with wide profiles. It does not appear to result from strong systematic decrease of line width with height for individual spicules. Only a small percentage of the features with wide profiles resolves into clusters of spicules with narrow profiles at great heights. Doppler velocities are found to be less than 12 km/sec for about two-thirds of equatorial spicules with the remaining one-third showing Doppler velocities up to about 30 km/sec. Almost all polar spicules have Doppler velocities less than 12 km/sec. No other significant difference between polar and equatorial spicules were found.

D'Alel io, G. F., Ro land Haberl i , and George F. Pez-

dirtz, D e p a r t m e n t of Chemis t ry , Univ . of No t re

Dame , "Ef fec t of Ionizing Rad ia t ion on a Series of

Sa tu ra ted Polyes te rs" , N A S A SP-58, 1964, 63 p. illus.

When a polymer is subjected to ionizing radiation, either a erossdinked or degraded polymer is obtained. In the past few years, the influence of such radiation on many polymers has been reported and reviewed in detail, and numerous attempts have been made to correlate the cross linking or the degrada- tion of the polymer to molecular weight, to the monomer and polymer structures, to the effect of oxygen, to the protection of aryl groups, to the linkages present in the polymer, and to other factors. To date, the literature in the field of polymer irradiation has dealt predominantly with the available addition polymers of commercial importance, even though there are many important condensation polymers. The number of con- densation polymers studied has been limited. There is no pub- lished detailed study on the effect of ionizing radiation on simple carboxylic esters, and the influence of side-chain ester groups in the acrylates cannot be considered as applicable directly to polymers having ester links in the backbone chain, as in the saturated linear polyesters. However, it may be con- eluded from a comparison of the polyacrylates and poly- ethylene that the ester group can act as an energy sink in stabilizing the polymer chain against scission as well as cross- linking. Also, there have been no detailed publications on the effect of irradiation on the saturated polyesters or on related condensation polymers such as the polyamides of amino acids. This information would be invaluable in human welfare be- cause living cells are composed primarily of proteins and nucleic acids. Little is km)wn about how radiation reacts with protein polymers to produce mutation effects or cause destruc- tion of tissue. The state of knowledge on polymer irradiation is still too meager to apply the results to such complicated polymers as proteins, but as the research is extended from simple to more complicated molecules, it may be possible eventually to understand the behavior of the proteins. Com- pared with the polymers found in living entities, the polyesters are relatively simple polymers, and for this reason, among others, a series of saturated linear polyesters were prepared and subjected to ionizing radiation. The polynmrs used in this study are the polyesters of dihydric alcohols, HO R~--OH, and dicarboxylic acids, HOOC--R2 COOH: they have in their structures as the repeating unit --OC ]~--COO--R: O--.

Allison, Lewis J., Goddard Space Fl ight Center , Thomas

L. Gray, Jr. , U. S. W e a t h e r Bureau, G u e n t h e r

Warnecke, Godda rd Space Fl ight Cen te r (on leave

f rom Ins t i tu t fur Meteorologic und Geophysik der

Freien Unive r s i t a t Berlin, Berlin, Germany) , " A

Quasi-GlobM Presen ta t ion of Tiros I I I Rad ia t ion

D a t a " , N A S A SP-53, 1964, 23 p.

Perhaps the most significant aspect of the meteorological satellite is its inherent ability to obtain routine coverage of the entire globe. Although much has been written about the operational use of satellite television pictures, relatively little has been said about the synoptic use of radiation data. As a step toward rectifying this imbalance, the authors of this paper present a worldwide radiation nmp in the 8 to 12 micron atmospheric "window" and discuss in detail the large-scale synoptic application of the infrared dala. An extra large format approximately 17 by 22 in. is employed to facilitate the reader's grasp of the data contained in the figures. NASA believes there is a vast information potential inherent in the global measure-

ment of radiation by means of satellites--readers of this docu- ment may well share that conviction.

XIV--Geophysical and Meteorological: Weather, Climate, Sundials, Telescopes, ~|agnetism, and Gravity

Anon., High Al t i tude Observatory , Boulder, Colorado,

Misc. repr int No. 337, Research Notes, "Electric Fields in the Magne tosphe re Associated wi th Da i ly

Geomagnet ic Varia t ions and their Effects on T r apped

Par t ic les" , reprint , J1 Atmospheric and Terrestrial Physics, 1964, 5 p. illus.

It is generally accepted now that the lines of geomagnetic force in the magnetosphere are highly conductive electrically and can be regarded as equipotentials. If so, it seems to be possible that electrostatic fields associated with the dynamo currents in the ionosphere propagate into the magnetosphere along the lines of force without significant attenuation, and have an important effect on geomagneticMly trapped particles, as has been suggested by Dungey (1960). The purpose of this report is to exainine in some detail such a possibility on the basis of geomagnetic data.

XV--Materials and Production

Schmidt , Ferenc J. and I rv ing J. Hess, General Electr ic

Co., "E lec t ro fo rming A l u m i n u m for Solar Ene rgy

Concen t ra to r s" , N A S A CR-197, Apri l 1965, 121 p.

illus.

The aim of this program was the investigation of possible fabrication of aluminum solar concentrators by electroforming. Since aluminum electroforming hitherto was only a laboratory- scale process, the investigation was logically sub-divided into three maj or phases: (1) determination of the basic soundness of the approach by evaluating the deposit properties from a laboratory cell; (2) scale-up of the process and build equip- ment to 30-inch diameter concentrator size; (3) electroform and test two 30-inch diameter concentrators.

Quimby, Dr. F r e e m a n H., Office of Space Science and

Applicat ions, Edi tor , "Concep t s for De tec t ion of

E x t r a Terres t r ia l Life", N A S A SP-56, 1964, 53 p.

illus.

Discussed and reported are the investigations and studies of the possibility of life on another celestial body. Of interest to solar-energy enthusiasts are the studies relating to the mass spectrometer, the gas chromatograph, the ultraviolet spectro- photometer, and the J-band life detector.

XVI--Gcncral Data, Organization and Bibliog- raphies

Rosenberg, S. D., G. A. Guter , F. E. Miller, and G. F.

Jameson, prepared under Con t rac t No. NAS 7-225,

Aero je t -Genera l Corp., " C a t a l y t i c Reduc t ion of Car-

bon Monoxide wi th H y d r o g e n " , N A S A C R 57, J u l y

1964, (~4 p., charts, tables and illus.

Laboratory apparatus for studying the catalytic reduction of carbon monoxide with hydrogen was designed, fabricated, and operated. Three different nickel-containing catalysts were evaluated. In addition, a determination was made of the effects on catalyst activity of several impurities in the reactant gas, and of the feasibility of achieving the reduction reaction without catalyst. Virtually quantitative reduction of carbon monoxide with hydrogen was obtained using Catalyst C-0765- 1001 under these conditions: H.,/CO mole ratio, 3:1; space velocity, 1000 hr-J; catalyst bed temperature, 250°C; and catalyst-bed pressure, 6.1 arm.

60 Solar Energ~.l