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domingo, 4 de diciembre de 2016

ESA : Laser tuning fork .- Diapasón de láser

http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2016/11/Optical_stabilising_reference_cavity
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Optical stabilising reference cavity

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Title Optical stabilising reference cavity
Released 30/11/2016 2:04 pm
Copyright NPL
Description
What looks like an abstract sculpture is actually the laser equivalent of a tuning fork – to serve a new generation of space instruments.

“This is an ‘optical stabilising reference cavity’, through which laser light is contained between a pair of super-polished mirrors kept a precise distance apart,” explains ESA physicist Eamonn Murphy.

”This laser light is then used to lock the frequency of the laser – and prevent it drifting – in a similar principle to a tuning fork, as applied to musical instruments.”

Such lasers will serve at the heart of next-generation ‘optical atomic clocks’, improving on current microwave atomic clocks used for timing and navigation, as well as enabling ultrasensitive gravity detectors.

This 5 cm cube cavity was developed for ESA by the National Physical Laboratory, NPL, which is the national measurement institute of the UK, specialised in extremely precise measuring techniques.

NPL used ultra-low expansion glass, resistant to changing size with temperature. A pathway was then drilled through the middle, with mirrors placed at either end.

The working version of the cavity is enclosed in a vacuum chamber to prevent any disturbance by air molecules, followed by a thermal shroud to maintain its temperature to within a tiny fraction of a degree. It can then be placed on an acoustic damping baseplate to further isolate it from any microvibrations.

This effort began back in 2009 with three parallel projects within ESA’s Basic Technology Research Programme, working with the national measuring institutes France and Germany as well as the UK.

Expertise and elements from all the resulting designs will soon be incorporated into a new working prototype, supported through ESA’s General Support Technology Programme, which finalises hardware for space.

“Our aim is to deliver a six order-of-magnitude improvement in laser linewidth from initial laser performance,” adds Eamonn, “to maintain a stable drift-free frequency, insensitive to even minute accelerations.”
Id 370246

domingo, 11 de octubre de 2015

NASA : CubeSat to Demonstrate Miniature Laser Communications in Orbit .- CubeSat para demostrar Comunicaciones láser en miniatura en Órbita

Hola amigos: A VUELO DE UN QUINDE EL BLOG.,Comunicaciones ópticas y Demostración Sensor (OCSD) Configuración de la nave espacial. OCSD difiere de otros sistemas de comunicación por láser basados en el espacio debido a que el láser es montado duro al cuerpo de la nave, y la orientación de la CubeSat controla la dirección de la viga. Esto hace que el sistema de láser más compacta que cualquier otra cosa volado previamente en el espacio.

More information...........

http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/cubesat-to-demonstrate-miniature-laser-communications-in-orbit

Optical Communications and Sensor Demonstration Spacecraft Configuration

Optical Communications and Sensor Demonstration (OCSD) Spacecraft Configuration. OCSD differs from other space-based laser communication systems because the laser is hard-mounted to the spacecraft body, and the orientation of the CubeSat controls the direction of the beam. This makes the laser system more compact than anything previously flown in space.

Credits: NASA/Ames

NASA and The Aerospace Corporation of El Segundo, California, have received confirmation the Optical Communications and Sensor Demonstration (OCSD) CubeSat spacecraft is in orbit and operational. OCSD launched aboard an Atlas V rocket Thursday from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

OCSD is the first in a new series of six NASA-managed technology demonstration missions set to launch during the coming months using CubeSats to test technologies that can enable new uses for these miniature satellites, which measure 10 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm (about 4 inches per side). NASA, other government agencies, academia and commercial companies can incorporate these technologies, which range from high-speed communications to novel propulsion systems to technologies that enable rendezvous and docking, into future space missions.

"Technology demonstration missions like OCSD are driving exploration," said Steve Jurczyk, associate administrator for the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "By improving the communication capability of small spacecraft to support data-intensive science missions, OCSD will advance the potential to become a more viable option for mission planners."

OCSD differs from other space-based laser communication systems because the laser is hard-mounted to the spacecraft body, and the orientation of the CubeSat controls the direction of the beam. This makes the laser system more compact than anything previously flown in space. The CubeSat will evaluate the ability to point a small satellite accurately as it demonstrates data transfer by laser at rates of up to 200 Mb/s -- a factor of 100 increase over current high-end CubeSat communications systems.

