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At least 145 records · Page 8

Multicolor photometry of low-light-level phenomena from Skylab

A 10-color photoelectric polarimeter was used during Skylab missions SL-2 and SL-3 to measure sky brightness and polarization associated with zodiacal light, background starlight, and the spacecraft corona. A brief description is given of the instrument and observing routines, together with a listing of observations from Skylab and of coordinated observations from Pioneers 10 and 11 and from the ground. Initial results are presented on the spacecraft corona and on the distribution of brightness and polarization at 7100 A over the antisolar hemisphere.

Weinberg, J. L.↗

Ten-color Gegenschein-zodiacal light photometer

A ten-color Fabry photometer was used during Skylab missions SL-2 and SL-3 to measure sky brightness and polarization associated with zodiacal light, background starlight, F region airglow, and spacecraft corona. A brief description is given of the design, calibration, and performance of the instrument.

Sparrow, J. G.↗

Influence of auditory fatigue on masked speech intelligibility

Intelligibility of PB word lists embedded in simultaneous masking noise was evaluated before and after fatiguing-noise exposure, which was determined by observing the number of words correctly repeated during a shadowing task. Both the speech signal and the masking noise were filtered to a 2825-3185-Hz band. Masking-noise leves were varied from 0- to 90-dB SL. Fatigue was produced by a 1500-3000-Hz octave band of noise at 115 dB (re 20 micron-Pa) presented continuously for 5 min. The results of three experiments indicated that speed intelligibility was reduced when the speech was presented against a background of silence but that the fatiguing-noise exposure had no effect on intelligibility when the speech was made more intense and embedded in masking noise of 40-90-dB SL. These observations are interpreted by considering the recruitment produced by fatigue and masking noise.

Parker, D. E.↗

Ages of intermediate-age Magellanic Cloud star clusters

Ages of intermediate-age Large Magellanic Cloud star clusters have been estimated without locating the faint, unevolved portion of cluster main sequences. Six clusters with established color-magnitude diagrams were selected for study: SL 868, NGC 1783, NGC 1868, NGC 2121, NGC 2209, and NGC 2231. Since red giant photometry is more accurate than the necessarily fainter main-sequence photometry, the distributions of red giants on the cluster color-magnitude diagrams were compared to a grid of 33 stellar evolutionary tracks, evolved from the main sequence through core-helium exhaustion, spanning the expected mass and metallicity range for Magellanic Cloud cluster red giants. The time-dependent behavior of the luminosity of the model red giants was used to estimate cluster ages from the observed cluster red giant luminosities. Except for the possibility of SL 868 being an old globular cluster, all clusters studied were found to have ages less than 10 to the 9th yr. It is concluded that there is currently no substantial evidence for a major cluster population of large, populous clusters greater than 10 to the 9th yr old in the Large Magellanic Cloud.

Flower, P. J.↗

Data Requirement (DR) MA-03: Payload missions integration

Project management and payload integration requirements definition activities are reported. Mission peculiar equipment; systems integration; ground operations analysis and requirement definition; safety and quality assurance; and support systems development are examined for payloads planned for the following missions: EOM-1; SL-2; Sl-3 Astro-1; MSL-2; EASE/ACCESS; MPESS; and the middeck ADSF flight.

Source record↗

Space Station Mission Planning System (MPS) development study. Volume 1: Executive summary

The basic objective of the Space Station (SS) Mission Planning System (MPS) Development Study was to define a baseline Space Station mission plan and the associated hardware and software requirements for the system. A detailed definition of the Spacelab (SL) payload mission planning process and SL Mission Integration Planning System (MIPS) software was derived. A baseline concept was developed for performing SS manned base payload mission planning, and it was consistent with current Space Station design/operations concepts and philosophies. The SS MPS software requirements were defined. Also, requirements for new software include candidate programs for the application of artificial intelligence techniques to capture and make more effective use of mission planning expertise. A SS MPS Software Development Plan was developed which phases efforts for the development software to implement the SS mission planning concept.

