空间站快速充电效应的物理过程及特征

“快速充电事件”是国际空间站2006年首次观测到的一种充电现象, 在出地影瞬间的1–3 s内航天器结构体被迅速充到-30–-70 V的负电位, 显著超过空间站的安全设计标准, 一度引起国际航天界的关注. 目前国际上对“快速带电”的研究尚不充分. 基于Furguson等的研究, 本文建立了快速充电的物理模型, 对快速充电的机理和规律给出了合理的解释. 计算及分析结果表明: 快速充电是在航天器出地影瞬间由高压太阳电池阵的光伏激发过程驱动的, 是一种非平衡态的充电过程; 快速充电脉冲主要是由于在太阳帆板电压的快速启动过程中帆板上 的电子充电电流未及时被玻璃盖片的充电所阻塞而导致的, 当快速充电过程达到平衡时便表现为“正常充电事件”; 快速充电的幅度主要取决于太阳帆板电压的启动时间、启动方式等, 因此表现出一定的离散性, 但随着等离子体密度的增大而衰减, 与国际空间站观测结果一致. 关键词： 表面充电 等离子体 国际空间站 高压太阳电池阵     

超高速空间微小碎片撞击充电材料诱发的放电

空间微小碎片与航天器表面超高速撞击, 能够抛射出等离子体, 在高充电的航天器表面诱发静电放电, 是可能引发航天器异常的一个重要因素. 本文利用等离子体驱动微小碎片加速器对充电材料进行超高速(3 km/s)撞击模拟实验, 通过观测放电脉冲信号来研究因撞击产生的等离子体诱发的放电, 得到较好的实验现象, 初步确认了超高速碎片撞击充电材料诱发放电的机理.     

一种新的航天器外露介质充电模型

为综合考虑高能电子辐射与周围等离子体对航天器外露介质充电的影响,在航天器内带电模型的基础上,通过添加边界充电电流来考虑等离子体与航天器介质表面的相互作用,并统一参考电位为等离子体零电位,建立了航天器外露介质充电模型,给出了新模型的一维稳态解法,并与表面充电模型和深层充电模型进行了对比分析.结果表明:新建模型能够综合考虑表面入射电流、深层沉积电流和传导电流对充电的耦合作用过程,实现外露介质表面和深层耦合充电计算,有利于全面评估航天器外露介质的充电问题.     

航天器空间静电效应研究进展

航天器在轨运行过程中面临的空间环境复杂多变,高能电子、等离子体环境、低气压、大温差等环境因素会引起航天器发生静电带电和放电效应,对航天器的安全运行造成严重影响。基于国内外试验数据和案例分析了空间环境引起的航天器故障,从数值仿真软件、地面模拟技术、强场诱发放电以及防护技术等方面介绍了空间环境作用下航天器充放电效应研究进展,对我国目前研究差距和未来研究方向进行了展望。研究表明:我国航天器充放电效应防护技术研究取得了进步,下一步重点针对空间站、深空探测、探月工程等新任务,进一步拓展空间环境作用下航天器充放电效应机理和防护新技术研究,为提升我国航天器的安全性和可靠性提供技术支撑。     

航天器内部充电效应及典型事例分析

航天器内部充电效应是由空间高能电子诱发的,通常发生在航天器内部以及表面绝缘材料深层,所产生的放电击穿及静电放电脉冲干扰较表面充电更为严重. 对内部充放电的一般规律进行了总结,并就一次典型的航天器异常事件,从异常的时空表现特征及其与高能电子环境扰动的相关性角度进行了深入分析和定量计算,得出了高能电子产生的内部充电引起的卫星异常的结论,为卫星异常诊断提供了范例.     

航天器内部充电效应及典型事例分析

航天器内部充电效应是由空间高能电子诱发的,通常发生在航天器内部以及表面绝缘材料深层,所产生的放电击穿及静电放电脉冲干扰较表面充电更为严重. 对内部充放电的一般规律进行了总结,并就一次典型的航天器异常事件,从异常的时空表现特征及其与高能电子环境扰动的相关性角度进行了深入分析和定量计算,得出了高能电子产生的内部充电引起的卫星异常的结论,为卫星异常诊断提供了范例. 关键词： 高能电子 内部充电 静电放电 空间环境     

空间太阳阵二次放电的模拟实验研究

二次放电是造成空间高压大功率太阳阵功率损失的主要原因.通过地面模拟实验研究，确定 了二次放电阈值电压并监测了二次放电脉冲电流，对高压太阳阵二次放电特性及其击穿机理 进行了讨论.结果表明，高压太阳阵工作电压和电池串间电流的提高增加了高压太阳阵发生 二次放电事件的可能性；通过采用特殊的结构设计和在太阳阵电池串之间涂覆RTV胶，可以 有效抑制二次放电事件的发生. 关键词： 高压太阳阵 空间静电放电 二次放电     

