4,899 research outputs found
Spacecraft flight control system design selection process for a geostationary communication satellite
The Earth's first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, slowly tumbled in orbit. The first U.S. satellite, Explorer 1, also tumbled out of control. Now, as we launch the Mars observer and the Cassini spacecraft, stability and control have become higher priorities. The flight control system design selection process is reviewed using as an example a geostationary communication satellite which is to have a life expectancy of 10 to 14 years. Disturbance torques including aerodynamic, magnetic, gravity gradient, solar, micrometeorite, debris, collision, and internal torques are assessed to quantify the disturbance environment so that the required compensating torque can be determined. Then control torque options, including passive versus active, momentum control, bias momentum, spin stabilization, dual spin, gravity gradient, magnetic, reaction wheels, control moment gyros, nutation dampers, inertia augmentation techniques, three-axis control, reactions control system (RCS), and RCS sizing, are considered. A flight control system design is then selected and preliminary stability criteria are met by the control gains selection
Design of Launch Vehicle Flight Control Augmentors and Resulting Flight Stability and Control (Center Director's Discretionary Fund Project 93-05, Part III)
This publication presents the control requirements, the details of the designed Flight Control Augmentor's (FCA's), the static stability and dynamic stability wind tunnel test programs, the static stability and control analyses, the dynamic stability characteristics of the experimental Launch Vehicle (LV) with the designed FCA's, and a consideration of the elastic vehicle. Dramatic improvements in flight stability have been realized with all the FCA designs; these ranged from 41 percent to 72 percent achieved by the blunt TE design. The control analysis showed that control increased 110 percent with only 3 degrees of FCA deflection. The dynamic stability results showed improvements with all FCA designs tested at all Mach numbers tested. The blunt TE FCA's had the best overall dynamic stability results. Since the lowest elastic vehicle frequency must be well separated from that of the control system, the significant frequencies and modes of vibration have been identified, and the response spectra compared for the experimental LV in both the conventional and the aft cg configuration. Although the dynamic response was 150 percent greater in the aft cg configuration, the lowest bending mode frequency decreased by only 2.8 percent
Launch vehicle flight control augmentation using smart materials and advanced composites (CDDF Project 93-05)
The Marshall Space Flight Center has a rich heritage of launch vehicles that have used aerodynamic surfaces for flight stability such as the Saturn vehicles and flight control such as on the Redstone. Recently, due to aft center-of-gravity locations on launch vehicles currently being studied, the need has arisen for the vehicle control augmentation that is provided by these flight controls. Aerodynamic flight control can also reduce engine gimbaling requirements, provide actuator failure protection, enhance crew safety, and increase vehicle reliability, and payload capability. In the Saturn era, NASA went to the Moon with 300 sq ft of aerodynamic surfaces on the Saturn V. Since those days, the wealth of smart materials and advanced composites that have been developed allow for the design of very lightweight, strong, and innovative launch vehicle flight control surfaces. This paper presents an overview of the advanced composites and smart materials that are directly applicable to launch vehicle control surfaces
Simultaneous BeppoSAX and RXTE observations of the X-ray burst sources GX 3+1 and Ser X-1
We have obtained spectral and timing data on GX 3+1 and Ser X-1. Both sources
were observed simultaneously with BeppoSAX and RXTE. The RXTE data is used to
provide power spectra and colour-colour diagrams in order to constrain the
state (and thus track ) the sources are in. The BeppoSAX data provide
the broad-band spectra. The spectra of both sources are reasonably well-fit
using a model consisting of a disk-blackbody, a comptonized component and a Fe
line, absorbed by interstellar absorption. The electron temperature (kT) of the Comptonizing plasma is in both cases 2.5 keV. This implies
that no strong high-energy tail from the Comptonized component is present in
either of the sources. We discuss the similarities between these burst sources
and the luminous X-ray sources located in globular clusters. We find that the
spectral parameters of the comptonized component provide information about the
mass-accretion rate, which agrees well with estimates from the timing and
spectral variations.Comment: 8 pages, accepted by A&
A comparison of broad iron emission lines in archival data of neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries
Relativistic X-ray disk-lines have been found in multiple neutron star
low-mass X-ray binaries, in close analogy with black holes across the
mass-scale. These lines have tremendous diagnostic power and have been used to
constrain stellar radii and magnetic fields, often finding values that are
consistent with independent timing techniques. Here, we compare CCD-based data
from Suzaku with Fe K line profiles from archival data taken with gas-based
spectrometers. In general, we find good consistency between the gas-based line
