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Morris, R.

Publications and source records attributed to Morris, R..

27 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2000

Remotely-Sensed Geology from Lander-Based to Orbital Perspectives: Results for FIDO Rover Field Tests

Tests of the FIDO (Field Integration Design and Operations) rover and Athena-like operational scenarios were conducted May 7-16, 2000. A group located at the Jet Propulsion Lab, Pasadena, CA, formed the Core Operations Team (COT) that designed experiments and command sequences while another team tracked, maintained, and secured the rover in the field. The COT had no knowledge of the specific field location, thus the tests were done "blind." In addition to FIDO rover instrumentation, the COT had access to LANDSAT 7, TIMS, and AVIRIS regional coverage and color descent images. Using data from the FIDO instruments, primarily a color microscopic imager (CMI), infrared point spectrometer (IPS; 1.5-2.4 microns), and a three-color stereo panoramic camera (Pancam), the COT correlated lithologic features (mineralogy, rock types) from the simulated landing site to a regional scale. The May test results provide an example of how to relate site geology from landed rover investigations to the regional geology using remote sensing. The capability to relate mineralogic signatures using the point IR spectrometer to remotely sensed, multispectral or hyperspectral data proved to be key to integration of the in-situ and remote data. This exercise demonstrated the potential synergy between lander-based and orbital data, and highlighted the need to investigate a landing site in detail and at multiple scales.

Jolliff, B.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Autonomous Science Decision Making for Mars Sample Return

In the near future NASA intends to explore Mars in preparation for a sample return mission using robotic devices such as landers, rovers, orbiters, airplanes, and/or balloons. Such platforms will likely carry imaging devices to characterize the surface morphology, and a variety of analytical instruments intended to evaluate the chemical and mineralogical nature of the environment(s) that they encounter. Historically, mission operations have involved the following sequence of activities: (1) return of scientific data from the vehicle; (2) evaluation of the data by space scientists; (3) recommendations of the scientists regarding future mission activity; (4) transmission of commands to the vehicle to achieve this activity; and (5) new activity by the vehicle in response to those commands. This is repeated for the duration of the mission, with command opportunities once or perhaps twice per day. In a rapidly changing environment, such as might be encountered by a rover traversing hundreds of meters a day or an airplane soaring over several hundred of kilometers, this traditional cycle of data evaluation and commands is not amenable to rapid long range traverses, discovery of novelty, or rapid response to any unanticipated situations. In addition, to issues of response time, the nature of imaging and/or spectroscopic devices are such that tremendous data volumes can be acquired, for example during a traverse. These data volumes can rapidly exceed on-board memory capabilities prior to an opportunity to transmit it to Earth.

Roush, Ted L.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Autonomous Science Decisions for Mars Sample Return

In the near future NASA intends to explore Mars in preparation for a sample return mission using robotic devices such as landers rovers, orbiters, airplanes, and/or balloons. Such platforms will likely carry imaging devices to characterize the surface morphology, and a variety of analytical instruments intended to evaluated the chemical and mineralogical nature of the environment(s) that they encounter. Historically, mission operations have involved the following sequence of activities: (1) return of scientific data from the vehicle; (2) evaluation of the data by space scientists; (3) recommendations of the scientists regarding future mission activity; (4) transmission of commands to the vehicle to achieve this activity; and (5) new activity by the vehicle in response to those commands.

Roush, T. L.↗
NASA NTRS1993

(abstract) Hermes Global Orbiter: Mission to Mercury

The Hermes Global Orbiter is a proposed Discovery-class mission. Hermes will be launched aboard a Delta II rocket in 1999 and will be placed in an elliptical polar orbit about Mercury. Remote sensing measurements of the planet's surface, atmosphere, and magnetosphere will be performed. Key mission goals include mapping the entire surface at 1 km resolution, characterizing the surface composition, texture and topography, searching for water ice at the poles, characterizing the atmosphere, and constraining the interior structure.

Mercury Hermes orbiter remote sensing surface atmo↗
NASA NTRS1993

Diffuse reflectance spectra of orthopyroxene, olivine, and plagioclase as a function of composition and structure

Although many similarities exist between meteorite spectra and 'primitive' asteroids, there are unexplained discrepancies. These discrepancies do not appear to arise from grain size effects. Assuming that primitive meteorites did in fact originate from the 'primitive' asteroids, we believe that there are two testable explanations for the observed spectral discrepancies: compositional or structural differences. We have begun to synthesize and collect reflectance and Mossbauer spectra of pertinent materials, beginning with olivine, pyroxene, and plagioclase (all found in primitive meteorites), and to assess the possible effects composition may have on spectral features. Our study focuses on the combination of composition and structural effects.

Zolensky, M. E.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Automatic analysis of stereoscopic image pairs from GOES satellites

An algorithm for automatic analysis of stereoscopic images is applied to stereo pairs of severe local storms and hurricanes observed by two GOES satellites. The automatically derived height fields and manual analyses are compared. It is found that the automatic analysis produces a more detailed structure in less time than manual analysis, although the two methods have similar quality. In areas where the features are very small, however, it is suggested that manual analysis is superior.

Hasler, A. F.↗
NASA NTRS1985

PASP: A high voltage array experiment

In the near future, Air Force mission payloads will require significant increases in power. Sophisticated sensing systems such as infrared focal plane detector arrays and radar will be employed by the Air Force to fulfill its strategic objectives. These payloads will demand that the power subsystem provide up to 50 kW at the end of mission life, more than an order of magnitude greater than is currently required. Some of these payloads must be flown in low-Earth polar orbits to satisfy mission objectives, and it is likely that large (500 to 600 sq m) solar photovoltaic arrays will operate in the low-Earth polar environment. The standard 28 volt power subsystem is not weight efficient for the array power levels being considered. The impact of the solar array operating voltage on the total weight of the array and the subsystem power conditioning and distribution components is illustrated. In the interest of reducing power subsystem weight, higher array operating voltages are considered. The problems which the higher array voltage present to the array designer are discussed. In order to provide a maximum return on the tremendous investment of resources required to develop and place these assets in orbit, they must be designed to operate effectively for extended periods of time. To achieve this, the system must be able to function in the threat-induced and natural space environment.

Scott-Monck, J.↗