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NASA NTRS2000

Preparation and Analysis of RNA Crystals

The crystallization of RiboNucleic Acids (RNA) was studied from the standpoint of mechanisms of crystal growth in three tasks: (1) preparation of high-quality crystals of oligonuclotides for X-ray diffraction, (2) finding pathways to the growth of high-quality crystals for X-ray diffraction and (3) investigation of mechanisms of action of inertial acceleration on crystal growth. In these tasks: (1) RNA crystals were prepared and studied by X-ray diffraction; (2) a pathway to high-quality crystals was discovered and characterized; a combination of kinetic and equilibrium factors could be optimized as described below; and (3) an interplay between purity and gravity was found in a combination of space and ground experiments with nucleic acids and proteins. Most significantly, the rate of concentration of precipitant and RNA can be controlled by membrane-based methods of water removal or by diffusion of multivalent cations across an interface stabilized by a membrane. Oligonucleotide solutions are electrokinetically stabilized colloids, and crystals can form by the controlled addition of multivalent cations.

Todd, Paul↗

NASA NTRS2012

VIIRS On-Orbit Optical Anomaly - Investigation, Analysis, Root Cause Determination and Lessons Learned

A gradual, but persistent, decrease in the optical throughput was detected during the early commissioning phase for the Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership (SNPP) Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Near Infrared (NIR) bands. Its initial rate and unknown cause were coincidently coupled with a decrease in sensitivity in the same spectral wavelength of the Solar Diffuser Stability Monitor (SDSM) raising concerns about contamination or the possibility of a system-level satellite problem. An anomaly team was formed to investigate and provide recommendations before commissioning could resume. With few hard facts in hand, there was much speculation about possible causes and consequences of the degradation. Two different causes were determined as will be explained in this paper. This paper will describe the build and test history of VIIRS, why there were no indicators, even with hindsight, of an on-orbit problem, the appearance of the on-orbit anomaly, the initial work attempting to understand and determine the cause, the discovery of the root cause and what Test-As-You-Fly (TAYF) activities, can be done in the future to greatly reduce the likelihood of similar optical anomalies. These TAYF activities are captured in the lessons learned section of this paper.

Iona, Glenn↗

NASA NTRS2020

Design Factors for Two-Dimensional, External-Compression Supersonic Inlets

Geometric and aerodynamic design factors were studied for the design of two-dimensional, external-compression inlets operating at a freestream Mach number of Mach 1.7. Computational simulations of the inlet flows were performed to obtain the inlet performance metrics consisting of the inlet flow rates, total pressure recovery, and total pressure distortion at the engine face. The key design factors identified included the external diffuser Mach number, cowl lip interior angle, bleed slot length, throat section aft centerbody slope, and subsonic diffuser length. Using the results of the Mach 1.7 inlet study, inlets were designed for Mach 1.4 and 2.0. The results provide useful insight on the significance of the design factors for the design of such inlets for commercial supersonic aircraft.

Slater, John W.↗

NASA NTRS2011

The Development of a CO2 Test Capability in the NASA JSC ARCJet for Mars Reentry Simulation

The Atmospheric Reentry Materials and Structures Evaluation Facility (ARMSEF) located at NASA Johnson Space Center is used for simulating the extreme environment experienced upon reentry for the development and certification of thermal protection systems (TPS). The facility supports a large variety of programs and was heavily leveraged for the certification and operational support of the TPS for the Orbiter and, more recently, the development of the heat shield for CEV. This paper will provide more detail into the heritage of the facility. Unique attributes of the facility include a modular aerodynamically stabilized arc heater and independently controlled O2 and N2 for the test gases. When combining the O2 and N2 in a 23:77 mass ratio respectively the Earth s atmosphere is accurately simulated and via modification of this ratio the investigation of the effects of atomic oxygen on a material s response is possible. In the summer of 2010 a development effort was started to add CO2 as a third independently controlled test gas such that, when combined with N2, opens up the possibility of accurately simulating a Martian reentry environment. This paper will discuss the test facility, especially the arc heater, in more detail. Initial testing involved relatively low concentrations of CO2 combined with N2 for the primary purpose of gathering data to answer two pressing safety concerns. The first being the rate of production of carbon monoxide (CO) within the ejector vacuum system. The main concern was that CO can be flammable and possibly explosive at high enough concentrations and pressures. The hazard control during the development phase involved the use of injecting N2 inside the test chamber diffuser to dilute and reduce the concentration of any and all CO present. A residual gas analyzer (RGA) was used to determine the relative amount of CO in the exhaust gas and provide a conversion rate of CO2 to CO. This paper will discuss in more detail the results of the RGA data and the calculated conversion rate. The second safety concern addressed is the possible formation of hydrogen cyanide (HCN) and cyanide (CN). HCN would primarily be present in the cooling water while the CN would most probably condense onto the interior surfaces of the test chamber. Water samples and wipes of the test chamber surfaces were analyzed by an industrial hygienist for the presence of HCN and CN. His paper will discuss these results in more detail. Throughout this development effort measurements of the CO2:N2 flowfield were made with heat flux and pressure probes and with laser induced fluorescence (LIF) of the atomic oxygen. This paper will discuss these results

