Modelling of Spall in an Anisotropic Aluminium Alloy

Spall caused by hypervelocity impacts at the lower range of velocities could result in significant damage to spacecraft. A number of polycrystalline alloys, used in spacecraft manufacturing, exhibit a pronounced anisotropy in their mechanical properties. The aluminium alloy AA 7010, whose orthotropy is a consequence of the meso-scale phase distribution or grain morphology, has been chosen for this investigation. The material failure observed in plate impact was simulated using a number of spall models. The Hugoniot elastic limit and spall strength have been studied as a function of orientation, and compared to experimental results.     

Future of Space Astronomy: A global Road Map for the next decades

The use of space techniques continues to play a key role in the advance of astrophysics by providing access to the entire electromagnetic spectrum from radio to high energy γ rays. The increasing size, complexity and cost of large space observatories places a growing emphasis on international collaboration. Furthermore, combining existing and future datasets from space and “ground based” observatories is an emerging mode of powerful and relatively inexpensive research to address problems that can only be tackled by the application of large multi-wavelength observations. While the present set of astronomical facilities is impressive and covers the entire electromagnetic spectrum, with complementary space and “ground based” telescopes, the situation in the next 10–20 years is of critical concern. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), to be launched not earlier than 2018, is the only approved future major space astronomy mission. Other major highly recommended space astronomy missions, such as the Wide-field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST), the International X-ray Observatory (IXO), Large Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) and the Space Infrared Telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics (SPICA), have yet to be approved for development.     

GEOS-1 observations of electrostatic waves,and their relationship with plasma parameters

In this paper we describe and discuss the occurrence of natural wave emissions detected by GEOS-1 at frequencies above the electron gyrofrequency. The bulk of the data presented comes from the first six months of satellite operation and thus concerns mainly dayside phenomena. The paper is arranged as follows:After some general remarks, a classification of the wave phenomena is developed in Section 2, and experimental evidence and morphological information relevant to this classification are contained in Section 3. Section 4 includes some preliminary comments on nightside observations. The results are discussed in Section 5, where it is argued that they can be understood as manifestations of electron cyclotron harmonic (Bernstein) wave emission in a plasma parameter range which has only very recently received any theoretical examinations. This theme is further developed in a comparison paper (Ronnmark et al., 1978).     

THE DIGITAL WAVE-PROCESSING EXPERIMENT ON CLUSTER

The wide variety of geophysical plasmas that will be investigated by the Cluster mission contain waves with a frequency range from DC to over 100 kHz with both magnetic and electric components. The characteristic duration of these waves extends from a few milliseconds to minutes and a dynamic range of over 90 dB is desired. All of these factors make it essential that the on-board control system for the Wave-Experiment Consortium (WEC) instruments be flexible so as to make effective use of the limited spacecraft resources of power and telemetry-information bandwidth. The Digital Wave Processing Experiment, (DWP), will be flown on Cluster satellites as a component of the WEC. DWP will coordinate WEC measurements as well as perform particle correlations in order to permit the direct study of wave/particle interactions. The DWP instrument employs a novel architecture based on the use of transputers with parallel processing and re-allocatable tasks to provide a high-reliability system. Members of the DWP team are also providing sophisticated electrical ground support equipment, for use during development and testing by the WEC. This is described further in Pedersen et al. (this issue).     

Testing Modified Newtonian Dynamics with LISA Pathfinder

We suggest that LISA Pathfinder, a technology demonstrator for the future gravitational wave observatory LISA, could be used to carry out a direct experimental test of Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND). The LISA Pathfinder spacecraft is currently being built and the launch date is just a few years away. No modifications of the spacecraft are required, nor any interference with its nominal mission. The basic concept is to fly LISA Pathfinder through the region around the Sun-Earth saddle point, in an extended mission phase, once the original mission goals are achieved. We examine various strategies to reach the saddle point, and find that the preferred strategy, yielding relatively short transfer times of just over 1 year, probably involves a lunar fly-by. LISA Pathfinder will be able to probe the intermediate MOND regime, i.e. the transition between deep MOND and Newtonian gravity. We present robust estimates of the anomalous gravity gradients that LISA Pathfinder should be exposed to, based on MONDian effects as derived from the Tensor-Vector-Scalar (TeVeS) theory. The spacecraft speed and spatial scale of the MOND signal combine in a way that the spectral signature of the signal falls precisely into LISA Pathfinder’s measurement bandwidth. We find that if the gravity gradiometer on-board the spacecraft achieves its currently predicted sensitivity, these anomalous gradients could not just be detected, but measured in some detail.     

Quality characteristics of the radish grown under reduced atmospheric pressure

This study addresses whether reduced atmospheric pressure (hypobaria) affects the quality traits of radish grown under such environments. Radish (Raphanus sativus L. cv. Cherry Bomb Hybrid II) plants were grown hydroponically in specially designed hypobaric plant growth chambers at three atmospheric pressures; 33, 66, and 96 kPa (control). Oxygen and carbon dioxide partial pressures were maintained constant at 21 and 0.12 kPa, respectively. Plants were harvested at 21 days after planting, with aerial shoots and swollen hypocotyls (edible portion of the radish referred to as the “root” hereafter) separated immediately upon removal from the chambers. Samples were subsequently evaluated for their sensory characteristics (color, taste, overall appearance, and texture), taste-determining factors (glucosinolate and soluble carbohydrate content and myrosinase activity), proximate nutrients (protein, dietary fiber, and carbohydrate) and potential health benefit attributes (antioxidant capacity). In roots of control plants, concentrations of glucosinolate, total soluble sugar, and nitrate, as well as myrosinase activity and total antioxidant capacity (measured as ORAC_FL), were 2.9, 20, 5.1, 9.4, and 1.9 times greater than the amount in leaves, respectively. There was no significant difference in total antioxidant capacity, sensory characteristics, carbohydrate composition, or proximate nutrient content among the three pressure treatments. However, glucosinolate content in the root and nitrate concentration in the leaf declined as the atmospheric pressure decreased, suggesting perturbation to some nitrogen-related metabolism.     

On the Composition of the Solar Interior Rapporteur Paper I

Standard solar models, although they are free from the influence of much of the fluid motion that is bound to be present in the Sun, have been shown by helioseismology to represent the spherically averaged structure of the Sun amazingly well. This state of affairs has come about after painstaking refinements by a great many people of the pertinent microphysics, including that which controls the equation of state, the opacity, the nuclear reaction rates and the diffusion that inhibits gravitational segregation of chemical elements. It has instilled confidence in the modellers in being able to predict the composition of the solar interior. But there are consequences of the flow, related particularly to redistribution of chemical species, that can be difficult to identify observationally, yet which may degrade any inferences we might make. Their potential presence must at least be acknowledged by anyone who tries to asses the reliability of the models. This report summarizes the discussions in the preceding pages of this volume of the current theoretical and observational status of the subject, pointing to many of the caveats that have been raised, and attempting at the same time to put them into a seemingly coherent discourse in the context of our present understanding of the workings of the solar interior. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.