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At least 307 records · Page 17

Anodizing Process

This anodizing process traces its origin to the 1960's when Reynolds Metals Company, under contract with Goddard Space Flight Center, developed a multipurpose anodizing electrolyte (MAE) process to produce a hard protective finish for spacecraft aluminum. MAE produces a high-density, abrasion-resistant film prior to the coloring step, in which the pores of the film are impregnated with a metallic form of salt. Tru-Color product applications include building fronts, railing, curtain walls, doors and windows.

Source record↗

Sleep deprivation influences some but not all processes of supervisory attention

Does one night of sleep deprivation alter processes of supervisory attention in general or only a specific subset of such processes? Twenty college-aged volunteers, half female, performed a choice reaction time task. A cue indicated that compatible (e.g., right button, right-pointing arrow) or incompatible (e.g., left button, right-pointing arrow) responses were to be given to a stimulus that followed 50 or 500 ms later. The paradigm assessed response inhibition, task-shifting skill, and task strategy-processes inherent in supervisory attention. Performance, along with heart rate, was assessed for 12 hr following normal sleep or a night of complete sleep deprivation. Sleep deprivation altered neither preparation for task shifting nor response inhibition. The ability to use preparatory bias to speed performance did decrease with sleep deprivation. Sleep deprivation appears to selectively affect this supervisory attention process, which is perceived as an active effort to cope with a challenging task.

NASA Discipline Regulatory Physiology↗

Response time to colored stimuli in the full visual field

Peripheral visual response time was measured in seven dark adapted subjects to the onset of small (45' arc diam), brief (50 msec), colored (blue, yellow, green, red) and white stimuli imaged at 72 locations within their binocular field of view. The blue, yellow, and green stimuli were matched for brightness at about 2.6 sub log 10 units above their absolute light threshold, and they appeared at an unexpected time and location. These data were obtained to provide response time and no-response data for use in various design disciplines involving instrument panel layout. The results indicated that the retina possesses relatively concentric regions within each of which mean response time can be expected to be of approximately the same duration. These regions are centered near the fovea and extend farther horizontally than vertically. Mean foveal response time was fastest for yellow and slowest for blue. Three and one-half percent of the total 56,410 trials presented resulted in no-responses. Regardless of stimulus color, the lowest percentage of no-responses occurred within 30 deg arc from the fovea and the highest within 40 deg to 80 deg arc below the fovea.

Haines, R. F.↗

Active-passive correlation spectroscopy - A new technique for identifying ocean color algorithm spectral regions

A new active-passive airborne data correlation technique has been developed which allows the validation of existing in-water oceoan color algorithms and the rapid search, identification, and evaluation of new sensor band locations and algorithm wavelength intervals. Thus far, applied only in conjunction with the spectral curvature algorithm (SCA), the active-passive correlation spectroscopy (APCS) technique shows that (1) the usual 490-nm (center-band) chlorophyll SCA could satisfactorily be placed anywhere within the nominal 460-510-nm interval, and (2) two other spectral regions, 645-660 and 680-695 nm, show considerable promise for chlorophyll pigment measurement. Additionally, the APCS method reveals potentially useful wavelength regions (at 600 and about 670 nm) of very low chlorophyll-in-water spectral curvature into which accessory pigment algorithms for phycoerythrin might be carefully positioned. In combination, the APCS and SCA methods strongly suggest that significant information content resides within the seemingly featureless ocean color spectrum.

Hoge, F. E.↗

Documentation for the machine-readable version of the Absolute Calibration of Stellar Spectrophotometry

The machine-readable data file of The Absolute Calibration of Stellar Spectrophotometry as distributed by the Astronomical Data Center is described. The data file contains the absolute fluxes for 16 stars published in Tables 1 and 2 of Johnson (1980). The absolute calibrations were accomplished by combining the 13-color photometry calibrations of Johnson and Mitchell (1975) with spectra obtained with a Michelson spectrophotometer and covering the wavelength range 4000 to 10300 A (Johnson 1977). The agreement between this absolute calibration and another recent one based upon data for a Lyr and 109 Vir by Tug, White and Lockwood (1977) is shown by Johnson (1980) to be quite good.

Warren, W. H., Jr.↗

Near-IR imaging and imaging polarimetry of OMC 2

NIR and 2.2-micron imaging polarimetry of the molecular cloud region OMC 2, reveals a cluster of low- to intermediate-mass premain-sequence stars embedded in circumstellar disks. The 2.2-micron imaging polarimetry indicates that the compact NIR sources OMC 2 IRS1, IRS2, IRS3 and IRS4 N, are illumination centers for the surrounding extended emission. By application of Hubble's relation to the nebulae illuminated by IRS1, IRS2 and IRS4 N, the illuminating geometry is explained and the intrinsic NIR colors of these objects are estimated.

