The communication of new scientific knowledge and understanding is an integral component of scien... more The communication of new scientific knowledge and understanding is an integral component of science research, essential for its continued survival. Like any learning- based activity, science cannot continue without communication between and among peers so that skeptical inquiry and learning can take place. This communication provides necessary organic support to maintain the development of new knowledge and technology. However, communication beyond the peer-community is becoming equally critical for science to survive as an enterprise into the 21st century. Therefore, scientists not only have a 'noble responsibility' to advance and communicate scientific knowledge and understanding to audiences within and beyond the peer-community, but their fulfillment of this responsibility is necessary to maintain the survival of the science enterprise. Despite the critical importance of communication to the viability of science, the skills required to perform effective science communications historically have not been taught as a part of the training of scientist, and the culture of science is often averse to significant communication beyond the peer community. Thus scientists can find themselves ill equipped and uncomfortable with the requirements of their job in the new millennium. At NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center, we have developed and implemented an integrated science communications process, providing an institutional capability to help scientist accurately convey the content and meaning of new scientific knowledge to a wide variety of audiences, adding intrinsic value to the research itself through communication, while still maintaining the integrity of the peer-review process. The process utilizes initial communication through the world-wide web at the site http://science.nasa.gov to strategically leverage other communications vehicles and to reach a wide-variety of audiences. Here we present and discuss the basic design of the science communications process, now in operation for nearly two years. Serving scientists in Earth Science, Microgravity Science, and Space Science. Critical features of the design are illustrated, and essential skills required to operate the process are defined. Measures of success will also be presented.
The spatial distribution of gamma-ray burst source is investigated using the intensity distributi... more The spatial distribution of gamma-ray burst source is investigated using the intensity distribution and the angular distribution and the angular distribution of bursts observed by BATSE. The intensity distribution exhibits fewer weak burst than would be expected for a homogeneous distribution of sources. However, the angular distribution is consistent with an isotropic distribution. These results are compared to galactic disk and halo models of gamma-ray burst sources.
Before returning humans to the Moon for mankind's seventh lunar landing, NASA will embark upo... more Before returning humans to the Moon for mankind's seventh lunar landing, NASA will embark upon a series of robotic missions to prepare the way for further exploration. These missions, part of the Robotic Lunar Exploration Program (RLEP), are designed to acquire decisive knowledge about the moon as well as to develop infrastructure needed to sustain human exploration in the lunar environment. Here we focus on the second mission in the RLEP program, RLEP-2, the first dedicated to landing in the south polar region of the moon. Managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, along with the Applied Physics Laboratory and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, RLEP-2 will build upon knowledge gained from the Chandraayan-1 and Lunar Robotic Orbiter orbital missions, to help further the prospects for sustainable human exploration on the moon. This mission will characterize the lighting environment in the polar region, critically important to understanding the amount of power available and to the thermal design of hardware, as well as explore the nature and distribution of volatiles that may be present in permanently shadowed regions of polar craters. We shall review the current status of the mission, articulate the results of onoging trade studies in power, surface mobility, launch vehicles, measurements and instrumentation, and navigation/communication, as well as discuss the primary mission objectives in detail.
Sensors, Systems, and Next-Generation Satellites XXIII, 2019
The fusion of multispectral (MS) and hyperspectral (HS) data has been limited by the availability... more The fusion of multispectral (MS) and hyperspectral (HS) data has been limited by the availability of space systems that have the capacity to host both imagers simultaneously. High-performing single instrumentation across a large wavelength range is both difficult from an engineering perspective as well as expensive. However, in recent years, external payload platforms on the International Space Station (ISS), such as Bartolomeo and Multi-User System for Earth Sensing (MUSES), have surfaced and created more possibilities for MS/HS data fusion to produce high resolution in both spectral and spatial domains. We present a proof-of-concept and breadboard for a low-cost MS imager that optimally complements a HS imager. Design characteristics of the MS imager prototype include the ability to produce high-spatial resolution images (~2.5m Ground Sample Distance), robust communications allowing seamless integration into the ISS downlink system, data fusion algorithms and methods, on-board computational processing, and ground mission control. A cost-benefit-risk analysis of the MS imager design will provide insight into ideal MS/HS joint operation. As demonstrated by K. Perlmutter et al., a low-cost MS imager adds value to a hyperspectral data stream, thereby increasing the relevance of Earth Observation applications for public policy-makers and humanitarian organizations, a central goal of the John Glenn Humanitarian Observatory program in The Ohio State University Battelle Center for Science, Engineering, and Public Policy.
The U.S. Vision for Space Exploration commits the United States to return astronauts to the Moon ... more The U.S. Vision for Space Exploration commits the United States to return astronauts to the Moon by 2020 using the Ares I Crew Launch Vehicle and Ares V Cargo Launch Vehicle. Like the Apollo program of the 1960s and 1970s, this effort will require preliminary reconnaissance in the form of robotic landers and probes. Unlike Apollo, some of the data the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will rely upon to select landing sites and conduct science will be based on international missions as well, including SMART-1, SELENE, and Chandrayaan-1, in addition to NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) which carries a complement of instruments, with one from an international partner. The European Space Agency's SMART-1 orbiter made the first comprehensive inventory of key chemical elements in the lunar surface. It also investigated the impact theory of the Moon's formation.' SELENE, the SELenological and ENgineering Explorer, is a Japanese Space Agency (JAXA)...
