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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 865 records · Page 48
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1981

X-ray and energetic neutral particle emission from Saturn's magnetosphere

A description is presented of observations of the Voyager 1 spacecraft obtained a few days before encounter of the Saturn magnetosphere in November 1980. As Voyager 1 has no special experiment onboard for X-ray and neutral particle detection, the sensitivity and directional measurements of the low energy charged particle (LECP) analyzer is used to identify the neutral radiation above the charged particle background. The LECP telescope uses a silicon detector of 96.6 micrometers thickness and 0.08 sq cm area to accumulate counts in eight separate sectors near the ecliptic plane. The existence of radiation above the detector background emanating from the vicinity of Saturn, upstream from the bow shock is shown. The excess counts are most plausibly attributed to neutral radiation, that is, X rays and/or neutral energetic particles. However, in connection with quantitative considerations the observed excess counts are probably not due to X-rays. It is concluded that charge exchange of energetic ions with satellite tori is an important loss mechanism at Saturn as well as at Jupiter.

Kirsch, E.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Magnetospheric particle populations.

Significant results of magnetospheric charged particle measurements conducted within the past two years are reviewed in an attempt to provide a general description of relationships among particle populations in the magnetosheath, plasma sheet, extraterrestrial ring current region, electron trough, pseudotrapping region, and stable-trapping region. Special attention is given to the characteristics of protons, electrons, alpha particles, and particles with charge greater than three in the stable trapping region.

Vette, J. I.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Bulk properties of the system formed in Au + Au collisions at s N N = 14.5 GeV at the BNL STAR detector

We report systematic measurements of bulk properties of the system created in Au+Au collisions at √ S NN = 14.5 GeV recorded by the STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The transverse momentum spectra of π ± , K ± and p(p¯) are studied at mid-rapidity (|y| < 0.1) for nine centrality intervals. The centrality, transverse momentum (p T ), and pseudorapidity (η) 3 dependence of inclusive charged particle elliptic flow (v 2 ), and rapidity-odd charged particles directed flow (v 1 ) results near mid-rapidity are also presented. These measurements are compared with the published results from Au+Au collisions at other energies, and from Pb+Pb collisions at √ S NN =2.76 TeV. The results at √ S NN = 14.5 GeV show similar behavior as established at other energies and fit well in the energy dependence trend. Furthermore, these results are important as the 14.5 GeV energy fills the gap in μ B, which is of the order of 100 MeV, between √ S NN =11.5 and 19.6 GeV. Comparisons of the data with UrQMD and AMPT models show poor agreement in general.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
NASA NTRS1999

In-Situ Spectrometry of Neutrons

High energy charged particles of extra-galactic, galactic and solar origin collide with spacecraft structures in Earth orbit outside the atmosphere and in interplanetary travel beyond the Earth's magnetosphere. These primaries create a number of secondary particles inside the structures that can produce a significant ionizing radiation environment. This radiation is a threat to long term inhabitants or travelers for space missions and produces an increased risk of cancer and DNA damage. The primary high energy cosmic rays and trapped protons collide with common spacecraft materials such as aluminum and silicon and create secondary particles inside structures that are mostly protons and neutrons. Charged protons are readily detected and instruments are already in existence for this task. Neutrons are electrically neutral and therefore much more difficult to measure and detect. These neutrons are reported to contribute 30-60% of the dose inside space structures and cannot be ignored. Currently there is no compact, portable and real time neutron detector instrumentation available for use inside spacecraft or on planetary surfaces where astronauts will live and work. We propose to design and build a portable, low power and robust neutron spectrometer that will measure the neutron spectrum from 10 KeV to 500 MeV with at least 10% energy resolution in the various energy intervals. This instrument will monitor the existing neutron environment both inside spacecraft structures and on planetary surfaces to determine the safest living areas, warn of high fluxes associated with solar storms and assist the NSBRI Radiation Effects Team in making an accurate assessment of increased cancer risk and DNA damage to astronauts. The instrument uses a highly efficient proportional counter Helium 3 tube at the lowest energy intervals where .equivalent damage factors for tissue are the highest (10 KeV-2 MeV). The Helium 3 tube may be shielded with a cadmium absorber to eliminate the much less damaging, but more prevalent, thermal and epithermal neutrons and to make the structure of the spectrum more accurate in the 20 KeV-2 MeV range; or a pair of tubes, one shielded and one unshielded, can be combined so that the difference in their counts yields the thermal neutron contribution. The spectrometer also uses a 5mm lithium drifted bulk silicon solid state detector in the medium energy range of 2-20 Mev and two standard silicon surface barrier detectors separated by tens of millimeters behind a I cm thick polyethylene moderator in a stack or telescope arrangement for the high energy neutrons (>20 MeV). In the medium and high energy regions equivalent damage factors are lower but hits from one or a small number of neutrons may prove to be important. The silicon detector systems for medium and high energy neutrons will discriminate against charged particles by using a plastic cesium iodide scintillator of an appropriate geometry monitored by a silicon PIN photodiode.

