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.     

Hydrogen in rocks: an energy source for deep microbial communities

To survive in deep subsurface environments, lithotrophic microbial communities require a sustainable energy source such as hydrogen. Though H2 can be produced when water reacts with fresh mineral surfaces and oxidizes ferrous iron, this reaction is unreliable since it depends upon the exposure of fresh rock surfaces via the episodic opening of cracks and fissures. A more reliable and potentially more voluminous H2 source exists in nominally anhydrous minerals of igneous and metamorphic rocks. Our experimental results indicate that H2 molecules can be derived from small amounts of H2O dissolved in minerals in the form of hydroxyl, OH- or O3Si-OH, whenever such minerals crystallized in an H2O-laden environment. Two types of experiments were conducted. Single crystal fracture experiments indicated that hydroxyl pairs undergo an in situ redox conversion to H2 molecules plus peroxy links, O3Si/OO\SiO3. While the peroxy links become part of the mineral structure, the H2 molecules diffused out of the freshly fractured mineral surfaces. If such a mechanism occurred in natural settings, the entire rock column would become a volume source of H2. Crushing experiments to facilitate the outdiffusion of H2 were conducted with common crustal igneous rocks such as granite, andesite, and labradorite. At least 70 nmol of H2/g diffused out of coarsely crushed andesite, equivalent at standard pressure and temperature to 5,000 cm3 of H2/m3 of rock. In the water-saturated, biologically relevant upper portion of the rock column, the diffusion of H2 out of the minerals will be buffered by H2 saturation of the intergranular water film.     

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.     

KINETICS OF δ PHASE PRECIPITATION IN COLD ROLLED INCONEL 718 ALLOY

ＫＩＮＥＴＩＣＳＯＦδＰＨＡＳＥＰＲＥＣＩＰＩＴＡＴＩＯＮＩＮＣＯＬＤＲＯＬＬＥＤＩＮＣＯＮＥＬ７１８ＡＬＬＯＹＬｉｕＷｅｎｃｈａｎｇ，ＹａｏＭｅｉ（ＹａｎｓｈａｎＵｎｉｖｅｒｓｉｔｙ，Ｑｉｎｈｕａｎｇｄａｏ，Ｃｈｉｎａ，０６６００４）ＬｉｕＲｕｎｇ...     

计划概述

1975年3月18、19、20日,在海军海面武器中心白橡树实验所举行了汇报海军再入技术计划的会议。海军再入技术计划是海军海上系统司令部(SEA-035)主持的一项探索性发展计划。该计划的目的是为今后的先进战略武器系统的再入体开展航空弹道学、材料和结构技术的研究。在整个再入技     

欧洲空间操作中心的精密轨道确定

目前,欧洲空间操作中心正在进行着一项需4年时间的开发计划,以支持未来的需要高精度轨道确定的ESA近地飞行任务。该工作是围绕着欧洲空间操作中心已开发的供轨道确定和误差分析用的一个软件系统进行的,该软件含有适合于各种轨道摄动和测量类型的先进模型。除了卫星轨道参数外,它还能对地球物理参数和测地参数进行估计和误差分析。     

广角目视模拟技术的新评价

前言1970年召开了两次飞行模拟技术会议(AIAA 于三月在佛里罗达州卡纳维拉尔角召开,RAES 于十月在英国伦敦召开),但对广角目视模拟技术没有作出客观的评价。在1967年第二届海军训练装置中心和工业会议、1968年3月于洛杉矶召开的 AIAA 会议上,威廉、埃贝林提供了对窄视场目视系统的简要评述。     

即将推出的IEEE加速度计标准和其它惯性传感器标准

经IEEE／AESS陀螺仪和加速度计小组批准后，一份新的加速度计技术规范格式指南和试验方法的标准，即将被美国电气和电子工程师协会采纳拟作为“IEEEStd.1293”标准布发布，该标准对加速度计性能参数的规定提供指导，并为检查是否符合要求提供了详细的试验方法。该标准同时给出了力矩平衡摆式加速度计、振梁加速度计和在一个硅片上的开环与闭环微机械加速度计的工作原理。标准还包含有一些有用的附录：滤波器声，瞬态分析方法，标定和建模方法（多位置翻滚，振动和冲击试验分析），以及惯性仪器试验中的地球物理效应的影响。在标准IEEEStd.863-1992中介绍了加速度计的离心试验。以外，本文还讨论了已由陀螺和加速度计小组编写完毕的角加速度计、单自由度和双自由度转子陀螺仪、激光陀螺仪和干涉光纤陀螺仪的标准。本文还讨论了由该小组推出的一种新的哥氏振动螺仪的文件。     

磁层氧离子向磁鞘泄漏的机制和效应

１９９７年 １月 １０日磁暴期间， Ｇｅｏｔａｉｌ卫星在向阳侧的磁鞘中观测到了磁层氧离子突增事件．这些氧离子的出现和磁鞘中存在很强的南向行星际磁场有关．事件期间向阳面发生了准静态的磁重联，氧离子流存在由北向南的速度分量．通量突增过程具有逆向和正向能量色散现象，磁层内部只有氧离子有可能被梯度漂移输送到重联区，所以只有氧离子在磁鞘中持续地被观测到．估计氧离子的逃逸速率为 ０．６１× １０２３／ｓ，大约为环电流氧离子输入率的 ３３％．大量的环电流氧离子由磁层跑到了磁鞘，导致环电流指数 ＡＳＹ－Ｈ呈现明显的非对称性．     

随机子阵阵列的旁瓣电平和宽带特征

本文扩展了随机天线阵列的概念。介绍了三种新型的阵列几何图形，它们既具有随机阵列的宽带宽性能，几何图形也更简单，因而更适宜于低成本应用。对随机子阵的周期阵列、周期旋转随机子阵阵列和随机旋转随机子阵阵列的性能都进行了统计性的表征。结果表明子阵旋转能够降低天线阵排列因子的旁瓣电平。文中给出了一个设计过程的例子来说明天线阵排列因子的计算。