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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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NASA NTRS2018

Automated Impact Assessment: A New Approach to ISS Payload Operations Anomaly Response

The International Space Station (ISS) Payload Operations and Integration Center (POIC) is undergoing rapid growth as the space station program focuses on science and commercial activities. The ISS is expanding its onboard capabilities to support additional science activities. In parallel, the POIC is expanding the capabilities of our operations tools to support the higher pace of payload activities being executed each week. An effect of these changes is that anomaly resolution has become more challenging. In the event of a real-time system fault, operators are responsible for analyzing telemetry displays, anomaly monitoring tools, documentation, and system models in order to produce failure impacts and recovery strategies. This approach to operations relies on the operator to ingest, process, and analyze information from an array of deterministic sources to provide actionable data on impacted systems and activities. Changing the existing approach of anomaly response is necessary if the ISS community is to succeed in the age of science and commercialization of space. The creation of a tool that captures deterministic technical systems knowledge and integrates existing telemetry, documentation, and planning information will allow the burden of impact assessment to be automated, thereby allowing the operator to focus on non-deterministic tasks, such as recovering failed systems and restoring critical payload operations.

Hall, R. Mason↗

NASA NTRS2014

Transfer-of-Training Research at NASA Ames Research Center

In this presentation, I will first give an overview of some of the research being performed at the Human Systems Integration Division of NASAs Ames Research Center. In the second part of the presentation, I will discuss two studies that investigate the effects of simulator motion on pilot transfer of training. In a study funded by the Federal Aviation Administration, task performance is used to investigate the effects of motion on the training of 4 challenging tasks in a transport category aircraft. In addition, the effectiveness of recently proposed objective motion cueing criteria for training simulators are evaluated. The second study, part of the NASA Aeronautics Research Program, focuses on optimizing simulator motion for maximum transfer of stall recovery training and utilizes a cybernetic approach to measure transfer of training.

Zaal, Peter M. T.↗

NASA NTRS2019

Urine Removal from Suited Crew in Orion Vehicle Depressurization Scenario

Humankind wants to continually venture deeper into space, but there are many hazards of deep space exploration. NASA’s Orion Program seeks to incrementally identify these hazards and begin addressing the difficulties of such long-duration missions. One of the largest risks and areas of program focus is crew survival in a vehicle cabin depressurization scenario. As part of proactive mitigation efforts, contingency operations and associated hardware are being developed to sustain crew members for up to 6 days. While the Orion launch and entry suit would provide the crew a pressurized safe haven for that duration, additional systems are needed to handle crew waste while within the suit. NASA’s Orion Crew Survival Systems (OCSS) and Collins Aerospace are working together to develop and test an external suit system to aid in the evacuation of urine from pressurized suits to ensure crew health and safety. This paper describes the recent and on-going design and testing that is driving evolution of hardware and requirements towards eventual flight certification.

OCSS↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Bio Inspired Surface Structures to Mitigate Interfacial Particle Adhesion: A Review

Nature has perfected surface chemical and topographical engineering to enable survival in extreme environments. Biomimetics is a rapidly expanding field where biologically inspired design facilitates elegant, yet practical, solutions across many applications. NASA’s ARTEMIS program focused on lunar missions will require unique ways to solve the challenge of highly abrasive, chemically reactive and electrostatically charged lunar dust that adheres strongly to all exposed surfaces and degrades functionality. While seeking solutions to find a surface for mitigating lunar dust adhesion, we looked at natural terrestrial surfaces that successfully minimize dust adhesion and wear for inspiration. Lunar dust is comprised of highly abrasive particles, more than 90% of which are composed of silicate materials. Adapting to somewhat similar particulates in hot and arid deserts of the world, the sandfish lizard has a skin structure that allows it to swim in the sand with minimum friction and adhesion. Special surface adaptations of the tamarisk plant help protect it from severe sandstorms. The desert scorpion has grooves and bumps on its carapace that have been shown to minimize erosion in the sand. Beyond these examples, there are numerous other natural surfaces that have evolved to mitigate particle adhesion and wear. Several efforts have been made by different researchers to replicate these natural surfaces using methods such as laser patterning, 3D printing, chemical vapor deposition and other physical and chemical processes. The resulting bio-inspired patterned surfaces have shown reduction in interfacial particle adhesion, friction, and wear, among other properties. This paper aims to review published research on the subject that might help develop lunar dust adhesion and wear mitigating material surfaces for future lunar applications.

Lunar dust, Lunar surface, Adhesion mitigation, Bi↗

NASA NTRS1998

The Space Interferometry Mission

In this paper we will present selected topics from the SIM science program focusing on some specific astronomical questions to be addressed.

