The spinning deployment process of solar sails is analyzed in this study. A simplified model is established by considering the out-of-plane and in-plane motions of solar sails. The influences of structure parameters, ...The spinning deployment process of solar sails is analyzed in this study. A simplified model is established by considering the out-of-plane and in-plane motions of solar sails. The influences of structure parameters, initial conditions, and feedback control parameters are also analyzed.A method to build the geometric model of a solar sail is presented by analyzing the folding process of solar sails. The finite element model of solar sails is then established, which contains continuous cables and sail membranes. The dynamics of the second-stage deployment of solar sails are simulated by using ABAQUS software. The influences of the rotational speed and out-of-plane movement of the hub are analyzed by different tip masses, initial velocities, and control parameters.Compared with the results from theoretical models, simulation results show good agreements.展开更多
The direction of the sun is the easiest and most reliable observation vector for a solar sail running in deep space exploration. This paper presents a new method using only raw measurements of the sun direction vector...The direction of the sun is the easiest and most reliable observation vector for a solar sail running in deep space exploration. This paper presents a new method using only raw measurements of the sun direction vector to estimate angular velocity for a spinning solar sail. In cases with a constant spin angular velocity, the estimation equation is formed based on the kinematic model for the apparent motion of the sun direction vector; the least-squares solution is then easily calculated. A performance criterion is defined and used to analyze estimation accuracy. In cases with a variable spin angular velocity, the estimation equation is developed based on the kinematic model for the apparent motion of the sun direction vector and the attitude dynamics equation. Simulation results show that the proposed method can quickly yield high-precision angular velocity estimates that are insensitive to certain measurement noises and modeling errors.展开更多
The advantage of solar sails in deep space exploration is that no fuel consumption is required. The heliocentric distance is one factor influencing the solar radiation pressure force exerted on solar sails. In additio...The advantage of solar sails in deep space exploration is that no fuel consumption is required. The heliocentric distance is one factor influencing the solar radiation pressure force exerted on solar sails. In addition, the solar radiation pressure force is also related to the solar sail orientation with respect to the sunlight direction. For an ideal flat solar sail, the cone angle between the sail normal and the sunlight direction determines the magnitude and direction of solar radiation pressure force. In general, the cone angle can change from 0° to 90°. However, in practical applications, a large cone angle may reduce the efficiency of solar radiation pressure force and there is a strict requirement on the attitude control. Usually, the cone angle range is restricted less more than an acute angle （for example, not more than 40°） in engineering practice. In this paper, the time-optimal transfer trajectory is designed over a restricted range of the cone angle, and an indirect method is used to solve the two point boundary value problem associated to the optimal control problem. Relevant numerical examples are provided to compare with the case of an unrestricted case, and the effects of different maximum restricted cone angles are discussed. The results indicate that （1） for the condition of a restricted cone-angle range the transfer time is longer than that for the unrestricted case and （2） the optimal transfer time increases as the maximum restricted cone angle decreases.展开更多
The high performance solar sail can enable fast missions to the outer solar system and produce exotic non-Keplerian orbits.As there is no fuel consumption,mission trajectories for solar sail spacecraft are typically o...The high performance solar sail can enable fast missions to the outer solar system and produce exotic non-Keplerian orbits.As there is no fuel consumption,mission trajectories for solar sail spacecraft are typically optimized with respect to flight time.Several investigations focused on interstellar probe missions have been made,including optimal methods and new objective functions.Two modes of interstellar mission trajectories,namely'direct flyby'and'angular momentum reversal trajectory',are compared and discussed.As a foundation,a 3D non-dimensional dynamic model for an ideal plane solar sail is introduced as well as an optimal control framework.A newly found periodic double angular momentum reversal trajectory is presented,and some properties and potential applications of this kind of inverse orbits are illustrated.The method how to achieve the minimum periodic inverse orbit is also briefly elucidated.展开更多
Displaced non-Keplerian orbits above planetary bodies can be achieved by orientating the solar sail normal to the sun line. The dynamical systems techniques are employed to analyze the nonlinear dynamics of a displace...Displaced non-Keplerian orbits above planetary bodies can be achieved by orientating the solar sail normal to the sun line. The dynamical systems techniques are employed to analyze the nonlinear dynamics of a displaced orbit and different topologies of equilibria are yielded from the basic configurations of Hill＇s region, which have a saddlenode bifurcation point at the degenerated case. The solar sail near hyperbolic or degenerated equilibrium is quite unstable. Therefore, a controller preserving Hamiltonian structure is presented to stabilize the solar sail near hyperbolic or degenerated equilibrium, and to generate the stable Lissajous orbits that stay stable inside the stabilizing region of the controller. The main contribution of this paper is that the controller preserving Hamiltonian structure not only changes the instability of the equilibrium, but also makes the modified elliptic equilibrium become unique for the controlled system. The allocation law of the controller on the sail＇s attitude and lightness number is obtained, which verifies that the controller is realizable.展开更多
