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Abstract: The problem of thermal conditions aboard the “Foton-M” spacecraft during its orbital flight is under consideration in this paper. The problem is very acute for performing microgravity experiments onboard of the orbital platform, because on one hand, many experiments need a definite temperature range to be performed, and on the other hand all electrical devices aboard radiate heat. To avoid uncontrolled heating of the environment special heat exchangers are used. To transport heat from different places of the capsule to heat exchanger special fans are installed given definite orientation. All the heat exchange facilities should be designed in advance being adjusted to current capsule loading and heat radiation by equipment. Thus special tools are needed predicting the capsule thermal conditions being function of equipment placement. The present paper introduces a new developed prognostic mathematical model able to forecast temperature distribution inside the capsule with account of fan induced air flows, thermal irradiation by scientific equipment and heat losses due to cooling system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The chaotic librational motion of a tether system in elliptic orbit has been studied and controlled by delayed feedback control up to date. Contrary to the past literatures that addressed the periodic stability of tether systems, this paper studies the local stability of in-plane/out-of-plane motion of electrodynamic tether (EDT) systems in elliptic orbits with respect to the true anomaly. From the viewpoint of the local stability of tether systems, in this paper, provided that the electric current is used only for controlling the librational motion, a new simple delayed feedback control, named “switching delayed-feedback control (SDFC)” is proposed, which combines a delayed-feedback control (DFC) and variable structure system (VSS) concept. The effectiveness of the proposed method to stabilize the librational in-plane/out-of-plane periodic motion of an electrodynamic tether system in an inclined elliptic orbit with high eccentricity was demonstrated, and compared with that of the traditional delayed-feedback controllers by numerical simulations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A steering law of control moment gyros for spacecraft attitude control by using one-step ahead singularity index is addressed in this paper. In some recent studies, the null motion approaches or singularity robustness steering laws have been extensively investigated to avoid singular configurations for a control momentum gyro (CMG) cluster. As a novel approach different from them, the proposed approach is based on optimization technique by minimizing the one-step ahead singularity index. Modified approaches are also presented in this paper. The proposed one-step prediction method ultimately gives an optimized solution of gimbal rates with advanced ability to avoid a singularity. A singularity index for reliable computation of a gradient vector is also introduced. Finally, performance of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated by numerical simulations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The paper concerns the general problem of a bounded final state control of non-linear dynamic systems with reference to near-optimal predictive guidance for low lift-to-drag ratio re-entry vehicles. More specifically, it addresses deriving guidance strategies capable to provide a maximal downrange maneuvrability for a maximal remaining flight time. Such robust, “guaranteed”, or assured, guidance keeps the remaining range-to-go to be coincident with the center of instant attainability domain. The paper discusses the existing guaranteed guidance strategy, and presents more general approach that provides an on-board planning of the entry trajectory, thus giving future state and control profiles. As a consequence the proposed guidance law is able to satisfy not only specified terminal conditions but also typical inequality constraints such as the maximal load factor and heat load. Computer simulations show that the algorithm can generate the feasible trajectories with equal downrange margins, using simple two-parametric families of control functions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In the present paper, all the activities carried out by Avio S.p.A in order to define, qualify, manufacture and integrate the IXV Ablative TPS will be presented. In particular the extensive numerical simulation in both small and full scale testing activities will be overviewed. Wide-ranging testing activity has been carried out in order to verify, confirm and correlate the numerical models used for TPS sizing. Tests ranged from classical thermo-mechanical characterization traction specimens to tests in plasma wind tunnels on dedicated prototypes. Finally manufacturing and integration activities will be described emphasizing technological aspects solved in order to meet the stringent requirements in terms of shape accuracy and integration tolerances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper investigates some analytical and numerical aspects of the formation control exploited by means of inter-spacecraft electrostatic actions. The analysis is based on the evaluation and check of the stability issues by using a sequence of purposely defined Lyapunov functions. The same Lyapunov approach can also define a specific under-actuate control strategy for controlling selected “virtual links” of the formation. Two different selection criteria for these links are then discussed, showing the implications on the control chain. An optimal charge distribution strategy, which assigns univocally the charges to all the spacecraft starting from the charge products computed by the control, is also presented and discussed. Numerical simulations prove the suitability of the proposed approach to a formation of 4 satellites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the attitude and angular velocity stabilization problem of a class of flexible spacecraft under actuator complete failure. Firstly a new model simplification strategy is put forward to weaken the coupling effects. Then an adaptive observer-based estimation method is proposed to estimate the uncertainty of flexibility, based on which a feedback fault-tolerant control scheme is further developed which guarantees the system stability and asymptotic attitude converging properties. The simulation results illustrate the efficiency of the theoretical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tether-nets are one of the more promising methods for the active removal of space debris. The aim of this paper is to study the dynamics of this type of systems in space, which is still not well-known and the simulation of which has multiple outstanding issues. In particular, the focus is on the deployment and capture phases of a net-based active debris removal mission, and on the effect of including the bending stiffness of the net threads on the dynamical characteristics of the net and on the computational efficiency. Lumped-parameter modeling of the net in Vortex Dynamics, without bending stiffness representation, is introduced first and validated then, against results obtained with an equivalent model in Matlab, using numerical simulations of the deployment phase. A model able to reproduce the bending stiffness of the net in Vortex Dynamics is proposed, and the outcome of a net deployment simulation is compared to the results of simulation without bending stiffness. A simulation of net-based capture of a derelict spacecraft is analyzed from the point of view of evaluating the effect of modeling the bending stiffness. From comparison of simulations with and without bending stiffness representation, it is found that bending stiffness has a significant influence both on the simulation results and on the computation time. When bending stiffness is included, the net is more resistant to the changes in its shape caused both by the motion of the corner masses (during deployment) and by the contact with the debris (during capture). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Space multi-tethered systems have shown broad prospects in remote observation missions. This paper mainly focuses on the dynamics and configuration maintaining control of space spinning three-body ring tethered system for such mission. Firstly, we establish the spinning dynamic model of the three-body ring tethered system considering the elasticity of the tether using Newton–Euler method, and then validate the suitability of this model by numerical simulation. Subsequently, LP (Likins-Pringle) initial equilibrium conditions for the tethered system are derived based on rigid body's equilibrium theory. Simulation results show that tether slack, snapping and interaction between the tethers exist in the three-body ring system, and its' configuration can not be maintained without control. Finally, a control strategy based on thrust compensation, namely thrust to simulate tether compression under LP initial equilibrium conditions is designed to solve the configuration maintaining control problem. Control effects are verified by numerical simulation compared with uncontrolled situation. Simulation results show that the configuration of the three-body ring tethered system could maintain under this active control strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a theoretical and numerical study of the quasi-static motion of a large droplet pushed out of a pipe in microgravity environment was presented. For the existence of surface force, an external force is needed to push the droplet out of the pipe. Methods to calculate the external force, the surface force, and the pressure drops were established in theoretical model and numerical simulation, respectively. The changes of the free energy, the surface force, as well as the pressure drops during a droplet being pushed out of a pipe were discussed in this work. The surface force reaches its maximal value, when the radii of upside contact line equals to the radius of the pipe. At last, a comparison of the two methods was made based on the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To answer the question of space debris survivability during atmospheric entry ONERA uses its software named MUSIC/FAST. So, the first part of this paper is dedicated to the presentation of the ONERA tool and its validation by comparison with flight data and CFD computations. However, the influence of oxidation on the thermal degradation process and material properties in atmospheric entry conditions is still unknown. A second step is then devoted to the presentation of an experimental campaign investigating TA6V oxidation in atmospheric entry conditions, as the most of the debris found on ground are made of this material. Experiments have been realized using the MESOX facility implemented at the 6 kW solar furnace in PROMES-CNRS laboratory. Finally, an application of MUSIC/FAST is proposed on the atmospheric re-entry of a generic TA6V tank. Aiming at degradation assessment, a sensitive study to initial conditions is conducted. To complete computational analysis regarding degradation process by melting, a numerical analysis of the influence of oxidation on the thermal wall degradation during the tank atmospheric re-entry is presented as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, two finite-time attitude coordinated controllers for formation flying spacecraft are investigated based on rotation matrix. Because rotation matrix can represent the set of attitudes both globally and uniquely, the two controllers can deal with unwinding that can result in extra fuel consumption. To address the lack of angular velocity measurement, the second attitude coordinated controller is given by using a novel filter. Through homogeneous method and Lyapunov theories, it is shown that the proposed controllers can achieve the finite-time stability. Numerical simulations also demonstrate that the proposed control schemes are effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to characterize the regression rate behavior of hybrid rocket motor propellant combinations, using hydrogen peroxide (HP), gaseous oxygen (GOX), nitrous oxide (N 2 O) as the oxidizer and hydroxyl-terminated poly-butadiene (HTPB) as the based fuel. In order to complete this research by experiment and simulation, a hybrid rocket motor test system and a numerical simulation model are established. Series of hybrid rocket motor firing tests are conducted burning different propellant combinations, and several of those are used as references for numerical simulations. The numerical simulation model is developed by combining the Navies–Stokes equations with the turbulence model, one-step global reaction model, and solid–gas coupling model. The distribution of regression rate along the axis is determined by applying simulation mode to predict the combustion process and heat transfer inside the hybrid rocket motor. The time-space averaged regression rate has a good agreement between the numerical value and experimental data. The results indicate that the N 2 O/HTPB and GOX/HTPB propellant combinations have a higher regression rate, since the enhancement effect of latter is significant due to its higher flame temperature. Furthermore, the containing of aluminum (Al) and/or ammonium perchlorate(AP) in the grain does enhance the regression rate, mainly due to the more energy released inside the chamber and heat feedback to the grain surface by the aluminum combustion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We represent numerical simulation results of interaction process of supernova strong shock with interstellar molecular cloud in 3D. In the paper we neglect gravitation, heat conductivity and radiative losses. We analyze in detail processes of deformation and fragmentation of molecular cloud (MC). Formation of passed by and reflected shocks system, contraction and ablation of the matter is investigated in detail. The post-processor treatment and the results of calculations made it possible to find the following features of the molecular cloud matter – the vortexes formation, erosion and ablation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of surface roughness on boundary layer transition is of great importance to hypersonic vehicles. In this paper, both experimental and numerical methods are used to investigate the laminar-turbulent transition of a Mach 3 flat-plate boundary layer induced by isolated roughness element. Good agreements are achieved between experimental data and high-order numerical simulations. It is observed that, with increasing height of roughness, the transition tends to move forward. Two different types of transition mechanisms are found according to the height of the roughness elements. For the smallest roughness height of h =1 mm, the shear layer instability in the wake region appears to be the leading mechanism for transition to turbulence. For two larger roughness elements of h =2 mm and h =4 mm, strong unsteadiness is developed from the upstream separation zone and transition is immediately accomplished, which indicates that the absolute instability in upstream separation zone dominates the transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper deals with determination