Digital Commons Network^™

The Challenges Of Implementing Action Research In A Divided Context: A Field Account, Olubunmi Damilola Akande

The Qualitative Report

Action research is mainly concerned with the entrenchment of social change through social interventions that involves the beneficiaries as key participators. The study documents the experience of the researcher in conducting action themed research in two adversarial communities in North-Central Nigeria. The core goals of the study are to draw attention to the usefulness of this approach for peacebuilding research and to also shed light on some of the complexities associated with this kind of research. A research diary was employed to document events and reflections as they unfolded during the fieldwork. A combination of a harsh social climate and …

An Assessment Of Journal Quality Indicators: A Comparative Study Of Selected Medical Journals, Mamatha V, Dr Keshava

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The purpose of the study was to assess the correlation between four bibliometric indicators (Impact Factor-IF, Eigenfactor Score-ES, SCImago Journal Rank-SJR, and H5 index) of typical online medical journals were selected from the medical group. Findings from the study evident that in accordance with Pearson’s (r) statistical correlation there is a high significance between four indicators and as per Spearman’s rho statistical correlation there is an association between the three indicators i.e. JIF, SJR, and H5. The above-mentioned indicators are correlated with one a different and it is chiefly true for medical journals when used as communal indicators to estimate …

Darkcarb: An Innovative Approach To Infrared Imaging, Andrew Haslehurst, Rachel Bird, Trevor Wood, Calem Whiting, Bena Mero, Harbinder Rana, Matt Price, Camilla Weiss, Diego Angarita-James, James Bell, Tasos Matheopoulos, John Gliby, Martin Sweeting

Small Satellite Conference

DarkCarb is a pioneering Earth observation (EO) satellite, under development at SSTL, designed to acquire high resolution Mid Wave Infrared (MWIR) imagery and video from low Earth orbit. The mission will set a precedent in IR performance from a small and capable satellite platform while maintaining the SSTL cost effective approach thereby enabling a spacecraft price which makes building constellations, capable of delivering rapid re-visit and wide area coverage, an attractive and worthwhile commercial investment. The DarkCarb satellite features an innovative low mass and volume MWIR imager which, when combined with the implementation of novel image enhancement algorithms, will achieve …

Dynamically Controlling Image Integration Onboard The Star-Planet Activity Research Cubesat (Sparcs), Tahina Ramiaramanantsoa, Judd Bowman, Evgenya Shkolnik, R.O. Parke Loyd, David R. Ardila, Travis Barman, Christophe Basset, Matthew Beasley, Samuel Cheng, Johnathan Gamaunt, Varoujan Gorjian, Daniel Jacobs, Logan Jensen, April Jewell, Mary Knapp, Joe Llama, Victoria Meadows, Shouleh Nikzad, Sarah Peacock, Paul Scowen, Mark Swain

Small Satellite Conference

The Star-Planet Activity Research CubeSat (SPARCS) is a 6U CubeSat astronomical observatory underdevelopment and will be entirely dedicated to the photometric monitoring of the flaring activity of M dwarfs at near-UV (258 nm – 308 nm) and far-UV (153 nm–171 nm) wavelengths. The SPARCS science pay load is composed of a 9-cm telescope that projects a 40’ field-of-view onto two UV-optimized delta-doped charge-coupled devices (CCDs), which are controlled by a dedicated payload processor board. Given that M dwarf flares in the UV are expected to be capable of reaching amplitudes ∼14,000 times above their quiescent flux, with durations that …

Mission Concept For Demonstrating Small-Spacecraft True Anomaly Estimation Using Millisecond X-Ray Pulsars, Anant Kandala, Aashka Oza, Bharath Saiguhan, Shreya Mishra, Priyadarshnam Hari, Samir Mandal, Harsh Simha

