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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 163 records · Page 9
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1976

Effect of polarization on superfluidity in low density neutron matter

The singlet-state quasi-particle interaction in neutron matter is examined on the basis of results of a detailed evaluation of the Landau Fermi-liquid parameters for pure neutron effects, including polarization effects. This means that the interaction induced by exchange of density and spin-density excitations is taken into account. It is shown that polarization actually works to suppress the pairing matrix elements, owing to the spin dependence of the quasi-particle interaction and, ultimately, the balance of attraction, repulsion, and spin dependence in the fundamental two-neutron interaction. Since the isotropic energy gap and the condensation energy in low-density neutron-star matter are extremely sensitive functions of the pairing matrix elements, they will also be suppressed by the polarizability of the neutron medium.

Clark, J. W.↗
NASA NTRS1985

PASP: A high voltage array experiment

In the near future, Air Force mission payloads will require significant increases in power. Sophisticated sensing systems such as infrared focal plane detector arrays and radar will be employed by the Air Force to fulfill its strategic objectives. These payloads will demand that the power subsystem provide up to 50 kW at the end of mission life, more than an order of magnitude greater than is currently required. Some of these payloads must be flown in low-Earth polar orbits to satisfy mission objectives, and it is likely that large (500 to 600 sq m) solar photovoltaic arrays will operate in the low-Earth polar environment. The standard 28 volt power subsystem is not weight efficient for the array power levels being considered. The impact of the solar array operating voltage on the total weight of the array and the subsystem power conditioning and distribution components is illustrated. In the interest of reducing power subsystem weight, higher array operating voltages are considered. The problems which the higher array voltage present to the array designer are discussed. In order to provide a maximum return on the tremendous investment of resources required to develop and place these assets in orbit, they must be designed to operate effectively for extended periods of time. To achieve this, the system must be able to function in the threat-induced and natural space environment.

Scott-Monck, J.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Tracking performance of the polarity-type costas loop at low SNR for UQPSK signal

Carrier tracking performance of the polarity type costas loop is analyzed for unbalanced quadriphase-shift-keyed (UQPSK) signals at low SNR. Squaring losses for various SNR, IF bandwidth, and data rate ratios are presented. The RMS phase jitter for a particular loop is computed for various I and Q channel power and data rate ratios. Experimental results using a breadboard costas loop are also included.

Park, Y. H.↗
NASA NTRS1972

L-band orthogonal-mode crossed-slot antenna and VHF crossed-loop antenna

A low gain, circularly polarized, L-band antenna; a low gain, linealy polarized, L-band antenna; and a low gain, circularly polarized, upper hemisphere, VHF satellite communications antenna intended for airborne applications are described. The text includes impedance and antenna radiation pattern data, along with physical description of the construction of the antennas.

Olsson, T.↗
NASA NTRS1983

The interpretation of hard X-ray polarization measurements in solar flares

The significance of low hard X-ray polarization measurements for non-thermal models is discussed. Such a low polarization result, it is shown, can in fact occur in non-thermal models, and the ways in which the degree of X-ray polarization is correlated with the parameters of these models is discussed.

Leach, J.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Guidance, navigation, and control study for a solar electric propulsion spacecraft

A preliminary investigation of a lunar-comet rendezvous mission using a solar electric propulsion (SEP) spacecraft was performed in two phases.The first phase involved exploration of the moon and the second involved rendezvous with a comet. The initial phase began with a chemical propulsion translunar injection and chemical insertion into a lunar orbit, followed by a low thrust SEP transfer to a circular, polar, low-lunar orbit. After collecting scientific data at the moon, the SEP spacecraft performed a spiral lunar escape maneuver to begin the interplanetary leg of the mission. After escape from the Earth-moon system, the SEP spacecraft maneuvered in interplanetary space and performed a rendezvous with a comet.The immediate goal of this study was to demonstrate the feasibility of using a low-thrust SEP spacecraft for orbit transfer to both the moon and a comet. Another primary goal was to develop a computer optimization code which would be robust enough to obtain minimum-fuel rendezvous trajectories for a wide range of comets.

Kluever, Craig A.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Optimal lunar trajectories for a combined chemical-electric propulsion spacecraft

