Fourth John V. Breakwell memorial lecture the use of earth-return trajectories for missions to comets

The concept of using Earth-return trajectories in connection with missions to comets was originally proposed in 1972. Papers published in the 1970's and 1980's showed that by using multiple Earth-to-Earth transfers, it was possible to construct a trajectory that would encounter several comets. This technique was used for the first time by ESA's Giotto spacecraft. Following its encounter with Halley's comet in March 1986, Giotto used a single Earth gravity-assist maneuver to intercept comet Grigg-Skjellerup in July 1992. Japan's Sakigake spacecraft tried to use Earth gravity-assist maneuvers to reach comet Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova in 1996, but was not successful. Earth-return trajectories are essential elements of two Discovery-class missions to comets; Stardust, and the Comet Nucleus Tour (CONTOUR). The Stardust mission will be launched in February 1999, and will return dust samples collected from comet Wild-2 to the Earth in 2006. CONTOUR is scheduled for a launch in June 2002, and will use six Earth gravity-assist maneuvers to carry out three comet encounters: Encke in 2003; Schwassmann-Wachmann-3 in 2006; and d'Arrest in 2008. An extended-mission scenario would allow CONTOUR to accomplish two additional encounters: Tempel-2 in 2015, and Encke for a second time in 2023.     

An endogenous growth pattern of roots is revealed in seedlings grown in microgravity

In plants, sensitive and selective mechanisms have evolved to perceive and respond to light and gravity. We investigated the effects of microgravity on the growth and development of Arabidopsis thaliana (ecotype Landsberg) in a spaceflight experiment. These studies were performed with the Biological Research in Canisters (BRIC) hardware system in the middeck region of the space shuttle during mission STS-131 in April 2010. Seedlings were grown on nutrient agar in Petri dishes in BRIC hardware under dark conditions and then fixed in flight with paraformaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, or RNAlater. Although the long-term objective was to study the role of the actin cytoskeleton in gravity perception, in this article we focus on the analysis of morphology of seedlings that developed in microgravity. While previous spaceflight studies noted deleterious morphological effects due to the accumulation of ethylene gas, no such effects were observed in seedlings grown with the BRIC system. Seed germination was 89% in the spaceflight experiment and 91% in the ground control, and seedlings grew equally well in both conditions. However, roots of space-grown seedlings exhibited a significant difference (compared to the ground controls) in overall growth patterns in that they skewed to one direction. In addition, a greater number of adventitious roots formed from the axis of the hypocotyls in the flight-grown plants. Our hypothesis is that an endogenous response in plants causes the roots to skew and that this default growth response is largely masked by the normal 1?g conditions on Earth.     

Iron-magnesium silicate bioweathering on Earth (and Mars?)

We examined the common, iron-magnesium silicate minerals olivine and pyroxene in basalt and in mantle rocks to determine if they exhibit textures similar to bioweathering textures found in glass. Our results show that weathering in olivine may occur as long, narrow tunnels (1-3 microm in diameter and up to 100 microm long) and as larger irregular galleries, both of which have distinctive characteristics consistent with biological activity. These weathering textures are associated with clay mineral by-products and nucleic acids. We also examined olivine and pyroxene in martian meteorites, some of which experienced preterrestrial aqueous alteration. Some olivines and pyroxenes in the martian meteorite Nakhla were found to contain tunnels that are similar in size and shape to tunnels in terrestrial iron-magnesium silicates that contain nucleic acids. Though the tunnels found in Nakhla are similar to the biosignatures found in terrestrial minerals, their presence cannot be used to prove that the martian alteration features had a biogenic origin. The abundance and wide distribution of olivine and pyroxene on Earth and in the Solar System make bioweathering features in these minerals potentially important new biosignatures that may play a significant role in evaluating whether life ever existed on Mars.     

Shuttle-era experiments in the area of plasma flow interactions with bodies in space

A new experimental approach is discussed in general terms, that can be adopted in the Shuttle/Spacelab era starting in the 1980s for studies in the area of plasma flow interactions with bodies in space. The potential use of the Space Shuttle/Orbiter as a near Earth plasma laboratory for studies in the area of Space Plasma Physics and particularly in the area of Solar-System Plasmas is discussed. This new experimental approach holds great promise for studies in the Supersonic and sub-Alfvenic flow regime which has applications to the motion of natural satellites around their mother planets in the Solar-system (e.g. the satellite Io around the planet Jupiter). A well conceived experimental and theoretical program, can lead to a better physical understanding regarding the validity and range of applicability of using gas-dynamic, kinetic and fluid approaches in describing collisionless plasma flow interactions with bodies in a variety of flow regimes.In addition to the above scientific aspects of the program, significant technological advances can be achieved regarding the interaction of space probes in planetary atmospheres/ionospheres and the reliability of using various plasma diagnostic devices on board spacecraft and large space platforms.     

