Thursday, Oct. 9, 1997
Laboratory science instruments to fly on Cassini
Laboratory scientists led the development of two scientific sensors that will provide key measurements of the space environment around Saturn when the Cassini spacecraft reaches the ringed planet in 2004.
One sensor, the ion beam spectrometer, takes advantage of space technology that the Laboratory first developed and flew in the 1970s; the other, the ion mass spectrometer, features a completely new design that will enable mission scientists to sort out the composition of the rings and moons orbiting within Saturn's magnetic influence.
The two sensors are part of the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer, or CAPS, a microwave oven-sized unit that is one of 12 scientific instruments on the two-story-tall Cassini spacecraft. Cassini, a joint effort of the National Aeronautics and Space Agency and the European Space Agency, is scheduled for launch Oct. 13.
"This spacecraft is huge," said Dave McComas, leader of Space and Atmospheric Sciences (NIS-1) and of Los Alamos' Cassini involvement, noting that CAPS alone weighs about 50 pounds, a sizeable amount for any space instrument.
Laboratory scientists also developed and manufactured the heat sources for Cassini's radioisotopic thermoelectric generators, which use heat from the decay of plutonium-238 to generate electricity, and other heat sources that warm critical spacecraft components. The Laboratory helped to develop heat sources for Mars Pathfinder, Pioneer, Voyager, Ulysses and other missions also.
Nothing like the Labs' ion mass spectrometer has flown in space before, though the technique behind it has been used in ground-based applications. The Laboratory team expanded the existing technique by designing their instrument to capture ions from all directions.
"We realized that if you could combine high mass resolution and high sensitivity with viewing in three dimensions," McComas said, "you could address the many scientific issues involved in studying the ions trapped within Saturn's magnetosphere," the region of space dominated by the planet's magnetic field.
The rings and moons of Saturn, orbiting within the magnetosphere, shed atoms and molecules that create a rich population of electrically charged particles, or ions, trapped by the magnetic field.
Schematically, the mass spectrometer consists of an entry, a passageway in which the ion's energy is measured and a chamber for mass analysis that's about the size and shape of a coffee can. As an ion enters the cylindrical chamber, it passes through a microscopically thin foil of carbon -- only a few dozen atoms thick -- which starts a clock that times the ion's flight through the cylinder and also provides information for determining the direction from which the ion entered the mass spectrometer.
The ion dives into the cylinder until the repelling force of an electric field permeating the cylinder overwhelms the ion and kicks it back, as if a spring attached to the ion had been stretched to its limit. The ion's return stops the clock measuring its flight. The time it takes for the ion to "bounce" within the cylinder yields a very accurate measurement of its mass.
Using information from other particles that don't "bounce" gives the mass spectrometer improved sensitivity. The Laboratory's mass spectrometer, unlike others, provides both high mass resolution and high-sensitivity measurements in a single package. It also has low electrical power requirements and is compact, lightweight and sufficiently robust to survive Cassini's launch and long space journey.
The ion beam spectrometer is a modern rendition of a design that flew on the first International Sun-Earth Explorer spacecraft in the 1970s; it features innovations that improve its performance over the 1970s' model.
"To fit into Cassini's original envelope we had to come up with the design for a beam spectrometer that required the absolute minimum in mass and power," McComas said.
The ion beam spectrometer consists of two eight-inch-diameter, nested hemispheres of aluminum, each machined so thin they are like paper.
Three openings about the size of a coin slot on a vending machine allow ions to enter at the base of the hemispheres. An electrical voltage forces ions of the right energy to travel a curved route between the hemispheres to a detector on the far side.
Tuning the electrical voltage lets the spectrometer sample for ions of different energies or speeds. Timing the arrival of ions that reach a detector as the spectrometer scans the sky provides data that can be decoded to reveal the spatial distribution of the incoming ions, especially intense, narrow beams of particles like those that stream along planetary magnetic field lines and cause phenomena such as auroras.
The two Laboratory sensors will measure the solar wind -- a million-mile-per-hour gale of atomic particles that streams into space from the sun's outer atmosphere -- during part of Cassini's voyage to Saturn; measure the interaction of the solar wind with Saturn's magnetosphere; search for beams of ions within the planet's magnetosphere; and sample atmospheric constituents from Titan, Saturn's largest moon, when Cassini swoops past it.
