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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
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2012

Progress on the Development of a Simulation Environment for Optical Communications

Deep space laser communications require extremely accurate beam pointing to take advantage of the narrow beams achievable at optical wavelengths. This pointing accuracy must be achieved in the presence of spacecraft basebody motion which may exceed laser pointing requirements by orders of magnitude.In this paper a model of an optical band transceiver pointing control system is developed that can be used to predict performance under various operating scenarios. The transceiver model consists of an electro-mechanical model of the telescope platform and isolator. A novel photon counting detector array is used in the simulation as the focal plane detector. In the simulation we are able to inject various cases of spacecraft basebody motion based on both flight data and future mission spacecraft jitter requirements. Various models of uplink beacon flux levels and atmospheric scintillation are also available for analysis.Using these models, detector processing and control functions are implemented in the simulation. A complete acquisition sequence is demonstrated with blind acquisition and tracking of the modulated uplink beam and positioning of the downlink beam on the focal plane array. These simulations predict that pointing requirements will be met with representative disturbance models and uplink beam scintillation.

pointing control↗
NASA NTRS1982

A mercuric detector system for X-ray astronomy. 2. Results from flight tests of a balloon borne instrument

To establish the expected sensitivity of a new hard X-ray telescope design, an experiment was conducted to measure the background counting rate at balloon altitudes (40 km) of mercuric iodide, a room temperature solid state X-ray detector. The prototype detector consisted of two thin mercuric iodide (HgI2) detectors surrounded by a large bismuth germanate (Bi4Ge3O12) scintillator operated in anticoincidence. The bismuth germanate shield vetoed most of the background counting rate induced by atmospheric gamma-rays, neutrons and cosmic rays. A balloon-borne gondola containing a prototype detector assembly was designed, constructed and flown twice in the spring of 1982 from Palestine, Texas. The second flight of this instrument established a differential background counting rate of 4.2 O.7 x 10-5 counts/sec cm keV over the energy range of 40 to 80 keV. This measurement was within 50% of the predicted value. The measured rate is approx 5 times lower than previously achieved in shielded NaI/CsI or Ge systems operating in the same energy range. The prediction was based on a Monte Carlo simulation of the detector assembly in the radiation environment at float altitude.

Vallerga, J.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Evaluation of clad scintillating light pipes

Arrays of fibers made of scintillating material were used as position-sensitive detectors or hodoscopes for beam-finding at ion accelerators. Experiments were made with alpha's from an Am241 source incident upon one end of the fiber, the other end being viewed with a photomultiplier tube. The scintillation light was not detected in any of the fibers tested beyond about 5 cm. The effective useful lengths for detection of relativistic heavy ions were given.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1977

Compensated time of flight telescope for spaceborne cosmic ray measurements

A large area time-of-flight telescope has been studied for future application in space-borne cosmic ray experiments. A new compensation technique for propagation delays inside the scintillators has been applied, which is operative in two perpendicular directions. This technique, superior to conventional one-dimensional compensations, allows high rejection probability for upward moving single particles at very short counter distances. Besides mechanical advantages a short counter distance is desirable because it permits a large field of view for the detector. A measurement of light transit times in scintillators is presented and based on it, directionality for shower events is discussed.

Rothermel, H.↗
NASA NTRS1973

HEAO gamma-ray astronomy experiments

Two gamma ray experiments designed to measure and map the cosmic gamma ray spectrum in the 0.1 to 10 MeV region are outlined. The sensitivity and capability of the instruments- a high resolution gamma ray spectrometer that uses solid state detectors and a combined UCSD-MIT scintillation system are also given. These experiment were designed for the HEAO program.

Metzger, A. E.↗
NASA NTRS1978

The University of Chicago cosmic ray electrons and nuclei experiment on the H spacecraft

The University of Chicago instrument on the Heliocentric spacecraft (MEH experiment) will measure the energy spectrum of cosmic electrons in the range 5-400 MeV. In addition, the energy spectra and relative abundances of nuclei from protons to the iron group, with energies ranging from 30 MeV/n to 15 GeV/n, will be determined. Primary scientific objectives involve the study of the long and short term variability of these components as a probe of the structure of the heliosphere. Particles are identified by multiparameter analysis using the pulse height analyzed signals from eight active detectors - silicon solid state, plastic and crystal scintillators are solid and gas Cerenkov counters. Data return is optimized by a three level priority logic scheme.

