Two measurements of the cosmic-ray positron fraction as a function of energy have been made using the High Energy Antimatter Telescope (HEAT) balloon-borne instrument. The first flight took place from Ft. Sumner, New Mexico in 1994, and yielded results above the geomagnetic cutoff energy of 4.5 GeV. The second flight from Lynn Lake, Manitoba in 1995 permitted measurements over a larger energy interval, from 1 GeV to 50 GeV. In this letter we present results on the positron fraction based on data from the Lynn Lake flight, and compare these with the previously published results from the Ft. Sumner flight. The results confirm that the positron fraction does not increase with energy above ≈ 10 GeV, although a small excess above purely secondary production cannot be ruled out. At low energies the positron fraction is slightly larger than that reported from measurements made in the 1960's. This effect could possibly be a consequence of charge dependence in the level of solar modulation.

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We report measurements of record-setting intensities of cosmic-ray nuclei from C to Fe, made with the Cosmic Ray Isotope Spectrometer carried on the Advanced Composition Explorer in orbit about the inner Sun-Earth Lagrangian point. In the energy interval from ∼70 to ∼450 MeV nucleon −1 , near the peak in the near-Earth cosmic-ray spectrum, the measured intensities of major species from C to Fe were each 20%-26% greater in late 2009 than in the 1997-1998 minimum and previous solar minima of the space age (1957-1997). The elevated intensities reported here and also at neutron monitor energies were undoubtedly due to several unusual aspects of the solar cycle 23/24 minimum, including record-low interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) intensities, an extended period of reduced IMF turbulence, reduced solar-wind dynamic pressure, and extremely low solar activity during an extended solar minimum. The estimated parallel diffusion coefficient for cosmic-ray transport based on measured solar-wind properties was 44% greater in 2009 than in the 1997-1998 solar-minimum period. In addition, the weaker IMF should result in higher cosmic-ray drift velocities. Cosmic-ray intensity variations at 1 AU are found to lag IMF variations by 2-3 solar rotations, indicating that significant solar modulation occurs inside ∼20 AU, consistent with earlier galactic cosmic-ray radial-gradient measurements. In 2010, the intensities suddenly decreased to 1997 levels following increases in solar activity and in the inclination of the heliospheric current sheet. We describe the conditions that gave cosmic rays greater access to the inner solar system and discuss some of their implications.