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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 469 records · Page 26
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2021

The use of a digital micromirror array as a temporal gate and spatial-filtering device for laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy and laser ablation molecular isotopic spectrometry

A digital micromirror array (DMMA) is used in a simple and inexpensive approach for spatially resolved temporal gating of atomic emission detection in laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). Selected mirrors in the array are actuated at a time delayed from the primary laser pulse, permitting optical gating with a response time of 160 ns while using a conventional CCD detector. Detector gating is shown to decrease noise from short-lived spectroscopic background (both continuum and N II from air), improving signal-to-background ratios by 22-times for selected samples and emission lines. The utility of rapid temporal gating is also demonstrated for the optical detection of isotopes using the laser-ablation molecular isotope spectrometry (LAMIS) experiment. Additionally, optical temporal gating and spatial filtering are used to isolate regions of the laser-induced plasma, enhancing signal from molecular emission. The potential of the simple technique for use in field-portable LIBS and LAMIS experiments is explored.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
NASA NTRS1981

Structure of correlation tensors in homogeneous anisotropic turbulence

The theory of isotropic tensors, developed by Robertson (1940), Batchelor (1946), and Chandrasekhar (1951), is extended to cover the general case of turbulence with a pseudo-vector-preferred direction, without assuming mirror-reflection invariance. Attention is focused on two-point-correlation functions, and it is shown that the form of the decomposition into proper and pseudo-tensor contributions is restricted by the homogeneity requirement. The somewhat unexpected result that the vector- and pseudo-vector-preferred-direction cases yield different results is presented: A pseudo-vector-preferred direction allows the correlation matrix one more functional degree of freedom than does the proper vector case. An explicit form of the two-point-correlation tensor in the presence of a uniform mean magnetic field is presented which may be appropriate for use in analysis of magnetic fluctuations in plasma containment devices or the interplanetary medium. A procedure for determining the magnetic helicity from experimental data is presented.

Matthaeus, W. H.↗
NASA NTRS1995

SPDE: Solar Plasma Diagnostic Experiment

The physics of the Solar corona is studied through the use of high resolution soft x-ray spectroscopy and high resolution ultraviolet imagery. The investigation includes the development and application of a flight instrument, first flown in May, 1992 on NASA sounding rocket 36.048. A second flight, NASA founding rocket 36.123, took place on 25 April 1994. Both flights were successful in recording new observations relevant to the investigation. The effort in this contract covers completion of the modifications to the existing rocket payload, its reflight, and the preliminary day reduction and analysis. Experience gained from flight 36.048 led us to plan several payload design modifications. These were made to improve the sensitivity balance between the UV and EUV spectrographs, to improve the scattered light rejection in the spectrographs, to protect the visible light rejection filter for the Normal Incidence X-ray Imager instrument (NIXI), and to prepare one new multilayer mirror coating to the NIXI. We also investigated the addition of a brassboard CCD camera to the payload to test it as a possible replacement for the Eastman type 101-07 film used by the SPDE instruments. This camera was included in the experimeter's data package for the Project Initiation Conference for the flight of NASA Mission 36.123, held in January, 1994, but for programmatic reasons was deleted from the final payload configuration. The payload was shipped to the White Sands Missile Range on schedule in early April. The launch and successful recovery took place on 25 April, in coordination with the Yohkoh satellite and a supporting ground-based observing campaign.

Bruner, Marilyn E.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Evaluation of an x-ray multilayer mirror for radiography at sub-1-keV photon energies

An x-ray multilayer mirror on a spherical substrate designed for near-normal incidence with a photon energy of ~738 eV (F He α ) was procured and tested. This device is intended to be used for in-flight radiography of the shell in inertial confinement fusion experiments with cryogenic targets on the OMEGA laser at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics. Experiments in self-emission on a small (~10 J) laser system showed that the reflectivity of the mirror is high enough to record an image at laser energies as low as 0.1 J. Furthermore, a second set of tests in backlighting geometry on a larger (kJ)-scale, short-pulse laser yielded usable radiographs with laser energies as low as 40 J with a spatial resolution of ~10 μm.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
NASA NTRS1971

Electron pitch-angle diffusion driven by oblique whistler-mode turbulence.

