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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 289 records · Page 16
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1994

The meteoritic record of presolar and early solar system organic chemistry

Carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen isotopic analyses of various classes of organic compounds done in collaboration with Epstein and Krishnamurthy (Caltech) have shown these compounds to be enriched to varying degrees in the heavier isotopes. These results, in particular the large deuterium enrichments, have been interpreted as indicating an interstellar origin for the meteorite compounds or their precursors. Such isotopic fractionations, of hydrogen especially, are characteristic of low temperature ion-molecule reactions in cold interstellar clouds. There is also evidence from the large corresponding suites of alpha-amino and alpha-hydroxy acids found in meteorites suggesting that aqueous phase chemistry on the meteorite parent body played an important role in the formation of these compounds. These data support the hypothesis that interstellar compounds survived in the solar nebula at a radial distance corresponding to the asteroid belt, were incorporated into the parent body in icy, volatile-rich, planetesinals, and underwent further reactions during a period of aqueous activity within the early parent body to give the present suite of meteorite compounds. This formation hypothesis will be discussed and the results of recent isotopic and molecular analyses bearing on it will be presented.

Cronin, John R.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Imaging of the PAH Emission Bands in the Orion Bar

The infrared spectrum of many planetary nebulae, HII regions, galactic nuclei, reflection nebulae, and WC stars are dominated by a set of narrow and broad features which for many years were called the "unidentified infrared bands". These bands have been attributed to several carbon-rich molecular species which all contain only carbon and hydrogen atoms, and fall into the class of PAH molecules or are conglomerates of PAH skeletons. If these bands are from PAHs, then PAHs contain 1-10% of the interstellar carbon, making them the most abundant molecular species in the interstellar medium after CO. From ground based telescopes, we have studied the emission bands assigned to C-H bond vibrations in PAHs (3.3, 11.3 microns) in the Orion Bar region, and showed that their distribution and intensities are consistent with a quantitative PAH model. We have recently obtained spectral images of the Orion Bar from the KAO at 6.2 and 7.7 microns using a 128 x 128 Si:Ga array camera in order to study the C-C modes of the PAH molecules. We will show these new data along with our existing C-H mode data set, and make a quantitative comparison of the data with the existing PAH model.

Bregman, Jesse↗
NASA NTRS1986

The effects of bone on proton NMR relaxation times of surrounding liquids

Preliminary attempts by our group at UCSF to assess fat content of vertebral marrow in the lumbar spine using relaxation time information demonstrated that the presence of trabecular bone affects relaxation times. The objective of this work was a thorough study of the effects of bone on NMR relaxation characteristics of surrounding liquids. Trabecular bone from autopsy specimens was ground up and sifted into a series of powders with graded densities ranging from 0.3 gm/cc to 0.8 gm/cc. Each powder was placed first in n-saline and then in cottonseed oil. With spectroscopy, spin-lattice relaxation times (T1) and effective spin-spin relaxation times (T2*) were measured for each liquid in each bone powder. As bone density and surface to volume ratio increased, T1 decreased faster for saline than for oil. T2* decreased significantly for both water and oil as the surface to volume ratio increased. It was concluded that effects of water on T1 could be explained by a surface interaction at the bone/liquid interface, which restricted rotational and translational motion of nearby molecules. The T1s of oil were not affected since oil molecules are nonpolar, do not participate in significant intermolecular hydrogen bonding, and therefore would not be expected to interact strongly with the bone surface. Effects on T2* could be explained by local magnetic field inhomogeneities created by discontinuous magnetic susceptibility near the bone surface. These preliminary results suggest that water in contact with trabecular bone in vivo will exhibit shortened relaxation times.

