Antiparticle content in the magnetosphere

In the present work we assess the stable and transient antiparticle content of planetary magnetospheres, and subsequently we consider their capture and application to high delta-v space propulsion. We estimate the total antiparticle mass contained within the Earth’s magnetosphere to assess the expediency of such usage. Using Earth’s magnetic field region as an example, we have considered the various source mechanisms that are applicable to a planetary magnetosphere, the confinement duration versus transport processes, and the antiparticle loss mechanisms. We have estimated the content of the trapped population of antiparticles magnetically confined following production in the exosphere due to nuclear interactions between high energy cosmic rays (CR) and constituents of the residual planetary upper atmosphere.The galactic antiprotons that directly penetrate into the Earth’s magnetosphere are themselves secondary by its nature, i.e. produced in nuclear reactions of the cosmic rays passing through the interstellar matter. These antiproton fluxes are modified, dependent on energy, when penetrating into the heliosphere and subsequently into planetary magnetospheres. During its lifetime in the Galaxy, CR pass through the small grammage of the interstellar matter where they produce secondary antiprotons. In contrast to this, antiprotons generated by the same CR in magnetosphere are locally produced at a path length of several tens g/cm² of matter in the ambient planetary upper atmosphere. Due to the latter process, the resulting magnetically confined fluxes significantly exceed the fluxes of the galactic antiprotons in the Earth’s vicinity by up to two orders of magnitude at some energies.The radiation belt antiparticles can possibly be extracted with an electromagnetic-based “scoop” device. The antiparticles could be concentrated by and then stored within the superimposed magnetic field structure of such a device. In future developments, it is anticipated that the energy of the captured antiparticles (both rest energy and kinetic energy) can be adapted for use as a fuel for propelling spacecraft to high velocities for remote solar system missions.     

Mean energy of response to galactic cosmic ray spectrum: IMP 8 and Climax neutron monitor

Solar modulations of galactic cosmic ray (GCR) intensity contain a wealth of information about their transport in the heliosphere. To extract this information from the data one studies the dependence of the observed modulations on the mean energy of response of detectors providing data for the analyses. There is a great deal of confusion about the detector energy response to GCR spectrum in the literature. We present a preliminary report on the computations of the mean energy of response for the Climax neutron monitor (CL/NM) and IMP 8 cosmic ray nuclear composition instrument to GCR protons for 1973–1998, covering the solar cycles 21 and 22. We find that for penetrating proton channel on IMP 8 the mean energy changes by a factor of over two whereas for the neutron monitor the change is only 21%. However, the corresponding change for the computed modulation function is a factor of about 3.5.     

Solar Models with Non-Standard Chemical Composition

The OPAL monochromatic opacity tables are used to evaluate the impact of a non-standard chemical composition on solar models. A calibrated solar model with consistent diffusion including the effect of radiative forces and ionization on drift velocities is presented. It is shown that surface abundances are predicted to change slightly more than in traditional solar models where these refinements are not included. All elements included in the model settle at similar rates which is reflected in the relative variation in surface abundances ranging from 7.5% for calcium to 8.8% for argon. The structural difference between the consistent model and the traditional model is small, with a maximum effect of 0.3% for the isothermal sound speed at the base of the convection zone. The settling of CNO is only marginally affected. Opacity profiles have also been calculated with varying abundances for volatile elements, for which the abundances are poorly known, and other selected elements. It is shown that if one allows a 10% variation of these elements individually one can expect a peak Rosseland mean opacity variation of 3% for oxygen, a little less 2% for Si and Ne, and around 1% for Mg and S in the radiative zone. Other light metals and volatile elements have no significant impact on the opacity. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Propagation and interaction of interplanetary transient disturbances. Numerical simulations

