Space-radiation-induced photon luminescence of the Moon

We report on the results of a continuing study of the photon luminescence of the Moon induced by Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCRs) and space radiation from the Sun, using the Monte Carlo program FLUKA. Understanding the space radiation environment is critical to future exploration of the Moon, and this includes photons. The model of the lunar surface is taken to be the chemical composition of soils found at various landing sites during the Apollo and Luna programs, averaged over all such sites to define a generic regolith for the present analysis. This surface model then becomes the target that is bombarded by Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCRs) and Solar Energetic Particles (SEPs) or Solar Particle Events (SPEs) above 1 keV in FLUKA to determine the photon fluence albedo produced by the Moon’s surface when there is no sunlight and Earthshine. The result is to be distinguished from the gamma-ray spectrum produced by the radioactive decay of radiogenic constituents lying in the surface and interior of the Moon. From the photon fluence we derive the spectrum which can be utilized to examine existing lunar spectral data and to aid future orbiting instrumentation in the measurement of various components of the space-radiation-induced photon luminescence present on the Moon.     

The Juno Radiation Monitoring (RM) Investigation

The Radiation Monitoring Investigation of the Juno Mission will actively retrieve and analyze the noise signatures from penetrating radiation in the images of Juno’s star cameras and science instruments at Jupiter. The investigation’s objective is to profile Jupiter’s \(>10\mbox{-MeV}\) electron environment in regions of the Jovian magnetosphere which today are still largely unexplored. This paper discusses the primary instruments on Juno which contribute to the investigation’s data suite, the measurements of camera noise from penetrating particles, spectral sensitivities and measurement ranges of the instruments, calibrations performed prior to Juno’s first science orbit, and how the measurements may be used to infer the external relativistic electron environment.     

水平起降两级入轨系统的质量估算方法及应用

针对近地轨道运输任务,考虑不同飞行阶段的推阻特性差异和不同发动机模态的比冲变化,提出了适用于水平起降两级入轨（TSTO,Two Stage To Orbit）天地往返运输系统的质量估算方法.以8 t有效载荷为任务需求,对比研究了涡轮基组合循环动力-可重复使用火箭（TBCC-RR,Turbine Based Combined Cycle-Reusable Rocket）、火箭基组合循环动力-可重复使用火箭（RBCC-RR,Rocket Based Combined Cycle-Reusable Rocket）和可重复使用火箭-可重复使用火箭（RR-RR,Reusable Rocket-Reusable Rocket）方案,分析了级间分离点、一级飞行器推阻比和一级飞行器结构质量分数等参数对设计结果的影响.研究结果表明,级间分离点设计对TSTO总体方案影响很大,若使用RBCC型飞行器作为第1级,建议在超燃冲压模态后即进行两级分离;TBCC-RR方案比RBCC-RR方案起飞总质量更小,但RBCC-RR方案一级飞行器结构质量更小;减小TSTO系统起飞总质量的最有效途径是减小飞行器的结构质量分数,其次是提高飞行器的推阻比.      

再入飞行器表面磁流体发电装置数值模拟

提出了钝锥型再入飞行器上的表面磁流体发电装置方案,采用低磁雷诺数近似下的磁流体力学模型对其进行了流动与静电场耦合的数值模拟,由此建立了表面磁流体发电装置中的物理图像.数值模拟结果表明,在典型再入条件(飞行高度46 km,速度7 km/s)下,所提出表面磁流体发电装置方案能够实现兆瓦级(电功率1.28MW)能量输出,电能提取导致再入飞行器阻力增大13.7%,对飞行器壁面总热流值的影响并不显著,但发电区域及其下游壁面的热流密度分布发生明显变化,该区域内热流密度峰值发生于电极的前、后缘.     

CREAM: 70 days of flight from 2 launches in Antarctica

The Cosmic-Ray Energetics And Mass balloon-borne experiment has been launched twice in Antarctica, first in December 2004 and again in December 2005. It circumnavigated the South Pole three times during the first flight, which set a flight duration record of 42 days. A cumulative duration of 70 days within 13 months was achieved when the second flight completed 28 days during two circumnavigations of the Pole on 13 January 2006. Both the science instrument and support systems functioned extremely well, and a total 117 GB of data including 67 million science events were collected during these two flights. Preliminary analysis indicates that the data extend well above 100 TeV and follow reasonable power laws. The payload recovered from the first flight has been refurbished for the third flight in 2007, whereas the payload from the second flight is being refurbished to be ready for the fourth flight in 2008. Each flight will extend the reach of precise cosmic-ray composition measurements to energies not previously possible.     

Algorithms for Power Converter Design Optimization

A practical optimization approach for power converters is established which allows conception of a design to meet all powercircuit performance requirements and concurrently to optimize a defined quantity such as weight or losses. In addition to facilitating a cost effective design, the computer-aided approach provides a means to readily assess a) the weight-efficiency tradeoff, b) impacts of converter requirements and component characteristics on a given design, and c) optimum power-system configurations. The following two popular algorithms for nonlinearly constrained optimization are utilized to design the power converter: 1) the sequential unconstrained minimization technique, SUMT Version 4; 2) the ALAG penalty function technique, ALAG5. These algorithms are compared, and suggestions are made for improving the efficiency of the optimization algorithms for power converter design.     

An LS-TLS-based sequential identification algorithm: Application toan accelerometer

Total least squares (TLS) parameter estimation is an alternative to least squares (LS) estimation when there are errors in both data matrix and observation vector. Especially, when some of the columns, not all, of the data matrix A are free of error, we call it a mixed LS-TLS problem. Accordingly, a sequential algorithm for solving a mixed LS-TLS problem is proposed here. The proposed algorithm employs an efficient algorithm to locate the minimum eigenpair, instead of singular value decomposition (SVD) which is computationally exacting. The proposed algorithm is applied to an accelerometer model to identify error parameters which are very important in inertial navigation systems (INS)     

Ulysses' race to the pole: Symposium Summary

This paper reproduces the Symposium Summary presentation at the 28th ESLAB Symposium on The High Latitude Heliosphere. The summary is not comprehensive but with considerable latitude covers the highlights of the conference. Featured are the observations of the high-speed wind from the growing southern polar coronal hole, new measurements of the interstellar gas and pickup ions, new measurements of cosmic ray modulation at high latitude, and our growing awareness of the three-dimensional heliosphere.