Manned exploration and exploitation of solar system: Passive and active shielding for protecting astronauts from ionizing radiation—A short overview

In deep space manned missions for the exploration and exploitation of celestial bodies of Solar System astronauts are not shielded by the terrestrial magnetic field and must be protected against the action of Solar Cosmic Rays (SCRs) and Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCRs). SCRs are sporadically emitted, and in very rare but possible events, their fluence can be so high to be lethal to a unprotected crew. Their relatively low energy allows us to conceive fully passive shields, also if active systems can somewhat reduce the needed mass penalty. GCRs continuously flow without intensity peaks, and are dangerous to the health and operability of the crew in long duration (>1year) missions. Their very high energy excludes the possible use of passive systems, so that recourse must be made to electromagnetic fields for preventing ionizing particles to reach the habitat where astronauts spend most of their living and working time. A short overview is presented of the many ideas developed in last decades of last century; ideas are mainly based on very intense electrostatic shields, flowing plasma bubbles, or enormous superconducting coil systems for producing high magnetic fields. In the first decade of this century the problem began to be afforded in more realistic scenarios, taking into account the present and foreseeable possibilities of launchers (payload mass, diameter and length of the shroud of the rocket, etc.) and of assembling and/or inflating structures in space. Driving parameters are the volume of the habitat to be protected and the level of mitigation of the radiation dose to be guaranteed to the crew. Superconducting magnet systems based on multi-solenoid complexes or on one huge magnetic torus surrounding the habitat are being evaluated for defining the needed parameters: masses, mechanical structures for supporting the huge magnetic forces, needed equipments and safety systems. Technological tests are in preparation or planned for improving density of the current, lightness and stability, to increase working temperature of superconducting cables, and for finding light supporting structures and suitable safety architectures, delineating a possible development program for affording this difficult problem.     

高空飞艇螺旋桨驱动电机分析

高空飞艇的一些概念设计中采用电动机驱动螺旋桨的电推进系统,对该系统中电 动机的关键技术进行分析,为高空飞艇螺旋桨驱动电机的研制提供参考。针对高空飞艇的电 源和不同电动机的特点,分析了螺旋桨驱动电机应首选稀土永磁无刷直流电动机。根据高空 飞艇对螺旋桨的推力要求,分析了满足螺旋桨驱动需求的驱动电机的额定参数确定。结合高 空环境的特点,从材料选择、轴承润滑和电机温升等方面对驱动电动机的高空适应性设计进 行了探讨。稀土永磁无刷直流电动机驱动螺旋桨的地面试验表明所设计的电动机样机具有高 效率,能够满足螺旋桨驱动需求。
     

A Novel Magnetic Configuration for Space Radiation Active Shielding

Space radiation has been identified as the main health hazard to crews involved in manned Mars missions. Active shielding is more effective than passive shielding to the very energetic particles from cosmic rays. Particle motion in a magnetic field is studied based on the single-particle theory and Monte Carlo method. By comparing the shielding efficiency of different magnetic field configurations, a novel active magnetic shielding configuration with lower mass cost and power consumption is proposed for manned Mars missions. The new magnetic configuration can shield 92.8% of protons and 84.4% of alpha particles with E < 4 GeV·n-1, when considering the passive shielding contribution of 10.0 g·cm-2 Al Shielding, the required magnetic stiffness can be reduced from 27 Tm to 16 Tm. The detailed analysis of mass cost and power consumption shows that active shielding will be a promising means to protect crews from space radiation exposure in manned Mars missions.      

Passive cooling of superconducting magnetic systems in space

The equilibrium temperature of a system in space can be lowered by a suitable choice of its geometry and its attitude. This remark is important for devices based on medium temperature and high temperature superconducting materials, and offers the possibility of their fully passive cooling without or with a marginal recourse to active systems. General parameterizations are given and simple schemes discussed. The adopted geometrical configuration and the attitude can enhance the role of passive cooling of the large superconducting magnetic systems required for protecting from ionizing radiation manned habitats in deep space. A specific example based on MgB₂ cable for protecting large volume habitats (500 and 1000 m³) is treated. The systems can be run in deep space at equilibrium temperatures around 20 K mainly by passive cooling, provided that their geometry and attitude would be suitably chosen.     

