Processing and Transmission of Information

Contains reports on one research project.National Science Foundation (Grant GP-2495)National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Grant NsG-334)National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Grant NsG-496

High temperature properties of sodium, potassium, and cesium thirteenth progress report

Thermophysical properties of sodium, potassium, and cesium at high temperatures - density of liquid potassium and vapor pressure of cesiu

A Study of Space Station Contamination Effects

A workshop was held with the specific objective of reviewing the state-of-knowledge regarding Space Station contamination, the extent to which the various categories of contamination can be predicted, and the extent to which the predicted levels would interfere with onboard scientific investigations or space station functions. The papers presented at the workshop are compiled and address the following topics: natural environment, plasma electromagnetic environment, optical environment, particulate environment, spacecraft contamination, surface physics processes, laboratory experiments and vented chemicals/contaminants

Multipoint Geospace Science in 3D: The Paired Ionosphere-Thermosphere Orbiters(PITO) Mission

The science enabled by the Paired Ionosphere-Thermosphere Orbiters (PITO) mission is described and discussed. PITO has been designed to provide the concurrent, three-dimensional, multipoint measurements needed to advance geospace science while staying within a stringent resource envelope. The mission utilizes a pair of orbiting vehicles in eccentric, high-inclination, coplanar orbits. The orbits have arguments of perigee that differ by 180 degrees and are phased such that one vehicle is at perigee (~200 km) while the second is at apogee (~2000 km). Half an orbit later, the vehicles switch positions. Three complementary types of measurements exploit this scenario: local, in-situ measurements on both satellites, two-dimensional imaging from the higher satellite, and vertical sounders. The main idea is that two-dimensional context information for the low-altitude measurements is obtained by the high altitude imagers, while information on the third dimension is provided by vertical profiling. Such an observation system is capable of providing elements of global coverage, regional coverage, and concurrent coverage in three dimensions. Science goals are presented, as are the results of a detailed implementation plan, including several trade studies on key elements of the mission. The conclusion is that the mission would enable significant new understanding of the ionosphere-thermosphere system within a resource envelope that is consistent with that of NASA's Medium Explorer (MIDEX) line of science missions

Space Environments and Spacecraft Effects Concept: Transitioning Research to Operations and Applications

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is embarking on a course to expand human presence beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO) while expanding its mission to explore the solar system. Destinations such as Near Earth Asteroids (NEA), Mars and its moons, and the outer planets are but a few of the mission targets. NASA has established numerous organizations specializing in specific space environments disciplines that will serve to enable these missions. To complement these existing discipline organizations, a concept is presented focusing on the development of a space environment and spacecraft effects organization. This includes space climate, space weather, natural and induced space environments, and effects on spacecraft materials and systems. This space environment and spacecraft effects organization would be comprised of Technical Working Groups (TWG) focusing on, for example: a) Charged Particles (CP), b) Space Environmental Effects (SEE), and c) Interplanetary and Extraterrestrial Environments (IEE). These technical working groups will generate products and provide knowledge supporting four functional areas: design environments, environment effects, operational support, and programmatic support. The four functional areas align with phases in the program mission lifecycle and are briefly described below. Design environments are used primarily in the mission concept and design phases of a program. Environment effects focuses on the material, component, sub-system and system-level selection and the testing to verify design and operational performance. Operational support provides products based on real time or near real time space weather observations to mission operators to aid in real time and near-term decision-making. The programmatic support function maintains an interface with the numerous programs within NASA and other federal agencies to ensure that communications are well established and the needs of the programs are being met. The programmatic support function also includes working in coordination with the program in anomaly resolution and generation of lesson learned documentation. The goal of this space environment and spacecraft effects organization is to develop decision-making tools and engineering products to support the mission phases of mission concept through operations by focusing on transitioning research to application. Products generated by this space environments and spacecraft effects organization are suitable for use in anomaly investigations. This paper will describe the organizational structure for this space environments and spacecraft effects organization, and outline the scope of conceptual TWG's and their relationship to the functional areas

SSRC Annual Report 2012

The SSRC was established in 1950 and enjoys a long and storied history of research accomplishments. The impact of our research has had on the state, the nation and the world is evident in the success of our organization, which has ultimately been driven by the desire and dedication of our employees. Although an organization\u27s annual report provides a venue to applaud the hard work and dedication of its employees for its success during the previous year, this particular report also celebrates our accomplished past and acknowledges significant historical milestones celebrated this year

High-temperature properties of cesium

High temperature properties of cesium - density and vapor pressure of liquid cesium, and saturation and superheat properties of cesium vapo

Filters for the International Solar Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) mission far ultraviolet imager

The far ultraviolet (FUV) imager for the International Solar Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) mission is designed to image four features of the aurora: O I lines at 130.4 nm and 135.6 nm and the N2 Lyman-Birge-Hopfield (LBH) bands between 140 nm - 160 nm (LBH long) and 160 nm - 180 nm (LBH long). In this paper we report the design and fabrication of narrow-band and broadband filters for the ISTP FUV imager. Narrow-band filters designed and fabricated for the O I lines have a bandwidth of less than 5 nm and a peak transmittance of 23.9 percent and 38.3 percent at 130.4 nm and 135.6 nm, respectively. Broadband filters designed and fabricated for LBH bands have the transmittance close to 60 percent. Blocking of out-of-band wavelengths for all filters is better than 5x10(exp -3) percent with the transmittance at 121.6 nm of less than 10(exp -6) percent