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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 991 records · Page 55
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2016

Method for registration of solar cosmic rays by detecting neutrons

We consider a method of detecting the ionizing component of solar cosmic rays (SCRs) with energy from tens of MeV to tens of GeV by measuring the energy loss of SCR protons and light nuclei in scintillators and the multiplicity of the local neutron generation in a converter. Scintillation detectors based on stilbene, lithium glass, and solid-state photomultiplier tubes are capable of detecting fast neutrons with a temporal resolution of 10 ns and rejecting the gamma-ray background in the measuring system. The method will allow investigating the nucleon components of primary SCRs in circumterrestrial space.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
NASA NTRS2013

Estimating the Effects of Astronaut Career Ionizing Radiation Dose Limits on Manned Interplanetary Flight Programs

Space radiation effects mitigation has been identified as one of the highest priority technology development areas for human space flight in the NASA Strategic Space Technology Investment Plan (Dec. 2012). In this paper we review the special features of space radiation that lead to severe constraints on long-term (more than 180 days) human flight operations outside Earth's magnetosphere. We then quantify the impacts of human space radiation dose limits on spacecraft engineering design and development, flight program architecture, as well as flight program schedule and cost. A new Deep Space Habitat (DSH) concept, the hybrid inflatable habitat, is presented and shown to enable a flexible, affordable approach to long term manned interplanetary flight today.

Koontz, Steven L.↗
DOE OSTI2015

Pitch-angle diffusion of electrons through growing and propagating along a magnetic field electromagnetic wave in Earth's radiation belts

The diffusion of electrons via a linearly polarized, growing electromagnetic (EM) wave propagating along a uniform magnetic field is investigated. The diffusion of electrons that interact with the growing EM wave is investigated through the autocorrelation function of the parallel electron acceleration in several tens of electron gyration timescales, which is a relatively short time compared with the bounce time of electrons between two mirror points in Earth's radiation belts. Furthermore, the pitch-angle diffusion coefficient is derived for the resonant and non-resonant electrons, and the effect of the wave growth on the electron diffusion is discussed. The results can be applied to other problems related to local acceleration or the heating of electrons in space plasmas, such as in the radiation belts.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2017

Nonlinear dust-acoustic structures in space plasmas with superthermal electrons, positrons, and ions

Some features of nonlinear dust-acoustic (DA) structures are investigated in a space plasma consisting of superthermal electrons, positrons, and positive ions in the presence of negatively charged dust grains with finite-temperature by employing a pseudo-potential technique in a hydrodynamic model. For this purpose, it is assumed that the electrons, positrons, and ions obey a kappa-like (κ) distribution in the background of adiabatic dust population. In the linear analysis, it is found that the dispersion relation yield two positive DA branches, i.e., the slow and fast DA waves. The upper branch (fast DA waves) corresponds to the case in which both (negatively charged) dust particles and (positively charged) ion species oscillate in phase with electrons and positrons. On the other hand, the lower branch (slow DA waves) corresponds to the case in which only dust particles oscillate in phase with electrons and positrons, while ion species are in antiphase with them. On the other hand, the fully nonlinear analysis shows that the existence domain of solitons and their characteristics depend strongly on the dust charge, ion charge, dust temperature, and the spectral index κ. It is found that the minimum/maximum Mach number increases as the spectral index κ increases. Also, it is found that only solitons with negative polarity can propagate and that their amplitudes increase as the parameter κ increases. Furthermore, the domain of Mach number shifts to the lower values, when the value of the dust charge Z{sub d} increases. Moreover, it is found that the Mach number increases with an increase in the dust temperature. Our analysis confirms that, in space plasmas with highly charged dusts, the presence of superthermal particles (electrons, positrons, and ions) may facilitate the formation of DA solitary waves. Particularly, in two cases of hydrogen ions H{sup +} (Z{sub i} = 1) and doubly ionized Helium atoms He{sup 2+} (Z{sub i} = 2), the mentioned results are the same. Additionally, the mentioned dusty plasma does not support DA solitons with positive polarity (compressive solitons). Furthermore, our analysis confirms that DA double layers cannot exist in such a system. Moreover, the positron density has not a considerable effect on the behavior of DA solitons in our model.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

