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Radiative lifetimes, transition moments, oscillator strengths and excitation probabilities for H molecule, 13, 14, 15 and 22 electron diatmoic molecules and carbon dioxide ion
We report the first results of a Bevatron heavy-ion experiment on the inclusive spectra of isotopically identified nuclei 3(Z-range between 3 and 7), produced by the fragmentation of 29-GeV N-14 ions in carbon and hydrogen. The preliminary values of the partial differential cross sections at 0 deg give evidence that the modes of fragmentation of N-14 projectiles are independent of the target nucleus.
Some selected papers presented at the Fourth International Conference on Beam-Foil Spectroscopy, whose results are of particular pertinence to ionic collision phenomena in solids, are reviewed. The topics discussed include solid target effects and means of surmounting them in the measurement of excited projectile ion lifetimes for low-energy heavy element ions; the electron emission accompanying the passage of heavy particles through solid targets; the collision broadening of X rays emitted from 100 keV ions moving in solids; residual K-shell excitation in chlorine ions penetrating carbon; comparison between 40 MeV Si on gaseous SiH4 targets at 300 mtorr and 40 MeV Si on Al; and the emergent surface interaction in beam-foil spectroscopy. A distinct overlap of interests between the sciences of beam-foil spectroscopy and atomic collisions in solids is pointed out.
The principles, instrumentation and data acquisition and interpretation techniques employed in multispectral remote sensing for geological applications are surveyed. Sensing is based on exact measurements of electromagnetic radiation interacting with atoms and molecules in the sensed scene. Absorbed radiation can be used to identify elements in the near-IR bands and emitted or reflected energy can be sensed in the mid- and far-IR. Sunlight normally serves as the exciting source. Wavelength absorptance and emittance characteristics are distinct for the various elements and molecules such as transition metal ions, water, carbonates, etc. The bands for identifying different materials are determined in the laboratory, followed by ground truth field tests. Several hand-held radiometers and spectrometers have been developed for the field trials. Each instrument usually has a limited detection range and serves for developing a data base for subtle distinctions among contiguous minerals with similar radiometric signatures. The data serve for calibrating first airborne and then satellite sensors, e.g., the Landsat MSS and Thematic Mapper. Instruments are also being tested using the Orbiter as the test platform.
The Waste Water Recovery System that has been used in conjunction with a microgravity whole body shower to test a closed loop shower water reclamation system applicable to the NASA Space Station employs a Thermoelectric Integrated Hollow Fiber Membrane Evaporation Subsystem. Attention is given to the suitability of a Space Shuttle soap for such crew showers, the effects of shower water on the entire system, and the purification qualities of the recovered water. The chemical pretreatment of the shower water for microorganism control involved activated carbon, mixed ion exchange resin beds, and iodine bactericide dispensing units. The water was recycled five times, demonstrating the feasibility of reuse.
A shower test was conducted recently at NASA-JSC in which waste water was reclaimed and reused. Test subjects showered in a prototype whole body shower following a protocol similar to that anticipated for Space Station. The waste water was purified using reverse osmosis followed by filtration through activated carbon and ion exchange resin beds. The reclaimed waste water was maintained free of microorganisms by using both heat and iodine. This paper discusses the test results, including the limited effectiveness of using iodine as a disinfectant and the evaluation of a Space Station candidate soap for showering. In addition, results are presented on chemical and microbial impurity content of water samples obtained from various locations in the water recovery process.
Close-coupling calculations are carried out for radiative processes in neutral carbon and a number of carbon-like ions; energy levels, oscillator strengths, and photoionization cross sections have been computed for all bound states of the type 2 s(j)2p(k)nl with n not above 10 and 1 not above 3. The R-matrix method is employed to solve the coupled equations with a ten-state eigenfunction expansion for the parent ion C II and an eight-state expansion for the other boron-like target ions. A number of selected results for oscillator strengths are presented and compared with earlier data, as well as for photoionization cross sections with autoionizing resonance structures. Isoelectronic trends are discussed. The present results for the oscillator strengths of C I and N II are found to differ significantly from some earlier theoretical works for a number of transitions. However, the present C I f values are in excellent agreement with recent calculations and experimental results.
The effects of nonequilibrium ionization on magnetic loop models with a steady siphon flow that is driven by a nonuniform heating rate are investigated. The model developed by Mariska (1988) to explain the observed redshifts of transition region emission lines is examined, and the number densities of the ions of carbon and oxygen along the loop are computed, with and without the approximation of ionization equilibrium. Considerable deviations from equilibrium were found. In order to determine the consequences of these nonequilibrium effects on the characteristics of the EUV emission from the loop plasma, the profiles and wavelength positions of all the important emission lines due to carbon and oxygen were calculated. The calculations are in broad agreement with Mariska's conclusions, although they show a significant diminution of the Doppler shifts, as well as modifications to the line widths. It is concluded that the inclusion of nonequilibrium effects make it more difficult to reproduce the observed characteristics of the solar transition region by means of the asymmetric-heating models.
