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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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DOE OSTI2026

Resonance Ionization Spectroscopy Experiment at Facility for Rare Isotope Beams

This manuscript reports on the commissioning of the Resonance Ionization Spectroscopy Experiment (RISE) at the BEam COoler and LAser spectroscopy (BECOLA) facility at Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB). The instrument implements the collinear resonance ionization spectroscopy technique for sensitive measurements of isotope shifts and hyperfine structure of short-lived isotopes produced at FRIB. The existing BECOLA beamline was extended to integrate an electrostatic ion-beam bender and an ion detector at ultrahigh vacuum. An injection-seeded titanium-sapphire laser and a multiharmonic pulsed neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet laser were installed to perform resonant excitation and selective ionization. Commissioning tests were performed to demonstrate the capabilities of the instrument by measuring the hyperfine structure of stable 27 Al produced in an offline ion source. The RISE instrument is ready and operational for future studies of short-lived isotopes at FRIB.

Atomic spectra↗
NASA NTRS1975

Bow shock protons in the lunar environment

Protons from the earth's bow shock are observed by the suprathermal ion detector experiment (SIDE) in two regions of the lunar orbit. The dawn region begins at the dawn-side bow-shock crossing and ends about 5 days later, the dusk region begins at about 2 days prior to entering the dusk-side magnetosheath and ends at the inbound bow-shock crossing. Dusk and dawn refer to a terrestrial coordinate system. The dominant contribution to the ion spectra observed by the SIDE in these regions is from particles with energies between about 750 eV/q and 3500 eV/q. Analysis of simultaneous data from the Explorer 35 magnetometer and the SIDE indicates that the observability of bow-shock protons at the lunar distance is dependent on the configuration of the interplanetary magnetic field.

Benson, J.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Observation of bow shock protons at the lunar orbit

Protons with energies ranging from about 500 eV to 3,500 eV were observed by the Suprathermal Ion Detector Experiment (SIDE) on both the dusk and dawn sides of the magnetosphere. On each lunation these particles appeared as a rather continuous phenomenon for 3 to 5 days after crossing from the dawn-side magnetosheath into the solar wind and for about 2 days prior to entering the dusk-side magnetosheath. Data from the SIDE and from the Explorer 35 lunar orbiting magnetometer were analyzed and these data indicated that the transverse ion flows observed by the SIDE in the pre and post bow shock crossing regions of the lunar orbit are due to these deviated solar wind particles. A computer model based on drift trajectories for particles leaving the shock was developed and synthetic particle data produced by this model are in good agreement with the observed data.

Benson, J. L.↗
NASA NTRS2006

NASA Tech Briefs, January 2006

Topics covered include: Semiautonomous Avionics-and-Sensors System for a UAV; Biomimetic/Optical Sensors for Detecting Bacterial Species; System Would Detect Foreign-Object Damage in Turbofan Engine; Detection of Water Hazards for Autonomous Robotic Vehicles; Fuel Cells Utilizing Oxygen From Air at Low Pressures; Hybrid Ion-Detector/Data-Acquisition System for a TOF-MS; Spontaneous-Desorption Ionizer for a TOF-MS; Equipment for On-Wafer Testing From 220 to 325 GHz; Computing Isentropic Flow Properties of Air/R-134a Mixtures; Java Mission Evaluation Workstation System; Using a Quadtree Algorithm To Assess Line of Sight; Software for Automated Generation of Cartesian Meshes; Optics Program Modified for Multithreaded Parallel Computing; Programs for Testing Processor-in-Memory Computing Systems; PVM Enhancement for Beowulf Multiple-Processor Nodes; Ion-Exclusion Chromatography for Analyzing Organics in Water; Selective Plasma Deposition of Fluorocarbon Films on SAMs; Water-Based Pressure-Sensitive Paints; System Finds Horizontal Location of Center of Gravity; Predicting Tail Buffet Loads of a Fighter Airplane; Water Containment Systems for Testing High-Speed Flywheels; Vapor-Compression Heat Pumps for Operation Aboard Spacecraft; Multistage Electrophoretic Separators; Recovering Residual Xenon Propellant for an Ion Propulsion System; Automated Solvent Seaming of Large Polyimide Membranes; Manufacturing Precise, Lightweight Paraboloidal Mirrors; Analysis of Membrane Lipids of Airborne Micro-Organisms; Noninvasive Diagnosis of Coronary Artery Disease Using 12-Lead High-Frequency Electrocardiograms; Dual-Laser-Pulse Ignition; Enhanced-Contrast Viewing of White-Hot Objects in Furnaces; Electrically Tunable Terahertz Quantum-Cascade Lasers; Few-Mode Whispering-Gallery-Mode Resonators; Conflict-Aware Scheduling Algorithm; and Real-Time Diagnosis of Faults Using a Bank of Kalman Filters.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1972

Suprathermal ions near the moon.

