Space 2000

This paper presents an historical perspective on the importance of Project Apollo from the perspective of the end of the twentieth century and the millennium. After thirty years, it is only now becoming possible to assess the significance of the lunar landings, accomplished between 1969 and 1972, with any degree of historical perspective. This essay discusses the key elements of the American public's memory about Apollo and why it was important, and is suggestive of the myths that have emerged since the landings and how they have affected the course of American society.

Promising opportunities for the exploration and utilization of space and nearby planetary bodies within the next 30 years are analyzed in an ESA study with the German Aerospace Center (DLR) as main contractor and Alenia Aerospazio (ALS) and Technicatome (TA) as subcontractors as well as several consultants. The technological and economic characteristics of the following SE&U scenarios are evaluated in detail: Mars Exploration, Moon Exploration, Space Solar Power and Space Tourism. Each of these scenarios comprises several high priority SE&U activities (applications) that were ranked as most promising out of initially more than 30 such activities. The study results indicate that an intensified effort in the robotic exploration of Mars could be followed by manned missions whose costs can be reduced in comparison with NASA's reference mission depending on specific mission profiles and the technologies employed. The robotic and manned exploration and utilization of the Moon represents an attractive area for increased European efforts, if a reasonable step-wise approach is implemented and sufficient political and public support can be mobilized. Furthermore, the study indicates that the attractiveness of power relay satellites and solar power satellites as major elements of future energy supply networks in comparison with terrestrial solutions depends on numerous technological breakthroughs. The various concepts of Space Tourism, as all other SE&U scenarios, primarily require dramatic reductions in the launch costs by at least one or two orders of magnitude that can be only achieved by reusable systems. However, the huge economic potential of this scenario warrants an increased investigation effort. Despite the fact that the exploration of nearby planetary bodies will retain its scientific and educational character for quite a while, various applications of space commercialization involving services and resources exploitation, can be predicted with a high level of certainty. Key capabilities and technologies that have been identified in the study and which will secure a significant level of European competitiveness and leadership in the exploration and utilization of space are the main components of a SE&U roadmap that also takes the large diversity of potential future SE&U applications into account.

The mission of the Human Exploration and Development of Space (HEDS) Enterprise is to open the space frontier by exploring, using, and enabling the development of space and to expand the human experience into the far reaches of space. One of its major goals is to prepare to conduct human missions of exploration to planetary and other bodies in the solar system. In support of this goal, programs are in place to develop capabilities to ensure astronaut health and well being, and to develop technologies which will be used in next generation life support and environmental monitoring systems. A possible near-term target of opportunity is a human mission to Mars. Therefore, a major strategy that NASA employs is to take advantage of investigations on robotic Mars missions that will return data critical for planning human missions to Mars. This paper describes the elements of the Advanced Human Support Technologies Program and the Biomedical Research and Countermeasures Program. It also describes HEDS participation in the Mars Surveyor Program missions, including experiments which are under development for the 2001 Orbiter and Lander missions, and plans to develop experiments for the 2003 and 2005 mission opportunities.

Schematic design of a Mars surface habitat analog for deployment at Haughton Crater, Devon Island, Nunavut, Canada revealed a number of issues that require detailed analysis prior to composition of an exact configuration for the actual Mars Surface Habitat. The primary issues relate to surface operations and optimization of the habitat for its environment (i.e. dedicated surface habitat, versus transit habitat). The approach utilized identification of all requirements for the surface habitat, and design of the conceptual spacecraft. The Mars habitat design then provided guidelines for configuration of an analog with a high degree of "simulation fidelity". The resulting habitat analog will begin initial deployment during summer of 2000.

Maintaining the performance of logistically isolated systems yield serious support difficulties. In the perspective of a Human mission to Mars, it is known that the ability to maintain systems will be a key issue and that spare parts might pose some problems. Usual solutions consider improvements in reliability and fault-tolerance, storage of carefully selected parts, potential resupply missions, or a combination of these strategies. In this article, we propose a different approach. Having noted an analogy between physiology and the manufacture of parts, we consider the use of rapid-prototyping and manufacturing techniques to replace, on-site, a failed element by a palliative one, intended for temporary repairs or not. The system can then be restored to an acceptable level of performance so as to continue the mission, or wait for a more permanent repair. However interesting the concept is, some questions must be raised regarding technical feasibility, as well as reliability and safety impacts on the mission itself. The article is organised as follows. A first part describes briefly supply support methods and highlight their characteristics. A second part proposes and discusses the rapid spares manufacturing concept. The contribution of rapid prototyping techniques is evaluated in a third part and illustrated as an example. The last part indicates research perspectives linked with in-situ resources utilisation, as well as the qualification process for such spares.

This paper describes the thought and design process used in designing a space habitat. It describes how to take basic requirements of sustaining human life and develop the required functions and systems to create a space habitat. It will take you through the step by step process of analysis used early in a habitat conception. This paper has many tables to serve as design guides and reference.

Habitability is a fundamental component of any long-duration human habitat. Due to the pressures on the crew and the criticality of their performance, this is particularly true of habitats or vehicles proposed for use in any human space mission of duration over 30 days. This paper, the second of three on this subject, will focus on evaluating all the vehicles currently under consideration for the Mars Design Reference Mission through application of metrics for habitability (proposed in a previous paper, see references Adams/McCurdy 1999).

This paper will describe the ISS TransHab architectural design being proposed as a habitation module for the international Space Station. TransHab is a space inflatable habitation module that originally was designed to support a crew of six as a transit habitat (TransHab) to and from Mars. A team of architects and engineers at the Johnson Space Center has been designing and testing this concept to make it a reality.

A permanent manned presence on the moon requires an integrated agricultural system that does more than produce food. The system should recycle water, air, and biomass. It should maintain a healthy microbial population. It should also be designed to maintain optimal performance, morale, and the health of the crew. The agricultural system should not be a restricted access area but should be integrated with crew living quarters in such a way as to allow maximum crew interaction. Plant selection should be based on multiple criteria not simply food production efficiency.

As populations continue to increase and new water sources become scarcer, the need for water reuse is realized. This technology is needed not only for growing urban centers but also for remote locations such as the summit of Pike's Peak, Colorado or future Martian habitats. A graywater (i.e., cleaning, kitchen, sink, and shower wastewater) reuse system is being developed for the new Summit House on top of Pike's Peak using some of the same unit processes NASA is testing for a closed-loop space habitat. This system will help reduce traffic and labor at Pike's Peak by producing potable water, treating the graywater, and reusing it on site. The current system consists of hauling potable water to the Summit House in tanker trucks and hauling the graywater and blackwater (i.e., toilet and urinal wastewater) back down the 31-kilometer (19-mile) road to the Colorado Springs wastewater treatment plant. NASA wants a long-term test of the reuse design at the Summit because of the harsh conditions faced at an elevation of 4,300 meters (14,110 feet), such as low temperatures, low oxygen content, and low pressures. The graywater reuse system will consist of an immobilized cell bioreactor, reverse osmosis membranes, and disinfection. This project will provide a working water reuse design that will be beneficial for use in future human space exploration and also in arid regions and remote sites here on Earth.

Astronaut teams acquired roughly 16 km of gravity data in the course of a planetary exploration simulation conducted in the vicinity of Taos, New Mexico. The gravimetric survey was the first phase of a geophysical assessment of the ground-water resources around Taos, an area of rapid population growth, and it was executed to help delineate buried structures that significantly influence ground-water flow and accumulation in the valley. Participants in the investigation learned a technique with direct relevance for lunar and planetary exploration and took a substantive step toward building an exploration culture within and beyond NASA.

This paper advances scenarios for an evolutionary approach to the establishment of a Human Mission from Planet Earth (H-MFPE) involving exploration and utilization of the Moon and Mars. Of critical importance, are the concepts of robotic/human and Moon/Mars synergies. The technological, scientific, and sociopolitical/economic impacts and consequences related to H-MFPE are presented and discussed.

A system of governance will be required for each of the human settlements that are established on the Moon, Mars, and other sites in the solar system in the 21^st century. The success or failure of the extraterrestrial colonies will depend upon the ability of their respective governments to create effective, cost-efficient, and just laws that facilitate space exploration and development. The present paper discusses the science and engineering disciplines of laws as they relate to the design and quality improvement of laws for future governments in space.

The government in and for outer space is non-existent. Instead, the nations rely on treaties among themselves for government activity about space. This political void is occasioned in space by the Outer Space Treaty, 1967. Because of the fact that space is not treated as a legal venue, there is an infirmity. In common law parlance, the King is incapacitated in space. The Regency form of government has been used traditionally to repair Governments where the King is incapacitated or his regime is infirm. The usual parameters of a Regency are that it is comprised of family and friends of the King; that it is a trusteeship entity; that it exists for the benefit of the people; and that it exercises governmental authority in the jurisdiction of the State. The Regency Proposal will emphasize the Trusteeship quality and the governance functions intended for outer space. Within 100 years, it is required that settlers in space hold a space venue government convention. One purpose of the Regency is to help make that convention happen; to build facilities in space for it; and to help people migrate to space during that 100 year Regency period.

It is likely to be generations before most settlers are comfortable away from Earth, much as was the case during the settlement of this country. Therefore, the best way to encourage settlement of the Moon and Mars is to encourage communities to emigrate, rather than merely families. That means designing and constructing communities on the Moon and Mars. I propose building pressurized containers large enough to house an average of 120 people plus more than sufficient biomass in the form of plant and animal life to sustain the residents in comfort. The Flower of Heaven Design is highly modular, with each "petal" designed to be linked to one or more other petals in an isogrid pattern. Each petal can be constructed as a self-contained unit to a number of interior designs suitable for a variety of economic and social functions.

As the twenty-first century progresses, more and more people will be working somewhere other than on Earth, be it in low Earth orbit or on a lunar or Mars colony. The technical advances that will enable businesses to operate from a space-based location are not nearly as important as the ethical standards we will both want and require those businesses to follow. Now, as ambitious new space industries are in the planning stages, we have a chance to formulate a blueprint of moral and ethical behavior for corporations in a new and expanding marketplace. In this presentation we will consider why such requirements are important, if not essential, and how we can start the process of developing moral and ethical models for space commercialization.

"Predicting the social and cultural results of human colonisation in outer space would be hazardous at best. Nevertheless, one means of providing a base from which such a prognostication could be attempted is to ascertain what has happened in the past to human colonies that have migrated to new surroundings..." When humanity begins its conquest of space and starts to populate celestial bodies other than the Earth, e.g. the Moon, permanent, potentially destructive effects could occur as humankind changes the surroundings rather than adapting to suit the environment. It is this potential conflict that needs to be considered and possible human trait changes addressed. Educating the masses through simple, easily comprehensible information will be required as a method of changing the attitudes of the populace and ultimately protect (as much as possible) a celestial body's delicate ecological system prior to and during human colonisation.

This status report offers an assessment of progress made in image-based remote sensing in relation to the information needs of precision crop management (PCM). The assessment includes discussion of (1) image geometric, radiometric, and atmospheric correction, (2) retrieval of crop and soil information from image data, and (3) transformation of such information into management advice that could be implemented with PCM technology. The report is presented through examples of case studies conducted on Arizona farms by scientists with the USDA Agricultural Research Service.

Solar radiation reflected by the Earth's surface to satellite sensors is modified by its interaction with the atmosphere. The objective of atmospheric correction is to determine true surface reflectance values by removing atmospheric effects from satellite images. Atmospheric correction is arguably the most important part of the pre-processing of satellite remotely sensed data and any omission produces erroneous results. The effects of the atmosphere are more severe for dark targets such as water reservoirs. The paper presents two methods of assessing the need for atmospheric correction, and addresses the importance of removing atmospheric effects in the satellite remote sensing of large reservoirs.

