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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 199 records · Page 11
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NASA NTRS1992

Report of the Working Group on Space/Lunar Tradeoffs

The group discussed the advantages and disadvantages of five locations for an optical/infrared array: low-Earth orbit (LEO), Sun-synchronous Earth-orbit, geosynchronous orbit (GEO), Lagrangian points (L4 and L5), and the lunar surface. The factors affecting an array and our assessments of them are given and briefly discussed. In the discussions, two axioms are assumed: (1) Human expansion into space and to the Moon will occur; and (2) The Space Station will be constructed and operational. The major conclusion reached is that baselines of moderate size (greater than 300 m) are best done on the Moon and that large baselines (greater than 10 km) can be done only on the Moon. Three areas needing additional research were identified as follows. (1) Studies are needed on methods to steer long-baseline systems in orbit. This involves learning how to control free-flyers. It is not clear how the difficulty of control varies with orbital elevation. (2) More work is needed on the internal metrology of array systems, both orbital and lunar-surface systems.(3) We need to understand the radiation effects on detectors and electronics and learn how to mitigate them.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1991

Global ocean tide mapping using TOPEX/Poseidon altimetry

The investigation's main goals are to produce accurate tidal maps of the main diurnal, semidiurnal, and long-period tidal components in the world's deep oceans. This will be done by the application of statistical estimation techniques to long time series of altimeter data provided by the TOPEX/POSEIDON mission, with additional information provided by satellite tracking data. In the prelaunch phase, we will use in our simulations and preliminary work data supplied by previous oceanographic missions, such as Seasat and Geosat. These results will be of scientific interest in themselves. The investigation will also be concerned with the estimation of new values, and their uncertainties, for tidal currents and for the physical parameters appearing in the Laplace tidal equations, such as bottom friction coefficients and eddy viscosity coefficients. This will be done by incorporating the altimetry-derived charts of vertical tides as boundary conditions in the integration of those equations. The methodology of the tidal representation will include the use of appropriate series expansions such as ocean-basin normal modes and spherical harmonics. The results of the investigation will be space-determined tidal models of coverage and accuracy superior to that of the present numerical models of the ocean tides, with the concomitant benefits to oceanography and associated disciplinary fields.

Sanchez, Braulio V.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Stability of generally stiffened anisotropic noncircular cylinders

Continuous filament grid-stiffened structure is a stiffening concept that combines structural efficiency and damage tolerance. However, finite element design of such structures against buckling is expensive due to the complexities of the structure. An analytical model of such a structure is developed using a penalty method (artificial springs) with a first order shear deformation theory (FSDT). The buckling analysis under combined loadings is done using energy method with a penalty/Rayleigh-Ritz technique. The penalty/Rayleigh-Ritz approach is computationally less demanding when compared to the finite element solution and mesh generation. Apart from the published research works on buckling of stiffened plates and shells by finite element and finite strips, research works on buckling of stiffened plates and shells utilize three different approaches; smeared, column, and discrete approaches. The discrete approach considers the discrete effects of the stiffeners in the buckling behavior by modeling stiffeners as line of bending (EI) and torsion (GJ) stiffnesses on panel skin. Some local deformations are lost when stiffeners are modeled as (EI) and (GJ) stiffeners. This approach becomes difficult in the case of plate stiffened in more than two directions. Most of the work done using the discrete approach involved the Classical Plate Theory (CLPT) rather than the FSDT. We report on our formulation of a discrete approach coupled with a penalty formulation and FSDT.

