Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “impact ionization”

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.

At least 397 records · Page 22
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2019

NASA GeneLab Platform Utilized for Space Radiation Dosimetry Biological Response Compared to Radiation Ground Studies

Ionizing radiation from Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCR) is one of the major risk factors factor that will impact health of astronauts on extended missions outside the protective effects of the Earth's magnetic field. Currently there are gaps in our knowledge of the health risks associated with chronic low dose, low dose rate ionizing radiation, specifically ions associated with high (H) atomic number (Z) and energy (E). The NASA GeneLab project (genelab.nasa.gov) aims to provide a detailed library of Omics datasets associated with biological samples exposed to HZE. The GeneLab Data System (GLDS) includes datasets from both spaceflight and ground-based studies, a majority of which involved exposure to ionizing radiation. Recently GeneLab has also assessed radiation dosimetry data with omics datasets associated with samples flown to the International Space Station (ISS). The combination of the detailed information on radiation exposure for ground-based studies and curated dosimetry information for spaceflight experiments allows GeneLab to be the first comprehensive Omics database for space related research from which an investigator can generate hypotheses to direct future experiments utilizing both ground and space biological radiation data. We demonstrate the usefulness of these datasets by analyzing multiple GeneLab datasets associated with both radiation ground-based studies and spaceflight studies. The radiation ground based studies we analyzed includes both in vivo and in vitro work with a range ions from protons to iron particles with doses from 0.1Gy to 2Gy. These datasets were compared to both in vivo and in vitro datasets from samples flown to the ISS and on shorter shuttle missions with total doses of 0.1 mGy to 30 mGys. From this analysis we were able to associate distinct biological signatures associating specific ions to specific biological response to radiation exposure in space. For example, we discovered radiation biological response related to cardiovascular effects from proton ground studies are the dominating response for samples related to cardiovascular effects on the ISS. With this work we will provide a summary of how different ions will impact different biological response in space and how this can be used in future studies to assess optimal ground experiments to simulate space radiation.

Beheshti, Afshin↗
NASA NTRS2018

NASA GeneLab Project: Bridging Space Radiation Omics with Ground Studies

Accurate assessment of risk factors for long-term space missions is critical for human space exploration: therefore it is essential to have a detailed understanding of the biological effects on humans living and working in deep space. Ionizing radiation from Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCR) is one of the major risk factors factor that will impact health of astronauts on extended missions outside the protective effects of the Earth's magnetic field. Currently there are gaps in our knowledge of the health risks associated with chronic low dose, low dose rate ionizing radiation, specifically ions associated with high (H) atomic number (Z) and energy (E). The GeneLab project (genelab.nasa.gov) aims to provide a detailed library of Omics datasets associated with biological samples exposed to HZE. The GeneLab Data System (GLDS) currently includes datasets from both spaceflight and ground-based studies, a majority of which involve exposure to ionizing radiation. In addition to detailed information for ground-based studies, we are in the process of adding detailed, curated dosimetry information for spaceflight missions. GeneLab is the first comprehensive Omics database for space related research from which an investigator can generate hypotheses to direct future experiments utilizing both ground and space biological radiation data. In addition to previously acquired data, the GLDS is continually expanding as Omics related data are generated by the space life sciences community. Here we provide a brief summary of space radiation related data available at GeneLab.

Genelab↗
NASA NTRS1999

Astronaut Exposures to Ionizing Radiation in a Lightly-Shielded Spacesuit

The normal working and living areas of the astronauts are designed to provide an acceptable level of protection against the hazards of ionizing radiation of the space environment. Still there are occasions when they must don a spacesuit designed mainly for environmental control and mobility and leave the confines of their better-protected domain. This is especially true for deep space exploration. The impact of spacesuit construction on the exposure of critical astronaut organs will be examined in the ionizing radiation environments of free space, the lunar surface and the Martian surface. The computerized anatomical male model is used to evaluate astronaut self-shielding factors and to determine space radiation exposures to critical radiosensitive human organs.

Wilson, J. W.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Low Earth orbit environmental effects on the space station photovoltaic power generation systems

A summary of the Low Earth Orbital Environment, its impact on the Photovoltaic Power systems of the space station and the solutions implemented to resolve the environmental concerns or issues are described. Low Earth Orbital Environment (LEO) presents several concerns to the Photovoltaic power systems of the space station. These concerns include atomic oxygen interaction with the polymeric substrate of the solar arrays, ionized environment effects on the array operating voltage, the effects of the meteoroids and debris impacts and penetration through the different layers of the solar cells and their circuits, and the high energy particle and radiation effects on the overall solar array performance. Potential solutions to some of the degrading environmental interactions that will provide the photovoltaic power system of the space station with the desired life are also summarized.

