Search

The space economy, which refers to the diverse economic activities and industries that are related to outer space and space exploration, has been steadily growing over the years and has become a significant driver of technological innovation and economic growth. The growth of the space economy has been facilitated by technological advancements, reduced launch costs, and increased participation from private companies. This paper explores a new geographic space called "Mearth", representing the Moon and Earth as a unified space. Specifically, the paper focuses on the innovations developed within the Mearth ecosystem that can contribute to an improved future. It is a conceptual-theoretical paper aiming to identify viable solutions to attract investments, generate technologies, and establish a new ecosystem within the novel geographic space of Mearth. This contribution supports the view that the coopetition strategy - essentially entailing cooperation among competitors - could represent the most suitable approach to join efforts to implement Mearth's economic system and its ecosystem. The primary reason lies in this strategy's ability to align the divergent interests of the ecosystem stakeholders. In terms of outcomes, the paper shows that a coopetition strategy leads to win-win solutions and will benefit all stakeholders in the Mearth ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep space exploration activities can effectively promote the development and application of space technology, which holds significant scientific and strategic value. Detectors operating in deep space are of long mission periods and substantial distance from Earth, posing challenges in timely resource replenishment. Moreover, scheduled missions may face external uncertainties, hindering their smooth execution. Therefore, resource constraint processing strategies that possess dynamic adjustment capabilities play a crucial role in ensuring the successful execution of deep space detectors. Existing methods mainly focus on studying fixed mission sequences, and the efficiency of planning methods is not high. Specifically, the single uncertainty is only considered, and there is a lack of detection and processing mechanisms, rendering the requirements of deep space detectors inadequate. In this paper, we propose a reverse chain search algorithm, aiming to efficiently plan missions subject to resource constraints and let the mission sequence to possess a certain degree of dynamic repair capability. The results have demonstrated that the resource allocated to each mission is within the resource value range. Compared with the classic algorithm, the proposed algorithm has fewer iterations and whose maximum flow value is accurate. Meanwhile, the potential resource constraints problem during execution can be alerted with the detection and warning system. The missions that were warned are repaired by a dynamic resource repair system, and the proposed algorithm is of higher efficiency and a certain ability to resist external uncertainties. Overall, this paper lays a solid foundation for the processing of resource constraints for deep space detectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO), officially named as Danuri, is the Republic of Korea's first spacecraft to orbit the Moon. The goal of KPLO is to secure core deep space technology for future space exploration in Korea and contribute to lunar science by gathering data from the lunar orbit for one year. This paper presents the results of KPLO's Lunar Orbit Acquisition (LOA) phase in detail, with a particular focus on the operational results of Flight Dynamics (FD). During the LOA phase, the KPLO FD team experienced many expected and unexpected issues. These issues were mitigated by making real-time updates to the LOA phase Design Reference Mission (DRM). The paper also presents the results of the Orbit Determination (OD) and performance of each Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI) maneuver conducted during the actual flight operation. The importance of considering operational constraints when designing the DRM is emphasized by presenting lessons learned based on actual flight experiences. Unlike the original KPLO LOA phase DRM, KPLO successfully achieved the final mission orbit using only three LOI burns, instead of the planned five LOI burns and an Orbit Trim Maneuver (OTM). Despite the extensive revisions made to the DRM, all mission requirements were still fulfilled during the final lunar orbit insertion, taking into account the significant operational constraints. • Real flight operation results of the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter's lunar orbit acquisition phase are presented. • Orbit determination and lunar orbit insertion maneuver performance are analyzed based on actual flight data. • Unexpected issues during the actual flight operation were mitigated through real-time updates on the design reference mission. • Considering real-world operational constraints while designing the design reference mission is very critical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Future space projects will require space AI and robotics technology to construct, repair, and maintain satellites and space structures in orbit. The first paper is a survey paper on recent research and development activities on space robotics and AI, which introduces updated space programs and advanced technologies for future missions. Space robotics including Al is a key technology for planetary exploration as well as orbit service. [Extracted from the article]

