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At least 1,333 records · Page 74

The Space Shuttle - Description, operation, and evolution

System specifications, launch procedures, costs, payloads, and evolutionary developments in the STS are outlined. The Shuttle employs solid propellant boosters and an external cryogenic fuel tank to achieve LEO for the manned Orbiter, which can maneuver in space and return to earth like a glider. The Shuttle can place a maximum payload of 30 tons into a 275 km orbit. An Inertial Upper Stage and a Spinning Solid Upper Stage will be carried by the Orbiter in its bay and used to boost satellites into GEO. Additionally, the Orbiter is equipped with a remote manipulator system for removing cargo from the bay and for grappling satellites for retrieval or repair. The Shuttle is presently launched from Kennedy Space Center, while a second launch site is being prepared at Vandenberg AFB. The STS is intended to perform 28-40 flights per year by the end of the 1980s. An Orbital Transfer Vehicle is under study to increase the size and length of payloads which can be placed in GEO using the Shuttle. Utilization of the concept is noted to be connected with the development of a permanently manned space station.

Bekey, I.↗

Climate studies with a multi-layer energy balance model. I - Model description and sensitivity to the solar constant. II - The role of feedback mechanisms in the CO2 problem

A nine-layer zonally averaged, steady-state model, based upon thermal energy balance, is developed for use in climate sensitivity studies and includes an accurate treatment of radiative transfer, parameterized meridional and vertical energy transport, and thermodynamic interaction between the surface and the atmosphere. A high degree of nonlinearity is exhibited by the model in a study of sensitivity to changes in the solar constant. The change in the hemispheric mean surface temperature is +3.1 C in response to a 2% increase in the solar constant and -4.3 C in response to a 2% decrease in the solar constant. The sensitivity varies with latitude, and the response of atmospheric temperature varies with height. In addition, the model is used to study the sensitivity of climate to a doubling of the atmospheric CO2 content. It is found that the tropospheric temperature lapse rate decreases at low latitudes but increases at high latitudes in response to a doubled CO2 content. Averaged over the Northern Hemisphere, the change is +2.3 C in the surface temperature and +0.47 C in the earth's brightness temperature. The effects of some feedback mechanisms on the climate sensitivity to a doubled CO2 content show that the sensitivity of surface temperature approximately doubles at all latitudes due to the change in water vapor content.

Peng, L.↗

EXOS-B/Siple station VLF wave-particle interaction experiments. I - General description and wave-particle correlations

The EXOS-B/Siple Station joint experiment on the triggering of VLF emissions by man-made signals causing some form of wave-particle interactions in the magnetosphere is presented, and results concerning wave-particle correlations are reported. In situ measurements of both energetic electron flux and VLF waves were made near the meridian connecting Siple Station, Antarctica with Roberval, Quebec, Canada in campaigns during July through September, 1979 and December 1979 through January 1980 at times of VLF transmission from Siple. Strong observed signals were found to be well correlated with a pancake pitch angle distribution of 0.3 to 6.9-keV electrons, and to exhibit a positive linear growth rate. Artificially stimulated emissions were observed to be accompanied by large electron fluxes in all energy channels in the equatorial interaction region, although the measured pitch angle distribution was not highly anisotropic. Results may be interpreted by the amplification of Siple signals by the cyclotron instability due to high pitch angle anisotropy (pancake distribution) and the triggering of emissions in the presence of high electron fluxes with some anisotropy and a sufficiently strong signal.

Kimura, I.↗

Galileo atmospheric entry probe mission description

The mission goals, control parameters, and instrumentation for the Galileo entry probe are described. The goal for the probe is to penetrate the Jovian atmosphere to 10 bars, begin data gathering and transmission at about 0.1 bar, and make as many in-situ cloud measurements as possible. The probe will pass through a 16,000 K shock layer, which has led to a ratio of 5 kg of heat shield to every kg of instrumentation on the probe. An entry angle between -7.0 to -10.2 deg will be used, and possible targets with respect to declinations associated with a 1986 launch are discussed. The preentry mission phase, entry/descent sequence, and the baseline mission relay link performance are outlined. Data may be available down to 20 bars, and the probe performance will aid in design goals for subsequent Saturn and Uranus probes.

