Earth based observations of the STS-11 space shuttle mission on orbit and during reentry

While much of what is known about the performance of spacecraft in flight is learned by monitoring telemetry data streams, this paper describes some unique observations made with ground-based astronomical equipment, done in conjunction with the tenth flight of the U.S. Space Shuttle. The study had two main objectives: to test the ability of low-cost, low-light-level television equipment to monitor satellites in orbit, and to attempt visual and photographic observation of the reentry characteristics of a Space Shuttle Orbiter. Both efforts met with considerable success and are described herein.     

Rosetta: The ESA comet rendezvous mission

Rosetta was selected in November 1993 for the ESA Cornerstone 3 mission, to be launched in 2003, dedicated to the exploration of the small bodies of the solar system (asteroids and comets). Following this selection, the Rosetta mission and its spacecraft have been completely reviewed: this paper presents the studies performed the proposed mission and the resulting spacecraft design.

Three mission opportunities have been identified in 2003–2004, allowing rendezvous with a comet. From a single Ariane 5 launch, the transfer to the comet orbit will be supported by planetary gravity assists (two from Earth, one from Venus or Mars); during the transfer sequence, two asteroid fly-bys will occur, allowing first mission science phases. The comet rendezvous will occur 8–9 years after launch; Rosetta will orbit around the comet and the main science mission phase will take place up to the comet perihelion (1–2 years duration).

The spacecraft design is driven (i) by the communication scenario with the Earth and its equipment, (ii) by the autonomy requirements for the long cruise phases which are not supported by the ground stations, (iii) by the solar cells solar array for the electrical power supply and (iv) by the navigation scenario and sensors for cruise, target approach and rendezvous phases. These requirements will be developed and the satellite design will be presented.     

Combining solar science and asteroid science with the space weather observation network (SWON)

The peculiarity of space weather for Earth orbiting satellites, air traffic and power grids on Earth and especially the financial and operational risks posed by damage due to space weather, underline the necessity of space weather observation. The importance of such observations is even more increasing due to the impending solar maximum. In recognition of this importance we propose a mission architecture for solar observation as an alternative to already published mission plans like Solar Probe (NASA) or Solar Orbiter (ESA). Based upon a Concurrent Evaluation session in the Concurrent Engineering Facility of the German Aerospace Center, we suggest using several spacecraft in an observation network. Instead of placing such spacecraft in a solar orbit, we propose landing on several asteroids, which are in opposition to Earth during the course of the mission and thus allow observation of the Sun's far side. Observation of the far side is especially advantageous as it improves the warning time with regard to solar events by about 2 weeks. Landing on Inner Earth Object (IEO) asteroids for observation of the Sun has several benefits over traditional mission architectures. Exploiting shadowing effects of the asteroids reduces thermal stress on the spacecraft, while it is possible to approach the Sun closer than with an orbiter. The closeness to the Sun improves observation quality and solar power generation, which is intended to be achieved with a solar dynamic system. Furthermore landers can execute experiments and measurements with regard to asteroid science, further increasing the scientific output of such a mission. Placing the spacecraft in a network would also benefit the communication contact times of the network and Earth. Concluding we present a first draft of a spacecraft layout, mission objectives and requirements as well as an initial mission analysis calculation.     

Contingency and recovery options for the European Student Moon Orbiter

This paper presents an overview of the analysis performed on the lunar orbit and some of the possible contingencies for the European Student Moon Orbiter (ESMO). Originally scheduled for launch in 2014 –2015 as a piggyback payload, it was the only ESA planned mission to the Moon. By way of a weak stability boundary transfer, ESMO is inserted into an orbit around the Moon. Propellant use is at a premium, so the operational orbit is selected to be highly eccentric. In addition, an optimization is presented to achieve an orbit that is stable for 6 months without requiring orbit maintenance. A parameter study is undertaken to study the sensitivity of the lunar orbit insertion. A database of transfer solutions across 2014 and 2015 is used to study the relation between the robustness of weak capture and the planetary geometry at lunar arrival. A number of example recovery scenarios, where the orbit insertion maneuver partially or completely fails, are also considered.     

