The Temperature Regime of the Proposed Landing Sites for the Luna-Glob Mission in the South Polar Region of the Moon

In this paper we consider a hydrodynamic model for the matter density distribution in a self gravitating, isentropic 2-d disk of gas where the isentropy coefficient is allowed to be a function of position. For this model we prove analytically the existence of steady state and time dependent solutions in which the matter density in the disk is oscillatory and pattern forming. This research is motivated in part by recent astronomical observations and Laplace conjecture (made in 1796) that planetary systems evolve from a family of isolated rings that are formed within a primitive interstellar gas cloud.     

Lunar microcraters: Implications for the micrometeoroid complex

The contributions of lunar microcrater studies to understand the overall micrometeoroid environment are summarized and compared to satellite data.In comparison with small-scale laboratory studies, most lunar crater morphologies are compatible only with impact velocities > 3·5 km/sec and projectile densities between 1–8 g/cm³; a mean value is most likely 2–4 g/cm³. The particles arenon-porous and fairly equi-dimensional; needles, platelets, rods, whiskers and other highly asymmetric particle shapes can be excluded. Data on projectile chemistry is sparse and non-diagnostic at present.The crater diameters are converted into projectile masses via small scale laboratory impact experiments. Accordingly, the observed span of crater pit diameters (0·1 μm–1 cm) corresponds to a particle mass range of ≈ 10^?15–10^?3 g. This large, dynamic detection range is a unique feature of the lunar rock detector. Absolute crater densities on different rocks vary from “production” to “equilibrium” conditions. After normalization of such densities, relative microcrater size frequencies are obtained to deduce a mass frequency distribution for particles 10^?15–10^?3 g. There is evidence that this distribution is bimodal. A radiation pressure cutoff at 10^?12 g particle mass does not exist. The micrometeoroid flux obtained from lunar rocks is compatible with satellite data. There is indication that the micrometeoroid flux may have been lower in the past. Some speculative astronomical consequences concerning the origin of micrometeoroids are discussed.     

今后几年的月球探测和月球科学

近年来月球探测已经进入了一个全新的时代。特别是 1 990年以来 ,多个月球探测计划已经被成功实现 ,而且另外还有多个探测计划也在准备当中 ,并将在未来的几年内发射升空。在这种背景之下 ,中国的航天机构和有关的科学家也开始积极酝酿和开发自己的月球探测计划。这些月球探测计划将利用卫星上搭载的各种仪器探测和测量月球的地质和地理特性、化学成分和矿物组成、月球物理学特征以及包含地球大气在内的地月空间环境和行星际空间环境 ;进一步研究月球的起源和演化 ,探明月面环境 ,研究太阳等离子体物理 ,提供月面天文台和月面长期科研基地的候选地址 ,调查月球上的可利用资源 ,为将来开发月球提供充实的背景资料。参与新一轮的月球探测同样也为中国天文学研究带来了新的机会。     

Fundamental Problems of Lunar Research,Technical Solutions,and Priority Lunar Regions for Research

In this article, we discuss four fundamental scientific problems of lunar research: (1) lunar chronology, (2) the internal structure of the Moon, (3) the lunar polar regions, and (4) lunar volcanism. After formulating the scientific problems and their components, we proceed to outlining a list of technical solutions and priority lunar regions for research. Solving the listed problems requires investigations on the lunar surface using lunar rovers, which can deliver a set of analytical equipment to places where geological conditions are known from a detailed analysis of orbital information. The most critical research methods, which can answer some of the key questions, are analysis of local geological conditions from panoramic photographs, determination of the chemical, isotopic, and mineral composition of the soil, and deep seismic sounding. A preliminary list is given of lunar regions with high scientific priority.     

New Criterion for Lunar Crescent Visibility

A new criterion for lunar crescent visibility has been established using 737 observations, almost half of them obtained by the Islamic Crescent Observation Project (ICOP). This criterion is based on two variables, viz. the topocentric arc of vision and the topocentric crescent width. The new model is able to predict the visibility of the lunar crescent both for naked eye and optically aided observations. From the database we found a Danjon limit of 6.4 degrees. Vice-President of “Crescents, Calendars and Mawaqeet Committee” of AUASS.     

