Energetic neutron and gamma-ray spectra under the earth radiation belts according to “SALUTE-7”-“KOSMOS-1686” orbital complex and “CORONAS-i” satellite data

The spectra of neutrons >10 MeV and gamma-rays 1.5–100 MeV under the Earth Radiation Belts, restored from the data, obtained onboard orbital complex “SALUTE-7”-“KOSMOS-1686”, are presented. The spectra shapes are similar to those for albedo neutrons and gamma-rays, but absolute values of their fluxes (0.2 cm⁻² s⁻¹ for neutrons, 0.8 cm⁻² s⁻¹ for gamma-rays at the equator and 1.2 cm⁻² s⁻¹, 1.9 cm⁻² s⁻¹, accordingly, at L=1.9) are several times as large. It is possibly explained by the fact that most of the detected particles were produced by the cosmic ray interactions with the orbital complex matter. Neutron and gamma-ray fluxes obtained from “CORONAS-I” data are near those for albedo particles.     

REMS: The Environmental Sensor Suite for the Mars Science Laboratory Rover

The Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) will investigate environmental factors directly tied to current habitability at the Martian surface during the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission. Three major habitability factors are addressed by REMS: the thermal environment, ultraviolet irradiation, and water cycling. The thermal environment is determined by a mixture of processes, chief amongst these being the meteorological. Accordingly, the REMS sensors have been designed to record air and ground temperatures, pressure, relative humidity, wind speed in the horizontal and vertical directions, as well as ultraviolet radiation in different bands. These sensors are distributed over the rover in four places: two booms located on the MSL Remote Sensing Mast, the ultraviolet sensor on the rover deck, and the pressure sensor inside the rover body. Typical daily REMS observations will collect 180 minutes of data from all sensors simultaneously (arranged in 5 minute hourly samples plus 60 additional minutes taken at times to be decided during the course of the mission). REMS will add significantly to the environmental record collected by prior missions through the range of simultaneous observations including water vapor; the ability to take measurements routinely through the night; the intended minimum of one Martian year of observations; and the first measurement of surface UV irradiation. In this paper, we describe the scientific potential of REMS measurements and describe in detail the sensors that constitute REMS and the calibration procedures.     

Effects of mineral nutrition conditions on heat tolerance of chufa (Сyperus esculentus L.) plant communities to super optimal air temperatures in the BTLSS

The use of mineralized human wastes as a basis for nutrient solutions will increase the degree of material closure of bio-technical human life support systems. As stress tolerance of plants is determined, among other factors, by the conditions under which they have been grown before exposure to a stressor, the purpose of the study is to investigate the level of tolerance of chufa (Cyperus esculentus L.) plant communities grown in solutions based on mineralized human wastes to a damaging air temperature, 45 °C. Experiments were performed with 30-day-old chufa plant communities grown hydroponically, on expanded clay aggregate, under artificial light, at 690 μmol m⁻² s⁻¹ PAR and at a temperature of 25 °C. Plants were grown in Knop’s solution and solutions based on human wastes mineralized according to Yu.A. Kudenko’s method, which contained nitrogen either as ammonium and urea or as nitrates. The heat shock treatment lasted 20 h at 690 and 1150 μmol m⁻² s⁻¹ PAR. Chufa heat tolerance was evaluated based on parameters of CO₂ gas exchange, the state of its photosynthetic apparatus (PSA), and intensity of peroxidation of leaf lipids. Chufa plants grown in the solutions based on mineralized human wastes that contained ammonium and urea had lower heat tolerance than plants grown in standard mineral solutions. Heat tolerance of the plants grown in the solutions based on mineralized human wastes that mainly contained nitrate nitrogen was insignificantly different from the heat tolerance of the plants grown in standard mineral solutions. A PAR intensity increase from 690 μmol m⁻² s⁻¹ to 1150 μmol m⁻² s⁻¹ enhanced heat tolerance of chufa plant communities, irrespective of the conditions of mineral nutrition under which they had been grown.     

