Design and flight results of the VHF/UHF communication system of Longjiang lunar microsatellites
| Autor: | Tai Mi'er, T. J. Dijkema, Yuhao Zhao, Hu Chaoran, Mingchuan Wei, Cees Bassa, Jiahe Huang, Wang Feng, Xi-bin Cao, Daniel Estévez |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
Elliptic orbit
020209 energy Science General Physics and Astronomy ComputerApplications_COMPUTERSINOTHERSYSTEMS 02 engineering and technology Lunar orbit General Biochemistry Genetics and Molecular Biology Article Astronomical instrumentation Very-long-baseline interferometry 0202 electrical engineering electronic engineering information engineering lcsh:Science Remote sensing Multidisciplinary 020206 networking & telecommunications General Chemistry Software-defined radio Far side of the Moon Rings and moons Electrical and electronic engineering Aerospace engineering Ultra high frequency lcsh:Q Satellite Geology Radio astronomy |
| Zdroj: | Nature Communications, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-10 (2020) Nature Communications |
| ISSN: | 2041-1723 |
| Popis: | As a part of China’s Chang’e-4 lunar far side mission, two lunar microsatellites for low frequency radio astronomy, amateur radio and education, Longjiang-1 and Longjiang-2, were launched as secondary payloads on 20 May 2018 together with the Queqiao L2 relay satellite. On 25 May 2018, Longjiang-2 successfully inserted itself into a lunar elliptical orbit of 357 km × 13,704 km, and became the smallest spacecraft which entered lunar orbit with its own propulsion system. The satellite carried the first amateur radio communication system operating in lunar orbit, which is a VHF/UHF software defined radio (SDR) designed for operation with small ground stations. This article describes and evaluates the design of the VHF/UHF radio and the waveforms used. Flight results of the VHF/UHF radio are also presented, including operation of the radio, performance analysis of downlink signals and the first lunar orbit UHF very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) experiment. Satellites with amateur radio communication capabilities have not been operated in lunar orbit before. Here, the authors present the design and performance of a VHF/UHF software-defined radio developed for and tested on lunar microsatellites. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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