Space physics and the teaching of undergraduate electromagnetism

Space physics is not a subject typically found in the undergraduate curriculum, and it is rare even at the graduate level. On the other hand, the basis of space physics is electromagnetism and the motion of charged particles, which are common topics in both the introductory and advanced undergraduate physics curriculum, and examples from space physics can be used to enliven instruction. In this paper, I will discuss various topics commonly found in both introductory and upper-division electricity and magnetism classes where examples from space physics may facilitate student understanding or provide interesting, real-life examples of electromagnetism in action.     

空间物理学科发展战略研究

空间物理学是人类进入空间时代后迅速发展起来的一门新兴的多学科交叉的前沿基础学科。其将太阳和太阳风控制的日球层空间作为一个系统，研究太阳/太阳风与行星/彗星的上层大气、电离层、磁层乃至星际介质之间的相互作用。空间物理学从本质上讲是一门实验科学，空间物理探测是空间物理学发展的基础。进入新世纪，随着空间基础设施和人类高技术活动的日益频繁，空间物理学进入新的发展阶段，强调科学与应用的密切结合。近年来，空间物理学取得了一系列重要进展。本文对接国家自然科学基金委地球科学部“宜居地球-地球系统科学”的顶层战略设计，梳理总结近年来空间物理各学科发展动态和趋势，凝练中国空间物理学未来发展的重点领域，优化学科布局，推进空间物理各学科的高质量发展。     

电离层等离子体主动释放试验研究

等离子体主动释放试验是空间物理研究的一种主动、有效手段. 2013年4月中国科学院空间科学与应用研究中心在海南进行了中国第一次空间等离子体主动释放试验. 探空火箭在190 km高度释放了近1 kg碱金属钡, 形成一团由钡原子和钡离子组成的云团. 利用地面光学观测手段, 记录了钡云从释放初期到末期的演化全过程, 获取了钡云亮度、粒子密度、成分及扩散范围随时间的变化规律. 通过对钡云漂移的研究, 得到低纬度地区释放点处电离层的中性风场特性, 其分析结果对于研究低纬度地区电离层动力学特性具有一定指导意义.      

Dr Chung-Chieh''s contributions to coronal physics

Dr. Chung-Chieh Cheng, our friend and internationally known astrophysicist at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL)'s Space Science Division passed away at Georgetown University Medical Center on March 10, 1995. He was 56. In memory of his scientific achievements, the highlights of Dr. Cheng's contributions in coronal physics will be summarized below     

Bodies in flowing plasmas: Laboratory studies

A brief review of early laboratory investigations of bodies in flowing, rarefied plasmas is given together with a discussion of more recent parametric studies carried out at NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), which include the effects of the ion acoustic Mach number and the normalized test body potential. Good agreement is found between the experimental results and theoretical calculations which omit ion thermal motion. The relation between laboratory investigations and the results of satellite-borne measurements is addressed. This relationship has led to an appreciation for the benefits of applying the methods and techniques of laboratory plasma physics to investigations in space, where several limitations inherent to the laboratory can be circumvented. These types of investigations, conducted in Earth orbit, can enhance our understanding of space plasma physics and have direct application to certain types of solar system phenomena.     

大气电场综合观测设备的设计

大气电场反映了地球近地表大气对气象活动、太阳活动与地质活动的综合响应。实现大气电场与气象参数及地磁活动指数等参数的综合测量,对雷电活动、地质灾害和磁暴活动等的研究具有重要意义。 设计开发了一种大气电场综合观测设备,能够同时测量包含温度、相对湿度、风速和大气电场等多个参数,在大气电场探测原理的基础上给出了大气电场综合观测设备的详细设计和电场标定过程。 通过对该设备在北京市十三陵台站实测数据的分析,与中国科学院国家空间科学中心FAMEMS-DF02电场仪以及中国气象网发布的气象数据进行对比,结果表明各气象参数99%的时刻对应误差不超过±10%,平均误差不超过±3%,而电场数据的平均误差为±0.166 kV·m–1。      

多协议多用户GPS/GSM监控系统网关的设计与实现

在多协议、多用户GPS(Global Position System)/GSM(Global System for Mobile communications)监控系统中,网关的设计对系统的性能、可用性和可扩展性有重要作用.讨论了在网关设计中需要注意的几个关键问题:通过分析不同短消息服务器的接口协议,提出使用协议管理器实现多协议接入;给出了与用户系统的通信指令格式,并分析了地址的转换流程.最后剖析了用多线程方式和消息驱动实现这种系统的优点,并给出了一个具体实现的消息循环流程.实践证明这种设计是可靠高效的.     

