An Experimental Twenty-Inch Segmented Active Mirror

Segmented active optics is a new design concept for making a lightweight optically stable primary reflector for large optical telescopes and especially for space telescopes. The concept applied to a threesegment 20-inch primary mirror has been proven feasible in laboratory experiments. Test results showed diffraction-limited performance with automatic optical figure control to better than L/50 rms.     

单站发射多站接收的空间目标激光测距技术

激光测距作为空间目标测定轨精度最高的技术,对非合作目标的测量精度比微波雷达、光电探测等技术高1～2个数量级,非常有利于非合作目标的精密定位、轨道复核及精确编目,保障在轨空间飞行器的安全。激光在非合作目标表面会发生漫反射,返回光斑弥散、回波微弱,采用大口径望远镜接收系统是必要的。鉴于大口径望远镜研制难度大,提出基于单站发射多站接收的空间目标激光测距新方法,即采用多接收望远镜增加接收面积,实现目标测量能力提升。通过分析单站发射多站接收的激光测距技术特点,基于双望远镜系统开展空间合作目标测量实验,验证了多望远镜接收激光信号的可行性,为该测距技术发展奠定了实验基础。     

Deployment dynamics for flexible deployable primary mirror of space telescope with paraboloidal and laminated structure by using absolute node coordinate method

A nonlinear dynamic modeling method for primary mirror of Flower-like Deployable Space Telescope (F-DST) undergoing large deployment motion is proposed in this paper. To ensure pointing accuracy and attitude stability of the paraboloidal primary mirror, the mirror is discretized into equal thickness shell elements by considering shell curvature. And the material nonlinear constitutive relation of flexible mirror is acquired using Absolute Nodal Coordinate Formulation (ANCF). Furthermore, the primary mirror of F-DST can be regarded as a clustered multi-body system, and its dynamic equations of elastic deformation and deployment motion are established by virtual work principle. Finally, the deployment motion of primary mirror by different driving conditions are simulated, the results show that the vibrations of mirrors that driven by elastic hinge device are more than that driven by servo motor. In addition, single sub-mirror deployment process will perturb the pointing accuracy of primary mirror, and the multiple sub-mirrors simultaneously deploying will seriously affect all the sub-mirrors surface accuracy because of the coupling effect. Thus, there are theoretical value and practical significance for the controlling surface accuracy and attitude accuracy of space telescope.     

基于立体观测的空间目标天基光学监视定位

利用天基观测平台实现对空间目标的有效监视是空间监视的发展方向和必然趋势。本文提出充分利用天基光学观测灵活性,采用基于双／多星立体观测定位的方法,提高空间目标监视定位效能,并就系统观测条件进行分析。     

Hubble Space Telescope at twelve years of age

The Hubble Space Telescope was deployed from the Space Shuttle Discovery into a 380-mile high Earth orbit on April 25, 1990. It subsequently made outstanding astronomical discoveries with its 8-foot (2.4-meter) telescope and other scientific instruments. Critical to the successful observations was continuous availability of power from its solar arrays during sunlit periods, and from nickel-hydrogen batteries when the satellite was in the Earth's shadow. The adopted nickel-hydrogen batteries were carefully selected and tested to confirm their depth-of-discharge and operating temperature that delivered the longest life in charge/discharge cycling service. These batteries had a design life of 7 years. At 12 years after launch the Hubble batteries have delivered more charge/discharge cycles than any other batteries in low-Earth orbit. However, the Hubble batteries have been subjected to many unexpected stresses, and peculiar reductions in battery capacity have been observed. Battery replacement requires a costly trip to the Hubble Space Telescope by astronauts, so the remaining useful life of the batteries must be predicted. Already in four servicing missions, astronauts have replaced or modified optics, solar arrays, a power control unit, and various science packages. A fifth servicing mission is scheduled in 2004. This paper discusses battery charging hardware and software controls, history of battery events in Hubble, cell performance model and spare battery tests, and capacity walkdown.     

Evaluation of Multipoint Interaction in the Design of a Thin Diffraction-Limited Active Mirror

Active control of a thin, deformable mirror is one approach to obtaining diffraction-limited performance from large orbiting telescopes. The control system design requires knowledge of the mirror reaction to the multiple forces used to maintain the desired mirror figure. A structural analysis program is used to obtain estimates of the static deflections of a point-loaded, thin, shallow, spherical primary mirror. The calculated deflections are compared to experimentally measured deflections for a specific configuration.     

Stellar infrared astronomy with EDISON

In this review the IR emission from circumstellar material is discussed, both of ionized gas and dust grains, and the astrophysical information that can be extracted from such observations. Some emphasis is placed on the possibilities of stellar IR astronomy using a large space-borne telescope, especially with respect to the much better spatial and spectral resolution of such a telescope compared to the current generation of ground-based and space IR telescopes.     

