Rapid convergence by cascading Applebaum adaptive arrays

An adaptive array architecture is described which has improved convergence speed over the conventional Applebaum array when the eigenvalue spread of the input signal covariance matrix is large. The architecture uses N+1 Applebaum adaptive arrays in a two-layer cascaded configuration. The gain constants in the first layer are set so that large interfering sources are quickly nulled, but small interfering sources are suppressed more slowly. Since the first layer removes the large interfering signals, the gain constant for the second layer can be set to a large value to quickly null the smaller interferers. The adaptation time is examined for several combinations of signal levels and array sizes. It is shown that, in many signal environments, the computational requirements for the cascaded array compare favorably with those of conventional sample matrix inversion (SMI) methods for large arrays     

Life cycle testing of a sealed 24-V, 42-Ah nickel-cadmium aircraftbattery

Extensive research has been conducted in the design and manufacture of very long life sealed maintenance free nickel-cadmium aircraft batteries. This study presents data on a 100% depth of discharge (DOD) life test performed on a nominal capacity 42-Ah battery. The purpose of this study is to validate design concepts, determine the life characteristics of the newly designed sealed Ni-Cd batteries, and develop baseline information on failure rates and mechanisms. The data from this experiment can be used to compare depth of discharge versus battery life with similar tests such as the lower DOD experiments performed on spacecraft batteries. This information is important in the ongoing development of long life batteries and in developing failure models for life prediction     

The status of qualification of a new separator system for advancedaerospace battery cells

A nickel cadmium cell system which utilizes a polypropylene separator impregnated with polybenzimadazole, and which shows promise of providing an aerospace battery with performance equivalent to Super NiCd, and yet is more cost effective, is described. Background information, cell construction information, detailed test program information and data, and status of qualification are given     

Evolution of the Martian water cycle.

The current Martian water cycle is extremely asymmetric, with large amounts of vapor subliming off a permanent north polar water ice cap in northern summer, but with no apparent major source of water vapor in the southern hemisphere. Detailed simulations of this process with a three-dimensional circulation model indicate that the summertime interhemispheric exchange (Hadley cell) is very much stronger than transport by eddies in other seasons. As a result, water ice would be distributed globally were it not for the buffering action of regolith soil adsorption which limits the net flux of water vapor off the north polar cap to amounts that are insignificant even on the scale of thousands of years. It has been suggested that the polar layered deposits are the result of exchange on these long time scales, driven by changes in Martian orbital parameters. We therefore are conducting simulations to test the effect of varied orbital parameters on the Martian water cycle. We find that when the perihelion summer pole is charged with a polar water ice cap, large quantities of water are quickly transfered to the aphelion summer pole, setting up an annual cycle that resembles the present one. Thus, the adsorptivity of the Martian regolith may be in the narrow range where it can limit net transport from the aphelion but not the perihelion pole.     

Monte Carlo track structure studies of energy deposition and calculation of initial DSB and RBE.

Estimation of exposure due to environmental and other sources of radiations of high-LET and low-LET is of interest in radiobiology and radiation protection for risk assessment. To account for the differences in effectiveness of different types of radiations various parameters have been used. However, the relative inadequacy of the commonly used parameters, including dose, fluence, linear energy transfer, lineal energy, specific energy and quality factor, has been made manifest by the biological importance of the microscopic track structure and primary modes of interaction. Monte Carlo track structure simulations have been used to calculate the frequency of energy deposition by radiations of high- and low-LET in target sizes similar to DNA and higher order genomic structure. Tracks of monoenergetic heavy ions and electrons were constructed by following the molecular interaction-by-interaction histories of the particles down to 10 eV. Subsequently, geometrical models of these assumed biological targets were randomly exposed to the radiation tracks and the frequency of energy depositions obtained were normalized to unit dose in unit density liquid water (l0(3) kg m-3). From these data and a more sophisticated model of the DNA, absolute yields of both single- and double-strand breaks expressed in number of breaks per dalton per Gray were obtained and compared with the measured yields. The relative biological effectiveness (RBE) for energy depositions in cylindrical targets has been calculated using 100 keV electrons as the reference radiation assuming the electron track-ends contribution is similar to that in 250 kV X-ray or Co60 gamma-ray irradiations.     