These measurements will not only allow scientists to determine the origins and fates of various ions but also identify physical processes taking place on the surfaces of the moons and within the rings of the Saturnian system.
"That's why the ion mass spectrometer was developed," said McComas. "The different bodies orbiting Saturn have different compositions and we can use the IMS data to figure out which bodies various ions came from. Saturn's magnetosphere is like a soup with lots of different ingredients from different places, and the trick is to figure out the sources of those ingredients."
Cassini measurements also will let space scientists engage in "comparative planetology" to better understand the interaction of the sun and planets and apply what's learned to Earth. "As scientists it's fun to learn more about the solar system, but what we learn can also help us understand space storms that knock out power grids and satellites and even affect the electrical energy surrounding Earth that degrades structures such as pipelines," McComas said.
Dave Young of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas, is the principal investigator for the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer, which incorporates an electron spectrometer, power supplies, controlling electronics and motors along with the Los Alamos sensors.
CAPS, like the rest of the Cassini mission, is truly an international experience. The CAPS instrument development team includes representatives from the Mullard Space Science Laboratory and Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in England; the Centre de étude des Environnements Terrestre et Plainetaires in France; the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment; the Technical Research Centre of Finland; and NASA's Goddard Spaceflight Center, in addition to the Laboratory and SWRI.
In addition to McComas, NIS-1 contributors to the Cassini sensors include: Bruce Barraclough, Beth Nordholt, Phil Barker, Herb Funsten, Juan Baldonado, Dan Everett, Mark Shappirio, Jack Gosling, Phil Barker, Sam Bame, Dave Suszcynsky, Michelle Thomsen, David Laurence, Mary Dugan, Eloisa Michel, Karen Olivas, Audrey Ulibarri, Mario Vigil; from Space Engineering (NIS-4), Kevin McCabe, Penny Salazar, Ken Fuller, Nick Olivas, Dolores Archuleta, Irma Gonzales, Gary Smith, Rose Vigil, Vernon Vigil, Virginia Herrera, Amelia Roybal, Ignacio Medina; from NIS-DO Alyce Elliot; and from Materials Technology: Metallurgy (MST-6) Richard Bramlett and Randy Edwards.
--John A. Gustafson
Lab tackles its largest cleanup project to date
Crews have begun cleaning up one of the largest sites at the Laboratory.
The Laboratory recently awarded a contract worth $2.7 million to Roy F. Weston Inc. to clean up Material Disposal Area P, a seven-acre hillside area at Technical Area 16, located several miles southwest of the town site and about a mile east of New Mexico 501.
"This will be the largest-acreage site that we anticipate cleaning up at the Laboratory," said Dave McInroy, regulatory compliance manager for the Lab's Environmental Restoration Project Office.
Crews will clean up some 30,000 cubic yards of miscellaneous waste, most of it scrap metal and building debris, that is possibly contaminated with high-explosive residue. The scrap pile is 12 to 14 feet deep and is the result of disposal from the early 1950s to 1984. The dump also is known to contain asbestos and probably also contains industrial and hazardous wastes, and barium-- and lead-contaminated soils.
Laboratory records indicate that depleted uranium, which is used at TA-16, was not disposed at the area, and any materials that were suspected of being contaminated with high explosive were burned to rid them of the contaminant before they were placed in the dump.
Material Disposal Area P lies at the edge of Cañon de Valle. A stream runs through the canyon below the dumping ground. Some material has fallen into the canyon bottom.
"The proximity of the disposal area to a waterway has helped identify the need for removal of the site as the appropriate remediation technique," said McInroy. "This is a huge project and we have placed a high priority on restoring the area adjacent to the stream course to a natural state."
The pile will be excavated in 100-cubic-meter lots and all debris
will be characterized for contaminants as it is excavated.
As part of the contract, Weston personnel will decontaminate much of the material on site. Where possible, the contractors will steam clean debris to remove any residual high explosives. Other material may be flashed -- set aflame -- on an existing, approved burn pad at TA-16 to remove explosive residue.
Scrap metal that is successfully decontaminated will be sold for recycling.
