Prospects and opportunities for space collaboration with Latin America: What can India contribute and gain?

India in Asia and Brazil in Latin America are regarded as the most promising global economies. This paper examines the openings and possibilities for space technology collaboration between India and Latin American states under the larger rubric of science and technology collaboration. While the distance and language barriers between the two regions have proved a hindrance in the past, the paper proceeds with an assumption that, in the 21st century, such barriers should not be a limitation on developing strategic, economic, and science and technology partnerships among nation-states. The paper argues that the Latin American states are keen to have their own satellites because of their significant utility in the socioeconomic sector and this offers an opportunity to India to use cooperation in space technologies as a powerful tool for engagement in Latin America.     

A multi-disciplinary plan for easier access, management, and analysis of science data

NASA's COST LESS Team is pursuing strategies to reduce the cost and complexity of planning and executing space missions. The team's technical goal is to reverse the trend of constructing unique solutions for similar problems. To this end, the team is exploring ways to represent mission functionality in terms of building blocks and is discovering approaches that could accommodate the same building blocks for seemingly disparate activities, such as organizing processed telemetry data, controlling onboard experiments, searching science archives, reducing and presenting information to science users, and supporting educational outreach. Reusable object technology (UOT), a research undertaking by the authors, is showing promise in recognizing similarities in functions which were previously viewed as unique because they appeared in different programs or mission phases. Since UOT is aimed at being implementation independent (i.e. the function performed could be accomplished manually, by an automated process, by a specialized instrument, etc.), no premature judgment for automation or autonomy need be made. In this paper, the authors attempt to strike a balance between theory and reality as they describe UOT, including its beginnings, its underpinning, its utility, and its potential for achieving substantive reductions in cost and complexity for the Agency's space programs. The authors discuss their collaboration with the Center for EUV Astrophysics, University of California, Berkeley to reduce the cost and complexity of science investigations. Their multi-disciplinary plan incorporates both UOT and a complementary technology introduced in this paper, called interactive archives.     

A multi-disciplinary plan for easier access, management, and analysis of science data

NASA’s COST LESS Team is pursuing strategies to reduce the cost and complexity of planning and executing space missions. The team’s technical goal is to reverse the trend of constructing unique solutions for similar problems. To this end, the team is exploring ways to represent mission functionality in terms of building blocks and is discovering approaches that could accommodate the same building blocks for seemingly disparate activities, such as organizing processed telemetry data, controlling onboard experiments, searching science archives, reducing and presenting information to science users, and supporting educational outreach. Reusable object technology (UOT), a research undertaking by the authors, is showing promise in recognizing similarities in functions which were previously viewed as unique because they appeared in different programs or mission phases. Since UOT is aimed at being implementation independent (i.e. the function performed could be accomplished manually, by an automated process, by a specialized instrument, etc.), no premature judgment for automation or autonomy need be made. In this paper, the authors attempt to strike a balance between theory and reality as they describe UOT, including its beginnings, its underpinning, its utility, and its potential for achieving substantive reductions in cost and complexity for the Agency’s space programs. The authors discuss their collaboration with the Center for EUV Astrophysics, University of California, Berkeley to reduce the cost and complexity of science investigations. Their multi-disciplinary plan incorporates both UOT and a complementary technology introduced in this paper, called interactive archives.     

International collaboration: the cornerstone of satellite land remote sensing in the 21st century

Satellite land remotely sensed data are used by scientists and resource managers world-wide to study similar multidisciplinary earth science problems. Most of their information requirements can be met by a small number of satellite sensor types. Moderate-resolution resource satellites and low-resolution environmental satellites are the most prominent of these, and they are the focus of this paper. Building, launching, and operating satellite systems are very expensive endeavors. Consequently, nations should change the current pattern of independently launching and operating similar, largely redundant resource and environmental satellite systems in favor of true and full collaboration in developing, launching, operating, and sharing the data from such systems of the future. The past decade has seen encouraging signs of increasing international collaboration in earth remote sensing, but full collaboration has not yet been attempted. A general strategy to achieve such international collaboration is presented here, including discussion of potential obstacles, ideas for organizing and overseeing the long-term process toward collaboration, and short-term objectives whereby early successes critical to accomplishing long-term goals can be achieved.     

