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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 145 records · Page 8
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1992

Autonomous support for microorganism research in space

A preliminary design for performing on orbit, autonomous research on microorganisms and cultured cells/tissues is presented. An understanding of gravity and its effects on cells is crucial for space exploration as well as for terrestrial applications. The payload is designed to be compatible with the Commercial Experiment Transporter (COMET) launch vehicle, an orbiter middeck locker interface, and with Space Station Freedom. Uplink/downlink capabilities and sample return through controlled reentry are available for all carriers. Autonomous testing activities are preprogrammed with in-flight reprogrammability. Sensors for monitoring temperature, pH, light, gravity levels, vibrations, and radiation are provided for environmental regulation and experimental data collection. Additional experimental data acquisition includes optical density measurement, microscopy, video, and film photography. On-board full data storage capabilities are provided. A fluid transfer mechanism is utilized for inoculation, sampling, and nutrient replenishment of experiment cultures. In addition to payload design, representative experiments were developed to ensure scientific objectives remained compatible with hardware capabilities. The project is defined to provide biological data pertinent to extended duration crewed space flight including crew health issues and development of a Controlled Ecological Life Support System (CELSS). In addition, opportunities are opened for investigations leading to commercial applications of space, such as pharmaceutical development, modeling of terrestrial diseases, and material processing.

Fleet, Mary L.↗
NASA NTRS2013

Reconstruction of the Mars Science Laboratory Parachute Performance and Comparison to the Descent Simulation

The Mars Science Laboratory used a single mortar-deployed disk-gap-band parachute of 21.35 m nominal diameter to assist in the landing of the Curiosity rover on the surface of Mars. The parachute system s performance on Mars has been reconstructed using data from the on-board inertial measurement unit, atmospheric models, and terrestrial measurements of the parachute system. In addition, the parachute performance results were compared against the end-to-end entry, descent, and landing (EDL) simulation created to design, develop, and operate the EDL system. Mortar performance was nominal. The time from mortar fire to suspension lines stretch (deployment) was 1.135 s, and the time from suspension lines stretch to first peak force (inflation) was 0.635 s. These times were slightly shorter than those used in the simulation. The reconstructed aerodynamic portion of the first peak force was 153.8 kN; the median value for this parameter from an 8,000-trial Monte Carlo simulation yielded a value of 175.4 kN - 14% higher than the reconstructed value. Aeroshell dynamics during the parachute phase of EDL were evaluated by examining the aeroshell rotation rate and rotational acceleration. The peak values of these parameters were 69.4 deg/s and 625 deg/sq s, respectively, which were well within the acceptable range. The EDL simulation was successful in predicting the aeroshell dynamics within reasonable bounds. The average total parachute force coefficient for Mach numbers below 0.6 was 0.624, which is close to the pre-flight model nominal drag coefficient of 0.615.

Cruz, Juan R.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Water Delivery and Giant Impacts in the 'Grand Tack' Scenario

A new model for terrestrial planet formation has explored accretion in a truncated protoplanetary disk, and found that such a configuration is able to reproduce the distribution of mass among the planets in the Solar System, especially the Earth/Mars mass ratio, which earlier simulations have generally not been able to match. Walsh et al. tested a possible mechanism to truncate the disk-a two-stage, inward-then-outward migration of Jupiter and Saturn, as found in numerous hydrodynamical simulations of giant planet formation. In addition to truncating the disk and producing a more realistic Earth/Mars mass ratio, the migration of the giant planets also populates the asteroid belt with two distinct populations of bodies-the inner belt is filled by bodies originating inside of 3 AU, and the outer belt is filled with bodies originating from between and beyond the giant planets (which are hereafter referred to as 'primitive' bodies). One implication of the truncation mechanism proposed in Walsh et al. is the scattering of primitive planetesimals onto planet-crossing orbits during the formation of the planets. We find here that the planets will accrete on order 1-2% of their total mass from these bodies. For an assumed value of 10% for the water mass fraction of the primitive planetesimals, this model delivers a total amount of water comparable to that estimated to be on the Earth today. The radial distribution of the planetary masses and the dynamical excitation of their orbits are a good match to the observed system. However, we find that a truncated disk leads to formation timescales more rapid than suggested by radiometric chronometers. In particular, the last giant impact is typically earlier than 20 Myr, and a substantial amount of mass is accreted after that event. This is at odds with the dating of the Moon-forming impact and the estimated amount of mass accreted by Earth following that event. However, 5 of the 27 planets larger than half an Earth mass formed in all simulations do experience large late impacts and subsequent accretion consistent with those constraints.

