Tumbling object deorbiting using spaceborne laser engagement – A CubeSat case study

This paper demonstrates active space debris removal using spaceborne laser systems. The laser beam and the surface of the target are discretised into multiple rays and finite elements, respectively, for laser-target interaction modelling, in which the laser ablation process is investigated. A high-fidelity attitude/orbit propagator tool is developed to account for both the linear impulse and angular impulse induced by the laser engagement and other perturbations. The laser system is activated only when three switch criteria are satisfied. In numerical simulations, laser pulses from international space station are generated to deorbit a 3U CubeSat with initially tumbling modes. The results validate the effectiveness of deorbiting tumbling CubeSats using spaceborne laser engagement, with the perigee height lowered by approximately $2.4\mathrm{km}$ in around $30\min$ after $2\mathrm{h}$ propagation. It is also found that the laser engagement becomes more effective for an initially faster rotating object.     

Uncertainty propagation for statistical impact prediction of space debris

Predictions of the impact time and location of space debris in a decaying trajectory are highly influenced by uncertainties. The traditional Monte Carlo (MC) method can be used to perform accurate statistical impact predictions, but requires a large computational effort. A method is investigated that directly propagates a Probability Density Function (PDF) in time, which has the potential to obtain more accurate results with less computational effort. The decaying trajectory of Delta-K rocket stages was used to test the methods using a six degrees-of-freedom state model. The PDF of the state of the body was propagated in time to obtain impact-time distributions. This Direct PDF Propagation (DPP) method results in a multi-dimensional scattered dataset of the PDF of the state, which is highly challenging to process. No accurate results could be obtained, because of the structure of the DPP data and the high dimensionality. Therefore, the DPP method is less suitable for practical uncontrolled entry problems and the traditional MC method remains superior. Additionally, the MC method was used with two improved uncertainty models to obtain impact-time distributions, which were validated using observations of true impacts. For one of the two uncertainty models, statistically more valid impact-time distributions were obtained than in previous research.     

Design and fabrication of robotic gripper for grasping in minimizing contact force

This paper presents a new method to improve the kinematics of robot gripper for grasping in unstructured environments, such as space operations. The robot gripper is inspired from the human hand and kept the hand design close to the structure of human fingers to provide successful grasping capabilities. The main goal is to improve kinematic structure of gripper to increase the grasping capability of large objects, decrease the contact forces and makes a successful grasp of various objects in unstructured environments. This research will describe the development of a self-adaptive and reconfigurable robotic hand for space operations through mechanical compliance which is versatile, robust and easy to control. Our model contains two fingers, two-link and three-link, with combining a kinematic model of thumb index. Moreover, some experimental tests are performed to examine the effectiveness of the hand-made in real, unstructured tasks. The results represent that the successful grasp range is improved about 30% and the contact forces is reduced approximately 10% for a wide range of target object size. According to the obtained results, the proposed approach provides an accommodative kinematic model which makes the better grasping capability by fingers geometries for a robot gripper.     

PCE方法在空间实验室轨道预报误差分析中的应用

应用多项式混沌展开法(PCE)进行空间实验室轨道预报误差分析。通过构建PCE模型对轨道预报的不确定性传播过程进行近似，进而对轨道预报后航天器位置和速度的误差进行分析。分析了不同PCE模型阶数、预报时长以及样本点的数目对构建PCE模型的影响。综合考虑精度和计算效率，给出了适用于空间实验室轨道预报误差分析的PCE模型。将PCE方法与传统方法进行对比，结果表明PCE方法有较好的非线性近似能力，且计算效率高，验证了PCE方法应用于空间实验室轨道预报误差分析的有效性。     

Orientational versus esthetical urban street morphology parameterization in Space Syntax

Current topological and geometrical distances in Space Syntax are based on the premise that each change of direction along a path is a mental cost because one loses orientation. This paper proposes to extend the analysis to the case in which esthetic and variety, rather than orientation, are the key elements of street selection. It is widely recognized that most people are attracted to curvy paths rather than straight ones; therefore, when one is not worried about losing orientation in her walk, or when the preferred path is well recognizable even when it requires changes of direction, we should adopt another criterion to weigh distances: morphoahestetic and networkvariety criteria are shown as potential parameterization for Space Syntax distances.     