Mississippi State University has established a Remote Sensing Technologies Center (RSTC) in the areas of agriculture, forestry and wildlife, and transportation. The unique characteristics of Mississippi's natural resource and economic development, along with the presence and commitment of Mississippi State University, the NASA Stennis Space Center's Commercial Remote Sensing Program (CRSP), and the Mississippi Space Commerce Initiative make the State of Mississippi an excellent laboratory for developing applications of remote sensing. The research focus areas named above will be underpinned by the cross-cutting areas of computational modeling and workforce development. The RSTC complements a larger effort by NASA's CRSP to enhance U.S. economic competitiveness, reduce operational cost, and enhance NASA's own Earth Science Program through the development of aerial and satellite remote sensing technologies. As a result of a commitment to basic research in developing the understanding of phenomenology within a broad range of disciplined areas, MSU has developed a highly characterized field laboratory analysis capability. Within the agricultural focus area, projects are addressing diverse issues such as soil characterization, site-specific applications of fertilizers based on crop reflectance, characterization of weed populations through unique reflectance patterns, targeted insecticide applications based on remote sensing images of crop growth, cotton defoliation and growth regulation based on aerial images, early detection of crop stress caused by plant pathogens and other causal agents, and economic assessments of remote sensing technologies for precision agriculture. All of these projects are geared heavily toward extensive ground control verification and validation activities. Early results are particularly promising in targeted, site-specific applications of insecticides in cotton based on relative crop vigor, as determined by Normalized Differential Vegetative Indices (NDVI). By "smart" insect scouting based on these images, insecticide applications were reduced by as much as 40%. Similarly, early findings indicate that several of the most troublesome weeds of row crops in the southeastern U.S. can be delineated using hyperspectral data.

Precision agriculture allows for managing inherent spatial crop and soil variability within farm fields. However, detailed spatial information on crop controlling factors is needed for supporting management plans and controlling field operations. Remote sensing provides opportunities for acquiring information on wheat yields, weed infestations, management zones, and other factors that affect sustainable farm management in the Northern Plains. This paper describes remote sensing applications research for precision wheat management in Montana. For example, digitized aerial photographs are used to determine the need for supplemental mid-season N application to increase grain protein levels. Satellite AVHRR/NDVI is used to monitor seasonal changes and predict yields for harvest and market planning. A goal of the Upper Midwest Aerospace Consortium (UMAC) is delivery of near-real-time remote sensing data via the Internet, allowing farmers and ranchers access to images that influence their decisions. UMAC is promoting the concept of learning groups that include farm, research, and industry participants. Participants explore applications of GPS/GIS, remote sensing, and precision agriculture technologies.

Certainly, remote sensing has application for agriculture, and in a limited way, it is being used successfully today. However, the remote sensing industry is focused primarily on the Geographic Information System (GIS) marketplace as its target. The agricultural market place is viewed as the second or third most important application of satellite based remote sensing. Why is this? The answer is rather obvious. We all know how to use maps and understand their value. But, use of remotely sensed imagery by a farmer as a part of growing crops is a relatively unknown process and the value is not clear.

During the last 15–20 years, many entrepreneurial, space ventures have been started. Many of these companies have failed, but a few have flourished. The author suggests that one of the main reasons that so many space entrepreneurs have not succeeded is because of their failure to follow tried and proven business techniques. For instance, entrepreneurs in the space and other technology fields often start a business based on the assumption that the technology will sell itself. A well-written business plan is key to the success of all business start-ups, including space ventures. The purpose of this paper is to provide guidance to space industry professionals interested in starting a company. Features of a business plan typical for technology-based ventures are summarized and discussed. Success factors for technology-based companies are highlighted, building upon the author's thirteen years of professional experience in the space commerce arena.

In its conversion to a commercial marketplace the space industry faces two challenges — the lack of a stable workforce and outdated management and manufacturing techniques. Both contribute to the high cost of space missions. If the space industry is to be successful in commercializing space operations it must development a new management model that will stabilize the space workforce while streaming management practices. This paper proposes a new management model, the Alliance Model, for space missions based on developing mission specific alliances between academe, government and industry.

While most would agree that eventually, humans will create permanent civilizations on the Moon and Mars; the real question is how and when will this occur. What will trigger a sustained effort to return to the Moon (first) and then to Mars? What financing approaches are needed in order to attract investors? This paper will briefly outline both the technologies and resources we will look for upon a return to the Moon, as well as a possible way to jump-start the financial support needed to accomplish this adventure. An overview is provided of the essential issues facing those who view lunar development as a desirable goal. There is general agreement that in order for lunar development to begin, there must be a capitalist component of interest. By this is implied the existence of aspects in the lunar development that would attract investor interest. There are two reasons for this. The first is that governments do not have excess funds. Instead, cutting budgets and downsizing are the primary concerns. The second and more important reason is that there is little public support for Space in general, that is, for large monetary expenditures. While most people, including even a few elected officials, understand the importance of national efforts in Space, national spans of attention tend to be short. Therefore, since Space requires a long time frame, it cannot retain the attention of citizen or government, and it has a difficult time attracting investor financing. A new paradigm is needed for the further development of Space, in general, and the Moon, in particular. It is proposed to deconstruct such a long-term project into independently financeable units that have dual use potential. This essay proposes such a framework and suggests from where the likely economic returns will come. This approach does not appear to have been suggested by others.

This paper examines the commercial use of space mineral and energy resources within the context of their potential to provide monetary and non-monetary benefits to the global community. Cost and revenue factors are reviewed from an economic perspective. The development of criteria reflecting primary decision variables is presented to examine the potential for global interest and expected participation in space resource utilization. Nations are classified by their current level of space activity, and the importance of specific decision criteria are predicted for each class of nation.

Global mineral resource policy is examined within this paper from the context of applying lessons learned to the development of future space law. The environmental setting of near-Earth space resources is briefly reviewed to establish relevance. An overview of mineral economics is presented to show linkages that develop between raw materials and the economy and the importance of property rights. The current form of space law is reviewed, demonstrating its inadequacy for business purposes. Finally, international mineral policy and law is examined for principles that can be used to form a rational basis for the development of space resource policy that is acceptable by both private and public agents.

The potential for commerce in outer space is enormous. Although space commerce thus far has been limited to the satellite and launch industries, other New Space Industries (NSIs) are in the offing. Space tourism and entertainment, manufacturing, business parks, R&D, satellite repair and transfer services, space debris removal—these are just a few of the industries with long-range commercial outer-space potential. Crucial to the success of these NSIs is identifying the likely sources of their investment capital and overcoming the obstacles to their financing.

One of the paths used to stimulate commercial space development activity in the United States is the state-sponsored space program. With economic development as their primary goal, these programs attempt to form coalitions of in-state talents from industry, government, and educational institutions to pursue the development of commercial space activities. What appears to be a well-defined goal becomes ambiguous when the program participants are identified and their interests described. This essay presents an organizing principle for state and regional space programs that recognizes, defines, and interprets the overlapping roles of the participants and the relationships among themselves. At the convergence of these roles is the state government-appointed "Space Advocate" whose leadership role is shown to be decisive in the formation and success of state and regional space commerce.

Since its creation in 1987, International Space University (ISU), has become a multidisciplinary and international institution preparing individuals to respond to current needs and the rapidly changing, increasing, and evolving demands in the space sector. The ISU considers space activities not as isolated actions undertaken by a narrow community, but as a global undertaking of human race in which diverse and different systems and technologies will continue to flourish. The situation calls for a non-traditional approach to the education of space professionals.

The new age of space commerce requires new management skills for success in the space industry. Engineering skills are no longer enough. Managers also need to understand how to operate in a competitive market environment. The creation of a Master of Business Administration in Space Commerce will provide managers with the skills to guide their firms in the new Space Commerce Age.

Engineering and science students at Iowa State University have access to a variety of courses space related activities. The space program is housed in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics. One of the outstanding activities is the high-altitude balloon program that allows students to participate in many design, fabrication, and flight opportunities similar to that of orbiting spacecraft.

Studies have indicated that there will be a national shortage of engineers and scientists in the twenty-first century. Idaho TECH (Total Engineering Challenge): The Mars Rover Challenge was developed by the Idaho Space Grant Consortium to address the future need for engineers and scientists by stimulating students' interest in mathematics and science at an early age.

The student robotics contest began as an educational outreach activity conducted by the Space Education Initiative Subcommittee which is under the Space Engineering and Construction Technical Committee, Aerospace Division, American Society of Civil Engineers. Contests have been a successful part of the Space and Robotics Conferences since 1994. The three previous contests had similar themes, providing radiation and micrometeorite protection for a lunar habitat. Discussions include perspectives on rules preparation, judging, and participation in the previous contests. The 2000 contest scenario is discussed with the rationale for its selection. Discussions are also included on recommendations for future contests and possible future directions for the contest. It is concluded that the contests have been and will continue to be a useful educational outreach activity and a highlight of the conference.

In the near future the demand for space-related civil engineering skills will increase as the focus of the international space enterprise shifts to include larger orbital structures, asteroidal, lunar and martian surface structures. Specialized engineering skills will be required to design, test, manufacture, construct, operate and maintain this growing orbital and extraterrestrial infrastructure. For the last twenty years the number of civil engineering graduates produced by United States universities has been steadily declining despite the growing international inventory of terrestrial civil engineered infrastructure. The growing disparity between world demand and American supply will change the shape of the space enterprise significantly in the next twenty years.

The Air Force Research Laboratory-Space Vehicles Directorate (AFRL) has been actively developing low shock, non-pyrotechnic spacecraft release and deployment devices to mitigate problems with traditional pyrotechnic devices. Specifically, pyrotechnic devices produce high shock, contamination, and have costly handling requirements due to their hazardous nature. AFRL has provided funding to Lockheed Martin Astronautics and Starsys Research Corporation for development and test of several shape memory alloy (SMA) actuated release devices. Through both ground testing and on-orbit performance, these devices have been shown to reduce shock by at least an order of magnitude, while remaining comparable in size and mass to pyrotechnic devices. Flight heritage includes the U.S. Air Force MightySat I Shape Memory Alloy Release Device (SMARD) experiment that successfully fired and tested two SMA devices. A discussion of low-shock technology, current projects, and future potential is presented along with on-orbit test results.

Growing cost restrictions on advanced military, as well as commercial space systems demand greater efficiency in spacecraft subsystems to provide higher payload mass fractions. Spacecraft structures have typically been viewed as essential but unproductive components of satellites. Multifunctional structures (MFS) is a concept that incorporates various spacecraft functions (thermal management, electrical cabling, etc) onto the bus structure, thereby providing necessary weight and volume savings that enable next generation systems. This paper summarizes various MFS programs being developed at the Air Force Research Laboratory's (AFRL) Space Vehicles Directorate (VS), that could potentially revolutionize the efficiency of spacecraft structures. Developmental MFS efforts at the AFRL include the following technology areas: avionic subsystems that utlize High Density Interconnect (HDI) techniques to manufacture Multichip Modules (MCM), flexible interconnect design and fabrication, the replacement of conventional round wire cabling with embedded copper traces, smart array structures, lightweight flexible solar array development, thin film lithium battery development, composite radiation shielding materials and techniques, and more. These technologies have been and will be demonstrated on various spacecraft with eventual application to existing and future operational spacecraft systems.

