太阳帆航天器姿态机动的复合控制研究

输入成型法无法消除姿态机动过程中的柔性振动,残留的柔性振动将改变大柔性太阳帆航天器的结构参数,影响姿态机动的控制精度。为此,基于两种控制手段（作用于太阳帆中心的喷气和作用于支撑杆顶端的电推进）的组合,提出复合控制方法,以消除姿态机动过程中的柔性振动。采用将帆面质量等效到支撑杆的简化方法,建立太阳帆航天器姿态运动与柔性振动的耦合动力学模型,并从减小振动模态的外加激励出发,根据简化的动力学模型,得到了两种复合控制的设计方法：消除某一阶的柔性振动方法和减小前n（n>1）阶的柔性振动方法。仿真结果表明,相比输入成型法,第二种复合控制方法不但机动时间短,还能够将姿态机动过程中的柔性振动抑制到5%,使机动角度精度优于0.003°。由于仅利用已有的控制手段,复合控制方法算法简单,适合于实际应用。     

一种晨昏轨道卫星地球反照系数估计方法

针对地球反照对太阳同步轨道卫星太阳电池阵输出电流的影响,首先比较不同降交点地方时卫星的太阳电池阵输出电流,分析其变化规律,然后选定晨昏轨道卫星作为研究对象,建立太阳电池阵输出电流模型与地球反照系数估计模型,利用最小二乘法估计电流参数与地球反照系数,最后结合不同季节、不同轨道高度卫星的遥测数据进行在轨验证。结果表明,对于轨道高度在1200km以下的晨昏轨道卫星,地球反照系数在0.05以上;地球反照系数随轨道高度增加呈指数规律衰减,衰减系数约为0.002。     

China's Deep-space Exploration to 2030

Focusing on the key scientific questions of deep space exploration which include the origin and evolution of the solar system and its planets, disastrous impact on the Earth by the solar activities and small bodies, extraterrestrial life, this paper put forward a propose about the roadmap and scientific objectives of China's Deep-space Exploration before 2030.     

A new approach based on crater detection and matching for visual navigation in planetary landing

This paper provides an approach of crater detection and matching to visual navigation in planetary landing missions. The approach aims to detect craters on the planetary surface and match them to a landmark database during the descent phase of a planetary landing mission. Firstly an image region pairing method is proposed to detect the crater by using an image region feature detector. Then a WTA-rule is adopted to match the detected crater to the crater in database. To further reduce the false matching rate, an efficient method for reducing false matches using parameters of crater in 3-D database is proposed. Real images of planetary terrain and a semi-physical planetary landing simulation platform are utilized to test the performance of the approach, simulation results show the proposed approach is able to match the required number of craters to the database for pin-point planetary landing with a low rate of false detection and false matching, which will lead to an improved planetary landing precision.     

Patterns of carbon monoxide in the middle atmosphere and effects of solar variability

We determine the spatial-time patterns of zonally averaged carbon monoxide (CO) in the middle atmosphere by applying Principle Component Analysis to the CO data obtained from the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) measurements on the Aura satellite in 2004–2012. The first two principal components characterize more than 90% of the CO variability. Both principal components are localized in the low thermosphere near the mesopause. The first principal component is asymmetric relative to the poles. It has opposite signs in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere at mid to high latitudes and strongly oscillates with an annual periodicity. The second principal component has the same sign in both hemispheres and oscillates mainly with a semi-annual frequency. Both principal components are modulated by the 11-year solar cycle and display short-term variations. To test possible correlations of these variations with the short term solar ultraviolet (UV) variability we use the simultaneous measurements of the UV solar radiance from the Solar-Stellar Irradiance Comparison Experiment (SOLSTICE) on the Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) satellite to investigate the correlation between CO in the middle atmosphere and solar UV in 2004–2012. Using a wavelet coherence technique a weak, intermittent 27-day signal is detected in high-frequency parts of the CO principal components.     

Study of the influence of solar variability on a regional (Indian) climate: 1901–2007

We use Indian temperature data of more than 100 years to study the influence of solar activity on climate. We study the Sun–climate relationship by averaging solar and climate data at various time scales; decadal, solar activity and solar magnetic cycles. We also consider the minimum and maximum values of sunspot number (SSN) during each solar cycle. This parameter SSN is correlated better with Indian temperature when these data are averaged over solar magnetic polarity epochs (SSN maximum to maximum). Our results indicate that the solar variability may still be contributing to ongoing climate change and suggest for more investigations.     

