US-allied participation in the SDI research programme

Senator Lugar argues that a better European appreciation of the SDI is essential to try to define the roles of the US allies in the programme. A number of guidelines for allied participation should be applied, covering mode of participation, areas for participation, responsibilities under treaty provisions, technology transfer and security safeguards. Bilateral agreements are viewed as the mode for proceeding, but it is incumbent on the US government to outline the next steps it evisages to come to grips with the political considerations that will influence allied calculations on whether and under what circumstances to participate in SDI research.     

Range Contamination and Its Effect on Measurements

Increased sensitivity and dynamic range of the instrumental techniques used in conjunction with experiments on ballistic ranges have brought to the fore many problems arising from contamination in the ranges themselves. This is seldom discussed when experimental results are presented but is frequently the controlling limitation on the accuracy of the measurements. The authors discuss contamination due to dirt and debris resultant from gun operation, gaseous impurities, and projectile-borne impurities as they have occurred at the Re-entry Simulating Range of Lincoln Laboratory. The effects of these contaminants on measurements are discussed and illustrated, and measures for controlling them are outlined. Finally, a particular range operation is described from the standpoint of impurity control.     

The X-ray and optical variability of the BLRG 3C390.3

We describe the optical emission line and continuum changes in 3C390.3. Also we present new EXOSAT results, and discuss their implication for determination of the X-ray spectrum — spectral index and absorbing column.     

Human Factors R&D Requirements for Future Aerospace Cockpit Systems

Cockpits are rapidly changing from dedicated instruments to multifunction displays, integrated controls, and computer controlled subsystems. Solid-state displays, voice recognition, and artificial intelligence are just a few of the emerging technologies that will help the pilot perform his mission in the future. Early investigations involving mission analysis, sensor data, software development, and evaluations will be required to insure total integration. These new technologies will require extensive human factors research in the areas of anthropometry, displays, controls, human/computer interface, automation, and workload assessment to support the integration process. This research will help provide weapons systems that have increased survivability and reduced pilot workload. This paper addresses some of the human factors research that will be needed to help develop future cockpit systems. It also reviews the basic evolution of the crew station and some of the emerging technologies that will drive human factors research in the 1990s. In the past, crew systems were designed to provide each aircraft function with a corresponding instrument display, such as airspeed indicator, altimeter, attitude direction indicator, vertical velocity indicator, etc. The bulk of the information had to be integrated by the pilot. Present systems are in a state of transition. We are rapidly moving from individual instruments to multifunction displays. The C-17, HH-60, F-15E, B-1B, F-111D, and F-16C/D aircraft use multifunction, cathode-ray tube displays, some of which are color. Another trend is the continued increase in the use of integrated controls.     

Understanding magnetotail current sheet meso-scale structures using MHD simulations

Recent Cluster observations have strongly supported the existence of meso-scale structure in the magnetotail current sheet. In our study, a magnetohydrodynamic simulation event study exhibited current sheet behavior comparable to that seen in the Cluster observations. Geotail and DoubleStar observations also show that the simulation is providing a realistic representation of the magnetosphere during the period of interest; that is, when the current sheet evidently becomes bifurcated. The magnetohydrodynamic simulation allows us to place the local observations into a global contest. It shows that the observations can be explained in terms of localized reconnection tailward of the Cluster location and the formation of a flux rope nearby. The simulation also features wave-like structure across the current sheet.     

Random Characteristics of the Type II Phase-Locked Loop

The results of a study of the characteristics of the second-order Type II phase-locked loop with a Gaussian noise input, and obtained by digital computer simulation, are presented. The digital simulation is described and the random state variables are defined such that their characteristics can be interpreted in terms of existing phase portraits of autonomous phase-locked loops. The statistics associated with the state variables, which are phase error and a measure of frequency error, and those associated with the number of cycles skipped and the mean time to unlock, are given.     

Design of Zigzag FM Signals

Since no practical method is available for synthesizing radar waveforms, a sizable effort has been directed into studies of the matched-filter response, or ambiguity function, of many waveforms. In this paper, we investigate the class of FM signals whose instantaneous frequency varies in a zigzag pattern. The waveforms thus consist of linear FM segments and are relatively easy to generate and process. The paper discusses the relation between the characteristics of the waveform and the features of the associated ambiguity function. The effects studied include those of signal repetition, changes in the FM slope, phase-shift and frequency-shift coding, and staggering of frequency step and segment duration. Ambiguity functions of interesting waveforms illustrate the general results. These ambiguity functions are computer-plotted projections of the three-dimensional surface above the delay-Doppler plane.     

The regulatory challenges of ensuring commercial human spaceflight safety

Space tourism is the term commonly used to refer to ordinary members of the public buying tickets to travel to space and back, but has recently become more broadly associated with “any commercial activity offering customers direct or indirect experience with space travel”. The nascent commercial human spaceflight market presents a challenge to regulators with regard to the potential certification and licensing of the flight vehicles and their use (both within and outside the atmosphere), from the perspective of the operator, the flight participants, and third parties who might be affected by the operations. The UK is currently reviewing the issues posed by this emerging sector and its licensing/certification authorities are considering how best to balance their statutory responsibilities with the need to facilitate the development of this new industry and the favour positioning of UK players, eliminating unnecessary regulatory barriers to participation.     

Space Telescope observations of aurorae on the giant planets

For the distant giant planets, Uranus and Neptune, the observation of aurorae may be the best astronomical technique for the detection of planetary magnetic fields, with implications for the structure and composition of their interiors. Aurorae may be detected by emssion of H I Ly α (1216 Å) and by H₂ bands near 1600 Å. The latter are important for very faint aurorae because there is essentially no planetary, interplanetary or geocoronal scattering of sunlight to contaminate the signal. For Uranus, present IUE results suggest the presence of a strong aurora at Ly α, but the background and instrument noise levels are very high compared to the apparent signal. At 1600 Å, the IUE instrument noise renders the H₂ emission bands on Uranus marginal at best. No aurora has yet been observed on Neptune. For Jupiter, where the existence and general characteristics of the magnetic field are well established, there is disagreement between ground-based infrared and space-borne ultraviolet observations of the location of the aurorae. For all four giant planets, Space Telescope can improve upon the quality of current optical observations. For spectroscopy, the low resolution mode of the High Resolution Spectrograph (HRS) is particularly well suited to auroral observations because of its spectral range, adequate resolution and high sensitivity. For ultraviolet imaging through appropriate filters, the ST spatial resolution, expected to be of order 5 hundredths of an arc second, is also well suited to determine the spatial properties of the aurorae.