Correction to:Aerospace Systems https://doi.org/10.1007/s42401-021-00089-8 Due to an unfortunate oversight the Eq.(8),Tables 2 and 4 has been given erroneously.It should read(Tables 2 and 4)
In this paper a new phase space of hodograph method is adopted to investigate and better understand the two-dimensional angular momentum reversal(H-reversal) trajectories for high performance solar sails within a fixe...In this paper a new phase space of hodograph method is adopted to investigate and better understand the two-dimensional angular momentum reversal(H-reversal) trajectories for high performance solar sails within a fixed cone angle.As the hodograph method and the H-reversal trajectory are not very common,both of them are briefly introduced.The relationship between them are constructed and addressed with a sample trajectory.How the phase space varies according to the sail quality and the fixed sail cone angle is also studied.Through variation of the phase space,the minimum sail lightness number can be obtained by solving a set of algebraic equations instead of a parameter optimization problem.For a given sail lightness number,there are three types of the two-dimensional possible heliocentric motion,including the spiral inward trajectories towards the Sun,the H-reversal trajectories and the directly outward escape trajectories.The boundaries that separate these different groups are easily determined by using the phase space.Finally,the method and procedures to achieve the feasible region of the H-reversal trajectory with required perihelion distance are presented in detail.展开更多
Shape memory composites(SMCs)combine mechanical performances of composite materials with functional behavior of shape memory polymers.They can be used to produce the external frame of self-deployable solar sails with ...Shape memory composites(SMCs)combine mechanical performances of composite materials with functional behavior of shape memory polymers.They can be used to produce the external frame of self-deployable solar sails with very low weight in comparison with traditional composite booms.Furthermore,heat activation is necessary for deploying instead of complex mechanical devices.In this study,the mechanical behavior of a solar sail with SMC frame is simulated by means of finite element modeling.Design considerations are made on sail deployment configuration,size/weight ratio of solar sails,and SMC properties.An experimental activity has been also performed to provide suitable candidates for the composite laminates of the SMC structure.Mechanical and instrumented recovery tests have been carried out on 2-plies carbon-fiber laminates with a shape memory interlayer.展开更多
This paper proposes new quasi-periodic orbits around Earth–Moon collinear libration points using solar sails.By including the time-varying sail orientation in the linearized equations of motion for the circular restr...This paper proposes new quasi-periodic orbits around Earth–Moon collinear libration points using solar sails.By including the time-varying sail orientation in the linearized equations of motion for the circular restricted three-body problem(CR3BP),four types of quasi-periodic orbits(two types around L1 and two types around L2)were formulated.Among them,one type of orbit around L2 realizes a considerably small geometry variation while ensuring visibility from the Earth if(and only if)the sail acceleration due to solar radiation pressure is approximately of a certain magnitude,which is much smaller than that assumed in several previous studies.This means that only small solar sails can remain in the vicinity of L2 for a long time without propellant consumption.The orbits designed in the linearized CR3BP can be translated into nonlinear CR3BP and high-fidelity ephemeris models without losing geometrical characteristics.In this study,new quasi-periodic orbits are formulated,and their characteristics are discussed.Furthermore,their extendibility to higher-fidelity dynamic models was verified using numerical examples.展开更多
The present paper proposes a control method to excite spinning solar sail membranes for three-dimensional use.Using optical property switching,the input is given as the change in magnitude of the solar radiation press...The present paper proposes a control method to excite spinning solar sail membranes for three-dimensional use.Using optical property switching,the input is given as the change in magnitude of the solar radiation pressure.The resonance point of this system varies with the vibration state due to its nonlinearity and the change in equilibrium state.To deal with this,a state feedback control law that automatically tracks the resonance point is developed in the present study.The proposed method enables decentralized control of the actuators on the sail,each of which determines the control input independently using only the information of vibration state.The proposed method is validated using numerical simulations.The results show that the nonlinear system behaves differently from the linear system,and the vibration grows using the decentralized control regardless of resonance point variation.展开更多
This paper investigates the heliocentric time-optimal rendezvous performance of Sun-facing diffractive solar sails with various deflection angles and acceleration capabilities.Diffractive solar sails,which generate ta...This paper investigates the heliocentric time-optimal rendezvous performance of Sun-facing diffractive solar sails with various deflection angles and acceleration capabilities.Diffractive solar sails,which generate tangential radiation pressure force,are proposed and schematically designed to achieve diverse radiation pressure distributions.The radiation pressure force model and the time-optimal control problem for these innovative Sun-facing diffractive solar sails are established.Utilizing an indirect method and the optimal control law,we explore typical heliocentric rendezvous scenarios to assess the variational trends of transfer time in relation to different deflection angles and acceleration capabilities.The results for Sun-facing diffractive sails in specific rendezvous missions are compared to reflective sails with the same area-to-mass ratio,focusing on transfer trajectory and attitude control.Our findings reveal that diffractive sails exhibit significant advantages over reflective sails,particularly in the context of normal acceleration,paving the way for more efficient space exploration.展开更多
