This book provides a systematical and comprehensive description of some facets of modeling, designing, analyzing and exploring the control allocation and fault-tolerant control problems for over-actuated spacecraft attitude control system under actuator failures, system uncertainties and disturbances. The book intends to provide a unified platform for understanding and applicability of the fault-tolerant attitude control and control allocation for different purposes in aerospace engineering and some related fields. And it is particularly suited for readers who are interested to learn solutions in spacecraft attitude control system design and related engineering applications.

After pioneering this technology and growing the market, COMSAT fell prey to changes in government policy and to its own lack of entrepreneurial talent. The author explores the factors which contributed to this rise and fall of COMSAT.

This book introduces readers to the navigation, guidance and control technologies involved in single-spacecraft, double-spacecraft, and multiple-spacecraft tasks in elliptical orbits. It comprehensively covers the key technologies of guidance, navigation and control (GNC) system design for spacecraft in elliptical orbits, including the orbit design, formation configuration design and maintenance, autonomous navigation technology and relative navigation technology, as well as autonomous rendezvous technology. The methods that this book introduces are very close to actual practical engineering applications and presented in an accessible style. The book can serve as reference teaching material for senior undergraduates and postgraduates with space navigation related majors, while also providing essential information and guidance for research personnel and engineering technical personnel engaged in the development of GNC systems for spacecraft.

A collection of papers edited by four experts in the field, this book sets out to describe the way solar activity is manifested in observations of the solar interior, the photosphere, the chromosphere, the corona and the heliosphere. The 11-year solar activity cycle, more generally known as the sunspot cycle, is a fundamental property of the Sun. This phenomenon is the generation and evolution of magnetic fields in the Sun's convection zone, the photosphere. It is only by the careful enumeration and description of the phenomena and their variations that one can clarify their interdependences. The sunspot cycle has been tracked back about four centuries, and it has been recognized that to make this data set a really useful tool in understanding how the activity cycle works and how it can be predicted, a very careful and detailed effort is needed to generate sunspot numbers. This book deals with this topic, together with several others that present related phenomena that all indicate the physical processes that take place in the Sun and its exterior environment. The reviews in the book also present the latest theoretical and modelling studies that attempt to explain the activity cycle. It remains true, as has been shown in the unexpected characteristics of the first two solar cycles in the 21st century, that predictability remains a serious challenge. Nevertheless, the highly expert and detailed reviews in this book, using the very best solar observations from both ground- and space based telescopes, provide the best possible report on what is known and what is yet to be discovered. Originally published in Space Science Reviews, Vol 186, Issues 1-4, 2014.

This book presents recent advances in the physics of magnetic reconnection, investigated via both in situ spacecraft observations and fully kinetic numerical simulations. Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental process in plasma physics during which the topological reconfiguration of the magnetic field leads to energy conversion and particle energization. The book focuses on the physics of the electron diffusion region (EDR), a crucial region where the electrons are decoupled from the magnetic field and efficiently accelerated by the electric field. By using recent, high-resolution measurements provided by NASA's Magnetospheric MultiScale Mission (MMS), the book investigates the structure of the EDR at the Earth's magnetopause. The presented analysis provides evidence for an inhomogeneous and patchy EDR structure. The structure of the EDR appears to be more complex than the in laminar picture suggested by previous observations and simulations. Then, electrons dynamics in the EDR is studied using a novel, fully kinetic Eulerian Vlasov-Darwin model that has been implemented in the Vlasov-DArwin numerical code (ViDA), explained in detail in the book. Lastly, the book covers the testing of this new code, and investigates the contributions of the different terms in the generalized Ohm's law within the EDR, highlighting the role of the electron inertia term.

This book presents selected papers of the Itzhack Y. Bar-Itzhack Memorial Sympo- sium on Estimation, Navigation, and Spacecraft Control. Itzhack Y. Bar-Itzhack, professor Emeritus of Aerospace Engineering at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, was a prominent and world-renowned member of the applied estimation, navigation, and spacecraft attitude determination communities. He touched the lives of many. He had a love for life, an incredible sense of humor, and wisdom that he shared freely with everyone he met. To honor Professor Bar-Itzhack's memory, as well as his numerous seminal professional achievements, an international symposium was held in Haifa, Israel, on October 14-17, 2012, under the auspices of the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering at the Technion and the Israeli Association for Automatic Control. The book contains 27 selected, revised, and edited contributed chapters written by eminent international experts. The book is organized in three parts: (1) Estimation, (2) Navigation and (3) Spacecraft Guidance, Navigation and Control. The volume was prepared as a reference for research scientists and practicing engineers from academy and industry in the fields of estimation, navigation, and spacecraft GN&C.