This paper reports some preliminary results from the suprathermal ion detectors deployed on the lunar surface by the Apollo 12 and 14 astronauts. Salient features of these results include: the possible observation of sporadic venting of gas from the lunar surface; evidence for a prompt ionization and acceleration mechanism operating in the lunar exosphere; and a preliminary measurement yielding approximately 1 month for the e-folding decay time for the heavier components of the exhaust gases from the Apollo lunar landing systems. Prominent phenomena from which these results have been derived are: (1) ion bursts of low to moderate energy seen in conjunction with lunar sunrise and sunset; (2) solar wind energy ions detected on the night side of the moon; (3) ions of several keV energy seen during the lunar sunset to midnight quadrant of the moon's orbit; (4) magnetosheath ion flux enhancements; (5) ion bursts generated by the lunar impact of the Apollo 13 Saturn upper stage; and (6) geomagnetic storm associated ion flux variations in the earth's magnetotail.

Freeman, J. W., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Low-energy-proton regime in the geomagnetic tail at lunar distance

The reported investigation makes use of data obtained with the aid of the suprathermal ion detector experiment (SIDE) that is being conducted with instruments which were placed on the moon during the Apollo lunar landings. The moon traverses the geomagnetic tail once each month. Observations of a new low-energy plasma regime in the tail are presented. It is pointed out that the new regime lies within the magnetosphere, but outside the plasma sheet. According to the mass analyzer data of SIDE, the observed low-energy fluxes could consist entirely of protons. However, there might be an admixture of ions of greater mass.

Hills, H. K.↗
NASA NTRS1976

A two-gas model of the lunar terminator exosphere

Lunar exospheric ions were accelerated by the solar-wind electric field into the Suprathermal Ion-Detector Experiment (SIDE), which was deployed on the lunar surface during the Apollo missions. Analysis of simultaneous mass and energy spectra from the SIDE indicates that the dominant component of the neutral exosphere at the lunar surface is a gas with mass on the order of 20 amu/q (consistent with Ne-20). The SIDE mass spectra also indicate the presence of gas with a mass of the order of 40 amu/q (consistent with Ar-40). By modeling the lunar exosphere as two exponentially height-distributed gases (Ne-20 and Ar-40), a good fit to the SIDE ion energy spectra can be achieved. The data indicate a surface concentration (n) of the order of 100,000 per cu cm for Ne-20 and 10,000 per cu cm for Ar-40 at a solar zenith angle of about 60 deg. The observed magnitudes of n for neon are consistent with the assumption that the solar wind is the only source of the neon.

Benson, J. L.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Stair-Step Particle Flux Spectra on the Lunar Surface: Evidence for Nonmonotonic Potentials?

We present examples of unusual "stair‐step" differential flux spectra observed by the Apollo 14 Suprathermal Ion Detector Experiment on the lunar dayside surface in Earth's magnetotail. These spectra exhibit a relatively constant differential flux below some cutoff energy and then drop off precipitously, by about an order of magnitude or more, at higher energies. We propose that these spectra result from photoions accelerated on the lunar dayside by nonmonotonic potentials (i.e.,potentials that do not decay to zero monotonically) and present a model for the expected differential flux. The energy of the cutoff and the magnitude of the differential flux are related to the properties of the local space environment and are consistent with the observed flux spectra. If this interpretation is correct, these surface‐based ion observations provide a unique perspective that both complements and enhances the conclusions obtained by remote‐sensing orbiter observations on the Moon's exospheric and electrostatic properties.

Stair-step↗
NASA NTRS1972

Apollo 15 surface science summary.

