The Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer for the Huygens Probe

The Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer (GCMS) on the Huygens Probe will measure the chemical composition of Titan's atmosphere from 170 km altitude (∼1 hPa) to the surface (∼1500 hPa) and determine the isotope ratios of the major gaseous constituents. The GCMS will also analyze gas samples from the Aerosol Collector Pyrolyser (ACP) and may be able to investigate the composition (including isotope ratios) of several candidate surface materials. The GCMS is a quadrupole mass filter with a secondary electron multiplier detection system and a gas sampling system providing continuous direct atmospheric composition measurements and batch sampling through three gas chromatographic (GC) columns. The mass spectrometer employs five ion sources sequentially feeding the mass analyzer. Three ion sources serve as detectors for the GC columns and two are dedicated to direct atmosphere sampling and ACP gas sampling respectively. The instrument is also equipped with a chemical scrubber cell for noble gas analysis and a sample enrichment cell for selective measurement of high boiling point carbon containing constituents. The mass range is 2 to 141 Dalton and the nominal detection threshold is at a mixing ratio of 10^{− 8}. The data rate available from the Probe system is 885 bit/s. The weight of the instrument is 17.3 kg and the energy required for warm up and 150 minutes of operation is 110 Watt-hours. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

利用飞行试验信号对发动机模型辨识的研究

 利用飞行试验信号对发动机模型辨识进行了研究。在飞行过程中,发动机将受到各种随机扰动的作用,这种扰动将引起发动机特性的变化、在这种情况下,利用与发动机特性有关的信号进行发动机数学模型辨识对发动机自适应控制和状态监控有实际的意义。飞行试验是在H=3km、v=770km/h和H=13km、v=1540km/h时进行的,利用机载信号采集与记录设备录取了试验信号。介绍了信号的平滑和滤波方法,讨论了巴特沃思滤波器的设计和参数选择。为了得到无偏估计,采用递推广义最小二乘方法进行辨识,并得到了辨识结果。     

The Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer (DISR) Experiment on the Huygens Entry Probe of Titan

The payload of the Huygens Probe into the atmosphere of Titan includes the Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer (DISR). This instrument includes an integrated package of several optical instruments built around a silicon charge coupled device (CCD) detector, a pair of linear InGaAs array detectors, and several individual silicon detectors. Fiber optics are used extensively to feed these detectors with light collected from three frame imagers, an upward and downward-looking visible spectrometer, an upward and downward looking near-infrared spectrometer, upward and downward looking violet phtotometers, a four-channel solar aerole camera, and a sun sensor that determines the azimuth and zenith angle of the sun and measures the flux in the direct solar beam at 940 nm. An onboard optical calibration system uses a small lamp and fiber optics to track the relative sensitivity of the different optical instruments relative to each other during the seven year cruise to Titan. A 20 watt lamp and collimator are used to provide spectrally continuous illumination of the surface during the last 100 m of the descent for measurements of the reflection spectrum of the surface. The instrument contains software and hardware data compressors to permit measurements of upward and downward direct and diffuse solar flux between 350 and 1700 nm in some 330 spectral bands at approximately 2 km vertical resolution from an alititude of 160 km to the surface. The solar aureole camera measures the brightness of a 6° wide strip of the sky from 25 to 75° zenith angle near and opposite the azimuth of the sun in two passbands near 500 and 935 nm using vertical and horizontal polarizers in each spectral channel at a similar vertical resolution. The downward-looking spectrometers provide the reflection spectrum of the surface at a total of some 600 locations between 850 and 1700 nm and at more than 3000 locations between 480 and 960 nm. Some 500 individual images of the surface are expected which can be assembled into about a dozen panoramic mosaics covering nadir angles from 6° to 96° at all azimuths. The spatial resolution of the images varies from 300 m at 160 km altitude to some 20 cm in the last frames. The scientific objectives of the experiment fall into four areas including (1) measurement of the solar heating profile for studies of the thermal balance of Titan; (2) imaging and spectral reflection measurements of the surface for studies of the composition, topography, and physical processes which form the surface as well as for direct measurements of the wind profile during the descent; (3) measurements of the brightness and degree of linear polarization of scattered sunlight including the solar aureole together with measurements of the extinction optical depth of the aerosols as a function of wavelength and altitude to study the size, shape, vertical distribution, optical properties, sources and sinks of aerosols in Titan's atmosphere; and (4) measurements of the spectrum of downward solar flux to study the composition of the atmosphere, especially the mixing ratio profile of methane throughout the descent. We briefly outline the methods by which the flight instrument was calibrated for absolute response, relative spectral response, and field of view over a very wide temperature range. We also give several examples of data collected in the Earth's atmosphere using a spare instrument including images obtained from a helicopter flight program, reflection spectra of various types of terrain, solar aureole measurements including the determination of aerosol size, and measurements of the downward flux of violet, visible, and near infrared sunlight. The extinction optical depths measured as a function of wavelength are compared to models of the Earth's atmosphere and are divided into contributions from molecular scattering, aerosol extinction, and molecular absorption. The test observations during simulated descents with mountain and rooftop venues in the Earth's atmosphere are very important for driving out problems in the calibration and interpretion of the observations to permit rapid analysis of the observations after Titan entry. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

