Associating the Solar Wind Measured by Ulysses with its Source at the sun

Radio occultation, ultraviolet, and white-light measurements have expanded our knowledge of the morphology of density and velocity in polar coronal holes, and made it possible to carry out the first systematic comparisons between the Ulysses solar wind measurements and quantitative white-light observations of the solar corona. This paper summarizes the rationale and salient features of this new approach which has been used to relate the solar wind observed by Ulysses in 1993–1995 to the inner corona. The statistical characteristics (average, standard deviation, and autocorrelation function) of the Ulysses density measurements of the fast wind are found to be mirrored in those of polarized brightness measurements of path-integrated density made by the High Altitude Observatory (HAO) Mauna Loa K-coronagraph at 1.15 R _⊙. These results reinforce the conclusions from comparisons between measurements of the outer and inner corona. They show that the polar coronal hole extends radially into the solar wind, and that sources of the fast wind are not limited to coronal holes. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Inferring non-point pollution from land cover analysis

Best Management Practices (BMP's) in farming were found to significantly reduce agricultural non-point water pollution in Central Indiana. Through the implementation of systems of conservation tillage practices and structural measures at the farm level, reductions in runoff were achieved, thereby minimizing erosion and subsequent sedimentation and pollution of the surface water system.These conclusions resulted from a three and one-half year study entitled, “The Indiana Heartland Model Implementation Project” administered by the Indiana Heartland Coordinating Commission, involving cooperation and coordination of farmers, citizens, and a multi-agency, multi-disciplinary team comprised of four universities and numerous governmental agencies. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency funded research, while the U.S. Department of Agriculture provided cost share monies for BMP implementation.A comprehensive geographically encoded computer-aided data base was constructed which included information on land cover, elevation, slope, aspect, soils, etc. Land cover map files were compiled through remote sensing including Landsat MSS digital data and low altitude color infrared aerial photography sources. This digital data base was suited for spatial and statistical analyses and transferred easily as input to Purdue University's ANSWERS Model for further watershed assessment. The ANSWERS Model is a distributed deterministic model which simulates the monitored reaction of subwatersheds to actual storm events. Through this model inferences were made as to the expected water quality improvements, given BMP's were implemented at critical areas for erosion throughout both watersheds.     

Gravitational-collapse supernovae

The gravitational collapse of the core of a massive star releases ample energy for a supernova explosion. The mechanisms by which this energy can be imparted to the outer parts of the stars to actually yield an explosion is outlined, and some of the related physical processes are examined. In particular the generation of entropy and the loss of neutrinos during the collapse of the core and the generation of lepton-driven buoyancy instabilities are discussed in some detail.     

Augmented Empirical Models of Plasmaspheric Density and Electric Field Using IMAGE and CLUSTER Data

Empirical models for the plasma densities in the inner magnetosphere, including plasmasphere and polar magnetosphere, have been in the past derived from in situ measurements. Such empirical models, however, are still in their initial phase compared to magnetospheric magnetic field models. Recent studies using data from CRRES, Polar, and Image have significantly improved empirical models for inner-magnetospheric plasma and mass densities. Comprehensive electric field models in the magnetosphere have been developed using radar and in situ observations at low altitude orbits. To use these models at high altitudes one needs to rely strongly on the assumption of equipotential magnetic field lines. Direct measurements of the electric field by the Cluster mission have been used to derive an equatorial electric field model in which reliance on the equipotential assumption is less. In this paper we review the recent progress in developing empirical models of plasma densities and electric fields in the inner magnetosphere with emphasis on the achievements from the Image and Cluster missions. Recent results from other satellites are also discussed when they are relevant.     

Operations of a spaceflight experiment to investigate plant tropisms

Plants will be an important component in bioregenerative systems for long-term missions to the Moon and Mars. Since gravity is reduced both on the Moon and Mars, studies that identify the basic mechanisms of plant growth and development in altered gravity are required to ensure successful plant production on these space colonization missions. To address these issues, we have developed a project on the International Space Station (ISS) to study the interaction between gravitropism and phototropism in Arabidopsis thaliana. These experiments were termed TROPI (for tropisms) and were performed on the European Modular Cultivation System (EMCS) in 2006. In this paper, we provide an operational summary of TROPI and preliminary results on studies of tropistic curvature of seedlings grown in space. Seed germination in TROPI was lower compared to previous space experiments, and this was likely due to extended storage in hardware for up to 8 months. Video downlinks provided an important quality check on the automated experimental time line that also was monitored with telemetry. Good quality images of seedlings were obtained, but the use of analog video tapes resulted in delays in image processing and analysis procedures. Seedlings that germinated exhibited robust phototropic curvature. Frozen plant samples were returned on three space shuttle missions, and improvements in cold stowage and handing procedures in the second and third missions resulted in quality RNA extracted from the seedlings that was used in subsequent microarray analyses. While the TROPI experiment had technical and logistical difficulties, most of the procedures worked well due to refinement during the project.     

