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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 181 records · Page 10
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NASA NTRS2011

Automated Cryocooler Monitor and Control System

A system was designed to automate cryogenically cooled low-noise amplifier systems used in the NASA Deep Space Network. It automates the entire operation of the system including cool-down, warm-up, and performance monitoring. The system is based on a single-board computer with custom software and hardware to monitor and control the cryogenic operation of the system. The system provides local display and control, and can be operated remotely via a Web interface. The system controller is based on a commercial single-board computer with onboard data acquisition capability. The commercial hardware includes a microprocessor, an LCD (liquid crystal display), seven LED (light emitting diode) displays, a seven-key keypad, an Ethernet interface, 40 digital I/O (input/output) ports, 11 A/D (analog to digital) inputs, four D/A (digital to analog) outputs, and an external relay board to control the high-current devices. The temperature sensors used are commercial silicon diode devices that provide a non-linear voltage output proportional to temperature. The devices are excited with a 10-microamp bias current. The system is capable of monitoring and displaying three temperatures. The vacuum sensors are commercial thermistor devices. The output of the sensors is a non-linear voltage proportional to vacuum pressure in the 1-Torr to 1-millitorr range. Two sensors are used. One measures the vacuum pressure in the cryocooler and the other the pressure at the input to the vacuum pump. The helium pressure sensor is a commercial device that provides a linear voltage output from 1 to 5 volts, corresponding to a gas pressure from 0 to 3.5 MPa (approx. = 500 psig). Control of the vacuum process is accomplished with a commercial electrically operated solenoid valve. A commercial motor starter is used to control the input power of the compressor. The warm-up heaters are commercial power resistors sized to provide the appropriate power for the thermal mass of the particular system, and typically provide 50 watts of heat. There are four basic operating modes. "Cool " mode commands the system to cool to normal operating temperature. "Heat " mode is used to warm the device to a set temperature near room temperature. "Pump " mode is a maintenance function that allows the vacuum system to be operated alone to remove accumulated contaminants from the vacuum area. In "Off " mode, no power is applied to the system.

Britcliffe, Michael J.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Cryogenic 160-GHz MMIC Heterodyne Receiver Module

A cryogenic 160-GHz MMIC heterodyne receiver module has demonstrated a system noise temperature of 100 K or less at 166 GHz. This module builds upon work previously described in Development of a 150-GHz MMIC Module Prototype for Large-Scale CMB Radiation (NPO-47664), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 35, No. 8 (August 2011), p. 27. In the original module, the local oscillator signal was saturating the MMIC low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) with power. In order to suppress the local oscillator signal from reaching the MMIC LNAs, the W-band (75 110 GHz) signal had to be filtered out before reaching 140 170 GHz. A bandpass filter was developed to cover 120 170 GHz, using microstrip parallel-coupled lines to achieve the desired filter bandwidth, and ensure that the unwanted W-band local oscillator signal would be sufficiently suppressed. With the new bandpass filter, the entire receiver can work over the 140 180-GHz band, with a minimum system noise temperature of 460 K at 166 GHz. The module was tested cryogenically at 20 K ambient temperature, and it was found that the receiver had a noise temperature of 100 K over an 8-GHz bandwidth. The receiver module now includes a microstrip bandpass filter, which was designed to have a 3-dB bandwidth of approximately 120-170 GHz. The filter was fabricated on a 3-mil-thick alumina substrate. The filter design was based on a W-band filter design made at JPL and used in the QUIET (Q/U Imaging ExperimenT) radiometer modules. The W-band filter was scaled for a new center frequency of 150 GHz, and the microstrip segments were changed accordingly. Also, to decrease the bandwidth of the resulting scaled design, the center gaps between the microstrip lines were increased (by four micrometers in length) compared to the gaps near the edges. The use of the 150-GHz bandpass filter has enabled the receiver module to function well at room temperature. The system noise temperature was measured to be less than 600 K (at room temperature) from 154 to 168 GHz. Additionally, the use of a W-band isolator between the receiver module and the local oscillator source also improved the noise temperature substantially. This may be because the mixer was presented with a better impedance match with the use of the isolator. Cryogenic testing indicates a system noise temperature of 100 K or less at 166 GHz. Prior tests of the MMIC amplifiers alone have resulted in a system noise temperature of 65.70 K in the same frequency range (.160 GHz) when cooled to an ambient temperature of 20 K. While other detector systems may be slightly more sensitive (such as SIS mixers), they require more cooling (to 4 K ambient) and are not as easily scalable to build a large array, due to the need for large magnets and other equipment. When cooled to 20 K, this receiver module achieves approximately 100 K system noise temperature, which is slightly higher than single-amplifier module results obtained at JPL (65.70 K when an amplifier is corrected for back-end noise contributions). If this performance can be realized in practice, and a scalable array can be produced, the impact on cosmic microwave background experiments, astronomical and Earth spectroscopy, interferometry, and radio astronomy in general will be dramatic.

