飞轮微振动的组合隔振装置设计及实验研究

针对光学遥感卫星飞轮微振动引起的成像质量下降问题，设计了一种组合隔振装置，并采用仿真分析与实验测试相结合的方法对隔振方案设计的合理性进行验证。首先，将测量的飞轮扰振数据引入光学卫星的有限元模型中，计算出飞轮扰振对光学相机的像素偏移影响；其次，设计了组合隔振方案并基于有限元方法对其隔振效果进行验证；最后，搭建了光学成像微振动实验测试平台，对不同转速下飞轮微振动造成的像素偏移影响进行精确测量。实验结果表明，组合隔振装置对300 Hz以上高频段飞轮扰振有较大衰减作用，最大像素偏移降到0.01个像素以下，隔振效率达到80%以上；通过对比可知，实验测试与仿真计算得到的像素偏移结果在低频段一次谐波响应及模态响应表现出较好一致性，但在高频段二者存在一定偏差。     

The Role and Contributions of Energetic Neutral Atom (ENA) Imaging in Magnetospheric Substorm Research

Energetic Neutral Atom (ENA) imaging has contributed substantially to substorm research. This technique has allowed significant advances in areas such as observation and quantification of injected particle drift as a function of energy, observation of dynamics in the tail that are directly related to the effects of imposed (growth phase) and induced (expansion phase) electric fields on the plasma, the prompt extraction of oxygen from the ionosphere during substorms, the relationship between storms and substorms, and the timing of substorm ENA signatures. We present discussion of the advantages and shortcomings of the ENA technique for studying space plasmas. Although the technique is in its infancy, it is yielding results that enrich our understanding of the substorm process and its effects.     

Microthrusters in silicon for aerospace application

This paper reviews the results of the thermal and static analysis of small motor aerospace technology (SMART) propulsion system, constituted of a microthrusters array realised by MEMS technology on silicon wafers. This system has been studied using FEM (NASTRAN) and the results have been verified by the electro-thermic analogy and the FDM method, using, respectively, SPICE and MATLAB codes. The simulation results demonstrated the feasibility of SMART systems for aerospace applications such as attitude control and deorbiting missions for small satellite station-keeping. A theoretical impulse of 20 mNs has been calculated for the SMART system.     

Elemental and Isotopic Abundances of Carbon and Nitrogen in Meteorites

We have taken an inventory of the elemental and isotopic abundances of major carbon- and nitrogen-bearing components in different groups of meteorites. Primary phases, inherited from the solar nebula, are frequently isotopically heterogeneous, and surprisingly resistant to modification through parent body processing. Even melted and recrystallised meteorites retain primordial carbon and nitrogen isotopic signatures. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Gravity effects on connective tissue biosynthesis by cultured mesenchymal cells.

Quantitative and qualitative aspects of collagen synthesis under microgravity, normal gravity and hypergravity conditions were investigated during the spacelab D-2 mission by incubating human fibroblast cultures with [3H]-proline for 0, 4, 7, 10 and 20 hours. Quantitative analysis revealed an increase of collagen synthesis under microgravity conditions, being 40% higher than 1g controls. Hypergravity samples at 1.44g, 6.6g and 10g showed a decrease in collagen synthesis with increasing g, being down to about 15% at 10g. The relative proportion of collagen from total protein synthesized, the secretion of collagen by the cells, proline hydroxylation of individual collagen alpha-chains and the relative proportions of collagens I, III and V synthesized were not affected at any of the applied conditions.     

Giotto/Cometary dust interaction event near the comet Halley ionopause

Plasma and magnetic field disturbances accompanying dust particle impacts are explained by means of creation of a secondary cloud around the spacecraft. Cold cometary ions impinging upon the cloud are scattered by atoms of the cloud. This scattering changes initial angular distribution of cometary ions. Magnetic field perturbation is created by the friction between the electron component of the cometary plasma flow and the cloud.     

Properties and performance of extended target motion analysis

The problem of target motion analysis (TMA) has been the subject of an important literature. However, present methods use data estimated by a short time analysis (azimuths, Dopplers, etc.). For far sources, the nonstationarities of the array processing outputs, induced by the sources motion, may be simply modeled. This model leads one to consider directly a spatio-temporal TMA. Then new (spatio-temporal) data can be estimated. These estimates correspond to a long time analysis. Further, note that they are estimated independently of the (classical) bearings. In this general framework, the concept of source trajectory replaces the classical instantaneous bearings. Corresponding TMA algorithms are then studied. Then the study of statistical performance is carefully studied     

Sequence comparison techniques for multisensor data fusion andtarget recognition

A new class of techniques for multisensor fusion and target recognition is proposed using sequence comparison by dynamic programming and multiple model estimation. The objective is to fuse information on the kinematic state and “nonkinematic” signature of unclassified targets, assessing the joint likelihood of all observed events for recognition. Relationships are shown to previous efforts in pattern recognition and state estimation. This research applies “classical” speech processing-related and other sequence comparison methods to moving target recognition, extends the efforts of previous researchers through improved fusion with kinematic information, relates the proposed techniques to Bayesian theory, and applies parameter identification methods to target recognition for improved understanding of the subject in general. The proposed techniques are evaluated and compared with existing approaches using the method of generalized ambiguity functions, which lends to a form of Cramer-Rao lower bound for target recognition     

Enzyme conversion of lignocellulosic plant materials for resource recovery in a Controlled Ecological Life Support System.

A large amount of inedible plant material composed primarily of the carbohydrate materials cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin is generated as a result of plant growth in a Controlled Ecological Life-Support System (CELSS). Cellulose is a linear homopolymer of glucose, which when properly processed will yield glucose, a valuable sugar because it can be added directly to human diets. Hemicellulose is a heteropolymer of hexoses and pentoses that can be treated to give a sugar mixture that is potentially a valuable fermentable carbon source. Such fermentations yield desirable supplements to the edible products from hydroponically-grown plants such as rapeseed, soybean, cowpea, or rice. Lignin is a three-dimensionally branched aromatic polymer, composed of phenyl propane units, which is susceptible to bioconversion through the growth of the white rot fungus, Pluerotus ostreatus. Processing conditions, that include both a hot water pretreatment and fungal growth and that lead to the facile conversion of plant polysaccharides to glucose, are presented.     

Practical stabilization in attitude thruster control

The attitude stabilization of a spacecraft using thrusters is considered from a practical point of view, i.e., when actuator constraints, uncertainties and failures, measurement noise, fuel consumption, and inertia matrix uncertainty are considered. A variable structure controller based on sliding modes is obtained first, which guarantees global exponential stability under actuator constraints, uncertainties, and failures. The design is based on a continuous average-proportional torque selection function and a set of feasible sliding surfaces, which may be adapted to improve performance. Exponential convergence towards ultimate bounds is guaranteed when all other practical issues arise.