ESABASE2 12.0 Release Notes

ESABASE2 12.0 Release Notes
===========================

These release notes include all features, updates, extensions and bug-fixes
included in ESABASE2 since release 10.0.

Versions:
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• Changed to Windows 64bit (no 32bit versions for ESABASE2 release < 11)
• Changed to Linux 64bit (no 32bit version for ESABASE2/Debris release 11).
  • Linux version is release 11, interplanetary features are not available in the Linux version.
  • Tested on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS 64bit, will most probably run under all common 64bit Linux distributions.
• In the case of a Demo version, you should get the according hint and proceed by clicking the OK button, in the case of a bundle (e.g. Debris) you need to perform the machine binding (live or per Email).

Framework:
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• ESABASE2 is now started via “startEsabase2.bat” script. Please note that the direct start via the executable is not possible.
• Upgraded Eclipse version.
• Upgraded NetGen mesher (R12 only)
• Extension of the geometry file data structure, e.g. for the handling of the SPICE based pointing. (R12 only)
• Extension of the mission file data structure, for the handling of interplanetary missions. (R12 only)
• Mercury, Venus and Mars can be selected for mission definition (usable only for Debris with MEM 3) (R12 only)
• Older files are converted to be applicable with the new ESABASE2 version, however, the compatibility is not guaranteed in every case.
• The STEP (AP 203/214) import of large geometrical models is improved.
• ESABASE2 is not crashing any more upon an allocated memory size of over 1GB. Nevertheless it is reasonable to restart ESABASE2 from time to time especially if working with big geometries.

Debris:
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• SPICE and OEM trajectory information can be used for interplanetary analysis mode. (R12 only)
  • OEM information is converted in SPICE kernel via SPICE tools used by ESABASE2/Debris.
  • SPICE parameters are defined by:
    • An individual kernel containing the trajectory of the S/C (“Trajectory File”),
    • A Meta Kernel including the leapseconds kernel, the planetary kernel and the kernel of bodies that are referenced or wished to be considered.
      • A default Meta Kernel is provided listing the provided kernels: latest_leapseconds.tls.pc, earth_assoc_itrf93.tf (for considering ITRF-93 referene frame in OEM files), de438.bsp, mar097.bsp.
      • An individual Meta Kernel can be defined and provided listing the kernels to be considered.
      • All referred objects, e.g. via the pointing based on SPICE, need to be listed within mentioned Meta Kernel.
    • The default Meta Kernel is applied upon changing to interplanetary mode (placed in “SPICEKernels” folder), but can be changed.
• Extended mission file providing new functionalities concerning interplanetary analyses (R12 only)
  • Orbit selection extracted and independent from the orbit parameters with the selections:
    • Mercury
    • Venus
    • Earth (Orbit Type selections available, else generic (GEN))
    • Moon
    • Mars
    • Interplanetary (SUN)
  • Mission Editor is divided in two parts now:
    • Left side: orbital/trajectory/mission parameters
    • Right side: 3D visualisation of the trajectory/orbit (only Earth and Interplanetary mode are visualised)
  • Interplanetary Mission:
    • The S/C trajectory file is the basis for mission definition
      • Probe selection (in case of multiple): probe name and its ID is displayed.
      • The minimum and maximum dates of the trajectory are shown and are the default simulation start and end date.
      • The simulation start and end dates can be modified by the user.
      • A stepping algorithm splits the considered trajectory duration in a number of orbital points based on the spatial density variation along the trajectory. The orbital points are listed in “Trajectory Points” table.
      • Trajectory points can be added or removed by the user.
  • 3D trajectory visualisation:
    • Different information to be visualised can be activated or deactivated:
      • S/C trajectory (straight connection between selected trajectory points).
      • Colour coding of the S/C trajectory according to the spatial density (IMEM based, densities can be displayed).
      • Names of the planets.
      • The densities can be indicated by the trajectory path, coloring the trajectory part based on the previous orbital point.
      • Highlighting trajectory points.
      • Planetary orbital arcs passed during the S/C trajectory time (additionaly to thin lines which visualise the orbits of the planets for slightly more than one orbit).
      • Cartesian grid visualisation.
      • Coordinate system visualisation, centered in each planet and the Sun.
    • Visualisation of model range (IMEM or IMEM2 or MEMR2 Interplanetary or MEM 3). Also, it is highlighted whether the trajectory is inside the range of a model.
• ESA’s most current space environment model MASTER 8 (including Divine-Staubach meteoroid model) is now integrated and can be used for analysis.
  • Please consider that Divine-Staubach model of MASTER 8.0.2 (used by ESABASE2) has a bug an overestimates the fluxes. MASTER 8 executable will need an update after this problem will be fixed by MASTER developern.
  • Please consider that only the reference data (November 2016) is provided with ESABASE2 and you require the population data from https://sdup.esoc.esa.int/ to run other epochs.
  • If you encounter the error message “FATAL ERROR in subroutine ‘prbindexcheck’:…” running MASTER 8, please check if the population data for your epoch is available to MASTER 8.
• NASA’s MEMR2 Interplanetary implemented and is activated if it is combined with an interplanetary mission. (R12 only)
• IMEM model is implemented and can be used in combination with an interplanetary mission. (R12 only)
  • IMEM accumulates orbital points with the same step size in groups and is executed for each group multiple times to achieve all required information per group considered.
• IMEM2 model is implemented and can be used in combination with an interplanetary mission. (R12 only)
  • IMEM2 accumulates orbital points with the same step size in groups and is executed once for each group to achieve all required information (one STENVI file per group).
• NASA’s MEM 3 model implemented and can be used conventionally for Earth, Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars, with trajectory mode (Earth and Moon) and with interplanetary mode. (R12 only)
  IMPORTANT: To make use of MEM 3 NASA requires to close a Software Usage Agreement. After reception of the signed document we will provide an MEM 3 installation package.
  • MEM 3 is executed once for all considered points before the orbital points loop, except in the trajectory mode it is executed for each orbital point indevidually.
• SPICE pointing is available (R12 only)
  • Pointing based on a NAIF ID is possible now:
    • For pointing, in the geometry file, “SPICE” can be selected and a NAIF ID can be defined
    • A SPICE kernel containing the object to be pointed at needs to be available and listed in the Meta Kernel (for the analysis).
• 5-Figures statistics (Weak-Spots) is implemented (R12 only)
  • Median, minimum-, maximum values and the both quartiles inbetween for impact -azimuth, -elevation and -velocity can be visualised in the 3D results.
  • The impact angles are visualised on an element by an arrow and the velocity by color of the element with color code.
  • The angle definition is based on the S/C velocity and the direction to the central body.
    Note: Please consider, due to the dependency on the S/C velocity the direction is only available for orbital points visualisation not for mission (changing velocity direction from OP to OP). Error message is shown in the case Weak-Spot visualisation is selected for mission results and the arrows are not visualised, only the velocity colour code.
• Element results have been extended with additional visualisation capabilities. Also, various export features are available for the element results. The selected exports will be stored in a folder with the name of the element’s object shape within the chosen destination folder. (R12 only)

