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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 487 records · Page 27
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1989

Electronically Variable Pressure Regulator (EVPR)

A new programmable electronically variable pressure regulator (EVPR) concept accurately controls the local outlet or remote system pressure. It uses an integral pulse width modulated rare earth permanent magnet motor operating in response to redundant pressure transducer feedback signals. The EVPR is a simple single stage device that does not use dynamic seals or pilot valving. Conversion of partial revolution motor torque to poppet lifting force is accomplished by pure flexure action to avoid using bearings. The flexure drive (called the ROTAX) has a variable lead to minimize motor weight and power consumption. Breadboard tests were completed successfully on two critical design elements of the EVPR: the ROTAX and the motor. The ROTAX cable system was tested for 250,000 cycles without failure. The breadboard motor met the basic design requirements including the design torque and power consumption. Prototype parts were fabricated, and testing of the prototype EVPR has started. It is PC computer controlled to facilitate programming, data acquisition and analysis. A lightweight dedicated microprocessor is planned for the flightweight EVPR.

Reinicke, R. H.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Ion acceleration at the contact surface of Comet P/Halley

Suprathermal ions form a major component of the plasma within the inner coma of Comet P/Halley. A close inspection of these ions shows them to contain at least two separate populations: one population covers the energy range below about 400 eV, and a second population exists in a narrow energy band centered between 3 and 4 keV. Similar distributions are found in two regions upstream of the contact surface. It is postulated that the suprathermal ions observed upstream of the contact surface were created at the contact surface. Sudden movements of the contact surface, in the cometary frame of reference, in response to changes in the magnetic field pressure, or cometary production rate, give rise to an induction electric field able to accelerate the local thermal cometary ions up into the tens of electron volts range. Higher energies can be attained with the reacceleration of these ions in subsequent movements of the contact surface. Besides creating the ion enhancements observed upstream of the contact surface, this acceleration mechanism wil release large amounts of suprathermal ions into the inner coma.

Gurgiolo, C.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Hydrogen effects on low-cycle fatigue of the single-crystal nickel-base superalloy CMSX-2

The effects of hydrogen on the low-cycle fatigue behavior of CMSX-2 (001)-oriented single crystals were examined. Fatigue tests were conducted under constant plastic strain amplitude control. Cyclic stress-strain curves and fatigue life data at different plastic strain amplitudes were determined for hydrogen-free and hydrogen-charged specimens. Two charging procedures, leading to different hydrogen concentrations, were applied. Hydrogen was found to decrease significantly the number of cycles to failure under the various experimental conditions. The increasing hydrogen concentration and ratio of the hydrogen to nonhydrogen-containing volume were found to shorten fatigue life in hydrogen-charged specimens. Based on the analysis of cyclic stress-strain curves and optical and transmission electron microscopy, it was established that hydrogen enhanced strain localization and promoted crystallographic stage I cracking, leading to embrittlement.

Dollar, M.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Helicopter Human Factors

Even under optimal conditions, helicopter flight is a most demanding form of human-machine interaction, imposing continuous manual, visual, communications, and mental demands on pilots. It is made even more challenging by small margins for error created by the close proximity of terrain in NOE flight and missions flown at night and in low visibility. Although technology advances have satisfied some current and proposed requirements, hardware solutions alone are not sufficient to ensure acceptable system performance and pilot workload. However, human factors data needed to improve the design and use of helicopters lag behind advances in sensor, display, and control technology. Thus, it is difficult for designers to consider human capabilities and limitations when making design decisions. This results in costly accidents, design mistakes, unrealistic mission requirements, excessive training costs, and challenge human adaptability. NASA, in collaboration with DOD, industry, and academia, has initiated a program of research to develop scientific data bases and design principles to improve the pilot/vehicle interface, optimize training time and cost, and maintain pilot workload and system performance at an acceptable level. Work performed at Ames, and by other research laboratories, will be reviewed to summarize the most critical helicopter human factors problems and the results of research that has been performed to: (1) Quantify/model pilots use of visual cues for vehicle control; (2) Improve pilots' performance with helmet displays of thermal imagery and night vision goggles for situation awareness and vehicle control; (3) Model the processes by which pilots encode maps and compare them to the visual scene to develop perceptually and cognitively compatible electronic map formats; (4) Evaluate the use of spatially localized auditory displays for geographical orientation, target localization, radio frequency separation; (5) Develop and flight test control/display concepts; (6) Quantify, model, predict, and improve pilots, workload-management strategies; and (7) Design computer-game trainers to reduce training time and cost.

