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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 1,261 records · Page 70
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2009

Late Reduction Textures in Almahata Sitta Ureilite

The Almahata Sitta ureilite, derived from asteroid 2008 TC3, consists of many individual fragments recovered from the Nubian dessert strewn field [1]. Like most ureilites, it contains abundant carbon and exhibits examples of disequilibrium textures that record a late reduction event accompanied by rapid cooling (tens of degC/h) from high temperatures (1150-1300 C). Variations in Fe/Mg of silicate minerals are accompanied by variations in Fe/Mn, indicating loss of Fe into metal [2]. In coarser-grained fragments of Almahata Sitta, olivine exhibits irregular high mg# rims in contact with networks of interstitial metal 5- 20 microns in typical thickness. This is a common ureilite texture thought to be driven by the reaction of graphite to a CO gas phase and the concurrent reduction of FeO in olivine to Fe metal, with excess silica going primarily into pyroxene (2MgFeSiO4 + C approaches MgSiO4 + MgSiO3 + 2Fe + CO) [3, see also 4,5,6]. Other fragments of Almahata Sitta exhibit anomalous textures such as fine grain size, high porosity, and abundant graphite. Within these fragments pyroxene locally exhibits high-mg# rims in contact with metal and a discreet silica phase, suggesting that the reduction mechanism MgFeSi2O6 + C approaches MgSiO3 + Fe + SiO2 + CO. Metals in Almahata Sitta are particularly unaltered in comparison to ureilite finds. Variations in minor and trace element composition of this metal might partly result from localized dilution as iron is supplied by reduction of silicates.

Herrin, J. S.↗
NASA NTRS2009

Acute Hemodynamic Effects of the Braslet-M Device on the International Space Station

The Braslet-M occlusion device is prescribed for cosmonauts as a countermeasure for early phases of spaceflight to temporarily alleviate symptoms associated with the cephalad fluid shift. Using a multipurpose ultrasound (US) device onboard, we assessed the acute hemodynamic effects of the Bracelet-M device on a long duration International Space Station (ISS) crewmember. Methods A combination of just-in-time training and real-time remote expert assistance was used to conduct the imaging procedures. An HDI-5000 imager (Philips, Bothell, WA) was used, provided by the ISS Human Research Facility. Superficial femoral artery (SFA), femoral vein (FV) flow spectra were obtained at mid-thigh level. Left ventricle was imaged through the apical 4-chamber view, with Color M-Mode to measure propagation velocity (V (p)). After 10 minutes of Bracelet-M use, data collection was repeated. All data were transmitted in DICOM format to ground for analysis. Results With Braslet-M, cardiac V(p) slope decreased (56ms to 42ms). A stagnation signature in the FV was seen suggesting impeded flow (rouleaux formation, too-low-to-measure velocity, and increase in diameter). Quadri-phasic flow in SFA was seen both before and after Braslet-M application. Velocities in the SFA decreased with Braslet-M (65cm/sec to 52cm/sec) and so did the time velocity integrals (16.97 to 12.4); the flow pattern spoke of resistivity increase in the vascular bed. Conclusion In the long duration ISS crewmember we observed effects of lower extremity venous occlusion through both central and peripheral indicators. A part of circulating volume transferred to peripheral potential vascular space. Impediment to venous outflow was demonstrated objectively, with a commensurate change in the flow pattern of the main feeding artery. Central volume reduction caused lower V(p). Additional studies are warranted to determine the time course of the changes and the dynamics in interstitial fluid sequestration, as well as the safe levels and duration of the compression forces.

Hamilton, Douglas R.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Sm-Nd Isotopic Studies of Two Nakhlites, NWA 5790 and Nakhla

NWA 5790 is a Martian meteorite recently found in the Mauritania part of the Saharan desert and is classified as a nakhlite, containing a small amount of interstitial plagioclase. Unlike other Martian meteorites ( e.g., shergottites), nakhlites have been only moderately shocked and their original igneous textures are still well-preserved. In this report, we present Sm-Nd isotopic data for NWA 5790 and Nakhla, a rare "fall" nakhlite, correlate their ages with those of other nakhlites and discuss their petrogenesis.

