The Search-Coil Magnetometer for MMS

The tri-axial search-coil magnetometer (SCM) belongs to the FIELDS instrumentation suite on the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission (Torbert et al. in Space Sci. Rev. (2014), this issue). It provides the three magnetic components of the waves from 1 Hz to 6 kHz in particular in the key regions of the Earth’s magnetosphere namely the subsolar region and the magnetotail. Magnetospheric plasmas being collisionless, such a measurement is crucial as the electromagnetic waves are thought to provide a way to ensure the conversion from magnetic to thermal and kinetic energies allowing local or global reconfigurations of the Earth’s magnetic field. The analog waveforms provided by the SCM are digitized and processed inside the digital signal processor (DSP), within the Central Electronics Box (CEB), together with the electric field data provided by the spin-plane double probe (SDP) and the axial double probe (ADP). On-board calibration signal provided by DSP allows the verification of the SCM transfer function once per orbit. Magnetic waveforms and on-board spectra computed by DSP are available at different time resolution depending on the selected mode. The SCM design is described in details as well as the different steps of the ground and in-flight calibrations.     

On the Precession of Saturn

The precession of Saturn under the effect of the gravity of the Sun, Jupiter and planet’s satellites has been investigated. Saturn is considered to be an axisymmetric (A = B) solid body close to the dynamically spherical one. The orbits of Saturn and Jupiter are considered to be Keplerian ellipses in the inertial coordinate system. It has been shown that the entire set of small parameters of the problem can be reduced to two independent parameters. The averaged Hamiltonian function of the problem and the integrals of evolutionary equations are obtained disregarding the effect of satellites. Using the small parameter method, the expressions for the precession frequency and the nutation angle of the planet’s axis of rotation caused by the gravity of the Sun and Jupiter are obtained. Considering the planet with satellites as a whole preceding around the normal to the unmovable plane of Saturn’s orbit, the satellites effect on the Saturn rotation is taken into account via the corrections in the formula for the undisturbed precession frequency. The satellites are shown to have no effect on the nutation angle (in the framework of the accepted model), and the disturbances from Jupiter to make the main contribution to the nutation angle evolution. The effect of Jupiter on the nutation angle and the precession period is described with regard to the attraction of satellites.     

运载火箭精度评估的Bayes异质先验融合方法

为充分利用运载火箭观测中的不同观测空间和过程的信息来进行精度评估，针对该背景建立了异质先验融合的数学描述。研究了飞行试验中不同观测空间和过程的异质先验信息和数据，基于不同观测过程的解析关系，将间接过程的先验和观测数据算出的后验分布转换成落点观测空间上的先验，与原落点的先验进行了最大熵加权融合，得到混合后验分布，从而结合落点观测数据给出评定结果。在无法解算出精确的制导工具误差系数的情况下，这种方法充分利用了弹道跟踪数据、工具误差系数的地面测试先验值、落点先验及落点数据，稳健性更好，准确性更高。     

翼柱型装药发动机设计参数的匹配性分析

翼槽内的火焰传播过程对翼柱型固体发动机的点火升压过程有很大的影响。通过模拟试验发动机点火试验获得的翼槽内火焰传播数据,结合翼柱型装药点火升压计算模型,分析了推进剂燃速、点火能量、喷管堵盖打开压强、翼槽部位的初始燃面等设计参数在点火升压过程中的匹配关系。分析方法对不同结构翼柱型装药发动机设计是有用的。     

A Study of the Destruction of Spacecraft Surfaces at Contact Interactions with Microparticles of the Space Environment

The results of studying the high-velocity impact interactions of a particle flux of space’s meteoric background with satellites have been presented. The effects that arises during the microparticle motion in the material have been described; the models of solid particle interactions with spacecraft’s onboard hardware protection have been presented. The experimental and analytical dependences have been given. The basic factors have been revealed, and their effect on the erosion wear of satellite’s surface has been estimated. The dependences for calculating the rectilinear (horizontal, inclined and vertical) sections of satellite’s surface have been given. The presented dependences represent the results of experimental and analytical studies.     

