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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

Spacecraft Material Characterization Using Reflectance Spectra Extracted from RGB/IR Color Images

The space environment is detrimental to the exterior of the spacecraft and imposes stringent requirements on spacecraft materials. Space materials are often expected to perform for 15-20 years in the harsh space environment without significant degradation of their optical, electrical, mechanical and thermal properties. Further, as commercial activities increase in the space domain, development of predictive capability for material evolution is critical for agile adaption of novel materials. Therefore, it is very important to understand the effects of the space environments on the spacecraft materials. The Materials on the International Space Station Experiment Flight Facility (MISSE-FF) has flown numerous material samples to investigate the effect of LEO space weather exposure on the performance and durability of materials and devices. We are manifest on the MISSE-16 mission, scheduled to launch in June 2022, to fly fifteen novel and well-characterized materials in the LEO environment for a duration of six months. Changes in spectral reflectivity will be measured in real time throughout the mission with an RGB/IR camera. These time-resolved data will function as a "space-truth" reference for our team's ongoing laboratory-based space weather-material interaction experiments. Correlation of the MISSE-16 data with extensive ground testing of duplicate samples under simulated space weather conditions will enable development of fundamental chemical models for material degradation. This paper discusses preliminary results from the ground test campaign to collect the RGB/IR images for pristine and damaged materials and the development of machine learning algorithms to extract reflectance spectra from the color images.

Jainisha R. Shah↗

Time-resolved spectrophotometry of the emission lines in the galactic X-ray source H2252-035

The galactic X-ray source H2252-035 has been the object of a concentrated observational effort, since Griffiths et al. (1980) have identified it with a cataclysmic variable-like spectrum. Since the observed 859 s periodicity corresponds to the beat frequency between the X-ray and orbital periods, it has been interpreted as related to a reprocessing of the X-ray flux into optical emission in some region of the system which is rotating with the orbital period and heated by beamed X-ray emission from the compact star. In connection with the present investigation, H2252-035 has been observed with a 120 inch (3 m) telescope and image dissector scanner on 1980 September 9/10 and on 1981 September 20/21. At a time resolution of approximately 2 minutes, four bright emission lines showed short time-scale flickering and a pronounced orbital period variation in phase with the continuum modulation. A two-component model for the line emission region is proposed.

Clarke, J. T.↗

Time Resolved Visualization of A Liquid Jet in an RDE Using MHz Rate Diesel PLIF

The characterization of the dynamic response of liquid jets to transient detonation wave passage is critical for optimization and modeling of liquid fueled rotating detonation combustors. In this work, a rotating detonation combustor (RDC) is operated on hydrogen and air to sustain stable detonation waves that acts as a detonation driver and interact in a one-way coupled manner with a single liquid fuel jet that propagates into the combustion chamber with cycle periods of ~ 250 μs. Diesel is utilized as a realistic fuel surrogate with higher aromatic compounds to enable fluorescence excitation, using the 355 nm third harmonic output of a burst-mode Nd:YAG laser, imaged at rates up to 1 MHz. By optimizing the technique to accommodate orders of magnitude variations in the fuel density throughout the injection process, the PLIF data enable quantitative measurements including the refill time, the relative recovery between liquid and gaseous jets and jet trajectory across various momentum flux ratio. As the passage of the detonation wave imparts significant changes in the momentum flux ratio, the qualitative liquid break-up process and spatial distribution varies significantly in time. As the injection system recovers ~ 70% of the cycle period and return to a quasi-steady position and allow comparisons with theoretical jet trajectories. These data, enabled by ultra-high-speed PLIF imaging, represent some of the first detailed measurements for quantifying the dynamic response and recovery of liquid jets exposed to periodic detonations in an operating RDC.

