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Effects of liquid-fuel temperature on rotating-detonation-wave propagation Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-07-09 Shengbing Zhou, Rui Wang, Feng Liu, Huiming Ning, Yuan Ma, Taifeng Zhang, Ning Hu
The utilization of liquid fuel will greatly expand the application scope of rotating detonation engines, and there are still great challenges to achieve high-performance liquid-fuel rotating detonation operation. In this paper, aviation kerosene was used as the liquid fuel to investigate the effects of fuel temperature on the propagation characteristics of rotating detonation waves in two combustor
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The history of the Italian astronautical sector and the A.I.R., the Italian Rocket Association Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-07-08 Mario Marchetti
This paper analyses the circumstances and events that led the Italian scientific community to encourage the astronautical sector in Italy at the end of the Second World War. Particularly important was the contribution of the A.I.R., Associazione Italiana Razzi, the Italian Rocket Association, founded in 1951 for the purpose of extending rocket and space culture.
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Temperature mapping methods for thermoelastic analyses of the ARIEL spacecraft payload module Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-07-06 Andrés García-Pérez, Alejandro Fernández-Soler, Gianluca Morgante, Javier Pérez-Álvarez, Gustavo Alonso, Laura García-Moreno, Antonio Scippa, Daniele Gottini, Riccardo Lilli
The ARIEL mission is a European space project that aims to detect exoplanets with a spacecraft orbiting around the L2 point of the Sun-Earth system. The main payload consists of a Cassegrain telescope composed of mirrors that reflect and concentrate the incoming light from the deep space observations to finally guide it to the detectors. As in many other space missions, a dedicated complex assessment
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Deep reinforcement learning-based dynamic multi-beam power allocation for GEO-LEO co-existing satellites Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-07-06 Jing Xu, Simeng Fan, Zhongtian Zhao, Fan Li, Yizhai Zhang
This paper first formulates a novel long-term beam power allocation (BPA) problem to tackle the harmful co-linear interference issue in the geostationary earth orbit (GEO) and low earth orbit (LEO) co-existing satellite system. This BPA problem intends to optimize the long-term weighted sum rate of the LEO system while ensuring that GEO user’s received interference from the LEO satellite system is
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Proprioceptive swarms for celestial body exploration Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-07-06 Simone Cottiga, Matteo Caruso, Paolo Gallina, Stefano Seriani
The exploration of small celestial bodies has been a very active field ever since the dawn of space exploration. However, traditional approaches based on monolithic landers allow only the area in the immediate vicinity to the landing spot to be examined. Using mobile systems like rovers allow for better coverage, but at considerable cost and complexity. In this work, we propose an approach based on
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Effects of the droplet size and engine size on two-phase kerosene/air rotating detonation engines in flight operation conditions Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-07-05 Wenbo Cao, Qiuyue Liu, Fang Wang, Chunsheng Weng
The numerical and experimental research of rotating detonation engines is usually conducted in ground environmental conditions. Although many breakthroughs have been made, there are still deficiencies in understanding engines operating in real flight conditions. In order to reveal the effect of engine size and initial kerosene droplet size on the rotating detonation engines in flight conditions, the
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Slopes along Apollo EVAs: Astronaut experience as input for future mission planning Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-07-04 Wajiha Iqbal, James W. Head III, Carolyn H. van der Bogert, Thomas Frueh, Megan Henriksen, Valentin Bickel, David Kring, Harald Hiesinger, David R. Scott, Thomas Heyer
One major factor for operational safety and planning of human extravehicular activities (EVAs) is the topography of the landing region. During planning for EVAs for future crewed missions, digital elevation models (DEMs) and derived slope maps are often used to place constraints on proposed EVA paths to minimize the slopes and vertical meters traveled. However, the specification of these constraints
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The ion beam interceptor concept for a space station collision avoidance with space debris Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-07-04 V.S. Aslanov, A.S. Ledkov
Space debris poses a great threat to space stations. When a collision hazard is detected, the space station's orbit should be adjusted. An alternative approach is to apply collision avoidance measures that consist in creating an external impact on the space debris object to change its orbit and increase the miss distance slightly. Such an impact can be carried out using a ground-based or orbital laser
