Contingency target assessment,trajectory design,and analysis for NASA’s NEA scout solar sail mission

The presented study examines contingency target selection and trajectory design for NASA’s Near-Earth Asteroid Scout mission under the assumption of a missed lunar gravity assist. Two previously considered asteroids are selected as potential targets for the given scenario based on favorable orbital characteristics for launch dates ranging from June 27, 2020 through July 26, 2020. Initially, a simplified circular restricted 3-body problem + ideal solar sail model is utilized to survey trajectory options for a month-long launch window. Selected solutions from this data set are then converged in an N-body ephemeris + non-ideal sail model. Results suggest that NEA Scout can still perform asteroid rendezvous mission under the missed lunar gravity assist scenario with new targets, 2019 GF1, 2018 PK21, and 2007 UN12, based on the target launch dates. Further target assessment is carried out for 165 days beyond the current June 27, 2020 launch date.     

Optimal nodal flyby with near-Earth asteroids using electric sail

The aim of this paper is to quantify the performance of an Electric Solar Wind Sail for accomplishing flyby missions toward one of the two orbital nodes of a near-Earth asteroid. Assuming a simplified, two-dimensional mission scenario, a preliminary mission analysis has been conducted involving the whole known population of those asteroids at the beginning of the 2013 year. The analysis of each mission scenario has been performed within an optimal framework, by calculating the minimum-time trajectory required to reach each orbital node of the target asteroid. A considerable amount of simulation data have been collected, using the spacecraft characteristic acceleration as a parameter to quantify the Electric Solar Wind Sail propulsive performance. The minimum time trajectory exhibits a different structure, which may or may not include a solar wind assist maneuver, depending both on the Sun-node distance and the value of the spacecraft characteristic acceleration. Simulations show that over 60% of near-Earth asteroids can be reached with a total mission time less than 100 days, whereas the entire population can be reached in less than 10 months with a spacecraft characteristic acceleration of 1 mm/s².     

Experimental comparison between aircraft fuel tank inerting processes using NEA and MIG

Fuel tank inerting technologies are able to reduce the fire risk by injection of inert gas into the ullage or fuel, the former called ullage washing and the latter fuel scrubbing. The Green On-Board Inert Gas Generation System (GOBIGGS) is a novel technology based on flameless catalytic combustion, and owning to its simple structure and high inerting efficiency, it has received a lot of attentions. The inert gas in the GOBIGGS is mainly comprised of CO₂, N₂, and O₂ (hereinafter, Mixed Inert Gas (MIG)), while that in the On-Board Inert Gas Generation System (OBIGGS), which is one of the most widely used fuel tank inerting technologies, is Nitrogen-Enriched Air (NEA). The solubility of CO₂ is nearly 20 times higher than that of N₂ in jet fuels, so the inerting capability and performance are definitely disparate if the inert gas is selected as NEA or MIG. An inerting test bench was constructed to compare the inerting capabilities between NEA and MIG. Experimental results reveal that, if ullage washing is adopted, the variations of oxygen concentrations on the ullage and in the fuel are nearly identical no matter the inert gas is NEA or MIG. However, the ullage and dissolved oxygen concentrations of MIG scrubbing are always higher than those of NEA scrubbing.     

机载制氮系统中空纤维膜分离特性

采用微元方法建立了机载制氮系统中空纤维膜数学模型,并使用龙格-库塔法对其进行了数值计算,与实验数据进行对比后显示,误差不超过10%.然后分析了单位膜面积进料量、膜丝(membrane fiber)内外压比和氧氮渗透比其对产品气氧体积分数和制氮效率的影响.结果表明:增加单位膜面积进料量虽然可提高制氮效率的增加,但是会显著降低产品气中氮的体积分数,因此需要采用合适的流程设计以克服此缺点.压比和氧气渗透系数的增加均会使氧体积分数与制氮效率减小,但是提高渗透比对制氮效率影响不大,因此对于气体分离过程是有利的.通过计算模型及实验数据,分析了中空纤维膜分离理想度随压比和温度的变化关系,结果显示压力对理想度影响较大,随着压力增加,实际分离过程与理论值偏差趋大,而温度对理想度影响较小.      

