Cosmos and Explorer satellite data used to reject hypothesis of terrestrial meteoroid and dust cloud

Bredov, M. M.

Konstantinov, B. P.

Mazets, E. P.

English

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https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19680010469 2020-03-12T08:47:10+00:00Z
a 
Dokl. A.N.SSSR 
G c o f i z i k a  
T ' o ~  1-14, No.3, PI? 5 3 0 - 5 8 2  
I z d a t c > l ' s t v o  "NAUKA", 1967 
BY 
B . P .  
M . M .  
E . P .  
Konstant-inov 
B r e d. 0x7 
Mazets 
This paper  r e j e c t s  t h e  hypothes is  of t h e  e x i s t e n c e  of a d v s t  
cl.oud around t h e  E a r t h  on t h e  basis of iiieasure:nen ts  of c o l l i s i o n  
f recpencies  with micrometeor i tes  in outer sl>?ce, c o r r o b o r a t i n g  
t h i s  f u r t h e r  by shoi.iiiig t h e  accord wi t h  the r i ~ c ? s ~ i r e n i c i i t  d a t a  of 
punc Lure frequency . 
* 
* * 
I t  has  heen asserted i n  nimerous or_i .ginal  amd rev im7 papcrs 
devo'ied t o  the d e s c r i p t i o n  and i i i te l -prcta- i~ion ol eq?e3:ri.iiieritS on 
collisions w i t h  ~ ~ - ~ i c r o r ~ i ~ ~ t e o r r i . t e s  i n  o u t e r  sp;lce that t h e r e  exrists 
a 5 0  called " d u s t  c loud" [31  . T h i s  stems Ti-om direct rneasujxmcntr, 
on r o c k e t s  s a t e l l i t e s  and. spa.ceCrG.LFtS coriiple-ked i n  the coui-se of 
z r  of years at d i f f e r e n t  geocentrica.1- cl.istzmccs [1.2 1 . €10~:- 
e v e r ,  p u b l i c a t i o n s  appeared i n  1366, i n  which t h e  r c l i a h i l i t y o f  
s u c h  a n  a s s e x t i o n ,  wc7s p u t  to doubt .  
2 
of l - - . 7 . . . l . 7 .  r IES ch 2.n i siii s P 3 s s i b  12 f zx 9 ti 0 2 u a - L  LJ.1 s diis-I-. b e l t  b h i  ~ ~ a y  or' cap-- 
t u r e  of i n t e r p l a n e t a r y  du- s t  p a r t i c l e s  were esamined i n  a series 
of works 151 and it was s1-1or.m that none of t h e s e  mechanisms i s  
however l i t t l e  ef f e c t i v c .  
Me as  u r  e incn t s  of co 11 i s ion f r e quen c :'L e s 'CJ i kh m i  c r  ome %eo x i  t e s 
i n  t h e  260-650  kin a l t i t u d e  range,  were conpleted. b17 u.s aboard 
AES "Kos rno~- l35~~  p l a c e 6  i n  o r b i t  on 1 2  Dece~~riber 19GG; p i e z o e l e c t r i c  
sensors, ana.loyous j.n p r i n c i p l e  t o  t h o s e  used by o t h e r  meth0d.s fo r  
the szmc o b j e c t i v e ,  we1e u t i l i z e d  i n  our  experiments e how eve^, 
b a s i n g  o u r s e l v e s  upon t h e  results of p r e l i m i n a r y  l a b o r a t o r y  tes-ts , 
having  shown t h a t  as temperature  r eg ions  va.ry , the s e n s o r s  them- 
selves and the c o n s t r u c t i o n  parts may s e r v e  as sou rces  of f a l s e  
s i g n a - l s ,  we unciertool; a ser ies  of s p e c i a l  neasures f o r  the loviering 
of t h e  i n t e r f e r e n c e  l e v e l ,  as wel-1 as f o r  iriipro-ving t h e  apparatus' 
noiseproof  f e a t u r e .  
Two i d e n t i c a l  dev ices  were i n s t a l l e d  aboclrd the s a t e l l i t e  
Each one of tliei?? has ' t k 7 0  sen-sors  j.nclr~.d.ing -the piezoceva-mic element 
and a preampl i f i . c r .  A high f:ceqizcncy s<.cpz. l  c:oInponc:ii-t is u t i l i z e d  
