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NASA NTRS1985

The frequency of weak gamma-ray bursts

A search for weak gamma-ray bursts was conducted using a sensitive balloon-borne detector. One burst was detected in 64 hr of observation. The upper limit to the burst rate is 2300 bursts/yr above 6 x 10 to the -7th ergs/sq cm for simple spatial distribution models. Comparison with satellite results indicates that the slope of the log N-log S curve can be no steeper than -1 between 10 to the -4th and 10 to the -6th ergs/sq cm. A detailed procedure for calculating detector sensitivity to bursts is provided.

Meegan, C. A.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Surface flaw reliability analysis of ceramic components with the SCARE finite element postprocessor program

The SCARE (Structural Ceramics Analysis and Reliability Evaluation) computer program on statistical fast fracture reliability analysis with quadratic elements for volume distributed imperfections is enhanced to include the use of linear finite elements and the capability of designing against concurrent surface flaw induced ceramic component failure. The SCARE code is presently coupled as a postprocessor to the MSC/NASTRAN general purpose, finite element analysis program. The improved version now includes the Weibull and Batdorf statistical failure theories for both surface and volume flaw based reliability analysis. The program uses the two-parameter Weibull fracture strength cumulative failure probability distribution model with the principle of independent action for poly-axial stress states, and Batdorf's shear-sensitive as well as shear-insensitive statistical theories. The shear-sensitive surface crack configurations include the Griffith crack and Griffith notch geometries, using the total critical coplanar strain energy release rate criterion to predict mixed-mode fracture. Weibull material parameters based on both surface and volume flaw induced fracture can also be calculated from modulus of rupture bar tests, using the least squares method with known specimen geometry and grouped fracture data. The statistical fast fracture theories for surface flaw induced failure, along with selected input and output formats and options, are summarized. An example problem to demonstrate various features of the program is included.

Gyekenyesi, John P.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Performance comparison of two interferometric droplet sizing techniques

In this paper, two interferometric techniques (Visibility/Itensity Validation and Phase Doppler) are critically examined in characterizing the spray of an air-assist nozzle with Sauter mean diameter of less than 35 microns. The two techniques are compared to each other and are evaluated against a Malvern diffraction unit. With the use of a rotating grating for Visibility/Intensity Validation, the interference techniques compare well to each other and to the diffraction method. The Phase Doppler technique is more easily applied to the spray, due largely to its broadened size and velocity ranges. The consistency of the interferometric results raises questions with regard to the use of the Malvern's most frequently applied distribution model.

Jackson, T. A.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Parameterization of near infrared absorption by atmospheric gases

An absorption coefficient (k) distribution model is presented for fast calculation of atmospheric transmittances based solely on essential data from line-by-line (LBL) calculations. The absorption at any site is summed over the spectra obtained by LBL calculations. Application of the scaling model is illustrated with sample calculations for 0.72 micron emissions and the 1.36 micron water vapor band. LBL absorption spectra are calculated for the pressure levels 260 mb, 400 mb and 1000 mb.

Ridgway, W. L.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Surface flaw reliability analysis of ceramic components with the SCARE finite element postprocessor program

Gyekenyesi, J. P.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Alfven waves from an electrodynamic tethered satellite system

The ionospheric plasma currents associated with the operation of an orbiting, constant current electrodynamic tethered satellite system are calculated using linear cold plasma theory and a tethered system current distribution model that takes into account the peculiar dumbbell shape of the system. The field line current calculations show plasma sheet currents at each end of the tethered system whose structure is roughly that of the Alfven wings. The disturbance caused by the moving tethered system extends behind its dimensions along the line of sight. The form of the wings alters as they travel away from the system. The front boundary becomes sharper while the ripples in J(z) in the wake extend to greater distances with larger amplitude. The wave impedance is calculated for a wide range of system dimension values. The expression is in sharp disagreement with a recently published result by Dobrowolny and Veltri (1986).

Estes, Robert D.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Probabilities and statistics for backscatter estimates obtained by a scatterometer with applications to new scatterometer design data

The values of the Normalized Radar Backscattering Cross Section (NRCS), sigma (o), obtained by a scatterometer are random variables whose variance is a known function of the expected value. The probability density function can be obtained from the normal distribution. Models for the expected value obtain it as a function of the properties of the waves on the ocean and the winds that generated the waves. Point estimates of the expected value were found from various statistics given the parameters that define the probability density function for each value. Random intervals were derived with a preassigned probability of containing that value. A statistical test to determine whether or not successive values of sigma (o) are truly independent was derived. The maximum likelihood estimates for wind speed and direction were found, given a model for backscatter as a function of the properties of the waves on the ocean. These estimates are biased as a result of the terms in the equation that involve natural logarithms, and calculations of the point estimates of the maximum likelihood values are used to show that the contributions of the logarithmic terms are negligible and that the terms can be omitted.

