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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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At least 217 records · Page 12
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Clear as mud redefined: Tunable transparent mineral scaffolds for visualizing microbial processes below ground

Microbes inhabiting complex porous microenvironments in sediments and aquifers catalyze reactions that are critical to global biogeochemical cycles and ecosystem health. However, the opacity and complexity of porous sediment and rock matrices have considerably hindered the study of microbial processes occurring within these habitats. Here, we generated microbially compatible, optically transparent mineral scaffolds to visualize and investigate microbial colonization and activities occurring in these environments, in laboratory settings and in situ. Using inexpensive synthetic cryolite mineral, we produced optically transparent scaffolds mimicking the complex 3D structure of sediments and rocks by adapting a suspension-based, freeze-casting technique commonly used in materials science. Fine-tuning of parameters, such as freezing rate and choice of solvent, provided full control of pore size and architecture. The combined effects of scaffold porosity and structure on the movement of microbe-sized particles, tested using velocity tracking of fluorescent beads, showed diverse yet reproducible behaviors. The scaffolds we produced are compatible with epifluorescence microscopy, allowing the fluorescence-based identification of colonizing microbes by DNA-based staining and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) to depths of 100 µm. Additionally, Raman spectroscopy analysis indicates minimal background signal in regions used for measuring deuterium and 13 C enrichment in microorganisms, highlighting the potential to directly couple D 2 O or 13 C stable isotope probing and Raman-FISH for quantifying microbial activity at the single-cell level. To demonstrate the relevance of cryolite scaffolds for environmental field studies, we visualized their colonization by diverse microorganisms within rhizosphere sediments of a coastal seagrass plant using epifluorescence microscopy. The tool presented here enables highly resolved, spatially explicit, and multimodal investigations into the distribution, activities, and interactions of underground microbes typically obscured within opaque geological materials until now.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1975

Emotional-volitional components of operator reliability

Sensorimotor function testing in a tracking task under stressfull working conditions established a psychological characterization for a successful aviation pilot: Motivation significantly increased the reliability and effectiveness of their work. Their acitivities were aimed at suppressing weariness and the feeling of fear caused by the stress factors; they showed patience, endurance, persistence, and a capacity for lengthy volitional efforts.

Mileryan, Y. A.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Electric and hybrid vehicles

Report characterizes state-of-the-art electric and hybrid (combined electric and heat engine) vehicles. Performance data for representative number of these vehicles were obtained from track and dynamometer tests. User experience information was obtained from fleet operators and individual owners of electric vehicles. Data on performance and physical characteristics of large number of vehicles were obtained from manufacturers and available literature.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1977

Orbit determination for earth survey satellites

A technique is described for improving the positioning accuracy of earth survey satellites. Tracking data from Landsat-1, taken in contiguous spans equal in length to the repeat period of 18 days, have been reduced in a least-squares orbit-determination scheme to estimate two pairs of lumped resonance coefficients. Seven separate data spans yielded resonance coefficient pairs consistent to better than 10% of their values, based on the GEM-1 gravity model. Constraint equations were developed. The resonance terms were embedded in the GEM-8 gravity field to yield further improvements in orbital fit to the tracking data, and tests suggest a 20 m position capability for Landsat orbits when the resonance model is adopted. The lumped terms may be used to improve the perturbation model for all Landsat orbits, and the approach is applicable to the orbit of any satellite whose repeat period is long enough for geopotential resonance to have a significant effect on its motion.

Dunn, P. J.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Baseline mathematics and geodetics for tracking operations

Various geodetic and mapping algorithms are analyzed as they apply to radar tracking systems and tested in extended BASIC computer language for real time computer applications. Closed-form approaches to the solution of converting Earth centered coordinates to latitude, longitude, and altitude are compared with classical approximations. A simplified approach to atmospheric refractivity called gradient refraction is compared with conventional ray tracing processes. An extremely detailed set of documentation which provides the theory, derivations, and application of algorithms used in the programs is included. Validation methods are also presented for testing the accuracy of the algorithms.

James, R.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Information content comparison of Thematic Mapper, multispectral scanner and airborne Thematic Mapper data

It is pointed out that on August 12, 1983 a test of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System in conjunction with the operation of Landsat 4 provided both Thematic Mapper (TM) and Multispectral Scanner (MSS) data over Central California. In addition, on August 12, NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) acquired Airborne Thematic Mapper (ATM) data with the high altitude U-2 aircraft. Attention is given to the procedures and results of a study which is currently being conducted at ARC to take full advantage of the data collected on August 12, 1983. Use is made of a series of degradations which should provide a very close approximation of TM and MSS data.

