Earth and Mars observation using periodic orbits

This paper reports the results of a general study carried out on the Periodic Multi-SunSynchronous Orbits (PMSSOs), which the classical Periodic SunSynchronous Orbits (PSSOs) represent a specific solution of. Such orbits allow to obtain cycles of observation of the same region in which the solar illumination regularly varies according to the value of the orbit elements and comes back to the initial condition after a time interval which is multiple of the revisit time. Therefore this kind of orbits meets all the remote sensing applications that need observations of the same area at different local times (for example the reconstruction of the day-nighttime trend of the surface temperature of the planet) and it is particularly suitable to the study of several terrestrial and martian phenomena (diurnal cycle of the hazes and clouds, dynamics of the thermal tides, density variations, meteorology phenomena, etc.). The design of PMSSO is based on the variation of the Right Ascension of the Ascending Node due to the Earth oblateness (referred as basic solution). However, with respect to the basic solution, the analysis of the perturbative effects has demonstrated the need, especially in the case of Mars, to take into account all the superior harmonics of the gravitational field. To this end a corrective factor, to add to the basic equations, has been proposed, allowing a significant saving of propellant (of the order of 2 km/s per year). Besides, single and multi-plane satellite constellations have been taken into account in order to improve the repetition of observation and the ground spatial resolution.     

火星着陆器地形测图技术研究

分析了勇气号、机遇号、好奇心号火星漫游车和凤凰号火星着陆器的测图遥感器性能、数据处理技术和火星地形测图产品;提出了火星地形测图未来发展的一些趋势,如遥感器向高分辨率、立体彩色遥感器的方向发展,数字立体摄影测量技术和光倾斜测量技术及激光测高技术将更加紧密融合并相互补充,正在由单一的测图产品向多种数字产品发展,测图产品的精度也在大幅度提高。     

火星探测转移轨道初始设计与分析

根据推进方式和是否采用金星借力,火星转移轨道分为大推力直接转移轨道、大推力金星借力转移轨道、小推力直接转移轨道和小推力金星借力转移轨道4类。传统的轨道设计方法只是针对某一类特定的转移方案进行轨道优化,而并未针对不同的转移方案进行详细对比分析。文章以2020/2022年发射窗口为例,针对4类基本火星转移轨道进行研究。首先,基于不同轨道初始设计方法,对4类轨道进行了初始设计,得到了每类转移方案的能量最优转移轨道。然后,基于设计结果和能耗对4类转移方案进行了横向对比分析,得到了不同策略下的转移轨道的特性。基于小推力的火星探测任务轨道对发射能量要求低;大推力直接转移和借力金星的发射窗口交替分布,可以互为备份;基于小推力推进的探测器采用金星借力转移策略相比直接转移能够减少10%的能耗,优势十分明显。     

采用弱攻角补偿与脱敏设计的火星进入段制导

为提升火星进入段存在多种扰动时的制导末端精度,在现有三自由度脱敏设计的基础上,提出针对大气密度及升阻力系数波动的弱攻角补偿方法。通过攻角调整,协调升、阻力加速度测量值相对理论计算值的偏离程度,使加权形式的偏离程度指标趋近于1,从而降低气动参数波动对制导精度的影响。相平面分析和反证法证明了攻角调整过程的稳定性。蒙特卡洛仿真结果表明,该方法可达到较高的纵向末端状态精度。     

一种图像辅助火星着陆段自主导航方法

针对未来深空探测软着陆高精度实时导航的需求,提出了一种图像辅助的自主导航方案。首先通过下降段图像与落点区域地形匹配,获得着陆器相对于落点的位置和姿态;然后基于误差Kalman模型估计着陆器的状态误差,修正惯性导航的结果;在图像信息不可用的情况下,只进行惯性递推导航;这种方案既提高了导航的精度,也能保证实时性的要求。 数值仿真验证了该方案的可行性,该方案对未来实际工程任务具有很大的参考价值。     

火星探测器进入阶段稳定性分析

文章针对＂火星探路者＂,对火星探测器在进入火星大气减速过程中的运动稳定性问题进行了研究,分析了质心位置、进入条件、大气参数等因素对火星探测器运动稳定性的影响。分析结果表明,在马赫数大于1.2时,探测器处于一个比较稳定的状态。     

天问一号探测器高动态着陆惯导系统设计与试验

考虑到火星探测任务着陆过程动态变化大,稀薄大气环境下开伞会对探测器产生剧烈晃动,为此天问一号探测器研制了一套高动态着陆惯导系统,从硬件产品、使用时序到导航算法方面均进行了针对性设计,以适应着陆过程中的高动态环境.此外,为验证天问一号探测器高动态着陆惯导系统的性能,设计了模拟火星开伞工况的火箭弹高空开伞试验,结果表明该高...     

Gravitational wave detection on the Moon and the moons of Mars

The Moon and the moons of Mars should be extremely quiet seismically and could therefore become sensitive gravitational wave detectors, if instrumented properly. Highly sensitive displacement sensors could be deployed on these planetary bodies to monitor the motion induced by gravitational waves. A superconducting displacement sensor with a 10-kg test mass cooled to 2 K will have an intrinsic instrument noise of 10⁻¹⁶ m Hz^−1/2. These sensors could be tuned to the lowest two quadrupole modes of the body or operated as a wideband detector below its fundamental mode. An interesting frequency range is 0.1–1 Hz, which will be missed by both the ground detectors on the Earth and LISA and would be the best window for searching for stochastic background gravitational waves. Phobos and Deimos have their lowest quadrupole modes at 0.2–0.3 Hz and could offer a sensitivity h_min ? 10⁻²² Hz^−1/2 within their resonance peaks, which is within two orders of magnitude from the goal of the Big Bang Observer (BBO). The lunar and Martian moon detectors would detect many interesting foreground sources in a new frequency window and could serve as a valuable precursor for BBO.     

Development of a gas chromatography compatible Sample Processing System (SPS) for the in-situ analysis of refractory organic matter in martian soil: preliminary results

In the frame of the 2009 Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission a new sample preparation system (SPS) compatible with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) has been developed for the in situ analysis of complex organic molecules in the Martian soil. The goal is to detect, if they exist, some of the key compounds that play an important role in life on Earth including carboxylic acids, amino acids and nucleobases.     

Comparative assessment of human–Mars-mission technologies and architectures

We compare a variety of mission scenarios to assess the strengths and weaknesses of options for Mars exploration. The mission design space is modeled along two dimensions: trajectory architectures and propulsion system technologies. We examine direct, semi-direct, stop-over, semi-cycler, and cycler architectures, and we include electric propulsion, nuclear thermal rockets, methane and oxygen production on Mars, Mars water excavation, aerocapture, and reusable propulsion systems in our technology assessment. The mission sensitivity to crew size, vehicle masses, and crew travel time is also examined. Many different combinations of technologies and architectures are applied to the same Mars mission to determine which combinations provide the greatest potential reduction in the injected mass to LEO. We approximate the technology readiness level of a mission to rank development risk, but omit development cost and time calculations in our assessment. It is found that Earth–Mars semi-cyclers and cyclers require the least injected mass to LEO of any architecture and that the discovery of accessible water on Mars has the most dramatic effect on the evolution of Mars exploration.