Morgan phenomenon unravels the mysteries of the Universe

We readily convince ourselves that most achievements can be credited to the construction of powerful jet engines, which enable a spaceship to escape gravity. The principle of jet propulsion seems to work perfectly; jet engines can accelerate a rocket up to an incredible speed of 11 km/sec. Looks like there is nothing left to desire. However, from the physical point of view, 11 km/sec is not such a large value compared, for instance, to the speed of light. Would it be possible to attain half of that speed using gas jets? Unfortunately, the answer is no. Nevertheless, that is not the end of the story. The purpose of this article is to show that it is still possible to use the same principle to remove limitations on attainable speed if instead of gas jets, we employ ultrafast electron beams. The basic idea of our construction was inspired by the paper by H. Morgan (ibid., vol. 13, pp. 5-10, 1998). In that article he experimentally refuted the common premise that nothing can go faster than light and gave some theoretical arguments supporting his experimental data. Although the nature and underlying principles of the Morgan phenomenon are yet to be understood, we can already start thinking of its practical applications     

Testing and evaluation of a method for locating potentially hazardous sites of eventual microdestruction and detecting marks of ISS RS hull leakage

In 2008, two experiments – BAR and EXPERT – were performed on the Russian segment (ISS RS) during ISS missions 16 and 17 using diagnostic equipment BAR. The experiments were aimed to enhance ISS safety by proposing means and methods of detecting leaks due to many factors including microdestruction of pressurized modules of the vehicle. The BAR experiment was designed to assess the ultraviolet background in 56 potentially dangerous locations identified by RS ISS designers and engineers. The method for locating sites carrying the risk of microdestruction of pressurized structure was verified. The study showed that the rate of microdestruction is highly affected by level of ultrasound vibrations caused by onboard equipment. The ultrasound measurements in 200 RS ISS sites were performed within the BAR experiment. The method consists of looking for surfaces with atmospheric condensate in the areas of increased levels of ultrasound vibrations. Twenty six sites were added to the nomenclature of potentially risky sites to be monitored on the regular basis. Some of these sites were contaminated by fungi and bacteria.     

Study of multilayer thermal insulation by inverse problems method

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a new method in the research of radiative and thermal properties of materials with further applications in the design of thermal control systems (TCS) of spacecrafts. In this paper the radiative and thermal properties (emissivity and thermal conductance) of a multilayered thermal-insulating blanket (MLI), which is a screen-vacuum thermal insulation as a part of the TCS for perspective spacecrafts, are estimated. Properties of the materials under study are determined in the result of temperature and heat flux measurement data processing based on the solution of the inverse heat transfer problem (IHTP) technique. Given are physical and mathematical models of heat transfer processes in a specimen of the multilayered thermal-insulating blanket located in the experimental facility. A mathematical formulation of the inverse heat conduction problem is presented as well. The practical approves were made for specimen of the real MLI.     

SAA drift: Experimental results

According to the paleomagnetic analysis there are variations of Earth’s magnetic field connected with magnetic moment changing. These variations affect on the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) location. Indeed different observations approved the existence of the SAA westward drift rate (0.1–1.0 deg/year) and northward drift rate (approximately 0.1 deg/year).     

Furthering our understanding of electrostatic solitary waves through Cluster multispacecraft observations and theory

