Development of plant protoplasts during the IML-1 mission.

During the 8 day IML-1 mission, regeneration of cell walls and cell divisions in rapeseed protoplasts were studied using the Biorack microscope onboard the Space Shuttle "Discovery". Samples from microgravity and 1g protoplast cultures were loaded on microscope slides. Visual microscopic observations were reported by the payload specialist Roberta Bondar, by down-link video transmission and by use of a microscope camera. Protoplasts grown under microgravity conditions do regenerate cell walls but to a lesser extent than under 1g. Cell divisions are delayed under microgravity. Few cell aggregates with maximum 4-6 cells per aggregate are formed under microgravity conditions, indicating that microgravity may have a profound influence on plant cell differentiation.     

Wind asymmetries in massive stars

We are in the process of surveying the linear polarization in luminous, early-type stars. We here report on new observations of the B [e] stars S 18 and R 50, and of the Luminous Blue Variables HR Car, R 143, and HD 160529. Together with previously published data, these observations provide clear evidence for the presence of intrinsic polarization in 1 B[e] star (HD 34664) and in 5 LBVs ( Car, P Cyg, R 127, AG Car, and HR Car). The data indicate that anisotropic stellar winds are a common occurrence among massive stars in these particular evolutionary stages. For such stars, mass-loss rates estimated using the assumption of a spherical, homogeneous and stationary outflow may be in error.     

Radiative and hybrid cooling of infrared space telescopes

The designs of cold space telescopes, cryogenic and radiatively cooled, are similar in most elements and both benefit from orbits distant from the Earth. In particular such orbits allow the anti-sunward side of radiatively-cooled spacecraft to be used to provide large cooling radiators for the individual radiation shields. Designs incorporating these features have predictedT _tel near 20 K. The attainability of such temperatures is supported by limited practical experience (IRAS, COBE). Supplementary cooling systems (cryogens, mechanical coolers) can be advantageously combined with radiative cooling in hybrid designs to provide robustness against deterioration and yet lower temperatures for detectors, instruments, and even the whole telescope. The possibility of such major additional gains is illustrated by the Very Cold Telescope option under study forEdison, which should offerT _tel5 K for a little extra mechanical cooling capacity.     

Biochemical constraints for survival under Martian conditions.

A wide variety of terrestrial organisms, the so-called "anhydrobiotes," has learned to survive in a state of extreme dehydration in dry environments. Strategies for survival include the accumulation of certain polyols and nonreducing saccharides, which help to prevent damage to membranes and proteins, but at low water partial pressure DNA is also progressively damaged by various lesions, including strand breaks and cross-linking to proteins. These lesions, if they are not too numerous, can be repaired before the first replication step after rehydration, but long-term exposure to dry conditions finally diminishes the chances of survival as these lesions accumulate. If an organism has no chance to repair the accumulated DNA damage during intermittent periods of active life, survival will not exceed a few decades. The restriction of survival by dryness-induced DNA lesions is corroborated by new data on conidia of Aspergillus and the free plasmid pBR 322. Our results will be discussed with respect to the chance of finding dormant life or biochemical fossils on the surface of Mars.     

Leg venous hemodynamics and leg volumes during a 42 day -6 degrees head-down bedrest

Seven healthy subjects were submitted to a 42-day head down bedrest, where leg venous compliance (venous distensibity index VDI) and leg volumes were assessed by mercury strain gauge plethysmography with venous occlusion and optoelectronic plethysmography, respectively. Plethysmographic and volometric measurements were made, before, during (at days 1, 4, 7, 14, 21, 26, 34 and 41), and after bedrest (days 1, 4, 7, 11 and 30 of the recovery period). Results showed a continuous decrease in leg volumes throughout bedrest, when VDI increased until day 26 of bedrest, and then decreased afterwards. The recovery period was characterized by a rapid return of VDI to prebedrest levels while leg volumes progressively normalised. These results showed that leg venous compliance changes are not always dependant upon skeletal muscle changes, and that factors other than size of muscle compartment are able to determine increases in leg venous compliance during long-term bedrest.     

