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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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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

DUNE Photon Detection System

The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) aims to provide a broad physics program primarily addressed to probing CP violation in the neutrino sector and identifying the neutrino mass hierarchy. The search for proton decay, the observation of supernova neutrino bursts, and the investigation of solar neutrinos represent other additional goals of DUNE experiment, which can be enhanced by the use and the high performances of the Photon Detection System (PDS). Using the technology based on liquid argon Time Projection Chamber (LArTPC), the experiment plans to observe neutrino interactions inside detectors located 1300 km away from the Long Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF) at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), where the neutrinos are produced. The experiment consists of two main parts, respectively the far and near detectors. The far site will comprise four detector modules. The first module is constituted by a vertical drift single-phase LArTPC, while the second module provides a horizontal drift single-phase LArTPC. The configurations of the other modules are still under definition. Neutrino detection in LArTPCs is achieved by identifying the charge and light generated from its interactions with liquid argon. The wire planes of the instrumented anode and the PDS detect these signals, respectively. The PDS in the first two modules, detailed in the present document, uses a modified version of the so-called ARAPUCA technology, named X-ARAPUCA. This system consisting of a highly reflecting box with an entrance window made by dichroic filters and wavelength shifters, creates a trap to detect the VUV (128 nm) scintillation photons. The X-ARAPUCA of the first module is called Supercell, and it has dimensions of 488×100 mm 2 , while Megacell is the second module version, with an active area of 60×60 cm 2 . This latter configuration also represents a significant technological advancement. Since half of the modules are placed on the cathode at high voltage, they are powered and read out using innovative power-over-fiber (PoF) and signal-over-fiber (SoF) technologies. Meanwhile, the other half are installed in a membrane behind the field cage, with a total transparency of around 70%.

Neutrino detectors↗
DOE OSTI2020

Integrated Dynamic Facade Control with an Agent-based Architecture for Commercial Buildings

Dynamic façades have significant technical potential to minimize heating, cooling, and lighting energy use and peak electric demand in the perimeter zone of commercial buildings, but the performance of these systems is reliant on being able to balance complex trade-offs between solar control, daylight admission, comfort, and view over the life of the installation. As the context for controllable energy-efficiency technologies grows more complex with the increased use of intermittent renewable energy resources on the grid, it has become increasingly important to look ahead towards more advanced approaches to integrated systems control in order to achieve optimum life-cycle performance at a lower cost. This study examines the feasibility of a model predictive control system for low-cost autonomous dynamic façades. A system architecture designed around lightweight, simple agents is proposed. The architecture accommodates whole building and grid level demands through its modular, hierarchical approach. Automatically-generated models for computing window heat gains, daylight illuminance, and discomfort glare are described. The open source Modelica and JModelica software tools were used to determine the optimum state of control given inputs of window heat gains and lighting loads for a 24-hour optimization horizon. Penalty functions for glare and view/ daylight quality were implemented as constraints. The control system was tested on a low-power controller (1.4 GHz single core with 2 GB of RAM) to evaluate feasibility. The target platform is a low-cost ($35/unit) embedded controller with 1.2 GHz dual-core cpu and 1 GB of RAM. Configuration and commissioning of the curtainwall unit was designed to be largely plug and play with minimal inputs required by the manufacturer through a web-based user interface. An example application was used to demonstrate optimal control of a three-zone electrochromic window for a south-facing zone. The overall approach was deemed to be promising. Further engineering is required to enable scalable, turnkey solutions.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2024

A semi–automatic analytical methodology for characterizing the energy consumption of MRI systems using load duration curves