太空激光电力传输系统有望成为可能

正俄罗斯科学家正着手尝试将电力从一个航天器通过激光传输到另一个航天器的内部系统,该技术如研发成功将用于在太空向高成本卫星和军用航天器传输电力。据俄罗斯《消息报》近日报道,俄航天署决定将在太空中开展无线能量传输试验。俄罗斯科罗廖夫能源火箭航天公司的科学家正为此进行准备工作,研究人员希望以发射激光的方式从国际空间站的俄罗斯舱段向距离该空间站约1.5 km远的"进步"货运飞船输电。     

基于平均二次电子发射系数的航天器表面起电特征分析

为了进一步贴近航天器表面起电环境以得到更加可信的分析结果,针对航天器在恶劣充电环境下的表面起电问题,考虑空间等离子体双麦克斯韦分布情况,建立了基于平均二次电子发射系数的航天器表面起电阈值方程,可在入射电子能量连续分布情况下定量分析航天器表面起电特征,其中双麦分布可更好地描述磁层亚爆期间的恶劣充电环境。经过理论分析,归纳出双麦分布下的两种典型等离子体状态。通过仿真计算,得到了在两种典型等离子体状态下航天器表面电位随等离子体浓度和温度变化的特征。结果表明:电子温度越高,表面负带电电位越高,充电越严重,与此同时,双麦分布下等离子体两种电子组分的浓度比值对带电结果有重要影响。     

嫦娥一号卫星太阳风离子探测器数据分析

探月航天器与月球周围等离子体环境相互作用,表面将出现充放电效应,给航天器带来很多不利影响.表面充电电位对充放电的影响至关重要.评估探月航天器的充放电效应,首先需获得月球周围等离子体环境数据.嫦娥一号上搭载的两台太阳风离子探测器SWIDA/B是用来观测月球200 km轨道附近等离子体环境的探测仪器,获得了月球附近的太阳风速度、密度和温度.本文对2008年6月一个月内太阳风离子探测器SWIDA机获得的离子微分通量进行统计平均,得到太阳风离子微分通量能谱,并计算得到了月球200 km附近的太阳风速度(300.00—600.00 km·s-1)、密度(1—10 cm-3)和温度(1—20 eV).最后采用等效电路模型的方法计算得到了探月航天器表面充电电位范围为-7—-70 V.     

Spectra of Fe ions in powerful SCR events

Large solar cosmic ray (SCR) events are registered by PLATAN equipment in September–October 1989 aboard the MIR orbital station and in October–November 2003 aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The energy spectra of Fe ions in the energy intervals of 5–200 MeV/nucleon (1989) and 25–90 MeV/nucleon (2003) are measured. Spectra for SCR events of 1989 and 2003 are approximated with high accuracy by the power law function of energy. The SCR events of 1989 greatly exceed those of 2003 in the fluence of Fe particles. High enrichment of the elemental composition of the SCR events 2003 with Fe ions is observed.     

Development of the fiber neutron monitor for the energy range 15-100 MeV on the International Space Station (ISS)

In order to investigate the space environment, a new neutron monitor has been prepared. The sensor consists of scintillation fibers (FIB) and will be on board the exposed facility of the Japanese Experimental module (Kibo) of the International Space Station (ISS). The sensor is one of the instruments which measures the particle and plasma environment around the ISS. The sensor will be used by the cosmonauts who work on the ISS, to help them avoid a strong particle radiation which may arrive soon. We believe that such an alert is necessary for the cosmonauts to prevent unnecessary radiation from the sun. Furthermore, the sensor will be very useful in understanding the particle acceleration mechanism at the solar surface. The design of the Engineering Model (EM) was finished and its properties were investigated. This report discusses these results.     

Why Doing Fundamental Physics on the ISS?—The Experimental Conditions

The International Space Station (ISS) already serves as a laboratory for experiments in fundamental physics. It could be used for a much wider range of experiments if the operational concept of the ISS will be changed. Operational constraints set limits for the precision level of experiments. Free-flying platforms with high precision attitude and orbit control (drag-free control) could co-orbit with the ISS and improve the experimental conditions. The paper summarizes the main constraints and discusses concepts for improvement.     

Radiation dose rates in Space Shuttle as a function of atmospheric density.

Current models of the inner trapped belt describe the radiation environment at times of solar minimum and solar maximum, respectively. These two models were constructed using data acquired prior to 1970 during a small solar cycle, and no valid model for the past two high solar cycles exists. There is a clear need to accurately predict the radiation exposure of astronauts at all times between the solar minimum and solar maximum, not only on the short duration Space Shuttle flights, but on the longer term stay onboard the Mir orbital station and the planned International Space Station (ISS). An analysis of the trapped absorbed dose rate, D, at six fixed locations in the habitable volume of the Shuttle shows a power law relationship, D=A rho-n, where rho is the atmospheric density, rho. The index, n, is weakly dependent on the shielding, decreasing as the average shielding increases. A better representation is provided by D=A tan-1 [(Xi-Xi c)/(Xi c-Xi m)], where Xi=ln(rho), and A, Xi c, and Xi m are constants. Xi c is related to the atmospheric density near the altitude of atmospheric cutoff. These relationships hold over nearly four decades of density variation and throughout the solar cycle. This then provides a method of calculating absorbed dose rate at anytime in the solar cycle. These empirically derived relations were used to predict the dose rates for eleven Space Shuttle flights carried out since January 1997. The predictions are in excellent agreement with measured values. This method reduces the uncertainties of a factor of about 2 for the AP-8 MIN/MAX models to less than 30%.     

