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At least 757 records · Page 42

The Problem of Hipparcos Distances to Open Clusters: Constraints from Multicolor a Main-Sequence Fitting - Report 1

Parallax data from the Hipparcos mission allow the direct distance to open clusters to be compared with the distance inferred from main-sequence (MS) fitting. There are surprising differences between the two distance measurements. indicating either the need for changes in the cluster compositions or reddening, underlying problems with the technique of MS fitting, or systematic errors in the Hipparcos parallaxes at the 1 mas level. We examine the different possibilities, focusing on MS fitting in both metallicity-sensitive B-V and metallicity-insensitive V-I for five well-studied systems (the Hyades, Pleiades, alpha Per, Praesepe, and Coma Ber). The Hipparcos distances to the Hyades and alpha Per are within 1 sigma of the MS-fitting distance in B-V and V-I, while the Hipparcos distances to Coma Ber and the Pleiades are in disagreement with the MS-fitting distance at more than the 3 sigma level. There are two Hipparcos measurements of the distance to Praesepe; one is in good agreement with the MS-fitting distance and the other disagrees at the 2 sigma level. The distance estimates from the different colors are in conflict with one another for Coma but in agreement for the Pleiades. Changes in the relative cluster metal abundances, age related effects, helium, and reddening are shown to be unlikely to explain the puzzling behavior of the Pleiades. We present evidence for spatially dependent systematic errors at the 1 mas level in the parallaxes of Pleiades stars. The implications of this result are discussed.

Pinsonneault, Marc H.↗

Tensile, Compression, Open-Hole Compression and Double Cantilever Beam Fracture Toughness Testing of Multiple NASA Langley Research Center Composite Materials

The attached data summarizes the work performed by the Composite Materials Research Group at the University of Wyoming funded by the NASA LaRC Research Grant NAG-1-1294. The work consisted primarily of tension, compression, open-hole compression and double cantilever beam fracture toughness testing performed an a variety of NASA LaRC composite materials. Tests were performed at various environmental conditions and pre-conditioning requirements. The primary purpose of this work was to support the LaRC material development efforts. The data summaries are arranged in chronological order from oldest to newest.

Adams, Donald F.↗

Hurricane Directional Wave Spectrum Spatial Variation in the Open Ocean

The sea surface directional wave spectrum was measured for the first time in all quadrants of a hurricane in open water using the NASA airborne scanning radar altimeter (SRA) carried aboard one of the NOAA WP-3D hurricane hunter aircraft at 1.5 km height. The SRA measures the energetic portion of the directional wave spectrum by generating a topographic map of the sea surface. At 8 Hz, the SRA sweeps a radar beam of 1 deg half-power width (two-way) across the aircraft ground track over a swath equal to 0. 8 of the aircraft height, simultaneously measuring the backscattered power at its 36 GHz (8.3 mm) operating frequency and the range to the sea surface at 64 positions. These slant ranges are multiplied by the cosine of the incidence angles to determine the vertical distances from the aircraft to the sea surface. Subtracting these distances from the aircraft height produces the sea surface elevation map. The sea surface topography is interpolated to a uniform grid, transformed by a two-dimensional FFT, and Doppler corrected. The data presented were acquired on 24 August 1998 when hurricane Bonnie was east of the Bahamas and moving slowly to the north. Wave heights up to 18 m were observed and the spatial variation of the wave field was dramatic. The dominant waves generally propagated at significant angles to the downwind direction and at times there were wave fields traveling at right angles to each other. The NOAA aircraft spent over five hours within 180 km of the hurricane Bonnie eye, and made five eye penetrations. A 2-minute animation of the directional wave spectrum spatial variation over this period will be shown.

Wright, C. W.↗

STS-99 Payload Bay Door Opening at Pad 39A Endeavour

The primary objective of the STS-99 mission was to complete high resolution mapping of large sections of the Earth's surface using the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), a specially modified radar system. This videotape shows the doors to the payload bay opening prior to the emplacement of the SRTM. It also shows views of the personnel in the clean room during the process.

Source record↗

Issues Involved in the Development of an Open Standard for Data Link of Aviation Weather Information

This paper describes how an effective and efficient data link system for the dissemination of aviation weather information could be constructed. The system is built upon existing 'open standard' foundations drawn from current aviation and computer technologies. Issues of communications protocols and application data formats are discussed. The proposed aviation weather data link system is dependent of the actual link mechanism selected.

Grappel, R. D.↗

Development of New Open-Shell Perturbation and Coupled-Cluster Theories Based on Symmetric Spin Orbitals

A new spin orbital basis is employed in the development of efficient open-shell coupled-cluster and perturbation theories that are based on a restricted Hartree-Fock (RHF) reference function. The spin orbital basis differs from the standard one in the spin functions that are associated with the singly occupied spatial orbital. The occupied orbital (in the spin orbital basis) is assigned the delta(+) = 1/square root of 2(alpha+Beta) spin function while the unoccupied orbital is assigned the delta(-) = 1/square root of 2(alpha-Beta) spin function. The doubly occupied and unoccupied orbitals (in the reference function) are assigned the standard alpha and Beta spin functions. The coupled-cluster and perturbation theory wave functions based on this set of "symmetric spin orbitals" exhibit much more symmetry than those based on the standard spin orbital basis. This, together with interacting space arguments, leads to a dramatic reduction in the computational cost for both coupled-cluster and perturbation theory. Additionally, perturbation theory based on "symmetric spin orbitals" obeys Brillouin's theorem provided that spin and spatial excitations are both considered. Other properties of the coupled-cluster and perturbation theory wave functions and models will be discussed.

