The Experts below are selected from a list of 42 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Colin R. Mcinnes - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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orbital dynamics of smart dust devices with solar radiation pressure and drag
Journal of Guidance Control and Dynamics, 2011Co-Authors: Camilla Colombo, Colin R. McinnesAbstract:This paper investigates how perturbations due to asymmetric solar radiation pressure, in the presence of Earth shadow, and atmospheric drag can be balanced to obtain long-lived Earth centred orbits for swarms of micro-scale 'smart dust' devices, without the use of active control. The secular variation of Keplerian elements is expressed analytically through an averaging technique. Families of solutions are then identified where Sun-synchronous Apse-Line precession is achieved passively to maintain asymmetric solar radiation pressure. The long-term orbit evolution is characterized by librational motion, progressively decaying due to the non-conservative effect of atmospheric drag. Long-lived orbits can then be designed through the interaction of energy gain from asymmetric solar radiation pressure and energy dissipation due to drag. In this way, the usual short drag lifetime of such high area-to-mass spacecraft can be greatly extended (and indeed selected). In addition, the effect of atmospheric drag can be exploited to ensure the rapid end-of-life decay of such devices, thus preventing long-lived orbit debris.
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orbital dynamics of earth orbiting smart dust spacecraft under the effects of solar radiation pressure and aerodynamic drag
AIAA AAS Astrodynamics Specialist Conference 2010, 2010Co-Authors: Camilla Colombo, Colin R. McinnesAbstract:This paper investigates how the perturbations due to asymmetric solar radiation pressure, in presence of Earth's shadow, and atmospheric drag can be balanced to obtain long-lived Earth centered orbits for swarms of SpaceChips, without the use of active control. The secular variation of Keplerian elements is expressed analytically through an averaging technique. Families of solutions are then identified where a Sun-synchronous Apse-Line precession is achieved passively. The long-term evolution is characterized by librational motion, progressively decaying due to the non-conservative effect of atmospheric drag. Therefore, long-lived orbits can be designed through the interaction of energy gain from asymmetric solar radiation pressure and energy dissipation due to drag. In this way, the short life-time of high area-to-mass spacecraft can be greatly extended (and indeed selected). In addition, the effect of atmospheric drag can be exploited to ensure the end-of life decay of SpaceChips, thus preventing long-lived orbit debris.
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geosail an elegant solar sail demonstration mission
Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, 2007Co-Authors: Malcolm Macdonald, Gareth W Hughes, Colin R. Mcinnes, A Lyngvi, P Falkner, Alessandro AtzeiAbstract:In this paper a solar sail magnetotail mission concept was examined. The 43-m square solar sail is used to providethe required propulsion for continuous sun-synchronous Apse-Line precession. The main driver in this mission was found to be the reduction of launch mass and mission cost while enabling a nominal duration of 2 years within the framework of a demonstration mission. It was found that the mission concept provided an excellent solar sail technology demonstration option. The baseLine science objectives and engineering goals were addressed, and mission analysis for solar sail, electric, and chemical propulsion performed. Detailed subsystems were defined for each propulsion system and it was found that the optimum propulsion system is solar sailing. A detailed tradeoff as to the effect of spacecraft and sail technology levels, and requirements, on sail size is presented for the first time. The effect of, for example, data acquisition rate and RF output power on sail size is presented, in which it is found that neither have a significant effect. The key sail technology requirements have been identified through a parametric analysis.
