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Parul Agrawal

Publications and source records attributed to Parul Agrawal.

At least 19 records

Celestial Mapping System Videos

The Celestial Mapping System (CMS) is a software platform to generate virtual 3D globes for celestial bodies within our solar system. Multiple planetary data layers can be added to the virtual globe to provide visualization of high-resolution imagery and elevation data, which enables precise measurements, tools for analytical capabilities and a broad range of other functionalities to assist planetary scientists and mission planners. Third-party planetary data can be ingested into CMS with minimal effort. The present focus of CMS is on developing lunar mapping tools to provide features such as: 3D first person view with zoom and navigational capabilities, realistic terrain visualization based on LRO data, measurement tools, Apollo, CLPS and international mission landing site annotations, 3D Models, stereoscopic view, terrain profiling, line of sight analysis, sunlight shading and many more. The application has been developed to provide situational and domain awareness on the Lunar surface, planning capabilities for equipment placement and traverse path optimization.

Mapping

Celestial Mapping System Video Demonstration Part 4

The current presentation focuses on the work performed by the authors, to consume a unique dataset of super-enhanced images of the permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) at the lunar south pole which were produced by the Hyper-effective nOise Removal U-net Software (HORUS) tool. This tool was developed in direct support of NASA's VIPER and Artemis programs to enhance the extremely low-light images of the interior of PSRs and provide the first-time ability to see within these regions at 3m scale visibility. We focused on the region near Nobili crater, selected site for VIPER mission and stitched several images to create a high-resolution map of B01 crater, that included the visualization of PSRs. We have developed an in-built line of sight analysis tool in CMS, that analyzes the terrain profile and obstructions and provides the visibility of a given terrain for a remote observer. This tool was utilized to perform viewshed analysis to investigate the area inside the PSR B01, a remote observer such as a rover could see without actually crossing the region. This analysis was extended further to set different heights for various observers and then perform the viewshed analysis. The combined visibility profile at different locations could subsequently lead to traverse planning.

Mapping

Celestial Mapping System

Celestial Mapping System is a virtual library of 3D globes with functionality to support upcoming missions. Built on top of NASA WorldWind Java Library with capabilities to display high-resolution imagery and terrain with a rich toolkit of functionality for visualization and analysis of celestial features. This is a two video set of the demonstration for this mapping system.

Parul Agrawal

TPSAS-NF1676L-16762-DND

Multi-Mission Earth Entry Vehicles (MMEEVs) are blunt-body vehicles designed with the purpose of transporting payloads from outer space to the surface of the Earth. To achieve high-reliability and minimum weight, MMEEVs avoid use of limited-reliability systems, such as parachutes and retro-rockets, instead using built-in impact attenuators to absorb energy remaining at impact to meet landing loads requirements. In the current effort, two different Rohacell foams were tested to determine their thermal conductivity in support of MMEEV design applications. These applications include thermal insulation during atmospheric entry, impact attenuation, and post-impact thermal insulation. Results indicate that for these closed-cell foams, the effect of impact is limited on thermal conductivity due to the venting of the virgin material gas and subsequent ambient air replacement. In addition, thermal conductivity results indicate a variation with temperature and are higher than manufacturer's specifications.

Lou Glaab

Celestial Mapping System for Lunar Surface Mapping and Analytics

Celestial Mapping System (CMS) is a software platform to generate virtual 3D globe for celestial bodies within our solar system. Various layers are built on top of the virtual globe to provide visualization of high resolution imagery, enable precise measurements, build analytical capabilities and broad range of functionalities to assist planetary scientists and mission planners. CMS is built using OpenJDK 11 and will run on a wide variety of platforms such as Linux, Windows, OSX, etc. It has a thick client with less overhead to access hardware resources. This allows features such as terrain profiling and distance calculations to be performed on the client and on the fly. The present focus of CMS is on developing lunar mapping tool kits to provide features such as - 3D first person view with zoom and navigational capabilities, realistic terrain visualization based on LRO data, measurement tools, Apollo landing site annotations, stereoscopic view, elevation profiles, line of sight analysis and many more. The application is developed to provide situational and domain awareness on Lunar surface, planning capabilities for equipment placements and traverse path optimization. As data becomes available, CMS has the capabilities to integrate data sets that change dynamically in real-time, which will be useful for monitoring satellites and remotely-sensed data on Lunar surface. CMS utilizes NASA WorldWind Java library and OpenGL to achieve high-performance rendering of data and measurements, and also adheres to OGC standards. CMS supports importing synthetic features in a variety of 3D, 2D, vector and raster formats. Nomenclature is pulled from USGS Moon IAU2000 database, and lunar parameters are based of the standardized IAU2000 Moon ellipsoid. GDAL (Geospatial Data Abstraction Library) was used to modify and test the accuracy of datasets before integrating into the application. Our high-resolution global elevation model was compared with the LRO LOLA DEM elevation values and tested to ensure accuracy. Celestial Mapping System has several potential use cases for NASA including subsurface lava tubes visualization and analysis, soil analysis, resource visualization and representation on 3D globe.