Samoska, Lorene A.↗
NASA NTRS2012

A Radiation Hardened by Design CMOS ASIC for Thermopile Readouts

A radiation hardened by design (RHBD) mixed-signal application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) has been designed for a thermopile readout for operation in the harsh Jovian orbital environment. The multi-channel digitizer (MCD) ASIC includes 18 low noise amplifier channels which have tunable gain/filtering coefficients, a 16-bit sigma-delta analog-digital converter (SDADC) and an on-chip controller. The 18 channels, SDADC and controller were designed to operate with immunity to single event latchup (SEL) and to at least 10 Mrad total ionizing dose (TID). The ASIC also contains a radiation tolerant 16-bit 20 MHz Nyquist ADC for general purpose instrumentation digitizer needs. The ASIC is currently undergoing fabrication in a commercial 180 nm CMOS process. Although this ASIC was designed specifically for the harsh radiation environment of the NASA led JEO mission it is suitable for integration into instrumentation payloads 011 the ESA JUICE mission where the radiation hardness requirements are slightly less stringent.

Quilligan, G.↗
NASA NTRS2013

Compact Radar Transceiver with Included Calibration

The Digital Beamforming Synthetic Aperture Radar (DBSAR) is an eight-channel phased array radar system that employs solid-state radar transceivers, a microstrip patch antenna, and a reconfigurable waveform generator and processor unit. The original DBSAR transceiver design utilizes connectorized electronic components that tend to be physically large and heavy. To achieve increased functionality in a smaller volume, PCB (printed circuit board) transceivers were designed to replace the large connectorized transceivers. One of the most challenging problems designing the transceivers in a PCB format was achieving proper performance in the calibration path. For a radar loop-back calibration path, a portion of the transmit signal is coupled out of the antenna feed and fed back into the receiver. This is achieved using passive components for stability and repeatability. Some signal also leaks through the receive path. As these two signal paths are correlated via an unpredictable phase, the leakage through the receive path during transmit must be 30 dB below the calibration path. For DBSAR s design, this requirement called for a 100-dB isolation in the receiver path during transmit. A total of 16 solid-state L-band transceivers on a PCB format were designed. The transceivers include frequency conversion stages, T/R switching, and a calibration path capable of measuring the transmit power-receiver gain product during transmit for pulse-by-pulse calibration or matched filtering. In particular, this calibration path achieves 100-dB isolation between the transmitted signal and the low-noise amplifier through the use of a switching network and a section of physical walls achieving attenuation of radiated leakage. The transceivers were designed in microstrip PCBs with lumped elements and individually packaged components for compactness. Each transceiver was designed on a single PCB with a custom enclosure providing interior walls and compartments to isolate transceiver subsystems from radiated interference. The enclosure also acts as a heat sink for the voltage regulators and power amplifiers inside the system. The PCB transceiver design produces transmit pulses of 2 W with an arbitrary duty cycle. Each transceiver is fed by an external 120-MHz signal transmit and two 1,140-MHz local oscillator signals. The received signal is amplified and down-converted to 120 MHz and is fed to the data processor. The transceiver dimensions are approximately 3.5 11.5 0.6 in. (9 29 1.5 cm). The PCB transceiver design reduces the volume and weight of the DBSAR instrument while maintaining the functionality found in the original design. Both volume and weight are critical for airborne and flight remote sensing instrumentation.