European Sail Tower SPS concept

Based on a DLR-study in 1998/99 on behalf of ESA/ESTEC called “System Concepts, Architectures and Technologies for Space Exploration and Utilization (SE&U)” a new design for an Earth-orbiting Solar Power Satellite (SPS) has been developed. The design is called “European Sail Tower SPS” and consists mainly of deployable sail-like structures derived from the ongoing DLR/ESA solar sail technology development activity. Such a SPS satellite features an extremely light-weight and large tower-like orbital system and could supply Europe with significant amounts of electrical power generated by photovoltaic cells and subsequently transmitted to Earth via microwaves. In order to build up the sail tower, 60 units - each consisting of a pair of square-shaped sails - are moved from LEO to GEO with electric propulsion and successively assembled in GEO robotically on a central strut. Each single sail has dimensions of 150m × 150 m and is automatically deployed, using four diagonal light-weight carbon fiber (CFRP) booms which are initially rolled up on a central hub. The electric thrusters for the transport to GEO could also be used for orbit and attitude control of the assembled tower which has a total length of about 15 km and would be mainly gravity gradient stabilized. Employing thin film solar cell technology, each sail is used as a solar array and produces an electric power in orbit of about 3.7 MW_e. A microwave antenna with a diameter of 1 km transmits the power to a 10 km rectenna on the ground. The total mass of this 450 MW SPS is about 2100 tons. First estimates indicate that the costs for one kWh delivered in this way could compete with present day energy costs, if launch costs would decrease by two orders of magnitude. Furthermore, mass production and large numbers of installed SPS systems must be assumed in order to lower significantly the production costs and to reduce the influence of the expensive technology development. The paper presents the technical concept and an economic assessment as well as results of a recent solar sail deployment ground demonstration at DLR's facilities in Cologne.     

Landing on small bodies: From the Rosetta Lander to MASCOT and beyond

Recent planning for science and exploration missions has emphasized the high interest in the close investigation of small bodies in the Solar System. In particular in-situ observations of asteroids and comets play an important role in this field and will contribute substantially to our understanding of the formation and history of the Solar System.The first dedicated comet Lander is Philae, an element of ESA's Rosetta mission to comet 67/P Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Rosetta was launched in 2004. After more than 7 years of cruise (including three Earth and one Mars swing-by as well as two asteroid flybys) the spacecraft has gone into a deep space hibernation in June 2011. When approaching the target comet in early 2014, Rosetta will be re-activated. The cometary nucleus will be characterized remotely to prepare for Lander delivery, currently foreseen for November 2014.The Rosetta Lander was developed and manufactured, similar to a scientific instrument, by a consortium consisting of international partners. Project management is located at DLR in Cologne/Germany, with co-project managers at CNES (France) and ASI (Italy). The scientific lead is at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Science (Lindau, Germany) and the Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale (Paris).Mainly scientific institutes provided the subsystems, instruments and the complete, qualified lander system. Operations are performed in two dedicated centers, the Lander Control Center (LCC) at DLR-MUSC and the Science Operations and Navigation Center (SONC) at CNES. This concept was adopted to reduce overall cost of the project and is foreseen also to be applied for development and operations of future small bodies landers.A mission profiting from experience gained during Philae development and operations is MASCOT, a surface package for the Japanese Hayabusa 2 mission. MASCOT is a small (∼10 kg) mobile device, delivered to the surface of asteroid 1999JU3. There it will operate for about 16 h. During this time a camera, a magnetometer, a thermal monitor and an IR analytical instrument will provide ground truth and thus will even be able to support the selection of possible sampling sites for the main spacecraft.MASCOT is a flexible design that can be adapted to a wide range of missions and possible target bodies. Also the payload is flexible to some extent (with an overall mass in the 3 kg range). For example, the surface package is part of the optional strawman payload for MarcoPolo-R, a European asteroid sample return mission, proposed for ESA Cosmic Vision M-class.     