航空发动机推力直接测量飞行试验

建立了基于推力直接测量原理的发动机总推力计算模型,合理忽略了某些次要力简化了计算模型。在推力销上加装剪力应变桥路,建立载荷标定方程和温度修正方程获取发动机安装节推力;利用进气道测量耙测试参数,计算飞行中进气道冲压阻力和压差阻力。在某型飞机上开展了推力直接测量飞行试验,获得了某小涵道比涡扇发动机飞行总推力,并分析了空中平飞加速过程总推力和各推(阻)变化规律。结果表明:飞行马赫数处在约0.98~1.02时,总推力随飞行马赫数增大而急剧增大;高度为8km、飞行马赫数为1.42时发动机最大状态总推力相对值为123.78%,高度为11km、飞行马赫数为1.69时总推力相对值为119.70%,均高于相同状态地面台架推力值。通过分析进气道压差阻力百分比,验证了发动机空中总推力测量结果具有较高的准确性以及推力直接测量技术的可行性。     

Organic Chemistry and Exobiology on Titan

Exobiology is not only the study of the origin, distribution and evolution of life in the universe, but also of structures — including at the molecular level, and processes — including organic chemical transformations — related to life. In that respect, with its dense nitrogen atmosphere, which includes a noticeable fraction of methane, and the many organic compounds which are present in the gas and aerosols phases, Titan appears to be a planetary object of prime interest for exobiology in the Solar system, allowing the study of chemical organic evolution in a planetary environment over a long time scale. We describe here some aspects of this extraterrestrial organic chemistry which involves many physical and chemical couplings in the different parts of what can be called ‘Titan's geofluid’ (gas phase, aerosol phases and surface solid and maybe liquid phases). The three complementary approaches which can be followed to study such chemistry of exobiological interest are considered. Those are experimental simulations in the laboratory, chemical and photochemical modeling and of course observation, using both remote sensing and in situ measurements, which is an essential approach. The Cassini-Huygens mission, that offers a unique opportunity to study in detail the many aspects of Titan's organic chemistry, is discussed and the many expected exobiological returns from the different instruments of the Cassini orbiter and the Huygens probe are considered. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The Huygens Doppler Wind Experiment ' Titan Winds Derived from Probe Radio Frequency Measurements

A Doppler Wind Experiment (DWE) will be performed during the Titan atmospheric descent of the ESA Huygens Probe. The direction and strength of Titan's zonal winds will be determined with an accuracy better than 1 m s⁻¹ from the start of mission at an altitude of ∼160 km down to the surface. The Probe's wind-induced horizontal motion will be derived from the residual Doppler shift of its S-band radio link to the Cassini Orbiter, corrected for all known orbit and propagation effects. It is also planned to record the frequency of the Probe signal using large ground-based antennas, thereby providing an additional component of the horizontal drift. In addition to the winds, DWE will obtain valuable information on the rotation, parachute swing and atmospheric buffeting of the Huygens Probe, as well as its position and attitude after Titan touchdown. The DWE measurement strategy relies on experimenter-supplied Ultra-Stable Oscillators to generate the transmitted signal from the Probe and to extract the frequency of the received signal on the Orbiter. Results of the first in-flight checkout, as well as the DWE Doppler calibrations conducted with simulated Huygens signals uplinked from ground (Probe Relay Tests), are described. Ongoing efforts to measure and model Titan's winds using various Earth-based techniques are briefly reviewed. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A practical filter error method for aerodynamic parameter estimation of aircraft in turbulence

It is common for aircraft to encounter atmospheric turbulence in flight tests. Turbulence is usually modeled as stochastic process noise in the flight dynamics equations. In this paper, parameter estimation of nonlinear dynamic system with both process and measurement noise was studied, and a practical filter error method was proposed. The linearized Kalman filter of first-order approximation was used for state estimation, in which the filter gain, along with the system parameters and the initial states, constituted the parameter vector to be estimated. The unknown parameters and measurement noise covariance were estimated alternately by a relaxation iteration method, and the sensitivities of observations to unknown parameters were calculated by finite difference approximation. Some practical aspects of the method application were discussed. The proposed filter error method was validated by the flight simulation data of a research aircraft. Then, the method was applied to the flight tests of a subscale aircraft, and the aerodynamic stability and control derivatives were estimated. All the estimation results were compared with the results of the output error method to demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach. It is shown that the filter error method is superior to the output error method for flight tests in atmospheric turbulence.     

