Spacecraft-spacecraft radio-metric tracking: Signal acquisition requirements and application to Mars approach navigation

Doppler and ranging measurements between spacecraft can be obtained only when the ratio of the total received signal power to noise power density (P(sub t)/N(sub 0)) at the receiving spacecraft is sufficiently large that reliable signal detection can be achieved within a reasonable time period. In this article, the requirement on P(sub t)/N(sub 0) for reliable carrier signal detection is calculated as a function of various system parameters, including characteristics of the spacecraft computing hardware and a priori uncertainty in spacecraft-spacecraft relative velocity and acceleration. Also calculated is the P(sub t)/N(sub 0) requirements for reliable detection of a ranging signal, consisting of a carrier with pseudonoise (PN) phase modulation. Once the P(sub t)/N(sub 0) requirement is determined, then for a given set of assumed spacecraft telecommunication characteristics (transmitted signal power, antenna gains, and receiver noise temperatures) it is possible to calculate the maximum range at which a carrier signal or ranging signal may be acquired. For example, if a Mars lander and a spacecraft approaching Mars are each equipped with 1-m-diameter antennas, the transmitted power is 5 W, and the receiver noise temperatures are 350 K, then S-band carrier signal acquisition can be achieved at ranges exceeding 10 million km. An error covariance analysis illustrates the utility of in situ Doppler and ranging measurements for Mars approach navigation. Covariance analysis results indicate that navigation accuracies of a few km can be achieved with either data type. The analysis also illustrates dependency of the achievable accuracy on the approach trajectory velocity

Heat Transfer Measurements for a Film Cooled Turbine Vane Cascade

Experimental heat transfer and pressure measurements were obtained on a large scale film cooled turbine vane cascade. The objective was to investigate heat transfer on a commercial high pressure first stage turbine vane at near engine Mach and Reynolds number conditions. Additionally blowing ratios and coolant density were also matched. Numerical computations were made with the Glenn-HT code of the same geometry and compared with the experimental results. A transient thermochromic liquid crystal technique was used to obtain steady state heat transfer data on the mid-span geometry of an instrumented vane with 12 rows of circular and shaped film cooling holes. A mixture of SF6 and Argon gases was used for film coolant to match the coolant-to-gas density ratio of a real engine. The exit Mach number and Reynolds number were 0.725 and 2.7 million respectively. Trends from the experimental heat transfer data matched well with the computational prediction, particularly for the film cooled case

Beam instrumentation for the Tevatron Collider

The Tevatron in Collider Run II (2001-present) is operating with six times more bunches and many times higher beam intensities and luminosities than in Run I (1992-1995). Beam diagnostics were crucial for the machine start-up and the never-ending luminosity upgrade campaign. We present the overall picture of the Tevatron diagnostics development for Run II, outline machine needs for new instrumentation, present several notable examples that led to Tevatron performance improvements, and discuss the lessons for future colliders

Endwall Heat Transfer Measurements in a Transonic Turbine Cascade

Turbine blade endwall heat transfer measurements are given for a range of Reynolds and Mach numbers. Data were obtained for Reynolds numbers based on inlet conditions of 0.5 and 1.0 x 106, for isentropic exit Mach numbers of 1.0 and 1.3, and for freestream turbulence intensities of 0.25% and 7.0%. Tests were conducted in a linear cascade at the NASA Lewis Transonic Turbine Blade Cascade Facility. The test article was a turbine rotor with 136' of turning and an axial chord of 12.7 cm. The large scale allowed for very detailed measurements of both flow field and surface phenomena. The intent of the work is to provide benchmark quality data for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code and model verification. The flow field in the cascade is highly three-dimensional as a result of thick boundary layers at the test section inlet. Endwall heat transfer data were obtained using a steady-state liquid crystal technique

Siren songs or path to salvation? Interpreting the visions of web technology at a UK regional newspaper in crisis, 2006-11

A 5-year case study of an established regional newspaper in Britain investigates journalists about their perceptions of convergence in digital technologies. This research is the first ethnographic longitudinal case study of a UK regional newspaper. Although conforming to some trends observed in the wider field of scholarship, the analysis adds to skepticism about any linear or directional views of innovation and adoption: the Northern Echo newspaper journalists were observed to have revised their opinions of optimum Web practices, and sometimes radically reversed policies. Technology is seen in the period as a fluid, amorphous entity. Central corporate authority appeared to diminish in the period as part of a wider reduction in formalism. Questioning functionalist notions of the market, the study suggests cause and effect models of change are often subverted by contradictory perceptions of particular actions. Meanwhile, during technological evolution, the ‘professional imagination’ can be understood as strongly reflecting the parent print culture and its routines, despite pioneering a new convergence partnership with an independent television company