Results for “Flight test infrastructure” — Page 11

NASA NTRS2016

NASA's Space Launch Transitions: From Design to Production

NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) successfully completed its Critical Design Review (CDR) in 2015, a major milestone on the journey to an unprecedented era of exploration for humanity. CDR formally marked the program's transition from design to production phase just four years after the program's inception and the first such milestone for a human launch vehicle in 40 years. While challenges typical of a complex development program lie ahead, CDR evaluators concluded that the design is technically and programmatically sound and ready to press forward to Design Certification Review (DCR) and readiness for launch of Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1) in the 2018 timeframe. SLS is prudently based on existing propulsion systems, infrastructure and knowledge with a clear, evolutionary path as required by mission needs. In its initial configuration, designated Block I, SLS will a minimum of 70 metric tons (t) of payload to low Earth orbit (LEO). It can evolve to a 130 t payload capacity by upgrading its engines, boosters, and upper stage, dramatically increasing the mass and volume of human and robotic exploration while decreasing mission risk, increasing safety, and simplifying ground and mission operations. CDR was the central programmatic accomplishment among many technical accomplishments that will be described in this paper. The government/industry SLS team successfully test fired a flight-like five-segment solid rocket motor, as well as seven hotfire development tests of the RS-25 core stage engine. The majority of the major test article and flight barrels, rings, and domes for the core stage liquid oxygen, liquid hydrogen, engine section, intertank, and forward skirt were manufactured at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility. Renovations to the B-2 test stand for stage green run testing were completed at NASA Stennis Space Center. Core stage test stands are rising at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. The modified Pegasus barge for core stage transportation from manufacturing to testing and launch sites was delivered. The Interim Cryogenic Propulsion System test article was also completed. This paper will discuss these and other technical and programmatic successes and challenges over the past year and provide a preview of work ahead before the first flight of this new capability.

Askins, Bruce↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Propulsion Component Test Capabilities at MSFC’s Test Stand 115

Marshall Space Flight Center’s Test Stand 115 (TS115) is a propulsion component test facility in operation since its original activation in 1964 for testing small to medium size liquid rocket engine components including injectors, channel-cooled chambers, nozzles, passively-cooled metallic and composite nozzle extensions, valves, turbomachinery, and igniters. TS115 is a "blowdown" type facility, using high pressure tankage and components to provide liquid, gaseous, and cryogenic fluid delivery at specified pressures and flowrates. The facility consists of an open steel test stand structure, a mechanical hardware preparation shop, an electrical support equipment building, a control room, and a centralized data system room. In general, the facility infrastructure is rated to 3,000 psig. TS115 can accommodate thrust levels up to 10,000 lbf in the horizontal position. The facility is actively used for various internal NASA test programs as well as test campaigns for external customers from other government agencies, commercial industry partners, and academia. The available fluid systems, electrical power and instrumentation capabilities, facility controls and data acquisition systems, test program support capabilities, and available test rig configurations for external customer use are discussed in this paper.

Tal Wammen↗

NASA NTRS2003

Rapid Prototyping of an Aircraft Model in an Object-Oriented Simulation

A team was created to participate in the Mars Scout Opportunity. Trade studies determined that an aircraft provided the best opportunity to complete the science objectives of the team. A high fidelity six degree of freedom flight simulation was required to provide credible evidence that the aircraft design fulfilled mission objectives and to support the aircraft design process by providing performance evaluations. The team created the simulation using the Langley Standard Real-Time Simulation in C++ (LaSRS++) application framework. A rapid prototyping approach was necessary because the team had only three months to both develop the aircraft simulation model and evaluate aircraft performance as the design and mission parameters matured. The design of LaSRS++ enabled rapid-prototyping in several ways. First, the framework allowed component models to be designed, implemented, unit-tested, and integrated quickly. Next, the framework provides a highly reusable infrastructure that allowed developers to maximize code reuse while concentrating on aircraft and mission specific features. Finally, the framework reduces risk by providing reusable components that allow developers to build a quality product with a compressed testing cycle that relies heavily on unit testing of new components.

