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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 559 records · Page 31
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NASA NTRS1978

Lead isotope systematics of mare basalt 75075

Uranium, thorium and isotopic lead data are reported for two bulk samples and separated pyroxene, ilmenite and plagioclase from basalt 75075. In a concordia diagram the whole rock, ilmenite and four pyroxene samples define a chord intersecting the concordia curve at approximately 4.25 and 2.8 AE. Three plagioclase samples plot distinctly off the chord. The crystallization age of 75075 is accurately determined at 3.74 AE by Rb-Sr, Sm-Nd and K-Ar measurements from other laboratories. It is not possible to adjust the isotopic composition of initial lead so as to reconcile the U-Pb data with a crystallization age of 3.74 AE. The data therefore indicate some type of post-crystallization disturbance of the U-Pb system that is not detected by the other systems. The 75075 data are one of the few examples of this type of age pattern found on the moon. If the disturbance was a single event, it probably occurred around 2.8 AE ago, the time indicated by the pyroxene, whole rock and ilmenite data.

Chen, J. H.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Laboratory studies of actinide partitioning relevant to 244Pu chronometry

Actinide partitioning and light lanthanide fractionation have been studied to gain an understanding of Pu chemistry under meteoritic and lunar conditions. The goal of the study was to identify conditions and samples from which chronological information can be retrieved. The laboratory investigations involved particle track radiography of the crystal/liquid partitioning of Th, U and Pu among diopsidic clinopyroxene, whitlockite and liquid. It is found that trivalent Pu plays an important role in partitioning for lunar and most meteoritic conditions. The use of Pu/Nd for relative age assessments is supported to some extent by the investigations; samples with unfractionated U, Th and Nd abundances (relative to average solar system values) may be suitable for Pu chronometry.

Benjamin, T.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Internal photoemission in Ag-Al2O3-Al junctions

The magnitude of the photon-induced current in Ag-Al2O3-Al metal-oxide-metal junctions has been studied as a function of photon energy and angle of incident radiation. Photocurrents were theoretically analyzed on the basis of a modified vacuum photoemission model (Jain, 1975; Slayman et al., to be published). Optical constants previously reported in the literature (Irani et al., 1971; Ehnrereich et al., 1963) were used to calculate the true spatial generation rate in Ag and Al as a function of the angle, polarization of incident radiation, and film thickness. Results were found to be in very good agreement with experimentally determined values for a tunable dye laser with a KDP doubling crystal pumped by a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser with a LiIO3 doubling crystal. The system provided risetimes of 50 ns or less and peak powers of 10 W. Under short circuit conditions, the photoresponse to incident power was linear up to available power densities of 10 kW/sq cm. Quantum efficiencies of about 0.1% at zero-bias, near 3.8 eV under P polarization, were typically observed.

Guedes, J. M. P.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Rb-Sr age of the Shergotty achondrite and implications for metamorphic resetting of isochron ages

The age of the Shergotty achondrite is determined by Rb-Sr isotope analysis and the metamorphic resetting of isochron ages, which is presumed to have occurred during a shock event in the history of the meteorite, is discussed. The isochron best fitting the Rb-Sr evolution diagram is found to correspond to an age of 165 million years, with an initial Sr-87/Sr-86 value of 0.72260. Different apparent ages obtained by the K-Ar and Sm-Nd methods are interpreted in terms of a model which quantifies the degree of resetting of internal isochron ages by low temperature solid state diffusion. On the basis of these considerations, it is concluded that Shergotty crystallized from a melt 650 million years ago, was shock heated to 300 to 400 C after its parent body was involved in a collision 165 million years ago, and was first exposed to cosmic rays two million years ago.

Nyquist, L. E.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Ultrashort pulse solid-state transmitter development

A pulsed, actively mode-locked, pulse-transmission-mode (PTM) Q-switched Nd:YAG laser has been developed for a planned NASA spaceborne precision ranging system. The laser emits single, 150-psec, 20-mJ pulses at 10 pulses per second at 1.064 micrometers.

Harper, L. L.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Characterization of the Q-switched MOBLAS Laser Transmitter and Its Ranging Performance Relative to a PTM Q-switched System

A prototype Q-switched Nd:YAG laser transmitter intended for use in the NASA mobile laser ranging system was subjected to various tests of temporal pulse shape and stability, output energy and stability, beam divergence, and range bias errors. Peak to peak variations in the mean range were as large as 30 cm and drift rates of system bias with time as large as 6 mm per minute of operation were observed. The incorporation of a fast electro-optic cavity dump into the oscillator gave significantly improved results. Reevaluation of the ranging performance after modification showed a reduction in the peak to peak variation in the mean range to the 2 or 3 cm level and a drift rate of system time biases of less than 1 mm per minute of operation. A qualitative physical explanation for the superior performance of cavity dumped lasers is given.