机载膜空气分离装置分离特性

机栽膜空气分离装置的用途就是提供飞机油箱惰性化技术所需要的富氮气体.本文通过在地面建立惰化系统模拟试验台,对国内某厂生产的膜机载空气分离装置展开了较为系统的理论分析及试验研究.研究结果表明:(1)输入空气压力、输出产品气流量和海拔高度(环境背压)均对膜装置的分离性能有着重要的影响,尤其在低海拔高度下,当输入空气压力较低、而输出产品气流量要求较大时,该影响更为显著;(2)无论在什么海拔高度条件下,环境温度对膜装置分离性能均有一定影响;(3)输入空气温度对膜装置分离性能的影响较小.文章指出:在实际情化系统设计中,需综合考虑输入空气压力、输出产品气流量、海拔高度和温度等因素,采取恰当的流量和浓度变化规律,才能满足飞机油箱在整个飞行时段内的惰化技术要求.     

波音737NG飞机NGS系统

飞机燃油系统的防火防爆能力,直接关系到飞行安全,2008年7月,FAA发布了法规,要求飞机制造厂家必须提供必要的措施来降低全部或者部分位于机身内部燃油箱的可燃性。通过利用飞机自身的引气,将引气中的氧气浓度降低后再将引气送入中央油箱。结果降低油箱内空气中的氧气浓度,使油箱内氧气达到可燃浓度以下,防止油箱爆炸。NGS系统作为燃油箱惰化手段,有效保证了飞机的飞行安全。     

ASTEX: An in situ exploration mission to two near-Earth asteroids

ASTEX (ASTeroid EXplorer) is a concept study of an in situ exploration mission to two Near-Earth-Asteroids (NEAs), which consists of an orbiting element and two individual lander units. The target candidates have different mineralogical compositions, i.e. one asteroid is chosen to be of “primitive’’ nature, the other to be a fragment of a differentiated asteroid. The main scientific goals of the ASTEX mission are the exploration of the physical, geological, and mineralogical nature of the NEAs. The higher level goal is the provision of information and constraints on the formation and evolution of our planetary system. The study identified realistic mission scenarios, defined the strawman payload as well as the requirements and options for the spacecraft bus including the propulsion system, the landers, the launcher, and assessed and defined the requirements for the mission’s operational ground segment.     

MPCVD法合成硼掺杂金刚石薄膜的次级发射性能

为解决电子倍增器、场发射阴极和粒子/光子探测器现有阴极材料次级发射系数低且发射不稳定的问题,对微波等离子体化学气相沉积（MicrowavePlasmaChemicalVaporDeposition,MPCVD）法结合H等离子体表面处理工艺制备的不同B₂H₆/CH₄浓度的硼掺杂金刚石薄膜的次级发射能力进行了研究。样品表面扫描电子显微镜和拉曼光谱分析结果显示,硼掺杂金刚石膜表面形貌与未掺杂的金刚石膜相似,样品表面均为高纯度的金刚石相。将置于空气中数日且未经任何表面处理的硼掺杂金刚石样品进行次级电子发射性能测试,结果显示一次电子入射能量为1keV时,得到高达18.3的二次电子发射系数。试验证实这种具有高二次电子发射系数的硼掺杂金刚石膜,暴露空气中由于表面氧化会破坏其表面的负电子亲和势,而真空中加热会使表面重新恢复负电子亲和势,这种负电子亲和势的完整保留,提高了该材料次级发射的稳定性,在器件中具有重要的应用前景。     

多隔舱燃油箱惰化流场的数值模拟与分析

根据多隔舱燃油箱的特点,建立了适用于多隔舱燃油箱惰化流场的数值模拟方法.将数值模拟结果与工程模型结果及国外文献中的实验数据进行了对比,验证了该方法的正确性.通过对各个隔舱内氧气体积分数分布的分析发现,惰化过程中,各个隔舱内的氧气体积分数趋于均匀,流出某隔舱的气体的氧气体积分数近似等于该隔舱内的平均氧气体积分数.将数值模拟得到的两种流通方式下隔舱间气体体积流量分配情况与隔舱间流通面积比进行对比发现,当通气口相对于富氮气体进口对称布置时隔舱间体积流量能够近似按照面积比分配,而不对称布置时分配情况比较复杂,不能够简单地按照面积比确定.