SSO及GEO典型太阳质子事件单粒子翻转率估算

文章根据NOAA卫星和GOES卫星的测量数据,对太阳质子事件期间地球同步轨道（GEO）和太阳同步轨道（SSO）的质子辐射情况进行考察。采用Bendel双参数模型对GEO和SSO由质子引起的器件单粒子翻转率进行估算,并分析了影响翻转率的因素。在器件敏感度一定的情况下,单粒子翻转率与大于能量阈值的质子总通量以及质子能谱硬度呈正相关。SSO与GEO的质子辐射及单粒子翻转预测对比研究结果表明:由太阳质子事件引起的SSO质子能谱比GEO的要“软”。太阳质子事件对SSO卫星的影响与对GEO卫星的影响之间存在相关性。两轨道上DRAM型的D424100V器件和SRAM型的HM6516器件的翻转率比值接近,SSO翻转率约为GEO的13%～22%,而双极型93L422器件翻转率比值则在26%～57%之间。通过对比SSO与GEO翻转率的比值和两轨道辐射程度的比值发现,不同的器件对能谱硬度的反应各异,原因是每种器件产生SEU的能量阈值不同。     

调温热沉设备的状态空间法仿真设计

调温热沉设备日益成为部组件热真空试验的首选,它具有经济性好、使用方便、对试件无遮挡等优点。文章通过状态空间描述的分布参数模型,对调温热沉设备进行仿真设计,得出氮气、热沉、试件三者温度的动态关系,对于进口氮气温度、流量的选择和控制方案的制定都进行了深入的分析。所获取的数据可为采用热沉调温方式的热真空试验提供参考。     

Metabolic changes in the animals subjected to space flight

The activity of the enzymes involved in aminoacid metabolism (tyrosine aminotransferase, TAT, tryptophan pyrrolase TP, serine dehydratase, SD) with rapid response to glucocorticoids and enzymes requiring for activity increase repeated administration of corticosterone (alanine aminotransferase, ALT, aspartate aminotransferase, AST) in liver, the changes of lipolysis in adipose tissue and the plasma corticosterone levels were studied in rats subjected to space flight (F), in animals from synchron model experiments (SM, simulated conditions of space flight in laboratory) and in intact controls (C). The increase of plasma corticosterone concentration and of the activity of rapidly (TAT, TP, SD) and slowly activating enzymes (ALT, AST) was found in F group 6-10 hr after space flight (18.5 days on biosatellite COSMOS 1129). This suggested the presence of acute-stress (associated primarily with the landing) and chronic stress induced hypercorticosteronemia during the flight. After the short 6-day period of recovery the plasma corticosterone concentrations and the activities of liver enzymes returned to control levels. The exposition of animals to repeated immobilization stress showed higher response of corticosterone levels in flight rats as compared to intact controls. No changes in basal lipolysis were observed in flight rats in comparison to intact controls, however the stimulation of lipolysis by norepinephrine was lower in animals from F and SM groups. This lower response of lipolytic processes to norepinephrine was found in flight animals also after six days period of recovery. These results showed that there are important changes in the regulation of lipolytic processes in adipose tissue of rats after space flight and in the conditions of model experiments.     

砂垫层刚度对地面地震反应的影响研究

我国是一个多地震国家，地震区分布范围广，发震频繁。因此减震、隔震技术对国民经济基本建设具有重要意义。随着科学技术的进步、计算机的运用等，减震、隔震方法的研究与应用取得了很大的发展，但仍有许多问题有待解决，特别是就我国目前中、低层房屋较多的实际状况而言，这一问题显得尤为突出。采用在基础与地基之间设置砂垫层的方法，减小或不放大地震对地面的影响，最终达到减震、隔震的目的。在提出砂垫层隔震概念及其与《建筑抗震设计规范》(GB50011—2001)的区别之后，研究了砂垫层刚度对地面地震反应的影响，得到了一些有益的结果。     

Individual Differences in Object Localization in Virtual Environments

The present research examined the effects of disorientation on human ability to locate objects in space in a virtual environment (VE). Participants were asked to memorize the location of virtual objects, and then they were asked to indicate where the objects were located while they were inside a virtual chamber. This procedure was repeated in both eyesclosed and disoriented conditions. Subject pointing responses were used to measure memory for the relative location of objects in virtual space. This method was extended from previous research in a real-world setting. The results showed systematic individual differences in the effects of disorientation on the ability to locate objects in space. Further, the use of strategies played a role in object localization ability, but strategy use was affected by the individual differences in spatial representations used by subjects.     

电磁阀磁路结构对动作寿命的影响

针对某发动机电磁阀寿命故障问题,分析了电磁阀衔铁卡滞的原因,确定了由于衔铁在壳体部件腔体内上下受力不均匀,产生了扭转力矩,导致在运动过程中的局部剧烈摩擦是故障的根本原因,基于此,提出了电磁阀的改进方案,验证结果表明改进磁路结构有效解决了寿命失效问题。