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Formation of large particles on substrate is eliminated by actively exhausting reacted gases. Effluent gas backflow is prevented by pumping in curtain of nitrogen above fresh reactive gases from several directions.
Efforts to show growth activity of anaerobic bacteria in aerosolized particles suspended in anaerobic gas (N2) are described. Evidence of spore generation in nitrogen was obtained. Results are discussed.
The intensity of galactic cosmic radiation in interplanetary space has been observed over the heliocentric radial range 0.99 to 5.26 AU with five Geiger-Mueller tubes on Pioneer 10 and over the range 1.00 to 3.59 AU with three similar tubes on Pioneer 11. The observations span the time period 1972 March 3 to 1974 April 29, near the epoch of minimum solar activity. The contributions of solar energetic particles are eliminated. The effect of temporal trends is removed in a variety of ways - by comparison of simultaneous measurements on the two spacecraft; by comparison with data from Explorer 35 at 1.0 AU; and by comparison with terrestrial neutron monitor data. The radial gradient of the intensity of particles with energies greater than 80 MeV/nucleon is zero to within an experimental uncertainty of less than 2 per cent per AU over the range 0.99 to 5.26 AU. Hence, it is less than the theoretically expected value by at least a factor of 5.
Two recent observations have provided the basis for study of a relationship between solar activity and the formation of small particles in the earth's atmosphere; the discovery of annual increases of condensation nuclei (CN) at 30 km and the detection of sulfuric acid molecules in large negative ion clusters in the 25-35-km altitude region. These observations have led to formulation and testing of a model wherein CN are formed in a 'polar cloud chamber' supersaturated with sulfuric acid vapor and triggered by ionization associated with solar flare cosmic radiation. It is concluded that such a model provides a potential explanation of the observations.
Two decades of space research have produced ample evidence that particles and fields originating in the active Sun can gain entry into the terrestrial magnetosphere and deposit their energy in the ionosphere and atmosphere. The final link in this solar-terrestrial chain is generically referred to as magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling (MIC). Because of the far-reaching implications of recent discoveries in MIC and because a coherent assessment of them has yet to be made, the principal task is to critically assess these new observations and the new perspectives that they may engender. The MIC topics of interest are roughly grouped according to the scale lengths of the phenomena being treated. This particular choice of groupings is mainly for convenience, with perhaps some suggestion as to the direction of energy cascade from the largest scales down to the smaller scale.
A numerical model of the propagation of galactic cosmic rays in interplanetary space was constructed for the case when the modulation depth determined by the level of solar activity changed in time. Also the contribution of particle drift in the regular field was calculated, and the agreement with experimental data concerning the ratio of protons and electrons in two solar activity minima is shown.
A radiative transfer model, derived largely from the work of Hapke (1981) and Goguen (1981), is fit to Voyager imaging observations of Europa, Mimas, Enceladus, and Rhea. It is possible to place constraints on the single-scattering albedo, the porosity of the optically active upper regolith, the single-particle phase function, and, in the cases of Europa and Mimas, the mean-slope angle of macroscopic surface features. The texture of the surfaces of the Saturnian satellites appears to be similar to the earth's moon. However, Europa is found to have a distinctly more compact regolith and a more forward-scattering single-particle phase function.
Large fluxes of heavy ions have been reported upstream of Jupiter's bow shock as Voyager 1 approached the planet (Zwickl et al., 1981; Krimigis et al., 1985). Enhanced low-frequency magnetic wave activity was also observed during the particle events. The fluctuations are left-handed, elliptically polarized in the plasma frame. The spectrum of these fluctuations contains a peak close to the Doppler-shifted resonance frequency of a sulfur or oxygen beam with streaming energy of approximately 30 keV. These fluctuations are also present in the spectrum of the magnitude of the field. It is concluded that the observations result from an instability driven by an energetic beam of either sulfur or oxygen. The wave observations can be described by a heavy ion distribution with both a streaming anisotropy and a temperature anisotropy. This class of heavy ion streaming instabilities may also play a role in wave-particle interactions in the vicinity of comets.