The Position and Orientation Tracking System (POTS) is a triangulating laser-based pose tracking measurement system. POTS provides real-time tracking of multiple target vehicles from the chase vehicle (25 – 100 samples/second) with a wide field of view (45 degrees vertical and horizontal). In addition, POTS is composed mainly of off-the-shelf commercially available equipment. As the measurement does not use a camera, no image processing and analysis routines will be needed to determine the position of the target vehicle, all position solutions are derived in closed form automatically (no iterations). POTS uses triangulation to determine the position of the target position sensors that are acquired every sample. POTS measurements are absolute; allowing the target to be momentarily occluded without the need to incrementally reference a fixed coordinate frame (as is the case with interferometry). POTS works over a 4 π steradians work space and can be extended from the current range of 13.7 m (45 ft) to thousands of feet with new higher power semiconductor or solid state lasers. The POTS system was designed to track the Department of Energy's (DOE) Light Duty Utility Arm as well as the Houdini Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) during nuclear waste tank cleanup operations. The POTS system could be directly applicable to task that require precision tracking of the pose parameters of the space shuttle manipulator as well as all of its joints. In addition, by extending the range of the lasers, POTS could provide very accurate pose information on a target vehicle during a docking operation. The POTS system is the result of a 4-year effort under the Robotics Development and Technology Program to develop a tracking system for long reach manipulators and ROVs. The optical metrology expertise developed under the program is an extension of expertise gained while performing research and development in the area of long-range surface mapping. Topographical maps were needed for robotic tasks in underground storage tank characterization and remediation as well as during robotic decontamination and decommissioning work at DOE complexes throughout the nation. These systems were designed to operate in 200–500 rads/hr gamma fields with total accumulated doses in the 1e6 rads range. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) designed and developed topographical mapping systems that have been used to map underground storage tanks at Fernald, Ohio and Oak Ridge, TN. The ranging systems in these designs were based on structured-light triangulation range determination technology. In addition, ORNL has participated in the design of a Frequency Modulation Laser Range Finder for inspection of plasma facing components in an experimental fusion reactor. The optical metrology system requirements included surviving in a 1e8 rad/hr neutron and gamma field.

The surrogate mirrors for the DOT (Deployable Optical Telescope) testbed were designed for structural stiffness, lightweight, and minimal thermal distortion. The primary structure consisted of a tripod made with pultruded composite rods connected to invar blocks, which carried the glass reflectors. A finite element model of the mirror was developed to study the tradeoffs in using different materials. Pultruded rods were produced at site and the Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (CTE) of the pultruded rods was measured with laser interferometry.

A novel truss-core structural sandwich form is introduced in this paper. This three-dimensional panel is synthesized as an equivalent two-dimensional homogeneous orthotropic thick plate continuum, and represented by seven elastic constants. This technique requires considerably less computational effort than three-dimensional analysis. Using these equivalent constants, a closed-form solution for the free vibration response of clamped truss-core sandwich panels is presented. Numerical examples show that the closed-form solution is in excellent agreement with finite element results.

This paper presents the consideration of uncertainties and the application of probabilistic computational methods to the dynamic analysis of polyamide inflatable cylinders used in solar thermal propulsion. There are several types of uncertainties in these structures, such as material properties, loading conditions, manufacturing (geometric parameters), etc. This paper develops statistical information about these uncertain variables using test data already compiled at Marshall Space Flight Center, and demonstrates the use of this information in the dynamic analysis of the inflatable struts. Probabilistic sensitivity factors and structural response statistics are computed.

This paper proposes a hybrid reliability estimation technique for three-dimensional trusses used in space exploration applications. Such structures are statically indeterminate, and go through many levels of progressive damage before final collapse, under a load process. This paper combines analytical and simulation-based methods to develop an adaptive sampling technique to achieve efficient estimation of structural system reliability. The method is illustrated for application to a solar array panel mast, using a commercial finite element code.

This paper presents the results of a study whose objective was to study the applicability of different failure equations in modeling low cycle fatigue (LCF) test data for single crystal test specimens. A total of four failure criteria were considered in this study. One of the failure equations was developed by Pratt & Whitney and is based on normal and shear strains on the primary crystallographic slip planes of the single crystal material. Other failure equations considered are based on isotropic criteria. Because these failure equations were originally developed for isotropic materials such as structural steel, they were modified to be applicable to the single crystal slip systems of the LCF specimen material. By observing how closely the various equations were able to reduce the scatter in the LCF test data, the applicability of those equations in modeling the LCF test data was assessed. It is desired to subsequently use the failure equation with the highest correlation in the development of a new single crystal failure criterion for the Alternative Turbopump Development (ATD) for the space shuttle main engine (SSME) High Pressure Fuel Turbopump (HPFTP).

In an attempt to develop a structural health monitoring system, which will be considered as a sub-system of NASA's generic post-test/post-flight diagnostic system for rocket engines, we are seeking for a practically applicable approach to locate the potential damage sites and predict the extent of the damage. Modal sensitivity analysis method may be the one of the options. In modal analysis area, modal sensitivity analysis is used to update structural models consistent within the original finite element program framework. In this paper, the modal sensitivity analysis is applied for damage detection. The algorithm makes use of sensitivity derivatives of modal parameters such as modal frequencies and mode shapes with respect to physical structural design variables such as element mass and stiffness, to numerically find the changes in physical structural parameters, based on the predicted residual modal force vector. A two degrees-of-freedom system is used to demonstrate the approach. The detailed formulation for application of the modal sensitivity analysis to the damage detection is described concretely. The approach is capable of detecting any changes in stiffness and/or mass properties of the structure. In the demonstration, we assume that damage occurs, which only changes the elements' stiffness, and is characterized by the reduction of the stiffness k₁ from k₁=50 N/m to k_d1 = 5 N/m, all, other parameters of the system keep unchanged. The algorithm located the damaged site, and exactly predicted the extent of the damage quantitatively.

With the advancement in new materials and techniques, smooth and high performance operation of critical systems, such as flight simulators, satellite navigators and robot arms, are expected. To give examples, a long duration for space shuttle after its take off cannot be tolerated in terms of its system dynamics and stability as well as high off-the-target position errors for a pick-and-place robot. In most of these military and industrial systems, control objectives are more than one and mostly intensified at minimizing overshoot from steady state response with a minimum system settling time. Stability of the systems is also another objective. Any such system can be idealized as a combination of mass-spring-dashpot system and its stability conditions can be determined from the locations of the poles of the system characteristics equation. As it is well known, when the damping ratio is zero or negative, the poles are located at the right-hand side of the s-plane presenting instability. In this study, a general mass-spring-dashpot system is considered first. Then, its mathematical differential equation is transformed into Laplace domain to formulate undamped natural frequency and damping ratio. By choosing these two as system design variables, numerical constraints are impinged on system settling time, percent overshoot and time to reach to maximum peak. Multi-objective optimization is performed using powerful method of Global Criterion Method. The cost functions are minimization of system settling time, the percent overshoot and time to reach maximum peak. Design specifications are suggested for this particular configuration in terms of relations between mass, spring and dashpot. It is intended to lay out a design optimization procedure to system designers in choosing mass, spring and dashpot characteristics for a stable system operating optimally under prescribed constraints. It is also shown that the Global Criterion Method is a versatile optimization tool for multi-criterion problems.

A technique of deforming a flexible wing to achieve a specified roll rate at all dynamic pressures is examined. The flexible structure is obtained by using optimization approach. Rather than using an aileron system for roll, antisymmetric elastic twist and camber is determined to achieve the required rolling moment for a specified roll rate. The elastic twist and camber is achieved by providing a system of actuating elements distributed within the internal substructure of the wing to provide control forces. The modal approach is used to develop equilibrium equations for the steady roll maneuver of a wing subjected to aerodynamic loads and the actuating forces. The distribution of actuating forces to achieve specified flexible roll rate was determined by using an iterative procedure in conjunction with an optimal control design approach. Here, a full-scale realistic wing is considered for the assessment of strain energy as a measure of the necessary power required to produce the antisymmetric twist and camber deformation to achieve the required roll performance at different Mach numbers.

A practical technique using the characteristics of material with shape memory effect is applied to the elaboration of small size and mass engine. The drive mechanism is set in motion with power elements from Ti - Ni alloy that were previously subjected to thermomechanical cyclic training. Accurate positioning of operated object can be achieved by the drive structure.

Just as a limp rope becomes a semi-rigid hoop structure when spun into a centrifugally strengthened lasso, so potentially could spatially extensive structures assume strong rigid shapes with the ability to resist deformation by applied loads, due to electromechanically coupled armature segment kinetic energies circulating on evacuated maglev tracks at supra-orbital velocities within them, creating transportation structures of unique qualities and otherwise unattainable earth-circling spans. Combining the dynamics of electric servo controlled motor-generator stored energy functions with transportation bridging structure functions has the potential of a new class of near-future transportation structures of extraordinary potential applications, particularly interesting bridging between the Earth's equator and GEO.

The construction of permanent planetary outposts imposes the necessity of shelters from the very early stages of development. Due to high transportation costs, in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) is mandatory; however, it is clear that the first shelters for personnel and machinery should be the landing modules. ISRU, as well as environmental conditions, heavily constrain site selection. It is commonly accepted that the most straightforward way to achieve radiation and thermal protection is with a layer of regolith covering the structure. In this work, it is considered that shell structures are the most suitable type of construction because their geometry and boundary conditions optimize the distribution of active stresses on the material. Requirements for such structures include adequate dimensions, compressive strength and sealing properties. Dimensional requirements depend on the main use given to the structure, either for habitats (pressurized) or equipment (non-pressurized). We model the needs on the Moon of a permanent habitat for a crew of six. Mechanical strength requirements of the structure have been calculated for cast basalt, in order to support an equivalent load of regolith to provide protection against highly energetic solar flares.

The study of vibrating membranes goes back at least 3 centuries. Motivations for such studies were the solution of practical problems; a rich example is the investigation of acoustics of musical instruments such as drums and bells. In modern times, membranes have provided a canonical formalism for mathematical analysis, due to their vanishing thinness and resultant absence of any bending rigidity. Moreover, numerous practical applications exist for membrane structures, and are in fact growing in importance. Examples are architectural and civil structures, diaphragms in switches and transducers, biomedical prosthesis such as artificial arteries and organs, and space-based applications such as radio antennas and optical reflectors. Dozens of theoretical studies exist in the literature with regard to membrane vibrations. These cover linear and nonlinear models, various shapes and boundary configurations, and numerous analysis methods including closed-form, asymptotic expansions, and numerical methods (FEM, BEM, etc.). Such studies are ongoing and of current interest. However, probably less than one dozen experimental studies can be found in the open literature. Even the simplest classical cases have not been thoroughly investigated. This is due at least in part to the extreme flexibility and lightness of membranes and the noncontact measurement methods thus implicated. What data that does exist is significantly limited, inaccessible, and insufficient for use in validating theoretical results. Local vibrations are not explored at all. Moreover, answers to pressing questions in modern applications need to be addressed. Interesting and important problems currently exist such as: How do effects like wrinkling, thermal loading, and manufacturing variables affect the vibrational response of membrane/inflatable space structures? Can adaptive control methods use vibration information for local and global state estimates in such structures In this presentation, we first provide some background on shape control of precision membrane/inflatables, including applications, solution methods, and results. Then we present some new experimental results for the vibrating circular membrane, generated with a noncontact scanning laser vibrometer. Finally, we provide some comments on use of local membrane vibrations for shape control purposes.

This paper provides an account of work conducted for NASA under the sponsorship of the Johnson Space Center. A filament winding technique was evaluated for the construction of large inflatable structures suitable for space applications. The concept of an engineered inflatable structure is described. The capability of these structures to provide large living areas for multiple space applications is addressed, and the potential for inflatable space habitats to become an enabling technology is identified.

The previously described "tuft pillow" lunar/Martian inflatable structure provides the structural efficiency of a membrane-based pressure vessel design with the "cube-like" space-use efficiency of a terrestrial room. A framing system of cylindrical arches and columns ties together the spherical and prismoidal shapes of the wall, floor and roof units. Two framing options are examined: (1) rigid thin walled tubes and (2) pressurized membrane tubes. Because of the geometry of this "tuft pillow" structure, it is not an ideal tensile structure and modifications are required to minimize wrinkling in the membrane elements. This paper describes the addition of arch and column webs and column tie-downs to make this pressure membrane structure more efficient.

Titanium silicide intermetallics (binary compounds of Ti with Si) have new applications as electronic and high temperature materials, and one production process known as combustion synthesis gives superior material properties and quality control. Microgravity processing could be an additional improvement. The purpose was to determine the effects of gravity on the microstructure of combustion- synthesized titanium silicides. Different stoichiometric ratios of metallic titanium and silicon powders were compressed into pellets that were ignited using a tungsten filament in a partial argon vacuum. A unique experimental design allowed twenty pellets to be ignited under differing gravity conditions on board flights of NASA's KC-135 microgravity simulation aircraft. Embedded thermocouples provided reaction kinetics during the microgravity and greater-than-one (>1g) gravity phases of the flight. Silicides created in microgravity resulted in a microstructure of superior homogeneity when compared to the porosity and structure of silicides formed in greater-than-one gravity. Other differences included the tendency of microgravity silicides to propagate slightly faster, achieve near-net shape formation, and to resist gas contamination during combustion. We concluded that combustion synthesis remains a good candidate as a future microgravity production process for intermetallics and other high-tech materials.

