Space Science Research Articles

Observational features of charge distribution in Earth’s inner magnetosphere

Understanding the motion of charged particles in the electromagnetic field in the inner magnetosphere is essential for space science and space weather. Charge accumulation can occur due to the dipole magnetic and convective electric fields in this region. However, until the recent Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission, there were few means to detect charge distribution in situ. We report unambiguous in situ observation of the spatial distribution of the excess charge density in the inner magnetosphere by the MMS mission. We find that a positive (negative) charge accumulates in the dusk (dawn) side inner magnetospheres, which is contrary to the long assumed overall quasi-neutrality of space plasma. These observations and results offer insight into magnetosphere–ionosphere coupling.

Behavioral Public Administration (BPA): The Need for a New Field (Literature Review)

Modern scientific literature agrees on the issue that it is impossible to perceive public administration as a separate field. Public administration as a field, by general definition, includes the implementation of public policy and the structure and work of various actors (state or non-state) involved in the implementation process. Due to the voluminous nature of the mentioned field, it is not appropriate to consider them separately, because the organizations involved in the process of public policy implementation are not self-generated structures but each organization relies on human resources. Therefore, in the agenda of the scientific space, together with the research in the field of public administration, there was a need to use the results of the research of behavioral science.
 The paper specifically deals with the issue of analyzing the necessity of behavioral public administration as a field, which is analyzed through a literature review. The sources used to analyze the mentioned issue include relevant scientific articles and books.
 The purpose of the study is to determine and analyze the connection between behavioral science and the field of public administration, and the effectiveness of their combination, which leads to the broader goal of the study, which should answer the question of the necessity and effectiveness of the existence of behavioral public administration as a field.
 The relevance of the research stems from the broad nature of the field of public administration, which puts on the agenda the need to combine the achievements of various adjacent fields.

Real-time high-precision baseline measurement of satellite formation flying based on GNSS

With the establishment of the Chinese space station, a series of space science missions will be conducted in its vicinity. One of the extended tasks for the in-orbit service of space station is the formation flying of small satellites centered around the space station. Satellite formations can perform simultaneous three-dimensional observations of the space station, generating three-dimensional images and monitoring and assessing the status of critical components of the space station. The real-time and accurate relative position measurement is one of the key issues in formation flying. It is a fundamental prerequisite for maintaining and reconfiguring formation configurations, collision avoidance and safety assurance. GNSS-based relative positioning is a low-cost and high-precision measurement method, which is not constrained by light, weather, or relative attitude of satellites. This study introduces a novel approach to determine the relative position of satellites based on single-epoch Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) carrier phase difference measurements. Unlike traditional methods, the proposed technique eliminates the need for precise ephemeris and clock bias files and does not require historical observation data. The algorithm avoids the complexity associated with full cycle ambiguity jumps, facilitating real-time, high-precision calculations of relative position baseline vectors. Special attention is given to the influence of Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) satellites in the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), and measures are taken to mitigate their impact on measurement accuracy by adjusting their observation weights. Our newly developed GNSS-based real-time measurement module, designed for high-quality GNSS signal reception and data communication, was tested on terrestrial and simulated low-orbit platforms. Remarkably, over baselines ranging from 10 m to 9.3 km, while traditional pseudorange differential measurements showed errors up to 1.5571 m, our proposed method consistently held errors under 5 cm and ensured computational speeds within 0.1 s per epoch. High-dynamic zero-baseline tests further validated its potential, with errors less than 1 cm. The innovations encapsulated in this work, resonating with the evolving trends of miniaturized and scalable satellites, present a cost-efficient and real-time solution for inter-satellite relative position measurement. This promises a new horizon in satellite formation technology, with future endeavors focusing on on-orbit experiments.

