Results for “Planetary surface exploration” — Page 12

NASA NTRS2014

Assessment of Proficiency During Simulated Rover Operations Following Long-Duration Spaceflight

Following long-duration space travel, pressurized rovers will enhance crew mobility to explore Mars and other planetary surfaces. Adaptive changes in sensorimotor function may limit the crew's proficiency when performing some rover operations shortly after transition to the new gravitoinertial environment. The primary goal of this investigation is to quantify postflight decrements in operational proficiency in a motion-based rover simulation after International Space Station (ISS) expeditions.

Beltran, E. J.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Passive Charge Dissipating Work Function Matching Coating for Reducing Adhesion of Lunar Dust

The NASA Glenn Research Center Environmental Effects and Coatings Branch is developing a passive coating for lunar dust mitigation. This simple, transparent, conductive coating will be capable of reducing lunar dust adhesion to surfaces and dissipating surface charge. Anticipated benefits include compatibility with active dust mitigation strategies, improved efficiency and performance of solar cells and thermal control surfaces, and protection of astronauts and equipment on the lunar surface.

Lunar dust↗

NASA NTRS1974

A design for a Venus orbital imaging radar mission

A planetary exploration mission to map the surface of Venus is discussed. A review of the Venus exploration program provides a basis for determining the probable scientific requirements for resolution, planetary coverage, etc., for such a mission. From these requirements, the range of possible mission, radar, and spacecraft functional requirements is determined and a single 'point' design is investigated in some detail. This point design, which provides full planet mapping at resolutions better than 200 meters, is based on Mariner-class spacecraft technology, including a conventional bipropellant propulsion system, currently under development, capable of delivering the required payload into a 500-km circular Venus orbit.

Rose, J. R.↗

NASA NTRS2012

Test Before You Fly - High Fidelity Planetary Environment Simulation

The lunar surface environment will present many challenges to the survivability of systems developed for long duration lunar habitation and exploration of the lunar, or any other planetary, surface. Obstacles will include issues pertaining especially to the radiation environment (solar plasma and electromagnetic radiation) and lunar regolith dust. The Planetary Environments Chamber is one piece of the MSFC capability in Space Environmental Effects Test and Analysis. Comprised of many unique test systems, MSFC has the most complete set of SEE test capabilities in one location allowing examination of combined space environmental effects without transporting already degraded, potentially fragile samples over long distances between tests. With this system, the individual and combined effects of the lunar radiation and regolith environment on materials, sub-systems, and small systems developed for the lunar return can be investigated. This combined environments facility represents a unique capability to NASA, in which tests can be tailored to any one aspect of the lunar environment (radiation, temperature, vacuum, regolith) or to several of them combined in a single test.

Craven, Paul↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Large Vehicle Lunar Landing Surface Interaction and In-Situ Resource Based Risk Mitigation

A key capability required for the exploration of planetary bodies is the ability to land on the surface. Previous work performed by NASA and other institutions has primarily focused on landing small spacecraft on planetary surfaces and the associated small-to-medium thrusters required for the soft landing. In the case of human exploration—particularly the establishment of long duration exploration and habitation outposts—the ability to land large landers, such as the SpaceX Starship, is necessary. These larger landing systems require the use of more powerful engines, with higher temperature engine exhaust and higher landing loads. Understanding the excavation of material by the engines, as well as the potential for the landing legs to sink into the subsurface, is key in ensuring reliable and safe landings. A further improvement in landing reliability can be achieved by constructing landing/launchpads, especially with in-situ resources.

