Changes in developmental capacity of artemia cyst and chromosomal aberrations in lettuce seeds flown aboard Salyut-7 (Biobloc III experiment).

This paper gives the results of investigations performed on the first container (A) of the Biobloc III experiment, flown aboard the orbital station Salyut 7 for 40 days. The space flight resulted in a decreased developmental capacity of Arterlia cysts, hit or not hit by the HZE particles. No effect was observed in cysts in bulk. A synergetic effect of microgravity and gamma pre irradiation is described. The germination of in-flight lettuce seeds was decreased. The space flight resulted also in a higher percentage of cells with chromosomal aberrations. Relations between biological response, TEL and location of HZE particles are discussed.     

Effect of physical fitness and training on physiological responses to hypogravity.

The studies on the orthostatic tolerance during the hypodynamics exposure seem to be significant in connection with the selection, training and health maintenance of astronauts. Using male human subjects of various physical fitness levels, fluctuations of their physical fitness through 2 weeks of vigorous athletic training were measured in many parameters. For some of the subjects, the effects of 6 hr thermal neutral water immersion exposure in head out supine position on the physical fitness parameters and orthostatic tolerability were compared before training with after training. The results obtained were as follows: (1) Before training, orthostatic tolerability before hypodynamics exposure increased, following the physical fitness levels; the value after the hypodynamics exposure decreased in all the cases, but no differences were observed between the physical fitness levels. (2) As a result of training an increase of the physical fitness capacity was observed. The increase of orthostatic tolerability before hypodynamics exposure was noticed except for athletes. (3) Before hypodynamics exposure the urinary excretion of noradrenaline on non-athlete subjects increased as the physicsl fitness level increased. The values were decreased by physical training, the more so the better the physical fitness. After hypodynamics exposure the same relation was observed. But for athletes the values remain more stable and the decrease by hypodynamics exposure was not so distinctive. Such decreased reaction to hypodynamic conditions seems to reveal the neuro hormonal mechanism for the detrimental adaptation of athletes to hypodynamics. These results suggest that stable athletes do not always have low orthostatic tolerability, but do not respond well to hypodynamic conditions, at least from the orthostatic point of view. The mechanism seems related to sympathetic nerve activity.     

Crystal growth from the melt by capillary shaping techniques

A method based on the Lyapunov stability theory has been developed for studying the stability of crystallization by capillary shaping techniques (including Czochralski, Stepanov, EFG, Verneuil and floating zone methods). The preliminary results of the analysis of stability shows that the crystallization by capillary shaping technique under microgravitation conditions is more stable in some cases than under the action of gravitation. To get deeper into details of the capillary shaping technique under microgravitation conditions, we have carried out model experiments using two immiscible liquids of equal density and crystallization of sapphire in terrestrial conditions with small Bond number. The experiments on the copper crystallization were realized in the high-altitude rockets. Our experiments on indium crystallization carried out in the orbital space probe “Salyut” yielded cylindrical specimens.     

Censoring sensors: a low-communication-rate scheme for distributeddetection

We consider a new scheme for distributed detection based on a “censoring” or “send/no-send” idea. The sensors are assumed to “censor” their observations so that each sensor sends to the fusion center only “informative” observations, and leaves those deemed “uninformative” untransmitted. The main result of this work is that with conditionally independent sensor data and under a communication rate constraint, in order to minimize the probability of error, transmission should occur if and only if the local likelihood ratio value observed by the sensor does not fall in a certain single interval. Similar results are derived from Neymarr-Pearson and distance-measure viewpoints. We also discuss simplifications for the most interesting case that the fusion center threshold is high and the communication constraint is severe. We compare censoring with the more common binary-transmission framework and observe its considerable decrease in communication needs. Finally, we explore the use of feedback to achieve optimal performance with very little communication     

Magnetic alignment and counter-alignment in binary X-ray pulsars

The magnetic torque exerted on a binary X-ray pulsar acts to decrease the angle between the dipole and spin axes during braking episodes, but to increase it whenever spinup occurs. The likely effect on the X-ray pulse profiles is considered.     

Extension of Euler's theorem to n-dimensional spaces

Euler's theorem states that any sequence of finite rotations of a rigid body can be described as a single rotation of the body about a fixed axis in three-dimensional Euclidean space. The usual statement of the theorem in the literature cannot be extended to Euclidean spaces of other dimensions. Equivalent formulations of the theorem are given and proved in a way which does not limit them to the three-dimensional Euclidean space. Thus, the equivalent theorems hold in other dimensions. The proof of one formulation presents an algorithm which shows how to compute an angular-difference matrix that represents a single rotation which is equivalent to the sequence of rotations that have generated the final n-D orientation. This algorithm results also in a constant angular velocity which, when applied to the initial orientation, eventually yields the final orientation regardless of what angular velocity generated the latter. The extension of the theorem is demonstrated in a four-dimensional numerical example. The issue of the correct n-D representation of angular velocity is discussed     

A Dual-Mode Routing Algorithm for an Autonomous Roving Vehicle

A dual-mode algorithm for routing an unmanned autonomous roving vehicle designed to explore the uncertain terrain of other planets is presented. The algorithm consists of a global mode, which uses dynamic programming and terrain information available from photo reconnaissance data to determine a nominal optimal path, and a local mode, which routes the vehicle around obstacles whose presence, location, and extent are not known in advance. Gaussian probability density functions are used to simulate terrain for examples that illustrate the performance of the algorithm.     

New clutter suppression approach for multifunction radar-radarresource management for the clutter suppression

The use of constant-false-alarm-rate (CFAR) techniques to keep false alarm rates at a suitable low level is reviewed. Radar resource management for clutter suppression, a novel approach for multifunction phased-array radar that can more effectively suppress clutter, is proposed. The results of a simulation study, which indicate the maximum permissible P_fa and the improvement of detection performance, demonstrate the effectiveness of resource management, especially when an all-neighbor filter is used     

Waste bioregeneration in life support CES: development of soil organic substrate.

An experimental model of matter turnover in the biotic cycle: plants (plant biomass) --> mushrooms (residual substrate + mushroom fruit bodies) --> worms (biohumus) --> microorganisms (soillike substrate) --> plants is presented. The initial mass of soillike substrate was produced from wheat plants grown in a hydroponic system. Three cycles of matter turnover in the biotic cycle were carried out. Grain productivity on soillike substrate was 21.87 g/m2 day. The results obtained were used for designing a CES containing man, plants, soillike substrate, bioregeneration module and aquaculture. It was shown, that the circulating dry mass of the CES is 756 kg. The main part (88%) of the circulating mass accumulates in the soillike substrate and bioregeneration module.     

On-board multibeam deployable antennas using Ka,C, andS frequency bands

The configuration, on-ground tests, and design verification results for the multibeam antenna flight model for Engineering Test Satellite-VI (ETS-VI) are described for onboard multibeam antennas with thirteen and five beams for the Ka- and S-bands, respectively. The antennas feature Ka-band frequency reuse in alternate beams through use of a cluster horn; shared use of a reflector for two frequency bands using a novel frequency selective surface (FSS); large, lightweight deployable main reflectors with diameters of 3.5 m and 2.5 m; and a highly accurate antenna-pointing control system consisting of RF sensors and an antenna-pointing mechanism to drive the subreflector