Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine January 2018 - 18

Systems Engineering Approach Using Integrated Product and Process Development (IPPD)

Figure 10.

Implementation timeline for Planetary Defense-READI Program.

RESULTS AND PLANETARY DEFENSE TEAM PROJECT
RECOMMENDATIONS
We defined a fictional scenario to make the project more impactful
and engaging, where we contrasted optimistic and pessimistic outcomes. For the optimistic scenario, our deflection system works as
it would have achieved high TRL/Organizational Readiness Level.
The Security Council approves such a system; people are educated
and aware of the threat, and there is an evacuation plan ready, but
not implemented due to the successful deflection of the comet. The
implementation timeline to make this optimistic scenario a reality
is shown in Figure 10. For our pessimistic scenario, there is no approval from the Security Council. However, a few countries decide
to act, and a deflection system used, but it redirects the comet to
another location. People are aware of the threat, but ignore it, and
there is an evacuation plan, but there is insufficient time to evacuate people. These scenarios helped us generate effective solutions
to mitigate possible threats. Our team seeks to contribute to making the world safer from asteroid and comet impacts for all future
generations with the following proposed recommendations. Such
recommendations are briefly discussed in this article, but the extended version can be found in our report [7].

DETECTION AND TRACKING
Detection and tracking are the most important aspect of planetary
defense and the first step towards any cosmic threat mitigation
program. Without it, any threat remains unclear or difficult to assess, which results in unforeseen consequences and possibly an inevitable impact of a comet or asteroid. The creation of a telescope
network for a full sky coverage to monitor and track asteroids and
comets is possible with current and advanced technologies. These
technologies will assist in increased capabilities for detecting and
tracking potential dangerous objects. Creating and maintaining a
fleet of space-based observatories can be very costly with current
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technology as telescopes require very heavy mirrors, and the sensors lose performance over time due to the lack of active coolant or
radiation damage. This problem can be tackled with new technologies that reduce weight and use new materials to improve performance. Advanced lightweight mirrors reduce the initial mass, and
therefore the overall mission cost. Examples of these technologies
include low-mass membrane mirror optics and liquid surface mirrors [27]. Modern detectors such as S-Cam by the European Space
Agency (ESA) capable of rapid NEO identification. The S-Cam
uses a new optical technology known as superconducting tunneling junctions to count single photons, and at the same time provide
spectral information. This data is used to detect and identify asteroids and comets for simplified follow-up observations, cataloguing, and future identification [27.
New infrared sensors are being developed that have the required sensitivity for detection but can be operated with passive
cooling systems, which increase the operational lifetime of the
telescope by several years. These sensors would be first tested in
the NEOCam telescope. They allow for the creation of a network
of long-lived space telescopes that do not require constant replacement, thus being able to monitor the sky continuously [28].
We have identified a number of new observational techniques
to improve the performance and the observational range of current
hardware. New techniques can also be used to increase the NEO
detection rate, ease the follow-up observations and tracking, or increase the range of NEOs that can be detected. For example, the
adaptive optics technique removes atmospheric disturbance [29].
This measures the disturbance created by the atmosphere and then
adapts the mirror in real time to correct for it. It is currently used
in the most expensive telescopes such as the Very Large Telescope
in the European Southern Observatory [30]. Shading technologies
block the incoming light to allow for observations close to the Sun,
thus increasing the area of the sky being mapped. For space telescopes, the shading could be an attached sunshade, an internal disk
similar to those used in coronagraphs, or a large deployable shade
flying in formation with the telescope.

IEEE A&E SYSTEMS MAGAZINE

JANUARY 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine January 2018