Buis, J. S.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Joint-space adaptive control of a 6 DOF end-effector with closed-kinematic chain mechanism

The development is presented for a joint-space adaptive scheme that controls the joint position of a six-degree-of-freedom (DOF) robot end-effector performing fine and precise motion within a very limited workspace. The end-effector was built to study autonomous assembly of NASA hardware in space. The design of the adaptive controller is based on the concept of model reference adaptive control (MRAC) and Lyapunov direct method. In the development, it is assumed that the end-effector performs slowly varying motion. Computer simulation is performed to investigate the performance of the developed control scheme on position control of the end-effector. Simulation results manifest that the adaptive control scheme provides excellent tracking of several test paths.

Nguyen, Charles C.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Numerical simulation of particle-wave interaction in boundary layers

The effects of wall injection and particle motion on the spatial stability of two-dimensional plane channel flow are investigated. For this purpose, an accurate Navier-Stokes solver to simulate the space-time evolution of disturbances in three-dimensional flows has been developed. The code is operational on the NASA Langley CRAY2 and can be ported to any other supercomputer. The code has been tested extensively in tracking the spatial evolution of two-dimensional disturbances in plane channel flow and provided excellent agreement with the linear theory including at the inflow/outflow boundaries. Preliminary calculations have been performed to investigate the effects of stationary and moving sources of vortical disturbances simulating a particle traveling in the flow field. Results suggest that even at very low amplitudes, vortical disturbances act as amplifiers on the Tollmien-Schlichting waves promoting rapid instability. It is also found that slow moving particles are more dangerous than both stationary and fast moving particles for the same disturbance levels.

Biringen, S.↗
NASA NTRS1992

TOPEX Microwave Radiometer - Thermal design verification test and analytical model validation

The testing of the TOPEX Microwave Radiometer (TMR) is described in terms of hardware development based on the modeling and thermal vacuum testing conducted. The TMR and the vacuum-test facility are described, and the thermal verification test includes a hot steady-state segment, a cold steady-state segment, and a cold survival mode segment totalling 65 hours. A graphic description is given of the test history which is related temperature tracking, and two multinode TMR test-chamber models are compared to the test results. Large discrepancies between the test data and the model predictions are attributed to contact conductance, effective emittance from the multilayer insulation, and heat leaks related to deviations from the flight configuration. The TMR thermal testing/modeling effort is shown to provide technical corrections for the procedure outlined, and the need for validating predictive models is underscored.

Lin, Edward I.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Six-Degree-of-Freedom Test Facility

Shuttle to Space Station docking has become an important issue in the last few years. Docking sensors have been proposed that will provide the high precision measurements required for the fuel efficient rendezvous and docking of space vehicles. These sensors also will be used for satellite servicing and orbital assembly. The performance of the docking sensors must be tested before they are implemented in a space environment. A 6-DOF test facility was developed at the Tracking and Communications Section, JSC, to test the static and dynamic accuracies of docking sensors. A candidate sensor is evaluated by comparing the sensor's static position and velocity measurements to the more accurate 6-DOF system.

Bittel, Michelle A.↗
NASA NTRS1961

Considerations Affecting Satellite and Space Probe Research with Emphasis on the "Scout" as a Launch Vehicle

This report reviews a number of the factors which influence space flight experiments. Included are discussions of payload considerations, payload design and packaging, environmental tests, launch facilities, tracking and telemetry requirements, data acquisition, processing and analysis procedures, communication of information, and project management. Particular emphasis is placed on the "Scout" as a launching vehicle. The document includes a description of the geometry of the "Scout" as well as its flight capabilities and limitations. Although oriented toward the "Scout" vehicle and its payload capabilities, the information presented is sufficiently general to be equally applicable to most space vehicle systems.

Posner, Jack↗
NASA NTRS1999

Asteroids and Comets Outreach Compilation

Contents include various different animations in the area of Asteroids and Comets. Titles of the short animated clips are: STARDUST Mission; Asteroid Castallia Impact Simulation; Castallia, Toutatis and the Earth; Simulation Asteroid Encounter with Earth; Nanorover Technology Task; Near Earth Asteroid Tracking; Champollian Anchor Tests; Early Views of Comets; Exploration of Small Bodies; Ulysses Resource Material from ESA; Ulysses Cometary Plasma Tail Animation; and various discussions on the Hale-Bopp Comet. Animation of the following are seen: the Stardust aerogel collector grid collecting cometary dust particles, comet and interstellar dust analyzer, Wiper-shield and dust flux monitor, a navigation camera, and the return of the sample to Earth; a comparison of the rotation of the Earth to the Castallia and Tautatis Asteroids; an animated land on Tautatis and the view of the motion of the sky from its surface; an Asteroid collision with the Earth; the USAF Station in Hawaii; close-up views of asteroids; automatic drilling of the Moon; exploding Cosmic Particles; and the dropping off of the plasma tail of a comet as it travels near the sun.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2008

