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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 109 records · Page 6
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NASA NTRS1994

(abstract) MEASURE-Jupiter: Low Cost Missions to Explore Jupiter in the Post-Galileo Era

MEASURE-Jupiter is a new mission concept for the exploration of giant planets, with initial application to Jupiter. By flying sets of lightweight spacecraft with highly focused measurement objectives, it is designed to break the apparent impass in giant planet exploration beyond Cassini. The MEASURE-Jupiter concept is characterized by: 1) intensive exploration of a giant planet system, 2) multiple small missions flown in focused waves using spacecraft costing $100M to $200M, and 3) mission sets launched every 2 to 3 years. Why Jupiter? Jupiter is the most complex planetary system in the Solar System with many scientifically intriguing bodies and phenomena to explore. The Galileo mission will scratch the surface of the exploration of Jupiter, posing many questions for the MEASURE-Jupiter missions to address. Jupiter is also the easiest planet in the Outer Solar System to reach, making possible flight times of 2 years and total mission durations of 3 years or less. Concept design studies have uncovered a number of scientifically rewarding, simple, low-cost mission options. These options have the additional attraction of being able to launch on 2-year trajectories to Jupiter with low-cost Delta II expendable launch vehicles. A partial list of mission concepts studied to date include: Io Very Close Flyby, Jupiter Close Polar Pass, Mini-Orbiters, and Galilean Satellite Penetrators. Key to the realization of the MEASURE-Jupiter missions is the judicious use of the new low power consuming advanced technology and applicable systems from the Pluto Fast Flyby mission spacecraft design. Foremost of the new technologies planned for inclusion are the elements of hybrid solar array/battery power systems which make it possible to perform the identified missions without the need for Radioactive Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs). This relieves the mission design of the attendant programmatic complexities, cost, and constraints attendant with the use of RTGs.

MEASURE-Jupiter Jupiter Pluto Fast Flyby low cost ↗
NASA NTRS1973

Ionic migration and weathering in frozen Antarctic soils

Soils of continental Antarctica are forming in one of the most severe terrestrial environments. Continuously low temperatures and the scarcity of water in the liquid state result in the development of desert-type soils. In an earlier experiment to determine the degree to which radioactive Na(Cl-36) would migrate from a shallow point source in permafrost, movement was observed. To confirm this result, a similar experiment involving (Na-22)Cl was conducted. Significantly less movement of the Na-22 ion was observed. Ionic movement in the unfrozen interfacial films at mineral surfaces in frozen ground is held to be important in chemical weathering in Antarctic soils.

Ugolini, F. C.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Hydrogen transport in iron and steel

The permeabilities of protium, deuterium, and tritium in foil specimens of Marz grade iron, 4130 steel, Armco iron, HP-9-4-20, and T-1 steels were studied at hydrogen pressures between 0.02 and 0.5 MPa over the temperature range 260-700 K. The permeability was measured by a pressure-rise method, deuterium counting with a detector, and radioactivity counting. Good agreement is found between the measurement techniques used. It is shown that the permeabilities of protium, deuterium, and tritium in iron and T-1 steel at temperatures as low as 260 K are in good agreement with the equation proposed by Gonzalez (1967). However, the permeabilities of HP-9-4-20 and 4130 steel to hydrogen are typically lower than predicted. The isotope effect on hydrogen permeability of HP-9-4-20, 4130 and T-1 steels, and high-purity iron can be estimated by an inverse square root of mass correction.

Louthan, M. R., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Doing photons with MERLIN 2 at Oroville

A very large n-type high-purity Ge-semiconductor detector has recently been installed in the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory's underground low-background facility at Oroville. The detector (named MERLIN II) is mounted in a low-activity cryostat and has a rated 'efficiency' of about 115 percent -- nearly 4 times higher than our original MERLIN detector, which was used extensively to measure the minute amounts of radioactivity in samples from the LDEF satellite. We discuss gamma-spectrometric analyses with MERLIN II on some of the same LDEF samples, providing direct evidence for improvement in performance achieved with the larger detector.

