Planetary protection issues related to human missions to Mars

In accordance with the United Nations Outer Space Treaties [United Nations, Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, UN doc A/RES/34/68, resolution 38/68 of December 1979], currently maintained and promulgated by the Committee on Space Research [COSPAR Planetary Protection Panel, Planetary Protection Policy accepted by the COSPAR Council and Bureau, 20 October 2002, amended 24 March 2005, http://www.cosparhq.org/scistr/PPPolicy.htm], missions exploring the Solar system must meet planetary protection requirements. Planetary protection aims to protect celestial bodies from terrestrial contamination and to protect the Earth environment from potential biological contamination carried by returned samples or space systems that have been in contact with an extraterrestrial environment. From an exobiology perspective, Mars is one of the major targets, and several missions are currently in operation, in transit, or scheduled for its exploration. Some of them include payloads dedicated to the detection of life or traces of life. The next step, over the coming years, will be to return samples from Mars to Earth, with a view to increasing our knowledge in preparation for the first manned mission that is likely to take place within the next few decades. Robotic missions to Mars shall meet planetary protection specifications, currently well documented, and planetary protection programs are implemented in a very reliable manner given that experience in the field spans some 40 years. With regards to sample return missions, a set of stringent requirements has been approved by COSPAR [COSPAR Planetary Protection Panel, Planetary Protection Policy accepted by the COSPAR Council and Bureau, 20 October 2002, amended 24 March 2005, http://www.cosparhq.org/scistr/PPPolicy.htm], and technical challenges must now be overcome in order to preserve the Earth’s biosphere from any eventual contamination risk. In addition to the human dimension of the mission, sending astronauts to Mars will entail meeting all these constraints. Astronauts present huge sources of contamination for Mars and are also potential carriers of biohazardous material on their return to Earth. If they were to have the misfortune of being contaminated, they themselves would become a biohazard, and, as a consequence, in addition to the technical constraints, human and ethical considerations must also be taken into account.     

在制品管理中条码技术的应用

针对面向订单的单件、小批量生产制造企业,设计了一套条码数据采集系统,分析了主要运作流程和功能模块.在在制品的管理中提出了基于不同级别的工件生产状态定义,并给出了相应的加工、检验判定准则.经实际使用证明条码技术运用于工业现场是可行的.     

A neutral gas mass spectrometer to measure the chemical composition of the stratosphere

The Polar Balloon Atmospheric Composition Experiment (P-BACE) is a new generation of neutral gas mass spectrometer based on the time-of-flight principle. P-BACE is the scientific experiment on the Mars Environment Analog Platform (MEAP) flown successfully on a balloon mission in summer 2008. The MEAP mission was flown with a 334,000 m³ helium balloon in the stratosphere on a semicircular trajectory from northern Sweden around the North Pole to Canada using the summer northern hemispheric wind current. The atmospheric conditions at an atmospheric altitude of 35–40 km are remarkably similar to those on the surface of Mars and thus the balloon mission was an ideal testbed for our mass spectrometer P-BACE. Originally this instrument was designed for in situ measurements of the chemical composition of the Martian atmosphere.P-BACE has a unique mass range from 0 to 1000 amu/q with a mass resolution m/Δm (FWHM) > 1000, and the dynamic range is at least six orders of magnitude. During this experiment, the acquisition of one mass spectrum is a sum of 65,535 single spectra, recorded in a time frame of 66 s.The balloon mission lasted 5 days and had successfully demonstrated the functionality of the P-BACE instrument during flight conditions. We had recorded more than 4500 mass spectra. With little modifications, P-BACE can be used on a planetary mission for Mars, but for example also for Venus or Mercury, if placed on a satellite.     

一种基于混合规则的作业车间计划调度方法

针对多品种小批量生产车间计划调度存在的复杂度高、实用性差等问题,在分析车间计划调度相关的任务、资源和约束等要素的基础上,提出了一种基于混合规则的计划调度编制算法,该算法综合考虑了零件差异性、工艺差异性、设备差异性、以及交货期约束等因素,使得该方法具有可行性高、实用性强等特点,较好地满足了离散制造车间的实际需求.     

基于间接法在线能力评估和自主规划技术研究

针对运载火箭推力故障条件下的自主救援任务，研究了一种基于间接法的在线能力评估和自主规划方法。构建了以入轨点能量最大为最优性能指标的最优控制问题。通过数值方法探讨了在满足轨道倾角和入轨点路径角约束条件下，入轨点速度、远地点和近地点跟入轨高度之间的关系，设计了一种与入轨高度相关的特征量来对入轨能力进行评估。以近地点最高为救援轨道选取准则，结合能力评估，研究了一种自主在线规划策略，当判断能够进入圆轨道时，割线法求解最大圆轨道，否则采用牛顿法求解近地点最高的椭圆轨道。仿真结果表明，提出的自主规划方法在有效性、收敛性和实时性上均能满足在线制导需求。     

