Influence of structure and material research on advanced launch systems' weight, performance, and cost Summary report, May 25, 1965 - Jun. 30, 1967

Influence of structure and materials research on weight, performance, and cost of advanced launch vehicle system

Advanced expander test bed program

The Advanced Expander Test Bed (AETB) is a key element in NASA's Chemical Transfer Propulsion Program for development and demonstration of expander cycle oxygen/hydrogen engine technology component technology for the next space engine. The AETB will be used to validate the high-pressure expander cycle concept, investigate system interactions, and conduct investigations of advanced missions focused components and new health monitoring techniques. The split-expander cycle AETB will operate at combustion chamber pressures up to 1200 psia with propellant flow rates equivalent to 20,000 lbf vacuum thrust

Nutritional and cultural aspects of plant species selection for a controlled ecological life support system

The feasibility of using higher plants in a controlled ecological life support system is discussed. Aspects of this system considered important in the use of higher plants include: limited energy, space, and mass, and problems relating to cultivation and management of plants, food processing, the psychological impact of vegetarian diets, and plant propagation. A total of 115 higher plant species are compared based on 21 selection criteria

A position sensitive phoswich hard X-ray detector system

A prototype position sensitive phoswich hard X-ray detector, designed for eventual astronomical usage, was tested in the laboratory. The scintillation crystal geometry was designed on the basis of a Monte Carlo simulation of the internal optics and includes a 3mm thick NaI(T1) primary X-ray detector which is actively shielded by a 20 mm thick CsI(T1) scintillation crystal. This phoswich arrangement is viewed by a number two inch photomultipliers. Measured values of the positional and spectral resolution of incident X-ray photons are compared with calculation

Computer program to predict noise of general aviation aircraft: User's guide

Program NOISE predicts General Aviation Aircraft far-field noise levels at FAA FAR Part 36 certification conditions. It will also predict near-field and cabin noise levels for turboprop aircraft and static engine component far-field noise levels

Study of zero-gravity, vapor/liquid separators

Heat exchange, mechanical separation, surface tension, and dielectrophoretic methods of separating vapor from liquid at zero gravity for vapor ventin

Shock temperatures in anorthite glass

Temperatures of CaAl2Si2O8 (anorthite glass) shocked to pressures between 48 and 117 GPa were measured in the range from 2500 to 5600 K, using optical pyrometry techniques. The pressure dependence of the shock temperatures deviates significantly from predictions based on a single high pressure phase. At least three phase transitions, at pressures of about 55, 85, and 100 GPa and with transition energies of about 0.5 MJ/kg each (approximately 1.5 MJ/kg total) are required to explain the shock temperature data. The phase transition at 100 GPa can possibly be identified with the stishovite melting transition. Theoretical models of the time dependence of the thermal radiation from the shocked anorthite based on the geometry of the experiment and the absorptive properties of the shocked material yields good agreement with observations, indicating that it is not necessary to invoke intrinsic time dependences to explain the data in many cases

Credit Access: Implications for Sole-Proprietor Household Production

The objective of this study is to explain the determinants of farm and non-farm sole proprietorship households access to credit as well as the extent their credit constraints impact their value of production. A propensity, kernel-based matching estimator was employed to provide unbiased estimates of the production impacts of being denied credit. Prior research efforts have used inferior methods, including the two-stage Heckman estimator deal with estimation issues (selection bias and endogeneity) inherent in determining impacts of credit access and use. Results suggest that credit constrained sole-proprietorships, farm and non-farm, have a significantly lower value of production, but this drop in production, when aggregated to a national level, is small.farm credit, credit constraint, debt, Agricultural Finance,

Summary of recent NASA propeller research

Advanced high-speed propellers offer large performance improvements for aircraft that cruise in the Mach 0.7 to 0.8 speed regime. At these speeds, studies indicate that there is a 15 to near 40 percent block fuel savings and associated operating cost benefits for advanced turboprops compared to equivalent technology turbofan powered aircraft. Recent wind tunnel results for five eight to ten blade advanced models are compared with analytical predictions. Test results show that blade sweep was important in achieving net efficiencies near 80 percent at Mach 0.8 and reducing nearfield cruise noise by about 6 dB. Lifting line and lifting surface aerodynamic analysis codes are under development and some results are compared with propeller force and probe data. Also, analytical predictions are compared with some initial laser velocimeter measurements of the flow field velocities of an eightbladed 45 swept propeller. Experimental aeroelastic results indicate that cascade effects and blade sweep strongly affect propeller aeroelastic characteristics. Comparisons of propeller near-field noise data with linear acoustic theory indicate that the theory adequately predicts near-field noise for subsonic tip speeds but overpredicts the noise for supersonic tip speeds