7,522 research outputs found
Investigation of the effect of ceramic coatings on rocket thrust chamber life
Cylindrical rocket thrust chamber cylinders were coated with a 0.203 mm (0.008 in.) layer of zirconium oxide using a process that employed electrodeposition of metal to a spray coated mandrel. The cylinders were cyclically tested using hydrogen oxygen propellants at a nominal chamber pressure of 4.14 MN/sq m (600 psia) to show the effect of the coating on life. Both cylinders failed prematurely due to causes unrelated to the coatings. Post destructive analysis showed no cooling passage wall deformation. Where erosion of the coating occurred, the coating thickness stabilized at 0.061 mm (0.0024 in.) within 80 cycles and remained well adhered throughout the tests
A study of air-to-ground sound propagation using an instrumented meteorological tower
The results of an exploratory NASA study, leading to a better understanding of the effects of meteorological conditions on the propagation of aircraft noise, are reported. The experimental program utilized a known sound source fixed atop an instrumented meteorological tower. The basic experimental scheme consisted of measuring the amplitude of sound radiated toward the ground along a line of microphones fixed to a tower guy wire. Experimental results show the feasibility of this approach in the acquisition of data indicating the variations encountered in the time-averaged and instantaneous amplitudes of propagated sound. The investigation included a consideration of ground reflections, a comparison of measured attenuations with predicted atmospheric absorption losses, and an evaluation of the amplitude fluctuations of recorded sound pressures
Empirical Constraints on Proton and Electron Heating in the Fast Solar Wind
We analyze measured proton and electron temperatures in the high-speed solar
wind in order to calculate the separate rates of heat deposition for protons
and electrons. When comparing with other regions of the heliosphere, the fast
solar wind has the lowest density and the least frequent Coulomb collisions.
This makes the fast wind an optimal testing ground for studies of collisionless
kinetic processes associated with the dissipation of plasma turbulence. Data
from the Helios and Ulysses plasma instruments were collected to determine mean
radial trends in the temperatures and the electron heat conduction flux between
0.29 and 5.4 AU. The derived heating rates apply specifically for these mean
plasma properties and not for the full range of measured values around the
mean. We found that the protons receive about 60% of the total plasma heating
in the inner heliosphere, and that this fraction increases to approximately 80%
by the orbit of Jupiter. A major factor affecting the uncertainty in this
fraction is the uncertainty in the measured radial gradient of the electron
heat conduction flux. The empirically derived partitioning of heat between
protons and electrons is in rough agreement with theoretical predictions from a
model of linear Vlasov wave damping. For a modeled power spectrum consisting
only of Alfvenic fluctuations, the best agreement was found for a distribution
of wavenumber vectors that evolves toward isotropy as distance increases.Comment: 11 pages (emulateapj style), 5 figures, ApJ, in pres
The search for planetary mass companions to field brown dwarfs with HST/NICMOS
We present the results of a high-resolution spectral differential imaging
survey of 12 nearby, relatively young field L dwarfs (<1 Gyr) carried out with
HST/NICMOS to search for planetary mass companions at small physical
separations from their host. The survey resolved two brown dwarf binaries: the
L dwarf system Kelu-1AB and the newly discovered L/T transition system 2MASS
J031059+164815AB. For both systems common proper motion has already been
confirmed in follow-up observations which have been published elsewhere. The
derived separations of the binaries are smaller than 6 AU and consistent with
previous brown dwarf binary statistics. Their mass ratios of q > 0.8 confirm
the preference for equal mass systems similar to a large number of other
surveys. Furthermore, we found tentative evidence for a companion to the L4
dwarf 2MASS W033703-175807, straddling the brown dwarf/planetary mass boundary
and revealing an uncommonly low mass ratio system (q ~ 0.2) compared to the
vast majority of previously found brown dwarf binaries. With a derived minimum
mass of 10 - 15 Mjup, a planetary nature of the secondary cannot be ruled out
yet. However, it seems more likely to be a very low mass brown dwarf secondary
at the border of the spectral T/Y transition regime, primarily due to its
similarities to recently found very cool T dwarfs. This would make it one of
the closest resolved brown dwarf binaries (0.087" 0.015", corresponding
to 2.52 0.44 AU at a distance of 29 pc) with the coolest (Teff ~ 600-630
K) and least massive companion to any L or T dwarf.Comment: 33 pages, 8 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication by Ap
ALFA & 3D: integral field spectroscopy with adaptive optics
One of the most important techniques for astrophysics with adaptive optics is
the ability to do spectroscopy at diffraction limited scales. The extreme
difficulty of positioning a faint target accurately on a very narrow slit can
be avoided by using an integral field unit, which provides the added benefit of
full spatial coverage. During 1998, working with ALFA and the 3D integral field
spectrometer, we demonstrated the validity of this technique by extracting and
distinguishing spectra from binary stars separated by only 0.26". The
combination of ALFA & 3D is also ideally suited to imaging distant galaxies or
the nuclei of nearby ones, as its field of view can be changed between
1.2"x1.2" and 4"x4", depending on the pixel scale chosen. In this contribution
we present new results both on galactic targets, namely young stellar objects,
as well as extra-galactic objects including a Seyfert and a starburst nucleus.Comment: SPIE meeting 4007 on Adaptive Optical Systems Technology, March 200
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