RPC-ICA: The Ion Composition Analyzer of the Rosetta Plasma Consortium

The Ion Composition Analyzer (ICA) is part of the Rosetta Plasma Consortium (RPC). ICA is designed to measure the three-dimensional distribution function of positive ions in order to study the interaction between the solar wind and cometary particles. The instrument has a mass resolution high enough to resolve the major species such as protons, helium, oxygen, molecular ions, and heavy ions characteristic of dusty plasma regions. ICA consists of an electrostatic acceptance angle filter, an electrostatic energy filter, and a magnetic momentum filter. Particles are detected using large diameter (100 mm) microchannel plates and a two-dimensional anode system. ICA has its own processor for data reduction/compression and formatting. The energy range of the instrument is from 25 eV to 40 keV and an angular field-of-view of 360° × 90° is achieved through electrostatic deflection of incoming particles.     

The Geology of Mercury: The View Prior to the MESSENGER Mission

Mariner 10 and Earth-based observations have revealed Mercury, the innermost of the terrestrial planetary bodies, to be an exciting laboratory for the study of Solar System geological processes. Mercury is characterized by a lunar-like surface, a global magnetic field, and an interior dominated by an iron core having a radius at least three-quarters of the radius of the planet. The 45% of the surface imaged by Mariner 10 reveals some distinctive differences from the Moon, however, with major contractional fault scarps and huge expanses of moderate-albedo Cayley-like smooth plains of uncertain origin. Our current image coverage of Mercury is comparable to that of telescopic photographs of the Earth’s Moon prior to the launch of Sputnik in 1957. We have no photographic images of one-half of the surface, the resolution of the images we do have is generally poor (∼1 km), and as with many lunar telescopic photographs, much of the available surface of Mercury is distorted by foreshortening due to viewing geometry, or poorly suited for geological analysis and impact-crater counting for age determinations because of high-Sun illumination conditions. Currently available topographic information is also very limited. Nonetheless, Mercury is a geological laboratory that represents (1) a planet where the presence of a huge iron core may be due to impact stripping of the crust and upper mantle, or alternatively, where formation of a huge core may have resulted in a residual mantle and crust of potentially unusual composition and structure; (2) a planet with an internal chemical and mechanical structure that provides new insights into planetary thermal history and the relative roles of conduction and convection in planetary heat loss; (3) a one-tectonic-plate planet where constraints on major interior processes can be deduced from the geology of the global tectonic system; (4) a planet where volcanic resurfacing may not have played a significant role in planetary history and internally generated volcanic resurfacing may have ceased at ∼3.8 Ga; (5) a planet where impact craters can be used to disentangle the fundamental roles of gravity and mean impactor velocity in determining impact crater morphology and morphometry; (6) an environment where global impact crater counts can test fundamental concepts of the distribution of impactor populations in space and time; (7) an extreme environment in which highly radar-reflective polar deposits, much more extensive than those on the Moon, can be better understood; (8) an extreme environment in which the basic processes of space weathering can be further deduced; and (9) a potential end-member in terrestrial planetary body geological evolution in which the relationships of internal and surface evolution can be clearly assessed from both a tectonic and volcanic point of view. In the half-century since the launch of Sputnik, more than 30 spacecraft have been sent to the Moon, yet only now is a second spacecraft en route to Mercury. The MESSENGER mission will address key questions about the geologic evolution of Mercury; the depth and breadth of the MESSENGER data will permit the confident reconstruction of the geological history and thermal evolution of Mercury using new imaging, topography, chemistry, mineralogy, gravity, magnetic, and environmental data.     

ARTEMIS Science Objectives

NASA??s two spacecraft ARTEMIS mission will address both heliospheric and planetary research questions, first while in orbit about the Earth with the Moon and subsequently while in orbit about the Moon. Heliospheric topics include the structure of the Earth??s magnetotail; reconnection, particle acceleration, and turbulence in the Earth??s magnetosphere, at the bow shock, and in the solar wind; and the formation and structure of the lunar wake. Planetary topics include the lunar exosphere and its relationship to the composition of the lunar surface, the effects of electric fields on dust in the exosphere, internal structure of the Moon, and the lunar crustal magnetic field. This paper describes the expected contributions of ARTEMIS to these baseline scientific objectives.     

The Galileo Heavy element monitor

The Heavy Ion Counter on the Galileo spacecraft will monitor energetic heavy nuclei of the elements from C to Ni, with energies from 6 to 200 MeV nucl^-1. The instrument will provide measurements of trapped heavy ions in the Jovian magnetosphere, including those high-energy heavy ions with the potential for affecting the operation of the spacecraft electronic circuitry. We describe the instrument, which is a modified version of the Voyager CRS instrument.     

跨声速翼型绕流的Euler／边界层方程干扰数值解

本文利用Euler方程和可压缩湍流边界层积分方程研究绕跨声速翼型的有粘与无粘强干扰流动。应用有限差分法在贴体的网格上求解时间相关的Euler方程,以剪功积分方法求解翼面贴附和分离湍流边界层流动,并引入一个松弛方程描述剪应力对上游湍流历程的延迟响应。有粘/无粘干扰采用表面源模型。计算结果表明,对翼面存在强干扰流动情况,获得了与实验值基本吻合的结果。     

碳/酚醛材料的粒子侵蚀

引用均质材料的冲蚀疲劳理论，研究了碳／酚醛材料应用在固体火箭发动机喉衬情况下的侵蚀特性；分别对无碳化层和有碳化层两种状态进行了分析和计算。综合热化学烧蚀计算与实验对比，得到粒子冲蚀的定性定量结果。     

二元进气道非均匀超音来流试验研究

介绍一种二元进气道模型在非均匀超音来流中的初步研究结果。试验在DLR小型超音风洞上进行。为造成非均匀来流条件,试验中将部分或全部试验段顶壁附面层引入进气道模型。结果表明,进气斜板产生的头激波与来流附面层相互作用的性状在不同的附面层隔道下变化极大。随隔道高度增加,激波附面层相互作用距离L起初亦增加,当全部附面层被排移后,L大幅度下降。与均匀来流试验结果相比较,当来流顶壁附面层全部被进气道吞入时,该进气道总压恢复σ及质量流率m分别降低18％及15％(M_∞=2.19),同时出口面总压畸变大幅度增加。文章分析了原因及对进气道性能影响的强度。     

铝锂合金的铸锭冶金（Ⅰ）

介绍了俄罗斯铝锂合金铸锭熔炼和铸造方法的发展和改进，评述了铝锂合金熔铸特点，熔体氧化，防护添加剂，熔剂和氩气防护，氧、碳、氮和氢等非金属夹杂，铸造裂纹敏感性，结晶状态，不均匀组织等方面的研究结果。     

二维可压湍流边界层改进的积分方法

采用含高阶项的边界层动量积分方程,同时对常规边界层卷吸方程及延迟方程进行相应的高阶影响修正,得到改进的边界层积分方程组。应用此方程组对多种高亚音速及跨音速翼型边界层流动作了计算,并与一阶Ｇｒｅｅｎ方法计算结果及实验结果作了比较。结果表明,在边界层积分方程中保留法向压力梯度项及雷诺法向应力项,明显改进了翼面边界层接近分离区域处参数的计算精度。