On the correlation between individual biochemical parameters of human blood serum following space flight and their basal values

The article presents data concerning the osmolality and concentration of electrolytes and hormones regulating their balance for blood serum of 223 cosmonauts and astronauts. The obtained results allow us to judge the constancy of physicochemical parameters for the blood serum of healthy individuals and how they react to extreme conditions of space flight. The parameters used for evaluation included not just absolute values for the examined indices, but also how they responded to space flight, the dependence on baseline values and the interrelationship between ions. These data are important to predict the effect of exposure to extreme conditions and point to what extent the effect depends on the characteristics of the individual.     

Highly mobile space suit material optimization

This paper discusses the factors that control the flexibility of fabric space suit elements by examining a bending model of a pressurized fabric tube. Results from the model are used to evaluate the current direction in highly mobile EVA glove research and suggest that changes are necessary in the suit and glove fabric selection methodology.     

Analysis of Multimodal Systems

The estimation of a multimodal linear system whose mode-to-mode transitions are described by a finite-state Markov chain is described. The problem has application in studying separation standards in an air traffic control environment. An optimal solution is formulated which is computationally infeasible. A suboptimal estimator is then derived which closely approximates the optimal estimator. An example is presented to illustrate the technique.     

Discrete-time observability and estimability analysis for bearings-only target motion analysis

Observability in the context of bearings-only tracking (BOT) is still the subject of important literature. Different from previous approaches, where continuous-time analysis was considered, our approach relies on discrete-time analysis. It is then shown that this allows us to use directly and efficiently the simple formalisms of linear algebra. Using the direct approach, observability analysis is essentially reduced to basic considerations about subspace dimensions. Even if this approach is conceptually quite direct, it becomes more and more complex as the source-encounter scenario complexity increases. For complex scenarios, the dual approach may present some advantages essentially due to the direct use of multilinear algebra. New results about BOT observability for maneuvering sources are thus obtained. Observability analysis is then extended to unknown instants of source velocity changes. Even if observability analysis provides thorough insights about the algebraic structure of the BOT problem, the optimization of the observer maneuvers is essentially a control problem. Basic algebraic considerations prove that a relevant cost functional for this control problem is the determinant of the Fisher information matrix (FIM). So, a large part of this work is devoted to the analysis of this cost functional. Using multilinear algebra, general approximations of this functional are given. In order to involve only directly estimable parameters, the source bearing-rates are examined. Using these approximations, a general framework for optimizing the observer trajectory is derived which allow us to approximate the optimal sequence of controls. It is worth stressing that our approach does not require the knowledge of the source trajectory parameters and is still valid for a maneuvering source.     

Specification and Performance of Passive Sonar Spectral Estimators

The application of existing estimation theory to the problem of specification and performance of passive sonar spectral estimators is considered. The classification function is addressed, so that the signal is assumed to be present, and so that the energy arrival angle is known. The spatial filter considered is a line array of M equally spaced omnidirectional hydrophones. Signal and ambient noise are both zero-mean, wide-sense, stationary Gaussian random processes that differ in their spatial correlation across the face of the array. The signal is a plane wave that can be made totally spacially corrected between array elements by inserting delays between sensors to invert the signal propagation delay. The noise correlation is a function of frequency, bandwidth, element separation, and the relative time delay between sensors. Under these assumptions, the Cramer-Rao lower bound is derived for the class of unbiased estimates of signal power in a narrow frequency band at the hydrophone in the presence of correlated ambient noise of known power. The bound is examined numerically, resulting in a threshold phenomenon with M that constitutes a new design consideration. In addition, there is a striking insensitivity to realistic values of ambient noise correlation, and there are ranges in signal-to-noise ratio for which one gains more by increasing M than by increasing the bandwidth-time product. Specific processors, including a new unbiased estimator when noise power is unknown, are developed.