Results for “Electronic shell” — Page 18

NASA NTRS1975

Recirculation of energetic particles in Jupiter's magnetosphere

A significant new finding from analysis of Pioneer 11 observations in the magnetosphere of Jupiter is that there is net streaming of both electrons E above 40 keV and E above 560 keV and protons in the range from .61 to 3.41 MeV away from the planet along high-latitude field lines. This result is compatible with the recent suggestion of Nishida that energetic particles undergo trans-L shell diffusion at low altitudes without significant change of energy. This provides a plausible explanation for the remarkable pitch angle distributions near the equator in the range of L values from 12 to 25; the presence of particles of about 1 MeV energy at the outer edge of the magnetosphere; and hence, via conventional inward diffusion processes, the presence of those having magnetic moments of several hundred MeV per gauss in the inner magnetosphere. The recirculation of energetic particles emerges as an important dynamical feature of the Jovian magnetosphere.-

Sentman, D. D.↗

NASA NTRS1976

Lossy radial diffusion of relativistic Jovian electrons

The radial diffusion equation with synchrotron losses is solved by the Laplace-transform method for near equatorially mirroring relativistic electrons. The evolution of a power-law distribution function is found, and the characteristics of synchrotron burnoff are stated in terms of explicit parameters for an arbitrary diffusion coefficient of a specific form. The peaking of the 10.4-cm volume emissivity from Jupiter at an L shell of about 1.8 provides an estimate of the diffusion coefficient in the radiation belts; one value is suggested as the appropriate modification, for an equatorial field strength of 4.2 G, of the Birmingham et al. (1974) result. Nonsynchrotron losses are included phenomenologically; from the phase-space densities reported by McIlwain and Fillius (1975), the particle lifetime is estimated. Asymptotic forms for the distribution in the strong synchrotron loss regime are provided.

Barbosa, D. D.↗

NASA NTRS1972

Model for energy transfer in the solar wind: Model results

A description is given of the results of solar wind flow in which the heating is due to (1) propagation and dissipation of hydromagnetic waves generated near the base of the wind, and (2) thermal conduction. A series of models is generated for fixed values of density, electron and proton temperature, and magnetic field at the base by varying the wave intensity at the base of the model. This series of models predicts the observed correlation between flow speed and proton temperature for a large range of velocities. The wave heating takes place in a shell about the sun greater than or approximately equal to 10 R thick. We conclude that large-scale variations observed in the solar wind are probably due mainly to variation in the hydromagnetic wave flux near the sun.

Barnes, A. A., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1974

Photoelectron angular distributions as a probe of anisotropic electron-ion interactions

Expressions are given for atomic photoelectron angular distributions in LS coupling in which the role of anisotropic final state electron-ion interactions emerges explicitly. Calculations of photoelectron angular distributions for atomic sulfur are presented in which these anisotropic interactions produce pronounced deviations from the predictions of the Cooper-Zare model. Such effects are expected to be a general feature of photoelectron angular distributions for most open shell atoms.

Dill, D.↗

NASA NTRS1989

On the populating mechanisms of the autoionising states of Al III ions produced in a Penning ionisation discharge

Spectra emitted by Al II and Al III in the 100-1900-A range from a Penning ionization discharge (PID) have been analyzed in order to study the populating mechanisms of the autoionizing levels of the Al III ion. Electron temperature and density estimates and Al III line intensities obtained using a collisional-radiative model are found to differ from those obtained experimentally, implying that the autoionizing levels of the Na I-like ion may be populated, in the PID plasma, by the inner-shell ionization of excited Mg I-like ions. It is suggested that such autoionizing lines could be used to search for populations inversions in the soft X-ray domain.

Finkenthal, M.↗

NASA NTRS1974

Photoelectron angular distributions as a probe of anisotropic electron-ion interactions

Expressions are given for atomic photoelectron angular distributions in LS coupling in which the role of anisotropic final state electron-ion interactions emerges explicitly. Calculations of photoelectron angular distributions for atomic sulfur are presented in which these anisotropic interactions produce clear deviations from the predictions of the Cooper-Zare model. Such effects are expected to be a general feature of photoelectron angular distributions for most open-shell atoms.

