Engineering topics
Arakelian, T.
Publications and source records attributed to Arakelian, T..
Microbial Certification of the MER spacecraft
Spacecraft such as the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) must meet acceptable microbial population levels prior to launch. Sensitive parts and materials prevent any single sterilization method from being used as a final step on the assembled spacecraft.
Microbial certification of the MER spacecraft
We conclude in this paper that a combination of Dry Heat Microbrial Reduction and control measures during complex mechanical assembly processes can result in a total spore bioburden that meets requirements.
Dielectric constant of liquid alkanes and hydrocarbon mixtures
The complex dielectric constants of n-alkanes with two to seven carbon atoms have been measured. The measurements were conducted using a slotted-line technique at 1.2 GHz and at atmospheric pressure. The temperature was varied from the melting point to the boiling point of the respective alkanes. The real part of the dielectric constant was found to decrease with increasing temperature and correlate with the change in the molar volume. An upper limit to all the loss tangents was established at 0.001. The complex dielectric constants of a few mixtures of liquid alkanes were also measured at room temperature. For a pentane-octane mixture the real part of the dielectric constant could be explained by the Clausius-Mosotti theory. For the mixtures of n-hexane-ethylacetate and n-hexane-acetone the real part of the dielectric constants could be explained by the Onsager theory extended to mixtures. The dielectric constant of the n-hexane-acetone mixture displayed deviations from the Onsager theory at the highest fractions of acetone. The dipole moments of ethylacetate and acetone were determined for dilute mixtures using the Onsager theory and were found to be in agreement with their accepted gas-phase values. The loss tangents of the mixtures exhibited a linear relationship with the volume fraction for low concentrations of the polar liquids.
Quantification of UV stimulated ice chemistry: CO and CO2
Recent laboratory experiments are presented that show that during photolysis of the pure ices there is evidence of the interconversion of CO to CO2 and CO2 to CO using Lyman alpha (1216A) radiation. In addition, there is a substantial amount of another substance being produced. This substance is evident by its infrared absorption peak at 2235 cm(-1). It is believed that this new peak is due to carbon suboxide, C3O2. CO and CO2 have already been detected in comets, and C3O2 has been suggested as a cometary from radiation of CO. Comparisons are made between our results at 1215A and proton radiation experiments and radiation at other wavelengths. The suggestion is that the processing of ices is energy dependent, i.e., dependent on the type of radiation. Several difficult problems have to be solved before these radiation conversions can be quantified. The steps that we are taking to quantify the kinetics are discussed.