Meyer, P.↗
NASA NTRS2004

The Electron Spectrum above 20 GeV Measured by ATIC

The Advanced Thin Ionization Calorimeter (ATIC) Balloon Experiment has been flown from McMurdo, Antarctica in 2000-01 (test flight) and 2002-03 (science flight). ATIC is composed of a segmented BGO calorimeter following a carbon target with scintillator tracking layers and a Silicon matrix detector at the entrance. ATIC measures the composition and energy spectra of the nuclei plus electrons. We present the electron spectrum derived from the ATIC flights, from 20 GeV to 3 TeV, and compare it to existing very high energy measurements from emulsion chambers and to the results of galactic propagation calculations. The good energy resolution and high statistics in the ATIC data allow detailed astrophysical interpretation of the results.

Chang, J.↗
NASA NTRS2005

The Electron Spectrum above 20 GeV Measured by ATIC-2

The Advanced Thin Ionization Calorimeter (ATIC) Balloon Experiment has been flown from McMurdo, Antarctica in 2000-01 (test flight) and 2002-03 (science flight). ATIC is composed of a segmented BGO calorimeter following a carbon target with scintillator tracking layers and a Silicon matrix detector at the entrance. ATIC measures the composition and energy spectra of the nuclei plus electrons. We present the electron spectrum derived from the ATIC-2 science flight, from 20 GeV to 1.5 TeV, and compare it to existing very high energy measurements from emulsion chambers and to the results of galactic propagation calculations. The good energy resolution and high statistics in the ATIC data allow detailed astrophysical interpretation of the results.

Chang, J.↗
NASA NTRS2007

The Electron Calorimeter (ECAL) Long Duration Balloon Experiment

Accurate measurements of the cosmic ray electron energy spectrum in the energy region 50 GeV to greater than 1 TeV may reveal structure caused by the annihilation of exotic dark matter particles and/or individual cosmic ray sources. Here we describe a new long duration balloon (LDB) experiment, ECAL, optimized to directly measure cosmic ray electrons up to several TeV. ECAL includes a double layer silicon matrix, a scintillating optical fiber track imager, a neutron detector and a fully active calorimeter to identify more than 90% of the incident electrons with an energy resolution of about 1.7% while misidentifying only 1 in 200,000 protons and 0.8% of secondary gamma rays as electrons. Two ECAL flights in Antarctica are planned for a total exposure of 50 days with the first flight anticipate for December 2009.

Guzik, T. G.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Revised Energy Spectra for Primary Elements, H - Si, above 50 GeV from the ATIC-2 Science Flight

The Advanced Thin Ionization Calorimeter (ATIC) long duration balloon experiment had a successful science flight accumulating 18 days of data (12/02 - 1/03) during a single circumnavigation in Antarctica. ATIC measures the energy spectra of elements from H to Fe in primary cosmic rays using a fully active Bismuth Germanate calorimeter preceded by a carbon target, with embedded scintillator hodoscopes, and a silicon matrix charge detector at the top. Preliminary results from ATIC have been reported in previous conferences. The revised results reported here are derived from a new analysis of the data with improved charge resolution, lower background and revised energy calibration. The raw energy deposit spectra are de-convolved into primary energy spectra and extrapolated to the top of the atmosphere. We compare these revised results to previous data and comment upon the astrophysical interpretation of the results.

Wefel, J. P.↗
NASA NTRS1997

A Measurement of the Energy Spectra of Cosmic Rays from 20 to 1000 GeV Per Amu

The design features and operational performance from the test flight of the fourth generation of spherical geometry cosmic ray detectors developed at Bristol University (Bristol University Gas Scintillator 4 - BUGS-4) are presented. The flight from Ft. Sumner (NM) in Sept. 1993 was the premier flight of a large (1m radius) spherical drift chamber which also gave gas scintillation and Cerenkov signals. The combinations of this chamber with one gas and two solid Cerenkov radiators lead to a large aperture factor (4.5 m2sr), but low (approximately 3.5 g/sq cm) instrument mass over the energy sensitive range 1 to several hundred GeV/a. Moreover, one simple timing measurement determined the impact parameter which provided a trajectory (path length) correction for all detector elements. This innovative and efficient design will be of interest to experimental groups engaged in studies of energetic charged particles. Although there were technical problems on the flight, which were compounded by the total destruction of BUGS-4 by fire while landing in Oklahoma, there was a period of stable operation during which the instrument was exposed at float altitude (approximately 125,000 ft.) to high energy cosmic rays. We present the performance of the instrument as determined from the analysis of these data and an appraisal of its novel design features. Suggestions for design improvements in a future instrument are made.

Gregory, J. C.↗
NASA NTRS1985

A position sensitive phoswich hard X-ray detector system

A prototype position sensitive phoswich hard X-ray detector, designed for eventual astronomical usage, was tested in the laboratory. The scintillation crystal geometry was designed on the basis of a Monte Carlo simulation of the internal optics and includes a 3mm thick NaI(T1) primary X-ray detector which is actively shielded by a 20 mm thick CsI(T1) scintillation crystal. This phoswich arrangement is viewed by a number two inch photomultipliers. Measured values of the positional and spectral resolution of incident X-ray photons are compared with calculation.

