Influence of graviceptives cues at different level of visual information processing: the effect of prolonged weightlessness

We evaluated the influence of prolonged weightlessness on the performance of visual tasks in the course of the Russian-French missions ANTARES, Post-ANTARES and ALTAIR aboard the MIR station. Eight cosmonauts were subjects in two experiments executed pre-flight, in-flight and post-flight sessions.

In the first experiment, cosmonauts performed a task of symmetry detection in 2-D polygons. The results indicate that this detection is locked in a head retinal reference frame rather than in an environmentally defined one as meridional orientations of symmetry axis (vertical and horizontal) elicited faster response times than oblique ones. However, in weightlessness the saliency of a retinally vertical axis of symmetry is no longer significantly different from an horizontal axis. In the second experiment, cosmonauts performed a mental rotation task in which they judged whether two 3-D objects presented in different orientations were identical. Performance on this task is basically identical in weightlessness and normal gravity.     

On the contribution of space medicine in the public health care

With the beginning of space era, a new branch of medicine has arisen and has been developing along with human exploration of outer space. And even though space medicine mainly faces the same problems as traditional medicine--cosmonauts health care and their high efficiency--this branch, has its own features, associated with the unusual factors of space flight, of which weightlessness is the major one. During the development of manned cosmonautics (duration of a human stay in space has reached already 438 days), methods of cosmonauts medical support and monitoring of their condition have been developed, knowledge of human possibilities and methods of process of organism adaptation to various and frequently severe conditions of external environment have increased. All this led to the fact that nowadays space medicine can become useful for improvement of human health care not only in space but also on the Earth. Moreover, the problem of implementation of cosmonautics achievements, and in particular of space medicine, in practice of public health care presents one of the most important issues concerning human health care. It is also connected with public opinion which is more and more concerned about the efficiency of significant expenses on space activities, especially lately. People often are set by the questions: what has space given, what fruits has space research provided to mankind, which results of this research can be used on the Earth already today for improvement of their life, for discussion of many difficult earthly problems? In terms of using cosmonautics possibilities, its achievements for health care and treatment, it is possible to define a few branches, in which purposeful studies are carried out.     

弹道靶中超高速发射弹的流场及空气动力特性研究(英)

本文描述的是研究爆炸成型发射弹（ＥＦＰ）模型的流场及超高速空气动力特性所用的弹道试验设备;简要报导了记录全尺寸干涉图形的技术;对径向密度分布再现的方法进行了讨论;在零攻角实验时不同模型的空气动力阻力是采用简化方法来计算的;对各种不同ＥＦＰ型式的气动稳定性提出了定性估计的方法;并阐述了用于组合体超高速飞行特性研究的数值计算技术的基本原理     

The detection of energetic cometary and solar particles by the EPONA instrument on the Giotto mission

EPONA is an energetic particle detector system incorporating totally depleted silicon surface barrier layer detectors. Active and passive background shielding will be employed and, by applying various techniques, particles of different species, including electrons, protons, alpha particles and pick-up ions of cometary origin may be detected over a wide spectrum of energies extending from the tens of KeV into the MeV range.

The instrument can operate in two modes namely (a) in a cruise phase or storage mode and (b) in a real time mode. During the real time mode, observations at high spatial (octosectoring) and temporal (0.5s) resolution in the cometary environment permit studies to be made of accelerated particles at the bow shock and/or in the tail of the comet. In conjunction with magnetic field measurements on board Giotto, observations of energetic electrons and their anisotropies can determine whether the magnetic field lines in the cometary tail are open or closed. Further, the absorption of low energy solar particles in the cometary atmosphere can be measured and such data would provide an integral value of the pertaining gas and dust distribution. Solar particle background measurements during encounter may also be used to correct the measurements of other spacecraft borne instruments potentially vulnerable to such radiation.

Solar particle flux measurements, obtained during the cruise phase will, when combined with simultaneous observations made by other spacecraft at different heliographic longitudes, provide information concerning solar particle propagation in the corona and in interplanetary space.     

