Studies on urine treatment by biological purification using Azolla and UV photocatalytic oxidation

The amount of water consumed in space station operations is very large. In order to reduce the amount of water which must be resupplied from Earth, the space station needs to resolve the problems of water supply. For this reason, the recovery, regeneration and utilization of urine of astronauts are of key importance. Many investigations on this subject have been reported. Our research is based on biological absorption and, purification using UV photocatalytic oxidation techniques to achieve comprehensive treatment for urine. In the treatment apparatus we created, the urine solution is used as part of the nutrient solution for the biological components in our bioregenerative life support system. After being absorbed, the nutrients from the urine were then decomposed, metabolized and purified which creates a favorable condition for the follow-up oxidation treatment by UV photocatalytic oxidation. After these two processes, the treated urine solution reached Chinese national standards for drinking water quality (GB5749-1985).     

Space Astronomy in China:2006—2008

In 2006 to 2008,the main activities in Chinese space astronomy focus on:(1) undertaking some missions set by CNSA,like HXMT,SMESE,WSO/UV,SST,KUAFU,and so on;(2) drawing up a long-term plan of Chinese space astronomy.This paper summarizes in brief all these activities.     

Transcultural group performance in extreme environment: Issues, concepts and emerging theory

A simulation for flight of international crew on space station took place in Moscow from July 1999 to April 2000 (SFINCS) at the State Biomedical Institute of Russia (IBMP) isolation chambers. Objectives of this study were to identify concepts of psychosocial adaptation and of social interactions to develop an explanation of the transcultural group performance. Method: constructivist epistemology with grounded theory research and fourth generation evaluation were used. Data on processes and interactions were gathered during 110 days of confinement as a subject and extended to 240 days as an outside scientist. Results indicate that coping is influenced by usual coping strategies and coping behaviors inside. Several stresses and human factor issues were identified altering well being and performance inside the chambers. Enabling and limiting forces are discussed. A theory on transcultural group performance is proposed. Issues are raised that appear critical to selection, training and group performance.     

Cross-cultural issues in space operations: A survey study among ground personnel of the European Space Agency

Today's space operations involve co-working of people with different ethnical, professional and organisational backgrounds. The aim of this study was to examine the implications of cultural diversity for efficient collaboration within the European Space Agency (ESA), and between ESA employees and representatives from other agencies. ESA employees from European countries (N=576) answered to the CULT Ground Survey. The results showed that differences in relation to leadership and decision making were the most important issues thought to interfere with efficient co-working within ESA, and between ESA employees and colleagues from other agencies. Employees who collaborated with more than three nationalities within ESA indicated most challenges in co-working due to differences in compliance, behavioural norms and competitiveness. Challenges in co-working differed between agencies, and these differences were consistent with value differences in the national populations. The results may have applied value for training of European employees working in international space program teams.     

Rethinking public–private space travel

On May 24, 2012 SpaceX's Dragon capsule was launched and in doing so became the first commercially built vehicle to berth with and carry cargo to the International Space Station (ISS). It successfully completed its mission and returned to the Pacific Ocean on May 31, 2012.¹ The docking of Dragon represented a historic moment where a commercial enterprise managed to achieve that which had previously only been accomplished by governments. “In the history of spaceflight – only four entities have launched a space capsule into orbit and successfully brought it back to Earth: the United States, Russia, China, and SpaceX”.² While this is a monumental accomplishment for private industry, we cannot ignore the value of public–private partnerships and the role that government played in enabling this incredible achievement.In this paper I will examine how public–private partnerships are enabling the development of the commercial space industry, viewed through the lens of the Rethinking Business Institutional Hybrid Framework put forward by University of Oxford professors Marc Ventresca and Alex Nichols in their Rethinking Business MBA course. I intend to demonstrate that the NASA versus Commercial Space argument is a false dichotomy and that only by working together can both sectors continue to push the boundaries of space travel and exploration. I plan to do this by first discussing how the NASA-SpaceX partnership came about and the reasoning behind it. I will then explore what a public–private partnership (PPP) is, as compared to other government privatization schemes, and explain why Space Act Agreements are significantly different from anything done previously. I will then analyze the impact of these agreements and outline their benefits in order to demonstrate the value they create, especially in areas of mutual value creation and economic development.     

航天材料空间环境效应损伤机制及关联性研究

基于航天材料在轨将遭遇多种空间环境的作用且不同空间环境对航天材料的损伤存在一定的关联性,本文首先对航天材料的空间环境及效应进行了介绍,接着对真空、温度、微重力、等离子体、粒子辐射、太阳电磁辐射、空间大气、空间碎片及微流星体、空间污染、空间动力学、腐蚀及空间生物等环境对航天材料的损伤机制及不同损伤机制之间的关联性进行了研究,最后对需要进一步研究和关注的方向进行了讨论并给出了发展建议。     

Decentralized adaptive sliding mode control of a space robot actuated by control moment gyroscopes

An adaptive sliding mode control(ASMC) law is proposed in decentralized scheme for trajectory tracking control of a new concept space robot.Each joint of the system is a free ball joint capable of rotating with three degrees of freedom(DOF).A cluster of control moment gyroscopes(CMGs) is mounted on each link and the base to actuate the system.The modified Rodrigues parameters(MRPs) are employed to describe the angular displacements,and the equations of motion are derived using Kane's equations.The controller for each link or the base is designed separately in decentralized scheme.The unknown disturbances,inertia parameter uncertainties and nonlinear uncertainties are classified as a ‘‘lumped" matched uncertainty with unknown upper bound,and a continuous sliding mode control(SMC) law is proposed,in which the control gain is tuned by the improved adaptation laws for the upper bound on norm of the uncertainty.A general amplification function is designed and incorporated in the adaptation laws to reduce the control error without conspicuously increasing the magnitude of the control input.Uniformly ultimate boundedness of the closed loop system is proved by Lyapunov's method.Simulation results based on a three-link system verify the effectiveness of the proposed controller.     

空间重力环境对稠密气固两相流动特性影响的数值模拟

文章基于稠密气体分子运动论和颗粒动理学,建立气固流化反应器的稠密气固两相流动的欧拉-欧拉双流体数学模型,考虑了颗粒与颗粒之间离散介质特性,大涡模拟求解气相湍流流动,数值模拟反应器内稠密气固两相流体流动行为,得到了不同重力条件下的颗粒浓度、气相和颗粒相速度等计算结果。结果表明：空间重力环境是影响稠密气固两相流体动力特性的重要因素,颗粒脉动强度将随着重力条件的减小而增大。     

空间望远镜成像镜调焦机构改进设计与分析

根据已有的研究工作，对成像镜调焦机构系统做了进一步改进，并对模型进行了环境影响分析和考虑接触时的受力分析．文中详细给出了设计的基本原理及设计方法，该机构通过电机驱动丝杠完成对成像镜的移动．由接触分析结果可以看出，考虑接触约束时所计算得到的结果比较符合实际情况，结构的强度满足要求．