Life in the solar system.

Life, defined as a chemical system capable of transferring its molecular information via self-replication and also capable of evolving, must develop within a liquid to take advantage of the diffusion of complex molecules. On Earth, life probably originated from the evolution of reduced organic molecules in liquid water. Organic matter might have been formed in the primitive Earth's atmosphere or near hydrothermal vents. A large fraction of prebiotic organic molecules might have been brought by extraterrestrial-meteoritic and cometary dust grains decelerated by the atmosphere. Any celestial body harboring permanent liquid water may therefore accumulate the ingredients that generated life on the primitive Earth. The possibility that life might have evolved on early Mars when water existed on the surface marks it as a prime candidate in a search for bacterial life beyond the Earth. Europa has an icy carapace. However, cryovolcanic flows at the surface point to a possible water subsurface region which might harbor a basic life form. The atmosphere and surface components of Titan are also of interest to exobiology for insight into a hydrocarbon-rich chemically evolving world. One-handed complex molecules and preferential isotopic fractionation of carbon, common to all terrestrial life forms, can be used as basic indicators when searching for life beyond the Earth.     

环形浅液池内低Prandtl数流体超临界热毛细对流演化

为研究低Prandtl数（Pr）流体热毛细对流演化过程，对环形浅液池内Pr=0.011的流体热毛细对流进行三维数值模拟.研究发现:当Marangoni数较小时，流动为轴对称稳态流动；当Marangoni数超过某一临界值后，流动失稳并转变为热流体波，其波数随Marangoni数增加而减小，而波动主频增大；随着Marangoni数增加，流动加强，沿周向运动的热流体波演变为沿径向运动的径向波，其波数大大减小；当Marangoni数继续增加时，波动频谱曲线噪声增加，呈广谱特性.因此，在计算范围内热毛细对流的演化过程为:轴对称稳态流动-热流体波-单周期径向波-多周期三维振荡流动.      

一种变体飞行器的动力学建模与动态特性分析

对可变展长、可变后掠角的变体飞行器物理模型进行了简化,基于Kane方法,将变体运动假设为已知的可控输入,利用约束方程来表示机翼的变形运动,选取飞行器位移运动速度以及角速度在机体坐标系下的6个分量作为广义速率,建立了该变体飞行器的六自由度动力学模型.定义了附加力与附加力矩的概念用于描述变体运动对飞行器产生的动力学影响,仿真结果表明,在平稳飞行条件下,相对于变形引起的空气动力的变化,机翼变形产生的附加力和附加力矩都较小.在不同的变形速度下,对变体引起的飞行器纵向运动响应进行了仿真分析,仿真结果表明,变体过程中飞行器的高度、速度以及俯仰角等状态均会发生很大变化.      

ESA microgravity payloads for the 1990s

Analysis of flight opportunities of existing and new microgravity multi-user facilities on Eureca and Spacelab and design studies of new experimental facilities for Columbus are presently in progress.

The materials and fluid sciences research community is likely to be a major user of the permanently manned Space Station/Columbus elements such as the European Attached Pressurised Module (APM) and the Man-Tended Free Flyer (MTFF).

In metallurgy, crystal growth and bioengineering initial research will be performed in the manned laboratory, whereas later on the processing will be automated and executed on unmanned platforms.

At present ESA prepares - in close cooperation with the scientific community - the hardware development of microgravity experimental facilities/laboratories for all Columbus elements through design studies. Preliminary studies which have been carried out to date are the following : Crystallisation Laboratory, Fluid Sciences Laboratory, Containerless Processing Laboratory, Thermophysical Properties Measurement Facility, Metallurgy Laboratory.

In 1998 it is planned to deepen these studies covering laboratories for the APM and for the MTFF. Details on flight opportunities in the pre-Columbus period will also be provided.     

Life on Mars: how it disappeared (if it was ever there).

The cryptoendolithic microbial community in the Ross Desert (McMurdo Dry Valleys) of Antarctica exists at temperatures significantly below the temperature optima of the primary producers. Surviving near the limit of their physiological adaptability, the organisms are under severe environmental stress, so further deterioration in the environment results in cell damage and death. The sequence of events leading to extinction is considered to be a terrestrial analog for disappearance of possible life on early Mars. Progressive stages of cell damage and death in the Ross Desert material are documented with transmission electron microscopy.     

