The Influence of the 11-year Solar Cycle on the Stratosphere Below 30 km: a Review

The NCEP/NCAR re-analyses of the global data as high as 10hPa have made it possible to examine the influence of the 11-year sunspot cycle on the lower stratosphere over the entire globe. Previously, the signal of the solar cycle had been detected in the temperatures and heights of the stratosphere at 30hPa and below on the Northern Hemisphere by means of a data set from the Freie Universität Berlin. The global re-analyses show that the signal exists on the Southern Hemisphere too, and that it is almost a mirror image of that on the Northern Hemisphere. The largest temperature correlations with the solar cycle move from one summer hemisphere to the other, and the largest height correlations move poleward within each hemisphere from winter to summer.The correlations are weakest over the whole globe in the northern winter. If, however, one divides the data into the winters when the equatorial Quasi-Biennial Oscillation was easterly or westerly, the arctic correlations become positive and large in the west years, but insignificantly small over the rest of the earth. The correlations in the east years are negative in the Arctic but positive in the subtropics and tropics on both hemispheres.The difference between the east and west years in January-February can be ascribed to the fact that the dominant stratospheric teleconnection and the solar influence work in the same direction in the east years but oppose each other in the west years.NCAR is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.     

Identification and characterization of science-rich landing sites for lunar lander missions using integrated remote sensing observations

Despite more than 52 years of lunar exploration, a wide range of first-order scientific questions remain about the Moon’s formation, temporal evolution, and current surface and interior properties. Addressing many of these questions requires obtaining new in situ analyses or return of lunar surface or shallow subsurface samples, and hence rely on the selection of optimal landing sites. Here, we present an approach to optimize science-rich lunar landing site selection studies based on the integration of remote sensing observations. Currently available remote sensing data, as well as features of interest published in the recent literature, were integrated in a Geographic Information System. This numerical database contains geographic information about all these findings, which can be consulted and used to simultaneously display multiple features and parameters of interest. To illustrate our approach, we identified the optimal landing sites to address the two top priorities (or goals) relative to Concept 3 of the National Research Council of the National Academies (2007), namely to ‘Determine the extent and composition of the primary feldspathic crust, (ur)KREEP layer, and other products of differentiation’ and to ‘Inventory the variety, age, distribution and origin of lunar rock types’. We review site requirements and propose possible landing sites for both these goals. We identified 29 sites that best fulfill both these goals and compare them with the landing sites of planned future lunar lander missions. Finally, we detail two of these science-rich sites (Aristarchus and Theophilus craters) which are particularly accessible through their location on the nearside.     

Formation and vesiculation of biomembranes during spaceflight.

Shuttle flight, sounding rocket flight, and parabolic flight experiments demonstrate the formation of bilayer membrane vesicles (liposomes) in reduced gravity, following the dilution of detergent from detergent-phospholipid mixed micelles. The reduction in detergent concentration initiates assembly of bilayer membrane sheets, which are sensitive to solution disturbances. An increase in disturbances by forced dilution results in small diameter liposomes (< 150 nm), in both ground and flight samples. In the absence of forced dilution, liposomes remain small at 1-g, but exhibit much larger diameters at 0-g (1000-2000 nm). Our spaceflight data reveal that membrane assembly and vesiculation are strongly influenced by gravity-induced solution disturbances (e.g., convection currents), which limit vesicle diameter.     

A compact body mass measuring device for space flight applications.

During spaceflights, it is important to measure an astronaut's body mass ('weight'), both for investigating the influence of the space environment on the human body and for monitoring the physical (health) condition of the astronaut. This paper reports the development of a mass measuring device that is compact, user friendly, and has an absolute measuring accuracy better than 60 gram. The measurement accuracy turns out to be restricted by the way a human body is configured by nature and not by the instrument itself, that has an accuracy much better than required.