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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 235 records · Page 13
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NASA NTRS1990

Scientific guidelines for preservation of samples collected from Mars

The maximum scientific value of Martian geologic and atmospheric samples is retained when the samples are preserved in the conditions that applied prior to their collection. Any sample degradation equates to loss of information. Based on detailed review of pertinent scientific literature, and advice from experts in planetary sample analysis, number values are recommended for key parameters in the environmental control of collected samples with respect to material contamination, temperature, head-space gas pressure, ionizing radiation, magnetic fields, and acceleration/shock. Parametric values recommended for the most sensitive geologic samples should also be adequate to preserve any biogenic compounds or exobiological relics.

Gooding, James L.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Direct satellite observations on bremsstrahlung radiation as a technique to investigate its role in meteorological processes

Satellite observations on bremsstrahlung produced in the atmosphere by precipitating energetic electrons are reported. This type of observation affords the possibility of directly monitoring the bremsstrahlung energy input to the lower atmosphere over large segments of the earth and at frequent intervals. From comparison of the ion production rates from cosmic rays with those calculated for bremsstrahlung from precipitating energetic electrons, it is concluded that bremsstrahlung is a negligible contributor to the ionization near the 300-mb level.

Johnson, R. G.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Radiation exposure predictions for long-duration-stay Mars missions

In this study, the ionizing radiation environment is estimated, using the Mission Radiation Calculation (MIRACAL) program, for several long-duration-stay Mars missions proposed for early in the 21(sup st) century. Both minimum energy and fast transfer missions are evaluated and their 30-day maximum, annual maximum, and total slab skin and blood-forming organ (BFO) doses are compared. When large flares were included while the astronauts were on the surface, the delivered dose did not significantly contribute to the total dose (less than 4 cSv BFO dose, or 8 percent of the guideline annual limit, for the most energetic event simulated) due to the substantial protection provided by the Martian atmosphere. However, dose delivered by large flares during transit is dependent on vehicle shielding and distance from the Sun. All of the fast transfer missions studied had lower total and annual maximum doses than the corresponding minimum energy transfer missions (on average, 30% less for missions having no large flares and the shielding thicknesses evaluated in this study). For all the missions studied, having the astronauts spend one-third of their day during transit in a 10 g/sq cm storm shelter resulted in an approximate 10% reduction in the total mission dose.

TOTAL SLAB SKIN↗
NASA NTRS2007

Astrobiological Significance of Microbial Extremophiles

The microflora of the cryosphere of planet Earth provides the best analogs for life forms that might be found in the permafrost or polar ice caps of Mars, near the surface of the cometary nuclei, or in the liquid water beneath and the ice crusts of icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn. The importance of study alkaliphilic microorganisms for astrobiology was enhanced by the findings of abundant carbonates and carbonate globules rimmed with possibly biogenic magnetites in association with the putative microfossils in the ALH84001 meteorite. Although the ALH84001 "nanofossils" were to small and simple to be unambiguously recognized as biogenic, they stimulated Astrobiology research and studies of microbial extremophiles and biomarkers in ancient rocks and meteorites. Recent studies of CI and CM carbonaceous meteorites have resulted in the detection of the well-preserved mineralized remains of coccoidal and filamentous microorganisms in cyanobacterial mats. Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis has shown anomalous biogenic element ratios clearly indicating they are not recent biological contaminants. This paper reviews microbial extremophiles in context of their significance to Astrobiology. The study of halophilic microorganisms was started from work with saline soils and lakes, and one of the record of good growth for Haloferax mediterranei was shown at 30 percent NaC1. Although alkali-tolerant nitrifying bacteria had previously been reported, the first described alkaliphilic microorganism was the bacterium Streptococcus faecalis. Halophilic and alkaliphilic forms are relevant to conditions that might be found in closed impact basins and craters on Mars filled with evaporite deposits. The first obligately acidophilic bacterium described was Acidithiobacillus ferrooxydans (formally Thiobacillus ferrooxidans). Later thermophilic lithotrophic acidophiles were found, and the hyperacidophilic moderately thermophilic species of the genus Picrophilus were found to grow at negative pH. The epoch of study of thermophilic microorganisms starts with the discovery of Thermus aquaticus, and presently the maximum temperature for growth at 113 C was found for Pyrolobus fumarii. The microorganisms capable of growth at high temperatures and in hyperacidic environments on Earth are good analogs for life that might be able to survive in hot acidic droplets in the upper regimes of the atmosphere of Venus. The study of barophiles was made possible by engineering achievements leading to the development of the submersible crafts used to study the Black Smokers of the Deep-sea Hydrothermal vents. The first described radioresistant bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans can survive ionizing irradiation and other DNA-damaging assaults at doses that are lethal to all other organisms. These microbes are models for life that might endure high radiation environments in the ice near the surface of comets or on the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn and in the seafloor deep beneath icy crusts Europa and Enceladus. This paper presents ESEM and FESEM images showing intact microbes preserved in the deep ice cores extracted from just above Lake Vostok, Antarctica that are considered analogs for life forms that might survive on comets and icy moons.