空间站乘员睡眠区二氧化碳聚集现象

为了分析乘员在没有良好通风的压力舱内停留时,呼出CO₂的聚集过程并评估其可能导致的医学危害,建立了乘员在特定空间站睡眠舱的计算流体动力学模型,对乘员在睡眠区的呼吸过程进行了非稳态模拟.模拟中乘员的CO₂呼出浓度和肺通气量根据生理实验随CO₂吸入浓度变化.通过模拟给出了睡眠区典型位置处CO₂分压随时间的变化规律.最后提出了无通风条件下乘员在睡眠区停留的最大容许时间,睡眠区CO₂浓度监测仪的布置原则和类似情况下为保障乘员生命安全可采取的一些措施.      

Chemical evolution of RNA under hydrothermal conditions and the role of thermal copolymers of amino acids for the prebiotic degradation and formation of RNA.

The roles of thermal copolymers of amino acids (TCAA) were studied for the prebiotic degradation of RNA. A weak catalytic ability of TCAA consisted of Glu, L-Ala, L-Val, L-Glu, L-Asp, and optionally L-His was detected for the cleavage of the ribose phosphodiester bond of a tetranucleotide (5'-dCrCdGdG) in aqueous solution at 80 degees C. The rate constants of the disappearance of 5'-dCrCdGdG were determined in aqueous solutions using different pH buffer and TCAA. The degradation rates were enhanced 1.3-3.0 times in the presence of TCAA at pH 7.5 and 8.0 at 80 degrees C, while the hydrolysis of oligoguanylate (oligo(G)) was accelerated about 1.6 times at pH 8.0. A weak inhibitory activity for the cleavage of oligo(G) was detected in the presence of 0.055 M TCAA-Std. On the other hand, our recent study on the influences of TCAA for the template-directed reaction of oligo(G) on a polycytidylic acid template showed that TCAA has an acceleration activity for the degradation of the activated nucleotide monomer and an acceleration activity for the formation of G5' ppG capped oligo(G). This series of studies suggest that efficient and selective catalytic or inhibitory activities for either the degradation or formation of RNA under hydrothermal conditions could have hardly emerged from the simple thermal condensation products of amino acids. A scenario is going to be deduced on the chemical evolution of enzymatic activities and RNA molecules concerning hydrothermal earth conditions.     

The evolution of lipids.

Living organisms on the Earth which are divided into three major domains--Archaea, Bacteria, and Eucarya, probably came from a common ancestral cell. Because there are many thermophilic microorganisms near the root of the universal phylogenetic tree, the common ancestral cell should be considered to be a thermophilic microorganism. The existence of a cell is necessary for the living organisms; the cell membrane is the essential structural component of a cell, so its amphiphilic property is vital for the molecule of lipids for cell membranes. Tetraether type glycerophospholipids with C40 isoprenoid chains are major membrane lipids widely distributed in archaeal cells. Cyclization number of C40 isoprenoid chains in thermophilic archaea influences the fluidity of lipids whereas the number of carbons and degree of unsaturation in fatty acids do so in bacteria and eucarya. In addition to the cyclization of the tetraether lipids, covalent bonding of two C40 isoprenoid chains was found in hyperthermophiles. These characteristic structures of the lipids seem to contribute to their fundamental physiological roles in hyperthermophiles. Stereochemical differences between G-1-P archaeal lipids and G-3-P bacterial and eucaryal lipids might have occurred by the function of some proteins long after the first cell was developed by the reactions of small organic molecules. We propose that the structure of lipids of the common ancestral cell may have been similar to those of hyperthermophilic archaea.     

Microflora in the basal strata at Antarctic ice core above the Vostok lake.

