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NASA NTRS2007

The Width of a Solar Coronal Mass Ejection and the Source of the Driving Magnetic Explosion: A Test of the Standard Scenario for CME Production

We show that the strength (B(sub F1are)) of the magnetic field in the area covered by the flare arcade following a CME-producing ejective solar eruption can be estimated from the final angular width (Final Theta(sub CME)) of the CME in the outer corona and the final angular width (Theta(sub Flare)) of the flare arcade: B(sub Flare) approx. equals 1.4[(Final Theta(sub CME)/Theta(sub Flare)] (exp 2)G. We assume (1) the flux-rope plasmoid ejected from the flare site becomes the interior of the CME plasmoid; (2) in the outer corona (R > 2 (solar radius)) the CME is roughly a "spherical plasmoid with legs" shaped like a lightbulb; and (3) beyond some height in or below the outer corona the CME plasmoid is in lateral pressure balance with the surrounding magnetic field. The strength of the nearly radial magnetic field in the outer corona is estimated from the radial component of the interplanetary magnetic field measured by Ulysses. We apply this model to three well-observed CMEs that exploded from flare regions of extremely different size and magnetic setting. One of these CMEs was an over-and-out CME, that is, in the outer corona the CME was laterally far offset from the flare-marked source of the driving magnetic explosion. In each event, the estimated source-region field strength is appropriate for the magnetic setting of the flare. This agreement (1) indicates that CMEs are propelled by the magnetic field of the CME plasmoid pushing against the surrounding magnetic field; (2) supports the magnetic-arch-blowout scenario for over-and-out CMEs; and (3) shows that a CME's final angular width in the outer corona can be estimated from the amount of magnetic flux covered by the source-region flare arcade.

Moore, Ronald L.↗

NASA NTRS2008

The Manufacturing Process for the NASA Composite Crew Module Demonstration Structure

This paper will describe the approaches and methods selected in fabrication of a carbon composite demonstration structure for the Composite Crew Module (CCM) Program. The program is managed by the NASA Safety and Engineering Center with participants from ten NASA Centers and AFRL. Multiple aerospace contractors are participating in the design development, tooling and fabrication effort as well. The goal of the program is to develop an agency wide design team for composite habitable spacecraft. The specific goals for this development project are: a).To gain hands on experience in design, building and testing a composite crew module. b) To validate key assumptions by resolving composite spacecraft design details through fabrication and testing of hardware. This abstract is based on Preliminary Design data..The final design will continue to evolve through the fall of 2007 with fabrication mostly completed by conference date. From a structures perspective, the.CCM can be viewed as a pressure module with variable pressure time histories and a series of both impact and quasi-static, high intensity point, line, and area distributed loads. The portion of the overall space vehicle being designed and. fabricated by the CCM team is just the pressure module and primary loading points. The heaviest point loads are applied and distributed to the pressure module at.an aluminum Service Module/Alternate Launch Abort System (SM/ALAS) fittings and at Main and Drogue Chute fittings. Significant line loads with metal to metal impact is applied at.the Lids ring. These major external point and line loads as well as pressure impact loads (blast and water landing) are applied to the lobed floor though the reentry shield and crushable materials. The pressure module is divided into upper and lower. shells that mate together with a bonded belly band splice joint to create the completed structural assembly. The benefits of a split CCM far outweigh the risks of a joint. These benefits include lower tooling cost and less manufacturing risk. Assembly of the top and bottom halves of the pressure shell will allow access to the interior of the shell throughout remaining fabrication sequence and can also potentially permit extensive installation of equipment and .crew facilities prior to final assembly of the two shell halves. A Pi pre-form is a woven carbon composite material which is provided in pre-impregnated form and frozen for long term storage. The cross-section shape allows the top of the pi to be bonded to a flat or curved surface with a second flat plate composite section bonded between two upstanding legs of the Pi. One of the regions relying on the merits of the Pi pre-form is the backbone. All connections among plates of the backbone structure, including the upper flanges, and to the lobe base of the pressure shell are currently joined by Pi pre-forms. The intersection of backbone composite plates is formed by application of two Pi pre-forms, top flanges and lobed surfaces are bonded with one Pi pre-form. The process of applying the pre-impregnated pi-preform will be demonstrated to include important steps like surface preparation, forming, application of pressure dams, vacuum bagging for consolidation, and curing techniques. Chopped carbon fiber tooling was selected over other traditional metallic and carbon fiber tooling. The requirement of schedule and cost economy for a moderate reuse cure tool warranted composite tooling options. Composite tooling schedule duration of 18 weeks compared favorably against other metallic tooling including invar tooling. Composite tooling also shows significant cost savings over low CTE metallic options. The composite tooling options were divided into two groups and the final decision was based on the cost, schedule, tolerance, temperature, and reuse requirements.

