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At least 73 records · Page 4

Thermophysical properties data on graphite/polyimide composite materials

Experimental data for the thermal conductivity, thermal expansion, specific heat, and emittance of laminates of HTS/NR 150B2 and HTS/PMR 15 are presented. Measurements were made over the temperature range 116 K to 588 K. Results for the two materials were similar with some differences attributable to laminate quality. Higher expansion coefficients for the HTS/PMR 15 specimens in the resin-dominated directions indicate a higher coefficient for PMR 15 than NR 150B2. Previously announced in STAR as N80-14197

Campbell, M. D.

Graphite and boron-reinforced composite materials data summary

Data summary is collection of information on typical processing techniques. Mechanical properties, and physical properties of advanced composite materials which are being considered for structural applications on advanced space vehicles.

Source record

Ion Composition of Titan's Ionosphere Observed During T9 Magnetotail Crossing

In a recent paper, Sittler et al., (2010) presented new results on the T9 encounter by the Cassini spacecraft when it passed through Titan s induced magnetotail. Two crossings were observed, but the first crossing, event 1, is thought to be out flowing ionosphere plasma. T9 is ideal for CAPS IMS probing of the ionosphere, since the ion densities at the higher altitudes of the T9 flyby approx. 10,000 km, allows measurements to be made down to 1 eV without saturating its detectors. Sittler et al., (2010) reported possible detection of NH4+ ions, but favored the detection of CH5+ and C2H5+ ions. In this report we investigate both the medium mass resolution (straight through (ST)) and high mass resolution (linear electric field (LEF)) composition data from the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) Ion Mass Spectrometer (IMS). We present a more in depth analysis of the composition data and make comparisons with ionospheric models including nitrogen chemistry such as that by Vuitton et al. (2007). The LEF data does not support NH4+ identification, but favors a CH5+ and C2H5+ identification, but also molecular ions C2N+ and CH2NH2+ are chemically allowed possibilities.

Sittler, Edward

Assessment of Rainfall Estimates Using a Standard Z-R Relationship and the Probability Matching Method Applied to Composite Radar Data in Central Florida

Precipitation estimates from radar systems are a crucial component of many hydrometeorological applications, from flash flood forecasting to regional water budget studies. For analyses on large spatial scales and long timescales, it is frequently necessary to use composite reflectivities from a network of radar systems. Such composite products are useful for regional or national studies, but introduce a set of difficulties not encountered when using single radars. For instance, each contributing radar has its own calibration and scanning characteristics, but radar identification may not be retained in the compositing procedure. As a result, range effects on signal return cannot be taken into account. This paper assesses the accuracy with which composite radar imagery can be used to estimate precipitation in the convective environment of Florida during the summer of 1991. Results using Z = 30OR(sup 1.4) (WSR-88D default Z-R relationship) are compared with those obtained using the probability matching method (PMM). Rainfall derived from the power law Z-R was found to he highly biased (+90%-l10%) compared to rain gauge measurements for various temporal and spatial integrations. Application of a 36.5-dBZ reflectivity threshold (determined via the PMM) was found to improve the performance of the power law Z-R, reducing the biases substantially to 20%-33%. Correlations between precipitation estimates obtained with either Z-R relationship and mean gauge values are much higher for areal averages than for point locations. Precipitation estimates from the PMM are an improvement over those obtained using the power law in that biases and root-mean-square errors are much lower. The minimum timescale for application of the PMM with the composite radar dataset was found to be several days for area-average precipitation. The minimum spatial scale is harder to quantify, although it is concluded that it is less than 350 sq km. Implications relevant to the WSR-88D system are discussed.

Crosson, William L.

Mineralogical diversity (spectral reflectance and Moessbauer data) in compositionally similar impact melt rocks from Manicouagan Crater, Canada

Meteoritic impacts under oxidizing surface conditions occur on both earth and Mars. Oxidative alteration of impact melt sheets is reported at several terrestrial impact structures including Manicouagan, West Clearwater Lake, and the Ries Basin. A number of studies have advocated that a significant fraction of Martian soil may consist of erosional products of oxidatively altered impact melt sheets. If so, the signature of the Fe-bearing mineralogies formed by the process may be present in visible and near infrared reflectivity data for the Martian surface. Of concern is what mineral assemblages form in impact melt sheets produced under oxidizing conditions and what their spectral signatures are. Spectral and Moessbauer data for 19 powder samples of impact melt rock from Manicouagan Crater are reported. Results show for naturally occurring materials that composite hematite-pyroxene bands have minima in the 910-nm region. Thus many of the anomalous Phobos-2 spectra, characterized by a shallow band minimum in the near-IR whose position varies between approximately 850 and 1000 nm, can be explained by assemblages whose endmembers (hematite and pyroxene) are accepted to be present on Mars. Furthermore, results show that a mineralogically diverse suite of rocks can be generated at essentially constant composition, which implies that variations in Martian surface mineralogy do not necessarily imply variations in chemical composition.