Smith, Alan R.↗
NASA NTRS2009

Low-Pressure, Field-Ionizing Mass Spectrometer

A small mass spectrometer utilizing a miniature field ionization source is now undergoing development. It is designed for use in a variety of applications in which there are requirements for a lightweight, low-power-consumption instrument that can analyze the masses of a wide variety of molecules and ions. The device can operate without need for a high-vacuum, carrier-gas feed radioactive ionizing source, or thermal ionizer. This mass spectrometer can operate either in the natural vacuum of outer space or on Earth at any ambient pressure below 50 torr (below about 6.7 kPa) - a partial vacuum that can easily be reached by use of a small sampling pump. This mass spectrometer also has a large dynamic range - from singly charged small gas ions to deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) fragments larger than 104 atomic mass units - with sensitivity adequate for detecting some molecules and ions at relative abundances of less than one part per billion. This instrument (see figure) includes a field ionizer integrated with a rotating-field mass spectrometer (RFMS). The field ionizer effects ionization of a type characterized as "soft" in the art because it does not fragment molecules or initiate avalanche arcing. What makes the "soft" ionization mode possible is that the distance between the ionizing electrodes is less than mean free path for ions at the maximum anticipated operating pressure, so that the ionizer always operates on the non-breakdown side of the applicable Paschen curve (a standard plot of breakdown potential on the ordinate and pressure electrode separation on the abscissa). The field ionizer in this instrument is fabricated by micromachining a submicron-thick membrane out of an electrically nonconductive substrate, coating the membrane on both sides to form electrodes, then micromachining small holes through the electrodes and membrane. Because of the submicron electrode separation, even a potential of only 1 V applied between the electrodes gives rise to an electric field with a strength of in excess of a megavolt per meter strong enough to ionize any gas molecules passing through the holes. An accelerator grid and an electrostatic deflector focus the ions from the field ionizer into the rotating-field cell of the RFMS. The potentials applied to the electrodes of the cell to generate the rotating electric field typically range from 1 to 13 V. The ions travel in well-defined helices within this cell, after which they are collected in a Faraday cup. The mass of most of the molecules reaching the Faraday cup decreases with increasing frequency of rotation of the electric field in the cell. Therefore, the frequency of rotation of the electric field is made to vary in order to scan through a desired range of ion masses: For example, lightweight gas molecules are scanned at frequencies in the megahertz range, while DNA and other large organic molecules are scanned at kilohertz frequencies.

Hartley, Frank↗
NASA NTRS1984

Multiple parent bodies of ordinary chondrites

Thermal histories of chondrite parent bodies are calculated from an initial state with material in a powder-like form, taking into account the effect of consolidation state on thermal conductivity. The very low thermal conductivity of the starting materials makes it possible for a small body with a radius of less than 100 km to be heated by several hundred degrees even if long-lived radioactive elements in chondritic abundances are the only source of heat. The maximum temperature is determined primarily by the temperature at which sintering of the constituent materials occurs. The thermal state of the interior of a chondrite parent body after sintering has begun is nearly isothermal. Near the surface, however, where the material is unconsolidated and the thermal conductivity is much lower, the thermal gradient is quite large. This result contradicts the conventional 'onion-shell' model of chondrite parent bodies. But because the internal temperature is almost constant through the whole body, it supports a 'multiple-parent bodies' model, according to which each petrologic type of chondrite comes from a different parent body.

