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DOE OSTI2011

Fermi/GAMMA-RAY BURST MONITOR OBSERVATIONS OF SGR J0501+4516 BURSTS

We present our temporal and spectral analyses of 29 bursts from SGR J0501+4516, detected with the gamma-ray burst monitor on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope during 13 days of the source's activation in 2008 (August 22- September 3). We find that the T{sub 90} durations of the bursts can be fit with a log-normal distribution with a mean value of {approx}123 ms. We also estimate for the first time event durations of soft gamma repeater (SGR) bursts in photon space (i.e., using their deconvolved spectra) and find that these are very similar to the T{sub 90} values estimated in count space (following a log-normal distribution with a mean value of {approx}124 ms). We fit the time-integrated spectra for each burst and the time-resolved spectra of the five brightest bursts with several models. We find that a single power law with an exponential cutoff model fits all 29 bursts well, while 18 of the events can also be fit with two blackbody functions. We expand on the physical interpretation of these two models and we compare their parameters and discuss their evolution. We show that the time-integrated and time-resolved spectra reveal that E{sub peak} decreases with energy flux (and fluence) to a minimum of {approx}30 keV at F = 8.7 x 10{sup -6} erg cm{sup -2} s{sup -1}, increasing steadily afterward. Two more sources exhibit a similar trend: SGRs J1550-5418 and 1806-20. The isotropic luminosity, L{sub iso}, corresponding to these flux values is roughly similar for all sources (0.4-1.5 x 10{sup 40} erg s{sup -1}).

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2013

TIME DEPENDENCE OF THE PROTON FLUX MEASURED BY PAMELA DURING THE 2006 JULY-2009 DECEMBER SOLAR MINIMUM

The energy spectra of galactic cosmic rays carry fundamental information regarding their origin and propagation. These spectra, when measured near Earth, are significantly affected by the solar magnetic field. A comprehensive description of the cosmic radiation must therefore include the transport and modulation of cosmic rays inside the heliosphere. During the end of the last decade, the Sun underwent a peculiarly long quiet phase well suited to study modulation processes. In this paper we present proton spectra measured from 2006 July to 2009 December by PAMELA. The large collected statistics of protons allowed the time variation to be followed on a nearly monthly basis down to 400 MV. Data are compared with a state-of-the-art three-dimensional model of solar modulation.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

NASA NTRS1974

Cosmic rays at very high energies - Discussion of some new results

Recent measurements of the nuclear cosmic ray composition up to 100 GeV/n and of the spectrum of cosmic ray electrons to almost 1000 GeV have provided new evidence relevant to the origin of these particles and to their propagation in the interstellar medium. It was shown that the abundance of galactic daughter nuclei decreases with increasing energy relative to the abundance of parent nuclei. It was also found that the energy spectrum of electrons is consistent with a single power law up to 1000 GeV without much steepening. These results are possibly related, and the present work discusses them in terms of (1) a relatively local origin of energetic cosmic rays, (2) an extragalactic origin of the cosmic radiation, and (3) an energy dependent confinement of galactic cosmic rays.

Juliusson, E.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Supernovae effects on the terrestrial atmosphere

The first effects of a nearby (10 parsec) supernova on the earth's atmosphere will be caused by ultraviolet radiation dissociating molecular oxygen. The event will be of about one month's duration. Several months later nuclear gamma radiation may arrive, causing a decrease in atmospheric ozone. Cosmic radiation from the supernova remnant will not intercept the earth for at least 1000 years at which time ozone will be seriously depleted. Supernova ultraviolet radiation increases column ozone and atomic oxygen. Atmospheric thermal structure is modified with a large temperature increase in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere and a decrease at higher altitudes caused by enhanced heat loss due to atomic oxygen radiation and conduction.

