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At least 163 records · Page 9

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NASA NTRS1991

Morphology and microstructure of composite materials

Lightweight continuous carbon fiber based polymeric composites are currently enjoying increasing acceptance as structural materials capable of replacing metals and alloys in load bearing applications. As with most new materials, these composites are undergoing trials with several competing processing techniques aimed at cost effectively producing void free consolidations with good mechanical properties. As metallic materials have been in use for several centuries, a considerable database exists on their morphology - microstructure; and the interrelationships between structure and properties have been well documented. Numerous studies on composites have established the crucial relationship between microstructure - morphology and properties. The various microstructural and morphological features of composite materials, particularly those accompanying different processing routes, are documented.

Tiwari, S. N.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Atomic oxygen effects on LDEF experiment A0171

Mass and thickness changes measured in thin films, composites, polymers, metals, and paints from LDEF Experiment A0171 are presented. Atomic oxygen accommodation and reactivity numbers along with morphology features are shown for a variety of A0171 materials. The validity of predicting long term erosion rates will be assessed from short term environmental exposures.

Whitaker, Ann F.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Chemical reaction path modeling of hydrothermal processes on Mars: Preliminary results

Hydrothermal processes are thought to have had significant roles in the development of surficial mineralogies and morphological features on Mars. For example, a significant proportion of the Martian soil could consist of the erosional products of hydrothermally altered impact melt sheets. In this model, impact-driven, vapor-dominated hydrothermal systems hydrothermally altered the surrounding rocks and transported volatiles such as S and Cl to the surface. Further support for impact-driven hydrothermal alteration on Mars was provided by studies of the Ries crater, Germany, where suevite deposits were extensively altered to montmorillonite clays by inferred low-temperature (100-130 C) hydrothermal fluids. It was also suggested that surface outflow from both impact-driven and volcano-driven hydrothermal systems could generate the valley networks, thereby eliminating the need for an early warm wet climate. We use computer-driven chemical reaction path calculation to model chemical processes which were likely associated with postulated Martian hydrothermal systems.

Plumlee, Geoffrey S.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Amazonis and Utopia Planitiae: Martian Lacustrine basins

Amazonis and Utopia Planitiae are two large (greater than 10(exp 6) sq. km) basins on Mars having morphological features commonly associated with former lakes. The investigation of these areas is an extension of our previous paleolake studies in the Elysium basin. Using Viking images, we are searching for familiar geologic forms commonly associated with standing bodies of water on Earth. Like Elysium, the two basins exhibit terraces and lineations resembling shorelines, etched and infilled floors with channel-like sinuous markings in places, inflow channels along their borders, and other geomorphic indicators believed to be related to the presence of water and ice. In some areas these features are better displayed than in others where they may be very tenuous; their value as indicators can be justified only by their association with related features. Even though these postulated paleolakes are very young in the Martian stratigraphic sequence, their shoreline features are poorly preserved and they are probably much older than large Pleistocene lakes on Earth.

Scott, David H.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Comparison of the USU ionospheric model with the UCL-Sheffield coupled thermospheric-ionospheric model

Several physical models of the high-latitude ionosphere have been developed that describe the time-dependent evolution of the E- and F-region plasma density. The models require a variety of inputs, including solar EUV fluxes, magnetospheric convection, auroral precipitation, and neutral atmosphere. Of specific relevance to this study is how the neutral atmosphere is incorporated into the ionospheric models. For the USU ionospheric model, the neutral atmosphere is the MSIS 1986 empirical model, while for the UCL-Sheffield coupled thermospheric-ionospheric model the neutral atmosphere is computed simultaneously with the ionosphere. Both models were run for similar solar and magnetospheric conditions (solar maximum, moderate geomagnetic activity, and winter solstice). Solar maximum conditions ensured a strong coupling between the ionosphere and thermosphere, which provided the possibility of a large ionospheric difference between the two physical models. This was further enhanced by choosing winter conditions so that the densities were not dominated by sunlight. The comparison of the two models indicated that both models predict the same morphological features with similar ionospheric densities, generally within about 30 percent.

Sojka, J. J.↗

NASA NTRS1992

The radio source and bipolar nebulosity in the Seyfert galaxy NGC 3516

Results of radio continuum and optical emission-line observations of the type 1 Seyfert galaxy NGC 3516 are presented. The radio maps reveal an elongated one-sided curved structure, which comprises a series of small-scale 'blobs' and extends up to 4 kpc from the nucleus. This radio structure is aligned and cospatial with one side of the double-sided and highly symmetric Z-shaped emission-line structure. It is argued that these morphological features are associated with a bipolar gaseous outflow from the nucleus of NGC 3516. The radio 'blobs' are elongated roughly perpendicular to the apparent local direction of the outflow, a result which is interpreted in terms of synchrotron emission from outflow-driven shock waves.