C.-Y. Shih↗
NASA NTRS2007

Hydrogen Peroxide Concentrator

A relatively simple and economical process and apparatus for concentrating hydrogen peroxide from aqueous solution at the point of use have been invented. The heart of the apparatus is a vessel comprising an outer shell containing tubular membranes made of a polymer that is significantly more permeable by water than by hydrogen peroxide. The aqueous solution of hydrogen peroxide to be concentrated is fed through the interstitial spaces between the tubular membranes. An initially dry sweep gas is pumped through the interiors of the tubular membranes. Water diffuses through the membranes and is carried away as water vapor mixed into the sweep gas. Because of the removal of water, the hydrogen peroxide solution flowing from the vessel at the outlet end is more concentrated than that fed into the vessel at the inlet end. The sweep gas can be air, nitrogen, or any other gas that can be conveniently supplied in dry form and does not react chemically with hydrogen peroxide.

Parrish, Clyde F.↗
NASA NTRS2011

A Review of the Experimental and Modeling Development of a Water Phase Change Heat Exchanger for Future Exploration Support Vehicles

Water affords manifold benefits for human space exploration. Its properties make it useful for the storage of thermal energy as a Phase Change Material (PCM) in thermal control systems, in radiation shielding against Solar Particle Events (SPE) for the protection of crew members, and it is indisputably necessary for human life support. This paper envisions a single application for water which addresses these benefits for future exploration support vehicles and it describes recent experimental and modeling work that has been performed in order to arrive at a description of the thermal behavior of such a system. Experimental units have been developed and tested which permit the evaluation of the many parameters of design for such a system with emphasis on the latent energy content, temperature rise, mass, and interstitial material geometry. The experimental results are used to develop a robust and well correlated model which is intended to guide future design efforts toward the multi-purposed water PCM heat exchanger envisioned.

Cognata, Thomas↗
NASA NTRS2010

Braze Development of Graphite Fiber for Use in Phase Change Material Heat Sinks

Hamilton Sundstrand (HS), together with NASA Johnson Space Center, developed methods to metallurgically join graphite fiber to aluminum. The goal of the effort was to demonstrate improved thermal conductance, tensile strength and manufacturability compared to existing epoxy bonded techniques. These improvements have the potential to increase the performance and robustness of phase change material heat sinks that use graphite fibers as an interstitial material. Initial work focused on evaluating joining techniques from 4 suppliers, each consisting of a metallization step followed by brazing or soldering of one inch square blocks of Fibercore graphite fiber material to aluminum end sheets. Results matched the strength and thermal conductance of the epoxy bonded control samples, so two suppliers were down-selected for a second round of braze development. The second round of braze samples had up to a 300% increase in strength and up to a 132% increase in thermal conductance over the bonded samples. However, scalability and repeatability proved to be significant hurdles with the metallization approach. An alternative approach was pursued which used nickel and active braze allows to prepare the carbon fibers for joining with aluminum. This approach was repeatable and scalable with improved strength and thermal conductance when compared with epoxy bonding.

Quinn, Gregory↗
NASA NTRS2010

Nanoengineered thermal materials based on carbon nanotube array composites

A method for providing for thermal conduction using an array of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). An array of vertically oriented CNTs is grown on a substrate having high thermal conductivity, and interstitial regions between adjacent CNTs in the array are partly or wholly filled with a filler material having a high thermal conductivity so that at least one end of each CNT is exposed. The exposed end of each CNT is pressed against a surface of an object from which heat is to be removed. The CNT-filler composite adjacent to the substrate provides improved mechanical strength to anchor CNTs in place and also serves as a heat spreader to improve diffusion of heat flux from the smaller volume (CNTs) to a larger heat sink.

Li, Jun↗
NASA NTRS2002

Toxicity of Carbon Nanotubes in the Lungs of Mice 7 and 90 Days After Intratracheal Instillation

Single-walled carbon nanotubes have many potential applications in the electronic, computer, and aerospace industries. Because unprocessed nanotubes could become airborne and potentially reach the lungs, their pulmonary toxicity was investigated. The three products studied were made by different methods, and contained different types and amounts of residual catalytic metals. Mice were each intratracheally instilled once with 0,0.1 or 0.5 mg of nanotubes, a carbon black negative control, or a quartz positive control, and killed for histopathological study 7 d or 90 d after the treatment. All nanotube products induced epithelioid granulomas and, in some cases, interstitial inflammation in the animals of the 7 -d groups. These lesions persisted and were worse in the 90-d groups. We found that, if nanotubes reach the lung, they can be more toxic than quartz, which is considered a serious occupational health hazard in chronic inhalation exposures.

