Composition Aspects of the Upper Solar Atmosphere Rapporteur Paper III

This rapporteur paper discusses the solar corona and the solar wind in the context of their chemical composition. The abundances of elements, both obtained by optical and by in situ observations, are used to infer the sources of the slow solar wind and of the fast streams. The first ionisation potential (FIP) fractionation effect is also discussed, in particular the agreed basics and the open questions. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Vestibular function in the space environment

Adaptation to the weightless state and readaptation after space flight to the 1-G environment on the ground are accompanied by various transitory symptoms of vestibular instability, kinetosis, and illusory sensations. Aside from the problem of how to treat and if possible prevent such symptoms, they offer a clue to a better understanding of normal vestibular functions. Weightlessness is a powerful new "tool" of vestibular research. Graybiel reported as early as 1952 that human subjects observed the illusion that a real target and the visual afterimage seemed to raise in the visual field during centrifugation when the subjects were looking toward the axis of rotation (oculogravic illusion). In aircraft parabolic-flight weightlessness, human subjects observed that fixed real targets appeared to have moved downward while visual afterimages appeared to have moved upward (oculoagravic illusion). It can be shown by electronystagmography as well as by a method employing double afterimages that part of this illusion is caused by eye movements that are triggered by the changing input from the otolith system. Another part of the illusion is based on a change of the subjective horizontal and must be caused by convergence of vestibular and visual impulses "behind" the eyes. This part was measured independently of the first one by using a new method. Eye movements could be prevented during these experiments by optical fixation with the right eye on a target at the end of a 24-in. long tube which was rigidly attached parallel to the longitudinal axis of an aircraft. At the same time the subject tried to line up a shorter tube, which was pivoting around his left eye, with the subjective horizon.     

The Jupiter helium interferometer experiment on the Galileo Entry Probe

We discuss the scientific objective, instrument design, and calibration of a miniaturized Jamin-Mascart interferometer which is to perform an accurate measurement of the refractive index of the Jovian atmosphere in the pressure range 2.5 to 10 bar. The instrument is to perform this measurement in December 1995 aboard the entry probe of the NASA Galileo spacecraft. From the data obtained the mole fraction of helium in the atmosphere of Jupiter is to be calculated with an estimated uncertainty of ± 0.0015. The instrument has a total mass of 1.4 kg and consumes 0.9 W of electrical power.     

A coarse/fine search PN code acquisition scheme

A parallel two-stage acquisition technique is described for direct sequence spread spectrum (DS/SS) range finding applications. The technique offers hardware complexity that scales better with code length than matched filter correlators while providing better performance than sequential detection using comparable hardware     

Current views and future programs in cardiovascular physiology in space.

The volume shift of 2000 cm3 from the lower to the upper part of the human body during weightlessness gave rise to theoretical and practical questions which are addressed in this communication. The analysis revealed that the mobilized fluid reduced the interstitial fluid of the lower extremities by 40%. Applying the current ideas in the field of interstitial tissue physiology to these problems, one must conclude that the fluid displacement can only be brought about by a change of the interstitial tissue compliance. Based on the observations made by the astronauts and on our working hypothesis, a method was proposed to follow the fluid migration and to measure the tissue compliance in man. Results are reported from experiments under terrestrial conditions. They show that the tissue compliance indeed can be modulated. Applying the method in space can eventually help to clarify several concepts in terrestrial physiology.     

Heterodyne spectroscopy of astronomical and laboratory sources at 8.5 μm using diode laser local oscillators

The first 8.5m infrared heterodyne spectrometer has been constructed using tuneable semiconductor (PbSe) diode lasers and was used to measure absorption line profiles of N₂O in the laboratory and black body emission from the Moon and from Mars. Spectral information was recorded over a 200 MHz bandwidth using an 8-channel filter bank. The resolution was 25 MHz (6 × 10^–6 m) and the minimum detectable (black-body) power was 1 × 10^–16 W for 8 min of integration. The results demonstrate the usefulness of heterodyne spectroscopy for the study of remote and local sources in the infrared.We wish to thank Dr Jack Butler and Craig Simpson (Arthur D. Little, Inc.) for their continuing (and successful) efforts to grow better diode lasers during the course of this experiment. We thank the National Radio Astronomy Observatory for the loan of a 40-channel filter bank and associated mini-computer.We thank en masse the dozens of people who loaned equipment to us for the duration of this experiment, and the commercial firms (especially Harshaw, Inc.) which expedited orders for crucial equipment. We thank Dr Bertram Donn, Dr Norman Ness, and Dr George Pieper for administrative, scientific, and financial support; and we thank Mr James Faris for technical assistance and Dr Sol Glicker for preparation of sample gas cells. We thank Dr Thomas Clark for providing the Kohoutek ephemeris, sighting printout, and predicted molecular line positions and for advice and the loan of some equipment. Finally, we wish to acknowledge the strong support accorded us by our wives and families who scarcely saw us during this period.     

Single event upset investigations on the “Flying Laptop” satellite mission

The radiation effects in electronic parts are called single-event effects, which are deemed to be critical for space missions. This paper presents the Single Event Upsets that were observed in an onboard memory device of the Low Earth Orbit “Flying Laptop” satellite mission during its in-orbit operation. The Single Event Upsets were carefully mapped on the satellite orbital space itself and their root causes were investigated together with their rates of occurrence. Subsequently, the events were traced to show several root cause sources such as (i) trapped energetic protons leaking to low altitudes within the South Atlantic Anomaly, (ii) Solar Energetic Particles emitted by an impulsive event on 10 September 2017, and (iii) Galactic Cosmic Rays. A profound analysis was carried out on the observed flight data, and its corresponding results are actually in agreement with the standard energetic particle models. The presented results provide another important insight on the Single Event Upsets for future Low Earth Orbit satellite missions.     

The Expansion of Coronal Plumes in the Fast Solar Wind

Coronal plumes are believed to be essentially magnetic features: they are rooted in magnetic flux concentrations at the photosphere and are observed to extend nearly radially above coronal holes out to at least 15 solar radii, probably tracing the open field lines. The formation of plumes itself seems to be due to the presence of reconnecting magnetic field lines and this is probably the cause of the observed extremely low values of the Ne/Mg abundance ratio. In the inner corona, where the magnetic force is dominant, steady MHD models of coronal plumes deal essentially with quasi-potential magnetic fields but further out, where the gas pressure starts to be important, total pressure balance across the boundary of these dense structures must be considered. In this paper, the expansion of plumes into the fast polar wind is studied by using a thin flux tube model with two interacting components, plume and interplume. Preliminary results are compared with both remote sensing and solar wind in situ observations and the possible connection between coronal plumes with pressure-balance structures (PBS) and microstreams is discussed. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Diffusive fractionation in the chromosphere

A new mechanism for the FIP fractionation in the solar wind in the form of a stationary diffusion model is proposed. It is based on a weakly stratified chromospheric layer of constant density and temperature, permeated everywhere by ionizing photons and a homogeneous magnetic field. Our model does not invoke any particular geometry or special set up of the system and is founded solely on robust and well understood atomic collisonal physics. Technically, a boundary value problem of four coupled differential equations is solved for each chemical element, i.e. a continuity equation and a momentum equation for both atoms and singly ionized particles. For the main gas (hydrogen), an analytical solution can be found. This then serves as a background for the numerical integration of each trace gas system (several elements from He to Fe). We find that, after a few hydrogen diffusion lengths, each minor species asymptotically approaches a constant density. The ratios of these density values to some reference element reproduce the observed FIP fractionation pattern remarkably well.