Dill, D.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Energetic particles in the inner magnetosphere of Saturn

Present knowledge of energetic particles in Saturn's inner magnetosphere (within about ten Saturn radii) is reviewed. Rings of particulate matter and the satellites inside 10 Saturn radii reduce the population of particles with energy above 0.5 MeV to values of the order 1000 times less than would otherwise be present. On the other hand, sputtering and outgassing of satellite surfaces injects gas into the system. All trapped particles lie outside the magnetic shell through the outer edge of Ring A. The radial distribution of very energetic protons with energies above tens of MeV exhibits three major peaks at 3.37, 2.68, and 2.44 Saturn radii, each of which is bounded by nearly complete voids associated with rings and satellites. The distribution of electrons with energies above 0.040 MeV extends throughout the magnetosphere with an internal boundary at the outer edge of Ring A and exhibits spectral features indicative of relatively unimpeded resonant diffusion across the orbits of satellites.

Van Allen, J. A.↗

NASA NTRS2020

Design of a Microgravity Hybrid Inflatable Airlock

Spacewalks, or extra-vehicular activities (EVAs), are a critical component of human space exploration for science activities and habitat construction and maintenance. For NASA's proposed lunar Gateway system, an airlock module is required for vehicle maintenance, repair, and exploration. Traditional airlock structures are fully metallic, with two chambers, known as an equipment lock and a crew lock. The larger volume, called the equipment lock, serves as the storage, logistics and electronics area, while the smaller volume, called the crew lock, serves as the volume to transition from the vacuum of space to the pressurized cabin. A traditional metallic structure design offers mass efficiency for these elements, but cannot offer volume efficiency. The potential to use an inflatable fabric pressure shell supplemented by a metallic support structure allows for efficiency in both mass and volume. Inflatable structures are being used for human habitable space modules, starting with the Bigelow Expandable Activities Module on the International Space Station. They are high-strength fabric-based structures that are compactly stowed for launch and then, once in space, they are expanded and rigidized with internal pressure. They provide significant launch volume savings over metallic structures. For Gateway, a hybrid airlock design is proposed with both metallic and inflatable structural elements, taking advantage of each material's capabilities. A metallic equipment lock serves as both a docking node and provides pressurized volume for pre-EVA activities including pre-breathe and suit donning/doffing. A rigid equipment lock offers stowage space during launch for integrated hardware and suits. Adding an integrated inflatable crew lock provides the volume required for EVAs with minimal use of launch volume. Using dual inflatable crew locks provides redundancy and the capability to move large pieces of equipment into and out of the vehicle for repair and maintenance. The inflatable crew lock is deflated and packaged in the launch shroud and expanded after installation on the Gateway. This packing capability allows additional volume to be added to the equipment lock and fully utilize the capability of the launch vehicle. This report outlines the work completed to design, analyze, and test the systems of a microgravity airlock with inflatable crew locks. In detail, it includes launch vehicles, structural sizing of the metallic equipment lock, the fabric layers of the inflatable crew lock, the internal structure of the crew lock, the space suit interface elements, the crew restraint system, the hatches and pass-throughs, the material and thermal elements, and the crew operations for the usage of the system. This paper is meant to offer a reference design for a hybrid microgravity airlock design for deep space human exploration.

Litteken, Douglas↗

NASA NTRS2020

Design of a Microgravity Hybrid Inflatable Airlock

Spacewalks, or extra-vehicular activities (EVAs), are a critical component of human space exploration for science activities and habitat construction and maintenance. For NASA's proposed lunar Gateway system, an airlock module is required for vehicle maintenance, repair, and exploration. Traditional airlock structures are fully metallic, with two chambers, known as an equipment lock and a crew lock. The larger volume, called the equipment lock, serves as the storage, logistics and electronics area, while the smaller volume, called the crew lock, serves as the volume to transition from the vacuum of space to the pressurized cabin. A traditional metallic structure design offers mass efficiency for these elements, but cannot offer volume efficiency. The potential to use an inflatable fabric pressure shell supplemented by a metallic support structure allows for efficiency in both mass and volume. Inflatable structures are being used for human habitable space modules, starting with the Bigelow Expandable Activities Module on the International Space Station. They are high-strength fabric-based structures that are compactly stowed for launch and then, once in space, they are expanded and rigidized with internal pressure. They provide significant launch volume savings over metallic structures. For Gateway, a hybrid airlock design is proposed with both metallic and inflatable structural elements, taking advantage of each material's capabilities. A metallic equipment lock serves as both a docking node and provides pressurized volume for pre-EVA activities including pre-breathe and suit donning/doffing. A rigid equipment lock offers stowage space during launch for integrated hardware and suits. Adding an integrated inflatable crew lock provides the volume required for EVAs with minimal use of launch volume. Using dual inflatable crew locks provides redundancy and the capability to move large pieces of equipment into and out of the vehicle for repair and maintenance. The inflatable crew lock is deflated and packaged in the launch shroud and expanded after installation on the Gateway. This packing capability allows additional volume to be added to the equipment lock and fully utilize the capability of the launch vehicle. This report outlines the work completed to design, analyze, and test the systems of a microgravity airlock with inflatable crew locks. In detail, it includes launch vehicles, structural sizing of the metallic equipment lock, the fabric layers of the inflatable crew lock, the internal structure of the crew lock, the space suit interface elements, the crew restraint system, the hatches and pass-throughs, the material and thermal elements, and the crew operations for the usage of the system. This paper is meant to offer a reference design for a hybrid microgravity airlock design for deep space human exploration.