This book presents a comprehensive geopolitical analysis of European space activities. By studying outer space as a physical and socio-economic space as well as a military-diplomatic area, the author helps readers understand outer space as a geopolitical environment. The book also offers insights into the behavior and strategies of different actors, with a special focus on the European space strategy and the nature of the European space program and diplomacy.

The present book provides a contemporary systematic treatment of shock waves in high-temperature collisionless plasmas as are encountered in near Earth space and in Astrophysics. It consists of two parts. Part I develops the complete theory of shocks in dilute hot plasmas under the assumption of absence of collisions among the charged particles when the interaction is mediated solely by the self-consistent electromagnetic fields. Such shocks are naturally magnetised implying that the magnetic field plays an important role in their evolution and dynamics. This part treats subcritical shocks which dissipate flow energy by generating anomalous resistance or viscosity. The main emphasis is, however, on super-critical shocks where the anomalous dissipation is insufficient to retard the upstream flow. These shocks, depending on the direction of the upstream magnetic field, are distinguished as quasi-perpendicular and quasi-parallel shocks which exhibit different behaviours, reflecting particles back upstream and generating high electromagnetic wave intensities. Particle acceleration and turbulence at such shocks become possible and important. Part II treats planetary bow shocks and the famous Heliospheric Termination shock as examples of two applications of the theory developed in part I.

This thesis develops new and powerful methods for identifying planetary signals in the presence of "noise" generated by stellar activity, and explores the physical origin of stellar intrinsic variability, using unique observations of the Sun seen as a star. In particular, it establishes that the intrinsic stellar radial-velocity variations mainly arise from suppression of photospheric convection by magnetic fields. With the advent of powerful telescopes and instruments we are now on the verge of discovering real Earth twins in orbit around other stars. The intrinsic variability of the host stars themselves, however, currently remains the main obstacle to determining the masses of such small planets. The methods developed here combine Gaussian-process regression for modeling the correlated signals arising from evolving active regions on a rotating star, and Bayesian model selection methods for distinguishing genuine planetary signals from false positives produced by stellar magnetic activity. The findings of this thesis represent a significant step towards determining the masses of potentially habitable planets orbiting Sun-like stars.

This book is based on the findings, conclusions and recommendations of the Global Space Governance study commissioned by the 2014 Montreal Declaration that called upon civil society, academics, governments, the private sector, and other stakeholders to undertake an international interdisciplinary study. The study took three years to complete. It examines the drivers of space regulations and standards, key regulatory problems, and especially addresses possible improvements in global space governance. The world's leading experts led the drafting of chapters, with input from academics and knowledgeable professionals in the public and private sectors, intergovernmental organizations, and nongovernmental organizations from all the regions of the world with over 80 total participants. This book and areas identified for priority action are to be presented to the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space and it is hoped will be considered directly or indirectly at the UNISPACE+50 event in Vienna, Austria, in 2018. The report, a collective work of all the contributors, includes objective analysis and frank statements expressed without pressure of political, national, and occupational concerns or interest. It is peer-reviewed and carefully edited to ensure its accuracy, preciseness, and readability. It is expected that the study and derivative recommendations will form the basis for deliberations and decisions at international conferences and meetings around the world on the theme of global space governance. This will hopefully include future discussion at the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.

This thesis presents fundamental work that explains two mysteries concerning the trajectory of interplanetary spacecraft. For the first problem, the so-called Pioneer anomaly, a wholly new and innovative method was developed for computing all contributions to the acceleration due to onboard thermal sources. Through a careful analysis of all parts of the spacecraft Pioneer 10 and 11, the application of this methodology has yielded the observed anomalous acceleration. This marks a major achievement, given that this problem remained unsolved for more than a decade. For the second anomaly, the flyby anomaly, a tiny glitch in the velocity of spacecraft that perform gravity assisting maneuvers on Earth, no definitive answer is put forward; however a quite promising strategy for examining the problem is provided and a new mission is proposed. The proposal largely consists in using the Galileo Navigational Satellite System to track approaching spacecraft, and in considering a small test body that approaches Earth from a highly elliptic trajectory.

