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NASA NTRS2010

NASA Tech Briefs, September 2010

Topics covered include: Instrument for Measuring Thermal Conductivity of Materials at Low Temperatures; Multi-Axis Accelerometer Calibration System; Pupil Alignment Measuring Technique and Alignment Reference for Instruments or Optical Systems; Autonomous System for Monitoring the Integrity of Composite Fan Housings; A Safe, Self-Calibrating, Wireless System for Measuring Volume of Any Fuel at Non-Horizontal Orientation; Adaptation of the Camera Link Interface for Flight-Instrument Applications; High-Performance CCSDS Encapsulation Service Implementation in FPGA; High-Performance CCSDS AOS Protocol Implementation in FPGA; Advanced Flip Chips in Extreme Temperature Environments; Diffuse-Illumination Systems for Growing Plants; Microwave Plasma Hydrogen Recovery System; Producing Hydrogen by Plasma Pyrolysis of Methane; Self-Deployable Membrane Structures; Reactivation of a Tin-Oxide-Containing Catalys; Functionalization of Single-Wall Carbon Nanotubes by Photo-Oxidation; Miniature Piezoelectric Macro-Mass Balance; Acoustic Liner for Turbomachinery Applications; Metering Gas Strut for Separating Rocket Stages; Large-Flow-Area Flow-Selective Liquid/Gas Separator; Counterflowing Jet Subsystem Design; Water Tank with Capillary Air/Liquid Separation; True Shear Parallel Plate Viscometer; Focusing Diffraction Grating Element with Aberration Control; Universal Millimeter-Wave Radar Front End; Mode Selection for a Single-Frequency Fiber Laser; Qualification and Selection of Flight Diode Lasers for Space Applications; Plenoptic Imager for Automated Surface Navigation; Maglev Facility for Simulating Variable Gravity; Hybrid AlGaN-SiC Avalanche Photodiode for Deep-UV Photon Detection; High-Speed Operation of Interband Cascade Lasers; 3D GeoWall Analysis System for Shuttle External Tank Foreign Object Debris Events; Charge-Spot Model for Electrostatic Forces in Simulation of Fine Particulates; Hidden Statistics Approach to Quantum Simulations; Reconstituted Three-Dimensional Interactive Imaging; Determining Atmospheric-Density Profile of Titan; Digital Microfluidics Sample Analyzer; Radiation Protection Using Carbon Nanotube Derivatives; Process to Selectively Distinguish Viable from Non-Viable Bacterial Cells; and TEAMS Model Analyzer.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS2004

Software for Generating Strip Maps from SAR Data

Jurassicprok is a computer program that generates strip-map digital elevation models and other data products from raw data acquired by an airborne synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) system. This software can process data from a variety of airborne SAR systems but is designed especially for the GeoSAR system, which is a dual-frequency (P- and X-band), single-pass interferometric SAR system for measuring elevation both at the bare ground surface and top of the vegetation canopy. Jurassicprok is a modified version of software developed previously for airborne-interferometric- SAR applications. The modifications were made to accommodate P-band interferometric processing, remove approximations that are not generally valid, and reduce processor-induced mapping errors to the centimeter level. Major additions and other improvements over the prior software include the following: a) A new, highly efficient multi-stage-modified wave-domain processing algorithm for accurately motion compensating ultra-wideband data; b) Adaptive regridding algorithms based on estimated noise and actual measured topography to reduce noise while maintaining spatial resolution; c) Exact expressions for height determination from interferogram data; d) Fully calibrated volumetric correlation data based on rigorous removal of geometric and signal-to-noise decorrelation terms; e) Strip range-Doppler image output in user-specified Doppler coordinates; f) An improved phase-unwrapping and absolute-phase-determination algorithm; g) A more flexible user interface with many additional processing options; h) Increased interferogram filtering options; and i) Ability to use disk space instead of random- access memory for some processing steps.

