scholarly journals Implementation of a Cryogenic Facility for Space Debris Analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 948
Author(s):  
Paulo Gordo ◽  
Tiago Frederico ◽  
Rui Melicio ◽  
António Amorim
Keyword(s):  
Space Debris ◽  
Vacuum Ultraviolet ◽  
European Space Agency ◽  
Space Missions ◽  
Low Earth Orbit ◽  
Material Degradation ◽  
Pressure Sensitive Adhesive ◽  
Material Evaluation ◽  
Space Agency ◽  
Earth Orbits

This paper has resulted from a continued study of spacecraft material degradation and space debris formation. The design and implementation of a thermal vacuum cycling cryogenic facility for the evaluation of space debris generation at a low Earth orbit (LEO) is presented. The facility used for spacecraft external material evaluation is described, and some of the obtained results are presented. The infrastructure was developed in the framework of a study for the European Space Agency (ESA). The main purpose of the cryogenic facility is to simulate the LEO spacecraft environment, namely thermal cycling and vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) irradiation to simulate the spacecraft material degradation and the generation of space debris. In a previous work, some results under LEO test conditions showed the effectiveness of the cryogenic facility for material evaluation, namely: the degradation of satellite paints with a change in their thermo-optical properties, leading to the emission of cover flakes; the degradation of the pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) used to glue Velcro’s to the spacecraft, and to glue multilayer insulation (MLI) to the spacecraft’s. The paint flakes generated are space debris. Hence, in a scenario of space missions where a spacecraft has lost the thermal shielding capability, the failure of PSA tape and the loss of Velcro properties may contribute to the release of the full MLI blanket, contributing to the generation of space debris that presents a growing threat to space missions in the main Earth orbits.

Space debris monitoring based on inter-continental stereoscopic detections

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Sozza ◽  
Massimo Cencini ◽  
Leonardo Parisi ◽  
Marco Acernese ◽  
Fabio Santoni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Space Debris ◽  
European Space Agency ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Reconstruction Method ◽  
Space Agency ◽  
Space Objects ◽  
Dimensional Reconstruction ◽  
Low Earth Orbits ◽  
Earth Orbits ◽  
The Impact

<p>The monitoring of space debris and satellites orbiting around Earth is an essential topic in the space surveillance. The impact of debris, even of small size, against active spatial installations causes serious damage, malfunctions and potential service interruptions. Collision-avoidance maneuverings are often performed but they require increasingly complex protocols. Density of space debris is now so high that even astronomical observations are often degraded by it. Although it does not affect space weather, it may interfere with weather satellites.<br>We have developed an innovative experimental technique based on stereometry at intercontinental scale to obtain simultaneous images from two optic observatories, installed in Rome (at the Urbe Airport and in Collepardo on the Apennines) and in Malindi (Kenya). From the observations on Earth, it's possible to reconstruct the three-dimensional position and velocity of the objects. The distance between the two observatories is crucial for an accurate reconstruction. In particular, we have considered the sites of Urbe and Collepardo, with a baseline of 80 km, to detected Low-Earth orbits (LEO), while we have considered a baseline of 6000 km, between Urbe and Malindi, to observe geostationary orbits (GEO).<br>We will present the validation of the three-dimensional reconstruction method via a fully synthetic procedure that propagate the satellite trajectory, using SGP4 model and TLEs data (provided by NASA), and generate synthetic photographs of the satellite passage from the two observatories. Then we will compare the synthetic results with the experimental results obtained using real optic systems. The procedure can be automatized to identify unknown space objects and even generalized for an arbitrary number of sites of observation. The identified debris will be added to the catalogue DISCOS (Database and Information System Characterizing Objects in Space) owned by the European Space Agency (ESA) to improve the space surveillance and the ability to intervene in the case of potential risks. </p>

Galileo Case Study

2013 ◽  
pp. 251-282
Author(s):  
Aggelos Liapis ◽  
Evangelos Argyzoudis
Keyword(s):  
Data Exchange ◽  
Collaborative Work ◽  
Effective Interaction ◽  
European Space Agency ◽  
Space Missions ◽  
Working Environment ◽  
Task Forces ◽  
Space Agency ◽  
Future Space ◽  
Collaborative Working

The Concurrent Design Facility (CDF) of the European Space Agency (ESA) allows a team of experts from several disciplines to apply concurrent engineering for the design of future space missions. It facilitates faster and effective interaction of all disciplines involved, ensuring consistent and high-quality results. It is primarily used to assess the technical and financial feasibility of future space missions and new spacecraft concepts, though for some projects, the facilities and the data exchange model are used during later phases. This chapter focuses on the field of computer supported collaborative work (CSCW) and its supporting areas whose mission is to support interaction between people, using computers as the enabling technology. Its aim is to present the design and implementation framework of a semantically driven, collaborative working environment (CWE) that allows ESA’s CDF to be used by projects more extensively and effectively during project meetings, task forces, and reviews.

