Multimodal characteristics of a piezoelectric lead zirconate titanate element impacted with iron particles having velocities above 20 km/s

The responses of a piezoelectric lead zirconate titanate (PZT) element to hypervelocity collisions were experimentally studied. In this study, the particles of masses ranging from 0.3 to 10 fg were made to collide with PZT at velocities between 20 and 96 km/s. The amplitude and the corresponding rise time of the single-pulse output signals that were produced in the piezoelectric PZT element were measured to determine the possible collision states. The results revealed an apparently multimodal output; three classes were assumed to be involved in the pulse formation mechanism. The amplitude and rise time were sensitive to the collision velocity. The multimodal behavior implied that the PZT-based cosmic dust detectors should be calibrated according to the class they belong to.     

Characteristics of Icy Surfaces

The surfaces of the Solar System’s icy satellites show an extraordinary variety of morphological features, which bear witness to exchange processes between the surface and subsurface. In this paper we review the characteristics of surface features on the moons of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Using data from spacecraft missions, we discuss the detailed morphology, size, and topography of cryovolcanic, tectonic, aeolian, fluvial, and impact features of both large moons and smaller satellites.     

Surface Composition of Vesta: Issues and Integrated Approach

The instruments on the Dawn spacecraft are exceptionally well suited to characterize and map the surface composition of Vesta in an integrated manner. These include a framing camera with multispectral capabilities, a high spectral resolution near-infrared imaging spectrometer, and a gamma-ray and neutron spectrometer. Three examples of issues addressed at Vesta are: (1) What is the composition of Vesta??s interior and differentiation state as exposed by the Great South Crater? (2) How has space weathering affected Vesta, both globally and at a local scale? and (3) Are volatiles or hydrated material present on Vesta??s surface? We predict that Dawn finds many surprises, such as an olivine-bearing mantle exposed near the south-pole, a weakly or un-weathered surface that has been relatively recently resurfaced, and a very thin layer of surficial volatiles derived from interaction with the solar wind.     

A laboratory study on the thermally induced transformation of hydrogen cyanide (HCN) to the cyanogen anion (CN) in Solar System analog ices

Mixtures of molecular nitrogen and methane have been identified in numerous outer Solar Systemices including the icy surfaces of Pluto and Triton. We have simulated the interaction of ionizing radiation in the Solar System by carrying out a radiolysis experiment on a methane – molecular nitrogen ice mixture with energetic electrons. We have identified the hydrogen cyanide molecule as the most prominent carbon–nitrogen-bearing reaction product formed. Upon warming the irradiated sample, we followed for the first time the kinetics and temporal evolution of the underlying acid–base chemistry which resulted in the formation of the cyanide ion from hydrogen cyanide. On the surfaces of Triton and Pluto and on comets in Oort’s cloud this sort of complex chemistry is likely to occur. In particular, hydrogen cyanide can be produced in low temperature environments (Oort cloud comets) and may be converted into cyanide ions once the comets reach the warmer regions of the Solar System.     

The Cassini Cosmic Dust Analyzer

The Cassini-Huygens Cosmic Dust Analyzer (CDA) is intended to provide direct observations of dust grains with masses between 10⁻¹⁹ and 10⁻⁹ kg in interplanetary space and in the jovian and saturnian systems, to investigate their physical, chemical and dynamical properties as functions of the distances to the Sun, to Jupiter and to Saturn and its satellites and rings, to study their interaction with the saturnian rings, satellites and magnetosphere. Chemical composition of interplanetary meteoroids will be compared with asteroidal and cometary dust, as well as with Saturn dust, ejecta from rings and satellites. Ring and satellites phenomena which might be effects of meteoroid impacts will be compared with the interplanetary dust environment. Electrical charges of particulate matter in the magnetosphere and its consequences will be studied, e.g. the effects of the ambient plasma and the magnetic field on the trajectories of dust particles as well as fragmentation of particles due to electrostatic disruption.The investigation will be performed with an instrument that measures the mass, composition, electric charge, speed, and flight direction of individual dust particles. It is a highly reliable and versatile instrument with a mass sensitivity 10⁶ times higher than that of the Pioneer 10 and 11 dust detectors which measured dust in the saturnian system. The Cosmic Dust Analyzer has significant inheritance from former space instrumentation developed for the VEGA, Giotto, Galileo, and Ulysses missions. It will reliably measure impacts from as low as 1 impact per month up to 10⁴ impacts per second. The instrument weighs 17 kg and consumes 12 W, the integrated time-of-flight mass spectrometer has a mass resolution of up to 50. The nominal data transmission rate is 524 bits/s and varies between 50 and 4192 bps.This revised version was published online in July 2005 with a corrected cover date.     

Plasma production by secondary impacts: Implications for velocity measurements by in-situ dust detectors

A number of in-situ cosmic dust detectors derive the dust particle velocities from measurement of the risetimes of the impact plasma signal. Extensive calibration of these instruments has established a reliable empirical relationship but a quantitative explanation has not been available, with the result that confidence in flight data outside the range of the calibration data is hard to assess. Recent measurements taken at the dust accelerator facilities at the University of Kent (UK) and at MPI-K (Germany), supported by a theoretical analysis, have demonstrated that the relationship results from the time-spread of secondary impacts coupled with the mobility of ions in the impact plasma cloud, which is in turn determined by the magnitude and geometry of the applied electric field and on the ion species present. Results of the current investigations are presented, and the implications of measurements based on this principle at high particle velocities, at masses unobtainable in calibration studies, and for other instrument geometries, are considered.     