Pelham, Larry↗

NASA NTRS2008

X-Ray Source Motions and Their Implications for Flare Models

RHESSI observations have revealed a downward contraction of solar flare loops followed by upward expansion. In some flares a pair of above-the-looptop sources is observed, one just above the top of the cooler flare loops and the other a discrete source well above the looptops characterized by an effective temperature gradient increasing toward lower altitudes. In one flare the higher, temperature-inverted coronal source sped outward at a speed consistent with that of a coronal mass ejection associated with the flare. In some flares with minimal preheating (early impulsive flares), nonthermal X-ray sources have been observed to propagate downward and then upward along the legs of the flare loop. I will discuss the implications of all of these X-ray source motions for flare models, and their use as diagnostics of the evolution of the physical conditions in flares.

Holman, Gordon D.↗

NASA NTRS2008

NASA Tech Briefs, September 2008

Topics covered include: Nanotip Carpets as Antireflection Surfaces; Nano-Engineered Catalysts for Direct Methanol Fuel Cells; Capillography of Mats of Nanofibers; Directed Growth of Carbon Nanotubes Across Gaps; High-Voltage, Asymmetric-Waveform Generator; Magic-T Junction Using Microstrip/Slotline Transitions; On-Wafer Measurement of a Silicon-Based CMOS VCO at 324 GHz; Group-III Nitride Field Emitters; HEMT Amplifiers and Equipment for their On-Wafer Testing; Thermal Spray Formation of Polymer Coatings; Improved Gas Filling and Sealing of an HC-PCF; Making More-Complex Molecules Using Superthermal Atom/Molecule Collisions; Nematic Cells for Digital Light Deflection; Improved Silica Aerogel Composite Materials; Microgravity, Mesh-Crawling Legged Robots; Advanced Active-Magnetic-Bearing Thrust- Measurement System; Thermally Actuated Hydraulic Pumps; A New, Highly Improved Two-Cycle Engine; Flexible Structural-Health-Monitoring Sheets; Alignment Pins for Assembling and Disassembling Structures; Purifying Nucleic Acids from Samples of Extremely Low Biomass; Adjustable-Viewing-Angle Endoscopic Tool for Skull Base and Brain Surgery; UV-Resistant Non-Spore-Forming Bacteria From Spacecraft-Assembly Facilities; Hard-X-Ray/Soft-Gamma-Ray Imaging Sensor Assembly for Astronomy; Simplified Modeling of Oxidation of Hydrocarbons; Near-Field Spectroscopy with Nanoparticles Deposited by AFM; Light Collimator and Monitor for a Spectroradiometer; Hyperspectral Fluorescence and Reflectance Imaging Instrument; Improving the Optical Quality Factor of the WGM Resonator; Ultra-Stable Beacon Source for Laboratory Testing of Optical Tracking; Transmissive Diffractive Optical Element Solar Concentrators; Delaying Trains of Short Light Pulses in WGM Resonators; Toward Better Modeling of Supercritical Turbulent Mixing; JPEG 2000 Encoding with Perceptual Distortion Control; Intelligent Integrated Health Management for a System of Systems; Delay Banking for Managing Air Traffic; and Spline-Based Smoothing of Airfoil Curvatures.

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NASA NTRS2008

Robotic Joints Support Horses and Humans

A rehabilitative device first featured in Spinoff 2003 is not only helping human patients regain the ability to walk, but is now helping our four-legged friends as well. The late James Kerley, a prominent Goddard Space Flight Center researcher, developed cable-compliant mechanisms in the 1980s to enable sounding rocket assemblies and robots to grip or join objects. In cable-compliant joints (CCJs), short segments of cable connect structural elements, allowing for six directions of movement, twisting, alignment, and energy damping. Kerley later worked with Goddard s Wayne Eklund and Allen Crane to incorporate the cable-compliant mechanisms into a walker for human patients to support the pelvis and imitate hip joint movement.