The external induced environment generated by space station activity, or more specifically by gases, particles, and light background is discussed. These contaminant species must be controlled if sensitive systems, such as solar energy collectors or science experiments exposed to the external environment are to function properly. The requirements generally set limits on the level of gas species, matter deposited on surfaces and light background levels over various spectral regions. They also address environment monitoring and contamination controls during manufacturing. Limits on effluent release and system leakages are in turn derived from these requirements.
The main characteristics of meteor showers associated with Comet Halley were derived from the most recent radar observations carried out at the Ondrejov Astronomical Observatory during the periods of May 1 to 10 and October 15 to 30. The activity variations, the positions of activity maxima, the size distribution of particles, the particle flux variation within the stream and other characteristics were determined and compared with other results.
At Uranus, the Voyager 2 plasma wave investigation observed very significant phenomena related to radio emissions, dust impacts, and magnetospheric wave-particle interactions. On January 19, 1986 (R = 270 R-sub U) the plasma wave investigation detected an intense radio burst at 31 and 56 kHz, and this provided the first indication that Uranus had a magnetosphere. During the encounter, more of these sporadic bursts were observed along with relatively continuous radio emissions extending down to 10 kHz, and a sporadic narrowband radio signal with f near 5 kHz. As Voyager passed through the ring plane, the plasma wave investigation recorded a large number of dust impacts. The Voyager 2 plasma wave instrument also detected many strong electromagnetic and electrostatic plasma waves, with intensity peaks in the region within 12 Uranus radii. These waves have characteristics that can interact strongly with the local plasma and with the trapped energetic particles, leading to precipitation into the atmosphere, charged particle acceleration, and charged particle diffusion. In addition, strong wave activity was detected in the region of the bow and shock and moderate levels in the magnetic tail.
A balloon payload designed to study the processes of energy release, particle acceleration, and heating of the active corona in hard X-ray microflares and normal flares is described. An array of liquid nitrogen-cooled germanium detectors together with large area phoswich scintillation detectors provide the highest sensitivity (about 500 sq cm) and energy resolution (not greater than 0.7 keV) ever achieved for solar hard X-ray (about 15-600 keV) measurements. These detectors were flown in February 1987 from Australia on a long duration radiation controlled balloon flight (LDBF) which provided 12 days of observations before cutdown in Brazil. The payload includes solar cells for power, pointing, and navigation sensors, a microprocessor controlled data system with VCR tape storage, and transmitters for GOES and ARGOS spacecraft. This successful flight illustrates the potential of LDBFs for solar flare studies.
The computer code that has been used over years to study the dust-coma morphology of comets and to generate their synthetic images is upgraded by introducing two categories of random perturbations into the motions of dust particles ejected from discrete sources of activity on the nucleus surface. The new technique is applied to three types of morphological features: multiple concentric halos, a system of spiral jets, and a sunward fan-shaped coma. The results indicate that inclusion of random perturbations substantially enhances the capability for generating synthetic images that faithfully simulate the observed appearance of dust comets. By increasing the magnitude of perturbations in the synthetic images beyond a certain limit, it is possible to 'erase' morphological features characteristic of the ejection process. This implies that the lack of distinct morphology in the head of a comet cannot be interpreted as the absence of discrete sources of activity on the nucleus surface. The effects of varying random perturbations on the appearance of the computer-generated images are investigated in detail and the suspected major role that imperfect flow collimation (or flow divergence) in dust jets plays with regard to the observed coma morphology is discussed.
The properties and evolution of the major outburst experienced by Comet Halley at 14 AU during February-March 1991 are studied. It is found that the observed halo is a segment of a conical surface populated by solid particles ejected from a localized, temporarily activated region on the sunlit hemisphere of the spinning nucleus. The total mass of the ejecta was at least 10 exp 12 g and CO was probably the prime driver, accelerating the smallest grains to a terminal velocity of about 45 m/s. The mass loading of the gas flow by particulate matter is enormous, with the mass production rate exceeding the expected production rate of CO by a factor of several tens.
