Bipolar nickel-metal hydride batteries for aerospace applications

Electro Energy Inc. (EEI) is developing high power, long life, bipolar nickel-metal hydride batteries for aerospace applications. Bipolar nickel-metal hydride designs allow for high energy and high power designs with a 25 percent reduction in both weight and volume as compared to prismatic and/or cylindrical Ni-MH designs. Utilizing a sealed wafer cell design EEI has demonstrated a 1.2 kW/kg power capability. Prototype designs have achieved 70 Wh/kg. Designs studies show 80 Wh/kg are achievable with EEI's state-of-the-art technology. The sealed wafer cell is the building block for EEI's high power and high voltage bipolar batteries making the assembly easy and significantly lower in cost. Satellite and aircraft batteries are being developed which provide high power and long life. Sealed cells now show excellent rate capability and life. Cells tested in a low earth orbit (LEO) cycle have reached 9000 cycles and continue on test. High power, bipolar battery designs are ideal in applications where using conventional aerospace battery technology would require excessive capacity; weight and volume, thereby reducing usable payload on the vehicle     

The use of microcosms as an experimental approach to understanding terrestrial ecosystem functioning.

Since 1986, a series of microcosm experiments has been conducted at the Unit of Comparative Plant Ecology (UCPE) in an attempt to test our understanding of the principles controlling the structure and dynamics of plant communities and ecosystems. In each experiment microcosms have been seeded with a common pool of organisms, and systems have been allowed to assemble under replicated controlled conditions. Experiment variables have included mineral nutrient supply, temperature, moisture supply, soil depth, carbon dioxide concentration, mycorrhizas, rhizobia, herbivores and carnivores. Results from these experiments are presented to illustrate the value of synthesised ecosystems in ecological research.     

High velocity impact characterization of Al alloys for oblique impacts

This paper describes the experimental and computational analyses of a high velocity aluminum projectile impact on an Al6061-T6 spacecraft inner wall at different oblique angles. Al2017-T4 spherical projectiles of 5.56 mm in diameter and 0.25 g in weight were chosen within the velocity range of 1000±200 m/s due to the limitation of the light gas gun. The energy absorbed was calculated by measuring the velocities before and after impact on the inner wall. The energy absorbed by the wall and the remaining energy carried by the projectile helped to estimate the severity of further damage to inner components. Afterwards, validation was done by using the commercially available software LS-DYNA with a dedicated SPH. On average, a 10% energy absorption difference between experimentation and simulation was found. By using C-SCAN, the damage area proportion of the total inner wall to impact penetration hole area was found to be on average 6%, 26% and 53% greater than the projectile cross sectional area for the oblique angle impacts of 30°, 45°, and 60°, respectively. These findings helped to understand the relationship between the oblique impact event and the damage area on a spacecraft inner wall along with space debris cloud propagation and comparison with experimental results using LS-DYNA.     

Mean winds of the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (60–110 km): A global distribution from radar systems (MF,Meteor, VHF)

During the last decade a large number of radars (～12) have been developed, which have produced substantial quantities of tidally-corrected mean winds data. The distribution of the radars is not global, but many areas are well covered: the Americas with Poker Flat (65°N), Saskatoon (52°N), Durham (43°N), Atlanta (34°N), Puerto Rico (18°N); Europe with Kiruna (68°), Garchy (47°N) and Monpazier (44°N); and Oceania with Christchurch (44°S), Adelaide (35°S), Townsville (20°S), and Kyoto (35°N). Zonal and meridional wind height-time cross-sections from $\text{60}\text{80}$ km (MF/Meteor Radar) to ～110 km have been prepared for the last 5–6 years. They are compared with cross-sections from CIRA-72 for zonal winds, and Groves (1969) for meridional winds.It is shown that while CIRA-72 is still a useful model for many purposes, significant differences exist between it and the new radar data. The latter demonstrate important seasonal, latitudinal, longitudinal and hemispheric variations. The new meridional cross-sections are of great value. The common features with Groves (1969) are the equatorward cells in summer near 85 km; however their strength (～10 ms^?1) and size are less. Systematic and somewhat different variations emerge at higher (?52°N) and middle (35–44°) latitudes.     

A balloon-borne sun-tracking multichannel photometer for atmospheric aerosol measurements

A balloon borne multichannel photometer for measurement of atmospheric scattering in the near ultraviolet and the visible wavelength regions has been developed at the Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad for study of the size distribution and number density of aerosols at tropospheric and lower stratospheric altitudes. The instrumentation involves tracking the sun in elevation and scanning in azimuth. The payload was recently flown on a 100 kg. balloon from the Hyderabad Balloon Facility on 18 April 1984. The balloon reached a float altitude of 35 km and good quality data has been obtained from an altitude of 6 km upto float altitude. Data analysis is still in progress. The present paper details the instrument design and presents a few illustrations of the instrument performance from this flight.     

Detection of satellite attitude sensor faults using the UKF

A novel fault detection (FD) method for nonlinear systems using the residuals generated by the unscented Kalman filter (UKF) is proposed. The errors of the UKF are derived and sufficient conditions for the convergence of the UKF are presented. As the local approach is a powerful statistical technique for detecting changes in the mean of a Gaussian process, it is used to devise a hypothesis test to detect faults from residuals obtained from the UKF. Further, it is demonstrated that the selection of a sample number is important in improving the performance of the local approach. To illustrate the implementation and performance of the proposed technique, it is applied to detect sensor faults in the measurement of satellite attitude.     

A low cost steerable radio-telescope

We present the technical characteristics of a low-cost radio telescope for solar/non solar observations at decimetric (1200–1700 MHz) and centimetric (2700 and 5000 MHz) wavelengths known as Brazilian Decimetric Array (BDA). The technical specifications of the antenna, tracking system, log-periodic feed, preamplifier and the frequency-synthesised receiver with a Single Side Band (SSB) video output of 2.5 MHz are given.     

Current policy issues in remote sensing: report by the International Policy Advisory Committee of ISPRS

The role of remote sensing in promoting sustainable development, its general benefits and easing access to remotely sensed images, especially for developing countries, have all been examined by the International Policy Advisory Committee of the ISPRS in 2003. This report, a slightly revised version of an article that appears in the September 2003 issue of the ISPRS's Highlights magazine, presents the committee's findings and recommendations.     

Sodium and potassium uptake of Ulva – Application of marine macro-algae for space agriculture

The treatment of sodium, Na, and potassium, K, presents a challenge in space agriculture material recycling, as humans require Na and plants cannot grow at high Na concentrations. Hence, we are proposing the use of marine macro-algae to harvest K and other minerals from composted human waste. Ulva was selected for this feasibility study, since it tolerates a wide range of salinity levels. Growth capability of Ulva was examined under various total salinity levels and proportions of Na and K in the incubation medium. A homeostatic feature of Ulva was found in its intra-cellular concentration of Na and K, and in the intra-cellular ratio between Na and K (at 0.58 ± 0.30, lower than that of human metabolic waste). Intracellular concentration of K in Ulva is 20 times higher than seawater. Because of these characteristics, Ulva is a good candidate species for space agriculture.