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NASA NTRS2025

Sulfur outgassing and in-gassing in lunar orange glass beads and implications for 33S “Anomaly” in the Moon

Our recent investigations have discovered inward diffusion (in-gassing) of moderately volatile elements (MVEs; e.g., Na, K and Cu) from volcanic gas into volcanic beads/droplets. In this work, we examine the distribution of sulfur in lunar orange glass beads. Our analyses reveal that sulfur exhibits a non-uniform distribution across the beads, forming “U” or “W” shaped profiles typical of in-gassing. A model developed to assess sulfur contributions from different sources (original magmatic sulfur versus atmospheric in-gassed sulfur) in the orange beads indicates that atmospheric sulfur in-gassed during eruption contributes approximately 9–24 % to the total sulfur content of an orange bead, averaging around 16 %. This in-gassed sulfur is derived from the eruption plume, where atmospheric sulfur could undergo photochemical reactions induced by UV light, leading to mass independent fractionation and a distinct sulfur isotope signature. Interestingly, a recent study discovered a small mass independent isotope fractionation of sulfur in lunar orange glass beads in drive tube 74002/1 and a lack of such mass independent isotope fractionation in black glass beads in the same lunar sample. This finding contrasts with sulfur in lunar basalts, which typically exhibit mass dependent fractionation. With our work, the observed mass independent fractionation signal in sulfur isotopes of orange beads can be attributed to the in-gassing of photolytic sulfur in the optically thin part of the eruption plume where UV light can penetrate. Using the sulfur isotope data of lunar orange beads, we estimate that the Δ33S value of atmospheric sulfur is approximately −0.18 ‰. Our study provides new insights into the complex dynamics of volatile elements in lunar volcanic processes, highlighting the role of in-gassing in shaping sulfur isotope signatures in volcanic glass beads.

Xue Su↗

NASA NTRS1978

The expanding envelope of Tau Sco /B0 V/

Results are reported for an analysis of the UV spectrum of Tau Sco as observed by Copernicus. It is found that the spectrum exhibits a number of resonance lines of C III, C IV, N III, N V, O VI, Si IV, and P V, all of which have extended violet absorption wings that reach several different velocities. The UV lines of Tau Sco are compared with those of Zeta Pup, the line profiles are studied by a comparison with predicted profiles, and the optical depth of the lines is derived as a function of velocity in the envelope by means of line fitting. The velocity-height relation is examined, the mass-loss rate is derived, and the ionization equilibrium in the envelope is investigated. The data are then evaluated in light of three proposed mass-loss mechanisms. The mass-loss rate is estimated to be about 7 billionths of a solar mass per year, and the observed rapid acceleration of the stellar wind is attributed to radiation pressure in the envelope. It is shown that an imperfect-flow model for the stellar wind gives qualitative agreement with the observations.

Lamers, H. J. G. L. M.↗

NASA NTRS1986

IUE survey of planetary nebulae in the large and small magellanic clouds

Twelve planetary nebulae of the 15 surveyed by IUE in the Megellanic Clouds were analyzed. Chemical abundances and other nebular parameters were determined, along with masses for the central stars. The latter are clustered in the range 0.58 to 0.71 solar masses, contrary to preliminary finding for 3 of the stars. This difference is attributed to the adoption of stellar atmosphere models that better represent the emergent flux distributions below the Lyman limit.

