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At least 163 records · Page 9

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NASA NTRS1974

The exposure history of the Apollo 16 sites. An assessment based on methane and carbide measurements

Soils from eight stations at the Apollo 16 landing site have been analyzed for methane and carbide. These results, in conjunction with published data from photogeology, bulk chemistry, rare gases, primordial and radionuclides, and agglutinate abundances have been interpreted in terms of differing contributions from three components, North and South Ray crater ejecta and Cayley Plains material.

Pillinger, C. T.↗

NASA NTRS1975

Al-26 in cores of the Keyes chondrite

Radionuclide concentration data for six samples from two cores of the Keyes chondrite are presented. The weighted average potassium content for samples was about 675 ppm, somewhat lower than the 800-900 ppm typically found in L chondrites. Spectra were analyzed for U and Th, with upper limits established at approximately 100 and 200 ppb, respectively.

Cressy, P. J.↗

NASA NTRS1976

Report of 14-day bedrest simulation of Skylab

Part one of a two-phase bedrest project in which the physiological effects of weightlessness were simulated is presented. The project was designed to approximate the medical testing and dietary control of Skylab. The test period included a three week pre-flight period, a two week bedrest period and a two week post-flight period. The test subjects ate measured amounts of the Skylab diet and drank deionized water to recreate the metabolic balance studies of Skylab. The medical testing program, pre- and postbedrest, was similar to that of Skylab including: lower body negative pressure testing the orthostatic intolerance noted after both spaceflights and bedrest, bicycle ergometry testing the cardiovascular response to graded exercise, postural equilibrium, vestibular studies and electromyograms. Fluid and electrolyte shifts and balance were documented with intake and output records and radionuclide studies. The subjects were observed by a psychiatrist who watched for signs of mental stress in the test environment and changes in mental status.

Johnson, P. C.↗

NASA NTRS1975

Nuclear cardiograph and scintigraphy

Extensive advances in the technology of detectors, data analysis systems, and tracers used have resulted in greatly expanded applications of radioisotopes to the assessment of cardiac function and disease. The development of nuclear cardiology has proceeded along four lines: (1) radionuclide angiography, (2) myocardial perfusion imaging, (3) intracoronary microsphere imaging, and (4) regional myocardial blood flow determination using inert gases.

Mclaughlin, P.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Modification of os calcis bone mineral profiles during bedrest

The mineral content of the left central os calcis was determined using the photon absorptiometric technique modified for the space missions to permit area scanning, and was compared with total body calcium balance changes. The instrument consists of a rectilinear scanner that is programmed by a specially designed control module to move a low energy X-ray emitting radionuclide placed in opposition to a detector to scan the foot which is places between them. The foot is placed in a plexiglas box filled with water to provide tissue equivalence and to compensate for irregularities in thickness of tissue cover that surrounds the bone. The mineral content is obtained from basic attenuation equation.

Vogel, J. M.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Investigate methods for measuring muscle and bone mass changes in astronauts and animals which occur during space flight

Sodium-22 is being used as a tracer for bone mineral metabolism studies. Dogs are being grown from puppies to adulthood on a diet containing a constant level of sodium-22 in order to uniformly tag the entire skeleton with a long lived radionuclide. This study is still in progress and the dogs are still growing. Potassium-40 measurements were made on people, who are replacing muscle mass lost due to leg injuries, in a second study. It appears that potassium-40 measurements provide an accurate and convenient method for determining relative changes in the muscle content of the leg.

Palmer, H. E.↗

NASA NTRS1976

The abundances of H-3 and C-14 in the solar wind

Tritium is measured as a function of depth in a Surveyor 3 sample. The upper limit for solar-wind-implanted tritium gives a H-3/H-1 limit for the solar wind of 1 part in one hundred billion. The temperature release patterns of C-14 from lunar soils are measured. The C-14 release patterns from surface soils differ from a trench-bottom soil and give evidence for the presence of C-14 in the solar wind with a C-14/H-1 ratio of approximately 4 parts in one hundred billion. The implications of these radionuclide abundances in the solar wind are discussed.

