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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 649 records · Page 36
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1981

ISEE-1 observations of electrostatic shocks on auroral zone field lines between 2.5 and 7 earth radii

The ISEE-1 satellite frequently passes through electrostatic shocks and the low altitude auroral particle acceleration region at geocentric radial distances less than approximately 7 earth radii and as low as greater than or equal to 2 earth radii. A sampling of data from the quasi-static electric field experiment during 22 such passes revealed events (defined as regions of low frequency turbulence) containing electrostatic shocks (defined as an electric field greater than or equal to 100 mV/m) during eight of the passes, which is an occurrence frequency comparable to that obtained near apogee on the S3-3 satellite. Examination of three such electrostatic shocks shows that typical potentials of a few kV and latitudinal scale widths mapped to the ionosphere of a few km are encountered. From the latitudinal widths of the shocks and from the magnitudes of their observed electric fields, it is argued that the parallel electric field and auroral particle acceleration region may be confined to geocentric distances less than a few earth radii.

Mozer, F. S.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Satellite observations of suprathermal electron bursts

Data from the ISIS 2 satellite are used to study the spatial distribution of the suprathermal electron bursts discovered by high-altitude sounding rockets. It is found that the bursts form an integral part of the boundary plasma sheet and are linked with the formation of discrete auroral arcs. The maximum energy of the bursts is always below the peak energy in neighboring discrete forms, and it appears that if the bursts fail to reach the minimum energy found to be necessary to sustain a discrete arc they collapse within a few seconds. It is suggested that in a pass across the auroral oval the overall envelope of the maximum energy in bursts and the peak energy in discrete auroral forms reflect the variation of the available acceleration (perhaps a parallel electric potential) across the auroral oval while the energy structure in individual forms is a function of the nonlinear processes which sustain them. This explanation appears to resolve the apparent discrepancy in scale thickness between rocket and satellite inverted V's.

Johnstone, A. D.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Lunar Helium-3 and Fusion Power

The NASA Office of Exploration sponsored the NASA Lunar Helium-3 and Fusion Power Workshop. The meeting was held to understand the potential of using He-3 from the moon for terrestrial fusion power production. It provided an overview, two parallel working sessions, a review of sessions, and discussions. The lunar mining session concluded that mining, beneficiation, separation, and return of He-3 from the moon would be possible but that a large scale operation and improved technology is required. The fusion power session concluded that: (1) that He-3 offers significant, possibly compelling, advantages over fusion of tritium, principally increased reactor life, reduced radioactive wastes, and high efficiency conversion, (2) that detailed assessment of the potential of the D/He-3 fuel cycle requires more information, and (3) D/He-3 fusion may be best for commercial purposes, although D/T fusion is more near term.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1987

On the relation of 6.7-micron water vapour features to isentropic distributions of potential vorticity

Currently available isentropic maps of potential vorticity (IPV maps) are of low resolution. In this note, the possibility of using 6.7-micron satellite-derived water vapor measurements to obtain higher resolution information about IPV distributions is examined. While attempts to related the two data sets analytically have so far proved unsuccessful, a qualitative comparison shows very similar features in both. The results obtained here suggest that, over limited areas, it may be possible to use 6.7-micron brightness temperatures to obtain approximate contours for water vapor mixing ratio on a particular isentropic surface in the upper troposphere. For areas free of high clouds, these contours are expected to parallel the IPV contours on this surface. In a case study, the resulting map exhibits dramatically increased horizontal resolution compared with present IPV maps, detailing an intriguing upper-tropospheric feature at subsynoptic scales.

Manney, Gloria L.↗
NASA NTRS1992

High-performance computing for flight vehicles; Proceedings of the Symposium, Washington, Dec. 7-9, 1992

The present conference discusses high-performance computing systems for flight vehicles, large-scale simulations on high-performance flight computers and software, multidisciplinary and design/optimization applications of computers, computational electromagnetics and acoustics, the simulation of aircraft powerplant turbomachinery and reacting flows, and flow calculations on parallel machines. Also discussed are direct flow simulation Monte Carlo methods, structural mechanics sensitivity and fracture calculations on parallel machines, grid-generation and advanced algorithms for CFD, advanced solid-mechanics and structures applications, and advancements in flow visualization technology and neural networks.