The microbiological investigations of the Antarctic ice core at the Vostok station become especially important in connection with the discovery of an subglacial lake in this region. This lake is considered by the world-wide scientific community to be an important object for searching for relict forms of life on the Earth and also as a model for solving a number of problems of exobiology--for instance for development of methods to penetrate into underice sea at Europe--Jupiter's satellite. For the first time the Antarctic ice core samples were taken from the horizons which correspond to the basal zone (3534-3541 m) and to the accreation ice zone (3555-3611 m) above the subglacial lake Vostok. As a result of the microbiological investigations it was shown that the total number of microbial cells have been in the same range of quantities as at the upper, younger horizons and varied from 1.3 x 10(2) up to 9.6 x 10(2) cl/ml. Some periodicity in the cell concentration and in their morphological diversity was revealed along the core. The maximal number and the greatest morphological variety were detected at horizons with the depth of 3534, 3555 and 3595 m. A drop in the cell concentration two or three times as much was found in ice layers under each of the above mentioned horizons. The discovered stratification is apparently connected with the periodicity of the lake water interactions with the basal ice layer and obviously depends on the complex natural events which took place in the geological history of our planet.     

某发动机涡轮叶片使用寿命可靠性分析

发动机的载荷谱是发动机结构寿命研究的依据.利用某短寿命发动机的开车数据,对其高压涡轮叶片使用寿命进行了预测.建立了发动机等效寿命消耗计算模型,采用数据压缩处理技术,有效地提取了发动机的工作载荷.根据发动机短使用寿命这一特点,用威布尔分布模型描述此发动机涡轮叶片寿命分布,建立了发动机寿命可靠性模型,采用不完全寿命数据的中位秩法对发动机叶片寿命进行可靠性计算.随着可靠性增长,发动机寿命不断提高,考虑样本的时效性,用动态的威布尔分布模型来描述此发动机可靠性的增长,以便发动机在研制过程中的可靠性评估.      

空化对流体管路瞬态特性影响分析

空化（或称气穴）是流体系统中常见的现象，它显著地影响着流体管路的瞬态特性。考虑气体在液体工作介质中溶解和析出以及液体介质自身气化，建立相应的流体属性模型，计算不同压力下流体的等效密度及体积模量；同时以一维管道瞬变流理论为基础，考虑流体系统中的空化及气泡溃灭，采用有限差分法计算流体管路锤击过程中的压力脉动。求得的结果与真实物理现象较为接近，能够为流体系统的设计提供依据和参考。     

Canadian advanced life support capacities and future directions

Canada began research on space-relevant biological life support systems in the early 1990s. Since that time Canadian capabilities have grown tremendously, placing Canada among the emerging leaders in biological life support systems. The rapid growth of Canadian expertise has been the result of several factors including a large and technically sophisticated greenhouse sector which successfully operates under challenging climatic conditions, well planned technology transfer strategies between the academic and industrial sectors, and a strong emphasis on international research collaborations. Recent activities such as Canada’s contribution of the Higher Plant Compartment of the European Space Agency’s MELiSSA Pilot Plant and the remote operation of the Arthur Clarke Mars Greenhouse in the Canadian High Arctic continue to demonstrate Canadian capabilities with direct applicability to advanced life support systems. There is also a significant latent potential within Canadian institutions and organizations with respect to directly applicable advanced life support technologies. These directly applicable research interests include such areas as horticultural management strategies (for candidate crops), growth media, food processing, water management, atmosphere management, energy management, waste management, imaging, environment sensors, thermal control, lighting systems, robotics, command and data handling, communications systems, structures, in-situ resource utilization, space analogues and mission operations. With this background and in collaboration with the Canadian aerospace industry sector, a roadmap for future life support contributions is presented here. This roadmap targets an objective of at least 50% food closure by 2050 (providing greater closure in oxygen, water recycling and carbon dioxide uptake). The Canadian advanced life support community has chosen to focus on lunar surface infrastructure and not low Earth orbit or transit systems (i.e. microgravity applications). To advance the technical readiness for the proposed lunar missions, including a lunar plant growth lander, lunar “salad machine” (i.e. small scale plant production unit) and a full scale lunar plant production system, a suite of terrestrial developments and analogue systems are proposed. As has been successfully demonstrated by past Canadian advanced life support activities, terrestrial technology transfer and the development of highly qualified personnel will serve as key outputs for Canadian advanced life support system research programs. This approach is designed to serve the Canadian greenhouse industry by developing compliance measures for mitigating environmental impact, reducing labour and energy costs as well as improving Canadian food security, safety and benefit northern/remote communities.     

