Spacecraft Engineering

As commercial space activity expands beyond launch services toward sustained orbital operations, lunar development, and future cislunar commerce, spaceports are evolving from specialized transportation facilities into critical components of national economic and strategic infrastructure. Increasingly, these facilities serve as integrated hubs supporting aerospace manufacturing, reusable launch operations, national security missions, orbital logistics networks, advanced aerospace systems, and the broader industrial ecosystems necessary for long-term space development. Their role within the space economy is becoming analogous to that historically occupied by seaports, rail networks, airports, and energy corridors in earlier phases of economic expansion.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations require a commercial launch or reentry operator to establish any aircraft hazard areas necessary to ensure the probability of impact with debris capable of causing a casualty for aircraft does not exceed one-in-a-million (1E-6). Prior to initiating flight of the Starship Super-Heavy launch vehicle on the second Integrated Flight Test (IFT-2), SpaceX engaged with the FAA to publish Notices to Air Missions (NOTAMs) sufficient to comply with that requirement. During the IFT-2 flight, both the Super-Heavy booster and the Starship upper-stage failed at different times and locations. The debris from the Super-Heavy booster was contained within a region enclosed by a NOTAM, so aircraft were not exposed to significant risk from collision with the booster debris. However, the Starship debris fell in a region outside (downrange) of any NOTAM. After SpaceX confirmed the loss of the Starship, the FAA activated contingency hazard areas within US controlled airspace, diverting more than a dozen aircraft away from regions potentially threatened by the Starship debris. The FAA subsequently collected data on the actual aircraft trajectories flown in the vicinity of the contingency hazard areas as input to a high-fidelity debris risk analysis tool used to compute the conditional risks to aircraft given that the mishap occurred when and where it occurred. This paper describes the aircraft collision risk analyses done and the results obtained, together with weather radar data that seems to show where at least some of the Starship debris fell. The results show that no aircraft experienced a conditional risk greater than 1E-6 probability of impact with debris capable of causing a casualty. Thus, the collaborative efforts by SpaceX and the FAA ensured a high level of safety for all aircraft flying in the vicinity of the IFT-2 launch. This paper also provides recommended standards for critical inputs to aircraft hazard area computations, performed both pre-flight and in real-time, to help ensure aircraft protection from future launch debris hazards.

**Abstract**

**MASV-Prime: Предфизическое основание проявленной реальности** представляет MASV-Prime как самостоятельный авторский аппарат вычисления, работающий ниже уровня квантовой теории, общей теории относительности, стандартной физики и привычных инженерных описаний. Центральное определение публикации — **МАСВ ОСНОВАНИЕ**: MASV-Prime не выводится из старых физических теорий, не является их модификацией и не использует их как фундамент. Квантовая теория, ОТО и стандартная физика рассматриваются здесь как поздние описательные слои уже проявленной реальности, тогда как MASV-Prime ставит вопрос о самом основании: почему возможны структура, вещество, метрика, устойчивость, движение, материал и технологический режим.

Публикация фиксирует отличие MASV от наследуемой научной рамки: там, где старая физика использует вероятность, эмерджентность, флуктуации или эффективные описания, MASV требует вычислимой структурной цепи. В рамках MASV эмерджентность не признаётся достаточным объяснением: если явление объявляется эмерджентным, это означает, что его основание ещё не вычислено, структура не доведена до конца или описание подменяет расчёт метафизической неопределённостью.

Особое внимание уделено технологической карте MASV: модальному материаловедению, управлению фазовым полем, метрической прозрачности, механике расцепления, материалам для фазовых двигательных направлений, космическим кораблям нового поколения, метрической адресации и движению за пределами топливной парадигмы. Публикация показывает MASV-Prime не как философскую гипотезу, а как новый расчётный уклад, способный формировать иной подход к материалам, средам, космическим системам и допустимым конфигурациям других миров.

Документ не раскрывает закрытое ядро MASV-Prime, константные маршруты, операторные цепочки, нуклонные механизмы, критические материалы, условия практического расцепления или инженерные процедуры. Его задача — обозначить уровень, язык, границы раскрытия и стратегическую полезность MASV-Prime для внешнего читателя, инвестора, заказчика и технологического партнёра.

A clear limiting factor in the long-range exploration of space, and settlement on other planets, is the high intensity of ionising radiation exposure beyond the protection of Earth's thick atmosphere and benign magnetic shield. This can both limit the duration of manned missions, and lead to deteriorating performance of crew-members exposed to health-damaging levels of solar radiation and cosmic rays. Another factor is in the composition of materials used in the actual construction of spacecraft, which if largely comprising metallic alloys, give rise to strong secondary radiation when highly-charged incoming particles impact their casings at high velocities, discharging even greater levels of ionisation directly from within the metal infrastructure of the spacecraft itself. Given that most vehicles launched from Earth are by necessity lightweight, with thin-gauge metal alloy paneling enclosing crew compartments, then the hazard levels for astronauts are quite high, even when partially protected in Low Earth Orbit, by Earth's enclosing magnetic envelope.

