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Johnson, W.

Publications and source records attributed to Johnson, W..

At least 19 records

NASA Cryocooler Technology Developments and Goals to Achieve Zero Boil-Off and to Liquefy Cryogenic Propellants for Space Exploration

NASAs interest in human exploration of Mars has driven it to invest in 20K cryocooler technology to achieve zero boil-off of liquid hydrogen and 90K cryocooler technology to achieve zero boil-off liquid oxygen or liquid methane as well as to liquefy oxygen or methane that is produced on the surface of Mars. These investments have demonstrated efficiency progress, mass reductions, and integration insights. A history of the application of cryocooler technology to zero boil-off propellant storage is presented. A trade space on distributed cooling is shown, along with the progress of reverse turbo-Brayton cycle cryocoolers, where the specific power and specific mass have dropped, decreasing the mass and power of these cryocoolers. Additionally, the cryocooler technology advancements of recuperators and compressors are described. Finally, NASAs development ideas with respect to zero boil-off technology are discussed.

reverse turbo-Brayton cycle cryocooler

NASA Cryocooler Technology Developments and Goals to Achieve Zero Boil-Off and to Liquefy Cryogenic Propellants for Space Exploration

NASA's interest in human exploration of Mars has driven it to invest in 20K cryocooler technology to achieve zero boil-off of liquid hydrogen and 90K cryocooler technology to achieve zero boil-off liquid oxygen or liquid methane as well as to liquefy oxygen or methane that is produced on the surface of Mars. These investments have demonstrated efficiency progress, mass reductions, and integration insights. A history of the application of cryocooler technology to zero boil-off propellant storage is presented. A trade space on distributed cooling is shown, along with the progress of reverse turbo-Brayton cycle cryocoolers, where the specific power and specific mass have dropped, decreasing the mass and power of these cryocoolers. Additionally, the cryocooler technology advancements of recuperators and compressors are described. Finally, NASA's development ideas with respect to zero boil-off technology are discussed.

zero boil-off

Environmentally Friendly Rotorcraft Concepts: 2011-2014: US/France MoA Helicopter Aeromechanics - Task 5

Motivation: Greenhouse gas concentrations have increased well beyond their pre-industrial levels due to human activities; Aircraft emissions are becoming regulated in industrialized nations, so future rotorcraft will need to be designed for minimal environmental impact. Objectives: Determine suitable metrics to measure environmental impact of rotorcraft, focusing first on air pollution; Integrate performance metrics with rotorcraft design codes; Generate rotorcraft designs with minimal environmental impact. Outcomes: Obtain an understanding of how targeting reduced emissions affects the rotorcraft design process; Advance the capability of existing rotorcraft design tools to include environmental performance metrics. Tools: Evaluation and predesign - NDARC (NASA Design and Analysis of Rotorcraft) and CREATION (Concepts of Rotorcraft Enhanced Assessment Through Integrated Optimization Network); Flight simulation - CAMRAD II (Comprehensive Analytical Model of Rotorcraft Aerodynamics and Dynamics) and HOST (Helicopter Overall Simulation Tool).

Environmentally Friendly

Cryogenic Vacuum Insulation for Vessels and Piping

Cryogenic vacuum insulation systems, with proper materials selection and execution, can offer the highest levels of thermal performance. Three areas of consideration are vital to achieve the optimum result: materials, representative test conditions, and engineering approach for the particular application. Deficiency in one of these three areas can prevent optimum performance and lead to severe inefficiency. Materials of interest include micro-fiberglass, multilayer insulation, and composite arrangements. Cylindrical liquid nitrogen boil-off calorimetry methods were used. The need for standard thermal conductivity data is addressed through baseline testing. Engineering analysis and design factors such as layer thickness, density, and practicality are also considered.

Kogan, A.

Cassini radar views the surface of Titan

The Cassini Titan Radar Mapper imaged about 1% of Titan's surface at a resolution of approximately 0.5 kilometer, and larger areas of the globe in lower resolution modes. The images reveal a complex surface, with areas of low relief and a variety of geologic features suggestive of dome-like volcanic constructs, flows, and sinuous channels. The surface appears to be young, with few impact craters. Scattering and dielectric properties are consistent with porous ice or organics. Dark patches in the radar images show high brightness temperatures and high emissivity and are consistent with frozen hydrocarbons.

Saturn

Cassini radar views the surface of Titan

The Cassini Titan Radar Mapper imaged about 1% of Titan’s surface at a resolution of È0.5 kilometer, and larger areas of the globe in lower resolution modes. The images reveal a complex surface, with areas of low relief and a variety of geologic features suggestive of dome-like volcanic constructs, flows, and sinuous channels. The surface appears to be young, with few impact craters. Scattering and dielectric properties are consistent with porous ice or organics. Dark patches in the radar images show high brightness temperatures and high emissivity and are consistent with frozen hydrocarbons.

Lunine, J.

Vortex Wake Geometry of a Model Tilt Rotor in Forward Flight

The vortex wake trajectory from one rotor of a 0.25-scale V-22 tiltrotor model was measured for four test conditions in the NASA Ames 40- by 80-Foot Wind Tunnel. Vortex wake images were acquired using a laser light sheet and video camera. Wake trajectories were constructed by extracting vortex positions from the video images. Wake trajectories were also calculated using the comprehensive analysis CAMRAD II. Measured and calculated wake geometries exhibit similar trends when advance ratio is varied at fixed thrust or when thrust is varied at fixed advance ratio.

Yamauchi, G. K.

Blade-Vortex Interaction of an Isolated Full-Scale XV-15 Tilt-Rotor

Blade-vortex interaction noise of an isolated full-scale XV-15 tilt-rotor was investigated in the NASA Ames 80- by 120-Foot Wind Tunnel. The objective was to establish the baseline BVI noise signature of a fullscale tilt-rotor and to investigate several noise reduction concepts, including blade-tip subwings, reduced tip Mach number, and the addition of a fourth blade to the rotor system. At the nominal tip Mach number of 0.691, the peak BVI levels were found to occur at a tip-path-plane angle of 4-deg and at the highest advance ratio tested of 0.2. The BVI noise levels were found to be weakly dependent on CT/s. As would be expected, reducing tip Mach number, either of the baseline 3-blade rotor, or in conjunction with a 4-blade rotor, was found to be an effective way to significantly reduce noise. The addition of the tested subwings did not seem to be an effective strategy for noise reduction, and they incurred a performance penalty.

AEROMECHANICS

Achievements in the Development of Space-borne Imaging Radar

This article describes past and current achievements in the development of space-borne imaging radar technology and discusses possibilities for the future. The article focuses on space-borne capabilities for civil and scientific purposes.

space-borne imaging radar interferometry

Situated Plan Attribution

Plan recognition techniques frequently make rigid assumptions about the student's plans, and invest substantial effort to infer unobservable properties of the student.

recognition analysis

Two-bit Quantization for Q-dB Gain

For space missions such as NASA's Magellan mission to Venus and the Cassini mission to Saturn, the communication channel to Earth has a limited channel capacity.

block-adaptive quantization