Biosphere 2 Test Module: a ground-based sunlight-driven prototype of a closed ecological life support system.

Constructed in 1986, the Biosphere 2 Test Module has been used since the end of that year for closed ecological systems experiments. It is the largest closed ecological facility ever built, with a sealed variable volume of some 480 cubic meters. It is built with a skin of steel spaceframes with double-laminated glass panels admitting about 65 percent Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR). The floor is of welded steel and there is an underground atmospheric connection via an air duct to a variable volume chamber ("lung") permitting expansion and contraction of the Test Module's air volume caused by changes in temperature and barometric pressure, which causes a slight positive pressure from inside the closed system to the outside thereby insuring that the very small leakage rate is outward. Several series of closed ecological system investigations have been carried out in this facility. One series of experiments investigated the dynamics of higher plants and associated soils with the atmosphere under varying light and temperature conditions. Another series of experiments included one human in the closed system for three, five and twenty-one days. During these experiments the Test Module had subsystems which completely recycled its water and atmosphere; all the human dietary needs were produced within the facility, and all wastes were recycled using a marsh plant/microbe system. Other experiments have examined the capability of individual component systems used, such as the soil bed reactors, to eliminate experimentally introduced trace gases. Analytic systems developed for these experiments include continuous monitors of eleven atmospheric gases in addition to the complete gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GCMS) examinations of potable, waste system and irrigation water quality.     

The Spacelab-Mir-1 "Greenhouse-2" experiment.

The Spacelab-Mir-1 (SLM-1) mission is the first docking of the Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-71) with the Orbital Station Mir in June 1995. The SLM-1 "Greenhouse-2" experiment will utilize the Russian-Bulgarian-developed plant growth unit (Svet). "Greenhouse-2" will include two plantings (1) designed to test the capability of Svet to grow a crop of Superdwarf wheat from seed to seed, and (2) to provide green plant material for post-flight analysis. Protocols, procedures, and equipment for the experiment have been developed by the US-Russian science team. "Greenhouse-2" will also provide the first orbital test of a new Svet Instrumentation System (SIS) developed by Utah State University to provide near real time data on plant environmental parameters and gas-exchange rates. SIS supplements the Svet control and monitoring system with additional sensors for substrate moisture, air temperature, IR leaf temperature, light, oxygen, pressure, humidity, and carbon-dioxide. SIS provides the capability to monitor canopy transpiration and net assimilation of the plants growing in each vegetation unit (root zone) by enclosing the canopy in separate, retractable, ventilated leaf chambers. Six times during the seed-to-seed experiment, plant samples will be collected, leaf area measured, and plant parts fixed and/or dried for ground analysis. A second planting initiated 30 days before the arrival of a U.S. Shuttle [originally planned to be STS-71] is designed to provide green material at the vegetative development stage for ground analysis. [As this paper is being edited, the experiment has been delayed until after the arrival of STS-71.]     

The Suess-Urey mission (return of solar matter to Earth)

The Suess-Urey (S-U) mission has been proposed as a NASA Discovery mission to return samples of matter from the Sun to the Earth for isotopic and chemical analyses in terrestrial laboratories to provide a major improvement in our knowledge of the average chemical and isotopic composition of the solar system. The S-U spacecraft and sample return capsule will be placed in a halo orbit around the L1 Sun-Earth libration point for two years to collect solar wind ions which implant into large passive collectors made of ultra-pure materials. Constant Spacecraft-Sun-Earth geometries enable simple spin stabilized attitude control, simple passive thermal control, and a fixed medium gain antenna. Low data requirements and the safety of a Sun-pointed spinner, result in extremely low mission operations costs.     

The impact of semi-convection and overshooting on the surface abundances in massive stars

We analyse the effects of semi-convection and overshooting on the predicted surface abundances after the first and second dredge-ups in 15 and 20 M Pop. I stars. Overshooting is applied either to the core boundary or to the boundaries of all convective zones. It is shown that the surface abundances are sensitive to the mixing scheme adopted in the interior. The models including semi-convection lead to lower¹²C/¹³C ratios than the other mixing schemes, while models with overshooting predict higher enhancements of sodium at the surface.     

Co2 and Climate: a Geologist's View

Climate is discussed as an integral part of System Earth, determined by a complex interplay of numerous geological, biological and solar processes. The historical and geological record of changing climate and atmospheric CO₂ pressure does not support the current popular vision that this greenhouse gas is the dominant climate controlling agent. When empirically ante post tested against past global climate changes, the forecasts of the climate models mainly based on forcing by atmospheric CO₂ are not borne out. On the other hand, recent studies show that solar variability rather than changing CO₂ pressure is an important, probably the dominant climate forcing factor.     

Simulation of a working process in the pulsejet engine with an aerodynamic valve on the basis of the thermodynamic cycle analysis

A physical and a mathematical model of a working process in the pulsejet engine based on the analysis of the thermodynamic cycle are proposed. The process of self-sustained periodic combustion is connected with special features of elementary processes comprising the cycle, influencing the engine operation and depending on its design parameters. The calculation method is based on the use of fundamental laws of conservation and basic equations of gas dynamics     

基于特征的锻件分类及特征有限元法

综合分析锻件后引入特征技术并归纳锻件的形状及变形特点 ,提出了锻件特征概念并给出锻件形状特征的一般定义和构成 ;采用面向对象技术表示特征 ,提出了锻件特征类的概念模式和具体的参数化数据模型 ;针对有限元分析中复杂多变的约束条件和载荷状况两个关键性因素的表达 ,提出特征类的关联思想。在基于特征的锻件分类基础上 ,把锻件变形归纳为“挤”或“压”两种特征元 ,提出了采用基于特征的有限元法 ,并综合自适应FEM、并行FEM、智能型FEM共同求解大型复杂锻件的变形模拟问题。     

一种用计量光栅实现 2nm测量分辨率的新方法

提出一种利用正切函数在零点附近的小范围内线性度非常好的特点,对计量光栅技术中计算机正切细分法进行扩展,在信号处理电路中设计出一个量程比较小的精测档,以获得更高的纳米级的测量分辨率的新方法,并进行了详细充分的实验验证.     

反馈线性化及其在飞控系统中的应用

反馈线性化方法是一种有效的解决非线性系统控制的方法。而未来新一代战机控制系统需要适应超机动作战的非线性控制，非线性控制系统是必然要采用的。文中先简要介绍了反馈线性化理论，然后介绍了反馈线性化方法在飞控系统中的具体应用，最后以某型号先进战斗机为仿真算例进行了仿真，仿真结果表明，基于反馈线性化方法设计的飞控系统是可行的、有效的。