Spacecraft which utilize electric propulsion (EP) systems are capable of delivering a greater payload fraction compared to spacecraft using conventional chemical propulsion systems. Several researchers have investigated numerous applications of low-thrust EP including a manned Mars mission, scientific missions to the outer planets, and lunar missions. In contrast, the study of optimal combined high and low-thrust spacecraft trajectories has been limited. In response to the release of NASA's 1994 Announcement of Opportunity (AO) for Discovery class interplanetary exploration missions, a preliminary investigation of a lunar comet rendezvous mission using a solar electric propulsion (SEP) spacecraft was performed. The Discovery mission (eventually named Diana) was envisioned to be a two-phase scientific exploration mission: the first phase involved exploration of the moon and second phase involved rendezvous with a comet. The initial phase began with a chemical propulsion translunar injection and chemical insertion into a lunar orbit, followed by a low-thrust SEP transfer to a circular, polar, low-lunar orbit (LLO). After scientific data was collected at the moon, the SEP spacecraft performed a spiral lunar escape maneuver to begin the interplanetary leg of the mission. After escape from the Earth-moon system, the SEP spacecraft maneuvered in interplanetary space and performed a rendezvous with a short period comet. An initial study that demonstrated the feasibility of using EP for the lunar and comet orbit transfer was performed under the grant NAG3-1581. This final report is a continuation of the initial research efforts in support of the Discovery mission proposal that was submitted to NASA Headquarters in October 1994. Section 2 discusses the lunar orbit transfer phase of the Diana mission which involves both chemical and electric propulsion stages. Section 3 discusses the chemical lunar orbit insertion (LOI) burn optimization. Finally, section 4 presents the conclusions of this research effort.

Kluever, Craig A.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Low-field MRI of laser polarized noble gas

NMR images of laser polarized 3He gas were obtained at 21 G using a simple, homebuilt instrument. At such low fields magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of thermally polarized samples (e.g., water) is not practical. Low-field noble gas MRI has novel scientific, engineering, and medical applications. Examples include portable systems for diagnosis of lung disease, as well as imaging of voids in porous media and within metallic systems.

Non-NASA Center↗
NASA NTRS1975

A correlative study of simultaneously measured He(++) fluxes in the solar wind and in the magnetosphere utilizing Imp-1 and 1971-089A satellite data

Simultaneously measured He(++) fluxes in the solar wind and in the magnetosphere were studied using data from the plasma spectrometer on the Imp I satellite and the energetic ion mass spectrometer on the low altitude polar orbiting satellite 1971-89A. A detailed comparison of the He(++) energy spectra measured simultaneously in the solar wind and in the low altitude dayside polar cusp on March 7, 1972 was made. The energy-per-unit-charge range of the energetic ion mass spectrometer on board the polar orbiting satellite was 700 eV to 12 keV. Within this range there was a clear maximum in the He(++) energy spectrum at approximately 1.5 keV/nucleon. There was not a clearly defined maximum in the H(+) spectrum, but the data were consistent with a peak between 0.7 and 1.0 keV/nucleon. Both spectra could be reasonably well fit with a convecting Maxwellian plus a high energy tail; however, the mean velocity for He(++) distribution was significantly greater than that for the H(+) distribution. The simultaneous solar wind measurements showed the mean velocities for both ion species to be approximately 600 km/sec. The discrepancies between the relative velocity distributions in the low altitude cusp and those in the solar wind are consistent with a potential difference of approximately 1.4 kV along their flow direction between the two points of observation.

Shelley, E. G.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Low-loss, circularly-polarized dichroic plate

Dichroic plate has orthogonally-disposed, loaded dipole apertures with their orientations arranged so as to cancel cross-coupling effects which would otherwise result in power loss to circularly polarized signal.

Woo, R. T.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Temporal Evolution of Solar Wind Ion Composition and Their Source Coronal Holes During the Declining Phase of Cycle 23. I. Low-Latitude Extension of Polar Coronal Holes

We analyzed 27 solar wind (SW) intervals during the declining phase of cycle 23, whose source coronal holes (CHs) can be unambiguously identified and are associated with one of the polar CHs. We found that the SW ions have a temporal trend of decreasing ionization state, and such a trend is different between the slow and fast SW. The photospheric magnetic field, both inside and at the outside boundary of the CH, also exhibits a trend of decrease with time. However, EUV line emissions from different layers of the atmosphere exhibit different temporal trends. The coronal emission inside the CH generally increases toward the CH boundary as the underlying field increases in strength and becomes less unipolar. In contrast, this relationship is not seen in the coronal emission averaged over the entire CH. For C and O SW ions that freeze-in at lower altitude, stronger correlation between their ionization states and field strength (both signed and unsigned) appears in the slow SW, while for Fe ions that freeze-in at higher altitude, stronger correlation appears in the fast SW. Such correlations are seen both inside the CH and at its boundary region. On the other hand, the coronal electron temperature correlates well with the SW ion composition only in the boundary region. Our analyses, although not able to determine the likely footpoint locations of the SW of different speeds, raise many outstanding questions for how the SW is heated and accelerated in response to the long-term evolution of the solar magnetic field.

MAGNETIC FIELDS↗
NASA NTRS1986

Global ozone minima in the historical record

The magnitude and structure of the global total ozone minimum between 1958 and 1962 is similar to that observed between 1979 and 1983. Analysis of the single station data that exhibit the most pronounced minima suggest that the spatial structure of the global minimum is different from the currently observed reduction. Very low north polar values were observed, but there is no indication of anomalously low ozone in Antarctica. The temporal relationship to the sun spot cycle is similar in both time periods. Rather than solar terrestrial interaction, however, a more likely explanation of the early 1960's reduction is normal climatology caused by a persistent period of planetary wave activity. Such a natural explanation may also be appropriate for the current depletion.

