Progress in Aerospace Sciences最新文献

{"title":"3D printing modules for self-assembling space systems","authors":"Alex Ellery,&nbsp;Abdurr Elaskri","doi":"10.1016/j.paerosci.2025.101128","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.paerosci.2025.101128","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We review 3D printing of modules for self-assembling spacecraft and space robots – structure, actuators, electronics, sensors – focusing on motors as one of the mechatronic component triad. Self-assembly is necessary for autonomous construction of large space structures. We review self-assembly of modules in space. Self-assembly may be synergised with 3D printing to offer an automated capability of manufacturing from raw material into modules for assembling new spacecraft or habitats. One application of 3D printing is using space debris on-orbit as an in-situ resource - defunct spacecraft may be salvaged as raw material for in-situ construction on demand. All self-assembling modules constitute a structure within which an internal actuator resides and without which resides a reversible latching mechanism. We have demonstrated a 3D printed dual excitation DC electric motor less the wire coils which were not 3D printed. We have married our 3D printed motor prototype as an actuated joint between two 3D printed TRIGON-type panels as constituent parts of a TRIGON (transformable robotic infrastructure-generating object network) self-assembling and self-deploying structure concept. The 3D printed motorised deployable panel system shows that 3D printing can be applied to both structural and actuator parts of a robotic self-assembling machine. This has implications for self-assembling systems into modular satellites as a solution to space debris.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54553,"journal":{"name":"Progress in Aerospace Sciences","volume":"157 ","pages":"Article 101128"},"PeriodicalIF":16.2,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144988347","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Review of data-driven computational guidance for unmanned aerospace vehicles","authors":"Shaoming He ,&nbsp;Haowen Luo ,&nbsp;Chang-Hun Lee ,&nbsp;Hyo-Sang Shin ,&nbsp;Antonios Tsourdos","doi":"10.1016/j.paerosci.2025.101129","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.paerosci.2025.101129","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper explores the application of data-driven computational guidance in unmanned aerospace vehicles, emphasizing improving the optimality of guidance strategies through data-driven approaches. Unmanned aerospace vehicles are engineered to execute predetermined missions while adhering to a variety of physical and operational constraints. Both their design and operational strategies prioritize the efficient utilization of onboard resources. Data-driven methods can learn from data to develop well-trained neural networks that uncover underlying guidance patterns. These trained neural networks can rapidly generate optimal outputs in response to inputs with minimal computational cost. This characteristic of data-driven methods is particularly well-suited for guidance applications in scenarios with limited onboard computational resources. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art achievements in data-driven computational guidance. Simultaneously, we categorize these advancements based on the role of neural networks within the guidance system, referring to them as neural-end-to-end computational guidance and neural-assisted fixed-structure guidance, respectively. Additionally, the paper highlights several open problems and potential future research directions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54553,"journal":{"name":"Progress in Aerospace Sciences","volume":"157 ","pages":"Article 101129"},"PeriodicalIF":11.5,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144518805","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The box-wing configuration: a critical review of design approaches and applications","authors":"Karim Abu Salem ,&nbsp;Giuseppe Palaia ,&nbsp;Aldo Frediani ,&nbsp;Erasmo Carrera","doi":"10.1016/j.paerosci.2025.101108","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.paerosci.2025.101108","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper provides an overview of the main applications of the box-wing configuration for transport aircraft. Its main objective is to emphasize, through a proper selection of literature references, the peculiar performance and functional characteristics of the box-wing lifting architecture from the perspective of aircraft design. Two distinct approaches can guide the introduction of innovations within the aeronautical industry. The first is an evolutionary approach, which aims to implement incremental advancements without altering the fundamental framework of the current state of the art. The second is a breakthrough approach, which introduces functional solutions that are not addressed by existing technologies, thus reaching radical changes to established paradigms. The analysis of literature regarding the design and development of box-wing aircraft presented in this paper reveals that a breakthrough approach is essential for effectively integrating this innovation into transport aviation. By examining the application of the box-wing concept across various aircraft categories, ranging from medium-range and regional transport to ultralight aircraft and urban air mobility, the paper highlights the specific performance and functional potential of this configuration. Additionally, it identifies the limitations inherent to basic research and the critical bottlenecks that currently prevent its progression toward industrial implementation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54553,"journal":{"name":"Progress in Aerospace Sciences","volume":"157 ","pages":"Article 101108"},"PeriodicalIF":16.2,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144988344","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Progress in pyroshock simulation for qualification tests: A systematic literature review","authors":"Luca Viale,&nbsp;Alessandro Fasana","doi":"10.1016/j.paerosci.2025.101126","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.paerosci.2025.101126","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Spacecraft and their onboard equipment are subjected to significant dynamic loads, particularly when the activation of pyrotechnic devices induces intense high-frequency shocks, known as pyroshocks, which propagate throughout the entire structure and can cause critical damages. Qualification tests are needed to ensure aerospace equipment can withstand impulsive loads and therefore test rigs and simulation models are designed to replicate real-world pyroshocks while pursuing repeatability, accuracy, and safety.