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NASA NTRS1992

Atmospheric and spectroscopic research in the far infrared

The University of Oregon (UO) has been a major participant in the development of far infrared spectroscopic research of the stratosphere for the purpose of understanding the ozone layer processes. The UO has had a 15-year collaboration with the Italian group of B. Carli, and have participated in the 1978/79 Sub-millimeter Infrared Balloon Experiment (SIBEX), in the Balloon Intercomparison Campaign, (BIC), in the Infrared Balloon Experiment (IBEX), and in the recently concluded Far Infrared Experiment for UARS Correlative Measurements (FIREX). Both IBEX and FIREX programs were conducted in collaboration with NASA Langley, and were designed as validation flights in support of the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) Program. The technique of atmospheric far infrared spectroscopy offers two important advantages. First, many chemically important species can be measured simultaneously and co-spatially in the atmosphere. Second, far infrared atmospheric spectra can be obtained in thermal emission without reference to the sun's position, enabling full diurnal and global coverage. Recent improvements in instrumentation, field measurements, and molecular concentration retrieval techniques are now making the far infrared a mature measurement technology. This work to date has largely focused on balloon-based studies, but the future efforts will focus also on satellite-based experiments. A program of research in the following general areas was proposed: Laboratory Pressure broadening coefficient studies; specialized detector system assembly and testing; and consultation and assistance with instrument and field support. The proposal was approved and a three-year research grant titled 'Atmospheric and Spectroscopic Research in the Far Infrared' was awarded. A summary of technical accomplishments attained during the grant period are presented.

Park, Kwangjai↗
NASA NTRS1995

Workshop on Mars Telescopic Observations

The Mars Telescopic Observations Workshop, held August 14-15, 1995, at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, was organized and planned with two primary goals in mind: The first goal was to facilitate discussions among and between amateur and professional observers and to create a workshop environment fostering collaborations and comparisons within the Mars observing community. The second goal was to explore the role of continuing telescopic observations of Mars in the upcoming era of increased spacecraft exploration. The 24 papers presented at the workshop described the current NASA plans for Mars exploration over the next decade, current and recent Mars research being performed by professional astronomers, and current and past Mars observations being performed by amateur observers and observing associations. The workshop was divided into short topical sessions concentrating on programmatic overviews, groundbased support of upcoming spacecraft experiments, atmospheric observations, surface observations, modeling and numerical studies, and contributions from amateur astronomers.

Bell, J. F., III↗
NASA NTRS1997

Remote Sensing of Surficial Process Responses to Extreme Meteorological Events

Changes in the frequency and magnitude of extreme meteorological events are associated with changing environmental means. Such events are important in human affairs, and can also be investigated by orbital remote sensing. During the course of this project, we applied ERS-1, ERS-2, Radarsat, and an airborne sensor (AIRSAR-TOPSAR) to measure flood extents, flood water surface profiles, and flood depths. We established a World Wide Web site (the Dartmouth Flood Observatory) for publishing remote sensing-based maps of contemporary floods worldwide; this is also an online "active archive" that presently constitutes the only global compilation of extreme flood events. We prepared an article for EOS concerning SAR imaging of the Mississippi Valley flood; an article for the International Journal of Remote Sensing on measurement of a river flood wave using ERS-2, began work on an article (since completed and published) on the Flood Observatory for a Geoscience Information Society Proceedings volume, and presented lectures at several Geol. Soc. of America Natl. Meetings, an Assoc. of Amer. Geographers Natl. Meeting, and a Binghamton Geomorphology Symposium (all on SAR remote sensing of the Mississippi Valley flood). We expanded in-house modeling capabilities by installing the latest version of the Army Corps of Engineers RMA two-dimensional hydraulics software and BYU Engineering Graphics Lab's Surface Water Modeling System (finite elements based pre- and post-processors for RMA work) and also added watershed modeling software. We are presently comparing the results of the 2-d flow models with SAR image data. The grant also supported several important upgrades of pc-based remote sensing infrastructure at Dartmouth. During work on this grant, we collaborated with several workers at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Remote Sensing/GIS laboratory (for flood inundation mapping and modeling; particularly of the Illinois River using the AIRSAR/TOPSAR/ERS-2 combined data), with Dr. Karen Prestegaard at the University of Maryland (geomorphological responses to the extreme 1993 flood along the Raccoon drainage in central Iowa), and with Mr Tim Scrom of the Albany National Weather Service River Forecast Center (initial planning for the use of Radarsat and ERS-2 for flood warning). The work thus initiated with this proposal is continuing.

