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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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At least 793 records · Page 44
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1982

Low gain and steerable vehicle antennas for communications with land mobile satellite

Current development activities at JPL for ground mobile vehicle antennas to be used with the Land Mobile Satellite Service (LMSS) system are described. Both low gain and electronically steerable high gain type antennas are discussed in terms of their design concept and RF performance. For the low gain type, three classes of antennas are under various stages of development. These are the crossed-drooping dipole, quadrifilar helix, and microstrip patch designs. The antennas are intended to provide circularly-polarized radiation with a minimum of 3-dB gain in the angular region from 19 degrees to 60 deg from the horizon in elevation plane and with an omnidirectional pattern in azimuthal plane. For the electronically steerable high gain type, circularly-polarized microstrip patch phased arrays formed on a planar surface and on the surface of a truncated cone are under study. The arrays are intended to provide a minimum of 12 dB gain in the same angular region in elevation plane at all azimuthal angles. This coverage is accomplished by scanning the high gain pencil beam in both elevation and azimuthal directions. Both types of antennas are to transmit at 821-831 MHz band and to receive at 866-876 MHz band. They must be of low cost design and reasonably conformal to the vehicle.

Woo, K.↗
NASA NTRS1976

OAST Space Theme Workshop. Volume 3: Working group summary. 3: Sensors (E-3). A. Statement. B. Technology needs (form 1). C. Priority assessment (form 2). D. Additional assessment

Developments required to support the space power, SETI, solar system exploration and global services programs are identified. Instrumentation and calibration sensors (rather than scientific) are needed for the space power system. Highly sophisticated receivers for narrowband detection of microwave sensors and sensors for automated stellar cataloging to provide a mapping data base for SETI are needed. Various phases of solar system exploration require large area solid state imaging arrays from UV to IR; a long focal plane telescope; high energy particle detectors; advanced spectrometers; a gravitometer; and atmospheric distanalyzer; sensors for penetrometers; in-situ sensors for surface chemical analysis, life detection, spectroscopic and microscopic analyses of surface soils, and for meteorological measurements. Active and passive multiapplication sensors, advanced multispectral scanners with improved resolution in the UV and IR ranges, and laser techniques for advanced probing and oceanographic characterization will enhance for global services.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1980

Conceptual design of a spaceborne lightning sensor

A conceptual design of a broad-area optical lightning telescope sensor (BOLTS) designed to provide full-time (day/night) coverage of the continental United States from a geosynchronous orbit is described. Variations are discussed that could cover the whole globe from four to five geosynchronous satellites or cover only smaller areas with a high (2.5 km) resolution. The design is based on research results of the initial phase of a NASA-sponsored program. The ground resolution will be 8 x 8 km. The focal plane is an 800 x 800 pixel CCD array, electronically subdivided to allow for the high data rates (1000 frames per sec) imposed by the characteristics of lightning flashes. It will detect lightning strokes whose optical power is greater than 10 million watts, with a probability of detection of 0.9, and a false alarm rate of 0.1.

Wolfe, W. L.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Spectral mapping of Jupiter and the Galilean satellites in the near infrared

A near-infrared mapping spectrometer is included in the science complement of the Galileo Mission, which will explore Jupiter and its satellites in the mid-1980s. The objectives of the infrared mapping spectrometer experiment are to map compositional units on the surfaces of the Jovian satellites and to characterize the mineral content of these units. For Jupiter's atmosphere, this experiment will investigate such areas as cloud properties and the spatial and temporal variability of minor species. The instrument consists of a telescope, a plane grating spectrometer, a Si and InSb detector array, and a passive radiative cooler. The spectral range is 0.7-5.2 microns, covered with a resolution of 0.025 micron. A wobbling secondary mirror in the telescope provides one dimension of spatial scanning, while the other dimension is provided by motion of the spacecraft scan platform.

Carlson, R. W.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Space Station Attitude Control System Concept and Requirements

There is currently no single Space Station configuration which is accepted as a baseline. However, the latest approach is toward symmetry in both geometry and mass distribution. This minimizes aerodynamic and gravity gradient torques. Solar arrays and radiators drive the configuration strongly. One axis of the solar arrays needs to be perpendicular to the orbit plane, and the geometric and principal axis should remain common along this axis to minimize secular torques. The need for both inertial and earth-fixed modes drives the structure of the Station toward a disk-like shape in the orbital plane.

Nicaise, P. D.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Analyses of large quasistatic deformations of inelastic bodies by a new hybrid-stress finite element algorithm - Applications

A new hybrid-stress finite element algorithm suitable for analyzing large quasistatic deformations of inelastic solids is presented and its feasibility and performance are demonstrated with examples. The algorithm provides extremely accurate bifurcation analysis which is stable with respect to variation in the finite element mesh, so long as the same type of element is used in every mesh. When the mesh element is varied, the result changes in a predictable manner. The method does not necessarily lead to an upper or lower bound for the critical load. An explicit forward gradient scheme is used to improve stability and is shown to be useful also for elongation-dominated deformations. The application of the method to the onset of necking in plane extension and to deformation and stress in plane extension of an elasticoviscous fluid with an array of cylindrical voids is given in detail.

