The evolutionary status of eta Car based on historical and modern optical and infrared photometry

We present a photometric study of the luminous early-type star Car. The star's secular brightness increase is due largely to the expansion of the Homunculus. Car is a LBV with a possible B0.5V companion. The combined effect of Balmer-line emission, and of warm and cold dust radiation explains the star's other light variations.     

Initial estimates of Venus winds from ground-based radio tracking of the VEGA balloons

A global array of 20 radio observatories was used to measure the three-dimensional position and velocity of the two meteorological balloons that were injected into the equatorial region of the Venus atmosphere by the VEGA spacecraft. Initial analysis of only radial velocities indicates that each balloon was blown westward about 11,500 kilometers (8000 kilometers on the night side) by zonal winds with a mean speed of about 70 meters per second. Excursions of the data from a model of constant zonal velocity are generally less than 3 meters per second; however, a much larger variation is evident near the end of the flight of the second balloon. Consistent systematic trends in the residuals for both balloons indicate the possibility of a solar-fixed atmospheric feature.     

火箭架线作业装置的设计与试验

介绍了火箭架线作业装置设计的总体方案、挂线部位选择、牵引绳放线方案、架线火箭的受力分析及弹道计算方法等内容。通过试验验证了设计方案和改进措施是可行的。     

INS/CNS/GNSS组合导航系统信息分析及其滤波器设计

分析了INS/CNS/GNSS组合导航系统信息结构的特殊性 ,指出在此情况下应用联邦滤波器进行状态估计的信息不对等。针对此类情形 ,设计了几种滤波器的结构 ,分析了所设计滤波器的信息构成及信息的分配与融合 ,并尝试提出伪联邦滤波器的概念。本文所讨论的情形及设计的滤波器结构可以推广到一般的同类情形 ,并应用到相似的多传感器信息融合系统中     

Further information on structure of the atmosphere of Venus derived from the VEGA Venus balloon and Lander mission

Continued analysis of the pressure and temperature data returned by the two Vega mission balloons has revealed an apparently significant difference in mean atmospheric static stability between the two data sets. Furthermore, the stability is time dependent within each data set, as reported earlier. The 6.5K temperature contrast between the two balloons remains, and appears to have a counterpart in the contrast between two of the Pioneer Venus probes at these levels, which has been attributed to planetary scale waves. Comparisons of the Vega 2 Lander data with those of the Pioneer Venus Large Probe shows relatively close agreement in the state properties and in the atmospheric static stability profiles as well.     

Estimating Target Lengths Shorter Than the Radar Pulse Width

This paper discusses the performance and sensitivity of a maximum-likelihood length estimation algorithm which was originally developed to estimate the separation between unresolved point scatterers. It shows that when the two-scatterer target model is valid, the algorithm reliably estimates lengths shorter than the Rayleigh limit provided that the strength of no third interior scatterer (or its equivalent created by a few very closely spaced scatterers) is greater than the geometric mean of the strengths of the fore and aft scatterers.     

Implications of the VEGA balloon results from Venus atmospheric dynamics

The VEGA Venus Balloon Mission returned data on the themodynamic state of the atmosphere together with wind and cloud information. In this invited paper we review possible explanations for three aspects of the data: 1) the large amplitude atmospheric vertical winds encountered by the VEGA balloons; 2) the observed 6.5 K temperature difference consistently measured between the two VEGA balloons; and 3) the apparent influence of surface topography on atmospheric motions seen by the VEGA-2 balloon as it flew over the mountainous terrain known as Aphrodite.     

The HEAO-3 French-Danish cosmic ray spectrometer: Preliminary results on the elemental abundances of cosmic ray nuclei in the iron peak

The French-Danish cosmic ray spectrometer was launched on HEAO-3 on September 20, 1979. This instrument was optimized to measure the charge composition and isotopic abundances of galactic cosmic rays with energies of about 0.5 to 7 GeV/nucleon, using the multi-Cerenkov detector technique and a flash tube hodoscope.The geomagnetic method used for isotope analysis required the accurate measurement of the momentum of each observed particle. The technique used and the problems involved are illustrated using observed data.The high charge resolution of the instrument permits complete separation of all chemical elements between Be and Ni, even at energies larger than 5 GeV/nucleon. Preliminary results are presented for relative abundances of individual elements 21 Z 28.     

Survival and germinability of Bacillus subtilis spores exposed to simulated Mars solar radiation: implications for life detection and planetary protection

Bacterial spores have been considered as microbial life that could survive interplanetary transport by natural impact processes or human spaceflight activity. Deposition of terrestrial microbes or their biosignature molecules onto the surface of Mars could negatively impact life detection experiments and planetary protection measures. Simulated Mars solar radiation, particularly the ultraviolet component, has been shown to reduce spore viability, but its effect on spore germination and resulting production of biosignature molecules has not been explored. We examined the survival and germinability of Bacillus subtilis spores exposed to simulated martian conditions that include solar radiation. Spores of B. subtilis that contain luciferase resulting from expression of an sspB-luxAB gene fusion were deposited on aluminum coupons to simulate deposition on spacecraft surfaces and exposed to simulated Mars atmosphere and solar radiation. The equivalent of 42 min of simulated Mars solar radiation exposure reduced spore viability by nearly 3 logs, while germination-induced bioluminescence, a measure of germination metabolism, was reduced by less than 1 log. The data indicate that spores can retain the potential to initiate germination-associated metabolic processes and produce biological signature molecules after being rendered nonviable by exposure to Mars solar radiation.