Sobh, Nahil Atef↗
NASA NTRS1993

SCATHA mission termination report

The SCATHA (Spacecraft Charging at High Altitudes) satellite was operated from the Consolidated Space Test Center in Sunnyvale, California from February 1979 to May 1991. It was a spin stabilized vehicle in a highly eccentric orbit that collected data on spacecraft charging. The purpose of such data gathering was to predict and/or model the effects of the Earth's magnetic field on synchronous and near synchronous satellites. During the majority of its lifetime, attitude precession maneuvers were done every 10-15 days to maintain solar panel orientation. Maneuver planning was difficult due to the structural characteristics of SCATHA. It is cylindrically shaped and has seven booms ranging in length from 2 to 50 meters. These precession maneuvers induced predictable nutation that damped out after a few days. Eventually fuel began running low due to these frequent maneuvers. Experiments that had required the spin axis be in the orbit plane had already been turned off or had collected all their data. To increase the vehicle lifetime, the spin axis was moved to ecliptic normal. While this stopped the need for frequent attitude maneuvering (only two per year required now), this movement of the spin axis caused nutation that would not damp out for the remainder of the mission. This phase of the mission, with the ecliptic normal orientation, lasted for approximately three years. Although nutation never damped, data gathering was uninterrupted. In late 1990, when SCATHA's transmitter became seriously degraded, the Air Force decided to turn SCATHA off. This would only be done after the satellite was made 'safe'. The most difficult part of making the vehicle safe was quickly purging the fuel. Several plans were considered. The selected plan was to perform a series of 20 degree attitude precession maneuvers (3 days apart to allow for the worst nutation to damp) until the fuel was depleted. Although this sounded simple, the actual execution proved difficult. This was due to a nearly complete lack of available telemetry data, large undamped motion of the long booms, inadequacies in attitude determination software, and an error in the fuel level calculation software. This paper discusses the various proposed termination plans and execution of the selected one. Attitude determination methodologies, nutation from maneuvers, and effects of the flexible booms on the termination mission are presented and analyzed from a satellite analyst point of view.

Stakkestad, Kjell↗
NASA NTRS1992

Ocean climate data for user community in West and Central Africa: Needs, opportunities, and challenges

The urgent need to improve data delivery systems needed by scientists studying ocean role in climate and climate characteristics has been manifested in recent years because of the unprecedented climatic events experienced in many parts of the world. Indeed, there has been a striking and growing realization by governments and the general public indicating that national economies and human welfare depend on climate and its variability. In West and Central Africa, for instance climatic events, which have resulted in floods and droughts, have caused a lot of concern to both governments and people of the region. In particular, the droughts have been so widespread that greater awareness and concern have become generated for the need to find solutions to the problems created by the consequences of the climatic events. Particularly in the southern border regions of the Sahara Desert as well as in the Sahel region, the drought episodes considerably reduced food production and led to series of socioeconomic problems, not only in the areas affected by the droughts, but also in the other parts of West Africa. The various climatic variabilities which have caused the climatic events are no doubt related to the ocean-atmosphere interactions. Unfortunately, not much has been done on the understanding of these interactions, particularly as they affect developing countries. Indeed, not much has been done to develop programs which will reflect the general concerns and needs for researching into the ocean-atmosphere systems and their implications on man-environmental systems in many developing countries. This is for example, true of West and Central Africa, where compared with the middle latitude countries, much less is known about the characteristics of the ocean-atmosphere systems and their significance on man-environmental systems of the area.

Ojo, S. O.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Oxygen and iron production by electrolytic smelting of lunar soil

Work during the past year involved two aspects: (1) electrolysis experiments on a larger scale than done before, and (2) collaboration with Carbotek Inc. on design for a lunar magma electrolysis cell. It was demonstrated previously that oxygen can be produced by direct electrolysis of silicate melts. Previous experiments using 50-100 mg of melt have succeeded in measuring melt resistivities, oxygen production efficiencies, and have identified the character of metal products. A series of experiments using 1-8 grams of silicate melt, done in alumina and spinel containers sufficiently large that surface tension effects between the melt and the wall are expected to have minor effect on the behavior of the melt in the region of the electrodes were completed. The purpose of these experiments was to demonstrate the durability of the electrode and container materials, demonstrate the energy efficiency of the electrolysis process, further characterize the nature of the expected metal and spinel products, measure the efficiency of oxygen production and compare to that predicted on the basis of the smaller-scale experiments, and identify any unexpected benefits or problems of the process. Four experimental designs were employed. Detailed results of these experiments are given in the appendix ('Summary of scaling-up experiments'); a general report of the results is given in terms of implications of the experiments on container materials, cathode materials, anode materials, bubble formation and frothing of the melt, cell potential, anode-cathode distance, oxygen efficiency, and energy efficiency.