The process of deployment elements of constructions and adjustment of the radio-reflecting network of large-sized transformable space-based reflector with the use of a cable-stayed form maintenance system is considered. The deployment process can be broken down into separate phases. At each stage, the movement is due to the impact on the design of the actuator — the element of the control system. Energy for the deployment of the reflector elements is produced by drives, in particular an electric machine. The use of this type of actuator allows you to control the process of disclosure. Due to the fact that currently achieved a huge process in computer technology that allows you to perform three-dimensional computing operations in a short time, it is particularly important to use optimal control algorithms. When deployment the reflector for two types of motion — rotational and translational — mathematical models based on Lagrange equations of the II-kind are obtained. These mathematical models take into account such parameters as dissipation, the presence of longitudinal and transverse deformation.
The models provide for the presence of a stop and a lock, as an Executive element in the deployment selected brushless DC motor. All the observations made allow us to formulate a smooth statement disclose items on the stop with minimum oscillation of the structure. The developed models allow to analyze the n-th number of natural oscillation frequencies. Modeling with different parameters of the model is carried out. The parameters of the transition process of the spoke at the opening of the first link with the other links embedded in it and at the fully covered spoke are analyzed. It is shown that depending on the mass-dimensional parameters there is a significant change in the dynamics. For the spoke extension stage, the weight and size characteristics have little effect on the opening dynamics. The smaller the Young’s modulus and density of the material, the greater the damped longitudinal oscillations.. The simulation of this stage with a spoke made of different materials is carried out. Various methods are proposed to reduce the opening time at all stages and minimize transverse and longitudinal oscillations.
The possibility of application of the developed mathematical models for a wide range of tasks is shown.

The process of deployment elements of constructions and adjustment of the radio-reflecting network of large-sized transformable space-based reflector is considered. The reflector consists of a frontal network, which is stretched on the power frame, cables, with which the front network is pulled to the rear network to set the desired shape of the reflecting
surface. The problem of setting and determining the shape of the radio-reflective network is solved both in one plane and in three planes. In general, the task of adjusting the form of a radio reflecting reticle is solved by affecting the design of the actuators — the element of the control system. For the correct functioning of the reflector in orbit, it is necessary to control the shape of the reflecting surface by stretching the frontal network. For the formation and maintenance of the shape of the reflector, the frontal and rear networks are connecte d by cable-stayed reinforcements (tie rods). The cable connect the opposite network nodes. The cable system is the basis for building a sub-system. Miniature  mechatronic modules can be located on each of the adju stable guys. To adjust the shape in one plane, the technique of flexible threads is applied.
The possibility of changing the surface by simultaneous action of one or more actuators is sho wn. To adjust the shape in space, the membrane method described by the Laplace equation is used. The piezo actuator, DC motor and servomotor are considered as actuators for setting t he shape. As a mathematical model of the piezoactuator, the model of A. A. Nikolsky
is considered. The system is solved taking into account rigid fixation of the reflector response. A comparison of the use of PID-controller and optimal controller. The structure of optimal control is revealed from the maximum principle. The arising two-point boundary value problem is solved by the methods of the steepest descent and Newton. It is shown that the use of optimal control can reduce the time of the transition process. A similar problem was solved for DC motor and servo
motor. The advantage of using optim al control methods is shown for all actuators. The solution of the problem with the help of algorithm with correction of parameters of control structure is offered.

In this paper, we consider the solution of the filtering problem using the Kalman filter with the optimal tuning of the radio-reflecting net. A large-sized transformable space-based reflector is considered. In the process of placing in orbit this structure, it is possible that the real form of the radio-reflecting net can deviate the desired one. To ensure point-to-point adjustment of the active part of the mesh, a cable-cable system is used. The nodal points of the radio-reflecting surface are connected to the back side of the net through cables. They have built-in actuators that allow you to change the length of the cables. A piezo actuator was selected as a control device. By point-by-point adjustment of the piezo actuators, the net is stretched to the required shape. This allows you to provide a high-quality radiation pattern and a high signal level when receiving and transmitting data. Specific values of the disturbing influences are given. To measure the supply voltage on the piezo actuator and the cable length, a voltage converter and a laser scanner are used. Possible deviations from the calculated initial position are determined. In accordance with the principle of separation, the estimation problem is solved first, then the control problem. The estimation problem is solved using the Kalman filter. The control problem is solved using the optimal control algorithm according to the hierarchy of target criteria. The results of numerical simulation are presented. The successful solution of the problem is
shown with variable values of measurement noise and disturbing influences. Comparison with trajectories obtained using various optimal control algorithms is given.

