Space Weather detections with housekeeping sensors onboard Mars Express, Rosetta, BepiColombo and Solar Orbiter

International audienceWhile space weather has been a growing field of research and applications over the last 15-20 years, “planetary space weather” is an emerging discipline. In fact, as long as we expand our robotic exploration within the solar system, monitoring planetary space weather is becoming more necessary than ever. Despite this, not every spacecraft is designed for plasma science and only a few of them have the necessary plasma instrumentation for space weather purposes. However, all of them have thousands of housekeeping detectors distributed along the spacecraft. In particular, energetic particles impact detectors and subsystems on a spacecraft and their effects can be identified in selected housekeeping data sets, such as the Error detection and correction (EDAC) counters. In this study, we investigate these engineering datasets for scientific purposes by performing the first feasibility study of solar energetic particle detection using EDAC counters from several available ESA Solar System missions, such as Mars Express, Rosetta, BepiColombo and Solar Orbiter. In order to validate the results, these detections are compared to other observations from scientific instruments on board these missions. Moreover, the potential implications of space weather event detections based on EDAC sensors at Mars and Comet 67P/Churyumov- Gerasimenko is analysed. This study has the potential to provide a good network of solar particle observations at locations where no scientific observations of this kind are available

Galactic Cosmic Ray Modulation at Mars and beyond measured with EDACs on Mars Express and Rosetta

International audienceGalactic Cosmic Rays (GCRs) are an intrinsic part of the heliospheric radiation environment, and an inevitable challenge to long-term space exploration. Here we show solar cycle induced GCR modulation at Mars in the period 2005-2020, along with GCR radial gradients, by utilising Mars Express and Rosetta engineering parameters compared to sunspot number time series. The engineering parameter used is called EDAC (Error Detection And Correction), a cumulative counter which is triggered by charged energetic particle causing memory errors in on-board computers. EDAC data provides a new way of gaining insight into the field of particle transport in the heliosphere, allowing us to circumvent the need for dedicated instrumentation as EDAC software is present on all spacecraft.This data set can be used to capture variations of GCRs in both space and time, yielding the same qualitative information as ground-based neutron monitors. Our analysis of the Mars Express EDAC parameter reveals a strong solar cycle GCR modulation, yielding an anticorrelation coefficient of -0.5 at a time lag of ~5.5 months. By combining Mars Express with Rosetta data, we calculate a 5.3% increase in EDAC count rates per astronomical unit, attributed to a radial gradient in GCR fluxes in accordance with established literature.The potential of engineering data for scientific purposes remains mostly unexplored. The results obtained from this work demonstrates, for the first time for heliophysics purposes, the usefulness of the EDAC engineering parameter, data mining and the utility of keeping missions operational for many years, providing complimentary data to nominal science instruments

Overruled!: Implicit cues rather than an orthographic rule determine Dutch children's vowel spelling

This study addressed the question why vowel spelling acquisition is relatively difficult for young Dutch spellers. A spelling rule guides vowel spelling, but implicit cues could also play a role. We evaluated the role of phonology, morphology, and orthography. Grade 1 (N = 113) and 2 (N = 59) children were presented with dictations of real and pseudowords differing in the degree of consistency and familiarity. Correct scores of consistent vowel spelling in Grade 1 and 2 students were near ceiling, whereas those for inconsistent vowels were low, even in Grade 2 children, who have had explicit instruction of the spelling rule. Correct scores were affected by phonological and morphological consistency, and orthographic familiarity. Effects of these implicit cues were even more pronounced in Grade 2. Findings indicate that vowel length spelling is difficult to acquire because the explicit spelling rule is overruled by various sources of implicit information

The Twannberg iron meteorite strewn field in the Swiss Jura mountains: insights for Quaternary environmental conditions

