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At least 973 records · Page 54
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NASA NTRS2018

Aqueous Alteration

A secondary process whereby liquid water modified the nature of anhydrous primary nebular components. In general, this process induced decomposition and changed the structures and compositions of primary minerals and formed secondary minerals in their place. This process occurred in the early history of meteorite parent bodies that contained water ice. The most effective heat source is considered to be the decay of short-lived radioactive nuclide such as Aluminium-26, but other causes have been suggested. The degree of aqueous alteration of meteorites is categorized as type 1 (most altered) to type 3 (least altered), according to mineralogy and petrology.

Kebukawa, Yoko↗
NASA NTRS2018

Snowballs in Euclid and WFIRST Detectors

Snowballs are transient events observed in HgCdTe detectors with a sudden increase of charge in a few pixels. They appear between consecutive reads of the detector, after which the affected pixels return to their normal behavior. The origin of the snowballs is unknown, but it was speculated that they could be the result of alpha decay of naturally radioactive contaminants in the detectors, but a cosmic ray origin cannot be ruled out. Even though previous studies predicted a low rate of occurrence of these events, and consequently, a minimal impact on science, it is interesting to investigate the cause or causes that may generate snowballs and their impact in detectors designed for future missions. We searched for the presence of snowballs in the dark current data in Euclid and Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) detectors tested in the Detector Characterization Laboratory at Goddard Space Flight Center. Our investigation shows that for Euclid and WFIRST detectors, there are snowballs that appear only one time, and others that repeat in the same spatial localization. For Euclid detectors, there is a correlation between the snowballs that repeat and bad pixels in the operational masks (pixels that do not fulfill the requirements to pass spectroscopy noise, photometry noise, quantum efficiency, and/or linearity). The rate of occurrence for a snowball event is about 0.9 snowballs/hr. in Euclid detectors (for the ones that do not have associated bad pixels in the mask), and about 0.7 snowballs/hr. in PV3 Full Array Lot WFIRST detectors.

Astronomy↗
NASA NTRS2020

Asteroid Cooling Rates Indicated by K-Feldspar Exsolution Textures in H4 Ordinary Chondrites

Undisturbed thermal metamorphism in ordinary chondrite (OC) asteroids, produced through the radioactive decay of 26Al, is expected to result in an onion-shell-like structure. In such a structure, the inner layers of the asteroid experience more extensive thermal metamorphism, as represented by higher petrologic type, than the exterior layers. Furthermore, cooling rates are expected to be slower for OCs of high petrologic type than those of low petrologic type. However, cooling rates determined using metallographic methods and pyroxene diffusion are inconsistent with onion-shell-style cooling and have resulted in new models. These models argue for the disruption of the asteroid after peak metamorphism followed by reaccretion into a rubble pile. Improved constraints on cooling rates would provide a better understanding of the timing and scale of disruptive events. Feldspar microtextures are another tool that can be used to determine asteroid cooling rates. In OC chondrules, plagioclase is present as either a primary phase, or a secondary phase forming from the crystallization of mesostasis glass through petrologic type 4, followed by chemical and textural equilibration. Potas-sium feldspar is observed in petrologic types 3.6-6, as either patches or lamellae exsolved from albite in a perthite texture, often near pores or fractures. Exsolution occurs most commonly, and most extensively, in petrologic type 4. Because the feldspar exsolution wavelength is related to the rate at which grains cooled from the solvus temperature, determined from the mineral’s bulk composition, the chondrite cooling rate can be measured from regions of exsolution. We have previously reported the perthite exsolution cooling rate of Avanhandava, an H4 chondrite, to be 1 °C per 1-4 months over a temperature interval of 765-670 °C. A peristerite exsolution texture was also present in the Na-rich lamellae for which we estimated a cooling rate of 1 °C in 103-104 years from 570-540 °C. Overall, the cooling rates determined from Avanhandava are consistent with pyroxene diffusion (fast cooling at high temperatures) and metallographic rates (slow cooling at low temperatures), hence with the rubble pile model of disruption and reaccretion. Here, we characterize feldspar microtextures in four additional H4 chondrites to test the consistency of feldspar cooling rates across a range of samples. We show that all H4s are similar and support rubble pile models.