DelPapa, Steven V.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Particle drift, diffusion, and acceleration at shocks

The gradient and curvature drifts implicit in change of the ambient magnetic field at a hydromagnetic shock wave are incorporated into the diffusive theory of shock acceleration of charged particles. The conventional jump condition at the shock is modified by a term incorporating the large drift along the shock plane. This term vanished identically for one-dimensional systems, but must be included in general for shocks which are finite in transverse extent or which have transverse structure. It is found that the effect of the drift is such that the transverse drift rate is proportional to the acceleration rate, and for perpendicular shocks is exactly equal to the rate of change of energy in the V x B electric field observed in the shock frame. This establishes a connection with the 'shock drift' models which neglect diffusion.

Jokipii, J. R.↗

NASA NTRS1999

Experimental Observations on a Low Strain Counter-Flow Diffusion Flame: Flow and Bouyancy Effects

Diffusion flames are of great interest in fire safety and many industrial processes. The counter-flow configuration provides a constant strain flow, and therefore is ideal to study the structure of diffusion flames. Most studies have concentrated on the high velocity, high strain limit, since buoyantly induced instabilities will disintegrate the planar flame as the velocity decreases. Only recently, experimental studies in microgravity conditions have begun to explore the low strain regimes. Numerical work has shown the coupling between gas phase reaction rates, soot reaction rates, and radiation. For these programs, size, geometry and experimental conditions have been chosen to keep the flame unaffected by the physical boundaries. When the physical boundaries can not be considered infinitely far from the reaction zone discrepancies arise. A computational study that includes boundary effects and accounts for the deviations occurring when the major potential flow assumptions are relaxed was presented by Borlik et al. This development properly incorporates all heat loss terms and shows the possibility of extinction in the low strain regime. A major constraint of studying the low strain regime is buoyancy. Buoyant instabilities have been shown to have a significant effect on the nature of reactants and heat transport, and can introduce instabilities on the flow that result in phenomena such as flickering or fingering. The counter-flow configuration has been shown to provide a flame with no symmetry disrupting instabilities for inlet velocities greater than 50 mm/s. As the velocity approaches this limit, the characteristic length of the experiment has to be reduced to a few millimetres so as to keep the Rayleigh number (Ra L = (β g 0 L 3 ∆T)/(𝑎v)) below 2000. In this work, a rectangular counter-flow burner was used to study a two-dimensional counter-flow diffusion flame. Flow visualisation and Particle Image Velocimetry served to describe the nature of the stagnation plane for strain rates smaller than 100 (1/s). These experiments were conducted with a non-reacting flow. Video images of a propane air diffusion flame were used to describe the behaviour of a diffusion flame in this regime. Flame geometry and pulsation frequency are described.

J. A. Sutula↗

NASA NTRS1990

Infrared spectroscopy and Mie scattering of acetylene aerosols formed in a low temperature diffusion cell

A method is described for forming and spectroscopically characterizing cryogenic aerosols formed in a low temperature gas cell. By adjusting the cell pressure, gas composition and flow rate, the size distribution of aerosol particles can be varied over a wide range. The combination of pressure and flow rate determine the residence time of the aerosols in the cell and hence the time available for the particles to grow. FTIR spectroscopy, over the range from 600/cm to 6000/cm, is used to characterize the aerosols. The particle size distribution can be varied so that, at one extreme, the spectra show only absorption features associated with the infrared active vibrational bands and, at the other, they display both absorption and Mie scattering. In the latter case, Mie scattering theory is used to obtain semiquantitative aerosol size distributions, which can be understood in terms of the interplay between nucleation and condensation. In the case of acetylene aerosols, the infrared spectra suggest that the particles exist in the high temperature cubic phase of the solid.

