吸气式高超声速飞行器爬升段关键任务点的鲁棒优化

针对吸气式高超声速飞行器爬升段飞行任务,考虑飞行器气动/推进特性及参数不确定性问题,采用鲁棒优化思路,结合巡航性能指标,优选了飞行器爬升段的关键任务点。首先,由能量状态法结合发动机工作约束,确定了飞行器的爬升起始任务点;其次,依据飞行器巡航性能分析方法,提出了兼顾气动/推进效率的性能指标,优化得到了高超声速飞行器爬升末端任务点;最后考虑飞行器质心位置的不确定性,采用鲁棒优化方法确定了爬升段末端的飞行任务窗口。仿真结果表明,设计的优选流程快速可行,飞行任务窗口能同时满足飞行器的巡航飞行性能要求及不确定性最坏情况的约束,具有较强的鲁棒性。     

吸气式高超声速飞行器机体推进控制一体化建模方法研究

针对吸气式高超声速飞行器气动力、气动热、结构、推进、飞行轨迹以及姿态之间的多物理场强耦合给飞行控制系统设计带来的问题,提出一种适用于此类飞行器机体/推进/控制一体化设计的建模方法.首先,依据类乘波体高超声速飞行器基本外形参数体系设计飞行器的三维外形;然后在飞行器流场分析的基础上,给出飞行控制系统需要满足的姿态约束条件,并采用一套完整的工程预测方法建立了适合进行飞行控制一体化设计的气动力/推力耦合模型;最后基于拉格朗日方程推导了一体化弹性体动力学模型.模型算例验证了该方法在吸气式高超声速飞行器机体/推进/控制一体化设计中的可行性.     

未来深空探测的有力推手——太阳帆

太阳帆飞行技术是未来深空探测非常有前景的推进技术之一,其原理就是利用太阳的大面积薄膜上的反射光压提供航天器飞行的动力。由于这种推力很小,所以不能为航天器从地面起飞;但在没有空气阻力存在的太空,这种小小的推力仍然能为有足够帆     

RBCC引射/亚燃模态过渡点选择

以RBCC推进系统为动力的飞行器设计流程出发,建立了考虑发动机工作的限制条件的引射和亚燃模态性能评估方法,研究了不同燃料条件下发动机引射和亚燃模态下比冲和推力系数随飞行弹道的变化规律,提出了基于比冲最优、推力变化最小的模态过渡点选择方法;结合某一具体飞行任务的典型弹道,获得了在飞行马赫数为2.6±0.1、飞行高度为11.7～12.9 km范围内进行引射/亚燃模态过渡最佳的结论.     

DRBCC动力飞行器两级入轨运载特性分析

为发展RBCC动力系统,同时进一步探索推进性能对入轨有效载荷的影响规律,对以DRBCC为动力的两级入轨飞行器运载特性进行了研究。在给定飞行器构型和飞行剖面基础上,开展了该飞行器180 km近地轨道两级入轨设计。结果表明：以DRBCC飞行器作为第一级,配合独立火箭动力的第二级,150 t级飞行器180 km近地轨道的有效载荷为4.773 t; DRBCC的推力和比冲与飞行器飞行状态密切相关,DRBCC在2.5 Ma以下时一直工作在混合模态,而在2.5 Ma以上直接转入亚燃冲压模态;在亚燃和超燃冲压模态,DRBCC的比冲随马赫数变化较为平缓,而推力出现了波动,且在亚燃冲压模态波动较大;两级入轨过程中,DRBCC混合模态主要使飞行器完成爬高,亚燃冲压模态同时用来完成爬高和增速,超燃冲压模态主要用来增速。     

