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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 NTRS1994

High-precision VLBI astrometric observations of radio-emitting stars for detection of extra-solar planets

The displacement of a radio-emitting star around the barycenter of a possible planetary system can be measured by astrometric very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations. We have observed the radio-emitting star sigma(sup 2) CrB at 8 epochs over 5 years by VLBI and fitted its 5 astrometric parameters to the observed coordinates. The post-fit coordinate residuals have and rms scatter of 0.22 milliarcseconds and show no systematic behavior. We use this result to set a limit on the presence of planets around sigma(sup 2) CrB and conclude that our present VLBI astrometric precision corresponds to the threshold to detect a Jupiter-like planet around this star. We also discuss the astrometric monitoring program of 11 radio-emitting stars that we are conducting for the Hipparcos space mission and its possible contribution to a long-term planet search program.

Lestrade, Jean-Francois↗
NASA NTRS1994

The Edison infrared space observatory and the study of extra-solar planetary material

Edison is a proposed large-aperture, radiatively-cooled space observatory planned to operate at wavelengths between 2 and 130 micrometers or longer. Current estimates for the telescope allow an aperture of 1.7 m which will achieve a final equilibrium temperature of about 30 K, although use of cryocoolers may permit temperatures below 20 K. Edison will be a powerful tool to investigate our Solar System, as well as planetary material around distant stars. At near- and mid-infrared wavelengths, where planetary material emits most of its radiation, Edison will be the most sensitive photometric and spectroscopic observatory under current consideration by the space agencies. With its large aperture, Edison will be able both to resolve the structure in nearby circumstellar 'Vega disks' and to discriminate faint IR emission in the crowded environment of the galactic plane. With its long lifetime, Edison will allow extensive follow-up observations and increase the likelihood of catching transient events. We propose Edison as a precursor to elements of a future space-based IR interferometer.

Thronson, H. A., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1994

The Circumstellar Imager: Direct detection of extra-solar planetary systems

The Astrometric Imaging Telescope (AIT) is designed to probe the circumstellar environment by both direct imaging and indirect astrometric measurements. The Circumstellar Imager (CI) is a coronagraphic camera and is the direct imaging component of the AIT. The CI is designed to obtain high-sensitivity images of the circumstellar region. It provides crucial non-inferential information relating to the frequency, origin, and evolution of planetary systems and all forms of circumstellar matter. Such imaging is usually limited by the scattered and diffracted light halos of the star itself, which are greatly suppressed in the CI by mating a novel high-efficiency coronagraph with a phase-compensated optical system. For faint point sources in the circumstellar region, the CI will have a sensitivity in excess of 5 magnitudes fainter than the as-designed Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Laboratory data are shown for the coronagraph, which, in a diffraction-limited environment, is capable of suppressing the stellar diffraction sidelobes by several orders of magnitude without significant sacrifice of field of view. In order to realize the high rejection levels inherent in the coronagraph design, it is necessary to limit scatter in the optical systems, imposing a mid-spatial frequency figure error requirement an order of magnitude smaller than that of the HST. Experimental data directed toward meeting this requirement are also shown.

Ftaclas, Christ↗
NASA NTRS1994

Extra-tropical QBO signals in angular momentum and wave forcing

Although the period of the equatorial stratospheric quasi-biennal oscillation (QBO) is approximately 30 months, quasi-biennial modulation of the extratropical annual cycle may be expected to produce additional spectral peaks at approximately to produce additional spectral peaks at approximately 8.6 and 20 months in the extratropics. Using Northern Hemisphere data for 1964-78 and global data for 1978-93 it is shown that these spectral peaks are robust in both angular momentum and Eliassen-Palm flux divergence. This spectral signature represents a circulation anomaly in both hemispheres, and implies a dynamical origin to the previously observed similar spectral peaks in column ozone in the extratropics.

Baldwin, Mark P.↗
NASA NTRS1996

Studies of extra-solar Oort clouds and the Kuiper disk

We are conducting research designed to enhance our understanding of the evolution and detectability of comet clouds and disks. According to 'standard' theory, both the Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud are (at least in part) natural products of the planetary accumulation stage of solar system formation. One expects such assemblages to be a common attribute of other solar systems. Therefore, searches for comet disks and clouds orbiting other stars offer a new method for inferring the presence of planetary systems. This project consists of two efforts: (1) observational work to predict and search for the signatures of Oort Clouds and comet disks around other stars; and (2) modelling studies of the formation and evolution of the Kuiper Belt (KB) and similar assemblages that may reside around other stars, including beta Pic.

