Documenti di Didattica
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Documenti di Cultura
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Contents
30
TSX-5: Another Step Forward
Michael L. La Grassa, Senior Project
Engineer, Space Test and Experimentation
Departments Directorate, leads system engineering efforts
in support of satellite acquisition and
integration for Space Test Program missions.
2 Headlines He worked closely with the contractor and
the Air Force Program Office in resolving
technical issues on the TSX-5 program. He
holds an M.S. in electrical engineering from
4 Profile
President and CEO
California State University, Fullerton, and has
been with Aerospace since 1986 (michael.l.
William F. Ballhaus Jr. lagrassa@aero.org). James R. Farmin,
Project Engineer, is a member of the Mission
22 Michael R. Hilton
T
he important role of
Delta Star
Frederick Simmons has supported
space experiments
BMDO in a number of its programs since in the advancement
its inception (as SDIO) in 1983, primarily of aerospace science
dealing with target and background
phenomenology. He joined Aerospace in
and technology is the theme of
1971 to work in the Defense Support this Crosslink. The term “space
Program and several DARPA research experiments” encompasses
studies. He holds a Ph.D. in aerospace
science from the University of Michigan
both flight experiments and
(frederick.s. simmons@aero.org). Peter experimental flights. The first
Bythrow (inset) is Chief Scientist, Central typically generate remote-sensing data—about the space envi-
Measurements and Signatures
Intelligence Office of the Defense
ronment, about spacecraft materials, about Earth and its atmo-
Intelligence Agency. In his previous sphere. The second demonstrate new spacecraft or payload
position at Johns Hopkins University technologies, increasing our confidence and understanding of
Applied Physics Laboratory, he was
coinvestigator for a number of space
new systems while identifying areas needing further develop-
experiments and developed sensor ment. Lessons learned from space experiments help The Aero-
technologies for space surveillance and space Corporation provide sound advice to the government for
missile detection. He holds a Ph.D. in
space physics from the University of
space-system acquisition.
Texas, Dallas (dibytpf@dia.ic.gov). Space experiments are inherently risky, and reducing that
risk requires careful engineering and systems integration. Ex-
perts in diverse specialties must be consulted throughout the
38 development stage to ensure that no details are overlooked. The
importance of mission preparation—in particular, preflight
qualification and testing—cannot be overstated; once launched,
a space vehicle becomes extremely difficult to repair.
The articles in this issue look at some of the specialized dis-
ciplines required for the successful launch and operation of
space-science missions. The “ultimate space experiment”—
John Glenn’s historic orbital flight in the Atlas-launched Mer-
cury “Friendship 7” spacecraft—occurred forty years ago, in
the same year The Aerospace Corporation was formed.
Fittingly, the lead article chronicles the central role of Aero-
space in the success of that flight. Crosslink also introduces a
new department—Profile. The first features the corporation’s
new president and CEO, William F. Ballhaus Jr.
S T
pacecraft designers will soon have a he National Reconnais- third-stage engine because it
new tool to help in the selection and sance Office (NRO) was unclear how GeoLITE’s
qualification of solar cells. The Ad- successfully launched 2000 pounds of propellant
vanced Solar-Cell On-orbit Test (ASCOT) its GeoLITE satellite from a would affect the spinning
has generated five years’ worth of data con- Delta II rocket on May 18, stack. Aerospace performed
cerning the radiation degradation of solar 2001, from Cape Canaveral. independent analyses of the
cells in space. Aerospace was closely in- This was the first time an third-stage control and the
volved in the experiment design and test- NRO satellite was launched fluid dynamics of the propel-
article selection and analyzed the data. on a Delta II. Aerospace pro- lant tank; these analyses were
vided critical support through- key to the Air Force’s deci-
out the launch campaign, sion to fly.
from source selection to The actual launch was de-
early-orbit operations. layed one day to replace four
The GeoLITE program of eight flex hoses in the first-
Boeing Space Systems
NRO
Group, moving instead to- leaks in two similar hoses.
ASCOT contains a variety of advanced ward a more streamlined acquisition of the Aerospace worked to understand the fac-
gallium-arsenide solar cells as well as stan- spacecraft and a more commercial procure- tory failure, verify that the replacement
dard silicon cells and thin-film flexible so- ment of the launch vehicle. The satellite hoses were flightworthy, and exonerate the
lar cells. The goal, said Dean Marvin of the was designed and built in less than four hoses that weren’t replaced.
Space Technology Directorate, is to assess years at a cost of $130 million. GeoLITE will perform a dual mission:
how each withstands extended exposure to The new approach initially limited Aero- For the first 15 months of its nine-year mis-
space radiation. Because of its particular space’s involvement to the satellite itself, sion life, it will test an advanced laser com-
elliptical orbit, ASCOT accumulates radia- but late in the program, Aerospace was munications system. Afterward, it will pro-
tion dose much more rapidly than a satel- asked to certify the Delta II launch vehicle vide operational support data to the
lite in a typical low Earth orbit. In fact, as well. In doing so, engineers grew con- military using a conventional ultrahigh-
ASCOT’s silicon reference cells have ac- cerned about the stability of the rocket’s frequency transmitter.
cumulated the equivalent radiation expo-
sure of 2000 years in a 450-nautical-mile Beaming Power to Satellites
polar orbit and 600 years in geosynchro- The concept builds upon the Air Force
nous orbit. Research Laboratory’s PowerSail, a large
Long-term radiation tests such as AS- free-flying thin-film solar array. By adding
COT hold great scientific and engineering solid-state lasers, thermal controllers, and
value, Marvin said, providing data that optical telescopes to this platform, Aero-
cannot be obtained through accelerated space researchers were able to create a
studies on the ground. For example, solar satellite—the PowerSat—with optical
cells are typically qualified for space by power-beaming capability. Several architec-
studying the effect of protons and electrons tures are being investigated to determine the
at a few selected energies, but in actuality, cost and performance advantages of each.
