大型火箭发动机的壳体粘结问题

大型药柱的壳体粘结很少进行研究,往往成为火箭发动机生产中很困难的问题。当柔软的橡胶与坚硬的金属壳体粘结时,在粘结线上产生应力集中,会使成品发动机变得不能用。推进剂和壳体粘结的常用方法是采用可固化的胶粘剂包复层。业已证明,包复层和推进剂之间必须具有化学相似性才能很好粘结。本文列举了具体体现这一概念的粘结系统实例,并叙述其间有关的特殊化学反应。     

火箭喷管的二维两相流

本文介绍了编制一组解轴对称喷管气体/粒子流动方程组的计算机程序的进展情况。已经编写了两个程序,是用来解喷管喉部跨声速区的方程组的。第一个程序把两相流体看成是一种具有修正等熵指数和修正分子量的重理想气体,并解跨声速等熵流动方程组,得到的初始流场形状作为第二个程序的输入。第二个程序包含有气体/粒子混合物非平衡效应。这两个程序为进行超声速计算提供准确的初始线数据,这些数据将用作第三个程序的输入。第三个程序是解喷管超声速区两相流动方程组的,不久即将写成。     

光控宽带阵列天线

介绍了一种使用遥控用光纤链路和宽瞬时带宽用光学时移网络的光控阵列天线。综述了为机载监视雷达设计的宽带共形阵天线的研制情况。介绍了L波段96阵元光控阵列的系统设计和性能。讨论了光学元器件和阵列孔径的封装技术。重点介绍了系统的宽带性能。为了验证用于目标识别(ID)和目标成像的50％瞬时带宽(550MHz，距离分辨率为30cm)，测量了纳秒脉冲响应。应用基于时域脉冲测量的机内信号输入技术用于校准时移波束形成网络中的宽带元器件。     

三元乙丙橡胶/蒙脱土纳米复合材料的制备和性能研究

以马来酸酐接枝的EPDM齐聚物(EPDM-g-MAH)作为相容剂,用熔体插层的方法成功制备了EPDM／蒙脱土纳米复合材料,研究了材料形成的机理。X射线衍射(XRD)和透射电子显微镜(TEM)观测的结果表明,所制备的纳米复合材料为剥离型结构。与微米级复合材料相比。其力学性能和耐热性能提高。     

Impact disruption and recovery of the deep subsurface biosphere

Although a large fraction of the world's biomass resides in the subsurface, there has been no study of the effects of catastrophic disturbance on the deep biosphere and the rate of its subsequent recovery. We carried out an investigation of the microbiology of a 1.76 km drill core obtained from the ～35 million-year-old Chesapeake Bay impact structure, USA, with robust contamination control. Microbial enumerations displayed a logarithmic downward decline, but the different gradient, when compared to previously studied sites, and the scatter of the data are consistent with a microbiota influenced by the geological disturbances caused by the impact. Microbial abundance is low in buried crater-fill, ocean-resurge, and avalanche deposits despite the presence of redox couples for growth. Coupled with the low hydraulic conductivity, the data suggest the microbial community has not yet recovered from the impact ～35 million years ago. Microbial enumerations, molecular analysis of microbial enrichment cultures, and geochemical analysis showed recolonization of a deep region of impact-fractured rock that was heated to above the upper temperature limit for life at the time of impact. These results show how, by fracturing subsurface rocks, impacts can extend the depth of the biosphere. This phenomenon would have provided deep refugia for life on the more heavily bombarded early Earth, and it shows that the deeply fractured regions of impact craters are promising targets to study the past and present habitability of Mars.     

Did mineral surface chemistry and toxicity contribute to evolution of microbial extracellular polymeric substances?

Abstract Modern ecological niches are teeming with an astonishing diversity of microbial life in biofilms closely associated with mineral surfaces, which highlights the remarkable success of microorganisms in conquering the challenges and capitalizing on the benefits presented by the mineral-water interface. Biofilm formation capability likely evolved on early Earth because biofilms provide crucial cell survival functions. The potential toxicity of mineral surfaces toward cells and the complexities of the mineral-water-cell interface in determining the toxicity mechanisms, however, have not been fully appreciated. Here, we report a previously unrecognized role for extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), which form biofilms in shielding cells against the toxicity of mineral surfaces. Using colony plating and LIVE/DEAD staining methods in oxide suspensions versus oxide-free controls, we found greater viability of wild-type, EPS-producing strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 compared to their isogenic knockout mutant with defective biofilm-producing capacity. Oxide toxicity was specific to its surface charge and particle size. High resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) images and assays for highly reactive oxygen species (hROS) on mineral surfaces suggested that EPS shield via both physical and chemical mechanisms. Intriguingly, qualitative as well as quantitative measures of EPS production showed that toxic minerals induced EPS production in bacteria. By determining the specific toxicity mechanisms, we provide insight into the potential impact of mineral surfaces in promoting increased complexity of cell surfaces, including EPS and biofilm formation, on early Earth. Key Words: Mineral toxicity-Bacteria-EPS evolution-Biofilms-Cytotoxicity-Silica-Anatase-Alumina. Astrobiology 12, 785-798.     

