Showing papers in "Acta Astronautica in 2002"

TL;DR: The feasibility of an in vitro muscle protein production system for the fabrication of surrogate muscle protein constructs as food products for Space travelers is established and this research points the way to means of alleviating food supply and safety problems in the public and private sectors worldwide.

TL;DR: In this paper, a new attitude control system is proposed, based on Control Moment Gyroscopes (CMG), which can provide unique torque, angular momentum and slew rate capabilities to small satellites without any increase in power, mass or volume.

TL;DR: The Integrated Technology Analysis Methodology (ITAM) as discussed by the authors is a recently-formulated strategic technology management approach that attempts to address the question of uncertainty in technology development and applications, and how these tools might be used to facilitate coordination and discussions in an international setting.

TL;DR: Canada's contribution to the International Space Station is the Mobile Servicing System (MSS), the external robotic system that is key to the successful assembly of the Space Station, the maintenance of its external systems, astronaut EVA support, and the servicing of external science payloads.

TL;DR: The entry, descent, and landing system of the Mars Pathfinder spacecraft includes a unique subsystem of airbags for impact attenuation as mentioned in this paper, which includes materials selection, patterning, fabrication issues, component design, and packaging/deployment.

TL;DR: In this paper, an observer based on a dynamic model having attitude and rates as states and the gyro sensed rates and the horizon sensor outputs as measurements is proposed for fault detection in a three-axis stabilized low earth orbiting satellite like the Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) spacecraft.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe the design and manufacturing of a huge C-C exit cone for the DELTA III upper stage of the Space Station Launch Vehicle (SV) and report the latest test results.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors evaluated the feasibility of a tether system to de-orbit a satellite at the end of its operational life using the expertise and results from the recently flown TSS-1 project.

TL;DR: In this article, a new optimal design methodology for the placement of piezoelectric actuator and the feedback gains in vibration suppression of flexible structure is formulated, which leads to solutions that are independent of initial conditions of the flexible structure.

TL;DR: The SunTower SPS concept as discussed by the authors was proposed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to deliver energy into terrestrial electrical power grids at prices equal to or below ground alternatives in a variety of markets, do so without major environmental drawbacks, and could be developed at a fraction of the initial investment projected for the SPS Reference System of the late 1970s.

TL;DR: Mood state "vigor" was impaired and "confusion" was increased during bed rest and recumbent control periods compared to pre-bed rest and ambulatory control periods according to the Japanese version of Profiles of Mood State, whereas the mood "tension-anxiety", "depression-dejection", "anger-hostility" and "fatigue" were relatively stable during experiment.

TL;DR: In this article, four different damping principles are discussed: Shearing a viscous fluid in a small gap (hydrodynamic concept), Throttling (hydraulic concept), Coulomb friction, and energy dissipation by relaxation and recovery of elastomers (viscoelastic bushings).

TL;DR: An overview of the mission queue from continuing Mars Global Surveyor through a possible Mars Sample Return Mission launch in 2011 is provided and key proposed international collaborations, especially those between NASA, CNES and ASI are outlined, as is an approach for a robust telecommunications infrastructure.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors assess the efficiency of a de-orbiting system based upon conductive tethers under realistic assumptions for its interaction with the ionospheric environment, and show that a typical satellite of 500 kg mass at 1300 km altitude can de-orbit in 20-100 days, for a broad range of orbital inclinations and solar activity.

TL;DR: The phenomenon of light flashes in eyes for people in space has been investigated onboard Mir and it is found that a nucleus in the radiation environment of Mir has roughly a 1% probability to cause an LF, whereas the proton probability is almost three orders of magnitude less.

TL;DR: NEAR was the first mission to orbit an asteroid and made the first comprehensive scientific measurements of an asteroid's surface composition, geology, physical properties, and internal structure.

TL;DR: In this article, a magnetic moment of current coils (magnetorquers) mounted on the satellite body is used for attitude control of a small satellite, where the only measurement is of the geomagnetic field in the satellite coordinates.

TL;DR: The MICROSCOPE mission had been selected at the end of 1999 by the French space agency Cnes for a launch scheduled in 2004 as discussed by the authors, with the scientific objective of the mission is the test of the equivalence principle up to an accuracy of 10−15 with its well-known manifestation.

TL;DR: The microgravity requirements placed on ISS will be reviewed, along with major considerations for achieving such an environment, and a description of the Space Station program strategy and implementation for meeting those requirements will be discussed.

TL;DR: This paper highlights development of US EVA capability within the context of the overarching mission objectives of the US human space flight program.

TL;DR: The ESA BepiColombo Mercury Cornerstone mission will be launched in 2009 as discussed by the authors with three scientific elements (2 orbiters and a lander), to be launched by two Soyuz/Fregat vehicles from Baikonur, and chemical and solar electrical propulsion modules.

TL;DR: In this paper, a cloth-layered carbon-phenolic ablator, which has higher allowable stress, is developed in newly-devised fabric method for avoiding delamination due to the high aerodynamic heating.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe the work performed at the Surrey Space Centre to produce cost effective propulsion systems for small spacecraft with relatively low deltaV (ΔV) requirements.

TL;DR: The highly reusable space transportation (HRST) study project as mentioned in this paper has examined diverse approaches, including combination propulsion systems, combined cycle propulsion, launch assist systems, and revolutionary rocket propulsion, and concluded that the cost goals of HRST are achievable within the next 10-20 years if appropriate technology investments are pursued.

TL;DR: The theoretical methodologies and numerical results of quaternion estimation (QUEST) algorithms for the GPS-based attitude determination of a low earth orbit gyrostat satellite are presented and the simulation results indicate that QUEST algorithms can be employed to estimate the attitude of the gyroStat satellite point-by-point accurately, when combined with the GPS phase difference signals.

TL;DR: In this article, the dynamical behavior of tether connected satellites system during deployment and retrieval process is considered and strategies of retrieval are obtained in order to increase the tension in the tether at the final stage of retrieval.

TL;DR: In this article, a mission concept that exploits high specific impulse and steering capabilities of electric propulsion to obtain a gravity assist from the Earth about a year after spacecraft departure is proposed, and the analysis suggests useful criteria to define the initial solution required to start the optimization process and guidelines are also given to select, from the large number of near Earth bodies, the asteroids that may profitably be the targets of this class of trajectories.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors derived the equation of motion of a multibody system, described here as a chain of rigid bars and revolute joints orbiting around the Earth, for each bar two translational and one rotational equilibrium equations are written; the forces acting on each body are the gravitational forces and the reaction forces (unknown) acting on it's end joints.

TL;DR: Following the successful conclusion of its 11-month primary mission in September 1999, Deep Space 1 embarked on an ambitious extended mission as discussed by the authors, using its ion propulsion system to help deliver it to an encounter with comet 19P/Borrelly.

TL;DR: The Inflatable Reentry and Descent Technology (IRDT) is an innovative light weight entry technology using an inflatable heatshield as discussed by the authors, which was originally developed by Lavochkin / Babakin Space Center for the Mars-96 mission.