2004年3月13日TC-1和Cluster卫星联合观测的磁通量传输事件

分析了2004年3月13日12:15到12:25UT期间TC-1和Cluster卫星簇的磁通门磁力计(FGM)和电子/电流试验仪(PEACE)的联合观测数据.在此期间,TC-1卫星位于日下点以南的磁层顶附近的磁鞘中,并在12:19UT左右观测到了一个典型的先正后负的磁鞘磁通量传输事件(FTE);而Cluster卫星簇位于北半球日侧高纬磁层项附近,并于12:23UT左右穿出磁层顶进入磁鞘,且在12:21 UT左右也观测到了一个典型的先正后负的磁层FTE.比较分析发现此两个FTE具有类似的磁场结构和等离子体特征,可能是同一个北向运动的FTE先后被TC-1和Cluster卫星观测到.利用Cluster 4颗卫星的多点同时观测数据,采用最小方向微分法和时空微分方法,推断Cluster卫星观测的这个FTE是尺度大小约为1.21Re的准二维结构,其运动方向为东北方向,与Cooling模型预测方向基本一致.利用Cooling模型的预测,推算了TC-1卫星在12:19UT观测的FTE的运动速度和尺度,进而得出随着通量管的极向运动,其速度和尺度均有所增加.     

Review of primary spaceflight-induced and secondary reloading-induced changes in slow antigravity muscles of rats.

We have examined the light and electron microscopic properties of hindlimb muscles of rats flown in space for 1-2 weeks on Cosmos biosatellite flights 1887 and 2044 and Space Shuttle missions Spacelab-3, Spacelab Life Sciences-1 and Spacelab Life Sciences-2. Tissues were obtained both inflight and postflight permitting definition of primary microgravity-induced changes and secondary reentry and gravity reloading-induced alterations. Spaceflight causes atrophy and expression of fast fiber characteristics in slow antigravity muscles. The stresses of reentry and reloading reveal that atrophic muscles show increased susceptibility to interstitial edema and ischemic-anoxic necrosis as well as muscle fiber tearing with disruption of contractile proteins. These results demonstrate that the effects of spaceflight on skeletal muscle are multifaceted, and major changes occur both inflight and following return to Earth's gravity.     

Relaxation of electron and proton radiation belts of the earth after strong magnetic storms

During strong magnetic storms in July and November of 2004 the fluxes of trapped particles (protons and electrons of MeV energies) in the Earth’s radiation belts have increased by orders of magnitude and then decreased remaining on an enhanced level for several months. These enhancements allowed us to study the processes of relaxation of the radiation belts. Measurements of energetic particles by low-altitude satellites Coronas-F and Servis-1 have shown that predictions of the theory about the rate of pitch-angle diffusion are not always correct, giving both overestimated and underestimated values for the lifetime of energetic particles.     

Empirical modeling of the total electron content in the ionosphere

A method of modeling the total electron content (TEC) based on the semi-empirical ionospheric model developed in Irkutsk State University is suggested. Comparison with the Klobuchar model has shown that the proposed method provides a more accurate presentation of TEC. A conclusion is drawn that the use of this method for compensation of the ionospheric error in single-frequency navigation receivers would lead to a substantial increase in the accuracy of their positioning.     

Electrodynamic stabilization of earth-orbiting satellites in equatorial orbits

A satellite with electrodynamic stabilization system is considered. Based on the method of Lyapunov functions, sufficient conditions of the asymptotic stability of direct equilibrium position of this satellite in the orbital coordinate system under perturbing action of a gravitational moment are obtained. These conditions allow one to ensure a rational choice of parametric control coefficients depending on parameters of the satellite and its orbit.     

Realization of modes of satellite attitude motion with a small level of microaccelerations using electromechanical executive devices

Quasi-static microaccelerations are estimated for a satellite specially designed to perform space experiments in the field of microgravity. Three modes of attitude motion of the spacecraft are considered: passive gravitational orientation, orbital orientation, and semi-passive gravitational orientation. In these modes the lengthwise axis of the satellite is directed along the local vertical, while solar arrays lie in the orbit plane. The second and third modes are maintained using electromechanical executive devices: flywheel engines or gyrodynes. Estimations of residual microaccelerations are performed with the help of mathematical modeling of satellite’s attitude motion under the action of gravitational and aerodynamic moments, as well as the moment produced by the gyro system. It is demonstrated that all modes ensure rather low level of quasi-static microaccelerations on the satellite and provide for a fairly narrow region of variation for the vector of residual microacceleration. The semi-passive gravitational orientation ensures also a limited proper angular momentum of the gyro system.