Gull, T. R.↗

NASA NTRS2010

Comments on "Atlantic Tropical Cyclogenetic Processes during SOP-3 NAMMA in the GEOS-5 Global Data Assimilation and Forecast System"

Considerable attention has been given to the potential negative impacts of the Saharan air layer (SAL) in recent years. Researchers recently raised questions about the negative impacts of Dunion and Velden and other studies in terms of storms that reached at least tropical storm strength and suggested that the SAL was an intrinsic part of the tropical cyclone environment for both storms that weaken after formation and those that intensify. Braun also suggested that several incorrect assumptions underlie many of the studies on the negative impacts of the SAL, including assumptions that most low-to-midlevel dry tropical air is SAL air, that the SAL is dry throughout its depth, and that the proximity of the SAL to storms struggling to intensify implies some role in that struggle. The recent paper by Reale et al.(RL1) is an example of the problems inherent in some of these assumptions. In their paper, RL1 analyze a simulation from the Global Earth Observing System (GEOS-5) global model and describe an extensive tongue of warm, dry air that stretches southward from at least 30 deg N (the northern limit of their plots) and wraps into a low pressure system during the period 26-29 August 2006, suppressing convection and possibly development of the African easterly wave associated with that low pressure system. They attributed the warm, dry tongue to the SAL (i.e., heating of the air mass during passage over the Sahara and radiative warming of the dust layer). Whether it was their intention, the implication is that this entire feature is due solely to the SAL and not to other possible sources of dry air or warmth. In addition, they suggested that a cool tongue of air in the boundary layer located directly beneath the elevated warm, dry tongue (forming a thermal dipole) was possibly the result of reduced solar radiation caused by an overlying dust layer. They stated that "the cool anomaly in the lower levels does not have any plausible explanation relying only on transport." In this comment, evidence from satellite and global meteorological analyses is presented that casts considerable doubt upon RL1 s interpretation of the GEOS-5 forecasts and their conclusion that the results implied a negative role of the SAL. We show that the major portion of the warm, dry air aloft was located in a nearly dust-free slot between two Saharan dust outbreaks, had a significant source from the midlatitudes (>30 N), and was likely driven by strong subsidence warming and drying. In addition, when wind fields are examined in a reference frame moving with the wave, National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) global meteorological analyses suggest that the cool tongue in the boundary layer can be readily explained by transport of cooler air from higher latitudes. At the very least, it offers a plausible alternative explanation for the cool tongue that does not rely on radiative impacts of the dust.

Braun, Scott A.↗

NASA NTRS2013

Experimental Investigation of Flow Condensation in Microgravity

Future manned missions to Mars are expected to greatly increase the space vehicle's size, weight, and heat dissipation requirements. An effective means to reducing both size and weight is to replace single-phase thermal management systems with two-phase counterparts that capitalize upon both latent and sensible heat of the coolant rather than sensible heat alone. This shift is expected to yield orders of magnitude enhancements in flow boiling and condensation heat transfer coefficients. A major challenge to this shift is a lack of reliable tools for accurate prediction of two-phase pressure drop and heat transfer coefficient in reduced gravity. Developing such tools will require a sophisticated experimental facility to enable investigators to perform both flow boiling and condensation experiments in microgravity in pursuit of reliable databases. This study will discuss the development of the Flow Boiling and Condensation Experiment (FBCE) for the International Space Station (ISS), which was initiated in 2012 in collaboration between Purdue University and NASA Glenn Research Center. This facility was recently tested in parabolic flight to acquire condensation data for FC-72 in microgravity, aided by high-speed video analysis of interfacial structure of the condensation film. The condensation is achieved by rejecting heat to a counter flow of water, and experiments were performed at different mass velocities of FC-72 and water and different FC-72 inlet qualities. It is shown that the film flow varies from smooth-laminar to wavy-laminar and ultimately turbulent with increasing FC-72 mass velocity. The heat transfer coefficient is highest near the inlet of the condensation tube, where the film is thinnest, and decreases monotonically along the tube, except for high FC-72 mass velocities, where the heat transfer coefficient is enhanced downstream. This enhancement is attributed to both turbulence and increased interfacial waviness. One-ge correlations are shown to predict the average condensation heat transfer coefficient with varying degrees of success, and a recent correlation is identified for its superior predictive capability, evidenced by a mean absolute error of 21.7%.