f o r  t h e  a m p l i f i c a t i o n  i n  the 9G-.104 l;c/s'ec hand.  With the v;.ew of 
s upp re s s i 011 of 11 o i s e s o f e le c -tromzqn c ti c ch ax ac t  e I: tli e my 1 i f i e d 
s i g n a l s  from two sensors a r e  fec? -Lo the c o l l i s i o n  c i r c u i t  and., t in  
a d d i t i o n a l  selec'iiol-I on s i g n a l  duraisi.oi-i i s  in t roduced .  T h e  sicjnal 's 
anq31.itud.e i s  r e g i s t e r e d  by a IO-channel amp!_i.tudc a n a l y z e r  w i t h  
locjari thniic s c a l e  and dyna.mic b ~ ? i > . i l  n, 1 0 0 .  
The s e n s o r s  of the  first d&v.ice arc i n s t a l l e d  on 2. s p e c i a l  
e x t e n s i o n  panel we11 acous . t i ca l ly  iso.Zatec? from the fra;ne of t h e  
sate3-l2t.c. The 'cotal area of the pc'nel i s  0 .  4.8 m2. The se i i s c :~ '~  of
the sccoiid device  were p laced  di.r.eck3.y on t h e  frame. T h e  sensitri. zed 
surface constitu.~ed T,  1 m7-. 
The appara tus  ' respoi.  .:. wa.s sei-. u'p a t  such a I.cve1 that C?ui:ing 
tempcvature tests of the s ~ i i s o r s  and of t h e  asse:mblcd p a n e l  I false 
si-cjna1.s cou . ld  no t  be obse:cved W1iI-e t h e  l e v e l  of e l e c t r i c a l  and  
inechanica.1.. n o i s e s  due t o  t h e  appalratus was sulr ,sta.ntially bcl ow the 
t r e s h o l d .  
. 
3 
rnL 1 1r e  1 ab OX ii tory c ~l .'L i 15 j:<t-i I i , i i  o f d i :v  1 c 1 sc11:j-i-t j-vi-i-y \,j;ll.s con- 
duc-ked by dropping t e s t s  of cali.bra.ted b a . l l s  w i th  veiSht froin 50 
t o  2 0 0 0  pge T h e  t r e s h o l d  response for t h e  t r m s m i t - t e d  p u l s e  of the 
f i r s t  device  c o n s t i t u t e d  ~ 1 0 " ~  d.yne/sec, amd that of the second - 
7 -  dyiie/sec. I n  the assumption that the incan ve l .oc i ty  at col-  
l i s i o n  i s  3 0  km/sec.  and the signa.1 i s  p r o p o r t i o n a l  t o  p a r t i c l e  i m -  
pulse, t h e  device  must r e q i s t e r  micrometeors wi th  m a s s  > 2 * 1 0 - ' 9 g .  
l i s io l - i  f requency wi th  micrometeor i tes  i n  the near--ground space  on 
t h e  minimum r e g l s t e r e d  mass [l] one may as su rw t h a t ,  as an average ,  
each device  musk r e g i s t e r  more than  1 0 0  c o l l i s i o n s  p e r  2 4  hour s .  
However the results ob ta ined  by us d i f f e r  i r ad ica l ly  from t h e s e  
es t imates  ba-sed upon t h e  r e s u l t s  of prev ious  i n v e s t i g a t i o n s .  
Sta.rti.ncj from d a t a  of  l i t e r a t u r e  on t h c  dependence of co l -  
During t h e  f i r s t  1 4 0  hours of operation, t h e  pj-ckups p laced  
on t h e  panel. f a i l e d  t o  r e g j  s t e r  a s i n g l e  event.  Over t h e  follo'winq 
1 2 0  h o u r s  35 even t s  ~7ere  recorded.; however, t h e  d i s t r i b u t i o n  of 
2 4  of them i s  p e r i o d i c a l  i n  t i m e .  The sequ.cnce p e r i o d  of t h e s e  
e v e n t s  i s  li.l-,ked' w i th  a prec!ision -Lo 4% w i t h  the r e v o l u t i o n  pe r iod  
of the s a t e l l i t e  around. t h e  Ear-th, whi3.e t h e  vcry moments OZ their  
appea.raiice a r e  t i e d  t o  p o r t i o n s  of p m c l  ' s tempera-Lure regime va- 
riatioi-i similar to one anckhcx. It is qii:.te olxiiouc tha.1: the qiven .  
siqi2.a.l.s can 110-i: he connected w i t h  microm~-&.orj.tc ri.mp?c?cts and are 