太阳帆参数对稳定性的影响

太阳帆的轨道和姿态控制是太阳帆研究的重要领域。在同时考虑太阳帆轨道和姿态的情况下,研究了太阳帆在悬浮轨道的被动稳定飞行问题。通过设计帆的面积和支撑有效载荷杆的长度,使太阳帆在轨被动稳定飞行,主要研究了两个参数对太阳帆稳定性的影响。研究结果表明,太阳帆的面积对帆的稳定性影响较大,面积较小时太阳帆总能被动稳定。杆的长度对帆的稳定性影响不大,给定杆的长度,通过设计太阳帆的面积总能使太阳帆被动稳定。     

载人月面着陆及起飞技术初步研究

载人登月任务中最具特色的就是载人月面着陆及起飞过程,其技术体系丰富,是影响载人登月任务成败的关键环节。文章详细分析了载人月面着陆及起飞阶段的飞行方案,阐述了载人任务与无人任务设计准则上的区别,剖析了载人月面着陆及起飞技术的内涵。此外重点分析了低温推进剂蒸发量控制技术、10∶1深度变推力液体发动机技术、发动机推力矢量控制技术、大承载着陆缓冲技术、发动机羽流导流与防护技术、月尘清除及防护技术等六项与载人登月舱推进系统和结构系统相关的关键技术,分析提出了相应的技术途径和解决方案,对深入认识载人登月飞行器系统的技术体系及技术难度具有重要意义。     

性能改进的MON/肼液体远地点发动机设计研究与试验

采用 MON/肼双组元推力室完成轨道机动飞行,肼催化分解推力室用于姿态控制的双模式推进方案越来越广泛地应用于飞行器系统。本文介绍了命名为 LEROS1b,推力652.5N 的高性能液体远地点发动机的设计,研制及试验过程,该发动机已用于许多通讯卫星项目中,并被“火星勘测飞行器”选用。     

空天飞行器六自由度数学建模研究

研究了空天飞行器超声速和高超声速飞行条件下六自由度仿真模型,该模型包含了完整的六自由度动力学方程和运动方程。气动力和力矩系数是迎角、马赫数及控制舵面偏角的函数;发动机模型为吸气发动机和变推力火箭发动机的组合推进装置;飞行器的质心;惯性矩是飞行器质量的时变函数。所得结果可以用于未来高超声速飞行器或新一代单级入轨运载器轨迹优化、姿态控制等问题的概念设计和仿真研究。     

国外空间推进技术现状和发展趋势

空间推进技术通常可分为常规化学推进、电推进、微推进和新型推进4大类。常规化学推进是目前航天器的主要推进方式,性能继续提升。电推进已成功证明其优势和可靠性,在各种卫星和深空探测器上大量应用,且朝更宽泛功率的方向发展。蓬勃发展的微小卫星对微小推力、小质量、低功耗的微推进提出了迫切需求。无毒化学推进、太阳帆推进、核推进等新型推进技术正在加紧研制或进行空间飞行试验。首先综述国外卫星和深空探测器等航天器的各类空间推进技术应用和研究现状,然后分析其发展趋势,最后提出对我国空间推进技术的发展建议。     

Station keeping of a solar sail around a Halo orbit

Solar sails are a concept of spacecraft propulsion that takes advantage of solar radiation pressure to propel a spacecraft. Although the thrust provided by a solar sail is small it is constant and unlimited. This offers the chance to deal with novel mission concept. In this work we want to discuss the controllability of a spacecraft around a Halo orbit by means of a solar sail. We will describe the natural dynamics for a solar sail around a Halo orbit. By natural dynamics we mean the behaviour of the trajectory of a solar sail when no control on the sail orientation is applied. We will then discuss how a sequence of changes on the sail orientation will affects the sail's trajectory, and we will use this information to derive efficient station keeping strategies. Finally we will check the robustness of these strategies including different sources of errors in our simulations.     