the space environment presents a continu- One model found that just two Power-
ous spectrum of energies. Furthermore, Sats could provide a full-time energy sup-
ground tests typically assume that the ef-
B
atteries add mass, cost, and uncer- ply to a constellation of 12 low-Earth-orbit
fects of all particles in the spectrum are ad- tainty to satellite missions—but satellites. In this configuration, each mis-
ditive—an assumption that may not be ac- such concerns may soon be a thing sion satellite keeps its existing solar array,
curate in all cases. Finally, the ground tests of the past. A recent study by Aerospace in- but loses its battery and most of its power-
expose the cells to many years’ equivalent dicates that lasers can be used to beam management system. This arrangement
radiation in just a few hours—a procedure power from an orbiting space structure to a substantially reduces the mass, volume,
that can obscure annealing effects and in- constellation of satellites. What’s more, and cost of each satellite. Moreover, the
troduce high-dose-rate artifacts. ASCOT, preliminary results show that with the ex- power available to the mission satellites
on the other hand, provides reliable long- pected advancements in optical technolo- can be varied in real time, enabling better
term on-orbit data that can be used to vali- gies, total system cost can be lower than power optimization based on the require-
date the ground-based testing procedures. that of traditional power systems. ments of the constellation payloads.
CNN
Orbital and Reentry Debris Studies also help designers optimize satellite con-
(CORDS), under the direction of William figuration. “If you have critical compo- CORDS also helped NASA in recon-
Ailor, has been gathering data to character- nents, and you really want to make sure structing the demise of the Compton
ize how Mir broke up and what parts sur- they get cooked on the way down,” said Gamma Ray Observatory, which was suc-
vived reentry. Ailor, “you can put them in places where cessfully brought down in June 2000 (see
Mir disappeared into the South Pacific, you know they’ll disintegrate. Similarly, Crosslink, Winter 2000/2001). Of course,
so the prospects for examining debris are if there are things you want protected, you that observatory weighed only 17 tons,
naturally limited. But Ailor’s team has can keep them on the interior, keep heat- whereas Mir—the “granddaddy of them
gathered useful details from a wide variety ing to them low.” all,” as Ailor puts it—weighed about 140
of sources—including tracking data, video Ailor further noted that satellite opera- tons. Moreover, the observatory left orbit
clips, eyewitness reports, and radar mea- tors are increasingly being asked—though in a very precise manner, coming down
surements. Using this information, the re- not yet required—to examine reentry risk. “right on the money,” said Ailor. Mir, in
searchers have been reconstructing Mir’s In fact, Aerospace has been working with contrast, fell slightly ahead of its mark, pri-
final descent. NASA has contracted Aero- NASA to develop thresholds and guide- marily because Russian controllers were
space to perform this analysis. lines for satellite deorbiting. “Basically, if very conservative in their calculations.
The information should hold immediate your footprint on the ground is bigger Aerospace provided technical support
benefits for designers and operators of than eight square meters, you’ll need to for the reentry. Wayne Hallman is leading
space systems, who need to understand exercise a controlled deorbit,” Ailor said. the Mir trajectory reconstruction effort.
T
he first active scientific ex-
periment arrived onboard the
International Space Station—
thanks, in part, to The Aerospace
A Space-Based Laser Integrated Flight
Experiment (IFX) were called
upon to provide more than technical assis-
tance last year. When a commercial laser
Corporation. The Middeck Active vendor unexpectedly withdrew, the Air
Control Experiment II (MACE-II) Force found itself without a laser for its
was launched aboard the space shut- Beam-Control Risk-Reduction Test Bed, a
tle on September 8, 2000, and deliv- platform for identifying and reducing over-
ered to the Space Station for opera- all risk in the IFX program. With no viable
tion by the Increment One crew in alternative, the Air Force asked Aerospace
early 2001. Aerospace provided support in algorithms, keeping the other end steady. to supply a replacement laser. Within five
the integration, planning, and flight prepa- Most important, these algorithms can mod- months, Aerospace built and delivered a
ration of the experiment. ify themselves or “adapt” when they sense low-power tunable solid-state laser that met
Developed by the Air Force Research changes in the characteristics of the sys- or exceeded all mission requirements, sav-
Laboratory and the Massachusetts Institute tem—without human intervention. As a re- ing the program at least $500,000.
of Technology, MACE-II is an on-orbit sult, the technique should allow future The 2-watt infrared laser source gener-
demonstration of advanced control tech- spacecraft to continue performing their ates a tunable 3-micron emission by optical
nologies for suppressing unwanted vibra- missions even as their subsystems degrade parametric oscillation. Keith Zondervan,
tion in space vessels. The goal, said David and fail, effectively extending mission life. who heads the Space Based Laser Direc-
DeAtkine of Aerospace’s Houston office, MACE-II is a reflight of MACE-I, torate, said the laser will be used for evalu-
is to create “smart” structures that can which flew on the space shuttle in 1995. ating wave-front error and jitter-control
maintain attitude despite unexpected vibra- The current device, DeAtkine said, is much concepts. The test laser will model the be-
tion, impacts, and mechanism failures. more sophisticated, employing smarter al- havior of a larger, more expensive laser,
MACE-II is a 1.5-meter-long device that gorithms that can account for more types which will eventually be used in space to
floats free in a pressurized compartment. of failure modes and disturbances. The ex- destroy a thrusting ballistic missile (in
The unit has gimbals at each end and reac- periment has been operated successfully by 2013, assuming adequate funding). Using
tion wheels in the middle. One gimbal cre- the Increment One and Increment Two the substitute laser, the IFX team will seek
ates vibrations, which are detected and crews and has been generating useful data, to identify problems and unknowns before
counteracted through complex computer which are being examined. building the final test version.