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geosail exploring the geomagnetic tail using a small solar sail
Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, 2001Co-Authors: Colin R. Mcinnes, Malcolm Macdonald, D M AlexanderAbstract:Conventional geomagnetic tail missions require a spacecraft to be injected into a long elliptical orbit to explore the spatial structure of the geomagnetic tail. However, because the elliptical orbit is inertially fixed and the geomagnetic tail is directed along the sun-Earth Line, the Apse Line of the elliptical orbit is precisely aligned with the geomagnetic tail only once every year. To artificially precess the Apse Line of the elliptical orbit in a sun-synchronous manner, which would keep the spacecraft in the geomagnetic tail during the entire year, would require continuous low-thrust propulsion or periodic impulses from a high-thrust propulsion system. Both of these options require reaction mass that will ultimately limit the mission lifetime. It is demonstrated that sun-synchronous Apse-Line precession can be achieved using only a small, low-cost solar sail. Because solar sails do not require reaction mass, a geomagnetic tail mission can be configured that provides a continuous science return by permanently stationing a science payload within the geomagnetic tail.
Mcinnes Colin - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Orbital dynamics of "smart-dust" devices with solar radiation pressure and drag
'American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)', 2011Co-Authors: Colombo Camilla, Mcinnes ColinAbstract:This paper investigates how perturbations due to asymmetric solar radiation pressure, in the presence of Earth shadow, and atmospheric drag can be balanced to obtain long-lived Earth-centered orbits for swarms of microscale “smart-dust” devices, without the use of active control. The secular variation of Keplerian elements is expressed analytically through an averaging technique. Families of solutions are then identified in which sun-synchronous Apse-Line precession is achieved passively to maintain asymmetric solar radiation pressure. The long-term orbit evolution is characterized by librational motion, progressively decaying due to the nonconservative effect of atmospheric drag. Long-lived orbits can then be designed through the interaction of energy gain from asymmetric solar radiation pressure and energy dissipation due to drag. In this way, the usual short drag lifetime of such higharea- to-mass spacecraft can be greatly extended (and indeed selected). In addition, the effect of atmospheric drag can be exploited to ensure the rapid end-of-life decay of such devices, thus preventing long-lived orbit debris
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Orbital dynamics of "Smart-Dust" devices with solar radiation pressure and drag
'American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)', 2011Co-Authors: Colombo Camilla, Mcinnes ColinAbstract:This paper investigates how perturbations due to asymmetric solar radiation pressure, in the presence of Earth shadow, and atmospheric drag can be balanced to obtain long-lived Earth-centered orbits for swarms of microscale " smart-dust" devices, without the use of active control. The secular variation of Keplerian elements is expressed analytically through an averaging technique. Families of solutions are then identified in which sun-synchronous Apse-Line precession is achieved passively to maintain asymmetric solar radiation pressure. The long-term orbit evolution is characterized by librational motion, progressively decaying due to the nonconservative effect of atmospheric drag. Long-lived orbits can then be designed through the interaction of energy gain from asymmetric solar radiation pressure and energy dissipation due to drag. In this way, the usual short drag lifetime of such higharea- to-mass spacecraft can be greatly extended (and indeed selected). In addition, the effect of atmospheric drag can be exploited to ensure the rapid end-of-life decay of such devices, thus preventing long-lived orbit debris. © 2011 by Camilla Colombo and Colin McInnes. Published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc
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Orbital dynamics of Earth-orbiting 'smart dust' spacecraft under the effects of solar radiation pressure and aerodynamic drag
'American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)', 2010Co-Authors: Colombo Camilla, Mcinnes ColinAbstract:This paper investigates how the perturbations due to asymmetric solar radiation pressure, in presence of Earth's shadow, and atmospheric drag can be balanced to obtain long-lived Earth centered orbits for swarms of SpaceChips, without the use of active control. The secular variation of Keplerian elements is expressed analytically through an averaging technique. Families of solutions are then identified where a Sun-synchronous Apse-Line precession is achieved passively. The long-term evolution is characterized by librational motion, progressively decaying due to the non-conservative effect of atmospheric drag. Therefore, long-lived orbits can be designed through the interaction of energy gain from asymmetric solar radiation pressure and energy dissipation due to drag. In this way, the short life-time of high area-to-mass spacecraft can be greatly extended (and indeed selected). In addition, the effect of atmospheric drag can be exploited to ensure the end-of life decay of SpaceChips, thus preventing long-lived orbit debris. © 2010 by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. All rights reserved