McLinden, Matthew↗
NASA NTRS2015

Mission Control Operations: Employing a New High Performance Design for Communications Links Supporting Exploration Programs

The planetary exploration programs demand a totally new examination of data multiplexing, digital communications protocols and data transmission principles for both ground and spacecraft operations. Highly adaptive communications devices on‐board and on the ground must provide the greatest possible transmitted data density between deployed crew personnel, spacecraft and ground control teams. Regarding these requirements, this proposal borrows from research into quantum mechanical computing by applying the concept of a qubit, a single bit that represents 16 states, to radio frequency (RF) communications link design for exploration programs. This concept of placing multiple character values into a single data bit can easily make the evolutionary steps needed to meet exploration mission demands. To move the qubit from the quantum mechanical research laboratory into long distance RF data transmission, this proposal utilizes polarization modulation of the RF carrier signal to represent numbers from zero to fifteen. It introduces the concept of a binary‐to‐hexadecimal converter that quickly chops any data stream into 16‐bit words and connects variously polarized feedhorns to a single‐frequency radio transmitter. Further, the concept relies on development of a receiver that uses low‐noise amplifiers and an antenna array to quickly assess carrier polarity and perform hexadecimal to binary conversion. Early testbed experiments using the International Space Station (ISS) as an operations laboratory can be implemented to provide the most cost‐effective return for research investment. The improvement in signal‐to‐noise ratio while supporting greater baseband data rates that could be achieved through this concept justifies its consideration for long‐distance exploration programs.

Jackson, Dan E., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS2013

A 6U CubeSat Constellation for Atmospheric Temperature and Humidity Sounding

We are currently developing a 118/183 GHz sensor that will enable observations of temperature and precipitation profiles over land and ocean. The 118/183 GHz system is well suited for a CubeSat deployment as ~10cm antenna aperture provides sufficiently small footprint sizes (is approx. 25km). This project will enable low cost, compact radiometer instrumentation at 118 and 183 GHz that would fit in a 6U CubeSat with the objective of mass-producing this design to enable a suite of small satellites to image the key geophysical parameters that are needed to improve prediction of extreme weather events. We will take advantage of past and current technology developments at JPL viz. HAMSR (High Altitude Microwave Scanning Radiometer), Advanced Component Technology (ACT'08) to enable low-mass and low-power high frequency airborne radiometers. The 35 nm InP enabling technology provides significant reduction in power consumption (Low Noise Amplifier + Mixer Block consumes 24 mW). In this paper, we will describe the design and implementation of the 118 GHz temperature sounder and 183 GHz humidity sounder instrument on the 6U CubeSat. In addition, a summary of radiometer calibration and retrieval techniques of the temperature and humidity will be discussed. The successful demonstration of this instrument on the 6U CubeSat would pave the way for the development of a constellation consisting of suite of these instruments. The proposed constellation of these 6U CubeSat radiometers would allow sampling of tropospheric temperature and humidity with fine temporal (on the order of minutes) and spatial resolution (is approx. 25 km).

