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Kan Yang

Publications and source records attributed to Kan Yang.

17 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2024

Expanding Impact with the James Webb Space Telescope: Combining Art, Science, and Technology for Public Outreach

This archived content may contain outdated information or references that may not reflect current policy or programs. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope revealed its first images on July 12, 2022 and has been used for groundbreaking science since. Scientific exploration transcends international borders, making a mission like Webb feasible with collaborators including the European Space Agency (ESA), and Canadian Space Agency (CSA). Communication about NASA’s discoveries about the universe, so essential for involving the public, likewise needs to be inclusive to all. Art is a tool for cutting across the boundaries of language, culture, and ability, and serves as a bridge between the technical and non-technical communities. Art makes the beauty and nuance of science and engineering accessible in ways that may not be readily perceived to those outside of those communities of practice. Equitable and inclusive outreach endeavors are challenging to implement while considering language translations, culture context, sensory methods, and technology capabilities. Formats including “Unfolding the Universe'' virtual reality platform has allowed for a wider audience to interact with the Webb images including sounds, visual aids, and talks by the scientists and engineers who worked on Webb. This VR platform has been expanded to highlight the ESA contributors to the mission and will be showcased internationally. The Webb first images were also translated into sounds as a method of inclusion for anyone with sight disabilities. We will explore some successful outreach methods and suggestions for inclusivity in future.

Outreach↗
NASA NTRS2018

The Large UV/Optical/Infrared Surveyor (LUVOIR): Decadal Mission Study Update

NASA commissioned the study of four large mission concepts, including the Large Ultraviolet / Optical / Infrared (LUVOIR) Surveyor, to be evaluated by the 2020 Decadal Survey in Astrophysics. In response, the Science and Technology Definition Team (STDT) identified a broad range of science objectives for LUVOIR that include the direct imaging and spectral characterization of habitable exoplanets around sun-like stars, the study of galaxy formation and evolution, the exchange of matter between galaxies, star and planet formation, and the remote sensing of Solar System objects. To meet these objectives, the LUVOIR Study Office, located at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), completed the first design iteration of a 15-m segmented-aperture observatory that would be launched by the Space Launch System (SLS) Block 2 configuration. The observatory includes four serviceable instruments: the Extreme Coronagraph for Living Planetary Systems (ECLIPS), an optical / near-infrared coronagraph capable of delivering 10^-10contrast at inner working angles as small as 2 O/D; the LUVOIR UV Multi-object Spectrograph (LUMOS), which will provide low- and medium-resolution UV (100 – 400 nm) multi-object imaging spectroscopy in addition to far-UV imaging; the High Definition Imager (HDI), a high-resolution wide-field-of-view NUV-Optical-NIR imager; and Pollux, a high-resolution UV spectro-polarimeter being contributed by Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES).The study team has executed a second design iteration to further improve upon the 15-m concept, while simultaneously studying an 8-m concept. In these proceedings, we provide an update on these two architectures.

space telescopes↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Rapid Development of Instrument Thermal Models: Perspectives and Guidelines from NASA Goddard’s Instrument Design Laboratory

The Instrument Design Laboratory (IDL), part of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Integrated Design Center (IDC), is a concurrent and collaborative environment which allows for rapid development of science instrumentation concepts within the span of less than two weeks. Science goals set by a Principal Investigator from government, industry or academia are translated into engineering requirements, from which a team of engineers spanning multiple disciplines use an established study process and a suite of analysis tools to work towards an instrument point design. As part of this process, a staff thermal engineer is tasked with designing a thermal control system which meets all incoming thermal requirements, while iterating real-time with other subsystems to ensure compatibility and functionality as a completed system. Thermal engineers on spaceflight projects typically have weeks or months to develop thermal models. However, the severe time limitation in this conceptual study setting makes thermal design particularly difficult, as rapid thermal modeling solely over the span of a few days is required to develop the instrument thermal design and understand the performance over its intended mission, especially if the instrument concept contains multiple thermal challenges such as dynamic environments or high heat dissipating components. In this paper, the authors provide a condensed guide for the most efficient ways to develop thermal models and conduct thermal analysis within the span of one-to-two weeks, as informed by decades of design experience and best practices in the IDL. The authors also focus on quick methods for determining worst-case thermal environments, deciding which modeling details are essential at this early phase, and quantifying the engineering resources necessary for thermal control. This paper concludes with specific thermal design tips for different instrument types across the electromagnetic spectrum.