Lewis, J. A.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

TPSAS-NF1676L-13211-DND

On March 11, 2011 the Great Tohoku Earthquake occurred approximately 70 kilometers off the coast of Japan. This magnitude 9.0 earthquake was closely followed by a massive tsunami that reached 7 meters in height. Using NASA Earth Observation Systems (EOS), we will assess the damage to the area impacted by this disaster. Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM) will be used to create normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) maps and MODIS on Aqua and Terra will be used to produce enhanced vegetation index (EVI) maps. CALIPSO and HYSPLIT will also be used to track smoke released from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant to assess where the radioactive steam traveled to. An analysis of the economic impact of this disaster will be conducted to help policy makers in the United States and in Japan. This research will highlight the ability of NASA EOS in providing support for disaster response around the world.

Malcom Jones, Jr.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Inner Front Pole Cover Erosion in the 12.5 kW HERMeS Hall Thruster Over a Range of Operating Conditions

Erosion characteristics on the cover of the inner front pole in a 12.5 kW Hall thruster were measured over a wide range of operating conditions in tests of 6 to 14 hours duration using an accelerated test method and a very sensitive radioactive tracer-based erosion diagnostic. The operating points included the nominal 300 - 600 V conditions on a constant 20.8 A throttle curve, but included additional conditions at other currents spanning the throttling envelope and measurements at varying magnetic eld strength, facility pressure, and discharge voltage oscillation amplitude. The results show that the 300 V condition produces the highest wear rates on the 20.8 A throttle curve, but that rates actually increase with decreasing current. The wear rate was insensitive to discharge voltage ripple, but increased monotonically with magnetic eld strength, particularly near the inner radius of the pole cover. The inner region was also sensitive to facility pressure, showing lower rates at a higher pressure level. Separate experiments in which the energy distributions of ions generated by the hollow cathode were measured suggest that the cathode plume may be a source of energetic ions responsible for some of the erosion trends, in addition to ions originating in the thruster plume. The Hall thruster simulation code Hall2De is able to reproduce the erosion characteristics observed at 600 V, 20.8 A, but cannot currently match the rates measured at lower voltages and currents.

Lopez Ortega, Alejandro↗
NASA NTRS2017

Cassini Power Subsystem

The electrical output of Cassini’s power system has been decaying consistently as predicted during its 20-year mission between October 1997 and September 2017. The power telemetry data is presented for the entire Cassini mission, including launch, cruise, and Saturn tour, up to the most recent available data. The spacecraft has been powered by three independent Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs) connected in parallel, which were able to generate 882 W at the beginning of the mission shortly after launch. The decrease in power energy output has mainly been driven by the heat reduction of the hot side of the RTGs due to the natural radioactive decay of its heat source plutonium (mostly plutonium-238 [238Pu]), degradation of thermoelectric material performance, and interface degradation.