NASA Discipline Musculoskeletal↗
NASA NTRS2004

Modeling the interaction Between Ethylene Diamine and Water Films on the Surface of a Carbon Nanotube

It has been observed that a carbon nanotube (CNT) AFM tip coated with ethylene diamine (EDA) penetrates the liquid water-air interface more easily than an uncoated nanotube tip. The EDA coating remains intact through repeated cycles of dipping and removal. In order to understand the physical basis for this observation, we use ab initio quantum chemistry calculations to study the EDA-CNT-water interaction and to parameterize a force field describing this system. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are carried out for EDA-water mixtures and an EDA-coated carbon nanotube immmed in water. These simulations are similar to our earlier MD study that characterized the CNT-water interface. The attractive CNT-EDA and CNT-water interactions arise primarily from van der Waals forces, and the EDA-EDA, EDA-water and water-water interactions are mainly due to hydrogen bond formation. The binding energ of single EDA molecule to the nanotube is nearly three times larger than the corresponding value found for water (4.3 versus 1.5 kcal mol, respectively). The EDA molecules readily stick to and diffuse along the CNT surface. As a resulf mixing of the EDA and water films does not occur on the timescale of the MD simulations. The EDA film reduces the hydrophobicity of the nanotube surface and acts like a prototypical surfactant in stabilizing the suspension of carbon nanotubes in water. For this presentation, we use the MD simulations to determine how the presence of the carbon nanotube surface perturbs the properties of EDA-water mixtures.

Jaffe, Richard L.↗
NASA NTRS2024

Simplified Structure Models for Premixed n-Alkane Cool Flames

The chemical kinetics of cool flames in mixtures of normal alkanes, oxygen, and nitrogen recently have been reduced to obtain simplified asymptotic flame-structure models that can be used to compare theoretical predictions with experimental measurements. A key step that affects flame structures strongly, namely the abstraction of a hydrogen atom from the alkyl radical by an oxygen molecule, had not been taken into account in those models. This deficiency has now been remedied for diffusion flames. The present contribution reports the corresponding remedy for premixed-flame analyses. In the new model, non-zero chemical reaction rates are restricted to narrow regions in the vicinity of the maximum temperature, whereas previously they extended throughout the preheat zone. Comparisons of the new predictions with experimental burning-velocity measurements seem favorable.

premixed cool flames↗
NASA NTRS2016

Electronically Excited States of Anistropically Extended Singly-Deprotonated PAH Anions

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) play a significant role in the chemistry of the interstellar medium (ISM) as well as in hydrocarbon combustion. These molecules can have high levels of diversity with the inclusion of heteroatoms and the addition or removal of hydrogens to form charged or radical species. There is an abundance of data on the cationic forms of these molecules, but there have been many fewer studies on the anionic species. The present study focuses on the anionic forms of deprotonated PAHs. It has been shown in previous work that PAHs containing nitrogen heteroatoms (PANHs) have the ability to form valence excited states giving anions electronic absorption features. This work analyzes how the isoelectronic pure PAHs behave under similar structural constructions. Singly-deprotonated forms of benzene, naphthalene, anthracene, and teteracene classes are examined. None of the neutral-radicals possess dipole moments large enough to support dipole-bound excited states in their corresponding closed-shell anions. Even though the PANH anion derivatives support valence excited states for three-ringed structures, it is not until four-ringed structures of the pure PAH anion derivatives that valence excited states are exhibited. However, anisotropically-extended PAHs larger than tetracene will likely exhibit valence excited states. The relative energies for the anion isomers are very small for all of the systems in this study.

Theis, Mallory L.↗
NASA NTRS2017

The Detection of 6.9 µm Emission Features in the Infrared Spectra of IRAS 04296+3429, IRAS 05341+0852, IRAS 22272+5435: Evidence for the Presence of Hn-PAHs in Post AGB Stars

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are generally believed to be ubiquitous in space and responsible for numerous telltale interstellar infrared emission bands. In Sandford et al., (2013), we suggested that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with excess hydrogenation at their periphery (Hn-PAHs) may be an important subclass of these molecules in some astrophysical environments. These molecules are candidates to explain objects with anomalously large 3.4 μm features, which are presumed to be associated with the aliphatic C—H stretching vibrations of the excess hydrogen. In that work, we suggest that for Hn-PAHs to be a viable candidate as the source for this 3.4 μm feature, we must also expect to observe methylene scissoring modes at 6.9 μm. In this work, we continue to develop the Hn-PAH hypothesis with a focus on the 6.9 μm feature. We also present some new observations of three post-asymptotic giant branch (post- AGB) objects with abnormally large 3.4 μm features, IRAS 04296+3429, IRAS 05341+0852, IRAS 22272+5435, in addition to one post-AGB object with normal PAH emissions, IRAS 20000+3239. These observations were made using the FORCAST instrument in grism mode on the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) aircraft (Adams et al. 2010) and demonstrate the presence of a 6.9 μm feature for the three objects with abnormally large 3.4 μm features and no detectable 6.9 μm feature for the normal PAH emitter. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that Hn-PAHs are a possible source of these infrared emission bands.