Landing Pad↗

NASA NTRS2015

Simplified Abrasion Test Methodology for Candidate EVA Glove Lay-Ups

During the Apollo Program, space suit outer‐layer fabrics were badly abraded after performing just a few extravehicular activities (EVAs). For example, the Apollo 12 commander reported abrasive wear on the boots that penetrated the outer‐layer fabric into the thermal protection layers after less than 8 hrs of surface operations. Current plans for the exploration planetary space suits require the space suits to support hundreds of hours of EVA on a lunar or Martian surface, creating a challenge for space suit designers to utilize materials advances made over the last 40 years and improve on the space suit fabrics used in the Apollo Program. Over the past 25 years the NASA Johnson Space Center Crew and Thermal Systems Division has focused on tumble testing as means of simulating wear on the outer layer of the space suit fabric. Most recently, in 2009, testing was performed on 4 different candidate outer layers to gather baseline data for future use in design of planetary space suit outer layers. In support of the High Performance EVA Glove Element of the Next Generation Life Support Project, testing a new configuration was recently attempted in which require 10% of the fabric per replicate of that need in 2009. The smaller fabric samples allowed for reduced per sample cost and flexibility to test small samples from manufacturers without the overhead to have a production run completed. Data collected from this iteration was compared to that taken in 2009 to validate the new test method. In addition the method also evaluated the fabrics and fabric layups used in a prototype thermal micrometeoroid garment (TMG) developed for EVA gloves under the NASA High Performance EVA Glove Project. This paper provides a review of previous abrasion studies on space suit fabrics, details methodologies used for abrasion testing in this particular study, results of the validation study, and results of the TMG testing.

Rabel, Emily↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Large Vehicle Lunar Landing Surface Interaction and In-Situ Resource Based Risk Mitigation: Landing & Launch Pads

A key capability required for the exploration of planetary bodies is the ability to land on the surface. Previous work performed by NASA and other institutions has primarily focused on landing small spacecraft on planetary surfaces and the associated small-to-medium thrusters required for the soft landing. In the case of human exploration—particularly the establishment of long duration exploration and habitation outposts—the ability to land large landers, such as the SpaceX Starship, is necessary. These larger landing systems require the use of more powerful engines, with higher engine exhaust temperatures and higher landing loads. Understanding the excavation of material by the engines, as well as the potential for the landing legs to sink into the subsurface, is key in ensuring reliable and safe landings. A further improvement in landing reliability can be achieved by constructing landing / launch pads, especially with in-situ resources. Some material excavation by the plume is inevitable, leaving at least a portion of the surface scoured and uneven under the lander and ejecting regolith particles and rocks at very high velocities. One possible solution would be to robotically build landing / launch pads (ideally autonomously) at the destination using in-situ materials. In this case, the first one or few landers will need to land on unimproved surfaces at higher risk; however, they would bring the required equipment to build the landing pads with mostly local resources, thus increasing the reliability of safe landing for subsequent larger landers. A number of methods to build in-situ landing and launch pads have already been developed. These methods include no or some addition of required binder additives to the local regolith material, different processing approaches and result in varying landing pad strengths. A sub-scale rocket engine plume, was used to simulate some of the conditions of a landing on the Moon to assess the effectiveness of various materials for an in-situ built landing pad, The GO2/GCH4 rocket engine fired on 1m2 area coupons of representative pad materials. The results will allow continued development towards materials that satisfy the landing pad properties required for the effective risk reduction and increased reliability for landing people and equipment on the lunar surface. This work contained two parts: (1) computer modeling of a large rocket engine plume interacting with regolith on the Moon, using the Granular Gas Flow Solver (GGFS) provided by CFD Research Corporation as well as other computational fluid dynamics codes (CFD) such as Loci/CHEM. (2) Developing landing/launch pad materials that could be used for in-situ construction on the lunar surface in the future, to mitigate the calculated effects of a large vehicle rocket engine landing and launching on the Moon. The resulting computed values of plume impingement surface temperature, stagnation pressure, gas velocity, shear stress and heat flux were then matched as closely as possible in the Earth’s atmosphere in a sub-scale rocket engine GO2/CH4 test which was provided by Masten Space Systems in Mojave, California. The rocket engine was mounted on a test stand with vertical translation capabilities so that the landing operations of a lander could be simulated (Figure 1).The pad materials test coupons were placed at the surface of a large bin containing simulated lunar basalt regolith and subjected to a test firing as shown in Figure 2. The results of this testing will be presented with related findings, analysis and discussion.

