Acta Astronautica最新文献

{"title":"Composition optimization of a hypergolic green propellant based on monoethanolamine, n-butanol and 90% hydrogen peroxide","authors":"Paull C. Acosta Mendoza,&nbsp;Rene F.B. Gonçalves,&nbsp;Leonardo Henrique Gouvêa,&nbsp;Luís Gustavo Ferroni Pereira","doi":"10.1016/j.actaastro.2024.12.059","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.actaastro.2024.12.059","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The design of satellite attitude-control thrusters depends on a trade-off between minimum impulse bit and specific impulse, where the width of pulse maneuvers relies on the combination of delays in the hydraulic system (feed tubes and valves) and the ignition delay time of the propellant used. The most well-established propellants in this context are hydrazine derivatives and nitrogen tetroxide. However, their high toxicity makes satellite integration costly and environmentally hazardous. To replace these propellants, research is focused on developing new hypergolic green propellants, most of which use high-concentration hydrogen peroxide as an oxidizer. In this study, the hypergolic reaction between a blend of n-butanol and monoethanolamine and hydrogen peroxide was catalyzed using copper nitrate trihydrate. The central composite design method was applied to optimize fuel composition using 90% hydrogen peroxide as the oxidizer. The optimization yielded two key outcomes: for ignition delay time (31.5% n-butanol, 60% monoethanolamine, and 8.5% copper nitrate, resulting in an ignition delay time of 21.5 ms with a standard deviation of ±1.30 ms and a systematic error of ±0.4), and for theoretical specific impulse (36% n-butanol, 60% monoethanolamine, and 4% copper nitrate, with an ignition delay time of 26 ±0.4 ms). For the ignition delay time optimization, an oxidizer-fuel ratio of 4 was selected using CEA NASA software to achieve a maximum theoretical specific impulse of 170.64 s, while for specific impulse optimization, a ratio of 4.4 was chosen, resulting in a specific impulse of 171.58 s. Although the maximum theoretical specific impulse of the proposed green propellant pair does not present an advantage if compared to traditional hypergolic propellants, it offers a competitive advantage in terms of density-specific impulse, with the highest value achieved in the ignition delay time optimization, where the density-specific impulse of the system reached 267.5 gs/cm<span><math><msup><mrow></mrow><mrow><mn>3</mn></mrow></msup></math></span>. Furthermore, the addition of n-butanol effectively reduced fuel viscosity, enhanced density-specific impulse, increased specific impulse, and improved ignition delay time response with 90% hydrogen peroxide compared to pure monoethanolamine formulations for a specific chamber and nozzle configuration. These findings highlight the potential of this green propellant system to enhance performance and efficiency in aerospace applications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":44971,"journal":{"name":"Acta Astronautica","volume":"229 ","pages":"Pages 140-148"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-01-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142989648","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Study on mixing and combustion performance of a kerosene-fueled dual-cavity configuration scramjet engine","authors":"Lang Li,&nbsp;Bu-xiong Hu,&nbsp;Jie Zhang,&nbsp;Guo-xiong Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.actaastro.2025.01.032","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.actaastro.2025.01.032","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>On the basis of a wedge-type scramjet engine model, this paper employs experimental and numerical simulation methods to investigate the effects of different injection conditions of liquid kerosene fuel on the combustion characteristics of a scramjet combustor at a Mach number of 8. The findings indicate a distinct separation zone in the cavity of the wedge, where the fuel residence time is longer compared with that in the main flow path. This increased residence time enhances fuel mixing and combustion stability. Between equivalence ratios of 0.24 and 0.64, the combustion reaction intensifies significantly, particularly in the range from 0.24 to 0.54. This intensification coincides with a notable expansion of the reflux zone and a wider subsonic velocity range. With increasing equivalence ratio, the periodicity of wave system oscillations in the combustor also increases, along with the pressure in the concave chamber. Pronounced oscillations in the flow field are observed at equivalence ratios of 0.4 and 0.54, with an oscillation period 5.4 times longer than at a ratio of 0.24. At an equivalence ratio of 0.64, the backpressure causes disturbances in the isolation section, affecting inlet initiation. Additionally, a higher equivalence ratio results in greater total pressure loss. The total pressure loss is highest at an equivalence ratio of 0.64, reaching 82 % of the total inlet pressure, and lowest (76 %) at a ratio of 0.24. The thrust is also correlated with the equivalence ratio, increasing by 22.5 % and 37.5 % at equivalence ratios of 0.34 and 0.4, respectively, compared with a ratio of 0.24. The maximum thrust gain is achieved at an equivalence ratio of 0.5, a 56 % increase over that at a ratio of 0.24 condition. However, at an equivalence ratio of 0.64, there is a notable decline in engine thrust due to significant disruption of the flow field structure within the combustor.