Radioactivity induced in detector materials and their immediate surroundings is the major source of discrete-line, gamma-ray background and an important source of continuum background in the performance of remote-sensing, gamma-ray spectroscopy of planetary bodies. In interplanetary space the dominant sources of particles are cosmic rays and their secondaries arising from interactions with the spacecraft and the surface of the target body. In addition, certain future gamma-ray astronomy missions, such as INTEGRAL, are to be located so as to perform their observations in interplanetary space rather than in the traditional low earth orbits. Such location removes contributions from the earth's atmosphere and inner radiation belt at the expense of increased exposure to cosmic rays and solar particle events. Accurate prediction of the activation of key materials by cosmic rays is of the utmost importance for detector design and data interpretation.
In May 1996 the electrical power on Pioneer 10 was no longer adequate to support the Cosmic Ray Telescope Experiment (CRT). In March 1997 ground based operations for the mission were terminated. The 25 years of Pioneer 10 were a remarkable voyage of discovery as it ventured into a vast new unexplored region of space. These observations by the Pioneer experiments led in the development of a new discipline of space science - heliospheric physics. For cosmic ray studies it was an incredible era, leading to the identification of new energetic particle populations and processes and initiating the study of the dynamics and large-scale structure and began the study of the dynamics and large-scale structure of the outer heliosphere. A summary of some of the principal scientific findings of the CRT experiment over this period is given in the next section. Even with the cessation of data from the Pioneer 10/11 mission there remained a great deal of scientific analysis and data archiving that required on the order of an additional three years of effort on the part of the CRT team. We have tried to select those tasks where the P10/11 CRT data have an important role to play. Special emphasis is placed on long-term synoptic studies that make use of the extended temporal and spatial coverage of the missions and the full capabilities of the CRT experiment. The major scientific objectives of this study are: (1) A phenomenological study of the modulation process in the heliosphere, thereby laying the foundation for developing a unified model of cosmic ray modulation over a complete 22 year heliomagnetic cycle; (2) These modulation studies and the temporal changes in the cosmic ray intensities also provide information on the large-scale structure and dynamics of the outer heliosphere; (3) use the galactic and anomalous cosmic ray data from Pioneer 10 to obtain a more accurate estimate of the distance to the modulation boundary and to the termination shock; (4) Use the results from (2) and from temporal variations to determine whether significant modulation occurs in the region of the heliosphere; (5)study the acceleration and transport of low energy solar interplanetary energetic particles and their relation to solar activity and interplanetary phenomena.
For a given galactic cosmic ray (GCR) environment, information on the particle flux of protons, alpha particles, and heavy ions, that varies with respect to the topographical altitude on the Martian surface, are needed for planning exploration missions to Mars. The Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) mission with its Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) instrument has been providing precise topographical surface map of the Mars. With this topographical data, the particle flux at the Martian surface level through the CO2 atmospheric shielding for solar minimum and solar maximum conditions are calculated. These particle flux calculations are then transported first through an anticipated shielding of a conceptual shelter with several water equivalent shield values (up to 50 g/cm2 of water in steps of 5 g/cm2) considered to represent a surface habitat, and then into the human body. Model calculations are accomplished utilizing the HZETRN, QMSFRG, and SUM-MARS codes. Particle flux calculations for 12 different locations in the human body were considered from skin depth to the internal organs including the blood-forming organs (BFO). Visualization of particle flux in the human body at different altitudes on the Martian surface behind a known shielding is anticipated to provide guidance for assessing radiation environment risk on the Martian surface for future human missions.
Highly accelerated particles are observed in astrophysical systems containing relativistic jets and shocks, e.g., active galactic nuclei (AGNs), microquasars, and Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs). Particle-In-Cell (PIC) simulations of relativistic electron-ion and electron-positron jets injected into a stationary medium show that efficient acceleration occurs downstream in the jet. In collisionless relativistic shocks particle acceleration is due to plasma waves and their associated instabilities, e.g., the Buneman instability, other two-stream instabilities, and the Weibel (filamentation) instability. Simulations show that the Weibel instability is responsible for generating and amplifying highly non-uniform, small-scale magnetic fields. The instability depends on strength and direction of the magnetic field. Particles in relativistic jets may be accelerated in a complicated dynamics of relativistic jets with magnetic field. We present results of our recent PIC simulations.