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At least 631 records · Page 35
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2004

Atmospheric Rotational Effects on Mars Based on the NASA Ames General Circulation Model: Angular Momentum Approach

The objective of the investigation is to determine the motion of the rotational axis of Mars as a result of mass variations in the atmosphere and condensation and sublimation of CO2 ice on the polar caps. A planet experiences this type of motion if it has an atmosphere, which is changing its mass distribution with respect to the solid body of the planet and/or it is asymmetrically changing the amount of ice at the polar caps. The physical principle involved is the conservation of angular momentum, one can get a feeling for it by sitting on a well oiled swivel chair holding a rotating wheel on a horizontal direction and then changing the rotation axis of the wheel to a vertical direction. The person holding the wheel and the chair would begin to rotate in opposite direction to the rotation of the wheel. The motions of Mars atmosphere and the ice caps variations are obtained from a mathematical model developed at the NASA Ames Research Center. The model produces outputs for a time span of one Martian year, which is equivalent to 687 Earth days. The results indicate that Mars axis of rotation moves in a spiral with respect to a reference point on the surface of the planet. It can move as far away as 35.3 cm from the initial location as a result of both mass variations in the atmosphere and asymmetric ice variations at the polar caps. Furthermore the pole performs close to two revolutions around the reference point during a Martian year. This motion is a combination of two motions, one produced by the atmospheric mass variations and another due to the variations in the ice caps. The motion due to the atmospheric variations is a spiral performing about two and a half revolutions around the reference point during which the pole can move as far as 40.9 cm. The motion due to variations in the ice caps is a spiral performing almost three revolutions during which the pole can move as far as 32.8 cm.

Sanchez, Braulio V.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Effects of cations on hormone transport in primary roots of Zea mays

We examined the influence of aluminum and calcium (and certain other cations) on hormone transport in corn roots. When aluminum was applied unilaterally to the caps of 15 mm apical root sections the roots curved strongly away from the aluminum. When aluminum was applied unilaterally to the cap and 3H-indole-3-acetic acid was applied to the basal cut surface twice as much radioactivity (assumed to be IAA) accumulated on the concave side of the curved root as on the convex side. Auxin transport in the apical region of intact roots was preferentially basipetal, with a polarity (basipetal transport divided by acropetal transport) of 6.3. In decapped 5 mm apical root segments, auxin transport was acropetally polar (polarity = 0.63). Application of aluminum to the root cap strongly promoted acropetal transport of auxin reducing polarity from 6.3 to 2.1. Application of calcium to the root cap enhanced basipetal movement of auxin, increasing polarity from 6.3 to 7.6. Application of the calcium chelator, ethylene-glycol-bis-(beta-aminoethylether)-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid, greatly decreased basipetal auxin movement, reducing polarity from 6.3 to 3.7. Transport of label after application of tritiated abscisic acid showed no polarity and was not affected by calcium or aluminum. The results indicate that the root cap is particularly important in maintaining basipetal polarity of auxin transport in primary roots of corn. The induction of root curvature by unilateral application of aluminum or calcium to root caps is likely to result from localized effects of these ions on auxin transport. The findings are discussed relative to the possible role of calcium redistribution in the gravitropic curvature of roots and the possibility of calmodulin involvement in the action of calcium and aluminum on auxin transport.

NASA Discipline Plant Biology↗
NASA NTRS1990

Correlations between gravitropic curvature and auxin movement across gravistimulated roots of Zea mays

We compared the kinetics of auxin redistribution across the caps of primary roots of 2-day-old maize (Zea mays, cv Merit) seedlings with the time course of gravitropic curvature. [3H] indoleacetic acid was applied to one side of the cap in an agar donor and radioactivity moving across the cap was collected in an agar receiver applied to the opposite side. Upon gravistimulation the roots first curved upward slightly, then returned to the horizontal and began curving downward, reaching a final angle of about 67 degrees. Movement of label across the caps of gravistimulated roots was asymmetric with preferential downward movement (ratio downward/upward = ca. 1.6, radioactivity collected during the 90 min following beginning of gravistimulation). There was a close correlation between the development of asymmetric auxin movement across the root cap and the rate of curvature, with both values increasing to a maximum and then declining as the roots approached the final angle of curvature. In roots preadapted to gravity (alternate brief stimulation on opposite flanks over a period of 1 hour) the initial phase of upward curvature was eliminated and downward bending began earlier than for controls. The correlation between asymmetric auxin movement and the kinetics of curvature also held in comparisons between control and preadapted roots. Both downward auxin transport asymmetry and downward curvature occurred earlier in preadapted roots than in controls. These findings are consistent with suggestions that the root cap is not only the site of perception but also the location of the initial redistribution of effectors that ultimately leads to curvature.