Propulsion↗

Stellar Occultation Studies of the Solar System

Earth-based observations of stellar occultations provide extremely high spatial resolution for bodies in the outer solar system, about 10,000 times better than that of traditional imaging observations. Stellar occultation data can be used to establish the structure of atmospheres and rings of solar system bodies at high spatial resolution. Airborne occultation observations are particularly effective, since the controlled mobility of the observing platform allows the observer to fly within the optimum part of the occultation shadow for most events that are visible from Earth. Airborne observations are carried out above any clouds and are nearly free of scintillation noise from the Earth's atmosphere. KAO occultation observations resulted in the first detection of gravity waves in the Martian atmosphere, discovery of the Uranian rings, the first detection of Pluto's atmosphere, the first Earth-based investigations of Triton's atmosphere, and the discovery of narrow jets from Chiron's nucleus. The first SOFIA occultation opportunity will be an investigation of Pluto's atmospheric structure in November, 2002, and will resolve a problem that has lingered since the KAO discovery observation fourteen years earlier. We plan to continue our successful airborne occultation program with the greatly enhanced capability provided by SOFIA. We propose here to replace our KAO occultation photometer with one having twice the throughput, half the noise, a somewhat wider wavelength range, four times the field of view, and ten times the frame rate to optimize its performance and to capitalize on the larger collecting area offered by SOFIA. It will also allow for simultaneous visible and IR occultation observations, greatly enriching the results that we can obtain from occultations. We call this new imaging occultation photometer HOPI (High-speed Occultation Photometer and Imager). HOPI will provide a signal-to-noise ratio two to four times that of our present photometer for a given event, will permit useful observations of the more numerous events involving fainter stars, and will allow higher time resolution observations to be made. HOPI's characteristics also make it an ideal instrument for initial and ongoing evaluations of the SOFIA telescope's performance.

Elliot, James L.↗

Stellar Occultation Studies of the Solar System

Earth-based observations of stellar occultations provide extremely high spatial resolution for bodies in the outer solar system, about 10,000 times better than that of traditional imaging observations. Stellar occultation data can be used to establish the structure of atmospheres and rings of solar system bodies at high spatial resolution. Airborne occultation observations are particularly effective, since the controlled mobility of the observing platform allows the observer to fly within the optimum part of the occultation shadow for most events that are visible from Earth. Airborne observations are carried out above any clouds and are nearly free of scintillation noise from the Earth's atmosphere. KAO occultation observations resulted in the first detection of gravity waves in the Martian atmosphere, discovery of the Uranian rings, the first detection of Pluto's atmosphere, the first Earth-based investigations of Triton's atmosphere, and the discovery of narrow jets from Chiron's nucleus. The first SOFIA occultation opportunity will be an investigation of Pluto's atmospheric structure in November, 2002, and will resolve a problem that has lingered since the KAO discovery observation fourteen years earlier. We plan to continue our successful airborne occultation program with the greatly enhanced capability provided by SOFIA. We propose here to replace our KAO occultation photometer with one having twice the throughput, half the noise, a somewhat wider wavelength range, four times the field of view, and ten times the frame rate to optimize its performance and to capitalize on the larger collecting area offered by SOFIA. It will also allow for simultaneous visible and IR occultation observations, greatly enriching the results that we can obtain from occultations. We call this new imaging occultation photometer HOPI (High-speed Occultation Photometer and Imager). HOPI will provide a signal-to-noise ratio two to four times that of our present photometer for a given event, will permit useful observations of the more numerous events involving fainter stars, and will allow higher time resolution observations to be made. HOPI's characteristics also make it an ideal instrument for initial and ongoing evaluations of the SOFIA telescope's performance.

Elliot, James L.↗

New calibration techniques for the Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS)

Recent laboratory calibrations of the Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) include new methods for the characterization of the geometric, spectral, temporal and radiometric properties of the sensor. New techniques are desired in order to: (1) increase measurement accuracy and precision, (2) minimize measurement time and expense, (3) prototype new field and inflight calibration systems, (4) resolve measurement ambiguities, and (5) add new measurement dimensions. One of the common features of these new methods is the use of the full data collection and processing power of the AVIRIS instrument and data facility. This allows the collection of large amounts of calibration data in a short period of time and is well suited to modular data analysis routines.

