Light detection instrument Patent

Detection instrument for light emitted from ATP biochemical reactio

Navigation and guidance requirements for commercial VTOL operations

The NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) has undertaken a research program to develop the navigation, guidance, control, and flight management technology base needed by Government and industry in establishing systems design concepts and operating procedures for VTOL short-haul transportation systems in the 1980s time period. The VALT (VTOL Automatic Landing Technology) Program encompasses the investigation of operating systems and piloting techniques associated with VTOL operations under all-weather conditions from downtown vertiports; the definition of terminal air traffic and airspace requirements; and the development of avionics including navigation, guidance, controls, and displays for automated takeoff, cruise, and landing operations. The program includes requirements analyses, design studies, systems development, ground simulation, and flight validation efforts

Is Hyperconjugation Responsible For The Gauche Effect In 1-Fluoropropane And Other 2-Substituted-1-Fluoroethanes?

The energies and geometries of a series of 2-substituted-1-fluoroethanes were computed at the MP2/6-311++G**(6D)//MP2/6-31+G* level of theory for both the maxima and minima of the rotation about the C-C bond. The results did not support the predictions of a hyperconjugative model, that both 1,2-difluoroethane and 1-chloro-2-fluoroethane would strongly prefer a gauche conformation, and that 1-fluoro-2-silylethane would strongly prefer an anti conformation. The existence of competing electrostatic interactions between the fluorine and the substituents at C-2 was indicated by the detailed geometries of the gauche conformers and by the calculated sensitivity of the gauche-anti energy differences to the presence of a polar solvent. However, Fourier analyses of the torsional potential energies were wholly consistent with hyperconjugative electron donation into the C-F sigma* orbital contributing to the conformational preferences of these 1-fluoroethanes. Fourier analyses also showed that hyperconjugation contributes to the small variations in C-C and C-F bond lengths and in fluorine atomic charges that were computed. The torsional potential energies, variations in geometry and atomic charge, and sensitivity to solvent were all in accord with the expected ranking of hyperconjugative electron donating ability of bonds to carbon, C-Si \u3e C-H \u3e C-C \u3e C-Cl \u3e C-F

Self-sterilization of bodies during outer planet entry

A body encountering the atmosphere of an outer planet is subjected to heat loads which could result in high temperature conditions that render terrestrial organisms on or within the body nonviable. To determine whether an irregularly shaped entering body, consisting of several different materials, would be sterilized during inadvertent entry at high velocity, the thermal response of a typical outer planet spacecraft instrument was studied. The results indicate that the Teflon insulated cable and electronic circuit boards may not experience sterilizing temperatures during a Jupiter, Saturn, or Titan entry. Another conclusion of the study is that small plastic particles entering Saturn from outer space have wider survival corridors than do those at Jupiter

Display/control requirements for automated VTOL aircraft

A systematic design methodology for pilot displays in advanced commercial VTOL aircraft was developed and refined. The analyst is provided with a step-by-step procedure for conducting conceptual display/control configurations evaluations for simultaneous monitoring and control pilot tasks. The approach consists of three phases: formulation of information requirements, configuration evaluation, and system selection. Both the monitoring and control performance models are based upon the optimal control model of the human operator. Extensions to the conventional optimal control model required in the display design methodology include explicit optimization of control/monitoring attention; simultaneous monitoring and control performance predictions; and indifference threshold effects. The methodology was applied to NASA's experimental CH-47 helicopter in support of the VALT program. The CH-47 application examined the system performance of six flight conditions. Four candidate configurations are suggested for evaluation in pilot-in-the-loop simulations and eventual flight tests

Deformation Energy Minima at Finite Mass Asymmetry

A very general saddle point nuclear shape may be found as a solution of an integro-differential equation without giving apriori any shape parametrization. By introducing phenomenological shell corrections one obtains minima of deformation energy for binary fission of parent nuclei at a finite (non-zero) mass asymmetry. Results are presented for reflection asymmetric saddle point shapes of thorium and uranium even-mass isotopes with A=226-238 and A=230-238 respectively.Comment: 5 pages, 2 Postscript figures, REVTeX, Version 4.

Real-Time Operating System/360

RTOS has a cost savings advantage for real-time applications, such as those with random inputs requiring a flexible data routing facility, display systems simplified by a device independent interface language, and complex applications needing added storage protection and data queuing

Display/control requirements for VTOL aircraft

Quantative metrics were determined for system control performance, workload for control, monitoring performance, and workload for monitoring. Pilot tasks were allocated for navigation and guidance of automated commercial V/STOL aircraft in all weather conditions using an optimal control model of the human operator to determine display elements and design

Flight test and evaluation of Omega navigation in a general aviation aircraft. Volume 2: Appendices

Detailed documentation for each flight of the Omega Flight Evaluation study is presented, including flight test description sheets and actual flight data plots. Computer programs used for data processing and flight planning are explained and the data formats utilized by the Custom Interface Unit are summarized

Controlled Manipulation of Individual Vortices in a Superconductor

We report controlled local manipulation of single vortices by low temperature magnetic force microscope (MFM) in a thin film of superconducting Nb. We are able to position the vortices in arbitrary configurations and to measure the distribution of local depinning forces. This technique opens up new possibilities for the characterization and use of vortices in superconductors