Solar sail formation flying on an inclined Earth orbit

The versatility of solar sail propulsion can be utilized in the exploration of Earth’s magnetotail. An inclined periodic orbit with respect to ecliptic is possible for a solar sail with its orbital plane in synchronous rotation with the sun. Solar sail evolving on such an inclined orbit is free of Earth shadow. Formation flying of a cluster of sails around such an inclined periodic orbit is investigated in this paper. The solution of the first-order approximation to the linear relative motion is used to qualitatively analyze the configurations of relative orbits. Since the relative motion is unstable, active control is necessary to keep a periodic relative motion. A typical LQR method is employed to stabilize the relative motion. The design method is validated by numerical examples.     

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.     

Radioisotope electric propulsion of sciencecraft to the outer solar system and near-interstellar space

Recent results are presented in the study of radioisotope electric propulsion as a near-term technology for sending small robotic sciencecraft to the outer Solar System and near- interstellar space. Radioisotope electric propulsion (REP) systems are low-thrust, ion propulsion units based on radioisotope electric generators and ion thrusters. Powerplant specific masses are expected to be in the range of 100 to 200 kg/kW of thrust power. Planetary rendezvous missions to Pluto, fast missions to the heliopause (100 AU) with the capability to decelerate an orbiter for an extended science program and prestellar missions to the first gravitational lens focus of the Sun (550 AU) are investigated.     

Constant-thrust glideslope guidance algorithm for time-fixed rendezvous in real halo orbit

This paper presents a fixed-time glideslope guidance algorithm that is capable of guiding the spacecraft approaching a target vehicle on a quasi-periodic halo orbit in real Earth–Moon system. To guarantee the flight time is fixed, a novel strategy for designing the parameters of the algorithm is given. Based on the numerical solution of the linearized relative dynamics of the Restricted Three-Body Problem (expressed in inertial coordinates with a time-variant nature), the proposed algorithm breaks down the whole rendezvous trajectory into several arcs. For each arc, a two-impulse transfer is employed to obtain the velocity increment (delta-v) at the joint between arcs. Here we respect the fact that instantaneous delta-v cannot be implemented by any real engine, since the thrust magnitude is always finite. To diminish its effect on the control, a thrust duration as well as a thrust direction are translated from the delta-v in the context of a constant thrust engine (the most robust type in real applications). Furthermore, the ignition and cutoff delays of the thruster are considered as well. With this high-fidelity thrust model, the relative state is then propagated to the next arc by numerical integration using a complete Solar System model. In the end, final corrective control is applied to insure the rendezvous velocity accuracy. To fully validate the proposed guidance algorithm, Monte Carlo simulation is done by incorporating the navigational error and the thrust direction error. Results show that our algorithm can effectively maintain control over the time-fixed rendezvous transfer, with satisfactory final position and velocity accuracies for the near-range guided phase.     

NanoSail-D: A solar sail demonstration mission

In the early to mid-2000s, NASA made substantial progress in the development of solar sail propulsion systems. Solar sail propulsion uses the solar radiation pressure exerted by the momentum transfer of reflected photons to generate a net force on a spacecraft. To date, solar sail propulsion systems were designed for large robotic spacecraft. Recently, however, NASA has been investigating the application of solar sails for small satellite propulsion. The NanoSail-D is a subscale solar sail system designed for possible small spacecraft applications. The NanoSail-D mission flew on board the ill-fated Falcon Rocket launched August 2, 2008, and due to the failure of that rocket, never achieved orbit. The NanoSail-D flight spare is ready for flight and a suitable launch arrangement is being actively pursued. This paper will present an introduction solar sail propulsion systems and an overview of the NanoSail-D spacecraft.     

Photonic spin control for solar wind electric sail

The electric solar wind sail (E-sail) is a novel, efficient propellantless propulsion concept which utilises the natural solar wind for spacecraft propulsion with the help of long centrifugally stretched charged tethers. The E-sail requires auxiliary propulsion applied to the tips of the main tethers for creating the initial angular momentum and possibly for modifying the spinrate later during flight to counteract the orbital Coriolis effect and possibly for mission specific reasons. We introduce the possibility of implementing the required auxiliary propulsion by small photonic blades (small radiation pressure solar sails). The blades would be stretched centrifugally. We look into two concepts, one with and one without auxiliary tethers. The use of small photonic sails has the benefit of providing sufficient spin modification capability for any E-sail mission while keeping the technology fully propellantless. We conclude that small photonic sails appear to be a feasible and attractive solution to E-sail spinrate control.     

