EUROPEAN NETWORK FOR THE NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF SPACE PLASMAS

The Cluster mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) will allow, for the first time three-dimensional measurements in key regions of the Earth's magnetosphere to be carried out. The European Numerical Simulation Network (ENSN) aims at providing a theoretical support to the mission. We describe the achievements of the ENSN during its first period of activity 1991–1994, during which the network was funded by the European Union. In particular, the ENSN has set up (i) thematic Working Groups on the prime scientific goals of the mission, (ii) a code development Working Group to develop numerical simulation codes specifically adapted to studying magnetospheric boundaries and the corresponding scale mixing, and (iii) software models of Cluster instruments to test in a numerical simulation what the set of four instruments will measure.     

Aiming at a 1-cm Orbit for Low Earth Orbiters: Reduced-Dynamic and Kinematic Precise Orbit Determination

The computation of high-accuracy orbits is a prerequisite for the success of Low Earth Orbiter (LEO) missions such as CHAMP, GRACE and GOCE. The mission objectives of these satellites cannot be reached without computing orbits with an accuracy at the few cm level. Such a level of accuracy might be achieved with the techniques of reduced-dynamic and kinematic precise orbit determination (POD) assuming continuous Satellite-to-Satellite Tracking (SST) by the Global Positioning System (GPS). Both techniques have reached a high level of maturity and have been successfully applied to missions in the past, for example to TOPEX/POSEIDON (T/P), leading to (sub-)decimeter orbit accuracy. New LEO gravity missions are (to be) equipped with advanced GPS receivers promising to provide very high quality SST observations thereby opening the possibility for computing cm-level accuracy orbits. The computation of orbits at this accuracy level does not only require high-quality GPS receivers, but also advanced and demanding observation preprocessing and correction algorithms. Moreover, sophisticated parameter estimation schemes need to be adapted and extended to allow the computation of such orbits. Finally, reliable methods need to be employed for assessing the orbit quality and providing feedback to the different processing steps in the orbit computation process. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Scientific Planning and Commanding of the Rosetta Payload

ESA’s Rosetta mission was launched in March 2004 and is on its way to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, where it is scheduled to arrive in summer 2014. It comprises a payload of 12 scientific instruments and a Lander. All instruments are provided by Principal Investigators, which are responsible for their operations. As for most ESA science missions, the ground segment of the mission consists of a Mission Operations Centre (MOC) and a Science Operations Centre (SOC). While the MOC is responsible for all spacecraft-related aspects and the final uplink of all command timelines to the spacecraft, the scientific operations of the instruments and the collection of the data and ingestion into the Planetary Science Archive are coordinated by the SOC. This paper focuses on the tasks of the SOC and in particular on the methodology and constraints to convert the scientific goals of the Rosetta mission to operational timelines.     

星光折射航天器自主定轨方案比较

当星光透射大气发生折射时 ,用星光折射角精确地反映星光在大气中离地球表面的高度 ,并建立高度、航天器与地球的几何关系。通过对折射角进行观测 ,间接测得地平 ,从而改善了用地平仪直接测地平所造成的航天器自主导航精度低的不足。本文提出了几种利用星光折射的航天器自主定轨方案 ,并作了细致的仿真实验 ,对直接和间接两种测量地平方法以及几种星光折射自主定轨方案进行了分析比较。     

遥感卫星的地面覆盖与轨迹控制

对遥感卫星的地面覆盖进行了分析，提出了为满足应用要求及有效载葆地面覆盖，卫星轨道的的选择方法。文中还讨论了地面轨迹的漂移及为了满足地面覆盖的地面轨这保持问题。     

人造地球卫星初轨计算的单位矢量法

本文在建立两组单位矢量系统Ｒ＊，Ｓ＊，φ＊和ρ＊，Ａ＊，ｈ＊的基础上，给出了初轨计算的新的条件方程形式以及对不等精度、不同类型的观测资料的加权处理方法，这对充分发挥高精度测距资料ρ和测速资料ρ·的作用十分有利。实测计算表明，本方法基本解决了初轨计算中轨道半长轴不易定准的困难，并具有定轨精度高、适用范围广、稳定性能好等优点，对静止卫星转移轨道入轨段超短弧段测量资料的初轨计算，作用尤为明显。     

飞机空中加油任务剖面优化设计

介绍了某型飞机执行作战任务途中何时进行空中加油，并按照最大航程截击对飞机各个飞行任务段的飞行性能进行了计算，得出了最佳巡航速度，确定了最优的加油时机和加油量。计算过程中采用了遗传算法，考虑了爬升过程和巡航过程中飞机变质量的难点问题，提高了计算结果的可信度。     

太阳同步卫星轨道参数的容许偏差分析

飞行任务对卫星轨道提出指标要求，这些指标决定了卫星轨道参数的容许偏差范围。结合太阳同步(准)回归轨道卫星的轨道特性，针对覆盖重叠率、太阳同步等指标，使用解析方法讨论了大气阻力摄动影响下轨道参数的容许偏差，通过分析可以初步确定轨道控制策略及能量需求，最终为轨道保持方法的设计提供参考和依据。     

火箭型单级入轨（SSTO）的初步分析

火箭型单级入轨（ＳＳＴＯ）是今后的发展方向之一，从多方面分析了火箭型单级入轨（ＳＳＴＯ）方案的可能性，简要回顾了ＳＳＴＯ的发展历史，特别对三角快帆（ＤＣ－Ｃｌｉｐｐｅｒ）作了分析，认为采取多项先进技术后是完全可以实现的。明确了单级入轨的两个基本方向：提高比冲和降低结构重量。分析了采用不同形式发动机的影响，列出了主要关键技术，最后提出了几个有参考价值的观点。     

月食对环月卫星运行影响及对策分析

从月食与环月卫星的关系出发,讨论了月食对卫星的影响机理。针对如何尽量缩短卫星进入地影时间的问题,给出了相位调整的概念和原理,同时介绍了卫星有效进影时间的概念,说明了相位调整方法的可行性。最后通过实例应用给出了相位调整的效果。文章所介绍的分析和控制方法对于环月卫星具有较广泛的适用性,可以在我国后续的月球探测任务中作为参考依据。