火星探测VLBI测定轨技术

我国将于2020年首次发射由环绕器和着陆巡视器组成的火星探测器,火星探测器的跟踪及精密测定轨是完成工程任务和科学探测的基础。火星探测器的跟踪和测定轨,目前主要采用基于地面无线电测量的测距、测速和甚长基线干涉VLBI测角3种手段。主要针对VLBI技术予以介绍,主要内容为:△DOR型VLBI技术在国内外的应用情况、火星探测器VLBI测定轨技术分析、基于同波束VLBI的火星车定位技术、火星探测器VLBI观测等。这些内容对我国的火星探测器测定轨有重要的应用价值。     

Proposal of application of same beam VLBI measurements in precision orbit determination of lunar orbiter and return capsule and lunar gravity field simulation in Chang’E-3 mission

High accuracy differenced phase delay can be obtained by observing multiple point frequencies of two spacecraft using the same beam Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) technology. Its contribution in lunar spacecraft precision orbit determination has been performed during the Japanese lunar exploration mission SELENE. In consideration that there will be an orbiter and a return capsule flying around the moon during the Chinese lunar exploration future mission Chang’E-3, the contributions of the same beam VLBI in spacecraft precision orbit determination and lunar gravity field solution have been investigated. Our results show that the accuracy of precision orbit determination can be improved more than one order of magnitude after including the same beam VLBI measurements. There are significant improvements in accuracy of low and medium degree coefficients of lunar gravity field model obtained from combination of two way range and Doppler and the same beam VLBI measurements than the one that only uses two way range and Doppler data, and the accuracy of precision orbit determination can reach meter level.     

大偏心率轨道星上快速计算方法

卫星星上轨道的计算方法通常有解析方法和数值积分方法等.采用数值积分方法计算量较大,对于大偏心率的探测器任务轨道,解析方法也不适用.通过引入精密轨道与二体轨道的位置差,利用位置差拟合切比雪夫多项式系数,大大提高拟合精度.该方法计算精度高、计算速度快,可以很好地解决大偏心率椭圆轨道的星上轨道计算问题.     

The magnetic fields of Mercury,Venus and Mars

Just as clearly as Mariner 10 established that Mercury has an intrinsic magnetic field, the Pioneer Venus orbiter has established that Venus has no significant intrinsic field. This is perhaps the opposite of what might be expected. Mercury, a small planet might be expected to cool rapidly and its internal dynamo to cease, while Venus, which is almost as large as the Earth, should not have lost much heat. On the contrary the source of energy of the Mercury dynamo appears to be extant whereas that of Venus appears to be extinct.The existence of a Martian magnetic field is controversial. No unambiguous signature of a Martian magnetic field has been reported. If the field on the nightside of Mars is of planetary rather than solar origin the Russian Mars spacecraft observations indicate the Martian dipole lies near the planetary equator rather than its pole.     

火星空间环境磁场探测研究

萤火一号卫星将对火星空间环境磁场实施探测. 火星磁场对火星弓激波、磁鞘、电离层、大气等绝大多数空间环境效应都具有重要影响, 萤火一号对火星磁场的探测是通过搭载于其上的科学载荷磁强计来实现的. 此磁强计在工作原理及具体设计上, 考虑了火星轨道严酷的工作环境和科学目标所需的测量要求. 通过装星前的地面标定测试, 验证了萤火一号磁强计可以在-130~75°C温度范围内测量±256 nT以内的磁场, 分辨率可达到0.01 nT, 带宽内总噪声小于0.03 nT, 能够满足萤火一号对火星空间环境探测的需求.      

Atmospheric dynamics on Venus and Mars

New results from Pioneer Orbiter observations indicate a continued vortex organization of the cloud level atmosphere in either hemisphere, centered over respective poles. Significant changes in the magnitude of the cloud level zonal circulation over a period of several years have been detected. A strong signature of the solar tidal circulation has been detected in the atmospheric circulation with the lowest speeds occurring in equatorial latitudes about 20° upstream of the sub-solar point. Finally, a solar-locked persistent spatial structure has been discovered in the variance of the ultraviolet brightness measured from brightness normalized images of Venus. Vega balloons (drifting at about 53 km altitude near 7°N and 7°S latitudes) have also provided some unique observations of atmospheric circulation, significant among them being the strong vertical motions, the zonality of their drift speeds as well as a significant temperature difference between the two balloons. The temperature difference which amounts to 6.5°K on average is currently being interpreted as a temperature variation with longitude or time.

