液体火箭发动机的热结构复合材料

20多年来,火箭工程设计人员一直在研究耐高温、抗氧化陶瓷材料的应用可能性,但是这些材料的主要缺点是易碎和抗热壅塞性差.目前工业用碳陶瓷和陶瓷-陶瓷结构复合材料具有很好的弹性和很强的抗热壅塞性能,这重新引起了人们制造高温火箭发动机复合材料部件的兴趣.这类新材料目前正由欧洲动力装备公司(SEP)生产,其名为SEPCARB和CERASEP,它们具有独特的热和机械性能,可以取代难熔金属而应用于可贮存二元推进剂火箭发动机的整体式喷管和推力室.装有这些部件的工艺发动机已经试验成功,从而为下一代火箭发动机的生产铺平了道路.     

Response to hypogravity of normal in vitro cultured follicular cells from thyroid

Aim of this investigation is the study of molecular modifications occurring in differentiated mammalian cells exposed to gravitational changes. The test system chosen is a well characterized clone of differentiated, normal thyroid follicular cells (FRTL5) in long-term culture. As a follow-up to our recent experiment performed during the MASER-7 sounding rocket mission, flown for European Space Agency by Swedish Space Corporation in May 1996, we evaluated FRTL5 cells responses to Thyroid Stimulating Hormone dependent cAMP production under acute hypogravity conditions obtained in a fast rotating clinostat. Following this approach, we evaluated the FRTL5 cells response to TSH under microgravity conditions in order to optimize experimental tools and strategies in preparation to, and in between real flight missions.     

Effects of HZE particle on the nigrostriatal dopaminergic system in a future Mars mission

Because of long duration travel outside the Earth's magnetic field, the effect of iron-rich high charge and energy (HZE) particles in Galactic Cosmic Rays on human body is the major concern in radiation protection. Recently attention has been directed to effects on the central nervous system in addition to mutagenic effects. In particular, a reduction in striatal dopamine content on nigrostriatal dopaminergic system has been reported by investigators using accelerated iron ions in ground-based mammalian studies. In addition, studies of the pathophysiology of Parkinson's disease demonstrated that excess iron cause a reduction in the dopamine content in the substantia nigra. This suggests an intriguing possibility to explain the selective detrimental effects of HZE particles on the dopaminergic system. Should these particles have biochemical effects, possible options for countermeasures are: (1) nutritional prevention, (2) medication, and (3) surgical placement of a stimulator electrode at a specific anatomic site in the basal ganglia.     

石墨/环氧凯夫拉49纤维/环氧及混杂纤维复合材料的复合应力特性

为了表征纤维/环氧复合材料在复合应力作用下的力学性能,进行了一项实验研究。试样有两种:圆管和带有封头的圆筒形压力容器。它们均采用螺旋/环向(±α,90°)缠绕成型。本研究还分别对AS_4石墨纤维、凯夫拉纤维以及这两种混杂纤维/环氧迭层材料进行了试验。为了测定材料平面内力学性能,圆管试样承受了内压和超轴向载荷的作用。在与圆管试样对应的内压下,对压力容器也进行了试验,然后再做爆破试验以确定材料的极限强度。为了表征材料的时间相关特性,对试样进行了室温蠕变和回复试验。     

Titan and exobiological aspects of the Cassini-Huygens mission

Titan, the largest satellite of Saturn, has a dense N2-CH4 atmosphere rich in organic compounds, both in gas and in aerosol phases. Its surface is probably covered by oceans of liquid methane-ethane mixtures, with many dissolved organics. This quasi planet appears as a natural laboratory to study chemical evolution toward complex organic systems in a planetary environment over a long time scale. With the Cassini-Huygens mission NASA and ESA will jointly send an orbiter (Cassini) around Saturn and a probe (Huygens) in the atmosphere of Titan. This mission, currently planned to be launched in 1996-1997 for a Saturn - Titan arrival in 2004, offers a unique opportunity to study in detail extra-terrestrial organic processes. Consequently, it has important implications in the field of exobiology and the origins of life.     