Reviewer Acknowledgements for Journal of Education and Training, Vol. 11, No. 1

Journal of Education and Training (JET) would like to acknowledge the following reviewers for their assistance with peer review of manuscripts for this issue. Many authors, regardless of whether JET publishes their work, appreciate the helpful feedback provided by the reviewers. Their comments and suggestions were of great help to the authors in improving the quality of their papers. Each of the reviewers listed below returned at least one review for this issue.Reviewers for Volume 11, Number 1 A. F. Elgamal, Mansoura University, EgyptAntonella Nuzzaci, University of L'Aquila, ItalyBryan Spiegelberg, Rider University, USAJohn Cowan, Edinburgh Napier University, ScotlandJukdao Potisaen, Rajabhat Mahasarakham University, ThailandLazarus Ndiku Makewa, University of Eastern AfricaBaraton, KenyaMontasser Mohamed AbdelWahab Mahmoud, Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University, Saudi ArabiaRania Elsayed Ibrahim, National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences, Egypt Dora WangEditorial AssistantJournal of Education and TrainingMacrothink Institute-----------------------------------------5348 Vegas Dr.#825Las VegasNevada 89108United StatesPhone: 1-702-953-1852 ext.534E-mail 1: jet@macrothink.orgE-mail 2: jet@macrothink.comWebsite: http://jet.macrothink.org

Mechanical properties of minerals in lunar and HED meteorites from nanoindentation testing: Implications for space mining

AbstractThis study analyzes the mechanical and elemental properties of lunar meteorites DHOFAR 1084, JAH 838, NWA 11444, and HED meteorite NWA 6013. Utilizing microscale rock mechanics experiments, that is, nanoindentation testing, this research reveals significant heterogeneity in both mechanical and elemental attributes across the mineral samples. Olivines, pyroxene, feldspar, and spinel demonstrate similar compositional and mechanical characteristics. Conversely, other silicate and oxide minerals display variations in their mechanical properties. Terrestrial olivines subjected to nanoindentation tests exhibit increased hardness and a higher Young's modulus than their lunar counterparts. A linear correlation is observed between the H/Er ratio and both plastic and elastic energies. Additionally, the alignment of mineral phases along a constant H/Er ratio suggests variations in local porosity. This study also highlights the need for further research focusing on porosity, phase insertions within the matrix, and structural orientations to refine our understanding of these mechanical characteristics. The findings have direct implications for in situ resource utilization strategies and future state‐of‐the‐art impact models. This comprehensive characterization serves as a foundational resource for future research efforts in space science and mining.

Towards the definition of a solar forcing dataset for CMIP7

Abstract. The solar forcing prepared for Phase 6 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6) has been used extensively in climate model experiments and has been tested in various intercomparison studies. Recently, an International Space Science Institute (ISSI) working group has been established to revisit the solar forcing recommendations, based on the lessons learned from CMIP6, and to assess new datasets that have become available, in order to define a road map for building a revised and extended historical solar forcing dataset for the upcoming Phase 7 of CMIP. This paper identifies the possible improvements required and outlines a strategy to address them in the planned new solar forcing dataset. Proposed major changes include the adoption of the new Total and Spectral Solar Irradiance Sensor (TSIS-1) solar reference spectrum for solar spectral irradiance and an improved description of top-of-the-atmosphere energetic electron fluxes, as well as their reconstruction back to 1850 by means of geomagnetic proxy data. In addition, there is an urgent need to consider the proposed updates in the ozone forcing dataset in order to ensure a self-consistent solar forcing in coupled models without interactive chemistry. Regarding future solar forcing, we propose consideration of stochastic ensemble forcing scenarios, ideally in concert with other natural forcings, in order to allow for realistic projections of natural forcing uncertainties.

Flow separation and stability analysis for aligned magnetic field in a porous medium saturated by a titanium alloy nanofluid

ABSTRACT This article examines Joule heating and aligned magnetic field in a porous medium saturated by Ti-alloy nanofluid. The heat generation and first-order velocity slip towards an exponentially permeable shrinking surface are taken. Non-dimensional forms of the resulting flow equations are solved numerically for multiple solutions using the shooting technique along with the Runge–Kutta method of 4th order in MATLAB(R2021a). The stability of the resultant system of equations is verified through the smallest eigenvalue approach. Both the first and second solutions of correlation streamline profiles are extracted for appropriate values of physical parameters. By stability analysis, the first solution is unquestionably more stable than the second solution. The major outcome is that the Joule heating raises the fluid’s temperature. The presence of flow separation is identified in the shrinking regions and the delay of boundary layer separation is pointed out. These analyses play a significant role in the fields of aerodynamics, medicine, and space sciences.

