Abstract: We present a design concept for a new state-of-the-art balloon borne atmospheric monitor that will allow enhanced limb sounding of the Earth's atmosphere within the submillimeter and far-infrared wavelength spectral range: TELIS, TErahertz and submm LImb Sounder. The instrument is being developed by a consortium of major European institutes that includes the Space Research Organisation of the Netherlands (SRON), the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) in the United Kingdom and the Deutschen Zentrum far Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) in Germany (lead institute). TELIS will utilise state-of-the-art superconducting heterodyne technology and is designed to be a compact, lightweight instrument capable of providing broad spectral coverage, high spectral resolution and long flight duration (-24 hours duration during a single flight campaign). The combination of high sensitivity and extensive flight duration will allow evaluation of the diurnal variation of key atmospheric constituents such as OH, HO,, C10, BrO together will longer lived constituents such as 0 3 , HCL and N 2 0. Furthermore, TELIS will share a common balloon platform to that of the MIPAS-B Fourier Transform Spectrometer, developed by the Institute of Meteorology and Climate research of the University of Karlsruhe, Germany. MIPAS-B will provide simultaneous and complementary spectral measurements over an extended spectral range. The combination of the TELIS and MIPAS instruments will provide atmospheric scientists with a very powerful observational tool. TELIS will serve as a testbed for new cryogenic heterodyne detection techniques, and as such it will act as a prelude to future spacebome instruments planned by the European Space Agency (ESA).

Abstract: Millimetron is a Russian-led 12m diameter submillimeter and far-infrared space observatory which is included in the Space Plan of the Russian Federation and funded for launch after 2015. With its large collecting area and state-of-the-art receivers, it will enable unique science and allow at least one order of magnitude improvement with respect to the Herschel Space Observatory. Millimetron is currently in a conceptual design phase carried out by the Astro Space Center in Moscow and SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research. It will use a passively cooled deployable antenna with a high-precision central 3.5m diameter mirror and high- precision antenna petals. The antenna is specified for observations up to ~2 THz over the whole 12m diameter, and to higher frequencies using the central 3.5m solid mirror. Millimetron will be operated in two basic observing modes: as a single-dish observatory, and as an element of a ground-space VLBI system. As single-dish, angular resolutions on the order of 3 to 12 arcsec will be achieved and spectral resolutions of up to 10 6 employing heterodyne techniques. As VLBI antenna, the chosen elliptical orbit will provide extremely large VLBI baselines resulting in micro-arcsec angular resolution. The scientific payload will consist of heterodyne and direct detection instruments covering the most important sub-/millimeter spectral regions (including some ALMA bands) and will build on the Herschel and ALMA heritage.

Abstract: A study was made on dependence of surface resistance, critical temperature and width of superconducting transition on application temperature and thickness of NbN films, which varied within the range of 3-10 nm. Plates of sapphire, fused and monocrystalline quartz, MgO, as well as Si and silicon oxide were used as substrates. NbN films with 160 μθ·cm specific resistance and 16.5 K (Tc) critical temperature were obtained on sapphire substrates. Intensive growth of ΔTc was noted for films, applied on fused quartz, with increase of precipitation temperature. This is explained by occurrence of high tensile stresses in NbN films, caused by sufficient difference of thermal coefficients of expansion of NbN and quartz.