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":44971,"journal":{"name":"Acta Astronautica","volume":"229 ","pages":"Pages 181-191"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143173526","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Preliminary design and performance assessment of a semi-autonomous global navigation satellite system on Mars","authors":"Ariele Zurria,&nbsp;Daniele Durante,&nbsp;Luciano Iess","doi":"10.1016/j.actaastro.2025.01.035","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.actaastro.2025.01.035","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Over the last decades, several space agencies have increased their efforts in the design of future missions to Mars. To assist the operations of the upcoming missions, an infrastructure to support their navigation needs would be highly beneficial. In this scenario, we propose a configuration for a Martian navigation satellite system which ensures continuous and global positioning and timing services to users located everywhere on the planet and its vicinities, such as orbiters, rovers, and landers. We outline the constellation selection process and identify a suitable configuration of the system. The novel aspect of the proposed architecture consists in the use of intersatellite links between the constellation nodes, able to provide extremely accurate Doppler measurements and good positional accuracy in the known gravity field of the planet. Thanks to the intersatellite links, the need for ground support from Earth can be strongly reduced. To assess the performance of this configuration, a simulation of the orbit determination process of the constellation nodes is performed. Our results suggest that satellites can be positioned with respect to Mars with an accuracy at the level of 15 m with limited support from Earth. Finally, we evaluate the positioning performance of the end users located on the Martian surface. We show that a positioning accuracy as low as 20 m can be achieved (1-σ, 90 % of the time) with the proposed constellation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":44971,"journal":{"name":"Acta Astronautica","volume":"229 ","pages":"Pages 260-269"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143174319","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Gravitational influence of thermally induced sunshield deformation of TianQin satellites","authors":"Dong Wang ,&nbsp;Baoxing Chen ,&nbsp;Xuefeng Zhang,&nbsp;Shanqing Yang","doi":"10.1016/j.actaastro.2024.12.049","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.actaastro.2024.12.049","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The TianQin mission aims to detect millihertz gravitational waves in high geocentric orbits using inter-satellite laser interferometric links and drag-free control. However, solar thermal noise in the detection band and significant variations in solar flux can affect the residual acceleration noise of the free-falling test masses through the gravitational force from the satellite itself. In this paper, we focus on studying the sunshield assembly of the TianQin satellite, which includes a solar insulating combination of the sunshield and the satellite’s top plate. We employ an integrated simulation that combines thermal, electrical, structural, and gravitational analyses to show how solar-induced thermal expansion of the sunshield affects the self-gravity on the test masses during TianQin’s 3-month observation windows. Our findings indicate that thermal deformation of the sunshield ranges from 2.0 to 5.3 mm. The results show that the static self-gravity induced accelerations from the sunshield assembly along the sensitive axis of the TM under both cold and hot cases are approximately <span><math><mrow><mn>8</mn><mo>.</mo><mn>7</mn><mo>×</mo><mn>1</mn><msup><mrow><mn>0</mn></mrow><mrow><mo>−</mo><mn>11</mn></mrow></msup><mspace></mspace><mtext>m/s</mtext><msup><mrow></mrow><mrow><mn>2</mn></mrow></msup></mrow></math></span>. Additionally, solar-induced thermal noise in the sunshield assembly contributes to a self-gravity fluctuation of about <span><math><mrow><mn>3</mn><mo>.</mo><mn>9</mn><mo>×</mo><mn>1</mn><msup><mrow><mn>0</mn></mrow><mrow><mo>−</mo><mn>16</mn></mrow></msup><mspace></mspace><mtext>m/s</mtext><msup><mrow></mrow><mrow><mn>2</mn></mrow></msup><mo>/</mo><msup><mrow><mtext>Hz</mtext></mrow><mrow><mn>1</mn><mo>/</mo><mn>2</mn></mrow></msup></mrow></math></span> at 1 mHz, which satisfies the self-gravity requirements. These results provide useful references for future research on the self-gravity effect and strategies for self-gravity mitigation in similar projects.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":44971,"journal":{"name":"Acta Astronautica","volume":"229 ","pages":"Pages 885-894"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143378867","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Outreach on Space Traffic Management","authors":"Noelia Sanchez-Ortiz ,&nbsp;Danielle Wood ,&nbsp;Lesley Jane Smith ,&nbsp;Carmen Gregori De La Malla ,&nbsp;Maruška Strah ,&nbsp;Maren Huelsmann ,&nbsp;Marius Stanciu-Manolescu ,&nbsp;Pietro Ubertini ,&nbsp;Balbir Singh","doi":"10.1016/j.actaastro.2025.01.031","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.actaastro.2025.01.031","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This report addresses the need for communications to a variety of stakeholder communities to enable global progress in Space Traffic Management. The vision of safely coordinating the operations of satellite missions and constellations requires awareness and actions by organizations from government, commercial, academic, nonprofit and multilateral sectors. This work adapts a Systems Architecture method and Stakeholder Analysis to address specific questions related to communications for Space Traffic Management. The report finds that additional effort can be applied for Primary Stakeholders to have two-way dialog with Secondary and Tertiary Stakeholders to understand what the Needs and Desired Outcomes are for those groups and show the urgency of taking action on Space Traffic Management.