Potential Effects of Surface Temperature Variations and Disturbances and Thermal Convection on the Mars InSight HP<Superscript>3</Superscript> Heat-Flow Determination

The HP³ instrument on the InSight lander mission will measure subsurface temperatures and thermal conductivities from which heat flow in the upper few meters of the regolith at the landing site will be calculated. The parameter to be determined is steady-state conductive heat flow, but temperatures may have transient perturbations resulting from surface temperature changes and there could be a component of thermal convection associated with heat transport by vertical flow of atmospheric gases over the depth interval of measurement. The experiment is designed so that it should penetrate to a depth below which surface temperature perturbations are smaller than the required measurement precision by the time the measurements are made. However, if the measurements are delayed after landing, and/or the probe does not penetrate to the desired depth, corrections may be necessary for the transient perturbations. Thermal convection is calculated to be negligible, but these calculations are based on unknown physical properties of the Mars regolith. The effects of thermal convection should be apparent at shallow depths where transient thermal perturbations would be observed to deviate from conductive theory. These calculations were required during proposal review and their probability of predicting a successful measurement a prerequisite for mission approval. However, their uncertainties lies in unmeasured physical parameters of the Mars regolith.     

Water and Volatiles in the Outer Solar System

Space Science Reviews - Space exploration and ground-based observations have provided outstanding evidence of the diversity and the complexity of the outer solar system. This work presents our...     

Operating characteristics of a high radius pre-swirl cooling system

An experimental investigation into pre-swirl effectiveness and receiver hole discharge coefficient characteristics for a high radius injection pre-swirl cooling systems was carried out on a physically representative experimental rig with a 450 mm diameter rotor.The receiver holes and pre-swirl nozzle were located at a radius of 181 mm and 180 mm respectively.The experimental work was mainly conducted at 5 000～12 000 r/min,4 bar absolute pressure and 1.132 kg/s air supply.The maximum air supply temperature was 190 ℃.Pressure and temperature distributions in the pre-swirl system were examined with an emphasis on the velocity effectiveness of the pre-swirl system as a whole and on the discharge coefficients of the rotating 'receiver holes' in the rotor.The results showed that the velocity effectiveness increased with increasing swirl ratio resulting in reduced blade cooling flow temperature.Different seal flow configurations caused very different effectiveness at different speeds,but outflow through the inner and outer seals always gave the highest effectiveness compared other configurations.Increasing the seal flow rate reduced the effectiveness.For the coefficient of discharge,except for the low speed range,it increased with increase in swirl ratio for most speeds.      

Space–Time Structure of Energetic Electron Precipitations according to the Data of Balloon Observations and Polar Satellite Measurements on February 1–6, 2015

Cosmic Research - The results of an analysis of the space–time characteristics and dynamics of precipitations of magnetospheric electrons with energies in the range from 0.1 to 0.7 MeV are...     

Erratum to: Determination of the Probability of Collision of Near-Earth Space Objects Taking into Account Form and Orientation

Cosmic Research - An Erratum to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0010952521120030     

The mass loss of spacecraft polyimide films under the action of atomic oxygen and vacuum ultraviolet radiation

The threshold values of the annual fluence of atomic oxygen (F _AO ≈ 10²⁰ cm^?2), as well as the ratios of the energy-flux density of vacuum ultraviolet radiation of the solar spectrum to the flux density of atomic oxygen (Φ _ν /Φ _AO ≈ 8 × 10^?15 mJ) were determined, which are characterized the influence of the synergistic effect on the mass loss of Kapton-H, PM-A, and PM-1E polyimide films, which are spacecraft materials.     

Cluster observations showing the indication of the formation of a modified-two-stream instability in the geomagnetic tail

This study presents several observations of the Cluster spacecraft on September 24, 2003 around 15:10 UT, which show necessary prerequisites and consequences for the formation of the so-called modified-two-stream instability (MTSI). Theoretical studies suggest that the plasma is MTSI unstable if (1) a relative drift of electrons and ions is present, which exceeds the Alfvèn speed, and (2) this relative drift or current is in the cross-field direction. As consequences of the formation of a MTSI one expects to observe (1) a field-aligned electron beam, (2) heating of the plasma, and (3) an enhancement in the B-wave spectrum at frequencies in the range of the lower-hybrid-frequency (LHF). In this study we use prime parameter data of the CIS and PEACE instruments onboard the Cluster spacecraft to verify the drift velocities of ions and electrons, FGM data to calculate the expected LHF and Alfvèn velocity, and the direction of the current. The B-wave spectrum is recorded by the STAFF instrument of Cluster. Finally, a field aligned beam of electrons is observed by 3D measurements of the IES instrument of the RAPID unit. Observations are verified using a theoretical model showing the build-up of a MTSI under the given circumstances.     

Study of maximum electron density NmF2 at Karachi and Islamabad during solar minimum (1996) and solar maximum (2000) and its comparison with IRI

The monthly hourly medians of maximum electron density, N_mF₂, at two Pakistani ionospheric stations, Karachi and Islamabad, have been determined for solar minimum (1996) and solar maximum (2000) and compared with IRI predictions using the URSI coefficients. At night and pre-noon period the N_mF₂ values at both stations are almost equal during the 2 years. However, at post-noon the values at Karachi are considerably larger than those at Islamabad due to the equatorial or geomagnetic anomaly. Karachi (geomag. coord. 16.44°N, 139.08°E) lies near the region of the equatorial anomaly (+20 and −20 geomagnetic latitude), so most of the N_mF₂ values at Karachi are larger than those at Islamabad (geomag. coord. 24.46°N, 145.67°E). The maximum monthly values of N_mF₂ show a semi-annual variation at Karachi and Islamabad both during 1996 and 2000 as predicted by IRI.     

2004年3月13日TC-1和Cluster卫星联合观测的磁通量传输事件

分析了2004年3月13日12:15到12:25UT期间TC-1和Cluster卫星簇的磁通门磁力计(FGM)和电子/电流试验仪(PEACE)的联合观测数据.在此期间,TC-1卫星位于日下点以南的磁层顶附近的磁鞘中,并在12:19UT左右观测到了一个典型的先正后负的磁鞘磁通量传输事件(FTE);而Cluster卫星簇位于北半球日侧高纬磁层项附近,并于12:23UT左右穿出磁层顶进入磁鞘,且在12:21 UT左右也观测到了一个典型的先正后负的磁层FTE.比较分析发现此两个FTE具有类似的磁场结构和等离子体特征,可能是同一个北向运动的FTE先后被TC-1和Cluster卫星观测到.利用Cluster 4颗卫星的多点同时观测数据,采用最小方向微分法和时空微分方法,推断Cluster卫星观测的这个FTE是尺度大小约为1.21Re的准二维结构,其运动方向为东北方向,与Cooling模型预测方向基本一致.利用Cooling模型的预测,推算了TC-1卫星在12:19UT观测的FTE的运动速度和尺度,进而得出随着通量管的极向运动,其速度和尺度均有所增加.