Gravitational Interaction of Celestial Bodies and neutron flux bursts from Their Surfaces

The gravitational interaction between the Sun and the planetary solar system gives rise to the well-known tidal waves at the planets. The tidal wave originating in the Earth's crust perpetually transforms the microstructure of the Earth's crust leading to a variation of the concentration of natural radioactive gases in the terrestrial air and to changed conditions of their leakage to the Earth's atmosphere. These variations give rise to bursts of thermal and slow neutrons in the vicinity of the Earth's crust, because the radioactive gases are sources of energetic alpha particles that induce neutron production upon the interaction with the nuclei of elements of the Earth's crust and atmosphere. In this work, the idea of neutron production in the ground coat is extended to the other celestial bodies interacting with one another.     

Energy Spectrum of Galactic 10–100 MeV Protons in Quiet Sun Periods

The dynamics of the proton energy spectrum during the solar cycle is studied. The spectra were determined by 1–100 MeV particle fluxes measured by different instruments mounted aboard the Earth's IMP-8 satellite for more than one hundred quiet-time intervals in the period between 1974 and 1991. The galactic branch of the spectra (E _p > 10 MeV) constructed for every quiet interval was fitted by a power law function, J =CE . The theory predicts that in the 1–100 MeV energy range, where the adiabatic cooling of particles is dominant, = 1, while we have derived a double-peak distribution. The main maximum has the mean value = 1.35. The mean value of the second, much weaker maximum, is = 0.95. Within the main maximum, values are distributed in accordance with the Gaussian law with a standard deviation D/ = 0.12. The substantial difference of from unity requires the elaboration of a new model of modulation processes in the inner heliosphere. The values corresponding to the second maximum show that modulation processes correspond sometimes to theoretical conceptions. It is shown that correlates weakly with parameters A and describing the solar branch of the spectrum (J(E) = AE ^–). At the same time, a more significant correlation is observed between and the solar activity index, R _z, the counting rate of the Deep River neutron monitor, and the energy value in the minimum of the energy spectrum flux, E _min.     

Single-Axis Solar Orientation of a Satellite of the Earth

The possibility of using the mode of single-axis solar orientation is considered for a satellite placed into a nearly circular orbit with an altitude of 900 km and bearing a solar sail. The satellite (together with the sail) has an axisymmetric structure, its symmetry axis being the principal central axis of the maximum moment of inertia. The center of the sail pressure lies on this axis and is displaced with respect to the satellite's center of mass. The symmetry axis of the satellite is set to the Sun so that its center of mass would be located between the Sun and the pressure center and would rotate around this axis with an angular velocity of a few degrees per second. The satellite's axis of symmetry makes a slow precession under the action of the gravitational moment and the moment of light pressure forces. Though the maximum magnitudes of these moments are comparable, the moment of the light pressure forces dominates and controls the precession in such a way that the symmetry axis orientation to the Sun remains unchanged.     

An Analysis of the Low-Frequency Component in Measurements of Angular Velocity and Microacceleration onboard the Foton-12 Satellite

We compare the results of two methods used to determine the angular velocity of the Foton-12 satellite and the low-frequency component of microaccelerations onboard it. The first method is based on reconstruction of the satellite's rotational motion using the data of onboard measurements of the strength of the Earth's magnetic field. The motion (time dependence of the orientation parameters and angular velocity) was found from the condition of best approximation of the measurement data by the functions calculated along the solutions to equations of attitude motion of the satellite. The solutions found were used to calculate the quasistatic component of microaccelerations at certain points of the satellite, in particular, at the point of location of an accelerometer of the QSAM system. Filtration of the low-frequency component of the angular velocity and microacceleration from the data of measurements by a sensor of angular velocity and by the accelerometer of this system served as a second method. The filtration was made using the discrete Fourier series. A spectral analysis of the functions representing the results of determining the angular velocity and microacceleration by both methods is performed. Comparing the frequencies and amplitudes of the harmonic component of these functions allowed us to estimate the accuracy of measurements made by the QSAM system in the low-frequency range.     

