Objectives and Relevance to Program Objectives: This recommended award would allow Dr. Roy B. Torbert, University of Alabama in Huntsville, to collaborate with Dr. Gerhard Haerendel, Max Planck Institute for Physics and Astrophysics, Munich, Federal Republic of Germany. They will attempt to resolve some of the problems in interpreting the experimental results on the critical velocity effect in space plasmas. These two researchers have produced conflicting results and they propose to make definitive tests of the problems by working together. The resolution of the issues they define should lead to a better understanding of the physics of plasma-neutral gas interactions and their applications to solar system astrophysics and neutral beam interactions. Each of the researchers proposes new diagnostic instruments for electric field and current measurements that should benefit the experiments. They wish to explore possibilities for cooperation in developing the equipment and for doing future studies. The project thus contributes to an important objective of NSF's cooperative science programs with Western Europe, which is to stimulate scientific progress by bringing together scientists from the U.S. and Europe who have similar research interests and who wish to engage in mutually beneficial research cooperation. Funds from this award would support salary, necessary transportation, and partial subsistence expenses for the U.S. principal investigator, as well as other minor costs directly related to the collaboration. Merit of Proposal: The prospect is very good for a significant contribution to scientific knowledge from this proposed research. The U.S. principal investigator is a highly respected, productive scientist. The foreign researcher with whom he will cooperate in the project is also an internationally known expert in this field. The work plan has been carefully prepared and the budget is reasonable. The cooperating scientists will have the opportunity to make significant advances in their research efforts by sharing specialized knowledge and insights gained previously from their separate, individual studies. Both researchers will contribute to the project and will benefit significantly from the cooperation. The Max-Planck-Gesellschaft is providing German counterpart support for the project. Funding: This award will not duplicate other funding. The principal investigator receives support for the domestic aspects of this research from NASA. The Solar Terrestrial Program of NSF will fund $14,300 of this award from its 1988 budget. That amount and $5,950 from International Programs in FY 1988 will supplement the last 24 months of this award.
