Channeled propagation of solar particles

Bartley (1966) and McCracken and Ness (1966) identified bundles of interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) lines that differed in direction from the interplanetary field lines in which they were imbedded. These bundles, called filaments differed in direction by as much as several tens of degrees from the surrounding field. The filaments werre first noticed due to the large and sudden change in flow direction of highly anisotropic solar flare protons in the energy range 1 to 13 MeV. Passage of the filaments over the spacecraft required a few hours, implying a diameter for the filaments of approximately 3 x 10 to the 6th power km at a distance of 1 AU from the Sun. In 1968, Jakipii and Parker used Leighton's hypothesis of random walk of magnetic field lines associated with granules and supergranules (1964) to develop a picture of an interplanetary medium composed of a tangle of field lines frozen into the solar wind, but whose feet were carried about by the random motions at the solar surface. Jakipii and Parker noted that using a correlation length of 15,000 km - about the radius of a supergranule - the magnetic structure would be 3 x 10 to the 6th power km in size of the filaments as determined by Bartley and McCracken and Ness. These workers did not find changes in the solar particle intensity, anisotropy ratio or energy spectrum as the spacecraft entered the filament

Particle propagation channels in the solar wind

The intensities of low energy solar-interplanetary electrons and ions at 1 AU occasionally change in a square wave manner. The changes may be increases or decreases and they typically have durations of from one hour to a few hours. In some cases these channels are bounded by discontinuities in the interplanetary field and the plasma properties differ from the surrounding solar wind. In one case solar flare particles were confined to a channel of width 3 x 10 to the 6th km at Earth. At the Sun this dimension extrapolates to about 12,000 km, a size comparable to small flares

Engineering estimates for supersonic flutter of curved shell segments

Engineering estimates for supersonic flutter of curved shell panel

Effect of bow-type initial imperfection on the buckling load and mass of graphite-epoxy blade-stiffened panels

A structural synthesis computer code which accounts for first order effects of an initial bow and which can be used for sizing stiffened composite panels having an arbitrary cross section is used to study graphite blade-stiffened panels. The effect of a small initial bow on both the load carrying ability of panels and on the mass of panels designed to carry a specified load is examined. Large reductions in the buckling load caused by a small initial bow emphasize the need for considering a bow when a panel is designed

ATM-CMG control system stability

Stability analyses and simulation data and results are presented for an initial Control Moment Gyroscope system proposed for the Apollo Telescope Mount cluster (later named Skylab) using momentum vector feedback. A compensation filtering technique is presented which significantly improved analytical and simulation performance of the system. This technique is quite similar to the complementary filtering technique and represents an early NASA application

Evolution of antigen binding receptors

This review addresses issues related to the evolution of the complex multigene families of antigen binding receptors that function in adaptive immunity. Advances in molecular genetic technology now permit the study of immunoglobulin (Ig) and T cell receptor (TCR) genes in many species that are not commonly studied yet represent critical branch points in vertebrate phylogeny. Both Ig and TCR genes have been defined in most of the major lineages of jawed vertebrates, including the cartilaginous fishes, which represent the most phylogenetically divergent jawed vertebrate group relative to the mammals. Ig genes in cartilaginous fish are encoded by multiple individual loci that each contain rearranging segmental elements and constant regions. In some loci, segmental elements are joined in the germline, i.e. they do not undergo genetic rearrangement. Other major differences in Ig gene organization and the mechanisms of somatic diversification have occurred throughout vertebrate evolution. However, relating these changes to adaptive immune function in lower vertebrates is challenging. TCR genes exhibit greater sequence diversity in individual segmental elements than is found in Ig genes but have undergone fewer changes in gene organization, isotype diversity, and mechanisms of diversification. As of yet, homologous forms of antigen binding receptors have not been identified in jawless vertebrates; however, acquisition of large amounts of structural data for the antigen binding receptors that are found in a variety of jawed vertebrates has defined shared characteristics that provide unique insight into the distant origins of the rearranging gene systems and their relationships to both adaptive and innate recognition processes

Synchronizer for random binary data

Simplified binary-data transition detector, for synchronization of relatively noise-free signals, can be used with radio or cable data-control links. It permits reception of binary data in absence of clock signal or self-clocking coder

Vibration and Instability of Plate-Assemblies including Shear and Anisotropy (VIPASA) user's guide, addendum

Extensions developed at Langley Research Center to the VIPASA computer program are described including a procedure for simple thermal stress analysis and options for graphical display of output. Input requirements for operation of the modified program are given in detail

A radar data processing and enhancement system

This report describes the space position data processing system of the NASA Western Aeronautical Test Range. The system is installed at the Dryden Flight Research Facility of NASA Ames Research Center. This operational radar data system (RADATS) provides simultaneous data processing for multiple data inputs and tracking and antenna pointing outputs while performing real-time monitoring, control, and data enhancement functions. Experience in support of the space shuttle and aeronautical flight research missions is described, as well as the automated calibration and configuration functions of the system