Hensley, Scott↗

NASA NTRS2019

The RELAMPAGO Lightning Mapping Array: Preliminary Scientific Results and Application to GLM Calibration and Validation

During November 2018 through April 2019, an 11-station NASA lightning mapping array (LMA) was installed in the Cordoba region of Argentina, in support of GOES-16 Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) calibration and validation, as well as the Remote sensing of Electrification, Lightning, And Mesoscale/microscale Processes with Adaptive Ground Observations (RELAMPAGO) field campaign. This region of Argentina is well known for frequent, intense thunderstorms and severe weather. The LMA was monitored remotely via the Internet throughout its deployment, but due to bandwidth limitations no real-time data were available. Custom GOES-16 imagery provided by NASA SPoRT assisted with monitoring of thunderstorm cases. Occasional site visits were done to obtain data disks, perform routine maintenance, and troubleshoot problems. During the deployment the network captured lightning in a variety of storm modes, including ordinary and severe multicells, supercells, and mesoscale convective systems. Many examples of normal-polarity thunderstorms, as well as a few examples of anomalously charged thunderstorms, were observed. Long (100+ km) horizontally stratified lightning flashes, as well as lightning in overshooting tops, also were frequently observed. Supporting research radar observations were available through January 2019, with operational radar coverage available after that time. Some cases featured supporting ABI meso scanning. This presentation will report on the LMA deployment in context with the RELAMPAGO field campaign, show results from some representative case studies, and will provide initial comparisons to GLM observations.

Lang, Timothy J.↗

NASA NTRS2014

Evolution of a Reconfigurable Processing Platform for a Next Generation Space Software Defined Radio

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)Harris Ka-Band Software Defined Radio (SDR) is the first, fully reprogrammable space-qualified SDR operating in the Ka-Band frequency range. Providing exceptionally higher data communication rates than previously possible, this SDR offers in-orbit reconfiguration, multi-waveform operation, and fast deployment due to its highly modular hardware and software architecture. Currently in operation on the International Space Station (ISS), this new paradigm of reconfigurable technology is enabling experimenters to investigate navigation and networking in the space environment.The modular SDR and the NASA developed Space Telecommunications Radio System (STRS) architecture standard are the basis for Harris reusable, digital signal processing space platform trademarked as AppSTAR. As a result, two new space radio products are a synthetic aperture radar payload and an Automatic Detection Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) receiver. In addition, Harris is currently developing many new products similar to the Ka-Band software defined radio for other applications. For NASAs next generation flight Ka-Band radio development, leveraging these advancements could lead to a more robust and more capable software defined radio.The space environment has special considerations different from terrestrial applications that must be considered for any system operated in space. Each space mission has unique requirements that can make these systems unique. These unique requirements can make products that are expensive and limited in reuse. Space systems put a premium on size, weight and power. A key trade is the amount of reconfigurability in a space system. The more reconfigurable the hardware platform, the easier it is to adapt to the platform to the next mission, and this reduces the amount of non-recurring engineering costs. However, the more reconfigurable platforms often use more spacecraft resources. Software has similar considerations to hardware. Having an architecture standard promotes reuse of software and firmware. Space platforms have limited processor capability, which makes the trade on the amount of amount of flexibility paramount.

Telecommunication↗

NASA NTRS2016

Europa Spacecraft Configuration Optimization for the Solar Powered Vehicle

A mission to Europa has been on the minds of NASA and JPL for many years. After the Galileo mission to Jupiter in the 1990s there have been various proposals for missions to the Jovian moon. The most recent proposal, previously named the Europa Clipper, has gone through numerous iterations of spacecraft configurations on its road to becoming an official NASA project in June of 2015. Most of these configurations included options for either multi mission radioisotope thermoelectric generators (MMRTGs) or solar power. In 2014, the decision was made to focus on solar arrays as the source for spacecraft power. The decision to move forward with a baseline design that utilized only solar arrays as its power system meant that some configuration choices had to be re- evaluated. Initially, a configuration was adapted to keep as much of the previous spacecraft design the same while replacing MMRTGs with solar panels. This proved to be difficult as the arrays presented a slew of new challenges that the nuclear vehicle was not optimized for. The solar arrays needed to be large due to Jupiter's substantial distance from the Sun. This meant that many of the instrument and radiator FOVs would now be obstructed, or would receive reflected light and heat from the large panel s. Also, the mass of the panels meant that mounting near the bottom of the spacecraft would be sub-optimal as the wings would cause major disturbance to the vehicle as they oscillated in their deployed state. Another major, and possibly the largest, concern was the fact that as the high gain antenna pointed to Earth for communication, the Ice Penetrating Radar (IPR) would cast a large shadow on the cell -side of the array. This resulted in an estimated 10% power loss to the vehicle. On top of all this, NASA announced the selection of the instruments that would fly on the Europa mission and replace the notional instrument suite that had been used to develop and submit the project proposal. The selected instruments, while not varying widely from the notional suite, did come with a new set of challenges including a size increase over the notional package, thus requiring more room for accommodation. They also introduced new features not previously addressed by the notional package, such as a two-axis gimbal on one of the imagers. Additionally, two new instruments, an ultraviolet plume -hunting spectrograph, and an atmospheric dust analyzer we added to the payload and presented new challenges not previously covered in the proposal. Finally, additional payloads were under consideration, such as a 250kg ejectable payload that would be released at Jupiter and would accomplish flybys of some of the other Jovian moons. All of this resulted in a drastically different "family" of configurations that were capable of addressing these issues, and staying flexible to the numerous potential changes that could come. This paper discusses the details of the various configurations considered to address these items, and the configuration concepts that were selected as the baseline for moving forward with the proposal.

