LOCSS and its implementation on the basis of a small satellite cluster

A problem of providing users with the necessary remote sensing data in the visible and near IR spectral bands has been considered. The solution of the problem plans increase of spatial and spectral resolution for imaging from space, high periodicity of surveying the same sites on the Earth's surface and spaceborne data delivery to users in real time.

This problem solution proposed is to use a cluster of small satellites and to implement the Local Space Service (LOCSS) program. The main aspects of this concept are as follows:

• • optimization of remote sensing instrumentation parameters;

• • image data compression onboard a small spacecraft;

• • compressed data downlinking via the low rate radio channel;

• • direct reception of the image data by users at small cheap receiving stations; and

• • image data decompression and processing using personal computers and special processors.

     

Research on compensation of motion,Earth curvature and tropospheric delay in GEOSAR

GEOSAR (synthetic aperture radar on geosynchronous satellite) becomes a potential method of space-borne geoscience remote sensing. Though it has attractive characters such as extra long observing time and very large observing area the unique geometry and relative motion are quite different from straight line required by SAR, and long integration time also causes delay by troposphere and ionosphere. Curvature of the Earth is no long negligible in GEOSAR. Especially, principle of azimuth compression in GEOSAR should be different from that of traditional SAR.In order to fulfill practical GEOSAR such problems should be solved. A new solution of azimuth compression together with motion compensation is presented here by taking the advantages of GEOSAR movement. A new method to overcome the Earth curvature in range compression of EACH footprint is testified. After compensating the Earth curvature traditional methods for range cell migration correction can be used in GEOSAR. Multi-sub-aperture method is applied to eliminate the phase delay caused by troposphere. This modified imaging algorithm makes it possible for GEOSAR to have long integration time and high resolution.     

Radio interferometry for international study of the earthquake mechanism

The radio astronomy technique of Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) offers significant promise for high accuracy, long distance, three-dimensional surveying of continental plate tectonics and its resultant earth crustal deformations that are intimately related to earthquakes. The methods of VLBI lend themselves to crustal deformation monitoring with possible applications to earthquake prediction on local and global scales. It is proposed to establish a network of independently operated radio receiving stations at arbitrary separations using extragalactic radio sources as a frame of time invariant reference. Systems analysis and initial feasibility demonstrations indicate that calibrations can be developed to make possible a transportable radio interferometry system. Using a 9 m diameter dish antenna operated in combination with a 64 m antenna receiving at X-band wavelengths (4 cm) it will be possible to measure the three-dimensional separation between antennas with a few cm accuracy for baselines up to 1000 km. With simultaneous band reception for charged-particle effect calibration, the transportable antenna can be operated at intercontinental distances with 10 cm accuracy. Earth platform parameters of universal time and polar motion can be calibrated to 0.25 msec and 10 cm, respectively, and radio source positions established to 0.005 arc sec accuracy by reception using large antennas at intercontinental distances.     

分布式小卫星雷达平台沿航向排列研究

以小卫星群作为平台的天基分布式雷达具有多种用途。沿航向直线排列是分布式小卫星群的一种特殊轨道构形。由于阵列的等锥角线和等多普勒频率线重合，给SAR成像和地面运动目标检测的信号处理带来了极大的便利。受到地球自转的影响，多颗卫星采用同一轨道飞行并不能真正实现沿航向直线分布。为了克服地球自转的影响，现提出满足Hill方程的一种基本不消耗燃料的轨道设计，使多颗卫星飞行在不同的轨道上而实现真正的沿航向直线分布。数学分析表明它可以有效消除地球自转的影响。结合SAR成像的仿真结果证明了该方法的有效性。     