Chrien, Thomas G.↗

A review of recent results in gamma-ray astronomy obtained from high-altitude balloons

This paper reviews recent results in gamma-ray astronomy obtained from experiments flown on high-altitude balloons. New generation balloon-borne imaging experiments have produced the first gamma-ray maps of the Galactic center (GC) region. Balloon flights of new gamma-ray spectrometers with improved sensitivity have provided important new information on the GC annihilation line. For the first time, the narrow 511 keV line as been resolved (FWHM approx. = 3 keV). A very interesting spectral feature at approximately 170 keV has been attributed to backscattered annihilation, probably from the vicinity of a compact object. New results from the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory (CGRO)/OSSE and Granat/SIGMA experiments on the annihilation line, when considered together with the recent balloon results, have added greatly to our knowledge and understanding of the origin and distribution of this emission. Balloon-borne instruments have made important measurements of gamma-ray continuum and line emission from SN 1987A. The GRIS spectrometer unambiguously resolved the 847 and 1238 keV line emission from radioactive Co-56 synthesized during the explosion. This data indicated that simple spherically symmetric and homogeneous models did not provide an adequate description of the expanding SN shell.

Teegarden, B. J.↗

The abundances of major elements in Cas A and Tycho supernova remnants

The objective of this program was to map the abundances of major elements such as O, Si, S, and Fe in the supernova remnants, Tycho and Cas A. The approach was based upon using archival cosmic X-ray data from several space missions, notably, the Einstein Observatory, EXOSAT, ROSAT, BBSRT, and ASCA. Two of the missions, Einstein and ROSAT, had high resolution telescopes that provided excellent images, but no spectral information. Two missions with much poorer resolution telescopes, BBXRT and ASCA, gave good spectral information through pulse height of signals in their cooled solid state detector, but rather crude spatial information. Our goal was to extract spectral information from the combined analysis of the Einstein and ROSAT images of Cas A and Tycho and to verify or refine the spectral map by checking its agreement with the BBSRT or ASCA spectra results for larger regions. In particular, we note that the Einstein and ROSAT telescopes have different spectral responses. The Einstein bandwidth includes the 2-4 keV region which is absent from ROSAT. Hence, by forming linear combinations of the Einstein and ROSAT images, we are able to resolve the contributions of the 0.5-2 keV band from the 2-4 keV band. The former contains lines of O and Fe while the latter is dominated by Si and S. We correct for the expansion that has taken place in the remnants during the ten-year interval between the Einstein and ROSAT measurements, but we must assume that no significant spectral changes have occurred during that time. The analysis of the Tycho SNR was completed and the results have been published. A copy of the paper is included. The analysis of Cas A has proved to be more complicated. It is continuing with support from another program. Part of the problem may be due to difficulties in the aspect information which is needed to precisely register the ROSAT and Einstein images.

Gorenstein, P.↗

Time Resolved Visualization of Liquid Jet Interaction With H2-Air Rotating Detonations Using MHz Rate Diesel PLIF

The characterization of the dynamic response of liquid jets to transient detonation wave passage is critical for optimization and modeling of liquid fueled rotating detonation combustors. In this work, a rotating detonation combustor (RDC) is operated on hydrogen and air to sustain stable detonation waves that acts as a detonation driver and interact in a one-way coupled manner with a single liquid fuel jet that propagates into the combustion chamber with cycle periods of ~ 250 μs. Diesel is utilized as a realistic fuel surrogate with higher aromatic compounds to enable fluorescence excitation, using the 355 nm thirdharmonic output of a burst-mode Nd:YAG laser, imaged at rates up to 1 MHz. By optimizing the technique to accommodate orders of magnitude variations in the fuel density throughout the injection process, the PLIF data enable quantitative measurements including the refill time, the relative recovery between liquid and gaseous jets and jet trajectory across various momentum flux ratio. As the passage of the detonation wave imparts significant changes in the momentum flux ratio, the qualitative liquid break-up process and spatial distribution varies significantly in time. As the injection system recovers ~ 70% of the cycle period and return to a quasi-steady position and allow comparisons with theoretical jet trajectories. These data, enabled by ultra-high-speed PLIF imaging, represent some of the first detailed measurements for quantifying the dynamic response and recovery of liquid jets exposed to periodic detonations in an operating RDC.

