Assessment and requirements of nuclear reaction databases for GCR transport in the atmosphere and structures

The transport properties of galactic cosmic rays (GCR) in the atmosphere, material structures, and human body (self-shielding) are of interest in risk assessment for supersonic and subsonic aircraft and for space travel in low-Earth orbit and on interplanetary missions. Nuclear reactions, such as knockout and fragmentation, present large modifications of particle type and energies of the galactic cosmic rays in penetrating materials. We make an assessment of the current nuclear reaction models and improvements in these model for developing required transport code data bases. A new fragmentation data base (QMSFRG) based on microscopic models is compared to the NUCFRG2 model and implications for shield assessment made using the HZETRN radiation transport code. For deep penetration problems, the build-up of light particles, such as nucleons, light clusters and mesons from nuclear reactions in conjunction with the absorption of the heavy ions, leads to the dominance of the charge Z = 0, 1, and 2 hadrons in the exposures at large penetration depths. Light particles are produced through nuclear or cluster knockout and in evaporation events with characteristically distinct spectra which play unique roles in the build-up of secondary radiation's in shielding. We describe models of light particle production in nucleon and heavy ion induced reactions and make an assessment of the importance of light particle multiplicity and spectral parameters in these exposures.     

Nuclear fragmentation database for GCR transport code development

A critical need for NASA is the ability to accurately model the transport of heavy ions in the Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCR) through matter, including spacecraft walls, equipment racks, etc. Nuclear interactions are of great importance in the GCR transport problem, as they can cause fragmentation of the incoming ion into lighter ions. Since the radiation dose delivered by a particle is proportional to the square of (charge/velocity), fragmentation reduces the dose delivered by incident ions. The other mechanism by which dose can be reduced is ionization energy loss, which can lead to some particles stopping in the shielding. This is the conventional notion of shielding, but it is not applicable to human spaceflight since the particles in the GCR tend to be too energetic to be stopped in the relatively thin shielding that is possible within payload mass constraints. Our group has measured a large number of fragmentation cross sections, intended to be used as input to, or for validation of, NASA’s radiation transport models. A database containing over 200 charge-changing cross sections and over 2000 fragment production cross sections has been compiled. In this report, we examine in detail the contrast between fragment measurements at large acceptance and small acceptance. We use output from the PHITS Monte Carlo code to test our assumptions using as an example ⁴⁰Ar data (and simulated data) at a beam energy of 650 MeV/nucleon. We also present preliminary analysis in which isotopic resolution was attained for beryllium fragments produced by beams of ¹⁰B and ¹¹B. Future work on the experimental data set will focus on extracting and interpreting production cross sections for light fragments.     

A procedure for benchmarking laboratory exposures with 1 A GeV iron ions.

A new version of the HZETRN code capable of simulating HZE ions with either laboratory or space boundary conditions is under development. The computational model consists of combinations of physical perturbation expansions based on the scales of atomic interaction, multiple scattering, and nuclear reactive processes with use of asymptotic/Neumann expansions with non-perturbative corrections. The code contains energy loss with straggling, nuclear attenuation, nuclear fragmentation with energy dispersion and downshifts, and off-axis dispersion with multiple scattering under preparation. The present benchmark is for a broad directed beam for 1 A GeV iron ion beams with 2 A MeV width and four targets of polyethylene, polymethyl metachrylate, aluminum, and lead of varying thickness from 5 to 30 g/cm2. The benchmark quantities will be dose, track averaged LET, dose averaged LET, fraction of iron ion remaining, and fragment energy spectra after 23 g/cm2 of polymethyl metachrylate.     

稳态等离子体推进器羽流场数值模拟

采用二维轴对称模型,使用粒子网格法(PIC)和直接模拟蒙特卡洛法(DSMC)相结合的方法,对稳态等离子体推进器(SPT)羽流场进行了数值模拟.采用DSMC方法中的随机取样频率法(RSF)求解粒子碰撞过程,并对比了不同的分配电荷方式、电子运动模型及SPT出口条件时的羽流场.将不同条件计算得到的羽流场中距SPT出口0.1?m,0.5?m及1.0?m处的离子电流密度和电荷密度与实验结果进行了对比,得出在采用面积权重法分配电荷、等熵模型描述电子运动和用实验值设定发动机出口参数时对SPT羽流场数值模拟的电流密度和轴向附近的电荷密度结果与实验结果符合程度较好的结论.     

