Excavation of artificial caverns inside asteroids by leveraging rotational self-energy

Future space ventures will likely require exploitation of near-Earth asteroid resources. Moreover, it can be envisaged that asteroids may host habitats in their interiors. In fact, a cavern inside an asteroid would be a natural radiation shield against cosmic radiation and may also serve as a confined environment for storage of mined material such as water ice or other processed volatiles such as propellants. To this end, this paper proposes to leverage the asteroid rotational self-energy to remove material from the asteroid interiors and create a spherical cavern, by means of the orbital siphon concept. The siphon is a chain of tether-connected payload masses (the asteroid material), which exploits the rotation of the asteroid for the delivery of mass from the asteroid to escape. Under certain conditions the siphon can be initiated to ensure self-sustained flow of mass from the asteroid to escape. A net orbital siphon effect is generated by connecting new payloads at the bottom of the chain while releasing the upper payloads. Key parameters are discussed, such as the required siphon dimension and the maximum size of the internal cavity that can be excavated, as a function of the asteroid rotational period. Moreover, assuming elastic material behaviour, a closed-form expression for the stress tensor is found and a failure criterion is used to identify regions in the asteroid interiors subjected to the larger stresses. It is shown that the conditions for failure are relaxed as the radius of the internal void increases.     

电铸镍Wolter I型光学系统制造技术发展综述

摘要： 为满足未来脉冲星导航和空间天文观测任务对X射线望远镜的载荷需求，Wolter I光学系统的研制正逐渐成为新的研究热点，电铸镍方案是当前国内外X射线光学系统镜筒制造的主要技术方案.文章对电铸镍X射线光学系统制造工艺、国内外研制现状、未来应用需求进行了介绍和整理，梳理了电铸镍X射线光学系统研制遇到的关键技术和难点，提出了后续研究发展建议，以促进中国在 X射线脉冲星自主导航、空间探测领域的快速发展.     

火星探测用降落伞研制试验简介

文章主要介绍了美国火星探测用降落伞研制过程以及在研制过程中的一些主要试验，并同时指出了试验中的一些特点。     

模拟月壤研制的初步设想

模拟月壤是月球样品的地球化学复制品，作者总结世界上已有的5种模拟月壤JSC-1，MLS．1，MLS-2，MKS-1和FJS-1的研制过程、方法与基本理化性质，认为系列化模拟月壤研制对中国首次月球探测有重要意义，在此基础上，作者提出系列化模拟月壤研制的基本思路．     

OSIRIS-REx low-velocity particles during outbound cruise

We analyzed high-angular rate streaks first recorded by OSIRIS-REx’s MapCam during a 2017 search for Earth Trojan asteroids. We interpret them as water-ice particles that translated across the imager’s field of view, originating from the spacecraft itself. Their translation velocities approximated 0.1–1?m/s based on reasonable conclusions about their range. Pursuing several lines of investigation to seek a coherent hypothesis, we conclude that the episodic releases of the water ice particles are associated with spacecraft attitudes that resulted in solar illumination of previously shadowed regions. This correlation suggests that the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft itself possesses micro-climatic zones consisting of hot regions and cold traps that may temporarily potentially pass volatiles back and forth before losing most of them.     

卷簧式浅层月壤取样器设计及动力学分析

面向浅层月壤取样,文章设计了新颖的卷簧式可伸缩小型月壤取样器,它包括柔性取样臂和振动式取样头。对取样器进行了动力学有限元分析,研究了取样臂为不同长度时取样头的振动模态及频率响应,得出取样臂一阶横振频率与取样臂长度呈负幂函数关系;对取样器测控系统进行了振动试验,通过扫频方式测量取样臂为不同长度时的自振频率,给出了取样臂长...     

一种小天体旋转参数估计方法

小天体旋转参数是科学数据,也是小天体测绘,着陆导航的基础数据.研究一种在小天体探测接近段过程中使用的基于图像上特征点跟踪和扩展卡尔曼滤波器的小天体旋转参数估计方法.该方法首先建立小天体旋转关系模型,表示小天体在相机坐标系中的姿态变化;然后定义小天体旋转的状态方程,推到了扩展卡尔曼滤波器的计算过程.通过对观测图像序列上的特征点跟踪,利用扩展卡尔曼滤波器方法得到小天体旋转轴指向和自转角速度估计.实验中,在仿真相机与小天体相机100 km距离上,分析了相机坐标系小天体坐标系之间的四元数初值,图像上特征点跟踪精度,相机的观测指向等因素对小天体旋转参数估计精度的影响.实验结果表明,提出的基于图像特征点跟踪和扩展卡尔曼滤波器的小天体旋转参数估计方法能够得到具有较高精度的估计结果.     

国内外行星表面巡视器自主导航技术研究

作为航天技术发展的前沿和趋势,深空探测是人类历史上最为复杂的系统工程之一.星球巡视器是在星球表面移动作业的无人探测系统,能够对星球表面进行大面积、近距离和接触式的考察,是地外星球着陆探测作业的主要手段.星球巡视器导航技术是研究星球巡视器的关键技术之一,其导航自主性能直接影响星球探测计划能否顺利进行.本文首先概述了星球巡...     

深空探测器无线电干涉测量开源数据处理系统构建及试验

为更好地开展深空无线电干涉测量试验,基于DiFX(Distributed FX,分布式FX型相关处理)、SPICE(Spacecraft Planet Instrument Camera-matrix Events,航天器行星仪器照相机矩阵事件)、HOPS(Haystack Observatory Postprocessing System,Haystack克天文台后处理系统)及AIPS(Astronomical Image Processing System,天文图像处理系统)等开源软件,搭建了一套可用于深空探测器信号相关处理的无线电干涉测量数据处理系统。首先介绍了该系统的整体架构及组成,然后介绍了系统各组成模块的功能及工作原理,最后利用该系统对嫦娥三号着陆器开展了观测试验,并对观测数据进行了处理。试验结果表明,该系统能成功实现深空航天器信号的相关处理、条纹拟合,以及时延解算等功能,有望为我国嫦娥五号任务及火星探测任务数据处理提供支持。