Aikin, A. C.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Origin and transport of high energy particles in the galaxy

The origin, confinement, and transport of cosmic ray nuclei in the galaxy was studied. The work involves interpretations of the existing cosmic ray physics database derived from both balloon and satellite measurements, combined with an effort directed towards defining the next generation of instruments for the study of cosmic radiation. The shape and the energy dependence of the cosmic ray pathlength distribution in the galaxy was studied, demonstrating that the leaky box model is not a good representation of the detailed particle transport over the energy range covered by the database. Alternative confinement methods were investigated, analyzing the confinement lifetime in these models based upon the available data for radioactive secondary isotopes. The source abundances of several isotopes were studied using compiled nuclear physics data and the detailed transport calculations. The effects of distributed particle acceleration on the secondary to primary ratios were investigated.

Wefel, John P.↗

NASA NTRS2017

The MISSE-9 Polymers and Composites Experiment Being Flown on the MISSE-Flight Facility

Materials on the exterior of spacecraft in low Earth orbit (LEO) are subject to extremely harsh environmental conditions, including various forms of radiation (cosmic rays, ultraviolet, x-ray, and charged particle radiation), micrometeoroids and orbital debris, temperature extremes, thermal cycling, and atomic oxygen (AO). These environmental exposures can result in erosion, embrittlement and optical property degradation of susceptible materials, threatening spacecraft performance and durability. To increase our understanding of space environmental effects such as AO erosion and radiation induced embrittlement of spacecraft materials, NASA Glenn has developed a series of experiments flown as part of the Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) missions on the exterior of the International Space Station (ISS). These experiments have provided critical LEO space environment durability data such as AO erosion yield values for many materials and mechanical properties changes after long term space exposure. In continuing these studies, a new Glenn experiment has been proposed, and accepted, for flight on the new MISSE-Flight Facility (MISSE-FF). This experiment is called the Polymers and Composites Experiment and it will be flown as part of the MISSE-9 mission, the inaugural mission of MISSE-FF. Figure 1 provides an artist rendition of MISSE-FF ISS external platform. The MISSE-FF is manifested for launch on SpaceX-13.

De Groh, Kim K.↗

NASA NTRS2018

Atomic Oxygen Interactions and the Design of MISSE-9 and MISSE-10 Experiments

Atomic Oxygen↗

NASA NTRS2019

Durability of Polymers in the Space Environment

Spacecraft in low Earth orbit (LEO) are subjected to harsh environmental conditions, including radiation (cosmic rays, ultraviolet, x-ray, and charged particle radiation), micrometeoroids and orbital debris, temperature extremes, thermal cycling, and atomic oxygen (AO). These environmental exposures can result in erosion, embrittlement and optical property degradation, threatening spacecraft performance and durability. While all of these environmental exposures can cause degradation to spacecraft components, AO is a particularly serious structural, thermal, and optical threat, to exterior oxidizable spacecraft materials, such as polymers. To further our understanding of AO erosion and radiation embrittlement of spacecraft materials, NASA Glenn Research Center has developed and flown a series of experiments as part of the Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) missions on the exterior of the International Space Station (ISS). In continuing these studies, three new Glenn experiments have accepted for flight on the new ISS MISSE-Flight Facility (MISSE-FF). The Polymers and Composites Experiment (PCE) is being flown as part of the MISSE-9 inaugural mission of MISSE-FF. The Polymers and Composites Experiment-2 (PCE-2) and Polymers and Composites-3 Experiment (PCE-3) are being flown as part of the MISSE-10 and MISSE-12 missions, respectively. This presentation provides an overview of the Glenn's three MISSE-FF flight experiments including the objectives and initial spaceflight results.

spaceflight↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Retrospectives: Current State of Knowledge on the Intersection of Spaceflight Stressors and Microbial Risks to Crew and Craft