Small Satellite Conference

Navigation based on X-ray pulsars was first suggested in 1981 for deep space navigation as an alternative to the conventional Deep Space Network (DSN) which is inaccurate at large distances from the Earth. This idea was recently demonstrated using the NICER/SEXTANT instrument onboard the ISS. X-ray pulsar-based navigation is of of great interest as it eliminates the reliance on Earth-based systems, and is yet to be implemented as an autonomous navigation system for deep space missions. For the purpose of navigation, X-ray millisecond pulsars are the most appropriate celestial sources. They emit unique, stable and periodic radiation that exhibits high …

A Compact Five-Channel Vlf Wave Receiver For Cubesat Missions, Riley A. Reid, Robert A. Marshall, Scott E. Palo, David M. Malaspina

Small Satellite Conference

Very low frequency (VLF) waves play an important role in controlling the evolution of energetic electron distributions in near-Earth space. This paper describes the design of a VLF receiver for the Climatology of Anthropogenic and Natural VLF Wave Activity in Space (CANVAS) CubeSat mission, designed to make continuous observations of VLF waves in low-Earth orbit originating from lightning and ground-based transmitters. The CANVAS VLF receiver will observe five components of VLF waves in the 0.3–40 kHz frequency range, using three orthogonal magnetic search coils deployed on the end of a 1-meter carbon fiber boom and four deployable electric field antennas …

The Pandora Smallsat: Multiwavelength Characterization Of Exoplanets And Their Host Stars, Elisa V. Quintana, Knicole D. Colón, Greg Mosby, Joshua E. Schlieder, Pete Supsinskas, Jordan Karburn, Jessie L. Dotson, Thomas P. Greene, Christina Hedges, Dániel Apai, Thomas Barclay, Jessie L. Christiansen, Néctor Espinoza, Susan E. Mullally, Emily A. Gilbert, Kelsey Hoffman, Veselin B. Kostov, Nikole K. Lewis, Trevor O. Foote, James Mason, Allison Youngblood, Brett Morris, Elizabeth R. Newton, Joshua Pepper, Benjamin V. Rackham, Jason F. Rowe, Kevin Stevenson

Small Satellite Conference

Pandora is a SmallSat mission concept, selected as part of NASA’s Astrophysics Pioneers Program, designed to study the atmospheres of exoplanets using transmission spectroscopy. Transmission spectroscopy of transiting exoplanets provides our best opportunity to identify the makeup of planetary atmospheres in the coming decade. Stellar brightness variations due to star spots, however, can seep into these measurements and contaminate the observed spectra. Pandora is designed to disentangle star and planet signals in transmission spectra and reliably characterize the planetary atmospheres. Pandora will collect long-duration photometric observations with a visible-light channel, and simultaneous spectra with a near-IR channel, where water is …

Technical Challenges For Small Sar Satellites With High Performance, Hirobumi Saito, Kosei Ishimura, Jiro Hirokawa, Takashi Tomura, Koichi Ijichi, Koji Tanaka

Small Satellite Conference

We have developed a small SAR sensor, Micro X-SAR, compatible with 130 kg small satellite. It is capable of 3-meter resolution SAR image acquisition in strip-map mode and 1-meter resolution SAR image acquisition in sliding spotlight mode. This small SAR sensor was successfully demonstrated in orbit by a private company in 2021, Feb. This paper describes the next technical challenge of small SAR satellite with higher performance. We discuss on several types of SAR mission such as high resolution missions, wide swath missions, and constellation missions. Then we describe the present status of technical challenges to wideband, high power, and …

The Ezie Way To Measure The Ionospheric Electrojets With A Three-Cubesat Constellation, Jeng-Hwa Yee, Jesper Gjerloev, Rafael Perez, William H. Swartz, Sidharth Misra, Olagappan Chidambaram, Christopher Ruf