Fireman, E. L.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Some physical and thermodynamic properties of rocket exhaust clouds measured with infrared scanners

Measurements using infrared scanners were made of the radiation from exhaust clouds from liquid- and solid-propellant rocket boosters. Field measurements from four launches were discussed. These measurements were intended to explore the physical and thermodynamic properties of these exhaust clouds during their formation and subsequent dispersion. Information was obtained concerning the initial cloud's buoyancy, the stabilized cloud's shape and trajectory, the cloud volume as a function of time, and it's initial and stabilized temperatures. Differences in radiation intensities at various wavelengths from ambient and stabilized exhaust clouds were investigated as a method of distinguishing between the two types of clouds. The infrared remote sensing method used can be used at night when visible range cameras are inadequate. Infrared scanning techniques developed in this project can be applied directly to natural clouds, clouds containing certain radionuclides, or clouds of industrial pollution.

Gomberg, R. I.↗

NASA NTRS1977

The exposure history of the Apollo 16 site: An assessment based on methane and hydrolysable carbon

Nineteen soils from eight stations at the Apollo 16 landing site have been analyzed for methane and hydrolysable carbon. These results, in conjunction with published data from photogeology, bulk chemistry, rare gases, primordial and cosmogenic radionuclides, and agglutinate abundances have been interpreted in terms of differing contributions from three components-North and South Ray Crater ejecta and Cayley Plains material.

Pillinger, C. T.↗

NASA NTRS1978

Evaluation of thallium-201 scanning for detection of latent coronary artery disease

The use of thallium imaging as a noninvasive method to accurately screen shuttle passengers for latent coronary artery disease was investigated. All radionuclide procedures were performed using an Anger type camera with a high resolution collimator. A minimum of 200,000 counts were collected for each image using a 20% window centered on the 69-83 keV X-rays. For the images obtained following injection with the patient at rest, the testing was begun 10 minutes after injection. Injections of TT during exercise were made at a point near the termination of the treadmill procedure as determined by either the appearance of ST segment changes on the electrocardiogram consistant with subendocardial ischemia, the appearance of angina-like chest pain in the patient or fatigue in the patient which required cessation of the test. The severity of heart disease was based on the medical history, physical exam, exercise electrocardiograms, chest X-rays and the coronary arteriogram.

Johnson, P. C.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Al-26 in stony meteorites with gas losses

The Al-26 content of a group of stony meteorites with low levels of He-3 (implying outgassing caused by near approach to the sun) was analyzed in a test of the possible role of cosmic radiation in determining the radionuclide concentration of meteorites. The Al-26 contents of the meteorites with He-3 losses were found to be indistinguishable from the Al-26 contents of L- and H-chondrites. It is concluded that if the He-3 outgassing occurred near the sun, the flux of particles producing Al-26 must have been nearly normal, or the diffusion process must have taken place very rapidly.

Herzog, G. F.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Solar proton fluxes since 1956

The fluxes of protons emitted during solar flares since 1956 were evaluated. The depth-versus-activity profiles of Co-56 in several lunar rocks are consistent with the solar proton fluxes detected by experiments on several satellites. Only about 20% of the solar-proton-induced activities of Na-22 and Fe-55 in lunar rocks from early Apollo missions were produced by protons emitted from the sun during solar cycle 20 (1965-1975). The depth-versus-activity data for these radionuclides in several lunar rocks were used to determine the fluxes of protons during solar cycle 19 (1954-1964). The average proton fluxes for cycle 19 are about five times those for both the last million years and for cycle 20 and are about five times the previous estimate for cycle 19 based on neutron-monitor and radio ionospheric measurements. These solar-proton flux variations correlate with changes in sunspot activity.

