Thermo-mechanical design and testing of a microbalance for space applications

This work focuses on the thermo-mechanical design of the microbalance used for the VISTA (Volatile In Situ Thermogravimetry Analyzer) sensor. VISTA has been designed to operate in situ in different space environments (asteroids, Mars, icy satellites). In this paper we focus on its application on Mars, where the expected environmental conditions are the most challenging for the thermo-mechanical design.     

火星进入气体辐射加热研究进展

针对飞行器进入火星大气时气体辐射加热对防热设计带来不确定性，在简述火星探测和气体辐射研究的发展历程的基础上，对火星进入气体辐射加热研究的进展进行综述。首先，针对火星大气环境描述了气体辐射加热的概念和问题由来。其次，重点综述了近年来火星进入气体辐射加热基础模型的数值和试验研究进展，其中包括：热化学非平衡气体动力学、气体辐射特性和辐射传输的计算模型与方法等数值研究；地面测试设备、试验技术和模拟火星大气环境的气体辐射测量与验证等试验研究。再次，综述了流动辐射耦合和后体气体辐射加热等火星进入器设计方面开展的研究。最后，对未来火星进入气体辐射加热研究进行了展望，提出了研究建议。     

静电电磁脉冲辐射场诱发针-球电极结构放电试验

针对当前国内外诱发静电放电（ESD）研究较少的实际情况，为了解自然环境下静电放电辐射场诱发放电的基本特性，进一步分析诱发放电的特征规律，建立了大气条件下诱发放电试验系统。主要采取理论分析、试验验证的方式，对静电放电辐射场诱发针-球电极结构放电的基本规律进行摸索，初步得出了诱发放电的基本规律。研究结果表明：在外界条件一定的情况下，随着辐射场强的不断增大，放电重复频率不断增大；在辐射场强一定的情况下，随着高压源电压的不断增大，诱发放电重复频率不断增大；在外界环境条件一定的情况下，能够确定该条件下的诱发放电唯一阈值。这些试验规律的取得，为真空条件下的诱发放电特性研究提供了试验方法和理论依据，对开展航天器运行环境中的诱发放电研究和防护方法设计具有重要意义。     

Assessing and minimizing collisions in satellite mega-constellations

We aim to provide satellite operators and researchers with an efficient means for evaluating and mitigating collision risk during the design process of mega-constellations. We first introduce a novel algorithm for conjunction prediction that relies on large-scale numerical simulations and uses a sequence of filters to greatly reduce its computational expense. We then use this brute-force algorithm to establish baselines of endogenous (intra-constellation), or self-induced, conjunction events for the FCC-reported designs of the OneWeb LEO and SpaceX Starlink mega-constellations. We demonstrate how these deterministic results can be used to validate more computationally efficient, stochastic techniques for close-encounter prediction by adopting a new probabilistic approach from Solar-System dynamics as a simple test case. Finally, we show how our methodology can be applied during the design phase of large constellations by investigating Minimum Space Occupancy (MiSO) orbits, a generalization of classical frozen orbits that holistically account for the perturbed-Keplerian dynamics of the Earth-satellite-Moon-Sun system. The results indicate that the adoption of MiSO orbital configurations of the proposed mega-constellations can significantly reduce the risk of endogenous collisions with nearly indistinguishable adjustments to the nominal orbital elements of the constellation satellites.     

Short-term periodicities in the downward longwave radiation and their associations with cosmic ray and solar interplanetary data

In this study downward longwave (LW) atmospheric radiation data for the period of 2014–2020 were used to search for short-term periodicities using fast Fourier transform (FFT). Several local peaks in the power spectrum density were found and established. The time series exhibits a series of significant peaks (exceeding the 95% confidence limit), such as at 273 days, 227 days, 200 days, 178 days, 157 days, 110 days, 120 days, 87 days, 73 days, 53–56 days, 35–30 days, 25–27 days, 21 days, 13 days, and 9–10 days.Moreover, cosmic ray data from KACST muon detector and the Oulu neutron monitor, as well as the data for the solar radio flux at 10.7 cm (F10.7 cm), Dst index, and solar wind speed for the same period as the LW data, were used to look for common cyclic variations and periodicities matching those found in the LW radiation. This was done to investigate the possible effect of the solar activity parameters on LW radiation. Several common periodicities were observed in the spectra of all the variables considered, such as 227 days, 154–157 days, 25–27 days, and 21 days. Some of the periodicities found in the LW radiation spectrum can be attributed to the modulation of the cosmic ray intensity by solar activity. Others are attributed to the disturbances in the interplanetary magnetic field. Based on the spectral results, we suggest that the solar signals may directly or indirectly affect the variations of the downward longwave radiation, which in turn may affect climate change.     

