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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 469 records · Page 26
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1987

Results from the vehicle charging and potential experiment on STS-3

The Vehicle Charging and Potential Experiment formed part of the scientific experiments comprising the NASA Office of Space Sciences-1 pallet flown at an altitude of 250 km and an orbital inclination of 40 deg on the third flight of the Space Shuttle Orbiter in March 1982. Details of the objectives, the instrumentation of the experiment, and some preliminary results from the individual instruments are presented. The experiment studied passive vehicle charging using thermal plasma probes, and it is concluded that apart from moderate v x B (L)-induced electrical potential resulting from the large size and restricted plasma contact area, the Space Shuttle Orbiter behaved similarly to smaller spacecraft orbiting in the same ionospheric region. However, an unexpected passive orbital result was the detection of enhanced plasma density in the vicinity of the Orbiter under restricted orbital conditions, apparently composed of contaminant molecular species and with an electron component having a temperature considerably higher than the ambient ionosphere electrons. The active vehicle charging experiments were performed by using a 100 mA/1 keV electron beam emitted out of the payload bay. Charging measurements made during short electron beam pulse emissions provide an upper limit of about 1 mF for the Orbiter capacitance. Steady-state charging measurements showed that for the vehicle attitudes covered by the mission, the induced electrical potential was normally only a few volts, except during some nighttime conditions when it rose above 40 V.

Banks, P. M.↗
NASA NTRS1986

An updated theory of the polar wind

The 'classical' polar wind is an ambipolar outflow of thermal plasma from the terrestrial ionosphere at high latitudes. As the plasma escapes along diverging geomagnetic flux tubes, it undergoes four major transitions, including a transition from chemical to diffusion dominance, a transition from subsonic to supersonic flow, a transition from collision-dominated to collisionless regimes, and a transition from a heavy to a light ion. A further complication arises because of horizontal convection of the flux tubes owing to magnetospheric electric fields. Recent modelling predictions indicate that the polar wind has the following characteristics: (1) the ion and electron distributions are anisotropic and asymmetric in the collisionless regime; (2) elevated electron temperatures act to produce significant escape fluxes of suprathermal O(+) ions; (3) the interaction of the hot magnetospheric and cold ionospheric electron population leads to a localized (double layer) electric field which accelerates the polar wind ions; (4) a time-dependent expansion produces suprathermal ions; and (5) large perturbations lead to the formation of forward and reverse shocks. These and other results are reviewed.

Schunk, R. W.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Stability of the polar wind

The classical polar wind is an ambipolar outflow of thermal plasma from the terrestrial ionosphere at high latitudes. At altitudes above about 3000 km, the H(+) flow becomes supersonic and collisionless, and the H(+) velocity distribution becomes non-Maxwellian. The non-Maxwellian features include a temperature anisotropy, with the parallel H(+) temperature greater than the perpendicular temperature, and an asymmetry, with an elongated tail in the upward direction. These distortions from a Maxwellian increase as the H(+) gas escapes in the diverging geomagnetic field, and at 10 earth radii, the parallel-to-perpendicular temperature ratio is about 50 and the elongated tail is sufficiently long to move the drift velocity point off the peak of the distribution function. The stability of these highly non-Maxwellian H(+) velocity distributions was studied with regard to the excitation of electrostatic waves, and the plasma was found to be remarkably stable for a wide range of electron temperatures. This indicates that the various macroscopic formulations of the classical polar wind are valid. The stability of a perpendicularly heated polar wind was also studied, assuming bulk perpendicular heating of H(+) in the cusp, followed by the subsequent convection of the heated plasma into the polar cap. Two regions of instability were found.

Barakat, A. R.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Transport vehicle for manned Mars missions powered by inertial confinement fusion

Inertial confinement fusion (ICF) is an ideal engine power source for manned spacecraft to Mars because of its inherently high power-to-mass ratios and high specific impulses. In this paper a concept is produced for a vehicle powered by ICF and utilizing a magnetic thrust chamber to avoid plasma thermalization with wall structures and the resultant degradation of specific impulse, that are unavoidable with the use of mechanical thrust chambers. This vehicle is capable of 100-day manned Mars missions with a 100-metric-ton payload and a total vehicle launch mass near 6000 metric tons, based on advanced technology assumed to be available by A.D. 2020.

Orth, Charles D.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Energetic ion and electron phase space densities in the magnetosphere of Uranus

Proton and electron phase space density profiles are constructed from an analysis of Voyager 2 low-energy charged particle data from the magnetosphere of Uranus. The Uranus proton profiles reveal an approximately exponential decline with decreasing radius for L less than about 9 in a relatively dense thermal plasma region with intense plasma wave activity. Among the distributed loss mechanisms at Uranus are satellite sweeping, wave-particle interactions, and charge exchange of protons with an extended hydrogen corona.

