Neural adaptive control for a ground experiment of the space proximity operation in a six-degree-of-freedom micro-gravity simulation system

In this study, a neural adaptive controller is developed for a ground experiment with a spacecraft proximity operation. As the water resistance in the experiment is highly nonlinear and can significantly affect the fidelity of the ground experiment, the water resistance must be estimated accurately and compensated using an active force online. For this problem, a novel control algorithm combined with Chebyshev Neural Networks (CNN) and an Active Disturbance Rejection Control (ADRC) is proposed. Specifically, the CNN algorithm is used to estimate the water resistance. The advantage of the CNN estimation is that the coefficients of the approximation can be adaptively changed to minimize the estimation error. Combined with the ADRC algorithm, the total disturbance is compensated in the experiment to improve the fidelity. The dynamic model of the spacecraft proximity maneuver in the experiment is established. The ground experiment of the proximity maneuver that considers an obstacle is provided to verify the efficiency of the proposed controller. The results demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms the pure ADRC method and can achieve close-to-real-time performance for the spacecraft proximity maneuver.     

RATAN-600 and RadioAstron reveal the neutrino-associated blazar TXS 0506+056 as a typical variable AGN

The possible association with the high-energy neutrino event IceCube-170922A has sparked interest in the blazar TXS 0506+056. We present 72 instantaneous 1–22 GHz spectra measured over the past 20 years with the RATAN-600 telescope and compare them with the results of observations of 700 variable Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) studied within the same program. The recent radio flare of TXS 0506+056 started from a minimum in 2013 and reached its first peak in December 2017 and a second peak in May-June 2018. This was the third strong radio flare in this source since 1997. The spectrum remains nearly flat during the flares. The spectral shape and variability pattern observed in TXS 0506+056 are typical for variable AGN. RadioAstron Space VLBI observations in 2013–2015 did not detect TXS 0506+056 on space-ground baselines of more than 9 Earth diameters. However, an observation on 23 September 2015 resulted in the detection of interferometric signal on 6 Earth diameter baselines at 18 cm close to the detection limit. We consider the possibility that TXS 0506+056 and other AGN may accelerate relativistic protons more efficiently than electrons. Relativistic protons are necessary to produce both the high-energy neutrinos observed in the IceCube Observatory and the high AGN brightness temperatures implied by the RadioAstron detection. They may also provide the main contribution to the observed synchrotron radiation of parsec-scale AGN jets. This supports the suggestion that relativistic protons may play a much more important part in extragalactic astrophysics than earlier anticipated.     

Bayesian network-based extraction of lunar impact craters from optical images and DEM data

Impact craters are among the most noticeable geomorphological features on the planetary surface and yield significant information about terrain evolution and the history of the solar system. Thus, the recognition of impact craters is an important branch of modern planetary studies. Aiming at addressing problems associated with the insufficient and inaccurate detection of lunar impact craters, a decision fusion method within the Bayesian network (BN) framework is developed in this paper to handle multi-source information from both optical images and associated digital elevation model (DEM) data. First, we implement the edge-based method for efficiently searching crater candidates which are the image patches that can potentially contain impact craters. Secondly, the multi-source representations of an impact crater derived from both optical images and DEM data are proposed and constructed to quantitatively describe the two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) morphology, consisting of Histogram of Oriented Gradient (HOG), Histogram of Multi-scale Slope (HMS) and Histogram of Multi-scale Aspect (HMA). Finally, a BN-based framework integrates the multi-source representations of impact craters, which can provide reductant and complementary information, for distinguishing craters from non-craters. To evaluate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed method, experiments were conducted on three lunar scenes using both orthoimages from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and DEM data acquired by the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA). Experimental results demonstrate that integrating optical images with DEM data significantly decreases the number of false positives compared with using optical images alone, with F₁-score of 84.8% on average. Moreover, compared with other existing fusion methods, our proposed method was quite advantageous especially for the detection of small-scale craters with diameters less than 1000 m.     

一种模块级可降级重组双机系统的系统管理程序实现方法

分析了模块级可降级重组双机系统的有效组态数,并与双机系统级备份进行了比较。分析结果表明,随着冗余级别的降低,系统的可靠性有所改善,但系统的有效组态数将大大增加,这将导致系统管理程序的复杂化。文章介绍了该系统管理程序的设计准则,并对其中几个有特点的子程序作了简要说明。     

SMA 智能复合构件控制裂纹的数值与试验研究

将ＴｉＮｉ形状记忆合金（ＳＭＡ）薄带复合于基体材料内部,利用形状记忆合金的特性,可以控制构件裂纹的扩展。本文介绍了智能复合构件控制裂纹的机理,并利用拟温度载荷法,直接应用现有有限元程序对控制裂纹的ＳＭＡ智能复合构件进行了计算与分析,同时还进行了激光云纹干涉法试验测试。计算和试验结果表明智能复合构件中的记忆合金薄带对构件裂纹有显著的控制效果,同时计算和试验结果的一致性也表明本文的分析方法是可行的。     

对一种利用人造粉尘清除空间碎片新方法的理论分析

近地轨道的空间碎片污染日益严重,目前碎片数量已达到历史最高值并可能引发一系列连锁反应.进行主动碎片清除十分必要.利用粉尘主动清除近地轨道空间碎片是一种主动碎片清除的新方法.本文基于此方法的基本原理进行分析研究,建立了单颗碎片与人造粉尘作用的基本假设和机理模型,并对其作用进行定量计算分析;结合碎片的空间密度分布,对该方法的作用效果进行了定量估算,得出一些基本分析结论,有助于对新方法的客观认识.      

Status of the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope Project

The Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT) is China's first astronomical satellite. It will perform a broad band (1-250keV) scan survey and do pointed observations of X-ray sources to study their spectra and multi-wavelength temporal properties. The pre-flight models of the satellites have been finished, and the flight models are in production. The expected launch date of HXMT is in late 2015.      

Behavior of tethered debris with flexible appendages

Active exploration of the space leads to growth of a near-Earth space pollution. The frequency of the registered collisions of space debris with functional satellites highly increased during last 10 years. As a rule a large space debris can be observed from the Earth and catalogued, then it is possible to avoid collision with the active spacecraft. However every large debris is a potential source of a numerous small debris particles. To reduce debris population in the near Earth space the large debris should be removed from working orbits. The active debris removal technique is considered that intend to use a tethered orbital transfer vehicle, or a space tug attached by a tether to the space debris. This paper focuses on the dynamics of the space debris with flexible appendages. Mathematical model of the system is derived using the Lagrange formalism. Several numerical examples are presented to illustrate the mutual influence of the oscillations of flexible appendages and the oscillations of a tether. It is shown that flexible appendages can have a significant influence on the attitude motion of the space debris and the safety of the transportation process.