The raging battle amongst the converted is whether to include the Moon on the way to Mars. The Mars-First crowd deems the Moon to be, at best, a diversion from the real goal of colonizing Mars. The Moon-First-on-the-way-to-Mars group also supports the eventuality and dominance of a Martian civilization However, there are clear benefits to colonizing a planetary body three days from Earth versus one that is about a year away. From any perspective except public relations, the clear and rational way for Man into Space is via the Moon. Mars Direct ignores critical technical, physiological and financial issues that are unresolved, pretending that existing technology need not be tested extensively before being sent on a yearlong mission to Mars with humans. The risk of a Mars-first program is that, even in the best circumstances of no catastrophic failures, it will become another Apollo, that is, we go to Mars, plant the flag a few times, and then go back home for another thirty to fifty years of hibernation from manned space. This discussion will summarize essential issues, technical and otherwise, that makes clear that the Moon (and ISS) must be our steppingstone to Mars, the Solar System, and beyond. Mars Direct project cannot be defended on any rational engineering grounds. It cannot be justified purely on economic grounds. It cannot be defended from a scientific perspective. It can only be viewed as a ploy to circumvent the difficult work that lies in the path to the Moon. The only rational way to Mars is by way of the Moon.

This essay begins with a critique of the vision of human space exploration that is based on the "metaphorical projection" of the European voyages of discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries and the Western American frontier. By incorrectly using these historical analogs and imposing their associated symbols onto the efforts to develop and maintain human exploration of the solar system, the space proponents are narrowing their political and technical options that can be used to carry out their aspirations. Following this critique, the basis for a new perspective on human space exploration is presented. This new perspective, based on the idea of a human metamorphosis, stems from a change in consciousness brought about by embracing the transcendental nature of spaceflight and a more connective human relationship with the Earth. Following this, it is suggested that the cis-lunar region of space be used as a research and development area for human space operations, and that this region is a place to cultivate the cultural, spiritual, and technological evolution that will be necessary to explore and eventually settle the solar system.

With the International Space Station (ISS) project well under way, a coherent vision for the next stage of mankind's advancement into space is needed. The authors believe that the Moon should be the principal focus of space exploration after ISS for the following reasons: (1) The Moon is nearby and accessible by means of existing technology, (2) It has a wealth of material resources that can be used to build a self-sufficient lunar utilities infrastructure and support permanent human settlements, (3) It has access to abundant solar energy that can provide environmentally sound electric energy for the future needs of the Earth and the Moon, (4) Lunar exploration and development can begin as small demonstration projects in the south polar region and grow incrementally to encompass the entire Moon, based upon in-situ resource utilization, thus creating an inhahited "Planet Moon", (5) The Moon is an excellent platform for the advancement of astronomy, geology, and other sciences, and for a greatly expanded program of space exploration, (6) Technologies and systems evolved on the Moon may be reliably adapted for long endurance missions throughout the solar system, and (7) As such a large, complex, and technological endeavor is international in scope, and peaceful and evolutionary in nature, it offers: a) involvement of, and cooperation between all governments, b) expanded commercial and high-quality job opportunities, c) advances in virtually every science and engineering discipline, d) low cost energy and material benefits for all humanity, and e) an expansion of mankind's vision from the present, closed Earth-based frame of reference to an open, space-based vision where frontiers and opportunities are limitless.

The concept of building extremely small satellites which, either independently or as a collective, can perform missions which are comparable to their much larger cousins, has fascinated scientists and engineers for several years now. In addition to the now commonplace microelectronic integrated circuits, the more recent advent of technologies such as photonic integrated circuits (PIC's) and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) have placed such a goal within our grasp. Key to the acceptance of this technology will be the ability to manufacture these very small satellites in quantity without sacrificing their performance or versatility. In support of its nuclear treaty verification, proliferation monitoring and other remote sensing missions, Sandia National Laboratories has had a 35-year history of providing highly capable systems, densely packaged for unintrusive piggyback missions on government satellites. As monitoring requirements have become more challenging and remote sensing technologies become more sophisticated, packaging greater capability into these systems has become a requirement. Likewise, dwindling budgets are pushing satellite programs toward smaller and smaller platforms, reinforcing the need for smaller, cheaper satellite systems. In the next step of its miniaturization plan, Sandia has begun development of technologies for a highly integrated miniature satellite. The focus of this development is to achieve nanosat or smaller dimensions while maintaining significant capability utilizing semiconductor wafer-level integration and, at the same time promoting affordability through modular generic construction.

In August 1999, NASA selected Nanosat Constellation Trailblazer (NCT) as the New Millennium Program's ST5 project. NCT will validate technologies needed for future NASA science missions, particularly enabling the constellation class missions envisioned for the Sun-Earth Connection (SEC) science theme. Three 20-kg class spacecraft will be developed and operated for a total project cost of $29M. These spacecraft will demonstrate eight component technologies and interact with each other to create an instrument greater than the sum of its parts. This paper will describe the NCT project and technologies, and assess ST5's impact on future NASA science missions.

Important factors in the application of sensing technology to space applications are low mass, small size, and low power. All of these attributes are enabled by the application of MEMS and micro-fabrication technology to micro-sensors. Two types of sensors are utilized in space applications: remotes sensing from orbit around the earth or another planetary body, and point sensing in the spacecraft or external to it. Several Sandia projects that apply microfabrication technologies to the development of new sensing capabilities having the potential for space applications will be briefly described. The Micro-Navigator is a project to develop a MEMS-based device to measure acceleration and rotation in all three axes for local area navigation. The Polychromator project is a joint project with Honeywell and MIT to develop an electrically programmable diffraction grating that can be programmed to synthesize the spectra of molecules. This grating will be used as the reference cell in a gas correlation radiometer to enable remote chemical detection of most chemical species. Another area of research where microfabrication is having a large impact is the development of a "lab on a chip." Sandia's efforts to develop the micro ChemLab will be described including the development of microfabricated pre-concentrators, chromatographic columns, and detectors. Smart sensors that allow the spacecraft independent decision making capabilities depend on pattern recognition. Sandia's development of a new pattern recognition methodology that can be used to interpret sensor response as well as for target recognition applications will be described.

Silicon (Si) has a strength to density ratio of 3.0 (sigma_y/δ=(6.8Gpa/2.3g/cc)), an order-of-magnitude higher than titanium, aluminum, or stainless steel. Silicon also demonstrates favorable thermal, optical, and electrical properties making it ideal for use as a structural foundation for autonomous, mesoscopic systems such as nanosatellites. Using Si substrates, a structure that can simultaneously act as a thermal management system, a radiation shield, an optical material, a package, and a semiconductor substrate can be realized.

The Micro-Electro-Mechancial Systems (MEMS) technology has opened up many new opportunities for optics. For the first time, reliable microactuators and three-dimensional optomechanical structures can be monolithically integrated with micro-optical elements. This new technology will impact many applications including display, scanning, and telecommunications. In this paper, we will discuss two applications of MEMS: Optical systems on a chip, and scalable optical switches for optical crossconnect.

Micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) are devices created by silicon wafer fabrication with mechanical transducers or actuators formed integrally with the electronics for information processing. These devices contain features at micron scale, with a correspondingly small overall device size. Such devices possess a wide variety of technological capabilities, and they can be produced with the economies of silicon fabrication. For example, MEMS accelerometers may realistically be available at a unit cost 1/1000 that of any mechanical accelerometer, suggesting that structures may be fitted with hundreds or thousands of monitoring stations. In this paper, we first outline the processes used for fabrication of MEMS devices, followed by an overview of well-established MEMS products and their current uses. We describe prominent working examples of MEMS devices in industrial applications (such as automotive, office equipment, laboratory equipment, aeronautics, and so on) in order to acquaint the reader with their capabilities. We then discuss their potential use in civil engineering, suggesting examples for application to structures and construction, environmental monitoring and remediation, and transportation or infrastructure system operation and maintenance. The most obvious civil engineering applications are ones which would take advantage of this opportunity for greatly expanded sensing; many civil engineering activities have historically been data-poor, or in some cases totally blind. MEMS technologies can fundamentally alter these projects to be data-rich. We comment on additional MEMS technology demands (for remote power sources, communication capabilities, etc.) that will be generated by these anticipated civil engineering applications. MEMS technologies themselves are at an early stage in their evolution, and future developments are likely to expand any current vision by orders of magnitude, but they already present the opportunity to change fundamentally the way in which major civil engineering challenges are met.

Recent progress towards molecular nanotechnology and potential aerospace applications is reviewed. Great strides have been made in understanding, visualizing, and controlling matter at the atomic scale. In particular, substantial progress has been made towards the construction of molecular computers. Some progress has been made towards understanding biological molecular machines and manipulating these machines for technological purposes. Also, several polymeric molecules, notably proteins, DNA, and RNA, can be automatically synthesized from precise specifications. This example of "programmable matter" has been used to produce at least one molecular mechanical device. However, integration of molecular components into larger atomically precise systems has made little progress. Scaling up molecular nanotechnology to produce macroscopic products of aerospace interest, for example, launch vehicles, will require large research and development investments. In particular, self-replication, proposed as a route to macroscopic molecular nanotechnology products, is a long way from fruition. This paper is a high-level discussion of molecular nanotechnology and some aerospace applications. Applications of importance to aerospace include computers, materials, and sensors.

Conventional spacecraft power system components are typically ill-suited to small satellites of less than approximately 300 kg total dry mass. In this paper the unique challenges of small satellite power systems are discussed. The development programs at the Air Force Research Laboratory which address these unique needs are presented.

This paper discusses the need for a national space transportation and in-space logistical support infrastructure. It proposes that this space infrastructure be built through a partnership of the Government and private industry. A scenario and schedule for developing this infrastructure and suggested technical approaches for building its primary elements are described.

This paper outlines the organization and functions of the proposed United States Space Development Bank. The bank is proposed as a solution to the shortfall of venture capital for the Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) industry. There is a serious discontinuity or gap in financing that the industry faces. The proposed bank would provide a method of bridging this gap while still allowing the market to select winners and losers.

The essence of space development rests on our ability to transport material and people safely, reliably, and cost-effectively into low-Earth orbit (LEO). Although substantial growth may occur when extraterrestrial resources are utilized, the seeds for development will be Earth-based resources transported to LEO. Beyond spacecraft payloads, cargo items such as water, food, fuel, raw materials for on-orbit industrial processes, and structural elements should be transported as simply as is feasible and with a minimum of complex systems. This essay presents the concept and offers a first-order analysis of a magnetic levitation launch assist system - MagLifter - for the placement of spacecraft and cargo payloads into LEO. MagLifter offers a robust design for the deceptively simple and decidedly crucial logistics problem of materials placement in space.

Since the beginning of America's space program, rockets have always been launched into orbit over the oceans for reasons of safety. However, recent advances in designs for a new generation of reusable rocket now offers the opportunity to reliably launch into orbit over land areas. These rockets, called Reusable Launch Vehicles (RLVs) are destined to operate much like commercial aircraft. These reusable rockets promise significant economic opportunities for reducing launch costs. Nevertheless, the question of how the public will react to commercial rockets flying over their communities has been a concern of both NASA and the FAA. This paper reports on a study that was designed to measure public attitudes towards overland flight of commercial rockets, and determine underlying factors affecting these public attitudes. The authors review the background of critical factors as they report on the hypotheses and some of the preliminary findings. Three hypotheses were developed. First it was postulated that individuals who favored space flight in general would also be favorable toward overland flight by commercial rockets. The second hypothesis was that individuals with environmentally sensitive orientation would oppose RLVs. The third hypothesis was that individuals who had a strong belief in the positive impact of technology would be in favor of RLVs. A mail survey resulted in one hundred ninety-five survey responses. The outcome of the correlation analysis strongly supported all three association-hypotheses. However individuals with ecocentric orientations appeared to have reservations about rocket overland flight due to lack of convincing information as to the potential affects to ecosystems and wildlife populations. Therefore, space policy makers cannot take public support for granted. Given the characteristics of the population it can be concluded that the majority of the public would be supportive but only after they are informed of the sizable benefits and low level of risks associated with commercial rocket overland flight.