Cheng, Andrew F.↗
NASA NTRS1988

High resolution microwave and X-ray observations of solar flares

This paper presents an analysis of high spatial resolution observations of 18 weak flares, carried out during the Solar Maximum Year in the microwave range, H-alpha, and soft X-rays, together with observations of the associated hard X-ray emission and the photospheric magnetic field. This combination of observations made it possible to obtain a picture of the flare geometry and the relative position of the various emissions, to study the change of the geometry during the flare, to estimate the electron temperature and emission measure of the thermal plasma, and to compute the contribution of the free-free process in the microwave emission. Results are interpreted as evidence for the presence of energetic electrons even in the post-burst phase of some flares. There was also found a clear case of homologous radio and X-ray bursts, one case of foot-point expansion with a relative velocity of 20 km/s at 6.16 cm, as well as some evidence of triggering of flares by disturbances moving with a velocity of 5000-13,000 km/s.

Alissandrakis, C. E.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Kinetic aspects of magnetotail dynamics - Observations

The observed kinetic (as opposed to fluid) aspects of particle behavior in the geomagnetic tail are discussed. Such behavior has been observed from thermal plasma energies to energies a few MeV or more. The importance of recognizing and analyzing the kinetic behavior of tail particles is that it provides a powerful diagnostic tool for inferring the state of the local and remote environment and the mechanisms responsible for observed tail dynamics, and a way of determining when fluid analyses (relying upon moments such as bulk velocity and temperature) may be misleading. Thus kinetic analyses provide a valuable complement to fluid-dynamics-based studies of the collective behavior of geomagnetic tail particles. Observed kinetic effects can be analyzed to examine spatial gradients; convection electric fields, distances to source regions, source-region characteristics, magnetic-field topology, heating/acceleration mechanism, boundary characteristics, and remote mechanisms affecting local particle distributions.

Mitchell, D. G.↗
NASA NTRS1988

The origin and energetics of CTB 80

Deep narrow-band images of the core of the unusual supernova remnant CTB 80 are presented, and the origin and energetics of the remnant are discussed. Based on a description of the core as a wind-blown bubble or bow shock around a pulsar, a scenario is presented relating the core and extended components to a single supernova explosion about 100,000 yr ago. The physical nature of the interface between the pulsar wind and the ambient thermal plasma is considered, and it is concluded that the pulsar is probably moving through shock-compressed material associated with the evolved remnant. It is argued that the core geometry is probably a bow shock viewed partially face-on.

Hester, J. Jeff↗
NASA NTRS1988

Case study of polar cap scintillation modeling using DE 2 irregularity measurements at 800 km

High-resolution in situ Dynamics Explorer 2 data on thermal plasma densities are used here to study the small-scale irregularity structure of the F layer patches. It is shown that spatially discrete density structures associated with polar cap patches can be detected fairly high in the topside by an in situ irregularity sensor and that they correspond to temporally discrete scintillation patches. It is also shown that it is possible to model phase and amplitude scintillation occurrence from a knowledge of irregularity amplitude at a satellite altitude of about 800 km provided that independent measurements of the peak density and scale height of the F region are available.

Basu, Sunanda↗
NASA NTRS1989

Influence of charging environments on spacecraft materials and system performance

An overview is presented of potential interactions that can occur on spacecraft operating in space environments. These interactions are discussed in detail. The environment acts on spacecraft in such a way that charging of exterior surfaces occurs. The consequences from this charging then affect system operational performance. Hence, it is the coupling of this exterior charging to system performance that is of concern here. These interactions were first discovered in the spacecraft charging phenomena in which the geomagnetic substorms charged external surfaces to a level that discharges occurred. As a result of the discharge, electronic systems either changed logic state (anomalous switching) or failed. These interactions can occur in all orbits. The type associated with geosynchronous orbits is called passive since the environment provides the charging mechanism. This type can also occur in polar orbits due to auroral charging environments. In low Earth orbits, the thermal plasma alleviates charging environment concerns, but system operations can induce similar effects.

Stevens, N. John↗
NASA NTRS1988

The polar wind

The classical polar wind is considered to be an ambipolar outflow of thermal plasma from the terrestrial ionosphere at high latitudes. The paper reviews the characteristic features of this flow, with emphasis placed on recent theoretical predictions. Consideration is given to H(+) and He(+) outflow characteristics both with and without convection electric field effects, the collisionless polar wind characteristics (including the formation of temperature anisotropies), and the time-dependent polar wind behavior in response to localized density perturbations and localized heat sources.

Schunk, R. W.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Optical imagery and spectrophotometry of CTB 80

Narrow-band imagery and spectrophotometry of the central region of CTB 80 are presented. The images show weak forbidden O III and ubiquitous filamentary forbidden S II and H-alpha emission from the extended radio lobes in which the core is embedded. The data indicate that the extended component is shock heated. Balmer line-dominated emission is observed around the perimeter of the core. Assuming that the volume of the radio shell is similar to the volume of the thermal shell, it is found that a magnetic field of about 600 microG and a cosmic-ray proton-to-electron ratio of about 200 are required to explain the pressure and synchrotron volume emissivity in the radio shell. It is suggested that the optical emission form the core of CTB 80 arises behind shocks which are being driven into a magnetized thermal plasma by the confined relativistic wind from PSR 1951+32.