Nahra, Henry K.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Low earth orbit environmental effects on the Space Station photovoltaic power generation systems

A summary of the low earth orbital environment, its impact on the photovoltaic power systems of the Space Station and the solutions implemented to resolve the environmental concerns or issues are described. Low earth orbital environment (LEO) presents several concerns to the photovoltaic power systems of the Space Station. These concerns include atomic oxygen interaction with the polymeric substrate of the solar arrays, ionized environment effects on the array operating voltage, the effects of the meteoroids and debris impacts and penetration through the different layers of the solar cells and their circuits, and the high energy particle and radiation effects on the overall solar array performance. Potential solutions to some of the degrading environmental interactions that will provide the photovoltaic power system of the Space Station with the desired life are also summarized.

Nahra, H. K.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Ionisation cross sections of rare-gas atoms by electron impact

A pulsed electron beam and ion extraction method is used to measure normalized values of partial ionization cross sections for rare gases from threshold to 1000 eV. Cross sections obtained for singly ionized species are used to calibrate the mass transmission efficiency of the ion extraction/analyzer/detection system by the relative flow technique, and this mass transmission curve is then used to determine the absolute cross sections of the multiply ionized species. Total ion cross sections are found by summation of the individual partial cross sections with proper weighting for charge.

Krishnakumar, E.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Measurement on the lunar surface of impact-produced plasma clouds.

Simultaneous enhancements of low-energy ions and negative-particle fluxes due to the impact of the Apollo 14 lunar module were observed by the lunar-based charged-particle lunar-environment experiment (CPLEE). The impact occurred 66 km away from CPLEE, and the time delay between impact and flux onset was approximately 1 min. It is argued that the observed charged particles could not have energized at the instant of impact but rather that the impact produced expanding gas clouds and that constituents of these clouds were ionized and accelerated by some continuously active acceleration mechanism. It is further shown that the acceleration mechanism could not have been a static electric field but rather is possibly a consequence of interaction between the solar wind and the gas cloud.

Reasoner, D. L.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Dissociative Recombination (DR) and Associative Ionization (AI) Cross Section Calculations for the NO+ + e yields N + O (2D+3P, 2P+3P, and 2D+1D) Reaction for Atmospheric Entry Modeling

During entry of a space craft into Earth atmosphere, the flow surrounding the vehicle becomes partially ionized leading to significant cation and free-electron production. Subsequently, electron impact excitation and dissociation form radiating excited state species that contribute to the heat load on the vehicle. While experimental data on selected total cross sections are available, few experiments address the need for accurate AI cross sections for metastable atomic states at the high temperatures realized in atmospheric re-entry. In order to maintain desired safety margins during atmospheric entry of a space vehicle, chemical reaction models need to accurately account for this process. For the present study, we have computed vibrationally resolved cross sections for the DR of NO+ for electron energies between 0.01 to 10 eV and apply microscopic reversibility to obtain the AI cross sections and rate coefficients. For the DR cross section calculations, we use state-of-the-art MRCI potential energy curves. The resulting adiabatic potential curves are transformed to a diabatic representation, which is used in time-dependent wave packet calculations to describe the nuclear motion of the dissociating cation upon collision with an electron. Based on the wave function evolution in time, these calculations provide T-matrix and cross sections for the DR including recombination into the low energy metastable atomic states. The DR and AI rate coefficients are compared with the available experimental data.

Ewa Papajak↗
NASA NTRS2000

Experimental Results of the Impact of an Ion Thruster Plasma on Microwave Propagation

