Configuration design for specified pressure signature characteristics
Supersonic transport near field design concepts for plateau pressure signature to reduce sonic boom
SEARCH · Search NASA
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.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
Supersonic transport near field design concepts for plateau pressure signature to reduce sonic boom
Our present state of understanding of the steady-state combustion mechanisms of solid propellants is reviewed. Attention is focused principally on heterogeneous propellants. Both experimental and theoretical work is discussed. The recent advances considered include studies of linear pyrolysis of propellant constituents, deflagration of exothermic oxidizers, combustion of oxidizer spheres in gaseous fuels, porous-bed combustion, reactions between gaseous fuel and gaseous oxidizer components, metal combustion, propellant strand burning, rocket motor combustion and microcinematographic experimentation. A theoretical analysis of a model of homogeneous propellant combustion is outlined in detail, with special emphasis placed on surface gasification laws and on flammability limits in nonadiabatic systems. Low pressure, moderate pressure, plateau and high pressure domains of combustion are identified for ammonium perchlorate composite propellants. It is concluded that a better foundation for investigating composite propellant combustion properties is available for ammonium perchlorate than for any other oxidizer. Avenues for potentially fruitful future research are recommended.
Fe content of clinopyroxene in basalt-basaltic andesite-andesite-latite of Mogollon Plateau /New Mexico/
Mapping of the Ethiopian rift and Afar margins revealed the existence of Tertiary dike swarms. The structural relations of these swarms and the fed lava pile to monoclinal warping of the margins partly reflect a style of continental margin tectonics found in other parts of the world. In Ethiopia, however, conjugate dike trends appear to be unusually strongly developed. Relation of dikes to subsequent margin faulting is ambiguous, and there are instances where the two phenomena are spatially separate and of differing trends. There is no evidence for lateral migration with time of dike injection toward the rift zone. No separate impingement of Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and African rift system stress fields on the Ethiopian region can be demonstrated from the Tertiary dike swarms. Rather, a single, regional paleostress field existed, suggestive of a focus beneath the central Ethiopian plateau. This stress field was dominated by tension: there is no cogent evidence for shearing along the rift margins. A gentle compression along the rift floor is indicated. A peculiar sympathy of dike hade directions at given localities is evident.
A general geological survey at 1:62,500 scale of the well exposed rocks of the White Mountains and the adjacent volcanic desert plateau is reported. The tuffs, granites, sedimentary rocks and metavolcanic rocks in this arid region are varicolored and conventional black and white aerial photographs have been a useful mapping aid. A large number of true color and false color aerial photographs and multispectral viewer screen images of the study area are evaluated in order to consider what imagery is the most useful for distinguishing rock types. Photographs of true color film are judged the most useful for recognizing geographic locations.
The formation of the strongest ultra-violet emission lines of Mg II, O I, C II, and C III in the solar atmosphere is studied in detail. The equations of statistical equilibrium and radiative transfer for each ion are solved using a general computer program that is capable of solving non-LTE line-formation problems for arbitrary atmospheric and atomic models. Interpreting the results in terms of the structure of the solar atmosphere, it is concluded that the HSRA atmosphere has a temperature too low by about 500 K near h = 1100 km and that a temperature plateau with T sub e approximately = 18,000 K and width close to 60 km exists in the upper chromosphere. The structure of the solar atmosphere in the range 20,000 to 100,000 K and the effects of microturbulence on the formation of lines are also investigated. Approximate analytic line-formation problems are solved, and more exact solutions are derived later. An attempt is made to make the best possible fit to the Ca II K line center-to-limb profiles with a one-component atmosphere, with an assumed source function and microturbulent velocity.
Visual observations from Apollo 15 lunar orbits are discussed, complementing photographic and other remotely sensed data. Color tone of surface units, global tectonic trends, and small scale features are considered. Visual observations were made on Tsiolkovsky Crater, swirls in Mare Marginis, Picard Crater region, Proclus Crater, Littrow Crater area, landing site area, flow fronts in Mare Imbrium, and Aristarchus Plateau.