High-Power Electron Accelerators for Space (and other) Applications

This is a presentation on high-power electron accelerators for space and other applications. The main points covered are: electron beams for space applications, new designs of RF accelerators, high-power high-electron mobility transistors (HEMT) testing, and Li-ion battery design. In summary, the authors have considered a concept of 1-MeV electron accelerator that can operate up to several seconds. This concept can be extended to higher energy to produce higher beam power. Going to higher beam energy requires adding more cavities and solid-state HEMT RF power devices. The commercial HEMT have been tested for frequency response and RF output power (up to 420 W). Finally, the authors are testing these HEMT into a resonant load and planning for an electron beam test in FY17.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2015

2015 Los Alamos Space Weather Summer School Research Reports

The fifth Los Alamos Space Weather Summer School was held June 1st - July 24th, 2015, at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). With renewed support from the Institute of Geophysics, Planetary Physics, and Signatures (IGPPS) and additional support from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science, we hosted a new class of five students from various U.S. and foreign research institutions. The summer school curriculum includes a series of structured lectures as well as mentored research and practicum opportunities. Lecture topics including general and specialized topics in the field of space weather were given by a number of researchers affiliated with LANL. Students were given the opportunity to engage in research projects through a mentored practicum experience. Each student works with one or more LANL-affiliated mentors to execute a collaborative research project, typically linked with a larger ongoing research effort at LANL and/or the student’s PhD thesis research. This model provides a valuable learning experience for the student while developing the opportunity for future collaboration. This report includes a summary of the research efforts fostered and facilitated by the Space Weather Summer School. These reports should be viewed as work-in-progress as the short session typically only offers sufficient time for preliminary results. At the close of the summer school session, students present a summary of their research efforts. Titles of the papers included in this report are as follows: Full particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation of whistler wave generation, Hybrid simulations of the right-hand ion cyclotron anisotropy instability in a sub-Alfvénic plasma flow, A statistical ensemble for solar wind measurements, Observations and models of substorm injection dispersion patterns, Heavy ion effects on Kelvin-Helmholtz instability: hybrid study, Simulating plasmaspheric electron densities with a two-component electric field model, Ion and electron heating by whistler turbulence: parametric studies via particle-in-cell simulation, and The statistics of relativistic electron pitch angle distribution in the Earth’s radiation belt based on the Van Allen Probes measurements.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2013

OPTICAL PHASE CURVES OF KEPLER EXOPLANETS

We conducted a comprehensive search for optical phase variations of all close-in (a/R{sub *} < 10) planet candidates in 15 quarters of Kepler space telescope data. After correcting for systematics, we found eight systems that show secondary eclipses as well as phase variations. Of these, five (Kepler-5, Kepler-6, Kepler-8, KOI-64, and KOI-2133) are new and three (TrES-2, HAT-P-7, and KOI-13) have published phase curves, albeit with many fewer observations. We model the full phase curve of each planet candidate, including the primary and secondary transits, and derive their albedos, dayside and nightside temperatures, ellipsoidal variations, and Doppler beaming. We find that KOI-64 and KOI-2133 have nightside temperatures well above their equilibrium values (while KOI-2133 also has an albedo, >1), so we conclude that they are likely to be self-luminous objects rather than planets. The other six candidates have characteristics consistent with their being planets with low geometric albedos (<0.3). For TrES-2 and KOI-13, the Kepler bandpass appears to probe atmospheric layers hotter than the planet's equilibrium temperature. For KOI-13, we detect a never-before-seen third cosine harmonic with an amplitude of 6.7 {+-} 0.3 ppm and a phase shift of -1.1 {+-} 0.1 rad in the phase curve residual, possibly due to its spin-orbit misalignment. We report derived planetary parameters for all six planets, including masses from ellipsoidal variations and Doppler beaming, and compare our results to published values when available. Our results nearly double the number of Kepler exoplanets with measured phase curve variations, thus providing valuable constraints on the properties of hot Jupiters.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