The human biology of spaceflight.

To expand the human exploration footprint and reach Mars in the 2030s, we must explore how humans survive and thrive in demanding, unusual, and novel ecologies (i.e., extreme environments). In the extreme conditions encountered during human spaceflight, there is a need to understand human functioning and response in a more rigorous theoretically informed way. Current models of human performance in space-relevant environments and human space science are often operationally focused, with emphasis on acute physiological or behavioral outcomes. However, integrating current perspectives in human biology allows for a more holistic and complete understanding of how humans function over a range of time in an extreme environment. Here, we show how the use of evolution-informed frameworks (i.e., models of life history theory to organize the adaptive pressures of spaceflight and biocultural perspectives) coupled with the use of mixed-methodological toolkits can shape models that better encompass the scope of biobehavioral human adjustment to long-duration space travel and extra-terrestrial habitation. Further, we discuss how we can marry human biology perspectives with the rigorous programmatic structures developed for spaceflight to model other unknown and nascent extremes.

Scalable Hardware-Efficient Architecture for Frame Synchronization in High-Data-Rate Satellite Receivers

The continuous technical advancement of scientific space missions has resulted in a surge in the amount of data that is transferred to ground stations within short satellite visibility windows, which has consequently led to higher throughput requirements for the hardware involved. To aid synchronization algorithms, the communication standards commonly used in such applications define a physical layer frame structure that is composed of a preamble, segments of modulation symbols, and segments of pilot symbols. Therefore, the detection of a frame start becomes an essential operation, whose accuracy is undermined by the large Doppler shift and quantization errors in hardware implementations. In this work, we present a design methodology for frame synchronization modules that are robust against large frequency offsets and rely on a parallel architecture to support high throughput requirements. Several algorithms are evaluated in terms of the trade-off between accuracy and resource utilization, and the best solution is exemplified through its application to the CCSDS 131.2-B-1 and CCSDS 131.21-O-1 standards. The implementation results are reported for a Xilinx KU115 FPGA, thereby showing the capability of supporting baud rates that are greater than 2 Gbaud, as well as a corresponding throughput of 15.80 Gbps. To the best of our knowledge, this paper is the first to propose a design methodology for parallel frame synchronization modules that has applicability to the CCSDS 131.2-B-1 and CCSDS 131.21-O-1 standards.

Expanded Terminological List in Astronomy and Space Sciences from English to Romanian

In the field of astronomy and its broader scientific context of space sciences, the English and Romanian languages use terms and sentences on various levels of specialization and therefore, accessibility for the general public as well as for the scientists. The flow of scientific data and information is generated in both languages, which raises the subsequent need of a correct equivalence in specific translations from English to Romanian and vice-versa. In this respect, this study discusses in a multi-disciplinary context a list of terms and expressions translated from English to Romanian that are nowadays used in the fields of astronomy and space sciences. In these scientific areas, the authors of this article considered the English language as being more specific than Romanian and therefore, they aimed to deconstruct the scientific meaning behind each of these specialized English language entries, and point out through additional comments, the rationality of the translation choice they have made, according to the thinking, the ways of expressing and converging ideas in both languages.