Influence of curved thin-film device on deformation of a solar sail

A spinning solar sail IKAROS’s membrane is estimated to unexpectedly deform into an inverted pyramid shape due to thin-film devices with curvature, such as thin-film solar cells and steering devices on the membrane. It is important to investigate the deformation caused by the curved thin-film devices and predict the sail shape because the out-of-plane deformation greatly affects solar radiation pressure (SRP) and SRP torque. The purpose of this paper is to clarify the relationship between the global shape and orientation and position of curved thin-film devices and to evaluate SRP torque on the global shape using finite element analysis. The global shape is evaluated based on the out-of-plane displacement and the SRP torque. When the curved thin-film devices make the membrane shrink in the circumferential, diagonal, and radial direction, the sail deforms into a pyramid shape, an inverted pyramid one, and a saddle one, respectively. The saddle shape is more desirable for solar sails than the inverted pyramid shape and the pyramid one from the viewpoint of shape stability to SRP and control of SRP torque in the normal direction of the sail (windmill torque). The position of the thin-film device tends to increase the absolute value of windmill torque when it is biased circumferentially from the petal central axis. The suggested design principles for the arrangement of thin-film devices is that the curved thin-film devices should be directed so that the sail shrinks in the radial direction in order to deform the sail into a saddle shape with high shape stability, and the position of the thin-film devices should be biased in the circumferential direction paying attention to the absolute value of windmill torque to determine the direction of windmill torque.     

Deorbiting spacecraft with passively stabilised attitude using a simplified quasi-rhombic-pyramid sail

This paper studies deorbiting using an analogue to the quasi-rhombic-pyramid concept for planar motion. The focus is on maintaining a stable (meaning oscillatory) attitude close to the direction of the velocity of the spacecraft relative to the atmosphere. The study consists of a massive computation of deorbit times chosen in a region of the phase space where atmospheric drag plays a leading role. Here, no damping effects are considered. Thus, any passive stabilisation observed is either due to solar radiation pressure or atmospheric drag. The results show that such stable deorbiting is feasible up to a threshold that depends upon the physical parameters of the sail. This threshold is around 500 km of altitude. Stable deorbiting is also shown to reduce the unpredictability that appears due to tumbling.     

Three-line structured light vision system for non-cooperative satellites in proximity operations

Adapter ring is a commonly used component in non-cooperative satellites, which has high strength and is suitable to be recognized and grasped by the space manipulator. During proximity operations, this circle feature may be occluded by the robot arm or limited field of view. Moreover, the captured images may be underexposed when there is not enough illumination. To address these problems, this paper presents a structured light vision system with three line lasers and a monocular camera. The lasers project lines onto the surface of the satellite, and six break points are formed along both sides of the adapter ring. A closed-form solution for real-time pose estimation is given using these break points. Then, a virtual structured light platform is constructed to simulate synthetic images of the target satellite. Compared with the predefined camera parameters and relative positions, the proposed method is demonstrated to be more effective, especially at a close distance. Besides, a physical space verification system is set up to prove the effectiveness and robustness of our method under different light conditions. Experimental results indicate that it is a practical and effective method for the pose measurement of on-orbit tasks.     

舰载倾转旋翼机着舰域耦合流场数值模拟研究

倾转旋翼机是当前旋翼飞行器研究的热点,但有关舰载倾转旋翼机着舰域耦合流场的研究还很少。以两栖攻击舰(LHA)和V-22"鱼鹰"倾转旋翼机为研究对象,基于雷诺平均Navier-Stokes(RANS)方程和SST k-ω湍流模型对舰载倾转旋翼机着舰域耦合流场进行数值模拟研究,并探讨了不同着舰高度时机/舰耦合流场的相互作用。结果表明:倾转旋翼尾流会与舰船脱落涡、甲板舷涡以及舰岛艉涡发生较强的"涡-涡干扰"现象,加大了耦合流场的湍流强度;舰船流场的低频非稳态特征会导致旋翼桨盘气动载荷发生显著的波动,不利于飞行操纵;垂直降落过程中,舰船甲板会形成"前低后高"的压力分布特征,倾转旋翼RMS气动载荷值也会明显增加,降低了着舰安全性,且右旋翼RMS气动载荷值比左旋翼平均大一倍以上,这也表明右旋翼面临着更加严峻的气动环境。