Miyaji, Takamitsu↗

NASA NTRS1992

New evidence of lacustrine basins on Mars - Amazonis and Utopia Planitiae

Amazonis and Utopia Planitiae are two large basins on Mars that have morphologic features commonly associated with former standing bodies of water. Like Elysium, the basins exhibit terraces and lineations resembling shorelines, etched and infilled floors marked by sinuous channels in places, inflow channels along their borders, and other geomorphic indicators believed to be related to the presence of water and ice. Moreover, most of the shoreline features have consistent elevations of about -1000 m, which suggests that the bodies of water thought to have occupied the basins may once have been connected. Although the concept of large paleolakes in the northern lowlands of Mars might be expanded to include inland seas, it is still premature to advance this hypothesis at the present stage of investigation. Even though these postulated paleolakes are very young in the Martian stratigraphic sequence, they are probably much older than large Pleistocene lakes on earth, and their shoreline features are less well preserved.

Scott, David H.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer experiment on Galileo

The Galileo Mission's Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS) combines imaging and spectroscopic methods to map morphological features, ascertain their chemical composition and mineralogy, investigate surface-geology evolution, and measure the parameters of transient atmospheric phenomena. NIMS will investigate Jupiter and the Galilean satellites during a two-year orbital operation period, beginning in December, 1995. En route, NIMS will have obtained data for Venus, the earth/moon system, and two asteroids. NIMS covers the 0.7-5.2 micron spectral range, thereby encompassing the reflected-sunlight and thermal-radiation regimes for numerous solar system objects.

Carlson, R. W.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Cardiac morphology after conditions of microgravity during Cosmos 2044

Light- and electron-microscopic studies were performed on cardiac muscle from rats flown on Cosmos 2044 and from four control groups. Average cross-sectional area of myofibers was measured by video analysis of the light-microscopic images of papillary and ventricular muscle samples from all animals. This cross-sectional area was significantly decreased in flight rats (P = 0.03) compared with synchronous controls. Additional findings at the electron microscopic level consistent with this atrophy were obtained by stereological analysis and optical diffraction analysis of papillary muscle samples. Slightly higher mitochondrial volume density values and mitochondria-to-myofibril ratios as well as normal A-band spacings (d1,0) and Z-band spacings of myofibrils were observed in the tail-suspension and flight groups. General morphological features similar to those in ventricular samples from the previous Cosmos 1887 flight were observed.

Goldstein, Margaret A.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Mergers at z = 1

Multiband images of nearby interacting pairs of galaxies, mergers, and normal field galaxies are used to simulate images of high redshift mergers by identifying distinctive morphological features. Preliminary results indicate that it is feasible for the HST to detect these high redshift objects.

Kao, Lancelot L.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Reconstruction of late Wisconsinan Ice Sheet and sea-level implications

The Ross Sea exhibits north-south oriented troughs associated with modern ice streams and outlet glaciers. Seismic reflection profiles across the troughs show evidence that they were glacially eroded. Seismic records show morphologic features interpreted as till tongues, morainal banks, and possibly glacial deltas formed near the grounding line of the former marine ice sheet. Piston cores from the continental shelf penetrated diamictons whose origin and age is problematic. Detailed petrographic analyses of the minerals and rocks comprising these diamictons were conducted to determine subglacial versus glacial marine origin, and to reconstruct the glacial setting of the Ross Sea during the most recent glacial maximum. The most detailed work, conducted in the western Ross Sea, shows that diamictons do occur in distinct petrologic provinces. This is consistent with deposition from the basal debris zone of either an ice sheet or an ice shelf. Overcompaction, in conjunction with the widespread nature of these deposits, favors deposition from marine ice sheets; ice shelves are believed to deposit their basal debris close to the grounding lines. Other results from the investigation are briefly discussed.

Anderson, John B.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Galileo encounter with 951 Gaspra - First pictures of an asteroid

Galileo images of Gaspra reveal it to be an irregularly shaped object (19 by 12 by 11 kilometers) that appears to have been created by a catastrophic collisional disruption of a precursor parent body. The cratering age of the surface is about 200 million years. Subtle albedo and color variations appear to correlate with morphological features: brighter materials are associated with craters especially along the crests of ridges, have a stronger 1-micrometer absorption, and may represent freshly excavated mafic materials; darker materials exhibiting a significantly weaker 1-micrometer absorption appear concentrated in interridge areas. One explanation of these patterns is that Gaspra is covered with a thin regolith and that some of this material has migrated downslope in some areas.