The purpose of this paper is to study the development of space-age aesthetics culture and arts in seven decades since 1950s. The first known use of "space-age" was in 1946, and was defined as "of, relating to, or befitting the age of space exploration." A more popular definition for the "space age" is "The space age is the time period in human history related to the space race, space exploration, and space technology. Most people say this started when Sputnik 1 was launched in 1957, and continues to today. This has influenced culture such as in movies, television, music, art, and architecture." Culture, in the anthropology, is the patterns of behaviour and thinking that people living in social groups learn, create, and share. Culture distinguishes one human group from others. It also distinguishes humans from other animals. A people's culture includes their beliefs, rules of behaviour, language, rituals, art, technology, styles of dress, ways of producing and cooking food, religion, and political and economic systems. Therefore, the space-age art is one of the major elements of the space-age culture of human beings. On the other hand, the space exploration has significant inspiration and influence on the aesthetics art. In particular, the following aspects shall be studied in this paper: architecture and exhibition craftworks. • The space-age architecture and exhibition craftworks were investigated. • Five space-age architecture shapes investigated are disc, rocket, tower, spherical and combined. • Three space-age installation craftworks studied are sky waves, embroidery, planet models, etc. • Many space-age architectures are destroyed due to many reasons. • Hopefully the young generations can be inspired to carry forward these precious heritages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We introduce a graph theory model and utilize dispatchable STN to address the mission planning problem for deep space detectors. • The proposed algorithm efficiently decreases the network scale and streamline the computational workload. • Our proposed algorithm effectively tackles the challenge of dynamic mission scheduling to effectively handle emergencies. Deep space exploration activities can effectively promote the development and application of space technology, which holds significant scientific and strategic value. The multi-mission and long-period detector is executed in deep space, and numerous temporal constraints are generated by mission planning. Moreover, scheduled missions may face external uncertainties, hindering their smooth execution. Therefore, temporal constraint processing strategies that possess dynamic adjustment capabilities play a crucial role in ensuring the successful execution of deep space detectors. Existing methods primarily concentrate on investigating fixed mission series, with limited efficiency in planning. Specifically, these methods do not rigorously enforce temporal constraints and lack the capability to handle the disruptions caused by emergencies, which hinder the smooth execution of planned missions. In this paper, we propose a dynamic temporal constraints algorithm, aiming to efficiently plan missions subject to temporal constraints and let it possess a certain degree of dynamic adjust capability. The simulation results demonstrate the effective simplification of redundant temporal constraints in mission networks by the proposed algorithm. In comparison to the classical algorithm, the computation time exhibits a clear advantage. Furthermore, the proposed algorithm possesses the capability to perform local, small-scale dynamic adjustments in response to emergencies that may disrupt the normal execution of missions. Consequently, this research establishes a robust basis for addressing temporal constraints in deep space detectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to analyse the state-of-the-art of graphene-based materials and devices designed for use in space. The goal is to summarise emerging research studies, contextualise promising findings, and discuss underway strategies to address some specific space-related problems. To complete our overview of graphene-based technology and address the relevance of graphene in the wide scenario of the space economy, we also provide an analysis of worldwide patents and the scientific literature for aerospace applications in the period 2010–2021. We analysed global trends, country distributions, top assignees, and funding sponsors, evidencing a general increase for the period considered. These indicators, integrated with market information, provide a clear evaluation of the related technology trends and readiness levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Ciencia y Poder Aéreo is the property of Escuela de Postgrados de la Fuerza Aerea Colombiana and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Psychological support to the crew is crucial for space mission accomplishment and cosmonauts' professional longevity. In advance of remote space exploration missions we need to sum up and organize the accumulated experience of psychological support at the current stage of astronautic development. The paper gives a retrospect of the psychological support to space crews of piloted space systems/vehicles and highlights its basic goals and methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In space exploration missions whose resources are severely restricted, miniaturization of onboard avionics by functional integration is crucial. While it seems reasonable to employ the board-level integration in the current technology level of the space community, the ultimate goal is considered to be the chip-level integration. In this paper, an innovative method for vertical assembly of various bare chips is proposed. Silicon substrates, on which bare chips are implemented, are piled up by room-temperature bonding. The room-temperature bonding is based on MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) technology. Compared to the vertical assembly preparing the wafer-level TSV (Through Silicon Via), the method is appropriate for space-use of low-volume production because it is not necessary to develop the dedicated chips. Existing bare chips can be vertically integrated into the chip-level integrated avionics. Results of validation