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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 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1976

Investigation of a new stony meteorite from Mauritania with some additional data on its find site - Aouelloul crater

The Zerga meteorite, a small stony meteorite found at Aouelloul crater, is a fragment of a larger mass with a pre-atmospheric radius between 20 and 125 cm. The meteorite is a typical amphoterite, with monomict brecchia which has undergone at least one recrystallization episode. The terrestrial age of the meteorite is roughly an order of magnitude smaller than the K-Ar gas-retention age (about 3.1 million years) of the glassy impactite found at the crater, which is close to the age of the nearby Tenoumer crater (about 2.5 million years). The similar ages of the two craters, together with their alignment with the Temimichat Ghallaman crater, suggest a simultaneous triple impact following the disruption of a large meteorite moving on a very shallow earth trajectory. The unusually shallow original depths inferred for two of the craters may be explained by low impact angles.

Fudali, R. F.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Infrared (2.08-14 micron) spectra of powered stony meteorites

Infrared biconical reflectance spectra of 60 powdered meteorite samples, representing 50 different stony meteorites, were measured as analogues of asteroidal regolith. Representative samples were measured in directional hemispherical reflectance to assure that Kirchhoff's Law can be used to predict relative emissivity from the reflectance spectra. These spectral data confirm that the O-H fundamental absorption band near 2.9 microns is an extremely sensitive indicator of incipient alteration, which often has taken place in powdered meteorite samples exposed only to water vapor in the air. Such non-carbonaceous samples typically contain less than 1 percent water by weight. Likewise, the C-H fundamental absorption bands near 3.4 and 3.5 microns are equally sensitive indicators of contamination with volatile hydrocarbons, which can also be absorbed from the air. The heavy, macromolecular hydrocarbons native to chondrites do not display such heavy bands, making detection of these bands in remote sensing of asteroids unlikely. Despite the spectral artifacts introduced by alteration and hydrocarbon contamination, powdered stony meteorites display a wide variety of real spectral features that can be used for their identification, including residual reststrahlen bands, absorption bands, and the Christiansen feature. Researchers found that the wavelengths of the peaks or troughs of each of these spectral features can be used independently to infer meteorite composition, but the best results are obtained when the entire spectral curve is used, or at least the portion of it encompassed by the 8 to 14 micron atmospheric window, in a digital search library.

Salisbury, J. W.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Do stony meteorites come from comets

The solar gas content of stony meteorites is used to determine their place of origin. The inert gas content and surface exposure age of meteorites and lunar regolith samples are compared, and the results suggest that gas implantation took place between 1 and 8 AU from the sun, i.e., in the asteroid belt. The prevalence of gas-rich meteorites is cited to indicate that the parent body must remain in the asteroid belt long enough to develop a substantial regolith, a condition which can be met by asteroids, but not by short period comets. It is concluded that all stony meteorite classes with gas-rich members, including carbonaceous chondrites, originated in asteroidal material.

Anders, E.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Fluid inclusions in stony meteorites

The fluid inclusions presently described for five stony meteorites brings to seven the number of such meteorites confirmed. Homogenization temperatures are reproducible in each inclusion, and range from 25 C to over 225 C, with some vapor plus liquid inclusions remaining at 225 C, the highest temperature in these microthermometric experiments. Upon cooling, the fluid in some inclusions appears to freeze, as indicated by deformation and immobilization of the vapor bubble at low temperatures. Melting temperatures are by contrast difficult to observe and are not reproducible. Microthermometric data for the fluid in diogenite ALPHA 77256 and inclusions in four chondrites suggest that the fluid is aqueous, with a high solute content.

Warner, J. L.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Cosmic Ray Exposure Ages of Stony Meteorites: Space Erosion or Yarkovsky?

Space erosion from dust impacts may set upper limits on the cosmic ray exposure (CRE) ages of stony meteorites. A meteoroid orbiting within the asteroid belt is bombarded by both cosmic rays and interplanetary dust particles. Galactic cosmic rays penetrate only the first few meters of the meteoroid; deeper regions are shielded. The dust particle impacts create tiny craters on the meteoroid's surface, wearing it away by space erosion (abrasion) at a particular rate. Hence a particular point inside a meteoroid accumulates cosmic ray products only until that point wears away, limiting CRE ages. The results would apply to other regolith-free surfaces in the solar system as well, so that abrasion may set upper CRE age limits which depend on the dusty environment. Calculations based on N. Divine's dust populations and on micrometeoroid cratering indicate that stony meteoroids in circular ecliptic orbits at 2 AU will record 21Ne CRE ages of approx.176 x 10(exp 6) years if dust masses are in the range 10(exp -21) - 10(exp -3) kg. This is in broad agreement with the maximum observed CRE ages of approx. 100 x 10(exp 6) years for stones. High erosion rates in the inner solar system may limit the CRE ages of Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs) to approx. 120 x 10(exp 6) years. If abrasion should prove to be approx. 6 times quicker than found here, then space erosion may be responsible for many of the measured CRE ages of main belt stony meteorites. In that case the CRE ages may not measure the drift time to the resonances due to the Yarkovsky effects as in the standard scenario, and that for some reason Yarkovsky is ineffective.

Yarkovsky↗
NASA NTRS1985

A model for GCR-particle fluxes in stony meteorites and production rates of cosmogenic nuclides

A model is presented for the differential fluxes of galactic-cosmic-ray (GCR) particles with energies above 1 MeV inside any spherical stony meteorite as a function of the meteorite's radius and the sample's depth. This model is based on the Reedy-Arnold equations for the energy-dependent fluxes of GCR particles in the moon and is an extension of flux parameters that were derived for several meteorites of various sizes. This flux is used to calculate the production rates of many cosmogenic nuclides as a function of radius and depth. The peak production rates for most nuclides made by the reactions and energetic GCR particles occur near the centers of meteorites with radii of 40 to 70 g/cm (2). Although the model has some limitations, it reproduces well the basic trends for the depth-dependent production of cosmogenic nuclides in stony meteorites of various radii. These production profiles agree fairly well with measurments of cosmogenic nuclides in meteorites. Some of these production profiles are different than those calculated by others. The chemical dependence of the production rates for several nuclides varies with size and depth.

Reedy, R. C.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Neutron capture production rates of cosmogenic 60Co, 59Ni and 36Cl in stony meteorites

Results for neutron flux calculations in stony meteoroids (of various radii and compositions) and production rates for Cl-36, Ni-59, and Co-60 are reported. The Ni-59/Co-60 ratio is nearly constant with depth in most meteorites: this effect is consistent with the neutron flux and capture cross section properties. The shape of the neutron flux energy spectrum, varies little with depth in a meteorite. The size of the parent meteorite can be determined from one of its fragments, using the Ni-59/Co-60 ratios, if the parent meteorite was less than 75 g/cm(2) in radius. If the parent meteorite was larger, a lower limit on the size of the parent meteorite can be determined from a fragment. In C3 chondrites this is not possible. In stony meteorites with R less than 50 g/cm(2) the calculated Co-60 production rates (mass less than 4 kg), are below 1 atom/min g-Co. The highest Co-60 production rates occur in stony meteorites with radius about 250 g/cm(2) (1.4 m across). In meteorites with radii greater than 400 g/cm(2), the maximum Co-60 production rate occurs at a depth of about 175 g/cm(2) in L-chondrite, 125 g/cm(2) in C3 chrondrite, and 190 g/cm(2) in aubrites.

Spergel, M. S.↗