NASA Discipline Number 29-20↗
NASA NTRS1998

Observations of the north polar region of Mars from the Mars orbiter laser altimeter

Elevations from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) have been used to construct a precise topographic map of the martian north polar region. The northern ice cap has a maximum elevation of 3 kilometers above its surroundings but lies within a 5-kilometer-deep hemispheric depression that is contiguous with the area into which most outflow channels emptied. Polar cap topography displays evidence of modification by ablation, flow, and wind and is consistent with a primarily H2O composition. Correlation of topography with images suggests that the cap was more spatially extensive in the past. The cap volume of 1.2 x 10(6) to 1.7 x 10(6) cubic kilometers is about half that of the Greenland ice cap. Clouds observed over the polar cap are likely composed of CO2 that condensed out of the atmosphere during northern hemisphere winter. Many clouds exhibit dynamical structure likely caused by the interaction of propagating wave fronts with surface topography.

Flight Experiment↗
NASA NTRS2005

A GCM Recent History of Northern Martian Polar Layered Deposits: Contribution from Past Equatorial Ice Reservoirs

Polar layered deposits are exposed in the walls of the troughs cutting the north polar cap of Mars. They consist of alternating ice and dust layers or layers of an ice-dust mixture with varying proportions and are found throughout the cap. Layers thickness ranges from meters to several tens of meters with an approximately 30 meter dominant wavelength. Although their formation processes is not known, they are presumed to reflect changes in ice and dust stability over orbital and axial variations. Intensive 3-D LMD GCM simulations of the martian water cycle have been thus performed to determine the annual rates of exchange of surface ice between the northern cap and tropical areas for a wide range of obliquity and orbital parameters values.These rates have been employed to reconstruct an history of the northern cap and test simple models of dust-ice layers formation over the last 10 Ma orbital variations. We use the 3-D water cycle model simulated by the 3-D LMD GCM with an intermediate grid resolution (7.5 longitude x 5.625 latitude) and 25 vertical levels. The dust opacity is constant and set to 0,15. No exchange of ice with regolith is allowed. The evolution of the northern cap over obliquity and orbital changes (eccentricity, Longitude of perihelion) has been recently described with this model. High summer insolation favors transfer of ice from the northern pole to the Tharsis and Olympus Montes, while at low obliquity, unstable equatorial ice is redeposited in high-latitude and polar areas of both hemisphere. The disappearance of the equatorial ice reservoir leads to a poleward recession of icy high latitude reservoirs, providing an additional source for the cap accumulation during each obliquity or orbital cycle. Furthering the efforts, a quantitative evolution of ice reservoirs is here investigated for various astronomical conditions.

Levrard, B.↗
NASA NTRS2008

Toughened uni-piece, fibrous, reinforced, oxidization-resistant composite

A composite thermal protection structure, for applications such as atmospheric re-entry vehicles, that can withstand temperatures as high as 3600.degree. F. The structure includes an exposed surface cap having a specially formulated coating, an insulator base adjacent to the cap with another specially formulated coating, and one or more pins that extend from the cap through the insulator base to tie the cap and base together, through ceramic bonding and mechanical attachment. The cap and insulator base have corresponding depressions and projections that mate and allow for differences in thermal expansion of the cap and base. A thin coating of a reaction cured glass formulation is optionally provided on the structure to allow reduce oxidization and/or to reduce catalytic efficiency.

Stewart, David A.↗
NASA NTRS2008

Toughened uni-piece, fibrous, reinforced, oxidization-resistant composite

A composite thermal protection structure, for applications such as atmospheric re-entry vehicles, that can withstand temperatures as high as 3600.degree F. The structure includes an exposed surface cap having a specially formulated coating, an insulator base adjacent to the cap with another specially formulated coating, and one or more pins that extend from the cap through the insulator base to tie the cap and base together, through ceramic bonding and mechanical attachment. The cap and insulator base have corresponding depressions and projections that mate and allow for differences in thermal expansion of the cap and base.

