- Email: [email protected]
3.2. Scientists produce metallic xenon
3. NEWS FROM NATIONAL
INSTITUTIONS
AND ORGANIZATIONS
The COSPAR Secretariat reminds the National Institutions and National Committees for COSPAR that short contributions (2-3 typed pages) on the National Space Research Projects and results from such projects, are most welcome for publication in the COSPAR Information Bulletin. The Information Bulletin appears three times a year (April, August and December) and deadlines for submission of material for publication are, respectively 1 February, 1 June, and 1 October. 3.1. FRUTKIN NAMED ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR FOR EXTERNAL RELATIONS”’
Arnold W. Frutkin has been appointed NASA Associate Administrator for External Relations, effective immediately. Since 2 March 1978 Frutkin has served as Deputy Associate Administator for External Relations, and, since 4 June as Acting Associate Administrator. Previously he headed NASA’s Office of International Affairs for 18 years. In his new position, he is responsible to the Administrator for the development of external policy and the co-ordination of NASA activities dealing with the public, the international community, universities, state and local governments and the Department of Defense and other federal agencies. Before joining NASA, Frutkin was Deputy Director of the US National Committee for the International Geophysical Year. A graduate of Harvard College, Frutkin did graduate work at Columbia University and served in the US Navy in the Pacific during World War II. He is a commander, USNR (ret.). During his NASA career, Frutkin was also Adjunct-Professor at the University of Miami’s Center for Advanced International Studies, 1969-1970; visiting lecturer and guest fellow at Yale University’s Berkeley College, 19741975. He is the author of a book, International Co-operation in Space, and numerous articles. He has received the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, the NASA Exceptional Service Medal, the National Civil Service League Award and a number of awards from foreign governments. He, his wife and their children make their home in Potomac, Md. 3.2. SCIENTISTS PRODUCE METALLIC XENON’*’
Cornell University scientists, by applying tremendous pressure, have for the first time, made xenon, the rarest of the stable rare gases, into a metal. David “)NASA News Release, No. 78-173, of 13 November 1978. (2)NASA News Release, No. 78-174, of 15 November 1978.
73
A. Nelson, Jr., and Professor Arthur L. Ruoff, of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, in work sponsored by NASA’s Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio, resported that pressures of 320 000 atmospheres applied to solid xenon at - 241 “C ( - 402OF) produced this new metal. Xenon when frozen solid does not conduct electricity. But at the pressures applied in the Cornell experiment the electrical conductivity of the solid xenon increased more than a hundred billion times; that is, it behaved as a metal. Only a very tiny amount of xenon was used in the experiment; The enomous value of the pressure used becomes apparent when it is noted that the pressure in the deepest part of the ocean, about 11 kilometers (35 OOO feet) down, is only about 1000 atmospheres. The pressure was six times that used to produce synthetic diamonds. Because xenon returns to the insulating (non-conductive) state when the pressure is removed, no engineering applications are apparent. However, Ruoff noted, “The production of metallic xenon is of considerable scientific interest. Furthermore, the development of these techniques is a step forward in high pressure research.” Ruoff believes that his group now has the capability of making oxygen and krypton metallic as well as possibly nitrogen, argon and even hydrogen. Ruoff notes that theorists have predicted that hydrogen and even diamond itself will become metallic at high enough pressures, perhaps several million atmospheres. If frozen hydrogen could ever be made metallic and remain in that state when the pressure is removed, it might have such practical uses as an extremely powerful rocket propellant, a superconductor or an improved source for fusion energy. NASA is exploring the possibility of making metallic hydrogen. To produce metallic hydrogen, much smaller pressure tips and tinier electrodes will be needed. Ruoff and associates are working on electrodes with widths and spacing of only one hundred thousandth of an inch.
3.3. GENERAL ELECTRICTO BUILD IMPROVED LANDSAT SATELLITE(s)
The General Electric Company’s Space Division, Philadelphia, has signed a contract with NASA to build Landsat-D, the most advanced Earth resources monitoring satellite system to date. The incentive contract cost includes a $5 million fee with additional earnings of up to $4.3 million depending upon how well the system performs once the satellite is in orbit. Scheduled for launch in the fall of 1981, Landsat-D is the fourth in a series of experimental satellites designed to explore the Earth from more than 640 kilometers (400 miles).