Space Weather Service for Chinese Space Science Satellites

Strategic Priority Research Program on Space Science has gained remarkable achievements. Space Environment Prediction Center (SEPC) affiliated with the National Space Science Center (NSSC) has been providing space weather services and helps secure space missions. Presently, SEPC is capable to offer a variety of space weather services covering many phases of space science missions including planning, design, launch, and orbital operation. The service packages consist of space weather forecasts, warnings, and effect analysis that can be utilized to avoid potential space weather hazard or reduce the damage caused by space storms, space radiation exposure for example. Extensive solar storms that occurred over Chinese Ghost Festival (CGF) in September 2017 led to a large enhancement of the solar energetic particle flux at 1 AU, which affected the near Earth radiation environment and brought great threat to orbiting satellites. Based on the space weather service by SEPC, satellite ground support groups collaborating with the space Tracking, Telemetering and Command system (TT&C) team were able to take immediate measures to react to the CGF solar storm event.      

Educational opportunities within the NASA Specialized Center of Research and Training in Gravitational Biology.

The NASA Specialized Center of Research and Training (NSCORT) in Gravitational Biology was established at Kansas State University, supported through NASA's Life Science Division, Office of Space Science and Applications. Educational opportunities, associated with each of the research projects which form the nucleus of the Center, are complemented by program enrichments such as scholar exchanges and linkages to other NASA and commercial programs. The focus of this training program, and a preliminary assessment of its successes, are described.     

基于知识推理的航天器自主故障诊断方法

面向深空探测这类型号任务,提出一种基于知识推理的航天器自主故障诊断的智能方法,采取直接线性存储的知识库结构、主动监测事实更新并触发推理以及基于散列算法的事实管理三项关键技术,适用于航天器硬件处理能力和存储容量受限的应用环境.采用C语言在基于TSC695处理器的嵌入式系统上实现了该故障诊断方法,实验的结果表明该方法有效.     

Measurement of surface temperature in microgravity experimentation - problems and solutions

Potential application of non invasive surface temperature measurements in Material Science and Fluid Science microgravity experiments is reviewed by analyzing the experiments that can benefit of thermographic techniques and by identifying the parameters that can be directly or indirectly measured. The hardware and software requirements of a thermographic equipment are indicated for a system of use in space.

The capabilities and the relevant features are described of a computerized system, conceived and breadboarded in connection to ESA activities related to Fluid Science Facilities.     

Status of the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA)

The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), a joint US/German project, is a 2.5-m infrared airborne telescope carried by a Boeing 747-SP that flies in the stratosphere at altitudes as high as 45,000 ft (13.72 km). This facility is capable of observing from 0.3 μm to 1.6 mm with an average transmission greater than 80% averaged over all wavelengths. SOFIA will be staged out of the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center aircraft operations facility at Palmdale, CA. The SOFIA Science Mission Operations (SMO) will be located at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA. First science flights began in 2010 and a full operations schedule of up to one hundred 8 to 10 hour-long flights per year will be reached by 2014. The observatory is expected to operate until the mid-2030s. SOFIA’s initial complement of seven focal plane instruments includes broadband imagers, moderate-resolution spectrographs that will resolve broad features due to dust and large molecules, and high-resolution spectrometers capable of studying the kinematics of atomic and molecular gas at sub-km/s resolution. We describe the SOFIA facility and outline the opportunities for observations by the general scientific community and for future instrumentation development. The operational characteristics of the SOFIA first-generation instruments are summarized. The status of the flight test program is discussed and we show First Light images obtained at wavelengths from 5.4 to 37 μm with the FORCAST imaging camera. Additional information about SOFIA is available at http://www.sofia.usra.edu and http://www.sofia.usra.edu/Science/docs/SofiaScienceVision051809-1.pdf.     

