On autonomous tracking of a minor celestial body

There is suggested an algorithm of the autonomous tracking of a minor celestial body (comet, asteroid or satellite) by the photo-TV-camera of the spacecraft during its flyby in the vicinity of the celestial body, investigated by the data of images obtained by this camera. This algorithm allows prediction of the celestial body angular position in order to point the onboard camera to the body. The field of applicability for the suggested algorithm taking into account various errors is being investigated. The problems of the optimization of the program of the autonomous tracking in order to decrease the prediction errors or to increase the prediction time interval are considered. The results obtained are illustrated by the example of the autonomous tracking of Halley's comet nucleus.     

Tracking and data relay satellite system: NASA's new spacecraft data acquisition system

The growth in NASA's ground network complexity and cost triggered a search for an alternative. Through a lease service contract, Western Union will provide to NASA 10 years of space communications services with a Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS). A constellation of four operating satellites in geostationary orbit and a single ground terminal will provide complete tracking, telemetry and command service for all of NASA's Earth orbital satellites below an altitude of 12,000 km. The system is shared: two satellites will be dedicated to NASA service; a third will provide backup as a shared spare; the fourth satellite will be dedicated to Western Union's Advanced Westar commercial service. Western Union will operate the ground terminal and provide operational satellite control. NASA's Network Control Center will provide the focal point for scheduling user services and controlling the interface between TDRSS and the rest of the NASA communications network, project control centers and data processing facilities. TDRSS single access user spacecraft data systems should be designed for efficient time shared data relay support. Reimbursement policy and rate structure for non-NASA users are currently being developed.     

Stability of large flexible damped spacecraft modeled as elastic continua

Vibrational stability of a large flexible, structurally damped spacecraft subject to large rigid body rotations is analysed modelling the system as an elastic continuum. Using solution of rigid body attitude motion under torque free conditions and modal analysis, the vibrational equations are reduced to ordinary differential equations with time-varying coefficients. Stability analysis is carried out using Floquet theory and Sonin-Polya theorem. The cases of spinning and non-spinning spacecraft idealized as a flexible beam plate undergoing simple structural vibration are analysed in detail. The critical damping required for stabilization is shown to be a function of the spacecraft's inertia ratio and the level of disturbance.     

New approaches to planetary exploration: Spacecraft and information systems design

As a result of studies undertaken during 1981 and 1982, in support of NASA's Solar System Exploration Committee activities, several new approaches have been identified for development of flight hardware as well as ground systems for the execution of U.S. planetary missions through the close of the century. This paper will summarize these new approaches for achieving lower cost in planetary exploration in three different ways:

• •• Use of modified “production line” spacecraft developed by aerospace companies for scientific and commercial use in earth orbit—study results will be discussed which demonstrate that with only modest modifications to existing earth orbiting spacecraft, excellent results can be expected at planetary targets in the inner solar system ranging from Venus to the inner portions of the asteroid belt. Use of both communications satellites typical of those used in geosynchronous applications, as well as low earth orbiting scientific and meteorological satellites will be discussed. The range of changes and the rationale for these changes required to perform planetary missions will be displayed in detail.
• •• The development of a multi-mission modular type spacecraft for planetary missions—a new approach and new flexible spacecraft design proposed for development for planetary missions to comets, main-belt asteroids, and the outer planets will be identified. This Mariner Mark II spacecraft will enable reconfiguration at low cost for adaptation to a wide range of missions. Design concepts which draw heavily on early planetary missions as well as technology developments that are expected to be available in the late 80's and early 90's will be described in detail.
• •• Development of low-cost multi-mission end-to-end information system—a system design including spacecraft command and data handling system requirements, as well as an architecture for a cost effective multi-mission operations system will be described. This system is intended to be applied to both classes of spacecraft/missions described above.

     

Perturbation solution of attitude motion under body-fixed torques

Approximate analytical solutions are established for the attitude rates and angles of a rigid body subjected to a constant body-fixed torque. The perturbation solutions obtained are valid for any arbitrary inertia parameters. The small parameter is defined as the ratio between representative transverse rotation rate and the spin or scan rate. The results should be useful for quickly evaluating the attitude response of a spin-stabilised or scanning spacecraft to a variety of torque inputs. The applicability of the theory is illustrated by means of practical examples such as the spin-down due to rate coupling of ESA's GEOS spacecraft and the prediction of the attitude drift of the HIPPARCOS satellite during payload initialisation. Furthermore, the compact first-order results should be suitable for implementation in on-board manoeuvre or attitude control software.     