Klus, W. J.↗

Life sciences, biotechnology, and microgravity

Growth hormone (GH) studies on rats flown aboard Spacelab 3 are discussed, and evidence for the direct effect of microgravity on cell function is reviewed. SL-3 rat GH cells were found to experience a secretory lesion (they contained more hormone per cell, but released less per cell relative to controls). Pituitary cell culture experiments on the STS-8 mission showed that GH cells did not subsequently release as much hormone as did control cells, indicating a secretory lesion. Changes in bone and muscle noted in SL-3 rats are related to GH cell findings.

Hymer, W. C.↗

Plasma diagnostics package. Volume 2: Spacelab 2 section, part A

This volume (2), which consists of two parts (A and B), of the Plasma Diagnostics Package (PDP) Final Science Report contains a summary of all of the data reduction and scientific analyses which were performed using PDP data obtained on STS-51F as a part of the Spacelab 2 (SL-2) payload. This work was performed during the period of launch, July 29, l985, through June 30, l988. During this period the primary data reduction effort consisted of processing summary plots of the data received by 12 of the 14 instruments located on the PDP and submitting these data to the National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC). The scientific analyses during the performance period consisted of follow-up studies of shuttle orbiter environment and orbiter/ionosphere interactions and various plasma particle and wave studies which dealt with data taken when the PDP was on the Remote Manipulator System (RMS) arm and when the PDP was in free flight. Of particular interest during the RMS operations and free flight were the orbiter wake studies and joint studies of beam/plasma interactions with the SL-2 Fast Pulse Electron Generator (FPEG) of the Vehicle Charging and Potential Investigation (VCAP). Internal reports, published papers and presentations which involve PDP/SL-2 data are listed in Sections 3 and 4. A PDP/SL-2 scientific results meeting was held at the University of Iowa on June 10, l986. This meeting was attended by most of the PDP and VCAP investigators and provided a forum for discussing and comparing the various results, particularly with regard to the PDP free flight.

Pickett, Jolene S.↗

Comparative functional ultrastructure of two hypersaline submerged cyanobacterial mats - Guerrero Negro, Baja California Sur, Mexico, and Solar Lake, Sinai, Egypt

The ultrastructure of the submerged microbial mat from the Solar Lake (SL), Egypt, was compared to that of samples from the Guerrero Negro (GN), Mexico, salt pans. The locations and distributions of the main organisms were determined light microscopy, and the corresponding ultrathin sections were examined under TEM; chemical microprofile analyses were carried out on the day of sampling for microscopic studies. Both communities were found to be dominated by Microleus chthonoplastes, although several morphological species found in the GN mat were absent from the SL mat, including the Tropica nigra and the 'big' Microleus chthonoplastes component. The chemical microprofiles of oxygen, sulfide, pH, and the oxygenic photosynthesis in the two mats were virtually identical. In both mats, the photic zone was restricted to the upper 800 microns of the mat, and oxygenic photosynthesis was detected down to 600 microns.

D'Amelio, Elisa D'antoni↗

Human factors issues in performing life science experiments in a 0-G environment

An overview of the environmental conditions within the Spacelab and the planned Space Station Freedom is presented. How this environment causes specific Human Factors problems and the nature of design solutions are described. The impact of these problems and solutions on the performance of life science activities onboard Spacelab (SL) and Space Station Freedom (SSF) is discussed. The first area highlighted is contamination. The permanence of SSF in contrast to the two-week mission of SL has significant impacts on crew and specimen protection requirements and, thus, resource utilization. These requirements, in turn impose restrictions on working volumes, scheduling, training, and scope of experimental procedures. A second area is microgravity. This means that all specimens, materials, and apparatus must be restrained and carefully controlled. Because so much of the scientific activity must occur within restricted enclosures (gloveboxes), the provisions for restraint and control are made more complex. The third topic is crewmember biomechanics and the problems of movement and task performance in microgravity. In addition to the need to stabilize the body for the performance of tasks, performance of very sensitive tasks such as dissection is difficult. The issue of space sickness and adaption is considered in this context.

