Heat source component development program, October 1977--February 1978

Abstract

The General Purpose Heat Source (GPHS) is being developed by Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL) for the Department of Energy (DOE) Division of Nuclear Research and Application (DNRA). The first mission scheduled for the GPHS is the NASA Out-of-Ecliptic Flight in January, 1983. During the current reporting period (October--December, 1977, January--February, 1978), activities in this task were conducted as follows: (1) documentation of results of the reentry thermal, ablation, and thermal stress analyses of the conceptual designs; (2) identification and completion of modifications to the thermal and ablation models used to determine the performance response of the heat source modules during reentry; (3) initiation of modifications to the thermal stress model used to determine the performance response of heat source modules during reentry; (4) completion and documentation of the surface chemistry experiments; (5) initiation and completion of activities in support of LASL to define test plans for the trial design phase of the GPHS development program; (6) participation in the GPHS design review meeting held at DOE/Germantown, Maryland, December 19--20, 1977; and (7) initiation of the thermal analysis of Trial Design 1.1.