Electronic Logbook for Space System Integration & Test Operations

In the highly technological aerospace world, paper is still widely used to document space system integration and test (I&T) operations. E-Logbook (electronic logbook) is a new technology designed to replace current documentation processes of space system I&T operations, such as connector mate and demate, flight hardware and flight software component installation, material mixes or electronic ground support equipment (EGSE) validation. It also includes new documentation concepts, such as the shift log, which improves project awareness and optimizes the shift hand-over process, and the configuration log, which instantly reports on the global I&T state of the space system and greatly enhances information gathering prior to major test events or project reviews. The design of E-Logbook focuses not only on a reliable and efficient relational database, but also on an ergonomic human-computer interactive (HCI) system of graphical user interfaces (GUI) that can help reduce human error and improve I&T discipline and management oversight. E-Logbook has been used for the I&T of the large area telescope (LAT) of the gamma-ray large area space telescope (GLAST) scientific satellite at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC). After 19 months of operation, more than 41,000 records have been created for the different documentation components or I&T Logs, with no data having been corrupted or critically lost. 94% of the operators and 100% of the management exposed to E-Logbook prefer it to paper logbooks and recommend its use in the aerospace industry.     

Preliminary application of a novel algorithm to monitor changes in pre-flight total peripheral resistance for prediction of post-flight orthostatic intolerance in astronauts

Orthostatic intolerance (OI) is a significant challenge for astronauts after long-duration spaceflight. Depending on flight duration, 20–80% of astronauts suffer from post-flight OI, which is associated with reduced vascular resistance. This paper introduces a novel algorithm for continuously monitoring changes in total peripheral resistance (TPR) by processing the peripheral arterial blood pressure (ABP). To validate, we applied our novel mathematical algorithm to the pre-flight ABP data previously recorded from twelve astronauts ten days before launch. The TPR changes were calculated by our algorithm and compared with the TPR value estimated using cardiac output/heart rate before and after phenylephrine administration. The astronauts in the post-flight presyncopal group had lower pre-flight TPR changes (1.66 times) than those in the non-presyncopal group (2.15 times). The trend in TPR changes calculated with our algorithm agreed with the TPR trend calculated using measured cardiac output in the previous study. Further data collection and algorithm refinement are needed for pre-flight detection of OI and monitoring of continuous TPR by analysis of peripheral arterial blood pressure.     

下一代火星车在哪儿着陆?

自发走到一起的行星科学家们正在为下一代火星车平安驶过资金的泥潭和科学的荆棘而不懈地努力……     

Post: Polar stratospheric telescope

The tropopause, typically at 16 to 18 km altitude at the lower latitudes, dips to 8 km in the polar regions. This makes the cold, dry and nonturbulent lower stratosphere accessible to tethered aerostats. Tethered aerostats can fly as high as 12 km and are extremely reliable, lasting for many years. In contrast to free-flying balloons, they can stay on station for weeks at a time, and payloads can be safely recovered for maintenance and adjustment and relaunched in a matter of hours. We propose to use such a platform, located first in the Arctic (near Fairbanks, Alaska) and, potentially, later in the Antarctic, to operate a new technology 6-meter, diluted aperture telescope with diffraction-limited performance in the near infrared. Thanks to the low ambient temperature (220 K), thermal emission from the optics is of the same order as that of the zodiacal light in the 2 to 3 micron band. Since this wavelength interval is the darkest part of the zodiacal light spectrum from optical wavelengths to 100 microns, the combination of high resolution images and a very dark sky make it the spectral region of choice for observing the redshifted light from galaxies and clusters of galaxies at moderate to high redshifts.Affiliated to the Astrophysics Division, Space Science Department, European Space Agency