Aeronautical engineering: A continuing bibliography with indexes (supplement 277)

This bibliography lists 467 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system in Mar. 1992. Subject coverage includes: the engineering and theoretical aspects of design, construction, evaluation, testing, operation, and performance of aircraft (including aircraft engines); and associated aircraft components, equipment, and systems. It also includes research and development in ground support systems, theoretical and applied aspects of aerodynamics, and general fluid dynamics

Astronautics

Many people have had and still have misconceptions about the basic principle of rocket propulsion. Here is a comment of an unknown editorial writer of the renowned New York Times from January 13, 1920, about the pioneer of US astronautics, Robert Goddard, who at that time was carrying out the ?rst experiments with liquid propulsion engines: Professor Goddard … does not know the relation of action to reaction, and of the need to have something better than a vacuum against which to react – to say that would be absurd. Of course he only seems to lack the knowledge ladled out daily in high schools

Study of Low Earth Orbit impact on ORCA2SAT subsystems

Mission planning of CubeSats can be very challenging due to their mass, volume and power constraints. In addition, the majority of CubeSat projects are done at a University level, which can also mean constraints in terms of budget. In order to guarantee the mission’s success, several aspects must be studied prior to launch. Firstly, it must be assured that the satellite has enough accesses to the desired ground stations in order to establish communications while in orbit. However, to keep the satellite operational power generation is required. The profile of power generation varies throughout the year and is heavily dependent on the CubeSat’s orbit. Thus, it is crucial to assess the power generation for a long period in order to guarantee the operation of the satellite and help set limits for systems design and hardware selection. The constraints mentioned above make use of magnetorquers as the main attitude actuators, which require a study of the Earth’s magnetic field in order to compare the generated torques with the perturbative torques inherent to the space environment. Another concern are temperature limits of the components, therefore, the temperatures experienced by the satellite in orbit must be computed and decisions must be taken to allow for the mission’s success. As in the previous analysis, the dynamic behavior of the CubeSat under launch conditions can also draw the line between success and failure. This work describes the steps taken in order to simulate all the aforementioned aspects for the computed mission lifetime, in order to mitigate inherent risks and guarantee mission success for ORCA2Sat, a two unit Cube- Sat. The simulations were done through pertinent finite elements models and space environment computational models, for a deployment from the International Space Station. It was proved, with this comprehensive mission analysis, that for the studied critical factors ORCA2Sat’s mission can be accomplished for the desired period of time, keeping the satellite operational throughout its life in orbit.O planeamento de missões de CubeSats pode ser bastante desafiante devido às suas restrições de massa, volume e energia. Além disso, a maioria dos projetos de CubeSats são a nível universitário, o que pode também significar restrições de orçamento. De modo a garantir o sucesso da missão, vários aspetos devem ser estudados antes do lançamento. Primeiramente, deve-se certificar que o satélite tem tempos de acesso suficientes às estações em solo desejadas de modo a estabelecer comunicações enquanto em órbita. Contudo, para manter o satélite operacional, é necessário gerar energia. O perfil da produção de energia varia ao longo do ano e é profundamente dependente da órbita do CubeSat. Portanto, é crucial avaliar a produção de energia durante um longo período de modo a garantir a operação do satélite e ajudar a definir limites no design de sistemas e seleção de componentes. As restrições mencionadas acima fazem com que sejam usados magnetorquers como principais atuadores de atitude, os quais requerem um estudo do campo magnético da Terra de modo a comparar os torques gerados com os torques perturbativos inerentes do ambiente espacial. Outro cuidado a ter são os limites de temperatura dos componentes, assim, é necessário calcular as temperaturas experienciadas em órbita pelo satélite e decisões têm que ser tomadas para garantir o sucesso da missão. Tal como nas análises anteriores, o comportamento dinâmico do CubeSat sob condições de lançamento pode também definir a linha entre sucesso e fracasso. Este trabalho descreve os passos seguidos para simular todos os aspetos supracitados, para o tempo da missão estimado, de modo a minimizar os riscos associados e garantir o sucesso da missão do ORCA2Sat, um CubeSat de duas unidades. Simulações foram feitas através de modelos de elementos finitos pertinentes e modelos computacionais do ambiente espacial, para um lançamento desde a Estação Espacial Internacional. Foi provado, através de uma abrangente análise da missão, que para os fatores críticos estudados a missão do ORCA2Sat poder ser efetuada para o período de tempo desejado, mantendo o satélite operacional ao longo do seu tempo em órbita

Comparative studies of conceptual design and qualification procedures for a Mars probe/lander. Volume III - Probe, entry from orbit. Book 3 - Development test programs Final report

Subsystem development status and ground development tests for Mars probe and recommended flight test

