Numerical study of transient interchamber processes when reaching the SPRE operational conditions

A comprehensive numerical study of transient interchamber processes occurring when reaching the SPRE operational conditions is carried out. A conjugate problem under consideration includes nonstationary operation of an igniter heating, ignition and subsequent nonstationary and turbulent burning of a solid-propellant charge; nonstationary three-phase homo-heterogeneous flow of combustion products in the combustion chamber, nozzle and downstream of the nozzle block of a rocket engine; motion of a nozzle block cover. The calculation results are presented.     

Review of numerical simulations for high-speed, turbulent cavity flows

High speed flows inside cavities are encountered in many aerospace applications including weapon bays of combat aircraft as well as landing gear. The flow field inside these cavities is associated with strong acoustic effects, unsteadiness and turbulence. With increasing emphasis on stealth operation of unmanned combat air vehicles and noise concerns near airports, cavity flows attracted the interest of many researchers in aerodynamics and aeroacoustics. Several attempts were made using wind tunnel experimentation and computational fluid dynamics analyses to understand the complex flow physics associated with cavity flows and alleviate their adverse effects via flow control. The problem proved to be complex, and current research revealed a very complex flow with several flow phenomena taking place. With the aid of experiments, CFD methods were validated and then used for simulations of several cavity configurations. The detached-eddy and large-eddy simulation methods proved invaluable for these studies and their application highlights the need for advanced turbulence simulation techniques in aerospace. The success of these methods and a summary of the current status of the experimental and computational progress over the past twenty years is summarised in this paper.     

Alice: The rosetta Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph

We describe the design, performance and scientific objectives of the NASA-funded ALICE instrument aboard the ESA Rosetta asteroid flyby/comet rendezvous mission. ALICE is a lightweight, low-power, and low-cost imaging spectrograph optimized for cometary far-ultraviolet (FUV) spectroscopy. It will be the first UV spectrograph to study a comet at close range. It is designed to obtain spatially-resolved spectra of Rosetta mission targets in the 700–2050 Å spectral band with a spectral resolution between 8 Å and 12 Å for extended sources that fill its ～0.05^ × 6.0^ field-of-view. ALICE employs an off-axis telescope feeding a 0.15-m normal incidence Rowland circle spectrograph with a toroidal concave holographic reflection grating. The microchannel plate detector utilizes dual solar-blind opaque photocathodes (KBr and CsI) and employs a two-dimensional delay-line readout array. The instrument is controlled by an internal microprocessor. During the prime Rosetta mission, ALICE will characterize comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko's coma, its nucleus, and nucleus/coma coupling; during cruise to the comet, ALICE will make observations of the mission's two asteroid flyby targets and of Mars, its moons, and of Earth's moon. ALICE has already successfully completed the in-flight commissioning phase and is operating well in flight. It has been characterized in flight with stellar flux calibrations, observations of the Moon during the first Earth fly-by, and observations of comet C/2002 T7 (LINEAR) in 2004 and comet 9P/Tempel 1 during the 2005 Deep Impact comet-collision observing campaign.     

Analysis of Fast Variations in Electron Fluxes in the Gap Region Using the Normalized Range Method Based on Measurement Data on the SiriusSat-1 Satellite

Cosmic Research - The use of the normalized range method for an analysis of the fast variability of electron fluxes in near-Earth space is proposed. This method makes it possible to conclude...     

Analysis of the effect of various disturbing factors on high-precision forecasts of spacecraft orbits

The necessity of taking many force components disturbing spacecraft (SC) orbits into account is demonstrated for the example of forecasts of GLONASS ephemerides. The disturbances of SCs in high-earth orbits (HEO) and low-earth orbits (LEO) are systematized, and the degree of their effect on SC motion is estimated. Disturbance models are developed that provide essential increases of the accuracy of one-day forecasts of GLONASS and GPS ephemerides. Modeling results are presented that allow, depending on the required accuracy of SC orbit forecasts, the determination of the necessary list of disturbances included in the model.     

Output Signal-to-Noise Ratios for Amplitude-Modulated Noise-Like Lasers

A general expression of the output SNR of a photodetector is derived for a noise-like laser amplitude-modulated by a stationary Gaussian random modulating signal in the presence of a background light. The electric field Vx(t) of the noise-like laser is assumed to be a stationary narrowband Gaussian random process with zero mean. Two types of modulating signal are considered, the baseband and bandpass modulating signals. More specifically, the effects of the center frequency of the modulating signal, the modulating degree, the bandwidth ration of the noise-like laser to the modulating signal, the effective average quantum rate, and input CNR on output SNR are studied. The detection characteristics of the noise-like laser are also made clear by comparison with the case of a coherent laser.     

Theory of LDV Tracking Systems

The application of frequency-tracking systems to the analysis of laser doppler velocimeter (LDV) signals degraded by background noise has been studied both theoretically and experimentally. Expressions are derived for both the correlation function and the expected value of the phase derivative in the general case of noise off center from the Doppler frequency, and these results are specialized to specific cases of practical interest. Laboratory measurements of output signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and dc error, for varying input SNR and noise center frequency offset, show good agreement with the theoretical predictions.     

On Finite-Lag Receivers for Fading Channels

This paper reports some results on the development of finite-lag receivers for reception via fading channels. The receivers are given in discrete form and clearly show the additional complexity due to introduction of delay between the instants of reception and estimation of the signal. The channel noise has been assumed to have a multiplicative component due to fading. This results in the optimal demodulators being nonlinear and unrealizable. However, the receivers proposed are suboptimal, but realizable. Simulation studies evaluating the performance of the various receivers are also discussed.     

The MOD:A Modular Urban Transportation System

The MOD is described as an urban transportation system which is based on a very small, two-passenger automotive rental vehicle using existing city roadways at the exclusion of the private passenger car. The proposed units of the MOD system have an empty weight of 300 pounds and have provisions for easy vertical parking. The MOD system is proposed as a self-supporting operation, run by private enterprise as a public utility. The urban transportation offered by the MOD system generates the set of institutional problems involved in proposals which exclude the private passenger car from the city.