Mercury Dust Monitor (MDM) Onboard the Mio Orbiter of the BepiColombo Mission

Space Science Reviews - In this chapter, we review the contribution of space missions to the determination of the elemental and isotopic composition of Earth, Moon and the terrestrial planets, with...     

X-38, CRV and CRV Evolution Program Overview and European Role

The X-38 Project forms part of the “X” prototype vehicle family developed by the United States. Its development was initiated by NASA to prepare the Crew Return Vehicle (CRV). The European participation in the X-38 Program has been significantly extended since the start of the X-38 cooperation in 1997 and is realized by ESA's “Applied Reentry Technology Program” and the German/DLR “Technologies for Future Space Transportation Systems” (TETRA) Project. European contributions to the X-38 Vehicle 201, (V-201) can be found in all technical key areas. The orbital flight and reentry with the X-38 V-201 will conclude the X-38 project in 2002.The CRV will be used from about mid-2005 as ’ambulance‘, ’lifeboat‘ or as alternate return vehicle for the crew of the International Space Station. Recognizing the very productive and mutually beneficial cooperation established on X-38, NASA and ESA have decided to continue this cooperation into the development of the operational CRV. The Phase C/D will be completed shortly after the Critical Design Review, scheduled for August 2002. The CRV production phase will start in October 2002 and will cover production of four CRV vehicles, ending in 2006.Based on the objective to identify a further evolution potential of the CRV towards a Crew Cargo Transfer Vehicle (CCTV), NASA has implemented upgrade studies in the CRV Phase C/D.     

GNSS water vapour tomography – Expected improvements by combining GPS,GLONASS and Galileo observations

The German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) operates a GNSS water vapour tomography system using about 350 German GNSS stations. The GNSS data processing at the GFZ works in near real-time and provides zenith total delays, integrated water vapour and slant delay data operationally. This large data set of more than 50,000 slant delays per hour is used to reconstruct spatially resolved humidity fields by means of tomographic techniques. It can be expected that additional observations from the future Galileo system provide more information with improved quality. A simulation study covering 12 h at 14 July 2009 was therefore started to estimate the impact of GPS, Galileo and GLONASS data on the GNSS tomography. It is shown that the spatial coverage of the atmosphere with slant paths is highly improved by combining observations from two or three satellite systems. Equally important for a reliable tomographic reconstruction is the distribution of slant path intersections as they are required to locate the integrated delay information. The number of intersection points can be increased by a factor of 4 or 8 if two or three systems are combined and their distribution will cover larger regions of the atmosphere. The combined data sets can be used to increase the spatiotemporal resolution of the reconstructed humidity fields up to 30 km horizontally, 300 m vertically and 15 min. The reconstruction quality could not be improved considerably using the currently available techniques.     

Geophysical Constraints on the Evolution of Mars

The evolution of Mars is discussed using results from the recent Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) and Mars Pathfinder missions together with results from mantle convection and thermal history models and the chemistry of Martian meteorites. The new MGS topography and gravity data and the data on the rotation of Mars from Mars Pathfinder constrain models of the present interior structure and allow estimates of present crust thickness and thickness variations. The data also allow estimates of lithosphere thickness variation and heat flow assuming that the base of the lithosphere is an isotherm. Although the interpretation is not unambiguous, it can be concluded that Mars has a substantial crust. It may be about 50 km thick on average with thickness variations of another ±50 km. Alternatively, the crust may be substantially thicker with smaller thickness variations. The former estimate of crust thickness can be shown to be in agreement with estimates of volcanic production rates from geologic mapping using data from the camera on MGS and previous missions. According to these estimates most of the crust was produced in the Noachian, roughly the first Gyr of evolution. A substantial part of the lava generated during this time apparently poured onto the surface to produce the Tharsis bulge, the largest tectonic unit in the solar system and the major volcanic center of Mars. Models of crust growth that couple crust growth to mantle convection and thermal evolution are consistent with an early 1 Gyr long phase of vigorous volcanic activity. The simplest explanation for the remnant magnetization of crustal units of mostly the southern hemisphere calls for an active dynamo in the Noachian, again consistent with thermal history calculations that predict the core to become stably stratified after some hundred Myr of convective cooling and dynamo action. The isotope record of the Martian meteorites suggest that the core formed early and rapidly within a few tens of Myr. These data also suggest that the silicate rock component of the planet was partially molten during that time. The isotope data suggest that heterogeneity resulted from core formation and early differentiation and persisted to the recent past. This is often taken as evidence against vigorous mantle convection and early plate tectonics on Mars although the latter assumption can most easily explain the early magnetic field. The physics of mantle convection suggests that there may be a few hundred km thick stagnant, near surface layer in the mantle that would have formed rapidly and may have provided the reservoirs required to explain the isotope data. The relation between the planform of mantle convection and the tectonic features on the surface is difficult to entangle. Models call for long wavelength forms of flow and possibly a few strong plumes in the very early evolution. These plumes may have dissolved with time as the core cooled and may have died off by the end of the Noachian.