Resistance of bacterial endospores to outer space for planetary protection purposes--experiment PROTECT of the EXPOSE-E mission

Spore-forming bacteria are of particular concern in the context of planetary protection because their tough endospores may withstand certain sterilization procedures as well as the harsh environments of outer space or planetary surfaces. To test their hardiness on a hypothetical mission to Mars, spores of Bacillus subtilis 168 and Bacillus pumilus SAFR-032 were exposed for 1.5 years to selected parameters of space in the experiment PROTECT during the EXPOSE-E mission on board the International Space Station. Mounted as dry layers on spacecraft-qualified aluminum coupons, the "trip to Mars" spores experienced space vacuum, cosmic and extraterrestrial solar radiation, and temperature fluctuations, whereas the "stay on Mars" spores were subjected to a simulated martian environment that included atmospheric pressure and composition, and UV and cosmic radiation. The survival of spores from both assays was determined after retrieval. It was clearly shown that solar extraterrestrial UV radiation (λ≥110?nm) as well as the martian UV spectrum (λ≥200?nm) was the most deleterious factor applied; in some samples only a few survivors were recovered from spores exposed in monolayers. Spores in multilayers survived better by several orders of magnitude. All other environmental parameters encountered by the "trip to Mars" or "stay on Mars" spores did little harm to the spores, which showed about 50% survival or more. The data demonstrate the high chance of survival of spores on a Mars mission, if protected against solar irradiation. These results will have implications for planetary protection considerations.     

Spatially resolved genomic, stable isotopic, and lipid analyses of a modern freshwater microbialite from cuatro ciénegas, Mexico

Abstract Microbialites are biologically mediated carbonate deposits found in diverse environments worldwide. To explore the organisms and processes involved in microbialite formation, this study integrated genomic, lipid, and both organic and inorganic stable isotopic analyses to examine five discrete depth horizons spanning the surface 25?mm of a modern freshwater microbialite from Cuatro Ciénegas, Mexico. Distinct bacterial communities and geochemical signatures were observed in each microbialite layer. Photoautotrophic organisms accounted for approximately 65% of the sequences in the surface community and produced biomass with distinctive lipid biomarker and isotopic (δ(13)C) signatures. This photoautotrophic biomass was efficiently degraded in the deeper layers by heterotrophic organisms, primarily sulfate-reducing proteobacteria. Two spatially distinct zones of carbonate precipitation were observed within the microbialite, with the first zone corresponding to the phototroph-dominated portion of the microbialite and the second zone associated with the presence of sulfate-reducing heterotrophs. The coupling of photoautotrophic production, heterotrophic decomposition, and remineralization of organic matter led to the incorporation of a characteristic biogenic signature into the inorganic CaCO(3) matrix. Overall, spatially resolved multidisciplinary analyses of the microbialite enabled correlations to be made between the distribution of specific organisms, precipitation of carbonate, and preservation of unique lipid and isotopic geochemical signatures. These findings are critical for understanding the formation of modern microbialites and have implications for the interpretation of ancient microbialite records. Key Words: Microbial ecology-Microbe-mineral interactions-Microbial mats-Stromatolites-Genomics. Astrobiology 12, 685-698.     

Elucidation of an iterative process of carbon-carbon bond formation of prebiotic significance

Laboratory experiments carried out under plausible prebiotic conditions (under conditions that might have occurred at primitive deep-sea hydrothermal vents) in water and involving constituents that occur in the vicinity of submarine hydrothermal vents (e.g., CO, H(2)S, NiS) have disclosed an iterative Ni-catalyzed pathway of C-C bond formation. This pathway leads from CO to various organic molecules that comprise, notably, thiols, alkylmono- and disulfides, carboxylic acids, and related thioesters containing up to four carbon atoms. Furthermore, similar experiments with organic compounds containing various functionalities, such as thiols, carboxylic acids, thioesters, and alcohols, gave clues to the mechanisms of this novel synthetic process in which reduced metal species, in particular Ni(0), appear to be the key catalysts. Moreover, the formation of aldehydes (and ketones) as labile intermediates via a hydroformylation-related process proved to be at the core of the chain elongation process. Since this process can potentially lead to organic compounds with any chain length, it could have played a significant role in the prebiotic formation of lipidic amphiphilic molecules such as fatty acids, potential precursors of membrane constituents.     