Advanced techniques for plasma composition and dynamics measurements

Magnetic and RF mass spectrometers have been used routinely in ionospheric research, while traditional ionospheric, magnetospheric, and interplanetary plasma measurements have been made with several types of electrostatic analyzers. Proper interpretation of these data is possible if the spectral peaks are well defined, although ambiguities between fast, light ions and slow, heavy ions cannot always be satisfactorily resolved. Recent and planned experiments involve the study of plasmas which are sufficiently energetic that the spectral peaks overlap. Furthermore, these studies of ionosphere/magnetosphere coupling and of the interaction of the solar wind with the atmospheres of Venus and comets require unambiguous identification of the ion masses with simultaneous mapping of the three-dimensional velocity distribution function of each ion species. This challenge has been partially met by several new types of instruments; the two most common types involve either (1) sequential electrostatic and magnetic analyses or (2) sequential electrostatic and time-of-flight analyses. Some new instruments have also incorporated measurements of total kinetic energy, electric charge, or secondary emission coefficients as diagnostic tools. This paper reviews these recent advances and points out areas where further development is expected and needed.     

Towards multi-dimensional space weather modeling for energetic oxygen ions in the earth''s inner magnetosphere: Equilibrium configuration

We report the first 3+1 dimensional model development for energetic atomic oxygen ions in the Earth's radiation belts. Energetic Oxygen ions cans be supplied to the Earth's Inner magnetosphere from the sun (as a component of solar wind and solar energetic particles), from anomalous cosmic rays, and from acceleration processes acting on ionospheric atomic oxygen ions. We have built a multi-dimensional oxygen ion model in the following free parameters: geomagnetic L-shell, the magnetic moment, the second adiabatic invariant, and the discrete charge state number. Quiet time, steady state oxygen ion distributions have been obtained numerically from an assumed outer radiation zone boundary condition at L=7, average values of the radial diffusion coefficients, and standard values for the exospheric neutral densities due to the MSIS-86 upper atmosphere and exosphere neutral thermal particle density model. Average distributions of free electrons in the plasmasphere were also assumed with a mean plasmapause location just beyond L=4. We included the six lowest ionic charge states of atomic oxygen (¹⁶O) based on an existing charge exchange cross section compilation by Spjeldvik and Fritz (1978). Computed oxygen ion distributions include the resulting equilibrium structure of energy oxygen ions between 10 KeV and 100 MeV.     

Fragmentation studies of relativistic iron ions using plastic nuclear track detectors.

We measured fluence and fragmentation of high-energy (1 or 5 A GeV) 56Fe ions accelerated at the Alternating Gradient Synchrotron or at the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (Brookhaven National Laboratory, NY, USA) using solid-state CR-39 nuclear track detectors. Different targets (polyethylene, PMMA, C, Al, Pb) were used to produce a large spectrum of charged fragments. CR-39 plastics were exposed both in front and behind the shielding block (thickness ranging from 5 to 30 g/cm2) at a normal incidence and low fluence. The radiation dose deposited by surviving Fe ions and charged fragments was measured behind the shield using an ionization chamber. The distribution of the measured track size was exploited to distinguish the primary 56Fe ions tracks from the lighter fragments. Measurements of projectile's fluence in front of the shield were used to determine the dose per incident particle behind the block. Simultaneous measurements of primary 56Fe ion tracks in front and behind the shield were used to evaluate the fraction of surviving iron projectiles and the total charge-changing fragmentation cross-section. These physical measurements will be used to characterize the beam used in parallel biological experiments.     

