Solar sailing in realistic mode,based on a locally-optimal control laws

Ballistic design of solar sailing missions in the solar system is composed of defining the design parameters, the control programs, and the trajectories that provide performance goals of a flight. The use of a solar sail spacecraft imposes specific restrictions on mission parameters that include the degradation limit on the flight duration, the maximum temperature of solar sail's surface, the minimum distance from the Sun, the maximum angular velocity of the spacecraft's rotation and others.Many authors considered the impact of these restrictions on the design of the mission separately, but they used a sophisticated method of finding the exact optimal motion control or applied the most straightforward laws of motion control. This paper uses local-optimal control laws at the complete mathematical models of motion and functioning of solar sail spacecraft to describe a technique of designing interplanetary missions. The described method avoids the need to obtain an accurate optimal solution to the control problem and does not cause significant computational difficulties.     

Solar sails for perturbation relief: Application to asteroids

A major cause of spacecraft orbital variation comes from natural perturbations, which, in close proximity of a body, are dominated by its non-spherical nature. For small bodies, such as asteroids, these effects can be considerable, given their uneven (and uncertain) mass distribution. Solar sail technology is proposed to reduce or eliminate the net secular effects of the irregular gravity field on the orbit. Initially, a sensitivity analysis will be carried out on the system which will show high sensitivity to changes in initial conditions. This presents a challenge for optimisation methods which require an initial guess of the solution. As such, the Genetic Algorithm (GA) is proposed as the preferred optimisation method as this requires no initial guess from the user. A multi-objective optimisation is performed which aims to achieve a periodic orbit whilst also minimising the effort required by the sail to do so. Given the system sensitivity, the control law for one orbit is not necessarily applicable for any subsequent orbit. Therefore, a new method of updating the control law for subsequent orbits is presented, based on linearisation and use of a Control Transition Matrix (CTM). The techniques will later find application in a multiple asteroid rendezvous mission with a solar sail as the primary propulsion system.     

Statistical characteristics of low latitude Pc4s: Influence of solar wind and IMF parameters

Pc4 signatures for the year 2013, extracted from geomagnetic north–south and east–west components of induction coil magnetometer (LEMI 30) from low latitude station Desalpar (DSP), operated by Institute of Seismological Research (ISR), India have been investigated vis-à-vis the prevalent interplanetary parameters (IMF) as well as the geomagnetic activity indices. A clear dominance of Pc4-5 (467 events) over Pc3 (17 events) is observed. Local time variation of Pc4 shows a peak in the noon sector in both X and Y components. Our investigations show that the dominant peak frequency is 10 mHz at low latitude region. Correlations with solar wind and IMF parameters illustrate highest occurrence of Pc4 for a solar wind speed of 300–400 km/s and average IMF B field of 3–6 nT. The amplitude of Pc4s at DSP shows an increase with increasing solar wind speed, plasma density, solar wind dynamic pressure and average B field which is also reflected in the trend of frequency variation of these pulsations. We report that IMF clock angle at low latitude does not have influence on Pc4 occurrence. Based on the characteristics of these events, detected in latitudinally distributed stations from low and mid-latitudes from northern and southern hemisphere, we infer that modes were compressional, which could be driven by K-H instability or solar wind dynamic pressure, as compressional modes can propagate to low latitude with little attenuation.     

Contingency target assessment,trajectory design,and analysis for NASA’s NEA scout solar sail mission

The presented study examines contingency target selection and trajectory design for NASA’s Near-Earth Asteroid Scout mission under the assumption of a missed lunar gravity assist. Two previously considered asteroids are selected as potential targets for the given scenario based on favorable orbital characteristics for launch dates ranging from June 27, 2020 through July 26, 2020. Initially, a simplified circular restricted 3-body problem + ideal solar sail model is utilized to survey trajectory options for a month-long launch window. Selected solutions from this data set are then converged in an N-body ephemeris + non-ideal sail model. Results suggest that NEA Scout can still perform asteroid rendezvous mission under the missed lunar gravity assist scenario with new targets, 2019 GF1, 2018 PK21, and 2007 UN12, based on the target launch dates. Further target assessment is carried out for 165 days beyond the current June 27, 2020 launch date.     

Space Solar Physics in 2012-2014

The main activities of Chinese space solar physics in 2012–2014 include: to continue studying the mid and long-term(2016–2030) plan of Chinese space solar physics; to arrange a group of pre-study projects of space solar physics; to initiate and continue a few solar mission-level projects.This paper summarizes all these activities briefly.     

太阳耀斑硬X射线能谱演变特征

太阳硬X射线是耀斑高能电子束流与太阳大气相互作用产生的韧致辐射,根据简单的太阳耀斑环物理模型,假定具有流量与能谱同步变化的高能电子束流从耀斑环顶部注入,计算了硬X射线辐射在不同的靶物质密度区的能谱演变特征。结果表明:硬X射线辐射在低大气密度靶区呈现软一硬一硬的能谱演变特征,在高密度靶区硬X射线能谱则具有软一硬一软的变化特征。高能电子束流持续时间影响谱型转变区域在耀斑环中的高度。      

日食对低纬地区f0F2和ICF的影响

研究了１９９５年１０月２４日日食过程中,我国低纬地区广州和海口的Ｆ２层临界频率ｆ０Ｆ２的高干扰重心频率ＩＣＦ变化过程,鉴于多次日 处低纬的两地ｆ０Ｆ２的日食变化形态不完全一样,以及多次日食期间同一地方ｆ０Ｆ２变化形态不完全一样,ＩＣＦ也并不像预想的那样降低,因而对于低纬电离层,动力学过程可能要比直接与太阳辐射有关的光化学过程起更为重要的作用。     

1992年10月27日耀斑的多波段观测和分析

利用１９９２年１０月２７日耀斑极为完整的高质量观测资料,通过对可见光、软Ｘ射线和硬Ｘ射线图像和光谱的综合分析,诊断耀斑过程中的热与非热性质,结果表明,在这个事件中,热与非热过程并存且在时空演化上呈现不同的特征     

半个太阳活动周期内我国中纬地区上空电离层等效板厚的变化特征

本文用新乡(电离层400km对下点是:32.4°N,115.6°E)、重庆(电离层400km对下点是:27.2°N,108.7°E)接收日本同步卫星ETS-Ⅱ的信标资料,研究了我国中纬地区上空半个太阳活动周期内(1981—1985)电离层等效板厚的变化特征,得到了等效板厚日变化、季变化的二维和三维等值图。由付里叶分析和回归方法得出等效板厚日变化各谐波分量与太阳黑子数12个月滑动平均值之间存在弱的线性关系。同时指出在等效板厚日变化中,于当地时0400—0700LT存在一明显的黎明峰。并对出现这种峰的原因作了讨论。      

非地球同步卫星相对于太阳的几何关系

给出确定非地球同步卫星轨道的日照边界点在天球上投影的位置、太阳光在卫星及其携带仪器各个平面上的投射角以及星载红外分光计内部冷黑体被太阳照射到的轨道部份和概率的计算公式。最后以极轨气象卫星上的红外分光计为例进行了计算。其结果可以提供给分光计某些部份的设计以及极轨气象卫星发射时间的选择作参考。