Kenney, P. Sean↗

NASA NTRS2016

NASA's Space Launch System Transitions From Design To Production

NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) successfully completed its Critical Design Review (CDR) in 2015, a major milestone on the journey to an unprecedented era of exploration for humanity. CDR formally marked the program's transition from design to production phase just four years after the program's inception and the first such milestone for a human launch vehicle in 40 years. While challenges typical of a complex development program lie ahead, CDR evaluators concluded that the design is technically and programmatically sound and ready to press forward to Design Certification Review (DCR) and readiness for launch of Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1) in the 2018 timeframe. SLS is prudently based on existing propulsion systems, infrastructure and knowledge with a clear, evolutionary path as required by mission needs. In its initial configuration, designated Block 1, SLS will a minimum of 70 metric tons (t) (154,324 pounds) of payload to low Earth orbit (LEO). It will evolve to a 130 t (286,601 pound) payload capacity by upgrading its engines, boosters, and upper stage, dramatically increasing the mass and volume of human and robotic exploration while decreasing mission risk, increasing safety, and simplifying ground and mission operations. CDR was the central programmatic accomplishment among many technical accomplishments that will be described in this paper. The government/industry SLS team successfully test-fired a flight-like five-segment solid rocket motor, as well as seven hotfire development tests of the RS-25 core stage engine. The majority of the major test article and flight barrels, rings, and domes for the core stage liquid oxygen, liquid hydrogen, engine section, intertank, and forward skirt were manufactured at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana. Renovations to the B-2 test stand for stage green run testing were completed at NASA's Stennis Space Center (SSC), near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Core stage test stands are reaching completion at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The modified Pegasus barge for core stage transportation from manufacturing to testing and launch sites was delivered to SSC. The Interim Cryogenic Propulsion System test article was also completed. This paper will discuss these and other technical and programmatic successes and challenges over the past year and provide a preview of work ahead before the first flight of this new capability.

Askins, Bruce R.↗

NASA NTRS2016

NASA's Space Launch System: A New Opportunity for CubeSats

Designed for human exploration missions into deep space, NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) represents a new spaceflight infrastructure asset, enabling a wide variety of unique utilization opportunities. Together with the Orion crew vehicle and ground operations at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, SLS is a foundational capability for NASA's Journey to Mars. From the beginning of the SLS flight program, utilization of the vehicle will also include launching secondary payloads, including CubeSats, to deep-space destinations. Currently, SLS is making rapid progress toward readiness for its first launch in 2018, using the initial configuration of the vehicle, which is capable of delivering 70 metric tons (t) to Low Earth Orbit (LEO). On its first flight, Exploration Mission-1, SLS will launch an uncrewed test flight of the Orion spacecraft into distant retrograde orbit around the moon. Accompanying Orion on SLS will be 13 CubeSats, which will deploy in cislunar space. These CubeSats will include not only NASA research, but also spacecraft from industry and international partners and potentially academia. Following its first flight and potentially as early as its second, which will launch a crewed Orion spacecraft into cislunar space, SLS will evolve into a more powerful configuration with a larger upper stage. This configuration will initially be able to deliver 105 t to LEO and will continue to be upgraded to a performance of greater than 130 t to LEO. While the addition of the more powerful upper stage will mean a change to the secondary payload accommodations from Block 1, the SLS Program is already evaluating options for future secondary payload opportunities. Early discussions are also already underway for the use of SLS to launch spacecraft on interplanetary trajectories, which could open additional opportunities for CubeSats. This presentation will include an overview of the SLS vehicle and its capabilities, including the current status of progress toward first launch. It will also explain the opportunities the vehicle offers for CubeSats and secondary payloads, including an overview of the CubeSat manifest for Exploration Mission-1 in 2018.

Hitt, David↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

ARCTRON: A Rapid Experimental Proving Ground for TPS Experiments and Arcjet Technology Development

