Tianwen-1 Mars entry vehicle trajectory and atmosphere reconstruction preliminary analysis

The Tianwen-1 Mars entry vehicle successfully landed on the surface of Mars in southern Utopia Planitia on May 15, 2021, at 7:18 (UTC+8). To acquire valuable Martian flight data, a scientific instrumentation package consisting of a flush air data system and a multilayer temperature-sensing system was installed aboard the entry vehicle. A combined approach was applied in the entry, descent, and landing trajectory reconstruction using all available data obtained by the inertial measurement unit and the flush air data system. An aerodynamic database covering the entire flight regime was generated using computational fluid dynamics methods to assist in the reconstruction process. A preliminary analysis of the trajectory reconstruction result, along with the atmosphere reconstruction and aerodynamic performance, was conducted. The results show that the trajectory agrees closely with the nominal trajectory and the wind-relative attitude. Suspected wind occurred at the end of the trajectory.

Light-Driven Linear Inchworm Motor Based on Liquid Crystal Elastomer Actuators Fabricated with Rubbing Overwriting

Linear displacement is used for positioning and scanning, e.g., in robotics at different scales or in—scientific instrumentation. Most linear motors are either powered by rotary drives or are driven directly by pressure, electromagnetic forces or a shape change in a medium, such as piezoelectrics or shape-memory materials. Here, we present a centimeter-scale light-powered linear inchworm motor, driven by two liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) accordion-like actuators. The rubbing overwriting technique was used to fabricate the LCE actuators, made of elastomer film with patterned alignment. In the linear motor, a scanned green laser beam induces a sequence of travelling deformations in a pair of actuators that move a gripper, which couples to a shaft via friction moving it with an average speed in the order of millimeters per second. The prototype linear motor demonstrates how LCE light-driven actuators with a limited stroke can be used to drive more complex mechanisms, where large displacements can be achieved, defined only by the technical constrains (the shaft length in our case), and not by the limited strain of the material. Inchworm motors driven by LCE actuators may be scaled down to sub-millimeter size and can be used in applications where remote control and power supply with light, either delivered in free space beams or via fibers, is an advantage.

Remote Laboratory for E-Learning of Systems on Chip and Their Applications to Nuclear and Scientific Instrumentation

Configuring and setting up a remote access laboratory for an advanced online school on fully programmable System-on-Chip (SoC) proved to be an outstanding challenge. The school, jointly organized by the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), focused on SoC and its applications to nuclear and scientific instrumentation and was mainly addressed to physicists, computer scientists and engineers from developing countries. The use of e-learning tools, which some of them adopted and others developed, allowed the school participants to directly access both integrated development environment software and programmable SoC platforms. This facilitated the follow-up of all proposed exercises and the final project. During the four weeks of the training activity, we faced and overcame different technology and communication challenges, whose solutions we describe in detail together with dedicated tools and design methodology. We finally present a summary of the gained experience and an assessment of the results we achieved, addressed to those who foresee to organize similar initiatives using e-learning for advanced training with remote access to SoC platforms.

Exploring the Habitability of Venus: Conceptual Design of a Small Atmospheric Probe

The possible presence of life in the atmosphere of Venus has been debated frequently over the last 60 years. The discussion was recently reignited by the possible detection of phosphine (PH3), but several other chemicals potentially relevant for life processes are also found in the middle atmosphere. Moreover, the reasons for the heterogeneous ultraviolet (UV) absorption between 320 and 400 nm in the altitude range ∼40–70 km are still not well understood. These aspects could be further studied in-situ by UV Raman and fluorescence instruments. Here, the conceptual design of a small balloon probe (<20 kg) is presented, including a science payload comprising a UV laser, spectrometer, and a telescope. The goal of the proposed mission is to analyse the absorption of UV light in Venus’ atmosphere, to study the atmospheric composition, and to verify the possible presence of biomarkers. Current state-of-the-art technologies would allow a more cost-efficient and easy to develop mission, as compared to previous Venus probes. This article is focused on the scientific instrumentation, as well as on the mass and power budgets required to realise the proposed mission.