During rapid scanning of the Apollo 15 panoramic camera photography, a peculiar feature was noted in a small patch of mare material lying between the Haemus and the Apennine Mountains. The patch is abnormal in that it is an unbordered plateau with the surface appearing to lie several hundred meters above adjacent mare patches. Significant characteristics of the feature are discussed and two panoramic camera photographs are illustrated.
The Ar40-Ar39 gas retention age and the Ar38-Ar37 cosmic ray exposure age have been determined on a total rock sample of the basalt fragment B-1 returned from Mare Fecunditatis by the Luna 16 mission. This sample shows a large low-temperature loss of radiogenic Ar40 but defines a reasonably good high-temperature plateau at 3.45 plus or minus 0.04 b.y. This is presumed to identify the period of igneous activity in Mare Fecunditatis. This activity is found to be later than that in the area of Mare Tranquilitatis, but earlier than that in the area of Oceanus Procellarum and Mare Imbrium. The cosmic-ray exposure age was found to be 475 m.y.
Incoherent scatter and tilting filter photometer data from Arecibo Observatory were combined to search for a contribution to the 6300 A predawn enhancement due to impact excitation by photoelectrons from the magnetic conjugate point. Prior to about 105 deg conjugate solar zenith angle, calculations of the 6300 A intensities due to dissociative recombination gave good agreement with the observed intensities. Then, with the arrival of conjugate photoelectrons (confirmed by plasma line enhancements), the observed intensities rose above the calculated, the difference increasing until a plateau was achieved at a conjugate solar zenith angle of about 95 deg. The difference or residual intensity is attributed to direct photoelectron impact excitation. Significant day-to-day variations in the onset angle and intensity have a strong negative correlation with ionospheric electron density.
The author has identified the following significant results. ERTS-1 imagery of the African rift system resolves the major Cenozoic faults, zones of warping, and the associated volcanism. It also clearly depicts the crustal grain of the Precambrian rocks where these are exposed. New structural features, or new properties of known features such as greater extent, continuity, linearity, etc., are revealed by the ERTS-1 imagery. This applies to the NE-SW fracture zones in Yemen, the Aswa mylonite zone at the northern end of the Western Rift, the Nandi fault of western Kenya, the arcuate faults of the Elgeyo escarpment in the Gregory rift, and hemi-basins of warped Tertiary lavas on the Red Sea margin of Yemen, matching those of the Ethiopian plateau-Afar margin. A tentative scheme is proposed, relating the effect on the pattern of Cenozoic faulting of the degree of obliquity to Precambrian structural trend. Some ground-mapped lithological boundaries are obscure on ERTS-1 imagery. The present approaches to mapping of Precambrian terrain in Africa may require radical revision with the input of satellite imagery.
The author has identified the following significant results. The excellent ERTS-1 imagery of the Afar region of Ethiopia permits a preliminary revision to the analysis of the structures of this triple-rift junction, and also revisions to the outcrops of some lithological formations. The fault-belts of the Afar floor can now be mapped in fine detail. The Danakil horst is identified to be limited on its western side against Afar by a major fault-line, and it seems unlikely that the horst is the exposed, easterly portion of a west-dipping sialic block underlying all northern Afar. The Salt Plain appears to be a true graben. The Ethiopian plateau-Afar margin consists of a series of right-offset sectors, the offsets being marked by silicic volcanic centers. The nature of these offsets is related to the vexed question of cross-rift faulting. Such faulting is identifiable on the ERTS-1 imagery, both on the Afar floor, and in the monoclinally warped western margin. The significance of this faulting, though subordinate to the tensional faults of the fault-belts, awaits elucidation.
There are no author-identified significant results in this report. The study area, centered on Knoxville, Tennessee, encompasses nearly 20,000 square miles. The Knoxville Test Site, an 11 x 21 mile area over the city of Knoxville and the western portion of Knox County, has been chosen for the analysis of landscape change detection associated with urban growth. The second area, the Cumberland Plateau Test Site, exhibits landscape change through forest alterations and landform disturbances associated with strip mining in the area and was so chosen for its sharp contrasts in physical and human phenomena as well as its change dynamics. Accomplishments since reception of ERTS-1 imagery include: (1) basic cataloging and classifying of the data into a filling system; (2) a densitometer analysis; (3) first look analysis; and (4) preparation of results from the project. Examples of all four bands of the MSS have been received and analyses reveal distinctive positive and negative reactions. Band 5 has been found to be best for landscape analysis of contrasts between urban and rural landscapes, and band 7 for topographic features and water surfaces. Preliminary results are summarized.