Dunder, T.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Extinction of the Stagnation Point Diffusion Flame: Effect of Conductive Heat Loss into Solid Interior

The flammability boundary of a solid is U-shaped with the ordinate as ambient oxygen percentage (or total pressure) and the abscissa represents flow velocity, gravity level, stretch rate, etc. The left side of the flammability boundary is the quenching branch, and the right side is the blow-off branch. Quenching is due to a weak flame whose heat release from combustion cannot overcome the excessive heat losses from, for example, radiation. Blow-off is due to a short gas residence time that is smaller than the chemical reaction time (traditionally referred to as the small Damköhler number effect). For thick solids, the heat conduction into the solid interior has a long transient after ignition before the solid temperature reaches the steady state. During this slow transient, there is excessive (i.e. more than that at the steady state) gas phase heat conduction into the solid interior. From the viewpoint of the quasi-static gaseous flame, this is an additional heat loss that will affect the gas flame's flammability. In this work, a previously developed one-dimensional axisymmetric stagnation-point diffusion flame model is extended to account for the excessive heat loss into the solid beyond the steady burning state. A non-dimensional excessive conductive heat loss parameter Ψ is defined in the paper to account for the transient solid effect. For each Ψ, the gas phase is considered reaching a quasi-steady state. Extensive numerical computations have been performed to determine the extinction boundary and the characteristics of near-limit flames. The U-shaped flammability boundary is now a series of boundaries with Ψ as a parameter. Flame structures under the same environment condition but with different Ψ are compared. For a given oxygen ambient, the extinction boundary Ψ vs stretch rate is an inverted U-shape. The boundary consists of a blowoff branch and a radiative quenching branch. Extensive computed data including flame and pyrolysis temperatures, burning rate, flame standoff distance, species concentration, and reaction rate are presented along the extinction boundaries. Heat balance analysis is performed for both the gas phase and the gas-solid interface. Along the extinction boundary, the relative importance of conduction, convection, radiation, and chemical reaction are analyzed in detail.

Stagnation point diffusion flame↗

NASA NTRS2002

Reference Atmosphere for Mercury

The objectives of this three year proposal are: (1) to calculate the likely diffusive flux of Ar and He from the interior of Mercury for representative crustal compositions; (2) compute a reasonable estimate of the fractional escape flux of photoions for the likely range of field conditions; and (3) to calculate the capture rate of solar wind ions into the atmosphere. The morphology of the magnetosphere in response to the solar wind and the IMF is the crucial boundary condition for the flux of ions to the surface. We have tackled problem (1) using a multipath diffusion code, and problems (2) and (3) using a combination of MHD and kinetic plasma dynamics.

Killen, Rosemary M.↗

NASA NTRS2003

Analysis of Radial Segregation in Directionally Solidified Hg(0.89)Mn(0.11)Te

Bridgman growth experiments were performed on Hg(0.89)Mn(0.11)Te (MMT) to determine the extent of radial Manganese segregation during directional solidification. MMT crystals were directionally solidified at rates of 0.09 and 0.18 p d s and in axial thermal gradients of 83 and 68"C/cm. Wavelength Dispersive Spectroscopy (WDS) and Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) analytical techniques were used to determine the radial homogeneity in all boules and the deflection of the solid-liquid interface (SLI) in two boules that were rapidly quenched after 5 to 6 cm of directional solidification. For all growth runs, the measured radial coinpositional variations were on the order of 0.01 molar percent MnTe in the steady state region of growth. Comparison of the measured radial compositional results of the crystals to predicted values in the diffusion-limited regime indicate a strong influence of convection near the solid-liquid interface. This conclusion is supported by the weak influence of the translation rates and axial thermal gradients utilized in this study upon radial compositional homogeneity.

Price, M. W.↗

NASA NTRS1976

Theoretical study of reactive and nonreactive turbulent coaxial jets

The hydrodynamic properties and the reaction kinetics of axisymmetric coaxial turbulent jets having steady mean quantities are investigated. From the analysis, limited to free turbulent boundary layer mixing of such jets, it is found that the two-equation model of turbulence is adequate for most nonreactive flows. For the reactive flows, where an allowance must be made for second order correlations of concentration fluctuations in the finite rate chemistry for initially inhomogeneous mixture, an equation similar to the concentration fluctuation equation of a related model is suggested. For diffusion limited reactions, the eddy breakup model based on concentration fluctuations is found satisfactory and simple to use. The theoretical results obtained from these various models are compared with some of the available experimental data.

Gupta, R. N.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Atomic to molecular hydrogen transition in interstellar clouds

The photodestruction of molecular hydrogen is reexamined in the context of recent observational data. Improvements in the theory of radiation transfer are made by using a more accurate self-shielding integral, treating anisotropic scattering by dust grains, and including photodissociation from excited rotational states. The total column density of hydrogen required to obtain 10% conversion decreases with a parameter, epsilon, the ratio of the formation rate to the destruction rate, as epsilon to the -m power, with m in the range 1.4-1.6. Satisfactory agreement with the data for thicker diffuse clouds is obtained for epsilon of about 0.00006.

