Space debris and the need for space traffic control

This report summarises the presentations which took place at the ‘Space Traffic Control – Is the Space Debris Problem Solvable?’ conference hosted by the Royal Aeronautical Society on the 2nd July 2013. The conference sought to promote discussion over methods to deal with the issue of space debris in particular and speakers included representatives from the European Space Agency, the United Kingdom Space Agency, practitioners and academia. Themes which emerged during the conference included the urgency of the problem of space debris, the need for short-term and long-term solutions, the necessity for the development and implementation of space debris remediation technologies to complement existing mitigation efforts and, last but not least, the wider applications of space traffic control. Regarding the sub-title of the conference, ‘is the space debris problem solvable?’, it would appear from the presentations that while there is the potential for future management of the issue through debris remediation and harmonised mitigation efforts, no comprehensive solutions exist at the time of writing.     

Status of the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope Project

The Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT) is China's first astronomical satellite. It will perform a broad band (1-250keV) scan survey and do pointed observations of X-ray sources to study their spectra and multi-wavelength temporal properties. The pre-flight models of the satellites have been finished, and the flight models are in production. The expected launch date of HXMT is in late 2015.      

Behavior of tethered debris with flexible appendages

Active exploration of the space leads to growth of a near-Earth space pollution. The frequency of the registered collisions of space debris with functional satellites highly increased during last 10 years. As a rule a large space debris can be observed from the Earth and catalogued, then it is possible to avoid collision with the active spacecraft. However every large debris is a potential source of a numerous small debris particles. To reduce debris population in the near Earth space the large debris should be removed from working orbits. The active debris removal technique is considered that intend to use a tethered orbital transfer vehicle, or a space tug attached by a tether to the space debris. This paper focuses on the dynamics of the space debris with flexible appendages. Mathematical model of the system is derived using the Lagrange formalism. Several numerical examples are presented to illustrate the mutual influence of the oscillations of flexible appendages and the oscillations of a tether. It is shown that flexible appendages can have a significant influence on the attitude motion of the space debris and the safety of the transportation process.     

Applications of tuned mass dampers to improve performance of large space mirrors

In order for future imaging spacecraft to meet higher resolution imaging capability, it will be necessary to build large space telescopes with primary mirror diameters that range from 10 m to 20 m and do so with nanometer surface accuracy. Due to launch vehicle mass and volume constraints, these mirrors have to be deployable and lightweight, such as segmented mirrors using active optics to correct mirror surfaces with closed loop control. As a part of this work, system identification tests revealed that dynamic disturbances inherent in a laboratory environment are significant enough to degrade the optical performance of the telescope. Research was performed at the Naval Postgraduate School to identify the vibration modes most affecting the optical performance and evaluate different techniques to increase damping of those modes. Based on this work, tuned mass dampers (TMDs) were selected because of their simplicity in implementation and effectiveness in targeting specific modes. The selected damping mechanism was an eddy current damper where the damping and frequency of the damper could be easily changed. System identification of segments was performed to derive TMD specifications. Several configurations of the damper were evaluated, including the number and placement of TMDs, damping constant, and targeted structural modes. The final configuration consisted of two dampers located at the edge of each segment and resulted in 80% reduction in vibrations. The WFE for the system without dampers was 1.5 waves, with one TMD the WFE was 0.9 waves, and with two TMDs the WFE was 0.25 waves. This paper provides details of some of the work done in this area and includes theoretical predictions for optimum damping which were experimentally verified on a large aperture segmented system.     

