Spaceship Earth: Probing the Solar Wind with Cosmic Rays

地球号宇宙飞船是一个由11个站组成的多国中子监测器网络，用于测量到达地球的相对论太阳宇宙射线的角分布。涉及的国家包括美国、俄罗斯、加拿大、澳大利亚、日本、巴西、南非和泰国。宇宙飞船地球号也测量了与经过的太阳风扰动有关的银河宇宙射线的瞬态各向异性。这项提案将资助特拉华州大学巴托尔研究所运行的中子监测器的继续运行，该研究所是地球飞船的一部分。这项工作将促进我们对太阳高能粒子的加速和传输以及太阳对银河宇宙射线的瞬态和长期调制的理解。这项工作还将调查与宇宙辐射地面探测有关的技术问题，目的是改进中子监测器的技术和能力。辐射通过物质传输的模型在研究飞行员、机组人员和宇航员的辐射危害以及从宇宙成因同位素确定地貌地质年代方面具有实际应用。拟议的瞬态调制工作也可应用于空间气象预报和规格说明。地球飞船网站包括许多针对公众的教育外展功能。该项目将建立新的国际伙伴关系，并加强现有的伙伴关系，以收集和分析所需的数据。

Spaceship Earth is an 11-station multi-national network of neutron monitors optimized to measure the angular distribution of relativistic solar cosmic rays arriving at Earth. The countries involved include the United States, Russia, Canada, Australia, Japan, Brazil, South Africa, and Thailand. Spaceship Earth also measures transient anisotropies of galactic cosmic rays associated with passing solar wind disturbances. This proposal will fund the continued operation of neutron monitors operated by the University of Delaware's Bartol Research Institute that are part of Spaceship Earth. This work will advance our understanding of the acceleration and transport of solar energetic particles, and of the transient and long-term modulation of galactic cosmic rays by the Sun. The effort will also investigate technical issues related to ground-based detection of cosmic radiation, with the aim of improving the technology and capabilities of neutron monitors. The modeling of the transport of radiation through matter has practical applications for the study of radiation hazards for pilots, aircrews, and astronauts, and in geological dating of landforms from cosmogenic isotopes. The proposed work on transient modulations also has applications to space weather forecasting and specification. The Spaceship Earth web site includes a number of educational outreach features intended for the general public. The project will build new international partnerships and strengthen existing ones, in order to collect and analyze the required data.