Deorbiter CubeSat mission design

This paper presents the mission design for a CubeSat-based active debris removal approach intended for transferring sizable debris objects from low-Earth orbit to a deorbit altitude of 100 km. The mission consists of a mothership spacecraft that carries and deploys several debris-removing nanosatellites, called Deorbiter CubeSats. Each Deorbiter is designed based on the utilization of an eight-unit CubeSat form factor and commercially-available components with significant flight heritage. The mothership spacecraft delivers Deorbiter CubeSats to the vicinity of a predetermined target debris, through performing a long-range rendezvous maneuver. Through a formation flying maneuver, the mothership then performs in-situ measurements of debris shape and orbital state. Upon release from the mothership, each Deorbiter CubeSat proceeds to performing a rendezvous and attachment maneuver with a debris object. Once attached to the debris, the CubeSat performs a detumbling maneuver, by which the residual angular momentum of the CubeSat-debris system is dumped using Deorbiter’s onboard reaction wheels. After stabilizing the attitude motion of the combined Deorbiter-debris system, the CubeSat proceeds to performing a deorbiting maneuver, i.e., reducing system’s altitude so much so that the bodies disintegrate and burn up due to atmospheric drag, typically at around 100 km above the Earth surface. The attitude and orbital maneuvers that are planned for the mission are described, both for the mothership and Deorbiter CubeSat. The performance of each spacecraft during their operations is investigated, using the actual performance specifications of the onboard components. The viability of the proposed debris removal approach is discussed in light of the results.     

碳纳米管阵列推力器放电特性的数值模拟研究

基于直接蒙特卡洛(DSMC)算法、浸入式有限元算法(IFE)、粒子云及蒙特卡洛碰撞(PIC-MCC)算法以及Ammosov-Delone-Krainov(ADK)隧穿电离模型建立了碳纳米管阵列推力器工质气体和CNT场电离过程的三维仿真模型。利用文献中的实验数据对本文仿真模型的有效性进行了验证,结果表明本文仿真模型与实验结果基本一致。针对碳纳米管阵列推力器的放电特性进行了研究,并重点分析了离子与原子碰撞过程对碳纳米管阵列推力器放电特性的影响。结果表明CNT可以极大地增强局部电场,稳态时场增强因子约为1308;与原子的碰撞使得离子在CNT附近更加集中,降低了局部电场,进而降低了其场增强能力。     

A novel satellite image encryption algorithm based on hyperchaotic systems and Josephus problem

With the rapid growth of the number of Earth observation satellite (EOS) supporting critical applications, it is required to improve the security techniques to protect the sensitive data and images during the transmission between the satellites and the ground stations. This paper introduces a new satellite image encryption algorithm based on the Linear Feedback Shift Register (LFSR) generator, SHA 512 hash function, hyperchaotic systems, and Josephus problem. LFSR generates a matrix that is used to construct the 512-bits value of the hash function. These bits are used to set the initial values and parameters of the proposed encryption algorithm. Firstly, the six dimensions (6-D) hyperchaotic system is divided into three parts, where every two equations are considered as one part. Secondly, the 1-D hyperchaotic logistic-tent system is considered as the controller to select one part. The selected part is used to generate a matrix that is XORed with the original image. Thirdly, the scrambling operation by Josephus sequences is applied to the output of the previous step by scrambling the rows and the columns according to the selected part to produce the pre-encrypted image. Finally, if the number of iterations is less than the required number which is considered as a parameter of the secret key, the previous operations will be repeated in the pre-encrypted image; otherwise, the pre-encrypted image is considered as the final cipher image. Experimental and analyses results show that the proposed algorithm has good performance in terms of high level of security, large enough key-space, tolerance to Single Event Upsets (SEU) as well as low time complexity.     

高背压等离子点火器及其液体燃料点火特性实验研究

航天应用的液体火箭发动机及燃烧型加热器燃烧室室压高、燃料流量大、温度低、有重复启动需求，实现安全可靠点火的难度较大。针对这些需求，研究了一种采用高背压设计的电弧等离子体点火器。实验研究了Ar，N₂气体工质在高进气压力下的伏安特性，发现N₂在宽压力范围内适用于点火。发射光谱分析表明，在高达数MPa的进气压力下，Ar，N₂等离子体射流电子密度符合局部热力学平衡判据（LTE判据），点火能量集中。N₂等离子体整体温度低于Ar，但阳极喷口附近温度高于Ar，N₂等离子体射流火焰长，卷吸沿程空气造成射流平均温度偏低，但有助于低温液体推进剂的蒸发混合和强化点火。等离子体射流引起了臭氧和氮氧化物的形成，具有促进点火和化学反应的作用。背压提高引起电源输出电压升高，提高供气压力和电流，有助于点火器在高背压环境中稳定电压。燃烧型空气加热器燃烧室的点火实验发现，采用N₂等离子体喷注面中心点火，可以在短时间内完成酒精-空气和酒精-液氧-空气的点火，最高燃烧室室压接近5MPa时，点火器仍能稳定工作，多次使用电极烧蚀不明显，在液体火箭发动机的重复可靠点火方面具有很好的应用前景。     

Solar sailing in realistic mode,based on a locally-optimal control laws

Ballistic design of solar sailing missions in the solar system is composed of defining the design parameters, the control programs, and the trajectories that provide performance goals of a flight. The use of a solar sail spacecraft imposes specific restrictions on mission parameters that include the degradation limit on the flight duration, the maximum temperature of solar sail's surface, the minimum distance from the Sun, the maximum angular velocity of the spacecraft's rotation and others.Many authors considered the impact of these restrictions on the design of the mission separately, but they used a sophisticated method of finding the exact optimal motion control or applied the most straightforward laws of motion control. This paper uses local-optimal control laws at the complete mathematical models of motion and functioning of solar sail spacecraft to describe a technique of designing interplanetary missions. The described method avoids the need to obtain an accurate optimal solution to the control problem and does not cause significant computational difficulties.     