一种多源测距与视觉惯性融合的月球车定位方法

针对月球车月面探测活动任务中对高精度定位的需求,当前视觉惯性定位方法存在误差累积,并且在缺乏先验环境信息时无法消除,基于三角测量原理的无线电定位方法可以通过测量接收端到至少三个不同发射端的距离来确定目标物体位置,但需要架设三台以上基站,因此难以满足月面环境下大范围定位的需求。文章提出了一种基于基站无线测距和视觉惯性里程计融合定位方法,以解决上述定位手段存在的问题。该方法首先利用视觉惯性里程计构建的环境模型将WIFI、UHF和UWB三类无线电基站测距信息进行融合,然后将测距结果和视觉IMU信息进行位置联合解算来确定月球车位置,最后在Matlab和Gazebo软件平台上进行仿真验证,在距离基站最远行进1500米的条件下实现了0.92米定位误差。实验结果表明,该方法能够在满足月面探测任务对于精准定位的需求。     

Optimization of the Flight of a Spacecraft with a Solar Sail from the Earth to Mars with a Perturbation Maneuver near Venus

The trajectories of the fastest flight of a spacecraft (SC) with a solar sail from the Earth's sphere of activity to the Martian sphere of activity including the section of a perturbation maneuver near Venus are investigated. The planetary spheres of activity are assumed to be point-like; i.e., the maneuver section and the initial and final positions of the SC coincide with the corresponding positions of the planets. The initial velocity of the SC is assumed to be equal to the Earth's velocity, so that no leveling of the velocities of the SC and Mars in the final point of the flight is required. The perturbation maneuver is considered as a jump of the heliocentric velocity of the SC at the point of its contact with Venus, which does not change the magnitude of its Venus-centric velocity. The orbits of planets are assumed to be circular and coplanar; the SC trajectory lies at the plane of these orbits. The sail is planar with a specularly reflecting surface. The trajectories of optimum flights are determined as a result of solving the boundary value problem of the Pontryagin maximum principle. The families of solutions to this problem depending on the initial angular positions of Venus and Mars are constructed by the method of continuation over a parameter.     

Vertical structure of the magnetic field in active regions of the sun at coronal heights

High-altitude measurements and magnetic field distribution in active regions are always an important problem to verify existing models at heights from units to hundreds of Mm. Optical methods of analysis of the magnetic structure work well only at the photosphere level. At the same time, the progress of radio astronomy methods of analyzing the solar radio emission [1] and of the theory of solar plasma radiation [2] facilitates introduction of new methods for measuring the magnetic field strength at various altitudes in the solar atmosphere. In this paper we use multi-wave observations of polarization of the radio emission of active regions in the microwave range together with precise magnetosphere data in order to develop a method of projection for measuring the height distribution of the magnetic field.     

红外地平仪姿态测量误差模型

分析得出地球扁率和红外辐射是扫描式红外地平仪测量误差的主要原因。针对地球扁率，基于方位角的确定，分别给出了滚动角和俯仰角的测量误差模型。在地球红外辐射方面，给出了确定地平仪扫人、扫出点位置的方法，进而给出地球红外辐射误差的计算方法。最后，通过算例，给出了有关仿真结果，对方法的有效性进行了验证。     

Vegetation's red edge: a possible spectroscopic biosignature of extraterrestrial plants

Earth's deciduous plants have a sharp order-of-magnitude increase in leaf reflectance between approximately 700 and 750 nm wavelength. This strong reflectance of Earth's vegetation suggests that surface biosignatures with sharp spectral features might be detectable in the spectrum of scattered light from a spatially unresolved extrasolar terrestrial planet. We assess the potential of Earth's step-function-like spectroscopic feature, referred to as the "red edge," as a tool for astrobiology. We review the basic characteristics and physical origin of the red edge and summarize its use in astronomy: early spectroscopic efforts to search for vegetation on Mars and recent reports of detection of the red edge in the spectrum of Earthshine (i.e., the spatially integrated scattered light spectrum of Earth). We present Earthshine observations from Apache Point Observatory (New Mexico) to emphasize that time variability is key to detecting weak surface biosignatures such as the vegetation red edge. We briefly discuss the evolutionary advantages of vegetation's red edge reflectance, and speculate that while extraterrestrial "light-harvesting organisms" have no compelling reason to display the exact same red edge feature as terrestrial vegetation, they might have similar spectroscopic features at different wavelengths than terrestrial vegetation. This implies that future terrestrial-planet-characterizing space missions should obtain data that allow time-varying, sharp spectral features at unknown wavelengths to be identified. We caution that some mineral reflectance edges are similar in slope and strength to vegetation's red edge (albeit at different wavelengths); if an extrasolar planet reflectance edge is detected care must be taken with its interpretation.     