A Piezoelectric Balance System With Mass Automatic Recognition Ability Based on Resonant Frequency Shift

Mass measurement in the microgravity environment is a crucial technology promoting space science experiments. Here, a piezoelectric balance (PEBL) based on resonant frequency shift is proposed to achieve mass measurement for microgravity environment. The structural and electrical designs of the PEBL are elaborated, and the theoretical modeling is accomplished to carry out parameter analysis. The finite-element method (FEM) simulation is used to analyze the vibration modes and verify the relationship between the resonant frequency shift and the measured mass, in which the working mode of the PEBL is determined; the impact resistance of the PEBL is analyzed, which shows that it can resist acceleration overload of larger than 50 times the gravity acceleration. A prototype is developed and its vibration characteristics and impedance characteristics are tested experimentally. The experiments successfully verify the effectiveness of theoretical analysis. Furthermore, an automatic mass recognition system is developed to achieve fast detection of the resonant frequency and the measured mass. The developed PEBL system achieves measurement range of 283.36 g with measurement uncertainty of about 1.22% (3.47 g). It is a suitable candidate for mass measurement in microgravity environment with merits of independence on the acceleration field, low power consumption, structure miniaturization, and configuration simplification.

Prediction of the SYM‐H Index Using a Bayesian Deep Learning Method With Uncertainty Quantification

AbstractWe propose a novel deep learning framework, named SYMHnet, which employs a graph neural network and a bidirectional long short‐term memory network to cooperatively learn patterns from solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field parameters for short‐term forecasts of the SYM‐H index based on 1‐ and 5‐min resolution data. SYMHnet takes, as input, the time series of the parameters' values provided by NASA's Space Science Data Coordinated Archive and predicts, as output, the SYM‐H index value at time point t + w hours for a given time point t where w is 1 or 2. By incorporating Bayesian inference into the learning framework, SYMHnet can quantify both aleatoric (data) uncertainty and epistemic (model) uncertainty when predicting future SYM‐H indices. Experimental results show that SYMHnet works well at quiet time and storm time, for both 1‐ and 5‐min resolution data. The results also show that SYMHnet generally performs better than related machine learning methods. For example, SYMHnet achieves a forecast skill score (FSS) of 0.343 compared to the FSS of 0.074 of a recent gradient boosting machine (GBM) method when predicting SYM‐H indices (1 hr in advance) in a large storm (SYM‐H = −393 nT) using 5‐min resolution data. When predicting the SYM‐H indices (2 hr in advance) in the large storm, SYMHnet achieves an FSS of 0.553 compared to the FSS of 0.087 of the GBM method. In addition, SYMHnet can provide results for both data and model uncertainty quantification, whereas the related methods cannot.

A Short Review on India’s Interplanetary Missions

India's space program has witnessed transformative achievements in interplanetary exploration, propelling the nation into the forefront of space science and technology. This comprehensive overview delves into key milestones, objectives, and outcomes of India's interplanetary missions, beginning with the trailblazing Chandrayaan-1 that altered lunar studies by detecting water traces. Mangalyaan-1's success in orbiting Mars on its maiden attempt underscored India's prowess in Martian exploration. Despite a setback in the Chandrayaan-2 lunar landing, it provided ground-breaking lunar data. The recently launched Aditya-L1 focuses on solar observation, capturing high-energy X-rays and solar disc images. Future missions, including Chandrayaan-3, Mangalyaan-2, and the Venus Orbiter Mission (Shukrayaan), exemplify India's commitment to advancing planetary exploration. These endeavours, marked by cutting-edge technology and diverse scientific objectives, highlight India's growing prominence in global space exploration and contribute significantly to humanity's understanding of the cosmos.

Modeling Binary Asteroids: Integrating Orbital and Rotational Motion for Physical Property Inversion

The field of space science places significant emphasis on deep space exploration, with a particular focus on asteroids as a potential hazard to humanity. Inverting their physical characteristics from photometric observations is essential for uncovering their origins and evolution. This article attempts to present a solution to the challenging task of estimating the physical properties of binary asteroids, which are common in near-Earth asteroids larger than 200 meters. A novel model for binary asteroids is proposed, which integrates orbital and rotational motions to simulate brightness variations based on two Cellinoid shapes. The model combines the projection and occultation effects of the shapes to generate the simulated brightness. The inversion of determining physical properties is optimized based on the Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm through a simulation process involving several parameter corrections. Finally, the performance of the proposed model is demonstrated through numerical experiments and applications to two real binary asteroids, namely, asteroid (317) Roxane and asteroid (624) Hektor. The derived results are nearly identical to those from other publications, which confirms that the proposed model provides reliable and accurate estimations of the physical properties of binary asteroids. Additionally, this method has a potential application in supporting the development of effective strategies for the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) project, the first planetary defense experiment in space undertaken by humans.