Yomogida, K.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Beta decay and the origin of biologial chirality - New experimental results

The hypothetical connection developed by Vester and Ulbricht (1959), between the handedness of beta particles in radioactive decay and the (L) sign of biologial chirality is investigated in a radiolysis experiment. The experiment measured the predicted asymmetry in the formation triplet or 'ortho-' positronium (oPs) in amino acid enantiomers by low energy positrons under conditions of helicity reversal. The positrons were focused on amino acid powder samples. By measuring the time between positron arrival and emission of gamma rays, long-lived oPs were separated from other species. It is found that the asymmetry in leucine (0.8 x 10 to the -4th) is consistent with the theoretical prediction of 10 to the -6th. Neither the experimental limits nor the theoretical estimates are found to rule out a mechanism like that described by Vester and Ulbricht as the cause of the sign of the observed chiral polarization.

Van House, J.↗
NASA NTRS2003

How Can The SN-GRB Time Delay Be Measured?

The connection between SNe and GRBs, launched by SN 1998bw / GRB 980425 and clinched by SN 2003dh / GRB 030329-with the two GRBs differing by a factor of approximately 50000 in luminosity-so far suggests a rough upper limit of approximately 1-2 days for the delay between SN and GRB. Only four SNe have had nonnegligible coverage in close coincidence with the initial explosion, near the W shock breakout: two Qpe II, and two Type IC, SN 1999ex and SN 1998bw. For the latter, only a hint of the minimum between the UV maximum and the radioactivity bump served to help constrain the interval between SN and GRB. Swift GRB alerts may provide the opportunity to study many SNe through the UV breakout phase: GRB 980425 look dikes -apparently nearby, low- luminosity, soft-spectrum, long-lag GRBs-accounted for half of BATSE bursts near threshold, and may dominate the Swift yield near threshold, since it has sensitivity to lower energies than did BATSE. The SN to GRB delay timescale should be better constrained by prompt UV/optical observations alerted by these bursts. Definitive delay measurements may be obtained if long-lag bursters are truly nearby: The SNe/GRBs could emit gravitational radiation detectable by LIGO-II if robust non-axisymmetric bar instabilities develop during core collapse, and/or neutrino emission may be detectable as suggested by Meszaros et al.

Norris, J. P.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Phosphate (U-Th)/He Thermochronology of Apollo 14 Melt Breccia 14311

Our ability to confidently characterize the impact history of the inner solar system is limited by discrepancies in radiometric dates and age interpretations for lunar rocks, impact melts, and recovered meteorites. It is therefore important to explore different thermally sensitive radiometric systems to unravel the timing and extent of the long term impact flux. Low-temperature thermochronology of lunar samples has the potential to provide more complementary geochronological datasets and further test dynamical models related to the evolution of the inner solar system (e.g., [1]). (U-Th)/He dating is based on the production of 4He atoms by radioactive alpha decay of U and Th (and to a lesser extent, Sm) in a crystal and the thermally activated volumetric diffusion of those 4He nuclides. At high temperatures, the crystal is an open system from which 4He can escape; at lower temperatures, 4He may be retained. This retention temperature depends on factors such as crystal structure and volume fraction of radiation damage in the crystal (e.g., [2, 3]), but is significantly lower for phosphate minerals compared to the diffusion of the radiogenic daughter products in other widely used chronometric systems (e.g., ~75°C in terrestrial apatite (U-Th)/He vs. ~500°C in apatite U-Th-Pb vs. ~900°C in zircon U-Th-Pb chronometry). Phosphate (U-Th)/He dating has been used to decipher peak temperatures and cooling rates related to terrestrial impact events (e.g., [4]). Pairing a low-temperature thermochronometer with higher-temperature approaches (i.e., a combined 207Pb-206Pb and (U-Th)/He approach), can therefore resolve multiple impact ages within a given sample or even grain. However, despite its potential, phosphate (U-Th)/He dating has not been reported on any lunar samples. Here we present the first lunar phosphate (U-Th)/He thermochronology on an Apollo 14 impact melt-breccia.

