Evaluation of a Geiger-mode imaging flash lidar in the approach phase for autonomous safe landing on the Moon

The imaging flash lidar has been considered as a promising sensor for the future space missions such as autonomous safe landing, spacecraft rendezvous and docking due to its ability to provide a full 3D scene with a single or multiple laser pulses. The linear-mode flash lidar has been developed and demonstrated for an autonomous safe landing on the Moon in order to provide an accurate distance measurement to the landing site and its 3D image. Yet, the Geiger-mode flash lidar has also been recognized as an emerging technology for the space missions because it is highly sensitive even to a single photon and provides the very accurate timing of photon arrival. In this study, the performance of the Geiger-mode flash lidar is simulated in the approach phase and evaluated for the autonomous landing on the Moon. Furthermore, a new statistical signal processing algorithm is proposed to remove the noise counts in order to obtain the 3D image from a sequence of laser pulses in the situation of the fast moving spacecraft. The algorithm is shown to be effective for the autonomous landing due to its ability to remove noise events under the condition of low signal-to-noise ratio and improve ranging accuracy.     

The Formation Of The First Stars In The Universe

In this review, I survey our current understanding of how the very first stars in the universe formed, with a focus on three main areas of interest: the formation of the first protogalaxies and the cooling of gas within them, the nature and extent of fragmentation within the cool gas, and the physics – in particular the interplay between protostellar accretion and protostellar feedback – that serves to determine the final stellar mass. In each of these areas, I have attempted to show how our thinking has developed over recent years, aided in large part by the increasing ease with which we can now perform detailed numerical simulations of primordial star formation. I have also tried to indicate the areas where our understanding remains incomplete, and to identify some of the most important unsolved problems.     

Representing space in a PDP network: Coarse allocentric coding can mediate metric and nonmetric spatial judgements

In one simulation, an artificial neural networkwas trained to rate the distances between pairsof cities on the map of Alberta, given onlyplace names as input. Distance ratings rangedfrom 0 (when the network rated the distancebetween a city and itself) to 10. The questionof interest was the nature of therepresentations developed by the network's sixhidden units after it successfully learned tomake the desired responses. Analyses indicatedthat the network used coarse allocentric codingto solve this problem. Each hidden unit couldbe described as occupying a position on the mapof Alberta, and each connection weight feedinginto a hidden unit was related to the distanceon the map between the hidden unit and one ofthe stimulus cities. On its own, a singlehidden unit's response was a relativelyinaccurate distance measure. However, bycombining all six hidden unit responses in acoarse coding scheme, accurate responses weregenerated by the network. In a secondsimulation, a second network was trained tomake similar judgements, but was trained toviolate the minimality constraint on metricspace when trained to judge the distancebetween a city and itself. An analysis of thisnetwork indicated that it too was using coarseallocentric coding.     

On the Detectability and Use of Normal Modes for Determining Interior Structure of Mars

The InSight mission to Mars is well underway and will be the first mission to acquire seismic data from a planet other than Earth. In order to maximise the science return of the InSight data, a multifaceted approach will be needed that seeks to investigate the seismic data from a series of different frequency windows, including body waves, surface waves, and normal modes. Here, we present a methodology based on globally-averaged models that employs the long-period information encoded in the seismic data by looking for fundamental-mode spheroidal oscillations. From a preliminary analysis of the expected signal-to-noise ratio, we find that normal modes should be detectable during nighttime in the frequency range 5–15 mHz. For improved picking of (fundamental) normal modes, we show first that those are equally spaced between 5–15 mHz and then show how this spectral spacing, obtained through autocorrelation of the Fourier-transformed time series can be further employed to select normal mode peaks more consistently. Based on this set of normal-mode spectral frequencies, we proceed to show how this data set can be inverted for globally-averaged models of interior structure (to a depth of \(\sim 250~\mbox{km}\)), while simultaneously using the resultant synthetically-approximated normal mode peaks to verify the initial peak selection. This procedure can be applied iteratively to produce a “cleaned-up” set of spectral peaks that are ultimately inverted for a “final” interior-structure model. To investigate the effect of three-dimensional (3D) structure on normal mode spectra, we constructed a 3D model of Mars that includes variations in surface and Moho topography and lateral variations in mantle structure and employed this model to compute full 3D waveforms. The resultant time series are converted to spectra and the inter-station variation hereof is compared to the variation in spectra computed using different 1D models. The comparison shows that 3D effects are less significant than the variation incurred by the difference in radial models, which suggests that our 1D approach represents an adequate approximation of the global average structure of Mars.     

