Measurements of the secondary particle energy spectra in the Space Shuttle

Measurements of the energy spectra of secondary particles produced by galactic cosmic rays and trapped protons due to the nuclear interactions of these particles with the Shuttle shielding provide a powerful tool for validating radiation transport codes. A code validated in this way can be used to better estimate the dose and dose equivalent to body organs, measurements that cannot be made directly. The principal cause of single event upsets in electronic devices in the region of the South Atlantic Anomaly is secondary particles, and even in the region of galactic cosmic radiation a significant fraction is produced by secondary particles. In this paper, we describe the first direct measurements of the energy spectra of secondary protons, deuterons, tritons, 3He and 4He produced by galactic cosmic rays inside the Space Shuttle using a charged particle spectrometer. A comparison of these spectra with radiation transport code HZETRN showed reasonably good agreement for secondary protons. However, the code seriously underestimated the flux of all other light ions. The code has been modified to include pick-up and knock-on processes. The modified code leads to good agreement for deuterons and 3He but not for other light ions. This revised code leads to about 10% higher dose equivalent than the original code under moderate shielding, if we assume that higher charge ion fluxes are correctly predicted by the model.     

临近空间大气中子环境的仿真研究

以大气模型、宇宙线模型和地磁截止刚度模型为基础,利用蒙特卡罗方法在国内首次建立了临近空间大气中子环境的计算机仿真模型,分别研究了银河宇宙线、太阳宇宙线诱发的大气中子环境分布规律以及地磁场屏蔽作用对大气中子环境的影响.通过与国外相关模型对比,证明本仿真模型是准确、可靠的,对太阳质子事件的详细分析,弥补了国外已有模型中的不足.该模型可用于临近空间大气中子诱发的元器件单粒子效应评估,以及航空机组人员飞行期间所接受的辐射剂量分析. 关键词： 临近空间 大气中子 单粒子效应 蒙特卡罗     

Superconducting strings

It is known that certain spontaneously broken gauge theories give rise to stable strings or vortex lines. In this paper it is shown that under certain conditions such strings behave like superconducting wires whose passage through astrophysical magnetic fields would generate a variety of striking and perhaps observable effects. The superconducting charge carriers may be either bosons (if a charged Higgs field has an expectation value in the core of the string) or fermions (if charged fermions are trapped in zero modes along the string, as is known to occur in certain circumstances). They might be observable as synchrotron sources or as sources of high-energy cosmic rays. If the charge carriers are ordinary quarks and leptons, the strings have important baryon number violating interactions with magnetic fields; such a string, traversing a galactic magnetic field of 10^?6 G, creates baryons (or antibaryons) at a rate of order 10¹² particles/cm of string per second.     

Neutron measurements onboard the space shuttle

The radiation environment inside a shielded volume is highly complex, consisting of both charged and neutral particles. Since the inception of human space flights, the charged particle component has received virtually all of the attention. There is however, a significant production of secondary neutrons, particularly from the aluminum structure in low earth orbiting spacecrafts. The interactions of galactic cosmic rays (GCR), and solar energetic particles with the earth's atmosphere produce a non-isotropic distribution of albedo neutrons. Inside any reasonable habitable module, the average radiation quality factor of neutrons is about 4-5 times larger than the corresponding average quality factor of charged particles. The measurement of neutrons and their energy spectra is a difficult problem due the intense sources of charged particles. This paper reviews the results of Shuttle flight experiments (made during both solar maximum and solar minimum) to measure the contribution of neutrons to the dose equivalent, as well as theoretical calculations to estimate the appropriate range of neutron energies that contribute most to the dose equivalent.     

Influence of cosmic radiation spectrum and its variation on the relative efficiency of LiF thermoluminescent detectors – Calculations and measurements

