火星降落伞的结构设计与初步性能试验研究

文章综述了目前美国、俄罗斯和欧空局研制的火星降落伞中盘缝带伞的发展情况.在参考已有盘缝带伞结构设计的基础上,通过改变结构设计参数,设计出4种不同结构形式的盘缝带伞,并完成了高塔投放和低速风洞等初步性能试验.根据试验结果,对伞型的带宽比及透气量与阻力系数及稳定性之间的关系进行了讨论;最终得出带宽比、透气量大的盘缝带伞稳定...     

Mars entry trajectory optimization using DOC and DCNLP

This paper addresses the issue of Mars atmospheric entry trajectory optimization by use of the desensitized optimal control (DOC) and Direct Collocation and Nonlinear Programming (DCNLP). Firstly, desensitized optimal control methodology is adopted to reduce the sensitivity of terminal state variables with respect to uncertainties and perturbations along the trajectory, in addition to optimizing the original performance index. Then, Direct Collocation (DC) method is used to transform the optimal control problem into Nonlinear Programming (NLP) problem which can be easily solved using the SNOPT software package. Monte Carlo simulations of error analysis show that the sensitivity of terminal state variables with respect to uncertainties and perturbations is significantly reduced, leading to improved entry precision.     

Martian obstacle and bow shock: origins of boundaries anisotropy

The origin of the anisotropy in the shape of the Martian obstacle and bow shock is analyzed using Mars Global Surveyor observations. The influence of MHD or ion pick-up effects on Martian obstacle position was to be small found, however, localized Martian crustal magnetization increases the thickness of the downstream planetary magnetotail by 500–1000 km in agreement with earlier Phobos 2 observations. A new analytical model is presented for Martian obstacle shape variation for different solar wind ram pressure. Elongation of the Martian BS cross-section in the direction perpendicular to IMF was confirmed while the shift of this cross section in the +Y direction of Martian interplanetary medium reference frame was discovered. The shift of BS cross section in the direction of interplanetary electric field was not revealed thus not conforming the idea that mass-loading play some role in BS control.     

Estimates of Carrington-class solar particle event radiation exposures as a function of altitude in the atmosphere of Mars

Radiation exposure estimates for crew members on the surface of Mars may vary widely because of the large variations in terrain altitude. The maximum altitude difference between the highest (top of Olympus Mons) and the lowest (bottom of the Hellas impact basin) points on Mars is about 32 km. In this work estimates of radiation exposures as a function of altitude, from the Hellas impact basin to Olympus Mons, are made for a solar particle event proton radiation environment comparable to the Carrington event of 1859. We assume that the proton energy distribution for this Carrington-type event is similar to that of the Band Function fit of the February 1956 event. In this work we use the HZETRN 2010 radiation transport code, originally developed at NASA Langley Research Center, and the Computerized Anatomical Male and Female human geometry models to estimate exposures for aluminum shield areal densities similar to those provided by a spacesuit, surface lander, and permanent habitat as a function of altitude in the Mars atmosphere. Comparisons of the predicted organ exposures with current NASA Permissible Exposure Limits (PELs) are made.     

2020中美阿火星探测任务分析

2020年为火星探测大年,各国相继赶在发射窗口发射自己的火星探测器,截止目前成功赶上发射窗口的国家,按时间先后分别为阿联酋、中国和美国。本文给出了2020年火星探测发射和到达窗口的“猪排”能量图,在有效载荷、发射窗口、运载火箭、地火转移轨道、火星俘获及着陆、通信等方面,对三个国家发射的探测器进行了对比分析,并给出此次火星探测各环节的相关参数。     

火星探测器气动外形/弹道一体化多目标优化

针对火星探测器概念设计阶段的需求,提出了融合气动外形、弹道和开伞条件的一体化多目标优化设计方法。首先建立了火星探测器进入段三自由度弹道运动方程,基于修正牛顿理论推导了适用于具有较大半锥角球锥外形的气动参数估算模型,采用Sutton-Graves公式计算了驻点热流密度。以开伞高度、总吸热量和容积率为目标函数建立了火星探测器气动外形/弹道一体化多目标优化模型,采用基于分解的多目标进化算法(MOEA/D)进行求解计算并与参考设计进行了对比。数值结果表明:多目标优化方法提供多个三目标均优于参考设计的Pareto最优解,为火星探测器的概念设计提供了一定的参考依据。     

Characteristics of solar particle events at Mars relative to Earth

While not specifically designed to detect solar energetic particle radiation, the Electron Reflectometer onboard Mars Global Surveyor (MGS/ER) collected such data from January 1999 through October 2006. Energetic protons (?25 MeV) and other ions penetrated the MGS/ER shielding and registered counts within the instrument’s electronics. During solar particle events (SPE’s), prolonged enhancements in the particle background were observed at Mars with time intensity profiles similar to Earth based SPE observations. Throughout the lifespan of MGS/ER, 85 distinct SPE’s were observed. Basic characteristics of Mars based SPE observations and the frequency of SPE occurrences at Mars are compared to corresponding Earth based observations. Approximately 22% of SPE’s that occurred during MGS/ER operation were observed at Earth but not Mars. Similarly, 19% of SPE’s were observed at Mars but not Earth. Time intensity profiles at Earth and Mars match predictions provided in the literature, based on the physical location of the detector with respect to the motion of the interplanetary shock wave. Note: The work described herein was largely conducted as part of a doctoral dissertation produced by the author.     

Automatic detection of typical dust devils from Mars landscape images

This paper presents an improved algorithm for automatic detection of Martian dust devils that successfully extracts tiny bright dust devils and obscured large dust devils from two subtracted landscape images. These dust devils are frequently observed using visible cameras onboard landers or rovers. Nevertheless, previous research on automated detection of dust devils has not focused on these common types of dust devils, but on dust devils that appear on images to be irregularly bright and large. In this study, we detect these common dust devils automatically using two kinds of parameter sets for thresholding when binarizing subtracted images. We automatically extract dust devils from 266 images taken by the Spirit rover to evaluate our algorithm. Taking dust devils detected by visual inspection to be ground truth, the precision, recall and F-measure values are 0.77, 0.86, and 0.81, respectively.     

Deep reinforcement learning for six degree-of-freedom planetary landing

This work develops a deep reinforcement learning based approach for Six Degree-of-Freedom (DOF) planetary powered descent and landing. Future Mars missions will require advanced guidance, navigation, and control algorithms for the powered descent phase to target specific surface locations and achieve pinpoint accuracy (landing error ellipse <5 m radius). This requires both a navigation system capable of estimating the lander’s state in real-time and a guidance and control system that can map the estimated lander state to a commanded thrust for each lander engine. In this paper, we present a novel integrated guidance and control algorithm designed by applying the principles of reinforcement learning theory. The latter is used to learn a policy mapping the lander’s estimated state directly to a commanded thrust for each engine, resulting in accurate and almost fuel-optimal trajectories over a realistic deployment ellipse. Specifically, we use proximal policy optimization, a policy gradient method, to learn the policy. Another contribution of this paper is the use of different discount rates for terminal and shaping rewards, which significantly enhances optimization performance. We present simulation results demonstrating the guidance and control system’s performance in a 6-DOF simulation environment and demonstrate robustness to noise and system parameter uncertainty.