A general description of cyclotron harmonic resonant pitch-angle scattering is presented. Quasi-linear diffusion coefficients are prescribed in terms of the wave normal distribution of plasma wave energy. Numerical computations are performed for the specific case of relativistic electrons interacting with a band of low frequency whistler-mode turbulence. A parametric treatment of the wave energy distribution permits normalized diffusion coefficients to be presented graphically solely as a function of the electron pitch-angle. The diffusion coefficients generally decrease with increasing cyclotron harmonic number. Higher harmonic diffusion is insignificant at very small electron pitch-angles, but becomes increasingly important as the pitch-angle increases. One thus expected the rate of pitch-angle scattering to decrease with increasing electron energy, since the resonant value of the latter varies proportionately with harmonic number. This indicates that, in mirror-type magnet field geometrics, such as the earth's radiation belts, the diffusion losses of high energy electrons are likely to be appreciably slower than those at low energy.

Lyons, L. R.↗
NASA NTRS2019

Fermi, Wind, and SOHO Observations of Sustained Gamma-Ray Emission from the Sun

We report on the linear relationship between the durations of two types of electromagnetic emissions associated with shocks driven by coronal mass ejections: sustained gamma-ray emission (SGRE) and interplanetary type II radio bursts. The relationship implies that shocks accelerate approximately 10 kiloelectronvolts electrons (for type II bursts) and more than 300 megaelectronvolts protons (for SGRE) roughly over the same duration. The SGRE events are from the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board the Fermi satellite, while the type II bursts are from the Radio and Plasma Wave Experiment (WAVES) on board the Wind spacecraft. Here we consider five SGRE events that were not included in a previous study of events with longer duration (more than 5 hours). The five events are selected by relaxing the minimum duration to 3 hours. We found that some SGRE events had a tail that seems to last until the end of the associated type II burst. We pay special attention to the 2011 June 2 SGRE event that did not have a large solar energetic particle event at Earth or at the STEREO spacecraft that was well connected to the eruption. We suggest that the preceding CME (Coronal Mass Ejection) acted as a magnetic barrier that mirrored protons back to Sun.

Gopalswamy, N.↗
NASA NTRS1989

The soft x ray telescope for Solar-A

The Solar-A satellite being prepared by the Institute for Sapce and Astronautical Sciences (ISAS) in Japan is dedicated to high energy observations of solar flares. The Soft X Ray Telescope (SXT) is being prepared to provide filtered images in the 2 to 60 A interval. The flight model is now undergoing tests in the 1000 foot tunnel at MSFC. Launch will be in September 1991. Earlier resolution and efficiency tests on the grazing incidence mirror have established its performance in soft x rays. The one-piece, two mirror grazing incidence telescope is supported in a strain free mount separated from the focal plane assembly by a carbon-epoxy metering tube whose windings and filler are chosen to minimize thermal and hygroscopic effects. The CCD detector images both the x ray and the concentric visible light aspect telescope. Optical filters provide images at 4308 and 4700 A. The SXT will be capable of producing over 8000 of the smallest partial frame images per day, or fewer but larger images, up to 1024 x 1024 pixel images. Image sequence with two or more of the five x ray analysis filters, with automatic exposure compensation to optimize the charge collection by the CCD detector, will be used to provide plasma diagnostics. Calculations using a differential emission measure code were used to optimize filter selection over the range of emission measure variations and to avoid redundancy, but the filters were chosen primarily to give ratios that are monotonic in plasma temperature.

Brown, W. A.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Theta-Pinch Thruster for Piloted Deep Space Exploration

A new high-power propulsion concept that combines a rapidly pulsed theta-pinch discharge with upstream particle reflection by a magnetic mirror was evaluated under a Phase 1 grant awarded through the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts. Analytic and numerical models were developed to predict the performance of a theta-pinch thruster operated over a wide range of initial gas pressures and discharge periods. The models indicate that a 1 m radius, 10 m long thruster operated with hydrogen propellant could provide impulse-bits ranging from 1 N-s to 330 N-s with specific impulse values of 7,500 s to 2,500 s, respectively. A pulsed magnetic field strength of 2 T is required to compress and heat the preionized hydrogen over a 10(exp -3) second discharge period, with about 60% of the heated plasma exiting the chamber each period to produce thrust. The unoptimized thruster efficiency is low, peaking at approximately 16% for an initial hydrogen chamber pressure of 100 Torr. The specific impulse and impulse-bit at this operating condition are 3,500 s and 90 N-s, respectively, and the required discharge energy is approximately 9x10(exp 6) J. For a pulse repetition rate of 10 Hz, the engine would produce an average thrust of 900 N at 3,500 s specific impulse. Combined with the electrodeless nature of the device, these performance parameters indicate that theta-pinch thrusters could provide unique, long-life propulsion systems for piloted deep space mission applications.