Lithium fluoride thermoluminescent detectors (TLD) were used for cosmic radiation dosimetry already in early 1960s. Since that time they have been constantly applied in numerous space missions for personal dosimetry, area monitoring, phantom measurements and dosimetry for biological experiments. The relative efficiency of TLDs, defined as the ratio of their response to a given radiation and to a reference radiation, is not constant, but depends on ionization density. This raises a question about the relative efficiency of TLDs exposed to the complex cosmic radiation spectrum encountered in Earth's orbit, which consists of a variety of particles, including heavy ions, the spectrum of which covers an extremely broad energy range. The present work is an attempt to find an answer to this question.The particle energy spectra were calculated for realistic flight conditions of the International Space Station (ISS). The calculation of the Galactic Cosmic Ray (GCR) component was based on the input spectra generated with the DLR model for solar minimum (2009) and solar maximum (2000) conditions. Contributions of trapped protons were estimated based on the AP8 model for solar minimum and maximum taking into account the altitude variations of the ISS. The interactions of the primary particles with the ISS were simulated with GEANT4 using a shielding geometry derived from the mass distribution of the Columbus Laboratory of the ISS and several constant aluminum shieldings. The calculated spectra were convoluted with the experimental data on the relative TL efficiency measured for ions ranging from H to Xe at various particle accelerators for two commonly applied TL-materials, namely LiF:Mg,Ti and LiF:Mg,Cu,P.The results showed the differences in the average TL-efficiency for these two TL-materials. For LiF:Mg,Ti the relative efficiency is within a few percent from unity for any of the analyzed values of shielding, altitude and solar cycle conditions. This means that one can assume cosmic radiation doses measured in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) with LiF:Mg,Ti detectors to be correct within such uncertainty. LiF:Mg,Cu,P underestimates the cosmic radiation doses by more than 15% in all cases. Altitude and solar cycle were found to have a very weak influence on the TL efficiency. In contrast, the influence of shielding thickness is quite significant. The reason for this is a change of contributions of radiation field components: trapped protons dominate at low shielding (97% of dose at 1 g/cm²), but are negligible above 60 g/cm², as well as changes within GCR spectrum (increase of dose due to lower LET secondaries for higher shielding). Shielding thickness affects both TLD types in different ways: the efficiency of LiF:Mg,Cu,P increases with increasing shielding thickness, while the efficiency of LiF:Mg,Ti shows some fluctuations, with a weak minimum for 60 g/cm². The response ratio of these TLDs decreases monotonically with the shielding thickness and could be used as an indicator for the average shielding conditions in which the TLDs were exposed.     

On the Acceleration of Energetic Cosmic Particles by Electrostatic Double Layers

The capability of electrostatic double layers of accelerating charged particles to high energies is investigated. Starting from a one-dimensional relativistic double-layer model a two-dimensional relativistic double layer in a current filament is studied. It is found that the filamentary double layer has a maximum potential drop that depends both on the magnitude of the filamentary current and on the composition of the layer. The results are applied to two cosmic double layers?one in a solar electric circuit and another in a galactic circuit. If the layers are composed of protons and electrons, these particles may be accelerated to 1011 eV in the solar layer and to 1014 eV in the galactic layer. It is suggested that the solar double layer may account for the acceleration of solar cosmic rays while the galactic layer may contribute to the generation of cosmic radiation.     

Secondary radiations in spacecraft shieldings

Some problems are discussed which relate to the generation of secondary radiation under the effects of heavy charged cosmic ray particles in spacecraft shielding and in biological tissue. Methods for obtaining the total and differential inelastic interaction cross sections are recommended for use in the calculation of heavy charged particle transport in the shielding. The most extensively used methods for calculating heavy charged particle passage through matter are appraised. The results of calculating cosmic ray doses in biological tissue behind shielding, which allow for the secondary particle contribution, are presented. All the calculations have been made using the set of radiation protection standards approved by the Russian State Committee for Standards. The set of standards has been verified experimentally on board satellites of the Cosmos series.     

Formation of Suprathermal Particle Fluxes in a Strongly Turbulent Plasma

We consider the problem on the formation of suprathermal particle fluxes by electrostatic structures in strongly turbulent cosmic plasmas. It is shown that regions with a strong plasma turbulence can be large accelerators of charged particles. We give solutions of the stationary kinetic equation in a turbulent layer for different acceleration regimes and estimate the efficiency of diffusion over the longitudinal and transverse velocities of particles with respect to the magnetic field. The transverse diffusion in velocity space is more efficient for ions and leads to strong isotropization of ion fluxes. Electrons move almost along the magnetic field. We reveal the conditions under which the regular force in a nonuniform magnetic field influences the stochastic-acceleration process. The average energy of axial motion of the particles and the particle fluxes at large distances from the injection region are estimated. Ions and electrons can be accelerated up to comparable energies. We analyze the characteristic features of the motion of the relativistic-particle beams. It is shown that strong plasma turbulence can form particle beams with specific energies. The proposed mechanism is useful for explanation of the properties of energetic particles in cosmic plasmas with magnetic-field-aligned currents, e.g., in high-latitude regions of planetary magnetospheres, force-free configurations of the solar corona, and the solar wind.     

