Nonlinear bending-torsion flutter experiments of a medium-aspect-ratio flexible wing model

In this research a two-motion medium-aspect-ratio straight flexible wing model was tested. Tests with the wing model were conducted in the subsonic wind tunnel of the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering at the Technion, Israel. Experimental results obtained for flutter and Limit Cycle Oscillations (LCO) of the wing model are presented. At least two types of flutter and postflutter LCO have been observed. Both types were characterized by coupling between the torsional and bending modes. The first type flutter was associated with coupling of the first bending and first torsional modes, whereas the second type was observed for coupling of the first torsional and second bending modes.     

Abiotic nitrogen fixation on terrestrial planets: reduction of NO to ammonia by FeS

Understanding the abiotic fixation of nitrogen and how such fixation can be a supply of prebiotic nitrogen is critical for understanding both the planetary evolution of, and the potential origin of life on, terrestrial planets. As nitrogen is a biochemically essential element, sources of biochemically accessible nitrogen, especially reduced nitrogen, are critical to prebiotic chemistry and the origin of life. Loss of atmospheric nitrogen can result in loss of the ability to sustain liquid water on a planetary surface, which would impact planetary habitability and hydrological processes that shape the surface. It is known that NO can be photochemically converted through a chain of reactions to form nitrate and nitrite, which can be subsequently reduced to ammonia. Here, we show that NO can also be directly reduced, by FeS, to ammonia. In addition to removing nitrogen from the atmosphere, this reaction is particularly important as a source of reduced nitrogen on an early terrestrial planet. By converting NO directly to ammonia in a single step, ammonia is formed with a higher product yield (~50%) than would be possible through the formation of nitrate/nitrite and subsequent conversion to ammonia. In conjunction with the reduction of NO, there is also a catalytic disproportionation at the mineral surface that converts NO to NO? and N?O. The NO? is then converted to ammonia, while the N?O is released back in the gas phase, which provides an abiotic source of nitrous oxide.     

A new spectral index to detect Poaceae grass abundance in Mongolian grasslands

The objectives of the present study were to develop a new index based on remotely-sensed data for detecting the abundance of grasses in the family Poaceae, which has a high palatability for livestock in Mongolia, and to map the distribution of these grasses in the semi-arid Mongolian steppes. We measured ground-based spectral reflectance of pure plant leaves – including Poaceae grasses – and soils, as well as in-situ in the Mongolian grasslands. The hyper-spectral data, taken by a spectroradiometer, were converted into four multi-spectral bands (i.e., blue, green, red, and NIR) to simulate satellite-based imagery data. In order to magnify the characteristics of the spectral signal of Poaceae, NGBDI (Normalized Green-Blue Difference Index), NGRDI (Normalized Green-Red Difference Index), NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index), NNBDI (Normalized NIR-Blue Difference Index) were calculated from the four multi-spectral reflectance values. Poaceae Abundance Index (PAI) was derived by combining these four normalized difference indices. PAI was found out to be a good indicator to discriminate Poaceae grass from the other plant spectral data.     

Decadal variability of tropical Pacific temperature in relation to solar cycles

We use the 8-year long satellite temperature data (2002–2010) from Atmospheric InfraRed Sounder (AIRS) and Atmospheric Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU) on the Aqua satellite to identify temperature trends in the troposphere and low stratosphere over the Niño 3.4 region of the Tropical Pacific Ocean in the most recent 11-year solar cycle. Employing more extended sea surface temperature (SST) data for five solar cycles (1950–2009) in this region we show that the satellite trends reflect a typical decrease of the sea surface temperature (SST) in the Niño 3.4 region in the declining phase of the solar cycle. The magnitude of the SST decrease depends on the solar cycle and ranges between 0.07 K/yr and 0.27 K/yr for the last five solar cycles.     

NASA strategic planning for 2000 and beyond

This short paper outlines the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration's development of its 2000 Strategic Plan.     