Background and purpose: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners are a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions from the healthcare sector, and efforts to improve energy efficiency and reduce energy consumption rely on quantification of the characteristics of energy consumption. The purpose of this work was to develop a semi-automatic analytical methodology for the characterization of the energy consumption of MRI systems using only the load duration curve (LDC). LDCs are a fundamental tool used across various fields to analyze and understand the behavior of loads over time. Methods: An electric current transformer sensor and data logger were installed on two 3T MRI scanners from two vendors, termed M1 (outpatient scanner) and M2 (inpatient/emergency scanner). Data was collected for 1 month (7/11/2023 to 8/11/2023). Active power was calculated, assuming a balanced three-phase system, using the average current measured across all three phases, a 480 V reference voltage for both machines, and vendor-provided power factors. An LDC was constructed for each system by sorting the active power values in descending order and computing the cumulative time (in units of percentage) for each data point. The first derivative of the LDC was then computed (LDC’), smoothed by convolution with a window function (sLDC’), and used to detect transitions between different system modes including (in descending power levels): scan, prepared-to-scan, idle, low-power, and off. The final, segmented LDC was used to measure time (% total time), total energy (kWh), and mean power (kW) for each system mode on both scanners. The method was validated by comparing mean power values, computed using the segmented 1-month LDC, for each nonproductive system mode (i.e., prepared-to-scan, idle, lower-power, and off) against power levels measured after a deliberate system shutdown was performed for each scanner (1 day worth of data). Results: The validation revealed differences in mean power values <1.4% for all nonproductive modes and both scanners. In the scan system mode, the mean power values ranged from 29.8 to 37.2 kW and the total energy consumed for 1 month ranged from 11 106 to 14 466 kWh depending on the scanner. Over the course of 1 month, the portion of time the scanners were in nonproductive modes ranged from 76% to 80% across scanners and the nonproductive energy consumption ranged from 8010 to 6722 kWh depending on the scanner. The M1 (outpatient) scanner consumed 99.9 and 183.9 kWh/day in idle mode for weekdays and weekends, respectively, because the scanner spent 23% more time proportionally in idle mode on the weekends. Conclusions: A semi-automatic method for quantifying energy consumption characteristics of MRI scanners was introduced and validated. This method is relatively simple to implement as it requires only power data from the scanners and avoids the technical challenges associated with extracting and processing scanner log files. Finally, the methodology enables quantitative evaluation of the power, time, and energy characteristics of MRI scanners in scan and nonproductive system modes, providing baseline data and the capability of identifying potential opportunities for enhancing the energy efficiency of MRI scanners.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
NASA NTRS1992

Fiber optic-based laser vapor screen flow visualization systems for aerodynamic research in larger-scale subsonic and transonic wind tunnels

The design, installation, and application of the NASA laser vapor screen (LVS) flow visualization systems developed by 10-foot high speed tunnel and 8-foot transonic pressure tunnel are discussed. Sufficient quantity of water is injected into the wind tunnel diffuser section to increase the relative humidity and promote condensation of the water vapor in the flow field about the model. Vortex-dominated flows are illuminated with an intense sheet of laser light. Fiber optics are used to deliver the laser beam through the plenum shell that surrounds the test section of each facility and to the light sheet-generating optics positioned in the ceiling window of the test section. Operational experience indicates that fiber optic-based systems are safe, reliable, and capable of proving high-quality off-surface flow visualization in larger scale subsonic and transonic wind tunnels.