Pikuta, Elena V.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Atomic nitrogen emissions from photodissociation of N2

Cross sections for the production of N I emissions at 1412, 1493, and 1743 A and the undispersed fluorescence in the range 1050-1800 A produced through photodissociative excitation of N2 have been determined at selected intense atomic emission lines and throughout the synchrotron radiation continuum from 500 to 620 A. The neutral excited atomic nitrogen fragments are produced through direct dissociation processes as well as predissociation from the well-known two-electron excited Rydberg states. The yield for photodissociative excitation processes is found to have the same magnitude as that for photodissociative ionization processes reported by other investigators. The Doppler shifts of the excited atomic fragments have been calculated, and the relevance to atmospheric observations is discussed.

Wu, C. Y. R.↗
NASA NTRS1994

UV extinction and IR emission in diffuse H2 regions

HII regions occupy a unique position in our understanding of the physical relationships between stars, the interstellar medium, and galactic structure. Observations show a complex interaction between a newly formed hot star and its surroundings. In particular, the ultraviolet radiation from the stars modifies the pre-existing dust, which again affects both the amount of ionizing radiation absorbed by the gas, and the infrared spectrum emitted by the heated dust. The aim of this project was to use UV and far-UV observations to gain information on the nebular dust, and to use this dust to model the far-IR emission, for a consistent picture of a few selected diffuse HII regions. Using archival data from the IUE and Voyager data banks and computed model atmospheres, we have deduced extinction curves for early-types stars. The requisite spectral resolution turned out to be a major task. We have successfully modelled these curves in terms of a multi-component, multi-size distribution of dust grains, and interpret the differences in the curves as primarily due to the presence or non-presence of intermediate size grains (0.01 to 0.04 micron). Much smaller (0.005 micron) grains must also be present. Finally, we have made calculations of the temperature fluctuations and the corresponding infra-red emission in such small grains.

Aannestad, Per A.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Study of Magnetic Motions in the Solar Photosphere and their Implications for Heating the Solar Atmosphere

We continued our program of CO observations with the McMath-Pierce facility at Kitt Peak National Solar Observatory. Uitenbroek has developed a two-and three dimensional radiative transfer code that now includes chemical equilibrium calculations. This code allows us to compute a CO spectrum from for instance a snapshot of a solar granulation simulation (e.g. Stein & Nordlund 1989, Apj 342, L95) and compare these theoretical spectra with our spatially resolved CO spectroscopy. Van Ballegooijen and Uitenbroek have started calculations of two-dimensional fluxtube models that account consistently for hydrogen ionization in the calculation of the electron density. To this end we solve radiative transfer for hydrogen (bound-bound and bound-free transitions) in the two-dimensional models, including the effect of partial frequency redistribution (PRD) in the Lyman (alpha) and (beta) lines. From our internally consistent models we will calculate emergent spectra and the way these vary with location of some well-known spectral diagnostics and compare our results with observed line profiles. We can readily compare theoretical CO profiles from out models with our spatially resolved CO observations. Also we can compare with spatially resolved Ca II (ground based) and Mg II (we have observations done with the UVSP/SMM instrument), and Lyman (alpha) observations that should be available from SUMER/SOHO.

Noyes, Robert W.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Non-Maxwellian electron distributions in models of the solar atmosphere

In this paper, the solar models of Fontenla et al. (1990) are extended to coronal temperatures using optically thin radiative losses and a semicircular loop geometry. The effects of a non-Maxwellian high-energy tail of the electron distribution function is tested by performing a Fokker-Planck calculation of the tail. The results show that the downward conductive heat flux is very clsoe to that given by Braginskii (1965) for small departures from a Maxwellian distribution. The effects of the high-energy tail of the electron distribution on element ionization are computed and found to be negligible for all ionization states of O, Ne, and Si. It is concluded that, for quiet sun loop models in stationary energy balance, the ionization state of all elements is not significantly affected by the non-Maxwellian tail of the electron velocity distribution, and that the heat flux can be computed by considering only small first-order departures from the Maxwellian distribution.

Macneice, P.↗
NASA NTRS1970

An investigation of the ionospheric D region at sunrise

The growth over sunrise of the C and D layers of the ionosphere is investigated. The model which is analyzed includes the negative ion species O(-), O2(-), O3(-), O4(-), NO3(-), CO3(-), and CO4(-). Ionization sources due to galactic cosmic rays, precipitated electrons, ionization of NO by scattered Lyman alpha radiation, and the direct solar radiation ionization are also included. The photodetachment of most of the negative ions is discussed, as well as the time variation of these parameters. The time variations of the electron, negative ion, and positive ion densities are calculated over sunrise. From these data, the mesospheric C and D layer development is plotted. Several model parameters are varied until the best agreement with experimentally determined electron densities is obtained. The results are discussed in light of several atmospheric parameters including the O and NO concentrations and the electron-ion recombination coefficient.

