15,264 research outputs found
Ablation structures Patent
Design, development, and characteristics of ablation structure
Vehicle parachute and equipment jettison system Patent
Parachute system for lowering manned spacecraft from post-reentry to ocean landin
Aerial capsule emergency separation device Patent
Aerial capsule emergency separation device using jettisonable tower
Modification and improvements to cooled blades Patent
Modification and improvement of turbine blades for maximum cooling efficienc
Space capsule Patent
Manned space capsule configuration for orbital flight and atmospheric reentr
Development of dry coal feeders
Design and fabrication of equipment of feed coal into pressurized environments were investigated. Concepts were selected based on feeder system performance and economic projections. These systems include: two approaches using rotating components, a gas or steam driven ejector, and a modified standpipe feeder concept. Results of development testing of critical components, design procedures, and performance prediction techniques are reviewed
A Near-Infrared L Band Survey of the Young Embedded Cluster NGC 2024
We present the results of the first sensitive L band (3.4 micron) imaging
study of the nearby young embedded cluster NGC 2024. Two separate surveys of
the cluster were acquired in order to obtain a census of the circumstellar disk
fraction in the cluster. From an analysis of the JHKL colors of all sources in
our largest area, we find an infrared excess fraction of > 86%. The JHKL colors
suggest that the infrared excesses arise in circumstellar disks, indicating
that the majority of the sources which formed in the NGC 2024 cluster are
currently surrounded by, and likely formed with circumstellar disks. The excess
fractions remain very high, within the errors, even at the faintest L
magnitudes from our deeper surveys suggesting that disks form around the
majority of the stars in very young clusters such as NGC 2024 independent of
mass. From comparison with published JHKL observations of Taurus, we find the K
- L excess fraction in NGC 2024 to be consistent with a high initial incidence
of circumstellar disks in both NGC 2024 and Taurus. Because NGC 2024 represents
a region of much higher stellar density than Taurus, this suggests that disks
may form around most of the YSOs in star forming regions independent of
environment. We find a relatively constant JHKL excess fraction with increasing
cluster radius, indicating that the disk fraction is independent of location in
the cluster. In contrast, the JHK excess fraction increases rapidly toward the
central region of the cluster, and is most likely due to contamination of the K
band measurements by bright nebulosity in the central regions of the cluster.
We identify 45 candidate protostellar sources in the central regions of the NGC
2024 cluster, and find a lower limit on the protostellar phase of early stellar
evolution of 0.4 - 1.4 X 10^5 yr, similar to that in Taurus.Comment: 37 pages, 8 figures, 3 tables, To appear in the Astronomical Journa
Desert Rats 2011 Mission Simulation: Effects of Microgravity Operational Modes on Fields Geology Capabilities
Desert Research and Technology Studies (DRATS) is a multi-year series of NASA tests that deploy planetary surface hardware and exercise mission and science operations in difficult conditions to advance human and robotic exploration capabilities. DRATS 2011 (Aug. 30-Sept. 9, 2011) tested strategies for human exploration of microgravity targets such as near-Earth asteroids (NEAs). Here we report the crew perspective on the impact of simulated microgravity operations on our capability to conduct field geology
Solar Wind Sputtering of Lunar Surface Materials: Role and Some Possible Implications of Potential Sputtering
Solar-wind induced sputtering of the lunar surface includes, in principle, both kinetic and potential sputtering. The role of the latter mechanism, however, in many focused studies has not been properly ascertained due partly to lack of data but can also be attributed to the assertion that the contribution of solar-wind heavy ions to the total sputtering is quite low due to their low number density compared to solar-wind protons. Limited laboratory measurements show marked enhancements in the sputter yields of slow-moving, highly-charged ions impacting oxides. Lunar surface sputtering yields are important as they affect, e.g., estimates of the compositional changes in the lunar surface, its erosion rate, as well as its contribution to the exosphere as well as estimates of hydrogen and water contents. Since the typical range of solar-wind ions at ~1 keV/amu is comparable to the thickness of the amorphous rim found on lunar soil grains, i.e. ~ few 10s nm, lunar simulant samples JSC-1A AGGL are specifically enhanced to have such rims in addition to the other known characteristics of the actual lunar soil particles. However, most, if not all laboratory studies of potential sputtering were carried out in single crystal targets, quite different from the rim s amorphous structure. The effect of this structural difference on the extent of potential sputtering has not, to our knowledge, been investigated to date
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