Physical Sciences

A report proposes ultralight balloon systems to carry a 10-kg payload, including scientific instruments for exploring the atmospheres of Uranus and Neptune. The system masses to be transported to those planets would be kept low by not transporting balloon-inflating gases. Each system...

Version 5.0 of the Integrated Modeling of Optical Systems (IMOS) software has been released. A previous version was described in "Software for Multidisciplinary Analysis of Optical Systems" (NPO-20536), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 24, No. 11 (November 2000), page 36. In both versions, IMOS is...

A report proposes an apparatus that would extract water from the atmosphere of Mars and would consume little energy in doing so. The apparatus would include a set of copper plates surrounded by a thermal shield with slots through which atmospheric gas could circulate. At night, the slots...

A paper reviews theoretical and experimental research on the behaviors of supercritical fluids and, for comparison, subcritical fluids. Experiments with drops, isolated or in groups, streams, shear layers, mixing layers, jets, and sprays are tabulated and discussed as a precursor to...

A report presents a computational study of a proposed plasma thruster for a spacecraft. The behavior of the plasma was computationally simulated by use of a mathematical model of magnetohydrodynamic flow implemented in the previously developed MACH2 computer program. To increase the...

In cryosurgical probes of a type now undergoing development, the flow of coolant (typically, liquid nitrogen) would be regulated by magnetostrictively actuated needle valves controlled by use of superconductive electromagnet coils. In comparison with cryosurgical probes now in use, the...

A proposed method for remote sensing of the electric field in a cloud that contains ice crystals would exploit the relationship between (1) the polarization-dependent radiometric or radar brightness of the cloud and (2) the average or bulk orientation of the crystals as affected by the electric field. The...

An instrumented buoy measures selected aspects of the spectrum of upwelling light for assessment of "water quality." The buoy carries a previously patented optical-backscatter probe that contains a hyperspectral sensor. The output of the probe is processed by a small onboard computer....

In a proposed improvement on the basic concept of a magnetostrictive heat switch for cryogenic applications, the magnetic field needed for actuation would be generated by a superconducting flux tube (SFT). A closely related concept for a magnetostrictive heat switch was presented in...

Magnetostrictive valves for cryogenic applications would be actuated by superconducting flux tubes (SFTs), according to a proposal. The reasoning behind this proposal closely tracks that of the proposal to use SFTs in magnetostrictive heat switches, as reported in the preceding article.

A report describes experiments using multiwavelength pyrometry to determine the surface temperature of the end tip inside a BeO cylinder that is part of a probe designed to measure high-temperature gases. The cylinder is heated by the gas into which it is inserted, and the gas temperature...

"Tribology for Aerospace Applications" is a textbook and reference source written for designers of rotating machinery; users and designers of such mechanical components as bearings, gears, and seals; tribologists; university and industrial researchers; and students of machine design. The book incorporates...

An ultrasonic instrument has been developed for measuring the sizes of bubbles in the human body. A primary example is that of bubbles associated with decompression sickness (the "bends"); these bubbles consist mostly of nitrogen and can occur in both blood vessels and extravascular tissues. The bubbles can lodge...

A report describes a program to develop a multi-function telescope to be carried aboard spacecraft of the planned X2000 series of planetary missions. [A related multi-function telescope was described in "Telescope for Imaging and Laser Communication" (NPO-20388), NASA Tech Briefs,...