Microthrusters in silicon for aerospace application

This paper reviews the results of the thermal and static analysis of small motor aerospace technology (SMART) propulsion system, constituted of a microthrusters array realised by MEMS technology on silicon wafers. This system has been studied using FEM (NASTRAN) and the results have been verified by the electro-thermic analogy and the FDM method, using, respectively, SPICE and MATLAB codes. The simulation results demonstrated the feasibility of SMART systems for aerospace applications such as attitude control and deorbiting missions for small satellite station-keeping. A theoretical impulse of 20 mNs has been calculated for the SMART system.     

Differential GPS/inertial navigation approach/landing flight testresults

In November 1990, a differential GPS/inertial flight test was conducted to acquire a system performance database and demonstrate automatic landing using an integrated differential GPS/INS with barometric and radar altimeters. Flight test results obtained from postflight data analysis are presented. These results include characteristics of DGPS/inertial error, using a laser tracker as a reference. In addition, data are provided on the magnitude of the differential correlations and vertical channel performance with and without radar altimeter augmentation. Flight test results show one sigma DGPS/inertial horizontal errors of 9 ft and one sigma DGPS inertial vertical errors of 15 ft. Without selective availability effects, the differential corrections are less than 10 ft and are dominated by receiver unique errors over the time period of an approach. Therefore, the one sigma performance of the autonomous GPS (8-ft horizontal and 20-ft vertical) is very similar to the DGPS/inertial performance. Postprocessed results also demonstrate significant improvements in vertical channel performance when GPS/inertial is aided with radar altimeter along with a low-resolution terrain map     

Simulation experiments of the effect of space environment on bacteriophage and DNA thin films.

The main goal of PUR experiment (phage and uracil response) is to examine and quantify the effect of specific space conditions on nucleic acid models. To achieve this an improved method was elaborated for the preparation of DNA and bacteriophage thin films. The homogeneity of the films was controlled by UV spectroscopy and microscopy. To provide experimental evidence for the hypothesis that interplanetary transfer of the genetic material is possible, phage T7 and isolated T7 DNA thin films have been exposed to selected space conditions: intense UVC radiation (lambda=254 nm) and high vacuum (10(-4) Pa). The effects of DNA hydration, conformation and packing on UV radiation damage were examined. Characteristic changes in the absorption spectrum, in the electrophoretic pattern of DNA and the decrease of the amount of PCR products have been detected indicating the photodamage of isolated and intraphage DNA.     

Automotive-grade MEMS sensors used for general aviation

The attitude heading reference system (AHRS) provides data for primary flight instruments, head-up displays, autopilots, and moving map navigation systems. Advances in solid-state MEMS rate sensors, coupled with Kalman filter algorithms designed to mitigate high drift rates, provide the basis for low-cost, high-performance AHRS for general aviation. This paper describes the performance of a low cost, miniaturized AHRS using automotive-grade MEMS sensors. The performance of the system is detailed. The implications for certification of this class of system and fault tolerance are discussed.     

Satellite mobile communications spread-spectrum receiver

Since 1999, ESA has conducted a number of system studies and technological developments to support the European and Canadian industry in the definition of a Satellite UMTS (S-UMTS) component development strategy, identifying critical technological areas and promoting S-UMTS demonstrations. In particular, the MUSIC project has successfully demonstrated advanced digital signal processing techniques to mitigate CDMA interference in spread-spectrum receivers, thus increasing the capacity and/or quality of service of a wireless communication network. The low-complexity solution for interference mitigation investigated and developed in the project is particularly suited for being implemented in mobile terminals.     

Analysis of the Integrity of the Microwave Landing System (MLS) Data Eu nctions

The microwave landing system (MLS) transmits angle, data, andrange information for use by airborne receivers. In this paper, theintegrity of the data functions is analyzed in terms of the probabilityof undetected errors remaining in the data. The data format andintegrity requirements were derived from the MLS standards andguidance material defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Results show that the performancerequirements can be met by: 1) averaging the received data bits ofseveral samples of the same word using a majority voting;2) reducing the bit error rate at the output of the receiver'sdecoder; and 3) a combination of the above techniques.     

The influence of dose, dose-rate and particle fragmentation on cataract induction by energetic iron ions.

Because activities in space necessarily involve chronic exposure to a heterogeneous charged particle radiation field it is important to assess the influence of dose-rate and the possible modulating role of heavy particle fragmentation on biological systems. Using the well-studied cataract model, mice were exposed to plateau 600 MeV/amu 56Fe ions either as acute or fractionated exposures at total doses of 5 - 504 cGy. Additional groups of mice received 20, 360 and 504 cGy behind 50 mm of polyethylene, which simulates body shielding. The reference radiation consisted of 60Co gamma radiation. The animals were examined by slit lamp biomicroscopy over their three year life spans. In accordance with our previous observations with heavy particles, the cataractogenic potential of the 600 MeV/amu 56Fe ions was greater than for low-LET radiation and increased with decreasing dose relative to gamma-rays. Fractionation of a given dose of 56Fe ions did not reduce the cataractogenicity of the radiation compared to the acute regimen. Fragmentation of the beam in the polyethylene did not alter the cataractotoxicity of the ions, either when administered singly or in fractions.     

Paramecium--a model system for studying cellular graviperception.

Experiments under varied gravitational accelerations as well as in density-adjusted media showed that sensation of gravity in protists may be linked to the known principles of mechanosensation. Paramecium, a ciliate with clear graviresponses (gravitaxis and gravikinesis) is an ideal model system to prove this hypothesis since the ciliary activity and thus the swimming behaviour is controlled by the membrane potential. It has also been assumed that the cytoplasmic mass causes a distinct stimulation of the bipolarly distributed mechano-sensitive K+ and Ca2+ ion channels in the plasma membrane in dependence of the spatial orientation of the cell. In order to prove this hypothesis, different channel blockers are currently under investigation. Gadolinium did not inhibit gravitaxis in Paramecium, showing that it does not specifically block gravireceptors. Further studies concentrated on the question of whether second messengers are involved in the gravity signal transduction chain. Exposure to 5 g for up to 10 min led to a significant increase in cAMP.     

Electric currents induced inside biological cells by geomagnetic and atmospheric phenomena.

An increasing number of studies have appeared in the last ten years indicating that some pathologies may correlate with geomagnetic activity and cosmic rays. However a physical mechanism binding both phenomena has not been proposed. In the present work we obtain the amplitude of the magnetic fields at different frequencies, that may induce inside biological cells currents of the same magnitude of the currents generated by the cells themselves. We compare these values with the wave amplitudes produced in geomagnetic and atmospheric phenomena, and found that micropulsations, whistlers and lightning are capable of produce the same or larger values.