IBEX Education and Public Outreach

The IBEX mission includes a comprehensive Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) program that develops programs and products in exciting themes from astronomy and space physics. With the active involvement of the Principal Investigator and several science team partners, it is overseen and implemented by the Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum. The program includes an internationally distributed planetarium show with accompanying informal education materials that are also accessible to individuals with special needs; a national Space Science Core Curriculum for grades 6–8 in collaboration with other NASA missions; a professional development program for teachers; and workshops that engage Hispanic and Native American students. Materials are made available for download or for order via the IBEX website: http://www.ibex.swri.edu/. Our program is developed, implemented and monitored for effectiveness by organizations with proven capabilities and experience in their respective areas of E/PO. This paper describes these program elements in detail and includes the rationale and design process for this E/PO program.     

Equivalent Electric Circuit Models of Coronal Magnetic Loops and Related Oscillatory Phenomena on the Sun

Coronal loops, which trace closed magnetic field lines, are the primary structural elements of the solar atmosphere. Complex dynamics of solar coronal magnetic loops, together with action of possible subphotospheric dynamo mechanisms, turn the majority of the coronal loops into current-carrying structures. In that connection none of the loops can be considered as isolated from the surroundings. The current-carrying loops moving relative to each other interact via the magnetic field and currents. One of the ways to take into account this interaction consists in application of the equivalent electric circuit models of coronal loops. According to these models, each loop is considered as an equivalent electric LCR-circuit with variable inductive coefficients L, capacitance C, and resistance R, which depend on shape, scale, position of the loop with respect to neighbouring loops, as well as on the plasma parameters in the magnetic tube. Such an approach enables to describe the process of electric current dynamics in the groups of coronal loops, as well as the related dynamical, energy release and radiation processes. In the present paper we describe the major principles of LCR-circuit models of coronal magnetic loops, and show their application for interpretation of the observed oscillatory phenomena in the loops and in the related radiation.     

电沉积制备ZrO2／Ni纳米复合材料的超塑性

采用电沉积方法制备了平均晶粒尺寸为45 nm的ZrO2/Ni纳米复合材料,并通过拉伸试验对该材料的超塑性能进行了研究.结果表明:ZrO2/Ni纳米复合材料具有低温高应变速率超塑性,在温度为450℃、应变速率为1.67×10-3/s时,获得的最大伸长率为605%.采用SEM和TEM分析了沉积态材料及变形后的组织,并对变形机理进行了探讨.ZrO2/Ni纳米复合材料的超塑变形机制主要是晶界滑移,S元素的析出在一定程度上协调了变形.     

基于潜在成分的时变系统损伤的概率神经网络分类

提出了一种新的时变系统健康监控的损伤分类方法。将函数级数时变自回归平滑时序模型应用于时变系统的振动信号,以估计TAR／TMA参数和革新方差。这些参数是时间的函数,将它们在以特定的基函数构成的某种函数子空间上展开得到相应的投影系数组。所估计得到的TAR／TMA参数和革新方差可进一步用来计算潜在成分（LCs）,将LCs用于健康评估比原来的参数更具信息。并将LCs联合并归化为数值得到特征集,输入概率神经网络（PNN）进行损伤分类。为了评价该方法,对一个时变系统进行了仿真,以各种不同的质量和刚度减少来模拟不同的损伤类别。算例表明：该方法能够在时变系统的背景下对损伤进行归类。     