Pressing Issues of the Day in Studying Deep Space

Two problems in studying deep space are discussed that are, in the author's opinion, the most important. The first is soil sampling from the smaller bodies of the Solar System, such as the Martian satellite Phobos and asteroids of groups C and S of the Main Asteroid Belt. This soil (so-called primordial substance) can help to elucidate some problems of the Solar System's formation; in particular, to construct a reliable model of the internal structure of the Earth. The second problem is to reveal all sufficiently large asteroids penetrating inside the Earth's orbit and to catalog those asteroids that are hazardous from the viewpoint of collision with the Earth. To this end, it is suggested to launch five or six Earth-orbiting spacecraft with telescopes capable of recording objects down to a brightness of 22– 25 ^m . It is pointed out that both problems can be solved in the near future using comparatively cheap standardized space vehicles launched into near-Earth orbits by the Soyuz carrier rocket and boosted further by electro-jet engines of small thrust.     

Novel orbits of Mercury,Venus and Mars enabled using low-thrust propulsion

Exploration of the inner planets of the Solar System is vital to significantly enhance the understanding of the formulation of the Earth and other planets. This paper therefore considers the development of novel orbits of Mars, Mercury and Venus to enhance the opportunities for remote sensing of these planets. Continuous acceleration is used to extend the critical inclination of highly elliptical orbits at each planet and is shown to require modest thrust magnitudes. This paper also presents the extension of existing sun-synchronous orbits around Mars. However, unlike Earth and Mars, natural sun-synchronous orbits do not exist at Mercury or Venus. This research therefore also uses continuous acceleration to enable circular and elliptical sun-synchronous orbits, by ensuring that the orbit's nodal precession rate matches the planets mean orbital rate around the Sun, such that the lighting along the ground-track remains approximately constant over the mission duration. This property is useful both in terms of spacecraft design, due to the constant thermal conditions, and for comparison of images. Considerably high thrust levels are however required to enable these orbits, which are prohibitively high for orbits with inclinations around 90°. These orbits therefore require some development in electric propulsion systems before becoming feasible.     

Inflatable shape changing colonies assembling versatile smart space structures

Various plants have the ability to follow the sun with their flowers or leaves during the course of a day via a mechanism known as heliotropism. This mechanism is characterised by the introduction of pressure gradients between neighbouring motor cells in the plant?s stem, enabling the stem to bend. By adapting this bio-inspired mechanism to mechanical systems, a new class of smart structures can be created. The developed overall structure is made up of a number of cellular colonies, each consisting of a central pressure source surrounded by multiple cells. After launch, the cellular arrays are deployed in space and are either preassembled or alternatively are attached together during their release or afterwards. A central pressure source is provided by a high-pressure storage unit with an integrated valve, which provides ingress gas flow to the system; the gas is then routed through the system via a sequence of valve operations and cellular actuations, allowing for any desired shape to be achieved within the constraints of the deployed array geometry. This smart structure consists of a three dimensional adaptable cellular array with fluid controlling Micro Electromechanical Systems (MEMS) components enabling the structure to change its global shape. The proposed MEMS components include microvalves, pressure sensors, mechanical interconnect structures, and electrical routing. This paper will also give an overview of the system architecture and shows the feasibility and shape changing capabilities of the proposed design with multibody dynamic simulations. Example applications of this lightweight shape changing structure include concentrators, mirrors, and communications antennas that are able to dynamically change their focal point, as well as substructures for solar sails that are capable of steering through solar winds by altering the sails? subjected area.