T
he Aerospace Corporation last year celebrated 40 years of will know if you didn’t do it”), high ethical standards, and courage of
successful contributions to the national space effort and their convictions. They must be accountable.
aerospace technology. Guiding the company into its next 40 Although as president and CEO of Aerospace, Ballhaus is now
years will be William F. Ballhaus Jr., the corporation’s new most interested in setting the direction for the corporation to best
president and CEO. Ballhaus comes to Aerospace particularly suited serve its customers, he clearly found great satisfaction from his early
to lead this corporation as it meets the challenges of national security research and continues to take pleasure in sharing it with others. He
space in the new millennium. He brings insight gained from extensive once tried to explain to a curious passenger sitting beside him on an
research and management experience in government and industry. airplane a sketch he was drawing of a pattern on the wing formed by
Experience, Ballhaus believes, is his greatest asset: “Experience the sun shining through shock waves as the plane moved at transonic
develops intuition and prepares leaders for the most important thing speed and the airflow over the wing reached supersonic speed. After
they do—make decisions and make them correctly and quickly.” He receiving his Ph.D. in engineering in 1971 from the University of
has published numerous influential articles on computational aerody- California, Berkeley, Ballhaus spent the first eight years of his career
namics and related technology, served as director of NASA’s Ames as a research scientist in computational aerodynamics with the U.S.
Research Center, and oversaw the engineering and technology func- Army Air Mobility Research and Development Laboratory and Ames
tions of the aerospace defense contractor Lockheed Martin. His many Research Center at Moffett Field, California.
awards for research and management testify to the quality and im- Ballhaus explained that the transonic speed regime is important
portance of his work. because it is where aircraft generally optimize cruise and maneuver
The new CEO assumes leadership of the organization at a time performance. However, to achieve the performance potential requires
when the government is proposing major changes in the structure and proper aerodynamic shaping of the aircraft configuration. The ability
administration of the nation’s space and defense programs. The new to effectively analyze transonic flows about wings of a given shape
direction will have a direct impact on Aerospace, whose primary cus- had been intractable because the governing partial differential equa-
tomers are the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, Air tions were nonlinear, even in their simple approximate forms. A ma-
Force Space Command, and the National Reconnaissance Office jor breakthrough was the invention, by Ballhaus and his colleagues at
(NRO). The proposed changes will create a more integrated national Ames, of finite-difference methodology that solved these complex
security space infrastructure that aligns the Air Force and NRO pro- fluid flow equations on digital computers. Designers then could ana-
grams for best use of resources and clearer lines of authority and ac- lyze the flow about a wing design and optimize its performance prior
countability. to wind tunnel or flight tests.
The challenge to Aerospace, according to Ballhaus, will be deter- Ballhaus wrote computer codes for designing wings of aircraft
mining how the company can best serve the needs of these cus- based on finite-difference mathematics technology that he developed.
tomers. “Aerospace will play a major role supporting national secu- The codes provide information such as shock formations and other
rity space. We have very experienced people in key positions who flow characteristics and phenomena that determine aerodynamic per-
really understand national security space and the capabilities that formance. “Basically with finite-difference methods, we divided the
support it,” Ballhaus said. “Our job is to provide sound technical ad- whole flow field surrounding the wing into small cells, literally mil-
vice in systems development and acquisition support, launch certifi- lions, and wrote equations for each cell that expressed conservation
cation, system-of-systems engineering, process implementation, and of mass, momentum, and energy in the cell. We then used relaxation
This year marks the 40th anniversary of America’s first spaceflight with an onboard human pilot.
The occasion provides an opportunity to reflect on the significant role played by The Aerospace
Corporation in this monumental early effort in the history of astronautics.
uring the early years of space
America’s
Wernher von Braun and other German scientists, United States begins Mark Wade (astronautix.com) Explorer I
including Ben Hohmann, brought to United States program to develop Sputnik I orbits
an ICBM Earth
Capt. Charles “Chuck” Yeager USSR conducts the
NASA
NASA
NASA
45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57
Mercury-
incorporated
Atlas 2
58 59 60 61 62 63
T
he environments of near-Earth
space and the upper atmosphere
pose unique challenges for the
design and deployment of satel-
lite systems. Of particular concern is the
radiation that can disrupt critical electronic
systems and affect mechanical compo-
nents. Highly energetic cosmic rays, for
example, can penetrate spacecraft and in-
terfere with or damage electronic switches
and memory devices. Large electrostatic
potentials can build up on the surface of the
spacecraft and suddenly discharge, damag-
ing or destroying sensitive electronic in-
struments.
Understanding such phenomena is im-
portant for the design and operation of
space systems; however, in most cases, the
instruments needed to study these effects
are either unavailable or incapable of
achieving the highly specific measure-
ments desired—and with limited commer-
cial potential for such instruments, private
corporations have little or no incentive to
develop them. As a consequence, The
Aerospace Corporation’s Space Science that have been deployed on the ground, on
Applications Laboratory has developed the mobile and aerial platforms, and at astro-
capability to design, develop, and manu- nomical observatories. These instruments—
facture such instruments. This in-house usually one-of-a-kind devices—have ob-
end-to-end capability has helped keep served phenomena as varied as galactic
Aerospace at the forefront of space re- cosmic rays, the Leonid meteor showers,
search while ensuring the success of nu- atmospheric gravity waves, and rocket ex-
merous space missions. haust plumes. The mix of scientific and en-
In fact, during the last 40 years, the lab- gineering disciplines in the Space Science
oratory has built more than 250 scientific Applications Laboratory provides the staff,
instruments that have flown on satellites experience, and resources necessary to
and sounding rockets and countless others develop and realize complex instruments,
must be relevant for a particular orbit and a field of view of about 10 by 360 degrees, improved version is under development.
satellite application. Most important, each though this can be controlled over a range The new model employs high-reliability
dosimeter—which includes electronic cir- of about 60 degrees through electrostatic electronic components instead of the com-
cuits—must be designed to survive the steering. The surface-charge monitor uses mercial components used in the sounding-
very radiation it monitors. Three such three programmable high-voltage supplies rocket version; it will also incorporate a
dosimeters are currently returning data to steer the field of view and to control the fast and efficient high-voltage supply, cur-
from orbit, and two others are scheduled stepping system that controls the energy- rently being designed by Aerospace, in-
for delivery in 2002 and 2003. level selection. stead of commercial high-voltage supplies.