The second OCSD mission, scheduled to launch no earlier than Feb. 1, will use two CubeSats to demonstrate the ability to maneuver small spacecraft in close proximity to one another using low-cost sensors and a novel propulsion system that uses water as a propellant. This technology can enhance the ability of small spacecraft to work in coordination with other satellites to explore asteroids, planets and moons, as well as inspecting other spacecraft.

Also aboard the Atlas V were four CubeSats selected through the CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) as part of the Educational Launch of Nanosatellite (ELaNa) XII mission. The satellites successfully deployed from their protective cases and are in orbit. The CubeSats' transmitters turned on, and ground stations listened for their beacons to determine the small satellites' functionality. These CubeSats will test new small satellite control and communications systems, Earth observations, amateur radio communications and an X-Band radio science transponder.

CSLI provides innovators from non-profit organizations, educational institutions and NASA-sponsored missions with an accessible way to participate in space exploration. ELaNa missions, managed by the Launch Services Program at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, provide a ride-share opportunity for CubeSats selected through CSLI.

NASA's Small Spacecraft Technology Program (SSTP) within STMD funds the OCSD project. Aerospace built and operates the OCSD spacecraft. The SSTP office at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California, manages the OCSD project for STMD.

Small satellites, including CubeSats, are playing an increasingly larger role in exploration, technology demonstration, scientific research and educational investigations at NASA. They provide a low-cost platform for NASA missions, including planetary space exploration; Earth observations; fundamental Earth and space science; and developing precursor science instruments like cutting-edge laser communications, satellite-to-satellite communications and autonomous movement capabilities. CubeSats also allow an inexpensive means to engage students in all phases of satellite development, operation and exploitation through real-world, hands-on research and development experience on NASA-funded rideshare launch opportunities.

For more information about NASA's use of CubeSats, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/cubesats

For more information about NASA's space technology, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/spacetech

For more information about NASA's Small Spacecraft Technology Program, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/smallsats

-end-

Joshua Buck
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1130
jbuck@nasa.gov

Last Updated: Oct. 9, 2015

Editor: Karen Northon

Tags: CubeSats, Technology,

NASA
Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui
ayabaca@gmail.com
ayabaca@hotmail.com
ayabaca@yahoo.com
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jueves, 13 de septiembre de 2012

Ciencia: La industria europea desarrollará un radar para velar por la seguridad en el espacio

Representación del futuro radar

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The SSA programme is enabling Europe to detect hazards to critical space infrastructure. This artist's impression shows a possible design for the future radar system, which will scan low Earth orbits to detect hazardous debris objects and deliver data to a catalogue database.

Credits: ESA - P. Carrill

13 septiembre 2012
La ESA impulsará la especialización de la industria europea con el desarrollo de un nuevo radar experimental, parte del programa para el de la Agencia. Este radar permitirá probar nuevas técnicas para monitorizar la posición de los fragmentos de basura espacial, ayudando a los operadores a evaluar riesgos y a mejorar la seguridad en órbita.

La Agencia Espacial Europea y el centro de investigación francés ONERA han firmado un contrato de 4 millones de euros que permitirá a la organización francesa y a cinco socios industriales de España, Francia y Suiza colaborar en el diseño de un nuevo radar de vigilancia y en el desarrollo de un prototipo funcional. Los trabajos comenzarán este mismo mes. “Este acuerdo reforzará significativamente la competitividad y la capacidad de la industria europea en este campo”, explica Nicolas Bobrinsky, Responsable de Programa Preparatorio de la ESA para el Conocimiento del Medio Espacial (SSA-PP).

Nicolas Bobrinsky is head of ESA's Space Situational Awareness Preparatory Programme. Credits: ESA/J. Mai http://www.juergenmai.com

“Este radar permitirá probar y validar nuevas técnicas para monitorizar la posición de los fragmentos de basura espacial. La ESA se beneficiará de la estrecha colaboración que existe entre la industria española, francesa y suiza”.

