Phillips
Scholars Topics
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Don’t see what you are looking for? More opportunities for summer research
projects can be found on the Scholars Programs Page.
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High Power Microwave (HPM) system performance is limited by material degradation in the presence of a high electromagnetic stress environment. The next generation of HPM sources will require the input and generation of tens of Giga-Watts of electromagnetic power within a space that is small enough to be placed on an airborne platform or other compact platform...
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Large deployable space structures undergo deployment testing and deployed structural testing in a laboratory environment before being launched and deployed on-orbit. Ground-based tests are needed to characterize and verify structural performance of these large structures that are typically not designed to endure the acceleration loading of full gravity...
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On-orbit performance of power generation systems is critical to the mission success. Coupled with the demands for increased power generation, it is important to develop and investigate advanced technologies capable of meeting these mission requirements. Advances in single crystal multi-junction, thin-film, and nano-technology based photovoltaics are important to achieving improved on-orbit performance...
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Cryocoolers are required for many technical areas including the cooling of infrared sensors for surveillance and atmospheric studies and superconducting electronics and magnets. In this project the method of entropy generation minimization will be used for analysis and optimization of different components of the pulse tube and Stirling cryocoolers...
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Characteristics of long-period acoustic signals, or infrasound, depend on the sound velocity structure of the atmosphere. Temporal and spatial variations in the velocity of sound in the atmosphere at scales much finer than is resolved by current atmospheric models cause unpredictable variations in the amplitude and frequency of infrasonic signals...
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Energy storage is of significant interest for many applications from power tools to electric vehicles to satellites. Improvements in energy density, power density, charge/discharge rates, and cycle life are necessary to meet the demanding requirements of both commercial and military needs. The space environment can be particularly harsh for batteries with extreme temperatures, pulsed discharge, and ten's of thousands of charge/discharge cycles seen during spacecraft lifetime...
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This topic looks at thermally driven pulsating Taylor bubble flows. While traditional unidirectional Taylor bubble flow is fairly well understood, very little research has been done to investigate pulsating/oscillating Taylor bubble flow, a common flow regime for many emerging mini/micro scale two-phase heat transfer devices...
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Cold atoms are used to make precision measurements of rotation, acceleration, time (think atomic clocks), etc. Atoms are typically cooled using laser cooling techniques to temperatures less than 100 micro Kelvin to reduce thermal noise and increase measurement time. We are investigating new cold atoms sources that either reduce the size, weight, and power (SWAP) requirements of laser cooled sources or that can cool atoms without lasers...
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AFRL maintains a world class composite structure engineering and fabrication center. We develop new structures, laminates and fabrication methods and have made flight carbon and glass fiber composite deployable booms, iso-therm panels, tape-springs, slit tubes and overlapped tubes (STEMs). We are a leading center for the development of thin laminates for deployable space structures...
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Student will assit the Database Administrator with several duties. Some duties include re-setting passwords, uploading files to the server, SQL queries for varies reports, documentation of existing processes, and various other duties as they arrise.
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Accurate knowledge of the state of the solar corona and wind is critical for reliably predicting, days in advance, geomagnetic disturbance events. These events are produced by high speed streams emerging from coronal holes and Corona Mass Ejections (CMEs), which are large eruptions of solar plasma and field...
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Cybersecurity has become one of the most significant challenges facing the development of complex systems. The goal of this effort is to examine the approaches to improve the ability of distributed embedded processes to detect, protect, and respond to prospective cyber-attacks with the eventual goal of rendering future cybersecurity threats obsolete...
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Timing, instrument control, and data acquisition are key features for any real world measurement and timing system. Our group is interested in methods of developing compact and specialized electronic and optical timing and control systems for atomic physics packages. Compact systems with specialized electronics and control hardware allow for a reduction in size, weight, and power (SWAP)...
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The goal of this effort is to improve upon several aspects of the space object tracking, orbit determination, and cataloging process. One focus of this effort is the correct assignment of measurements to a particular space object. If two or more objects are in close proximity, this increases the probability that a measurement obtained for one space object might be incorrectly assigned to another object in the cluster...
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Deployable antenna reflectors and instrument booms have been successfully used on spacecraft for decades. Reflectors provide a means to focus RF energy for a wide range of purposes including communications, ground imaging, and moving target tracking. State-of-the-art mesh reflectors have a strong record of reliable operations...
