Diagnosing the Neutral Interstellar Gas Flow at 1 AU with IBEX-Lo

Every year in fall and spring the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) will observe directly the interstellar gas flow at 1 AU over periods of several months. The IBEX-Lo sensor employs a powerful triple time-of-flight mass spectrometer. It can distinguish and image the O and He flow distributions in the northern fall and spring, making use of sensor viewing perpendicular to the Sun-pointing spin axis. To effectively image the narrow flow distributions IBEX-Lo has a high angular resolution quadrant in its collimator. This quadrant is employed selectively for the interstellar gas flow viewing in the spring by electrostatically shutting off the remainder of the aperture. The operational scenarios, the expected data, and the necessary modeling to extract the interstellar parameters and the conditions in the heliospheric boundary are described. The combination of two key interstellar species will facilitate a direct comparison of the pristine interstellar flow, represented by He, which has not been altered in the heliospheric boundary region, with a flow that is processed in the outer heliosheath, represented by O. The O flow distribution consists of a depleted pristine component and decelerated and heated neutrals. Extracting the latter so-called secondary component of interstellar neutrals will provide quantitative constraints for several important parameters of the heliosheath interaction in current global heliospheric models. Finding the fraction and width of the secondary component yields an independent value for the global filtration factor of species, such as O and H. Thus far filtration can only be inferred, barring observations in the local interstellar cloud proper. The direction of the secondary component will provide independent information on the interstellar magnetic field strength and orientation, which has been inferred from SOHO SWAN Ly-α backscattering observations and the two Voyager crossings of the termination shock.     

The space situational awareness program of the European Space Agency

The organization principles of constructing the European system of warning about dangerous situations in the outer space are considered in the paper.     

Compact high-sensitivity accelerometer-seismometer

Design of a three-axial accelerometer-seismometer, constructed on the basis of two-coordinate sensors (sensitive elements) of high and low accelerations, is considered in the paper. This instrument is applied for gravi-inertial measurements. Basic characteristics of the instrument are described, as well as the technique and results of its standardization.     

Mathematical modeling of cruciform parachute deployment

A problem of cruciform parachute deployment is considered. The process of deployment is simulated using the present-day numerical methods in the continuum mechanics, that is, the method of concentrated masses and the method of vortex frames. The calculation results are compared with the experimental data.     

Estimation of the determination accuracy of orbit parameters of the apophis asteroid from measurement results

An analysis of the existing astrometric and radar observations of the Apophis asteroid is performed. On the basis of this analysis, characteristics of future measurements of the asteroid orbit and limitation on their conduction are accepted. A proposed launching of a spacecraft to the asteroid in order to obtain high-accuracy measurements of its distance and radial velocity is also considered. Trajectories of the flight to the asteroid in 2012–2022 are studied. Estimates of the accuracy of the Apophis position determination at various sets of both available and planned measurements at various numbers of determined parameters are obtained. The method of estimating accuracy is similar to that used in [1] for the Vega project.     

Determination of GTE part vibration characteristics by the holographic interferometry method

The technical parameters of a holographic setup and an optical scheme for registration of holograms are described. The holographic interferograms of vibration modes for the GTE turbine and compressor blades vibrating at resonance frequencies are presented.     

Anthropogenic trigger of substorms and energetic particles precipitations

The high-frequency (HF) emission in near-Earth space from various powerful transmitters (radio communications, radars, broadcasting, universal time and navigation stations, etc.) form an integral part of the modern world that it cannot do without. In particular, special-purpose research facilities equipped with powerful HF transmitters are used successfully for plasma experiments and local modification of the ionosphere. In this work, we are using the results of a complex space-ground experiment to show that exposure of the subauroral region to HF emission can not only cause local changes in the ionosphere, but can also trigger processes in the magnetosphere–ionosphere system that result in intensive substorm activity (precipitations of high-energy particles, aurorae, significant variations in the ionospheric parameters and, as a consequence, in radio propagation conditions).