C A Diaz↗
NASA NTRS1991

Modeling of life limiting phenomena in the discharge chamber of an electron bombardment ion thruster

An experimental facility to study the low energy sputtering of metal surfaces with ions produced by an ion gun is described. The energy of the ions ranged from 10 to 500 eV. Cesium ions with energies from 100 to 500 eV were used initially to characterize the operation of the ion gun. Next, argon and xenon ions were used to measure the sputtering yields of cobalt (Co), Cadmium (Cd), and Chromium (Cr) at an operating temperature of 2x10(exp -5) Torr. The ion current ranged from 0.0135 micro-A at 500 eV. The targets were electroplated on a copper substrate. The surface density of the electroplated material was approx. 50 micro-g/sq cm. The sputtered atoms were collected on an aluminum foil surrounding the target. Radioactive tracers were used to measure the sputtering yields. The sputtering yields of Cr were found to be much higher than those of Co and Cd. The yields of Co and Cd were comparable, with Co providing the higher yields. Co and Cd targets were observed to sputter at energies as low as 10 eV for both argon and xenon ions. The Cr yields could not be measured below 20 eV for argon ions and 15 eV for xenon ions. On a linear scale the yield energy curves near the threshold energies exhibit a concave nature.

Handoo, Arvind K.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Charge transfer efficiency measurements at low signal levels on STIS/SOHO TK1024 CCD's

Charge transfer efficiency (CTE) test methods are reviewed, and the results and conclusions of the tests are given. The test methods have been utilized to describe the CTE characteristics of the Tektronix 1024 by 1024 CCD to optimize low dark current, low readout noise, and high CTE at low signal levels. CTE modelling is described, and three test methods are set forth and compared. The Fe-55 X-ray response method utilizes the response of a CCD to X-ray photons from the radioactive source Fe-55. The extended pixel edge response method employs the measurement of the charge lost to successive pixels by a known initial signal as it is shifted through the array. The charge injection method consists of charge injection through the output amplifier reset transistor. These measurements were performed on several devices with known CTEs. The CTEs are found to be in agreement for the three methods, making application and test requirements the principal criteria for their use.

Orbock, J. D.↗
NASA NTRS1978

The Lixiscope: a Pocket-size X-ray Imaging System

A Low Intensity X ray Imaging device with the acronym LIXISCOPE is described. The Lixiscope has a small format and is powered only by a 2.7V battery. The high inherent gain of the Lixiscope permits the use of radioactive sources in lieu of X-ray machines in some fluoroscopic applications. In this mode of operation the complete X ray imaging system is truly portable and pocket-sized.

Yin, L. I.↗
NASA NTRS1993

The chondrite Mihonoseki: New observed fall

On 10 Dec. 1992, 21:00 hours Japanese standard time, a stone weighing 6.385kg, struck a two-story house in Mihonoseki-machi, Yatsuka-gun, Shimane-ken, Japan, 35 deg 34.1 min N, 133 deg 13.2 min E. Through petrographical and mineralogical examination and rare gas analysis, the meteorite was classified as an L6 chondrite. The preatmospheric chondrite is rather small in size (Ne-22/Ne-21 = 1.180 and extremely low Co-60 activity), and shocked features are not distinct. Cosmic-ray exposure ages obtained from He-3, Ne-21, and Ar-38 are 61 m.y., and K-40/Ar-40 age is 4.41 b.y. Measurements of cosmogenic radioactive nuclides and chemical analyses are now proceeding.

Shima, Masako↗
NASA NTRS1997

Implications of the broad Al-26 1809 keV line observed by GRIS

The astrophysical implications of the large width of the 1809 keV gamma ray line from the decay of radioactive Al-26, recently observed with the gamma ray imaging spectrometer (GRIS), are discussed. While there may be no apparent single mechanism that can explain the observed broadening, high speed dust grains, extremely hot superbubbles and a large, low density gaseous halo were identified in the Galactic center region as the possible origins. The implications of these observations on the hot gas content in the interstellar medium are discussed.

