Flight Payload Research Articles

The small satellite NINA-MITA to study galactic and solar cosmic rays in low-altitude polar orbit

The satellite MITA, carrying on board the scientific payload NINA-2, was launched on July the 15 th , 2000 from the cosmodrome of Plesetsk (Russia) with a Cosmos-3M rocket. The satellite and the payload are currently operating within nominal parameters. NINA-2 is the first scientific payload for the technological flight of the Italian small satellite MITA. The detector used in this mission is identical to the one already flying on the Russian satellite Resurs-O1 n.4 in a 840-km sun-synchronous orbit, but makes use of the extensive computer and telemetry capabilities of MITA bus to improve the active data acquisition time. NINA physics objectives are to study cosmic nuclei from hydrogen to iron in the energy range between 10 MeV/n and 1 GeV/n during the years 2000–2003, that is the solar maximum period. The device is capable of charge identification up to iron with isotope sensitivity up to oxigen. The 87.3 degrees, 460 km altitude polar orbit allows investigations of cosmic rays of solar and galactic origin, so to study long and short term solar transient phenomena, and the study of the trapped radiation at higher geomagnetic cutoff.

Status of the relativity mission superfluid helium flight dewar

The world's largest capacity helium flight dewar has been assembled for use on the Relativity Mission, also known as Gravity Probe-B (GP-B). Acceptance tests have been successfully performed and the dewar has been delivered to Stanford University. The science mission dewar (SMD) is the first piece of flight hardware delivered for GP-B. It will be used in testing to demonstrate payload functionality with a prototypical Science Instrument Assembly, the flight spare probe (Probe-B), and prototypical electronics. Since delivery to Stanford, the flight dewar has undergone preparations for integration of Probe-B with the dewar. This involved filling both the main tank and the well with liquid helium and installing a superconducting ultralow magnetic field shield. This shield consists of 63-μm-thick lead foil which lines the inside of the dewar well and provides an ambient magnetic field environment of <10 pT (0.1 μG) in the region of the science instrument assembly. The installation of the shield is an iterative process which will be described briefly. Once the shield is installed, the dewar and the shield must be kept cold through to the end of the science mission. The ambient field inside the shield that has just been installed has been measured to be 5 pT or less in the gyro region. After completion of testing with Probe-B, the flight probe (Probe-C) will be integrated in early 1998 in preparation for testing the flight payload. This paper reviews the key design features of the dewar, especially those driven by the ultralow magnetic field requirements. The measured mass, helium boil-off, and ground hold performance are compared to those of the previously launched superfluid helium cryostats (IRAS, COBE, and ISO).

BIOPAN-flight experiment "card"

As part of the BIOPAN-O test flight payload, ESA/ESTEC together with University of Siegen, designed, an experiment called CARD, for flight on the first BIOPAN model. The CARD experiment, consisting of commercially available 128 K-bit EEPROM cards and CR-39 plastic nuclear track detector foils, was flown in order to assess the EEPROMs sensitivity to cosmic rays and the CR-39 foils to measure the cosmic rays seen during the mission. The EEPROMs were unbiased during the flight so only the charged content of the memories could be assessed after returning to earth. This paper presents the results from a 15.6 day flight on-board the Russian Photon-8 satellite, launched October the 8th 1992 (altitude 300 km, inclination 62.8/spl deg/), and gives details of the ground testing and analyses performed. >

THE EFFECTS OF MICROGRAVITY ON THE CONCENTRATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF INDOLE-3-ACETIC ACID IN CORN SEEDLINGS

The gravity-sensing mechanism in plants end transduction of the gravity stimulus to re-orientating plant growth has not been ascertained. By removing the everpresent influence of the 1 g terrestrial environment on plant growth and development, information maybe obtained about the gravity detection mechanism in plants. The Space Life sciences Payloads Office at NASA-ARC processed the secondary Payloads flight experiment “Growth Hormone Concentration and Distribution in Plants” (GHCD). The experiment occupied two middeck lockers in the crew compartment onboard the space shuttle Atlantis (STS-34) in October 1989. The payload's Principal Investigator was Dr. S. Bandurski, Professor of Botany at Michigan State University. dr. Bandurski's experiment was designed to investigate concentration, distribution, and turnover rates of indole-3 acetic acid (IAA) in dark-grown corn seedlings exposed to the microgravity environment. The flight data may provide valuable information for long-term crop production in space as well as terrestrial agriculture. This poster will present the flight payload processing procedures necessary to successfully conduct a space shuttle flight experiment.

Aerospace: Shuttle firsts put to the test: After its near-perfect maiden flight, Columbia needs fine tuning for a trip that will highlight its remote arm and its first payload

Discusses the 50 deviations from expected performance from countdown to landing that occurred during the first flight of NASA's Shuttle and what action will be necessary to correct them in time for the first payload flight.