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Results for “in-situ measurements”

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 NTRS1971

In-situ measurement of objective lens data of a high-resolution electron microscope.

Bragg-reflex images of small individual crystallites in the size range of 20-100 A diameter with known crystallographic orientation were used in a transmission electron microscope to determine in-situ: (a) the relationship between objective lens current (or accelerating voltage) changes in discrete steps and corresponding defocus, (b) the spherical aberration coefficient, and (c) the axial chromatic aberration coefficient of the objective lens. The accuracy of the described method is better than 5%. The same specimen can advantageously be used to properly aline the illuminating beam with respect to the optical axis.

Heinemann, K.↗
NASA NTRS1972

A Preliminary Study of a Buoy System for Acquisition, Transmission, and Management of Hydrological Data Obtained from In-situ Measurements

The requirements for a system of remotely located, data collection buoys are considered first for a prototype system to be used in conjunction with the Earth Resources Technology Satellite (ERTS-A), and then for a more advanced system. The necessary sensor characteristics for compatibility with the ERTS-A data collection platforms are considered, as well as possible sites for location of the prototype buoys. The advanced system is considered from the standpoint of continuous data collection both through satellite data relay and ground telemetry systems. Management of the data from a buoy system is analyzed, especially with regard to the advanced system.

Elliott, J. M.↗
NASA NTRS1971

Some implications of satellite spin effects in cylindrical probe measurements

In-situ measurements of ambient electron densities with satellite-borne cylindrical probes exhibit periodic variations synchronous with the satellite's spin cycle. Representing these fluctuations as a superposition of effects attributable to both the presence of the satellite wake and the geomagnetic field leads to a model of the modulations of accelerated electron current to cylindrical probes in which one modulation component displays current variations dependent upon the probe-velocity angle (psi) and the other displays variations dependent upon the angle between the probe axis and the geomagnetic field lines (beta). The modulations produce an electron current decrease whenever the probe axis rotates into the satellite wake or whenever the probe axis rotates toward alignment with the geomagnetic field lines. With increasing altitude, the modulation dependent upon psi decreases whereas the modulation dependent upon beta increases. The analysis results imply that the most accurate of atmospheric electron densities by satellite-borne cylindrical probes come from measurements taken out of the satellite's wake and when the probe axis is within 20 degrees of being perpendicular to the geomagnetic field lines.

Miller, N. J.↗
NASA NTRS1973

The Nimbus 4 infrared spectroscopy experiment. 2: Comparison of observed and theoretical radiance from 425-1450 cm(minus 1)

The Nimbus 4 infrared interferometer spectrometer (IRIS) measured the thermal emission of the earth's atmosphere and surface from 400-1600/cm with an apodized spectral resolution of 2.8/cm. A comparison of theoretical radiances, computed from in-situ measurements and using a direct integration slant path atmospheric transmittance model, with the observed IRIS radiances has been made to verify the radiometeric and spectral performance of the instrument and to assess the accuracy of the atmospheric transmittances. The radiance comparison has indicated a relatively constant difference of less than 5% in the water vapor continuum in the 425-550/cm and 750-1200/cm atmospheric window regions while in the 667/cm CO2 band the difference was 5-10%. The absolute accuracy was found to be approximately 5-10% for each of the parameters; measured radiances, in-situ measurements, and the atmospheric transmittances, thus it is not possible to uniquely specify the degree of error arising from each parameter in the total resultant difference.

Kunde, V. G.↗
NASA NTRS1971

Bearing strength of lunar soil.

Bearing load vs penetration curves have been measured on a 1.3 g sample of lunar soil from the scoop of the Surveyor 3 soil mechanics surface sampler, using a circular indentor 2 mm in diameter. Measurements were made in an Earth laboratory, in air. This sample provided a unique opportunity to evaluate earlier, remotely controlled, in-situ measurements of lunar surface bearing properties. Bearing capacity, measured at a penetration equal to the indentor diameter, varied from 0.02-0.04 N/sq cm at bulk densities of 1.15 g/cu cm to 30-100 N/sq cm at 1.9 g/cu cm. Deformation was by compression directly below the indentor at bulk densities below 1.61 g/cu cm, by outward displacement at bulk densities over 1.62 g/cu cm. Preliminary comparison of in-situ remote measurements with those on returned material indicates good agreement if the lunar regolith at Surveyor 3 has a bulk density of 1.6 g/cu cm at 2.5 cm depth.

