Space Science Applications Research Articles

Transient Current Analysis of GaN Neutron Detector Based on the SRIM and TCAD Methods

Utilizing Technology Computer Aided Design (TCAD) software, this study determines the optimal thickness and doping concentration for the intrinsic gallium nitride (GaN) layer in a p-i-n GaN diode to improve detection efficiency and reliability. The study examines energy loss and the transient current response induced by alpha and 3H particles within the GaN p-i-n diode. Additionally, TCAD elucidates the transient current behavior arising from electron-hole pair generation, utilizing the Stopping and Range of Ions in Matter SRIM-2013 linear energy transfer distribution as a guide. The simulations disclose that the tailing effect in the transient current response results from radiation-induced hole accumulation. Elevated applied bias results in increased transient current pulse amplitude, attributed to an extended depletion region that boosts carrier collection. These insights are expected to drive advancements in GaN-based neutron detector technology, essential for advancing nuclear and space science applications in the next generation.

Numerical Modeling of Energetic Charged-particle Transport with SPECTRUM Software: General Approach and Artificial Effects due to Field Discretization

Test-particle simulations are an important tool for magnetospheric and heliophysics research. In this paper, we present the Space Plasma and Energetic Charged particle TRansport on Unstructured Meshes (SPECTRUM) software as a novel tool for performing these types of simulations in arbitrary astrophysical environments, specified either analytically or numerically (i.e., on a grid). We discuss and benchmark SPECTRUM’s interface with meshed magnetohydrodynamic backgrounds, including output from the Block Adaptive Tree Solar-wind Roe-type Upwind Scheme (BATS-R-US) code. We also investigate the effects of field discretization on both deterministic and stochastic particle motion, with emphasis on space science applications, concluding that the discretization error typically enhances the diffusive behavior of the ensemble.

Euro Material Ageing – Ground-based testing and selection of the ESA flight candidate materials

One of the newest European additions to the International Space Station (ISS) is the Airbus Bartolomeo payload hosting platform, attached externally to the European Columbus Module. This will provide an unobstructed access to the external space environment offering research opportunities for a wide range of space science applications. One of the Bartolomeo missions under development is Euro Material Ageing (EMA) – a joint collaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the French Space Agency (CNES). ESA is using the Bartolomeo platform as a testing opportunity to perform materials science research and calibrate its ground-based testing facilities against the real space environment. Additionally, it offers a unique opportunity to small space players of the European market for direct in-flight technology validation.

Natural convection with variable fluid properties of couple stress fluid with Cattaneo-Christov model and enthalpy process

The geometry under consideration for this flow problem, namely paraboloid surface is similar to aircraft and car bonnet, bullet shape, front shape of submarine, rockets and these types of are useful in manufacturing of formula F1 cars and airplanes. The flow of fluid over paraboloid surface has several applications in space science, industries, mechanical works and architecture. The aim of this study is to explore the Cattaneo-Christov heat and mass flux model in steady 2D couple stress fluid flow with variable thermo-physical characteristics near the parabolic surface. The effects of enthalpy and activation energy are also taken into consideration. The stretching in the layers of fluid is assumed at the surface of body. The problem is amended by using the law of conservation of momentum, energy and mass transfer. The non-linear governing partial differential equations are converted into ordinary differential equations by using self-similar form with similarity transformation. The resulting ODE's are numerically solved by bvp4c method. The conclusion indicates that the fluid moves quickly due to higher inputs of couples stress parameter and buoyancy parameter while the viscosity coefficient creates restriction in the fluid motion. The transference analysis of temperature and concentration enhances for higher impacts of thermal conduction and mass diffusivity coefficient. The thermal concentration relaxation parameters are the source of decline in the concentration and temperature of fluid. The heat transmission rate is maximum and mass transfer is minimum due to raising values of Dramkholer number. The impression of all parameters on different fields is listed in discussion section.

MC-UNet: Martian Crater Segmentation at Semantic and Instance Levels Using U-Net-Based Convolutional Neural Network

Crater recognition on Mars is of paramount importance for many space science applications, such as accurate planetary surface age dating and geological mapping. Such recognition is achieved by means of various image-processing techniques employing traditional CNNs (convolutional neural networks), which typically suffer from slow convergence and relatively low accuracy. In this paper, we propose a novel CNN, referred to as MC-UNet (Martian Crater U-Net), wherein classical U-Net is employed as the backbone for accurate identification of Martian craters at semantic and instance levels from thermal-emission-imaging-system (THEMIS) daytime infrared images. Compared with classical U-Net, the depth of the layers of MC-UNet is expanded to six, while the maximum number of channels is decreased to one-fourth, thereby making the proposed CNN-based architecture computationally efficient while maintaining a high recognition rate of impact craters on Mars. For enhancing the operation of MC-UNet, we adopt average pooling and embed channel attention into the skip-connection process between the encoder and decoder layers at the same network depth so that large-sized Martian craters can be more accurately recognized. The proposed MC-UNet is adequately trained using 2∼32 km radii Martian craters from THEMIS daytime infrared annotated images. For the predicted Martian crater rim pixels, template matching is subsequently used to recognize Martian craters at the instance level. The experimental results indicate that MC-UNet has the potential to recognize Martian craters with a maximum radius of 31.28 km (136 pixels) with a recall of 0.7916 and F1-score of 0.8355. The promising performance shows that the proposed MC-UNet is on par with or even better than other classical CNN architectures, such as U-Net and Crater U-Net.