Propulsion↗

10 micron imaging of UZ Tauri: Evidence for circumstellar disk clearing due to a close companion star

We present 10 micrometer images of the multiple T Tauri star system UZ Tau taken with the Berkeley mid-infrared array camera at the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) and evidence that UZ Tau E and W are a common proper pair. The mid-infrared emission is resolved for the first time into the two components UZ Tau E and UZ Tau W. The mid-infrared excess deduced for UZ Tau W appears to be much lower than that observed for UZ Tau E. This excess emission is consistent with an optically thin circumstellar disk in the case of UZ Tau W, whereas UZ Tau E's excess is consistent with an optically thick disk. We suggest that the close binary star pair in UZ Tau W is responsible for the observed difference between UZ Tau E and W's mid-infrared excess. In the proposed model, the binary star interacts with the local circumstellar disk environment and clears out much of the material inside its orbital radius (approximately 50 AU). As a result, the hot dust, observed at mid-infrared wavelengths, in UZ Tau W is suppressed compared to its 'wider' companion UZ Tau E. This scenario can also plausibly account for differences observed in UZ Tau E's and UZ Tau W's optical line strengths and profiles.

Chez, A. M.↗

Effect of Temperature on Jet Velocity Spectra

Statistical jet noise prediction codes that accurately predict spectral directivity for both cold and hot jets are highly sought both in industry and academia. Their formulation, whether based upon manipulations of the Navier-Stokes equations or upon heuristic arguments, require substantial experimental observation of jet turbulence statistics. Unfortunately, the statistics of most interest involve the space-time correlation of flow quantities, especially velocity. Until the last 10 years, all turbulence statistics were made with single-point probes, such as hotwires or laser Doppler anemometry. Particle image velocimetry (PIV) brought many new insights with its ability to measure velocity fields over large regions of jets simultaneously; however, it could not measure velocity at rates higher than a few fields per second, making it unsuitable for obtaining temporal spectra and correlations. The development of time-resolved PIV, herein called TR-PIV, has removed this limitation, enabling measurement of velocity fields at high resolution in both space and time. In this paper, ground-breaking results from the application of TR-PIV to single-flow hot jets are used to explore the impact of heat on turbulent statistics of interest to jet noise models. First, a brief summary of validation studies is reported, undertaken to show that the new technique produces the same trusted results as hotwire at cold, low-speed jets. Second, velocity spectra from cold and hot jets are compared to see the effect of heat on the spectra. It is seen that heated jets possess 10 percent more turbulence intensity compared to the unheated jets with the same velocity. The spectral shapes, when normalized using Strouhal scaling, are insensitive to temperature if the stream-wise location is normalized relative to the potential core length. Similarly, second order velocity correlations, of interest in modeling of jet noise sources, are also insensitive to temperature as well.

