Closed cycle coolers for space applications

Single stage Stirling coolers providing refrigeration at around 80 K have been developed for space use and are now being produced commercially. Development work is now concentrating on multistage coolers for temperatures below 30 K. This paper describes results from a two stage cooler built at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory and preliminary tests on a closed cycle 4 K cooler.     

Megahertz power converters for specific power systems

Some of the problems in the development of pulsewidth power converters when the switching frequency is increased from hundreds of kilohertz to tens of megahertz are highlighted. The major goal is the establishment of a ten megahertz power chain designed to operate in a distributed system from a DC power bus of 24 to 48 V. Available components and materials are discussed, and possible topologies-flyback, forward, push-pull forward, and buck converters-are examined. The performance criteria chosen for this analysis are, in the order of preference, output requirements, size and weight, efficiency, and cost     

Prebiotic oligodeoxynucleotide synthesis in a cyclic evaporating system at low temperatures.

Deoxynucleoside 5'-monophosphates were condensed by cyanamide or by l-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide in the presence of ammonium chloride at 0 degree, 37 degrees or 60 degrees C through several cycles of evaporation to dryness with replenishment of all reactants at each cycle. We found that at 37 degrees or 60 degrees cyanamide gives distinctly more high molecular weight material than does carbodiimide. Indeed, the yield of condensed products for the cyanamide reaction (dimers and higher oligomers) was found to be between 60 percent and 80 percent. The molecular weight distribution of the product shifts to higher molecular weights as cycling continues at 37 degrees or 60 degrees for both condensing agents. The water soluble carbodiimide gives higher yields of low molecular weight product but much lower yields of the higher molecular weight products. At 0 degree yields of high molecular weight product were low for both condensing agents. Results of characterization of the products demonstrate the synthesis of oligodeoxynucleotides including tetramers, with 3'-5' phosphodiester linkages.     

Multiple moving target detection and trajectory estimation using a single SAR sensor

A novel methodology is presented for determining the velocity and location of multiple moving targets using a single strip-map synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensor. The so-called azimuth position uncertainty problem is therefore solved. The method exploits the structure of the amplitude and phase modulations of the returned echo from a moving target in the Fourier domain. A crucial step in the whole processing scheme is a matched filtering, depending on the moving target parameters, that simultaneously accounts for range migration and compresses two-dimensional signatures into one-dimensional ones without losing moving target information. A generalized likelihood ratio test approach is adopted to detect moving targets and derive their trajectory parameters. The effectiveness of the method is illustrated with synthetic and real data covering a wide range of targets velocities and signal-to-clutter ratios (SCRs). Even in the case of parallel to platform moving target motion, the most unfavorable scenario, the proposed method yields good results for, roughly, SCR > 10 dB.     

PMHT: problems and some solutions

The probabilistic multihypothesis tracker (PMHT) is a target tracking algorithm of considerable theoretical elegance. In practice, its performance turns out to be at best similar to that of the probabilistic data association filter (PDAF); and since the implementation of the PDAF is less intense numerically the PMHT has been having a hard time finding acceptance. The PMHT's problems of nonadaptivity, narcissism, and over-hospitality to clutter are elicited in this work. The PMHT's main selling-point is its flexible and easily modifiable model, which we use to develop the "homothetic" PMHT; maneuver-based PMHTs, including those with separate and joint homothetic measurement models; a modified PMHT whose measurement/target association model is more similar to that of the PDAF; and PMHTs with eccentric and/or estimated measurement models. Ideally, "bottom line" would be a version of the PMHT with clear advantages over existing trackers. If the goal is of an accurate (in terms of mean square error (MSE)) track, then there are a number of versions for which this is available.     

Drop motion in a rotating immiscible liquid body

The interaction of liquids is an important part of many processes and is often used for such purposes as causing a separation of solution components by mass transfer between phases, allowing a chemical reaction between liquids or their components, providing direct contact heating or cooling, or creating emulsions. Containerless space processing may well involve the interaction of liquids in the form of drops. For example it may be desirable to form an alloy in space by merger of two or more drops. Encapsulation of a volatile liquid by a second less volatile and immiscible liquid might be a means for avoiding volatilization. Rotation of such systems would enhance mixing where desirable and/or provide means for drop management. In this study, single drop behavior in rotating liquid bodies is studied experimentally.     

Convective motions in liquid metals for material processings. Numerical simulation of oscillation regimes and effect of rotation

The paper is concerned with the numerical simulation and the analysis of some kinds of flow regimes which can develop in Bridgman and Czochralski systems for material processings. The flows in the liquid phase are investigated considering two-dimensional and axisymmetric models. The time-dependent regimes were studied for a zero-Prandtl-number fluid layer confined inside a two-dimensional cavity of aspect ratio (length-to-height) A=4, involving a stress-free upper surface and submitted to a horizontal temperature gradient. The range of Grashof number was varied up to the conditions at which the flow goes from oscillatory to chaotic type behaviours. The combined influence of the temperature gradients and of the rotations of the crucible and of the seed/crystal was investigated for a Czochralski model. The axisymmetric regimes were studied for a Pr_m=0.015 liquid melt confined inside a cylindrical crucible of aspect ratio (height-to-radius) A_m=2, and coupled to a viscous encapsulant liquid layer (10<Pr_e<1200) of aspect ratio A_e=0.5. A number of steady and (transient) time-dependent flow patterns are identified.     

Evaluation of light emitting diode characteristics for a space-based plant irradiation source.

Light emitting diodes (LEDs) are a promising irradiation source for plant growth in space. Improved semiconductor technology has yielded LED devices fabricated with gallium aluminum arsenide (GaAlAs) chips which have a high efficiency for converting electrical energy to photosynthetically active radiation. Specific GaAlAs LEDs are available that emit radiation with a peak wavelength near the spectral peak of maximum quantum action for photosynthesis. The electrical conversion efficiency of installed systems (micromole s-1 of photosynthetic photons per watt) of high output LEDs can be within 10% of that for high pressure sodium lamps. Output of individual LEDs were found to vary by as much as 55% from the average of the lot. LED ratings, in mcd (luminous intensity per solid angle), were found to be proportional to total photon output only for devices with the same dispersion angle and spectral peak. Increasing current through the LED increased output but also increased temperature with a consequent decrease in electrical conversion efficiency. A photosynthetic photon flux as high as 900 micromoles m-2 s-1 has been produced on surfaces using arrays with LEDs mounted 7.6 mm apart, operating as a current of 50 mA device-1 and at an installed density of approximately 17,200 lamps m-2 of irradiated area. Advantages of LEDs over other electric light sources for use in space systems include long life, minimal mass and volume and being a solid state device.     

An advanced flight control and navigation system implementation fortactical helicopters

US Army helicopters that will allow single-crewmember operability in tactical environments require a high degree of automation. A tightly integrated flight control and navigation system has been studied. An architecture is discussed which meets anticipated flight control and navigation requirements, at an acceptable weight, using techniques of functional and physical integration. The architecture maximizes the sharing of sensor and computational resources in a flight critical environment and uses modular equipment packaging, dual fault-tolerant tetrad ring-laser-gyro inertial measurement units, and triplex self-checking processor pair-based flight critical processing channels