M stars as targets for terrestrial exoplanet searches and biosignature detection

The changing view of planets orbiting low mass stars, M stars, as potentially hospitable worlds for life and its remote detection was motivated by several factors, including the demonstration of viable atmospheres and oceans on tidally locked planets, normal incidence of dust disks, including debris disks, detection of planets with masses in the 5-20 M() range, and predictions of unusually strong spectral biosignatures. We present a critical discussion of M star properties that are relevant for the long- and short-term thermal, dynamical, geological, and environmental stability of conventional liquid water habitable zone (HZ) M star planets, and the advantages and disadvantages of M stars as targets in searches for terrestrial HZ planets using various detection techniques. Biological viability seems supported by unmatched very long-term stability conferred by tidal locking, small HZ size, an apparent short-fall of gas giant planet perturbers, immunity to large astrosphere compressions, and several other factors, assuming incidence and evolutionary rate of life benefit from lack of variability. Tectonic regulation of climate and dynamo generation of a protective magnetic field, especially for a planet in synchronous rotation, are important unresolved questions that must await improved geodynamic models, though they both probably impose constraints on the planet mass. M star HZ terrestrial planets must survive a number of early trials in order to enjoy their many Gyr of stability. Their formation may be jeopardized by an insufficient initial disk supply of solids, resulting in the formation of objects too small and/or dry for habitability. The small empirical gas giant fraction for M stars reduces the risk of formation suppression or orbit disruption from either migrating or nonmigrating giant planets, but effects of perturbations from lower mass planets in these systems are uncertain. During the first approximately 1 Gyr, atmospheric retention is at peril because of intense and frequent stellar flares and sporadic energetic particle events, and impact erosion, both enhanced, the former dramatically, for M star HZ semimajor axes. Loss of atmosphere by interactions with energetic particles is likely unless the planetary magnetic moment is sufficiently large. For the smallest stellar masses a period of high planetary surface temperature, while the parent star approaches the main sequence, must be endured. The formation and retention of a thick atmosphere and a strong magnetic field as buffers for a sufficiently massive planet emerge as prerequisites for an M star planet to enter a long period of stability with its habitability intact. However, the star will then be subjected to short-term fluctuations with consequences including frequent unpredictable variation in atmospheric chemistry and surficial radiation field. After a review of evidence concerning disks and planets associated with M stars, we evaluate M stars as targets for future HZ planet search programs. Strong advantages of M stars for most approaches to HZ detection are offset by their faintness, leading to severe constraints due to accessible sample size, stellar crowding (transits), or angular size of the HZ (direct imaging). Gravitational lensing is unlikely to detect HZ M star planets because the HZ size decreases with mass faster than the Einstein ring size to which the method is sensitive. M star Earth-twin planets are predicted to exhibit surprisingly strong bands of nitrous oxide, methyl chloride, and methane, and work on signatures for other climate categories is summarized. The rest of the paper is devoted to an examination of evidence and implications of the unusual radiation and particle environments for atmospheric chemistry and surface radiation doses, and is summarized in the Synopsis. We conclude that attempts at remote sensing of biosignatures and nonbiological markers from M star planets are important, not as tests of any quantitative theories or rational arguments, but instead because they offer an inspection of the residues from a Gyr-long biochemistry experiment in the presence of extreme environmental fluctuations. A detection or repeated nondetections could provide a unique opportunity to partially answer a fundamental and recurrent question about the relation between stability and complexity, one that is not addressed by remote detection from a planet orbiting a solar-like star, and can only be studied on Earth using restricted microbial systems in serial evolution experiments or in artificial life simulations. This proposal requires a planet that has retained its atmosphere and a water supply. The discussion given here suggests that observations of M star exoplanets can decide this latter question with only slight modifications to plans already in place for direct imaging terrestrial exoplanet missions.     

Interplanetary transfer of photosynthesis: an experimental demonstration of a selective dispersal filter in planetary island biogeography

We launched a cryptoendolithic habitat, made of a gneissic impactite inoculated with Chroococcidiopsis sp., into Earth orbit. After orbiting the Earth for 16 days, the rock entered the Earth's atmosphere and was recovered in Kazakhstan. The heat of entry ablated and heated the rock to a temperature well above the upper temperature limit for life to below the depth at which light levels are insufficient for photosynthetic organisms ( approximately 5 mm), thus killing all of its photosynthetic inhabitants. This experiment shows that atmospheric transit acts as a strong biogeographical dispersal filter to the interplanetary transfer of photosynthesis. Following atmospheric entry we found that a transparent, glassy fusion crust had formed on the outside of the rock. Re-inoculated Chroococcidiopsis grew preferentially under the fusion crust in the relatively unaltered gneiss beneath. Organisms under the fusion grew approximately twice as fast as the organisms on the control rock. Thus, the biologically destructive effects of atmospheric transit can generate entirely novel and improved endolithic habitats for organisms on the destination planetary body that survive the dispersal filter. The experiment advances our understanding of how island biogeography works on the interplanetary scale.     

