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Tests were conducted in translational launchers and spin pits to generate empirical data used in the design of a Kevlar shield for containing engine burst debris. Methods are given for modeling the relationship of fragment characteristics to shielding requirements. The change in relative importance of shield mounting provisions as fragment energy is increased is discussed.
There are many similarities between lunar samples and stone meteorites. Lunar samples, especially from the highlands, indicate that they have been affected by complex and repeated impact processes. Similar complex and repeated impact processes have also been operative on the achondritic and chondritic meteorites. Similarities between lunar and meteoritic rocks are discussed as follows: (1) Monomict and polymict breccias occur in lunar rocks, as well as in achondritic and chondritic meteorites, having resulted from complex and repeated impact processes; (2) Chondrules are present in lunar meteorites, as well as in a few achondritic and most chondritic meteorites. They apparently crystallized spontaneously from molten highly supercooled droplets which may have formed from impact melts or, perhaps, volcanic processes (as well as from the solar nebula, in the case of meteoritic chondrites); (3) Lithic fragments vary from little modified (relative to the apparent original texture) to partly or completely melted and recrystallized lithic fragments. Their detailed study allows conclusions to be drawn about their parent rock types and their origin, thereby gaining insight into preimpact histories of lunar and meteoritic breccias. There is evidence that cumulate rocks were involved in the early history of both moon and parent meteorite bodies.
Lunar core samples were analyzed using a spark source mass spectrometer. The analytical results for the four zones of the Lunar 20 core suggest that the core is nonuniform with depth. The higher concentrations of Ce, Sc, Sc, Ba, La, Co, Sr, and Zr in zone 2001 may be connected with the presence in this zone of a basaltic rock type seldom seen in the other zones. That is, about half of the basaltic fragments in the large size fractions in zone 2001 are of a specific porphyritic breccia-like type. Anorthositic fragments containing a notable amount of metallic iron are basically limited to zone 2004 and probably explain the lower concentrations of Ce, Rb, Ba, La, and perhaps Co in this zone. The high concentrations of Ag and Ce found previously are confirmed. Although Ag is at nearly the same concentration in all four zones of the core, Cd in the core is the result of local enrichment. In particular, in zone 2004 the concentration of Cd may be as high as 10 ppm in a sample size of 0.01 mg.
The author has identified the following significant results. A linear regression between percent nonvegetative land and the time variable was completed for the two sample areas. Sample area no. 1 showed an average vegetation loss of 1.901% per year, while the loss for sample area no. 2 amounted to 5.889% per year. Two basic reasons for the difference were assumed to play a role: the difference in access potential and the amount of already fragmented vegetation complexes in existence during the first year of the comparative analysis - 1970. Sample area no. 2 was located closer to potential access points and was more fragmented initially.
A jet-stirred combustor, constructed of castable zirconia and with an Inconel injector, was used to study nitric oxide formation in propane-air combustion with residence times in the range from 3.2 to 3.3 msec and equivalence ratios varying from 0.7 to 1.4. Measurements were made of combustor operating temperature and of nitric oxide concentration. Maximum nitric oxide concentrations of the order of 55 ppm were found in the range of equivalence ratio from 1.0 to 1.1. A finite-rate chemical kinetic mechanism for propane combustion and nitric oxide formation was assembled by coupling an existing propane oxidation mechanism with the Zeldovich reactions and reactions of molecular nitrogen with hydrocarbon fragments. Analytical studies using this mechanism in a computer simulation of the experimental conditions revealed that the hydrocarbon-fragment-nitrogen reactions play a significant role in nitric oxide formation during fuel-rich combustion.
A kinetic model is developed for a plasma generated by fission fragments and the results are employed to study He plasma generated in a tube coated with fissionable material. Because both the heavy particles and electrons play important roles in creating the plasma, their effects are considered simultaneously. The calculations are carried out for a range of neutron fluxes and pressures. In general, the predictions of the theory are in good agreement with available intensity measurements. Moreover, the theory predicts the experimentally measured inversions. However, the calculated gain coefficients are such that lasing is not expected to take place in a helium plasma generated by fission fragments.
