Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “light pulses”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 55 records · Page 3
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1972

Photodissociation of nitrogen dioxide by pulsed laser light at 6943 A.

Nitrogen dioxide was photodissociated using a pulsed ruby laser at 6943 A. The energy of a single photon at this wavelength was equivalent to only 57% of the dissociation energy. The mechanism proposed to account for the results was the consecutive absorption of two photons, the first resulting in a short-lived excited state. The second photon is then absorbed by the excited species resulting in dissociation.

Gerstmayr, J. W.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Airborne laser bathymeter

A description is given of a program concerned with the development and the evaluation of techniques for the measurement of water depth with a pulsed laser. Airborne laser bathymetry makes use of a light pulse which is sent downward. Information concerning the water depth is provided by the time interval observed between the arrival of the light pulse reflected from the water surface and the arrival of the pulse coming from the ocean floor. Details concerning the instrumentation used for the developed measurement method are discussed. Attention is also given to field experiments and aspects of system performance.

Cervenka, P. O.↗
NASA NTRS1988

The effects of feedback lighting on the circadian drinking rhythm in the diurnal new world primate Saimiri sciureus

Feedback lighting provides illumination primarily during the subjective night (i.e., the photosensitive portion of the circadian cycle) in response to a given behavior. This technique has previously been used to test the nonparametric model of entrainment in nocturnal rodents. In three species (Rattus norvegicus, Mesocricetus auratus, and Mus musculus), the free-running period of the locomotor activity rhythm was similar whether the animals were exposed to continuous light or discrete light pulses occurring essentially only during the subjective night (i.e., feedback lighting). In the current experiments, feedback lighting was presented to squirrel monkeys so that light fell predominantly during the subjective night. Feedback lighting was linked to the drinking behavior in this diurnal primate so that when the animal drank, the lights went out. Despite the seemingly adverse predicament, the monkeys maintained regular circadian drinking rhythms. Furthermore, just as the period of the free-running activity rhythms of nocturnal rodents exposed to continuous light or feedback lighting were similar, the period of the drinking rhythms of the squirrel monkeys in continuous light and feedback lighting were comparable (25.6 +/- 0.1 and 25.9 +/- 0.1 hours, respectively), despite a substantial decrease in the total amount of light exposure associated with feedback lighting. The free-running period of monkeys exposed to continuous dark (24.5 +/- 0.1 hours) was significantly shorter than either of the two lighting conditions (P < 0.001). The results presented for the drinking rhythm were confirmed by examination of the temperature and activity rhythms. Therefore, discrete light pulses given predominately during the subjective night are capable of simulating the effects of continuous light on the free-running period of the circadian rhythms of a diurnal primate. The response of squirrel monkeys to feedback lighting thus lends further support for the model and suggests that the major entrainment mechanisms are similar in nocturnal rodents and diurnal primates.

NASA Discipline Number 40-30↗
NASA NTRS1995

Full field gas phase velocity measurements in microgravity

Measurement of full-field velocities via Particle Imaging Velocimetry (PIV) is common in research efforts involving fluid motion. While such measurements have been successfully performed in the liquid phase in a microgravity environment, gas-phase measurements have been beset by difficulties with seeding and laser strength. A synthesis of techniques developed at NASA LeRC exhibits promise in overcoming these difficulties. Typical implementation of PIV involves forming the light from a pulsed laser into a sheet that is some fraction of a millimeter thick and 50 or more millimeters wide. When a particle enters this sheet during a pulse, light scattered from the particle is recorded by a detector, which may be a film plane or a CCD array. Assuming that the particle remains within the boundaries of the sheet for the second pulse and can be distinguished from neighboring particles, comparison of the two images produces an average velocity vector for the time between the pulses. If the concentration of particles in the sampling volume is sufficiently large but the particles remain discrete, a full field map may be generated.

Griffin, Devon W.↗
NASA NTRS1973

A novel laser ranging system for measurement of ground-to-satellite distances

A technique was developed for improving the precision of laser ranging measurements of ground-to-satellite distances. The method employs a mode-locked laser transmitter and utilizes an image converter tube equipped with deflection plates in measuring the time of flight of the laser pulse to a distant retroreflector and back. Samples of the outgoing and returning light pulses are focussed on the photocathode of the image converter tube, whose deflection plates are driven by a high-voltage 120 MHz sine wave derived from a very stable oscillator. From the relative positions of the images produced at the output phosphor by the two light pulses, it is possible to make a precise determination of the fractional amount by which the time of flight exceeds some large integral multiple of the period of the deflection sinusoid.

