Instrumentation Design and Placement for KRUPS Re-Entry Capsules

Atmospheric re-entry flight tests are one of the best ways to evaluate the performance of new Thermal Protection System (TPS) materials. The flight proven Kentucky Re-Entry Payload System (KRUPS) project provides a low cost, quick turnaround platform for these evaluative missions. Following the success of the first KREPE mission, the Krups Flight Computer (KFC) and the instrumentation suite were redesigned for the next mission, KREPE-2. The original suite contained only four thermocouoples. The new design contains six thermocouples, five pressure sensors, a mini-spectrometer, an IMU and an accelerometer

Detailed three-dimensional analyses of tyloses in oak used for bourbon and wine barrels through X-ray computed tomography

Abstract American white (Quercus alba L.) oak casks have been used for liquid storage for centuries. Their use in aged spirits is critical to imparting flavor and mouthfeel to the final product. The reason that barrels retain liquid has been hypothesized to be the result of abundant physiological structures called tyloses in parenchyma tissues and medullary rays in white oak. Using non-destructive X-ray computed tomography (XRCT) imaging, we reveal an unprecedented view of tylose structure and quantify the pore-filling capacity of tyloses in white oak that underscores the liquid retention we observe in casks. We show that pores of white oaks are filled with sevenfold higher tylose volume compared to northern red oak (Q. rubra), consistent with prior literature that casks made from white oak retain liquid while red oak fails to do so. We propose that XRCT represents a methodological standard for observing these complex structures and should be employed to understand the many questions related to liquid losses from casks, cultural treatment of casks, and the influence of climate change on oak tyloses in the future

Scattering Dynamics of Nitromethane and Methyl Formate on Highly Oriented Pyrolytic Graphite (HOPG)

The gas–surface scattering dynamics of nitromethane (CH₃NO₂) and methyl formate (HCOOCH₃) on a highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) surface have been investigated as part of a broader effort to evaluate the efficacy of a funnel-like neutral gas concentrator that has been proposed as a mass spectrometer inlet for the characterization of tenuous planetary atmospheres or plumes. Molecular beams of CH₃NO₂ and HCOOCH₃ with incidence energies, <i>E</i>_i, of 106.5 and 98.8 kJ mol^–1, respectively, were directed at the surface with incidence angles, θ_i, of 70, 45, and 30°. A rotatable mass spectrometer, employing electron-impact ionization, was used to collect angle-resolved time-of-flight (TOF) distributions of the molecules that scattered inelastically from the surface, allowing angular distributions of the scattered product flux and translational energy distributions at a given final angle, θ_f, to be obtained. The TOF distributions of the scattered products detected the parent ion mass-to-charge ratios and their respective dominant ion fragments were identical, indicating that CH₃NO₂ and HCOOCH₃ fragmented in the ionizer of the detector and not while colliding with the surface. The scattering dynamics suggested that the parallel momentum of the molecules was conserved during impact with the surface. The translational energy and angular distributions of CH₃NO₂ and HCOOCH₃ were identical when θ_i = 70°. For θ_i = 45 and 30°, the HCOOCH₃ angular distributions were shifted to a slightly larger θ_f than the CH₃NO₂ distributions. The molecules scattered from the surface through impulsive scattering (IS) and quasitrapping (QT) pathways. The IS molecules retained a large fraction of their incidence translational energy when colliding with the surface. The QT molecules transferred more energy, but they did not come completely into thermal equilibrium with the surface before scattering into the vacuum. The QT molecules had a lobular angular distribution with a maximum flux far from the surface normal, indicating that they retained some memory of their incident conditions despite losing a significant amount of energy at the surface. The results presented in this article demonstrate that for <i>E</i>_i near 100 kJ mol^–1, these molecules would not dissociate upon impact with the surfaces of a gas concentrator constructed of HOPG. Although the observed scattering dynamics suggest that such a concentrator could perform well for a variety of molecular species, accurate concentration factors are ultimately molecule-specific and determined by the details of the molecule–surface interaction potential