The strong stability of most natural motions

Problems of Hamiltonian Mechanics can generally be simplified by some Von Zeipel transformations which reduce the influence of short period parameters and lead to very slowly variable functions: the “quasi-integrals”; however these transformations are implicit and then difficult to use.An explicit construction of the quasi-integrals is presented here and is used to integrate the motion of an artificial satellite perturbed by the zonal harmonics of the Earth gravitational potential; the quasi-integrals are also used to obtain informations on the stability of natural satellites, i.e. lower bounds on the duration of escape or capture.     

Hermes vehicle

The presence of Europe in the future developments of spatial programs, which are foreseen, for the 1990s and further, needs the availability of vehicles, modules and all related technologies adapted to operational use of low earth orbit station.The manned HERMES vehicle shall be part of the in-orbit infrastructure realized either in the European context or in cooperation between Europe and the United States.The main mission for this vehicle will be to run a shuttle with the station that means transport and change of the crews, its safe return in abort condition and cargo transport of consumable and experimental equipment.Secondary missions could be servicing on automatic platform, making autonomous scientific experiments. Lastly, the vehicle, by means of its on-board propulsion capability, could be used to accomplish in-orbit tow and assembly missions.Studies which are undertaken now about the vehicle are devoted to the aerodynamic shape (research of a compromise between aerothermic and overall fitting), the system (functional architecture, ground and flight configuration); further works dealing with technology are presently on hand in the field of thermal protection, aerodynamics, power generation with a high massic yield.     

Optimum Realizable Continuous Range Estimation

The ability to detect the presence or absence of a target is no longer the fundamental design criterion when the vehicle to be tracked is cooperative. In spacecraft tracking or navigation systems, for example, emphasis is placed on post-acquisition performance. Therefore, classical radar theory and design techniques are not specifically applicable. On the other hand, there are optimization techniques for extracting the tracking data from noise that are more to the point. In particular, optimum demodulation theory is directed specifically to the problem of continuously extracting data from a nonlinear modulation process. In this paper, the tracking properties of a multitone PM ranging signal are reviewed and are shown to be nearly optimum for cooperative vehicles. An optimum, but nonrealizable, maximum a posteriori (MAP) continuous estimator of range is derived for this signal. The linearized model of this receiver is the optimum nonrealizable Wiener filter for the data. Interpretation of this optimum nonrealizable estimator leads to a receiver design that is both practical and intuitively satisfying. With the aid of post-detection processing in the Wiener-Hopf sense, almost optimum performance is obtained from the resulting receiver, above threshold.     

Compact frequency standard using atoms trapped on a chip

We present a compact atomic frequency standard based on the interrogation of magnetically trapped ⁸⁷Rb atoms. Two photons, in the microwave and radiofrequency domain excite the atomic transition. At a magnetic field of 3.23 G this transition from ∣F = 1, m_F = −1〉 to ∣F = 2, m_F = 1〉 is 1st order insensitive to magnetic field variations. Long Ramsey interrogation times can thus be achieved, leading to a projected stability in the low 10⁻¹³ at 1 s. This makes this device a viable alternative to LITE and HORACE as a good candidate for replacing or complementing the rubidium frequency standards and passive hydrogen masers already on board of the GPS, GLONASS, and GALILEO satellites. Here we present preliminary results. We use an atom chip to cool and trap the atoms. A coplanar waveguide is integrated to the chip to carry the Ramsey interrogation signal, making the physics package potentially as small as (5 cm)³. We describe the experimental apparatus and show preliminary Ramsey fringes of 1.25 Hz linewidth. We also show a preliminary frequency stability σ_y = 1.5 × 10⁻¹²τ^−1/2 for 10 < τ < 10³ s. This represents one order of magnitude improvement with respect to previous experiments.     

Magnetospheric Science Objectives of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Juno</Emphasis> Mission

In July 2016, NASA’s Juno mission becomes the first spacecraft to enter polar orbit of Jupiter and venture deep into unexplored polar territories of the magnetosphere. Focusing on these polar regions, we review current understanding of the structure and dynamics of the magnetosphere and summarize the outstanding issues. The Juno mission profile involves (a) a several-week approach from the dawn side of Jupiter’s magnetosphere, with an orbit-insertion maneuver on July 6, 2016; (b) a 107-day capture orbit, also on the dawn flank; and (c) a series of thirty 11-day science orbits with the spacecraft flying over Jupiter’s poles and ducking under the radiation belts. We show how Juno’s view of the magnetosphere evolves over the year of science orbits. The Juno spacecraft carries a range of instruments that take particles and fields measurements, remote sensing observations of auroral emissions at UV, visible, IR and radio wavelengths, and detect microwave emission from Jupiter’s radiation belts. We summarize how these Juno measurements address issues of auroral processes, microphysical plasma physics, ionosphere-magnetosphere and satellite-magnetosphere coupling, sources and sinks of plasma, the radiation belts, and the dynamics of the outer magnetosphere. To reach Jupiter, the Juno spacecraft passed close to the Earth on October 9, 2013, gaining the necessary energy to get to Jupiter. The Earth flyby provided an opportunity to test Juno’s instrumentation as well as take scientific data in the terrestrial magnetosphere, in conjunction with ground-based and Earth-orbiting assets.     

The properties of hard X-ray emitting symbiotic stars

Hard X-ray emitting symbiotic stars are candidates for SN Ia progenitors. The importance of Type Ia SNe as standard candles for cosmology makes the study of their progenitor systems particularly important. Additionally, they provide one of the most promising laboratories for the study of astrophysical jets. Typically, the X-ray emission in these systems is modeled with a collisional plasma model, sometimes with an emission measure distribution taken from a cooling flow model. The lack of any coherent periods in both X-rays and optical wave band strongly suggests that the accreting white dwarfs in the hard X-ray symbiotic stars are non-magnetic. Although relatively few have been discovered to date, but we believe that there are very many of them in our galaxy and could be possible candidates for the Galactic Ridge X-ray Emissions (GRXE).     

Fluctuations, Dissipation and Heating in the Corona

Mechanisms for the deposition of heat in the lower coronal plasma are discussed, emphasizing recent attempts to reconcile the fluid and kinetic perspectives. Structures at the MHD scales are believed to act as reservoirs for fluctuation energy, which in turn drive a nonlinear cascade process. Kinetic processes act at smaller spatial scales and more rapid time scales. Cascade-driven processes are contrasted with direct cyclotron absorption, and this distinction is echoed in the contrast between frequency and wavenumber spectra of the fluctuations. Observational constraints are also discussed, along with estimates of the relative efficiency of cascade and cyclotron processes. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

INTESPACE试验中心为阿里安娜-V型火箭而进行的改造

文章介绍了法国宇航环境工程试验中心(INTESPACE)为满足阿里安娜-V的需要所准备进行的一系列改造.这些工作主要有:增建一个适合大型容器用的空气锁,保持厅内连续的10万级洁净度,建立一个紧凑试验区域,建造一面强效吸波墙,扩展振动设备能力以及改造原热真空设备.这些工作计划于2001年初全部完成.改造工作的完成将保证INTESPACE在独立的欧洲试验中心中继续处于领先地位.