Innovation in high-enthalpy facilities is fundamentally limited by the cost and risk of experimentation. New concepts for plasma control, diagnostics, facility components, and plasma-material interaction often require repeated iterations that are impractical to perform in production arcjets. As a result, promising ideas may remain unexplored or reach operational facilities only after significant development effort. ARCTRON is being developed as a rapid experimental proving ground where new ideas in plasma science, arcjet engineering, diagnostics, and material response can be conceived, tested, and quantitatively evaluated before transition to large-scale facilities. The platform combines radio-frequency (RF) and DC arc plasma generation, externally applied magnetic fields, configurable gas composition, reduced-pressure operation, laser heating, electrical biasing, and modular diagnostic access. These capabilities permit the plasma source, applied forcing, test article, and measurement configuration to be modified independently, allowing individual physical mechanisms to be isolated more readily than in a traditional test environment. One class of investigations addresses fundamental plasma-surface interaction physics. Conventional material tests often expose a specimen simultaneously to convective heating, reactive species, pressure, shear, radiation, and surface-current effects. The resulting material response may be measured accurately, while the contribution of each mechanism remains difficult to identify. ARCTRON is designed to vary these effects selectively. Plasma chemistry can be changed independently through configurable gas mixtures; magnetic fields and electrical biasing can modify charged-particle transport; laser heating can provide a non-plasma thermal input; and pressure, flow, and discharge mode can be varied over a broad operating space. This enables controlled tests of hypotheses involving surface catalycity, reactive-species transport, plasma-assisted oxidation, electromagnetic effects, shear, and the relative contributions of thermal and chemical loading. A second class of investigations enabled by this approach concerns the engineering of high-enthalpy facilities themselves. Arc-heated facilities are limited by electrode erosion, unstable arc attachment, localized heating, and damage to nozzles and other plasma-facing components. ARCTRON provides a lower-cost environment for testing concepts intended to mitigate these limitations. Candidate investigations include the use of applied magnetic fields to alter current paths and reduce plasma interaction with nozzle walls, ExB forcing to introduce controlled plasma rotation, magnetic or geometric approaches for distributing arc attachment, and alternative electrode or discharge configurations intended to reduce erosion and improve stability. Because the platform is reconfigurable, these concepts can be evaluated through repeated design--build--test cycles before they are considered for implementation in operational facilities. The platform also supports the development and validation of diagnostics that may be difficult to introduce initially into a large arcjet. Current and planned measurements include spatially resolved optical emission spectroscopy, electrostatic probes, fast imaging, pyrometry, calorimetry, laser-induced fluorescence, and absorption spectroscopy. These diagnostics are intended not merely to document a nominal operating condition, but to constrain the local plasma state and its relationship to component or material response. The modular facility geometry allows diagnostic concepts to be tested, calibrated, and compared under repeatable conditions before deployment in more demanding environments. ARCTRON is also supported by an integrated software suite. Automated control and data acquisition allow discharge parameters, gas composition, magnetic fields, diagnostic timing, and test configuration to be recorded as part of each experiment (STARDAC - Software for Testing, Analysis, Research Data, and Control). The Backend for Experiment Analysis, Storage, and Traceability (BEAST) is a database that provides the infrastructure needed to associate heterogeneous measurements with facility configuration, specimen identity, calibration state, geometry, and analysis provenance. This backend is particularly important for exploratory campaigns, in which many related configurations may be tested, and the value of an individual experiment depends on its connection to earlier and subsequent iterations. Complementary analysis capabilities, including computer-vision-based transient response measurements (arcjetCV), three-dimensional surface reconstruction (STARSCAN), and model-based Bayesian inference (SHIELD), and tomography data analysis (TOMATO, PuMA) can be incorporated when required by a specific hypothesis without becoming the focus of every campaign. The central objective of ARCTRON is therefore not to maximize heat flux or reproduce a complete flight environment. Its purpose is to reduce the cost and time required to ask consequential questions about plasma behavior, plasma-facing materials, diagnostics, and arcjet technology. By providing a controlled environment for rapid reconfiguration, mechanism isolation, quantitative measurement, and iterative engineering, ARCTRON can help mature concepts that would otherwise remain too speculative or too risky for evaluation in production facilities. The resulting knowledge can then guide the design of material models, focus test objectives in larger arcjets, reduce facility-development risk, and improve the physical basis of high-enthalpy ground testing. This work will present the ARCTRON architecture, operating modes, diagnostic suite, and digital experimental workflow. Initial experimental results from the first integrated operation of the facility will be presented, including flow characterization, power limitations, and deployment of the initial diagnostic suite. Ongoing development efforts aimed at catalycity characterization, magnetic plasma control, and advanced optical diagnostics will also be discussed, illustrating how the platform supports rapid iteration from concept to experiment.

experimental diagnostics↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

ARCTRON: A Rapid Experimental Proving Ground for TPS Experiments and Arcjet Technology Development

