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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 217 records · Page 12

The space shuttle payload planning working groups. Volume 3: High energy astrophysics

The findings of the High Energy Astrophysics working group of the space shuttle payload planning activity are presented. The objectives to be accomplished during space shuttle missions are defined as: (1) X-ray astronomy, (2) hard X-ray and gamma ray astronomy, and (3) cosmic ray astronomy. The instruments and test equipment required to accomplish the mission are identified. Recommendations for managing the installation of the equipment and conducting the missions are included.

Source record↗

Diffuse fluxes of cosmic high energy neutrinos

Production spectra of high-energy neutrinos from galactic cosmic ray interactions with interstellar gas and extragalactic ultrahigh energy cosmic-ray interactions with microwave black-body photons are presented and discussed. These production processes involve the decay of charged pions and are thus related to the production of cosmic gamma-rays from the decay of neutral pions. Estimates of the neutrino fluxes from various diffuse cosmic sources are then made and the reasons fro significant differences with previous estimates are discussed. Predicted event rates for a DUMAND type detection system are significantly lower than early estimates indicated.

Stecker, F. W.↗

Diffuse fluxes of cosmic high-energy neutrinos

Production spectra of high-energy neutrinos from galactic cosmic-ray interactions with interstellar gas and extragalactic ultrahigh-energy cosmic-ray interactions with microwave blackbody photons are presented and discussed. These production processes involve the decay of charged pions and are thus related to the production of cosmic gamma rays from the decay of neutral pions. Estimates of the neutrino fluxes from various diffuse cosmic sources are then made, and the reasons for significant differences with previous estimates are discussed. Small predicted event rates for a DUMAND (deep underwater muon and neutrino detector) type detection system, combined with a possible significant flux of prompt neutrinos from the atmosphere above 50 TeV, may make the study of diffuse extraterrestrial neutrinos more difficult than previously thought.

Stecker, F. W.↗

Ultra high energy cosmic ray spectrum

Ultra-high energy cosmic rays have been observed by means of atmospheric fluorescence with the Fly's Eye since 1981. The differential energy spectrum above 0.1 EeV is well fitted by a power law with slope 2.94 + or - 0.02. Some evidence of flattening of the spectrum is observed or energies greater than 10 EeV, however only one event is observed with energy greater than 50 EeV and a spectral cutoff is indicated above 70 EeV.

Baltrusaitis, R. M.↗

Experimental and theoretical research in high energy astrophysics

NASA grants to MIT for investigations in experimental and theoretical high energy astrophysics have, over the years, nurtured the infrastructure development and experimental activities that have led to successful proposals for the OSO 7, SAS 3, HEAO 1, and HEAO 2 missions and to the achievements in high energy astrophysics of the MIT Group. This report consists of excerpts from the progress reports of 1988 through 1990 that have been submitted as a regular feature of the renewal requests. These excerpts convey the flavor of the grant-supported activities, and a sense of the progress that has been made in each of the areas investigations.

Clark, George W.↗

High energy interactions of cosmic ray particles

The highlights of seven sessions of the Conference dealing with high energy interactions of cosmic rays are discussed. High energy cross section measurements; particle production-models of experiments; nuclei and nuclear matter; nucleus-nucleus collision; searches for magnetic monopoles; and studies of nucleon decay are covered.

Jones, L. W.↗

A serach for moderate- and high-energy neturino emission correlated with gamma-ray bursts

A temporal correlation analysis between moderate- (60 Mev less than or equal to E(sub nu)greater than or equal to 2500 MeV) and high-energy (E(sub nu) greater than or equal to 2000 MeV) neutrino interactions consist of two types: the moderate-energy interactions that are contained within the volume of IMB-3 and the upward-going muons produced by high-energy nu(sub mu) interactions in the rock around the detector. No evidence is found for moderate- or high-energy neutrino emission from GRBs nor for any neutrino/neutrino correlation. The nonobservation of nu/GRB correlations allows upper limits to be placed on the neutrino flux associated with GRBs.

Becker-Szendy, R.↗

A New Type of Transient High-Energy Source in the Direction of the Galactic Centre

Sources of high-energy (greater than 20 keV) bursts fall into two distinct types: the non-repeating gamma-ray bursters, several thousand of which have been detected but whose origin remains unknown, and the soft gamma-ray repeaters (SGRs), of which there are only three. The SGRs are known to be associated with supernova remnants, suggesting that the burst events most probably originate from young neutron stars. Here we report the detection of a third type of transient high-energy source. On 2 December 1995, we observed the onset of a sequence of hard X-ray bursts from a direction close to that of the Galactic Center. The interval between bursts was initially several minutes, but after two days, the burst rate had dropped to about one per hour and has been largely unchanged since then. More than 1,000 bursts have now been detected, with remarkably similar light curves and intensities; this behaviour is unprecendented among transient X-ray and gamma-ray sources. We suggest that the origin of these bursts might be related to the spasmodic accretion of material onto a neutron star.

