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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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Science, engineering and enabling technologies for exploration of the universe

This report by NASA's Office of Aeronautics, Exploration, and Technology identifies a list of critical technologies needed to support the exploration of the universe. The concept of the Integrated Technology Plan (ITP) is introduced with specific attention given to the strategic planning framework for NASA and other participants involved in the development of space technologies. The required technologies are identified for the Mission to Planet Earth, the Space Exploration Initiative, information systems, spacecraft advancement, and critical astrophysics issues. The ITP presents the basis for strategically planning the development of such technologies as observation systems, on-board processing, EVA systems, aerobraking, nuclear propulsion, scientific information acquisition, and high-energy sensors. The ITP is a significant step towards the planned and prioritized advancement of critical technologies related to the exploration of the universe.

Reck, Gregory M.↗

Life: past, present and future

Molecular methods of taxonomy and phylogeny have changed the way in which life on earth is viewed; they have allowed us to transition from a eukaryote-centric (five-kingdoms) view of the planet to one that is peculiarly prokarote-centric, containing three kingdoms, two of which are prokaryotic unicells. These prokaryotes are distinguished from their eukaryotic counterparts by their toughness, tenacity and metabolic diversity. Realization of these features has, in many ways, changed the way we feel about life on earth, about the nature of life past and about the possibility of finding life elsewhere. In essence, the limits of life on this planet have expanded to such a degree that our thoughts of both past and future life have been altered. The abilities of prokaryotes to withstand many extreme conditions has led to the term extremophiles, used to describe the organisms that thrive under conditions thought just a few years ago, to be inconsistent with life. Perhaps the most extensive adaptation to extreme conditions, however, is represented by the ability of many bacteria to survive nutrient conditions not compatible with eukaryotic life. Prokaryotes have evolved to use nearly every redox couple that is in abundance on earth, filling the metabolic niches left behind by the oxygen-using, carbon-eating eukaryotes. This metabolic plasticity leads to a common feature in physically stratified environments of layered microbial communities, chemical indicators of the metabolic diversity of the prokaryotes. Such 'metabolic extremophily' forms a backdrop by which we can view the energy flow of life on this planet, think about what the evolutionary past of the planet might have been, and plan ways to look for life elsewhere, using the knowledge of energy flow on earth.

NASA Discipline Developmental Biology↗

COCPIT: Collaborative Activity Planning Software for Mars Perseverance Rover

Since landing on the Martian surface, the Perseverance rover has relied on a distributed team to generate commands for exploring its new environment each sol(Martian day). The team uses a complex suite of software tools to accomplish this challenging task in time for the next window of opportunity to send commands to the rover. A key piece of this software ecosystem is COCPIT (Component-based Campaign Planning, Implementation, and Tactical). COCPIT is part of the next generation of planning and scheduling software tools developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in partnership with NASA's Ames Research Center. COCPIT is a web-based application that allows users to collaboratively view and update the Perseverance rover's activity plans, continuously verify that the plan satisfies constraints, assign targets for directing scientific instruments, document science intent, and model power and data resources. Mars Surface Operations requires diverse expertise from team members within the Engineering, Science, Robotic, and Instrument Operations groups, distributed across North America and Europe. In order to improve efficiency and reduce risk, all teams are able to review and edit their activities simultaneously and see the effects on the plan in its entirety. As part of the Ground Data System (GDS) tool suite, COCPIT is responsible for the activity plan. It provides specialized views that allow operators to understand where there may be room for additional observations, see whether any planning constraints are being violated, and confirm that energy usage and data generation are within the defined limits. It contains details such as which filters a camera will use for a given observation, what the resolution of the images should be, where to store the data onboard, and how long the observation is expected to take. It predicts when specific data will be downlinked from the rover to a passing orbiter, so that the team knows when to expect that data on Earth for evaluation in future planning. Ultimately the information from the COCPIT plan is translated to sequences that will be bundled and radiated to Perseverance for execution. The COCPIT tool is used throughout all planning phases.

