Advanced life support in lunar and Mars missions

Strategies being considered for further exploration of space are presented. Scenarios are being examined by NASA's Office of Exploration to reach the goal of permanent facilities on other planets. Near-term requirements, as well as life support, technology, and human factors are being identified and studied to enable long term self-sufficiency in space. The article also examines medical and psychological issues to be addressed.     

Radiation exposure predictions for short-duration stay Mars missions

The human radiation environment for several short-duration stay manned Mars missions is predicted using the Mission Radiation Calculation (MIRACAL) program, which was developed at NASA Langley Research Center. This program provides dose estimates for galactic cosmic rays (GCR) and large and ordinary solar proton flare events for various amounts of effective spacecraft shielding (both operational and storm shelter thicknesses) and a given time history of the spacecraft's heliocentric position. The results of this study show that most of the missions can survive the most recent large flares (if they were to occur at the missions' perihelion) if a 25 g/cm2 storm shelter is assumed. The dose predictions show that missions during solar minima (when solar flare activity is the lowest) are not necessarily the minimum dose cases, due to increased GCR contribution during this time period. The direct transfer mission studied has slightly lower doses than the outbound Venus swingby mission [on the order of 10-20 centi-Sieverts (cSv) lower], with the greatest dose differences for the assumed worst case scenario (when the large flares occur at perihelion). The GCR dose for a mission can be reduced by having the crew spend some fraction of its day nominally in the storm shelter (other than during flare events).     

火星着陆发动机气凝胶材料热防护装置设计

大推力着陆发动机高温热防护技术对火星着陆任务安全至关重要。基于多级热辐射反射结构的常规发动机高温隔热屏在火星大气环境中使用时,因内部气体换热导致隔热性能显著衰减。为解决这一问题研发了一种基于气凝胶隔热材料的新型发动机热防护装置。根据火星探测工程任务服役环境防隔热需求,建立了考虑低压气氛与高温热流边界影响的瞬态传热模型,开展了新型隔热系统的外形锥度、隔热层厚度等关键结构参数的优化设计,通过三维瞬态仿真分析及与发动机联合试车地面试验验证了设计有效性。气凝胶热防护装置成功应用于天问一号火星着陆巡视器,实现了对着陆发动机1 500℃超高温的有效屏蔽。对在轨遥测数据进行反演分析,提出了基于气凝胶材料的高温隔热设计的优化改进方向。     

超声速低频大抖振气动弹性载荷试验

为研究超声速条件下结构在流场中所受振动特性和载荷特征,并且确定飞行器的结构安全,需进行相应模型的载荷试验.但是由于风洞尺寸和相似比等因素的限制,在弹性模型设计、激励、标定、测量等各个方面存在较大困难.论文介绍了该试验弹性模型载荷试验过程中涉及的火星进入舱模型动载荷试验技术、小尺度结构载荷测量技术、结构体内部传动激振技术...     

Planned Products of the Mars Structure Service for the InSight Mission to Mars

Space Science Reviews - The InSight lander will deliver geophysical instruments to Mars in 2018, including seismometers installed directly on the surface (Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure,...     

Diagnostics of gas turbine engine blades using the forced vibration method

The results of experimental studies with the aid of the forced vibration method to determine the technical condition of GTE turbine blades are presented; the phase difference of two vibrations was used as a diagnostic indicator. The schemes of a diagnostic complex are given, the experiment procedure and results obtained are described.     

火星探测需要"勇气"与"机遇"

人类在40多年火星探测中,经历了无数次失败.但为了进一步探测这颗红色星球的奥秘,美国于今年6、7月又分别发射了"勇气"号和"机遇"号探测器,这两个探测器上安装了许多用于科研的测试仪器和设备,并采用了许多关键技术     

某型加力涡扇发动机特性的三层迭代模拟

基于发动机各种部件特性，应用总体匹配技术发展了混排涡扇发动机特性的数值模型，并针对某型涡扇发动机建立了相应的三层迭代模拟方法及相应的计算机程序，给出了该发动机在某一组合调节方案下的特性模拟结果，模拟结果与试验结果比较表明二者吻合较好。     

基于动网格的脉冲爆震发动机性能研究

为了获得以工程应用为背景的脉冲爆震发动机(PDE)模型可靠的性能评估方法,应用数值模拟与经验数据相结合的方法计算了某多管旋转阀PDE的性能。结果显示:采用动网格技术可以获得冷态填充过程中发动机的充填系数;结合煤油爆震的数据得到所设计的六管旋转阀PDE的平均净推力为827.8N。该方法融合了CFD计算和试验数据,为今后PDE性能估算提供了很好的参考。     