Surface-Charge Analysis A prototype was flown on the NASA Although commercial power supplies are
To provide a complete picture of the in situ Geodesic sounding rocket in 2000, and an readily available and adequate for use in
spacecraft environment, Aerospace also
developed a surface-charge monitor with
greater resolution and sensitivity than pre-
10
(kilo-electron-volts)
Detector
Aerospace developed an improved surface-charge monitor, which measures the ambient
plasma. The analyzer functions when high voltage (+HV or −HV) is applied to an inner hemi-
spherical plate. If positive voltage is applied, the analyzer will allow electrons to pass through
to the detector; if negative voltage is applied, it will pass positive ions. The magnitude of the
voltage determines the energy pass-band for the charged particles. Energy spectra are con-
structed by rapidly stepping the voltage through a broad range of steps. Angular information
is derived through position-sensitive detection by using an array of microchannel plate de-
tectors, shown conceptually as the detector ring.
Aerospace had a large engineering role on the NASA Polar mis- high-altitude processes that cause Earth’s aurora as well as the
sion, launched in 1996 as part of the International Solar Terrestrial complex interactions between Earth’s upper atmosphere, iono-
Physics program. One project was the multiple-pinhole camera sphere, radiation belts, and magnetosphere. Aerospace also
(left) used by the Polar Ionospheric X-ray Imaging Experiment designed and built Polar’s imaging proton sensor (right)—the first
(PIXIE). The electronic camera forms images of Earth’s aurora by to make long-term high-altitude measurements of energetic neutral
recording the X-rays generated when energetic electrons strike the atoms from Earth’s radiation belt. Although the instrument was de-
upper atmosphere. By imaging these X-rays and measuring their signed to measure radiation-belt protons, it was also sensitive out-
energies, PIXIE determines the fluxes and characteristic energies side the radiation belts to energetic neutral atoms, and routinely
of the parent electrons. This information will give insights into the observed these particles.
Electronics
box
Energetic
neutral atom
sensor heads
Actuator
Actuator bracket
Aerospace is part of a collaborative effort to create TWINS (the Two Wide-angle Imaging The sensor control board for the TWINS in-
Neutral-atom Spectrometers). TWINS uses a pair of instruments mounted on rotating plat- strument controls the rotation platform,
forms on two widely spaced high-altitude, high-inclination spacecraft to record energetic power supplies, and housekeeping moni-
neutral atoms over a broad energy range. The stereoscopic technique permits 3-D visuali- tors. The actual board is 4 × 5 inches and
zation and resolution of large-scale structures and dynamics within the magnetosphere. has tens of thousands of interconnects.
Remote detection of these particles pro- stereoscopic image of Earth’s magneto- borne, and ground-based systems alike.
vides important information on the global sphere. TWINS is a typical collaborative The unique instruments developed at Aero-
distribution and properties of both the geo- NASA project. Participants include mem- space serve specific scientific missions, en-
corona and the magnetospheric ion popula- bers from the Southwest Research Insti- abling researchers to perform studies that
tion. Although the imaging proton sensor tute, Los Alamos National Laboratory, the might not be possible otherwise, given the
was primarily designed to measure University of Southern California, West absence of commercial alternatives. The
radiation-belt protons, it routinely observes Virginia University, Aerophysics Labora- challenge is in designing systems that are
energetic neutral atoms outside the sensor tory, and the University of Bonn, as well as reliable and affordable. Science instru-
background caused by the radiation belts. The Aerospace Corporation. ments are not market-driven, high-profit
The instrument allows scientists to gener- One of the primary engineering chal- items, and their development budgets
ate images of the energetic neutral atom lenges for the Aerospace contingent is to cannot be burdened by expensive leading-
emission regions and to track the waxing ensure that the TWINS sensors will not in- edge technology.
and waning of the ion fluxes in the radia- terfere with other sensors onboard the space The hardware development program con-
tion belts. In particular, the technology vehicles. For example, because TWINS im- tributes significantly to the overall mission
helps visualize how ion fluxes are injected aging is accomplished by scanning the in- of Aerospace, providing direct and indirect
into the radiation belts by large storms. strument 180 degrees on a rotating actuator, benefits for clients—particularly the Air
Such observations give scientists a global the jitter induced by the rotation required Force and NRO. Data obtained through
view of the changing ion populations that careful study to mitigate unnecessary or un- Aerospace instruments help designers cre-
cannot be obtained by in situ point mea- acceptable disturbances. In this case, the ate more robust, efficient, and inexpensive
surements. analysis was complex, and required assis- space systems. Such information also
TWINS tance from structural-dynamics and control- serves to facilitate anomaly resolution, im-
The newest in the family of instruments de- analysis experts. The availability of the col- prove space models, and enhance testing
veloped to study magnetospheric effects on lective resources of Aerospace to address protocols. Moreover, the ability to develop
space weather is the Two Wide-angle issues ranging from thermal design to con- mission-specific instruments in house helps
Imaging Neutral-Atom Spectrometers tamination effects to control systems is a to reduce development time and overall
(TWINS), currently scheduled for delivery rare advantage for engineers in designing mission cost.
in April 2002. One of the first instruments these complex systems. Whether for prototype instrument or
funded by NASA for a “mission of oppor- Conclusion evolved sensor, the capacity to design and
tunity,” TWINS is actually a pair of identi- These projects, though diverse, are typical build custom hardware is an important ca-
cal instruments that will be launched on of the laboratory’s hardware development pability that helps keep Aerospace at the
two orbiting spacecraft to provide the first process, which applies to space-based, air- forefront of the space-science field.
PCB Assembly
The assembly of PCBs is performed by technicians such as
Ted Nguyen, shown here, who have been trained at the
NASA school at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. All assembly
operations are performed manually, including installation of
through-hole and surface-mount components, harness
fabrication, and connector installation. Quality assurance
inspections at this stage help to ensure that construction will
meet program requirements.
Mechanical Assembly
Electronic subassemblies and sensors are incorporated into a
mechanical assembly. Eric Abendroth is shown here with a
NASA sounding rocket assembly. Internal box-level harnesses
have already been completed by electronics technicians. At
this stage, final harnesses are added prior to system testing.
System Testing
Functional testing at the subassembly and unit level will verify that the
design meets performance requirements. Prototype and engineering
models are often developed for space flight assemblies to validate a design
before committing expensive flight-rated components. After the subsystems
are integrated into a unit, calibrations are completed to characterize sensor
performance, and embedded software is tested using sample data sets
that envelop or bound the actual measurements expected. Here Yaniv
Dotan tests the TWINS engineering model low-voltage power system.
