OBPR Research Updates - November 14, 2003

Check the Bioastronautics and Fundamental Space Biology publication citations from the NIH PubMed Database, provided by SpaceLine.

This evolutionary biology research funded by the Fundamental Space Biology Program was featured on the June 27, 2003, cover of the journal Cell. This research shed significant "new light on the evolution of the central nervous system and the phylogenetic placement of chordates." The cover shows a 15 day, post-hatching juvenile worm - hemichordate, a marine invertebrate.

This abstract, Anteroposterior Patterning in Hemichordates and the Origins of the Chordate Nervous System (Vol 113, 853-865, 27 June 2003), can be found at the Cell Web site (http://www.cell.com/content/article/abstract?uid=PIIS0092867403004690) .

Prof. F. Egolfopoulos of the University of Southern California unraveled a few previously unobserved phenomena in a paper recently submitted to the 30th Combustion Symposium (http://www.combustion2004.org/) . The newly gained physical insight shed light into the controlling mechanisms of chemically reacting flows seeded with chemically inert and/or reactive dust. Methane/air flame extinction experiments with seeded combustible particles (50 micron spherical carbon particles) on board KC-135, a first ever, reveal that flame extinction is rather sensitive to the strain rate, particle injection orientation, and gravity. In particular, it has been found that while under certain conditions the reacting particles can ignite and enhance the gas phase reactivity, under other conditions, they behave as inert additions reducing the particle phase reactivity through their cooling effect. This unexpected result is reported for the first time, and is of relevance to the design of combustors that utilize solid fuels. More specifically, the flow conditions and geometry of the combustor must be such that the added solid fuel reacts as intended, and does not just absorb heat to the point of inhibiting flame ignition.

The University of Colorado at Boulder (UCB) has completed the STS-107 flight data filtering process to remove erroneous data. The filtering process determined that the errors observed were a result of telemetry errors and not a result of MGM equipment failures. This finding increases the Science team's confidence in the MGM data as received. MGM III experiment data accessibility is principally due to downlinked flight telemetry from STS-107. The MGM science team has recently submitted technical papers to the following conferences/meetings: International Workshop on X-ray CT for Geomaterials, 42nd AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit, and the Aerospace Division of the American Society of Civil Engineers Ninth Biennial International Conference on Engineering, Construction, and Operations in Challenging Environments.