Solar gamma-ray lines are produced through collisions of pairs of positive ions whose center of mass energies are above the relevant thresholds for excitation of gamma-ray emitting states. Because of the low density of the solar plasma, prompt gamma rays are emitted by recoiling ions before significant energy loss has occurred. Thus, the lines are expected to be Doppler-broadened to widths of the order of a hundred KeV. Gamma-ray lines resulting from proton and alpha-particle (He-4 ion) beams on carbon and oxygen targets in the laboratory exhibit complex profiles which change rapidly with the gamma-ray observation angle. Earlier work has been limited to modeling laboratory and solar flare gamma-ray profiles produced by proton excitation, but laboratory profiles of the carbon 4.44-MeV line and oxygen 6.13-MeV line from alpha excitation have now been successfully modeled. Solar flare gamma-ray line profiles of the carbon and oxygen lines from heavy ions in the ambient solar medium interacting with representative high-energy proton and alpha particle populations are presented.
According to the plan presented in the original proposal we have now completed most of the atomic calculations involving collision strengths and rate coefficients for electron impact excitation of C II, N III, and O IV ions. These have been reported in the first two publications appended with this report. We have now moved into the applications phase of the project with the new data being used to analyze the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) observations of a variety of objects, as described in the third publication recently submitted (also appended). The analysis and interpretation of archival data will continue well into the next year with several collaborators that the PI and Co-PI are involved with. In addition, the atomic calculations on Si II have been started.
The MASS instrument on WIND contains the first isochronous time-offlight spectrometer to be flown in the solar wind. The first spectra obtained with this instrument has demonstrated its capability to measure the abundances of several high-and low-FIP elements in the solar wind. The derivation of these abundances requires a careful calibration of the charge exchange efficiencies of the relevant ions in carbon foils. These efficiencies and the corresponding instrument functions have been determined in extensive calibration campaigns at different institutions. We present first and preliminary results obtained in slow solar wind streams and we compare these results with those obtained from previous investigations of solar wind abundances and of coronal abundances as derived from Solar Energetic Particles. Recent models of the FIP related fractionation effect predict a depletion of a factor of typically 4 to 5 for high-FIP elements (He, N, O, Ne, Ar, etc.) relative to low-FIP elements (Mg, Fe, Si, etc.). We also compare our results with the detailed predictions of the different models and we discuss the resulting evidence to validate or to invalidate different physical scenarios explaining the feeding and the acceleration of slow stream solar wind.
Knowledge of the space radiation environment is crucial both for human space exploration, and robotic space missions. It is likely that human explorers will return to the moon, and then go to Mars within the next thirty years. The radiation environment that they will encounter is a significant obstacle to future exploration, and must be dealt with successfully before longterm human missions outside of the magnetosphere can take place. Shielding technologies and materials must be developed to lower the dose and dose equivalent that human beings will receive on such missions. To begin this development, a fairly complete and accurate understanding of the space environment must be obtained. The major components of the space particle radiation environment that are most hazardous to humans are: galactic cosmic rays (GCR), the particles contained in solar particle events, (SPE), and secondary particles generated in material in the spacecraft itself. The intensity of the GCR varies by roughly a factor of two over the eleven-year solar cycle, inversely with the level of solar activity. These GCR particles are fully stripped nuclei, predominantly protons and helium, but also significant numbers of heavier ions, including carbon, oxygen, and iron. Since the ionization caused by nuclei passing through matter is proportional to the square of its charge (Z=10). The MARIE instrument has been described elsewhere.
The production of protons in heavy ion collisions through the knockout mechanism (abrasion) is described using the Glauber model. The multiple knockouts from the projectile, including the inelastic collision series with the target, are considered using a closure approximation in treating energy conservation. Calculations for reactions of 12C projectiles with several targets at energies of 1 and 2A GeV arc compared to experiments. For large secondary proton momentum a strong dependence on the target mass is found and attributed to multiple scattering of the projectile knockouts.