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Successful passive deployment of several spacecraft boom architectures has been achieved using strain energy stored in the stowed configuration to actuate deployment. As these booms become larger, the strain energy deployments can become more violent from a shock perspective. This project will develop mechanical methods to control the deployment rate of these systems...
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The Space Vehicles Directorate is actively investigating new vectors to introduce capabilities to space platforms. One promising approach is through the use of ionic liquids. These liquids are of interest since their negligible volatility allows them to tolerate the vacuum of space without risk of evaporation, their fundamental properties can be significantly altered by dissolving a solute or modifying the functional groups of its ions, and they can be employed as the electrolyte in an electrochemical cell...
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AFRL/RDHEC specializes in development of HPM sources via high fidelity simulation of device physics. HPM sources we are currently developing include conventional magnetrons, relativistic magnetrons, recirculating planar magnetrons (RPMs), and others. We are also interested in gigawatt-class amplifier HPM sources...
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Of interest is the ability of space vehicles to perform sensor collects on terrestrial targets for the purpose of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance. However, the current slew, settle, collect modeling and simulation tools in this area do not take into account the solar exclusion angle, collection cone, and other constraints associated with various sensors...
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Hardware-in-the-Loop (HWIL) testing is used to support the development of guidance and navigation technologies, including missile guidance platforms, satellite Guidance/Navigation/Control (GNC) systems, ground vehicle Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs), launch vehicle guidance algorithms, aircraft Inertial Navigation System (INS) platforms, and more...
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Hardware-in-the-Loop (HWIL) testing is used to support the development of guidance and navigation technologies, including missile guidance platforms, satellite Guidance/Navigation/Control (GNC) systems, ground vehicle Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs), launch vehicle guidance algorithms, aircraft Inertial Navigation System (INS) platforms, and more...
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AFRL is developing engineering innovations to increase chemical efficiency, decrease overall footprint, and simplify the system design for the chemical oxygen iodine laser (COIL). The scholar would pursue through literature and bench-scale experiments methods that may boost laser power and chemical efficiency...
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The goal of the research is to investigate the physics of electron field emission under a variety of conditions. Carbon fiber cathodes will be used for the research. First, emission characteristics with pulse width from 100ns to 500ms and DC will be examined. A new cathode test bed will be built for this purpose...
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Digital image tracking algorithms for beam control have evolved over the past 40 years. Image processing techniques in many other fields have been developing on a parallel path over the same period of time. It is hoped that this project will provide some transfer of image processing technology to the beam control tracking problem...
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A new experimental apparatus has recently been designed at the Spacecraft Charging and Calibration Laboratory (SCICL) to investigate current connection in magnetized flowing plasmas. Once operational, the device will be used to study electron collection by a positive probe in ExB drifting plasma, current closure and sheath characteristics of a dipole antenna, and electron heating in Critical Ionization Velocity (CIV) experiments...
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Precision deployable space structures are challenging to design, particularly for large apertures when thermal deformations dominate dimensional error. For example, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) deploys a complex system of sunshades to keep the structure thermally stable so that the image doesn’t become warped and distorted...
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While the basic physics of field emission cathodes have been well understood for many decades, certain aspects of the details of the emission process remain elusive. This research topic considers two aspects of field emission. First, through a series of highly controlled experiments, we will explore emission from two and four emitter tip geometries...
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The flow field emulator is a trailer mounted system that resembles a wind tunnel. Utilizing a small 4 blade turboprop motor the system allows rudimentary aerodynamic turbulence and aero-mechanical jitter testing to be performed in remote locations.
Tasks will be finalizing the preliminary design and conducting as much of the physical build as possible...
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Energetic ion populations create spacecraft hazards that can range from simple bit-flips in memory to permanent satellite and/or payload damage. They can be categorized into 3 groups: trapped belts, transient belts and solar energetic particles (SEPs). SEP populations, energized by solar eruptions, can be significant hazards as they pass through regions of geospace unshielded by the geomagnetic field...
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The goal of this topic is to better understand and utilize the dynamics of relative satellite motion (i.e., the motion of one satellite with respect to one or more other satellites). This topic encompasses both close-proximity scenarios (i.e. cluster/formation missions and rendezvous/proximity operations missions) and scenarios where the satellites are not necessarily on closely neighboring orbits...
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Fiber lasers offer several mission critical advantages over conventional solid-state lasers including: near diffraction limited beam quality, superior thermal-optical properties, and high efficiencies. In addition, they can be readily beam combined for further power scaling to levels suitable for directed energy applications...
