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Thin layers of black phosphorus present an ideal combination of a 2D material with a tunable direct bandgap and high carrier mobility. However the material suffers from degradation in ambient conditions due to an oxidation reaction which…
Soft landing on small celestial bodies (SCBs) poses unique challenges, as gravitational models poorly characterize the higher-order gravitational effects of SCBs. Existing control approaches lack guarantees for safety under gravitational…
The dynamics of the satellite systems of Milky-Way-like galaxies offer a useful means by which to study the galaxy formation process in the cosmological context. It has been suggested that the currently observed anisotropic distribution of…
The LARES satellite, a laser-ranged space experiment to contribute to geophysics observation, and to measure the general relativistic Lense-Thirring effect, has been observed to undergo an anomalous along-track orbital acceleration of -0.4…
Strong control over experimental conditions in microfluidic channels provides a unique opportunity to study and optimize membraneless microbial fuel cells (MFCs), particularly with respect to the role of flow. However, improved performance…
Exploration of asteroids and small-bodies can provide valuable insight into the origins of the solar system, into the origins of Earth and the origins of the building blocks of life. However, the low-gravity and unknown surface conditions…
The Laser Ranging Interferometer (LRI) instrument on the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) Follow-On mission has provided the first laser interferometric range measurements between remote spacecraft, separated by approximately…
Analysis of 8,804,545 electron velocity distribution functions (VDFs), observed by the $\mathit{Wind}$ spacecraft near 1 AU between January 1, 2005 and January 1, 2022, was performed to determine the spacecraft floating potential,…
In this paper, the repeat-groundtrack orbit maintenance problem is addressed for spacecraft driven by electric propulsion. An adaptive solution is proposed, which combines an hysteresis controller and a recursive least squares filter. The…
A chaser satellite equipped with robotic arms can capture space debris and manipulate it for use in more advanced missions such as refueling and deorbiting. To facilitate capturing, a caging-based strategy has been proposed to simplify the…
A drift mode accelerometer is a precision device that overcomes the much of the acceleration noise and readout dynamic range limitations of traditional electrostatic accelerometers. It has the potential of achieving acceleration noise…
This paper introduces a novel Monte Carlo (MC) method to simulate the evolution of the low-earth orbit environment, enhancing the MIT Orbital Capacity Analysis Tool (MOCAT). In recent decades, numerous space environment models have been…
The Gravity Assisted Maneuver has been applied in lots of space missions, to change the spacecraft heliocentric velocity vector and the geometry of the orbit, after the close approach to a celestial body, saving propellant consumption. It…
We estimate the systemic orbital kinematics of the Milky Way classical satellites and compare them with predictions from the \Lambda{} cold dark matter (\Lambda{}CDM) model derived from a semi-analytical galaxy formation model applied to…
Modular Aerial Robot Systems (MARS) consist of multiple drone units that can self-reconfigure to adapt to various mission requirements and fault conditions. However, existing fault-tolerant control methods exhibit significant oscillations…
This paper discusses translation and attitude control in spacecraft rendezvous and soft docking. The target spacecraft orbit can be either circular or elliptic. The high fidelity model for this problem is intrinsically a nonlinear system…
The Miniature X-ray Solar Spectrometer (MinXSS) is a 3 Unit (3U) CubeSat designed for a 3-month mission to study solar soft X-ray spectral irradiance. The first of the two flight models was deployed from the International Space Station in…
We report the discovery of the faintest known dwarf galaxy satellite of an LMC stellar-mass host beyond the Local Group, based on deep imaging with Subaru/Hyper Suprime-Cam. MADCASH J074238+652501-dw lies $\sim$35 kpc in projection from NGC…
Small free-flying spacecraft can provide vital extravehicular activity (EVA) services like inspection and repair for future orbital outposts like the Lunar Gateway. Operating adjacent to delicate space station and microgravity targets,…
NGC 205, a close satellite of the M31 galaxy, is our nearest example of a dwarf elliptical galaxy. Photometric and kinematic observations suggest that NGC 205 is undergoing tidal distortion from its interaction with M31. Despite earlier…