Durability characterization of mechanical interfaces in solar sail membrane structures

The construction of a solar sail from commercially available metallized film presents several challenges. The solar sail membrane is made by seaming together precut lengths of ultrathin metallized polymer film into the required geometry. This assembled sail membrane is then folded into a small stowage volume prior to launch. The sail membranes must have additional features for connecting to rigid structural elements (e.g., sail booms) and must be electrically grounded to the spacecraft bus to prevent charge build up. Space durability of the material and mechanical interfaces of the sail membrane assemblies will be critical for the success of any solar sail mission. In this study, interfaces of polymer/metal joints in a representative solar sail membrane assembly were tested to ensure that the adhesive interfaces and the fastening grommets could withstand the temperature range and expected loads required for mission success. Various adhesion methods, such as surface treatment, commercial adhesives, and fastening systems, were experimentally tested in order to determine the most suitable method of construction.     

Optimal tracking and formation keeping near a general Keplerian orbit under nonlinear perturbations

This study presents a semi-analytic approach for optimal tracking and formation keeping with high precision. For a continuous-thrust propulsion system, optimal formation keeping problems near a general Keplerian orbit are formulated with respect to a reference trajectory which is an explicit function of time. A nonlinear optimal tracking control law is then derived in generic form as a function of the states by employing generating functions in the theory of Hamiltonian systems. The applicability of the overall process is not affected by the complexity of dynamics and the selection of coordinates. As it allows us to design a nonlinear optimal feedback controller in the Earth-centered inertial frame, a variety of nonlinear perturbations can be incorporated easily without complicated coordinate transformations. Numerical experiments demonstrate that the nonlinear tracking control logic achieves superior tracking accuracy and cost reduction by accommodating higher-order nonlinearities.     

Availability of O(2) and H(2)O(2) on pre-photosynthetic Earth

Old arguments that free O(2) must have been available at Earth's surface prior to the origin of photosynthesis have been revived by a new study that shows that aerobic respiration can occur at dissolved oxygen concentrations much lower than had previously been thought, perhaps as low as 0.05?nM, which corresponds to a partial pressure for O(2) of about 4?×?10(-8) bar. We used numerical models to study whether such O(2) concentrations might have been provided by atmospheric photochemistry. Results show that disproportionation of H(2)O(2) near the surface might have yielded enough O(2) to satisfy this constraint. Alternatively, poleward transport of O(2) from the equatorial stratosphere into the polar night region, followed by downward transport in the polar vortex, may have brought O(2) directly to the surface. Thus, our calculations indicate that this "early respiration" hypothesis might be physically reasonable.     

创新的接触式记忆按钮

美国航空公司成为全球首家在民用飞机的舱门、安定面、方向舵、升降舵等可更换结构部件上安装具有自动识别(AIT)功能的接触式记忆按钮的航空公司。这种接触式记忆按钮的几何外形只有美元的一角硬币那么大,具有大容量和自动化数据采集等特点,可以帮助航空公司高效地监控飞机可更换结构部件的运营历史,为航空公司节约运营成本、提高数据的精确度。据美国航空公司介绍,在这类结构     

发动机大修市场

航空发动机大修业务开始企稳,而且预计未来还将有所增加。据MRO Prospector统计,目前在役的窄体飞机机队数量约是宽体飞机的3倍,2011年窄体飞机的发动机返厂维修量将会有大幅增加。2010年1月至9月,窄体飞机发动机的MRO市值增长了2.914亿美元,达到101亿美元,增幅约为3%;在此期间,     

Monitoring atomic clocks on board GNSS satellites

A method for monitoring atomic clocks on board Global Navigation Satellites System (GNSS) satellites is described to address the issue of clock related signal integrity in safety–critical applications of GNSS. The carrier-phase time transfer is employed in the clock monitoring method which enables tight tracking of the satellite onboard clocks and thus improves detectability of clock anomalies. Detecting onboard clock anomalies requires the ability to monitor clocks in real time, and a Kalman filter can then be utilized to estimate the phase offsets between the satellite clocks and ground clocks. This study, using the difference between the measured and predicted phase offset as a test statistic, sets a threshold for clock anomalies based on the prediction interval approach. Finally the validity of the monitoring method is examined by processing a set of real GNSS data that includes two recent incidents of clock anomalies in GNSS satellites.     

Sensitivity analyses of satellite propulsion components with their thermal modelling

Performing the sensitivity analyses of the contact conduction and the position of thermostat on the basis of the thermal model established, the study of thermal design is accomplished for the preparation of possible mechanical interface change of the satellite propulsion system depending on the satellite system design. A relatively simple thermal model is taken into consideration for the convenience of the analysis. A variety of the spacecraft bus voltages and the contact resistances are examined as well as the position of thermostat on propulsion components. As a consequence, even though the mechanical interface condition is changed on the same module, the successful thermal design could be achieved if we design the heater to have sufficiently large power with reference to the heritage value of contact resistance. Besides the reasonable performance on the thermal control is assured with the thermostat location errors, if the uncertainty in the position of thermostat is not quite large when assembling tank module.     

Orbit determination performances using single- and double-differenced methods: SAC-C and KOMPSAT-2

In this paper, Global Positioning System-based (GPS) Orbit Determination (OD) for the KOrea-Multi-Purpose-SATellite (KOMPSAT)-2 using single- and double-differenced methods is studied. The requirement of KOMPSAT-2 orbit accuracy is to allow 1 m positioning error to generate 1-m panchromatic images. KOMPSAT-2 OD is computed using real on-board GPS data. However, the local time of the KOMPSAT-2 GPS receiver is not synchronized with the zero fractional seconds of the GPS time internally, and it continuously drifts according to the pseudorange epochs. In order to resolve this problem, an OD based on single-differenced GPS data from the KOMPSAT-2 uses the tagged time of the GPS receiver, and the accuracy of the OD result is assessed using the overlapping orbit solution between two adjacent days. The clock error of the GPS satellites in the KOMPSAT-2 single-differenced method is corrected using International GNSS Service (IGS) clock information at 5-min intervals. KOMPSAT-2 OD using both double- and single-differenced methods satisfies the requirement of 1-m accuracy in overlapping three dimensional orbit solutions. The results of the SAC-C OD compared with JPL’s POE (Precise Orbit Ephemeris) are also illustrated to demonstrate the implementation of the single- and double-differenced methods using a satellite that has independent orbit information available for validation.