NASA Tech Briefs, September 2008

Topics covered include: Nanotip Carpets as Antireflection Surfaces; Nano-Engineered Catalysts for Direct Methanol Fuel Cells; Capillography of Mats of Nanofibers; Directed Growth of Carbon Nanotubes Across Gaps; High-Voltage, Asymmetric-Waveform Generator; Magic-T Junction Using Microstrip/Slotline Transitions; On-Wafer Measurement of a Silicon-Based CMOS VCO at 324 GHz; Group-III Nitride Field Emitters; HEMT Amplifiers and Equipment for their On-Wafer Testing; Thermal Spray Formation of Polymer Coatings; Improved Gas Filling and Sealing of an HC-PCF; Making More-Complex Molecules Using Superthermal Atom/Molecule Collisions; Nematic Cells for Digital Light Deflection; Improved Silica Aerogel Composite Materials; Microgravity, Mesh-Crawling Legged Robots; Advanced Active-Magnetic-Bearing Thrust- Measurement System; Thermally Actuated Hydraulic Pumps; A New, Highly Improved Two-Cycle Engine; Flexible Structural-Health-Monitoring Sheets; Alignment Pins for Assembling and Disassembling Structures; Purifying Nucleic Acids from Samples of Extremely Low Biomass; Adjustable-Viewing-Angle Endoscopic Tool for Skull Base and Brain Surgery; UV-Resistant Non-Spore-Forming Bacteria From Spacecraft-Assembly Facilities; Hard-X-Ray/Soft-Gamma-Ray Imaging Sensor Assembly for Astronomy; Simplified Modeling of Oxidation of Hydrocarbons; Near-Field Spectroscopy with Nanoparticles Deposited by AFM; Light Collimator and Monitor for a Spectroradiometer; Hyperspectral Fluorescence and Reflectance Imaging Instrument; Improving the Optical Quality Factor of the WGM Resonator; Ultra-Stable Beacon Source for Laboratory Testing of Optical Tracking; Transmissive Diffractive Optical Element Solar Concentrators; Delaying Trains of Short Light Pulses in WGM Resonators; Toward Better Modeling of Supercritical Turbulent Mixing; JPEG 2000 Encoding with Perceptual Distortion Control; Intelligent Integrated Health Management for a System of Systems; Delay Banking for Managing Air Traffic; and Spline-Based Smoothing of Airfoil Curvatures.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2010

Performance Analysis of Apollo Navigational Starter Routine

The focus of this project is to recreate and analyze the effectiveness of the original Apollo Starter Routine (ASR) which was used to generate the state vector of the Apollo spacecraft based on a series of radiometric observations. The original Apollo navigation software is unavailable in a modern programming language and the original coding has not been preserved. This necessitates its recreation using the original software documentation. Space Shuttle navigation software does not typically use the ASR or an algorithm like it since the Shuttle s state vector is easily deduced from GPS information or other sources. However, this tactic will be ineffective when trying to determine the state vector of a craft approaching, departing or in orbit around the Moon since the GPS network faces the surface of the Earth, not outer space. The recreation of the ASR from the original documentation is therefore vital as a simulation baseline for the navigation software under development for the Constellation program. The algorithms that make up the ASR will be extracted from the original documentation and adapted for and then implemented in a modern programming language; the majority of it will be coded in Matlab. The ASR s effectiveness will then be tested using simulated tracking data. The ability of the ASR to handle realistically noisy data and the accuracy with which it generates state vectors were analyzed. The ASR proved to be robust enough to process data with range and angle noise as large as 10,000 meters and 10(exp -6) radians together and 300,000 meters and 5x10(exp -4) radians separately at Lunar distances. The ASR was able to handle marginally more noise at distances closer to the Earth where the angle noise was less significant. The ASR is capable of effectively processing 40-80 data points gathered at a rate of one per 20 seconds at close Earth orbit and up to 28-40 data points gathered at a rate of one per minute at distant Earth orbit and Lunar orbit.

Ivanov, Stoyan I.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Spherical Coordinate Systems for Streamlining Suited Mobility Analysis