Colson, R. O.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Extremely red objects in the fields of high redshift radio galaxies

We are engaged in a program of infrared imaging photometry of high redshift radio galaxies. The observations are being done using NICMOS2 and NICMOS3 arrays on the DuPont 100-inch telescope at Las Campanas Observatory. In addition, Persson and Matthews are measuring the spectral energy distributions of normal cluster galaxies in the redshift range 0 to 1. These measurements are being done with a 58 x 62 InSb array on the Palomar 5-m telescope. During the course of these observations we have imaged roughly 20 square arcminutes of sky to limiting magnitudes greater than 20 in the J, H, and K passbands (3 sigma in 3 square arcseconds). We have detected several relatively bright, extremely red, extended objects during the course of this work. Because the radio galaxy program requires Thuan-Gunn gri photometry, we are able to construct rough photometric energy distributions for many of the objects. A sample of the galaxy magnitudes within 4 arcseconds diameter is given. All the detections are real; either the objects show up at several wavelengths, or in subsets of the data. The reddest object in the table, 9ab'B' was found in a field of galaxies in a rich cluster at z = 0.4; 9ab'A' lies 8 arcseconds from it.

Persson, S. E.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Evaluation of seals, lubricants, and adhesives used on LDEF

A wide variety of seals, lubricants, and adhesives were used on the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF). The results, to date, of the Systems Special Investigation Group (SIG) and the Materials SIG investigation into the effect of the long term low Earth orbit (LEO) exposure on these materials is discussed. Results of this investigation show that if the material was shielded from exposure to LDEF's external environment, the 69 month exposure to LEO had minimal effect on the material. However, if the material was on LDEF's exterior surface, a variety of events occurred ranging from no material change, to changes in mechanical or physical properties, to complete disappearance of the material. The results are from the following sources: (1) visual examinations and/or testing of materials performed by various LDEF experimenters, (2) testing done at Boeing in support of the Materials or Systems SIG investigations, (3) testing done at Boeing on Boeing hardware flown on LDEF.

Dursch, Harry↗
NASA NTRS1992

Highlights of the theoretical work reported at the workshop

A brief overview is given of the theoretical work done on gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) done in this workshop. Papers on energy source models, optical transients, X-ray and gamma-ray continuum models, and cyclotron line models are reviewed.

Lamb, D. Q.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Understanding land surface evapotranspiration with satellite multispectral measurements

Quantitative use of remote multispectral measurements to study and map land surface evapotranspiration has been a challenging issue for the past 20 years. Past work is reviewed against process physics. A simple two-layer combination-type model is used which is applicable to both vegetation and bare soil. The theoretic analysis is done to show which land surface properties are implicitly defined by such evaporation models and to assess whether they are measurable as a matter of principle. Conceptual implications of the spatial correlation of land surface properties, as observed by means of remote multispectral measurements, are illustrated with results of work done in arid zones. A normalization of spatial variability of land surface evaporation is proposed by defining a location-dependent potential evaporation and surface temperature range. Examples of the application of remote based estimates of evaporation to hydrological modeling studies in Egypt and Argentina are presented.