Dust in the planetary system: Dust interactions in space plasmas of the solar system

Cosmic dust particles are small solid objects observed in the solar planetary system and in many astronomical objects like the surrounding of stars, the interstellar and even the intergalactic medium. In the solar system the dust is best observed and most often found within the region of the orbits of terrestrial planets where the dust interactions and dynamics are observed directly from spacecraft. Dust is observed in space near Earth and also enters the atmosphere of the Earth where it takes part in physical and chemical processes. Hence space offers a laboratory to study dust–plasma interactions and dust dynamics. A recent example is the observation of nanodust of sizes smaller than 10 nm. We outline the theoretical considerations on which our knowledge of dust electric charges in space plasmas are founded. We discuss the dynamics of the dust particles and show how the small charged particles are accelerated by the solar wind that carries a magnetic field. Finally, as examples for the space observation of cosmic dust interactions, we describe the first detection of fast nanodust in the solar wind near Earth orbit and the first bi-static observations of PMSE, the radar echoes that are observed in the Earth ionosphere in the presence of charged dust.     

Passive dosimetry aboard the Mir Orbital Station: internal measurements

Passive radiation dosimeters were exposed aboard the Mir Orbital Station over a substantial portion of the solar cycle in order to measure the change in dose and dose equivalent rates as a function of time. During solar minimum, simultaneous measurements of the radiation environment throughout the habitable volume of the Mir were made using passive dosimeters in order to investigate the effect of localized shielding on dose and dose equivalent. The passive dosimeters consisted of a combination of thermoluminescent detectors to measure absorbed dose and CR-39 PNTDs to measure the linear energy transfer (LET) spectrum from charged particles of LET infinity H2O > or = 5 keV/micrometers. Results from the two detector types were then combined to yield mean total dose rate, mean dose equivalent rate, and average quality factor. Contrary to expectations, both dose and dose equivalent rates measured during May-October 1991 near solar maximum were higher than similar measurements carried out in 1996-1997 during solar minimum. The elevated dose and dose equivalent rates measured in 1991 were probably due to a combination of intense solar activity, including a large solar particle event on 9 June 1991, and the temporary trapped radiation belt created in the slot region by the solar particle event and ensuing magnetic storm of 24 March 1991. During solar minimum, mean dose and dose equivalent rates were found to vary by factors of 1.55 and 1.37, respectively, between different locations through the interior of Mir. More heavily shielded locations tended to yield lower total dose and dose equivalent rates, but higher average quality factor than did more lightly shielding locations. However, other factors such as changes in the immediate shielding environment surrounding a given detector location, changes in the orientation of the Mir relative to its velocity vector, and changes in the altitude of the station also contributed to the variation. Proton and neutron-induced target fragment secondaries, not primary galactic cosmic rays, were found to dominate the LET spectrum above 100 keV/micrometers. This indicates that in low earth orbit, trapped protons in the South Atlantic Anomaly are responsible for the major fraction of the total dose equivalent.     

Crucial role of the magnetic field in the evolution of life

The formation of a steady ozone layer in the earth’s atmosphere is the most significant event in the evolutionary cycle of the earth which, in turn, has been responsible for the development of life with an oxygen metabolism. In addition to protecting biological life from exposure to ultraviolet radiation the ozone layer has also been responsible for maintaining the water and oxygen balance in the atmosphere. It is argued that the magnetic field of the earth is really responsible for the formation of this steady ozone layer in the earth’s atmosphere. Because of the earth’s magnetic field and associated trapped charge particle belts and the magnetosphere, the earth’s atmosphere does not directly interact with the interplanetary space. Without such a shielding, the free oxygen atoms could have been depleted considerably causing a severe depletion in the ozone concentration to start with. The impact of charged particles from galactic and solar cosmic rays over the entire earth’s atmosphere and the consequent production of NO _x would have given rise to a major ozone sink, if earth were devoid of a magnetic field. The net result would have been the absence of a steady ozone layer and the absence of life with an oxygen metabolism, as in the case of the atmospheres of Venus and Mars, if the earth did not have a magnetic field.     

