Spacecraft Doppler tracking with possible violations of LLI and LPI: a theoretical modeling

Currently two-way and three-way spacecraft Doppler tracking techniquesare widely used and play important roles in control and navigation of deep space mis-sions. Starting from a one-way Doppler model, we extend the theory to two-way andthree-way Doppler models by making them include possible violations of the localLorentz invariance （LLI） and the local position invariance （LPI） in order to test theEinstein equivalence principle, which is the cornerstone of general relativity and allother metric theories of gravity. After taking the finite speed of light into account,which is the so-called light time solution （LTS）, we make these models depend on thetime of reception of the signal only for practical convenience. We find that possibleviolations of LLI and LPI cannot affect two-way Doppler tracking under a linear ap-proximation of LTS, although this approximation is sufficiently good for most cases inthe solar system. We also show that, in three-way Doppler tracking, possible violationsof LLI and LPI are only associated with two stations, which suggests that it is betterto set the stations at places with significant differences in velocities and gravitationalpotentials to obtain a high level of sensitivity for the tests.

The effect of f(T) gravity on an interplanetary clock and its time transfer link

As an extension of the＂teleparallel＂equivalent of general relativity,f（T）gravity is proposed to explain some puzzling cosmological behaviors,such as accelerating expansion of the Universe.Given the fact that modified gravity also has impacts on the Solar System,we might test it during future interplanetary missions with ultrastable clocks.In this work,we investigate the effects of f（T）gravity on the dynamics of the clock and its time transfer link.Under these influences,theΛ-term and theα-term of f（T）gravity play important roles.Here,Λis the cosmological constant andαrepresents a model parameter in f（T）gravity that determines the divergence from teleparallel gravity at the first order approximation.We find that the signal of f（T）gravity in the time transfer is much more difficult to detect with the current state of development for clocks than those effects on dynamics of an interplanetary spacecraft with a bounded orbit with parameters 0.5 au≤a≤5.5 au and 0≤e≤0.1.

Search Space Pruning Based on Image Tools for Preliminary Interplanetary Trajectory Design

A novel gravity assist space pruning(GASP)algorithm based on image tools is proposed for solving interplanetary trajectory optimization problem.Compared with traditional GASP algorithm,the concept of image is introduced to avoid missing interesting solutions with appropriate number of function evaluations.Image tools allow us to evaluate the objective function in regions in place of points and provide an effective way to evaluate the forward and backward constraints for the multi-gravity assist trajectory optimization problem.Since the interesting solutions of the interplanetary trajectory optimization problem are often clustered in a small portion of the search space rather than being overall evenly distributed,the regionwise evaluations with image tools make the little large interval with the proper Lipschitzian tolerances sampling effective.The detailed steps of the proposed method are presented and two examples including Earth Venus Mars(EVM)transfer and Earth Venus Venus Earth Jupiter Saturn(EVVEJS)transfer are given.Finally,a comparison with solutions given by the literature demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Proton activity of the Sun in current solar cycle 24

We present a study of seven large solar proton events in the current solar cycle 24（from 2009 January up to the current date）. They were recorded by the GOES spacecraft with the highest proton fluxes being over 200 pfu for energies 〉10 Me V. In situ particle measurements show that：（1） The profiles of the proton fluxes are highly dependent on the locations of their solar sources, namely flares or coronal mass ejections（CMEs）, which confirms the ＂heliolongitude rules＂ associated with solar energetic particle fluxes;（2） The solar particle release（SPR） times fall in the decay phase of the flare emission, and are in accordance with the times when the CMEs travel to an average height of 7.9 solar radii; and（3） The time differences between the SPR and the flare peak are also dependent on the locations of the solar active regions. The results tend to support the scenario of proton acceleration by the CME-driven shock,even though there exists a possibility of particle acceleration at the flare site, with subsequent perpendicular diffusion of accelerated particles in the interplanetary magnetic field. We derive the integral time-of-maximum spectra of solar protons in two forms： a single power-law distribution and a power law roll-over with an exponential tail. It is found that the unique ground level enhancement that occurred in the event on 2012 May 17 displays the hardest spectrum and the largest roll-over energy which may explain why this event could extend to relativistic energies.

Can an injection model replenish filaments in a weak magnetic environment?

