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The 4.2 to 4.4 GHz band is reserved for radio altimeters aboard aircraft and for associated transponders on the ground. A radar altimeter system which utilizes associated ground transponders is described and the feasibility of co-channel operation of such a system with a typical passive sensor is analyzed.
Specific design features to reduce cell mass, lower panel operating temperatures, and improve power to mass ratios for silicon solar cell arrays in space applications are presented. Because mass constraints limit payload capacity for launch into GEO, graphite/epoxy structures combined with high performance Si cells are needed to deliver a power/mass ratio of 265 W/kg, notably for Solar Electric Propulsion systems, compared with existing level of 65 W/kg. Shallow diffusion and back surface field cell technology have raised cell efficiencies to 15%, with a back emissivity of 1.64. Structural design requirements comprise Shuttle interface compatibility, full ground test capability, low mass, and high stiffness. Three array alternatives are discussed, and the STACBEAM configuration, which consists of a triangular truss and a piston deployer with folding accomplished on simple hinges, provides 0.2 Hz stiffness and achieves the design power/mass goals.
A technique for wideswath synthetic aperture radar coverage, was implemented into the OSS (orbital sar simulation) computer programs. The OSS modifications, and the implementation and simulation of the concept are described. The wideswath technique uses formed multiple antenna beams.
A theoretical study was made of supersonic wing geometries at Mach 1.8, using the attainable leading-edge thrust concept. The attainable thrust method offers a powerful means to improve overall aerodynamic efficiency by identifying wing leading-edge geometries that promote attached flow and by defining a local angle-of-attack range over which attached flow may be obtained. The concept applies to flat and to cambered wings, which leads to the consideration of drooped-wing leading edges for attached flow at high lift coefficients.
For abstract see A81-47587.
Two high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) methods have been developed for the determination of saturates, olefins and aromatics in petroleum and shale derived mid-distillate fuels. In one method the fuel to be analyzed is reacted with sulfuric acid, to remove a substantial portion of the aromatics, which provides a reacted fuel fraction for use in group type quantitation. The second involves the removal of a substantial portion of the saturates fraction from the HPLC system to permit the determination of olefin concentrations as low as 0.3 volume percent, and to improve the accuracy and precision of olefins determinations. Each method was evaluated using model compound mixtures and real fuel samples.
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Reflective baffles are proposed to reject off-axis light entering a telescope. Toroidal surfaces and adjacent cones are positioned so that off-axis rays make multiple reflections between these two surfaces. Meridional rays are reflected approximately parallel to the entering direction. Skew rays are reflected obliquely, but leave the telescope aperture. The range of incident angles for which these reflections are obtained is approximately 45 deg. A system is described that is designed specifically for the Space Shuttle Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF). Because of its reflective properties, the proposed baffle system rejects about 90 deg of the heat load from the SIRTF sunshade that would be absorbed in systems of conventional black baffles.
A condensation refrigerator suitable for operation in a zero gravity space environment was constructed. The condensed liquid refrigerant is confined by surface tension inside a porous metal matrix. Helium-4 and helium-3 gases were condensed and held in a copper matrix. Evaporative cooling of confined liquid helium-4 resulted in a temperature of 1.4K. Using a zeolite adsorption pump external to the cryostat, a temperature of 0.6 K was achieved through evaporative cooling of liquid helium-3. The amount of time required for complete evaporation of a controlled mass of liquid helium-4 contained in the copper matrix was measured as a function of the applied background power. For heating powers below 18 mW the measured times are consistent with the normal boiling of the confined volume of liquid refrigerant. At background powers above 18 mW the rapid rise in the temperature of the copper matrix the signature of the absence of confined liquid occurs in a time a factor of two shorter than that expected on the basis of an extrapolation of the low power data.
The interaction between the input filter and the regulator often causes serious degradation of performance. The reduction in loop gain due to input filter interaction can result in system instability. An exact stability analysis of the buck regulator system is presented. The input filter parameter values are varied and system instability is predicted for the case without feedforward. The eigenvalues of the system can be brought back into the unit circle and the system thus stabilized with the addition of the feedforward loop. Measurements made for the cases with and without feedforward confirm the analytical prediction.