Preface to the special issue of the Division Energy, Resources and the Environment at the EGU General Assembly 2023

Abstract. The European Geosciences Union (EGU) brings together geoscientists from all over Europe and the rest of the world, covering all disciplines of Earth, planetary and space sciences. The Division on Energy, Resources and the Environment (ERE), as part of the EGU, follows an interdisciplinary approach to serve society and provide solutions to challenges of our time and in the future. One task for humankind, for example, is to provide adequate and reliable supplies of affordable energy and other resources, obtained in environmentally sustainable ways, which will be essential for economic prosperity, environmental quality and political stability around the world. This volume of Advances in Geosciences spans the range of topics of the division and continues a series of ten ERE special issues over the course of the last ten years. We incorporate emerging topics into the division ERE along the line and we advocate that every idea and opportunity should be studied and tested.

Machine Learning Classification Workflow and Datasets for Ionospheric VLF Data Exclusion

Machine learning (ML) methods are commonly applied in the fields of extraterrestrial physics, space science, and plasma physics. In a prior publication, an ML classification technique, the Random Forest (RF) algorithm, was utilized to automatically identify and categorize erroneous signals, including instrument errors, noisy signals, outlier data points, and the impact of solar flares (SFs) on the ionosphere. This data communication includes the pre-processed dataset used in the aforementioned research, along with a workflow that utilizes the PyCaret library and a post-processing workflow. The code and data serve educational purposes in the interdisciplinary field of ML and ionospheric physics science, as well as being useful to other researchers for diverse objectives.

Colin Trevor Pillinger. 9 May 1943—7 May 2014

Colin Pillinger was a larger-than-life planetary scientist with an infectious enthusiasm for science. He was a founding member of the Planetary and Space Sciences Research Institute at the Open University in Milton Keynes. He was a mass spectroscopist who applied these techniques with great success to the study of extraterrestrial rock samples from both meteorites and the Moon. He helped identify a class of meteorite found on Earth that originated from Mars. In turn, this led to leadership of the Beagle 2 Mars lander project, which was designed to take scientific instruments to Mars in order to search for evidence of past life. Against all odds, the landing on Mars was successful, but communication with the lander was never established. Colin was a brilliant innovator, both in his science and in adopting a somewhat unconventional approach to funding the ambitious Beagle 2 project. He enjoyed the fact that, even though it was possible to purchase off-the-shelf instrumentation, the truly creative aspect of his analytic method was in the details of how it was applied, for which the rule book was still being written. Throughout his career he continued to ride the wave of new developments and was always keen to push the limits. He was a brilliant communicator, always full of engaging enthusiasm.

Simulating image coaddition with the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope – I. Simulation methodology and general results

ABSTRACT The upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will carry out a wide-area survey in the near-infrared. A key science objective is the measurement of cosmic structure via weak gravitational lensing. Roman data will be undersampled, which introduces new challenges in the measurement of source galaxy shapes; a potential solution is to use linear algebra-based coaddition techniques such as imcom that combine multiple undersampled images to produce a single oversampled output mosaic with a desired ‘target’ point spread function (PSF). We present here an initial application of imcom to 0.64 square degrees of simulated Roman data, based on the Roman branch of the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) Dark Energy Science Collaboration (DESC) Data Challenge 2 (DC2) simulation. We show that imcom runs successfully on simulated data that includes features such as plate scale distortions, chip gaps, detector defects, and cosmic ray masks. We simultaneously propagate grids of injected sources and simulated noise fields as well as the full simulation. We quantify the residual deviations of the PSF from the target (the ‘leakage’), as well as noise properties of the output images; we discuss how the overall tiling pattern as well as Moiré patterns appear in the final leakage and noise maps. We include appendices on interpolation algorithms and the interaction of undersampling with image processing operations that may be of broader applicability. The companion paper (‘Paper II’) explores the implications for weak lensing analyses.

