Does the centre of mass remain stable during complex human postural equilibrium tasks in weightlessness?

In normal gravity conditions the execution of voluntary movement involves the displacement of body segments as well as the maintenance of a stable reference value for equilibrium control. It has been suggested that centre of mass (CM) projection within the supporting base (BS) is the stabilised reference for voluntary action, and is conserved in weightlessness. The purpose of this study was to determine if the CM is stabilised during whole body reaching movements executed in weightlessness. The reaching task was conducted by two cosmonauts aboard the Russian orbital station MIR, during the Franco-Russian mission ALTAIR, 1993. Movements of reflective markers were recorded using a videocamera, successive images being reconstructed by computer every 40ms. The position of the CM, ankle joint torques and shank and thigh angles were computed for each subject pre- in- and post-flight using a 7-link mathematical model. Results showed that both cosmonauts adopted a backward leaning posture prior to reaching movements. Inflight, the CM was displaced throughout values in the horizontal axis three times those of pre-flight measures. In addition, ankle dorsi flexor torques inflight increased to values double those of pre- and post-flight tests. This study concluded that CM displacements do not remain stable during complex postural equilibrium tasks executed in weightlessness. Furthermore, in the absence of gravity, subjects changed their strategy for producing ankle torque during spaceflight from a forward to a backward leaning posture.     

Response of the EIA ionosphere to the 7-8 May 2005 geomagnetic storm

In this paper, response of low latitude ionosphere to a moderate geomagnetic storm of 7–8 May 2005 (SSC: 1920 UT on 7 May with Sym-H minimum, ∼−112 nT around 1600 UT on 8 May) has been investigated using the GPS measurements from a near EIA crest region, Rajkot (Geog. 22.29°N, 70.74°E, Geomag.14°), India. We found a decrease in total electron content (TEC) in 12 h after the onset of the storm, an increase during and after 6 h of Sym-H deep minimum with a decrease below its usual-day level on the second day during the recovery phase of the storm. On 8 May, an increase of TEC is observed after sunset and during post-midnight hours (maximum up to 170%) with the formation of ionospheric plasma bubbles followed by a nearly simultaneous onset of scintillations at L-band frequencies following the time of rapid decrease in Sym-H index (−30 nT/h around 1300 UT).     

Ureilites

Ureilites are a rare group of five stony meteorites — feldsparless achondrites containing diamonds of preterrestrial origin the total weight of them being 315 carats. The whole carbon content in ureilites makes up 1.5–4.1%. Ureilites substantially differ from the other stony meteorites. In comparison with chondrites they are enriched in Mg but depleted in metal, troilite, alkaline elements. All ureilites are very similar by their structure. They contain elongated cavities generally stretched in the same direction. The structure of ureilites is an achondritic porphyric one. These meteorites consist of large olivine grains, there is less clinopyroxene (pigeonite). They contain kamacite (Ni content being 1.5–4%), troilite FeS, chromite. Carbon material is represented by diamond, graphite and organic material being present in a disequilibrium state. Two ureilites (North Haig and Dingo Pup Donga) were considerably oxidized during terrestrial weathering and contain secondary iron oxides.Diamonds are present in ureilites in thin intergrowths with graphite being disposed between silicate grains more or less evenly in the meteorite. The sizes of such black diamond-graphite aggregates are 0.3–0.9 mm. The sizes of the micromonocrystals of diamond and graphite are less than 1. The diamond-graphite aggregates contain dispersed particles of kamacite, troilite, chromite, nickelchrome, being present in very thin intergrowths with one another. Besides the usual diamond there is an admixture of lonsdaleite in the aggregates representing a hexagonal diamond with a würtzite-like structure. Lonsdaleite has been identified in the ureilites Novo Urei, Goalpara, North Haig. The diamonds of ureilites are characterized by inhomogeneities in the crystalline structure which are at least partly caused by the presence of donor nitrogen. According to the isotopic carbon composition the diamond in the meteorite Novo Urei has the value C¹³ = -5.7.The structure peculiarities of ureilites bear witness of the fact that these meteorites had been subject to the action of dynamic pressure about 300–600 kbar. The impact had taken place in cosmic space. All ureilites subdivide into two types: the first type are Novo Urei, Dyalpur, Dingo Pup Donga, the second type are Goalpara, North Haig according to the following signs: (1) olivine grains are finer in ureilites of the second type; (2) twinning is more typical of clinopyroxenes of ureilites belonging to the first type; (3) in ureilites of the first type a net-like iron distribution is observed, in ureilites of the second type kamacite plates are chiefly present between silicate grains; (4) the size of diamondgraphite intergrowths in ureilites of the first type does not exceed 0.3 mm, in ureilites of the second type it reaches 0.9 mm. Ureilites of the first type have undergone a less intensive impact than ureilites of the second type. Certain similarity of the material composition of ureilites and of the material composition of carbonaceous chondrites, the distinction of these two groups of meteorites from all other meteorites bear witness of the fact that ureilites have formed from carbonaceous chondrites during a collision of asteroid bodies in cosmic space, diamonds having been formed from the carbon material of carbonaceous chondrites.     

