Engineering topics
Publications and source records attributed to Soderblom, L..
The Near-infrared Mapping Spectrometer on Galileo has monitored the volcanic activity on Io since June 28, 1996. This paper presents preliminary analysis of NIMS thermal data for the first four orbits of the Galileo mission.
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The Near Infrared Mapping Spectrometer performed spectral studies of Jupiter and the Galilean satellites during the June 1996 perijove pass of the Galileo spacecraft.
A primary objective of the Galileo mission is to investigate Io s vulcanism. The NIMS combines imaging and spectral capabilities to map Io s surface and plumes.
The Galileo Near Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS) observed asteroid 243 Ida during a close encounter on August 28, 1993, at a heliocentric distance of 2.95 AU.
During the August 28, 1993 flyby of 243 Ida, the Near Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS) observed the asteroid using a variety of spectral imaging modes and geometric conditions.
Goals for planetary exploration during the next decade include: (1) determine how our solar system formed, and understand whether planetary systems are a common phenomenon through out the cosmos; (2) explore the diverse changes that planets have undergone throughout their history and that take place at present, including those that distinguish Earth as a planet; (3) understand how life might have formed on Earth, whether life began anywhere else in the solar system, and whether life (including intelligent beings) might be a common cosmic phenomenon; (4) discover and investigate natural phenomena that occur under conditions not realizable in laboratories; (5) discover and inventory resources in the solar system that could be used by human civilizations in the future; and (6) make the solar system a part of the human experience in the same way that Earth is, and hence lay the groundwork for human expansion into the solar system in the coming century. The plan for solar system exploration is motivated by these goals as well as the following principle: The solar system exploration program will conduct flight programs and supporting data analysis and scientific research commensurate with United States leadership in space exploration. These programs and research must be of the highest scientific merit, they must be responsive to public excitement regarding planetary exploration, and they must contribute to larger national goals in technology and education. The result will be new information, which is accessible to the public, creates new knowledge, and stimulates programs of education to increase the base of scientific knowledge in the general public.
During the August 28, 1993 Galileo flyby of 243 Ida, the Near Infrared Mapping Spectrometer experiment obtained spectral images in the wavelength range 0.7 - 5.2 um.
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We have completed computer simulations that model shock effects in the venusian atmosphere caused during the passage of two cometlike bodies 100 m and 1000 m in diameter and an asteroidlike body 10 km in diameter. Our objective is to examine hypervelocity-generated shock effects in the venusian atmosphere for bodies of different types and sizes in order to understand the following: (1) their deceleration and depth of penetration through the atmosphere; and (2) the onset of possible ground-surface shock effects such as splotches, craters, and ejecta formations. The three bodies were chosen to include both a range of general conditions applicable to Venus as well as three specific cases of current interest. These calculations use a new multiphase computer code (DICE-MAZ) designed by California Research & Technology for shock-dynamics simulations in complex environments. The code was tested and calibrated in large-scale explosion, cratering, and ejecta research. It treats a wide range of different multiphase conditions, including material types (vapor, melt, solid), particle-size distributions, and shock-induced dynamic changes in velocities, pressures, temperatures (internal energies), densities, and other related parameters, all of which were recorded in our calculations.
The Voyager 1 infrared spectrometer (IRIS) data and two recently compiled data sets (Voyager imaging mosaics and measurements of Io's thermal emission from the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility) are correlated. These data were used to refine the correlation between dark spot optical properties (albedo and color) and thermal emission, to examine this correspondence on a satellite-wide scale, and to identify additional hot spots not included in the IRIS inventory. The results suggest the hot spots are liquid sulfur lava lakes, for the following reasons: (1) the melting point of sulfur is 390 K, and the model hot spot temperatures range from approximately 200 to 450 K; (2) the albedos and color of the dark spots, measured from the global mosaics, are consistent with laboratory measurements for liquid sulfur; (3) high resolution images of the dark features show morphologies suggestive of lava lakes; and (4) this hypothesis provides a simple and direct explanation for why dark spots are hot on Io.
Progress on a project to elucidate the geological and topographic setting of the Martian polar volatiles is reported. The following accomplishments are enumerated: (1) all of the Mariner 9 imaging data sets available through JPL were acquired and copied; (2) Mariner 9 imagery was investigated in terms of the accuracy of the imaging footprints, dark current, and residual image; (3) the transfer functions of both vidicons were investigated; and (4) the magnitude of the atmospheric scattering was examined.
Images of the Saturn system acquired by Voyager 2 in its encounter in August 1981 are presented and information gained from the imagery on the atmosphere, satellites, and rings of Saturn is discussed. The images have shown the Saturn atmosphere to contain persistent oval clouds similar to those of Jupiter, and small irregular features indicative of a pattern of zonal winds that is symmetric about the equator and appears to extend to great depths. The atmosphere of Titan is found to possess an upper haze layer above the main haze, a hemispherical brightness asymmetry, and a dark band in the north polar region. Other satellite observations included relatively high resolution coverage of Enceladus and Tethys, moderate resolution views of Hyperion and Iapetus, and the first observations of Phoebe, as well as views of the eight minor satellites associated with the orbits of Dione, Tethys and Mimas, and the F and A rings. Images of various ring structures were obtained, most notably the birth of a spoke and variable ringlet structures in the outer B ring. The observations may be used to deduce the collisional and thermal history of the rings and satellites.
As Voyager 1 flew through the Saturn system it returned photographs revealing many new and surprising characteristics of this complicated community of bodies. Saturn's atmosphere has numerous, low-contrast, discrete cloud features and a pattern of circulation significantly different from that of Jupiter. Titan is shrouded in a haze layer that varies in thickness and appearance. Among the icy satellites there is considerable variety in density, albedo, and surface morphology and substantial evidence for endogenic surface modification. Trends in density and crater characteristics are quite unlike those of the Galilean satellites. Small inner satellites, three of which were discovered in Voyager images, interact gravitationally with one another and with the ring particles in ways not observed elsewhere in the solar system. Saturn's broad A, B, and C rings contain hundreds of 'ringlets', and in the densest portion of the B ring there are numerous nonaxisymmetric features. The narrow F ring has three components which, in at least one instance, are kinked and crisscrossed. Two rings are observed beyond the F ring, and material is seen between the C ring and the planet.
Multispectral images of Io acquired with the Voyager 1 narrow-angle camera agree with earth-based spectrophotometry to better than 10%. Although the surface materials have general spectral properties similar to various allotropes of sulfur, their ultraviolet (UV) reflectances are much higher. It is likely that varying amounts of SO2 frost mixed with or absorbed on sulfur-rich materials raises the UV reflectance. The possible association with large amounts of SO2 with low temperature forms of sulfur in the white patches on Io is consistent with Io surface models in which SO2 and S exist in thermally stable stratified zones.
In September 1977 a crater studies workshop was held for the purpose of developing standardized data analysis and presentation techniques. The present report contains the unanimous recommendations of the participants. Recommendations are devoted primarily to crater size-frequency data and refer to cumulative and relative size-frequency distribution plots and to morphological analysis.
Present knowledge of the global properties and surface characteraretics of Mars and the composition and dynamics of its atmosphere are reviewed. The objectives of proposed missions, the exploration strategy, and supporting research and technology required are delineated.