Jaffe, L. D.↗
NASA NTRS2026

Ice in Convective Storm Environments: Assessing Impacts of Microphysics on Simulated Reflectivities

Satellite radar retrievals of clouds and precipitation rely on assumptions about the microphysical properties of hydrometeors such as particle size distributions (PSDs) and massdimensional relationships, which have been shown to vary in distinct environments. A deeper understanding of linkages between mass-dimensional relationships, ice crystal shape, and radar reflectivities across cloud and precipitation regimes is necessary for developing new retrievals for upcoming satellite radar missions, including the INvestigation of Convective UpdraftS (INCUS), as well as future missions that will feature space-borne radars observing clouds, convection, and precipitation. This study investigates ice microphysical characteristics through aircraft in-situ and remote sensing observations from two convective events during the Mid-latitude Continental Convective Clouds Experiment (MC3E) in the Southern Great Plains, and tests implications for ice particle habit in forward modeled radar observations. During MC3E, the Ka/Ku- band High Altitude Imaging Wind and Rain Airborne Profiler (HIWRAP) was onboard the NASA ER-2 aircraft, while in-situ measurements were taken onboard the University of North Dakota Citation. In-situ PSDs and particle shape information from optical array probe data are used to forward model radar reflectivities from particle scattering databases and are compared against HIWRAP reflectivities. Various particle combinations can be used to find agreement with HIWRAP observations, and the forward modeled reflectivities were sensitive to particle type. Varying the riming on the aggregate and graupel particles resulted in larger than 10 dB differences in reflectivities. The in-situ and radar observations imply the occurrence of aggregation, size sorting and lofting particles.

Julia A. Shates↗
NASA NTRS1972

Optical properties of thermal control coating contaminated by MMH/N2O4 5-pound thruster in a vacuum environment with solar simulation

Cat-a-lac Black, and S13G thermal control coatings were exposed to the exhaust of a thruster in a simulated space environment. Vacuum was maintained at less than 10 to the minus 5th power torr during thruster firing in the liquid helium cooled facility. The thruster was fired in a 50-millisecond pulse mode and the accumulated firing time was 224 seconds. Solar absorptance (alpha sub s) and thermal emittance (sigma) of the coatings were measured in-situ at intervals of 300 pulses. A calorimetric technique was used to measure alpha sub s and sigma. The tests, technique, and test results are presented. The Cat-a-lac Black coatings showed no change in alpha sub s or sigma. The S13G showed up to 25 percent increase in alpha sub s but no change in sigma.

Sommers, R. D.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Optical properties of thermal control coatings contaminated by MMH/N2O4 5-pound thruster in a vacuum environment with solar simulation.

Cat-a-lac Black and S13G thermal control coatings were exposed to the exhaust of a thrustor in a simulated space environment. Vacuum was maintained at less than 10 microtorr during thrustor firing in the liquid helium cooled facility. The thrustor was fired in a 50-millisecond pulse mode, and the accumulated firing time was 224 seconds. Solar absorptance and thermal emittance of the coatings were measured in-situ at intervals of 300 pulses, using a calorimetric technique. The Cat-a-lac Black coatings showed no change in solar absorptance or thermal emittance. The S13G showed up to 25% increase in solar absorptance but no change in thermal emittance.

Sommers, R. D.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Development of a satellite microwave radiometer to sense the surface temperature of the world oceans

A proposed S-band radiometer for determining the ocean surface temperature with an absolute accuracy of + or - 1 Kelvin and a resolution of + or - .1 Kelvin was placed under the Advanced Applications Flight Experiment for further development into Nimbus readiness state. The results of assessing the following are described: effects due to the state of the sea surface, effects caused by the intervening atmosphere, and effects associated with imperfections in the instrument itself. An extensive sea truth program is also described for correlation of aircraft test flight measurements or of satellite remote measurement to in-situ data. An improved radiometer design is a modified Dicke-switch type with temperature stabilized, microwave integrated circuit, front-end and with a pulsed injection-noise nulling system. The radiometer has a multimode rectangular horn antenna with very low ohmic losses and a beam efficiency of 98% or better.