发动机羽流作用下的实时月尘运动仿真

月尘运动是月球探测器软着陆过程中不可或缺的重要环节,针对发动机羽流作用下月尘运动真实感不强和月尘颗粒运动模型过于简单的问题,提出了一种逼真的实时月尘运动仿真方法.通过计算流体动力学(CFD, Computational Fluid Dynamics)和二次谢别德插值(Quadratic Shepard)方法,分析和计算单个月尘颗粒的运动学模型,得到一定初始条件下粒子运动的二维轨迹曲线;通过分析粒子的数量、初始位置、初始速度、生命周期等参数对粒子运动学的影响和变化规律,抽象出月尘系统的粒子集;建立基于月尘粒子集的月尘运动模型.实验结果显示:该运动模型逼真的模拟了发动机羽流作用下月尘腾起、飞溅、弥漫、消散等运动过程,视觉真实感和实时性能良好,对研究真空环境中的月尘运动及月球软着陆等相关领域具有一定的参考意义.目前该方法已应用于北航虚拟现实国家重点实验室月球软着陆仿真系统.     

A biological method of including mineralized human liquid and solid wastes into the mass exchange of bio-technical life support systems

The main obstacle to using mineralized human solid and liquid wastes as a source of mineral elements for plants cultivated in bio-technical life support systems (BLSS) is that they contain NaCl. The purpose of this study is to determine whether mineralized human wastes can be used to prepare the nutrient solution for long-duration conveyor cultivation of uneven-aged wheat and Salicornia europaea L. plant community. Human solid and liquid wastes were mineralized by the method of “wet incineration” developed by Yu. Kudenko. They served as a basis for preparing the solutions that were used for conveyor-type cultivation of wheat community represented by 5 age groups, planted with a time interval of 14 days. Wheat was cultivated hydroponically on expanded clay particles. To reduce salt content of the nutrient solution, every two weeks, after wheat was harvested, 12 L of solution was removed from the wheat irrigation tank and used for Salicornia europaea cultivation in water culture in a conveyor mode. The Salicornia community was represented by 2 age groups, planted with a time interval of 14 days. As some portion of the nutrient solution used for wheat cultivation was regularly removed, sodium concentration in the wheat irrigation solution did not exceed 400 mg/L, and mineral elements contained in the removed portion were used for Salicornia cultivation. The experiment lasted 4 months. The total wheat biomass productivity averaged 30.1 g · m⁻² · day⁻¹, and the harvest index amounted to 36.8%. The average productivity of Salicornia edible biomass on a dry weight basis was 39.3 g · m⁻² · day⁻¹, and its aboveground mass contained at least 20% of NaCl. Thus, the proposed technology of cultivation of wheat and halophyte plant community enables using mineralized human wastes as a basis for preparing nutrient solutions and including NaCl in the mass exchange of the BLSS; moreover, humans are supplied with additional amounts of leafy vegetables.     

目标飞行器红外地球敏感器寿命分析与试验验证

针对红外地球敏感器受其寿命影响未能进行寿命验证,通过进行可靠性分析,确定了薄弱环节,设计了寿命试验,开展了地面试验验证.寿命试验采取实时寿命试验和进程加速寿命试验相结合的方法,模拟在轨工作环境,考核产品的实际工作寿命,对极端工况下（寿命末期产品密封功能失效）试验件的运转性能及失效模式进行摸底.分析了寿命试验关键参数和极端工况下试验件轴系运转测试数据,数据表明试验件工作正常,已运行在稳定工作期.由可靠性分析和寿命试验数据可以得出：目标飞行器红外地球敏感器实际寿命相对3年寿命要求有较大的裕量,寿命试验的开展可以进一步验证产品实际寿命.     