activity planning↗

COCPIT: Collaborative Activity Planning Software for Mars Perseverance Rover

Since landing on the Martian surface, the Perseverance rover has relied on a distributed team to generate commands for exploring its new environment each sol(Martian day). The team uses a complex suite of software tools to accomplish this challenging task in time for the next window of opportunity to send commands to the rover. A key piece of this software ecosystem is COCPIT (Component-based Campaign Planning, Implementation, and Tactical). COCPIT is part of the next generation of planning and scheduling software tools developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in partnership with NASA's Ames Research Center. COCPIT is a web-based application that allows users to collaboratively view and update the Perseverance rover's activity plans, continuously verify that the plan satisfies constraints, assign targets for directing scientific instruments, document science intent, and model power and data resources. Mars Surface Operations requires diverse expertise from team members within the Engineering, Science, Robotic, and Instrument Operations groups, distributed across North America and Europe. In order to improve efficiency and reduce risk, all teams are able to review and edit their activities simultaneously and see the effects on the plan in its entirety. As part of the Ground Data System (GDS) tool suite, COCPIT is responsible for the activity plan. It provides specialized views that allow operators to understand where there may be room for additional observations, see whether any planning constraints are being violated, and confirm that energy usage and data generation are within the defined limits. It contains details such as which filters a camera will use for a given observation, what the resolution of the images should be, where to store the data onboard, and how long the observation is expected to take. It predicts when specific data will be downlinked from the rover to a passing orbiter, so that the team knows when to expect that data on Earth for evaluation in future planning. Ultimately the information from the COCPIT plan is translated to sequences that will be bundled and radiated to Perseverance for execution. The COCPIT tool is used throughout all planning phases.

activity planning↗

COCPIT: Collaborative Activity Planning Software for Mars Perseverance Rover

Since landing on the Martian surface, the Perseverance rover has relied on a distributed team to generate commands for exploring its new environment each sol (Martian day). The team uses a complex suite of software tools to accomplish this challenging task in time for the next window of opportunity to send commands to the rover. A key piece of this software ecosystem is COCPIT (Component-based Campaign Planning, Implementation, and Tactical). COCPIT is part of the next generation of planning and scheduling software tools developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in partnership with NASA's Ames Research Center. COCPIT is a web-based application that allows users to collaboratively view and update the Perseverance rover's activity plans, continuously verify that the plan satisfies constraints, assign targets for directing scientific instruments, document science intent, and model power and data resources. Mars Surface Operations requires diverse expertise from team members within the Engineering, Science, Robotic, and Instrument Operations groups, distributed across North America and Europe. In order to improve efficiency and reduce risk, all teams are able to review and edit their activities simultaneously and see the effects on the plan in its entirety. As part of the Ground Data System (GDS) tool suite, COCPIT is responsible for the activity plan. It provides specialized views that allow operators to understand where there may be room for additional observations, see whether any planning constraints are being violated, and confirm that energy usage and data generation are within the defined limits. It contains details such as which filters a camera will use for a given observation, what the resolution of the images should be, where to store the data onboard, and how long the observation is expected to take. It predicts when specific data will be downlinked from the rover to a passing orbiter, so that the team knows when to expect that data on Earth for evaluation in future planning. Ultimately the information from the COCPIT plan is translated to sequences that will be bundled and radiated to Perseverance for execution. The COCPIT tool is used throughout all planning phases.

Kanefsky, Bob↗

International Space Station Attitude Motion Associated With Flywheel Energy Storage

Flywheels can exert torque that alters the Station's attitude motion, either intentionally or unintentionally. A design is presented for a once planned experiment to contribute torque for Station attitude control, while storing or discharging energy. Two contingencies are studied: the abrupt stop of one rotor while another rotor continues to spin at high speed, and energy storage performed with one rotor instead of a counter rotating pair. Finally, the possible advantages to attitude control offered by a system of ninety-six flywheels are discussed.

