The Geology of Mercury: The View Prior to the MESSENGER Mission

Mariner 10 and Earth-based observations have revealed Mercury, the innermost of the terrestrial planetary bodies, to be an exciting laboratory for the study of Solar System geological processes. Mercury is characterized by a lunar-like surface, a global magnetic field, and an interior dominated by an iron core having a radius at least three-quarters of the radius of the planet. The 45% of the surface imaged by Mariner 10 reveals some distinctive differences from the Moon, however, with major contractional fault scarps and huge expanses of moderate-albedo Cayley-like smooth plains of uncertain origin. Our current image coverage of Mercury is comparable to that of telescopic photographs of the Earth’s Moon prior to the launch of Sputnik in 1957. We have no photographic images of one-half of the surface, the resolution of the images we do have is generally poor (∼1 km), and as with many lunar telescopic photographs, much of the available surface of Mercury is distorted by foreshortening due to viewing geometry, or poorly suited for geological analysis and impact-crater counting for age determinations because of high-Sun illumination conditions. Currently available topographic information is also very limited. Nonetheless, Mercury is a geological laboratory that represents (1) a planet where the presence of a huge iron core may be due to impact stripping of the crust and upper mantle, or alternatively, where formation of a huge core may have resulted in a residual mantle and crust of potentially unusual composition and structure; (2) a planet with an internal chemical and mechanical structure that provides new insights into planetary thermal history and the relative roles of conduction and convection in planetary heat loss; (3) a one-tectonic-plate planet where constraints on major interior processes can be deduced from the geology of the global tectonic system; (4) a planet where volcanic resurfacing may not have played a significant role in planetary history and internally generated volcanic resurfacing may have ceased at ∼3.8 Ga; (5) a planet where impact craters can be used to disentangle the fundamental roles of gravity and mean impactor velocity in determining impact crater morphology and morphometry; (6) an environment where global impact crater counts can test fundamental concepts of the distribution of impactor populations in space and time; (7) an extreme environment in which highly radar-reflective polar deposits, much more extensive than those on the Moon, can be better understood; (8) an extreme environment in which the basic processes of space weathering can be further deduced; and (9) a potential end-member in terrestrial planetary body geological evolution in which the relationships of internal and surface evolution can be clearly assessed from both a tectonic and volcanic point of view. In the half-century since the launch of Sputnik, more than 30 spacecraft have been sent to the Moon, yet only now is a second spacecraft en route to Mercury. The MESSENGER mission will address key questions about the geologic evolution of Mercury; the depth and breadth of the MESSENGER data will permit the confident reconstruction of the geological history and thermal evolution of Mercury using new imaging, topography, chemistry, mineralogy, gravity, magnetic, and environmental data.     

基于自适应软切换的多星座组合导航系统研究

多卫星组合导航系统星座结构复杂、卫星数量多,在某些特定场合、特殊时间内需要快速完成星座和卫星的选取和重组.采用一种快速选星算法和自组织网络相结合的策略,并应用于多卫星导航系统建模和多星座软切换领域,既避开了系统对象建模这一难点,同时又充分利用卫星星座间的相互关联性,极大的发掘多卫星系统本身的潜力.仿真结果表明,快速选星算法和自组织组网技术可以增强整个导航系统的抗干扰性和自愈能力,以牺牲较少的定位精度来有效减少导航运算量,提高导航定位的实时性.     

基于蚁群算法的多任务导航星座载荷配置

给出了多任务导航星座载荷配置的一套新算法.首先建立了多任务导航星座载荷配置的优化模型;基于任务要求定义并提出了n＋1重覆盖率来评价星座对地面的覆盖性能;蚁群算法(ACA)是一种新型的模拟蚂蚁觅食行为的仿生启发式算法,将蚁群算法运用到载荷配置的优化当中,修正了启发函数及Ant-Cycle模型使它们能够与星座载荷配置的优化相结合;给出了基于该算法的多任务载荷配置优化框图.仿真结果表明蚁群算法快速有效,优化结果满足任务要求.      

Attitude control without angular velocity measurement for flexible satellites

In this paper, by using quaternion models, the problem of attitude control is investigated for a class of flexible satellites. Two control laws are presented for the considered flexible satellite models to guarantee convergence of the closed-loop systems without using angular velocity measurement. One is in the form of a partial state feedback for the case where the modal variable is available, and the other is in the form of an observer-based partial state feedback for the case where the modal variable cannot be measured. Finally, an example is employed to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed control laws.     

