Heat loss and drag of spherical drop tube samples

Analysis techniques for three aspects of the performance of the NASA/MSFC 32 meter drop tube are considered. Heat loss through the support wire in a pendant drop sample, temperature history of a drop falling through the drop tube when the tube is filled with helium gas at various pressures, and drag and resulting g-levels experienced by a drop falling through the tube when the tube is filled with helium gas at various pressures are addressed. The developed methods apply to systems with sufficiently small Knudsen numbers for which continuum theory may be applied. Sample results are presented, using niobium drops, to indicate the magnitudes of the effects. Helium gas at one atmosphere pressure can approximately double the amount of possible undercooling but it results in an apparent gravity levels of up to 0.1 g.