Small Satellite Conference

A recently selected NASA heliophysics mission of opportunity, the Electrojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer (EZIE), will study the electric currents that play a crucial role in the interactions between Earth and the surrounding magnetosphere. The aurora is a spectacular manifestation of these interactions. EZIE consists of three 6U CubeSats flying in a pearls-on-a-string orbit configuration, each carrying a Microwave Electrojet Magnetogram (MEM) instrument. Four beams on each satellite measure polarimetric radiances that contain the magnetic signatures of the intense currents in ionospheric plasmas (electrojets) based on the Zeeman splitting of molecular oxygen thermal emissions. This novel measurement technique allows for the …

Liciacube Mission: The Fastest Fly-By Ever Done By A Cubesat, V. Marchese, N. R. Benigno, S. Simonetti, E. Fazzoletto, F. Miglioretti, V. Di Tana, Simone Pirrotta, Marilena Amoroso, Elizabetta Dotto, Vincenzo Della Corte

Small Satellite Conference

As SmallSats are gathering an ever-increasing importance for all types of space missions, they are asked more often to operate in harshest environments and to complete the most complex tasks. One of these demanding technical challenges arises in the frame of the planetary defense. Space missions towards asteroids have garnered the due attention in recent years and, in this regard, NASA has developed the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission, in which the Italy will lend its contribution. While DART acts as a kinetic impactor deflecting the orbit of the asteroid Dimorphos, the moon of the targeted binary system Didymos, …

The Methanesat Mission, Reuben R. Rohrschneider, Steven Wofsy, Jonathan E. Franklin, Joshua Benmergui, Juancarlos Soto, Spencer B. Davis

Small Satellite Conference

The MethaneSAT mission is expected to launch in Q4 of 2022 with a primary goal of providing systematic monitoring of methane emissions from regions accounting for more than 80% of global oil and gas production. High precision measurements from the sensor will allow quantification and mapping of essentially all methane emissions from these regions and identify the location of major point sources and quantify those methane emissions. MethaneSAT has a wide observing swath (~200km), high spatial resolution (~100m x400m), low detection threshold (~2pbb @ 1.5 km²), and targeting capability up to 40° off nadir, enabling it to fill …

Imaging X-Ray Polarimeter Explorer Systems Engineering Approach And Implementation, William D. Deininger, William Kalinowski, Grant Hibbard, Christopher Boree, Kevin Ferrant, Tyler Maddox, Colin Peterson, Benjamin Garelick, William Painter, Scott Mitchell, Spencer Antoniak, Ron Mize, Allyn Tennant, Brian Ramsey, Amy Walden, Alessio Trois, Michele Pinchera, Ettore Del Monte, Darren Osborne

Small Satellite Conference

The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) is a NASA Small Explorer x-ray astrophysics mission being implemented by a geographically dispersed team. Each IXPE partner provides unique capabilities and experience which are utilized to design, build and launch the IXPE observator. A rigorous and iterative systems engineering approach is essential to ensuring the successful realization of reliable and cost effective IXPE mission system. The IXPE collaboration and observatory complexity provide both unique challenges and advantages for project systems engineering. The project uses established and tailored systems engineering (SE) methods and teaming approaches to achieve the IXPE mission goals. The IXPE systems …

Small Satellite Regulation In 2021, Lynne M. Montgomery, Christopher D. Bair

Small Satellite Conference

Small satellite innovation has advanced rapidly over the past decade, and regulators are working hard to keep up. In August 2020, a new streamlined licensing process became available at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for certain small satellite missions to bring satellite licensing procedures up to date with technological innovation. This new optional licensing process applies to small satellites meeting certain criteria, such as a constellation of ten or fewer satellites, a wet mass of 180 kg or less, a shorter in-orbit lifetime, and a low orbital debris risk. The streamlined licensing process provides for reduced fees and decreased regulatory …

The World’S First Commercial Debris Removal Demonstration Mission, Gene Fujii, Seita Iizuka, Carolyn Belle, Mark Muktoyuk

