On optimal aerodynamic attitude control of spacecraft

Attitude control of spin-stabilized satellites by means of aerodynamic forces is investigated. A controller employing two rotatable control surfaces is proposed to control the roll-yaw motions of the spacecraft spin-axis. Optimal control theory is applied to synthesize a feedback control law for the control surface rotations which leads to asymptotically stable controller operation. The system response is interpreted in terms of performance criteria such as the maximum control surface excursions, the speed of response and the associated orbital energy loss due to drag. Even with a moderate size, the controller appears quite effective in maintaining the spacecraft attitude against external disturbances.     

Inner-belt Van Allen radiation

A survey of the present state of knowledge about the inner radiation zone is presented. This includes a historical review of empirical data and theoretical considerations concerning electrons, protons, and heavier particles. Included are results obtained from the various high-altitude nuclear tests. Recent experimental results are presented and some newer theoretical ideas, such as pitch-angle scattering and radial diffusion, are discussed as applied to the data. Comparisons of the measured fluxes, spectra, and time variations with the theoretical calculations are made where possible.Some conclusions are drawn pertaining to the sources and loss processes for the trapped particles, and some comments are made regarding future measurements in the inner zone.     

Magnetospheres of the planets

Scaling laws for possible outer planet magnetospheres are derived. These suggest that convection and its associated auroral effects will play a relatively smaller role than at Earth, and that there is a possibility that the outer planets could have significant radiation belts of energetic trapped particles.This is one of the publications by the Science Advisory Group.     

A Practical Distribution-Free Detection Procedure for Multiple-Range-Bin Radars

A distribution-free detection procedure for a multiplerange-bin radar is described. This procedure is based on the ranks of observations, but does not require elaborate equipment for rapidly ranking large amounts of data. Proposed equipment is described and analysis and results are given comparing this new procedure with certain practical (nondistribution-free) procedures. Comparisons with some "best" theoretical procedures are also given.     

A Note on the Ambiguity of Troposcatter Aircraft Interference Patterns

Earlier investigators of troposcatter propagation phenomena have suggested that aircraft-created interference patterns observed at the receiving site can be used to measure aircraft motion within and near the common volume region. A simplified signal and scattering model is used to show that these interference signatures are ambiguous unless prior knowledge of the aircraft trajectory is available.     

Phase Detector Response to Noisy and Noisy Fading Signals

Transfer characteristics of sinusoidal, triangular, and sawtooth-type phase detectors in response to noisy and noisy fading signals have been studied in detail. A new analytical model of the swatooth-type phase detector has been suggested. Detailed experimental results have been supplemented in support of the theoretical findings. Both the theoretical findings and the experimental results clearly indicate that the superiority of a sawtooth-type phase detector over the other two varieties is completely lost in noisy and noisy fading environments.     

Comparison of Error Propagation in Local-Level and Space-Stable Inertial Systems

A comparison of the error propagation in a local-level reference frame is derived for two inertial navigation systems; one has a local-level configuration, and the other has a space-stable configuration. The error propagation is shown to be equivalent for the two cases considered. This equivalence is demonstrated by starting with the error propagation equations for the space-stable system and transforming them to a local-level reference frame. The transformed equations are then compared with the classical local-level error equations, and the equivalence is noted. The specific implementation used in each case considers velocity damping but not altitude damping.     

Kalman Filter Design for Target Tracking

The problem of solving the matrix Riccati differential equation in the design of Kalman filters for the target tracking problem is considered. An algebraic transformation method is used to reduce the order of the Riccati differential equation and to obtain explicit expressions for the filter gains (in terms of the interceptor /target separation range) which results in a substantial reduction of the computer burden involved in estimating the target states. The applicability of the transform technique is demonstrated for the receiver thermal noise and the target glint noise cases.     

Optimal and Suboptimal Guidance for a Short-Range Homing Missile

Optimal and suboptimal guidance laws for short-range homing missiles are developed and compared to the commonly mechanized quidance law of proportional navigation. The optimal controller is derived as an optimal feedback regulator; the suboptimal controller is an approximation of the optimal regulator and consists of timevarying proportional navigation plus a time-varying gain term times a calculated target acceleration. Monte Carlo studies of the three controllers show that the optimal and suboptimal controllers are much superior to proportional navigation for the case of combined constant target acceleration, line-of-sight rate noise, and missile acceleration saturation.