Space, security in the forefront

The Washington Watch column reports on President Bush's recently announced human space flight program, which includes new policies for returning the shuttle to flight, finishing the International Space Station by 2010, and developing a new space vehicle to return to the Moon; challenges in the airline industry; and selection of a helicopter for use by the President.     

Failure Prediction in Electronic Systems

If impending failures in aerospace systems can be predicted deterministically during a test or checkout period, action can be taken to replace or repair the defective parts and a mission failure averted. This has the effect of increasing the mission reliability of the system. There are several methods of predicting specific failures especially adapted to electronic systems, but also applicable to electromechanical and fluid systems and components. These are classified and discussed in detail, with examples. References are cited for additional detail. By way of background, deterministic failure prediction is contrasted with statistical failure prediction. The nature and definition of failure and related concepts are also discussed, together with the physical principles upon which the several failure prediction methods are based. Used selectively and collectively, these failure prediction methods can form an optimal failure prevention strategy for use in a system test or checkout program.     

Limitations of Series-Fed Arrays in Broadband Communications

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the signal distortion which results when long, series-fed arrays are used for communication. It is shown that under certain conditions the antenna array can be considered a linear filter, the response of which is a function of frequency as well as spatial coordinates. The distortion accompanying the transmission as measured by the least mean-square difference between the transmitted and the received signals is derived. This expression is evaluated for the case of a uniformly excited array and a rectangular band-pass signal spectrum. In the absence of noise the transmitted signal can be completely recovered in the receiver by employing the proper linear filter. In the presence of noise the signal cannot, of course, be completely recovered. However, a technique for minimizing the distortion, in this case using a pre-filter and a post-filter, is investigated.     

未来自适应X波段敏感蒙皮阵列天线的7.9-9．7GHz单片雷达接收机前端

本文介绍一种供数字波束形成X波段敏感蒙皮相控阵天线用的7．9～9．7GHz单片雷达接收机前端。这种敏捷单片接收机前端能够使自适应跳频雷达系统微波接收机模块的体积和成本显著减小。测量结果表明基本满足性能要求。     

低压低功率SiGe BiCMOS X波段低噪声放大器与IEEE 802．11a LNA的设计比较研究

介绍了一种采用0．25um SiGe BiCMOS工艺集成的低压低功率X波段低噪声放大器（LNA），比较了此种放大器与IEEE 802．11a LNA的设计。X波段LNA和IEEE 802．11a LNA的工作频率分别为10GHz和5．8GHz。所设计的LNA都采用了相同的结构和电压，并耗费同量的电流。两种LNA都只需要1．5V的电压，消耗1．5mW的直流功率。两种电路的差异是它们有不同的输入与输出匹配和负载。本文介绍的LNA在10GHz时的电压增益为11．49dB，噪声系数（NF）为3．84dB，输入反射损失为-15.37dB，输出反射损失为-17dB，P1dB为-3．75dBm。在5．8GHz时的电压增益为16．07dB，噪声系数为3．07dB，输入反射损失为-18．1dB，输出反射损失为-15．23dB，P1dB为-6．54dBm。两电路的关键特征是：低压、低功率和良好的噪声匹配。频率为IOGHz和5．8GHz时，噪声系数与最小噪声系数之差分别只有0．03dB和0．05dB。验证了一种高频（X波段）低成本设计，与其他技术（如GaAs、SiBJT、JFET、PHMET和MESFET等）相比，它是在SiGe BiCMOS中设计的。     

They came in peace for all mankind: popular culture as a reflection of public attitudes to space

It has always been clear that one of the main driving forces behind the space race was Cold War propaganda. But just what impact did it have on ‘the minds of men everywhere’? This paper presents a survey of the impact of space exploration on popular culture in Britain in the 1950s and 1960s, concentrating chiefly on the cinema. Before the launch of Sputnik in 1957, although space was present in popular culture, it was generally aimed at a specialised audience. In the 1960s, interest in space became widespread and reached unexpected corners of popular culture such as pop music. This popular success had dangerous consequences, however: when public interest waned in the early 1970s, the immense cost of the Moon landings could no longer be justified on propaganda grounds and the project was massively reduced.     

Non-cultural methods of human microflora evaluation for the benefit of crew medical control in confined habitat

Current control of human microflora is a great problem not only for the space medicine but also for practical health care. Due to many reasons its realization by classical bacteriological method is difficult in practical application or cannot be done.To evaluate non-cultural methods of microbial control of crews in a confined habitat we evaluated two different methods.The first method is based on digital treatment of microbial visual images, appearing after gram staining of microbial material from natural sample. This way the rate between gram-positive and gram-negative microbe could be gained as well as differentiation of rods and cocci could be attained, which is necessary for primary evaluation of human microbial cenosis in remote confined habitats.The other non-culture method of human microflora evaluation is gas chromatomass spectrometry (gcms) analysis of swabs gathered from different body sites. Gc-ms testing of swabs allows one to validate quantitative and special microflora based on specific lipid markers analysis.     

修理的成本

利益最大化是MRO企业启动一个维修项目的目标,而修理成本是MRO企业决定是否投资的关键,它直接决定着维修项目的开展与否。     

InSight Mars Lander Robotics Instrument Deployment System

The InSight Mars Lander is equipped with an Instrument Deployment System (IDS) and science payload with accompanying auxiliary peripherals mounted on the Lander. The InSight science payload includes a seismometer (SEIS) and Wind and Thermal Shield (WTS), heat flow probe (Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package, HP³) and a precision tracking system (RISE) to measure the size and state of the core, mantle and crust of Mars. The InSight flight system is a close copy of the Mars Phoenix Lander and comprises a Lander, cruise stage, heatshield and backshell. The IDS comprises an Instrument Deployment Arm (IDA), scoop, five finger “claw” grapple, motor controller, arm-mounted Instrument Deployment Camera (IDC), lander-mounted Instrument Context Camera (ICC), and control software. IDS is responsible for the first precision robotic instrument placement and release of SEIS and HP³ on a planetary surface that will enable scientists to perform the first comprehensive surface-based geophysical investigation of Mars’ interior structure. This paper describes the design and operations of the Instrument Deployment Systems (IDS), a critical subsystem of the InSight Mars Lander necessary to achieve the primary scientific goals of the mission including robotic arm geology and physical properties (soil mechanics) investigations at the Landing site. In addition, we present test results of flight IDS Verification and Validation activities including thermal characterization and InSight 2017 Assembly, Test, and Launch Operations (ATLO), Deployment Scenario Test at Lockheed Martin, Denver, where all the flight payloads were successfully deployed with a balloon gravity offload fixture to compensate for Mars to Earth gravity.     

The first SETI observations with the Allen telescope array

The Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence (SETI) finally has its own full-time telescope. The Allen telescope array (ATA) in Northern California was dedicated on October 11, 2007. This array, which will eventually be composed of 350 small radio antennas, each 6.1 m in diameter, is being built as a partnership between the SETI Institute and the University of California Radio Astronomy Laboratory. Last October, Paul G. Allen (who provided the funds for the technology development and the first phase of array construction) pushed a silver button and all 42 antennas of the current ATA-42 slewed to point in the direction of the distant galaxy M81. Specialized electronic backend detectors attached to the ATA began making a radio map of that galaxy and simultaneously began SETI observations of HIP48573, a G5V star near M81 on the sky and a distance of 264 light years from Earth. The Allen telescope array will greatly improve the speed of conducting SETI searches over the next few decades, and it will allow a suite of different search strategies to be undertaken. This paper summarizes some of the earliest SETI observations from the array, and describes the search strategies currently being planned.