The Hohmann–Parker effect measured by the Mars Science Laboratory on the transfer from Earth to Mars: Consequences and opportunities

Posner, A.; Odstrčil, D.; MacNeice, P. J.; Rastäetter, L.; Zeitlin, C.; Heber, B.; Elliott, H. A.; Frahm, R. A.; Hayes, J.; Rosenvinge, T. T. von; Christian, E. R.; Andrews, John P.; Beaujean, R.; Böttcher, S.; Brinza, D. E.; Bullock, M. A.; Burmeister, Sönke; Cucinotta, Francis A.; Ehresmann, Bent; Epperly, M.; Grinspoon, David; Guo, Jingnan; Hassler, Donald M.; Kim, Myung‐Hee Y.; Köhler, Jan; Kortmann, Onno; García, César Martín; Müller‐Mellin, R.; Neal, K.; Rafkin, S. C.; Reitz, Günther; Smith, K. D.; Tyler, Y.; Weigle, E.; Wimmer‐Schweingruber, R. F.

doi:10.1016/j.pss.2013.09.013

Cited by 23 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…MSL/RAD is an energetic particle detector and it has been carrying out radiation measurements of both particle types and fluxes together with dose and dose equivalent rates during its 11-month cruise phase (Zeitlin et al 2013;Posner et al 2013;Guo et al 2015a;Ehresmann et al 2016) and later on the surface of Mars since the landing of MSL in August 2012 Ehresmann et al 2014;Rafkin et al 2014;Köhler et al 2014;Wimmer-Schweingruber et al 2015;Guo et al 2015b). On the surface of Mars, RAD measures a mix of primary GCRs or SEPs and secondary particles generated in the atmosphere including both charged ) and neutral (Köhler et al 2014;Guo et al 2017b) particles.…”

Section: Gcr Measurement By Msl/radmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measurements of Forbush decreases at Mars: both by MSL on ground and by MAVEN in orbit

Guo

Lillis

Wimmer‐Schweingruber

et al. 2018

A&A

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The Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD), on board Mars Science Laboratory's (MSL) Curiosity rover, has been measuring ground level particle fluxes along with the radiation dose rate at the surface of Mars since August 2012. Similar to neutron monitors at Earth, RAD sees many Forbush decreases (FDs) in the galactic cosmic ray (GCR) induced surface fluxes and dose rates. These FDs are associated with coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and/or stream/corotating interaction regions (SIRs/CIRs). Orbiting above the Martian atmosphere, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft has also been monitoring space weather conditions at Mars since September 2014. The penetrating particle flux channels in the Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) instrument onboard MAVEN can also be employed to detect FDs. For the first time, we study the statistics and properties of a list of FDs observed in-situ at Mars, seen both on the surface by MSL/RAD and in orbit detected by the MAVEN/SEP instrument. Such a list of FDs can be used for studying interplanetary CME (ICME) propagation and SIR evolution through the inner heliosphere. The magnitudes of different FDs can be well-fitted by a power-law distribution. The systematic difference between the magnitudes of the FDs within and outside the Martian atmosphere may be mostly attributed to the energy-dependent modulation of the GCR particles by both the pass-by ICMEs/SIRs and the Martian atmosphere.

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Section: Gcr Measurement By Msl/radmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measurements of Forbush decreases at Mars: both by MSL on ground and by MAVEN in orbit

Guo

Lillis

Wimmer‐Schweingruber

et al. 2018

A&A

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“…Posner et al (2013) have shown that during most of the cruise phase the MSL spacecraft was well connected with the Earth via the Parker spiral magnetic field, a circumstance now referred to as the Hohmann-Parker effect. As a consequence, it was shown that the cosmic ray background at MSL and the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) near Earth were highly correlated.…”

Section: Neutron Monitor Count Rates and Solar Modulation Strengthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variations of dose rate observed by MSL/RAD in transit to Mars