Photometric Stability of the Lunar Surface

The rate at which cratering events currently occur on the Moon is considered in light of their influence on the use of the Moon as a radiometric standard. The radiometric effect of small impact events is determined empirically from the study of Clementine images. Events that would change the integral brightness of the moon by 1% are expected once per 1.4 Gyr. Events that cause a 1% shift in one pixel for low Earth-orbiting instruments with a 1-km nadir field of view are expected approximately once each 43 Myr. Events discernible at 1% radiometric resolution with a 5 arc-sec telescope resolution correspond to crater diameters of approximately 210 m and are expected once every 200 years. These rates are uncertain by a factor of two. For a fixed illumination and observation geometry, the Moon can be considered photometrically stable to 1 × 10⁻⁸per annum for irradiance, and 1 × 10⁻⁷per annum for radiance at a resolution common for spacecraft imaging instruments, exceeding reasonable instrument goals by six orders of magnitude.     

Earth-Based Support for the Titan Saturn System Mission

The Titan Saturn System Mission (TSSM) concept is composed of a TSSM orbiter provided by NASA that would carry two Titan in situ elements provided by ESA: the montgolfière and the probe/lake lander. One overarching goal of TSSM is to explore in situ the atmosphere and surface of Titan. The mission has been prioritized as the second Outer Planets Flagship Mission, the first one being the Europa Jupiter System Mission (EJSM). TSSM would launch around 2023–2025 arriving at Saturn 9 years later followed by a 4-year science mission in the Saturn system. Following delivery of the in situ elements to Titan, the TSSM orbiter would explore the Saturn system via a 2-year tour that includes Enceladus and Titan flybys before entering into a dedicated orbit around Titan. The Titan montgolfière aerial vehicle under consideration will circumnavigate Titan at a latitude of ~20° and at altitudes of ~10 km for a minimum of 6 months. The probe/lake lander will descend through Titan’s atmosphere and land on the liquid surface of Kraken Mare (~75° north latitude). As for any planetary space science mission, and based on the Cassini–Huygens experience, Earth-based observations will be synergistic and enable scientific optimization of the return of such a mission. Some specific examples of how this can be achieved (through VLBI and Doppler tracking, continuous monitoring of atmospheric and surface features, and Direct-to-Earth transmission) are described in this paper.     

Mission to the universe

This paper represents a commentary on the importance of communicating science to the general public, and offers specific suggestions on how best to gain public support for space astronomy. The presentation of space astronomy makes use of the contextual framework called Mission to the Universe, as developed by an international working group of astrophysicists and by the author.Presented at the 2nd UN/ESA Workshop, held in Bogotá, Colombia, 9–13 November, 1992.Humanity has embarked on a great voyage of discovery, with a mission to understand the origin, nature, and fate of our universe. Our ships are an international fleet of space observatories. Our captains are scientists from nearly every country of the world. All of us can be the explorers. Come share in our adventure...     

Mission opportunities for human exploration of Mars

An indirect optimization procedure is applied to find the mission opportunities for a manned or round-trip mission to Mars. Both the conjunction-class and opposition-class high-thrust trajectories are considered, taking into account simple legs (with only departure and arrival impulses), three-impulse legs (departure, midcourse and arrival impulses) and flyby legs, where the non-propelled flyby of the planet Venus is used instead of the midcourse impulse to reduce the propellant consumption. The absolute positions of all the relevant planets repeat almost perfectly after 32 years: therefore, only the mission opportunities in a 32-year syzygistic cycle are analyzed. The two-body problem formulation is sufficient for preliminary analyses of interplanetary missions and the trajectory is approximated by heliocentric conic orbits passing through the centres of the planets. The mission opportunities correspond to the local minima of the characteristic velocity, that is, the sum of the actual velocity changes obtained by expending the propellant. Numerical results are presented to show that the same mathematical approach can be applied to different classes of missions, to emphasize the indications suggested by Pontryagin's Maximum Principle, to point out some periodicities in the solutions and to discuss the problem of providing initial guesses at the solutions.     

