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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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The effects of various combinations of space flight stresses are discussed. Included are weightlessness, acceleration, vibration, ionizing radiation, hypoxia, and ambient temperature. The problem of constructing mathematical models to describe the dynamics of biological systems, including those to analyze and predict adaptation and restoration processes following combined stresses, is also considered.
A simplified H2 formation mechanism is proposed in which small interstellar grains furnish the reaction sites. This mechanism results in a maximum value for the rate constant of about 2 by 10 to the -18th power per cu cm/sec for dark clouds at 10 K. Also, the nascent molecules are ejected in excited states, in qualitative agreement with Copernicus observations. A time-dependent treatment of the chemical evolution of a dark cloud with little or no ionizing radiation shows that the clouds require more than 10 million years to achieve chemical equilibrium. The observed residual atomic hydrogen in several dark clouds suggests that the clouds are 1 to 10 million years old. Other consequences of the temporal cloud model are in accord with astronomical observations.
The paper deals with the development of a new class of immunological reagents consisting of antibodies covalently bonded to polymeric microspheres to serve as convenient markers for detection of cell surface antigens by scanning electron and light microscopy. Attention is focused on the design and synthesis of spherical particles containing hydroxyl and carboxyl groups on their surface in a wide range of sizes (30-340 nm diam) by emulsion copolymerization, the preparation of spherical particles ranging from 300 nm to 3 microns and containing a variety of functional groups by means of ionizing radiation, and the experimental conditions for the covalent bonding of fluorescent molecules and antibodies to the spheres by means of the cyanogen bromide, carbodiimide and glutaraldehyde methods. These reagents are used to locate antigens on red blood cells, on mouse and human lymphocytes, and on the surface of photoreceptors. They offer a number of advantages and applications for the study of cell surfaces for immunodiagnosis.
Experiments were conducted to study the pathway for the prebiotic origin of amino acids from hydrogen cyanide (HCN) under the action of ionizing radiation considered as an effective source of energy on the primitive earth. The irradiations were performed in a cobalt-60 source with a dose rate of 200,000 rad/hr. Seven naturally occurring amino acids are identified among the products formed by the hydrolysis of gamma-irradiated solutions of HCN: glycine, alanine, valine, serine, threonine, aspartic acid, and glutamic acid. The identity of these amino acids is established by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. Control experiments provided evidence that the amino acids are not the result of contamination.
Some properties and applications of a pitch carbon microsphere composite are described. The small hollow microspheres are made from the pitch which is usually a wasted by-product of petroleum refining. In contrast to high density composites or syntactic foams in which microspheres are inclusions within a continuous matrix, this composite is an aggregate of microspheres bonded together by a small amount of thermosetting polymer which does not form a continuous matrix. The result is a composite with low density and thermal expansion, modest strength and rigidity, and high porosity and carbon content. Mechanical, thermal, and sorption properties have been measured. Applications of the composite include honeycomb filler for high temperature or ionizing radiation fields and a wicking absorber for solar-powered stills.
Mass loss from an accretion disk around a supermassive (of the order of 100 million solar masses) black hole is proposed as the origin of the broad permitted lines of Seyfert galaxies and QSOs. The material is expelled by ionizing radiation emitted near the center of the disk and striking it at a radius of approximately 10 to the 16.5 power cm. The escaping gas initially has a density of about 1 trillion per cu cm, high enough for radiation pressure to accelerate the gas to high radial velocities. The model leads to line emission from tiny dense filaments moving at about 10,000 km/s in a region roughly 10 to the 17th power cm across. This agrees with the observed broad line widths, variability time scales, and the absence of broad forbidden-line emission.
System for controlled injection of electrons or holes into oxide layer of MOS capacitor can be used to measure oxide trapping parameters. Since trapping mechanisms can cause degradation and ultimate failure of MOS elements exposed to ionizing radiation, system can be helpful in predicting device tolerance.
Integrated sensing circuits were designed, fabricated, and packaged for use in determining the direction and fluence of ionizing radiation passing through a multiwire proportional chamber. CMOS on sapphire was selected because of its high speed and low power capabilities. The design of the proposed circuits is described and the results of computer simulations are presented. The fabrication processes for the CMOS on sapphire sensing circuits and hybrid substrates are outlined. Several design options are described and the cost implications of each discussed. To be most effective, each chip should handle not more than 32 inputs, and should be mounted on its own hybrid substrate.
Measurements on two candidate materials for space flight are reported. The observed optical transmittance of aluminum films vapor deposited on fused quartz showed anomalously high transmittance thru 400 A and 600 A and showed an effective skin depth of 110 A in the latter part of the 1000 A thickness. KAPTON films are shown by their optical transmission spectra to have an energy gap for electron excitation of approximately 2.5 eV, which value depends on the thickness as manufactured. The resistance of KAPTON film to ionizing radiation is described by their optical spectra and their electron spin resonance spectra.
Positive-ion electrical-conductivity measurements, which are now performed with 4-cm diameter meteorological rocket payloads, provide a simple means of monitoring the NO concentration in the mesosphere, as well as the ionization variability. A wavelike dynamical structure is observed at low latitudes. Parachute-borne Gerdien mobility analyzers show, in addition, ion mobility spectra which spread from much greater to much less than that expected for simple gas-phase ions in the mesosphere and also indicate an ion clustering chain in the stratosphere. Large particulate ions apparently form in the daytime and grow very large at night. An instrument combining the mobility analyzer with a flashing source of ionizing radiation could be used as an NO(x) spectrometer.