Fundamental Constraints on the Coherence of Probing Signals in the Problem of Maximizing the Resolution and Range in the Stroboscopic Range of Asteroids

The problem of coherence violation in stroboscopic ranging with a high resolution in the range due to mutual phase instability of probing and reference radio signals has been considered. It has been shown that the violation of coherence in stroboscopic ranging systems is equivalent to the action of modulating interface and leads to a decrease in the system sensitivity. Requirements have been formulated for the coherence of reference generators in the stroboscopic processing system. The results of statistical modeling have been presented. It was shown that, in the current state of technology with stability of the frequencies of the reference generators, the achieved coherence is sufficient to probe asteroids with super-resolving signals in the range of up to 70 million kilometers. In this case, the dispersion of the signal in cosmic plasma limits the value of the linear resolution of the asteroid details at this range by the value of ~2.7 m. Comparison with the current radar resolution of asteroids has been considered, which, at the end of 2015, were ~7.5 m in the range of ~7 million kilometers.     

The Importance of Thermal Modes of Astrophysical Instruments in Solving Problems of Extra-Atmospheric Astronomy

An analytical review of the systems for ensuring the thermal mode of current and prospective space astrophysical instruments has been performed, which showed that, in order to solve most of the current important problems of extra-atmospheric astronomy, the exact thermal stabilization of the mirror system and the radiation receiver of space telescopes has almost the same value as the level of their basic functional characteristics.     

Experiments with the DAKON-M convection sensor

We have described an express technique for processing the results of experiments with a DAKON-M convection sensor on board the Service Module of the International Space Station (ISS) in 2011. The technique uses a certain rule to compare the sensor measurements with the calculated data on the quasistatic component of microacceleration at the point of installation. The sensor experiments have been conducted during shuttle docking and undocking, when low-frequency microaccelerations on the ISS were significant. The microaccelerations have been calculated using measurement data of the MAMS low-frequency accelerometer installed in the Lab module and the telemetry data on the ISS rotational motion. This has made it possible to convert the MAMS measurement data to the DAKON-M convection sensor installation point. A comparison of sensor readings with calculated microaccelerations has revealed fairly good agreement between them.     

Geochronology and monitoring of cosmic rays for accumulating cosmogenic isotopes <Superscript>53</Superscript>Mn and <Superscript>10</Superscript>Be in terrestrial rocks

The paper is devoted to discussing the method of measuring the accumulation of radioactive isotopes ⁵³Mn (with a half-life T = 3.7 million years) and ¹⁰Be (T = 2.5 million years) in iron-bearing rocks. Knowledge of the dynamics of the accumulation of these isotopes would allow us to estimate the variations in the intensity of cosmic rays, periods of glaciations and geological changes, as well as climatic processes on the Earth in retrospect of 0.1–10 million years. For an operative study of a large number of samples, it has been proposed to use a low-cost neutron activation method with the implementation of the ⁵³Mn(n, γ)⁵⁴Mn reaction in a slow neutron reactor. As has been shown, using the 10Be isotope together with ⁵³Mn makes it possible to simultaneously determine both the cosmic-ray fluxes and the shielding time of the corresponding region from cosmic radiation. To obtain the reliable data on cosmic rays, it has been proposed to study rock samples from the lunar surface.     

Motion of a satellite equipped with a pitch flywheel and magnetic coils in gravitational field

A satellite equipped with a magnetic attitude control system and a pitch flywheel has been considered. The system performance in the transient mode has been investigated. The characteristic exponent of the system have been approximated for a satellite on a circumpolar orbit. In the steady-state mode of gravitational attitude, small motions are considered in the vicinity of equilibrium. The attitude accuracy has been analyzed. The algorithm of an arbitrary but given attitude of the satellite in the orbital plane has been investigated. A numerical simulation has been performed.