用于未来月球探测的ILOM 技术现状

使用面包板模型和仿真方法,在实验室内研究月球指向就位测量望远镜(ILOM)的基本特征,如望远镜星像中心点位置精度、温度效应、倾斜以及地面震动的影响。使用这个技术预期在月球表面观测月球自转时可以达到1ms的精度。将在地面上开展测试验证观测以全面评价达到优于0.1″观测精度目标所需条件和特征。     

Supersonic drag reduction technology in the scaled supersonic experimental airplane project by JAXA

Anticipating the international cooperative development of a next generation supersonic transport (SST), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has developed an advanced drag reduction technique as one of the key technologies that will be required. JAXA's technique is based on an aerodynamically optimum combination of well-known pressure drag reduction concepts and a new friction drag reduction concept. The pressure drag reduction concepts are mainly grounded in supersonic linear theory and involve the application of an arrow planform, a warped wing with optimum camber and twist, and an area-ruled body. The friction drag reduction concept is a world-first technical approach that obtains a natural laminar flow wing with a subsonic leading edge at supersonic speed. An ideal pressure distribution is first designed to delay boundary layer transition even on a highly swept wing, then an original CFD-based inverse design method is applied to obtain a wing shape that realizes the pressure distribution. An unmanned and scaled supersonic experimental airplane was flown at the Woomera test field in Australia in October 2005 to prove those concepts. Flight data analysis and comparison of flight data with CFD design data validated the drag reduction technique both qualitatively and quantitatively.     

Observation of the lunar topography by the laser altimeter LALT on board Japanese lunar explorer SELENE

The SELENE Laser Altimeter (LALT) is designed to map the Moon’s topography and will be launched in summer 2007. LALT incorporates Q-switched Cr doped Nd:YAG laser (1064 nm) with an output energy of 100 mJ and 1 Hz repetition frequency for about one year mission period. The laser pulse travels to the Moon’s surface and reflections from the surface are detected by a silicon avalanche photo-diode. The ranging distance is 50–150 km with about 5 m accuracy. Several corrections for accurate ranging data are investigated. The flight hardware has been qualified and passed all the integration tests. A principal goal of the LALT instrument is to obtain a much more detailed lunar topographic map which is superior in global coverage, measurement accuracy and number of data points to previous observations and models. The overall science objectives of LALT are (1) determination of lunar global figure, (2) internal structure and surface processes, (3) exploration of the lunar pole regions, and (4) reduction of lunar occultation data.     

A new balloon base in Japan

Since 1971, numerous balloons have been launched from the Japanese balloon base, the Sanriku Balloon Center (SBC). Through these years, balloon technologies have been developed continuously and many scientific achievements have resulted. Recently, however, because of the limited area of the launching pad of the SBC, we have been faced with the difficulty of safely launching large balloons. To solve this issue, we decided to move the balloon base from the SBC to the Taiki Aerospace Research Field (TARF) in northern Japan. The TARF had an existing huge hanger and a paved launch pad capable of being utilised for balloon operations. To evolve the TARF into a new balloon base, new balloon facilities have been constructed at the TARF and equipment was transferred from the SBC to the TARF during July 2007 and March 2008. The SBC was closed in September 2007, and the new base became operational in May 2008. The new base at the TARF is designed to launch larger balloons with greater safety and to perform balloon operations more effectively than ever before. In the summer of 2008, we carried out the first series of the balloon campaign at the TARF, and succeeded in two engineering flights of stratospheric balloons. By the success of these flights, we have verified that the whole system of the new balloon base is well established.     

Preliminary study on migration pattern of the Tibetan antelope (Pantholops hodgsonii) based on satellite tracking

The spatial and temporal patterns of the endangered Tibetan antelope or chiru (Pantholops hodgsonii) have been studied using satellite-based ARGOS platform transmitter terminal (PTT) tracking data. The data was obtained from the satellite tracking of two female Tibetan antelopes that were collared with satellite transmitters and have been tracked from August 2007 to April 2009.     