the resul:t of r e g i s  t r a k i o n  o E  some in te i r lc rences  having occurred  in 
t h e  systerii, most l i k e l y  0: "clacks"  of thcrrnal o r i g i n .  L e t  us  n o t e  
t h a t  t h e  accuracy of both devices  d.uj:ii;g tlie eiitire ope ra t i  011 time 
i s  co r robora t ed  12,y t h e  results of autoinatic chec1;ups c o n d ~ ; .  Led re- 
g u l a r l y .  
O f  a l l .  r e g i s t e r e d  s i g n a l s  c m l y  th? one havirrg passed -i;hrou~-h 
tlie most s e n s i t i v e  c h a m e l ,  f a i  I.ed -to fit tlie above j..ndica'ced peri-  
o d . ? c i t y  and may be cons ide red  w i t h  a c e r t a i n  proSa .b i l i ty  as beinq 
t h e  resu1.t of c o l l i s i o n .  
. 
The pickups ( s e n s o r s )  of the sccoiid device ,  j -ns - ta l led  d i r e c t l y  
on satellite's frame, r e g i s t e r e d  2 0 5  s i g n a l s  f o x  150 I i o v . ? . ~  of ope-- 
r a t i o n  The d i s t r i b u t i o n  of tliese signals i n  time i s  essentia.12! 1 7  
i r r e g u l a r :  7 5 %  of e v e n t s  are obs:cs:ved i n  a period from 1200 t o  2 2 0 0  
hours  s a - L e l l i t e  s l o c a l  timz whi le  t h e  hicjhest cou.s?-tj.ng r a t e  i s  
observed i n  the r eg ion  of s a t e l l i t e  eiitry i n t o  thc E a r t h  s s1ia.d.o~. 
Th e an ip 1 i t u  de d i  s t r  i b u t  i on o f pu l s c 2 h its a s ~1.13 st ant 3- a- 1 1 y s t e cpe r 
spec-trum than  t h a t  e>:pcc-kd of col. l . isions w i t h  micror 
Thus , tlic amplj-tude 02 .or! 1.y one s i g ; i a l  c:ic~ccds the valuz CO.~~:CI ; - -  
ponciing t o  the puI.se va lue  5.  3 - 10-2 dyne/sc:c. ~ i i e  may s_-elia.I-,ly 
assert  t h a t  sensorr .) recjis.t:crcd. m a i n l y  noiscs 0.: ther!;!z.l or igLg 
ar<.siiig i n  tlie sa'i.c_l.l:i:'ce c m d  t1ia.k it is pxact.I.cc7.13.y i r x p s s i b l e  t o  
scparnte from them the .scas:c8~ s i y n - i l s  correspondi-ng to col.l.isions . 
4 
be r e l a t e d  t o  t h e  ea r l i e r - conduc  Led expcrirrcents , in which no spe- 
c i a l  measures were t a k e n  € o r  the p r o t e c t i o n  from such k ind  of 
i n t e r f e r e n c e s .  
Q u a n t i t a t i v e l y  , the  da-ta ob'cained by us may be c h a r a c t e r i z e d  
by Table 1. 
TABLE I 
_I-- 
S e i i c i  t i v i  ty  
dyne/sec 
N o .  3. 6.10-3 
I ~ - _ _ _ _ _ -  
s e n s o r  , 
i n  p l a n e  
-1 10 - 
Ion f r 2 m  5 , 4- 10 5 , 3.10-2 , 
I I --___ I I ~ - -  
i n c . n o i s e  ~ wi thou t  
backqround ' hacl;srou.ni 
1,6 * 
7 , G 10 - I t  
3 , 6  
G I 2 .io -- 3 
4 , 7 0 1 0 ^ ' ~  
1, G - 
The exper imenta l  val-ues of N, conipiled j.n T a b k  1 are m u l t i -  
p l ied-  13y a f a c t o r  of 2 I so as to t2ke acc0u.n-t of shiel-d.i.ng by t h e  
E a r t h .  I t  may be seen from T a b l e  1 t h 2 t  our data c?epai--L by more 
thail 10 tinies from the r e s v - l t s  ob-Lained ear1.ie.r by othei: m e t h o c k  
w i t h  t h e  rise of p i e z o e l e c t r i c  d.ctec:.t:ors. Even the va lves  of N, 
con?puted i n  t h e  assumption t h a t  a1-1 r e g i s t e r e d  sj.giials correspond 
t o  co11 t s ions  w i t h  micromzteor i tcs ,  ?.re by 1. t o  2 va lues  J.ov7c~ t l i m  
t h e  estima-kes according t o  dk-ta. of 1i:Lerature. 
