Lorentz-force-perturbed orbits with application to J2-invariant formation

The Lorentz force acting on an electrostatically charged spacecraft in the Earth's magnetic field provides a new propellantless means for controlling a spacecraft's orbit. Assuming that the Lorentz force is much smaller than the gravitational force, the perturbation of a charged spacecraft's orbit by the Lorentz force in the Earth's magnetic field, which is simplified as a titled rotating dipole, is studied in this article. Our research starts with the derivation of the equations of motion in geocentric equatorial inertial Cartesian coordinates using Lagrange mechanics, and then derives the Gauss variational equations involving Lorentz-force perturbation using a set of nodal inertial coordinates as an intermediate step. Subsequently, the approximate averaged changes in classical orbital elements, including single-orbit-averaged and one-day-averaged changes, are obtained by employing orbital averaging. We have found that the approximate analytic one-day-averaged changes in semi-major axis, eccentricity, and inclination are nearly zero, and those in the other three angular orbital elements are affected by J₂ and Lorentz-force perturbations. This characteristic is applied to model bounded relative orbital motion in the presence of the Lorentz force, which is termed Lorentz-augmented J₂-invariant formation. The necessary condition for J₂-invariant formation is derived when the chief spacecraft's reference orbit is either circular or elliptical. It is shown that J₂-invariant formation is easier to implement if the deputy spacecraft is capable of establishing electric charge. All conclusions drawn from the approximate analytic solutions are verified by numerical simulation.     

Design of optimal earth pole-sitter transfers using low-thrust propulsion

Recent studies have shown the feasibility of an Earth pole-sitter mission using low-thrust propulsion. This mission concept involves a spacecraft following the Earth's polar axis to have a continuous, hemispherical view of one of the Earth's poles. Such a view will enhance future Earth observation and telecommunications for high latitude and polar regions. To assess the accessibility of the pole-sitter orbit, this paper investigates optimum Earth pole-sitter transfers employing low-thrust propulsion. A launch from low Earth orbit (LEO) by a Soyuz Fregat upper stage is assumed after which solar electric propulsion is used to transfer the spacecraft to the pole-sitter orbit. The objective is to minimize the mass in LEO for a given spacecraft mass to be inserted into the pole-sitter orbit. The results are compared with a ballistic transfer that exploits manifold-like trajectories that wind onto the pole-sitter orbit. It is shown that, with respect to the ballistic case, low-thrust propulsion can achieve significant mass savings in excess of 200 kg for a pole-sitter spacecraft of 1000 kg upon insertion. To finally obtain a full low-thrust transfer from LEO up to the pole-sitter orbit, the Fregat launch is replaced by a low-thrust, minimum time spiral, which provides further mass savings, but at the cost of an increased time of flight.     

Antenna radiation effects on the orbits of GPS and INTELSAT satellites

A large number of disturbances add to the main force exerted by Earth's gravitational field and affect the actual orbital trajectory of artificial satellites. They possess antennas with specific purposes, such as telecommunication systems operating at specific ranges of frequencies and radiated power. For instance, the antennas used in the GPS and INTELSAT satellites are quadrifilar helix and parabolic reflectors respectively. The radiation emitted by the antennas produces a radiation reaction force on the satellite making its orbital elements deviate from their expected values. Using a mathematical model for the radiation reaction force caused by the antenna, derived from the electromagnetic theory and the energy-momentum conservation law, the perturbation effects on the orbits of the GPS and INTELSAT satellites were studied. The numerical integrator used to solve the satellite equations of motion is based on the Runge–Kutta method of fourth and fifth orders. The theoretical model of antenna radiation reaction takes into account the satellite mass, antenna radiated power and maximum gain of the antenna.     