Plume Surface Interaction↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Large Vehicle Lunar Landing Surface Interaction and In-Situ Resource Based Risk Mitigation: Landing & Launch Pads

A key capability required for the exploration of planetary bodies is the ability to land on the surface. Previous work performed by NASA and other institutions has primarily focused on landing small spacecraft on planetary surfaces and the associated small-to-medium thrusters required for the soft landing. In the case of human exploration—particularly the establishment of long duration exploration and habitation outposts—the ability to land large landers, such as the SpaceX Starship, is necessary. These larger landing systems require the use of more powerful engines, with higher engine exhaust temperatures and higher landing loads. Understanding the excavation of material by the engines, as well as the potential for the landing legs to sink into the subsurface, is key in ensuring reliable and safe landings. A further improvement in landing reliability can be achieved by constructing landing / launch pads, especially with in-situ resources. Some material excavation by the plume is inevitable, leaving at least a portion of the surface scoured and uneven under the lander and ejecting regolith particles and rocks at very high velocities. One possible solution would be to robotically build landing / launch pads (ideally autonomously) at the destination using in-situ materials. In this case, the first one or few landers will need to land on unimproved surfaces at higher risk; however, they would bring the required equipment to build the landing pads with mostly local resources, thus increasing the reliability of safe landing for subsequent larger landers. A number of methods to build in-situ landing and launch pads have already been developed. These methods include no, or some, addition of required binder additives to the local regolith material, different processing approaches and result in varying landing pad strengths. A sub-scale rocket engine plume, was used to simulate some of the conditions of a landing on the Moon to assess the effectiveness of various materials for an in-situ built landing pad, The GO2/GCH4rocket engine fired on a 1m2area coupons of representative pad materials. The results will allow continued development towards materials that satisfy the landing pad properties required for the effective risk reduction and increased reliability for landing people and equipment on the lunar surface. This work contained two parts: (1) computer modeling of a large rocket engine plume interacting with regolith on the Moon, using the Granular Gas Flow Solver (GGFS) provided by CFD Research Corporation as well as other computational fluid dynamics codes (CFD) such as Loci/CHEM. (2) Developing landing/launch pad materials that could be used for in-situ construction on the lunar surface in the future, to mitigate the calculated effects of a large vehicle rocket engine landing and launching on the Moon.

Lunar↗

NASA NTRS2023

Trades, Architecture, and Design of the Joint Augmented Reality Visual Informatics (Joint AR) Product

Future expeditions will enable exploration and study of the planetary surfaces of the Moon and Mars by performing extravehicular activity (EVA) operations. Present-day International Space Station (ISS) EVA operations require an intricate and tight choreography of crew, space suits, tools, systems, and flight teams to plan, train, and execute with limited advanced informatics. Additionally, EVA operations, aside from the Apollo Lunar surface missions, have predominately focused on maintenance and construction tasks where success criteria are clearly measurable. However, future exploration missions expect to enable crew to carry out scientific objectives in increasingly Earth-independent ways. In this paper, the Joint Augmented Reality Visual Informatics System (Joint AR) characterizes the design space for developing a modular augmented reality (AR) device for a spacesuit form factor that can support crew decision-making for EVA. This paper highlights the project’s experience with a product-focused management style and use-case centered systems engineering approach to iteratively design, build, and test. The Joint AR product features were defined via trade studies and market analysis of previous EVA display efforts, various AR components such as optics, commercial AR systems, light engines, data interfaces, graphics engine software and analog test beds. We outline the defining architectural design decisions, including safety criticality considerations, suit mounting interfaces, computer architectures, and partnership contracting mechanisms. The outcomes of these studies, architecture decisions, and management requirements result in a recommended design which is the Joint AR product. We discuss the evolution, development of these system components, and what work remains. We hope to share a unified understanding of various design decisions and how they impact the future of crew members’ access to data during Lunar and Martian EVAs. This ongoing effort can enable a community-wide discovery process toward realizing necessary AR features and capabilities for future missions.