Aurora Detection From Nighttime Lights for Earth and Space Science Applications

AbstractThis research leverages data from the Day/Night Band (DNB) of the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer (VIIRS) instrument onboard the Suomi National Polar‐orbiting Partnership (S‐NPP) satellite. We demonstrate the value of mining the VIIRS DNB for aurora and describe our use of unsupervised machine learning to create a binary mask for aurora occurrence. This mask can be used to flag aurora‐contaminated observations for NASA's nighttime lights products for Earth science applications. The identification of auroral regions can also be used for Space Weather applications, for example, for comparison with aurora forecast model and with other satellite‐ or ground‐based aurora observations. The DNB is a broadband channel that is sensitive to wavelengths from 500 to 900 nm, which covers most of the visible light spectrum, and as the name implies, captures light even at night with a sensitivity at the nanowatt level. This band is suitable for aurora observations since the light emitted by the aurora tends to be dominated by emissions from atomic oxygen, resulting in a greenish glow at a wavelength of 557.7 nm, especially at an altitude of 110 km. This study compares the global nighttime derived aurora regions for 17 and 18 March with the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center's (SWPC) probability product for the St. Patrick's Day geomagnetic storm in 2015. VIIRS sensors are slated to be added to the next generation of polar‐orbiting operational satellites. Our novel automated approach to aurora identification opens up an efficient way to leverage this unique data source.

Review of the development of the hydrogen maser technique and a brief introduction to its space applications

Since 1960, when the first hydrogen frequency standard, the microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation (maser), was developed in the laboratory of Norman Ramsey at Harvard University, the performance of its frequency stability and technique development have been closely related to scientific research. A variety of H-maser designs have been developed for the demands of space science applications, including the deep space network (DSN) and the gravity probe (GP) experiment. H-maser is one of three well-developed microwave atomic frequency standards and is widely used worldwide in both ground and on-board-based settings. Along with upgrades to the frequency stability performance of the H-maser, improved knowledge of the world has also been reported.

Aurora Detection from Nighttime Lights for Earth and Space Science Applications

Aurora Detection from Nighttime Lights for Earth and Space Science Applications

Development of a space irradiance simulator for advanced studies and materials research

A lab-scale experimental apparatus that mimics the solar-thermal environment of space has recently been developed and tested at NASA Kennedy Space Center in support of novel materials research for future space science and exploration applications. The Space Irradiance Simulator (SIRS) apparatus exposes specimens up to roughly 61 mm in diameter to a similar thermal environment that exists at distances as close as 0.4 AU from the Sun. This includes a high vacuum environment, access to a deep cryogenic background temperature with optical properties that closely imitate a blackbody, and irradiance from a broadband solar “point” source at fluxes as high as 9300 W/m2. Cooling is provided by a Gifford-McMahon cryocooler capable of 25 W of cooling power at 20 K, with a base temperature of 14 K. A commercially available Xenon lamp acts as the solar source, creating broadband electromagnetic radiation with a spectrum similar to that of the Sun. Light is beamed through the vacuum chamber and onto a sample suspended within the cold-mass via a flexible quartz fiber bundle in conjunction with a custom vacuum feedthrough. The system design, fabrication, and operation are discussed; and results from the initial checkout testing of the system are presented.

IDeF-X HDBD: Low-Noise ASIC for Imaging Spectroscopy With Semiconductor Detectors in Space Science Applications

We present the IDeF-X HDBD integrated circuit, our latest 32-channel application specified integrated circuit devoted to semiconductor photon counting X-ray detectors, designed to read charges ranging from −40 to 40 fC. The chip reaches an equivalent noise charge (ENC) floor of 17 electrons rms and is optimized for low input capacitance (< 10 pF). Each channel is based on an optimized charge sensitive amplifier (CSA) followed by a CR-RC <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> filter and a peak detector with a power consumption of <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$850 ~\mu \text{W}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> /channel. Gain and shaping times are tunable. This circuit has been designed with radiation mitigation techniques to meet space application requirements. This ASIC can read either cadmium telluride or silicon detectors for imaging-spectroscopy applications. An energy resolution of 230-eV FHWM at 6 keV and a low-level threshold of 1.2 keV were demonstrated with a single pixel silicon drift detector connected to one channel.