Meteors do not break exogenous organic molecules into high yields of diatomics

Meteoroids that dominate the Earth's extraterrestrial mass influx (50-300 microm size range) may have contributed a unique blend of exogenous organic molecules at the time of the origin of life. Such meteoroids are so large that most of their mass is ablated in the Earth's atmosphere. In the process, organic molecules are decomposed and chemically altered to molecules differently from those delivered to the Earth's surface by smaller (<50 microm) micrometeorites and larger (>10 cm) meteorites. The question addressed here is whether the organic matter in these meteoroids is fully decomposed into atoms or diatomic compounds during ablation. If not, then the ablation products made available for prebiotic organic chemistry, and perhaps early biology, might have retained some memory of their astrophysical nature. To test this hypothesis we searched for CN emission in meteor spectra in an airborne experiment during the 2001 Leonid meteor storm. We found that the meteor's light-emitting air plasma, which included products of meteor ablation, contained less than 1 CN molecule for every 30 meteoric iron atoms. This contrasts sharply with the nitrogen/iron ratio of 1:1.2 in the solid matter of comet 1P/Halley. Unless the nitrogen content or the abundance of complex organic matter in the Leonid parent body, comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle, differs from that in comet 1P/Halley, it appears that very little of that organic nitrogen decomposes into CN molecules during meteor ablation in the rarefied flow conditions that characterize the atmospheric entry of meteoroids approximately 50 microm-10 cm in size. We propose that the organics of such meteoroids survive instead as larger compounds.     

The Potential and Equipotentiality of Spacecraft

The problem of maintenance of the equipotentiality of spacecraft surfaces is considered. The method under examination is the use of the conductive thermal-vacuum multilayer blanket (CMLB), whose outer surface represents a fabric woven of threads of glass fiber type with interwoven metal threads. The process of spacecraft potential formation and methods of the potential calculation are described, and the results of such a calculation for the illuminated and shadowed parts of spacecraft surfaces in some characteristic near-Earth plasma environments are presented. The CMLB model is described, and the potential distribution near the CMLB surface is calculated. The conclusion was drawn that the conductive thermal-vacuum multilayer blanket used in some cases on Russian spacecraft does not ensure the equipotentiality of spacecraft surfaces, and in the case of using CMLB, the differential spacecraft charging in outer regions of the Earth's magnetosphere may reach a dangerous level for onboard electronic systems. In spite of the fact that CMLB guards against large-scale powerful discharges, one cannot exclude discharges completely, what may result in broadband noise enhancement and cause onboard systems failures.     

考虑地球扁率效应的两圆轨道之间的双共切最优转移

两圆轨道之间的双共切转移轨道是其近地点和远地点分别在这两个圆轨道上的椭圆轨道。本文用两次冲量法给出了沿双共切椭圆轨道实现从一圆轨道向另一圆轨道转移的最优方案，并考虑到地球扁率造成的轨道摄动。文中的所谓圆轨道指的是变轨时刻的密切轨道为圆形的轨道，是对近圆轨道的近似替找。     

Impact of helio-and geophysical disturbances on thermobaric and climatic characteristics of the Earth’s troposphere

We present the mechanism and the concept of a model of the solar activity impact on thermobaric and climatic characteristics of the troposphere. Both are based on the idea of parametric action. The results of analysis are presented concerning specific features and regularities of changes in temperature regime of the troposphere in the period of variable helio-and geophysical activity, as well as long-term variations of temperature and heat content of the troposphere. The influence of changes in circulation in the atmosphere and ocean on processes in the system atmosphere-ocean-cryosphere is considered: thermohaline circulation of the oceans and energy exchange between the atmosphere and ocean. The revealed regularities find their complete explanation within the context of a model and mechanism of solar activity impact on climatic characteristics of the troposphere that were suggested previously by the authors.     

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.     