Roithmayr, Carlos M.↗

Analysis of CRRES PHA Data for Low-Energy-Deposition Events

This effort analyzed the low-energy deposition Pulse Height Analyzer (PHA) data from the Combined Release and Radiation Effects Satellite (CRRES). The high-energy deposition data had been previously analyzed and shown to be in agreement with spallation reactions predicted by the Clemson University Proton Interactions in Devices (CUPID) simulation model and existing environmental and orbit positioning models (AP-8 with USAF B-L coordinates). The scope of this project was to develop and improve the CUPID model by increasing its range to lower incident particle energies, and to expand the modeling to include contributions from elastic interactions. Before making changes, it was necessary to identify experimental data suitable for benchmarking the codes; then, the models to the CRRES PHA data could be applied. It was also planned to test the model against available low-energy proton or neutron SEU data obtained with mono-energetic beams.

McNulty, P. J.↗

Using Remote Sensing as a Plasma Diagnostic: A Discussion of Techniques Being Used to Probe the Ionosphere in Order to Determine the Energy and Spectral Characteristics of Precipitating Electrons and Protons

Spectrally resolved global images of the Earth from recent (and planned) missions are being (and will be) used to probe the ionosphere in order to determine the energy characteristics of precipitating electrons and protons. We describe the techniques that are being used, discuss the extent to which they are successful, and envision the approach that future space experiments should take in order to improve on current techniques.

Spann, J.↗

Future Experiments in Astrophysics

The measurement methodologies of astrophysics experiments reflect the enormous variation of the astrophysical radiation itself. The diverse nature of the astrophysical radiation, e.g. cosmic rays, electromagnetic radiation, and neutrinos, is further complicated by the enormous span in energy, from the 1.95 Kappa relic neutrino background to cosmic rays with energy greater than 10(exp 20)eV. The measurement of gravity waves and search for dark matter constituents are also of astrophysical interest. Thus, the experimental techniques employed to determine the energy of the incident particles are strongly dependent upon the specific particles and energy range to be measured. This paper summarizes some of the calorimetric methodologies and measurements planned by future astrophysics experiments. A focus will be placed on the measurement of higher energy astrophysical radiation. Specifically, future cosmic ray, gamma ray, and neutrino experiments will be discussed.

Krizmanic, John F.↗

Future Orbital Power Systems Technology Requirements

NASA is actively involved in program planning for missions requiring several orders of magnitude, more energy than in the past. Therefore, a two-day symposium was held to review the technology requirements for future orbital power systems. The purpose of the meeting was to give leaders from government and industry a broad view of current government supported technology efforts and future program plans in space power. It provided a forum for discussion, through workshops, to comment on current and planned programs and to identify opportunities for technology investment. Several papers are presented to review the technology status and the planned programs.

Source record↗

Towards an Improved High Resolution Global Long-Term Solar Resource Database

This paper presents an overview of an ongoing project to develop and deliver a solar mapping processing system to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) using the data sets that are planned for production at the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC). NCDC will be producing a long-term radiance and cloud property data set covering the globe every three hours at an approximate resolution of 10 x 10 km. NASA, the originators of the Surface meteorology and Solar Energy web portal are collaborating with SUNY-Albany to develop the production system and solar algorithms. The initial result will be a global long-term solar resource data set spanning over 25 years. The ultimate goal of the project is to also deliver this data set and production system to NREL for continual production. The project will also assess the impact of providing these new data to several NREL solar decision support tools.

Stackhouse, Paul W.↗

Making the Most of Waste Energy

The Thermo-Mechanical Systems Branch at NASA s Glenn Research Center is responsible for planning and conducting research efforts to advance thermal systems for space, aerospace, and non-aerospace applications. Technological areas pertain to solar and thermal energy conversion. For example, thermo-mechanical systems researchers work with gas (Stirling) and liquid/vapor (Rankine) systems that convert thermal energy to electrical power, as well as solar dynamic power systems that concentrate sunlight to electrical power. The branch s development of new solar and thermal energy technologies is propelling NASA s missions deep into unfamiliar territories of space. Solar dynamic power systems are actively improving the health of orbiting satellites, giving them longer life and a stronger radiation tolerance, thus, creating less need for on-orbit maintenance. For future missions, NASA may probe even deeper into the mysterious cosmos, with the adoption of highly efficient thermal energy converters that have the potential to serve as the source of onboard electrical power for satellites and spacecraft. Research indicates that these thermal converters can deliver up to 5 times as much power as radioisotope thermoelectric generators in use today, for the same amount of radioisotope. On Earth, energy-converting technologies associated with NASA s Thermo-Mechanical Systems Branch are being used to recover and transform low-temperature waste heat into usable electric power, with a helping hand from NASA.

