Identifiers: Abort, Lunar surface vehicles, Attitude control systems, Flat plate models. Contents: Locomotion analysis of lunar surface vehicles; Penetration studies of simulated lunar dust; Sterilization of electronic components of spacecrafts; Injection conditions for earth-moon trajectories; Reuseability and disposal of nuclear systems in space; Self- luminous hypersonic wake radiation measurement and flow visualization; Ballistic missile decoy optimization - programming; Flat plate surface hypersonic heat transfer; Dielectrophoretic propellant orientation in zero gravity; Heat transfer and ablation in aftclosures of solid motors; Nuclear propulsion for orbit-based spacecraft; Oxidation protection of refractory metals in aerospace; A non-parametric technique for reliability comparisons; Failure prediction for nonmaintainable electronic components; and Reliability as a thermostructural design criterion.

This collection of essays reflects the proceedings of a 1991 conference on "The United States Air Force: Aerospace Challenges and Missions in the 1990s," sponsored by the USAF and Tufts University. The 20 contributors comment on the pivotal role of airpower in the war with Iraq and address issues and choices facing the USAF, such as the factors that are reshaping strategies and missions, the future role and structure of airpower as an element of US power projection, and the aerospace industry's views on what the Air Force of the future will set as its acquisition priorities and strategies. The authors agree that aerospace forces will be an essential and formidable tool in US security policies into the next century. The contributors include academics, high-level military leaders, government officials, journalists, and top executives from aerospace and defense contractors.

Conventional wisdom portrays the People's Republic of China (PRC) People's Liberation Army (PLA) as a backward continental force that will not pose a military challenge to its neighbors or to the United States well into the 21st century. PLA writings that demonstrate interest in exploiting the revolution in military affairs (RMA) are dismissed by a large segment of the PLA- watching community as wistful fantasies. The author offers an alternative perspective by outlining emerging PLA operational concepts and a range of research and development projects that appear to have been heavily influenced by U.S. and Russian writings on the RMA. Fulfillment of the PLA's vision for the 21st century could have significant repercussions for U.S. interests in the Asia-Pacific region.