HELIO: The Heliophysics Integrated Observatory

Heliophysics is a new research field that explores the Sun–Solar System Connection; it requires the joint exploitation of solar, heliospheric, magnetospheric and ionospheric observations.     

Concept options for the aerial survey of Titan

Various aerial platforms intended for long endurance survey of the Titan surface are presented. A few novel concepts are introduced, including a heated methane balloon and a balloon with a tethered wind turbine. All the concept options are predicted to have lower scientific payload fractions than the Huygens probe. It is concluded that the selection of the best aerial platform option depends on more accurate mass estimates and a clear decision on whether, or not, in situ surface composition measurements are required in conjunction with aerial remote sensing.     

Heterogeneous solid/gas chemistry of organic compounds related to comets,meteorites, Titan,and Mars: Laboratory and in lower Earth orbit experiments

To understand the evolution of organic molecules involved in extraterrestrial environments and with exobiological implications, many experimental programs in the laboratory are devoted to photochemical studies in the gaseous phase as well as in the solid state. The validity of such studies and their applications to extraterrestrial environments can be questioned as long as experiments conducted in space conditions, with the full solar spectrum, especially in the short wavelength domain, have not been implemented. The experiments that are described here will be carried out on a FOTON capsule, using the BIOPAN facility, and on the International Space Station, using the EXPOSE facility. Vented and sealed exposition cells will be used, which will allow us to study the chemical evolution in the gaseous phase as well as heterogeneous processes, such as the degradation of solid compounds and the release of gaseous fragments.     

The ESA scientific programme

The ESA scientific programme has, so far, provided several significant astrophysics experiments and further important missions are scheduled for execution during the next decade. These missions are briefly summarised together with several astrophysics investigations presently under study.     

绳驱动并联机器人张力约束工作空间分析

绳驱动三自由度机器人可以实现空间的自由转动.由于绳索只可拉伸不可压缩的单向特性,研究驱动绳索张力对机器人的控制具有重要意义.运用几何和矩阵的方法可以分析绳索的张力分配情况;在存在张力约束的条件下,提出张力系数作为评价张力分配优劣状况的指标,通过计算可以得到张力系数分布图,从而对机器人工作空间有直观的认识,进而提出有效的张力优化算法;通过对最小预紧力影响因素及选取方法的讨论,可以得到动态最小预紧力实时计算公式,保证绳索时刻处于张紧状态;通过样机的力检测系统张力反馈的实验可以验证理论推导.通过对以上几部分的分析和研究,可以对四绳驱动三自由度机器人的张力问题有综合全面的认识.      

火卫二地形地貌探测综述

火卫二（Deimos）是火星自然卫星之一，研究人员利用火星探测器对其地形地貌开展了大量研究。首先对火卫二的基本参数及起源假说进行了介绍，进而全面梳理了与火卫二相关的航天探测活动，重点对地形地貌探测活动进行了详细介绍，并对围绕火卫二地形地貌的研究成果进行了归纳分析，结果表明火卫二表面分布有撞击坑、风化层、明亮的反射物质及块状物，并存在物质移动。最后针对火卫二探测不全面的情况，给出了中国关于火卫二探测的建议。     

测试有效性对软件可靠性验证测试量的影响

针对传统软件可靠性验证测试方法均不考虑软件测试性可能会对验证测试用例数量产生影响的现状,提出一种引入测试有效性对软件可靠性验证测试最小量进行改进的方法.分析了软件测试性的定义及其对软件可靠性测试集合的影响,提出软件测试有效性的概念.比较了考虑测试有效性前后软件可靠性验证测试集合在数量上的差异,证明经典统计方法和无先验知识的Bayesian统计推断方法确定的均为假定测试有效性为零情况下的保守估计.提出结合测试有效性的验证测试量的量化表示模型和验证测试方案的改进方法,基于统计故障注入的原理,提出测试有效性的定量评估方法,最后通过示例给出定量评估过程和方法.      

H2 and H∞ control options for the combined attitude and thermal control system (CATCS)

The combined attitude and thermal control system (CATCS) combines the conventional attitude control and thermal control subsystems. Its principle is based on circulating a heat conducting fluid inside a closed duct wielding the excess onboard heat in order to produce the attitude control torques. Previously only the proportional-integral (PI) controller has been tested for CATCS. In this paper two other control options for CATCS were designed based on the H₂ and H_∞ control methods to improve the attitude control performance of a small satellite. The control gain matrix with the minimum cost function is obtained by solving the Riccati equation and fed back to the system in order to achieve the system’s performance. The designed controllers can efficiently control the roll, pitch and yaw satellite attitudes. Simulations for the two techniques were carried out using Matlab and Simulink for ideal and non-ideal system models. Results show that the H₂ controller has a better attitude control performance over the H_∞ controller and PI controller itself.     