Rayner, John↗

Digital cartography of Io

A high resolution controlled mosaic of the hemisphere of Io centered on longitude 310 degrees is produced. Digital cartographic techniques were employed. Approximately 80 Voyager 1 clear and blue filter frames were utilized. This mosaic was merged with low-resolution color images. This dataset is compared to the geologic map of this region. Passage of the Voyager spacecraft through the Io plasma torus during acquisition of the highest resolution images exposed the vidicon detectors to ionized radiation, resulting in dark-current buildup on the vidicon. Because the vidicon is scanned from top to bottom, more charge accumulated toward the bottom of the frames, and the additive error increases from top to bottom as a ramp function. This ramp function was removed by using a model. Photometric normalizations were applied using the Minnaert function. An attempt to use Hapke's photometric function revealed that this function does not adequately describe Io's limb darkening at emission angles greater than 80 degrees. In contrast, the Minnaert function accurately describes the limb darkening up to emission angles of about 89 degrees. The improved set of discrete camera angles derived from this effort will be used in conjunction with the space telemetry pointing history file (the IPPS file), corrected on 4 or 12 second intervals to derive a revised time history for the pointing of the Infrared Interferometric Spectrometer (IRIS). For IRIS observations acquired between camera shutterings, the IPPS file can be corrected by linear interpolation, provided that the spacecraft motions were continuous. Image areas corresponding to the fields of view of IRIS spectra acquired between camera shutterings will be extracted from the mosaic to place the IRIS observations and hotspot models into geologic context.

Mcewen, Alfred S.↗

Globular cluster photometry with the Hubble Space Telescope. I - Description of the method and analysis of the core of 47 Tuc

Accurate photometry for individual post-main-sequence stars in the core of the Galactic globular cluster 47 Tuc is presented and analyzed using an empirical point spread function model and Monte Carlo simulations. A V vs. V-I color-magnitude diagrams is constructed which shows several distinct stellar types, including RGB and HB stars. Twenty-four blue straggler stars are detected in 47 Tuc, more concentrated toward the center of the cluster than the giants. This supports the hypothesis is that the stragglers are either coalesced stars or members of binary systems that are more massive than single stars. The radial profile of the projected stellar density is flat in the central region of 47 Tuc with a core radius of 23 +/- 2 arcsec. No signature of a collapsed core is evident. The observed radial cumulative distribution of stars rules out the presence of a massive compact object in the center.

Guhathakurta, Puragra↗

30 Doradus - Ultraviolet and optical stellar photometry

Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT) UV magnitudes in four bands, together with optical B magnitudes, are presented for up to 314 early-type stars located in a 9.7 x 9.7 arcmin field centered on R136. The magnitudes have an rms uncertainty estimated at 0.10 mag from a comparison between the UIT magnitudes and the IUE spectra. Spectral types and E(B-V) color excesses are estimated. The mean color excesses following the two extinction curves agree well with the predictions of the two-component extinction model of Fitzpatrick and Savage (1984). However, the degree of nebular extinction is found to vary systematically by large amounts over the 30 Dor field. The minimum of nebular extinction in the central parts of the nebula suggests that dust has been expelled from this region by stellar winds. It is suggested that the form of the UV extinction curve can be understood as a consequence of the evolutionary state of the stellar population responsible for making the dust grains.