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Exploring the potential of fractionated spacecraft for enhanced satellite connectivity: Application to the satellite-to-cell case Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-07-04 M. Amin Alandihallaj, Andreas Makoto Hein
This paper presents a mission concept designed for satellite-to-cell connectivity through a fractionated CubeSat approach, aiming to fulfill the objectives set by the BlueWalker-3 specifications. The envisioned system consists of 41 CubeSats, each adopting a 16U form factor, to provide dedicated coverage across specified sub-regions, as a reasonable solution. The pre-Phase-A design capitalizes on commercially
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Prospecting in-situ resources for future crewed missions to Mars Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-07-03 Christoph Gross, Muna Al-Samir, Janice L. Bishop, François Poulet, Frank Postberg, Daniel Schubert
The installation of planetary and lunar human outposts might be an important step for future solar system exploration by both public space agencies and private companies. Humans living and working in these artificially created habitats will possibly depend, among other life support approaches, on bio-regenerative life support systems to produce and recycle oxygen and water, and to produce food. A variety
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Combustion behavior of NMP-001, a nitromethane-based green rocket propellant Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-07-01 Maxim Kurilov, Lukas Werling, Christoph Kirchberger, Helmut Ciezki, Stefan Schlechtriem
Hydrazine’s carcinogenic and toxic nature makes its use in space propulsion expensive and necessitates careful launch campaign planning, which may cause delays. One already established alternative is to use energetic salt-based ionic solution propellants. However, the costs remain high because these salts are costly and highly regulated energetic materials. Additionally, propellants based on these
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Composite structures with embedded fiber optic sensors: A smart propellant tank for future spacecraft applications Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-29 Ahmed E.S. Nosseir, Emanuele Alberto Slejko, Angelo Cervone, Claudio J. Oton, Fabrizio Di Pasquale
Modern spacecraft and launch vehicle design is more oriented towards reducing system-level design and assembly complexities. In order to maintain high overall system performance while reducing these complexities, the use of smart materials and smart structural components is a well-known practice and is currently of rising interest to space systems' designers. The paper discusses a concept of smart
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Performance evaluation of rebound damping of target marker Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-29 Tetsuya Kusumoto, Shun Yasuda, Yoshiki Sugawara, Osamu Mori
For small body missions, autonomous guidance is crucial for landing. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Hayabusa and Hayabusa2 spacecraft thus placed a target marker on an asteroid’s surface for approach and landing maneuvers. Because of the microgravity environment of an asteroid, even a low-velocity impact can result in a high rebound. In order to reduce rebound motion, a target marker is composed
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SPRISS: Scalable and precise resistive impact sensor for smallsats, architecture description and tests Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-29 Samuele Enzo, Giacomo Battaglia, Federico Basana, Francesca Filippini, Monica Mozzato, Federico Marin, Luca Lion, Lorenzo Olivieri, Carlo Bettanini, Alessandro Francesconi
Space debris are a tangible risk for satellites in Earth orbits. Indeed, in the last decades fragmentation events have generated a large number of uncontrolled objects that have made the debris population grow. Modelling the space debris environment is becoming a fundamental task to evaluate the vulnerability of operational satellites, the probability of accidental collisions with uncontrolled objects
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Interstellar exploration: From science fiction to actual technology Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-28 Giancarlo Genta
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Space interferometer orbit determination with multi-GNSS Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-26 P.R. Zapevalin, A.V. Loginov, A.G. Rudnitskiy, M.A. Shchurov, T.A. Syachina
Spacecraft positioning plays a crucial role in scientific space mission design, as well as in the further scheduling of scientific observations for such a mission. We examine the application of global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) to solve the orbit determination problem in a pure space very long baseline interferometer (VLBI) project. A network of GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and BeiDou navigation
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Establishment of debris index evaluation criteria and comparison of index effects Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-26 Ryusuke Harada, Satomi Kawamoto, Toshiya Hanada
This paper discusses the processes which should be taken to establish debris indices that assess the orbital environmental impact of spacecraft or missions in orbit. The first process is establishing a methodology and criteria for evaluating an impact on the orbital environment. This study proposed an assessment method to evaluate the cumulative environmental changes during an evaluation period. It