STEREO interplanetary shocks and foreshocks

We use STEREO data to study shocks driven by stream interactions and the waves associated with them. During the years of the extended solar minimum 2007-2010, stream interaction shocks have Mach numbers between 1.1-3.8 and {theta}{sub Bn}{approx}20-86 Degree-Sign . We find a variety of waves, including whistlers and low frequency fluctuations. Upstream whistler waves may be generated at the shock and upstream ultra low frequency (ULF) waves can be driven locally by ion instabilities. The downstream wave spectra can be formed by both, locally generated perturbations, and shock transmitted waves. We find that many quasiperpendicular shocks can be accompanied by ULF wave and ion foreshocks, which is in contrast to Earth's bow shock. Fluctuations downstream of quasi-parallel shocks tend to have larger amplitudes than waves downstream of quasi-perpendicular shocks. Proton foreshocks of shocks driven by stream interactions have extensions dr {<=}0.05 AU. This is smaller than foreshock extensions for ICME driven shocks. The difference in foreshock extensions is related to the fact that ICME driven shocks are formed closer to the Sun and therefore begin to accelerate particles very early in their existence, while stream interaction shocks form at {approx}1 AU and have been producing suprathermal particles for a shorter time.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Properties of the suprathermal heavy ion population near 1 AU during solar cycles 23 and 24

Using measurements from the Advanced Composition Explorer/Ultra-Low Energy Isotope Spectrometer (ACE/ULEIS) near 1 AU, we surveyed the composition and spectra of heavy ions (He-through-Fe) during interplanetary quiet times from 1998 January 1 to 2014 December 31 at suprathermal energies between ∼0.11 and ∼1.28 MeV nucleon{sup −1}. The selected time period covers the maxima of solar cycles 23 and 24 and the extended solar minimum in between. We find the following: (1) The number of quiet-hours in each year correlates well with the sunspot number, year 2009 was the quietest for about 90% of the time; (2) The composition of the quiet-time suprathermal heavy ion population ({sup 3}He, C-through-O, and Fe) correlates well with the level of solar activity, exhibiting SEP-like composition signatures during solar maximum, and CIR- or solar wind-like composition during solar minimum; (3) The heavy ion spectra at ∼0.11-0.32 MeV nucleon{sup −1} exhibit suprathermal tails with power-law spectral indices ranging from 1.4 to 2.7. (4) Fe spectral indices get softer (steeper) from solar minimum of cycle 23 to solar cycle 24 maximum. These results imply that during IP quiet times and at energies above ∼0.1 MeV nucleon{sup −1}, the IP medium is dominated by material from prior solar and interplanetary events.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

THE ORIGIN OF THE 3.4 {mu}m FEATURE IN WILD 2 COMETARY PARTICLES AND IN ULTRACARBONACEOUS INTERPLANETARY DUST PARTICLES

We analyzed two ultracarbonaceous interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) and two cometary Wild 2 particles with infrared spectroscopy. We characterized the carrier of the 3.4 {mu}m band in these samples and compared its profile and the CH{sub 2}/CH{sub 3} ratios to the 3.4 {mu}m band in the diffuse interstellar medium (DISM), in the insoluble organic matter from three primitive meteorites, in asteroid 24 Themis, and in the coma of comet 103P/Hartley 2. We found that the 3.4 {mu}m band in both Wild 2 and IDPs is similar, but different from all of the other astrophysical environments that we compared it to. The 3.4 {mu}m band in the IDPs and Wild 2 particles is dominated by CH{sub 2} groups, the peaks are narrower and stronger than in the meteorites, asteroid Themis, and the DISM. Also, the presence of the carbonyl group C=O at {approx}1700 cm{sup -1} (5.8 {mu}m) in most of the spectra of our samples indicates that these aliphatic chains have O bonded to them, which is quite different from astronomical spectra of the DISM. Based on all of these observations, we conclude that the origin of the carrier of the 3.4 {mu}m band in the IDPs and Wild 2 samples is not interstellar; instead, we suggest that the origin lies in the outermost parts of the solar nebula.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2013

