Iridium(R) aeronautical satellite communications

The ever-increasing demand to stay in touch, to be able to communicate anywhere and anytime, has created a market for low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite communications services such as the Iridium system. The Iridium satellite communications network is being developed to support the needs of the passenger, the cabin crew and the flight crew for: aeronautical public correspondence (APC); aeronautical administrative communications (AAC); aeronautical operational control (AOC); and air traffic services (ATS)     

Cometary Materials: Progress Toward Understanding the Composition in the Outer Solar Nebula

A major objective of the workshop was to learn about the chemical composition, physical structure, and thermodynamic conditions of the outer parts of the solar nebula where comets formed. Here we sum up what we have learned from years of research about the molecular constituents of comet comae primarily from in situ measurements of Comet 1P/Halley and remote sensing of Comets 1P/Halley, Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1), and Hyakutake (C/1996 B2). These three bright comets are presumably captured Oort cloud comets. We summarize the analyses of these data to predict the composition of comet nuclei and project them further to the composition, structure, and thermodynamic conditions in the nebula. Near-future comet missions are directed toward less active short-period Jupiter-family comets. Thus, future analyses will afford a better understanding of the diversity of these two major groups of comets and their respective regions of origin in the solar or presolar nebula. We conclude with recommendations for determining critical data needed to aid in further analyses. Results of the workshop provide new guidelines and constraints for modeling the solar nebula. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Study of Dynamical Properties of Coronal Structures in the Polar Regions

We present the results from a study of the dynamical properties of polar jets in the Sun's polar regions using LASCO C2 coronagraph and EIT observations. In the simplest impulsive acceleration scenarios for jets, gravity is expected to be the dominant force on the jet following the initial acceleration, especially in the Sun's polar regions where the open magnetic fields should not significantly impede the jet's motion. Our analysis shows that although at low heights the kinematics of the jets could be consistent with a gravitational deceleration of the ejected plasma, at higher heights their motions may simply follow the ambient solar wind outflow. If so, the polar jets can be used as tracers of the solar wind in coronal holes. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Acceleration of the High Speed Solar Wind in Coronal Holes

We outline a theory for the origin and acceleration of the fast solar wind as a consequence of network microflares releasing a spectrum of high frequency Alfvén waves which heat (by cyclotron absorption) the corona close to the Sun. The significant features of our model of the fast wind are that the acceleration is rapid with the sonic point at around two solar radii, the proton temperatures are high (~ 5 million degrees) and the minor ions are correspondingly hotter, roughly in proportion to their mass. Moreover we argue that since the energy flux needed to power the quiet corona in closed field regions is about the same as that needed to drive the fast solar wind, and also because at deeper levels (< 2 × 10⁵ K) there is no great difference in the properties of supergranules and network in closed and open field regions, the heating process (i.e., dissipation of high frequency waves) must be the same in both cases. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Multi-point observations and modeling of subauroral polarization streams (SAPS) and double-peak subauroral ion drifts (DSAIDs): A case study

While subauroral polarization streams (SAPS) are well recognized as representatively one of the most important features of magnetosphere-ionosphere (M-I) coupling processes in the subauroral region, the double-peak subauroral ion drifts (DSAIDs) is a newly recognized ionospheric phenomenon, categorized as a subset of subauroral ion drifts (SAIDs). In this study, we investigate both SAPS and DSAIDs that appear during the storm main phase of the 17 March 2015 event through a combination of multi-point observations and numerical simulations. We find that when SAPS/DSAIDs are observed by the DMSP spacecraft near the dusk subauroral region, strong electric fields are detected minutes later by the Van Allen Probes almost in the same conjugate region near the equatorial plane. Numerical simulations are carried out not only to reveal the global context and dynamic evolution of the SAPS in both the magnetospheric and ionospheric systems, but also to aid the understanding of the effect of conductance on the DSAIDs. Our results confirm that SAPS are indeed associated with Region 2 field-aligned currents (FACs) flowing into the low conductance region. On the other hand, the DSAIDs may be related to the double-conductance-trough in the subauroral region.     