自动铺丝最小间隙路径规划与复合材料锥壳结构制造

自动铺丝技术（AFP）是提高复合材料构件制造效率和降低其制造成本的关键技术和重要手段。铺放轨迹的设计是控制自动铺丝工艺质量的关键。对于复杂的结构形式，合理的铺丝路径对保证可制造性及铺贴质量至关重要。本文针对简化后的后机身锥壳特征结构，研究了基于固定角法、测地线法和变角度法的自动铺丝轨迹算法设计，解决了铺放复杂曲面满覆盖问题；总结对比获得了不同铺丝轨迹方法的特点和适用范围。以保证工艺性并满足结构设计铺层方向为原则，选用了带宽为6.35 mm的自动铺丝预浸料完成工艺验证件制造，并通过有限元分析评估了自动铺丝轨迹算法的合理性。结果表明：该结构宜采用测地线法铺放0°方向铺层以减少褶皱；采用固定角法铺放90°方向铺层能够保证连续铺放；采用结合预浸窄带侧弯试验结果的变角度轨迹规划方法铺放此锥类构件±45°方向铺层能够保持最小间隙。铺丝间隙使锥壳结构单层等效模量下降约30%，整体强度下降约10%。因而在结构优化设计时需考虑自动铺丝工艺对安全裕度影响的因素。     

Dynamics of a spacecraft and normalization around Lagrangian points in the Neptune–Triton system

The problem of a spacecraft orbiting the Neptune–Triton system is presented. The new ingredients in this restricted three body problem are the Neptune oblateness and the high inclined and retrograde motion of Triton. First we present some interesting simulations showing the role played by the oblateness on a Neptune’s satellite, disturbed by Triton. We also give an extensive numerical exploration in the case when the spacecraft orbits Triton, considering Sun, Neptune and its planetary oblateness as disturbers. In the plane a × I (a = semi-major axis, I = inclination), we give a plot of the stable regions where the massless body can survive for thousand of years. Retrograde and direct orbits were considered and as usual, the region of stability is much more significant for the case of direct orbit of the spacecraft (Triton’s orbit is retrograde). Next we explore the dynamics in a vicinity of the Lagrangian points. The Birkhoff normalization is constructed around L₂, followed by its reduction to the center manifold. In this reduced dynamics, a convenient Poincaré section shows the interplay of the Lyapunov and halo periodic orbits, Lissajous and quasi-halo tori as well as the stable and unstable manifolds of the planar Lyapunov orbit. To show the effect of the oblateness, the planar Lyapunov family emanating from the Lagrangian points and three-dimensional halo orbits are obtained by the numerical continuation method.     

A sample collector for robotic sample return missions III: Impact survivability studies

Laboratory impact tests have been performed on experimental versions of a proposed robotic sample collector for extraterrestrial samples. The collector consists of a retractable aluminum ring containing an impregnable silicone compound that is pressed into the surface of the body to be sampled. As part of a comprehensive program to evaluate this idea, we have performed tests to determine if the samples embedded in the collector medium can survive the impact forces experienced during direct reentry, such as that of the recent Genesis sample return mission. For the present study, samples of sand, rock, glass, and chalk were subjected to decelerations of 1440–2880 g using drop tests. We found that even the most fragile samples, chosen to be representative of a wide range of the types of materials found on the surface of asteroids that have currently been studied, can withstand impacts of the intensity experienced by a sample return capsule during direct reentry.     

The Grain Impact Analyser and Dust Accumulator (GIADA) Experiment for the Rosetta Mission: Design, Performances and First Results

The Grain Impact Analyser and Dust Accumulator (GIADA) onboard the ROSETTA mission to comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko is devoted to study the cometary dust environment. Thanks to the rendezvous configuration of the mission, GIADA will be plunged in the dust environment of the coma and will be able to explore dust flux evolution and grain dynamic properties with position and time. This will represent a unique opportunity to perform measurements on key parameters that no ground-based observation or fly-by mission is able to obtain and that no tail or coma model elaborated so far has been able to properly simulate. The coma and nucleus properties shall be, then, clarified with consequent improvement of models describing inner and outer coma evolution, but also of models about nucleus emission during different phases of its evolution. GIADA shall be capable to measure mass/size of single particles larger than about 15 μm together with momentum in the range 6.5 × 10⁻¹⁰ ÷ 4.0 × 10⁻⁴ kg m s⁻¹ for velocities up to about 300 m s⁻¹. For micron/submicron particles the cumulative mass shall be detected with sensitivity 10⁻¹⁰ g. These performances are suitable to provide a statistically relevant set of data about dust physical and dynamic properties in the dust environment expected for the target comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Pre-flight measurements and post-launch checkouts demonstrate that GIADA is behaving as expected according to the design specifications. The International GIADA Consortium (I, E, UK, F, D, USA).     

机动卫星星座对多区域目标成像任务规划

针对太阳同步圆轨道卫星星座对地观测任务,研究了在卫星机动情况下对多区域目标的成像任务规划算法。首先提出了单颗卫星对单个点目标的观测方法,解析分析了点目标可见性,并给出了卫星变轨策略;进而通过把区域目标划分为多个条带,将问题转化为卫星对点目标观测问题,结合单星单目标观测方法分析区域目标各条带的可见性;最后建立优化问题模型,给出条带观测策略,并利用遗传算法优化星座对多区域目标的观测总面积。仿真结果表明该算法准确性高,能够有效提高星座的观测能力和观测总面积。