Crew autonomy for deep space exploration: Lessons from the Antarctic Search for Meteorites

Future piloted missions to explore asteroids, Mars, and other targets beyond the Moon will experience strict limitations on communication between vehicles in space and control centers on Earth. These limitations will require crews to operate with greater autonomy than any past space mission has demonstrated. The Antarctic Search for Meteorites (ANSMET) project, which regularly sends small teams of researchers to remote parts of the southern continent, resembles a space mission in many ways but does not rely upon a control center. It provides a useful crew autonomy model for planners of future deep space exploration missions. In contrast to current space missions, ANSMET gives the crew the authority to adjust competing work priorities, task assignments, and daily schedules; allows the crew to be the primary monitor of mission progress; demands greater crew accountability for operational errors; requires the crew to make the most of limited communication bandwidth; adopts systems designed for simple operation and failure recovery; and grants the crew a leading role in the selection and stowage of their equipment.     

Spacecraft formation flying control around L2 sun-earth libration point using on–off SDRE approach

In this paper, on–off SDRE control approach is presented for spacecraft formation flying control around sun-earth L2 libration point. Orbits around libration points are significant targets for many space missions mainly because of efficient fuel consumption. Furthermore, less propellant usage can be achieved by considering optimal control approaches in spacecraft formation flying control design. Among various nonlinear and optimal control methods, SDRE has shown to be a popular controller in various missions due to the privileges including efficiency, accuracy and robustness. The spacecraft are assumed to have on–off thrusters as actuators. It requires them to be fed with a sequence of on–off pulses which is regarded as a challenge for spacecraft designers. Hence, the main contribution of this paper is designing an on–off SDRE approach for the formation flight around sun-earth L2 point with uncertainty with energy and accuracy considerations. Including on–off input as a constraint is not feasible for SDRE implementation because it makes the system non-affine. An alternative is utilizing an integral action technique and an auxiliary control to make the system affine which leads to on–off SDRE approach. It has also been shown that the proposed method is robust against parametric uncertainties of the states. Present study aims to design an energy-beneficial, simple and attractive controller for a complex nonlinear system with on–off inputs and uncertainty in CRTBP. Simulation results show that the on–off SDRE control could provide the formation flight around L2 point with high accuracy using less energy consumption.     

L-band nighttime scintillations at the northern edge of the EIA along 95°E during the ascending half of the solar cycle 24

The characteristics of nighttime ionospheric scintillations measured at the L-band frequency of 1.575 GHz over Dibrugarh (27.5°N, 95°E, MLAT ～ 17°N, 43° dip) during the ascending half of the solar cycle 24 from 2010 to 2014 have been investigated and the results are presented in this paper. The measurement location is within or outside the zone of influence of the equatorial ionization anomaly depending on solar and geomagnetic activity. Maximum scintillation is observed in the equinoxes irrespective of solar activity with clear asymmetry between March and September. The occurrence frequency in the solstices shifts from minimum in the June solstice in low solar activity to a minimum in the December solstice in high solar activity years. A significant positive correlation of occurrence of scintillations in the June solstice with solar activity has been observed. However, earlier reports from the Indian zone (～75°E) indicate negative or no correlation of scintillation in June solstice with solar activity. Scintillations activity/occurrence in solstices indicates a clear positive correlation with Es recorded simultaneously by a collocated Ionosonde. In equinoxes, maximum scintillations occur in the pre-midnight hours while in solstices the occurrence frequency peaks just after sunset. The incidence of strong scintillations (S₄ ≥ 0.4) increases with increase in solar activity. Strong (S₄ ≥ 0.4) ionospheric scintillations accompanied by TEC depletions in the pre-midnight period is attributed to equatorial irregularities whereas the dusk period scintillations are related to the sporadic-E activity. Present results thus indicate that the current location at the northern edge of the EIA behaves as low as well as mid-latitude location.     

从日地系统L2出发借力月球飞越近地小行星

对于停留在日地系统L2的“嫦娥2号”探测器,其后续飞行方案有多个选项,例如主动撞月或重返月球轨道、返回地球轨道或再入大气、飞往地月系统L1/L2或日地系统L1、进入深空飞越近地小行星(最终,“嫦娥2号”于2012年12月13日成功地实现了对Toutatis小行星的近距离飞越)。探讨上述的飞行方案需要对飞行轨道进行初步设计,总的速度脉冲限制在100 m/s以内并且需要考虑探测器同时受到太阳、地球、月球的引力作用。本研究设计了探测器从日地系统L2出发借力月球实现Toutatis小行星飞越的飞行方案,与直接飞越方案相比,借力月球可以进一步节省探测器的燃料消耗,其等效速度脉冲设计值为58.47 m/s。     