microgravity↗

NASA NTRS2016

Magnesium and Titanium Isotopic Compositions of an Unusual Hibonite-Perovskite Refractory Inclusion from Allende: It Is Fun

Introduction: Hibonite-rich refractory inclusions are among the first solids that formed in the solar nebula, and thus provide constraints on the earliest environment in the Solar System. An unusual hibonite-perovskite inclusion from Allende, SHAL, consists of a large (approximately 500 by 200 microns) single hibonite crystal and coexisting blocky perovskite (approximately 200 microns in size). The hibonite is characterized by chemical and oxygen isotopic compositions similar to those in the FUN (Fractionated and Unknown Nuclear anomalies) inclusion HAL. However, the rare earth element (REE) patterns measured at different spots of SHAL hibonite are highly variable, ranging from Group II-like (light REEs enriched relative to heavy REEs) to Group III-like (relatively flat with slight Eu depletions), but overall contrast largely with that of HAL, especially in the Ce and Yb abundances. This implies that SHAL hibonite formed and underwent distillation processes under more reducing conditions. Interestingly, the accompanying perovskite has uniform, unfractionated oxygen isotopic compositions (averaging delta (sup 17) O equals delta (sup 18) O equals −7 per mille) and REE abundances that are completely different from those of SHAL hibonite. This has been interpreted that perovskite and hibonite may not be co-genetic. Here we performed Al-Mg and Ti isotopic measurements of SHAL hibonite and perovskite to determine if the FUN characteristics are observed in these two isotope systems, and to further constrain the origin and evolution of SHAL. Results: Isotopic measurements of Al-Mg and Ti in SHAL were performed on the UCLA CAMECA ims-1290 ion microprobe by following the analytical protocols described in [1]. The Al-Mg and Ti data obtained in both terrestrial standards and SHAL hibonite and perovskite are shown below. Both SHAL hibonite and perovskite, despite very high (sup 27) Al to (sup 24) Mg ratios, are devoid of (sup 26) Mg excesses that can be attributed to the decay of (sup 26) Al. Delta (sup 25) Mg (mass-dependent fractionation) in hibonite is approximately −5 per mille per atomic mass unit relative to Madagascar hibonite, but is not well constrained for perovskite due to very large uncertainties owing to extremely low Mg contents. Similar to Mg isotopes, SHAL hibonite and perovskite show essentially the same Ti isotopic compositions, with anomalies in (sup 50) Ti of approximately 14 per mille, but the former shows greater Ti isotope fractionation than the latter (2.5 per mille per atomic mass unit versus 0 per mille). Discussion and Conclusions: The Al-Mg and Ti isotopic compositions of SHAL hibonite are consistent with those of HAL, suggesting that SHAL hibonite is a FUN inclusion and likely formed prior to homogenization of (sup 26) Al and Ti isotope variations in the solar nebula. However, the formation mechanisms for SHAL and HAL differ, given the differences in the REE patterns and degrees of oxygen mass-dependent fractionation. The Group-II to Group-III like REE patterns, the Yb depletions, and negative delta (sup 25) Mg observed in SHAL hibonite are all consistent with condensation of the hibonite precursor in a reducing environment.. The lack of large Ce depletions in SHAL hibonite implies that distillation processes that fractionated hibonite's oxygen isotopes must have taken place under a reducing condition, but the extent to which SHAL hibonite was distilled appears to be less than HAL because of the smaller degree of oxygen mass-dependent fractionation. The perovskite shares essentially the same Ti and Mg isotopic compositions as hibonite and probably formed in the same reservoir.. The ultrarefractory REE pattern seen in perovskite likely resulted from gas-solid fractionation which depleted HREEs in this reservoir. This process also explains why SHAL hibonite is generally depleted in HREEs relative to LREEs.

