Determination of the Microacceleration Quasisteady Component onboard the International Space Station

A comparison of two methods of determination of the microacceleration quasisteady component arising onboard the International Space Station was performed. In the first method the acceleration was calculated using the relative motion of the station reconstructed on the basis of telemetry data. The second method was a direct measurement of the microacceleration by a low-frequency accelerometer and a smoothing of the data obtained. The used measurements were made by the American accelerometer MAMS. The above comparison can theoretically be used to refine the position of the station center of mass relative to its body.     

Coronal radio-sounding detection of a CME during the 1997 Galileo solar conjunction

Frequency fluctuations of the Galileo S-band radio signal were recorded nearly continuously during the spacecraft’s solar conjunction from December 1996 to February 1997. A strong propagating disturbance, most probably associated with a coronal mass ejection (CME), was detected on 7 February when the radio ray path proximate point was on the west solar limb at about 54 solar radii from the Sun. The CME passage through the line of sight is characterized by a significant increase in the fluctuation intensity of the recorded frequency and by an increase in the plasma speed from about 234 km s⁻¹ up to about 755 km s⁻¹. These velocity estimates are obtained from a correlation analysis of frequency fluctuations recorded simultaneously at two widely-separated ground stations. The density turbulence power spectrum is found to steepen behind the CME front. The Galileo radio-sounding data are compared with SOHO/LASCO observations of the CME in the corona and with WIND spacecraft data near the Earth’s orbit.     

Frequency fluctuations of coherent signals from spacecraft observed during dual-frequency radio sounding of the circumsolar plasma in 2004–2008

We have performed spectral processing of the data of experiments on radio sounding of circumsolar plasma by coherent S- and X-band signals from the spacecraft Ulysses, Mars Express, Rosetta, and Venus Express carried out from 1991 to 2009. The experiments were realized in the mode of coherent response, when a signal stabilized by the hydrogen standard is transmitted from the ground station to a spacecraft, received by the onboard systems, and retransmitted to the Earth with conserved coherence. Thus, the signal sounding the coronal plasma passes twice through the medium: on the propagation path ground station — spacecraft and on the same path in the opposite direction. The spectra of frequency fluctuations in both the bands are obtained and, using them, the radial dependences of fluctuation intensities are found, which can be approximated by a power law. It is shown that the ratio of intensities of frequency fluctuations in the S- and X-bands is comparable with the theoretical value and characterizes the degree of correlation of irregularities of the electron density along the propagation path ground station — spacecraft and back. Analysis of the correlation of frequency fluctuations on the two paths allows one to get a lower estimate of the outer scale of the circumsolar plasma turbulence. For heliocentric distances R = 10 solar radii (R _S ) the outer scale is larger than 0.25R _S .     

Solar wind turbulence during the solar cycle deduced from Galileo coronal radio-sounding experiments

Seven coronal radio-sounding campaigns were carried out during the active lifetime of the Galileo spacecraft in the years 1994–2002. The observational data analyzed in the present work are S-band frequency fluctuation measurements recorded during the solar conjunctions at different phases of solar activity cycle #23, specifically: periods near solar maximum (three conjunctions), near solar minimum (three conjunctions) and during the ascending phase (one conjunction). These data are all applicable to low heliographic latitudes, i.e. to the slow solar wind. The rms frequency fluctuation and power-law index of the frequency fluctuation temporal spectra are determined as a function of heliocentric distance. The turbulence power spectrum tends to be flatter inside ca. 20 solar radii during all phases of the solar cycle. This coincides with a transition in the flow from the inner acceleration region to the outer region of constant velocity. The radial falloff rate and absolute level of the rms frequency fluctuation are essentially invariant over the solar cycle.     