Litteken, Douglas↗

NASA NTRS1989

Radio emission from young supernova remnants - Effects of an inhomogeneous circumstellar medium

The evolution of young supernova remnants has been modeled using a one-dimensional hydrodynamics code. Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities and the growth of Rayleigh-Taylor fingers have been included in the code. Turbulent dynamo amplification of magnetic fields and both turbulent and shock acceleration of relativistic electrons have been included macroscopically. From this, the distribution of synchrotron luminosity in the remnant has been calculated. It is found that the radio morphology of model remnants expanding into a homogeneous medium does not agree with observations. Expansion into a circumstellar medium with many small cloudlets does produce radio shells which agree with observations. It is suggested that supernova remnants reflect the interaction of ejected matter with a cloudy circumstellar medium.

Dickel, John R.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Radiation-induced insulator discharge pulses in the CRRES Internal Discharge Monitor satellite experiment

The Internal Discharge Monitor (IDM) is designed to observe electrical pulses from common electrical insulators in space service. The IDM is flying on the Combined Release and Radiation Effects Satellite (CRRES). The sixteen insulator samples include G10 circuit boards, FR4 and PTFE fiberglass circuit boards, FEP Teflon, alumina, and wires with common insulations. The samples are fully enclosed, mutually isolated, and space radiation penetrates 0.02 cm of aluminum before striking the samples. The IDM results indicate the rate at which insulator pulses occur. Pulsing began on the seventh orbit. The maximum pulse rate occurred near orbit 600 when over 50 pulses occurred. The average pulse rate is approximately two per orbit, but nearly half of the first 600 orbits experienced no pulses. The pulse rate per unit flux of high energy electrons has not changed dramatically over the first ten months in space. These pulse rates are in agreement with laboratory experience on shorter time scales. Several of the samples have never pulsed. IDM pulses are the seeds of larger satellite electrical anomalies. The pulse rates are compared with space radiation intensities, L shell location, and spectral distributions from the radiation spectrometers on CRRES.

Frederickson, A. R.↗

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 NTRS1994

Spectrum of IC 2149 and its central star

Although the asymmetric optical image of IC 2149 does not fall into any standard morphologies (Balick et al. 1993), the overall shape and its radio frequency image show a bilateral symmetry. The central star of spectral class O7.5 is a remarkable object with a rich spectrum showing many Fe ions. We discuss this spectrum in detail. The nebula has been studied utilizing our theoretical photoionization models. Detailed analyses of spectral data are done in both the UV region (lambda less than 3000 A; IUE) and the optical region (3500 A approximately 10500 A; the Hamilton Echelle at Lick Observatory). The plasma diagnostics suggest an electron temperature of 9000 approximately 10,000 K and an electron density near 5600 cm. Our model calculations were carried out with due regard to the above plasma diagnostics. The observations can be interpreted by a model of IC 2149 which consists of two components (an equatorial ring and a polar cone), but the total emission is dominated by the relatively denser equatorial shell. Carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen appear to be depleted by a factor of about 3; ratios of other elements are also lower than in the Sun.