Carr, Gregory A.↗
NASA NTRS2021

Thunderstorm and Fair-weather Quasi-Static Electric Fields Over Land and Ocean

Natural lightning and the associated clouds are known to behave differently over land and ocean, but many questions remain. We expand the related observational datasets by obtaining simultaneous quasi-static electric field observations over coastal land, near-shore water, and deep ocean regions during both fair-weather and thunderstorm periods. Oceanic observations were obtained using two 3-m NOAA buoys that were instrumented with Campbell Scientific electric field mills to measure the quasi-static electric fields. These data were compared to selected electric field records from the existing on-shore electric field mill suite of 31 sensors at Kennedy Space Center (KSC). Lightning occurrence times, locations and peak current estimates for both onshore and ocean were provided by the U.S. National Lightning Detection Network. The buoy instruments were first evaluated on-shore at the Florida coast, and the first system was calibrated for field enhancements and to confirm proper behavior of the system in elevated-field environments. The buoys were then moored 20 mi and 120 mi off the coast of KSC in February (20 mi) and August (120 mi) 2014. Diurnal fair-weather fields at both ocean sites matched will with each other and with those found during the Carnegie cruise, but mean values were 33% smaller, due at least in-part to constraints on the calibration procedure. Diurnal fair-weather fields variations at coastal and inland sites were a poorer match than offshore, likely because the offshore environment is “cleaner” with limited variations in local space charge, lower surface aerosol densities, little surface heating to disturb the surface charge layer during fair weather, and fewer local radioactive sources to modulate the near-surface electrical conductivity. Storm-related static fields were 4-5× larger at both oceanic sites than over land, likely due to decreased screening by near-surface space charge produced by corona current. The time-evolution of the electric field and field changes during storm approach are sufficiently different over land and ocean to warrant further study. This work shows the quality, accuracy, and reliability of these data, and has demonstrated the practicality of off-shore electric field measurements for safety- and launch-related decision making at KSC.

Lightning↗
NASA NTRS2019

The Afterglow and Kilonova of the Short GRB 160821B

GRB 160821B is a short duration gamma-ray burst (GRB) detected and localized by the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory in the outskirts of a spiral galaxy at z = 0.1613, at a projected physical offset of 16 kpc from the galaxy’s center. We present X-ray, optical/nIR, and radio observations of its counterpart and model them with two distinct components of emission: a standard afterglow, arising from the interaction of the relativistic jet with the surrounding medium, and a kilonova, powered by the radioactive decay of the sub-relativistic ejecta. Broadband modelling of the afterglow data reveals a weak reverse shock propagating backward into the jet, and a likely jet-break at 3.5 d. This is consistent with a structured jet seen slightly off-axis (θview ∼ θcore) while expanding into a low-density medium (n ≈ 10−3 cm−3). Analysis of the kilonova properties suggests a rapid evolution towards red colours, similar toAT2017gfo, and a low-nIR luminosity, possibly due to the presence of a long-lived neutron star. The global properties of the environment, the inferred low mass (Mej <~ 0.006 Msun) and velocities (vej >~ 0.05c) of lanthanide-rich ejecta are consistent with a binary neutron star merger progenitor.

Gravitational waves↗
NASA NTRS2019

Evidence for Late-stage Eruptive Mass Loss in the Progenitor to SN2018gep, a Broad-lined Ic Supernova: Pre-explosion Emission and a Rapidly Rising Luminous Transient

We present detailed observations of ZTF18abukavn (SN2018gep), discovered in high-cadence data from the Zwicky Transient Facility as a rapidly rising (1.4 ± 0.1 mag/hr) and luminous (M(g,peak) = -20 mag) transient. It is spectroscopically classified as a broad-lined stripped-envelope supernova (Ic-BL SN). The high peak luminosity (L(bol) ≳ 3 x 10^(44) erg/s), the short rise time (t = 3 days rise in g band), and the blue colors at peak (g–r ~ -0.4) all resemble the high-redshift Ic-BL iPTF16asu, as well as several other unclassified fast transients. The early discovery of SN2018gep (within an hour of shock breakout) enabled an intensive spectroscopic campaign, including the highest-temperature (T(eff) ≳ 40,000 K) spectra of a stripped-envelope SN. A retrospective search revealed luminous (M(g) ~ M(r) ≈ -14 mag) emission in the days to weeks before explosion, the first definitive detection of precursor emission for a Ic-BL. We find a limit on the isotropic gamma-ray energy release E(γ,iso) < 4.9 x 10^(48) erg, a limit on X-ray emission L(X) < 10^(40) erg/s, and a limit on radio emission vL(v) ≲ 10^(37) erg/s. Taken together, we find that the early (<10 days) data are best explained by shock breakout in a massive shell of dense circumstellar material (0.02 Mꙩ) at large radii (3 x 10^(14) cm) that was ejected in eruptive pre-explosion mass-loss episodes. The late-time (>10 days) light curve requires an additional energy source, which could be the radioactive decay of Ni-56.