When describing human motion, biomechanists generally report joint angles in terms of Euler angle rotation sequences. However, there are known limitations in using this method to describe complex motions such as the shoulder joint during a baseball pitch. Euler angle notation uses a series of three rotations about an axis where each rotation is dependent upon the preceding rotation. As such, the Euler angles need to be regarded as a set to get accurate angle information. Unfortunately, it is often difficult to visualize and understand these complex motion representations. One of our key functions is to help design engineers understand how a human will perform with new designs and all too often traditional use of Euler rotations becomes as much of a hindrance as a help. It is believed that using a spherical coordinate system will allow ABF personnel to more quickly and easily transmit important mobility data to engineers, in a format that is readily understandable and directly translatable to their design efforts. Objectives: The goal of this project is to establish new analysis and visualization techniques to aid in the examination and comprehension of complex motions. Methods: This project consisted of a series of small sub‐projects, meant to validate and verify the method before it was implemented in the ABF's data analysis practices. The first stage was a proof of concept, where a mechanical test rig was built and instrumented with an inclinometer, so that its angle from horizontal was known. The test rig was tracked in 3D using an optical motion capture system, and its position and orientation were reported in both Euler and spherical reference systems. The rig was meant to simulate flexion/extension, transverse rotation and abduction/adduction of the human shoulder, but without the variability inherent in human motion. In the second phase of the project, the ABF estimated the error inherent in a spherical coordinate system, and evaluated how this error would vary within the reference frame. This stage also involved expanding a kinematic model of the shoulder, to include the torso, knees, ankle, elbows, wrists and neck. Part of this update included adding a representation of 'roll' about an axis, for upper arm and lower leg rotations. The third stage of the project involved creating visualization methods to assist in interpreting motion in a spherical frame. This visualization method will be incorporated in a tool to evaluate a database of suited mobility data, which is currently in development.

Benson, Elizabeth↗
NASA NTRS2018

Ground System Development at the Morehead State University for Interplanetary Smallsat Missions

As more small satellites are used for interplanetary research and exploration, more ground antennas with sufficiently large aperture are needed to support the increased demand in deep space communication. The 21-m ground antenna at the Morehead State University in Kentucky, United States is under development to upgrade its telemetry, tracking and command capability at X-band. The system architecture is based on a hybrid design that combines commercially available products with specialized equipment developed for the National Aeronautic and Aerospace Administration’s Deep Space Network. This architecture produces a low-cost and geographically diverse system, connecting elements at the Morehead State University and those of the DSN at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The architecture makes Morehead antenna appears as one of the DSN nodes, albeit with a different performance metrics due to difference in aperture size. Its operation is geared for automation, with automated data retrieval of information needed for configuring the ground station for spacecraft tracking. An incremental testing approach is used to verify system capabilities as various components are deployed into the system.

Kruth, Jeff↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Handling Qualities Considerations in Control Allocation for Multicopters

Due to multicopters’ role in advanced air mobility, there has been an increasing interest in handling qualities. This paper investigates the effect of control allocation of multicopters on handling qualities. Typically, multicopter aircraft are trimmed with equal speed on each rotor. The force generated by each rotor can be modeled, where thrust and torque of the rotor are related to the square of the rotor speed. The dynamic equations indicate that trimming pairs of motors at different RPM results in an increase of control effectiveness in the associated axis, improving bandwidth and disturbance rejection. A tradeoff occurs where power usage is no longer optimized, but handling qualities are improved in that control axis. A blade element model for multicopter, RMAC, was used to simulate how this off-nominal control allocation would affect the dynamics of a multicopter. System identification flight tests were used to validate the trends seen in RMAC. Control systems were optimized to provide improved disturbance rejection bandwidth in the axis associated with increased rotational speed. Unmanned mission task elements were performed in flight test, showing improved tracking in the lateral axis by using off-nominal mixing to increase trim speed on the rolling motors.

Handling Qualities↗
NASA NTRS2018

Leveraging Commercial Software Defined Radio for Low Cost Deep Space Testing

In a typical space mission development life cycle, there is a stage where the spacecraft needs to test against the ground station for interface compatibility to ensure that the spacecraft will be properly tracked after launch. This testing normally requires the spacecraft team to bring their flight equipment to the ground station facility. While recognizing that testing with actual flight or engineering module is the most preferred option because of maximum fidelity, there are occasion when the use of actual flight hardware is a logistically challenge because of spacecraft development. Having another test tool that can emulate the spacecraft signal – by recording the signal transmitted by the spacecraft and regenerate an RF signal for ground system testing - would be very useful. It is even more an attractive option if such spacecraft emulator is inexpensive and highly portable. In this paper, we describe a low-cost, light-weight recorder/playback assembly (RPA) that supports deep space missions testing. The equipment leverages on commercially available software defined radios (SDR) and public-domain software. The RPA has been used to support two missions. One effort is to validate that the Uchinoura 34-m tracking station of the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) would be able to track the upcoming NASA Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1) spacecraft, scheduled for launch in 2019. The second effort is to help with the testing and certification of the 21-m antenna ground station at the Morehead State University (MSU) in Kentucky, United States, prior to the time when the Lunar IceCube spacecraft is ready for actual compatibility testing. The RPA also enables students/staff training of the new ground station, using the RPA signal as test input into the system. This low-cost test signal allows the MSU team to save money on not having to develop a full-scale self-generated telemetry test signal source.

White, Leslie↗