"The contractor keeps any income from the sale of the materials," said McInroy. "The contractor also benefits from this approach because he won't have to pay to dispose of the recycled materials. Disposal costs for contaminated materials can run quite high, from $500 to $1,300 a cubic meter, so, in essence, the contractor is getting a bonus for keeping wastes out of a hazardous landfill. This is the first cleanup activity of this magnitude at the Laboratory where materials are decontaminated at the site."
Materials that can't be decontaminated by steam treatment or flashing will be hauled off site and treated or disposed.
All asbestos-contaminated waste will be handled and disposed as prescribed by law. Hazardous wastes or contaminated materials will be segregated and shipped to the appropriate licensed disposal facilities.
After all the waste is removed from the pile, a contractor will remove the first two feet of soil, much of which is believed to be contaminated with barium or other chemicals. After the soil is removed, the area will be returned to a natural state. The area will be monitored for erosion. The soil removal and replanting will be done under a separate contract, McInroy said.
The remediation is scheduled to be completed by September 1998. Weston crews are working in the area now to get as much preliminary work as possible completed before the first snowfall of the year.
"We expect them to really hit the ground running in the spring," McInroy said.
He said personnel will take time-lapse photos throughout the remediation process so the Laboratory will have a record of the progress.
--James E. Rickman
Clean-up sites around Los Alamos are fewer but more complicated
As the Laboratory continues to whittle down the number of sites cleaned up or decommissioned through its Environmental Restoration (EM/ER) Project Office, more won't necessarily mean better in the next few years.
That, according to recently retired EM/ER Project Manager Jorg Jansen, means a fundamental change in the way the project has operated since its inception in 1989 to remediate up to 2,100 possible sites around the Lab.
Previously, Jansen said, the Lab wanted to clean as many sites as quickly as possible. But as the clean-up sites around Los Alamos County become fewer, they've also become more complicated. Jansen said this requires the Lab to become more efficient and work more closely with state regulators who oversee and approve the Lab's clean-up efforts.
Jansen left the Lab Friday after 22 years of service, the last three as EM/ER project manager. Julie Canepa on Monday replaced Jansen as EM/ER project manager.
In the 1997 fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, EM/ER cleaned up eight sites; another 150 sites have been proposed to be taken off the list of clean up sites based on a finding of no adverse human-health concerns. The sites are still being investigated for ecological risks, said Tracy Glatzmaier of EM/ER.
Assuming the 158 sites are removed from the list, the Lab will have about 750 sites remaining to investigate and determine if clean-ups are necessary, or if they also can be removed, she said.
The Department of Energy has given the Lab until 2006 to clean up all sites identified as being in need of remediation. But in 1994, DOE wasn't sure the Lab could do the work. It was ready to pull the project from the Lab, Jansen recalled.
The Lab had to submit an action plan to DOE detailing how it would go about with clean-up efforts. In August 1994, the plan was approved. "My first job was to make sure DOE gave the Lab another chance to manage the program," Jansen said.
Nearly three years later, he said, "It has worked out. We have demonstrated to DOE that we could manage this project, and we established a very good relationship in the process.
"We've convinced DOE that we mean business," he continued. "I think we've exceeded our goals every year."
Among the sites cleaned this year was an old firing range behind the present-day Guaje Pines Cemetery and across from Los Alamos Golf Course. It originally was a training area for the protective force that provided security at the Lab.
According to Glatzmaier, the area contained lots of lead shot that
had to be removed. Contractors used a "shaker plant" machine to
extract the lead shot from soil. She said the machine works like a sieve,
shaking out materials and separating the soil. The uncontaminated soil was
taken to the present training facility at the east end of East Jemez Road,
where it was used to build berms, while the lead shot was recycled.
Another site cleaned up included an open burning ground at Technical Area 14. The site once was a former trash burning area used for burning debris from experimental test shots at TA-14. At this site, Glatzmaier said, work crews used a ground sampling method to locate, segregate and remove different types of waste to minimize disposal costs.
Several old septic systems also were remediated, while at least four former Lab buildings at Technical Area 21 and two at TA-35 were decommissioned.
Two of the buildings, part of a plutonium and enriched uranium processing operation at TA-21, were dismantled and disposed of. Two other buildings used as ancillary facilities to house equipment also were decommissioned.