Pierson, Willard J., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Kaon-nucleus scattering

The derivations of the Lippmann-Schwinger equation and Watson multiple scattering are given. A simple optical potential is found to be the first term of that series. The number density distribution models of the nucleus, harmonic well, and Woods-Saxon are used without t-matrix taken from the scattering experiments. The parameterized two-body inputs, which are kaon-nucleon total cross sections, elastic slope parameters, and the ratio of the real to the imaginary part of the forward elastic scattering amplitude, are presented. The eikonal approximation was chosen as our solution method to estimate the total and absorptive cross sections for the kaon-nucleus scattering.

Hong, Byungsik↗

NASA NTRS1990

Update transport - A new technique for update synchronization in replicated database systems

A fully distributed approach to update synchronization is presented where each site completely executes every update. This approach has several features-higher resiliency to different kinds of failures, higher parallelism, improved response to user requests, and low communication overhead. A fully distributed algorithm for concurrency control obtained by rehashing a previously published semidistributed algorithm into the fully distributed model of update execution is presented. A performance model of replicated database systems is presented and used to study the performance of the proposed algorithm and its semidistributed version. The results of the performance study reveal that the proposed approach can substantially improve the performance at the cost of moderate input/output overhead.

Singhal, Mukesh↗

NASA NTRS1990

Neural networks and MIMD-multiprocessors

Two artificial neural network models are compared. They are the Hopfield Neural Network Model and the Sparse Distributed Memory model. Distributed algorithms for both of them are designed and implemented. The run time characteristics of the algorithms are analyzed theoretically and tested in practice. The storage capacities of the networks are compared. Implementations are done using a distributed multiprocessor system.

Vanhala, Jukka↗

NASA NTRS1991

RMS active damping augmentation

The topics are presented in viewgraph form and include: RMS active damping augmentation; potential space station assembly benefits to CSI; LaRC/JSC bridge program; control law design process; draper RMS simulator; MIMO acceleration control laws improve damping; potential load reduction benefit; DRS modified to model distributed accelerations; accelerometer location; Space Shuttle aft cockpit simulator; simulated shuttle video displays; SES test goals and objectives; and SES modifications to support RMS active damping augmentation.

Michael G Gilbert↗

NASA NTRS1991

A diagnostic stratospheric aerosol size distribution inferred from SAGE II measurements

An aerosol size distribution model for the stratosphere is inferred based on 5 years of Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) II measurements of multispectral aerosol and water vapor extinction. The SAGE II aerosol and water vapor extinction data strongly suggest that there is a critical particle radius below which there is a relatively weak dependence of particle number density with size and above which there are few, if any, particles. A segmented power law model, as a simple representation of this dependence, is used in theoretical calculations and intercomparisons with a variety of aerosol measurements including dustsondes, longwave lidar, and wire impactors and shows a consistently good agreement.

Thomason, Larry W.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Land-mobile-satellite fade measurements in Australia

Attenuation measurements were implemented at L-band (1.5 GHz) in southeastern Australia during an 11-day period in October 1988 as part of a continuing examination of the propagation effects due to roadside trees and terrain for mobile-satellite service. Beacon transmissions from the geostationary ETS-V and IPORS satellites were observed. The Australian campaign expanded to another continent our Mobile Satellite Service data base of measurements executed in the eastern and southwestern United States regions. An empirical fade distribution model based on U.S. data predicted the Australian results with errors generally less than 1 dB in the 1-20 percent probability region. Directive antennas are shown to suffer deeper fades under severe shadowing conditions (3 dB excess at 4 percent), the equal-probability isolation between co- and cross-polarized transmissions deteriorated to 10 dB at the 5 dB fade level, and antenna diversity reception may reduce unavailability of the system by a factor of 2-8.

Vogel, Wolfhard J.↗

NASA NTRS1992

IUE observations of H Lyman-alpha in Comet P/Giacobini-Zinner

Hydrogen abundance and spatial-distribution models previously used to reproduce the observed wide-field Lyman-alpha comae of Comets Kohoutek and Halley are presently applied to three months of IUE observations of Comet P/Giacobini/Zinner. A spherical radiative transfer model adapted for application to the H coma is also used to analyze these observations, under the same physical assumptions as the vectorial model for OH except in the case of optical density. Water production rates are obtained which closely agree with those derived from vectorial model analysis of OH observations.

Combi, Michael R.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Analyzing Impacts Of Meteoroids And Debris On Spacecraft

BUMPERII is modular computer program implementing numerical solution technique to calculate probability of no penetration (PNP) of spacecraft by orbiting artificial debris or impacts of meteoroids. Equation used to calculate PNP based on Poisson-distribution model applicable to similar analysis of smaller craft, but reflects more rigorous mathematical modeling of size, shape, orientation, and other characteristics of spacecraft that affect impacts, and necessary for PNP analysis of such larger structures as components of space station. Written in FORTRAN 77.