Space↗

NASA NTRS2022

Permutations of the Exploration Extra-vehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) for Mission Specific Objectives

The Advanced Portable Life Support System began first with NASA investment during the Constellation Program focused on new technologies that were central to the new architecture but with a consideration for development of the most flexible and adaptable design to address the varied future needs for Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA) capability by the agency as part of the exploration of the moon and beyond. Since that time, the Portable Life Support System (PLSS) architecture has been demonstrated at bread-board level, packaged prototype level with Human In-The Loop (HITL) testing, and has now matured into what has become known as the Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) PLSS focused on a demonstration on the International Space Station (ISS) and support for initial lunar missions. The xEMU completed Preliminary Design Review (PDR) and the associated Safety Review Panel (SRP) Phase I reviews in 2019-2020 and is progressing through the Design Verification Test (DVT) phase in 2021. As the agency updates planning for lunar both near term, long term, and beyond, there are many possible permutations of the existing architecture that can be accommodated to enable varied mission objectives. This paper will discuss the current baseline DVT design for xEMU as well as potential permutations of the PLSS architecture to accomplish an Apollo style short-duration down and out mission, a long term lunar ultra-lightweight approach, as well as a potential SuitPort accommodating architecture.

Colin Campbell↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

A Model-Based Framework for NASA Science Mission Formulation

This paper details an effort to implement NASA systems engineering standards and practices using a Digital System Model (DSM), which we also refer to as the system architecture model (SAM). Creating a SAM at the beginning of a design effort helps systems engineer identify errors, inconsistencies, and miscommunications as early as possible. Such issues can then be resolved before it becomes costly and requires significant rework to do so. A pre-formulation SAM also enables advanced trade studies at the earliest stage of concept development. This results in “win-wins” where architecture changes can reduce cost without decreasing effectiveness, or increase effectiveness without increasing cost. SAMs also streamline the creation of project documentation and facilitate superior dialogue between science, engineering, and management stakeholders. Common artifacts such as Master Equipment Lists (MELs), Science Traceability Matrices (STMs), and Mission Traceability Matrices (MTMs), can be automatically maintained through requirements and structural models in the SAM. Key performance parameters (and changes to them) can be tied to simulations in the SAM, allowing far more rapid and extensive trade space exploration. As will be shown in this work, these advantages have been realized for the first time in an actual NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) pre-phase A and phase A concept study. Modelbased design tools have been developed in a general, modular manner to maximize reuse on future programs. Focus is placed on structural and requirements architecture modeling. Data is ingested into the SAM from existing discipline model outputs (e.g. MS Excel spreadsheets) and used to update a SysML structural model. A mission requirements model is created within the SAM, containing mission specific as well as standard GSFC mission requirements. With the linked requirements model and structural model, automated compliance checking will be performed as mission parameters evolve without the need for discipline engineers to work directly with the SAM in SysML.

MBSE↗

NASA NTRS2016

NASA's Radioisotope Power Systems Program Overview - A Focus on RPS Users

Radioisotope↗

NASA NTRS2016

NASA RPS Program Overview: A Focus on RPS Users

The goal of NASA's Radioisotope Power Systems (RPS) Program is to make RPS ready and available to support the exploration of the solar system in environments where the use of conventional solar or chemical power generation is impractical or impossible to meet the needs of the missions. To meet this goal, the RPS Program, working closely with the Department of Energy, performs mission and system studies (such as the recently released Nuclear Power Assessment Study), assesses the readiness of promising technologies to infuse in future generators, assesses the sustainment of key RPS capabilities and knowledge, forecasts and tracks the Programs budgetary needs, and disseminates current information about RPS to the community of potential users. This process has been refined and used to determine the current content of the RPS Programs portfolio. This portfolio currently includes an effort to mature advanced thermoelectric technology for possible integration into an enhanced Multi-Mission Radioisotope Generator (eMMRTG), sustainment and production of the currently deployed MMRTG, and technology investments that could lead to a future Stirling Radioisotope Generator (SRG). This paper describes the program planning processes that have been used, the currently available MMRTG, and one of the potential future systems, the eMMRTG.

Radioisotope↗

NASA NTRS2007

Lunar Precursor Robotic Program: A Robotic Focus To The Vision

In April 2006, NASA, with help from the commercial and international communities, began developing a global Lunar Exploration Strategy. These activities resulted in themes that expanded on why we should return to the Moon and objectives that identify what we should do when we get there. NASA used these results to develop a Lunar Architecture designed to achieve the subset of the global Lunar Exploration Strategy objectives that fit within NASA's scope. A component of this architecture is the Lunar Precursor Robotic Program. This Program, anticipated to consist of both lunar orbiters and landers, is intended to meet many of NASA's lunar exploration objectives.