This article discusses the process of deployment a two-link spoke of a large-sized transformable space-based reflector. In view of the high costs of carrying out field tests, the construction of correct mathematical models is an urgent task. Currently, the creation of large-sized systems
is actively developing. Such systems consist of several interconnected links. When delivered to a given orbit, the large-sized system is folded for placement in the launch vehicle. After entering the orbit, it is deployed to the specified operating state. A mathematical model has been developed for the deployment of the spoke, improved in terms of taking into account the separation of parameters depending on the length and time, which makes it possible to study the arising vibrations of the structure. It is important to take into account the backlash in the connections. Even small gaps in the spoke link connections can lead to a manifold increase in the stabilization time of the system. The developed mathematical model makes it possible to consider various conditions for linking links, change the mass-dimensional parameters and materials of the spoke. The results of modeling are presented, showing the correctness of mathematical models. Conclusions are made about the admissibility of using mathematical models for spokes consisting of a larger number of links.

This paper discusses the DC motor control applied to a large-sized transformable reflector when tuning a radar-reflecting netting. For technology used in outer space, energy efficiency is an important indicator. For large-sized structures, additional requirements are set to minimize the structural vibration. Fluctuations in the active surface of the reflector's netting affect the directivity diagram, so the radar-reflective form must be adjusted gradually. This paper investigates the possibility of minimizing the energy costs of motor control by applying real-time optimal control algorithms. Numerical simulation results showing the possibility of using the proposed algorithm are presented. The problem of exact fulfillment of terminal conditions is solved. The study results allow control optimization for different types of DC motors.

The pseudo-bistable phenomenon already shown to exist in the case of spherical domes is demonstrated in pre-stressed composite panels. This new concept for morphing structures uses intrinsic material viscoelasticity to actuate the structure passively between its different states. A pseudo-bistable structure is first snapped into a buckled state and allowed to relax under a constant strain. Once the actuation is removed, the structure remains in its buckled configuration for a period of time, before quickly returning to its initial state. In this paper, the principles of the pseudo-bistable behaviour are first outlined using a discrete truss model. An equivalent numerical model is then used to show how the time-dependent behaviour imparted to the structure can be controlled by the choice of the pre-straining boundary conditions. Next, the effect of a composite layup on the pseudo-bistable behaviour is shown, and a volume fraction limit is given. Finally, preliminary experimental results confirm the numerical simulations.

Adaptive metamaterial skins promise a shift from passive shielding to distributed
structural intelligence. This manuscript presents a simulation-based architecture in
which a Kagome lattice, phase-frequency photonic signaling, and a neuromorphic dual-
key commit layer are combined into a single adaptive control medium. The work is
intentionally framed as engineering rather than metaphysics: ideas associated with
Orch-OR are used only as a control analogy for protected weak-signal routing, reso-
nant local amplification, timing-gated relevance, and thresholded state commitment
(Hameroff and Penrose 2014; Tegmark 2000).
The resulting design workflow spans geometry discovery, material-regime screening,
photonic signaling comparison, integrated Phase-4 validation, and a newer architecture
benchmark comparing baseline, dual-SNN, predictive photonic, single-ORCH, and bi-
lateral ORCH controllers. Across the earlier integrated validation suite, the framework
achieved a conservative composite score of Sglobal = 0.5339, with strongest behavior
in regional activation precision and mixed-medium classification. In the newer haz-
ard benchmark, the calibrated bilateral ORCH controller achieved mean phase loss
of 0.00554, mean recovery time of 193.59 steps, and mean residual stress of 0.02421
while using substantially less control energy than the predictive-photonic controller
(1842.63 versus 2998.15 energy units). These results support a serious but bounded
claim: biological quantum-control hypotheses can inspire a research-grade architecture
for adaptive photonic metamaterial skins without requiring literal claims of conscious-
ness or gravitational collapse in hardware.

This paper presents the complete integrated architecture of Foam Angel: a 27-facet, tension distributed spacecraft whose hull is constructed entirely from graphene nanotube triadic junctions assembled in microgravity via cymatics-guided nanobot swarms. The craft operates on the Pi-Shear Rotational Grammar (PFUH), in which the constant pi serves as the unsheared rotational baseline and phi governs recursive shear, producing a 27-dimensional stiffness eigenvalue model that maps directly to the craft's facet geometry. The central advance of this paper over the prior Foam Angel architecture is the replacement of separate structural, computational, sensing, power, and communication subsystems with a single unified graphene nanotube lattice in which all five functions are performed simultaneously by the same carbon atoms. At the triadic Y-junction nodes, the natural chirality distribution of single-walled carbon nanotubes (approximately one-third metallic, two-thirds semiconducting) reproduces the 3-12-2 branching grammar and the A / A*(1/phi) / A*(1/phi^2) voltage logic of the Pi-Shear framework without engineering intervention. The null facet at n=15 (K=0 in the Pi-Shear Kernel) is identified as a topological junction state in graphene nanoribbon physics-a topologically protected quantum boundary state that constitutes the craft's surfing aperture at the 72-degree inversion point. The full system operates as a unified loop: hull samples tension field at electron Fermi velocity, triadic junctions solve the 27D eigenvalue problem through lattice equilibration (not computation), pi-orbital flux harvests power from field traversal, and bandgap modulation steers the craft by redirecting internal tension. At CNT FET gate speeds of approximately 10 picoseconds, the craft executes an estimated 100 billion sense-compute-actuate cycles per second-indistinguishable in response speed from the field it rides.