All-propulsion design of the drag-free and attitude control of the European satellite GOCE

This paper concerns the drag-free and attitude control (DFAC) of the European Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer satellite (GOCE), during the science phase. GOCE aims to determine the Earth's gravity field with high accuracy and spatial resolution, through complementary space techniques such as gravity gradiometry and precise orbit determination. Both techniques rely on accurate attitude and drag-free control, especially in the gradiometer measurement bandwidth (5–100 mHz), where non-gravitational forces must be counteracted down to micronewton, and spacecraft attitude must track the local orbital reference frame with micro-radian accuracy. DFAC aims to enable the gravity gradiometer to operate so as to determine the Earth's gravity field especially in the so-called measurement bandwidth (5–100 mHz), making use of ion and micro-thruster actuators. The DFAC unit has been designed entirely on a simplified discrete-time model (Embedded Model) derived from the fine dynamics of the spacecraft and its environment; the relevant control algorithms are implemented and tuned around the Embedded Model, which is the core of the control unit. The DFAC has been tested against uncertainties in spacecraft and environment and its code has been the preliminary model for final code development. The DFAC assumes an all-propulsion command authority, partly abandoned by the actual GOCE control system because of electric micro-propulsion not being fully developed. Since all-propulsion authority is expected to be imperative for future scientific and observation missions, design and simulated results are believed to be of interest to the space community.     

舵机加载系统的鲁棒力矩渐近跟踪控制

针对舵机加载系统中存在未建模部分、时变、非线性等因素,设计了鲁棒力矩渐近跟踪控制器。分析了系统结构,并建立系统简化模型。为了抑制舵机运动扰动对加载系统的影响,提高系统跟踪性能,将舵机运动作为外干扰进行处理。根据系统输入信号的特点,基于内模原理,分别利用系统的传递函数和状态空间模型设计鲁棒渐近跟踪与干扰抑制控制器。针对期望极点难以选取的问题,利用最优化方法设计系统控制律,并引入期望衰减度调节系统力矩跟踪和扰动抑制性能。仿真结果表明,所设计的控制器能使系统获得较理想的跟踪性能,基于状态空间的最优化方法方便了系统设计。     

Overview of scientific payloads onboard the KSR-III rocket

The Korea Sounding Rocket-III (KSR-III) was successfully launched on November 28, 2002 from the west coast of the Korean Peninsula. The science payload onboard the KSR-III included an ozone detector and two magnetometers along with other various sensors installed to measure physical characteristics such as temperature, pressure, strain, and acceleration. The main objective of KSR-III was to evaluate the liquid propulsion engine system which has been newly adopted in the KSR series. In addition to this main objective, the science payload conducted atmospheric soundings. The payload data were transmitted to the ground station in real time by an onboard telemetry system. The UV radiometer measured the direct solar UV radiation and during the ascending phase the vertical ozone density profile was obtained. This result was compared with coincident measurements taken by other satellites, a ground station, and an ozonesonde. A fluxgate-type magnetometer was onboard the KSR-III to observe the Earth's DC magnetic field and for AC field measurements, a search-coil magnetometer was installed. This was the first Korean mission to use magnetometers on a rocket-borne platform to measure the Earth's magnetic field. Using the telemetry magnetometer data, a study on the rocket attitude was carried out. This paper will give an overview of the design, calibration, and test results of the science payload onboard the KSR-III.     

Ten thousand revolutions: conjectures about civilizations

Ten thousand years ago, no-one on Earth was living a “civilized” life. What has happened since is remarkable and impossible to fully comprehend; yet, everyone has ideas about civilization, and how the world came to be as it is. Such understandings of civilizations on Earth inevitably influence speculation about extraterrestrial civilizations, in two ways. First, sometimes a specific Earth civilization or historical experience is explicitly used as a basis for inferences about extraterrestrial civilizations. Second, more general assumptions about the development and functioning of Earth's societies shape conjectures about alien societies. This paper focuses on the latter, general assumptions, with the aim of considering how we can use multidisciplinary approaches, and our knowledge of Earth's civilizations, to our best advantage in SETI.     

带移动负载海上浮筒系统运动响应特性初步研究

将某类海上自动作业系统简化为带移动负载的浮筒系统,其中负载简化为外径为180mm、约50kg重的柱型体,浮筒为外径533mm的圆筒;初步设计了浮筒系统的主参数。在此基础上,采用频域数值模拟计算,获得了浮筒自由状态下的固有周期和运动响应传递函数(RAO);再采用时域模拟方法,预报了3级海况下(JONSWAP谱)浮筒系统整体的运动响应特性,给出了运动响应幅值、最小干舷高度等特性参数,可为相关装备设计提供技术参考和借鉴。     

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.     

