Device and method for nondestructive measurement of space debris

Abstract

The invention provides a device and a method for nondestructive measurement of space debris. The device comprises a cuboid-shaped hollow box body; one end face opening of the hollow box body in the length direction is used as an incidence window; the first sensor group and the second sensor group are positioned on one side surface of the inner wall of the hollow box body, and each of the first sensor group and the second sensor group consists of a plurality of sensors which are adjacently arranged in a row; the center connecting line of the plurality of sensors is parallel to the plane where the incident window is located; the first sensor group is positioned between the incidence window and the second sensor group, and keeps a certain distance from the incidence window and the second sensor group; the sensor is used for detecting space debris entering from the incidence window; and the control and measurement circuit is electrically connected with the first sensor group and the second sensor group and is used for receiving information of space debris detected by the sensors. The method has the advantages that damage of the space debris to the detection sensor can be avoided, and important parameters such as speed and flux of the space debris can be monitored on orbit for a long time.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application belongs to the field of aerospace technology, and specifically relates to a device and method for non-destructive measurement of space debris. Background Art

[0002] Space debris is the product of human space activities, including rocket bodies and satellite bodies that have completed their missions, rocket ejecta, discarded objects during space missions, and fragments produced by collisions between space objects. It is the main source of pollution in the space environment. Larger space debris hitting a space station or satellite at high speed can cause catastrophic accidents. Smaller collisions can also cause damage or perforation of parts of a space station or satellite cabin. The International Space Station, the US Space Shuttle, the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, and my country's manned space station have all been hit by space debris to varying degrees.

[0003] At present, the ground radar monitoring network has catalogued and monitored space debris larger than 10 cm. However, space debris with a scale of centimeters or less is difficult to monitor by radar due to its small radar cross-section. At present, the space debris detection technology implemented on the International Space Station uses the impact perception principle, such as Figure 1 As shown, during the detection process, space debris will penetrate the sensor's sensing film or sensing grid, causing holes in the sensing film, or break the grid wires, causing damage to the detection sensor itself, and its on-orbit lifespan is very limited. Summary of the invention

[0004] The purpose of this application is to provide a device and method for non-destructive measurement of space debris, to avoid damage to the detection sensor itself caused by space debris, and to achieve long-term on-orbit monitoring of important parameters such as the speed and flux of space debris.

[0005] In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the present application proposes a non-destructive measurement device for space debris, the device comprising:

[0006] A hollow box body in a rectangular parallelepiped shape; an end face opening of the hollow box body in the length direction serves as an incident window;

[0007] The first sensor group and the second sensor group are located on a side surface of the inner wall of the hollow box; the first sensor group and the second sensor group are each composed of a plurality of sensors arranged in a row in pairs; a center line connecting the plurality of sensors of the first sensor group and the second sensor group is parallel to the plane where the incident window is located; the first sensor group is located between the incident window and the second sensor group, and keeps a certain distance from the incident window and the second sensor group; the sensors are used to detect space debris entering from the incident window; and

[0008] The control and measurement circuit is electrically connected to the first sensor group and the second sensor group, and is used to receive information about the sensors detecting space debris.

[0009] As an improvement of the above device, the sensor includes a concave mirror, a point light source and a photosensitive element;

[0010] The point light source is located on the side of the photosensitive element facing the concave mirror and is installed at the focal position of the concave mirror;

[0011] The photosensitive element is provided with a point light source on one side coated with light-absorbing black paint, and a photosensitive material on the other side.

[0012] As an improvement to the above device, the inside of the side panels of the hollow box body located on the opposite sides of the first sensor group and the second sensor group are painted with light-absorbing black paint.

[0013] As an improvement to the above device, the number of sensors in the second sensor group is greater than or equal to the number of sensors in the first sensor group.

[0014] The present application also provides a method for non-destructive measurement of space debris, which is implemented based on the above device and includes:

[0015] The control and measurement circuit controls the point light sources of the first sensor group and the second sensor group to emit light;

[0016] When space debris enters the hollow box from the incident window, the control and measurement circuit receives the reflected light information of the space debris sensed by the photosensitive elements of the first sensor group and the second sensor group;

[0017] Get the velocity V of space debris:

[0018]

[0019] Wherein, d represents the distance between the first sensor group and the second sensor group; t0 represents the moment when the photosensitive elements of the first sensor group sense the reflected light from the space debris; and t1 represents the moment when the photosensitive elements of the second sensor group sense the reflected light from the space debris.

