Far-UVC light as a new tool to reduce microbial burden during spacecraft assembly

This work aims to investigate far-UVC light at 222 nm as a new microbial reduction tool for planetary protection purposes which could potentially be integrated into the spacecraft assembly process. The major advantage of far-UVC (222 nm) compared to traditional germicidal UVC (254 nm) is the potential for application throughout the spacecraft assembly process in the presence of humans without adverse health effects due to the limited penetration of far-UVC light into biological materials. Testing the efficacy of 222-nm light at inactivating hardy bacterial cells and spores isolated from spacecraft and associated surfaces is a necessary step to evaluate this technology. We assessed survival of Bacillus pumilus SAFR-032 and Acinetobacter radioresistens 50v1 exposed to 222-nm light on proxy spacecraft surfaces simulated by drying the bacteria on aluminum coupons. The survival fraction of both bacteria followed a single stage decay function up to 60 mJ/cm², revealing similar susceptibility of both species to 222-nm light, which was independent of the exposure rate. Irradiation with far-UVC light at 222 nm is an effective method to decontaminate the proxy spacecraft materials tested in this study.     

Late Stages of Stellar Evolution

A large fraction of ISO observing time was used to study the late stages of stellar evolution. Many molecular and solid state features, including crystalline silicates and the rotational lines of water vapour, were detected for the first time in the spectra of (post-)Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars. Their analysis has greatly improved our knowledge of stellar atmospheres and circumstellar environments. A surprising number of objects, particularly young planetary nebulae with Wolf-Rayet (WR) central stars, were found to exhibit emission features in their ISO spectra that are characteristic of both oxygen-rich and carbon-rich dust species, while far-IR observations of the PDR around NGC 7027 led to the first detections of the rotational line spectra of CH and CH⁺. Based on observations with ISO, an ESA project with instruments funded by ESA Member States (especially the PI countries: France, Germany, The Netherlands, and the United Kingdom), and with the participation of ISAS and NASA.     

Emergence of a Habitable Planet

We address the first several hundred million years of Earth’s history. The Moon-forming impact left Earth enveloped in a hot silicate atmosphere that cooled and condensed over ∼1,000 yrs. As it cooled the Earth degassed its volatiles into the atmosphere. It took another ∼2 Myrs for the magma ocean to freeze at the surface. The cooling rate was determined by atmospheric thermal blanketing. Tidal heating by the new Moon was a major energy source to the magma ocean. After the mantle solidified geothermal heat became climatologically insignificant, which allowed the steam atmosphere to condense, and left behind a ∼100 bar, ∼500 K CO₂ atmosphere. Thereafter cooling was governed by how quickly CO₂ was removed from the atmosphere. If subduction were efficient this could have taken as little as 10 million years. In this case the faint young Sun suggests that a lifeless Earth should have been cold and its oceans white with ice. But if carbonate subduction were inefficient the CO₂ would have mostly stayed in the atmosphere, which would have kept the surface near ∼500 K for many tens of millions of years. Hydrous minerals are harder to subduct than carbonates and there is a good chance that the Hadean mantle was dry. Hadean heat flow was locally high enough to ensure that any ice cover would have been thin (<5 m) in places. Moreover hundreds or thousands of asteroid impacts would have been big enough to melt the ice triggering brief impact summers. We suggest that plate tectonics as it works now was inadequate to handle typical Hadean heat flows of 0.2–0.5 W/m². In its place we hypothesize a convecting mantle capped by a ∼100 km deep basaltic mush that was relatively permeable to heat flow. Recycling and distillation of hydrous basalts produced granitic rocks very early, which is consistent with preserved >4 Ga detrital zircons. If carbonates in oceanic crust subducted as quickly as they formed, Earth could have been habitable as early as 10–20 Myrs after the Moon-forming impact.     

Earthshine and Asteroseismology Telescope (East) Network

Several automated optical telescopes have been setup at appropriate longitudes around the globe to study earthshine variations and asteroseismology. The first telescope has been setup at Teide Observatory, Tenerife, Spain in October 2004. The intensity of earthshine relates to the average of Earth’s albedo, and in turn relates to the global temperature of the Earth. A global network is necessary because each site can measure the earthshine reflected from only a part of the Earth. The network will also be used for asteroseismology study. It can measure photometric variations of pulsating stars. The long-term and continuous measurements allow the accurate determination of mode frequencies of stellar pulsations, which provides information on the properties of stellar interior.     

