Analysis of Theories of Fully Ionized Space Plasma

The physical sense of the main ideas, presently used in plasma physics, is discussed. An attempt is made to clarify the concepts, used in plasma physical calculations. The concept of `Coulomb collisions' with the implicitly introduced rapid stochastization plays the main negative role in the physics of fully ionized plasma. Statistical methods, which are adequate for the neutral gas and for the partially ionized plasma, are not applicable for the completely ionized case. It is the cause of large errors in evaluating real plasma parameters. A new concept is considered: a fully ionized space plasma should be treated as a dynamical system with a low level of chaos. Further progress in space physics requires a serious renewal of plasma theory.     

Plants + soil/wetland microbes: Food crop systems that also clean air and water

The limitations that will govern bioregenerative life support applications in space, especially volume and weight, make multi-purpose systems advantageous. This paper outlines two systems which utilize plants and associated microbial communities of root or growth medium to both produce food crops and clean air and water. Underlying these approaches are the large numbers and metabolic diversity of microbes associated with roots and found in either soil or other suitable growth media. Biogeochemical cycles have microbial links and the ability of microbes to metabolize virtually all trace gases, whether of technogenic or biogenic origin, has long been established. Wetland plants and the rootzone microbes of wetland soils/media also been extensively researched for their ability to purify wastewaters of a great number of potential water pollutants, from nutrients like N and P, to heavy metals and a range of complex industrial pollutants. There is a growing body of research on the ability of higher plants to purify air and water. Associated benefits of these approaches is that by utilizing natural ecological processes, the cleansing of air and water can be done with little or no energy inputs. Soil and rootzone microorganisms respond to changing pollutant types by an increase of the types of organisms with the capacity to use these compounds. Thus living systems have an adaptive capacity as long as the starting populations are sufficiently diverse. Tightly sealed environments, from office buildings to spacecraft, can have hundreds or even thousands of potential air pollutants, depending on the materials and equipment enclosed. Human waste products carry a plethora of microbes which are readily used in the process of converting its organic load to forms that can be utilized by green plants. Having endogenous means of responding to changing air and water quality conditions represents safety factors as these systems operate without the need for human intervention. We review this research and the ability of systems using these mechanisms to also produce food or other useful crops. Concerns about possible pathogens in soils and wastewater are discussed along with some methods to prevent contact, disease transmission and to pre-screen and decrease risks. The psychological benefits of having systems utilizing green plants are becoming more widely recognized. Some recent applications extending the benefits of plants and microbes to solve new environmental problems are presented. For space applications, we discuss the use of in situ space resources and ways of making these systems compact and light-weight.     

The Ultraviolet Spectrograph on NASA’s Juno Mission

The ultraviolet spectrograph instrument on the Juno mission (Juno-UVS) is a long-slit imaging spectrograph designed to observe and characterize Jupiter’s far-ultraviolet (FUV) auroral emissions. These observations will be coordinated and correlated with those from Juno’s other remote sensing instruments and used to place in situ measurements made by Juno’s particles and fields instruments into a global context, relating the local data with events occurring in more distant regions of Jupiter’s magnetosphere. Juno-UVS is based on a series of imaging FUV spectrographs currently in flight—the two Alice instruments on the Rosetta and New Horizons missions, and the Lyman Alpha Mapping Project on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission. However, Juno-UVS has several important modifications, including (1) a scan mirror (for targeting specific auroral features), (2) extensive shielding (for mitigation of electronics and data quality degradation by energetic particles), and (3) a cross delay line microchannel plate detector (for both faster photon counting and improved spatial resolution). This paper describes the science objectives, design, and initial performance of the Juno-UVS.     

The InSight Mars Lander and Its Effect on the Subsurface Thermal Environment

The 2018 InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) Mission has the mission goal of providing insitu data for the first measurement of the geothermal heat flow of Mars. The Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP³) will take thermal conductivity and thermal gradient measurements to approximately 5 m depth. By necessity, this measurement will be made within a few meters of the lander. This means that thermal perturbations from the lander will modify local surface and subsurface temperature measurements. For HP³’s sensitive thermal gradient measurements, this spacecraft influence will be important to model and parameterize. Here we present a basic 3D model of thermal effects of the lander on its surroundings. Though lander perturbations significantly alter subsurface temperatures, a successful thermal gradient measurement will be possible in all thermal conditions by proper (\(>3~\mbox{m}\) depth) placement of the heat flow probe.     

The Juno Radiation Monitoring (RM) Investigation

The Radiation Monitoring Investigation of the Juno Mission will actively retrieve and analyze the noise signatures from penetrating radiation in the images of Juno’s star cameras and science instruments at Jupiter. The investigation’s objective is to profile Jupiter’s \(>10\mbox{-MeV}\) electron environment in regions of the Jovian magnetosphere which today are still largely unexplored. This paper discusses the primary instruments on Juno which contribute to the investigation’s data suite, the measurements of camera noise from penetrating particles, spectral sensitivities and measurement ranges of the instruments, calibrations performed prior to Juno’s first science orbit, and how the measurements may be used to infer the external relativistic electron environment.     

陆军战术无人侦察机（下）——苏联／俄罗斯战术无人侦察机

在当今世界，无人机以其独特的优势日益受到各国军方的青睐。无人机的研制，运用和发展也可谓方兴未艾。但对世人来讲，世界航空大国俄罗斯的无人机长期以来却一直是个谜……早在20世纪50年代初，随着喷气式发动机的诞生，苏联开始研制中远程巡航导弹和洲际弹道导弹以及军用无人机。军用无人机拥有有人驾驶飞机不可替代的许多优点：结构设汁简单、起降简便等，从而在军用航空武器中占据了特殊的地位。其无人机的发展大致可分为三个阶段。[编者按]     

布什的新坐骑 美国总统新型专用直升机终定US101

美国海军近日宣布。新的总统专用直升机“海军一号”编队的承建合约已由与欧洲公司合作的国防部最大供应商洛克希德&;#183;马丁公司投得。这个决定就此给洛克希德&;#183;马丁公司和西科斯基飞机公司间一场错综复杂的激烈竞争画上了句号。     

为台独“决战境外” 台湾“中翔”无人机计划的背后

台湾军方对无人机的浓厚兴趣，是很早就开始了，不过由于无人机是敏感军事装备，因此台湾外购无人机一直受到限制。但是台湾通过无人机做大军事力量的野心仍在不断的扩张。台湾的无人驾驶飞机一直被认为是这样一种状态：总水平比较低，起步较晚，种类有限，主要军事用途包括战术侦察，战场与海岸监控，电子干扰和诱饵；商业用途包括交通监视，资源勘探，反走私，反偷渡等。[编者按]