Radial profile measurements of the solar wind speed using radio sounding techniques

Velocity measurements of the solar wind in the region of its acceleration were carried out in 1984 with Venera Orbiters using the following specific radio sounding techniques: (i) phase and frequency correlations from two or three widely-spaced ground stations; (ii) phase and frequency correlations from two spacecraft and two widely-spaced ground stations; (iii) two station two-way coherent Doppler measurements; (iv) determination of the break frequency in power spectra of intensity fluctuations. Our results are substantially lower than those derived from direct Doppler shift measurements of transition region and lower coronal resonance lines and those from measurements applying the Doppler dimming technique.     

Uncontrollable Rotational Motion of the Mir Orbital Station

The results of determining the rotational motion of the Mir orbital station are presented for four long segments of its unmanned uncontrolled flight in 1999–2000. The determination was carried out using the data of onboard measurements of the Earth's magnetic field intensity. These data, taken for a time interval of several hours, were jointly processed by the least squares method with the help of integration of the equations of station motion relative to its center of mass. As a result of this processing, the initial conditions of motion and the parameters of the mathematical model used were evaluated. The technique of processing is verified using the telemetry data on angular velocity of the station and its attitude parameters. Two types of motion were applied on the investigated segments. One of them (three segments) presents a rotation around the axis of the minimum moment of inertia. This axis executes small oscillations with respect to a normal to the orbit plane. Such a motion was used for the first time on domestic manned orbital complexes. The second type of motion begins with a biaxial rotation which, in a few weeks, goes over into a motion very similar to the rotation around the normal to the orbit plane, but around the axis of the maximum moment of inertia.     

On the asteroid hazard

The concept of “space patrol” is considered, aimed at discovering and cataloging the majority of celestial bodies that constitute a menace for the Earth [1, 2]. The scheme of “optical barrier” formed by telescopes of the space patrol is analyzed, requirements to the observation system are formulated, and some schemes of sighting the optical barrier region are suggested (for reliable detection of the celestial bodies approaching the Earth and for determination of their orbits). A comparison is made of capabilities of electro-jet engines and traditional chemical engines for arrangement of patrol spacecraft constellation in the Earth’s orbit.     

Trajectories for missions of low-thrust spacecraft aimed at delivery of soil samples from main belt asteroids and Phobos

Trajectories of spacecraft with electro-jet low-thrust engines are studied for missions planning to deliver samples of matter from small bodies of the Solar System: asteroids Vesta and Fortuna, and Martian moon Phobos. Flight trajectories are analyzed for the mission to Phobos, the limits of optimization of payload spacecraft mass delivered to it are determined, and an estimate is given to losses in the payload mass when a low-thrust engine with constant outflow velocity is used. The model of an engine with ideally regulated low thrust is demonstrated to be convenient for calculations and analysis of flight trajectories of a low-thrust spacecraft.     

Radio Frequency Fluctuation Spectra During the Solar Conjunctions of the Ulysses and Galileo Spacecraft

Temporal power spectra have been computed from recordings of the downlink frequency fluctuations of the Galileo and Ulysses radio signals during their solar conjunctions. Both the equatorial streamer belt and the polar coronal holes were investigated over a range of ray path solar offset distances from 4 to 80 R_⊙. By combining gapless data from successive tracking passes, Doppler scintillation power spectra could be computed down to extremely low frequencies. Some spectra feature a low-frequency turnover at frequencies around 0.1 mHz that could be interpreted as an outer scale of density turbulence in the coronal plasma. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Investigation of the Venus atmosphere and surface by the method of radiosounding using Venera-9 and 10 satellites

Using the Venera-9 and 10 satellites radio occultation measurements of the atmosphere and bistatic radar measurements of the surface of the planet Venus were realized from October 1975 to March 1976. The altitude dependence of the molecular number density, pressure and temperature on the night and day sides were derived.An analysis is made of the stratified structure and turbulence in the atmosphere of Venus. The results of pressure measurements on the surface by the method of bistatic radar are presented. The diagrams and the tables of the parameters of the atmosphere are given.