Stern, S. Alan↗
NASA NTRS1998

Radial Velocity Detection of Extra-Solar Planetary Systems

The McDonald Observatory Planetary Search (MOPS) was designed to search for Jovian-mass planets in orbit around solar-type stars by making high-precision measurements of the Radial Velocity (RV) of a star, to attempt to detect the reflex orbital motion of the star around the star-planet barycenter. In our solar system, the velocity of the Sun around the Sun-Jupiter barycenter averages 12.3 m/ s. The MOPS survey started operation in September 1987, and searches 36 bright, nearby, solar-type dwarfs to 10 m/s precision. The survey was started using telluric O2 absorption lines as the velocity reference metric. Observations use the McDonald Observatory 2.7-m Harlan Smith Telescope coude spectrograph with the six-foot camera. This spectrograph configuration isolates a single order of the echelle grating on a Texas Instruments 800 x 800 CCD. The telluric line method gave us a routine radial velocity precision of about 15 m/s for stars down to about 5-th magnitude. However, the data obtained with this technique suffered from some source of long-term systematic errors, which was probably the intrinsic velocity variability of the terrestrial atmosphere, i.e. winds. In order to eliminate this systematic error and to improve our overall measurement precision, we installed a stabilized I2 gas absorption cell as the velocity metric for the MOPS in October 1990. In use at the telescope, the cell is placed directly in front of the spectrograph entrance slit, with starlight passing through the cell. The use of this sealed stabilized I2 cell removes potential problems with possible long-term drifts in the velocity metric. The survey now includes a sample of 36 nearby F, G, and K type stars of luminosity class V or IV-V.

Cochran, William D.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Sensitivity of nulling interferometers to extra-solar zodiacal emission (EZE)

It should be possible to discover and to analyze the atmospheres of Earth-like planets of nearby stars, provided their thermal emission is not overwhelmed by a bright zodiacal cloud in the same system. Nulling interferometers in space, such as the Terrestrial Planet Finder, can efficiently suppress a stellar point source, but there is no way to suppress diffuse emission underlying the planet under study. A cloud much brighter than solar level would cause serious reduction in sensitivity, by its photon shot noise. Since some clouds have been detected that are orders of magnitude brighter, zodiacal measurements of TPF candidates to solar level are critically needed. These could be obtained relatively soon with the largest aperture ground-based interferometers observing in the 10 micron atmospheric window. A cloud would be detectable as an infrared excess, provided the stellar emission (some 10(exp 4) times brighter) is adequately suppressed by destructive interference. Ideally, the ground interferometer should have angular response similar to that of TPF, so as to measure directly the troublesome zodiacal component. The individual elements must be large, for even with approx. 8 m apertures, star cancellation and low thermal background, integration times of at least several hours will be needed to sense the clouds against shot noise from telescope thermal emission. In this paper we compare the sensitivity of TPF and ground based interferometers to a twin of the solar system at 10 pc, using Good's (1994) model of the zodiacal cloud.

Angel, Roger↗
NASA NTRS1998

Imaging Extra-Solar Planets with an Ultra-Large Space Telescope

NASA's Origins Program is directed toward two main goals: Imaging of galactic evolution in the early universe, and searching for planets orbiting nearby stars. The Next-Generation Space Telescope (NGST), operating at low temperature with an 8-m aperture, is well designed to meet the first goal. The goal of imaging planets orbiting nearby stars is more problematic. One line of investigation has been the ULTIMA concept (Ultra-Large Telescope, Integrated Missions in Astronomy). In this report, I will lay out the resolution requirements for telescopes to achieve the imaging of extrasolar planets, and describe a modeling tool created to investigate the requirements for imaging a planet when it is very near a much brighter star.

Taylor, Charles R.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Combustion of Metals in Reduced-Gravity and Extra Terrestrial Environments

