嵌金属丝推进剂的燃烧过程

为了解嵌金属丝推进剂的燃速沿金属丝的变化,并求出控制这类推进剂燃速的因素,对嵌银丝双基推进剂作了研究。沿金属丝的燃速主要取决于金属丝种类、尺寸和推进剂组分。用具有各种燃烧特性的双基推进剂,测量了沿银丝的燃速,并研究了光焰区、暗区和沸腾区的影响。利用微型热电偶测量了推进剂中靠近银丝部分的温度分布。根据试验结果,明确了沿银丝的燃速控制因素是沸腾区的温度梯度和暗区的温度。位于燃面上方的光焰区既不影响推进剂的燃速,也不影响沿银丝的燃速。     

粉浆浇注熔硅天线罩结构淋雨滑车试验

对粉浆浇注熔硅天线罩结构在3.7～5.0M时淋雨滑车试验结果作了最后评估.其结果为:在霍洛曼空军基地利用滑车轨道设备进行的试验证明,对相同的法向速度分量来说,粉浆浇注熔硅材料的最大冲蚀率变化系数为3;高纯度粉浆浇注熔硅的雨水冲蚀极限速度约为500m/s;法向速度分量超限时,天线罩出现重大损伤;硅树脂防潮密封胶DC808和DE SR80可能不会严重影响雨水冲蚀性能;建议在自然雨区中飞行的导弹,其碰撞角应受控制,以使天线罩上的自由流的法向速度小于500m/s.     

Training astronauts using three-dimensional visualisations of the International Space Station

Recent advances in personal computer technology have led to the development of relatively low-cost software to generate high-resolution three-dimensional images. The capability both to rotate and zoom in on these images superposed on appropriate background images enables high-quality movies to be created. These developments have been used to produce realistic simulations of the International Space Station on CD-ROM. This product is described and its potentialities demonstrated. With successive launches, the ISS is gradually built up, and visualised over a rotating Earth against the star background. It is anticipated that this product's capability will be useful when training astronauts to carry out EVAs around the ISS. Simulations inside the ISS are also very realistic. These should prove invaluable when familiarising the ISS crew with their future workplace and home. Operating procedures can be taught and perfected. "What if" scenario models can be explored and this facility should be useful when training the crew to deal with emergency situations which might arise. This CD-ROM product will also be used to make the general public more aware of, and hence enthusiastic about, the International Space Station programme.     

宇航用元器件锡晶须生长研究

通过分析锡晶须的研究历史,将锡晶须的研究归结为三个阶段:早期对锡晶须现象的研究、锡晶须生长机理的研究和减缓锡晶须生长方法的研究。比较了锡晶须长度及密度的测量方法。总结了目前抑制锡晶须生长的方法:在不同基底材料上采用不同厚度镀锡层;使用Ni、In等阻挡层;对镀层表面进行热处理和回流处理;避免使用纯锡镀层,镀层合金化;在镀层表面覆盖保形涂层。     

A facility for long-term Mars simulation experiments: the Mars Environmental Simulation Chamber (MESCH)

We describe the design, construction, and pilot operation of a Mars simulation facility comprised of a cryogenic environmental chamber, an atmospheric gas analyzer, and a xenon/mercury discharge source for UV generation. The Mars Environmental Simulation Chamber (MESCH) consists of a double-walled cylindrical chamber. The double wall provides a cooling mantle through which liquid N(2) can be circulated. A load-lock system that consists of a small pressure-exchange chamber, which can be evacuated, allows for the exchange of samples without changing the chamber environment. Fitted within the MESCH is a carousel, which holds up to 10 steel sample tubes. Rotation of the carousel is controlled by an external motor. Each sample in the carousel can be placed at any desired position. Environmental data, such as temperature, pressure, and UV exposure time, are computer logged and used in automated feedback mechanisms, enabling a wide variety of experiments that include time series. Tests of the simulation facility have successfully demonstrated its ability to produce temperature cycles and maintain low temperature (down to -140 degrees C), low atmospheric pressure (5-10 mbar), and a gas composition like that of Mars during long-term experiments.     

Establishment of a rearing system of the extremotolerant tardigrade Ramazzottius varieornatus: a new model animal for astrobiology

Studies on the ability of multicellular organisms to tolerate specific environmental extremes are relatively rare compared to those of unicellular microorganisms in extreme environments. Tardigrades are extremotolerant animals that can enter an ametabolic dry state called anhydrobiosis and have high tolerance to a variety of extreme environmental conditions, particularly while in anhydrobiosis. Although tardigrades have been expected to be a potential model animal for astrobiological studies due to their excellent anhydrobiotic and extremotolerant abilities, few studies of tolerance with cultured tardigrades have been reported, possibly due to the absence of a model species that can be easily maintained under rearing conditions. We report the successful rearing of the herbivorous tardigrade, Ramazzottius varieornatus, by supplying the green alga Chlorella vulgaris as food. The life span was 35 +/- 16.4 d, deposited eggs required 5.7 +/- 1.1 d to hatch, and animals began to deposit eggs 9 d after hatching. The reared individuals of this species had an anhydrobiotic capacity throughout their life cycle in egg, juvenile, and adult stages. Furthermore, the reared adults in an anhydrobiotic state were tolerant of temperatures of 90 degrees C and -196 degrees C, and exposure to 99.8% acetonitrile or irradiation with 4000 Gy (4)He ions. Based on their life history traits and tolerance to extreme stresses, R. varieornatus may be a suitable model for astrobiological studies of multicellular organisms.     

Conversations with Norman Augustine. Interview by Linda Voss

Topics discussed in the interview include trends and economic issues in the aerospace industry, the role of the aerospace industry in national security, and mergers and new ventures in the aerospace industry.     

Beyond the principle of plentitude: a review of terrestrial planet habitability

We review recent work that directly or indirectly addresses the habitability of terrestrial (rocky) planets like the Earth. Habitability has been traditionally defined in terms of an orbital semimajor axis within a range known as the habitable zone, but it is also well known that the habitability of Earth is due to many other astrophysical, geological, and geochemical factors. We focus this review on (1) recent refinements to habitable zone calculations; (2) the formation and orbital stability of terrestrial planets; (3) the tempo and mode of geologic activity (e.g., plate tectonics) on terrestrial planets; (4) the delivery of water to terrestrial planets in the habitable zone; and (5) the acquisition and loss of terrestrial planet carbon and nitrogen, elements that constitute important atmospheric gases responsible for habitable conditions on Earth's surface as well as being the building blocks of the biosphere itself. Finally, we consider recent work on evidence for the earliest habitable environments and the appearance of life itself on our planet. Such evidence provides us with an important, if nominal, calibration point for our search for other habitable worlds.