A reappraisal of the habitability of planets around M dwarf stars

Stable, hydrogen-burning, M dwarf stars make up about 75% of all stars in the Galaxy. They are extremely long-lived, and because they are much smaller in mass than the Sun (between 0.5 and 0.08 M(Sun)), their temperature and stellar luminosity are low and peaked in the red. We have re-examined what is known at present about the potential for a terrestrial planet forming within, or migrating into, the classic liquid-surface-water habitable zone close to an M dwarf star. Observations of protoplanetary disks suggest that planet-building materials are common around M dwarfs, but N-body simulations differ in their estimations of the likelihood of potentially habitable, wet planets that reside within their habitable zones, which are only about one-fifth to 1/50th of the width of that for a G star. Particularly in light of the claimed detection of the planets with masses as small as 5.5 and 7.5 M(Earth) orbiting M stars, there seems no reason to exclude the possibility of terrestrial planets. Tidally locked synchronous rotation within the narrow habitable zone does not necessarily lead to atmospheric collapse, and active stellar flaring may not be as much of an evolutionarily disadvantageous factor as has previously been supposed. We conclude that M dwarf stars may indeed be viable hosts for planets on which the origin and evolution of life can occur. A number of planetary processes such as cessation of geothermal activity or thermal and nonthermal atmospheric loss processes may limit the duration of planetary habitability to periods far shorter than the extreme lifetime of the M dwarf star. Nevertheless, it makes sense to include M dwarf stars in programs that seek to find habitable worlds and evidence of life. This paper presents the summary conclusions of an interdisciplinary workshop (http://mstars.seti.org) sponsored by the NASA Astrobiology Institute and convened at the SETI Institute.     

Mission to Mars using integrated propulsion concepts: considerations, opportunities, and strategies

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the feasibility of a mission to Mars using the Integrated Propulsion Systems (IPS) which means to couple Nuclear-MPD-ISPU propulsion systems. In particular both mission analysis and propulsion aspects are analyzed together with technological aspects. Identifying possible mission scenarios will lead to the study of possible strategies for Mars Exploration and also of methods for reducing cost. As regard to IPS, the coupling between Nuclear Propulsion (Rubbia's engine) and Superconductive MPD propulsion is considered for the Earth-Mars trajectories: major emphasis is given to the advantages of such a system. The In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) concerns on-Mars operations; In Situ Propellant Utilization (ISPU) is foreseen particularly for LOX-CH4 engines for Mars Ascent Vehicles and this possibility is analyzed from a technological point of view. Tether Systems are also considered during interplanetary trajectories and as space elevators on Mars orbit. Finally strategic considerations associated to this mission are considered also.     

Vegetation's red edge: a possible spectroscopic biosignature of extraterrestrial plants

Earth's deciduous plants have a sharp order-of-magnitude increase in leaf reflectance between approximately 700 and 750 nm wavelength. This strong reflectance of Earth's vegetation suggests that surface biosignatures with sharp spectral features might be detectable in the spectrum of scattered light from a spatially unresolved extrasolar terrestrial planet. We assess the potential of Earth's step-function-like spectroscopic feature, referred to as the "red edge," as a tool for astrobiology. We review the basic characteristics and physical origin of the red edge and summarize its use in astronomy: early spectroscopic efforts to search for vegetation on Mars and recent reports of detection of the red edge in the spectrum of Earthshine (i.e., the spatially integrated scattered light spectrum of Earth). We present Earthshine observations from Apache Point Observatory (New Mexico) to emphasize that time variability is key to detecting weak surface biosignatures such as the vegetation red edge. We briefly discuss the evolutionary advantages of vegetation's red edge reflectance, and speculate that while extraterrestrial "light-harvesting organisms" have no compelling reason to display the exact same red edge feature as terrestrial vegetation, they might have similar spectroscopic features at different wavelengths than terrestrial vegetation. This implies that future terrestrial-planet-characterizing space missions should obtain data that allow time-varying, sharp spectral features at unknown wavelengths to be identified. We caution that some mineral reflectance edges are similar in slope and strength to vegetation's red edge (albeit at different wavelengths); if an extrasolar planet reflectance edge is detected care must be taken with its interpretation.     

高压气体临界流速文氏喷嘴的初步校准

本文报告了一组5个临界流速文氏喷咀的性能鉴定试验。这些喷咀是在国家工程试验室(NEL—Natianal Engineering La-boratory)称重式气体流量标准试验台上进行的校准试验。文中也对这座难一的试验台作了说明。把试验确定的喷咀流量系数与其它试验室对此基本参考标准试验的类似喷咀流量系数作了比较,也与理论值进行了比     

用雷达观测值进行非线性估算

本文探讨了雷达测量模型方程的非线性,并研究了这些非线性对滤波和平滑精度的影响。我们导出了一种简单的算法,用这种算法,可以有效地减小非线性所产生的影响。该方法以如下的次序处理雷达观测值:方位、俯仰、距离。用方位残差估算俯仰残差,然后用方位和俯仰的综合结果估算距离残差。用这种算法所得的估算精度与推广卡尔曼滤波法(EKF)的估算精度相比较,可证明前者优于后者。而且,采用这种算法时,其计算复杂度并不超过推广卡尔曼滤波法的计算复杂度。     

雷达的信号与噪声

引言 从第一章到第五章,我们推导了用于分析和表征非随机的或确定性信号特性的方法。第六章和第七章讨论了处理随机信号和随机过程的方法。在包括雷达在内的许多应用中,有用信号总是和不需要的随机信号或噪声混合在一起。噪声可以来自信号必经电路中的电子热骚动,或第七章所讨论的杂波干扰,或其它任一种外界干扰源。     

DECENTRALIZED CONTROL FOR NONLINEAR DYNAMICAL SYSTEMS: AN L_2-GAIN CONTROL APPROACH

Forsmoothnonlinearsystems,theproblemsofdisturbanceattenuationandrobuststabi-lhationwererelatedtogetherrecently["'J,whilethefirsttwoauthorsweremotivatedbytheexcitingadvancesinthenonlinearHco-(orL,-gain)control[3'4'5J.ThekeypointliesinthefactthattheL,-gainbound,Y,ofanonlinearsystemwithrespecttoagivendisturbanceoutputpair,alsocharacterizesthesystemstolerancetouncertainmedellingperturbations,providedthatasuitableobservabilityconditionissatisfied.Inparticular,itwasestablishedthat,forasystemtobest…     

IBM3081处理机系统的研制和工艺问题

3081处理机系统由3081处理机和处理机的控制器、电源及冷却等支持设备组成。3081处理机(完全采用LSI技术)采用一种由两个中央处理机组成的双元结构,每一个中央处理机的机器周期都是26毫微秒,以相当于IBM3033两倍的速率执行370系统指令。本文扼要地介绍IBM3081所用工艺和设计方法的先进之处,及其系统设计方面的改进。要把LSI技术应用到3O81处理机(有80万个逻辑电路)的设计上就需要发展硅器件的组装、互连和冷却技术。3081的一项重要成就是成功地采用了热传导组件(TCM)。这种组件最多含4万5千个逻辑电路,冷却能力高达300瓦,还可省掉整整一个组装级——插件板。为了达到高可靠性和可维修性的目标,需要采取错误检测和故障隔离新方法。在系统的组装和结构上的创新,以及用软件及硬件模型进行广泛的系统设计检验,提高了该系统的性能。