Brakenridge, G. Robert↗
NASA NTRS2011

Telemedicine in Space Flight - Summary of a NASA Workshop

The Exploration Medical Capability Element of the Human Research Program at NASA Johnson Space Center hosted the Telemedicine Workshop in January 2011 to discuss the medical operational concept for a crewed mission to a near-Earth asteroid (NEA) and to identify areas for future work and collaboration. With the increased likelihood of a medical incident on a long duration exploration mission to a near-Earth asteroid, as well as the fact that there will likely be limited medical capabilities and resources available to diagnose and treat medical conditions, it is anticipated that a more structured use of telemedicine will become highly desirable. The workshop was convened to solicit expert opinion on current telemedicine practices and on medical care in remote environments. Workshop Objectives: The workshop brought together leaders in telemedicine and remote medicine from The University of Texas Medical Branch, Henry Ford Hospital, Ontario Telemedicine Network, U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research, University of Miami, American Telemedicine Association, Doctors Without Borders, and the Pan American Health Organization. The primary objectives of the workshop were to document the medical operations concept for a crewed mission to a NEA, to determine gaps between current capabilities and the capabilities outlined in the operations concept, to identify research required to close these gaps, and to discuss potential collaborations with external-to-NASA organizations with similar challenges. Summary of Discussions and Conclusions: The discussions held during the workshop and the conclusions reached by the workshop participants were grouped into seven categories: Crew Medical Officers, Patient Area in Spacecraft, Training, Electronic Medical Records, Intelligent Care Systems, Consultation Protocols, Prophylactic Surgical Procedures, and Data Prioritization. The key points discussed under each category will be presented.

Barsten, K. N.↗
NASA NTRS2005

The NASA Education Forum at SAO on the Structure and Evolution of the Universe

The past year for the SEU Forum has been a highly productive one and has moved us forward on three major objectives: 1) Using the Einstein Centennial to involve the public in the Universe Exploration theme, with emphasis on exciting discoveries about dark energy, cosmology, and black holes; 2) Further implementing the recommendations of the Knappenberger Report, in order to strengthen the educational coherence of our collective activities and our collaborations within NASA; and 3) Developing strategic partnerships with underserved communities and other key customers. Among our activities for the past year are the following: 1) Serving the Informal Science Education Communities; 2) Serving the Formal Education (Pre-college) Community; and 3) Serving Minority and Underserved Communities. A summary of goals, plans and activities for the year 9/15/05 through 9/14/06 are also presented.

Gould, Roy↗
NASA NTRS2014

A Flight Research Overview of WSPR, a Pilot Project for Sonic Boom Community Response

In support of the ongoing effort by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to bring supersonic commercial travel to the public, the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center and the NASA Langley Research Center, in cooperation with other industry organizations, conducted a flight research experiment to identify the methods, tools, and best practices for a large-scale quiet (or low) sonic boom community human response test. The name of the effort was Waveforms and Sonic boom Perception and Response (WSPR). Such tests will be applied to building a dataset that governing agencies such as the Federal Aviation Administration and the International Civil Aviation Organization will use to establish regulations for acceptable sound levels of overland sonic booms. The WSPR test was the first such effort that studied responses to non-traditional low sonic booms while the subject persons were in their own homes and performing daily activities.The WSPR test was a NASA collaborative effort with several industry partners, in response to a NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate Research Opportunities in Aeronautics. The primary contractor was Wyle (El Segundo, California). Other partners included Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation (Savannah, Georgia); Pennsylvania State University (University Park, Pennsylvania); Tetra Tech, Inc. (Pasadena, California); and Fidell Associates, Inc. (Woodland Hills, California).A major objective of the effort included exposing a community to the sonic boom magnitudes and occurrences that would be expected to occur in high-air traffic regions having a network of supersonic commercial aircraft in place. Low-level sonic booms designed to simulate those produced by the next generation of commercial supersonic aircraft were generated over a small residential community. The sonic boom footprint was recorded with an autonomous wireless microphone array that spanned the entire community. Human response data were collected using multiple survey methods. The research focused on essential elements of community response testing including subject recruitment, survey methods, instrumentation systems, flight planning and operations, and data analysis methods.This paper focuses on the NASA role in the logistics and operations of the effort, including human response subject recruitment, the operational processes involved in implementing the surveys throughout the community, instrumentation systems, logistics, flight planning, and flight operations. Findings discussed in this paper include critical lessons learned in all of the above-mentioned areas, as well as flight operations results. Analysis of the accuracy and repeatability of planning and executing the unique aircraft maneuver used to generate low sonic booms concluded that the sonic booms had overpressures within 0.15 lbft2 of the planned values for 76 percent of the attempts. Similarly, 90 percent of the attempts to generate low sonic booms within the community were successful.