tests for the vertically assembled modules such as functional, vibration, and thermal tests, are also shown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep space exploration technology is an important development direction for scientific exploration. The penetrator method has been proposed as an inexpensive method of studying planetary bodies. The basic principle of this method is that the detection equipment carried by the high-speed penetrator hits a planetary body at a high speed and is buried up to several meters below the surface to carry out detection work. During the frictional collision process with the planets crust, the instantaneous acceleration peaks of the scientific payload (electronic instrumentation) are large. Shock protection of these payloads is necessary to improve their survival and mission success. In this paper, with the goal of improving the survival rate of scientific loads inside a penetrator, a penetrator with a multilayer energy-absorbing structure is developed, in which cushioning protection measures, such as an aluminum foam-filled corrugated tube(AFFT) structure, polyurethane rubber, and epoxy resin potting, are applied to the penetrator. Since the analysis of this process is a highly nonlinear problem, a numerical modeling method is the main approach in this paper. The LS-DYNA software platform was used to simulate the penetrators penetration process on a moon soil medium. The results obtained using empirical formulas and theoretical derivations were compared with the results of numerical analysis to ensure the accuracy of the penetration simulation model. The finite element model of the penetrator was then verified and modified by conducting shock response spectral experiments and shock simulations. The results showed that the spacer scheme had a positive effect on the impact isolation and energy absorption. In addition, this scheme provides an important reference for the design of the penetrator prototype to guarantee the success of subsequent ground rocket sled experiments. • The buffering and energy absorption characteristics of the proposed AFFT structure are analyzed applied to the penetrator. • Through numerical simulation of the penetration process, the initial velocity satisfying the penetration depth was obtained. • The impact response spectrum test and simulation analysis of the penetrator prototype have verified the numerical model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a solution space searching method to study the initial design of interplanetary low thrust gravity assist trajectory. Design/methodology/approach – For reducing the complexity and nonlinearity of the initial design problem, a sixth degree inverse polynomial shape based approach is brought. Then some improvements are provided for solving the parameters in the shape function and a quasi-lambert solver is brought through the shape based method, the thrust profile can be generated under the given time of flight, boundary states including positions and velocities for low thrust phase. Combining gravity assist model, the problem is summarized and an improved pruning technique is used for searching the feasible solution space for low thrust gravity assist trajectory. Findings – Using the solution space searching method, the feasible solution region would be generated under the given mission condition. The treatment about gravity assist demonstrates more accurate than previous method. Also another advantage is that the searching method can be used to design different types of mission trajectory, including flyby and rendezvous trajectories. Practical implications – The method can be used as an efficient approach to search the feasible region for the complex low thrust gravity assist trajectory, and it can provide appropriate initial guesses for the low thrust gravity assist trajectory in mission design phase. Originality/value – Feasible solution space would be obtained through the searching method. The quasi-Lambert solver in the paper is found under the shape-based method and relative improvement, and it shows its availability during the searching process. Through mission trajectory design, the effectiveness of the method is shown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper investigates the evolution of the first manned international space mission – a rendezvous and docking between a US and a Soviet spacecraft in 1975 known as the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP). The aim is to reconsider the rationales behind the ASTP from both a conceptual and an empirical perspective in order to get a better understanding of the evolution of international cooperation in the highly competitive and strategic field of space technology. Based on archival sources from Moscow, it sheds some light on those factors that led to a change in the previous reluctance of Soviets to cooperate with the US in the manned spaceflight. From the theoretical point of view, it argues that the ASTP was as much a tool of competition as one of cooperation and resulted from an interplay between cooperative and competitive logics. To explain the turn towards cooperative practices, the article looks at the complex constellation of competitive relations that existed within the national and international context of space exploration and changed in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The decisive role in those changes was played by factors that can be subsumed under the notion of the so-called "third." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aerospace milestones in human history, including returning to the moon and manned Martian missions, have been implemented in recent years. Space exploration has become one of the global common goals, and to ensure the survival and development of human beings in the extraterrestrial extreme environment has been becoming the basic ability and technology of manned space exploration. For the purpose of fulfilling the goal of extraterrestrial survival, researchers in Nanjing University and the China Academy of Space Technology proposed extraterrestrial artificial photosynthesis (EAP) technology. By simulating the natural photosynthesis of green plants on the Earth, EAP converts CO2/H2O into fuel and O2 in an in-situ , accelerated and controllable manner by using waste CO2 in the confined space of spacecraft, or abundant CO2 resources in extraterrestrial celestial environments, e.g. Mars. Thus, the material loading of manned spacecraft can be greatly reduced to support affordable and sustainable deep space exploration. In this paper, EAP technology is compared with existing methods of converting CO2/H2O into fuel and O2 in the aerospace field, especially the Sabatier method and Bosch reduction method. The research progress of possible EAP materials for in-situ utilization of extraterrestrial resources are also discussed in depth. Finally, this review lists the challenges that the EAP process may encounter, which need to be focused on for future implementation and application. We expect to deepen the understanding of artificial photosynthetic materials and technologies, and aim to strongly support the development of manned spaceflight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Private commercial space tourism carrying passengers to outer space is no longer a distant or far-fetched fantasy, rather it is at verge of becoming an affordable reality with exponential development in space technology including development of Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV), increasing involvement of private companies like Virgin Galactic, SpaceX, Blue Origin etc. into research and funding of space tourism explorations and applications. It is also receiving huge attention from the public. These developments reflect the infinite possibilities and inevitability of space tourism in near future. However, space tourism may also pose many critical legal issues which must be addressed to ensure the consistent and sustainable development of space tourism, and to secure the rights of all stakeholders involved including operators, passengers, launching State etc. The research paper would highlight the crucial legal issues associated with the space tourism. The paper would critically analyze the efficiency of the present international space treaties in dealing with these issues. At the end, the paper would also attempt to provide few suggestions and solutions to these legal conundrums relating to space tourism. • Commercial space tourism • Legal framework governing space tourism • Sustainable development of outer space • Space tourism and international law [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mainly, the studies of China-Ukraine relations have focused on topics such as trade agreements, commodity exports, investment, migration, and geopolitical implications for the post-Cold War world order. The issue of space cooperation has been almost completely absent in the studies of China-Ukraine cooperation, despite the central importance of space technology for many spheres of life, which have stimulated research and political participation since the beginning of the millennium. Bilateral cooperation on space exploration between China and Ukraine began in 1992 and has already celebrated its twentieth anniversary. This cooperation is an important determinant of what is considered "new" or "modern" geography of China-Ukraine cooperation. In this article, the study of collections, legal documents, and interviews enables to analyze the strategies of cooperation between China and Ukraine in space briefly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While humans have made enormous progress in the exploration and exploitation of Earth, exploration of outer space remains beyond current human capabilities. The principal challenges lie in current space technology and engineering which includes the protection of astronauts from the hazards of working and living in the space environment. These challenges may lead to a paradoxical situation where progress in space technology and the ability to ensure acceptable risk/benefit for human space exploration becomes dissociated and the rate of scientific discovery declines. In this paper, we discuss the predominant challenges of the space environment for human health and argue that development and deployment of a human enhancement policy, initially confined to astronauts – for the purpose of future human space programmes is a rational solution to these challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Control Theory & Applications / Kongzhi Lilun Yu Yinyong is the property of Editorial Department of Control Theory & Applications and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Zhongguo Kejishi Zazhi (Chinese Journal for the History of Science & Technology) is the property of Chinese Academy of Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper illustrates an indirect method to optimize multiple-impulse trajectories from circular lunar orbit to Earth. Optimization is performed in the circular restricted three-body problem, and the necessary optimality conditions are found through optimal control theory. In order to overcome the difficulty of initial adjoints estimation, a homotopic approach, which is based on an auxiliary optimization problem with known solution, is developed; this approach proves to be robust and efficient. Examples are presented for a range of lunar orbit orientations to assess the impact on velocity impulse requirements. Optimization results for trajectories with different number of impulses are also compared. The developed procedure can support fast and accurate evaluation of the transfer costs for Moon-to-Earth trajectories both in nominal conditions and for contingency plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The zero-propellant maneuver is an advanced concept of the spacecraft