Stewart, David A.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Failure Mode Analysis of V-Shaped Pyrotechnically Actuated Valves

Current V-shaped stainless steel pyrovalve initiators have rectified many of the deficiencies of the heritage Y-shaped aluminum design. However, a credible failure mode still exists for dual simultaneous initiator (NSI) firings in which low temperatures were detected at the booster cap and less consistent ignition was observed than when a single initiator was fired. In order to asses this issue, a numerical framework has been developed for predicting the flow through pyrotechnically actuated valves. This framework includes a fully coupled solution of the gas-phase equation with a non-equilibrium dispersed phase for solid particles as well as the capability to model conjugate gradient heat transfer to the booster cap. Through a hierarchy of increasingly complex simulations, a hypothesis for the failure mode of the nearly simultaneous dual NSI firings has been proven. The simulations indicate that the failure mode for simultaneous dual NSI firings may be caused by flow interactions between the flame channels. The shock waves from each initiator interact in the booster cavity resulting in a high pressure that prevents the gas and particulate velocity from rising in the booster cap region. This impedes the bulk of the particulate phase from impacting the booster cap and reduces the heat transfer to the booster cap since the particles do not impact it. Heat transfer calculations to the solid metal indicate that gas-phase convective heat transfer may not be adequate by itself and that energy transfer from the particulate phase may be crucial for the booster cap burn through.

Sachdev, Jai S.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Forcing of the Coupled Ionosphere-Thermosphere (IT) System During Magnetic Storms

Poynting flux shows peaks around auroral zone AND inside polar cap. Energy enters IT system at all local times in polar cap. Track-integrated flux at DMSP often peaks at polar latitudes- probably due to increased area of polar cap during storm main phases. center dot lon temperatures at DMSP show large increases in polar region at all local times; cusp and auroral zones do not show distinctively high Ti. center dot I on temperatures in the polar cap are higher than in the auroral zones during quiet times. center dot Neutral densities at GRACE and GOCE show maxima at polar latitudes without clear auroral signatures. Response is fast, minutes from onset to density peaks. center dot GUVI observations of O/N2 ratio during storms show similar response as direct measurements of ion and neutral densities, i.e. high temperatures in polar cap during prestorm quiet period, heating proceeding from polar cap to lower latitudes during storm main phase. center dot Discrepancy between maps of Poynting flux and of ion temperatures/neutral densities suggests that connection between Poynting flux and Joule heating is not simple.

Magnetic Storms↗
NASA NTRS1975

Topography of the polar layered deposits of Mars

Synthesis of polar topographic data derived from the Mariner 9 radio occultation, ultraviolet spectrometer, and television imaging experiments provides new information on the behavior of polar volatiles and the topographic configuration of the Martian polar layered deposits. Gentle slopes in the vicinity of the south pole may serve to shift the point of minimum annual solar insolation from the pole to a site within the perimeter of the offset residual frost cap. Localized defrosting which gives rise to the dark-banded appearance of both residual caps correlates with a series of outward-facing slopes descending from central topographic highs. Stability of the volatile involved apparently is largely insolation controlled. The south polar residual cap lies entirely higher (at lower pressure) than the northern cap, implying that the south residual cap is an unlikely site for any permanent surface deposit of solid carbon dioxide.

Dzurisin, D.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Molded composite pyrogen igniter for rocket motors

A lightweight pyrogen igniter assembly including an elongated molded plastic tube adapted to contain a pyrogen charge was designed for insertion into a rocket motor casing for ignition of the rocket motor charge. A molded plastic closure cap provided for the elongated tube includes an ignition charge for igniting the pyrogen charge and an electrically actuated ignition squib for igniting the ignition charge. The ignition charge is contained within a portion of the closure cap, and it is retained therein by a noncorrosive ignition pellet retainer or screen which is adapted to rest on a shoulder of the elongated tube when the closure cap and tube are assembled together. A circumferentially disposed metal ring is provided along the external circumference of the closure cap and is molded or captured within the plastic cap in the molding process to provide, along with O-ring seals, a leakproof rotary joint.