Reed, K. W.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Coherent structures in a boundary layer and shear layer of a turbulent backward-facing step flow

A wind tunnel experiment has been carried out at the NASA Ames Research Center to analyze the evolution of coherent structures from a boundary layer to a shear layer in a turbulent, backward-facing, step flow. A miniature X-wire/cold-wire probe has been used in conjunction with two arrays of cold wires, one aligned in the plane of main shear and the other in the spanwise direction of the flow, to detect and characterize delta-scale organized structures in the outer regions of the flow and to provide detailed information concerning these structures. Kinematic features of the events associated with the large scale structures were analyzed and topological pictures of the evolving flow, as well as the contributions to the Reynolds shear stress components are presented.

Jovic, Srba↗
NASA NTRS1991

Growing Cobalt Silicide Columns In Silicon

Codeposition by molecular-beam epitaxy yields variety of structures. Proposed fabrication process produces three-dimensional nanometer-sized structures on silicon wafers. Enables control of dimensions of metal and semiconductor epitaxial layers in three dimensions instead of usual single dimension (perpendicular to the plane of the substrate). Process used to make arrays of highly efficient infrared sensors, high-speed transistors, and quantum wires. For fabrication of electronic devices, both shapes and locations of columns controlled. One possible technique for doing this electron-beam lithography, see "Making Submicron CoSi2 Structures on Silicon Substrates" (NPO-17736).

Fathauer, Obert W.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Supercritical transition in plane channel flow with spatially periodic perturbations

Laboratory experiments and numerical simulations have been conducted for plane channel flow with a streamwise-periodic array of cylinders. The primary transition in this open flow occurs as a convective rather than absolute instability and leads to traveling-wave packets, which advect out of the system. The ordered secondary state is characteristic of closed flows, in contrast with other open flows where the primary transition often leads directly to turbulence.

Schatz, Michael F.↗
NASA NTRS1992

High-gain step-profiled integrated diagonal horn-antennas

A new step-profiled integrated-horn antenna is proposed. The antenna allows gains in the range of 17-20 dB to be achieved using standard (100) silicon wafers. The antenna is diagonally fed and exhibits very good circular symmetry within the 10-dB beamwidth. It has a fundamental Gaussian coupling efficiency of 83 percent. It is demonstrated that the profiled antenna has a radiation pattern similar to that of its smooth envelope horn, provided that the discontinuity between successive wafers does not exceed 0.15 lambda. The integrated stepped-profile horn performs much better than a corresponding smooth 70 deg flare-angle integrated horn of the same aperture size. The integrated step-profile horn is very well-suited for radio-astonomical and remote-sensing millimeter-wave imaging arrays requiring a large number of focal-plane elements.

Eleftheriades, George V.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Solar System Studies with the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF)

SIRTF (Space Infrared Telescope Facility) is the final element in NASA's 'Great Observatories' program. It consists of an 85-cm cryogenically-cooled observatory for infrared astronomy from space. SIRTF is scheduled for launch in late 2001 or early 2002 on a Delta rocket into a heliocentric orbit trailing the Earth. Data from SIRTF will be processed and disseminated to the community through the SIRTF Science Center (SSC) located at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC) at Caltech. Some 80/% of the total observing time (estimated at a minimum of 7500 hours of integration time per year for the mission lifetime of about 4 years) will be available to the scientific community at large through a system of refereed proposals. Three basic instruments are located in the SIRTF focal plane. The Multiband Imaging Photometer (MIPS), the Infrared Array Camera (IRAC), and the Infrared Spectrometer (IRS), taken together, provide imaging and spectroscopy from 3.5 to 160 microns. Among the solar system studies suited to SIRTF are the following: 1) spectroscopy and radiometry of small bodies from the asteroid main belt, through the Trojan clouds, to the Kuiper Disk; 2) dust distribution in the zodiacal cloud and the Earth's heliocentric dust ring; 3) spectroscopy and radiometry of comets; and 4) spectroscopy and radiometry of planets and their satellites. Searches for, and studies of dust disks around other stars, brown dwarfs, and superplanets will also be conducted with SIRTF. The SORTIE web site (http://ssc.ipac.caltech.edu/sirtf) contains important details and documentation on the project, the spacecraft, the telescope, instruments, and observing procedures. A community-wide workshop for solar system studies with SIRTF is in the planning stages by the author and Martha S. Hanner for the summer of 1999.

Cruikshank, Dale P.↗
NASA NTRS2004

AZW-LA-II White Paint on Swift: Lessons Learned from First Time Flying on Spacecraft Radiators

AZ-Tek's AZW-LA-II low solar absorptance white paint was previously flown as a flight experiment, and is being flown as a calorimeter. However it has never been flown as a thermal coating of radiators on an operational spacecraft before. This paint has the lowest solar absorptance among all white paints, and a very small degradation. Its cost is many times more expensive than white paints that have a higher solar absorptance. To meet the thermal requirements of the Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) Detector Array and X-Ray Telescope (XRT) focal plane camera assembly (FPCA) charged coupled device (CCD), AZW-LA-II is used as the thermal coating for the BAT and XRT radiators. This paper presents the lessons learned from flying this low solar absorptance white paint as a thermal coating of radiators on an operational spacecraft for the first time.

