Optimal crater landmark selection based on optical navigation performance factors for planetary landing

Planetary craters are natural navigation landmarks that widely exist and are easily observed. Optical navigation based on crater landmarks has become an important autonomous navigation method for planetary landing. Due to the increase in observed crater landmarks and the limitation of onboard computation, the selection of good crater landmarks has gradually become a research hotspot in the field of landmark-based optical navigation. This paper designs a fast crater landmark selection method, which not only considers the configuration observability of crater subsets but also focuses on the influence on navigation performance arising from the measurement uncertainty and the matching confidence of craters, which is different from other landmark selection methods. The factor of measurement uncertainty, which is anisotropic, correlated and nonidentically distributed, is quantified and integrated into selection based on crater pairing detection and localization error evaluation. In addition, the concept of the crater matching confidence factor is introduced, which reflects the possibility of 2D projection measurements corresponding to 3D positions. Combined with the configuration observability factor, the crater landmark selection indicator is formed. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by Monte Carlo simulations.     

Plasma transport simulation under different conditions and optimization analysis of dual-stage grid ion thruster

In order to study the extraction and acceleration mechanism of the dual-stage grid, a three-dimensional model based on the Particle-In-Cell/Monte Carlo Collision(PIC/MCC) method is performed. Dual-stage grid ion thruster is a new type of electrostatic ion thruster, which can break through the limitations of traditional gridded ion thrusters, and greatly improve the specific impulse. The high performance also makes the grid sensitive to operating parameters. In this paper,the influence of grid pa...     

基于PIC-DSMC算法的嵌套霍尔推进器仿真性能研究

随着航天技术的发展，新型嵌套式霍尔推进器解决了传统单通道霍尔推进器功率不高和运行模式单一的问题，在航天领域发挥着愈加重要的作用。为了研究质量流量和磁场强度对嵌套型霍尔推进器性能的影响，本文采用PIC-DSMC算法，追踪和模拟等离子体粒子在电磁场作用下的运动和碰撞过程，对羽流场进行仿真。模拟结果表明:质量流量和磁场强度对推力贡献成正相关，推进器的比冲和羽流发散角则会受到双通道的综合影响。适当增大内通道的运行功率能够提升推进器整体效率。本文的模拟结果初步证明了嵌套霍尔推进器运行工况和磁场设计的可行性，并进一步为推进器的实验和优化提供了数据支持。     

低功率霍尔推力器束流发散和推力矢量偏心特性研究

为了准确掌握不同工况下混合励磁模式低功率霍尔推力器束流发散和推力矢量偏心特性，凭借自主设计和改进的一套快速评估霍尔推力器束流发散角和推力矢量偏角原位集成诊断装置，系统研究了推力器在不同阳极质量流率、磁场、电场下束流分布和推力矢量偏心特性的变化规律。结果表明，束流发散角随阳极质量流率（0.65mg/s~0.95mg/s）和磁场强度（112Gs~142Gs）的变化呈现负相关的特性。当阳极质量流率0.95mg/s，束流发散角降到29.1°（＜30°）。推力矢量偏角随阳极质量流率和磁场强度的变化分别存在极大值（1.19°）和极小值（0.91°）。束流发散角、推力矢量偏角在250V~330V放电电压范围内基本保持不变。     

核聚变空间推进器的初步需求分析

参考一种简化的、解析近似的计算模型，以地球到火星的对接任务和往返任务为例，对核聚变等离子体推进器性能关键参数如推进系统质量、比冲、任务时间、有效载荷份额及比功率等进行分析，得出了任务时间和有效载荷质量份额与聚变堆芯输出功率、推进器结构质量和比冲的依赖关系。在此基础上，结合核聚变地面商业堆的相关进展，对现有的技术做合理适当外推，理论计算表明:飞行任务能够在1~2个月内达到目的星球同时可携带超过10%的有效载荷份额，并提出了未来核聚变空间推进器的初步参数方案和设计构想，总体上能够为未来核聚变空间推进技术的发展提供一定的参考。      

Design and experimental research of a sub-Newton N2O monopropellant thruster with inner-heater

Nitrous oxide（N₂O） is a green propellant with excellent application prospects. A subNewton N₂O monopropellant thruster with inner-heater and a N₂O self-pressurization stable supply system with regenerative heat compensation are designed in this paper. The experimental research of the thruster is described, including measurements of preheating power, activation temperature, vacuum thrust, specific impulse, life-span and pulsed operation performance. By inserting t...     

Performance measurement and evaluation of an ionic liquid electrospray thruster

As a novel micro-propulsion system for small satellites(from micro to nano),the ionic liquid electro spray propulsion system is a promising candidate.However,performance measurement and evaluation of the Ionic Liquid Electrospray Thruster(ILET) is one of the most challenging issues for practical application,due to the difficulties in the development of a prototype and direct measurements of micro-thrust and small flow rate.To address this issue,a Modular Ionic Liquid Electrospray Thruster(MILET)...     

Optimum alternate material selection methodology for an aircraft skin

Weight penalty has been a challenge for design engineers of aerospace vehicles. Today’s high-efficiency combat aircraft undergoes intense stress and strain during flying missions, which require stronger and stiffer materials to retain structural integrity. Though metallic materials have been successfully used for the construction of aircraft structures and components, metals still have a low strength-to-weight ratio. This paper aims to develop an alternate optimised material selection methodolog...