Creating Habitable Zones, at all Scales, from Planets to Mud Micro-Habitats, on Earth and on Mars

The factors that create a habitable planet are considered at all scales, from planetary inventories to micro-habitats in soft sediments and intangibles such as habitat linkage. The possibility of habitability first comes about during accretion, as a product of the processes of impact and volatile inventory history. To create habitability water is essential, not only for life but to aid the continual tectonic reworking and erosion that supply key redox contrasts and biochemical substrates to sustain habitability. Mud or soft sediment may be a biochemical prerequisite, to provide accessible substrate and protection. Once life begins, the habitat is widened by the activity of life, both by its management of the greenhouse and by partitioning reductants (e.g. dead organic matter) and oxidants (including waste products). Potential Martian habitats are discussed: by comparison with Earth there are many potential environmental settings on Mars in which life may once have occurred, or may even continue to exist. The long-term evolution of habitability in the Solar System is considered.     

基于解析剖面的时间协同再入制导

针对高超声速滑翔飞行器再入段时间协同制导问题，提出一种基于高度-速度剖面的预测校正协同制导律。首先在高度-速度剖面内设计了参考轨迹，利用两个轨迹参数在线预测剩余飞行航程和时间；通过数值算法校正两个轨迹参数以满足航程和时间约束并求取实际控制量，结合侧向航向角走廊实现了单飞行器的时间约束再入制导。在此基础上分析了飞行器的时间可调范围，针对多飞行器协同再入任务设计了协同飞行时间和协同策略，实现了时间协同再入飞行。该策略考虑到再入过程中的通讯困难，避免了弹间通讯，且充分利用了飞行器纵向动力学，时间可控范围较大，更加适用于实际的再入过程。仿真结果说明了时间约束再入制导律对时间的可控性和协同策略的有效性。     

凝结水回收的节能效益及技术问题

通过对凝结水及其余热回收的经济效益分析,提出了凝结水回收具有重要的节能作用,并从技术上阐述了凝结水回收的方法及技术措施,以便在实际设计、施工中给予重视。     

One-week habitation of two humans in an airtight facility with two goats and 23 crops – Analysis of carbon,oxygen, and water circulation

Human habitation and animal holding experiments in a closed environment, the Closed Ecology Experiment Facilities (CEEF), were carried out. The CEEF were established for collecting experimental data to estimate carbon transfer in the ecosystem around Rokkasho nuclear fuel reprocessing plant. Circulation of O₂ and CO₂, and supply of food from crops cultivated in the CEEF were conducted for the first time in the habitation experiments. Two humans known as eco-nauts inhabited the CEEF, living and working in the Plant Module (PM) and the Animal and Habitation Module (AHM), for a week three times in 2005. On a fresh weight basis, 82% of their food was supplied from 23 crops including rice and soybean, cultivated and harvested in the PM, in the 2nd and 3rd experiments. For the goats, the animals held in the experiments, all of their feed, consisting of rice straw, soybean plant leaves, and peanut shells and peanut plant leaves, was produced in the PM in the 2nd and 3rd experiments. The O₂ produced in the PM by photosynthesis of the crops was separated by the O₂ separator using molecular sheaves, then accumulated, transferred, and supplied to the AHM atmosphere. The CO₂ produced in the AHM by respiration of the humans and animals was separated by the CO₂ separator using solid amine, then accumulated, transferred, and supplied to the PM atmosphere. The amount of O₂ consumed in the AHM was 46–51% of that produced in the PM, and the amount of CO₂ produced in the AHM was 43–56% of that consumed in the PM. The surplus of O₂ and the shortage of CO₂ was a result of the fact that waste of the goats and the crops and part of the human waste were not processed in these habitation experiments. The estimated amount of carbon ingested by the eco-nauts was 64–92% of that in the harvested edible part of the crops. The estimated amount of carbon ingested by the goats was 36–53% of that in the harvested inedible part of the crops. One week was not enough time for determination of gas exchange especially for humans and animals, because fluctuation of their gas exchange was quite high. The amount of transpired water collected as condensate was 818–938 L d⁻¹, and it was recycled as replenishing water compensating transpiration loss of nutrient solution. The amount of waste nutrient solution discharged from the PM was 1421–1644 L d⁻¹. The waste nutrient solutions from rice and other crops were processed through micro filters (MFs) separately. The MF filtrated solutions were processed with reverse osmosis (RO) membrane filter separately and divided into filtrated water and concentrated waste nutrient solution. The concentrated waste nutrient solution from the crops other than rice was processed through an ultra-micro filter (UF) and reused, although that from rice was discharged in 2005. Concentrations of nutritional ions in the UF filtrated solution were determined, the depleted ions were added back, the UF filtrated solution was diluted with the RO membrane filtrated water, and the nutrient solution for the crops other than rice was regenerated. The nutrient solution for rice was newly made each time, using concentrated solution from an external source and the RO membrane filtrated water. Average amounts of water used in the AHM (L d⁻¹) were determined as follows: drinking by humans (filtrated water), 1.5; cooking, etc. (filtrated water other than for drinking), 14.3; drinking by goats, 3.8; showering (hot water), 13.2; showering (cold water), 0.1; washing of hand and face and brushing teeth, 4.1; washing of dishes, dish clothes and towels, 36.4; and washing of animal holding tools, 0.3. The waste water was processed by a RO purification system and recycled for toilet flushing and animal pens washing. A circulation experiment for water was started in 2006 and a circulation experiment for waste materials is planned for 2007. In 2006, a single duration of the air circulation experiments was 2 weeks, although the human habitants were changed after 1 week.     

