Relativistic MHD Simulations of Jets with Toroidal Magnetic Fields

This paper presents an application of the recent relativistic HLLC approximate Riemann solver by Mignone & Bodo to magnetized flows with vanishing normal component of the magnetic field. The numerical scheme is validated in two dimensions by investigating the propagation of axisymmetric jets with toroidal magnetic fields. The selected jet models show that the HLLC solver yields sharper resolution of contact and shear waves and better convergence properties over the traditional HLL approach.     

Survival of rock-colonizing organisms after 1.5 years in outer space

Cryptoendolithic microbial communities and epilithic lichens have been considered as appropriate candidates for the scenario of lithopanspermia, which proposes a natural interplanetary exchange of organisms by means of rocks that have been impact ejected from their planet of origin. So far, the hardiness of these terrestrial organisms in the severe and hostile conditions of space has not been tested over extended periods of time. A first long-term (1.5 years) exposure experiment in space was performed with a variety of rock-colonizing eukaryotic organisms at the International Space Station on board the European EXPOSE-E facility. Organisms were selected that are especially adapted to cope with the environmental extremes of their natural habitats. It was found that some-but not all-of those most robust microbial communities from extremely hostile regions on Earth are also partially resistant to the even more hostile environment of outer space, including high vacuum, temperature fluctuation, the full spectrum of extraterrestrial solar electromagnetic radiation, and cosmic ionizing radiation. Although the reported experimental period of 1.5 years in space is not comparable with the time spans of thousands or millions of years believed to be required for lithopanspermia, our data provide first evidence of the differential hardiness of cryptoendolithic communities in space.     

Electron coronal density irregularity\overline {n^2 } /(\bar n)^2 from measurements of K-coronal and lyman lines brightnesses

We propose a technique to derive the coronal density irregularity factor , wheren is the electron density. The absolute photometric comparison between the intensity of UV lines and the white-light K-coronal polarized brightness (pB) provides an unique constraint on the inhomogeneity of the corona. The ratio of the measured H I Lyman (Ly-) line intensity to the resonant-scattering dominated H I Lyman (Ly-) intensity can be used to extract the collisonal component of the Ly-. This component yields an estimate of . The quantity is then obtained from white-light K-coronal measurements. The use of lines of the same atomic species minimizes the effects due to outflow velocities (i.e., Doppler dimming), and reduces the errors introduced by the uncertainties in the ionization balance, the atomic parameters, and the solar abundances. The UVCS/SOHO unique capability of performing cotemporal and cospatial measurements of the Ly- and Ly- lines, and ofpB makes this instrument ideal for implementing this technique.     

Damage escape and repair in dried Chroococcidiopsis spp. from hot and cold deserts exposed to simulated space and martian conditions

The cyanobacterium Chroococcidiopsis, overlain by 3?mm of Antarctic sandstone, was exposed as dried multilayers to simulated space and martian conditions. Ground-based experiments were conducted in the context of Lichens and Fungi Experiments (EXPOSE-E mission, European Space Agency), which were performed to evaluate, after 1.5 years on the International Space Station, the survival of cyanobacteria (Chroococcidiopsis), lichens, and fungi colonized on Antarctic rock. The survival potential and the role played by protection and repair mechanisms in the response of dried Chroococcidiopsis cells to ground-based experiments were both investigated. Different methods were employed, including evaluation of the colony-forming ability, single-cell analysis of subcellular integrities based on membrane integrity molecular and redox probes, evaluation of the photosynthetic pigment autofluorescence, and assessment of the genomic DNA integrity with a PCR-based assay. Desiccation survivors of strain CCMEE 123 (coastal desert, Chile) were better suited than CCMEE 134 (Beacon Valley, Antarctica) to withstand cellular damage imposed by simulated space and martian conditions. Exposed dried cells of strain CCMEE 123 formed colonies, maintained subcellular integrities, and, depending on the exposure conditions, also escaped DNA damage or repaired the induced damage upon rewetting.     

