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Shapiro, A.

Publications and source records attributed to Shapiro, A..

At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1992

Grazing incidence X-ray reflectivity - Studies for the AXAF observatory

The energy bandwidth and total throughput of a grazing incidence optics system is a strong function of the X-ray reflectivity of the surface coating. In support of the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF), studies are underway to evaluate and characterize the reflectivity of potential AXAF coatings. Here we report on results obtained for Au, Ir, and Ni coatings produced by electron-beam evaporation, evaporation with ion-assist, and sputtering. Effects of coating thickness and deposition angle have been evaluated at 6.4 and 8.1 keV; the highest reflectivities are those of the thinner, about 200 A vs about 700 A, coatings. While considerable variations exist, the best Ir samples have higher reflectivity than any of the Au coatings. Data results have been compared with models for theoretical reflectivity, particularly with regard to the effective density of the coatings. Independent measurements of the coating densities have been carried out for comparison with the reflectivity results.

Slane, P.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Nuclear-induced excimer fluorescence

A theoretical calculation of a proposed atomic iodine laser system excited by a nuclear-powered photon source is considered. Overall system efficiency of 1.6% is calculated for the KrF fluorescent system and 2.3% for the Ar2F system. Laser power output of about 30 kW is estimated for a laser tube 1.8 cm in diameter and 60 cm long when used with a fast burst reactor. Such systems should easily scale to very high power.

Wilson, J. W.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Nuclear pumped laser modeling

A model for an indirectly nuclear pumped laser experiment was developed. The apparatus consists of the usual cylindrical neutron moderator enclosing a gas filled quartz cell. The quartz cell in this case has two concentric compartments; the larger output compartment is filled with He-3 and fluorescent gases which are coupled radiatively to the inner compartment which is filled with a lasing gas for efficient optical pumping. The fluorescent gas in this study was a mixture of Ar, Kr and F2. Perfluoroalkyliodide was chosen as the lasant material of the inner compartment. The degree of photoabsorption in the lasant gas was calculated. The kinetic efficiencies of various gas combinations in the outer fluorescence tube were then evaluated in order to maximize the fluorescence output in the iodine pump band.

Wilson, J. W.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Skylab altimeter observations over terrain

The author has identified the following significant results. Data obtained by Skylab radar altimeter (S193) over the continental U.S.A. for pass 1 of SL-3 were analyzed to relate radar return signal parameters such as range, power, and waveform to ground track terrain features. The altimeter, which was originally designed for ocean observations, performed predictably well over terrain with moderate to low relief. The maximum return from more complex areas corresponded usually to the lower flatter regions within the seven kilometer diameter footprint. Altimeter measured heights correlated with map topography with an rms deviation of + or - 30 m for terrain topography with large height dispersion (passes 1 and 28) and + or - 5 m for slowly varying terrain (passes 16, 17, and 18). Analysis of the waveform and statistical characteristics of the individual signals indicated that larger signal power was usually related to dominantly specular reflections from patches 100 m or larger. Results established the capability of a spacecraft altimeter system to observe characteristic radar signatures for different types of terrain within the bandwidth restrictions of the AGC and range tracker loops.

Shapiro, A.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Users guide for information retrieval using APL

A Programming Language (APL) is a precise, concise, and powerful computer programming language. Several features make APL useful to managers and other potential computer users. APL is interactive; therefore, the user can communicate with his program or data base in near real-time. This, coupled with the fact that APL has excellent debugging features, reduces program checkout time to minutes or hours rather than days or months. Of particular importance is the fact that APL can be utilized as a management science tool using such techniques as operations research, statistical analysis, and forecasting. The gap between the scientist and the manager could be narrowed by showing how APL can be used to do what the scientists and the manager each need to do, retrieve information. Sometimes, the information needs to be retrieved rapidly. In this case APL is ideally suited for this challenge.

Shapiro, A.↗
NASA NTRS1974

A synthesis theory for self-oscillating adaptive systems /SOAS/

A quantitative synthesis theory is presented for the Self-Oscillating Adaptive System (SOAS), whose nonlinear element has a static, odd character with hard saturation. The synthesis theory is based upon the quasilinear properties of the SOAS to forced inputs, which permits the extension of quantitative linear feedback theory to the SOAS. A reasonable definition of optimum design is shown to be the minimization of the limit cycle frequency. The great advantages of the SOAS is its zero sensitivity to pure gain changes. However, quasilinearity and control of the limit cycle amplitude at the system output, impose additional constraints which partially or completely cancel this advantage, depending on the numerical values of the design parameters. By means of narrow-band filtering, an additional factor is introduced which permits trade-off between filter complexity and limit cycle frequency minimization.

Horowitz, I.↗