Horner, Matthew D.↗

NASA NTRS1998

Steps Towards the Integration of Conflict Resolution with Metering and Scheduling

NASA Ames Research Center is developing decision support tool technology for air traffic controllers to improve the efficiency and capacity of National Airspace System. The goal is to provide technology, tools and procedures that result in the highest possible level of user preferred trajectories whenever possible with safe and efficient traffic management when necessary. The work is being conducted under the NASA Advanced Air Transportation Technology Program in cooperation with the FAA through the Inter-Agency Integrated Product Team. The objective is to develop technology and procedures that lead towards a seamless integration of conflict resolution with metering and scheduling for arrival aircraft and en route aircraft that are under metering restrictions. A requirement is that the integration incorporate user preferred trajectories. The ultimate goal is the implementation and validation of the Descent Advisor (DA) concept which provides clearance advisories to a sector controller that simultaneously meet metering constraints, are conflict free, incorporate a user preferred (e.g., minimum fuel) descent profile, and generally require no further corrective clearance as the aircraft transitions from en route cruise into the TRACON. The DA concept may also be applied to en route aircraft under metering constraints, e.g., miles-in-trail. To achieve the DA concept a stepwise development and field evaluation is anticipated. This paper addresses the initial steps towards implementation of the DA. The Traffic Management Advisor (TMA) computes arrival time sequence and required delay information for display to the sector controller during periods when arrivals must be metered due to landing rate restrictions at the airport. The Initial Conflict Probe (ICP) compares trajectory predictions for all aircraft and alerts the controller when any two aircraft are predicted to violate separation standards (5 mi. and 2000 ft. in en route airspace). ICP also includes a trial planning function allowing the controller to develop and check a separate "what if" trajectory for conflict resolution. TMA and ICP currently operate independent of one another and have separate controller displays. The TMA meter list is on the radar controller's plan view display. The ICP is still under development, but the current concept calls for a list of predicted conflicts at the data controller position. The research described herein address two steps towards the implementation of DA. The first is to develop a concept for integrated display of conflict and metering information on a controller's display. The objective is to provide the controller with situational awareness of one problem while he develops a solution to the other. The next step is to expand the concept for display of automated clearance advisories for one problem (e.g., metering) which take into account the other problems (e.g., conflicts). Information to be communicated between TMA and ICP to facilitate' manual or automated advisories is being identified as the concept matures. In order to study the ICP/TMA integration concept the CTAS conflict probe capability has been adapted to Ft. Worth Center. The system is being validated in the laboratory with all-track data and for non -interference with TMA, TMA is already running as a daily use prototype at Ft. Worth Center. A laboratory prototype system has been developed under the CTAS baseline which combines conflict and metering information on a common user interface. Elements of the user interface are shown in Figure 1. In this simple illustration the user sees the simultaneous effect of a trial plan on meter fix delay and conflict status. Delay information is shown in the aircraft flight data block, the meter list, and the TMA timeline. Experience during Descent Advisor development and observations at Ft. Worth Center high and low attitude arrival sectors during metering suggests that manual trial planning will be unworkable during rush periods due to high controller workload.