Among Canada’s early space pioneers, no one can match the career of Bruce Alexander Aikenhead in terms of involvement in the full spectrum of Canada’s early space initiatives. Aikenhead helped build Canadian science and communications satellites and the Canadarm for the United States Space Shuttle. He helped train the first astronauts for both the U.S. and Canada, and even worked on a program aimed at using cannons to launch projectiles to high altitudes. Born in 1923, Aikenhead served in World War II as a radar mechanic with the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Royal Air Force before studies at the University of Western Ontario in physics and mathematics. Aikenhead joined CAE Industries in Montreal in 1955 where he worked on CAE’s aircraft simulators, and continued in this field when he joined Avro Canada in 1958. Avro was building the CF-105 Avro Arrow jet interceptor, and after the program was cancelled in 1959, Aikenhead became one of 32 Avro engineers hired by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in the United States to work on its fledgling human space program. At NASA, he helped set up astronaut training in the Mercury program, and then returned to Canada in 1962, rejoining CAE Industries. He worked for Canadian cannon researcher Gerald Bull on his controversial high altitude cannon program in 1966 and 1967. Aikenhead then joined RCA Canada, where he worked on Canadian satellite programs, starting with the ISIS 2 upper atmosphere research satellite and then the groundbreaking Communications Technology Satellite, also known as Hermes. Once Hermes was launched in 1976, Aikenhead went to work as systems engineer for the Space Shuttle Remote Manipulator System, or the Canadarm, which was built by Spar Aerospace in cooperation with the National Research Council of Canada. When the Canadarm reached operational status in 1983 just as NASA invited Canada to send astronauts into space, the NRC moved Aikenhead to the Canadian Astronaut Program. When the Canadian Space Agency was set up in 1989, Aikenhead was named Director General of the Canadian Astronaut Program, and served in that role until he retired in March, 1993. Today Canada remains a leader in communications and scientific satellites, and Canadian astronauts and Canadarm2 are integral parts of the International Space Station, all things that were touched by Bruce Aikenhead. His career embodies the international cooperation that lies at the heart of Canada’s space program.

This paper analyzes the creation and management of a robotics student team, introducing a "flexible project management" approach tailored to educational, voluntary and competitive settings. Drawing on the Beyond Robotics team as a case study, it presents adaptable methodologies addressing challenges such as voluntary participation, limited resources, and member turnover. The framework covers recruitment, skill development, communication, creativity, and continuity planning through mentorship and knowledge transfer. By applying agile and lean methods, it identifies best practices to enhance team resilience, innovation, and sustainability, offering educators and student leaders a practical guide for effective organization and long-term success.

El Hubble nació con un error que lo volvió miope, pero su diseño permitió repararlo y transformarlo en un triunfo del ingenio. Cinco misiones lo convirtieron en un Barco de Teseo cuya continuidad depende del conocimiento transmitido. Tras el fin de los transbordadores, veteranos y software extendieron su vida más allá de lo previsto. Su legado es la persistencia y la capacidad humana de rehacer lo que parecía perdido.

A concept for three-phase Russian Mars and Venus exploration programs has been developed, based on existing projects and the principle of universality to minimize the impact on the budget and industrial capacities. Optimal interplanetary trajectories to Venus and Mars were analyzed and selected for 8 missions across the three phases. Interplanetary CubeSats equipped with main propulsion systems, as well as CubeSats for orbital research constellations, were designed using Kompas-3D software.
Prototypes were selected for the Small Universal Flight Module (Phase 1) and the Universal Flight Module (Phase 2). A prototype for the Phase 2 orbiters was also defined. Various payload options were proposed for the ExoMars landing platform to be utilized in Phase 3. Additionally, a thermal control system concept was proposed to extend the operational lifespan of the Venera-D lander (Phase 3).

As NASA's Artemis program inaugurates a new era of human deep-space exploration, the development of autonomous navigation systems capable of operating independently of Earth-based infrastructure has become an operational imperative. This study investigated the design, implementation, and validation of an integrated artificial intelligence (AI) framework combining convolutional neural network (CNN)–based optical navigation with reinforcement learning (RL)–based trajectory optimization for autonomous guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) in cislunar space, informed by NASA's Artemis II crewed lunar flyby mission launched on April 1, 2026. The study employed a simulation-based experimental design incorporating Circular Restricted Three-Body Problem (CRTBP) dynamics and realistic optical imaging models. A CNN crater detection module processed synthetic navigation imagery against the Robbins (2019) global lunar crater catalog, an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) fused optical measurements with inertial data for continuous state estimation, and a Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO) reinforcement learning agent computed fuel-optimal trajectory correction maneuvers in real time. Performance was evaluated across 13 quantitative criteria using 200 Monte Carlo simulation runs. The integrated system met 9 of 13 performance criteria, achieving CNN crater detection precision of 0.890, mean average precision of 0.862 at IoU 0.50, crater matching accuracy of 0.866, and position determination within approximately 5 km using purely autonomous onboard processing. The RL controller achieved mean fuel savings of 14.82% over the classical proportional-derivative baseline while simultaneously reducing position tracking error by 22.8%, demonstrating a Pareto improvement in the fuel-accuracy trade space. The system operated within real-time computational constraints (CNN: 0.74 s, EKF: 41 ms, RL: 6.8 ms per cycle), confirming onboard deployment feasibility. The framework is assessed at Technology Readiness Level 3–4 and provides a validated pathway toward AI-enhanced autonomous navigation for Artemis missions and future deep-space exploration in GPS-denied environments.