Hart, Sandra G.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Designs and Materials for Better Coronagraph Occulting Masks

New designs, and materials appropriate for such designs, are under investigation in an effort to develop coronagraph occulting masks having broad-band spectral characteristics superior to those currently employed. These designs and materials are applicable to all coronagraphs, both ground-based and spaceborne. This effort also offers potential benefits for the development of other optical masks and filters that are required (1) for precisely tailored spatial transmission profiles, (2) to be characterized by optical-density neutrality and phase neutrality (that is, to be characterized by constant optical density and constant phase over broad wavelength ranges), and/or (3) not to exhibit optical- density-dependent phase shifts. The need for this effort arises for the following reasons: Coronagraph occulting masks are required to impose, on beams of light transmitted through them, extremely precise control of amplitude and phase according to carefully designed transmission profiles. In the original application that gave rise to this effort, the concern has been to develop broad-band occulting masks for NASA s Terrestrial Planet Finder coronagraph. Until now, experimental samples of these masks have been made from high-energy-beam-sensitive (HEBS) glass, which becomes locally dark where irradiated with a high-energy electron beam, the amount of darkening depending on the electron-beam energy and dose. Precise mask profiles have been written on HEBS glass blanks by use of electron beams, and the masks have performed satisfactorily in monochromatic light. However, the optical-density and phase profiles of the HEBS masks vary significantly with wavelength; consequently, the HEBS masks perform unsatisfactorily in broad-band light. The key properties of materials to be used in coronagraph occulting masks are their extinction coefficients, their indices of refraction, and the variations of these parameters with wavelength. The effort thus far has included theoretical predictions of performances of masks that would be made from alternative materials chosen because the wavelength dependences of their extinction coefficients and their indices of refraction are such that that the optical-density and phase profiles of masks made from these materials can be expected to vary much less with wavelength than do those of masks made from HEBS glass. The alternative materials considered thus far include some elemental metals such as Pt and Ni, metal alloys such as Inconel, metal nitrides such as TiN, and dielectrics such as SiO2. A mask as now envisioned would include thin metal and dielectric films having stepped or smoothly varying thicknesses (see figure). The thicknesses would be chosen, taking account of the indices of refraction and extinction coefficients, to obtain an acceptably close approximation of the desired spatial transmittance profile with a flat phase profile

Balasubramanian, Kunjithapatham↗
NASA NTRS2010

New Results on High Energy Cosmic Ray Electrons Observed with Fermi LAT and Their Implications on the Origin of Cosmic Rays

The Large Area Telescope on-board the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope has collected more than 10 million cosmic ray electrons with energy above 7 GeV since its science operation on orbit. High energy electrons rapidly lose their energy by synchrotron radiation on Galactic magnetic fields and by inverse Compton scattering on the interstellar radiation field. The typical distance over which a 1 TeV electron loses half its total energy is estimated to be 300-400 pc.This makes them a unique tool for probing nearby Galactic space. Observed spectrum has a harder spectral index than was previously reported and suggests the presence of nearby sources of high energy electrons. One of viable candidates are nearby pulsars, possibly some of recently discovered by Fermi. At the same time the dark matter origin of such sources cannot be ruled out. I will also report our current upper limits on cosmic ray electrons anisotropy which helps to set constraints on their local sources.

Moiseev, Alexander↗
NASA NTRS2014

Investigating the Response and Expansion of Plasma Plumes in a Mesosonic Plasma Using the Situational Awareness Sensor Suite for the ISS (SASSI)