Innovation in high-enthalpy facilities is fundamentally limited by the cost and risk of experimentation. New concepts for plasma control, diagnostics, facility components, and plasma-material interaction often require repeated iterations that are impractical to perform in production arcjets. As a result, promising ideas may remain unexplored or reach operational facilities only after significant development effort. ARCTRON is being developed as a rapid experimental proving ground where new ideas in plasma science, arcjet engineering, diagnostics, and material response can be conceived, tested, and quantitatively evaluated before transition to large-scale facilities. The platform combines radio-frequency (RF) and DC arc plasma generation, externally applied magnetic fields, configurable gas composition, reduced-pressure operation, laser heating, electrical biasing, and modular diagnostic access. These capabilities permit the plasma source, applied forcing, test article, and measurement configuration to be modified independently, allowing individual physical mechanisms to be isolated more readily than in a traditional test environment. One class of investigations addresses fundamental plasma-surface interaction physics. Conventional material tests often expose a specimen simultaneously to convective heating, reactive species, pressure, shear, radiation, and surface-current effects. The resulting material response may be measured accurately, while the contribution of each mechanism remains difficult to identify. ARCTRON is designed to vary these effects selectively. Plasma chemistry can be changed independently through configurable gas mixtures; magnetic fields and electrical biasing can modify charged-particle transport; laser heating can provide a non-plasma thermal input; and pressure, flow, and discharge mode can be varied over a broad operating space. This enables controlled tests of hypotheses involving surface catalycity, reactive-species transport, plasma-assisted oxidation, electromagnetic effects, shear, and the relative contributions of thermal and chemical loading. A second class of investigations enabled by this approach concerns the engineering of high-enthalpy facilities themselves. Arc-heated facilities are limited by electrode erosion, unstable arc attachment, localized heating, and damage to nozzles and other plasma-facing components. ARCTRON provides a lower-cost environment for testing concepts intended to mitigate these limitations. Candidate investigations include the use of applied magnetic fields to alter current paths and reduce plasma interaction with nozzle walls, ExB forcing to introduce controlled plasma rotation, magnetic or geometric approaches for distributing arc attachment, and alternative electrode or discharge configurations intended to reduce erosion and improve stability. Because the platform is reconfigurable, these concepts can be evaluated through repeated design--build--test cycles before they are considered for implementation in operational facilities. The platform also supports the development and validation of diagnostics that may be difficult to introduce initially into a large arcjet. Current and planned measurements include spatially resolved optical emission spectroscopy, electrostatic probes, fast imaging, pyrometry, calorimetry, laser-induced fluorescence, and absorption spectroscopy. These diagnostics are intended not merely to document a nominal operating condition, but to constrain the local plasma state and its relationship to component or material response. The modular facility geometry allows diagnostic concepts to be tested, calibrated, and compared under repeatable conditions before deployment in more demanding environments. ARCTRON is also supported by an integrated software suite. Automated control and data acquisition allow discharge parameters, gas composition, magnetic fields, diagnostic timing, and test configuration to be recorded as part of each experiment (STARDAC - Software for Testing, Analysis, Research Data, and Control). The Backend for Experiment Analysis, Storage, and Traceability (BEAST) is a database that provides the infrastructure needed to associate heterogeneous measurements with facility configuration, specimen identity, calibration state, geometry, and analysis provenance. This backend is particularly important for exploratory campaigns, in which many related configurations may be tested, and the value of an individual experiment depends on its connection to earlier and subsequent iterations. Complementary analysis capabilities, including computer-vision-based transient response measurements (arcjetCV), three-dimensional surface reconstruction (STARSCAN), and model-based Bayesian inference (SHIELD), and tomography data analysis (TOMATO, PuMA) can be incorporated when required by a specific hypothesis without becoming the focus of every campaign. The central objective of ARCTRON is therefore not to maximize heat flux or reproduce a complete flight environment. Its purpose is to reduce the cost and time required to ask consequential questions about plasma behavior, plasma-facing materials, diagnostics, and arcjet technology. By providing a controlled environment for rapid reconfiguration, mechanism isolation, quantitative measurement, and iterative engineering, ARCTRON can help mature concepts that would otherwise remain too speculative or too risky for evaluation in production facilities. The resulting knowledge can then guide the design of material models, focus test objectives in larger arcjets, reduce facility-development risk, and improve the physical basis of high-enthalpy ground testing. This work will present the ARCTRON architecture, operating modes, diagnostic suite, and digital experimental workflow. Initial experimental results from the first integrated operation of the facility will be presented, including flow characterization, power limitations, and deployment of the initial diagnostic suite. Ongoing development efforts aimed at catalycity characterization, magnetic plasma control, and advanced optical diagnostics will also be discussed, illustrating how the platform supports rapid iteration from concept to experiment.