ISM↗
NASA NTRS1977

A survey of interstellar HI from L alpha absorption measurements 2

The Copernicus satellite surveyed the spectral region near L alpha to obtain column densities of interstellar HI toward 100 stars. The distance to 10 stars exceeds 2 kpc and 34 stars lie beyond 1 kpc. Stars with color excess E(B-V) up to 0.5 mag are observed. The value of the mean ratio of total neutral hydrogen to color excess was found to equal 5.8 x 10 to the 21st power atoms per (sq cm x mag). For stars with accurate E(B-V), the deviations from this mean are generally less than a factor of 1.5. A notable exception is the dark cloud star, rho Oph. A reduction in visual reddening efficiency for the grains that are larger than normal in the rho Oph dark cloud probably explains this result. The conversion of atomic hydrogen into molecular form in dense clouds was observed in the gas to E(B-V) correlation plots. The best estimate for the mean total gas density for clouds and the intercloud medium, as a whole, in the solar neighborhood and in the plane of the galaxy is 1.15 atoms per cu. cm; those for the atomic gas and molecular gas alone are 0.86 atoms per cu cm and 0.143 molecules per cu cm respectively. For the intercloud medium, where molecular hydrogen is a negligible fraction of the total gas, atomic gas density was found to equal 0.16 atoms per cu cm with a Gaussian scale height perpendicular to the plane of about 350 pc, as derived from high latitude stars.

Bohlin, R. C.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Jovian atmosphere - Structure and composition between the turbopause and the mesopause

The occultation of the star Beta Scorpii by Jupiter was observed at high time resolution in three wavelength channels. The results imply a temperature of 220 K at an altitude in the Jovian atmosphere corresponding to 100 trillion molecules per cubic centimeter, and temperature fluctuations of 2 to 10 K over vertical scales of 2 to 10 kilometers. They suggest that the vertical eddy diffusion coefficient near the turbopause has a lower limit of 700,000 square centimeters per second, and that the turbopause lies above the altitude where the density is 50 trillion molecules per cubic centimeter. Below the turbopause, the ratio of hydrogen to helium is consistent with cosmic abundances.

Sagan, C.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Interstellar molecules

The Princeton equipment on the Copernicus satellite provides the means to study interstellar molecules between the satellite and stars from 20 to 1000 pc distant. The study is limited to stars relatively unobscured by dust which strongly attenuates the ultraviolet continuum flux used as a source to probe the interstellar medium. Of the 14 molecules searched for only three have been detected including molecular hydrogen, molecular HD, and carbon monoxide.

Drake, J. F.↗
NASA NTRS1985

The response of ozone to solar proton events during solar cycle 21 - The observations

It is pointed out that during a solar proton event (SPE), large numbers of high-energy protons penetrate the earth's mesosphere and upper stratosphere and perturb the normal chemistry by ionizing molecules and changing the balance of odd nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen. Changes in ozone caused by an SPE are produced very rapidly, typically in a matter of hours, and are confined to a limited geographic area, the region above 60 deg geomagnetic latitude. In this paper, an analysis is reported of the response of ozone to the significant SPE's in solar cycle 21 from the Nimbus 7 launch in October 1978 to date, using data from the solar backscattered ultraviolet instrument (SBUV). Ozone data during 15 SPE's were examined. It was found that ozone depletion occurred during SPE's on at least five dates.

Mcpeters, R. D.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Spacecraft glow

Spacecrft glow may be defined as optical emissions originating immediately above those surfaces of an orbiting spacecraft which face into the ram direction. In the case of the Space Shuttle at its lower orbital altitudes, the glow is bright enough to be seen by the unaided eye. The glow observed at the Dynamics Explorer was caused primarily by OH molecules which formed on the spacecraft surface from ionospheric atomic oxygen and hydrogen. The two theories which are currently considered to obtain an explanation for the glow phenomenon include the plasma interaction mechanism and the chemical mechanism. A number of difficulties appear to exclude the applicability of the plasma interaction mechanism. Thus, the chemical mechanism remains as the only viable theory. According to this mechanism, simple impact of incoming atmosphere atoms and molecules causes both formation and excitation of molecules at the surface of a spacecraft.