The safe execution of crewed deep-space missions demands autonomous spacecraft health monitoring systems capable of detecting anomalies in real time without reliance on ground-based intervention. This dissertation developed, implemented, and evaluated a hybrid deep learning framework for autonomous anomaly detection in spacecraft telemetry, designed for application to the Artemis II Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle—the first crewed lunar flyby mission in over 50 years. The study employed a semi-supervised learning paradigm, training six anomaly detection models—including a novel Hybrid Ensemble combining Long Short-Term Memory Autoencoder (LSTM-AE) and Transformer architectures—on the NASA Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) and Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) benchmark telemetry datasets encompassing 20 channels and over 229,000 data points. The Hybrid Ensemble achieved an F1-score of .944, an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC-ROC) of .971, and a point-adjust F1-score of .995, substantially outperforming traditional baselines including One-Class Support Vector Machine (F1 = .618) and Isolation Forest (F1 = .629), as well as the individual LSTM-AE (F1 = .896) and Transformer (F1 = .889) models. Digital twin integration incorporating JPL Horizons trajectory analysis, NASA DONKI space weather monitoring, and multi-modal anomaly fusion demonstrated the feasibility of a comprehensive spacecraft health monitoring ecosystem. Computational efficiency analysis confirmed deployment viability on space-grade hardware, with the Hybrid Ensemble requiring only 0.941 MB of memory and achieving inference latency of 0.726 ms per telemetry window. These findings advance the state of the art in spacecraft integrated vehicle health management and provide an empirically validated framework for enhancing crew safety and mission assurance in the autonomous deep-space operations envisioned for Artemis III and future Mars expeditions.

Gravitational free fall demonstrates that the spacetime geometric field can accelerate a macroscopic object-regardless of mass, composition, or internal structure-collectively and without inertial stress arising from force propagation. We identify this as a natural implementation of inertial dampening, operating via the equivalence principle. The geometric field induces the same geodesic motion in every particle of an object, producing acceleration without the stress propagation that characterises mechanical force. The stress-free property applies symmetrically to deceleration: geometric coupling is independent of the sign of the acceleration vector, so a vessel enveloped in a uniform geometric field experiences no inertial stress whether starting, cruising, or stopping. We contrast this with mechanical acceleration, identify tidal forces as the key distinction between natural and artificial geometric coupling, and argue that an artificially generated geometric field-engineered to be uniform throughout a vessel volume-would produce acceleration without inertial stress on occupants or structure. We present the O(N)-to-O(1) Collective Coupling Principle: the geodesic equation governing free fall contains no N-dependence, meaning the geometric field accelerates N ∼ 10 23 particles identically with no N-scaling in the governing equation, constituting a direct empirical proof of collective geometric coupling at macroscopic scales. We provide an order-of-magnitude estimate, using a weak-field scaling approximation, of the stress-energy density required to generate artificial geometric coupling, quantifying the engineering gap. We discuss the connection to the Quantum Entangled Localizations (QEL) framework [1], in which collective geometric coupling is the central unsolved foundational requirement, and identify natural inertial dampening as the experimental and theoretical stepping stone toward geometric transport. No new physics is required: the mechanism already operates continuously in nature. Contents

Разрабатывается система управления движением зарядной станции, спускаемой с судна-носителя на кабельтросе в условиях морской качки. При этом рассматривается режим погружения зарядной станции на большую глубину и последующий режим стабилизации ее положения. Для указанных режимов разработана математическая модель системы управления с учетом распределенности массы длинного кабель-троса, интервальной неопределенности параметров звена «трос -зарядная станция» и наличия трения кабель-троса о воду. С целью компенсации влияния морской качки в указанных режимах предлагается использовать линейный робастный регулятор, управляющий установленной на зарядной станции амортизирующей лебедкой. На основе коэффициентного метода проведены параметрический синтез робастного регулятора и моделирование системы управления зарядной станцией. Ключевые слова: зарядная станция, интервальная неопределенность, распределенные параметры, математическая модель, присоединенная масса воды, трение, морская качка.