experimental diagnostics↗

NASA NTRS2008

Sustainable Human Presence on the Moon using In Situ Resources

New capabilities, technologies and infrastructure must be developed to enable a sustained human presence on the moon and beyond. The key to having this permanent presence is the utilization of in situ resources. To this end, NASA is investigating how in situ resources can be utilized to improve mission success by reducing up-mass, improving safety, reducing risk, and bringing down costs for the overall mission. To ensure that this capability is available when needed, technology development is required now. NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is supporting this endeavor, along with other NASA centers, by exploring how lunar regolith can be mined for uses such as construction, life support, propulsion, power, and fabrication. Efforts at MSFC include development of lunar regolith simulant for hardware testing and development, extraction of oxygen and other materials from the lunar regolith, production of parts and tools on the moon from local materials or from provisioned feedstocks, and capabilities to show that produced parts are "ready for use". This paper discusses the lunar regolith, how the regolith is being replicated in the development of simulants and possible uses of the regolith.

McLemore, Carol A.↗

NASA NTRS2014

NASA's Space Launch System: An Enabling Capability for Discovery

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) Space Launch System (SLS) Program, managed at the Marshall Space Flight Center, is making progress toward delivering a new capability for human spaceflight and scientific missions beyond Earth orbit. Developed with the goals of safety, affordability, and sustainability in mind, the SLS rocket will launch the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV), equipment, supplies, and major science missions for exploration and discovery. Making its first uncrewed test flight in 2017 and its first crewed flight in 2021, the SLS will evolve into the most powerful launch vehicle ever flown, capable of supporting human missions into deep space and to Mars. This paper will summarize the planned capabilities of the vehicle, the progress the SLS Program has made in the years since the Agency formally announced its architecture in September 2011, and the path the program is following to reach the launch pad in 2017 and then to evolve the 70 metric ton (t) initial lift capability to 130 t lift capability. The paper will outline the milestones the program has already reached, from developmental milestones such as the manufacture of the first flight hardware and recordbreaking engine testing, to life-cycle milestones such as the vehicle's Preliminary Design Review in the summer of 2013. The paper will also discuss the remaining challenges in both delivering the 70 t vehicle and in evolving its capabilities to the 130 t vehicle, and how the program plans to accomplish these goals. In addition, this paper will demonstrate how the Space Launch System is being designed to enable or enhance not only human exploration missions, but robotic scientific missions as well. Because of its unique launch capabilities, SLS will support simplifying spacecraft complexity, provide improved mass margins and radiation mitigation, and reduce mission durations. These capabilities offer attractive advantages for ambitious science missions by reducing infrastructure requirements, cost, and schedule. A traditional baseline approach for a mission to investigate the Jovian system would require a complicated trajectory with several gravity-assist planetary fly-bys to achieve the necessary outbound velocity. The SLS rocket, offering significantly higher C3 energies, can more quickly and effectively take the mission directly to its destination, providing scientific results sooner and at lower operational cost. The SLS rocket will launch payloads of unprecedented mass and volume, such as "monolithic" telescopes and in-space infrastructure, and will revolutionize science mission planning and design for years to come. As this paper will explain, SLS is making measurable progress toward becoming a global infrastructure asset for robotic and human scouts of all nations by harnessing business and technological innovations to deliver sustainable solutions for space exploration.

Creech, Stephen D.↗

NASA NTRS2014

NASA's Space Launch System: An Enabling Capability for Discovery

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) Space Launch System (SLS) Program, managed at the Marshall Space Flight Center, is making progress toward delivering a new capability for human spaceflight and scientific missions beyond Earth orbit. Developed with the goals of safety, affordability, and sustainability in mind, the SLS rocket will launch the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV), equipment, supplies, and major science missions for exploration and discovery. Making its first uncrewed test flight in 2017 and its first crewed flight in 2021, the SLS will evolve into the most powerful launch vehicle ever flown, capable of supporting human missions into deep space and to Mars. This paper will summarize the planned capabilities of the vehicle, the progress the SLS Program has made in the years since the Agency formally announced its architecture in September 2011, and the path the program is following to reach the launch pad in 2017 and then to evolve the 70 metric ton (t) initial lift capability to 130 t lift capability. The paper will outline the milestones the program has already reached, from developmental milestones such as the manufacture of the first flight hardware and recordbreaking engine testing, to life-cycle milestones such as the vehicle's Preliminary Design Review in the summer of 2013. The paper will also discuss the remaining challenges in both delivering the 70 t vehicle and in evolving its capabilities to the 130 t vehicle, and how the program plans to accomplish these goals. In addition, this paper will demonstrate how the Space Launch System is being designed to enable or enhance not only human exploration missions, but robotic scientific missions as well. Because of its unique launch capabilities, SLS will support simplifying spacecraft complexity, provide improved mass margins and radiation mitigation, and reduce mission durations. These capabilities offer attractive advantages for ambitious science missions by reducing infrastructure requirements, cost, and schedule. A traditional baseline approach for a mission to investigate the Jovian system would require a complicated trajectory with several gravity-assist planetary fly-bys to achieve the necessary outbound velocity. The SLS rocket, offering significantly higher C3 energies, can more quickly and effectively take the mission directly to its destination, providing scientific results sooner and at lower operational cost. The SLS rocket will launch payloads of unprecedented mass and volume, such as "monolithic" telescopes and in-space infrastructure, and will revolutionize science mission planning and design for years to come. As this paper will explain, SLS is making measurable progress toward becoming a global infrastructure asset for robotic and human scouts of all nations by harnessing business and technological innovations to deliver sustainable solutions for space exploration.