Erickson, Gary E.↗
NASA NTRS2019

MEDLI2 Flight Heat Flux Sensor Environment and Planetary Protection Testing

Mars 2020 will fly the Mars Entry, Descent, and Landing Instrumentation II (MEDLI2) sensor suite consisting of a total of seventeen instrumented thermocouple sensor plugs, eight pressure transducers, two total heat flux sensors, and one radiometer embedded in the thermal protection system (TPS). Of the MEDLI2 instrumentation, eleven instrumented thermocouple plugs and seven pressure transducers will be installed on the heatshield of the Mars 2020 vehicle while the rest will be installed on the backshell. The goal of the MEDLI2 instrumentation is to directly inform the large performance uncertainties that contribute to the design and validation of a Mars entry system. A better understanding of the entry environment and TPS performance could lead to reduced design margins enabling greater payload mass-fraction and smaller landing ellipses. The MEDLI2 total heat flux sensors and radiometer are new instruments that were not flown on the Mars Science Laboratory mission. These sensors directly measure the surface heat flux and radiation at specific backshell locations. The total heat flux sensors use a Schmidt-Boelter sensing element. The radiometer version uses a sapphire window placed over the Schmidt-Boelter sensing element to separate the radiative component of the total heat flux. MEDLI2 recently planned and executed protoflight environmental testing as well planetary protection measures on the flight and flight-spare total heat flux sensors and radiometers. This testing is required to provide confidence in the performance of the flight-lot sensors when exposed to flight-like environments, and to reduce the risk of biological contamination on the planet of Mars with microbes from Earth.

MEDLI2 FLIGHT HEAT FLUX SENSOR ENVIRONMENT AND PLA↗
NASA NTRS2005

STS-114 Flight Day 9 Highlights

The highlight of Day 9 is the third extravehicular activity (EVA) of the STS-114 mission (Commander Eileen Collins, Pilot James Kelly, Mission Specialists Soichi Noguchi, Stephen Robinson, Andrew Thomas, Wendy Lawrence, and Charles Camarda). Astronauts Noguchi and Robinson are seen preparing for the EVA in the closed payload bay of Space Shuttle Discovery; on the EVA they install on the International Space Station (ISS) a Materials on the International Space Station Experiments (MISSE) unit, an External Stowage Platform (ESP-2), and a wireless antenna. The astronauts are seen working on the ISS under different lighting conditions, and use a pistol-grip tool to remove ESP-2 from the shuttle payload bay. The Space Station Remote Manipulator System then carries Robinson to the underside of the Discovery orbiter, where he communicates with Mission Control during the delicate and unprecedented removal of gap fillers from between the shuttle's tiles. Before and the after the EVA the video includes views of a damaged thermal blanket beneath the shuttle cockpit window. Other views of the shuttle include pans along the underside and topside by the Orbiter Boom Sensor System. The video also includes a view from orbit of Kazakhstan.

Source record↗
DOE OSTI2022

Experimental Studies and Energy Modeling for Evaluating Performance of Various Deep Wall Retrofits

The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the University of Minnesota conducted a three-year, multipart study on residential retrofit wall assemblies. The project, which was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Building Technology Office, aimed to compare a range of residential wall retrofit systems that prioritized affordability, durability, and energy savings potential. The research team identified, constructed, tested, simulated, and analyzed the feasibility and economics of 16 wall retrofit assemblies (14 test configurations and two baseline configurations) that can be applied to the exterior side of existing walls (either with or without the existing cladding). The 16 wall assemblies were installed in an in-situ laboratory environment, to evaluate the ease of construction and study the thermal and hygrothermal performance of the walls. This paper presents the methodology used to evaluate the thermal performance of the walls and discusses the energy modeling results of the study. The results from the experiments were used to calibrate a THERM model of each wall assembly, which was then applied to a whole building using the EnergyPlus 8.6 simulation engine. A residential prototype building was used to extrapolate whole-building energy savings in each U.S. climate zone. To capture the conditions of the largest number of homes in the United States, the most frequent building characteristics (e.g., attic insulation level, window specifications, foundation insulation, etc.) were extracted from ResStock data and applied to the prototype model. Results from the energy modeling showed that the climate zones with the highest potential for retrofit savings are those which are heating-dominated (i.e., Cold and Very Cold climate designations). In these climate zones, heating and cooling energy savings due to the wall retrofits alone ranged from 21.5% to 38.2%.