Lee, Timothy J.↗

Alleviation of Facility/Engine Interactions in an Open-Jet Scramjet Test Facility

Results of a series of shakedown tests to eliminate facility/engine interactions in an open-jet scramjet test facility are presented. The tests were conducted with the NASA DFX (Dual-Fuel eXperimental scramjet) engine in the NASA Langley Combustion Heated Scramjet Test Facility (CHSTF) in support of the Hyper-X program, The majority of the tests were conducted at a total enthalpy and pressure corresponding to Mach 5 flight at a dynamic pressure of 734 psf. The DFX is the largest engine ever tested in the CHSTF. Blockage, in terms of the projected engine area relative to the nozzle exit area, is 81% with the engine forebody leading edge aligned with the upper edge of the facility nozzle such that it ingests the nozzle boundary layer. The blockage increases to 95% with the engine forebody leading edge positioned 2 in. down in the core flow. Previous engines successfully tested in the CHSTF have had blockages of no more than 51%. Oil flow studies along with facility and engine pressure measurements were used to define flow behavior. These results guided modifications to existing aeroappliances and the design of new aeroappliances. These changes allowed fueled tests to be conducted without facility interaction effects in the data with the engine forebody leading edge positioned to ingest the facility nozzle boundary layer. Interaction effects were also reduced for tests with the engine forebody leading edge positioned 2 in. into the core flow, however some interaction effects were still evident in the engine data. A new shroud and diffuser have been designed with the goal of allowing fueled tests to be conducted with the engine forebody leading edge positioned in the core without facility interaction effects in the data. Evaluation tests of the new shroud and diffuser will be conducted once ongoing fueled engine tests have been completed.

Albertson, Cindy W.↗

Effective Thermal Conductivity of High Porosity Open Cell Nickel Foam

The effective thermal conductivity of high-porosity open cell nickel foam samples was measured over a wide range of temperatures and pressures using a standard steady-state technique. The samples, measuring 23.8 mm, 18.7 mm, and 13.6 mm in thickness, were constructed with layers of 1.7 mm thick foam with a porosity of 0.968. Tests were conducted with the specimens subjected to temperature differences of 100 to 1000 K across the thickness and at environmental pressures of 10(exp -4) to 750 mm Hg. All test were conducted in a gaseous nitrogen environment. A one-dimensional finite volume numerical model was developed to model combined radiation/conduction heat transfer in the foam. The radiation heat transfer was modeled using the two-flux approximation. Solid and gas conduction were modeled using standard techniques for high porosity media. A parameter estimation technique was used in conjunction with the measured and predicted thermal conductivities at pressures of 10(exp -4) and 750 mm Hg to determine the extinction coefficient, albedo of scattering, and weighting factors for modeling the conduction thermal conductivity. The measured and predicted conductivities over the intermediate pressure values differed by 13%.

Sullins, Alan D.↗

Magnetic Signature for the Pole-of-Opening of the Canada Basin

Long-wavelength, relative high amplitude-magnetic anomalies obtained at satellite altitudes have provided an understanding of the nature of the deeper crust of the Earth. We have studied one such long-wavelength (19 nT positive, -6 nT negative) feature on the Canada Basin continental margin in the Northwest and Yukon Territories, Canada. This area is also the focus of significant stress and earthquake activity. We interpret this anomaly and associated tectonic activity with this region's position at or near the fulcrum of the scissors-like opening of the Canada Basin in the mid-Mesozoic Era.

Taylor, Patrick T.↗

Recent Advances in Open-Shell Perturbation Theory and Coupled-Cluster Theory

Comparisons of various recently developed open-shell RHF perturbation theories will be presented. Among the aspects considered are spin-contamination, computational cost, and quality of numerical results. In addition, a new approach to avoid the disk storage and I/O bottlenecks in large scale coupled-cluster calculations will be discussed.

Lee, Timothy J.↗

An XMM-Newton Observation of the Lagoon Nebula and the Very Young Open Cluster NGC 6530

We report the results of an XMM-Newton observation of the Lagoon Nebula (M 8). Our EPIC images of this region reveal a cluster of point sources, most of which have optical counterparts inside the very young open cluster NGC 6530. The bulk of these X-ray sources are probably associated with low and intermediate mass pre-main sequence stars. One of the sources experiences a flare-like increase of its X-ray flux making it the second brightest source in M 8 after the O4 star 9 Sgr. The X-ray spectra of most of the brightest sources can be fitted with thermal plasma models with temperatures of kT approximately a few keV. Only a few of the X-ray selected PMS candidates are known to display H(alpha) emission and were previously classified as classical T Tauri stars. This suggests that most of the X-ray emitting PMS stars in NGC 6530 are weak line T Tauri stars. In addition to 9 Sgr, our EPIC field of view contains also a few early-type stars. The X-ray emission from HD 164816 is found to be typical for an O9.5III-IV star. At least one of the known Herbig Be stars in NGC 6530 (LkH(alpha) 115) exhibits a relatively strong X-ray emission, while most of the main sequence stars of spectral type B1 and later are not detected. We also detect (probably) diffuse X-ray emission from the Hourglass Region that might reveal a hot bubble blown by the stellar wind of Herschel 36, the ionizing star of the Hourglass Region.

