Quasars, pulsars, black holes and HEAO's

Astronomical surveys are discussed by large X-ray, gamma ray, and cosmic ray instruments carried onboard high-energy astronomy observatories. Quasars, pulsars, black holes, and the ultimate benefits of the new astronomy are briefly discussed

Optimization Of Command Execution Testing Procedures

Current Command Execution Testing (CET) procedures are conducted manually and can be arduous and impractical for frequent testing Inefficiency of an integral testing procedure can lead to delays within the other teams involved in the development of the cube satellit

Investigation of Tidal Exchange and the Formation of Tidal Vortices at Aransas Pass, Texas, USA

Laboratory and field measurements are presented as part of a study of tidal exchange through Aransas Pass, Texas. At the mouth of Aransas Pass, the input of circulation by the ebb tide forces the formation of a starting-jet dipole vortex. These vortices are believed to play an important role in the flushing of coastal regions, and affect the transport of passive tracers, such as nutrients and sediment, from the estuary to the ocean and vice versa. Tidal vortex formation was first measured in the laboratory to gain knowledge of the vortex structure and movement. This information was subsequently used to design and conduct a field campaign to measure these large-scale vortices. A combination of measurements from a towed acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP), CTD (conductivity, temperature, depth) and Lagrangian surface drifters were implemented for field data acquisition during ebb and flood tide. Drifter trajectories were used to estimate the size of each observed vortex as well as the statistics of relative diffusion offshore of Aransas Pass. The size of the rotational core of the vortex was shown to be approximated physically by the inlet width or by 0:02UT, where U is the maximum velocity through the inlet channel and T is the tidal period, and confirms results found in previous laboratory experiments. Additionally, the scale of diffusion was approximately 1–15 km and the apparent diffusivity was between 2–130 m2=s following Richardsons law. During flood tide, tidal vortices do not form due to the bay configuration. Instead, flow is distributed into three bay channels. Through the CTD vertical profiles, the data indicate that the system is generally well-mixed over the course of diurnal flood tide. For measurements taken during a semi-diurnal tide, a freshwater event was detected in the profile and confirmed with USGS gauge data. For currents during flood, the Lagrangian drifter data suggest that there is a narrow region to the north of the inlet by which passive tracers are transported through the inlet from offshore. Generally, the majority of the flow from the inlet continues through the Corpus Christi Ship Channel (50-80%) followed by the Lydia Ann Channel ( 20-40%) and the remainder flows through Aransas Channel

Spectral Ocean Color (SPOC): Lessons Learned from the University of Georgia Small Satellite Research Laboratory\u27s First Satellite

In October 2020, the University of Georgia Small Satellite Research Laboratory launched its first CubeSat, a 3U Earth-observation mission designed to collect multispectral data from Georgia’s coastal environments for UGA’s Center for Geospatial Research to make recommendations on environmental conservation, care, and use. SPOC successfully detumbled, but after approximately a month in orbit, a coronal mass ejection (we speculate) caused us to lose contact. Despite our disappointment at the loss of SPOC, we are leveraging the lessons learned for our upcoming missions. These lessons can be categorized in four principal areas: software (flight and payload), mission operations, testing, and educational program structure. Specifically, we learned how to carefully design mission controls, how to plan and execute robust batteries of tests, and how to work together to reach our potential as young scientists and engineers. We will show how we implement these lessons on our upcoming missions – the Multi-view Onboard Computational Imager (MOCI), a 6U mission using on-orbit Structure-from-Motion to create 3D terrain maps; and the Mission for Education and Multi-media Engagement Satellite (MEMESat-1), a 2U non-profit-sponsored outreach mission designed to introduce undergraduates to building satellites and K-12 students to the world of satellite and and radio communications. We aim to share what we have learned with other young CubeSat development programs to help them pioneer new space system technology, gain scientific insight from payload data, build strong university space programs, and enrich their surrounding communities