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Experimental investigation and numerical simulation of intense plume impingement effects from a 10 N bipropellant thruster Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-26 Chenggeng Wu, Bijiao He, Da Gao, Chen Chen, Yatao Chen, Baiyi Zhang, Guilong Ling, Huiyan Weng, Guobiao Cai, Lihui Liu
The intense interaction between thruster plumes and spacecraft surfaces presents substantial challenges for the advancement of space technologies. The impingement effects from a 10 N bipropellant thruster plume on a vertical instrumented plate were experimentally and numerically investigated in this study. Impingement pressure and heat flux were measured using micro differential pressure transducers
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Distant retrograde orbit baseline generation considering solar eclipse mitigation Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-25 Yang Sun, Ming Wang, Hao Zhang
Mitigating solar eclipses presents a formidable challenge in the design of spacecraft orbits, particularly in the case of a distant retrograde orbit (DRO), which is susceptible to significant solar eclipse threats. This paper undertakes a comprehensive analysis of the occurrence characteristics and patterns of both Moon and Earth eclipses on a DRO. The proposed approach involves a two-stage design
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Aerodynamic and dynamic characteristics of flapping wings under low air density Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-25 Giheon Ha, Hoon Cheol Park
Interest in the exploration of other planets has led to the success of Ingenuity (Mars helicopter)'s first flight in the Martian atmosphere. Despite this achievement, the flight of aircraft under ultra-low air density, such as Mars, is still limited. A flapping-wing aircraft that mimics nature's flyers can provide an alternative solution to conventional aircraft. Successful flapping flight on Mars
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AstrobeeCD: Change detection in microgravity with free-flying robots Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-24 Holly Dinkel, Julia Di, Jamie Santos, Keenan Albee, Paulo V.K. Borges, Marina Moreira, Ryan Soussan, Oleg Alexandrov, Brian Coltin, Trey Smith
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A new system design tool for a hybrid rocket engine Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-24 Elena Quero Granado, Jouke Hijlkema, Jean-Yves Lestrade, Jérôme Anthoine
A new system design tool for the simulation of a full hybrid rocket engine is developed in this article. This tool enables to simulate the behaviour of the engine at different conditions/configurations in several minutes from a desktop computer by keeping a balance between accuracy and computation time. This makes its use especially attractive for the pre-design phases of the engine. The main components
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Novel design of multi-point injection system for laboratory simulation of Martian low-pressure dust devils Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-24 Lifang Li, Cunru Zhang, Yi Huang, Zin Min Khant, Pengzhen Guo, Congbin Chen
The Martian surface is frequently traversed by dust devils, presenting formidable challenges to exploration missions and posing significant safety risks. Establishing a ground-based simulation device for low-pressure Martian dust devils is essential for conducting reliability testing and research on extreme environments relevant to Mars rovers. This study introduces a Martian dust devil simulator comprising
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Dual opposing-phase galvanic vestibular stimulation modifies perception of coriolis cross-coupling and delays motion sickness onset Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-22 Gaurav N. Pradhan, Michael J. Cevette, Jamie M. Bogle, Jan Stepanek, Scott J. Wood
Alterations in vestibular sensory processing following G-transitions lead to head movement sensitivity and motion sickness upon return to Earth's gravity. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether a non-pharmaceutical tool using dual, opposing-phase galvanic vestibular stimulation (oGVS) could suppress disorienting illusions and mitigate motion sickness. Using a repeated measures counter-balanced
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The Effects of Pointing Error Sources on Energy Delivery from Orbiting Solar Reflectors Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-22 Iain Moore, Litesh Sulbhewar, Onur Çelik, Colin R. McInnes
Many proposals are being made for cleaner, more sustainable forms of energy production. Terrestrial solar photovoltaic farms (SPFs) could potentially deliver large quantities of energy to the grid, although these are limited to daytime use. The output from these SPFs could be enhanced, particularly around dawn and dusk, by the use of orbiting solar reflectors (OSRs) in near-polar orbit. These would
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Air-coupled tsunamis generated from impacts and airbursts: Our understanding before Hunga-Tonga Hunga-Ha'apai Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-21 Mark Boslough, Vasily Titov