Medical problems of manned space flights onboard orbital stations.

Medical aspects of crew safety and life support as well as biomedical investigations form part and parcel of the preparation and conduct of manned space programs. The list of biomedical problems related to these programs is very long. The present paper concentrates on some of them.     

Disturbance of the Electric Field in the Ionosphere by Sea Storms and Typhoons

The results of detecting quasi-stationary electric fields onboard the Kosmos-1809 satellite and observing sea storms and typhoons are analyzed jointly. We have detected an amplification of the electric field in the low-latitude ionosphere that is related to the preparatory stage and development of tropical storms and typhoons. In this case, the electric field strength can reach 20 mV/m, an anomalously high value for the low-latitude and near-equatorial ionosphere. High-accuracy estimates of the electric field strength are made on the basis of a model of its origination as a result of the generation of an extraneous electric current in the disturbed region of the lower atmosphere and the impact of these currents on the global atmosphere–ionosphere system of currents.     

从空间飞行器入射进电离层的调制电子束产生的高频波辐射

在主动束-等离子体试验中,调制电子束从空间飞行器入射进电离层等离子体将会产生电磁波辐射,在不同试验条件下电磁波辐射机理也不一样,由电子束纵向约束性产生电磁波辐射是其中之一.对半无界稀薄调制电子束从空间飞行器入射进电离层等离子体时所产生的波现象进行了理论分析和数值计算.结果表明,当调制电子束沿磁力线入射时,会在电离层等离子体中产生高频电磁波辐射,该辐射主要集中在垂直于入射电子束运动方向的平面内.      

Fundamental Constraints on the Coherence of Probing Signals in the Problem of Maximizing the Resolution and Range in the Stroboscopic Range of Asteroids

The problem of coherence violation in stroboscopic ranging with a high resolution in the range due to mutual phase instability of probing and reference radio signals has been considered. It has been shown that the violation of coherence in stroboscopic ranging systems is equivalent to the action of modulating interface and leads to a decrease in the system sensitivity. Requirements have been formulated for the coherence of reference generators in the stroboscopic processing system. The results of statistical modeling have been presented. It was shown that, in the current state of technology with stability of the frequencies of the reference generators, the achieved coherence is sufficient to probe asteroids with super-resolving signals in the range of up to 70 million kilometers. In this case, the dispersion of the signal in cosmic plasma limits the value of the linear resolution of the asteroid details at this range by the value of ~2.7 m. Comparison with the current radar resolution of asteroids has been considered, which, at the end of 2015, were ~7.5 m in the range of ~7 million kilometers.     

Thermal Analysis of Trajectories of Return from the Moon Using Several Entries into the Atmosphere for Ballistic Capsule and Gliding Descent Vehicles

Cosmic Research - In this paper, we study the scheme of a descent vehicle’s return from the Moon using several intermediate passages of the Earth’s atmosphere before landing. The...     

Comparative analysis of global optical observability of satellites in LEO

With a growing number of resident space objects (RSOs), the facilities for near-Earth space surveillance have to cope with increasing workload. It also applies to low-cost small optical surveillance facilities which may present regional, national and global networks. Improved methods of planning and scheduling optical telescopes are required to use these instruments efficiently. Today, optical observations are only feasible if the following quite stringent requirements are met: the object should be illuminated by sunlight, and it should be above while the Sun is below the observer’s horizon. For different orbits, these preconditions result in varying degrees of the space object observability at various ground-based sites. Certainly, satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) are particularly difficult to observe. This study aims at developing a new technique for assessing observability of a satellite in different types of orbits – namely, low, medium and high Earth orbits, imaging of the opportunity for its visibility in respective diagrams and their analysing for the existing near-Earth population of RSOs. Unlike other researches, wherein one or several observational stations have been chosen as target sites for in-depth analyses of visibility of all the satellites or just the selected ones, the present study focuses on examining the probability of optical surveillance of satellites in a certain orbit from any locations worldwide. It offers considerable scope for automation of surveillance planning and scheduling optical surveillance networks.