A lightning swept stroke model: A valuable tool to investigate the lightning strike to aircraft

In the context of lightning strike on the Dassault Falcon family of aircraft, the standard zoning of Falcon 50, 900 and 2000, inferred from FAA and EUROCAE WG31 documents [US Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Advisory Circular AC 20-53A, 1985; US Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Advisory Circular AC 20-53B, Draft, 1991; EUROCAE WG 31, Aircraft Lightning Zoning Standard, ED-91, 1998], has been presented. Zoning proves to be quite similar between the three types of aircraft. Thanks to the feed-back on lightning strikes to Falcon, lightning traces have been observed on the fuselage for different flight conditions and aircraft. Observations are compared with the zoning performed by Dassault. A physical model, developed by ONERA, was used to simulate the sweeping of lightning on the fuselage of a Falcon 900. The results are in good agreement with the lightning traces observed on the fuselages.     

Liquid phase sintering of tungsten composites in space: Results of tests performed in Texus

Tungsten-nickel-iron composites are commersially fabricated from powders by liquid phase sintering. They consist of almost spherical tungsten particles in a matrix of nickel-iron-tungsten. A way to contribute to the understanding of the sintering mechanism and the mechanical properties is to study composites with a low amount of tungsten particles. Depending on the great difference in density between the particles and the matrix, this can only be done under microgravity. A primary sintering test of the tungsten composite was done in space using the Texus 10 modul. Prealloys were fabricated from metal powder mixtures, which were hot isostatic pressed. Liquid phase sintering of the two tungsten composites under microgravity has shown that the particles are evenly distributed and that no segregation occured due to convection. Despite an uneven distribution of the particles in the preformed specimens and the short melting period the patricle distribution has become even. Compared to short time sintering tests made on four alloys in the laboratory, the growth and separation of the particles was fast.     

A third age in space? RUSI's ‘New Directions in Missile Defence’ conference

The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) held its 10th missile defence conference in London, 28–29 May 2009. While the emphasis was on terrestrial military activity, it was clear that space had become integral to such activity and that, beyond whatever moral objections might be made, the question of missile defence poses additional risks in terms of debris proliferation and traffic disruption. This report discusses the general issue with reference to conference speakers' presentations.     

Commercial space and international trade rules: an assessment of the WTO''s influence on the sector

This paper explores how the WTO process may affect the development of commercial space industries in Asia. It does so by examining how the ever greater reach of trade rules may constrain industrial and technology policies aimed at developing an indigenous space capability. The role of the USA is also examined, as it is the US industry that will be among the most affected by increased competition in satellite and launcher services.     

Design of a canard configured TransCruiser using CEASIOM

CEASIOM is a multidisciplinary software environment for aircraft design that has been developed as part of the European Framework 6 SimSAC project. It closely integrates discipline-specific tools such as those used for CAD, grid generation, CFD, stability analysis and control system design. The environment allows the user to take an initial design from geometry definition and aerodynamics generation through to full six degrees of freedom simulation and analysis. Key capabilities include variable fidelity aerodynamics tools and aeroelasticity modules. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the potential of CEASIOM by presenting the results of a Design, Simulate and Evaluate (DSE) exercise applied to a novel, project specific, transonic cruiser configuration called the TCR. The baseline TCR configuration is first defined using conventional methods, which is then refined and improved within the CEASIOM software environment. A wind tunnel model of this final configuration was then constructed, tested and used to verify the results generated using CEASIOM.     

Refocusing European missile defence

The 11th RUSI Missile Defence Conference was held in London, 26-27 May 2010. Anders Hansson reports on some of the main themes to emerge, including the fact that the fields of space and nuclear missiles are becoming more closely entwined, the need for China to be more involved in discussions on missile defence, the need to distinguish capabilities from intent, and the fact that the all-too-short window for formulating new rules for orbital management must be opened now.     

Conference round-up: Space,defence and trips to the Moon

What are the trends in missile defence, the perceptions of space and defence in society and the now emergent commercial human spaceflight industry? Europe seems stuck in a financial rut and unable to fashion a united approach, the USA and Russia have not acknowledged the need to understand the issues in a context broader than that of a bilateral debate over the intentions of Iran, and a growing number of companies is getting serious about taking paying customers into space. This report covers the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) Missile Defence Conference 2012; the RUSI Defence, Industries and Society Conference 2012 and the third European Space Tourism Conference held at the Royal Aeronautical Society in July, all in London.     

The Freja Hot Plasma Experiment—Instrument and first results

The Hot Plasma Experiment, F3H, on boardFreja is designed to measure auroral particle distribution functions with very high temporal and spatial resolution. The experiment consists of three different units; an electron spectrometer that measures angular and energy distributions simultaneously, a positive ion spectrometer that is using the spacecraft spin for three-dimensional measurements, and a data processing unit. The main scientific objective is to study positive ion heating perpendicular to the magnetic field lines in the auroral region. The high resolution measurements of different positive ion species and electrons have already provided important information on this process as well as on other processes at high latitudes. This includes for example high resolution observations of auroral particle precipitation features and source regions of positive ions during magnetic disturbances. TheFreja orbit with an inclination of 63° allows us to make detailed measurements in the nightside auroral oval during all disturbance levels. In the dayside, the cusp region is covered during magnetic disturbances. We will here present the instrument in some detail and some outstanding features in the particle data obtained during the first months of operation at altitudes around 1700 km in the northern hemisphere auroral region.