This paper proposes an analytical solution of removing end-of-life GEO satellites to the GEO graveyard region using realistic flat solar sails.Different from the ideal solar sail model,the proposed realistic flat sola...This paper proposes an analytical solution of removing end-of-life GEO satellites to the GEO graveyard region using realistic flat solar sails.Different from the ideal solar sail model,the proposed realistic flat solar sail model applies the realistic solar sail thrust model,and the sail cone angle is constrained within[0◦,85◦].The dynamic system of a GEO satellite equipped with a realistic flat solar sail is constructed based on the Gauss’s variation of parameter(VOP)equations,and linearized along a nominal trajectory.Control angles of the sail are generated using the linear optimal tracking controller.Iterations of linearization are applied to gradually reduce the inaccuracy of the linearized systems,thus reducing the terminal state error.Simulations indicate that,end-of-life GEO satellites are successfully removed to the GEO graveyard region in 350 days using the proposed control approach.The negative impact of using realistic flat solar sails in the end-of-life GEO satellite removal mission is evident but not significant.Compared to using ideal solar sails,a small increase in the A/m of spacecraft from 0.14 to 0.16 kg/m^(2)is required.展开更多
Solar sail technology has been proposed and developed for space explorations with advantages of low launch cost,no-propellant consumption,and continuous thrust,which has great potentials in earth polar detection,inter...Solar sail technology has been proposed and developed for space explorations with advantages of low launch cost,no-propellant consumption,and continuous thrust,which has great potentials in earth polar detection,interstellar explorations and etc.The development of solar sail has made significant progress in structural design,manufacturing,materials,orbit transfer,and stability control in the past few decades,which makes meaningful contributions to astronomy,physics,and aerospace science.Technological breakthroughs of Solar Radiation Pressure(SRP)propulsion and interstellar transfer have been achieved in current solar sail missions.However,there are still many challenges and problems need to be solved.This paper attempts to summarize the research schemes and potential applications of solar sailing in space missions from the viewpoint of key technologies,so as to provide an overall perspective for researchers in this field.Analyses of the key technologies of solar sailing system design are provided.Finally,challenges and prospective development of solar sailing are discussed.展开更多
Solar sailing is a promising propellant-free approach to propelling spacecraft in space.However, the propelling efficiency of conventional solar sail spacecraft is limited by their areato-mass ratios. This paper propo...Solar sailing is a promising propellant-free approach to propelling spacecraft in space.However, the propelling efficiency of conventional solar sail spacecraft is limited by their areato-mass ratios. This paper proposes a novel design of micro solar sails with area-to-mass ratios above 100 m^(2)/kg for next-generation chip-scale spacecraft. Bilayer thin films developed by Microelectromechanical Systems(MEMS) technologies were patterned into grid microstructures, and theoretical analysis of a sail prototype was conducted. The electro-thermal and thermo-mechanical models of the solar sail in geospace were established by taking effects of Joule heating, solar radiation, and thermal re-emission into consideration, enabling rapid prediction of its threedimensional(3-D) reconfiguration from the as-released two-dimensional(2-D) microstructure.Adjustment of the Chip Sail's acceleration arising from the sail's morphing was also analytically modeled. Fabrication and characterization of the sail prototype made of multiple Al/Ni_(50)Ti_(50) bilayer beams were accomplished. In-situ SEM imaging of the sail prototype in vacuum chamber witnessed an active and continuous 3-D reconfiguration under Joule heating, and over 90° deformation was detected by applying a DC voltage of 0.078 V. Theoretical and experimental work on the solar sail with at least 10 times higher area-to-mass ratios than conventional ones will lay a solid foundation for efficient solar sailing.展开更多
The spinning solar sail of large scale has been well developed in recent years. Such a solar sail can be considered as a rigid-flexible multibody system mainly composed of a spinning central rigid hub, a number of fle...The spinning solar sail of large scale has been well developed in recent years. Such a solar sail can be considered as a rigid-flexible multibody system mainly composed of a spinning central rigid hub, a number of flexible thin tethers, sail membranes, and tip masses. A simplified interplanetary kite-craft accelerated by radiation of the Sun （IKAROS） model is established in this study by using the absolute-coordinate-based （ACB） method that combines the natural coordinate formulation （NCF） describing the central rigid hub and the absolute nodal coordinate formulation （ANCF） describing flexible parts. The initial configuration of the system in the second-stage deployment is determined through both dynamic and static analyses. The huge set of stiff equations of system dynamics is solved by using the generalized-alpha method, and thus the deployment dynamics of the system can be well understood.展开更多