The Apollo 15 mission was the fourth manned lunar landing and the northernmost location yet visited. The landing site on the southeastern edge of the Imbrium Basin afforded the opportunity of studying several unique lunar features, the Apennine Mountains, Hadley Rille, and the Imbrium Basin fill. Detailed geological study of the data returned from the mission provided new insight into the structure and history of the Basin. A third Apollo Lunar Surface Experiment Package was deployed during the mission containing seven experiments: Passive Seismometer (PSE), Heat Flow (HFE), Surface Magnetometer (LSM), Suprathermal Ion Detector (SIDE), Cold Cathode Gauge (CCGE), Solar Wind Spectrometer (SWS), and a Dust Detector. We have been able to triangulate on the sources of moonquakes and to observe simultaneous nighttime and daytime changes in the moon's magnetic field, solar wind flux, and the neutral and ionized components of the moon's tenuous atmosphere.

Beattie, D. A.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Design, fabrication, assembly and delivery of a laboratory prototype of a residual gas analyzer

The design, development, and testing of a wide mass range residual gas analyzer which will be one component of an integrated real time contamination monitor system are described. The instrument has been developed and tested to the laboratory prototype phase, demonstrating the performance that can be expected from a flight instrument of similar design. The instrument's analyzer is of the quadrupole type and a cold cathode ion source is employed as the ionizer. The associated electronics supply all necessary operating and mass sweep voltages for the ionizer, analyzer and electron multiplier ion detector. The instrument features a very fast linear electrometer with automatic range changing. The full mass range of 2 to 300 amu is automatically and repetitively scanned every sixty seconds and suitable telemetry outputs are provided for intensity and mass identification as well as a digital identification of the electrometer range.

Kreisman, W. S.↗
NASA NTRS1973

Electric potential of the moon in the solar wind.

Acceleration and detection of the lunar thermal ionosphere in the presence of the lunar electric field yields a value of at least +10 V for the lunar electric potential for solar zenith angles between approximately 20 and 45 deg and in the magnetosheath or solar wind. An enhanced positive ion flux is observed with the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package Suprathermal Ion Detector Experiment when a preacceleration voltage attains certain values. This enhancement is greater when the moon is in the solar wind as opposed to the magnetosheath.

Freeman, J. W., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1973

Magnetospheric plasma motion during a sudden commencement.

A sudden commencement occurred at 2348 UT on Feb. 15, 1967, when the ATS-1 satellite was about 2 hr past local noon at a geocentric distance of 6.6 earth radii. Plasma was observed by the Suprathermal Ion Detector first to flow in the antisolar direction, as expected, but then to flow westward, for about 2 min, at about 50 km/sec. Analysis of ground magnetograms suggests that the surprising westward flow, which must have involved an electric field of about 10 mV/m at 6.6 earth radii, resulted from the ionosphere's reaction to the sudden commencement. Beginning about 2 min before the start of the westward flow at ATS-1, ground magnetometers near the foot of the ATS-1 field line typically recorded magnetic-field deflections of about 70 gamma, to the northeast. Taking the ground observations, assuming a height-integrated Hall conductivity of 1 mho, and a standoff distance of 7.2 earth radii inferred from Explorer 33 solar-wind data, a magnetospheric electric field is derived which agrees in magnitude and direction with that required to produce the observed flow at ATS-1.

Lin, C.-A.↗
NASA NTRS1973

Lunar ion flux and energy

The dynamics of the lunar ionosphere and resulting flux of lunar ions to the lunar surface are reviewed. In the Lunar rest frame, ions formed from the neutral lunar atmosphere are accelerated by the interplanetary electric and magnetic fields. The trajectories of heavier ions are primarily along the electric field; the ion flux is in a direction perpendicular to the solar wind flow, correlated to the orientation of the interplanetary magnetic field, and impacts the surface with energies of tens of electron volts to a few keV. Thus we predict a relatively energetic (compared to thermal energies), highly directional, lunar ion flux but with the possibility that light ions such as hydrogen can execute orbits that return them to portions of the lunar surface not directly exposed to the solar wind. The effects of surface electric and magnetic fields are discussed, as is the ion energy spectrum. We calculate the trapping of atmospheric ions which impact the surface and from this the density of neutral Ar 40 in the lunar atmosphere. We show that using the acceleration model, the lunar atmosphere total neutral number density can be calculated from ion detector data.

Manka, R. H.↗