One hundred US EVAs: a perspective on spacewalks

In the 36 years between June 1965 and February 2001, the US human space flight program has conducted 100 spacewalks, or extravehicular activities (EVAs), as NASA officially calls them. EVA occurs when astronauts wearing spacesuits travel outside their protective spacecraft to perform tasks in the space vacuum environment. US EVA started with pioneering feasibility tests during the Gemini Program. The Apollo Program required sending astronauts to the moon and performing EVA to explore the lunar surface. EVA supported scientific mission objectives of the Skylab program, but may be best remembered for repairing launch damage to the vehicle and thus saving the program. EVA capability on Shuttle was initially planned to be a kit that could be flown at will, and was primarily intended for coping with vehicle return emergencies. The Skylab emergency and the pivotal role of EVA in salvaging that program quickly promoted Shuttle EVA to an essential element for achieving mission objectives, including retrieving satellites and developing techniques to assemble and maintain the International Space Station (ISS). Now, EVA is supporting assembly of ISS. This paper highlights development of US EVA capability within the context of the overarching mission objectives of the US human space flight program.     

激光诊断技术在脉冲爆震发动机研究中的应用

在美国海军研究生院及斯坦福大学的脉冲爆震发动机（PDE）模型上，应用两种新发展的二极管激光诊断技术－光吸收／高温辐射组合测定法和多路复合可调二极管激光（TDL）技术，测量了其中的温度、各燃烧产物组分等重要参数，并与传统方法所得结果进行对比，说明新方法可靠、准确，适合爆震燃烧流场这种特殊环境，测量精度更高，而且更加简便、快捷。