community response↗
NASA NTRS1996

[A NASA / University Joint Venture in Space Science]

MILAGRO is a water-Cherenkov detector for observing cosmic gamma rays over a broad energy range of 100 GeV to 100 TeV. MILAGRO will be the first detector that has sensitivity overlapping both air-Cherenkov and air-shower detectors. With this detector scientists in the collaboration will study previously observed celestial sources at their known emission energies, extend these observations into a new energy regime, and search for new sources at unexplored energies. The diffuse gamma-radiation component in our galaxy, which originates from interactions of cosmic rays with interstellar gas and photons, provides important information about the density, distribution, and spectrum of the cosmic rays that pervade the interstellar medium. Events in the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (GRO) are being observed up to about 30 GeV, differing by slightly more than order of magnitude from the low energy threshold of MILAGRO. By looking in coincidence at sources, correlated observations will greatly extend the astrophysics potential of MILAGRO and NASA's GRO. A survey of cosmic-ray observatories is being prepared for scientists and others to provide a resource and reference which describes high energy cosmic-ray research activities around the world. This summary presents information about each research group, such as names of principal investigators, number of persons in the collaboration, energy range, sensitivity, angular resolution, and surface area of detector. Similarly, a survey of gamma-ray telescopes is being prepared to provide a resource and reference which describes gamma-ray telescopes for investigating galactic diffuse gamma-ray flux currently observed in the GeV energy range, but is expected to extend into the TeV range. Two undergraduate students are compiling information about gamma-ray telescopes and high energy cosmic-ray observatories for these surveys. Funding for this project was provided by the Arkansas Space Grant Consortium. Also enclosed Appendix A, B, C, D and E.

Wold, Donald C.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Software Defined Radio Architecture Contributions to Next Generation Space Communications

Space communications architecture concepts, comprising the elements of the system, the interactions among them, and the principles that govern their development, are essential factors in developing National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) future exploration and science missions. Accordingly, vital architectural attributes encompass flexibility, the extensibility to insert future capabilities, and to enable evolution to provide interoperability with other current and future systems. Space communications architectures and technologies for this century must satisfy a growing set of requirements, including those for Earth sensing, collaborative observation missions, robotic scientific missions, human missions for exploration of the Moon and Mars where surface activities require supporting communications, and in-space observatories for observing the earth, as well as other star systems and the universe. An advanced, integrated, communications infrastructure will enable the reliable, multipoint, high-data-rate capabilities needed on demand to provide continuous, maximum coverage for areas of concentrated activity. Importantly, the cost/value proposition of the future architecture must be an integral part of its design; an affordable and sustainable architecture is indispensable within anticipated future budget environments. Effective architecture design informs decision makers with insight into the capabilities needed to efficiently satisfy the demanding space-communication requirements of future missions and formulate appropriate requirements. A driving requirement for the architecture is the extensibility to address new requirements and provide low-cost on-ramps for new capabilities insertion, ensuring graceful growth as new functionality and new technologies are infused into the network infrastructure. In addition to extensibility, another key architectural attribute of the space communication equipment's interoperability with other NASA communications systems, as well as those communications and navigation systems operated by international space agencies and civilian and government agencies. In this paper, we review the philosophies, technologies, architectural attributes, mission services, and communications capabilities that form the structure of candidate next-generation integrated communication architectures for space communications and navigation. A key area that this paper explores is from the development and operation of the software defined radio for the NASA Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Testbed currently on the International Space Station (ISS). Evaluating the lessons learned from development and operation feed back into the communications architecture. Leveraging the reconfigurability provides a change in the way that operations are done and must be considered. Quantifying the impact on the NASA Space Telecommunications Radio System (STRS) software defined radio architecture provides feedback to keep the standard useful and up to date. NASA is not the only customer of these radios. Software defined radios are developed for other applications, and taking advantage of these developments promotes an architecture that is cost effective and sustainable. Developments in the following areas such as an updated operating environment, higher data rates, networking and security can be leveraged. The ability to sustain an architecture that uses radios for multiple markets can lower costs and keep new technology infused.