'Just read it.' Elon Musk The dramatic inside story of the first four historic flights that launched SpaceX-and Elon Musk-from a shaky startup into the world's leading edge rocket company. SpaceX has enjoyed a miraculous decade. Less than 20 years after its founding, it boasts the largest constellation of commercial satellites in orbit, has pioneered reusable rockets, and in 2020 became the first private company to launch human beings into orbit. Half a century after the space race SpaceX is pushing forward into the cosmos, laying the foundation for our exploration of other worlds. But before it became one of the most powerful players in the aerospace industry, SpaceX was a fledgling startup, scrambling to develop a single workable rocket before the money ran dry. The engineering challenge was immense; numerous other private companies had failed similar attempts. And even if SpaceX succeeded, they would then have to compete for government contracts with titans such as Lockheed Martin and Boeing, who had tens of thousands of employees and tens of billions of dollars in annual revenue. SpaceX had fewer than 200 employees and the relative pittance of $100 million in the bank. In Liftoff, Eric Berger takes readers inside the wild early days that made SpaceX. Focusing on the company's first four launches of the Falcon 1 rocket, he charts the bumpy journey from scrappy underdog to aerospace pioneer. drawing upon exclusive interviews with dozens of former and current engineers, designers, mechanics, and executives, including Elon Musk. The enigmatic Musk, who founded the company with the dream of one day settling Mars, is the fuel that propels the book, with his daring vision for the future of space.

This textbook provides students and the broader aviation community with a complete, accessible guide to the subject of human factors in aviation. It covers the history of the field before breaking down the physical and psychological factors, organizational levels, technology, training, and other pivotal components of a pilot and crew's routine work in the field. The information is organized into easy-to-digest chapters with summaries and exercises based on key concepts covered, and it is supported by more than 100 full-color illustrations and photographs. All knowledge of human factors required in aviation university studies is conveyed in a concise and casual manner, through the use of helpful margin notes and anecdotes that appear throughout the text.

"The Early Evolution of the Atmospheres of Terrestrial Planets" presents the main processes participating in the atmospheric evolution of terrestrial planets. A group of experts in the different fields provide an update of our current knowledge on this topic. Several papers in this book discuss the key role of nitrogen in the atmospheric evolution of terrestrial planets. The earliest setting and evolution of planetary atmospheres of terrestrial planets is directly associated with accretion, chemical differentiation, outgassing, stochastic impacts, and extremely high energy fluxes from their host stars. This book provides an overview of the present knowledge of the initial atmospheric composition of the terrestrial planets. Additionally it includes some papers about the current exoplanet discoveries and provides additional clues to our understanding of Earth's transition from a hot accretionary phase into a habitable world. All papers included were reviewed by experts in their respective fields. We are living in an epoch of important exoplanet discoveries, but current properties of these exoplanets do not match our scientific predictions using standard terrestrial planet models. This book deals with the main physio-chemical signatures and processes that could be useful to better understand the formation of rocky planets.

This textbook offers a readily comprehensible introduction to classical Newtonian gravitation, which is fundamental for an understanding of classical mechanics and is particularly relevant to Astrophysics. The opening chapter recalls essential elements of vectorial calculus, especially to provide the formalism used in subsequent chapters. In chapter two Classical Newtonian gravity theory for one point mass and for a generic number N of point masses is then presented and discussed. The theory for point masses is naturally extended to the continuous case. The third chapter addresses the paradigmatic case of spherical symmetry in the mass density distribution (central force), with introduction of the useful tool of qualitative treatment of motion. Subsequent chapters discuss the general case of non-symmetric mass density distribution and develop classical potential theory, with elements of harmonic theory, which is essential to understand the potential development in series of the gravitational potential, the subject of the fourth chapter. Finally, in the last chapter the specific case of motion of a satellite around the earth is considered. Examples and exercises are presented throughout the book to clarify aspects of the theory. The book is aimed at those who wish to progress further beyond an initial bachelor degree, onward to a master degree, and a PhD. It is also a valuable resource for postgraduates and active researchers in the field.

This two-part book is devoted to classic fundamentals and current practices and perspectives of modern plasma astrophysics. This second part discusses the physics of magnetic reconnection and flares of electromagnetic origin in space plasmas in the solar system, single and double stars, relativistic objects, accretion disks and their coronae. More than 25% of the text is updated from the first edition, included the additions of new figures, equations and entire sections on topics such as topological triggers for solar flares and the magnetospheric physics problem. This book is aimed at professional researchers in astrophysics, but it will also be useful to graduate students in space sciences, geophysics, applied physics and mathematics, especially those seeking a unified view of plasma physics and fluid mechanics.

