Letting thoughts take wing

Recent developments in neuroelectronics are applied to aviation and airplane flight control instruments. Electromyographic control has been applied to flight simulations using the autopilot interface in order to use gestures to give bank and pitch commands to the autopilot. In other demonstrations, direct rate control was used to perform repeated successful landings and the damage-adaptive capability of inner-loop neural and propulsion-based controls was utilized.     

Spectroscopic diagnostics for CDS and SUMER

The CDS and SUMER instruments will make extensive use of spectroscopic diagnostics to determine the physical parameters of the solar transition region and corona. A great deal of effort is going into the development of these techniques to ensure that they are accurate. This requires interfacing solar analysis programs with the best available atomic data calculations. Recent developments in this work will be presented, with specific examples of useful spectral line ratios.     

Early Data from Aura and Continuity from Uars and Toms

Aura, the last of the large EOS observatories, was launched on July~15, 2004. Aura is designed to make comprehensive stratospheric and tropospheric composition measurements from its four instruments, HIRDLS, MLS, OMI and TES. These four instruments work in synergy to provide data on ozone trends, air quality and climate change. The instruments observe in the nadir and limb and provide the best horizontal and vertical resolution ever achieved from space. After over one year in orbit the instruments are nearly operational and providing data to the scientific community. We summarize the mission, instruments, and initial results and give examples of how Aura will provide continuity to earlier chemistry missions.     

The Juno Radiation Monitoring (RM) Investigation

The Radiation Monitoring Investigation of the Juno Mission will actively retrieve and analyze the noise signatures from penetrating radiation in the images of Juno’s star cameras and science instruments at Jupiter. The investigation’s objective is to profile Jupiter’s \(>10\mbox{-MeV}\) electron environment in regions of the Jovian magnetosphere which today are still largely unexplored. This paper discusses the primary instruments on Juno which contribute to the investigation’s data suite, the measurements of camera noise from penetrating particles, spectral sensitivities and measurement ranges of the instruments, calibrations performed prior to Juno’s first science orbit, and how the measurements may be used to infer the external relativistic electron environment.     

VXI or PXI test system improvement using DSP

The results of a study into the use of distributed digital signal processing (DSP) at the instrument level in a VXI and PXI based test system and the effects on test time. One of the limiting factors in testing mixed signal or analog devices using standard bus based instruments is the transfer speed from the instrument to the controlling computer of large amounts of waveform data. This is important as these types of tests use non-deterministic, quantized signals that must be mathematically processed to extract test information. This processing can either be done at the instrument or at the central controller. If the processing is done at the instrument then only the results are transferred to the controller. If the controller does the processing then the raw data must be transferred to and from the instrument. Using two instruments, one in VXI and one in PXI, this paper measures the effects of typical tests contesting the measurements as done in the central processor as opposed to a distributed DSP processor in each instrument For each acquisition instrument, tests were implemented by capturing the data and moving it to the controlling computer where it was processed to extract test results, or by using the instruments on-board DSP so only the final test results were set to the controlling computer. The study results show that a significant improvement in test time can be made by selecting "smart" instruments for the test system when using PXI or VXI based instruments.     

Microscope Instrument Development,Lessons for GOCE

Two space missions are presently under development with payload based on ultra-sensitive electrostatic accelerometers. The GOCE mission takes advantage of a three axis gradiometer accommodated in a very stable thermal case on board a drag-free satellite orbiting at a very low altitude of 250 km. This ESA mission will perform the very highly accurate mapping of the Earth gravity field with a geographical resolution of 100 km. The MICROSCOPE mission is devoted to the test of the “Universality of free fall” in view of the verification of the Einstein Equivalence Principle (EP) and of the search of a new interaction. The MICROSCOPE instrument is composed of two pairs of differential electrostatic accelerometers and the accelerometer proof-masses are the bodies of the EP test. The satellite is also a drag-free satellite exhibiting a fine attitude control and in a certain way, each differential accelerometer is a one axis gradiometer with an arm of quite null length. The development of this instrument much interests the definition and the evaluation of the sensor cores of the gradiometer. The in flight calibration process of both instruments is also very similar. Lessons form these parallel developments are presented. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Collecting Samples in Gale Crater, Mars; an Overview of the Mars Science Laboratory Sample Acquisition, Sample Processing and Handling System

The Mars Science Laboratory Mission (MSL), scheduled to land on Mars in the summer of 2012, consists of a rover and a scientific payload designed to identify and assess the habitability, geological, and environmental histories of Gale crater. Unraveling the geologic history of the region and providing an assessment of present and past habitability requires an evaluation of the physical and chemical characteristics of the landing site; this includes providing an in-depth examination of the chemical and physical properties of Martian regolith and rocks. The MSL Sample Acquisition, Processing, and Handling (SA/SPaH) subsystem will be the first in-situ system designed to acquire interior rock and soil samples from Martian surface materials. These samples are processed and separated into fine particles and distributed to two onboard analytical science instruments SAM (Sample Analysis at Mars Instrument Suite) and CheMin (Chemistry and Mineralogy) or to a sample analysis tray for visual inspection. The SA/SPaH subsystem is also responsible for the placement of the two contact instruments, Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS), and the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), on rock and soil targets. Finally, there is a Dust Removal Tool (DRT) to remove dust particles from rock surfaces for subsequent analysis by the contact and or mast mounted instruments (e.g. Mast Cameras (MastCam) and the Chemistry and Micro-Imaging instruments (ChemCam)).     