Rood, Richard B.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Multifrequency studies of bright radio supernova remnants. 2: W49B

We report radio observations of the supernova remnant W49B using the Very Large Array (VLA) of the NRAO at 90, 20, and 6 cm. This work continues the study of the properties of young, bright supernova remnants (SNRs) begun with 3C 391 (Moffett & Reynolds 1994). Here we present high-resolution images of total intensity, polarization, and spectral index of W49B. In large-scale morphology it is basically a box-shaped remnant expanding into an apparently inhomogeneous medium, but we also find small-scale structures, arcs and filaments, which lie interior to the outer shell in projection. The actual spatial position of the filaments is unknown, though we suspect that they are in the remnant interior rather than on the front or back face of the blast wave. In addition, their distribution in two dimensions suggests the projection of a helical structure. The shell edge, sharply rising in brightness for at least 3/4 of its circumference, still remains unresolved at our highest resolution (4 sec). This for our assumed distance of 8 kpc, the width of the region in which the emission appears is less than 0.16 pc, indicating short mean free paths for shock-accelerated electrons and high levels of MHD turbulence presumably causing the scattering. We find no polarized flux at 90 or 20 cm, with 3 sigma upper limits in polarized intensity of 36 mJy at 90 cm (45 sec resolution) and 7.2 mJy at 20 cm (5 sec resolution), or 22 micro-Jy/sq arcsec and 370 micro-jy/sq arcsec, respectively, for any emission extended on those scales. Polarized flux is present at 6 cm, but at a very low mean polarized fraction (total polarized flux divided by total flux) of 0.44% +/- 0.06%, which, as for 3C 391, is much lower than typical for bright SNRs at this frequency. The morphology in polarized intensity is poorly correlated with that in total intensity. We see excursions in the polarized fraction up to at least 10% in a few locations, but even where polarization is seen, typical levels are a few percent. Tangled or disordered magnetic fields in the emitting region of the radio shell may be responsible for depolarizing the radio synchrotron radiation, but some form of internal Faraday depolarization may also occur. We estimate the foreground Faraday rotation measure to be about -450 rad/sq m, similar to that found for 3C 391, which is also the Galactic plane and just about as distant. Spectral index images created from the total intensity images show that the spectral index across W49B is constant to within about Delta alpha approximately 0.1 in bright regions. This result weakly supports a common origin of the radio-emitting electrons, as in the blast wave, rather than in inhomogeneous turbulent regions of differing properties due to the stochastic (second-order Fermi) acceleration process. Variations at the level of Delta alpha approximately 0.1 are seen, but their significance is doubtful. New observations at 90 cm, using experimental three-dimensional imaging technology, may improve on this limit.

Moffett, David A.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Probing a GRB Progenitor at a Redshift of z=2: A Comprehensive Observing Campaign of the Afterglow of GRB 030226l

We report results from a comprehensive optical/near-infrared follow-up observing campaign of the afterglow of GRB 030226, including VLT spectroscopy and polarimetry, supplemented by Chandra X-ray and BOOTES-1 rapid response observations. First observations at ESO started 0.2 days after the burst when the afterglow was at a magnitude of R approx. 19. The multi-color light curve of the afterglow, with a break around 1 day after the burst, is achromatic within the observational uncertainties even during episodes of short-term fluctuations. Close to the break time the degree of linear polarization of the afterglow light was less than 1.1%, consistent with low intrinsic polarization observed in other afterglows. VLT spectra show a foreground absorber of Mg II at a redshift z=1.042 and two absorption line systems at redshifts z=1.962+/-0.001 and at z=1.986+/-0.001, placing the lower limit for the redshift of the GRB close to 2. The kinematics and the composition of the absorbing clouds is very similar to those observed in the afterglow of GRB 021004, supporting the view that at least some GRBs are physically related to the explosion of a Wolf-Rayet star.

Klose, S.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Energization pf polar-cusp electrons at the noon meridian

Observations gained with an electrostatic analyzer on board the low altitude, polar orbiting Aeriel 4 satellite demonstrate that the directional, differential spectra of polar-cusp electron intensities are regulated by the sign of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) elevation angle. In the energy range 200 is approximately less than E is approximately less than 700 eV, spectra of polar cusp electron intensities were not observed to respond to changes in the sign of the IMF elevation angle. At greater densities, spectra were found to be significantly harder when the IMF angle of elevation was greater than 0 deg, with a factor of approximately 10 typical for 2-keV electron intensities. These enhanced intensities appear to be localized within approximately a one hour sector of magnetic local time centered on the noon meridian.

Craven, J. D.↗