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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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The prelaunch mission operation report of the Fleet Satellite Communications System (FLTSATCOM-B) spacecraft is presented. The orbit requirements, mission profiles, parking orbit, and transfer orbit for the FLTSATCOM-B spacecraft are described.
A search has been made for the simplest amino acid - glycine - in Sgr B2, Ori A, and seven other molecular clouds. Six different lines were sought ranging from 83.4 GHz down to 22.7 GHz, and radio telescopes at Parkes, New South Wales, Kitt Peak, Arizona, and Onsala, Sweden, were used. On the assumption of reasonable values for excitation temperature and Boltzmann distributions over rotational energy states, upper limits of column densities for glycine of a few times 10 to the 12th per sq cm to a few times 10 to the 14th per sq cm were typically established in the sources surveyed. Glycine appears to be less abundant than ethanol or ethyl cyanide in molecular clouds such as Sgr B2 and Ori A.
On June 17, 1977, the X-ray burst source MXB 1636-53 was simultaneously monitored for about 4 hr with the Parkes 64-m radio telescope at a frequency of 14.7 GHz and the SAS 3 X-ray satellite (1.3-12 keV). One X-ray burst was observed; an upper limit (2 sigmas) of 200 mJy is reported for any radio burst coincident with the X-ray event. During the X-ray burst the radio/X-ray time-integrated flux ratio was no more than 375 with a 90 percent confidence. An upper limit (2 sigmas) of 22 mJy was determined for any steady 14.7-GHz source coincident with the X-ray position.
A very large aircraft has been proposed for meeting both civil cargo and military transport needs for 1995 and beyond. The concept includes a wide noncircular fuselage cross section with a low wing, thick inner wing section, fuselage-mounted engines, and an air cushion landing gear. The civil freighter operates independently of congested passenger airports, using sheltered water as a runway and a waterfront land site for parking and ground operations. The military transport can operate from a wide variety of surfaces and temporary bases. The air cushion landing gear weighs substantially less than conventional gear and permits the use of extended takeoff distance resulting in improved payload/gross weight ratio.
The paper presents an environmental analysis performed in evaluating various proposed geothermal demonstration projects at Desert Hot Springs. These are categorized in two ways: (1) indirect, or (2) direct uses. Among the former are greenhouses, industrial complexes, and car washes. The latter include aquaculture, a cascaded agribusiness system, and a mobile home park. Major categories of environmental impact covered are: (1) site, (2) construction of projects, and (3) the use of the geothermal source. Attention is also given to the disposal of the geothermal fluid after use. Finally, it is concluded that there are no major problems forseen for each project, and future objectives are discussed.
Navigation and guidance sensor error characteristics were measured during STOL approach-flight investigations. Data from some of the state sensors of a digital avionics system were compared to corresponding outputs from an inertial navigation system. These sensors include the vertical gyro, compass, and accelerometers. Barometric altimeter data were compared to altitude measured by a tracking radar. Data were recorded with the Augmentor Wing Jet STOL Research Aircraft parked and in flight.
Using a scanning modulation collimator, the optical identification of X-ray sources by means of precise positioning was carried out. Two galactic identifications (4U2129+47 and 2A0311-227) and two extragalactic identifications (NGC 526a and Parkes H2155-304) are described.
The solar energy facility located at the North Hampton Park Recreation and Health Center, Dallas, Texas is presented. The solar energy system is installed in a single story (two heights), 16,000 sq ft building enclosing a gymnasium, locker area, and health care clinic surrounded by a recreational area and athletic field. The solar energy system is designed to provide 80 percent of the annual space heating, 48 percent of the annual space cooling, and 90 percent of the domestic hot water requirements. The system's operation modes and performance data acquisition system are described. The system's performance during the months of June, July, August, September, and October of 1979 are presented and show a negative savings of energy. Experience to date indicates however that the system concept has promise of acceptable performance. It is concluded that if proper control and sequencing components was maintained, then the system performance would improve to an acceptable level.
When the final Skylab mission was completed in 1974, the onboard systems were used to maneuver the vehicle to a gravity gradient equilibrium attitude and were then shut down. Parked in this storage attitude, the vehicle was left undisturbed until March 1978 when contact was reestablished and the control systems were reactivated. During the intervening four years, the vehicle was subjected to subtle environmental torques which caused the vehicle to gradually progress from its initial stable state to a very dynamic condition just prior to the resumption of control. The paper deals with the dynamics of this process, including the analyses and simulations which were made to explain the motion and enable the planning of the reactivation process. The complementary roles of both numerical integration and closed-form analysis are demonstrated. Flight data obtained in the spring of 1978 are presented which support the analytical and simulation results.
Consideration is given to the definition and application to air turbulence measurements over mountainous terrain of the ensemble averaging operator in the second-order turbulent transfer model of moist, precipitating mesoscale systems developed by Manton and Cotton (1977) as a first step in the formulation of a unified mesoscale turbulence theory. The use of running means to smooth out point-to-point data variability is proposed as a means of avoiding certain of the problems associated with ensemble averaging, and is applied to airborne velocity measurements in cumulus congestus over South Park, Colorado. It is found that, in general, vertical transport of any cloud parameter will be primarily eddy transport in the mesoscale modeling of cloud processes.
