This research effort is concerned with the methods of simplified orbit determination and orbit representation and their applications for Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite missions, particularly addressing the operational needs of the FedSat mission. FedSat is the first Australian-built satellite in over thirty years. The microsatellite is approximately 50cm cubed with a mass of 58 kg. The satellite was successfully placed into a low-earth near-polar orbit at an altitude of 780km by the Japanese National Space Development Agency (NASDA) H-IIA launch vehicle on 14, December 2002. Since then, it has been streaming scientific data to its ground station in Adelaide almost daily. This information is used by Australian and international researchers to study space weather, to help improve the design of space computers, communication systems and other satellite technology, and for research into navigation and satellite tracking. This research effort addresses four practical issues regarding the FedSat mission and operations. First, unlike most satellite missions, the GPS receiver onboard FedSat operates in a duty-cycle mode due to the limitations of the FedSat power supply. This causes significant difficulties for orbit tracking, Precise Orbit Determination and scientific applications. A covariance analysis was performed before the mission launch to assess the orbit performance under different operational modes. The thesis presents the analysis methods and results. Second, FedSat supports Ka-band tracking experiments that require a pointing accuracy of 0.03 degree. The QUT GPS group is obligated to provide the GPS precise orbit solution to meet this requirement. Ka-band tracking requests satellite orbital position at any instant time with respect to any of the observation stations. Because orbit determination and prediction software only provide satellite orbital data at a discrete time point, it is necessary to find a way to represent the satellite orbit as a continuous trajectory with discrete observation data, able to obtain the position of the satellite at the time of interest. For this purpose, an orbit interpolation algorithm using the Chebyshev polynomial was developed and applied to Ka-band tracking applications. The thesis will describe the software and results. Third, since the launch of FedSat, investigators have received much flight GPS data. Some research was invested in the analysis of FedSat orbit performance, GPS data quality and the quality of the onboard navigation solutions. Studies have revealed that there are many gross errors in the FedSat onboard navigation solution (ONS). Although the 1-sigma accuracy of each component is about 20 m, there are more than 11 %positioning errors that fall outside +/-50m, and 5% of the errors are outside the 100mbound. The 3D RMS values would be 35m, 87m, and 173m for the above three cases respectively. The FedSat ONS uncertainties are believed to be approximately three times greater than those from other satellite missions. Due to the high percentage of outlier solutions, it would be dangerous to use these without first applying data detection and exclusion procedures. Therefore, this thesis presents two simplified orbit determination methods that can improve the ONS. One is the &quotgeometric method", which makes use of delta-position solutions derived from carrier phase differences between two epochs to smooth the code-based navigation solutions. The algorithms were tested using SAC-C GPS data and showing some improvement. The second method is the &quotdynamic method", which uses orbit dynamics information for orbit improvements. Fourth, the FedSat ground tracking team at Adelaide use the NORAD TLE orbit for daily FedSat tracking. Research was undertaken to convert an orbit trajectory into these Two Line Elements (TLE). Algorithms for the estimation of TLE solutions from the FedSat onboard GPS navigation solutions are outlined. Numerical results have shown the effects of the unmodelled forces/perturbations in the SPG4 models for the FedSat orbit determination would reach a level of ±1000m. This only includes the orbit representation errors with TLE data sets. The total FedSat orbit propagation should include both the orbit propagation and orbit representation terms. The analysis also demonstrates that the orbit presentation error can be reduced to ±200m and ±100mlevels with the EGM4x4 and EGM10x10 gravity field models respectively. This can meet the requirements for Ka-band tracking. However, a simplified tracking program based on numerical integration has to be developed to replace the SPG4 models.

Satellite-based communication system can provide access to voice, data, video and internet transmission that is independent of terrestrial infrastructure. This is particularly important in disaster response situations and military maneuvers where mobile personnel need to maintain direct contact with each other and the central control. One of the factors that currently limits the effectiveness and practicality of these systems is portability. These systems require lightweight equipment that can be quickly and easily deployed and operated in a variety of environments. Parabolic dish antennas are the only antennas capable of providing the high gain required for direct satellite communication but their size and weight severely limit their portability and hence their use for portable direct satellite communication. Inflatable structures have been used in the space environment to overcome the limitations of launch vehicle size and weight restrictions. They are constru cted from thin film, or gossamer materials, and use internal pressure to maintain their shape. Inflatable structures are lightweight, have a low stowed volume and a high packing efficiency. It is proposed that this type of structure can be used to produce an inflatable parabolic dish antenna that can operate under terrestrial conditions to overcome the limits on portability for land-based communication. This thesis presents a design for a parabolic dish antenna and conical feed horn constructed entirely from polyester thin film. To further reduce the weight and stowed volume of the antenna the conical horn is fed by a microstrip patch. The performance of the components and their ability to operate under terrestrial conditions are assessed by comparing the results to those of an identical rigid system.

No description available.

This dissertation presents a novel satellite timekeeping system which does not require on-board atomic clocks as used by existing navigation satellite systems such as GPS, GLONASS or the planned GALILEO system. This concept is differentiated by the employment of a synchronization framework combined with lightweight steerable on-board clocks which act as transponders re-broadcasting the precise time remotely provided by the time synchronization network located on the ground. This allows the system to operate optimally when satellites are in direct contact with the ground station, making it suitable for a system like the Japanese Quasi-Zenith Satellite System, QZSS. Low satellite mass and low satellite manufacturing and launch cost are significant advantages of this novel system. Two possible implementations of the time synchronization network for QZSS are presented. Additionally, the problem of satellite communication interruption is analyzed and a solution is presented. Finally a positioning and timing quality analysis, aimed to provide understanding of the actual timing quality requirements for QZSS, is presented.

No description available.

Human centromeres contain large arrays of α-satellite DNA that are thought to provide centromere function. These arrays show size and sequence variations. However, the lower limit of the sizes of these DNA arrays in normal centromeres is unknown. Using a set of chromosome-specific α-satellite probes for each of the human chromosomes, interphase Fluorescence In Situ Hybridisation (FISH) was performed in a population screening study. This study demonstrated that extreme reduction of chromosome-specific α-satellite is unusually common in chromosome 21 (screened with the αRI probe), with a prevalence of 3.70%, compared to <=.12 % for each of chromosomes 13 and 17, and 0 % for the other chromosomes. No analphoid centromere was identified in over 17,000 morphologically normal chromosomes studied. All the low-alphoid centromeres are fully functional as indicated by their mitotic stability and binding to centromere proteins including CENtromere Protein-A (CENP-A), CENtromere Protein-B (CENP-B), CENtromere Protein-C (CENP-C), and CENtromere Protein-E (CENP-E). Sensitive metaphase FISH analysis of the low-alphoid chromosome 21 centromeres established the presence of residual αRI as well as other non-αRI α-satellite DNA suggesting that centromere function may be provided by (i) the residual αRI DNA, (ii) other non-αRI a-satellite sequences, (iii) a combination of i and ii, or (iv) an activated neocentromere DNA. (For complete abstract open document)

Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1992. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 120-121). Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (M.S.)--School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, 2008. / "June 2008." Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 107-111). Also available via the Internet.

Project and Report (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. M.S. 1992. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 109-111). Also available via the Internet.

Thèses (M.Sc.)--Université de Sherbrooke (Canada), 2000. / Titre de l'écran-titre (visionné le 20 juin 2006). Publié aussi en version papier.