We study the dynamics of the relative motion of satellites in the gravitational field of the Earth, including the effects of the bulge of the Earth (the J2 effect). Using Routh reduction and dynamical systems ideas, a method is found that locates orbits such that a cluster of satellites remains close with very little dispersing, even with no controls.

In order to enhance the accuracy of the relative velocity measurement for the Mars 13 explorer formation flight, we develop a relative velocity measurement method. In this method, the 14 spectrometers at two Mars explorers are adopted to measure the starlight frequency shift and to 15 estimate the velocity with respect to the star. Unfortunately, the instantaneous velocity of star can 16 not be...

of Dissertation presented to COPPE/UFRJ as a partia1 fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science (M.Sc.) DISTRIBUTED RULES FOR THE SIMULATION OF FORMATION FLIGHT OF ARTIFICIAL BIRDS

Adaptive flight control systems have the potential to be more resilient to extreme changes in airplane behavior. Extreme changes could be a result of a system failure or of damage to the airplane. A direct adaptive neural-network-based flight control system was developed for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration NF-15B Intelligent Flight Control System airplane and subjected to an i...

A new method is presented for elemental and molecular analysis of halogen-containing samples by glow discharge time-of-flight mass spectrometry, consisting of detection of negative ions from a pulsed RF glow discharge in argon. Analyte signals are mainly extracted from the afterglow regime of the discharge, where the cross section for electron attachment increases. The formation of negative ion...

Improvement of the launch phase of a jet powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) with Jet Assisted Take Off (JATO), has been the subject of attention in the UAV industry. Use of flight simulation tools reduces the risk and required some amount of flight testing for complex aerospace systems. Full nonlinear equations of motion are used to study and simulate this maneuver and three case studies of ...

Nowadays, in-flight comfort has become an essential characteristic to survive in domestic airline businesses. Air hostesses’ quality of service and response time to customer demand plays a vital role in enhancing quality of the flight experience and passenger satisfaction. However, additional requirements on air hostess expose them to fatigue which could eventually result in job dissatisfac...