Liu, M.-C.↗

NASA NTRS1986

The convective noise floor for the spectroscopic detection of low mass companions to solar type stars

The threshold mass for the unambiguous spectroscopic detection of low mass companions to solar type stars is defined here as the time when the maximum acceleration in the stellar radial velocity due to the Doppler reflex of the companion exceeds the apparent acceleration produced by changes in convection. An apparent acceleration of 11 m/s/yr in integrated sunlight was measured using near infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy. This drift in the apparent solar velocity is attributed to a lessening in the magnetic inhibition of granular convection as solar minimum approaches. The threshold mass for spectroscopic detection of companions to a one solar mass star is estimated at below one Jupiter mass.

Deming, D.↗

NASA NTRS1981

Model for the circumstellar gas around alpha Orionis

Models are presented to explain the physical conditions in the circumstellar envelope surrounding the red supergiant Alpha Orionis. The models of the CO density and neutral atomic potassium density are calculated for the outer shell to reproduce simultaneously both the radio detection of CO and optical measurements of the amount of scattering by neutral potassium around Alpha Ori. CO and potassium loss rates of 7 x 10 to the 39th/sec and 8 x 10 to the 37th/sec are obtained, which imply a potassium to carbon ratio greater than that of the sun by about a factor of 25. The low carbon abundance may be attributed to extensive CNO processing, and, together with the potassium abundance, indicates a total mass loss rate of 0.000015 solar masses/year. The mass loss, mass and abundance properties of Alpha Ori suggest it to be the progenitor of a Type II supernova such as Cas A.

Jura, M.↗

NASA NTRS1983

X-ray, optical and UV observations of the young supernova remnant in the irregular galaxy NGC 4449

A powerful young supernova remnant (SNR) similar to Cas A has recently been discovered in the irregular galaxy NGC 4449. X-ray, optical and ultraviolet data have been obtained which allow possible models for this object to be investigated and its age to be estimated. Several lines of argument indicate a massive star of order 25 solar masses as the precursor to this remnant. If the X-ray emision is attributed to a reverse shock in the ejecta, the remnant should be about 120 years old.

Blair, W. P.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Comparative performance of diffused junction indium phosphide solar cells

A comparison is made between indium phosphide solar cells whose p-n junctions were processed by open tube capped diffusion, and closed tube uncapped diffusion, of sulfur into Czochralski grown p-type substrates. Air mass zero, total area, efficiencies ranged from 10 to 14.2 percent, the latter value attributed to cells processed by capped diffusion. The radiation resistance of these latter cells was slightly better, under 1 MeV electron irradiation. However, rather than being process dependent, the difference in radiation resistance could be attributed to the effects of increased base dopant concentration. In agreement with previous results, both cells exhibited radiation resistance superior to that of gallium arsenide. The lowest temperature dependency of maximum power was exhibited by the cells prepared by open tube capped diffusion. Contrary to previous results, no correlation was found between open circuit voltage and the temperature dependency of Pmax. It was concluded that additional process optimization was necessary before concluding that one process was better than another.

Weinberg, I.↗

NASA NTRS2000

Mars Aerobot Missions

Mars aerobots constitute a class of mission nearly a factor of 10 smaller than earlier concepts for Mars balloons. A key goal is to achieve high payload mass fraction in a small total systems mass and to maximize the scientific potential of that payload. The "low and slow" attributes of aerobot flight paths afford advantages for many observations and measurements of Mars. Scientific objectives include surveys of remnant magnetism, studies of the surface with high resolution stereo imaging, and investigations of the structure and dynamics of the atmosphere with an in situ meteorology payload.

