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At least 1,135 records · Page 63

Production cost comparisons of hydrogen from fossil and nuclear fuel and water decomposition

The comparative costs entailed in producing hydrogen by major technologies that rely on petroleum, natural gas, coal, thermochemical cycles, and electrolysis are examined. Techniques were developed for comparing these processes by formulating the process data and economic assessments on a uniform and consistent basis. These data were normalized to permit a meaningful comparative analysis of product costs of these processes.

Ekman, K. R.↗

The clouds of Venus - Sulfuric acid by the lead chamber process

The Pioneer Venus atmospheric probe provided new data on the clouds of Venus. A model consistent with this data involves SO2 being oxidized to H2SO4 by NO(x) in the presence of H2O. NO(x) also forms nitrosylsulfuric acid (NOHSO4) dissolved in the H2SO4 droplets. This acid solution, along with SO2 and perhaps NO2, can explain the UV and visible reflection spectrum of Venus. In the middle and lower clouds, NOHSO4 forms solid particles.

Sill, G. T.↗

Jupiter's radiation belt ions - A comparison of theory and observation

Radial profiles are constructed for the Jovian radiation belt flux-tube content Y-asterisk from the reported phase-space density of energetic particles obtained from Voyager 1 data over the range L = 6 to L = 9. These experimental profiles are compared with theoretical solutions for Y-asterisk from an interchange-diffusion model of the coupled radiation belt and Iogenic ion populations. Subject to certain limitations of the Voyager 1 data, the model solutions are found to be consistent with the data for a variety of input parameters. Model solutions are also found corresponding to radiation belt ions that are expected to be mainly responsible for the auroral energy input. Comparison of the present theoretical profiles with the data implies that the energetic radiation belt ions should have a peak loss rate within a factor of three of that for strong diffusion scattering.

Summers, Danny↗

Distribution of gas in the inner comae of comets

In order to understand the physical and chemical processes which produce the observed spatial morphology of the cometary coma, it is necessary to analyze observational data with physically meaningful models. Thus, a coupled program of theoretical modeling and complementary observational data analysis was undertaken regarding the spatial distributions of neutral gases in the coma. More, specifically, the particular topics of interest are: (1) the theoretical modeling of the nonequilibrium dynamics of the inner coma with emphasis on the region of the coma from the transition from collisional fluid flow out to the free-flow region and on observable conditions in the coma (i.e., density, outflow speed, and temperature); and (2) the model analysis of an important set of long-slit CCD spectra of comets. The side-by-side development of models along with the observation and analysis of data is an important and integral part of this project. The scientific community has in hand valuable observational and in situ data regarding one comet, Halley. It is important to use Halley as the benchmark by which other remotely observed comet data can be understood. Therefore, the self-consistant analysis of data with appropriate models is of the utmost importance. The data analysis work includes the analysis of the spatial profiles of (OI), NH2, CN, and C2.

Combi, Michael↗

Using and Distributing Spaceflight Data: The Johnson Space Center Life Sciences Data Archive

Life sciences data collected before, during and after spaceflight are valuable and often irreplaceable. The Johnson Space Center Life is hard to find, and much of the data (e.g. Sciences Data Archive has been designed to provide researchers, engineers, managers and educators interactive access to information about and data from human spaceflight experiments. The archive system consists of a Data Acquisition System, Database Management System, CD-ROM Mastering System and Catalog Information System (CIS). The catalog information system is the heart of the archive. The CIS provides detailed experiment descriptions (both written and as QuickTime movies), hardware descriptions, hardware images, documents, and data. An initial evaluation of the archive at a scientific meeting showed that 88% of those who evaluated the catalog want to use the system when completed. The majority of the evaluators found the archive flexible, satisfying and easy to use. We conclude that the data archive effectively provides key life sciences data to interested users.