Anna Y. Q. Ho↗
NASA NTRS2020

SN2020bvc: A Broad-line Type Ic Supernova with a Double-peaked Optical Light Curve and a Luminous X-Ray and Radio Counterpart

We present optical, radio, and X-ray observations of SN 2020bvc (=ASASSN-20bs, ZTF 20aalxlis), a nearby (z = 0.0252; d = 114Mpc) broad-line (BL) Type Ic supernova (SN) and the first double-peaked Ic-BL discovered without a gamma-ray burst (GRB) trigger. Our observations show that SN 2020bvc shares several properties in common with the Ic-BL SN 2006aj, which was associated with the low-luminosity gamma-ray burst (LLGRB) 060218. First, the 10 GHz radio luminosity (L(radio) ≈ 10^(37) erg/s) is brighter than ordinary core-collapse SNe but fainter than LLGRB SNe such as SN 1998bw (associated with LLGRB 980425). We model our VLA observations (spanning 13–43 days) as synchrotron emission from a mildly relativistic (v ≳ 0.3c) forward shock. Second, with Swift and Chandra, we detect X-ray emission (L(X) ≈ 10^(41) erg/s) that is not naturally explained as inverse Compton emission or part of the same synchrotron spectrum as the radio emission. Third, high-cadence (6 × per night) data from the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) show a double-peaked optical light curve, the first peak from shock cooling of extended low-mass material (mass Me < 10^(-2) Mꙩ at radius Re > 10^(12) cm) and the second peak from the radioactive decay of 56Ni. SN 2020bvc is the first double-peaked Ic-BL SN discovered without a GRB trigger, so it is noteworthy that it shows X-ray and radio emission similar to LLGRB SNe. For four of the five other nearby (z ≲ 0.05) Ic-BL SNe with ZTF high-cadence data, we rule out a first peak like that seen in SN 2006aj and SN 2020bvc, i.e., that lasts ≈1 day and reaches a peak luminosity M ≈ −18. Follow-up X-ray and radio observations of Ic-BL SNe with well-sampled early optical light curves will establish whether double-peaked optical light curves are indeed predictive of LLGRB-like X-ray and radio emission.

Anna Y. Q. Ho↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Design and Performance of the CdZnTe VFG Imaging Calorimeter Prototype for Gamma-ray Astronomy

We present the design and first results of the CdZnTe Imaging calorimeter prototype. The CdZnTe Imaging calorimeter has been designed for use in large astrophysical gamma-ray space instruments, and we report here on a small prototype built to validate the approach. The calorimeter is based on virtual Frisch-grid drift-bar CdZnTe detectors. The design is modular, such that multiple crates of 16 bars, each served by a single ASIC, can be arranged in to different configurations depending on the specific requirements for an instrument. The modules are plugged into the readout motherboard in the designed configuration for a given instrument. The detectors are capable of measuring the interaction point of an incident photon in three dimensions and the energy deposited. In this work, we have designed and built a prototype consisting of 4 by 4 module array and have tested it with various radioactive sources to measure its position and energy resolution. The preliminary results demonstrate ~1% FWHM energy resolution and 1-2 mm position resolution for 662 keV photons (Cs137), subject to the further improvement by applying various corrections. We tested the module with a “conventional” analog ASIC readout as well as a wave-front sampling ASIC to compare the results, which is critical for the optimization of the future instrument.