The combustion of metals is a field with important practical applications in rocket propellants, high-temperature flames, and material synthesis. Also, the safe operation of metal containers in high-pressure oxygen systems and with cryogenic fuels and oxidizers remains an important concern in industry. The increasing use of metallic components in spacecraft and space structures has also raised concerns about their flammability properties and fire suppression mechanisms. In addition, recent efforts to embark on unmanned and manned planetary exploration, such as on Mars, have also renewed the interest in metal/carbon-dioxide combustion as an effective in situ resource utilization technology. In spite of these practical applications, the understanding of the combustion properties of metals remains far behind that of the most commonly used fuels such as hydrocarbons. The lack of understanding is due to the many problems unique to metal- oxidizer reactions such as: low-temperature surface oxidation prior to ignition, heterogeneous reactions, very high combustion temperatures, product condensation, high emissivity of products, and multi-phase interactions. Very few analytical models (all neglecting the influence of gravity) have been developed to predict the burning characteristics and the flame structure details. Several experimental studies attempting to validate these models have used small metal particles to recreate gravity-free conditions. The high emissivity of the flames, rapid reaction, and intermittent explosions experienced by these particles have made the gathering of any useful information on burning rates and flame structure very difficult. The use of a reduced gravity environment is needed to clarify some of the complex interactions among the phenomena described above. First, the elimination of the intrusive buoyant flows that plague all combustion phenomena is of paramount importance in metal reactions due to the much higher temperatures reached during combustion. Second, a low-gravity environment is absolutely essential to remove the destructive effect of gravity on the shape of a molten metal droplet in order to study a spherically symmetric condition with large bulk samples. The larger size of the spherical metal droplet and the longer burning times available in reduced gravity extend the spatial and temporal dimensions to permit careful probing of the flame structure and dynamics. Third, the influence of the radiative heat transfer from the solid oxides can be studied more carefully by generating a stagnant spherical shell of condensed products undisturbed by buoyancy.

Branch, M.C.↗
NASA NTRS2000

A Comparison of the Extra Nuclear X-ray and Radio Features in M87

ROSAT High Resolution Imager (HRI) data from eight observations have been co-added to obtain an effective exposure of 230 ksec. We have identified a number of features and regions with excess X-ray brightness over that from a circularly symmetric model of the well known hot gas component. A prominent 'spur' extends 4feet from the vicinity of knot A towards the south-west. The brightness to the south and east of this spur is significantly higher than that to the north and west. Excess brightness is also found to the East of the nucleus, with a local maximum centered on the eastern radio lobe 3 feet from the core. There are two well known relationships between radio and X-ray emission for radio galaxies in clusters: coincidence of emissions because the X-rays come from inverse Compton or synchrotron processes; and anti-coincidence caused by exclusion of hot gas from radio entities. We present a radio/X-ray comparison to determine if either of these relationships can be isolated in M87. The greatest obstacle we face is the unknown projection which affects both bands.

Harris, D. E.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Evaluation of a Human Modeling Software Tool in the Prediction of Extra Vehicular Activity Tasks for an International Space Station Assembly Mission

The difficulty of accomplishing work in extravehicular activity (EVA) is well documented. It arises as a result of motion constraints imposed by a pressurized spacesuit in a near-vacuum and of the frictionless environment induced in microgravity. The appropriate placement of foot restraints is crucial to ensuring that astronauts can remove and drive bolts, mate and demate connectors, and actuate levers. The location on structural members of the foot restraint sockets, to which the portable foot restraint is attached, must provide for an orientation of the restraint that affords the astronaut adequate visual and reach envelopes. Previously, the initial location of these sockets was dependent upon the experienced designer's ability to estimate placement. The design was tested in a simulated zero-gravity environment; spacesuited astronauts performed the tasks with mockups while submerged in water. Crew evaluation of the tasks based on these designs often indicated the bolt or other structure to which force needed to be applied was not within an acceptable work envelope, resulting in redesign. The development of improved methods for location of crew aids prior to testing would result in savings to the design effort for EVA hardware. Such an effort to streamline EVA design is especially relevant to International Space Station construction and maintenance. Assembly operations alone are expected to require in excess of four hundred hours of EVA. Thus, techniques which conserve design resources for assembly missions can have significant impact. We describe an effort to implement a human modelling application in the design effort for an International Space Station Assembly Mission. On Assembly Flight 6A, the Canadian-built Space Station Remote Manipulator System will be delivered to the U.S. Laboratory. It will be released from its launch restraints by astronauts in EVA. The design of the placement of foot restraint sockets was carried out using the human model Jack, and the modelling results were compared with actual underwater test results. The predicted locations of the sockets was found to be acceptable for 94% of the tasks attempted by the astronauts, This effort provides confidence in the capabilities of this package to accurately model tasks. It therefore increases assurance that the tool maybe used early in the design process.

