Excavation of artificial caverns inside asteroids by leveraging rotational self-energy

Future space ventures will likely require exploitation of near-Earth asteroid resources. Moreover, it can be envisaged that asteroids may host habitats in their interiors. In fact, a cavern inside an asteroid would be a natural radiation shield against cosmic radiation and may also serve as a confined environment for storage of mined material such as water ice or other processed volatiles such as propellants. To this end, this paper proposes to leverage the asteroid rotational self-energy to remove material from the asteroid interiors and create a spherical cavern, by means of the orbital siphon concept. The siphon is a chain of tether-connected payload masses (the asteroid material), which exploits the rotation of the asteroid for the delivery of mass from the asteroid to escape. Under certain conditions the siphon can be initiated to ensure self-sustained flow of mass from the asteroid to escape. A net orbital siphon effect is generated by connecting new payloads at the bottom of the chain while releasing the upper payloads. Key parameters are discussed, such as the required siphon dimension and the maximum size of the internal cavity that can be excavated, as a function of the asteroid rotational period. Moreover, assuming elastic material behaviour, a closed-form expression for the stress tensor is found and a failure criterion is used to identify regions in the asteroid interiors subjected to the larger stresses. It is shown that the conditions for failure are relaxed as the radius of the internal void increases.     

Modeling irregular small bodies gravity field via extreme learning machines and Bayesian optimization

Close proximity operations around small bodies are extremely challenging due to their uncertain dynamical environment. Autonomous guidance and navigation around small bodies require fast and accurate modeling of the gravitational field for potential on-board computation. In this paper, we investigate a model-based, data-driven approach to compute and predict the gravitational acceleration around irregular small bodies. More specifically, we employ Extreme Learning Machine (ELM) theories to design, train and validate Single-Layer Feedforward Networks (SLFN) capable of learning the relationship between the spacecraft position and the gravitational acceleration. ELM-base neural networks are trained without iterative tuning therefore dramatically reducing the training time. Analysis of performance in constant density models for asteroid 25143 Itokawa and comet 67/P Churyumov-Gerasimenko show that ELM-based SLFN are able learn the desired functional relationship both globally and in selected localized areas near the surface. The latter results in a robust neural algorithm for on-board, real-time calculation of the gravity field needed for guidance and control in close-proximity operations near the asteroid surface.     

弱引力下小行星动量驱动机器人的可控跳跃行为

以小行星表面着陆探测为背景,提出一种动量驱动机器人(MoRo)以满足弱引力复杂环境下的探测需求。该机器人利用弱引力环境下的摩擦和碰撞特性,通过主动辨识环境参数,规划和控制动量轮以产生期望的驱动力矩,完成可控性跳跃及腾空后的稳定拍照等任务。首先,基于MoRo的动量轮刹车机构特性,分析了MoRo在弱引力环境下的跳跃机理并对其跳跃方式进行了规划;接着考虑动量轮驱动机构三闭环伺服系统的非线性特性,基于Herze碰撞模型和Karnopp摩擦模型建立了MoRo在小行星表面的跳跃行为动力学模型;其次,使用机器学习算法建立环境参数和MoRo运动的函数关系,并基于环境参数规划动量轮转速实现跳跃距离和腾空高度的可控。最后,通过数值仿真校验了MoRo跳跃规划方法和控制方法的可行性。     

OSIRIS-REx low-velocity particles during outbound cruise

We analyzed high-angular rate streaks first recorded by OSIRIS-REx’s MapCam during a 2017 search for Earth Trojan asteroids. We interpret them as water-ice particles that translated across the imager’s field of view, originating from the spacecraft itself. Their translation velocities approximated 0.1–1?m/s based on reasonable conclusions about their range. Pursuing several lines of investigation to seek a coherent hypothesis, we conclude that the episodic releases of the water ice particles are associated with spacecraft attitudes that resulted in solar illumination of previously shadowed regions. This correlation suggests that the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft itself possesses micro-climatic zones consisting of hot regions and cold traps that may temporarily potentially pass volatiles back and forth before losing most of them.     

