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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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Increased understanding of the chemical phenomena occurring in the troposphere was the research goal. Emphasis was placed on tropospheric impact on environmental quality, including public health, agriculture, climate, and weather.
Solar variability regarding spectral irradiance, with significant variations in the extreme UV and at cm wavelengths and changes in total luminosity were discussed. The question of time scales of solar variations and the problem of establishing past variability were raised, since direct measurements of variability have begun. Enough data have been acquired to begin intercomparison of results, review of different techniques and interaction with theoreticians. The need to establish solar variability as a function of time scale and spectral domain and to relate this variability with such indices as sunspot number, radio flux (10.7 cm), solar diameter, photospheric temperature was addressed. The need for continued long term solar measurements, ozone measurements, stratospheric and mesospheric temperatures and stratospheric trace species was stressed.
The CCT2WA program, developed to convert the shuttle post-flight computer compatible tape data to a word addressable mass storage file, is described. The use of utility processors that can be used to copy word addressable files from mass storage to mass storage is also described.
The study examined impacts of changing Orbiter cabin pressure and EMU EVA pressure to eliminate pure O2 prebreathing prior to EVA. The investigation defines circumscribing physiological boundaries and identifies changes required within Orbiter to reduce cabin pressure. The study also identifies payload impacts, payload flight assignment constraints, and impacts upon EMU resulting from raising EVA pressure. The study presents the trade-off which optimizes the choice of reduced cabin pressure and increased EVA pressure.
Preliminary results of an RF ion thruster using an immersed coupler in an argon discharge are presented. Conventional ion accelerator optics are used to extract an ion beam. An account is given of the operation of an unoptimized thruster over a range of input powers, propellant flow rates, frequencies, and magnetic field strengths. It is noted that lifetime and overall efficiency factors have not yet been extensively investigated. The results obtained establish the feasibility of this approach and the potential for future improvements. The conical coil employed to couple RF power into the discharge is placed inside the discharge vessel. The discharge is self-sustained by 100-150 MHz RF power at low environmental pressures (approximately 0.00001 torr). The ion extraction is accomplished by conventional accelerator grid optics from an unoptimized 8 cm diameter ion thruster.
An overview is given of parabolic dish solar concentrator application experiments being conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy. The 'engineering experiments' comprise the testing of (1) a small-community powerplant system, in conjunction with a grid-connected utility; (2) stand-alone applications at remote sites such as military installations, radar stations and villages; and (3) dish modules that can deliver heat for direct use in industrial processes. Applicability projections are based on a dish and receiver that use a Brayton engine with an engine/generator efficiency of 25% and a production level of up to 25,000 units per year. Analyses indicate that parabolic-dish power systems can potentially replace small, oil-fired power plants in all regions of the U.S. between 1985 and 1991.
The Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU), a self-contained zero-gravity backpack designed for astronaut extravehicular activity, is discussed with reference to the system requirements and characteristics, and potential near-term and future uses. Attention is given to the MMU man-machine interfaces, propulsion capability, attitude control, crew restraint hardware, donning, doffing, activation, and deactivation. Specific applications discussed include: spacecraft inspection and servicing, assembly of large space systems, payload deployment/retrieval, and crew rescue.
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Operator perceptual cognitive styles as predictors of remote task performance were identified. Remote tasks which require the use of servo controlled master/slave manipulators and closed circuit television for teleoperator repair and maintenance of nuclear fuel recycling systems are examined. A useful procedure for identifying such perceptual styles is described.
The feasibility of mounting a small operation on the Moon to productively use lunar materials in support of programs such as the solar power satellite is addressed. A cost effective scenario of a small chemical process plant on the surface of the Moon and a small machine shop located in orbit is presented. The mass of the space installation is compared to the projected outputs in 90 days. It is indicated that the system would have the capability of replicating about 90% of its own components and would provide the metals, glasses, and silicon needed for the contruction of 90% to 96% of the mass of one solar power satellite per year.
A high power multicavity klystron amplifier was designed and a computation package containing all equations and procedures needed is presented. The rigorously derived three dimensional relativistic axisymmetric equations of motion are used to compute the bunched current and the induced RF gap voltage for all interaction cavities except the input and second cavities, where the linear space charge wave theory data are employed in order to reduce the computation time. Both distance step and time step integration methods are used to compute the Fourier coefficients of both the beam current and induced current.
A model of a software development process is described. The software development process is seen to consist of a sequence of activities, such as 'program design' and 'module development' (or coding). A manpower estimate is made by multiplying code size by the rates (man months per thousand lines of code) for each of the activities relevant to the particular case of interest and summing up the results. The effect of four objectively determinable factors (organization, software product type, computer type, and code type) on productivity values for each of nine principal software development activities was assessed. Four factors were identified which account for 39% of the observed productivity variation.
The hydrogen photoelectrolytic conversion activity investigated the practicability of semiconductor electrolytic devises that use solar energy to decompose water into hydrogen and oxygen in an apparent single step process. The photocatalytic decomposition of inorganic hydrogen compounds; i.e., hydrobromic and hydriodic acids using rhodium organic bridge complexes were also studied. The feasibility of direct high temperature thermal decompositions of water with diffusion processes for separation of the equilibrium mixture of hydrogen and oxygen into usable energy sources was examined.
The state of the art in the production of crucial software for flight control applications was addressed. The association between reliability metrics and software is considered. Thirteen software development projects are discussed. A short term need for research in the areas of tool development and software fault tolerance was indicated. For the long term, research in format verification or proof methods was recommended. Formal specification and software reliability modeling, were recommended as topics for both short and long term research.