Heier, W. C.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Mobile sampler for use in acquiring samples of terrestrial atmospheric gases

Samples of terrestrial atmospheric gasses from a free body of such gasses using a device characterized by a plurality of tubular bodies adapted to be mounted in side by side relation on a motorized highway vehicle in mutual parallelism with the axis of the normal path of travel for the vehicles. Each of the bodies is of a cylindrical configuration and has an axial opening at each of its opposite ends through which a linear flow path is defined. A pair of pivotally supported, spring-biased sealing caps is mounted adjacent to the ends of the body and continuously urged into a hermetic sealing relationship. A restraint for securing the caps against spring-urged pivotal displacement, includes a separable, normally tensioned line interconnecting the caps and an operable release mechanism for simultaneously releasing the caps for spring-urged displacement. A hot wire cutter is included for separating the line, whereby samples of air are trapped in the body as the caps are spring-driven to assume an hermetically sealed relation with the openings defined in each of the opposite ends of the body.

Tucker, C. E.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Transduction of the Root Gravitropic Stimulus: Can Apical Calcium Regulate Auxin Distribution?

The hypothesis was tested that calcium, asymmetrically distributes in the root cap upon reorientation to gravity, affects auxin transport and thereby auxin distribution at the elongation zone. It is assumed that calcium exists in the root cap and is asymmetrically transported in root caps altered from a vertical to a horizontal position and that the meristem, the tissue immediately adjacent to the root cap and lying between the site of gravity perception and the site of gravity response, is essential for mediation of gravitropism. Tip calcium in root gravicurvature was implicated. The capstone evidence is that the root cap has the capacity to polarly translocate exogenous calcium downward when tissue is oriented horizontally, and that exogenous calcium, when supplied asymmetrically at the root tip, induces curvature and dictates the direction of curvature in both vertical and horizontal corn roots.

Edwards, K. L.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Effects of different convection models upon the high-latitude ionosphere

The plasma convection models of Volland (1975) and Heelis (1982) are utilized to study the ionosphere. The parameters for the two models are evaluated. The two-cell convection models have similar total cross tail electric potential, diameter of the polar cap, and potential falloff rate outside the polar cap; however, they differ in maximum potential, and the electric field in the polar cap. The input parameters for the high-latitude ionospheric model are described. Two high-latitude ionospheric model runs were conducted and the data are compared in terms of electron density at and above the F 2 peak, attitude of the F 2 peak, ion temperature, and molecular-atomic ion transition height. The altitude dependence of electron density is analyzed using coherent scatter radar data. The data reveal differences between the two models in the height of the F 2 peak and in the ion temperature. The altitude values of the Heelis model are higher than the Volland model in the region where plasma is transported into the polar cap and lower in the region plasma is transported out of the polar cap; the Heelis model also produces an increase in ion temperature. It is noted that the ionosphere has a limited dependence upon the details of the convection models.

Rasmussen, C. E.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Energetic photoelectrons and the polar rain

In the daytime midlatitudes, the Low Altitude Plasma Instrument (LAPI) on board the Dynamics Explorer 2 satellite has observed photoelectrons with energies as high as 850 eV. These energetic photoelectrons are an extension of the 'classical' photoelectrons (less than 60 eV) and result from photoionization of neutrals by soft solar X-rays. Since these photoelectrons are produced wherever the solar flux is incident on the earth's atmosphere, they should be present in sunlit polar cap. But in the polar cap, over these same energies, there is a well-known electron population: the polar rain, a low intensity electron flux of magnetospheric origin. Thus, in the sunlit polar cap, an energetic population of electrons should consist of both an ionospheric (photoelectron) and a magnetospheric (polar rain) component. Using numerical solutions of an electron transport equation with appropriate boundary conditions and sunlit polar cap LAPI data, it is shown that the two populations (photoelectron and polar rain) are indeed present and are both needed to explain polar cap observations.