[0020] As an improvement of the above method, the method further includes:

[0021] When space debris passes through the first sensor group or the second sensor group, the counts are accumulated to obtain the space debris flux N per unit time, and the distribution density ρ of the space debris is obtained:

[0022]

[0023] Wherein, S represents the area of ​​the incident window.

[0024] Compared with the prior art, the advantages of this application are:

[0025] During a space mission, the surrounding environment of the instrument is a vacuum state. By utilizing the characteristic that light propagates in a straight line in a vacuum and does not scatter, the present application provides a device and method for non-destructively measuring space debris, which can avoid damage to the detection sensor itself by space debris and realize long-term on-orbit monitoring of important parameters such as the speed and flux of space debris. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] Figure 1 The figure shows the schematic diagram of space debris detection technology implemented on the existing international space station; among them, AcousticSensors is acoustic sensor; Impact time&location is impact time and location; Dual-laver Films is double-layer film; Time offlight is flight time; Backstop is backstop; Impact Energy is impact energy; Incoming MMOD is incident space debris; Resistive Grids is resistive grid; Damage / Size is damage / size;

[0027] Figure 2 The figure shows the structure of the device for non-destructive measurement of space debris;

[0028] Figure 3 The figure shows a schematic diagram of a sensor group composed of multiple sensors;

[0029] Figure 4 Shown is a schematic diagram of the sensor structure;

[0030] Figure 5 Shown is a schematic diagram of the structure of a photosensitive element and a point light source;

[0031] Figure 6 Shown is a schematic diagram of the space debris sensing principle. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] The technical solution of the present application is described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0033] like Figure 2 As shown, the non-destructive space debris measurement device provided by the present application includes a hollow box 1. The hollow box can be in the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped. An end face opening in the length direction of the hollow box 1 serves as an incident window 2. A first sensor group 3 and a second sensor group 4 are provided on a side surface inside the hollow box 1. The first sensor group 3 and the second sensor group 4 are both electrically connected to a control and measurement circuit 5.

[0034] like Figure 3As shown, the first sensor group 3 and the second sensor group 4 are each composed of a plurality of sensors arranged in a row. In the sensor group, the center line of the plurality of sensors is parallel to the plane where the incident window 2 is located. The first sensor group 3 is located between the incident window 2 and the second sensor group 4, and maintains a certain distance from the incident window 2 and the second sensor group 4.

[0035] like Figure 4 As shown, the sensor includes a concave mirror 11, a point light source 12 and a photosensitive element 13. The point light source 12 is located on the side of the photosensitive element 13 facing the concave mirror 11 and is installed at the focal position of the concave mirror 11. After emitting light, the light is reflected by the concave mirror 11 to form parallel light in a cylindrical shape. Figure 5 As shown, a side of the point light source 12 is coated with light-absorbing black paint 14 on the photosensitive element 13 to absorb the parallel light emitted by the sensor group and prevent the light of the point light source 12 from being emitted in the opposite direction. The other side of the photosensitive element 13 away from the point light source 12 is a photosensitive material.

[0036] The sensors included in the first sensor group 3 and the second sensor group 4 are adjacent to each other. After the point light source 12 emits light, the parallel light columns of each sensor are adjacent to each other to avoid the occurrence of a sensing gap. Multiple sensors are arranged in parallel, and the parallel light columns emitted by the sensors are arranged in parallel to increase the width of the sensing space and fill a cross section of the hollow box 1. In actual application, the number of sensors can be set according to the size of the hollow box 1.

[0037] The inner plane of the side panel 6 of the hollow box 1 located on the opposite side of the first sensor group 3 and the second sensor group 4 is coated with light-absorbing black paint to absorb the parallel light emitted by the first sensor group 3 and the second sensor group 4 to avoid light reflection and refraction inside the box.

[0038] When working, the control and measurement circuit 5 controls the point light sources 12 in the first sensor group 3 and the second sensor group 4 to emit light and the photosensitive element 15 to work. The first sensor group 3 and the second sensor group 4 emit parallel light beams to the opposite sides of the inside of the hollow box 1. The control and measurement circuit 5 receives the signals output by the photosensitive elements 15 in the first sensor group 3 and the second sensor group 4.

