Control of the Onboard Microgravity Environment and Extension of the Service Life of the Long-Term Space Station

The problem of control of the on-board microgravity environment in order to extend the service life of the long-term space station has been discussed. Software developed for the ISS and the results of identifying dynamic models and external impacts based on telemetry data have been presented. Proposals for controlling the onboard microgravity environment for future long-term space stations have been formulated.     

Detection of Molecular Scattering Field from a Polarization Analysis of the Sky Background during Transitive Twilight and Temperature Measurements near the Stratopause

The simplest version of the method of detecting the single molecular scattering field based on the polarization measurements of the twilight sky background by all-sky cameras has been considered. The method can be used during transitive twilight (with solar zenith angles of 94°–98°), when effective single scattering occurs in the upper stratosphere and lower mesosphere. The long-term measurements conducted using this method in the Moscow region and Apatity make it possible to determine the temperature of these atmospheric layers and estimate the contribution and properties of multiple scattering during the transitive twilight.     

Gravity-oriented satellite dynamics subject to gravitational and active damping torques

The dynamics of the rotational motion of a satellite moving in the central Newtonian field of force over a circular orbit under the effect of gravitational and active damping torques, which depend on the satellite angular velocity projections, has been investigated. The paper proposes a method of determining all equilibrium positions (equilibrium orientations) of a satellite in the orbital coordinate system for specified values of damping coefficients and principal central moments of inertia. The conditions of their existence have been obtained. For a zero equilibrium position where the axes of the satellite-centered coordinate system coincide with the axes of the orbital coordinate system, the necessary and sufficient conditions for asymptotic stability are obtained using the Routh–Hurwitz criterion. A detailed analysis of the regions where the conditions of the asymptotic stability of a zero equilibrium position are fulfilled have been obtained depending on three dimensionless parameters of the problem, and the numerical study of the process of attenuation of satellite’s spatial oscillations for various damping coefficients has been carried out. It has been shown that there is a wide range of damping parameters from which, by choosing the necessary values, one can provide the asymptotic stability of satellite’s zero equilibrium position in the orbital coordinate system.     

The Far Ultra-Violet Imager on the Icon Mission

ICON Far UltraViolet (FUV) imager contributes to the ICON science objectives by providing remote sensing measurements of the daytime and nighttime atmosphere/ionosphere. During sunlit atmospheric conditions, ICON FUV images the limb altitude profile in the shortwave (SW) band at 135.6 nm and the longwave (LW) band at 157 nm perpendicular to the satellite motion to retrieve the atmospheric O/N₂ ratio. In conditions of atmospheric darkness, ICON FUV measures the 135.6 nm recombination emission of \(\mathrm{O}^{+}\) ions used to compute the nighttime ionospheric altitude distribution. ICON Far UltraViolet (FUV) imager is a Czerny–Turner design Spectrographic Imager with two exit slits and corresponding back imager cameras that produce two independent images in separate wavelength bands on two detectors. All observations will be processed as limb altitude profiles. In addition, the ionospheric 135.6 nm data will be processed as longitude and latitude spatial maps to obtain images of ion distributions around regions of equatorial spread F. The ICON FUV optic axis is pointed 20 degrees below local horizontal and has a steering mirror that allows the field of view to be steered up to 30 degrees forward and aft, to keep the local magnetic meridian in the field of view. The detectors are micro channel plate (MCP) intensified FUV tubes with the phosphor fiber-optically coupled to Charge Coupled Devices (CCDs). The dual stack MCP-s amplify the photoelectron signals to overcome the CCD noise and the rapidly scanned frames are co-added to digitally create 12-second integrated images. Digital on-board signal processing is used to compensate for geometric distortion and satellite motion and to achieve data compression. The instrument was originally aligned in visible light by using a special grating and visible cameras. Final alignment, functional and environmental testing and calibration were performed in a large vacuum chamber with a UV source. The test and calibration program showed that ICON FUV meets its design requirements and is ready to be launched on the ICON spacecraft.     

Development of wireless strain-gauge measurement system for structural tests

A wireless sensor system for data acquisition and processing during structural and fatigue tests is considered. A prototype of wireless strain-gauge measurement system is used in fatigue tests of a utility helicopter’s main rotor hub. The setup of the test rig and software are described.     

Trends in research of hydrodynamic damping in rotor supports of gas turbine engines

The paper studies different types of dampers for rotor supports of gas turbine engines (GTE). The advantages of hydrodynamic dampers are shown. Hydrodynamic dampers for GTE rotor supports are studied. A new design and technique of calculation are proposed for an adjustable hydrodynamic damper.     

High-Energy Electron Beam Relaxation in a Stationary Plasma Thruster

In the paper, processes of high-energy electron beam interaction with plasma particles in a discharge channel of a stationary plasma thruster are analyzed and the results are presented.     

Observation of Terrestrial gamma-ray flashes in the RELEC space experiment on the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Vernov</Emphasis> satellite

The RELEС scientific payload of the Vernov satellite launched on July 8, 2014 includes the DRGE spectrometer of gamma-rays and electrons. This instrument comprises a set of scintillator phoswich-detectors, including four identical X-ray and gamma-ray detector with an energy range of 10 kev to 3 MeV with a total area of ~500 cm² directed to the atmosphere, as well as an electron spectrometer containing three mutually orthogonal detector units with a geometric factor of ~2 cm² sr. The aim of a space experiment with the DRGE instrument is the study of fast phenomena, in particular Terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGF) and magnetospheric electron precipitation. In this regard, the instrument provides the transmission of both monitoring data with a time resolution of 1 s, and data in the event-by-event mode, with a recording of the time of detection of each gamma quantum or electron to an accuracy of ~15 μs. This makes it possible to not only conduct a detailed analysis of the variability in the gamma-ray range, but also compare the time profiles with the results of measurements with other RELEC instruments (the detector of optical and ultraviolet flares, radio-frequency and low-frequency analyzers of electromagnetic field parameters), as well as with the data of ground-based facility for thunderstorm activity. This paper presents the first catalog of Terrestrial gamma-ray flashes. The criterion for selecting flashes required in order to detect no less than 5 hard quanta in 1 ms by at least two independent detectors. The TGFs included in the catalog have a typical duration of ~400 μs, during which 10–40 gamma-ray quanta were detected. The time profiles, spectral parameters, and geographic position, as well as a result of a comparison with the output data of other Vernov instruments, are presented for each of candidates. The candidate for Terrestrial gamma-ray flashes detected in the near-polar region over Antarctica is discussed.     

Designing corrections for the trajectory of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Spektr-R</Emphasis> spacecraft in the event of immersions into the Moon’s sphere of influence

The results of updating the parameters of motion of the Spektr-R spacecraft at the end of 2016 have shown that, in January 2018, with a probability close to unity, the condition that a spacecraft stay in the Earth’s shadow is violated; however, in May of the same year, the ballistic life of the spacecraft will be terminated. Thus, in 2017, the question arose of how to design the correction of flight of this spacecraft using its onboard propulsion system. The correction was designed with allowance for the fact that, for the first time since it was launched, the spacecraft in the course of several years, beginning with 2017, repeatedly approaches the Moon, deeply immersing into its sphere of influence. This paper presents the technologically and organizationally convenient, allowable versions of upcoming correction of the Spektr-R spacecraft trajectory and justifies the particular scheme of its implementation.