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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 505 records · Page 28
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1981

Electric propulsion and its applications to space missions

Consideration is given the NASA, Air Force and European electric propulsion programs, the characteristics of primary electric propulsion systems, nuclear electric orbit transfer vehicles, and such topics in the fundamental processes of electrostatic thrusters as sputtering in mercury ion thrusters, the screen hole plasma sheath of an ion accelerator system, and the modelling of ion beam neutralization and nitrogen chemisorption. Also considered are electrostatic thruster components and systems, electromagnetic thrusters such as MPD and RIT systems, electric rail guns and mass drivers, power sources which include solar and nuclear alternatives, power conversion systems and their cooling apparatus, and the environmental interactions between spacecraft and their electric propulsion systems.

Finke, R. C.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Labyrinth seal forces on a whirling rotor

An experimental investigation of air labyrinth seal forces on a subsynchronously whirling model rotor is described and test results are given for diverging, converging, and straight two-strip seals. The effects of pressure drop, back pressure, whirl direction, and whirl frequency are shown. These results provide basic experimental data needed in the development of design methods for predicting and preventing self-excited whirl of turbine rotors and other machines having labyrinth seals. The total dynamic seal forces on the whirling model rotor are measured accurately by means of a novel active damping and stiffness system that is adjusted to obtain neutral whirl stability of the model rotor system. In addition, the whirling pressure pattern in the seal annulus is measured for a few test conditions and the corresponding pressure forces on the rotor are compared with the total measured forces. This comparison shows that either radial and axial pressure gradients in the seal annulus or drag forces on the rotor are significant.

Wright, D. V.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Correlation between proton anisotropy and magnetic field direction in the distant geotail

A statistical analysis has been conducted of the anisotropy of suprathermal protons and the polarity of the magnetic field during April 10-16, 1983. At this time, ISEE-3 was at lunar distances in the geomagnetic tail of the earth, and well within the nominal magnetopause. The first-order anisotropy is presently correlated with the latitude angle and the z-component of the magnetic field. The anisotropy direction's frequency distribution is strongly peaked in the earthward and tailward direction, indicating fast earthward and tailward flows. For large anisotropies, and within 5 earth radii of the nominal neutral sheet position, a strong correlation is found between the earthward-streaming suprathermal protons and the northward polarity of the magnetic field; large tailward anisotropies are generally correlated with southward magnetic field polarity. This correlation is most simply interpreted in terms of a neutral line or reconnection model.

Klecker, B.↗
NASA NTRS1985

The manifestation of Alfven's hypothesis of critical ionization velocity in the performance of MPD thrusters

The role of Alfven's critical ionization velocity in the performance of the self-field MPD thruster has been investigated. The existence of a well defined characteristic velocity can be attributed to an ionization process involving the production of a population of suprathermal electrons by an electrostatic instability. It is shown that for the MPD thruster plasma, suprathermalization of electrons via this electrostatic instability can only happen if ions are initially accelerated to velocities larger than the Alfven critical ionization velocity. When this occurs the mechanism will be initiated and the ions decelerated to velocities near the critical velocity. This mechanism ceases to be limiting when all neutrals are ionized. A model of MPD thruster terminal behavior, incorporating Alfven's hypothesis, is presented. Experiments with three different propellants reveal that operation at values of the current squared to total mass flow ratio corresponding to the Alfven critical velocity is marked by a transition wherein low frequency voltage oscillations and a notable change in the voltage-current dependence occurs. One major result of this study is the demonstration that the Alfven critical velocity is not a fundamental limitation on MPD exhaust velocity.

Choueiri, E. Y.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Heating efficiencies in the thermosphere of Venus reconsidered

Heating efficiencies less than 10 percent are required by recent models of the low neutral temperatures in the daytime thermosphere of Venus. It is considered here whether such values are justifiable from a molecular point of view. The primary uncertainty in a calculation of the heating efficiency is the fraction of energy, f sub v, that appears as vibrational excitation of product molecules in quenching, photodissociation, and exothermic chemical reactions. The current state of knowledge of energy partitioning in chemical reactions is discussed and a range of likely values for f sub v is deduced. The calculated heating efficiencies fall in the range 16-25 percent over the altitude range from 115 to 200 km. It is suggested that the heating efficiency should not be taken as a free parameter and that the cold Venus thermosphere has not yet been satisfactorily explained.

Fox, J. L.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Space Station pressure wall repair techniques

Space Station components are susceptible to hypervelocity impact damage from orbital debris and meteoroids. An especially vulnerable and critical space station component is the module pressure wall. Even with shielding, sufficiently large impacting particles can create penetrations ranging from pinholes to large jagged holes. This paper describes pressure wall damage repair patches along with procedures and tools for performing the repair. One patch incorporates an aluminum foil protected from the jagged hole edge with a Kevlar or foam pad. An adhesive holds the patch in place. Another patch uses a stiff plate held away from the damaged area by a low durrometer rubber ring which also seals the plate edge. An adhesive will also secure this patch in place. Procedures were developed to prepare the punctured wall surface and apply the patch under weightless and unpressurized conditions. The procedures were tested in a laboratory and in the MSFC Neutral Buoyancy Simulator with models of the patches and tools.