Turco, R. P.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Hydrogen Balmer Line Broadening in Solar and Stellar Flares

The broadening of the hydrogen lines during flares is thought to result from increased charge (electron, proton) density in the flare chromosphere. However, disagreements between theory and modeling prescriptions have precluded an accurate diagnostic of the degree of ionization and compression resulting from flare heating in the chromosphere. To resolve this issue, we have incorporated the unified theory of electric pressure broadening of the hydrogen lines into the non-LTE radiative-transfer code RH. This broadening prescription produces a much more realistic spectrum of the quiescent, A0 star Vega compared to the analytic approximations used as a damping parameter in the Voigt profiles. We test recent radiative-hydrodynamic (RHD) simulations of the atmospheric response to high nonthermal electron beam fluxes with the new broadening prescription and find that the Balmer lines are overbroadened at the densest times in the simulations. Adding many simultaneously heated and cooling model loops as a 'multithread' model improves the agreement with the observations. We revisit the three component phenomenological flare model of the YZ CMi Megaflare using recent and new RHD models. The evolution of the broadening, line flux ratios, and continuum flux ratios are well-reproduced by a multithread model with high-flux nonthermal electron beam heating, an extended decay phase model, and a 'hot spot' atmosphere heated by an ultra relativistic electron beam with reasonable filling factors: approximately 0.1%, 1%, and 0.1% of the visible stellar hemisphere, respectively. The new modeling motivates future work to understand the origin of the extended gradual phase emission.

Kowalski, Adam F.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Gamma radiation and photospheric white-light flare continuum

It is noted that recent gamma-ray observations of solar flares have provided a better means for estimating the heating of the solar atmosphere by energetic protons. This type of heating has been suggested as the explanation of the continuum emission of the white-light flare. The effects on the photosphere of high-energy particles capable of producing the intense gamma-ray emission observed in the flare of July 11, 1978, are analyzed. A simple energy-balance argument is used, and hydrogen ionization is taken into account. It is found that energy deposition increases with height for the inferred proton spectra and is not strongly dependent upon the assumed angle of incidence. At the top of the photosphere, the computed energy inputs fall in the range 10-100 ergs/cu cm-s.

Hudson, H. S.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Electrodynamic response of the middle atmosphere to auroral pulsations

The MAC/EPSILON observational campaign encompassed the use of two Nike Orion rocket payloads which studied the effects of auroral energetics on the middle atmosphere. While one payload was launched during the recovery phase of a moderate magnetic substorm, during fairly stable auroral conditions, the other was launched during highly active postbreakup conditions during which Pc5 pulsations were in progress. The energetic radiation of the first event was composed almost entirely of relativistic electrons below 200 keV, while that of the second was dominated by much softer electrons whose high X-ray fluxes exceeded the cosmic ray background as an ionizing source down to below 30 km.

Goldberg, R. A.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Meteor matter interaction with the Earth's atmosphere and the ionospheric E-region structure

The exploration of the ionospheric E region is a pressing problem, both in the applied and fundamental studies. Results are presented of an investigation: (1) to estimate the meteor ionization contribution to the night time E layer and influx; (2) to study the phenomenon of intensive sporadic layer formation following cessation of meteor stream activity; and (3) to access the role of metallic ions of meteor origin in the diurnal and seasonal variations in the occurrence probabilities of midlatitude E sub s. The contribution was evaluated of meteor matter, Lyman radiation and corpuscular particles to the electron concentration of the night E region. Results are discussed.

Alimov, O.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Experimental determination of cosmic ray charged particle intensity profiles in the atmosphere

Absolute cosmic-ray free air ionization and charged particle fluxes and dose rates throughout the atmosphere were measured on a series of balloon flights that commenced in 1968. Argon-filled ionization chambers equipped with solid-state electrometers, with different gas pressures and steel wall thicknesses, and a pair of aluminum-wall Gm counters have provided the basic data. These data are supplemented by measurements with air-filled and tissue equivalent ionization chambers and a scintillation spectrometer. Laboratory experiments together with analyses of the theoretical aspects of the detector responses to cosmic radiation indicate that these profiles can be determined to an overall accuracy of + or - 5 percent.