Hester, J. Jeff↗
NASA NTRS1989

Cometary plasma boundaries

The solar wind starts to interact with comets at distances from the nucleus of several million kilometers. The nature of the interaction changes as a function of cometocentric distance. Several dynamically important boundaries have been observed in the cometary plasma environment by instruments on several spacecraft: (1) the bow shock marks the transition from supersonic to subsonic solar wind flow, (2) the cometopause was observed at a distance of about 100,000 km from Comet Halley where the flow begins to stagnate and where charge exchange with neutrals becomes important, (3) the diamagnetic cavity boundary (i.e., contact surface, ionopause) separates magnetized and unmagnetized cometary plasma, (4) the magnetotail boundary defines the tail lobes, (5) the plasma sheet boundary defines the extent of the plasma sheet, and (6) the density enhancement layer was observed at a distance of 10,000 km from Comet Halley and might be located where the neutrals and plasma thermally decouple.

Cravens, T. E.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Physics of the central engine

Physical processes which may be important in the central engines of AGNs are discussed. Black hole accretion models have been elaborated during the past few years, and provide a plausible framework for jet and spectrum formation. However, the specific mechanisms responsible for producing the observed continuum radiation remain uncertain. Consideration is given to nonthermal models for the IR continuum, constraints on thermal plasma, and the production of relativistic electrons.

Begelman, Mitchell C.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Static galactic halo and galactic wind

Although the exact state of the interstellar medium (ISM) in our Galaxy (other galaxies as well) is not clear at all, the 'common consensus' is that a rough pressure balance (or equipartition of energy) exists between different components and phases: cold, warm, hot phases of the ISM, magnetic field, cosmic rays, etc. If the halo of a galaxy is taken to be an extension of the ISM, then its structure is influenced by various ISM components. A 'complete' description of the halo is evidently very complicated. This paper gives a brief account on cosmic ray halo, which emphasizes the role played by cosmic rays. The interaction between cosmic rays and thermal plasma is facilitated by magnetic field. The cosmic rays are scattered by hydromagnetic waves (e.g., Alfven waves) which in turn can be generated by cosmic ray streaming instability. This constitutes a self-consistent picture. Since we are interested in the structure of the halo, we adopted a hydrodynamic model in which the cosmic rays and waves are described by their pressures. In general there are two classes of halos: static and dynamic.

Ko, Chung-Ming↗
NASA NTRS1992

Very Large Array-RATAN 600 observations of a solar active region

VLA-RATAN-600 observations of the sun around the partial solar eclipse in July 1990 are discussed. The relatively flat spectrum of the extended emission is attributed to the optically thin thermal bremsstrahlung of electrons trapped in a magnetic loop at coronal temperatures. Step-spectrum sunspot-associated emission is attributed to thermal gyroresonance radiation at different heights along the leg of a loop joining regions of positive magnetic polarity. Comparisons with predicted distributions of gyroresonance radio indicate that compact sunspot-associated sources lie at heights of 2500-17,500 km above the photosphere. Differences in the observed and predicted microwave emission suggest an inhomogeneous distribution of thermal plasma in the corona above the sunspot or the presence of localized flux tubes containing higher density plasma or nonpotential fields.

Bogod, V. M.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Analysis of the ionosphere-plasmasphere transport of superthermal electrons. I - Transport in the plasmasphere

Analytical solutions are developed for the kinetic equation which describes the transport of superthermal electrons in the terrestrial plasmasphere, together with a relationship which makes it possible to calculate the transparency of the plasmasphere to these electrons. In addition, analytic expressions are presented for the heating rate of the thermal plasma due to the passage of these superthermal electrons through the plasmasphere.

Khazanov, George V.↗
NASA NTRS1992

The intrinsic magnetic field and solar-wind interaction of Mars

The Venus-like interaction between the solar wind and the atmosphere of Mars is examined. The bow shock and magnetosheath of Mars indicate the presence of an obstacle to the solar wind that is somewhat larger than the size of the planet and its observed ionosphere, and also relatively larger than the Venus obstacle under comparable conditions. The intrinsic magnetic field of Mars must be no greater than 1.5 x 10 exp 12 T/cu m, or about 0.0001 times as strong as that of the earth to produce an obstacle of such small size. At least for solar minimum conditions, like those prevailing at the time of the Viking Landers, the ionospheric plasma (thermal) pressure is insufficient to balance the incident solar-wind pressure by itself. The ion and electron temperatures in the Martian ionosphere indicate the presence of local horizontal magnetic fields and heat sources in excess of solar radiation alone.

Luhmann, J. G.↗