飞机舱门设计持续在改进

在机体结构维修中,飞机舱门经常因腐蚀和碰撞而使维修项目较多。但当前许多创新材料和作动系统正在让舱门维修项目减少,维修变得简易化。如新型热塑性材料、先进的机电作动系统和传感器技术、环保的表面处理技术等。一般来说,客舱和货舱门及其部件极易因腐蚀和碰撞造成损伤,如客机和货机前后舱门的下部在装卸行李和货物过程中容易被地面服务车辆和单元装载设备损坏,因此维修项目较多。令人欣慰的是,原始制造商和供应商正在从材料和部件方面引入创新技术,提高产品的损伤容限,降低维修强度。     

He-like Ar xvii triplet observed by RESIK

We present the observations of He-like Ar triplet lines obtained by RESIK spectrometer aboard CORONAS-F. Interpretation of intensity ratios between triplet lines of lower Z elements is known to provide useful diagnostics of plasma conditions within the emitting source. Here, we investigate whether triplet line ratios are useful for interpretation of higher Z element spectra. A high sensitivity, low background and precise absolute calibration of RESIK allow to consider in addition also the continuum contribution. This provides a way to determine the Ar absolute abundance from the observed triplet component ratios. The method is presented and the results are shown for two selected flares. Derived values of Ar absolute abundance for these flares are found to be similar: 2.6 × 10⁻⁶ and 2.9 × 10⁻⁶. They fall in the range between presently accepted Ar photospheric and coronal abundances.     

The origin of the prompt optical emission in GRB 060111B

The detection of a bright optical emission measured with good temporal resolution during the prompt phase makes GRB 060111B a rare event that is especially useful for constraining theories of the prompt optical emission. Comparing this burst with other GRBs with evidence of optical peaks, we find that the optical peak epoch (t_p) is anti-correlated with the high energy burst energetic assuming an isotropic energy release (E_iso) in agreement with Liang et al. (2009), and that the steeper is the post-peak afterglow decay, the less is the agreement with the correlation. GRB 060111B is among the latters and it does not match the correlation. The Cannonball scenario is also discussed and we find that this model cannot be excluded for GRB 060111B.     

A comparative and numerical study of effects of gravity waves in small miss-distance and miss-time GPS radio occultation temperature profiles

The Global Positioning System (GPS) Radio Occultation (RO) technique has global coverage and is capable of generating high vertical resolution temperature profiles of the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere with sub-Kelvin accuracy and long-term stability, regardless of weather conditions. In this work, we take advantage of the anomalously high density of occultation events at the eastern side of the highest Andes Mountains during the initial mission months of COSMIC (Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere and Climate). This region is well-known for its high wave activity. We choose to study two pairs of GPS RO, both containing two occultations that occurred close in time and space. One pair shows significant differences between both temperature profiles. Numerical simulations with a mesoscale model were performed, in order to understand this discrepancy. It is attributed to the presence of a horizontal inhomogeneous structure caused by gravity waves.     

Planetary protection issues related to human missions to Mars

In accordance with the United Nations Outer Space Treaties [United Nations, Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, UN doc A/RES/34/68, resolution 38/68 of December 1979], currently maintained and promulgated by the Committee on Space Research [COSPAR Planetary Protection Panel, Planetary Protection Policy accepted by the COSPAR Council and Bureau, 20 October 2002, amended 24 March 2005, http://www.cosparhq.org/scistr/PPPolicy.htm], missions exploring the Solar system must meet planetary protection requirements. Planetary protection aims to protect celestial bodies from terrestrial contamination and to protect the Earth environment from potential biological contamination carried by returned samples or space systems that have been in contact with an extraterrestrial environment. From an exobiology perspective, Mars is one of the major targets, and several missions are currently in operation, in transit, or scheduled for its exploration. Some of them include payloads dedicated to the detection of life or traces of life. The next step, over the coming years, will be to return samples from Mars to Earth, with a view to increasing our knowledge in preparation for the first manned mission that is likely to take place within the next few decades. Robotic missions to Mars shall meet planetary protection specifications, currently well documented, and planetary protection programs are implemented in a very reliable manner given that experience in the field spans some 40 years. With regards to sample return missions, a set of stringent requirements has been approved by COSPAR [COSPAR Planetary Protection Panel, Planetary Protection Policy accepted by the COSPAR Council and Bureau, 20 October 2002, amended 24 March 2005, http://www.cosparhq.org/scistr/PPPolicy.htm], and technical challenges must now be overcome in order to preserve the Earth’s biosphere from any eventual contamination risk. In addition to the human dimension of the mission, sending astronauts to Mars will entail meeting all these constraints. Astronauts present huge sources of contamination for Mars and are also potential carriers of biohazardous material on their return to Earth. If they were to have the misfortune of being contaminated, they themselves would become a biohazard, and, as a consequence, in addition to the technical constraints, human and ethical considerations must also be taken into account.     