On radiative and conductive heat transfer in spacecraft

The “radiative” boundary condition in a heat conduction problem relates the heat flux in a point of the wall to the temperatures in all the other points of the surface system.That is, this condition is of a “functional” type. This “functional” can be solved in discrete terms by using the conventional technique of dividing the body in small discrete elements or “nodes”. This paper instead presents an approach on a continuous scheme, by which the functional is solved in terms of “spacewise harmonics” of the temperature inside the body; the heat conduction problem is thus reduced to an ordinary form differential system whose unknowns are these “harmonics”. An interative linearized procedure to solve this system is also suggested, by which “exact” solutions are obtained. The merits of these solutions, with respect to practical discrete element computations, are in the better spacewise resolution and in the consequent more accurate treatment of both radiation and conduction. The application of the procedure is, however, limited to particular geometries. It is relevant to note that among these possible geometries many are included of practical interest, like hollow cylinders and polygons, cubic boxes etc. A numerical example completes the work.     

Interplanetary CubeSats system for space weather evaluations and technology demonstration

The paper deals with the mission analysis and conceptual design of an interplanetary 6U CubeSats system to be implemented in the L₁ Earth–Sun Lagrangian Point mission for solar observation and in-situ space weather measurements.     

PROBA-3 mission and the Shadow Position Sensors: Metrology measurement concept and budget

PROBA-3 is a space mission of the European Space Agency that will test, and validate metrology and control systems for autonomous formation flying of two independent satellites. PROBA-3 will operate in a High Elliptic Orbit and when approaching the apogee at 6·10⁴ Km, the two spacecraft will align to realize a giant externally occulted coronagraph named ASPIICS, with the telescope on one satellite and the external occulter on the other one, at inter-satellite distance of 144.3 m. The formation will be maintained over 6 hrs across the apogee transit and during this time different validation operations will be performed to confirm the effectiveness of the formation flying metrology concept, the metrology control systems and algorithms, and the spacecraft manoeuvring. The observation of the Sun’s Corona in the field of view [1.08;3.0]R_Sun will represent the scientific tool to confirm the formation flying alignment. In this paper, we review the mission concept and we describe the Shadow Position Sensors (SPS), one of the metrological systems designed to provide high accuracy (sub-millimetre level) absolute and relative alignment measurement of the formation flying. The metrology algorithm developed to convert the SPS measurements in lateral and longitudinal movement estimation is also described and the measurement budget summarized.     

Outskirts of Galaxy Clusters

Until recently, only about 10 % of the total intracluster gas volume had been studied with high accuracy, leaving a vast region essentially unexplored. This is now changing and a wide area of hot gas physics and chemistry awaits discovery in galaxy cluster outskirts. Also, robust large-scale total mass profiles and maps are within reach. First observational and theoretical results in this emerging field have been achieved in recent years with sometimes surprising findings. Here, we summarize and illustrate the relevant underlying physical and chemical processes and review the recent progress in X-ray, Sunyaev–Zel’dovich, and weak gravitational lensing observations of cluster outskirts, including also brief discussions of technical challenges and possible future improvements.     

Metrology on-board PROBA-3: The shadow position sensors subsystem

PROBA-3 is an ESA mission aimed at the demonstration of formation flying performance of two satellites that will form a giant coronagraph in space. The first spacecraft will host a telescope imaging the solar corona in visible light, while the second, the external occulter, will produce an artificial eclipse. This instrument is named ASPIICS (Association of Spacecraft for Polarimetric and Imaging Investigation of the Corona of the Sun). To accomplish the payload's scientific tasks, PROBA-3 will ensure sub-millimeter reciprocal positioning of its two satellites using closed-loop on-board metrology. Several metrology systems will be used and the Shadow Position Sensor (SPS) subsystem senses the penumbra around the instrument aperture and returns the 3-D displacement of the coronagraph satellite, with respect to its nominal position, by running a dedicated algorithm. In this paper, we describe how the SPS works and the choices made to accomplish the mission objectives.     

Simulated observations of the electron coronal density irregularity\overline {n^2 } /(\bar n)^2

A technique to derive the coronal density irregularity factor , wheren is the electron density, has been proposed by Fineschi and Romoli (1993). This technique will exploit the unique UVCS capability of cotemporal and cospatial measurements of both UV line radiation and K-coronal polarized brightness,pB.The ratio of the measured H I Lyman (Ly-) line intensity to the resonant-scattering dominated H I Lyman (Ly-) intensity can be used to extract the collisional component of the Ly-. This component yields an estimate of . The quantity is then obtained from the UVCS white-light K-coronal measurements.We present simulated observations of the UVCS for coronal atmosphere models with different filling factors and electron density profiles, and for different coronal structures (e.g., coronal holes, streamers). These simulations will show how the proposed technique may be used to probe inhomogeneities of the solar corona.