profiles from EXOSAT, BeppoSAX and RXTE and the CCD data from Suzaku,
demonstrating that the broad profiles seen are intrinsic to the line and not
broad due to instrumental issues. However, we do find that when fitting with a
Gaussian line profile, the width of the Gaussian can depend on the continuum
model in instruments with low spectral resolution, though when the different
models fit equally well the line widths generally agree. We also demonstrate
that three BeppoSAX observations show evidence for asymmetric lines, with a
relativistic disk-line model providing a significantly better fit than a
Gaussian. We test this by using the posterior predictive p-value method, and
bootstrapping of the spectra to show that such deviations from a Gaussian are
unlikely to be observed by chance.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures, accepted to Ap
A model for upper kHz QPO coherence of accreting neutron star
{We investigate the coherence of the twin kilohertz quasi-periodic
oscillations (kHz QPOs) in the low-mass X-ray binary (LMXB) theoretically. The
profile of upper kHz QPO, interpreted as Keplerian frequency, is ascribed to
the radial extent of the kHz QPO emission region, associated with the
transitional layer at the magnetosphere-disk boundary, which corresponds to the
coherence of upper kHz QPO. The theoretical model for Q-factor of upper kHz QPO
is applied to the observational data of five Atoll and five Z sources, and the
consistence is implied.Comment: accepted by A&
An ADM 3+1 formulation for Smooth Lattice General Relativity
A new hybrid scheme for numerical relativity will be presented. The scheme
will employ a 3-dimensional spacelike lattice to record the 3-metric while
using the standard 3+1 ADM equations to evolve the lattice. Each time step will
involve three basic steps. First, the coordinate quantities such as the Riemann
and extrinsic curvatures are extracted from the lattice. Second, the 3+1 ADM
equations are used to evolve the coordinate data, and finally, the coordinate
data is used to update the scalar data on the lattice (such as the leg
lengths). The scheme will be presented only for the case of vacuum spacetime
though there is no reason why it could not be extended to non-vacuum
spacetimes. The scheme allows any choice for the lapse function and shift
vectors. An example for the Kasner cosmology will be presented and it
will be shown that the method has, for this simple example, zero discretisation
error.Comment: 18 pages, plain TeX, 5 epsf figues, gzipped ps file also available at
http://newton.maths.monash.edu.au:8000/preprints/3+1-slgr.ps.g
Mandated Benefits, Welfare, and Heterogeneous Firms
The paper constructs an asymmetric information model to investigate the efficiency and equity cases for government mandated benefits. A mandate can improve workers' insurance, and may also redistribute in favor of more "deserving" workers. The risk is that it may also reduce output. The more diverse are free market contracts - separating the various worker types - the more likely it is that such output effects will on balance serve to reduce welfare. It is shown that adverse effects can be mitigated by restricting mandates to "large" firms. An alternative to a mandate is direct government provision. We demonstrate that direct government provision may be superior to mandates by virtue of preserving separations
Complexity analysis of Klein-Gordon single-particle systems
The Fisher-Shannon complexity is used to quantitatively estimate the
contribution of relativistic effects to on the internal disorder of
Klein-Gordon single-particle Coulomb systems which is manifest in the rich
variety of three-dimensional geometries of its corresponding quantum-mechanical
probability density. It is observed that, contrary to the non-relativistic
case, the Fisher-Shannon complexity of these relativistic systems does depend
on the potential strength (nuclear charge). This is numerically illustrated for
pionic atoms. Moreover, its variation with the quantum numbers (n, l, m) is
analysed in various ground and excited states. It is found that the
relativistic effects enhance when n and/or l are decreasing.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, Accepted in EPL (Europhysics Letters
INTEGRAL observations of the Be/X-ray binary EXO 2030+375 during outburst
We present a type-I outburst of the high-mass X-ray binary EXO 2030+375,
detected during INTEGRAL's Performance and Verification Phase in December 2002
(on-source time about 10e+06 seconds). In addition, six more outbursts have
been observed during INTEGRAL's Galactic Plane Scans. X-ray pulsations have
been detected with a pulse period of 41.691798+-0.000016 s. The X-ray
luminosity in the 5-300 keV energy range was 9.7*10e+36 erg/s, for a distance
of 7.1 kpc. Two unusual features were found in the light curve, with an initial
peak before the main outburst and another possible spike after the maximum.
RXTE observations confirm only the existence of the initial spike. Although the
initial peak appears to be a recurrent feature, the physical mechanisms
producing it and the possible second spike are unknown. Moreover, a four-day
delay between periastron passage and the peak of the outburst is observed. We
present for the first time a 5-300 keV broad-band spectrum of this source. It
can be modelled by the sum of a disk black body (kT_bb~8 keV) with either a
power law model with Gamma=2.04+-0.11 keV or a Comptonized component (spherical
geometry, kT_e=30 keV, tau=2.64, kT_W=1.5 keV).Comment: 10 pages, 11 figures, to be published in A&
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