Augmented Reality↗

NASA NTRS2012

Finite Element Analysis of Three Methods for Microwave Heating of Planetary Surfaces

In-Situ Resource Utilization will be Ground Breaking technology for sustained exploration of space. Volatiles are present in planetary regolith, but water by far has the most potential for effective utilization. The presence of water at the lunar poles and Mars opens the possibility of using the hydrogen for propellant on missions beyond Earth orbit. Likewise, the oxygen could be used for in-space propulsion for lunar ascent/descent and for space tugs from low lunar orbit to low Earth orbit. Water is also an effective radiation shielding material as well as a valuable expendable (water and oxygen) required for habitation in space. Because of the strong function of water vapor pressure with temperature, heating regolith effectively liberates water vapor by sublimation. Microwave energy will penetrate soil and heat from within, much more efficiently than heating from the surface with radiant heat. This is especially true under vacuum conditions since the heat transfer rate is very low. The depth of microwave penetration is a strong function of the microwave frequency and to a lesser extent on regolith dielectric properties. New methods for delivery of microwaves into lunar and planetary surfaces is being prototyped with laboratory experiments and modeled with COMSOL MultiPhysics. Recent results are discussed.

Ethridge, Edwin↗

NASA NTRS1992

Robotic vehicles for planetary exploration

A program to develop planetary rover technology is underway at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) under sponsorship of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Developmental systems with the necessary sensing, computing, power, and mobility resources to demonstrate realistic forms of control for various missions have been developed, and initial testing has been completed. These testbed systems and the associated navigation techniques used are described. Particular emphasis is placed on three technologies: Computer-Aided Remote Driving (CARD), Semiautonomous Navigation (SAN), and behavior control. It is concluded that, through the development and evaluation of such technologies, research at JPL has expanded the set of viable planetary rover mission possibilities beyond the limits of remotely teleoperated systems such as Lunakhod. These are potentially applicable to exploration of all the solid planetary surfaces in the solar system, including Mars, Venus, and the moons of the gas giant planets.

Wilcox, Brian↗

NASA NTRS2006

Planetary Dust: Cross-Functional Considerations

Apollo astronauts learned first hand how problems with dust impact lunar surface missions. After three days, lunar dust contaminating on EVA suit bearings led to such great difficulty in movement that another EVA would not have been possible. Dust clinging to EVA suits was transported into the Lunar Module. During the return trip to Earth, when microgravity was reestablished, the dust became airborne and floated through the cabin. Crews inhaled the dust and it irritated their eyes. Some mechanical systems aboard the spacecraft were damaged due to dust contamination. Study results obtained by Robotic Martian missions indicate that Martian surface soil is oxidative and reactive. Exposures to the reactive Martian dust will pose an even greater concern to the crew health and the integrity of the mechanical systems. As NASA embarks on planetary surface missions to support its Exploration Vision, the effects of these extraterrestrial dusts must be well understood and systems must be designed to operate reliably and protect the crew in the dusty environments of the Moon and Mars. The AIM Dust Assessment Team was tasked to identify systems that will be affected by the respective dust, how they will be affected, associated risks of dust exposure, requirements that will need to be developed, identified knowledge gaps, and recommended scientific measurements to obtain information needed to develop requirements, and design and manufacture the surface systems that will support crew habitation in the lunar and Martian outposts.

