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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 325 records · Page 18
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1995

Methodologies for steering clocks

One of the concerns of the PTTI community is the coordination of one time scale with another. This is accomplished through steering one clock system to another, with a goal of a zero or constant offset in time and frequency. In order to attain this goal, rate differences are calculated and allowed for by the steering algorithm. This paper will present several of these different methods of determining rate differences. Ideally, any change in rate should not cause the offset to change sign (overshoot) by any amount, but certainly not by as much as its previous absolute value. The advantages and disadvantages of each depend on the user's situation.

Chadsey, Harold↗
NASA NTRS1997

Mass Loading Characteristics of Crystal Clock Oscillators

The 10-MHz piezoelectric quartz-crystal microbalance (QCM) has been used extensively for stratospheric aerosol sampling. We have undertaken laboratory studies of the QCM response to mass loading by trace gases. However, this device requires dual oscillator circuitry and the mass sensitivity can often be affected by the electronics. The coatings on the quartz crystals are sometimes difficult to remove after they have reacted with a particular gas and a disposable crystal system would be desirable. The cost of the dual oscillator-based QCM makes this a prohibitive option. Since our goal is to develop a cost-effective microbalance system with stable electronics we have begun testing of crystal clock oscillators, which are assembled with their own circuitry. We have been using chemically specific coatings for ozone to determine if the sensitivity and mass-frequency ratios are comparable to that of the 10-MHz QCM.

Cobb, Janel↗
NASA NTRS1997

Hydrogen Maser Clock (HMC) Experiment

The Hydrogen Maser Clock (HMC) project was originally conceived to fly on a reflight of the European Space Agency (ESA) free flying platform, the European Recoverable Carrier (EURECA) that had been launched into space and recovered by NASA's Space Transportation System (STS). A Phase B study for operation of HMC as one of the twelve EURECA payload components was begun in July 1991, and completed a year later. Phase C/D of HMC began in August 1992 and continued into early 1995. At that time ESA decided not to refly EURECA, leaving HMC without access to space. Approximately 80% of the flight support electronics are presently operating the HMC's physics package in a vacuum tank at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, and are now considered to be well-tested flight electronics. The package will continue to be operated until the end of 1997 or until a flight opportunity becomes avaiable. Appendices: letters and trip report; proceedings of the symposium on frequency standards and metrology; milli-celsius-stability thermal control for an orbiting frequency standard.

Vessot, Robert F. C.↗
NASA NTRS1996

APS Conference on Understanding the Biological Clock: From Genetics to Physiology

The Conference was designed to take advantage of the fusion of two intellectually dominant but heretofore separate lines of clock research, vertebrate physiology and invertebrate and microbial genetics. The APS Conference attracted 251 scientists, 68 of whom were students. In addition to the excellent speaker program organized by Dunlap and Loros, the attendees also submitted 93 volunteer abstracts that were programmed in poster sessions. Thirty-four percent of the submitted abstracts were first authorized by a female student or scientist.

Frank, Martin↗
NASA NTRS1998

Clock Technology Development for the Laser Cooling and Atomic Physics (LCAP) Program

The Time and Frequency Sciences and Technology Group at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has developed a laser cooling capability for flight and has been selected by NASA to support the Laser-Cooling and Atomic Physics (LCAP) program. Current work in the group includes design and development for tee two laser-cooled atomic clock experiments which have been selected for flight on the International Space Station.

Klipstein, W. M.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Laser Cooled Atomic Clocks in Space

The goals of the Glovebox Laser-cooled Atomic Clock Experiment (GLACE) are: (1) first utilization of tunable, frequency-stabilized lasers in space, (2) demonstrate laser cooling and trapping in microgravity, (3) demonstrate longest 'perturbation-free' interaction time for a precision measurement on neutral atoms, (4) Resolve Ramsey fringes 2-10 times narrower than achievable on Earth. The approach taken is: the use of COTS components, and the utilization of prototype hardware from LCAP flight definition experiments. The launch date is scheduled for Oct. 2002. The Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) specifications are reviewed, and a picture of the MSG is shown.

