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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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Human adaptation to altitude, heat, cold, physical exertion, acceleration, radiation, in space flight
Adsorption phenomena in noble metals rhodium, iridium, palladium, and gold - application of potentiostatic delta method
Comparison of high frequency spectrometers as partial pressure measuring devices
Astrophysics problems covering exploration of atmosphere, ionosphere, radiation, solar emission, geomagnetic and interplanetary magnetic fields
Saturn Launching Facility 37 at Kennedy Space Center, Florida
Discussion of the results of experiments analyzing the widths of shock-excited emission lines at temperatures of about 5000 K. The width of two neutral silicon lines (4102 and 5948 A) were measured as broadened by argon, and the shift of one of these lines (4102 A) was determined. Likewise, the width one of the lines of cesium (4593 A) was measured as broadened by argon and neon. These data are compared with other experimental data to determine the temperature dependence of the broadening. Significant disagreements with simple theory are found, the experimental values of the widths being larger than the theoretical values by factors of 1.5-2.
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A computer program for analyzing rocket engine performance was developed. The program is concerned with the formation, distribution, flow, and combustion of liquid sprays and combustion product gases in conventional rocket combustion chambers. The capabilities of the program to determine the combustion characteristics of the rocket engine are described. Sample data code sheets show the correct sequence and formats for variable values and include notes concerning options to bypass the input of certain data. A seperate list defines the variables and indicates their required dimensions.
Spectral features observed in the atmosphere of Titan by the Voyager IR experiment have been attributed to weakly bound complexes of N2 and H2, dominant and minor constituents, respectively. The abundance of H2-N2 dimers there was computed. Current calculations include quantitative spectral line positions and intensities for N2-Ar and CO2-CO2 relating to Titan and Earth, and to Mars and Venus, respectively. This work suggests applications to spectra of planetary atmospheres obtained in spacecraft missions.
Integrated band intensities of the 620/cm absorption in (C2H2)2 are measured by FTIR spectroscopy at constant acetylene pressure between 198 and 273 K. These data, in conjunction with ab initio results for (C2H2)2, are used for the statistical evaluation of the equilibrium constant Kp(T) for acetylene-cluster dimerization. The present results are used to clarify the role of molecular clusters in chemical systems at or near equilibrium, in particular in Titan's stratosphere.
The subject of quantum effects in cosmochemistry was recently addressed with the goal of understanding how they contribute to Q-phase noble gas abundances found in meteorites. It was the pursuit of the Q-phase carrier of noble gases and their anomalous abundances that ultimately led to the identification, isolation, and discovery of presolar grains. In spite of its importance, Q-phase investigations have led a number of authors to reach conclusions that do not seem to be supported by quantum chemistry. In view of the subject's fundamental significance, additional study is called for. Two quantum properties of Q-phase candidates known as endohedral carbon-cage clathrates such as fullerenes will be addressed here. These are complexation energy and instability induced by Pauli blocking (exclusion principle).
We formulate a statistical model of the human core-temperature circadian rhythm in which the circadian signal is modeled as a van der Pol oscillator, the thermoregulatory response is represented as a first-order autoregressive process, and the evoked effect of activity is modeled with a function specific for each circadian protocol. The new model directly links differential equation-based simulation models and harmonic regression analysis methods and permits statistical analysis of both static and dynamical properties of the circadian pacemaker from experimental data. We estimate the model parameters by using numerically efficient maximum likelihood algorithms and analyze human core-temperature data from forced desynchrony, free-run, and constant-routine protocols. By representing explicitly the dynamical effects of ambient light input to the human circadian pacemaker, the new model can estimate with high precision the correct intrinsic period of this oscillator ( approximately 24 h) from both free-run and forced desynchrony studies. Although the van der Pol model approximates well the dynamical features of the circadian pacemaker, the optimal dynamical model of the human biological clock may have a harmonic structure different from that of the van der Pol oscillator.