Vojvodich, N. S.↗

Flow field description for the reaction control system of the Space Shuttle Orbiter

The flow field for the Reaction Control System (RCS) jets of the Space Shuttle Orbiter has been calculated from the nozzle throat to the far-field flow region. The calculations involved the use of recently improved rocket engine nozzle/plume codes and the source flow analytic model. The flow solution is discussed and used to produce impingement forces and moments for surfaces immersed in the flow. The impingement results are compared to calculations involving previous flow solutions in order to evaluate the impingement effects due to the RCS jets during orbital operations.

Alred, J. W.↗

Description of the plasma diagnostics package (PDP) for the OSS-1 Shuttle mission and JSC plasma chamber test in conjunction with the fast pulse electron gun (FPEG)

The objectives, equipment, and techniques for the plasma diagnostics package (PDP) carried by the OSS-1 instrument payload of the STS-4 and scheduled for the Spacelab-2 mission are described. The goals of the first flight were to examine the Orbiter-magnetoplasma interactions by measuring the electric and magnetic field strengths, the ionized particle wakes, and the generated waves. The RMS was employed to lift the unit out of the bay in order to allow characterization of the fields, EM interference, and plasma contamination within 15 m of the Orbiter. The PDP will also be used to examine plasma depletion, chemical reaction rates, waves, and energized plasma produced by firing of the Orbiter thrusters. Operation of the PDP was carried out in the NASA Space Environment Simulation Laboratory test chamber, where the PDP was used to assay the fields, fluxes, wave amplitudes, and particle energy spectra. The PDP instrumentation is also capable of detecting thermal ions, thermal electrons suprathermal particles, VHF/UHF EMI levels, and the S-band field strength.

Shawhan, S. D.↗

Solid rocket booster thrust vector control subsystem description

Major Solid Rocket Booster-Thrust Vector Control (SRB-TVC) subsystem components and subcomponents used in the Space Transportation System (STS) are identified. Simplified schematics, detailed schematics, figures, photographs, and data are included to acquaint the reader with the operation, performance, and physical layout as well as the materials and instrumentation used.

Redmon, J., Jr.↗

Preliminary description of the area navigation software for a microcomputer-based Loran-C receiver

The development of new software implementation of this software on a microcomputer (MOS 6502) to provide high quality navigation information is described. This software development provides Area/Route Navigation (RNAV) information from Time Differences (TDs) in raw form using an elliptical Earth model and a spherical model. The software is prepared for the microcomputer based Loran-C receiver. To compute navigation infomation, a (MOS 6502) microcomputer and a mathematical chip (AM 9511A) were combined with the Loran-C receiver. Final data reveals that this software does indeed provide accurate information with reasonable execution times.

Oguri, F.↗

FGGE/SBUV tape specification and shipping letter description

The FGGE/SBUV Level 2C data set consists of 12 9-track data tapes, each of which contains total ozone and ozone profile data for one calendar month grouped in files containing the data in a 6 hour synoptic time block. The data flow and quality checks in the production of this data set are described as well as the format of the data tapes and the accompanying shipping documents.

Han, D.↗

FGGE/ERBM tape specification and shipping letter description

The Nimbus-7 FGGE/ERBM tape contains 27 ERB parameters which are extracted and reformatted from the Nimbus-7 ERB-MATRIX tape. There are four types of files on a FGGE/ERBM tape: a test file; tape-header file which describes the data set characteristics and the contents of the tape; a grid-descriptor file which contains the information of the ERB scanning channel target number and their associated latitude limits and longitude intervals; and one or more data files. A single end-of-file (EOF) tape mark is written after each file, and two EOF marks are written after the last data file on the tape.

Han, D.↗

FGGE/ERBZ tape specification and shipping letter description

The FGGE/ERBZ tape contains 5 parameters which are extracted and reformatted from the Nimbus-7 ERB Zonal Means Tape. There are three types of files on a FGGE/ERBZ tape: a tape header file, and data files. Physical characteristics, gross format, and file specifications are given. A sample tape check/document printout (shipping letter) is included.

