Asymmetries in Mars' Exosphere

Observations and simulations show that Mars' atmosphere has large seasonal variations. Total atmospheric density can have an order of magnitude latitudinal variation at exobase heights. By numerical simulations we show that these latitude variations in exobase parameters induce asymmetries in the hydrogen exosphere that propagate to large distances from the planet. We show that these asymmetries in the exosphere produce asymmetries in the fluxes of energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) and soft X-rays produced by charge exchange between the solar wind and exospheric hydrogen. This could be an explanation for asymmetries that have been observed in ENA and X-ray fluxes at Mars.     

High energy-density propulsion—reducing the risk to humans in planetary exploration

The potential benefits to humankind of space exploration are tremendous. Space is not only the final frontier but is also the next marketplace. The orbital space above Earth offers tremendous opportunities for both strategic assets and commercial development. The critical obstacle retarding the use of the space around the Earth is the lack of low cost access to orbit. Further out, the next giant leap for mankind will be the human exploration of Mars. Almost certainly within the next 30 years, a human crew will brave the isolation, the radiation, and the lack of gravity to walk on and explore the Red planet. Both of these missions will change the outlook and perspective of every human being on the planet. However, these missions are expensive and extremely difficult. Chemical propulsion has demonstrated an inability to achieve orbit cheaply and is a very high-risk option to accomplish the Mars mission. An alternative solution is to develop a high performance propulsion system. Nuclear propulsion has the potential to be such a system. The question will be whether humanity is willing to take on the challenge.     

火星探测用降落伞研制试验简介

文章主要介绍了美国火星探测用降落伞研制过程以及在研制过程中的一些主要试验，并同时指出了试验中的一些特点。     

一种组合自适应模糊控制方法及其在月球探测车上的应用

自适应模糊控制是解决不确知非线性系统问题的一种有效手段。文中以月球探测车的驱动控制为背景,针对这类非线性MIMO系统,提出一种组合自适应模糊控制方法,用于系统模型不能准确获知的情形。在本方法中,控制律由3部分组成:监督控制项、跟踪控制项和补偿控制项。在控制律的设计中,通过自适应项来同时补偿模糊逻辑系统的逼近误差以及外部干扰的影响,且无需假设模糊逻辑系统最小逼近误差的上确界已知。基于Lyapunov方法,证明了闭环系统是全局稳定的,系统输出误差渐近收敛。将该方法应用于月球探测车的驱动控制中,仿真结果表明了方法的有效性。     

火星大气来流模拟装置CFD仿真与试验

根据我国火星着陆巡视器工作过程,其着陆发动机需要在相对火星大气高速迎风运动中可靠点火。由于巡视器着陆时发动机喷管出口气流与火星稀薄气流方向相反,目前无法通过理论计算准确获得着陆过程的动态流场对发动机起动过程的影响量值。为验证火星着陆环境下发动机点火的适应性,需要建立发动机的火星大气来流试验环境模拟条件。为模拟发动机在火星大气条件下的相对运动,在真空舱内发动机保持固定,前端设置环形来流形成装置,该装置在发动机喷管周围形成一定速度的逆向来流包络。采用数值模拟技术结合试验验证方法,在火星着陆器巡视器主发动机性能考核试验中,针对来流的形成装置开展了设计研究工作。来流模拟试验测试数据表明:在确保贮箱供应压力稳定的条件下,来流模拟系统能够形成100~200 m/s速度的稳定来流,发动机在来流下能稳定启动工作,真空舱压力满足试验要求。     

一种主动悬架式火星车稳定裕度优化控制策略

针对火星车在非结构化环境下行驶存在的稳定性不足而导致倾覆的风险,提出针对一种六轮主动悬架式火星车的稳定裕度优化控制方法。首先,考虑了火星车悬架机构调整过程中车轮与接触地面滑移和侧倾等运动关系,建立和完善了六轮主动悬架式火星车行驶的运动学模型。然后,以火星车夹角调整机构角度为变量,推导火星车在非结构环境下的稳定裕度模型。之后,使用内点法求解火星车稳定裕度的最优解,并获得期望的夹角调整机构关节角度。在此基础上,对夹角调整机构的关节角度进行规划和控制,实现火星车悬架机构构型的调整,从而提高火星车在非结构化环境下行驶的稳定裕度。最后,对火星车稳定裕度优化控制策略的有效性进行仿真验证,结果表明,所提出的控制方法可有效提高火星车在非结构化环境下行驶的稳定裕度。     

崎岖地形中关节式月球车姿态估计数值求解方法

 以被动关节式地形自适应月球车为研究对象,融合关节机器人D-H坐标建模方法构建了月球车悬架运动学模型和以侧倾、俯仰和偏转角表示姿态的欧拉角方式建立了车轮到世界坐标系的悬架完整表达模型。利用悬架完整表达模型,用带有迭代因子的连续迭代和离散迭代数值求解方法,建立了光滑和离散崎岖地形姿态估计算法。最后以8轮扭杆双摇杆摇臂月球车原理样机为例来验证此模型求解方法。仿真结果验证了所建立的基于数值方法的崎岖地形被动关节式月球车姿态估计模型的正确性,其求解模型精度能够满足仿真要求。     

A dimension reduced INS/VNS integrated navigation method for planetary rovers

Inertial navigation system/visual navigation system (INS/VNS) integrated navigation is a commonly used autonomous navigation method for planetary rovers. Since visual measurements are related to the previous and current state vectors (position and attitude) of planetary rovers, the performance of the Kalman filter (KF) will be challenged by the time-correlation problem. A state augmentation method, which augments the previous state value to the state vector, is commonly used when dealing with this problem. However, the augmenting of state dimensions will result in an increase in computation load. In this paper, a state dimension reduced INS/VNS integrated nav-igation method based on coordinates of feature points is presented that utilizes the information obtained through INS/VNS integrated navigation at a previous moment to overcome the time rel-evance problem and reduce the dimensions of the state vector. Equations of extended Kalman filter (EKF) are used to demonstrate the equivalence of calculated results between the proposed method and traditional state augmented methods. Results of simulation and experimentation indicate that this method has less computational load but similar accuracy when compared with traditional methods.     

基于相似理论的月球车月面牵引性能预测

引入相似理论对月球车的轮土交互系统进行研究,建立了月壤-车轮交互系统的地面力学相似模型,针对原位月壤内聚力较小的特点,提出了一种无需改变车轮尺寸、以模拟月壤为土壤介质的模型试验方法,对月面重力环境下月球车轮的牵引性能进行预测.利用室内土槽试验和颗粒流仿真相结合的方法对该模型试验方法的有效性进行验证,验证结果与模型试验的理论分析结果较为接近,表明该法具有较好的可行性和有效性,可考虑用于预测月球车的月面牵引性能.     

Autonomous navigation of Mars probe using X-ray pulsars: Modeling and results

Autonomous navigation of Mars probe is a main challenge due to the lack of dense ground tracking network measurements. In this paper, autonomous navigation of the Mars probe Orbits is investigated using the X-ray pulsars. A group of X-ray pulsars with high ranging accuracy are selected based on their properties and an adaptive extended Kalman filter is developed to incorporate the Mars probe dynamics and pulsar-based ranging measurements. Results of numerical experiment show that the three-dimensional positioning accuracy can achieve 750m in X-axis, 220m in Y-axis and 230m in Z-axis, which is much better than the positioning results by current Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) or Doppler observations with the accuracy of 150 km or several kilometers, respectively.