A global view of the isochronous trajectory families by Hamilton's hodographic transformation

An overall view of the characteristic features of the isochronous trajectory families is presented. The trajectories are assumed Keplerian, isoenergetic, and satisfying Lambert's conditions, that is the sum of radial distances of the two termini, and their linear separation are both constant. A geometric approach is adopted by using Hamilton's hodographic transformation. The connection between Hamilton's hodographic isochronism and the Lambert's theorem is briefly reviewed, and the interrelations among the Hamiltonian set of parameters and the Lambertian sets are developed. The totality of the isochronous trajectory families is then viewed in the velocity space. Various Lambertian invariants as well as some essential noninvariants are examined, and relevant formulas derived. The salient features of some particular isochronous families are then summarized; and Hamilton's time integral is briefly treated. The analysis is essentially two-dimensional, with its extension to the three-dimensional case finally discussed.     

A new treatment of Lambertian mechanics

Lambert's formulas for the time of orbital flight between two points in space are rederived by first establishing a universal differential equation governing the time function, independent of the conic type of the trajectory, the focal characteristics of the trajectory sector, and the range angle. A unified form of Lambert's formulas is then obtained as the general solution of the differential equation, and the various forms of the classical Lambert's formulas are obtained as its particular solutions under different boundary conditions. Following this basic treatment, various hypergeometric expansions for Lambert's time function and its derivatives are developed, and the behavior of the function and its implications in the solution of Lambert's problem and the isochronous trajectories are briefly reviewed. Finally, a short comparison of the present treatment with those found in current literature on Lambertian Mechanics is made and briefly discussed.     

Rosetta enters hibernation

The International Rosetta Mission was launched on 2nd March 2004 on its 10 years journey to comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Rosetta will reach the comet in 2014, orbit it for about 1.5 years down to distances of a few kilometres and deliver the Lander Philae onto its surface.Following the fly-by of Asteroid (21-)Lutetia in 2010, Rosetta continued its travel towards the planned comet encounter in 2014. In this phase Rosetta became the solar-powered spacecraft that reached the largest Sun distances in history of spaceflight, up to an aphelion at 5.3 AU in October 2012. At distances above 4.5 AU the spacecraft's solar generator power is not sufficient to keep all spacecraft systems active. Therefore in June 2011 the spacecraft was spun up to provide gyroscopic stabilisation, and most of its on-board units, including those used for attitude control and communications, were switched off. Over this “hibernation” phase of about 2.5 years the spacecraft will keep a minimum of autonomy active to ensure maintenance of safe thermal conditions.After Lutetia fly-by, flight controllers had to tackle two anomalies that had significant impacts on the mission operations. A leak in the reaction control subsystem was confirmed and led to the re-definition of the operational strategy to perform the comet rendezvous manoeuvres planned for 2011 and 2014. Anomalous jumps detected in the estimated friction torque of two of the four reaction wheels used for attitude control forced the rapid adoption of measures to slow down the wheels degradation. This included in-flight re-lubrication activities and changes in the wheels operational speed regime.Once the troubleshooting of the two anomalies was completed, and the related operational scenarios were implemented, the first large (790 m/s) comet rendezvous manoeuvre was executed, split into several long burns in January and February 2011. The second burn was unexpectedly interrupted due to the anomalous behaviour of two thrusters, causing attitude off-pointing. Flight controllers modified the thrusters operation parameters in the on-board software and managed to re-start the sequence of burns and successfully complete the manoeuvre. After the manoeuvre, preparation for the critical spin-up and hibernation entry activities, planned for June 2011, began.This paper presents the activities carried out on Rosetta in the final year before hibernation entry. The major anomalies and the related troubleshooting and workaround solutions are detailed. Lessons learned from the operation of the first spacecraft operating with solar power at Jupiter-like distances from the Sun are presented and discussed.     