Mission design and analysis of European astrophysics missions orbiting libration points

The main characteristics of the trajectory design of space observatory missions in the Earth–Sun libration point region is highlighted, based on experiences gained in work performed by the authors on ESA missions. Free transfers always lead to large-amplitude orbits around L₂, their properties (amplitudes, phases, non-linear behaviour) are related to the conditions at perigee. Launch scenarios with different degrees of freedom in the perigee geometry and different strategies of sharing the apogee raising between launcher and spacecraft propulsion for Soyuz (with circular parking orbit or direct injection) and Ariane 5 launches from French Guiana will be discussed. Besides the orbit selection and transfer analysis, an important aspect of libration missions is the maintenance of the operational orbit. For some missions it is required to maximise the time between maintenance manoeuvres, and for some the thrust authority is limited. In both cases the exponential nature of the state transition matrix has to be considered. If the equivalent velocity error in the unstable direction becomes too large, the orbit can become unrecoverable, leading to a departure from the environment of the Lagrange point within a few months.     

高空发动机燃料主管路防热罩设计优化

针对火箭飞行工作中高空发动机燃料主管路系统防热罩存在热防护能力不足的问题,开展了高空羽流条件下的仿真计算和分析,依据温度计算值确定了防热罩紧固件在高温下抗拉伸强度低,在较高拧紧力矩条件下存在锌、镉脆断裂的薄弱环节,从而导致防热罩脱落。防热罩脱落后其内充填的隔热包覆材料被羽流吹落,燃料主汽蚀管连接法兰直接暴露在高温羽流环境中,高温导致法兰连接及密封失效从而产生燃料泄漏。针对防热罩热防护设计中存在的薄弱环节完成了设计改进,采用头锥形防热罩、高温合金材料的紧固件和多层耐高温隔热材料捆扎包覆等设计改进方案后,经过了高温、振动、地面发动机热试车和飞行试验验证,未出现前述故障。     

Automated payload and instruments for astrobiology research developed and studied by German medium-sized space industry in cooperation with European academia

For more than a decade Kayser-Threde, a medium-sized enterprise of the German space industry, has been involved in astrobiology research in partnership with a variety of scientific institutes from all over Europe. Previous projects include exobiology research platforms in low Earth orbit on retrievable carriers and onboard the Space Station. More recently, exobiology payloads for in situ experimentation on Mars have been studied by Kayser-Threde under ESA contracts, specifically the ExoMars Pasteur Payload. These studies included work on a sample preparation and distribution systems for Martian rock/regolith samples, instrument concepts such as Raman spectroscopy and a Life Marker Chip, advanced microscope systems as well as robotic tools for astrobiology missions. The status of the funded technical studies and major results are presented. The reported industrial work was funded by ESA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR).     

Material considerations in the STEREO solar array design

Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO), the third mission in NASA's Solar Terrestrial Probes program, launched aboard a single Delta II 7925 launch vehicle on October 25, 2006 from Cape Canaveral. This two-year mission employs two nearly-identical, space-based observatories, one ahead of the Earth in its orbit, and the other trailing behind, to provide the first stereoscopic measurements of the sun and its coronal mass ejections, or CMEs. The STEREO observatories utilize four sets of solar arrays, each of which experienced a two-stage deployment on-orbit. This paper illustrates material considerations in the solar array subsystem design. It first focuses on the solar array substrate, considering material coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) concerns when choosing a substrate laminate to which the solar cells will adhere. It then explores a similar issue when choosing a substrate insert material. Next, the focus shifts to material considerations in the solar array hinge design. This design was driven not just by function, but by a host of different material considerations, ranging from mass savings to fabrication time and cost.     