Morris, R. V.

Quiet time mass composition at near-geosynchronous altitudes

Mass composition data acquired from the near-geosynchronous SCATHA spacecraft during magnetically quiet times are analyzed. The time intervals over which data were included in the study span some four months in the spring and summer of 1979. This allows a reasonable coverage in both L shell and magnetic local time. At the higher L shells, L greater than 6.5, the mass composition data are consistent with sunward convection of plasma sheet particles. Protons and alpha particle fluxes peak near the 90 deg pitch angle. There is evidence that the alpha particle spatial distribution has a sharp inner edge near L = 6.5. At lower L values, the proton characteristics change. The density of protons above 1 keV decreases, while the lower-energy protons show an increase in density. The oxygen ions show a similar change, in that there is a large increase in the lower-energy oxygen ions from high L to low L, especially, in the dusk and midnight local time sectors. This suggests that the ionosphere may be continuously supplying plasma to the inner magnetosphere even during magnetically quiet times.

Strangeway, R. J.

Residual Gas Analyzer Calibration

A technique which employs known gas mixtures to calibrate the residual gas analyzer (RGA) is described. The mass spectra from the RGA are recorded for each gas mixture. This mass spectra data and the mixture composition data each form a matrix. From the two matrices the calibration matrix may be computed. The matrix mathematics requires the number of calibration gas mixtures be equal to or greater than the number of gases included in the calibration. This technique was evaluated using a mathematical model of an RGA to generate the mass spectra. This model included shot noise errors in the mass spectra. Errors in the gas concentrations were also included in the valuation. The effects of these errors was studied by varying their magnitudes and comparing the resulting calibrations. Several methods of evaluating an actual calibration are presented. The effects of the number of gases in then, the composition of the calibration mixture, and the number of mixtures used are discussed.

R H Lilienkamp

Automated mainframe data collection in a network environment

The progress and direction of the computer industry have resulted in widespread use of dissimilar and incompatible mainframe data systems. Data collection from these multiple systems is a labor intensive task. In the past, data collection had been restricted to the efforts of personnel specially trained on each system. Information is one of the most important resources an organizations has. Any improvement in an organization's ability to access and manage that information provides a competitive advantage. This problem of data collection is compounded at NASA sites by multi-center and contractor operations. The Centralized Automated Data Retrieval System (CADRS) is designed to provide a common interface that would permit data access, query, and retrieval from multiple contractor and NASA systems. The methods developed for CADRS have a strong commercial potential in that they would be applicable for any industry that needs inter-department, inter-company, or inter-agency data communications. The widespread use of multi-system data networks, that combine older legacy systems with newer decentralized networks, has made data retrieval a critical problem for information dependent industries. Implementing the technology discussed in this paper would reduce operational expense and improve data collection on these composite data systems.

Gross, David L.

Titan Ion Composition at Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Transition Region

Using Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) Ion Mass Spectrometer (IMS) ion composition data, we will investigate the compositional changes at the transition region between Saturn's magnetospheric flow and Titan's upper ionosphere. It is this region where scavenging of Titan's upper ionosphere can occur, where it is then dragged away by the magnetospheric flow as cold plasma for Saturn's magnetosphere. This cold plasma may form plumes as originally proposed by (1) during the Voyager 1 epoch. This source of cold plasma may have a unique compositional signature such as methane group ions. Water group ions that are observed in Saturn's outer magnetosphere (2,3) are relatively hot and probably come from the inner magnetosphere where they are born from fast neutrals escaping Enceladus (4) and picked up in the outer magnetosphere as hot plasma (5). This scenario will be complicated by pickup methane ions within Titan's mass loading region, as originally predicted by (6) based on Voyager 1 data and observationally confirmed by (3,7) using CAPS IMS data. But, CH4(+) ions or their fragments can only be produced as pickup ions from Titan's exosphere which can extend beyond the transition region of concern here, while CH5(+) ions can be scavenged from Titan's ionosphere. We will investigate these possibilities.

Sittler, Edward C.