The paper deals with measurements made within the South Park area (which is located near Denver, Colorado, and is a natural genesis area for cumulus clouds) in July and August 1977, using powered aircraft, sailplanes, rawinsondes, boundary layer profilers, acoustic sounders, micrometeorological towers, lidar, research radar, triple-Doppler radar, and a square grid of surface meteorological stations. Extensive analysis revealed a very complex picture of thunderstorm-scale, large-mesoscale, and synoptic-scale interactions.
Implementation of SOLARES will input large quantities of heat continuously into a stationary location on the Earth's surface. The quantity of heat released by each of the SOlARES ground receivers, having a reflector orbit height of 6378 km, exceeds by 30 times that released by large power parks which were studied in detail. Using atmospheric models, estimates are presented for the local weather effects, the synoptic scale effects, and the global scale effects from such intense thermal radiation.
Although many states afford some measure of protection for wetland areas through flood-plain regulations or through programs for coastal areas, shorelands, scenic and wild rivers or pollution control, few states have programs that adequately deal with conservation of wetlands. Only 16 states have legislation specifically regulating development or use of wetlands. Most of the wetland acts apply only to coastal wetlands, several to inland wetlands and three acts apply to both. Many other states are still regulating wetland use through the dredge and fill and/or critical area program. Several offer tax incentives to property owners to encourage protection of wetlands or broader open spaces. Many states have acquired wetlands for park and wildlife purposes and a large measure of wetland protection is achieved by the very restrictive controls applied to floodways areas. Direct floodplain or floodway regulations or state standards for local regulations were adopted in 24 states but protection of ecological values of wetlands is rarely an explicit objective of these programs. Scenic and wild river programs adopted in one half of the states provide some protection for wetland areas.
Parkes, Owens Valley and Goldstone measurements are presented, showing the variation with central meridian longitude of the position angle of Jupiter's linearly polarized synchrotron emission at wavelengths of 21, 13, 11 and 6 cm; the observations span a total time interval greater than one Jovian orbital period. The form of the position angle versus longitude curve shows a slight dependence on wavelength and epoch. The epoch dependence appears to reflect Jupiter's changing aspect with respect to the earth. The observations yield a Jovian rotation period agreeing to within about 0.02 s with that derived from the decametric burst measurements, implying a highly stable inner magnetic field configuration.
The present study is concerned with the excitation of plasma waves at the boundaries of the streams of energetic particles which are associated with the earth's bow shock. The analysis was motivated by observational results acquired with the ISEE spacecraft (Parks et al., 1981). It is shown theoretically that the density gradient of energetic ions can only excite ion waves, whereas that of energetic electrons can excite both ion waves and Langmuir waves. This conclusion appears to be consistent with observations.
Results of coordinated program of observations in the X-ray, UV, optical and radio regions of the dM5e flare star Proxima Centauri are presented. Simultaneous observations of the star were obtained on March 6 and March 7, 1979, by the Einstein Observatory IPC, the IUE SWP and LWR cameras at low dispersion, three ground-based optical telescopes in Australia and the Parkes 64-m radio telescope. A total of 10 radio bursts and six optical flares was detected during three nights of simultaneous radio and optical observations, which appear to be broadly correlated. A major X-ray flare event was detected with temperatures of 1.7 x 10 to the 7th and 1.2 x 10 to the 7th K during the rise and decay phases, respectively, respective X-ray fluxes of 3.0 x 10 to the -11th and 3.7 x 10 to the -11th ergs/sq cm per sec, and changes in spectral flux distribution. No radio, optical or UV flare emission corresponding to the X-ray flare was detected. The X-ray flare is interpreted in terms of an arch model with cooling predominantly by X-ray radiation, with an electron density of 1.0 x 10 to the 11th/cu cm during the decay phase and a total arch length comparable to the size of the star itself. The X-ray flare observed is thus more similar to a typical strong solar flare than heretofore seen on a flare star.
It is pointed out that if the difference between the nodal crossing time of the Shuttle parking orbit and the final orbit of a spacecraft is more than about half an hour, current design spacecraft may have to carry a prohibitively large propulsion system to meet its requirements. Various solutions to this problem are discussed.
Specific case studies undertaken to demonstrate the usefulness of remote sensing technology to resource managers in California are highlighted. Applications discussed include the mapping and quantization of wildland fire fuels in Mendocino and Shasta Counties as well as in the Central Valley; the development of a digital spectral/terrain data set for Colusa County; the Forsythe Planning Experiment to maximize the usefulness of inputs from LANDSAT and geographic information systems to county planning in Mendocino County; the development of a digital data bank for Big Basin State Park in Santa Cruz County; the detection of salinity related cotton canopy reflectance differences in the Central Valley; and the surveying of avocado acreage and that of other fruits and nut crops in Southern California. Special studies include the interpretability of high altitude, large format photography of forested areas for coordinated resource planning using U-2 photographs of the NASA Bucks Lake Forestry test site in the Plumas National Forest in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.