radiometer↗
NASA NTRS2017

GPS Receiver On-Orbit Performance for the GOES-R Spacecraft

This paper evaluates the on-orbit performance of the first civilian operational use of a Global Positioning System Receiver (GPSR) at a geostationary orbit (GEO). The GPSR is on-board the newly launched Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-R). GOES-R is the first of four next generation GEO weather satellites for NOAA, now in orbit GOES-R is formally identified as GOES-16. Among the pioneering technologies required to support its improved spatial, spectral and temporal resolution is a GPSR. The GOES-16 GPSR system is a new design that was mission critical and therefore received appropriate scrutiny. As ground testing of a GPSR for GEO can only be done by simulations with numerous assumptions and approximations regarding the current GPS constellation, this paper reveals what performance can be achieved in using on orbit data. Extremely accurate orbital position is achieved using GPS navigation at GEO. Performance results are shown demonstrating compliance with the1007575 meter and 6 cms radial/in-track/cross-track orbital position and velocity accuracy requirements of GOES-16. The aforementioned compliance includes station-keeping and momentum management maneuvers, contributing to no observational outages. This performance is achieved by a completely new system design consisting of a unique L1 GEOantenna, low-noise amplifier (LNA) assembly and a 12 channel GPSR capable of tracking the edge of the main beam and the side lobes of the GPS L1 signals. This paper presents the definitive answer that the GOES-16 GPSR solution exceeds all performance requirements tracking up to 12 satellites and achieving excellent carrier-to-noise density (C/N0). Additionally, these performance results show the practicality of this approach. This paper makes it clear that all future GEO Satellites should consider the addition of a GPSR in their spacecraft design, otherwise they may be sacrificing spacecraft capabilities and accuracy along with incurring increased and continual demand on ground support.

GEO GPS↗
NASA NTRS2019

Picture this SELFI: Submillimeter Enceladus Life Fundamentals Instrument

The Submillimeter Enceladus Life Fundamentals Instrument (SELFI) is a passive remote sensing submillimeter heterodyne spectrometer being developed at NASA GSFC under NASA's Maturation of Instruments for Solar System Exploration (MatISSE) program. SELFI will advance submillimeter receiver technology by 1) investigating the chemical and isotopic compositions and corresponding densities of Enceladus' plume material, their vertical thermal structures, and the transport mechanisms within the plumes, and 2) characterizing the source regions from which the plumes emerge. The Enceladus plumes are important in the context of life and habitability of its subsurface ocean environment. SELFI remote sensing measurements will 1) measure the spatial and temporal variabilities in the plume chemical compositions, 2) provide insight in to Enceladus' subsurface ocean environment by monitoring H2O, HDO, d18O, and d17O, 3) constrain the oxidation state of the subsurface ocean using H2O2 and O3, and 4) utilize the SO2 and H2S spectral signatures to constrain the impact arising from both the sea-floor volcanoes and pre-biotic molecules. Moreover, the detection of the remaining molecular species (14 in total) is vital to improving the current state of knowledge of Enceladus' subsurface ocean habitability this also permits us to explore the chemical alteration processes arising from primordial volatiles that have been observed in comets. Lastly, SELFI's continuum observations enable the correlation between observed variations in plume activity with surface temperatures.SELFI is currently being developed under a technology maturation program that will advance the RF-to-digital electronics of a submillimeter-wave heterodyne spectrometer to simultaneously observe fourteen molecular species with resonances between 530 GHz and 600 GHz. SELFI will have fine radiometric resolution, high spectral resolution (resolving power R > 106), multiple continuum channels and a high dynamical range, necessary to map Enceladus across its 30 K to 250 K temperature range. Under the MatISSE program, SELFI will advance from TRL 4 to 6 four key technologies of the RF-to-digital subsystem, which are: 1) the RF low noise amplifier design; 2) the single-sideband (SSB) mixer and local oscillator; 3) the IF assembly down-converter that maps the fourteen species to 2 x 500 MHz bandwidth; and 4) the digital spectrometer electronics.