La rápida detección y monitorización de los fragmentos de basura espacial permitirá evaluar los riesgos de que impacten con otros satélites y alertar a tiempo a los operadores para que implementen maniobras de evasión. Este nuevo radar será del tipo biestático, y se basará en el contrato paralelo suscrito entre la ESA y la empresa española Indra Espacio S.A. en julio de 2010 para el desarrollo de un radar monoestático.

Los dos radares realizarán estudios comparativos

“Al contar con los dos tipos de radares, podremos realizar estudios comparativos para probar y validar nuevas técnicas de detección y monitorización de fragmentos de basura espacial”, explica Gian Maria Pinna, Responsable del Segmento de Tierra del programa SSA de la ESA.

“Estos dos radares formarán parte de una compleja red de sensores, que también incluirá telescopios ópticos y centros de procesamiento de datos que permitirán monitorizar los desechos espaciales en todas las regiones orbitales”.

“La tecnología radar es muy eficaz a la hora de detectar objetos en órbitas bajas o de alta excentricidad, pero la tecnología óptica es mejor para monitorizar objetos en órbitas medias o geoestacionarias”, explica Pinna.
Los radares funcionan emitiendo energía electromagnética hacia un objetivo y analizando la señal que refleja.

En los de tipo monoestático una misma antena hace las funciones de emisor y de receptor, transmitiendo la energía en pulsos discretos. En los biestáticos, el emisor se encuentra separado del receptor, y transmite energía de forma continua.

Para este nuevo radar, el emisor se instalará en un antiguo aeropuerto cerca de Crucey-Villages, a unos 100 km al oeste de París, y el receptor se ubicará a las afueras de Palaiseau, al sur de la capital francesa.

Impulsando la competitividad de la industria europea

Este contrato destaca el fuerte apoyo que está recibiendo la industria europea a través de las actividades del programa SSA de la ESA, que comenzó en el año 2009.

Hasta la fecha se han firmado 25 contratos con la industria europea para el desarrollo de actividades relacionadas con el programa SSA, por un importe de más de 30 millones de euros.

“Tan solo el desarrollo de la tecnología del nuevo radar involucrará a ocho empresas de cuatro Estados miembros de la ESA”, explica Bobrinsky.

“Este proyecto ofrece un fuerte retorno de la inversión, y pone de manifiesto la capacidad de la industria europea para desarrollar de forma autónoma sistemas de seguimiento y vigilancia espacial (SST), que ayudarán a garantizar la seguridad de las operaciones en órbita”.

Más información sobre el programa de Conocimiento del Medio Espacial

Información de contacto

ESA

Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui

ayabaca@gmail.com

ayabaca@hotmail.com

ayabaca@yahoo.com

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martes, 21 de agosto de 2012

MARS: NASA Curiosity Team Pinpoints Site for First Drive, First Laser Use On Tap This Weekend

Hi My Friends: A VUELO DE UN QUINDE EL BLOG.,The scientists and engineers of NASA's Curiosity rover mission have selected the first destination for their one-ton, six-wheeled mobile Mars laboratory. The target area, named Glenelg, is a natural intersection of three kinds of terrain. The choice was described by Curiosity Project Scientist John Grotzinger of the California Institute of Technology during a media teleconference on Aug. 17

This composite image, with magnified insets, depicts the first laser test by the Chemistry and Camera, or ChemCam, instrument aboard NASA's Curiosity Mars rover. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/CNES/IRAP
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First Laser-Zapped Rock on Mars

This composite image, with magnified insets, depicts the first laser test by the Chemistry and Camera, or ChemCam, instrument aboard NASA's Curiosity Mars rover. The composite incorporates a Navigation Camera image taken prior to the test, with insets taken by the camera in ChemCam. The circular insert highlights the rock before the laser test. The square inset is further magnified and processed to show the difference between images taken before and after the laser interrogation of the rock.

The test took place on Aug. 19, 2012.

In the composite, the fist-sized rock, called "Coronation," is highlighted. Coronation is the first rock on any extraterrestrial planet to be investigated with such a laser test.