The stripped solar sail whose membrane is divided into separate narrow membrane strips is believed to have the best structural efficiency.In this paper,the stripped solar sail structure is regarded as an assembly made...The stripped solar sail whose membrane is divided into separate narrow membrane strips is believed to have the best structural efficiency.In this paper,the stripped solar sail structure is regarded as an assembly made by connecting a number of boom-strip components in sequence.Considering the coupling effects between booms and membrane strips,an exact and semianalytical method to calculate structural dynamic responses of the stripped solar sail subjected to solar radiation pressure is established.The case study of a 100 m stripped solar sail shows that the stripped architecture helps to reduce the static deflections and amplitudes of the steady-state dynamic response.Larger prestress of the membrane strips will decrease stiffness of the sail and increase amplitudes of the steady-state dynamic response.Increasing thickness of the boom will benefit to stability of the sail and reduce the resonant amplitudes.This proposed semi-analytical method provides an efficient analysis tool for structure design and attitude control of the stripped solar sail.展开更多
Active attitude control of solar sails is required to control the direction of the force generated by Solar Radiation Pressure(SRP). It is desirable to control the attitude through propellantfree means. This paper pro...Active attitude control of solar sails is required to control the direction of the force generated by Solar Radiation Pressure(SRP). It is desirable to control the attitude through propellantfree means. This paper proposes a new method for attitude control of solar sails: A boom consisting of "smart" structural material can be deformed by the piezoelectric actuator, and Solar Radiation Pressure torque will be generated due to shape variation of sail membrane caused by boom deformation. The method has the advantages of simple structure, small disturbance and small additional load, and is not limited by the size of the solar sail. The case of rendezvous with the Asteroid 2000SG344 is used to verify the attitude control around the pitch and yaw axes.展开更多
Solar radiation pressure is used to control the formation flying around the L2 libration point in the Sun-Earth system. Formation flying control around a halo orbit requires a very small thrust that cannot be satisfie...Solar radiation pressure is used to control the formation flying around the L2 libration point in the Sun-Earth system. Formation flying control around a halo orbit requires a very small thrust that cannot be satisfied by the latest thrusters. The key contribution of this paper is that the continuous low thrust is produced by solar radiation pressure to achieve the tight formation flying around the libration point. However, only certain families of formation types can be controlled by solar radiation pressure since the direction of solar radiation pressure is restricted to a certain range. Two types of feasible formations using solar radiation pressure control are designed. The conditions of feasible formations are given analytically. Simulations are presented for each case, and the results show that the formations are well controlled by solar radiation pressure.展开更多
Near Earth Asteroids have a possibility of impacting the Earth and always represent a threat. This paper proposes a way of changing the orbit of the asteroid to avoid an impact. A solar sail evolving in an H-reversal ...Near Earth Asteroids have a possibility of impacting the Earth and always represent a threat. This paper proposes a way of changing the orbit of the asteroid to avoid an impact. A solar sail evolving in an H-reversal trajectory is utilized for asteroid deflection. Firstly, the dynamics of the solar sail and the characteristics of the H-reversal trajectory are analyzed. Then, the attitude of the solar sail is optimized to guide the sail to impact the target asteroid along an H-reversal trajectory. The impact velocity depends on two important parameters： the minimum solar distance along the trajectory and lightness number of the solar sail. A larger lightness number and a smaller solar distance lead to a higher impact velocity. Finally, the deflection capability of a solar sail impacting the asteroid along the H-reversal trajectory is discussed. The results show that a 10kg solar sail with a lead-time of one year can move Apophis out of a 600-m keyhole area in 2029 to eliminate the possibility of its resonant return in 2036.展开更多
The fuel consumption associated with some interplanetary transfer trajectories using chemical propulsion is not affordable. A solar sail is a method of propulsion that does not consume fuel. Transfer time is one of th...The fuel consumption associated with some interplanetary transfer trajectories using chemical propulsion is not affordable. A solar sail is a method of propulsion that does not consume fuel. Transfer time is one of the most pressing problems of solar sail transfer trajectory design. This paper investigates the time-optimal interplanetary transfer trajectories to a circular orbit of given inclination and radius. The optimal control law is derived from the principle of maximization. An indirect method is used to solve the optimal control problem by selecting values for the initial adjoint vari- ables, which are normalized within a unit sphere. The conditions for the existence of the time-optimal transfer are dependent on the lightness number of the sail and the inclination and radius of the target orbit. A numerical method is used to obtain the boundary values for the time-optimal transfer trajectories. For the cases where no time-optimal transfer trajectories exist, first-order necessary conditions of the optimal control are proposed to obtain feasible solutions. The results show that the transfer time decreases as the minimum distance from the Sun decreases during the transfer duration. For a solar sail with a small lightness number, the transfer time may be evaluated analytically for a three-phase transfer trajectory. The analytical results are compared with previous results and the associated numerical results. The transfer time of the numerical result here is smaller than the transfer time from previous results and is larger than the analytical result.展开更多