Greeley, R.↗

NASA NTRS2010

Anthropogenic Air Pollution Observed Near Dust Source Regions in Northwestern China During Springtime 2008

Trace gases and aerosols were measured in Zhangye (39.082degN, 100.276degE, 1460 m a.s. 1.), a rural site near the Gobi deserts in northwestern China during spring 2008. Primary trace gases (CO:265 ppb; SO2:3.4 ppb; NO(*y): 4.2 ppb; hereafter results given as means of hourly data) in the area were lower than in eastern China, but still indicative of marked anthropogenic emissions. Sizable aerosol mass concentration (153 micro-g/cu m) and light scattering (159/Mm at 500 nm) were largely attributable to dust emissions, and aerosol light absorption (10.3/Mm at 500 nm) was dominated by anthropogenic pollution. Distinct diurnal variations in meteorology and pollution were induced by the local valley terrain. Strong daytime northwest valley wind cleaned out pollution and was replaced by southeast mountain wind that allowed pollutants to build up overnight. In the afternoon, aerosols had single scattering albedo (SSA, 500 mn) of 0.95 and were mainly of supermicron particles, presumably dust, while at night smaller particles and SSA of 0.89-0.91 were related to Pollution. The diverse local emission sources were characterized: the CO/SO2, CO/NO(y), NO(y)/SO2 (by moles), and BC/CO (by mass) ratios for small point sources such as factories were 24.6-54.2, 25.8-35.9, 0.79-1.31, and 4.1-6.1 x 10(exp -3), respectively, compared to the corresponding inventory ratios of 43.7-71.9, 23.7-25.7, 1.84-2.79, and 3.4-4.0 x 10(exp -3) for the industrial sector in the area. The mixing between dust and pollution can be ubiquitous in this region. During a dust storm shown as an example, pollutants were observed to mix with dust, causing discernible changes in both SSA and aerosol size distribution. Further interaction between dust and pollutants during transport may modify the properties of dust particles that are critical for their large-scale impact on radiation, clouds, and global biogeochemical cycles.

Li, Can↗

NASA NTRS1995

The variability of the double-peaked Balmer lines in the active nucleus of NGC 1097

We present spectroscopic observations of the nucleus of the Seyfert/low-ionization nuclear emission-line region galaxy NGC 1097 spanning the period 1991-1994. The goal was to monitor anticipated variations of the broad, double-peaked Balmer lines which appeared abruptly in 1991. We find that the broad Balmer lines have varied significantly over the monitoring period, both in their integrated fluxes and in their profile shapes. The integrated H-alpha flux has decreased by a factor of 2, the (H-alpha)/(H-beta) ratio has increased, and the originally asymmetric H-alpha profile has become symmetric. The decline of the H-alpha flux and the change in the (H-alpha)/(H-beta) ratio can be interpreted as consequences of either increased obscuration along the line of sight, or a decline in the ionizing continuum, but neither of these scenarios can account for the change in profile shapes. A model attributing the line emission to a precessing elliptical ring around a 10(exp 6) solar mass nuclear black hole can reproduce the observed profile variations. In this scenario, the line-emitting ring is the result of the tidal disruption of a star by the black hole. Alternative scenarios associating the broad-line emission with a collimated bipolar outflow also remain viable, but binary black holes and inhomogeneous accretion disks are disfavored by the observed pattern of variability.