Space science education in Egypt and the 2006 solar eclipse

The space science research has been started in Egypt since 1910 by measuring the solar constant as indication of solar radiation at Helwan Observatory. The solar sunspot studies and its influence on the Nile flooding was erected and operated at Helwan as a first solar station in Egypt during 1957. Zeiss-Coude’ refractor was installed in 1964. Astronomy and space science educations started in Egypt at the university level since 1936 at Department of Astronomy and Meteorology of Cairo University. Undergraduate and graduate education in Egypt will be discussed in this work.     

Using sunshine for elementary space science education: A model for IHY scientist–teacher partnerships

An elementary science education professional development partnership between Culver City Unified School District teachers and UCLA has been formed. The project was designed to assist teachers to comfortably present introductory space science concepts, to support them in their efforts, and to aid them in encouraging their students to develop inquiry skills related to space sciences. The project encourages teacher use of observational science techniques in their classrooms, the use of NASA solar mission images and enhanced use of astronomical observation to facilitate discovery learning. The integrated approach of the project has fostered collegial learning activities among the participating teachers and offered them opportunities for continued renewal and professional development of teacher competencies in astronomy and space science. The activities used in the classroom were developed by others, classroom tested, and specifically address National Science Education and California Science Content Standards. These activities have been sustained through on-going collaboration between the scientist and the teachers, a summer Research Experience for Teachers program, and on-going, grade-specific, district-sponsored workshops. Assessment of the value of the program is done by the school district and is used to continuously improve each workshop and program component. Culver City (California) Unified School District is a small urban school district located on the Westside of Los Angeles. This paper describes the program and the plans for incorporating IHY-themed science into the classroom.     

NASA's Space Life Sciences Training Program.

The Space Life Sciences Training Program (SLSTP) is an intensive, six-week training program held every summer since 1985 at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). A major goal of the SLSTP is to develop a cadre of qualified scientists and engineers to support future space life sciences and engineering challenges. Hand-picked, undergraduate college students participate in lectures, laboratory sessions, facility tours, and special projects: including work on actual Space Shuttle flight experiments and baseline data collection. At NASA Headquarters (HQ), the SLSTP is jointly sponsored by the Life Sciences Division and the Office of Equal Opportunity Programs: it has been very successful in attracting minority students and women to the fields of space science and engineering. In honor of the International Space Year (ISY), 17 international students participated in this summer's program. An SLSTP Symposium was held in Washington D.C., just prior to the World Space Congress. The Symposium attracted over 150 SLSTP graduates for a day of scientific discussions and briefings concerning educational and employment opportunities within NASA and the aerospace community. Future plans for the SLSTP include expansion to the Johnson Space Center in 1995.     

Vertical mass and moisture structure from TIROS-N

During the First Global GARP Experiment (FGGE), global determinations of mass and moisture were made from TIROS-N (and NOAA-6) infrared and microwave sounding radiance measurements. At NESS in Washington, the meteorological data were produced operationally with a horizontal resolution of 250 km for inclusion in the FGGE level II-b data sets intended for application to large scale numerical analysis and prediction models. High horizontal resolution (50 km) sounding data sets are being produced by NESS and the Space Science and Engineering Center at the University of Wisconsin and at the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center for special case studies of the “Special Observing Periods” of FGGE.Results are presented to display the characteristics of the sounding data at different resolutions. For the low horizontal resolution data, an evaluation is shown by comparisons of global analyses made only from satellite soundings over land and sea, and those made operationally by the National Meteorological Center, which excluded satellite sounding data over continental areas, but included all conventional data sources. For the high horizontal resolution sounding data, results are presented to demonstrate the delineation of small scale temperature and moisture features which are consistent with the meteorological processes involved.     