Lam, Chiu-Wing↗
NASA NTRS2011

Braze Development of Graphite Fiber for Use in Phase Change Material Heat Sinks

Hamilton Sundstrand (HS), together with NASA Johnson Space Center, developed methods to metallurgically join graphite fiber to aluminum. The goal of the effort was to demonstrate improved thermal conductance, tensile strength and manufacturability compared to existing epoxy bonded techniques. These improvements have the potential to increase the performance and robustness of phase change material heat sinks that use graphite fibers as an interstitial material. Initial work focused on evaluating joining techniques from four suppliers, each consisting of a metallization step followed by brazing or soldering of one inch square blocks of Fibercore graphite fiber material to aluminum end sheets. Results matched the strength and thermal conductance of the epoxy bonded control samples, so two suppliers were down-selected for a second round of braze development. The second round of braze samples had up to a 300% increase in strength and up to a 132% increase in thermal conductance over the bonded samples. However, scalability and repeatability proved to be significant hurdles with the metallization approach. An alternative approach was pursued which used a nickel braze allow to prepare the carbon fibers for joining with aluminum. Initial results on sample blocks indicate that this approach should be repeatable and scalable with good strength and thermal conductance when compared with epoxy bonding.

Quinn, Gregory↗
NASA NTRS2011

Thermally Conductive Tape Based on Carbon Nanotube Arrays

To increase contact conductance between two mating surfaces, a conductive tape has been developed by growing dense arrays of carbon nanotubes (CNTs, graphite layers folded into cylinders) on both sides of a thermally conductive metallic foil. When the two mating surfaces are brought into contact with the conductive tape in between, the CNT arrays will adhere to the mating surface. The van der Waals force between the contacting tubes and the mating surface provides adhesion between the two mating surfaces. Even though the thermal contact conductance of a single tube-to-tube contact is small, the tremendous amount of CNTs on the surface leads to a very large overall contact conductance. Interface contact thermal resistance rises from the microroughness and the macroscopic non-planar quality of mating surfaces. When two surfaces come into contact with each other, the actual contact area may be much less than the total area of the surfaces. The real area of contact depends on the load, the surface roughness, and the elastic and inelastic properties of the surface. This issue is even more important at cryogenic temperatures, where materials become hard and brittle and vacuum is used, which prevents any gas conduction through the interstitial region. A typical approach to increase thermal contact conductance is to use thermally conducting epoxies or greases, which are not always compatible with vacuum conditions. In addition, the thermal conductivities of these compounds are often relatively low. The CNTs used in this approach can be metallic or semiconducting, depending on the folding angle and diameter. The electrical resistivity of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) has been reported. MWCNTs can pass a current density and remain stable at high temperatures in air. The thermal conductivity of a MWCNT at room temperature is measured to be approximately 3,000 W/m-K, which is much larger than that of diamond. At room temperature, the thermal conductance of a 0.3 sq cm array of CNTs was measured to be as high as 10 W/K. The high thermal conductivity and the nanoscale size make CNTs ideal as thermal interface materials. The CNT-based thermal tape can be used for the thermal management of microelectronic packages and electronic systems. It also can be integrated with current device technology and packaging. The material would allow for an efficient method to manage excess heat generation without requiring any additional power. Lastly, the CNT tape can be used to enhance thermal contact conductance across two mating surfaces on some NASA missions.

Kashani, Ali↗
NASA NTRS2006

Carbon-Nanotube-Carpet Heat-Transfer Pads

Microscopic thermal-contact pads that include carpet-like arrays of carbon nanotubes have been invented for dissipating heat generated in integrated circuits and similarly sized single electronic components. The need for these or other innovative thermal-contact pads arises because the requisite high thermal conductances cannot be realized by scaling conventional macroscopic thermal-contact pads down to microscopic sizes. Overcoming limitations of conventional thermal-contact materials and components, the carbon-nanotube thermal-contact pads offer the high thermal conductivities needed to accommodate the high local thermal power densities of modern electronic circuits, without need for large clamping pressures, extreme smoothness of surfaces in contact, or gap-filling materials (e.g., thermally conductive greases) to ensure adequate thermal contact. Moreover, unlike some conventional thermal-contact components, these pads are reusable. The figure depicts a typical pad according to the invention, in contact with a rough surface on an electronic component that is to be cooled. Through reversible bending and buckling of carbon nanotubes at asperities on the rough surface, the pad yields sufficiently, under relatively low contact pressure, that thermal contact is distributed to many locations on the surface to be cooled, including valleys where contact would not ordinarily occur in conventional clamping of rigid surfaces. Hence, the effective thermal-contact area is greater than that achievable through scaling down of a macroscopic thermal-contact pad. The extremely high longitudinal thermal conductivities of the carbon nanotubes are utilized to conduct heat away from potential hot spots on the surface to be cooled. The fibers protrude from a layer of a filler material (Cu, Ag, Au, or metal-particle- filled gels), which provides both mechanical support to maintain the carbon nanotubes in alignment and thermal conductivity to enhance the diffusion of concentrated heat from the nanotubes into the larger adjacent volume of a heat sink. The array of carbon nanotubes, the filler material, and the heat sink are parts of a unitary composite structure that is fabricated as follows: 1. Using techniques that have been reported previously, the array of substantially perpendicularly oriented carbon nanotubes is grown on a metal, silicon, or other suitable thermally conductive substrate that is intended to become the heat sink. 2. By means of chemical vapor deposition, physical vapor deposition, plasma deposition, ion sputtering, electrochemical deposition, or casting from a liquid phase, some or all of the interstitial volume between carbon nanotubes is filled with the aforementioned layer of mechanically supporting, thermally conductive material. 3. To cause the carbon nanotubes to protrude the desired length from the filler material, an outer layer of filler is removed by mechanical polishing, chemical mechanical polishing, wet chemical etching, electrochemical etching, or dry plasma etching.