System design and examination of spaceborne microwave rain-scatterometer

The remote sensing of precipitation, especially rain by the spaceborne weather radar is an important subject which has not been realized. The system design and examination of the spaceborne weather radar which is called as the spaceborne microwave rain-scatterometer are performed by considering user's requirements to observe rain, the restrictions derived from the interface with satellite and the state of the art and the possibility of spaceborne microwave technology. Characteristic parameters for spaceborne microwave rain-scatterometer are determined based on the user's requirements for the system. Functions and performances of each subsystem (antenna, transmitters, receivers and data transmission processor) with the detailed block diagram of the total system of spaceborne microwave rain-scatterometer are shown. All of the critical items of hardware in the development of spaceborne microwave rain-scatterometer are also discussed.     

Folding patterns of planar gossamer space structures consisting of membranes and booms

The combination of large membranes and light-weight deployable booms, often called a gossamer structure, has enabled innovative space missions, such as solar sailing, to become possible. Though many designs have been proposed and demonstrated, two problems remain regarding the folding patterns of the membranes. The first problem involves considering the thickness of a membrane to enable uniform and compact folding. The other involves membrane-folding patterns that allow for connecting the membrane to the booms at multiple points and deploying them together while minimizing the use of complex mechanisms. This study proposes three methods that consider the thickness, and two of them can keep the crease lines straight, in contrast to the conventional non-straight crease line solutions. In addition, this study derives one effective design to integrate a membrane with diagonal booms through the systematic classification of existing membrane folding patterns.     

Dust Near The Sun

We review the current knowledge and understanding of dust in the inner solar system. The major sources of the dust population in the inner solar system are comets and asteroids, but the relative contributions of these sources are not quantified. The production processes inward from 1 AU are: Poynting-Robertson deceleration of particles outside of 1 AU, fragmentation into dust due to particle-particle collisions, and direct dust production from comets. The loss processes are: dust collisional fragmentation, sublimation, radiation pressure acceleration, sputtering, and rotational bursting. These loss processes as well as dust surface processes release dust compounds in the ambient interplanetary medium. Between 1 and 0.1 AU the dust number densities and fluxes can be described by inward extrapolation of 1 AU measurements, assuming radial dependences that describe particles in close to circular orbits. Observations have confirmed the general accuracy of these assumptions for regions within 30° latitude of the ecliptic plane. The dust densities are considerably lower above the solar poles but Lorentz forces can lift particles of sizes < 5 μm to high latitudes and produce a random distribution of small grains that varies with the solar magnetic field. Also long-period comets are a source of out-of-ecliptic particles. Under present conditions no prominent dust ring exists near the Sun. We discuss the recent observations of sungrazing comets. Future in-situ experiments should measure the complex dynamics of small dust particles, identify the contribution of cometary dust to the inner-solar-system dust cloud, and determine dust interactions in the ambient interplanetary medium. The combination of in-situ dust measurements with particle and field measurements is recommended.     

Nonlinear Inertial Guidance Platform Control Systems Analysis

This paper investigates the stability analysis of nonlinear inertial guidance platform control systems. The principle technique used for this investigation is the direct method of Lyapunov. First, stability criteria are derived for third- and fourth-order systems with saturation type nonlinearity by using the technique developed by R. E. Kalman and Z. V. Rekasius. A method of finding the maximum loop gain g/h is then shown, and the results are compared with those obtained by linear analyses. Finally, the stability criteria are extended to the cases when a coulomb friction type nonlinearity is included.     

Small total dose measurement system for SDS-1

The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) uses monitors on board satellites to measure and record in-flight data on ionization effects in space. A compact, total dose measurement system for the small satellite (SDS-1) was developed based on the previous system for measuring total ionizing dose effects. Especially, the sensor for SDS-1 is quite smaller than the sensor for SOHLA-1, which is presented in the last year. The sensor is 8 mm wide×3 mm high×19 mm long and weighs approximately 4 g with 500 mm its wire harness. Eight pin LCC RADFET and temperature sensor are arranged on it. Seven sensors are arranged on some components inside the SDS-1. One of the sensors is arranged on a printed board in advanced microprocessing in-ORBIT experiment equipment (AMI). The AMI demonstrate 320 MIPS microprocessor and DC–DC converter for space. The absorbed dose at the points where the sensors are arranged was evaluated before flight and will be compared with resulting flight data.