Origin of informational polymers and the search for non-terran life: protection of the polymeric state of DNA by phosphate minerals

An in-depth analysis of the effects exerted on the DNA backbone by 25 crystal phosphate minerals is reported. Degradation of DNA oligomers was performed with two different reactions: Hydrolysis following Nucleophilic Degradation (HND), initiated by the nucleophilic addition of formamide on both purine and pyrimidine nucleobases, and Hydrolysis following Nucleophilic Substitution (HNS) carried on by water and starting with the removal of a nondegraded base. A complete panel of effects on the phosphoester bonds, from protection to enhanced instability to absence of interference, is described. These effects differ in the different degradation pathways and in different physical-chemical conditions. The relationship between the hardness of the mineral and its protective ability is discussed. In addition to its interest per se, this study was prompted by the observed catalytic abilities of soluble and mineral phosphates (Saladino et al., 2006c) on the synthetic reactions by formamide. The relevance of these observations in the search for nonterran life is discussed.     

Web上的MRO企业应用

基于Web的应用正迅速改变航空维修业信息交换业务的管理方式,也重新定义了各机构之间沟通的方式.     

美海军舰队的电子战模拟部队

为了训练美军舰只,对付苏联“威胁”,美海军于1968年组建了电子战模拟部队——舰队电子战支援大队。目前该大队有两支飞机中队,两支地面部队,拥有近30架电子战飞机,8辆电子战设备车。该大队参加过海军的各类军事演习,并在美军战术战略活动中发挥着越来越大的作用。本文概要地介绍了电子战模拟部队的历史演变、组织训练和武器装备情况,可供有关人员参考。     

红外空间观测卫星

已获欧空局资助的红外空间观测卫星(ISO)将使天文学家在2.5～200μm的波长范围内以前所未有的灵敏度更详尽地探测从太阳系到遥远的银河系以外的天体。卫星主要由一台大型液氦低温恒温器,一台主镜直径为60cm的望远镜和4台科学仪器构成。仪器部分包括:成像光偏振计(2.5～200μm)、相机(2.5～17μm)、短波光谱仪(2.5～45μm)及长波光谱仪(45～180μm)。这些仪器将由欧空局联合研究机构研制。然后交付欧空局使用。ISO定于1995年发射,工作寿命达18个月以上。作为天文观测卫星,其观测时间的三分之二将供天文研究机构使用。     

燃气轮机弹性数学模型

本文根据燃气轮机各部件的基本工作原理,从已有部件的试验特性推导出具有不同设计参数的新设计部件的特性。将这种方法与燃气轮机数学模型相结合,构成设计参数可以变化的燃气轮机“弹性”数学模型。      

~(201)Hg~+离子贮存式频率标准

本文讨论利用在潘宁离子收集器中贮存~201Hg~+离子实现微波频率(和时间)标准以及光频标性能的潜力与存在的问题。有许多讨论一般都适用于离子贮存式频标。激光致冷、光抽运、以及微波或光时钟跃迁的光检测,可利用在194.2nm6P~2P_(1/2)←6~2S_(1/2)跃迁的窄带幅射,而有选择地将基态超精细能级与适当的微波幅射加以混频来完成。特别适用于采用潘宁(冷阴极)离子收集器的一阶独立场微波时钟跃迁是在1.534T 磁场的25.9GHz(F,M_F)=(2,1)←→(1,1)超精细跃迁。在563nm(毫微米)的双量子无多普勒5d~96S~(22)D_(5/2)←→5d~(10)6S~2S_(1/2)迁可能是光频标所要选用的。两种频标的绝对准确度具有达到好于1×10~(-15)而频率稳定度低于10~(-16)的潜力。     

A two-stage approach for managing actuators redundancy and its application to fault tolerant flight control

In safety-critical systems such as transportation aircraft, redundancy of actuators is introduced to improve fault tolerance. How to make the best use of remaining actuators to allow the system to continue achieving a desired operation in the presence of some actuators failures is the main subject of this paper. Considering that many dynamical systems, including flight dynamics of a transportation aircraft, can be expressed as an input affine nonlinear system, a new state representation is adopted here where the output dynamics are related with virtual inputs associated with the intended operation. This representation, as well as the distribution matrix associated with the effectiveness of the remaining operational actuators, allows us to define different levels of fault tolerant governability with respect to actuators’ failures. Then, a two-stage control approach is developed, leading first to the inversion of the output dynamics to get nominal values for the virtual inputs and then to the solution of a linear quadratic(LQ) problem to compute the solicitation of each operational actuator. The proposed approach is applied to the control of a transportation aircraft which performs a stabilized roll maneuver while a partial failure appears. Two fault scenarios are considered and the resulting performance of the proposed approach is displayed and discussed.