Recovery of long-wavelength mean gravity anomalies for the dedicated gravitational satellite (gravsat) mission

This paper describes a computer simulation study that was undertaken to determine how well long-wavelength variations in the Earth's gravitational field can be recovered using data from the Dedicated$\text{Grav}$itational $\text{Sat}$ellite (GRAVSAT) mission. This mission is to consist of two low altitude (160 km) spacecraft in essentially the same orbit but separated in phase by 100–300 km. Geodetic data are measurements of the relative range rate to an accuracy of about 1 μm/s at 4 sec intervals. Specifically, a Bayesian covariance simulation was used to investigate simultaneous recovery of the spacecraft ephemerides and a global distribution of 20° × 20° mean gravity anomaly blocks. Sources of errors considered were tracking station positions, gravitational constant, Earth body tides, tropospheric modeling and measurement noise. It should be noted that this simulation does not include as an error source variations in the gravity field that have a character different from what was modeled. Consequently, this study demonstrates the potential of the low-low system as configured to recover the long-wavelength variations in the gravity field.Using only one days worth of data, the mean of the standard deviations of the 162 20° × 20° gravity anomaly blocks is about 1 μgal. For a 6 month mission (assuming a reduction proportional to the square root of the data intervals) this projects to < 0.1 μgal. Because of the potential of increased measurement precision at shorter separation distances, and the relative insensitivity of the recovery process to separation distance, it should be possible to recover both long and short wavelength variations with a modest distribution of separation distances tailored primarily to the short wavelength recovery. Effects of the uncertainty in the gravitational constant and Love's numbers are negligible. In a simulation not reported on, increasing the altitude of the orbit to 200 km from 150 km, degraded, as expected, the accuracy of the recovered parameters by only 7%.     

The message and the experience of the site project

The Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) was a unique effort aimed at studying the possibilities of satellite broadcasting for education and national development. This one-year joint India-USA project was carried out in 1975–1976 using the ATS-6 spacecraft. This paper briefly describes the experiment and its major findings. It goes on to distill the learning experiences derived from SITE and analyses the extent to which these have influenced the design and configuration of India's domestic satellite system, INSAT. INSAT-1B, which will serve as a replacement for the short-lived INSAT-1A, will be launched shortly and will be operational by the end of 1983. Its payload includes two S-band TV transponders capable of broadcasting directly to augmented TV sets. The paper examines which lessons of SITE are being applied in the planning and operationalisation of the TV system and discusses why others are not being taken account of. Major issues confronting TV system planners in developing countries like India are highlighted and the possible role of satellite broadcasting discussed in this context. The paper concludes by outlining an “ideal scenario” for a large, multilingual country like India, towards which TV planners could attempt to strive.     

Fourth John V. Breakwell memorial lecture the use of earth-return trajectories for missions to comets

The concept of using Earth-return trajectories in connection with missions to comets was originally proposed in 1972. Papers published in the 1970's and 1980's showed that by using multiple Earth-to-Earth transfers, it was possible to construct a trajectory that would encounter several comets. This technique was used for the first time by ESA's Giotto spacecraft. Following its encounter with Halley's comet in March 1986, Giotto used a single Earth gravity-assist maneuver to intercept comet Grigg-Skjellerup in July 1992. Japan's Sakigake spacecraft tried to use Earth gravity-assist maneuvers to reach comet Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova in 1996, but was not successful. Earth-return trajectories are essential elements of two Discovery-class missions to comets; Stardust, and the Comet Nucleus Tour (CONTOUR). The Stardust mission will be launched in February 1999, and will return dust samples collected from comet Wild-2 to the Earth in 2006. CONTOUR is scheduled for a launch in June 2002, and will use six Earth gravity-assist maneuvers to carry out three comet encounters: Encke in 2003; Schwassmann-Wachmann-3 in 2006; and d'Arrest in 2008. An extended-mission scenario would allow CONTOUR to accomplish two additional encounters: Tempel-2 in 2015, and Encke for a second time in 2023.     

重复使用航天器发展趋势及若干思考

重复使用航天器具有快速、低成本的特性,是自由进出空间的重要技术途径之一。自从２0世纪50年代重复使用航天器的概念被提出以来,历经７０多年,重复使用航天器的研制取得了很大的进步,积累了丰富的经验和教训。基于国内外发展情况,梳理了重复使用航天器的技术路线,深入分析了其发展趋势,从设计、制造、试验、运行维护4个方面探讨了重复使用航天器的特点和难点,并提出了未来重复使用航天器发展的若干思考与建议。     

含板类柔性附件的充液航天器动力学研究

对含有板类柔性附件和曲壁轴对称充液储腔的复杂航天器系统进行动力学建模和耦合机理研究。首先,采用Kirchhoff-Love薄板理论对航天器的板类柔性附件进行研究,通过D’Alembert原理得到柔性附件的振动方程,运用模态假设法将混合方程转换为常微分方程。其次,通过推导充液航天器储腔内任意点的运动,得到储腔液体的牵连速度势函数,采用Gauss超几何级数得到液体相对速度势函数的解析形式,通过Hamilton变分原理推导液体晃动的运动方程,以及液体速度势函数模态系数的控制方程。最后采用准坐标Lagrange方程得到耦合航天器系统的状态方程,通过数值仿真校验系统动力学模型的有效性。研究结果表明,刚性平台、液体、柔性附件的相互耦合效应使得航天器系统存在复杂动力学行为,在复杂航天器系统动力学建模过程中需要充分考虑液体晃动和柔性附件振动的影响,柔性附件的安装位置对于耦合航天器系统的动力学行为也有着重要影响。     