Li, Jun↗
NASA NTRS2005

Apparatus for Testing Flat Specimens of Thermal Insulation

An apparatus has been developed to implement an improved method of testing flat-plate specimens of thermal-insulation materials for cryogenic application. The method includes testing under realistic use conditions that could include vacuum and mechanical loading at a pressure up to 70 psi (=0.48 MPa). The apparatus can accommodate a rigid or flexible specimen having thickness up to 1.25 in. (=3.2 cm) and diameters between 6 and 10 in. (about 15.2 and 25.4 cm, respectively). Typical test conditions include boundary temperatures between 77 K and 373 K and vacuum/interstitial gas filling at a pressure between 10(exp -6) torr (=1.3 x 10(exp -4) Pa) and 760 torr (atmospheric pressure =0.1 MPa). The interstitial gas could be N2, He, CO2, or any other suitable gas to which the insulation is expected to be exposed in use. Relative to prior apparatuses and testing methods, this apparatus and the testing method that it implements offer advantages of relative simplicity and ease of use. The basic principle of operation of the apparatus is that of boil-off calorimetry, using liquid nitrogen or any other suitable liquid that boils at a desired temperature below ambient temperature. Comparative rates of flow of heat through the thicknesses of the specimens (heat-leak rates) and apparent-thermal-conductivity values are obtained from tests of specimens. Absolute values of heat-leak rates and apparent thermal conductivities are computed from a combination of (1) the aforementioned comparative values and (2) calibration factors obtained by testing reference specimens of materials that have known thermal-insulation properties. The apparatus includes a full complement of temperature sensors, a vacuum pump and chamber, a monitoring and control system, and tools and fixtures that enable rapid and reliable installation and removal of specimens. A specimen is installed at the bottom of the vacuum chamber, and a cold-mass assembly that includes a tank is lowered into position above and around the specimen (see figure). A spring-based compensating fixture helps to ensure adequate thermal contact with possibly irregular specimen surfaces. For a high-compression test, the springs can be replaced with spacers. A flat circular load cell at the bottom of the chamber measures the compressive load on the specimen. Once the desired compressive-load, temperature, and vacuum/gas-filling conditions are established, testing begins. During a test, all measurements are recorded by use of a portable data-acquisition system and a computer. The total heat-leak rate is measured and calculated as the boil-off flow rate multiplied by the latent heat of vaporization. The parasitic heat leak (to the side of the specimen and to the top and side of the cold-mass tank) is reduced to a small fraction of the total heat leak by use of a combination of multilayer-insulation (MLI) shield rings, reflective film, a fiberglass/epoxy centering ring, and a bulk fill of aerogel beads. This combination eliminates the need for a cryogenic guard chamber used in a typical prior apparatus to reduce the parasitic heat leak.