基金supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos. 11290151 and 51075032)
文摘The spinning deployment process of solar sails is analyzed in this study. A simplified model is established by considering the out-of-plane and in-plane motions of solar sails. The influences of structure parameters, initial conditions, and feedback control parameters are also analyzed.A method to build the geometric model of a solar sail is presented by analyzing the folding process of solar sails. The finite element model of solar sails is then established, which contains continuous cables and sail membranes. The dynamics of the second-stage deployment of solar sails are simulated by using ABAQUS software. The influences of the rotational speed and out-of-plane movement of the hub are analyzed by different tip masses, initial velocities, and control parameters.Compared with the results from theoretical models, simulation results show good agreements.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 11302113)
文摘The direction of the sun is the easiest and most reliable observation vector for a solar sail running in deep space exploration. This paper presents a new method using only raw measurements of the sun direction vector to estimate angular velocity for a spinning solar sail. In cases with a constant spin angular velocity, the estimation equation is formed based on the kinematic model for the apparent motion of the sun direction vector; the least-squares solution is then easily calculated. A performance criterion is defined and used to analyze estimation accuracy. In cases with a variable spin angular velocity, the estimation equation is developed based on the kinematic model for the apparent motion of the sun direction vector and the attitude dynamics equation. Simulation results show that the proposed method can quickly yield high-precision angular velocity estimates that are insensitive to certain measurement noises and modeling errors.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(11272004 and 11302112)China’s Civil Space Funding
文摘The advantage of solar sails in deep space exploration is that no fuel consumption is required. The heliocentric distance is one factor influencing the solar radiation pressure force exerted on solar sails. In addition, the solar radiation pressure force is also related to the solar sail orientation with respect to the sunlight direction. For an ideal flat solar sail, the cone angle between the sail normal and the sunlight direction determines the magnitude and direction of solar radiation pressure force. In general, the cone angle can change from 0° to 90°. However, in practical applications, a large cone angle may reduce the efficiency of solar radiation pressure force and there is a strict requirement on the attitude control. Usually, the cone angle range is restricted less more than an acute angle （for example, not more than 40°） in engineering practice. In this paper, the time-optimal transfer trajectory is designed over a restricted range of the cone angle, and an indirect method is used to solve the two point boundary value problem associated to the optimal control problem. Relevant numerical examples are provided to compare with the case of an unrestricted case, and the effects of different maximum restricted cone angles are discussed. The results indicate that （1） for the condition of a restricted cone-angle range the transfer time is longer than that for the unrestricted case and （2） the optimal transfer time increases as the maximum restricted cone angle decreases.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(10832004 and 10902056)
文摘The high performance solar sail can enable fast missions to the outer solar system and produce exotic non-Keplerian orbits.As there is no fuel consumption,mission trajectories for solar sail spacecraft are typically optimized with respect to flight time.Several investigations focused on interstellar probe missions have been made,including optimal methods and new objective functions.Two modes of interstellar mission trajectories,namely'direct flyby'and'angular momentum reversal trajectory',are compared and discussed.As a foundation,a 3D non-dimensional dynamic model for an ideal plane solar sail is introduced as well as an optimal control framework.A newly found periodic double angular momentum reversal trajectory is presented,and some properties and potential applications of this kind of inverse orbits are illustrated.The method how to achieve the minimum periodic inverse orbit is also briefly elucidated.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (11172020)the "Vision" Foundation for Talent Assistant Professor from Ministry of Industry and Information Technologythe "Blue-Sky" Foundation for Talent Assistant Professor from Beihang University
文摘Displaced non-Keplerian orbits above planetary bodies can be achieved by orientating the solar sail normal to the sun line. The dynamical systems techniques are employed to analyze the nonlinear dynamics of a displaced orbit and different topologies of equilibria are yielded from the basic configurations of Hill＇s region, which have a saddlenode bifurcation point at the degenerated case. The solar sail near hyperbolic or degenerated equilibrium is quite unstable. Therefore, a controller preserving Hamiltonian structure is presented to stabilize the solar sail near hyperbolic or degenerated equilibrium, and to generate the stable Lissajous orbits that stay stable inside the stabilizing region of the controller. The main contribution of this paper is that the controller preserving Hamiltonian structure not only changes the instability of the equilibrium, but also makes the modified elliptic equilibrium become unique for the controlled system. The allocation law of the controller on the sail＇s attitude and lightness number is obtained, which verifies that the controller is realizable.