</div><div>This paper systematically categorizes and analyzes existing research papers on pyroshock simulation techniques, examining both experimental and numerical approaches. Scientific databases were queried but only a selection of the most relevant papers is presented and labeled, according the publication year, the purpose, the physical domain, the numerical method, the kind of fixture, and the excitation method. Additionally, a shorter review on contact mechanics is included to offer complementary insights, considering its relevance to pyroshock simulations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54553,"journal":{"name":"Progress in Aerospace Sciences","volume":"157 ","pages":"Article 101126"},"PeriodicalIF":16.2,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144988346","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Initial results from the first field expedition of UAPx to study unidentified anomalous phenomena","authors":"Matthew Szydagis ,&nbsp;Kevin H. Knuth ,&nbsp;Benjamin Kugielsky ,&nbsp;Cecilia Levy","doi":"10.1016/j.paerosci.2025.101099","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.paerosci.2025.101099","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In July 2021, faculty from the UAlbany Department of Physics participated in a week-long field expedition with the organization UAPx to collect data on UAPs in Avalon, California, located on Catalina Island, and nearby. This paper reviews both the hardware and software techniques which this collaboration employed, and contains a frank discussion of the successes and failures, with a section about how to apply lessons learned to future expeditions. Both observable-light and infrared cameras were deployed, as well as sensors for other (non-EM) emissions. A pixel-subtraction method was augmented with other similarly simple methods to provide initial identification of objects in the sky and/or the sea crossing the cameras’ fields of view. The first results will be presented based upon approximately one hour in total of triggered visible/night-vision-mode video and over 600 h of untriggered (far) IR video recorded, as well as 55 h of (background) radiation measurements. Following multiple explanatory resolutions of several ambiguities that were potentially anomalous at first, we focus on the primary remaining ambiguity captured at approximately 4am Pacific Time on Friday, July 16: a dark spot in the visible/near-IR camera possibly coincident with ionizing radiation that has so far resisted prosaic explanation. We conclude with quantitative suggestions (3–5<span><math><mi>σ</mi></math></span> rules) for serious researchers in the still-maligned field of hard-science-based UAP studies, with an ultimate goal of identifying UAPs without confirmation bias toward mundane/speculative conclusions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54553,"journal":{"name":"Progress in Aerospace Sciences","volume":"156 ","pages":"Article 101099"},"PeriodicalIF":11.5,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144231611","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The new science of Unidentified Aerospace-Undersea Phenomena (UAP)","authors":"Kevin H. Knuth ,&nbsp;Philippe Ailleris ,&nbsp;Hussein Ali Agrama ,&nbsp;Eamonn Ansbro ,&nbsp;Phyllis A. Budinger ,&nbsp;Tejin Cai ,&nbsp;Thibaut Canuti ,&nbsp;Michael C. Cifone ,&nbsp;Walter Bruce Cornet Jr. ,&nbsp;Frédéric Courtade ,&nbsp;Richard Dolan ,&nbsp;Laura Domine ,&nbsp;Luc Dini ,&nbsp;Baptiste Friscourt ,&nbsp;Ryan Graves ,&nbsp;Richard F. Haines ,&nbsp;Richard Hoffman ,&nbsp;Hakan Kayal ,&nbsp;Sarah Little ,&nbsp;Garry P. Nolan ,&nbsp;Wesley A. Watters","doi":"10.1016/j.paerosci.2025.101097","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.paerosci.2025.101097","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>After decades of dismissal and secrecy, it has become clear that a significant number of the world’s governments take Unidentified Aerospace-Undersea Phenomena (UAP), formerly known as Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs), seriously—yet still seem to know little about them. As a result, these phenomena are increasingly attracting the attention of scientists around the world, some of whom have recently formed research efforts to monitor and scientifically study UAP. In this paper, we review and summarize approximately 20 historical government studies dating from 1933 to the present (in Scandinavia, WWII, US, Canada, France, Russia, China), several historical private research studies (France, UK, US), and both recent and current scientific research efforts (Ireland, Germany, Norway, Sweden, US). In doing so, our objective is to clarify the existing global and historical scientific narrative around UAP. Studies range from field station development and deployment to the collection and analysis of witness reports from around the world. We dispel the common misconception that UAPs are an American phenomenon and show that UAP can be, and have been, scientifically investigated. Our aim here is to enable future studies to draw on the great depth of prior documented experience.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54553,"journal":{"name":"Progress in Aerospace Sciences","volume":"156 ","pages":"Article 101097"},"PeriodicalIF":11.5,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144231750","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Unidentified aerospace-undersea phenomena (UAP) status and outlook","authors":"Max F. Platzer","doi":"10.1016/j.paerosci.2025.101095","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.paerosci.2025.101095","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This special issue on unidentified aerospace-undersea phenomena (UAP) contains five papers that attempt to provide an overview of the status of past and present UAP events and research projects. It also addresses the question whether the aerospace science and engineering community needs to initiate a UAP monitoring effort that is based on rigorous scientific evaluation criteria.