Spaceflight and clinorotation cause cytoskeleton and mitochondria changes and increases in apoptosis in cultured cells.

The cytoskeleton is a complex network of fibers that is sensitive to environmental factors including microgravity and altered gravitational forces. Cellular functions such as transport of cell organelles depend on cytoskeletal integrity; regulation of cytoskeletal activity plays a role in cell maintenance, cell division, and apoptosis. Here we report cytoskeletal and mitochondria alterations in cultured human lymphocyte (Jurkat) cells after exposure to spaceflight and in insect cells of Drosophila melanogaster (Schneider S-1) after exposure to conditions created by clinostat rotation. Jurkat cells were flown on the space shuttle in Biorack cassettes while Schneider S-1 cells were exposed to altered gravity forces as produced by clinostat rotation. The effects of both treatments were similar in the different cell types. Fifty percent of cells displayed effects on the microtubule network in both cell lines. Under these experimental conditions mitochondria clustering and morphological alterations of mitochondrial cristae was observed to various degrees after 4 and 48 hours of culture. Jurkat cells underwent cell divisions during exposure to spaceflight but a large number of apoptotic cells was also observed. Similar results were obtained in Schneider S-1 cells cultured under clinostat rotation. Both cell lines displayed mitochondria abnormalities and mitochondria clustering toward one side of the cells which is interpreted to be the result of microtubule disruption and failure of mitochondria transport along microtubules. The number of mitochondria was increased in cells exposed to altered gravity while cristae morphology was severely affected indicating altered mitochondria function. These results show that spaceflight as well as altered gravity produced by clinostat rotation affects microtubule and mitochondria organization and results in increases in apoptosis. Grant numbers: NAG 10-0224, NAG2-985.     

Ambiguity resolution of multiple targets using pulse-Dopplerwaveforms

To cancel clutter, both medium-PRF waveforms which are ambiguous in both range and Doppler and high-PRF waveforms which are ambiguous in range but unambiguous in ambiguities, a previous paper has shown that superior results for a single target can be achieved by using a clustering algorithm. Here, the problem of multiple targets is considered. A maximum likelihood (ML) technique which incorporates the clustering algorithm is developed for the multiple target problem. Simulation results show that four targets which have the same speed but are at different ranges can be resolved by using a medium-PRF waveform and employing the ML resolution technique     

On small active region filaments,fibrils and surges

High resolution Hα images and magnetograms (0.2 arc s) of an active region were obtained in alternating time series at 42 s cadences using the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope on 2004 August 21. The Hα filtergrams reveal an active region filament and surges consisting of thread-like structures which have widths similar to the widths of chromospheric fibrils, both recorded down to the resolution limit in the best images. All observed structures in the active region appear highly dynamic. Fibrils show counterstreaming strongly resembling the counterstreaming threads in filaments.     

Deceleration and heating constrained footprint of shuttle vehicles

With increasing frequency in shuttle operation, it is of interest to have more than one or two landing fields within the boundary of the reachable area of the reentry vehicle. This boundary, called the footprint, depends on the aerodynamic characteristics of the vehicle and is severely restricted by the deceleration and heating constraints imposed upon the atmospheric reentry trajectory. This paper gives a general assessment of the footprint as a function of various deceleration and heating constraints. The difficulties in the computation of the three-dimensional reentry trajectories with optimal modulation in both the angle-of-attack and the bank angle are alleviated by the following devices: (a) nondimensionalizing of the equations of motion and use of the density as the altitude variable; (b) use of the classical integrals of the motion; (c) transformation of the adjoint variables into physical variables; and (d) spherical rotation of the coordinates.