This paper presents a comprehensive examination of advanced aerospace structures and materials, focusing on their critical role in modern aerospace engineering applications. The study explores the evolution of structural design principles, material selection strategies, and performance optimization techniques used in high-speed and high-temperature environments. Emphasis is placed on lightweight structural systems, high-strength alloys, composite materials, and emerging smart materials that enhance efficiency, durability, and safety.

The paper further investigates the mechanical behavior of aerospace materials under extreme loading conditions, including thermal stress, fatigue, and aerodynamic forces. Advanced manufacturing techniques, such as additive manufacturing and hybrid material integration, are also discussed as key enablers of next-generation aerospace systems. Additionally, the research highlights the importance of structural reliability, damage tolerance, and sustainability in aerospace design.

By integrating theoretical concepts with practical engineering applications, this work provides a structured framework for understanding the relationship between material innovation and structural performance. The findings contribute to the development of more efficient, resilient, and high-performance aerospace systems, supporting ongoing advancements in both civil and military aviation.

On January 14, 2004, the President of the United States unveiled a new vision for robotic and human exploration of space entitled, "A Renewed Spirit of Discovery". As stated by the President in the Vision for Space Exploration (VSE), NASA must "…implement a sustained and affordable human and robotic program to explore the solar system and beyond " and "…develop new technologies and harness the moon's abundant resources to allow manned exploration of more challenging environments." A key to fulfilling the goal of sustained and affordable human and robotic exploration will be the ability to use resources that are available at the site of exploration to "live off the land" instead of bringing everything from Earth, known as In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU). ISRU can significantly reduce the mass, cost, and risk of exploration through capabilities such as: mission consumable production (propellants, fuel cell reagents, life support consumables, and feedstock for manufacturing & construction); surface construction (radiation shields, landing pads, walls, habitats, etc.); manufacturing and repair with in-situ resources (spare parts, wires, trusses, integrated systems etc.); and space utilities and power from space resources. On January 27 th , 2004 the President's Commission on Implementation of U.S. Space Exploration Policy (Aldridge Committee) was created and its final report was released in June 2004. One of the report's recommendations was to establish special project teams to evaluate enabling technologies, of which "Planetary in situ resource utilization" was one of them. Based on the VSE and the commission's final report, NASA established fifteen Capability Roadmap teams, of which ISRU was one of the teams established. From Oct. 2004 to May 2005 the ISRU Capability Roadmap team examined the capabilities, benefits, architecture and mission implementation strategy, critical decisions, current state-of-the-art (SOA), challenges, technology gaps, and risks of ISRU for future human Moon and Mars exploration. This presentation will provide an overview of the ISRU capability, architecture, and implementation strategy examined by the ISRU Capability Roadmap team, along with a top-level review of ISRU benefits, resources and products of interest, and the current SOA in ISRU processes and systems. The presentation will also highlight the challenges of incorporating ISRU into future missions and the gaps in technologies and capabilities that need to be filled to enable ISRU.

On January 14, 2004, the President of the United States unveiled a new vision for robotic and human exploration of space entitled, "A Renewed Spirit of Discovery". As stated by the President in the Vision for Space Exploration (VSE), NASA must "…implement a sustained and affordable human and robotic program to explore the solar system and beyond " and "…develop new technologies and harness the moon's abundant resources to allow manned exploration of more challenging environments." A key to fulfilling the goal of sustained and affordable human and robotic exploration will be the ability to use resources that are available at the site of exploration to "live off the land" instead of bringing everything from Earth, known as In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU). ISRU can significantly reduce the mass, cost, and risk of exploration through capabilities such as: mission consumable production (propellants, fuel cell reagents, life support consumables, and feedstock for manufacturing & construction); surface construction (radiation shields, landing pads, walls, habitats, etc.); manufacturing and repair with in-situ resources (spare parts, wires, trusses, integrated systems etc.); and space utilities and power from space resources. On January 27 th , 2004 the President's Commission on Implementation of U.S. Space Exploration Policy (Aldridge Committee) was created and its final report was released in June 2004. One of the report's recommendations was to establish special project teams to evaluate enabling technologies, of which "Planetary in situ resource utilization" was one of them. Based on the VSE and the commission's final report, NASA established fifteen Capability Roadmap teams, of which ISRU was one of the teams established. From Oct. 2004 to May 2005 the ISRU Capability Roadmap team examined the capabilities, benefits, architecture and mission implementation strategy, critical decisions, current state-of-the-art (SOA), challenges, technology gaps, and risks of ISRU for future human Moon and Mars exploration. This presentation will provide an overview of the ISRU capability, architecture, and implementation strategy examined by the ISRU Capability Roadmap team, along with a top-level review of ISRU benefits, resources and products of interest, and the current SOA in ISRU processes and systems. The presentation will also highlight the challenges of incorporating ISRU into future missions and the gaps in technologies and capabilities that need to be filled to enable ISRU.