Multi-view space object recognition and pose estimation based on kernel regression

The application of high-performance imaging sensors in space-based space surveillance systems makes it possible to recognize space objects and estimate their poses using vision-based methods. In this paper, we proposed a kernel regression-based method for joint multi-view space object recognition and pose estimation. We built a new simulated satellite image dataset named BUAA-SID 1.5 to test our method using different image representations. We evaluated our method for recognition-only tasks, pose estimation-only tasks, and joint recognition and pose estimation tasks. Experimental results show that our method outperforms the state-of-the-arts in space object recognition, and can recognize space objects and estimate their poses effectively and robustly against noise and lighting conditions.     

The use of diamond turned & replicated wolter 1 telescopes for high sensitivity X-ray astronomy

Following the success of Einstein, it is clear that telescopes of very large area (10 cm) with angular resolution (20) are needed for deep X-ray surveys and other observations. After a discussion of these objectives, which form the basis of the NASA LAMAR mission, the design & performance of a five mirror telescope is described. The system was studied for possible flight on Spacelab to undertake observations & to act as a prototype module for LAMAR. Both diamond turning & replication methods of mirror production are discussed. The performance of a single Wolter I telescope with diamond turned mirrors will be described.     

光电稳定平台红外光轴对准方法

光电稳定平台中,红外光学器件以其特有的优势越来越多地被采用。精确、快速地对红外光轴进行校准和标定是红外器件应用的一个重要课题。本文介绍了一种基于红外准直仪原理设计的红外光轴校准系统,对靶标位置偏差造成的光轴偏差进行了分析计算,并提出了确定抛物面镜光轴的具体方法。研制了红外光/可见光靶标模拟器,解决了无人机光电稳定平台中红外热像仪与其他可见光光学器件的光轴平行度校准、红外光轴相对系统零位基准标定等问题。所述方法经试验证明,在目前不具备红外准直仪的条件下同样实现了较高精度的红外光轴校准和标定,有着重要的实际工程意义。     

Ionospheric Storms — A Review

In this paper, our current understanding and recent advances in the study of ionospheric storms is reviewed, with emphasis on the F2-region. Ionospheric storms represent an extreme form of space weather with important effects on ground- and space-based technological systems. These phenomena are driven by highly variable solar and magnetospheric energy inputs to the Earth's upper atmosphere, which continue to provide a major difficulty for attempts now being made to simulate the detailed storm response of the coupled neutral and ionized upper atmospheric constituents using increasingly sophisticated global first principle physical models. Several major programs for coordinated theoretical and experimental study of these storms are now underway. These are beginning to bear fruit in the form of improved physical understanding and prediction of ionospheric storm effects at high, middle, and low latitude. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Validation of techniques for space based remote sensing of auroral precipitation and its ionospheric effects

Knowledge of the spatial distribution of auroral precipitation and its associated ionospheric effects is important both to scientific studies of the Earth's environment and successful operation of defense and communication systems. Observations with the best spatial and temporal coverage are obtained through remote sensing from space-based platforms. Various techniques have been used, including the detection of visible, ultraviolet and X-ray emissions produced by the precipitating particles. Interpretation of the measurements is enabled through theoretical modeling of the interaction of precipitating particles with atmospheric constituents. A great variety of auroral precipitation exists, with each kind differing in the type and energy distribution of the particles, as well as in its spatial and temporal behavior. Viable remote sensing techniques must be able to distinguish at least the species of particle, the total energy flux, and the average energy. Methods based on visible, ultraviolet and X-ray emissions meet these requirements to varying degrees. These techniques and the associated space instrumentation have evolved in parallel over the last two decades. Each of the methods has been tested using simultaneous measurements made by space-based imaging systems and ground-based measurements made by radars and optical instruments. These experiments have been extremely helpful in evaluating the performance and practicality of the instruments and the results have been crucial in improving instrument design for future remote sensing platforms. The next decade will see continued development and test of remote sensing instruments and the measurements, in addition to providing important operational data, will be increasingly more critical in addressing a number of scientific problems in auroral and atmospheric physics.     

空间目标地基光电探测与识别技术的发展

空间目标地基光电探测与识别技术是空间态势感知的主要技术手段之一。首先归纳了空间目标的典型光学特征,分析了用于轨道与光学特征探测与识别的两类光电望远镜特点,梳理了国外空间目标光电探测与识别技术的发展历程,简要总结了空间目标地基光电探测与识别技术和应用需求间的主要问题,展望了空间目标光电探测与识别技术的未来发展方向。     

Instrumentation for gamma-ray astronomy

There are three distinct energy ranges within the broad spectrum of gamma-ray astronomy, low energy (which in turn is subdivided), high energy, and very high and ultra-high energy. Each has its own unique type of instrumentation. Only in the very high-energy range do the telescopes bear any resemblence to optical telescopes; the rest appear more like instrumentation for high-energy physics. The low- and high-energy ranges are now primarly dependent on spaceflight, although some balloon altitude research is still being accomplished. Satellites planned to be launched in the next two years will carry telescopes with considerably more capability than those previously flown in space. In the very high and ultra-high energy realm, large ground based systems are used to detect the secondary radiation from interactions of the gamma radiation with the air. In all cases, software and data analysis are becoming increasingly important aspects of the subject as the data become ever greater and more complex. Beyond the telescopes to be flown in space or installed on the ground soon, instrumentation, taking advantage of new detector techniques which have come into being or older ones which now seem capable of being adapted to space, are being developed for the more distant future.     