Gibbins, Martin N.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Far infrared, submm and mm spectroscopy of the galactic center: Radio arc and +20/+50 km s (exp -1) clouds

The observations of the par improved spectroscopy and the molecular clouds at the galactic center are reported. The results show: the spatial distributions of C(II) 158 microns and molecular line radiation and of the thermal radio continuum emission in the arched filaments of the radio arc are similar; about 2 x 10(exp 4) of the solar mass, or 10 percent of the total gas mass in the radio arc, are contained in C(+) regions; the H(+)/C(+) regions are probably located at the surfaces of the dense molecular clouds in the arc. Profiles, fluxes and spatial distributions of the C(II) fine structure and CO rotational lines are reported. It is demonstrated that the data does not fit models in which the neutral interstellar clouds in the arc are ionized by shocks or by magnetohydrodynamic phenomena. Moreover, that the high temperatures and densities derived previously from NH3 and CS observations may not be characteristic of the bulk of the molecular gas.

Genzel, R.↗
NASA NTRS1992

On neutralized currents in the solar corona

Using Ampere's integral law applied to vector magnetograph transverse field data, the current pattern in an active region associated with flaring activity is analyzed. The greater sensitivity of this integral formalism of Ampere's law may allow one to identify regions of weak return current around the actual positive current region. The effects of Faraday rotation on the inferred magnetic field measurements, and hence on the deduced current pattern, are discussed. It is concluded that the current patterns in the region consist either of a neutralized current system, well modeled by a coaxial cable, or of a potential field, with the apparent currents in the core an artifact induced by magneto-optical effects. In either case, the data do not convincingly show an unneutralized current system.

Wilkinson, Ladye K.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) contamination modeling

The Integrated Spacecraft Environments Model (ISEM) was used to model the LDEF induced neutral molecular environment at several different times and altitudes during the mission. The purpose of this effort was to provide the community with an estimate of the neutral molecular environment to assist in phenomenology studies.

Gordon, Tim↗
NASA NTRS2000

Wake Vortex Transport in Proximity to the Ground

A sensitivity study for aircraft wake vortex transport has been conducted using a validated large eddy simulation (LES) model. The study assumes neutrally stratified and nonturbulent environments and includes the consequences of the ground. The numerical results show that the nondimensional lateral transport is primarily influenced by the magnitude of the ambient crosswind and is insensitive to aircraft type. In most of the simulations, the ground effect extends the lateral position of the downwind vortex about one initial vortex spacing (b(sub o)) in the downstream direction. Further extension by as much as one b(sub o) occurs when the downwind vortex remains 'in ground effect' (IGE) for relatively long periods of time. Results also show that a layer-averaged ambient wind velocity can be used to bound the time for lateral transport of wake vortices to insure safe operations on a parallel runway.

Hamilton, David W.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Effect of Radiation and Endurance on Pulsed Programming of Commercial NAND Flash Memory

Independent and coupled effects of radiation and endurance on commercial NAND Flash memory is studied using pulsed programming enabled by interrupting the programming command at the chip-level. The effects of total ionization dose (TID) and endurance stress increase and decrease, respectively, the number of pulses needed to program an entire page. The coupled effect of endurance stress and TID appear to exhibit linear correlation. A neutral electron/ hole trap model is evaluated and correlates well with our results.

Narasimham, Avyaya Jayanthi↗
NASA NTRS2019

A NICER Look at Strong X-ray Obscuration in the Seyfert-2 Galaxy NGC 4388

We present an analysis of the time-averaged spectrum of the Seyfert-2 active galaxy NGC 4388, obtained by NICER. The intrinsic strength of the reflection spectrum in NGC 4388, the large collecting area and favorable passband of NICER, and a net exposure of 105.6 ks yielded an exceptionally sensitive spectrum. Using two independent families of models, the intrinsic spectrum from the central engine is found to be highly obscured but not Compton-thick. Enforcing physical self-consistency within each model, the independent treatments give formally consistent results: = - N 2.67+ 10 cm- H 0.030.02 23 2 or = ´ -N 2.64+ 10 cm- H 0.03 0.03 23 2. Past measurements made with Suzaku and XMM-Newton are in broad agreement with these column density values. A more recent measurement with NuSTAR (in late 2013) recorded a column density about twice as large; the robustness of this variability is reinforced by the use of consistent models and procedures. The neutral FeKα line in the NICER spectrum is nominally resolved and consistent with an origin in the optical broad-line region). The data also require ionized absorption in the Fe K band, similar to the “warm absorbers” detected in Seyfert-1 active galactic nuclei. The low-energy spectrum is consistent with a set of ionized plasma components. We discuss these findings and note that the geometric inferences that derive from this analysis can be tested with XRISM and Athena.

