New trade tree for manned mars missions

Recent studies on human missions to Mars suggest revisiting the parameters that have the most important impact on the complexity, the initial mass in low Earth orbit, the risks and the development costs for the first journey to the red planet. In the last NASA reference mission, a trade tree is proposed.     

Roadmap to a human Mars mission

We propose a new roadmap for the preparation of the first human mission to Mars. This proposal is based on the work of ISECG and several recent recommendations on human Mars mission architectures. A table is proposed to compare the possible benefits of different preparatory missions. Particular attention is paid to the possibility of qualifying important systems thanks to a heavy Mars sample return mission. It is shown that this mission is mandatory for the qualification of Mars aerocapture at scale-1, EDL systems at scale 1 and Mars ascent. Moreover, it is a good opportunity to test many other systems, such as the heavy launcher and the transportation systems for the trips beyond LEO. These tests were not mentioned in the last ISECG report. This strategy is facilitated in the case of the simplified Mars mission scenarios that have recently been presented because it is suggested that relatively small vehicles with small crew sizes are used in order to optimize the payload mass fraction of the landing vehicles and to avoid the LEO assembly. An important finding of the study is that a human mission to the surface of the Moon is not required for the qualification of the systems of a human mission to Mars. Since affordability is a key criterion, two important missions are proposed in the roadmap. The first is a heavy Mars sample return mission and the second is a manned mission to a high Earth orbit or eventually to the vicinity of the Moon. It is shown that both missions are complementary and sufficient to qualify all the critical systems of the Mars mission.     

On the observability of Mars entry navigation using radiometric measurements

A thorough observability analysis of the Mars entry navigation using radiometric measurements from ground based beacons is performed. This analysis involves the evaluation of the Fisher information matrix which is derived from the maximum likelihood estimation. A series of navigation cases with multiple beacons are investigated, and both range and range-rate measurements are considered. The determinant of Fisher information matrix is used to quantify the observability of navigation system, while the trace of Fisher information matrix is used to determine the lower-bound of estimation errors. For one and two beacon cases, the navigation system is unobservable. However, the eigenvectors of Fisher information matrix give the observable and unobservable component. When three or more beacon measurements are employed, the states of entry vehicle become observable. Some valuable analytic conclusions on the relationship between the geometric configuration of beacons and observability are obtained consequently. Finally, simulation results from two navigation examples indicate that our effort is useful for understanding and assessing the observability of the Mars entry navigation using radiometric measurements.     

An innovative navigation scheme of powered descent phase for Mars pinpoint landing

Pinpoint landing (within 100 m from the target) is essential for future Mars exploration missions. This paper deals with one aspect of the pinpoint landing architecture—the navigation performance improvement during the powered descent phase, and proposes an innovative navigation scheme to obtain the vehicle complete and accurate states. On the basis of dead reckoning relying on the Inertial Measurement Unit, measurements of the Integrated Doppler Radar are adopted to correct the vehicle velocity and altitude. Distance between the vehicle and one Mars Orbiter as well as their line-of-sight relative velocity is measured by a radio sensor, and integrated in the filter to correct the vehicle horizontal position. The innovative navigation system is based on an Extend Kalman Filter. Two observation schemes are developed. One considers measurements of the Integrated Doppler Radar and radio range measurement. Another further considers radio velocity measurement. The performance of the innovative navigation scheme is greatly influenced by the position of the Mars Orbiter with respect to the target. Stochastic analyses are performed to obtain optimal locations of Mars Orbiter. Finally, the innovative navigation scheme performances are assessed through stochastic simulations. Its performance improvements are demonstrated by comparison with the Integrated Doppler Radar only navigation scheme.     

行星着陆探测中的动力学与控制研究进展

着陆探测是获取行星特性和科学数据最直接、最有效的途径,也是目前技术难度最大、最为复杂的探测方式。在行星着陆探测过程中,动力学与控制是影响任务成败的关键因素之一。文章首先分析了行星着陆探测动力学与控制研究所面临的挑战与难题;然后,针对火星和小行星的着陆探测,重点分析了火星着陆进入段和下降段所涉及的动力学与控制,小行星附着探测动力学建模与制导控制的研究现状与关键问题;最后,提出了我国在行星着陆探测动力学与控制领域的未来重点发展方向。     

磁阻尼对火星探测器降落过程的动力学效应

火星稀薄的大气使得探测器再入火星时难以获得足够的减速阻力,为此,文章提出利用磁阻尼增加阻力的概念。高速再入的探测器与火星大气剧烈摩擦产生等离子体,利用探测器上的磁偶极场将等离子体捕获,同时在火星大气中形成一个“磁泡”区域并跟随探测器。由“磁泡”束缚的等离子体与来流的中性气体发生碰撞获得动量,又通过磁场作用将动量传递给探测器,从而使探测器获得一定的减速阻力。在磁阻尼的作用下,在同样的开伞高度探测器速度可降至更低,而低速开伞又可提高阻力伞打开的可靠性。因此,磁阻尼不仅可加快降低再入速度,而且还有助于提高探测器着陆火星的安全性。     

气球型深空探测器技术研究进展

气球型深空探测器能够大大提高深空探测的机动能力,它不仅可以获取区域范围内的高分辨率观测数据,而且还可实现不同高度大气的原位测量。文章针对气球型深空探测器按技术特征进行了分类,并简述了各类气球探测器的原理和特点,重点总结了各类气球探测器在金星、火星和土卫六上应用的研究现状。针对我国未来的气球型深空探测器技术发展,提出首先以火星热气球为发展方向,与地球临近空间浮空器技术的发展彼此借鉴,促进关键技术领域的技术突破等建议,可为我国未来深空探测提供参考。     

A Revisit of the Phobos Events

The magnetic field disturbances detected by the Phobos-2 spacecraft in 1989 have been suggested to be caused by a ring of dust and/or gas emitted from the Martian moon, Phobos. The physical nature of these ``Phobos events' is examined using results from related investigations over the last twenty years. It is concluded that there is no clear evidence at present to support the association of magnetic field disturbances in the solar wind with Phobos. The situation will be further clarified taking advantage of the multi-spacecraft observations of the Yinghuo-1(YH-1), Mars Express and MAVEN missions beginning in 2012. It is expected that many novel features of solar wind interaction with Phobos (and possibly also Deimos) itself will also be revealed.      

用于火星探测的电子分析器定标

用于火星探测的电子分析器采用了带偏转板的同轴圆柱形静电分析器, 该传感器方案在满足性能指标的同时实现了小型化. 利用法国空间辐射研究中心(CESR)的电子源, 对电子分析器两个传感器通道的静电分析器因子、能量分辨率、偏转板偏转因子、 方位角分辨率和极角分辨率进行了定标. 给出了上述参数的定标结果, 并对结果进行了分析. 结果表明,仪器的能量范围、能量分辨率、方位角视场及角度分辨率等参数均优于指标要求. 定标结果为电子分析器在轨数据处理和分析以及在轨运行参数设置提供了依据.      

一种新型火星定点着陆轨迹快速优化方法

针对火星定点着陆任务大气进入段的轨迹规划问题,给出了一种基于hp Radau伪谱法的快速优化算法。综合考虑大气进入段的动力学约束、边值约束、以及着陆器的机动能力约束和安全性约束,结合hp Radau伪谱法的配点特性,将轨迹优化问题转换成一个大规模多约束参数优化问题,给出了大气进入段轨迹优化问题的求解框架;为了提高算法的计算效率,给出了参数优化过程中雅克比矩阵的解析表达式;并通过数学仿真对本文算法进行了数值验证,结果表明：