Subcritical water extractor for Mars analog soil analysis

Abstract Technologies that enable rapid and efficient extraction of biomarker compounds from various solid matrices are a critical requirement for the successful implementation of in situ chemical analysis of the martian regolith. Here, we describe a portable subcritical water extractor that mimics multiple organic solvent polarities by tuning the dielectric constant of liquid water through adjustment of temperature and pressure. Soil samples, collected from the Yungay region of the Atacama Desert (martian regolith analogue) in the summer of 2005, were used to test the instrument's performance. The total organic carbon was extracted from the samples at concentrations of 0.2-55.4 parts per million. The extraction data were compared to the total organic carbon content in the bulk soil, which was determined via a standard analytical procedure. The instrument's performance was examined over the temperature range of 25-250 degrees C at a fixed pressure of 20.7 MPa. Under these conditions, water remains in a subcritical fluid state with a dielectric constant varying between approximately 80 (at 25 degrees C) and approximately 30 (at 250 degrees C).     

The Swift Ultra-Violet/Optical Telescope

The Ultra-Violet/Optical Telescope (UVOT) is one of three instruments flying aboard the Swift Gamma-ray Observatory. It is designed to capture the early (∼1 min) UV and optical photons from the afterglow of gamma-ray bursts in the 170–600 nm band as well as long term observations of these afterglows. This is accomplished through the use of UV and optical broadband filters and grisms. The UVOT has a modified Ritchey–Chrétien design with micro-channel plate intensified charged-coupled device detectors that record the arrival time of individual photons and provide sub-arcsecond positioning of sources. We discuss some of the science to be pursued by the UVOT and the overall design of the instrument.     

Constraining Fundamental Constants of Physics with Quasar Absorption Line Systems

We summarize the attempts by our group and others to derive constraints on variations of fundamental constants over cosmic time using quasar absorption lines. Most upper limits reside in the range 0.5–1.5×10^?5 at the 3σ level over a redshift range of approximately 0.5–2.5 for the fine-structure constant, α, the proton-to-electron mass ratio, μ and a combination of the proton gyromagnetic factor and the two previous constants, g _p(α ²/μ) ^ν , for only one claimed variation of α. It is therefore very important to perform new measurements to improve the sensitivity of the numerous methods to at least <0.1×10^?5 which should be possible in the next few years. Future instrumentations on ELTs in the optical and/or ALMA, EVLA and SKA pathfinders in the radio will undoutedly boost this field by allowing to reach much better signal-to-noise ratios at higher spectral resolution and to perform measurements on molecules in the ISM of high redshift galaxies.     

Understanding microbialite morphology using a comprehensive suite of three-dimensional analysis tools

Microbialites can have complex morphologies that preserve clues to ancient microbial ecology. However, extracting and interpreting these clues is challenging due to both the complexity of microbial structures and the difficulties of connecting morphology to microbial processes. Fenestrate microbialites from the 2521±3 Ma Gamohaan Formation, South Africa, have intricate structures composed of three distinct microbial structures: steeply dipping supports (surfaces defined by organic inclusions), more shallowly dipping supports with diffuse organic inclusions below them, and draping laminae. In polished slabs, shallowly dipping supports with diffuse organic inclusions show apparent dips from 27° to 60°, and supports without associated zones of diffuse inclusions dip 75° to 88°, which suggests a distinction between support types based on orientation. However, dips exposed in polished slabs are apparent dips, and three-dimensional analysis is required for analysis of true dips. Through the Keck Center for Active Visualization in Earth Sciences (KeckCAVES), we used locally developed software that controls a three-dimensional environment with head and hand tracking (an "immersive environment") to visualize and interpret virtual microbialite data sets. Immersive environments have not penetrated into standard scientific work processes ("workflows") due to their high costs, steep learning curves, and low productivity for users. By contrast, our suite of software tools allowed us to develop a personalized scientific workflow that provides a complete path from initial ideas to characterization of fenestrate microbialites' features. Results of three-dimensional analysis of fenestrate microbialites show that supports with inclusions dip 65° to 75°, whereas supports without inclusions dip 85° to 90°. These results demonstrate that all supports have very steep dips, and a 10° dip gap exists between supports with and without inclusions, which suggests they grew in fundamentally different ways. Results also emphasize how valuable three-dimensional analysis is when combined with a comprehensive workflow for understanding intricate structures such as fenestrate microbialites.     