J M Miller↗
NASA NTRS2021

Geomagnetically Induced Currents at Middle Latitudes: 1. Quiet-Time Variability

Geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) at middle latitudes have received increased attention after reported power grid disruptions due to geomagnetic disturbances. However, quantifying the risk to the electric power grid at middle latitudes is difficult without understanding how the GIC sensors respond to geomagnetic activity on a daily basis. Therefore, in this study the question “Do measured GICs have distinguishable and quantifiable long-period and short-period characteristics?” is addressed. The study focuses on the long-term variability of measured GIC, and establishes the extent to which the variability relates to quiet-time geomagnetic activity. GIC quiet-day curves (QDCs) are computed from measured data for each GIC node, covering all four seasons, and then compared with the seasonal variability of thermosphere-ionosphere-electrodynamics general circulation model (TIE- GCM)-simulated neutral wind and height-integrated current density. The results show strong evidence that the middle-latitude nodes routinely respond to the tidal-driven Sq variation, with a local time and seasonal dependence on the direction of the ionospheric currents, which is specific to each node. The strong dependence of GICs on the Sq currents demonstrates that the GIC QDCs may be employed as a robust baseline from which to quantify the significance of GICs during geomagnetically active times and to isolate those variations to study independently. The QDC-based significance score computed in this study provides power utilities with a node-specific measure of the geomagnetic significance of a given GIC observation. Finally, this study shows that the power grid acts as a giant sensor that may detect ionospheric current systems.

Adam C Kellerman↗
NASA NTRS1985

The perturbed neutral circulation in the vicinity of a symmetric stable auroral arc

In the present investigation, a sophisticated high-resolution time-dependent numerical model is used to study the neutral response to changes in the E region electrodynamical forcing and particle heating associated with the appearance of a stable auroral arc. The initial condition is a nighttime ionosphere in the presence of a background precipitation of electrons associated with diffuse auroras. A simulation study is conducted of the perturbation in the neutral circulation. The simulations were performed on the basis of a model which describes nonlinear, nonhydrostatic viscous flow on a rotating atmosphere.

Walterscheid, R. L.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Simulating large one-dimensional neutral-atom quantum systems

While abstract models of quantum computation assume a closed system of two-level states, practical quantum devices inevitably couple to the environment in some way, creating sources of noise. Understanding the tolerance to noise of specific quantum algorithms run on specific devices is important for determining the feasibility of quantum computing in the current noisy intermediate-scale quantum era. Of particular interest is understanding the noise sensitivity of these devices as more qubits are added to the system. Classical simulations are a useful tool to understand the effects of this noise, but direct classical simulations of open quantum systems are burdened by an exponentially growing cost in the number of qubits and a large local Hilbert space dimension. For onedimensional, shallow circuits, using tensor networks can replace this exponential cost with a linear one and simulate far wider systems than what would normally be available. In this paper, we describe a tensor network simulation of a neutral atom quantum system under the presence of noise, while introducing a purity-preserving truncation technique that compromises between the simplicity of the matrix product state and the positivity of the matrix product density operator. We apply this simulation to a near-optimized iteration of the quantum approximate optimization algorithm on a transverse field Ising model in order to investigate the influence of large system sizes on the performance of the algorithm. We find that while circuits with a large number of qubits fail more often under noise that depletes the qubit population, their outputs on a successful measurement are just as robust under Rydberg atom dissipation or qubit dephasing as smaller systems. However, such circuits might not perform as well under coherent multiqubit errors such as Rydberg atom crosstalk. We also find that the optimized parameters are especially robust to noise, suggesting that a noisier quantum system can be used to find the optimal parameters before switching to a cleaner system for measurements of observables.

Allen, James↗
NASA NTRS2004

Development of a Computationally Efficient, High Fidelity, Finite Element Based Hall Thruster Model

This report documents the development of a two dimensional finite element based numerical model for efficient characterization of the Hall thruster plasma dynamics in the framework of multi-fluid model. Effect of the ionization and the recombination has been included in the present model. Based on the experimental data, a third order polynomial in electron temperature is used to calculate the ionization rate. The neutral dynamics is included only through the neutral continuity equation in the presence of a uniform neutral flow. The electrons are modeled as magnetized and hot, whereas ions are assumed magnetized and cold. The dynamics of Hall thruster is also investigated in the presence of plasma-wall interaction. The plasma-wall interaction is a function of wall potential, which in turn is determined by the secondary electron emission and sputtering yield. The effect of secondary electron emission and sputter yield has been considered simultaneously, Simulation results are interpreted in the light of experimental observations and available numerical solutions in the literature.

Jacobson, David↗