Advanced Optical Measurement Techniques

This research analyzes four areas: (1) Improved Techniques for Optical Measurement; (2) KC-135 Low Gravity Simulation Flight Preparation; (3) In-Line Holographic Microscopy; and (4) Holographic Optical Schlieren System (HOSS). The first task provides for laboratory breadboarding of advanced optical measurement techniques which appear promising for use in Material Processing System (MPS) flight experiments. A laboratory schlieren system has been constructed which simulates a similar optical system on the Fluids Experiment System (FES) which is to be flown on Spacelab 3. The second task allows improved optical systems and breadboards to be built for experiments and hardware tests on the KC-135 aircraft. A new, more stable Mach-Zehnder interferometer has been developed and components have been ordered. The third task is concerned with improvements on the optical system being used to study immiscible fluids. Experiments studying the dynamics of nucleation and the separation of immiscible fluids have been conducted. The four task involves building breadboard reconstruction systems for holograms taken in the HOSS. The HOSS is an early prototype of the Fluids Experiments System (FES) which is scheduled to fly on Spacelab 3.