[0039] like Figure 6As shown, when the space debris enters the incident window 2 and passes through the parallel light cylinder of the first sensor group 3, the light irradiated on the debris is diffusely reflected, and the reflected light is incident on the photosensitive element 15 of the first sensor assembly 3. The photosensitive element 15 senses and outputs a signal, which is detected by the control and measurement circuit 5 and records the occurrence time t0. When the space debris continues to fly and passes through the parallel light cylinder of the second sensor group 4, the light irradiated on the debris is diffusely reflected, and the reflected light is incident on the photosensitive element 15 of the second sensor group 4. The photosensitive element 15 senses and outputs a signal, which is detected by the control and measurement circuit 5 and records the occurrence time t1. According to the relationship between the flight time and distance, the movement speed V of the space debris can be obtained:

[0040]

[0041] Wherein, d is the distance between the first sensor group 3 and the second sensor group 4 .

[0042] When space debris passes through the first sensor group 3 or the second sensor group, the count is accumulated to obtain the space debris flux N per unit time. Substituting the area S of the incident window 2, the distribution density of space debris can be obtained:

[0043]

[0044] Figure 2-Figure 6 The illustration is mainly for illustration purposes, and the specific sizes of the components of the device can be adaptively designed according to the actual application scenario. The larger the distance between the first sensor group 3 and the second sensor group 4, the higher the accuracy of the debris measurement.

[0045] The movement direction of space debris is not just a straight line. By setting the number of sensors in the second sensor group 4 to be greater than that in the first sensor group 3, the detection field of view can be increased to cover debris with wider or more oblique incident directions.

[0046] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solution of the present application and are not intended to limit it. Although the present application is described in detail with reference to the embodiments, a person skilled in the art should understand that any modification or equivalent replacement of the technical solution of the present application does not depart from the spirit and scope of the technical solution of the present application and should be included in the scope of the claims of the present application.

Claims

1. A non-destructive measurement device for space debris, characterized in that: The device comprises: A hollow box body in a rectangular parallelepiped shape; an end face opening of the hollow box body in the length direction serves as an incident window; The first sensor group and the second sensor group are located on a side surface of the inner wall of the hollow box; the first sensor group and the second sensor group are each composed of a plurality of sensors arranged in a row in pairs; a center line connecting the plurality of sensors of the first sensor group and the second sensor group is parallel to the plane where the incident window is located; the first sensor group is located between the incident window and the second sensor group, and keeps a certain distance from the incident window and the second sensor group; the sensors are used to detect space debris entering from the incident window; and The control and measurement circuit is electrically connected to the first sensor group and the second sensor group, and is used to receive information about the sensors detecting space debris.

2. The non-destructive measurement device for space debris according to claim 1, characterized in that: The sensor includes a concave mirror, a point light source and a photosensitive element; The point light source is located on the side of the photosensitive element facing the concave mirror and is installed at the focal position of the concave mirror; The photosensitive element is provided with a point light source on one side coated with light-absorbing black paint, and a photosensitive material on the other side.

3. The non-destructive space debris measurement device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The inside of the side panel of the hollow box body located on the opposite side of the first sensor group and the second sensor group is painted with light-absorbing black paint.

4. The non-destructive space debris measurement device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The number of sensors in the second sensor group is greater than or equal to the number of sensors in the first sensor group.

5. A method for non-destructive measurement of space debris, implemented based on the device of any one of claims 1 to 4, comprising: The control and measurement circuit controls the point light sources of the first sensor group and the second sensor group to emit light; When space debris enters the hollow box from the incident window, the control and measurement circuit receives the reflected light information of the space debris sensed by the photosensitive elements of the first sensor group and the second sensor group; Get the moving speed V of space debris: Wherein, d represents the distance between the first sensor group and the second sensor group; t0 represents the moment when the photosensitive elements of the first sensor group sense the reflected light from the space debris; and t1 represents the moment when the photosensitive elements of the second sensor group sense the reflected light from the space debris.

6. The method for non-destructive measurement of space debris according to claim 5, characterized in that: Also includes: When space debris passes through the first sensor group or the second sensor group, the counts are accumulated to obtain the space debris flux N per unit time, and the distribution density ρ of the space debris is obtained: Wherein, S represents the area of ​​the incident window.

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