Thompson, R. J.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Compressibility and Turbulence Effects Due to Airfoil Clocking in Axial Compressors

Axial compressors have inherently unsteady flow fields because of relative motion between rotor and stator airfoils. This relative motion leads to viscous and inviscid (potential) interactions between blade rows. As the number of stages increases in a turbomachine, the buildup of convected wakes can lead to progressively more complex wake/wake and wake/airfoil interactions. Variations in the relative circumferential positions of stators or rotors can change these interactions, leading to different unsteady forcing functions on airfoils and different compressor efficiencies. In addition, as the Mach number increases the interaction between blade rows is intensified due to potential effects. The current study uses an unsteady, two-dimensional Navier-Stokes approach to investigate the unsteady aerodynamics of stator clocking in a 1-1/2 stage compressor, typical of high-pressure compressors used in advanced commercial jet engines. The effects of turbulence are modeled with both algebraic and two-equation models. Results include surface pressures, efficiencies, boundary layer quantities and turbulence quantities. In addition, the growth of turbulence and the effects of compressibility on airfoil are discussed.

Dorney, Daniel J.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Quartz Crystal Clocks

General Time Corporation, under contract to NASA, developed a quartz crystal for obtaining a stable time base from which all mission times could be derived. This later became basis of consumer clocks and watches with accuracy of one minute a year, watches useful in timing sports events as well as general use. When quartz is electrically stimulated it can vibrate millions of times a second. Since timepieces use a vibrating body to keep up time, incredibly fast vibration of a quartz crystal--up to 4,194,304 beats a second opened a new horizon in accuracy.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2003

Gravity and light effects on the circadian clock of a desert beetle, Trigonoscelis gigas

Circadian function is affected by exposure to altered ambient force environments. Under non-earth gravitational fields, both basic features of circadian rhythms and the expression of the clock responsible for these rhythms are altered. We examined the activity rhythm of the tenebrionid beetle, Trigonoscelis gigas, in conditions of microgravity (microG; spaceflight), earth's gravity (1 G) and 2 G (centrifugation). Data were recorded under a light-dark cycle (LD), constant light (LL), and constant darkness (DD). Free-running period (tau) was significantly affected by both the gravitational field and ambient light intensity. In DD, tau was longer under 2 G than under either 1 G or microG. In addition, tauLL was significantly different from tauDD under microG and 1 G, but not under 2 G.

NASA Discipline Regulatory Physiology↗
NASA NTRS2005

The Influence of Clocking Angle of the Projectile on the Simulated Impact Response of a Shuttle Leading Edge Wing Panel

An analytical study was conducted to determine the influence of clocking angle of a foam projectile impacting a space shuttle leading edge wing panel. Four simulations were performed using LS-DYNA. The leading edge panels are fabricated of multiple layers of reinforced carbon-carbon (RCC) material. The RCC material was represented using Mat 58, which is a material property that can be used for laminated composite fabrics. Simulations were performed of a rectangular-shaped foam block, weighing 0.23-lb., impacting RCC Panel 9 on the top surface. The material properties of the foam were input using Mat 83. The impact velocity was 1,000 ft/s along the Orbiter X-axis. In two models, the foam impacted on a corner, in one model the foam impacted the panel initially on the 2-in.-long edge, and in the last model the foam impacted the panel on the 7-in.- long edge. The simulation results are presented as contour plots of first principal infinitesimal strain and time history plots of contact force and internal and kinetic energy of the foam and RCC panel.

Jackson, Karen E.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Cardiovascular tissues contain independent circadian clocks

Acute cardiovascular events exhibit a circadian rhythm in the frequency of occurrence. The mechanisms underlying these phenomena are not yet fully understood, but they may be due to rhythmicity inherent in the cardiovascular system. We have begun to characterize rhythmicity of the clock gene mPer1 in the rat cardiovascular system. Luciferase activity driven by the mPer1 gene promoter is rhythmic in vitro in heart tissue explants and a wide variety of veins and arteries cultured from the transgenic Per1-luc rat. The tissues showed between 3 and 12 circadian cycles of gene expression in vitro before damping. Whereas peak per1-driven bioluminescence consistently occurred during the late night in the heart and all arteries sampled, the phases of the rhythms in veins varied significantly by anatomical location. Varying the time of the culture procedure relative to the donor animal's light:dark cycle revealed that, unlike some other rat tissues such as liver, the phases of in vitro rhythms of arteries, veins, and heart explants were affected by culture time. However, phase relationships among tissues were consistent across culture times; this suggests diversity in circadian regulation among components of the cardiovascular system.