Nagda, Harshil↗
NASA NTRS1993

Lunar laser ranging data processing in a Unix/X windows environment

In cooperation with the NASA Crustal Dynamics Project initiative placing workstation computers at each of its laser ranging stations to handle data filtering and normalpointing, MLRS personnel have developed a new generation of software to provide the same services for the lunar laser ranging data type. The Unix operating system and X windows/Motif provides an environment for both batch and interactive filtering and normalpointing as well as prediction calculations. The goal is to provide a transportable and maintainable data reduction environment. This software and some sample displays are presented. that the lunar (or satellite) datacould be processed on one computer while data was taken on the other. The reduction of the data was totally interactive and in no way automated. In addition, lunar predictions were produced on-site, another first in the effort to down-size historically mainframe-based applications. Extraction of earth rotation parameters was at one time attempted on site in near-realtime. In 1988, the Crustal Dynamics Project SLR Computer Panel mandated the installation of Hewlett-Packard 9000/360 Unix workstations at each NASA-operated laser ranging station to relieve the aging controller computers of much of their data and communications handling responsibility and to provide on-site data filtering and normal pointing for a growing list of artificial satellite targets. This was seen by MLRS staff as an opportunity to provide a better lunar data processing environment as well.

Ricklefs, Randall L.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Gamma-ray burst detection prospects for next generation ground-based VHE facilities

ABSTRACT Gamma-ray Bursts (GRB) were discovered by satellite-based detectors as powerful sources of transient γ-ray emission. The Fermi satellite detected an increasing number of these events with its dedicated Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM), some of which were associated with high energy photons ($E \gt 10$ GeV), by the Large Area Telescope (LAT). More recently, follow-up observations by Cherenkov telescopes detected very high energy emission ($E \gt 100$ GeV) from GRBs, opening up a new observational window with implications on the interpretation of their central engines and on the propagation of very energetic photons across the Universe. Here, we use the data published in the 2nd Fermi-LAT Gamma Ray Burst Catalogue to characterize the duration, luminosity, redshift, and light curve of the high energy GRB emission. We extrapolate these properties to the very high energy domain, comparing the results with available observations and with the potential of future instruments. We use observed and simulated GRB populations to estimate the chances of detection with wide-field ground-based γ-ray instruments. Our analysis aims to evaluate the opportunities of the Southern Wide-field-of-view Gamma-ray Observatory (SWGO), to be installed in the Southern Hemisphere, to complement CTA. We show that a low-energy observing threshold ($E_{low} \lt 200$ GeV), with good point source sensitivity ($F_{lim} \approx 10^{-11} \,\mathrm{erg\, cm^{-2}\, s^{-1}}$ in $1$ yr), are optimal requirements to work as a GRB trigger facility and to probe the burst spectral properties down to time-scales as short as $10$ s, accessing a time domain that will not be available to Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes instruments.

La Mura, G. (ORCID:000000018553499X)↗
NASA NTRS1993

Superfluid Helium On-Orbit Transfer (SHOOT) flight demonstration

The Superfluid Helium On-Orbit Transfer (SHOOT) Flight Demonstration was an attached Shuttle payload mounted on a Hitchhiker cross-bay carrier which flew on STS-57 in June of 1993. SHOOT successfully demonstrated the handling and transfer of superfluid helium between two containers, called dewars, in low gravity. SHOOT was a class C payload and for the STS-57 mission was termed a complex secondary payload. The primaries were the retrieval of the EURECA carrier and a collection of modular experiments contained in SPACEHAB. Because the liquid helium was continuously boiling off, SHOOT's activities were scheduled for the first three days of the mission, concurrent with some SPACEHAB experiments, but well before the EURECA retrieval. Control of the SHOOT experiment was highly interactive and originated primarily from the Goddard Payload Operations and Control Center (POCC). Transfer and calibration activities required continuous command windows of up to 50 minutes duration and up to 80 minutes out of each orbit. Occasionally the crew controlled the experiment using the Payload General Support Computer (PGSC) when near-real time control and monitoring was required. SHOOT also placed considerable demands on the orbiter, including a pitch rotation of 3 deg./sec for 15 minutes, and translational burns using both the aft and forward RCS jets to generate accelerations up to 7 milli-g. The basis for these and other requirements are discussed. Interacion with the crew and timing of crew activity during the mission will be detailed. The processing flow of SHOOT at KSC is described with emphasis on the tradeoffs for vertical, as opposed to horizontal, installation in the orbiter. Finally, some lessons learned are presented that are relevant to future cryogenic and Hitchhiker payloads.