And at TA-35, an air-handling building that filtered exhaust from a separation process was decommissioned. The liquid that was captured during the separation process was sent to the Lab's radioactive-liquid-waste treatment facility for treatment and disposal.
The other part of the TA-35 project was decommissioning a pit that held all the process tank and separation equipment.
EM/ER also is doing an investigation at Los Alamos Airport for possible contamination. Core samples are being taken to determine if remediation is required, said Glatzmaier. The airport was once the site of a landfill.
"The present plans for the airport call for it to be turned over to the [Los Alamos] county," Jansen said, explaining the need for the site to be investigated.
Glatzmaier said about 40 projects are scheduled for clean up in 1998, but the actual number could change depending on the project's budget.
Jansen said the project's challenge will be to ensure that state and federal regulators work with the Lab so it can meet its 2006 goal. This will mean that potential clean up sites that are similar in scope be grouped together. "Then we can deal with regulators for the group of sites rather than individually," Jansen said. "This is really a change of what we've done in the past.
"The fundamental philosophy is lets quit removing dirt around here," he said.
--Steve Sandoval
Problems delay moving crane to new destination
Gilbert Romero, right, and Richard Bingham of Johnson Controls Northern
New Mexico's Quality Control Team check a section of trailer for additional
cracks around the area where four welds broke. The white markings around
the area are a penetrant that the two sprayed on, allowing them to detect
minute cracks invisible to the naked eye. The trailer, capable of hauling
about 240 tons and hauling a crane weighing about 133 tons, was forced to
pull over on Pajarito Road between technical areas 48 and 59 around 10 a.m.
Wednesday when four welds broke near the trailer's front. The crane was
being hauled from TA-60 to TA-54, about an eight-mile trek. Because of the
special type of steel involved, a certified welder from Precision Heavy
Haul Inc. had to fly in from Phoenix to repair the welds. Wednesday's move
marked the third time that various Lab and contractor crews tried to move
the crane; they first tried Sept. 30 and again on Tuesday, but loading and
mechanical problems kept hindering the effort. Dick Johnson, facility coordinator
for Facility Management Unit 64 at TA-54, said crews probably will try once
again to successfully haul the crane to its destination this morning. Below,
workers reroute traffic around the approximately 210-foot trailer and crane.
Photos by Fred Rick
The October "Reflections" is now available. Featured in this month's issue are the winners of the 1996 Distinguished Performance Awards -- 13 individuals and members of eight small teams and eight large teams. Also featured is a photographic tribute to the late Norris Bradbury, the Lab's second director who died Aug. 20. |
UC has tradition of Nobel Prize winners
Dr. Stanley Prusiner of the University of California, San Francisco, who recently won the 1997 Nobel Prize in Medicine, brings to 31 the number of University of California faculty members who have been honored with Nobel Prizes since 1939. No public university system worldwide has won more Nobel Prizes than UC. Seventeen current UC faculty, including emeriti, are recipients; they are listed below, grouped according to campus.
Berkeley
Irvine
UCLA
San Diego
San Francisco
Just a few formalities ...
Left to right: Sharon Watson, vice president of PrimeVest Financial Services in Los Alamos National Bank, watches as Business Operations (BUS) Division Director Allan Johnston and Madeline Vogt of the Bank of Santa Fe fill out some formal paperwork prior to Tuesday's check-giving ceremony at the University of California/Northern New Mexico Office. Johnston presented a $3 million check to Institutional Development Director Tom Garcia, who also is president of the board of trustees of the Los Alamos National Laboratory Foundation, on behalf of the Laboratory and the Department of Energy. The money represents the Lab's annual obligation to the foundation as part of the recently completed UC/DOE management contract. The Bank of Santa Fe was one of 10 regional banks that received checks of $100,000 each from the foundation that day; the remaining funds will be placed in investments at PrimeVest. Photo by Fred Rick
Past Daily Newsbulletins | Last week's headlines
Other Laboratory news sources
Reflections
| News Releases
| Dateline: Los Alamos
LANL | Phone Book | Search | Help
L O S A L A M O S
N A T I O N A L L A B O R A T O R Y
Operated by the University of California for the US Department of Energy
It's time to 'reflect'