Bridges, James E.↗

Offset Stream Technology Test-Summary of Results

Statistical jet noise prediction codes that accurately predict spectral directivity for both cold and hot jets are highly sought both in industry and academia. Their formulation, whether based upon manipulations of the Navier-Stokes equations or upon heuristic arguments, require substantial experimental observation of jet turbulence statistics. Unfortunately, the statistics of most interest involve the space-time correlation of flow quantities, especially velocity. Until the last 10 years, all turbulence statistics were made with single-point probes, such as hotwires or laser Doppler anemometry. Particle image velocimetry (PIV) brought many new insights with its ability to measure velocity fields over large regions of jets simultaneously; however, it could not measure velocity at rates higher than a few fields per second, making it unsuitable for obtaining temporal spectra and correlations. The development of time-resolved PIV, herein called TR-PIV, has removed this limitation, enabling measurement of velocity fields at high resolution in both space and time. In this paper, ground-breaking results from the application of TR-PIV to single-flow hot jets are used to explore the impact of heat on turbulent statistics of interest to jet noise models. First, a brief summary of validation studies is reported, undertaken to show that the new technique produces the same trusted results as hotwire at cold, low-speed jets. Second, velocity spectra from cold and hot jets are compared to see the effect of heat on the spectra. It is seen that heated jets possess 10 percent more turbulence intensity compared to the unheated jets with the same velocity. The spectral shapes, when normalized using Strouhal scaling, are insensitive to temperature if the stream-wise location is normalized relative to the potential core length. Similarly, second order velocity correlations, of interest in modeling of jet noise sources, are also insensitive to temperature as well.

Brown, Clifford A.↗

The 3-Dimensional Inner and Outer Structure of Ejecta Around Eta Carinae as Detected by the STIS

The HST/STIS instrument was used successfully to perform a complete mapping of the Homunculus nebula at two wavelength ranges including H-alpha and H-beta with a spectral resolving power of about 5000 and a spatial resolution of 0.1". The individual spectra were merged to synthesize three-dimensional data cubes that contain a set of images of Eta Car with spatial resolution of 0.10 to 0.251, sliced at velocity increment of 10 -- 30 km/s. For the first time this unique method allows us to diagnose the origin of intrinsic narrow emission structure of the nebula with high spatial and velocity resolution. Our initial analysis revealed the inner emission structure appeared to trace an elongated bipolar shell (possibly other shells as well) with a scale size of an arcsecond (i.e., "little homunculus in the Homunculus"). Furthermore, the mapping data cube revealed that the "fan" or "paddle" -- often referred as the source of peculiar blue-shifted intrinsic emissions including the Strontium cloud -- is not the source of intrinsic emissions. The fan is not even a part of the equatorial disk, but is spatially separated from the peculiar emission structure. Indeed we suggest that the fan is a surface of the Northwest lobe, possibly revealed by a blowout of the equatorial disk. We will use a number of visualization techniques (tomographic animations and simple 3-D models) to show these structures. These new results have strong impact upon future numerical modelings of the Homunculus nebula and of understanding of the evolution of the ejecta powered by the central source(s).

Ishibashi, Kazunori↗

Time-Resolved OH-PLIF Assessment of Deflagrations Levels in a CH4-O2 Rotating Detonation Rocket Combustor

The parasitic loss incurred by deflagrative pre-burning is considered to be one of the key challenges to the effective implementation of rotating detonation engine (RDE) systems. Thus far, there have been relatively limited high fidelity, spatio-temporally resolved measurements of the pre-burning process as a function of the reactant conditions and composition within an RDE. In this work, simultaneous high-repetition-rate broadband OH* chemiluminescence and OH planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) imaging are employed to investigate deflagrative burning dynamics in a fully optically accessible CH4-O2 RDE as compared to a H2-air systems under the same conditions. A custom-built optical parametric oscillator (OPO) is coupled with a high-repetition-rate burst-mode laser to generate the 284 nm source for the excitation of the Q1(9) transition of the OH radical. Significant deflagrative burning is observed throughout the chamber as a consequence of the oxygen-rich environment. Trailing wave systems that consume unburned reactants in the region immediately following the primary detonation wave are observed. The formation of a product gas recirculation zone that entrains and combusts incoming reactants is observed, and quantitative analysis is performed to gain valuable insight into deflagration characteristics. At an oxidizer mass flux of Gox ≈ 350kg/m2/s, it is found that the levels of pre-wave burning in CH4-O2 are a factor of ∼2-3 times higher than in H2-air in the region directly ahead of the detonation wave at a global equivalence ratio Φ ≈ 1.0. This study highlights the key roles of ignition delay and turbulent mixing of the combustion product and reactant fields on the levels of pre-burning and establishes a methodology for further investigation, such as for the effects of various RDE inlet configurations.