小型固定翼无人机集群综述和未来发展综述

围绕小型固定翼无人机集群这一难度高、发展快、应用前景广阔、多学科交叉的新方向,从集群系统内涵、现有典型项目、关键技术3个角度综述了国内外小型固定翼无人机集群的研究现状。在系统梳理集群系统内涵和应用优势的基础上,从集群协同模式探索、分布指挥体系构建、核心关键技术突破和集群验证等4个视角总结现有典型项目,从体系架构、通信组网、决策与规划、飞机平台、集群飞行、集群安全与集群指控等7个核心点综述了技术研究现状。最后,综合小型固定翼无人机集群中亟需解决的关键技术,展望了这一领域未来的发展趋势。     

工业大尺寸测量仪器的溯源现状及发展趋势

大型工业产品及装备制造的信息化和全球化需要高精度大尺寸测量仪器作计量保障.本文介绍了现有工业大尺寸测量仪器的发展现状和应用特点,对现有的校准技术和溯源形式作了总结与分析,并展望了今后大尺寸测量仪器的溯源形式.     

Composition Measurements of a Comet from the Rosetta Orbiter Spacecraft

The European Space Agency (ESA) Rosetta Spacecraft, launched on March 2, 2004 toward Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (C-G), carries a complementary set of instruments on both the orbiter and lander (Philae) portions of the spacecraft, to measure the composition of the Comet C-G. The primary composition measuring instruments on the Orbiter are Alice, COSIMA, ICA, MIRO, OSIRIS, ROSINA and VIRTIS. These instruments collectively are capable of providing compositional information, including temporal and spatial distributions of important atomic, molecular, and ionic species, minerals, and ices in the coma and nucleus. The instruments utilize a variety of techniques and wavelength ranges to accomplish their objectives. This paper provides an overview of composition measurements that will be possible using the suite of orbiter composition measuring instruments. A table is provided that lists important species detectable (depending on abundances) with each instrument.     

Solar Wind Electron Proton Alpha Monitor (SWEPAM) for the Advanced Composition Explorer

The Solar Wind Electron Proton Alpha Monitor (SWEPAM) experiment provides the bulk solar wind observations for the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE). These observations provide the context for elemental and isotopic composition measurements made on ACE as well as allowing the direct examination of numerous solar wind phenomena such as coronal mass ejections, interplanetary shocks, and solar wind fine structure, with advanced, 3-D plasma instrumentation. They also provide an ideal data set for both heliospheric and magnetospheric multi-spacecraft studies where they can be used in conjunction with other, simultaneous observations from spacecraft such as Ulysses. The SWEPAM observations are made simultaneously with independent electron and ion instruments. In order to save costs for the ACE project, we recycled the flight spares from the joint NASA/ESA Ulysses mission. Both instruments have undergone selective refurbishment as well as modernization and modifications required to meet the ACE mission and spacecraft accommodation requirements. Both incorporate electrostatic analyzers whose fan-shaped fields of view sweep out all pertinent look directions as the spacecraft spins. Enhancements in the SWEPAM instruments from their original forms as Ulysses spare instruments include (1) a factor of 16 increase in the accumulation interval (and hence sensitivity) for high energy, halo electrons; (2) halving of the effective ion-detecting CEM spacing from ∼5° on Ulysses to ∼2.5° for ACE; and (3) the inclusion of a 20° conical swath of enhanced sensitivity coverage in order to measure suprathermal ions outside of the solar wind beam. New control electronics and programming provide for 64-s resolution of the full electron and ion distribution functions and cull out a subset of these observations for continuous real-time telemetry for space weather purposes. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The Mars Odyssey Gamma-Ray Spectrometer Instrument Suite

The Mars Odyssey Gamma-Ray Spectrometer is a suite of three different instruments, a gamma subsystem (GS), a neutron spectrometer, and a high-energy neutron detector, working together to collect data that will permit the mapping of elemental concentrations on the surface of Mars. The instruments are complimentary in that the neutron instruments have greater sensitivity to low amounts of hydrogen, but their signals saturate as the hydrogen content gets high. The hydrogen signal in the GS, on the other hand, does not saturate at high hydrogen contents and is sensitive to small differences in hydrogen content even when hydrogen is very abundant. The hydrogen signal in the neutron instruments and the GS have a different dependence on depth, and thus by combining both data sets we can infer not only the amount of hydrogen, but constrain its distribution with depth. In addition to hydrogen, the GS determines the abundances of several other elements. The instruments, the basis of the technique, and the data processing requirements are described as are some expected applications of the data to scientific problems.     

Navier–Stokes solvers in European aircraft design

The paper gives a broad perspective of the progress made during the last 10 years in solving the Navier–Stokes equations and traces how this simulation technique went from being a specialized research topic to a practical engineering tool that design engineers use on a routine basis.