Analytical-HZETRN model for rapid assessment of active magnetic radiation shielding

The use of active radiation shielding designs has the potential to reduce the radiation exposure received by astronauts on deep-space missions at a significantly lower mass penalty than designs utilizing only passive shielding. Unfortunately, the determination of the radiation exposure inside these shielded environments often involves lengthy and computationally intensive Monte Carlo analysis. In order to evaluate the large trade space of design parameters associated with a magnetic radiation shield design, an analytical model was developed for the determination of flux inside a solenoid magnetic field due to the Galactic Cosmic Radiation (GCR) radiation environment. This analytical model was then coupled with NASA’s radiation transport code, HZETRN, to account for the effects of passive/structural shielding mass. The resulting model can rapidly obtain results for a given configuration and can therefore be used to analyze an entire trade space of potential variables in less time than is required for even a single Monte Carlo run. Analyzing this trade space for a solenoid magnetic shield design indicates that active shield bending powers greater than ∼15 Tm and passive/structural shielding thicknesses greater than 40 g/cm² have a limited impact on reducing dose equivalent values. Also, it is shown that higher magnetic field strengths are more effective than thicker magnetic fields at reducing dose equivalent.     

基于视频数据的机场跑道外来物检测

提出了一种基于视频数据的机场跑道外来物(FOD,Foreign Object Debris)检测算法,该算法包括几何校正、背景差分、杂波抑制和伪装消除等4个步骤.其中,几何校正排除了摄像头轻微抖动造成的图像差异;背景差分利用每个像素对应的颜色向量信息,建立背景模型并进行定时更新;杂波抑制和伪装消除利用差分图像和原始图像信息,建立马尔科夫随机场和概率统计模型,在降低虚警的同时提高了检测率.将本算法应用于两组不同光照条件下获取的视频图像,检测不同形状和颜色的FOD目标;采用本算法对机场实测数据进行测试,验证了算法的有效性.     

基于声发射的单层铝板高速撞击损伤类型识别

针对基于声发射技术的在轨航天器遭受空间碎片撞击损伤的评估问题,采用AUTODYN软件进行了弹丸超高速正撞击铝板所产生声发射波动信号的数值模拟,给出了二维模拟结果;对所得到的声发射信号进行小波重构,得到低频和高频部分的信号。通过研究低频和高频信号的峰值变化,发现第一和第二峰值幅度与撞击速度的变化具有一定的规律性,通过低频第二峰值幅度与第一峰值幅度比值将高速撞击损伤模式分为成坑、锥形穿孔和圆柱形穿孔三种类型。
     

弹性高超声速飞行器建模及精细姿态控制

为保证超燃冲压发动机的良好进气,需要对高超声速飞行器进行精细姿态控制,但弹性振动问题极大影响其精细姿态控制精度。以高超声速飞行器的纵向通道为例,分析弹性振动问题对飞行控制系统的影响,建立面向控制的弹性高超声速飞行器数学模型,考虑气动参数和模态参数的大范围摄动,采用主动控制策略,基于鲁棒H∞理论和LQR理论设计精细姿态控制系统。大量仿真表明：在考虑测量噪声、舵机非线性、参数大范围摄动的情况下,控制系统能够很好地跟踪刚体攻角,抑制弹性攻角,并保证进气口当地攻角±0.4度的控制精度,满足高超声速飞行器精细姿态控制的要求。     

Removing orbital debris with lasers

Orbital debris in low Earth orbit (LEO) are now sufficiently dense that the use of LEO space is threatened by runaway collision cascading. A problem predicted more than thirty years ago, the threat from debris larger than about 1 cm demands serious attention. A promising proposed solution uses a high power pulsed laser system on the Earth to make plasma jets on the objects, slowing them slightly, and causing them to re-enter and burn up in the atmosphere. In this paper, we reassess this approach in light of recent advances in low-cost, light-weight modular design for large mirrors, calculations of laser-induced orbit changes and in design of repetitive, multi-kilojoules lasers, that build on inertial fusion research. These advances now suggest that laser orbital debris removal (LODR) is the most cost-effective way to mitigate the debris problem. No other solutions have been proposed that address the whole problem of large and small debris. A LODR system will have multiple uses beyond debris removal. International cooperation will be essential for building and operating such a system.     

空间碎片现状与清理

分析了空间碎片的严峻现状和空间碎片的10个来源,指出轨道碰撞是产生碎片最多的因素;介绍了空间碎片的观测方法、原理和观测系统的概况,包括正在兴建的观测系统——“空间篱笆”。最后,根据不同轨道高度和空间碎片的数量与大小,提出空间碎片清理原则、要求和9种清理方法。