Development of a computer program for analyzing the effects of bipropellant spray combustion processes on liquid rocket performance is described and discussed. The distributed energy release (DER) computer program was designed to become part of the JANNAF liquid rocket performance evaluation methodology and to account for performance losses associated with the propellant combustion processes, e.g., incomplete spray gasification, imperfect mixing between sprays and their reacting vapors, residual mixture ratio striations in the flow, and two-phase flow effects. The DER computer program begins by initializing the combustion field at the injection end of a conventional liquid rocket engine, based on injector and chamber design detail, and on propellant and combustion gas properties. It analyzes bipropellant combustion, proceeding stepwise down the chamber from those initial conditions through the nozzle throat.
Mixing methodology improvement for the JANNAF DER and CICM injection/combustion analysis computer programs was accomplished. ZOM plane prediction model development was improved for installation into the new standardized DER computer program. An intra-element mixing model developing approach was recommended for gas/liquid coaxial injection elements for possible future incorporation into the CICM computer program.
A general iterative method is described for constructing thermal models of the solar photosphere consistent with observed strong and weak lines of Ca I and Ca II. Calibrations of the solar calcium abundance and the van der Waals parameter for important Ca I and Ca II lines are obtained using plane-parallel largely LTE model atmospheres, and these thermal models are modified for better fits to the measured Ca II H and K inner wing shapes. Possible sources of error in this semiempirical approach are evaluated. The derived hydrogen van der Waals broadening is compared with theoretical estimates of that broadening as well as with experimental measurements of the helium broadening
Emission spectroscopy of shock-heated atomic silicon was performed in the spectral range 180 to 300 nm, in an environment simulating the ablation layer expected around a Jovian entry probe with a silica heat shield. From the spectra obtained at temperatures from 6000 to 10,000 K and electron number densities from 1 quadrillion to 100 quadrillion per cu cm, the Lorentzian line-widths were determined. The results showed that silicon lines are broadened significantly by both electrons (Stark broadening) and hydrogen atoms (Van der Waals broadening), and the combined line-widths are much larger than previously assumed. From the data, the Stark and the Van der Waals line-widths were determined for 34 silicon lines. Radiative transport through a typical shock layer was computed using the new line-width data. The computations showed that silicon emission in the hot region is large, but it is mostly absorbed in the colder region adjacent to the wall.
The reported investigation is concerned with the solution of systems of differential equations which are derived from a Hamiltonian function in the extended phase space. The problem selected involves a one-dimensional perturbed harmonic oscillator. The van der Pol equation considered has an exact asymptotic value for its amplitude. Comparisons are made between a numerical solution and a known analytical solution. In addition to the van der Pol problem, known solutions regarding the restricted problem of three bodies are used as examples for perturbed Keplerian motion. The extended phase space Hamiltonian discussed by Stiefel and Scheifele (1971) is considered. A description is presented of two canonical formulations of the perturbed harmonic oscillator.
It has been suggested that (CO2)2 and Ar-CO2 are important constituents of the planetary atmospheres of Venus and Mars. Recent results on the laboratory spectroscopy of CO2 containing van der Waals complexes which may be of use in the modeling of the spectra of planetary atmospheres are presented. Sub-Doppler infrared spectra were obtained for (CO2)2, (CO2)3, and rare-gas-CO2 complexes in the vicinity of the CO2 Fermi diad at 2.7 micrometers using a color-center-laser optothermal spectrometer. From the spectroscopic constants the geometries of the complexes have been determined and van der Waals vibrational frequencies have been estimated. The equilibrium configurations are C2h, C3h, and C2v, for (CO2)2, (CO2)3, and the rare-gas-CO2 complexes, respectively. Most of the homogeneous linewidths for the revibrational transitions range from 0.5 to 22 MHz, indicating that predissociation is as much as four orders of magnitude faster than radiative processes for vibrational relaxation in these complexes.