Engineering topics

Flynn, Michael

Publications and source records attributed to Flynn, Michael.

57 records · Page 4

NASA NTRS1997

Reducing the Cost of RLS: Waste Heat from Crop Production Can Be Used for Waste Processing

The applicability of plant-based life support systems has traditionally suffered from the limitations imposed by the high energy demand of controlled environment growth chambers. Theme types of systems are typically less than 2% efficient at converting electrical energy into biomass. The remaining 98% of supplied energy is converted to thermal energy. Traditionally this thermal energy is discharged to the ambient environment as waste heat. This paper describes an energy efficient plant-based life support system which has been designed for use at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. At the South Pole energy is not lost to the environment. What is lost is the ability to extract useful work from it. The CELSS Antarctic Analog Program (CAAP) has developed a system which is designed to extract useful work from the waste thermal energy generated from plant growth lighting systems. In the CAAP system this energy is used to purify Station Sewage.

Lamparter, Richard↗

NASA NTRS1994

CELSS Antarctic Analog Project (CAAP): A New Paradigm for Polar Life Support and CELSS Research

The CELSS Antarctic Analog Project (CAAP) is a joint National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) project for the development, deployment and operation of CELSS technologies at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. CAAP is implemented through the joint NSF/NASA Antarctic Space Analog Program (ASAP), initiated to support the pursuit of future NASA missions and to promote the transfer of space technologies to the NSF. Under a Memorandum of Agreement, the CAAP represents an example of a working dual agency cooperative project. NASA goals are operational testing of CELSS technologies and the conduct of scientific study to facilitate . technology selection, system design and methods development, including human dynamics as required for the operation of a CELSS. Although not fully closed, food production, water purification, and waste recycle and reduction provided by CAAP will improve the quality of life for the South Pole inhabitants, reduce logistics dependence, and minimize environmental impacts associated with human presence on the polar plateau. The CAAP facility will be highly integrated with the new South Pole Station infrastructure and will be composed of a deployed hardware facility and a research activity. This paper will include a description of CAAP and its functionality, conceptual designs, component selection and sizing for the crop growth chamber, crop production expectations, and a brief report on an initial on-site visit. This paper will also provide a discussion of issues associated with power and energy use and the applicability of CAAP to direct technology transfer to society in general and remote communities in particular.

Bubenheim, David L.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Computer assisted analysis of auroral images obtained from high altitude polar satellites

Automatic techniques that allow the extraction of physically significant parameters from auroral images were developed. This allows the processing of a much larger number of images than is currently possible with manual techniques. Our techniques were applied to diverse auroral image datasets. These results were made available to geophysicists at NASA and at universities in the form of a software system that performs the analysis. After some feedback from users, an upgraded system was transferred to NASA and to two universities. The feasibility of user-trained search and retrieval of large amounts of data using our automatically derived parameter indices was demonstrated. Techniques based on classification and regression trees (CART) were developed and applied to broaden the types of images to which the automated search and retrieval may be applied. Our techniques were tested with DE-1 auroral images.

Samadani, Ramin↗