Noor, Ahmed K.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Marine Magnetic Anomalies and the Reconstruction of the World

Until the middle of the 20th century little was known about magnetic anomalies in the oceans. Then it was discovered that there are relatively large anomalies in most of the oceans and they were unrelated to any geological structure known at that time. In the early 1950's large anomalies had been found over the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, and linear anomalies over the eastern continental shelf of North America and, shortly after that, off the west coast. A survey of the ridge south of Iceland showed that the anomalies were linear, parallel to the ridge axis, and symmetrical about the axis. Using the theory that the anomalies were caused by geomagnetic field reversals and seafloor spreading it was possible to greatly extend the time scale of geomagnetic reversals, to determine the velocity of seafloor spreading and estimate the time of opening of the North Atlantic. Lamont had a world-wide collection of marine magnetic profiles. These were used, systematically, to determine the positions of most of the land masses of the world since the beginnings of the world's present oceans.

Heirtzler, James R.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Global Swath and Gridded Data Tiling

This software generates cylindrically projected tiles of swath-based or gridded satellite data for the purpose of dynamically generating high-resolution global images covering various time periods, scaling ranges, and colors called "tiles." It reconstructs a global image given a set of tiles covering a particular time range, scaling values, and a color table. The program is configurable in terms of tile size, spatial resolution, format of input data, location of input data (local or distributed), number of processes run in parallel, and data conditioning.

Thompson, Charles K.↗
NASA NTRS2018

A Prototype Tool for Assessing Forward Contamination from Space Suits

Crewed exploration missions dramatically increase the capability for large-scale sample collection and return activities, but they also increase the possibility and likelihood of forward contamination. Systematic research on forward contamination from uncrewed spacecraft has steadily progressed since the Viking missions, but parallel research on contamination from space suits has not. Current space suits have leakage rates as high as 100 cc gas/min., but it is unclear how many or what types of microbes are exiting the suits along with this gas. The Human Forward Contamination Assessment team at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) has developed a prototype swab tool that is capable of maintaining sterility during pressure changes associated with entering and exiting vacuum. The primary objective of recent Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Swab Kit testing is to characterize the type of microorganisms typically found on spacesuit external surfaces under suit differential pressure conditions. Most human-associated microorganisms can fit through a 0.5 to 1.0 μm gap. Understanding potential leak paths will inform future hardware design decisions. Knowing which types of microorganisms may leak from EVA suits provides a basis for subsequent studies to characterize the viability of those organisms under destination conditions, as well as how far they might spread through natural or human-influenced processes. The results of EVA suit molecular microbial community analyses will inform NASA exploration mission operations and hardware design, and help close Strategic Knowledge Gap B5, Forward Contamination to Mars.

Rucker, M.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Electron Jet of Asymmetric Reconnection

We present Magnetospheric Multiscale observations of an electron-scale current sheet and electron outflow jet for asymmetric reconnection with guide field at the subsolar magnetopause. The electron jet observed within the reconnection region has an electron Mach number of 0.35 and is associated with electron agyrotropy. The jet is unstable to an electrostatic instability which generates intense waves with E(sub parallel lines) amplitudes reaching up to 300 mV/m and potentials up to 20% of the electron thermal energy. We see evidence of interaction between the waves and the electron beam, leading to quick thermalization of the beam and stabilization of the instability. The wave phase speed is comparable to the ion thermal speed, suggesting that the instability is of Buneman type, and therefore introduces electron-ion drag and leads to braking of the electron flow. Our observations demonstrate that electrostatic turbulence plays an important role in the electron-scale physics of asymmetric reconnection.

