Award Data

IN RECENT YEARS, CONSIDERABLE ATTENTION HAS BEEN FOCUSED ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF TECHNIQUES FOR GENETIC TRANSFORMATION OF HIGHER PLANTS. MOST ADVANCES HAVE BEEN MADE USING EITHER PETUNIA OR NICOTIANA AS A MODEL EXPERIMENTAL SYSTEM, MAINLY BECAUSE THESE PLANTS RESPOND WELL FOR REGENERATION IN CELL CULTURE. THERE IS AN OBVIOUS NEED TO EXTEND THESE STUDIES TO OTHER SPECIES, FOREST TREES IN PARTICULAR, ...

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CONVENTIONAL ROCK CORE DRILLING AT GREAT DEPTHS IS EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE AND TIME CONSUMING. ITS MAJOR DRAWBACK IS THE REQUIRED LENGTH OF DRILL PIPE. THE SUSPENSION CORE DRILL IS SUPPORTED BY CONTINUOUS FLEXIBLE LEADS HELD ON ONE OR MORE HIGH-SPEED REELS. WITHDRAWALS AND REPLACEMENT TIMES CAN BE REDUCED BY AN ORDER-OF-MAGNITUDE. COMMERCIAL USES INCLUDE STANDARD CORING APPLICATIONS AS WELL AS INTERMI ...

SIDE SCAN SONAR HAS DEVELOPED TO THE POINT WHERE IT IS NOW AN ACCEPTED PART OF HYDROGRAPHIC CHARTING PROJECTS, AS WELL AS A BROAD RANGE OF OCEAN SEARCH AND SURVEY APPLICATIONS. ONE LIMITATION ON ITS UTILITY, HOWEVER, IS THE REQUIREMENT TO OPERATE THE SYSTEM AT RELATIVELY LOW SPEEDS (5 KNOTS OR LOR LESS) IN ORDER TO ACQUIRE HIGH-QUALITY DATA. ANY INCREASEIN VESSEL SPEED CAPABILITY WOULD RESULT IN G ...

A CONCEPT FEASIBILITY STUDY FOR A SATELLITE-BASED OPTICAL-INFRARED DISTURBED ATMOSPHERE SIGNATURE PROGRAM IS PROPOSED. THE INITIAL CONCEPT IS FOR A POLAR-ORBITING OPTICAL-INFRARED ANALOG TO THE HILAT SATELLITE WHERE-IN A HIGH PROBABILITY OF AURORAL ACQUISITION IS ANTICIPATED. INITIAL TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES OF CRYOGENIC OPERATION AND EXPECTED LIFETIME ARE DISCUSSED IN TERMS OF THE IRAS SUCCESS. THE ...

CRYOGENIC HELIUM REFRIGERATORS AND LIQUIFIERS CONVENTIONALLYEMPLOY OIL LUBRICATED POSITIVE DISPLACEMENT COMPRESSORS AT THE WARM END AND FREQUENTLY USE PISTON TYPE EXPANSION ENGINES AT THE COLD END. THESE SYSTEMS REQUIRE EXTENSIVE AND VIGILANT MAINTENANCE TO CONTROL CONTAMINATION FROM LUBRICATING OIL AND ITS VOLATILE COMPONENTS MIGRATING TO THE COLD END. HENCE THE NEED FOR LOW MAINTENANCE COMPRESSO ...

IN MOST CRYOGENIC SYSTEMS, THE PIPING JOINTS IN COLD REGIONSOF THE SYSTEM ARE MADE BY WELDING OR SOLDERING. THIS IS ESSENTIAL BECAUSE EXISTING DESIGNS OF CRYOGENIC PIPE SEALS CANNOT BE RELIED ON NOT TO LEAK. ANY SUCH LEAKS INTO THE COLD BOX REDUCE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE INSULATION, THEREBY REDUCING THE EFFICIENCY OF THE REFRIGERATOR. WELDEDJOINTS MAKE REPLACEMENT OF COMPONENTS DIFFICULT AND HAVE ...

THE OVERALL CYCLE EFFICIENCY (HENCE, INPUT POWER REQUIREMENTS) OF REVERSE-BRAYTON CRYOCOOLERS FOR SPACE APPLICATIONS IS HIGHLY SENSITIVE TO THE THERMAL EFFECTIVENESS OF THE HEAT EXCHANGERS. APPLICATIONS FOR THESE CRYOCOOLERS IN SPACE DICTATE THAT THESE HEAT EXCHANGERS BE AS SMALL AND LIGHT AS POSSIBLE. TO DATE, ONLYHEAT EXCHANGERS EMPLOYING ORGANIC MATERIALS HAVE BEEN ABLE TO ACHIEVE THE HIGH THER ...

THE PROPOSED PROJECT WILL DEVELOP MATERIALS AND SUPPORTING THERMAL TECHNOLOGY LEADING TO DESIGN OF HIGH POWER PULSE CONDUCTORS FOR SPACE APPLICATIONS. IN PHSE I WE WILL EVALUATE AN EM GUN SYSTEM, IDENTIFY ALTERNATIVE MATERIALS AND THERMAL APPROACHES FOR SELECTED COMPONENTS, AND IDENTIFY TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENTS. COMPONENT DEVELOPMENT FEASIBILITY AND BENEFITS WILL BE DEFINED.

THE NEED FOR INCREASING THE SENSITIVITY OF SPACE-BORNE SENSORS WILL REQUIRE DEVELOPMENT OF LONG-LIFE, HIGHLY EFFICIENT HELIUM LIQUIFIERS. CONVENTIONAL HELIUM LIQUIFIERS EMPLOY A JOULE-THOMSON EXPANSION VALVE TO EXPAND THE HELIUM AT TEMPERATURES BELOW ABOUT 10 DEG K. IT HAS BEEN SHOWN THAT GAINS OF UP TO 30% IN OVERALL CYCLE EFFICIENCY CAN BE OBTAINED IF THE JOULE-THOMSON VALVE IS REPLACED BY AN EX ...