Services provided in support of the planetary quarantine requirements of NASA Progress report, 1 Jul. - 30 Sep. 1968
Evaluation of vacuum probe for sampling dust and microbiological surface contamination
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Evaluation of vacuum probe for sampling dust and microbiological surface contamination
Welding techniques from Saturn 5 booster, discussing surface contamination effect on weld strength
Protective, flameproof foam covering improves the resistance to fire and surface contamination of low-cost radio frequency absorbing and shielding anechoic materials. This promotes safety of operating personnel and equipment being tested in an otherwise combustible anechoic chamber.
Auger and photoelectron spectroscopy for chemical analysis, noting effects of sample thickness, sample potential, surface contamination and X ray incident angle
Work function and desorption energy measurements of alkali metals from metallic substrates with modulated molecular beam, noting surface contamination
Mechanical process produces dispersion-strengthened metal alloys. Power surface contamination during milling is removed by a cleaning method that involves heating thin shapes or partially-compacted milled powder blends in hydrogen to carefully controlled temperature schedules.
Ionizing surface contamination effects on ion microthruster performance for Applications Technology Satellites D and E
Weld quality relationship to aluminum surface contamination by hydrogen-containing compounds
SERT 2 spacecraft surface contamination by Hg ion thrustor effluents, using solar cell sensors
Auger electron spectroscopy, surface contamination, and silicon device parameters for microcircuits
Glow discharge cleaning for surface contaminants removal from hydrodynamic gas bearing components, discussing equipment application to thin film lubricant vapor deposition
An anomaly report concerning failure of the water/glycol temperature control circuit during the Apollo 16 flight is presented. The anomaly is described and diagrams of the system are presented. The malfunction was caused by cracked semiconductor chips in the output silicon-controlled rectifier. Surface contamination in the crack allowed the device to self-gate on and remain on, resulting in a secondary failure of the feedback capacitor.
Mercury ion thruster isolator lifetime tests were performed using different isolator materials and geometries. Tests were performed with and without the flow of mercury through the isolators in an oil diffusion pumped vacuum facility and cryogenically pumped bell jar. The onset of leakage current in isolators occurred in time intervals ranging from a few hours to many hundreds of hours. In all cases, surface contamination was responsible for the onset of leakage current and subsequent isolator failure. Rate of increase of leakage current and the leakage current level increased approximately exponentially with isolator temperature. Careful attention to shielding techniques and the elimination of sources of metal oxides appear to have eliminated isolator failures as a thruster life limiting mechanism.
It is shown experimentally that isoepitaxial growth of Ge films on Ge substrates can be obtained by dc sputtering at substrate temperatures as low as 100 C. The crystallographic structure and orientation of the films are strongly influenced by such deposition parameters as substrate temperature, growth rate, surface contamination, and sputtering-gas purity. The amorphous-polycrystalline transition occurs between 110 and 115 C, while the polycrystalline-single crystalline transition occurs at roughly 140 C. The crystallographic order increases with increasing substrate temperature.
This paper briefly describes the cylindrical electrostatic probes to be used on the new Atmosphere Explorer-C, -D, and -E, and outlines the methods to be employed to analyze the experimental data in terms of electron temperature and ion and electron concentration. Two independent cylindrical sensors and partially redundant electronic systems permit greater reliability in measurements. Measurements are made at 1-sec and 2-sec intervals along the orbit. The sensors themselves have been modified from previous applications to cope with the lower electron temperature expected in these low-altitude orbits and to counter possible surface contamination caused by the hydrazine engines used for orbit adjustments.
Mercury ion thruster isolator lifetime tests were performed using different isolator materials and geometries. Tests were performed with and without the flow of mercury through the isolators in an oil diffusion pumped vacuum facility and cryogenically pumped bell jar. The onset of leakage current in isolators tested occurred in time intervals ranging from a few hours to many hundreds of hours. In all cases, surface contamination was responsible for the onset of leakage current and subsequent isolator failure. Rate of increase of leakage current and the leakage current level increased approximately exponentially with isolator temperature. Careful attention to shielding techniques and the elimination of sources of metal oxides appear to have eliminated isolator failures as a thruster life limiting mechanism.
'Normal evaporation' equations for predicting the compositional changes with time and temperature have been developed and correlated with actual experimental data. An evaporative congruent temperature is defined and used to explain, predict, or plan space experiments on anomalous constitutional melting (on cooling) or solidification (on heating). Uneven evaporation causes reactive jetting forces capable of initiating new convection currents, nongravitational accelerations, surface vibrations, or other disturbances. Applications of evaporation to space manufacturing are described concerning evaporative purification, surface cooling, specimen selection, particles splitting, freezing data interpretation, material loss and dimensional control, and surface contamination or compositional changes.
Coated specimens of reusable surface insulation (RSI) were exposed to alternate radiant heating and atmospheric exposure cycles to study the effects of surface contamination on the RSI coating. Different methods of heating were employed on clean and artificially contaminated specimens to determine the contributions of heating conditions to coating devitrification.