Kan Yang↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Rapid Development of Instrument Thermal Models: Perspectives and Guidelines from NASA Goddard’s Instrument Design Laboratory

- The design and development of robotic spaceflight instruments is a critical part of NASA’s vision to discover and expand knowledge for the benefit of humanity - For typical flight instrument projects, thermal engineers will develop initial instrument thermal models over weeks or months, then iterate them over a project’s lifespan – In each iteration, the engineer will: - Refine their thermal models and thermal designs in accordance with updates from other subsystems - Perform trade studies - Solve very detailed and complex analysis problems, including worst-cases and contingencies - Pick hardware and plan for testing and integration - However, prior to a project being established, or for proposal development at an early conceptual stage, the luxury of multiple instrument design iterations may be limited or nonexistent – Within a short timeline, how do you complete a thermal model or explore multiple possible instrument configurations? – What are the critical parameters for your model? Which details do you include or leave out?

Kan Yang↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA’s PACE Ocean Color Instrument Thermal Design Evolution: from Goddard’s Instrument Design Lab through Flight Development

NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission, set to launch in 2024, seeks to provide data continuity for the ocean color, aerosol and cloud measurements acquired by NASA’s on-orbit Earth Science observatories since the 1990s. It will accomplish this through its Ocean Color Instrument (OCI), an optical spectrometer being developed for hyper-spectral measurements in the ultraviolet-to-near-infrared band between 340 nm and 2260 nm. Although OCI’s instrument architecture will provide greater insight and resolution than its predecessors in this wavelength range, the engineering required to achieve this also poses a greater challenge. In thermal engineering, this translates to a more complex thermal control approach to address high heat dissipations, stringent stabilities, the volume of heat that requires transport, and changing thermal environments due to tilting of the entire instrument ±20° twice per orbit. This current work explores how the PACE OCI instrument design has evolved from its initial conception in NASA Goddard’s Instrument Design Laboratory (IDL) to the current iteration of its flight design. The IDL studies explored three separate instrument configurations and two spatial resolutions per configuration, which were then down selected to a single instrument type and spatial resolution for flight instrument development. OCI subsequently went through major project milestones, including Preliminary Design Review (PDR), Critical Design Review (CDR), Pre-Environmental Review (PER) and Pre-Ship Review (PSR), with significant design updates along the way. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive account of OCI’s thermal control architecture evolution and the engineering drivers that have shaped it, with the goal of identifying trends spanning the full instrument development timeline to inform and advance future instrument thermal designs.

PACE↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA’s PACE Ocean Color Instrument Thermal Design Evolution: from Goddard’s Instrument Design Lab through Flight Development

NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission, set to launch in 2024, seeks to provide data continuity for the ocean color, aerosol and cloud measurements acquired by NASA’s on-orbit Earth Science observatories since the 1990s. It will accomplish this through its Ocean Color Instrument (OCI), an optical spectrometer being developed for hyper-spectral measurements in the ultraviolet-to-near-infrared band between 340 nm and 2260 nm. Although OCI’s instrument architecture will provide greater insight and resolution than its predecessors in this wavelength range, the engineering required to achieve this also poses a greater challenge. In thermal engineering, this translates to a more complex thermal control approach to address high heat dissipations, stringent stabilities, the volume of heat that requires transport, and changing thermal environments due to tilting of the entire instrument ±20° twice per orbit. This current work explores how the PACE OCI instrument design has evolved from its initial conception in NASA Goddard’s Instrument Design Laboratory (IDL) to the current iteration of its flight design. The IDL studies explored three separate instrument configurations and two spatial resolutions per configuration, which were then down selected to a single instrument type and spatial resolution for flight instrument development. OCI subsequently went through major project milestones, including Preliminary Design Review (PDR), Critical Design Review (CDR), Pre-Environmental Review (PER) and Pre-Ship Review (PSR), with significant design updates along the way. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive account of OCI’s thermal control architecture evolution and the engineering drivers that have shaped it, with the goal of identifying trends spanning the full instrument development timeline to inform and advance future instrument thermal designs.

