Application analysis of the structural shield technique on spacecrafts
- Paper number
IAC-06-C2.P.2.01
- Author
Dr. Zhang Jiaxun, China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), China
- Year
2006
- Abstract
In the design of the spacecraft, by the application of the structural shield technique, like the sunshade in the ‘Messenger’ of NASA for Mercury exploration, the negative effects caused by the space environments can be efficiently improved or even minimized, such as the space particle radiation of electron, ultraviolet and atomic oxygen, the highly possible impact of the space fragment, the aerodynamic heating under special conditions, and the adverse strong thermal radiation of the outer heat flux. And in this paper, this technique is studied. In the research, theoretical analysis, ground experiments and flight verification are conducted for this technique. A design example on China’s returnable satellite is taken to introduce the application of the structural shield on the spacecraft. Because this satellite has no fairing to protect it from the aerodynamic effects during the launch phase, the aerodynamics proof design is emphasized, especially on the aerodynamic force proof and aerodynamic heating proof during the launch phase of the satellite. Subsequently, the influence of the shield on the temperature control of the whole satellite is analyzed. In the theoretical analysis, the aerodynamic equations and thermal differential equations are established respectively, and the results are used to direct the engineering design and ground experiments. Finally, the effects of the shield on the whole satellite system, especially on the structure subsystem and thermal control subsystem, are got by the comparison of the flight experiments, ground experiments and theoretical analysis. By the flight experiment, it can be known that, the structural shield has good endurance ability to the aerodynamic effects during the launch phase, and it can isolate the adverse influence of the outer heat flux on the thermal control design of the satellite, so as to optimize the system design of the satellite. By the studies in this paper, it can be concluded that, the application of the structural shield can decrease the adverse effects caused by the aerodynamics during the launch phase of those kinds of satellite without fairing, and can minimize the adverse influence of the outer heat flux on the satellite. This kind of technique is of great importance to the optimization design of the satellite, especially on the structural subsystem and thermal control subsystem.
- Abstract document