Changes in operational procedures to improve spaceflight experiments in plant biology in the European Modular Cultivation System

The microgravity environment aboard orbiting spacecraft has provided a unique laboratory to explore topics in basic plant biology as well as applied research on the use of plants in bioregenerative life support systems. Our group has utilized the European Modular Cultivation System (EMCS) aboard the International Space Station (ISS) to study plant growth, development, tropisms, and gene expression in a series of spaceflight experiments. The most current project performed on the ISS was termed Seedling Growth-1 (SG-1) which builds on the previous TROPI (for tropisms) experiments performed in 2006 and 2010. Major technical and operational changes in SG-1 (launched in March 2013) compared to the TROPI experiments include: (1) improvements in lighting conditions within the EMCS to optimize the environment for phototropism studies, (2) the use of infrared illumination to provide high-quality images of the seedlings, (3) modifications in procedures used in flight to improve the focus and overall quality of the images, and (4) changes in the atmospheric conditions in the EMCS incubator. In SG-1, a novel red-light-based phototropism in roots and hypocotyls of seedlings that was noted in TROPI was confirmed and now can be more precisely characterized based on the improvements in procedures. The lessons learned from sequential experiments in the TROPI hardware provide insights to other researchers developing space experiments in plant biology.     

Station-keeping control for a stratospheric airship platform via fuzzy adaptive backstepping approach

This paper presents a novel approach for station-keeping control of a stratospheric airship platform in the presence of parametric uncertainty and external disturbance. First, conceptual design of the stratospheric airship platform is introduced, including the target mission, configuration, energy sources, propeller and payload. Second, the dynamics model of the airship platform is presented, and the mathematical model of its horizontal motion is derived. Third, a fuzzy adaptive backstepping control approach is proposed to develop the station-keeping control system for the simplified horizontal motion. The backstepping controller is designed assuming that the airship model is accurately known, and a fuzzy adaptive algorithm is used to approximate the uncertainty of the airship model. The stability of the closed-loop control system is proven via the Lyapunov theorem. Finally, simulation results illustrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed control approach.     

European space research in support of international partnership

The envisaged future space research programmes, whether in the field of space exploration or Earth observation are becoming more and more technically complicated and so costly that a single nation can hardly afford to realize them. Major non-European space-faring nations, China and India will progressively play an important role besides US, Russia and Japan. The Space Advisory Group of the European Commission recommended that the European Commission supports within Horizon 2020 a comprehensive Robotic Mars-Exploration Programme under European leadership that should become an essential element of a coordinated international space research programme. The International Space Station (ISS) experience shows that cooperative space programmes build links between industries and laboratories from around the world, which then further develop in non-space related activities, with positive impact on the economy and scientific research. Strategies need to be developed to mitigate the gradual increasing risks incurred by climate change. In order to lower their entry barrier to engage in space emerging and developing space nations need to be included in cooperative space programmes. We present the recommendations of the Space Advisory Group of the European Commission concerning Europe's participation to global space endeavours.     

三星时差定位系统四站标校的布站方式研究

三星时差定位系统的四站标校方法可以在较大范围内提高定位精度,针对四站标校中不同的标校站布站方式会有不同标校效果的问题,分析了4个标校站的构型,站间基线长度以及卫星与标校站的空间位置关系对标校效果的影响。确定了四站标校的优选构型,四站标校效果随着标校站之间基线长度变大而变好,随着中心标校站距星下点的距离增大,两者之间连线方向的区域标校效果明显。该研究为四站标校方法的应用提供了技术支持。     

无人机地面站人机工效综合评价研究

无人机地面站发展日趋综合复杂,为了减轻地面站操作员工作负荷,避免飞行事故发生,保证高效、安全地完成飞行任务,开展无人机地面站人机工效评价方法研究十分重要.分析无人机地面站人机工效评价特点;借鉴有人驾驶飞机人机工效评价力法,利用德尔菲法,明确无人机地面站人机工效综合评价的评价指标,提出地面站人机工效评价专家调查表的构架及其内容;并探索无人机地面站人机工效评价方法.实例研究表明：本文提出的评价指标和方法可以满足无人机地面站人机工效评价需求,可为无人机地面站人机工效评价提供一定借鉴.     