Golden, K. E.↗
NASA NTRS1992

A stroboscopic technique for using CCD cameras in flow visualization systems for continuous viewing and stop action photography

A technique for synchronizing a pulse light source to charge coupled device cameras is presented. The technique permits the use of pulse light sources for continuous as well as stop action flow visualization. The technique has eliminated the need to provide separate lighting systems at facilities requiring continuous and stop action viewing or photography.

Franke, John M.↗
NASA NTRS1985

The experimental cascade curves of EAS at E sub 0 10(17) eV obtained by the method of detection of Cherenkov pulse shape

The individual cascade curves of EAS with E sub 0 10 to the 17th power eV/I to 3/ were studied by detection of EAS Cherenkov light pulses. The scintillators located at the center of the Yakutsk EAS array within a 500-m radius circle were used to select the showers and to determine the main EAS parameters. The individual cascade curves N(t) were obtained using the EAS Cherenkov light pulses satisfying the following requirements: (1) the signal-to-noise ratio fm/delta sub n 15, (2) the EAS axis-detector distance tau sub 350 m, (3) the zenith angle theta 30 deg, (4) the probability for EAS to be detected by scintillators W 0.8. Condition (1) arises from the desire to reduce the amplitude distortion of Cherenkov pulses due to noise and determines the range of EAS sizes, N(t). The resolution times of the Cherenkov pulse shape detectors are tau sub 0 approx. 23 ns which results in distortion of a pulse during the process of the detection. The distortion of pulses due to the finiteness of tau sub 0 value was estimated. It is shown that the rise time of pulse becomes greater as tau sub 0.5/tau sub 0 ratio decreases.

Fomin, Y. A.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Optical Imaging of Flow Pattern and Phantom

Time-resolved optical imaging technique has been used to image the spatial distribution of small droplets and jet sprays in a highly scattering environment. The snake and ballistic components of the transmitted pulse are less scattered, and contain direct information about the sample to facilitate image formation as opposed to the diffusive components which are due to multiple collisions as a light pulse propagates through a scattering medium. In a time-gated imaging scheme, these early-arriving, image-bearing components of the incident pulse are selected by opening a gate for an ultrashort period of time and a shadowgram image is detected. Using a single shot cooled CCD camera system, the formation of water droplets is monitored as a function of time. Picosecond time-gated image of drop in scattering cells, spray droplets as a function of let speed and gas pressure, and model calcification samples consisted of calcium carbonate particles of irregular shapes ranging in size from 0. 1 to 1.5 mm affixed to a microscope slide have been measured. Formation produced by an impinging jet will be further monitored using a CCD with 1 kHz framing illuminated with pulsed light. The desired image resolution of the fuel droplets is on the 20 pm scale using early light through a highly scattering medium. A 10(exp -6)m displacement from a jet spray with a flow speed of 100 m/sec introduced by the ns grating pulse used in the imaging is negligible. Early ballistic/snake light imaging offers nondestructive and noninvasive method to observe the spatial distribution of hidden objects inside a highly scattering environment for space, biomedical, and materials applications. In this paper, the techniques we will present are time-resolved K-F transillumination imaging and time-gated scattered light imaging. With a large dynamic range and high resolution, time-gated early light imaging has the potential for improving rocket/aircraft design by determining jets shape and particle sizes. Refinements to these techniques may enable drop size measurements in the highly scattering, optically dense region of multi-element rocket injectors. These types of measurements should greatly enhance the design of stable, and higher performing rocket engines.

Galland, Pierre A.↗
NASA NTRS1971

Laser altimeter for Apollo lunar orbit.

The function of the altimeter is to provide precise measurements of Apollo vehicle height above known positions on the lunar surface. A short duration light pulse from the laser is directed through a telescope in a narrow beam to the lunar surface. A portion of the light is reflected by the moon back to the altimeter where it is intercepted by a receiving telescope and relayed to a detector. The time from the moment when the light pulse leaves the laser until its return, which is measured with the aid of a quartz crystal controlled clock oscillator, is a measure for the altitude.