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Neural networks have shown promise for a variety of computational problems, including image recognition and data filtering. Recently Cognimem has developed a neural chip with 1024 neurons that exploits several classification algorithms. We have recently acquired the cognimem chip, along with a software development kit, motherboard board and USB interface...
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Recent advances in infrared (IR) sensors has enabled thermometry of space objects (SOs). New techniques for obtaining high dynamic range temperature maps of RSOs will be implemented to determine optimum techniques for rapid calibration of IR sensors. Usage of in-house infrared sensors will be used to validate various thermometry techniques and their applicability to RSO temperature mapping...
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AFRL will develop a process to discover and document innovation in typical everyday technical projects. AFRL wants to host innovation discovery events where techincal projects are reviewed by an external panel. From these projects, potenitial inventions and commercial applications may be identified...
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Beam control systems, when implemented, are complex structures exposed to multiple mechanical disturbances. It is imparative that the optial train mirrors in these systems vibrate as little as possible. While finite element modeling is done during the engineering phase of these projects structural dynamic testing is ultimately required to fine tune the structure and any isolation systems...
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Learn how the government and industry cooperate with allies through science and technology development. Student will learn rules & regulations of international agreements, monitor current RV agreement documents, and participate in the development of proposed agreements. **There is NO travel with this project...
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Currently, the design, integration, and testing of the thermal control system (TCS) requires years to complete and is a leading contributor to satellite development time. The design time for an average small satellite is one to three years. Because of the long design cycle time and the rapid evolution of technology, satellites are obsolete before they are even launched...
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Predictive techniques have been shown to extend effective bandwidth of beam control sytem loops. They can faulter in real world application due to unmodeled aspects of control analog and digital hardware. This project will set up an optical lab bench top hardware analog of a beam control system capable of testing these algorithms...
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The Spacecraft Component Thermal Research Lab conducts various experiments in thermal management, including characterization of cryocoolers, including their heat exchange properties. Cryocoolers are mechanical refrigeration devices that cool infrared (IR) sensors to cryogenic temperatures (below 120 Kelvin) in order to observe relatively cool targets...
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Laser communication systems have several potential advantages over longer wavelength communication technology. However, significant challenges remain in developing this high data rate and low size, weight, and power communication technology. This topic is to develop and test new approaches for extremely small, robust, high-rate laser communication...
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Laser communications-based spacecraft ground stations have characteristics of both a traditional radio frequency spacecraft ground station and an astronomical observatory. This topic is to develop techniques for robust operations of a laser communications ground station. Development of custom software and incorporation of commercial software will be required...
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Our research centers on the chemistry of space vehicles: the reactions involved in hypergolic ignition and the subsequent interactions between the thruster plume and the near-space environment. We are currently interested in the spectroscopy, structure, and reactivity of novel ionic liquid propellants, which are being pursued as a next-generation, "green" alternative to the toxic hydrazine-based systems currently in use...
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Most free space optical links through the atmosphere utilize some form of forward error correction (FEC) and interleaving to reduce hardware requirements and maintain high data throughput even in the event of burst errors. Several standard families of FEC and interleaver algorithms exist, yet specially tailored versions are typically desired to provide the best performance for a given link (i...
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Laser communication links transition through several stages of behavior throughout the link process, including: beam acquisition, tracking, clock synchronization, data transfer, data rate adjustment, and link closure. Each operational mode has unique algorithms, processes, disturbances, and noise, yet link operation requires a smooth between modes, or even simultaneous execution of more than one mode...
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Future high-power components require higher cooling rates to improve performance and to improve reliability. There are many new and emerging components that have heat production rates exceeding 100W/cm2, and some can be as high as 1000W/cm2. In many applications, the ability to remove heat from the component is the limiting factor...
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This topic investigates atmospheric propagation physics at 70 GHz – 90 GHz for satellite communication applications.
In this work, radiometry will be used to better understand atmospheric absorption, scintillation, and meteorological effects at these frequencies.
Radiometers are commonly used for remote monitoring of the earth environment...
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The Infrastructure Management Branch (RVOI) of AFRL administers the RV directorate's facilities needs, through planning, programming, design, and construction including providing architectural solutions. This includes the development of graphic studies in the areas of sustainable design (identifying and implementing energy cost strategies to existing facilities), new facility projects, facility remodeling projects, facility condition inspections (ICI program), and other misc architecture and engineering design solutions including developing Antiterrorism Force Protection for AFRL's campus...