Degnan, J. J., III↗
NASA NTRS1980

Atmospheric lidar multi-user instrument system definition study

A spaceborne lidar system for atmospheric studies was defined. The primary input was the Science Objectives Experiment Description and Evolutionary Flow Document. The first task of the study was to perform an experiment evolutionary analysis of the SEED. The second task was the system definition effort of the instrument system. The third task was the generation of a program plan for the hardware phase. The fourth task was the supporting studies which included a Shuttle deficiency analysis, a preliminary safety hazard analysis, the identification of long lead items, and development studies required. As a result of the study an evolutionary Lidar Multi-User Instrument System (MUIS) was defined. The MUIS occupies a full Spacelab pallet and has a weight of 1300 kg. The Lidar MUIS laser provides a 2 joule frequency doubled Nd:YAG laser that can also pump a tuneable dye laser wide frequency range and bandwidth. The MUIS includes a 1.25 meter diameter aperture Cassegrain receiver, with a moveable secondary mirror to provide precise alignment with the laser. The receiver can transmit the return signal to three single and multiple photomultiple tube detectors by use of a rotating fold mirror. It is concluded that the Lidar MUIS proceed to program implementation.

Greco, R. V.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Planetary basalts - Chemistry and petrology

Recent literature (1975-1978) on planetary basalts is reviewed. Terrestrial basalts are considered in relation to Nd and Sm isotopic studies, magma mixing, chemical and mineralogical heterogeneities in basalt source regions, and partial melting controls on basalt chemistry. Attention is also given to features of mare basalts, eucrites, and comparisons of basalts for the earth, the moon, and the parent body of basaltic achondrites.

Papike, J. J.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Airborne laser induced fluorescence system for measuring OH and other trace gases in the parts-per-quadrillion to parts-per-trillion range

Described in detail is a laser induced fluorescence system which has been successfully interfaced with two aircraft sampling platforms (i.e., Sabreliner jet and an L-188C Electra). This system, which has been under development for four years, presently consists of the following major components: (1) a Nd-Yag laser driven oscillator-amplifier dye laser; (2) a sampling manifold with associated fluorescence detection optics; (3) an OH calibration chamber; (4) a laser beam steering assembly; and (5) sampling electronics and data processing hardware. During the last three years, this system has been flown some 50,000 air miles making tropospheric OH radical measurements over the latitude range of 70 N to 57 S. OH concentrations measured during these flights have ranged from 30 parts-per-quadrillion (3.7 x 10 to the 5th molecules/sq cm) at altitudes of 6 km to 0.8 parts-per-trillion (2.0 x 10 to the 7th molecules/sq cm) at 0.5 km. Computations have been completed which indicate that the existing aircraft system with modest modifications should also be capable of detecting natural tropospheric levels of NO, SO2, CH2O, NO2, HNO2, NO3, H2O2 and CS2 by using both conventional laser-induced fluorescence methodology and multiphoton techniques.

Davis, D. D.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Xenon from intermediate zones of supernovae

The paper examines the photodisintegration and neutron capture in massive stars which show that the bulk of the p-isotopes of Xe is formed during the gamma-process of Woosley and Howard (1978) by stripping of the Xe + Be seeds. The environments in which the chondrites can be formed were determined by the neutron-capture calculations; they show that the Xe-124-rich gas must be associated at the sources with anomalously large overabundances of Nd-142, Sm-144, and possibly Ba-130, and with anomalously small overabundances of the p-isotopes of Se, Kr, Sr, and Mo.

Heymann, D.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Na + Xe collisions in the presence of two nonresonant lasers

Na+Xe collisions in the presence of two distinct laser fields (rhodamine 110 and Nd:glass) are investigated with reference to the response to nonresonant radiation of alkali metals collisionally perturbed by a buffer gas. It is found that the excited Na-asterisk (4s)+Xe state is produced with a measurable cross section due to two-photon absorption with field intensities as low as 10 MW/sq cm.

De Vries, P. L.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Neutral cometary atmospheres. II - The production of CN in comets

Brightness profiles of the CN (0-0) band at 3883 A have been constructed from spectrograms of comets Bennett (1979 II) and West (1976 VI). The subsequent analysis of these profiles shows that the parent molecule of CN had a radial scale length of (2.19 plus or minus 0.07) x 10 to the 4th r (H-squared), in kilometers. This, combined with current theories as well as photochemistry, is consistent with production by simple photodissociation of HCN. The rather random variation of the radial scale length for the apparent decay of CN is indicative not of a true decay scale length, but of the fact that no steady state in the CN parent production rate is achieved for the time scale necessary to build up the observed profile. A revision of the average CN production law with heliocentric distance from published photometry indicates an r(H to the -2nd) law for comet West out to at least 2.555 AU. This implies that the vaporization of this comet was controlled by some species more volatile than water. Based on this and other evidence, CO2 is suggested, but even more volatile molecules like CO cannot be ruled out.