OVERVIEW The spaceflight environment has several unique stressors that affect the health of both the crew and the spacecraft. An area of continued, albeit incomplete, study is the interaction of these stressors on microbial populations inherent to both astronauts and spacecraft surfaces and systems. A primary concern is the potential for the spaceflight environment to perturb the phenotype of these populations towards negative outcomes for crew and craft. In order to effectively mitigate these potential risks, they must first be characterized. We performed a retrospective literature analysis to assess the current state of knowledge regarding the affects of ionizing radiation and elevated CO2 on relevant microbial populations. The results of these retrospectives will guide next steps in the decisions of what (if any) further studies should be pursued and to guide decisions of the need for countermeasures. STRESSORS Ionizing radiation. The health risk involved with increased exposure to cosmic radiation has been studied in crew for 35+ years, with human health and cancer risk being the main focus. However, space radiation could also affect both the resident microorganisms aboard the ISS and the normal, healthy astronaut microbiomes that are of direct concern for crew health. A retrospective review of over 250 publications was accomplished looking at the impact of cumulative ionizing radiation doses lower than 3 Gy (chronic or acute) on microbial populations. Elevated CO2. The health risk involved with elevated atmospheric CO2 in spacecraft, primarily focusing on human toxicological risks, is understudied. The current Spaceflight Maximum Allowance Concentration for 24-hour average CO2 is 0.4% (3 mm Hg), which is significantly higher than terrestrial levels (0.04%). Whether these elevated ambient CO2 levels aboard spacecraft influence the diversity and phenotypic responses of the resident microbial communities from both the spacecraft environment (air, surface, water) and crew members (gut, nasal, skin microbiomes) is not known. A retrospective review was accomplished looking at the impact of chronic CO2 exposure up to 0.7% (5 mm Hg) for up to 6 months and acute exposure up to 2.6% (20 mm Hg) for up to 24 hours. CONCLUSIONS: MICROBIOME OF THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT The microbiome of the built spacecraft environment has been sampled consistently over the course of human spaceflight and significant advancements have been made in identifying microbial populations on the ISS. The dominant source of microbes on spacecraft surfaces are human-derived. Once in the spacecraft built environment, the extreme environment selects for features that enhance survival. While efforts to understand potential antibiotic resistance and pathogenicity of ISS isolates is robust, there is little to no understanding of which spaceflight environmental stressors, to include ionizing radiation or elevated CO2, drive the evolutionary trajectory of spacecraft-associated microbial populations. CONCLUSIONS: MICROBE-HOST INTERACTIONS The host-microbiome field has emerged as an important factor in human health on Earth as well in spaceflight. The field is struggling with the complexity of the system under investigation as there is substantial taxonomic and functional heterogeneity in these communities, making it difficult to establish clear stimulus-response dynamics. Taxonomic characterization is the norm; however, the functional role of each community member is key to linking environmental perturbations to potential dysbiosis. For both ionizing radiation and elevated CO2, the likely target of the perturbation is the host tissue, not the microbes themselves.. Any resulting changes to the microbial community composition and/or function is likely a result of adapting to those changes in the host physiology. RECOMMENDATIONS Emphasize functional characterization as opposed to taxonomic characterization of microbial communities. Increase the number of investigations using chronic, spaceflight-relevant doses of ionizing radiation. MoBE studies should move away from observational studies towards predictive modeling of community dynamics. Continue to develop scale-down models, such as tissues-on-a-chip & defined microbial communities. Focus on the crew response to elevated CO2 over MoBE considerations. Assess how direct contact with the hypercapnic environment affects skin microbiome dynamics.

retrospective↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Retrospectives: Intersection of Spaceflight Stressors and Microbial Risk to Crew and Craft