Non-NASA Center↗
NASA NTRS2004

A Superfluid Clock

The performance of clocks is limited by the characteristics of the underlying oscillator. Both the quality factor of the oscillator and the signal-to-noise ratio for the resonator state measurement are important. A superfluid helium Helmholtz resonator operating at approx.100mK temperatures has the potential of maintaining frequency stability of 5x10(exp -15)/t(exp 1/2) on the time scale of a few months. The high dynamic range of lossless SQUID position displacement measurement, and low losses associated with the superfluid flow, combined with high mechanical stability of cryogenic assemblies, contribute to the projected stability. Low overall mass of the assembly allows for multiple stages of vibration isolation.

Penanen, Konstantin↗
NASA NTRS2001

Phase modulation for reduced vibration sensitivity in laser-cooled clocks in space

The standard interrogation technique in atomic beam clocks is square-wave frequency modulation (SWFM), which suffers a first order sensitivity to vibrations as changes in the transit time of the atoms translates to perceived frequency errors. Square-wave phase modulation (SWPM) interrogation eliminates sensitivity to this noise.

frequency standard frequency modulation phase modu↗
NASA NTRS2007

Model Checking a Byzantine-Fault-Tolerant Self-Stabilizing Protocol for Distributed Clock Synchronization Systems

This report presents the mechanical verification of a simplified model of a rapid Byzantine-fault-tolerant self-stabilizing protocol for distributed clock synchronization systems. This protocol does not rely on any assumptions about the initial state of the system. This protocol tolerates bursts of transient failures, and deterministically converges within a time bound that is a linear function of the self-stabilization period. A simplified model of the protocol is verified using the Symbolic Model Verifier (SMV) [SMV]. The system under study consists of 4 nodes, where at most one of the nodes is assumed to be Byzantine faulty. The model checking effort is focused on verifying correctness of the simplified model of the protocol in the presence of a permanent Byzantine fault as well as confirmation of claims of determinism and linear convergence with respect to the self-stabilization period. Although model checking results of the simplified model of the protocol confirm the theoretical predictions, these results do not necessarily confirm that the protocol solves the general case of this problem. Modeling challenges of the protocol and the system are addressed. A number of abstractions are utilized in order to reduce the state space. Also, additional innovative state space reduction techniques are introduced that can be used in future verification efforts applied to this and other protocols.

Malekpour, Mahyar R.↗
NASA NTRS2008

Verification of a Byzantine-Fault-Tolerant Self-stabilizing Protocol for Clock Synchronization

This paper presents the mechanical verification of a simplified model of a rapid Byzantine-fault-tolerant self-stabilizing protocol for distributed clock synchronization systems. This protocol does not rely on any assumptions about the initial state of the system except for the presence of sufficient good nodes, thus making the weakest possible assumptions and producing the strongest results. This protocol tolerates bursts of transient failures, and deterministically converges within a time bound that is a linear function of the self-stabilization period. A simplified model of the protocol is verified using the Symbolic Model Verifier (SMV). The system under study consists of 4 nodes, where at most one of the nodes is assumed to be Byzantine faulty. The model checking effort is focused on verifying correctness of the simplified model of the protocol in the presence of a permanent Byzantine fault as well as confirmation of claims of determinism and linear convergence with respect to the self-stabilization period. Although model checking results of the simplified model of the protocol confirm the theoretical predictions, these results do not necessarily confirm that the protocol solves the general case of this problem. Modeling challenges of the protocol and the system are addressed. A number of abstractions are utilized in order to reduce the state space.

Malekpour, Mahyar R.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Measurement Techniques for Transmit Source Clock Jitter for Weak Serial RF Links

Techniques for filtering clock jitter measurements are developed, in the context of controlling data modulation jitter on an RF carrier to accommodate low signal-to-noise ratio thresholds of high-performance error correction codes. Measurement artifacts from sampling are considered, and a tutorial on interpretation of direct readings is included.

Lansdowne, Chatwin A.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Improved Tracking of an Atomic-Clock Resonance Transition

An improved method of making an electronic oscillator track the frequency of an atomic-clock resonance transition is based on fitting a theoretical nonlinear curve to measurements at three oscillator frequencies within the operational frequency band of the transition (in other words, at three points within the resonance peak). In the measurement process, the frequency of a microwave oscillator is repeatedly set at various offsets from the nominal resonance frequency, the oscillator signal is applied in a square pulse of the oscillator signal having a suitable duration (typically, of the order of a second), and, for each pulse at each frequency offset, fluorescence photons of the transition in question are counted. As described below, the counts are used to determine a new nominal resonance frequency. Thereafter, offsets are determined with respect to the new resonance frequency. The process as described thus far is repeated so as to repeatedly adjust the oscillator to track the most recent estimate of the nominal resonance frequency.

Prestage, John D.↗