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.     

Three dimensional temperature field in a conducting sphere due to an arbitrarily located split ring heating source

Thermal control of spacecrafts plays an important role in space missions. In the design stage the preliminary thermal analysis of the spacecraft requires an estimate of the conductive thermal resistance between the various spacecraft components. With this in mind, the fully three dimensional problem of determining the thermal field in a conducting sphere with an asymmetric split ring current carrying heating source is resolved in an analytical or almost analytical form, implying either a closed form solution or utmost expressions involving a simple numerical integration. This has immediate application for evaluation of thermal resistance in spacecrafts. Green's function integral techniques are used. Comparisons are made with series solutions and also with purely numerical solutions to contrast the simplicity and highlight the elegance of the present method. Parametric studies reveal expected behavior.     

New one-axis one-sensor magnetic attitude control theoretical and in-flight performance

New one-axis magnetic attitude control is proposed. Only one attitude sensor providing any inertial direction measurements is necessary, magnetometer is not used. The control may be used as a backup capability in case main actuators or some attitude sensors fail. Sun pointing is achievable using only three-axis Sun sensor, so the control may be used to lower the power consumption during battery charging. Asymptotic stability of different equilibria depending on the satellite inertia tensor is summarized. In-flight results from “Chibis-M” microsatellite are provided proving general control performance.     

Navigation Solution to Maneuver a Spacecraft Relative to a Sphere Centered on a Cooperative Satellite

A differential correction algorithm is presented to deliver an impulsive maneuver to a satellite to place it within a sphere, with a user defined radius, centered around a non-maneuvering satellite within a constrained time. The differential correction algorithm develops and utilizes the State Transition Matrix along with the Equations of Motion and multiple satellite?s state information to determine the optimum trajectory to achieve the desired results. The results from the differential correction algorithm are very accurate for prograde orbits, as presented. The results allow for orbit design trade-offs, including satellites? initial inclinations, semi-major axes, as well as the ballistic coefficients. The results also provide an empirical method to determine the optimum ΔV$\mathrm{\Delta }V$ solution for the provided problem. Understanding that the minimum fuel solution lies with a semi-major axis ratio of 1, a very accurate empirical approximation is presented for semi-major axis ratio values less than and greater than 1. This work ultimately provides the generalized framework for applying the algorithm to a unique user defined maneuvering spacecraft scenario.     

Connection between the discrete auroral structures drifting equatorward during the substorm expansion phase and the energetic particle injections at the geostationary orbit

The formation of an auroral bulge with a bright dynamical arc at its polar boundary is one of the main manifestations of the magnetospheric substorm expansion phase at the ionospheric level. At the same time, the region of discrete aurora broadens not only polewards but equatorwards as well. The discrete forms of auroras moving equatorwards form a dynamical equatorial boundary of the auroral bulge shifting together with them. The paper presents a spatial-time comparison of the drifting discrete auroras to the injection of energetic particles at the geostationary orbit. It is shown that bursts in the fluxes of energetic particles at the LANL geostationary satellites located in the same sector of MLT correspond to the majority of drifting discrete auroral structures observed by the all-sky camera. In the cases when the bursts in the fluxes are absent, the minimum latitude reached by the auroral structures at the equatorward drift is higher than the ionospheric projection of the geostationary orbit. A possible relation of the drifting discrete auroras to the plasma stream jets in the plasma sheet is discussed.     

Variations of ionospheric fluctuations of phase delay depending on solar activity: Data of the COSMIC experiment

We present the results of processing and analysis of more than 4500 events of radio occultation sounding of the Earth’s atmosphere observed in the course of the COSMIC experiment on the limb path ‘satellite-ionosphere-satellite’. Events observed in December 2011 (when a number of solar flares occurred) and in January 2012 (when a strong solar proton event took place) were analyzed. It is shown that small-scale variations of electron density increase in polar latitudes, equatorial region, and midlatitudes of the southern hemisphere in January 2012. In the same period, an increase of large-scale variations of electron density is observed during daylight hours in the equatorial region and in the southern hemisphere. No noticeable distinctions in comparison with days of quiet Sun were observed in December 2011.     

System of works on numerical modeling of the dynamics of the structure of the Space Radiotelescope in the RadioAstron project

The results of modeling the dynamics of the Space Radiotelescope are presented. The results of ground-based vibration-dynamic tests are used to validate the calculation models and estimate the damping levels. The dynamic distortions of the reflecting surface caused by the operation of the pointing mechanism of the high-gain antenna are estimated.     

Nanofillers modification of Epocast 50-A1/946 epoxy for bonded joints

Epocast 50-A1/946 epoxy was primarily developed for joining and repairing of composite aircraft structural components. The objective of the present work is to modify the Epocast epoxy resin by different nanofillers infusion. The used nanofillers include multi-walled carbon nanotubes（MWCNTs）, SiC and Al2O3 nanoparticles. The nanofillers with different weight percentages are ultrasonically dispersed in the epoxy resin. The sonication time and amplitude for MWCNTs are reduced compared to Al2O3 and SiC nanoparticles to avoid the damage of MWCNTs during sonication processes. The fabricated neat epoxy and twelve nanocomposite panels were characterized via standard tension and in-plane shear tests. The experimental results show that the nanocomposites materials with 0.5wt% MWCNTs, 1.5wt% SiC and 1.5wt% Al2O3 nanoparticles have the highest improvement in the tensile properties compared to the other nanofiller loading percentages.The improvements in the shear properties of these nanocomposite materials were respectively equal to 5.5%, 4.9%, and 6.3% for shear strengths, and 10.3%, 16.0%, and 8.1% for shear moduli. The optimum nanofiller loading percentages will be used in the following papers concerning their effect on the bonded joints/repairs of carbon fiber reinforced composites.     

The natural cytotoxicity in cosmonauts on board space stations

The nature of the changes of resistance to infection seems to be very important. Our studies indicate that different functions of natural killers could be depressed after the spaceflight. The decrease of the percentage of the lymphocytes that can bind target cells lead to the lowering of the “active” NK level and this can be resulted in the depression of total NK activity and lowering of resistance to viral and tumor antigens. The investigation of natural killer cells in cosmonauts before and after short and long-term spaceflights also revealed the important role of spaceflight duration, stress and individual immune reactivity.     

Spatial orientation during locomotion [correction of locomation] following space flight

To investigate changes in spatial orientation ability and walking performance following space flight, 7 astronaut subjects were asked pre- and post-flight to perform a goal directed locomotion paradigm which consisted of walking a triangular path with and without vision. This new paradigm, involving inputs from different sensory systems, allows quantification of several critical parameters, like orientation performance, walking velocities and postural stability, in a natural walking task. The paper presented here mainly focusses on spatial orientation performance quantified by the errors in walking the previously seen path without vision. Errors in length and reaching the corners did not change significantly from pre- to post-flight, while absolute angular errors slightly increased post-flight. The significant decrease in walking velocity and a change in head-trunk coordination while walking around the corners of the path observed post-flight may suggest that during re-adaptation to gravity the mechanisms which are necessary to perform the task have to be re-accomplished.