Chen, Wan↗
NASA NTRS1997

Planetary Geophysics and Tectonics

Research supported by grant NAGW-1928 has addressed a variety of problems related to planetary evolution. One important focus has been on questions related to the role of chemical buoyancy in planetary evolution with application to both Venus and the Moon. We have developed a model for the evolution of the Moon (Hess and Parmentier, 1995) in which dense, highly radioactive, late stage magma ocean cumulates sink forming a core. This core heats the overlying, chemically layered mantle giving rise to a heated, chemically well-mixed layer that thickens with time. This Mixed layer eventually becomes hot enough and thick enough that its top begins to melt at a pressure low enough that melt is buoyant, thus creating mare basalts from a high pressure source of the correct composition and at an appropriate time in lunar evolution. In work completed during the last year, numerical experiments on convection in a chemically stably stratified fluid layer heated from below have been completed. These results show us how to calculate the evolution of a mixed layer in the Moon, depending on the heat production in the ilmenite- cumulate core and the chemical stratification of the overlying mantle. Chemical stratification of the mantle after its initial differentiation is would trap heat in the deep interior and prevent the rapid rise of plumes with accompanying volcanism. This trapping of heat in the interior can explain the thickness of the lunar lithosphere as a function of time as well as the magmatic evolution. We show that heat transported to the base of the lithosphere at a rate determined by current estimates of radioactivity in the Moon would not satisfy constraints on elastic lithosphere thickness from tectonic feature associated with basin loading. Trapping heat at depth by a chemically stratified mantle may also explain the absence of global compressional features on the surface that previous models predict for an initially hot lunar interior. For Venus, we developed a model in which the chemical buoyancy of crust and a depleted mantle layer stabilizes the lithosphere for long periods of time and provides a mechanism of episodic planetary evolution (Parmentier and Hess, 1992). Continued thickening of a residual depleted mantle layer eventually suppresses pressure release melting and the creation of depleted mantle. Continued cooling then allows the lithosphere to become heavier than the underlying hotter, undepleted mantle. This repeated instability can occur on time scales appropriate for episodic global resurfacing on Venus. We have also examined the role of the gabbro-eclogite phase transformation on crust and lithosphere stability and as a mechanism of crustal recycling in the absence of plate tectonics. Our work thus far concentrates on the scale of instability that would occur due to cooling or crustal thickening associated with horizontal shortening. Whether repeated overturn can explain the evolution of Venus depends in part on whether sufficient heat transfer can occur between overturns and on constraints provided by understanding observed surface features and evolution.

Parmentier, E. M.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Co/Ni Ratio Between Is Approximately 0.35 - 8.0 GeV/nucleon from the TIGER-2001 Flight

The Trans-Iron Galactic Element Recorder (TIGER) was launched in December 2001 and 2003 from McMurdo, Antarctica and was designed to observe elements ranging from 14 < Z < 40 over an extended energy range. Observations of radioactive isotopes produced during explosive nucleosynthesis such as Ni-59 that decay only through electron capture provide important constraints on the delay between nucleosynthesis and the acceleration of galactic cosmic rays (GCRs). The isotopes of Co and Ni at low energies, in particular, the observations of the Ni-59 and Co-59 from the Cosmic Ray Isotope Spectrometer (CRIS) on the Advanced Composition Explorer, indicate a significant time delay (greater than 7.6 x 10^4 yr) between GCR nucleosynthesis and acceleration. While TIGER is not able to resolve isotopes, observations of the elemental abundances of Co and Ni at high energies further constrain models for the acceleration and propagation of GCRs. The 2001 & 2003 flights of TIGER lasted a total of approx. 50 days and collected sufficient statistics to study the Co/Ni elemental ratio over a wide range in energies. We present the elemental ratio of Co/Ni in galactic cosmic rays between approx. 0.8- 5.0 GeV/nucleon and compare these results with previous measurements and models for cosmic-ray propagation.

deNolfo, G. A.↗