Qualification Testing
The last step prior to instrument delivery is qualification testing. Shown
here Brad Johnson loads a data-processing unit and imaging proton
sensor assembly in a thermal vacuum chamber. For a space flight
sensor, qualification testing always includes sine and random vibration
tests to verify that the instrument design will survive the launch.
Thermal cycle and thermal vacuum tests are completed, and in some
cases acoustic and pyro-shock tests may also be performed. Engineers
may also conduct electromagnetic compatibility testing and magnetic
cleanliness surveys as required by the parent spacecraft mission.
S tar
supply, and scientific research
facilities. The 11-ton Kvant mod-
ule, designed for astrophysical
research and biotechnology ex-
periments, is the upper module.
Frederick Simmons
and Peter Bythrow an SDIO Space Experiment
T
he Delta 183 program was proposed in 1988 by the
Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO), origi-
nally as a joint effort between the United States and the
Soviet Union involving the Russian Mir space station.
When the Soviets decided not to participate, SDIO proceeded uni-
laterally to conduct the mission without direct involvement of Mir.
The primary motivation for the experi- mutual benefit of the two nations. The So-
ment was to engage the U.S.S.R. in joint ac- viet Union and the United States had al-
tivities to allay their concerns about the ready cooperated in a joint space operation
threat posed by the SDIO missile-defense in the 1970s, culminating in the hookup of
activities being pursued at the time. A sec- a Soyuz and Apollo spacecraft in July
ondary objective was to demonstrate that 1975. The onboard greetings of the two
space experiments could be conceived and crews and some of their activities were tel-
executed rapidly and cost-effectively. In- evised to viewers on Earth. At the time of
deed, from its conception to launch, the President Reagan’s offer, relations between
Delta 183 program cost approximately $200 the United States and the Soviet Union
million and took just 14 months, three spent were somewhat strained, and the Soviets
waiting for access to the launch facility. declined.
With the withdrawal of the Soviets, an The Delta 183 program in 1989 was to
alternative set of experiments was selected. be another collaborative effort between the
Those space experiments were remarkably U.S.S.R. and the United States, this time
successful. Notable accomplishments of space experiments involving Mir. Specifi-
the program included several “firsts”: for cally, an unmanned spacecraft would be
example, the first closed-loop tracking of a deployed and maneuvered into the vicinity
of Mir. An American astronaut and a So-
U.S. Air Force
the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) in and the Soviet Union withdrew.
1983, he offered the Soviet Union the op- Proceeding without Soviet participation,
Delta Star with solar arrays in their stowed SDIO planned the reconfigured program.
configuration, installed in the Delta launch portunity to participate in the development
vehicle. of a ballistic missile defense system for the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics
30
tive contrast against a warmer Earth below.
On the other hand, the shortwave and visi-
0 ble imagers recorded those sunlit trails in
positive contrast. Analysis of those persis-
tent trails was also done at Aerospace.
–30 Clouds from
Vented Liquid Propellants
Aerospace planned and directed a series of
–60 experiments involving the launches of
rockets out of the NASA Wallops Island fa-
cility in Virginia, precisely timed to the ar-
–90
–180 –150 –120 –90 –60 –30 0 30 60 90 120 150 180 rival of the Delta Star satellite. The Black
Longitude (degrees) Brant rockets carried payloads consisting
of canisters of liquid propellants, which
Repeating orbit of Delta Star. The curved line represents the ground trace of every fifth orbit. were released at high altitudes in the fields
of view of the sensors aboard Delta Star.
vehicles out of the Tyuratam cosmodrome theoretical models for rocket exhaust
The objective was to observe the flash evap-
near the Aral Sea. Of themselves, sight- plumes emission.
oration of the liquids in the near-vacuum
ings of launches are hardly noteworthy; The long-wave infrared sensor, a modi-
environment and to characterize the result-
the satellites of the Defense Support Pro- fied Maverick seeker, produced a signal
ing expanding cloud of frozen particles
gram have routinely reported such events that, coupled to the Delta Star attitude con-
embedded in the more rapidly expanding
for more than 30 years. (See Crosslink, trol system, provided closed-loop tracking
vapor, thus to assess the validity of an Aero-
Summer 2000.) The Delta Star observa- of a launch vehicle, the first time this had
space model describing those processes.
tions, however, were unique in that the been done from a platform in space. In an-
Such clouds, produced by the release of
sensors provided multispectral data, rang- other interesting event that occurred when
liquid propellants into the upper atmo-
ing from the vacuum ultraviolet to the a cloud deck obscured the launch site, the
sphere, could interfere with the tracking of
long-wave infrared. Aerospace analyzed ignition was observed by the multiple scat-
vehicles by infrared sensors incorporated
the infrared data that were generated by tering of visible light through the clouds,
into space-based defense systems. Four
these experiments, which were prompted whereas the infrared sensors sighted the
such experiments were carried out. One
by a need to evaluate the reliability of vehicle only after cloud break.
booster failed to fly a nominal trajectory,
Delta Star
Argus
Black
Brant Wallops
Space
Flight Firepond
Center
Particle
cloud Vapor
cloud
Sunlight
Scattered
Fuel light
molecule
Other
Ambient O products
H2O* → H2O + hν
but three launches performed as planned, flare that ruined the sensitivity of the short- Laboratory Firepond telescope facility on
and the clouds appeared on schedule in the wave infrared imager. Nevertheless, the Millstone Hill in Westford, Massachusetts,
Delta Star fields of view. Unfortunately, cloud was observed by the ultraviolet sen- and by airborne sensors dispatched for that
just prior to the sequence of the launches, sors aboard Delta Star, by infrared sensors purpose, in operations all coordinated by
the Delta Star satellite was struck with the aboard two widely separated satellites in Aerospace. Thus, a valuable collection of
flux from an extraordinarily intense solar geosynchronous orbits, by the Lincoln data was obtained, despite the degradation
102
0 10 20 30 40
Time (seconds)
35102.3
Top of array
0.158 35092.1
35094.3
Release at 35085
37980.0
Bottom of array 34969.9
0.150
2.210 2.230 4.030 4.050
Azimuth (radians)
1000
0.1
0.01 0.1 1 10
Wavenumber (kilometers–1)
T
he Tri-Service Experiment 5
(TSX-5) is the sixth in a series of
small-satellite missions for space
research and experiments com-
missioned by the U.S. Air Force Space and
Missile Systems Center as part of its Space
Test Program. The mission generated sig-
nificant interest for two important reasons.
