ISO Observations of Pre-Stellar Cores and Young Stellar Objects

We summarize the observations of the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) concerning the earliest stages of the stellar formation. The observations of samples of sources in different evolutionary stages are reviewed, addressing in particular how the physical and chemical properties of the protostellar environments change from the pre-stellar cores to the protostars at the end of their accretion phase. In addition, the mid-IR surveys in nearby star-forming regions are discussed, showing their implications for the understanding of the stellar initial mass function. Based on observations with ISO, an ESA project with instruments funded by ESA Member States (especially the PI countries: France, Germany, The Netherlands, and the United Kingdom), and with the participation of ISAS and NASA.     

Nucleosynthesis in Supernovae

We present the status and open problems of nucleosynthesis in supernova explosions of both types, responsible for the production of the intermediate mass, Fe-group and heavier elements (with the exception of the main s-process). Constraints from observations can be provided through individual supernovae (SNe) or their remnants (e.g. via spectra and gamma-rays of decaying unstable isotopes) and through surface abundances of stars which witness the composition of the interstellar gas at their formation. With a changing fraction of elements heavier than He in these stars (known as metallicity) the evolution of the nucleosynthesis in galaxies over time can be determined. A complementary way, related to gamma-rays from radioactive decays, is the observation of positrons released in \(\beta^{+}\)-decays, as e.g. from \(^{26}\mbox{Al}\), \(^{44}\mbox{Ti}\), \(^{56,57}\mbox{Ni}\) and possibly further isotopes of their decay chains (in competition with the production of \(e^{+}e^{-}\) pairs in acceleration shocks from SN remnants, pulsars, magnetars or even of particle physics origin). We discuss (a) the role of the core-collapse supernova explosion mechanism for the composition of intermediate mass, Fe-group (and heavier?) ejecta, (b) the transition from neutron stars to black holes as the final result of the collapse of massive stars, and the relation of the latter to supernovae, faint supernovae, and gamma-ray bursts/hypernovae, (c) Type Ia supernovae and their nucleosynthesis (e.g. addressing the \(^{55}\mbox{Mn}\) puzzle), plus (d) further constraints from galactic evolution, \(\gamma\)-ray and positron observations. This is complemented by the role of rare magneto-rotational supernovae (related to magnetars) in comparison with the nucleosynthesis of compact binary mergers, especially with respect to forming the heaviest r-process elements in galactic evolution.     

Cometary Dust

This review presents our understanding of cometary dust at the end of 2017. For decades, insight about the dust ejected by nuclei of comets had stemmed from remote observations from Earth or Earth’s orbit, and from flybys, including the samples of dust returned to Earth for laboratory studies by the Stardust return capsule. The long-duration Rosetta mission has recently provided a huge and unique amount of data, obtained using numerous instruments, including innovative dust instruments, over a wide range of distances from the Sun and from the nucleus. The diverse approaches available to study dust in comets, together with the related theoretical and experimental studies, provide evidence of the composition and physical properties of dust particles, e.g., the presence of a large fraction of carbon in macromolecules, and of aggregates on a wide range of scales. The results have opened vivid discussions on the variety of dust-release processes and on the diversity of dust properties in comets, as well as on the formation of cometary dust, and on its presence in the near-Earth interplanetary medium. These discussions stress the significance of future explorations as a way to decipher the formation and evolution of our Solar System.     

Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP): A New NASA Mission

The Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) is a revolutionary mission that simultaneously investigates two of the most important overarching issues in Heliophysics today: the acceleration of energetic particles and interaction of the solar wind with the local interstellar medium. While seemingly disparate, these are intimately coupled because particles accelerated in the inner heliosphere play critical roles in the outer heliospheric interaction. Selected by NASA in 2018, IMAP is planned to launch in 2024. The IMAP spacecraft is a simple sun-pointed spinner in orbit about the Sun-Earth L1 point. IMAP’s ten instruments provide a complete and synergistic set of observations to simultaneously dissect the particle injection and acceleration processes at 1 AU while remotely probing the global heliospheric interaction and its response to particle populations generated by these processes. In situ at 1 AU, IMAP provides detailed observations of solar wind electrons and ions; suprathermal, pickup, and energetic ions; and the interplanetary magnetic field. For the outer heliosphere interaction, IMAP provides advanced global observations of the remote plasma and energetic ions over a broad energy range via energetic neutral atom imaging, and precise observations of interstellar neutral atoms penetrating the heliosphere. Complementary observations of interstellar dust and the ultraviolet glow of interstellar neutrals further deepen the physical understanding from IMAP. IMAP also continuously broadcasts vital real-time space weather observations. Finally, IMAP engages the broader Heliophysics community through a variety of innovative opportunities. This paper summarizes the IMAP mission at the start of Phase A development.     

Hard Limiting and Sequential Detection Applied to Loran-C

The combination of an antenna, a 100 kHz bandpass filter, a hard limiter, and a sequential detector can supply highly accurate Loran-C data to a digital processor, even under low signal-to-noise-ratio conditions. For such a simple, low-cost receiver, calculations are given for the accuracy of the envelope and phase tracking of the Loran-C signal as a function of the signal-to-noise (Gaussian and atmospheric) ratio, averaging time, and radian speed of the observer with respect to the transmitter. Mentioned are the quasi-noise censoring effects of the hard limiter. Besides the Loran-C application, the hard limiter-sequential detector system can in general be applied for low-cost, synchronous signal detection under poor signal-to-noise ratio.     

The Stressed State of a Stiffened Conical Shell with Thermal Protective Coating with Temperature-Dependent Properties

The equations of the mathematical model are solved in terms of special functions. The results for the design scheme of the aircraft forebody are obtained with a guaranteed accuracy by the stable method of functional normalization.     

Process of establishing design requirements and selecting alternative configurations for conceptual design of a VLA

In this study, a process for establishing design requirements and selecting alternative con-figurations for the conceptual phase of aircraft design has been proposed. The proposed process uses system-engineering-based requirement-analysis techniques such as objective tree, analytic hier-archy process, and quality function deployment to establish logical and quantitative standards. Moreover, in order to perform a logical selection of alternative aircraft configurations, it uses advanced decision-making methods such as morphological matrix and technique for order prefer-ence by similarity to the ideal solution. In addition, a preliminary sizing tool has been developed to check the feasibility of the established performance requirements and to evaluate the flight perfor-mance of the selected configurations. The present process has been applied for a two-seater very light aircraft (VLA), resulting in a set of tentative design requirements and two families of VLA configurations: a high-wing configuration and a low-wing configuration. The resulting set of design requirements consists of three categories: customer requirements, certification requirements, and performance requirements. The performance requirements include two mission requirements for the flight range and the endurance by reflecting the customer requirements. The flight performances of the two configuration families were evaluated using the sizing tool developed and the low-wing configuration with conventional tails was selected as the best baseline configuration for the VLA.     

Optimization of low-thrust transfers in the three body problem

We consider transfers with low thrust in an arbitrary field of forces. The modified method of transporting trajectory [1–4] is used for optimization of the transfers. The complexity of finding the transporting trajectory of a preset type can be the main obstacle to application of this method. This challenge is solved for the three-body problem in the Hill motion model. Numerical analysis of the method is performed using an example of the transfers to halo-orbits around the solar-terrestrial libration points.