The communication of new scientific knowledge and understanding is an integral component of scien... more The communication of new scientific knowledge and understanding is an integral component of science research, essential for its continued survival. Like any learning- based activity, science cannot continue without communication between and among peers so that skeptical inquiry and learning can take place. This communication provides necessary organic support to maintain the development of new knowledge and technology. However, communication beyond the peer-community is becoming equally critical for science to survive as an enterprise into the 21st century. Therefore, scientists not only have a 'noble responsibility' to advance and communicate scientific knowledge and understanding to audiences within and beyond the peer-community, but their fulfillment of this responsibility is necessary to maintain the survival of the science enterprise. Despite the critical importance of communication to the viability of science, the skills required to perform effective science communications historically have not been taught as a part of the training of scientist, and the culture of science is often averse to significant communication beyond the peer community. Thus scientists can find themselves ill equipped and uncomfortable with the requirements of their job in the new millennium. At NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center, we have developed and implemented an integrated science communications process, providing an institutional capability to help scientist accurately convey the content and meaning of new scientific knowledge to a wide variety of audiences, adding intrinsic value to the research itself through communication, while still maintaining the integrity of the peer-review process. The process utilizes initial communication through the world-wide web at the site http://science.nasa.gov to strategically leverage other communications vehicles and to reach a wide-variety of audiences. Here we present and discuss the basic design of the science communications process, now in operation for nearly two years. Serving scientists in Earth Science, Microgravity Science, and Space Science. Critical features of the design are illustrated, and essential skills required to operate the process are defined. Measures of success will also be presented.
The spatial distribution of gamma-ray burst source is investigated using the intensity distributi... more The spatial distribution of gamma-ray burst source is investigated using the intensity distribution and the angular distribution and the angular distribution of bursts observed by BATSE. The intensity distribution exhibits fewer weak burst than would be expected for a homogeneous distribution of sources. However, the angular distribution is consistent with an isotropic distribution. These results are compared to galactic disk and halo models of gamma-ray burst sources.
Before returning humans to the Moon for mankind's seventh lunar landing, NASA will embark upo... more Before returning humans to the Moon for mankind's seventh lunar landing, NASA will embark upon a series of robotic missions to prepare the way for further exploration. These missions, part of the Robotic Lunar Exploration Program (RLEP), are designed to acquire decisive knowledge about the moon as well as to develop infrastructure needed to sustain human exploration in the lunar environment. Here we focus on the second mission in the RLEP program, RLEP-2, the first dedicated to landing in the south polar region of the moon. Managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, along with the Applied Physics Laboratory and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, RLEP-2 will build upon knowledge gained from the Chandraayan-1 and Lunar Robotic Orbiter orbital missions, to help further the prospects for sustainable human exploration on the moon. This mission will characterize the lighting environment in the polar region, critically important to understanding the amount of power available and to the thermal design of hardware, as well as explore the nature and distribution of volatiles that may be present in permanently shadowed regions of polar craters. We shall review the current status of the mission, articulate the results of onoging trade studies in power, surface mobility, launch vehicles, measurements and instrumentation, and navigation/communication, as well as discuss the primary mission objectives in detail.
Sensors, Systems, and Next-Generation Satellites XXIII, 2019
The fusion of multispectral (MS) and hyperspectral (HS) data has been limited by the availability... more The fusion of multispectral (MS) and hyperspectral (HS) data has been limited by the availability of space systems that have the capacity to host both imagers simultaneously. High-performing single instrumentation across a large wavelength range is both difficult from an engineering perspective as well as expensive. However, in recent years, external payload platforms on the International Space Station (ISS), such as Bartolomeo and Multi-User System for Earth Sensing (MUSES), have surfaced and created more possibilities for MS/HS data fusion to produce high resolution in both spectral and spatial domains. We present a proof-of-concept and breadboard for a low-cost MS imager that optimally complements a HS imager. Design characteristics of the MS imager prototype include the ability to produce high-spatial resolution images (~2.5m Ground Sample Distance), robust communications allowing seamless integration into the ISS downlink system, data fusion algorithms and methods, on-board computational processing, and ground mission control. A cost-benefit-risk analysis of the MS imager design will provide insight into ideal MS/HS joint operation. As demonstrated by K. Perlmutter et al., a low-cost MS imager adds value to a hyperspectral data stream, thereby increasing the relevance of Earth Observation applications for public policy-makers and humanitarian organizations, a central goal of the John Glenn Humanitarian Observatory program in The Ohio State University Battelle Center for Science, Engineering, and Public Policy.
The U.S. Vision for Space Exploration commits the United States to return astronauts to the Moon ... more The U.S. Vision for Space Exploration commits the United States to return astronauts to the Moon by 2020 using the Ares I Crew Launch Vehicle and Ares V Cargo Launch Vehicle. Like the Apollo program of the 1960s and 1970s, this effort will require preliminary reconnaissance in the form of robotic landers and probes. Unlike Apollo, some of the data the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will rely upon to select landing sites and conduct science will be based on international missions as well, including SMART-1, SELENE, and Chandrayaan-1, in addition to NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) which carries a complement of instruments, with one from an international partner. The European Space Agency's SMART-1 orbiter made the first comprehensive inventory of key chemical elements in the lunar surface. It also investigated the impact theory of the Moon's formation.' SELENE, the SELenological and ENgineering Explorer, is a Japanese Space Agency (JAXA)...
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