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At least 1,027 records · Page 57
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NASA NTRS1984

Spatial distribution of craters on the Moon and Callisto

The spatial distribution of craters 8 km diameter on an area of Callisto are compared with that of a lunar highlands area from which craters are removed to produce the Callisto size/frequency distribution. Craters in the lunar area are mapped and classified according to degradational type using the five-fold LPL scheme where Class 1 is the freshest and Class 5 the most degraded. The size/frequency distribution are determined and compared with the Callisto area. Craters are removed according to the stage of degradation. Its crater population is basically a production population deficient in large craters relative to that of the terrestrial planets. This indicates that the population of impacting objects responsible for the period of heavy bombardment in the inner solar system was different from that at Jupiter, and probably had a different origin as well.

Ruzicka, A.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Correlation between the He/H ratios in upstream particle events and in the solar wind

The ratio of helium to proton differential intensities at a fixed energy per charge in the diffuse ion population during long-lived upstream particle events is compared with the simultaneously measured solar wind He/H ratio. It is found that the He/H intensity ratio at about 30 keV in upstream events is highly correlated with and on the average directly proportional to the He/H ratio in the solar wind, and larger than the He/H ratio in the solar wind by an average factor of 1.6. It is concluded that the solar wind is the parent population for the diffuse ions. The He abundance in the diffuse component is on average observed to be larger than in the solar wind. The observations are consistent with the predictions of Fermi acceleration models for a seed particle population drawn from the solar wind with little compositional bias and moderately enhanced in He during the acceleration process.

Ipavich, F. M.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Frequency of fast, narrow gamma-ray bursts

A duration histogram for 24 gamma-ray burst events detected by an ISEE-3 experiment is presented which suggests the existence of two gamma-ray burst populations. A distribution is also shown of 123 Venera 13 and 14 events which suggests two such populations in each experimental sample, the domains separated with a minimum near 1 or 2 sec. It is pointed out that the results of the Goddard ISEE-3 gamma-ray burst spectrometer actually enhance the appearance of two burst populations suggested in the Venera data.

Norris, J. P.↗
NASA NTRS1985

A model for the evolution of on-orbit manmade debris environment

Man-made debris in low-Earth orbit (LEO) and the conduct of operations/procedures which leave debris in orbit are discussed. With continued deposition and larger vehicles and longer times on orbit for LEO operations, the probability of collisions between such vehicles and some member of the debris population becomes large. Because the collisions will occur at very large relative speeds, a small object which would not normally be considered a hazard might pose a lethal threat to an operating spacecraft. Future debris states must be deduced from an evaluation of many models using a Monte Carlo method for future deposition events. A model for the population evolution is presented and results of model calculations are discussed. Contributions to the population which may be expected to arise from on-orbit collisions and explosions are examined. Results are presented as models for future space usage as an extrapolation of usage in the past, for an era of enhanced space usage, and for an era in which antisatellite tests provide a debris contribution.

Reynolds, R. C.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Classification of Circular Features on Venus

Among the unanswered questions concerning Venus are the age of its surface and the mechanisms of lithospheric heat transfer (conduction, plate recycling, and hot spot volcanism). If there is a large population of impact craters, then the surface is ancient and Venus is characterized by conduction like the Moon, and Mercury, rather than plate recycling and hot spot volcanism. Alternatively, if there is a large population of volcanic craters, then the surface is younger and other mechanisms of heat transfer likely dominate. Previous studies have emphasized various aspects of the observational, theoretical, experimental, and comparative planetological studies of cratering on Venus, and several have reached divergent opinions concerning the age of the Venus surface. A major source of uncertainty in previous studies is the possible inclusion of circular features of nonimpact (volcanic or tectonic) origin in the so called impact crater population. A classification scheme of circular features on Venus is developed in order to further distinguish their origin and distribution.

