Clean room microbiome complexity impacts planetary protection bioburden

Background The Spacecraft Assembly Facility (SAF) at the NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is the primary cleanroom facility used in the construction of some of the planetary protection (PP)-sensitive missions developed by NASA, including the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover that launched in July 2020. SAF floor samples (n=98) were collected, over a 6-month period in 2016 prior to the construction of the Mars rover subsystems, to better understand the temporal and spatial distribution of bacterial populations (total, viable, cultivable, and spore) in this unique cleanroom. Results Cleanroom samples were examined for total (living and dead) and viable (living only) microbial populations using molecular approaches and cultured isolates employing the traditional NASA standard spore assay (NSA), which predominantly isolated spores. The 130 NSA isolates were represented by 16 bacterial genera, of which 97% were identified as spore-formers via Sanger sequencing. The most spatially abundant isolate was Bacillus subtilis, and the most temporally abundant spore-former was Virgibacillus panthothenticus. The 16S rRNA gene-targeted amplicon sequencing detected 51 additional genera not found in the NSA method. The amplicon sequencing of the samples treated with propidium monoazide (PMA), which would differentiate between viable and dead organisms, revealed a total of 54 genera: 46 viable non-spore forming genera and 8 viable spore forming genera in these samples. The microbial diversity generated by the amplicon sequencing corresponded to ~86% non-spore-formers and ~14% spore-formers. The most common spatially distributed genera were Sphinigobium, Geobacillus, and Bacillus whereas temporally distributed common genera were Acinetobacter, Geobacilllus, and Bacillus. Single-cell genomics detected 6 genera in the sample analyzed, with the most prominent being Acinetobacter. Conclusion This study clearly established that detecting spores via NSA does not provide a complete assessment for the cleanliness of spacecraft-associated environments since it failed to detect several PP-relevant genera that were only recovered via molecular methods. This highlights the importance of a methodological paradigm shift to appropriately monitor bioburden in cleanrooms for not only the aeronautical industry but also for pharmaceutical, medical industries, etc., and the need to employ molecular sequencing to complement traditional culture-based assays.

Modelado y Recreación Virtual de Patrimonio Aeronáutico como Innovación Docente en Estudios de Ingeniería = Modelling and Virtual Recreation of Aeronautical Heritage as a Teaching Innovation in Engineering Studies

El patrimonio aeronáutico a diferencia de otros como el arquitectónico o industrial no ha sido tan abordado históricamente.Desde hace 20 años, en la Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería de Sevilla, se imparte docencia sobre Diseño y Fabricación Asistidos por Ordenador en sus múltiples titulaciones [2]. En los estudios de Ingeniería Aeroespacial se emplea CATIA, software estándar en la industria aeronáutica europea, Estados Unidos y Canadá [3].Durante el aprendizaje, los alumnos adquieren competencias para realizar modelados y recreaciones virtuales [5], no tan sólo orientadas a sus futuras actividades profesionales, sino también a otras relativas al rescate y catalogación del patrimonio histórico aeronáutico [6].Se presenta en esta comunicación el Modelado y Recreación Virtual del avión biplano Ansaldo SVA 5 [7], cuya documentación de partida consistió en planos realizados a mano y en documentos referentes a los diferentes procesos de verificación del proyecto del avión y a las modificaciones realizadasAbstractThe aeronautical heritage, unlike others such as architectural or industrial heritage, has not been so much addressed historically.For the last 20 years, the Seville School of Engineering has been teaching Computer Aided Design and Manufacturing in its multiple degrees [2]. CATIA, standard software in the aeronautical industry in Europe, the United States and Canada, is used in the Aerospace Engineering studies [3].During the apprenticeship, students acquire skills to perform modelling and virtual recreations [5], not only oriented to their future professional activities, but also to others related to the rescue and cataloguing of the aeronautical historical heritage [6].This paper presents the modelling and virtual recreation of the biplane Ansaldo SVA 5 [7], whose starting documentation consisted of handmade plans and documents relating to the various processes of verification of the aircraft project and the modifications made.

The future of data communication in Aviation 4.0 environment

Currently experienced the dawn of the Aviation 4.0 era is transforming the contemporary technological environment, throughout the whole aeronautical industry, by creating cyber-physical systems. Following the evolutionary path, incorporating advanced automated and first autonomy systems, the applications involved are becoming increasingly data- oriented. The need for progressive data analytics, massive adoption and operation of IoT devices, delivering advanced monitoring and machine learning opportunities, building the core structure for artificial intelligence, will put a significant pressure on data communication and connectivity itself. In the near future, the problems may especially arise in datalink used in civil aviation. This research paper briefly studies the contemporary systems used for datalink, determines dominant aspects of Aviation 4.0 and their overall impact on the performance requirements of the data communications network, and proposes the possible solution to the problematics, with newly emerging LEO satellite mega-constellations providing Internet connectivity. The conclusion of this paper highlights the requirements for future data communication systems and determines whether the existing and proposed datalink subnetwork technologies are capable of meeting the demands established by Aviation 4.0.

The effect of hot-press sintering temperature on density of heavy alloys WNi5Cu3

The effect of hot-press sintering temperature on density of tungsten heavy alloys is presented in this paper. The experiments were performed for the WNi5Cu3 samples of W-Ni-Cu heavy alloy system. The hot-press sintering temperature was ranged from 1300 to 1440 °c with a constant applied pressure of 40 MPa. Subsequently, the sintered samples were annealed at 1000 °c in acgon atmosphere during 3 h. The results showed that the obtained heavy alloys had maximum density of 17,427 g.cm3 and final particle size around (10 + 15) mm. The obtained results met the requirement for fabrication of small balanced parts for aeronautical industry.

