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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 739 records · Page 41
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NASA NTRS1977

Lunar elemental analysis obtained from the Apollo gamma-ray and X-ray remote sensing experiment

Gamma-ray and X-ray spectrometers carried in the service modules of the Apollo 15 and Apollo 16 spacecraft were employed for compositional mapping of the lunar surface. The measurements involved the observation of the intensity and characteristic energy distribution of gamma rays and X-rays emitted from the lunar surface. A large-scale compositional map of over 10 percent of the lunar surface was obtained from an analysis of the observed spectra. The objective of the X-ray experiment was to measure the K spectral lines from Mg, Al, and Si. Spectra were obtained and the data were reduced to Al/Si and Mg/Si intensity ratios and ultimately to chemical ratios. Analyses of the results have indicated (1) that the Al/Si ratios are highest in the lunar highlands and considerably lower in the maria, and (2) that the Mg/Si concentrations generally show the opposite relationship. The objective of the gamma-ray experiment was to measure the natural and cosmic-ray-induced activity emission spectrum. At this time, the elemental abundances for Th, U, K, Fe, Ti, Si, and O have been determined over a number of major lunar regions. Regions of relatively high natural radioactivity were found in the Mare Imbrium and Oceanus Procellarum regions.

Trombka, J. I.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Apollo 14 coarse fines (4-10 mm) sample location and classification

The 4 to 10 mm sieve fraction from the soil samples collected during the Apollo 14 Mission was identified and described. Examination and description of the fines were carried out in nitrogen-filled, stainless steel cabinets during a general examination of the Apollo 14 sample collection. Each particle was held between forceps, dusted in a jet of N2, and placed on a teflon-covered stage. They were examined with a binocular microscope, separated by lithology, and the lithologic types described. Weights of individual particles in the fraction ranged from about 0.10 to 0.50 gm, large enough in size for studies of age, chemistry, and petrology to be accomplished.

Kramer, F. E.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Engineering study for pallet adapting the Apollo laser altimeter and photographic camera system for the Lidar Test Experiment on orbital flight tests 2 and 4

A Laser Altimeter and Mapping Camera System was included in the Apollo Lunar Orbital Experiment Missions. The backup system, never used in the Apollo Program, is available for use in the Lidar Test Experiments on the STS Orbital Flight Tests 2 and 4. Studies were performed to assess the problem associated with installation and operation of the Mapping Camera System in the STS. They were conducted on the photographic capabilities of the Mapping Camera System, its mechanical and electrical interface with the STS, documentation, operation and survivability in the expected environments, ground support equipment, test and field support.

Kuebert, E. J.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Design development of the Apollo command and service module thrust vector attitude control systems

Development of the Apollo thrust vector control digital autopilot (TVC DAP) was summarized. This is the control system that provided pitch and yaw attitude control during velocity change maneuvers using the main rocket engine on the Apollo service module. A list of ten primary functional requirements for this control system are presented, each being subordinate to a more general requirement appearing earlier on the list. Development process functions were then identified and the essential information flow paths were explored. This provided some visibility into the particular NASA/contractor interface, as well as relationships between the many individual activities.

William H. Peters↗
NASA NTRS1978

Light element geochemistry of the Apollo 12 site

Analytical techniques of improved sensitivity have revealed details of the concentrations and isotopic compositions of light elements for a comprehensive suite of samples from the Apollo 12 regolith. These samples show a wide spread in maturity, although maximum contents observed for solar wind elements are less than observed at other sites, possibly reflecting relative recency of craters at the Apollo 12 site. Isotopic composition of nitrogen is consistent with the idea that N-15/N-14 in the solar wind has increased with time, at least a major part of this increase having occurred in the past 3.1 Gyr. Sulfur isotope systematics support a model in which sulfur is both added to the regolith, by meteoritic influx, and lost, by an isotopically selective process. Most soils from this site are heavily contaminated with terrestrial carbon.

Kerridge, J. F.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Chemistry of Apollo 12 mare basalts - Magma types and fractionation processes

Major and trace element data for a large suite of petrographically diverse Apollo 12 mare basalts are presented, and magma types sampled at the Apollo 12 site are characterized. The data confirm earlier classifications of the basalts into olivine, pigeonite, ilmenite, and feldspathic basalts. The olivine and pigeonite basalts are shown to be comagnetic and related by olivine fractionation. The other types, which differ in trace element and isotopic characteristics, are derived from different sources within the lunar interior. The spatial relations between the main basalt types are discussed in terms of local cratering events, and it is suggested that the younger ilmenite basalts overlie the olivine-pigeonite basalts. The role of olivine-dominated near-surface crystal fractionation in causing chemical variation is examined, and a relation between inferred cooling rate and the position of a sample in the fractionation sequence is determined.