Bipartite graph-based control flow checking for COTS-based small satellites

Single event upset(SEU)effect,caused by highly energized particles in aerospace,threatens the reliability and security of small satellites composed of commercial-off-the-shelves(COTS).SEUinduced control flow errors(CFEs)may cause unpredictable behavior or crashes of COTS-based small satellites.This paper proposes a generic software-based control flow checking technique(CFC)and bipartite graph-based control flow checking(BGCFC).To simplify the types of illegal branches,it transforms the conventional control flow graph into the equivalent bipartite graph.It checks the legality of control flow at runtime by comparing a global signature with the expected value and introduces consecutive IDs and bitmaps to reduce the time and memory overhead.Theoretical analysis shows that BGCFC can detect all types of inter-node CFEs with constant time and memory overhead.Practical tests verify the result of theoretical analysis.Compared with previous techniques,BGCFC achieves the highest error detection rate,lower time and memory overhead;the composite result in evaluation factor shows that BGCFC is the most effective one among all these techniques.The results in both theory and practice verify the applicability of BGCFC for COTS-based small satellites.     

多约束多星快响巡察任务规划方法

多星快响巡察任务是指多个目标卫星出现不明状况,巡察服务平台在短时间内进行轨道转移,携带多个子航天器对目标进行飞越巡察。对于该问题的任务规划,首先基于共面机动给出了平台调相策略并建立了满足光照和机动能力等约束的巡察窗口筛选计算模型;其次提出了一种贪婪搜索和多轮规划的方法,用于确定任务分配方案和巡察次序;最后在高精度轨道模型下验证了方法的有效性并将该方法与混合编码遗传算法进行了对比。在算例中,该方法的优化效果稍优于混合编码遗传算法,而且求解效率是后者的约227倍,表明贪婪搜索和多轮规划方法更适用该问题的高效求解。     

Small satellite survey mission to the second Earth moon

This paper presents an innovative space mission devoted to the survey of the small Earth companion asteroid by means of nano platforms. Also known as the second Earth moon, Cruithne, is the target identified for the mission. Both the trajectory to reach the target and a preliminary spacecraft budget are here detailed. The idea is to exploit high efficient ion thrusters to reduce the propellant mass fraction in such a high total impulse mission (of the order of 1e6 Ns). This approach allows for a 100 kg class spacecraft with a very small Earth escape energy (5 km²/s²) to reach the destination in about 320 days. The 31% propellant mass fraction allows for a payload mass fraction of the order of 8% and this is sufficient to embark on such a small spacecraft a couple of nano-satellites deployed once at the target to carry out a complete survey of the asteroid. Two 2U Cubesats are here considered as representative payload, but also other scientific payloads or different platforms might be considered according with the specific mission needs. The small spacecraft used to transfer these to the target guarantees the manoeuvre capabilities during the interplanetary journey, the protection against radiations along the path and the telecommunication relay functions for the data transmission with Earth stations. The approach outlined in the paper offers reliable solutions to the main issues associated with a deep space nano-satellite mission thus allowing the exploitation of distant targets by means of these tiny spacecraft. The study presents an innovative general strategy for the NEO observation and Cruithne is chosen as test bench. This target, however, mainly for its relevant inclination, requires a relatively large propellant mass fraction that can be reduced if low inclination asteroids are of interest. This might increase the payload mass fraction (e.g. additional Cubesats and/or additional scientific payloads on the main bus) for the same 100 kg class mission.     

低轨卫星多普勒频移特性的快速计算

地面站利用低轨卫星进行通信时,地面接收站接收信号存在明显的多普勒频移现象。为描述多普勒频移特性,首先分析卫星轨道偏心率对多普勒特性曲线的影响,分析表明：轨道偏心率越大,地面站接收信号多普勒变化率越大。其次,推导了卫星多普勒频移的计算表达式,并讨论了低轨卫星多普勒频移特性曲线的快速计算。仿真计算结果表明,该算法可以很好地描述任意低轨道卫星多普勒频移特性,并明显缩短了精确算法的计算时间,对于10 000km轨道高度卫星,算法置信度可达99%以上。     

面向低成本微纳卫星的快速试验体系研究

文章结合微纳卫星典型特点,分析了由此带来的试验新需求;对比传统卫星试验标准和即将发布的国外微纳卫星试验标准草案,提出在充分继承传统卫星试验技术成果基础上,针对国内微纳卫星发展现状,兼顾灵活性和COTS(commercial off-the-shelf)产品可靠性保证需求,构建国内微纳卫星快速试验体系的总体思路。     

准惯性定向探测卫星GPS接收天线安装角度研究

研究了准惯性定向探测卫星GPS接收天线的安装角度问题. 根据卫星任务需求分析其姿态需求, 再由姿态需求对GPS接收天线的安装方式进行理论分析和仿真计算, 通过GDOP值优选了安装角度方案. 仿真结果表明, GPS接收天线的轴向在本体±y轴即轨道面法向或负法向方向附近.