Wagner, Sandra↗

NASA NTRS2010

Intelligent Flexible Materials for Space Structures: Expandable Habitat Engineering Development Unit

Expandable habitable elements are an enabling technology for human exploration in space and on planetary surfaces. Large geometries can be deployed from a small launch volume, allowing greater mission capability while reducing mass and improving robustness over traditional rigid shells. This report describes research performed by ILC Dover under the Intelligent Flexible Materials for Space Structures program on the design and manufacture of softgoods for LaRC's Expandable Habitat Engineering Development Unit (EDU). The EDU is a full-scale structural test article of an expandable hybrid habitat, integrating an expandable softgoods center section with two rigid end caps. The design of the bladder, restraint layer and a mock-up Thermal Micrometeoroid Cover is detailed together with the design of the interface hardware used to attach them to the end caps. The integration and design of two windows and a floor are also covered. Analysis was performed to study the effects of the open weave design, and to determine the correct webbing and fabric configuration. Stress analyses were also carried out on the interfaces between the softgoods and the end caps and windows. Testing experimentally determined the strength of the fabric and straps, and component testing was used to proof several critical parts of the design. This program established new manufacturing and design techniques that can be applied to future applications in expandable structures.

Hinkle, Jon↗

NASA NTRS2011

A Dual-Chamber Hybrid Inflatable Suitlock (DCIS) for Planetary Surfaces or Deep Space

The Habitat Demonstration Unit (HDU) Project in conjunction with the NASA Extravehicular Activity (EVA) team has identified a need for a hybrid inflatable and hard shell suitlock that can be used for planetary surface and deep space human exploration missions. Through ongoing analog studies at NASA Desert Research and Technologies Studies (D-RATS) and in NASA's Prototyping Testbed Facility, it has been determined that a compactly stowed, deployable suitlock unit is needed to accommodate advanced EVA egress and ingress operations for various environments with only minor modification.The Dual-Chamber Inflatable Suitlock (DCIS) consists of three hard in-line bulkheads, separating two cylindrical membrane-walled compartments. A dual-compartment suitlock will allow for dust and contaminant control, suit maintenance, and efficient egress / ingress; and the inflatable aspect of the design will allow the unit to stow in a compact package for transport. This paper describes the DCIS functionality, subsystems, and operational scenarios.The novel concepts included in the DCIS are the triple bulkhead, dual-chamber that has one compartment that is continuously pressurized (either at cabin pressure, or may be used for transitional pressure from high-pressure habitats), and a nominal unpressurized second compartment where the suits will be kept for normal operations. The advantages include quicker egress / ingress, capacity for 'shirt sleeve' suit maintenance, and portability of the entire unit.

habitat demonstration unit (HUD)↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

SIBatt-3D: In-Space/On-Surface 3D Printing of Sodium Ion Batteries from ISRU Materials

Constructed more than 20 years ago, the International Space Station’s primary power system originally used nickel-hydrogen batteries with a lifetime of 6.5 years, until NASA began the process of replacing them in 2016 with lithium-ion batteries with a lifetime of 10 years. The demanding and costly process was accomplished after four flights of the Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle cargo spacecraft (with a cost of about $10,000 per pound of payload), and 13 different astronauts conducting 14 spacewalks. Besides utilization in the ISS, rechargeable batteries are present in many space applications: they are installed in exploration robots, life support systems and in portable communication devices, to mention some. In this context, this project is focused on the in-space manufacturing of shape-conformable batteries using in-situ resources, and aims to address the NASA’s gaps related to the development of next generation of energy storage devices (TX03), as well as in-space manufacturing and in-situ resource utilization (TX07). The proposed work also tackles the HEOMD’s objectives targeting the in-space additive manufacturing (AM) from Lunar/Martian materials (regolith as AM feedstock) to reinvigorate America’s Human Space Exploration Program (SPD-1). This project is in direct alignment with the STMD’s objectives to demonstrate in-space autonomous manufacturing and assembly of complete systems by 2030, and to enable humans to live and explore in space and on planetary surfaces by 2040 thanks to in-space habitation, infrastructure development and in-situ resource utilization (ST1 and ST5). Manufacturing of shape conformable batteries directly in-space and using in-situ resources would also contribute to reducing the payload weight and volume (TX12) for future missions, thus reducing risk for long term Mars missions where rapid resupply is logistically infeasible. Nowadays, commercial batteries consist of stacked two-dimensional (2D) sheets, which are only manufactured in restricted geometries (cylindrical and coin cell). Evolving from conventional 2D, complex 3D battery architectures have been proven to increase the electrochemical active surface area and ion diffusion path, leading to improved areal energy density and power performance. This tendency was illustrated in our recent in-depth modeling studies by simulating a classical Ragone plot exhibiting the energy-power relationship. Our team demonstrated through modeling that a complex gyroidal 3D printed battery architecture exhibits significantly improved power performances (>150% at the current density of 6C; full discharge in 10 minutes) in comparison to a traditional 3D printed planar geometry. Motivated by these results and as the fabrication of intricate 3D battery design is only possible experimentally thanks to the geometric freedom offered by additive manufacturing (AM), our team has already initiated leveraging thermoplastic material extrusion at the laboratory scale. While 3D printing of batteries is relatively recent (2013), it has witnessed a growing interest during the last recent years, as next-generation shape-conformable 3D batteries can be co-designed with the system. Consequently, dead-volume and mass brought from Earth are minimized, in addition to improved battery performance, in alignment with the aforementioned NASA’s objectives. Further, while this project is specifically dedicated to batteries, it lends itself towards the maturation of in-space manufacturing via 3D printing using in-situ resources, stated in HEOMD and STMD goals.

