SWWT Topical Group "Spacecraft, Aircraft and Launcher Environments"
Mission Statement
The Spacecraft, Aircraft and Launcher Environments Topical Group was formed to act as a conduit between the space weather community and ESA providing, in particular, inputs on matters concerning space weather effects on spacecraft, aircraft and launchers and accounts of related services.
The space environments considered include: plasma, particle radiation, electromagnetic radiation and micro-particles. Consequent effects taken into account include electrostatic discharges (ESD); electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) issues; single event upsets (SEUs) in electronic components and subsystems; dose effects on living cells.
Composition
Group Chair/spokesperson
Susan McKenna-Lawlor, Space Technology Ireland (STIL), National University of Ireland, Ireland
Email: stil@nuim.ie
Group Co-Chairs
Federico di Marco (VEGA)
Email: Federico.Di.Marco@esa.int
Guenther Reitz (DLR)
Email: Guenther.Reitz@dlr.de
There are ~30 general members of the group. Contact list
ESA’s Space Situational Awareness Preparatory Program
ESA’s Space Situational Awareness Preparatory Program (SSA-PP) was authorized at the November 2008 ESA Ministerial Council and formally launched on 1 January 2009.
The objective of the program is to support Europe's independent utilization of, and access to, space through the provision of timely and accurate information, data and services regarding the space environment - particularly with regard to hazards posed to space related assets in orbit and on the ground.
These hazards stem, in general, from:
- Harmful Space Weather.
- Possible collisions between objects in orbit.
- Potential strikes by natural objects that cross Earth’s orbit.
The European SSA program is active in three main areas:
- Monitoring space weather - comprising particles and radiation coming from the Sun that can affect communications, navigation systems and other networks in space and on the ground.
- Survey and tracking of objects in Earth orbit - comprising active and inactive satellites, discarded launch stages and fragmentation debris that orbit the Earth.
- Watching for near-Earth objects - comprising natural objects that can potentially impact Earth and cause damage. Also, assessing their associated impact risk and considering mitigation measures.
Programs funded by the EU in the area of Space Situational Awareness
ATMOP
Modelling of the Thermosphere for improved survey and tracking of space objects in LEO (through more precise air drag computations).
Co-ordinator:
Noelia Sánchez-Ortiz
DEIMOS Space - DMS (ES)
noelia.sanchez@deimos-space.com
http://www.atmop.eu/
COMESEP
Development of tools for forecasting geomagnetic storms and solar energetic particle (SEP) radiation. Integration of this material into an operational space weather alert system.
Co-ordinator:
Norma Crosby
INSTITUT D'AERONOMIE SPATIALE DE BELGIQUE - BIRA-IASB (BE)
norma.crosby@oma.be
http://www.comesep.eu
PLASMON
Modelling of the Earth's plasmasphere and radiation belt modelling for space weather purposes. Focus on the behaviour of high energy charged particles. Extension of ground-based networks of observing stations.
Co-ordinator:
Janos Lichtenberger
Eötvös Loránd University - ELTE (HU)
lityi@sas.elte.hu
http://plasmon.elte.hu/home.htm
SIDER
Technologies and tools for developing radiation shielding of composite enclosures in space.
Co-ordinator:
Garbiñe Atxaga
TECNALIA (ES)
garbine.atxaga@tecnalia.com
http://www.sider-project.eu/
SPACECAST
Protection of space assets by modelling and forecasting space radiation (radiation belt and solar energetic particles). This will lay the foundation for an operational system although it will not produce an operational system.
Co-ordinator:
Richard B. Horne
NATURAL ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH COUNCIL - NERC-BAS (UK)
rh@bas.ac.uk
http://fp7-spacecast.eu
SEPServer
Integration of data from a number of international sources, enhancing data accessibility, production of a new tool to facilitate the investigation of SEPs and their origin. This tool will take the form of a server.
Co-ordinator:
Rami Vainio
University of Helsinki (FI)
rami.vainio@helsinki.fi
Space Weather Week Activity in 2011
The 8th European Space Weather Week (ESWW) was held from 28 November-2 December, 2011 at the Palais des Congres, Namur, Belgium.
A presentation on behalf of the SWWT Topical Group on Spacecraft, Aircraft and Launcher Environments entitled Effects of Space Weather on Space Systems was made by S. McKenna-Lawlor on the morning of 28 November, 2011.
The annual meeting of the Topical Group took place on 1 December, 2011 from 16.30-18.30 local time.
The agenda was as follows:
Chair: S. McKenna-Lawlor (STIL)
Co.Chair: F. di Marco (ESA)
Co.Chair: G. Reitz (DLR)
- Welcome/Introduction (SMcKL)
- Overview of Group Activities (SMcKL)
- Progress in the field of spacecraft and launcher environments (F. diMarco)
- Status of radiation dosimetry on the ISS (G. Reitz)
- Overview of ESA activities in the area of Space Situational Awareness (A. Hilgers)
- ESA news and views (H. Evans)
- Invitation to input on topics covered in a Topical Group paper under preparation by the Executive for ESA’s Space Bulletin
- AOB
Overview of the presentations
SMcKenna-Lawlor provided an overview of the activities carried out by the group during 2011 (including an account of publications and reports).