Notes:
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• Please be aware that Divine-Staubach model of MASTER 8.0.2 (used by ESABASE2) has a bug an overestimates the fluxes. MASTER 8 executable will need an update after this problem will be fixed by MASTER developern.
• Please be aware that the scripting editor is not compatible with interplanetary mission definitions. You can use such files only for batch configuration (basis file as is without modifications).
• Please be aware that the current GUI design is mainly designed for Full-HD resolution and a windows visualisation scale of 100%. Lower resolutions/a higher scale can lead to some windows not showing all its contents. E.g. for the frame pointing option window, the “ok” and “cancel” buttons might not be visible. Hence, the setting can not be confirmed and applied. In this case, please try to apply a smaller windows visualisation scaling as a first approach or a higher resolution.
• If not everything is visible in the mission file, make ESABASE2 full screen and double click the mission file tab to make it also in E2 full screen (double click on tab again to revert it).
• Please consider that MEMR2 relies on Microsoft Visual Studio C++ Redistributables 2008 (32bit). If you have the problem that during the analysis with MEMR2 the Spd… files are not found, please go to “ESABASE2-ROOTFOLDER\Solver\DEBRIS\MEMR2” and double click on “MEMR2CLW.exe”. If you get a message pointing out a problem with “Side-by-Side” installation, then you need to install the MSVC 2008 Redistributables (32bit), e.g. can be found in E2_ROOT\components\install-supplements.
• When using the OEM2SPK converter, please make sure no major step size from one step to another occur, since this exceeds the default threshold for the MAXIMUM_SEP_QUOTIENT parameter of OEM2SPK which is currently used. For more information, refer to https://naif.jpl.nasa.gov/pub/naif/utilities/PC_Windows_64bit/spk2oem.ug.
• The externally provided OEM2SPK only processes input arguments with maximum 80 characters within it’s setup file. This may lead to problems when trying to use the meta kernel e.g. So keep in mind to keep the number of characters lower this threshold to avoid errors during the conversion process.
• Please consider that the maximum time span for a S/C trajectory is 100 years, you will not be able to use trajectory kernels including longer missions durations. (This does not apply for the basic kernels provided by the Meta Kernel, but only the trajectory kernel with the trajectory to be analysed.)
• There are inconsistencies with the time representation in the mission file. Each point of generated trajectory points lists is having an offset of one hour (plus one hour). Manually added trajectory points appear with the exact user-defined date. However, it can be generalized that internal processing works with subtracting one hour from the times of the visualised trajectory list. As a consequence, for manually adding individual trajectory points, one hour offset needs to be forseen.

Bug Fixes:
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• Fixed bug of GDML interface.
• Fixed transparency configuration passing to the results, result geometry now is not transparent.
• Fixed bug concerning incorrect replication for non-centered objects.
• Fixed bug of non-movable origin object after replication.
• Fixed miner bugs concerning shape generation editor.
• Fixed non-responding Finish button if a manipulation on assembly node is performed.
• Fixed bug concerning reopening a Moon mission file error due to a semi-major axis less than Earth radius.
• Several minor bugs have been fixed.

Documentation:
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• A new version (1.21) of the Framework User Manual was established.
• A new version (1.17) of the ESABASE2/Debris User Manual was established.
• A new version (1.10) of the ESABASE2/Debris Technical Description was established.

Known Issues:
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• Postprocessor is currently not available.
• NetGen is currently not available in ESABASE2 Linux Version.
• If high memory amount is allocated (several GB) crashes are possible.
• ORDEM2K is currently not usable under Linux.
• Insufficient error message is provided in the case Weak-Spot visualisation is selected for mission results.
• Currently the direct definition of minimum and maximum values in the 2D diagrams are not applied correctly. However, the zoom function can be used to get the desired closer look.
• There are inconsistencies with the time representation in the mission file. (See Notes).