On January 14, 2004, the President of the United States unveiled a new vision for robotic and human exploration of space entitled, "A Renewed Spirit of Discovery". As stated by the President in the Vision for Space Exploration (VSE), NASA must "…implement a sustained and affordable human and robotic program to explore the solar system and beyond " and "…develop new technologies and harness the moon's abundant resources to allow manned exploration of more challenging environments." A key to fulfilling the goal of sustained and affordable human and robotic exploration will be the ability to use resources that are available at the site of exploration to "live off the land" instead of bringing everything from Earth, known as In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU). ISRU can significantly reduce the mass, cost, and risk of exploration through capabilities such as: mission consumable production (propellants, fuel cell reagents, life support consumables, and feedstock for manufacturing & construction); surface construction (radiation shields, landing pads, walls, habitats, etc.); manufacturing and repair with in-situ resources (spare parts, wires, trusses, integrated systems etc.); and space utilities and power from space resources. On January 27 th , 2004 the President's Commission on Implementation of U.S. Space Exploration Policy (Aldridge Committee) was created and its final report was released in June 2004. One of the report's recommendations was to establish special project teams to evaluate enabling technologies, of which "Planetary in situ resource utilization" was one of them. Based on the VSE and the commission's final report, NASA established fifteen Capability Roadmap teams, of which ISRU was one of the teams established. From Oct. 2004 to May 2005 the ISRU Capability Roadmap team examined the capabilities, benefits, architecture and mission implementation strategy, critical decisions, current state-of-the-art (SOA), challenges, technology gaps, and risks of ISRU for future human Moon and Mars exploration. This presentation will provide an overview of the ISRU capability, architecture, and implementation strategy examined by the ISRU Capability Roadmap team, along with a top-level review of ISRU benefits, resources and products of interest, and the current SOA in ISRU processes and systems. The presentation will also highlight the challenges of incorporating ISRU into future missions and the gaps in technologies and capabilities that need to be filled to enable ISRU.

Il capitolo analizza la roadmap del Piano Mattei applicata alla cooperazione spaziale tra Italia e Africa, evidenziando come lo sviluppo del settore spaziale possa rappresentare un motore strategico per la crescita tecnologica, economica e sociale del continente africano. L’iniziativa mira alla creazione di un ecosistema sostenibile fondato su innovazione, infrastrutture e cooperazione internazionale, attraverso una collaborazione strutturata tra governi, istituzioni scientifiche, università e imprese. La strategia proposta si articola in cinque fasi principali: la definizione delle fondamenta normative e della governance dei programmi spaziali; lo sviluppo di capacità operative tramite progetti pilota in settori quali telemedicina, agricoltura di precisione e gestione delle risorse naturali; l’espansione delle infrastrutture e delle attività di ricerca e innovazione; la formazione di capitale umano qualificato mediante programmi educativi e scambi accademici; e infine il rafforzamento della cooperazione internazionale per la realizzazione di missioni scientifiche congiunte. In questo contesto, particolare rilevanza è attribuita al ruolo delle tecnologie spaziali e digitali, alla cybersicurezza e alla condivisione dei dati satellitari come strumenti fondamentali per sostenere lo sviluppo sostenibile, migliorare la sicurezza alimentare, la gestione dei disastri e l’accesso ai servizi. Il Piano Mattei si configura pertanto come un quadro strategico volto a rafforzare la partnership tra Italia e Africa e a promuovere un’integrazione più ampia del continente africano nell’economia spaziale globale.

Mikros – (meaning for micro in Latin) is a compact flush spacecraft toilet designed to operate in microgravity and lunar gravity environments. This toilet is designed to provide improved comfort and convenience levels for the astronaut crew members in NASA’s deep space missions. The concept is focussed on offering improved ergonomics, easy maintenance and impedance of burping issues. Since the focus of this toilet design is on odor elimination and flush maintenance, the design and the ergonomics of the toilet bowl were given importance during conceptualization. The toilet bowl consists of porous holes drilled along it’s lateral surface, made from Carbon Fiber. A current of compressed air of desirable baric pressure is fed into these holes to create a two-pressure difference region, with a vacuum pump to pull down the solid waste into the collection chamber via suction. The design thus ensures that the waste particle will not adhere to the toilet bowl surface. The project scope is substantially focused on compact sizing and control of power consumption, noise decibel levels within competition limits, as a submission for NASA’s Lunar Loo Challenge in August 2020.

When spacecraft swing past Earth to change their trajectory (a routine maneuver called a gravity assist), precise radio tracking sometimes reveals that the spacecraft's speed after the encounter does not match what physics predicts. This mismatch, called the flyby anomaly, has been observed in several missions since 1990 but remains unexplained after 35 years of investigation.

We analyze all twelve documented Earth flybys (1990–2013) using a geometric scoring function, S, that combines three measurable quantities: how asymmetrically the spacecraft's path crosses Earth's equatorial plane, how close the spacecraft comes to Earth, and how fast it is traveling. This score uses only pre-encounter orbital geometry with no mission-specific tuning. Three globally fixed parameters are applied identically to all twelve flybys. The score correctly classifies eleven of the twelve: every confirmed null is predicted null, and every confirmed anomaly is predicted anomaly. It also predicts the correct sign (speed increase or decrease) for all five detected cases.