Design of phase-locked loop for communication system via on-board signal processing satellites

The energy inconsistency for a multiple access system via an active satellite with simple repeating of signals is claimed. The on-board ideal signal processing algorithm resolving this inconsistency is considered and the optimal group signal processing algorithm in a manner of digital signals shape transformation followed by their time compression is suggested. The necessity for individual clock synchronization of ground stations is shown and the synchronous multiple access system block diagram with an optimal on-board signal processing is discussed.A phase disturbance dynamics of a two-loops clock synchronization system with variable time delay is investigated. A nonlinear differential-difference equation is obtained and for the first order PLL with time delay the exact solutions are found in cases of relay and linear shapes phase discriminator's characteristics. Phase errors' expressions are derived and the main factors of accuracy limiting caused by PLL's feedback time delay are established.     

航天器真空热试验测控系统应用现状及发展趋势

航天器真空热试验是航天器研制过程中必不可少的试验项目。文章阐述了航天器真空热试验测控系统的特点和面临的挑战,总结归纳了航天器真空热试验测控系统的应用现状,分析展望了航天器真空热试验测控系统未来的发展趋势。     

Characteristics of the Martian Magnetosphere according to the Data of the Mars 3 and Phobos 2 Satellites: Comparison with MGS and MAVEN Results

Cosmic Research - On January 21, 1972, the Mars 3 satellite recorded a strong (~27 nT) regular magnetic field in the region of the spacecraft’s closest approach to the dayside of Mars. Many...     

A model for the evolution of the on-orbit man-made debris environment

A model for the evolution of the low Earth orbit man-made debris population is presented and the results of several test cases discussed. Debris sources include normal operations in space, explosions occurring on spacecraft in orbit, and collisions between objects in orbit; the stochastic occurrence of these deposition events is modeled using Monte Carlo techniques. A technique for discriminating between objects populating long-life vs rapid-decay orbits is discussed and applied to the analysis of debris contributions from collisions of comparable sized objects. In varying degrees, each of the cases presented indicate there is cause for concern for spacecraft and space operations from the 1990s onward-man-made debris will play a role which may vary from presenting a considerable hazard to certain operations or certain spacecraft to effectively prohibiting the use of certain spaceccraft or space operations.     

Ballistics, navigation, and motion control for a spacecraft during its landing on the surface of Phobos

Basic concepts and algorithms laid as foundations of the scheme of landing on the Martian moon Phobos (developed for the Phobos-Grunt project) are presented. The conditions ensuring the landing are discussed. Algorithms of onboard navigation and control are described. The equations of spacecraft motion with respect to Phobos are considered, as well as their use for correction of the spacecraft motion. The algorithm of estimation of the spacecraft’s state vector using measurements with a laser altimeter and Doppler meter of velocity and distance is presented. A system for modeling the landing with a firmware complex including a prototype of the onboard computer is described.     

The overredundant spacecraft—A competitive approach to future telecommunication satellites

Present operational space telecommunication systems are based on simultaneous availability of more than one satellite on orbit, mainly a spare satellite in addition to the operational one.Considering the costs associated to the delivery of extra flight models and to extra launchers, the question is asked whether it would not be advantageous to launch a very limited number of “overredundant” spacecraft instead of several standard satellites.The paper gives main conditions of reliability, size and redundancy concept under which an “overredundant” spacecraft could be a competitive approach to future operational systems.     

航天器单机内PCB焊点低气压放电试验研究

在轨航天器单机内部存在低气压放电风险,因此对于工作电压等级较高的PCB,需要采用放电防护工艺和措施。文章针对几种现有的放电防护工艺,试验测量了不同工艺条件下的焊点起晕电压。试验结果表明,球形焊点的起晕电压高于正常焊点;焊点之间是否开槽对起晕电压无明显影响;涂三防漆的焊点起晕电压显著高于未涂漆焊电极。试验结果能够为航天器用PCB焊点放电防护工艺评估提供指导。