Dynamics and control of variable-geometry truss structures

Variable-geometry truss structures are likely to be used extensively in the future for in-orbit space construction. This paper considers dynamics formulation and vibration control of such structures. The truss system is modelled as a collection of sub-structures consisting of truss booms, prismatic actuator elements, and in some cases a manipulator at the end. Each truss boom is treated as a separate ‘link’ and its flexibility is modelled using the finite element method. Equations of motion for individual sub-structures are obtained which are then assembled. The non-working constraint forces are eliminated to obtain the equations governing the constrained dynamics of the entire system. For vibration control, the singular perturbation method is employed to construct two reduced-order models, for quasi-static motion and for modal co-ordinates, respectively. Computed torque with PD control is applied to maintain the quasi-static motion, while an optimal LQR method is used for vibration control. Typical simulation results are presented for the planar case.     

Production of neutrons from interactions of GCR-like particles

In order to help assess the risk to astronauts due to the long-term exposure to the natural radiation environment in space, an understanding of how the primary radiation field is changed when passing through shielding and tissue materials must be obtained. One important aspect of the change in the primary radiation field after passing through shielding materials is the production of secondary particles from the breakup of the primary. Neutrons are an important component of the secondary particle field due to their relatively high biological weighting factors, and due to their relative abundance, especially behind thick shielding scenarios. Because of the complexity of the problem, the estimation of the risk from exposure to the secondary neutron field must be handled using calculational techniques. However, those calculations will need an extensive set of neutron cross section and thicktarget neutron yield data in order to make an accurate assessment of the risk. In this paper we briefly survey the existing neutron-production data sets that are applicable to the space radiation transport problem, and we point out how neutron production from protons is different than neutron production from heavy ions. We also make comparisons of one the heavy-ion data sets with Boltzmann-Uehling-Uhlenbeck (BUU) calculations.     

Electrostatic Instability and Plasma Irregularities in the Topside Ionosphere above the South-Atlantic Geomagnetic Anomaly

The data of measuring the plasma density in the topside ionosphere for the South-Atlantic geomagnetic anomaly region are presented. It is shown that irregular plasma structures with a wide spectrum of irregularity scale (including large-scale structures with a dimension of order of some hundred kilometers) can be generated in the fields of electrostatic turbulence in inhomogeneous plasma.     

Convective Motions in Near-Critical Fluids under Real Zero-Gravity Conditions

The results of processing and interpreting the data of joint Russian–French experiments for studying the heat and mass transfer in near-critical fluids are presented. The experiments were carried out with the ALICE-1 instrument during an orbital flight of the Mirstation from September 30 to October 2, 1995 [1]. For such fluids with a point-like source of heat, when they are placed in the field of uncontrolled inertial accelerations of the spacecraft, the influence of thermovibrational and thermogravitational mechanisms of convection on the propagation of the region of optical irregularity is investigated. It is shown that, near the thermodynamic critical point, local heating of the medium leads to generation of either intense thermogravitational convection or averaged vibroconvective flow, depending on the frequency of variations of the microaccelerations. The structure and characteristics of discovered motions are studied. The results of numerical simulations are presented that confirm the conclusion about a possibility of generation of an averaged convective flow of a vibrational type by the high-frequency component of microaccelerations.     

ESA's Biopan 1--"Vitamin" experiment preliminary results

The purpose of “Vitamin” experiment is to study the efficiency of protective substances on three biological acellular systems aqueous solutions exposed to cosmic radiation in space. The first system “LDL”is a low density lipoprotein. The second is “E2-TeBG complexe” in which estradiol (E2) is bound to its plasmatic carrier protein, testosterone-estradiol binding globulin (TeBG). The third is “pBR 322”, a plasmid. “Vitamin” experiment was accomodated in the Biopan which had been mounted on the outer surface of a Foton retrievable satellite. The experiment was exposed to space environment during 15 days. A stable temperature of about 20 °C was maintained throughout the flight. “Vitamin” experiment preliminary results are presented and discussed.     

Main medical results of extended flights on space station Mir in 1986-1990

During 1986-1990 seven prime spacecrews (16 cosmonauts) have flown on-board the Mir orbital complex. The longest space mission duration was 366 days The principal objectives of the medical tasks were the maintenance of good health and performance of the spacecrews and conducting medical research programs which included study of the cardiovascular, motor, endocrine, blood, immune, and metabolic systems. Results obtained point to the ability of humans to readily adapt to a year-long stay in space and maintain good health and performance. Readaptation had a similar course as after other previous long-term space flights of up to 8 months in duration. Primary body system changes were not qualitatively different from findings after flights aboard the Salyut 6 and 7 space stations. In this case, during and after an 11-12 month flight, body system alterations were even less severe which was a result of adequate countermeasure use, their systematic and creative employment and maintenance of required environments to support life and work in space.