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This topic considers the multi-resolution analysis of space-based observations. When considering space imagery of objects one could describe an observation as unresolved, partially resolved, or fully resoved. The main factor in this designation is the angular scale of the observed object...
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The purpose of this exercise is to develop a N wavelength free space system capable of transmitting high rate data through simulated distances approaching of terrestrial systems.
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In the MAPM/SATTRACK lab we are setting up an experimental test bed for novel satellite tracking sensors. The test bed consists of a telescope where a sensor head may be installed. The telescope and facility are in place but there is much work to integrate various components and automate the set-up...
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This topic involces conducting research and development in the field of optically pumped lasers. There various thrusts in this area including diode pumped alkali lasers as well as optically pumped rare gas lasers. Experimental area includes small scale laser demonstrations,and pressure broadening and shift rate explorations...
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Surveillance satellites use infrared (IR) sensors to detect and observe a range of objects. IR sensors require cryogenic cooling (temperatures below 120 K) in order to observe relatively cool objects. Pulse tube refrigerators are one type of compact “cryocoolers” used to cool space based IR sensors. Pulse tubes operate on a variation of the Stirling cycle where, instead of a mechanical displacer or expander, a gas column in the pulse tube acts as the displacer...
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The nano- and pico-satellite platforms (e.g. CubeSats) continue to surprise the space community with usefulness and capability previously considered impossible from such a small volume. But launch volume remains a primary limitation and methods to unfold or deploy large structures (sensors, antennas, arrays, booms, shades, telescopes, etc...
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Many pulsed power and plasma devices expose electrode or insulator surfaces to high energy density and/or high fluxes of particles. The details of the interactions determine whether the electrodes or insulators retain their properties. Erosion of surfaces exposed to high particle or energy fluxes over a series of discharges often determines the life of a component or system...
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Big solar eruptive events often result in the production of highly energetic particles that propagate from the Sun out to the Earth and beyond. In some cases these solar energetic particles (SEPs) reach GeV energies, cause serious communications and spacecraft problems, and can be detected with ground based detectors...
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The Pulsating Heat Pipe (PHP) is a simply formed, wickless heat pipe that relies on the phase change induced motion of a contained working fluid to transport heat between the evaporator and condenser. The improved heat transfer capability, simplicity, and reduced mass of embedded PHPs make them ideal for some spacecraft thermal control applications...
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Modern electronics are increasingly susceptible to the effects of radiation both on the ground and in the space environment. Additionally the reliability of modern electronics is decreasing when targeted for the space environment. This topic will look to investigate radiation effects on and the reliability of modern electronics...
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Memristors hold great promise for non-volitile memory, including multi-state memory, for threshold logic, and for more advanced neuromorphic computation. There are questions about their utility in a radiation environment. In this project, we plan to study total dose, dose-rate and, possibly, single event effects on memristor circuits...
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Atomic clocks not only provide the time base for the Global Positioning System, their stability and accuracy is being required by more and more processes used in everyday life. Significant efforts have been made in recent years to develop Chip Scale Atomic Clocks. However, these clocks tend to have lower stability than some applications require...
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In our image enhancement work we have several algorithms that need development and testing. This work is likely to result in co-authorship of publications in collaboration with SOST scientists.
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Global Positioning Satellites (GPS) requirements are increasing. This effort will investigate methods to reduce cost and improve efficiency of the satellite components.
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The capabilities of small satellites (microsats, nanosats, Cubesats, et al.) have greatly increased in recent times, and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future. As such, the utility of these platforms for space applications is of great interest to the Space Situation Awareness (SSA) mission: the ability to locate and characterize these objects will grow in importance, and their utility as sensing platforms may fill valuable niches in the overall mission space...
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Simulation of surveillance satellites is complicated by many issues. Infrared (IR) sensors detect reflected and emitted photons from space objects. The emitted photons from a space object are a function of the objects physical properties, including temperature. Thermal simulation of space objects has its own level of complexity, much less simulating the functionality of the sensor...
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Future satellite command and control architectures will involve the use of lightly- or un-manned ground stations that will operate as an integrated network, with the assignment of tasks to specific ground stations being assigned remotely over networks by autonomous algorithms that optimize network efficiency and user task satisfaction...