Stofan, E. R.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Progress on Studies of Early Intense Cratering

The existence and effects of saturation cratering throughout the solar system was studied. It is found that saturation equilibrium cratering exists nowhere in the solar system, and that diameter distributions in even the most heavily cratered provinces reveal initial production functions related to impacting bodies. Different populations of impactors in different epochs and regions of the solar system are identified. The hypotheses are crucial for interpretation of planetary history. The crater counts on frontside lunar uplands, used as a basic reference curve identified with one of their populations of early impactors, are confirmed. This crater population is deficient in 1 to 16 km craters, which may be obliterated by the lavas. It is concluded that this curve is not representative of heavily cratered highlands, and is of questionable value as a standard comparison curve. The role of giant impacts during the intense early bombardment period was studied. Giant impact(s) on the primeval Earth may have initiated lunar formation.

Hartmann, W. K.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Martian Terrain Ages

The cratering record in the inner Solar System shows two crater populations based on their size/frequency distributions. The heavily cratered surfaces of the Moon, Mercury and Mars all show a similar multisloped crater size distribution which represents the period of heavy bombardment. On the younger plains units of the Moon and Mars the crater size/frequency distribution has about a -3 slope over the same diameter range. The different crater population represents the accumulation of craters since the end of heavy bombardment. The high flux of the early impacting objects dominated the cratering record prior to 3.8 BY. If heavy bombardment was primarily the result of comets (1) or a disrupted planetesimal (2), then heavy bombardment ended simultaneously on all of the inner planets. If, on the other, heavy bombardment was caused by accretional remnants, then it may have extended as much as 1 BY later on Mars than on the Moon and other terrestrial planets (3). Martian surfaces can be dated relative to the end of heavy bombardment by the type of crater population superposed on them. The relative ages of surfaces within these two time divisions can be determined by crater densities.

Strom, R. G.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Quantitative Alterations in the Function of Bone Forming Cells Due to Reduced Weight Bearing

Rats subjected to spaceflight or suspended in a non-weight bearing position for 2 to 3 weeks, show a significant reduction in new bone formation. This reduction is associated with a decrease in akaline phosphatase activity in the differentiated osteoblast population. Those cells in the siaphyseal region of bone are more affected than the same cell type in metaphyseal bone. Measurements of alkaline phosphate activity in specific regions of bone, and the autoradiographic localization of H(3) proline in bone forming areas are described. Concomitant with decreased bone matrix synthesis, the osteoblast population also demonstrate changes in the Golgi/lysosomal complex as a result of whole animal suspension. Morphometric techniques are being applied for quantitation of the lysosomal population and the percentage of lysosomal or Golgi bodies containing acid phosphatase activity.

Doty, S. B.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Effect of passage number on electrophoretic mobility distributions of cultured human embryonic kidney cells

A systematic investigation was undertaken to characterize population shifts that occur in cultured human embryonic kidney cells as a function of passage number in vitro after original explantation. This approach to cell population shift analysis follows the suggestion of Mehreshi, Klein and Revesz that perturbed cell populations can be characterized by electrophoretic mobility distributions if they contain subpopulations with different electrophoretic mobilities. It was shown that this is the case with early passage cultured human embryo cells.

Kunze, M. E.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Urokinase production by electrophoretically separated cultured human embryonic kidney cells

Urokinase is a plasminogen activator found in urine. Relatively pure preparations have been tested in Europe, Japan and the United States for the treatment of deep vein thrombosis and other dangerous blood clots. Human embryonic kidney cell cultures have been found to produce urokinase at much higher concentrations, but less than 5% of the cells in typical cultures are producers. Since human diploid cells become senescent in culture the selection of clones derived from single cells will not provide enough material to be useful, so a bulk purification method is needed for the isolation of urokinase producing cell populations. Preparative cell electrophoresis was chosen as the method, since evidence exists that human embryonic cell cultures are richly heterogeneous with respect to electrophoretic mobility, and preliminary electrophoretic separations on the Apollo-Soyuz space flight produced cell populations that were rich in urokinase production. Similarly, erythropoietin is useful in the treatment of certain anemias and is a kidney cell duct, and electrophoretically enriched cell populations producing this product have been reported. Thus, there is a clear need for diploid human cells that produce these products, and there is evidence that such cells should be separable by free-flow cell electrophoresis.