Combi, M. R.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Ion beams from laser-generated plasmas

The paper describes the space-charge-limited beams produced by the plasma blowoffs generated by 20-MW bursts of 1.06-micron radiation from an active Q-switched Nd:YAG laser. Laser power densities near 10 to the 11th/sq cm on solid targets generate thermalized plasma plumes which drift to a 15-kV gridded extraction gap where the ions are extracted, accelerated, and electrostatically focused; the spatially defined ion beams are then magnetically analyzed to determine the charge state content in the beams formed from carbon, aluminum, copper, and lead targets. This technique preserves time-of-flight (TOF) information in the plasma drift region, which permits plasma ion temperatures and mass flow velocities to be determined from the Maxwellian ion curve TOF shapes for the individual charge species.

Hughes, R. H.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Computational study of alkali-metal-noble gas collisions in the presence of nonresonant lasers - Na + Xe + h/2/pi/omega sub 1 + h/2/pi/omega sub 2 system

The collision of Na with Xe in the presence of both the rhodamine-110 dye laser and the Nd-glass laser is investigated within a quantum-mechanical close-coupled formalism, utilizing ab initio potential curves and transition dipole matrix elements. Both one- and two-photon processes are investigated; the Na + Xe system is not asymptotically resonant with the radiation fields, so that these processes can only occur in the molecular collision region. The one-photon processes are found to have measurable cross sections at relatively low intensities; even the two-photon process has a significant section for field intensities as low as 10 MW/sq cm.

Devries, P. L.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Pulsed multiwavelength laser ranging system for measuring atmospheric delay

A multiwavelength laser ranging system has been designed for measuring atmospheric path delay in satellite laser ranging systems. The instrument measures the difference between the propagation times of 532 and 355 nm pulses as a measure of integrated air density. The present design uses a frequency-tripled dye mode-locked Nd:YAG laser as a pulse source and subnanosecond response time photomultipliers as detectors. Studies indicate that recovery of the atmospheric path delay in satellite ranging to the 1-cm level will require the differential arrival time measurements with an accuracy of 3-7 ps. Initial horizontal path test results are presented.

Abshire, J. B.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Circular-scan streak tube with solid-state readout

A circular-scan streak tube designed for use in a laser ranging system is described. Electrostatic focusing is used between the photocathode and a microchannel plate, and electrons from the microchannel plate are proximity focused onto an output phosphor screen. Electron beam deflection is achieved by driving two orthogonal sets of deflection plate assemblies in phase quadrature at a frequency of 200 MHz. The light intensity in the output beam trace is measured by using a circular Reticon array of 720 photodiodes, which is fiber-optically coupled to the output phosphor screen of the tube. Sample measurements of frequency-doubled Nd:YAG laser-pulse waveforms are given. Also the output beamwidth has been measured at the 200-MHz deflection frequency. The results suggest a limiting resolution of 33 psec for the circular-scan streak tube used for these tests.

Johnson, C. B.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Parametric infrared tunable laser system

A parametric tunable infrared laser system was built to serve as transmitter for the remote detection and density measurement of pollutant, poisonous, or trace gases in the atmosphere. The system operates with a YAG:Nd laser oscillator amplifier chain which pumps a parametric tunable frequency converter. The completed system produced pulse energies of up to 30 mJ. The output is tunable from 1.5 to 3.6 micrometers at linewidths of 0.2-0.5 /cm (FWHM), although the limits of the tuning range and the narrower line crystals presently in the parametric converter by samples of the higher quality already demonstrated is expected to improve the system performance further.

Garbuny, M.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Investigation of potential of differential absorption Lidar techniques for remote sensing of atmospheric pollutants

The NASA multipurpose differential absorption lidar (DIAL) system uses two high conversion efficiency dye lasers which are optically pumped by two frequency-doubled Nd:YAG lasers mounted rigidly on a supporting structure that also contains the transmitter, receiver, and data system. The DIAL system hardware design and data acquisition system are described. Timing diagrams, logic diagrams, and schematics, and the theory of operation of the control electronics are presented. Success in obtaining remote measurements of ozone profiles with an airborne systems is reported and results are analyzed.

Butler, C. F.↗