A. A. Moiseev↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Multi-Anvil Experimentation Applied to Planetary Differentiation

Planets undergo differentiation that includes segregation of metal from silicate at high temperatures and pressures ranging from deep planetary core pressures (>300 GPa for Earth)to very shallow conditions of asteroids (<100 MPa).The multi-anvil solid media apparatus accesses the middle part of this range from 3 to 30 GPa –pressure relevant to the interior of Mercury, Venus, Earth, Earth’s Moon, and Mars. Early planets are thought to have experienced high temperatures from a combination of heat sources including radioactive decay, gravitational and accretional heating, and impact processes. These heating events led to melting of mantles and cores, thus requiring an understanding of solid-liquid equilibria in metal-silicate systems. In 2006 we established a multi-anvil facility at NASA-JSC combining an 880 ton press and a Kawai/Walker type module from Rockland Research. Our high PT work has been greatly facilitated by use of the COMPRES multi-anvil assemblies (1). Our recent work has included studies of element partitioning between liquid metal and liquid silicate(e.g., 2), as well as between minerals and melts(e.g., 3), both of which have led to better constraints on the timing and conditions of planetary differentiation(e.g. 4). Several examples involving sustained efforts will be summarized below and for the presentation. The distribution of siderophile (iron-loving) elements between core and mantle is controlled by metal-silicate equilibrium across a wide range of pressures. Therefore, experimentation across this pressure range helps to calibrate elemental partitioning models that can be applied to planets, and used to predict mantle chemistry and composition during planetary differentiation. Our studies have focused on a wide range of siderophile elements (refractory Ni, Co, W, Mo; volatile P, Ga, Cu, Sn, Sb; highly siderophile Au, Pd) that have constrained partitioning, valence, and isotopic fractionation, and applied to Earth, Moon, and Mars. When molten mantles (magma oceans) cool enough to initiate crystallization, the solids precipitate at depth and in large planets this involves high pressure phases like garnet, majorite, akimotoite, and ringwoodite. As these solids precipitate they can segregate from liquid by density contrasts, thus causing elemental fractionation which can be used to decipher timing of differentiation. Mineral/melt and metal/silicate equilibria in our lab have helped to better understand high pressure fractionation of isotopic parent/daughter pairs Hf/W, Mn/Cr, Pd/Ag, Pt/Os, Re/Os, and U/Pb, and their application to Earth, Moon and Mars. There remains great potential for multi-anvil experimentation to shed light on many pressure–dependent aspects of planetary evolution such as core formation, high pressure phase equilibria, redox equilibria, and volatile evolution and storage. References1. Leinenweber, K., et al.(2012) American Mineralogist,97, 353–368. 2.Righter, K., et al.(2020) Geochem. Persp. Lett.15, 1-6.3. Righter, K., et al.(2020) Met. Planet. Sci 55, 2741-2757.4. Righter, K., et al.(2020)Earth and Planetary Science Letters,552, 116590.

pressure↗
NASA NTRS2021

Hydrothermal History of (162173) Ryugu’s Parent Body Inferred from Remote-Sensing Data

Small rubble pile asteroids record the thermal evolution of their much larger parent bodies. However, recent space weathering and/or solar heating create ambiguities between the uppermost layer observable by remote-sensing and the pristine material from the parent body. Hayabusa2 remote-sensing observations find that on the asteroid (162173) Ryugu both north and south pole regions preserve the least space-weathered material, which is spectrally blue carbonaceous chondritic material with a 0 – 3% deep 0.7-μm band absorption, indicative of Fe-bearing phyllosilicates . We report that spectrally blue Ryugu’s parent body experienced intensive aqueous alteration and subsequent thermal metamorphism at 570 – 670 K (300 – 400 ˚C), suggesting that Ryugu’s parent body was heated by radioactive decay of short-lived radionuclides possibly because of its early formation 2-2.5 Ma. The samples being brought to Earth by Hayabusa2 will give us our first insights into this epoch in solar system history. Moreover, we found the NUV-VIS spectral similarity between Ryugu and Polana–Eulalia family members, suggesting plausible origin from inner main belt predicted by the dynamical simulation.