Shirron, Peter↗
DOE OSTI2022

Electrical Switching of Nematic Plasmonic Nanocolloids for Infrared Solar Gain Control

Controlling solar gain is essential to reduce the energy consumption by residential and commercial buildings, which are responsible for ≈40% of all energy generated globally. However, the dynamic control of solar gain in the near-infrared that corresponds to ≈50% of the overall Sun's energy at the Earth's surface, separately from the visible spectral range has been a challenge, albeit commercial coatings provide passive control while retaining highly visible transmission. To address this problem, in this paper switchable silver colloids (SSCs) are demonstrated, colloidal analogs of the common silver coatings used for solar gain control. When dispersed in a nematic liquid crystal, orientations of such plasmonic silver nanoplates are controlled by ≈1 V low-voltage electric fields, allowing for sub-second switching of the near-infrared-based solar gain. Installed and retrofit products made from thin films of such nanoplate dispersions confined between glass and plastic substrates, respectively, exhibit electrically controlled infrared-based solar gain while retaining high visible-range transparency, low haze, and high color rendering index. Furthermore, this study's findings reveal a great potential of soft-matter systems in addressing energy-related problems.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Realization of a gas puff imaging system on the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator

A system for studying the spatiotemporal dynamics of fluctuations in the boundary of the W7-X plasma using the “Gas-Puff Imaging” (GPI) technique has been designed, constructed, installed, and operated. This GPI system addresses a number of challenges specific to long-pulse superconducting devices, such as W7-X, including the long distance between the plasma and the vacuum vessel wall, the long distance between the plasma and diagnostic ports, the range of last closed flux surface (LCFS) locations for different magnetic configurations in W7-X, and management of heat loads on the system’s plasma-facing components. The system features a pair of “converging–diverging” nozzles for partially collimating the gas puffed locally ≈135 mm radially outboard of the plasma boundary, a pop-up turning mirror for viewing the gas puff emission from the side (which also acts as a shutter for the re-entrant vacuum window), and a high-throughput optical system that collects visible emission resulting from the interaction between the puffed gas and the plasma and directs it along a water-cooled re-entrant tube directly onto the 8 × 16 pixel detector array of the fast camera. The DEGAS 2 neutral code was used to simulate the Hα (656 nm) and HeI (587 nm) line emission expected from well-characterized gas-puffs of H2 and He and excited within typical edge plasma profiles in W7-X, thereby predicting line brightnesses used to reduce the risks associated with system sensitivity and placement of the field of view. Operation of GPI on W7-X shows excellent signal-to-noise ratios (>100 at 2 Mframes/s) over the field of view for minimally perturbing gas puffs. The GPI system provides detailed measurements of the two-dimensional (radial and poloidal) dynamics of plasma fluctuations in the W7-X edge and scrape-off layer and in and around the magnetic islands outside the LCFS that make up the island divertor configuration employed on W7-X.

Instruments & Instrumentation↗
DOE OSTI2022

Using Natural Gas Liquids to Recover Unconventional Oil and Gas Resources (Final Report)