Diagnostic modelling efforts towards simulating the atmospheric circulation on Venus are continuing and have provided some clues about the processes that maintain them but have not yet been successful in explaining the superrotation of the atmosphere.

Knowledge of the Martian atmospheric dynamics on the other hand is still limited by lack of adequate observations. Numerical modelling of the Martian atmosphere continues to provide most of the information about the atmospheric circulation. The situation regarding the paucity of observations should improve with the completion of the proposed Mars Observer mission. The low circular polar orbit planned provides an excellent opportunity to study the Martian atmosphere.     

火星等离子体环境探测

萤火一号(YH-1)探测器将对火星空间环境进行独立而深入的探测研究,探测各空间区域的等离子体特性及其对太阳风扰动的响应,以及火星离子逃逸过程,研究太阳风对火星水体损失的影响。为了实现这一目标,萤火一号搭载了等离子体探测包,包括2个离子分析器和1个电子分析器,具有较高的时间分辨率、能量分辨率,可以探测0.02～10 keV的离子、电子,同时能够对粒子的入射方向及1～44 au(1 au=9.1095×10~(-31)kg)质量范围内的离子成分进行分辨。本文阐述了萤火一号等离子体探测的科学意义,并对等离子体包的工作原理,仪器设计进行了介绍。     

GPS-only gravity field recovery with GOCE,CHAMP, and GRACE

Gravity missions such as the Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) are equipped with onboard Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers for precise orbit determination (POD), instrument time-tagging, and the extraction of the long wavelength part of the Earth’s gravity field. The very low orbital altitude of the GOCE satellite and the availability of dense 1 s GPS tracking data are ideal characteristics to exploit the contribution of GPS high-low Satellite-to-Satellite Tracking (hl-SST) to gravity field determination. We present gravity field solutions based on about 8 months of GOCE GPS hl-SST data from 2009 and compare the results with those obtained from the CHAllenging Minisatellite Payload (CHAMP) and Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) missions. The very low orbital altitude of GOCE significantly improves gravity field recovery from GPS hl-SST data above degree 20, but not for the degrees below 20, where the quality of the spherical harmonic coefficients remains essentially unchanged. Despite the limited time span of GOCE data used, the gravity field of the Earth can be resolved up to about degree 115 using GPS data only. Empirically determined phase center variations (PCVs) of the GOCE onboard GPS helix antenna are, however, mandatory to achieve this performance.     

Impact of covariance information of kinematic positions on orbit reconstruction and gravity field recovery

Gravity missions are equipped with onboard Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers for precise orbit determination (POD) and for the extraction of the long wavelength part of the Earth’s gravity field. As positions of low Earth orbiters (LEOs) may be determined from GPS measurements at each observation epoch by geometric means only, it is attractive to derive such kinematic positions in a first step and to use them in a second step as pseudo-observations for gravity field determination. The drawback of not directly using the original GPS measurements is, however, that kinematic positions are correlated due to the ambiguities in the GPS carrier phase observations, which in principle requires covariance information be taken into account. We use GRACE data to show that dynamic or reduced-dynamic orbit parameters are not optimally reconstructed from kinematic positions when only taking epoch-wise covariance information into account, but that essentially the same orbit quality can be achieved as when directly using the GPS measurements, if correlations in time are taken into account over sufficiently long intervals. For orbit reconstruction covariances have to be considered up to one revolution period to avoid ambiguity-induced variations of kinematic positions being erroneously interpreted as orbital variations. For gravity field recovery the advantage is, however, not very pronounced.     

Development Progress of China's First Mars Exploration Mission: Its Scientific Objectives and Payloads

China's first Mars exploration mission is scheduled to be launched in 2020. It aims not only to conduct global and comprehensive exploration of Mars by use of an orbiter but also to carry out in situ observation of key sites on Mars with a rover. This mission focuses on the following studies:topography, geomorphology, geological structure, soil characteristics, water-ice distribution, material composition, atmosphere and ionosphere, surface climate, environmental characteristics, Mars internal structure, and Martian magnetic field. It is comprised of an orbiter, a lander, and a rover equipped with 13 scientific payloads. This article will give an introduction to the mission including mission plan, scientific objectives, scientific payloads, and its recent development progress.      