of relative orbital elements based only on distance between satellites in the formation flying system, which has potential application in engineering, especially suited for rapid orbit determination required missions. A geometric simplification is performed to reduce the formation configuration in three-dimensional space to a plane. Then the equivalent actual configuration deviating from its nominal design is introduced to derive a group of autonomous linear equations on the mapping between the relative orbital elements differences and distance errors. The primary linear equations-based algorithm is initially proposed to conduct the rapid and precise determination of the relative orbital elements without the complex computation, which is further improved by least-squares method with more distance measurements taken into consideration. Numerical simulations and comparisons with traditional approaches are presented to validate the effectiveness of the proposed methods. To assess the performance of the two proposed algorithms, accuracy validation and Monte Carlo simulations are implemented in the presence of noises of distance measurements and the leader׳s absolute orbital elements. It is demonstrated that the relative orbital elements determination accuracy of two approaches reaches more than 90% and even close to the actual values for the least-squares improved one. The proposed approaches can be alternates for relative orbit determination without assistance of additional facilities in engineering for their fairly high efficiency with accuracy and autonomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel sigma-point unscented predictive filter (UPF) for relative position and attitude estimation of satellite formation taking into account the influence of J 2 . A coupled relative translational dynamics model is formulated to represent orbital motion of arbitrary feature points on the deputy spacecraft, and the relative attitude motion is formulated by considering a rotational dynamics for a satellite without gyros. Based on the proposed coupled dynamic model, the UPF is developed based on unscented transformation technique, extending the capability of a traditional predictive filter (PF). The algorithm flow of the UPF is described first. Then it is demonstrated that the estimation accuracy of the model error and system state for UPF is higher than that of the traditional PF. In addition, the unscented Kalman filter (UKF) is also employed in order to compare the performance of the proposed UPF with that of the UKF. Several different scenarios are simulated to validate the effectiveness of the coupled dynamics model and the performance of the proposed UPF. Through comparisons, the proposed UPF is shown to yield highly accurate estimation of relative position and attitude during satellite formation flying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Active debris removal is one of current hot spots in space research, necessary for space exploitation durability. Different techniques have been proposed for this challenging task, among them the use of throw-nets and tow-tethers seems promising: that opens new challenges for Guidance Navigation and Control (GNC) design, especially whenever flexible connections are involved. Via numerical simulations using a multi-body dynamics simulation tool developed at Politecnico di Milano – Department of Aerospace Science and Technology, this paper shows that tethered-net systems are a promising technology to capture and remove space debris and discusses the main difficulties that are likely to take place during capture and disposal phases, particularly from a GNC point of view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an air-launch-to-orbit, a space rocket is launched from a carrier aircraft. Air-launch-to-orbit appears as particularly interesting for nano- and microsatellites which are generally launched as secondary loads, that is, placed in the conventional launch vehicle׳s payload section with a larger primary satellite. In an air-launch-to-orbit, a small satellite can be launched alone as a primary load, away from a carrier aircraft, aboard a smaller rocket vehicle, and in doing so, benefit from more flexible dates and trajectories. One of the most important phases of the mission is the separation between the carrier aircraft and the space rocket. A flight simulator including a large number of factors of uncertainties has been especially developed to study the separation, and a safety criteria has been defined with respect to store collision avoidance. It is used for a sensitivity analysis and an optimization of the possible trajectories. The sensitivity analysis first requires a screening method to select unessential factors that can be held constant. The Morris method is amongst the most popular screening methods. It requires limited calculations, but may result in keeping constant an essential factor which would greatly affect the results of the sensitivity analysis. This paper shows that this risk can be important in spite of recent improvements of the Morris method. It presents an adaptation of this method which divides this risk by a factor of ten on a standard test function. It is based on the maximum of the elementary effects instead of their average. The method focuses the calculations on the factors with a low impact, checking the convergence of this set of factors, and uses two different factor variations instead of one. This adaptation of the Morris method is used to limit the amount of the air-launch-to-orbit simulations and simplify the uncertainty domain for analysis by Sobol׳s method. The aerodynamic perturbations due to wind, the parameters defining the trajectory, the interactions, and the mass characteristics of the systems are detected as factors with a high impact. The parameters of the trajectory are finally optimized with a stochastic gradient method. It shows that the separation is safer with a low speed, a low climb angle, and a high vertical acceleration of the aircraft. A trajectory offering such a separation will be tested with an air-launch-to-orbit demonstrator from the French space agency CNES and the French aerospace laboratory ONERA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current and future trend towards smaller satellite missions, the development of a simple and reliable propulsion system with performance and characteristics in line with the typical requirements of nano-satellites and CubeSats plays a crucial role for enhancing the capabilities of this type of missions. This paper describes the design of a micro-resistojet using water stored in the frozen state (ice) as propellant, operating under sublimation conditions at low pressure. The low operating pressure allows for using the vapor pressure of ice as the only method of propellant feeding, thereby allowing for extremely low thrust and electric power usage. The results of an extensive set of numerical simulations for optimizing the thruster geometry in terms of power ratio and specific impulse produced are discussed. In addition, the design of the complete propulsion system is described. It makes use of a limited number of moving parts and two power sources, one in the thruster to increase the propellant temperature and one in the tank to maintain the propellant storage conditions. Results show that the proposed design represents an alternative option capable of meeting the typical requirements of small satellite missions by means of an intrinsically green propellant such as water, with the pressure inside the system never exceeding 600 Pa. Optimization results showed an optimum thrust to power ratio in range 0.2–1.2 mN/W for an expansion slot aspect ratio of 2.5. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because the tether of a tethered satellite system (TSS) can be extremely long, it would be difficult to inspect the damage to the tether. The ultimate configuration of a TSS could be a space elevator (SE). The tether needs to carry a crawler or climber to inspect damage to the tether or transport travelers on the SE. Coriolis force due to the climber motion causes librational motion of the tether. The numerical simulations have shown that the original mission-function (MF) control is not applicable to a TSS with a climber because it was intended for subsatellite deployment and retrieval control using a tether, not for a climber on the tether. This paper proposes a new MF control to suppress the librational motion of a tether with a climber. The proposed MF control is a modified version of the original MF control. The active force to drive the climber is determined from the MF. A simplified dynamic model of a TSS with a single climber is used to evaluate the derived controller. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified through numerical simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Feasibility of achieving reliable control for spacecraft formation keeping and reconfiguration without the need for thrust in either the radial or along-track direction is explored in this paper. Analysis of the linearized dynamics without along-track input indicates the presence of an uncontrollable eigenvalue at the origin. A nonlinear controller is designed to indirectly stabilize the uncontrollable modes to a stable manifold around the equilibrium. Conditions for robustness against unmatched uncertainties and disturbances are derived to establish the regions of asymptotic stabilization. The benefits of the proposed control method are also validated via numerical simulations to show that precise formation maintenance can be achieved by dealing with the issues of system nonlinearities, variations in initial conditions, and external disturbances, concurrently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reassesses the classical circumferential-thrust problem, in which a spacecraft orbiting around a primary body is subjected to a propulsive acceleration of constant modulus, whose direction is in the plane of the parking orbit and orthogonal to the spacecraft-primary line. In particular, a new formulation is proposed to obtain a reduction in the number of differential equations required for the study of the spacecraft propelled trajectory. The mathematical complexity of the problem may be further reduced assuming that both the propulsive acceleration modulus and the spacecraft distance from the primary body are sufficiently small. In that case, an approximate model is able to accurately describe the characteristics of the propelled trajectory when the parking orbit is circular. Finally, using the data obtained by numerical simulations, the approximate model is extended to generate a set of semi-analytical equations for the analysis of a classical escape mission scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To obtain reasonable air distribution in space capsule, the indoor air stabilities under two basic gravity conditions – weightlessness and lunar gravity conditions – are studied in this paper. The influences of the indoor air stability on the characteristics of pollutant transport (CO 2 ) are discussed, by means of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method under three different air stability conditions: stable condition, neutral condition and unstable condition. Two preliminary three-dimensional physical models were established and used to compare the influence of different arrangements of outlets and positions of pollutant source on the contaminant distributions. The results show that the air stability under the weightless conditions has no impact on the pollutant diffusion. However, the air stability under low gravity conditions significantly affects the pollutant spread and diffusion in the space capsule. Under lunar gravity conditions, the pollutant under unstable conditions has an obvious tendency of deviating from the mainstream direction and approaching the two flanks. On the contrary, the pollutant under stable condition moves faster in the mainstream direction and arrives at outlets more easily. It is possible that the air stability exists under low gravity conditions and affects the characteristics of pollutant transport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper presents an analytical model and a geometric numerical integrator for a tethered spacecraft model that is composed of two rigid bodies connected by an elastic tether. This high-fidelity model includes important dynamic characteristics of tethered spacecraft in orbit, namely the nonlinear coupling among tether deformations, rigid body rotational dynamics, a reeling mechanism, and orbital dynamics. A geometric numerical integrator, referred to as a Lie group variational integrator, is developed to numerically preserve the Hamiltonian structure of the presented model and its Lie group configuration manifold. This approach preserves the geometry of the configurations, and leads to accurate and efficient algorithms that have guaranteed accuracy properties that make them suitable for many dynamic simulations, especially over long simulation times. These analytical and computational models provide a reliable benchmark for testing the validity and applicability of the many simplified models in the existing literature, which have hitherto been used without careful verification that the simplifying assumptions employed are valid in physically realistic parameter regimes. We present numerical simulations which illustrate the important qualitative differences in the tethered spacecraft dynamics when the high-fidelity model is employed, as compared to models with additional simplifying assumptions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Minimum Sliding Mode Error Feedback Control (MSMEFC) is proposed to improve the control precision of spacecraft formations based on the conventional sliding mode control theory. This paper proposes a new approach to estimate and offset the system model errors, which include various kinds of uncertainties and disturbances, as well as smoothes out the effect of nonlinear switching control terms. To facilitate the analysis, the concept of equivalent control error is introduced, which is the key to the utilization of MSMEFC. A cost function is formulated on the basis of the principle of minimum sliding mode error; then the equivalent control error is estimated and fed back to the conventional sliding mode control. It is shown that the sliding mode after the MSMEFC will approximate to the ideal sliding mode, resulting in improved control performance and quality. The new methodology is applied to spacecraft formation flying. It guarantees global asymptotic convergence of the relative tracking error in the presence of J 2 perturbations. In addition, some fault tolerant situations such as thruster failure for a period of time, thruster degradation and so on, are also considered to verify the effectiveness of MSMEFC. Numerical simulations are performed to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed methodology to maintain and reconfigure the satellite formation with the existence of initial offsets and J 2 perturbation effects, even in the fault-tolerant cases. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Hydrogen–oxygen fuels are very attractive now for rocket engines designers, because this pair is ecology friendly. Computer aided design of new effective and clean hydrogen engines needs mathematical tools for supercomputer modeling of hydrogen–oxygen components mixing and combustion in rocket engines. The paper presents the results of developing, verification and validation of mathematical model making it possible to simulate unsteady processes of ignition and combustion in rocket engines. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper shows the effect of self-shadowing on the coupled attitude–orbit dynamics of objects with high area-to-mass ratios (HAMR) in simulating standard multi layer insulation materials (MLI) as tilted single rigid sheets. Efficient and computationally fast self-shadowing methods have been developed. This includes an approximate self-shadowing method and a rapid exact self-shadowing method. Accuracy considerations are made and the effect of a chosen tessellation is shown. The coupled orbit–attitude perturbations of solar radiation pressure and Earth gravity field are taken into account. The results are compared to the attitude–orbit dynamics, when neglecting self-shadowing effects. An averaged physical shadow-map model is developed and compared to the full self-shadowing simulation. The combined effect of solar radiation pressure and self-shadowing leads to a rapid spin-up of the objects, even though they have uniform reflection properties. As a result, the observed brightness of these objects is subject to rapid changes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper presents a study of a high rate closed-loop spin controller that uses only electromagnetic coils as actuators. The controller is able to perform spin rate control and simultaneously align the spin axis with the Earth's inertial reference frame. It is implemented, optimised and simulated for a 1-unit CubeSat ESTCube-1 to fulfil its mission requirements: spin the satellite up to 360degs−1 around the z-axis and align its spin axis with the Earth's polar axis with a pointing error of less than 3°. The attitude of the satellite is determined using a magnetic field vector, a Sun vector and angular velocity. It is estimated using an Unscented Kalman Filter and controlled using three electromagnetic coils. The algorithm is tested in a simulation environment that includes models of space environment and environmental disturbances, sensor and actuator emulation, attitude estimation, and a model to simulate the time delay caused by on-board calculations. In addition to the normal operation mode, analyses of reduced satellite functionality are performed: significant errors of attitude estimation due to non-operational Sun sensors; and limited actuator functionality due to two non-operational coils. A hardware-in-the-loop test is also performed to verify on-board software. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Attitude regulation proves to be a challenging problem, when magnetic actuators alone are used as attitude effectors, since they do not provide three independent control torque components at each time instant. In this paper a rigorous proof of global exponential stability is derived for a magnetic control law that leads the satellite to a desired spin condition around a principal axis of inertia, pointing the spin axis toward a prescribed direction in the inertial frame. The technique is demonstrated by means of numerical simulation of a few example maneuvers. An extensive Monte Carlo simulation is performed for random initial conditions, in order to investigate the effect of changes in control law gains. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The paper discusses the relevance of eccentric reference orbits on the dynamics of a tethered formation, when a massive cable model is included in the analysis of a multi-tethered satellite formation. The formations examined in this study are hub-and-spoke (HAS) and closed-hub-and-spoke (CHAS) configurations for in-plane and Earth-facing spin planes. Stability of the formations is studied by means of numerical simulation, together with the evaluation of the effects of eccentricity on tether elongation, agents relative position, and formation orientation and shape. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: NASA is concerned with protecting astronauts from the effects of galactic cosmic radiation and has expended substantial effort in the development of computer models to predict the shielding obtained from various materials. However, these models were only developed for shields up to about 120g/cm2 in mass thickness and have predicted that shields of this mass thickness are insufficient to provide adequate protection for extended deep space flights. Consequently, effort is underway to extend the range of these models to thicker shields and experimental data is required to help confirm the resulting code. In this paper empirically obtained effective dose measurements from aircraft flights in the atmosphere are used to obtain the radiation shielding function of the Earth's atmosphere, a very thick, i.e. high mass, shield. Obtaining this result required solving an inverse problem and the method for solving it is presented. The results are shown to be in agreement with current code in the ranges where they overlap. These results are then checked and used to predict the radiation dosage under thick shields such as planetary regolith and the atmosphere of Venus. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper the detection of components of volcanic eruption has been carried out investigating, in appropriate bands of the electromagnetic spectrum (6.25, 8.7, 10.8, 12μm), the values of the brightness temperature. The analysis has been performed in the Thermal Infrared Region (TIR) studying both the absorption–emission and scattering phenomena related to the interactions between electromagnetic radiation and volcanic emissions. The results have been achieved by means of a combined use of numerical simulations, devoted to examining the behaviour of the atmosphere gases and volcanic components, and remotely sensed satellite images. The proposed methodologies allow an estimate of the amount of gaseous and solid components, of the size of the emitted particles, of the height of the volcanic plume and of the distance of the volcanic components from the crater. The processed images come from the Spinning Enhanced Visible and InfraRed Imager (SEVIRI) sensor on board the geo-stationary satellite Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) and take into consideration an eruption of the Etna volcano as a study case (1st of April 2012, 04:30 and 05:30UTC). The procedures are general and may therefore be extended to any other similar case. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Extrapolating from the technique of gravitational assist via chaotic trajectories of binary objects, this paper considers how such techniques might be used in other systems. We examine which types of systems are the best candidates for harvesting gravitational energy for payload ejection. We also consider what signatures might be present in either the asteroid orbits or radiation of the central body if extraterrestrial intelligences were to use such techniques about these candidate systems. The simulation studies show that current technology cannot approach the sensitivity needed to detect either of these signals. Instead, we provide these results as guidance to studies in coming decades on patterns that may indicate the use of an asteroid ejection system. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The lack of significant buoyancy effects in zero gravity conditions poses an issue with fluid transfer in a stagnant liquid. In this paper bubble movement in a stagnant liquid is analysed and presented numerically using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach. The governing continuum conservation equations for two phase flow are solved using the commercial software package Ansys-Fluent v.13 and the Volume of Fluid (VOF) method is used to track the liquid/gas interface in 2D and 3D domains. The simulation results are in reasonable agreement with the earlier experimental observations, the VOF algorithm is found to be a valuable tool for studying the phenomena of gas–liquid interaction. The flow is driven via Marangoni influence induced by the temperature difference which in turn drives the bubble from the cold to the hot region. A range of thermal Reynolds (ReT) and Marangoni numbers (MaT) are selected for the numerical simulations, specifically ReT=13–658 and MaT=214–10,721 respectively. The results indicate that the inherent velocity of bubbles decreases with an increase of the Marangoni number, a result that is line with the results of previous space experiments (Kang et al., 2008) [1]. An expression for predicting the scaled velocity of bubble has been derived based on the data obtained in the present numerical study. Some three-dimensional simulations are also performed to compare and examine the results with two-dimensional simulations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this work the shape characteristics of a parabolic structure that consists of an initially flat circular membrane subject to solar radiation pressure in the space environment are examined. This problem arises in the analysis of space systems such as solar power collectors and solar sails. This paper presents parametric studies aimed at determining the power concentration capacity of a non-ideally reflecting flat circular membrane as a function of its radius size and thickness. The shape of the deformed membrane is close to parabolic. Both numerical simulations and analytical study show that the thin membrane subject solely to solar radiation pressure can concentrate the sunlight power several hundred times. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The paper presents the results of developing of physical and mathematical model making it possible to take into account the effect of droplets non-uniformity in space and size distribution on ignition conditions for fuel sprays. The influence of condensed phase volume fraction on ignition and combustion of sprays was studied, physical and mathematical models for multi-phase flows, mixture formation and combustion of liquid fuels based on solving Navier–Stokes equations for gas phase accounting for thermal and mechanical interaction with poly-dispersed droplets array. The problems of particulate phase dynamics are regarded accounting for the interaction with gas phase atomization, evaporation and combustion. It was shown that depending on droplet size distribution and aerosol cloud density different flow scenarios were possible. Several ignition zones could be formed behind incident shock wave depending on mixture properties and initiation parameters. The possibility of numerical simulation permitting variation of definite parameters only made it possible to explain this fact. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper handles the integrated translation and rotation tracking control problem of a rigid spacecraft with unknown mass property, actuator misalignment and control saturation. In view of the system natural coupling, the coupled translational and rotational dynamics of the spacecraft is developed, where a thruster configuration with installation misalignment is taken into account. By using anti-windup technique and backstepping philosophy, a robust adaptive integrated control scheme is proposed such that the spacecraft is able to track the command position and attitude signals in the presence of external disturbance, unknown mass property, thruster misalignment and control saturation. Within the Lyapunov framework, the uniformly ultimate boundedness of the system states is guaranteed. In particular, given the nominal case, the asymptotic convergence of the system states can be further ensured by the proposed control scheme. Finally, numerical simulation demonstrates the effect of the designed control strategy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The development of on-orbit autonomous rendezvous and docking (ARD) capabilities represents a key point for a number of appealing mission scenarios that include activities of on-orbit servicing, automated assembly of modular structures and active debris removal. As of today, especially in the field of micro-satellites ARD, many fundamental technologies are still missing or require further developments and micro-gravity testing. In this framework, the University of Padova, Centre of Studies and Activities for Space (CISAS), developed the Autonomous Rendezvous Control and Docking Experiment (ARCADE), a technology demonstrator intended to fly aboard a BEXUS stratospheric balloon. The goal was to design, build and test, in critical environment conditions, a proximity relative navigation system, a custom-made reaction wheel and a small-size docking mechanism. The ARCADE docking mechanism was designed against a comprehensive set of requirements and it can be classified as small-scale, central, gender mating and unpressurized. The large use of commercial components makes it low-cost and simple to be manufactured. Last, it features a good tolerance to off-nominal docking conditions and a by-design soft docking capability. The final design was extensively verified to be compliant with its requirements by means of numerical simulations and physical testing. In detail, the dynamic behaviour of the mechanism in both nominal and off-nominal conditions was assessed with the multibody dynamics analysis software MD ADAMS 2010 and functional tests were carried out within the fully integrated ARCADE experiment to ensure the docking system efficacy and to highlight possible issues. The most relevant results of the study will be presented and discussed in conclusion to this paper. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Feasibility of achieving three axis attitude stabilization using a single thruster is explored in this paper. Torques are generated using a thruster orientation mechanism with which the thrust vector can be tilted on a two axis gimbal. A robust nonlinear control scheme is developed based on the nonlinear kinematic and dynamic equations of motion of a rigid body spacecraft in the presence of gravity gradient torque and external disturbances. The spacecraft, controlled using the proposed concept, constitutes an underactuated system (a system with fewer independent control inputs than degrees of freedom) with nonlinear dynamics. Moreover, using thruster gimbal angles as control inputs make the system non-affine (control terms appear nonlinearly in the state equation). This necessitates the control algorithms to be developed based on nonlinear control theory since linear control methods are not directly applicable. The stability conditions for the spacecraft attitude motion for robustness against uncertainties and disturbances are derived to establish the regions of asymptotic 3-axis attitude stabilization. Several numerical simulations are presented to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed controller and validate the theoretical results. The control algorithm is shown to compensate for time-varying external disturbances including solar radiation pressure, aerodynamic forces, and magnetic disturbances; and uncertainties in the spacecraft inertia parameters. The numerical results also establish the robustness of the proposed control scheme to negate disturbances caused by orbit