Storchi-Bergmann, Thaisa↗

NASA NTRS2001

Fusion for Space Propulsion

There is little doubt that humans will attempt to explore and develop the solar system in this century. A large amount of energy will be required for accomplishing this. The need for fusion propulsion is discussed. For a propulsion system, there are three important thermodynamical attributes: (1) The absolute amount of energy available, (2) the propellant exhaust velocity, and (3) the jet power per unit mass of the propulsion system (specific power). For human exploration and development of the solar system, propellant exhaust velocity in excess of 100 km/s and specific power in excess of 10 kW/kg are required. Chemical combustion can produce exhaust velocity up to about 5 km/s. Nuclear fission processes typically result in producing energy in the form of heat that needs to be manipulated at temperatures limited by materials to about 2,800 K. Using the energy to heat a hydrogen propellant increases the exhaust velocity by only a factor of about two. Alternatively the energy can be converted into electricity which is then used to accelerate particles to high exhaust velocity. The necessary power conversion and conditioning equipment, however, increases the mass of the propulsion system for the same jet power by more than two orders of magnitude over chemical system, thus greatly limits the thrust-to-weight ratio attainable. The principal advantage of the fission process is that its development is relatively mature and is available right now. If fusion can be developed, fusion appears to have the best of all worlds in terms of propulsion - it can provide the absolute amount, the propellant exhaust velocity, and the high specific jet power. An intermediate step towards pure fusion propulsion is a bimodal system in which a fission reactor is used to provide some of the energy to drive a fusion propulsion unit. The technical issues related to fusion for space propulsion are discussed. The technical priorities for developing and applying fusion for propulsion are somewhat different from those for terrestrial electrical power generation. Thus fusion schemes that are initially attractive for electrical power generation might not necessarily be attractive also for propulsion and vice versa, though the underlying fusion science and engineering enjoy much overlap. Parallel efforts to develop these qualitatively differently fusion schemes for the two applications could benefit greatly from each other due to the synergy in the underlying physics and engineering. Pulsed approaches to fusion have not been explored to the same degree as steady-state or long-pulse approaches to fusion in the fusion power research program. The concerns early on were several. One was that the pulsed power components might not have the service lifetimes meeting the requirements of a practical power generating plant. Another was that, for many pulsed fusion schemes, it was not clear whether the destruction of hardware per pulse could be minimized or eliminated or recycled to such an extent as to make economical electrical power generation feasible, Significant development of the underlying pulsed power component technologies have occurred in the last two decades because of defense and other energy requirements. The state of development of the pulsed power technologies are sufficiently advanced now to make it compelling to visit or re-visit pulsed fusion approaches for application to propulsion where the cost of energy is not so demanding a factor as in the case of terrestrial power application. For propulsion application, the overall mass of the fusion system is the critical factor. Producing fusion reactions require extreme states of matter. Conceptually, these extreme states of matter are more readily realizable in the pulsed states, at least within appropriate bounds, than in the steady states. Significant saving in system mass may result in such systems. Magnetic fields are effective in confining plasma energy, whereas inertial compression is an effective way of heating and containing the plasma. Intensive research in developing magnetic energy containment and inertial plasma compression are being pursued in distinctively different fusion experiments in the terrestrial fusion power program. Fusion schemes that attempt to combine the favorable attributes of these two aspects into one single integrated fusion scheme appear to have benefits that are worth exploring for propulsion application.

Thio, Y. C. Francis↗

NASA NTRS2001

Characteristic Ultraviolet/Optical Timescales in Active Galactic Nuclei

The UV/optical light curves of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) may be roughly characterized by a periodic fractional flux variations of approx. 10% on timescales of 1 month. The physical mechanism(s) responsible remain ill defined. We present a structure function analysis, i.e., measure the power distribution over a range of timescales tau, of 13 AGNs to constrain the origin of UV/optical emission. On timescales tau approx. 5- 60 days, the mean UV and optical power density spectra (PDS) are equivalent. This may suggest that the underlying energy generating mechanism is identical. The combined W/optical PDS is P(f) proportional to f(sup -alpha)- with alpha = 2.13(sup +0.22, sub -0.06). For sources with measured X-ray PDS indices, we find they are indistinguishable from their UV/optical counterparts. This supports scenarios whereby X-rays are generated via Compton upscattering of UV photons, to later radiatively drive optical variations. At the same time, we present evidence for characteristic variability timescales tau(sub char) of approx. 5-100 days in 10 sources. These variability timescales combined with reverberation based masses M suggest a M - tau(sub char) relationship; higher mass systems have larger characteristic timescales. The UV tau(sub char) may possibly reflect dynamical or accretion disk thermal timescales. We find suggestive evidence for a dichotomy, at tau approx. 30 days and M approx. l0(exp 7) solar mass, between short- and long-time scale optical variations. These optical variations may be attributable to dynamical and accretion disk thermal or starburst activity timescales, respectively.