Ares I–X Flight Test Vehicle similitude to the Ares I Crew Launch Vehicle

The Ares I–X Flight Test Vehicle is the first in a series of flight test vehicles that will take the Ares I Crew Launch Vehicle design from development to operational capability. Ares I–X is scheduled for a 2009 flight date, early enough in the Ares I design and development process so that data obtained from the flight can impact the design of Ares I before its Critical Design Review. Decisions on Ares I–X scope, flight test objectives, and FTV fidelity were made prior to the Ares I systems requirements being baselined. This was necessary in order to achieve a development flight test to impact the Ares I design. Differences between the Ares I–X and the Ares I configurations are artifacts of formulating this experimental project at an early stage and the natural maturation of the Ares I design process. This paper describes the similarities and differences between the Ares I–X Flight Test Vehicle and the Ares I Crew Launch Vehicle. Areas of comparison include the outer mold line geometry, aerosciences, trajectory, structural modes, flight control architecture, separation sequence, and relevant element differences. Most of the outer mold line differences present between Ares I and Ares I–X are minor and will not have a significant effect on overall vehicle performance. The most significant impacts are related to the geometric differences in Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle at the forward end of the stack. These physical differences will cause differences in the flow physics in these areas. Even with these differences, the Ares I–X flight test is poised to meet all five primary objectives and six secondary objectives. Knowledge of what the Ares I–X flight test will provide in similitude to Ares I—as well as what the test will not provide—is important in the continued execution of the Ares I–X mission leading to its flight and the continued design and development of Ares I.     

Vertical distribution of the power of short- and long-period oscillations in a sunspot and in surrounding magnetic elements

We present the results of processing three 256-min series of observations of quasi-periodic oscillations of the field of line-of-sight velocities in three sunspots. The Doppler shifts were determined simultaneously for six spectral lines formed at different heights in the solar atmosphere. In addition to the well-known high-frequency (periods of 3–5 min) oscillations, a band of low-frequency oscillations with periods of 60–80 min is revealed in the spectra of the sunspot umbra and magnetic elements located in immediate proximity of the sunspot. Unlike the short-period modes, the power of the long-period mode of line-of-sight velocity oscillations in the sunspot decreases sharply with height: these oscillations are distinctly seen in the line formed at a height of 200 km and almost are not seen in the line with the formation height of 500 km. This is indicative of different physical nature of the short-period and long-period oscillations of a sunspot. If the former are caused by slow magnetosonic waves within the field tube of the spot, the latter are representative of global vertical-radial oscillations of a magnetic element (spot, pore) as a whole near the position of a stable equilibrium.     

Ballistics, navigation, and motion control for a spacecraft during its landing on the surface of Phobos

Basic concepts and algorithms laid as foundations of the scheme of landing on the Martian moon Phobos (developed for the Phobos-Grunt project) are presented. The conditions ensuring the landing are discussed. Algorithms of onboard navigation and control are described. The equations of spacecraft motion with respect to Phobos are considered, as well as their use for correction of the spacecraft motion. The algorithm of estimation of the spacecraft’s state vector using measurements with a laser altimeter and Doppler meter of velocity and distance is presented. A system for modeling the landing with a firmware complex including a prototype of the onboard computer is described.     

Effect of parametric and nonlinear perturbations on statistical dynamics of the Earth’s pole

We study the influence of additive and parametric slowly varying harmonic (at the Chandler frequency and doubled frequency) and stochastic Gaussian broadband perturbations on mathematical expectations, variances, and covariations of oscillations of the Earth’s pole. The influence of perturbations on both regular and irregular stochastic oscillations is considered in detail. Results of numerical experiments are presented. The developed models and software are included into information resources on the fundamental problem “Statistical dynamics of the Earth’s rotation” of Russian Academy of Sciences.     

基于"序列相对贴近度"的组合预测权值分配

在时间序列的组合预测权值分配问题上,为克服传统的均方误差倒数加权、熵权和最优化方法之不足,从预测值序列与评价样本序列间的贴近性出发,提出新方法综合衡量单一参与模型的适用性,并据此分配权值.详细给出了序列相对贴近度(SRND,Sequence Relative Nearness Degree)及与之相关的"序列趋势关联度"和"尺度区间熵"的概念,并提出基于SRND的权值分配方法.将SRND权值分配方法应用于航空发动机排气温度裕度参数时间序列的联合自回归滑动平均模型、函数系数自回归模型和径向基函数网络预测,有效地提高了预测准确度,获得优于均方误差倒数加权和熵权方法的组合性能,且运算量远小于最优化方法.