Guo

Zeitlin

Wimmer‐Schweingruber

et al. 2015

A&A

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Aims. To predict the cruise radiation environment related to future human missions to Mars, the correlation between solar modulation potential and the dose rate measured by the Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) has been analyzed and empirical models have been employed to quantify this correlation. Methods. The instrument RAD, onboard Mars Science Laboratory's (MSL) rover Curiosity, measures a broad spectrum of energetic particles along with the radiation dose rate during the 253-day cruise phase as well as on the surface of Mars. With these first ever measurements inside a spacecraft from Earth to Mars, RAD observed the impulsive enhancement of dose rate during solar particle events as well as a gradual evolution of the galactic cosmic ray (GCR) induced radiation dose rate due to the modulation of the primary GCR flux by the solar magnetic field, which correlates with long-term solar activities and heliospheric rotation. Results. We analyzed the dependence of the dose rate measured by RAD on solar modulation potentials and estimated the dose rate and dose equivalent under different solar modulation conditions. These estimations help us to have approximate predictions of the cruise radiation environment, such as the accumulated dose equivalent associated with future human missions to Mars. Conclusions. The predicted dose equivalent rate during solar maximum conditions could be as low as one-fourth of the current RAD cruise measurement. However, future measurements during solar maximum and minimum periods are essential to validate our estimations.

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“…MSL remained well connected magnetically to Earth in the early phase of transit and to Mars in the later phase of transit (Posner et al 2013). This allows for an accurate comparison between PREDICCS dose rate at Earth and Mars with the dose rate measured by MSL/RAD during the five solar events.…”

Section: Solar Event Selectionmentioning

confidence: 82%

“…For the January and March events, the dose rates are scaled from Earth to 1.12 AU and 1.27 AU, respectively. For the May event, we scale the dose rates from Mars to 1.46 AU since MSL was magnetically well connected with Mars at this time (Posner et al 2013). Figure 5 shows dose rates for the January (Fig.…”

Section: Scaling Dose Rates To Msl Locationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…During the five solar events in 2012, the Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) (Hassler et al 2012) on the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) (Grotzinger et al 2012) measured dose rates during its cruise phase from Earth to Mars. MSL was magnetically well connected to Earth early in the cruise phase and to Mars later in the cruise phase (Posner et al 2013) -allowing for good comparison to PREDICCS for interplanetary space between Earth and Mars. We additionally compare dose rates to the Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation (CRaTER) (Spence et al 2010) onboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) (Chin et al 2007) orbiting the Moon.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Modeling the effectiveness of shielding in the earth-moon-mars radiation environment using PREDICCS: five solar events in 2012

Quinn¹,

Schwadron²,

Townsend³

et al. 2017

J. Space Weather Space Clim.

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Radiation in the form of solar energetic particles (SEPs) presents a severe risk to the short-term health of astronauts and the success of human exploration missions beyond Earth's protective shielding. Modeling how shielding mitigates the dose accumulated by astronauts is an essential step toward reducing these risks. PREDICCS (Predictions of radiation from REleASE, EMMREM, and Data Incorporating the CRaTER, COSTEP, and other SEP measurements) is an online tool for the near real-time prediction of radiation exposure at Earth, the Moon, and Mars behind various levels of shielding. We compare shielded dose rates from PREDICCS with dose rates from the Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation (CRaTER) onboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) at the Moon and from the Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) on the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) during its cruise phase to Mars for five solar events in 2012 when Earth, MSL, and Mars were magnetically well connected. Calculations of the accumulated dose demonstrate a reasonable agreement between PREDICCS and RAD ranging from as little as 2% difference to 54%. We determine mathematical relationships between shielding levels and accumulated dose. Lastly, the gradient of accumulated dose between Earth and Mars shows that for the largest of the five solar events, lunar missions require aluminum shielding between 1.0 g cm À2 and 5.0 g cm À2 to prevent radiation exposure from exceeding the 30-day limits for lens and skin. The limits were not exceeded near Mars.

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The Hohmann–Parker effect measured by the Mars Science Laboratory on the transfer from Earth to Mars: Consequences and opportunities

Cited by 23 publications

References 59 publications

Measurements of Forbush decreases at Mars: both by MSL on ground and by MAVEN in orbit

Measurements of Forbush decreases at Mars: both by MSL on ground and by MAVEN in orbit

Variations of dose rate observed by MSL/RAD in transit to Mars

Modeling the effectiveness of shielding in the earth-moon-mars radiation environment using PREDICCS: five solar events in 2012

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