Kunze, M. E.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Galactic distribution of interstellar Al-26

A narrow cosmic gamma ray line at 1809 keV was discovered which was interpreted as resulting from the decay of approximately 3 M sub theta of Al-26 residing in the galactic disk. While its intrinsic width was unresolved by the HEAO 3 spectrometer, a (1 sigma) limit of 3 keV FWHM was obtained; this corresponds to bulk motions of v 250 km/s, which is consistent with material at rest in the ISM. Sites which have been suggested include type II supernovae and massive stars which are members of the extreme population I, as well as novae and red giants which are associated with an older disk population. The HEAO 3 data was used to distinguish between these two stellar populations.

Mahoney, W. A.↗
NASA NTRS1985

The secondary radiation under Saturn's A-B-C rings produced by cosmic ray interactions

On the basis of a study of spacecraft data of Saturn, Chenette et al. (1980) concluded that highly relativistic galactic cosmic ray nuclei with magnetic rigidities greater than the Stoermer rigidity cutoff in the plane of Saturn's A-B-C rings along the Pioneer 11 trajectory produced a secondary population of charged particles. The existence of this secondary particle population was confirmed by Randall (1982). Cooper and Simpson (1980) further developed this concept of secondary production of nucleons by cosmic ray nuclei to estimate the yield of secondary neutrons which might, through decay, populate the radiation belt with low-energy electrons and protons. Cooper (1983) reported quantitative Monte Carlo calculations of neutron production in the rings and their decay in the magnetosphere. The present investigation is concerned with a confirmation of the earlier work, and an extension of the studies on the basis of improved spectra for the proton and electron components.

Cooper, J. F.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Rapid evaluation of ion thruster lifetime using optical emission spectroscopy

A major life-limiting phenomenon of electric thrusters is the sputter erosion of discharge chamber components. Thrusters for space propulsion are required to operate for extended periods of time, usually in excess of 10,000 hr. Lengthy and very costly life-tests in high-vacuum facilities have been required in the past to determine the erosion rates of thruster components. Alternative methods for determining erosion rates which can be performed in relatively short periods of time at considerably lower costs are studied. An attempt to relate optical emission intensity from an ion bombarded surface (screen grid) to the sputtering rate of that surface is made. The model used a kinetic steady-state (KSS) approach, balancing the rates of population and depopulation of ten low-lying excited states of the sputtered molybdenum atom (MoI) with those of the ground state to relate the spectral intensities of the various transitions of the MoI to the population densities. Once this is accomplished, the population density can be related to the sputtering rate of the target. Radiative and collisional modes of excitation and decay are considered. Since actual data has not been published for MoI excitation rate and decay constants, semiempirical equations are used. The calculated sputtering rate and intensity is compared to the measured intensity and sputtering rates of the 8 and 30 cm ion thrusters.

Rock, B. A.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Rapid evaluation of ion thruster lifetime using optical emission spectroscopy

A major life-limiting phenomenon of electric thrusters is the sputter erosion of discharge chamber components. Thrusters for space propulsion are required to operate for extended periods of time, usually in excess of 10,000 hr. Lengthy and very costly life-tests in high-vacuum facilities have been required in the past to determine the erosion rates of thruster components. Alternative methods for determining erosion rates which can be performed in relatively short periods of time at considerably lower costs are studied. An attempt to relate optical emission intensity from an ion bombarded surface (screen grid) to the sputtering rate of that surface is made. The model used a kinetic steady-state (KSS) approach, balancing the rates of population and depopulation of ten low-lying excited states of the sputtered molybdenum atom (MoI) with those of the ground state to relate the spectral intensities of the various transitions of the MoI to the population densities. Once this is accomplished, the population density can be related to the sputting rate of the target. Radiative and collisional modes of excitation and decay are considered. Since actual data has not been published for MoI excitation rate and decay constants, semiempirical equations are used. The calculated sputtering rate and intensity is compared to the measured intensity and sputtering rates of the 8 and 30 cm ion thrusters.