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NASA NTRS2009

Biosensors for EVA: Muscle Oxygen and pH During Walking, Running and Simulated Reduced Gravity

Lee, S. M. C.↗

NASA NTRS2008

The CME Flare Arcade and the Width of the CME in the Outer Corona

Moore, Sterling, & Suess (2007, ApJ, 668, 1221) present evidence that (1) a CME is typically a magnetic bubble, a low-beta gplasmoid with legs h having roughly the 3D shape of a light bulb, and (2) in the outer corona the CME plasmoid is in lateral pressure equilibrium with the ambient magnetic field. They present three CMEs observed by SOHO/LASCO, each from a very different source located near the limb. One of these CMEs came from a compact ejective eruption from a small part of a sunspot active region, another came from a large quiet-region filament eruption, and the third CME, an extremely large and fast one, was produced in tandem with an X20 flare arcade that was centered on a huge delta sunspot. Each of these CMEs had more or less the classic lightbulb silhouette and attained a constant heliocentric angular width in the outer corona. This indicates that the CME plasmoid attained lateral magnetic pressure balance with the ambient radial magnetic field in the outer corona. This lateral pressure balance, together with the standard scenario for CME production by the eruption of a sheared-core magnetic arcade, yields the following simple estimate of the strength B(sub Flare) of the magnetic field in the flare arcade produced together with the CME: B(sub Flare) 1.4(theta CME/theta Flare)sup 2 G, where theta (sub CME) is the heliocentric angular width of the CME plasmoid in the outer corona and theta (sub Flare) is the heliocentric angular width of the full-grown flare arcade. Conversely, theta (sub CME) approximately equal to (R(sub Sun)sup -1(phi(sub Flare)/1.4)sup 1/2 radians, where Flare is the magnetic flux covered by the full-grown flare arcade. In addition to presenting the three CMEs of Moore, Sterling, & Suess (2007) and their agreement with this relation between CME and Flare, we present a further empirical test of this relation. For CMEs that erupt from active regions, the co-produced flare arcade seldom if ever covers the entire active region: if AR is the total magnetic flux of the active region, Flare . AR, and we predict that CME. (R(sub Sun))sup -1(theta AR/1.4)sup 1/2 radians. For a random sample of 31 CMEs that erupted from active regions within 30 of the limb, for each CME we have measured CME from LASCO/C3 and have measured AR from a SOHO/MDI magnetogram of the source active region when it was within 30 of disk center. We find that each CME obeys the above predicted inequality, none having width greater than half of the upper bound given by theta(sub AR). Thus, an active region's magnetic flux content, together with its location on the solar disk, largely determines whether the active region can possibly produce a CME that is wide enough to intercept the Earth.

Moore, Ron↗

NASA NTRS2005

Rough and Steep Terrain Lunar Surface Mobility

In the summer of 2004, the NASA Exploration Systems Mission Directorate conducted an open call for projects relevant to human and robotic exploration of the Earth-Moon and Mars systems. A project entitled 'Rough and Steep Terrain Lunar Surface Mobility' was submitted by JPL and accepted by NASA. The principal investigator of this project describes the robotic vehicle being developed for this effort, which includes six 'wheels-on-legs' so that it can roll efficiently on relatively smooth terrain but walk (using locked wheels as footpads) when "the going gets rough".

