Paxsat and progress in arms control : Canadian research focuses on remote sensing applications

Verification of arms control treaties is essential to provide adequate international confidence in treaty compliance. This Viewpoint underlines the responsibility of non-superpower countries to become more closely involved in space surveillance of treaties to which they are parties. In Canada, Paxsat research has focused on two potential applications of space-based remote sensing to multi-lateral arms control verification. The necessary technology is readily available in non-superpower countries for the Paxsat concept to be put into operation.     

On the Possibility of the Existence of Volatile Compounds in the Region of the Scott Crater on the Moon

In this paper, we analyze the illumination conditions, the thermal regime, and the possibility of deposits of volatile compounds existing in the vicinity region (NSR S5 region) near the southern pole of the Moon. It has been found that there are no permanently shadowed zones near the Scott crater and the NSR S5 region, though the temperature conditions allow the of compounds such as CH₃OH, SO₂, NH₃, CO₂, H₂S, C₂H₄, and water to remain stable relative to evaporation for a long time (≥1 Gyr). It has been also shown that compounds like CO and CH₄ cannot stably exist in these regions.     

Gravity-oriented satellite dynamics subject to gravitational and active damping torques

The dynamics of the rotational motion of a satellite moving in the central Newtonian field of force over a circular orbit under the effect of gravitational and active damping torques, which depend on the satellite angular velocity projections, has been investigated. The paper proposes a method of determining all equilibrium positions (equilibrium orientations) of a satellite in the orbital coordinate system for specified values of damping coefficients and principal central moments of inertia. The conditions of their existence have been obtained. For a zero equilibrium position where the axes of the satellite-centered coordinate system coincide with the axes of the orbital coordinate system, the necessary and sufficient conditions for asymptotic stability are obtained using the Routh–Hurwitz criterion. A detailed analysis of the regions where the conditions of the asymptotic stability of a zero equilibrium position are fulfilled have been obtained depending on three dimensionless parameters of the problem, and the numerical study of the process of attenuation of satellite’s spatial oscillations for various damping coefficients has been carried out. It has been shown that there is a wide range of damping parameters from which, by choosing the necessary values, one can provide the asymptotic stability of satellite’s zero equilibrium position in the orbital coordinate system.     

Magnetospheric Science Objectives of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Juno</Emphasis> Mission

In July 2016, NASA’s Juno mission becomes the first spacecraft to enter polar orbit of Jupiter and venture deep into unexplored polar territories of the magnetosphere. Focusing on these polar regions, we review current understanding of the structure and dynamics of the magnetosphere and summarize the outstanding issues. The Juno mission profile involves (a) a several-week approach from the dawn side of Jupiter’s magnetosphere, with an orbit-insertion maneuver on July 6, 2016; (b) a 107-day capture orbit, also on the dawn flank; and (c) a series of thirty 11-day science orbits with the spacecraft flying over Jupiter’s poles and ducking under the radiation belts. We show how Juno’s view of the magnetosphere evolves over the year of science orbits. The Juno spacecraft carries a range of instruments that take particles and fields measurements, remote sensing observations of auroral emissions at UV, visible, IR and radio wavelengths, and detect microwave emission from Jupiter’s radiation belts. We summarize how these Juno measurements address issues of auroral processes, microphysical plasma physics, ionosphere-magnetosphere and satellite-magnetosphere coupling, sources and sinks of plasma, the radiation belts, and the dynamics of the outer magnetosphere. To reach Jupiter, the Juno spacecraft passed close to the Earth on October 9, 2013, gaining the necessary energy to get to Jupiter. The Earth flyby provided an opportunity to test Juno’s instrumentation as well as take scientific data in the terrestrial magnetosphere, in conjunction with ground-based and Earth-orbiting assets.     

Grain Surface Models and Data for Astrochemistry

The cross-disciplinary field of astrochemistry exists to understand the formation, destruction, and survival of molecules in astrophysical environments. Molecules in space are synthesized via a large variety of gas-phase reactions, and reactions on dust-grain surfaces, where the surface acts as a catalyst. A broad consensus has been reached in the astrochemistry community on how to suitably treat gas-phase processes in models, and also on how to present the necessary reaction data in databases; however, no such consensus has yet been reached for grain-surface processes. A team of \({\sim}25\) experts covering observational, laboratory and theoretical (astro)chemistry met in summer of 2014 at the Lorentz Center in Leiden with the aim to provide solutions for this problem and to review the current state-of-the-art of grain surface models, both in terms of technical implementation into models as well as the most up-to-date information available from experiments and chemical computations. This review builds on the results of this workshop and gives an outlook for future directions.     

