The possible origin and persistence of life on Enceladus and detection of biomarkers in the plume

The jets of icy particles and water vapor issuing from the south pole of Enceladus are evidence for activity driven by some geophysical energy source. The vapor has also been shown to contain simple organic compounds, and the south polar terrain is bathed in excess heat coming from below. The source of the ice and vapor, and the mechanisms that accelerate the material into space, remain obscure. However, it is possible that a liquid water environment exists beneath the south polar cap, which may be conducive to life. Several theories for the origin of life on Earth would apply to Enceladus. These are (1) origin in an organic-rich mixture, (2) origin in the redox gradient of a submarine vent, and (3) panspermia. There are three microbial ecosystems on Earth that do not rely on sunlight, oxygen, or organics produced at the surface and, thus, provide analogues for possible ecologies on Enceladus. Two of these ecosystems are found deep in volcanic rock, and the primary productivity is based on the consumption by methanogens of hydrogen produced by rock reactions with water. The third ecosystem is found deep below the surface in South Africa and is based on sulfur-reducing bacteria consuming hydrogen and sulfate, both of which are ultimately produced by radioactive decay. Methane has been detected in the plume of Enceladus and may be biological in origin. An indicator of biological origin may be the ratio of non-methane hydrocarbons to methane, which is very low (0.001) for biological sources but is higher (0.1-0.01) for nonbiological sources. Thus, Cassini's instruments may detect plausible evidence for life by analysis of hydrocarbons in the plume during close encounters.     

Serpentinization and its implications for life on the early Earth and Mars

Ophiolites, sections of ocean crust tectonically displaced onto land, offer significant potential to support chemolithoautotrophic life through the provision of energy and reducing power during aqueous alteration of their highly reduced mineralogies. There is substantial chemical disequilibrium between the primary olivine and pyroxene mineralogy of these ophiolites and the fluids circulating through them. This disequilibrium represents a potential source of chemical energy that could sustain life. Moreover, E (h)-pH conditions resulting from rock- water interactions in ultrabasic rocks are conducive to important abiotic processes antecedent to the origin of life. Serpentinization--the reaction of olivine- and pyroxene-rich rocks with water--produces magnetite, hydroxide, and serpentine minerals, and liberates molecular hydrogen, a source of energy and electrons that can be readily utilized by a broad array of chemosynthetic organisms. These systems are viewed as important analogs for potential early ecosystems on both Earth and Mars, where highly reducing mineralogy was likely widespread in an undifferentiated crust. Secondary phases precipitated during serpentinization have the capability to preserve organic or mineral biosignatures. We describe the petrology and mineral chemistry of an ophiolite-hosted cold spring in northern California and propose criteria to aid in the identification of serpentinizing terranes on Mars that have the potential to harbor chemosynthetic life.     

Detectability of planetary characteristics in disk-averaged spectra II: synthetic spectra and light-curves of earth

Spatially and spectrally resolved models were used to explore the observational sensitivity to changes in atmospheric and surface properties and the detectability of surface biosignatures in the globally averaged spectra and light-curves of the Earth. Compared with previous efforts to characterize the Earth using disk-averaged models, a more comprehensive and realistic treatment of the surface and atmosphere was taken into account here. Our results are presented as a function of viewing geometry and phases at both visible/near-infrared (0.5-1.7 microm) and mid-infrared (5-25 microm) wavelength ranges, applicable to the proposed NASA-Terrestrial Planet Finder visible coronagraph and mid-infrared interferometer and to the ESADarwin mission architectures. Clouds can change the thermal emission by as much as 50% compared with the cloud-free case and increase the visible albedo by up to 500% for completely overcast cases at the dichotomy phase. Depending on the observed phase and their distribution and type, clouds can also significantly alter the spectral shape. Moreover, clouds impact the detectability of surface biosignatures in the visible wavelength range. Modeling the disk-averaged sensitivity to the "red-edge," a distinctive spectral signature of vegetation, showed that Earth's land vegetation could be seen in disk-averaged spectra, even with cloud cover, when the signal was averaged over the daily time scale. We found that vegetation is more readily discriminated from clouds at dichotomy (50% illumination) rather than at full phase. The detectability of phytoplankton was also explored, but was found to be more difficult to detect in the disk-average than land vegetation.     

光学镜面离子束抛光中的离子源稳定性研究

用线扫描方法研究某种型号的3cm卡夫曼离子源的稳定性,先介绍了线扫描法估计去除函数的方法以及其数学模型,用线扫描法扫描两块微晶镜面,估计出在不同时间的去除函数,分析去除函数的波动情况来考察离子源稳定性。结果表明该种型号的3cm卡夫曼离子源具有很好的稳定性,满足光学镜面加工要求。     

雷达的进展及基本原理的推广应用

这篇论文是基于2006年10月在中国上海召开的国际雷达会议“雷达-06”上作者的报告完成的。此会议由中国电子协会（CIE）主办，是“五国，五年”系列国际雷达会议（包括中国、英国、澳大利亚、法国和美国）中最近的一次会议。     

采用GMTI雷达跟踪难以确定的动-停-动目标的VS-IMM评估器

提出了可变结构相互作用的多模型(V-IMM)评估器的设计，它采用从机载传感器中获得的地面动目标指示(GMTI)的报告来跟踪难以确定的地面目标。为了避开GMTI传感器的探测，目标采用“动-停-动”模式，即目标在加速之前的某个时候以非常低的速度运动或停止。在这种情况下，当目标的径向速度(沿传感器的视线方向)降至低于某个最小的可探测速度时，传感器就无法探测到目标。在这种条件下，如果使用的传感器不能识别“动-停-动”运动模式，将破坏目标的运动轨迹。本文所提出的VS-IMM评估器就是处理难以确定“动-停-动”目标的运动，在这里，当目标的速度降至某个门限以下，跟踪模型就包括了“停止-目标”模式。采用停止目标模型后，即使在目标检测不连续时仍能保持跟踪的稳定。文中采用仿真的方法来说明设计参数的选择和跟踪器的具体设计。最后，对使用停止目标模式的VS-IMM评估器和传统的：IMM评估器进行性能比较。     

美伊战后回顾4——没有发生的担心：城镇地区作战

在这次由英美联军独自发起的“自由伊拉克”（Operation lraqi Freedom）作战中，城镇地区作战所占比重极大。就传统军事教范观点来看，城镇地区作战向来被视为一项吃力不讨好的繁重任务，因为即便是攻击方拥有绝对战略主动优势，只要守方能够稳住阵脚，利用城镇地区现成的家屋和建筑物善加战场经营，就有机会在攻击者受限于城镇地区地形无法展开和情报受限的情况下造成对手惨重伤亡。从二战时葬送整个德国第六军团的斯大林格勒到让俄罗斯装甲纵队灰头土脸的车臣首府格罗兹尼，血淋淋的教训都明确验证了城镇地区作战的困难。     

遥测数据压缩的几种方法及其实现

详细地对多项式预测法和内插法进行了理论分析,给出了用计算机实现的算法流程图,并在MCS—51单片机上进行了实验,得出了一些有益的结论。