OVERVIEW The spaceflight environment has several unique stressors that affect the health of both the crew and the spacecraft. An area of continued, albeit incomplete, study is the interaction of these stressors on microbial populations inherent to both astronauts and spacecraft surfaces and systems. A primary concern is the potential for the spaceflight environment to perturb the phenotype of these populations towards negative outcomes for crew and craft. In order to effectively mitigate these potential risks, they must first be characterized. We performed a retrospective literature analysis to assess the current state of knowledge regarding the affects of ionizing radiation and elevated CO2 on relevant microbial populations. The results of these retrospectives will guide next steps in the decisions of what (if any) further studies should be pursued and to guide decisions of the need for countermeasures. STRESSORS Ionizing radiation. The health risk involved with increased exposure to cosmic radiation has been studied in crew for 35+ years, with human health and cancer risk being the main focus. However, space radiation could also affect both the resident microorganisms aboard the ISS and the normal, healthy astronaut microbiomes that are of direct concern for crew health. A retrospective review of over 250 publications was accomplished looking at the impact of cumulative ionizing radiation doses lower than 3 Gy (chronic or acute) on microbial populations. Elevated CO2. The health risk involved with elevated atmospheric CO2 in spacecraft, primarily focusing on human toxicological risks, is understudied. The current Spaceflight Maximum Allowance Concentration for 24-hour average CO2 is 0.4% (3 mm Hg), which is significantly higher than terrestrial levels (0.04%). Whether these elevated ambient CO2 levels aboard spacecraft influence the diversity and phenotypic responses of the resident microbial communities from both the spacecraft environment (air, surface, water) and crew members (gut, nasal,skin microbiomes) is not known. A retrospective review was accomplished looking at the impact of chronic CO2 exposure up to 0.7% (5 mm Hg) for up to 6 months and acute exposure up to 2.6% (20 mm Hg) for up to 24 hours. CONCLUSIONS: MICROBIOME OF THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT The microbiome of the built spacecraft environment has been sampled consistently over the course of human spaceflight and significant advancements have been made in identifying microbial populations on the ISS. The dominant source of microbes on spacecraft surfaces are human-derived. Once in the spacecraft built environment,the extreme environment selects for features that enhance survival. While efforts to understand potential antibiotic resistance and pathogenicity of ISS isolates is robust, there is little to no understanding of which spaceflight environmental stressors, to include ionizing radiation or elevated CO2, drive the evolutionary trajectory of spacecraft-associated microbial populations. CONCLUSIONS: MICROBE-HOST INTERACTIONS The host-microbiome field has emerged as an important factor in human health on Earth as well in spaceflight. The field is struggling with the complexity of the system under investigation as there is substantial taxonomic and functional heterogeneity in these communities, making it difficult to establish clear stimulus-response dynamics.Taxonomic characterization is the norm; however, the functional role of each community member is key to linking environmental perturbations to potential dysbiosis. For both ionizing radiation and elevated CO2, the likely target of the perturbation is the host tissue, not the microbes themselves.. Any resulting changes to the microbial community composition and/or function is likely a result of adapting to those changes in the host physiology. RECOMMENDATIONS Emphasize functional characterization as opposed to taxonomic characterization of microbial communities.Increase the number of investigations using chronic, spaceflight-relevant doses of ionizing radiation. MoBE studies should move away from observational studies towards predictive modeling of community dynamics. Continue to develop scale-down models, such as tissues-on-a-chip & defined microbial communities. Focus on the crew response to elevated CO2 over MoBE considerations. Assess how direct contact with the hypercapnic environment affects skin microbiome dynamics.

Countermeasures↗

NASA NTRS2024

Contamination Results of MISSE 8 Wake and Nadir Samples After 2 Years of Space Exposure on the International Space Station

