Effect of gamma irradiation on hyperthermal composting microorganisms for feasible application in space

The composting system is the most efficient method for processing organic waste in space; however, the composting activity of microorganisms can be altered by cosmic rays. In this study, the effect of ionizing irradiation on composting bacteria was investigated. Sequence analyses of amplified 16S rRNA, 18S rRNA, and amoA genes were used to identify hyperthermal composting microorganisms. The viability of microorganisms in compost soil after gamma irradiation was directly determined using LIVE/DEAD BacLight viability kit. The dominant bacterial genera were Weissella cibaria and Leuconostoc sp., and the fungal genera were Metschnikowia bicuspidata and Pichia guilliermondii. Gamma irradiation up to a dose of 10 kGy did not significantly alter the microbial population. Furthermore, amylase and cellulase activities were maintained after high-dose gamma irradiation. Our results show that hyperthermal microorganisms can be used to recycle agricultural and fermented material in space stations and other human-inhabiting facilities on the Moon, Mars, and other planets.     

Possible consequences of a disk around B0656+14 on e–e and near-1 Hz gravitational wave production

Nearby pulsars B0656+14 and Geminga were proposed in the literature as the main sources of cosmic-ray positrons observed near Earth above 10 GeV. B0656+14 has comparable distance from Earth, similar magnetic field and period of Geminga. However, observations in the R and I bands indicate the presence of a disk of approximately 10⁻⁴ M_⊙ around B0656+14. Radio and pulsed γ-ray flux observations from this pulsar are also consistent with supernova fallback material and disk entering the light cylinder and partially quenching the development of electromagnetic showers in the magnetosphere. If this is the case, B0656+14 has unlikely given any contribution to e⁺ and e⁻ observed near Earth. Absolute flux measurements and the level of anisotropy in the high energy electron and positron arrival directions above 50 GeV will help in revealing if none, one of both nearby pulsars are sources of these particles observed near Earth.     

半透明高温涂层的内部辐射效应

为了准确计算涂层和金属基底内的温度和热流，需要考虑涂层内部热辐射的影响。采用光线踪迹／节点分析法对吸收、各向同性散射性非灰涂层内的辐射与导热瞬态耦合换热进行数值模拟。与多个文献的计算结果比较表明，计算方法正确，计算结果精度高。数值模拟结果表明，忽略涂层内的热辐射会使实际运动中的金属部件温度高于设计温度。     

New results on the time histories of gamma-ray bursts

A study of the morphology of 14 short ( 1 s) gamma ray bursts observed by the Franco Soviet SIGNE detectors onboard the VENERA spacecraft between 1978 and 1982 is presented. We find two major groups of short bursts characterised not only by their different durations ( 1 s and 100 ms respectively), but also by different e-folding rise and decay times. A study of the time history of the impulsive portion of the 1979 March 5 event at 2 ms resolution shows evidence for a previously undiscovered 23ms quasi periodicity. These results are discussed in the context of neutron star models for gamma ray bursters.     

Real-time ray-based channel generation and emulation for UAV communications

A real-time ray-based hardware emulator for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) communication channels which suits for the Three-Dimensional (3D) dynamic scenarios and considers the movements of both terminals is developed in this paper. The time-variant channel parameters, i.e., ray delay, ray gain, and ray Doppler frequency are precalculated in the host by using the Ray Tracing (RT) method. Meanwhile, RT simulation dramatically increases the number of valid rays. To address the problem of resource limitation and huge computational burden in the implementation, an efficient ray coefficients generation method based on iteration is proposed and implemented. With the advantages of low cost and high flexibility, a Software Defined Radio (SDR) hardware platform is used to emulate the ray-based UAV channels by utilizing the compact architecture including the Time-Division (TD) scheme and Tapped-Delay Line (TDL) for channel convolution. Finally, hardware measurement results demonstrate that the properties of emulated channel, i.e., Power Delay Profile (PDP) and Doppler Power Spectrum Density (DPSD) consist with the simulated ones, which verifies the correctness of hardware implementation. The proposed channel emulator provides an efficient way for optimization, verification, and evaluation of UAV communication systems.     

Gamma过程退化失效可靠性分析

退化型失效产品,可通过退化失效分析对其进行可靠性统计推断。性能退化一般是一个随机过程,并且是单调变化的,为描述产品的退化,给出了一个随机Gamma过程模型,通过求解该过程的首达时分布即可获得产品的失效分布。由于解析方法求解存在很大的难度,给出了一种基于仿真的求解方法。利用所得模型对强激光装置所用的某型金属化膜脉冲电容器进行了可靠性分析,说明了模型的适用性。     

Hardware qualification for scientific ballooning missions

The European Stratospheric Balloon Observatory (ESBO) initiative aims at simplifying the access to stratospheric balloon missions. We plan to provide platforms and support with instrument design in order to support scientists. During the design process, the inevitable question of qualification for the harsh flight conditions arises. Unfortunately, there is no existing standard for qualification of stratospheric ballooning hardware. Thus, we developed a qualification procedure for use within ESBO and similar projects.In this paper, we present our analysis of the environmental conditions in the stratosphere. While conditions at typical balloon float altitudes are similar to the space environment, there are also some relevant differences. For example, the thermal environment is dominated by radiation and thermal conduction, but the remaining atmosphere still supports a certain amount of convection. The remaining atmospheric pressure in the stratosphere also leads to reduced arcing distances. Vibrational loads are far less than for space missions, but quasi-static or shock loads may occur. The criticality of radiation increases with mission duration.Based on the environmental conditions, we present the qualification procedures for ESBO, which are based on the European Cooperation for Space Standardization (ECSS) standards for space systems. Overtesting against too high requirements leads to overengineering, driving mission cost and mitigating the advantages of balloons over space missions. Therefore, we modified the ECSS standards to fit typical scientific ballooning missions over several days at altitudes up to 40 km. Furthermore, we analyzed design rules for space systems with regard to their relevance for scientific ballooning, including material and component selection. We present the experience from the hardware qualification process for the ESBO prototype STUDIO (Stratospheric UV Demonstrator of an Imaging Observatory). Even though boundary conditions are different for each individual mission, we aimed for a broader approach: We investigated more general requirements for scientific ballooning missions to support future flights.