Geophysical Constraints on the Evolution of Mars

The evolution of Mars is discussed using results from the recent Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) and Mars Pathfinder missions together with results from mantle convection and thermal history models and the chemistry of Martian meteorites. The new MGS topography and gravity data and the data on the rotation of Mars from Mars Pathfinder constrain models of the present interior structure and allow estimates of present crust thickness and thickness variations. The data also allow estimates of lithosphere thickness variation and heat flow assuming that the base of the lithosphere is an isotherm. Although the interpretation is not unambiguous, it can be concluded that Mars has a substantial crust. It may be about 50 km thick on average with thickness variations of another ±50 km. Alternatively, the crust may be substantially thicker with smaller thickness variations. The former estimate of crust thickness can be shown to be in agreement with estimates of volcanic production rates from geologic mapping using data from the camera on MGS and previous missions. According to these estimates most of the crust was produced in the Noachian, roughly the first Gyr of evolution. A substantial part of the lava generated during this time apparently poured onto the surface to produce the Tharsis bulge, the largest tectonic unit in the solar system and the major volcanic center of Mars. Models of crust growth that couple crust growth to mantle convection and thermal evolution are consistent with an early 1 Gyr long phase of vigorous volcanic activity. The simplest explanation for the remnant magnetization of crustal units of mostly the southern hemisphere calls for an active dynamo in the Noachian, again consistent with thermal history calculations that predict the core to become stably stratified after some hundred Myr of convective cooling and dynamo action. The isotope record of the Martian meteorites suggest that the core formed early and rapidly within a few tens of Myr. These data also suggest that the silicate rock component of the planet was partially molten during that time. The isotope data suggest that heterogeneity resulted from core formation and early differentiation and persisted to the recent past. This is often taken as evidence against vigorous mantle convection and early plate tectonics on Mars although the latter assumption can most easily explain the early magnetic field. The physics of mantle convection suggests that there may be a few hundred km thick stagnant, near surface layer in the mantle that would have formed rapidly and may have provided the reservoirs required to explain the isotope data. The relation between the planform of mantle convection and the tectonic features on the surface is difficult to entangle. Models call for long wavelength forms of flow and possibly a few strong plumes in the very early evolution. These plumes may have dissolved with time as the core cooled and may have died off by the end of the Noachian.     

Cratering Chronology and the Evolution of Mars

Results by Neukum et al. (2001) and Ivanov (2001) are combined with crater counts to estimate ages of Martian surfaces. These results are combined with studies of Martian meteorites (Nyquist et al., 2001) to establish a rough chronology of Martian history. High crater densities in some areas, together with the existence of a 4.5 Gyr rock from Mars (ALH84001), which was weathered at about 4.0 Gyr, affirm that some of the oldest surfaces involve primordial crustal materials, degraded by various processes including megaregolith formation and cementing of debris. Small craters have been lost by these processes, as shown by comparison with Phobos and with the production function, and by crater morphology distributions. Crater loss rates and survival lifetimes are estimated as a measure of average depositional/erosional rate of activity.We use our results to date the Martian epochs defined by Tanaka (1986). The high crater densities of the Noachian confine the entire Noachian Period to before about 3.5 Gyr. The Hesperian/Amazonian boundary is estimated to be about 2.9 to 3.3 Gyr ago, but with less probability could range from 2.0 to 3.4 Gyr. Mid-age dates are less well constrained due to uncertainties in the Martian cratering rate. Comparison of our ages with resurfacing data of Tanaka et al. (1987) gives a strong indication that volcanic, fluvial, and periglacial resurfacing rates were all much higher in approximately the first third of Martian history. We estimate that the Late Amazonian Epoch began a few hundred Myr ago (formal solutions 300 to 600 Myr ago). Our work supports Mariner 9 era suggestions of very young lavas on Mars, and is consistent with meteorite evidence for Martian igneous rocks 1.3 and 0.2 – 0.3 Gyr old. The youngest detected Martian lava flows give formal crater retention ages of the order 10 Myr or less. We note also that certain Martian meteorites indicate fluvial activity younger than the rock themselves, 700 Myr in one case, and this is supported by evidence of youthful water seeps. The evidence of youthful volcanic and aqueous activity, from both crater-count and meteorite evidence, places important constraints on Martian geological evolution and suggests a more active, complex Mars than has been visualized by some researchers.     

液体火箭发动机多Agent故障诊断技术研究

利用多Agent技术建立了液体火箭发动机故障检测与诊断系统,包括小波去噪、传感器检测、故障检测、故障诊断和系统总调度等功能.利用多线程编程、动态链接库及网络编程技术,使故障检测与诊断系统具有较高的智能性.给出了小波去噪、传感器检测等Agent的运行算例,并给出了故障检测与诊断系统的整体框架.      

基于Volterra-Laguerre扩展模型的发动机加速过程辨识

提出了航空发动机的动态非线性Voherra-Laguerre扩展模型的辨识建模方法.应用Laguerre序列简化线性系统的原理,将Volterra级数模型拓展为Volterra-Laguerre扩展模型,该模型较传统Volterra级数模型减少了辨识量,提高了辨识速度.采用航空发动机地面试车数据辨识建立了其加速过程非线性Volt-erra-Laguerre扩展模型,通过递推最小二乘法辨识了模型参数.仿真结果表明,模型精度高,高低压转子相对转速误差均小于1%,涡轮后燃气温度误差小于3℃,满足发动机控制仿真的需要.     

利用多状态试车数据修正发动机部件特性

针对经典的航空发动机部件特性修正因子法的不足,提出一种于多状态试车数据的修正方法.利用发动机部件匹配模型方程以及试车参数计算值和实测值的差值组成目标方程组,采用改进的免疫粒子群算法优化求解获得部件特性修正系数.以多个不同状态下的修正系数为基础,利用滑动最小二乘方法拟合修正系数曲面,进而得到修正的部件特性图.数值试验表明:综合利用不同状态下发动机试车数据进行部件特性修正,克服了传统方法的不足.提高了修正部件特性在整个工作范围的精度.      

利用辐射光谱法开展发动机燃烧火焰参数在线测量

针对发动机高温燃烧火焰参数非接触式在线原位测量难题,提出了基于火焰辐射光谱(radiation spectroscopy, RS)的火焰参数在线测量方法,采用光纤光谱仪搭建了发动机燃烧火焰参数在线测量系统,并利用黑体炉对光谱仪电荷耦合元件(charge-coupled device, CCD)波长响应特性进行了标定.之后,应用该系统获得了火箭基组合循环(rocket based combined cycle, RBCC)发动机地面试验高温燃烧火焰200~1100nm波段辐射光谱,结合普朗克定律与最小二乘法,实现了火焰温度与辐射率参数的在线测量,为发动机燃烧诊断与优化提供了直接数据支撑.