The widest context view in this composite comes from Curiosity's Navigation Camera. The magnified views in the insets come from ChemCam's camera, the Remote Micro-Imager. The area shown in the circular inset is 6 centimeters (2.4 inches) in diameter. It was taken before the rock was hit with the laser. The area covered in the further-magnified square inset is 8 millimeters (about one-third of an inch) across. It combines information from images taken before and after the test, subtracting the "before" image from the "after" image to make the changes in the rock visible.

Curiosity's Chemistry and Camera instrument (ChemCam) inaugurated use of its laser when it used the beam to investigate Coronation during Curiosity's 13th day after landing.

ChemCam hit Coronation with 30 pulses of its laser during a 10-second period. Each pulse delivered more than a million watts of power for about five one-billionths of a second. The energy from the laser excited atoms in the rock into an ionized, glowing plasma. ChemCam also caught the light from that spark with a telescope and analyzed it with three spectrometers for information about what elements are in the target.

This initial use of the laser on Mars served as target practice for characterizing the instrument but may provide additional value. Researchers will check whether the composition changed as the pulses progressed. If it did change, that could indicate dust or other surface material being penetrated to reveal different composition beneath the surface.

ChemCam was developed, built and tested by the U.S. Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory in partnership with scientists and engineers funded by France's national space agency, Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) and research agency, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS).

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project, including Curiosity, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed and built the rover.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/CNES/IRAP

WASHINGTON -- The scientists and engineers of NASA's Curiosity rover mission have selected the first destination for their one-ton, six-wheeled mobile Mars laboratory. The target area, named Glenelg, is a natural intersection of three kinds of terrain. The choice was described by Curiosity Project Scientist John Grotzinger of the California Institute of Technology during a media teleconference on Aug. 17.

"With such a great landing spot in Gale Crater, we literally had every degree of the compass to choose from for our first drive," Grotzinger said. "We had a bunch of strong contenders. It is the kind of dilemma planetary scientists dream of, but you can only go one place for the first drilling for a rock sample on Mars. That first drilling will be a huge moment in the history of Mars exploration."

The trek to Glenelg will send the rover 1,300 feet (400 meters) east southeast of its landing site. One of the three types of terrain intersecting at Glenelg is layered bedrock, which is attractive as the first drilling target.

"We're about ready to load our new destination into our GPS and head out onto the open road," Grotzinger said. "Our challenge is there is no GPS on Mars, so we have a roomful of rover-driver engineers providing our turn-by-turn navigation for us."

Prior to the rover's trip to Glenelg, the team in charge of Curiosity's Chemistry and Camera instrument, or ChemCam, is planning to give their mast-mounted rock-zapping laser and telescope combination a thorough checkout. On Saturday night, ChemCam is expected to "zap" its first rock in the name of planetary science. It will be the first time such a powerful laser has been used on the surface of another world.

"Rock N165 looks like your typical Mars rock, about three inches wide. It's about 10 feet away," said Roger Wiens, principal investigator of the ChemCam instrument from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. "We are going to hit it with 14 millijoules of energy 30 times in 10 seconds. It is not only going to be an excellent test of our system, it should be pretty cool too."

Mission engineers are devoting more time to planning the first roll of Curiosity. In the coming days, the rover will exercise each of its four steerable (front and back) wheels, turning each of them side-to-side before ending up with each wheel pointing straight ahead. On a later day, the rover will drive forward about one rover-length (10 feet, or 3 meters), turn 90 degrees, and then kick into reverse for about 7 feet (2 meters).

"There will be a lot of important firsts that will be taking place for Curiosity over the next few weeks, but the first motion of its wheels, the first time our roving laboratory on Mars does some actual roving, that will be something special," said Michael Watkins, mission manager for Curiosity from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

The Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft delivered Curiosity to its target area on Mars at 10:31:45 p.m. PDT on Aug. 5 (1:31:45 a.m. EDT on Aug. 6), which included the 13.8 minutes needed for confirmation of the touchdown to be radioed to Earth at the speed of light.

The audio and visuals of the teleconference will be archived and available for viewing at:

http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl

The mission is managed by JPL for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The rover was designed, developed and assembled at JPL, a division of Caltech. ChemCam was provided by Los Alamos National Laboratory. France provided ChemCam's laser and telescope.

For more information about NASA's Curiosity mission, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/msl

NASA

Guillermo GOnzalo Sánchez Achutegui