Dean, A. J.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Tests of a multichannel photometer based on silicon diode detectors

A breadboard photometer was constructed that demonstrates a precision of 2 times 10 to the 4th power in the laboratory and scintillation-limited performance when used with an 0.5 m aperture telescope. Because the detectors and preamps are not cooled, only stars with m sub v approx. less than 4 are bright enough to allow the photometer to attain a precision of 1 times 10 to the 3rd power for three minute observations with an 0.5 m aperature telescope. Cooling the telescope should allow much fainter stars to be observed. Increasing the aperture of the telescope will allow higher precision and the observation of fainter stars.

Borucki, William J.↗
NASA NTRS2008

Silicon Photo-Multiplier Readouts for Scintillators in High-Energy Astronomy

New scintillator materials have recently been shown to hold great potential for low-cost, reliable gamma-ray detectors in high-energy astronomy. New devices for the detection of scintillation light promise to make scintillator-based instruments even more attractive by reducing mass and power requirements,in particular, silicon photo-multipliers (SiPMs) are starting to become commercially available that offer gains and quantum efficiencies similar to those of photo-multiplier tubes (PMTs), but with greatly reduced mass, high ruggedness, low voltage requirements, and no sensitivity to magnetic fields. We have conducted laboratory tests of a sample of commercially available SiPMs coupled to LaBr3;Ce, a scintillator of relevance to to future high-energy astrophysics missions. We present results for gamma-ray spectroscopy. compare the SiPM performance to that of a PMT, and discuss the extent to which SiPMs offer significant advantages for scintillator-based space missions.

Bloser, Peter F.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Support of research in X-ray astronomy

Activities described include: (1) the evaluation of CCD detectors for X-ray astronomy applications; (2) contributions to the development of an imaging gas scintillation proportional counter; (3) the evaluation of certain metal oxide crystals as potential radiation detectors; (4) optical observations and searches for X-ray sources discovered by the HEAO-1 A2 experiment; and (5) theoretical modeling of nonequilibrium ionization structure of supernova remnants.

Garmire, G.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Relative Fluxes of Primary Particles in B-C-N-O Group from the ATIC Experiment (Science Flight)

The ATIC balloon-born experiment measures the energy spectra of elements from H to Fe in primary cosmic rays from about 100 GeV to 100 TeV. ATIC is comprised of a fully active bismuth germinate calorimeter, a carbon target with embedded scintillator hodoscopes, and a silicon matrix that is used as a main charge detector. The silicon matrix produces good charge resolution for the protons and helium but only a partial resolution for heavier nuclei. In the present paper a charge resolution of ATIC device was improved and backgrounds were reduced in the region from Be to Si by means of the upper layer of the scintillator hodoscope that was used as charge detector together with silicon matrix. Relative fluxes of nuclei B, C, N, O in the energy region from about 20 GeV/nucleon to 200 GeV/nucleon that were obtained from new high-resolution and high-quality charge spectra of nuclei are presented.

Panov, A. D.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Ariel 6 measurements of ultra-heavy cosmic ray fluxes in the region 34 or = Z or = 48

The Ariel VI satellite was launched by NASA on a Scout rocket on 3rd June 1979 from Wallops Island, Virginia, USA, into a near circular 625 km orbit inclined at 55 deg. It carried a spherical cosmic ray detector designed by a group from Bristol University. A spherical aluminum vessel of diameter 75 cm contains a gas scintillation mixture and a thin spherical shell of Pilot 425 plastic, and forms a single optical cavity viewed by 16 photomultipliers. Particle tracks through the detector may be characterized by their impact parameter p and by whether or not they pass through the cup of plastic scintillator placed between the sphere and the spacecraft body (referred to below as the Anti-Coincidence Detector or ACD). Individual particle charges are determined by separately measuring the gas scintillation and the Cerenkov emission from the plastic shell. This is possible because of the quite different distribution in time of these emissions.

Fowler, P. H.↗
NASA NTRS1983

The GSFC Advanced Compton Telescope (ACT)

A new telescope is being developed at GSFC for the study of point sources of gamma rays in the energy range 1-30 MeV. Using the detection principle of a Compton scatter in a 2.5 cm thick NaI(Tl) detector followed by absorption in a 15 cm thick NaI(Tl) detector, the telescope uses a rocking collimator for field-of-view reduction and background subtraction. Background reduction techniques include lead-plastic scintillator shielding, pulse shape discrimination and Anger camera operation to both NaI detectors, as well as a time-of-flight measurement between them. The instrument configuration and status is described.

Hartman, R.↗