Human exploration of Mars

The human exploration of Mars has the potential to return a rich harvest of scientific information about that planet, its possible past biological history and the prospects for future habitation by Earthly life. The realization of that potential will require new approaches and new technologies--a whole new paradigm in space exploration. Picture yourself exploring the surface of Mars, where your task involves conducting a detailed investigation of features larger than the United States in order to uncover a record of planetary history spanning over four billion years.     

困境中分高下 2009全球最佳业绩企业排行榜解析

美国《航空周刊和空间技术》杂志年中公布了2009年最新的全球航空航天和防务领域企业的15届年度业绩最佳公司(TPC)排行榜。与2008年的排行榜相比,排名发生了很大的变化,显示了不同企业在经济环境恶劣下不同的适应能力,一些去年的巨头排名明显下滑,而一些企业排名显著上升。     

旅鸽灭绝之谜：人为之外的原因

1914年,当最后一只旅鸽在一家动物园死亡后，该物种的灭绝就成为一个警世故事，用来说明人类对自然界的影响有多么巨大。但是。一项新的研究发现，在旅鸽灭绝之前的100万年里，这种鸟类经历了多次数量上的激增和骤减，旅鸽种群对自然波动的敏感性有可能是造成其易于灭绝的原因。     

基于非结构自适应网格和嵌入边界法的残差格式研究

嵌入边界法由于在求解NS方程时能够简化网格生成问题而在计算流体领域受到越来越广泛的关注.简言之,嵌入边界法能够简化大变形和运动条件下多物理流动模拟、流固相互作用耦合问题,然而壁面边界条件的精确处理仍旧是该方法需要解决的问题.在本文工作中,为考虑壁面边界条件而在NS方程中增加了补偿项,同时采用非结构网格自适应技术保持了壁面边界条件的精度.     

靶场标准化及自动化计划第二阶段

一、靶场背景 美国主要的航天发射场,包括东靶场(位于弗罗里达州卡纳维拉尔角)和西靶场(位于加利福尼亚州范登堡空军基地)起源于50年代,在随后的几十年内进行了逐步扩展和改进。直到前不久移交给空军空间司令部时,这些靶场才更多地用作研究和开发单位,而不只是操作运行单位。逐步改造使它们具备了支持发射新型航天器、弹道导弹以及逐步发展起来的     

一种硅角速率传感器的误差模型

微型传感器和高效信号处理之间的结合对于获得导航应用中所需的技术指标是至关重要的。文中概述了一种微机械硅角速率传感器的性能，表明它的主要缺陷是由一项重要的偏置漂移构成。本文建立了它的误差模型并且将它应用在基于卡尔曼滤波的修正运算之中。     

一次历史性的民间飞行活动

十一月六日 ,在北京应是深秋初冬 ,良乡机场的银杏树叶已完全金黄 ,晴朗的天空加之无风 ,天气形成的气温使人感到十分舒适 ,这无疑也是一个十分适宜于轻型飞机飞行的天气。1997年 11月 6日上午 10时 30分 ,一架海燕 650 B和一架蜜蜂 11轻型飞机编队通过跑道上空 ,解散后平稳着陆 ,一小时后 ,一架蜜蜂 3超轻型飞机通过跑道 ,在中央电视台预先架设好的地面摄像机上空低空盘旋 ,然后稳健地降落在跑道中央 ,它的最后降落 ,宣告了我国一次历史性的、极为艰巨的而又十分成功的民间长途飞行活动——′97飞向北京飞行活动的圆满结束。′97飞向北京…     

A hydrothermal system associated with the Siljan impact structure, Sweden--implications for the search for fossil life on Mars

The Siljan ring structure (368 +/- 1.1 Ma) is the largest known impact structure in Europe. It isa 65-km-wide, eroded, complex impact structure, displaying several structural units, including a central uplifted region surrounded by a ring-shaped depression. Associated with the impact crater are traces of a post-impact hydrothermal system indicated by precipitated and altered hydrothermal mineral assemblages. Precipitated hydrothermal minerals include quartz veins and breccia fillings associated with granitic rocks at the outer margin of the central uplift, and calcite, fluorite, galena, and sphalerite veins associated with Paleozoic carbonate rocks located outside the central uplift. Two-phase water/gas and oil/gas inclusions in calcite and fluorite display homogenization temperatures between 75 degrees C and 137 degrees C. With an estimated erosional unloading of approximately 1 km, the formation temperatures were probably not more than 10-15 degrees C higher. Fluid inclusion ice-melting temperatures indicate a very low salt content, reducing the probability that the mineralization was precipitated during the Caledonian Orogeny. Our findings suggest that large impacts induce low-temperature hydrothermal systems that may be habitats for thermophilic organisms. Large impact structures on Mars may therefore be suitable targets in the search for fossil thermophilic organisms.     

Fluid inclusion studies of chemosynthetic carbonates: strategy for seeking life on Mars

Fluid inclusions in minerals hold the potential to provide important data on the chemistry of the ambient fluids during mineral precipitation. Especially interesting to astrobiologists are inclusions in low-temperature minerals that may have been precipitated in the presence of microorganisms. We demonstrate that it is possible to obtain data from inclusions in chemosynthetic carbonates that precipitated by the oxidation of organic carbon around methane-bearing seepages. Chemosynthetic carbonates have been identified as a target rock for astrobiological exploration. Other surficial rock types identified as targets for astrobiological exploration include hydrothermal deposits, speleothems, stromatolites, tufas, and evaporites, each of which can contain fluid inclusions. Fracture systems below impact craters would also contain precipitates of minerals with fluid inclusions. As fluid inclusions are sealed microchambers, they preserve fluids in regions where water is now absent, such as regions of the martian surface. Although most inclusions are < 5 microns, the possibility to obtain data from the fluids, including biosignatures and physical remains of life, underscores the advantages of technological advances in the study of fluid inclusions. The crushing of bulk samples could release inclusion waters for analysis, which could be undertaken in situ on Mars.     

Arm end-point trajectories under normal and micro-gravity environments

The purpose of the present experiment was to study the way in which the CNS represents gravitational force during vertical arm pointing movements. Movements in upward and downward directions were executed by two cosmonauts in normal-gravity and weightlessness. Analyses focused upon finger kinematics in the sagittal plane. In normal-gravity, downward direction movements showed smaller curvatures and greater relative times to peak velocity (AT/MT) when compared with upward direction movements. Data from the weightlessness experiments showed that whilst downward movements decreased their curvature during space flight, curvatures of upward movements changed slightly. Furthermore, AT/MT was modified during the first days in micro-gravity for both directions, recovering, however, to pre-flight values after 18 days in space. Results from the present study, provide evidence that gravitational force is centrally treated constituting an important component of the motor plan for vertical arm movements.