eccentricity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper investigates the effect of orbit inclination angle on the performance of the Formosa satellite number 3 (FORMOSAT-3 or FS3) and FORMOSAT-7 (FS7) type constellations. The FS3 developed by National Space Organization (NSPO) of Taiwan was launched on 15 April 2006. It is a constellation consisting of 6 microsatellites at 72° orbit inclination and 800km altitude for the acquisition of the global positioning system (GPS) signal occultation data. The international space community has given very positive comments on the contribution of FS3. Therefore, NSPO is planning the future program and designates FS7 to be the follow-up of FS3. There are two major indexes to assess the performance of FS3/7 type constellations: maximization of daily data acquisition and evenness in global data distribution. From system simulation, the number of data acquisition of FS3 is 2415. However, the number can be increased to 3050 by changing the orbit inclination to 154°. The drawback is that there is no data beyond 45° latitude north/south. After trade-off, it has been found that the optimal configuration is a 3–2–1 combination with 3 satellites deployed at 154° inclination, 2 satellites at 108° and 1 satellite at 90°. Daily data acquisition is 2924 using this configuration. For readers′ information, the 3–2–1 configuration could probably be called the “hybrid constellation” because it is not a standard one like the “Walker” or “Draim” or “Ballard” constellations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper presents a new formulation for automatic generation of the motion equations of arbitrary multibody systems. The method is applicable to systems with rigid and flexible bodies. The number of degrees of freedom (DOF) of the bodies'' interconnection joints is allowed to vary from 0 to 6. It permits the system to have tree topology or closed structural loops. The formulation is based on Kane''s method. Each rigid or flexible body''s contribution to the system generalized inertia force is expressed in a similar manner; therefore, it makes the formulation quite amenable to computer solution. All the recursive kinematic relations are developed, and efficient motion variables describing the elastic motion and the hinge motion are adopted to improve modeling efficiency. Motion constraints are handled by the new form of Kane''s equation. The final mathematical model has the same dimension with the generalized speeds of the system and involves no Lagrange multipliers, so it is useful for control system design. A sample example is given to interpret several concepts it involves, while the numerical simulations are shown to validate the algorithm''s accuracy and efficiency. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Since the end of the 20th Century there has been considerable effort made to devise mitigation measures to limit the growth of the debris population. This activity has led to the implementation of a “25-year rule” by a number of space-faring nations for the post-mission disposal of spacecraft and orbital stages intersecting the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) region. Through the use of projections made by computer models, it was anticipated that this 25-year rule, together with passivation and suppression of mission-related debris, would be sufficient to prevent the unconstrained growth of the LEO debris population. In the last decade both the LEO debris environment and the debris modelling capability have seen significant changes. In particular, recent population growth has been driven by a number of major break-ups, including the intentional destruction of the Fengyun-1C spacecraft and the collision between Iridium 33 and Cosmos 2251. State-of-the-art evolutionary models indicate that the LEO debris population will continue to grow in spite of good compliance with the commonly adopted mitigation measures and even in the absence of new launches. Consequently, this has led to considerable interest in the development of remediation measures and, especially, in debris removal. In this paper, we present a new and large study of debris mitigation and removal using the University of Southampton''s evolutionary model, DAMAGE, together with the latest MASTER model population of objects ≥10cm in LEO. Here, we have employed a concurrent approach to mitigation and remediation, whereby changes to the PMD rule and the inclusion of other mitigation measures have been considered together with multiple removal strategies. In this way, we have been able to demonstrate the synergy of these mitigation and remediation measures and to identify potential, aggregate solutions to the space debris problem. The results suggest that reducing the PMD rule offers benefits that include an increase in the effectiveness of debris removal and a corresponding increase in the confidence that these combined measures will lead to the stabilisation of the LEO debris population. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: As a novel propulsion technology, ultrasonically aided electric propulsion (UAEP) offers a high specific impulse and a high thrust density. In this paper, the effects of extractor grid configuration on performance of a UAEP thruster have been investigated by both experimental studies and numerical simulation. Relationships between spray current and operation parameters, including applied voltage, propellant flow rate, and vibration power and frequency, are explored for different extractor mesh sizes and shapes. Numerical simulation is also carried out for a better understanding of the formation of capillary standing waves as well as the electric field distribution in the acceleration zone. Experimental results show that compared with a circular shaped extractor, a reticular shaped extractor is able to produce a higher spray current. The current density increases with a denser mesh, which agrees well with the numerical simulation results. This phenomenon indicates that optimizing extractors with appropriate shapes and sizes can be an effective way to improve the performance of a UAEP system. A performance evaluation based on hydrodynamic and electrostatic calculations indicates that the present UAEP system can produce a thrust competitive to that of the colloid thruster with an emitter array. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The attitude dynamics and manoeuvre survey in this paper is performed for a mission scenario involving a penetrator-type spacecraft: an axisymmetric prolate spacecraft spinning around its minor axis of inertia performing a spin axis reorientation manoeuvre. In contrast to most existing spacecraft only one attitude control thruster is available, providing a control torque perpendicular to the spin axis. Having only one attitude thruster on a spinning spacecraft could be preferred for spacecraft simplicity (lower mass, lower power consumption etc.), or it could be imposed in the context of redundancy/contingency operations. This constraint does yield restrictions on the thruster timings, depending on the ratio of minor to major moments of inertia among other parameters. The Japanese Lunar-A penetrator spacecraft proposal is a good example of such a single-thruster spin-stabilised prolate spacecraft. The attitude dynamics of a spinning rigid body are first investigated analytically, then expanded for the specific case of a prolate and axisymmetric rigid body and finally a cursory exploration of non-rigid body dynamics is made. Next two well-known techniques for manoeuvring a spin-stabilised spacecraft, the Half-cone/Multiple Half-cone and the Rhumb line slew, are compared with two new techniques, the Sector-Arc Slew developed by Astrium Satellites and the Dual-cone developed at Surrey Space Centre. Each technique is introduced and characterised by means of simulation results and illustrations based on the penetrator mission scenario and a brief robustness analysis is performed against errors in moments of inertia and spin rate. Also, the relative benefits of each slew algorithm are discussed in terms of slew accuracy, energy (propellant) efficiency and time efficiency. For example, a sequence of half-cone manoeuvres (a Multi-half-cone manoeuvre) tends to be more energy-efficient than one half-cone for the same final slew angle, but more time-consuming. As another example, the new Sector-Arc Slew and Dual-cone techniques are designed to overcome a specific restriction on attainable slew angle that is associated with the half-cone manoeuvre, giving one additional degree of freedom for designers to fine-tune. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, an optimal PID-like controller is proposed for a spacecraft attitude stabilization problem subject to continuous inequality constraints on the spacecraft angular velocity and control, as well as terminal constraints on the spacecraft attitude and angular velocity. The closed-loop stability is established using the Lyapunov stability theory. The constraint transcription method and a local smoothing technique are used to construct a smooth approximate function for each of the continuous inequality constraints on the angular velocity and control. Then, by using the concept of the penalty function, these approximate smooth functions are appended to the quadratic performance criterion forming an augmented cost function. Consequently, the constrained optimal control problem under the PID-like controller is approximated by a sequence of optimal parameter selection problems subject to only terminal constraints on the spacecraft attitudes. A reliable computational algorithm is derived for the tuning of the optimal PID-like control parameters. Finally, numerical simulations are carried out to illustrate the effectiveness of the methodology proposed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This work presents the design of a robust control law, and the related control system architecture, for the Vega launcher ballistic phase, taking into account the complete six degrees of freedom dynamics. To gain robustness a non-linear control approach has been preferred: more specifically the Lyapunov''s second stability theorem has been exploited, being a very powerful tool to guarantee asymptotic stability of the controlled dynamics. The dynamics of Vega''s actuators has also been taken into account. The system performance has been checked and analyzed by numerical simulations run on real mission data for different operational and configuration scenarios, and the effectiveness of the synthesized control highlighted: in particular scenarios including a wide range of composite''s inertial configurations performing various typologies of maneuvers have been run. The robustness of the controlled dynamics has been validated by 100 cases Monte Carlo analysis campaign: the containment of the dispersion for the controlled variables – say the composite roll, yaw and pitch angles – confirmed the wide validity and generality of the proposed control law. This paper will show the theoretical approach and discuss the obtained results. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Computer simulation of liquid fuel jet injection into heated atmosphere of combustion chamber, mixture formation, ignition and combustion need adequate modeling of evaporation, which is extremely important for the curved surfaces in the presence of strong heat and mass diffusion fluxes. Combustion of most widely spread hydrocarbon fuels takes place in a gas-phase regime. Thus, evaporation of fuel from the surface of droplets turns to be one of the limiting factors of the process as well. The problems of fuel droplets atomization, evaporation being the key factors for heterogeneous reacting mixtures, the non-equilibrium effects in droplets atomization and phase transitions will be taken into account in describing thermal and mechanical interaction of droplets with streaming flows. In the present paper processes of non-equilibrium evaporation of small droplets will be discussed. As it was shown before, accounting for non-equilibrium effects in evaporation for many types of widely used liquids is crucial for droplet diameters less than 100μm, while the surface tension effects essentially manifest only for droplets below 0.1μm. Investigating the behavior of individual droplets in a heated air flow allowed to distinguish two scenarios for droplet heating and evaporation. Small droplets undergo successively heating, then cooling due to heat losses for evaporation, and then rapid heating till the end of their lifetime. Larger droplets could directly be heated up to a critical temperature and then evaporate rapidly. Droplet atomization interferes the heating, evaporation and combustion scenario. The scenario of fuel spray injection and self-ignition in a heated air inside combustion chamber has three characteristic stages. At first stage of jet injection droplets evaporate very rapidly thus cooling the gas at injection point, the liquid jet is very short and changes for a vapor jet. At second stage liquid jet is becoming longer, because evaporation rate decreases due to decrease of temperature. But combustion of fuel vapor begins which brings to increase of heat flux to droplets and accelerates evaporation. The length of the liquid jet decreases again and remains constant slightly oscillating. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper the dynamics of a spacecraft with a system of stabilization out-of-operation is studied. The deployment of the ring flexible antenna is performed after placing the spacecraft into orbit and damping the initially undesired rotations by a special jet-propelled system. Basically the antenna is a pre-stressed tape reeled on a special drum. Deploying from the drum, the tape takes the shape of an elastic ring of 30m in diameter. The objective of the study is the mechanical and computational modelling of the spacecraft dynamics. The equations of motion are derived in Lagrangian form. Numerical simulations of operational mode of the system are performed. As it is shown in main result, which restrictions must be imposed on parameters of the process of deployment for maintenance of the shape of the deployed design. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Control of space robots in the 3D space is known as one of the difficult problems in nonlinear control theory, and if there exist initial angular momenta for space robots, the control problem becomes an increasing challenge. However, it is quite important to take into account the existence of initial angular momenta from the aspect of realistic situations. This paper deals with a control problem for a 3D space robot of two rigid bodies with an initial angular momentum. First, we give a model of a space robot with an initial angular momentum, called the ball-in-socket joint model. We next propose a near-optimal control method for general nonlinear affine control systems based on the finite dimensional orthonormal basis and give some theoretical analysis for the method. Moreover, a near-optimal control algorithm is also shown. Then, we apply the near-optimal control algorithm to a 3D attitude control problem of the ball-in-socket joint model with an initial angular momentum, and illustrate numerical simulations in order to show the effectiveness of our method. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]