2,372 research outputs found
Fixed-Base Simulator Studies of the Ability of the Human Pilot to Provide Energy Management Along Abort and Deep-Space Entry Trajectories
A simulation study has been made to determine a pilot's ability to control a low L/D vehicle to a desired point on the earth with initial conditions ranging from parabolic orbits to abort conditions along the boost phase of a deep-space mission. The program was conducted to develop procedures which would allow the pilot to perform the energy management functions required while avoiding the high deceleration or skipout region and to determine the information display required to aid the pilot in flying these procedures. The abort conditions studied extend from a region of relatively high flight-path angles at suborbital velocities while leaving the atmosphere to a region between orbital and near-escape velocity outside the atmosphere. The conditions studied included guidance from suborbital and superorbital aborts as well as guidance following return from a deepspace mission. In this paper, the role of the human pilot?s ability to combine safe return abort procedures with guidance procedures has been investigated. The range capability from various abort and entry conditions is also presented
General aviation approach and landing practices
The characteristics of air traffic patterns at uncontrolled airports and techniques used by a group of general aviation pilots in landing light airplanes are documented. The results of some 1,600 radar tracks taken at four uncontrolled airports and some 600 landings made by 22 pilots in two, four place, single engine light airplanes show that the uncontrolled traffic pattern is highly variable. The altitudes, distances, and piloting procedures utilized may affect the ability for pilots to see-and-avoid in this environment. Most landing approaches were conducted at an airspeed above recommended, resulting in significant floating during flare and touchdowns that were relatively flat and often nose-low
Description of an experimental (hydrogen peroxide) rocket system and its use in measuring aileron and rudder effectiveness of a light airplane
A hydrogen peroxide fueled rocket system, which is to be used as a research tool in flight studies of stall and spin maneuvers, was installed on a light, four place general aviation airplane. The pilot controlled rocket system produces moments about either the roll or the yaw body axis to augment or oppose the aerodynamic forces and inertial moments acting on the airplane during various flight maneuvers, including the spin. These controlled moments of a known magnitude can be used in various ways to help analyze and interpret the importance of the various factors which influence airplane maneuvers. The rocket system and its installation in the airplane are described, and the results of flight rests used to measure rudder and aileron effectiveness at airspeeds above the stall are presented. These tests also serve to demonstrate the operational readiness of the rocket system for future research operations
General properties of cosmological models with an Isotropic Singularity
Much of the published work regarding the Isotropic Singularity is performed
under the assumption that the matter source for the cosmological model is a
barotropic perfect fluid, or even a perfect fluid with a -law equation
of state. There are, however, some general properties of cosmological models
which admit an Isotropic Singularity, irrespective of the matter source. In
particular, we show that the Isotropic Singularity is a point-like singularity
and that vacuum space-times cannot admit an Isotropic Singularity. The
relationships between the Isotropic Singularity, and the energy conditions, and
the Hubble parameter is explored. A review of work by the authors, regarding
the Isotropic Singularity, is presented.Comment: 18 pages, 1 figur
Apparent horizons in the quasi-spherical Szekeres models
The notion of an apparent horizon (AH) in a collapsing object can be carried
over from the Lema\^{\i}tre -- Tolman (L--T) to the quasispherical Szekeres
models in three ways: 1. Literally by the definition -- the AH is the boundary
of the region, in which every bundle of null geodesics has negative expansion
scalar. 2. As the locus, at which null lines that are as nearly radial as
possible are turned toward decreasing areal radius . These lines are in
general nongeodesic. The name "absolute apparent horizon" (AAH) is proposed for
this locus. 3. As the boundary of a region, where null \textit{geodesics} are
turned toward decreasing . The name "light collapse region" (LCR) is
proposed for this region (which is 3-dimensional in every space of constant
); its boundary coincides with the AAH. The AH and AAH coincide in the L--T
models. In the quasispherical Szekeres models, the AH is different from (but
not disjoint with) the AAH. Properties of the AAH and LCR are investigated, and
the relations between the AAH and the AH are illustrated with diagrams using an
explicit example of a Szekeres metric. It turns out that an observer who is
already within the AH is, for some time, not yet within the AAH. Nevertheless,
no light signal can be sent through the AH from the inside. The analogue of the
AAH for massive particles is also considered.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures, includes little extensions and style corrections
made after referee's comments, the text matches the published versio
Does the Sun Shrink with Increasing Magnetic Activity?