Search for primordial antiparticles with BESS

The Balloon-borne Experiment with a Superconducting Spectrometer (BESS) has been carried out to search for primordial antiparticles in cosmic rays. In ten flights from 1993 to 2004, it measured the cosmic-ray antiproton spectrum in the energy range 0.1–4.2 GeV at various solar activity conditions. It also searched for antideuterons and antihelium nuclei, and it made precise measurement of cosmic-ray particle spectra. The BESS program has been extended to long duration balloon (LDB) flights in Antarctica (BESS-Polar) with the goal of achieving unprecedented sensitivity in the search for primordial antiparticles. This report describes recent results from BESS and progress of the BESS-Polar program.     

钇、钡、铜氧化物超导体在微重力条件下的热处理试验研究

论述利用我国返回式卫星,在其搭载的晶体加工炉中,首次完成的钇、钡、铜氧化物超导体样品的空间热处理试验。     

The Science Case for STEP

The Satellite Test of the Equivalence Principle (STEP) will advance experimental limits on violations of Einstein’s Equivalence Principle (EP) from their present sensitivity of 2 parts in 10¹³${10}^{13}$ to 1 part in 10¹⁸${10}^{18}$ through multiple comparison of the motions of four pairs of test masses of different compositions in an earth-orbiting drag-free satellite. Dimensional arguments suggest that violations, if they exist, should be found in this range, and they are also suggested by leading attempts at unified theories of fundamental interactions (e.g., string theory) and cosmological theories involving dynamical dark energy. Discovery of a violation would constitute the discovery of a new force of nature and provide a critical signpost toward unification. A null result would be just as profound, because it would close off any possibility of a natural-strength coupling between standard-model fields and the new light degrees of freedom that such theories generically predict (e.g., dilatons, moduli, quintessence). STEP should thus be seen as the intermediate-scale component of an integrated strategy for fundamental physics experiments that already includes particle accelerators (at the smallest scales) and supernova probes (at the largest). The former may find indirect evidence for new fields via their missing-energy signatures, and the latter may produce direct evidence through changes in cosmological equation of state—but only a gravitational experiment like STEP can go further and reveal how or whether such a field couples to the rest of the standard model. It is at once complementary to the other two kinds of tests, and a uniquely powerful probe of fundamental physics in its own right.     

空间旋转目标涡流消旋概念与仿真分析

针对消除空间旋转目标姿态旋转的问题,本文将第二代高温超导技术与涡流制动技术相结合,提出超导式涡流消旋的概念。然后,对涡流消旋的技术可行性进行了定性分析,通过对多种消旋技术手段的权衡比较归纳出涡流消旋的优势。接着,采用电磁张量理论,建立了电磁-涡流作用机理的精确磁场和涡流力矩模型;最后,考虑实际消旋的任务需求,对典型的高速旋转目标、低速旋转目标、以及复合旋转目标的消旋进行了动力学仿真研究。仿真结果表明,涡流消旋具有足够强大的制动能力,能有效消除目标的高速旋转或复合旋转运动。     

四相永磁容错电机的SVPWM控制

为了提高四相永磁容错电机(FTPMM)在系统正常工作时的控制性能,在分析其结构和原理的基础上,建立了其在旋转坐标系下的数学模型,为实现电流、磁链、转矩的解耦控制创造了条件,设计了基于H桥的容错驱动,提出了一种新颖的四相永磁容错电机的电压空间矢量脉宽调制（SVPWM）策略,并巧妙设计了零矢量的插入顺序和重合矢量的选择顺序,方便了数字信号处理器(DSP)的实现。仿真和试验结果证明了在系统正常工作时该方法的正确性和优越性。     

高性能隔离器上的定向凝固稀土钴永磁材料

 研究了Sm-La-Co-Cu-Fe-Zr系,合金的Sm+La、Fe和Cu对θ的影响,其中θ定义为晶体强制性生长方向与合金的易磁化轴之间的夹角。得到了θ唯一为0°的空间A,只有在该空间内采用定向凝固技术制备的试样剩磁才有工程实用价值。和粉末烧结2/17型,1/5型永磁体相比,在A空间内研制成的磁体韧性较高、更适用于某高性能隔离器。