French, Raymond A.↗

NASA NTRS2008

Aspect-Oriented Monitoring of C Programs

The paper presents current work on extending ASPECTC with state machines, resulting in a framework for aspect-oriented monitoring of C programs. Such a framework can be used for testing purposes, or it can be part of a fault protection strategy. The long term goal is to explore the synergy between the fields of runtime verification, focused on program monitoring, and aspect-oriented programming, focused on more general program development issues. The work is inspired by the observation that most work in this direction has been done for JAVA, partly due to the lack of easily accessible extensible compiler frameworks for C. The work is performed using the SILVER extensible attribute grammar compiler framework, in which C has been defined as a host language. Our work consists of extending C with ASPECTC, and subsequently to extend ASPECTC with state machines.

runtime verifications↗

NASA NTRS1991

The FAA aging airplane program plan for transport aircraft

The FAA Aging Airplane Program is focused on five program areas: maintenance, transport airplanes, commuter airplanes, airplane engines, and research. These programs are complementary and concurrent, and have been in effect since 1988. The programs address the aging airplane challenge through different methods, including policies, procedures, and hardware development. Each program is carefully monitored and its progress tracked to ensure that the needs of the FAA, the industry, and the flying public are being met.

Aging Aircraft↗

NASA NTRS1993

NASA's hypersonic flight research program

The NASA hypersonic flight research program is reviewed focusing on program history, philosophy, and rationale. Flight research in the high Mach numbers, high dynamic pressure flight regime is considered to be essential to the development of future operational hypersonic systems. The piggy-back experiments which are to be carried out on the Pegasus will develop instrumentation packages for hypersonic data acquisition and will provide unique data of high value to designers and researchers.

Blankson, Isaiah↗

NASA NTRS2004

Assessing the Effectiveness of a Mathematics-Focused, Instructional Technology Program for Grades 6-8: A 5-Year Trend Analysis of NASA CONNECT(tm) Evaluation Data

NASA CONNECT is a research-, inquiry, and standards-based, integrated mathematics, science, and technology series of 30-minute instructional distance learning (television and web-based) programs for students in grades 6 8. Respondents who evaluated the programs in the series over the first five seasons (1998-99 through 2002-03) reported that (1) they used the programs in the series; (2) the goals and objectives for the series were met; (3) the programs were aligned with the national mathematics, science, and technology standards; (4) the program content was developmentally appropriate for the grade level; and (5) the programs in the series enhanced and enriched the teaching of mathematics, science, and technology.

Glassman, Nanci A.↗

NASA NTRS1991

The 1991/92 graduate student researchers program, including the underrepresented minority focus component

The Graduate Student Research Program (GSRP) was expanded in 1987 to include the Underrepresented Minority Focus Component (UMFC). This program was designed to increase minority participation in graduate study and research, and ultimately, in space science and aerospace technology careers. This booklet presents the areas of research activities at NASA facilities for the GSRP and summarizes and presents the objectives of the UMFC.

Source record↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Feasibility Studies as Catalysts for Capacity Building: The DEVELOP Experience from Local to National Scale

The NASA DEVELOP National Program occupies a unique niche in the capacity development ecosystem. It is not a traditional training or educational program primarily focused on individual capacity, nor is it a full-scale co-development program focused on institutional capacity. NASA DEVELOP conducts 10-week feasibility studies that bring together teams of participants and decision making partners. The participants are competitively selected students and emerging or transitioning professionals, who build their STEM and professional skillsets. The partners are groups that have decision making requirements that may benefit from insights that Earth observations can provide. The interaction of the participants and partners over the intense 10-week time period is especially well adapted to building capacity at smaller scales. DEVELOP projects have shown good results when working at municipal and smaller administrative levels like U.S. counties. Even when working with higher administrative levels like provinces, U.S states, or even national or federal levels, DEVELOP has shown most success when working with more localized institutions like state forests or national parks. This presentation will recount case studies of how DEVELOP projects worked with more local or “localized” partners and compare with outcomes with partners at other scales: state/provincial and federal/national levels.

NASA DEVELOP↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Feasibility Studies as Catalysts for Capacity Building: The DEVELOP Experience from Local to National Scale

Capacity Building↗

NASA NTRS1997

Airframe Systems: Research and Technology Base Program

The author argues that the aeronautics research and technology base has shifted from a discipline focus to a program focus. The program planning is progressing as Level I is complete and Level II plans are under development, while there is significant inter-center planning and coordination taking place. These programs are addressing problems that are important to the nation namely, "the three pillars to success" which are; access to space, global civil aviation and revolutionary technology leaps.

Whitlow, Woodrow, Jr.↗