scholarly journals Aerogels Materials as Space Debris Collectors

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thierry Woignier ◽  
Laurent Duffours ◽  
Pascale Colombel ◽  
Christian Durin
Keyword(s):  
Space Debris ◽  
Silica Aerogels ◽  
Low Earth Orbit ◽  
Base Catalysis ◽  
Space Environment ◽  
Internal Stresses ◽  
Material Degradation ◽  
Synthesis Parameters ◽  
First Results ◽  
Key Parameter

Material degradation due to the specific space environment becomes a key parameter for space missions. The use of large surface of brittle materials on satellites can produce, if impacted by hypervelocity particles, ejected volumes of mater 100 times higher than the impacting one. The presented work is devoted to the use of silica aerogels as passive detectors. Aerogels have been exposed to the low earth orbit of the ISS for 18 months. The study describes the aerogels process and the choice of synthesis parameters in such a way to get expected features in terms of porosity, mechanical properties, internal stresses, and transparency. Low-density aerogels (0.09 g·cm−3) have been prepared. The control of transparency necessary to see and identify particles and fragments collected is obtained using a base catalysis during gel synthesis. After return to earth, the aerogels samples have been observed using optical microscopy to detect and quantify craters on the exposed surface. First results obtained on a small part of the aerogels indicate a large number of debris collected in the materials.

scholarly journals The Hipparcos Catalogue: 10th anniversary and its legacy

2007 ◽  
Vol 3 (S248) ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
C. Turon ◽  
F. Arenou
Keyword(s):  
Historical Perspective ◽  
European Space Agency ◽  
Space Missions ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
10Th Anniversary ◽  
Science Programme ◽  
Space Agency ◽  
Hipparcos Catalogue ◽  
Giant Step ◽  
And Performance

AbstractThe European Space Agency decision to include the Hipparcos satellite into its Science Programme is placed in the context of the years 1965-1980 and in the historical perspective of the progress of astrometry. The motivation and ideas which lead to the Hipparcos design are reviewed as well as its characteristics and performance. The amount and variety of applications represent an impressive evolution from the original science case and opened the way to much more ambitious further space missions, especially Gaia, based on the same basic principles. A giant step in technology led to a giant step in science. Next steps are presented at this Symposium.

Activities of the International Space Organization and Station

2021 ◽  
pp. 140-152
Keyword(s):  
International Space Station ◽  
Artificial Satellite ◽  
European Space Agency ◽  
Space Station ◽  
Low Earth Orbit ◽  
Joint Project ◽  
Intergovernmental Organization ◽  
International Space ◽  
Space Agency ◽  
Space Organization

This chapter describes the establishment process, purpose of establishment, mission, exploration plan, activities of the European Space Agency (ESA) and International Space Station (ISS), and an explanation of the contents of the treaty that is legal basis for its establishment. The European Space Agency (ESA) is an intergovernmental organization of 22 member states dedicated to the exploration of space. Established in 1975 and headquartered in Paris, France, ESA has a worldwide staff of about 2,200 in 2018 and an annual budget of about € 6.68 billion (US $ 7.43 billion) in 2020. ESA also works closely with space organizations outside Europe. ESA has missions planned for Jupiter (JUICE, 2022) and others that will seek dark matter (Euclid, 2020) and observe the energetic universe (Athena, 2028). The International Space Station (ISS) is a space station (habitable artificial satellite) in low Earth orbit. The ISS programme is a joint project between five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscomos (Russia), JAXA (Japan), ESA (Europe), and CSA (Canada).

scholarly journals An FPGA-Based Hardware Accelerator for CNNs Inference on Board Satellites: Benchmarking with Myriad 2-Based Solution for the CloudScout Case Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 1518
Author(s):  
Emilio Rapuano ◽  
Gabriele Meoni ◽  
Tommaso Pacini ◽  
Gianmarco Dinelli ◽  
Gianluca Furano ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Power Consumption ◽  
Power Efficiency ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
European Space Agency ◽  
Low Earth Orbit ◽  
Space Environment ◽  
Hardware Accelerator ◽  
Cloud Detection ◽  
Space Agency ◽  
Field Programmable