We have analyzed the full set of SOHO/MDI f- and p-mode oscillation
frequencies from 1996 to date in a search for evidence of solar radius
evolution during the rising phase of the current activity cycle. Like Antia et
al. (2000), we find that a significant fraction of the f-mode frequency changes
scale with frequency; and that if these are interpreted in terms of a radius
change, it implies a shrinking sun. Our inferred rate of shrinkage is about 1.5
km/y, which is somewhat smaller than found by Antia et al. We argue that this
rate does not refer to the surface, but rather to a layer extending roughly
from 4 to 8 Mm beneath the visible surface. The rate of shrinking may be
accounted for by an increasing radial component of the rms random magnetic
field at a rate that depends on its radial distribution. If it were uniform,
the required field would be ~7 kG. However, if it were inwardly increasing,
then a 1 kG field at 8 Mm would suffice.
To assess contribution to the solar radius change arising above 4Mm, we
analyzed the p-mode data. The evolution of the p-mode frequencies may be
explained by a magnetic^M field growing with activity. The implications of the
near-surface magnetic field changes depend on the anisotropy of the random
magnetic field. If the field change is predominantly radial, then we infer an
additional shrinking at a rate between 1.1-1.3 km/y at the photosphere. If on
the other hand the increase is isotropic, we find a competing expansion at a
rate of 2.3 km/y. In any case, variations in the sun's radius in the activity
cycle are at the level of 10^{-5} or less, hence have a negligible contribution
to the irradiance variations.Comment: 10 pages (ApJ preprint style), 4 figures; accepted for publication in
Ap
Properties of Umbral Dots as Measured from the New Solar Telescope Data and MHD Simulations
We studied bright umbral dots (UDs) detected in a moderate size sunspot and
compared their statistical properties to recent MHD models. The study is based
on high resolution data recorded by the New Solar Telescope at the Big Bear
Solar Observatory and 3D MHD simulations of sunspots. Observed UDs, living
longer than 150 s, were detected and tracked in a 46 min long data set, using
an automatic detection code. Total 1553 (620) UDs were detected in the
photospheric (low chromospheric) data. Our main findings are: i) none of the
analyzed UDs is precisely circular, ii) the diameter-intensity relationship
only holds in bright umbral areas, and iii) UD velocities are inversely related
to their lifetime. While nearly all photospheric UDs can be identified in the
low chromospheric images, some small closely spaced UDs appear in the low
chromosphere as a single cluster. Slow moving and long living UDs seem to exist
in both the low chromosphere and photosphere, while fast moving and short
living UDs are mainly detected in the photospheric images. Comparison to the 3D
MHD simulations showed that both types of UDs display, on average, very similar
statistical characteristics. However, i) the average number of observed UDs per
unit area is smaller than that of the model UDs, and ii) on average, the
diameter of model UDs is slightly larger than that of observed ones.Comment: Accepted by the AP
Measures of gravitational entropy I. Self-similar spacetimes
We examine the possibility that the gravitational contribution to the entropy
of a system can be identified with some measure of the Weyl curvature. In this
paper we consider homothetically self-similar spacetimes. These are believed to
play an important role in describing the asymptotic properties of more general
models. By exploiting their symmetry properties we are able to impose
significant restrictions on measures of the Weyl curvature which could reflect
the gravitational entropy of a system. In particular, we are able to show, by
way of a more general relation, that the most widely used "dimensionless"
scalar is \textit{not} a candidate for this measure along homothetic
trajectories.Comment: revtex, minor clarifications, to appear in Physical Review
Geometry of the quasi-hyperbolic Szekeres models
Geometric properties of the quasi-hyperbolic Szekeres models are discussed
and related to the quasi-spherical Szekeres models. Typical examples of shapes
of various classes of 2-dimensional coordinate surfaces are shown in graphs;
for the hyperbolically symmetric subcase and for the general quasi-hyperbolic
case. An analysis of the mass function is carried out in parallel to an
analogous analysis for the quasi-spherical models. This leads to the conclusion
that determines the density of rest mass averaged over the whole space
of constant time.Comment: 19 pages, 13 figures. This version matches the published tex
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