Colombo Camilla - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Orbital dynamics of "smart-dust" devices with solar radiation pressure and drag
'American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)', 2011Co-Authors: Colombo Camilla, Mcinnes ColinAbstract:This paper investigates how perturbations due to asymmetric solar radiation pressure, in the presence of Earth shadow, and atmospheric drag can be balanced to obtain long-lived Earth-centered orbits for swarms of microscale “smart-dust” devices, without the use of active control. The secular variation of Keplerian elements is expressed analytically through an averaging technique. Families of solutions are then identified in which sun-synchronous Apse-Line precession is achieved passively to maintain asymmetric solar radiation pressure. The long-term orbit evolution is characterized by librational motion, progressively decaying due to the nonconservative effect of atmospheric drag. Long-lived orbits can then be designed through the interaction of energy gain from asymmetric solar radiation pressure and energy dissipation due to drag. In this way, the usual short drag lifetime of such higharea- to-mass spacecraft can be greatly extended (and indeed selected). In addition, the effect of atmospheric drag can be exploited to ensure the rapid end-of-life decay of such devices, thus preventing long-lived orbit debris
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Orbital dynamics of "Smart-Dust" devices with solar radiation pressure and drag
'American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)', 2011Co-Authors: Colombo Camilla, Mcinnes ColinAbstract:This paper investigates how perturbations due to asymmetric solar radiation pressure, in the presence of Earth shadow, and atmospheric drag can be balanced to obtain long-lived Earth-centered orbits for swarms of microscale " smart-dust" devices, without the use of active control. The secular variation of Keplerian elements is expressed analytically through an averaging technique. Families of solutions are then identified in which sun-synchronous Apse-Line precession is achieved passively to maintain asymmetric solar radiation pressure. The long-term orbit evolution is characterized by librational motion, progressively decaying due to the nonconservative effect of atmospheric drag. Long-lived orbits can then be designed through the interaction of energy gain from asymmetric solar radiation pressure and energy dissipation due to drag. In this way, the usual short drag lifetime of such higharea- to-mass spacecraft can be greatly extended (and indeed selected). In addition, the effect of atmospheric drag can be exploited to ensure the rapid end-of-life decay of such devices, thus preventing long-lived orbit debris. © 2011 by Camilla Colombo and Colin McInnes. Published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc
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Orbital dynamics of Earth-orbiting 'smart dust' spacecraft under the effects of solar radiation pressure and aerodynamic drag
'American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)', 2010Co-Authors: Colombo Camilla, Mcinnes ColinAbstract:This paper investigates how the perturbations due to asymmetric solar radiation pressure, in presence of Earth's shadow, and atmospheric drag can be balanced to obtain long-lived Earth centered orbits for swarms of SpaceChips, without the use of active control. The secular variation of Keplerian elements is expressed analytically through an averaging technique. Families of solutions are then identified where a Sun-synchronous Apse-Line precession is achieved passively. The long-term evolution is characterized by librational motion, progressively decaying due to the non-conservative effect of atmospheric drag. Therefore, long-lived orbits can be designed through the interaction of energy gain from asymmetric solar radiation pressure and energy dissipation due to drag. In this way, the short life-time of high area-to-mass spacecraft can be greatly extended (and indeed selected). In addition, the effect of atmospheric drag can be exploited to ensure the end-of life decay of SpaceChips, thus preventing long-lived orbit debris. © 2010 by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. All rights reserved
Hanspeter Schaub - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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improving magnetosphere in situ observations using solar sails
Advances in Space Research, 2018Co-Authors: Khashayar Parsay, Hanspeter Schaub, C Schiff, Trevor WilliamsAbstract:Abstract Past and current magnetosphere missions employ conventional spacecraft formations for in situ observations of the geomagnetic tail. Conventional spacecraft flying in inertially fixed Keplerian orbits are only aligned with the geomagnetic tail once per year, since the geomagnetic tail is always aligned with the Earth-Sun Line, and therefore, rotates annually. Solar sails are able to artificially create sun-synchronous orbits such that the orbit Apse Line remains aligned with the geomagnetic tail Line throughout the entire year. This continuous presence in the geomagnetic tail can significantly increase the science phase for magnetosphere missions. In this paper, the problem of solar sail formation design is explored using nonLinear programming to design optimal two-craft, triangle, and tetrahedron solar sail formations, in terms of formation quality and formation stability. The designed formations are directly compared to the formations used in NASA’s Magnetospheric Multi-Scale mission.