Feibelman, Walter A.↗

NASA NTRS1996

The Supernova Remnant CTA 1

The supernova remnants G327.1-1.1 and G327.4+0.4 (Kes 27) are located 1.5 deg apart in the constellation Norma. In 1980, Einstein IPC observations discovered that both were irregular filled-center X-ray sources with possible point sources superposed. This paper describes new ROSAT position sensitive proportional counter (PSPC) observations which both map the diffuse structure and clearly show several unresolved sources in each field. Both remnants have bright emitting regions inside the limb which might indicate the presence of high energy electrons accelerated by a pulsar. The interior region is more prominent in G327.1-1.1 than in Kes 27. The spectra are relatively strongly absorbed, as expected from distant remnants close to the galactic plane. Comparison of the X-ray and radio maps of each remnant allows us to attribute some emission to a shell and some to the interior. With this information, a blast-wave model is used to derive approximate ages and energy release. Indications are that the Kes 27 supernova deposited approximately 10(exp 51) ergs in the surrounding medium. The G327.1-1.1 event probably deposited a factor of 3-10 less.

Seward, Frederick D.↗

NASA NTRS1988

The spectrophotometry and chemical composition of the oxygen-poor bipolar nebula NGC 6164-5

The paper presents new ground-based and IUE spectrophotometry of several positions in NGC 6164-5 surrounding the Population I Of star HD 148937. Electron temperatures, densities, and abundances are derived for the various positions in the nebula using spectral line information. For all of the regions observed, Ne/H is depleted by an amount comparable to O/H, while S/H and Ar/H have normal values. The results suggest that the nebula consists partly of material ejected from inner shell-burning regions of the Of star. In effect, HD 148937 is older and more advanced than what was previously thought.

Dufour, Reginald J.↗

NASA NTRS2003

Rollable Thin-Shell Nanolaminate Mirrors

A class of lightweight, deployable, thin-shell, curved mirrors with built-in precise-shape-control actuators is being developed for high-resolution scientific imaging. This technology incorporates a combination of advanced design concepts in actuation and membrane optics that, heretofore, have been considered as separate innovations. These mirrors are conceived to be stowed compactly in a launch shroud and transported aboard spacecraft, then deployed in outer space to required precise shapes at much larger dimensions (diameters of the order of meters or tens of meters). A typical shell rollable mirror structure would include: (1) a flexible single- or multiple-layer face sheet that would include an integrated reflective surface layer that would constitute the mirror; (2) structural supports in the form of stiffeners made of a shape-memory alloy (SMA); and (3) piezoelectric actuators. The actuators, together with an electronic control subsystem, would implement a concept of hierarchical distributed control, in which (1) the SMA actuators would be used for global shape control and would generate the large deformations needed for the deployment process and (2) the piezoelectric actuators would generate smaller deformations and would be used primarily to effect fine local control of the shape of the mirror.

Hickey, Gregory↗

NASA NTRS2001

Growth Orientation of Carbon Nanotubes by Thermal CVD

Carbon nanotubes with a few shells are synthesized using thermal chemical vapor depositions. The sizes of these carbon nanotubes (CNT) are quite uniform and the length is up to several tens of micrometers. With the particular substrate location for which the substrate surface is normal along or against the gravity vector, different growth orientations of CNT are observed by scanning electron microscopy, though the Raman spectra for samples at different locations are similar to each other. The results suggest the gravitation effects in growth of the long and small diameter CNT.

Zhu, S.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Halos around planetary nebulae

Preliminary results of a CCD survey designed to detect and investigate faint halos around planetary nebulae are reported. A TI 800 x 800 pixel CCD was used to take deep exposures of 44 planetary nebulae. The exposures were obtained through an H-alpha filter at the Cassegrain focus of the Palomar 1.5 m telescope. Spatial resolutions of 1 to 2 arcsec were obtained across 400 arcsec wide fields. The images, which are in many cases considerably deeper than any previously taken, reveal numerous planetary nebula halos. About two-thirds of the studied nebulae possess extensive outer halos, here defined as any extended emission beyond the 10 percent isophote. Ionized sulphur electron density measurements show that in some nebulae, the mass in the halo is comparable to the mass contained in the primary H II region. The data have been used to place constraints on the mode of origin of the halos. It is likely that the halos originate either by dynamical separation of a single ejected shell of gas or by the ejection of two or more such shells from the central star. It is possible but less likely that the halos are caused by excitation of the preplanetary stellar wind and improbable that the halos represent reflection nebulae.

Jewitt, D. C.↗