Estimating the spin axis orientation of the Echostar-2 box-wing geosynchronous satellite

For the first time, the spin axis orientation of an inactive box-wing geosynchronous satellite has been estimated from ground-based optical photometric observations of Echostar-2’s specular reflections. Recent photometric light curves obtained of Echostar-2 over four years suggest that unusually bright and brief specular reflections were occurring twice within an observed spin period. These bright and brief specular reflections suggested two satellite surfaces with surface normals separated by approximately 180°. The geometry between the satellite, the Sun, and the observing location at the time of each of the brightest observed reflections, was used to estimate Echostar-2’s equatorial spin axis orientation coordinates. When considering prograde and retrograde rotation, Echostar-2’s spin axis orientation was estimated to have been located within 30° of either equatorial coordinate pole. Echostar-2’s spin axis was observed to have moved approximately 180° in right ascension, within a time span of six months, suggesting a roughly one year spin axis precession period about the satellite’s angular momentum vector.     

Impact of rain on wave retrieval from Sentinel-1 synthetic aperture radar images in tropical cyclones

The main objective of our work was to investigate the impact of rain on wave observations from C-band (~5.3 GHz) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) in tropical cyclones. In this study, 10 Sentinel-1 SAR images were available from the Satellite Hurricane Observation Campaign, which were taken under cyclonic conditions during the 2016 hurricane season. The third-generation wave model, known as Simulating WAves Nearshore (SWAN) (version 41.31), was used to simulate the wave fields corresponding to these Sentinel-1 SAR images. In addition, rainfall data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite passing over the spatial coverage of the Sentinel-1 SAR images were collected. The simulated results were validated against significant wave heights (SWHs) from the Jason-2 altimeter and European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts data, revealing a root mean square error (RMSE) of ~0.5 m with a 0.25 scatter index. Winds retrieved from the VH-polarized Sentinel-1 SAR images using the Sentinel-1 Extra Wide-swath Mode Wind Speed Retrieval Model after Noise Removal were taken as prior information for wave retrieval. It was discovered that rain did indeed affect the SAR wave retrieval, as evidenced by the 3.21-m RMSE of SWHs between the SAR images and the SWAN model, which was obtained for the ~1000 match-ups with raindrops. The raindrops dampened the wave retrieval when the rain rate was < ~5 mm/hr; however, they enhanced wave retrieval for higher rain rates. It was also found that the portion of the rain-induced ring wave with a wave number > 0.05 rad/m (~125 m wavelength) was clearly observed in the SAR-derived wave spectra.     

亚超剪切混合层燃油雾化特性试验研究

为了摸清亚超大梯度剪切混合层内直射式喷嘴的燃油雾化特性，设计了用于向亚超剪切混合流中进行燃油喷射的直射式喷嘴，建立了亚超剪切混合层中燃油雾化试验系统。利用粒子图像测速系统（PIV），对亚超大梯度混合层中油雾场进行测量。通过改变喷嘴流量、喷射角度和喷嘴数量研究不同参数对雾化特性的影响，并应用图像处理技术对亚超大梯度剪切混合层内的油雾场进行分析，总结归纳其雾化规律。试验结果显示：随着流量增大，穿透深度会随之增大，破碎后的颗粒分布峰值所对应的液滴直径会逐渐变小，雾化效果提升；相同流量条件下，喷嘴的角度改变对雾化效果有影响，顺喷和逆喷的雾化效果均好于垂直喷射；逆喷的喷射高度最高，随着流量的增长，燃料将会碰壁；顺喷条件下，随着角度的增加，穿透长度会有所增加；综合燃油轨迹边界，逆喷的效果相对较好。相同流量条件下，喷孔个数的改变对雾化效果和穿透深度的影响不大。     

The Role and Contributions of Energetic Neutral Atom (ENA) Imaging in Magnetospheric Substorm Research

Energetic Neutral Atom (ENA) imaging has contributed substantially to substorm research. This technique has allowed significant advances in areas such as observation and quantification of injected particle drift as a function of energy, observation of dynamics in the tail that are directly related to the effects of imposed (growth phase) and induced (expansion phase) electric fields on the plasma, the prompt extraction of oxygen from the ionosphere during substorms, the relationship between storms and substorms, and the timing of substorm ENA signatures. We present discussion of the advantages and shortcomings of the ENA technique for studying space plasmas. Although the technique is in its infancy, it is yielding results that enrich our understanding of the substorm process and its effects.     