Gonzalez, Wayne↗

Microgravity acceleration modeling for orbital systems

In view of the decisive importance of a disturbance-free environment on the Space Station, and on other orbital systems, for materials processing experiments, a theoretical and semi-experimental analysis of the acceleration environment to be expected on large orbiting spacecraft was undertaken. A unified model of such spacecraft cannot be established; therefore, a number of sub-models representing major components of typical large spacecraft must be investigated. In order to obtain experimental data of forces, a typical spacecraft - an engineering model of the Spacelab - was suspended on long ropes in a high-bay hangar, and equipped with a number of accelerometers. Active components on the Spacelab (fans, pumps, air conditioners, valves, levers) were operated, and astronautics moved boxes, drawers, sleds, and their own bodies. Generally speaking, the response of the Spacelab structure was very similar to the environment measured on Spacelabs SL-1, SL-2, and D-1. At frequencies in the broad range between 1 and about 100 Hz, acceleration peaks reached values of 10(exp -3) and 10(exp -2) g sub o, and even higher.

Knabe, Walter↗

Growth and properties of Hg-based quantum well structures and superlattices

An overview of the properties of HgTe-CdTe quantum well structures and superlattices (SL) is presented. These new quantum structures are candidates for use as new long wavelength infrared (LWIR) and very long wavelength infrared (VLWIR) detectors, as well as for other optoelectronic applications. Much has been learned within the past two years about the physics of such structures. The valence band offset has been determined to be approx. 350 meV, independent of temperature. The occurrence of electron and hole mobilities in excess of 10(exp 5)cm(exp 2)/V center dot s is now understood on the basis of SL band structure calculations. The in-plane and out-of-plane electron and hole effective masses have been measured and interpreted theoretically for HgTe-CdTe superlattices. Controlled substitutional doping of superlattices has recently been achieved at North Carolina State University (NCSU), and modulation-doped SLs have now been successfully grown and studied. Most recently, a dramatic lowering of the growth temperature of Hg-based quantum well structure and SLs (to approx. 100 C) has been achieved by means of photoassisted molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) at NCSU. A number of new devices have been fabricated from these doped multilayers.

Schetzina, J. F.↗

The Spacelab J mission

This paper describes Spacelab J (SL-J), its mission characteristics, features, parameters and configuration, the unique nature of the shared reimbursable cooperative effort with the National Space Development Agency (NASDA) of Japan and the evolution, content and objectives of the mission scientific experiment complement. The mission is planned for launch in 1991. This long module mission has 35 experiments from Japan as well as 9 investigations from the United States. The SL-J payload consists of two broad scientific disciplines which require the extended microgravity or cosmic ray environment: (1) materials science such as crystal growth, solidification processes, drop dynamics, free surface flows, gas dynamics, metallurgy and semiconductor technology; and (2) life science including cell development, human physiology, radiation-induced mutations, vestibular studies, embryo development, and medical technology. Through an international agreement with NASDA, NASA is preparing to fly the first Japanese manned, scientific, cooperative endeavor with the United States.

Cremin, J. W.↗

Genetic effects of HZE and cosmic radiation (L-9)

The purpose of our experiment is to detect mutations in Drosophila possibly induced by space radiation during the SL-J mission, so that we will be able to obtain basic information about 'the genetic (mutational) risk of space radiation' which can be used to estimate human risk of cancer induction by space flight. As an example of somatic mutation, we will analyze morphological changes in hair growing on the surface of the wing of an adult fly. A piece of wing consists of about 30 thousand wing cells and in the wild type Drosophila a long single piece of hair is growing on the surface of each wing cell. When Drosophila is exposed to radiation as its early stage of development, such as embryonic stage or larval (maggot) stage, some mutations will appear in the wing hair of the adult fly with a certain low frequency, depending on the radiation dose. Among the mutations, the most frequent one is a change in the number of hairs per cell, that is, usually three or more hairs are coming out from a single wing cell. In the actual SL-J flight, we will install thousands of Drosophila larvae (maggots) into the Space Shuttle Discovery and expose them to space radiation during the 7-day mission. Immediately after the re-entry to the ground, these larvae are expected to develop (emerge) into adult flies. Then the wings will be fixed by ethylalcohol and permanent samples will be prepared. Finally, we will analyze the wing samples microscopically in order to detect mutations.