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":44971,"journal":{"name":"Acta Astronautica","volume":"229 ","pages":"Pages 250-259"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143174317","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Aerodynamic parameter identification for aeroassisted vehicle via cubature smoother with expectation-maximization","authors":"Qian Pan,&nbsp;Hongwei Han,&nbsp;Dong Qiao","doi":"10.1016/j.actaastro.2025.01.034","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.actaastro.2025.01.034","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Aeroassisted orbital maneuvers are recognized as a potentially efficient mode of trajectory adjustment due to their significant reductions in fuel consumption and flexible path correction capabilities. The aerodynamic parameter identification during atmospheric flight, which are characterized by trans-regime and hypersonic speeds, is crucial for enhancing the precision and safety of the aerodynamic-assist systems, given their sensitivity to minor perturbations in aerodynamic parameters. This paper introduces a high-precision aerodynamic parameter identification method based on state normalization and sample point generation with a tuning factor. A normalized dynamic and measurement model for aeroassisted maneuvers is established to mitigate the high dynamism of angular states such as heading angle due to wide-ranging positional and velocity changes. An initial data update strategy that accounts for global state errors is proposed, along with an Expectation-Maximization and Cubature Kalman Smoother (EM-CKS) designed to reduce the sensitivity of aerodynamic parameter identification to initial errors. To enhance the robustness of the algorithm to various mission scenarios, a sample generation method incorporating a tuning factor is also proposed, which broadens the adaptability and transferability of the presented method. Simulation analysis demonstrates the method's efficacy in aerodynamic parameter identification across different initial state variations and lift-to-drag ratios, using two typical Martian aeroassisted maneuver scenarios: extensive aerodynamic descent and aerodynamic capture. The results confirm the method's convergence and robustness.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":44971,"journal":{"name":"Acta Astronautica","volume":"229 ","pages":"Pages 485-497"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143174230","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Behavioral changes in Drosophila males after travel to International Space Station. Part II. Larvae vs. Imago","authors":"Julia V. Bragina ,&nbsp;Larisa V. Danilenkova ,&nbsp;Elena A. Kamysheva ,&nbsp;Anna A. Goncharova ,&nbsp;Sergei A. Fedotov ,&nbsp;Olga N. Larina ,&nbsp;Anna A. Burlakova ,&nbsp;Natalia G. Besedina","doi":"10.1016/j.actaastro.2025.01.025","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.actaastro.2025.01.025","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study aimed to establish a comprehensive behavioral profile of male Drosophila after a space flight to the International Space Station (ISS). Climbing, locomotor activity, and courtship behavior were examined after a 7.5-day space mission in Drosophila males. Behavioral evaluations postflight conducted both on Drosophila males, which, aged 1–2 days, had been sent to the ISS, and on males, who underwent development from first instar larvae to early pupal stages under space flight conditions. The results revealed that imago space travel resulted in a lasting decline in performance across all behavioral tests for no less than 13 days after landing. The larval development of Drosophila males during space travel leads to unstable behavioral issues that nevertheless go on up to 21 days after landing in such fruit flies. Space experience affects Drosophila nervous system function and changes the operating mode of walk and song central pattern generators (CPG). Future research will answer the question of which molecular genetic alterations induced by space flight factors are responsible for lasting post-space flight nervous system and behavioral changes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":44971,"journal":{"name":"Acta Astronautica","volume":"229 ","pages":"Pages 192-198"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143173530","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Influence of gravity on dynamics of absorbing binary mixture","authors":"P.F. Arroiabe ,&nbsp;M. Martinez-Agirre ,&nbsp;M.M. Bou-Ali ,&nbsp;V. Shevtsova","doi":"10.1016/j.actaastro.2024.12.050","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.actaastro.2024.12.050","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A small perturbation in the absorption process disrupts the equilibrium, leading to surface tension gradients and, subsequently, Marangoni flows. This study examines the comparative role of gravity in the evolution of convective flows in an absorbing binary mixture considering Earth, Mars, the Moon and zero