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At least 271 records · Page 15

EMI from Spacecraft Docking Systems Spacecraft Charging - Plasma Contact Potentials

The plasma contact potential of a visiting vehicle (VV), such as the Orion Service Module (SM), is determined while docking at the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV). Due to spacecraft charging effects on-orbit, the potential difference between the CEV and the VV can be large at docking, and an electrostatic discharge (ESD) could occur at capture, which could degrade, disrupt, damage, or destroy sensitive electronic equipment on the CEV and/or VV. Analytical and numerical models of the CEV are simulated to predict the worst-case potential difference between the CEV and the VV when the CEV is unbiased (solar panels unlit: eclipsed in the dark and inactive) or biased (solar panels sunlit: in the light and active).

Norgard, John D.↗

An Orbit Determination Comparison Study and Demonstration for Rendezvous and Docking in a Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit from the Lunar Surface

For the upcoming NASA Artemis III mission and those that follow, both the Human Landing System (HLS) and Orion programs are invested in understanding the impacts of ground tracking performance in supporting rendezvous and docking in a Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO). Several critical questions must be answered to ensure mission success and crew safety and an assortment of analysis tools are being incorporated to address them. Two of these tools, LINCOV and MONTE, are currently providing program decision making results through HLS Insight, HLS NASA-collaborations, and Orion/Gateway cross-program analysis. To ensure consistency in the orbit determination performance, a comparison trade-study is performed using a low-lunar orbit to NRHO rendezvous scenario anticipated for the upcoming Artemis missions. An overview of the two analysis tools is provided along with a detailed step-by-step evaluation of the core capabilities and models related to the orbit determination process. This incremental comparison effort reveals both tools produce consistent solutions for the criteria investigated. Given the confidence in the orbit determination process and solutions generated, these results are then applied to demonstrate an integrated, closed-loop system performance where the HLS lander ascends from the lunar surface and successfully inserts into the NRHO relative to the Orion spacecraft in preparation for the final rendezvous and docking phase.

Linear Covariance Analysis↗

Lem docking in lunar orbit.

LEM docking with command module in lunar orbit, noting need for visual aids for alignment information

LUNAR ORBITAL RENDEZVOUS /LOR/↗

Effects of Low Earth Orbit on Docking Seal Materials

Spacecraft docking seals are typically made of silicone elastomers. When such seals are exposed to low Earth orbit (LEO) conditions, they can suffer damage from ultraviolet (UV) radiation and atomic oxygen (AO, or monoatomic oxygen, the predominant oxygen species in LEO). An experiment flew on the International Space Station (ISS) to measure the effects of LEO on seal materials S0383-70 and ELA-SA-401 and various mating counterface materials which included anodized aluminum. Samples flown in different orientations received different amounts of UV and AO. The hypotheses were that most of the damage would be from UV, and 10 days or more of exposure in LEO would badly damage the seals. Eighteen seals were exposed for 543 days in ram (windward), zenith (away from Earth), or wake (leeward) orientations, and 15 control samples (not flown) provided undamaged baseline leakage. To determine post-flight leak rates, each of the 33 seals were placed in an O-ring groove of a leak test fixture and pressure tested over time. Resistance temperature detectors (RTDs), pressure transducers, and LabVIEW (National Instruments) programs were used to measure and analyze the temperature and pressure and calculate leakage. Average leakage of control samples was 2.6 x 10(exp -7) lbs/day. LEO exposure did not considerably damage ELA-SA-401. The S0383-70 flight samples leaked at least 10 times more than ELA-SA-401 in all cases except one, demonstrating that ELA-SA-401 may be a more suitable sealing material in LEO. AO caused greater damage than UV; samples in ram orientation (receiving an AO fluence of 4.3 x 10(exp 21) atoms/(sq cm) and in wake (2.9x 10(exp 20) atoms/(sq cm)) leaked more than those in zenith orientation (1.58 x 10(exp 20) atoms/(sq cm)), whereas variations in UV exposure did not seem to affect the samples. Exposure to LEO did less damage to the seals than hypothesized, and the data did not support the conjecture that UV causes more damage than AO.

Leakage↗

An Orbit Determination Comparison Study and Demonstration for Rendezvous and Docking in a Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit from the Lunar Surface

For the upcoming NASA Artemis III mission and those that follow, both the Human Landing System (HLS) and Orion programs are invested in understanding the impacts of ground tracking performance in supporting rendezvous and docking in a Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO). Several critical questions must be answered to ensure mission success and crew safety and an assortment of analysis tools are being incorporated to address them. Two of these tools, LINCOV and MONTE, are currently providing program decision making results through HLS Insight, HLS NASA-collaborations, and Orion/Gateway cross-program analysis. To ensure consistency in the orbit determination performance, a comparison trade-study is performed using a low-lunar orbit to NRHO rendezvous scenario anticipated for the upcoming Artemis missions. An overview of the two analysis tools is provided along with a detailed step-by-step evaluation of the core capabilities and models related to the orbit determination process. This incremental comparison effort reveals both tools produce consistent solutions for the criteria investigated to within 0.3\% difference in the absolute position state estimate at key decision making epochs with all errors sources activated.

orbit determination↗

Integrated structural model of the palladin–actin complex using XL ‐ MS , docking, NMR , and SAXS

