yasutaka satou

LiteBIRD is a space mission aimed to measure the polarization signal of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). One of the telescopes of LiteBIRD is the low-frequency telescope which has two aluminum reflectors. The reflectors are designed with thin surfaces to minimize the weight of the reflectors. Due to the thinness of the surfaces, there is a potential risk of deformation due to machining and thermal stresses. We need to establish the fabrication methodology to achieve the required surface accuracy and maintain it throughout the operation period. This paper describes the fabrication and prototyping of the half-scaled reflector and the evaluation of the surface accuracy as a demonstration. We confirmed that we can achieve an accuracy of the reflector surface of less than 10 mu\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} $$\begin{document}$$\upmu$$\end{document}$$ m RMS. Additionally, the deformation after the thermal cycle test was less than 2 mu\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} $$\begin{document}$$\upmu$$\end{document}$$ m RMS. These meet our requirements for CMB observation.

Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) is a mission under development in JAXA in cooperation with NASA, CNES, ESA, DLR to be launched in 2024. This paper introduces the result of its preliminary design and the latest status of the MMX program, putting more weight on the novel part of the mission. The goal of MMX is to reveal the origin of the Martian moons and then to make progress in our understanding of planetary system formation and of primordial material transport around the border between the inner-and the outer part of the early solar system. Additionally, the mission is to survey two Martian moons and return samples from Phobos. Add to those MMX's contribution to the planetary science field, on the growing discussion on the International Space Exploration activities, MMX's contribution to future human Mars exploration is also considered as an essential aspect of the program. Following the system definition study results presented in the previous conference, the following items will be reported in this paper. First, as a result of the comprehensive completion of the Phase-B activities, the preliminary design is completed in coordination with the design of the spacecraft system, mission instruments, and operation plans. This paper describes the proximity and surface operations around Phobos in detail. Second, Phase-C activities have started, incorporating engineering models manufacturing and tests. Those of critical technologies for surface exploration are described in detail. Moreover third, the programmatic aspects, including international cooperation frameworks and the program schedule, are presented.

This paper addresses the ways by which the releasing and deploying behaviors of a creased space membrane can be predicted accurately. Although existing studies have analyzed the released shape of a creased membrane by considering the elasto-plastic properties, the shape did not agree with the experimental results when the membrane was tightly creased. To examine the released shape of the membrane, creasing and releasing experiments are first conducted. The experimental results indicate that the opening angle of the crease increases with increasing elapsed time after the release due to stress relaxation. The stress relaxation behavior is predicted using finite element analysis (FEA) by considering the visco-elasto-plastic material properties. In addition, an analytical model of the releasing and deploying membrane has been proposed here. The results of the FEA and the analytical model indicate that the released angles are in good agreement with those in the experimental results. Thus, the effects of viscosity are considered important for predicting the releasing behavior of the space membrane.