Nonlinear isolated electrostatic solitary waves (ESWs) are observed routinely at many of Earth’s major boundaries by the Wideband Data (WBD) plasma wave receivers that are mounted on the four Cluster satellites. The current study discusses two aspects of ESWs: their characteristics in the magnetosheath, and their propagation in the magnetosheath and in the auroral acceleration (upward current) region. The characteristics (amplitude and time duration) of ESWs detected in the magnetosheath are presented for one case in which special mutual impedance tests were conducted allowing for the determination of the density and temperature of the hot and cold electrons. These electron parameters, together with those from the ion experiment, were used as inputs to an electron acoustic soliton model as a consideration for the generation of the observed ESWs. The results from this model showed that negative potential ESWs of a few Debye lengths (10–50 m) could be generated in this plasma. Other models of ESW generation are discussed, including beam instabilities and spontaneous generation out of turbulence. The results of two types of ESW propagation (in situ and remote sensing) studies are also presented. The first involves the propagation of bipolar type ESWs from one Cluster spacecraft to another in the magnetosheath, thus obtaining the velocity and size of the solitary structures. The structures were found to be very flat, with large scale perpendicular to the magnetic field (>40 km) and small scale parallel to the field (<1 km). These results were then discussed in terms of various models which predict such flat structures to be generated. The second type of propagation study uses striated Auroral Kilometric Radiation (SAKR) bursts, observed on multiple Cluster satellites, as tracers of ion solitary waves in the upward current region. The results of all studies discussed here (pulse characteristics and ESW velocity, lifetime, and size) are compared to in situ measurements previously made on one spacecraft and to theoretical predictions for these quantities, where available. The primary conclusion drawn from the propagation studies is that the multiple spacecraft technique allows us to better assess the stability (lifetime) of ESWs, which can be as large as a few seconds, than can be achieved with single satellites.     

Spectral and spatial dependency of aerosol extinction in the upper troposphere based on the moon surface photometry in the Earth’s umbra

The work is based on photometry of the Moon’s surface during the total lunar eclipse of June 15, 2011. Photometric data are used to retrieve the value of aerosol extinction coefficient in the troposphere above the Earth’s limb in various spectral bands in the optical and near-IR ranges. The results are analyzed in comparison with the data of previous eclipses in 2004–2008. The main result consists in an increased aerosol concentration in the South-East Asia, which is maximum among all eclipses observed in recent years. At the same time, no relationship between eclipse brightness and solar activity is observed, as well as unified latitude dependency of umbra brightness noticed earlier.     

Chirp Waveform Generation Using Digital Samples

This paper describes two methods of generating an analog frequency-modulated waveform by the use of a small number of digital samples of the ?chirp? waveform. The number of digital samples required is a function of the time-bandwidth product. For certain values of time-bandwidth product, this type of signal generation becomes extremely efficient. Several proofs are offered which show how to select ?optimum? values of time-bandwidth products. Two hardware implementations are suggested. One is based on the use of modulo arithmetic and a small stored memory table. The second method utilizes the inherent signal symmetries available if ?optimum? time-bandwidth products are selected. The symmetrical signal patterns are stored in recirculating reversible shift registers which can be read out at high speeds.     

Influence of gravity on spatial orientation and morphogenesis of moss sporophytes.

During the growth and development of the sporophytic capsules of some moss species, negative gravitropism is changed for a positive one. Horizontal clinostat rotation induced unregulated growth of the sporophytes and their twisting; some of sporophytes remained straight, however. It has been established that the change of the gravitropic reaction is related to capsule formation and to the redistribution of amyloplast cells of the sporophyte graviperception zone.     

Improved Antenna Systems for ILS Localizers

For many years Norwegian airports have been equipped with instrument landing system (ILS) localizers of conventional type. Most of the localizers, however, were found not to perform very well on these sites. The course bends were too large and even moderate amounts of snow and ice could cause the localizer to fall out of operation. To overcome these difficulties, the requirements for localizer operation at these airports were analyzed and a new and improved antenna system developed. After a long period of operational testing, during which it was made clear that a substantial improvement in performance had been achieved, the new localizer antenna system is now in operation at 13 Norwegian airports.     

Test results with the direct flux linkage control of synchronousmotors

Synchronous motors are important in large drives. The application of the direct flux linkage control (DFLC) in synchronous machine drives is examined. This control method guarantees the best possible dynamics for the drive. Torque steps the height of which correspond to the motor nominal torque are achieved within a few milliseconds