基于等离子体磁壳的行星探测器制动机理研究

等离子体磁壳制动技术是一种新型的行星探测器制动手段，具有制动阻力可调、可靠性高、结构质量小等优势，具有潜在的应用前景。开展了等离子体磁壳制动产生方式与工作机理的数值仿真研究。首先，以火星探测器的制动为背景，将等离子体磁壳简化为圆柱构型，建立了等离子体磁壳宏观模型，得到了制动阻力、有效捕获面积和探测器速度随轨道高度的变化关系。随后以等离子体磁壳中离子、电子和次中性粒子之间的相互作用为研究对象，建立了等离子体磁壳微观模型，获得了等离子体粒子数密度和温度随时间变化的规律。微观模型与宏观模型计算出的制动阻力一致，验证了两种模型的有效性。     

Proton lateral broadening distribution comparisons between GRNTRN,MCNPX, and laboratory beam measurements

Recent developments in NASA’s deterministic High charge (Z) and Energy TRaNsport (HZETRN) code have included lateral broadening of primary ion beams due to small-angle multiple Coulomb scattering, and coupling of the ion-nuclear scattering interactions with energy loss and straggling. This new version of HZETRN is based on Green function methods, called GRNTRN, and is suitable for modeling transport with both space environment and laboratory boundary conditions. Multiple scattering processes are a necessary extension to GRNTRN in order to accurately model ion beam experiments, to simulate the physical and biological-effective radiation dose, and to develop new methods and strategies for light-ion radiation therapy. In this paper we compare GRNTRN simulations of proton lateral broadening distributions with beam measurements taken at Loma Linda University Proton Therapy Facility. The simulated and measured lateral broadening distributions are compared for a 250 MeV proton beam on aluminum, polyethylene, polystyrene, bone substitute, iron, and lead target materials. The GRNTRN results are also compared to simulations from the Monte Carlo MCNPX code for the same projectile-target combinations described above.     

DNA fragmentation in mammalian cells exposed to various light ions.

Elucidation of how effects of densely ionizing radiation at cellular level are linked to DNA damage is fundamental for a better understanding of the mechanisms leading to genomic damage (especially chromosome aberrations) and developing biophysical models to predict space radiation effects. We have investigated the DNA fragmentation patterns induced in Chinese hamster V79 cells by 31 keV/micrometer protons, 123 keV/micrometer helium-4 ions and gamma rays in the size range 0.023-5.7 Mbp, using calibrated Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE). The frequency distributions of fragments induced by the charged particles were shifted towards smaller sizes with respect to that induced by comparable doses of gamma rays. The DSB yields, evaluated from the fragments induced in the size range studied, were higher for protons and helium ions than for gamma rays by a factor of about 1.9 and 1.2, respectively. However, these ratios do not adequately reflect the RBE observed on the same cells for inactivation and mutation induced by these beams. This is a further indication for the lack of correlation between the effects exerted at cellular level and the initial yield of DSB. The dependence on radiation quality of the fragmentation pattern suggests that it may have a role in damage repairability. We have analyzed these patterns with a "random breakage" model generalized in order to consider the initial non-random distribution of the DNA molecules. Our results suggest that a random breakage mechanism can describe with a reasonable approximation the DNA fragmentation induced by gamma rays, while the approximation is not so good for light ions, likely due to the interplay between ion tracks and chromatin organization at the loop level.     

The collective gyration of a heavy ion cloud in a magnetized plasma

In both the ionospheric barium injection experiments CRIT I and CRIT II, a long-duration oscillation was seen with a frequency close to the gyro frequency of barium and a time duration of about one second. A model for the phenomenon which was proposed for the CRIT 1 experiment is here compared to the results from CRIT II which made a much more complete set of measurements. The model follows the motion of a low-β ion cloud through a larger ambient plasma. The internal field of the model is close to antiparallel to the injection direction v_i but slightly tilted towards the self-polarization direction E_P = −v_ixB. As the ions move across the magnetic field, the space charge is continuously neutralized by magnetic-field aligned electron currents from the ambient ionosphere, drawn by the divergence in the perpendicular electric field. These currents give a perturbation of the magnetic field related to the electric field perturbation by ΔE/ΔB ≈ V_a. The model predictions agree quite well with the observed vector directions, field strengths, and decay times of the electric and magnetic fields in CRIT II. The possibility to extend the model to the active region, where the ions are produced in this type of self-ionizing injection experiments, is discussed.     