Taking Newton on Tour

Although he failed in his first bid to be Royal Society President, Folkes continued to promote Newtonianism abroad. Folkes took a Grand Tour from 1732/3 to 1735, recording the Italian leg of his journey from Padua to Rome in his journal. Chapter five examines Folkes’s travel diary to analyse further his Freemasonry, his intellectual development as a Newtonian and his scientific peregrination in which he used metrology to understand not only the aesthetics but the engineering principles of antique buildings and artefacts, as well as their context and place in the Italian landscape. For Folkes, natural philosophy and antiquarianism went hand in hand. Using Folkes’s diary of his journey, and letters to/from natural philosophers such as Francesco Algarotti, Anders Celsius and Abbé Antonio Conti, this chapter analyses to what extent Folkes’s tour established his reputation as an international broker of Newtonianism as well as the overall primacy of English scientific instrumentation to Italian virtuosi.

Advancing Data Curation and Archiving: an Application of Coding to Lab Management in the Geosciences

&lt;p&gt;Increases in technology have rapidly advanced the capabilities and ubiquity of scientific instrumentation.&amp;#160;Coupled with the demand for increased transparency and reproducibility in science, these advances have necessitated new systems of data management and archival practices. Laboratories are working to update their methods of data curation in line with these evolving best-practices, moving data from often disorderly private domains to publicly available, collaborative platforms. At the Hamilton Isotope Laboratory (HIL) of Hamilton College, the isotope ratio mass spectrometer (IRMS) is utilized across STEM disciplines for a combination of student, faculty, and course-related research, including both internal and external users. With over 200 sets of analytical runs processed in the past five years, documenting instrument usage and archiving the data produced is crucial to maintaining a state-of-the-art facility. However, previous to this project, the HIL faced significant barriers to proper data curation, storage, and accessibility including: a) data files were produced with variable format and nomenclature; b) data files were difficult to interpret without explanation from the lab technician; c) key metadata tying results to respective researchers and projects were missing; d) accessibility to data was limited due to storage on an individual computer; and e) data curation was an intellectual responsibility and burden for the lab technician. Additionally, as the HIL is housed within an undergraduate institution, the high rate of turnover for lab groups created additional barriers to the preservation of long-term, institutional knowledge, as students worked with the HIL for a year or less. These factors necessitate the establishment of new data management practices to ensure accessibility and longevity of scientific data and metadata. In this project, 283 Excel files of previously recorded data generated by the HIL IRMS were modified and cleaned to prepare data for submission to EarthChem, a public repository for geochemical data. Existing Excel files were manually manipulated, several original R code scripts were generated and employed, and procedures were established to backtrace projects and collect key metadata. Most critically, a new internal system of data collection was established with standardized nomenclature and framework. For future usage of the IRMS, data will be exported directly into a template compatible with EarthChem, thereby removing barriers for principal investigators (PIs) and research groups to archive their data in the public domain upon completion of their projects and publications.&lt;/p&gt;

Styles of Objectivity in Scientific Instrumentation

This chapter theorizes the epistemic roles of technology. Focusing on the example of magnetic resonance imaging, it approaches scientific instruments as adaptive mediators. The notion of adaptive mediator is drawn from the philosophy of Gilbert Simondon. The proposed approach aligns with accounts that historicize the conditions of knowledge but differs by pushing into an ecological and operational conceptual terrain. Challenging the dichotomy between sensibility and understanding, the ecologicizing move has the effect of putting technical mediation at the center of epistemology. The chapter explores the philosophical implications of replacing the subject/object model with an organism/environment model, showing how the latter fosters a new notion of ecological relationality that differs in philosophically significant respects from the poststructuralist relationality that underpins much science studies research. It proceeds to examine the epistemological implications of ecological relationality, pointing to how the ecological model opens the way for new epistemologies beyond the deadlocked positions of the science wars.