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Passive thermal control design and flight operation results of nano moon lander OMOTENASHI Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-19 Junji Kikuchi, Osada Toshihiro, Ryo Hirasawa, Kakeru Tokunaga, Naoki Morishita, Kota Miyoshi, Wataru Torii, Nobutaka Bando, Chikako Hirose, Tomihiro Kinjo, Yuki Akizuki, Tatsuaki Hashimoto
OMOTENASHI is a 6U CubeSat launched by the first NASA SLS rocket. Its mission was to demonstrate that a CubeSat can make a semi-hard landing on the Moon. Tight resource constraints make it difficult to mount a heater and a radiator in a CubeSat, so passive thermal control is a prominent design feature of OMOTENASHI that resolves the technical difficulty. In November 2019, a thermal vacuum test was
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Influences of initial voltage and electrode size on propellant surface evolution in a coaxial pulsed plasma thruster Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-19 Hao Fu, Zhiwen Wu, Tiankun Huang, Tianyi Hu, Song Zhang
Coaxial pulsed plasma thrusters are well suited for microsatellites, but the discharge therein is radially nonuniform, resulting in uneven propellant ablation that ultimately degrades the thruster performance. This study investigates how the propellant surface evolves during 50 000 discharges in a coaxial pulsed plasma thruster with different outer electrode inner diameters and initial voltages, encompassing
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Multi-disciplinary optimization of single-stage hybrid rockets for lunar ascent Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-19 Paolo Maria Zolla, Rodrigo Rosa, Mario Tindaro Migliorino, Daniele Bianchi
This study aims to determine the optimal design and ascent trajectory for a single-stage hybrid rocket in the context of a lunar ascent mission, with the objective of reaching a 100 km circular orbit on the Moon equatorial plane. A multi-disciplinary optimization problem is formulated, integrating flight design variables and launch vehicle design variables to achieve the best mission scenario. A zero-dimensional
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Gelled hydrogen peroxide: Hypergolic reaction with low toxicity fuel by drop and impinging jets tests Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-19 Gabriel Silva Dias, Fábio Antônio da Silva Mota, Lihan Fei, Chenglong Tang, Fernando de Souza Costa
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Cislunar [formula omitted] and [formula omitted] axial orbits and their applications Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-19 Dong Qiao, Jianchao Zheng, Yi Qi
Cislunar or axial orbit families are continuous asymmetrical periodic orbits from the figure-8 orbit around or Lagrange point of the Earth–Moon system to the halo-family around the Moon. They provide special locations of lunar relay satellites for the lunar south pole due to their offset locations. In this paper, we investigate the orbital characters and applications of cislunar and axial orbits. A
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Obligations and liabilities concerning the active removal of foreign space debris: A global governance perspective Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-19 Jie Long, Chuying Huang
Eliminating space debris in valuable Earth orbits is an urgent challenge for the sustainable development of outer space, and active removal is considered the most effective measure for debris elimination. In terms of legal jurisdiction, any country intending to remove space debris belonging to other countries undergoes a legality review encompassing obligations and liabilities. According to the fundamental
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A comprehensive review on metal laser additive manufacturing in space: Modeling and perspectives Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-19 Mitra Taghizadeh, Zheng H. Zhu
Additive Manufacturing marks a transformative advancement in space exploration, where customization and efficient resource use are paramount. Metal additive manufacturing, specifically using the directed energy deposition process with wire feedstock, addresses the limitations of polymer-based Fused Filament Fabrication, which has been the primary focus of space missions until now. Metal additive manufacturing
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Trajectory/propulsion integrated design optimization of the manned lunar lander propelled by hybrid rocket motors using analytical target cascading Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-17 Hao Zhu, Xintong Li, Yuanjun Zhang, Yang Liu, Hui Tian, Guobiao Cai
Lunar missions are currently experiencing a significant surge in popularity, presenting expansive opportunities for further exploration and development. To thoroughly explore the design margins and potential of lunar landers, and to foster the development of overall designs driven by comprehensive performance objectives, it is crucial to conduct optimization design considering the coupling between
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Improved contactless attitude control law of uncooperative spacecraft by laser ablation Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-15 Ai Hayashibara, Yasuhiro Yoshimura, Toshiya Hanada, Yuki Itaya, Tomoaki Fujihara, Tadanori Fukushima