Source record↗

Ecological Niches for Space Missions in the Far-Infrared

The far-infrared and submillimeter region (30 micron-750 micron) has perhaps the greatest potential of all wavelengths for advancement in astronomy. When viewed in terms of the cosmic backgrounds, the far-IR is extremely important: half of the total luminosity in the Universe is emitted at rest wavelengths approximately 80-100 microns. At the highest known galaxy redshifts, this energy is redshifted to approximately 600 microns. Existing and planned missions have a broad range of capabilities defined in terms of their spectral coverage, spectral resolution, angular resolution, survey speed, and sensitivity. In this parameter space, the opportunity for future far-IR and submillimeter missions with great discovery potential is evident. Such missions will answer fundamental questions about the history of energy release in the Universe, the formation and evolution of galaxies, and formation of stellar and protoplanetary systems. We discuss the parameter space that can be filled by a few well-chosen space missions, specifically a submillimeter all-sky survey and a far-IR to submillimeter observatory.

Benford, D. J.↗

NASA Power: Global Solar Insolation, Meteorological Parameter Data, and Web Services to Support Sustainable Building Design and Operations

The buildings industry is currently striving to adopt green solutions to make infrastructure more energy-efficient in order to meet the 2050 net-zero climate goals. This planning requires reliable environmental datasets that are crucial in designing, building, and maintaining our world’s-built environment, as well as other energy-related processes and investments. This webinar for the National Institute of Building Sciences provides an overview of NASA’s Prediction Of Worldwide Energy Resources (POWER) Project that informs decision-making and development for sustainable building design and operations by enabling public open discovery, efficient access, and convenient distribution of NASA’s Earth Observations and global atmospheric model datasets. POWER’s datastore is comprised of solar radiation and surface meteorology parameters, spanning nearly 40 years of hourly data, that are easily accessible via several access methods and tools to support three focus areas: 1) renewable energy deployment and management, 2) sustainable infrastructure, and 3) agroclimatology applications. POWER and NASA Earth Science both plan future data parameters, updated tools, and improved observations that could directly support U.S. and international sustainable development goals, climate strategies, and building information modeling. To this end, solar data from several NASA projects and meteorological data from NASA assimilation models have already been reformatted and disseminated to the public via a user-friendly web GIS-enabled based data portal through the POWER Project. POWER data is analysis-ready and accessible through an Application Programming Interface (API), ArcGIS Image Services, and the project’s Data Access Viewer enhanced (DAVe), an interactive online tool. The POWER DAVe also features data consistent with ASHRAE Climate Design Conditions and has developed web image services showing Building Climate Zones and their variability. Through those tools, the data can be downloaded into multiple formats that support the infrastructure community, including CSV and Energy Plus Weather (EPW). POWER’s entire data product catalog is available through Amazon Web Services (AWS) Open Data Registry (ODR) via a free and publicly accessible Simple Storage Service (S3). This webinar provides a full overview of the NASA POWER Project's data and services developed in collaboration with the sustainable infrastructure community. Examples of how the renewable energy and building communities have utilized POWER data products to make decisions and a preview of future data product expansion, including climate projections, and web services will also be provided. Additionally, use case stories from our broad community of users will be presented.