Shuttle demonstration of large space structure fabrication and assembly

The purpose of this paper is to describe a program aimed at an early on orbit demonstration of a large space structure fabrication and assembly capability. Requirements for the demonstration concept have been formulated. The concept that has been selected to meet these requirements is a Large Space Structure Platform consisting of a triangular prism of 31.5 m length. Sensors can be mounted on this platform to perform Earth observation measurements from space. Structural elements of the platform are fabricated using an automated beam builder in the Shuttle Orbiter payload bay. Special fixtures are designed to assemble the structure with the aid of the Remote Manipulator System and two astroworkers in an EVA mode. Results are shown of the platform preliminary design in terms of a design layout with related structural, thermal, mass properties and control dynamics data. The assembly scenario is described. Estimates of the total construction time and Orbiter support requirements are also presented.     

Space debris mitigation measures applied to European launchers

In November 1986, more than 20 years ago, an H8 upper stage of Ariane 1 exploded in orbit nine months after the end of its mission. So as to avoid the generation of debris in low Earth orbit, a dedicated complementary development modified the design, introducing systematic passivation of the stage. Ever since this event, space debris mitigation has been a major concern for all launcher activities in Europe.After a short recall of the launchers currently operated by Arianespace as well as those currently developed by ESA with CNES, particularly for the safeguard authority, including the most promising future evolutions, the set of applicable regulations is described. These rules are fundamentally derived from the IADC Guidelines (hence the UNCOPUOS ones), translated into European Code of Conduct and in some more applicable Standards, such as the one prepared by ESA. The process of preparing ISO standards, mainly through the ECSS Working Group, is also described.Three major families can be identified: minimization of Mission Related Objects, Passivation of stages at the end of mission, and orbital protected zones including the so-called 25-year rule.The paper describes how European launchers do or will fulfill these applicable standards, quantifying the efficiency of the mitigation rules, and describing improvement actions currently under study.     

Storing and processing astrometric and photometric data on NEA: Current state and future in Russia

Numerous discoveries of asteroids unknown earlier led to a multiple increase in the number of information on small bodies of the Solar System. Huge volumes of information accumulated and obtained at observations of objects approaching the Earth’s orbit require storing and prompt processing, presenting more and more possibilities for studying distributions of small bodies of the Solar System and ways of their evolution. That is why development of information systems which will contain large volumes of data on small bodies of the Solar System and facilities for processing these data is actual and promising direction of activity.     

Material considerations in the STEREO solar array design

Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO), the third mission in NASA's Solar Terrestrial Probes program, launched aboard a single Delta II 7925 launch vehicle on October 25, 2006 from Cape Canaveral. This two-year mission employs two nearly-identical, space-based observatories, one ahead of the Earth in its orbit, and the other trailing behind, to provide the first stereoscopic measurements of the sun and its coronal mass ejections, or CMEs. The STEREO observatories utilize four sets of solar arrays, each of which experienced a two-stage deployment on-orbit. This paper illustrates material considerations in the solar array subsystem design. It first focuses on the solar array substrate, considering material coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) concerns when choosing a substrate laminate to which the solar cells will adhere. It then explores a similar issue when choosing a substrate insert material. Next, the focus shifts to material considerations in the solar array hinge design. This design was driven not just by function, but by a host of different material considerations, ranging from mass savings to fabrication time and cost.     

基于Orbiter的航天器升力式再入特性仿真

升力式再入是指航天器进入大气层时产生一定可控升力,对提高落点精度具有重要意义。为了研究升力式再入的动力学特性,采用Orbiter模拟器的应用程序接口,在其飞行动力学模型基础上,对航天器从低轨道升力式再入返回过程进行仿真。通过仿真试验,分析热流、过载、动压等参数的变化规律,初步摸清了升力式再入的动力学特性,并对升力式再入和弹道式再入仿真结果参数进行了比较和分析,结果表明升力式再入能很好解决过载和热流峰值高的问题。     