Hidy, G. M.↗
NASA NTRS1972

A new method for in situ electron temperature determinations from plasma wave phenomena

A discrepancy has been reported between the values of the electron temperature t sub e deduced from satellite electrostatic probe measurements and ground based radar backscatter measurements. This discrepancy (radar backscatter temperature less than the probe temperature) is not present when the probe experiment is flown on a rocket to lower altitudes but reappears when the rocket probe attains higher altitudes. There is a need for an independent radio wave method for making in-situ t sub e measurements in order to help resolve this problem. A new method of determining t sub e from the satellite resonant phenomena is presented. It is based on the splitting (observed at high latitudes) of the diffuse resonance which occurs at the frequency f sub d1 between f sub h and 2 f sub h. The advantage of this method over the other methods involving ionospheric resonances is the simplicity of the required calculations. There is, however, the limitation of plasma conditions where the f sub d1 resonance can be observed and the limitation to mid-to-high latitudes where the splitting is observed.

Oya, H.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

In-Situ Scanning Electron Microscope Experiments for Microscale Mechanical Testing and Validated Modeling of Fiber Reinforced Thermoplastics

A novel, in-situ, scanning electron microscope (SEM) mechanical testing capability for materials at the microscale which provides experimental validation to a machine learning (ML) toolset for full-field validation of physics-based micromechanics models is being developed by researchers at NASA Glenn Research Center. These are enabling technologies for the integration of multiscale digital twins for materials into system level models which will result in the improved performance, material discovery, reduced production cost and time, rapid characterization, and prognostic structural health monitoring (SHM) for materials and structures for extreme environments in support of NASA space exploration missions. In order to bridge the material structure-to-system gap for digital twins, physics-based models must be experimentally validated at multiple length scales. Seminal microscale experiments, conducted at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), were limited to transverse compression of single-layer, unidirectional thermoset polymer matrix composite (PMC) micropillar specimens [1]. The early phases of the current project followed those initial results and setup to reproduce the compression testing of PMC material on the custom-built piezoelectric actuated micromechanical testing rig built by MicroTesting Solutions LLC. In this work, samples of thermoplastic PMC material were first machined into 3 mm cubes, and then further machining and final milling was done using a Focused Ion Beam (FIB). The initial experiment was done on a pillar roughly 20 µm x 20 µm x 40 µm tall. Additional pillars were milled with final sizes ranging from 20 µm x 20 µm x 40 µm tall to 40 µm x 40 µm x 65 µm tall. A speckle pattern for in-situ full-field measurements using Digital Image Correlation (DIC) was applied with platinum, which was coated on the surface, and then the FIB was used to mill away some of the coating to produce an irregular pattern of Pt on the pillar surface. The samples were loaded into the custom testing rig and placed into the SEM and loaded under compression until failure. Images were collected in the SEM during testing. Post-processing of the images was conducted using DIC to obtain full-field displacement and strain measurements elucidating the role of the matrix as well as fiber-fiber interaction at the microscale within the composite subjected to compression loading well into the non-linear regime of the material. Moreover, the evolution of fiber-matrix debonding and matrix cracking is observed in-situ at the microscale. This data, along with images segmented with a newly developed ML toolset [2], was used to create and validate physics-based micromechanics models. An image of the failed micropillar is shown in Figure 1. The techniques developed in the initial compression experiment was tailored to the validation needs of the models and expanded to include different sized samples as well as possibly tension and fatigue.

Laura Wilson↗
NASA NTRS1972

Measurements of O(1 D) quenching rates in the F-region

In-situ determinations of the quenching of O(1 D) atoms by N2 and O2 molecules were made from observations of 6300 A nightglow intensity enhancements produced by the Platteville 1.6 MW transmitter. The heating of F-region electrons near the point of reflection of the RF wave leads to electron impact excitation of oxygen atoms to the O(1 D) state. It is shown that the resulting region of enhance 6300 A emission is localized to the region of electron energy absorption for heating at the lower altitudes. At 225 km the measured time constants for intensity buildup following transmitter turn-on and for intensity decay following turn-off are identical and equal to (13 plus or minus 1) sec. Time constants varying from 30 to 80 sec are found for the altitude range 260 to 300 km. The inferred quenching coefficient for the whole altitude range, 225 to 300 km, is 4.4 + 2 or - 1 x 10 to the minus 11th power cu cm/sec at 950 K, in good agreement with laboratory data. The quenching frequency obtained at 225 km, when referred to the altitude 120 km, is equal to (21 plus or minus 2)/sec, in agreement with less direct ionospheric determinations.