Variations with the solar cycle of chemical composition, density and temperature of the orbital environment of the Space Shuttle are reviewed; micrometeoroid fluxes, ionizing radiation, photon fluxes and cosmic ray bombardment to which the Shuttle will be subjected are also mentioned. In addition, gases arising from offgassing and outgassing of contaminants (at about 300 K) from the Shuttle are considered, and particulates ejected during rocket firings or from the leakage of pressurized vessels (i.e., the cabin) are taken into account.
Physiological criteria determining the design of the habitat for a space colony with 10,000 people are discussed. Centrifugally generated earth-normal gravity, maximum ionizing radiation dose standards less than or equal to 0.5 rem/year (obtained with passive shielding), and an atmosphere with reduced nitrogen partial pressures were established as design requirements for the habitat. However, further research is needed to determine whether humans experience complete adaptation to weightlessness and whether there are long-term effects of breathing various atmospheric mixtures and pressures.
An investigation has been undertaken to determine whether ionizing radiation might engender racemization of optically active amino acids, along with their usual radiolysis. As prototypes, crystalline Dand L-leucine, as well as aqueous solutions of their sodium salts were exposed to the radiation from a 3000 Ci Co-60 gamma-ray source. Gamma-ray doses which caused about 68% radiolysis of solid leucine left a residue which was about 5% racemized, while racemization proved even greater at lower doses for the dissolved sodium salts. In aqueous solution both percent degradation and percent racemization of the sodium salts were proportional to gamma-ray dosage within the range employed (1,000,000-27,000,000 rads). Implications of these observations for the origin of molecular asymmetry by the beta-decay parity violation mechanism are discussed.
The faint optical filaments in Tycho's supernova remnant appear to be emission from a shock front moving at 5600 km/s. The intensity of the hydrogen lines, the absence of forbidden lines of heavy elements in the spectrum, and the width of the filaments are explained by a model in which a collisionless shock wave is moving into partially neutral gas. The presence of the neutral gas can be used to set an upper limit of approximately 5 x 10 to the 47th power ergs to the energy in ionizing radiation emitted by a Type I supernova. The patchy neutral gas is probably part of the warm neutral component of the interstellar medium. The existing information on the remnant of SN 1006 indicates that its emission is similar in nature to that from Tycho's remnant.
Results are reported for optical, near-IR, and mid-IR spectrophotometry of the compact H II region K3-50A. The emission-line observations imply an electron density of about 100,000 per cu cm; the consistency of density measurements in the optical, IR, and radio sources suggests that the optical counterpart of K3-50A is a reflection nebula. Previous measurements of the anomalous extinction law in K3-50A are confirmed, this law is extended out to B-alpha at 4 microns, and a 9-micron optical depth of about 2.5 is obtained. Elemental abundances are derived from measurements of emission lines of several dominant ions of the same element and found to be in close agreement (50%) with mean cosmic abundances. Individual ionic ratios are compared with model H II region calculations to determine the nature of the ionizing radiation. It is concluded that if nongray UV dust absorption does not modify the spectrum appreciably, the radiation temperature can be associated with a stellar surface temperature of about 37,000 K, corresponding to an O6 supergiant.
Synthesis of several classes of hydrophylic microspheres applied to cell labeling and cell separation is described. Five classes of cross-linked microspheres with functional groups such as carboxyl, hydroxyl, amide and/or pyridine groups were synthesized. These functional groups were used to bind covalently antibodies and other proteins to the surface of the microspheres. To optimize the derivatisation technique, polyglutaraldehyde immunomicrospheres were prepared and utilized. Specific populations of human and murine lymphocytes were labelled with microspheres synthesized by the emulsion of the ionizing radiation technique. The labelling of the cells by means of microspheres containing an iron core produced successful separation of B from T lymphocytes by means of a magnetic field.
A self supporting sheet structure comprising a water soluble, noncrosslinked polymer such as polyvinyl alcohol which is capable of being crosslinked by reaction with hydrogen atom radicals and hydroxyl molecule radicals is contacted with an aqueous solution having a pH of less than 8 and containing a dissolved salt in an amount sufficient to prevent substantial dissolution of the noncrosslinked polymer in the aqueous solution. The aqueous solution is then irradiated with ionizing radiation to form hydrogen atom radicals and hydroxyl molecule radicals and the irradiation is continued for a time sufficient to effect crosslinking of the water soluble polymer to produce a water insoluble polymer sheet structure. The method has particular application in the production of battery separators and electrode envelopes for alkaline batteries.
The optically pure D- and L-enantiomers of isovaline, which cannot be racemized by ordinary chemical mechanisms involving alpha-hydrogen removal and which has been isolated in apparently racemic form from the Murchison meteorite, have been subjected to partial radiolysis by the ionizing radiation from a 3000-Ci Co-60 gamma-ray source. Both in the anhydrous and hydrated solid states and as solid sodium or hydrochloride salts each enantiomer suffered significant radioracemization of the undestroyed residue during its partial radiolysis. The sodium salt of isovaline in 0.1-M aqueous solution suffered extensive radiolysis with relatively small radiation doses, but showed no detectable radioracemization. The significance of these observations with respect to the primordial enantiomeric composition of the isovaline (and other amino acids) indigenous to meteorites is discussed.