The ~ 10 km 2 strewn field of the Twannberg type IIG iron meteorite is located in the Swiss Jura Mountains, 30 km northwest of Bern. The strewn field has been mapped by a group of citizen scientists since 2006, yielding more than 2000 meteorite fragments with a total mass of 152.7 kg until the end of 2022. With a terrestrial age of 176 ± 19 ka and a minimum pre-atmospheric mass of ~ 250 t, the Twannberg meteorite is a local time marker in an area with a poorly-known paleoenvironmental history. The Twannberg strewn field is located just outside of the maximum extent of ice during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). On the Mont Sujet, meteorites are size-sorted in a 6-km long section of the primary strewn field (altitude 945-1370 m a.s.l.), indicating a fall direction from east-northeast to west-southwest (azimuth approximately 250°). On the Twannberg plateau and in the Twannbach gorge, meteorites are not size-sorted and occur in a ~ 5.7-km long area associated with till and recent stream sediments (altitude 430-1075 m a.s.l.). The mass distribution of meteorites on the Twannberg plateau demonstrate that these meteorites were not found where they fell but that they must have been transported up to several km by glacier ice flow after the fall. The distribution of meteorites and of glacially transported Alpine clasts on the Mont Sujet and on the Chasseral chain indicates the presence of local ice caps and of an approximately 200-m higher Alpine ice surface with respect to the LGM at the time of fall. This high ice level during MIS 6 (Marine Isotopic Stage 6, 191-130 ka) indicated by the meteorite distribution is consistent with surface exposure ages of 50-144 ka from nearby resting erratic boulders at altitudes of up to 1290 m a.s.l., including the newly dated Jobert boulder (63 ka). These boulders indicate an ice level ~ 400 m higher than during LGM at a time not later than MIS 6. Post-LGM luminescence ages of loesscontaining meteorites on the Mont Sujet and 14 C ages of materials associated with meteorite finds indicate relatively young pedoturbation and increased oxidation of meteorites since ~ 7300 cal BP, possibly correlated with deforestation and enhanced erosion resulting from increased human activities since the Neolithic. This study shows that Twannberg meteorites in their palaeoenvironmental context provide valuable information about ice levels and transport directions during MIS 6 and about their interaction with the post-LGM environmental conditions. The unique Twannberg strewn field has the potential to reveal more valuable information

Entfremdung und Ausgrenzung: Afrikas neuer Nationalismus in Zeiten der Globalisierung

Alienation and Exclusion: Africa's New Nationalism in the Time of Globalisation Alienation and exclusion: Africa's new nationalism in times of globalization – The new nationalism in Africa and elsewhere shows remarkable differences both in its roots and its impact, compared with that of national independence movements of the early 1960s. Contrary to the first nationalism, the second is less prone to include than to exclude populations; alienation, xenophobia and its political instrumentalization are its curse. The new nationalism has been shaped decisively by the consequences of globalization and by the increasing cleavages between the poor and the rich. Nowadays, structures of nationalism and nation-states differ more than in the past. Frequently, the new nationalism is rooted in populist grass-root movements which do not necessarily share the same interest as the ruling class or the state. This makes for its extraordinary political and social ambiguity and brisance. Zusammenfassung Entfremdung und Ausgrenzung: Afrikas neuer Nationalismus in Zeiten der Globalisierung. – Der neue Nationalismus in Afrika und anderswo unterscheidet sich in Ursachen und Auswirkungen wesentlich von dem nationaler Unabhängigkeitsbewegungen der 1960er Jahre. Anders als der erste Nationalismus setzt der zweite weniger auf Einschluss denn auf Ausschluss von Bevölkerungsgruppen; Entfremdung, Xenophobie und deren politische Instrumentalisierung sind sein Fluch. Der neue Nationalismus wird maßgeblich geprägt durch die Folgen der Globalisierung und der auseinanderklaffenden Schere zwischen Arm und Reich. Die strukturellen Bedingungen von Nationalismus und Nationalstaat fallen heute typischerweise weiter auseinander. Denn der neue Nationalismus entsteht oft aus populistischen Basisbewegungen, die durchaus auch gegen die staatliche Politik gerichtet sein können. Dies verleiht ihm eine besondere soziale und politische Ambivalenz und Sprengkraft

Solar Energetic Particle Events Detected in the Housekeeping Data of the European Space Agency's Spacecraft Flotilla in the Solar System

Despite the growing importance of planetary Space Weather forecasting and radiation protection for science and robotic exploration and the need for accurate Space Weather monitoring and predictions, only a limited number of spacecraft have dedicated instrumentation for this purpose. However, every spacecraft (planetary or astronomical) has hundreds of housekeeping sensors distributed across the spacecraft, some of which can be useful to detect radiation hazards produced by solar particle events. In particular, energetic particles that impact detectors and subsystems on a spacecraft can be identified by certain housekeeping sensors, such as the Error Detection and Correction (EDAC) memory counters, and their effects can be assessed. These counters typically have a sudden large increase in a short time in their error counts that generally match the arrival of energetic particles to the spacecraft. We investigate these engineering datasets for scientific purposes and perform a feasibility study of solar energetic particle event detections using EDAC counters from seven European Space Agency Solar System missions: Venus Express, Mars Express, ExoMars-Trace Gas Orbiter, Rosetta, BepiColombo, Solar Orbiter, and Gaia. Six cases studies, in which the same event was observed by different missions at different locations in the inner Solar System are analyzed. The results of this study show how engineering sensors, for example, EDAC counters, can be used to infer information about the solar particle environment at each spacecraft location. Therefore, we demonstrate the potential of the various EDAC to provide a network of solar particle detections at locations where no scientific observations of this kind are available