McNally, B. David↗

NASA NTRS2011

NASA Tech Briefs, January 2011

The topics include: 1) Distributed Aerodynamic Sensing and Processing Toolbox; 2) Collaborative Supervised Learning for Sensor Networks; 3) Hazard Detection Software for Lunar Landing; 4) Onboard Nonlinear Engine Sensor and Component Fault Diagnosis and Isolation Scheme; 5) Network-Capable Application Process and Wireless Intelligent Sensors for ISHM; 6) Interface Supports Multiple Broadcast Transceivers for Flight Applications; 7) FPGA Sequencer for Radar Altimeter Applications; 8) Miniature Sapphire Acoustic Resonator - MSAR; 9) Process-Hardened, Multi-Analyte Sensor for Characterizing Rocket Plume Constituents; 10) SAD5 Stereo Correlation Line-Striping in an FPGA; 11) Hybrid Composite Cryogenic Tank Structure; 12) Nanoscale Deformable Optics; 13) Reliability-Based Design Optimization of a Composite Airframe Component; 14) Zinc Oxide Nanowire Interphase for Enhanced Lightweight Polymer Fiber Composites; 15) Plasma Igniter for Reliable Ignition of Combustion in Rocket Engines; 16) Wire Test Grip Fixture; 17) A Sub-Hertz, Low-Frequency Vibration Isolation Platform; 18) Carbon Nanofibers Synthesized on Selective Substrates for Nonvolatile Memory and 3D Electronics; 19) Nanoparticle/Polymer Nanocomposite Bond Coat or Coating; 20) High-Resolution Wind Measurements for Offshore Wind Energy Development; 21) Spring Tire; 22) Marsviewer 2008; 23) Mission Services Evolution Center Message Bus; 24) Major Constituents Analysis for the Vehicle Cabin Atmosphere Monitor; 25) Astronaut Health Participant Summary Application; 26) Adaption of the AMDIS Method to Flight Status on the VCAM Instrument; 27) Natural Language Interface for Safety Certification of Safety-Critical Software; 28) Cryogenic Caging for Science Instrumentation; 29) Wide-Range Neutron Detector for Space Nuclear Applications; 30) In Situ Guided Wave Structural Health Monitoring System; 31) Multiplexed Energy Coupler for Rotating Equipment; 32) Attitude Estimation in Fractionated Spacecraft Cluster Systems; 33) Full Piezoelectric Multilayer-Stacked Hybrid Actuation/Transduction Systems; 34) Active Flow Effectors for Noise and Separation Control; 35) Method and System for Temporal Filtering in Video Compression Systems; 36) Apparatus for Measuring Total Emissivity of Small, Low-Emissivity Samples; 37) Multiple-Zone Diffractive Optic Element for Laser Ranging Applications; 38) Simplified Architecture for Precise Aiming of a Deep-Space Communication Laser Transceiver; 39) Two-Photon-Absorption Scheme for Optical Beam Tracking; 40) High-Sensitivity, Broad-Range Vacuum Gauge Using Nanotubes for Micromachined Cavities; 41) Wide-Field Optic for Autonomous Acquisition of Laser Link; 42) Extracting Zero-Gravity Surface Figure of a Mirror; 43) Modeling Electromagnetic Scattering From Complex Inhomogeneous Objects; 44) Visual Object Recognition and Tracking of Tools; 45) Method for Implementing Optical Phase Adjustment; 46) Visual SLAM Using Variance Grid Maps; 47) Rapid Calculation of Spacecraft Trajectories Using Efficient Taylor Series Integration; 48) Efficient Kriging Algorithms; 49) Predicting Spacecraft Trajectories by the WeavEncke Method; 50) An Augmentation of G-Guidance Algorithms; 51) Comparison of Aircraft Icing Growth Assessment Software; 52) Silicon-Germanium Voltage-Controlled Oscillator at 105 GHz; 53) Estimation of Coriolis Force and Torque Acting on Ares-1; 54) Null Lens Assembly for X-Ray Mirror Segments; and 55) High-Precision Pulse Generator.

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NASA NTRS1993

Quality metrics for sensor images

Methods are needed for evaluating the quality of augmented visual displays (AVID). Computational quality metrics will help summarize, interpolate, and extrapolate the results of human performance tests with displays. The FLM Vision group at NASA Ames has been developing computational models of visual processing and using them to develop computational metrics for similar problems. For example, display modeling systems use metrics for comparing proposed displays, halftoning optimizing methods use metrics to evaluate the difference between the halftone and the original, and image compression methods minimize the predicted visibility of compression artifacts. The visual discrimination models take as input two arbitrary images A and B and compute an estimate of the probability that a human observer will report that A is different from B. If A is an image that one desires to display and B is the actual displayed image, such an estimate can be regarded as an image quality metric reflecting how well B approximates A. There are additional complexities associated with the problem of evaluating the quality of radar and IR enhanced displays for AVID tasks. One important problem is the question of whether intruding obstacles are detectable in such displays. Although the discrimination model can handle detection situations by making B the original image A plus the intrusion, this detection model makes the inappropriate assumption that the observer knows where the intrusion will be. Effects of signal uncertainty need to be added to our models. A pilot needs to make decisions rapidly. The models need to predict not just the probability of a correct decision, but the probability of a correct decision by the time the decision needs to be made. That is, the models need to predict latency as well as accuracy. Luce and Green have generated models for auditory detection latencies. Similar models are needed for visual detection. Most image quality models are designed for static imagery. Watson has been developing a general spatial-temporal vision model to optimize video compression techniques. These models need to be adapted and calibrated for AVID applications.