微小型飞行器惯性组合姿态确定与航路导航研究

构建了微小型飞行器(MAV)导航、制导与控制(GNC)系统。研究了微惯性导航测量单元零偏的温度建模及非正交误差的多位置标定补偿方法,提出微小型飞行器导航、制导与控制系统闭环条件下,利用导航、制导与控制回路的飞行状态特征信息的微惯性组合导航系统滤波算法,根据微小型飞行器飞行状态实时调整卡尔曼滤波器的观测噪声方差,有效提高了动态过程中姿态测量精度和微小型飞行器的飞行平稳度。完成了组合导航系统滤波算法验证飞行试验及自主姿态稳定和航路飞行试验。飞行试验表明:微小型飞行器实现了自主姿态稳定与长距离超视距航路点导航飞行,航路点导航误差小于30 m,惯性组合姿态确定与航路导航系统及算法满足微小型飞行器自主飞行对导航系统的需求。     

GPS Aided Inertial Navigation

The Global Positioning System is an extremely accurate satellite-based navigation system which, after its completion in 1989, will provide users worldwide, 24 hour. all weather coverage. A joint research project among Boeing, Rockwell-Collins, and Northrop has been completed in which a GPS receiver was integrated with a low-cost strap-down inertial navigation system and a flight computer. A Kalman filter in the latter allows in-fight alignment and calibration of the INS. In addition, feedback from the INS to the GPS receiver improves the system's ability to reacquire satellite signals after outages. The resulting system combines the accuracy of GPS with the jamming immunity and autonomy of inertial navigation. System tests were conducted in which a Boeing owned T-33 jet aircraft was flown through known test pattern to align and calibrate the INS. Earlier tests, including tests against an airborne jammer, were conducted in a modified passenger bus.     

推进式螺旋桨飞行中桨叶温度测量与尾气防冰性能评估

为研究某推进式布局螺旋桨表面温度分布特性,评估发动机尾气防冰功能,对螺旋桨进行了飞行中的温度测量试验,在桨叶上布置了Pt100热电阻和K型热电偶,通过无线近距遥测系统实现信号传输,测量螺旋桨在不同高度和发动机状态飞行时的表面温度,结果表明桨叶前缘尾气显著影响区温度随半径增加先升高后降低,桨叶最大厚度处温度则随半径增大呈先降低后升高趋势;飞行高度增加会导致桨叶温度显著下降,在同一高度内增大燃气发生器转速可引起桨叶温度小幅升高。根据相关标准和文献得到桨叶表面临界结冰判据,表明在5km螺旋桨防冰功能有效,在7km部分位置存在结冰风险,在8.5km防冰功能完全失效。     

涡扇发动机高空台惯性起动的试验

某型大流量涡扇发动机在高空台完成了飞行高度为5,8,10km的惯性起动.高空台试验结果表明:惯性起动过程中模拟的进气和排气压力存在着较明显的波动,偏离真实工况;利用不同的计算方法分析惯性起动数据,得到的飞行表速相差25~70km/h.以试验分析结果为基础,推荐了一种高空台惯性起动试验性能的评估方法,即成功起动以推杆时刻为起点3s内的平均值作为试验模拟飞行状态,起动失败以转速反转为起点到转速再次下降之间的平均值作为试验模拟飞行状态.      

A Celestial Analytic Positioning Method by Stellar Horizon Atmospheric Refraction

This article, in allusion to the limitation of conventional stellar horizon atmospheric refraction based on orbital dynamics model and nonlinear Kalman filter in practical applications, proposes a new celestial analytic positioning method by stellar horizon atmospheric refraction for high-altitude flight vehicles, such as spacecraft, airplanes and ballistic missiles. First, by setting up the geometric connexion among the flight vehicle, the Earth and the altitude of starlight refraction, an expression for the relationship of starlight refraction angle and atmospheric density is deduced. Second, there are produced a novel measurement model of starlight refraction in a continuous range of altitudes (CRA) from 20 km to 50 km on the basis of the standard atmospheric data in stratosphere, and an empirical formula of stellar horizon atmospheric refraction in the same altitudes against the tangent altitude. Third, there is introduced a celestial analytic positioning algorithm, which uses the least square differential correction instead of nonlinear Kalman filter. The information about positions of a flight vehicle can be obtained directly by solving a set of nonlinear measurement equations. The stellar positioning algorithm adopts the characteristics of stellar horizon atmospheric refraction thereby removing needs for orbit dynamics models and priori knowledge of flight vehicles. The simulation results evidence the validity of the proposed stellar positioning algorithm.     