Evaluation of a Simplified Model for Three-Phase Equilibrium Calculations of Mixed Gas Hydrates

In this study, we perform an extensive evaluation of a simple model for hydrate equilibrium calculations of binary, ternary, and limited quaternary gas hydrate systems that are of practical interest for separation of gas mixtures. We adopt the model developed by Lipenkov and Istomin and analyze its performance at temperature conditions higher than the lower quadruple point. The model of interest calculates the dissociation pressure of mixed gas hydrate systems using a simple combination rule that involves the hydrate dissociation pressures of the pure gases and the gas mixture composition, which is at equilibrium with the aqueous and hydrate phases. Such an approach has been used extensively and successfully in polar science, as well as research related to space science where the temperatures are very low. However, the particular method has not been examined for cases of higher temperatures (i.e., above the melting point of the pure water). Such temperatures are of interest to practical industrial applications. Gases of interest for this study include eleven chemical components that are related to industrial gas-mixture separations. Calculations using the examined methodology, along with the commercial simulator CSMGem, are compared against experimental measurements, and the range of applicability of the method is delineated. Reasonable agreement (particularly at lower hydrate equilibrium pressures) between experiments and calculations is obtained considering the simplicity of the methodology. Depending on the hydrate-forming mixture considered, the percentage of absolute average deviation in predicting the hydrate equilibrium pressure is found to be in the range 3–91%, with the majority of systems having deviations that are less than 30%.

CLUSTERING OF SCIENTISTS' PUBLICATIONS, CONSIDERING FINDING SIMILARITIES IN ABSTRACTS AND TEXTS OF PUBLICATIONS BASED ON N-GRAM ANALYSIS AND IDENTIFYING POTENTIAL PROJECT GROUPS

The article describes the solution to the problem of clustering scientists' publications, taking into account the finding of similarities in the annotations and texts of these publications based on n-grams of analysis and cross-references, as well as the tasks of identifying potential project groups for the implementation of research and educational projects based on the results of clustering. The selection of scientific partners in the world practice is done without a comprehensive assessment of their activities. Most of the well-known indexes for evaluating the research activities of scientists need to consider information about citations fully. The methods developed in the study for evaluating the scientific activities of scientists and universities, as well as methods for selecting scientific partners for the implementation of educational and scientific projects on a scientific basis, allow us to organize the influential work of universities qualitatively. In the article, a probabilistic thematic model is constructed that allows the clustering of scientists' publications in scientific fields, considering the citation network, which is an important step in solving the problem of identifying subject scientific spaces. As a result of constructing the model, the problem of increasing instability of clustering of the citation graph due to a decrease in the number of clusters has been solved. The main objective of this work is to address the challenge of selecting suitable partners for collaboration in scientific and educational projects. To achieve this, a method for choosing project executors has been developed, which employs fuzzy logical inference to harmonize expert opinions regarding candidate requirements. This approach helps facilitate the multi-criteria selection of potential partners for scientific and educational projects. In addition to the method, various software modules have been created as part of this research. These modules are designed for the automated collection of information on the publications and citation records of scientists through international scientometric databases. They also encompass a visualization module and a user interface that aids in evaluating the scientific activities of university teaching staff. Choosing partners for grants or strategic collaborations, especially in the context of a globalized and highly mobile scientific community, remains a pertinent issue. The approach described in this research involves clustering the scientific publications of potential project partners. Furthermore, it incorporates conducting comparative citation analyses of these publications and establishing proximity based on n-gram annotation analysis. These methods provide a scientific basis for making informed choices when selecting partners, which is crucial for initiating and advancing research projects. Consequently, the selection of partners for forming research project teams is an immediate and pressing task.