CURRENT SHEET REGULATION OF SOLAR NEAR-RELATIVISTIC ELECTRON INJECTION HISTORIES

We present a sample of three large near-relativistic (>50 keV) electron events observed in 2001 by both the ACE and the Ulysses spacecraft, when Ulysses was at high-northern latitudes (>60 Degree-Sign ) and close to 2 AU. Despite the large latitudinal distance between the two spacecraft, electrons injected near the Sun reached both heliospheric locations. All three events were associated with large solar flares, strong decametric type II radio bursts and accompanied by wide (>212 Degree-Sign ) and fast (>1400 km s{sup -1}) coronal mass ejections (CMEs). We use advanced interplanetary transport simulations and make use of the directional intensities observed in situ by the spacecraft to infer the electron injection profile close to the Sun and the interplanetary transport conditions at both low and high latitudes. For the three selected events, we find similar interplanetary transport conditions at different heliolatitudes for a given event, with values of the mean free path ranging from 0.04 AU to 0.27 AU. We find differences in the injection profiles inferred for each spacecraft. We investigate the role that sector boundaries of the heliospheric current sheet (HCS) have on determining the characteristics of the electron injection profiles. Extended injection profiles, associated with coronal shocks, are found if the magnetic footpoints of the spacecraft lay in the same magnetic sector as the associated flare, while intermittent sparse injection episodes appear when the spacecraft footpoints are in the opposite sector or a wrap in the HCS bounded the CME structure.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

AN ANALYSIS OF MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC INVARIANTS OF MAGNETIC FLUCTUATIONS WITHIN INTERPLANETARY FLUX ROPES

A statistical analysis of magnetic flux ropes, identified by large-amplitude, smooth rotations of the magnetic field vector and a low level of both proton density and temperature, has been performed by computing the invariants of the ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations, namely the magnetic helicity, the cross-helicity, and the total energy, via magnetic field and plasma fluctuations in the interplanetary medium. A technique based on the wavelet spectrograms of the MHD invariants allows the localization and characterization of those structures in both scales and time: it has been observed that flux ropes show, as expected, high magnetic helicity states (|σ{sub m}| in [0.6: 1]), but extremely variable cross-helicity states (|σ{sub c}| in [0: 0.8]), which, however, are not independent of the magnetic helicity content of the flux rope itself. The two normalized MHD invariants observed within the flux ropes tend indeed to distribute, neither trivially nor automatically, along the √(σ{sub m}{sup 2}+σ{sub c}{sup 2})=1 curve, thus suggesting that some constraint should exist between the magnetic and cross-helicity content of the structures. The analysis carried out has further showed that the flux rope properties are totally independent of their time duration and that they are detected either as a sort of interface between different portions of solar wind or as isolated structures embedded in the same stream.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Pre-accretional sorting of grains in the outer solar nebula

Despite their micrometer-scale dimensions and nanogram masses, chondritic porous interplanetary dust particles (CP IDPs) are an important class of extraterrestrial material since their properties are consistent with a cometary origin and they show no evidence of significant post-accretional parent body alteration. Consequently, they can provide information about grain accretion in the comet-forming region of the outer solar nebula. We have previously reported our comparative study of the sizes and size distributions of crystalline silicate and sulfide grains in CP IDPs, in which we found these components exhibit a size-density relationship consistent with having been sorted together prior to accretion. Here we extend our data set and include GEMS (glass with embedded metal and sulfide), the most abundant amorphous silicate phase observed in CP IDPs. We find that while the silicate and sulfide sorting trend previously observed is maintained, the GEMS size data do not exhibit any clear relationship to these crystalline components. Therefore, GEMS do not appear to have been sorted with the silicate and sulfide crystals. The disparate sorting trends observed in GEMS and the crystalline grains in CP IDPs present an interesting challenge for modeling early transport and accretion processes. They may indicate that several sorting mechanisms operated on these CP IDP components, or alternatively, they may simply be a reflection of different source environments.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Particle acceleration at quasi-perpendicular shock waves: Theory and observations at 1 AU