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designing solar sail formations in sun synchronous orbits for geomagnetic tail exploration
Acta Astronautica, 2015Co-Authors: Khashayar Parsay, Hanspeter SchaubAbstract:Abstract Exploration of the Earth׳s magnetosphere using solar sails has advantages over the use of traditional spacecraft in inertially fixed orbits because of the solar sails׳ capability to stay in the geomagnetic tail for longer periods. In this paper, solar sail formation flying in Earth-centered slightly incLined orbits is investigated, with each solar sail employing a simple sun-pointing steering law that precesses the orbit Apse-Line sun-synchronously. An analytic condition for determining target states that lead to in-plane quasi-periodic relative motion under solar radiation pressure is derived, assuming all sails use the same steering law. Even though active control is required to achieve these target states, only the simple steering law is required for flying the formation upon achieving the target states. The condition is verified in the design of two-craft and three-craft formations. The effects of Earth׳s nonsphericity, lunar gravity, and solar gravity are included to determine the stability of the designed formations under these perturbations.
Camilla Colombo - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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orbital dynamics of smart dust devices with solar radiation pressure and drag
Journal of Guidance Control and Dynamics, 2011Co-Authors: Camilla Colombo, Colin R. McinnesAbstract:This paper investigates how perturbations due to asymmetric solar radiation pressure, in the presence of Earth shadow, and atmospheric drag can be balanced to obtain long-lived Earth centred orbits for swarms of micro-scale 'smart dust' devices, without the use of active control. The secular variation of Keplerian elements is expressed analytically through an averaging technique. Families of solutions are then identified where Sun-synchronous Apse-Line precession is achieved passively to maintain asymmetric solar radiation pressure. The long-term orbit evolution is characterized by librational motion, progressively decaying due to the non-conservative effect of atmospheric drag. Long-lived orbits can then be designed through the interaction of energy gain from asymmetric solar radiation pressure and energy dissipation due to drag. In this way, the usual short drag lifetime of such high area-to-mass spacecraft can be greatly extended (and indeed selected). In addition, the effect of atmospheric drag can be exploited to ensure the rapid end-of-life decay of such devices, thus preventing long-lived orbit debris.
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orbital dynamics of earth orbiting smart dust spacecraft under the effects of solar radiation pressure and aerodynamic drag
AIAA AAS Astrodynamics Specialist Conference 2010, 2010Co-Authors: Camilla Colombo, Colin R. McinnesAbstract:This paper investigates how the perturbations due to asymmetric solar radiation pressure, in presence of Earth's shadow, and atmospheric drag can be balanced to obtain long-lived Earth centered orbits for swarms of SpaceChips, without the use of active control. The secular variation of Keplerian elements is expressed analytically through an averaging technique. Families of solutions are then identified where a Sun-synchronous Apse-Line precession is achieved passively. The long-term evolution is characterized by librational motion, progressively decaying due to the non-conservative effect of atmospheric drag. Therefore, long-lived orbits can be designed through the interaction of energy gain from asymmetric solar radiation pressure and energy dissipation due to drag. In this way, the short life-time of high area-to-mass spacecraft can be greatly extended (and indeed selected). In addition, the effect of atmospheric drag can be exploited to ensure the end-of life decay of SpaceChips, thus preventing long-lived orbit debris.