Lessons Learned↗
NASA NTRS1994

NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Report 28: The technical communication practices of aerospace engineering and science students: Results of the phase 4 cross-national surveys

This report describes similarities and differences between undergraduate and graduate aerospace engineering and science students in the context of two general aspects of the educational experience. First, we explore the extent to which students differ regarding the factors that lead to the choice of becoming an aerospace engineer or a scientist, current satisfaction with that choice, and career-related goals and objectives. Second, we look at the technical communication skills, practices, habits, and training of aerospace engineering and science students. The reported data were obtained from a survey of students enrolled in aerospace engineering and science programs at universities in India, Japan, Russia, and the United Kingdom. The surveys were undertaken as part of the NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Data are reported for the following categories: student demographics; skill importance, skill training, and skill helpfulness; collaborative writing; computer and information technology use and importance, use of electronic networks; use and importance of libraries and library services; use and importance of information sources and products; use of foreign language technical reports; and foreign language (reading and speaking) skills.

Pinelli, Thomas E.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) Risk Management

The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) project is an international collaboration to build and fly a polarization sensitive X-ray observatory. The IXPE Observatory consists of the spacecraft and payload. The payload is composed of three X-ray telescopes, each consisting of a mirror module optical assembly and a polarization-sensitive X-ray detector assembly; a deployable boom maintains the focal length between the optical assemblies and the detectors. The goal of the IXPE Mission is to provide new information about the origins of cosmic X-rays and their interactions with matter and gravity as they travel through space. IXPE will do this by exploiting its unique capability to measure the polarization of X-rays emitted by cosmic sources. The collaboration for IXPE involves national and international partners during design, fabrication, assembly, integration, test, and operations. The full collaboration includes NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), Ball Aerospace, the Italian Space Agency (ASI), the Italian Institute of Astrophysics and Space Planetology (IAPS)/Italian National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF), the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), the University of Colorado (CU) Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP), Stanford University, McGill University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The goal of this paper is to discuss risk management as it applies to the IXPE project. The full IXPE Team participates in risk management providing both unique challenges and advantages for project risk management. Risk management is being employed in all phases of the IXPE Project, but is particularly important during planning and initial execution-the current phase of the IXPE Project. The discussion will address IXPE risk strategies and responsibilities, along with the IXPE management process which includes risk identification, risk assessment, risk response, and risk monitoring, control, and reporting.

IXPE↗
NASA NTRS1997

Center of Excellence in Model-Based Human Performance

The Center of Excellence (COE) was created in 1984 to facilitate active collaboration between the scientists at Ames Research Center and the Stanford Psychology Department. As this document will review, over that period of time, the COE served its function well. Funds from the Center supported a large number of projects over the last ten years. Many of the people who were supported by the Center Have gone on to distinguished research careers in government, industry and university. In fact, several of the people currently working at NASA Ames were initially funded by the Center mechanism, which served as a useful vehicle for attracting top quality candidates and supporting their research efforts. We are grateful for NASA's support over the years. As we reviewed in the reports for each year, the COE budget generally provided a portion of the true costs of the individual research project. Hence, the funds from the COE were leveraged with funds from industry and other government agencies. In this way, we feel that all parties benefitted greatly from the collaborative spirit and interactive aspects of the COE. The portion of the support from NASA was particularly important in helping members of the COE to set aside the time to publish papers and communicate advances in our understanding of human performance in NASA-related missions.