Optimal Choice of a Satellite Broadcasting System Based on High-Elliptic Orbits

The problem of the construction of a satellite broadcasting system whose capabilities are supplemented and expanded in comparison with geosynchronous satellites is considered. The optimal orbit of a high-elliptic satellite of the Earth, which provides for a maximal duration of stay of the satellite sighting line within the directional pattern of an antenna motionlessly installed on the Earth's surface, is determined. The advantages of using a satellite system with such orbits are shown.     

The space elevator in the context of current space exploration policy

The space elevator is an advanced space transportation system that someday could replace chemical rockets as humanity's primary means of reaching Earth's orbit. However, before this can occur, a number of enabling technologies will need to be developed, and a variety of economic and policy questions must be addressed. The goal of this paper is to examine the feasibility of the space elevator in the context of current space exploration policy. The paper reviews the space elevator's critical enabling technologies and presents their wide variety of applications. The challenges of funding the space elevator and of building support for the program are discussed. The potential for international cooperation is considered, and the role of the space elevator in the Vision for Space Exploration is examined. The paper argues that each of the space elevator's component technologies ought to be developed independently to meet separate nearer-term objectives. The space elevator should be just one of many applications considered in making decisions to pursue research and development related to each component technology. The enabling technologies, once mature, might eventually be integrated in the construction of a full-scale space elevator from the Earth's surface to geosynchronous orbit and beyond.     

一种多标校源的高轨伴星时差频差定位算法

针对高轨伴星时差频差无源定位系统中卫星位置、速度、时差和频差等参数的测量系统误差严重影响定位精度的问题,提出了一种基于四个或四个以上已知位置的地面标校源的高斯-牛顿定位算法。该算法首先利用差分法消除星间时差、频差测量的系统误差,再利用标校源的时差频差测量方程组估计出主星和伴星的相对位置和相对速度误差,最后结合时差、频差、地球球面以确定非合作辐射源位置。理论和数字仿真均表明在时差和频差测量的随机误差较小时,本文算法的均方根误差（MSE）接近克拉美-罗下限(CRLB)。
     

临近空间高超声速飞行器黑障问题研究综述

首先对国内外黑障问题研究历史进行了回顾,然后从等离子体鞘套形成机理和基本特征、电波传播机理及信道特征等方面阐述了高超声速飞行器黑障问题的成因。随后,着重介绍了等离子体流场和电波传播数值模拟方法并分析了方法的适用性。进一步对等离子体地面模拟方法和诊断技术进行了概述,并对国内外地面黑障实验结果进行了详细分析。在此基础上,针对临近空间高超声速飞行器的特点,采用层次分析法(AHP)对现有黑障消除技术进行了评估,给出了目前工程实用方法、近期可能实现的工程实用解以及未来具有应用潜力的消除技术。最后,对黑障问题后续研究方向提出了几点建议。     

长征八号运载火箭减载效果评估及验证（英文）

LM-8 inherited mature modules from other launch vehicles, adapting the overall design through the combination of engine throttling, wind compensation and load relief control, so as to reduce the aerodynamic load during flight. This paper proposes a rapid evaluation method for load relief performance, which takes launch vehicle's characteristics, wind field, control parameters, aerodynamic deviation and structure deviation into consideration, and provides a quick estimation method for load relief performance. The load relief performance of the LM-8 launch vehicle estimated by this method achieved 10%-20% in pitch and 20%-40% in yaw. The specific results are related to parameter deviation, the altitude of wind shear and the relationship between wind direction and trajectory angle. Simulation results for a typical case with six degrees of dynamic freedom of flight proves that the comprehensive load relief performance would be between 14% to 34%, which is in line with the aforementioned method. In addition, simulation results indicate that the more severe the wind shear is, the better performance of load relief can be achieved.     

Numerical Simulation of Geomagnetic Trapping of Anomalous Cosmic Ray Ions

A method for simulating the propagation processes for ions of the anomalous component of cosmic rays in the Earth's magnetic field is described with allowance made for a step-by-step stripping of the ions in the residual atmosphere and their trapping by the geomagnetic field. Numerical results are presented for the geomagnetic trapping of high-energy singly charged oxygen ions penetrating into the stripping region from interplanetary space.