In recent years, research in the space community has shown a growing interest in Artificial Intelligence (AI), mostly driven by systems miniaturization and commercial competition. In particular, the application of Deep Learning (DL) techniques on board Earth Observation (EO) satellites might lead to numerous advantages in terms of mitigation of downlink bandwidth constraints, costs, and increment of the satellite autonomy. In this framework, the CloudScout project, funded by the European Space Agency (ESA), represents the first time in-orbit demonstration of a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) applied to hyperspectral images for cloud detection. The first instance of this use case has been done with an INTEL Myriad 2 VPU on board a CubeSat optimized for low cost, size, and power efficiency. Nevertheless, this solution introduces multiple drawbacks due to its design not specifically being for the space environment, thus limiting its applicability to short-lifetime Low Earth Orbit (LEO) applications. The current work provides a benchmark between the Myriad 2 and our custom hardware accelerator designed for Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs). The metrics used for comparison include inference time, power consumption, space qualification, and components. The obtained results show that the FPGA-based solution is characterized by a reduced inference time, and a higher possibility of customization, but at the cost of greater power consumption and a longer Time to Market. As a conclusion, the proposed approach might extend the potential market of DL-based solutions to long-term LEO or interplanetary exploration missions through deployment on space-qualified FPGAs, with a limited cost in energy efficiency.

A preliminary investigation of dynamical complexity in Swarm Dst-like time series using information theory techniques

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georgios Balasis ◽  
Constantinos Papadimitriou ◽  
Stelios M. Potirakis ◽  
Adamantia Zoe Boutsi ◽  
Ioannis A. Daglis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Information Theory ◽  
Time Series ◽  
Electric Fields ◽  
Preliminary Investigation ◽  
European Space Agency ◽  
Magnetic Storms ◽  
Low Earth Orbit ◽  
Storm Activity ◽  
Dst Index ◽  
Space Agency

<p>For 7 years now, the European Space Agency’s Swarm fleet of satellites surveys the Earth’s magnetic field, measuring magnetic and electric fields at low-Earth orbit (LEO) with unprecedented detail. We have recently demonstrated the feasibility of Swarm measurements to derive a Swarm Dst-like index for the intense magnetic storms of solar cycle 24. We have shown that the newly proposed Swarm Dst-like index monitors magnetic storm activity at least as good as the standard Dst index. The Swarm derived Dst index can be used to (1) supplement the standard Dst index in near-real-time geomagnetic applications and (2) replace the ‘prompt’ Dst index during periods of unavailability. Herein, we employ a series of information theory methods, namely Hurst exponent and various entropy measures, for analyzing Swarm Dst-like time series. The results show that information theory techniques can effectively detect the dissimilarity of complexity between the pre-storm activity and intense magnetic storms (Dst < 150 nT), which is convenient for space weather applications.</p>

European Space Agency´s Hibernation (Torpor) strategy for Deep Space Missions: linking biology to engineering

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Choukér ◽  
Thu Jennifer Ngo-Anh ◽  
Robin Biesbroek ◽  
Gerhard Heldmaier ◽  
Marc Heppener ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
European Space Agency ◽  
Space Missions ◽  
Deep Space ◽  
Space Agency

Mysterious misalignments between geomagnetic and stellar reference frames seen in CHAMP and Swarm satellite measurements

2015 ◽  
Vol 203 (3) ◽  
pp. 1873-1876 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Maus
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Reference Frames ◽  
European Space Agency ◽  
Processing System ◽  
Field Measurements ◽  
Low Earth Orbit ◽  
Space Agency ◽  
Order Of Magnitude ◽  
Stellar Aberration ◽  
Star Camera

AbstractThe orientation of a spacecraft in Low Earth Orbit can be determined accurately from either magnetic field measurements or star camera images. Ideally, the independently computed spacecraft attitudes should agree. However, we find that the German CHAMP and European Space Agency triple-satellite Swarm geomagnetic satellites exhibit consistent misalignments between the stellar and geomagnetic reference frames, which oscillate with the local time of the orbit. Having an amplitude of 20 arcsec, these oscillations are more than an order of magnitude larger than the stability of the optical bench, which cohosts the magnetometers and star cameras. The misalignments could originate either from the magnetometer or star camera measurements. On one hand, as-yet-unknown external magnetic field contributions could appear as a rotation of the geomagnetic reference frame. On the other hand, the observed misalignments agree in amplitude and phase with the effects of stellar aberration, caused by the movement of the star cameras relative to the light rays emitted by the stars. This is surprising because stellar aberration is allegedly already corrected for by the star image processing system. Resolving these mysterious misalignments is key to fulfilling the measurement accuracy requirements and science objectives of the ongoing Swarm mission. If caused by stellar aberration, fully correcting for this effect could significantly improve the attitude accuracy not only of CHAMP and Swarm, but also of several other past and ongoing scientific satellite missions.

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