空间太阳能电站姿态运动-结构振动耦合建模与分析

针对多旋转关节空间太阳能电站构型，利用基于能量等效原理的连续体等效方法将其等效为柔性梁模型，并考虑重力梯度影响，建立了姿态运动与结构振动的耦合动力学模型；结合Runge-Kutta 法和Newmark法的优点，提出了适用于求解姿态运动与结构振动耦合动力学方程的改进算法，相比于经典Runge-Kutta 法大幅提高了效率；利用改进算法得到了不同参数下的动力学响应。在此基础上，推导了结构振动量级随结构尺寸的六次方量级增加的规律，仿真结果表明尺寸过大引发不稳定现象；分析了姿态运动和重力梯度对结构振动频率和振幅的影响；发现了姿态运动周期受结构柔性影响而增大的现象，这种现象在低轨以及大初始姿态角下影响更为明显。     

一种火箭发射场坪流场的环形线汇描述方法

针对火箭发射场坪流场分布规律，基于势流法提出环形线汇描述方法，推导了环形线汇流场的速度势和速度的计算公式，建立了流场的FLUENT仿真模型并进行计算，将环形线汇理论计算结果与仿真结果进行对比。结果表明，不同火箭半径和入口流速对环形线汇和FLUENT仿真两种方法计算结果的相关性没有影响，随着箭井间隙增大，两种方法计算结果的相关度减小；环形线汇方法能够描述发射场坪流场变化趋势，在箭井间隙较小且误差允许时可以作为发射场坪流场的简化描述方法。     

VLBI observations to the APOD satellite

The APOD (Atmospheric density detection and Precise Orbit Determination) is the first LEO (Low Earth Orbit) satellite in orbit co-located with a dual-frequency GNSS (GPS/BD) receiver, an SLR reflector, and a VLBI X/S dual band beacon. From the overlap statistics between consecutive solution arcs and the independent validation by SLR measurements, the orbit position deviation was below 10?cm before the on-board GNSS receiver got partially operational. In this paper, the focus is on the VLBI observations to the LEO satellite from multiple geodetic VLBI radio telescopes, since this is the first implementation of a dedicated VLBI transmitter in low Earth orbit. The practical problems of tracking a fast moving spacecraft with current VLBI ground infrastructure were solved and strong interferometric fringes were obtained by cross-correlation of APOD carrier and DOR (Differential One-way Ranging) signals. The precision in X-band time delay derived from 0.1?s integration time of the correlator output is on the level of 0.1?ns. The APOD observations demonstrate encouraging prospects of co-location of multiple space geodetic techniques in space, as a first prototype.     

Simulation of long-term rotational dynamics of large space debris: A TOPEX/Poseidon case study

Accurate knowledge of the rotational dynamics of a large space debris is crucial for space situational awareness (SSA), whether it be for accurate orbital predictions needed for satellite conjunction analyses or for the success of an eventual active debris removal mission charged with stabilization, capture and removal of debris from orbit. In this light, the attitude dynamics of an inoperative satellite of great interest to the space debris community, the joint French and American spacecraft TOPEX/Poseidon, is explored. A comparison of simulation results with observations obtained from high-frequency satellite range measurements is made, showing that the spacecraft is currently spinning about its minor principal axis in a stable manner. Predictions of the evolution of its attitude motion to 2030 are presented, emphasizing the uncertainty on those estimates due to internal energy dissipation, which could cause a change of its spin state in the future. The effect of solar radiation pressure and the eddy-current torque are investigated in detail, and insights into some of the satellite’s missing properties are provided. These results are obtained using a novel, open-source, coupled orbit-attitude propagation software, the Debris SPin/Orbit Simulation Environment (D-SPOSE), whose primary goal is the study of the long-term evolution of the attitude dynamics of large space debris.     

多波段光谱辐亮度计量值溯源技术研究

光谱辐亮度计是实现空间遥感仪器在地面实验室内进行高精度光谱定标的关键设备之一，本文基于标准探测器的辐亮度传递原理，利用视场光阑、孔径光阑、窄带滤光片和光电二极管研制了10测量通道的遮光筒式多波段光谱辐亮度计，测量波长分布在（400~1 100）nm范围。具有校准通道，与积分球单色光源匹配使用，实现光谱辐亮度的量值溯源，测量不确定度优于2.2%。