大型降落伞开伞过程中的“抽鞭”现象

＂抽鞭＂现象是在大型降落伞开伞过程中可能的顶部甩动现象,它可能造成伞衣破损、不对称充气、伞衣翻转、鞭打等后果,严重时可能造成回收任务完全失败。该文对美国回收系统降落伞开伞过程中出现的＂抽鞭＂现象及其后果进行了综述,并介绍了避免＂抽鞭＂现象的途径。目前对这一现象的机理还缺乏深入研究,有必要从理论和设计上对其进行分析。     

采用单轴双太阳帆板空间站的一种姿态定向模式

采用单轴双帆板供电和单框架控制力矩陀螺(SGCMG)作为执行机构的倾斜轨道空间站,当太阳方向与轨道面夹角较大时,帆板的光照条件不易保证,为此本文针对这种类型的空间站设计了一种姿态定向模式以保证帆板的光照条件,并通过在阴影区姿态机动,利用重力梯度力矩对SGCMG进行卸载。仿真结果表明,该姿态定向模式满足太阳帆板的光照条件,重力梯度力矩卸载方法保证了SGCMG中的角动量不超出给定的范围。     

国外空间用三反离轴相机发展分析与思考

空间用三反离轴光学系统自20世纪70年代提出,从90年代开始在多个国家的卫星光学有效载荷中已经或计划得到应用并快速发展,技术基本成熟,领域涉及到对地观测、空间目标探测、天文观测、多光谱热成像、立体测绘等,但是普遍认为制造装调技术比较难.文章通过广泛调研国外三反离轴系统在空间的应用和发展现状,并按应用情况、系统参数和系统构型进行了分类比较,分析其发展趋势,为中国空间相机发展三反离轴光学系统提供借鉴.     

空间飞行器的对接分离与地面模拟试验的仿真分析研究

对两对接飞行器的分离过程和地面模拟试验过程进行了理论分析,论述了两飞行器在分离瞬 间空间分离过程与地面模拟试验过程之间的对应比拟关系;依据地面试验中给出的多种工况 ,利用多体动力学软件ADAMS仿真分析并比对了地面和空间零重力两种环境条件下两飞行器 分离时的运动特性,讨论了地面五自由度对接分离气浮平台模拟两飞行器在空间实际分离时 带来的原理误差影响。     

自由飘浮空间机器人地面实验系统

针对空间机器人的运动的地面模拟,基于运动学等效原理提出一种用固定基座机器人模拟空间机器人运动的方法。运用该方法,在地面用两个基座固定的六自由度工业机器人组建了一套空间机器人的地面模拟系统。应用该系统成功模拟了自由飘浮空间机器人捕获自由运动目标的运动,实验结果证明了该方法的有效性。
     

Measurements of the radiation quality factor Q at aviation altitudes during solar minimum (2006–2008)

In radiation protection, the Q-factor has been defined to describe the biological effectiveness of the energy deposition or absorbed dose to humans in the mixed radiation fields at aviation altitudes. This particular radiation field is generated by the interactions of primary cosmic particles with the atoms of the constituents of the Earth’s atmosphere. Thus the intensity, characterized by the ambient dose equivalent rate H∗(10), depends on the flight altitude and the energy spectra of the particles, mainly protons and alpha particles, impinging on the atmosphere. These charged cosmic projectiles are deflected both by the interplanetary and the Earth’s magnetic field such that the corresponding energy spectra are modulated by these fields. The solar minimum is a time period of particular interest since the interplanetary magnetic field is weakest within the 11-year solar cycle and the dose rates at aviation altitudes reach their maximum due to the reduced shielding of galactic cosmic radiation. For this reason, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) performed repeated dosimetric on-board measurements in cooperation with several German airlines during the past solar minimum from March 2006 to August 2008. The Q-factors measured with a TEPC range from 1.98 at the equator to 2.60 in the polar region.     

Characterizing bedrock lithologies using Small Crater Rims and Ejecta Probing (SCREP)

This paper describes the rationale, methodology, and importance of focusing on the rim and proximal ejecta of small (<5 km in diameter), immature impact craters to explore an underlying crustal lithology. Small Crater Rim and Ejecta Probing (SCREP) describes a methodology and application program that extracts bedrock spectral and compositional information from a remote sensing image. Extracted data can yield the pristine lithologies of a planetary crust that would otherwise be obscured by the products of space weathering processes. SCREP was developed with lunar data, specifically Clementine multispectral image mosaics, therefore the technique is discussed in this context. However, its application to other airless solar system bodies is apparent. Knowledge of the pristine bedrock compositions of a planetary crust provides insight into geological surface processes, which can be used to refine models of planetary interiors and their evolution.     

Changes in operational procedures to improve spaceflight experiments in plant biology in the European Modular Cultivation System

The microgravity environment aboard orbiting spacecraft has provided a unique laboratory to explore topics in basic plant biology as well as applied research on the use of plants in bioregenerative life support systems. Our group has utilized the European Modular Cultivation System (EMCS) aboard the International Space Station (ISS) to study plant growth, development, tropisms, and gene expression in a series of spaceflight experiments. The most current project performed on the ISS was termed Seedling Growth-1 (SG-1) which builds on the previous TROPI (for tropisms) experiments performed in 2006 and 2010. Major technical and operational changes in SG-1 (launched in March 2013) compared to the TROPI experiments include: (1) improvements in lighting conditions within the EMCS to optimize the environment for phototropism studies, (2) the use of infrared illumination to provide high-quality images of the seedlings, (3) modifications in procedures used in flight to improve the focus and overall quality of the images, and (4) changes in the atmospheric conditions in the EMCS incubator. In SG-1, a novel red-light-based phototropism in roots and hypocotyls of seedlings that was noted in TROPI was confirmed and now can be more precisely characterized based on the improvements in procedures. The lessons learned from sequential experiments in the TROPI hardware provide insights to other researchers developing space experiments in plant biology.     

Parallel,adaptive, multi-object trajectory integrator for space simulation applications

Computer simulation is a very helpful approach for improving results from space born experiments. Initial-value problems (IVPs) can be applied for modeling dynamics of different objects – artificial Earth satellites, charged particles in magnetic and electric fields, charged or non-charged dust particles, space debris. An ordinary differential equations systems (ODESs) integrator based on applying different order embedded Runge–Kutta–Fehlberg methods is developed. These methods enable evaluation of the local error. Instead of step-size control based on local error evaluation, an optimal integration method is selected. Integration while meeting the required local error proceeds with constant-sized steps. This optimal scheme selection reduces the amount of calculation needed for solving the IVPs. In addition, for an implementation on a multi core processor and parallelization based on threads application, we describe how to solve multiple systems of IVPs efficiently in parallel.