Hill, Jesse K.↗

Deep HST imaging of distant weak radio and field galaxies

We present deep Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Wide-Field Camera (WFC) V- and I-band images of three distant weak radio galaxies with z = 0.311-2.390 and seven field galaxies with z = 0.131-0.58. The images were deconvolved with both the Lucy and multiresolution CLEAN methods, which yield a restoring Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) of less than or equal to 0.2 sec, (nearly) preserve photons and signal-to-noise ratio at low spatial frequencies, and produce consistent light profiles down to our 2 sigma surface brightness sensitivity limit of V approximately 27.2 and I approximately 25.9 mag/sq arcsec. Multi-component image modeling was used to provide deconvolution-independent estimates of structural parameters for symmetric galaxies. We present 12-band (m(sub 2750) UBVRIgriJHK) photometry for a subset of the galaxies and bootstrap the unknown FOC/48 zero point at 2750 A in three independent ways (yielding m(sub 2750) = 21.34 +/- 0.09 mag for 1.0 e(-)/s). Two radio galaxies with z = 0.311 and 0.528, as well as one field galaxy with z = 0.58, have the colors and spectra of early-type galaxies, and a(exp 1/4)-like light profiles in the HST images. The two at z greater than 0.5 have little or no color gradients in V - I and are likely giant ellipticals, while the z = 0.311 radio galaxy has a dim exponential disk and is likely an S0. Six of the seven field galaxies have light profiles that indicate (small) inner bulges following a(exp 1/4) laws and outer exponential disks, both with little or no color gradients. These are (early-type) spiral galaxies with z = 0.131-0.528. About half have faint companions or bars. One shows lumpy structure, possibly a merger. The compact narrow-line galaxy 53W002 at z = 2.390 has less than or = 30% +/- 10% of its HST V and I flux in the central kiloparsec (due to its weak Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN)). Most of its light (V approximately equal to 23.3) occurs in a symmetric envelope with a regular a(exp 1/4)-like profile of effective radius a approximately equal to 1.1 sec (approximately equal to 12 kpc for H(sub 0) = 50, q(sub 0) = 0.1. Its (HST) V - I color varies at most from approximately 0.3 mag at a approximately equal to 0.2 sec to approximately 1.2 mag at a approximately greater than 0.4 sec, and possibly to approximately greater than 2.2 mag at a approximately greater than 1.2 sec. Together with its I - K color (approximately equal to 2.5 mag for a approximately greater than 1.0 sec-2.0 sec), this is consistent with an aging stellar population approximately 0.3-0.5 Gyr old in the galaxy center (a approx. less than 2 kpc radius), and possibly approximately 0.5-1.0 Gyr old at a approximately greater than 10 kpc radius. While its outer part may thus have started to collapse at z = 2.5-4, its inner part still is aligned with its redshifted Ly(alpha) cloud and its radio axis, possibly caused by star formation associated with the radio jet, or by reflection from its AGN cone.

Windhorst, R. A.↗

Research and Technology Highlights 1995

The mission of the NASA Langley Research Center is to increase the knowledge and capability of the United States in a full range of aeronautics disciplines and in selected space disciplines. This mission is accomplished by performing innovative research relevant to national needs and Agency goals, transferring technology to users in a timely manner, and providing development support to other United States Government agencies, industry, other NASA Centers, the educational community, and the local community. This report contains highlights of the major accomplishments and applications that have been made by Langley researchers and by our university and industry colleagues during the past year. The highlights illustrate both the broad range of research and technology (R&T) activities carried out by NASA Langley Research Center and the contributions of this work toward maintaining United States leadership in aeronautics and space research. An electronic version of the report is available at URL http://techreports.larc.nasa.gov/RandT95. This color version allows viewing, retrieving, and printing of the highlights, searching and browsing through the sections, and access to an on-line directory of Langley researchers.

Source record↗

Imaging System

The 1100C Virtual Window is based on technology developed under NASA Small Business Innovation (SBIR) contracts to Ames Research Center. For example, under one contract Dimension Technologies, Inc. developed a large autostereoscopic display for scientific visualization applications. The Virtual Window employs an innovative illumination system to deliver the depth and color of true 3D imaging. Its applications include surgery and Magnetic Resonance Imaging scans, viewing for teleoperated robots, training, and in aviation cockpit displays.

Source record↗

Rust Contamination from Water Leaks in the Cosmic Dust Lab and Lunar and Meteorite Thin Sections Labs at Johnson Space Center

On the early morning of September 15th, 2016, on the first floor of Building 31 at NASA-Johnson Space Center, the hose from a water chiller ruptured and began spraying water onto the floor. The water had been circulating though old metal pipes, and the leaked water contained rust-colored particulates. The water flooded much of the western wing of the building's ground floor before the leak was stopped, and it left behind a residue of rust across the floor, most notably in the Apollo and Meteorite Thin Section Labs and Sample Preparation Lab. No samples were damaged in the event, and the affected facilities are in the process of remediation. At the beginning of 2016, a separate leak occurred in the Cosmic Dust Lab, located in the same building. In that lab, a water leak occurred at the bottom of the sink used to clean the lab's tools and containers with ultra-pure water. Over years of use, the ultra-pure water eroded the metal sink piping and leaked water onto the inside of the lab's flow bench. This water also left behind a film of rusty material. The material was cleaned up and the metal piping was replaced with PVC pipe and sealed with Teflon plumber's tape. Samples of the rust detritus were collected from both incidents. These samples were imaged and analyzed to determine their chemical and mineralogical compositions. The purpose of these analyses is to document the nature of the detritus for future reference in the unlikely event that these materials occur as contaminants in the Cosmic Dust samples or Apollo or Meteorite thin sections.