Electric thrusters are being considered for a variety of space missions because of the significant propellant savings that result from the use of high performance, electric propulsion technologies. Propellant mass savings reduces spacecraft launch requirements and increases mission lifetime and payload. The impact of electric thruster plasma plumes on microwave signal propagation however is an important spacecraft integration concern. Arcjets were the first electric thrusters to be considered for operational missions. Ling, et al. studied the effect of arcjet plumes on propagation. Arcjets produce a lightly ionized plume and Ling's analysis predicted that the plume would have a negligible effect on communication. Plumes from the higher performance ion thrusters being developed exhibit higher ionization levels, plasma temperatures and particle velocities than arcjets. Therefore, there was a need to assess the impact due to these plumes. To address this need, the authors designed and performed a series of experiments to examine propagation effects of plumes. The challenge with these experiments was that they had to be performed in the operational environment of the thruster. Therefore, the experiments were conducted inside a metal chamber which could be depressurized to simulate a near vacuum condition of space. The metal chamber presents a potential large source of error to the propagation measurements due to the corruption of the desired data by multiple wall reflections within the chamber. This chamber effect was minimized by employing a pulsed-continuous wave transmitter and receiver system. This system based on an HP8510 Network Analyzer, uses external hardware time gating to eliminate the clutter of the spurious reflections. Additionally, high gain antennas were used in the measurements to ensure that minimal amounts of energy were transmitted/received in undesirable directions. The measurements took place in Vacuum Facility 5 of the Electric Propulsion Laboratory at the NASA Glenn Research Center. This facility utilizes a cylindrical, stainless steel, vacuum chamber, which is 18.3 m long and 4.6 m in diameter. For the tests being described here a 30 cm diameter, xenon ion thruster was used. The thruster provided between 500 W and 2.3 kW of operating power. The thruster was mounted on a stand along the axis of the chamber near one of its ends and could be moved axially.

Zaman, Afroz J.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Plasma effects on the interaction of a comet with Jupiter

I consider some plasma effects to be expected when the fragments of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 crash into Jupiter. Emphasis is put on pre-impact effects, and on the possibility of significant radio emission. It is shown than an ionizing shock will develop at altitudes below about 600 km, and that significant ionization will exist above that altitude. The incoming comet and its surroundings will then represent a rapidly moving conductor in a strong magnetic field and will induce large currents in Jupiter's magnetosphere, similar both qualitatively and quantitatively to a way in which Io interacts with Jupiter's magnetic field and with the plasma of the torus. This process is thought to be involved in the generation of decametric radiation, so that the impact of the comet may also produce such radiation. The power involved in this interaction is estimated to be at least 1/15th of the power due to Io, and its duration to be for 10-20 s before the comet's impact with the surface of Jupiter.

Kellogg, Paul J.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Experimental Results of the Impact of an Ion Thruster Plasma on Microwave Propagation

Electric thrusters are being considered for a variety of space missions because of the significant propellant savings that result from the use of high performance, electric propulsion technologies, Propellant mass savings reduces spacecraft launch requirements and increases mission lifetime and payload. The impact of electric thruster plasma plumes on microwave signal propagation however is an important spacecraft integration concern. Arcjets were the first electric thrusters to be considered for operational missions. Ling, et al., studied the effect of arcjet plumes on propagation. Arcjets produce a lightly ionized plume and Ling's analysis predicted that the plume would have a negligible effect on communication. Plumes from the higher performance ion thrusters being developed exhibit higher ionization levels, plasma temperatures and particle velo@ities than arcjets. Therefore, there was a need to assess the impact due to these plumes. To address this need, the authors designed and performed a series of experiments to examine propagation effects of plumes. The challenge with these experiments was that they had to be performed in the operational environment of the thruster. Therefore, the experiments were conducted inside a metal chamber which could be depressurized to simulate a near vacuum condition of space. The metal chamber presents a potential large source of error to the propagation measurements due to the corruption of the desired data by multiple wall reflections within the chamber. This chamber effect was minimized by employing a pulsed-continuous wave transmitter and receiver system. This system, based on an HP8510 Network Analyzer, uses external hardware time gating to eliminate the clutter of the spurious reflections. Additionally, high gain antennas were used in the measurements to ensure that minimal amounts of energy ",ere transmitted/received in undesirable directions. The measurements took place in Vacuum Facility 5 of the Electric Propulsion Laboratory at the NASA Glenn Research Center. This facility utilizes a cylindrical, stainless steel, vacuum chamber, which is 18.3 m long and 4.6 m in diameter. For the tests being described here a 30 cm diameter, xenon ion thruster was used. The thruster provided between 500 W and 2.3 kW of operating power. The thruster was mounted on a stand along the axis of the chamber near one of its ends.