Menenti, M.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Collisional excitation of CO by H2O - An astrophysicist's guide to obtaining rate constants from coherent anti-Stokes Raman line shape data

Rate constants for excitation of CO by collisions with H2O are needed to understand recent observations of comet spectra. These collision rates are closely related to spectral line shape parameters, especially those for Raman Q-branch spectra. Because such spectra have become quite important for thermometry applications, much effort has been invested in understanding this process. Although it is not generally possible to extract state-to-state rate constants directly from the data as there are too many unknowns, if the matrix of state-to-state rates can be expressed in terms of a rate-law model which depends only on rotational quantum numbers plus a few parameters, the parameters can be determined from the data; this has been done with some success for many systems, especially those relevant to combustion processes. Although such an analysis has not yet been done for CO-H2O, this system is expected to behave similarly to N2-H2O which has been well studies; modifications of parameters for the latter system are suggested which should provide a reasonable description of rate constants for the former.

Green, Sheldon↗
NASA NTRS1925

Accelerations in Flight

This work on accelerometry was done at McCook Field for the purpose of continuing the work done by other investigators and obtaining the accelerations which occur when a high-speed pursuit airplane is subjected to the more common maneuvers. The accelerations obtained in suddenly pulling out of a dive with well-balanced elevators are shown to be within 3 or 4 per cent of the theoretically possible accelerations. The maximum acceleration which a pilot can withstand depends upon the length of time the acceleration is continued. It is shown that he experiences no difficulty under the instantaneous accelerations as high as 7.8 G., but when under accelerations in excess of 4.5 G., continued for several seconds, he quickly loses his faculties.

Doolittle, J H↗
NASA NTRS1932

Dynamic and Flight Tests on Rubber-Cord and Oleo-Rubber-Disk Landing Gears for an F6C-4 Airplane

The investigation described in this report was conducted for the purpose of comparing an oleo-rubber-disk and a rubber-cord landing gear, built for use on an F6C-4 airplane. The investigation consisted of drop tests under various loading conditions and flight tests on an F6C-4 airplane. In the drop tests the total work done on each gear and the work done on each of the shock-absorbing units were determined. For both drop tests and flight tests the maximum loads and accelerations were determined. The comparative results showed that the oleo gear was slightly superior in reducing the ordinary landing shocks, that it had a greater capacity for work, and that it was very superior in the reduction of the rebound. The results further showed that for drops comparable to very severe landings, the rubber-cord gear was potentially more effective as a shock-reducing mechanism. However, due to the construction of this chassis, which limited the maximum elongation of the cords, this gear was incapable of withstanding as severe tests as the oleo gear. The action of the oleo gear was greatly inferior to the action of an ideal gear. The maximum accelerations encountered during the flight tests for severe landings were 3.64g for the rubber-cord gear and 2.27g for the oleo gear. These were less than those experienced in free drops of 7 inches on either gear.

Peck, William C↗
NASA NTRS1989

Air transportation in the California Corridor of 2010

The topic of the 1988-1989 NASA/USRA Advanced Design Project at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, was the development of an air transportation system to meet the needs of the California Corridor for the year 2010. As aircraft design is taught by two instructors having different philosophies about the teaching process, the two classes took different approaches to address the problem. The first part of this summary (California Air Transit System) represents the work done by the students of Professor A. E. Andreoli, who followed a systems approach, emphasizing the determination of the proper mission. The second part of the summary (Four Aircraft to Service the California Corridor) contains the four aircraft designed by Dr. D. R. Sandlin's class based on specifications determined from work done in previous years.

Cameron, M.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Effect of double density caging during Space Shuttle transport of laboratory rats

Male Sprague Dawley rats were housed in groups of four in polycarbonate cages at recommended density and thermal environmental conditions for 14 days prior to testing to ensure uniform acclimation to those conditions. Body weights averaged 286 +/- 7 g at the end of acclimation. Rat cages were assigned randomly to three treatments: (1) 4 rats/polycarbonate cage (877 sq cm, 20.3 cm high, 220 sq cm/rat), (2) 4 rats/mock AEM (MAEM) (620 sq cm, 155 sq cm/rat), and (3) 8 rats/MAEM (620 sq cm, 77.5 sq cm/rat). A comparison between the MAEM-DD and MAEM-SD treatments was done to determine if doubling rat density in AEM's stressed the rats. A comparison among MAEM treatments and the PC treatment was done to determine if any stress indications were due to the AEM. During this density challenge phase, all treatments were maintained at the same thermal environmental conditions (22.5 C and 50 percent RH) for 10 days. After the density challenge phase, half the rats from each group were sacrificed for body tissue and fluid analyses. The remaining half of the rats were housed at a density of 4 rats/cage in polycarbonate cages at normal thermal environmental conditions for an additional 10 days to determine if there were any differences in responses between treatments after a recovery period. The remaining rats were examined and sacrificed for body tissue and fluid analyses at the end of the recovery phase.