LaPointe, Mike R.↗
NASA NTRS1999

CUSP Energetic Particles: Confinement, Acceleration and Implications

The cusp energetic particle (CEP) event is a new magnetospheric phenomenon. The events were detected in the dayside cusp for hours, in which the measured helium ions had energies up to 8 MeV. All of these events were associated with a dramatic decrease and large fluctuations in the local magnetic field strength. During January 1999 - December 1999 covered by this report, I have studied the CEP events by analyzing the POLAR, GEOTAIL, and WIND particle and magnetic field data measured during the geomagnetic quiet periods in 1996 and one geomagnetic storm period in 1998. The simultaneous observations indicated that the ion fluxes in the CEP events were higher than that in both the upstream and the downstream from the bow shock. The pitch angle distribution of the helium ions in the CEP events was found to peak around 90 deg. It was found that the mirror parameter, defined as the ratio of the square root of the integration of the parallel turbulent power spectral component over the ultra-low frequency (ULF) ranges to the mean field in the cusp, is correlated with the intensity of the cusp MeV helium flux, which is a measure of the influence of mirroring interactions and an indication of local effect. It was also found that the turbulent power of the local magnetic field in the ultra-low frequency (ULF) ranges is correlated with the intensity of the cusp energetic helium ions. Such ULF ranges correspond to periods of about 0.33-500 seconds that cover the gyroperiods, the bounce periods, and the drift periods of the tens keV to MeV charged particles when they are temporarily confined in the high-altitude dayside cusp. These observations represent a discovery that the high-altitude dayside cusp is a new acceleration and dynamic trapping region of the magnetosphere. The cusp geometry is connected via gradient and curvature drift of these energized ions to the equatorial plasma sheet as close as the geostationary orbit at local midnight. It implies that the dayside cusp is potentially an important source of magnetospheric particles. The discovery of the CEP events has been recognized as one of the most significant results from POLAR. I was invited to give a talk at 1999 IUGG meeting to interpret the CEP events. This discovery has also been written into the web-based Space Physics Text Book (http://www.oulu.fi/- spaceweb/textbook/cusp.html).

Chen, Jiasheng↗
DOE OSTI2023

Bi-Kappa Proton Mirror and Cyclotron Instabilities in the Solar Wind

Abstract The charged particles in the solar wind are often observed to possess a nonthermal tail in the velocity distribution function, a feature that can be fitted with the Kappa model. The anisotropic, or bi-Kappa, model of protons, electrons, and other charged particles is thus adopted in the literature for interpreting the data as well as in the context of the analysis of wave–particle interactions. The present paper develops an approximate but efficient theory of the mirror and cyclotron instabilities excited by the bi-Kappa protons in the solar wind. A velocity moment-based quasi-linear theory of these instabilities is also formulated in order to investigate the saturation behavior. Applications of the formalism are made for instabilities close to the marginally unstable state, which is typical of the solar wind near 1 au.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1975

Drift-free magnetic geometries in adiabatic motion

There exist magnetic fields in which particles bouncing between mirror points experience no net first-order guiding center drift. In such fields, even though the instantaneous gradient and curvature drifts are not zero, their total effect integrated over any bounce period vanishes, so that particles merely wobble back and forth around fixed field lines. A class of two-dimensional drift-free fields, somewhat resembling the configuration found in the geomagnetic tail, is described; several proofs of the drift-free property are given, including some that suggest that the property of vanishing net drift might extend to nonadiabatic orbits. A general criterion for identifying drift-free fields is developed, and a case of motion in a nearly drift-free field is also investigated. The theory is applied to the plasma sheet in the earth's magnetotail, and observational evidence is presented suggesting that the magnetic field there indeed approaches a drift-free configuration.

Stern, D. P.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Modeling and numerical simulation of microwave pulse propagation in air breakdown environment

It is shown that ionization occurs wherever the field intensity of the pulse exceeds the local breakdown threshold field of the background air. The produced plasma then attenuates the pulse and gives rise to a tail erosion phenomenon that plays the primary role in limiting the energy transfer of the pulse from source to destination. A theoretical model describing the propagation of an intense microwave pulse in an air breakdown environment is developed that includes the possible focusing effect introduced by either using phase array antennas or the other arrangements. The self-consistent description of the propagation process is provided by a set of two modal equations. These include a continuity equation (Poynting's equation) for the energy density of the pulse and a rate equation of the electron density. A forward wave approximation is used to simplify Poynting's equation, and a semiempirical formula is used for the ionization frequency, nu(sub i). This frequency provides the coupling between the two modal equations, and is used to express the electron rate equation explicitly. In terms of the relevant parameters of the atmosphere, these two equations are normalized for numerical analysis of pulse propagation in the atmosphere. The dependencies of the propagation characteristics of the pulse on intensity, frequency, width, and shape of the pulse are determined. The numerical simulations lead to a useful empirical relation p(exp 3)w = alpha = constant, where p and w are the incident power and width of the pulse and alpha depends on the percentage of pulse energy transferred from the source point to a destined position. The density distribution of the pulse's self-generated plasma is also evaluated. The results also show that for ionization caused by a single unfocused microwave pulse transmitted upwards from the ground, the maximum electron density produced at, for example, 50 km altitude is limited by the tail erosion effect to below 10(exp 6) cm(exp -3). Repetitive pulse and focused beam approaches are also examined. Both approaches can increase the maximum electron density by no more than an order of magnitude. A scheme using two obliquely propagating pulses intersecting at the destined height, e.g. 50 km, is considered. It is shown that the electron density generated at the lowest intersecting position can easily reach a value of 6.6 x 10(exp 8) cm(exp -3), which is considered to be high enough for artificial ionospheric mirror (AIM) application.