The scope is limited to Navier–Stokes solvers applied to industrial design of airframes with attention focused particularly on developments in Europe. An overview of the different Navier–Stokes codes used in Europe is given, and on-going developments are outlined.

The current state of progress is illustrated by computed steady and unsteady solutions to industrial problems, ranging from airfoil characteristics, flow around an isolated wing, to full aircraft configurations.

A discussion on the future industrial design environment is given, and developments in Europe towards a more integrated design approach with underlying concepts like ‘concurrent engineering (CE)’ and the ‘virtual product (VP)’ are summarized. The paper concludes with a discussion on future challenging applications.     

Analysis of domestic aircraft gas turbine engine development dynamics

The schemes of creating aircraft GTE developments by domestic design bureaus are analyzed and basic engines, their modifications and some projects are shown in chronological succession. The amount of developments of individual engine types is examined and a share of each DB in the general scope of developments is determined. The dynamics of GTE developments in the USSR/CIS is presented.     

影响惯性仪表精度长期稳定的材料学问题与对策

陀螺仪和加速度计等惯性仪表的精度对零组件的尺寸变化有着极其敏感的反应。随着对惯性仪表精度及其稳定性研究的深入,发现材料的尺寸不稳定是导致精度稳定性差的主要原因之一。以多种惯性仪表构件的常用材料为例,从材料学角度系统综述了微观缺陷、第二相、晶粒和织构、内应力以及环境因素对材料尺寸稳定性的影响规律,并提出了如何从材料内禀特性出发改善惯性仪表精度长期稳定性,展望了惯性仪表材料与工艺的未来发展方向。     

航空发动机机载压力测试设备自动校准系统设计

介绍了航空发动机机载压力测试设备的自动校准系统设计。该系统可实现机载压力测量设备的全自动现场校准,已成功应用于某型发动机机载压力测试设备的自动校准工作中。在0～7 MPa(表压、绝压)下进行测试、校准,准确度可达0.01%FS。     

The Jupiter Energetic Particle Detector Instrument (JEDI) Investigation for the Juno Mission

The Jupiter Energetic Particle Detector Instruments (JEDI) on the Juno Jupiter polar-orbiting, atmosphere-skimming, mission to Jupiter will coordinate with the several other space physics instruments on the Juno spacecraft to characterize and understand the space environment of Jupiter’s polar regions, and specifically to understand the generation of Jupiter’s powerful aurora. JEDI comprises 3 nearly-identical instruments and measures at minimum the energy, angle, and ion composition distributions of ions with energies from H:20 keV and O: 50 keV to >1 MeV, and the energy and angle distribution of electrons from <40 to >500 keV. Each JEDI instrument uses microchannel plates (MCP) and thin foils to measure the times of flight (TOF) of incoming ions and the pulse height associated with the interaction of ions with the foils, and it uses solid state detectors (SSD’s) to measure the total energy (E) of both the ions and the electrons. The MCP anodes and the SSD arrays are configured to determine the directions of arrivals of the incoming charged particles. The instruments also use fast triple coincidence and optimum shielding to suppress penetrating background radiation and incoming UV foreground. Here we describe the science objectives of JEDI, the science and measurement requirements, the challenges that the JEDI team had in meeting these requirements, the design and operation of the JEDI instruments, their calibrated performances, the JEDI inflight and ground operations, and the initial measurements of the JEDI instruments in interplanetary space following the Juno launch on 5 August 2011. Juno will begin its prime science operations, comprising 32 orbits with dimensions 1.1×40 RJ, in mid-2016.     

Star trackers for attitude determination

One problem comes to all spacecrafts using vector information. That is the problem of determining the attitude. This paper describes how the area of attitude determination instruments has evolved from simple pointing devices into the latest technology, which determines the attitude by utilizing a CCD camera and a powerful microcomputer. The instruments are called star trackers and they are capable of determining the attitude with an accuracy better than 1 arcsecond. The concept of the star tracker is explained. The obtainable accuracy is calculated, the numbers of stars to be included in the star catalogue are discussed and the acquisition of the initial attitude is explained. Finally the commercial market for star trackers is discussed     

The Ultraviolet Spectrograph on NASA’s Juno Mission

The ultraviolet spectrograph instrument on the Juno mission (Juno-UVS) is a long-slit imaging spectrograph designed to observe and characterize Jupiter’s far-ultraviolet (FUV) auroral emissions. These observations will be coordinated and correlated with those from Juno’s other remote sensing instruments and used to place in situ measurements made by Juno’s particles and fields instruments into a global context, relating the local data with events occurring in more distant regions of Jupiter’s magnetosphere. Juno-UVS is based on a series of imaging FUV spectrographs currently in flight—the two Alice instruments on the Rosetta and New Horizons missions, and the Lyman Alpha Mapping Project on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission. However, Juno-UVS has several important modifications, including (1) a scan mirror (for targeting specific auroral features), (2) extensive shielding (for mitigation of electronics and data quality degradation by energetic particles), and (3) a cross delay line microchannel plate detector (for both faster photon counting and improved spatial resolution). This paper describes the science objectives, design, and initial performance of the Juno-UVS.