Spacecraft in low Earth orbit (LEO) are subjected to harsh environmental conditions, including radiation (cosmic rays, ultraviolet, x-ray and charged particle radiation), micrometeoroids and orbital debris, temperature extremes, thermal cycling, and atomic oxygen. In addition, on-orbit spacecraft contamination is a serious spaceflight issue, with silicone contamination being a particular concern. In an effort to understand on-orbit contamination of Materials International Space Station Experiment 8 (MISSE 8) flight samples and other International Space Station (ISS) payloads, contamination studies were conducted post-flight on retrieved Teflon fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) samples flown in the wake and nadir orientations on MISSE 8. The wake sample was Teflon FEP (M8-W11) flown as part of the Glenn MISSE 8 Polymers Experiment on the Optical Reflector Materials Experiment-III Ram/Wake (ORMatE-III R/W) tray and exposed to the LEO wake environment for 2.0 years. The nadir samples were silver-Teflon FEP radiator pieces taken from the MISSE 8 Single Events Upset Xilinx-Sandia Experiment II (SEUXSE II) Power Box and exposed to the LEO nadir environment for 2.14 years. The Teflon FEP flight materials were analyzed for changes in surface morphology and chemistry as compared to pristine control samples. The wake samples were also analyzed for changes in optical properties. There was no evidence of a molecular contamination layer present on the surface of the MISSE 8 wake or nadir facing Teflon FEP flight samples, although both the wake and nadir flight samples contained particulate contamination in some regions. The analyzed nadir particles were primarily zinc rich. The majority of analyzed wake particles were comprised of oxidized aluminum with small amounts of zinc and magnesium. The wake particles appear to have arrived early in the mission (or pre-flight) during a single event. This paper provides details of the MISSE 8 sample contamination analyses.

Erosion↗

DOE OSTI2011

EXTENDED TAILS FROM SGR 1806-20 BURSTS

In 2004, SGR 1806-20 underwent a period of intense and long-lasting burst activity that included the giant flare of 2004 December 27-the most intense extra-solar transient event ever detected at Earth. During this active episode, we routinely monitored the source with Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer and occasionally with Chandra. During the course of these observations, we identified two relatively bright bursts observed with Konus-Wind in hard X-rays that were followed by extended X-ray tails or afterglows lasting hundreds to thousands of seconds. Here, we present detailed spectral and temporal analysis of these events observed about 6 and 1.5 months prior to the 2004 December 27 giant flare. We find that both X-ray tails are consistent with a cooling blackbody of constant radius. These spectral results are qualitatively similar to those of the burst afterglows recorded from SGR 1900+14 and recently from SGR 1550-5418. However, the latter two sources exhibit significant increase in their pulsed X-ray intensity following the burst, while we did not detect any significant changes in the rms pulsed amplitude during the SGR 1806-20 events. Moreover, we find that the fraction of energy partitioned to the burst (prompt energy release) and the tail (afterglow) differs by an order of magnitude between SGR 1900+14 and SGR 1806-20. We suggest that such differences can be attributed to differences in the crustal heating mechanism of these neutron stars combined with the geometry of the emitting areas.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2011

Future Plans of Telescope Array

The Telescope Array (TA) experiment is the only ultra high energy cosmic ray observatory in the northern hemisphere. In addition, it will be the world's first air shower detector to be directly calibrated by an on-site accelerator beam. For wider and deeper understanding of cosmic rays by via high precision measurements, we have undertaken the study of extension plans for TA. One extension plan will extend the sensitive energy range of TA down to 10{sup 17} eV. A second plan would extend of the aperture area of the SD array. These plans are described in this note.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

NASA NTRS2004

The Feasibility of Multipole Electrostatic Radiation Shielding

Although passive shielding appears to be the only workable solution for galactic cosmic radiation (GCR), active shielding may play an important augmenting role to control the dose from solar particle events (SPEs). It has been noted that, to meet the guidelines of NCRP Report No. 98 through the six SPEs of 1989, a crew member would need roughly double the passive shielding that is necessary to control the GCR dose . This would dramatically increase spacecraft mass, and so it has been proposed that a small but more heavily shielded storm shelter may be used to protect the crew during SPEs. Since a gradual SPE may last 5 or more days, staying in a storm shelter may be psychologically and physiologically distressing to the crew. Storm shelters do not provide shielding for the spacecraft itself against the SPE radiation, and radiation damage to critical electronics may result in loss of mission and life. Single-event effects during the radiation storm may require quick crew response to maintain the integrity of the spacecraft, and confining the crew to a storm shelter prohibits their attending to the spacecraft at the precise time when that attention is needed the most. Active shielding cannot protect against GCR because the particle energies are too high. Although lower energy particles are easier to stop in a passive shield, such shielding is more satisfactory against GCR than against SPE radiation because of the tremendous difference in their initial fluences. Even a small fraction of the SPE fluence penetrating the passive shielding may result in an unacceptably high dose. Active shielding is more effective than passive shielding against SPE radiation because it offers 100% shielding effectiveness up to the cutoff energy, and significant shielding effectiveness beyond the cutoff as well.