Dessler, A. J.↗
NASA NTRS1992

NASA's nuclear thermal propulsion technology project

The nonnuclear subsystem technologies required for incorporating nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) into space-exploration missions are discussed. Of particular interest to planned missions are such technologies as materials, instrumentation and controls, turbomachinery, CFD modeling, nozzle extension designs and models, and analyses of exhaust plumes. NASA studies are described and/or proposed for refractory metals and alloys, robotic NTP controls, and turbopump materials candidates. Alternative nozzle concepts such as aerospikes and truncated plugs are proposed, and numerical simulations are set forth for studying heavy molecules and the backstreaming of highly reactive free-radical hydrogen in the exhaust plume. The critical technologies described in the paper are central to the development of NTP, and NTP has the potential to facilitate a range of space exploration activities.

Peecook, Keith M.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Photochemistry of porphyrins: a model for the origin of photosynthesis

A series of porphyrins and catalysts has been prepared as a model for the origin of photosynthesis on the primordial earth. These compounds have been used to test the hypotheses that (1) the biosynthetic pathway to chlorophyll recapitulates the evolutionary history of photosynthesis, and (2) the proto-photosythetic function of biogenetic porphyrins (biosynthetic chlorophyll precursors) was the oxidation of organic molecules by photoexcited porphyrins with the attendant emission of molecular hydrogen. This paper describes experiments in which photoexcited biogenetic porphyrins oxidize ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA). The concomitant reduction of protons to hydrogen gas occurs in the presence of a colloidal platinum catalyst. The addition of methyl viologen, a one-electron shuttle, increases the amount of molecular hydrogen generated during long irradiations and the quantum yield of hydrogen production. When the porphyrin and catalyst are held in association by molecular complexes, the increased efficiency of electron transfer produces higher yields of hydrogen gas.

Hydrogen/chemistry↗
NASA NTRS1998

Water in Betelgeuse and Antares

Absorption lines of hot water have been identified in the infrared spectra of Betelgeuse (alpha Orionis) and Antares (alpha Scorpii) near 12.3 micrometers (811 to 819 wavenumbers). The water lines originate in the atmospheres of the stars, not in their circumstellar material. The spectra are similar in structure to umbral sunspot spectra. Pure rotation water lines of this type will occur throughout the spectra of cool stars at wavelengths greater than 10 micrometers. From the water spectra, the upper limit for the temperature in the line formation region in both stars is 2800 kelvin. The water column density in both stars is (3 +/- 2) x 10(18) molecules per square centimeter, yielding an abundance relative to atomic hydrogen of n(H2O)/n(H) approximately 10(-)7.

Astronomy↗
NASA NTRS1992

Velocity distributions of H and OH produced through solar photodissociation of H2O

The calculated velocity distributions of atomic hydrogen and hydroxyl radicals produced through solar photodissociation of gaseous water molecules are presented. Under collisionless conditions, the calculation was carried out using the most recent available data for the production of H and OH through photodissociation of H2O from its dissociation onset throughout the EUV region. Because the lack of data in certain spectral regions, only upper and lower bounds to the velocity distributions can be obtained. The results show that the H atoms and OH radicals produced exhibit multiple velocity groups. Since most of the current cometary modeling uses a single velocity of 20 km/s associated with the photodissociation of H2O, the present results may be useful in interpreting the many peaks observed in the velocity distributions of cometary atomic hydrogen.

Wu, C. Y. Robert↗
NASA NTRS1997

Organic synthesis in experimental impact shocks

Laboratory simulations of shocks created with a high-energy laser demonstrate that the efficacy of organic production depends on the molecular, not just the elemental composition of the shocked gas. In a methane-rich mixture that simulates a low-temperature equilibrium mixture of cometary material, hydrogen cyanide and acetylene were produced with yields of 5 x 10(17) molecules per joule. Repeated shocking of the methane-rich mixture produced amine groups, suggesting the possible synthesis of amino acids. No organic molecules were produced in a carbon dioxide-rich mixture, which is at odds with thermodynamic equilibrium approaches to shock chemistry and has implications for the modeling of shock-produced organic molecules on early Earth.

NASA Discipline Exobiology↗