Recurrent mass ejections observed in Hα and CIV

Time sequences of recurrent mass ejections have been observed during a coordinated SMY program (1 Sept. 1980 – 23 Sept. 1980 – 2 Oct. 1980).Comparison of the temporal evolution of H_α and CIV brightnesses shows a weak phase lag between H α and CIV maxima, in the case of homologous flares, with CIV brightness maxima preceding H α maxima. The analysis of the variation of the ejection velocities is expected to lead to the determination of an energy balance.Such recurrent ejections could be due to periodic energy storage and periodic reorganisation of magnetic field as envisaged to occur for flares, but at lower energy levels.     

Cellular Radio Network Planning

The fundamental ideas behind a cellular network design program are described. By the aid of a generalization of the notion of a radio cell it becomes possible to integrate hitherto isolated areas of investigation. The elementary design steps making up the program are outlined together with their inter-connections. The program may be used to design new networs, analyze or extend existing ones, and study system varians and design strategies in a general nonhomogeneous setting.     

Geochemical Constraints on the Origin of the Moon and Preservation of Ancient Terrestrial Heterogeneities

Space Science Reviews - Chang’E 4 is the first mission to the far side of the Moon and consists of a lander, a rover, and a relay spacecraft. Lander and rover were launched at 18:23...     

Analysis of the brightness temperature features of the lunar surface using 37 GHz channel data from the Chang'E-2 microwave radiometer

Compared with other remote observations, brightness temperatures (T_B) derived from microwave emission measurements provide a unique means to characterize the physical properties of the lunar surface. Using Chang’E-2 microwave radiometer data, we produced 12 global T_B images of the lunar surface during a diurnal cycle with different local times separated by approximately 2?h. There are two types of remarkable T_B units on the lunar surface, the “hot regions” occurring during the lunar day in the lunar Maria regions and the “microwave cold spots” occurring during the nighttime typically related to young craters. Compared with their surroundings, the hot regions are much warmer during the lunar day and slightly colder at night, while the microwave cold spots are much colder during the lunar night and slightly warmer in the daytime. Moreover, the T_B heating and cooling rates of these two units are larger than others at the same average latitude where they are located during the lunar day, especially after sunrise and before sunset. The hot regions have a good agreement with the mare regions with high TiO₂ abundance. Besides, brightness temperatures in the lunar Maria correlate closely with their TiO₂ abundance. For most microwave cold spots, they agree with the young craters, and their brightness temperature distributions have a significant negative correlation with the lunar surface nighttime temperature and rock abundance.     

海杂波的建模及其在雷达性能规范制定与测量中的应用

1引言 先进的雷达系统是许多防御采购中的一个主要部分。由于多模式、广泛的数据和信号处理，这些雷达系统似乎日趋复杂。尤其是，从电控天线阵自适应波束形成到杂波中小目标的自动检测方案，似乎都将用到自适应处理模式。     

The James Webb Space Telescope

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a large (6.6 m), cold (<50 K), infrared (IR)-optimized space observatory that will be launched early in the next decade into orbit around the second Earth–Sun Lagrange point. The observatory will have four instruments: a near-IR camera, a near-IR multiobject spectrograph, and a tunable filter imager will cover the wavelength range, 0.6 < ; < 5.0 μ m, while the mid-IR instrument will do both imaging and spectroscopy from 5.0 < ; < 29 μ m.The JWST science goals are divided into four themes. The key objective of The End of the Dark Ages: First Light and Reionization theme is to identify the first luminous sources to form and to determine the ionization history of the early universe. The key objective of The Assembly of Galaxies theme is to determine how galaxies and the dark matter, gas, stars, metals, morphological structures, and active nuclei within them evolved from the epoch of reionization to the present day. The key objective of The Birth of Stars and Protoplanetary Systems theme is to unravel the birth and early evolution of stars, from infall on to dust-enshrouded protostars to the genesis of planetary systems. The key objective of the Planetary Systems and the Origins of Life theme is to determine the physical and chemical properties of planetary systems including our own, and investigate the potential for the origins of life in those systems. Within these themes and objectives, we have derived representative astronomical observations.To enable these observations, JWST consists of a telescope, an instrument package, a spacecraft, and a sunshield. The telescope consists of 18 beryllium segments, some of which are deployed. The segments will be brought into optical alignment on-orbit through a process of periodic wavefront sensing and control. The instrument package contains the four science instruments and a fine guidance sensor. The spacecraft provides pointing, orbit maintenance, and communications. The sunshield provides passive thermal control. The JWST operations plan is based on that used for previous space observatories, and the majority of JWST observing time will be allocated to the international astronomical community through annual peer-reviewed proposal opportunities.