火星探测UHF频段原位通信关键技术研究

火星是人类探索太阳系的下一个里程碑,由于地球和火星之间的距离非常遥远（最远距离约4亿千米,光行时约22min）,为了最大限度地完成火星车和地球之间的高效通信,火星车和火星环绕器之间的器间原位中继通信技术就显得尤为重要。针对大椭圆轨道下器间通信信噪比低、信号参数变化快、全自主要求高及质量功耗约束极为严苛等难点,提出了一种UHF频段器间原位通信技术,主要包括超高灵敏度高动态自适应信号解调、高精度多普勒测量、基于CCSDS Proximity-1的协议一体化集成融合和面向火星复杂环境的高集成度高收发隔离产品工程化设计,实现了捕获灵敏度优于-141dBm、解调灵敏度（1kbit/s）优于-134dBm、频率动态范围优于±26kHz、多普勒测量精度优于10mHz、收发隔离大于180dB、弧段内全自主高可靠高吞吐率通信及基于架构统型的系统/单机极限优化,相关指标优于美国系列火星探测器中的“Electra”。经祝融号火星车和天问一号火星环绕器、ESA“Mars Express”火星轨道器在轨实际测试,测试数据符合预期,为中国首次火星探测的圆满成功做出了重要贡献。     

火星磁场产生的原因及其分布

构建了一个可以得到火星赤道面上磁场分布的模型. 模型根据卫星观测数据, 提出了火星电离层、磁层顶和磁尾电流片上都各自通有电流的假设. 由电流的连续性条件可知, 这三种背景条件下的电流之间满足一定关系, 即火星磁层顶上的总电流是电离层上的总电流与磁尾电流片上的总电流之和. 这些电流产生的磁场与太阳风磁场共同构成了火星赤道面上磁场分布. 通过计算发现, 采用这种磁场模型得到的结果与目前卫星所观测的结果以及与采用其他方法得到的结果符合得较好.      

火星空间环境磁场探测研究——高精度磁强计

萤火一号卫星将对火星空间环境磁场实施探测。火星磁场对火星弓激波、磁鞘、电离层、大气等绝大多数空间环境效应都具有重要影响,萤火一号对火星磁场的探测是通过搭载于其上的科学载荷磁强计来实现的。此磁强计在工作原理及具体设计上,考虑了火星轨道严酷的工作环境和科学目标所需的测量要求。通过装星前的地面标定测试,验证了萤火一号磁强计可以在-130～75℃温度范围内测量±256nT以内的磁场,分辨率可达到0.01 nT,带宽内总噪声小于0.03 nT,能够满足萤火一号对火星空间环境探测的需求。     

Improved kHz-SLR tracking techniques and orbit quality analysis for LEO missions

Satellite gravity field missions such as CHAMP, GRACE and GOCE are designed as low Earth orbiting spacecraft (LEO) with orbit heights of about 250–500 km. The challenging mission objectives require a very precise knowledge of the satellite orbit position in space. For these missions precise orbit information is typically provided by GPS satellite-to-satellite tracking (SST) observations supported by satellite laser ranging (SLR).     

DYNAMO: a Mars upper atmosphere package for investigating solar wind interaction and escape processes, and mapping Martian fields

DYNAMO is a small multi-instrument payload aimed at characterizing current atmospheric escape, which is still poorly constrained, and improving gravity and magnetic field representations, in order to better understand the magnetic, geologic and thermal history of Mars. The internal structure and evolution of Mars is thought to have influenced climate evolution. The collapse of the primitive magnetosphere early in Mars history could have enhanced atmospheric escape and favored transition to the present arid climate. These objectives are achieved by using a low periapsis orbit. DYNAMO has been proposed in response to the AO released in February 2002 for instruments to be flown as a complementary payload onboard the CNES Orbiter to Mars (MO-07), foreseen to be launched in 2007 in the framework of the French PREMIER Mars exploration program. MO-07 orbital phase 2b (with an elliptical orbit of periapsis 170 km), and in a lesser extent 2a, offers an unprecedented opportunity to investigate by in situ probing the chemical and dynamical properties of the deep ionosphere, thermosphere, and the interaction between the atmosphere and the solar wind, and therefore the present atmospheric escape rate. Ultraviolet remote sensing is an essential complement to characterize high, tenuous, layers of the atmosphere. One Martian year of operation, with about 5,000 low passes, should allow DYNAMO to map in great detail the residual magnetic field, together with the gravity field. Additional data on the internal structure will be obtained by mapping the electric conductivity, sinergistically with the NETLANDER magnetic data. Three options have been recommended by the International Science and Technical Review Board (ISTRB), who met on July 1st and 2nd, 2002. One of them is centered on DYNAMO. The final choice, which should be made before the end of 2002, will depend on available funding resources at CNES.     