Wandell, Brian A.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Center of Excellence in Model-Based Human Performance

The Center of Excellence (COE) was created in 1984 to facilitate active collaboration between the scientists at Ames Research Center and the Stanford Psychology Department. As this document will review, over that period of time, the COE served its function well. Funds from the Center supported a large number of projects over the last ten years. Many of the people who were supported by the Center have gone on to distinguished research careers in government, industry and university. In fact, several of the people currently working at NASA Ames were initially funded by the Center mechanism, which served as a useful vehicle for attracting top quality candidates and supporting their research efforts. We are grateful for NASA's support over the years. As we reviewed in the reports for each year, the COE budget generally provided a portion of the true costs of the individual research projects. Hence, the funds from the COE were leveraged with funds from industry and other government agencies. In this way, we feel that all parties benefitted greatly from the collaborative spirit and interactive aspects of the COE. The portion of the support from NASA was particularly important in helping members of the COE to set aside the time to publish papers and communicate advances in our understanding of human performance in NASA-related missions.

Wandell, Brian A.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Universal Payload Information Management

As the overall manager and integrator of International Space Station (ISS) science payloads, the Payload Operations Integration Center (POIC) at Marshall Space Flight Center has a critical need to provide an information management system for exchange and control of ISS payload files as well as to coordinate ISS payload related operational changes. The POIC's information management system has a fundamental requirement to provide secure operational access not only to users physically located at the POIC, but also to remote experimenters and International Partners physically located in different parts of the world. The Payload Information Management System (PIMS) is a ground-based electronic document configuration management and collaborative workflow system that was built to service the POIC's information management needs. This paper discusses the application components that comprise the PIMS system, the challenges that influenced its design and architecture, and the selected technologies it employs. This paper will also touch on the advantages of the architecture, details of the user interface, and lessons learned along the way to a successful deployment. With PIMS, a sophisticated software solution has been built that is not only universally accessible for POIC customer s information management needs, but also universally adaptable in implementation and application as a generalized information management system.

Elmore, Ralph B.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

The Virginia Earth System Science Scholars (VESSS) Experience: Inspiring High School Students in Stem Through Mentorship and Collaborative Skills Development

Since 2016, the Virginia Earth System Science Scholars (VESSS) program offered by the Virginia Space Grant Consortium (VSGC) has provided an interactive science, technology, engineering, and mathematics learning experience for Virginia high school juniors and seniors. The VESSS program was created through a partnership with VSGC, NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC), and Hampton University to engage students in learning about Earth’s climate change and its global impacts. High school students from all areas of Virginia learn about Earth science and climate change in a 16 week online course focused on the Earth’s surface and interior, atmospheric composition, weather, water energy cycles, and climate variability. Students that complete the online course are invited to a no-cost seven-day residential summer academy at NASA LaRC where students are divided into teams based on four of the major spheres of study for Earth: atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere. Each team is guided by a Master Teacher and teams of undergraduate student interns who were also previous VESSS scholars. Students interview for team positions and are given a role reflecting an actual satellite design team position such as project scientist, research scientist, budget analyst, launch and orbit analyst, contamination analyst, and education and public outreach specialist. The students spend a week mentored by NASA and industry scientists and engineers as they learn how to select science goals and objectives, select science instruments, balance a mission budget, determine the mission launch location and orbit, and communicate the importance of the mission to the public. Each team produces a mission proposal, and at the end of the week, each team presents their portion of the mission to a panel of experts, followed by a question and answer period. Through this week students learn teamwork, communication, time management, meeting management, and research skills. Project work is supplemented by team-building activities, NASA facility tours, and lectures by acclaimed guest speakers such as Dr. Christine Darden, a NASA “Hidden Figure.” Students have conveyed through course evaluations and testimonials not only the vast personal learning and growth they achieved, but also the new perspectives they gained on future STEM career fields and opportunities to explore.

Elaine Seasly↗
NASA NTRS1988

An investigation of transitional management problems for the NSTS at NASA, executive summary