Alternative transfer to the Earth–Moon Lagrangian points L4 and L5 using lunar gravity assist

Lagrangian points L4 and L5 lie at 60° ahead of and behind the Moon in its orbit with respect to the Earth. Each one of them is a third point of an equilateral triangle with the base of the line defined by those two bodies. These Lagrangian points are stable for the Earth–Moon mass ratio. As so, these Lagrangian points represent remarkable positions to host astronomical observatories or space stations. However, this same distance characteristic may be a challenge for periodic servicing mission. This paper studies elliptic trajectories from an Earth circular parking orbit to reach the Moon’s sphere of influence and apply a swing-by maneuver in order to re-direct the path of a spacecraft to a vicinity of the Lagrangian points L4 and L5. Once the geocentric transfer orbit and the initial impulsive thrust have been determined, the goal is to establish the angle at which the geocentric trajectory crosses the lunar sphere of influence in such a way that when the spacecraft leaves the Moon’s gravitational field, its trajectory and velocity with respect to the Earth change in order to the spacecraft arrives at L4 and L5. In this work, the planar Circular Restricted Three Body Problem approximation is used and in order to avoid solving a two boundary problem, the patched-conic approximation is considered.     

民用航空发动机维修工程分析平台设计与实现

随着国产民用大飞机的研制和应用,民用航空发动机的研制和应用需求也逐步显现。为了提高国内民用航空发动机的派遣可靠性,需要对其维修工程服务产品进行专业分析,并通过信息化、规范化的方法促进其维修工程服务产品的发展和应用。首先,研究民用航空发动机维修工程分析的技术应用和行业发展,基于发动机维修工程分析和相关标准规范明确平台的核心模块功能和开发需求;在此基础上,开发发动机维修工程分析平台,并通过实际操作测试平台的各项功能;最后,以发动机燃控系统为例验证该平台的可操作性。结果表明：发动机维修工程分析平台各项功能正常、流程完善、数据合理,为后期设计优化和工程迭代工作奠定了重要的数据基础。     

解析计算在月球中继卫星Halo轨道设计中的应用

面向月球中继卫星工程轨道设计需求,研究解析计算方法在地月系L2点halo轨道设计中的应用问题。在讨论圆型限制性三体问题三阶解析近似计算方法的基础上,分析了解析计算与数值计算的差异,给出了解析近似计算在工程约束下的适用范围,进而提出了基于解析计算的轨道设计和特征筛选方法。分别采用解析初值和数值初值进行halo轨道外推,比对验证采用解析计算设计轨道的可行性。研究结果表明,解析计算方法适用于月球中继卫星轨道的初步设计、特征分析和构型筛选。     

基于鲁棒自适应反步法的航天器姿态跟踪控制

针对存在未知惯量矩阵和外干扰的刚体航天器姿态跟踪,提出了一种鲁棒自适应控制方法。综合自适应反步法和非线性L2增益干扰抑制方法,用自适应反步法构造系统的Lyapunov函数,获得了具L2增益的鲁棒自适应控制器,以保证姿态跟踪误差系统为一致最终有界稳定,确保估计的航天器惯量参数的有界性,并使从外干扰输入到评价输出的L2增益不大于给定值。仿真结果验证了方法的有效性和可行性。     

Changes in hyperspectral reflectance signatures of lettuce leaves in response to macronutrient deficiencies

The adaptation of specific remote sensing and hyperspectral analysis techniques for the determination of incipient nutrient stress in plants could allow early detection and precision supplementation for remediation, important considerations for minimizing mass of advanced life support systems on space station and long term missions. This experiment was conducted to determine if hyperspectral reflectance could be used to detect nutrient stress in Lactuca sativa L. cv. Black Seeded Simpson. Lettuce seedlings were grown for 90 days in a greenhouse or growth chamber in vermiculite containing modified Hoagland’s nutrient solution with key macronutrient elements removed in order to induce a range of nutrient stresses, including nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, and magnesium. Leaf tissue nutrient concentrations were compared with corresponding spectral reflectances taken at the end of 90 days. Spectral reflectances varied with growing location, position on the leaf, and nutrient deficiency treatment. Spectral responses of lettuce leaves under macronutrient deficiency conditions showed an increase in reflectance in the red, near red, and infrared wavelength ranges. The data obtained suggest that spectral reflectance shows the potential as a diagnostic tool in predicting nutrient deficiencies in general. Overlapping of spectral signatures makes the use of wavelengths of narrow bandwidths or individual bands for the discrimination of specific nutrient stresses difficult without further data processing.     

宽频带微带天线的设计

频带窄严重制约微带天线的广泛应用。在讨论微带天线频带展宽的基础上,研究多崐谐振方式展宽频带的方法。采用时域有限差分法进行优化设计计算,给出了具体测崐试结果。