Spatially resolved genomic, stable isotopic, and lipid analyses of a modern freshwater microbialite from cuatro ciénegas, Mexico

Abstract Microbialites are biologically mediated carbonate deposits found in diverse environments worldwide. To explore the organisms and processes involved in microbialite formation, this study integrated genomic, lipid, and both organic and inorganic stable isotopic analyses to examine five discrete depth horizons spanning the surface 25?mm of a modern freshwater microbialite from Cuatro Ciénegas, Mexico. Distinct bacterial communities and geochemical signatures were observed in each microbialite layer. Photoautotrophic organisms accounted for approximately 65% of the sequences in the surface community and produced biomass with distinctive lipid biomarker and isotopic (δ(13)C) signatures. This photoautotrophic biomass was efficiently degraded in the deeper layers by heterotrophic organisms, primarily sulfate-reducing proteobacteria. Two spatially distinct zones of carbonate precipitation were observed within the microbialite, with the first zone corresponding to the phototroph-dominated portion of the microbialite and the second zone associated with the presence of sulfate-reducing heterotrophs. The coupling of photoautotrophic production, heterotrophic decomposition, and remineralization of organic matter led to the incorporation of a characteristic biogenic signature into the inorganic CaCO(3) matrix. Overall, spatially resolved multidisciplinary analyses of the microbialite enabled correlations to be made between the distribution of specific organisms, precipitation of carbonate, and preservation of unique lipid and isotopic geochemical signatures. These findings are critical for understanding the formation of modern microbialites and have implications for the interpretation of ancient microbialite records. Key Words: Microbial ecology-Microbe-mineral interactions-Microbial mats-Stromatolites-Genomics. Astrobiology 12, 685-698.     

Resistance of bacterial endospores to outer space for planetary protection purposes--experiment PROTECT of the EXPOSE-E mission

Spore-forming bacteria are of particular concern in the context of planetary protection because their tough endospores may withstand certain sterilization procedures as well as the harsh environments of outer space or planetary surfaces. To test their hardiness on a hypothetical mission to Mars, spores of Bacillus subtilis 168 and Bacillus pumilus SAFR-032 were exposed for 1.5 years to selected parameters of space in the experiment PROTECT during the EXPOSE-E mission on board the International Space Station. Mounted as dry layers on spacecraft-qualified aluminum coupons, the "trip to Mars" spores experienced space vacuum, cosmic and extraterrestrial solar radiation, and temperature fluctuations, whereas the "stay on Mars" spores were subjected to a simulated martian environment that included atmospheric pressure and composition, and UV and cosmic radiation. The survival of spores from both assays was determined after retrieval. It was clearly shown that solar extraterrestrial UV radiation (λ≥110?nm) as well as the martian UV spectrum (λ≥200?nm) was the most deleterious factor applied; in some samples only a few survivors were recovered from spores exposed in monolayers. Spores in multilayers survived better by several orders of magnitude. All other environmental parameters encountered by the "trip to Mars" or "stay on Mars" spores did little harm to the spores, which showed about 50% survival or more. The data demonstrate the high chance of survival of spores on a Mars mission, if protected against solar irradiation. These results will have implications for planetary protection considerations.     

Microbial rock inhabitants survive hypervelocity impacts on Mars-like host planets: first phase of lithopanspermia experimentally tested

The scenario of lithopanspermia describes the viable transport of microorganisms via meteorites. To test the first step of lithopanspermia, i.e., the impact ejection from a planet, systematic shock recovery experiments within a pressure range observed in martian meteorites (5-50 GPa) were performed with dry layers of microorganisms (spores of Bacillus subtilis, cells of the endolithic cyanobacterium Chroococcidiopsis, and thalli and ascocarps of the lichen Xanthoria elegans) sandwiched between gabbro discs (martian analogue rock). Actual shock pressures were determined by refractive index measurements and Raman spectroscopy, and shock temperature profiles were calculated. Pressure-effect curves were constructed for survival of B. subtilis spores and Chroococcidiopsis cells from the number of colony-forming units, and for vitality of the photobiont and mycobiont of Xanthoria elegans from confocal laser scanning microscopy after live/dead staining (FUN-I). A vital launch window for the transport of rock-colonizing microorganisms from a Mars-like planet was inferred, which encompasses shock pressures in the range of 5 to about 40 GPa for the bacterial endospores and the lichens, and a more limited shock pressure range for the cyanobacterium (from 5-10 GPa). The results support concepts of viable impact ejections from Mars-like planets and the possibility of reseeding early Earth after asteroid cataclysms.