GIS system

Celestial Mapping System and Digital Lunar Library Initiative

We are preparing to create an interactive, global 3D lunar environment with integrated dataset and AI/ML tools to provide unique value to mission planners, scientists and the entire lunar community. This lunar environment will be based on NASA Ames Celestial Mapping System (CMS) [1] and Digital Lunar Library (DLL) Initiative. CMS provides a 3D virtual Lunar Globe with extensive user friendly tool sets, that include high resolution terrain visualization, elevation profiles, measurement kits, slope analysis, path optimization, line of sight analysis, equipment planning and placement tools and many other functionalities [1]. It has a thick client with less overhead to access hardware resources. This allows features such as terrain profiling and distance calculations to be performed on the client and on the fly. The application is developed to provide situational and domain awareness on the Lunar surface, planning capabilities for equipment placements and traverse path optimization. As data becomes available, CMS has the capabilities to integrate data sets that change dynamically in real-time, which will be useful for monitoring satellites and remotely-sensed data on the Lunar surface. CMS supports importing synthetic features in a variety of 3D, 2D, vector and raster formats. In the future, these capabilities will be enhanced by incorporating AI/ML tools and a plug-in architecture to enable customization by the user groups. With the help of DLL we will be able to : 1) Amplify the value of lunar information with AI-powered data enhancements 2) Acquire and integrate lunar data with AI-assisted georectification and homogenization 3) Analyze lunar data with advanced 3D visualization, intelligent search-by-example 4) Apply lunar data insights to specific use cases with an open plug-in architecture. The CMS-DLL initiative will have several potential use cases for NASA and the lunar community in general, including subsurface lava tube visualization and analysis, soil analysis, in-situ lunar resource visualization and representation on 3D globe, and data analytics for utilization. REFERENCES: [1] https://celestial.arc.nasa.gov/

3D Globe

Orion @ Ames

NASA Ames is a key contributor in Orion heatshield development, aerothermodynamics and aerodynamic and launch abort system modeling of the Artemis generation spacecrafts. This talk will provide an overview and highlights of various present and past activities that ARC staff has been contributing to the program.

heatshield

Returning to the Moon: NASA's Artemis Missions

With Artemis missions, NASA will establish the first long-term presence on the Moon. NASA’s goal is to land the first woman on the Moon and return them safely to Earth. The exploration and settlement on Moon will enable the next giant leap - sending the first astronauts to Mars. During the next era of human exploration, we will discover life-saving, Earth-changing science and technology along the way. Artemis missions will enable a growing lunar economy by fueling new industries, supporting job growth, and furthering the demand for a skilled workforce. In her seminar, Dr. Agrawal will provide an overview of the Artemis program, its different elements and a brief description of some of the technical advancements that have been made to enable the first Artemis 1 flight. She will then provide an overview of the Orion program whose charter is to multiple spacecraft for Artemis missions and discuss the ongoing activities at NASA Ames in support of Orion and Artemis programs.

Artemis

Celestial Mapping System

Celestial Mapping System (CMS) is a software platform developed by Dr. Agrawal’s team to generate virtual 3D globes for celestial bodies. Various layers are built on top of the virtual globe to provide visualization for high-resolution imagery, enable precise measurements, build analytical capabilities and broad range of functionalities to assist planetary scientists and mission planners. In her June 14th presentation, Dr. Agrawal will showcase the user interactive software platform to virtually travel the lunar terrain, place rovers and instruments on the surface of the moon and perform measurements of various geological features including permanently shadowed regions. Her team’s future goals include building interactive 3D globes for other planetary bodies such as Venus, Mars, and Titan in the solar system.