To study the complex interactions between the space environment surrounding the International Space Station (ISS) and the ISS space vehicle, we are exploring a specialized suite of plasma sensors, manipulated by the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) to probe the near‐ISS mesosonic plasma ionosphere moving past the ISS. It is proposed that SASSI consists of the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center's (MSFC's) Thermal Ion Capped Hemispherical Spectrometer (TICHS), Thermal Electron Capped Hemispherical Spectrometer (TECHS), Charge Analyzer Responsive to Local Oscillations (CARLO), the Collimated PhotoElectron Gun (CPEG), and the University of Michigan Advanced Langmuir Probe (ALP). There are multiple expected applications for SASSI. Here, we will discuss the study of fundamental plasma physics questions associated with how an emitted plasma plume (such as from the ISS Plasma Contactor Unit (PCU)) responds and expands in a mesosonic magnetoplasma as well as emit and collect current. The ISS PCU Xe plasma plume drifts through the ionosphere and across the Earth's magnetic field, resulting in complex dynamics. This is of practical and theoretical interest pertaining to contamination concerns (e.g. energetic ion scattering) and the ability to collect and emit current between the spacecraft and the ambient plasma ionosphere. This impacts, for example, predictions of electrodynamic tether current performance using plasma contactors as well as decisions about placing high‐energy electric propulsion thrusters on ISS. We will discuss the required measurements and connection to proposed instruments for this study.

Gilchrist, Brian E.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Density power spectrum in the local interstellar medium

Observational evidence is presented for the existence of interstellar medium electron density irregularities over a wide range of scale sizes. Radio scattering observations associated with the wavenumber range of about 10 to the -11th to 10 to the -6th/m are consistent with a density spectrum of the wavenumber form -3.7 + or - 0.6. At lower spatial wavenumbers (10 to the -16th to 10 to the -18th/m) the power spectrum can be estimated by (1) computation of the density fluctuations near the outer scale of the spectrum, (2) comparison with density irregularities predicted by theoretical models of the interstellar medium, and (3) comparison with observations of the velocity structure function.

Armstrong, J. W.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Correlated electric field and low-energy electron measurements in the low-altitude polar cusp

Correlated electric field and low-energy electron measurements are presented for two passes of Hawkeye 1 through the south polar cusp at 2000-km altitude during local morning. In one case the electric field reversal coincides with the boundary of detectable 5.2keV electron intensities and the equatorward boundary of the cusp. In the other case the electric field reversal and the 5.2 keV electron trapping boundary coincide, but the equatorward edge of the cusp as determined from the presence of 180 eV electron intensities is 5 degrees invariant latitude equatorward of the electric field reversal. It is concluded that in the second case, electron intensities associated with the polar cusp populate closed dayside field lines, and hence the corresponding equatorward edge of these electron intensities is not always an indicator of the boundary between closed dayside field lines and polar cap field lines.

Kintner, P. M.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Dependence of field-aligned electron precipitation occurrence on season and altitude

An examination of factors affecting the occurrence of field-aligned 2.3-keV electron precipitation has been performed by using data from more than 7500 orbits of the polar-orbiting satellite Ogo 4. Both season and altitude were found to be parameters that are directly related to the probability of occurrence. The highest probabilities occurred when the measurements were made at altitudes from 800 km to apogee (914 km), except during summer. In this altitude interval, the electron precipitation was more likely to be field-aligned during winter than during any other season. The analysis suggests the establishment by electrostatic charge layers of localized electric fields parallel to the magnetic field. The resulting potential distribution focuses the electron beam along the field lines in the region between the charge layers but destroys the focused beam below the lower layer, and thus an altitude dependence is created.

Berko, F. W.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Magnetosheath electrostatic turbulence

The spectrum of electrostatic wave turbulence in the terrestrial magnetosheath is investigated. Measurements of electric and magnetic field fluctuations in the range 20 Hz to 200 kHz were made by two 16-channel spectrum analyzers on board the IMP 6 satellite. It is found that the electrostatic wave spectra generally consist of three components, which may occur in any combination: a low frequency component which shows a decrease in spectral density with increasing frequency and which is associated with the bow shock wave, a high frequency component identified with electron plasma oscillations and an intermediate frequency component. The minimum wavelength of electrostatic waves is found to be about 0.1 km, with intensity of from 0.01 to 1.0 mV/m. Electric field polarization has been found to be parallel to the local magnetic field direction, implying the presence of longitudinal electrostatic wave modes, electron plasma oscillations and ion sound waves.

