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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 433 records · Page 24

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NASA NTRS1977

SESAME/Environmental Research Laboratories

The Environmental Research Laboratories (ERL) have been designated as the basic research group of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). ERL performs an integrated program of research and research services directed toward understanding the geophysical environment, protecting the environment, and improving the forecasting ability of NOAA. Twenty-four laboratories located throughout the United States comprise ERL. The Project SESAME (Severe Environmental Storms and Mesoscale Experiment) Planning Office is a project office within ERL. SESAME is conceived as a joint effort involving NOAA, NASA, NSF, and the atmospheric science community to lay the foundation for improved prediction of severe convective storms. The scientific plan for SESAME includes a phased buildup of analysis, modeling, instrumentation development and procurement, and limited-scale observational activities.

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NASA NTRS1977

UTSI atmospheric science program

Two areas of research were carried out concerned with meteorological and environmental inputs to aviation systems. One effort dealt with the investigation of wind fields about bluff geometries typical of buildings or other man made obstructions to the surface wind and the behavior of craft flying through these disturbed wind fields. The second effort was the definition and mathematical models of atmospheric wind shear associated with thunderstorms, stable boundary layers, and synoptic fronts. These mathematical models can be utilized in flight simulators to train pilots and flight crews and to develop instrumentation for landing in adverse wind shear conditions.

Frost, W.↗

NASA NTRS1978

A bibliography of planetary geology principal investigators and their associates, 1976-1978

This bibliography cites publications submitted by 484 principal investigators and their associates who were supported through NASA's Office of Space Sciences Planetary Geology Program. Subject classifications include: solar system formation, comets, and asteroids; planetary satellites, planetary interiors, geological and geochemical constraints on planetary evolution; impact crater studies, volcanism, eolian studies, fluvian studies, Mars geological mapping; Mercury geological mapping; planetary cartography; and instrument development and techniques. An author/editor index is provided.

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NASA NTRS1978

Payload integration and operations

Integration and operation of Spacelab payloads presents major challenges to engineering disciplines in areas of ground operations and flight mission operations. The integration of ground operations encompasses activities performed by the instrument developers and principal investigators and by the centralized payload integration site and launch site. The payload will be operated on orbit by a payload crew trained in payload experimentation and by a payload operations control center where investigator science groups and operations personnel are prepared to provide support. The payload mission planning, control center, data processing facility and operations are developed and verified prior to realtime flight operations. The mission management approach to minimize program costs and impacts to payloads and the Space Transportation System/Spacelab accommodations is presented.

Hall, R. R.↗

NASA NTRS1978

Instrumentation, techniques and data reduction associated with airfoil testing programs at Wichita State University

Two dimensional airfoil testing was conducted at the Wichita State University Beech Wind Tunnel for a number of years. The instrumentation developed and adapted during this period of testing for determination of flow fields along with traversing mechanisms for these probes are discussed. In addition, some of the techniques used to account for interference effects associated with the apparatus used for this two dimensional testing are presented. The application of a minicomputer to the data reduction and presentation is discussed.

Rodgers, E. J.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Aircraft icing: Introduction

The objectives of the Workshop were as follows: (1) to assess the current understanding of fixed wing and rotorcraft operational icing environments and problems (2) to evaluate facilities requirements for R&D and certification purposes (3) to examine means of improving icing forecasts (4) to identify shortcomings in aeronautical icing knowledge which can be alleviated by new research and instrumentation development.

Enders, J. H.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Science aspects of a mission beyond the planets

A mission out of the planetary system, launched about the year 2000, could provide valuable data concerning characteristics of the heliopause, the interstellar medium, stellar distances (by parallax measurements), low-energy cosmic rays, interplanetary gas distribution, and mass of the solar system. Secondary objectives include investigation of Pluto. Candidate science measurements, instruments, and instrument development needs are discussed. The mission should extend from 400 to 1000 AU from the sun. A heliocentric hyperbolic escape velocity of 50-100 km/sec or more is needed to attain this distance within a reasonable mission duration (20-50 years). The trajectory should be toward the incoming interstellar gas. For a year 2000 launch, a Pluto encounter and orbiter can be included. A second mission targeted parallel to the solar axis would also be worthwhile.

Jaffe, L. D.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Voyager 1: Encounter with Saturn

The history of the Voyager Project is reviewed as well as known facts about Saturn and its satellites. Important results of encounters with Jupiter are summarized. Scientific objectives of the flyby of Saturn involve the planet's atmosphere, rings, and magnetic field interactions with the solar wind and satellites. The search for additional satellites, and various aspects of Titan, Rhea, Dione, Mimas, Iapetus, Hyperion, and Enceladas are also of interest. The instruments developed to obtain these goals are described.

Panagakos, N.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Quantitative ultrasonic evaluation of engineering properties in metals, composites, and ceramics

Ultrasonic techniques that have demonstrated potential for material characterization are reviewed. These techniques rely on physical acoustic properties of materials and the interaction of elastic stress waves with morphological factors in the ultrasonic regime. The speed of wave propagation and energy loss by interaction with material microstructure and geometrical factors underlie ultrasonic determination of material properties. Two categories of ultrasonic measurements are discussed: those related to material strengths (e.g., elastic moduli, tensile strength, and fracture toughness) and those related to morphology and material conditions that govern strength and performance (e.g., microstructure, void content, residual stress, fatigue damage). It is shown that large-scale industrial application of ultrasonic NDE will depend on advancement in such areas as theory development, instrumentation, system automation, standardization, and coordination with design.

