Correlation of IRTAM and FPMU data confirming the application of IRTAM to support ISS Program safety

A “Real-Time” plasma hazard assessment process was developed to support International Space Station (ISS) Program real-time decision-making providing solar array constraint relief information for Extravehicular Activities (EVAs) planning and operations. This process incorporates real-time ionospheric conditions, ISS solar arrays’ orientation, ISS flight attitude, and where the EVA will be performed on the ISS. This assessment requires real-time data that is presently provided by the Floating Potential Measurement Unit (FPMU) which measures the ISS floating potential (FP), along with ionospheric electron number density (Ne) and electron temperature (Te), in order to determine the present ISS environment. Once the present environment conditions are correlated with International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) values, IRI is used to forecast what the environment could become in the event of a severe geomagnetic storm. If the FPMU should fail, the Space Environments team needs another source of data which is utilized to support a short-term forecast for EVAs. The IRI Real-Time Assimilative Mapping (IRTAM) model is an ionospheric model that uses real-time measurements from a large network of digisondes to produce foF2 and hmF2 global maps in 15?min cadence. The Boeing Space Environments team has used the IRI coefficients produced in IRTAM to calculate the Ne along the ISS orbital track. The results of the IRTAM model have been compared to FPMU measurements and show excellent agreement. IRTAM has been identified as the FPMU back-up system that will be used to support the ISS Program if the FPMU should fail.     

Solar sailing in realistic mode,based on a locally-optimal control laws

Ballistic design of solar sailing missions in the solar system is composed of defining the design parameters, the control programs, and the trajectories that provide performance goals of a flight. The use of a solar sail spacecraft imposes specific restrictions on mission parameters that include the degradation limit on the flight duration, the maximum temperature of solar sail's surface, the minimum distance from the Sun, the maximum angular velocity of the spacecraft's rotation and others.Many authors considered the impact of these restrictions on the design of the mission separately, but they used a sophisticated method of finding the exact optimal motion control or applied the most straightforward laws of motion control. This paper uses local-optimal control laws at the complete mathematical models of motion and functioning of solar sail spacecraft to describe a technique of designing interplanetary missions. The described method avoids the need to obtain an accurate optimal solution to the control problem and does not cause significant computational difficulties.     

Stability of relative equilibria of the full spacecraft dynamics around an asteroid with orbit–attitude coupling

The full dynamics of spacecraft around an asteroid, in which the spacecraft is considered as a rigid body and the gravitational orbit–attitude coupling is taken into account, is of great value and interest in the precise theories of the motion. The spectral stability of the classical relative equilibria of the full spacecraft dynamics around an asteroid is studied with the method of geometric mechanics. The stability conditions are given explicitly based on the characteristic equation of the linear system matrix. It is found that the linearized system decouples into two entirely independent subsystems, which correspond to the motions within and outside the equatorial plane of the asteroid respectively. The system parameters are divided into three groups that describe the traditional stationary orbit stability, the significance of the orbit–attitude coupling and the mass distribution of the spacecraft respectively. The spectral stability of the relative equilibria is investigated numerically with respect to the three groups of system parameters. The relations between the full spacecraft dynamics and the traditional spacecraft dynamics, as well as the effect of the orbit–attitude coupling, are assessed. We find that when the orbit–attitude coupling is strong, the mass distribution of the spacecraft dominates the stability of the relative equilibria; whereas when the orbit–attitude coupling is weak, both the mass distribution and the traditional stationary orbit stability have significant effects on the stability. We also give a criterion to determine whether the orbit–attitude coupling needs to be considered.     

Thrusting maneuver control of a small spacecraft via only gimbaled-thruster scheme

The thrust vector control (TVC) scheme is a powerful method in spacecraft attitude control. Since the control of a small spacecraft is being studied here, a solid rocket motor (SRM) should be used instead of a liquid propellant motor. Among the TVC methods, gimbaled-TVC as an efficient method is employed in this paper. The spacecraft structure is composed of a body and a gimbaled-SRM where common attitude control systems such as reaction control system (RCS) and spin-stabilization are not presented. A nonlinear two-body model is considered for the characterization of the gimbaled-thruster spacecraft where, the only control input is provided by a gimbal actuator. The attitude of the spacecraft is affected by a large exogenous disturbance torque which is generated by a thrust vector misalignment from the center of mass (C.M). A linear control law is designed to stabilize the spacecraft attitude while rejecting the mentioned disturbance torque. A semi-analytical formulation of the region of attraction (RoA) is developed to ensure the local stability and fast convergence of the nonlinear closed-loop system. Simulation results of the 3D maneuvers are included to show the applicability of this method for use in a small spacecraft.     

柔性航天器的动力学建模问题

首先简单介绍了关于柔性航天器动力学建模的一些综述论文,指出了柔性航天器动力学建模的困难所在。然后,分别对柔性体变形运动的描述模型,浮动参考架的选择、动力学方程的建立和模型降阶等问题进行了探讨。     

航天飞机再入航迹初步设计的一种计算方法

本文给出一种由航天飞机质心位置和飞行速度随高度的变化值计算再入航迹其它运动参数的方法。用美国“哥伦比亚”号航天飞机轨道器的飞行数据验算表明,该方法不失为一种可供再入航迹初步设计中选用的简便算法。     

空间辐射器热分析

在航天飞机温控系统中,空间辐射器是最主要部件。对以航天飞机蒙皮为辐射表面的,单面翼—管式空间辐射器进行了详细的热分析,把平均翼效率代替局部翼效率,利用有限差分的方法对单面翼—管式辐射器进行了性能计算。     

航天器热网络模型及其系数修正方法

叙述了目前航天器热网络模型与航天器实际换热之间的偏差,提出了利用航天器稳态热平衡试验结果进行热网络模型及其系数修正的方法。通过对某仪器舱热平衡试验数据的处理,实现了对该仪器舱热网络模型及其系数的修正,并对修正的结果进行了讨论。     

着陆缓冲装置特性分析及控制方法研究

着陆缓冲技术在航天器回收系统中的应用日益广泛,文章对着陆缓冲过程所使用的两种发动机推力制度进行了比较;分析了着陆缓冲过程中影响系统最终性能的因素。认为影响最大的因素是初始条件和环境条件的改变,对此提出了一种较为实用的控制方法。应用这一方法,可以最大限度地消除初始条件和环境条件的改变对着陆缓冲装置性能的影响。