Laser ablation technology enables contactless debris removal, providing the advantages of safety and cost efficiency. To deorbit space debris using laser ablation, the attitude motion of the debris must be controlled in advance. Although a previous study derived an attitude control procedure, it empirically determines control gains and is easily affected by assumed preconditions. To solve this problem
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Effects of the outlet contraction ratio on the performance of liquid kerosene/air two-phase rotating detonation combustors Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-15 Xiafei Li, Wu Jin, Jianzhong Li, Qian Yao, Qiongyao Qin, Li Yuan
Experiments and numerical simulations were conducted across a range of contraction ratio to investigate the detonation combustion characteristics of liquid aviation kerosene/air rotating detonation combustor. The research indicates that extremely low and high contraction ratio adversely affect the stable operation of the two-phase rotating detonation combustors. At a contraction ratio that is too low
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Adaptive fault-tolerant control for ascent HSV with wing damage and function constraints on states Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-14 Daikun Chao, Ruiyun Qi, Bin Jiang, Yengchai Soh
In this article, a fault-tolerant tracking control technique is developed for the ascent of hypersonic vehicles (HSV) experiencing wing damage and time-varying state constraints. The difficulty of control problem lies in handling state constraints associated with both state and time, while determining the unknown control directions of the multi-input multi-output (MIMO) nonlinear system. The presence
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Dual-stage control method for continuous hopping on the surface of small celestial bodies Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-14 Zhe Yang, Shengying Zhu, Zixuan Liang, Rui Xu
Surface movement exploration techniques are an important approach to further the understanding of small celestial bodies. Hopping movement is employed to take advantage of the weak gravitational field of small celestial bodies, facilitating long-distance mobility of the rover. The rover exhibits a strong attitude-orbit coupling characteristic during the hopping movement. Different contact attitudes
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Spacesuit contact with wearer: Analysis and visualization Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-13 Will Green, Han Kim, Elizabeth Benson, Sudhakar Rajulu
Spacesuits are pressurized garments used in space missions to protect crewmembers from the hazards of space. The wearer moves the suit through contact on the interior of the suit with their body. This contact between the suit and body is a critical factor for the fit, mobility, and comfort of the spacesuit. Part of the utility of spacesuits is providing a pressurized environment needed for astronauts
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Enhancing the SST turbulence model for predicting heat flux in hypersonic flows through symbolic regression Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-13 Denggao Tang, Fanzhi Zeng, Chen Yi, Tianxin Zhang, Chao Yan
In the context of hypersonic flows, shock-wave/turbulent boundary-layer interactions (SWTBLIs) can lead to substantial aerodynamic heating. The commonly used Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) method in engineering applications faces challenges in accurately predicting heat transfer in these conditions, as the assumptions made by Morkovin’s assumption in the RANS method are not applicable in hypersonic
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Effect of strut schemes on combustion characteristics in innovative combined ramjet engine Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-13 Kai Zhang, Fei Qin, Xuanfei Yu, Shaohua Zhu, Duo Zhang
The Mach 6-capable turbine based combined cycle engine is a potential first-stage propulsion for TSTO mission. In order to improve thrust-to-weight ratio, an innovative tandem combined ramjet engine-FABRE (Fan Augmented Air-Breathing Ramjet Engine) is designed utilizing a versatile multi-mode combustor working at both high-speed ramjet mode and low-speed turbocharged mode. Employing the strut as mixer
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Orbit determination for space situational awareness: A survey Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-13 Sajjad Kazemi, Nasser L. Azad, K. Andrea Scott, Haroon B. Oqab, George B. Dietrich
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Landing site choice for Luna-27 mission in the Moon South Polar Region Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-13 Olga I. Turchinskaya, Evgeny N. Slyuta
In this study, we examine the Russian automatic lunar missions “Luna-25,” “Luna-26,” and the scientific objectives and landing site of the “Luna-27″ spacecraft. The landing of “Luna-27″ is planned directly in the South Polar region, which, due to ballistic and engineering requirements, is confined to a sector extending from 51°E to 1°W in longitude and from 83°S to 79°S in latitude. This area is characterized
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Long-baseline multistatic and bistatic SAR products: Application to the RODiO mission Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-12 Antonio Gigantino, Alfredo Renga, Maria Daniela Graziano, Chiara Abbundo, Fabiana Ravellino, Antonio Moccia, Diego di Martire, Mohammad Amin Khalili, Massimo Ramondini, Valerio Pisacane, Giovanni Lambitelli, Renato Aurigemma, Alberto Fedele, Roberto Luciani, Francesco Tataranni, Vincenzo Martucci, Silvia Natalucci