Cardenas, J. A.↗

Free-Flying Magnetometer Data System

The Free-Flying Magnetometer (FFM) is an autonomous "sensorcraft" developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for the Enstrophy sounding rocket mission. This mission was a collaborative project between the University of New Hampshire, Cornell University and JPL. The science goal of the mission was the study of current filamentation phenomena in the northern auroral region through multipoint measurements of magnetic field. The technical objective of the mission was the proof of concept of the JPL FFM design and the demonstration of an in-situ multipoint measurement technique employing many free-flying spacecraft. Four FFMs were successfully deployed from a sounding rocket launched from Poker Flats, Alaska on February 11, 1999. These hockey-puck-sized (80 mm diameter, 38 mm. height, 250 gram mass) free flyers each carry a miniature 3-axis flux-gate magnetometer that output +/- 2 V signals corresponding to a +/- 60,000 nT measurement range for each axis. The FFM uses a synchronized four-channel Sigma(Delta) Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) having a dynamic range of +/- 2.5V and converting at a rate of 279 samples/second/channel. Three channels are used to digitize the magnetometer signals to 17-bit (1.144 nT/bit) resolution. The fourth ADC channel is multiplexed for system monitoring of four temperature sensors and two battery voltages. The FFM also contains two sun sensors, a laser diode which emits a fan-shaped beam, a miniature S-band transmitter for direct communication to the ground station antennas, an ultra-stable Temperature Compensated Crystal Oscillator (TCXO) clock, an integrated data subsystem implemented in a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), a 4 Mbit Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) for data storage and Lithium Thionyl Chloride batteries for power. Communicating commands to the FFM prior to deployment is achieved with an infrared (IR) link. The FFM IR receiver responds to 9-bit pulse coded signals that are generated by an IR Light Emitting Diode (LED) in the payload for turning FFM power on or off and placing the FFM in a test mode or flight mode. The IR links are also used to synchronize (zero) the clocks onboard all the FFMs through a reset pulse originating from the payload GPS receiver that is issued when the FFMs are in flight mode. The FPGA based data subsystem manages continuous data collection from the four ADC channels and sun sensors, formatting and storing the data to SRAM, and controlling downlink transmission. The transmitter is powered only after a 2547 frame SRAM buffer has been filled (approx. 5 minutes of data). The data is Viterbi encoded and sent to the S-band transmitter via a First-In-First-Out (FIFO) buffer who's output is clocked at 100 bits/second. After the 26-second transmission, the transmitter is turned off to reduce noise coupling to the sensitive magnetometer. The data subsystem control consists of a master state machine that performs data flow management and is interfaced through a prioritized interrupt scheme to state machines that service the ADC, sun sensors and transmitter FIFO. Continuous data collection prevents the missing of data during transmission and provides implicit time tagging of the data acquired by the ADC because of synchronization with the TCXO clock.

Blaes, B.↗

Microcrater investigations on lunar rock 12002

Relative ages of 26 submillimeter-sized pits from an equilibrium population in rock 12002 were measured by determining the densities of pits 0.7 microns in diameter and larger on the submillimeter-sized pits. Production rates for 0.7 micron diameter pits were determined from solar-flare track exposure age measurements, and the data for rock 12002 are consistent with previously obtained data for sample 15205 if a lower meteoroid flux prevailed in the past. Metal mounds or spherules within a microcrater pit glass were found to have a meteoritic composition, and an impact lining consisting of protruding crystals was observed. The crystals apparently developed during exposure to space immediately after the 200-micron diameter pit was formed by impact into an olivine grain.