Ahumada, AL↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

A Survey of ISS and Visiting Vehicle Returned Surfaces for Environmental Characterization and Computer Model Development

The Orbital Debris Engineering Model (ORDEM) developed by the NASA Orbital Debris Program Office (ODPO) is a data-driven model — extensive radar, optical, laboratory, and in situ measurement data sets have been used to build the model since its earliest versions. A salient aspect of professional software development is the verification and validation (V&V) process. Verification answers the question “Is the model built correctly?” while validation addresses the question “Did we build the correct model?” Less extensive, reserved, or independent data sets serve the validation requirement. Due to the dynamic nature of the orbital debris environment, it is critical to use contemporaneous data sources that represent the current environment to support ORDEM development and validation. ORDEM has utilized in situ data collected from Space Shuttle and Hubble Space Telescope surface inspections, now over a decade old. This historical dataset is fundamental for providing baseline in situ measurement data for sizes between 10 to 300 microns, but new data sources are being evaluated using returned surfaces from or near the International Space Station (ISS). This paper reviews a general microscopic survey of ISS soft goods, the Pressurized Mating Adapter 2 (PMA-2) blanket, and a limited-scope feasibility study conducted on the Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) Dragon capsule’s Thermal Protection System (TPS) material. The PMA-2 blanket, exposed to the space environment between 09 July 2013 and 25 February 2015, is an approximately 3.7 m2-area blanket composed of a betacloth outer layer and multiple ballistic fabric inner layers. The SpaceX Cargo Dragon capsule regularly visited the ISS from 2012 through 2020 and potentially provides a timely and well-characterized source of data for modeling purposes. The capsule’s lateral surfaces use SpaceX Proprietary Ablative Material (SPAM) TPS material, a syntactic foam, for thermal management during all mission phases. Seven SPAM extracted samples have been analyzed to date. This paper will provide an overview of the characterization completed for impact features by size, depth, impactor diameter, and the impactor residues chemical analyses, allowing a differentiation between micrometeoroids and orbital debris and a categorization by mass density and density class. Impactor diameter is estimated using damage equations generated from ground-based hypervelocity impact testing. The orbital debris impactors are compared to the current ORDEM 3.2 model of the environment at ISS altitudes. We briefly discuss the meteoroid impactors, including constituents and mass densities, in the general context of current models.

Phillip Anz-meador↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

A Survey of ISS and Visiting Vehicle Returned Surfaces for Environmental Characterization and Computer Model Development