空间光纤传感测量技术应用研究

针对空间环境参数测量的需求和特殊环境约束，研究光纤技术应用于空间飞行器上的系统性解决方案。从不同的参数敏感形式当中选择光纤光栅实现温度、压力等物理参数测量，详细分析了光纤光栅解调装置的设计与实现，采用CCSDS标准协议形式实现测量数据的封装和传输。针对空间环境的特殊性，分析空间力学环境、辐照环境对光纤传感测量系统的影响，研究了提高测量系统空间环境适应性的方法，为空间飞行器上的物理参数集成化测量提供一种有效的解决方案。     

A new method for improving the performance of an ionospheric model developed by multi-instrument measurements based on artificial neural network

There are remarkable ionospheric discrepancies between space-borne (COSMIC) measurements and ground-based (ionosonde) observations, the discrepancies could decrease the accuracies of the ionospheric model developed by multi-source data seriously. To reduce the discrepancies between two observational systems, the peak frequency (foF2) and peak height (hmF2) derived from the COSMIC and ionosonde data are used to develop the ionospheric models by an artificial neural network (ANN) method, respectively. The averaged root-mean-square errors (RMSEs) of COSPF (COSMIC peak frequency model), COSPH (COSMIC peak height model), IONOPF (Ionosonde peak frequency model) and IONOPH (Ionosonde peak height model) are 0.58 MHz, 19.59 km, 0.92 MHz and 23.40 km, respectively. The results indicate that the discrepancies between these models are dependent on universal time, geographic latitude and seasons. The peak frequencies measured by COSMIC are generally larger than ionosonde’s observations in the nighttime or middle-latitudes with the amplitude of lower than 25%, while the averaged peak height derived from COSMIC is smaller than ionosonde’s data in the polar regions. The differences between ANN-based maps and references show that the discrepancies between two ionospheric detecting techniques are proportional to the intensity of solar radiation. Besides, a new method based on the ANN technique is proposed to reduce the discrepancies for improving ionospheric models developed by multiple measurements, the results indicate that the RMSEs of ANN models optimized by the method are 14–25% lower than the models without the application of the method. Furthermore, the ionospheric model built by the multiple measurements with the application of the method is more powerful in capturing the ionospheric dynamic physics features, such as equatorial ionization, Weddell Sea, mid-latitude summer nighttime and winter anomalies. In conclusion, the new method is significant in improving the accuracy and physical characteristics of an ionospheric model based on multi-source observations.     

专用指令集在基于FPGA的神经网络加速器中的应用#br#

近年来，表现出极其优越性能的神经网络算法对硬件算力的要求逐渐提高.在一些低功耗场景如星载系统中，拥有可编程重构、高并行等特性的FPGA是神经网络算法较为合适的硬件加速平台.为了解决传统神经网络硬件加速器设计中片内资源消耗大、各功能模块耦合性高等问题，设计实现了一套专用AI指令集并应用在了基于FPGA的神经网络加速器的设计中.文章首先介绍了该指令集的设计方案.整个指令集由指令寄存器、指令解释器、指令转发模块、内存管理单元和多个模块构成.通过该指令集可实现对不同模块的复用，降低模块之间的耦合性.并以YOLOV3 Tiny网络模型为例，对比了平铺式和指令控制式两种加速方案的逻辑资源的消耗.验证了应用专用指令集可以减少约50%的FPGA逻辑资源的使用.     

Advancing participation of blind students in Science,Technology, Engineering,and Math

Like their sighted peers, many blind students in elementary, middle, and high school are naturally interested in space. This interest can motivate them to learn fundamental scientific, quantitative, and critical thinking skills, and sometimes even lead to careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) disciplines. However, these students are often at a disadvantage in science because of the ubiquity of important graphical information that is generally not available in accessible formats, the unfamiliarity of teachers with non-visual teaching methods, lack of access to blind role models, and the low expectations of their teachers and parents. We discuss joint efforts by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Federation of the Blind’s (NFB) National Center for Blind Youth in Science (NCBYS) to develop and implement strategies to promote opportunities for blind youth in science. These include the development of tactile space science books and curriculum materials, science academies for blind middle school and high school students, and college-level internship and mentoring programs. The partnership with the NFB exemplifies the effectiveness of collaborations between NASA and consumer-directed organizations to improve opportunities for underserved and underrepresented individuals.