Approximate Calculation of Required and Available Lateral Range Achieved in a Spacecraft Descent to a Preset Point on the Earth's Surface

The results of calculation of the required lateral range are presented for the orbital reentry of a spacecraft having a preset inclination and preset ascending node longitude to land at a preset point on the Earth's surface. The suboptimum laws of roll angle variation in velocity are determined, which allows one to reach the maximum available lateral range for a given value of constant lift-to-drag ratio taking into account constraints imposed on the maximum equilibrium temperature.     

Space radiation analysis: Radiation effects and particle interaction outside the Earth's magnetosphere using GRAS and GEANT4

In order to explore the Moon and Mars it is necessary to investigate the hazards due to the space environment and especially ionizing radiation. According to previous papers, much information has been presented in radiation analysis inside the Earth's magnetosphere, but much of this work was not directly relevant to the interplanetary medium. This work intends to explore the effect of radiation on humans inside structures such as the ISS and provide a detailed analysis of galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) and solar proton events (SPEs) using SPENVIS (Space Environment Effects and Information System) and CREME96 data files for particle flux outside the Earth's magnetosphere. The simulation was conducted using GRAS, a European Space Agency (ESA) software based on GEANT4. Dose and equivalent dose have been calculated as well as secondary particle effects and GCR energy spectrum. The calculated total dose effects and equivalent dose indicate the risk and effects that space radiation could have on the crew, these values are calculated using two different types of structures, the ISS and the TransHab modules. Final results indicate the amounts of radiation expected to be absorbed by the astronauts during long duration interplanetary flights; this denotes importance of radiation shielding and the use of proper materials to reduce the effects.     

电动绳系在低极轨卫星中的应用研究

低极轨卫星具有轨道周期短、对地观测分辨率高等优点,但由于所在轨道大气阻力大,其使用寿命受到较大限制。文章提出采用水平结构电动绳系抵消低极轨卫星大气阻力的方法,通过系绳电流与地球磁场相互作用产生洛仑兹力进行推进,进而在无燃料消耗的情况下实现对低极轨卫星轨道高度的维持。初步分析了该方法在低极轨不同尺寸卫星中的应用潜力,计算了160 、400 和800 km 典型高度低极轨卫星所经历的地球磁场、电离层和高层大气环境相关参数变化,比较了不同条件下电动绳系推力与大气阻力大小随轨道位置的变化。分析结果表明,该方法适用于400 km 轨道高度以上大卫星;在满足一定系绳长度和轨道高度的条件下,电动绳系可以有效延长低极轨卫星的轨道寿命。     

Mission analysis and systems design of a near-term and far-term pole-sitter mission

This paper provides a detailed mission analysis and systems design of a near-term and far-term pole-sitter mission. The pole-sitter concept was previously introduced as a solution to the poor temporal resolution of polar observations from highly inclined, low Earth orbits and the poor high-latitude coverage from geostationary orbit. It considers a spacecraft that is continuously above either the north or south pole and, as such, can provide real-time, continuous and hemispherical coverage of the polar regions. Being on a non-Keplerian orbit, a continuous thrust is required to maintain the pole-sitter position. For this, two different propulsion strategies are proposed, which result in a near-term pole-sitter mission using solar electric propulsion (SEP) and a far-term pole-sitter mission where the SEP thruster is hybridized with a solar sail. For both propulsion strategies, minimum propellant pole-sitter orbits are designed. In order to maximize the spacecraft mass at the start of the operations phase of the mission, the transfer from Earth to the pole-sitter orbit is designed and optimized assuming either a Soyuz or an Ariane 5 launch. The maximized mass upon injection into the pole-sitter orbit is subsequently used in a detailed mass budget analysis that will allow for a trade-off between mission lifetime and payload mass capacity. Also, candidate payloads for a range of applications are investigated. Finally, transfers between north and south pole-sitter orbits are considered to overcome the limitations in observations due to the tilt of the Earth's rotational axis that causes the poles to be alternately situated in darkness. It will be shown that in some cases these transfers allow for propellant savings, enabling a further extension of the pole-sitter mission.     

Electric Polarization of Low-Orbit Spacecraft

The main problems concerning the electric polarization of low-orbit spacecraft are considered, including the results of studying the structure of the Earth's upper ionosphere, the methods of calculating the electrophysical characteristics of construction materials for spacecraft, and the elaboration of recommendations to mitigate the negative effects due to processes of charging and discharging.     