Kim, J.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Electrostatic instability of ring current protons beyond the plasmapause during injection events

The stability of ring current protons with an injection spectrum modeled by an m = 2 mirror distribution function was examined for typical ring current parameters. It was found that the high frequency loss cone mode can be excited at wave numbers K lambda sub Di about = to 0.1 to 0.5, at frequencies omega about = to (0.2 to 0.6) omega sub pi and with growth rates up to gamma/omega about = to 0.03. These waves interact with the main body of the proton distribution and propagate nearly perpendicular to the local magnetic field. Cold particle partial densities tend to reduce the growth rate so that the waves are quenched at or near to the plasmapause boundary. Wave e-folding lengths are comparable to 0.1 R sub e, compared to the value of about 4 R sub e found for ion cyclotron waves at the same plasma conditions.

Coroniti, F. V.↗
NASA NTRS1992

The ALEXIS data processing package: An IDL based system

The Array of Low Energy X-ray Imaging Sensors (ALEXIS) experiment consists of a mini-satellite containing six wide angle EUV/ultrasoft x-ray telescopes. Its purpose is to map out the sky in three narrow (approximately 5 percent) bandpasses around 66, 71, and 93 eV. The 66 and 71 eV bandpasses are centered on intense Fe emission lines which are characteristic of million degree plasmas such as the one thought to produce the soft x-ray background. The 93 eV bandpass is not near any strong emission lines and is more sensitive to continuum sources. The mission will be launched on the Pegasus Air Launched Vehicle in the second half of 1992 into a 400-nautical-mile, high inclination orbit and will be controlled entirely from a small ground station located at Los Alamos. The project is a collaborative effort between Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratory, and the University of California-Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory. The six telescopes are arranged in three pairs. As the satellite spins twice a minute they scan the entire anti-solar hemisphere. Each f/1 telescope consists of a spherical, multilayer-coated mirror with a curved, microchannel plate detector located at the prime focus. The multilayer coatings determine the bandpasses of the telescopes. The field of view of each telescope is 30 degrees with a spatial resolution of 0.5 degree, limited by spherical aberration. The data processing requirements for ALEXIS are large. Each event is one of the six telescopes is telemetered to the ground with its time of arrival and position on the detector. This information must be folded with the aspect solution for the satellite to reconstruct the direction on the sky from which the photon came. Because of the way the six telescopes scan the sky, the effective exposure calculation is also very computationally intensive. ALEXIS may generate up to 100 megabytes of raw data per day, which are converted into a gigabyte per day of processed data. While the processing job for ALEXIS is sizable, the programming staff is small. To maximize programming efficiency, and to make the best use of tools available in the public domain, we chose IDL as our software development platform. IDL was used from the start of instrument development through flight. We use IDL as a top-level executive for the processing tasks (replacing Unix shell scripts), as a device independent graphics engine, as a database manager, and as a final data manipulator. IDL routines spawn special purpose C programs to perform detailed telemetry deconvolution and other specialized functions. We discuss the use of IDL and C within the processing and archiving strategy for the ALEXIS data anlaysis system as implemented on a SPARCstation platform. We also show results from our End-to-End software simulation capability as processed by our analysis codes.