Preface

Due to recent pandemic, the 2022 International Conference on Automation and Space Science and Technology (ASST 2022) was held virtually online during January 14-16, 2022. The decision to hold the virtual conference was made in compliance with many restrictions and regulations that were imposed by countries around the globe. Such restrictions were made to minimize the risk of people contracting or spreading the COVID-19 through physical contact. There were 60 individuals who attended this online conference, represented many countries including Malaysia, India, Japan, Pakistan, and China.China has stepped into the era of rapid development of space science applications, in which automation as a basic support discipline provides key theoretical and technical support. With the goal of the application of space science engineering, the 2022 International Conference on Automation and Space Science and Technology (ASST 2022) integrates the principles and achievements related to automation and intelligent systems, and intend to provide a new platform for communication and discussion in interdisciplinary fields and advance the further integration and development of automation and space technology.During the conference, the conference model was divided into three sessions, including oral presentations, keynote speeches, and online Q&A discussion. In the first part, some scholars, whose submissions were selected as the excellent papers, were given about 5-10 minutes to perform their oral presentations one by one. Then in the second part, keynote speakers were each allocated 30-45 minutes to hold their speeches. In the second part, we invited three professors as our keynote speakers. Prof. Quanxin Zhu, Hunan Normal University, China. His current research interests in Markov process, Stability and Control Theory and Application of Stochastic Systems, and a series of important developments have been made. And then we had Prof. Li Na, Xidian University, China. Her main research direction is high precision electronic equipment error theory, new system antenna structure design and optimization. Assoc. Prof. Fengnan Guo, our finale keynote speaker, from Dalian University of Technology, China. His current research interests focus on thermal fracture of composite materials, design of advanced astronautis propulsion and structural integrity analysis. Their insightful speeches had triggered heated discussion in the third session of the conference. Every participant praised this conference for disseminating useful and insightful knowledge.The proceedings are a compilation of the accepted papers and represent an interesting outcome of the conference. Topics include but are not limited to the following areas: Space detection technology, Air-ground joint technology, Automation in the application of space technology and more related topics. All the papers have been through rigorous review and process to meet the requirements of International publication standard.We would like to acknowledge all of those who supported ASST 2022. The help and contribution of each individual and institution was instrumental in the success of the conference. In particular, we would like to thank the organizing committee for its valuable inputs in shaping the conference program and reviewing the submitted papers.We sincerely hope that the ASST 2022 turned out to be a forum for excellent discussions that enabled new ideas to come about, promoting collaborative research. We are sure that the proceedings will serve as an important research source of references and knowledge, which will lead to not only scientific and engineering findings but also new products and technologies.List of Committee member are available in this pdf.

Cater type inequalities involving Cater products and their applications in space science

Cater type inequalities involving Cater products and their applications in space science

Semiconductor Nanowire Field-Effect Transistors as Sensitive Detectors in the Far-Infrared.

Engineering detection dynamics in nanoscale receivers that operate in the far infrared (frequencies in the range 0.1–10 THz) is a challenging task that, however, can open intriguing perspectives for targeted applications in quantum science, biomedicine, space science, tomography, security, process and quality control. Here, we exploited InAs nanowires (NWs) to engineer antenna-coupled THz photodetectors that operated as efficient bolometers or photo thermoelectric receivers at room temperature. We controlled the core detection mechanism by design, through the different architectures of an on-chip resonant antenna, or dynamically, by varying the NW carrier density through electrostatic gating. Noise equivalent powers as low as 670 pWHz−1/2 with 1 µs response time at 2.8 THz were reached.

Proton irradiation effects on mechanochemically synthesized and flash-evaporated hybrid organic–inorganic lead halide perovskites

A hybrid organic–inorganic halide perovskite is a promising material for developing efficient solar cell devices, with potential applications in space science. In this study, we synthesized methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI3) perovskites via two methods: mechanochemical synthesis and flash evaporation. We irradiated these perovskites with highly energetic 10 MeV proton-beam doses of 1011, 1012, 1013, and 4 × 1013 protons cm−2 and examined the proton irradiation effects on the physical properties of MAPbI3 perovskites. The physical properties of the mechanochemically synthesized MAPbI3 perovskites were not considerably affected after proton irradiation. However, the flash-evaporated MAPbI3 perovskites showed a new peak in x-ray diffraction and an increased fluorescence lifetime in time-resolved photoluminescence under high-dose conditions, indicating considerable changes in their physical properties. This difference in behavior between MAPbI3 perovskites synthesized via the abovementioned two methods may be attributed to differences in radiation hardness associated with the bonding strength of the constituents, particularly Pb–I bonds. Our study will help to understand the radiation effect of proton beams on organometallic halide perovskite materials.

