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.     

United Nations Human Space Technology Initiative (HSTI)

The Human Space Technology Initiative was launched in 2010 within the framework of the United Nations Programme on Space Applications implemented by the Office for Outer Space Affairs of the United Nations. It aims to involve more countries in activities related to human spaceflight and space exploration and to increase the benefits from the outcome of such activities through international cooperation, to make space exploration a truly international effort.     

Challenges and perspectives of transport cargo vehicles utilization for performing research in free flight

Russian Progress transport cargo vehicles have successfully been used in different space station programs since 1978. At present time, they play an important role in the International Space Station (ISS) project. Main tasks performed by the transport cargo vehicle (TCV) in the station program are the following: refueling of the station, delivery of consumables and equipment, waste removal, station attitude control and orbit correction maneuver execution.     

An ethical duty: Let astronautical development unfold – to make the people more secure

In examining alternative space-development models, one observes that Heinlein postulated the first Moon flight as the outcome of the focused action of an individual – building upon an ample commercial aerospace transportation infrastructure. The same technological basis and entrepreneurial drive would then sustain a fast human and economic expansion on three new planets. Instead, historically, humans reached the Moon thanks to a “Faustian bargain” between astronautical developers and governments. This approach brought the early Apollo triumphs, but it also created the presumption of this method as the sole one for enabling space development. Eventually, the application of this paradigm caused the decline of the astronautical endeavor. Thus, just as conventional methods became unable to sustain the astronautical endeavor, space development appeared as vital, e.g., to satisfy the people?s basic needs (metabolic resources, energy, materials, and space), as shown elsewhere. Such an endeavor must grow from actions generating new wealth through commercial activities to become self-supporting. Acquisition and distribution of multiform space resources call, however, for a sound ethical environment, as predatory governments can easily forfeit those resources.     

利用高分辨率遥感数据的芦山地震道路损毁快速评估

道路损毁评估是地震损失评估工作的重要内容。文章根据芦山7.0级地震应急评估需求,提出利用多源遥感数据的道路损毁评估方法。首先,针对获取的高分辨率遥感数据特点,建立道路损毁遥感解译标准,进一步考虑地震平均烈度,建立以县为单元的灾区道路损毁等级快速评估模型,最后给出了地震灾区基于高分辨率遥感数据的快速制图产品和灾区道路损毁分县等级评估结果。结果表明,道路损毁极重灾区有芦山县、宝兴县,重灾区有天全县、雨城区、荥经县、名山区、邛崃市,一般灾区有汉源县等14个县(市、区)。相关研究和结果为震后救灾决策提供了重要支撑。     

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.     

The Big Pine Creek watershed and climate change: A trend analysis of Landsat surface reflectance and PRISM datasets over the last 3 decades

Recent variations in normal meteorological conditions indicate the earth’s climate is changing in ways that may impact delicate ecological balances in sensitive regions. Identifying how those changes are affecting the biosphere is essential if we are going to be able to adapt to those changes and to potentially mitigate their harmful consequences. This paper presents a time series study of an alpine ecosystem in the Big Pine Creek watershed in California’s Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountain’s. Raw Landsat data covering the years 1984 through 2011 is converted to observed surface reflectance and analyzed for trends that would indicate a change in the ecosystem. We found that over the time period of the study, observed surface reflectance shows a general decline across the spectrum while our analysis of environmental data demonstrates statistically significant increases in temperatures. While declining reflectance in the visible and short wave bands are indicators of increased surface cover, the fact that the IR band also shows declines is consistent with a decline in tree density. This study provides a useful insight into the ecological response of the Big Pine Creek watershed to recent climate change. These findings suggest that alpine ecosystems are particularly sensitive to increasing temperatures. If these results are replicated in other alpine watersheds it will demonstrate that the biosphere is already showing the effects of a warmer environment.     

基于图像的经纬仪测量目标快速瞄准技术

电子经纬仪是一种高精度的测角仪器,由多台高精度电子经纬仪构成的测量系统可以实现三维坐标测量,用于对大型工业产品的几何检测。但经纬仪在测量过程中仍然需要人工瞄准目标,存在速度慢、效率低、人为因素影响大等不足。实现经纬仪自动照准目标功能将是一个新的发展方向。提出一种基于图像的自动瞄准技术,通过在经纬仪上安装一台相机获取待测目标点的图像,利用图形目标识别技术获取目标点图像坐标,依据相机与经纬仪的空间关系可以获得各目标点相对于经纬仪的初始角度,从而实现目标点的快速概略定位,理论推导及实验证明本方法能够准确有效的获得目标点的概略位置。     

铷频标物理系统的改进研究

物理系统是铷频标的核心部件,通过分析影响频率稳定度的因素,对物理系统内部结构进行了改进。改进后的物理系统采用分离滤光的三泡结构,增加了光学滤光技术,此外,物理系统还选用了磁控管微波腔。经测试,改进后的铷频标温度系数为9.7×10^-14/℃,频率稳定度约为1×10^-12/τ（1s≤τ≤10 000s）。     

基于抗噪声ICA的高光谱数据特征提取方法

特征提取是高光谱数据应用的一个重要环节,用于将高光谱数据中具有特殊性质的地物分离出来并去除冗余信息.提出了一种使用独立成分分析(ICA,Independent Component Analysis)进行高光谱遥感地物特征提取的方法.为了解决ICA对噪声过分敏感的问题,采用最大噪声分量(MNF,Maximum Noise Fraction)算法替代传统的主成分分析对数据作降噪处理,由MNF引出的不完全独立成分分析(UICA,Undercomplete ICA)在不牺牲特征提取能力的情况下能够获得很高的运算效率.给出了HYDICE和PHI的数据试验结果,分别测试了算法在时间效率和特征提取能力方面的性能,证明了该算法具有预期的性能.