls that remained on Earth and have not yet been opened

Interplanetary CubeSats: Opening the Solar System to a Broad Community at Lower Cost

Interplanetary CubeSats could enable small, low-cost missions beyond low Earth orbit. This class is defined by mass < ~ 10 kg, cost < $30 M, and durations up to 5 years. Over the coming decade, a stretch of each of six distinct technology areas, creating one overarching architecture, could enable comparatively low-cost Solar System exploration missions with capabilities far beyond those demonstrated in small satellites to date. The six technology areas are: (1) CubeSat electronics and subsystems extended to operate in the interplanetary environment, especially radiation and duration of operation; (2) Optical telecommunications to enable very small, low-power uplink/downlink over interplanetary distances; (3) Solar sail propulsion to enable high !V maneuvering using no propellant; (4) Navigation of the Interplanetary Superhighway to enable multiple destinations over reasonable mission durations using achievable !V; (5) Small, highly capable instrumentation enabling acquisition of high-quality scientific and exploration information; and (6) Onboard storage and processing of raw instrument data and navigation information to enable maximum utility of uplink and downlink telecom capacity, and minimal operations staffing. The NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program in 2011 selected Interplanetary CubeSats for further investigation, some results of which are reported here for Phase 1

Martian water frost : control of global distribution by small-scale processes

This thesis analyzes the small—scale physical processes occurring in the Martian water polar frosts. The small—scale processes are considered from the point of view of how they control the global distribution and behavior of water on Mars. The analysis of the small—scale properties of the surface frost is essential in efforts to find solutions for some outstanding, contradictory observations, to interpret correctly remote sensing observations, to model the surface—frost thermal balance, and to implement the boundary conditions and parameterizations used in the global models of the volatiles' behavior on Mars. Two different problems are investigated in this thesis: The effect of surface roughness on frost temperature and morphology is studied in Chapter 2 and 3. The investigation of the temperature/roughness feedback leads to the following suggestion: There is a natural tendency of volatile surfaces to develop spontaneously small-scale roughness in a sublimation—dominated environment. The evidence for this claim consists of the model of a rough—surface thermal balance, and of the terrestrial analogs of differential sublimation structures. Such a phenomenon can be tested by the Mars Observer and has important implications for the behavior of water frost on Mars. Viking Lander 2 winter—frost observations are described in Chapter 4. This study suggests that winter water frost occurred there in two forms: a) thin, almost continuous, early frost, and b) much thicker, patchy, later frost with local cold—trapping of water vapor playing the crucial role. This conclusion is based on the correlation of multiple data sets (from both Viking Orbiter and Lander) and on the combined models of the physical processes occurring on a small scale — below the resolution of remote sensing. The evidence consists of the frost—surface coverage and color transitions, and of the calculation of the vertical and horizontal water—vapor transport near the surface. Again, this phenomenon can be confirmed or rejected by a set of observations from the Mars Observer. The inherent rough—surface morphology and the frost cold—trapping must be a general property of at least some forms of the seasonal and residual frosts. Both effects must be considered in order to understand the global observations of the Martian frost and the surface environment of Mars in general

$3M Planetary Missions: Why Not? - Consideration of Deep-space Spacecraft Mission Requirements

The dramatic cost reduction of the Earth orbiting spacecraft has become the established fact, over the period roughly coinciding with existence of this conference. 10-15 years ago, the median cost of the spacecraft mission was around $100M (in today\u27s dollars). One-million dollar missions were unheard of, except in the amateur radio community. Today, missions with the total cost of under$10M are common. Besides the well-established amateur radio programs, many low-cost university-led spacecraft programs took place. Plenty of other science, technology, experimental and know-how technology transfer programs have been or are being implemented. The last remaining frontier of the low-cost mantra are the deep space missions. The great progress has already been achieved in reducing the cost of planetary exploration but no credible mission was ever seriously considered under $40M (the lowest-cost examples are Clementine 1 and Lunar Prospector, both well over that limit). The minimum cost of planetary missions is about a factor of ten higher than for Earth-orbiting missions with roughly similar capabilities and lifetimes. Why is that? We will address this question in this paper. The answer to this question appears quite obvious: Of course, the deep-space missions are more difficult than the LEO missions. But we will try to show that this is not inherently true. Step by step, we will analyze and compare requirements between the deep-space and Earth-orbiting missions, note the differences and provide estimates of cost impact. There are some legitimate complications involving the deep space mission requirements that would command the cost premium for a deep-space project when compared with a similar Earth orbiter. But, we will argue that this premium is nowhere as large as commonly perceived. Why is this misconceptions occurring? We do not really know precisely and can only speculate. Knowledge and design aspects of the deep space environment have not been as widely disseminated as those for the LEO environment. Or perhaps, it is for a historical reason: it used to be significantly more difficult and that assumption has never been questioned again. Or, maybe, it is the exclusive-club issue: there are many more teams that have put together the LEO spacecraft, much more than a deep space mission. Or, it is just a fear of distant unknown places