Space policy for late comer countries: A case study of South Korea

Korea’s space development program was created almost 40 years behind those of the advanced countries but it has nevertheless made remarkable progress. Korean space development has been focused on technology catch-up, where commercialization and growth of industrial competitiveness are important rationales. However, the program has several problems, including: lack of a space equipment manufacturing industry, total system companies in the space manufacturing industry and communication between industry and researchers, and much concentration of projects and initiatives in the Korean Aerospace Research Institute (KARI). This study analyzes the problem by comparing space agencies and programs in Korea and other countries, particularly Japan and the USA. It is shown that the role of a national laboratory is critical in space industry development and argued that KARI should make greater efforts to promote the Korean space industry by encouraging technology transfer, sharing equipment and communication between companies. For successful space development, the main organization – usually the national research institute – should change its role from a research-only laboratory to manager and supporter of space development and industry. Such a move would invigorate Korea’s space industry and allow it to catch up with countries with a similar environment.     

Attractive manifold-based adaptive solar attitude control of satellites in elliptic orbits

The paper presents a novel noncertainty-equivalent adaptive (NCEA) control system for the pitch attitude control of satellites in elliptic orbits using solar radiation pressure (SRP). The satellite is equipped with two identical solar flaps to produce control moments. The adaptive law is based on the attractive manifold design using filtered signals for synthesis, which is a modification of the immersion and invariance (I&I) method. The control system has a modular controller–estimator structure and has separate tunable gains. A special feature of this NCEA law is that the trajectories of the satellite converge to a manifold in an extended state space, and the adaptive law recovers the performance of a deterministic controller. This recovery of performance cannot be obtained with certainty-equivalent adaptive (CEA) laws. Simulation results are presented which show that the NCEA law accomplishes precise attitude control of the satellite in an elliptic orbit, despite large parameter uncertainties.     

Comparative study of lunar mission requirements and onboard propulsion system performance

In recent years, the lunar explorer programs, suspended for a long time, have resumed again with the rapid development of low cost and high-level technologies. As a result, several nations have made a success of lunar exploration programs with their own orbiters. Unlike a satellite orbiting the earth, the optimal design of an onboard propulsion system of a lunar orbiter is a major issue because it is not simple to make the orbiter arrive accurately at another planet far from the earth. Hence, a close attention is required to select and develop an appropriate type of the onboard propulsion system based on given mission requirements of a lunar orbiter. To do this, this study first surveys several lunar orbiters launched since 1990 and their major mission requirements. Then, it summarizes the technical trends of the onboard propulsion systems of the recent lunar orbiters and their key design and performance specifications through trade-off studies. By comparing these features, the present study investigates which lunar mission requirements are critically important, and how they can effect on the overall performance of an onboard propulsion system. Based on these investigations the major objective of the present study intends ultimately to set up a fundamental baseline in selecting and developing an appropriate type of onboard propulsion system of a lunar orbiter.     

Control of approach and landing phase for reentry vehicle using fuzzy logic

The reentry vehicle is affected by various disturbances such as a wind gust, atmospheric condition or aerodynamic problems in the approach and landing phase. Therefore it is necessary to design a robust control scheme. This paper presents a control scheme using Mamdani fuzzy PD controller. In this paper, the reference trajectories are generated using geometric parameters for disturbed circumstances with 4 cases: nominal, headwind and tailwind, drag increased case. Then, a Mamdani fuzzy PD controller was designed in this study. Twenty-five rules were applied in the knowledge-based system. The max–min method for a fuzzy inference system and the center-of-mass method in defuzzification were used. Finally, guidance and control simulations are performed for verification of proposed controller using generated reference trajectories. In addition, the Monte Carlo simulation is performed considering various disturbances. The results show that proposed Mamdani fuzzy PD controller has reliability and robustness for control of reentry vehicle with wind disturbance in the approach and landing phases.     

