The Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON, is a new NASA Explorer mission that will explore the boundary between Earth and space to understand the physical connection between our world and our space environment. This connection is made in the ionosphere, which has long been known to exhibit variability associated with the sun and solar wind. However, it has been recognized in the 21st century that equally significant changes in ionospheric conditions are apparently associated with energy and momentum The Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) mission Edited by Doug Rowland and Thomas J. Immel B T.J. Immel

ICON Far UltraViolet (FUV) imager contributes to the ICON science objectives by providing remote sensing measurements of the daytime and nighttime atmosphere/ionosphere. During sunlit atmospheric conditions, ICON FUV images the limb altitude profile in the shortwave (SW) band at 135.6 nm and the longwave (LW) band at 157 nm perpendicular to the satellite motion to retrieve the atmospheric O/N 2 ratio. In conditions of atmospheric darkness, ICON FUV measures the 135.6 nm recombination emission of O + ions used to compute the nighttime ionospheric altitude distribution. ICON Far UltraViolet (FUV) imager is a Czerny-Turner design Spectrographic Imager with two exit slits and corresponding back imager cameras that produce two independent images in separate wavelength bands on two detectors. All observations will be processed as limb altitude profiles. In addition, the ionospheric 135.6 nm data will be processed as longitude and latitude spatial maps to obtain images of ion distributions around regions of equatorial spread F. The ICON FUV optic axis is pointed 20 degrees below local horizontal and has a steering mirror that allows the field of view to be steered up to 30 degrees forward and aft, to keep the local magnetic meridian in the field of view. The detectors are micro channel plate (MCP) intensified FUV tubes with the phosphor fiber-optically coupled to Charge Coupled Devices (CCDs). The dual stack MCP-s amplify the photoelectron signals to overcome the CCD noise and the rapidly scanned frames are co-added to digitally create 12-second integrated images. Digital on-board signal processing is used to compensate for geometric distortion and satellite motion and to achieve data compression. The instrument was originally aligned in visible light by using a special grating and visible cameras. Final alignment, functional and environmental testing and calibration were performed in a large vacuum chamber with

The Effect of a Low-Velocity Impact on the Flexural Strength and Dynamic Response of Composite Sandwiches with Damage Arrestment Devices By: Kodi A. Rider Impact strength is one of the most important structural properties for a designer to consider, but is often the most difficult to quantify or measure. A constant concern in the field of composites is the effect of foreign object impact damage because it is often undetectable by visual inspection. An impact can create interlaminar damage that often results in severe reductions in strength and instability of the structure. The main objective of this study is to determine the effectiveness of a damage arrestment device (DAD) on the mechanical behavior of composite sandwiches, following a low-velocity impact. A 7.56-lbf crosshead dropped from a height of 37.5-inches was considered for the low-velocity impact testing. In this study, the experimental and numerical analysis of composite sandwiches were investigated, which included static 4point bend and vibration testing. Composite sandwiches were constructed utilizing four-plies of Advanced Composites Group LTM45EL/CF1803 bi-directional woven carbon fiber face sheets with a General Plastics Last-A-Foam FR-6710 rigid polyurethane core. Specimens were cured in an autoclave, using the manufacturer's specified curing cycle. In addition to the experimental and numerical analysis of composite sandwiches, developing and building a data acquisition (DAQ) system for the Dynatup 8250 drop weight impact tester was accomplished. Utilizing National Instruments signal conditioning hardware, in conjunction with LabView and MATLAB, complete testing software was developed and built to provide full data acquisition for an impact test. The testing hardware and software provide complete force vs. time history and crosshead acceleration of the impact event, as well as provide instantaneous impact velocity of the projectile. The testing hardware, software, and procedures were developed and built in the Aerospace Structures/Composites laboratory at Cal Poly for approximately 15% of the cost from the manufacturer. In the first study, static 4-point bend testing was investigated to determine the residual flexural strength of composite sandwich beams following a low-velocity impact. Four different specimen cases were investigated in the 4-point bend test, with and without being impacted: first a control beam with no

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The Keck Planet Finder (KPF) is a fiber-fed, high-resolution, high-stability spectrometer in development for the W.M. Keck Observatory. To measure Doppler shifts to 0.5 m/s or better requires some of the optics be stable to 2 nm vertically and 2 nrad in pitch angle throughout a potentially one hour long observation. One traditional approach to this thermal stability problem is to build a metal bench and then control the spectrometer thermal environment to milli-Kelvin levels. An alternative approach used by KPF is to employ a Zerodur bench of extremely low coefficient of expansion (CTE), which relaxes the thermal stability required for the spectrometer assembly. Furthermore, Zerodur optics with integral mounts are used where possible, and are placed in contact with the bench through Zerodur shims. Springs are used to preload the optics and shims within pockets machined into the Zerodur bench. We will describe how this approach has been adapted for each optic (some of which are 450 mm high with a mass of 30 kg), and how the system meets our earthquake survival requirement of 0.92 g. This mounting scheme allows us to avoid using high-CTE metals or adhesives within the optic mounting system, and therefore fully exploit the high thermal stability of the Zerodur optical bench.