• Title/Summary/Keyword: Microgravity Environment

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Experiment Investigation on Fluid Transportation Performance of Propellant Acquisition Vanes in Microgravity Environment

  • Zhuang, Baotang;Li, Yong;Luo, Xianwu;Pan, Halin;Ji, Jingjing
    • International Journal of Fluid Machinery and Systems
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    • v.7 no.1
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    • pp.1-6
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    • 2014
  • The propellant acquisition vane (PAV) is a key part of a vane type surface tension propellant management device (PMD), which can manage the propellant effectively. In the present paper, the fluid transportation behaviors for five PAVs with different sections were investigated by using microgravity drop tower test. Further, numerical simulation for the propellant flow in a PMD under microgravity condition was also carried out based on VOF model, and showed the similar flow pattern for PAVs to the experiment. It is noted that the section geometry of PAVs is one of the main factors affecting the fluid transportation behavior of PMD. PAVs with bottom length ratio of 5/6 and 1/2 have larger propellant transportation velocity. Based on the experiments, there were two stages during the process of propellant transportation under microgravity environment: liquid relocation and steady transportation stage. It is also recognized that there is a linear correlation between liquid transportation velocity and relative time's square root. Those results can not only provide a guideline for optimization of new vane type PMDs, but also are helpful for fluid control applications in space environment.

Numerical Simulation on Characteristics of Laminar Diffusion Flame Placed Near Wall in Microgravity Environment (미소중력 환경내의 벽면 근방 확산 화염 특성에 관한 수치 해석)

  • Choi Jae-Hyuk;Fujita Osamu
    • Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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    • v.30 no.1
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    • pp.140-149
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    • 2006
  • Characteristics of a laminar diffusion flame placed near wall in microgravity have been numerically analyzed in a two-dimension. The fuel for the flame is $C_2H_4$. The flame is initiated by imposing a high temperature ignition source. The flow field, temperature field, and flame shape in microgravity diffusion flame are detailed. Especially, effects of surrounding air velocity and fuel injection velocity on the microgravity diffusion flame have been discussed accounting for standoff distance. And, the effect of curvature rate has been also studied. The results showed that velocities in a diffusion flame were overshoot because of volumetric expansion and distribution of temperature showed regularity by free-buoyancy This means that the diffusion flame in microgravity is very stable, while the flame in normal gravity is not regular and unstable due to buoyancy. Standoff distance decreases with increase in surrounding air velocity and with decrease in fuel injection velocity. With increasing curvature rate, the position of reaction rate moves away the wall.

Effects of Microgravity on Vestibular Development and Function in Rats: Genetics and Environment

  • Ronca, April-E.;Fritzsch, Bernd;Alberts, Jeffrey-R.;Bruce, Laura-L.
    • Animal cells and systems
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    • v.4 no.3
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    • pp.215-221
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    • 2000
  • Our anatomical and behavioral studies of embryonic rats that developed in microgravity suggest that the vestibular sensory system, like the visual system, has genetically mediated precesses of development that establish crude connections between the periphery and the brain. Environmental stimuli also regulate connection formation including terminal branch formation and fine-tuning of synaptic contacts. Axons of vestibular sensory neurons from grabistatic as well as linear acceleration receptors reach their targets in both microgravity and norm81 gravity, suggesting that this is a genetically regulated component of development. However, microgravity exposure delays the development of terminal branches and synapses in gravistatic but not linear acceleration-sensitive neurons and also produces behavioral changes. These latter changes reflect environmentally controlled processes of development.

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Conceptual Design and Demonstration of Space Scale for Measuring Mass in Microgravity Environment

  • Kim, Youn-Kyu;Lee, Joo-Hee;Choi, Gi-Hyuk;Choi, Ik-Hyeon
    • Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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    • v.32 no.4
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    • pp.419-425
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    • 2015
  • In this study, a new idea for developing a space scale for measuring mass in a microgravity environment was proposed by using the inertial force properties of an object to measure its mass. The space scale detected the momentum change of the specimen and reference masses by using a load-cell sensor as the force transducer based on Newton's laws of motion. In addition, the space scale calculated the specimen mass by comparing the inertial forces of the specimen and reference masses in the same acceleration field. By using this concept, a space scale with a capacity of 3 kg based on the law of momentum conservation was implemented and demonstrated under microgravity conditions onboard International Space Station (ISS) with an accuracy of ${\pm}1g$. By the performance analysis on the space scale, it was verified that an instrument with a compact size could be implemented and be quickly measured with a reasonable accuracy under microgravity conditions.

Results and Lessons Learned from the Operation of a Cubesat for the Microgravity Science Mission with Shared Ground Stations (공유 지상국을 활용하여 획득한 마이크로중력 과학임무 큐브위성의 운영 결과와 교훈 )

  • Myung-Kyu Lee;Seul-Hyun Park
    • Journal of Space Technology and Applications
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    • v.4 no.2
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    • pp.137-152
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    • 2024
  • Currently, investigations in microgravity environments are carried out in a variety of applications, including drop towers, where experiments can be performed for short periods of time, and space stations, where time is not limited. However, producing a microgravity environment for long-term scientific research requires huge development expenditures and efforts. As a result, if the microgravity experiment is carried out on a cubesat, the variety of scientific studies will likely increase even more due to its low cost. The Korea Microgravity Science Laboratory (KMSL) cubesat, which has these features, is a satellite that has carried out microgravity science missions. On March 22, 2021, the KMSL satellite was launched by a Soyuz2.1a from Baikonur in Kazakhstan and operated normally for nearly two months. This article presents results and lessons gained for successfully completing science missions in microgravity based on the KMSL satellite's operational experience.