基于刃边法的星载相机在轨MTF测量精度分析

调制传递函数(MTF)反映可见光对地遥感系统在对地物成像过程中信号的扩散与削弱程度,是表达系统辐射性能的重要指标.文章对星载可见光CCD相机在轨MTF主要测量方法进行比对分析,通过数据仿真,重点对随机噪声、边缘探测与拟合等主要影响刃边法精度的因素进行了分析.分析结果表明,计算所用刃边法能够较准确地计算可见光遥感系统的M...     

The Plasma and Suprathermal Ion Composition (PLASTIC) Investigation on the STEREO Observatories

The Plasma and Suprathermal Ion Composition (PLASTIC) investigation provides the in situ solar wind and low energy heliospheric ion measurements for the NASA Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory Mission, which consists of two spacecraft (STEREO-A, STEREO-B). PLASTIC-A and PLASTIC-B are identical. Each PLASTIC is a time-of-flight/energy mass spectrometer designed to determine the elemental composition, ionic charge states, and bulk flow parameters of major solar wind ions in the mass range from hydrogen to iron. PLASTIC has nearly complete angular coverage in the ecliptic plane and an energy range from ～0.3 to 80 keV/e, from which the distribution functions of suprathermal ions, including those ions created in pick-up and local shock acceleration processes, are also provided.     

Optimal air-launching rocket design using system trades and a multi-disciplinary optimization approach

Compared with the conventional ground rocket launching, air-launching has many advantages. However, a comprehensive and integrated system design approach is required because the physical geometry of air launch vehicle is quite dependent on the installation limitation of the mother plane. For the selection of the best system alternative, a trade study for the first stage engine type and launching speeds is performed using a sequential optimization technique, confirming the feasibility of the baseline air-launching rocket. Then, a system design has been performed using the multi-disciplinary feasible (MDF) design optimization method. Analysis modules include mission analysis, staging, propulsion analysis, configuration, weight analysis, aerodynamics analysis and trajectory analysis. As a result of multi-disciplinary system optimization, a supersonic air launching rocket with total mass of 1244.9 kg, total length of 6.36 m, outer diameter of 0.60 m has been successfully designed to launch a satellite of 7.5 kg to the 700 km circular orbit.     

Mechanical behavior and properties of fiber reinforced ceramic matrix composites for high temperature use

Ceramics can keep their mechanical characteristics up to 2 000℃ or higher.In this paper,A model to predict ultimate strength of continuous fiber-reinforced brittle matrix composites is developed.A statistical theory for the strength of a uni-axially fiber-reinforced brittle matrix composite is presented.Also a semi-empirical frictional heating method for estimating in-situ interfacial shear in fiber-reinforced ceramic matrix composites was improved.Local uneven fiber packing variation as well as uneven micro-damage during fatigue can be expected to have effects on the composites:generation of frictional heating,thermal gradients,and residual stresses around local fiber breaks.This study examined those engineering interests by the finite element method.      

Ultrastructural study of iron oxide precipitates: implications for the search for biosignatures in the Meridiani hematite concretions, Mars

Two terrestrial environments that have been proposed as analogs for the iron oxide precipitation in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars include the Rio Tinto precipitates and southern Utah marble concretions. Samples of two typical Utah iron oxide concretions and iron oxide precipitates in contact with biofilms from Rio Tinto have been studied to determine whether evidence could be found for biomediation in the precipitation process and to identify likely locations for fossil microorganisms. Scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray, and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) were used to search for biosignatures in the Utah marbles. The precipitation of iron oxides resembles known biosignatures, though organic compounds could not be confirmed with GC-MS analysis. In contrast, textural variations induced by biological activity are abundant in the modern Rio Tinto samples. Although no compelling evidence of direct or indirect biomediation was found in the Utah marbles, the ultrastructure of the iron oxide cement in the concretion suggests an inward growth during concretion precipitation from an initially spherical redox front. No indication for growth from a physical nucleus was found.