We have obtained charge-changing cross sections and partial cross sections for fragmentation of 1.05 GeV/nucleon Fe projectiles incident on H, C, Al, Cu, and Pb nuclei. The energy region covered by this experiment is critical for an understanding of galactic cosmic ray propagation and space radiation biophysics. Surviving primary beam particles and fragments with charges from 12 to 25 produced within a forward cone of half-angle 61 mrad were detected using a silicon detector telescope to identify their charge and the cross sections were calculated after correction of the measured yields for finite target thickness effects. The cross sections are compared to model calculations and to previous measurements. Cross sections for the production of fragments with even-numbered nuclear charges are seen to be enhanced in almost all cases.
In the present paper, an algorithm for HZE (High Charge and Energy) fragmentation based upon a combination of a two step abrasion/ablation model and electromagnetic dissociation is presented. Development of the model and detailed comparison with available experimental data are given elsewhere. The abrasion process accounts for the removal of nuclear matter in the overlap region of the colliding ions. An average transmission factor is used for the projectile and target nuclei at a given impact parameter to account for the finite mean free path in nuclear matter. The ions are treated otherwise on a geometric basis assuming uniform spheres. The ablation process is treated as a single nucleon-evaporation for every 10 MeV of excitation energy as used by Bowman in the original form of the model. The charge distribution of final fragments are calculated according to the Rudstam formula, except for some correction in mass 5, 8 and 9 fragments which show strong structure effects and correspondingly significant deviation from Rudstam's values. The nuclear electromagnetic dissociation is based on the Weizsacker-Williams (WW) method of virtual quanta where due to its simplicity, the virtual photon spectrum for individual multipoles, and finite extent of the charge distribution are not included. Comparisons of the model are made with the available experimental data here and more extensively elsewhere.
The Apollo and Russian missions during 1970's were reviewed to rediscover the type and distribution of minerals on the Moon. This study revealed that the Moon is a relatively barren place in mineral content when compared with the Earth. Results from the Lunar minerals brought back to Earth, indicate that the Moon lacks water, hydroxyl ions, and carbon based minerals. Our approach to prospecting utilizes a vehicle with sensors embedded in a wheel that allow measurements while the vehicle is in motion. Once a change in soil composition is detected, decision making software stops the vehicle and analytical instruments perform a more definitive analysis of the soil. The focus of this paper is to describe the instrumentation and data from the wheel-based sensors.
Contingency Water Containers (CWCs) are used to store potable and technical water that is transferred to the International Space Station (ISS) from the Shuttle orbiter vehicles. When CWCs are filled, water from the orbiter galley is passed through an ion exchange/activated carbon cartridge that removes the residual iodine biocide used on Shuttle before silver biocide is added. Removal of iodine and addition of silver is necessary to inhibit microbial growth inside CWCs and maintain compatibility with the water systems in the Russian segment of ISS. As part of nominal water transfer activities, crewmembers collect samples from several CWCs for postflight analysis. Results from the analysis of water transfer samples collected during the docked phases of STS-118/13A.1 and STS-120/10A showed that several of the CWCs contained up to 10(exp 4) CFU/mL of bacteria despite the fact that the silver concentrations in the CWCs were within acceptable limits. The samples contained pure cultures of a single bacteria, a Cupriavidus (formerly Wautersia) species that has been shown to be resistant to metallic biocides. As part of the investigation into the cause and remediation of the bacterial contamination in these CWCs, ground studies were initiated to evaluate the resistance of the Cupriavidus species to the silver biocides used on ISS and to determine the minimum effective concentration for the different forms of silver present in the biocides. The initial findings from those experiments are discussed herein.
This group of collaborators has been funded, by the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) and the U. S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as of February, 2009 to develop a prototypic dosimeter/microdosimeter instrument that measures in real time the radiation risk to personnel in a time varying radiation field of possibly unknown composition. The microdosimetric detectors will be solid-state devices more compact, more rugged than conventional microdosimetric proportional counters used previously in space and will consume less power. The proposed detector will be based on the heritage of the MIDN-MidSTAR microdosimeter launched on the MidSTAR spacecraft on March, 2007, the only solid-state microdosimeter ever flown in space. The system will be suitable for measurements in spacesuits, spacecrafts, remote rovers, or other dynamic or static environments. Measurements as a function of time will not only provide the instantaneous and average absorbed physical dose but also corresponding microdosimetric spectra, dose rates, the dose equivalents, and the dose equivalent rates. Values of the dose equivalents are used to establish relative risks for humans exposed to radiation and to determine regulatory limits. Because these parameters will be available to the astronauts and mission control in real time, these systems can be used not only to quantify exposures and limits, but also to allow appropriate actions to be taken to reduce radiation exposures and their consequences. Earlier prototypes have been used successfully to characterize beams of energetic protons and heavier ions including carbon, oxygen, silicon, titanium, and iron at the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory at Brookhaven National Laboratory. The initial design will be presented and discussed and spectra will be presented.