Self-sustaining Mars colonies utilizing the North Polar Cap and the Martian atmosphere

A revolutionary new concept for the early establishment of robust, self-sustaining Martian colonies is described. The colonies would be located on the North Polar Cap of Mars and utilize readily available water ice and the CO2 Martian atmosphere as raw materials to produce all of the propellants, fuel, air, water, plastics, food, and other supplies needed by the colony. The colonists would live in thermally insulated large, comfortable habitats under the ice surface, fully shielded from cosmic rays. The habitats and supplies would be produced by a compact, lightweight (~4 metric tons) nuclear powered robotic unit termed ALPH (Atomic Liberation of Propellant and Habitat), which would land 2 years before the colonists arrived. Using a compact, lightweight 5 MW (th) nuclear reactor/steam turbine (1 MW(e)) power source and small process units (e.g., H2O electrolyzer, H2 and O2 liquefiers, methanator, plastic polymerizer, food producer, etc.) ALPH would stockpile many hundreds of tons of supplies in melt cavities under the ice, plus insulated habitats, to be in place and ready for use when the colonists landed. With the stockpiled supplies, the colonists would construct and operate rovers and flyers to explore the surface of Mars. ALPH greatly reduces the amount of Earth supplied material needed and enables large permanent colonies on Mars. It also greatly reduces human and mission risks and vastly increases the capability not only for exploration of the surrounding Martian surface, but also the ice cap itself. The North Polar Cap is at the center of the vast ancient ocean that covered much of the Martian Northern Hemisphere. Small, nuclear heated robotic probes would travel deep (1 km or more) inside the ice cap, collecting data on its internal structure, the composition and properties of the ancient Martian atmosphere, and possible evidence of ancient life forms (microfossils, traces of DNA, etc.) that were deposited either by wind or as remnants of the ancient ocean. Details of the ALPH system, which is based on existing technology, are presented. ALPH units could be developed and demonstrated on Earth ice sheets within a few years. An Earth-Mars space transport architecture is described, in which Mars produced propellant and supplies for return journeys to Earth would be lifted with relatively low DeltaV to Mars orbit, and from there transported back to Earth orbit, enabling faster and lower cost trips from Earth to Mars. The exploration capability and quality of life in a mature Martian colony of 500 persons located on the North Polar Cap is outlined.     

怎样提高航线维修的效率

美国《大修与维修》（Ｏｖｅｒｈａｕｌ＆　Ｍａｉｎｔｅｎａｎｃｅ）是美国航空周刊集团出版社的，以报道飞机、发动机及机械电子设备维护维修的科技信息杂志，《航空工程与维修》是国际航空杂志社出版的一本集报道航空工程与维修为一体的刊物。自２００１年初开始，国际航空杂志社与美国航空周刊集团签订了版权交换协议，因此，我刊从本期开始，开设了Ｏｖｅｒｈａｕｌ＆Ｍａｉｎｔｅｎａｃｅ专栏，为广大中国民航军队的飞机维护维修人员提供了一个了解国外维修业的窗口，希望广大读者对本专栏提出宝贵意见，以帮助我们不断改进。     

采用脉冲雷达数据鉴定导弹制导精度的最佳方法

一、引言——飞行试验鉴定概述为了有效地使用弹道式导弹,空军必须有效地鉴定其精度。为鉴定弹道导弹精度而制定的试验计划,随武器和负责部门的不同而不同,但一般都是地面试验和飞行试验相结合,然后加以分析。最能逼真模拟实战或预期运用情况的飞行试验计划,可按复杂性而分为两类。第一类试验通常称为验证性试验计划,其主要目的是测得武器系统的总误差,不注重分离各单项误差因素。第二类试验称为鉴定性试验计划,其目的是分离、鉴别和定量测定形成武器系统总误差的各主要误差源。这种飞行试验计划显然是最为复杂,因而实施起来也是最难成功的。而在洲际弹道式导弹比之用来鉴定其性能的基准系统更为精确的今天,尤为如此。本文详细讨论了在这种情况下鉴定惯性制导系统所遇到的问题,并介绍了一种分析方法,以此尽量减少其中一些问题所造成的影响。     

固体推进剂老化研究概述

老化研究的重要性是由于评定推进剂的安全期而引起的。本文评论的目的是介绍文献中对本课题有用的最新知识的全面情况,包括双基和复合固体推进剂。评论了以下几个课题:1)损坏准则 2)安全期的估价 3)弹道性能变化与分解特性 4)力学性能的变化 5)老化机理。     

实用的卡尔曼滤波概述

本文简要介绍从经典滤波理论到卡尔曼滤波的演变,讨论了离散滤波器数学模型的要求格式,然后介绍了离散卡尔曼滤波的递归方程式,但不作推导。文章给出了二个标量实例来说明递归方程式的应用。第一个例子涉及对随机常数的估计;第二个例子叙述了维纳过程。     

Radiation protection of astronauts in LEO

Radiological protection for space flights is often perceived as a technico-scientific problem. All this is the result of the effects of radiation encountered in space and manned flight conditions. The main characteristics of this radiation come from its complex composition and its large energy spectrum which must be taken into account as well as flux variations by both solar activity and the vehicle position on orbit. Inside a vehicle, structures constitute irregularly distributed shields and lead to a specific dose at each location. To be able to protect the crew, it is first necessary to understand the threat and therefore to identify the radiation environment: extraterrestrial and orbital. As the environment varies with both the orbit position and time, the dose received in each critical organ during missions must be determined and compared with acceptable limits. To counter the threat, which may exceed acceptable limits, a strategy is required, including the complementary aspects of prevention, detection, protection and possibly treatment.     

白沙导弹靶场的遥测检验系统

本文简述了白沙导弹靶场(WSMR)遥测检验系统(TVS)的演变与历史。此外,从系统方针、结构和操作几个方面,介绍了正在研制的自动化遥测检验系统。     

壁压法低速风洞洞壁干扰修正

 对于低速风洞中大模型、大迎角以及一般具有分离流的情况,本文采用壁压测量用影响函数法计算了洞壁干扰,并进行了实验验证.计算与实验表明,本文的计算是可靠的提供的曲线数据可供实际使用。     

Spraying of Super Fine Powders With HVOF and Axial Plasma Thermal Spray Systems

The use of fine powders in thermal spray can lead to many advantages. These advantages include denser coatings, coatings with increased wear resistance, coatings with smoother surface finish, coatings that can be applied to internal surfaces, less expensive coatings. The use of fine powders also has an disadvantage that th ey can have poor flow characteristics. The paper will discuss a feeder that is able to feed fine powders to overcome this difficulty and the coating equipment, both axial plasma and HVOF systems, used to deposit these materials to produce smooth dense coatings.