Fesmire, James E.↗
NASA NTRS2004

NASA Tech Briefs, November 2004

Topics include: Multifunction Imaging and Spectroscopic Instrument; Position-Finding Instrument Built Around a Magnetometer; Improved Measurement of Dispersion in an Optical Fiber; Probe for Sampling of Interstitial Fluid From Bone; Neuropsychological Testing of Astronauts; Method of Calibration for a Large Cathetometer System; Four-Channel PC/104 MIL-STD-1553 Circuit Board; Improved Method of Locating Defects in Wiring Insulation; Strobe Traffic Lights Warn of Approaching Emergency Vehicles; Improved Timing Scheme for Spaceborne Precipitation Radar; Concept for Multiple-Access Free-Space Laser Communications; Variable Shadow Screens for Imaging Optical Devices; Verifying Diagnostic Software; Initial Processing of Infrared Spectral Data; Activity-Centric Approach to Distributed Programming; Controlling Distributed Planning; New Material for Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy; Treated Carbon Nanofibers for Storing Energy in Aqueous KOH; Advanced Infant Car Seat Would Increase Highway Safety; Development of Biomorphic Flyers; Second-Generation Six-Limbed Experimental Robot; Miniature Linear Actuator for Small Spacecraft; Process for Making Single-Domain Magnetite Crystals; A New Process for Fabricating Random Silicon Nanotips; Resin-Transfer-Molding of a Tool Face; Improved Phase-Mask Fabrication of Fiber Bragg Gratings; Tool for Insertion of a Fiber-Optic Terminus in a Connector; Nanofluidic Size-Exclusion Chromatograph; Lightweight, Low-CTE Tubes Made From Biaxially Oriented LCPs; Using Redundancy To Reduce Errors in Magnetometer Readings; Compact Instrument for Measuring Profile of a Light Beam; Multilayer Dielectric Transmissive Optical Phase Modulator; Second-Generation Multi-Angle Imaging Spectroradiometer; Real-Time Adaptive Color Segmentation by Neural Networks; Research and Development in Optical Communications; Tests of Multibeam Scintillation Mitigation on Laser Uplinks; and Spaceborne Infrared Atmospheric Sounder.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2011

Design Considerations for Fusible Heat Sink

Traditionally radiator designs are based off a passive or flow through design depending on vehicle requirements. For cyclical heat loads, a novel idea of combining a full flow through radiator to a phase change material is currently being investigated. The flow through radiator can be designed for an average heat load while the phase change material can be used as a source of supplemental heat rejections when vehicle heat loads go above the average load. Furthermore, by using water as the phase change material, harmful radiation protection can be provided to the crew. This paper discusses numerous trades conducted to understand the most optimal fusible heat sink design for a particular heat load. Trades include configuration concepts, amount of phase change needed for supplemental heat rejection, and the form of interstitial material needed for optimal performance. These trades were used to culminate to a fusible heat sink design. The paper will discuss design parameters taken into account to develop an engineering development unit.

Cognata, Thomas J.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Fog and Cloud Induced Aerosol Modification Observed by AERONET

Large fine mode (sub-micron radius) dominated aerosols in size distributions retrieved from AERONET have been observed after fog or low-altitude cloud dissipation events. These column-integrated size distributions have been obtained at several sites in many regions of the world, typically after evaporation of low altitude cloud such as stratocumulus or fog. Retrievals with cloud processed aerosol are sometimes bimodal in the accumulation mode with the larger size mode often approx.0.4 - 0.5 microns radius (volume distribution); the smaller mode typically approx.0.12 to aprrox.0.20 microns may be interstitial aerosol that were not modified by incorporation in droplets and/or aerosol that are less hygroscopic in nature. Bimodal accumulation mode size distributions have often been observed from in situ measurements of aerosols that have interacted with clouds, and AERONET size distribution retrievals made after dissipation of cloud or fog are in good agreement with particle sizes measured by in situ techniques for cloud-processed aerosols. Aerosols of this type and large size range (in lower concentrations) may also be formed by cloud processing in partly cloudy conditions and may contribute to the shoulder of larger size particles in the accumulation mode retrievals, especially in regions where sulfate and other soluble aerosol are a significant component of the total aerosol composition. Observed trends of increasing aerosol optical depth (AOD) as fine mode radius increased suggests higher AOD in the near cloud environment and therefore greater aerosol direct radiative forcing than typically obtained from remote sensing, due to bias towards sampling at low cloud fraction.

Eck, T. F.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Nanoengineered Thermal Materials Based on Carbon Nanotube Array Composites

State-of-the-art integrated circuits (ICs) for microprocessors routinely dissipate power densities on the order of 50 W/cm2. This large power is due to the localized heating of ICs operating at high frequencies and must be managed for future high-frequency microelectronic applications. As the size of components and devices for ICs and other appliances becomes smaller, it becomes more difficult to provide heat dissipation and transport for such components and devices. A thermal conductor for a macro-sized thermal conductor is generally inadequate for use with a microsized component or device, in part due to scaling problems. A method has been developed for providing for thermal conduction using an array of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). An array of vertically oriented CNTs is grown on a substrate having high thermal conductivity, and interstitial regions between adjacent CNTs in the array are partly or wholly filled with a filler material having a high thermal conductivity so that at least one end of each CNT is exposed. The exposed end of each CNT is pressed against a surface of an object from which heat is to be removed. The CNT-filler-composite adjacent to the substrate provides improved mechanical strength to anchor CNTs in place, and also serves as a heat spreader to improve diffusion of heat flux from the smaller volume (CNTs) to a larger heat sink.