Circuiting payloads to key destinations is a major goal in human space programs. This paper suggests that a space transportation system can be optimized using a substitute prime mover for interplanetary travel. "Circuit analysis" suggests, it is possible to reduce the lofted propellant mass for interplanetary missions by a factor of a million or more, (i.e., when compared to LH₂/LOX) if a space vehicle is given a Δv of 20 km/s. It is important to note, this propulsion method is approximately an inverse to rocketry. Essentially, the space vehicle is given momentum from an external agent.

The design of space launch infrastructure systems, with its inherent high technology interfaces, is unfamiliar territory for most practicing civil engineers. This paper examines the fundamental structural, mechanical, electrical, and architectural considerations that should be addressed when developing the design criteria for one such structure, the Payload Processing Facility. Unusual building design aspects are discussed with possible design solutions. A review of the Payload Processing Facility designed for the Kodiak Island, Alaska, launch complex is reviewed in a discussion on optimized facility layout.

In this paper we discuss a distributed compiler used to test hydrazine rocket systems. The compiler is distributed on a rocket firing test facility composed of two computers. One computer, strictly used for firing rockets, can be used as a stand-alone machine or as a satellite facility. The second computer is used primarily for the acquisition of hydrazine rocket firing data, but it also serves as a master computer.

Over the past few years the general perception of space tourism has changed from being considered "science fiction" to becoming recognised as an important new target for the space industry. This change has been stimulated in part by the Space Tourism Study Program of the Japanese Rocket Society (JRS), which led to the development of a scenario that has received general consensus: if some $12 billion of funding became available in the near future, commercial passenger space travel services to and from Earth orbit could begin in 2010. At a growth rate of some 100,000 passengers/year/year the business could reach 700,000 passengers/ year by 2017, at a price of about $25,000 /passenger. The importance of this result is that $12 billion is less than half of one year's funding of government space agencies today, and it is therefore readily affordable. The paper extrapolates the JRS scenario to the year 2030, based on market research results. By that time space tourism activities could have grown to a scale of $100 billion/year, creating several million jobs. It thereby demonstrates the very great economic value of such a development — approximately $1 trillion greater than the value of continued taxpayer funding of space agencies' activities without developing space tourism. The paper also discusses the potentially critical importance of this new industry in maintaining economic growth in the world economy against the deflationary pressures caused by excess capacity in older industries, and inadequate investment in new ones.

Recently the idea of space tourism has gained considerably in credibility, with the publication by NASA, the AIAA and Japan's Federation of Economic Organisations of reports endorsing its feasibility and recognising it as the most promising commercial market in space. As the space hotel business matures, orbital facilities are expected to grow in size and sophistication, as ever more exotic hotels are developed on Earth to attract customers. Various kinds of sports centers are expected to be popular with guests of space hotels, and this paper considers a full-size sports stadium large enough to accommodate major sports events, 100m in length and 60m in diameter. Such a large structure will be assembled in orbit from components launched in volumetrically efficient packages. The paper discusses the requirements for such a facility, major aspects of the stadium design, and the stadium's relation to the hotel itself. Key topics which need further research are also discussed. The paper concludes that once travel-costs to low Earth orbit fall to less than $20,000/person, such a project will become feasible financially as well as technically.

This paper explores design and economic considerations for a new form of manned space facility known as a space business park. The space business park can support a wide variety of missions, such as space tourism, supporting both human and typical spaceflight hardware as payloads. Using both engineering and economic models, projected initial investment can be calculated. The engineering model was validated against actual human spaceflight platform designs. The cost model has assumptions that make it most useful for trend analysis. An example facility design is analyzed using the models presented in this paper.

This paper proposes creating a new launch infrastructure to dispose of high-level nuclear waste in space. Space disposal will guarantee large payloads for decades, creating a market for launch systems that will provide inexpensive access to space.

Lunar lavatubes up to several hundred meters in diameter, beneath 50 meters of solid basalt, offer abundant shelter for minimal cost. Regolith shielding for buildings is unnecessary, reducing design constraints and load-bearing requirements. Servicing is easier on exposed buildings and utilities. Most cave areas should be free of lunar dust, saving wear and tear on equipment. Construction within these caves saves workers from exposure to lunar surface hazards and temperature extremes. Large lavatubes offer substantial sheltered expansion room. Some conventional terrestrial excavation and construction methods can be adapted to the Moon. Tractors, cranes and muckers will be used. Infrastructure will be built of iron, steel, glass, and masonry. Lava may also become a construction material, and strong anhydrous glass will find uses not common on Earth. We emphasize the use of readily available in situ resources, both raw and processed. Inflatable structures have construction and operational advantages inside lavatubes, and can be moved from place to place. Ultimately lavatubes sealed with local materials will become spacious, "outdoor" shirtsleeve environments. Construction can take advantage of lavatube features such as benches, channels, and arched roofs. The inherent properties of lavatubes include structural stability, radiation-shielded volume, large dust-free surface areas, and moderate temperatures. Building lunar bases inside these natural shelters yields major savings in capital and operational costs and increased safety from the very beginning of human occupation on the Moon.

The development of permanent planetary outposts is constrained by the performance of construction materials and availability of in-situ resources. Lunar materials have a low calcium oxide (CaO) concentration and may be unsuitable for cement formulation. Nonetheless, lunar anorthosite rocks (17% CaO) and lunar basalt (12% CaO) have been successfully used in forrpulating a cementitious material. Elemental sulfur has also a variety of applications as a binding, non-hydraulic material for concrete. The main advantage of sulfur based concrete in planetary environments is the avoidance of high-energy processes needed for hydraulic cement production and, mainly, the non-necessity of water. The major sulfur carrier in lunar samples studied to date is iron sulfide in the form of troilite (FeS), probably of meteoritic origin. However, the possibility of finding non-meteoritic sulfur-rich ores cannot be totally excluded. Martian soils appear to have been thoroughly mixed by repeated dust storms over perhaps hundreds of millions of years. The analytical results of soils at the two Viking sites and the Pathfinder site showed close physical and chemical compositions in spite of enormous distances apart from each other. This chemical homogeneity of the soil on a global scale implies the availability of raw materials at virtually any location on the surface of Mars. In addition to concrete-based materials, other possibilities including ceramics (from microwave regolith sintering), cast basalt and ice (in the case of Mars) will be evaluated considering resource exploration and exploitation, processing and implementation possibilities.

DaimlerChrysler Aerospace, Space Infrastructure division has been developing Inertial Electrostatic Confinement of fusion grade plasma. The first FusionStar commercial product is a small fusion reactor that functions as a neutron generator. Future development of this reactor is also anticipated for a proton generator variant. The widespread acceptance of this device for various applications and markets may cultivate favorable business conditions for a commercial return to the Moon in order to mine, refine and import Helium 3 to terrestrial markets. Further development of IEC fusion may lead to fusion power. The lunar mining scenario to be described here serves as a model for analysis by the mining industry professionals who will have to influence the astronautics professionals who must create the appropriate, affordable space infrastructure that can grow with a new market and serve the space mining industry.

The Lunar Prospector Team and others have interpreted epithermal neutron spectra from the lunar poles as potentially indicating the presence of large quantities of water ice. Water ice might be deposited as a consequence of cometary impacts on the Moon as has been predicted theoretically. The interpretation of the neutron spectra as indicating water ice at the poles appears premature, however, in the face of the proven presence of over 100 wppm solar-wind hydrogen in many soil and regolith breccia samples. Solar-wind hydrogen also would be concentrated and preserved as a distributed regolith component in permanently shadowed areas. No significant amount of implanted solar wind hydrogen in such areas would be lost to thermal cycling and both primary and pickup ions would be continuously deposited. Further, a continuous blanket of cometary water ice, precipitated on rare occasions in permanent shadow, would remain subject to solar-wind sputtering and micrometeoroid erosion comparable to the complete reworking of the upper few centimeters of regolith approximately every ten million years. Solar-wind hydrogen, therefore, probably accounts for most of the epithermal neutron signal. Other solar-wind volatiles of interest, such as ³He, are probably also concentrated in permanent shadow; however, their relative value will be reduced relative to titanium-rich mare sources due to the higher cost of retrieval from the poles.

A lunar factory that produces materials for the construction of large power systems on the Moon consists of mining, materials production and manufacturing components. Most of the necessary materials could be obtained by processing of the ubiquitous lunar mineral anorthite. In terms of performance (i.e., mass of systems and their power requirements), the production of elemental silicon and the recycling of reagents from materials processing are the most demanding. Loss and make-up of reagents is the dominant concern. The model derived suggests that a plant, capable of producing a 5GW solar power station in one year, would require the emplacement of less than 1000mt of hardware on the Moon. This suggests that a mature lunar factory could lower the cost of power in space by two to three orders of magnitude. In addition, about 80% of the factory mass would consist of its power system, suggesting that even greater economies can eventually result.

Wind energy extraction is a proven terrestrial technology that can offset the dust storm (and nighttime) reductions in solar power generation on Mars. The design of a Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) for Mars is described herein. The process involves sequentially and iteratively determining the blade shape, the aerodynamic loads, the guy cable design, the axial blade loads, the tower design, the total mass, and the design feasibility. An initial design is presented herein with a total system mass estimated at 944 kg. This design would be considered feasible if wind speeds of 28 m/s or higher operate for at least an hour each Martian day during dust storm conditions. This wind speed is in the realm of possibility as the expected slope winds on Mars will likely be this high or higher. In order to meet this feasibility, the following design trends were seen: low pre-tension guy wires, ultra light blades, and thin lightweight towers. Significant issues such as structural dynamics, thermal expansion/contraction, fatigue, blade struts, deployability, and maintainability were not considered at this time and will be addressed in the next design iteration.

It has been thought for some time now that the human exploration of Mars will depend ultimately on our ability to utilize Martian resources. Zubrin's Mars Direct and NASA's Reference Mission for the Human Exploration of Mars both assumed that propellant and life support consumables could be obtained from the atmosphere of Mars. Various approaches to utilizing the Martian atmosphere as a source of oxygen have been studied, along with the reduction of CO₂ to methane, but in all cases it has been assumed that hydrogen must be brought from Earth. This is not an overwhelming problem, as the hydrogen is only a small part of the total propellant requirement (1/12 in the case of CH₄-O₂; 1/9 in the case of H₂-O₂). However, even this is a burden because hydrogen tanks generally are about as massive as the hydrogen they contain and either power or multi-layered insulation or both have to be provided to keep hydrogen liquefied from Earth to Mars. This reduces the effectiveness of propellant production on Mars, but it is still enabling for some missions for the Mars to orbit leg of the return home. A readily available source of water can be very beneficial to the performance of missions to Mars, by removing this dependency on imported hydrogen.

With the recent success of Lunar Prospector and the possibility of both water-ice and ³He at the lunar poles, NASA should follow up with further missions and data gathering. Clearly, there exists the need to directly confirm the existence of these important lunar resources. The 1999 Ames Astrobiology Academy feels this can be accomplished most effectively by sending a lander-rover combination to locally analyze the surface material. Our proposal will outline a "Discovery" type mission including information regarding appropriate landing sites, rocketry, instrumentation, navigation, power systems, and communications. In the "faster, better, cheaper" paradigm, we will mainly emphasize existing technology, but we will also suggest reasonable improvements to landers and rovers to achieve these goals.

In situ robotic exploration emphasizing dust identification at the surface of the different comet nucleus environments is the next logical step in comet exploration. Dust in the jets includes presolar dust resembling interplanetary dust particles that are in fact a "poor man's comet dust sampling mission'. The robotic exploration will also encounter relics of the most primitive protoplanets in the size range of big boulders.

