Spatial orientation during locomotion [correction of locomation] following space flight

To investigate changes in spatial orientation ability and walking performance following space flight, 7 astronaut subjects were asked pre- and post-flight to perform a goal directed locomotion paradigm which consisted of walking a triangular path with and without vision. This new paradigm, involving inputs from different sensory systems, allows quantification of several critical parameters, like orientation performance, walking velocities and postural stability, in a natural walking task. The paper presented here mainly focusses on spatial orientation performance quantified by the errors in walking the previously seen path without vision. Errors in length and reaching the corners did not change significantly from pre- to post-flight, while absolute angular errors slightly increased post-flight. The significant decrease in walking velocity and a change in head-trunk coordination while walking around the corners of the path observed post-flight may suggest that during re-adaptation to gravity the mechanisms which are necessary to perform the task have to be re-accomplished.     

The effect of head-down tilt on brain potentials related to visual attention

To study the possible effect of simulated weightlessness on brain function state, the brain event-related potentials (ERPs) in a simple visual selective response task were compared between HDT and HUT in 9 normal subjects. The results were: The Target(T) and non-Target(NT) flash signals both induced significant slow positive potentials which were supposed to related to the attention state; the amplitude of the positive potentials in frontal regions decreased significantly especially for NT-ERPs during HDT comprared with that during HUT. The data reported provide new evidence indicating that more attention should be paid on the brain function study during space flight.     

Effect of potassium and calcium loading on healthy subjects under hypokinesia and physical exercise with fluid and salt supplements

The objective of this investigation was to determine the acute responses to the electrolyte challenges under hypokinesia and physical exercise (PE) of different intensities with fluid and salt supplementation (FSS). The studies were performed on 12 physically healthy male volunteers aged 19-24 years under 364 days of hypokinesia (decreased number of steps per day) with a set of PE with FSS. The volunteers were divided into two equal groups. The first group was subjected to a set of intensive PE and the second group was submitted to a set of moderate PE. Both groups of subjects consumed daily water and salt supplements that aimed to increase the body hydration level. For simulation of the hypokinetic effect all subjects were kept under an average of 3000 steps per day. Functional tests with a potassium chloride (KCl) and calcium lactate (Cal) load were performed during the hypokinetic period of 364 days and the 60-day, prehypokinetic period that served as control, while both groups of subjects consumed daily calcium and potassium supplements. The concentration of electrolyte and hormone levels in the blood and their excretion rate in urine were determined. Renal excretion of calcium and potassium and the blood concentration thereof increased markedly in both groups of subjects. With the potassium chloride load tests the increased potassium excretion was accompanied by higher aldosterone and insulin blood levels, and with the calcium lactate load tests the increased calcium excretion was accompanied by a decreased parathyroid content in the blood. FSS and PE, regardless of intensity, failed to attenuate calcium and potassium losses. Additional intake of KCl and Cal also failed to normalize potassium and calcium abnormalities. It was concluded that during the KCl and Cal loading tests, the increased losses of potassium and calcium in the hypokinetic subjects were due to the inability of their bodies to retain these electrolytes, and that electrolyte abnormalities could not be reversed by PE or rehydration in individuals subjected to prolonged restriction of motor activity.     

Radar ECCM: A European Approach

The radar designer must optimize parameters for performance in electronic countermeasures (ECM) and avoid any constraints which could be exploited by ECM. ECM/electronic counter-counter measures (ECCM) strategy must take into account electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) including enemy EMC. Electronic scanning improves search performance, but also reduces ECCM performance in other ways. While electronic scanning avoids some constraints, it imposes others, particularly in the frequency domain. It is argued that simple radars of good performance may be as cost effective in ECM as more complex systems. Some examples of recent developments are given.     

Analysis of Multimodal Systems

The estimation of a multimodal linear system whose mode-to-mode transitions are described by a finite-state Markov chain is described. The problem has application in studying separation standards in an air traffic control environment. An optimal solution is formulated which is computationally infeasible. A suboptimal estimator is then derived which closely approximates the optimal estimator. An example is presented to illustrate the technique.     

