Keywords: Lunnaya baza, Vnezemnye resursy, Pererabotka regolita, Myagkaya posadka, Zhestkaya posadka, Penetrator, Nedorogoi kosmicheskii dostup

Abstract: With the massive launching of spacecraft, more and more space debris are making the low Earth orbit (LEO) much more crowded which seriously affects the normal flight of other spacecrafts. Space debris removal has become a very urgent issue concerned by numerous countries. In this paper, using SwissCube as a target, the capturing of space debris with a spaceborne four-fingered gripper was studied in order to obtain the key factors that affect the capturing effect. The contact state between the gripper fingers and SwissCube was described using a defined contact matrix. The law of momentum conservation was used to model the motion variations of the gripper and SwissCube before and after the capturing process. A zero-gravity simulation environment was built using ADAMS software. Two typical kinds of capturing processes were simulated considering different stiffness of fingers and different friction conditions between fingers and SwissCube. Comparisons between results obtained with the law of momentum conservation and those from ADAMS simulation show that the theoretical calculations and simulation results are consistent. In addition, through analyzing the capturing process, a valuable finding was obtained that the contact friction and finger flexibility are two very important factors that affect the capturing result.

Keywords: Robotics, Design and Development, Contact Friction, Flexibility, Capturing process, Multi-fingered Gripper, Space Debris, Virtual Prototype Development, Low Earth orbit, SwissCube

Abstract: The subject of this article is the application of some techniques of high-precision trajectory analysis for the improvement of safety of takeoff and landing of aircraft. This issue critically important for airports with the high density air traffic, where the air traffic service (ATS) is responsible for the safety of takeoffs and landings. Nowadays the Instrument Landing System (ILS) is the primary system for these purposes, but all categories of the ILS equipment are sensitive to interferences/obstructions and depend on meteorological conditions. The use of the Satellite Navigation System (SNS) smooths over the deficiencies of the ILS, but without additional components, it does not ensure accuracy comparable at least with the ILS CAT I.The study aims at finding the approaches for obtaining accurate, reliable and credible navigation data directly on board of the aircraft, regardless of weather conditions. The proposed approach is based on the mathematical model of the system of trajectory measurements, defining the flight parameters of an aircraft in a non-query mode.In order to achieve the research goals, the author uses the methods of linear algebra, mathematical modeling of stochastic processes, and computer methods of measurement data processing.The mathematical model and the results of the simulation demonstrate the possibility of high-precision measurement, on board of a plane in a non-query mode, of six current navigation parameters: distance; radial velocity; azimuth; elevation and the rate of change of azimuth and elevation. The proposed method allows increasing the safety of takeoff and landing of an aircraft in the most adverse weather conditions (Сategory IIIс ICAO).

Keywords: Navigation data, Aviation Safety, Takeoff and Landing, Signal reflection, Landing trajectory, Satellite Navigation System, Instrument Landing System, Trajectory analysis, Mathematical model, GLONASS

Abstract: The author develops the theory elements and the methods of measurement data presentation and the definition of the flight parameters of launch and space vehicles. The research subject is the system of trajectory measurements, defining the flight parameters of aircrafts in a non-query mode during the rocket and space machinery units field testing. The parameters of a signal, received from the on-board transmitter, are functionally connected with the object’s flight parameters. This connection is expressed as the Doppler frequency shift and used for the measurement of orbits of spacecrafts and other flying objects. Besides, the received signal bears the information about the distance to the object, which can be calculated using the signal lag, proportional to the radio-wave transmission time. The purpose of the study is to define the conditions for the extension of a spacecraft state vector and the distance measurement in a non-query mode. To accomplish this task, the author applies the modernized morphological analysis as a basis for the generation of new ideas, the formation of the system of models and the search for patterns via the systematized generalization of knowledge on different levels, and the system and structural-functional approaches. The author uses the methods of linear algebra, mathematical modeling of stochastic processes and computer methods of measurement data processing. The author solves the practically important problem of increase of flight parameters defining accuracy via the non-query method using additional measurement functions. The analysis shows that the application of the state vector extension theory allows not only increasing the validity of the analysis of flight parameters of the tested aircrafts, but also reducing the number of test launches during the rocket and space units field testing. 

Keywords: Confusion matrix, Phase methods, Doppler systems, least squares method, Information-measuring system, Flight characteristics, Rocket and space machinery, Inverse matrix, Partial derivative matrix, Information processing

Abstract: The subject of this research is the complexes and means of navigational positioning, as well as multi-parameter phasometric systems of trajectory changes, which contain channels capable of safely measuring the angular coordinates and the rate of changes of the angular coordinates of moving objects. The downside to such systems is the fact that the lines of positioning on which the object is located are considered to be linear. Thus, the acceptable precision of the measurements of angular coordinates is preserved only when the distance to object is several times greater than the base of measurement. This article explores an important case, when the length of the measurement base is equal or even greater than the distance to the object. The research was conducted on the possibility of transitioning towards the hyperbolic system of trajectory changes (or a system of changes when the lines of positioning on which the moving object is located are hyperbolas). The achieved analytical dependencies of precision of determining the angular coordinates in arbitrary distances to the moving objects in the presupposition that the line of positioning is a line of intersection of two hyperboloids of rotation formed by two mutually perpendicular bases. These analytical dependencies allow us to not only a priori assess the precision, validity, and reliability of receiving navigational parameters of the moving objects, but also calculate the scientifically grounded limitations of the work of the complexes and measuring means.

Keywords: Phase measurement system, Accuracy of measurements, Location error, Measurement error, Radio navigation parameter, Line of position, Trajectory measurements, Space navigation, Hyperbolic measurement system, Functional analysis