Radiation measurements on the Mir Orbital Station

Radiation measurements made onboard the MIR Orbital Station have spanned nearly a decade and covered two solar cycles, including one of the largest solar particle events, one of the largest magnetic storms, and a mean solar radio flux level reaching 250 x 10(4) Jansky that has been observed in the last 40 years. The cosmonaut absorbed dose rates varied from about 450 microGy day-1 during solar minimum to approximately half this value during the last solar maximum. There is a factor of about two in dose rate within a given module, and a similar variation from module to module. The average radiation quality factor during solar minimum, using the ICRP-26 definition, was about 2.4. The drift of the South Atlantic Anomaly was measured to be 6.0 +/- 0.5 degrees W, and 1.6 +/- 0.5 degrees N. These measurements are of direct applicability to the International Space Station. This paper represents a comprehensive review of Mir Space Station radiation data available from a variety of sources.     

High energy radiation fluences in the ISS-USLab: Ion discrimination and particle abundances

The ALTEA (Anomalous Long Term Effects on Astronauts) detector was used to characterize the radiation environment inside the USLab of the International Space Station (ISS), where it measured the abundances of ions from Be to Fe. We compare the ALTEA results with Alteino results obtained in the PIRS module of the Russian segment of the ISS, and normalize to the high energy Si abundances given by Simpson. These are the first particle spectral measurements, which include ions up to Fe, performed in the USLab. The small differences observed between those made inside the USLab and the Simpson abundances can be attributed to the transport through the spacecraft hull. However, the low abundance of Fe cannot be attributed to only this process.     

Spacecraft charging, an update

Twenty years after the landmark SCATHA program, spacecraft charging and its associated effects continue to be major issues for Earth-orbiting spacecraft. Since the time of SCATHA, spacecraft charging investigations were focused primarily on surface effects and spacecraft external surface design issues. Today, however, a significant proportion of spacecraft anomalies are believed to be caused by internal charging effects (charging and ESD events internal to the spacecraft Faraday cage envelope). This review will, following a brief summary of the state of the art in surface charging, concentrate on the problems introduced by penetrating electrons (“internal charging”) and related processes (buried charge and deep dielectric charging). With the advent of tethered spacecraft and the deployment of the International Space Station, low altitude charging has taken on a new significance as well. These and issues tied to the dense, low altitude plasma environment and the auroral zone will also be briefly reviewed     

A study of the dynamics of contaminants in the own external atmosphere of orbital stations

The results of measuring the characteristics of molecular deposition with quartz crystal microbalances (QCM) at the Mir Orbital Station and International Space Station are presented and analyzed. These measurements are highly important for understanding the extent of deposition of contaminants in the own external atmosphere and the effect of solar radiation on the contamination sources and QCM readings. The results suggest that the control of contaminants is of considerable importance for conducting scientific experiments.     

ISLAND—Inverse Square Law Acceleration Measurement Using iNertial Drift

By using a novel free-flying, rotating, optical bench aboard the International Space Station (ISS) as the basis for a measurement of differential acceleration between two gravitating bodies, in principle the Newtonian inverse-square law and the constant of gravitation, G, can be determined at the parts in 10⁶ level.     

Highlights of the NASA Particle Astrophysics Program

The NASA Particle Astrophysics Program covers Origin of the Elements, Nearest Sources of Cosmic Rays, How Cosmic Particle Accelerators Work, The Nature of Dark Matter, and Neutrino Astrophysics. Progress in each of these topics has come from sophisticated instrumentation flown on long duration balloon (LDB) flights around Antarctica over the past two decades. New opportunities including Super Pressure Balloons (SPB) and International Space Station (ISS) platforms are emerging for the next major step. Stable altitudes and long durations enabled by SPB flights ensure ultra-long duration balloon (ULDB) missions that can open doors to new science opportunities. The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) has been operating on the ISS since May 2011. The CALorimetric Electron Telescope (CALET) and Cosmic Ray Energetics And Mass (CREAM) experiments are being developed for launch to the Japanese Experiment Module Exposed Facility (JEM-EF) in 2014. And, the Extreme Universe Space Observatory (EUSO) is planned for launch to the ISS JEM-EF after 2017. Collectively, these four complementary ISS missions covering a large portion of the cosmic ray energy spectrum serve as a cosmic ray observatory.