In-Space Manufacturing↗

NASA NTRS2023

Trades, Architecture, and Design of the Joint Augmented Reality Visual Informatics System (Joint AR) Product

Future expeditions will enable exploration and study of the planetary surfaces of the Moon and Mars by performing extravehicular activity (EVA) operations. Present-day International Space Station (ISS) EVA operations require an intricate choreography of crew, space suits, tools, systems, and flight teams to plan, train, and execute with limited advanced informatics. In this paper, the Joint Augmented Reality Visual Informatics System (Joint AR) project team at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) characterizes the design space for developing a modular augmented reality (AR) device for a spacesuit form factor that can support crew decision-making for EVA. The Joint AR product was defined via trade studies and market analysis of previous EVA display efforts, various AR components such as optics, commercial AR systems, light engines, data interfaces, and graphics engine software. This paper outlines the defining architectural design decisions, including safety criticality considerations, interfaces, and computer architectures. The outcomes of these studies result in a prototype design which is defined here as the Joint AR product. This work aims to enable a community-wide discussion toward realizing necessary suit-compatible AR features and capabilities for future missions.

Paromita Mitra↗

NASA NTRS2023

Trades, Architecture, and Design of the Joint Augmented Reality Visual Informatics System (Joint AR) Product

Future expeditions will enable exploration and study of the planetary surfaces of the Moon and Mars by performing extravehicular activity (EVA) operations. Present-day International Space Station (ISS) EVA operations require an intricate choreography of crew, space suits, tools, systems, and flight teams to plan, train, and execute with limited advanced informatics. In this paper, the Joint Augmented Reality Visual Informatics System (Joint AR) project team at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) characterizes the design space for developing a modular augmented reality (AR) device for a spacesuit form factor that can support crew decision-making for EVA. The Joint AR product was defined via trade studies and market analysis of previous EVA display efforts, various AR components such as optics, commercial AR systems, light engines, data interfaces, and graphics engine software. This paper outlines the defining architectural design decisions, including safety criticality considerations, interfaces, and computer architectures. The outcomes of these studies result in a prototype design which is defined here as the Joint AR product. This work aims to enable a community-wide discussion toward realizing necessary suit-compatible AR features and capabilities for future missions.

Paromita Mitra↗

NASA NTRS2017

Exploring the Largest Mass Fraction of the Solar System: the Case for Planetary Interiors

Why explore planetary interiors: The typical image that comes to mind for planetary science is that of a planet surface. And while surface data drive our exploration of evolved geologic processes, it is the interiors of planets that hold the key to planetary origins via accretionary and early differentiation processes. It is that initial setting of the bulk planet composition that sets the stage for all geologic processes that follow. But nearly all of the mass of planets is inaccessible to direct examination, making experimentation an absolute necessity for full planetary exploration.

Danielson, L. R.↗