Mercury Ion Analyzer (MIA) onboard Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter: MMO

The Mercury Magnetopsheric Orbiter (MMO) is one of the spacecraft of the BepiColombo mission; the mission is scheduled for launch in 2014 and plans to revisit Mercury with modern instrumentation. MMO is to elucidate the detailed plasma structure and dynamics around Mercury, one of the least-explored planets in our solar system. The Mercury Plasma Particle Experiment (MPPE) on board MMO is a comprehensive instrument package for plasma, high-energy particle, and energetic neutral particle atom measurements. The Mercury Ion Analyzer (MIA) is one of the plasma instruments of MPPE, and measures the three dimensional velocity distribution of low-energy ions (from 5 eV to 30 keV) by using a top-hat electrostatic analyzer for half a spin period (2 s). By combining both the mechanical and electrical sensitivity controls, MIA has a wide dynamic range of count rates for the proton flux expected around Mercury, which ranges from 10⁶ to 10¹² cm⁻² s⁻¹ str⁻¹ keV⁻¹, in the solar wind between 0.3 and 0.47 AU from the sun, and in both the hot and cold plasma sheet of Mercury’s magnetosphere. The geometrical factor of MIA is variable, ranging from 1.0 × 10⁻⁷ cm² str keV/keV for large fluxes of solar wind ions to 4.7 × 10⁻⁴ cm² str keV/keV for small fluxes of magnetospheric ions. The entrance grid used for the mechanical sensitivity control of incident ions also work to significantly reduce the contamination of solar UV radiation, whose intensity is about 10 times larger than that around Earth’s orbit.     

Discovery of a new chert-permineralized microbiota in the Proterozoic Buxa Formation of the Ranjit window, Sikkim, northeast India, and its astrobiological implications

For the foreseeable future, the search for evidence of past life in rocks acquired from other planets will be constrained by the amount of sample available and by the fidelity of preservation of any fossils present. What amount of rock is needed to establish the existence of past life? To address this question, we studied a minute amount of rock collected from cherty dolomites of the Proterozoic Buxa Formation in the metamorphically altered tectonically active northeastern Himalaya. In particular, we investigated 2 small petrographic thin sections-one from each of 2 bedded chert horizons exposed in the Ranjit River stratigraphic section northwest of Rishi, Sikkim, India-that together comprise an area of approximately 5 cm(2) (about the size of a US postage stamp) and have a total rock weight of approximately 0.1 g. Optical microscopy, confocal laser scanning microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy and imagery demonstrate that each of the thin sections contains a rich assemblage of 3-dimensionally permineralized organic-walled microfossils. This study, the first report of Proterozoic microfossils in units of the Ranjit tectonic window, demonstrates that firm evidence of early life can be adduced from even a minuscule amount of fossil-bearing ancient rock.     

The Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) experiment for NASA's 2009 Mars Science Laboratory

We present a summary of the physical principles and design of the Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) instrument onboard NASA's 2009 Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission. The DAN instrument will use the method of neutron-neutron activation analysis in a space application to study the abundance and depth distribution of water in the martian subsurface along the path of the MSL rover.     

Planetary rings as relics of plasma pre-rings

A possibility is discussed that the rings of large planets observed in the modern epoch are relics of some pre-rings consisting of magnetized plasma (according to a hypothesis by H. Alfven). The solution to a model problem published in [36, 37] is used. Its main result is a mechanism of stratification of an evolutionally mature plasma pre-ring into a large number of narrow elite rings separated by anti-rings (gaps). Another result is the theoretical substantiation of the presence in the near-planetary space of a region of existence and stability (in what follows it is referred to as ES-region) of plasma rings. The data obtained in the course of the Voyager, Galileo, and Cassini missions are used below for verification of the model on which the solutions presented in [36, 37] are based.     

Development of a plant growth unit for growing plants over a long-term life cycle under microgravity conditions.

To study the effect of the space environment on plant growth including the reproductive growth and genetic aberration for a long-term plant life cycle, we have initiated development of a new type of facility for growing plants under microgravity conditions. The facility is constructed with subsystems for controlling environmental elements. In this paper, the concept of the facility design is outlined. Subsystems controlling air temperature, humidity, CO2 concentration, light and air circulation around plants and delivering recycled water and nutrients to roots are the major concerns. Plant experiments for developing the facility and future plant experiments with the completed facility are also overviewed. We intend to install this facility in the Japan Experiment Facility (JEM) boarded on the International Space Station.