不均布行星齿轮传动装置设计的几个问题

推导了不均布行星传动的装配条件；提出了不均布所带来的各行星轮合力及工作过程中的动不平衡离心力的计算公式；推荐了使其合力为零或减至最小的方法；得出了行星轮不均布的行星传动装置的使用条件和设计时应注意的几个问题。     

A Possible Transfer Mechanism for the 11-Year Solar Cycle to the Lower Stratosphere

Observational evidence of the 11-year solar cycle (SC) modulation of stratosphere temperatures and winds from the ERA-40 dataset is reviewed, with emphasis on the Northern winter hemisphere. A frequency modulation of sudden warming events is noted, with warmings occurring earlier in solar minimum periods than in solar maximum periods. The observed interaction between the influence of the SC and the quasi biennial oscillation (QBO) on the frequency of sudden warmings is noted as a possible clue for understanding their mechanism of influence. A possible transfer route for the 11-year solar cycle from the equatorial stratopause region to the lowest part of the stratosphere is proposed, via an influence on sudden warming events and the associated induced meridional circulation. SC and QBO composites of zonal wind anomalies show anomalous wind distributions in the subtropical upper stratosphere in early winter. Mechanistic model experiments are reviewed that demonstrate a sensitivity of sudden warmings to small wind anomalies in this region. Various diagnostics from these experiments are shown, including EP fluxes and their divergence and also the synoptic evolution of the polar vortex, in order to understand the mechanism of the influence. Some recent GCM experiments to investigate the SC/QBO interaction are also described. They simulate reasonably well the observed SC/QBO interaction of sudden warming events and appear to support the hypothesis that tropical/subtropical upper stratospheric wind anomalies are an important influence on the timing of sudden warmings.     

太阳质量损失对行星轨道的影响

本文利用Ｇｙｌｄｅｎ－Ｍｅｓｈｃｈｅｒｓｋｉｉ方程和Ｅｄｄｉｎｇｔｏｎ－Ｊｅａｎｓ定律，讨论太阳质量损失对行星轨道的影响，结果表明由于太阳质量损失会产生轨道半长径α的一阶周期项和二阶混合项；近日点角距ω的一阶周期项、二阶长期项和混合项，行星轨道半长径的长期变化会影响太阳系的稳定性。     

基于ANSYS Workbench的行星滚柱丝杠动态特性分析

通过Pro/Engineer建立行星滚柱丝杠三维模型，基于ANSYS Workbench有限元分析技术进行模态与谐响应分析，得到前六阶固有频率与各阶模态振型，确定共振频率，掌握对应频率下的位移峰值响应，并研究螺母处于不同工作位置时对固有频率的影响，为基于行星滚柱丝杠传动的舵系统抗振设计提供数据支撑。     

火星大气来流模拟装置CFD仿真与试验

根据我国火星着陆巡视器工作过程,其着陆发动机需要在相对火星大气高速迎风运动中可靠点火。由于巡视器着陆时发动机喷管出口气流与火星稀薄气流方向相反,目前无法通过理论计算准确获得着陆过程的动态流场对发动机起动过程的影响量值。为验证火星着陆环境下发动机点火的适应性,需要建立发动机的火星大气来流试验环境模拟条件。为模拟发动机在火星大气条件下的相对运动,在真空舱内发动机保持固定,前端设置环形来流形成装置,该装置在发动机喷管周围形成一定速度的逆向来流包络。采用数值模拟技术结合试验验证方法,在火星着陆器巡视器主发动机性能考核试验中,针对来流的形成装置开展了设计研究工作。来流模拟试验测试数据表明:在确保贮箱供应压力稳定的条件下,来流模拟系统能够形成100~200 m/s速度的稳定来流,发动机在来流下能稳定启动工作,真空舱压力满足试验要求。     

大气紊流环境下的纵向飞行参数响应分析

介绍了大气紊流环境下飞机纵向飞行参数的计算与匹配方法.由于紊流的随机性特征,飞行参数响应分析采用时域与频域相结合的方式,对某型飞机紊流环境下的纵向飞行参数进行了计算分析.采用所介绍的方法,可以获得比较合理的飞行情况来指导型号设计工作.