This document presents final technical findings for the project Using Natural Gas Liquids to Recover Unconventional Oil and Gas Resources (FE0031782). The project is part of the U.S. Department of Energy Oil and Gas Program to develop and advance technologies that can significantly improve the recovery efficiencies of unconventional oil and gas resources. The overall objective of this project is to improve the ultimate recovery from unconventional oil and gas (UOG) resources in the United States by developing a method for using unrefined natural gas liquids (NGLs) as treatment fluids to improve hydrocarbon production. Horizontal extended-lateral drilling coupled with high volume hydraulic fracturing has significantly increased production from UOG resources in the U.S. However, the recovery efficiency is low compared to the estimated oil and gas in place. Recent data indicate that less than 10% of the oil in the liquid-rich UOG reservoirs is produced. Alternative completion methods using NGLs could increase production (Battelle, 2016; Wan et al., 2013; Wan, 2013; Downey et al, 2021); however, field validation tests are needed to develop an approach that is economical, efficient, and compatible in the UOG setting to advance towards commercial deployment. This project aims to develop and field test a method to improve recovery of oil resources in UOG shale plays by using Y-Grade NGLs, or a similar combination of NGLs, as treatment fluids. Refined NGLs have been used as a hydraulic treatment fluid in UOG plays for decades and are shown to be particularly effective because their miscibility with oil allows oil to flow more freely; however, the use of Y-Grade (unrefined) NGLs has not been studied. The use of Y-Grade NGLs would be advantageous over refined NGLs because Y-Grade NGLs do not require infrastructure or investment in refining and are already being produced from many UOG reservoirs. The concept was tested and monitored in the field at a commercial well site owned by project partner Hopco, Ltd. The project team, which consists of multiple oil and gas operators, Linde Gas North America LLC (Linde) and the Ohio Division of Geological Survey (ODGS), has extensive experience with oil and gas production in the Appalachian basin and the ability to work together quickly to solve technical issues and research needs. A key part of the proposed work was the use of existing wells for field testing and monitoring. A total of four wells (three vertical and one horizontal) were available for this project. One of the vertical wells was utilized as the test well for the NGL treatment test. A nearby vertical well was used for microseismic monitoring. The remaining vertical well and the horizontal well provided a baseline for typical UOG production in the oil window of the Utica/Point Pleasant (UPP). Major technical tasks of the project include characterization of the geotechnical properties of the UPP with an emphasis on the field site; design and planning for the NGLs testing; field testing and monitoring; analysis and integration of field data; and economic and resource/reserve assessment. The Shoman monitoring well and Doughty NGL treatment well were successfully plugged back during September-October 2020 in preparation for treatment and monitoring. A nitrogen diagnostic fracture injection test (DFIT) was completed on the Doughty well on July 22, 2021, consisting of 133,000 scf (91 Bbl.) of nitrogen. A nitrogen foam frac was completed in the Utica-Point Pleasant interval on August 17, 2021 with funding from outside sources. A microseismic monitoring array was installed in the Shoman well and monitored microseismic activity during the Doughty well frac job. Y-Grade NGL injection commenced on August 26, 2021. A total of 215 Bbl. was injected but the job was shut down due to a small leak on the suction hose on the pump truck. The Y-Grade treatment resumed on August 27, 2021 and an additional 726 Bbl. of Y-Grade NGL was injected at a well head pressure of 3850 psi. Total volume of injected Y-Grade over the two days of injection was 941 Bbl. The well was shut-in for 17 days following injection to allow the Y-Grade NGLs to soak on the formation. Y-Grade treatment flow back commenced on 9/13/2021 on a weekly basis. Production data, including surface pressures, oil, nitrogen, natural gas, and flow times was measured and recorded. Periodic gas samples were collected and analyzed to determine composition of flowback gas. As of July 2022, the treatment well had produced 726 Bbl of oil and 2,888 mcf gas. In August 2022, tubing and packer in the well were removed and a pump was installed to enhance oil recovery. Currently, the operator is producing the well about 2 days a week for a few hours. The performance of the NGL treatment test was evaluated based on reservoir simulations of the treatment process, processing of well testing data, analysis of micro seismic monitoring data, and production data analysis. This analysis suggested that oil production in the small test would continue through 2025. Upscaling the treatment to a horizontal Utica Point-Pleasant well would allow more oil recovery, but the process would involve more investment, services, and operational support. An economic analysis was conducted for scenarios aimed at upscaling the NGL treatment process for more typical horizontal UPP wells in the Appalachian Basin.