SIRU development. Volume 1: System development

A complete description of the development and initial evaluation of the Strapdown Inertial Reference Unit (SIRU) system is reported. System development documents the system mechanization with the analytic formulation for fault detection and isolation processing structure; the hardware redundancy design and the individual modularity features; the computational structure and facilities; and the initial subsystem evaluation results

Automatic Flight Control Systems

The history of flight control is inseparably linked to the history of aviation itself. Since the early days, the concept of automatic flight control systems has evolved from mechanical control systems to highly advanced automatic fly-by-wire flight control systems which can be found nowadays in military jets and civil airliners. Even today, many research efforts are made for the further development of these flight control systems in various aspects. Recent new developments in this field focus on a wealth of different aspects. This book focuses on a selection of key research areas, such as inertial navigation, control of unmanned aircraft and helicopters, trajectory control of an unmanned space re-entry vehicle, aeroservoelastic control, adaptive flight control, and fault tolerant flight control. This book consists of two major sections. The first section focuses on a literature review and some recent theoretical developments in flight control systems. The second section discusses some concepts of adaptive and fault-tolerant flight control systems. Each technique discussed in this book is illustrated by a relevant example

Tethers in Space Handbook

A new edition of the Tethers in Space Handbook was needed after the last edition published in 1989. Tether-related activities have been quite busy in the 90's. We have had the flights of TSSI and TSSI-R, SEDS-1 and -2, PMG, TIPS and OEDIPUS. In less than three years there have been one international Conference on Tethers in Space, held in Washington DC, and three workshops, held at ESA/Estec in the Netherlands, at ISAS in Japan and at the University of Michigan, Ann Harbor. The community has grown and we finally have real flight data to compare our models with. The life of spaceborne tethers has not been always easy and we got our dose of setbacks, but we feel pretty optimistic for the future. We are just stepping out of the pioneering stage to start to use tethers for space science and technological applications. As we are writing this handbook TiPs, a NRL tether project is flying above our heads. There is no emphasis in affirming that as of today spacebome tethers are a reality and their potential is far from being fully appreciated. Consequently, a large amount of new information had to be incorporated into this new edition. The general structure of the handbook has been left mostly unchanged. The past editors have set a style which we have not felt needed change. The section on the flights has been enriched with information on the scientific results. The categories of the applications have not been modified, and in some cases we have mentioned the existence of related flight data. We felt that the section contributed by Joe Carroll, called Tether Data, should be maintained as it was, being a "classic" and still very accurate and not at all obsolete. We have introduced a new chapter entitled Space Science and Tethers since flight experience has shown that tethers can complement other space-based investigations. The bibliography has been updated. Due to the great production in the last few years %e had to restrict our search to works published in refereed journal. The production, however, is much more extensive. In addition, we have included the summary of the papers presented at the last International Conference which was a forum for first-hand information on all the flights

Advances in Spacecraft Attitude Control

Spacecraft attitude maneuvers comply with Euler's moment equations, a set of three nonlinear, coupled differential equations. Nonlinearities complicate the mathematical treatment of the seemingly simple action of rotating, and these complications lead to a robust lineage of research. This book is meant for basic scientifically inclined readers, and commences with a chapter on the basics of spaceflight and leverages this remediation to reveal very advanced topics to new spaceflight enthusiasts. The topics learned from reading this text will prepare students and faculties to investigate interesting spaceflight problems in an era where cube satellites have made such investigations attainable by even small universities. It is the fondest hope of the editor and authors that readers enjoy this book

Design Development Test and Evaluation (DDT and E) Considerations for Safe and Reliable Human Rated Spacecraft Systems

A team directed by the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) collected methodologies for how best to develop safe and reliable human rated systems and how to identify the drivers that provide the basis for assessing safety and reliability. The team also identified techniques, methodologies, and best practices to assure that NASA can develop safe and reliable human rated systems. The results are drawn from a wide variety of resources, from experts involved with the space program since its inception to the best-practices espoused in contemporary engineering doctrine. This report focuses on safety and reliability considerations and does not duplicate or update any existing references. Neither does it intend to replace existing standards and policy

Advances in Spacecraft Attitude Control

Spacecraft attitude maneuvers comply with Euler's moment equations, a set of three nonlinear, coupled differential equations. Nonlinearities complicate the mathematical treatment of the seemingly simple action of rotating, and these complications lead to a robust lineage of research. This book is meant for basic scientifically inclined readers, and commences with a chapter on the basics of spaceflight and leverages this remediation to reveal very advanced topics to new spaceflight enthusiasts. The topics learned from reading this text will prepare students and faculties to investigate interesting spaceflight problems in an era where cube satellites have made such investigations attainable by even small universities. It is the fondest hope of the editor and authors that readers enjoy this book