Code UG Weekly Notes 10-03-01

Physical Sciences Division
Weekly Highlights for Week 10/3/2001

*** Indicates item is appropriate for the HQ senior staff
and may appear on the OBPR Web site:
http://spaceresearch.nasa.gov

GENERAL

YEAR IN REVIEW ARTICLE TO APPEAR IN AEOSPACE AMERICA: Dr. N. Ramachandran
of Universities Space Research Association, USRA, a member of the American
Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Microgravity and Space
Processes Technical Committee, has written and submitted an article, entitled
"2001: Year in Review," which will be published in the December
2001 issue of Aerospace America (the AIAA magazine). The article presents
a brief overview of the following: (1) Shuttle missions to the ISS, highlighting
the addition of the US-lab module Destiny, the airlock, and the robot
arm; (2) research activities on ISS, including physiological, plant, and
microbial research in microgravity, as well as protein crystallization
experiments with specially featured student outreach effort in the preparation
of experiment samples; (3) the implementation of the Office of Biological
and Physical Research (OBPR) as a separate NASA enterprise and the broader
scope of the newly formed Physical Sciences Research Division in OBPR;
(4) an example of newly-found fundamental principles in liquid phase sintering
where NASA-funded researchers at Pennsylvania State University, through
a series of flight experiments, were able to show that the absence of
gravity actually contributes to material weakness and, thereby, significant
distortion during phase sintering (a process where a powder compact forms
a coherent mass through heating without melting). The finding has contributed
to significant cost savings in the manufacture of metal cutting tools.

SMOLDERING COMBUSTION IN THE NEWS: The Microgravity Smoldering Combustion
(MSC) experiment, which flew the week of September 10, 2001 on STS-105,
was written up in the Daily Californian newspaper. The article can be
looked up at: http://www.dailycal.org
The link to the article is right on the front page of the website. The
MSC project is led by Prof. A. Carlos Fernandez-Pello of UC, Berkeley.

OUTSTANDING PAPER AWARD FOR THE CONFERENCE ON SPACE RADIATION AND ENVIRONMENT
EFFECTS: The paper entitled "Non-Invasive, Quantitative, and Remote
Detection of Early Radiation Cataracts for Applications in Bio-Astronautics
and Bio-Informatics" authored by Rafat.R. Ansari (currently GRC),
Frank Giblin (Oakland University), and James F. King (QSS/GRC) was selected
for the Outstanding Paper award for the Conference on Space Radiation
and Environment Effects at The Space technology and Applications International
Forum (STAIF 2001). This paper received the highest score within this
conference based on the committee voting. The certificate will be presented
at the STAIF 2002 luncheon ceremony on February 4, 2002.

HUMAN INTEREST — NASA VIDEO IMAGING RECOVERS 22-YEAR OLD VIDEO: GRC
scientists were contacted by a family that had a 22-year old video tape
of their grandmother, who appeared in 1979 on The Tonight Show with Johnny
Carson because she completed her high school education and obtained a
degree at 90 years of age. The video tape, however, was indecipherable,
so they asked if we might be able to recover the images. In an after-hours
venture, we were able to image process the tape, enabling the woman’s
great-grandchildren to see her for the very first time. They were exceptionally
appreciative, and some local newspapers picked up their story, with kudos
given to NASA for its volunteer help.

EDUCATION and OUTREACH

MICROGRAVITY OUTREACH AT AUBURN UNIVERSITY’S HOMECOMING FOOTBALL GAME
WEEKEND: The MRPO Outreach & Education staff has been asked by Auburn
University’s College of Science and Mathematics to conduct a microgravity
science workshop for 7th – 9th grade students on Saturday, October 20,
during the Auburn – Louisiana Tech football game. The workshop, billed
as "The Awful Truth About Zero-G" will be advertised on Auburn’s
Youth Experiences in Science Web Page at: http://www.auburn.edu/cosam/yes.htm

