Four spacecraft Cluster magnetic field observations of the low β quasi-perpendicular terrestrial bowshock are presented for the first time. Multiple quasi-perpendicular crossings on 25 December 2000 are analysed. By combining data from the four spacecraft, bowshock orientations and velocities can be calculated. It is shown that, even while in rapid motion, the bowshock normal direction remains ...

In this report the results of my Monte Carlo simulation of the plasma wake around a charged spacecraft are presented. The simulation was done for a spherical spacecraft with radius 1.5m and a potential of +35V in a tenuous plasma of protons and electrons. These are parameters similar to those of the Cluster spacecraft in Earth’s magnetosphere. The simulation was done only for the protons in the...

This paper presents a new coordinate transformation method for controlling a large number of spacecraft moving in elliptical orbits. A new coordinate transformation method for phase synchronization of spacecraft in relative elliptical orbits is introduced to effectively maintain desired formation patterns. The proposed controller, which employs both the adaptive graph Laplacian matrix and the d...

Stanford's Space Systems Development Laboratory (SSDL) has initiated a new space system technology initiative in order to develop, demonstrate, and validate a beacon monitoring system for spacecraft. This system consists of automated fault detection on board a spacecraft, a state of health beacon signal broadcast by the spacecraft, a ground based monitoring network, and a mission control center...

A fundamental maneuver in autonomous space operations is known as rendezvous, where a spacecraft navigates to and approaches another spacecraft. In this case study, we present linear and nonlinear benchmark models of an active chaser spacecraft performing rendezvous toward a passive, orbiting target. The system is modeled as a hybrid automaton, where the chaser must adhere to different sets of ...

The Deep Space Network (DSN) [1] was established in 1958 and since then it has evolved into the largest and most sensitive scientific telecommunications and radio navigation network in the world. The purpose of the DSN is to support unpiloted interplanetary spacecraft missions and support radio and radar astronomy observations in the exploration of the solar system and the universe. There are t...

This paper introduces a novel Lyapunov-based adaptive control strategy for spacecraft maneuvers using atmospheric differential drag. The control forces required for rendezvous maneuvers at low Earth orbits can be generated by varying the aerodynamic drag affecting each spacecraft. This can be accomplished, for example, by rotating dedicated sets of drag panels. Thus, the relative spacecraft mot...

The paper presents the development of a multi-objective optimisation framework to study the effects that preliminary design choices have on the demisability and the survivability of a spacecraft. Building a spacecraft such that most of it will demise during the re-entry through design-for-demise strategies may lead to design that are more vulnerable to space debris impacts, thus compromising th...

There is an increasing desire in many organizations, including NASA, to use constellations or fleets of autonomous spacecraft working together to accomplish complex mission objectives. Coordinating the activities of all the satellites in a constellation is not a trivial task, however. The TEAMAgent system is being developed under a Phase II SBIR contract from the Surveillance and Control Divisi...

We describe the Prospecting ANTS Mission (PAM) whose object is to explore the resource potential the Solar System's Asteroid Belt. The mission is consistent with the present NASA strategic plan for the HEDS (Human Exploration and Development of Space) enterprise. In this plan, the automated discovery of space resources is envisioned as a building block for expanding the human presence in space....