A summary is given of the work of the University of Houston research team for the third quarter of effort in a yearly grant for the National Space Transportation System (NSTS). As such it serves as a resting place for the ideas and concepts developed this quarter with the collaboration of the Management Integration Offices of NASA. Another objective is the hope that the report will help to stimulate the healthy problem solving process already present at NASA. The main goal of the contractual work is to help NASA to find ways and means of moving into a truly operational era with the shuttle program. This work is a continuation of early work and the reader is encouraged to read the final reports of earlier years. Chapter One of the report is an introduction. Chapter Two deals with industrial adaptation and is in two parts: theory and application. In the theory section, impressions of the management system immediately after reflight are discussed. A key issue, in the author's opinion is the seeming lack of purpose of the program. The application section has six appendices: 1988 Demographic Survey, Field Notes of Interview with HL/P South Texas Nuclear Project, a comparison of the Agendas of the current manager with that of a previous manager, a note on compartmentalization to assist in manifesting, a study on launch prediction for STS-26, and a discussion of a statistical decision-making course for upper level managers. Chapter Three deals with theoretical results returned on flow shop scheduling which will be of use downstream. Chapter Four deals with a statistical model developed to predict the flight rate in future years and indicates the program will have trouble making its schedule. Chapter Five covers the constructural effort and shows the work to be on schedule.

Hunsucker, John↗
NASA NTRS2017

Calibrating the IXPE Observatory from Ground to Space

The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) will be the next SMEX mission launched by NASA in 2021 in collaboration with the Italian Space Agency (ASI). IXPE will perform groundbreaking measurements of imaging polarization in X-rays for a number of different classes of sources with three identical telescopes, finally (re)opening a window in the high energy Universe after more than 40 years since the first pioneering results. The unprecedented sensitivity of IXPE to polarization poses peculiar requirements on the payload calibration, e.g. the use of polarized and completely unpolarized radiation, both on ground and in orbit, and can not rely on a systematic comparison with results obtained by previous observatories. In this paper, we will present the IXPE calibration plan, describing both calibrations which will be performed on the detectors at INAF-IAPS in Rome (Italy) and the calibration on the mirror and detector assemblies which will be carried out at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. On orbit calibrations, performed with calibrations sources mounted on a filter wheel and placed in front of each detector when necessary, will be presented as well.

X-ray astronomy Polarimetry Calibratio↗
NASA NTRS1998

Collaboration in Complex Medical Systems

Improving our understanding of collaborative work in complex environments has the potential for developing effective supporting technologies, personnel training paradigms, and design principles for multi-crew workplaces. USing a sophisticated audio-video-data acquisition system and a corresponding analysis system, the researchers at University of Maryland have been able to study in detail team performance during real trauma patient resuscitation. The first study reported here was on coordination mechanisms and on characteristics of coordination breakdowns. One of the key findings was that implicit communications were an important coordination mechanism (e.g. through the use of shared workspace and event space). The second study was on the sources of uncertainty during resuscitation. Although incoming trauma patients' status is inherently uncertain, the findings suggest that much of the uncertainty felt by care providers was related to communication and coordination. These two studies demonstrate the value of and need for creating a real-life laboratory for studying team performance with the use of comprehensive and integrated data acquisition and analysis tools.

Xiao, Yan↗
NASA NTRS2004

The Structure of Young Stellar Systems: Establishing the Initial Conditions for Planet Formation

FYO1-FY03 Origins support to the PI had been as part of an effort involving Profs. Blake, van Dishoeck and L.G. Mundy of the University of Maryland. As outlined below, the merging of BIMA+OVRO into the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter Astronomy (CARMA) and our mutual involvement in the Spitzer Legacy Science program now provides a more natural means of continuing the Caltech/Maryland collaboration. In addition, the spectroscopy/radiative transfer programs led by Profs. Blake, Hogerheijde, and van Dishoeck form a more cohesive basis for a single proposal. Students supported by our previous Origins grant have been involved in making some of the first sub-arcsecond resolution images of the morphology and chemistry of individual YSOs at OVRO and BIMA, in the analysis of IR spectra taken by ISO, and in continuing exploratory IR diffraction-limited imaging and spectroscopy at the Keck and VLT observatories. Notable scientific accomplishments in the past grant period include: 1) detecting high density and temperature hot cores in the dynamically accreting envelopes of low mass protostars that contain significant quantities of complex, prebioitc molecules, 2) imaging chemical and isotopic zonation in the outer regions of T Tauri star accretion disks, particularly fractional ionization and D/H studies, 3) acquiring and modeling the first extensive CO v = 1 approaches 0 spectroscopy survey of the terrestrial planet-forming region of circumstellar accretion disks, and 4) optimizing detailed radiative transfer modeling of the molecular and dust emission from YSO envelopes and from comets, including a new parallelized implementation.

Blake, Geoffrey A.↗