Color, polarization, and albedo data are summarized for the three known minor planets of optical type E: 44 Nysa, 64 Angelina, and 434 Hungaria. The inventory of E asteroids with dimensions in excess of 50 km is shown to be essentially complete. The surfaces of the E objects evidently consist of colorless translucent iron-free silicates such as plagioclase, forsterite, or enstatite. Their possible identification as the source of enstatite achondrites is consistent with laboratory polarimetry of the Norton County aubrite. Both Nysa and Hungaria seem to be rather favorably situated for the production of meteorites. Nysa has a highly aspherical shape and is dynamically associated with the metal-rich asteroid 135 Hertha and several small objects also apparently of the metal-depleted E type. The configuration is suggestive of the fragments of a differentiated parent body, in which Hertha originated as the iron core and Nysa as the largest surviving mantle fragment. The relative volumes, however, are not consistent with simple igneous differentiation from a chondritic composition.
A model of comet splitting is discussed, whereby drifting apart of the two fragments of a split comet occurs because of a slight systematic difference between the effective solar attractions they are subjected to. The net force results from the difference between the momenta transferred to the fragments by outgassing. A great advantage of this model over the traditional model is its ability to fit observations with only two parameters to be adjusted. The model requires lower velocities of separation, which implies that the breakup mechanism is a nonviolent one.
Experiments in vacuum (approx. 0.5 to 1 mbar) and in air quantify mechanics of collisions, rebound, and fragmentation at low velocities (1-50 m/sec), under the conditions usually postulated for the preplanetary environment in the primitive solar nebula. Such collisions have been little studied experimentally. Contrary to widespread assumptions, accretionary growth of the largest meteoroid- and asteroid-sized bodies in a given swarm results spontaneously from the simple mechanics of these collisions, without other ad hoc sticking mechanisms. The smaller bodies in the swarm are less likely to grow. Granular surfaces form, either by gravitational collapse of dust swarms or by rapid formation of regolith surfaces on solid planetesimals; these surfaces strongly promote further growth by retarding rebound. Growth of large bodies increases modal collision velocities, causing fragmentation of smaller bodies and eventual production of interstellar dust as a by-product of planetesimal interactions.
KREEP basalt is an important lunar material that was formed in large quantities early in the evolutionary history of the moon. Fragments of KREEP basalt were returned from all landing sites and make up most of the material of the Apollo 14 collection. These fragments have a wide variety of textures caused by various secondary processes but they are all characterized by a large and distinctive trace-element content. They are also characterized by a general basaltic composition that is similar to the olivine-plagioclase-pyroxene peritectic in the system silica-anorthite-olivine (Fe/Fe + Mg = 0.3).
As the number of artificial satellites in earth orbit increases, the probability of collisions between satellites also increases. Satellite collisions would produce orbiting fragments, each of which would increase the probability of further collisions, leading to the growth of a belt of debris around the earth. This process parallels certain theories concerning the growth of the asteroid belt. The debris flux in such an earth-orbiting belt could exceed the natural meteoroid flux, affecting future spacecraft designs. A mathematical model was used to predict the rate at which such a belt might form. Under certain conditions the belt could begin to form within this century and could be a significant problem during the next century. The possibility that numerous unobserved fragments already exist from spacecraft explosions would decrease this time interval. However, early implementation of specialized launch constraints and operational procedures could significantly delay the formation of the belt.
Phaneritic fragments, vitrophyres, and glass beads of a new very low Ti (VLT) mare basalt are found in the Apollo 17 drill core. VLT lithic fragments are characterized by TiO2 content of approximately 0.5%, Mg/(Mg + Fe) of approximately 0.52, CaO/Al2O3 of approximately 0.9, and low alkali content. Although mineral systematics and modal composition of VLT basalt are similar to Apollo 12 and 15 low Ti basalts, VLT basalts cannot be related to these mare basalts by crystal fractionation. Since VLT basalt is isochemical with some of the less mafic green glasses, fractionation of VLT magma from a liquid of green-glass composition is a possibility. Spectral reflectance studies suggest that VLT-type basalts may be relatively common in mare basins.
Modal analysis and electron probe microanalysis were performed on polished thin sections prepared from Apollo 15 deep drill core soils in an effort to characterize their provenance. The particles were in the 0.25-1.00 mm size range. The particles were classified into mineral fragments, agglutinates, glasses, rock fragments, and breccias. The results show that highland and mare material occur in the core in an approximately 60:40 ratio, with mare component generally increasing from bottom to top in the core. Quartz-normative basalts are nearly twice as abundant as olivine basalts. Nonmare sources include KREEP basalt flow units from some depth in the crust, excavated by cratering events and supplied to the site as 'rays'.