Creech, Stephen D.↗

NASA NTRS2012

SCaN Testbed Software Development and Lessons Learned

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has developed an on-orbit, adaptable, Software Defined Radio (SDR)Space Telecommunications Radio System (STRS)-based testbed facility to conduct a suite of experiments to advance technologies, reduce risk, and enable future mission capabilities on the International Space Station (ISS). The SCAN Testbed Project will provide NASA, industry, other Government agencies, and academic partners the opportunity to develop and field communications, navigation, and networking technologies in the laboratory and space environment based on reconfigurable, SDR platforms and the STRS Architecture.The SDRs are a new technology for NASA, and the support infrastructure they require is different from legacy, fixed function radios. SDRs offer the ability to reconfigure on-orbit communications by changing software for new waveforms and operating systems to enable new capabilities or fix any anomalies, which was not a previous option. They are not stand alone devices, but required a new approach to effectively control them and flow data. This requires extensive software to be developed to utilize the full potential of these reconfigurable platforms. The paper focuses on development, integration and testing as related to the avionics processor system, and the software required to command, control, monitor, and interact with the SDRs, as well as the other communication payload elements. An extensive effort was required to develop the flight software and meet the NASA requirements for software quality and safety. The flight avionics must be radiation tolerant, and these processors have limited capability in comparison to terrestrial counterparts. A big challenge was that there are three SDRs onboard, and interfacing with multiple SDRs simultaneously complicatesd the effort. The effort also includes ground software, which is a key element for both the command of the payload, and displaying data created by the payload. The verification of the software was an extensive effort. The challenges of specifying a suitable test matrix with reconfigurable systems that offer numerous configurations is highlighted. Since the flight system testing requires methodical, controlled testing that limits risk, a nearly identical ground system to the on-orbit flight system was required to develop the software and write verification procedures before it was installed and tested on the flight system. The development of the SCAN testbed was an accelerated effort to meet launch constraints, and this paper discusses tradeoffs made to balance needed software functionality and still maintain the schedule. Future upgrades are discussed that optimize the avionics and allow experimenters to utilize the SCAN testbed potential.

radio communication↗

NASA NTRS2013

The Tailoring of Traditional Systems Engineering for the Morpheus Project

NASA's Morpheus Project has developed and tested a prototype planetary lander capable of vertical takeoff and landing that is designed to serve as a testbed for advanced spacecraft technologies. The lander vehicle, propelled by a LOX/Methane engine and sized to carry a 500kg payload to the lunar surface, provides a platform for bringing technologies from the laboratory into an integrated flight system at relatively low cost. From the beginning, one of goals for the Morpheus Project was to streamline agency processes and practices. The Morpheus project accepted a challenge to tailor the traditional NASA systems engineering approach in a way that would be appropriate for a lower cost, rapid prototype engineering effort, but retain the essence of the guiding principles. The team has produced innovative ways to create an infrastructure and approach that would challenge existing systems engineering processes while still enabling successful implementation of the current Morpheus Project. This paper describes the tailored systems engineering approach for the Morpheus project, including the processes, tools, and amount of rigor employed over the project's multiple lifecycles since the project began in FY11. Lessons learned from these trials have the potential to be scaled up and improve efficiency on a larger projects or programs.

