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At least 145 records · Page 8

Networking ground-based images of Comet Halley during the Giotto encounter

During the period immediately before and after the European, Russian, and Japanese spacecraft encounters with Comet Halley in early March 1986, sequences of ground-based electronic images of the comet, obtained at Table Mountain Observatory (TMO), CA, were transmitted via the Space Physics Analysis Network (SPAN) to the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC), and to University College London (UCL). During the 48-h period when the European Space Agency spacecraft Giotto was within the extended coma of Comet Halley, the ground-based images revealed that the comet displayed several spectacular near-nuclear and large-scale features. The TMO images provided a format for the interpretation of the unique in situ results obtained during the closest of the five spacecraft encounters with Comet Halley.

Rees, David↗

Flight-management strategies for escape from microburst encounters

An effort is underway by NASA, FAA, and industry to reduce the threat of convective microburst wind shear phenomena to aircraft. The goal is to develop and test a candidate set of strategies for recovery from inadvertent microburst encounters during takeoff. Candidate strategies were developed and evaluated using a fast-time simulation consisting of a simple point-mass performance model of a transport-category airplane and an analytical microburst model. The results indicate that the recovery strategy characteristics that best utilize available airplane energy include an initial reduction in pitch attitude to reduce the climb rate, followed by an increase in pitch up to the stick shaker angle of attack. The stick shaker angle of attack should be reached just as the airplane is exiting the microburst. The shallowest angle of climb necessary for obstacle clearance should be used. If the altitude is higher than necessary, an intentional descent to reduce the airspeed deceleration should be used. Of the strategies tested, two flight-path-angle based strategies had the highest recovery altitudes and the least sensitivity to variations in the encounter scenarios.

Hinton, David A.↗

The Voyager 2 encounter with Uranus

The instruments and science investigations of the Voyager 2 payload are listed in tables and illustrated with a drawing, and a general overview of the encounter with Uranus in January 1986 is given. The spacecraft approached to within 107,100 km of the center of Uranus, and to within 29,000 km of the Uranian satellite Miranda before continuing on for an encounter with Neptune in 1989; the trajectory also permitted radio occultation studies of the Uranian rings and radio and UV occultation studies of the planet's atmosphere. Diagrams of the trajectory are provided.

Stone, E. C.↗

Development of three-way ranging for the Voyager Neptune encounter

Range data will be used to help navigate Voyager 2 to Neptune and the most distant planetary encounter ever attempted. In preparation for this challenging August 1989 planetary encounter, a new data type, known as 'three-way range', has been developed. With three-way ranging, a ranging signal generated at a ground station, received at the spacecraft and transponded to Earth is then received coherently at a second tracking station, which can be distant from the transmitting station. This paper contains analytic and operational descriptions of three-way range. Hardware modifications and design necessary for implementing this new data type are discussed. Preliminary assessments of three-way ranging performance are given and accuracies are discussed.

Roth, D. C.↗

Satellite ephemerides for the Voyager Neptune encounter

This paper presents the results of the latest fits of both analytical theory and numerically integrated Neptunian satellite orbits to Earth-based astrometric observations. Ephemerides based on the integrated orbits will be used by the Voyager project for pre-encounter planning and analysis until late 1988 when the final pre-encounter ephemerides will be produced. As a by-product of the orbit fits, new estimates of the Neptune mass, the second zonal harmonic of Neptune, and the pole orientation of Neptune are obtained. The theory and integrated orbits are compared with each other and with orbits obtained by previous investigators.

Jacobson, Robert A.↗

Voyager's last encounter

Preliminary results from Voyager's encounter with Neptune are reviewed. The major events of the encounter are listed and the data on the atmosphere, magnetosphere, and ring-arc region of Neptune are discussed. The communications and photographical techniques used in the mission are examined. In addition, a search for Neptune satellites is considered.

Miner, Ellis D.↗

Recovery strategies for microburst encounters using reactive and forward-look wind shear detection

The threat of convective microburst wind shear phenomena to aircraft is studied. An attempt was made to quantify the benefits of forward-look sensing and to develop and test a candidate set of strategies for recovery from inadvertent microburst encounters during the landing approach. A batch simulation of various wind shear encounters was carried out; the simulation consisted of a point-mass aircraft model, an analytical microburst, and a simple wind shear detection scheme. It was found that forward-look alerts given 10 sec prior to microburst entry permitted recoveries to be made with little altitude loss.

Hinton, David A.↗

Relative merits of reactive and forward-look detection for wind-shear encounters during landing approach for various microburst escape strategies

The goal was to quantify the benefits of airborne forward-look windshear detection and to develop and test a candidate set of strategies for recovery from inadvertent microburst encounters during the landing approach, given the utilization of both reactive-only and forward-look windshear detection. Candidate strategies were developed and evaluated using a non-piloted simulation consisting of a simple point-mass performance model of a transport-category airplane flying through an analytical microburst model. The results indicate that the factor which most strongly effects a microburst recovery is the time at which the recovery is initiated. Forward-look alerts given 10 seconds prior to microburst entry permitted recoveries to be made with negligible altitude loss. The results also show that no single microburst scenario can be used to evaluate the relative merits of various recovery strategies. The type of alert used to initiate the recovery (reactive or forward-look) and the altitude of the microburst encounter had an effect on the type of recovery strategy that performed best. These factors may have serious implications for the design and certification of windshear systems.

Hinton, David A.↗

Parkes radio science system design and testing for Voyager Neptune encounter

The Radio Science System installed at Parkes, Australia for the Voyager Neptune encounter was specified to meet the same stringent requirements that were imposed upon the Deep Space Network Radio Science System. The system design and test methodology employed to meet these requirements at Parkes are described, and data showing the measured performance of the system are presented. The results indicate that the system operates with a comfortable margin on the requirements. There was a minor problem with frequency-dependent spurious signals which could not be fixed before the encounter. Test results characterizing these spurious signals are included.