We study the heliocentric evolution of ICME-like disturbances and their associated transient forward shocks (TFSs) propagating in the interplanetary (IP) medium comparing the solutions of a hydrodynamic (HD) and magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) models using the ZEUS-3D code [Stone, J.M., Norman, M.L., 1992. Zeus-2d: a radiation magnetohydrodynamics code for astrophysical flows in two space dimensions. i – the hydrodynamic algorithms and tests. Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series 80, 753–790]. The simulations show that when a fast ICME and its associated IP shock propagate in the inner heliosphere they have an initial phase of about quasi-constant propagation speed (small deceleration) followed, after a critical distance (deflection point), by an exponential deceleration. By combining white light coronograph and interplanetary scintillation (IPS) measurements of ICMEs propagating within 1 AU [Manoharan, P.K., 2005. Evolution of coronal mass ejections in the inner heliosphere: a study using white-light and scintillation images. Solar Physics 235 (1–2), 345–368], such a critical distance and deceleration has already been inferred observationally. In addition, we also address the interaction between two ICME-like disturbances: a fast ICME 2 overtaking a previously launched slower ICME 1. After interaction, the leading ICME 1 accelerates and the tracking ICME 2 decelerates and both ICMEs tend to arrive at 1 AU having similar speeds. The 2-D HD and MHD models show similar qualitative results for the evolution and interaction of these disturbances in the IP medium.     

Coronal radio-sounding detection of a CME during the 1997 Galileo solar conjunction

Frequency fluctuations of the Galileo S-band radio signal were recorded nearly continuously during the spacecraft’s solar conjunction from December 1996 to February 1997. A strong propagating disturbance, most probably associated with a coronal mass ejection (CME), was detected on 7 February when the radio ray path proximate point was on the west solar limb at about 54 solar radii from the Sun. The CME passage through the line of sight is characterized by a significant increase in the fluctuation intensity of the recorded frequency and by an increase in the plasma speed from about 234 km s⁻¹ up to about 755 km s⁻¹. These velocity estimates are obtained from a correlation analysis of frequency fluctuations recorded simultaneously at two widely-separated ground stations. The density turbulence power spectrum is found to steepen behind the CME front. The Galileo radio-sounding data are compared with SOHO/LASCO observations of the CME in the corona and with WIND spacecraft data near the Earth’s orbit.     

Interplanetary Physics Research in China:2006—2008

This brief report summarized the latest advances of the interplanetary physics research in China during the period of 2006—2007,made independently by Chinese space physicists and through international collaboration.The report covers all aspects of the interplanetary physics,including theoretical studies,numerical simulation and data analysis.     

自然通风和蒸发冷却在新疆建筑应用的数值分析

为了使新疆和田地区夏季在经济性合理前提下使室内通风环境满足人体热舒适要求。利用蒸发冷却技术将室外空气处理后送入室内，通过数值模拟分析得出在夏季室内负荷最大时刻采用机械辅助式自然通风，使得室温能够雏持在26-8℃，风速为0．6m/s，基本满足人体热舒适要求。在室外温度适宜的过渡季节采用Trombe墙和太阳能烟囱复合的自然通风系统，建筑太阳能烟囱的经济高度为10m。     

无人机推进系统技术研究

不同用途的无人机由于其任务使命不同,对推进系统的要求也有较大差异.本文介绍了短寿命无人侦察飞机(URAV)、隐身无人作战飞机(UCAV)和高空长航时无人机(HALE UAV)推进系统的特点,分析了各种无人机对推进系统的要求以及推进系统技术对无人机性能的影响等.     

国际空间太阳能电站的技术进展

综述了当前国际空间太阳能电站技术的研究进展与发展趋势。重点介绍了空间太阳能电站系统方案新构思“太阳塔”和“太阳盘”的特点；介绍了空间太阳能电站的主要相关技术———无线电能传输技术、太阳能转换技术和空间运输技术等的发展趋势；最后简要介绍了月球电站的进展情况。     

太阳能热推进系统效率分析

太阳能热推进采用小分子量气体作为推进剂可以获取800～900 s高比冲,但提高推进系统的换热效率是目前亟待解决的问题.本研究建立了太阳能热推进系统主要部件的基本分析模型,在利用有限单元法进行热分析的基础上,对系统在多种工况下的相关参数进行了计算,分析了各部件主要参数对提高太阳能热推进系统热效率和推进效率的影响,得出了系统效率在不同工作状态下的变化规律,并提出了提高系统效率的措施.