However, the score produces one apparent contradiction: the 2013 Juno flyby scores higher than the 1990 Galileo I flyby, yet Juno showed no anomaly while Galileo I showed a clear one. We propose a testable explanation. The high-precision gravity maps of Earth built from the GRACE satellite mission (2002–2017) may have unknowingly absorbed the flyby effect into their mathematical description of Earth's gravity field. This would cause modern trajectory analyses to subtract it out as "normal gravity." We describe four concrete tests that could confirm or refute this hypothesis and note that the critical test, reprocessing historical flyby data with pre-GRACE gravity models, has never been performed.

(SDSU) hosted a regional space design competition in the spring of 2025 to spark high school students' interest in aeronautics and aerospace while preparing future generations for these critically important and highly demanding fields. During the competition, students were grouped into teams, with each team tasked with designing and planning a settlement on Mars. SDSU faculty, graduate students, and industry professionals served as mentors to provide guidance to the participants. After submitting their design documents, each team delivered a 20-minute presentation to a panel of judges, followed by a 10-minute Q&A session. This paper presents a project completed by one team to illustrate how the competition fostered creativity and introduced students to the challenges of space habitation and exploration. Lessons learned from this event will help the College organize future programs to engage K-12 students in space-related engineering and science activities, increasing their awareness of these fields. Such efforts can effectively attract young talent to aerospace and aeronautics, addressing the nation's critical need for professionals in these areas.

Since the mid-20th century, macroscopic deep-space colony concepts, represented by the "O'Neill Cylinder," have long been trapped in the underlying dead end of Newtonian mechanics and classical continuum mechanics. Traditional designs blindly rely on the high-speed non-inertial rotation of massive structures, attempting to "simulate" gravity with an outward Centrifugal Pseudo-force; this phenomenological compromise, which violates spacetime geodesics, not only generates an extreme Hoop Stress ($\sigma_{\theta}$) on the geometric manifold that diverges quadratically and is sufficient to tear apart any conventional metal lattice, but also leads to an exponential divergence in the thermodynamic transportation costs launched from the mother planet's gravity well due to the unlimited stacking of "Dead Mass" required to defend against cosmic rays and high-energy perturbations. Grounded in the underlying topological dynamics of the Grand Unified Theory of the Cosmic Mind (GUTCM), this research thoroughly discards the low-dimensional dissipative paradigm of centrifugal force simulation and formally proposes a completely new artificial planetary architectural framework based on Micro-Controllable Nuclear Fusion under Topological Constraint.
This paper demonstrates for the first time that precisely anchoring a "Calabi-Yau Micro-Galactic Fusion Reactor" as an absolute geometric singularity at the topological center of a space station will trigger an ontological leap in architectural geometry. Through the "Geometric Gap Effect" crossing the microscopic horizon, the system controllably inserts zero-mass particles possessing complete information deadlocks from the mother universe into the event horizon of the artificial quark. This geometric intrusion destroys the smoothness of the horizon and triggers quantum vacuum drag, precisely forging a micro black hole effect that constantly radiates outward an absolutely smooth true spacetime curvature (gravitational tensor) equivalent to 1G on the Earth's surface. Under the absolute anchoring of this true centripetal gravity, the macroscopic structure of the deep-space colony inevitably undergoes a topological phase transition, collapsing and restructuring from a fragile "high-speed rotating centrifugal cylinder" into "Absolutely Stationary Concentric Spheres."
This geometric leap thoroughly eliminates the tensile limit crisis at the structural boundary. The system's rotational angular velocity returning to zero (ω=0) causes the tensile stress to instantaneously dissipate, and the architectural materials only need to withstand inward Static Compressive Stress. This physical reversal thoroughly relieves aerospace engineering's reliance on ultra-advanced nanomaterials, establishing the thermodynamic feasibility of utilizing rough silicates and conventional alloys from the asteroid belt for In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU). Simultaneously, to resolve the limit waste heat of the fusion reactor, the system extracts subspace-native deadlocked particles to forge a micro white hole effect, generating intense Topological Repulsion and artificial redshift to drive the geometric dissipation of extreme waste heat. Furthermore, utilizing the massive electromagnetic margin overflowing from the fusion reactor, the system stretches open a planetary-scale Lorentz magnetosphere locked by high-frequency information photons and an active plasma defense net in the peripheral vacuum, thoroughly phasing out passive substantive dead mass armor.
In summary, from the perspective of underlying geometry and information dynamics, this research constructs the ultimate deep-space topological container for human civilization, capable of withstanding the absolute vacuum of the universe, possessing true gravity and endless energy. As for the extremely complex ecological thermodynamic dynamic equilibrium (CELSS) and carbon-based life evolutionary matrix within this physical container, following the principle of least action (δS=0), they are formally handed over to the fields of ecology and bioengineering of all humanity for subsequent convergence and fine-tuning.