Aurora Detection from Nighttime Lights for Earth and Space Science Applications

Aurora Detection from Nighttime Lights for Earth and Space Science Applications

Analytical spacecraft relative dynamics with gravitational, drag and third-body perturbations

There has been a growing interest in spacecraft formation flying for space science applications. Such missions will require an accurate and efficient dynamics model, on-board the flight computer, to calculate and control the desired relative motion. Hence, an analytical dynamics model which can be applied to eccentric orbits and includes perturbations can provide an increase in accuracy and efficiency. This paper develops an accurate analytical solution of relative motion between two spacecraft using classical orbital elements. The analytical solution is obtained by propagating the orbital elements forward in time, while taking into account gravitational field up to the fifth harmonic, third-body and drag secular and periodic perturbations, and calculating the relative motion in the local-vertical–local-horizontal reference frame at each time-step. The analytical solution was observed to accurately describe the relative motion when compared with a numerical simulator, yielding errors on the order of meters for separation distances on the order of hundreds of meters.

Mobile robots with magnetizable materials in alternating uniform inclined magnetic fields

Mobile robots find now more and more applications in Space science and technology. So prototypes of mobile robots (bodies with magnetizable materials) being controlled by an alternating uniform magnetic field are proposed. An easy-to-implement alternating (pulsating) uniform magnetic field inclined to a horizontal plane is used to control prototypes. In experiments two samples of mobile robots are used: a spiral with a magnetizable elastomer and two magnetizable spheres with a non-magnetic elastic coupling. Size of proposed mobile robots can be quite small. The directed motion of these mobile robots in different surrounding viscous fluids along a horizontal bottom of a vessel in an alternating magnetic field is investigated experimentally and theoretically. Interesting effects are found experimentally: movement direction of robots dependents on viscosity of the surrounding fluid, and velocity value of robots in glycerin (high viscosity) are greater than in water (low viscosity). The mathematical model well describing experimental effects is proposed. Numerical calculations show that the motion of such robots occurs in opposite directions, when they move in water and glycerin.

Cryogenic Stress-Driven Grain Growth Observed via Microcompression with in situ Electron Backscatter Diffraction

The deformation of materials at cryogenic temperature is of interest for space, arctic, and fundamental science applications. In this work, a custom-built cooling system attached to a commercial picoindenter was used for in situ cryogenic microcompression testing of equal-channel angular-pressed copper with real-time electron backscatter diffraction. Stress-driven grain growth at cryogenic temperatures was observed during a series of elastic and plastic deformations. These results provide direct evidence for the previously predicted phenomenon, whereas previous ex situ examinations demonstrated coarsening after cryogenic loading when samples were not maintained at cryogenic temperatures between deformation and characterization.

Reconfigurable Magnetoresistive Sensor Based on Magnetoelectric Coupling

AbstractMeasurement of magnetic signal from an arbitrary direction is of vital importance for applications in magnetic navigation, space science, indoor positioning, and magnetic gesture recognition. However, magnetoresistive sensors, as vector magnetometers, are only suitable for detection of magnetic signals along the magnetic hard axis. Magnetoelectric coupling is introduced to control the magnetic anisotropy of a magnetoresistive pattern, realizing a 90° rotation of the magnetic hard axis and thus the sensing direction of the tunable sensor. The sensitivity along the initial magnetic easy axis can be enhanced 12.7‐fold while that along the initial hard axis can be depressed to be only 4.7% of the original value through magnetic anisotropy engineering. The tailorable directional sensitivity of the electric‐field reconfigurable sensor speaks to the strong potential of this system for practical applications requiring testing of localized magnetic fields, for example, magnetic diagnosis or biomagnetic characterization.

γ-ray Irradiation-Induced Chemical and Structural Changes in CVD Monolayer MoS2

Two dimensional (2D) materials are the ideal choice for highly efficient, lightweight, low power consumption nanoelectronics in space science applications. Therefore, investigation of radiation hardness of 2D-materials is of great interest. Herein, we report the effect of gamma irradiation on chemical vapor deposition (CVD) synthesized crystalline monolayer (1 L) molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) flakes on the sapphire substrate at various doses, viz., 1–1000 kGy. We estimated that the temperature of MoS2 increases by 1.3 °C per kGy of gamma-ray dose. It was observed that up to 130 kGy (∼195 °C), gamma exposure has no significant impact on the morphology and chemical properties of MoS2. However, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) shows that from 275 kGy (∼385 °C), MoS2 starts converting into MoOx. Raman spectroscopy shows that at low gamma doses, the crystallinity of MoS2 increases while at higher doses, a traceable amount of MoS2 starts converting into amorphous MoS3. Our findings show that both E1 2g and A1g Raman mode of MoS2 blue shift as gamma dose increases owing to the combined effect of sulfur vacancies creation and strain caused by thermal expansion of MoS2.