Ion Propulsion Module (IPM) technology readiness assessment: 1985 Halley's Comet rendezvous mission

An assessment of the risk of utilizing ion propulsion to perform a rendezvous mission with Halley's comet in 1985 is presented, and consideration recommendations for reducing identified risks to the lowest possible level at project start in October 1978 were made

The spectroscopic detection of drugs of abuse in fingerprints after development with powders and recovery with adhesive lifters

The application of powders to fingerprints has long been established as an effective and reliable method for developing latent fingerprints. Fingerprints developed in situ at a crime scene routinely undergo lifting with specialist tapes and are then stored in evidence bags to allow secure transit and also to preserve the chain of evidence. In a previous study we have shown that exogenous material within a fingerprint can be detected using Raman spectroscopy following development with powders and lifting with adhesive tapes. Other reports have detailed the use of Raman spectroscopy to the detection of drugs of abuse in latent fingerprints including cyanoacrylate-fumed fingerprints. This study involves the application of Raman spectroscopy for the analysis of drugs of abuse in latent fingerprints for fingerprints that had been treated with powders and also subsequently lifted with adhesive tapes. Samples of seized ecstasy, cocaine, ketamine and amphetamine were supplied by East Sussex Police and by the TICTAC unit at St. Georges Hospital Tooting. Contaminated fingerprintswere deposited on clean glass slides. The application of aluminium or iron based powders to contaminated fingerprints did not interfere with theRamanspectra obtained for the contaminants. Contaminated fingerprints developed with powders and then lifted with lifting tapes were also examined. The combination of these two techniques did not interfere with the successful analysis. The lifting processwas repeated using hinge lifters. As the hinge lifters exhibited strong Raman bands the spectroscopic analysiswas more complex and an increase in the number of exposures to the detector allowed for improved clarification. Spectral subtraction was performed to remove peaks due to the hinge lifters using OMNIC software. Raman spectra of developed and lifted fingerprints recorded through evidence bags were obtained and it was found that the detection process was not compromised. Although the application of powders did not interfere with the detection process the time taken to locate the contaminant was increased due to the physical presence of more material within the fingerprint