Hartung, J. B.↗

X-ray Observations of the Bright Old Nova V603 Aquilae

We report on our Chandra and RXTE observations of the bright old nova, V603 Aql, performed in 2001 April, supplemented by our analysis of archival X-ray data on this object. We find that the RXTE data are contaminated by the Galactic Ridge X-ray emission. After accounting for this effect, we find a high level of aperiodic variability in the RXTE data, at a level consistent with the uncontaminated Chandra data. The Chandra HETG spectrum clearly originates in a multi-temperature plasma. We constrain the possible emission measure distribution of the plasma through a combination of global and local fits. The X-ray luminosity and the spectral shape of V603 Aql resemble those of SS Cyg in transition between quiescence and outburst. The fact that the X-ray flux variability is only weakly energy dependent can be interpreted by supposing that the variability is due to changes in the maximum temperature of the plasma. The plasma density is likely to be high, and the emission region is likely to be compact. Finally, the apparent overabundance of Ne is consistent with V603 Aql being a young system.

Mukai, K.↗

Clumpy Langmuir waves in type III solar radio bursts

A model is developed for type III radio emission in the interplanetary medium based on recent data on Langmuir waves, associated with ion sound waves, density fluctuations in the interplanetary plasma, streaming electrons and radio emission. In this model, Langmuir wave growth is suppressed by refraction in field-aligned density irregularities except near density minima where clumps of Langmuir waves form. Quasi-linear relaxation limits the growth of the Langmuir waves in the clumps. The radio emission, which is attributed to coalescence of the Langmuir waves with associated ion sound waves, saturates at a brightness temperature equal to the effective temperature of the Langmuir waves, estimated to be between 10 to the 15th and 10 to the 16th K from obserrvational data. The model is consistent with all the relevant data on type III events. In particular, it accounts naturally for observed brightness temperatures of type III bursts.

Melrose, D. B.↗

The shock wave equation of state of brucite Mg(OH)2

New shock equation of state (EOS) data on magnesium hydroxide between 12 and 60 GPa is presented. It is found that the brucite EOS data between 12 and 97 GPa can be fit with a single linear U(s) - u(p) relationship: U(s) = 4.76(0.11) + 1.35(0.05)u(p). The third order Birch-Murnaghan equation parameters are K(os) = 51 + or - 4 GPa and K(os)prime = 5.0 + or - 0.4. The first partial release states measured for brucite Mg(OH)2 are reported. Calculated phase boundaries using the EOS data are found to be consistent with the experimental data and indicate that brucite is unlikely to be stable under lower mantle conditions. At high pressure, bulk sound velocities calculated for MgO and Mg(OH)2 are very similar, indicating that the presence of hydrous assemblages in the lower mantle may not produce anomalous bulk seismic velocities. A comparison of densities in brucite and other high-pressure phases under mantle conditions shows that the water content of the lower mantle is between 0 and 3 wt pct.

Duffy, Thomas S.↗

Leading-Edge Votex-System Details Obtained on F-106B Aircraft Using a Rotating Vapor Screen and Surface Techniques

A flight research program to study the flow structure and separated-flow origins over an F-106B aircraft wing is described. The flight parameters presented include Mach numbers from 0.26 to 0.81, angles of attack from 8.5 deg to 22.5 deg, Reynolds numbers from 22.6 x 10(exp 6) to 57.3 x 10(exp 6) and load factors from 0.9 to 3.9 times the acceleration due to gravity. Techniques for vapor screens, image enhancement, photogrammetry, and computer graphics are integrated to analyze vortex-flow systems. Emphasis is placed on the development and application of the techniques. The spatial location of vortex cores and their tracks over the wing are derived from the analysis. Multiple vortices are observed and are likely attributed to small surface distortions in the wing leading-edge region. A major thrust is to correlate locations of reattachment lines obtained from the off-surface (vapor-screen) observations with those obtained from on-surface oil-flow patterns and pressure-port data. Applying vapor-screen image data to approximate reattachment lines is experimental, but depending on the angle of attack, the agreement with oil-flow results is generally good. Although surface pressure-port data are limited, the vapor-screen data indicate reattachment point occurrences consistent with the available data.