PACE↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Equitable and Inclusive Public Outreach with the James Webb Space Telescope: Combining Art, Science, and Technology

This archived content may contain outdated information or references that may not reflect current policy or programs. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope revealed its first images on July 12, 2022 and has been used for groundbreaking science since. Scientific exploration transcends international borders, making a mission like Webb feasible with collaborators including the European Space Agency (ESA), and Canadian Space Agency (CSA). Communication about NASA’s discoveries about the universe, so essential for involving the public, likewise needs to be inclusive to all. Art is a tool for cutting across the boundaries of language, culture, and ability, and serves as a bridge between the technical and non-technical communities. Art makes the beauty and nuance of science and engineering accessible in ways that may not be readily perceived to those outside of those communities of practice. Equitable and inclusive outreach endeavors are challenging to implement while considering language translations, culture context, sensory methods, and technology capabilities. Formats including “Unfolding the Universe'' virtual reality platform has allowed for a wider audience to interact with the Webb images including sounds, visual aids, and talks by the scientists and engineers who worked on Webb. This VR platform has been expanded to highlight the ESA contributors to the mission and will be showcased internationally. The Webb first images were also translated into sounds as a method of inclusion for anyone with sight disabilities. We will explore some successful outreach methods and suggestions for inclusivity in future.

Outreach↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Thermal Design for the New Era of Lunar Instruments: Lessons Learned from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Instrument Design Laboratory

As NASA enters the Age of Artemis, the resurgence of interest in the Moon has not only contributed to rapid development of crewed vehicles and habitats, it has also inspired a design renaissance for robotic and astronaut-deployed instrumentation for the lunar surface. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Instrument Design Laboratory (IDL) has been at the forefront of lunar instrument concept design, and in recent years has used its collaborative and concurrent process to design instruments ranging from small devices held or worn by astronauts to large lander- or rover-mounted instruments with multiple scientific or technical functions. This paper explores the wide spectrum of lunar instruments studied by the IDL within the past few years and their thermal design nuances. A series of lessons learned will be used to categorize the general trends prevalent across lunar-specific design and the thermal and systems-level drivers for instrumentation on the surface of the Moon. While the instruments investigated in this work are not named due to their competition sensitivity and proprietary nature, it is hoped that the lessons learned captured here will help identify specific design drivers and areas of focus for the thermal and systems engineers designing the next generation of lunar instrumentation.

Lunar, instrument, artemis, design, IDL, Goddard↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Equitable and Inclusive Public Outreach with the James Webb Space Telescope: Combining Art, Science, and Technology

This archived content may contain outdated information or references that may not reflect current policy or programs. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope revealed its first images on July 12, 2022 and has been used for groundbreaking science since. Scientific exploration transcends international borders, making a mission like Webb feasible with collaborators including the European Space Agency (ESA), and Canadian Space Agency (CSA). Communication about NASA’s discoveries about the universe, so essential for involving the public, likewise needs to be inclusive to all. Art is a tool for cutting across the boundaries of language, culture, and ability, and serves as a bridge between the technical and non-technical communities. Art makes the beauty and nuance of science and engineering accessible in ways that may not be readily perceived to those outside of those communities of practice. Equitable and inclusive outreach endeavors are challenging to implement while considering language translations, culture context, sensory methods, and technology capabilities. Formats including “Unfolding the Universe'' virtual reality platform has allowed for a wider audience to interact with the Webb images including sounds, visual aids, and talks by the scientists and engineers who worked on Webb. This VR platform has been expanded to highlight the ESA contributors to the mission and will be showcased internationally. The Webb first images were also translated into sounds as a method of inclusion for anyone with sight disabilities. We will explore some successful outreach methods and suggestions for inclusivity in future.

Outreach↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

AstroDOME: Standardized, Mass-Produceable, Small NASA Astrophysics Observatories for Big Missions

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center is investigating the use of small, commercial off the shelf (COTS) spacecraft to enable breakthrough astrophysics research at radically reduced cost over previous generations of missions. This paper will focus on the Mission Systems perspective of this investigation. It will cover the spacecraft to instrument interface, and lessons learned in early concept payload development. Low-cost COTS spacecraft have proliferated in the last ~5 years. They represent an order of magnitude reduction in the cost of spacecraft bus development and acquisition. They are enabled by the advent of low-cost smallsat launch options in the immediately preceding years, and are seeded by recent distributed and disaggregated missions in other sectors such as telecommunications megaconstellations (e.g. Starlink, OneWeb, Project Kuiper) and ongoing Space Development Agency (SDA) developments. Our study was tasked with developing a standardized, mass-produceable, astrophysics payload which is reconfigurable to different wavelength bands while maintaining a single optics bench design, and a standardized mechanical, electrical, data, and thermal interface to the spacecraft bus, and which may be reconfigured to multiple COTS spacecraft offerings. In this paper we will discuss lessons learned from our case study. We will also present identified keys to mission success for performing cutting edge astrophysics observations while taking advantage of economies of scale with a disaggregated, standardized architecture.

Matthew Marcus↗