Small Satellite Conference

Since the launch of Sputnik in 1957, the orbital environment has become increasingly congested. Of the 5,550 satellites currently orbiting the Earth, only 2,700 are operational, and they are joined in orbit by millions of objects of space debris. Astroscale has developed a robotic servicing spacecraft and suite of technology to address this challenge by removing debris and defunct satellites from orbit; the smallsat servicer mission End-of-Life Services by Astroscale-demonstration (ELSA-d) launched on March 22, 2021, will demonstrate these new and innovative space debris docking and removal technologies on orbit. The ELSA-d mission includes both a smallsat servicer …

Hyti: Thermal Infrared Spectroscopy From A 6u Platform, Robert Wright, Paul Lucey, Luke Flynn, Chiara Ferrari-Wong, Andrea Gabrieli, Miguel Nunes, Sarath Gunapala, David Ting, Sir Rafol, Alexander Soibel, Thomas George

Small Satellite Conference

The HyTI (Hyperspectral Thermal Imager) mission, funded by NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office InVEST (In-Space Validation of Earth Science Technologies) program, will demonstrate how high spectral and spatial long-wave infrared image data can be acquired from a 6U CubeSat platform. The mission will use a spatially modulated interferometric imaging technique to produce spectro-radiometrically calibrated image cubes, with 25 channels between 8-10.7 μm, at 13 cm^-1 resolution), at a ground sample distance of ~60 m. The HyTI performance model indicates narrow band NE∆Ts of < 0.3 K. The small form factor of HyTI is made possible via the use of a no-moving-parts Fabry-Perot interferometer, and JPL’s cryogenically-cooled HOT-BIRD FPA technology. Launch is scheduled for no earlier than Fall 2021. The value of HyTI to Earth scientists will be demonstrated via on-board processing of the raw instrument data to generate L1 and L2 products, with a focus on rapid delivery of data regarding volcanic degassing, land surface temperature, and precision agriculture metrics.

In this presentation we will provide an overview of the HyTI measurement approach, the onboard data …

Pathfinding Ussf Mosa Adoption Utilizing Ring-Based And Small Spacecraft, Heather B. Bogstie, Stanley D. Straight

Small Satellite Conference

The U.S. Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center’s (SMC) Directorate of Innovation and Prototyping is evolving the concept of medium and small class combat bus to provide on-orbit warfighter and systems support and advance the open systems architecture. We begin with a Long-Duration Propulsive ESPA ring with six ports for multiple small hosted and/or separable satellites and prototypes (aka SMC’s “Freight Train to Space”). By adding communication, open processing, maneuverability, and refueling options, a ring that was once “just hardware” becomes an outpost in GEO and an integral part of a hybrid architecture. Envision adding more outposts along the …

Mats - The Second Innosat Spacecraft To Launch In 2021, Nils Pokrupa, Ronnie Lindberg

Small Satellite Conference

In 2014 the Swedish National Space Agency (SNSA) initiated the development of a generic microsat platform by Swedish space industry with the ambition to give science and academic institutes recurring launch opportunities every 3-4 years. The program is called the Innovative Research Satellites Programme and the platform is called "Innosat". The program has two overarching goals. The first is to conduct viable, high quality science, and the second is to be able to do this at a relatively low cost to be able to support a recurring programme. The first mission, “Mesospheric Airglow/aerosol Tomography and Spectroscopy” (MATS), has suffered some …

The Nasa Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (Acs3) Flight Demonstration: A Technology Pathfinder For Practical Smallsat Solar Sailing, Keats Wilkie

Small Satellite Conference

NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) is developing a new generation of compactly packageable composite booms designed specifically for small spacecraft applications where volumes for deployable structures are limited. NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3) will be the first spaceflight application of this boom technology. ACS3 will also be NASA’s first practical solar sail. Objectives of the ACS3 project are to deploy an 80 m² composite boom solar sail in low Earth orbit, and as an extended goal, demonstrate controlled solar sailing flight, including orbit raising and lowering. An overview of the ACS3 project and objectives, including descriptions …

Autonomous Planning System (Aps) For An Onboard Tcped Pipeline, Ken Center, Ella Herz, Evan Sneath, Sam Gagnard, Robert Glissmann, Rey Juarez, Neil Dhingra