Lamar, John E.↗

Orbit Determination of the SELENE Satellites Using Multi-Satellite Data Types and Evaluation of SELENE Gravity Field Models

The SELENE mission, consisting of three separate satellites that use different terrestrial-based tracking systems, presents a unique opportunity to evaluate the contribution of these tracking systems to orbit determination precision. The tracking data consist of four-way Doppler between the main orbiter and one of the two sub-satellites while the former is over the far side, and of same-beam differential VLBI tracking between the two sub-satellites. Laser altimeter data are also used for orbit determination. The contribution to orbit precision of these different data types is investigated through orbit overlap analysis. It is shown that using four-way and VLBI data improves orbit consistency for all satellites involved by reducing peak values in orbit overlap differences that exist when only standard two-way Doppler and range data are used. Including laser altimeter data improves the orbit precision of the SELENE main satellite further, resulting in very smooth total orbit errors at an average level of 18m. The multi-satellite data have also resulted in improved lunar gravity field models, which are assessed through orbit overlap analysis using Lunar Prospector tracking data. Improvements over a pre-SELENE model are shown to be mostly in the along-track and cross-track directions. Orbit overlap differences are at a level between 13 and 21 m with the SELENE models, depending on whether l-day data overlaps or I-day predictions are used.

Goossens, S.↗

The design and use of an error correction information system for NASTRAN

Error Correction Information System (ECIS) is a system for a two-way transmittal of NASTRAN maintenance information via a data base stored on a nationwide accessible computer. ECIS consists of two data bases. The first data base is used for comments, reporting NASTRAN Software Problem Reports (SPR's) and bookkeeping information which can be updated by the user or the NASTRAN Office. The second data base is used by the NSMO to store all SPR information and updates. The hardware needed by an accessing user is any desktop computer terminal and a telephone to communicate with the central computer. The instruction format is an engineering oriented language and requires less than an hour to obtain a working knowledge of its functions.

Rosser, D. C., Jr.↗

A 94/183 GHz aircraft radiometer system for Project Storm Fury

A radiometer design suitable for use in NASA's WB-57F aircraft to collect data from severe storm regions was developed. The design recommended was a 94/183 GHz scanning radiometer with 3 IF channels on either side of the 183.3 GHz water vapor line and a single IF channel for a low loss atmospheric window channel at 94 GHz. The development and construction of the 94/183 GHz scanning radiometer known as the Advanced Microwave Moisture Sounder (AMMS) is presented. The radiometer scans the scene below the aircraft over an angle of + or - 45 degrees with the beamwidth of the scene viewed of approximately 2 degrees at 94 GHz and 1 degree at 183 GHz. The AMMS data collection system consists of a microcomputer used to store the radiometer data on the flight cartridge recorder, operate the stepper motor driven scanner, and collect housekeeping data such as thermistor temperature readings and aircraft time code.

Gagliano, J. A.↗

Development and use of an integrated analysis capability

The paper describes a multi-discipline integrated analysis capability, designed to aid the engineering community in coupling of existing modules and in handling of the associated software and data. This capability consists of an executive program which manages tasks and data, a number of technical modules, graphics and special purpose modules, inter-module data flow interfaces, and associated user documentation. The current implementation provides specific modules and coupled solution paths for the thermal, structures and controls technologies. However, the system has been designed to serve also as a framework into which user groups may incorporate other modules and technologies. Details of the system architecture are discussed, in the context of the major design decisions and the software development and usage experience. The paper provides a brief discussion of some other integrated systems which are available or under development.

Vos, R. G.↗

Sphere quadtrees - A new data structure to support the visualization of spherically distributed data

The concept of the sphere quadtree (SQT) is introduced to enable the structuring of spherically distributed data to be consistent with its geometry and facilitate mapping of the data onto a flat file system. The SQT is based on the recursive subdivision of the spherical triangles that result from the projection of the faces of an icosahedron onto a sphere. The SQT concept is insensitive to the distortions that occur far from the equator in spherically distributed data sets. Geographic data can be shown at several levels and at any resolution, allowing a system of referencing between data sets of different resolutions as well as data that are not geographically registered. SQTs are found to facilitate the search for particular spherically distributed data sets and improve the efficiency of surface rendering algorithms.