飞行管理系统下降路径构建及应用研究

在飞行管理系统下降设计中，通过下降路径的构建可为接近目的机场提供一个垂直轨迹，使飞机遵守终端区各种限制要求，从而精确控制下降路径，满足安全性要求。本文分析了下降路径的定义及其在典型机型中的构建方法，给出了下降路径的描述方法及实现途径，并对具体机型中的应用做了简要介绍。     

The Characterisation of Titan's Atmospheric Physical Properties by the Huygens Atmospheric Structure Instrument (Hasi)

The Huygens Atmospheric Structure Instrument (HASI) is a multi-sensor package which has been designed to measure the physical quantities characterising the atmosphere of Titan during the Huygens probe descent on Titan and at the surface. HASI sensors are devoted to the study of Titan's atmospheric structure and electric properties, and to provide information on its surface, whether solid or liquid. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

High accuracy navigation and landing system using GPS/IMU systemintegration

In this paper, the accuracy, integrity and continuity of function requirements for automatic landing systems using satellite navigation systems are discussed. Such a landing system is the integrated navigation and landing system (INLS) developed by Deutsche Aerospace (DASA/Ulm, Germany). The system concepts of the INLS are presented. It is shown how an INLS, based on system integration of a satellite navigation system (e.g., GPS) in realtime differential mode with an inertial measurement unit (IMU) in the accuracy class of an attitude and heading reference system (AHRS), can meet the requirements: the results given are mainly devoted to the accuracy issues. Using Kalman filter techniques, an in-flight calibration of the IMU is performed. The advantage of system integration, especially in dynamic flight conditions and during phases of flight with satellite masking, is explained. The accuracy, integrity and continuity of function of the INLS were proven by means of flight tests in a commuter aircraft using a laser tracker as a reference. These flight tests have shown that the short-term accuracy (<60 seconds) of the AHRS used within the INLS has been improved from low cost sensor quality to the accuracy of a high quality laser inertial navigation system (LNIS). With the presented INLS, a landing at any airfield, not equipped with conventional Instrument Landing System (ILS) or Microwave Landing System (MLS), is possible by using a very cost effective system. The INLS is a high accuracy navigation and landing system designed to be used instead of conventional landing systems at small airfields and to fill operational gaps of conventional navigation and landing systems in cruise and approach on large airports     

飞行过载及安装间隙对主安装节推力测量的影响

为了研究飞行过载和推力销安装间隙对推力测量结果的影响，根据安装节推力测量原理开展一系列推力校准试验，获 得了不同过载和安装间隙下的推力校准方程。通过结果分析得出飞行过载和安装间隙对推力测量结果的影响关系和解决措施。结 果表明：当飞行过载不超过2g 时，安装间隙为4～6 mm，且在发动机慢车以上状态时，可以忽略飞行过载和推力销安装间隙的影 响；当飞行过载超过2g 时，需要根据实际的过载系数和安装间隙对主安装节推力进行修正，以获得更高精度的推力测量结果。     

用内式六分量应变天平实测导弹挂飞载荷

 本文研究了导弹挂飞载荷的飞行实测技术。研制了两套由导弹模拟壳体和内式六分量应变天平组成的测力系统,在进行多项飞行环境适应性、安全性、测试功能性地面试验后,将其左右对称安装在载机截尖三角形翼下,在国内首次对三挂点、大长细比导弹的挂飞载荷进行了飞行实测,试验结果可信可靠。采用与实弹相同的挂装连接方式模拟壳体气动外形和几何尺寸,采用框式双天平一体结构、集中传力、天平校心与测力系统质心重合以及测力系统整体校准等,实现对导弹质心处航向、侧向和法向3个方向上力和力矩的直接测量,测量不确定度小于5%。为导弹挂飞载荷的安全、精准实测提供了一种重要技术途径。     

飞机尾翼载荷飞行测量研究

 用分析和模型试验方法难以确定可靠的尾翼载荷,所以要求通过飞行试验获取尾翼载荷数据,但因测载技术复杂,精确地测定尾翼载荷亦是困难的。我们经过多年的工作,最终用应变法得到了可贵的某型飞机尾翼机动载荷测量结果。本文叙述了测量方法,并给出了垂尾载荷的部分测量结果。根据该结果对垂尾的受载情况提出了值得重视的看法。     

高速再入飞行试验再入条件优化设计

飞行器返回再入时将经历极高的气动热环境,因此深空探测返回飞行器,尤其是载人飞船需要通过实际飞行试验验证相关性能,为降低成本和研制风险,通常采用大再入角和相对第二宇宙速度较低的再入速度进行飞行试验。为获得能实现高热流密度验证的最小能量再入任务方案,采用优化设计手段对飞行试验的再入角和速度以及倾侧角控制进行设计,经仿真分析表明,优化结果可达到飞行试验要求的热流密度,并可将再入速度需求降低约2．1 km／s。