Belton, M. J. S.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Kinematics of the parsec-scale relativistic jet in 3C 345

The paper presents two 5 GHz most recently obtained VLBI images of the nucleus of the quasar 3C 345 (being observed since 1977), which were obtained in 1989 and 1990 with 4 pc resolution. The images show a variety of morphological features in the jet, which can help to understand the dynamics of the central energy source and the transport of energy along the jet. Also presented are the analysis of the images, temporal variations, and the jet profile. The jet speed and the orientation of 3C 345 were determined from various observational constraints, within the framework of the relativistic twin-jet model.

Unwin, Stephen C.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Effects of ion demagnetization in the plasma sheet

The processes in the plasma sheet in the earth's magnetotail that can generate the field-aligned currents associated with auroral arcs are investigated using a two-and-a-half-dimensional nonradiative electromagnetic particle code in the Darwin approximation. All three components of the magnetic field, as well as the effect of electrostatic interaction, are calculated. The results include the response of the plasma sheet to the application of a convection electric field, the heating of plasma sheet ions, and the generation of y-directed magnetic fields and currents in the plane of simulation. The relation of these results to other morphological features of auroral/magnetospheric substorms is discussed.

Swift, Daniel W.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Ballistic transport in planetary ring systems due to particle erosion mechanisms. II - Theoretical models for Saturn's A- and B-ring inner edges

The present numerical simulations and analytic arguments show that many of the common morphological features of the Saturn A- and B-ring inner-edge regions are due to 'ballistic transport', or the net radial transport of mass and angular momentum generated by exchanges of meteoroid impact ejecta. It is suggested that the observed 100-km undulatory structure of the inner B-ring arises from ballistic transport echoing of the inner edge. A strongly prograde ejecta-distribution function is used to fit the edge-region features.

Durisen, Richard H.↗

NASA NTRS1993

The rheology and composition of cryovolcanic flows on icy satellites

The rheologic properties of terrestrial lavas have been related to morphologic features of their flows, such as levees, banked surfaces, multilobate structures, and compressible folds. These features also have been used to determine rheologies and constrain the compositions of extraterrestrial flows. However, with rare exceptions, such features are not resolvable in Voyager images of the satellites of outer planets. Often only flow length and edge thickness of cryovolcanic flows can be measured reasonably accurately from Voyager images. The semiempirical lava-flow model presented here is a renewed effort to extract useful information from such measurements.

Kargel, Jeffrey S.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Original size of the Vredefort structure, South Africa

The Vredefort structure is located approximately 120 km southwest of Johannesburg, South Africa, and is deeply eroded. Controversies remain on the origin of this structure with the most popular hypotheses being: (1) by impact cratering about 2.0 Ga; (2) as a cryptoexplosion structure about 2.0 Ga; and (3) by purely tectonic processes starting at about 3.0 Ga and ending with the Vredefort event at 2.0 Ga. In view of recent work in which the granophyre dikes are interpreted as the erosional remants of a more extensive impact melt sheet, injected downward into the underlying country rocks, the impact origin hypothesis for Vredefort is adopted. In order to estimate the original dimensions of the Vredefort impact structure, it is assumed that the structure was initially circular, that its predeformation center corresponds to the center of the granitic core, and that the pre-Vredefort geology of the area prior to approximately 2.0 Ga ago is as suggested by Fletcher and Reimold. The spatial relationship between shock metamorphic effects, the shock pressures they record, and the morphological features of the crater were established for a number of large terrestrial craters. The principles of crater formation at large complex impact structures comparable in size to Vredefort were also established, although many details remain unresolved. An important conclusion is that the transient crater, which is formed directly by excavation and displacement by the shock-induced cratering flow-field (i.e., the particle velocity flow field existing in the region of the transient crater but behind the initial outgoing shock front), is highly modified during the late stage processes. The original transient crater diameter lies well within the final rim of the crater, which is established by structural movements during late-stage cavity modification.

Therriault, A. M.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Morphological characterization of selected balloon films and its effects on balloon performances

Morphological characterization of several polyethylene balloon films have been studied using various techniques. The objective is to determine, if any, differentiating structural or morphological features that can be related to the performance of these balloon film materials. The results of the study indicate that the films are composed of either linear low denstiy polyethylene (LLDPE) or low density polyethylene (LDPE). A selective examination of these data imply that films limited degree of branching and larger crystallites size (same % crystallinity) showed good mechanical properties that appear to correlate with their high level of success in balloon flights.

Said, Magdi A.↗