Sipler, D. P.↗
NASA NTRS1973

Static penetration resistance of soils

Model test results were used to define the failure mechanism associated with the static penetration resistance of cohesionless and low-cohesion soils. Knowledge of this mechanism has permitted the development of a new analytical method for calculating the ultimate penetration resistance which explicitly accounts for penetrometer base apex angle and roughness, soil friction angle, and the ratio of penetration depth to base width. Curves relating the bearing capacity factors to the soil friction angle are presented for failure in general shear. Strength parameters and penetrometer interaction properties of a fine sand were determined and used as the basis for prediction of the penetration resistance encountered by wedge, cone, and flat-ended penetrometers of different surface roughness using the proposed analytical method. Because of the close agreement between predicted values and values measured in laboratory tests, it appears possible to deduce in-situ soil strength parameters and their variation with depth from the results of static penetration tests.

Durgunoglu, H. T.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Using Open Innovation in Reducing Risk to Crews

In the exploration of destinations outside of Earth's neighborhood, specifically Mars, scientific and engineering inquiries have occurred by two means; observations from satellites and observations by landed spacecraft. Satellite observations (Mariner, MRO, Mars Odyssey, provide global-scale spatial and temporal data while landed spacecraft (Viking, Mars Pathfinder, Spirit, Opportunity, Phoenix Mars Lander) investigate highly localized areas of the surface of the planet. In preparation for human exploration, extensive knowledge of the surface and atmospheric environments should be known before the first human leaves Earth. The primary goal of performing reconnaissance on Mars on a sub-global scale is to know as much as possible about the environment to which crews will be subjected. At the current rate of launching and landing probes to Mars, it will take a very long time to understand the surface and atmospheric conditions associated with the regions where prospective crews may land. Meanwhile electronics and electrical systems are rapidly getting smaller. One can argue that to acquire the knowledge of the region, one must take hundreds, maybe thousands of measurements simultaneously. One means to perform such a task is to deploy a swarm of sensors. Such a swarm would perform an in-situ assessment of the region. Imagine a close flyby mission to Mars for example, where mini- to micro-sensors are deposited into the atmosphere over half an orbit or more. The sensors, captured by the atmospheric drag and Martian gravity slowly descend buffeted about by Martian winds and weather until they settle on the surface a great time later (think of how long dust takes to settle). As they descend they communicate a vast array of data; temperature, chemistry, pressure, radiation dose, electric or magnetic properties from a region of the planet and an individual sensor need not measure the same quantity as its neighbors. Initially, they could move at the whim of the environment but later versions could have locomotion or propulsion mechanisms. Humans wouldn't need to decide where the sensors go, the sensors do that for themselves. This is a key strength of a sensor swarm. The intelligence relies on the group not on a decision maker on earth. Real time sensor inputs direct what the swarm considers most interesting to investigate resulting in emergent behavior. We issued a $20,000 challenge to the global innovators to provide solutions as to how such a swarm could be initialized and by what protocols and methodologies by which they operate. Over 400 innovators from 49 countries took a look at the problem, with three receiving partial awards for solutions.

Mel Ferebee↗
NASA NTRS1971

Miniature pressure valve for on-board calibration of pressure transducers.

This paper describes the development and testing of a miniature one-pole, three-position pressure valve and actuation mechanism. This valve was designed primarily for installation with a pressure transducer directly in a wind-tunnel model, thereby reducing lag time effects resulting from long connecting tubes to the transducer. This valve provides for the in-situ calibration of the transducer during testing by providing one position for transducer zero, a second position for a known calibrate pressure, and a third position for measurement of the unknown test pressure. The valve is driven from the spring loaded test pressure position to the zero and calibrate positions by a pneumatically operated dual-piston yoke assembly. Large numbers of transducers can be simultaneously calibrated from a remote location in a matter of seconds.

Rollins, G. N.↗