Choi, Michael K.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Apparatus and method using a holographic optical element for converting a spectral distribution to image points

A holographic optical element transforms a spectral distribution of light to image points. The element comprises areas, each of which acts as a separate lens to image the light incident in its area to an image point. Each area contains the recorded hologram of a point source object. The image points can be made to lie in a line in the same focal plane so as to align with a linear array detector. A version of the element has been developed that has concentric equal areas to match the circular fringe pattern of a Fabry-Perot interferometer. The element has high transmission efficiency, and when coupled with high quantum efficiency solid state detectors, provides an efficient photon-collecting detection system. The element may be used as part of the detection system in a direct detection Doppler lidar system or multiple field of view lidar system.

McGill, Matthew J.↗
NASA NTRS2008

Development of Position-sensitive Transition-edge Sensor X-ray Detectors

We report on the development of position-sensitive transition-edge sensors (PoST's) for future x-ray astronomy missions such as the International X-ray Observatory (IXO), currently under study by NASA and ESA. PoST's consist of multiple absorbers each with a different thermal coupling to one or more transition-edge sensor (TES). This differential thermal coupling between absorbers and TES's results in different characteristic pulse shapes and allows position discrimination between the different pixels. The development of PoST's is motivated by a desire to achieve maximum focal-plane area with the least number of readout channels and as such. PoST's are ideally suited to provide a focal-plane extension to the Constellation-X microcalorimeter array. We report the first experimental results of our latest one and two channel PoST's, which utilize fast thermalizing electroplated Au/Bi absorbers coupled to low noise Mo/Au TES's - a technology already successfully implemented in our arrays of single pixel TES's. We demonstrate 6 eV energy resolution coupled with spatial sensitivity in the keV energy range. We also report on the development of signal processing algorithms to optimize energy and position sensitivity of our detectors.

Smith, S. J.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Very High Resolution Solar X-ray Imaging Using Diffractive Optics

This paper describes the development of X-ray diffractive optics for imaging solar flares with better than 0.1 arcsec angular resolution. X-ray images with this resolution of the greater than or equal to 10 MK plasma in solar active regions and solar flares would allow the cross-sectional area of magnetic loops to be resolved and the coronal flare energy release region itself to be probed. The objective of this work is to obtain X-ray images in the iron-line complex at 6.7 keV observed during solar flares with an angular resolution as fine as 0.1 arcsec - over an order of magnitude finer than is now possible. This line emission is from highly ionized iron atoms, primarily Fe xxv, in the hottest flare plasma at temperatures in excess of approximately equal to 10 MK. It provides information on the flare morphology, the iron abundance, and the distribution of the hot plasma. Studying how this plasma is heated to such high temperatures in such short times during solar flares is of critical importance in understanding these powerful transient events, one of the major objectives of solar physics.We describe the design, fabrication, and testing of phase zone plate X-ray lenses with focal lengths of approximately equal to 100 m at these energies that would be capable of achieving these objectives. We show how such lenses could be included on a two-spacecraft formation-flying mission with the lenses on the spacecraft closest to the Sun and an X-ray imaging array on the second spacecraft in the focal plane approximately equal to 100 m away. High resolution X-ray images could be obtained when the two spacecraft are aligned with the region of interest on the Sun. Requirements and constraints for the control of the two spacecraft are discussed together with the overall feasibility of such a formation-flying mission.

Dennis, B. R.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Unusual Microtopography on an Apollo 12 Soil Grain

We have observed the presence of a previously undescribed microtopography in several regions on the surface of a lunar grain from Apollo regolith sample 12070,29. This microtopography consists of flattened triangular prisms, henceforth referred to as denticles, set in an orderly arrangement. We propose three possible processes to describe the presence of these structures: (1) radiation; (2) aqueous activity; or (3) impact. Radiation—the surface of the Earth’s moon is subject to energetic ion and photon irradiation which can produce a multitude of morphological effects on grain surfaces including erosion/sputtering, vesicle formation, and amorphization of crystalline phases. Under certain conditions surface erosion can result in the formation of well-ordered nanostructures including mounds, dots, wave-shaped, rippled or corrugated features typically <10s nm in size and organized into pattered arrays. However larger pyramid-shaped features up to approx. 300 nm at the base, similar in shape to lunar denticles, were produced on Cu substrates ex-posed to ion beam sputtering.. Aqueous alteration—recent reports of purported water on the Moon imply the possibility of brief, limited exposure of surface materials to aqueous fluids. Aqueous corrosion of silicates can result in the formation of crystallographically controlled denticulated features, up to 10s of micron at the base, arranged in a patterned formation. Impact—the surface of the moon is impacted by meteorites, particularly by micron-size particles, resulting in the formation of a variety of crater types. While it is difficult to envision a scenario in which a patterned array could be formed by impact, fracturing along planes of crystallographic structural weakness due to external stress could explain these features.

Thomas-Keprta, K. L.↗