Devolites, Jennifer L.↗

NASA NTRS2008

Development Status of the J-2X

In June 2006, the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne began development of an engine for use on the Ares I crew launch vehicle and the Ares V cargo launch vehicle. The development program will be completed in December 2012 at the end of a Design Certification Review and after certification testing of two flight configuration engines. A team of over 600 people within NASA and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne are currently working to prepare for the fall 2008 Critical Design Review (CDR), along with supporting an extensive risk mitigation test program. The J-2X will power the Ares I upper stage and the Ares V earth departure stage (EDS). The initial use will be in the Ares I, used to launch the Orion crew exploration vehicle. In this application, it will power the upper stage after being sent aloft on a Space Shuttle-derived. 5-segment solid rocket booster first stage. In this mission. the engine will ignite at altitude and provide the necessary acceleration force to allow the Orion to achieve orbital velocity. The Ares I upper stage, along with the J-2X. will then be expended. On the Ares V. first stage propulsion is provided by five RS-68B engines and two 5-segment boosters similar to the Ares I configuration. In the Ares V mission. the J-2X is first started to power the EDS and its payload. the Altair lunar lander. into earth orbit, then shut-down and get prepared for its next start. The EDS/Altair will remain in a parking orbit, awaiting rendezvous and docking with Orion. Once the two spacecraft are mated, the J-2X will be restarted to achieve earth departure velocity. After powering the Orion and Altair, the EDS will be expended. By using the J-2X Engine in both applications, a significant infrastructure cost savings is realized. Only one engine development is required, and the sustaining engineering and flight support infrastructures can be combined. There is also flexibility for changing, the production and flight manifest because a single production line can support both missions with minimal differences between each engine configuration kit.

Kynard, Mike↗

NASA NTRS2018

F Prime: An Open-Source Framework for Small-Scale Flight Software Systems

Developing ﬂight software for small-scale missions such as CubeSats and SmallSats is challenging. These missions typically have ambitious goals, modest budgets, and tight schedules. To meet these challenges, a good ﬂight software framework is essential. Frameworks can provide an architecture, infrastructure, tools, and reusable software components, all of which can help developers deliver their code on time and on budget. In this paper we present F Prime, a free, open-source ﬂight software framework developed at JPL and tailored to small-scale systems such as CubeSats, SmallSats, and instruments. F Prime comprises several elements: (1) an architecture that decomposes ﬂight software into discrete components with well-deﬁned interfaces; (2) a C++ framework that provides core capabilities such as message queues and threads; (3) tools for specifying components and connections and automatically generating code; (4) a growing collection of ready-to-use components; and (5) tools for testing ﬂight software at the unit and integration levels.We describe the F Prime framework and tools and present our experience using them. We describe several enhancements to the framework currently underway in the areas of software design, software veriﬁcation, and ground data systems for testing.

Levison, Jeffrey W.↗

NASA NTRS2011

A Cabin Air Separator for EVA Oxygen

Presently, the Extra-Vehicular Activities (EVAs) conducted from the Quest Joint Airlock on the International Space Station use high pressure, high purity oxygen that is delivered to the Space Station by the Space Shuttle. When the Space Shuttle retires, a new method of delivering high pressure, high purity oxygen to the High Pressure Gas Tanks (HPGTs) is needed. One method is to use a cabin air separator to sweep oxygen from the cabin air, generate a low pressure/high purity oxygen stream, and compress the oxygen with a multistage mechanical compressor. A main advantage to this type of system is that the existing low pressure oxygen supply infrastructure can be used as the source of cabin oxygen. ISS has two water electrolysis systems that deliver low pressure oxygen to the cabin, as well as chlorate candles and compressed gas tanks on cargo vehicles. Each of these systems can feed low pressure oxygen into the cabin, and any low pressure oxygen source can be used as an on-board source of oxygen. Three different oxygen separator systems were evaluated, and a two stage Pressure Swing Adsorption system was selected for reasons of technical maturity. Two different compressor designs were subjected to long term testing, and the compressor with better life performance and more favorable oxygen safety characteristics was selected. These technologies have been used as the basis of a design for a flight system located in Equipment Lock, and taken to Preliminary Design Review level of maturity. This paper describes the Cabin Air Separator for EVA Oxygen (CASEO) concept, describes the separator and compressor technology trades, highlights key technology risks, and describes the flight hardware concept as presented at Preliminary Design Review (PDR)