Rauw, G.↗

Super NiCd Open-Circuit Storage and Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Life Test Evaluation

This presentation discusses Air Force tests performed on super NiCd cells to measure their performance under conditions simulating Low Earth Orbit (LEO) conditions. Super NiCd cells offer potential advantages over existing NiCd cell designs including advanced cell design with improved separator material and electrode making processes, but handling and storage requires active charging. These tests conclude that the super NiCd cells support generic Air Force qualifications for conventional LEO missions (up to five years duration) and that handling and storage may not actually require active charging as previously assumed. Topics covered include: Test Plan, Initial Characterization Tests, Open-Circuit Storage Tests, and post storage capacities.

Baer, Jean Marie↗

The NASA Scientific and Technical Information (STI) Program's Implementation of Open Archives Initiation (OAI) for Data Interoperability and Data Exchange

Interoperability and data-exchange are critical for the survival of government information management programs. E-government initiatives are transforming the way the government interacts with the public. More information is to be made available through web-enabled technologies. Programs such as the NASA's Scientific and Technical Information (STI) Program Office are tasked to find more effective ways to disseminate information to the public. The NASA STI Program is an agency-wide program charged with gathering, organizing, storing, and disseminating NASA-produced information for research and public use. The program is investigating the use of a new protocol called the Open Archives Initiative (OAI) as a means to improve data interoperability and data collection. OAI promotes the use of the OAI harvesting protocol as a simple way for data sharing among repositories. In two separate initiatives, the STI Program is implementing OAI In collaboration with the Air Force, Department of Energy, and Old Dominion University, the NASA STI Program has funded research on implementing the OAI to exchange data between the three organizations. The second initiative is the deployment of OAI for the NASA technical report server (TRS) environment. The NASA TRS environment is comprised of distributed technical report servers with a centralized search interface. This paper focuses on the implementation of OAI to promote interoperability among diverse data repositories.

Rocker, JoAnne↗

Membership and Coronal Activity in the NGC 2232 and Cr 140 Open Clusters

Making use of eight archival ROSAT HRI images in the regions of the NGC 2232 and Cr 140, this project's primary focus is to identify X-ray sources and to extract net source counts for these sources in these two open clusters. These X-ray data would be combined with ground-based photometry and spectroscopy in order to identify G, K, and early-M type cluster members. Such membership data are important because, at present, no members later than spectral type approx. F5 are currently known for either cluster. With ages estimated to be approx. 25 Myr and at distances of just approx. 350 pc, the combined late-type membership of the NGC 2232 and Cr 140 clusters would yield an almost unique sample of solar-type stars in the post-T Tauri/pre-main sequence phase of evolution. These stars could be used to assess the level and dispersion of coronal activity levels, as a part of a probe of the importance of magnetic braking and the level of magnetic dynamo activity, for solar-type stars just before they reach the zero-age main sequence.

Oliversen, Ronald J.↗

Late-Type Membership of the Open Cluster NGC 2232

NGC 2232 is one of the nearest open clusters (approx.360 pc) with an age of approx.25 Myr. This places it in the unique position to study the transition from T Tauri activity to the Zero Age Main Sequence. In order for those studies to begin, late-type members must be identified for the cluster. X-ray observations combined with ground-based photometry and spectroscopy offers the best way to accomplish this goal. We present photometry in the VRI bands, 2MASS near-infrared measurements in the J, H , Ks bands and spectra for the suspected optical counterparts to the X-ray sources in the field of NGC 2232. 46 candidate members were identified through these efforts ranging from F5 to M5.

Orban, Chris↗

Open Architecture Data System for NASA Langley Combined Loads Test System

The Combined Loads Test System (COLTS) is a new structures test complex that is being developed at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) to test large curved panels and cylindrical shell structures. These structural components are representative of aircraft fuselage sections of subsonic and supersonic transport aircraft and cryogenic tank structures of reusable launch vehicles. Test structures are subjected to combined loading conditions that simulate realistic flight load conditions. The facility consists of two pressure-box test machines and one combined loads test machine. Each test machine possesses a unique set of requirements or research data acquisition and real-time data display. Given the complex nature of the mechanical and thermal loads to be applied to the various research test articles, each data system has been designed with connectivity attributes that support both data acquisition and data management functions. This paper addresses the research driven data acquisition requirements for each test machine and demonstrates how an open architecture data system design not only meets those needs but provides robust data sharing between data systems including the various control systems which apply spectra of mechanical and thermal loading profiles.

Lightfoot, Michael C.↗