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Gibson, E. G.

Publications and source records attributed to Gibson, E. G..

11 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1990

Space Station Freedom crew training

The nature of the Space Station Freedom Program presents an array of new and enhanced challenges which need to be addressed en route to developing an effective and affordable infrastructure for crew training. Such an infrastructure is essential for the safety and success of the program. The three major challenges that affect crew training are the long lifetime of the program (thirty years), the interdependence of successive increments, and the participation of the three International Partners (Canada, European Space Agency, and Japan) and a myriad of experimenters. This paper addresses these major challenges as they drive the development of a crew training capability and the actual conduct of crew training.

Space Flight/education/organization & administrati↗
NASA NTRS1977

Observations of limb flares with a soft X-ray telescope

Photographs of 26 solar limb flares observed with a soft X-ray telescope flown on Skylab are analyzed. Large-scale deformations of flare loops that occurred in the course of several events and a small-scale short-lived pertubation of a flare loop, recorded immediately before a type III radio burst, are discussed. It is suggested that the deformations are caused by MHD kinks, implying that the flares occurred in magnetic flux tubes where significant currents were flowing. An account involving the electric field is proposed to explain the type III radio bursts accompanying the small short-lived loop perturbation.

Gibson, E. G.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Observations of limb flares with a soft X-ray telescope

The structure and evolution of 26 limb flares have been observed with a soft X-ray telescope flown on Skylab. The results are: (1) One or more well defined loops were the only structures of flare intensity observed during the rise phase and near flare maximum, except for knots which were close to the resolution of the telescope; (2) the flare core features were always sharply defined during rise phase; and (3) for the twenty events which contained loops, the geometry of the structure near maximum was that of a loop in ten cases, a loop with a spike at the top in four cases, a cusp or triangle in four cases, and a cusp combined with a spike in another two cases. Based on observation of the original film, it is suggested that flares which underwent large scale deformations had become unstable to MHD kinks. This implies that these flares occurred in magnetic flux tubes through which significant currents were flowing.

Gibson, E. G.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Observations of the structure and evolution of solar flares with a soft X-ray telescope

One hundred thirty-two soft X-ray flare events have been observed with the S-056 X-ray telescope aboard Skylab. The observations are summarized, and a detailed discussion of the X-ray flare structures is presented. The data indicated that soft X-rays emitted by a flare come primarily from an intense well-defined core surrounded by a region of fainter more diffuse emission. Loop structures are found to constitute a fundamental characteristic of flare cores, and arcades of loops are found to play a more important role in flare phenomena than previously thought. Size distributions of these core features are presented, and a classification scheme describing the brightest flare X-ray features is proposed. Analysis of flare evolution indicates evidence for preliminary heating and energy release prior to the main phase of the flare. Core features are found to be remarkably stable and to retain their shape throughout a flare. Most changes in the overall configuration seem to be the result of the appearance, disappearance, or change in brightness of individual features, rather than the restructuring or reorientation of these features.

Vorpahl, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Observations of the structure and evolution of solar flares with a soft X-ray telescope

Soft X ray flare events were observed with the S-056 X-ray telescope that was part of the ATM complement of instruments aboard SKYLAB. Analyses of these data are reported. The observations are summarized and a detailed discussion of the X-ray flare structures is presented. The data indicated that soft X-ray emitted by a flare come primarily from an intense well-defined core surrounded by a region of fainter, more diffuse emission. An analysis of flare evolution indicates evidence for preliminary heating and energy release prior to the main phase of the flare. Core features are found to be remarkably stable and retain their shape throughout a flare. Most changes in the overall configuration seem to be result of the appearance, disappearance or change in brightness of individual features, rather than the restructuring or reorientation of these features. Brief comparisons with several theories are presented.

Vorpahl, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Studies of rotating liquid floating zones on Skylab IV

Liquid zones of water, soap solution and soap foam were deployed between two aligned circular disks which were free to rotate about the zone axis in the microgravity environment of Skylab IV. Such a configuration is of interest in the containerless handling of melts for possible future space processing crystal growth experiments. Three basic types of zone surface deformation and instability were observed for these rotational conditions; axisymmetric shape changes under single disk rotation, nonaxisymmetric, whirling, C-modes for long zones with equal rotation of both disks, and capillary wave phenomena for short zones with equal rotation of both disks. The sources of these instabilities and the conditions promoting them are analyzed in detail from video tape recordings of the Skylab experiments.

Carruthers, J. R.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Visual observations of Comet Kohoutek from Skylab III

Sketches of Comet Kohoutek drawn by the author during operations on Skylab are presented. The sketches are black and white, with darker color implying a higher observed brightness. Sketches were also made of what the isophotes would have looked like if they could have been measured. In addition, color sketches made after the flight and corresponding to each of the inflight sketches are presented. The sketches show the comet at perihelion minus 10 days and at perihelion plus 1-9 days. Sketches show the comet changing appreciably in form, color, texture, and length after perihelion. The sunward spike, visible at perihelion plus one day, is no longer visible at perihelion plus 4 days.

Gibson, E. G.↗
NASA NTRS1973

The quiet sun

An up-to-date textbook of solar physics is presented. The solar structure and processes, and the interior are described along with the photosphere, the chromosphere, and the corona. The strongest Fraunhofer lines, visible coronal lines, and coronal UV, XUV, and X-ray lines are listed.

Gibson, E. G.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Description of solar structure and processes.

A general introduction to solar structure and processes is presented. The sun is first viewed as a spherically symmetric steady-state system, and the energy generated in the core is traced as it flows outward. The various forms and manifestations of this energy flow and the resulting uniquely defined characteristics of different atmospheric layers are described. The sources of solar activity are assumed to be differential rotation and solar magnetic fields. The interaction of these sources to produce the observed solar cycle, active regions, the active-sun corona, and solar flares is discussed. In describing solar structure and processes, only elementary physical concepts are utilized.

Gibson, E. G.↗