Space weathering is largely responsible for the formation of regolith (or soil) on airless heavenly bodies, such as the Moon. Micrometeorite and meteorite impact processing brings about the comminution of rocks into soil particles. However, micrometeorite impact into lunar regolith also produces partial to complete melts, which upon cooling form aggregates of glass and unmelted soil grains called agglutinates, and impact vapor which becomes deposited on the surfaces of soil particles as glassy patinas. Because of the reducing conditions imposed by solar-wind hydrogen during melting and subsequent rapid cooling, very small metallic iron particles (nanophase Fe⁰ particles) are formed in the agglutinitic glass and patinas. The magnitude of these effects increases regularly with the degree of space weathering, as quantified by surface exposure (maturity) indices, such as solar-wind nitrogen and Is/FeO, the relative concentration of nanophase Fe⁰ normalized to the total Fe content expressed as FeO. For reflectance spectroscopy, the effects of space weathering result in a reduction in reflectance; attenuation of mineral absorption bands; and development of a red-sloped continuum. These effects are a function of the maturity of a lunar soil, as measured by the index Is/FeO. Furthermore, the less than 45 micro-meters size fraction of soil most closely resembles the spectral signature of the bulk soil.

We present a new concept for a first generation unmanned, minimal cost robotic telescope based on the Moon in the near future. The telescope is designed to carry out cutting edge astrophysical research; it can also facilitate future lunar exploration and settlement. The key is to develop and use versatile new technologies that can dramatically lower the mission cost. Major elements are: ultra lightweight telescope mirrors; high temperature superconductor telescope drives; smart, radiation tolerant sensors and electronics; the use of SMEX (Small Explorer) classes rockets such as the Taurus or the Med-Lite; innovative fuel saving trajectories; inexpensive miniature landers; novel power system for night time operation; and world wide amateur participation in data reception and analysis. Most of the elements are in advanced development; some have already been proven in use. By means of these new technologies, we suggest that it is possible to baseline a meter class robotic UV telescope on the Moon for the cost of a SMEX class mission. A followup MIDEX class project can deploy an optical interferometer pair consisting of two diffraction-limited meter class telescopes with a baseline of 50–1000 meters. Angular resolution of better than 0.001 arcsecond can be achieved in visible light. The observatory can be expanded to very large aperture UV/VIS/IR telescopes and interferometer arrays.

New, general techniques exist for directly measuring the phase and magnitude of electromagnetic fields. These direct field imaging (DFI) technologies facilitate the measurement of the amplitude and phase of electromagnetic fields in wavelength regimes shorter than radio wavelengths. In principle, DFI can be used over the entire electromagnetic spectrum because the concept is inherent in the nature of electromagnetic fields. In practice, an experiment demonstrating imaging of the amplitude and phase of in electromagnetic wave at HeNe laser wavelengths (633 nanometers) has been carried out. The ability to measure (image) the two components of the electric field opens up the possibility of accomplishing ground-based or space-based astronomical interferometry (AI) in the visible and infrared regime in direct analogy with very long baseline interferometry (VLBI), which is routinely carried out at radio wavelengths. In such a scenario, the magnitude and phase of the image field is coherently measured at each telescope in the array. Later the data from each telescope is brought together by coherently combining the properly phase matched signal data. The resulting image possesses resolution characteristic of the widest baselines between elements of the array: that is a property of synthesis imaging. As in current AI techniques, DFI requires detailed knowledge of the baseline distance between the separate telescopes. However, unlike current AI techniques, DFI does not require that the baseline distance be maintained to a fraction of a wavelength as long as the knowledge of the baseline distance is recorded.

This paper briefly discusses the state-of-the-practice in the modeling of penetration events. An analytical model based on the expansion of disk cavities is used to simulate penetrators impacting regolith layers. The intent here is to predict the probable interaction between penetrators and regoliths; and the influence of water-ice on Mars and the Moon. This analytical method can be easily as a back-determination tool, that is, using penetration measurements to determine properties of the target materials. This paper also presents a new method of estimating locking curves from quasi-static stress-strain curves of geologic materials.

Growing interest in extraterrestrial subsurface exploration has prompted an examination of advanced technologies for drilling slim holes and obtaining geophysical data in these holes. The borehole surveys with geophysical measurements called "logging", complement, and under favorable conditions, replace soil sampling. Very shallow drilling systems were used extensively during the Apollo lunar missions, and are in the planning stages for use on Mars. The prime objective is to gather scientific data, but these data could eventually provide a basis for the commercial use of space mineral resources. Given the strong scientific interest in water on Mars and the Moon, subsurface characterization with geophysical methods is attractive, because these methods can cover a much larger volume than soil sampling. Space technology has boosted the development of borehole geophysical instruments because both in space and in boreholes the instruments have to function in hostile environments, in confined spaces, and to be able to withstand large g-forces. This paper reviews oil industry drilling and geophysical borehole techniques that could be adopted for space applications. Coiled tubing drilling has many advantages because the surface facilities are compact, and an electrical cable in the tubing can transmit power and data. Moreover geophysical sensors can be embedded in the drill collars, which ensures that measurements are carried out while drilling, and this avoids risky reentry of geophysical tools in the hole. If kevlar is used for the coiled tubing, a laser beam could be transmitted via optic fibers in the coiled tubing wall. Using this beam to cut the rock would virtually eliminate mud and downhole motor requirements, and save a lot of weight. The quest for water and the strict requirements for redundancy, simplicity, and rugged instruments led to the selection of electromagnetic wave resistivity, natural gamma radiation, geophones, and induced epithermal neutron instruments as detectors. All these detectors can in principle be fitted into a coiled tubing string, and a combination of these measurements can provide quantitative information on the porosity, water-saturation, seismic velocity, and lithology of the Martian or Lunar soil.

The use of terrestrial analog sites is an essential component of the development process for systems that are planned for lunar and planetary surfaces. These sites can also be valuable for training personnel who are expected to operate those systems. The fact that the site is an integral element, capable of influencing data and impacting test results, must not be overlooked. For tests performed in analog environments to be truly valid it is essential that the relevant characteristics of the employed sites be thoroughly understood. It is also critical that a comparative evaluation be made to assess the similarity of the analog sites to target planetary sites. Examples of relevant characteristics include terrain, soil properties, meteorology, geologic features, biological history, and remoteness. The importance of each of the characteristics varies with the type of extraterrestrial activity to be conducted. As a result, a site that is ideal for one purpose may be totally inadequate for another. It may also be appropriate to utilize multiple sites of increasing fidelity as the development process evolves. For example, early in the development process, the use of lower-fidelity sites may be elected — especially if they are available for a lower cost. Later, it may be necessary to employ higher-fidelity sites to capture greater realism, even if there is an associated increased cost. Finally, when interpreting the results of field tests, it is necessary to understand the sensitivity of the results to the relevant conditions. Knowledge of characteristics and sensitivity of results is particularly important when using field test results to validate analytical model predictions. This is especially true for activities that involve physical interaction with the site. Examples would include tests of rovers or other vehicles and associated trafficability modeling, spacesuit mobility tests, and tests associated with system deployment operations.

The development, design, and construction of a lunar base will be an extremely complex technical task. It will be even more challenging to set up the funding scheme and the international cooperative structures that will be required to establish humankind's first outpost on another planetary body. This paper provides a summary of development issues, technology requirements, and research needs of a lunar base program. Non-technical aspects covered include the rationale for installing a lunar base, financing, cost, management, and legal issues, as well as general development aspects. Technical aspects discussed include the impact of the lunar environment on base design and development, Earth-Moon transportation, and site selection. The specific requirements of habitat design, thermal control, power supply, life support, communications, lunar surface transportation, extra-vehicular activities, and in-situ resources utilization are discussed, as well as logistics, cost, and modeling aspects. Also, it is outlined that a lunar base may very well serve as a testbed for technologies required for human Mars missions. The contents of this paper are based on countless lunar base-related studies that have been conducted in the past four decades and The Lunar Base Handbook that has been published recently and is also introduced here.

The resources of mankind are now sufficiently advanced to support the global human exploration and development of the Moon. This paper discusses the "Planet Moon Project", which portrays a vision to transform the Moon into an inhabited sister planet of the Earth in the 21st century. Beginning with small-scale, teleoperated in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) projects, electric power, communication, and transportation networks will be manufactured from lunar resources. These infrastructure networks will be field-tested and commissioned in the south polar region of the Moon, and permanent human outposts will then be established. Through several phases of development, the utility networks will grow, and the number of permanently inhabited bases will increase to include all areas of interest on the Moon. With long-term planning and prudent international coordination of resources, the responsible and beneficial conversion of the Moon into an inhabited sister planet of the Earth will thus become possible.

This paper discusses the exceptionally unique features of a site that is favorable for the next step in mankind's exploration and development of the Moon. The specific location is a mountain in the Lunar South Polar Region at 0 degree Longitude, 86 degrees South Latitude. At the summit of this mountain, analyses indicate that the sun never completely sets, so that electric power can be produced continuously from solar panels. Also, the Earth is visible 100% of the time, permitting uninterrupted real-time control of devices from the Earth. The mountain peak is in direct line of sight with other elevations in the south polar region, including the rim of Shackleton Crater at the geographic South Pole. The wide range of potential activities for remotely operated mobile devices and other equipment make this site attractive for the establishment of the first permanent base on the Moon.

As an extension to space robotics technology, National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) has been examining possible scenarios for unmanned planetary explorations. The paper discusses the roles of planetary rovers in terms of "mission support" aspects during presumed lunar-surface robotics tasks, and then describes a Compact Payload-Interface-Device (CPID) which acts as a common gateway for detachable instruments. A surface excavation tool is also designed and evaluated for its "mechanics-soil interaction" characteristics as one example of system designing approaches.

The development of practical, efficient construction methods is critical for the creation of a lunar base. Methods must be devised to quickly construct shelters using a minimum of earth-originating materials and producing a minimum of waste. This paper presents and discusses the use of a reusable, pressurized enclosure to facilitate building construction on the lunar surface. The proposed enclosure contains a life-supporting atmosphere, and provides shielding from cosmic rays and micrometeorites. The enclosed atmosphere eliminates some of the difficulties in building with lunar concrete. The enclosure provides an open construction environment, allowing knowledge from a variety of disciplines (architecture, structural engineering, materials science, biology, etc.) to be coordinated in building design. The enclosure is portable, allowing relocation to each building site. This paper will present materials, sequence of construction, and advantages and limitations of lunar construction within such an enclosure.

Our research group has been conducting a basic work on experimental missions for lunar resource utilization since 1996. The objective of the research work is to provide a conceptual design of the In-situ Space Resource Utilization (ISRU) experiment system for unmanned water production on the Moon, and to define essential technological breakthroughs. As part of the research program, an experimental study on the hydrogen reduction of lunar soil has been performed to design a chemical reactor for water production.

The excavation of lunar rock for civil construction activities and mining operations on the moon will by necessity require the fragmentation of the lunar rock by explosives. Assuming ordinary lunar rocks to be similar in strength and mass to earth rocks, the prediction equations used to design blasting patterns on earth can be modified to account for the change of gravity on the moon, and used to plan blasting operations for lunar rock excavation. The resulting equations predict that the specific explosive charge for lunar blasting operations will vary from approximately 0.04 kg/m³ for soft rock to 0.12 kg/m³ for hard rock. Comparable figures on earth are 0.2 kg/m³ to 0.6 kg/m³ respectively. Initial lunar mining operations will most likely be concerned with the extraction of water from hydrous ores. The estimated quantity of explosives necessary to produce water on the moon from a hydrous deposit containing 1% water would range from 0.002 to 0.005 kg per kg of water, depending on the strength of the lunar rock. The mining of higher-grade hydrous ore deposits would require proportionately less explosives. Thus it is concluded that the relative cost of explosives necessary to produce water on the moon would be extremely small compared to the expense of shipping water to the moon. It is hoped that this presentation will stimulate discussion and research into the potential applications of explosives in future lunar exploration, construction and mining operations.