Rodriguez, P.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Electrostatic waves due to field-aligned electron beams in the low-latitude boundary layer

Mass-resolved ion, electron, and plasma wave data obtained from several low-latitude boundary layer (LLBL) crossings by the AMPTE CCE satellite are analyzed. The data clearly separate the LLBL from the adjacent magnetosheath and magnetosphere. Attention was focused on wave-particle interactions involving electrons. Electron beams were found to be present in the LLBL during the southward interplanetary magnetic field, along with a simultaneous enhancement of electrostatic waves with parallel polarization. Linear theory analysis shows that for plasma conditions in the LLBL, electron beams are unstable to electrostatic waves that propagate parallel to the local magnetic field, in agreement with observations. A numerical simulation study of the beam-plasma interaction in the LLBL shows that the instability saturates by thermalization of the beam but that a beamlike structure can still remain in the electron distribution for certain initial parameters. It is suggested that peaks in the electron velocity distribution function may be found in the LLBL away from the beam source region.

Peroomian, V.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Effect of wave localization on plasma instabilities

The Anderson model of wave localization in random media is involved to study the effect of solar wind density turbulence on plasma processes associated with the solar type III radio burst. ISEE-3 satellite data indicate that a possible model for the type III process is the parametric decay of Langmuir waves excited by solar flare electron streams into daughter electromagnetic and ion acoustic waves. The threshold for this instability, however, is much higher than observed Langmuir wave levels because of rapid wave convection of the transverse electromagnetic daughter wave in the case where the solar wind is assumed homogeneous. Langmuir and transverse waves near critical density satisfy the Ioffe-Reigel criteria for wave localization in the solar wind with observed density fluctuations -1 percent. Numerical simulations of wave propagation in random media confirm the localization length predictions of Escande and Souillard for stationary density fluctations. For mobile density fluctuations localized wave packets spread at the propagation velocity of the density fluctuations rather than the group velocity of the waves. Computer simulations using a linearized hybrid code show that an electron beam will excite localized Langmuir waves in a plasma with density turbulence. An action principle approach is used to develop a theory of non-linear wave processes when waves are localized. A theory of resonant particles diffusion by localized waves is developed to explain the saturation of the beam-plasma instability. It is argued that localization of electromagnetic waves will allow the instability threshold to be exceeded for the parametric decay discussed above.

Levedahl, William Kirk↗
NASA NTRS1994

Comparison between Liouville's theorem and observed latitudinal distributions of trapped ions in the plasmapause region

The presence of anisotropic plasma distributions, trapped at the Earth's magnetic equator, has consequences for the electric field structure which must exist in equilibrium along the magnetic field line. Data from SCATHA and Dynamics Explorer 1 indicate that the core ion distributions at the magnetic equator can be well described as bi-Maxwellian distributions, with a perpendicular temperature an order of magnitude larger than the parallel temperature. A collisionless model is developed for the variation in plasma parameters, following the forms developed by Whipple (1977). If the core electron anisotropy is low, the resulting electric field of approximately 0.1 microV/m is pointed away from the equator. Under these conditions the self-consistent electric field will not overcome the effects of magnetic trapping. The resulting potential distribution results in a local maximum in total plasma density at the equator. Only when the electron distribution is primarily field-aligned can there be a density minimum at the equator. Comparisons are made between this model and the observed variations in DE 1 plasma parameters with latitude.

Olsen, R. C.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Energetic Particle Propagation in the Inner Heliosphere as Deduced from Low Frequency (less than 100 kHz) Observations of Type III Radio Bursts

Solar energetic particle (SEP) events are well-associated with solar flares. It is observed that the delay between the time of the flare and the first-arriving particles at a spacecraft increases with increasing difference between the flare longitude and the footpoint of the field line on which the spacecraft is located. This difference we call the "connection angle" and can be as large as approximately 120 deg. Recently it has been found that all SEP events are preceded by type III radio bursts. These bursts are plasma emission caused by the propagation of 2-50 keV flare electrons through the solar corona and into the solar wind. The drift of these type III radio bursts to lower and lower frequencies enables the propagation of the flare electrons to be traced from the Sun to about 1 AU. We have made an extensive analysis of the type III bursts associated with greater than 20 MeV proton events and find that, in most cases, the radio emission extends to the local plasma frequency when the energetic particles arrive within a few hours of the flare. We conclude that this emission at the lowest possible frequency is generated close to the spacecraft. We then use the time from when the burst started at the Sun to when it reached the local plasma frequency to infer the time it took the radio producing electrons to travel to the spacecraft. We find that these delay times are organized by the connection angle and correlate with the proton delay times. We also find that the differences between the radio delays at Wind and Ulysses are matched by differences in the relative arrival times of the energetic particles at the two spacecraft. The consistent timing between the relative arrival times of energetic electrons and protons and the start of the lowest frequency radio emissions suggests that the first arriving particles of both species are accelerated as part of the flare process and that they propagate to the spacecraft along trajectories similar to those of the lower energy flare electrons. To be detected by observers at locations distant from the nominal field lines originating in the flaring regions the particles must undergo lateral transport. The continuity of the radio bursts suggests that the cross-field transport may occur in the interplanetary medium.

