A review of micrometeoroid flux measurements and models for low orbital altitudes of the Space Station

A review of meteoroid flux measurements and models for low orbital altitudes of the Space Station has been made in order to provide information that may be useful in design studies and laboratory hypervelocity impact tests which simulate micrometeoroids in space for design of the main wall of the Space Station. This report deals with the meteoroid flux mass model, the defocusing and shielding factors that affect the model, the probability of meteoroid penetration of the main wall of a Space Station. Whipple (1947) suggested a meteoroid bumper, a thin shield around the spacecraft at some distance from the wall, as an effective device for reducing penetration, which has been discussed in this report. The equations of the probability of meteoroid penetration, the average annual cumulative total flux, and the equations for the thickness of the main wall and the bumper are presented in this report

Experimental research in the use of electrets in measuring effluents from rocket exhaust and a review of standard air quality measuring devices

Seven standard types of measuring devices used to obtain the chemical composition of rocket exhaust effluents were discussed. The electrets, a new measuring device, are investigated and compared with established measuring techniques. The preliminary results obtained show that electrets have multipollutant measuring capabilities, simplicity of deployment, speed of assessment or analysis, and may be an important and valuable tool in measuring pollutants from space vehicle rocket exhaust

Electrets used in measuring rocket exhaust effluents from the space shuttle's solid rocket booster during static test firing, DM-3

The purpose of this experimental research was to compare Marshall Space Flight Center's electrets with Thiokol's fixed flow air samplers during the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster Demonstration Model-3 static test firing on October 19, 1978. The measurement of rocket exhaust effluents by Thiokol's samplers and MSFC's electrets indicated that the firing of the Solid Rocket Booster had no significant effect on the quality of the air sampled. The highest measurement by Thiokol's samplers was obtained at Plant 3 (site 11) approximately 8 km at a 113 degree heading from the static test stand. At sites 11, 12, and 5, Thiokol's fixed flow air samplers measured 0.0048, 0.00016, and 0.00012 mg/m3 of CI. Alongside the fixed flow measurements, the electret counts from X-ray spectroscopy were 685, 894, and 719 counts. After background corrections, the counts were 334, 543, and 368, or an average of 415 counts. An additional electred, E20, which was the only measurement device at a site approximately 20 km northeast from the test site where no power was available, obtained 901 counts. After background correction, the count was 550. Again this data indicate there was no measurement of significant rocket exhaust effluents at the test site

Ground-based measurements of DM-2 rocket exhaust effluents using fixed-flow samplers and electrets

Electret devices were used to collect samples of rocket exhaust products. The samples were analyzed by X-ray spectroscopy. The performance of the electrets was compared with that of Thiokol fixed flow samplers during the static test firing of a solid rocket motor (SRM) demonstration model. A vertical profile of wind speed, wind direction, and air temperature, used as inputs to the multilayer diffusion model for the SRM static test is presented

Investigation of thermospheric winds relative to space station orbital altitudes

An investigation of thermospheric winds, relative to the space station orbital altitudes, was made in order to provide information that is useful in an environmental disturbance assessment. Current plans are for this low Earth orbiting facility to orbit at an inclination of 28.5 deg. The orbital altitudes were not yet defined due to the evolutionary configuration of the Space Station. The upper and lower bounds of the orbital altitudes will be based on constraints set by the drag and expected orbital decay and delivery altitude capability of the Shuttle. The orbital altitude will be estimated on the order of 500 km. Neutral winds in the region from about 80 to 600 km which were derived from satellite drag data, Fabry-Perot interferometers, sounding rockets, ground-based optical Doppler techniques, incoherent scatter radar measurements from Millstone Hill combined with the mass spectrometer and lithium trail neutral wind measurements are examined. The equations of motion of the low Earth orbiting facility are also discussed

Electrets used to measure exhaust cloud effluents from Solid Rocket Motor (SRM) during demonstration model (DM-2) static test firing

Electrets were compared with fixed flow samplers during static test firing. The measurement of the rocket exhaust effluents by samplers and electrets indicated that the Solid Rocket Motor had no significant effect on the air quality in the area sampled. The results show that the electrets (a passive device which needs no power) can be used effectively alongside existing measuring devices (which need power). By placing electrets in areas where no power is available, measurements may be obtained. Consequently, it is a valuable complementary instrument in measuring rocket exhaust effluents in areas where other measuring devices may not be able to assess the contaminants

Paper Session IV-A - Wind Measurements By Electromagnetic Probes

Electromagnetic probing of the atmosphere by clear-air radars is an emerging technology to supplement balloon-borne wind sensors which are used to determine ascent wind loads on the Space Shuttle. At present, during the Space Shuttle launches, the ascent wind loads are computed 1 hr before launch based on winds aloft obtained by the Jimsphere 3.5 hr before liftoff. There is a need of wind load data acquisition closer to L-0 and in real time for wind loads assessment. The radar technology used in Marshall Space Flight Center\u27s (MSFC) Radar Wind Profiler exactly matches the technology in the Clear-Air Doppler Radars except the frequency is generally lower, antenna is bigger, and dwell time is longer. Its primary work-a-day problem will be to monitor the vertical wind profile prior to launch of the Space Shuttle at more frequent intervals and nearer to launch time than is presently possible with the conventional balloon systems. The Radar Wind Profiler will obtain a new wind profile on the order of every 15 min based on an average of five wind profiles measured every 3 min at a height interval of 150 m to 10-13 20 km. Additional data obtained in real time, which assists in determining the variability of wind profiles, are a presentation of the spectral moments from the power spectra of the returned signal. However,the winds cannot be substituted directly for Jimsphere winds because the vertical resolution is not as fine as the 100 to 200 m resolution of the Jimsphere

Using minimum bootstrap support for splits to construct confidence regions for trees

Many of the estimated topologies in phylogenetic studies are presented with the bootstrap support for each of the splits in the topology indicated. If phylogenetic estimation is unbiased, high bootstrap support for a split suggests that there is a good deal of certainty that the split actually is present in the tree and low bootstrap support suggests that one or more of the taxa on one side of the estimated split might in reality be located with taxa on the other side. In the latter case the follow-up questions about how many and which of the taxa could reasonably be incorrectly placed as well as where they might alternatively be placed are not addressed through the presented bootstrap support. We present here an algorithm that finds the set of all trees with minimum bootstrap support for their splits greater than some given value. The output is a ranked list of trees, ranked according to the minimum bootstrap supports for splits in the trees. The number of such trees and their topologies provides useful supplementary information in bootstrap analyses about the reasons for low bootstrap support for splits. We also present ways of quantifying low bootstrap support by considering the set of all topologies with minimum bootstrap greater than some quantity as providing a confidence region of topologies. Using a double bootstrap we are able to choose a cutoff so that the set of topologies with minimum bootstrap support for a split greater than that cutoff gives an approximate 95% confidence region. As with bootstrap support one advantage of the methods is that they are generally applicable to the wide variety of phylogenetic estimation methods

Prediction of engine exhaust concentrations downwind from the Delta-Thor Telsat-A launch of 9 November 1972

Results are presented of the downwind concentrations of engine exhaust by-products from the Delta-Thor Telsat-A vehicle launched from Cape Kennedy, Florida on November 9, 1972 (2014 EST). The meteorological conditions which existed are identified as well as the exhaust cloud rise and the results from the MSFC Multilayer Diffusion Model calculations. These predictions are compared to exhaust cloud sampled data acquired by the Langley Research Center personnel. Values of the surface level concentrations show that very little hydrochloric acid, carbon monoxide, or aluminum oxide reached the ground