Operational experience and design recommendations for teleoperated flight hardware

Teleoperation (remote manipulation) will someday supplement/minimize astronaut extravehicular activity in space to perform such tasks as satellite servicing and repair, and space station construction and servicing. This technology is being investigated by NASA with teleoperation of two space-related tasks having been demonstrated at the Oak Ridge National Lab. The teleoperator experiments are discussed and the results of these experiments are summarized. The related equipment design recommendations are also presented. In addition, a general discussion of equipment design for teleoperation is also presented

Specialization of the rostral prefrontal cortex for distinct analogy processes

Analogical reasoning is central to learning and abstract thinking. It involves using a more familiar situation (source) to make inferences about a less familiar situation (target). According to the predominant cognitive models, analogical reasoning includes 1) generation of structured mental representations and 2) mapping based on structural similarities between them. This study used functional magnetic resonance imaging to specify the role of rostral prefrontal cortex (PFC) in these distinct processes. An experimental paradigm was designed that enabled differentiation between these processes, by temporal separation of the presentation of the source and the target. Within rostral PFC, a lateral subregion was activated by analogy task both during study of the source (before the source could be compared with a target) and when the target appeared. This may suggest that this subregion supports fundamental analogy processes such as generating structured representations of stimuli but is not specific to one particular processing stage. By contrast, a dorsomedial subregion of rostral PFC showed an interaction between task (analogy vs. control) and period (more activated when the target appeared). We propose that this region is involved in comparison or mapping processes. These results add to the growing evidence for functional differentiation between rostral PFC subregions

GaAs (AlGaAs)/CuInSe2 tandem solar cells. Technology status and future directions

Mechanically stacked, high efficiency, lightweight, and radiation resistant photovoltaic cells based on a GaAs thin film top and CuInSe2 thin film bottom cells were developed, and are considered one of the most promising devices for planar solar array applications. The highest efficiency demonstrated so far using the 4 sq cm design is 23.1 pct. AM0, one sun efficiency when measured in four-terminal configuration. The current status of the GaAs(AlGaAs)/CuInSe2 tandem cell program is presented and future directions that will lead to cell efficiencies higher than 26 pct. Air Mass Zero (AM0). A new 8 sq cm cell design developed for a two terminal and voltage matched configuration to minimize wiring complexity is discussed. Optimization of the GaAs structure for a higher end-of-life performance and further improvement of tandem cells by utilizing AlGaAs as an top absorber are described. Results of environmental tests conducted with these thin film GaAs/CuInSe2 tandem cells are also summarized

The S2 VLBI Correlator: A Correlator for Space VLBI and Geodetic Signal Processing

We describe the design of a correlator system for ground and space-based VLBI. The correlator contains unique signal processing functions: flexible LO frequency switching for bandwidth synthesis; 1 ms dump intervals, multi-rate digital signal-processing techniques to allow correlation of signals at different sample rates; and a digital filter for very high resolution cross-power spectra. It also includes autocorrelation, tone extraction, pulsar gating, signal-statistics accumulation.Comment: 44 pages, 13 figure

Summer melt regulates winter glacier flow speeds throughout Alaska

pre-printPredicting how climate change will affect glacier and ice sheet flow speeds remains a large hurdle toward accurate sea level rise forecasting. Increases in surface melt rates are known to accelerate glacier flow in summer, whereas in winter, flow speeds are believed to be relatively invariant. Here we show that wintertime flow speeds on nearly all major glaciers throughout Alaska are not only variable but are inversely related to melt from preceding summers. For each additional meter of summertime melt, we observe an 11% decrease in wintertime velocity on glaciers of all sizes, geometries, climates, and bed types. This dynamic occurs because interannual differences in summertime melt affect how much water is retained in the subglacial system during winter. The ubiquity of the dynamic indicates it occurs globally on glaciers and ice sheets not frozen to their beds and thus constitutes a new mechanism affecting sea level rise projections

Effective Actions, Boundaries and Precision Calculations of Casimir Energies

We perform the matching required to compute the leading effective boundary contribution to the QED lagrangian in the presence of a conducting surface, once the electron is integrated out. Our result resolves a confusion in the literature concerning the interpretation of the leading such correction to the Casimir energy. It also provides a useful theoretical laboratory for brane-world calculations in which kinetic terms are generated on the brane, since a lot is known about QED near boundaries.Comment: 5 pages. revtex; Added paragraphs describing finite-conductivity effects and effects due to curvatur

Progress in GaAs/CuInSe2 tandem junction solar cells

Much more power is required for spacecraft of the future than current vehicles. To meet this increased demand for power while simultaneously meeting other requirements for launch, deployment, and maneuverability, the development of higher-efficiency, lighter-weight, and more radiation resistant photovoltaic cells is essential. Mechanically stacked tandem junction solar cells based on (AlGaAs)GaAs thin film CLEFT (Cleavage of Lateral Epitaxial Film for Transfer) top cells and CuInSe2(CIS) thin film bottom cells are being developed to meet these power needs. The mechanically stacked tandem configuration is chosen due to its interconnect flexibility allowing more efficient array level performance. It also eliminates cell fabrication processing constraints associated with monolithically integrated multi-junction approaches, thus producing higher cell fabrication yields. The GaAs cell is used as the top cell due to its demonstrated high efficiency, and good radiation resistance. Furthermore, it offers a future potential for bandgap tuning using AlGaAs as the absorber to maximize cell performance. The CuInSe2 cell is used as the bottom cell due to superb radiation resistance, stability, and optimal bandgap value in combination with an AlGaAs top cell. Since both cells are incorporated as thin films, this approach provides a potential for very high specific power. This high specific power (W/kg), combined with high power density (W/sq m) resulting from the high efficiency of this approach, makes these cells ideally suited for various space applications