Planetary dynamics↗
NASA NTRS1974

Solar models in relation to terrestrial-climatic variations

One of the suggested possibilities to explain the lack of observation of solar neutrinos is that the sun may have undergone a thermal expansion at the center, lasting a few million years, with an accompanying decrease in luminosity, producing an ice age. A critical examination is given of this hypothesis.

Cameron, A. G. W.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Development of programs for computing characteristics of ultraviolet radiation

Efficient programs were developed for computing all four characteristics of the radiation scattered by a plane-parallel, turbid, terrestrial atmospheric model. They were developed (FORTRAN 4) and tested on the IBM /360 computers with 2314 direct access storage facility. The storage requirement varies between 200K and 750K bytes depending upon the task. The scattering phase matrix (or function) is expanded in a Fourier series whose number of terms depend upon the zenith angles of the incident and scattered radiations, as well as on the nature of aerosols. A Gauss-Seidel procedure is used for obtaining the numerical solution of the transfer equation.

Dave, J. V.↗
NASA NTRS1974

A model for accretion of the terrestrial planets

One possible origin of the terrestrial planets involves their formation by gravitational accretion of particles originally in Keplerian orbits about the sun. Some implications of this theory are considered. A formal expression for the rate of mass accretion by a planet is developed. The formal singularity of the gravitational collision cross section for low relative velocities is shown to be without physical significance when the accreting bodies are in heliocentric orbits. The distribution of particle velocities relative to an accreting planet is considered; the mean velocity increases with time. The internal temperature of an accreting planet is shown to depend simply on the accretion rate. A simple and physically reasonable approximate expression for a planetary accretion rate is proposed.

Weidenschilling, S. J.↗
NASA NTRS1976

On the source of the ancient lunar magnetic field

Analysis of the returned samples, surface observations, and the orbital surveys reveal the presence of a widespread magnetism on the lunar surface but no global field. In the light of Runcorn's proof that internally generated fields do produce magnetization patterns in a spherical crust whose magnetic field lines are confined to within the crust, the above fact is explained in terms of an ancient lunar dynamo which magnetized the lunar crust and then disappeared. The possibility of ancient uniform magnetization by an external field is ruled out, for such magnetization would have been erased as the moon warmed up due to radioactive decay. Although the terrestrial field model is consistent with the measurements, this possibility is also ruled out, because the moon would have had to remain close to earth for about one billion years. The direction of the present magnetization is not predominantly north-south, but is radial and east-west, a fact explained by the assumption that the ancient lunar magnetic dipole moment was not along the present rotation axis.

Russell, C. T.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Pressure dependence of the absolute rate constant for the reaction OH + C2H2 from 228 to 413K

The pressure dependence of absolute rate constants for the reaction of OH + C2H2 yields products has been examined at five temperatures ranging from 228 to 413 K. The experimental techniques which was used is flash photolysis-resonance fluoresence. OH was produced by water photolysis and hydroxyl resonance fluorescent photons were measured by multiscaling techniques. The results indicate that the low pressure bimolecular rate constant is 4 x 10 the the minus 13th power cu cm molecule (-1) s(-1) over the temperature range studied. A substantial increase in the bimolecular rate constant with an increase in pressure was observed at all temperatures except 228 K. This indicates the importance of initial adduct formation and subsequent stablization. The high pressure results are well represented by the Arrhenius expression (k sub bi) sub infinity = (6.83 + or - 1.19) x 10 to the minus 12th power exp(-646 + or - 47/T)cu cm molecule (-1) s(-1). The results are compared to previous investigated and are theoretically discussed. The implications of these results on modeling of terrestrial and planetary atmospheres and also in combustion chemistry are discussed.

Michael, J. V.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Reduction of intensity variations on a photovoltaic array with compound parabolic concentrators

The reduction of nonuniformities in the intensity distribution of light focused on a photovoltaic array by a compound parabolic concentrator is investigated. The introduction of small distortions into the surfaces of the reflector in order to diffuse the incident collimated light to fill the angular acceptance of the concentrator is calculated by means of ray tracing to decrease the irradiance nonuniformity at the cost of a lowered effective concentration of the concentrator. Measurements of the intensity distribution on a scale test model in terrestrial sunlight with corrugated aluminized mylar reflectors are shown to be in good agreement with the ray tracing results. A two-stage concentrator consisting of a focusing primary and a nonimaging secondary is also shown to result in a fairly uniform intensity distribution except in the case of a 4-deg incidence angle, which may be corrected by the introduction of distortions into one or both concentration stages.