Racette, Paul↗
NASA NTRS2017

Development of an Ultra-wide band Receiver for the North America Array

The North America Array (NAA), also known as the next-generation Very Large Array (ngVLA), is a concept for a radio astronomical interferometric array operating in the frequency range 1.2 GHz to 116 GHz and designed to provide substantial improvements in sensitivity, angular resolution, and frequency coverage while reducing operational costs compared to the current Jansky Very Large Array (JVLA). At JPL, we are designing a single receiver package designed to operate across the 8 to 48 GHz frequency range, in contrast to the current JVLA, which covers this frequency range with five receiver packages. Reducing the number of receiving systems required to cover the full frequency range would reduce operating costs. We are developing a prototype integrated feed-receiver package with a system noise temperature that meets the requirements of the ngVLA/NAA primary science programs, with a design that meets the requirement of low long-term operational costs. The receiver package being developed at JPL consists of a feed horn, low-noise amplifier (LNA), and down-converters to analog intermediate frequencies. We report on the status of this receiver package development.

Lazio, Joseph↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Global Positioning System Constellation Modernization Impact on Sidelobe Capable GPS Receivers in Geostationary Orbit

This paper provides on-orbit insight into Global Positioning System Receiver (GPSR) performance at a geostationary orbit (GEO) and contrasts that performance regarding the modernized and heritage GPS constellation currently operational. The subject matter of this paper falls under the following topics a) heritage and modern GPS transmit pattern comparison, b) GOES-R GPSR acquisition and tracking characterization regarding the first four operational GPS III vehicles, and c)relevant signal requirements as it pertains to GEO GPSR facilitation. The GPSR described herein is onboard the GOES-R series satellites. GOES-R (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R Series) is the first in a 4-part series of new weather satellites set to replace and upgrade the older GOES constellation. Two GOES-R have been launched to date, GOES-16 and GOES-17, the data presented in this paper are from both vehicles over common time spans. The GPSR on board this geostationary weather satellite is a mission critical, enabling technology which has been both tested on the ground and evaluated on-orbit to verify its effectivity[1]. This is a completely new system design consisting of a unique L1 GEO antenna, low-noise amplifier (LNA) assembly and a 12-channel GPSR capable of tracking the edge of the main beam and the sidelobes of the GPS L1 signal. Any satellite intending to maximize GPS navigation performance at GEO will need to implement a GPSR system that tracks sidelobes. GOES-R is the first civilian operational satellite to utilize GPS sidelobes for navigation at GEO, which is the key factor in the systems highly accurate, robust and continuous navigation solution. However, this also renders a distinct sensitivity to changes in the GPS transmit signal pattern in the sidelobe regime as a result of the new GPS III constellation modernization. This paper presents results showing that the GOES-RGPSR solution, given GPS constellation modernization to GPS III, although impacted slightly in received C/N0 at certain geometries, will continue to meet all performance requirements tracking up to 12 satellites and achieving excellent carrier-to-noise spectral density (C/N0).

GPS↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Self-Healing RF/Microwave Communications Circuits/Systems for NASA Missions—A Review

The success of current and future NASA missions relies in great part on the performance reliability and robustness of the communication circuits and systems of said missions. Some of the manifestations of reliability and robustness are comprised by properties such as graceful degradation, which provide redundancy and potentially longer life to the mission, and the ability to perform efficiently in harsh environments destinations such as Venus and the Jovian and Saturnian moons Europa and Enceladus, respectively. While several approaches have been considered or are currently underway to develop communications circuitry capable of performing in harsh environments, they lack the flexibility to enable reconfigurability to preserve functionality under adverse or contingency scenarios. This paper discusses some examples of self-healing RF/Microwave communications circuits and systems that could provide advantageous options in support of NASA missions.

self-healing↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Self-Healing RF/Microwave Communications Circuits/Systems for NASA Missions - A Review

The success of current and future NASA missions relies in great part on the performance reliability and robustness of the communication circuits and systems of said missions. Some of the manifestations of reliability and robustness are comprised by properties such as graceful degradation, which provide redundancy and potentially longer life to the mission, and the ability to perform efficiently in harsh environments destinations such as Venus and the Jovian and Saturnian moons Europa and Enceladus, respectively. While several approaches have been considered or are currently underway to develop communications circuitry capable of performing in harsh environments, they lack the flexibility to enable reconfigurability to preserve functionality under adverse or contingency scenarios. This paper discusses some examples of self-healing RF/Microwave communications circuits and systems that could provide advantageous options in support of NASA missions.