Development of MEMESat-1 Passive Magnetic Attitude Control ADCS Simulations

MEMESat-1 is a satellite mission out of the University of Georgia Small Satellite Research Laboratory. MEMESat-1 utilizes a passive magnetic attitude control (PMAC) system as its attitude determinations control system (ADCS). Due to the fact that MEMEsat-1 is funded by a non-profit, Let’s Go to Space, and does not have restrictive pointing requirements, the PMAC system is an advantageous ADCS solution. PMAC also requires no power to operate as opposed to an active magnetic attitude control. This is important because it allows more of MEMESat-1’s power to go toward payload operations. Instead, the PMAC system utilizes an internal bar magnets, nutation dampers and hysteresis rods, to stabilize the system as a combatant environmental torques in the low Earth orbit (LEO) environment. We will make our simulation in MATLAB song with its Aerospace and Satellite Communication Toolbox. We will be expecting a 70% decrease in nutation and spin via the PMAC components. Our ADCS will be finished when the simulations can prove the components to be able to meet our pointing requirements

A Declarative Specification for Authoring Metrics Dashboards

Despite their ubiquity, authoring dashboards for metrics reporting in modern data analysis tools remains a manual, time-consuming process. Rather than focusing on interesting combinations of their data, users have to spend time creating each chart in a dashboard one by one. This makes dashboard creation slow and tedious. We conducted a review of production metrics dashboards and found that many dashboards contain a common structure: breaking down one or more metrics by different dimensions. In response, we developed a high-level specification for describing dashboards as sections of metrics repeated across the same dimensions and a graphical interface, Quick Dashboard, for authoring dashboards based on this specification. We present several usage examples that demonstrate the flexibility of this specification to create various kinds of dashboards and support a data-first approach to dashboard authoring.Comment: To appear at Visual Data Science (VDS) Symposium at IEEE VIS 202

Secure Cloud Architecture for Protecting the Software of Space Vehicles

As the number of space vehicles launched into outer space increases over time, the need to determine and counter possible cyber attacks from malicious agents will drastically increase. A potential solution to this problem is to create a cloud architecture that a spacecraft can use for autonomous detection or recovery from cyber attacks when out range of a ground station. For this work, the development of a new cloud architecture for space vehicles is proposed which allows users to control access to information or applications within the system while using the self-healing capabilities of containers. The cloud architecture will first be tested without the use of any containerization to establish a control. Afterwards, experiments will be conducted to test the effectiveness of different proposed security measures such as security vulnerabilities, cyber-hardening of the architecture, and logging. This research will then use qualitative and quantitative metrics, such as a pass or fail test, self-healing time of containers, and the number of vulnerable access points to determine the effectiveness of each of these measures

Laboratory Analysis of Vortex Dynamics For Shallow Tidal Inlets

Estuaries depend on the transport of nutrients and sediments from the open sea to help maintain a prosperous environment. One of the major transport mechanisms is the propagation of large two dimensional vortical structures. At the mouth of an inlet, tidal flow forces the formation of two dimensional vortical structures whose lateral extent is much greater than the water depth. After the starting jet vortex dipole detaches from the inlet, secondary vortices shed due to separation from the inlet boundary and eventually reach the starting-jet dipole. An idealized inlet con figuration was utilized for laboratory experiments detailing the formation and propagation of the vortex structures with water depths of 3, 5, and 9 centimeters and flow Froude scaled to inlets along the Texas coast. Using surface particle image velocimetry, the entrainment of the secondary structures into the vortex system are shown as well as variations in characteristics such as trajectory, size, vorticity, and circulation for the vortices as they move downstream

The Image 1993: Enjoy The Experience

Rowan College of New Jersey yearbook for the Class of 1993; 160 pages. Contents: Enjoy the Experience p. 2, Seniors p. 17, Faculty, Staff & Administrators p. 85, Student Life p. 95, Sports p. 112, Organizations p. 144, Yearbook Staff p. 152.https://rdw.rowan.edu/yearbooks/1038/thumbnail.jp

Developing a Comprehensive Power Simulation Model for the MEMESat-1 CubeSat Using Orbital Dynamics

The University of Georgia’s Small Satellite Research Lab’s Mission for Education and Multimedia Engagement Satellite (MEMESat-1) requires the use of variables such as power generation, power draw, orbital path, packet size, and data processing times. As power generation and charge varies, MEMESat-1 will automatically transition through three operational modes to prevent battery depletion and halt system processes in case of anomalies. Taking these variables and operational modes into account, the MEMESat-1 Mission Operations (MOPS) team will use FreeFlyer software to analyze power generation and draw during MEMESat-1’s orbital cycle. The power limitations of MEMESat-1 are budgeted based on battery and solar cell specifications implying the necessity of power simulations by MOPS