俯仰跟踪任务中的驾驶员神经网络模型辨识

 在飞机设计中,应用驾驶员数学模型预测飞机飞行品质是避免人机系统出现不良耦合的重要途径之一。为了提高飞行品质的预测精度,采用人工神经网络(NN)方法进行驾驶员模型辨识,着重研究该模型对不同飞机被控对象的适应能力。首先,详细分析了驾驶员完成俯仰跟踪任务的操纵行为特点,提出适用于该驾驶员行为描述的神经网络模型结构形式。然后,根据对不同被控对象进行俯仰跟踪实时仿真实验的结果,对神经网络模型参数进行识别。最后,对模型辨识结果进行了精度评价。研究结果表明,该辨识方法适用于研究具有不同增益、不同短周期振荡频率飞机被控对象的驾驶员操纵行为特性。     

The simulated silicification of bacteria--new clues to the modes and timing of bacterial preservation and implications for the search for extraterrestrial microfossils

Evidence of microbial life on Earth has been found in siliceous rock formations throughout the geological and fossil record. To understand the mechanisms of silicification and thus improve our search patterns for evidence of fossil microbial life in rocks, a series of controlled laboratory experiments were designed to simulate the silicification of microorganisms. The bacterial strains Pseudomonas fluorescens and Desulphovibrio indonensis were exposed to silicifying media. The experiments were designed to determine how exposure time to silicifying solutions and to silicifying solutions of different Si concentration affect the fossilization of microbial biofilms. The silicified biofilms were analyzed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in combination with energy-dispersive spectroscopy. Both bacterial species showed evidence of silicification after 24 h in 1,000 ppm silica solution, although D. indonensis was less prone to silicification. The degree of silicification of individual cells of the same sample varied, though such variations decreased with increasing exposure time. High Si concentration resulted in better preservation of cellular detail; the Si concentration was more important than the duration in Si solution. Even though no evidence of amorphous silica precipitation was observed, bacterial cells became permineralized. High-resolution TEM analysis revealed nanometer-sized crystallites characterized by lattice fringe-spacings that match the (10-11) d-spacing of quartz formed within bacterial cell walls after 1 week in 5,000 ppm silica solution. The mechanisms of silicification under controlled laboratory conditions and the implication for silicification in natural environments are discussed, along with the relevance of our findings in the search for early life on Earth and extraterrestrial life.     

下一代航天器的多用途贮箱

单组元和双组元推进系统已确定用于下一代航天器的轨道转换与姿态控制上,包括应用于通讯卫星、地球资源卫星、维修及补给卫星、气象卫星和防御卫星。基于上述应用的多用途貯箱是一种改型维金轨道器(VO-75)的圆筒形容器,直径为91厘米并有半球形封头,它92能用于航天飞机又能用于一次使用的助推火箭。本聍箱备有各种被动式全金属推进剂管理装置,以满足各种不同任务对加速度、流量、压力值、增压形式和轨道飞行中的晃动控制所提出的各种各样的要求。对各种装置的工作情况均结合其通用性和局限性来予以说明。对容积、重量、排空效率、容积效率等貯箱系统参数和相对成本,本文亦作了简介。     

Microwave Brightness Temperature and Lunar Soil Dielectric Property Retrieve

Among many scientific objectives of lunar exploration, investigations on lunar soil become more and more attractive to the scientists duo to the existence of abundant 3He and ilmenite in the lunar soil and their possible utilization. Although the soil composition determination on the lunar surface is available by visible light spectrometer,γ/X-ray spectrometer etc, the evaluations on the total reserves of 3He and ilmenite in the lunar deep and on the thickness of the lunar soil are still impossible so far. In this paper, the authors first give a rough analysis of the microwave brightness temperature images of the lunar disc observed using the NRAO 12 Meter Telescope and Siberian Solar Radio Telescope; then introduce our researches on the microwave dielectric properties of lunar soil simulators; finally, discuss some basic relations between the microwave brightness temperature and lunar soil properties.     

高精度加速度计内部的各种热动力寄生力

安装在无拖曳卫星上的各种高精度加速度表和梯度表被用于各种不同的空间科学研究，各项科学研究包括基础物理和对地球的观察，牵涉空间飞行的低轨道卫星的轨道的准确测量，卫星对大地测量，重要课题还有地球重力场中短波部分的测量，无拖曳卫星最适合于这些领域的研究。无拖曳飞行指的是施加在卫星上的全部非引力守恒力被一个拖曳力控制系统（DFC）抵消掉了，此外守恒力补偿的各种比例推进器，DFC（拖曳力控制）系统有各种空间静电加速度表组成，也可以组成一个梯度表，这些表可以测量相应的非地心引力，灵敏度很高（如1Pg），加速度表信号作为DFC系统的输入信号，也可用所谓的内部寄生力来限定，内部寄生力可以提高系统的各种物理性能，即直接将该力施加至加速度表内的质量块上。本文阐述两个实际热动力寄生力的热动力基础理论，两种热动力寄生力作用在加速度的质量块上，同时本文还给出这些力的大致的数量级。     

PILOT:一个智能化的分布式系统管理器

NASA约翰逊航天中心正在作一系列研究,探索提高当前和未来载人指控中心工作效率和实用性的途径。实时数据系统(RTDS)工程已研究了几种技术并用于指控中心环境。该环境是以工程工作站构成的多机种网络,该网中仿真的和实际的航天飞机任务现场数据作实时分配。该系统由一组复杂的交互进程组成,必须以最少的停顿时间提供多种服务。本文介绍一些能保证系统各功能高度可靠和高度可用的方法。包括一个进程可见性工具,一个本地工作站环境监视器,一个网络级通信工具和一个采用人工智能技术的全局进程。