How far – if at all – should the USA cooperate with China in space?

China has engaged in a steady, long-standing effort to build and strengthen its space capabilities, achieving progressively more ambitious milestones and staking its claim as a major space power. It is also increasingly engaging in cooperative efforts. A number of issues must be weighed, however, before the USA should consider any collaboration with it. These include the essentially military nature of China’s space program, the fact that China’s intentions in space and decision-making process are far from ‘transparent’, and the way it uses its space activities to pursue foreign policy goals. While the latter could be useful in, e.g., reducing tensions on the Korean peninsular through a space-services-for-giving-up-missiles tradeoff, and while there is scope for collaboration in space science missions, there are no compelling reasons for the USA to pursue cooperation in human spaceflight with China.     

Journey across the disciplines: a foundation for scientific communication in bioastronomy

As an increasing number of fascinating discoveries within the realm of bioastronomy appear in media headlines, participating scientists continue to pursue ways of insuring the long-term success of the scientific discipline. In an effort to foster cross-disciplinary collaboration, communication, and training for scientists involved in bioastronomy research, a team of scientists and science education professionals have developed a survey to assess (1) the degree to which scientists in bioastronomy define themselves as interdisciplinary scientists, (2) the extent to which scientists identify their needs for professional development opportunities to become more effective interdisciplinary collaborators, and (3) what services and infrastructure the bioastronomy community needs to develop for long-term productive interdisciplinary communication, collaboration, research and training. The results of a survey, distributed at the 2004 Astrobiology Science Conference (held at Moffett Field, CA), serve the bioastronomy science community by providing a sound research baseline that informs decisions and targeted efforts to increase cross-disciplinary communication, gathering information about needed professional development opportunities for scientists, and generating insights for training of the next generation of astrobiologists. Results indicate that members of the community feel that interdisciplinary communication and collaboration can best be supported by (1) increased funding opportunities, (2) scheduled time for collaboration at professional meetings, (3) reduction of concurrent sessions at professional meetings, and (4) creation of professional development opportunities for scientists.     

What next for China in space after Shenzhou?

This article discusses China's ambitions in space now that it seems set to pursue human spaceflight. It suggests that, after sending its astronauts into space, completing orbital rendezvous-docking operations and placing a space lab in orbit, China will focus on the Moon with its Chang’e project. As an emerging space power, China will play a more active role in the international space community through collaboration in areas such as lunar exploration, science operations on the International Space Station, the Galileo Global Navigation Satellite System and the International Geosphere–Biosphere Program (IGBP). In particular, China will vigorously explore new opportunities to expand its cooperation with Russia and ESA to counteract Washington's attempt at containment. Meanwhile, Beijing will continue to follow its self-reliance principle to go its own way in space.     

Promoting research and education in basic space science: the approach of the UN/ESA workshops

UN-affiliated regional centres for space science and technology education are being established or are in operation in Africa (Morocco, Nigeria), Asia and the Pacific (India), Latin America and the Caribbean (Brazil, Mexico), and Western Asia (Jordan). Education curricula at the university level, embracing remote sensing, satellite communications, satellite meteorology, and space science have been developed for these centres. This article briefly reports on the structure of the most recent updated education curricula in the four disciplines that have been made available for implementation in 2002 and 2003, in the six official languages of the United Nations. This is also an effort to bridge the gap between such education curricula as they vary significantly between nations and among educational institutions in nations.     