We observed an Hα surge that occurred in NOAA Active Region 12401 on 2015 August 17, and we discuss its trigger mechanism, and kinematic and thermal properties. It is suggested that this surge was caused by a chromospheric reconnection which ejected cool and dense material with transverse velocity of about 21–28 km s-1 and initial Doppler velocity of 12 km s^-1. This surge is similar to the injection of newly formed filament materials from their footpoints, except that the surge here occurred in a relatively weak magnetic environment of 100 G. Thus, we discuss the possibility of filament material replenishment via the erupting mass in such a weak magnetic field, which is often associated with quiescent filaments. It is found that the local plasma can be heated up to about 1.3 times the original temperature, which results in an acceleration of about –0.017 km s^-2. It can lift the dense material up to 10 Mm and higher with an inclination angle smaller than 50°, namely the typical height of active region filaments, but it can hardly inject the material up to those filaments higher than 25 Mm, like some quiescent filaments. Thus, we think that the injection model does not work well in describing the formation of quiescent filaments.

Track Association for Dynamic Target Tracking System Based on AP Algorithm

Track association of multi-target has been recognized as one of the key technologies in distributed multiple-sensor data fusion system,and its accuracy directly impacts on the performance of the whole tracking system.A multi-sensor data association is proposed based on aftinity propagation(AP)algorithm.The proposed method needs an initial similarity,a distance between any two points,as a parameter,therefore,the similarity matrix is calculated by track position,velocity and azimuth of track data.The approach can automatically obtain the optimal classification of uncertain target based on clustering validity index.Furthermore,the same kind of data are fused based on the variance of measured data and the fusion result can be taken as a new measured data of the target.Finally,the measured data are classified to a certain target based on the nearest neighbor ideas and its characteristics,then filtering and target tracking are conducted.The experimental results show that the proposed method can effectively achieve multi-sensor and multi-target track association.

Astronomical relativistic reference systems with multipolar expansion: the global one

With the rapid development of techniques for astronomical observations, the precision of measurements has been significantly increasing. Theories describing astronomical relativistic reference systems, which are the foundation for processing and interpreting these data now and in the future, may require extensions to satisfy the needs of these trends. Besides building a framework compatible with alternative theories of gravity and the pursuit of higher order post-Newtonian approximation, it will also be necessary to make the first order post-Newtonian multipole moments of celestial bodies be explicitly expressed in the astronomical relativistic reference systems. This will bring some convenience into modeling the observations and experiments and make it easier to distinguish different contributions in measurements. As a first step, the global solar system reference system is expressed as a multipolar expansion and the post-Newtonian mass and spin moments are shown explicitly in the metric which describes the coordinates of the system. The full expression of the global metric is given.

Trajectory Design and Optimization for LEO Satellites in Formation to Observe GEO Satellites’ Beams

This paper presents the methods and results for the trajectory design and optimization for the low earth orbit (LEO) satellites in formation to observe the geostationary orbit (GEO) satellites’ beams. The background of the trajectory design mission is the 9th China Trajectory Optimization Competition (CTOC9). The formation is designed according to the observation demands. The flying sequence is determined by a reference satellite using a proposed improved ephemeris matching method (IEMM). The formation is changed, maintained and transferred following the reference satellite employing a multi-impulse control method (MICM). Then the total observation value is computed by propagating the orbits of the satellites according to the sequence and transfer strategies. Based on the above methods, we have obtained a fourth prize in the CTOC9. The proposed methods are not only fit for this competition, but can also be used to fulfill the trajectory design missions for similar multi-object explorations.

Chinese solar physics gliding into the space age

On May 4,2018,as the chief engineer,Prof.SUN Weigang,signed his name on the Review Report,the Solar HαImaging Spectrometer spacecraft was finally approved by the Chinese Space Agency.This is the second spacecraft designated for solar observations in China,coming on the heels of the Advanced Space-born Solar Observatory(ASO-S),which was approved by the Chinese Academy of Sciences on December29,2017.The approval of the two space missions for solar observations marks a milestone for the Chinese solar physics to glide into the space age.

The continued debate on solar coronal EUV waves

Gravity is everywhere in the universe[1,2],and the same is true of the magnetic field[3-5].Similar to gravity,magnetic field also controls the dynamics of the matter in the universe,over 99.9%of which is in the plasma state.Somewhat different from gravity which becomes overwhelming in large scales,magnetic field becomes more important in smaller scales.This is probably why magnetic field has not been considered too seriously in and above the galactic scale,whereas it becomes more and more important in the stellar scale.