ALBERT

Description: Spatially resolved infrared and ultraviolet wavelength spectra of Europa's leading, anti-jovian quadrant observed from the Galileo spacecraft show absorption features resulting from hydrogen peroxide. Comparisons with laboratory measurements indicate surface hydrogen peroxide concentrations of about 0.13 percent, by number, relative to water ice. The inferred abundance is consistent with radiolytic production of hydrogen peroxide by intense energetic particle bombardment and demonstrates that Europa's surface chemistry is dominated by radiolysis.

Description: The Panel Analysis and Sizing Code (PASCO) was developed for the buckling and vibration analysis and sizing of prismatic structures having an arbitrary cross section. PASCO is primarily intended for analyzing and sizing stiffened panels made of laminated orthotropic materials and is of particular value in analyzing and sizing filamentary composite structures. When used in the analysis mode, PASCO calculates laminate stiffnesses, lamina stress and strains (including the effects of temperature and panel bending), buckling loads, vibration frequencies, and overall panel stiffness. When used in the sizing mode, PASCO adjusts sizing variables to provide a low-mass panel design that carries a set of specified loadings without exceeding buckling or material strength allowables and that meets other design requirements such as upper and lower bounds on sizing variables, upper and lower bounds on overall bending, extensional and shear stiffnesses, and lower bounds on vibration frequencies. Although emphasis in PASCO is placed on flat panels having several identical bays, the only restriction on configuration modeling is that the structure is assumed to be prismatic. In addition, it is assumed that loads and temperatures do not vary along the length of a panel. Because of their wide application in aerospace structures, stiffened panels are readily handled by PASCO. The panel cross section may be composed of an arbitrary assemblage of thin, flat, rectangular plate elements that are connected together along their longitudinal edges. Each plate element consists of a balanced symmetric laminate of any number of layers of orthotropic material. Any group of element widths, layer thicknesses, and layer orientation angles may be selected as sizing variables. Substructuring is available to increase the efficiency of the analysis and to simplify the modeling of complicated structures. The Macintosh version of PASCO includes an interactive, graphic preprocessor called MacPASCO. The main objective of MacPASCO is to make the use of PASCO faster, simpler, and less error-prone. By using a graphical user interface (GUI), MacPASCO simplifies the specification of panel geometry and reduces user input errors, thus making the modeling and analysis of panel designs more efficient. The user draws the initial structural geometry on the computer screen, then uses a combination of graphic and text inputs to: refine the structural geometry, specify information required for analysis such as panel load conditions, and define design variables and constraints for minimum-mass optimization. Composite panel design is an ideal application because the graphical user interface can: serve as a visual aid, eliminate the tedious aspects of text-based input, and eliminate many sources of input errors. The current version of MacPASCO does not implement all the modeling features of PASCO, but has been found to be sufficient for many users. Many difficulties common to text-based inputs are avoided because MacPASCO uses a GUI. First, the graphic displays eliminate syntax errors, like misplaced commas and incorrect command names, because there is no text-based syntax. Second, graphic displays allow the user to see the geometry as it is created and immediately detect and correct any errors. Third, MacPASCO's drawing tools have been designed to avoid modeling errors. Fourth, the graphic displays make revisions to existing structural designs much easier and less error-prone by eliminating the need for the user to conceptualize the text input as geometry. The user can work directly with the geometry displayed on the screen. Finally, MacPASCO automatically generates the correct PASCO input from the geometry displayed on the screen. This input file can be used with any machine version of PASCO to actually perform the analysis and sizing and to output results. The DEC VAX version of PASCO is written in FORTRAN IV for batch execution and has been implemented on a DEC VAX series computer. The Macintosh version of PASCO was developed for Macintosh II series computers with at least 2Mb of RAM running MPW Pascal 3.0 and Language Systems FORTRAN 2.0 under the MPW programming environment. It includes MPW compatible makefiles for compiling the source code. The Macintosh version uses input files compatible with versions of PASCO running on different platforms. MacPASCO is written in Macintosh Programmers Workbench 3.0, MPW Pascal 3.0, and MacAPP 2.0. The Pascal source code is included on the distribution diskette. MacAPP is a development library which is not included. MacPASCO requires a Mac Plus, SE/30, or MacII, IIx, IIcx, IIci, or IIfx running System 6.0 or greater. MacPASCO is System 7.0 compatible. A minimum of 2Mb of RAM is required for execution. The Macintosh version of PASCO is distributed on four 3.5 inch 800K Macintosh format diskettes. The DEC VAX version is distributed on a 9-track 1600 BPI magnetic tape. The PASCO program was developed in 1981, adapted to the DEC VAX in 1983 and to the Macintosh in 1991. MacPASCO was released in 1992.

Description: We have developed, built, and tested an atomic force microscope (AFM) for extraterrestrial applications incorporating a micromachined tip array to allow for probe replacement. It is part of a microscopy station originally intended for NASA's 2001 Mars lander to identify the size, distribution, and shape of Martian dust and soil particles. As well as imaging topographically down to nanometer resolution, this instrument can be used to reveal chemical information and perform infrared and Raman spectroscopy at unprecedented resolution.

Description: The latest technology for structural analysis in relation to the design tasks that lie ahead for the space shuttle is reviewed. For shell-of-revolution structures, the analysis can be formulated as a one-dimensional problem which is readily solved by using finite-difference or numerical-integration techniques. For more general asymmetric shells, a two-dimensional formulation is required. However, the governing equations are readily formulated and are amenable to solution by finite-difference techniques. For a completely general structural arrangement, such as structural frameworks, recourse is usually made to discretized formulations using finite elements. Of course, the finite-element programs could be used for shell structures, but at a loss in accuracy and increase in computer time compared with the special purpose programs.

Description: Thermal buckling of cylinders

Description: A comparison of laboratory spectra with Galileo data indicates that hydrated sulfuric acid is present and is a major component of Europa's surface. In addition, this moon's visually dark surface material, which spatially correlates with the sulfuric acid concentration, is identified as radiolytically altered sulfur polymers. Radiolysis of the surface by magnetospheric plasma bombardment continuously cycles sulfur between three forms: sulfuric acid, sulfur dioxide, and sulfur polymers, with sulfuric acid being about 50 times as abundant as the other forms. Enhanced sulfuric acid concentrations are found in Europa's geologically young terrains, suggesting that low-temperature, liquid sulfuric acid may influence geological processes.

Description: Measurements are reported of the biconical reflectance of pyrolytic graphite in the spectral region between 4000 and 600/cm. The measurements are conducted with an FTIR spctrometer with the beam focused to a 1-mm-diam focal point on the sample surface. The highly oriented pyrolytic graphite has a high biconical reflectance as compared to other graphitic materials and does not cause significant beam scattering.