Fekete, Gyorgy↗

LDEF materials: An overview of the interim findings

The flight and retrieval of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) provided an opportunity for the study of the low-Earth orbit (LEO) environment and long-duration space environmental effect (SEE) on materials that are unparalleled in the history of the U.S. space program. The 5.8-year flight of LDEF greatly enhanced the potential value of materials data from LDEF to the international SEE community, compared to that of the original 1-year flight plan. The remarkable flight attitude stability of LDEF enables specific analyses of various individual and combined effects of LEO environmental parameters on identical materials of the same space vehicle. NASA recognized the potential by forming the LDEF Space Environmental Effects on Materials Special Investigation Group (MSIG) to address the greatly expanded materials and LEO space environment parameter analysis opportunities available in the LDEF structure, experiment trays, and corollary measurements, so that the combined value of all LDEF materials data to current and future space missions will be assessed and documented. This paper provides an overview of the interim LDEF materials findings of the Principal Investigators and the Materials Special Investigation Group. These revelations are based on observations of LEO environmental effects on materials made in-space during LDEF retrieval and during LDEF tray deintegration at the Kennedy Space Center, and on findings of approximately 1.5 years of laboratory analyses of LDEF materials by the LDEF materials scientists. These findings were extensively reviewed and discussed at the MSIG-sponsored LDEF Materials Workshop '91. The results are presented in a format which categorizes the revelations as 'clear findings' or 'confusing/unexplained findings' and resultant needs for new space materials developments and ground simulation testing/analytical modeling in seven categories: environmental parameters and data bases; LDEF contamination; thermal control coatings and protective treatments; polymers and films; polymer-matrix composites; metals, ceramics, and optical materials; and systems-related materials. General outlines of findings of the other LDEF Special Investigation Groups (Ionizing Radiation, Meteoroid and Debris, and Systems) are also included. The utilization of LDEF materials data for future low-earth orbit missions is also discussed, concentrating on Space Station Freedom. Some directions for continuing studies of LDEF materials are outlined. In general, the LDEF data is remarkable consistent; LDEF will provide a 'benchmark' for materials design data bases for satellites in low-Earth orbit. Some materials were identified to be encouragingly resistant to LEO SEE for 5.8-years; other 'space qualified' materials displayed significant environmental degradation. Molecular contamination was widespread; LDEF offers an unprecedented opportunity to provide a unified perspective of unmanned LEO spacecraft contamination mechanisms. New material development requirements for long-term LEO missions have been identified and current ground simulation testing methods/data for new, durable materials concepts can be validated with LDEF results. LDEF findings are already being integrated into the design of Space Station Freedom.

Stein, Bland A.↗

An interim overview of LDEF materials findings

The flight and retrieval of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) provided an opportunity for the study of the low-Earth orbit (LEO) environment and long-duration space environmental effects (SEE) on materials that is unparalleled in the history of the U.S. Space Program. The remarkable flight attitude stability of LDEF enables specific analyses of various individual and combined effects of LEO environmental parameters on identical materials on the same space vehicle. This paper provides an overview of the interim LDEF materials findings of the Principal Investigators and the Materials Special Investigation Group. In general, the LDEF data is remarkably consistent; LDEF will provide a 'benchmark' for materials design data bases for satellites in low-Earth orbit. Some materials were identified to be encouragingly resistant to LEO SEE for 5.8 years; other 'space qualified' materials displayed significant environmental degradation. Molecular contamination was widespread; LDEF offers an unprecedented opportunity to provide a unified perspective of unmanned LEO spacecraft contamination mechanisms. New material development requirements for long-term LEO missions have been identified and current ground simulation testing methods/data for new, durable materials concepts can be validated with LDEF results. LDEF findings are already being integrated into the design of Space Station Freedom.

Stein, Brad A.↗