Dischinger, H. Charles↗
NASA NTRS2001

Formation and Early Evolution of Solar and Extra-Solar Giant Planets

This project investigates the origin of giant planets, both in the Solar System and around other stars. It is assumed that the planets form by the core accretion process: small solid particles in a disk surrounding a young star gradually coagulate into objects of a few kilometers in size, known as planetesimals, which then accumulate into solid protoplanetary cores. Once the cores have become large enough, they are able to attract gas from the surrounding disk to form the deep gaseous envelope of the giant planet. Our code simulates giant planet growth in a spherical approximation, and it has been quite successful in addressing a number of basic planetary properties. Further improvements to the code have been made to achieve a more realistic understanding of planetary formation. The computations of the models were based on an earlier version of our code and were stopped at the onset of runaway gas accretion. Now, improved boundary conditions have been incorporated into the code to allow for hydrodynamic inflow of gas and to handle the late stages of evolution when the planet evolves at constant mass. These changes were made to the version of the code that uses a constant accretion rate and to the version that uses a self-consistent method for calculating both the solid and gas accretion rates. The equation of state has been updated to incorporate the detailed tables of Saumon, Chabrier, and Van Horn. The opacities were updated to include the results of Alexander and Ferguson. The outer boundary conditions were modified. During the accretion phase when the planet's radius is between the accretion radius and the tidal radius, we set the outer boundary at a 'modified' accretion radius, which is the point where thermal energy is enough to bring gas to the edge of the Hill sphere.

Bodenheimer, P. H.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Types of Information Expected from a Photometric Search for Extra-Solar Planets

The current theory postulates that planets are a consequence of the formation of stars from viscous accretion disks. Condensation from the hotter, inner portion of the accretion disk favors the formation of small rocky planets in the inner portion and the formation of gas giants in the cuter, cooler part. Consequently, terrestrial-type planets in inner orbits must be commonplace (Wetheril 1991). From the geometry of the situation (Borucki and Summers 1984), it can be shown that 1% of those planetary systems that resemble our solar system should show transits for Earth-sized (or larger) planets. Thus a photometric satellite that uses a wide field of view telescope and a large CCD array to simultaneously monitor 5000 target stars should detect 50 planetary systems. To verify that regularly recurring transits are occurring rather than statistical fluctuations of the stellar flux, demands observations that extend over several orbital periods so that the constancy of the orbital period, signal amplitude, and duration can be measured. Therefore, to examine the region from Mercury's orbit to that of the Earth requires a duration of three years whereas a search out to the orbit of mars requires about six years. The results of the observations should provide estimates of the distributions of planetary size and orbital radius, and the frequency of planetary systems that have Earth-sized planets in inner orbits. Because approximately one half of the star systems observed will be binary systems, the frequency of planetary systems orbit ' ing either one or both of the stars can also be determined. Furthermore, the complexity of the photometric signature of a planet transiting a pair of stars provides enough information to estimate the eccentricities of the planetary orbits. In summary, the statistical evidence from a photometric search of solar-like stars should be able to either confirm or deny the applicability of the current theory of planet formation and provide new information about the stability of planetary orbits in binary star systems.

Borucki, William↗
NASA NTRS1998

Obtaining the Mass and Radius of Extra-Solar Giant Planets

The scientific utility and feasibility of detecting transits of the 9 known extrasolar planets is explored. A transit of a solar-like star by a Jupiter mass planet produces a 1% decrease in the amount of light received from the star. Transit observation will remove the ambiguity in the measurement of the planetary mass inherent in the radial velocity method and confirm the planet's existence. The 9 known planets have a 33% chance of producing at least one observable transit. Additional extrasolar planet detections from the radial velocity surveys will increase this probability to greater than 90%. The radius of the planet can be determined by the fractional decrease in light received during transit. The mass and radius may distinguish rocky or gas giant planets from brown dwarfs. The probability of detection, the transit signal size and duration, and predictions of the transit times (including errors) are calculated for circular and elliptical orbits. Observational limits are investigated and it is shown that small telescopes and existing detectors are adequate enough to achieve the 0.1% photometry necessary to detect transits of the known extrasolar planets.

Castellano, Tim↗
NASA NTRS2002

A Large Sparse Aperture Densified Pupil Hypertelescope Concept for Ground Based Detection of Extra-Solar Earth-Like Planets

A concept is presented for a large (10 - 30 meter) sparse aperture hyper telescope to image extrasolar earth-like planets from the ground in the presence of atmospheric seeing. The telescope achieves high dynamic range very close to bright stellar sources with good image quality using pupil densification techniques. Active correction of the perturbed wavefront is simplified by using 36 small flat mirrors arranged in a parabolic steerable array structure, eliminating the need for large delat lines and operating at near-infrared (1 - 3 Micron) wavelengths with flats comparable in size to the seeing cells.