JSF动力的最新进展

普惠公司为JSF研制的F135发动机已完成了系统发展和验证的关键设计评审.今年10月将开始发动机的地面试验。GE和罗-罗公司计划为JSF研制的备选发动机F136将在明年7月在GE公司进行首次试验     

Differential GPS/inertial navigation approach/landing flight testresults

In November 1990, a differential GPS/inertial flight test was conducted to acquire a system performance database and demonstrate automatic landing using an integrated differential GPS/INS with barometric and radar altimeters. Flight test results obtained from postflight data analysis are presented. These results include characteristics of DGPS/inertial error, using a laser tracker as a reference. In addition, data are provided on the magnitude of the differential correlations and vertical channel performance with and without radar altimeter augmentation. Flight test results show one sigma DGPS/inertial horizontal errors of 9 ft and one sigma DGPS inertial vertical errors of 15 ft. Without selective availability effects, the differential corrections are less than 10 ft and are dominated by receiver unique errors over the time period of an approach. Therefore, the one sigma performance of the autonomous GPS (8-ft horizontal and 20-ft vertical) is very similar to the DGPS/inertial performance. Postprocessed results also demonstrate significant improvements in vertical channel performance when GPS/inertial is aided with radar altimeter along with a low-resolution terrain map     

DNA damage and repair in oncogenic transformation by heavy ion radiation.

Energetic heavy ions are present in galactic cosmic rays and solar particle events. One of the most important late effects in risk assessment is carcinogenesis. We have studied the carcinogenic effects of heavy ions at the cellular and molecular levels and have obtained quantitative data on dose-response curves and on the repair of oncogenic lesions for heavy particles with various charges and energies. Studies with repair inhibitors and restriction endonucleases indicated that for oncogenic transformation DNA is the primary target. Results from heavy ion experiments showed that the cross section increased with LET and reached a maximum value of about 0.02 micrometer2 at about 500 keV/micrometer. This limited size of cross section suggests that only a fraction of cellular genomic DNA is important in radiogenic transformation. Free radical scavengers, such as DMSO, do not give any effect on induction of oncogenic transformation by 600 MeV/u iron particles, suggesting most oncogenic damage induced by high-LET heavy ions is through direct action. Repair studies with stationary phase cells showed that the amount of reparable oncogenic lesions decreased with an increase of LET and that heavy ions with LET greater than 200 keV/micrometer produced only irreparable oncogenic damage. An enhancement effect for oncogenic transformation was observed in cells irradiated by low-dose-rate argon ions (400 MeV/u; 120 keV/micrometer). Chromosomal aberrations, such as translocation and deletion, but not sister chromatid exchange, are essential for heavy-ion-induced oncogenic transformation. The basic mechanism(s) of misrepair of DNA damage, which form oncogenic lesions, is unknown.     

Simulation experiments of the effect of space environment on bacteriophage and DNA thin films.

The main goal of PUR experiment (phage and uracil response) is to examine and quantify the effect of specific space conditions on nucleic acid models. To achieve this an improved method was elaborated for the preparation of DNA and bacteriophage thin films. The homogeneity of the films was controlled by UV spectroscopy and microscopy. To provide experimental evidence for the hypothesis that interplanetary transfer of the genetic material is possible, phage T7 and isolated T7 DNA thin films have been exposed to selected space conditions: intense UVC radiation (lambda=254 nm) and high vacuum (10(-4) Pa). The effects of DNA hydration, conformation and packing on UV radiation damage were examined. Characteristic changes in the absorption spectrum, in the electrophoretic pattern of DNA and the decrease of the amount of PCR products have been detected indicating the photodamage of isolated and intraphage DNA.     

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     

AFIT neural network research

A brief summary of research done at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) in the area of neural networks is provided. It has been shown that backpropagation, used for feedforward artificial neural networks, is just a degenerate version of an extended Kalman filter, and that networks can do about as well as the optimum statistical classification technique. A method of finding the importance of features for use by a neural network classifier has been determined. Techniques for using neural networks for image segmentation have been developed. In optical pattern recognition, techniques that allow the processing of real FLIR (forward-looking infrared) images with existing binary spatial light modulators have been devised. An optical direction of arrival detector applicable to laser illumination direction determination has been designed and tested; the design is similar to a fly's eye. Coated mirrors for the optical confocal Fabry-Perot interferometer have been designed, specified, fabricated, and installed. Significant progress has been made in the use of neural networks for processing multiple-feature sets for speech recognition