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Collisional charging is one potential initial step in generating lightning. In this work, we study the charging of colliding monodisperse, spherical basalt grains depending on ambient pressure. We used grains of 1.0 to 1.2 mm in one set and…
Robotic spacecraft have helped expand our reach for many planetary exploration missions. Most ground mobile planetary exploration robots use wheeled or modified wheeled platforms. Although extraordinarily successful at completing intended…
With interstellar mission concepts now being under study by various space agencies and institutions, a feasible and worthy interstellar precursor mission concept will be key to the success of the long shot. Here we investigate…
[Abridged] Asteroid mining is not necessarily a distant prospect. Hayabusa2 and OSIRIS-REx have recently rendezvoused with near-Earth asteroids and will return samples to Earth. While there is significant science motivation for these…
Beyond Earth-like planets, moons can be habitable, too. No exomoons have been securely detected, but they could be extremely abundant. Young Jovian planets can be as hot as late M stars, with effective temperatures of up to 2000 K. Transits…
Experiments, analyses, and simulations have shown that the engine exhaust plume of a Mars lander large enough for human spaceflight will create a deep crater in the martian soil, blowing ejecta to approximately 1 km distance, damaging the…
We study the origin and escape of catastrophically outgassed volatiles (H$_2$O, CO$_2$) from exomoons with Earth-like densities and masses of $0.1M_{\oplus}$, $0.5M_{\oplus}$ and $1M_{\oplus}$ orbiting an extra-solar gas giant inside the…
Liquid water oceans are at the center of our search for life on exoplanets because water is a strict requirement for life as we know it. However, oceans are dynamic habitats---and some oceans may be better hosts for life than others. In…
Moons orbiting extrasolar planets are the next class of object to be observed and characterized for possible habitability. Like the host-planets to their host-star, exomoons have a limiting radius at which they may be gravitationally bound,…
Legged robots are promising candidates for exploring challenging areas on low-gravity bodies such as the Moon, Mars, or asteroids, thanks to their advanced mobility on unstructured terrain. However, as planetary robots' power and thermal…
The martian atmosphere hosts dynamical phenomena ranging from planet-encircling dust storms to mesoscale orographic clouds and nocturnal low-level jets. General circulation model show capability to simulate these phenomena, but is…
Volatile elements and compounds found in extra-terrestrial environments are often the target of In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) studies. Although water and hydroxide are most commonly the focus of these studies as they can be used for…
This study proposes a systematic non-kinetic deterrence path modeling framework based on strategic rare earth supply cut-off, aiming to assess the strategic effects of China's export control policy against the United States at the military…
The tradeoff between cost of the access network and quality of offered service to IoT devices, in terms of reliability and durability of communications, is investigated. We first develop analytical tools for reliability evaluation in…
This work investigates a hybrid photovoltaic-wind-battery power system designed to sustain a Mars base under varying seasonal and climatic conditions. The Mars Climate Database was utilized to simulate the effects of seasonal changes,…
In robotics, data acquisition often plays a key part in unknown environment exploration. For example, storing information about the topography of the explored terrain or the natural dangers in the environment can inform the decision-making…
Perhaps the biggest hurdle to mankind's expansion throughout the Solar System is the prohibitive cost of escaping Earth's gravitational pull. In its many forms, the space-elevator provides a way to circumvent this cost, allowing payloads to…
Ensuring safety for spacecraft operations has become a paramount concern due to the proliferation of space debris and the saturation of valuable orbital regimes. In this regard, the Collision Avoidance Manoeuvre (CAM) has emerged as a…
Latest research in planet formation indicate that Mars formed within a few million years (Myr) and remained a planetary embryo that never grew to a more massive planet. It can also be expected from dynamical models, that most of Mars'…
A first-order analysis concludes it is feasible to store the carbon needed to meet the Paris targets in structural materials and use less energy and at a lower cost than our use of extractive materials, steel, aluminum, and concrete.…