Saturday, January 13, 2007

Gravity Free Environment on Earth

It's taken some time from a layman perspective to try and "place this experiment" in a setting that helps orientate views. Well, at least in my case. :)

So here is a "guide below" that may seem trivial to some, yet, directed to the "microperspective" on this experiment, speak to cosmology as well. While it may seem easy from a "cosmological standpoint" gravities "effect" is of some importance in "condense matter views."

A "Top/down approach" pointing you toward LHC and the "anomaly of relativity" in the perfect fluid, seems like going "full circle?"

See:"Cosmic Variance"

Anyway to the essence of what has been instigated by the post of Seans, and what came about from the "Aerogel and Stardust" Post.


Microgravity Science Glove Box-The MSG will enable astronauts on board the ISS to perform a wide variety of materials, combustion, fluids and biotechnology experiments as well as investigations in the microgravity environment. It can also accommodate minor repairs and servicing of hardware requiring a controlled working environment. The facility offers users a wide range of innovative, utilization alternatives from manual control by astronauts via laptop computers to fully automated and remote control from Earth (telescience). A permanent data exchange link with ground stations is also ensured.The MSG will be integrated and used in the US Destiny Laboratory for a projected operational period of ten years.ESA is planning to use the facility for European experiments. The first time MSG will be used by a European astronaut to perform European experiments will be during a Soyuz taxi flight mission in October 2002. ESA's Belgian astronaut Frank De Winne will perform four different experiments in the MSG in the field of protein crystallization, zeolites crystallization, combustion and fluid science.
Frank De Winne works with the Microgravity Science Glovebox(MSG)Credits: ESA


Why is it we cannot create this environment, other then, the method described in terms of the drop tower, or, out in space? What ways do you know that such simulation can be developed to move the ideas of product development "done there in space." To make it feasible to create the condense matter states that are purer free from the effect of gravity on earth.

“On Earth, buoyancy continuously deforms and moves fluids in complex manners, making it difficult to study how materials that solidify from the melt form semiconductors and other products,” said Dr. Aleksandar Ostrogorsky, the SUBSA principal investigator who also teaches and conducts research at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y. “In microgravity, the fluids are almost stagnant, resembling solids. The absence of motion makes it easier to observe and mathematically describe what is occurring when the crystals are melted, and how the materials solidify to form a new crystal.”


The idea occurred to me today to find a way in which to "create the environment" that is conducive to perfecting the "purity of alignment of substances" in a gravity free environment. I mentioned the aerogel in the previous article and how developing that product in space gives the product superior qualities, that one might not have here on earth.


Aircraft: A two-engine turbofan aircraft similar to the McDonnell-Douglas DC-9
A typical mission is 2 to 3 hours long and consists of 40 to 50 parabolas. These parabolas can be flown in succession or with short breaks between maneuvers to reconfigure test equipment. The Reduced Gravity Office provides scheduling, test coordination, and in-flight direction for the test programs.


So, we create the conditions for it. Whether it be the Space Shuttle, the Airplane or the Miniature Drop Tower.

NASA's "Weightless Wonder" KC-135a Reduced Gravity Laboratory

By comparing the results from fuel vaporization in a reduced-gravity environment with those under normal conditions, the students aim to gain a better understanding of how fuel droplets behave under different conditions to optimize the fuel injection process. The findings may be used in helping promote changes in engine design while improving efficiency and reducing emissions.


By understanding the process from "space to earth" we see where ingenuity of mind applies the differences of "time clocks" and such.


As one of the fields which obey the general inverse square law, the gravity field can be put in the form shown above, showing that the acceleration of gravity, g, is an expression of the intensity of the gravity field.


In a manner that "it's effects" in relation to gravity may be considered from a cosmological and micro-gravity perspective, in relation to "Inverse Square law( I use sound in the example, but click on the image provided)" and "Inverse Fourth Power Law."


This miniature drop tower is used by Microgravity man and others to demonstrate the effects of reduced gravity on physical and chemical phenomena that are normally masked by Earth's gravity.


So here we are "to the experiment" in a microperspective that is currently being explored.

Eric Adelberger on Aug 12th, 2005 at 2:37 pm

Please don’t get too excited yet about rumors concerning the Eot-Wash test of the 1/r^2 law. We can exclude gravitational strength (|alpha|=1) Yukawa violations of the 1/r^2 law for lambda>80 microns at 95% confidence. It is true that we are seeing an anomaly at shorter length scales but we have to show first that the anomaly is not some experimental artifact. Then, if it holds up, we have to check if the anomaly is due to new fundamental physics or to some subtle electromagnetic effect that penetrates our conducting shield. We are now checking for experimental artifacts by making a small change to our apparatus that causes a big change in the Newtonian signal but should have essentially no effect on a short-range anomaly. Then we will replace our molybdenum detector ring with an aluminum one. This will reduce any signal from interactions coupled to mass, but will have little effect on subtle electromagnetic backgrounds. These experiments are tricky and measure very small forces. It takes time to get them right. We will not be able to say anything definite about the anomaly for several months at least.


Update:

Check out Backreaction's Water in Zero Gravity

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