rough↗

NASA NTRS2009

NASA Tech Briefs, May 2009

Topics covered include: Valve-"Health"-Monitoring System; Microstrip Antenna for Remote Sensing of Soil Moisture and Sea Surface Salinity; Biomedical Wireless Ambulatory Crew Monitor; Wireless Avionics Packet to Support Fault Tolerance for Flight Applications; Aerobot Autonomy Architecture; Submillimeter Confocal Imaging Active Module; Traveling-Wave Maser for 32 GHz; System Synchronizes Recordings from Separated Video Cameras; Piecewise-Planar Parabolic Reflectarray Antenna; Reducing Interference in ATC Voice Communication; EOS MLS Level 1B Data Processing, Version 2.2; Auto-Generated Semantic Processing Services; Geospatial Authentication; Maneuver Automation Software; Event Driven Messaging with Role-Based Subscriptions; Estimating Relative Positions of Outer-Space Structures; Fabricating PFPE Membranes for Capillary Electrophoresis; Linear Actuator Has Long Stroke and High Resolution; Installing a Test Tap on a Metal Battery Case; Fabricating PFPE Membranes for Microfluidic Valves and Pumps; Room-Temperature-Cured Copolymers for Lithium Battery Gel Electrolytes; Catalysts for Efficient Production of Carbon Nanotubes; Amorphous Silk Fibroin Membranes for Separation of CO2; "Zero-Mass" Noninvasive Pressure Transducers; Radial-Electric-Field Piezoelectric Diaphragm Pumps; Ejector-Enhanced, Pulsed, Pressure-Gain Combustor; Suppressing Ghost Diffraction in E-Beam-Written Gratings; Target-Tracking Camera for a Metrology System; Polarimetric Imaging using Two Photoelastic Modulators; Miniature Wide-Angle Lens for Small-Pixel Electronic Camera; Modal Filters for Infrared Interferometry; Mo(3)Sb(7-x)Te(x) for Thermoelectric Power Generation; Two-Dimensional Quantum Model of a Nanotransistor; Scanning Miniature Microscopes without Lenses; Manipulating Neutral Atoms in Chip-Based Magnetic Traps; Expansion Compression Contacts for Thermoelectric Legs; Processing Electromyographic Signals to Recognize Words; Physical Principle for Generation of Randomness; DSN Beowulf Cluster-Based VLBI Correlator; Hybrid NN/SVM Computational System for Optimizing Designs; Criteria for Modeling in LES of Multicomponent Fuel Flow; Computerized Machine for Cutting Space Shuttle Thermal Tiles; Orbiting Depot and Reusable Lander for Lunar Transportation; FPGA-Based Networked Phasemeter for a Heterodyne Interferometer; Aquarius Digital Processing Unit; Three-Dimensional Optical Coherence Tomography; Benchtop Antigen Detection Technique using Nanofiltration and Fluorescent Dyes; Isolation of Precursor Cells from Waste Solid Fat Tissue; Identification of Bacteria and Determination of Biological Indicators; Further Development of Scaffolds for Regeneration of Nerves; Chemically Assisted Photocatalytic Oxidation System; Use of Atomic Oxygen for Increased Water Contact Angles of Various Polymers for Biomedical Applications; Crashworthy Seats Would Afford Superior Protection; Open-Access, Low-Magnetic-Field MRI System for Lung Research; Microfluidic Mixing Technology for a Universal Health Sensor; Microfluidic Extraction of Biomarkers using Water as Solvent; Microwell Arrays for Studying Many Individual Cells; Droplet-Based Production of Liposomes; and Identifying and Inactivating Bacterial Spores

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NASA NTRS2009

Yb14MnSb11 as a High-Efficiency Thermoelectric Material

Yb14MnSb11 has been found to be wellsuited for use as a p-type thermoelectric material in applications that involve hotside temperatures in the approximate range of 1,200 to 1,300 K. The figure of merit that characterizes the thermal-to-electric power-conversion efficiency is greater for this material than for SiGe, which, until now, has been regarded as the state-of-the art high-temperature ptype thermoelectric material. Moreover, relative to SiGe, Yb14MnSb11 is better suited to incorporation into a segmented thermoelectric leg that includes the moderate-temperature p-type thermoelectric material CeFe4Sb12 and possibly other, lower-temperature p-type thermoelectric materials. Interest in Yb14MnSb11 as a candidate high-temperature thermoelectric material was prompted in part by its unique electronic properties and complex crystalline structure, which place it in a class somewhere between (1) a class of semiconducting valence compounds known in the art as Zintl compounds and (2) the class of intermetallic compounds. From the perspective of chemistry, this classification of Yb14MnSb11 provides a first indication of a potentially rich library of compounds, the thermoelectric properties of which can be easily optimized. The concepts of the thermoelectric figure of merit and the thermoelectric compatibility factor are discussed in Compatibility of Segments of Thermo - electric Generators (NPO-30798), which appears on page 55. The traditional thermoelectric figure of merit, Z, is defined by the equation Z = alpha sup 2/rho K, where alpha is the Seebeck coefficient, rho is the electrical resistivity, and k is the thermal conductivity.