Order out of Randomness: Self-Organization Processes in Astrophysics

Self-organization is a property of dissipative nonlinear processes that are governed by a global driving force and a local positive feedback mechanism, which creates regular geometric and/or temporal patterns, and decreases the entropy locally, in contrast to random processes. Here we investigate for the first time a comprehensive number of (17) self-organization processes that operate in planetary physics, solar physics, stellar physics, galactic physics, and cosmology. Self-organizing systems create spontaneous “order out of randomness”, during the evolution from an initially disordered system to an ordered quasi-stationary system, mostly by quasi-periodic limit-cycle dynamics, but also by harmonic (mechanical or gyromagnetic) resonances. The global driving force can be due to gravity, electromagnetic forces, mechanical forces (e.g., rotation or differential rotation), thermal pressure, or acceleration of nonthermal particles, while the positive feedback mechanism is often an instability, such as the magneto-rotational (Balbus-Hawley) instability, the convective (Rayleigh-Bénard) instability, turbulence, vortex attraction, magnetic reconnection, plasma condensation, or a loss-cone instability. Physical models of astrophysical self-organization processes require hydrodynamic, magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD), plasma, or N-body simulations. Analytical formulations of self-organizing systems generally involve coupled differential equations with limit-cycle solutions of the Lotka-Volterra or Hopf-bifurcation type.     

Cassini Imaging Science: Instrument Characteristics And Anticipated Scientific Investigations At Saturn

The Cassini Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS) is the highest-resolution two-dimensional imaging device on the Cassini Orbiter and has been designed for investigations of the bodies and phenomena found within the Saturnian planetary system. It consists of two framing cameras: a narrow angle, reflecting telescope with a 2-m focal length and a square field of view (FOV) 0.35^∘ across, and a wide-angle refractor with a 0.2-m focal length and a FOV 3.5^∘ across. At the heart of each camera is a charged coupled device (CCD) detector consisting of a 1024 square array of pixels, each 12 μ on a side. The data system allows many options for data collection, including choices for on-chip summing, rapid imaging and data compression. Each camera is outfitted with a large number of spectral filters which, taken together, span the electromagnetic spectrum from 200 to 1100 nm. These were chosen to address a multitude of Saturn-system scientific objectives: sounding the three-dimensional cloud structure and meteorology of the Saturn and Titan atmospheres, capturing lightning on both bodies, imaging the surfaces of Saturn’s many icy satellites, determining the structure of its enormous ring system, searching for previously undiscovered Saturnian moons (within and exterior to the rings), peering through the hazy Titan atmosphere to its yet-unexplored surface, and in general searching for temporal variability throughout the system on a variety of time scales. The ISS is also the optical navigation instrument for the Cassini mission. We describe here the capabilities and characteristics of the Cassini ISS, determined from both ground calibration data and in-flight data taken during cruise, and the Saturn-system investigations that will be conducted with it. At the time of writing, Cassini is approaching Saturn and the images returned to Earth thus far are both breathtaking and promising.This revised version was published online in July 2005 with a corrected cover date.     

Full characterization of a compact 90Sr/90Y beta source for TID radiation testing

A new methodology for Total Ionizing Dose (TID) tests is proposed. It is based on the employment of an on-chip ⁹⁰Sr/⁹⁰Y beta source as alternative to standard methods such as ⁶⁰Co gamma rays and electrons from LINAC. The use of a compact beta source for TID tests has several advantages. In particular, the irradiation of devices with more than one radiation source results in a better representation of the complex space radiation environment composed of several types, energies and dose-rates. In addition, the use of an easy handling beta source allows the irradiation of electronic devices without any damage to other auxiliary circuit. In this work, ⁹⁰Sr/⁹⁰Y beta source dosimetry and related radiation field characteristics are discussed in depth.In order to validate the proposed source for TID tests, a rather complex device such as the “SPC56EL70L5” microcontroller from ST-Microelectronics was exposed to ⁹⁰Sr/⁹⁰Y beta rays. The results of this test were compared to that of a previous test of another sample from the same lot with a standard gamma ⁶⁰Co source. The electronic performances following the two irradiations have been found to be in excellent agreement, by demonstrating therefore the validity of the proposed beta source for TID tests.