Long-wavelength lunar gravity field recovery from simulated orbit and inter-satellite tracking data

As has been demonstrated recently, inter-satellite Ka-band tracking data collected by the GRAIL (Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory) spacecraft have the potential to improve the resolution and accuracy of the lunar gravity field by several orders of magnitude compared to previous models. By means of a series of simulation studies, here we investigate the contribution of inter-satellite ranging for the recovery of the Moon’s gravitational features; the evaluation of results is made against findings from ground-based Doppler tracking. For this purpose we make use of classical dynamic orbit determination, supported by the analysis of satellite-to-satellite tracking observations. This study sheds particularly light on the influence of the angular distance between the two satellites, solar radiation modeling and the co-estimation of the lunar Love number k₂. The quality of the obtained results is assessed by gravity field power spectra, gravity anomalies and precision orbit determination. We expect our simulation results to be supportive for the processing of real GRAIL data.     

Comparison analyses on the 150 × 150 lunar gravity field models by gravity/topography admittance,correlation and precision orbit determination

We analyzed the 150 × 150 lunar gravity field models, LP150Q, GLGM-3 and SGM150, using the power spectrum on the lunar nearside and farside, the lunar global and localized gravity/topography admittance and correlation, and Chang’E-2 precision orbit determination to investigate which model is a more effective tool to estimate geophysical parameters and determine the lunar satellite precision orbit. Results indicate that all gravity field models can be used to estimate the lunar geophysical parameters of the nearside of the Moon. However, SGM150 is better in such computation of the farside. Additionally, SGM150 is shown to be the most useful model for determining the lunar satellite orbit.     

基于 Brouwer 平根数的冻结轨道

基于Ｂｒｏｕｗｅｒ平根数的概念研究了冻结轨道,发现了这样一个事实：如果用Ｂｒｏｕｗｅｒ平根数来表示冻结轨道,则该平根数对应的轨道恰是一条精确的圆轨道。在此基础上还对冻结轨道的性状作了新的解释。此外还针对只包含二阶和三阶带谐调和项的地球引力场内的冻结轨道偏心率在临界倾角附近的性状作了分析,显示出临界倾角附近轨道的异常性状在这个低阶的引力场内仍未改变。     

Modeling gravity effects on water retention and gas transport characteristics in plant growth substrates

Growing plants to facilitate life in outer space, for example on the International Space Station (ISS) or at planned deep-space human outposts on the Moon or Mars, has received much attention with regard to NASA’s advanced life support system research. With the objective of in situ resource utilization to conserve energy and to limit transport costs, native materials mined on Moon or Mars are of primary interest for plant growth media in a future outpost, while terrestrial porous substrates with optimal growth media characteristics will be useful for onboard plant growth during space missions. Due to limited experimental opportunities and prohibitive costs, liquid and gas behavior in porous substrates under reduced gravity conditions has been less studied and hence remains poorly understood. Based on ground-based measurements, this study examined water retention, oxygen diffusivity and air permeability characteristics of six plant growth substrates for potential applications in space, including two terrestrial analogs for lunar and Martian soils and four particulate substrates widely used in reduced gravity experiments. To simulate reduced gravity water characteristics, the predictions for ground-based measurements (1 − g) were scaled to two reduced gravity conditions, Martian gravity (0.38 − g) and lunar gravity (0.16 − g), following the observations in previous reduced gravity studies. We described the observed gas diffusivity with a recently developed model combined with a new approach that estimates the gas percolation threshold based on the pore size distribution. The model successfully captured measured data for all investigated media and demonstrated the implications of the poorly-understood shift in gas percolation threshold with improved gas percolation in reduced gravity. Finally, using a substrate-structure parameter related to the gaseous phase, we adequately described the air permeability under reduced gravity conditions.     

Magnetic levitation-based Martian and Lunar gravity simulator.

Missions to Mars will subject living specimens to a range of low gravity environments. Deleterious biological effects of prolonged exposure to Martian gravity (0.38 g), Lunar gravity (0.17 g), and microgravity are expected, but the mechanisms involved and potential for remedies are unknown. We are proposing the development of a facility that provides a simulated Martian and Lunar gravity environment for experiments on biological systems in a well controlled laboratory setting. The magnetic adjustable gravity simulator will employ intense, inhomogeneous magnetic fields to exert magnetic body forces on a specimen that oppose the body force of gravity. By adjusting the magnetic field, it is possible to continuously adjust the total body force acting on a specimen. The simulator system considered consists of a superconducting solenoid with a room temperature bore sufficiently large to accommodate small whole organisms, cell cultures, and gravity sensitive bio-molecular solutions. It will have good optical access so that the organisms can be viewed in situ. This facility will be valuable for experimental observations and public demonstrations of systems in simulated reduced gravity.