Water movement on the convex surfaces of porous media under microgravity

A plant growth system for crop production under microgravity is part of a life supporting system designed for long-duration space missions. A plant growth in soil in space requires the understanding of water movement in soil void spaces under microgravity. Under 1G-force condition, on earth, water movement in porous media is driven by gradients of matric and gravitational potentials. Under microgravity condition, water movement in porous media is supposed to be driven only by a matric potential gradient, but it is still not well understood. We hypothesized that under microgravity water in void spaces of porous media hardly moved comparing in void spaces without obstacles because the concave surfaces of the porous media hindered water movement. The objective of this study was to investigate water movement on the convex surfaces of porous media under microgravity. We conducted parabolic flight experiments that provided 20–25?s of microgravity at the top of a parabolic flight. We observed water movement in void spaces in soil-like porous media made by glass beads and glass spheres (round-bottomed glass flasks) in the different conditions of water injection under microgravity. Without water injection, water did not move much in neither glass beads nor glass spheres. When water was injected during microgravity, water accumulated in contacts between the particles, and the water made thick fluid films on the particles surface. When the water injection was stopped under microgravity, water was held in the contacts between the particles. This study showed that water did not move upward in the void spaces with or without the water injection. In addition, our results suggested that the difficulty of water movement on the convex (i.e. particle surfaces) might result in slower water move in porous media under microgravity than at 1G-force.     

基于GLONASS星历的预报轨道的误差分析

推导了协议地球坐标系下的卫星运动方程.通过分析由GLONASS(Global Navigation Satellite System)广播星历参数确定的卫星预报轨道的拟合精度,指出了摄动力模型的简化、积分器的选择,以及忽略了极移影响等因素是引起拟合误差的主要因素,其中摄动力模型的简化起最主要的作用.通过对卫星轨道运动方程积分30?min,可知由摄动力模型的简化、积分器和忽略极移影响等因素引起的拟合误差分别为0.827?m,0.224?m和0.025?m.要提高预报轨道拟合的精度,关键是要对摄动力简化特别是地球引力摄动高阶项的截断以及日月引力场简化造成的轨道预报精度损失加以控制.     

低剂量电离辐射环境下微生物群落物种多样性的产生和维持机制

空间站微生物严重滋生现象表明：在低剂量电离辐射（Low-Dose Ionizing Radiation,LDIR）环境下,微生物群落物种多样性水平大大增加,其机制目前尚不清楚。在前期调查和具体实验观测的基础上,本研究首次提出LDIR能够使微生物群落中的物种产生不同程度的生长延迟效应,从而减小了物种之间的竞争排斥,诱导并维持了微生物群落的物种多样性。本研究基于经典的Lotka-Volterra竞争模型,将生长延迟时间环节引入其中,得到LDIR下微生物群落的演替模型,在Matlab/Simulink平台上进行大规模的计算机仿真实验,获得LDIR下微生物多样性产生和维持的动力学机制,得到结果可为认识低剂量电离辐射环境下微生物群落的演替过程提供科学的理论依据。     

载人火星探测的行星保护

行星保护是影响载人火星探索任务的重要问题之一。载人探测的行星保护包括3个方面,即防止来源于地球的微生物污染目标星球的正向污染防护、防止外来生物对地球的潜在危害的逆向污染防护,以及确保航天员的健康和安全。国际宇航界已经开始针对载人火星探测的行星保护制定政策法规和开展技术研讨。本文介绍了行星保护的定义和法理依据,简要回顾了美国国家航空航天局在“阿波罗登月”中的行星保护措施,并对未来载人火星探测中的主要污染物、污染途径以及污染防护策略进行了初步探讨。     

Applied potential tomography shows differential changes in fluid content of leg tissue layers in microgravity.

Absence of hydrostatic forces in the human cardiocirculatory system normally leads to an overall body fluid deficit. It was hypothesized that this is mainly due to a loss of interstitial fluid. An experiment was performed on board the Russian MIR station. Cuffs were positioned around both thighs and inflated up to suprasystolic values. This maneuver took place just before and after immediately a lower body negative pressure session (LBNP). The redistribution of fluids underneath the cuffs was assessed by means of cross-sectional impedance tomography (Applied Potential Tomography, APT). A microgravity induced loss of interstitial fluid was measured in all layers of the observed cross-section. The APT-readings changed significantly (SD approximately +/- .9) from 3.0 at 1g to 1.7 at 0g for the outer layer and from 2.7 at 1g to 2.0 at 0g for the middle layer (expressed in arbitrary units). The LBNP maneuver was able to fill the interstitial space but only at levels higher than -15 mmHg LBNP. This suggests that the superficial tissues in the legs are as much affected as the deeper ones by changing g-conditions and LBNP can be used to counteract interstitial fluid loss in this area.