Detection of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays and neutrinos by radio method using artificial lunar satellites

An estimate of the feasibility of the ultrahigh-energy cosmic ray and neutrino detection using a lunar satellite-borne radio receiver is presented. The data obtained in the proposed experiment will make resolving the current contradictions in the ultrahigh-energy cosmic ray spectra measured with the major ground-based instruments possible. Moreover, they will enable us to considerably extend the accessible energy range and to check predictions of various models of the origin of the highest-energy particles in the Universe. At the same time the lunar radio detector provides a means of searching for ultrahigh-energy neutrinos with a high sensitivity combined with a very large target effective mass.     

Cave biosignature suites: microbes,minerals, and Mars

Earth's subsurface offers one of the best possible sites to search for microbial life and the characteristic lithologies that life leaves behind. The subterrain may be equally valuable for astrobiology. Where surface conditions are particularly hostile, like on Mars, the subsurface may offer the only habitat for extant lifeforms and access to recognizable biosignatures. We have identified numerous unequivocally biogenic macroscopic, microscopic, and chemical/geochemical cave biosignatures. However, to be especially useful for astrobiology, we are looking for suites of characteristics. Ideally, "biosignature suites" should be both macroscopically and microscopically detectable, independently verifiable by nonmorphological means, and as independent as possible of specific details of life chemistries--demanding (and sometimes conflicting) criteria. Working in fragile, legally protected environments, we developed noninvasive and minimal impact techniques for life and biosignature detection/characterization analogous to Planetary Protection Protocols. Our difficult field conditions have shared limitations common to extraterrestrial robotic and human missions. Thus, the cave/subsurface astrobiology model addresses the most important goals from both scientific and operational points of view. We present details of cave biosignature suites involving manganese and iron oxides, calcite, and sulfur minerals. Suites include morphological fossils, mineral-coated filaments, living microbial mats and preserved biofabrics, 13C and 34S values consistent with microbial metabolism, genetic data, unusual elemental abundances and ratios, and crystallographic mineral forms.     

Radial velocity search for low mass companions of nearby stars

The detection of substellar companions of nearby stars is very difficult, because these objects are very faint and are located close to their bright parent stars. One way to attack this problem is to look for small periodic motion of the bright star, induced by the gravitational attraction exerted by the unseen small companion. Over the past decade stellar spectroscopy has been used by a few teams to monitor the radial velocities of several samples of stars, with a threshold for detection of companions well below the substellar limit of about 0.08 M. So far, only a few possible spectroscopic binaries have been identified where the unseen companions might be substellar.Recently, radio observers discovered that the millisecond pulsar PSR B1257+12 displays periodic variations in the pulse arrival times, indicating the existence of at least three unseen companions in circular orbits around the pulsar. This is the first convincing case for an extra-solar planetary system. This discovery suggests that planetary systems can form in very different situations, and therefore may prove to be common.     

Bubble detector characterization for space radiation

In light of the importance of the neutron contribution to the dose equivalent received by space workers in the near-Earth radiation environment, there is an increasing need for a personal dosimeter that is passive in nature and able to respond to this neutron field in real time. Recent Canadian technology has led to the development of a bubble detector, which is sensitive to neutrons, but insensitive to low linear energy transfer (LET) radiation. By changing the composition of the bubble detector fluid (or “superheat”), the detectors can be fabricated to respond to different types of radiation. This paper describes a preliminary ground-based research effort to better characterize the bubble detectors of different compositions at various charged-particle accelerator facilities, which are capable of simulating the space radiation field.     

Artificial gravity: a possible countermeasure for post-flight orthostatic intolerance

Four payload crewmembers were exposed to sustained linear acceleration in a centrifuge during the Neurolab (STS-90) flight. In contrast to previous studies, otolith–ocular reflexes were preserved during and after flight. This raised the possibility that artificial gravity may have acted as a countermeasure to the deconditioning of otolith–ocular reflexes. None of the astronauts who were centrifuged had orthostatic intolerance when tested with head-up passive tilt after flight. Thus, centrifugation may also have helped maintain post-flight hemodynamic responses to orthostasis by preserving the gain of the otolith–sympathetic reflex. A comparison with two fellow Neurolab orbiter crewmembers not exposed to artificial gravity provided some support for this hypothesis. One of the two had hemodynamic changes in response to post-flight tilt similar to orthostatically intolerant subjects from previous missions. More data is necessary to evaluate this hypothesis, but if it were proven correct, in-flight short-radius centrifugation may help counteract orthostatic intolerance after space flight.     

火星磁层顶形成和变化的理论研究

考虑太阳风动压与行星电离层中的带电粒子热压及磁压之和平衡,建立了有大气（电离层）的行星磁层顶形成的理论模型,结合卫星对火星的观测数据,对子午面内向日侧火星磁层顶位形进行了数值计算和分析,研究了火星磁层顶位形及其与太阳风动压之间的变化关系．结果认为,火星磁层顶位形与地球磁层顶相似．太阳风动压越大,火星磁层顶越靠近火星;太阳风动压越弱,火星磁层顶越远离火星．根据火星内秉磁矩从古到今逐渐减小的观点,探索了大尺度磁场（内禀磁矩）对火星磁层顶的贡献作用,结果认为大尺度磁场越强,火星磁层顶越远离行星．这对于进一步研究火星磁层的长期演化以及其他行星磁层的位形变化都具有重要的意义．     

Subcritical and supercritical water oxidation of CELSS model wastes.

Controlled-Ecological-Life-Support-System (CELSS) model wastes were wet-oxidized at temperatures from 250 to 500 degrees C, i.e., below and above the critical point of water (374 degrees C and 218 kg/cm2 or 21.4 MPa). A solution of ammonium hydroxide and acetic acid and a slurry of human urine, feces, and wipes were used as model wastes. Almost all of the organic matter in the model wastes was oxidized in the temperature range from 400 to 500 degrees C, i.e., above the critical conditions for water. In contrast, only a small portion of the organic matter was oxidized at subcritical conditions. Although the extent of nitrogen oxidation to nitrous oxide (N2O) and/or nitrogen gas (N2) increased with reaction temperature, most of the nitrogen was retained in solution as ammonia near 400 degrees C. This important finding suggests that most of the nitrogen in the waste feed can be retained in solution as ammonia during oxidation at low supercritical temperatures and be subsequently used as a nitrogen source for plants in a CELSS while at the same time organic matter is almost completely oxidized to carbon dioxide and water. It was also found in this study the Hastelloy C-276 alloy reactor corroded during waste oxidation. The rate of corrosion was lower above than below the critical temperature for water.     

Modeling large solar flares

The basic ideas to model the large solar flares are reviewed and illustrated. Some fundamental properties of potential and non-potential fields in the solar atmosphere are recalled. In particular, we consider a classification of the non-potential fields or, more exactly, related electric currents, including reconnecting current layers. The so-called ‘rainbow reconnection’ model is presented with its properties and predictions. This model allows us to understand main features of large flares in terms of reconnection. We assume that in the two-ribbon flares, like the Bastille-day flare, the magnetic separatrices are involved in a large-scale shear photospheric flow in the presence of reconnecting current layers generated by a converging flow.