Effects of Microgravity on Human Physiology

  • Nguyen, Nguyen;Kim, Gyutae;Kim, Kyu-Sung
    • Korean journal of aerospace and environmental medicine
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    • v.30 no.1
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    • pp.25-29
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    • 2020
  • Space exploration is one of the dreams of humankind. However, the intriguing environment was a challenge for the human body, where we must counter with many extreme conditions such as thermal support, radiation, microgravity. Life, as well as the human body, developed and evolved in the continuous presence of gravity, especially when living creatures transfer from the ocean to the land. Once this gravitational force doesn't impact on the body, the drastic changes occur. Some of these changes were observed immediately, while others progress only slowly. Since the first orbital flight was performed, several hazards for the organs of the human body were identified [1]. These changes in human physiology can reverse when astronauts return to Earth. This article will review the published findings of the effects of microgravity exposure on the human body.

In-situ Observation of Soot Deposition Behavior in a Diffusion Flame along Solid Wall by using Microgravity Environment (미소중력환경을 이용한 벽면근방 확산화염내 매연부착거동의 원위치 관찰)

  • Choi Jac-Hyuk;Fujita Osamu
    • Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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    • v.29 no.8
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    • pp.907-914
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    • 2005
  • Experiments at the Japan Microgravity Center (JAMIC) have investigated the interaction between diffusion flames and solid surfaces Placed neat flames The fuel for the flames was $C_{2} H_{4}$ The surrounding oxygen concentration was 35$\%$ with surrounding air temperatures of $T_{a}$ : 300K. Especially, the effect of wall temperature on soot deposition from a diffusion flame Placed near the wall has been studied by utilizing microgravity environment, which can attain very stable flame along the wall. Cylindrical burner with fuel injection was adopted to obtain two dimensional soot distributions by laser extinction method. In the experiment two different wall temperatures. $T_{w}$=300, 800 K, were selected as test conditions The results showed that the soot distribution between flame and burner wall was strong1y affected by the wall temperature and soot deposition increases with decrease in wall temperature. The comparison among the values lot two different wall temperatures suggests that the change in thermophoretic effect is the most dominant factor to give the change in soot deposition characteristics.

Thermophoretic deposition of soot particles in laminar diffusion flame along a solid wall in microgravity (미소중력환경에서의 고체벽면근방 층류확산염내 매연입자의 열영동 부착)

  • Choi, Jae-Hyuk;Osamu, Fujita;Chung, Suk-Ho
    • 한국연소학회:학술대회논문집
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    • 2007.05a
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    • pp.19-24
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    • 2007
  • The deposition behavior of soot particles in a diffusion flame along a solid wall was examined experimentally by getting rid of the effect of natural convection utilizing microgravity environment. The microgravity environment was realized by using a drop tower facility. The fuel for the flame was an ethylene ($C_2H_4$) and the surrounding oxygen concentration 35% with the surrounding air velocity of $V_a$=2.5, 5, and 10 cm/s. Laser extinction method was adopted to measure the soot volume fraction distribution between the flame and burner wall. The results show that observation of soot deposition in normal flame was difficult from buoyancy and the relative position of flame and solid surface changes with time. The soot particle distribution region moves closer to the surface of the wall as the surrounding air velocity is increased. And the experiments determined the trace of the maximum soot concentration line. It was found that the distance between soot line and flame line is around 5 mm. That is, the soot particle near the flame zone tends to move away from flame zone because of thermophoretic force and to concentrate at a certain narrow area inside of the flame, finally, to adhere the solid wall.

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Soot Deposition Process in a Diffusion Flame to the Wall under Microgravity (미소중력환경하에서의 확산화염내 매연입자의 벽면부착 관찰)

  • Choi, Jae-Hyuk;Fujita, Osamu;Yoon, Suck-Hun
    • Proceedings of the Korean Society of Marine Engineers Conference
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    • 2005.06a
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    • pp.87-92
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    • 2005
  • Experiments at the Japan Microgravity Center(JAMIC) have investigated the interaction between diffusion flames and solid surfaces placed near flames. The fuel for the flames was $C_2H_4$. The surrounding oxygen concentration was 35% with temperatures of $T_a$=300. Especially, the effect of wall temperature on soot deposition from a diffusion flame placed near the wall has been studied by utilizing microgravity environment, which can attain very stable flame along the wall. Cylindrical burner with fuel injection was adopted to obtain two dimensional soot distributions by laser extinction method. In the experiment two different wall temperatures, $T_w$=300,800K, were selected as test conditions. The results showed that the soot distribution between flame and burner wall was strongly affected by the wall temperature and soot deposition increases with decrease in wall temperature. The comparison among the values for two different wall temperatures suggested that the change in thermophoretic effect is the most dominant factor to give the change in soot deposition characteristics.

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Effects of Solutally Dominant Convection on Physical Vapor Transport for a Mixture of Hg2Br2 and Br2 under Microgravity Environments

  • Kim, Geug-Tae;Kwon, Moo Hyun
    • Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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    • v.52 no.1
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    • pp.75-80
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    • 2014
  • The convective flow structures in the vapor phase on earth are shown to be single unicellular, indicating the solutally dominant convection is important. These findings reflect that the total molar fluxes show asymmetrical patterns in a viewpoint of interfacial distributions. With decreasing the gravitational level form $1g_0$ down to $1.0{\times}10^{-4}g_0$, the total molar fluxes decay first order exponentially. It is also found that the total molar fluxes decay first order exponentially with increasing the partial pressure of component B, PB (Torr) form 5 Torr up to 400 Torr. Under microgravity environments less than $1g_0$, a diffusive-convection mode is dominant and, results in much uniformity in front of the crystal regions in comparisons with a normal gravity acceleration of $1g_0$.