High-Energy Electron Beam Relaxation in a Stationary Plasma Thruster

In the paper, processes of high-energy electron beam interaction with plasma particles in a discharge channel of a stationary plasma thruster are analyzed and the results are presented.     

The Far Ultra-Violet Imager on the Icon Mission

ICON Far UltraViolet (FUV) imager contributes to the ICON science objectives by providing remote sensing measurements of the daytime and nighttime atmosphere/ionosphere. During sunlit atmospheric conditions, ICON FUV images the limb altitude profile in the shortwave (SW) band at 135.6 nm and the longwave (LW) band at 157 nm perpendicular to the satellite motion to retrieve the atmospheric O/N₂ ratio. In conditions of atmospheric darkness, ICON FUV measures the 135.6 nm recombination emission of \(\mathrm{O}^{+}\) ions used to compute the nighttime ionospheric altitude distribution. ICON Far UltraViolet (FUV) imager is a Czerny–Turner design Spectrographic Imager with two exit slits and corresponding back imager cameras that produce two independent images in separate wavelength bands on two detectors. All observations will be processed as limb altitude profiles. In addition, the ionospheric 135.6 nm data will be processed as longitude and latitude spatial maps to obtain images of ion distributions around regions of equatorial spread F. The ICON FUV optic axis is pointed 20 degrees below local horizontal and has a steering mirror that allows the field of view to be steered up to 30 degrees forward and aft, to keep the local magnetic meridian in the field of view. The detectors are micro channel plate (MCP) intensified FUV tubes with the phosphor fiber-optically coupled to Charge Coupled Devices (CCDs). The dual stack MCP-s amplify the photoelectron signals to overcome the CCD noise and the rapidly scanned frames are co-added to digitally create 12-second integrated images. Digital on-board signal processing is used to compensate for geometric distortion and satellite motion and to achieve data compression. The instrument was originally aligned in visible light by using a special grating and visible cameras. Final alignment, functional and environmental testing and calibration were performed in a large vacuum chamber with a UV source. The test and calibration program showed that ICON FUV meets its design requirements and is ready to be launched on the ICON spacecraft.     

Hardware reconfiguration algorithm in multiprocessor systems of integrated modular avionics

Reconfiguration of multiprocessor systems makes it possible to improve their failure-resistance that is especially important for the integrated modular avionics systems. The algorithm considered in this paper allows minimizing the reservation and providing the better safety level and more effective flight completion or even its further execution in the case of failures of airborne equipment.     

昆虫翅悬停飞行中的三维空间旋涡结构

昆虫(果蝇)悬停飞行中,翅膀按照特定的拍动方式往复运动,产生非定常高升力维持身体的平衡.研究昆虫高升力机理,需要探索拍动翼运动引发的三维空间非定常流场的特性,尤其是三维空间非定常涡的发展变化过程.本文将氢气泡流动显示技术应用于动态模型实验,定性的观察拍动翼前缘涡(LEV)的发展破裂过程.并利用数字体视粒子图像测速,DSPIV(Digital Steroscopic Particle Image Velocimetry)技术,测得了拍动翼运动瞬时相位和相位平均的三维空间流场信息(速度向量场、截面涡量场、空间涡量场,以及三维空间流线),揭示了拍动翼展向流动的存在,并结合定性和定量方法多角度说明了前缘涡沿展向发展到破裂的流动结构,并说明了侧缘涡与前缘涡的相互影响.测量结果表明:在雷诺数960的情况下,拍动翼运动至相位时,翼面上前缘涡在距翼根约60%展长的位置发生破裂;翼根至破裂点之间,展向流动稳定,指向翼梢;破裂点以后,展向流改变方向,指向翼根.     

The Plasma and Suprathermal Ion Composition (PLASTIC) Investigation on the STEREO Observatories

The Plasma and Suprathermal Ion Composition (PLASTIC) investigation provides the in situ solar wind and low energy heliospheric ion measurements for the NASA Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory Mission, which consists of two spacecraft (STEREO-A, STEREO-B). PLASTIC-A and PLASTIC-B are identical. Each PLASTIC is a time-of-flight/energy mass spectrometer designed to determine the elemental composition, ionic charge states, and bulk flow parameters of major solar wind ions in the mass range from hydrogen to iron. PLASTIC has nearly complete angular coverage in the ecliptic plane and an energy range from ～0.3 to 80 keV/e, from which the distribution functions of suprathermal ions, including those ions created in pick-up and local shock acceleration processes, are also provided.     

Some possible techniques for improving the strength characteristics of folded cores from sheet composite materials

We consider some general problems of improving the strength characteristics of folded cores as well as the corresponding techniques for modifying the core material polymer surfaces with the use of nanotechnologies and the “mass-strength” criteria.     