Kouveliotou, C.↗

Design of a High-Energy, Two-Stage Pulsed Plasma Thruster

Design details of a proposed high-energy (approx. 50 kJ/pulse), two-stage pulsed plasma thruster are presented. The long-term goal of this project is to develop a high-power (approx. 500 kW), high specific impulse (approx. 7500 s), highly efficient (approx. 50%),and mechanically simple thruster for use as primary propulsion in a high-power nuclear electric propulsion system. The proposed thruster (PRC-PPT1) utilizes a valveless, liquid lithium-fed thermal plasma injector (first stage) followed by a high-energy pulsed electromagnetic accelerator (second stage). A numerical circuit model coupled with one-dimensional current sheet dynamics, as well as a numerical MHD simulation, are used to qualitatively predict the thermal plasma injection and current sheet dynamics, as well as to estimate the projected performance of the thruster. A set of further modelling efforts, and the experimental testing of a prototype thruster, is suggested to determine the feasibility of demonstrating a full scale high-power thruster.

Markusic, T. E.↗

A Gas-Actuated Projectile Launcher for High-Energy Impact Testing of Structures

A gas-act,uated penetration device has been developed for high-energy impact testing of structures. The high-energy impact. t,estiiig is for experimental simulation of uncontained engine failures. The non-linear transient finite element, code LS-DYNA3D has been used in the numerical simula.tions of a titanium rectangular blade with a.n aluminum target, plate. Threshold velocities for different combinations of pitch and yaw angles of the impactor were obtained for the impactor-target, t8est configuration in the numerica.1 simulations. Complet,e penet,ration of the target plate was also simulat,ed numerically. Finally, limited comparison of analytical and experimental results is presented for complete penetration of the target by the impactor.

Ambur, Damodar R.↗

The Effects of Low- and High-Energy Cutoffs on Solar Flare Microwave and Hard X-Ray Spectra

Microwave and hard x-ray spectra provide crucial information about energetic electrons and their environment in solar flares. These spectra are becoming better determined with the Owens Valley Solar Array (OVSA) and the recent launch of the Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI). The proposed Frequency Agile Solar Radiotelescope (FASR) promises even greater advances in radio observations of solar flares. Both microwave and hard x-ray spectra are sensitive to cutoffs in the electron distribution function. The determination of the high-energy cutoff from these spectra establishes the highest electron energies produced by the acceleration mechanism, while determination of the low-energy cutoff is crucial to establishing the total energy in accelerated electrons. This paper will show computations of the effects of both high- and low-energy cutoffs on microwave and hard x-ray spectra. The optically thick portion of a microwave spectrum is enhanced and smoothed by a low-energy cutoff, while a hard x-ray spectrum is flattened below the cutoff energy. A high-energy cutoff steepens the microwave spectrum and increases the wavelength at which the spectrum peaks, while the hard x-ray spectrum begins to steepen at photon energies roughly an order of magnitude below the electron cutoff energy. This work discusses how flare microwave and hard x-ray spectra can be analyzed together to determine these electron cutoff energies. This work is supported in part by the NASA Sun-Earth Connection Program.

Holman, G. D.↗

An Overview of High-Resolution, Non-Dispersive, Imaging Spectrometers for High-Energy Photons

High-resolution x-ray spectroscopy has become a powerful tool for studying the evolving universe. The grating spectrometers on the XMM and Chandra satellites initiated a new era in x-ray astronomy. Despite their successes, there is still need for instrumentation that can provide higher spectral resolution with high throughput in the Fe-K band and for extended sources. What is needed is a non-dispersive imaging spectrometer - essentially a 14-bit x-ray color camera. And a requirement for a nondispersive spectrometer designed to provide eV-scale spectral resolution is a temperature below 0.1 K. The required spectral resolution and the constraints of thermodynamics and engineering dictate the temperature regime nearly independently of the details of the sensor or the read-out technology. Low-temperature spectrometers can be divided into two classes - - equilibrium and non-equilibrium. In the equilibrium devices, or calorimeters, the energy is deposited in an isolated thermal mass and the resulting increase in temperature is measured. In the non-equilibrium devices, the absorbed energy produces quantized excitations that are counted to determine the energy. The two approaches have different strong points, and within each class a variety of optimizations have been pursued. I will present the basic fundamentals of operation and the details of the most successful device designs to date. I will also discuss how the measurement priorities (resolution, energy band, count rate) influence the optimal choice of detector technology.

Kilbourne, Caroline↗