gravity. In the initial stage, the flow is driven by capillary forces towards the center of the perturbation, with gravity playing a negligible role. Over time, in the presence of gravity, the coupling of surface tension- and buoyancy-driven contributions gives rise to the formation of a periodic spatial structure and the generation of oscillations in time, thereby sustaining a weak instability. In contrast, in the absence of gravity, neither periodic structures nor oscillations are observed, as the potential competition between the two sources is eliminated. Instead, the flow pattern resembles that commonly seen in evaporating binary mixtures, exhibiting the formation of a stable rim and Marangoni spreading phenomena. In the intermediate regimes, when the gravity decreases from the Earth value to zero, the periodic patterns weaken, and become progressively more complex, while retaining a regular structure and expanding in size.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":44971,"journal":{"name":"Acta Astronautica","volume":"229 ","pages":"Pages 270-276"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143174314","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Planar retrograde periodic orbits in the elliptic restricted three-body problem","authors":"Alicia Martínez-Cacho ,&nbsp;Daniel Gil Calvo ,&nbsp;Claudio Bombardelli ,&nbsp;Nicola Baresi","doi":"10.1016/j.actaastro.2025.01.006","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.actaastro.2025.01.006","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Planar retrograde periodic orbits in the elliptical restricted three body problems (ER3BP) beyond the limit of validity of Hill’s approximation are analyzed in detail starting from Hénon’s f family and including symmetric and asymmetric solutions up to a multiplicity of degree seven. The different families, which are obtained with a predictor–corrector continuation method exploiting cylindrical pulsating curvilinear coordinates, are computed for a number of representative three-body systems. A geometric classification of the different orbit types is proposed and the influence of the primaries’ mass ratio on the existence of resonant solutions is investigated.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":44971,"journal":{"name":"Acta Astronautica","volume":"229 ","pages":"Pages 430-465"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-01-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143174227","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Architecting CubeSat constellations for messaging service, Part II","authors":"Ksenia Osipova ,&nbsp;Alessandro Golkar ,&nbsp;Adriano Camps ,&nbsp;Joan A. Ruiz-de-Azua ,&nbsp;Luis Contreras-Benito ,&nbsp;Nicola Garzaniti ,&nbsp;Lara Fernandez","doi":"10.1016/j.actaastro.2024.12.022","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.actaastro.2024.12.022","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Data collection and exchange stand as a cornerstone technology driving the advancement of technological development over recent decades. However, many remote and hard-to-reach regions remain devoid of terrestrial communication infrastructure. Telecommunication satellites offer a comprehensive solution, facilitating data transfer to even the most remote areas and bridging existing connectivity gaps.</div><div>Currently, there are two distinct types of systems under development by private companies aiming to enable direct-to-handset connectivity. The first type strives to offer mobile connectivity based on 3GPP standards with unmodified smartphones but these satellites are expensive and heavy. The second type of satellites provides low data rates connectivity using Internet of Things technologies to send and receive data packets. These satellites, in contrast, are more lightweight, low-cost, and can take the form of CubeSats or even PocketQubes. This study proposes a fusion of the advantages of both systems, contemplating a constellation for messaging services employing low-power user devices and LoRa technology.</div><div>In Part I of the study the LoRa channel capability was analyzed to enable the transmission of at least 1 message per day in the area with the highest concentration of users, uncovered by terrestrial cell towers and downselected 73 different LoRa connectivity payloads. Part II concentrates on various aspects of constellation design, encompassing the sizing of the CubeSat platform, messages transmission simulation approach, and constellation launch strategies. Employing a trade-space exploration approach, the study identified a preferred Low Earth Orbit (LEO) constellation architecture out of a pool of 11 826, capable of satisfying 51% of the demand and yielding the highest revenue among all the considered constellations. The performance analysis revealed that coverage and spreading factor are the paramount factors in serving users.</div><div>The architectural analysis framework presented here can serve as a valuable tool for the preliminary design and sizing of a constellation for different services based on short data packets transmission, while the gained insights regarding performance drives have the potential to enrich the development of future Internet of Things connectivity projects.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":44971,"journal":{"name":"Acta Astronautica","volume":"229 ","pages":"Pages 225-249"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-01-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143174316","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}