State propagation in an uncertain asteroid gravity field

Various spacecraft have been and will be sent to asteroids to characterize them. Generally, an asteroid's gravity field is very irregular and not accurately known when compared to the gravity field of a major planet, Earth in particular. It has been well studied that the irregularity significantly affects the trajectory of an orbiting spacecraft, and causes it to impact or to escape from the asteroid. Complementary to that, this paper focuses on the influence of the limited knowledge of this gravity field on the evolution of the spacecraft's orbit. It develops a general method by which this influence can be quantified. This method comprises specific Monte Carlo simulations with a discrete set of low-altitude orbits, taking into account the uncertainties in the gravity-field parameters. For illustration purposes, it is applied to two different asteroids. Already after three revolutions, the gravity-field uncertainties propagate to significant position uncertainties; this specifically holds for prograde orbits, and around the smaller asteroid. Applying this robust and accurate method helps mission designers and planners to assess the risk posed by gravity uncertainties, and take appropriate measures such as choosing the most favorable orbital geometries and/or lowering the orbit more slowly.     

离子推力器多模式化研究

为了实现离子推力器多模式化,分析了离子推力器功率宽范围调节限制因素,提出了两种宽范围调节策略;针对我国小行星探测任务,完成了30cm多模式离子推力器研制、功率宽范围调节限制条件确定、以及两种调节策略下多模式工作点设计及对比研究。结果显示,通过降低放电室磁场强度可延伸离子推力器最小稳定工作功率,提高束流均匀性,实现离子推力器更宽功率范围多工作点设计;功率宽范围调节主要是屏栅电压和束电流的宽范围调节,二者通过栅极导流系数限制和交叉限制而约束;推力随功率增加呈线性增加关系,比冲随功率的增加总体上呈先快速增加后趋于稳定的趋势;30cm多模式离子推力器在0.25kW～5kW内稳定工作,推力10mN～186mN,比冲1522s～3586s。     

不规则小行星附着可达区生成方法

针对不规则小行星表面附着任务需求,提出了一种基于动态邻域搜索的可达区生成方法。首先,建立了可达区数学模型,并采用质心距映射函数对非定点附着的终端位置约束进行了处理。在此基础上,将可达区的优化问题转化为附着基准点计算、边界起始点计算和边界点搜索三个子问题。针对附着基准点与边界起始点,分别通过最小燃耗轨迹优化与极限燃耗轨迹优化求解;针对边界点,设计了导向式动态邻域搜索方法,将复杂的非定点着陆优化问题简化为定点着陆燃耗优化与边界插值。最后,以小行星433 Eros为对象,对所提出的可达区生成方法进行了仿真。结果表明,该方法能够生成不规则小行星表面的可达区,具有较高的搜索求解效率,并适用于不同的初始位置和燃耗条件。     

Modeling and experimental validation of sawing based lander anchoring and sampling methods for asteroid exploration

This paper presents a novel lander anchoring system based on sawing method for asteroid exploration. The system is composed of three robotic arms, three cutting discs, and a control system. The discs mounted at the end of the arms are able to penetrate into the rock surface of asteroids. After the discs cut into the rock surface, the self-locking function of the arms provides forces to fix the lander on the surface. Modeling, trajectory planning, simulations, mechanism design, and prototype fabrication of the anchoring system are discussed, respectively. The performances of the system are tested on different kinds of rocks, at different sawing angles, locations, and speeds. Results show that the system can cut 15?mm deep into granite rock in 180?s at sawing angle of 60°, with the average power of 58.41?W, and the “weight on bit” (WOB) of 8.637?N. The 7.8?kg anchoring system is capable of providing omni-directional anchoring forces, at least 225?N normal and 157?N tangent to the surface of the rock. The system has the advantages of low-weight, low energy consumption and balance forces, high anchoring efficiency and reliability, and could enable the lander to move and sample or assist astronauts and robots in walking and sampling on asteroids.     

Rapid design and optimization of low-thrust rendezvous/interception trajectory for asteroid deflection missions

Asteroid deflection techniques are essential in order to protect the Earth from catastrophic impacts by hazardous asteroids. Rapid design and optimization of low-thrust rendezvous/interception trajectories is considered as one of the key technologies to successfully deflect potentially hazardous asteroids. In this paper, we address a general framework for the rapid design and optimization of low-thrust rendezvous/interception trajectories for future asteroid deflection missions. The design and optimization process includes three closely associated steps. Firstly, shape-based approaches and genetic algorithm (GA) are adopted to perform preliminary design, which provides a reasonable initial guess for subsequent accurate optimization. Secondly, Radau pseudospectral method is utilized to transcribe the low-thrust trajectory optimization problem into a discrete nonlinear programming (NLP) problem. Finally, sequential quadratic programming (SQP) is used to efficiently solve the nonlinear programming problem and obtain the optimal low-thrust rendezvous/interception trajectories. The rapid design and optimization algorithms developed in this paper are validated by three simulation cases with different performance indexes and boundary constraints.