航天器运输包装箱仿真验证平台技术研究

针对数量有限的物理跑车试验无法满足减振与保温性能测试需求的问题，提出一套航天器运输包装箱动力学与热学仿真验证方法，包括：建立适用于包装箱系统的刚柔耦合多体动力学系统，通过结合线路条件测试生成的动力学系统外部激励，实现减振性能虚拟跑车测试；建立基于计算流体力学的包装箱热学模型，通过模拟自然对流和空调控制，实现包装箱保温性能虚拟跑车测试；基于C/S架构和导航式流程设计思想，建立航天器运输包装箱仿真验证平台，通过实际案例证明该平台仿真结果与实际跑车测试数据具有较高的一致性。     

Features of whistling electromagnetic wave propagation descending from above upon the night ionosphere

The results of numerical solution of the wave equations for the oblique incidence of whistling electromagnetic waves upon the night ionosphere from above have been obtained and analyzed. In the studied region of altitudes, within the wavelength scale, charged particle concentration varies drastically, and damping caused by collisions between the charged and neutral particles decreases considerably. Below, the sharp lower boundary of the ionosphere, the refractive index of the whistler wave approaches unity, and plasma turbulence transform into atmospheric electromagnetic waves. The dependences of the whistler reflection factor are found in terms of energy and horizontal magnetic component of the electromagnetic wave near the Earth’s surface on the frequency and the wave vector transverse component for the plain-layered medium model at two values of latitude. Strong dependences have been found on the wave angle of incidence and frequency. At rather small angles of incidence, the wave disturbances reach the Earth’s surface, and the module of reflection coefficient logarithm is in the range of 0.4–1. At large angles of incidence, the reflection coefficient module varies over a wide range depending on specific conditions. The obtained results explain the absence of oscillation modes of plasma magnetosphere maser in the night magnetosphere.     

Daytime VHF amplitude scintillations recorded at an Indian low-latitude station,Waltair (17.7°N, 83.3°E) during 1997–2003

In this research, it is presented the daytime amplitude scintillations recorded at VHF frequency (244 MHz) at an Indian low-latitude station, Waltair (17.7°N, 83.3°E) during seven continuous years (1997–2003). Contrary to the nighttime scintillation seasonal trends, the occurrence of daytime scintillations maximizes during summer followed by winter and the equinox seasons. The fade depths, scintillation indices and the patch durations of daytime scintillations are meager when compared with their nighttime counterparts. A co-located digital high frequency (HF) ionosonde radar confirms the presence of sporadic (Es) layers when daytime scintillations are observed. The presence of daytime scintillations is evident when the critical frequency of the Es-layer (foEs) is ≥4 MHz and Es-layers are characterized by a highly diffuse range spread Es echoes as can be seen on ionograms. It is surmised that the gradient drift instability (GDI) seems to be the possible mechanism for the generation of these daytime scintillations. It is quite likely that the spread Es-F-layer coupling is done through polarization electric fields (Ep) that develop inside the destabilized patches of sporadic E layers, which are mapped up to the F region along the field lines as to initiate the daytime scintillations through the GDI mechanism. Further, the presence of additional stratification of ionosphere F-layer, popularly known as the F3-layer, is observed on ionograms once the Es-layers and daytime scintillations are ceased.     

Evaluation of SARAL/AltiKa performance using GNSS/IMU equipped buoy in Sajafi,Imam Hassan and Kangan Ports

Performance of SARAL/AltiKa mission has been evaluated within 2016 altimeter calibration/validation framework in Persian Gulf through three campaigns conducted in the offshore waters of Sajafi, Imam Hassan and Kangan Ports, while the altimeter overflew the passes 470, 111 and 25 on 13 Feb, 7 March and 17 June 2016, respectively. As the preparation, a lightweight buoy was equipped with a GNSS receiver/choke-ring antenna and a MEMS-based IMU to measure independent datasets in the field operations. To obtain accurate sea surface height (SSH) time series, the offset of the onboard antenna from the equilibrium sea level was predetermined through surveying operations as the buoy was deploying in the onshore waters of Kangan Port. Accordingly, the double-difference carrier phase observations have been processed via the Bernese GPS Software v. 5.0 so as to provide the GNSS-derived time series at the comparison points of the calibration campaigns, once the disturbing effects due to the platform tilt and heave have been eliminated. Owing to comparing of the SSH time series and the associating altimetry 1?Hz GDR-T datasets, the calibration/validation of the SARAL/AltiKa has been performed in the both cases of radiometer and ECMWF wet troposphere corrections so as to identify potential land contamination. An agreement of the present findings in comparison with those attained in other international calibrations sites confirms the promising feasibility of Persian Gulf as a new dedicated site for calibration/validation of ongoing and future altimetry missions.     

Design of Interplanetary Transfers with Passive Gravity Assists and Deep Space Maneuvers

In the paper, the problem of designing interplanetary trajectories with several swing-bys and deep-space maneuvers is solved using the method of virtual trajectories developed by the authors. The algorithms for the calculation of both heliocentric and planetocentric trajectory arcs are presented, including the case of resonant trajectories. The results of applying the method of virtual trajectories to the problem of designing an interplanetary transfer to Jupiter are given and compared with the baseline trajectories for the Juno, Europa Clipper, and Laplace missions.