POSTER PRESENTED AT SPACE GRANT CONSORTIA MEETING: Nate Kenny, a high
school summer intern at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), presented
a poster about the Protein Crystals in Space Program outreach activity
at the Space Grant Consortia National Directors meeting in Fairbanks,
Alaska, 9/7/2001. The poster included student testimonials of individuals
who had taken the program to completion by participating in flight sample
loading and attending "their" launch. Nate, as a graduate of
the program, was able to describe, first-hand, the program (his sample
launched on STS-98), his summer activities at MSFC as an analytical chemist
intern, and his new-found enthusiasm for science. The object of the presentation
was to offer and expand this program to other Space Grant Universities.
The poster was authored by J. Gregory, J. Pottenger, J. Reasoner, B. Carter,
E. Meehan, J. Ng, and A. Holmes of UAH; G. Jenkins, S. Koszelak, and A.
McPherson of the U. of California, Irvine; E. Ciszak, N. Kenny, R. Porter,
and D. Woodard of MSFC. (Nate Kenny is a 17-year old junior at Land O’Lakes
High School in Florida.)

BIOREACTOR EDUCATION PROJECT: Microgravity Research Program support personnel,
Twila Schneider and Dave Dooling, met with Dr. Greg Vogt/JSC, Debbie Bulgher/JSC,
and Dr. Gene Trinh at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) on Sept. 23-24 to
kick off a project to develop a classroom activity that allows high school
students to experiment with STS-107 bioreactor hardware and procedures.
The project’s goal is to develop a design that can be assembled with parts
available from local stores (hardware, medical supply) or scientific supply
houses, and with minimal machining and assembly work. Initial talks with
Drs. Vogt and Trinh indicate that the design should be easier to achieve
than initially thought. However, detailed lab procedures will have to
be worked out, and cell specimens (and associated lab protocols) must
be selected.

MICROGRAVITY PUBLIC OUTREACH AT VERMILION, OHIO WOOLLYBEAR FESTIVAL:
The Vermilion, Ohio committee chose a space-oriented theme of "2001
– A Space Oddity" for the 29th Woollybear Festival on September 30,
2001. The Woollybear Festival is Ohio’s biggest one day festival with
attendance predicted around 100,000 and is sponsored by Cleveland TV Channel
8 and hosted by popular Cleveland weatherman, Dick Goodard. With the space
theme and an astronaut lined up to be Grand Marshal of the huge parade,
NASA Glenn rolled out the carpet with a Shuttle float for the parade,
the huge hanger / Shuttle launch float (not in the parade due to its size),
the Aero-propulsion multi-media bus, literature, and Microgravity Man!
With recent government travel restrictions, the astronaut was unable to
attend so Microgravity Man filled in as Grand Marshal. Richard DeLombard
and Dennis Stocker conducted microgravity demonstrations for the crowds
with the balloon poppers and leaky water bottles.

ISS FLIGHT PROGRAM

PHYSICS OF COLLOIDS IN SPACE (PCS) ON ISS: EXPPCS completed a total of
108 hours of operations last week, which includes finishing a 72 hour
run begun the previous week. During these runs, we continued to perform
detailed diagnostic measurements on the binary colloid alloy ( AB6 and
AB13) samples, which are both quite well along in their crystallization.
Some of the diagnostics that we ran were 8 hour long Low Angle Dynamic
(LAD) measurements to enable us to look for slow evolution of the samples.
These LAD runs are showing some unusual results which have yet to be fully
assessed by the PI.

MRPO PAYLOAD ACTIVITIES ON ISS 7A.1 STAGE: Both active EXPRESS Racks
operating nominally after a software update with no major communication
problems. The acceleration measurement systems on board are continuing
to measure the microgravity environment. The post-experiment cold storage
phase for cellular science continues. This payload experienced a 5-hour
power shutdown with an associated rise in temperature. It is difficult
to assess, at this time, the impact on the cultures. The structural biology
payload also experienced a malfuntion on the video recording of data from
one sample tray. A second diagnostic tool is available to the experiment
and no loss of science is expected. The colloids experiment had a total
of 108 hours of operations. These runs involved detailed diagnostic measurements
to study the slow evolution of the crystallization process.