First, the vehicle was based on the Space
Test Experiment Platform (STEP) space-
craft bus, whose final mission, STEP-4,
failed in October of 1997. Second, the satel- Research Vehicle-2), sponsored
lite was commissioned under acquisition by the Ballistic Missile Defense
reform—a streamlined cost-conscious pro- Organization, and CEASE (the
curement approach. Another failure would Compact Environmental Anom-
Orbital Sciences Corporation
goal because of hardware problems); the space environment at altitudes relevant faults caused by surface charging, deep di-
MWIR (the Medium-Waveband Infrared to the proposed Brilliant Eyes surveillance electric charging, single-event upsets, and
imager) is designed to detect and classify satellite; ACESS (the All-Composite Ex- radiation-dose effects. TSX-5 marks the
military aircraft flying beneath the satellite; periment Spacecraft Structure) is an exper- first mission for CEASE and primarily
RadMon, a radiation monitor, is designed iment to assess the performance of com- serves as a proof-of-concept flight.
to characterize the radiation environment posite spacecraft relative to conventional Acquisition
(part of the MWIR experiment); SAMMES designs; VISS (the Vibration Isolation, TSX-5 was developed under acquisition re-
(the Space Active Modular Materials Ex- Suppression, and Steering system) is de- form with limited documentation and min-
periment System) is providing long-term signed to provide an ultraquiet environment imal contract oversight. The contract spec-
time-variant performance data on materials for sensitive optical sensors and transmit- ified a firm fixed-price-plus-incentive fee
exposed on the spacecraft shell while ters (including the MWIR experiment). of $25 million for the spacecraft bus and
quantifying the effects of contamination CEASE is a miniaturized suite of sen- the commercial launch vehicle. Engineers
deposition; ETB (the Electronics Test sors and particle detectors for monitoring were therefore challenged to ensure that
Bed), which includes the meteoroid and the environment surrounding a spacecraft. the space-vehicle design, integration, and
debris impact monitor and the meteoroid The instrument is designed to give an indi- testing would meet requirements and be
impact sensor, was deployed to characterize cation of the probability and severity of able to fulfill the mission objectives at a
on TSX-5 (even though much of the devel- panels. Aerospace devised a way to “test”
opment work had already been completed). the hinge using DADS (Dynamic Analysis
Solar Arrays and Design System), a computer simula-
Aerospace began by examining the solar tion tool for predicting the behavior of
arrays. TSX-5—like STEP-4—originally complex mechanical systems.
had solar cells on only one side of the solar The results indicated that overtravel in
panels (because only one side would face the hinge could allow the two solar-array CEASE—shown here after integration with
wings to collide, potentially damaging the the TSX-5 spacecraft—will help satellite
the sun when fully deployed). This meant, operators plan for and react to adverse
of course, that the solar arrays had to be delicate solar cells. In order to prevent this, weather conditions in space.
establish the pressure capability of the evaluated noise characterizations on a card- and the fiber-optic gyro seem prone to up-
CEASE unit and the expected gage pressure cage model of the clock-compare circuitry, sets in their operation. Analyses by Aero-
it would experience during the carrier air- analyzed the timing circuit, reviewed the space and the CEASE research team have
craft ascent and subsequent launch via the component noise-susceptibility data, and shown that these upsets are strongly corre-
Pegasus booster. The analysis showed that analyzed the archived test data. The re- lated to inclement space weather such as
unit gage pressure was well below the pres- searchers concluded that noise at the trail- magnetic storms and other high-particle-
sure capability of the CEASE flight box, ing edge of the timing pulse did indeed trig- flux events. The GPS receiver is essentially
and Aerospace recommended that the pro- ger the anomaly. Moreover, a survey of the a commercial, off-the-shelf product, and
gram office waive the requirement, elimi- archived data revealed that the problem had thus has no radiation hardening. The fiber-
nating the need for a hardware redesign. occurred before during thermal vacuum optic gyro is the same as the one flown on
Against the Clock testing and was possibly linked to tempera- the National Aeronautics and Space Admin-
Aerospace worked until liftoff to resolve ture. A timing-circuit review did not turn up istration’s Deep Space 1—which also ex-
the anomalies that invariably occur before a a plausible hardware degradation or failure hibited a propensity for single-event upsets.
launch. When the space vehicle was at Van- that would match the anomaly signature. Such glitches cannot currently be prevented,
denberg Air Force Base undergoing final The final recommendation was to proceed but Aerospace worked with the ground op-
testing for launch, an anomaly was detected with the launch using the operational work- erations and the spacecraft contractor team
in the spacecraft clock: approximately four around to correct the clock timing as to develop space-vehicle contingency plans
to five times within a 24-hour period, the needed. to minimize their operational impact.
clock slipped by 868 milliseconds. Aero- On-Orbit Operations Interestingly, these upset-inducing phe-
space engineers feared that the clock was Aerospace’s involvement in the TSX-5 nomena are precisely what CEASE was
degrading and could conceivably fail. The program did not end with the satellite sent to investigate. Unfortunately, data
space-vehicle contractor, in contrast, attrib- launch. On the contrary, Aerospace contin- from CEASE is evaluated after the fact,
uted the problem to noise in a clock- ues to support on-orbit operations and sys- and as such could not be used to predict
compare circuit and recommended sending tem optimization. conditions aboard TSX-5; however, the in-
the satellite into orbit “as is,” with a work- For example, a number of electronic formation has been enormously useful in
around to compensate in flight. Quickly boxes on the space vehicle have experi- correlating certain space-vehicle anomalies
working to ascertain the actual cause, enced anomalous behavior. In particular, the to high-particle-flux events, thereby pro-
Aerospace generated fishbone diagrams, GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver viding plausible cause and effect.