Metzger, Philip T.↗

DOE OSTI2020

Fundamental Phenomena and Applications of Swift Heavy Ion Irradiations

This review concentrates on the specific properties and characteristics of damage structures generated with high-energy ions in the electronic energy loss regime. Irradiation experiments with so-called swift heavy ions (SHIs) find applications in many different fields, with examples presented in ion-track nanotechnology, radiation hardness analysis of functional materials, and laboratory tests of cosmic radiation. The basics of the SHI-solid interaction are described with special attention to processes in the electronic subsystem. The broad spectrum of damage phenomena is exemplified for various materials and material classes, along with a description of typical characterization techniques. This review also presents state-of-the-art modeling efforts that try to account for the complexity of the coupled processes of the electronic and atomic subsystems. Lastly, a brief discussion at the end of this review on SHI phenomena induced by fission fragments in nuclear materials will highlight the relevance of energetic ion irradiation in nuclear technology applications.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2019

Measurement of the cosmic ray proton spectrum from 40 GeV to 100 TeV with the DAMPE satellite

The precise measurement of the spectrum of protons, the most abundant component of the cosmic radiation, is essential to understand the source and acceleration of cosmic rays in the Milky Way. This work reports the measurement of the cosmic ray proton fluxes with kinetic energies from 40 GeV to 100 TeV, with 2 1 / 2 years of data recorded by the DArk Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE). This is the first time that an experiment directly measures the cosmic ray protons up to ~100 TeV with high statistics. The measured spectrum validates the spectral hardening at ~300 GeV found by previous experiments and reveals a softening at ~13.6 TeV, with the spectral index changing from ~2.60 to ~2.85. Our result implies the existence of a new spectral feature of cosmic rays at energies lower than the so-called knee and sheds new light on the origin of Galactic cosmic rays.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2023

Electromagnetic Radiation Effects on MgO-Based Magnetic Tunnel Junctions: A Review

Magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) have been widely utilized in sensitive sensors, magnetic memory, and logic gates due to their tunneling magnetoresistance. Moreover, these MTJ devices have promising potential for renewable energy generation and storage. Compared with Si-based devices, MTJs are more tolerant to electromagnetic radiation. In this review, we summarize the functionalities of MgO-based MTJ devices under different electromagnetic irradiation environments, with a focus on gamma-ray radiation. We explore the effects of these radiation exposures on the MgO tunnel barriers, magnetic layers, and interfaces to understand the origin of their tolerance. This review enhances our knowledge of the radiation tolerance of MgO-based MTJs, improves the design of these MgO-based MTJ devices with better tolerances, and provides information to minimize the risks of irradiation under various irradiation environments. This review starts with an introduction to MTJs and irradiation backgrounds, followed by the fundamental properties of MTJ materials, such as the MgO barrier and magnetic layers. Then, we review and discuss the MTJ materials and devices’ radiation tolerances under different irradiation environments, including high-energy cosmic radiation, gamma-ray radiation, and lower-energy electromagnetic radiation (X-ray, UV–vis, infrared, microwave, and radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation). In conclusion, we summarize the radiation effects based on the published literature, which might benefit material design and protection.

42 ENGINEERING↗

NASA NTRS1971

Space radiation hazards to Project Skylab photographic film, phase 2

The results of a study of space radiation hazards to Project Skylab photographic film are presented. Radiation components include trapped protons, trapped electrons, bremsstrahlung, and galactic cosmic radiation. The shielding afforded by the Skylab cluster is taken into account with a 5000 volume element mathematical model. A preliminary survey of expected proton spectrometer data is reported.

Hill, C. W.↗