Integration of waste processing and biomass production systems as part of the KSC Breadboard project.

After initial emphasis on large-scale baseline crop tests, the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Breadboard project has begun to evaluate long-term operation of the biomass production system with increasing material closure. Our goal is to define the minimum biological processing necessary to make waste streams compatible with plant growth in hydroponic systems, thereby recycling nutrients into plant biomass and recovering water via atmospheric condensate. Initial small and intermediate-scale studies focused on the recycling of nutrients contained in inedible plant biomass. Studies conducted between 1989-1992 indicated that the majority of nutrients could be rapidly solubilized in water, but the direct use of this crop "leachate" was deleterious to plant growth due to the presence of soluble organic compounds. Subsequent studies at both the intermediate scale and in the large-scale Biomass Production Chamber (BPC) have indicated that aerobic microbiological processing of crop residue prior to incorporation into recirculating hydroponic solutions eliminated any phytotoxic effect, even when the majority of the plant nutrient demand was provided from recycled biomass during long term studies (i.e. up to 418 days). Current and future studies are focused on optimizing biological processing of both plant and human waste streams.     

Peculiarities of biological processes under conditions of microgravity.

The results of experiments aboard spacecraft demonstrated the dependence of the pattern of biological processes on microgravity and on the ability of biological objects to adapt themselves to new environmental conditions. This is of fundamental importance for solving theoretical and practical problems of space biology, or elaborating the theory of organism's behavior in weightlessness, and for elucidating the global mechanisms of the action of microgravity on living systems.     

A Far Infrared Photometer (FIRP) for the Infrared Telescope in Space (IRTS)

We describe the design and calibration of the Far-Infrared Photometer (FIRP), one of four focal plane instruments on the Infrared Telescope in Space (IRTS). The FIRP will provide absolute photometry in four bands centered at 150, 250, 400, and 700 μm with spectral resolution λ/Δλ ≈ 3 and spatial resolution ΔΘ = 0.5 degrees. High sensitivity is achieved by using bolometric detectors operated at 300 mK in an AC bridge circuit. The closed-cycle ³He refrigerator can be recycled in orbit. A 2 K shutter provides a zero reference for each field of view. More than 10% of the sky will be surveyed during the ≈3 week mission lifetime with a sensitivity of <10⁻¹³ W·cm⁻²·sr⁻¹ per 0.5 degree pixel.     

LET variation measurements behind different absorber thicknesses on COSMOS-1129 satellite

LET variation with the absorber thickness was measured by plastic detectors exposed on COSMOS-1129 satellite.     

Changes of deoxyribonucleoprotein in the spleen, thymus and liver of rats exposed to weightlessness and artificial gravity aboard the Cosmos biosatellites

Changes of deoxyribonucleoprotein in the spleen, thymus and liver of rats exposed to wegithlessness or artifical gravity on board biosatellites Cosmos 782 and Cosmos 936 after 20 days of flight were investigated. The level of polydeoxyribonucleotides in the spleen and thymus of rats exposed during the flight to weightlessness increased 4 – 11 hours after landing, suggesting breakdown of a part of the deoxyribonucleoprotein present. The use of artifical gravity prevented this breakdown in the thymus but not in the spleen. The breakdown was accompanied in the majority of cases by a decrease in teh deoxyribonucleoprotein content. We believe the breakdown of deoxyribonucleoprotein is due to a nonspecific stress reaction to the change from the weightless state to that of terrestrial gravity during landing. The polydeoxyribonucleotide level and amount of deoxyribonucleoprotein in the majority of cases returned to normal values during the 25 days of readaptation. No substantial change of deoxyribonucleoprotein was found in the liver. The different findings in the three organs are due to the fact that breakdown of deoxyribonucleoprotein takes place in sensitive cells underlying pycnosis. These cells are found in the spleen and thymus, but not in the liver.     

Low energy observations of Cygnus X-2 by Ariel VI

Ariel VI observations of Cygnus X-2 have revealed a rather flat spectrum between 0.1 and 1.5 keV with variable emission at low energy. Of the two conflicting interpretations of this object in terms of i) a distant high-luminosity (L_x 10³⁸ ergs s⁻¹) binary and ii) a nearby low-luminosity (L_x 10³⁵ ergs s⁻¹) degenerate dwarf system, our measurements support the latter.     

微波泄漏对光抽运铯束频标准确度影响的分析

微波泄漏是影响光抽运铯原子钟准确度的主要因素之一. 傅里叶变换分析法是分析其影响的主要手段,但该方法只能用来分析有效原子速度分布很窄的情况.通过分析和计算,推导出频移随漏场的位置、相位和幅度变化的关系式.计算和分析的结果表明,漏场引起频移大小和漂移区的长度、输入微波功率值和漏场的相位、强度和位置等有关.所得的结果和用傅里叶变换方法分析所得的结果是一致的,分析的方法不受原子有效速度限制.     

Noise in wireless systems from solar radio bursts

Solar radio bursts were first discovered as result of their interference in early defensive radar systems during the Second World War (1942). Such bursts can still affect radar systems, as well as new wireless technologies. We have investigated a forty-year record of solar radio burst data (1960–1999) as well as several individual radio events in the 23rd solar cycle. This paper reviews the results of a portion of this research. Statistically, for frequencies f  1 GHz (near current wireless bands), there can be a burst with amplitudes >10³ solar flux units (SFU; 1 SFU = 10⁻²² W/m²) every few days during solar maximum conditions, and such burst levels can produce problems in contemporary wireless systems.     

The model of turbulent plasma sheet during IMF Bz > 0

Theory of the plasma sheet with medium-scale developed turbulence gives the possibility to explain the main processes of plasma sheet bifurcation and theta-aurora formation during IMF B_z > 0. The model suggests that during IMF B_z > 0 small bulge structure in the plasma sheet center is formed. The polarization of the bulge due to dawnward electron motion and duskward ion motion decreases the large-scale electric field in the bulge region. The decrease of the large-scale field in the conditions of constant coefficient of diffusion leads to the bulge growth. The results of plasma sheet bifurcation and theta-aurora formation modelling are presented.