Lowder, W. M.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Effects of Mg II and Ca II ionization on ab-initio solar chromosphere models

Acoustically heated solar chromosphere models are computed considering radiation damping by (non-LTE) emission from H(-) and by Mg II and Ca II emission lines. The radiative transfer equations for the Mg II k and Ca II K emission lines are solved using the core-saturation method with complete redistribution. The Mg II k and Ca II K cooling rates are compared with the VAL model C. Several substantial improvements over the work of Ulmschneider et al. (1987) are included. It is found that the rapid temperature rises caused by the ionization of Mg II are not formed in the middle chromosphere, but occur at larger atmospheric heights. These models represent the temperature structure of the 'real' solar chromosphere much better. This result is a major precondition for the study of ab-initio models for solar flux tubes based on MHD wave propagation and also for ab-initio models for the solar transition layer.

Rammacher, W.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Evolution of the symbiotic binary system AG Pegasi - The slowest classical nova eruption ever recorded

We present an analysis of new and existing photometric and spectroscopic observations of the ongoing eruption in the symbiotic star AG Pegasi, showing that this binary has evolved considerably since the turn of the century. Recent dramatic changes in both the UV continuum and the wind from the hot component allow a more detailed analysis than in previous papers. AG Peg is composed of a normal M3 giant and a hot, compact star embedded in a dense, ionized nebula. The hot component powers the activity observed in this system, including a dense wind and a photoionized region within the outer atmosphere of the red giant. The hot component contracted in radius at roughly constant luminosity from 1850 to 1985. Its bolometric luminosity declined by a factor of about 4 during the past 5 yr. Both the mass loss rate from the hot component and the emission activity decreased in step with the hot component's total luminosity, while photospheric radiation from the red giant companion remained essentially constant.

Kenyon, Scott J.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Summary of Atmospheric Ionizing AIR Research: SST-Present

The Supersonic Transport (SST) program, proposed in 1961, first raised concern for the exposure of pregnant occupants by solar energetic particles (SEP), and neutrons were suspected to have a main role in particle propagation deep into the atmosphere. An eight-year flight program confirmed the role of SEP as a significant hazard and of the neutrons as contributing over half of the galactic cosmic ray (GCR) exposures, with the largest contribution from neutrons above 10 MeV. The FAA Advisory Committee on the Radiobiological Aspects of the SST provided operational requirements. The more recent lowering of the radiation exposure limits by the International Commission on Radiological Protection with the classification of aircrew as radiation workers renewed interest in GCR background exposures at commercial flight altitudes and stimulated epidemiological studies in Europe, Japan, Canada and the USA. The proposed development of a High Speed Civil Transport (HSCT) required validation of the role of high-energy neutrons, and this resulted in ER-2 flights at solar minimum (June 1997) and studies on effects of aircraft materials on interior exposures. Recent evaluation of health outcomes of DOE nuclear workers resulted in legislation for health compensation in year 2000 and recent European aircrew epidemiological studies of health outcomes bring renewed interest in aircraft radiation exposures. As improved radiation models become available, it is imperative that a corresponding epidemiological program of US aircrew be implemented.

Wilson, J. W.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Calcium in Mercury's Exosphere: Modeling MESSENGER Data

Mercury is surrounded by a surface-bounded exosphere comprised of atomic species including hydrogen, sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and likely oxygen. Because it is collisionless. the exosphere's composition represents a balance of the active source and loss processes. The Mercury Atmospheric and Surface Composition Spectrometer (MASCS) on the MErcury Surface. Space ENvironment. GEochemistry. and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft has made high spatial-resolution observations of sodium, calcium, and magnesium near Mercury's surface and in the extended, anti-sunward direction. The most striking feature of these data has been the substantial differences in the spatial distribution of each species, Our modeling demonstrates that these differences cannot be due to post-ejection dynamics such as differences in photo-ionization rate and radiation pressure. but instead point to differences in the source mechanisms and regions on the surface from which each is ejected. The observations of calcium have revealed a strong dawn/dusk asymmetry. with the abundance over the dawn hemisphere significantly greater than over the dusk. To understand this asymmetry, we use a Monte Carlo model of Mercury's exosphere that we developed to track the motions of exospheric neutrals under the influence of gravity and radiation pressure. Ca atoms can be ejected directly from the surface or produced in a molecular exosphere (e.g., one consisting of CaO). Particles are removed from the system if they stick to the surface or escape from the model region of interest (within 15 Mercury radii). Photoionization reduces the final weighting given to each particle when simulating the Ca radiance. Preliminary results suggest a high temperature ( I-2x 10(exp 4) K) source of atomic Ca concentrated over the dawn hemisphere. The high temperature is consistent with the dissociation of CaO in a near-surface exosphere with scale height <= 100 km, which imparts 2 eV to the freshly produced Ca atom. This source region and energy are consistent with data from the three MESSENGER flybys; whether this holds true for the data obtained in orbit is under investigation.

Burger, Matthew H.↗