Reedy, R. C.↗

NASA NTRS1977

68815 revisited

Remeasurement of the particle track density as a function of depth in lunar breccia 68815 has yielded galactic cosmic-ray track densities consistent with a 2 m.y. surface exposure, in good agreement with results by other authors. The empirical track-production spectrum of Walker and Yuhas (1973) is confirmed. The solar-flare track profile is typical and shows no evidence of large-scale chipping. Radionuclide profiles (Mn-53) investigated by the Arnold group should thus be undisturbed and should provide a test of the Reedy-Arnold model and of the constancy of solar and galactic cosmic rays.

Dust, S.↗

NASA NTRS1975

The saturated activities of Na-22, Mn-54, and Co-56 and the depth of sampling of soils

A multivariate linear regression study shows that the saturated activities of Na-22, Co-56, and Mn-54 are functions of the chemical composition and the reciprocal of the cube root of the sample weight. A procedure for taking the temporal variation in these short-lived radionuclides into account is described. The regression results are used to estimate the average depths of sampling of soil material. The data indicate that all 28 samples were in the same conditions of exposure when recovered as they had been for the last approximately 10 years. The saturation activity of Mn-54 is a very weak function of time.

Keith, J. E.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Space augmentation of military high-level waste disposal

Space disposal of selected components of military high-level waste (HLW) is considered. This disposal option offers the promise of eliminating the long-lived radionuclides in military HLW from the earth. A space mission which meets the dual requirements of long-term orbital stability and a maximum of one space shuttle launch per week over a period of 20-40 years, is a heliocentric orbit about halfway between the orbits of earth and Venus. Space disposal of high-level radioactive waste is characterized by long-term predictability and short-term uncertainties which must be reduced to acceptably low levels. For example, failure of either the Orbit Transfer Vehicle after leaving low earth orbit, or the storable propellant stage failure at perihelion would leave the nuclear waste package in an unplanned and potentially unstable orbit. Since potential earth reencounter and subsequent burn-up in the earth's atmosphere is unacceptable, a deep space rendezvous, docking, and retrieval capability must be developed.

English, T.↗

NASA NTRS1978

The cosmic ray nuclides

The relative abundances of individual nuclides in cosmic rays are discussed. Data on the H-He nuclide quartet are reviewed, along with experimental results for stable nuclides with Z of at least 3. Detailed attention is given to the ratios C-12/C-13, N-15/N, and O-17+18/O, as well as to the light-heavy nuclei, the iron group, and radionuclides. The resolution of the low- and medium-energy detectors aboard the ISEE satellite is illustrated.

Waddington, C. J.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Computational methods for analyzing the transmission characteristics of a beta particle magnetic analysis system

Computational methods were developed to study the trajectories of beta particles (positrons) through a magnetic analysis system as a function of the spatial distribution of the radionuclides in the beta source, size and shape of the source collimator, and the strength of the analyzer magnetic field. On the basis of these methods, the particle flux, their energy spectrum, and source-to-target transit times have been calculated for Na-22 positrons as a function of the analyzer magnetic field and the size and location of the target. These data are in studies requiring parallel beams of positrons of uniform energy such as measurement of the moisture distribution in composite materials. Computer programs for obtaining various trajectories are included.

Singh, J. J.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Analysis of nuclear waste disposal in space, phase 3. Volume 2: Technical report

The options, reference definitions and/or requirements currently envisioned for the total nuclear waste disposal in space mission are summarized. The waste form evaluation and selection process is documented along with the physical characteristics of the iron nickel-base cermet matrix chosen for disposal of commercial and defense wastes. Safety aspects of radioisotope thermal generators, the general purpose heat source, and the Lewis Research Center concept for space disposal are assessed as well as the on-pad catastrophic accident environments for the uprated space shuttle and the heavy lift launch vehicle. The radionuclides that contribute most to long-term risk of terrestrial disposal were determined and the effects of resuspension of fallout particles from an accidental release of waste material were studied. Health effects are considered. Payload breakup and rescue technology are discussed as well as expected requirements for licensing, supporting research and technology, and safety testing.

Rice, E. E.↗