Experimental investigation of transient thermal behavior of an airship under different solar radiation and airflow conditions

Knowledge of the thermal behavior of airships is crucial to the development of airship technology. An experiment apparatus is constructed to investigate the thermal response characteristics of airships, and the transient temperature distributions of both hull and inner gas are obtained under the irradiation of a solar simulator and various airflow conditions. In the course of the research, the transient temperature change of the experimental airship is measured for four airflow speeds of 0 m/s (natural convection), 3.26 m/s, 5.5 m/s and 7.0 m/s, and two incident solar radiation values of 842.4 W/m² and 972.0 W/m². The results show that solar irradiation has significant influence on the airship hull and inner gas temperatures even if the airship stays in a ground airflow environment where the heat transfer is dominated by radiation and convection. The airflow around the airship is conducive to reduce the hull temperature and temperature nonuniformity. Transient thermal response of airships rapidly varies with time under solar radiation conditions and the hull temperature remains approximately constant in ∼5–10 min. Finally, a transient thermal model of airship is developed and the model is validated through comparison with the experimental data.     

Cross-hemisphere comparison of mid-latitude ionospheric variability during 1996–2009: Juliusruh vs. Hobart

Analysis of a long-time series of hourly median characteristics of the ionospheric plasma at two mid-latitude locations in the Northern and Southern hemisphere, Juliusruh (54.6N; 13.4E) and Hobart (42.9S; 147.3E), reveals patterns of their synchronous and independent variability. We studied timelines of GPS vTEC, ionogram-derived F2-layer peak electron density NmF2, ionospheric equivalent slab thickness τ, and their ratios at two locations during the complete 23rd solar cycle and its following period of the extremely low solar activity in 2008–2009. This study has also involved the comparative analysis of the observed data versus the model predictions by IRI-2012. During the high solar activity in 2000–2002, seasonal variations show a complicated cross-hemisphere behavior influenced by the winter and semi-annual anomalies, with the largest noon-time values of TEC and NmF2 observed around equinoxes. Strength of the winter anomaly in NmF2 was significantly greater at Juliusruh in comparison with Hobart. The winter anomaly in GPS vTEC values was much weaker than in NmF2 for the Northern hemisphere mid-latitudes and was entirely absent at the Southern hemisphere. Cross-hemisphere analysis of the equivalent slab thickness shows its clear seasonal dependence for all levels of solar activity: the day-time maximum τ_max is observed during local summer, whereas the day-time minimum τ_min is observed during local winter. The night-time values of τ were higher compared to the day-time values during the winter and equinox seasons. Comparative model-data study shows rather good IRI performance of the day-time NmF2 for mid-latitudes of both hemispheres and rather noticeable overestimations for the mid-night NmF2 values during high solar activity. Analysis of IRI vTEC demonstrates the model limitations, related with the absence of the plasmaspheric part, and actual demand in a reliable and standard ionosphere–plasmasphere model for analysis of GPS vTEC.     

Hesperides: Solar/nuclear missions to the Sun׳s inner gravity focus

The Sun?s gravity focus at >550 AU is of interest to astrophysicists including SETI scientists, researchers seeking to image extra-solar planets and others. One method for an extra-solar probe to reach the Sun?s inner gravity focus within a human working lifetime (less than 50 years) is to combine solar and nuclear propulsion techniques. Here, we present a non-optimized probe concept including state-of-the-art solar-sail, radioisotope-electric propulsion and giant-planet gravity assists. Application of radioisotope propulsion allows some cross range capability during and after the powered and cruise phases of the flight to >600 AU. Such a capability is likely necessary to fully utilize the solar gravitational lens effect for SETI and astrophysical observations.     

多旋转关节空间太阳能电站概念方案设计

对于国际上典型的空间太阳能电站概念方案进行了分析,在此基础上提出了一种新的概念方案--多旋转关节空间太阳能电站,并给出总体构型和主要分系统初步方案设计结果。该方案采用多个相互独立的太阳电池子阵代替了传统的整体式太阳电池阵,以多个中等功率的导电旋转关节替代传统的极高功率的旋转关节,不仅解决了传统空间太阳能电站方案中的极大功率导电旋转关节技术难题,还可以避免导电关节的单点失效问题,模块化的设计也使得系统的组装和构建更加可行。