Cane, H. V.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Simultaneous particle and field observations of field-aligned currents

Simultaneous measurements of low-energy precipitating electrons and magnetic fluctuations from the low-altitude polar-orbiting satellite Ogo 4 have been compared. Analysis of the two sets of experimental data for isolated events led to the classification of high-latitude field-aligned currents as purely temporal or purely spatial variations. Magnetic field disturbances calculated by using these simple current models and the measured particle fluxes were in good agreement with measured field values. Although fluxes of electrons of greater than 1 keV were detected primarily on the night side, magnetometer disturbances indicative of field-aligned currents were seen at all local times, in both the visual auroral regions and the day side polar cusp. Thus electrons with energies of less than about 1 keV are the prime charge carriers in high-latitude day side field-aligned currents.

Berko, F. W.↗
NASA NTRS2022

Electron Energization and Thermal to Non-Thermal Energy Partition During Earth's Magnetotail Reconnection

Electrons in earth's magnetotail are energized significantly both in the form of heating and in the form of acceleration to non-thermal energies. While magnetic reconnection is considered to play an important role in this energization, it still remains unclear how electrons are energized and how energy is partitioned between thermal and non-thermal components. Here, we show, based on in situ observations by NASA's magnetospheric multiscale mission combined with multi-component spectral fitting methods, that the average electron energy ε¯(or equivalently temperature) is substantially higher when the locally averaged electric field magnitude |𝐸| is also higher. While this result is consistent with the classification of “plasma-sheet” and “tail-lobe” reconnection during which reconnection is considered to occur on closed and open magnetic field lines, respectively, it further suggests that a stochastic Fermi acceleration in 3D, reconnection-driven turbulence is essential for the production and confinement of energetic electrons in the reconnection region. The puzzle is that the non-thermal power-law component can be quite small even when the electric field is large and the bulk population is significantly heated. The fraction of non-thermal electron energies varies from sample to sample between ∼20% and ∼60%, regardless of the electric field magnitude. Interestingly, these values of non-thermal fractions are similar to those obtained for the above-the-looptop hard x-ray coronal sources for solar flares.

M Oka↗
NASA NTRS2009

Compact, Miniature MMIC Receiver Modules for an MMIC Array Spectrograph

A single-pixel prototype of a W-band detector module with a digital back-end was developed to serve as a building block for large focal-plane arrays of monolithic millimeter-wave integrated circuit (MMIC) detectors. The module uses low-noise amplifiers, diode-based mixers, and a WR10 waveguide input with a coaxial local oscillator. State-of-the-art InP HEMT (high electron mobility transistor) MMIC amplifiers at the front end provide approximately 40 dB of gain. The measured noise temperature of the module, at an ambient temperature of 300 K, was found to be as low as 450 K at 95 GHz. The modules will be used to develop multiple instruments for astrophysics radio telescopes, both on the ground and in space. The prototype is being used by Stanford University to characterize noise performance at cryogenic temperatures. The goal is to achieve a 30-50 K noise temperature around 90 GHz when cooled to a 20 K ambient temperature. Further developments include characterization of the IF in-phase (I) and quadrature (Q) signals as a function of frequency to check amplitude and phase; replacing the InP low-noise amplifiers with state-of-the-art 35-nm-gate-length NGC low-noise amplifiers; interfacing the front-end module with a digital back-end spectrometer; and developing a scheme for local oscillator and IF distribution in a future array. While this MMIC is being developed for use in radio astronomy, it has the potential for use in other industries. Applications include automotive radar (both transmitters and receivers), communication links, radar systems for collision avoidance, production monitors, ground-penetrating sensors, and wireless personal networks.

Kangaslahti, Pekka P.↗