02 PETROLEUM↗
DOE OSTI2021

Low-latency NuMI Trigger for the CHIPS-5 Neutrino Detector

The CHIPS R&D project aims to develop affordable water Cherenkov detectors for large-scale underwater installations. In 2019, a 5kt prototype detector CHIPS-5 was deployed in northern Minnesota to study neutrinos generated by the nearby NuMI beam. This contribution presents a dedicated low-latency time distribution system for CHIPS-5 that delivers timing signals from the Fermilab accelerator to the detector with sub-nanosecond precision. Exploiting existing NOvA infrastructure, the time distribution system achieves this only with open-source software and conventional network elements. In a time-of-flight study, the presented system has reliably offered a time budget of $610 \pm 330\text{ ms}$ for on-site triggering. This permits advanced analysis in real-time as well as a novel hardware-assisted active triggering mode, which reduces DAQ computing load and network bandwidth outside triggered time windows.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
NASA NTRS1995

STS-70 Space Shuttle Mission Report - September 1995

The STS-70 Space Shuttle Program Mission Report summarizes the Payload activities as well as the Orbiter, External Tank (ET), Solid Rocket Booster (SRB), Reusable Solid Rocket Motor (RSRM), and the Space Shuttle main engine (SSME) systems performance during the seventieth flight of the Space Shuttle Program, the forty-fifth flight since the return-to-flight, and the twenty-first flight of the Orbiter Discovery (OV-103). In addition to the Orbiter, the flight vehicle consisted of an ET that was designated ET-71; three SSMEs that were designated as serial numbers 2036, 2019, and 2017 in positions 1, 2, and 3, respectively; and two SRBs that were designated 81-073. The RSRMs, designated RSRM-44, were installed in each SRB and were designated as 36OL044A for the left SRB, and 36OL044B for the right SRB. The primary objective of this flight was to deploy the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-G/Inertial Upper Stage (TDRS-G/IUS). The secondary objectives were to fulfill the requirements of the Physiological and Anatomical Rodent Experiment/National Institutes of Health-Rodents (PARE/NIH-R); Bioreactor Demonstration System (BDS); Commercial Protein Crystal Growth (CPCG) experiment; Space Tissue Loss/National Institutes of Health - Cells (STL/NIH-C) experiment; Biological Research in Canisters (BRIC) experiment; Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment-2 (SAREX-2); Visual Function Tester-4 (VFT-4); Hand-Held, Earth-Oriented, Real-Time, Cooperative, User-Friendly Location-Targeting and Environmental System (HERCULES); Microencapsulation in Space-B (MIS-B) experiment; Window Experiment (WINDEX); Radiation Monitoring Equipment-3 (RME-3); and the Military Applications of Ship Tracks (MAST) payload.

Fricke, Robert W., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS2013

Scalable Adaptive Graphics Environment (SAGE) Software for the Visualization of Large Data Sets on a Video Wall

The use of collaborative scientific visualization systems for the analysis, visualization, and sharing of "big data" available from new high resolution remote sensing satellite sensors or four‐dimensional numerical model simulations is propelling the wider adoption of ultra‐resolution tiled display walls interconnected by high speed networks. These systems require a globally connected and well‐integrated operating environment that provides persistent visualization and collaboration services. This abstract and subsequent presentation describes a new collaborative visualization system installed for NASA's Shortterm Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) program at Marshall Space Flight Center and its use for Earth science applications. The system consists of a 3 x 4 array of 1920 x 1080 pixel thin bezel video monitors mounted on a wall in a scientific collaboration lab. The monitors are physically and virtually integrated into a 14' x 7' for video display. The display of scientific data on the video wall is controlled by a single Alienware Aurora PC with a 2nd Generation Intel Core 4.1 GHz processor, 32 GB memory, and an AMD Fire Pro W600 video card with 6 mini display port connections. Six mini display‐to‐dual DVI cables are used to connect the 12 individual video monitors. The open source Scalable Adaptive Graphics Environment (SAGE) windowing and media control framework, running on top of the Ubuntu 12 Linux operating system, allows several users to simultaneously control the display and storage of high resolution still and moving graphics in a variety of formats, on tiled display walls of any size. The Ubuntu operating system supports the open source Scalable Adaptive Graphics Environment (SAGE) software which provides a common environment, or framework, enabling its users to access, display and share a variety of data‐intensive information. This information can be digital‐cinema animations, high‐resolution images, high‐definition video‐teleconferences, presentation slides, documents, spreadsheets or laptop screens. SAGE is cross‐platform, community‐driven, open‐source visualization and collaboration middleware that utilizes shared national and international cyberinfrastructure for the advancement of scientific research and education.