Advancing Earth observation from space: A global challenge

Global Earth observation goes well beyond taking pictures of the Earth from space. Earth observation aims to identify and characterize planetary-scale processes that occur in the Earth interior or the world's oceans, at the Earth's surface or within the global atmosphere, on the basis of weak signals that may be detected in space. This is a truly challenging task that requires the dedicated efforts of professionals and firm public support commitments. The article reveals the scope of global Earth observation, highlights the technical and managerial challenges involved in undertaking it and discusses ways of making it more effective. Competent international cooperation and cost-sharing arrangements are essential for the ultimate success of existing and future activities in this field.     

Lunar lander's three-dimensional translation and yaw rotation motion estimation during a descent phase using optical navigation

Optical navigation for a lunar lander consists of estimating a lander's 3-dimensional (3-D) relative dynamic motion with respect to a preselected landing site using a passive 2-dimensional (2-D) video image sequence. Lunar landing missions require a lander to perform an autonomous accurate landing with simple mechanical structure, easy operation and low cost. These requirements have motivated the need to develop an advanced navigation system. Existing navigation systems trade-off simplicity, accuracy and cost. High accuracy navigation systems typically imply complexity and high cost. In this paper, we consider a scenario where the descending phase starts from an initial altitude of 10 km with a time-of-descent of 100 s. The navigation camera is an off-the-shelf optical instrument used to take the video image sequence of the landing site during the landing phase. It is fed into the motion estimation algorithm to be processed. The continuous wavelet transform (CWT) is used to analyse each image frame of the input digital video image sequence. The output is a 2-D video image motion trajectory map, which represents the projection motion of the landing site. The 2-D video image motion is projected back to the 3-D lander's relative motion based on a geometric analysis. The outputs of this estimation algorithm are the 3-D attitude motion parameters of the lander at a time corresponding to an image being taken. The attitude determination and control system (ADCS) of the lander uses these data to perform the lander's attitude control task. In this article, we provide the motion modelling for a lunar lander during the descending phase. The projection of a 3-D planar to 2-D image plane is analysed which build the correspondence between the 3-D lander's motion and the 2-D image motion. This link provides the evidence for the geometry analysis. CWT is reviewed and CWT for video image sequence analysis is also introduced. Numerical simulation of the estimated 2-D video image sequence under the lander performing a 3-D translation and yaw rotation during the terminal descent are shown to verify the proposed concepts. The analysis of the results show that the proposed method achieves highly accurate 2-D video image motion estimation of less then 1% error with significant savings of cost, mass and volume. It leads to the accurate estimation of the lander's 3-D relative motion with respect to the landing site.     

Surgery in space: Where are we at now?

In the coming decades, as we continue our path of space exploration beyond the Earth's orbit, we will be required to provide sound medical and surgical care for the safety of space travellers and spaceflight participants. A few investigations have taken place in the field of surgery in space. In this paper, the authors review the present literature in order to identify possible limitations that currently exist and that could impair our ability to provide surgical care during spaceflight, from the pre-operative to the post-operative period.     

Long-term evolution of Galileo operational orbits by canonical perturbation theory

Galileo operational orbits are slightly affected by the 3 to 5 tesseral resonance, an effect that can be much more important in the case of disposal orbits. Proceeding by canonical perturbation theory we show that the part of the long-term Hamiltonian corresponding to the non-centralities of the Earth's gravitational potential can be replaced by an intermediary that shows the pendulum dynamics of the 3 to 5 tesseral resonance problem. Inclusion of lunisolar perturbations requires a semi-analytical integration, which is compared with the corresponding results from the well-established Draper Semi-analytical Satellite Theory.     

噪声激励下典型复合材料铆接结构的声固耦合分析

针对CVI工艺下复合材料典型铆接板,提出一种适合复杂模型动力学分析的建模方法:采用Bush和RBE2的组合单元模拟铆钉连接,将板间的弱非线性接触力转化为接触刚度,建立该复合材料铆接板的有限元模型。同时,基于有限元-间接边界元法推导了考虑接触力的声固耦合动力学方程,开展了该复合材料铆接板在随机噪声激励下的声固耦合分析,并探讨界面接触对声固耦合系统固有特性和动响应的影响。研究结果表明,界面接触模型比界面刚接模型更为准确;刚接模型会增大复合材料铆接板连接界面的局部刚度,使得结构的固有频率偏高,响应峰值向高频处移动;考虑接触对结构的加速度响应影响较大,对应力响应影响较小。