In-Orbit Demonstration (IOD) missions represent flight opportunities to acquire data on spacecraft and space environment and to demonstrate new techniques at system, subsystem, and payload level. Realizing this type of mission means accepting a greater level of risk. However, when very compact and relatively simple platforms like CubeSats are adopted, this becomes admissible since costs can be kept
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Conceptual design of a tilt-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle for Mars exploration Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-10 Jiahao Ge, Jinwu Xiang, Daochun Li, Wencan Bai
Measurements of Martian magnetic field, atmosphere and sampling are core missions of Martian exploration. Since the successful demonstration of the Ingenuity Helicopter, a large amount of researches have emerged on Mars rotor-craft. However, Mars rotor-crafts have short endurance and limited detection range. This paper proposes a solar-powered tilt-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) named Archaeopteryx-I
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Attitude and position control for formation flying of space robots equipped with a robotic manipulator Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-08 Dario Ruggiero, Isuru Basnayake, Hyeongjun Park, Elisa Capello
This paper presents a novel six degree-of-freedom guidance and control algorithm for free-flyer robots equipped with a robotic manipulator operating on the International Space Station. The proposed algorithm combines a sliding mode controller for rotational motion and a model predictive controller for translational motion. A novel prediction-twisting sliding mode controller (PT-SMC) is introduced to
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Predicting mixing degree of supersonic flow by a few target data using meta-learning Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-08 Meng You, Tingting Liu, Shuqin Jia, Ying Huai
Predicting the mixing degree of supersonic flow is essential for designing compressible flow devices, such as scramjets, chemical lasers and ejectors. However, building appropriate predictive models of supersonic flow mixing degrees utilizing deep learning is challenging because the samples are expensive from computation or experiments. Herein, a meta-learning method is proposed to reduce the amount
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Charging of space debris in the LEO and GEO regions Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-08 Sanat Kumar Tiwari, Sachin Sharma, Sanjay Mishra, Abhijit Sen
We present theoretical estimates of the electrical charge and electrostatic surface potentials on debris objects orbiting in the LEO and GEO regions of the Earth's ionosphere. The estimates are obtained using analytic calculations based on an improved Orbital Motion Limited model as well as through numerical Particle-In-Cell simulations using the open-source SPIS code. A variety of shapes, sizes, and
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Initial orbit determination via artificial intelligence for too-short arcs Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-07 Ivan Agostinelli, Gilberto Goracci, Fabio Curti
In the framework of Space Traffic Management (STM) the growing number of space debris and the consequent increased risk of collisions have become a topic of great interest. Moreover, the difficulty of detecting and characterizing a Resident Space Object (RSO) in terms of orbital parameters makes this research field very challenging. In most cases the available observations have a very short duration
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Initial particle ejection behaviours due to a hypersonic jet impingement at different high-nozzle pressure ratios in rarefied atmospheric conditions Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-07 Takahiro Ukai, Senthilkumar Subramanian, Andrew Wilson, Bradley Craig, Konstantinos Kontis
Understanding particle ejection behaviours in plume-regolith interaction is important for a safe soft-landing system and landing manoeuvre in planetary missions. In this study, a Mach 5.8 hypersonic jet at the different Reynolds numbers of 2.58 × 10 and 9.35 × 10 impinges on the deposited glass particles of 80 μm diameter in a vacuum chamber, and the particle and gas motions at the nozzle pressure
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Simulating exoplanetary atmospheres in the laboratory: Current capabilities of the Berlin atmospheric simulation experimental chamber (BASE) Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-07 Florence Hofmann, Paul Mabey, Egemen Yüzbasi, Benjamin Taysum, John Lee Grenfell, Heike Rauer, Andreas Elsaesser
In recent years, the remarkable progress in exoplanet science has unveiled a stunning diversity of exoplanets. Technological advancements have significantly expanded our capacity to investigate planetary objects beyond our solar system, which exhibit diverse properties including their sizes, compositions, and orbital characteristics. Although understanding the complex chemical-climate responses occurring
