Europa planetary protection for Juno Jupiter Orbiter

NASA’s Juno mission launched in 2011 and will explore Jupiter and its near environment starting in 2016. Planetary protection requirements for avoiding the contamination of Europa have been taken into account in the Juno mission design. In particular Juno’s polar orbit, which enables scientific investigations of parts of Jupiter’s environment never before visited, also greatly assist avoiding close flybys of Europa and the other Galilean satellites.     

H~∞控制理论及其航天应用

Ｈ~∞控制理论的基本特征在本文中作了介绍，在回顾了鲁棒控制和Ｈ~∞控制理论之后，给出了标准Ｈ~∞问题及其基本解法。最后给出了其在航天领域的研究动态。     

Calculation of Detection Probabilities for Automated Change Detection

A general model is presented for calculating detection and falsealarm probabilities for the automated change detector. The model is then applied to determine PD'PF for the ?target-no target? type change; the resulting PD and PF are compared to the one-channel case.     

Interleaved boost converter with zero diode reverse-recovery loss

A three-phase interleaved continuous-inductor-current-mode (CICM) boost converter with zero diode reverse-recovery loss is proposed. In the converter, the di/dt of the output rectifiers is controlled by an integrated magnetic component. All the output rectifiers can be turned off softly and a very high efficiency is obtained. The equivalent-circuit model of the integrated inductors, the operation principle of the converter, and the design issues are discussed. Simulation and experimental results are presented.     

维修数据传输:更快速、更廉价、更好

一直以来,航空公司大多采用ACARS通信系统(飞机通信寻址和报告系统)进行空中通信服务.但与陆地通信系统相比,该系统的传输速度慢而且成本高,成为目前影响飞行数据传输速度的重要因素之一.一些MRO软件供应商已开始开发机载无线通信系统,试图改善以往缓慢、昂贵和复杂的空中无线服务,使飞行中生成的重要维修数据以更低的成本、更快的速度和更高效率实现传输.     

Automatic rendez-vous scheme proposed for an unmanned (or manned) vehicle with a space station

A method for automatic rendez-vous between an active vehicle, and a passive orbiting vehicle (typically a space station on a circular orbit) is presented. The main interest of the method is the simplicity of system implementation, and the small requirements on vehicle maneuvres and on-board computations, rather than in the mathematical optimization of fuel expenditure or elapsed time.The chaser is at first put on a circular orbit, lower and nearly coplanar to the orbit of the target (space station). An open-loop transfer of the chaser is performed, in order to put it in a window appropriated for automatic rendez-vous. When the relative distance of the two vehicles is small enough, a radar is used on the chaser for continuous determination of relative position and speed. An on-board computer is used then to derive the moments of application of corrective thrusts and their orientation. The scheme leads to a series of corrections nearly equally spaced in time, and the chaser approaches the target exponentially. Out of plane errors are also corrected. When the vehicles are close, the docking phase is initiated, which can be performed either automatically or manually. Even in manual control, an automatic loop is used in order to give the pilot simple motions in response to the control.     

Titan and exobiological aspects of the Cassini-Huygens mission

Titan, the largest satellite of Saturn, has a dense N2-CH4 atmosphere rich in organic compounds, both in gas and in aerosol phases. Its surface is probably covered by oceans of liquid methane-ethane mixtures, with many dissolved organics. This quasi planet appears as a natural laboratory to study chemical evolution toward complex organic systems in a planetary environment over a long time scale. With the Cassini-Huygens mission NASA and ESA will jointly send an orbiter (Cassini) around Saturn and a probe (Huygens) in the atmosphere of Titan. This mission, currently planned to be launched in 1996-1997 for a Saturn - Titan arrival in 2004, offers a unique opportunity to study in detail extra-terrestrial organic processes. Consequently, it has important implications in the field of exobiology and the origins of life.     

Enhancement of solar wind low-energy energetic particles as precursor of geomagnetic disturbance in operational geomagnetic forecast

A study of the relationship between solar wind low-energy energetic particles using data from the Electron, Proton, and Alpha Monitor (EPAM) onboard the Advanced Compositional Explorer spacecraft (ACE) and geomagnetic activity using data from Canadian magnetic observatories in Canada’s polar cap, auroral zone, and subauroral zone was carried out for a period spanning 1997–2005. Full halo coronal mass ejections (CMEs) were used to gauge the initial particle enhancements and the subsequent geomagnetic activity. It was found that maximum geomagnetic activity is related to maximum particle enhancements in a non-linear fashion. Quadratic fit of the data results in expressions that can be easily used in an operational space weather setting to forecast geomagnetic disturbance quantitatively. A superposed epoch analysis shows increase in particle flux level starts hours before geomagnetic activity attains its peak, affirming the precursory nature of EPAM particles for the impending geomagnetic impact of CME. This can supplement the decision process in formulating geomagnetic warning after the launch of CME from the Sun but before the arrival of shock at Earth. The empirical relationships between solar wind low-energy energetic particles and geomagnetic activity revealed in this statistical study can be easily codified, and thus utilized in operational space weather forecast to appraise the geoeffectiveness of the CME and to provide a quantitative forecast for maximum geomagnetic activity in Canada’s polar cap, auroral zone, and subauroral zone after the occurrence of a CME.     

Portable end-to-end ground system for low-cost mission support

This paper presents a revolutionary architecture of the end-to-end ground system to reduce overall mission support costs. The present ground system of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is costly to operate, maintain, deploy, reproduce, and document. In the present climate of shrinking NASA budgets, this proposed architecture takes on added importance as it should dramatically reduce all of the above costs. Currently, the ground support functions (i.e., receiver, tracking, ranging, telemetry, command, monitor and control) are distributed among several subsystems that are housed in individual rack-mounted chassis. These subsystems can be integrated into one portable laptop system using established Multi Chip Module (MCM) packaging technology and object-based software libraries. The large scale integration of subsystems into a small portable system connected to the World Wide Web (WWW) will greatly reduce operations, maintenance and reproduction costs. Several of the subsystems can be implemented using Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) products further decreasing non-recurring engineering costs. The inherent portability of the system will open up new ways for using the ground system at the “point-of-use” site as opposed to maintaining several large centralized stations. This eliminates the propagation delay of the data to the Principal Investigator (PI), enabling the capture of data in real-time and performing multiple tasks concurrently from any location in the world. Sample applications are to use the portable ground system in remote areas or mobile vessels for real-time correlation of satellite data with earth-bound instruments; thus, allowing near real-time feedback and control of scientific instruments. This end-to-end portable ground system will undoubtedly create opportunities for better scientific observation and data acquisition.     

采用压电陶瓷传感器提高悬臂式镗杆的加工精度(英文)

由于悬臂式镗杆的刚度较低，镗削加工中容易产生加工误差。本文采用了误差在线检测与实时补偿的方法，以提高悬臂式镗杆的加工精度。通过应变片测试微量镗削加工中镗杆的变形，在线检测加工误差，用压电陶瓷传感器对加工误差进行实时补偿。镗刀和压电陶瓷传感器分别安装在杠杆式结构的微量镗杆的两端，这样镗杆的结构尺寸可以不受压电陶瓷传感器的影响，镗杆的长径比为８。