Peripheral visual response time changes during +G sub z acceleration following fourteen days of bedrest are considered as well as what effect prolonged bedrest has upon this response. Eighteen test lights, placed 10 deg are apart along the horizontal meridian of the subject's field of view, were presented in a random sequence. The subject was instructed to press a button as soon as a light appeared. Response time testing occurred periodically during bedrest and continuously during centrifugation testing. The results indicate that: (1) mean response time is significantly longer to stimuli imaged in the far periphery than to stimuli imaged closer to the line of sight; (2) mean response time at each stimulus position tends to be longer at plateau g than during the preacceleration baseline period; (3) mean response time tends to lengthen as the g level is increased; (4) peripheral visual response time during +G sub x acceleration at 2, 3.2, and 3.8 g was not a reliable advanced indicator that blackout was going to occur; and (5) the subject's field of view collapsed rapidly just before blackout. Bedrest data showed that the distribution of response times to stimuli imaged across the subject's horizontal retinal meridian remained remarkably constant from day to day during both the bedrest and recovery periods.
The author has identified the following significant results. Imagery of the African rift system resolves the major Cainozoic faults, zones of warping, and associated volcanism. It also clearly depicts the crystal grain of the Precambrian rocks where these are exposed. New structural features, or new properties of known features such as greater extent, continuity, and linearity are revealed by ERTS-1 imagery. This applies, for example, to the NE-SW fracture zones in Yemen, the Aswa mylonite zone at the northern end of the Western Rift, the Nandi fault of western Kenya, the linear faults of the Elgeyo escarpment in the Gregory Rift, and the hemibasins of warped Tertiary lavas on the Red Sea margin of Yemen, matching those of Ethiopian plateau-Afar margin. A tentative scheme is proposed, relating the effect on the pattern of Cainozoic faulting of the degree of obliquity to Precambrian structural trend. It is particularly noteworthy that, even where the Precambrian grain determines the rift faulting to be markedly oblique to the overall trend of the rift trough, for example, in central Lake Tanganyika, the width of the trough is not significantly increased. Some ground mapped lithological boundaries are obscure on ERTS-1 imagery.
Computer techniques for some enhancements of ERTS-1 images for Arizona geology mapping experiment in Colorado plateau
The experiment concept involves the use of millimeter wave radiation the atmospheric oxygen to provide vertical sensing information to a satellite-borne radiometer. The radiance profile studies require the calculation of ray brightness temperature as a function of tangential altitude and atmosphere model, and the computer program developed for this purpose is discussed. Detailed calculations have been made for a total of 12 atmosphere models, including some showing severe warning conditions. The experiment system analysis investigates the effect of various design choices on system behavior. Calculated temperature profiles are presented for a wide variety of frequencies, bandwidths, and atmosphere models. System performance is determined by the convolution of the brightness temperature and an assumed antenna pattern. A compensation scheme to account for different plateau temperatures is developed and demonstrated. The millimeter wave components developed for the local vertical sensor are discussed, with emphasis on the antenna, low noise mixer, and solid state local oscillator. It was concluded that a viable sensing technique exists, useful over a wide range of altitude with an accuracy generally on the order of 0.01 degree or better.
The author has identified the following significant results. Band 5 gives the most information concerning the fracturing in the Massif Central and Parisian Basins. Band 6 and 7 show the fractures emphasized by forest boundaries and by the linear trace of water courses. The most remarkable information drawn from the preliminary investigation of two ERTS-1 images covering two different landscapes, a regular relief of shelving plateau bounded by cuestas having a sedimentary origin and a mountainous region built in crystalline and volcanic rocks, is that the deep structural elements under a thick sedimentary cover can be translated on the surface by indirect criteria. MSS imagery has permitted the Metz fault to be extended towards the west and shows clearly, through land use on the Rhone Valley fluvial deposit, the continuation towards the east of the carboniferous basin of St. Etienne.