Snyder, G. Jeffrey↗

NASA NTRS2009

Integrating and Visualizing Tropical Cyclone Data Using the Real Time Mission Monitor

The Real Time Mission Monitor (RTMM) is a visualization and information system that fuses multiple Earth science data sources, to enable real time decision-making for airborne and ground validation experiments. Developed at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, RTMM is a situational awareness, decision-support system that integrates satellite imagery, radar, surface and airborne instrument data sets, model output parameters, lightning location observations, aircraft navigation data, soundings, and other applicable Earth science data sets. The integration and delivery of this information is made possible using data acquisition systems, network communication links, network server resources, and visualizations through the Google Earth virtual globe application. RTMM is extremely valuable for optimizing individual Earth science airborne field experiments. Flight planners, scientists, and managers appreciate the contributions that RTMM makes to their flight projects. A broad spectrum of interdisciplinary scientists used RTMM during field campaigns including the hurricane-focused 2006 NASA African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses (NAMMA), 2007 NOAA-NASA Aerosonde Hurricane Noel flight, 2007 Tropical Composition, Cloud, and Climate Coupling (TC4), plus a soil moisture (SMAP-VEX) and two arctic research experiments (ARCTAS) in 2008. Improving and evolving RTMM is a continuous process. RTMM recently integrated the Waypoint Planning Tool, a Java-based application that enables aircraft mission scientists to easily develop a pre-mission flight plan through an interactive point-and-click interface. Individual flight legs are automatically calculated "on the fly". The resultant flight plan is then immediately posted to the Google Earth-based RTMM for interested scientists to view the planned flight track and subsequently compare it to the actual real time flight progress. We are planning additional capabilities to RTMM including collaborations with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the joint development of a Tropical Cyclone Integrated Data Exchange and Analysis System (TC IDEAS) which will serve as a web portal for access to tropical cyclone data, visualizations and model output.

Goodman, H. Michael↗

NASA NTRS2009

Fabrication of an Antenna-Coupled Bolometer for Cosmic Microwave Background Polarimetry

We describe the development of a detector for precise measurements of the cosmic microwave background polarization. The detector employs a waveguide to couple light between a pair of Mo/Au superconducting transition edge sensors (TES) and a feedhorn. Incorporation of an on-chip ortho-mode transducer (OMT) results in high isolation. The OMT is micromachined and bonded to the microstrip and TES circuits in a low temperature wafer bonding process. The wafer bonding process incorporates a buried superconducting niobium layer with a single crystal silicon layer which serves as the leg isolated TES membrane and as the microstrip dielectric. We describe the micromachining and wafer bonding process and report measurement results of the microwave circuitry operating in the 29-43GHz band along with Johnson noise measurements of the TES membrane structures and development of Mo/Au TES operating under '00mK.

Denis, K.L.↗

NASA NTRS2008

ATHLETE's Feet: Mu1ti-Resolution Planning for a Hexapod Robot

ATHLETE is a large six-legged tele-operated robot. Each foot is a wheel; travel can be achieved by walking, rolling, or some combination of the two. Operators control ATHLETE by selecting parameterized commands from a command dictionary. While rolling can be done efficiently with a single command, any motion involving steps is cumbersome - walking a few meters through difficult terrain can take hours. Our goal is to improve operator efficiency by automatically generating sequences of motion commands. There is increasing uncertainty regarding ATHLETE s actual configuration over time and decreasing quality of terrain data farther away from the current position. This, combined with the complexity that results from 36 degrees of kinematic freedom, led to an architecture that interleaves planning and execution at multiple levels, ranging from traditional configuration space motion planning algorithms for immediate moves to higher level task and path planning algorithms for overall travel. The modularity of the architecture also simplifies the development process and allows the operator to interact with and control the system at varying levels of autonomy depending on terrain and need.