Twenty-eight major, minor, and trace-element abundances have been determined in nine fines fractions of core 60010 by instrumental thermal and 14 MeV neutron activation analysis. With the exception of the elements Fe, Co, and Ni, core section 60010 exhibits a much more uniform composition than the lower section (60009) of the double drive tube collected at the Apollo 16 LM site. The siderophilic meteorite indicator elements Fe, Co, and Ni are significantly enriched in subsample 40, which is located 3.0-4.5 cm below the lunar surface, and are highly variable throughout the 60010 core section. Microscopic examination of subsample 40 revealed the presence of numerous metallic fragments including an approximately 1-mm metal fragment exhibiting only Fe, Co, Ni, and Ir gamma-ray peaks and having a composition typical of a coarse octahedrite. Composition profiles of 60010 exhibit small variations in lithophilic element abundances which can be related to most of the seven stratigraphic units of Duke and Nagle (1976). Although the basal portion of 60010 has been described as texturally similar to the upper unit of 60009, the present chemical studies show a marked compositional difference at this interface.
Metallography, electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction techniques were employed to study a fragment of the Tishomingo iron meteorite. The results suggest the following thermal-mechanical history: The fragment was originally a large crystal of taenite (gamma). Cooling through the alpha + gamma phase boundary did not result in accompanying precipitation of kamacite (alpha). Transformation to a martensitic structure initiated between -25 and -65 C. Transformation continued as the temperature fell to -75 to -115 C, resulting in approx 80% martensite (alpha-prime). Subsequent shock deformation and thermal aging processes substantially modified the taenite and martensite microstructures. Twins in the retained taenite phase are attributed to shock deformation at a pressure estimated for a single event at about 170 kbar. The existing complex altered martensite structure containing both taenite and kamacite (3-15% Ni) particles was apparently the product of both shock deformation and thermal aging processes. The maximum temperature reached during thermal aging is estimated to be less than 400 C and perhaps below 310 C.
An unusually high concentration of granitic fragments, with textures ranging from holocrystalline to glassy, occurs throughout Boulder 1, a complex breccia of highland rocks from Apollo 17, Station 2. Among the minerals included in the granites are enigmatic K-Ca-rich feldspars that fall in the forbidden region of the ternary diagram. The great variability in chemistry and texture is probably the result of impact degradation and melting of a granitic source-rock. Studies of the breccia matrix suggest that this original granitic source-rock may have contained more pyroxenes and phosphates than most of the present clasts contain. Petrographic observations on Apollo 15 KREEP basalts indicate that granitic liquids may be produced by differentiation without immiscibility, and the association of the granites with KREEP-rich fragments in the boulder suggests that the granites represent a residual liquid from the plutonic fractional crystallization of a KREEP-rich magma. Boulder 1 is unique among Apollo 17 samples in its silica-KREEP-rich composition. We conclude that the boulder represents a source-rock unlike the bedrock of South Massif.
Whitlockite grains in two Apennine Front KREEP soil fragments contain extremely high densities of fission tracks. A new method is described in which particle tracks are examined in an actinide-poor phase bordering an actinide-rich whitlockite phase. This method clearly distinguishes the fission track contributions from other track sources; e.g., Fe-group cosmic rays, spallation recoils, and dislocations. Observed track excesses, when corrected for U- and Th-related fission sources, are 4-20 times greater than the contribution from spontaneous fission of U-238 (based on an age of 4 b.y.), and probably represent a large and variable contribution from the fission of Pu-244. These fragments may have pre-Imbrium ages, underscoring the importance of KREEP as a constituent of the pre-mare lunar crust. Track excesses are not correlated with the U or Th contents of the whitlockite grains. This behavior suggests that Pu fractionates differently from U and Th in lunar igneous KREEP.
A workbook is presented to supplement an earlier NASA publication, which was intended to provide the designer and safety engineer with rapid methods for predicting damage and hazards from explosions of liquid propellant and compressed gas vessels used in ground storage, transport and handling. Information is presented in the form of graphs and tables to allow easy calculation, using only desk or handheld calculators. Topics covered in various chapters are: (1) estimates of explosive yield; (2) characteristics of pressure waves; (3) effects of pressure waves; (4) characteristics of fragments; and (5) effects of fragments and related topics.