GIS system

Innovative Features of NASA's Celestial Mapping System to Support Exploration in the Lunar South Pole

Introduction: NASA's Celestial Mapping System (CMS) is developed to address the need for 3D tools for planetary science investigations, mission planning, in-situ operations, in a 3D-first design constructed around a unified view of a planetary globe. At present CMS provides many critical functionalities that include 1) Equipment planning and optimized placement on Lunar surface 2) Line of sight (visibility ) analysis 3) Powerful measurement tools based on 3D terrain with realistic 3D models to represent rovers, astronauts and equipment 4) Visualization of de-rived mapping products (e.g. resource maps), and 5) Data engine for hosting new observations that are not available in other contemporary lunar data tools. CMS is built on the foundation of powerful NASA WorldWind globe engines. In near future, users will be able to simultaneously deploy CMS onto multiple hardware configurations and platforms such as Windows, Linux, iOS and Android. The users will also have the flexibility to update to the latest imagery and terrain datasets as they are being acquired (in real time) before and/or during the exploration mission. CMS is also capable of consumption and analysis of data from locally hosted and external sources. It supports Open Geospatial Consorti-um (OGC) data and file standards, with current integrations of datasets from the Astrogeology Science Center of USGS which include global and local data acquired from NASA (LRO, Clementine, Lunar Orbiter) and JAXA (SELENE/Kaguya) with the capability of integrating more datasets. With development experience in both the end-user application and planetary engine side, CMS is also able to adapt to newer Lunar cartography standards as they develop and become recognized by international geospatial panels. Overcoming Polar Distortions: 3D geospatial applications traditionally suffer from significant distortion of imagery at the poles due to following reasons – 1) distortions in the source imagery 2) Incompatible tessellation algorithm on the poles 3) map projections. In the lunar context, with the focus on the South pole, this is not acceptable. The CMS team is researching ways to address polar distortion of imagery with new tessellation algorithms and by reprojecting the data using projections that are more accurate in polar scenarios. Figure1 shows the potential error introduced by different tessellation methods, represented by the red and green circles for Shoemaker crater. There is ~2 Km difference in the placement of the crater. Line of Sight Analysis and Traverse Planning: We have developed a built-in line of sight analysis (LOS) tool in CMS that analyzes the terrain profile and obstructions and provides the visibility of a given terrain for a remote observer. Figure 2 shows the viewshed analysis on the PSR in Nobile region. The PSR was created with help of HORUS generated images. The yellow pin shows the observer location outside the PSR. The yellow area shows the visible part of PSR. The obstructed area with no visibility for the observer is shown in red. This analysis was ex-tended further to set different heights for various observers and then perform the viewshed analysis. Combining the different visibility profiles can help designing improved traverses within the crater.

Geospatial Mapping

Global 3D Data Visualization and Analysis Platform with Advanced Machine Learning Capabilities in Support of Lunar Exploration

Introduction: The science goals for NASA’s Artemis program include: a) Understanding the character and origin of lunar polar volatiles, b) Conducting experimental science in the lunar environment and c) Investigating and mitigating exploration risks. The permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) on the Lunar south pole are expected to host large quantities of water-ice and volatiles that are important for sustainable Lunar exploration. There are several missions such as onboard Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO: Korean name Danuri) with onboard ShadowCam camera, Astrobotic Peregrine Mission One [4], and other efforts underway to obtain high resolution topographic, minerals, volatiles and other information on the moon. We envision a need in immediate future for platforms to integrate these data sets, provide rendering and visualization capabilities in the context of a 3D Lunar globe for easier information access and analysis. NASA's Celestial Mapping System (CMS) is developed to address the need for 3D tools for planetary science investigations, mission planning, in-situ operations, in a 3D-first design constructed around a unified view of a planetary globe. At present CMS provides many critical functionalities that include: 1) equipment planning and optimized placement on Lunar surface 2) line-of-sight (LOS) analysis 3) powerful measurement tools based on 3D terrain with realistic 3D models to represent rovers, astronauts and equipment 4) visualization of derived mapping products (e.g. resource maps), and 5) a data engine for hosting new observations that are not available in other contemporary lunar data tools. Planetary Data Ingestion: CMS can consume and analyze data from locally hosted and external third party sources. It is compatible with Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) data and file standards and currently integrates datasets from the Astrogeology Science Center of USGS. This includes global and local data acquired from NASA (LRO, Clementine, Lunar Orbiter) and JAXA (SELENE/Kaguya), with capability of integrating more datasets. In addition, users can specify other WMS-hosted data endpoints, which CMS can then query and stream data from automatically. To set-up an automated process for ingestion and accurate rendering, visualization and analysis of external 3rd party planetary datasets within CMS, we initiated the process of ingesting unique dataset of super-enhanced images of the permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) at the lunar poles which were produced by the Hyper-effective nOise Removal U-net Software (HORUS) tool. This tool was developed to enhance the extremely low-light images of the interior of PSRs and provide the ability to see within these regions at and discern surface features (i.e. boulders and craters) down to 3 meters in size. We focused on the Nobile region on the Lunar south pole, selected site for VIPER mission and stitched several images to create a high-resolution map within one of the PSR of Nobile crater. Figure 1 shows the dark PSR zone form the original NAC layer of LRO as the base layer (left image) and the illuminated areas within that crater (center) which was created by ingesting and merging several of HORUS generated images. At present we employ a semi-automated process to ensure spatial accuracy and merger of several overlapping zones. However, we are in the process of completely automating this process by employing AI based techniques that would rank, sort, and stack the images based on their information density. The georectification of the images would employ selected features. Analysis on Ingested Planetary Datasets: Once an external planetary data-set is successfully ingested, georectified and merged seamlessly as a data-layer; CMS’ numerous analysis tools can be used on this data. A Line of Sight (LOS) tool has been developed for CMS which analyzes terrain profiles and obstructions to determine visibility for remote observers. Figure 1 (right image) shows the viewshed analysis on the same PSR in the Nobile region. The yellow pin shows the observer location outside the PSR. The yellow area shows the visible part of PSR. The obstructed area with no visibility for the observer is shown in red. The Measurements tool allows the user to take area and distance measurements of features on the terrain using various shapes. Measurement type can be specified in a number of ways: Line, Path, Polygon, Circle, Ellipse, Square, Rectangle or Freehand. Once the shape is specified, elevation information can then be extracted along each of these shapes. Figure 2 (left) shows the measurements performed on a crater n illuminated PSR in Nobile region. The equipment placement tool allows the user to place a 3D equipment model at a desired location and analyze its coverage area. The equipment placement tool is coupled with LOS to determine the coverage. Figure 2 (right) shows an equipment placed on the Lunar terrain and it’s coverage area. The red rays are blocked sight lines and the green rays are non-obstructed sight lines with the cyan lines showing the point of intersection with the terrain. More details are provided in the video demonstrations in Reference 5. Overcoming Polar Distortions: 3D geospatial applications exhibit significant distortions in polar imagery due to several reasons: 1) distortions in the source imagery, 2) incompatible tessellation algorithms at the poles, and 3) map projections. We are leveraging new tessellation algorithms and reprojecting data using projections that are better suited for Lunar poles. The goal is to seamlessly switch to polar projections while maintaining 3D view and navigation.