LOW TEMPERATURE MICROGRAVITY PHYSICS FACILITY (LTMPF) PDR: The Low Temperature
Microgravity Physics Facility (LTMPF) which is a Microgravity Research
Program Office payload, held its delta Preliminary Design Review (PDR)
at JPL on September 27, and 28, 2001. The LTMPF proposal at the delta
PDR has been de-scoped to help get its cost back "in the box"
but still meets the science requirements as defined in the latest Science
Requirements Envelop Document, JPL D-16322 dated 8/24/01. The review was
judged very good, with only moderate concern about the new electronics
vendor, Design_Net. This is a small firm and their estimated costs may
be too low. The delta PDR Review Board unanimously approved LTMPF to proceed.

FLAME DESIGN – A NOVEL APPROACH TO CLEAN, EFFICIENT DIFFUSION FLAMES:
The objective of this flight definition study, led by Prof. R. Axelbaum
of Washington University, is to study the relative importance of structure
inversion and flow inversion on soot inception and extinction in nonpremixed
flames. Soot formation and flame extinction are problems of great concern
in practical combustors. Experiments in 2.2-second drop tower at NASA
Glenn indicated that the peak flame temperatures were considerably higher
with nitrogen issuing from the burner. Flame growth measurements showed
that 2.2-second tests do not yield quasi-steady flames. Flames with nitrogen
in the ambient had higher growth rates at drop termination than had flames
with nitrogen in the burner gas. A coflowing burner apparatus capable
of testing diffusion flames with variable dilution has recently been developed
which is intended to be used for steady gas-jet flames with gas compositions
matching those considered in drop tests. Several enhancements to the flame
sheet model has been made, incorporating radiation into the detailed chemistry
and transport model. The 5-s zero-gravity testing with the new rig has
begun. The tests are emphasizing those conditions that were the least
steady in past 2-s drop tower tests. Seventy-six successful tests were
conducted so far in the 2.2-s drop tower. These tests indicate that convection
direction has a negligible effect on soot limits in 2-s tests. Additionally,
normal-gravity testing with the 12-bit HiBMs camera has continued. Images
have been captured to demonstrate the measurement of soot volume fraction
and soot temperature in a yellow flame. Development of a thin-filament
pyrometer based on the HiBMs camera has also begun.

SCIENCE HIGHLIGHTS

CROSS DISCIPLINE:

ADVANCED MICROGRAVITY ACCELERATION MEASUREMENT SYSTEM (AMAMS): The AMAMS
Instrument Technology Development project has purchased and successfully
tested several of the commercially available MEMS accelerometer sensors
with our own breadboard electronics and recorded noise floor data below
10-6 (microgravity) in the 0.1 – 5 Hz range. This is significant because
our previous experience with commercially available MEMS accelerometers
showed a resolution in the milli-g 10-3 range. This data lead us to conclude
that, with the proper packaging, a MEMS-based Space Acceleration Measurement
System (SAMS) is feasible. We project a MEMS-based system to yield a 50
to 90% reduction in size, power, weight, and cost when compared to the
present operational SAMS systems.

BIOTECHNOLOGY:

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR’S WORK FEATURED ON COVER OF SCIENCE: The work
of NRA Principal Investigator, Geoffrey Chang, of the Scripps Research
Institute, is featured on the cover of the September 7, 2001, issue of
Science. Dr. Chang determined the structure of an important membrane program,
which is homologous to proteins that confer multi-drug resistance and
frustrate the treatment of infectious diseases and cancer. The structure
was determined to medium resolution (4.5 Angstroms), making it an excellent
candidate for a high-impact flight experiment. In addition to the research
article and cover, Science also wrote a "Perspectives" piece
on the work.

BIOTECHNOLOGY PROGRAM BRIEFING AT NEW CENTURY PHARMACEUTICALS AND CRYSTAL
SYSTEMS: Dr. Craig Kundrot (MSFC) and Teresa Miller visited the New Century
Pharmaceuticals (and, by implication, Crystal Systems, a formally independent
business) on 9/19/01. Dr. Kundrot briefed Drs. Dan Carter and Mark Wardell
on the Biotechnology Program. Topics covered included the flight manifest,
the Associate Investigator Program, and the Macromolecular Crystal Growth
Center at the Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute.

