Researches into planetary atmospheres and interiors
Research data on water transport in the Martian boundary layer, Martian cratering, and photometric properties of IO are reported.
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Research data on water transport in the Martian boundary layer, Martian cratering, and photometric properties of IO are reported.
A sandwich panel concept is described which utilizes a monolithic I-beam design as the core. The core and skins are integrally bonded with thermosetting resin into a homogeneous structure. In addition to possessing a high strength to weight ratio, the panel resists combustion, delamination, aging due to fatigue, localized stresses, and exhibits good acoustic properties. Since the panel concept has definite potential as a high flame retardant and low smoke emission panel with excellent structural integrity, aerospace materials were used to optimize the construction for highly demanding space shuttle applications. The specific materials of construction were chosen for low flammability and off-gassing properties as well as for strength, light weight, and sound dampening.
Coating formulations were developed consisting of latex blends of fluorocarbon polymers, acrylic resins, stabilizers, modifiers, other additives, and a variety of inorganic pigments. Suitable latex primers were also developed from an acrylic latex base. The formulations dried to touch in about one hour and were fully dry in about twenty-four hours under normal room temperature and humidity conditions. The resulting coatings displayed good optical and mechanical properties, including excellent bonding to (pre-treated) substrates. In addition, the preferred compositions were found to be self-extinguishing when applied to nonflammable substrates and could meet the offgassing requirements specified by NASA for the intended application. Improvements are needed in abrasion resistance and hardness.
Lightweight, Kevlar - reinforced laminating systems that are non-burning, generate little smoke in the space shuttle environment, and are physically equivalent to the fiberglass/polyimide system used in the Apollo program for non-structural cabin panels, racks, etc. Resin systems representing five generic classes were screened as matrices for Kevlar 49 reinforced laminates. Of the systems evaluated, the polyimides were the most promising with the phenolics a close second. Skybond 703 was selected as the most promising resin candidate. With the exception of compression strength, all program goals of physical and mechanical properties were exceeded. Several prototype space shuttle mobility and translation handrail segments were manufactured using Kevlar/epoxy and Kevlar-graphite/epoxy. This application shows significant weight savings over the baseline aluminum configuration used previous. The hybrid Kevlar-graphite/epoxy is more suitable from a processing standpoint.
Various investigations concerning Jupiter, Uranus and Saturn are discussed. Revisions in the Galilean satellite ephemerides led to a new interpretation of earth-based measurements of Jovian oblateness which agrees with Pioneer measurements. In the area of scintillation theory, a semi-qualitative result was obtained for spike profiles produced by finite stellar disks viewed through Kolmogorov turbulence. It was also possible to set limits on the systematic distortion of stellar occulation profiles by turbulence which minimize the systematic distortion problem. The position of Miranda was studied for the purpose of obtaining an accurate prediction of a possible stellar occultation by Miranda in 1977, following an occultation of the same star by Uranus. In addition, using thermodynamic calculations, a model was developed for the adiabiatic cooling of Jovian-type planets and an observational test of the model was proposed. The dynamic structure of Saturn's rings was also studied.
There are no author-identified significant results in this report.
Bounded motion about Lagrange collinear libration points is considered for a perturbed elliptic-restricted problem. A practical application is the motion of a satellite near a libration point collinear with the sun and the earth-moon barycenter. Such a system is treated here as an earth-sun-satellite elliptic restricted problem with lunar perturbations. The method of dual time scales is utilized to develop a uniformly valid three-dimensional analytical solution to the satellite's equations of motion. The analytical development applies somewhat generally to that class of four-body problems where the second primary mass is much greater than the first, and the third primary mass is much greater than the second.
Numerous acrylic and epoxy modifiers for the fluorocarbon latex resin base were investigated. Optimum coatings were developed by modifying the fluorocarbon latex with an epoxy acrylic resin system. In addition, a number of other formulations, containing hard acrylics as modifiers, displayed attractive properties and potential for further improvements. The preferred formulations dried to touch in about one hour and were fully dried in about twenty four hours under normal room temperature and humidity conditions. In addition to physical and mechanical properties either comparable or superior to those of commercial solvent base polyurethane or polyester coatings, the preferred compositions meet the flammability and offgassing requirements specified by NASA.
The design, construction, and costs of a test facility for determining the sound transmission loss characteristics of various panels and panel treatments are described. The pressurization system and electronic equipment used in experimental testing are discussed as well as the reliability of the facility and the data gathered. Tests results are compared to pertinent acoustical theories for panel behavior and minor anomalies in the data are examined. A method for predicting panel behavior in the stiffness region is also presented.