Paul W. Stackhouse↗

BESS: Present Results and the BESS-Polar Program

In nine flights between 1993 and 2002, the Balloon Borne Experiment with a Superconducting Spectrometer (BESS) has measured the spectrum of cosmic-ray antiprotons between 0.18 and 4.20 GeV, and the spectra of protons and helium to several hundred GeV/nucleon. BESS has also placed stringent upper limits on the existence of antihelium and antideuterons. Above about 1 GeV, models for antiprotons as secondary products of the interactions of primary cosmic rays agree with the BESS spectrum. Below 1 GeV, BESS data suggest the presence of an additional source of antiprotons. To extend BESS measurements to lower energies and to search for antinuclei, an evolutionary instrument, BESS-Polar, is under construction with a new, ultra-thin, superconducting spectrometer optimized for long-duration balloon flights. The initial flight is planned &om Antarctica in Winter 2004-2005. BESS Collaboration: High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK), Japan; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, USA; Kobe University, Japan; The University of Tokyo, Japan; Institute of Space and Astronautical Science/JAXA, Japan; University of Maryland, College Park, USA.

Ormes, Jonathan↗

Changes in Characteristics of Future Climate Across the U.S.: Time Series Analysis of Climate Model Data by NASA POWER

NASA’s Prediction of Worldwide Energy Resource (POWER) project facilitates the use of NASA Earth Science data holdings within the energy, agricultural, and building heating/cooling design industries. POWER packages solar and meteorological data at various temporal levels from several NASA projects in a user friendly GIS-enabled web services system (https://power.larc.nasa.gov). Data users can access these data either through an intuitive data viewer, image services fully integrable with GIS analysis, connections in the cloud through an Amazon Web Services S3 Bucket, or fully customizable access through an API. Data provided by POWER has been used to remotely monitor solar array fields and integrated in a sizing tool for off-grid solar and storage systems. POWER data has also been coupled with key building decision tools to support design and retrofitting of building energy systems for energy efficiency and reduction of greenhouse gases. POWER is now developing capabilities to provide time series of the projected future evolution of surface quantities important to future energy production and use, such as heating/cooling degree days, temperature, wind speed, and downwelling solar flux. We present here a range of possible future changes in these quantities at locations throughout the continental United States. We show how both average and extreme values of the quantities will evolve from present-day to future climate conditions. We plan to provide these projections for users in the energy and sustainable energy communities.

Bradley M. Hegyi↗

Fusion energy for space: Feasibility demonstration. A proposal to NASA

This proposed program is to initiate a space flight research and development program to develop fusion energy for the space applications of direct space propulsion and direct space power, that is, a Space Fusion Energy (SFE) program. 'Direct propulsion' refers to the use of plasma energy directly for thrust without requiring other energy conversion systems. Further, to provide space missions with large electrical power, 'direct space power' is proposed whereby the direct conversion of charged particles into electricity is used, thereby avoiding thermal conversion system losses. The energy release from nuclear fusion reactions makes these highly efficient, high power space systems possible. The program as presented conducts in an orderly, hierarchical manner the necessary planning, analyses, and testing to demonstrate the practical use of fusion energy for space. There is nothing discussed that is known to be theoretically impossible. Validation of the engineering principles is sought in this program which uses a cost-benefit approach. Upon successful program completion, space will become more accessible and space missions more safely conducted. The country will have taken a giant step toward the commercialization of space. The mission enabling capability provided by fusion energy is well beyond mission planners' current dreams.

Schulze, Norman R.↗

Ecological Niches for Space Missions in the Far-Infrared

The far-infrared and submillimeter region (30 micrometers-750 micrometers) has perhaps the greatest potential of all wavelengths for advancement in astronomy. When viewed in terms of the cosmic backgrounds, the fares is extremely important: half of the total luminosity in the Universe is emitted at rest wavelengths approximately 80 - 100 micrometers. At the highest known galaxy redshifts (z approximately equal to 6) this energy is redshifted to approximately 600 micrometers. Existing and planned survey missions have a broad range of capabilities, defined in terms of their spectral coverage, spectral resolution, survey area, and sensitivity. In this 4-dimensional parameter space, the flares is found to be substantially behind most other wavelength bands. The opportunity for future missions with great discovery potential is evident. Such missions will be wellsuited to answering fundamental questions about the history of energy release in the Universe, the formation and evolution of galaxies, and formation of stellar and protoplanetary systems. We discuss the parameter space that can be filled by a few well-chosen space missions, specifically a submillimeter all-sky survey and a far-IR to submillimeter observatory.

Benford, Dominic J.↗