基于CFD技术的鼻腔输药的流动特性研究

鼻腔输药作为一种新颖的输药方式,具有方便可靠的特点,不仅可以适用于局部而且适用于全身用药,已经受到广泛的重视。但由于人类的呼吸道复杂的立体结构使得鼻腔输药成为生物医药研究的一个长期的挑战。利用CFD(计算流体动力学,Computational Fluid Dynamics)技术对鼻腔输药的流动特性进行研究,对一个基于真实的人类鼻腔解剖的3D模型的输药的流动过程进行了分析,着重研究了不同的药物颗粒的流动和沉淀特性。利用CFD的商用软件FLUENT在层流情况下对不同的密度、直径和流动速率的药物颗粒在鼻腔中流动进行了数值模拟,并对计算结果进行了比较分析。CFD研究的结果为鼻腔输药这种新颖的药物输送方式的优化设计提供了依据。     

Phase Space Density Analysis of Energy Transport in the Earth’s Magnetotail

Two energetic events in the Earth’s magnetotail detected by Geotail are examined with detailed analysis of three-dimensional velocity phase space density. It is found that the occurrence of multiple ion components is high during these dynamic episodes. Different populations evolve independently of each other, suggesting particles from multiple activity sites contributing to the observed phase space density. The transport properties with consideration of multiple components are evaluated, with the result showing significant differences from those based on a single fluid approach. This comparison indicates that precise evaluation of the energy and magnetic flux transport of energetic events in the magnetotail requires resolving individual populations in the phase space density.     

Magnetosphere Imaging Instrument (MIMI) on the Cassini Mission to Saturn/Titan

The magnetospheric imaging instrument (MIMI) is a neutral and charged particle detection system on the Cassini orbiter spacecraft designed to perform both global imaging and in-situ measurements to study the overall configuration and dynamics of Saturn’s magnetosphere and its interactions with the solar wind, Saturn’s atmosphere, Titan, and the icy satellites. The processes responsible for Saturn’s aurora will be investigated; a search will be performed for substorms at Saturn; and the origins of magnetospheric hot plasmas will be determined. Further, the Jovian magnetosphere and Io torus will be imaged during Jupiter flyby. The investigative approach is twofold. (1) Perform remote sensing of the magnetospheric energetic (E > 7 keV) ion plasmas by detecting and imaging charge-exchange neutrals, created when magnetospheric ions capture electrons from ambient neutral gas. Such escaping neutrals were detected by the Voyager l spacecraft outside Saturn’s magnetosphere and can be used like photons to form images of the emitting regions, as has been demonstrated at Earth. (2) Determine through in-situ measurements the 3-D particle distribution functions including ion composition and charge states (E > 3 keV/e). The combination of in-situ measurements with global images, together with analysis and interpretation techniques that include direct “forward modeling’’ and deconvolution by tomography, is expected to yield a global assessment of magnetospheric structure and dynamics, including (a) magnetospheric ring currents and hot plasma populations, (b) magnetic field distortions, (c) electric field configuration, (d) particle injection boundaries associated with magnetic storms and substorms, and (e) the connection of the magnetosphere to ionospheric altitudes. Titan and its torus will stand out in energetic neutral images throughout the Cassini orbit, and thus serve as a continuous remote probe of ion flux variations near 20R _S (e.g., magnetopause crossings and substorm plasma injections). The Titan exosphere and its cometary interaction with magnetospheric plasmas will be imaged in detail on each flyby. The three principal sensors of MIMI consists of an ion and neutral camera (INCA), a charge–energy–mass-spectrometer (CHEMS) essentially identical to our instrument flown on the ISTP/Geotail spacecraft, and the low energy magnetospheric measurements system (LEMMS), an advanced design of one of our sensors flown on the Galileo spacecraft. The INCA head is a large geometry factor (G ∼ 2.4 cm² sr) foil time-of-flight (TOF) camera that separately registers the incident direction of either energetic neutral atoms (ENA) or ion species (≥5^∘ full width half maximum) over the range 7 keV/nuc < E < 3 MeV/nuc. CHEMS uses electrostatic deflection, TOF, and energy measurement to determine ion energy, charge state, mass, and 3-D anisotropy in the range 3 ≤ E ≤ 220 keV/e with good (∼0.05 cm² sr) sensitivity. LEMMS is a two-ended telescope that measures ions in the range 0.03 ≤ E ≤ 18 MeV and electrons 0.015 ≤ E≤ 0.884 MeV in the forward direction (G ∼ 0.02 cm² sr), while high energy electrons (0.1–5 MeV) and ions (1.6–160 MeV) are measured from the back direction (G ∼ 0.4 cm² sr). The latter are relevant to inner magnetosphere studies of diffusion processes and satellite microsignatures as well as cosmic ray albedo neutron decay (CRAND). Our analyses of Voyager energetic neutral particle and Lyman-α measurements show that INCA will provide statistically significant global magnetospheric images from a distance of ∼60 R _S every 2–3 h (every ∼10 min from ∼20 R _S). Moreover, during Titan flybys, INCA will provide images of the interaction of the Titan exosphere with the Saturn magnetosphere every 1.5 min. Time resolution for charged particle measurements can be < 0.1 s, which is more than adequate for microsignature studies. Data obtained during Venus-2 flyby and Earth swingby in June and August 1999, respectively, and Jupiter flyby in December 2000 to January 2001 show that the instrument is performing well, has made important and heretofore unobtainable measurements in interplanetary space at Jupiter, and will likely obtain high-quality data throughout each orbit of the Cassini mission at Saturn. Sample data from each of the three sensors during the August 18 Earth swingby are shown, including the first ENA image of part of the ring current obtained by an instrument specifically designed for this purpose. Similarily, measurements in cis-Jovian space include the first detailed charge state determination of Iogenic ions and several ENA images of that planet’s magnetosphere.This revised version was published online in July 2005 with a corrected cover date.     