The Far Ultra-Violet Imager on the Icon Mission

ICON Far UltraViolet (FUV) imager contributes to the ICON science objectives by providing remote sensing measurements of the daytime and nighttime atmosphere/ionosphere. During sunlit atmospheric conditions, ICON FUV images the limb altitude profile in the shortwave (SW) band at 135.6 nm and the longwave (LW) band at 157 nm perpendicular to the satellite motion to retrieve the atmospheric O/N₂ ratio. In conditions of atmospheric darkness, ICON FUV measures the 135.6 nm recombination emission of \(\mathrm{O}^{+}\) ions used to compute the nighttime ionospheric altitude distribution. ICON Far UltraViolet (FUV) imager is a Czerny–Turner design Spectrographic Imager with two exit slits and corresponding back imager cameras that produce two independent images in separate wavelength bands on two detectors. All observations will be processed as limb altitude profiles. In addition, the ionospheric 135.6 nm data will be processed as longitude and latitude spatial maps to obtain images of ion distributions around regions of equatorial spread F. The ICON FUV optic axis is pointed 20 degrees below local horizontal and has a steering mirror that allows the field of view to be steered up to 30 degrees forward and aft, to keep the local magnetic meridian in the field of view. The detectors are micro channel plate (MCP) intensified FUV tubes with the phosphor fiber-optically coupled to Charge Coupled Devices (CCDs). The dual stack MCP-s amplify the photoelectron signals to overcome the CCD noise and the rapidly scanned frames are co-added to digitally create 12-second integrated images. Digital on-board signal processing is used to compensate for geometric distortion and satellite motion and to achieve data compression. The instrument was originally aligned in visible light by using a special grating and visible cameras. Final alignment, functional and environmental testing and calibration were performed in a large vacuum chamber with a UV source. The test and calibration program showed that ICON FUV meets its design requirements and is ready to be launched on the ICON spacecraft.     

Some problems of identifying types of large-scale solar wind and their role in the physics of the magnetosphere

This paper discusses the errors in analyzing solar-terrestrial relationships, which result from either disregarding the types of interplanetary drivers in studying the magnetosphere response on their effect or from the incorrect identification of the type of these drivers. In particular, it has been shown that the absence of selection between the Sheath and ICME (the study of so-called CME-induced storms, i.e., magnetic storms generated by CME) leads to errors in the studies of interplanetary conditions of magnetic storm generation, because the statistical analysis has shown that, in the Sheath + ICME sequences, the largest number of storm onsets fell on the Sheath, and the largest number of storms maxima fell at the end of the Sheath and the beginning of the ICME. That is, the situation is observed most frequently when at least the larger part of the main phase of storm generation falls on the Sheath and, in reality, Sheath-induced storms are observed. In addition, we consider several cases in which magnetic storms were generated by corotating interaction regions, whereas the authors attribute them to CME.     

Study of the magnetospheres of active regions on the sun by radio astronomy techniques

In the 1990s, based on detailed studies of the structure of active regions (AR), the concept of the magnetosphere of the active region was proposed. This includes almost all known structures presented in the active region, ranging from the radio granulation up to noise storms, the radiation of which manifests on the radio waves. The magnetosphere concept, which, from a common point of view, considers the manifestations of the radio emission of the active region as a single active complex, allows one to shed light on the relation between stable and active processes and their interrelations. It is especially important to identify the basic ways of transforming nonthermal energy into thermal energy. A dominant role in all processes is attributed to the magnetic field, the measurement of which on the coronal levels can be performed by radio-astronomical techniques. The extension of the wavelength range and the introduction of new tools and advanced modeling capabilities makes it possible to analyze the physical properties of plasma structures in the AR magnetosphere and to evaluate the coronal magnetic fields at the levels of the chromosphere–corona transition zone and the lower corona. The features and characteristics of the transition region from the S component to the B component have been estimated.     

Development of wireless strain-gauge measurement system for structural tests

A wireless sensor system for data acquisition and processing during structural and fatigue tests is considered. A prototype of wireless strain-gauge measurement system is used in fatigue tests of a utility helicopter’s main rotor hub. The setup of the test rig and software are described.