China
Africa
Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
Introduction
Published in Juan Cepeda-Rizo, Jeremiah Gayle, Joshua Ravich, Thermal and Structural Electronic Packaging Analysis for Space and Extreme Environments, 2021
Juan Cepeda-Rizo, Jeremiah Gayle, Joshua Ravich
After working in the consumer electronics industry for 11 years, I decided to work for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory as systems engineer. When I first looked at the electronics that were being sent to Mars aboard the Curiosity rover, I will never forget how my jaw dropped on how primitive they appeared. I mean Dual Inline Package (DIP) packages, and J-leaded transistors, and through-hole parts? Hot Air Solder Level (HASL) boards? Eutectic tin-lead solder? I thought I transported 20 years into the past. Where were the BGAs and all the flip chip components that I was so used to seeing? JPL is a legacy space company that tries to fly as many heritage parts as possible, and if that means flying DIP parts, then we will do that and have no qualms over it. All in the name of reliability, and that is why our Mars exploration rover, Opportunity, lasted for almost two decades on the surface of Mars.
Satellite Optical Imagery
Published in Victor Raizer, Optical Remote Sensing of Ocean Hydrodynamics, 2019
Framing sensor (traditional panoramic camera) is an oldest type of equipment, which provided photography of the Earth using one or more spectral bands. Framing cameras build up strips of images by acquiring successive images in the along-track direction. In the last, framing cameras used a film to record photographic images. As pixel array detectors become available, framing cameras become more common for airspace imagery. Digital framing camera detects and records all the picture element (pixel) data for a single image (frame) at an instant of time at one spectral band. Framing cameras were widely used in aerial photography and the reconnaissance satellites, e.g., U.S. Corona series and Keyhole (KH) satellite systems KH-7 and KH-9 as well as in Apollo and SKYLAB satellites in the mid-1970s. The first use of CCD-based digital framing camera was in Russian RESURS-DK which had 4000 mm focal length, 0.5 m lens aperture diameter, and 1–2 m PAN/MS ground resolution. RESURS-DK operated from 2006 to 2016. Nowadays, digital frame cameras are mostly used in space explorations and planetary missions (e.g., each NASA Mars Exploration Rover carries 10 framing cameras). Remote sensing applications with digital framing cameras require the use of large and heavy optical payload to provide HR and/or VHR MS imagery of the Earth’s surface. However, non-scanning (stationary) framing optical cameras have major advantages which are excellent geometric fidelity and quality of the entire image with minimal distortions.
Extreme Environments in NASA Planetary Exploration
Published in John D. Cressler, H. Alan Mantooth, Extreme Environment Electronics, 2017
Kolawa Elizabeth, Mojarradi Mohammad, Castillo Linda Del
Severe cold-temperature environments are inherent to exploration of the outer solar system and are experienced in the inner solar system during the exploration of airless bodies (Moon, Mercury, asteroids) as well as Mars, a body with a thin atmosphere and extreme diurnal temperature changes. Short-duration missions, such as the Huygens probe to Titan [3], have coped with environments as cold as −180°C (Figure 2.2). The Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission, a multiyear mission, experiences deep diurnal temperature cycles between −120°C and +20°C. Figure 2.3 summarizes surface pressures and temperatures for Mars. Electronic components that will not function over this range are protected in a warm electronics box. The warm electronic box used for MER is shown in Figure 2.4 [1].
Recent research and development activities on space robotics and AI
Published in Advanced Robotics, 2021
Richard Doyle, Takashi Kubota, Martin Picard, Bernd Sommer, Hiroshi Ueno, Gianfranco Visentin, Richard Volpe
The NASA/JPL Robotics group is directly participating in a set of exciting flight projects, primarily dedicated to Mars exploration. First, JPL has promoted two active rover missions in operation on the surface: Mars Exploration Rover (MER) ‘Opportunity’ [16] and Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) ‘Curiosity’ [17]. JPL Robotics personnel participated in the design and construction of both of these rovers, including software for control and operation. Lesson learned from Opportunity informed the development of Curiosity, but unique challenges have also been addressed for it. Some of these challenges and solutions for Curiosity have been the incorporation of variable drive modes that employ features such as visual odometry [18] or global path planning at the discretion of the operators; a new algorithm for improving traction control and reducing unexpected wheel wear [19]; and new operations modes for carrying soil samples while driving or self-inspection of the vehicle.
A Critical Review on Mechanical Heat Switches for Engineering and Space Applications
Published in Heat Transfer Engineering, 2022
Banka Raghu Ram, Vinit Malik, Bukke Kiran Naik, Kishore Singh Patel
The PFW heat switch is a passively actuated MHS. The typical operating range of PFW is the room/normal temperature. The PFW thermal switch was primarily developed in 2003 to control the temperature of the Mars rover battery. This thermal switch was placed on the rover battery and radiator to prevent heat transfer. In 2003, NASA dispatched two identical rovers to Mars as part of the Mars exploration rover mission [24]. The rover’s battery temperature is controlled by a PFW heat switch during the rover’s voyage to Mars. Considering the properties of PFW, the Starsky’s Research Corporation developed this type of switch a few years ago before the Mars mission [24].
Considerations for Implementing Presidential Memorandum-20 Guidelines for Nuclear Safety Launch Authorization for Future Civil Space Missions
Published in Nuclear Technology, 2021
This technical note investigates each of these three NSPM-20 guidelines for three accident categories associated with the EIM: (1) EGA (also known as Earth flyby or Earth swing-by) reentry, (2) solid propellant fires, and (3) FTS functions and probabilities. These accident categories were chosen because they were previously emphasized for NASA’s Cassini, New Horizons (NH), Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), and Mars Exploration Rover (MER) missions.