Ikenaga, Mituo↗

Skylab: The First 40 Days

This video records the launch of unmanned Skylab-1 on May 14, 1973 and the major problems resulting from the loss of the meteoroid heat shield. Also shown is the fabrication of materials and the equipment used in the repair operation, followed by the installation of the parasol after the launch and docking of the manned SL-2 with the SL-1 workshop. The onboard sequences of daily work routines and some of the experiments are included.

AV Corporation↗

Coherent states for the relativistic harmonic oscillator

Recently we have obtained, on the basis of a group approach to quantization, a Bargmann-Fock-like realization of the Relativistic Harmonic Oscillator as well as a generalized Bargmann transform relating fock wave functions and a set of relativistic Hermite polynomials. Nevertheless, the relativistic creation and annihilation operators satisfy typical relativistic commutation relations of the Lie product (vector-z, vector-z(sup dagger)) approximately equals Energy (an SL(2,R) algebra). Here we find higher-order polarization operators on the SL(2,R) group, providing canonical creation and annihilation operators satisfying the Lie product (vector-a, vector-a(sup dagger)) = identity vector 1, the eigenstates of which are 'true' coherent states.

Aldaya, Victor↗

Effect of irradiance, sucrose, and CO2 concentration on the growth of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) in vitro

Growth measurements were taken of potato plantlets (Solanum tuberosum L.) cvs. Norland (NL), Denali (DN), and Kennebec (KN), grown in vitro. Studies were conducted in a growth chamber, with nodal explants grown for 21 days on Murashige and Skoog salts with either 0, 1, 2, or 3% sucrose and capped with loose-fitted Magenta 2-way caps that allowed approximately 2.25 air exchanges/hour. Plantlets were exposed to either 100 or 300 micro mol/sq m/s photosynthetic photon flux (PPF), and the growth chamber was maintained at either 400 or 4000 micro mol/mol CO2. Regardless of PPF, all cvs. that were grown at 4000 micro mol/mol CO2 showed significant increases in total plantlet dry weight (TDW) and shoot length (SL) when sucrose was omitted from the media, indicating an autotrophic response. At 400 micro mol/mol CO2, all cvs. showed an increase in TDW and SL with increasing sucrose under both PPF levels. Within any sucrose treatment, the highest TDW for all cvs. resulted from 300 micro mol/sq m/s PPF and 4000 micro mol/mol CO2 At 4000 micro mol/mol CO2, TDW showed no further increase with sucrose levels above 1% for cvs. NL and DN at both PPF levels, suggesting that sucrose levels greater than 1% may hinder growth when CO2 enrichment is used.

Yorio, Neil C.↗

Sinuosity of Martian rampart ejecta deposits

The sinuosities of 2213 Martian rampart ejecta craters are quantified through measurement of the ejecta flow front perimeter and ejecta area. This quantity, called lobateness, was computed for each complete lobe of the 1582 single lobe (SL), 251 double lobe (DL), and 380 multiple lobe (ML) craters included in this study. A lobateness value of 1 indicates a circular ejecta blanket, whereas more sinuous ejecta perimeters have lobateness values greater than 1. Although resolution does have an effect on the absolute values of lobateness, the general relationships between lobateness and morphology exist regardless of resolution. Evaluation of the lobateness values reveals that the outer lobes of DL and ML craters have higher median lobateness values (i.e., are more sinuous) than the inner lobes. The outermost lobe of ML craters displays higher lobateness values than the outer lobe of DL craters or the single lobe of SL craters. Previous reports of lobateness-diameter, lobateness-latitude, and lobateness-terrain relationships for rampart craters are not supported by this study. Many of the differences between the results of this study and the previous lobateness analyses can be attributed to the inclusion of resolution effects and the distinction between different ejecta morphologies in this study. The results of this study taken together with a previous analysis of the distribution and diameter dependence of different ejecta morphologies are most consistent with the theory that Martian lobate ejecta morphologies form from impact into subsurface volatiles.

Barlow, Nadine G.↗