缩比固体火箭发动机试车中出现的内弹道畸变

在全尺寸和缩比固体火箭发动机试车中,出现被认为是由燃速变化而引起的内弹道曲线中部畸变。预测的和实际的压力——时间曲线、推力——时间曲线之间的差别,既不能预测,又没有完全了解。但是,用手工方法和自动化方法已描述了这种中部畸变特征。在以过氯酸铵为氧化剂的烃类推进剂中观察到上述现象。为改善工艺性能而降低了粘度的这类推进剂可使这种畸变扩大。为了找出这种畸变的可能来源,分析了缩比试验发动机试车的压力—时间曲线、推力——时间曲线和推力压力比与时间的关系曲线。对发动机尺寸、工作条件和推进剂配方进行了研究,以确定发生畸变的可能原因和验证畸变的可能机理。     

用变量分析法对固体火箭发功机作可靠性评定

本文介绍 Thiokol 化学公司 Wasatch 分公司在评定大型全尺寸固体发动机可靠性中,使用变量分析方法的一些新经验。可靠性评定是依据发动机各分系统设计鉴定试验和一次全尺寸发动机静止试车中得到的变量数据来进行的。本文介绍了各变量参数的确定、数据收集、变量分析和将若干分系统的变量数据综合得到系统可靠性评定值的全过程。     

航天飞机固体火箭发动机内的熔渣沉积模拟

固体火箭发动机含铝推进剂燃烧时,在其表面生成铝/三氧化二铝液滴。液滴一旦离开表面与其它液滴碰撞,就会形成大的聚结物(agglomerates)。大部分液滴或聚结物不能随燃气流排出喷管之外,可能沉积(deposite)在发动机的内表面。本研究通过流动模拟来了解航天飞机固体火箭发动机(SRM)内熔渣物的沉积过程和伴随而来的积聚(accumulation)、堆积(pooling)过程,从而提出一种分析方法,以预测与沉积和堆积过程有关的某些未知数。通过对发动机地面卧式试车后发动机内的凝固熔渣进行观察,定性地证实了用这一方法进行分析所得出的结果。本文用这些结果来解释 QM—2发动机(鉴定发动机)内的熔渣,同时也预测飞行过载对熔渣形成的影响。虽然这一方法是为 SRM 提出的,但也适用于任何结构的固体火箭发动机。     

喷管进口和喉道几何形状对固体火箭发动机比冲的影响

本文介绍在火箭喷管进口和喉道区域计算完全耦合的燃气——粒子混合物流场的计算机化模型。定常态的燃气流场是作为长时间渐近解计算的,而粒子流场是假定准定常流来计算。对于超音速燃气粒子流场,这一模型则与特征线法结合进行计算。计算表明喷管进口角度、喷管喉道曲率半径比、喉道尺寸以及粒子大小对比冲的影响。文中也介绍了一些发动机试验数据的比较。     

Vanguard--a European robotic astrobiology-focussed Mars sub-surface mission proposal

We present a new European Mars mission proposal to build on the UK-led Beagle2 Mars mission and continue its astrobiology-focussed investigation of Mars. The small surface element to be delivered to the Martian surface--Vanguard--is designed to be carried by a Mars Express-type spacecraft bus to Mars and adopts a similar entry, descent and landing system as Beagle2. The surface element comprises a triad of robotic devices--a lander, a micro-rover of the Sojourner class for surface mobility, and three ground-penetrating moles mounted onto the rover for sub-surface penetration to 5 m depth. The major onboard instruments on the rover include a Raman spectrometer/imager, a laser plasma spectrometer, an infrared spectrometer--these laser instruments provide the basis for in situ "remote" sensing of the sub-surface Martian environment within a powerful scientific package. The moles carry the instruments' sensor head array to the sub-surface. The moles are thus required to undergo a one-way trip down the boreholes without the need for recovery of moles or samples, eliminating much of the robotic complexity invoked by such operations.     

Immobilization induces a very rapid increase in osteoclast activity

We studied in a randomized, strictly controlled cross-over design, the effects of 6 days 6 degrees head-down tilt bed rest (HDT) in eight male healthy subjects in our metabolic ward. The study consisted of two periods (phases) of 11 days each in order to allow for the test subjects being their own controls. Both study phases were identical with respect to environmental conditions, study protocol and diet. Two days before arriving in the metabolic ward the subjects started with a diet. The diet was continued in the metabolic ward. The metabolic ward period (1l days) was divided into three parts: 4 ambulatory days, 6 days either HDT or control and 1 recovery day. Continuous urine collection started on the first day in the metabolic ward to analyze calcium excretion and bone resorption markers. On the 2nd ambulatory day in the metabolic ward and on the 5th day in HDT or control blood was drawn to analyze serum calcium, parathyroid hormone, and bone formation markers. Urinary calcium excretion was, as early as the first day in immobilization, increased (p<0.01). CTX- and NTX-excretion stayed unchanged in the first 24 h in HDT compared to the control. But already on the 2nd day of immobilization, both bone resorption markers significantly increased. We conclude from these results--pronounced rise of bone resorption markers--that already 24 h of immobilization induce a significant rise in osteoclast activity in healthy subjects. Thus, it appears possible to use short-term bed rest studies as a first step for the development of countermeasures to immobilization.     

Recurrent isolation of hydrogen peroxide-resistant spores of Bacillus pumilus from a spacecraft assembly facility

While the microbial diversity of a spacecraft assembly facility at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Pasadena, CA) was being monitored, H2O2-resistant bacterial strains were repeatedly isolated from various surface locations. H2O2 is a possible sterilant for spacecraft hardware because it is a low-temperature process and compatible with various modern-day spacecraft materials, electronics, and components. Both conventional biochemical testing and molecular analyses identified these strains as Bacillus pumilus. This Bacillus species was found in both unclassified (entrance floors, anteroom, and air-lock) and classified (floors, cabinet tops, and air) locations. Both vegetative cells and spores of several B. pumilus isolates were exposed to 5% liquid H2O2 for 60 min. Spores of each strain exhibited higher resistance than their respective vegetative cells to liquid H2O2. Results indicate that the H2O2 resistance observed in both vegetative cells and spores is strain-specific, as certain B. pumilus strains were two to three times more resistant than a standard Bacillus subtilis dosimetry strain. An example of this trend was observed when the type strain of B. pumilus, ATCC 7061, proved sensitive, whereas several environmental strains exhibited varying degrees of resistance, to H2O2. Repeated isolation of H2O2-resistant strains of B. pumilus in a clean-room is a concern because their persistence might potentially compromise life-detection missions, which have very strict cleanliness and sterility requirements for spacecraft hardware.     

COSAC onboard Rosetta: a bioastronomy experiment for the short-period comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

The COSAC (Cometary Sampling and Composition Experiment) onboard the Rosetta mission is a combined gas chromatograph (GC)-mass spectrometer (MS). It is situated on Philae, the lander of the mission, which is intended to land on the nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov- Gerasimenko. The purpose of the experiment is to analyze the volatile fraction of soil samples retrieved by a drill. For investigation, the samples will be pyrolysed, and the emanating gases fed into a GC, into an MS, or the combination of both. In the first part of this paper, the bioastronomical relevance of such measurements is outlined. In the second part the details of the hardware and its performance are described.     

半导体式奌火系统

苏联,以乌里扬诺夫(列宁)命名的列宁格勒电工学院,电介质及半导体教研室 航空发动机的点火系统,大都采用了由磁电机来供电的高压火花放电式电咀。这种点水系统的结构复杂,体积笨重,并且在使用上还存在着严重的缺陷。这些缺陷,首