Small Satellite Conference

As satellites and spacecraft grow in number and operate farther from Earth, there is an emerging need for increased autonomy via onboard decision making that is independent of ground stations but allows for collaboration between teams of assets. Such autonomy will relieve the burden on human operators, enable faster responses to dynamic events, and reduce communications between orbital assets and ground stations. Orbit Logic’s Autonomous Planning System (APS) is flexible and customizable onboard software that enables teamed autonomy through the use of Tasking, Collection, Processing, Exploitation, and Dissemination (TCPED) pipelines onboard the satellites. Its small computational/memory footprint makes it especially …

Machine Learning For Early Satellite Anomaly Detection, Pablo Bernal-Mencia, Kelsey Doerksen, Chen Yap

Small Satellite Conference

Despite its recent disruption to many engineering fields, incorporating machine learning into satellite operations is difficult due to the associated performance restrictions with the relatively small amount of available data during a satellite’s operating lifetime; a satellite needs to be operating for several months to years in order to grow a dataset able to be used in machine learning. That is the reason behind its historically limited application to active satellite operations, whereas a posteriori applications to past missions can be found in the literature. Recently however, the eruption of mega-constellations of satellites, whose hardware, software, and orbit are almost …

Design And Testing Of Autonomous Distributed Space Systems, Nicholas Cramer, Daniel Cellucci, Caleb Adams, Adam Sweet, Mohammad Hejase, Jeremy Frank, Richard Levinson, Sergei Gridnev, Lara Brown

Small Satellite Conference

Distributed Space Systems (DSS) are an emerging class of mission designs that enable new scientific and commercial opportunities. In order to enable those new opportunities, these systems will need to have significantly expanded autonomous capabilities compared to their single-spacecraft predecessors. In this paper, we present Distributed Spacecraft Autonomy (DSA) project, a payload on NASA’s Starling spacecraft experiment. We first describe a step-by-step process for characterizing what features are needed in an autonomous DSS, and show how this process applied to DSA. We then describe the Starling mission, a four-spacecraft swarm hosting multiple DSS payloads. We then describe DSA, which will …

Efficient Smallsat Operation Using Scibox, Kristin Fretz, Ralf Perez, Teck Choo, Annette Mirantes, Warren Chen

Small Satellite Conference

Planning and commanding a space operation is inherently a very complex task requiring highly skilled operators from various disciplines coordinating in a timely manner to ensure both smooth and successful operation. This process can be performed manually, however, resolving conflicts quickly becomes an intensive iterative process that underuses a space system’s resources and renders it less responsive to sudden schedule changes. Increasingly complex space missions combined with the desire to maximize efficiency require a different approach. Responding to these challenges is SciBox, an autonomous planning and commanding system and a technology enabler for space operations, developed by the Johns Hopkins …

An Ai-Based Goal-Oriented Agent For Advanced On-Board Automation, Christian Cardenio, Lorenzo Feruglio, Alessandro Benetton, Mattia Varile, Temenuzhka Valentinova Avramova

Small Satellite Conference

In the context of fierce competition arising in the space economy, the number of satellites and constellations that will be placed in orbit is set to increase considerably in the upcoming years. In such a dynamic environment, raising the autonomy level of the next space missions is key to maintaining a competitive edge in terms of the scientific, technological, and commercial outcome.