I t  i s  j.mpor-tant t o  n o t e  t h a t  the  estim?..?tc N < .?.6*10-6 pa.rtic1.e 
m2 - sec  obta.i.ned by us and corresponding to one p o s s i b l e  collri.sion 
r e g i s t e r e d  by s e n s o r s  of the f:; rs'c &vice , agiees wel.1 wi th  the data 
on t h e  frequency of punc tu res  oi: t h e i r  she l l s  of  g a s - f i l l e d .  c e l . 1 ~  , of 
wire nets and t h e i r  coiidensovs oh'irzined. on sair.eI.I.i.-Les "17xpl-orer-16 I' , 
" E x p l o r e r - 2 3 "  and "Pegas-I a n d  -2"  [G-81 % T h i s  elil?i<-na.tes t h e  re- 
quiremerit of a r t i f i c i a l  explc?na:kions of d a t a  6i.s ci-epamcies on punc tu res  
and. col l is . icms [G -81 .  
From the above I t h e  f o l l o v i n g  conclus ions  c m  be dcrivcd.. 
T h e  app 1 i c c ? t  i on o f s e 11 s or s f cj i: co 1 I i s i on w i t h  m i  c r o r x  'ce o r  i t e s 
ba.sed uimn -the recjis"i1:a-tj.on of m e c h m i c a l  or;cul.la.-1-.ion.s , requ- i res  a 
number of c a r e f u l  precautions so as t o  p r o t e c t  the system from inter-- 
f c r c n c e s  of acous-i3-c , tliermc.:l ;ind elec.tri.cs.1 origin. 
St.artj.ng frorn the resu l t s  0ht.cii17,ed by us and tak.ing i n t o  accoii1-1-t 
the r e s u l t s  of l abora to ry  i n v e s t i g a t i o n s  of c a r l i c r  a -pp l i ed  pi.ezo-- 
5 
J 
. 
e l e c t r i c  sensOLs [ 4 j  , oiie mc'y zLissu;::c t h a t  i n  t h e  cxpr imcni -s  des- 
c r i b e d  i n  l i t e r a t u r e  t h e  lcvcl of i n t e r f e r e n c e s  i s  excessivel-y 
h i g h ,  so  t h a t  t h e  va lues  brought o u t  0.2 c o l l i s i o n  frequeiicy are 
s t r o n g l y  o v e r r a t e d  and do n o t  correspond t o  r e a l i t y .  
Thus I t h e  e x i s t e n c e  of a d u s t  c loud  around the e a r t h  can n o t  
be cons ide red  as establ-i.shed. Moreover, d a t a  of  ou r  measurements 
of c o l l i s i o n  frequency,  i n  accord wi.th ;he measurement d.ata of 
puncture  f requency ,  a r e  much r a t h e r  evid-ence of i t s  absence.  
Physico-Technical I n s t i t u t e  
in the name o f  A.F. I o r f e  
Manus c r i p t  re c e i v  e d 
27 Feb. 1967 
R E F E R E N C E S  ____ 
W . M .  Alexander ,  O . E .  Berg et a l .  , 
Space R e s  e , I11 , N o r t h - H o l l a n d  I Amste.rd.am 
1 9 6 3 ,  pa891 
T . N .  Nazarova, .... Cosmic I n v e s t . ,  4 ,  N o . 6 ,  9 0 0  (1966) 
F . L .  Fdhj-pple, .... N a t u r e ,  183, 12 '1  (196l) 
1. I .  Sha-piro I D .A. Lautman, G. Col.ornbo I 
C. T. D'Aiuto1.0 , . . .. . Space Rcsearcl-1, IV, Nor-~li---Ilollalid, Ams-L-.erdam 
R. G .  N e w s T v a l d ,  . . . . Spzce P.eronautj.cs, 4 5 1  No.5, 76 (1966) 
I . F .  Vedder, .... Space Sci., Rev., 6, N o . 3 ,  365  (1366) 
C .  N i l s s o n ,  .... Scien.ce, 1 5 3 ,  1 2 4 2  ( 1 9 6 6 )  
J. GeOphys. Res., 7 1 ,  N 0 - 2 3 ,  5635 (2-966) 
1964, p . 8 5 8  
CONTRACT No.NAS-5-12487 
VoIk 'I'echn.ica1- Corp. , 
11.45 19- th  Street, N . W .  
Wash in@xn ,  D . C .  2 0 0 3 6  
?'el.ephone: 2 2 3 - 6 7 0 0  ( X  3 6 )  
T r a n s l a t e d  by 
D r .  Andre L .  B r i c h a n t  
2 7  Narcli, 1 3 6 8  


Experimental data as evidence against the hypothesis on the earth's dust cloud

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