Woodward, J. H.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Light differentially regulates cell division and the mRNA abundance of pea nucleolin during de-etiolation

The abundance of plant nucleolin mRNA is regulated during de-etiolation by phytochrome. A close correlation between the mRNA abundance of nucleolin and mitosis has also been previously reported. These results raised the question of whether the effects of light on nucleolin mRNA expression were a consequence of light effects on mitosis. To test this we compared the kinetics of light-mediated increases in cell proliferation with that of light-mediated changes in the abundance of nucleolin mRNA using plumules of dark-grown pea (Pisum sativum) seedlings. These experiments show that S-phase increases 9 h after a red light pulse, followed by M-phase increases in the plumule leaves at 12 h post-irradiation, a time course consistent with separately measured kinetics of red light-induced increases in the expression of cell cycle-regulated genes. These increases in cell cycle-regulated genes are photoreversible, implying that the light-induced increases in cell proliferation are, like nucleolin mRNA expression, regulated via phytochrome. Red light stimulates increases in the mRNA for nucleolin at 6 h post-irradiation, prior to any cell proliferation changes and concurrent with the reported timing of phytochrome-mediated increases of rRNA abundance. After a green light pulse, nucleolin mRNA levels increase without increasing S-phase or M-phase. Studies in animals and yeast indicate that nucleolin plays a significant role in ribosome biosynthesis. Consistent with this function, pea nucleolin can rescue nucleolin deletion mutants of yeast that are defective in rRNA synthesis. Our data show that during de-etiolation, the increased expression of nucleolin mRNA is more directly regulated by light than by mitosis.

NASA Program Fundamental Space Biology↗
NASA NTRS2004

Lidar for Guidance of a Spacecraft or Exploratory Robot

A report describes the Laser Mapper (LAMP) -- a lightweight, compact, low-power lidar system under development for guidance of a spacecraft or exploratory robotic vehicle (rover) at Mars or another planet. The LAMP is intended especially for use during rendezvous of two spacecraft in orbit, for mapping terrain during descent and landing of a spacecraft, for capturing a sample that has been launched into orbit, or navigation and avoidance of obstacles by a rover traversing terrain. The LAMP includes a laser that emits high-power, short light pulses. The laser beam is aimed in azimuth and elevation by use of a mirror on a two-axis gimbal, which scans the beam across a field of regard. Light reflected by a target is collected by a telescope, and the distance to the target is determined by measuring the round-trip travel time for reflected light pulses. The distance information is combined with directional information to construct a three-dimensional map of targets in the field of regard.

Liebe, Carl Christian↗
NASA NTRS1993

Plans to improve the experimental limit in the comparison of the east-west and west-east one-way light propagation times on the rotating earth

The preceding paper describes the results so far (interrupted in the Spring of 1989 because of lack of funds) of an experiment comparing the one-way light propagation times on the surface of the rotating Earth. For the 20 Km path length component in the East-West direction the predicted difference between the opposite sense propagation times would be 160 ps, if the approximately 360 Km/s surface speed of the Earth gives effective light speeds of 3 x 10(exp 8) m/s +/- 360 m/s. This could lead to a prediction of the difference between the clock transport and the light pulse synchronization methods described in the preceding paper: delta(T) = 0.5 (160) = 80 ps. The current upper bound of approximately 100 ps for delta(T) is limited by poorly understood systematic errors. The most important seems to be intensity-dependent time delays in the remote light pulse avalanche photo-diode detector. This will be replaced by a continuously operating circular scan streak camera having single photon sensitivity and a time resolution of approximately 5 ps. (This camera has recently been developed by the Xian Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics in the P.R.C.). Better isolation from shocks and vibration for the Sigma-Tau hydrogen maser during transport will be provided. It is hoped that delta(T) is less than 20 ps can be achieved.

Alley, C. O.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Real-Time Keratometer

Optical/electronic keratometer system produces contour map of corneal surface illuminated by infrared light pulses. Prevents operator error and eliminates need to apply fluorescent liquids to cornea. Keratometer provides both video display and numerical recording for corneal-transplant and radial-keratotomy surgery and for contact-lens fitting. Optical system of keratometer, circular grating pattern transmitted to corneal surface reflected onto identical circular grating on surface of fiber plate, producing Moire pattern. Data-analysis-and-display mode, laser light pulsed, and Moire pattern converted to digital information in frame grabber. Digital picture information sent to computer for processing and display.

Frazer, Robert E.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Time transfer between the Goddard Optical Research Facility and the U.S. Naval Observatory using 100 picosecond laser pulses

A horizontal two-way time comparison link in air between the University of Maryland laser ranging and time transfer equipment at the Goddard Optical Research Facility (GORF) 1.2 m telescope and the Time Services Division of the U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO) was established. Flat mirrors of 25 cm and 30 cm diameter respectively were placed on top of the Washington Cathedral and on a water tower at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center. Two optical corner reflectors at the USNO reflect the laser pulses back to the GORF. Light pulses of 100 ps duration and an energy of several hundred microjoules are sent at the rate of 10 pulses per second. The detection at the USNO is by means of an RCA C30902E avalanche photodiode and the timing is accomplished by an HP 5370A computing counter and an HP 1000 computer with respect to a 10 pps pulse train from the Master Clock.

Alley, C. O.↗