Preliminary calibration results of VEGA 1 and 2 SIGMA-3 gas chromatograph

SIGMA - 3 gas chromatograph on board VEGA 1 and 2 landing probes has been operated successfully in the 60 - 50 km altitude range, providing several in - situ chemical analysis of the gas and the aerosols of Venus cloud layers. Post flight calibration required to derive atmospheric abundancies from gas chromatograms were carried out using the SIGMA - 3 spare model. A Venus atmospheric aerosol simulation chamber was used in which sulfuric acid droplets were generated. Preliminary results of these calibration experiments indicate that the concentration of sulfuric acid in the upper part of the clouds ( 60 to 55 km) is about 1 mg/m³ and suggest that an additional constituant must be present in noticeable amount in the aerosols. From these experiments the mixing ratio upper limits of SO₂ is 100 ppmV and of H₂S and COS is few 10 ppmV.     

Polish radar technology

Polish radar research and development since 1953 is reviewed, covering the development and production of surveillance radars, height finders, tracking radars, air traffic control (ATC) radars and systems, and marine and Doppler radars. Some current work, including an L-band ATC radar for enroute control, a weather channel for primary surveillance radar, signal detection in non-Gaussian clutter, adaptive MTI filters and postdetection filtering, and a basic approach to radar polarimetry, is examined.<>     

Investigations of the Mars Upper Atmosphere with ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter

Space Science Reviews - Time measured by an ideal clock crucially depends on the gravitational potential and velocity of the clock according to general relativity. Technological advances in...     

Estimated Flight Time for Optimum Trajectories

Various methods are presented for estimating the flight time for vehicles which fly an optimum trajectory. A realistic example is considered in order to display the inherent accuracy of each of these methods. Numerical integration methods are found to be the most accurate. Simple formulas are derived for the case where a less accurate estimate is acceptable. All of these methods require less computation than would be required in order to solve the overall optimization problem. Thus any one of these methods can be applied to an onboard guidance scheme or control system which requires a real time estimate of the time-to-go.     

Ground and on-orbit command and data handling architectures for the Active Rack Isolation System microgravity flight experiment

The Active Rack Isolation System [ARIS] International Space Station [ISS] Characterization Experiment, or ARIS-ICE for short, is a long duration microgravity characterization experiment aboard the ISS. The objective of the experiment is to fully characterize active microgravity performance of the first ARIS rack deployed on the ISS. Efficient ground and on-orbit command and data handling [C&DH] segments are the crux in achieving the challenging objectives of the mission. The objective of the paper is to provide an overview of the C&DH architectures developed for ARIS-ICE, with the view that these architectures may serve as a model for future ISS microgravity payloads. Both ground and on-orbit segments, and their interaction with corresponding ISS C&DH systems are presented. The heart of the on-orbit segment is the ARIS-ICE Payload On-orbit Processor, ARIS-ICE POP for short. The POP manages communication with the ISS C&DH system and other ISS subsystems and payloads, enables automation of test/data collection sequences, and provides a wide range of utilities such as efficient file downlinks/uplinks, data post-processing, data compression and data storage. The hardware and software architecture of the POP is presented and it is shown that the built-in functionality helps to dramatically streamline the efficiency of on-orbit operations. The ground segment has at its heart special ARIS-ICE Ground Support Equipment [GSE] software developed for the experiment. The software enables efficient command and file uplinks, and reconstruction and display of science telemetry packets. The GSE software architecture is discussed along with its interactions with ISS ground C&DH elements. A test sequence example is used to demonstrate the interplay between the ground and on-orbit segments.     

Limits of flanging process feasibility to create thin-wall conical shells

In this paper, a process of flanging to create thin-walled axisymmetrical shells with the shape of truncated cone is analyzed. Also presented are some dependences that make it possible to determine the relative depth of a formed piece at the given piece-blank thickness ratio.     

大迎角试验数据精度及影响因素分析

着重分析了粗糙带、偏航角β、模型抖动以及滤波频率、采样时间和样本长度等因素对于大迎角试验数据精度的影响.结果认为:常规试验采用的滤波频率会导致关键气动信息的丢失,滤波频率的选取尤为重要;弯刀系统的横向刚度是影响大迎角数据精度的一个重要因素,试验中如何降低其横向刚度的影响是一难点.     

航天器动力管路热控设计与试验研究

针对某航天器动力系统管路布局分散造成系统温差大、控温难的问题,结合动力管路温度指标要求和边界环境条件,采用以被动热控措施为主、辅以电加热主动热控措施的设计方案。分析确立动力管路的热环境,建立换热模型;通过仿真分析和整器热平衡试验,选取不同工况,验证了动力系统氧化剂管路和燃烧剂管路温度均维持在8～20 ℃范围内的热控设计结果。该方案对各类航天器的动力管路热控设计和分析有一定的指导和借鉴作用。     

Influence of the 27-day solar flux variations on the ionosphere parameters measured at Irkutsk in 2003–2005

We present an investigation of the influence of the 27-day solar flux variations, caused by solar rotation, on the ionosphere parameters such as the F2 layer critical frequency (foF2) and the total electron content (TEC). Our observational data were obtained with the Irkutsk Digisonde (DPS-4) located at 52.3 North and 104.3 East during the period from 2003 to 2005. In addition, we use TEC data from the Global Ionosphere Maps (GIM) based on Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites. The solar radiation flux at a wavelength of 10.7 cm (F10.7 index) is used as an index characterizing the solar activity level. A good correlation between observed ionosphere parameters and solar activity variations is found especially in autumn-to-winter season. We estimate the impact of the 27-day solar flux variations on the day-to-day variability and determine the time delay of the ionosphere response.     

A technique of shaping the barrel-type parts

In this paper, a new technique for shaping the thin-walled barrel-type parts is presented.