Analyzing the new Kennedy tape

A newly released tape of a 18 September 1963 conversation between President Kennedy and NASA Administrator James Webb has been interpreted by some as showing that the president was looking for a way out of his Apollo commitment. This commentary analyses the meeting – in which Webb did most of the talking – and concludes instead that Kennedy was concerned about how to keep the program going in the face of growing criticism of its cost and goals. In particular there was discussion of how to ensure that his support for Apollo did not harm his chances of re-election. To Kennedy, giving Apollo a military rationale seemed the best way to ensure its support.     

发挥员工最大潜能 迎接21世纪优质服务的挑战(英文)

每一个机构中，员工的潜能往往被经理们所低估。如何达到公司经营的最高目标及有效地面对剧烈竞争的工商业世界，我们一定要帮助员工在机构内发挥他们最大的潜能，最后使员工及顾客均满意。怎样了解及发挥员工的内在潜能是２１世纪最有效的员工管理策略，要使员工及顾客都满意，一定要知道怎样去激发员工最大潜能，并不断学习新的文化及有效地奖励员工。     

Radar Waveforms for Suppression of Extended Clutter

A common problem in waveform design is to adapt the transmitted signal to the target environment in order that the interference from extended fields of scatterers is reduced. This problem is investigated here for the special case of detection of a single target in the ``vicinity' of an extended clutter space. The paper considers the possibility of confining the matched-filter response in delay and Doppler, or ambiguity function, to a narrow strip with arbitrary orientation in the delay-Doppler plane. It is shown that strict confinement of the response is achievable only with waveforms that are unlimited in both time and frequency domain. With practical waveforms, which are necessarily of finite extent, one merely can trade close-target separability against detectability in the background clutter. Thus, one form of the resolution problem is exchanged against the other. The paper examines these effects quantitatively.     

Source and loss processes in the magnetotail

Space Science Reviews -     

Radiation environment on the Mir orbital station during solar minimum.

The Mir station has been in a 51.65 degrees inclination orbit since March 1986. In March 1995, the first US astronaut flew on the Mir-18 mission and returned on the Space Shuttle in July 1995. Since then three additional US astronauts have stayed on orbit for up to 6 months. Since the return of the first US astronaut, both the Spektr and Priroda modules have docked with Mir station, altering the mass shielding distribution. Radiation measurements, including the direct comparison of US and Russian absorbed dose rates in the Base Block of the Mir station, were made during the Mir-18 and -19 missions. There is a significant variation of dose rates across the core module; the six locations sampled showed a variation of a factor of nearly two. A tissue equivalent proportional counter (TEPC) measured a total absorbed dose rate of 300 microGy/day, roughly equally divided between the rate due to trapped protons from the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) and galactic cosmic radiation (GCR). This dose rate is about a factor of two lower than the rate measured by the thinly shielded (0.5 g cm-2 of Al) operational ion chamber (R-16), and about 3/2 of the rate of the more heavily shielded (3.5 g cm-2 of Al) ion chamber. This is due to the differences in the mass shielding properties at the location of these detectors. A comparison of integral linear energy transfer (LET) spectra measured by TEPC and plastic nuclear track detectors (PNTDs) deployed side by side are in remarkable agreement in the LET region of 15-1000 keV/micrometer, where the PNTDs are fully efficient. The average quality factor, using the ICRP-26 definition, was 2.6, which is higher than normally used. There is excellent agreement between the measured GCR dose rate and model calculations, but this is not true for trapped protons. The measured Mir-18 crew skin dose equivalent rate was 1133 microSv/day. Using the skin dose rate and anatomical models, we have estimated the blood-forming organ (BFO) dose rate and the maximum stay time in orbit for International Space Station crew members.