D
espite overcast skies and rain, countdown began as usual at Cape
Harry C. Koons
Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on March 26, 1987. The Richard L. Walterscheid
Atlas-Centaur 67 rocket carrying a naval communication satellite Richard Briët
awaited launch. Some observers, concerned about the weather, questioned
the wisdom of moving forward, but others dismissed potential danger as
minimal. After smooth ignition, the rocket arced into the sky. Then, as it
passed through clouds, it triggered a lightning discharge.
Electric current flowed down the body of the rocket and its wiring, scram-
bling data in its guidance computer. Using erroneous data, the computer
commanded maximum tilt to the thrusters. This extreme steering action
destroyed the rocket.
The failure of the Atlas-Centaur 67 echoed produces an electric field with a strength that lightning is much more likely to be trig-
the difficulties plaguing the Apollo 12 exceeds the breakdown value for air, “natu- gered than natural. After launch, a rocket is
vehicle shortly after its launch in 1969. ral” lightning can take place. (The break- exposed to the threat of lightning triggered
Lightning had also struck that mission and down value is the field strength at which an by the presence of the launch vehicle itself
corrupted its guidance system. Fortunately, electrical discharge will occur.) Natural and its long, conducting plume, which to-
the astronauts took control and saved the lightning can propagate between charge gether can locally enhance the atmospheric
mission. Like Apollo 12, the Atlas-
Centaur 67 mission served as an expensive Anvil
lesson on the hazard lightning presents to 18.0 km
a space system.
Powerful enough to threaten everything
on Earth, lightning can cause severe dam-
age to space electronics. The Aerospace
Corporation conducts research to minimize 30° C
this danger. Advances at Aerospace in 20° C
8.0 km 10° C
measuring and predicting lightning and in-
corporating protection into space-system 0° C
5° C
designs have reduced the likelihood of
lightning damage to satellites and launch
vehicles and have improved the cost effi- 1.5 km
ciency of activities undertaken to mitigate
risk during storms. Cloud electrification occurs when vertical motions within a cloud separate positive and
Aerospace scientists serve on a Light- negative charges. When this separation produces an electric field in excess of the break-
ning Advisory Panel for the U.S. Air Force down value for air, lightning can occur. According to one theory, charge separation takes
place within a mixture of particles that includes graupel (soft hail or snow pellets), ice crys-
and the National Aeronautics and Space tals, and water drops. Cloud dynamics and microphysics usually limit the strongest charg-
Administration (NASA). This panel estab- ing to a region extending from the freezing altitude upward to the altitude where tempera-
lishes Lightning Launch Commit Crite- tures reach approximately −10 degrees Celsius.
ria—rules for making a launch decision
when atmospheric conditions or electric- centers within a cloud, from one cloud to an- electric field to its breakdown value. Trig-
field measurements indicate that haz- other, or from a cloud to the ground. gered lightning, resulting from conditions
ardous fields may be present along a Lightning can terminate on a conducting not necessarily conducive to natural light-
planned flight path. body in the electric field, or it can pass ning, is the greatest threat to vehicles and
Cloud Electrification: through such an object on its path to the payloads during ascent. Natural lightning
The Cause of Lightning ground, between clouds, or between charge is the greatest threat at the launch site.
Protecting a space system calls for an un- centers within a cloud. The object may The largest electric fields are found in
derstanding of what causes lightning. A simply be in the way of a natural lightning tall clouds where strong embedded up-
strike results from cloud electrification, stroke, or its presence may actually induce drafts sustain heavy rain and strong verti-
which occurs when vertical movements of the stroke. cal development. The most powerful of
air within a cloud separate positive and An induced stroke is called “triggered” these clouds are cumulonimbus clouds, the
negative charges. When charge separation lightning. For a vehicle struck after launch, only important clouds in natural lightning.
charge. The difference in fall speeds of greater threat during ascent, can result
the graupel and the smaller, slower from a variety of weather conditions, a pro-
water drops and crystals leads to
tection strategy for it consists of rules that
charge separation, and where the mix
of particles is favorable, sufficient
identify conditions under which launches The hybrid on-line lightning monitoring sys-
should be postponed. tem is bolted to a launchpad so that its
charge separation for lightning
Advances in research cannot completely sensors can monitor the same lightning-
develops. generated fields that illuminate launch ve-
remove the threat of natural lightning. If hicles and spacecraft.
Month
J <1
60 30 20 24
70 J
40
A
50 50 60
50 S
>1
5 10 10 50 60 O 1
20 30 40 40 70 N <1
80
80 D
60 70 90 100 80
40 50
30 90 70 01 03 05 07 09 11 13 15 17 19 21 23
30 80 70 60
60 Hour (EST)
Left: U.S. lightning activity map. Activity varies greatly, with mini- of thunderstorms, expressed in percent. For example, thunder-
mums along the west coast and maximums in Colorado and storms can be expected 25 percent of the time at 4 p.m. any day in
Florida. Right: Lightning activity at Cape Canaveral Air Force Sta- July. The best time of day to launch rockets is 7 a.m., when thunder-
tion charted according to time of day and time of year. Numbers as- storm probability is lowest; the best months for outdoor projects are
sociated with portions of the graph denote probability of occurrence October through February.
space resources in time to avoid lightning. that a rocket receives during the period of Methods of protecting equipment from
A rocket on a launchpad may not launch time it must sit on the pad. lightning fall into three categories: ground-
during a storm, but it still must weather the Protecting Space System Equipment ing, shielding, and blocking.
storm. Lightning measurement studies Knowing where and when natural light- Grounding. Lightning rods provide the
must therefore focus strongly on the ning is likely to strike helps the develop- primary form of grounding; they have
amount of lightning-driven electrical stress ment of an equipment-protection strategy. served as protection for centuries. Their
use is based on the premise that lightning
will be attracted to grounded metal rods
positioned at a higher point than the struc-
Electric Field Mills ture being protected. The lightning current
Since the triggered-lightning threat to launch takes a defined path from the top of the rod
vehicles depends on the strength of atmospheric to the ground—thus the current is
electric fields in and around clouds, an awareness grounded and it avoids the structure. His-
of these fields along the intended flight path is torically, the most effective lightning rods
important for preventing a lightning strike during a were tall and tapered to a point.