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Can a satellite dodge space debris? Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-06 J.I. Katz
Can a satellite dodge a collision with untracked orbiting debris? Can a satellite dodge collision with a tracked object, making only the avoidance manœuvers actually required to avoid collision, despite the uncertainties of predicted conjunctions? Satellite-borne radar may distinguish actual collision threats from the much greater number of near misses because an object on a collision course has constant
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Effect of tube bend angle on liquid propulsion system priming event pressures Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-06 Alexandra C. Risha, Jeffrey D. Moore, Grant A. Risha
Experimental work was performed to measure the priming event pressure transient levels in unrestricted liquid propulsion system tubing. An existing water hammer experimental setup was utilized, where system tubing diameter, length, and bend angle were examined. Experiments were performed under both atmospheric and low-pressure pre-test element conditions to understand any impact of tube bend angle
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The impact of the new space economy on sustainability: an overview Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-06 Alessandro Paravano, Matteo Patrizi, Elena Razzano, Giorgio Locatelli, Francesco Feliciani, Paolo Trucco
The first overarching objective of the Space Agenda 2030 is to strengthen the role of the space sector as a major driver of sustainable development. To achieve this objective, the European Space Agency launched already 10+ years ago the ESA Business Applications Programme to foster the adoption of space technologies in non-space sectors, promoting the development of commercial satellite-based projects
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A comprehensive dynamic model and configuration control of a free-floating soft manipulator-spacecraft system Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-05 Mahshid Soleymani, Maryam Kiani
Space robots are inseparable components of many space missions. However, capabilities of space robots with rigid manipulators are restricted in confronting with unknown and confined environments and situations require high safety. To overcome these defects, the potential of bio-inspired soft robots for space applications has recently been addressed in the literature. Dynamic modeling and control of
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Structural integrity of spacecraft structures subject to motion, thermo-structural dynamics and environmental effects - An overview Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-05 Harijono Djojodihardjo
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Interval uncertainty-oriented impedance force control for space manipulator with time-dependent reliability Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-04 Chen Yang, Zhengqing Fang, Hongyuan Ren, Wanze Lu, Yuanqing Xia
For specific missions of spacecraft including on-orbit assembly, docking, grasp, etc., the presence of uncertainties leads to difficulties in the analysis of impedance force control systems and evaluations of safety for space manipulators. Therefore, in this study, a novel interval uncertainty-oriented impedance force control method for space manipulators with time-dependent reliability was established
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A disappearing frontier?: An ethnographic study of the labour of imagination of SpaceX fans and space creators in South Texas Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-04 Anna Szolucha
Outer space is often described as a frontier – an unsettled, mysterious or wild place that should be explored and eventually inhabited. The metaphor evokes a pioneer spirit and a sense of freedom, but it is also bound up with violent histories of settler colonialism and social injustice. Although the frontier narrative remains prevalent in political, commercial and media discourses in the United States
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Optimal Sun-tracking law for remote sensing satellites operating under observation constraints Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-04 Angel Porras-Hermoso, Javier González-Monge, Sergio Marín-Coca, Elena Roibás-Millán
Satellites engaged in observation missions often face severe pointing constraints, which can limit the ability of their solar panels optimize the generation of electrical power during payload operations. Some approaches to maximize power generation involve either using orientable solar panels, or performing orbital maneuvers to point fixed or deployable (non-orientable) solar panels towards the Sun
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Global sensitivity analysis of stochastic re-entry trajectory using explainable surrogate models Acta Astronaut. (IF 3.1) Pub Date : 2024-06-04 Pramudita Satria Palar, Rafael Stevenson, Muhammad Ridho Alhafiz, Muhammad Daffa Robani, Koji Shimoyama, Lavi Rizki Zuhal
The assessment of casualty risks associated with re-entry necessitates a comprehensive analysis of trajectories and the examination of pertinent safety-related quantities such as the ground impact area and ground reaching velocity. In practical scenarios, the presence of uncertainty in input conditions introduces variability in safety-related quantities. Consequently, employing stochastic re-entry