Abstract Palladin is an actin‐binding protein that accelerates actin polymerization and is linked to the metastasis of several types of cancer. Previously, three lysine residues in an immunoglobulin‐like domain of palladin have been identified as essential for actin binding. However, it is still unknown where palladin binds to F‐actin. Evidence that palladin binds to the sides of actin filaments to facilitate branching is supported by our previous study showing that palladin was able to compensate for Arp2/3 in the formation of Listeria actin comet tails. Here, we used chemical crosslinking to covalently link palladin and F‐actin residues based on spatial proximity. Samples were then enzymatically digested, separated by liquid chromatography, and analyzed by tandem mass spectrometry. Peptides containing the crosslinks and specific residues involved were then identified for input to the HADDOCK docking server to model the most likely binding conformation. Small‐angle x‐ray scattering was used to provide further insight into palladin flexibility and the binding interface, and NMR spectra identified potential interactions between palladin's Ig domains. Our final structural model of the F‐actin:palladin complex revealed how palladin interacts with and stabilizes F‐actin at the interface between two actin monomers. Three actin residues that were identified in this study also appear commonly in the actin‐binding interface with other proteins such as myotilin, myosin, and tropomodulin. An accurate structural representation of the complex between palladin and actin extends our understanding of palladin's role in promoting cancer metastasis through the regulation of actin dynamics.

Sargent, Rachel [Department of Chemistry and Bioch↗

Novel anti-cancer agents: design, synthesis, biological activity, molecular docking, and MD simulations of 2, 3, 4, 5-tetrahydro-1H-pyrido-[4,3-b]indole derivatives

In the previous research, our group designed and synthesized 2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1H-pyrido-[4,3-b] indoles, which showed high anti-tumor activity. In this study, a series of novel 2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1H-pyrido-[4,3-b] indole derivatives were designed by introducing an alkyl or aralkyl and a sulfonyl group, which are considered as the pharmacophores of some antitumor drugs based on the combination principles, and synthesized. The antiproliferative activity of all the target compounds were evaluated against Hela, A549, HepG2, and MCF-7 cell lines using the MTT assay in vitro. The results were represented by IC{sub 50} values. All compounds showed moderate to excellent antiproliferative activity with IC{sub 50} values between 0 μM and 100 μM against cancer cells. The proliferations of Hela, A549, HepG2, and MCF-7 cell lines were inhibited in a dose-dependent manner, and the cytolytic activity was markedly inhibited at the same time. The IC{sub 50} values of intermediate 3 inhibited against Hela, A549, HepG2, and MCF-7 cell lines were 52.75, 50.30, 60.31, and 54.39 μM, respectively, which were higher than the new compounds that we expected. The compounds 4a–4d bearing sulfonyl, substituted by electron donating group, showed moderate to significant antiproliferative activity, in which compound 4c was the best with the IC{sub 50} values of 13.71, 9.42, 15.06, and 14.77 μM, and these results suggested that the introduction of sulfonyl could increase the antiproliferative activity of 2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1H-pyrido-[4,3-b]indole. Compounds 4e–4g bearing alkyl, phenyl, and arylated alkyl produced good antiproliferative activity and the IC{sub 50} value of 4g was lower than 30 μM. The target compounds were more potent against A549 compared to the other three cell lines. Molecular docking studies revealed the binding orientations of all the synthesized compounds in the active site of c-Met. Moreover, molecular dynamics simulations have been performed to evaluate the binding stabilities between the synthesized compounds and their receptors.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Design, synthesis and molecular docking studies of quinazolin-4-ones linked to 1,2,3-triazol hybrids as Mycobacterium tuberculosis H{sub 37}Rv inhibitors besides antimicrobial activity

Quinazolin-4-ones linked to 1,2,3-triazol (10) were identified as inhibitors of the bisphosphonate BPH-700 transcriptional factor from a high throughput screen. A series of 1,4-disubstituted triazoles (10a–j) were synthesized by the Cu-catalyzed azide-alkyne cyclo addition of 5-methoxy-2-nitro-4-(prop-2-yn-1-yloxy) benzamide (6) with various substituted azido benzenes (7) in the presence of CuSO{sub 4} under aerobic conditions followed by click reaction with substituted aldehydes. The target compounds were screened for antitubercular activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H{sub 37}Rv by Broth micro dilution method using Lowenstein Jensen medium (LJ) (MIC < 9 μg/mL). Majority of the compounds 10b, 10d, 10e, 10i and 10j displayed good antitubercular activity with MIC 7–11 μg/mL. Further, 10e exhibited a promising inhibition with MIC 7 μg/mL, compared to the reference drug Rifampicin. Docking studies have been performed to understand the interactions between the synthesized compounds and the active site of pantothenate synthetase Mycobacterium tuberculosis H{sub 37}Rv organism. The study revealed that the target compounds showed good affinity toward the protein when compared to the standard drug Pefloxacin. Further, 10b was found to interact with three amino acids, viz., Gln92, Arg200, Ser196, as evidenced by the large interaction energy (ΔG = −8.16 kcal/mol). Besides the above, the synthesized quinazolinone triazoles 10a–j were evaluated for their antibacterial activities against a panel of Gram +ve and Gram –ve bacteria. Among them 10a, 10e, 10 h and 10j showed promising broad spectrum antibacterial activity with inhibition in the range of 19–33-mm diameter of inhibition zone (DIZ).

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