Collier, Stefan↗

NASA NTRS2010

Constellation Architecture Team-Lunar Scenario 12.0 Habitation Overview

This paper will describe an overview of the Constellation Architecture Team Lunar Scenario 12.0 (LS-12) surface habitation approach and concept performed during the study definition. The Lunar Scenario 12 architecture study focused on two primary habitation approaches: a horizontally-oriented habitation module (LS-12.0) and a vertically-oriented habitation module (LS-12.1). This paper will provide an overview of the 12.0 lunar surface campaign, the associated outpost architecture, habitation functionality, concept description, system integration strategy, mass and power resource estimates. The Scenario 12 architecture resulted from combining three previous scenario attributes from Scenario 4 "Optimized Exploration", Scenario 5 "Fission Surface Power System" and Scenario 8 "Initial Extensive Mobility" into Scenario 12 along with an added emphasis on defining the excursion ConOps while the crew is away from the outpost location. This paper will describe an overview of the CxAT-Lunar Scenario 12.0 habitation concepts and their functionality. The Crew Operations area includes basic crew accommodations such as sleeping, eating, hygiene and stowage. The EVA Operations area includes additional EVA capability beyond the suitlock function such as suit maintenance, spares stowage, and suit stowage. The Logistics Operations area includes the enhanced accommodations for 180 days such as enhanced life support systems hardware, consumable stowage, spares stowage, interconnection to the other habitation elements, a common interface mechanism for future growth, and mating to a pressurized rover or Pressurized Logistics Module (PLM). The Mission & Science Operations area includes enhanced outpost autonomy such as an IVA glove box, life support, medical operations, and exercise equipment.

Kennedy, Kriss J.↗

NASA NTRS2006

Controlling Attitude of a Solar-Sail Spacecraft Using Vanes

A paper discusses a concept for controlling the attitude and thrust vector of a three-axis stabilized Solar Sail spacecraft using only four single degree-of-freedom articulated spar-tip vanes. The vanes, at the corners of the sail, would be turned to commanded angles about the diagonals of the square sail. Commands would be generated by an adaptive controller that would track a given trajectory while rejecting effects of such disturbance torques as those attributable to offsets between the center of pressure on the sail and the center of mass. The controller would include a standard proportional + derivative part, a feedforward part, and a dynamic component that would act like a generalized integrator. The controller would globally track reference signals, and in the presence of such control-actuator constraints as saturation and delay, the controller would utilize strategies to cancel or reduce their effects. The control scheme would be embodied in a robust, nonlinear algorithm that would allocate torques among the vanes, always finding a stable solution arbitrarily close to the global optimum solution of the control effort allocation problem. The solution would include an acceptably small angle, slow limit-cycle oscillation of the vanes, while providing overall thrust vector pointing stability and performance.

Mettler, Edward↗

NASA NTRS2012

A Possible Organic Contribution to the Low Temperature CO2 Release Seen in Mars Phoenix Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer Data

Two of the most important discoveries of the Phoenix Mars Lander were the discovery of approx.0.6% perchlorate [1] and 3-5% carbonate [2] in the soils at the landing site in the martian northern plains. The Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer (TEGA) instrument was one of the tools that made this discovery. After soil samples were delivered to TEGA and transferred into small ovens, the samples could be heated up to approx.1000 C and the gases that evolved during heating were monitored by a mass spectrometer. A CO2 signal was detected at high temperature (approx.750 C) that has been attributed to calcium carbonate decomposition. In addition to this CO2 release, a lower temperature signal was seen. This lower temperature CO2 release was postulated to be one of three things: 1) desorption of CO2, 2) decomposition of a different carbonate mineral, or 3) CO2 released due to organic combustion. Cannon et al. [3] present another novel hypothesis involving the interaction of decomposition products of a perchlorate salt and calcium carbonate.

Archer, P. D. Jr.↗