From Titan’s tholins to Titan’s aerosols: Isotopic study and chemical evolution at Titan’s surface

In the present work, we focused on the possible isotopic fractionation of carbon during the processes involved in the formation of Titan’s tholins. We present the first results obtained on the ¹²C/¹³C isotopic ratios measured on Titan’s tholins synthesized in laboratory with cold plasma discharges. Measurements of isotopic ratio ¹²C/¹³C, done both on tholins and on the initial gas mixture (N₂:CH₄ (98:2)) used to produce them, do not show any evident deficit or enrichment in ¹³C relatively to ¹²C in the synthesized tholins, compared to the initial gas mixture. This observation allows to go further in the analyses of the ACP experiment data, including part of the Cassini–Huygens mission.     

一种提高螺栓联接强度的新方法

根据山本晃教授对螺栓，螺母，螺纹牙受力及其变形研究的成果，导出了该理论条件下受拉螺栓在等载荷受力状态下，当螺栓螺纹采用标准尺寸，螺母螺纹的螺旋线形状，并依据实用性，从螺母螺纹加工方便考虑，提出了近似等负荷螺纹。     

直尺反转组合法测量直线度的理论分析

对直尺反转组合法的测量原理进行了较为深入的理论分析，指出测量的准确性受测头误差、采样点定位误差、直尺尺面斜率、直尺再定位误差、直尺各点直线度误差的变化率等五个方面共同作用。其中，采样点定位误差和直尺安装斜率影响直线度测量准确度这一结论，将适用于其他的直尺直线度测量方法，因而具有普遍的指导意义。     

Hemisphere-coupled modeling of nighttime medium-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances

Nighttime medium-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances (MSTIDs), which have tilted frontal structures in the midlatitude ionosphere, are investigated by the midlatitude ionosphere electrodynamics coupling (MIECO) model in this study. It has been proposed that the electrodynamic coupling between the E and F regions plays an important role in generating MSTIDs within a few hours. An intriguing aspect of MSTIDs is that they were simultaneously observed at magnetic conjugate locations in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. In order to study the hemisphere-coupled electrodynamics, the MIECO model has been upgraded to consist of two simulation domains for both hemispheres in which the electrostatic potential is solved by considering electrodynamics in both hemispheres. The simultaneous occurrence of MSTIDs at the magnetic conjugate stations has clearly been reproduced when the F-region neutral wind satisfies the unstable condition in both hemispheres and a sporadic-E layer is given only at the Northern (summer) Hemisphere. Even if the unstable condition is satisfied in the summer hemisphere, an unfavorable F-region neutral wind in the winter hemisphere largely suppresses the growth of MSTIDs in both hemispheres.     

Nostoc sphaeroides Kützing,an excellent candidate producer for CELSS

Some phytoplankton can be regarded as possible candidates in the establishment of Controlled Ecological Life Support System (CELSS) for some intrinsic characteristics, the first characteristic is that they should grow rapidly, secondly, they should be able to endure some stress factors and develop some corresponding adaptive strategies; also it is very important that they could provide food rich in nutritious protein and vitamins for the crew; the last but not the least is they can also fulfill the other main functions of CELSS, including supplying oxygen, removing carbon dioxide and recycling the metabolic waste. According to these characteristics, Nostoc sphaeroides, a potential healthy food in China, was selected as the potential producer in CELSS. It was found that the oxygen average evolution rate of this algae is about 150 μmol O₂ mg⁻¹ h⁻¹, and the size of them are ranged from 2 to 20 mm. Also it can be cultured with high population density, which indicated that the potential productivity of Nostoc sphaeroides is higher than other algae in limited volume. We measured the nutrient contents of the cyanobacterium and concluded it was a good food for the crew. Based on above advantages, Nostoc sphaeroides was assumed to a suitable phytoplankton for the establishment of Controlled Ecological Life Support System. We plan to develop suitable bioreactor with the cyanobacterium for supplying oxygen and food in future space missions.     

Sensor calibration impacts on dust detection based on MODIS and VIIRS thermal emissive bands