$77 million
(J)NASA News Release, No. 78-188, of 12 December 1978.
74
INSTITUTIONS
AND ORGANIZATIONS
The COSPAR Secretariat reminds the National Institutions and National Committees for COSPAR that short contributions (2-3 typed pages) on the National Space Research Projects and results from such projects, are most welcome for publication in the COSPAR Information Bulletin. The Information Bulletin appears three times a year (April, August and December) and deadlines for submission of material for publication are, respectively 1 February, 1 June, and 1 October. 3.1. FRUTKIN NAMED ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR FOR EXTERNAL RELATIONS”’
Arnold W. Frutkin has been appointed NASA Associate Administrator for External Relations, effective immediately. Since 2 March 1978 Frutkin has served as Deputy Associate Administator for External Relations, and, since 4 June as Acting Associate Administrator. Previously he headed NASA’s Office of International Affairs for 18 years. In his new position, he is responsible to the Administrator for the development of external policy and the co-ordination of NASA activities dealing with the public, the international community, universities, state and local governments and the Department of Defense and other federal agencies. Before joining NASA, Frutkin was Deputy Director of the US National Committee for the International Geophysical Year. A graduate of Harvard College, Frutkin did graduate work at Columbia University and served in the US Navy in the Pacific during World War II. He is a commander, USNR (ret.). During his NASA career, Frutkin was also Adjunct-Professor at the University of Miami’s Center for Advanced International Studies, 1969-1970; visiting lecturer and guest fellow at Yale University’s Berkeley College, 19741975. He is the author of a book, International Co-operation in Space, and numerous articles. He has received the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, the NASA Exceptional Service Medal, the National Civil Service League Award and a number of awards from foreign governments. He, his wife and their children make their home in Potomac, Md. 3.2. SCIENTISTS PRODUCE METALLIC XENON’*’
Cornell University scientists, by applying tremendous pressure, have for the first time, made xenon, the rarest of the stable rare gases, into a metal. David “)NASA News Release, No. 78-173, of 13 November 1978. (2)NASA News Release, No. 78-174, of 15 November 1978.
73
A. Nelson, Jr., and Professor Arthur L. Ruoff, of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, in work sponsored by NASA’s Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio, resported that pressures of 320 000 atmospheres applied to solid xenon at - 241 “C ( - 402OF) produced this new metal. Xenon when frozen solid does not conduct electricity. But at the pressures applied in the Cornell experiment the electrical conductivity of the solid xenon increased more than a hundred billion times; that is, it behaved as a metal. Only a very tiny amount of xenon was used in the experiment; The enomous value of the pressure used becomes apparent when it is noted that the pressure in the deepest part of the ocean, about 11 kilometers (35 OOO feet) down, is only about 1000 atmospheres. The pressure was six times that used to produce synthetic diamonds. Because xenon returns to the insulating (non-conductive) state when the pressure is removed, no engineering applications are apparent. However, Ruoff noted, “The production of metallic xenon is of considerable scientific interest. Furthermore, the development of these techniques is a step forward in high pressure research.” Ruoff believes that his group now has the capability of making oxygen and krypton metallic as well as possibly nitrogen, argon and even hydrogen. Ruoff notes that theorists have predicted that hydrogen and even diamond itself will become metallic at high enough pressures, perhaps several million atmospheres. If frozen hydrogen could ever be made metallic and remain in that state when the pressure is removed, it might have such practical uses as an extremely powerful rocket propellant, a superconductor or an improved source for fusion energy. NASA is exploring the possibility of making metallic hydrogen. To produce metallic hydrogen, much smaller pressure tips and tinier electrodes will be needed. Ruoff and associates are working on electrodes with widths and spacing of only one hundred thousandth of an inch.
3.3. GENERAL ELECTRICTO BUILD IMPROVED LANDSAT SATELLITE(s)
The General Electric Company’s Space Division, Philadelphia, has signed a contract with NASA to build Landsat-D, the most advanced Earth resources monitoring satellite system to date. The incentive contract cost includes a $5 million fee with additional earnings of up to $4.3 million depending upon how well the system performs once the satellite is in orbit. Scheduled for launch in the fall of 1981, Landsat-D is the fourth in a series of experimental satellites designed to explore the Earth from more than 640 kilometers (400 miles).
$77 million
(J)NASA News Release, No. 78-188, of 12 December 1978.
74