Maurer, Richard H.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Radiation Transport Properties of Potential In Situ-Developed Regolith-Epoxy Materials for Martian Habitats

We will evaluate the radiation transport properties of epoxy-martian regolith composites. Such composites, which would use both in situ materials and chemicals fabricated from elements found in the martian atmosphere, are candidates for use in habitats on Mars. The principal objective is to evaluate the transmission properties of these materials with respect to the protons and heavy charged particles in the galactic cosmic rays which bombard the martian surface. The secondary objective is to evaluate fabrication methods which could lead to technologies for in situ fabrication. The composites will be prepared by NASA Langley Research Center using simulated martian regolith. Initial evaluation of the radiation shielding properties will be made using transport models developed at NASA-LaRC and the results of these calculations will be used to select the composites with the most favorable radiation transmission properties. These candidates will then be empirically evaluated at particle accelerators which produce beams of protons and heavy charged particles comparable in energy to the radiation at the surface of Mars.

Miller, J.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Wide Band Gap Radiation Detectors for Deep Space Science

Understanding how the Sun, Earth, and other objects in the solar system interact with the space radiation environment is crucial for improving activities of humans on Earth and in space. Low-power, low-noise, multidirectional robust detectors for detecting ions with a wide range of mass and energies will provide a more complete understanding of space environment physics. To meet these challenges, new ion detectors based on wide band gap (WBG) semiconductors are being developed for integration on a variety of deep space platforms. NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) is applying its expertise and facilities in harsh environment instrumentation to develop supporting technologies to enable improved instruments for space science missions. New detector technologies being developed at GRC include SiC solid-state devices as practical robust, thermally stable large area detectors for LET measurements in compact, stacked charged particle telescope. The low-noise, thermally stable nature of the WBG detectors allows a small multidirectional array of charged particle telescopes to be packed in a 6U CubeSat without active cooling for operation in lunar orbit or deep space. Using a full variety of different WBG detectors, an extremely compact instrument to provide multi-directional, comprehensive (composition, velocity, and direction) in-situ measurements of heavy ions in space plasma environments can be realized.

ion detectors↗
DOE OSTI2021

The S π RIT time projection chamber

The SAMURAI Pion Reconstruction and Ion-Tracker Time Projection Chamber (SπRIT TPC) was designed to enable measurements of heavy ion collisions with the SAMURAI spectrometer at the RIKEN Radioactive Isotope Beam Factory and provide constraints on the Equation of State of neutron-rich nuclear matter. The SπRIT TPC has a 50.5 cm drift length and an 86.4 cm × 134.4 cm 2 pad plane with 12,096 pads that are equipped with the Generic Electronics for TPCs. The SπRIT TPC allows excellent reconstruction of particles and provides isotopic resolution for pions and other light charged particles across a wide range of energy losses and momenta. Here, details of the SπRIT TPC are presented, along with discussion of the TPC performance based on cosmic ray and charged particles emitted in heavy ion collisions.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
NASA NTRS1989

The space particle environment

The energetic charged particle environment in the Earth's magnetosphere was studied. An overview is provided of trapped particle morphology, the geometry of the trapping regions, the radiation environmental models, the current status of these models, and future modelling requirements.

Vampola, Alfred L.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Status of the evidence for a magnetic monopole

The experimental evidence supporting the detection of a moving magnetic monopole, using a balloon-borne array of track detectors, was presented. Although the results cannot be proved to have been produced by a monopole, they do not seem to have been produced by any nucleus. The very high, roughly constant ionization rate inferred from track etch rate measurements in a stack of Lexan detectors implies passage of a minimum-ionizing particle more highly charged than any known nucleus, yet the Cerenkov film detectors indicated a velocity less than about 0.68 times the speed of light and the size of the track in the nuclear emulsion indicated a velocity approximately equal to 0.5 times the speed of light. At this velocity the ionization rate of a highly electrically charged particle would have changed dramatically with pathlength unless its mass to charge ratio were far greater than that of a nucleus.