Propulsion↗

Dust Production and Particle Acceleration in Supernova 1987A Revealed with ALMA

Supernova (SN) explosions are crucial engines driving the evolution of galaxies by shock heating gas, increasing the metallicity, creating dust, and accelerating energetic particles. In 2012 we used the Atacama Large Millimeter/ Submillimeter Array to observe SN1987A, one of the best-observed supernovae since the invention of the telescope. We present spatially resolved images at 450 μm, 870 μm, 1.4 mm, and 2.8 mm, an important transition wavelength range. Longer wavelength emission is dominated by synchrotron radiation from shock-accelerated particles, shorter wavelengths by emission from the largest mass of dust measured in a supernova remnant (>0.2 Solar Mass). For the first time we show unambiguously that this dust has formed in the inner ejecta (the cold remnants of the exploded star's core). The dust emission is concentrated at the center of the remnant, so the dust has not yet been affected by the shocks. If a significant fraction survives, and if SN 1987A is typical, supernovae are important cosmological dust producers.

Particle↗

Dynamic Measurement of Temperature, Velocity, and Density in Hot Jets Using Rayleigh Scattering

A molecular Rayleigh scattering technique was utilized to measure time-resolved gas temperature, velocity, and density in unseeded gas flows at sampling rates up to 10 kHz. A high power continuous-wave (cw) laser beam was focused at a point in an air flow field and Rayleigh scattered light was collected and fiber-optically transmitted to a Fabry-Perot interferometer for spectral analysis. Photomultipler tubes operated in the photon counting mode allowed high frequency sampling of the total signal level and the circular interference pattern to provide time-resolved density, temperature, and velocity measurements. Mean and rms velocity and temperature, as well as power spectral density calculations, are presented for measurements in a hydrogen-combustor heated jet facility with a 50.8-mm diameter nozzle at the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC). The Rayleigh measurements are compared with particle image velocimetry data and CFD predictions. This technique is aimed at aeronautics research related to identifying noise sources in free jets, as well as applications in supersonic and hypersonic flows where measurement of flow properties, including mass flux, is required in the presence of shocks and ionization occurrence.

Mielke, Amy F.↗

Assimilation of global cloud imagery from multiple satellites

Synoptic images of the global cloud field are created from measurements of IR radiation taken aboard four geostationary and two polar-orbiting platforms simultaneously observing the earth's cloud field. A series of spatial and temporal interpolations, together with data reliability criteria, are used to map synoptic measurements from the geostationary satellites and asynoptic measurements from the polar-orbiting satellites. The synoptic global cloud imagery (GCI) that results has a horizontal resolution of 0.7 deg in longitude by 0.35 deg in latitude and a temporal resolution of 3 h, providing an unprecedented view of the global cloud pattern. Each composite image represents a nearly instantaneous snapshot of the entire earth's cloud field. Collectively, the composite imagery resolve, on a global basis, most of the variability inherent to organized convection, including several harmonics of the diurnal cycle. Because of its homogeneous properties, the GCI lends itself easily to a variety of space-time analyses useful for studying global cloud behavior.

Tanaka, Ken↗

A simple method for correcting spatially resolved solar intensity oscillation observations for variations in scattered light

A measurement of the intensity distribution in an image of the solar disk will be corrupted by a spatial redistribution of the light that is caused by the earth's atmosphere and the observing instrument. A simple correction method is introduced here that is applicable for solar p-mode intensity observations obtained over a period of time in which there is a significant change in the scattering component of the point spread function. The method circumvents the problems incurred with an accurate determination of the spatial point spread function and its subsequent deconvolution from the observations. The method only corrects the spherical harmonic coefficients that represent the spatial frequencies present in the image and does not correct the image itself.

Jefferies, S. M.↗