Rhodes, J. M.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Very low Ti /VLT/ basalts - A new mare rock type from the Apollo 17 drill core

Phaneritic fragments, vitrophyres, and glass beads of a new very low Ti (VLT) mare basalt are found in the Apollo 17 drill core. VLT lithic fragments are characterized by TiO2 content of approximately 0.5%, Mg/(Mg + Fe) of approximately 0.52, CaO/Al2O3 of approximately 0.9, and low alkali content. Although mineral systematics and modal composition of VLT basalt are similar to Apollo 12 and 15 low Ti basalts, VLT basalts cannot be related to these mare basalts by crystal fractionation. Since VLT basalt is isochemical with some of the less mafic green glasses, fractionation of VLT magma from a liquid of green-glass composition is a possibility. Spectral reflectance studies suggest that VLT-type basalts may be relatively common in mare basins.

Vaniman, D. T.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Petrology of Apollo 15 black-and-white rocks 15445 and 15455 - Fragments of the Imbrium impact melt sheet

The paper describes two macroscopically similar black-and-white rocks, 15445 and 15455, which were collected from the rim of Spur Crater on the Apennine Front. The two Apollo 15 rocks are very similar in chemistry and clast population, but the matrix of 15455 is finer grained than that of 15445. The 15445 sample contains a lithic clast assemblage of plutonic/metamorphic spinel troctolite, troctolite, norite, and anorthosite, and its fine-grained vesicular black coherent matrix consists of a melt-bonded aggregate of small mineral clasts which are mainly olivine, plagioclase, and pink spinel. The two rocks are distinct from any other large samples from the Apollo 15 site. It is suggested that the rocks are samples of an impact melt sheet which forms a bedrock unit of the Apennine Front, and that this melt sheet did not form in a local small-scale event but was produced during the Imbrium impact event.

Ryder, G.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Apollo 15 breccia rake samples - Mineralogy of lithic and mineral clasts

Major features of 22 Apollo 15 breccia rake samples and 30 lithic clasts in these samples are described. The range of compositions of exsolved pyroxene grains (bulk and individual lamellae) indicates a slowly cooled mare basalt source. In terms of these data the pyroxenes closely resemble pyroxenes in large anorthosite 67075. It is suggested that the pyroxene-plagioclase-olivine clast in 15146 as well as some anomalous chemical data might result from metamorphism of a mare-type basalt or from plutonic crystallization of magma with mare basalt affinity. The bulk composition of the clast in 15146 closely matches that of Apollo 15 'green glass' to which it may be related. A unique ultrabasic clast in 15360 has an unusually low CaO content and other chemical features which suggest that this sample is unlike ultrabasic samples described to date.

Steele, I. M.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Apollo 16 white boulder consortium samples 67455 and 67475 - Petrologic investigation

The paper describes Apollo 16 samples 67455 and 67475 from a white boulder which seems to be an ejecta block that represents a major lithology of the ejecta stratigraphic section penetrated by the North Ray cratering event. The characteristics of 67455, a polymict white feldspathic impact ejecta breccia, might possibly indicate that this and other samples from near the North Ray Crater rim come from a different source area or at least a different part of the same source area than do other Apollo 16 light matrix breccias. Sample 67475 is an impact melt probably produced by the same event that produced 67455. The transport of this assemblage and the relation of the white boulder to ejecta from the Nectaris event are considered.

Minkin, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Nearly pure Apollo 12 KREEP - Soil sample 12023

It is suggested that soil sample 12023, which was collected during the Apollo 12 mission from a 20 cm trench on the east rim of Sharp Crater, matured on a KREEP regolith surface, since its major element chemistry and FMR linewidth are indistinguishable from those of the Fra Mauro (Apollo 14) soils. Attention is given to the distribution of the sample's major mineral components. It is suggested that the origin of 12023 may either be ejecta from Fra Mauro material, or ray material from the Copernicus crater.