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Solar flares filament eruptions and related phenomena are a cause of violent space weather. Understanding their physical properties is imperitive to model and predict large solar flares. During this summer research we will examine and explore the parametric space of potential factors leading to solar flares and filament eruptions...
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Cryocoolers are required for many technical areas including the cooling of infrared sensors for surveillance and atmospheric studies and superconducting electronics and magnets. Solid state cooling for space applications has recently garnered high interest as a quantum leap technology to significantly reduce size, weight, and power (SWAP) of the cryocooler required for a surveillance payload...
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In the MAPM/SATTRACK lab we have an experimental test bed for testing of image enhancement techniques for infrared and visible sensors. This work is likely to result in co-authorship of publications in collaboration with SOST scientists.
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Develop techniques for modeling the signal produced by and extracting useful information from various types of space-based sensors
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Deployable space structures prove to be crucial in the advancement of space based missions performed by the Air Force. Advantages of these structures include the ability to be stowed in a significantly compact configuration prior to launch and deploy into a larger functional state once in orbit. The current technology relies heavily on mechanisms to drive means of deployment of structures such as antennas, telescopes, and solar arrays...
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Examine the impacts of new technologies on spacecraft performance through benchmarking studies of a suite of representative space missions captured in simulated models. The goal is a tool that facilitates down-selection of competing technologies through day-in-life, medium-fidelity simulation of total spacecraft that takes into account specific orbital and mission parameters...
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Traditional satellite thermal design is a very detailed process that results in a highly optimized design for a particular satellite, but cannot be easily adapted to other spacecraft. As a result, thermal design tends to be a costly and time-consuming process. These shortcomings can be mitigated through the incorporation of robust thermal control, in which high conductivity materials are used in conjunction with heat transfer modulating devices and efficient insulation to create a thermal control system that can handle a wide range of component locations and heat loads...
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Beam control systems often attempt to actively reduce the atmospheric optical aberrations encountered in laser beam propagation to a target. Appropriate characterization of these aberrations is necessary for design of a controller. While simple spatial-temporal moments are useful in understanding the imact of these errors on propagation performance, they are not useful in understanding the spatial-temporal control challenge...
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AFRL is setting up test stations in a new laboratory to test vibration effects on optical systems and thermal management technologies for optics and laser systems. During the summer of 2013 the program will be in the process of setting up testing stations to be computer controlled using LabView...
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Surveillance satellites use infrared (IR) sensors to detect and observe a range of objects. IR sensors require cryogenic cooling (temperatures below 120 K) in order to observe relatively cool objects. Pulse tube refrigerators are one type of compact “cryocoolers” used to cool space based IR sensors. Conventional thermodynamic analyses of pulse tubes assume uniform compression and expansion; however, preliminary CFD studies indicate a non-uniform distribution of temperature and pressure in developed flow...
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The ultrashort pulse laser (USPL) group is seeking motivated young scientists and engineers to join the USPL team. The group accomplishes research studying the basic physics of USPL systems. These laser sources have the potential to be very important to both AF and DOD applications. Current research is using high peak power ultrashort laser systems to create laser induced filaments and studying the effects...
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Satellite bus design practices, integration and test, mission operations, and requirements analysis are among the many expertise required for designing and developing a flight-worthy satellite. In order to foster this expertise in young spacecraft designers and create new small satellite technology, the University Nanosatellite Program (UNP) was created...
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An existing parameterization, optimization and engagement tool combines system engineering quantities (size, weight, etc.) with system performance quantities (power on target, atmospheric effects, etc.). This tool was made to enable users to perform trade studies, optimize a laser system designs and assess laser system performance through one of several user-specified engagement scenarios...
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This topic is focused on the utilization of these protocols to increase efficiency, interoperability, flexibility, and scalability of a representative system.
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Due to the high cost of space systems, the ability to inspect, service, and repair/refuel these systems on-orbit is highly desirable. Such missions require precise control of spacecraft motion to ensure mission objectives are met (e.g., imaging parameters, relative velocity constraints for docking, etc...
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Traveling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs) are pervasive in the Bottomside ionosphere. These are typically understood as gravity waves and have a number of sources such as topology, neutral winds, the terminator, convective uplift, and explosions. They can be the limiting factor on understanding the propagation characteristics of RF electromagnetic radiation across the ionosphere or within the earth-ionosphere waveguide...
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