A rendezvous navigation algorithm for orbit determination, based on visual measurements by space vehicle crew members

At present, various radio navigation systems are employed during the automated approach of a transport vehicle to a space station. Experience has shown that emergency situations can occur in which it is necessary to revert to manual override of the automatic approach.Such situations have indeed occurred during flight operations of the space station Mir. The crews of the transport vehicles and the Mir used manual steering more than 30 times for successful docking, and four times for approach to the station.Successful manual steering demands absolute understanding of the relative orbit parameters. The decisive task of the crew is to determine these relative parameters. This is possible using visual observations from either the transport vehicle or the station using simple and reliable instruments. This article explains the algorithm for determining the relative orbits from visual crew observations, based on similarities of relative orbit families.     

Formation and Evolution of Titan’s Atmosphere

The origin and evolution of Titan’s enigmatic atmosphere is reviewed. Starting with the present-day volatile inventory, the question of what was the original composition on Titan and how a satellite of similar size to other Galilean moons managed to acquire and hold on to the required material is discussed. In particular the possible sources and sinks of the main mother molecules (nitrogen, methane and oxygen) are investigated in view of the most recent models and laboratory experiments. The answers expected to be provided by the instruments aboard the Cassini-Huygens mission to some of the most prominent current questions regarding Titan’s atmosphere are defined.     

Finite Element Modelling of Failure of a Multi-Material Target due to High Velocity Space Debris Impacts

Lagrangian finite element methods have been used extensively in the past to study the non-linear transient behaviour of materials, ranging from crash tests of cars to simulating bird strikes on planes. However, as this type of space discretisation does not allow for motion of the material through the mesh when modelling extremely large deformations, the mesh becomes highly distorted. This paper describes some limitations and applicability of this type of analysis for high velocity impacts. A method for dealing with this problem by the erosion of elements is proposed, where the main driver is the definition of element failure strains. Results were compared with empirical perforation results and were found to be in good agreement. The results were then used to simulate high velocity impacts upon a multi-layered aluminium target in order to predict a ballistic limit curve. LS-DYNA3D was used as the FE solver for all simulations. Meshes were generated using Truegrid.     

Effect of Multi-wall System Composition on Survivability for Spacecraft Impacted by Orbital Debris

Long-duration spacecraft in low earth orbit such as the International Space Station (ISS) are highly susceptible to high-speed impacts by pieces of debris from past earth-orbiting missions. Among the hazards that accompany the penetration of a pressurized manned spacecraft are critical crack propagation in the module wall, crew hypoxia, and uncontrolled thrust due to air rushing out of the module wall hole. A Monte Carlo simulation tool was used to determine the effect of spacecraft wall construction on the survivability of ISS modules and crew following an orbital debris penetration. The simulation results indicate that enhanced shield wall designs (i.e., multi-wall systems with heavier inner bumpers) always lead to higher overall survivability of the station and crew due to an overwhelming decrease in likelihood of module penetration. The results of the simulations also indicate that changes in crew operations, equipment locations, and operation procedures can significantly reduce the likelihood of crew or station loss following an orbital debris penetration.     

Hysteresis Provides Self-Organization in a Plasma Model

The magnetosphere is a multi-scale spatio-temporal complex dynamical system. Self-organization is a possible solution to the seemingly contradicting observation of the repeatable and coherent substorm phenomena with underlying complex behavior in the plasma sheet. Self-organization, through spatio-temporal chaos, emerges naturally in a plasma physics model with sporadic dissipation.     

一类非平稳随机过程未来变化趋势的多步实时预报

本文在回避建立过程加速度模型这一传统方法的前提下，提出了一类非平衡随机过程未来变化趋势的多步实时预报模型，并对高斯白噪声背景下过程变化的共性进行了研究。文中给出了算例与仿真计算结果。     

自由漂浮空间机器人最小基座反作用轨迹规划

在自由漂浮空间机器人系统中,由于机械臂与基座之间存在动力学耦合,机械臂运动会对基座产生不期望的反作用干扰,因此必须最小化基座反作用。为此,提出了一种关节空间内点对点轨迹规划的方法。首先,利用sin函数参数化关节轨迹;然后根据基座反作用和运动约束定义适应函数;最后利用混沌粒子群优化(CPSO)算法搜索空间机械臂的全局最优轨迹,使基座反作用最小。该方法考虑了机械臂的关节角、关节速度和加速度约束。给出一个仿真算例来验证该方法的有效性。规划的轨迹连续平滑,适用于多自由度空间机械臂。     

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...     

一种改进的适用于空间网络的密钥交互协议

因特网密钥交互协议第二版（IKEv2）正在成为新一代互联网密钥交互标准。与因特网密钥交互协议第一版（IKEv1）相比,IKEv2协议具有更可靠、更安全等优势。空间信息网络对密钥交互协议具有严格效率要求和安全性要求,文章在对空间信息网络安全需求分析的基础上,结合空间信息网络的特点,设计了一种适用于空间信息网络的密钥交互协...     

Vector容器内存增长机制研究

当在内存中存储数据时,常常需要在运行时调整内存的大小,vector提供了一个安全、简易并且自动化的内存分配技术。基于时间效率、空间利用率方面的考虑,提出了几种修改内存增长机制的方法,并在此基础上,结合实际应用进行分析,从时间效率和空间利用率两方面对不同内存增长机制进行了比较,得出在实际应用中根据实际情况调整内存增长机制...