Giotto/Cometary dust interaction event near the comet Halley ionopause

Plasma and magnetic field disturbances accompanying dust particle impacts are explained by means of creation of a secondary cloud around the spacecraft. Cold cometary ions impinging upon the cloud are scattered by atoms of the cloud. This scattering changes initial angular distribution of cometary ions. Magnetic field perturbation is created by the friction between the electron component of the cometary plasma flow and the cloud.     

Transition of Planar Rotational Motion of an Asymmetric Spacecraft into Oscillatory Motion at Its Reentry into the Atmosphere

The motion of a spacecraft with small asymmetry relative to its center of mass is considered. The restoring aerodynamic moment of the spacecraft is described by the Fourier series in terms of the angle of attack with the two first sinusoidal and the first cosinusoidal terms. A solution for the angle of attack in the undisturbed rotational motion is found. The analytical expression is obtained for the integral of action taken along the separatrices that separate the rotational and oscillatory regions of the phase portrait of a system. The transition of the spacecraft's motion from planar rotational to oscillatory is investigated. This transition is caused by a slow variation of moment characteristic coefficients, as well as by the presence of small asymmetry and damping and slow variation of their coefficients. Analytical formulas are obtained for determining the times of transition from rotational to oscillatory motion, as well as for the critical angular velocity of beyond-the-atmosphere rotation. When this critical velocity is exceeded, body rotation proceeds for a long time interval (planar autorotation arises).     

Sequence comparison techniques for multisensor data fusion andtarget recognition

A new class of techniques for multisensor fusion and target recognition is proposed using sequence comparison by dynamic programming and multiple model estimation. The objective is to fuse information on the kinematic state and “nonkinematic” signature of unclassified targets, assessing the joint likelihood of all observed events for recognition. Relationships are shown to previous efforts in pattern recognition and state estimation. This research applies “classical” speech processing-related and other sequence comparison methods to moving target recognition, extends the efforts of previous researchers through improved fusion with kinematic information, relates the proposed techniques to Bayesian theory, and applies parameter identification methods to target recognition for improved understanding of the subject in general. The proposed techniques are evaluated and compared with existing approaches using the method of generalized ambiguity functions, which lends to a form of Cramer-Rao lower bound for target recognition     

A wavelet multiresolution analysis for spatio-temporal signals

The wavelet filters of the conventional 3D multiresolution analysis possess homogeneous spatial and temporal frequency characteristics which limits one's ability to match filter frequency characteristics to signal frequency behavior. Also, the conventional 3D multiresolution analysis employs an oct-tree decomposition structure which restricts the analysis of signal details to identical resolutions in space and time. This paper presents a 3D wavelet multiresolution analysis constructed from nonhomogeneous spatial and temporal filters, and an orthogonal sub-band coding scheme that decouples the spatial and temporal decomposition processes     

Simulation of fast ablation

A brief review of studies on simulation and control of a porous cooling process taking into account material transpiration is given. An approximated solution for an equation of the one-dimensional problem of fast ablation is also presented.     

Experimental study of damping properties of a composite torsion bar in the helicopter main rotor hingeless hub

The results of the experimental studies of damping characteristics of a composite torsion bar in the helicopter main rotor hingeless hub are presented. A variant of their improvement is considered.     

The finite element analysis of shells of revolution with a branching meridian

We present an algorithm for calculating the shells of revolution with the branching meridian using the triangular finite elements, the rigidity matrices of which are formed based on the vector method of displacement interpolation [1]. The correct kinematic and static conditions of shell conjugation on the line of their coupling have been developed. The shell structure consisting of a cylinder and adjacent shells is calculated under various conditions of support.     

Analysis of shells of revolution under symmetrical loading using the quadrature method

The application of the quadrature method [1] to analyzing the shells of revolution under symmetrical loading relative to the zero meridian is considered. The method can be treated as a generalization of the method presented in [2] to solve the Volterra integral equation of the second kind.     

A method for constructing an airfoil using a specified chord velocity diagram

A problem of determining a shape of the airfoil being streamlined by a potential incompressible inviscid flow is solved by the successive approximation method using a specified chord velocity diagram. It is shown that a closed airfoil that possesses a specified chord velocity diagram can be constructed with a sufficient accuracy; if the chord diagram is unsuccessfully specified, the closed airfoil may prove to be not univalent, that is, physically unrealizable.     

Two Methods of Spectral Estimation for SARSAT Signals

Search and rescue satellite aided tracking (SARSAT) depends on the processing of emergency locator transmitter (ELT) signals which are received by a satellite in low polar orbit. Since the signal from a distressed vehicle is normally immersed in a background of other ELT signals (false alarms), interference, and noise, different methods of spectral estimation can provide advantages in estimating carrier frequency. A comparison between average spectrum and minimum spectrum for several real signals is provided here.