COMBUSTION SCIENCE:

LARGE EDDY SIMULATION OF TURBULENT GAS-JET DIFFUSION FLAMES: The objective
of this investigation, led by Prof. P. Givi of the State University of
New York at Buffalo, is to assess the influence of gravity on transitional
and turbulent nonpremixed hydrocarbon flames and provide understanding
of the turbulence characteristics of diffusion flames which arise in both
industry and nature. A systematic investigation is initiated on planar
reactive jet flows via large eddy simulation (LES) and direct numerical
simulation (DNS). The LES is based on a newly developed scalar filtered
mass density function (FMDF). The velocity field is simulated via conventional
LES. The chemistry is modeled with a single step irreversible scheme and
the FMDF formulation is modified to incorporate the gravity effects. The
results obtained from these simulations indicate that both the large and
small flow scales are significantly influenced by buoyancy. There are
strong interactions between eddies generated by the Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities
and those via the buoyancy. The DNS data being generated are useful for
measurement of quantities that are difficult to measure in laboratory
experiments. The DNS data are primarily for the purpose of appraising
the various closures employed in LES. Recent computations, further enhanced
by considering the species field distributions, have demonstrated, among
other things, that the CO2 field for the zero-g case has a spatially wider
profile than the 1-g case. The disturbance in the lower part of the flame
is close to axisymmetric but random perturbations develop which moves
the flame away from an axisymmetric behavior.

FLUID PHYSICS:

TWO SCIENCE CONCEPT REVIEWS FOR FLUID PHYSICS EXPERIMENTS HELD AT GRC:
Science Concept Reviews (SCRs) for two fluid physics flight definition
experiments Microheater Array Boiling Experiment (MABE) and Stability
of Liquid Bridges (SLB) were held last week at GRC. Both these experiments
are being developed for ISS. The MABE experiment addresses a significant
scientific issue, namely the mechanism for pool boiling heat transfer,
with special attention on the effects of microgravity. The microheater
array, with its associated instrumentation and control circuits, has shown
its capability to discern between competing concepts for the heat transfer
mechanism. Prof. J. Kim (University of Maryland) is the PI fro this experiment.
The SLB experiment determines the limitations on passive acoustic stabilization
methods for liquid bridges in air that may not be quantitatively determined
from the ground-based experiments. Prof. Marston (University of Washington)
is the PI for this experiment. Dr. Gerald Pitalo, Fluid Physics Enterprise
Scientist (NASA HQ Code UG) was convened these reviews.

A NEW TWO-PHASE FLOW MAP AND TRANSITION BOUNDARY ACCOUNTING FOR SURFACE
TENSION EFFECTS IN HORIZONTAL MINIATURE AND MICRO TUBES: Fluid Physics
PI Prof. Amir Faghri (University of Connecticut) proposed a new flow map
to emphasize the importance of surface tension in two-phase flow in horizontal
miniature and micro tubes. A transition boundary based on a force balance
including shear, buoyancy and surface tension forces is also proposed.
The flow map is compared against a number of existing experimental data
sets totaling 1589 data points. Comparison of the proposed map and model
with previous models shows substantial improvement and accuracy in determining
surface tension dominated regimes. Furthermore, the proposed flow map
shows how each regime transition boundary is affected by surface tension.
This is an area of growing importance due to the increasing interest in
miniaturization technologies. An example is the development of smaller
and faster electronic de-vices, an area which can utilize heat pipes extensively
to discard large quantities of heat very fast. This was reported in the
following paper:

Ahmadali Tabatabai and Amir Faghri "A New Two-Phase Flow Map and
Transition Boundary Accounting for Surface Tension Effects in Horizontal
Miniature and Micro Tubes," Journal of Heat Transfer Vol. 123, 958
– 968 October 2001.

MECHANICS OF GRANULAR MATERIALS (MGM): Dr. Khalid Alshibli (Louisiana
State University), MGM Project Scientist, presented a poster, entitled
"Behavior of Granular Materials in Microgravity Environment,"
in the posters session of the 15th International Conference on Soil Mechanics
and Geotechnical Engineering that was held in Istanbul, Turkey, August
27-31, 2001. More than 50 copies of each of the scientific publications
of the MGM project were distributed during the conference. The poster
was kept posted for the duration of the conference, which is considered
the main international conference for the geotechnical community. In addition,
Dr. Alshibli was one of the National Science awardees to participate in
the International Research Collaboration Workshop (http://icsmge-workshop.lsu.edu/)
that was held immediately after the conference. The workshop served as
a forum for interaction between young U.S. geotechnical researchers and
their international colleagues. MGM Principal Investigator is Dr. Stein
Sture of the University of Colorado at Boulder.