Statistical characterisation of spread F over South Africa

The occurrence of mid-latitude spread F (SF) over South Africa has not been extensively studied since the installation of the DPS-4 digisondes in 1996 and 2000 at Grahamstown (33.32 °S, 26.50 °E) and Madimbo (22.38 °S, 30.88 °E) respectively. This study is intended to quantify the probability of occurrence of F region disturbances associated with SF over South Africa. A study was conducted using data for 8 years (2001–2008) over Madimbo (with a time resolution of 30 min) and Grahamstown (with a variable time resolution of 15 and 30 min). In this study, SF has been classified into frequency SF (FSF), range SF (RSF) and mixed SF (MSF). The SF events were identified by manually identifying ionograms showing SF and tabulating them according to type for further statistical analysis. The results show that the diurnal pattern of SF peaks strongly between 01:00 and 02:00 local time, LT (LT = UT + 2 h), where UT is the universal time. This pattern is true for all seasons and types of SF at Madimbo and Grahamstown in 2001 and 2005, except for RSF which had peaks during autumn and spring in 2001 at Madimbo. The probability of both MSF and FSF tends to increase with decreasing solar activity, with a peak in 2005 (a moderate solar activity period). The seasonal peaks of MSF and FSF are more frequent during winter months at both Madimbo and Grahamstown. In this study, SF was evident in ∼0.03% and ∼0.06% of the available ionograms at Madimbo and Grahamstown respectively during the 8 years.     

Tracking multiple objects with particle filtering

We address the problem of multitarget tracking (MTT) encountered in many situations in signal or image processing. We consider stochastic dynamic systems detected by observation processes. The difficulty lies in the fact that the estimation of the states requires the assignment of the observations to the multiple targets. We propose an extension of the classical particle filter where the stochastic vector of assignment is estimated by a Gibbs sampler. This algorithm is used to estimate the trajectories of multiple targets from their noisy bearings, thus showing its ability to solve the data association problem. Moreover this algorithm is easily extended to multireceiver observations where the receivers can produce measurements of various nature with different frequencies.     

Plasma transport across the heliopause

Existing heliopause models are critically rediscussed under the new aspect of possible plasma mixing between the solar wind and the ambient ionized component of the local interstellar medium (LISM). Based on current kinetic plasma theories, effective diffusion rates across the heliopause are evaluated for several models with turbulence caused by electrostatic or electromagnetic interactions that could be envisaged in this context. Some specific cases that may lead to high diffusion rates are investigated, especially in regard to their LISM magnetic field dependence.For weak fields (less than 10^–7 G), macroscopic hydrodynamic instabilities, such as of Rayleigh-Taylor or Kelvin-Helmholtz-types, can be excited. The resulting plasma mixing rates at the heliopause may amount to 20–30% of the impinging mass flow.Recently, an unconventional new approach to the problem for the case of tangential magnetic fields at the heliopause was published in which a continuous change of the plasma properties within an extended boundary layer is described by a complete set of two-fluid plasma equations including a hybrid MHD-formulation of wave-particle interaction effects. If a neutral sheet is assumed to exist within the boundary layer, the magnetic field direction is proven to be constant for a plane-parallel geometry. Considering the electric fields and currents in the layer, an interesting relationship between the field-reconnection probability and the electric conductivity can be derived, permitting a quantitative determination of either of these quantities.An actual value for the electrical conductivity is derived here on the basis of electron distribution functions given by a superposition of Maxwellians with different temperatures. Using two-stream instability theory and retaining only the most unstable modes, an exact solution for the density, velocity, and magnetic and electric fields can be obtained. The electrical conductivity is then shown to be six orders of magnitude lower than calculated by conventional formulas. Interestingly, this leads to an acceptable value of 0.1 for the reconnection coefficient.By analogy with the case of planetary magnetopauses, it is shown here for LISM magnetic fields of the order of 10^–6 G or larger that field reconnection processes may also play an important role for the plasma mixing at the heliopause. The resulting plasma mixing rate is estimated to amount to an average value of 10% of the incident mass flow. It is suggested here that the dependence of the cosmic-ray penetration into the heliosphere on the distribution of reconnecting areas at the heliopause may provide a means of deriving the strength and orientation of the LISM field.A series of observational implications for the expected plasma mixing at the heliopause is discussed in the last part of the paper. In particular, consequences are discussed for the generation of radio noise at the heliopause, for the penetration of LISM neutrals into the heliosphere, for the propagation of cosmic rays towards the inner part of the solar system and for convective electric field mergings into the heliosphere during the course of the solar cycle, depending on the solar cycle variations. With concern to a recent detection of electrostatic plasma waves by plasma receivers on Voyagers 1 and 2, we come to an interesting alternate explanation: the heliopause, rather than the heliospheric shock front, could be responsible for the generation of these waves.     

Composite Bound on Arrival Time Estimation Errors

Time of arrival (TOA) estimation of narrowband signals is a problem of considerable practical interest in radar and sonar applications. A new technique is presented to analyze the mean square error (MSE) performance of TOA estimation schemes, based on recently developed lower bound. We obtain a complete characterization of the MSE as a function of the signal and noise parameters. The results are given in a simple closed-form analytical expression.