Price, P. B.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Systematic investigation of the particle spectra in heavy-ion collisions at the Large Hadron Collider

We investigate the charged particle spectra produced in the heavy-ion collisions at nine centralities from different systems, i.e. Pb+Pb at √ s NN = 2.76 TeV and 5.02 TeV as well as Xe+Xe at √ s NN = 5.44 TeV, at Large Hadron Collider (LHC) using one empirical formula inspired by the stationary solution of the Fokker-Planck equation, dubbed as the generalized Fokker-Planck solution (GFPS). Our results show that the GFPS can reproduce the experimental particle spectrum up to transverse momentum pT about 45 GeV/c with the maximum discrepancy 30% covering 10 orders of magnitude. Here, the discrepancy between the data and the results from the GFPS decreases to 15% when the maximum of the charged particle transverse momentum is cut to 20 GeV/c. We confirmed that the Tsallis distribution derived from the non-extensive statistics, which can reproduce the particle spectra produced in small collision systems, such as p+p, up to few hundreds GeV/c, can only apply to systematically study the particle spectra up to 8 GeV/c in A+A collisions at LHC, as pointed out in the study of identified particle spectra in Pb+Pb collisions at √ s NN = 2.76 TeV. A brief discussion on GFPS is also given.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

High event rate analysis technique for the dual-axis duo-lateral position-sensitive silicon detectors of FAUST

The dual-axis duo-lateral (DADL) position-sensitive silicon detector was developed to obtain precise position and energy information for detected charged particles. The Forward Array Using Silicon Technology (FAUST) is currently equipped with 68 DADL detectors backed by CsI(Tl) scintillators for the study of charged particle correlations in heavy-ion collisions where precise position and energy information is essential. When conventional signal processing electronics were used for the DADL detectors, a position dependence of the measured energy as well as distortions in the calculated particle positions were observed. In previous work, waveforms from the detector after preamplification were studied to better understand the features that give rise to these distortions; therein, a waveform analysis technique was developed to improve the energy resolution and linearity in position reconstruction. However, the reading and writing of waveforms for an entire detector array limits data collection rates and adds significant burden in data storage and analysis speed. In this work, the integrators of a Struck SIS3316 ADC were utilized to process 228 Th source data to develop and optimize a new analysis method that captures the benefits of the waveform analysis technique while circumventing the waveform writing requirement. This integrator method – capable of 59 keV (FWHM) energy resolution – was used in the collection of 35 MeV/nucleon 28 Si + 12 C collision data using FAUST to investigate exotic decays of highly excited highly deformed nuclei. In this data, a position resolution of 0.4 mm (FWHM) was obtained for 25 MeV α-particles; for α-particles near this energy that originate from 8 Be ground state decays, a 8 Be ground state width of 30 keV (FWHM) was obtained. The impact of the energy-dependent DADL position resolution emergent from electronic noise on the quality of excited state measurement was modeled and compared to the experimental data.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
NASA NTRS1974

A large area multi-element telescope for measuring the cosmic ray isotope composition

To measure the isotopic composition of cosmic rays up to Fe an instrument is needed with good isotopic resolution and a large exposure. The large geometry needed for a balloon-borne detector has been obtained with large mapped detectors and a trajectory determining spark chamber. The instrument achieves isotopic resolution only for stopping particles. For low charge particles where there is no Cerenkov response the detector works as a multiple dE/dx-Range-Energy detector. For higher charges where scintillator saturation becomes important it becomes a Cerenkov-range measurement.

Fisher, A. J.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Yarkovsky thermal drag on LAGEOS

Based on a thermal model including the radiative heat transfer between the retroreflector, its mounting rings, and the aluminum cavity in which it sits, it is estimated that thermal drag accounts for about 70 percent of the observed average drag on the LAGEOS satellite. It is found that neutral particle drag accounts for about 13 percent of the average drag, with charged particle drag accounting for at least 5 percent. It is suggested that the remaining 12 percent is probably due to charged particle drag as well.

Rubincam, David Parry↗
NASA NTRS1997

Report on Cosmic Dust Capture Research and Development for the Exobiology Program

Collaboration with Ames' personnel was in: 1) grant administration, 2) intellectual science support, 3) collaboration with the University of Paris for the Mir flight experiment, and 4) arranging scanning and X-ray probe analytical support from UCB and SUNYP. LNIMS provided access to: 1) analytical research instruments, 2) chemical analyses support, 3) cleanroom facilities, and 4) design and fabrication expertise of hardware and electronics. They also supported the hypervelocity testing along with test data acquisition and its reduction for the breadboard instrument. A&M Associates provided technical expertise and support on determining the expected charges on orbital particles and a conceptual design for a breadboard particle charge detection sensor. University of California provided analytical support for the recovered Mir flight modules using their unique scanning capability to detect particle tracks in the aerogel. SUNYP, along with help from the University of Chicago, analyzed particle tracks found in the aerogel for biogenic compounds using an x-ray probe instrument. Dr. Schultz provided access to his experiments and the benefits of his considerable hyper-velocity testing expertise at the Ames hypervelocity gun facility, and this proved beneficial to our development testing, significantly reducing the test time and cost for the breadboard instrument development testing. The participants in this activity acknowledge and thank the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and its Ames Research Center for providing the necessary support and resources to conduct this investigation on instrument technology for exobiology application and being able to acquire some interesting results. Primarily, the newly identified technology problems for future research are the important results of this research.