Fieldpath Lunar Meteorite Graves Nunataks 06157, a Magnesian Piece of the Lunar Highlands Crust

To date, 49 feldspathic lunar meteorites (FLMs) have been recovered, likely representing a minimum of 35 different sample locations in the lunar highlands. The compositional variability among FLMs far exceeds the variability observed among highland samples in the Apollo and Luna sample suites. Here we will discuss in detail one of the compositional end members of the FLM suite, Graves Nunataks (GRA) 06157, which was collected by the 2006-2007 ANSMET field team. At 0.79 g, GRA 06157 is the smallest lunar meteorite so far recovered. Despite its small size, its highly feldspathic and highly magnesian composition are intriguing. Although preliminary bulk compositions have been reported, thus far no petrographic descriptions are in the literature. Here we expand upon the bulk compositional data, including major-element compositions, and provide a detailed petrographic description of GRA 06157.

Zeigler, Ryan A.

Interaction of two-dimensional transverse jet with a supersonic mainstream

The interaction of a two dimensional sonic jet injected transversely into a confined main flow was studied. The main flow consisted of air at a Mach number of 2.9. The effects of varying the jet parameters on the flow field were examined using surface pressure and composition data. Also, the downstream flow field was examined using static pressure, pitot pressure, and composition profile data. The jet parameters varied were gapwidth, jet static pressure, and injectant species of either helium or nitrogen. The values of the jet parameters used were 0.039, 0.056, and 0.109 cm for the gapwidth and 5, 10, and 20 for the jet to mainstream static pressure ratios. The features of the flow field produced by the mixing and interaction of the jet with the mainstream were related to the jet momentum. The data were used to demonstrate the validity of an existing two dimensional elliptic flow code.

Kraemer, G. O.

The history of mare volcanism in the Orientale Basin: Mare deposit ages, compositions and morphologies

The eruptive history of mare basalts in the Orientale Basin has been studied, using Lunar Orbiter 4 high-resolution photographs, Zond 8 photographs, and recently acquired Galileo EM-1 multispectral images. This work represents a refined set of compositional data incorporating the use of a linear mixing model for mare compositions, crater count data, and a comprehensive morphologic analysis of Orientale Basin mare deposits. Evidence for multiple eruptive episodes has been found, with compositions ranging from medium- to high-Ti basalt (less than 4 to greater than 6 wt. percent TiO2). Eruptive styles included flood, rille-forming, and shield-forming eruptions. Impact crater densities of mare units in the Orientale Basin enable determination of the ages of these deposits, using the method of Neukum et al. Earliest eruptions of mare basalt in the basin occurred at greater than or equal to 3.80 Ga and the latest eruptions occurred at about 2.3-2.5 Ga. Hence, mare volcanism occurred over a period of nearly 1.5 Ga.

Kadel, S. D.

The temperature gradient in the solar nebula

The available compositional data on planets and satellites can be used to place stringent limits on the thermal environment in the solar nebula. The densities of the terrestrial planets, Ceres and Vesta, the Galilean satellites, and Titan; the atmospheric compositions of several of these bodies; and geochemical and geophysical data on the earth combine to define a strong dependence of formation temperature on heliocentric distance. It is impossible to reconcile the available compositional data with any model in which the formation temperatures of these bodies are determined by radiative equilibrium with the sun, regardless of the sun's luminosity. Rather, the data support Cameron's hypothesis of a dense, convective solar nebula, opaque to solar radiation, with an adiabatic temperature-pressure profile.

Lewis, J. S.

Consortium investigation of breccia 67435

The paper presents results of the initial phase of a consortium investigation of lunar rock 67435, a glass coated breccia which contains a unique spinel-troctolite clast. These results include oxygen isotopic data for the host breccia, bulk composition data for the host breccia, glass coating and a large aphanitic clast, and detailed petrographic descriptions of all lithologies encountered.

Warner, R. D.

Morphology of thermospheric composition variations in the quiet polar thermosphere from Dynamics Explorer measurements

Composition data obtained by the Neutral Atmosphere Composition Spectrometer carried aboard the Dynamics Explorer 2 satellite have been examined for variations in the polar regions during magnetically quiet conditions. A persistent enhancement of N2 density and a depletion of He density are present in the vicinity of the magnetic poles with maximum density response in the morning hours (magnetic) on average. A universal time (UT) variation in average density levels is evident near both the geographic and magnetic poles. There are systematic morphology changes with UT and between summer and winter which are qualitatively consistent with the shifting and spreading of thermospheric heating effects by the global circulation systems driven by EUV and magnetospheric sources. The magnitude of the UT variations is larger in the southern hemisphere on average, and the UT variations are larger in local winter than summer.

Hedin, A. E.