An advanced flight control and navigation system implementation fortactical helicopters

US Army helicopters that will allow single-crewmember operability in tactical environments require a high degree of automation. A tightly integrated flight control and navigation system has been studied. An architecture is discussed which meets anticipated flight control and navigation requirements, at an acceptable weight, using techniques of functional and physical integration. The architecture maximizes the sharing of sensor and computational resources in a flight critical environment and uses modular equipment packaging, dual fault-tolerant tetrad ring-laser-gyro inertial measurement units, and triplex self-checking processor pair-based flight critical processing channels     

Thermoluminescent dose measurements on-board Salyut type orbital stations.

A small, vibration- and shock-resistant thermoluminescent dosemeter /TLD/ system--named PILLE--was developed at the Health Physics Department of the Central Research Institute for Physics, Budapest, to measure the cosmic radiation dose on board orbital stations. The first on-board measurements with this system were performed /by B. Farkas, the Hungarian astronaut/, on the Salyut-6 space station in 1980. The same instrument was used by other crews in the following years. Doses measured at different sites in Salyut-6 are presented. The dose rates varied from 0.07 to 0.11 mGy.day-1. After the first cosmic measurements, the system was further developed. The minimum detectable dose of the new TLD system is 1 microGy, i.e. less by on order of magnitude than that of the former system. The self-irradiation dose rate of the TLD bulbs is also reduced--by more than one order of magnitude--to 10 nGy.h-1, by the use of potassium-free glass for the bulb envelope. This new type of PILLE TLD system is currently on-board Salyut-7. The dose rates /0.12-0.23 mGy.day-1/ measured in 1983 are presented in detail.     

Dust motion in Jupiter's tilted magnetic field

We outline an analytical method for studying the motion of charged dust particles that orbit an oblate planet having a tilted, offset, dipolar magnetic field. Our computed trajectories closely mimic previous numerical results; equilibrium dust potentials must be less then 10 volts or the Jovian ring would be thicker than observed. We identify several $\text{Lorentz resonances}$, where the periods of components of the Lorentz force, as seen by a reference particle moving in the equatorial plane, match the particle's orbital period; several seem to be near observed features of the Jovian ring system.     

Synoptic observations of coronal transients and their interplanetary consequences

A small coronagraph has been placed in orbit to monitor the sun's outer corona from 2.5 to 10.0 solar radii, and five years of nearly continuous synoptic observations have now been completed. Rapid and sensitive image processing techniques have been developed to screen the data for transient phenomena, particularly coronal mass ejections (CMEs). About 50,000 coronal images have been examined, out of a five-year total of 68,000, and a standardized listing of more than 1,200 coronal transients for the period 1979–1982 has been prepared. These data have been analysed in the light of other available information, particularly on conditions in the interplanetary plasma. The dynamical characteristics of the active corona, as they are beginning to emerge from the data, are presented. We find that coronal mass ejections exercise significant influence on the interplanetary solar wind. They are the source of disturbances that are frequent and energetic, that tend to be somewhat focussed, that often reach shock intensity, and that propagate to large heliocentric distances, sometimes causing major geomagnetic storms.     

Variations of density scale height between 300 and 400 km

Density data from the French CACTUS accelerometer are used to determine values of density scale height. An analysis shows a diurnal effect in the variations of scale height. There exists a correlation between geomagnetic activity and variations of scale height. Variations of the gradient of scale height are shown and analysed.     

Organisation of a unified system of energetic calibration of X-ray experiments

X-ray data obtained by the Prognoz 5,6,7 and 8 hard X-ray photometers are compared with the measurements carried out by similar instruments aboard the Solrad 11, ISEE 3, SMM and Hinotori satellites. Using the method of relative amplitude analysis, the apparent disagreement in the energy discrimination level calibration between the instruments is pointed out. The results of the comparison and the possible sources of disagreement are given. We suggest an international effort be made to develop a system of uniform pre-launch calibration of photometers based on a reference calibration source.     

Flare build up: 21 May 1980

The decaying solar active region that crossed the central meridian on May 20, 1980 at latitude S13° produced a major flare (2B/X1) at 2054 on May 21. This region was a target of the international Flare Buildup Study and was well observed. The buildup was characterized by little flare activity during two days prior to the major flare but a great deal of activity in the filament that separated the opposite magnetic polarities of the active region. Large proper motions of sunspots and magnetic fields suggest that the magnetic field was stressed prior to the flare. The immediate trigger of the flare appears to have been an eruption of new magnetic flux in the center of the active region. The new flux erupted in a configuration that decreased the net flux of the active region and contributed to the decay of the region.