vehicle’s ascent. Unfortunately, electric fields can
At times lightning will bypass a light-
be neither seen nor easily measured.
ning rod and instead hit a low, nonpointed
The device normally used to measure
atmospheric electric fields is a type of sensor called structure. Electrodynamics, the theory of
an electric field mill. It can be used on the ground to rapidly varying fields, is used to explain
gain information about the field aloft, or it can be this phenomenon. Aerospace is working
flown on an airplane or balloon. Thirty-one ground- with finite-element electromagnetic codes
based field mills at Cape Canaveral Air Force to analyze the dynamic effects of lightning
Station and the Kennedy Space Center are used to with the goal of providing more protection
measure the electric field just above the surface of at lower cost. The intent is to get the light-
Earth, in the lowest meter of the atmosphere, and ning current to ground with a minimum of
determine if it meets the safety levels specified in components. Current protection systems
the Lightning Launch Commit Criteria.
require much more than a simple lightning
The small, cylindrical field mill is mounted upside down. Inside it are a rotating
rod to provide adequate grounding of in-
metallic shutter that is grounded and a set of metal stators that are insulated from
ground and that are alternately covered and uncovered by the rotor. When the rotor coming lightning strokes.
uncovers the stators, they are exposed to the atmospheric field and a surface charge A tent of wires over the structure to be
appears on them. When the rotor covers the stators, the surface charge disappears. protected would work more effectively
The magnitude and polarity of the ambient electric field can be determined by than rods to supply grounding, while a
measuring the amplitude and phase of the current that flows to and from the stators. solid metal dome would give the best
The Amateur Scientist column in the July 1999 Scientific American provided grounding protection. Designers proposed
details on creating a homemade field mill using trash cans, cake pans, an electric a dome for pad 40, the Titan launchpad, at
motor, and other miscellaneous hardware. Cape Canaveral. Lightning could damage
payloads, costing a significant amount of
The drawing above depicts the four tall towers that surround pad 40 ocean spray and rocket exhaust. In the photograph of pad 40 below,
at Cape Canaveral. A network of stainless-steel wires provides a a Titan rocket launches through the central opening in the cable
good grounding path for protection from lightning. The cabling must netting. The large white insulators on the towers prevent lightning
be strong enough to survive hurricanes and the corrosive effects of energy from being carried to the launchpad.
money. However, the impracticality of a economical solution. Aerospace provided In this system of towers and wires, giant
dome for a large structure such as a analysis and experimental data used in de- insulators situated atop the towers prevent
launchpad together with the billion-dollar termining the required arrangement of the the lightning current from passing down
cost precluded acceptance. Instead, a net wires, which are supported by four giant the towers. They protect not the towers, but
of stainless-steel wires offered a relatively towers. the sensitive electronics in the launchpad
The MSX satellite, X-band (25 megabits/second) telemetry antenna S-band command telemetry, range, and range rate antenna
built by Johns Hop-
kins University Ap- Krypton lamp
plied Physics Labo- Solar array UVISI wide and narrow field-of-view
imagers, visible
ratory, was launched
from Vandenberg Air
UVISI spectrographic imagers (5)
Force Base April 24, Instrument section: command
1996, aboard a Delta and telemetry, radio-frequency,
space-based visible, SPIRIT III, UVISI wide and narrow field-
II launch vehicle into power section, attitude control, of-view imagers, ultraviolet
a sun-synchronous beacon receivers
orbit at 900-kilometer SPIRIT III aperture and sun shade
altitude and 99.16-
degree inclination. Steerable X-band antenna Space-based visible instrument
The satellite is 5.2 (25 megabits/second)
Optical bench and star camera
meters in length and
2400 kilograms in S-band beacon receiver antennas
mass.
SPIRIT III radiometer and spectrometer Pressure sensor
Mass spectrometer Xenon lamp
Infrared Background The orbital thrusters were operated in a form produces chemiluminescence at in-
Signature Survey sequence of burns to simulate those of a frared wavelengths. The findings of the ex-
The IBSS experiments were carried out on typical postboost vehicle in its maneuvers periments contributed immensely to the
shuttle flight STS-39, launched April 28, during the deployment of reentry vehicles knowledge of such phenomena and their
1991, from Cape Canaveral into a circular and other elements of the payload. The ob- impact on missile surveillance. In other ex-
orbit, 260-kilometer altitude and 57-degree servations provided a much-improved ba- periments, the mission yielded valuable
inclination. Infrared, visible, and ultravio- sis for estimating the infrared emission data on Earth-cloud backgrounds and limb
let sensors were mounted on SPAS, the from postboost vehicles observable to radiances and some of the most spectacular
shuttle pallet spacecraft, deployed from the space-based sensors. images of auroras ever viewed from space.
shuttle orbiter to maneuver in its vicinity. The second mission recorded infrared Aerospace provided technical advisors to
The IBSS Science Working Group, staffed properties of liquid rocket fuels released the Commander of the Air Force Space and
in part by Aerospace, recommended two from canisters deployed from the orbiter. Missile Systems Center, who was mission
principal missions. In the first experiment, The experiments characterized the result- director for this flight. The complex opera-
SPAS observed plumes of the orbiter’s ma- ant clouds of vapor and frozen particles, tions for the mission were planned and de-
neuvering engines as surrogates for the which simulated the consequences of pro- signed at Aerospace. Among others,
thrusters of postboost vehicles in their in- pellant tank ruptures in space. The particles Thomas Hayhurst, Lindsay Tilney, and
teraction with the tenuous atmosphere of scatter sunlight and earthshine, and the fuel Frederick Simmons played key roles in the
near space. vapor reacting with oxygen in its atomic program. During the flight, Aerospace pro-
vided on-orbit support at the NASA Flight
Control Center in Houston, including real-
time mission timeline changes, problem
Postboost vehicle
(with undeployed 17) workarounds, and operations reconfiguring.