Standoff tool speeds placement of friction-fit electrical terminals

Hand operated tool inserts terminals through compartment walls in electronic equipment. The tool is in the configuration of a modified pair of pliers with jaws consisting of a split chuck and anvil

Analysis and Improvement of Iteration Methods for Solving Automatic Control Equations Semiannual Status Report, Feb. - Aug. 1966

Approximation and matrix iteration techniques for solving automatic control equation

Feasibility of active feedback control of rotordynamic instability

Some of the considerations involved in the use of feedback control as a means of eliminating or alleviating rotordynamic instability are discussed. A simple model of a mass on a flexible shaft is used to illustrate the application of feedback control concepts

Landform identification: Lunar radar images

Three sets of polarized radar-echo images of the Moon were examined to establish the relation between radar resolution and landform-identification resolution. After comparison with lunar maps and photographs, real and apparent landforms on the radar images were grouped into one of seven classes. Results show strong relations between radar resolution and diameter or relief of landforms that are clearly identified and those that would probably be correctly identified (class 1 and class 2). Landforms are not detected (class 5) at all diameters and reliefs, but the percentage of undetected landforms decreases with increasing mean diameter and mean relief. Landforms are simply detected (class 4) at most mean diameters and reliefs. Ambiguous arrays (class 6) portrayed by the radar constitute up to about 16, 22, and 15% of the landforms at various diameters and relief values for the 3.8 cm, 70 cm high resolution, and 70 cm low resolution images, respectively. Only a few percent of the landforms portrayed by the radar images at various diameters and relief values are fictitious (class 7)

Confinement-induced Berry phase and helicity-dependent photocurrents

The photocurrent in an optically active metal is known to contain a component that switches sign with the helicity of the incident radiation. At low frequencies, this current depends on the orbital Berry phase of the Bloch electrons via the "anomalous velocity" of Karplus and Luttinger. We consider quantum wells in which the parent material, such as GaAs, is not optically active and the relevant Berry phase only arises as a result of quantum confinement. Using an envelope approximation that is supported by numerical tight-binding results, it is shown that the Berry phase contribution is determined for realistic wells by a cubic Berry phase intrinsic to the bulk material, the well width, and the well direction. These results for the magnitude of the Berry-phase effect suggest that it may already have been observed in quantum well experiments.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Evaluation criteria for commercially oriented materials processing in space proposals

An approach and criteria for evaluating NASA funded experiments and demonstrations which have commercial potential were developed. Methods for insuring quick initial screening of commercial proposals are presented. Recommendations are given for modifying the current evaluation approach. New criteria for evaluating commercially orientated materials processing in space (MPS) proposals are introduced. The process for selection of qualified individuals to evaluate the phases of this approach and criteria is considered and guidelines are set for its implementation

A radar-echo model for Mars

Researchers developed a radar-echo model for Mars based on 12.6 cm continuous wave radio transmissions backscattered from the planet. The model broadly matches the variations in depolarized and polarized total radar cross sections with longitude observed by Goldstone in 1986 along 7 degrees S. and yields echo spectra that are generally similiar to the observed spectra. Radar map units in the model include an extensive cratered uplands unit with weak depolarized echo cross sections, average thermal inertias, moderate normal refelectivities, and moderate rms slopes; the volcanic units of Tharsis, Elysium, and Amazonis regions with strong depolarized echo cross sections, low thermal inertia, low normal reflectivities, and large rms slopes; and the northern planes units with moderate to strong depolarized echo cross sections, moderate to very high thermal inertias, moderate to large normal reflectivities, and moderate rms slopes. The relevance of the model to the interpretation of radar echoes from Mars is discussed