西安市自来水中铝离子的安全性分析

根据西安市各水厂的供水情况，选择具有代表性的曲江水厂为研究对象，对水中的铝离子含量及健康危害风险进行了研究，发现该厂自来水中铝离子超标率为9％，尽管对人体的健康危害风险值在人们可接受范围内，但其最大值已经和人们最大可以接受的风险值在同一数量级。     

Detection of regolith buried water stream channels on Mars with the help of synthetic aperture radar

A major theme in the study of Mars is the search for evidence that water was present in the past or is present today, either at or below the surface. Biological life is connected to water. Hence much research is focused on the detection of water stream channels, which in the past flowed on Mars. In these areas, the petrified remains of the former life on Mars may be found. These channels may be under the regolith layer; however, the radio wave penetrating ability allows for the detection of these channels under the regolith.     

The water cycle in closed ecological systems: Perspectives from the Biosphere 2 and Laboratory Biosphere systems

To achieve sustainable, healthy closed ecological systems requires solutions to challenges of closing the water cycle – recycling wastewater/irrigation water/soil medium leachate and evaporated water and supplying water of required quality as needed for different needs within the facility. Engineering Biosphere 2, the first multi-biome closed ecological system within a total airtight footprint of 12,700 m² with a combined volume of 200,000 m³ with a total water capacity of some 6 × 10⁶ L of water was especially challenging because it included human inhabitants, their agricultural and technical systems, as well as five analogue ecosystems ranging from rainforest to desert, freshwater ecologies to saltwater systems like mangrove and mini-ocean coral reef ecosystems. By contrast, the Laboratory Biosphere – a small (40 m³ volume) soil-based plant growth facility with a footprint of 15 m² – is a very simplified system, but with similar challenges re salinity management and provision of water quality suitable for plant growth. In Biosphere 2, water needs included supplying potable water for people and domestic animals, irrigation water for a wide variety of food crops, and recycling and recovering soil nutrients from wastewater. In the wilderness biomes, providing adequately low salinity freshwater terrestrial ecosystems and maintaining appropriate salinity and pH in aquatic/marine ecosystems were challenges. The largest reservoirs in Biosphere 2 were the ocean/marsh with some 4 × 10⁶ L, soil with 1 to 2 × 10⁶ l, primary storage tank with 0 to 8 × 10⁵ L and storage tanks for condensate and soil leachate collection and mixing tanks with a capacity of 1.6 × 10⁵ L to supply irrigation for farm and wilderness ecosystems. Other reservoirs were far smaller – humidity in the atmosphere (2 × 10³ L), streams in the rainforest and savannah, and seasonal pools in the desert were orders of magnitude smaller (8 × 10⁴ L). Key technologies included condensation from humidity in the air handlers and from the glass space frame to produce high quality freshwater, wastewater treatment with constructed wetlands and desalination through reverse osmosis and flash evaporation were key to recycling water with appropriate quality throughout the Biosphere 2 facility. Wastewater from all human uses and the domestic animals in Biosphere 2 was treated and recycled through a series of constructed wetlands, which had hydraulic loading of 0.9–1.1 m³ day⁻¹ (240–290 gal d⁻¹). Plant production in the wetland treatment system produced 1210 kg dry weight of emergent and floating aquatic plant wetland which was used as fodder for the domestic animals while remaining nutrients/water was reused as part of the agricultural irrigation supply. There were pools of water with recycling times of days to weeks and others with far longer cycling times within Biosphere 2. By contrast, the Laboratory Biosphere with a total water reservoir of less than 500 L has far quicker cycling rapidity: for example, atmospheric residence time for water vapor was 5–20 min in the Laboratory Biosphere vs. 1–4 h in Biosphere 2, as compared with 9 days in the Earth’s biosphere. Just as in Biosphere 2, humidity in the Laboratory Biosphere amounts to a very small reservoir of water. The amount of water passing through the air in the course of a 12-h operational day is two orders of magnitude greater than the amount stored in the air. Thus, evaporation and condensation collection are vital parts of the recycle system just as in Biosphere 2. The water cycle and sustainable water recycling in closed ecological systems presents problems requiring further research – such as how to control buildup of salinity in materially closed ecosystems and effective ways to retain nutrients in optimal quantity and useable form for plant growth. These issues are common to all closed ecological systems of whatever size, including planet Earth’s biosphere and are relevant to a global environment facing increasing water shortages while maintaining water quality for human and ecosystem health. Modular biospheres offer a test bed where technical methods of resolving these problems can be tested for feasibility.     

电弧喷涂参数优化及涂层磨损性能试验研究

采用正交设计方法和通过极差分析研究了电弧喷涂工艺参数对CFB锅炉水冷壁涂层耐磨性的影响。结果表明,影响涂层性能的工艺参数主要是电弧电流,其次是喷涂距离,而电弧电压和雾化空气压力的影响很小。通过涂层冲蚀磨损性能试验,进一步验证了用此最佳喷涂工艺参数组合可以获得良好耐磨性能的涂层。     

圆柱体落水过程多相流体动力特性数值分析

针对圆柱体大角度落水过程多相流动问题,采用VOF多相流模型和重叠网格技术分析了低弗劳德数条件下圆柱体落水过程空泡演化、水动力特性以及尺度效应的影响。结果表明:不同直径的圆柱体落水空泡均发生拉断闭合,且空泡闭合时间随弗劳德数增加而线性增大。除落水抨击和空泡闭合阶段外,升力系数在空泡闭合前的平均增长率比空泡闭合后快。阻力系数从落水撞击至空泡闭合阶段变化一致,但是在空泡闭合后出现分化现象。     

Effect of pitch angle on initial stage of a transport airplane ditching

Airworthiness regulations require that the transport airplane should be proved to ensure the survivability of the ditching for the passengers. The planned ditching of a transport airplane on the calm water is numerically simulated. The effect of pitch angle on the impact characteristics is especially investigated by a subscaled model. The Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations of unsteady compressible flow are solved and the realizable j-e equations are employed to model the turbulence. The transformation of the air-water interface is tracked by volume of fluid (VOF) model. The motion of the rigid body is modeled by dynamic mesh method. The initial ditching stage of the transport airplane is analyzed in detail. The numerical results show that as the pitching angle increases, the maximal normal force decreases and the pitching motion becomes much gentler. The aft fuselage would be sucked down by the water and lead to pitching up, whereas the low horizontal tail prevents this trend. Consequently, the transport aircraft with low horizontal tail should ditch on the water at an angle between 10 and 12 as a recommendation.