LunarSat, the Lunar Academic and Research Satellite, is a micro-spacecraft that will be sent into an orbit around the Moon to perform scientific investigations concerning the lunar environment and its characteristics. However, another prime objective of the LunarSat mission is to serve as an educational and outreach project. LunarSat is designed by young engineers, scientists, and students from around Europe, with support from numerous institutions and space industry. It shall be launched as an auxiliary payload on an Ariane 5 ASAP platform and will have a mass of 100 kg in GTO. LunarSat will orbit the Moon on a highly elliptical polar orbit with its perilune above the lunar south pole area. This orbital strategy yields the possibility to obtain images of the lunar south pole region with a resolution never achieved before. Also, it will be possible to identify the `peak of eternal light' in the south pole region, should it exist. Radar measurements shall provide further evidence regarding the existence of water ice in the lunar polar craters. This paper summarizes the results of the LunarSat Phase B Study, conducted in 1998/99 and sponsored by the European Space Agency.

Civil Engineering is getting prepared for operations in space. The Moon will presumably be the focal point in this new era. Civil Engineering professionals, in close cooperation with other scientists and engineers are in the phase of planning operations on the Moon. The experience gained on the Earth through four millenniums is now on the eve of being applied in a new environment. In this paper, an assessment is aimed to show the new challenges of Civil Engineering in front of this new Nature, and the necessary considerations for surpassing the difficulties. Different aspects of the problem, with similarities and differences as compared to applications on the Earth, like choice and design of the structures, methods of construction, project management and cost engineering, use of imported and local materials, mounting and fabrication on the Moon are discussed.

As part of the study Civil Engineering at the Delft University of Technology, students have to do a project in their fourth year. Last year one of the assignments was a system study about building a strip-mining base on the moon. As many aspects as possible had to be integrated to make this study as realistic as possible. This paper will give a short overview of the results of this system study. The goal of this study was to come up with a fully operational base that had to be designed as complete as possible in 7 weeks. The final result includes the bases' components, the operating needs, selection of location, functional and technical design of the components, design considerations, expansion possibilities, a short summary about expansion possibilities, time schedule, way of construction, cost analysis and risk analysis.

Many early Apollo Era experiments were never published in open literature but provide valuable data for understanding the bearing capacity of soils on other planetary bodies in the Solar System. Results from earlier static and dynamic penetration experiments in vacuum and reduced gravity are presented. The results show that vacuum has a pronounced effect on increasing penetration resistance and reduced gravity has the opposite effect.

The main constraint for lunar construction is availability of resources. Concrete is a versatile material that could be used in a variety of applications on the Moon. However, conventional concrete (aggregates, cement and water) is hard to manufacture on the lunar surface. First, water is a very scarce resource (even if polar ice deposits are confirmed); second, cement (portland or alumina) production requires a very significant amount of processing and energy consumption. Sulfur has been proposed as an alternative binding agent for concrete manufacture on the Moon, but few studies have addressed the questions related to resource exploitation, mixing procedure and mechanical properties. In this work we report on experimental studies on sulfur mortar manufacture, using a variety of aggregate types (including lunar simulant JSC-1). Results indicate that the amount of sulfur can be reduced more than 10% relative to previous works and mechanical properties (compressive and tensile strengths) are, on the average, 30% greater than those obtained in earlier experimental studies. Adequate compaction of the hot sulfur and aggregate mix is a critical issue in assuring the production of a suitable material for lunar construction. These observations impose important constraints on the utilization of sulfur concrete (or mortar) on the lunar surface.

Electro-optical technology developed for Air Force Space Surveillance applications has been applied to the problem of discovering Near Earth Asteroids by the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) program. This application is natural due to the commonality between the surveillance of the sky for man-made satellites and the search for NEOs. Both require the efficient search of large areas of sky to detect faint, moving objects. Starting in 1996, the Air Force funded a small effort to demonstrate the effectiveness of the CCD and broad area search technology when applied to the problem of finding asteroids and comets. This program evolved into the current LINEAR program, which is jointly funded by the Air Force and NASA. LINEAR, which started full operations in March of 1998, has discovered 268 NEOs, 47 unusual objects and 33 comets as of October 15, 1999. Currently, LINEAR is contributing ∼70% of the worldwide NEO discoveries and has single handedly increased the observation flow into the Minor planet Center by a factor of 10. This paper covers the operations of the program, and detailed results of the search efforts.

Asteroid prospecting by spacecraft visitation for the initial purpose of assessing the general value of an asteroid for further resource exploration is expensive, time-consuming, and in the vast majority of cases the mission will be fruitless. A cheaper, better initial data acquisition may be accomplished for the majority of near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) through the coordinated use of ground-based astronomical observing assets to increase the efficiency and data return of observation. An intensive ground-based campaign of NEA data acquisition using dedicated instruments could provide comprehensive knowledge about the physical parameters of a large number of NEAs at much lower cost than a series of spacecraft missions. These data will be acquired at sub-hemispherical resolution and can replace an initial spacecraft visitation for resource assessment. A system of two optical telescopes and a radar capable of high SNR delay-Doppler measurements are required for comprehensive, simultaneous NEA observation during an apparition. Observation simultaneity must be preserved as the rotational rates and pole positions are not known for the majority of NEAs and thus timing is critical for data comparison between observing platforms. This combination of instrument platforms would obtain in three to seven nights enough data to in moderate detail a single NEA. This array of instrument platforms may be used in observing new NEAs now being found plus observating previously known larger NEAs by dedicating the system platforms to this specific use. Smaller numbers of select NEAs may be observed at lower usage rates of the platforms. The observation days must be synchronized between the platforms for maximum simultaneity. The results of such a ground-based observation campaign would be an extensive database of raw observations and derived physical parameters for a large population of NEAs. These data would serve as a basis for studies of NEAs as impact threats and as raw materials resources and answer scientific questions regarding the nature and evolution of asteroids. A coordinated ground-based observation campaign is a significant method for maximizing the data return while minimizing cost in studying the near-Earth asteroids for use in resource exploitation or threat mitigation.

Future large-scale space infrastructure such as satellite solar power stations and orbital hotels will require metal for construction, and water and other volatiles, for propellant. These can be shown to be retrievable at low energy cost from a subset of Near-Earth Asteroids. A small team of Australian researchers is developing concepts for mining these water-bearing bodies. A recipe for asteroidal matrix simulant has been developed, and the material is being tested for thermal and mechanical properties. The preliminary mining concepts and simulant testwork to date are discussed.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Johnson Space Center (JSC) is developing a substrate, termed zeoponics, that will slowly release all of the essential nutrients into solution for plant growth experiments in advanced life support system testbeds. This substrate is also potentially useful in the near future on the Space Shuttle and International Space Station and could eventually be used at an outpost on Mars. Chemical analyses of the martain soil by the Viking and Mars Pathfinder missions have indicated that several of the elements required for plant growth are available in the soil. It may be possible to use the martian soil as the bulk substrate for growing food crops, while using smaller amounts of zeoponic substrate as an amendment to rectify any nutrient deficiencies.

Optimal cost and safety will be instrumental not only in sending humans to Mars, but also in achieving the political support and scientific consensus that will allow such an endeavor to begin. The Caltech Mars Society Mission 2.0 (CMSM2) was created to improve upon the safety, cost, and political viability of previous plans, with emphasis on the NASA Design Reference Mission 3.0 (DRM3). The Caltech Mars Society Mission 2.0 is a complete description of a 5-person expedition to the Red Planet targeted at the 2011 (cargo), 2014 (crew), and succeeding opportunities. Comparative risk analysis indicates that the Caltech Mars Society Mission 2.0 has significantly less risk of failure than the Reference Mission 3.0 or Mars Direct, while requiring less ambitious development than either plan. More information including the full version of this paper is available at http://mars.caltech.edu.

Surface activities of the first Mars mission crew, as suggested in phase I of the NASA HEDS reference mission, are discussed in this paper. The HEDS reference mission calls for a two phased approach. In phase I, humans supported by robotic systems will explore the Martian surface, collect and analyze geologic, geophysical, and meteorological data, search for potential permanent base sites, and conduct technology verification experiments. In phase II, a Mars base site will be selected, and the building of a permanent human base will be initiated. In this report two complementary architectures are portrayed. First, a permanent base for 3–6 people consisting of an ISRU unit, two nuclear power systems, a green house, and inflatable habitats and laboratories, built inside adobe structures. Second, a reusable, and resupplyable methane propelled very long range type traverse vehicle capable of collecting and analyzing data, and repairing and deploying scientific payloads during its planned 150 days 4800 km traverse. The very long range traverse vehicle will carry smaller rovers, crawlers, blimps, and an air drill capable of quickly reaching depths beyond 100m. The report presents a global vision of human activities on the surface of Mars at a programmatic level. It consists of several vignettes called "concept architectures". We speculate that these activities will facilitate a phase I Mars exploration architecture.

Current ISRU discussions revolve around process engineering solutions to propulsion fueling issues. Similarly, most construction techniques concentrate on using in-situ processed materials necessitating significant materials handling, power requirements and equipment infrastructure. However, traditional civil engineering solutions need not be considered only suitable for later stage missions or colonization. Previously, several authors have put forward concepts for Stage 2 lunar bases that comprise simplified use of lunar regolith and materials similar to standard geosynthetics. Reinforced earth solutions have expanded dramatically in civil engineering practice in the last 10 years, and may have application to first stage Mars Mission needs as well as subsequent stages. This paper provides concepts for use of reinforced earth as simple solutions for first stage Mars Mission mass-intensive needs such as nuclear power plant radiation protection, inflatable habitat protection and insulation, and tankages of essential gases and liquids. Research needs are discussed for design parameters needed for geosynthetic use on all stages of Mars Mission.

A metric for use in the evaluation and ranking of penetration and sampling devices for possible usage on the 03 and 05 Mars Sample Return missions was developed. The metric was developed by compiling a comprehensive set of criteria, grouping this list into general categories, assigning weights to the categories, decomposing the categories into more detailed criteria and assigning weights to them. Two methods of weighting were developed to represent the application of lenient and tight requirements. The major conclusions that were drawn from this metric were that the requirements drive the criteria weight assignments and the iterative process of decomposing and weighting the criteria allows for an evaluation of the systems on different levels of specificity.

An essential step toward the establishment of a manned base on Mars involves the construction of infrastructure utilizing resources found on the planet. The manufacture of construction materials must minimally rely on resources derived from Earth. One basic material most beneficial for the construction of infrastructure such as habitats, storage structures or transportation construction is the development of Martian concrete. To produce concretes as well as a myriad of other operations most likely to take place at a manned base, a power source will be necessary. This power source must be adequate to operate a kiln as well as produce water by either manufacture or by permafrost extraction. Basic materials for the manufacturing of concrete in situ exist on Mars' surface. The Viking and Pathfinder missions have provided data that indicate the presence of calcium sulfur and salts as well as large quantities of pozzolanic reactive silica. Forms of Martian concrete materials could be rudimentary brick, nonhydraulic or hydraulic cement concretes. Several considerations must be given to the manufacture of cement concrete or brick due to the ambient conditions found on Mars. Initially these considerations entail the collection of resources, power sources and the workspace. Sequentially, considerations are given to ambient conditions effecting the properties of the materials. While each of the materials will require water as part of their manufacturing process, cement concrete manufacture will require a more elaborate system involving aggregate as well as some Earth-derived admixtures. The manufacture of brick on the other hand may be more energy efficient and less labor intensive.

Some of the new discoveries about the moon could pertain to the building of colonies there someday so that man may live, study, and/or launch shuttles from the lunar surface. This has been a dream of mankind's for centuries, and now, with new technology, scientists believe that this dream may soon come true. Should this occur, we could use the bases as refueling stations for shuttles on interplanetary missions, mining stations, vacation destination, or just plain home sweet home. It could also be a possible source of some minerals that could be used on earth or on the moon to prevent unnecessary hauling from the earth to the moon. It could also be the origin of new fuel sources.