attitude control. The problem of zero-propellant maneuver using single gimbal control moment gyroscopes is researched in this paper. The saturation and singularity problems of single gimbal control moment gyroscopes are analyzed, and the performance indexes to measure saturation and singularity are proposed. The path planning model considering the gimbal steering law is established using modified rodrigues parameter. Then, a hybrid approach combining the pseudospectral method and direct shooting method is proposed to solve the nonlinear path planning problem with complicated constraints. Finally, the numerical simulation is executed to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method. It is shown that an optimized attitude maneuver path satisfying the saturation and singularity constraints can be obtained and the zero-propellant maneuver using single gimbal control moment gyroscopes can be successfully achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advanced Manufacturing is widely used with features and applications playing a game changing role in our daily life. The European Space Agency has initiated in April 2016 a multi-disciplinary approach exploring the impact of infusing Advanced Manufacturing into space practices. A Concurrent Design Facility study was performed investigating potential design methodology amendments produced by introducing Advanced Manufacturing techniques into the design space. Innovative materials and processes were added to the conventional design parameters usually populating the systems design trade-spaces. This enabled multifunctional solutions, previously inconceivable, with a redefinition of interfaces and related requirements, shifted from ‘discipline’ boundaries to ‘units’ or ‘assembly’ boundaries. The Concurrent Design Facility Study identified the core domains of expertise required in a ‘Design for Advanced Manufacturing’ frame, governed by a flexible, open-minded systems engineering coordination. Early involvement of material and process engineers in the design proved to be an essential ingredient of the ‘Design for Advanced Manufacturing’ recipe. The design freedom brought by Advanced Manufacturing calls for unconventional design solutions, creativity becomes a need and infusion from non-space is invaluable. Biomimicry and architecture principles enriched the concurrent design environment, which proved to be very well suited with the needs and objectives of the new design methodology. This article reports the Concurrent Design Facility study conduct, as first attempt to understand Advanced Manufacturing impact on design methodology, the study cases selected for analysis, the observations on the methodology and on the interactions among the specialists in the team. The study outcome is reported, including an overview of benefits, disadvantages and points for further investigation in relation to the study cases assessed. In addition, the paper proposes recommendations for injecting Advanced Manufacturing into the project life cycle, from early design up to procurement phases and ultimately to the assembly, integration and verification phases, indicating required modelling tools, technologies and redefined engineering roles and expertise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Space technology has been developed for frontier exploration not only in lowearth orbit environment but also beyond the earth orbit to the Moon and Mars, where material resources might be strongly restricted and almost impossible to be resupplied from the earth for distant and long-term missions performance toward "long-stays of humans in space". For performing such long-term space explorations, none would be enough to develop technologies with resources only from the earth; it should be required to utilize resources on other places with different nature of the earth, i.e., in-situ resource utilization. One of important challenges of lunar insitu resource utilization is thermal control of spacecraft on lunar surface for longlunar durations. Such thermal control under "long-term field operation" would be solved by "thermal wadis" studied as a part of sustainable researches on overnight survivals such as lunar-night. The resources such as metal oxides that exist on planets or satellites could be refined, and utilized as a supply of heat energy, where combustion synthesis can stand as a hopeful technology for such requirements. The combustion synthesis technology is mainly characterized with generation of high-temperature, spontaneous propagation of reaction, rapid synthesis and high operability under various influences with centrifugal-force, low-gravity and high vacuum. These concepts, technologies and hardware would be applicable to both the Moon and Mars, and these capabilities might achieve the maximum benefits of in-situ resource utilization with the aid of combustion synthesis applications. The present paper mainly concerns the combustion synthesis technologies for sustainable lunar overnight survivals by focusing on "potential precursor synthesis and formation", "in-situ resource utilization in extreme environments" and "exergy loss minimization with efficient energy conversion". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The X-ray Telescope (XRT) of the Hinode mission provides an unprecedented combination of spatial and temporal resolution in solar coronal studies. The high sensitivity and broad dynamic range of XRT, coupled with the spacecraft’s onboard memory capacity and the planned downlink capability will permit a broad range of coronal studies over an extended period of time, for targets ranging from quiet Sun to X-flares. This paper discusses in detail the design, calibration, and measured performance of the XRT instrument up to the focal plane. The CCD camera and data handling are discussed separately in a companion paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using newly available information from Russian archives, this paper explores American rocketry pioneer Robert Goddard's relationship to the Soviet space-flight advocacy community in the 1920s. In post-Revolutionary Russia, Goddard enjoyed a curious kind of fame. News of his alleged plan to launch a rocket to the Moon permeated widely through a Soviet audience interested in the possibility of space exploration. Goddard's practical work in developing rockets became a metaphor for the aspirations of the many in Soviet Russia who were unwilling to limit their horizons to theory and prognostication. The new research into Goddard's relationship to the Soviet space-flight enthusiast community underscores how international contacts shaped the space advocacy movements of the early twentieth century. The new evidence prompts us to consider an alternative approach to the 'foundation myth' of space history involving Tsiolkovskii, Goddard and Oberth, one that privileges an international context instead of the usual multiple national contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moving from a current state to a novel social experience, either as individual or as an organisation, is substantially grounded in the perpetual capability of individuals to generate inner space for introspection beyond cogitation. It is a multi-modal procedure involving cognitive and somatic-related elements. Once inner space has been deliberated with respect to individual existence, capabilities and needs, turning to the outer space can lead to anarchic patterns of social interaction for a shared qualitative growth. Non-conventional triggers, values, and refl ective elements can evolve and become relevant when interacting in communities and societies, enabling the co-creation of social systems. Taking a system-of-systems perspective allows description going beyond cognition-driven refl ective thinking. It also facilitates designing external experiences in line with inner space developments in a novel, anarchic form. As these external experiences establish systems (outer spaces) where the various inner spaces of participating individuals become an associated or inherent part, a System-of-Systems (SoS) is created. In this paper we introduce a framework for developing inner outer spaces in a SoS-like way. We exemplify the various stages of space elaborations and tunings. Practical case descriptions exemplify the concepts involved and guide implementation starting with inner and proceeding with outer space development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The design space of mapping multimedia applications on an architectural platform is complex and many parameters are needed to be considered in order to find the optimum mapping. Conventionally, architectural parameters are varied to find different design points and the application side parameters are considered fixed and unchanged, while multimedia applications are equipped with several configurations to control the complexity and quality of the output. In this paper, we experimentally investigate joint application-architecture design space exploration of multimedia applications on many-core platforms. The joint exploration is conducted on two state of the art video coding standards and STHorm many-core platform as the underlying architecture. In the first case study, MPEG4-SP decoder is mapped on STHorm with varying buffer size and variable number of Processing Elements (PEs). In the second case study, HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) decoder with variable Quantization Parameter (QP) is mapped on STHorm with variable PE number. The application is characterized with representative parameters on the basis of high level dataflow representation of the application. It is demonstrated that joint exploration of these parameters outperforms that of their separate exploration in terms of well-established combinatory metrics such as space-time product and energy-time product metrics while achieving performance constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, drawn from anthropological research done for a project on Mexican imaginaries of outer space, I consider the role of the AEM, or Mexican Space Agency, in space education and outreach in Mexico, focusing on the ways in which the AEM engages with different sectors and social groups, including elementary age children, college students undertaking STEM careers and artists who use space imagery and technology in their work. The research undertaken for this project consists primarily of formal and informal interviews with key actors engaged with outer space who project space into Mexican futures from different perspectives, from enthusiastic involvement in technological advancement as a means of fomenting social and economic progress, to the artistic uses of space and technology as a means of critically reflecting on earthly issues of human relationality and geopolitical power. In addition to interviews, I draw on information gathered from documents, works of art, online discussion groups and attendance at events sponsored by the Mexican Space Agency. I am particularly interested in exploring the implications of the agency's mission to "promote space culture", as I critically confront anthropological notions of "culture" with the uses of this concept in the public sphere. I am also interested in understanding what is "Mexican" about Mexican space culture, and how national institutions and actors relate to their international counterparts. • Mexico has a nascent space program, but a millennial tradition of stargazing. • The AEM has a strong outreach program, although its public visibility could improve. • Importance of creation of a network of space entrepreneurs, scientists and artists. • Mexicans' outer space imaginaries are diverse, often critical of space exploration. • Anthropology can contribute to the dialogue on the promotion of "space culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]