Gezari, D.↗
NASA NTRS2003

A Program to Detect and Characterize Extra-Solar Giant Planets

We initiated a significant hardware upgrade to the AFOE, to increase its efficiency for precise radial velocity studies to the level where we can continue to contribute usefully to extrasolar planet research on relatively bright stars. The AFOE, at a 1.5-m telescope, will of course not have the sensitivity of radial velocity instruments at larger telescopes, such as the HIRES on Keck or the Hectochelle on the MMT telescope (about to come on line). However, it has been possible to increase its efficiency for precise radial velocity studies by a factor of 4 to 5, which-combined with the large amount of telescope time available at the 1.5-m telescope-will permit us to do intensive follow-up observations of stars brighter than about 8 magnitude. The AFOE was originally designed primarily for asteroseismology using a ThAr reference. This provided useful wavelength stability over tens of minutes as required for asteroseismology, but we were unable to get a long-term (month-to-month) velocity precision better than about 15 m/s with that setup. Hence, we implemented an iodine cell as a wavelength reference for extrasolar planet studies. However, the optical design of the original AFOE did not completely span the wavelength range covered by the iodine absorption spectrum, and furthermore the optics suffered significant light loss through optical obscuration in the camera secondary. To remedy this, we replaced the AFOE grating with a new one that covered the entire iodine spectral range at somewhat lower spectral resolution, and replaced the camera with a transmitting lens. (The use of a lens was made possible by restricting the spectral range covered by the upgraded AFOE to only the iodine region.) These upgrades were successfully completed, and the instrument was tested for three nights in fall of 2002. The expected improvement in sensitivity by a factor of 4 to 5 was observed: that is, the same velocity precision as previously attained (of order 5 to 7 m/s) was now obtained on a stars that are about 4 to 5 times fainter. Unfortunately, just after installing the new AFOE optics, there was a catastrophic failure of the old Tektronix CCD. A careful investigation was made, and it was determined that the failure was probably due to too many thermal cyclings over the previous 8 years. The only solution was to purchase a new CCD. Internal funds of $16,000 were found for this purpose, and the new CCD (a thinned, back-illuminated Marconi 2K x 2K device with 13.5 micron pixels, and employing dual readout channels to keep the readout time as short as 20 seconds) was ordered, has now arrived, and is currently under test before 1 being installed in the AFOE liquid nitrogen dewar. At the same time, we expect to implement new CCD control electronics. This system should be better in many ways than the previous detector (including eliminating the need for UV flashing to maximize the quantum efficiency). We plan to install the detector on the telescope and begin operations again in April of this year.

Lindstrom, David↗
NASA NTRS2003

Theoretical Studies of the Extra-terrestrial Chemistry of Biogenic Elements and Compounds

Results are presented on the following:(A) Ab initio quantum chemical studies of reactions in astrophysical ices.Theoretical electronic structure calculations were used to investigate reactions between formaldehyde (H2CO) and both hydrogen cyanide (HCN) and isocyanide (HNC) in search of other favorable reactions such as ammonia-formaldehyde addition, which was found in a recent theoretical study to be strongly enhanced when it occurs within cold ices.The present study examines further reactions between this product and H2CO in ices.(B) Heterogeneous hydrogenation of CO and H2CO on icy grain mantles.Formaldehyde (H2CO) and methanol (CH30H) are thought to be produced in the interstellar medium by the successive hydrogenation of carbon monoxide (CO) on grain surfaces. In the gas phase, the steps in which H adds to CO and H2CO possess modest barriers and are too inefficient to account for the observed abundances. Recent laboratory work has confirmed that formaldehyde and methanol are formed when H atoms are deposited on CO ice at 12 K. The present study employed ab initio quantum chemical calculations to investigate the impact of water ice on the sequential hydrogenation of CO.(C) Ice-bound condensed-phase reactions involving formic acid (HCOOH), methylenimine (CH2NH), hydrogen cyanide (HCN), hydrogen isocyanide (HNC), and ammonia ( 3) were investigated in order to characterize possible pathways to larger organic species that are efficient at the cold temperatures prevalent in cometary nuclei and the interstellar medium. (D) Pathways to glycine and other amino acids in ultraviolet-irradiated ices determined via quantum chemical modeling.(E) Photoionization in ultraviolet processing of astrophysical ice analogs at cryogenic temperatures.

Woon, David E.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Radial Velocity Detection of Extra-Solar Planetary Systems

This NASA Origins Program grant supported four closely related research programs at The University of Texas at Austin: 1) The McDonald Observatory Planetary Search (MOPS) Program, using the McDonald Observatory 2.7m Harlan Smith telescope and its 2dcoude spectrometer, 2) A high-precision radial-velocity survey of Hyades dwarfs, using the Keck telescope and its HIRES spectrograph, 3) A program at McDonald Observatory to obtain spectra of the parent stars of planetary systems at R = 210,000, and 4) the start of high precision radial velocity surveys using the Hobby-Eberly Telescope. The most important results from NASA support of these research programs are described. A list of all papers published under support of this grant is included at the end.

Cochran, William D.↗