Celestial Tracking During Flyby Missions - Musou Black Goes to Space Pt 4

This article is the fourth installment in a series highlighting how Musou Black's products are contributing to Japan’s space development efforts.

It was recently confirmed that Musou Black's VL Flock Sheet has been adopted as a black background material in experimental systems used by the laboratories of Professor Hara at Nagoya University and Professor Miyata at Meijo University. A visit to these research facilities revealed that the product is being utilized in two critical experimental environments:

• Celestial tracking experiments during flyby missions

• Spacecraft attitude determination experiments

Below is a detailed explanation of how Musou Black's “black” technology contributes to each experiment.

1. Celestial Tracking Experiments During Flyby Missions

The first experiment focuses on celestial tracking during flyby missions.

A “flyby” refers to a space exploration method in which a spacecraft passes close to a celestial body without entering orbit. Many of the planetary images captured by Voyager 1 were taken using this technique. The well-known “swing-by,” which uses a planet’s gravity to alter a spacecraft’s trajectory, is also a type of flyby maneuver.

During a flyby, a spacecraft passes a celestial body at speeds of tens of kilometers per second. In this brief window, the spacecraft must autonomously control its camera and continuously track the target without image blur. This requires extremely precise tracking technology.

In the laboratory, research is being conducted on high-precision tracking control that estimates a celestial body’s future position from camera images and keeps it centered in the frame at all times. A major challenge in this process is the discrepancy between the center of brightness and the geometric center of the celestial body. Depending on how light and shadow fall on the object, the brightest area does not always align with the object’s true geometric center. This discrepancy directly degrades tracking accuracy.

To correct this error, experiments employ Musou Black's VL Flock Sheet. Ideally, only parallel light simulating sunlight should illuminate the celestial model. However, with conventional blackout curtains, reflected light from surrounding surfaces enters the scene, contaminating image data and causing false detections.

By covering the experimental setup with Musou Black's VL Flock Sheet, stray reflections were reduced to an extreme minimum, enabling the capture of clean image data comparable to that obtained in space. Researchers noted that false detections had been a persistent issue and that adopting this material significantly reduced errors.

2. Spacecraft Attitude Determination Experiments

The second experiment involves spacecraft attitude determination, a key aspect of small satellite control.

This research estimates a satellite’s orientation by analyzing the power output of onboard solar cells. When the satellite’s position and time are known, along with the vectors of the Sun’s direction and Earth’s magnetic field, the satellite’s three-dimensional orientation can be calculated.

In the experiment, a large light source simulates sunlight, passing through a filter to produce parallel light that illuminates a box-shaped satellite model. The power generated by the solar cells is then measured. If light reflects off background curtains or surrounding surfaces, unwanted light contributes to power generation, resulting in data that differs from real conditions in space.

Here again, Musou Black's VL Flock Sheet plays a critical role. By covering the experimental environment with this material, reflected light other than direct simulated sunlight is eliminated, allowing the researchers to recreate a light environment that closely approximates outer space.

Conclusion

This investigation provided direct insight into how Musou Black's VL Flock Sheet is being used in real-world satellite research and development environments. Seeing technology designed to “eliminate unnecessary light” support the precision of cutting-edge space research aimed at distant worlds is a source of pride.

By continuing to refine and advance the world’s deepest black materials, Musou Black's aims to support Japan’s space development from the ground up.

Hope you enjoyed the read! See you in the next one!