Identification of morphological biosignatures in Martian analogue field specimens using in situ planetary instrumentation

We have investigated how morphological biosignatures (i.e., features related to life) might be identified with an array of viable instruments within the framework of robotic planetary surface operations at Mars. This is the first time such an integrated lab-based study has been conducted that incorporates space-qualified instrumentation designed for combined in situ imaging, analysis, and geotechnics (sampling). Specimens were selected on the basis of feature morphology, scale, and analogy to Mars rocks. Two types of morphological criteria were considered: potential signatures of extinct life (fossilized microbial filaments) and of extant life (crypto-chasmoendolithic microorganisms). The materials originated from a variety of topical martian analogue localities on Earth, including impact craters, high-latitude deserts, and hydrothermal deposits. Our in situ payload included a stereo camera, microscope, M?ssbauer spectrometer, and sampling device (all space-qualified units from Beagle 2), and an array of commercial instruments, including a multi-spectral imager, an X-ray spectrometer (calibrated to the Beagle 2 instrument), a micro-Raman spectrometer, and a bespoke (custom-designed) X-ray diffractometer. All experiments were conducted within the engineering constraints of in situ operations to generate realistic data and address the practical challenges of measurement. Our results demonstrate the importance of an integrated approach for this type of work. Each technique made a proportionate contribution to the overall effectiveness of our "pseudopayload" for biogenic assessment of samples yet highlighted a number of limitations of current space instrument technology for in situ astrobiology.     

Formate as an energy source for microbial metabolism in chemosynthetic zones of hydrothermal ecosystems

Formate, a simple organic acid known to support chemotrophic hyperthermophiles, is found in hot springs of varying temperature and pH. However, it is not yet known how metabolic strategies that use formate could contribute to primary productivity in hydrothermal ecosystems. In an effort to provide a quantitative framework for assessing the role of formate metabolism, concentration data for dissolved formate and many other solutes in samples from Yellowstone hot springs were used, together with data for coexisting gas compositions, to evaluate the overall Gibbs energy for many reactions involving formate oxidation or reduction. The result is the first rigorous thermodynamic assessment of reactions involving formate oxidation to bicarbonate and reduction to methane coupled with various forms of iron, nitrogen, sulfur, hydrogen, and oxygen for hydrothermal ecosystems. We conclude that there are a limited number of reactions that can yield energy through formate reduction, in contrast to numerous formate oxidation reactions that can yield abundant energy for chemosynthetic microorganisms. Because the energy yields are so high, these results challenge the notion that hydrogen is the primary energy source of chemosynthetic microbes in hydrothermal ecosystems.     

利用GPS遥控链路的天基停飞系统

本文研究了利用L波段遥控专利方案实现基于GPS靶场的真正综合式靶场测量系统必须解决的问题。着重讨论硬件及从单音调制遥控系统变换成采用加密和扩频的数字系统需解决的问题。还将谈到将该系统纳入美国空军靶场标准化和自动化(RAS)结构作为一种可能的GPS靶场方案所需费用和时间安排的一些想法,并讨论如果采用该方法将带来比现用系统的优越之处。     

Spiders: water-driven erosive structures in the southern hemisphere of Mars

Recent data from space missions reveal that there are ongoing climatic changes and erosive processes that continuously modify surface features of Mars. We have investigated the seasonal dynamics of a number of morphological features located at Inca City, a representative area at high southern latitude that has undergone seasonal processes. By integrating visual information from the Mars Orbiter Camera on board the Mars Global Surveyor and climatic cycles from a Mars' General Circulation Model, and considering the recently reported evidence for the presence of water-ice and aqueous precipitates on Mars, we propose that a number of the erosive features identified in Inca City, among them spiders, result from the seasonal melting of aqueous salty solutions.