Efficiency and Sustainability Analysis of the Repair and Maintenance Operations of UNS M11917 Magnesium Alloy Parts of the Aeronautical Industry Made by Intermittent Facing

This paper analyzes the efficiency and sustainability of facing operations that are required within maintenance operations in the aeronautical industry. Due to the elevated cost and environmental impact of such processes, reducing the operating time while repairing parts is required. In this work, an experimental study of intermittent facing carried out on a magnesium alloy rod was developed. The experiment resembles real repair and maintenance machining operations, where an intermittent facing represents a more realistic scenario and where the results obtained in continuous turning studies are not always applicable. The work was performed with different cooling and lubrication systems and various cutting conditions, also considering the size of the interruption to analyze their impact in the surface roughness. To this end, surface finished in different measuring zones was studied. The aims of the study are to get a better understanding of the intermittent facing process in magnesium alloys typically employed in aeronautical applications and find the most efficient cutting parameters to obtain an improved surface under the safest and most environmentally respectful conditions.

The Italian State's Active Support for the Aeronautical Industry: The Case of the Caproni Group, 1910–1951

Based on Italian and foreign archival sources, this study shows how Italy's active assistance to its industrial apparatus soon included the newly born aircraft industry, including the Caproni Group. However, after World War II the Group went bankrupt along with most aircraft manufacturers. The suspension of aircraft development, the preference for importing allied (American and British) aircraft for civil airlines, and the denial of international assistance were the ensuing political and economic costs of defeat. In the end, Italy nationalized what was left of its aviation firms. Also, nationalization was consistent with its industrial history and represented the only way to help this sector survive.

Rupture by impact-induced fatigue of a copper foil strip embedded in a multifunctional composite material

Multifunctional composite materials are highly sought-after by the aerospace and aeronautical industry but their performance depends on their ability to sustain various forms of damages, in particular damages due to repeated impacts. In this work we studied the mechanical behavior of a layered glass-epoxy composite with copper inserts subjected to fatigue under repeated impacts with different energy levels. Damage evolution as a function of impact energy was carefully monitored in order to determine the effect of the copper inserts on mechanical characteristics of the multifunctional composite, such as endurance and life. Results of repeated impact tests show that electric current interruption in the copper inserts occurs prior to the total perforation of the composite material, and after about 75% of the total number of impacts to failure. This is the case for the three energy levels considered in this study, [Formula: see text] = 2, 3 and 4 Joules. The epoxy resin was dissolved chemically in order to preserve the mechanical structure of the damaged copper inserts and the composite fibers for further inspection and analysis. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of the fractured copper inserts revealed interesting information on the nature of the damage, including information on plastic deformation, strain hardening, cracking mode, temperature increase during the impacts, and most importantly the glass fibers and their roles during the impact-fatigue tests.

Methodology for the Field Evaluation of the Impact of Augmented Reality Tools for Maintenance Workers in the Aeronautic Industry

Augmented Reality (AR) enhances the comprehension of complex situations by making the handling of contextual information easier. Maintenance activities in aeronautics consist of complex tasks carried out on various high-technology products under severe constraints from the sector and work environment. AR tools appear to be a potential solution to improve interactions between workers and technical data to increase the productivity and the quality of aeronautical maintenance activities. However, assessments of the actual impact of AR on industrial processes are limited due to a lack of methods and tools to assist in the integration and evaluation of AR tools in the field. This paper presents a method for deploying AR tools adapted to maintenance workers and for selecting relevant evaluation criteria of the impact in an industrial context. This method is applied to design an AR tool for the maintenance workshop, to experiment on real use cases, and to observe the impact of AR on productivity and user satisfaction for all worker profiles. Further work aims to generalize the results to the whole maintenance process in the aeronautical industry. The use of the collected data should enable the prediction of the impact of AR for related maintenance activities.

A comparative study of optimization methods for eddy-current characterization of aeronautical metal sheets

This paper presents eddy current non-destructive characterization of three aeronautical metal sheets by deterministic and stochastic inversion methods. This procedure consists of associating the finite element method with three optimization algorithms (Simplex method and genetic and particle swarm algorithms) simultaneously determine electric conductivity, magnetic permeability and thickness of Al, Ti and 304L stainless steel metal sheets largely used in aeronautical industry. Indeed, the application of these methods has shown the performance of each inversion algorithms. As a result, while doing a qualitative and quantitative comparison, it was found that the Simplex method is more advantageous in comparison with genetic and particle swarm algorithms, since it is faster and more stable .

Integrative Digital Transformation and Organizational Competitiveness(OC): Proposal for a Transition Strategy to the Aeronautics Industry 4.0 (TSAI) based on a Knowledge Management(KM) approach in a Moroccan ecosystem environment

The objective of our paper is to transpose the Industrial Acceleration Plan 2.0 on the aeronautical industry in Morocco (IAM) by proposing a transition strategy to the aeronautical industry 4.0 (STIA 4.0). The latter will be based on the establishment of a transverse ecosystem (TSE) of knowledge management (KM) that will feed the innovation by strategic knowledge. The objective is to innovate through the exploitation of Big Data to implement the transverse ecosystem digital and renewable energy. This is justified by the fact that the digitization and decarbonization of industries have become the main vectors of competitiveness of companies in the aerospace industry 4.0. The choice of the latter, to conduct our study, is justified by the fact that it is a sector that requires digital resources to cope with its sophistication. Despite its complexity, it can be developed by own resources in the Moroccan context. That is why we have proposed this integrative strategy that integrates, in addition to digitalization, other resources (Barney, 1991) based on dynamic capabilities (Teece and all, 1997) and that takes into account the context and contextualization (Doha S. and Louitri A., 2020).