Han, D.↗

FGGE/SMMR-30 tape specification and shipping letter description

The Nimbus-7 FGGE/SMMR-30 tape which contains sea ice concentration data in 30 km resolution which are extracted and reformatted from Nimbus-7 SMMR PARM-30 tapes in accordance with the FGGE level II International Exchange Format Specification is outlined. There are three types of files on a FGGE/SMMR-30 tape. The first file on the tape is a test file. The second file on the tape is a tape header file. The remaining one or more files are data files. All files are terminated with a single end of file (EOP) tape mark. The last file is terminated with two EOF tape marks. All files are made up of one or more physical records. Each physical record contains 2960 bytes. Each data file contains all available values for a 6 hour synoptic time period.

Han, D.↗

NASA TM processing system description and status

An overview of the processing system for LANDSAT 4 imagery is given. Charts show system requirements; the LANDSAT 4 ground segment with its elements, configurations, and data flow; image generation requirements; and the major functions, interfaces, and hardware of the image generation facility and the image processing systems for the TM and MSS. The laser beam film recorder and the high density digital recorder are covered as well as the data available at EDC.

Watt, W.↗

Description of algorithms for processing Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS) data

The algorithms for processing coastal zone color scanner (CZCS) data to geophysical units (pigment concentration) are described. Current public domain information for processing these data is summarized. Calibration, atmospheric correction, and bio-optical algorithms are presented. Three CZCS data processing implementations are compared.

Zion, P. M.↗

An abrasion-ablation model description of galactic heavy-ion fragmentation

The fragmentation of high-energy galactic heavy ions by nuclear interactions with arbitrary target nuclei is described within the context of a simple abrasion-ablation fragmentation model. The abrasion part of the theory utilizes a quantum-mechanical formalism based upon an optical model potential approximation to the exact nucleus-nucleus multiple-scattering series. Nuclear charge distributions of the excited prefragments are calculated using either a hypergeometric distribution or a method based upon the zero-point oscillations of the giant dipole resonance. The excitation energy of the prefragment is estimated from the geometric clean-cut abrasion-ablation model. The decay probabilities for the various particle emission channels, in the ablation stage of the fragmentation, are obtained from the EVAP-4 Monte Carlo computer program. Elemental production cross sections for 1.88-GeV/nucleon iron colliding with carbon, silver, and lead targets are calculated and compared with experimental data and with the predictions from the semiempirical relations of Silberberg and Tsao.

Townsend, L. W.↗

User's Guide for ERB 7 Matrix. Volume 1: Experiment Description and Quality Control Report for Year 1

The Nimbus 7 ERB MATRIX Tape is a computer program in which radiances and irradiances are converted into fluxes which are used to compute the basic scientific output parameters, emitted flux, albedo, and net radiation. They are spatially averaged and presented as time averages over one-day, six-day, and monthly periods. MATRIX data for the period November 16, 1978 through October 31, 1979 are presented. Described are the Earth Radiation Budget experiment, the Science Quality Control Report, Items checked by the MATRIX Science Quality Control Program, and Science Quality Control Data Analysis Report. Additional material from the detailed scientific quality control of the tapes which may be very useful to a user of the MATRIX tapes is included. Known errors and data problems and some suggestions on how to use the data for further climatologic and atmospheric physics studies are also discussed.

Tighe, R. J.↗

Rocket injector anomalies study. Volume 1: Description of the mathematical model and solution procedure

The capability of simulating three dimensional two phase reactive flows with combustion in the liquid fuelled rocket engines is demonstrated. This was accomplished by modifying an existing three dimensional computer program (REFLAN3D) with Eulerian Lagrangian approach to simulate two phase spray flow, evaporation and combustion. The modified code is referred as REFLAN3D-SPRAY. The mathematical formulation of the fluid flow, heat transfer, combustion and two phase flow interaction of the numerical solution procedure, boundary conditions and their treatment are described.

Przekwas, A. J.↗