Morris, R. V.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Petrology and geochemistry of lithic fragments separated from the Apollo 15 deep-drill core

Petrological and geochemical analysis of lithic fragments separated from the Apollo 15 deep-drill core showed these fragments to fall into the essentially the same range of rock types as observed in surface soil samples and large rock samples. Three particles are singled out as being of special interest. One sample is a mare basalt containing extremely evolved phases. The particle may represent small-scale imperfect crystal/liquid separation in a lava flow. A green glass particle is not the ultramafic emerald green glass described from the Apollo 15 site, but rather an ANT-like light green color, and has a quite different chemical composition from the ultramafic variety. One mare basalt displays a positive Eu anomaly and is enriched in plagioclase relative to olivine plus pyroxene.

Lindstrom, M. M.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Depositional history of the Apollo 16 deep drill core

Ferromagnetic resonance and magnetic hysteresis loop measurements were performed on 212 samples from the Apollo 16 deep drill core. The total iron content is generally uniform with a mean value of 5.7 plus or minus 0.9 wt%. The soils range in maturity from immature to mature. Two major contacts were observed. The contact at 13 cm depth represents a fossil surface whereas the contact at 190 cm depth has no time-stratigraphic significance. The data suggest that the core section below 13 cm depth was deposited in a single impact event and subjected to meteoritic gardening for about 450 m.y. However, our data do not preclude deposition by a series of closely spaced events. About 50 m.y. ago, the top 13 cm were added. Comparison with the Apollo 16 double drive tube 60009/60010 does not yield any evidence for a stratigraphic correlation with the deep drill core.

Gose, W. A.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Size and modal analyses of fines and ultrafines from some Apollo 17 samples

Scanning electron and optical microscopy techniques have been used to determine the grain-size frequency distributions and morphology-based modal analyses of fine and ultrafine fractions of some Apollo 17 regolith samples. There are significant and large differences between the grain-size frequency distributions of the less than 10-micron size fraction of Apollo 17 samples, but there are no clear relations to the local geologic setting from which individual samples have been collected. This may be due to effective lateral mixing of regolith particles in this size range by micrometeoroid impacts. None of the properties of the frequency distributions support the idea of selective transport of any fine grain-size fraction, as has been proposed by other workers. All of the particle types found in the coarser size fractions also occur in the less than 10-micron particles. In the size range from 105 to 10 microns there is a strong tendency for the percentage of regularly shaped glass to increase as the graphic mean grain size of the less than 1-mm size fraction decreases, both probably being controlled by exposure age.

Greene, G. M.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Relative cooling rates of mare basalts at the Apollo 12 and 15 sites as estimated from pyroxene exsolution data

X-ray single-crystal diffraction studies, supplemented by electron microprobe analyses of core pigeonites and rim augites from rocks 12031, 15085, 15475, and 15495, have been used to suggest cooling rates for these and other Apollo 12 and 15 rocks studied by similar methods. The extent of subsolidus phase separation of pyroxenes is used as a measure of the cooling rate. The results were interpreted in terms of model cooling histories of a lava flow whose thickness was estimated from the absolute cooling rates obtained by cooling rate experiments and by temperature-time variation through an extrusive flow computed by employing simplified theory of Jaeger. All available data on the exsolution and cation distributions of pyroxenes from Apollo 12 and 15 samples at present are consistent with the hypothesis that these rocks were derived from the top and interior of lava flows with thicknesses of 4-10 m. A process for exsolution of augite from a host pigeonite on (100) has been related to its low-calcium content.

Takeda, H.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Rare gases and Ca, Sr, and Ba in Apollo 17 drill-core fines

Trapped gas isotopic compositions and spallation gas concentrations as functions of depth in the Apollo 17 drill core were determined from mass spectrometer studies by means of correlation techniques. The distribution of He, Ne, Ar, Kr, and Xe as well as Ca, Sr, and Ba was investigated, and rare-gas spallation and neutron capture profiles are compared with attention to proposed depositional models for the Taurus-Littrow regolith. The data exclude a sedimentation pattern similar to that found at the Apollo 15 site but are possibly compatible with long-term continuous accretion models or models of very recent rapid accumulation of regolith.

Pepin, R. O.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Moonport: A History of Apollo Launch Facilities and Operations

The development of the Apollo f launch facilities and launch operations is described from the beginning of design through the final launch. Management techniques, innovation in automation, and testing on the ground to avoid failures in space are among the topics covered. The impact of the Apollo program on the citrus groves and quiet beaches of Florida's east coast is included.

Benson, C. D.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Chariots for Apollo: A History of Manned Lunar Spacecraft

Beginning with the challenges presented by Sputnik 1 in 1957, and the formation of NASA, the apollo lunar exploration program is reviewed through Apollo Flight 11. The focal points are the spacecraft including the command and service modules, and the lunar module.

Brooks, C. G.↗