Graf, John C.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

PTD: Enabling New Space Technologies

Significant advances in the capabilities of small spacecraft over the past 20 years, coupled with improved access to space from a variety of launch platforms have created new opportunities for scientific exploration and commercial application using these high-value (and yet low cost) platforms. Continued development and demonstration of key technologies are improving the performance of the 3U and 6U class CubeSats while expanding the small spacecraft reach into larger platforms, such as 12U and ESPA class missions. The availability and relatively low cost of CubeSat spacecraft allows key technologies to be flight qualified, bridging the TRL 6/7 gap and making truly novel and enabling technologies available to much larger missions in the planning stages at NASA. The key is connecting the technologists with the flight opportunity in a time and cost efficient manner. NASA’s Small Satellite Technology (SST) program is using existing commercial spacecraft to provide a common bus for technology demonstration, taking advantage of their proven platforms and system with proven flight heritage and extensive infrastructure. In this paper we discuss the Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator (PTD) series of four spacecraft and the CubeSat Laser Infrared CrosslinK (CLICK) series of three spacecraft, the approach SST took in facilitating the missions, the successes of those missions as well as lessons learned in the process. NASA’s PTD spacecraft series is demonstrating a variety of new technologies on-orbit, providing proof of the maturity of these significant new technologies, and enhancing the performance of future CubeSats. Each of the four PTD mission consists of one 6-unit (6U) CubeSat weighing approximately 12 kilograms and measuring approximately 30 centimeters x 25 centimeters x 10 centimeters, characterizing its payload within 90 days of orbit insertion. The spacecraft bus, integration and test, and mission operations services are being provided by Terran Orbital. The PTD missions have demonstrated a novel nano-spacecraft compatible propulsion systems (enabling deep space and maneuverable Cubeat missions) and an optical communications system (enabling high data rate collection and communications) already. The CLICK missions are demonstrating compact space-to-space optical communications first with the CLICK A technology demonstrator (already flown) and finally with the CLICK BC dual spacecraft mission. Both projects are part of the SST program within the NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate. SST is chartered to develop and demonstrate technologies to enhance and expand the capabilities of small spacecraft with a particular focus on enabling new mission architectures through the use of small spacecraft, expanding the reach of small spacecraft to new destinations, and augmenting future missions with supporting small spacecraft.

J. Hanson↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Supporting Exploration Missions by Enabling Exploration Mission System Software

Future exploration missions will consist of a multitude of data sources, systems, and operators collaborating to complete mission objectives. Presently, NASA is instantiating the contractual mechanisms, such as the Exploration Extravehicular Activity Services (xEVAS) and Human Landing System (HLS) contracts, to produce these mission assets. Architectural planning is also underway to establish the networking protocols and infrastructure to digitally create and connect mission elements, such as LunaNET. However, without new horizontally integrated data systems, these advancements will be limited in their ability to get mission data appropriately integrated into the plan, train, fly, explore workflow of the flight operations workforce. Here we describe several mission system software development efforts underway that are designed to support human spaceflight missions. This paper describes the current iterations of a suite of tools to support EVA procedure authoring and execution, and mission context creation for both International Space Station (ISS) and Artemis missions. These tools have been developed iteratively and continue to be used in present-day ISS operations on orbit and in several NASA facilities such as the Neutral Buoyancy Lab (NBL) and Artemis field testing. These solutions demonstrate how software development can be aligned with ongoing operations development activities to discover the features that best support both current and future human spaceflight missions.

Matthew J. Miller↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Supporting Exploration Missions by Enabling Exploration Mission System Software

Future exploration missions will consist of a multitude of data sources, systems, and operators collaborating to complete mission objectives. Presently, NASA is instantiating the contractual mechanisms, such as the Exploration Extravehicular Activity Services (xEVAS) and Human Landing System (HLS) contracts, to produce these mission assets. Architectural planning is also underway to establish the networking protocols and infrastructure to digitally create and connect mission elements, such as LunaNET. However, without new horizontally integrated data systems, these advancements will be limited in their ability to get mission data appropriately integrated into the plan, train, fly, explore workflow of the flight operations workforce. Here we describe several mission system software development efforts underway that are designed to support human spaceflight missions. This paper describes the current iterations of a suite of tools to support EVA procedure authoring and execution, and mission context creation for both International Space Station (ISS) and Artemis missions. These tools have been developed iteratively and continue to be used in present-day ISS operations on orbit and in several NASA facilities such as the Neutral Buoyancy Lab (NBL) and Artemis field testing. These solutions demonstrate how software development can be aligned with ongoing operations development activities to discover the features that best support both current and future human spaceflight missions.

Matthew Miller↗