The soft X-ray polychromator for the Solar Maximum Mission

The 1.4–22.4 Å range of the soft X-ray spectrum includes a multitude of emission lines which are important for the diagnosis of plasmas in the 1.5–50 million degree temperature range. In particular, the hydrogen and helium-like ions of all abundant solar elements with Z > 7 have their primary transitions in this region and these are especially useful for solar flare and active region studies. The soft X-ray polychromator (XRP) is a high resolution experiment working in this spectral region. The XRP consists of two instruments with a common control, data handling and power system. The bent crystal spectrometer is designed for high time resolution studies in lines of Fe i-Fe xxvi and Ca xix. The flat crystal scanning spectrometer provides for 7 channel polychromatic mapping of flares and active regions in the resonance lines of O viii, Ne ix, Mg xi, Si xiii, S xv, Ca xix, and Fe xxv with 14 spatial resolution. In its spectral scanning mode it covers essentially the entire 1.4–22.5 Å region.This paper summarizes the scientific objectives of the XRP experiment and describes the characteristics and capabilities of the two instruments. Sufficient technical information for experiment feasibility studies is included and the resources and procedures planned for the use of the XRP within the context of the Solar Maximum Mission is briefly discussed.     

The gamma ray spectrometer for the Solar Maximum Mission

The Solar Maximum Mission Gamma Ray Experiment (SMM GRE) utilizes an actively shielded, multicrystal scintillation spectrometer to measure the flux of solar gamma rays. The instrument provides a 476-channel pulse height spectrum (with energy resolution of 7% at 662 keV) every 16.38 s over the energy range 0.3–9 MeV. Higher time resolution (2 s) is available in three windows between 3.5 and 6.5 MeV to study prompt gamma ray line emission at 4.4 and 6.1 MeV. Gamma ray spectral analysis can be extended to 15 MeV on command. Photons in the energy band from 300–350 keV are recorded with a time resolution of 64 ms. A high energy configuration also gives the spectrum of photons in the energy range from 10–100 MeV and the flux of neutrons 20 MeV. Both have a time resolution of 2 s. Auxiliary X-ray detectors will provide spectra with 1-sec time resolution over the energy range of 10–140 keV. The instrument is designed to measure the intensity, energy, and Doppler shift of narrow gamma ray lines as well as the intensity of extremely broadened lines and the photon continuum. The main objective is to use this time and spectral information from both nuclear gamma ray lines and the photon continuum in a direct study of the dynamics of the solar flare/particle acceleration phenomena.     

依巴谷后的天体测量卫星项目——空间光干涉卫星

简述了依巴谷后提出的天体测量卫星项目,如FAME、DIVA、JASMINE、SIM Lite、Gaia、OBSS、JMAPS等。描述了空间光干涉从1980年至今的发展过程,特别给出了用天体测量方法研究天体物理课题之SIM Lite工程的近况:科学目标、仪器的结构、技术上的重大突破点和观测方式等。重点介绍了SIM Lite参考架的构建,包括栅格星和类星体的选择,以及SIM Lite光学参考架与射电参考架ICRF-2之间的联系和联系的精度。比较了SIM与Gaia观测方式的不同点,以及它们在天体物理研究和参考架的建立上互补之处。最后,回顾了中国科学院"八五"重点项目"光学天文中高空间分辨率应用和技术研究"和当前开展有关光干涉工作的一些情况,以及今后开展此课题的若干建议。     

月球卫星轨道力学综述

月球探测器的运动通常可分为3个阶段，这3个阶段分别对应3种不同类型的轨道：近地停泊轨道、向月飞行的过渡轨道与环月飞行的月球卫星轨道。近地停泊轨道实为一种地球卫星轨道；过渡轨道则涉及不同的过渡方式(大推力或小推力等)；环月飞行的月球卫星轨道则与地球卫星轨道有很多不同之处，它决不是地球卫星轨道的简单克隆。针对这一点，全面阐述月球卫星的轨道力学问题，特别是环月飞行中的一些热点问题，如轨道摄动解的构造、近月点高度的下降及其涉及的卫星轨道寿命、各种特殊卫星(如太阳同步卫星和冻结轨道卫星等)的轨道特征、月球卫星定轨等。     

An Estimate on the Lunar Figure

In 1799 Laplace discovered that the three principal moments of the Moon are not in equilibrium with the Moon's current orbital and rotational state. Some authors suggested that the Moon may carry a fossil figure. More than 3 billion years ago, the liquid Moon was closer to the Earth and revolved faster. Then the Moon migrated outwards and its rotation slowed down. During the early stage of this migration, the Moon was continually subjected to tidal and rotational stretching and formed into an ellipsoid. Subsequently the Moon cooled down and solidified quickly. Eventually, the solid Moon's lithosphere was stable and as a result we may see the very early lunar figure.     