Differential-game-based guidance law using target orientation observations

Modern 4th generation air-to-air missiles are quite capable of dealing with today's battlefield needs. Advanced aerodynamics, highly efficient warheads and smart target acquisition systems combine to yield higher missile lethality than ever. However, in order to intercept highly maneuverable targets, such as future unmanned combat air vehicles (UCAV), or to achieve higher tracking precision for missiles equipped with smaller warheads, further improvement in the missile guidance system is still needed. A new concept is presented here for deriving improved differential-game-based guidance laws that make use of information about the target orientation, which is acquired via an imaging seeker. The underlying idea is that of using measurements of the target attitude as a leading indicator of target acceleration. Knowledge of target attitude reduces the reachable set of target acceleration, facilitating the computation of an improved estimate of the zero-effort miss (ZEM) distance. In consequence, missile guidance accuracy is significantly improved. The new concept is applied in a horizontal interception scenario, where it is assumed that the target maneuver direction, constituting a partial attitude information, can be extracted via processing target images, acquired by an imaging sensor. The derivation results in a new guidance law that explicitly exploits the direction of the target acceleration. The performance of the new guidance law is studied via a computer simulation, which demonstrates its superiority over existing state-of-the-art differential-game-based guidance laws. It is demonstrated that a significant decrease in the miss distance can be expected via the use of partial target orientation information.     

Expectations for Infrared Spectroscopy of 9P/Tempel 1 from Deep Impact

The science payload on the Deep Impact mission includes a 1.05–4.8 μm infrared spectrometer with a spectral resolution ranging from R∼200–900. The Deep Impact IR spectrometer was designed to optimize, within engineering and cost constraints, observations of the dust, gas, and nucleus of 9P/Tempel 1. The wavelength range includes absorption and emission features from ices, silicates, organics, and many gases that are known to be, or anticipated to be, present on comets. The expected data will provide measurements at previously unseen spatial resolution before, during, and after our cratering experiment at the comet 9P/Tempel 1. This article explores the unique aspects of the Deep Impact IR spectrometer experiment, presents a range of expectations for spectral data of 9P/Tempel 1, and summarizes the specific science objectives at each phase of the mission.