Li, Jun↗
NASA NTRS2012

Mechanical Stress and Antioxidant Protection in the Retina of Hindlimb Suspended Rats

It has been postulated that hindlimb suspension (HS) causes a cephalad fluid shift in quadrupeds similar to that occurring to humans in microgravity. Therefore, HS may provide a suitable animal model in which to recapitulate the ocular changes observed in the human Visual Impairment and Intracranial Pressure (VIIP) syndrome. This work reports preliminary results from a tissue sharing project using 34 week-old Brown Norway rats. Two different experiments compared normal posture controls and HS rats for 2 weeks and rats exposed to HS for 2 weeks but allowed to recover in normal posture for 2 additional weeks. The effects of two nutritional countermeasures, green tea extract (GT) and plant polyphenol resveratrol (Rv), were also evaluated. Green tea contains the antioxidant epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). qPCR gene expression analysis of selected targets was performed on RNA from isolated retinas, and histologic analysis was done on one fixed eye per rat. The transcription factor early growth response protein 1 (Egr1) was upregulated almost 2-fold in HS retinas relative to controls (P = 0.059), and its expression returned to control levels after 2 weeks of recovery in normal posture (P = 0.023). HS-induced upregulation of Egr1 was attenuated (but not significantly) in retinas from rats fed an antioxidant rich (GT extract) diet. In rats fed the GT-enriched diet, antioxidant enzymes were induced, evidenced by the upregulation of the gene heme oxygenase 1 (Hmox1) (P = 0.042) and the gene superoxide dismutase 2 (Sod2) (P = 0.0001). Egr1 is a stretch-activated transcription factor, and the Egr1 mechanosensitive response to HS may have been caused by a change in the translaminal pressure and/or mechanical deformation of the eye globe. The observed histologic measurements of the various retinal layers in the HS rats were lower in value than those of the control animal (n = 1), however insufficient data were available for statistical analysis. Aquaporin 4, a water-selective channel involved in interstitial fluid homeostasis, showed an upregulated trend in HS retinas; however, these results are preliminary. Total retinal thickness increased significantly (P = 0.049) in HS rats fed a resveratrol enriched diet compared to HS rats on a normal diet. This change appeared to be reversed during the 2 weeks of recovery post HS, but no differences in retina thickness were observed between HS animals and HS recovered animals when both groups consumed a normal diet. The reversibility of the increase in retinal thickness induced by resveratrol during HS may therefore reflect an interaction between the stress provoked by HS and the cytoprotective mechanisms elicited by resveratrol

Glass, Aziza↗
NASA NTRS2013

Evidence for Extended Aqueous Alteration in CR Carbonaceous Chondrites

We are currently studying the chemical interrelationships between the main rockforming components of carbonaceous chondrites (hereafter CC), e.g. silicate chondrules, refractory inclusions and metal grains, and the surrounding meteorite matrices. It is thought that the fine-grained materials that form CC matrices are representing samples of relatively unprocessed protoplanetary disk materials [1-3]. In fact, modern non-destructive analytical techniques have shown that CC matrices host a large diversity of stellar grains from many distinguishable stellar sources [4]. Aqueous alteration has played a role in homogeneizing the isotopic content that allows the identification of presolar grains [5]. On the other hand, detailed analytical techniques have found that the aqueously-altered CR, CM and CI chondrite groups contain matrices in which the organic matter has experienced significant processing concomitant to the formation of clays and other minerals. In this sense, clays have been found to be directly associated with complex organics [6, 7]. CR chondrites are particularly relevant in this context as this chondrite group contains abundant metal grains in the interstitial matrix, and inside glassy silicate chondrules. It is important because CR are known for exhibiting a large complexity of organic compounds [8-10], and only metallic Fe is considered essential in Fischer-Tropsch catalysis of organics [11-13]. Therefore, CR chondrites can be considered primitive materials capable to provide clues on the role played by aqueous alteration in the chemical evolution of their parent asteroids.

Trigo-Rodriquez, J. M.↗