A two-tiered approach to assessing the habitability of exoplanets

In the next few years, the number of catalogued exoplanets will be counted in the thousands. This will vastly expand the number of potentially habitable worlds and lead to a systematic assessment of their astrobiological potential. Here, we suggest a two-tiered classification scheme of exoplanet habitability. The first tier consists of an Earth Similarity Index (ESI), which allows worlds to be screened with regard to their similarity to Earth, the only known inhabited planet at this time. The ESI is based on data available or potentially available for most exoplanets such as mass, radius, and temperature. For the second tier of the classification scheme we propose a Planetary Habitability Index (PHI) based on the presence of a stable substrate, available energy, appropriate chemistry, and the potential for holding a liquid solvent. The PHI has been designed to minimize the biased search for life as we know it and to take into account life that might exist under more exotic conditions. As such, the PHI requires more detailed knowledge than is available for any exoplanet at this time. However, future missions such as the Terrestrial Planet Finder will collect this information and advance the PHI. Both indices are formulated in a way that enables their values to be updated as technology and our knowledge about habitable planets, moons, and life advances. Applying the proposed metrics to bodies within our Solar System for comparison reveals two planets in the Gliese 581 system, GJ 581 c and d, with an ESI comparable to that of Mars and a PHI between that of Europa and Enceladus.     

待发式运载工具推进方式的评价

未来的地球—轨道运载工具应能在作出决定后的几小时、甚至几分钟内发射.这种运载工具的研究工作已经开始.在第一阶段的研究中,设计出了11种能将2.27t载荷送入极轨道的运载工具,并验证了设计参数的变化(增加轨道机动飞行动作、增加载荷重量等).根据第一阶段研究结果,第二阶段的设计工作选择了两种方案,即垂直起飞的两级系统和水平起飞的两级系统.给出了几种推进方式的评估结果,包括起飞时的推重比效果、水平起飞的双燃料推进方案和使用氟的效果等.     

利用天狼星(SIRIO-1)卫星进行的Ku波段电波传播实验

1983—1984年中国和意大利进行天狼星(SIRlO-1)卫星联合实验,本文报导北京地球站所进行的电波传播实验的主要结果。其中包括:11.5GHz下行雨致衰减、17.1GHz/11.5GHz上下行雨致衰减的相关关系,衰减变化率,微波辐射计和信号闪烁等。所获得的结果对我国发展Ku波段通讯或广播卫星系统有参考意义。     

金属基复合材料凝固工艺

无论是颗粒增强还是纤维增强的金属基复合材料都有一个共同的特征,即它们都显著优于基体合金的刚度和强度。随着增强剂价格的降低,使重量轻的复合材料在许多应用领域中将起到显著提高生产效率和降低能耗的作用。     

先进的生产技术对成本管理的冲击

当前,全世界的制造厂商已意识到他们自己正处于十字路口。为了有效地进行竞争,公司必须努力地以异常低的成本生产出先进的产品,并确保产品的高质量,以及向顾客提供出色的服务。同时他们还必须以极大的灵活性来应付产品短促的寿命周期,以及来自国外的日益增大的竞争。     

基于运动的GPS测姿解整周模糊的新算法

利用ＧＰＳ载波相位技术可进行近厘米精度定位。本文介绍一种基于运动的解整周模糊的算法，适用于可见ＧＰＳ卫星较少的场合。     

Chaotic exchange of solid material between planetary systems: implications for lithopanspermia

Abstract We examined a low-energy mechanism for the transfer of meteoroids between two planetary systems embedded in a star cluster using quasi-parabolic orbits of minimal energy. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we found that the exchange of meteoroids could have been significantly more efficient than previously estimated. Our study is relevant to astrobiology, as it addresses whether life on Earth could have been transferred to other planetary systems in the Solar System's birth cluster and whether life on Earth could have been transferred from beyond the Solar System. In the Solar System, the timescale over which solid material was delivered to the region from where it could be transferred via this mechanism likely extended to several hundred million years (as indicated by the 3.8-4.0?Ga epoch of the Late Heavy Bombardment). This timescale could have overlapped with the lifetime of the Solar birth cluster (～100-500?Myr). Therefore, we conclude that lithopanspermia is an open possibility if life had an early start. Adopting parameters from the minimum mass solar nebula, considering a range of planetesimal size distributions derived from observations of asteroids and Kuiper Belt objects and theoretical coagulation models, and taking into account Oort Cloud formation models, we discerned that the expected number of bodies with mass>10?kg that could have been transferred between the Sun and its nearest cluster neighbor could be of the order of 10(14) to 3·10(16), with transfer timescales of tens of millions of years. We estimate that of the order of 3·10(8)·l (km) could potentially be life-bearing, where l is the depth of Earth's crust in kilometers that was ejected as the result of the early bombardment. Key Words: Extrasolar planets-Interplanetary dust-Interstellar meteorites-Lithopanspermia. Astrobiology 12, 754-774.     

Divergence and phylogeny of firmicutes from the cuatro ciénegas basin, Mexico: a window to an ancient ocean

Abstract The Cuatro Ciénegas Basin (CCB) has been identified as a center of endemism for many life-forms. Nearly half the bacterial species found in the spring systems have their closest relatives in the ocean. This raises the question of whether the high diversity observed today is the product of an adaptive radiation similar to that of the Galapagos Islands or whether the bacterial groups are "survivors" of an ancient sea, which would be of interest for astrobiology. To help answer this question, we focused on Firmicutes from Cuatro Ciénegas (mainly Bacillus and Exiguobacterium). We reconstructed the phylogenetic relationships of Firmicutes with 28 housekeeping genes and dated the resulting tree using geological events as calibration points. Our results show that marine Bacillus diverged from other Bacillus strains 838?Ma, while Bacillus from Cuatro Ciénegas have divergence dates that range from 770 to 202?Ma. The members of Exiguobacterium from the CCB conform to a much younger group that diverged from the Andes strain 60?Ma and from the one in Yellowstone 183?Ma. Therefore, the diversity of Firmicutes in Cuatro Ciénegas is not the product of a recent radiation but the product of the isolation of lineages from an ancient ocean. Hence, Cuatro Ciénegas is not a Galapagos Archipelago for bacteria but is more like an astrobiological "time machine" in which bacterial lineages survived in an oligotrophic environment that may be very similar to that of the Precambrian. Key Words: Firmicutes-Cuatro Ciénegas-Precambrian-Molecular dating-Western Interior Seaway. Astrobiology 12, 674-684.