文摘Correction to:Aerospace Systems https://doi.org/10.1007/s42401-021-00089-8 Due to an unfortunate oversight the Eq.(8),Tables 2 and 4 has been given erroneously.It should read(Tables 2 and 4)
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos.10902056 and 10832004)
文摘In this paper a new phase space of hodograph method is adopted to investigate and better understand the two-dimensional angular momentum reversal(H-reversal) trajectories for high performance solar sails within a fixed cone angle.As the hodograph method and the H-reversal trajectory are not very common,both of them are briefly introduced.The relationship between them are constructed and addressed with a sample trajectory.How the phase space varies according to the sail quality and the fixed sail cone angle is also studied.Through variation of the phase space,the minimum sail lightness number can be obtained by solving a set of algebraic equations instead of a parameter optimization problem.For a given sail lightness number,there are three types of the two-dimensional possible heliocentric motion,including the spiral inward trajectories towards the Sun,the H-reversal trajectories and the directly outward escape trajectories.The boundaries that separate these different groups are easily determined by using the phase space.Finally,the method and procedures to achieve the feasible region of the H-reversal trajectory with required perihelion distance are presented in detail.
文摘Shape memory composites(SMCs)combine mechanical performances of composite materials with functional behavior of shape memory polymers.They can be used to produce the external frame of self-deployable solar sails with very low weight in comparison with traditional composite booms.Furthermore,heat activation is necessary for deploying instead of complex mechanical devices.In this study,the mechanical behavior of a solar sail with SMC frame is simulated by means of finite element modeling.Design considerations are made on sail deployment configuration,size/weight ratio of solar sails,and SMC properties.An experimental activity has been also performed to provide suitable candidates for the composite laminates of the SMC structure.Mechanical and instrumented recovery tests have been carried out on 2-plies carbon-fiber laminates with a shape memory interlayer.
文摘This paper proposes new quasi-periodic orbits around Earth–Moon collinear libration points using solar sails.By including the time-varying sail orientation in the linearized equations of motion for the circular restricted three-body problem(CR3BP),four types of quasi-periodic orbits(two types around L1 and two types around L2)were formulated.Among them,one type of orbit around L2 realizes a considerably small geometry variation while ensuring visibility from the Earth if(and only if)the sail acceleration due to solar radiation pressure is approximately of a certain magnitude,which is much smaller than that assumed in several previous studies.This means that only small solar sails can remain in the vicinity of L2 for a long time without propellant consumption.The orbits designed in the linearized CR3BP can be translated into nonlinear CR3BP and high-fidelity ephemeris models without losing geometrical characteristics.In this study,new quasi-periodic orbits are formulated,and their characteristics are discussed.Furthermore,their extendibility to higher-fidelity dynamic models was verified using numerical examples.
基金The present study was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP18J11615.
文摘The present paper proposes a control method to excite spinning solar sail membranes for three-dimensional use.Using optical property switching,the input is given as the change in magnitude of the solar radiation pressure.The resonance point of this system varies with the vibration state due to its nonlinearity and the change in equilibrium state.To deal with this,a state feedback control law that automatically tracks the resonance point is developed in the present study.The proposed method enables decentralized control of the actuators on the sail,each of which determines the control input independently using only the information of vibration state.The proposed method is validated using numerical simulations.The results show that the nonlinear system behaves differently from the linear system,and the vibration grows using the decentralized control regardless of resonance point variation.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.12372044).
文摘This paper investigates the heliocentric time-optimal rendezvous performance of Sun-facing diffractive solar sails with various deflection angles and acceleration capabilities.Diffractive solar sails,which generate tangential radiation pressure force,are proposed and schematically designed to achieve diverse radiation pressure distributions.The radiation pressure force model and the time-optimal control problem for these innovative Sun-facing diffractive solar sails are established.Utilizing an indirect method and the optimal control law,we explore typical heliocentric rendezvous scenarios to assess the variational trends of transfer time in relation to different deflection angles and acceleration capabilities.The results for Sun-facing diffractive sails in specific rendezvous missions are compared to reflective sails with the same area-to-mass ratio,focusing on transfer trajectory and attitude control.Our findings reveal that diffractive sails exhibit significant advantages over reflective sails,particularly in the context of normal acceleration,paving the way for more efficient space exploration.