This book discusses the physics of conductive channel development in space, air and vacuums and summarizes the attempts to create super-long conductive channels to study the upper atmosphere and to complete specific tasks related to energy transmission from the space to earth with high-voltage high repetition rate electrical sources. Conductive channels are produced by the laser jet engine vehicle-propulsion under the influence of powerful high repetition rate pulse-periodic laser radiation by CO2-laser, solid state Nd YAG,HF/DF laser systems generated with each pulse of the powerful laser conductive dust plasma. The book also presents the experimental and theoretical results of conductive canal modeling: the laser jet engine vehicle "Impulsar", which can reach the lower layers of the ionosphere in several hundred seconds. Further, the book explores the development of lightning protection systems. The so-called long laser spark is generated to provide the conditions for connecting a thunderstorm cloud with a grounded metal rod, i.e. a classical lightning rod. Such conductivity channels can be used for energy transmission, overvoltage protection systems, transport of charged particle beams and plasma antennas. It provides the theoretical and experimental basis of high repetition rate P-P mode of operation for high power lasers (COIL, HF/DF, CO2,Nd YAG). It describes high efficiency and excellent beam quality disk lasers used for numerous applications, including surface treatment of dielectric materials in microelectronics, cutting, drilling, welding, polishing and cleaning of the surface and other technological operations. Lastly it investigates how megawatt mono-module disk lasers could be used to solve various problems: small satellites launched by lasers, formation of super-long conducting channels in space and atmosphere, cleaning of the near-earth space from the space debris and related applications.

The book sheds new lights on the evolution of Russian space activities with a focus on their strategy of international cooperation. This analysis is carried out in relation to the evolution of the domestic and international dynamics that have been impacting the country's direction in space, with the ultimate goal of providing an assessment on their impact for current and foreseeable Europe-Russia space relations. Russia has traditionally been one of the two main strategic partners for Europe in its space endeavor. Hitherto, long-standing cooperation has been nurtured between the two actors in various areas, from scientific research to space transportation and human spaceflight. In recent years, however, a number of endogenous and exogenous developments has triggered significant changes in Russia's space posture. These changes are evident in the adjustment of Russia's space policies and programmatic goals, in the restructuring of the domestic space industry as well as in the attitude towards international space partnerships.

The PRoject for OnBoard Autonomy (PROBA) missions are a series of microsatellites launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) and intended to provide an in-orbit test platform for new technologies. The second satellite in the series, PROBA2, was launched on November 2, 2009. The primary mission goal of PROBA2 is to perform an in-flight demonstration of a series of new spacecraft technologies. The secondary mission goal is the exploitation of the payload of scientific instruments consisting of two Sun-sensing instruments, the Sun Watcher with Active Pixel Sensor and Image Processing, and the Large Yield Radiometer. Both instruments are unique in a technological sense but also provide unique scientific data for the solar physics community. In this volume, a number of papers are collected that give an overview of the mission, the spacecraft, its instrument and its operations. In addition, the scientific outcome of the mission during the first two years is presented in a series of research papers. This volume is aimed at graduate students and researchers active in solar physics and space science. Previously published in Solar Physics journal, Vol. 286, No. 1, 2013.

This book introduces readers to the application of orbital data on space objects in the contexts of conjunction assessment and space situation analysis, including theories and methodologies. It addresses the main topics involved in space object conjunction assessment, such as: orbital error analysis of space objects; close approach analysis; the calculation, analysis and application of collision probability; and the comprehensive assessment of collision risk. In addition, selected topics on space situation analysis are also presented, including orbital anomaly and space event analysis, and so on. The book offers a valuable guide for researchers and engineers in the fields of astrodynamics, space telemetry, tracking and command (TT&C), space surveillance, space situational awareness, and space debris, as well as for graduates majoring in flight vehicle design and related fields.

Based on lecture notes on a space robotics course, this book offers a pedagogical introduction to the mechanics of space robots. After presenting an overview of the environments and conditions space robots have to work in, the author discusses a variety of manipulatory devices robots may use to perform their tasks. This is followed by a discussion of robot mobility in these environments and the various technical approaches. The last two chapters are dedicated to actuators, sensors and power systems used in space robots. This book fills a gap in the space technology literature and will be useful for students and for those who have an interest in the broad and highly interdisciplinary field of space robotics, and in particular in its mechanical aspects.