Analytical and semi-empirical methods for determining the transmission of sound through isolated panels and predicting panel transmission loss are described. Test results presented include the influence of plate stiffness and mass and the effects of pressurization and vibration damping materials on sound transmission characteristics. Measured and predicted results are presented in tables and graphs.
The velocity and attenuation structure of the moon below the crust is examined using surface events. The moon is divided into an upper mantle and a lower mantle, the division at a depth of about 500 km being marked by a reflector identified on polarization filtered record sections. The upper mantle has a P-wave velocity of about 8 km/sec, a Poisson's ratio of about 0.25 and a Q for P waves of about 5000. This region contains no partial melt and is depleted in volatiles, notably water. The lower mantle has a lower S-wave velocity and probably a lower P-wave velocity than the upper mantle, with a Poisson's ratio of about 0.34. The lower mantle has a Q for P waves of approximately 1500, substantially lower than the upper mantle but probably still high enough to preclude partial melting. The velocity structure and the current value of the moment of inertia factor indicate an increase of density below about 500 km, perhaps due to an increase in iron content. We do not have any information directly pertaining to seismic velocities below 1000 km depth.
Models of both flat and curved fuselage panels were tested for their sound transmission characteristics. The effect of external air flow on transmission loss was simulated in a subsonic wind-tunnel. By numerically evaluating the known equations for field-incidence transmission loss of single-walled panels in a computer program, a comparison of the theory with the test results was made. As a further extension to aircraft fuselage simulation, equations for the field-incidence transmission loss of a double-walled panel were derived. Flow is shown to provide a small increase in transmission loss for a flat panel. Curvature is shown to increase transmission loss for low frequencies, while also providing a sharp decrease in transmission loss at the ring frequency of the cylindrical panel. The field-incidence transmission loss of a double-walled panel was found to be approximately twice that for a single-walled panel, with the addition of dips in the transmission loss at the air gap resonances and at the critical frequency of the internal panel.
A prediction method is reported for noise reduction through a cavity-backed panel. The analysis takes into account only cavity modes in one direction. The results of this analysis were to find the effect of acoustic stiffness of a backing cavity on the panel behavior. The resulting changes in the noise reduction through the panel are significant.
Sound pressure levels in the test facility were studied that are caused by varying: (1) microphone positions; (2) equalizer setting; and (3) panel clamping forces. Measurements were done by using a Beranek tube or this Beranek tube in combinations with an extension tube and a special test section. In all configurations tests were executed with and without a test panel installed. The influence of the speaker back panel and the back panel of the Beranek tube on the sound pressure levels inside the test tube were also investigated. It is shown that the definition of noise reduction is more useful in relation to this test facility than transmission loss.
Various theories regarding lunar and Mercurian magnetic properties are discussed in terms of the thermal evolutions of these bodies. In particular, the extinct dynamo, the primordial field of external origin, local mechanisms, and the active dynamo hypotheses are reviewed. The theory involving magnetization by an internal dynamo is applied to Mercury, noting that it implies the existence of a molten metallic core, or shell. Possible sources of the energy required for core differentiation are discussed, including accretional heating, long-lived radioactive isotopes, and other radioactive heat sources. Thermal processes which might keep the core molten are suggested along with processes permitting the flow of heat through the mantle. Conclusions suggested by the dynamo hypothesis are reviewed in terms of current models of the thermal evolution of Mercury and the moon.
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Radiogenic Ar-40 escapes from the lunar atmosphere at a rate of about 2 x 10 to the 21st atoms/sec. This amounts to 8% of the rate of argon production in the entire moon by potassium decay. A curious feature of the argon escape rate is a variability with time scale of several months. It is shown that the variation in argon loss correlates with high-frequency lunar teleseismic events. The only apparent region of the moon which could possibly supply the amount of argon needed for escape via a plausible temporal mechanism is a semimolten asthenosphere which may be entirely primitive unfractionated lunar material, or an Fe-FeS core that is enriched in potassium. A core that is devoid of potassium is not compatible with the atmospheric argon measurements.
The goal for this contract is the development of processes and techniques for molding thermally stable, fire retardant, low smoke emitting polymeric materials. Outlined in this presentation are: (1) the typical molding types; (2) a program schedule; (3) physical properties of molding types with the test methods to be used; (4) general properties of injection molding materials; and (5) preliminary materials selection.