Optical Design for a Cubesat: Unobscured Telescope,Using Freeform Mirrors and a Curved Detector

The possibility of constructing an optical scheme of a telescope for a small satellite based on mirrors with freeform surfaces and a curved photodetector is considered. It is shown that the use of a new element base allows the effective area of the main mirror to be maximized and the field of view up to 9.4 times to be increased in comparison with the classical scheme of the Ritchey–Chretien scheme in ensuring the high image quality.     

Earthshine and Asteroseismology Telescope (East) Network

Several automated optical telescopes have been setup at appropriate longitudes around the globe to study earthshine variations and asteroseismology. The first telescope has been setup at Teide Observatory, Tenerife, Spain in October 2004. The intensity of earthshine relates to the average of Earth’s albedo, and in turn relates to the global temperature of the Earth. A global network is necessary because each site can measure the earthshine reflected from only a part of the Earth. The network will also be used for asteroseismology study. It can measure photometric variations of pulsating stars. The long-term and continuous measurements allow the accurate determination of mode frequencies of stellar pulsations, which provides information on the properties of stellar interior.     

Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager on New Horizons

The LOng-Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) is the high-resolution imaging instrument for the New Horizons mission to Pluto, its giant satellite Charon, its small moons Nix and Hydra, and the Kuiper Belt, which is the vast region of icy bodies extending roughly from Neptune’s orbit out to 50 astronomical units (AU). New Horizons launched on January 19, 2006, as the inaugural mission in NASA’s New Frontiers program. LORRI is a narrow-angle (field of view=0.29°), high-resolution (4.95 μrad pixels), Ritchey-Chrétien telescope with a 20.8-cm diameter primary mirror, a focal length of 263 cm, and a three-lens, field-flattening assembly. A 1,024×1,024 pixel (optically active region), thinned, backside-illuminated charge-coupled device (CCD) detector is used in the focal plane unit and is operated in frame-transfer mode. LORRI provides panchromatic imaging over a bandpass that extends approximately from 350 nm to 850 nm. LORRI operates in an extreme thermal environment, situated inside the warm spacecraft with a large, open aperture viewing cold space. LORRI has a silicon carbide optical system, designed to maintain focus over the operating temperature range without a focus adjustment mechanism. Moreover, the spacecraft is thruster-stabilized without reaction wheels, placing stringent limits on the available exposure time and the optical throughput needed to satisfy the measurement requirements.     

Background limited infrared and submillimeter instruments

The temperature and emissivity of infrared and submillimeter telescopes are basic parameters that drive the optical and thermal design of astronomical space projects. They determine also, among other parameters, the self-emission of the instrument and the photon noise produced by this radiation on the detectors. By comparing the telescope brightness with that of the sky in the 1m–1 cm wavelength range, general conditions for background limited photometry are derived. For <0.4 mm, temperature is the driving parameter, and for >0.4 mm, temperature and emissivity have equivalent importances. It can be shown on actual projects that these two regimes determine different optical and thermal concepts. Although based on a simplistic approach, this work intends to help designers to handle some basic system parameters of infrared and submillimeter instruments.     

天基光学平台下弹头与气球诱饵中段观测运动差异分析

为了解决弹道导弹在中段释放气球诱饵伴飞,以干扰天基光学防御系统对导弹目标进行精确跟踪识别的问题,基于弹头和气球诱饵质阻比的差异,利用美国NRLMSISE-00(Naval Research Laboratory Mass Spectrometer and Incoherent Scatter radar Exosphere,海军研究实验室质谱仪和非相干散射雷达大气经验性模型)对气球诱饵进行相应动力学分析,得出气球诱饵在弹道中段的大气阻力模型.然后给出了J2摄动下,气球诱饵经过阻力修正后较精确的中段运动模型,并将结论引入到天基光学平台中,进行观测仿真实验.结果表明,在200 km以上的高空,大气阻力对于弹头和气球诱饵的影响微弱,可忽略不计,在观测像平面中表现为一块难以区分的亮斑;而在100～200 km高度范围内,气球诱饵受大气阻力影响剧烈,在观测像平面内的运动与弹头存在较大差别,具有较强的可区分性.     

The Role of Magnetic Fields in the Interstellar Medium of the Milky Way

Synchrotron radiation is generated throughout the Milky Way. It fills the sky, and carries with it the imprint of the magnetic field at the point of origin and along the propagation path. Observations of the diffuse polarized radio emission should be able to provide information on Galactic magnetic fields with detail matching the angular resolution of the telescope. I review what has been learned from existing data, but the full potential cannot be realized from current observations because they do not adequately sample the frequency structure of the polarized emission, or they lack information on large-scale structure. I discuss three surveys, each overcoming one of these limitations, and show how use of complementary data on other ISM tracers can help elucidate the role of magnetic fields in interstellar processes. The focus of this review is on the small-scale field, on sizes comparable with the various forms of interaction of stars with their surroundings. The future is bright for this field of research as new telescopes are being built, designed for the survey mode of observation, equipped for wideband, multichannel polarization observations.