Exploration life support technology challenges for the Crew Exploration Vehicle and future human missions

As NASA implements the U.S. Space Exploration Policy, life support systems must be provided for an expanding sequence of exploration missions. NASA has implemented effective life support for Apollo, the Space Shuttle, and the International Space Station (ISS) and continues to develop advanced systems. This paper provides an overview of life support requirements, previously implemented systems, and new technologies being developed by the Exploration Life Support Project for the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) and Lunar Outpost and future Mars missions. The two contrasting practical approaches to providing space life support are (1) open loop direct supply of atmosphere, water, and food, and (2) physicochemical regeneration of air and water with direct supply of food. Open loop direct supply of air and water is cost effective for short missions, but recycling oxygen and water saves costly launch mass on longer missions. Because of the short CEV mission durations, the CEV life support system will be open loop as in Apollo and Space Shuttle. New life support technologies for CEV that address identified shortcomings of existing systems are discussed. Because both ISS and Lunar Outpost have a planned 10-year operational life, the Lunar Outpost life support system should be regenerative like that for ISS and it could utilize technologies similar to ISS. The Lunar Outpost life support system, however, should be extensively redesigned to reduce mass, power, and volume, to improve reliability and incorporate lessons learned, and to take advantage of technology advances over the last 20 years. The Lunar Outpost design could also take advantage of partial gravity and lunar resources.     

On one approach to the optimization of low-thrust station keeping manoeuvres

A simple and effective mathematical method to calculate optimal station-keeping manoeuvres by means of electric propulsion is suggested. The method is based on a linearization of the satellite motion near a reference orbit. Two versions of the method allow station keeping both in an assigned position and in any position of the orbit. The method is fully analytical for the two-body problem and takes a simpler form for the circular assigned orbit. The suggested method may also be used in the case when constraints are imposed on the thrust direction due to specific features of the satellite stabilization mode. An application of the method to any force field is shown. Illustrative examples of satellite station keeping in a circular orbit are given. Both cases of the station keeping, i.e., in an assigned position and in an assigned orbit, are considered without and with a constraint on the thrust direction.     

Optical orbital debris spotter

The number of man-made debris objects orbiting the Earth, or orbital debris, is alarmingly increasing, resulting in the increased probability of degradation, damage, or destruction of operating spacecraft. In part, small objects (<10 cm) in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) are of concern because they are abundant and difficult to track or even to detect on a routine basis. Due to the increasing debris population it is reasonable to assume that improved capabilities for on-orbit damage attribution, in addition to increased capabilities to detect and track small objects are needed. Here we present a sensor concept to detect small debris with sizes between approximately 1.0 and 0.01 cm in the vicinity of a host spacecraft for near real time damage attribution and characterization of dense debris fields and potentially to provide additional data to existing debris models.     

全测速多站系统的最优布站问题与数值算法

从解算弹道的逐点多站最小二乘算法得到的弹道精度出发,给出了一个全测速多站系统的最优布站数学模型,并通过大量试算选定了具有良好收敛性的数值算法.初步的计算表明：对全测速多站系统,其最优布站方案与现有布站方案在弹道精度上有着显著的差别;在最优布站方案下可确保逐点多站最小二乘算法具有良好的数值稳定性,并得到满足精度要求的外测弹道.     

构建测站专家故障诊断系统

本文主要针对车载活动测控设备,从技术的角度简要地分析并提出应用人工智能中专家系统的理论和方法来构建测站专家故障诊断系统,充分发挥专家知识在故障诊断中的重要作用,使知识的利用率得到加强,提高测站测控设备的自动化水平。