Toward an Understanding of the Systematic Uncertainties in Deriving the Primordial Helium Abundance from H II Region Observations

Recent determinations of the primordial He abundance have given significantly different results. We are attempting to identify some of the causes of these differences and propose observational solutions. Here we identify a systematic difference in how the data are interpreted (differences in corrections for the presence of neutral helium) and the importance of a systematic bias towards lower derived helium abundances (underestimating the presence of underlying stellar absorption).     

The performance of KSC Fixation Tubes with RNALater for orbital experiments: A case study in ISS operations for molecular biology

Molecular biology experiments on the International Space Station (ISS) continue to face challenges of sample harvesting and sample return to earth for post flight analysis; however, the use of Kennedy Space Center Fixation Tubes filled with RNALater has proven to be a robust solution to many of these challenges. While it is clear that one direction of future spaceflight experimentation may be towards enhanced on-orbit analytical capabilities, the rapid progress of earth-bound analytical capacity dictates that facile return of molecular biology samples from the ISS will continue to be a mainstay of space life sciences research and flight operations. In this paper we present a case study of the successful performance of KFTs and RNALater over a broad set of operational conditions of ascent configuration, on-orbit experiment use, on-orbit storage and sample return configurations that are unique to ISS current operations and constraints. We also provide observations on performance limits and discuss deployment opportunities and scenarios that are consistent with continued successful ISS molecular biology experimentation.     

Meteor Phenomena and Bodies

Meteoroids can be observed at collision with the Earth's atmosphere as meteors. Different methods of observing meteors are presented: besides the traditional counts of individual events, exact methods yield also data on the geometry of the atmospheric trajectory; on the dynamics and ablation of the body in the atmosphere; on radiation; on the spectral distribution of radiation; on ionization; on accompanying sounds; and also data on orbits. Theoretical models of meteoroid interaction with the atmosphere are given and applied to observational data. Attention is paid to radar observations; to spectroscopic observations; to experiments with artificial meteors and to different types of meteor sounds. The proposed composition and structure of meteoroids as well as their orbits link them to meteorites, asteroids and comets. Meteor streams can be observed as meteor showers and storms. The rate of influx of meteoroids of different sizes onto Earth is presented and potential hazards discussed. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Short-Lived Radionuclides in Meteorites: Constraints on Nebular Timescales for the Production of Solids

Variations in the abundances of short-lived radionuclides such as ²⁶Al (τ_1/2 ≈ 0.74 Ma) and ⁵³Mn (τ_1/2 ≈ 3.7 Ma) in meteoritic solids may be used to infer relative formation intervals of these solids in the nebula at precisions of less than 1 Ma. In a strict chronometric interpretation of the isotopic variations, whereby criteria such as spatial and temporal isotopic homogeneity and closed system isotopic evolution are met, solid formation occurred in the nebula for at least several million years. This is longer than some theoretical and astronomical estimates for the duration of the active nebula. The evidence for live ⁴¹Ca (τ_1/2 ≈ 0.10 Ma) in meteoritic inclusions further indicates that the onset of solid formation occurred quite early, perhaps within a few hundred thousand years after the onset of the collapse of the sun's parent molecular cloud. Failure of the chronometric interpretation may arise for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to, the late, inhomogeneous injection of material from a nearby stellar source or the local production of short-lived radionuclides by an energetic particle irradiation, e. g., from T Tauri (X-wind) or galactic cosmic ray sources. Although some isotopic evidence exists that the criteria required for a strict chronometric interpretation are not met by each of the short-lived chronometers, there is no compelling reason to shorten the interval of solid formation in the nebula to less than 1 Ma. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The ground-based large-area wide-angle γ-ray and cosmic-ray experiment HiSCORE