基金supported by the China Scholarship Council(CSC).
文摘This paper proposes an analytical solution of removing end-of-life GEO satellites to the GEO graveyard region using realistic flat solar sails.Different from the ideal solar sail model,the proposed realistic flat solar sail model applies the realistic solar sail thrust model,and the sail cone angle is constrained within[0◦,85◦].The dynamic system of a GEO satellite equipped with a realistic flat solar sail is constructed based on the Gauss’s variation of parameter(VOP)equations,and linearized along a nominal trajectory.Control angles of the sail are generated using the linear optimal tracking controller.Iterations of linearization are applied to gradually reduce the inaccuracy of the linearized systems,thus reducing the terminal state error.Simulations indicate that,end-of-life GEO satellites are successfully removed to the GEO graveyard region in 350 days using the proposed control approach.The negative impact of using realistic flat solar sails in the end-of-life GEO satellite removal mission is evident but not significant.Compared to using ideal solar sails,a small increase in the A/m of spacecraft from 0.14 to 0.16 kg/m^(2)is required.
基金co-supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China(No.51905527)China Scholarship Council(No.202104910450).
文摘Solar sail technology has been proposed and developed for space explorations with advantages of low launch cost,no-propellant consumption,and continuous thrust,which has great potentials in earth polar detection,interstellar explorations and etc.The development of solar sail has made significant progress in structural design,manufacturing,materials,orbit transfer,and stability control in the past few decades,which makes meaningful contributions to astronomy,physics,and aerospace science.Technological breakthroughs of Solar Radiation Pressure(SRP)propulsion and interstellar transfer have been achieved in current solar sail missions.However,there are still many challenges and problems need to be solved.This paper attempts to summarize the research schemes and potential applications of solar sailing in space missions from the viewpoint of key technologies,so as to provide an overall perspective for researchers in this field.Analyses of the key technologies of solar sailing system design are provided.Finally,challenges and prospective development of solar sailing are discussed.
基金Supported by Excellent Youth Science Fund Project(Overseas)of Shandong Province,China(No.2023HWYQ-029)China Postdoctoral Science Foundation(No.2023MD744219)+3 种基金Zhejiang Province Selected Funding for Postdoctoral Research Projects,China(No.ZJ2023040)Youth Project of Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province,China(No.ZR2023QE127)China National University Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Program(No.202310422009)Major Basic Research Program of the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province,China(No.ZR2019ZD08).This research was in part carried out at the Center for Functional Nanomaterials(CFN),Brookhaven National Laboratory(BNL),which is supported by the U.S.Department of Energy,Office of Basic Energy Sciences,under Contract No.DE-SC0012704.
文摘Solar sailing is a promising propellant-free approach to propelling spacecraft in space.However, the propelling efficiency of conventional solar sail spacecraft is limited by their areato-mass ratios. This paper proposes a novel design of micro solar sails with area-to-mass ratios above 100 m^(2)/kg for next-generation chip-scale spacecraft. Bilayer thin films developed by Microelectromechanical Systems(MEMS) technologies were patterned into grid microstructures, and theoretical analysis of a sail prototype was conducted. The electro-thermal and thermo-mechanical models of the solar sail in geospace were established by taking effects of Joule heating, solar radiation, and thermal re-emission into consideration, enabling rapid prediction of its threedimensional(3-D) reconfiguration from the as-released two-dimensional(2-D) microstructure.Adjustment of the Chip Sail's acceleration arising from the sail's morphing was also analytically modeled. Fabrication and characterization of the sail prototype made of multiple Al/Ni_(50)Ti_(50) bilayer beams were accomplished. In-situ SEM imaging of the sail prototype in vacuum chamber witnessed an active and continuous 3-D reconfiguration under Joule heating, and over 90° deformation was detected by applying a DC voltage of 0.078 V. Theoretical and experimental work on the solar sail with at least 10 times higher area-to-mass ratios than conventional ones will lay a solid foundation for efficient solar sailing.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (11221202 and 51075032)Excellent Young Scholar Research Fund from Beijing Institute of Technology
文摘The spinning solar sail of large scale has been well developed in recent years. Such a solar sail can be considered as a rigid-flexible multibody system mainly composed of a spinning central rigid hub, a number of flexible thin tethers, sail membranes, and tip masses. A simplified interplanetary kite-craft accelerated by radiation of the Sun （IKAROS） model is established in this study by using the absolute-coordinate-based （ACB） method that combines the natural coordinate formulation （NCF） describing the central rigid hub and the absolute nodal coordinate formulation （ANCF） describing flexible parts. The initial configuration of the system in the second-stage deployment is determined through both dynamic and static analyses. The huge set of stiff equations of system dynamics is solved by using the generalized-alpha method, and thus the deployment dynamics of the system can be well understood.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.11572001)。
文摘The stripped solar sail whose membrane is divided into separate narrow membrane strips is believed to have the best structural efficiency.In this paper,the stripped solar sail structure is regarded as an assembly made by connecting a number of boom-strip components in sequence.Considering the coupling effects between booms and membrane strips,an exact and semianalytical method to calculate structural dynamic responses of the stripped solar sail subjected to solar radiation pressure is established.The case study of a 100 m stripped solar sail shows that the stripped architecture helps to reduce the static deflections and amplitudes of the steady-state dynamic response.Larger prestress of the membrane strips will decrease stiffness of the sail and increase amplitudes of the steady-state dynamic response.Increasing thickness of the boom will benefit to stability of the sail and reduce the resonant amplitudes.This proposed semi-analytical method provides an efficient analysis tool for structure design and attitude control of the stripped solar sail.
