Engineering topics

A P Zent

Publications and source records attributed to A P Zent.

2 records

NASA NTRS2003

AstroBioLab: A Mobile Biotic and Soil Analysis Laboratory

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and NASA Ames Research Center are currently developing a mobile Astrobiology Laboratory (AstroBioLab) for a series of field campaigns using the Chilean Atacama Desert as a Martian surface analog site. The Astrobiology Science and Technology for Exploring Planets (ASTEP) program funded AstroBioLab is designed around the Mars Organic Detector (MOD) instrument and the Mars Oxidant Instrument (MOI) which provide complementary data sets. Using this suite of Mars Instrument Development Program (MIDP) and Planetary Instrument Definition and Development Program (PIDDP) derived in situ instruments, which provide state-of-the-art organic compound detection (attomolar sensitivity) and depth profiling of oxidation chemistry, we measure and correlate the interplay of organic compounds, inorganic oxidants, UV irradiation and water abundance. This mobile laboratory studies the proposition that intense UV irradiation coupled with low levels of liquid water generates metastable oxidizing species that can consume moderate amounts of seeded organic compounds. Results from the initial spring 2003 field campaign will be presented.

J L Bada↗

NASA NTRS2003

H2O-Silicate Microphysics in Ascending Volcanic Plumes on Mars

Physical adsorption of water vapor plays a much more significant role in eruptive plume energetics on Mars than on Earth. The total surface area in martian plumes is likely comparable to terrestrial ash, while the erupting magma and ambient atmosphere are drier. Plumes cool rapidly during ascent, and a limited population of H2O molecules find adsorption sites to be increasingly stable. Release of latent heat of condensation and the onset of moist convection are diminished, delayed, or even prevented by adsorptive interaction We have developed a 5-component numerical model of the behavior of water in eruptive plumes under Mars-like conditions. We have used the model to study the fate of both juvenile and ambient atmospheric water in the eruption column. Here we investigate the adsorptive interaction of water and silicates as they effect plume dynamics and the partitioning and distribution of H2O to the martian environment. Our focus is on the role of adsorption in scavenging H2O from the ascending eruption column, and the possibility that adsorptive scavenging depresses the vapor pressure in the column below the level considered in most eruptive models.

A P Zent↗