Rock, B. A.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Chronology of surface units on the icy satellites of Saturn

Because the impact flux history in the Saturnian system has been similar in its general form to that for the inner solar system and Jupiter, it is possible to develop an absolute calibration model for the relative ages derived from the density of impact craters. This has been done by identifying the density at which the crater populations change characteristics from that during post-accretion heavy bombardment to a later population of low but continuous flux. The transition between these two populations occurred at a known time throughout the solar system, 3.9 by, and provides an absolute calibration point on which to construct a calibration curve. Results based on calibrating relative age data to this absolute flux model suggest that most surfaces are ancient, greater than 3.9 by (or within several 100 million years). Only Enceladus and Dione have had prolonged activity that has resulted in resurfacing. The activity on Enceladus was probably driven by tidal forces, whereas the mechanism for driving resurfacing on Dione has yet to be identified.

Boyce, J. M.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Strong electron bidirectional anisotropies in the distant tail - ISEE 3 observations of polar rain

A detailed observational treatment of bidirectional electrons (about 50 to 500 eV) in the distant magnetotail (r not below 100 earth radii) is presented. It is found that electrons in this energy range commonly exhibit strong, field-aligned anisotropies in the tail lobes. Because of large tail motions, the ISEE 3 data provide extensive sampling of both the north and south lobes in rapid succession. These data directly demonstrate the strong asymmetries that exist between the north and south lobes at any one time. The bidirectional fluxes are found to occur predominantly in the lobe directly connected to the sunward interplanetary magnetic field in the open magnetosphere model (north lobe for away sectors and south lobe for toward sectors). Electron anisotropy and magnetic field data are presented which show the transition from unidirectional (sheath) electron populations to bidirectional (lobe) populations. The open nature of the distant magnetopause is demonstrated and it is shown that the source of the higher-energy, bidirectional lobe electrons is the tailward directed electron heat flux population in the distant magnetosheath. Taken together, the present evidence suggests that the bidirectional electrons that were observed in the distant tail are closely related to the polar rain electrons observed previously at lower altitudes. Furthermore, these data provide strong evidence that the distant tail is composed largely of open magnetic field lines in contradistinction to some recently advanced models.

Baker, D. N.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Satellite debris - Recent measurements

More frequent reports concerning orbital debris damage to spacecraft have prompted the design, development and testing of equipment and techniques for the observation of moving objects by passive optical means. A consolidation is presently made of hundreds of hours of space debris observation, quantifying the numbers of small bodies in space relative to the actively watched artificial satellite population and estimating the numbers of detectable objects from near-earth orbit to geostationary orbit distances. The debris reported constitutes 11 times the tracked population in near-earth orbit and between 25 and 50 percent of the deep space population.

Taff, L. G.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Spectroscopic aspects of differential method for sounding gas composition of the atmosphere

The problems concerning the dynamics of populations of the sounded atmospheric gas molecule levels taking into account the nonmonochromatic character of radiation, durations of exciting and sounding pulses, rates of relaxation of excited vibration-rotation states population along different channels in a natural multicomponent mixture of gases and air were investigated. The problems of spectroscopic software, completeness and accuracy of the initial spectroscopic information, information on channels and rates of relaxation from the viewpoint of developing specific schemes of sounding are discussed. The values of deviations of vibration-rotation level populations of some atmospheric molecules from their equilibrium value at simultaneous action of double frequency radiation on the sounding path and the corresponding dynamic variation of lidar return amplitude were estimated. The importance of nonlinear spectrosopic effects in the lidar return value variation at sounding radiation frequency equaling the resonance frequency of vibration-rotation transition in the problem on sounding the humidity profiles and concentrations of gaseous pollutants was also estimated.

Zuev, V. V.↗