Precise modelling of solar and thermal accelerations on Rosetta

This paper presents an analytical approach for the high-fidelity model of the accelerations induced by the Solar Radiation Pressure (SRP) and the Thermal Recoil Pressure (TRP) on ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft. The relevant gravitational forces that are induced by planets, moons, and asteroids can readily be incorporated for predicting interplanetary trajectories. However, there are additional perturbation forces that cause residual errors in the orbit determination process. These are the so-called “small forces”, which are mainly induced by the SRP and TRP effects and are often not modelled adequately or not completely. In the case of deep-space missions, the spacecraft travels a wide range of distances relative to the Sun. This makes the spacecraft exposed to a wide range of solar fluxes and surface temperatures. This paper establishes a high-fidelity acceleration model, which enables more precise orbit predictions for interplanetary spacecraft. The application of the model is demonstrated and validated using the orbit determination data and in-flight temperature data of the Rosetta spacecraft.     

Economic benefits of the OTV program

A new upper stage for the Shuttle called Orbiter Transfer Vehicle (OTV) is planned by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for a broad range of missions including transfer of very large spacecraft, unmanned and manned servicing at Geosynchronous orbit (GEO). Leading OTV configurations use 13 to 34 tonnes of cryogenic propellants in vehicles based on the existing Centaur or new designs. These OTVs can deliver to Geosynchronous orbit more than double the payload possible with the solid propellant Intertial Upper Stage (IUS), which is currently being developed. This high performance reduces the number of shuttle launches required to deliver a given total mass of payloads. After delivery of current size spacecraft, OTV could be returned to the Orbiter for reuse, saving the cost of building a new stage. OTV performance and flexibility will create the opportunity for the next generation of spacecraft such as Geostationary Platform. In these three ways, the high-performance OTV will provide economic benefits to Space Transportation Systems.     

Design and development of correlation techniques to maintain a space surveillance system catalogue

A growing interest exists in a future, autonomous European Space Surveillance System (ESSS). Currently, most of the knowledge about Earth-orbiting space objects is based on information provided by the USASPACECOM. This paper presents the required initial orbit determination (IOD) and correlation techniques to process optical measurements. Former studies were focused on the handling of radar measurements, which are summarised with the aim of describing a global procedure for processing hybrid measurement types (combination of radar and optic data for catalogue maintenance). The introduction of manoeuvres are presented due to their importance in the space object catalogue maintenance.The detection of uncatalogued objects and the successful correlation of already catalogued objects involve two different tasks for telescopes: survey and tasking. Assumptions for both strategies are developed on the basis of the previous work developed at the University of Berne (see [T. Flohrer, T. Schildknecht, R. Musci, E. Stöveken, Performance estimation for GEO space surveillance, Advances in Space Research 35 (2005). [1]; T. Flohrer, T. Schildknecht, R. Musci, Proposed strategies for optical observations in a future European Space Surveillance Network, presented in the 36th COSPAR Scientific Assembly (2006). [2]; R. Musci, T. Schildknecht, M. Ploner, Orbit improvement for GEO objects using follow-up observations, Advances in Space Research 34 (2004). [3]; R. Musci, T. Schildknecht, M. Ploner, G. Beutler, Orbit improvement for GTO objects using follow-up observations, Advances in Space Research 35 (2005). [4]; R. Musci, T. Schildknecht, T. Flohrer, G. Beutler, Concept for a catalogue of space debris in GEO, Proceedings of the Fourth European Conference on Space Debris, (ESA SP-587, 2005). [5]]). When a new object appears in the field of view, initial orbit determination must be performed. When only one telescope per site is available, the initial measurements are separated by only a few seconds. Therefore, the initial orbit determination is quite inaccurate due to bad mathematical conditioning of the problem. In order to improve the accuracy of the initial orbit determination, several follow-up observations of the object are required. This implies that the telescope needs to track the detected objects over a long period, and therefore the time available for surveying is reduced. By processing the additional follow-up measurements, separated now by a few hours, the initial orbit determination gives more accurate results and the object can be recovered after an orbital revolution. When several telescopes per site are available, the optical strategies may be modified. The survey tasks can be distributed between the available telescopes. In this way the number of images corresponding to each object increases and to track the detected object over long periods is not always needed. Numerical results will be shown in order to evaluate the accuracy and features of the different telescope strategies. A key point for performing efficiently the cataloguing process is the calculation of the estimated state vector covariance matrix. The covariance matrix analysis allows an adaptive tasking-survey telescope scheduling. Moreover, the implementation of a proper batch orbit determination process by means of a square root information filter (SRIF) requires a realistic initial covariance matrix.Hybrid measurements are available from objects that can be observed through both radar and optical sensors (e.g. GTO objects). The batch orbit determination and correlation process of hybrid measurements is also based on SRIF using an extended measurement model. Both the initial orbit determination methods using radar and optical measurements have to be sufficiently accurate to initialise SRIF correctly. In order to avoid filter divergence, the estimated covariance must be correctly updated after processing both kinds of measurements. The implemented algorithms are explained and their performance is shown through realistic simulations.Techniques to detect and characterise object manoeuvres during the cataloguing process have been developed and implemented. Four main groups of manoeuvre objects have been established by means of their observed permitted orbital ranges (GEO, LEO, MEO–GPS, Molniya). The study is based on the historical TLEs files. When an object with an uncatalogued orbit appears, a comparison between the new orbit and the orbits contained in the permitted ranges of one of the manoeuvre groups is performed. If the required Δa and/or Δi to convert the lost orbit into the detected orbit seems to be feasible, a manoeuvre will be identified and the orbit will be updated in the catalogue. Otherwise, it will be decided that a new object was found. For this purpose, a procedure to estimate the manoeuvres and reset orbits have been developed.     