A liquid propulsion panorama

Liquid-propellant rocket engines are widely used all over the world, thanks to their high performances, in particular high thrust-to-weight ratio. The present paper presents a general panorama of liquid propulsion as a contribution of the IAF Advanced Propulsion Prospective Group.After a brief history of its past development in the different parts of the world, the current status of liquid propulsion, the currently observed trends, the possible areas of future improvement and a summarized road map of future developments are presented. The road map includes a summary of the liquid propulsion status presented in the “Year in review 2007” of Aerospace America.Although liquid propulsion is often seen as a mature technology with few areas of potential improvement, the requirements of an active commercial market and a renewed interest for space exploration has led to the development of a family of new engines, with more design margins, simpler to use and to produce associated with a wide variety of thrust and life requirements.     

Mission analysis and performance comparison for an Advanced Solar Photon Thruster

The so-called “compound solar sail”, also known as “Solar Photon Thruster” (SPT), is a design concept, for which the two basic functions of the solar sail, namely light collection and thrust direction, are uncoupled. In this paper, we introduce a novel SPT concept, termed the Advanced Solar Photon Thruster (ASPT), which does not suffer from the simplified assumptions that have been made for the analysis of compound solar sails in previous studies. After having presented the equations that describe the force on the ASPT and after having performed a detailed design analysis, the performance of the ASPT with respect to the conventional flat solar sail (FSS) is investigated for three interplanetary mission scenarios: an Earth–Venus rendezvous, where the solar sail has to spiral towards the Sun, an Earth–Mars rendezvous, where the solar sail has to spiral away from the Sun, and an Earth-NEA rendezvous (to near-Earth asteroid 1996FG3), where a large change in orbital eccentricity is required. The investigated solar sails have realistic near-term characteristic accelerations between 0.1 and 0.2 mm/s². Our results show that an SPT is not superior to the flat solar sail unless very idealistic assumptions are made.     

An alternative to Hermes a solution for the European space industry

A variety of valuable roles can be foreseen during the next two decades for a reusable, piloted launch vehicle with a small payload. The authors argue that unfortunately, as currently proposed, the Hermes-Ariane 5 vehicle will not be able to fill the roles required. The authors propose a reusable aerospace transporter-a variant of Hermes - which will provide a solution and allow Europe to take the lead in developing the first fully reusable launch vehicle.     

Observations of ionospheric irregularities and its correspondence with sporadic e occurrence over South Korea and Japan

This study analyzed the occurrence of ionospheric irregularities over South Korea and Japan (mid-latitudes) during the years 2010–2015. The irregularities were quantified using the rate of change of total electron content (TEC) index (ROTI), which detects irregularities with scale sizes in the range of 400 m–2.5 km. The ROTI threshold for an ionospheric irregularity to have occurred was set as 0.1 TECU/min. Results showed that ionospheric irregularities mostly occur during night-time and around local noon-time in the seasons of spring and summer. In addition, the percentage of ionospheric irregularities had a high positive correlation with solar flux (F10.7) (r > 0.72). For the first time, we showed good correspondence between ionospheric irregularities measured by the ROTI index and sporadic E (Es). The median ROTI associated with ionospheric irregularities over a South Korea station (DAEJ) and a Japan station (KGNI) were 0.131 and 0.125 TECU/min, respectively. However, in severe cases of ionospheric irregularities, the ROTI values over DAEJ (KGNI) can reach 0.246 (0.217) and 0.314 (0.339) TECU/min during day and night, respectively. These critical ROTI values can be important in interpreting and monitoring ionospheric irregularity occurrence over South Korea and Japan.