Methods of ascertaining the safety and suitability of a variety of oxygen system components are discussed. Additionally, qualification and batch control requirements for soft goods in oxygen systems are presented. Current oxygen system component qualification test activities in progress at White Sands Test Facility are described.
The performance of dc electric rail guns using plasma-armature-accelerated projectiles was studied. It was found that the initial rail launcher acceleration profile was consistent with the simulation, but that after the projectile had traveled approximately 25 to 30 cm along the gun, a considerable portion of the current in the projectile armature commutated into a secondary current path. Also noted were the lower than expected muzzle velocities. It was proposed that the secondary current path was a relatively high conductivity layer of residue on the launcher bore.
Three nonlinear flow concepts for the design of supersonic wings are reviewed. The specific concepts are: leading-edge thrust, supercritical crossflow, and leading-edge vortex flow. The major results of the experimental-theoretical studies supporting the development of these concepts are presented and discussed. Also, supporting aerodynamic prediction methods are described and example applications are given. Recommendations for further development of each concept are made.
Disclosed is a method and apparatus for a magnetic refrigeration system. A continuously reciprocating displacer houses at least a pair of paramagnetic substances each of which is alternately driven into and out of a magnetic field. Two separate bidirectional pumping systems flow helium gas through the displacer and through both paramagnetic substances to create heat exchange conditions at two separate temperature extremes.
A JACEE-3 instrument was flown on a balloon in June 1982 for 6.1 sq m sr hr exposure at an average atmospheric depth of 5 gm/sq cm in order to study the cosmic ray spectra, composition, and interactions above 1 TeV. The nucleus-nucleus interactions were studied above 20 GeV/amu from z = 6 to z = 26. The electronic counters contained gas Cerenkov structures with a 1.0-cm thick lead glass and a 1.27-cm thick Teflon radiator. A comparison to the instrument prototype is made. Based on the electronic counter event data, the finding efficiency of the hodoscope is noted to be near 100 percent for z greater than or equal to 22. A comparison is made between the hodoscope-predicted position and track found at P3 in an emulsion chamber.
The particular problems investigated in the present study arise from nonlinear transient heat conduction. One of two types of nonlinearities considered is related to a material temperature dependence which is frequently needed to accurately model behavior over the range of temperature of engineering interest. The second nonlinearity is introduced by radiation boundary conditions. The finite element equations arising from the solution of nonlinear transient heat conduction problems are formulated. The finite element matrix equations are temporally discretized, and a nonlinear iterative solution algorithm is proposed. Algorithms for solving the linear problem are discussed, taking into account the form of the matrix equations, Gaussian elimination, cost, and iterative techniques. Attention is also given to approximate factorization, implementational aspects, and numerical results.
A technique is described for arriving at improved measurements of the rain structure near the earth's surface from satellite-borne radars. The method uses deconvolution and Fourier transform procedures and assumes a knowledge of the antenna beam pattern. As an example, the method is directed toward the application of future spaceborne radar altimeters that may contain additional range gates to permit the measurement of rain in the lower troposphere. Using a radar-measured rain reflectivity profile acquired at Wallops Island, VA, in a simulation example, it is specifically demonstrated that improved measurements of the spatial frequency spectrum of the rain structure may be deduced by means of deconvolution methods, as compared to the measured spectrum derived by beam averaging. Rain measurements are considered vital from the standpoint of providing a flag for altimeter data that may be corrupted by rain. Such measurement capabilities should also provide sorely needed data on rain over the oceans where few or no such data are available for the meteorologist or the communicator interested in space diversity communications.
An ion source that utilizes a pair of thin-film field emission cathodes to provide current for electric impact ionization is studied. The field emission cathodes are composed of microscopically small needle tips and an extraction electrode; the cathodes generate a 200-eV, 0.1-mA electron beam. The multistep process for the manufacturing of the field emission cathodes is examined. The operation of the ion source, which ionizes atoms and molecules that enter the mass spectrometer with a ram velocity of about 80 km/sec, is described.