Maps

NASA Ames Flight Instrument Group - MARS Exploration Efforts Overview

The NASA Ames Flight Instrument Group (FIG) MARS development activities include Aeolus, an integrated multi-probe mission to observe surface and atmospheric forcing and general circulation of Mars; the Mars Sonic Anemometer (MSA), a sonic-based, in-situ wind measuring instrument and the Saltation Sensor to detect the critical wind stress threshold for sand motion, which is believed to be a key aspect of dust lifting at Mars. These efforts are readying the instruments to fly, and their measurements are regarded as data of high scientific priority for future flight missions. Each of these efforts focuses on addressing a measurement or capability considered critical within the Agency and traceable to the decadal survey and MEPAG Goals. As we elevate the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of these instruments to 6 through rigorous environmental testing, and participate in forming mission concepts, we make them viable for inclusion in flight mission proposals. Below, we outline FIG's highest priority advancements for Mars exploration.

Mars

NASA Ames Flight Instrument Group - MARS Exploration Efforts Overview

The NASA Ames Flight Instrument Group (FIG) MARS development activities include Aeolus, an integrated multi-probe mission to observe surface and atmospheric forcing and general circulation of Mars; the Mars Sonic Anemometer (MSA), a sonic-based, in-situ wind measuring instrument and the Saltation Sensor to detect the critical wind stress threshold for sand motion, which is believed to be a key aspect of dust lifting at Mars. These efforts are readying the instruments to fly, and their measurements are regarded as data of high scientific priority for future flight missions. Each of these efforts focuses on addressing a measurement or capability considered critical within the Agency and traceable to the decadal survey and MEPAG Goals. As we elevate the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of these instruments to 6 through rigorous environmental testing, and participate in forming mission concepts, we make them viable for inclusion in flight mission proposals. Below, we outline FIG's highest priority advancements for Mars exploration.

Mars

Returning to the Moon: NASA's Artemis Missions

With Artemis missions, NASA will establish the first long-term presence on the Moon. NASA’s goal is to land the first woman on the Moon and return them safely to Earth. The exploration and settlement on Moon will enable the next giant leap - sending the first astronauts to Mars. During the next era of human exploration, we will discover life-saving, Earth-changing science and technology along the way. Artemis missions will enable a growing lunar economy by fueling new industries, supporting job growth, and furthering the demand for a skilled workforce. In her seminar, Dr. Agrawal will provide an overview of the Artemis program, its different elements and a brief description of some of the technical advancements that have been made to enable the first Artemis 1 flight. She will then provide an overview of the Orion program whose charter is to multiple spacecraft for Artemis missions and discuss the ongoing activities at NASA Ames in support of Orion and Artemis programs.

Artemis