Federman, S. R.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Starprobe - The science opportunities

The scientific objectives of the NASA Starprobe mission for an unmanned spacecraft to pass within three solar radii of the sun's surface are reviewed. Fundamental observations of gravitation, relativity, and factors related to the solar interior, measurements of the static and dynamic electromagnetic fields and the particle populations close to the sun, and observations of the solar atmosphere from the photosphere to the corona with high spatial resolution would be possible with the Starprobe. A determination of the quadrupole coefficient in the expansion of the gravitational potential field of the sun is noted to be possible by measuring the departure from a Keplerian orbit of the Starprobe as it passes perihelion, yielding data on the rate of revolution of the interior of the sun. Further information on shock acceleration, energy losses, radio bursts, interplanetary propagation, and diffusion will be available at 10-60 solar radii.

Underwood, J. H.↗

NASA NTRS1985

CNO abundances resulting from diffusion in accreting nova progenitors

The configurations of potential nova progenitors at the onset of a thermonuclear runaway (TNR) are obtained by evolving a series of white dwarf (WD) models through the quasi-static accretion phase preceding the TNR. Special attention is paid to the effect of diffusion on composition profiles. The initial parameters of the accretion phase are the WD mass, the WD luminosity, and the accretion rate. They lead to a wide range of combinations of accreted mass and heavy element content of the envelope Z(env). It is found that the WD mass is the most important parameter in determining the accreted mass. A lower limit exists for the mass of a WD capable of producing a nova-like outburst which decreases with decreasing WD mass. There is a strong correlation between the accretion rate and Z(env), higher Z(env) values resulting from lower accretion rates. Changes in WD luminosity have no dramatic effect on the outcome of the accretion phase.

Kovetz, A.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Relativistic dispersion modifications to the cyclotron maser theory of planetary radio emissions

The effects of relativistic dispersion on the electron-cyclotron maser instability are investigated by linear theory, electromagnetic particle simulation, and quasilinear theory. When vsq/csq greater than or = omega pesq/Omega sq for the energetic electrons, the instability is localized just below k c/Omega e = 1, and the growth rate is strongly peaked for emission at 90 deg to the magnetic field. Saturation of the instability is due to perpendicular diffusion in momentum space, and the saturation level increases as omega pe/Omega e is decreased. Applications of the maser instability to the generation of the Earth's auroral kilometric radiation are discussed.

Pritchett, P. L.↗

NASA NTRS1986

The propagation of solar flare particles in a coronal loop

A time-dependent diffusion equation with velocity-dependent diffusion and energy-loss coefficients was solved for the case where energetic solar particles are injected into a coronal loop and then diffuse out the ends of the loop into the lower corona/chromosphere. The solution yields for the case of relativistic electrons, precipitation rates and populations which are necessary for calculating thick and thin target X-ray emission. It follows that the thick target emission is necessarily delayed with respect to the particle acceleration on injection by more than the mere travel time of the particle over the loop length. In addition the time-dependent electron population at the top of the loop is calculated. This is useful in estimating the resulting micron-wave emission. The results show relative timing differences in the different emission processes which are functions of particle species, energy and the point of injection of the particles into the loop. Equivalent quantities are calculated for non-relativistic protons.

Ryan, J. M.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Electrochemical Growth Of Crystals In Gels

Nucleation and growth rates readily controlled. Technique developed to grow crystals by controlling rate of transfer of one component into crystallization volume. Method involves electrochemically controlled generation of one of precipitation species, coupled with diffusion barrier. New procedure, developed in connection with formation of lead tin telluride by reaction in gels of metal ions with telluride ions.

Barber, Patrick G.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Triton - Stratospheric molecules and organic sediments

Continuous-flow plasma discharge techniques show production rates of hydrocarbons and nitriles in N2 + CH4 atmospheres appropriate to the stratosphere of Titan, and indicate that a simple eddy diffusion model together with the observed electron flux quantitatively matches the Voyager IRIS observations for all the hydrocarbons, except for the simplest ones. Charged particle chemistry is very important in Triton's stratosphere. In the more CH4-rich case of Titan, many hydrocarbons and nitriles are produced in high yield. If N2 is present, the CH4 fraction is low, but hydrocarbons and nitriles are produced in fair yield, abundances of HCN and C2H2 in Triton's stratosphere exceed 10 to the 19th molecules/sq cm per sec, and NCCN, C3H4, and other species are predicted to be present. These molecules may be detected by IRIS if the stratosphere is as warm as expected. Both organic haze and condensed gases will provide a substantial UV and visible opacity in Triton's atmosphere.

Thompson, W. Reid↗