The IMF pile-up regions near the Earth and Venus: lessons for the solar wind - Mars interaction

The Mars Global Surveyor mission has revealed that localized crustal paleomagnetic anomalies are a common feature of the Southern Hemisphere of Mars. The magnetometer measured small-scale magnetic fields associated with many individual magnetic anomalies have magnitudes ranging from hundreds to thousands nT at altitude above 120 km. That makes Mars globally different from both Venus and Earth. The data collected by Lunar Prospector near the Moon were interpreted as evidence that above regions of inferred strong surface magnetic fields on the Moon the SW flow is deflected, and a small-scale mini-magnetosphere exists under some circumstances. With a factor of 100 stronger magnetic fields at Mars and a lower SW dynamic pressure, those conditions offer the opportunity for a larger size of small `magnetospheres' which can be formed by the crustal magnetic fields. Outside the regions of the magnetic anomalies, the SW/Mars interaction is Venus-like. Thus, at Mars the distinguishing feature of the magnetic field pile-up boundary most likely varies from Venus-like to Earth-like above the crustal magnetic field regions. The observational data regarding the IMF pile-up regions near Venus and the Earth are initially reviewed. As long as the SW/Mars interaction remains like that at Venus, the IMF penetrates deep into the Martian ionosphere under the `overpressure' conditions. Results of numerical simulations and theoretical expectations regarding the temporal evolution of the IMF inside the Venus ionosphere and appearance of superthermal electrons are also reviewed and assessed.     

Embedded information system re-engineering

Currently fielded embedded information systems face readiness challenges imposed by evolving missions and extended service lifespans. The ability to overcome these challenges is constrained by such factors as shrinking budgets, limited computational capacity and diminished manufacturing sources effects that impact both hardware and software options. Wholesale redevelopment is often cost prohibitive, particularly since large portions of embedded applications continue to fulfil mission requirements. Solutions must preserve prior investments while providing efficient pathways for continued technology refresh. A technology solution for affordable modernization of legacy system software is being development. The Embedded Information System Re-engineering (EISR) project is developing an automation-assisted JOVIAL-to-C re-engineering capability that permits simultaneous modernization of both the structure and source language of legacy embedded applications. Engineers will be able to apply the proven labor-saving visualization and analysis features of modern CASE tools to legacy JOVIAL applications. EISR will thus allow the DoD to recapture previous investments in proven legacy algorithms and mission capabilities while permitting the full exploitation of COTS economies of scale. This paper describes in brief the goals and objectives of the EISR project, and provides the current status of the EISR capability.     

Fast converging adaptive processor or a structured covariance matrix

The use of adaptive linear techniques to solve signal processing problems is needed particularly when the interference environment external to the signal processor (such as for a radar or communication system) is not known a priori. Due to this lack of knowledge of an external environment, adaptive techniques require a certain amount of data to cancel the external interference. The number of statistically independent samples per input sensor required so that the performance of the adaptive processor is close (nominally within 3 dB) to the optimum is called the convergence measure of effectiveness (MOE) of the processor. The minimization of the convergence MOE is important since in many environments the external interference changes rapidly with time. Although there are heuristic techniques in the literature that provide fast convergence for particular problems, there is currently not a general solution for arbitrary interference that is derived via classical theory. A maximum likelihood (ML) solution (under the assumption that the input interference is Gaussian) is derived here for a structured covariance matrix that has the form of the identity matrix plus an unknown positive semi-definite Hermitian (PSDH) matrix. This covariance matrix form is often valid in realistic interference scenarios for radar and communication systems. Using this ML estimate, simulation results are given that show that the convergence is much faster than the often-used sample matrix inversion method. In addition, the ML solution for a structured covariance matrix that has the aforementioned form where the scale factor on the identity matrix is arbitrarily lower-bounded, is derived. Finally, an efficient implementation is presented.     

Doppler Compensation & Single Pulse Imaging using Adaptive Pulse Compression

The effects of target Doppler are addressed in relation to adaptive receive processing for radar pulse compression. To correct for Doppler-induced filter mismatch over a single pulse, the Doppler-compensated adaptive pulse compression (DC-APC) algorithm is presented whereby the respective Doppler shifts for large target returns are jointly estimated with the illuminated range profile and subsequently incorporated into the original APC adaptive receive filter formulation. As a result, the Doppler-mismatch-induced range sidelobes can be suppressed thereby regaining a significant portion of the sensitivity improvement that is possible when applying adaptive pulse compression (APC) without the existence of significant Doppler mismatch. In contrast, instead of compensating for Doppler mismatch, the single pulse imaging (SPI) algorithm generalizes the APC formulation for a bank of Doppler-shifted matched filters thereby producing a sidelobe-suppressed range-Doppler image from the return signal of a single radar pulse which is applicable for targets with substantial variation in Doppler. Both techniques are based on the recently proposed APC algorithm and its generalization, the multistatic adaptive pulse compression (MAPC) algorithm, which have been shown to be effective for the suppression of pulse compression range sidelobes thus dramatically increasing the sensitivity of pulse compression radar.