粉浆浇注熔硅天线罩结构淋雨滑车试验

对粉浆浇注熔硅天线罩结构在3.7～5.0M时淋雨滑车试验结果作了最后评估.其结果为:在霍洛曼空军基地利用滑车轨道设备进行的试验证明,对相同的法向速度分量来说,粉浆浇注熔硅材料的最大冲蚀率变化系数为3;高纯度粉浆浇注熔硅的雨水冲蚀极限速度约为500m/s;法向速度分量超限时,天线罩出现重大损伤;硅树脂防潮密封胶DC808和DE SR80可能不会严重影响雨水冲蚀性能;建议在自然雨区中飞行的导弹,其碰撞角应受控制,以使天线罩上的自由流的法向速度小于500m/s.     

Training astronauts using three-dimensional visualisations of the International Space Station

Recent advances in personal computer technology have led to the development of relatively low-cost software to generate high-resolution three-dimensional images. The capability both to rotate and zoom in on these images superposed on appropriate background images enables high-quality movies to be created. These developments have been used to produce realistic simulations of the International Space Station on CD-ROM. This product is described and its potentialities demonstrated. With successive launches, the ISS is gradually built up, and visualised over a rotating Earth against the star background. It is anticipated that this product's capability will be useful when training astronauts to carry out EVAs around the ISS. Simulations inside the ISS are also very realistic. These should prove invaluable when familiarising the ISS crew with their future workplace and home. Operating procedures can be taught and perfected. "What if" scenario models can be explored and this facility should be useful when training the crew to deal with emergency situations which might arise. This CD-ROM product will also be used to make the general public more aware of, and hence enthusiastic about, the International Space Station programme.     

A facility for long-term Mars simulation experiments: the Mars Environmental Simulation Chamber (MESCH)

We describe the design, construction, and pilot operation of a Mars simulation facility comprised of a cryogenic environmental chamber, an atmospheric gas analyzer, and a xenon/mercury discharge source for UV generation. The Mars Environmental Simulation Chamber (MESCH) consists of a double-walled cylindrical chamber. The double wall provides a cooling mantle through which liquid N(2) can be circulated. A load-lock system that consists of a small pressure-exchange chamber, which can be evacuated, allows for the exchange of samples without changing the chamber environment. Fitted within the MESCH is a carousel, which holds up to 10 steel sample tubes. Rotation of the carousel is controlled by an external motor. Each sample in the carousel can be placed at any desired position. Environmental data, such as temperature, pressure, and UV exposure time, are computer logged and used in automated feedback mechanisms, enabling a wide variety of experiments that include time series. Tests of the simulation facility have successfully demonstrated its ability to produce temperature cycles and maintain low temperature (down to -140 degrees C), low atmospheric pressure (5-10 mbar), and a gas composition like that of Mars during long-term experiments.     

Establishment of a rearing system of the extremotolerant tardigrade Ramazzottius varieornatus: a new model animal for astrobiology

Studies on the ability of multicellular organisms to tolerate specific environmental extremes are relatively rare compared to those of unicellular microorganisms in extreme environments. Tardigrades are extremotolerant animals that can enter an ametabolic dry state called anhydrobiosis and have high tolerance to a variety of extreme environmental conditions, particularly while in anhydrobiosis. Although tardigrades have been expected to be a potential model animal for astrobiological studies due to their excellent anhydrobiotic and extremotolerant abilities, few studies of tolerance with cultured tardigrades have been reported, possibly due to the absence of a model species that can be easily maintained under rearing conditions. We report the successful rearing of the herbivorous tardigrade, Ramazzottius varieornatus, by supplying the green alga Chlorella vulgaris as food. The life span was 35 +/- 16.4 d, deposited eggs required 5.7 +/- 1.1 d to hatch, and animals began to deposit eggs 9 d after hatching. The reared individuals of this species had an anhydrobiotic capacity throughout their life cycle in egg, juvenile, and adult stages. Furthermore, the reared adults in an anhydrobiotic state were tolerant of temperatures of 90 degrees C and -196 degrees C, and exposure to 99.8% acetonitrile or irradiation with 4000 Gy (4)He ions. Based on their life history traits and tolerance to extreme stresses, R. varieornatus may be a suitable model for astrobiological studies of multicellular organisms.     