Nishioka, Kenji↗
NASA NTRS1980

Electromagnetic scattering lifetimes for dust in Jupiter's ring

The lifetime of the charged, micron-sized dust particles found to lie in a ring at 1.8 Jupiter radii from Jupiter against electromagnetic scattering is estimated. Interactions of the particles with the Jovian magnetic field dipole are found to spread particle orbits out to a much greater extent than observed for particle charges greater than -10 V, and to result in slightly eccentric, open orbits for the dust particles, with eccentricities dependent on particle size. In addition, fluctuations within the magnetic field are found to lead to significant changes in the eccentricity and inclination of the ring particle orbits. It is concluded that Jovian ring particles, if charged to -10 V as is consistent with Voyager data, will be strongly perturbed and scattered on a short time scale (100 yr), so the ring must be constantly replenished or it is a temporary phenomenon. Finally, the dust cloud observed to extend above, below, and beyond the Jupiter ring is attributed to the electromagnetic scattering of particles smaller than the ring particles.

Consolmagno, G. J.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Evaluating the ProtoDUNE-SP Detector Performance to Measure a 6 GeV/c Positive Kaon Inelastic Cross Section on Argon

The ProtoDUNE Single-Phase Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber \\ (ProtoDUNE-SP LArTPC) is a prototype for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE), a future long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment. Based at the CERN Neutrino Platform, ProtoDUNE-SP LArTPC collected data from a charged test beam in the fall of 2018. It then took data of cosmic-ray muons from November 2018 to the summer of 2020. The main goals of the prototype were to measure parameters related to charged particle passage in argon and evaluate the performance of the detector to inform future DUNE Far Detector development. The test beam provided kaons, pions, muons, protons, and electrons to the detector. These particles represent common final state particles in neutrino interactions, therefore providing information to DUNE on modeling charged particles in argon for its neutrino physics program. In addition to neutrino physics, DUNE has proposed an analysis using the DUNE Far Detector module to set limits for proton decay through the decay channel $p\rightarrow K^++\bar{\nu}$. This measurement would require information on kaons in argon, providing ProtoDUNE-SP LArTPC another opportunity to aid DUNE. This thesis describes the calibration of ProtoDUNE-SP and its detector performance, which serves as a benchmark for the performance of the DUNE Far Detector modules. A specific calibration highlighted is the evaluation of the liquid argon purity in the detector. These measurements use cosmic-ray muons reconstructed in the detector that are calibrated and matched to data from scintillator strips external to the TPC, known as the Cosmic Ray Tagger (CRT). The thesis will discuss the algorithms to match the data between the ProtoDUNE-SP LArTPC and the CRT and discuss the liquid argon purity measurements using one of the algorithms. Data sets of calibrated tracks measured the liquid argon contamination as consistently below 100 ppt oxygen equivalent. After these discussions on the ProtoDUNE-SP LArTPC detector, the thesis will present an evaluation of the inclusive inelastic, sometimes referred to as a reactive, cross section on argon of kaons from the ProtoDUNE-SP test beam with an average momentum of 6 GeV/c.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2023

Measurement of the Sensitivity of Two-Particle Correlations in $\mathcal{pp}$ Collisions to the Presence of Hard Scatterings

A key open question in the study of multiparticle production in high-energy pp collisions is the relationship between the “ridge”—i.e., the observed azimuthal correlations between particles in the underlying event that extend over all rapidities—and hard or semihard scattering processes. In particular, it is not known whether jets or their soft fragments are correlated with particles in the underlying event. To address this question, two-particle correlations are measured in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$=13 TeV using data collected by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC, with an integrated luminosity of 15.8 pb -1 , in two different configurations. In the first case, charged particles associated with jets are excluded from the correlation analysis, while in the second case, correlations are measured between particles within jets and charged particles from the underlying event. Second-order flow coefficients, v2, are presented as a function of event multiplicity and transverse momentum. These measurements show that excluding particles associated with jets does not affect the measured correlations. Moreover, particles associated with jets do not exhibit any significant azimuthal correlations with the underlying event, ruling out hard processes contributing to the ridge.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