面向空间高能重离子与辐射屏蔽材料的反应截面地基研究

空间辐射尤其是高能重离子辐射可造成生物机体的严重损伤, 所以对高能重离子进行恰当的辐射屏蔽, 成为实现载人航天的关键性因素之一。 研究表明, 由于高能重离子与不同屏蔽材料发生相互作用, 所产生的核碎片等次级粒子, 直接影响空间辐射屏蔽材料的屏蔽性能研究和屏蔽结构设计。 介绍了太空辐射的分类与组成, 综述了国际地基辐射屏蔽材料与实验现状。 根据文献中的地基实验数据, 重点描述了被动式屏蔽方法: 以相近能量多种重离子, 不同能量的56Fe和28Si重离子分别与C, H, Al和Cu材料相互作用的总反应截面和碎片产生截面, 并结合510 MeV/u 56Fe与不同厚度CH2相互作用产生的碎片通量分布、 碎片平均LET分布和不同厚度CH2的单位入射离子剂量减少量等方面, 系统讨论分析了C, H, Al, Cu和CH2等常用空间辐射屏蔽材料的屏蔽性能。 Cosmic radiation, particularly the high energy heavy ion radiation, may cause serious injury on living organism. Therefore, it is one of critical restriction factor in Manned Spaceflight. Studies show that high energy heavy ions interacting with the shielding materials can produce numerous kinds of fragments and secondaries. These particles have a direct impact on evaluation of shielding properties of different shielding materials, the optimal shielding structure design and low dose evaluation after shielding materials. From perspectives of divisions of cosmic rays and passive shielding methods, this paper introduces the ground based research of shielding materials. The passive shielding method was discussed, based on the experimental data of the total cross sections and fragment（production） cross sections of the aspects of different heavy ions with approximately same energy and 56Fe, 28Si heavy ions with different energies on H, C, CH2, Al and Cu radiation shielding materials. In addition, the fragment fluency distribution, the average LET distribution and the dose reduction per particle of 510 MeV/u 56Fe in different depth of CH2 material were also discussed.     

Cumulative ionizing effect from solar-terrestrial charged particles and cosmic rays for CubeSats as simulated with GEANT4

Computational results for the cumulative effect of ionizing radiation are presented for CubeSats taking into account the presence of trapped charged particles in the Earth's magnetosphere, protons and heavy ions from the Sun, and the cosmic rays. In contrast to relatively larger satellites, CubeSats are often launched with minimal shielding structures. Therefore, detailed modeling of a CubeSat is performed based on currently available standard platforms. The geometrical modeling is then used for an estimation of the ionizing doses for various locations within the CubeSat spacecraft operating at low altitudes. The calculation is reiterated and extended for more exotic orbits, such as geostationary Earth orbits and lunar orbits, for the potential application of CubeSats in challenging space missions.     

Comparison of graphite,aluminum, and TransHab shielding material characteristics in a high-energy neutron field

Space radiation transport models clearly show that low atomic weight materials provide a better shielding protection for interplanetary human missions than high atomic weight materials. These model studies have concentrated on shielding properties against charged particles. A light-weight, inflatable habitat module called TransHab was built and shown to provide adequate protection against micrometeoroid impacts and good shielding properties against charged particle radiation in the International Space Station orbits. An experiment using a tissue equivalent proportional counter, to study the changes in dose and lineal energy spectra with graphite, aluminum, and a TransHab build-up as shielding, was carried out at the Los Alamos Nuclear Science Center neutron facility. It is a continuation of a previous study using regolith and doped polyethylene materials. This paper describes the results and their comparison with the previous study.     

HZE ion fragmentation cross-section sensitivity and propagated errors in HZE exposure estimates

It has long been recognized that galactic cosmic rays are of such high energy that they tend to pass through available shielding materials resulting in exposure of astronauts and equipment within space vehicles and habitats. Any protection provided by shielding materials result not so much from stopping such particles but by changing their physical character in interaction with shielding material nuclei forming, hopefully, less dangerous species. Clearly, the fidelity of the nuclear cross-sections is essential to correct specification of shield design and sensitivity to cross-section error is important in guiding experimental validation of cross-section models and database. We examine the Boltzmann transport equation which is used to calculate dose equivalent during solar minimum, with units (cSv/yr), associated with various depths of shielding materials. The dose equivalent is a weighted sum of contributions from neutrons, protons, light ions, medium ions and heavy ions using the ICRP-60 LET dependent quality factors. We investigate the sensitivity of dose equivalent calculations due to errors in nuclear fragmentation cross-sections. We do this error analysis for all possible projectile-fragment combinations (14,365 such combinations) to estimate the sensitivity of the shielding calculations to errors in the nuclear fragmentation cross-sections. Numerical differentiation with respect to the cross-sections will be evaluated in a broad class of materials including polyethylene, aluminum and copper. We will identify the most important cross-sections to ensure adequate experimental study and evaluate their impact on propagated errors in shielding estimates.     