Rebold, T. A.↗

Galileo: The Earth encounter

The following subject areas are covered: Galileo Veega trajectory to Jupiter; lunar science objectives; Earth science objectives; Santa 2 data flow; Galileo - the U.S./Canada connections and European connections; UV spectrometer observations during close encounter periods; phase angle and cone angle of the Earth during the Earth encounters; Lunar orbit traverse at EGA1; Moon imaging - EGA1; Galileo imaging Earth after EGA1; and Earth 1 flyby geometry.

Clarke, Theodore C.↗

The Galileo Venus encounter

Galileo's instruments obtained a broad range of planetary measurements during the spacecraft's Venus encounter on February 10, 1990. The instrumentation brought to bear encompassed UV spectra, limb haze studies, and particles-and-fields experiments. These data, in conjunction with ground-based observations conducted during the encounter, have yielded accurate information on the Venus plasma environment, cloud patterns, and the possibility of interpreting certain impulsive events as lightning.

Johnson, Torrence V.↗

The Voyager encounter with Neptune

The investigations carried out by the Voyager Neptune/Interstellar Mission are discussed. Attention is given to the location of the various science instruments and the spacecraft subsystems on the Voyager spacecraft and to the charactgeristics of eleven instruments used in the Voyager mission. The Voyager 1 and 2 trajectories from the launch through the Voyager-2 Neptune encounter are presented together with data for the Neptune encounter events.

Stone, E. C.↗

Imaging observations of Jupiter's sodium magneto-nebula during the Ulysses encounter

Jupiter's great sodium nebula represents the largest visible structure traversed by the Ulysses spacecraft during its encounter with the planet in February 1992. Ground-based imaging conducted on Mount Haleakala, Hawaii, revealed a nebula that extended to at least +/- 300 Jovian radii; it was somewhat smaller in scale and less bright than previously observed. Analysis of observations and results of modeling studies suggest reduced volcanic activity on the moon Io, higher ion temperatures in the plasma torus, lower total plasma content in the torus, and fast neutral atomic clouds along the Ulysses inbound trajectory through the magnetosphere. Far fewer neutrals were encountered by the spacecraft along its postencounter, out-of-ecliptic trajectory.

Mendillo, Michael↗

Lifetime of binary asteroids versus gravitational encounters and collisions

We investigate the effect on the dynamics of a binary asteroid in the case of a near encounter with a third body. The dynamics of the binary is modeled as a two-body problem perturbed by an approaching body in the following ways: near encounters and collisions with a component of the system. In each case, the typical value of the two-body energy variation is estimated, and a random walk for the cumulative effect is assumed. Results are applied to some binary asteroid candidates. The main conclusion is that the collisional disruption is the dominant effect, giving lifetimes comparable to or larger than the age of the solar system.

Chauvineau, Bertrand↗

Formation of massive clouds and dwarf galaxies during tidal encounters

Gerola et al. (1983) propose that isolated dwarf galaxies can form during galaxy interactions. As evidence of this process, Mirabel et al. (1991) find 10(exp 9) solar mass clouds and star formation complexes at the outer ends of the tidal arms in the Antennae and Superantennae galaxies. We describe observations of HI clouds with mass greater than 10(exp 8) solar mass in the interacting galaxy pair IC 2163/NGC 2207. This pair is important because we believe it represents an early stage in the formation of giant clouds during an encounter. We use a gravitational instability model to explain why the observed clouds are so massive and discuss a two-dimensional N-body simulation of an encounter that produces giant clouds.

Kaufman, Michele↗

Galileo post-Gaspra cruise and Earth-2 encounter

This article documents DSN support for the Galileo cruise after the Oct. 1991 encounter with the asteroid Gaspra. This article also details the Earth-2 encounter and the special non-DSN support provided during the Earth-2 closest approach.

Beyer, P. E.↗

A study of the interaction between a wake vortex and an encountering airplane

An analytical study of the mutual interaction between a wake vortex and an encountering airplane has been conducted. The interaction was calculated on the basis of conservation of angular momentum of the wake vortex and the encountering airplane in the roll axis. For the nominal conditions assumed in the study, the interaction reduced the roll response in the lust second by 20 percent compared to the classical method of calculating the response. However, depending on the conditions assumed, the reduction varied from 0 to 30 percent which could be highly significant in determining separation standards for airplanes. Controlled experiments are needed to determine the exact amount of interaction.

Stewart, E. C.↗

Voyager Encounter Highlights

The following are presented: computer animation of trajectories for both Voyagers 1 and 2; view of Jupiter during one orbit of Ganymede; computer animation of Voyager 2's encounter with Jupiter and its satellites; time lapse of the planet's rotation and its satellites; stroboscopic sequence of selected frames; cloud motion; Jupiter's Great Red Spot (4/25 - 5/24, 1979) through a violet filter; and the Great Red Spot through a blue filter by Voyager 1. The dynamics of Jupiter's clouds are shown - the whole planet is shown first, then two closer looks are repeated several times. Also included are pans of stills of Jupiter's satellites and a computer simulation tour of Saturn system from POV just behind Voyager, made of 116 images of Saturn through a green filter and of 516 images taken by Voyager 1 (9/12 - 9/14, 1980). Frames are enhanced to show the motion of features in Saturn's rings. Pans of stills of Saturn's satellites are shown. There is computer animation of the planet's system, rings, and Sigma Sagittari. Images on January 14, 1986 are through an orange filter. Uranus's satellites are shown as is computer animation of an August 1989 encounter.

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