日球层内外能量中性原子的探测

能量中性原子(Energetic Neutral Atoms, ENA, 简称能原子)是指在日球层内外空间, 拥有>0.1keV动能的原子.在此空间领域并没有温度>106K的中性气体, 但却充满动能>0.1keV的正离子.因此能原子A应该是A+离子与原地稀薄气体B原子或分子交换电荷所产生的, 即A++B→A+B+. 电荷交换涉及极小的动能变化, 新生的能原子A和离子B+基本上各自保持原有动能. 离子B+随即被当地磁场俘获, 能原子A则脱离磁场约束并携带其原属离子群的成分和能量信息而直线运动, 成为遥测空间等离子体的有效媒介. 美国人造卫星 IBEX (Interstellar Boundary Explorer) 直接探测得到来自日球层以外星际空间的能原子, 大幅延伸了利用能原子遥测空间等离子体的领域. 本文据此论述了空间能原子的发现, 综述了探测空间能原子的基本概念与实例、取得的主要成果、仪器设计和研制进展以及未来空间利用能原子遥测的发展趋势.      

A model of the effects of heavy ion radiation on human tissue

In heavy ion radiotherapy and space travel humans are exposed to energetic heavy ions (C, Si, Fe and others). This type of irradiation often produces more severe biological effects per unit dose than more common X-rays. A new Monte Carlo model generates a physical space with the complex geometry of human tissue or a cell culture based model of tissue, which is affected by the passage of ionizing radiation. For irradiation, the model relies on a physical code for the ion track structure; for tissues, cellular maps are derived from two- or three-dimensional confocal microscopy images using image segmentation algorithm, which defines cells as pixilated volumes. The model is used to study tissue-specific statistics of direct ion hits and the remote ion action on cells. As an application of the technique, we considered the spatial pattern of apoptotic cells after heavy ion irradiation. The pattern of apoptosis is modeled as a stochastic process, which is defined by the action cross section taken from available experimental data. To characterize the degree of apoptosis, an autocorrelation function that describes the spatial correlation of apoptotic cells is introduced. The values of the autocorrelation function demonstrate the effect of the directionality of the radiation track on the spatial arrangements of inactivated cells in tissue. This effect is intrinsic only to high linear-energy-transfer radiation.     

部分球壳分布离子流激发的电磁不稳定性

在离子环束流和低频电磁波相互作用的过程中廓了环束流将演化成具有投掷角展宽的部分球壳速度分布离子流,其投掷角展宽随时间增大,低频右旋电磁不稳定性增长率峰值,总的说来也逐渐增大,并向高频短波方向移动,与此相反,低频左旋电磁不稳定性增长率峰值,当投掷 角展宽等于０时,大于右旋不稳定性峰值,但随着投掷角展宽增加而迅速低于右 性增长率峰值,并向工波方向移动。     

Heavy ion contributions to organ dose equivalent for the 1977 galactic cosmic ray spectrum

Estimates of organ dose equivalents for the skin, eye lens, blood forming organs, central nervous system, and heart of female astronauts from exposures to the 1977 solar minimum galactic cosmic radiation spectrum for various shielding geometries involving simple spheres and locations within the Space Transportation System (space shuttle) and the International Space Station (ISS) are made using the HZETRN 2010 space radiation transport code. The dose equivalent contributions are broken down by charge groups in order to better understand the sources of the exposures to these organs. For thin shields, contributions from ions heavier than alpha particles comprise at least half of the organ dose equivalent. For thick shields, such as the ISS locations, heavy ions contribute less than 30% and in some cases less than 10% of the organ dose equivalent. Secondary neutron production contributions in thick shields also tend to be as large, or larger, than the heavy ion contributions to the organ dose equivalents.