Jedlovec, Gary↗
NASA NTRS2010

Real-Time Visualization of Spacecraft Telemetry for the GLAST and LRO Missions

GlastCam and LROCam are closely-related tools developed at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center for real-time visualization of spacecraft telemetry, developed for the Gamma-Ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) missions, respectively. Derived from a common simulation tool, they use related but different architectures to ingest real-time spacecraft telemetry and ground predicted ephemerides, and to compute and display features of special interest to each mission in its operational environment. We describe the architectures of GlastCam and LROCam, the customizations required to fit into the mission operations environment, and the features that were found to be especially useful in early operations for their respective missions. Both tools have a primary window depicting a three-dimensional Cam view of the spacecraft that may be freely manipulated by the user. The scene is augmented with fields of view, pointing constraints, and other features which enhance situational awareness. Each tool also has another "Map" window showing the spacecraft's groundtrack projected onto a map of the Earth or Moon, along with useful features such as the Sun, eclipse regions, and TDRS satellite locations. Additional windows support specialized checkout tasks. One such window shows the star tracker fields of view, with tracking window locations and the mission star catalog. This view was instrumental for GLAST in quickly resolving a star tracker mounting polarity issue; visualization made the 180-deg mismatch immediately obvious. Full access to GlastCam's source code also made possible a rapid coarse star tracker mounting calibration with some on the fly code adjustments; adding a fine grid to measure alignment offsets, and introducing a calibration quaternion which could be adjusted within GlastCam without perturbing the flight parameters. This calibration, from concept to completion, took less than half an hour. Both GlastCam and LROCam were developed in the C language, with non-proprietary support libraries, for ease of customization and portability. This no-blackboxes aspect enables engineers to adapt quickly to unforeseen circumstances in the intense operations environment. GlastCam and LROCam were installed on multiple workstations in the operations support rooms, allowing independent use by multiple subsystems, systems engineers and managers, with negligible draw on telemetry system resources.

Stoneking, Eric T.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Controlled impact demonstration seat/cabin restraint systems: FAA

The FAA restraint system experiments consisted of 24 standard and modified seats, 2 standard galleys and 2 standard overhead compartments. Under the controlled impact demonstration (CID) program, the experimental objective was to demonstrate the effectiveness of individual restraint system designs when exposed to a survivable air-to-ground impact condition. What researchers were looking for was the performance exhibited by standard and modified designs, performance differences resulting from their installed cabin location, and interrelating performance demonstrated by test article and attaching floor and/or fuselage structure. The other restraint system experiment consisted of 2 standard overhead stowage compartments and 2 galley modules. Again, researchers were concerned with the retention of stowed equipment and carry-on articles. The overhead compartments were loaded with test weights up to their maximum capacity, and each of the galleys was filled with test articles: aft with normal galley equipment, forward with hazardous material test packages. A breakdown of instrumentation and distribution is given beginning with 11 instrumented type anthropomorphic dummies and 185 sensors which provided for acceleration and load measurements at the various experiment and associated structure locations. The onboard cameras provided additional coverage of these experiments, including the areas of cabin which were not instrumented. Test results showing the window-side leg forces versus pulse duration are given.

Johnson, R. A.↗