Eri Tatsumi↗
NASA NTRS2021

Spectrally Blue Parent Body of Asteroid (162173) Ryugu and its Hydrothermal History

Small rubble pile asteroids record the thermal evolution of their much larger parent bodies. However, recent ‘space weathering’ and/or ‘solar heating’ create ambiguities between the uppermost layer observable by remote-sensing and the pristine material from the parent body. Hayabusa2 remote-sensing observations found that on the asteroid (162173) Ryugu both north and south pole regions preserve the material least processed by space weathering: spectrally blue carbonaceous chondritic material with a 0.7-μm band absorption, indicative of Fe-bearing phyllosilicates. This discovery suggests that Ryugu’s parent body experienced intensive aqueous alteration and subsequent thermal metamorphism at 670 – 970 K. Ryugu’s parent body was heated by radioactive decay of short-lived radionuclides possibly because of its early formation 2-2.5 Ma. Ryugu’s parent body which is spectrally blue represents some of the most ancient of carbonaceous chondritic compositions from the solar system. The samples being brought to Earth by Hayabusa2 will give us our first insights into this epoch in solar system history.

Eri Tatsumi↗
NASA NTRS2021

A Tale of Two Mergers: Constraints on Kilonova Detection in Two Short GRBs at z∼ 0.5

We present a detailed multiwavelength analysis of two short gamma-ray bursts (sGRBs) detected by the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory: GRB 160624A at z = 0.483 and GRB 200522A at z = 0.554. These sGRBs demonstrate very different properties in their observed emission and environment. GRB 160624A is associated with a late-type galaxy with an old stellar population (≈3 Gyr) and moderate ongoing star formation (≈1 M⊙ yr−1). Hubble and Gemini limits on optical/near-infrared emission from GRB 160624A are among the most stringent for sGRBs, leading to tight constraints on the allowed kilonova properties. In particular, we rule out any kilonova brighter than AT2017gfo, disfavouring large masses of wind ejecta (≲0.03 M⊙). In contrast, observations of GRB 200522A uncovered a luminous (LF125W ≈ 1042 erg s−1 at 2.3 d) and red (r − H ≈ 1.3 mag) counterpart. The red colour can be explained either by bright kilonova emission powered by the radioactive decay of a large amount of wind ejecta (0.03 M⊙ ≲ M ≲ 0.1 M⊙) or moderate extinction, E(B − V) ≈ 0.1−0.2 mag, along the line of sight. The location of this sGRB in the inner regions of a young (≈0.1 Gyr) star-forming (≈2−6 M⊙ yr−1) galaxy and the limited sampling of its counterpart do not allow us to rule out dust effects as contributing, at least in part, to the red colour.

B O'Connor↗
NASA NTRS2021

DDOTI Observations of Gravitational-Wave Sources Discovered in O3

We present optical follow-up observations with the Deca-Degree Optical Transient Imager (DDOTI) telescope of gravitational-wave (GW) events detected during the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo O3 observing run. DDOTI is capable of responding to an alert in a few minutes, has an instantaneous field of about 69 deg2, and obtains 10σ upper limits of wlim = 18.5–20.5 AB mag in 1000 s of exposure, depending on the conditions. We observed 54 per cent (26 out of 48) of the unretracted GW alerts and did not find any electromagnetic counterparts. We compare our upper limits to various possible counterparts: the kilonova AT 2017gfo, models of radioactive- and magnetar-powered kilonovae, short gamma-ray burst afterglows, and active galactic nucleus (AGN) flares. Although the large positional uncertainties of GW sources do not allow us to place strong constraints during O3, DDOTI observations of well-localized GW events in O4 and beyond could meaningfully constrain models of compact binary mergers. We show that DDOTI is able to detect kilonovae similar to AT 2017gfo up to about 200 Mpc and magnetar-powered kilonovae up to 1 Gpc. We calculate that nearby (≲200 Mpc) afterglows have a high chance (≈70 per cent) to be detected by rapid (≲3 h) DDOTI observations if observed on-axis, whereas off-axis afterglows are unlikely to be seen. Finally, we suggest that long-term monitoring of massive BBH events with DDOTI could confirm or rule out late AGN flares associated with these events.