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54553,"journal":{"name":"Progress in Aerospace Sciences","volume":"156 ","pages":"Article 101095"},"PeriodicalIF":11.5,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144231609","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Estimates of radiative energy values in ground-level observations of an unidentified aerial phenomenon: New physical data","authors":"Jacques F. Vallée ,&nbsp;Luc Dini ,&nbsp;Geoffrey Mestchersky","doi":"10.1016/j.paerosci.2025.101098","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.paerosci.2025.101098","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>An exceptional observation of an anomalous object, recorded as ‘unidentified’ by the US Air Force and in the1969 final report of the University of Colorado (“Condon”) study of UAPs, has been re-examined by a Franco-American scientific team.</div><div>The observation took place on the evening of December 30, 1966, on an isolated highway traversing a forest near Haynesville, Louisiana. Early in 1967 the main witness, a professor of atomic physics named Louie A. Galloway, reported the case to Project Blue Book of the USAF. Pro-active investigation by one of the authors (JV) brought it to the attention of Professor Edward Condon, himself a noted atomist who had worked under Project Manhattan. Dr. Condon and his team had just begun an official re-examination of UFO (UAP) phenomena under funding of the US Air Force.</div><div>The case, which centered on a well-defined luminous object at ground level, led to energy estimates from 500 to 1400 MW, in the range of a small modern nuclear power plant. Significantly, it was one of a number of cases carried as ‘Unidentified’ in Dr. Condon's final report to the National Academy of Sciences in 1969.</div><div>Subsequent to that Academy report, significant work was continued at the site by civilian investigators who confirmed the data, augmented by night photography flights. The team returned to the area with the primary witness, located the exact place of observation and gathered new data, notably about the nature of burns evidenced on the trees, which had not been available to Dr. Condon and his assistants.</div><div>Samples of the burned and intact bark were obtained by our own team, and they were preserved until it became possible to properly analyze the material.</div><div>The burn analysis data presented here was obtained at the laboratories of the French Atomic Energy Commission in Saclay, France. We present our results with the understanding that the study will benefit from further discussion within the larger scientific community.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54553,"journal":{"name":"Progress in Aerospace Sciences","volume":"156 ","pages":"Article 101098"},"PeriodicalIF":11.5,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144231610","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The state of hybrid artificial intelligence for interstellar missions","authors":"Alex Ellery","doi":"10.1016/j.paerosci.2025.101100","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.paerosci.2025.101100","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Interstellar missions will require a high degree of autonomy mediated through artificial intelligence (AI). All interstellar missions are characterised by 50-100-year transits to extrasolar systems. High system availability demands that interstellar spacecraft are self-repairable imposing significant demands on onboard intelligence. We review the current status of artificial intelligence to assess its capabilities in providing such autonomy. In particular, we focus on hybrid AI methods as these appear to offer the richest capabilities in offsetting weaknesses inherent in paradigmic approaches. Symbolic manipulation systems offer logical and comprehensible rationality with predictable behaviours but are brittle beyond their specific applications (a charge that may be levelled at neural networks unless the transfer learning problem can be resolved). More modern approaches to expert systems include Bayesian networks that incorporate probabilistic treatment to accommodate uncertainty. Artificial neural networks are fundamentally different. They are opaque to analysis but potentially offer greater adaptability in application by virtue of their ability to learn. Indeed, deep machine learning is a variation on neural networks with unsupervised neural front ends and supervised neural back ends. Reinforcement learning offers a promising approach for learning directly from the environment. There are inherent weaknesses in neural approaches regarding their hidden mechanisms rendering their distributed representations opaque to analysis. Hybridising symbolic processing techniques with artificial neural networks appears to offer the advantages of both. Human cognition appears to implement both neural learning and symbolic processing. There are several approaches to such hybridisation that we explore including knowledge-based artificial neural networks, fuzzy neural networks, Bayesian methods such as Markov logic networks and genetic methods such as learning classifier systems. Markov logic networks propose a natural correlation between Bayesian probability and neural weights but mapping representation of symbols into switching neurons is less clear (though vector symbolic architectures present an approach) while learning classifier systems are reinforcement learning methods that are promising for interacting with the physical world. We conclude that current AI may not yet be up to the task of interstellar transits and flybys let alone for physical interaction with unknown planetary environments. Certainly, AI is incapable of interactive encounters with extraterrestrial intelligence.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54553,"journal":{"name":"Progress in Aerospace Sciences","volume":"156 ","pages":"Article 101100"},"PeriodicalIF":11.5,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144231613","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"On the need for rigorous scientific research on unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP)","authors":"Max F. Platzer","doi":"10.1016/j.paerosci.2025.101096","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.paerosci.2025.101096","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":54553,"journal":{"name":"Progress in Aerospace Sciences","volume":"156 ","pages":"Article 101096"},"PeriodicalIF":11.5,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144231603","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}