MATERIALS SCIENCE:

POSTER PRESENTATIONS AT MICROSCOPY AND MICROANALYSIS 2001 MEETING: Paul
Carpenter, United Space Research Association (USRA), made a poster presentation
at the Microscopy and Microanalysis 2001 meeting in Long Beach, CA, 8/5-9/2001.
The poster was entitled "Application of Alpha-Factor and Monte Carlo
Methods to EPMA in the System Ge-Si" (by Paul Carpenter, USRA, and
Sharon Cobb, MSFC). Paul Carpenter was co-author of the poster presented
by Chris Cochrane (USRA), entitled "Characterization of Semiconductors
grown in a Rotating Magnetic Field" (by J. Cochrane and P. Carpenter).
The presentations reflect the emphasis on high-precision and high-accuracy
electron microprobe and SEM (scanning electron microscopy) analysis that
personnel in the Microscopy and Microanalysis Facility (MSFC) are applying
to compositional systems. Informal discussions were also started at this
meeting with personnel from NIST (National Institute of Standards and
Technology) concerning development of a set of electron microprobe standards
(bulk and thin-film) in the Ge-Si system.

ALLIANCE FOR MICROGRAVITY MATERIALS SCIENCE AND APPLICATIONS (AMMSA)
SEMINAR: AMMSA hosted a seminar on Thursday, 9/27/2001. Pamela Pruett,
of the Kasha Laboratory at Florida State University, made a presentation,
entitled "Catalysis in Arginine Kinase Investigated through Structure,
Mutagenesis, and Kinetics."

QUASI-CRYSTALLINE UNDERCOOLIED ALLOYS FOR SPACE INVESTIGATION (QUASI):
Professor K. F. Kelton (Department of Physics, Washington University,
St. Louis, MO), QUASI Principal Investigator, recently attended the 11th
Liquids and Amorphous Metals Conference (LAM11), held in Yokohama, Japan,
September 9-14, 2001. Also in attendance were approximately 160 scientists
from around the world, experts in the static and dynamic structures and
thermophysical properties of liquids, glass formation properties, and
stability and quasicrystals. Professor Kelton presented a paper, entitled
"X-ray and Electrostatic Levitation Undercooling Studies in Ti-Zr-Ni
Quasicrystal Forming Alloys." His ground-based research results that
point toward a planned experiment on the ISS (QUASI) were discussed. The
first undercooling results for a Ti/Zr alloy that forms the icosahedral
quasicrystal phase (i-phase) were also discussed. These studies were made
using the NASA Electrostatic Levitator (ESL) Facility, located at Marshall
Space Flight Center. The undercooling behavior of the i-phase was contrasted
with that of normal and complex crystal phases that also form in this
alloy. The results presented indicate that the structure of this undercooled
liquid is most similar to that of the i-phase. Preliminary x-ray diffraction
measurements made on the Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National
Laboratory support this conclusion.

CRYSTAL GROWTH OF ZnSe AND RELATED TERNARY COMPOUND SEMICONDUCTORS BY
VAPOR TRANSPORT: A paper, entitled "Beer Law Constants and Vapor
Pressures of HgI2 over HgI2(s,l)," by Ching-Hua Su (MSFC), Shen Zhu,
Universities Space Research Association (USRA), N. Ramachandran (USRA),
and A. Burger (Fisk University), has been accepted for publication in
the Journal of Crystal Growth. Vapor transport of HgI2 has been adopted
as a model system for numerical simulation. To apply the in-situ optical
absorption technique to the HgI2 system, the relationship between the
measured optical absorbance and vapor pressure, i.e., the Beer Law constants,
are needed. In this paper, the constants were determined at 15 wavelengths,
and the vapor pressure of HgI2 was then established between 349 and 610K.
Thermodynamic properties, such as the enthalpy of vaporization for the
liquid and the solid, the melting point, and the enthalpy of fusion, were
derived.