Zaman, Afroz J.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Theoretical studies of photoexcitation and ionization in H2O

Theoretical studies using Franck-Condon and static-exchange approximations are reported for the complete dipole excitation and ionization spectrum in H2O, where (1) large Cartesian Gaussian basis sets are used to represent the required discrete and continuum electronic eigenfunctions at the ground state equilibrium geometry, and (2) previously devised moment-theory techniques are employed in constructing the continuum oscillator-strength densities from the calculated spectra. Comparisons are made of the calculated excitation and ionization profiles with recent experimental photoabsorption studies and corresponding spectral assignments, electron impact-excitation cross sections, and dipole and synchrotron-radiation studies of partial-channel photoionization cross sections. The calculated partial-channel cross sections are found to be atomic-like, and dominated by 2p-kd components. It is suggested that the latter transition couples with the underlying 1b(1)-kb(1) channel, accounting for a prominent feature in recent synchrotron-radiation measurements.

Diercksen, G. H. F.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Threshold law for positron-atom impact ionisation

The threshold law for ionisation of atoms by positron impact is adduced in analogy with our approach to the electron-atom ionization. It is concluded the Coulomb-dipole region of the potential gives the essential part of the interaction in both cases and leads to the same kind of result: a modulated linear law. An additional process which enters positron ionization is positronium formation in the continuum, but that will not dominate the threshold yield. The result is in sharp contrast to the positron threshold law as recently derived by Klar on the basis of a Wannier-type analysis.

Temkin, A.↗
NASA NTRS1991

A preliminary characterization of applied-field MPD thruster plumes

Electric probes, quantitative imaging, and emission spectroscopy were used to study the plume characteristics of applied field magnetohydrodynamic thrusters. The measurements showed that the applied magnetic field plays the dominant role in establishing the plume structure, followed in importance by the cathode geometry and propellant. The anode radius had no measurable impact on the plume characteristics. For all cases studied the plume was highly ionized, though spectral lines of neutral species were always present. Centerline electron densities and temperatures ranged from 2 times 10 (exp 18) to 8 times 10 (exp 18) m(exp -3) and from 7500 to 20,000 K, respectively. The plume was strongly confined by the magnetic field, with radial density gradients increasing monotonically with applied field strength. Plasma potential measurements show a strong effect of the magnetic field on the electrical conductivity and indicate the presence of radial current conduction in the plume.

Myers, Roger M.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Electron densities and the excitation of CN in molecular clouds

In molecular clouds of modest density and relatively high fractional ionization, the rotational excitation of CN is controlled by a competition among electron impact, neutral impact and the interaction with the cosmic background radiation. The degree of excitation can be measured through optical absorption lines and millimeter-wave emission lines. The available, accurate data on CN in diffuse and translucent molecular clouds are assembled and used to determine electron densities. The derived values, n(e) = roughly 0.02 - 0.5/cu cm, imply modest neutral densities, which generally agree well with determinations by other techniques. The absorption- and emission-line measurements of CN both exclude densities higher than n(H2) = roughly 10 exp 3.5/cu cm on scales varying from 0.001 to 60 arcsec in these clouds.

Black, John H.↗
NASA NTRS1991

The effect of the solar cycle on the maintenance of the nightside ionosphere of Venus

The behavior of the Venus nightside ionosphere at solar maximum and solar minimum is discussed based on Pioneer Venus radio occultation measurements. Although some solar maximum measurements are similar to those observed at minimum, which have an average peak density of about 7000/cu cm, others show much higher peak densities, reaching values of about 40,000/cu cm. These elevated peak densities also occur at higher altitudes. The integrated electron column densities for these measurements indicate the presence of substantial ionization above the main peak. The magnitudes of both the peak density and the integrated content above the peak are anticorrelated with the solar wind dynamic pressure, indicating that these enhancements during solar maximum are due to transterminator transport of O(+) ions from the dayside. The resulting ionization peak can be many times the concentration produced by energetic electron fluxes impacting the neutral atmosphere on the nightside.

Kliore, Arvydas J.↗
NASA NTRS1991

A preliminary characterization of applied-field MPD thruster plumes

Electric probes, quantitative imaging, and emission spectroscopy were used to study the plume characteristics of applied-field MPD thrusters. The measurements showed that the applied magnetic field plays the dominant role in establishing the plume structure, followed in importance by the cathode geometry and propellant. The anode radius had no measurable impact on the plume characteristics. For all cases studied the plume was highly ionized, though spectral lines of neutral species were always present. Centerline electron densities and temperatures ranged from 2 x 10 to the 18th to 8 x 10 to the 18th cu m and from 7500 to 20,000 K, respectively. The plume was strongly confined by the magnetic field, with radial density gradients increasing monotonically with applied field strength. Plasma potential measurements show a strong effect of the magnetic field on the electrical conductivity and indicate the presence of radial current conduction in the plume.

Myers, Roger M.↗