Satellites are relay stations used to link ground transmitters and receivers. Commercial communication satellites that provides television distribution, long distance telephone transmission, private business networks, and fax service are becoming increasingly important and profitable industries. While wired transmissions may be less irritating because there is no delay in receiving, satellite transmissions are more convenient for long distance communications. NASA should spend more of their funding on the development and usage of satellites.

Starting from the ground operators in people's living rooms to the fancy high tech equipment on the Russian MIR, amateur radio has taken over. Ham radio is not only a form of mobile communication or Dxpedition, that is, distance communication over the various air waves, but also a vital factor in space communications. As proven by SAREX (Space Amateur Radio Experiment Team) millions of ham operators all around the world get to share the joys and triumphs of space exploration with astronauts in space, through the wonderful world of amateur radio.

The likelihood of an asteroid or a meteor hitting the Earth is rare. But once in a while when a meteorite does enter the atmosphere, it leaves a crater in the Earth's surface. Meteorites are usually the size of a large rock, but what would happen if a rock that was many miles wide were to be headed towards the Earth? Large asteroids could come towards the Earth and, unfortunately, there is little we could do to stop them. Many scientists are now studying and researching what to do if an asteroid is on a collision course with Earth, but the solutions are not apparent.

There are many advantages of using the Hubble Space Telescope as the next century approaches. The uses, findings, discoveries, and history of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) show that HST should be used well after the ending mission date. The objectives and design of the HST are basic and understandable. The instrument changes over the past years have made HST more dependable, updated, and advanced. Knowledgeable astronauts can easily and safely replace obsolete instruments with new ones. HST should be used in the future as opposed to ending the entire mission of the HST. There are also many advantages of using both the HST and the Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST) instead of just using the NGST. The NGST can be used to explore new ideas in space that HST is not able to do. HST can be used to update old information and explore everything that it is capable of exploring. While the NGST is more technologically advanced, HST is better known among scientists worldwide. Scientists have a greater understanding of HST. HST is very reliable and has a successful record.

Researchers have been trying to find a successful life support system. In the 1950's, they tried using algae to produce essential products but the quantity of the products just wasn't efficient. Then, in the 1970's, NASA became interested in the CELSS (Controlled Ecological Life Supports Systems) project. This project involves using plants and crops to produce air, water, and food. To do this, scientists have built a Bio-Plex. In this Bio-Plex, the plants and crops are grown and are used to produce air, water, and food for the human crew. All of these elements will be recycled so the crew can use them for multiple things. Scientists have been waiting for so long to do this and now, they finally get the chance. Based upon the funding, a 120-day experiment shall take place in the year 2001. In conclusion, if this system works, we will be heading toward exploration extravaganzas and a brand new world of technology.

International Space Law includes COPUOS, which is the current body in charge of International space law, and the five international treaties that COPUOS has created. However, inherent flaws with the current space laws exist; the fact that outer space is officially undefined, and that the outer space treaties are obsolete to current technology — especially when dealing with intellectual property rights, space cooperation, remote sensing, space debris, liability and threat of an asteroid. It is recommended that the creation of an official definition of "Outer Space," a reevaluation of current International Treaties and the creation of a body to govern and control outer space be implemented.

In 1999 the Russian space station MIR was abandoned and will fall to Earth in the year 2000. The world will then, yet again, be in need of a permanent space laboratory. World space organizations have been working for the past few years, and will continue working for the next few, on a project called the International Space Station (ISS). This $35 billion project will take a number of years to build and will take massive amounts of resources. It is the collective project of 16 different countries. The country with the most responsibility in terms of funding and labor is the United States. The space station can do things that the Space Shuttle and the geriatric MIR space station could only dream of doing. Besides all of the purely scientific benefits, it will also have many benefits to humanity itself and to world politics. But its largest funder, NASA, is in danger of budget cuts, which may hinder the quality of US-made parts, decreasing the station's longevity or making more expensive repairs necessary. This could delay the project altogether. The world cannot allow this to happen. We need ISS as soon as we can, and we need to keep it for as long as we can.

Imagine being an astronaut, eating food out of a tube day after day after day. If there was a greenhouse attached to the space ship you were on you could eat fresh fruits and vegetables every day! Imagine how wonderful that would be. It would make outer space feel almost like home. Using greenhouses on long-term Earth orbits and on space stations would be beneficial in many ways. By having a greenhouse attached to a space shuttle, astronauts could be provided with fresh fruits and vegetables, a way to recycle food waste, an alternate power source for the ship, and a new way to generate oxygen. To absorb the largest possible amount of rays from the sun, the greenhouse would have double glass, and the excess energy from the greenhouse could be stored to heat the space shuttle. With all of the new advancements in technology, isn't it about time we spread the knowledge of solar energy into outer space?

Jupiter's moon Europa has a high possibility that there is life on it. Scientists, having seen the most recent pictures from the Galileo spacecraft, have noticed one big fault and lots of small cracks all over Europa. Scientists seem to believe that an underground ocean under the surface is causing the thick, icy surface to crack. Of course if there is water under the surface, there is always a possibility that life could be there or have been there in the past. Some scientists are very skeptical, but most are in belief. There will be a mission going up in 2003 that will be up in space for fifteen years. Finding life on Europa would inevitably lead to more exploration throughout the solar system and life would never be the same.

Black Holes: cosmic bodies of extreme gravity from which not even light can escape. Formed by the collapse of massive stars, these cosmic bodies are a mystery to astronomers. Astronomers know these objects exist, yet they cannot see them. The only way to study black holes is by observing the effects they have on matter nearby. Astronomers can study the nearby matter to obtain information about the black hole, but this kind of studying is not in-depth enough. Black holes are difficult to study because they are extremely small and they emit no light. Current technology provides decent images of the areas where possible black holes exist, but better technology is needed to perform more in-depth studies of black holes. New technology needs to be developed to improve the observation of black holes from earth, or a new method of observing needs to be formulated. To study black holes more in-depth, would a probe sent near an existing black hole to perform research be plausible? The cost of such an operation would be too great given the dangers. Also, the amount of time it would take a probe to arrive within a safe distance of a black hole is too great. The risks, cost, and time involved are too much to conduct such a mission. Therefore, a mission to a black hole would not be plausible. However, more in-depth studies should be conducted to learn more about these amazing cosmic bodies.

Black holes, a region in space with such intense gravity that nothing can escape, are a phenomena worthy of study. The idea of black holes was first conceptualized in the 18^th century and since then many advancements have been made. A black hole is formed when either a star runs out of fuel and collapses or a dying star explodes. Black holes are made up of an event horizon and singularity, and the distance between the two is called its Schwarzschild radius. A black hole may lead to a parallel universe or another place or time in this universe. There are three size ranges of black holes. Supermassive black holes have a mass of millions or billions of suns. Stellar-mass black holes have a mass of five or ten suns and some believe that they go through a process called black hole evaporation derived from quantum mechanics. Recently, indirect evidence has been presented for a middle class of black holes with a 100 to 100,000 solar mass. Time slows with intense gravity and at the edge of a black hole time actually stops. People in different timeshells will observe a gravitational redshift or blueshift. Gravity also warps space and lines. Though the existence of black holes is hard to prove, a group of scientists recently studied the chemical composition of a star neighboring a suspected black hole. They found evidence that a supernova must have occurred there, leaving a black hole. Two supernova remnants are being reclassified as hypernovae, which are probably a form of black hole and have explosions over 100 times more powerful than supernovae. Another black hole has been recently discovered in NGC-4342. Black holes are a big mystery and a better understanding of them will better our understanding of the universe as a whole.

Asteroids used to be thought of as just chunks of rock, floating around space that occasionally hit the Earth. Now, new research about the resources found in asteroids and the possibility of effectively and economically harnessing these resources has sparked renewed interest and curiosity in asteroids. Asteroids are a mixture of metal and "dirt". They are rich in nickle-iron, cobalt, and the platinum group. They also contain volatile elements such as hydrogen, water, and carbon bonded to the minerals. We certainly cannot bring back the whole asteroid. Instead, we would look at ways to extract the sought after materials in space, refine them on site, and package the asteroid material to be shipped back to the Earth's orbit. This paper explains how scientists could possibly extract metals and other materials for many different purposes. It is clear that asteroids are more than just chunks of rock!

The Interactive Data Language (IDL) was originally designed to be used in space, but it has proved to be extremely useful in terrestrial environments, too. IDL has been used in many space missions and projects, like the salvation of the Hubble Space Telescope, the calibration of high-energy X-ray telescopes, and behind the scenes at Ball Aerospace. IDL's applications in the earth sciences include being used in monitoring waste sites to improve cleanup, tracking sea ice to keep ships safe, and improving accuracy in long-range weather predictions. Because IDL and other space technology have proved to be so useful in terrestrial environments, space technology should continue to be used in other fields of science.

Both earth and space pose problems as locations of astronomical observatories. Because of the speed at which astronomy is progressing observatories must be in space in order for new information to continue being found. Earth-bound observatories have too many problems for astronomers to overcome and still get the results that they need. NASA's Great Observatories, the Hubble, Compton, Chandra, have shown astronomers galaxies of information ranging across the electromagnetic spectrum from visible light to gamma rays. In order for more discoveries to be made, we need to continue to have and use space-based observatories.

Powerful and persistent jetstream winds can be used to generate electricity. A tethered rotorcraft, that simultaneously generates and maintains altitude, is proposed and analysed. Best return on investment is at about 4 km altitude.

The preliminary design of a direct current distribution system is presented. The framework for the design is based upon NASA's report, "A Fresh Look at Space Solar Power: New Architecture, Concepts and Technologies," written by John Mankins of the Advanced Projects Office. The object of the solar power satellite, as stated in the report, is to "generate solar power in space for wireless transmission to receivers on the ground." Power requirements are determined. Transmission of this power from the "SolarDisc" solar collectors using high temperature superconductors to Antennae Disc magnetrons is discussed along with circuit protection and slip ring elements. Costs and weights are included along with suggestions for future equipment development and design.

The objective of this paper is to describe a concept for beaming microwave energy into the cold rain down draft of a thunderstorm to disrupt the convective flow needed to concentrate its energy in forming a tornado. The concept uses a "Thunderstorm Solar Power Satellite"(TSPS) for the microwave beam source. Thunderstorms are dangerous and destructive storms which spawn tornadoes. Loss of life and the attendant damage are not balanced by any significant meteorological benefits. The genesis of tornado formation is complex and very sensitive to convection and vorticity. Not all mesocyclones produce tornadoes. This sensitivity represents a potential for application of directed energy to influence the process. Until now, there has been little consideration of concepts for modifying the behavior of these storms. If the critical areas can be accessed with energy, it may be possible to disrupt the formation of a tornado in a thunderstorm. Solar Power Satellites provide the system to generate and focus this energy. Space Solar Power systems have been studied by NASA as a clean, renewable power supply for civilization's energy needs. The concept consists of orbiting solar collectors that provide electricity to microwave generators. An antenna array of these microwave generators forms a beam to direct the energy to a "rectenna" receiver on the surface of the Earth. In the rectenna, the beam is converted back into electricity for use in the commercial power grid. The proposed concept is to direct such a beam of intense energy into the cold rain downdraft of a mesocy clone. This energy will heat the raindrops and is expected to reduce convective flow and diminish vorticity. This heating is intended to disrupt the tornado formation process. To validate the feasibility of the concept, a broad range of issues must be evaluated and resolved. The dynamics of tornado formation, the degree of sensitivity of the process and the range of potential reactions to adding more energy are fundamental to understanding the concept. The technical issues in space systems delivering the energy can be resolved and demonstrated. The decisions to expend resources are political and will depend on the resolve to deal with dangerous and damaging storms. Legal considerations come into play with the uncertainty of natural phenomena and potential safety of microwave beams. The initial objectives must define the process of tornadogenesis, the sensitive fine structure and to simulate the effect of adding energy with a numerical simulation computer program. With the critical points identified, the necessary space system requirements to deliver an energy beam with the duration and accuracy needed to interfere with the formation of the tornado can be defined.