We propose the adoption of an AI-based autonomous agent aiming to fully enable spacecraft’s goal-oriented autonomy. The implemented cognitive architecture collects input starting from the sensing of the surrounding operating environment and defines a low-level schedule of tasks …

A Low Power And High Performance Artificial Intelligence Approach To Increase Guidance Navigation And Control Robustness, Pablo Ghiglino, Mandar Harshe

Small Satellite Conference

New generations of spacecrafts are required to perform tasks with an increased level of autonomy. Space exploration, rendezvous services, space robotics, etc. are all growing fields in Space that require more sensors and more computational power to perform these missions. Furthermore, new sensors in the market produce better quality data at higher rates while new processors can increase substantially the computational power. Therefore, near-future spacecrafts will be equipped with large number of sensors that will produce data at rates that has not been seen before in space, while at the same time, data processing power will be significantly increased. In …

Constellation Modelling, Performance Prediction And Operations Management For The Spire Constellation, Jeroen Cappaert, Frantisek Foston, Pablo Sierra Heras, Barry King, Nick Pascucci, Jordan Reilly, Conor Brown, Joey Pitzo, Marcus Tallhamm

Small Satellite Conference

The operational complexity of managing the Spire constellation continually increases with the routine introduction of additional satellites and new capabilities. The heterogeneous nature of the satellites, payloads, and ground station configurations compounds the difficulty of strategic planning and operational scheduling. In order to efficiently operate this diverse network of assets, Spire developed a suite of bespoke constellation modeling and management tools that are designed to support existing demand and to scale for future needs. The modeling tools enable Spire to accurately simulate and optimize the performance of various constellation configurations prior to deployment. The operational tools required to harness the …

Sagittarius A* Small Satellite Mission: Capabilities And Commissioning Preview, Caleb Royer, Mike Renner, Owen Brown, Robert Polutchko, Paul Bains, Sam Gagnard, Alex Herz, Mark Mason, Nick Stanley, John Eterno

Small Satellite Conference

SSCI is leading a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)-funded team launching a mission in June 2021, dubbed Sagittarius A*, to demonstrate key hardware and software technologies for on-orbit autonomy, to provide a software testbed for on-orbit developmental test & autonomous mission operations, and to reduce risk for future constellation-level mission autonomy and operations. In this paper, we present the system CONOPs and capabilities, system architectures, flight and ground software development status, and initial commissioning status. The system will fly on Loft Orbital’s YAM-3 shared LEO satellite mission, and includes SSCI’s onboard autonomy software suite running on an Innoflight CFC-400 …

System And Method For Providing Instant Loading For Requested Payment To White Label Prepaid Card, Oleg Chanchikov

Defensive Publications Series

The present disclosure provides a system and a method to provide instant loading/crediting for requested payment to white label prepaid card, upon initiating transaction from customer. The proposed system provides loan to customer using a pseudo credit card. The proposed system allows Micro-Finance Centre (MFC) to receive loan request along with prepaid card application from customer. The proposed system allows customer to do transaction with the prepaid card and provides instant loan for the requested amount from account of the MFC. The instant loading/crediting of requested amount may be accessed through website or mobile banking application provided by the MFC. …

System And Method For Generating Fund Sufficiency Score For A Cardholder, Guillermo Sepulveda Rodriguez

Defensive Publications Series

The present disclosure provides a system and a method for generating fund sufficiency score for a cardholder. The proposed system generates a fund sufficiency score when there is not enough fund available in account of the cardholder to complete a transaction. The fund sufficiency score is communicated to an issuer through ISO message or API interface. Further the cardholder also receives a message stating confirmation of authorization for the transaction. The proposed system allows the cardholder to pay his bill even when the cardholder account has less funds. However, if the fund sufficiency score for the cardholder is less then …

Volume 32, Numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, Fall 1994/Winter 1995/Spring 1995/Summer 1995 Speaker And Gavel

Speaker & Gavel

Complete digitized volume (volume 32, numbers 1-4, Fall 1994/Winter 1995/Spring 1995/Summer 1995) of Speaker & Gavel.

University Of Dayton Russian Instructor Translates Letters Written By Her Father, A Red Army Soldier, From The Front During Wwii, Dave Larsen

College of Arts and Sciences Newsroom

Translating Russian texts to English is nothing new for Tatiana Liaugminas, who has taught Russian at the University of Dayton for more than 40 years. But her most recent project was personal — translating recently discovered letters written by her late father, a Red Army soldier, from the front during World War II.