Kent, J. J.↗

The stellar population in the core of M15

The inner core of the globular cluster M15 within approximately 2 sec of the geometrical center has been explored with high-resolution images taken through several broad-band UV filter with the Faint Object Camera (FOC) on board the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Approximately 210 stars in this region down to a 5 sigma detection limit of m(sub 220) = 21.5 were reliably identified and located on a UV - U color magnitude diagram for the first time. A majority of stars (about 70% of the total) observed this way lie above the expected main-sequence turn-off of this cluster and below the sparsely populated horizontal branch. The extension of the main sequence above the turn-off separates this population in two roughly equal components situated to the right and left of this line. Most of the former must be classical blue stragglers while the rest belong to a new, as yet unidentified, population of very blue stars. Possibilities include, but are not restricted to, well-mixed single stars, subdwarfs, and helium white dwarfs. Similar objects are also found just outside the core out to approximately 6 sec from the center, but the brighter, presumably more massive ones, are sharply confined to the core itself. The measured excess of bright blue stars and the relative deficiency of bright red giants in the core are consistent with the blue inward color gradient measured from the ground and imply that dynamical evolution can significantly affect the stellar population in the very dense central regions of a high-concentration globular cluster like M15.

De Marchi, Guido↗

Visibility of wavelet quantization noise

The discrete wavelet transform (DWT) decomposes an image into bands that vary in spatial frequency and orientation. It is widely used for image compression. Measures of the visibility of DWT quantization errors are required to achieve optimal compression. Uniform quantization of a single band of coefficients results in an artifact that we call DWT uniform quantization noise; it is the sum of a lattice of random amplitude basis functions of the corresponding DWT synthesis filter. We measured visual detection thresholds for samples of DWT uniform quantization noise in Y, Cb, and Cr color channels. The spatial frequency of a wavelet is r 2-lambda, where r is display visual resolution in pixels/degree, and lambda is the wavelet level. Thresholds increase rapidly with wavelet spatial frequency. Thresholds also increase from Y to Cr to Cb, and with orientation from lowpass to horizontal/vertical to diagonal. We construct a mathematical model for DWT noise detection thresholds that is a function of level, orientation, and display visual resolution. This allows calculation of a "perceptually lossless" quantization matrix for which all errors are in theory below the visual threshold. The model may also be used as the basis for adaptive quantization schemes.

NASA Center ARC↗

Use of ERTS-1 pictures in coastal oceanography in British Columbia

The ERTS-1 color composite picture of the Vancouver-Victoria region illustrates the value of ERTS data for coastal oceanography. The water of the Fraser River plume which is so clearly visible in the center of the scene has been of interest to oceanographers on the west coast of Canada for a long time as an easily visible tracer of surface water circulation in the strait of Georgia. Maps of the plume at different states of the tide and with different river flow and weather were compiled from oblique aerial photographs in 1950 and used in the siting of sewage and other outfalls in the Vancouver area. More recently high level aerial photomosaics have been used to map the plume area, but the plume can spread over distances of 30 to 40 miles and many photographs, with the uneven illumination inherent in wide angle coverage, are needed for the mosaic. The ERTS satellite gives the first complete view of the plume area. Electronic enhancement of the images shows that the satellite's narrow angle coverage allows very weak surface turbidity features to be made visible to give information on surface currents over a wide area.

Gower, J. F. R.↗

Turbulent swirling combustion

The non-reacting flow produced by two confined, co- and/or counter-swirling jets wre measured by means of a two-color laser Doppler velocimeter. These results are compared with earlier experiments and with numerical predictions. It is shown that under both swirl conditions, a closed recirculation zone is created at the combustor center line. This zone is characterized by the presence of a one-cell toroidal vortex, low tangential velocities, high turbulent intensity, and large dissipation rates of the kinetic energy of turbulence.

Sommer, H. T.↗

Standard stars for cometary photometry

Interference filters centered at 0.365, 0.387, 0.406, 0.484, and 0.514 microns have been selected to represent UV continuum, CN emission, C3 emission, blue continuum, and C2 emission in cometary spectra, respectively. Adopted magnitudes and colors of this filter system are presented for 50 standard stars, ranging in bue magnitude from 4 to 12, in spectral type from O to K, and distributed primarily around equatorial regins of the sky. The tabulated uncertainties are generally of the order of 0.02 mag or smaller; the zero points of the photometric system are chosen so that blue continuum magnitudes are approximately equivalent to Johnson B, and so that color indices average zero for solar analog stars.

Wisniewski, W.↗