Venus Express—Science observations experience at Venus

The Venus Express mission is the European Space Agency's (ESA) first spacecraft at Venus. It was launched in November 2005 by a Soyuz–Fregat launcher and arrived at Venus in April 2006. The mission covers a broad range of scientific goals including physics, chemistry, dynamics and structure of the atmosphere as well as atmospheric interaction with the surface and several aspects of the surface itself. Furthermore, it investigates the plasma environment and interaction of the solar wind with the atmosphere and escape processes.One month after the arrival at Venus the Venus Express spacecraft started routine science operations. Since then Venus Express has been observing Venus every day for more than one year continuously making new discoveries.In order to ensure that all the science objectives are fulfilled the Venus Express Science Operations Centre (VSOC) has the task of coordinating and implementing the science operations for the mission. During the first year of Venus observations the VSOC and the experiment teams gained a lot of experience in how to make best use of the observation conditions and payload capabilities. While operating the spacecraft in orbit we also acquired more knowledge on the technical constraints and more insight in the science observations and their results.As the nominal mission is coming to an end, the extended mission will start from October 2007. The Extended Science Mission Plan was developed taking into account the lessons learned. At the same time new observations were added along with specific fine-tuned observations in order to complete the science objectives of the mission.This paper will describe how the previous observations influence the current requirements for the observations around Venus today and how they influence the observations in the mission extension. Also it will give an overview of the Extended Science Mission Plan and its challenges for the future observations.     

深空探测器被动式高精度多普勒测量方法与应用

针对深空探测器的单程多普勒测量需求,研究了被动式高精度多普勒测量方法及其实现技术。该方法基于探测器测控信标残留载波等点频信号和VLBI测站高精度氢原子钟频标,构造出与实际接收信号频率接近的参考信号;再通过本地相关处理,完成高精度开环多普勒测量。其特色在于完全不需要精确的先验轨道模型。所开发的专用被动式多普勒测量设备,在国内第一次成功用于欧空局环火星探测器“MEX”的多普勒测定轨试验。探测器X频段信号5s积分的单程多普勒测量精度达到 0.2mm/s ,与欧空局测量水平相当。采用该多普勒测量数据的MEX定轨结果与欧空局精密轨道在数百米至千米量级一致。