The injection of particles into the diffusive shock acceleration mechanism at highly perpendicular (where θ {sub Bn} > 70°) interplanetary shocks is investigated. This extends the previous study of Neergaard Parker and Zank which focused on the injection problem at quasi-parallel interplanetary shocks. We use observations at 1 AU to construct upstream Maxwellian and κ-distributions that are then diffusively accelerated by the shock, thus yielding the downstream accelerated particle distribution. We compare the theoretical accelerated particle distribution to observations at 1 AU using Advanced Composition Explorer data. We classify our results for quasi-perpendicular shocks into three subcategories: those with ratios of the theoretical spectral index to observed power law of >1, ∼ 1, and <1, and compare the magnetic power spectral density plots of these categories. We find that in general the assumed upstream particle distribution that best fits the energetic particle observations is best represented by a κ-distribution, with κ = 4. The magnetic field fluctuations were representative of quasi-perpendicular shocks and showed no particular bias toward our spectral ratio subcategories. The subcategory with spectral ratio <0.9 yielded the largest injection energies for all groups. In all but two of the cases in this study, there were enough particles in the solar wind thermal core to account for the accelerated distribution, thereby giving a lower limit to the required injection energy needed to diffusively accelerate particles at a quasi-perpendicular interplanetary shock. In the remaining two cases, an additional population of particles was required to match the appropriate amplitude of the spectral index. For these cases, we used a low energy (1-50 keV) v {sup –5} spectrum advocated by Fisk and Gloeckler.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Reduction experiment of FeO-bearing amorphous silicate: application to origin of metallic iron in GEMS

Glass with embedded metal and sulfides (GEMS) are amorphous silicates included in anhydrous interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) and can provide information about material evolution in our early solar system. Several formation processes for GEMS have been proposed so far, but these theories are still being debated. To investigate a possible GEMS origin by reduction of interstellar silicates, we synthesized amorphous silicates with a mean GEMS composition and performed heating experiments in a reducing atmosphere. FeO-bearing amorphous silicates were heated at 923 K and 973 K for 3 hr, and at 1023 K for 1-48 hr at ambient pressure in a reducing atmosphere. Fe grains formed at the interface between the silicate and the reducing gas through a reduction. In contrast, TEM observations of natural GEMS show that metallic grains are uniformly embedded in amorphous silicates. Therefore, the present study suggests that metallic inclusions in GEMS could not form as reduction products and that other formation process such as condensation or irradiation are more likely.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Structures of interplanetary magnetic flux ropes and comparison with their solar sources

Whether a magnetic flux rope is pre-existing or formed in situ in the Sun's atmosphere, there is little doubt that magnetic reconnection is essential to release the flux rope during its ejection. During this process, the question remains: how does magnetic reconnection change the flux-rope structure? In this work, we continue with the original study of Qiu et al. by using a larger sample of flare-coronal mass ejection (CME)-interplanetary CME (ICME) events to compare properties of ICME/magnetic cloud (MC) flux ropes measured at 1 AU and properties of associated solar progenitors including flares, filaments, and CMEs. In particular, the magnetic field-line twist distribution within interplanetary magnetic flux ropes is systematically derived and examined. Our analysis shows that, similar to what was found before, for most of these events, the amount of twisted flux per AU in MCs is comparable with the total reconnection flux on the Sun, and the sign of the MC helicity is consistent with the sign of the helicity of the solar source region judged from the geometry of post-flare loops. Remarkably, we find that about half of the 18 magnetic flux ropes, most of them associated with erupting filaments, have a nearly uniform and relatively low twist distribution from the axis to the edge, and the majority of the other flux ropes exhibit very high twist near the axis, up to ≳ 5 turns per AU, which decreases toward the edge. The flux ropes are therefore not linearly force-free. We also conduct detailed case studies showing the contrast of two events with distinct twist distribution in MCs as well as different flare and dimming characteristics in solar source regions, and discuss how reconnection geometry reflected in flare morphology may be related to the structure of the flux rope formed on the Sun.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