The question of the origin of cosmic rays and other questions of astroparticle and particle physics can be addressed with indirect air-shower observations above 10 TeV primary energy. We propose to explore the cosmic ray and γ-ray sky (accelerator sky) in the energy range from 10 TeV to 1 EeV with the new ground-based large-area wide angle (ΔΩ ∼ 0.85 sterad) air-shower detector HiSCORE (Hundred^∗i Square-km Cosmic ORigin Explorer). The HiSCORE detector is based on non-imaging air-shower Cherenkov light-front sampling using an array of light-collecting stations. A full detector simulation and basic reconstruction algorithms have been used to assess the performance of HiSCORE. First prototype studies for different hardware components of the detector array have been carried out. The resulting sensitivity of HiSCORE to γ-rays will be comparable to CTA at 50 TeV and will extend the sensitive energy range for γ-rays up to the PeV regime. HiSCORE will also be sensitive to charged cosmic rays between 100 TeV and 1 EeV.     

A review of 9-year performance and operation of the MOPITT instrument

The MOPITT (Measurements of Pollution in the Troposphere) instrument has provided more than nine years of global carbon monoxide (CO) measurements on a continuous basis since its launch aboard the Terra Spacecraft on December 18th, 1999. This paper gives an overview of the core sub-system performance and major issues of the in-flight instrument over the mission period. Some of the instrument anomalies are also discussed. The major successes are: (1) the concept of using a combination of correlation systems such as Length Modulated Cells (LMCs) and Pressure Modulated Cells (PMCs) to retrieve CO profiles in the troposphere; (2) the redundant design in the instrumentation which was crucial for coping with unexpected in-flight anomalies and for continuing the mission in the case of component failure; (3) the thermal environment on orbit that is so stable that some calibration procedures are not necessary; and (4) the recent production of CO total column retrieved from the MOPITT 2.3 μm channel.     

Estimation of Galactic Cosmic Ray exposure inside and outside the Earth’s magnetosphere during the recent solar minimum between solar cycles 23 and 24

The evidently low solar activity observed between solar cycles 23 and 24 during the years 2008–2010 led to a substantial increase in the Galactic Cosmic Ray (GCR) intensity in comparison with preceding solar minima. As the GCRs consist of highly-ionizing charged particles having the potential to cause biological damage, they are a subject of concern for manned missions to space. With the enhanced particle fluxes observed between 2008 and 2010, it is reasonable to assume that the radiation exposure from GCR must have also increased to unusually high levels. In this paper, the GCR exposure outside and inside the Earth’s magnetosphere is numerically calculated for time periods starting from 1970 to the end of 2011 in order to investigate the increase in dose levels during the years 2008–2010 in comparison with the last three solar minima. The dose rates were calculated in a water sphere, used as a surrogate for the human body, either unshielded or surrounded by aluminium shielding of 0.3, 10 or 40 g/cm².     

Facing harsh realities--in space, air, and war

Current legislative activity in Washington includes plans for hearings and proposed changes to NASA after the publication of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board report in August, 2003. Also reviewed are legislative interest in airline safety and armed forces expansion.     

Terahertz circular dichroism spectroscopy: a potential approach to the in situ detection of life's metabolic and genetic machinery

We propose a terahertz (far-infrared) circular dichroism-based life-detection technology that may provide a universal and unequivocal spectroscopic signature of living systems regardless of their genesis. We argue that, irrespective of the specifics of their chemistry, all life forms will employ well-structured, chiral, stereochemically pure macromolecules (>500 atoms) as the catalysts with which they perform their metabolic and replicative functions. We also argue that nearly all such macromolecules will absorb strongly at terahertz frequencies and exhibit significant circular dichroism, and that this circular dichroism unambiguously distinguishes biological from abiological materials. Lastly, we describe several approaches to the fabrication of a terahertz circular dichroism spectrometer and provide preliminary experimental indications of their feasibility. Because terahertz circular dichroism signals arise from the molecular machinery necessary to carry out life's metabolic and genetic processes, this life-detection method differs fundamentally from more well-established approaches based on the detection of isotopic fractionation, "signature" carbon compounds, disequilibria, or other by-products of metabolism. Moreover, terahertz circular dichroism spectroscopy detects this machinery in a manner that makes few, if any, assumptions as to its chemical nature or the processes that it performs.