Khotyaintsev, Yu. V.↗
NASA NTRS2019

Acoustic Testing of the Tiltrotor Test Rig in the National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex 40- by 80-Foot Wind Tunnel

The Tiltrotor Test Rig (TTR) was tested in the National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex (NFAC) 40- by 80-Foot Wind Tunnel from 2017 to 2018. The rotor system can be configured in airplane mode, with the rotor plane perpendicular to the wind flow, and in helicopter mode, with the rotor plane parallel to the wind flow. Four microphones were placed around the TTR: two on the wind tunnel floor and two on struts. The primary goal of the test was to understand the operational capabilities of the TTR, while also acquiring research data as available. Limited measurements of the blade vortex interaction (BVI) noise of the TTR rotor were taken to not only understand the acoustic testing capabilities of the TTR in the NFAC 40- by 80-Foot Wind Tunnel, but to also compare to previous tests and to be used for future validation studies. In particular, data will be compared to measurements of an XV-15 rotor previously acquired in the NFAC 80- by 120-Foot Wind Tunnel.

Tiltrotor Test Rig↗
NASA NTRS1993

Non-parallel stability of compressible boundary layers

Linear and nonlinear stability of compressible growing boundary layers is studied using parabolized stability equations (PSE). Linear PSE calculations are performed for Mach 1.6 and 4.5 plate-plate flow, and the results are compared with the predictions of the multiple-scales approach. In general, the nonparallel effect appears to be less significant for oblique waves near the lower neutral branch but it progressively becomes important at higher Reynolds numbers near the upper branch. In contrast, the nonparallel effect is more pronounced near the lower branch for two-dimensional first-mode waves. The PSE and multiple-scales results agree for the first mode waves, but in the first-second mode transition region, the latter approach tends to break down. Comparison with the first (oblique) and second mode growth rate data from Kendall's (1967) experiment shows good agreement; however, the peak second mode growth rate is over-predicted. Similar conclusions are drawn for the second mode experiment of Stetson et al. (1983) for Mach 8 flow past a sharp cone. We conjecture that the lower experimental growth rate is due to nonlinear saturation and provide supporting calculations.

Chang, Chau-Lyan↗
NASA NTRS1989

Advanced manned space flight simulation and training: An investigation of simulation host computer system concepts

The findings of a preliminary investigation by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in simulation host computer concepts is presented. It is designed to aid NASA in evaluating simulation technologies for use in spaceflight training. The focus of the investigation is on the next generation of space simulation systems that will be utilized in training personnel for Space Station Freedom operations. SwRI concludes that NASA should pursue a distributed simulation host computer system architecture for the Space Station Training Facility (SSTF) rather than a centralized mainframe based arrangement. A distributed system offers many advantages and is seen by SwRI as the only architecture that will allow NASA to achieve established functional goals and operational objectives over the life of the Space Station Freedom program. Several distributed, parallel computing systems are available today that offer real-time capabilities for time critical, man-in-the-loop simulation. These systems are flexible in terms of connectivity and configurability, and are easily scaled to meet increasing demands for more computing power.

Montag, Bruce C.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Model atmospheres for K and M giants

To aid in the interpretations of observations of K and M giant stars, model atmospheres have been calculated, covering the range in effective temperature between 3000 and 4000 K and in surface gravity-log g between 0.0 and 2.0. These models are computed under the usual assumptions of hydrostatic equilibrium, constancy of total (radiative plus convective) flux, and LTE in plane-parallel, horizontally homogeneous geometry. A significant development in these models is the incorporation of an opacity-sampled treatment of absorption by water vapor, which becomes dominant at lower temperatures. The thermal structure and scaling properties of the models are discussed, as are the effects of certain composition changes expected in the course of stellar evolution.

Brown, Jeffery A.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Efficient multitasking of Choleski matrix factorization on CRAY supercomputers

A Choleski method is described and used to solve linear systems of equations that arise in large scale structural analysis. The method uses a novel variable-band storage scheme and is structured to exploit fast local memory caches while minimizing data access delays between main memory and vector registers. Several parallel implementations of this method are described for the CRAY-2 and CRAY Y-MP computers demonstrating the use of microtasking and autotasking directives. A portable parallel language, FORCE, is used for comparison with the microtasked and autotasked implementations. Results are presented comparing the matrix factorization times for three representative structural analysis problems from runs made in both dedicated and multi-user modes on both computers. CPU and wall clock timings are given for the parallel implementations and are compared to single processor timings of the same algorithm.