Self-healing↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

The Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE)

The Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE) is a joint NASA-Italian Space Agency (ASI) payload on the Firefly Blue Ghost Mission 1 (BGM1) with the goal to demonstrate GNSS-based positioning, navigation, and timing at the Moon. LuGRE was chosen by the NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program as one of ten payloads on its “19D” task order for delivery to the lunar surface in 2023. The LuGRE payload consists of a weak-signal GNSS receiver, a high-gain L-band patch antenna, a low-noise amplifier, and an RF filter. The receiver will track GPS L1 C/A and L5, and Galileo E1 and E5a signals and will return pseudorange, carrier phase, and Doppler measurements to the ground. It will also calculate least-squares point solutions and Kalman-filter based navigation solutions onboard. In addition, the receiver features the capability to record raw I/Q baseband samples for downlink and ground processing. LuGRE will build on the legacy of prior missions in the Space Service Volume (SSV) including the initial experiments by AMSAT-OSCAR 40 and others, the GOES-R series of geostationary weather satellites, and the NASA Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission currently operating on GPS-based navigation at nearly 50% of lunar distance. Further, LuGRE will be one of the very first demonstrations of GNSS signal reception and navigation in the lunar environment and on the lunar surface, paving the way for operational use by future lunar missions such as Orion, Gateway, robotic and human landers, and surface rovers. Ultimately, all LuGRE science data will be released to a public data archive for the benefit of the GNSS and space communities. This paper provides a detailed overview of the LuGRE payload, including its design, concept of operations, and its predicted ability to meet its core science objectives. The baseline science investigations and priorities are outlined. Simulated performance results are shown based on the latest calibrated models including signal strength, signal availability, onboard navigation performance and convergence properties, and ground-based post-processed navigation performance.

LuGRE↗
NASA NTRS2021

Development of Gallium Nitride Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuits for Ka-Band Remote Sensing

We have been developing gallium nitride (GaN)monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) towards thegoal of implementing a single chip transceiver frontend forcloud radar arrays at Ka-band. We present our first iterationdesign, fabrication and test cycle implementation of GaN poweramplifiers (PAs), low noise amplifiers (LNAs), driver amplifier,single-pole- double and triple throw switches, and voltagecontrolled attenuator. These components are necessary forimplementing a transceiver unit cell concept with digitalcalibration capabilities to enable scalable array sizes for radarand radiometry.

Cao, Yu↗
NASA NTRS1983

Resonant isolator for maser amplifier

An isolator is described for use in a low noise maser amplifier, which provides low loss across a wide bandwidth and which can be constructed at moderate cost. The isolator includes a train of garnet or ferrite elements extending along the length of a microwave channel parallel to the slow wave structure, with the elements being of staggered height, so that the thin elements which are resonant to the microwaves are separated by much thicker elements. The thick garnet or ferrite elements reduce the magnetic flux passing through the thin elements to permit altering of the shape of the thin elements so as to facilitate their fabrication and to provide better isolation with reduced loss, by increasing the thickness of the thin elements and decreasing their length and width.

Clauss, R. C.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Cryogenic, low-noise high electron mobility transistor amplifiers for the Deep Space Network

The rapid advances recently achieved by cryogenically cooled high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) low-noise amplifiers (LNA's) in the 1- to 10-GHz range are making them extremely competitive with maser amplifiers. In order to address future spacecraft navigation, telemetry, radar, and radio science needs, the Deep Space Network is investing both maser and HEMT amplifiers for its Ka-band (32-GHz) downlink capability. This article describes the current state cryogenic HEMT LNA development at Ka-band for the DSN. Noise performance results at S-band (2.3 GHz) and X-band (8.5 GHz) for HEMT's and masers are included for completeness.

Bautista, J. J.↗
NASA NTRS1963

Low-noise receivers.

Parametric amplifier and maser used to provide low-noise receivers in a space communication system

MASER↗