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We determine the wavefunctions of electrons bound to a positively charged mesoscopic metallic cluster covered by an insulating surface layer. The radius of the metal core and the thickness of the insulating surface layer are of the order of…
The science objectives of the LISA mission have been defined under the implicit assumption of a 4 yr continuous data stream. Based on the performance of LISA Pathfinder, it is now expected that LISA will have a duty cycle of $\approx 0.75$,…
The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS02) experiment will be installed in 2009 on the International Space Station (ISS) for an operational period of at least three years. The purpose of AMS02 experiment is to perform accurate, high…
In low earth orbit, there are many cosmic rays composed primarily of high energy protons. These cosmic rays cause surface and bulk radiation effects, resulting in degradation of detector performance. Quantitative evaluation of radiation…
We analyze the collision of a high energy electron beam with an oscillating electric and magnetic field configuration, which represents a three-dimensional standing electromagnetic wave. The radiating electrons are stopped at the distance…
Our Robust, Explainable Autonomy for Scientific Icy Moon Operations (REASIMO) effort contributes to NASA's Concepts for Ocean worlds Life Detection Technology (COLDTech) program, which explores science platform technologies for ocean worlds…
High power Earth and orbital-based directed energy (DE) systems pose a potential hazard to Earth orbiting spacecraft. The use of very high power, large aperture DE systems to propel spacecraft is being pursued as the only known, feasible…
Thermal protection systems are a critical component of planetary exploration, enabling probes to enter the atmosphere and perform in-situ measurements. The aero-thermal conditions encountered during entry are destination and vehicle…
Radial gradients of cosmic rays are key parameters for understanding the transport of particles in space. Solar Orbiter, launched on 2020 February 10, approaches the Sun approximately every half year, with a closest perihelion distance of…
Space radiation is well-known to pose serious issues to solid-state high-energy sensors. Therefore, radiation models play a key role in the preventive assessment of the radiation damage, duty cycles, performance and lifetimes of detectors.…
Deeply inside dense molecular clouds and protostellar disks, the interstellar ices are protected from stellar energetic UV photons. However, X-rays and energetic cosmic rays can penetrate inside these regions triggering chemical reactions,…
Performing orbital insertion around Mars using aerocapture instead of a propulsive orbit insertion manoeuvre allows to save resources and/or increase the payload mass fraction. Aerocapture has never been employed to date because of the high…
Spacecraft neutralisers are required as part of the ion propulsion system for accurate station keeping in fundamental physics missions. This paper describes the use of thin layers of insulating materials as coatings for the gated silicon…
The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) will perform a two-year survey of nearly the entire sky, with the main goal of detecting exoplanets smaller than Neptune around bright and nearby stars. There do not appear to be any…
A central component of the European Spallation Source is the high-power proton accelerator. The accelerator aims in the future to provide 2 GeV protons to a rotating tungsten target for the production of neutrons at 5 MW of average beam…
INTEGRAL is a hard X-ray/gamma-ray observatory for astrophysics (ESA) covering photon energies from 15 keV to 10 MeV. It was launched in 2002 and since then the BGO detectors of the Anti-Coincidence shield (ACS) of the SPI spectrometer have…
We study the optical properties of glass exposed to ionizing radiation, as it occurs in the space environment. 24 glass types have been considered, both space qualified and not space qualified. 72 samples (3 for each glass type) have been…
The Probe far-Infrared Mission for Astrophysics (PRIMA) is a far-infrared (24-261 micron wavelengths) probe-class space observatory currently under Phase A study, which promises orders-of-magnitude improvement in mapping speed over its…
The Earth is constantly hit by energetic particles originating from galactic sources. The flux of these particles is altered by the magnetized solar wind in the heliosphere and the Earth's magnetic field. For this reason, the ability of a…
We have studied the science rationale, goals and requirements for a mission aimed at using the gravitational lensing from the Sun as a way of achieving high angular resolution and high signal amplification. We find that such a mission…