The Voyager Interstellar Mission

The Voyager Interstellar Mission began on January 1, 1990, with the primary objective being to characterize the interplanetary medium beyond Neptune and to search for the transition region between the interplanetary medium and the interstellar medium. At the start of this mission, the two Voyager spacecraft had already been in flight for over twelve years, having successfully returned a wealth of scientific information about the planetary systems of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, and the interplanetary medium between Earth and Neptune. The two spacecraft have the potential to continue returning science data until around the year 2020. With this extended operating lifetime, there is a high likelihood of one of the two spacecraft penetrating the termination shock and possibly the heliopause boundary, and entering interstellar space before that time. This paper describes the Voyager Interstellar Mission--the mission objectives, the spacecraft and science payload, the mission operations system used to support operations, and the mission operations strategy being used to maximize science data return even in the event of certain potential spacecraft subsystem failures. The implementation of automated analysis tools to offset and enable reduced flight team staffing levels is also discussed.     

廊坊市中小企业电子商务存在的问题及对策研究

随着全球信息化水平的提高,越来越多企业清晰认识到电子商务的价值所在,而传统企业为了能在电子商务这个虚拟的更为广阔的数字市场空间展示更多的产品、提供更个性化的服务、寻求更大的发展,也纷纷加入其中。电子商务的实施对中小企业本身和整个国民经济都具有极其重要的战略意义,廊坊的中小企业电子商务也逐步朝着国际化、主流化、移动化的趋势发展。逐步加快电子商务的应用和建设,大力发展中小企业电子商务对于加快廊坊市国民经济和社会信息化进程,以信息化带动工业化,以工业化促进信息化,走新型工业化道路,实现全面建设小康社会的宏伟目标具有十分重要的意义。     

空间科学规划及对航天运输系统的需求

空间科学不仅能够推动我国在基础科学研究领域取得重大科学突破,还能够有效牵引、带动航天高新技术的发展。中国科学院空间科学战略性先导科技专项是"十二五"时期我国空间科学领域最重要的系统性进展,开启了中国空间科学发展的新篇章。"十三五"时期,我国将继续研制、发射一系列新的空间科学卫星,这对航天运输系统提出了新的技术发展需求。发展空间科学必将推动我国的航天强国、世界科技强国建设进程。     

基于DSM的航天器信息建模方法及应用

将设计结构矩阵（DSM）技术应用于航天器研制的设计流程建模和信息建模,能够清晰准确地描述航天器各设计活动之间的信息耦合关系。根据航天器设计过程中跨分系统集成和协同设计的具体教学与培训需求,开发了一种基于DSM进行建模的工具软件,可用于建立一个基于设计参数信息的集成设计系统。根据其内在耦合关联关系,可实现各个分系统、各个模块、各个学科的参数信息一致和动态关联更新。     

What do nations want from international collaboration for space exploration?

From 2006 to 2007 14 space agencies developed a Global Exploration Strategy outlining the rationales, goals, and timelines for space exploration. As more nations gain support for exploration programs and begin executing missions, the informal meetings of the Global Exploration Strategy ‘partners’ should be formalized through the establishment of a new international collaboration mechanism for space exploration. This paper outlines a set of desirable criteria a new collaboration mechanism should meet to encourage participation by the major space powers. The criteria were developed by synthesizing information from interviews with space agency representatives, government representatives, and space policy professionals from 10 of the Global Exploration Strategy countries. The criteria give an insight into the current requirements for international collaboration in space exploration.     

Truly dead or just comotose?: The status of space biology at the half-century mark

2007 was the 50th anniversary of Sputnik II, which launched the dog Laika into orbit and began the discipline of space biology. Compared with other young sub-disciplines within biology, space biology has been largely a failure. From day one Cold War politics led to dishonest or insufficient reporting of scientific results. International competition seems essential for getting organisms into orbit but political competition can lead to poor science. The People's Republic of China, as a new player in space exploration, provides hope for progress in space biology. It remains to be seen, however, whether it will invite significant international collaboration in space biology and establish higher standards than have characterized space biology research in the past 50 years.     

