In the 6th edition of the Chinese Space Trajectory Design Competition held in 2014, a near-Earth asteroid sample-return trajectory design problem was released, in which the motion of the spacecraft is modeled in multi...In the 6th edition of the Chinese Space Trajectory Design Competition held in 2014, a near-Earth asteroid sample-return trajectory design problem was released, in which the motion of the spacecraft is modeled in multi-body dynamics, considering the gravitational forces of the Sun, Earth, and Moon. It is proposed that an electric-propulsion spacecraft initially parking in a circular 200-kin-altitude low Earth orbit is expected to rendezvous with an asteroid and carry as much sample as possible back to the Earth in a 10-year time frame. The team from the Technology and Engineering Center for Space Utilization, Chinese Academy of Sciences has reported a solution with an asteroid sample mass of 328 tons, which is ranked first in the competition. In this article, we will present our design and optimization methods, primarily including overall analysis, target selection, escape from and capture by the Earth-Moon system, and optimization of impulsive and low-thrust trajectories that are modeled in multi-body dynamics. The orbital resonance concept and lunar gravity assists are considered key techniques employed for trajectory design. The reported solution, preliminarily revealing the feasibility of returning a hundreds-of-tons asteroid or asteroid sample, envisions future space missions relating to near-Earth asteroid exploration.展开更多
Same-beam VLBI means that two spacecrafts with small separation angles that transmit multi-frequency signals specially designed are observed simultaneously through the main beam of receiving antennas. In same-beam VLB...Same-beam VLBI means that two spacecrafts with small separation angles that transmit multi-frequency signals specially designed are observed simultaneously through the main beam of receiving antennas. In same-beam VLBI,the differential phase delay between the two spacecrafts and the two receiving antennas can be obtained within a small error of several picoseconds. As a successful application,the short-arc orbit determination of several hours for Rstar and Vstar,which are two small sub-spacecrafts of SELENE,has been much improved by using the same-beam VLBI data together with the Doppler and range data. The long-arc orbit determination of several days has also been accomplished within an error of about 10 m with the same-beam VLBI data incorporated. These results show the value of the same-beam VLBI for the orbit determination of multi-spacecrafts. This paper introduces the same-beam VLBI and Doppler observations of SELENE and the orbit determination results. In addition,this paper introduces how to use the same-beam VLBI for a lunar sample-return mission,which usually consists of an orbiter,a lander and a return unit. The paper also offers the design for the onboard radio sources in the lunar sample-return mission,and introduces applications of S-band multi-frequency same-beam VLBI in lunar gravity exploration and applications during all stages in the position/orbit determinations such as orbiting,landing,sampling,ascending,and docking.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant11372311)the grant from the State key Laboratory of Astronautic Dynamics(2014-ADL-DW0201)
文摘In the 6th edition of the Chinese Space Trajectory Design Competition held in 2014, a near-Earth asteroid sample-return trajectory design problem was released, in which the motion of the spacecraft is modeled in multi-body dynamics, considering the gravitational forces of the Sun, Earth, and Moon. It is proposed that an electric-propulsion spacecraft initially parking in a circular 200-kin-altitude low Earth orbit is expected to rendezvous with an asteroid and carry as much sample as possible back to the Earth in a 10-year time frame. The team from the Technology and Engineering Center for Space Utilization, Chinese Academy of Sciences has reported a solution with an asteroid sample mass of 328 tons, which is ranked first in the competition. In this article, we will present our design and optimization methods, primarily including overall analysis, target selection, escape from and capture by the Earth-Moon system, and optimization of impulsive and low-thrust trajectories that are modeled in multi-body dynamics. The orbital resonance concept and lunar gravity assists are considered key techniques employed for trajectory design. The reported solution, preliminarily revealing the feasibility of returning a hundreds-of-tons asteroid or asteroid sample, envisions future space missions relating to near-Earth asteroid exploration.
文摘Same-beam VLBI means that two spacecrafts with small separation angles that transmit multi-frequency signals specially designed are observed simultaneously through the main beam of receiving antennas. In same-beam VLBI,the differential phase delay between the two spacecrafts and the two receiving antennas can be obtained within a small error of several picoseconds. As a successful application,the short-arc orbit determination of several hours for Rstar and Vstar,which are two small sub-spacecrafts of SELENE,has been much improved by using the same-beam VLBI data together with the Doppler and range data. The long-arc orbit determination of several days has also been accomplished within an error of about 10 m with the same-beam VLBI data incorporated. These results show the value of the same-beam VLBI for the orbit determination of multi-spacecrafts. This paper introduces the same-beam VLBI and Doppler observations of SELENE and the orbit determination results. In addition,this paper introduces how to use the same-beam VLBI for a lunar sample-return mission,which usually consists of an orbiter,a lander and a return unit. The paper also offers the design for the onboard radio sources in the lunar sample-return mission,and introduces applications of S-band multi-frequency same-beam VLBI in lunar gravity exploration and applications during all stages in the position/orbit determinations such as orbiting,landing,sampling,ascending,and docking.