空间辐射环境及人体剂量蒙特卡罗模拟

针对空间辐射环境进行了理论分析,并使用蒙特卡罗方法,对银河宇宙射线及典型太阳质子事件进行了模拟。通过分析常规屏蔽对空间辐射场及人体剂量的影响、屏蔽下的次级粒子产额等,验证了蒙特卡罗工具包Geant4应用于空间辐射防护研究的准确性。模拟发现:在常规屏蔽厚度的情况下,对于太阳质子事件,由于其能量主要分布在低能量段(100 MeV以下),屏蔽效果随屏蔽厚度的增加明显增大,1 g/cm2 Al等效厚度屏蔽皮肤剂量可降低至其初始剂量值的8%左右,10 g/cm2 Al等效厚度的屏蔽可降低至初始剂量值的048%左右;而对于银河宇宙射线,由于其平均能量较高,屏蔽层的屏蔽作用并不明显,在浅层组织剂量甚至有所增加。     

超导腔垂直测量系统中的磁屏蔽

简要介绍空间磁场对纯铌超导加速腔性能的影响,以及在超导腔垂直测量时对空间磁场进行有效屏蔽的方法.由于多数磁性材料对应力和温度变化非常敏感,而且国内缺乏在低温下相关磁屏蔽材料性能的数据,为此对8种国产铁磁和软磁材料在低温下的初始磁导率进行了测量,并给出了相应的测试结果.最后介绍了作者研制的1.3GHz超导腔垂直测量低温恒温器内置式磁屏蔽装置及其性能.     

Cosmic Ray Electrons and Protons,and Their Antiparticles

Cosmic rays are a sample of solar, galactic, and extragalactic matter. Their origin, acceleration mechanisms, and subsequent propagation toward Earth have intrigued scientists since their discovery. These issues can be studied via analysis of the energy spectra and composition of cosmic rays. Protons are the most abundant component of the cosmic radiation, and many experiments have been dedicated to the accurate measurement of their spectra. Complementary information is provided by electrons, which comprise about 1 % of the cosmic radiation. Because of their low mass, electrons experience severe energy losses through synchrotron emission in the galactic magnetic field and inverse Compton scattering of radiation fields. Electrons therefore provide information on the local galactic environment that is not accessible from the study of the cosmic ray nuclei. Antiparticles, namely antiprotons and positrons, are produced in the interaction between cosmic ray nuclei and the interstellar matter. They are therefore intimately linked to the propagation mechanisms of the parent nuclei. Novel sources of primary cosmic ray antiparticles of either astrophysical (e.g., positrons from pulsars) or exotic origin (e.g., annihilation of dark matter particles) may exist. The nature of dark matter is one of the most prominent open questions in science today. An observation of positrons from pulsars would open a new observation window on these sources. Several experiments equipped with state-of-the art detector systems have recently presented results on the energy spectra of electrons, protons, and their antiparticles with a significant improvement in statistics and better control of systematics. The status of the field will be reviewed, with a focus on these recent scientific results.     

DIMENSIONAL METHOD TO SOLVE THE DIFFUSION CONVECTION EQUATION OF SOLAR COSMIC RAYS

Physical processes of the propagation of the solar cosmic rays in the interplanetary space include the diffusion in interplanetary disordered magnetic fields and the convection in solar winds. Dimensional method can be applied to solve those equations convertible into Bessel equation, the results obtained are identical with those solved by the commonly used separate variable method. In order to derive an analytic solution to the diffusion convection equation in an unbounded, uniform medium, two dimensionless parameters reflecting the diffusion and convection characteristics of the particles are introduced. In the diffusion dominated case, the solution is similar in form to the diffusion of a source moving with the convection velocity and is modified by another convection term, which can be expanded into a power series of the convection parameter with coefficients composed of the generalized hypergeometric function series of the diffusion parameter. This solution has a clear physical meaning, and can suitably be used in the discussion of the rise phase characteristics of the solar cosmic rays from medium to high energies （E_p≥10¹ MeV）.