Greenman, P.↗
NASA NTRS1981

A high precision Solar Ultraviolet Spectral Irradiance Monitor for the wavelength region 120-400 nm

There exists a growing need to improve the accuracy of measurement of the absolute solar flux within the wavelength range 120-400 nm. Although full-disk solar fluxes and variations thereof in the 120-400 nm region are required to model the solar atmosphere, current increased interest in the measurements arises from their importance in modeling the terrestrial atmosphere. The Solar Ultraviolet Spectral Irradiance Monitor (SUSIM) experiment under development for flight aboard the Space Shuttle and the Upper Atmospheric Research Satellite is described. SUSIM will monitor the solar flux in the 120-144 nm region with high precision, using an in-flight calibration system to reduce absolute error to less than 10%, and error relative to the 400 nm continuum to less than 1%.

Vanhoosier, M. E.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Design concept for an optimized earth radiation budget sensor

The Earth Radiation Budget Program has the objective to measure and model the terrestrial radiation budget and obtain a better understanding of the climate and its changes. A multisensor, multisatellite system with high and midinclination orbits will be needed for implementing this program. Various approaches for conducting sensing operations have been evaluated. The present investigation considers a method of sampling with a unique multidirectional array mosaic sensor to fulfill the requirements of earth radiation budget measurements. Previous and present generation earth radiation budget (ERB) satellite instruments are discussed, and attention is given to instrument design tradeoffs and the baseline instrument concept.

Carman, S. L.↗
NASA NTRS1985

The solar/interplanetary/magnetosphere/ionosphere connection - A strategy for prediction of geomagnetic storms

A physically-based strategy for the prediction of geomagnetic/ionospheric disturbances, the Solar-Terrestrial/Environmental Model (STEM 2000), is proposed, with application to the prediction of periods of spacecraft charging. Synoptic solar observations provide input for MHD models for flare occurrence, propagation of coronal disturbances, and high speed solar wind streams. A three-dimensional interplanetary MHD model determines solar wind parameters including the energy flux and the cross-magnetosphere tail electric field. Observational earth data are used to predict local time, high latitude ionospheric disturbances which have an impact on the ionospheric structure.

Dryer, M.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Energy coupling in the magnetospheres of earth and Mercury

The mechanisms involved in the dissipation of solar-wind energy during magnetospheric substorms are considered theoretically, comparing models for earth and Mercury. In the model for terrestrial substorms, IMF lines interconnect with terrestrial field lines near the front of the magnetosphere and are dragged back, carrying plasma and energy, to form tail lobes; a magnetic neutral region is then formed by reconnection of the open lines as the plasma sheet thins, and reconnective heating and acceleration of tail plasma lead to plasma inflow at the poles and formation of a plasmoid flowing down the tail at high velocity. Analogous phenomena on Mercury could produce precipitation of particles carrying 10-1000 GW of power into 'auroral zones' on the dark side of the planet. The feasibility of remote or in situ observations to detect such processes is discussed.

Baker, D. N.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Calibration of EOS multispectral imaging sensors and solar irradiance variability

Earth Observation System (EOS) optical multispectral imaging sensors provide images of the earth at various spectral and spatial resolutions, in the visible (VIS) and infrared (IR) regions of the solar spectrum. Accurate knowledge of extraterrestrial solar spectral irradiance and its variations with time, are needed to trace sensor calibration in space, and for the development of terrestrial atmospheric models needed in data validation. A brief review of the extraterrestrial solar VIS/IR spectral irradiance available in the literature will be reviewed, and the need to develop an extraterrestrial solar spectral irradiance for the EOS studies will be pointed out. The solar calibration of the Earth Radiation Budget Experiments (ERBE), earth-viewing sensors will be discussed. Observed variations in the solar constant (solar irradiance, at the mean sun-earth distance of one astronomical unit, integrated over all wavelengths), and solar spectral irradiance with solar activity and its implications for EOS studies also will be discussed.