环月飞行器精密定轨的模拟仿真

以中国正在实施的探月计划“嫦娥1号”工程为背景，分析了在中国联合S波段(USB)测控网和甚长基线射电干涉(VLBI)跟踪网的现有空间分布、观测精度水平下的环月飞行器精密定轨．采用的方法是模拟仿真计算，即首先模拟观测数据，然后在计入各误差源的影响后进行求解，并对解算结果进行比较．模拟仿真的工具是美国宇航局哥达德飞行中心的空间数据分析软件系统GEODYN．环月飞行的主要误差源是月球重力场，为此首先讨论了目前精度最高的月球重力场模型JGL165P1的(形式)误差．在模拟了测距、测速以及VLBI的时延、时延率数据后，计入月球重力场的误差进行精密轨道确定．定轨时采用了减缩动力学(reduced dynamic)方法，即选用合适的经验加速度参数吸收重力场误差对定轨的影响．结果表明对于一个不将月球重力场作为主要科学目标的探月计划(如“嫦娥1号”)，减缩动力学方法是一个简单、有效地提高环月飞行器定轨精度的方法．     

一种适用于古天文研究的月亮历表

通过对古天文研究中用到的月亮历表的特点及制作方法的分析，认为Ｃｈａｐｒｏｎｔ的半分析月亮历表在大时间尺度下具有良好的稳定性，适合古天文研究的应用．在此理论基础上，制作了一个简化的、实用的月亮历表．该历表与Ｃｈａｐｒｏｎｔ的历表在１５００Ｂ．Ｃ．～２０００Ａ．Ｄ．的黄经系统差在１．５″之内．为应用方便，给出了简化历表所用的月亮参数的高次表达式、傅里叶系数表及一个算例，读者可据此编制自己的计算月亮位置的程序。     

月球激光测距的新技术方法研究

月球激光测距是国内外所瞩目的宏伟目标 ,代表着单光子探测技术的高峰。本论文的目的是探索提高激光测月回波光子数的新方法 ,进而增加激光测月成功的几率。其思路是源于一个新的想法 :在激光测月过程中引入大气波前倾斜量实时补偿的技术。首先介绍激光测月的现状和其难度所在 :回波光子数太少 ,基本上属于亚光子探测范畴。在现有技术条件下 ,本文对影响激光测月回波光子数的因素逐一进行分析讨论 ,提出应该把激光束截面能量分布和大气湍流效应包括进去。为此分析讨论了大气湍流和大气中光场的基本统计性质、激光束在大气中传输时所受大气湍流的影响以及大气湍流对激光测距的影响 ,得出大气湍流特别对激光测月有着明显影响的结论。在此基础上对传统的激光测距方程进行了修正 ,使其应用到激光测月时更符合真实的情况 ,从而指导补偿的进行。涉及到在激光测月中对受大气湍流而畸变的激光束进行补偿 ,本文抓住重点 ,通过分析看出对大气倾斜量的实时补偿是提高激光测月回波光子数的重要因素。结合激光测月以及云南天文台现有测距系统的实际情况 ,本文独创性地提出利用激光测月目标近旁一定大小区域的扩展面源探测与计算大气倾斜量 ,然后对激光测月中的激光束进行大气倾斜量实时补偿的新技术方法。在分析比较     

Data Archive of the Hinode Mission

All of the Hinode telemetry data are to be reformatted and archived in the DARTS system at ISAS and mirrored to data centers around the word. The archived data are distributed to users through the Internet. This paper gives an overview of the files in the archive, including the file formats. All formats are portable and have heritage from the previous missions. From the reformatted files, index information is created for faster data search. Users can perform queries based on information contained in the index. This allows for searches to return observations that conform to particular observing conditions.