The implementation of game in a 20-day head-down tilting bed rest experiment upon mood status and neurotic levels of rest subjects

This study evaluated the effect of the implementation of game on mental health among participants in a bedrest (BR) experiment. Subjects were 12 healthy males aged 20-26, who participated in a 20-day 6-degrees head-down tilting BR experiment. The participants were asked to complete psychometrical questionnaires before, during, and after the experiment. We entrusted the participants to manage their leisure time and they intended a game in which all of them could take part over the experiment period. The general conversation and light-hearted mood among the subjects continued during the experimental period. Longitudinal data analysis showed that levels of neurosis and mood status did not deteriorate during the experiment, while our previous experiments, which were performed under the same protocol as this study except for the implementation of the game showed a distinct deterioration in psychosocial status. We consider that the implementation of game autonomously contributes to the positive effects on the mental health among the participants.     

The International Space Station human life sciences experiment implementation process.

The selection, definition, and development phases of a Life Sciences flight research experiment has been consistent throughout the past decade. The implementation process, however, has changed significantly within the past two years. This change is driven primarily by the shift from highly integrated, dedicated research missions on platforms with well defined processes to self contained experiments with stand alone operations on platforms which are being concurrently designed. For experiments manifested on the International Space Station (ISS) and/or on short duration missions, the more modular, streamlined, and independent the individual experiment is, the more likely it is to be successfully implemented before the ISS assembly is completed. During the assembly phase of the ISS, science operations are lower in priority than the construction of the station. After the station has been completed, it is expected that more resources will be available to perform research. The complexity of implementing investigations increases with the logistics needed to perform the experiment. Examples of logistics issues include- hardware unique to the experiment; large up and down mass and volume needs; access to crew and hardware during the ascent or descent phases; maintenance of hardware and supplies with a limited shelf life,- baseline data collection schedules with lengthy sessions or sessions close to the launch or landing; onboard stowage availability, particularly cold stowage; and extensive training where highly proficient skills must be maintained. As the ISS processes become better defined, experiment implementation will meet new challenges due to distributed management, on-orbit resource sharing, and adjustments to crew availability pre- and post-increment.     

闪光 X 射线技术在空间科学领域中的应用

在长时间飞行的航天器的设计中,必须考虑其表面和暴露的子系统被陨石雨和沿轨道运动碎片的高速撞击。闪光 X 射线技术是研究这一问题的基本工具之一。在美国销售的闪光 X 射线设备中有近30%是用于空间科学的研究。文章介绍了闪光 X 射线系统的性能及其在空间科学研究中的应用。     

Space life and biomedical sciences in support of the global exploration roadmap and societal development

The human exploration of space is pushing the boundaries of what is technically feasible. The space industry is preparing for the New Space era, the momentum for which will emanate from the commercial human spaceflight sector, and will be buttressed by international solar system exploration endeavours. With many distinctive technical challenges to be overcome, human spaceflight requires that numerous biological and physical systems be examined under exceptional circumstances for progress to be made. To effectively tackle such an undertaking significant intra- and international coordination and collaboration is required. Space life and biomedical science research and development (R & D) will support the Global Exploration Roadmap (GER) by enabling humans to ‘endure’ the extreme activity that is long duration human spaceflight. In so doing the field will discover solutions to some of our most difficult human health issues, and as a consequence benefit society as a whole. This space-specific R&D will drive a significant amount of terrestrial biomedical research and as a result the international community will not only gain benefits in the form of improved healthcare in space and on Earth, but also through the growth of its science base and industry.     

环首都经济圈河北省居民体育生活方式现状与发展对策研究

本文采用文献资料法、问卷调查法,针对河北省14县市区的体育生活方式进行了调查研究,目的是为了改善居民不良的生活方式,培育居民科学、健康、文明的体育生活方式,为促进河北省全民健身计划的顺利实施提供有利的保障。