Activity Planning for the Space Station

This paper presents an overview of the identification and selection process of experiments and payloads for manned space flight missions, emphasizing the scope and magnitude of the problem of doing activity planning and the need for a methodology to assure timely flight and appropriate spacecraft design. Conclusions and results derived from the past several years are presented together with an analysis of the current procedure for defining activity for the space station.     

Application of Recursive Estimation and Kalman Filtering to Doppler Tracking

The techniques of recursive estimation and Kalman filtering are applied to the problem of estimation of space vehicle orbits and trajectories using only measurements of the Doppler shifts in radio signals transmitted by or reflected from the target. Two approaches are described. One is a global fit technique in which the parameters of an assumed trajectory model are estimated. The second is a pointwise mapping technique in which the trajectory estimate is extrapolated as the target tracking data is received. The paper provides a tutorial illustration of the direct application of recursive optimization techniques to a class of engineering problems.     

Position-Location Solutions by Taylor-Series Estimation

Taylor-series estimation gives a least-sum-squared-error solution to a set of simultaneous linearized algebraic equations. This method is useful in solving multimeasurement mixed-mode position-location problems typical of many navigational applications. While convergence is not proved, examples show that most problems do converge to the correct solution from reasonable initial guesses. The method also provides the statistical spread of the solution errors.     

Biological studies of martian soil analogues

Results of the study of the influence of Martian soil analogues, both as described by American scientists and as prepared by us, and of hydrogen peroxide on the viability of microorganisms are presented. The experiments were carried out using mixtures of soil analogues with desert soil and black earth (chernozem) samples, and pure cultures of microorganism. Microorganisms capable of withstanding a concentration of hydrogen peroxide in the medium as high as 1.5–2.0% were isolated. None of the 40 strains of microorganisms studied, all belonging to different systematic and physiological groups, exhibited growth inhibition on solid media in the presence of Martian soil analogues. In view of the fact that Martian soil cannot contain microorganisms in great quantities, we suggest using electroadsorption for their concentration, to make detection reliable. A device was designed for this purpose, using the principle of electroadsorption on a polarisable carrier (sterile cotton wool or cheesecloth). The concentrated suspension of microorganisms thus obtained was then characterized by various physicochemical methods.     

Experiments with injection of powerful plasma jet into the ionosphere

This paper describes two rocket experiments “Aelita” with high power lithium plasma injection. The results of onboard magnetometer, massspectrometer, photometer, plasma, corpuscular and ground radar measurements are given. Dynamics and structure of plasma formation are discussed.     

Kites are Fun-Composing Technical Material Using New Methods

"I can't get that stupid kite in the air! I can't! I can't!" "Oh, come on now, Charlie Brown ... that's no way to talk. The whole trouble with you is that you don't believe in yourself! You don't believe in your own abilities. You've got to say to yourself, 'I believe that I can fly this kite.' Now, go ahead, say to yourself, ' I believe that I can fly this kite.'" "I believe that I can fly this kite." "All right, now say it out loud. Say it over and over." "I believe that I can fly this kite! I believe that I can fly this kite! I actually believe I can fly this kite!" "You do? I'll bet you ten-to-one you're wrong!"     

LS Localizer Multipath Analysis

The scattering effect of structures on Instrument Landing System localizer signals is analyzed in this paper. A generalized computer program results which can be used to determine the reflection from surfaces of most materials and orientations for which the radius of curvature is large compared with the wavelength. For most reflecting walls, a closed form solution is used and the computation time is short. The program will enable users to determine the placement of hangars, towers, etc., in airports and to find ways to reduce their effect on localizer facilities.     

Improvement of Automatic Landing Through the Use of a Space Diversity ILS Receiving System

A space diversity method of receiving and processing ILS localizer information has been developed and flight tested. Multiple lateral ly separated antennas are used which sense the ILS signal on and around the approach path. Combining these signals suppresses ILS beam distortion produced by multipath signal interference and provides much improved guidance information to the landing aircraft control system.