Overman, Andrea L.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Ion and electron heating at the low-Mach-number, quasi-parallel bow shock

The study examines the magnetic structure and energy dissipation at low-Mach-number, quasi-parallel collisionless shocks on the basis of observations obtained by the ISEE 1 and 2 spacecraft at seven crossings of the earth's dayside bow shock. All the shocks exhibit a fairly short-scale-length ramp where the principal jumps in the electron temperature, ion temperature, and magnetic field strength take place. Large-amplitude LF transverse waves in the magnetic field are present in and downstream from the ramp, with more modest waves upstream. The amplitude of the downstream waves is typically larger than can be accounted for by shock compression of the upstream waves. The electron heating represents about 6 percent of the dissipated bulk flow energy, consistent with observations in other parameter regimes, and suggesting that the dominant electron heating process is the same. It is suggested that the low-Mach-number shocks are reforming but do not exhibit downstream variability because of the relatively low levels of reflected ions.

Thomsen, M. F.↗
NASA NTRS1994

The decay of axisymmetric homogeneous turbulence

The decay of a homogeneous turbulence generated by an axisymmetric distribution of random impulsive forces acting at the initial instant is considered. The impulsive forces may be either parallel or perpendicular to the symmetry axis. For impulsive forces which result in a kappa(exp 4) low wavenumber energy spectrum of the turbulence, it is determined that the flow approaches isotropy on all scales of motion at long-times provided the Reynolds number is large. However, for the type of impulsive forces originally proposed by Saffman in which a sq kappa low wavenumber energy spectrum is produced, the turbulence approaches isotropy only at the smallest scales and remains significantly anisotropic at the largest and energy-containing scales. Nevertheless, a similarity state of the flow field establishes itself asymptotically, in which the kinetic energy per unit mass of the turbulence decays as t(exp -6/5).

Chasnov, J. R.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Feedback Control of Plasma Instabilities with Charged Particle Beams and Study of Plasma Turbulence

A new non-perturbing technique for feedback control of plasma instabilities has been developed in the Columbia Linear Machine (CLM). The feedback control scheme involves the injection of a feedback modulated ion beam as a remote suppressor. The ion beam was obtained from a compact ion beam source which was developed for this purpose. A Langmuir probe was used as the feedback sensor. The feedback controller consisted of a phase-shifter and amplifiers. This technique was demonstrated by stabilizing various plasma instabilities to the background noise level, like the trapped particle instability, the ExB instability and the ion-temperature-gradient (ITG) driven instability. An important feature of this scheme is that the injected ion beam is non-perturbing to the plasma equilibrium parameters. The robustness of this feedback stabilization scheme was also investigated. The principal result is that the scheme is fairly robust, tolerating about 100% variation about the nominal parameter values. Next, this scheme is extended to the unsolved general problem of controlling multimode plasma instabilities simultaneously with a single sensor-suppressor pair. A single sensor-suppressor pair of feedback probes is desirable to reduce the perturbation caused by the probes. Two plasma instabilities the ExB and the ITG modes, were simultaneously stabilized. A simple 'state' feedback type method was used where more state information was generated from the single sensor Langmuir probe by appropriate signal processing, in this case, by differentiation. This proof-of-principle experiment demonstrated for the first time that by designing a more sophisticated electronic feedback controller, many plasma instabilities may be simultaneously controlled. Simple theoretical models showed generally good agreement with the feedback experimental results. On a parallel research front, a better understanding of the saturated state of a plasma instability was sought partly with the help of feedback. A plasma instability is usually observed in its saturated state and appears as a single feature in the frequency spectrum with a single azimuthal and parallel wavenumbers. The physics of the non-zero spectral width was investigated in detail because the finite spectral width can cause "turbulent" transport. One aspect of the "turbulence" was investigated by obtaining the scaling of the linear growth rate of the instabilities with the fluctuation levels. The linear growth rates were measured with the established gated feedback technique. The research showed that the ExB instability evolves into a quasi-coherent state when the fluctuation level is high. The coherent aspects were studied with a bispectral analysis. Moreover, the single spectral feature was discovered to be actually composed of a few radial harmonics. The radial harmonics play a role in the nonlinear saturation of the instability via three-wave coupling.

Tham, Philip Kin-Wah↗