Riskowski, G. L.↗
NASA NTRS1991

High speed packet switching

This document constitutes the final report prepared by Proteon, Inc. of Westborough, Massachusetts under contract NAS 5-30629 entitled High-Speed Packet Switching (SBIR 87-1, Phase 2) prepared for NASA-Greenbelt, Maryland. The primary goal of this research project is to use the results of the SBIR Phase 1 effort to develop a sound, expandable hardware and software router architecture capable of forwarding 25,000 packets per second through the router and passing 300 megabits per second on the router's internal busses. The work being delivered under this contract received its funding from three different sources: the SNIPE/RIG contract (Contract Number F30602-89-C-0014, CDRL Sequence Number A002), the SBIR contract, and Proteon. The SNIPE/RIG and SBIR contracts had many overlapping requirements, which allowed the research done under SNIPE/RIG to be applied to SBIR. Proteon funded all of the work to develop new router interfaces other than FDDI, in addition to funding the productization of the router itself. The router being delivered under SBIR will be a fully product-quality machine. The work done during this contract produced many significant findings and results, summarized here and explained in detail in later sections of this report. The SNIPE/RIG contract was completed. That contract had many overlapping requirements with the SBIR contract, and resulted in the successful demonstration and delivery of a high speed router. The development that took place during the SNIPE/RIG contract produced findings that included the choice of processor and an understanding of the issues surrounding inter processor communications in a multiprocessor environment. Many significant speed enhancements to the router software were made during that time. Under the SBIR contract (and with help from Proteon-funded work), it was found that a single processor router achieved a throughput significantly higher than originally anticipated. For this reason, a single processor router was developed and the final delivery under this contract will include a single processor CNX-500 router. The router and its interface boards (2 FDDIs and 2 dual-ethernets) are all product-quality components.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1993

Scattering calculations and confining interactions

Most of the research work performed under this grant were concerned with strong interaction processes ranging from kaon-nucleon interaction to proton-nucleus scattering calculations. Research performed under this grant can be categorized into three groups: (1) parametrization of fundamental interactions, (2) development of formal theory, and (3) calculations based upon the first two. Parametrizations of certain fundamental interactions, such as kaon-nucleon interaction, for example, were necessary because kaon-nucleon scattering amplitude was needed to perform kaon-nucleus scattering calculations. It was possible to calculate kaon-nucleon amplitudes from the first principle, but it was unnecessary for the purpose of the project. Similar work was also done for example for anti-protons and anti-nuclei. Formal developments to some extent were also pursued so that consistent calculations can be done.

Buck, Warren W.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Simulation of linear mechanical systems

A dynamics and controls analyst is typically presented with a structural dynamics model and must perform various input/output tests and design control laws. The required time/frequency simulations need to be done many times as models change and control designs evolve. This paper examines some simple ways that open and closed loop frequency and time domain simulations can be done using the special structure of the system equations usually available. Routines were developed to run under Pro-Matlab in a mixture of the Pro-Matlab interpreter and FORTRAN (using the .mex facility). These routines are often orders of magnitude faster than trying the typical 'brute force' approach of using built-in Pro-Matlab routines such as bode. This makes the analyst's job easier since not only does an individual run take less time, but much larger models can be attacked, often allowing the whole model reduction step to be eliminated.

Sirlin, S. W.↗