Engineering topics
Publications and source records attributed to Rasool, I..
This report examines the role of NASA's Office of Space and Terrestrial Applications in designing weather prediction programs. NASA's contribution relating to imaging, the study of wind fields and temperature profiles, and space systems is discussed. The extent to which the current NASA program is responding to the needs of the research and user community is discussed along with future strategy.
The Planetary Mission Model, NASA's program of future solar system exploration for the years 1973-1990, is presented. The model is based on a continuation of the balanced exploration philosophy, tempered by a conception of the realities of technology availability and fiscal constraints. It envisions the continued use of existing spacecraft technology (i.e., Mariner, Viking, and Pioneer) with only evolutionary changes, but with the introduction of atmospheric probe technology in the late 70's. The Titan/Centaur vehicle would be in use through 1980, and solar-electric propulsion (SEP) capability would be introduced in about 1979. Beyond 1980, shuttle capability is assumed. A brief explanation of the rationale behind the sequences at the following targets is presented: Mercury, Venus, Mars, the outer planets, and comets and asteroids.
Research is reported on the effects of increasing the CO2, aerosols, and water content of the atmosphere on the surface temperature and climatology. An atmospheric model is described with the incoming solar radiation for a planetary albedo of 33 percent, surface temperature of 288 K, relative humidity of 75 percent, cloud cover of 48 percent, CO2 of 0.3 parts per thousand, and aerosol density of two million per square centimeter. The results show that if the CO2 increases by a factor of 1000 or more, the total pressure of the atmosphere increases, and the earth may become as hot as Venus. It is also shown that as the amount of dust particles in the atmosphere increases, the solar radiation decreases, and the surface temperature lowers.