Publications
- Overview of energetic particle hazards during prospective manned missions to Mars, S. McKenna-Lawlor, P. Gonçalves, A. Keating, G. Reitz and D. Matthiä. Planetary and Space Science (doi:10.1016/j.pss.2011.06.017), 2011.
SMcKL, G. Reitz with others calculated the particle radiation environment en route to and at Mars using the MEREM, Creme 2009 and HZETRN models. The threat of occurrence of a hard spectrum SEP during Cruise-Phase transfers (400d) to/from Mars, combined with the associated cumulative effect of prolonged GCR exposure, poses an as yet unsolved hazard to prospective spacecraft personnel. - Characterization of the particle radiation environment at three potential landing sites on Mars using ESA’s MEREM models, S. McKenna-Lawlor,P. Gonçalves, A. Keating, B.Morgado, D. Heynderickx, P. Nieminen, G. Santin, P. P. Truscott, F. Lei, B. Foing, J. Balaz, Icarus (doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2011.04.004). 2011.
SMcKL with others utilized ESA’s MEREM models for the first time within the scientific community to calculate the particle radiation environment on the Martian surface. The results are in reasonable agreement with those obtained using NASA’s HZETRN model.
Reports
Report to the SWWT Steering Committee on 29 June, 2011 on behalf of the Topical Group Spacecraft, Aircraft and Launcher Environments (SMcKenna-Lawlor).
Report to the SWWT Steering Committee on 25 November, 2011 on behalf of the Topical Group Spacecraft, Aircraft and Launcher Environments (SMcKenna-Lawlor).
Attention was drawn to the website recently installed on the European Space Weather Portal which will facilitate ongoing interactions between members during the coming year.
This was noted to contain updating sections that include, with TG matters:
- Relevant ESA News
- Relevant EU News
- Inputs from the Community
A technical paper is being prepared by the Executive members (S. McKLawlor, G.Reitz. and F Di Marco) for the ESA Bulletin which will provide a state of the art overview of:
Space Weather user requirements for: Launch Service, Trans-Polar Flight and Human Space Flight Providers and Spacecraft Operators.
An offer to contribute to this paper was since received from H. Alexander of Spacecraft Environments and Protection. Space Manpower, QinetiQ Ltd.
Other inputs/suggestions for topics are requested and may be sent to stil@nuim.ie.
F di Marco provided an account of various anomalies (SEEs) recently recorded aboard ESA spacecraft including MEX, VEX and Cluster and how these are interpreted. He spoke in particular about degradation displayed by similar chips flown aboard the Herschel and Planck missions and outlined several possible explanations for this behaviour, having regard to differences between where these chips are mounted on their respective spacecraft.
He requested that experts among the Topical Group would consider the problem and contact him with regard to the possible role of the highly directional solar wind in producing the observed degradation. He noted that a relevant factor might be that the response of the sensors to electromagnetic radiation had been investigated pre-launch using the “flooded beams” technique which covers the entire active area of the chip involved whereas, in practice, in space, only part of each chip was illuminated due to mounting geometries.
This input provided an opportunity for a technical dialogue between the topical group and ESA engineers to be carried out on this, unexpected. ongoing problem.
G. Reitz provided an account of various dosimeters flown by European, Russian and Japanese participants aboard the ISS and compared the capabilities of these individual monitors. He then outlined the data products the monitors provide which include:
- Particle count rates
- Absorbed dose
- LET spectra
- Neutron spectra and
- Heavy ion charge and energy spectra.
Also he introduced the Matroska (or human phantom) and described the transformation of its measured depth dose distributions to the doses that could be experienced within a wide range of human organs.
Alain Hilgers spoke about the future progress of ESA’s Space Situational Awareness program. He noted in particular that the topical group should keep in mind that ESA is considering the possibility of expanding its program of in-orbit validation opportunities. In this context, flights for European instruments that cover a wide range of types are foreseen and the short list for candidate host s/c is expected to include a multiplicity of missions planned for the period 2014–2020.
Hugh Evans presented a comprehensive overview of the status of ESA missions presently in space with special regard to various recent mission extensions. He outlined how the selection of future candidate missions will be carried out and referred to the particularly challenging radiation environment that any s/c selected to fly to Jupiter’s icy satellites should be equipped to survive.
Professional level tutorials
At the wrap-up, interest was expressed by the group in the possibility of having a dedicated program of tutorials at a professional level mounted during SWW-2012. Possible topics could include: Radiation hazards aboard aircraft and in space; Acceptable launch conditions, Planetary protection issues etc
Members of the group should inform the executive via the group website of topics they would consider it particularly useful to have covered by such tutorials.