基金National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.11772167,11822205)。
文摘Active attitude control of solar sails is required to control the direction of the force generated by Solar Radiation Pressure(SRP). It is desirable to control the attitude through propellantfree means. This paper proposes a new method for attitude control of solar sails: A boom consisting of "smart" structural material can be deformed by the piezoelectric actuator, and Solar Radiation Pressure torque will be generated due to shape variation of sail membrane caused by boom deformation. The method has the advantages of simple structure, small disturbance and small additional load, and is not limited by the size of the solar sail. The case of rendezvous with the Asteroid 2000SG344 is used to verify the attitude control around the pitch and yaw axes.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 10832004)the Post-Doctoral Science Foundation of China (No. 20080440040)
文摘Solar radiation pressure is used to control the formation flying around the L2 libration point in the Sun-Earth system. Formation flying control around a halo orbit requires a very small thrust that cannot be satisfied by the latest thrusters. The key contribution of this paper is that the continuous low thrust is produced by solar radiation pressure to achieve the tight formation flying around the libration point. However, only certain families of formation types can be controlled by solar radiation pressure since the direction of solar radiation pressure is restricted to a certain range. Two types of feasible formations using solar radiation pressure control are designed. The conditions of feasible formations are given analytically. Simulations are presented for each case, and the results show that the formations are well controlled by solar radiation pressure.
基金funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos. 10902056 and 10832004)
文摘Near Earth Asteroids have a possibility of impacting the Earth and always represent a threat. This paper proposes a way of changing the orbit of the asteroid to avoid an impact. A solar sail evolving in an H-reversal trajectory is utilized for asteroid deflection. Firstly, the dynamics of the solar sail and the characteristics of the H-reversal trajectory are analyzed. Then, the attitude of the solar sail is optimized to guide the sail to impact the target asteroid along an H-reversal trajectory. The impact velocity depends on two important parameters： the minimum solar distance along the trajectory and lightness number of the solar sail. A larger lightness number and a smaller solar distance lead to a higher impact velocity. Finally, the deflection capability of a solar sail impacting the asteroid along the H-reversal trajectory is discussed. The results show that a 10kg solar sail with a lead-time of one year can move Apophis out of a 600-m keyhole area in 2029 to eliminate the possibility of its resonant return in 2036.
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos. 10902056 and 10832004)
文摘The fuel consumption associated with some interplanetary transfer trajectories using chemical propulsion is not affordable. A solar sail is a method of propulsion that does not consume fuel. Transfer time is one of the most pressing problems of solar sail transfer trajectory design. This paper investigates the time-optimal interplanetary transfer trajectories to a circular orbit of given inclination and radius. The optimal control law is derived from the principle of maximization. An indirect method is used to solve the optimal control problem by selecting values for the initial adjoint vari- ables, which are normalized within a unit sphere. The conditions for the existence of the time-optimal transfer are dependent on the lightness number of the sail and the inclination and radius of the target orbit. A numerical method is used to obtain the boundary values for the time-optimal transfer trajectories. For the cases where no time-optimal transfer trajectories exist, first-order necessary conditions of the optimal control are proposed to obtain feasible solutions. The results show that the transfer time decreases as the minimum distance from the Sun decreases during the transfer duration. For a solar sail with a small lightness number, the transfer time may be evaluated analytically for a three-phase transfer trajectory. The analytical results are compared with previous results and the associated numerical results. The transfer time of the numerical result here is smaller than the transfer time from previous results and is larger than the analytical result.