Bloch, J. J.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Electron Bernstein wave conversion of high-field side injected X-modes in QUEST

This paper presents a detailed design of the Q-shu University experimental steady state spherical tokamak's (QUEST's) high-field side (HFS) injection system for electron Bernstein wave (EBW) excitation and the results of an experimental comparison of the HFS eXtraordinary X-mode and low-field side (LFS) ordinary O-mode injection of 8.2 GHz radio frequency (RF) power. Waveguides, as an alternative to mirror polarizers for transmitting RF X-mode power from LFS to HFS for EBW conversion, were used instead of the installation of an RF mirror. Testing of LFS-to-HFS RF power transmission at 8.2 GHz, using an RG-50-type vacuum waveguide in a bench-scale device filled with SF6 gas at 0.03 Mpa, revealed that an RF power of 10.8 kW could traverse the fundamental electron cyclotron resonance layer for 60 s without breakdown. The short-length, open-ended waveguide antenna used in the HFS injection-induced wave diffraction reduced the efficiency of power delivery to the upper hybrid resonance (UHR) by approximately 7% at an electron temperature of 50 eV. The HFS injection was able to produce brighter camera images than the standard LFS injection. The location of the UHR, as estimated by measuring the density with an interferometer, agreed with its location as measured by plasma radiation low-field, side-edge positions shown by fast camera imaging. This indicates that the plasma was produced by mode-converted EBW. The HFS injection had an absorption efficiency of 96%, compared to 40% for LFS. A greater fluctuation of floating potential adjustable to the lower hybrid wave (LHW) was observed in the HFS case by installing a Langmuir probe, confirming that EBW conversion efficiency was higher in the HFS case. Moreover, after setting the poloidal field to B PF = 7.6 mT, plasma current (I P ) in the HFS peaked at 1.3 kA, as opposed to 0.3 kA for LFS, despite LFS injection having a total power of 55 kW, compared to 40 kW for HFS. However, as the impurity level was comparatively high, it is believed that this I P is dominated by pressure-drive, which makes it difficult to analyze EBWCD. Finally, the line-integrated density in the HFS injection peaked at 1.6 × 10 18 m -2 , compared to 8 × 10 17 m -2 in the LFS one.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Development and preliminary results of 270 GHz microwave forward scattering diagnostic system on the experimental advanced superconducting tokamak (EAST)

To measure localized (intermediate, high) poloidal wavenumber electron density fluctuations, a tangential millimeter-wave collective scattering system has been designed and successfully developed on the experimental advanced superconducting tokamak (EAST). This innovative system employs a 270 GHz mm-wave probe beam, emitted from the mid-plane of Port K and directed towards Port P after passing through a combination of two in-vessel mirrors. Here these two ports are located on the EAST device’s midplane and are 110° apart. The downward scattered signals pass through two in-vessel mirrors, and exit through the P window. The received multi-channel separated scattering signals are arranged along the poloidal direction. This optical arrangement makes the monitored turbulent wave number is poloidal dominant and up to 40 cm −1 . The tangential microwave scattering scheme enables this diagnostic to monitor local density fluctuations, with typically a radial spatial resolution △ R = 5 cm, and a wavenumber resolution of △ k = 0.4 cm −1 . The scattering system underwent comprehensive laboratory testing in 2023, with installation finalized in 2024. The system features steerable launch and receiver optics, allowing remote control to position the scattering volume from normalized radius ρ –0 to the pedestal region on a shot-by-shot basis. Effective experimental data, characterized by distinct off-center spectral peaks, have been successfully obtained in neutral beam-heated plasmas on EAST. The beam tracing forward modeling has been employed for experimental data interpretation. The advanced millimeter-wave scattering system provides fluctuation measurement capability from ion temperature gradient to electron temperature gradient scale on low field side. Preliminary experimental density fluctuation data have been successfully obtained in neutral beam-heated plasmas on EAST. The localized measurement will be used for kinetic turbulence transport numerical simulation validation.

high-k collective scattering↗
NASA NTRS2016

On the Connection Between Microbursts and Nonlinear Electronic Structures in Planetary Radiation Belts

Using a dynamical-system approach, we have investigated the efficiency of large-amplitude whistler waves for causing microburst precipitation in planetary radiation belts by modeling the microburst energy and particle fluxes produced as a result of nonlinear wave-particle interactions. We show that wave parameters, consistent with large amplitude oblique whistlers, can commonly generate microbursts of electrons with hundreds of keV-energies as a result of Landau trapping. Relativistic microbursts (greater than 1 MeV) can also be generated by a similar mechanism, but require waves with large propagation angles Theta (sub k)B greater than 50 degrees and phase-speeds v(sub phi) greater than or equal to c/9. Using our result for precipitating density and energy fluxes, we argue that holes in the distribution function of electrons near the magnetic mirror point can result in the generation of double layers and electron solitary holes consistent in scales (of the order of Debye lengths) to nonlinear structures observed in the radiation belts by the Van Allen Probes. Our results indicate a relationship between nonlinear electrostatic and electromagnetic structures in the dynamics of planetary radiation belts and their role in the cyclical production of energetic electrons (E greater than or equal to 100 keV) on kinetic timescales, which is much faster than previously inferred.

plasmas↗