Vary, A.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Space plasma physics active experiments

The design concepts, capabilities, and operations of instruments developed for Spacelab 1 are discussed as well as the highly interrelated experiments planned for that mission.

Roberts, W. T.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Large-scale carbon fiber tests

A realistic release of carbon fibers was established by burning a minimum of 45 kg of carbon fiber composite aircraft structural components in each of five large scale, outdoor aviation jet fuel fire tests. This release was quantified by several independent assessments with various instruments developed specifically for these tests. The most likely values for the mass of single carbon fibers released ranged from 0.2 percent of the initial mass of carbon fiber for the source tests (zero wind velocity) to a maximum of 0.6 percent of the initial carbon fiber mass for dissemination tests (5 to 6 m/s wind velocity). Mean fiber lengths for fibers greater than 1 mm in length ranged from 2.5 to 3.5 mm. Mean diameters ranged from 3.6 to 5.3 micrometers which was indicative of significant oxidation. Footprints of downwind dissemination of the fire released fibers were measured to 19.1 km from the fire.

Pride, R. A.↗

NASA NTRS1981

Static strain measurements on gas turbine combustor liners

It is noted that the combustor, a critical hot section component, can suffer failure through crack formation, buckling, and liner burn-through. Thus, there is a need to develop instrumentation which can function reliably in the combustor liner environment during testing and provide data to verify the accuracy of the analytical predictive tools used in designing the combustors. The results of an investigation into the suitability of a number of resistive, capacitive, optical, and electronic sensors are presented. The three sensors judged to possess the potential for measuring static strains up to + or - 2,000 micro-strain at temperatures to 1150 K with an accuracy of + or - 10% are the Kanthal A-1 Wire Strain Gage, Speckle Photography with Heterodyne Halo Evaluation, and the Thin Film Capacitive Sensor.

Raymondo, P.↗

NASA NTRS1981

Infrared experiments for spaceborne planetary atmospheres research. Full report

The role of infrared sensing in atmospheric science is discussed and existing infrared measurement techniques are reviewed. Proposed techniques for measuring planetary atmospheres are criticized and recommended instrument developments for spaceborne investigations are summarized for the following phenomena: global and local radiative budget; radiative flux profiles; winds; temperature; pressure; transient and marginal atmospheres; planetary rotation and global atmospheric activity; abundances of stable constituents; vertical, lateral, and temporal distribution of abundances; composition of clouds and aerosols; radiative properties of clouds and aerosols; cloud microstructure; cloud macrostructure; and non-LTE phenomena.

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NASA NTRS1981

The seismotectonics of plate boundaries

Research on the seismotectonics of plate boundaries is summarized. Instrumental development and an observational program designed to study various aspects of the seismotectonics of southern California and the northern Gulf of California are described. A unique superconducting gravimeter was further developed and supported under this program for deployment and operation at several sites. Work on Earth tides is also discussed.

Berger, J.↗

NASA NTRS1981

Geodetic monitoring of tectonic deformation: Toward a strategy

Issues of interest and importance to society and science are presented. The problems considered are of national concern; their solutions may contribute to a better understanding of tectonic deformation and earthquake hazards. The need for additional field data, the role of geodetic measurements, the importance of both ground and space techniques, and the need for advanced instrumentation development are discussed.

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NASA NTRS1981

Comparison of forward fuselage to Space Shuttle Orbiter flight pressure data to wind tunnel and analytical results in the hypersonic Mach number range

The Space Transportation System (STS) test program is unique in that it combines flight testing with operational flights using the first operational orbital vehicle (OV-102). The Space Shuttle Orbiter was instrumented to obtain various types of flight data. The instrumentation, designated Development Flight Instrumentation (DFI) includes pressure transducers, thermocouples, calorimeters, and accelerometers. A comparison is conducted between orbiter DFI forward fuselage flight pressure data obtained from OV-102 during the STS-1 reentry, and ground facility data obtained utilizing a 0.04 scale Orbiter forebody model. The comparisons are used to validate the existing experimental data base, optimize the pressure modeling technique, and make possible the refinement of error analysis relative to both. The obtained results indicate, in general, good agreement between flight and ground-based data.

Bradley, P. F.↗

NASA NTRS1981

Anatomy of an entry vehicle experiment

The anatomy and evolution of a simple small-scale unmanned entry vehicle is described that is delivered to orbit by the shuttle and entered into the atmosphere from orbit to acquire flight data to improve our knowledge of boundary-layer behavior and evaluate advanced thermal protection systems. The anatomy of the experiment includes the justification for the experiments, instrumentation, configuration, material, and operational needs, and the translation of these needs into a configuration, weight statement, aerodynamics, program cost, and trajectory. Candidates for new instrumentation development are also identified for nonintrusive measurements of the boundary-layer properties.

Eide, D. G.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Research and Technology: Fiscal year 1982 report

Accomplishments and research objectives are described in the following areas: (1) space sciences; (2) space and terrestrial applications; (3) flight projects and mission definition studies; (4) space tracking and data systems; and (5) space technology. Data analysis efforts, instrument development, and measurement projects are among the aspects considered.

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