CRYSTAL GROWTH OF SELECTED II-IV SEMICONDUCTING ALLOYS BY DIRECTIONAL
SOLIDIFICATION: A paper, entitled "Crystal Growth of HgZnTe Alloy
by Directional Solidification in Low Gravity Environment," by Ching-Hua
Su (MSFC), Yi-Gao Sha (E-Tek Dynamics), S. L. Lehoczky (MSFC), F. R. Szofran
(MSFC), D. C. Gillies (MSFC), R. N. Scripa, University of Alabama in Birmingham
(UAB), S. D. Cobb (MSFC), and J. C. Wang (Alabama A & M Univ.), was
accepted for publication in the Journal of Crystal Growth. A HgZnTe alloy
crystal was back-melted and partially re-solidified during the first United
States Microgravity Laboratory (USML-1) mission in the Marshall Space
Flight Center’s Crystal Growth Furnace. The experiment was inadvertently
terminated at about 30% of planned completion. Nonetheless, it was successfully
demonstrated that a HgZnTe alloy ingot partially grown and quenched on
the ground can be back-melted and re-grown in space under nearly steady
state growth conditions. The results indicate the importance of residual
microgravity acceleration (~ < 0.4 micro-g) even in the sub-microgravity
range for the slow solidification velocities and large density gradients.

MECHANISM FOR THE CRYSTALLIZATION STUDIES OF ZBLAN: A paper, entitled
"An Explanation of the Effects of Gravity on Crystallization of ZBLAN
Glass," has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Materials
Science. The authors are Drs. Dennis Tucker (MSFC) and Edwin Ethridge
(MSFC). Experiments on low-gravity rocket and KC135 aircraft experiments
indicate that ZBLAN glass exhibits different crystallization behavior
in low gravity than it does in 1 g. This paper describes a theoretical
approach to explain how nonlinear non-Newtonian viscosity behavior can
explain the observed effects. This is the first theoretical explanation
for the observed enhanced glass formation in low gravity that has been
reported by many scientists.

PAPER ACCEPTED FOR PUBLICATION IN JOURNAL OF CRYSTAL GROWTH: A paper,
entitled "Growth Orientation of Carbon Nanotubes by Thermal Chemical
Vapor Deposition," by Shen Zhu, Universities Space Research Association
(USRA/MSFC), Ching-Hua Su (MSFC), J. C. Cochrane (USRA/MSFC), S. Lehoczky
(MSFC), Y. Cui (Fisk Univ.), and A. Burger (Fisk Univ.), was accepted
for publication in the Journal of Crystal Growth. This paper described
the experiment results caused by gravity-driven flow in nanotube growth
using chemical vapor deposition.

PRESENATIONS MADE AT 10TH INERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON II-IV COMPOUNDS:
Dr. Witold Palosz of Universities Space Research Association, USRA, attended
and made the following presentations at the 10th International Conference
on II-VI Compounds in Bremen, Germany, 9/9-14/2001: (1) "The Effect
of the Wall Contact and Post-growth Cool-down on Crystallographic Quality
of CdTe Crystals Grown by ‘Contactless’ PVT" (by W. Palosz, K. Grasza,
M. Dudley, B. Raghothamachar, L. Cai, K. Durose, D. Halliday, and N.M.
Boyal). The study showed, through synchrotron topography, chemical etching
analysis, and photoluminescence, how the thermal history after growth
and the interactions with the ampoule walls affect the type and concentration
of defects and their distribution in the material. (2) "Photoluminescence
of Doped CdTe Crystals Grown by ‘Contactless’ PVT Method" (by W.
Palosz, K. Grasza, Y. Cui, E. Wright, U.N. Rox, and A. Burger). High resistivity
crystals have been obtained and their photoluminescent spectra measured.
Of particular interest are the spectra of the crystal doped with scandium,
which showed a considerable reduction of the wide, deep level absorption
band.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Additional meetings and symposia can be found at: http://microgravity.grc.nasa.gov/ugml/ugmltext.htm

Face-to-Face MRT/PMR Meeting at Kennedy Space Center will be held on
October 18-19, 2001.