Smith, Tristan B.↗

NASA NTRS2009

MEMS switches having non-metallic crossbeams

A RF MEMS switch comprising a crossbeam of SiC, supported by at least one leg above a substrate and above a plurality of transmission lines forming a CPW. Bias is provided by at least one layer of metal disposed on a top surface of the SiC crossbeam, such as a layer of chromium followed by a layer of gold, and extending beyond the switch to a biasing pad on the substrate. The switch utilizes stress and conductivity-controlled non-metallic thin cantilevers or bridges, thereby improving the RF characteristics and operational reliability of the switch. The switch can be fabricated with conventional silicon integrated circuit (IC) processing techniques. The design of the switch is very versatile and can be implemented in many transmission line mediums.

Scardelletti, Maximillian C↗

NASA NTRS2010

Biosensors for EVA: Improved Instrumentation for Ground-based Studies

During lunar excursions in the EVA suit, real-time measurement of metabolic rate is required to manage consumables and guide activities to ensure safe return to the base. Metabolic rate, or oxygen consumption (VO2), is normally measured from pulmonary parameters but cannot be determined with standard techniques in the oxygen-rich environment of a spacesuit. Our group has developed novel near infrared spectroscopic (NIRS) methods to calculate muscle oxygen saturation (SmO 2), hematocrit, and pH, and we recently demonstrated that we can use our NIRS sensor to measure VO 2 on the leg during cycling. Our NSBRI project has 4 objectives: (1) increase the accuracy of the metabolic rate calculation through improved prediction of stroke volume; (2) investigate the relative contributions of calf and thigh oxygen consumption to metabolic rate calculation for walking and running; (3) demonstrate that the NIRS-based noninvasive metabolic rate methodology is sensitive enough to detect decrement in VO 2 in a space analog; and (4) improve instrumentation to allow testing within a spacesuit. Over the past year we have made progress on all four objectives, but the most significant progress was made in improving the instrumentation. The NIRS system currently in use at JSC is based on fiber optics technology. Optical fiber bundles are used to deliver light from a light source in the monitor to the patient, and light reflected back from the patient s muscle to the monitor for spectroscopic analysis. The fiber optic cables are large and fragile, and there is no way to get them in and out of the test spacesuit used for ground-based studies. With complimentary funding from the US Army, we undertook a complete redesign of the sensor and control electronics to build a novel system small enough to be used within the spacesuit and portable enough to be used by a combat medic. In the new system the filament lamp used in the fiber optic system was replaced with a novel broadband near infrared LED light source. The compact grating spectrometer was replaced with a chip-scale spectrometer. With this new design, the sensor is 4 in 2 in 0.5 in, weighs 60 g, and no fiber optic cables are needed. The sensor, which contains the light source and the spectrometer, is adhered directly to the skin with medical grade adhesive. The sensor can be powered via the USB port of the laptop computer that controls the sensor operation. Alternatively, for studies in the spacesuit, the sensor can be powered by a small battery pack and operated by an ultra-portable hand-held computer. Both the handheld computer and battery pack will easily fit within the PLSS of the test spacesuit. System automation was significantly improved, to add features suggested by our colleagues in the Cardiovascular Laboratory and the NASA JSC Exercise Physiology and Countermeasures Project. The functionality and portability of this system were demonstrated in our UMass laboratory.

Soller, B.↗

NASA NTRS2009

Investigation of Seal-to-Floor Effects on Semi-Span Transonic Models

In an effort to achieve the maximum possible Reynolds number (Re) when conducting production testing for flight loads aerodynamic databases, it has been the preferred practice of The Boeing Company / Commercial Airplanes (BCA) -- Loads and Dynamics Group since the early 1990's to test large scale semi-span models in the 11- By 11-Foot Transonic Wind Tunnel (TWT) leg of the Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel (UPWT) at the NASA Ames Research Center (ARC). There are many problems related to testing large scale semi-span models of high aspect ratio flexible transport wings, such as; floor boundary layer effects, wing spanwise wall effects, solid blockage buoyancy effects, floor mechanical interference effects, airflow under the model effects, or tunnel flow gradient effects. For most of these issues, BCA has developed and implemented either standard testing methods or numerical correction schemes and these will not be discussed in this document. Other researchers have reported on semi-span transonic testing correction issues, however most of the reported research has been for low Mach testing. Some of the reports for low Mach testing address the difficult problem of preventing undesirable airflow under a semi-span model while ensuring unrestricted main balance functionality, however, for transonic models this issue has gone unresolved. BCA has been cognizant for sometime that there are marked differences in wing pressure distributions from semi-span transonic model testing than from full model or flight testing. It has been suspected that these differences are at least in part due to airflow under the model. Previous efforts by BCA to address this issue have proven to be ineffective or inconclusive and in one situation resulted in broken hardware. This paper reports on a Boeing-NASA collaborative investigation based on a series of small tests conducted between June 2006 and November 2007 in the 11 by 11 foot Transonic Wind Tunnel at NASA Ames on three large commercial jet transport configurations to assess the effects of sealing a semi-span model to the floor and to investigate efficient sealing and testing techniques. This document will show how sealing the model to the floor has a small but remarkably far reaching spanwise effect on wing pressures, wing local section forces and wing force summations.