gravitational waves↗
NASA NTRS2021

Simulation of Radon-222 with the GEOS-Chem Global Model: Emissions, Seasonality, and Convective Transport

Radon-222 (Rn-222) is a short-lived radioactive gas naturally emitted from land surfaces and has long been used to assess convective transport in atmospheric models. In this study, we simulate Rn-222 using the GEOS-Chem chemical transport model to improve our understanding of Rn-222 emissions and surface concentration seasonality and characterize convective transport associated with two Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) meteorological products, the Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) and GEOS Forward Processing (GEOS-FP). We evaluate four global Rn-222 emission scenarios by comparing model results with observations at 51 surface sites. The default emission scenario in GEOS-Chem yields a moderate agreement with surface observations globally (68.9 % of data within a factor of 2) and a large underestimate of winter surface Rn-222 concentrations at Northern Hemisphere midlatitudes and high latitudes due to an oversimplified formulation of Rn-222 emission fluxes (1 atom cm−2 s−1 over land with a reduction by a factor of 3 under freezing conditions). We compose a new global Rn-222 emission scenario based on Zhang et al. (2011) and demonstrate its potential to improve simulated surface Rn-222 concentrations and seasonality. The regional components of this scenario include spatially and temporally varying emission fluxes derived from previous measurements of soil radium content and soil exhalation models, which are key factors in determining Rn-222 emission flux rates. However, large model underestimates of surface Rn-222 concentrations still exist in Asia, suggesting unusually high regional Rn-222 emissions. We therefore propose a conservative upscaling factor of 1.2 for Rn-222 emission fluxes in China, which was also constrained by observed deposition fluxes of 210Pb (a progeny of Rn-222). With this modification, the model shows better agreement with observations in Europe and North America (> 80 % of data within a factor of 2) and reasonable agreement in Asia (close to 70 %). Further constraints on Rn-222 emissions would require additional concentration and emission flux observations in the central United States, Canada, Africa, and Asia. We also compare and assess convective transport in model simulations driven by MERRA and GEOS-FP using observed Rn-222 vertical profiles in northern midlatitude summer and from three short-term airborne campaigns. While simulations with both GEOS products are able to capture the observed vertical gradient of Rn-222 concentrations in the lower troposphere (0–4 km), neither correctly represents the level of convective detrainment, resulting in biases in the middle and upper troposphere. Compared with GEOS-FP, MERRA leads to stronger convective transport of Rn-222, which is partially compensated for by its weaker large-scale vertical advection, resulting in similar global vertical distributions of Rn-222 concentrations between the two simulations. This has important implications for using chemical transport models to interpret the transport of other trace species when these GEOS products are used as driving meteorology.

Bo Zhang↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) Fission Product and Source Term Analysis

Nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) is an in-space propulsion technology that uses a nuclear reactor to directly heat a propellant to provide high thrust, at higher efficiencies than achievable with conventional chemical propulsion systems. Due to the ability of NTP rockets to efficiently provide high thrust, this technology has been proposed for long duration space missions such as crewed missions to Mars and beyond. A primary hurdle for NTP technology development is the demonstration of an integrated reactor engine system to verify its functionality and performance. This primarily requires the manufacture and testing of candidate reactor and engine technologies to demonstrate the proposed design enables desired performance and exhibits acceptable response under all known operation modes. A major component in this testing is fission product accumulation, since after operation radioactive isotopes can be produced and pose radiological dose concerns. This paper explains the background behind fission product analysis and the methodology used to evaluate current reactor designs and identify the amount of fission products present and their radiological impact. Results of multiple thrust level engines at different time periods are discussed and highlight the need for additional experimental testing to confirm fractional release levels of fission products out of the system. Benchmarking of models and future paths of analysis are also discussed.

Fission↗