Bjorkman, Mike↗

NASA NTRS1991

Controls for space structures

Assembly and operation of large space structures (LSS) in orbit will require robot-assisted docking and berthing of partially-assembled structures. These operations require new solutions to the problems of controls. This is true because of large transient and persistent disturbances, controller-structure interaction with unmodeled modes, poorly known structure parameters, slow actuator/sensor dynamical behavior, and excitation of nonlinear structure vibrations during control and assembly. For on-orbit assembly, controllers must start with finite element models of LSS and adapt on line to the best operating points, without compromising stability. This is not easy to do, since there are often unmodeled dynamic interactions between the controller and the structure. The indirect adaptive controllers are based on parameter estimation. Due to the large number of modes in LSS, this approach leads to very high-order control schemes with consequent poor stability and performance. In contrast, direct model reference adaptive controllers operate to force the LSS to track the desirable behavior of a chosen model. These schemes produce simple control algorithms which are easy to implement on line. One problem with their use for LSS has been that the model must be the same dimension as the LSS - i.e., quite large. A control theory based on the command generator tracker (CGT) ideas of Sobel, Mabins, Kaufman and Wen, Balas to obtain very low-order models based on adaptive algorithms was developed. Closed-loop stability for both finite element models and distributed parameter models of LSS was proved. In addition, successful numerical simulations on several LSS databases were obtained. An adaptive controller based on our theory was also implemented on a flexible robotic manipulator at Martin Marietta Astronautics. Computation schemes for controller-structure interaction with unmodeled modes, the residual mode filters or RMF, were developed. The RMF theory was modified to compensate slow actuator/sensor dynamics. These new ideas are being applied to LSS simulations to demonstrate the ease with which one can incorporate slow actuator/sensor effects into our design. It was also shown that residual mode filter compensation can be modified for small nonlinearities to produce exponentially stable closed-loop control. A theory for disturbance accommodating controllers based on reduced order models of structures was developed, and stability results for these controllers in closed-loop with large-scale finite element models of structures were obtained.

Balas, Mark↗

NASA NTRS1993

Heliospheric hydrogen beyond 15 AU - Evidence for a termination shock

The Voyager and Pioneer 10 spacecraft are moving upstream and downstream into the local interstellar flow, monitoring H Lyman alpha radiation resonantly scattered from heliospheric hydrogen. Voyager Cruise Maneuver observations obtained between 15 and 35 AU reveal that H Lyman alpha intensities in the upstream direction fall as r exp -0.75+/-0.05. Beyond 15 AU downstream, Pioneer 10 intensities fall as r exp -1.07+/-0.1. These trends cannot be simultaneously reproduced using a hot H distribution model that does not include termination shock structure. The Voyager H Lyman alpha intensities also show a distinctive trend to decrease less rapidly with increasing heliocentric distance. Between 15 and 20 AU, Voyager intensities fall as r exp -1, whereas between 30 and 35 AU they fall as r exp -0.35. This flattening trend implies that the upstream H density is increasing rapidly with heliocentric distance beyond about 25 AU. This steepening trend is significant because similar H density gradients are predicted in models which include the effects of the termination shock. Taken together, the Voyager and Pioneer 10 H Lyman alpha observations beyond 15 AU imply the existence of a solar wind termination shock, suggesting that it lies between 70 and 105 AU in the upstream direction.

Hall, D. T.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Color evolution from z = 0 to z = 1

Rest frame Stroemgren photometry (3500 A, 4100 A, 4750 A, and 5500 A) is presented for 509 galaxies in 17 rich clusters between z = 0 and z = 1 as a test of color evolution. Our observations confirm a strong, rest frame, Butcher-Oemler effect where the fraction of blue galaxies increases from 20% at z = 0.4 to 80% at z = 0.9. We also find that a majority of these blue cluster galaxies are composed of normal disk or post-starburst systems based on color criteria. When comparing our colors to the morphological results from Hubble Space Telescope HST imaging, we propose that the blue cluster galaxies are a population of late-type, low surface brightness objects which fade and are then destroyed by the cluster tidal field. After isolating the red objects from Butcher-Oemler objects, we have compared the mean color of these old, non-star-forming objects with spectral energy distribution models in the literature as a test for passive galaxy evolution in ellipticals. We find good agreement with single-burst models which predict a mean epoch of galaxy formation at z = 5. Tracing the red envelope for ellipticals places the earliest epoch of galaxy formation at z = 10.

Rakos, Karl D.↗