Decker, Dwight T.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Possible recent and ancient glacial ice flow in the south polar region of Mars

Martian polar science began almost as soon as small telescopes were trained on the planet. The seasonal expansion and contraction of the polar caps and their high albedoes led most astronomers to think that water ice is the dominant constituent. In 1911 Lowell perceived a bluish band around the retreating edge of the polar caps, and interpreted it as water from melting polar ice and seasonal snow. An alternative idea in his time was that the polar caps consist of frozen carbonic acid. Lowell rejected the carbonic acid hypothesis on account of his blue band. He also pointed out that carbonic acid would sublimate rather than melt at confining pressures near and below one bar, hence, carbonic acid could not account for the blue band. In comparing Lowell's theories with today's knowledge, it is recognized that (1) sublimation is mainly responsible for the growth and contraction of Mars' polar caps, (2) carbon dioxide is a major component of the southern polar cap, and (3) Lowell's blue band was probably seasonal dust and/or clouds. Geomorphic evidence that glacial ice and glacial melt waters once flowed over broad areas of the southern polar region. Two aspects of the south polar region suggest possible glacial processes during two distinct eras in Mars' history.

Kargel, J. S.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Convection and electrodynamic signatures in the vicinity of a Sun-aligned arc: Results from the Polar Acceleration Regions and Convection Study (Polar ARCS)

An experimental campaign designed to study high-latitude auroral arcs was conducted in Sondre Stromfjord, Greenland, on February 26, 1987. The Polar Acceleration Regions and Convection Study (Polar ARCS) consisted of a coordinated set of ground-based, airborne, and sounding rocket measurements of a weak, sun-aligned arc system within the duskside polar cap. A rocket-borne barium release experiment, two DMSP satellite overflights, all-sky photography, and incoherent scatter radar measurements provided information on the large-scale plasma convection over the polar cap region while a second rocket instrumented with a DC magnetometer, Langmuir and electric field probes, and an electron spectrometer provided measurements of small-scale electrodynamics. The large-scale data indicate that small, sun-aligned precipitation events formed within a region of antisunward convection between the duskside auroral oval and a large sun-aligned arc further poleward. This convection signature, used to assess the relationship of the sun-aligned arc to the large-scale magnetospheric configuration, is found to be consistent with either a model in which the arc formed on open field lines on the dusk side of a bifurcated polar cap or on closed field lines threading an expanded low-latitude boundary layer, but not a model in which the polar cap arc field lines map to an expanded plasma sheet. The antisunward convection signature may also be explained by a model in which the polar cap arc formed on long field lines recently reconnected through a highly skewed plasma sheet. The small-scale measurements indicate the rocket passed through three narrow (less than 20 km) regions of low-energy (less than 100 eV) electron precipitation in which the electric and magnetic field perturbations were well correlated. These precipitation events are shown to be associated with regions of downward Poynting flux and small-scale upward and downward field-aligned currents of 1-2 micro-A/sq m. The paired field-aligned currents are associated with velocity shears (higher and lower speed streams) embedded in the region of antisunward flow.

Weiss, L. A.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Empirical convection models for northward IMF

It is clear that polar cap convection during times of northward Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) is more structured and of lower mean speed than at times of southward IMF. This, coupled with the fact that the polar cap is smaller, means that empirical models are more difficult to construct with certainty. It is also clear that sunward flow deep in the polar cap is often observed, but its connection with the rest of the flow pattern is controversial. At present, empirical models are of three types: 'statistical' models wherein data from different days but with similar IMF conditions are averaged together; 'pattern recognition' models, which are built up by examining individually hundreds of passes to derive a 'typical' pattern which embodies features frequently observed; and 'assimilative' models, which use data of different types and from as many locations as possible, but all taken at the same time, in order to derive a snapshot (or series of snapshots) of the entire pattern. Each type of model has its own difficulties. Statistical models, by their very nature, smooth out flow features (e.g. the convection reversal, and the locus of sunward flow deep in the polar cap) which are not found at precisely the same invariant latitudes and magnetic local times on different days. Pattern recognition models are better at reproducing small-scale features, but the large-scale pattern can be a matter of interpretation. Assimilative models (such as AMIE) hold out the best hope for creating instantaneous, global convection patterns; however, the analysis technique tends to be most irregular (and least reliable) in the regions which are not well covered by in situ data. It appears that, at least at times, a four cell model with sunward flow at the highest and lowest latitudes, and antisunward flow in between, is consistent with the observations. At other times, the observations may be consistent with a two-cell convection pattern, but which includes significant meanders within the polar cap.

Moses, Julie J.↗