Mecherikunnel, Ann↗
NASA NTRS1992

From Mars to Greenland: Charting gravity with space and airborne instruments - Fields, tides, methods, results

This symposium on space and airborne techniques for measuring gravity fields, and related theory, contains papers on gravity modeling of Mars and Venus at NASA/GSFC, an integrated laser Doppler method for measuring planetary gravity fields, observed temporal variations in the earth's gravity field from 16-year Starlette orbit analysis, high-resolution gravity models combining terrestrial and satellite data, the effect of water vapor corrections for satellite altimeter measurements of the geoid, and laboratory demonstrations of superconducting gravity and inertial sensors for space and airborne gravity measurements. Other papers are on airborne gravity measurements over the Kelvin Seamount; the accuracy of GPS-derived acceleration from moving platform tests; airborne gravimetry, altimetry, and GPS navigation errors; controlling common mode stabilization errors in airborne gravity gradiometry, GPS/INS gravity measurements in space and on a balloon, and Walsh-Fourier series expansion of the earth's gravitational potential.

Colombo, Oscar L.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Scientific study in solar and plasma physics relative to rocket and balloon projects

The goals of this research are to provide scientific and technical capabilities in the areas of solar and plasma physics contained in research programs and instrumentation development relative to current rocket and balloon projects; to develop flight instrumentation design, flight hardware, and flight program objectives and participate in peer reviews as appropriate; and to participate in solar-terrestrial physics modeling studies and analysis of flight data and provide theoretical investigations as required by these studies.

Wu, S. T.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Volatiles in the Earth: All shallow and all recycled

A case can be made that accretion of the Earth was a high-temperature process and that the primordial Earth was dry. A radial zone-refining process during accretion may have excluded low-melting point and volatile material, including large-ion lithophile elements toward the surface, leaving a refractory and zoned interior. Water, sediments and altered hydrous oceanic crust are introduced back into the interior by subduction, a process that may be more efficient today than in the past. Seismic tomography strongly suggests that a large part of the uppermantle is above the solidus, and this implies wet melting. The mantle beneath Archean cratons has very fast seismic velocities and appears to be strong to 150 km or greater. This is consistent with very dry mantle. It is argued that recycling of substantial quantities of water occurs in the shallow mantle but only minor amounts recycle to depths greater than 200 km. Recycling also oxidizes that mantle; ocean island ('hotspot') basalts are intermediate in oxidation state to island-arc and midocean ridge basalts (MORB). This suggests a deep uncontaminated reservoir for MORB. Plate tectonics on a dry Earth is discussed in order to focus attention on inconsistencies in current geochemical models of terrestrial evolution and recycling.

Anderson, Don L.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Vegetation species composition and canopy architecture information expressed in leaf water absorption measured in the 1000 nm and 2200 spectral region by an imaging spectrometer

Plant species composition and plant architectural attributes are critical parameters required for the measuring, monitoring, and modeling of terrestrial ecosystems. Remote sensing is commonly cited as an important tool for deriving vegetation properties at an appropriate scale for ecosystem studies, ranging from local to regional and even synoptic scales. Classical approaches rely on vegetation indices such as the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) to estimate biophysical parameters such as leaf area index or intercepted photosynthetically active radiation (IPAR). Another approach is to apply a variety of classification schemes to map vegetation and thus extrapolate fine-scale information about specific sites to larger areas of similar composition. Imaging spectrometry provides additional information that is not obtainable through broad-band sensors and that may provide improved inputs both to direct biophysical estimates as well as classification schemes. Some of this capability has been demonstrated through improved discrimination of vegetation, estimates of canopy biochemistry, and liquid water estimates from vegetation. We investigate further the potential of leaf water absorption estimated from Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) data as a means for discriminating vegetation types and deriving canopy architectural information. We expand our analysis to incorporate liquid water estimates from two spectral regions, the 1000-nm region and the 2200-nm region. The study was conducted in the vicinity of Jasper Ridge, California, which is located on the San Francisco peninsula to the west of the Stanford University campus. AVIRIS data were acquired over Jasper Ridge, CA, on June 2, 1992, at 19:31 UTC. Spectra from three sites in this image were analyzed. These data are from an area of healthy grass, oak woodland, and redwood forest, respectively. For these analyses, the AVIRIS-measured upwelling radiance spectra for the entire Jasper Ridge scene were transformed to apparent surface reflectance using a radiative transfer code-based inversion algorithm.

Green, Robert O.↗