Sleppy, Mark A.↗

NASA NTRS2007

Rover Wheel-Actuated Tool Interface

A report describes an interface for utilizing some of the mobility features of a mobile robot for general-purpose manipulation of tools and other objects. The robot in question, now undergoing conceptual development for use on the Moon, is the All-Terrain Hex-Limbed Extra-Terrestrial Explorer (ATHLETE) rover, which is designed to roll over gentle terrain or walk over rough or steep terrain. Each leg of the robot is a six-degree-of-freedom general purpose manipulator tipped by a wheel with a motor drive. The tool interface includes a square cross-section peg, equivalent to a conventional socket-wrench drive, that rotates with the wheel. The tool interface also includes a clamp that holds a tool on the peg, and a pair of fold-out cameras that provides close-up stereoscopic images of the tool and its vicinity. The field of view of the imagers is actuated by the clamp mechanism and is specific to each tool. The motor drive can power any of a variety of tools, including rotating tools for helical fasteners, drills, and such clamping tools as pliers. With the addition of a flexible coupling, it could also power another tool or remote manipulator at a short distance. The socket drive can provide very high torque and power because it is driven by the wheel motor.

Matthews, Janet↗

NASA NTRS2009

Blowout Jets: Evidence from Hinode/XRT for X-Ray Jets Made by Blowout Eruption of the Emerging Bipole

Yamauchi et al (2004, ApJ, 605, 511) found that there are two structurally and dynamically distinct types of H macrospicules in polar coronal holes: single-column jet macrospicules and erupting-loop macrospicules. The structure and motion of the single-column jet macrospicules fit the standard Shibata reconnection picture for solar X-ray jets (Shibata et al 1992, PASJ, 44, L173). The form and motion of the erupting-loop macrospicules is reminiscent of the ejective eruption of the sheared-core-field flux rope in the filament-eruption birth of a bubble-type coronal mass ejection (CME). That roughly half of all polar H macrospicules were observed to be erupting-loop macrospicules suggests that there should be a corresponding large class of X-ray jets in which the emerging bipole at the base of the jet undergoes a blowout eruption as in a bubble-type CME, instead of staying closed as in the standard picture for X-ray jets. Along with a cartoon of the standard picture, we present a cartoon depicting the signatures to be expected of a blowout jet in high-resolution coronal X-ray movies such as from Hinode/XRT. From Hinode/XRT movies in polar coronal holes, we show: (1) examples of X-ray jets that fit the standard picture very well, and (2) other examples that do not fit the standard picture but do show signatures appropriate for blowout jets. These signatures are (1) a flare arcade inside the emerging bipole in addition to the flare arcade produced between the emerging bipole and the ambient high-reaching unipolar field by reconnection of these two fields as in the standard picture, and (2) in addition to the jet prong expected from the standard reconnection, a second jet prong or strand, one that could not be produced by the standard reconnection but could be produced by reconnection between the ambient unipolar field and one leg of an erupting core-field flux rope that has blown out the emerging bipole. We therefore infer that these "two pronged" jets are made by miniature versions of the sheared-core-bipole explosions that produce bubble-type CMEs. This work was funded by NASA s Science Mission Directorate through the Heliophysics Guest Investigators Program, the Hinode Project, and the Living With a Star Targeted Research and Technology Program.

Moore, Ronald L.↗