Dust detection using remotely sensed measurements has been one of the challenging problems encountered by atmospheric scientists. MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra (T) and Aqua (A) platforms have been a versatile sensor for well over 21 and 18 years respectively, and have been extremely useful in the retrieval of aerosol information over the entire globe. The MODIS radiances from the Level 1B in general are expected to be within 5% accuracy in the reflective wavelengths and within 1% in the thermal emissive wavelengths. In this paper, we evaluate the sensitivity of previously developed dust detection technique based on thermal emissive wavelengths, which correspond to MODIS bands 20, 29, 31, and 32 respectively. The Thermal Emissive Dust Index (TEDI) performed very comparably to the traditional Aerosol Optical Thickness (AOT) retrievals by MODIS reflective channels. Since the MODIS Thermal Emissive Bands (TEB) are well calibrated on-orbit using a BlackBody (BB) source, the calibration of these long wave infrared bands is quite robust. As A-MODIS continues to perform well beyond its designed lifetime of 6 years, the instrument has undergone various levels of degradation during its mission time. As a consequence, it is imperative to check the impacts of calibration on the higher-level retrievals. In this paper, we rigorously analyze the sensitivity of TEDI due to the impact of calibration by the afore-mentioned TEB. The perturbation of the dominant (linear) calibration term demonstrated the following: first, there was a correlation in the sensitivity of the TEDI due to the uncertainty in the linear calibration term. Based on a perturbation in the linear calibration term for all aforementioned bands over a range of ±5% yielded the TEDI sensitivity to vary from approximately ?3.2% to about ?3.6%. When considering the uncertainty in each individual band significant changes were observed. The least change was observed for the perturbation in the calibration of band 20 with the TEDI sensitivity and the largest sensitivity in TEDI was observed in the perturbation of band 31 calibration. Thus, in the case of TEDI, noticeable sensitivity due to calibration uncertainty was observed in bands 29, 31, and 32, reiterating the importance of the TEB calibration in these bands. Also, the dust detection scheme based on A-MODIS was successfully transferred to the follow-on sensors such as Suomi (SNPP) and NOAA 20 (N20) VIIRS. The results presented in this paper would be extremely helpful in understanding impacts of calibration on the higher-level products for both current and future missions based on the MODIS heritage. Finally, the work also identifies the importance of radiometric fidelity in maintaining the accuracy of the dust detection. Results presented will show drastic improvement of the Saharan dust detection after the reduction of the electronic crosstalk in the 8.5 µm channel of T-MODIS.     

Attempt to identify a source mechanism of Mercury’s sodium exosphere by a spectrometer using Fabry–Perot etalon

The Mercury’s Sodium Atmosphere Spectral Imager (MSASI) on BepiColombo (BC) will address a range of fundamental scientific questions pertaining to Mercury’s exosphere. The measurements will provide new information on regolith–exosphere–magnetosphere coupling as well as new understanding of the dynamics governing the exosphere bounded by the planetary surface, the solar wind and interplanetary space. MSASI is a high-dispersion visible spectrometer working in the spectral range around sodium D2 emission (589 nm). A tandem Fabry–Perot etalon is used to achieve a compact design. We presents a design of the spectral analyzer using Fabry–Perot interferometer. We conclude that: (1) The MSASI optical design is practical and can be implemented without new or critical technology developments; (2) The thermally-tuned etalon design is based on concepts, designs and materials that have good space heritage.     

Evaluation of GPM sampling error over major basins in Indian subcontinent using bootstrap technique

The study investigates the evaluation and comparison of sampling error for the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission orbital data products by implementing a bootstrap technique over the two major basins in the Indian subcontinent i.e the Ganga and the Mahanadi basin. The relative sampling error evaluated over both the Ganges and Mahanadi basins showed commendable results thus giving the confidence to adopt the bootstrap technique to evaluate the sampling error. The region over India with large seasonal rainfall seems to have less sampling uncertainty and vice versa with some regions showing exceptions which might be due to the difference in precipitation variability and space-time correlation length. The scale dependence was verified for four grid sizes along with seasonal time scale. Results indicate that the relative sampling error estimates are inversely proportional to the scale of the grid size. The comparative study of evaluation of sampling uncertainty to different precipitation types resulted to have maximum sampling error in GPM Microwave Imager (GMI) in comparison to Dual Precipitation Radar (DPR) convective and DPR total precipitation. Thus, the comparable results of sampling uncertainty between the major basins in the Indian sub-continent provides the user a decision making criteria before utilizing the GPM orbital products in any applications.     

测试性分配和预计

测试性设计是电子系统和设备设计的重要内容，测试性指标的分配和预计又是测试性设计工作的重要组成部分，但尚未见到实用的分配和预计方法。对测试性定量参数的定义进行了讨论，根据定义和工程需要导出测试性指标的分配和预计的数学模型，给出实用的分配和预计方法并用例作了说明。     

The postmitotic Saccharomyces cerevisiae after spaceflight showed higher viability

The budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been proposed as an ideal model organism for clarifying the biological effects caused by spaceflight conditions. The postmitotic S. cerevisiae cells onboard Practice eight recoverable satellite were subjected to spaceflight for 15 days. After recovery, the viability, the glycogen content, the activities of carbohydrate metabolism enzymes, the DNA content and the lipid peroxidation level in yeast cells were analyzed. The viability of the postmitotic yeast cells after spaceflight showed a three-fold increase as compared with that of the ground control cells. Compared to the ground control cells, the lipid peroxidation level in the spaceflight yeast cells markedly decreased. The spaceflight yeast cells also showed an increase in G2/M cell population and a decrease in Sub-G1 cell population. The glycogen content and the activities of hexokinase and succinate dehydrogenase significantly decreased in the yeast cells after spaceflight. In contrast, the activity of malate dehydrogenase showed an obvious increase after spaceflight. These results suggested that microgravity or spaceflight could promote the survival of postmitotic S. cerevisiae cells through regulating carbohydrate metabolism, ROS level and cell cycle progression.