Conversations with Norman Augustine. Interview by Linda Voss

Topics discussed in the interview include trends and economic issues in the aerospace industry, the role of the aerospace industry in national security, and mergers and new ventures in the aerospace industry.     

Beyond the principle of plentitude: a review of terrestrial planet habitability

We review recent work that directly or indirectly addresses the habitability of terrestrial (rocky) planets like the Earth. Habitability has been traditionally defined in terms of an orbital semimajor axis within a range known as the habitable zone, but it is also well known that the habitability of Earth is due to many other astrophysical, geological, and geochemical factors. We focus this review on (1) recent refinements to habitable zone calculations; (2) the formation and orbital stability of terrestrial planets; (3) the tempo and mode of geologic activity (e.g., plate tectonics) on terrestrial planets; (4) the delivery of water to terrestrial planets in the habitable zone; and (5) the acquisition and loss of terrestrial planet carbon and nitrogen, elements that constitute important atmospheric gases responsible for habitable conditions on Earth's surface as well as being the building blocks of the biosphere itself. Finally, we consider recent work on evidence for the earliest habitable environments and the appearance of life itself on our planet. Such evidence provides us with an important, if nominal, calibration point for our search for other habitable worlds.     

先进的航天发动机试验

本文报导一种航天发动机的高空模拟点火试验。这种发动机综合利用了几种先进技术:90%固体燃料的端羟基聚丁二烯/铝粉/过氯酸铵/奥克托金推进剂;在凯夫拉壳体内的头端满装药;无支撑的整体喉部和收敛段入口;特轻的喷管和用充气膨胀的作动筒展开的可延伸出口锥。这次试验结束了法国欧洲动力公司和美国联合工艺公司化学系统分部之间为期两年的分工协作的研究和试制工作。所达到的比冲值被认为是复合推进剂在样机发动机中的一个最高记录。     

Recent results of the joint ESA-DARA/IBMP experiments Biokosmos "Seeds"

Comparison of experimental data obtained from short (SDEF) and long duration exposure flights (LDEF) have recently led to results which will be significant for longer and/or repeated sojourn of man in space. Under orbital conditions biological stress and damage are induced in test subjects by cosmic radiation, especially the high energetic, densely ionizing component of heavy ions. Plant seeds were successful model systems for a biotest in studying the physiological damages and mutagenic effect caused by ionizing cosmic radiation in particular stem cells. Dosimetrically, the subdivision into charge- and Let-groups reveals the contribution of the intermediate group (LET = 350-1000 MeV/cm) due to the medium heavy ions (Z = 6-10). Their relative contribution increases with the lower inclination of the orbit of LDEF-1; on the other hand, the total fluence becomes higher with longer duration of the flight. The observed endpoints of the biological radiation damage hint at a correlation with particle dose rate rather than with the dose; additionally, data on shielding effects inside and outside the space craft and its exposure were gained from the different SDEF- and LDEF-missions.     

Invariant and energy analysis of an axially retracting beam

The mechanism of a retracting cantilevered beam has been investigated by the invariant and energy-based analysis. The time-varying parameter partial differential equation governing the transverse vibrations of a beam with retracting motion is derived based on the momentum theorem. The assumed-mode method is used to truncate the governing partial differential equation into a set of ordinary differential equations (ODEs) with time-dependent coefficients. It is found that if the order of truncation is not less than the order of the initial conditions, the assumed-mode method can yield accurate results. The energy transfers among assumed modes are discussed during retrac-tion. The total energy varying with time has been investigated by numerical and analytical methods, and the results have good agreement with each other. For the transverse vibrations of the axially retracting beam, the adiabatic invariant is derived by both the averaging method and the Bessel function method.     

过氯酸铵粒度对燃烧横向气流响应的影响

对线性速度耦合的燃烧响应函数发展了一种分析模型。该模型讨论了压力成分(由于复台推进剂的不均匀性)及横向气流速度扰动的请参数响应。过氯酸铵(AP)粒度的影响可通过对弹道的控制特性及推进剂成分的波动影响来考虑。横向气流有两个力面的影响:横向气流速度对各种响应参数的影响以及对速度扰动的响应。本文讨论了这两个问题,叙述了由一系列参数计算而导出重要趋势。