Phillip Anz-Meador↗

NASA NTRS2010

NASA Tech Briefs, March 2010

Topics covered include: Software Tool Integrating Data Flow Diagrams and Petri Nets; Adaptive Nulling for Interferometric Detection of Planets; Reducing the Volume of NASA Earth-Science Data; Reception of Multiple Telemetry Signals via One Dish Antenna; Space-Qualified Traveling-Wave Tube; Smart Power Supply for Battery-Powered Systems; Parallel Processing of Broad-Band PPM Signals; Inexpensive Implementation of Many Strain Gauges; Constant-Differential-Pressure Two-Fluid Accumulator; Inflatable Tubular Structures Rigidized with Foams; Power Generator with Thermo-Differential Modules; Mechanical Extraction of Power From Ocean Currents and Tides; Nitrous Oxide/Paraffin Hybrid Rocket Engines; Optimized Li-Ion Electrolytes Containing Fluorinated Ester Co-Solvents; Probabilistic Multi-Factor Interaction Model for Complex Material Behavior; Foldable Instrumented Bits for Ultrasonic/Sonic Penetrators; Compact Rare Earth Emitter Hollow Cathode; High-Precision Shape Control of In-Space Deployable Large Membrane/Thin-Shell Reflectors; Rapid Active Sampling Package; Miniature Lightweight Ion Pump; Cryogenic Transport of High-Pressure-System Recharge Gas; Water-Vapor Raman Lidar System Reaches Higher Altitude; Compact Ku-Band T/R Module for High-Resolution Radar Imaging of Cold Land Processes; Wide-Field-of-View, High-Resolution, Stereoscopic Imager; Electrical Capacitance Volume Tomography with High-Contrast Dielectrics; Wavefront Control and Image Restoration with Less Computing; Polarization Imaging Apparatus; Stereoscopic Machine-Vision System Using Projected Circles; Metal Vapor Arcing Risk Assessment Tool; Performance Bounds on Two Concatenated, Interleaved Codes; Parameterizing Coefficients of a POD-Based Dynamical System; Confidence-Based Feature Acquisition; Algorithm for Lossless Compression of Calibrated Hyperspectral Imagery; Universal Decoder for PPM of any Order; Algorithm for Stabilizing a POD-Based Dynamical System; Mission Reliability Estimation for Repairable Robot Teams; Processing AIRS Scientific Data Through Level 3; Web-Based Requesting and Scheduling Use of Facilities; AutoGen Version 5.0; Time-Tag Generation Script; PPM Receiver Implemented in Software; Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer Product File Readers; Reporting Differences Between Spacecraft Sequence Files; Coordinating "Execute" Data for ISS and Space Shuttle; Database for Safety-Oriented Tracking of Chemicals; Apparatus for Cold, Pressurized Biogeochemical Experiments; Growing B Lymphocytes in a Three-Dimensional Culture System; Tissue-like 3D Assemblies of Human Broncho-Epithelial Cells; Isolation of Resistance-Bearing Microorganisms; Oscillating Cell Culture Bioreactor; and Liquid Cooling/Warming Garment.

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NASA NTRS2004

NASA Tech Briefs, November 2004

Topics include: Multifunction Imaging and Spectroscopic Instrument; Position-Finding Instrument Built Around a Magnetometer; Improved Measurement of Dispersion in an Optical Fiber; Probe for Sampling of Interstitial Fluid From Bone; Neuropsychological Testing of Astronauts; Method of Calibration for a Large Cathetometer System; Four-Channel PC/104 MIL-STD-1553 Circuit Board; Improved Method of Locating Defects in Wiring Insulation; Strobe Traffic Lights Warn of Approaching Emergency Vehicles; Improved Timing Scheme for Spaceborne Precipitation Radar; Concept for Multiple-Access Free-Space Laser Communications; Variable Shadow Screens for Imaging Optical Devices; Verifying Diagnostic Software; Initial Processing of Infrared Spectral Data; Activity-Centric Approach to Distributed Programming; Controlling Distributed Planning; New Material for Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy; Treated Carbon Nanofibers for Storing Energy in Aqueous KOH; Advanced Infant Car Seat Would Increase Highway Safety; Development of Biomorphic Flyers; Second-Generation Six-Limbed Experimental Robot; Miniature Linear Actuator for Small Spacecraft; Process for Making Single-Domain Magnetite Crystals; A New Process for Fabricating Random Silicon Nanotips; Resin-Transfer-Molding of a Tool Face; Improved Phase-Mask Fabrication of Fiber Bragg Gratings; Tool for Insertion of a Fiber-Optic Terminus in a Connector; Nanofluidic Size-Exclusion Chromatograph; Lightweight, Low-CTE Tubes Made From Biaxially Oriented LCPs; Using Redundancy To Reduce Errors in Magnetometer Readings; Compact Instrument for Measuring Profile of a Light Beam; Multilayer Dielectric Transmissive Optical Phase Modulator; Second-Generation Multi-Angle Imaging Spectroradiometer; Real-Time Adaptive Color Segmentation by Neural Networks; Research and Development in Optical Communications; Tests of Multibeam Scintillation Mitigation on Laser Uplinks; and Spaceborne Infrared Atmospheric Sounder.

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NASA NTRS2003

Adaptation of Mesoscale Weather Models to Local Forecasting

Methodologies have been developed for (1) configuring mesoscale numerical weather-prediction models for execution on high-performance computer workstations to make short-range weather forecasts for the vicinity of the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) and (2) evaluating the performances of the models as configured. These methodologies have been implemented as part of a continuing effort to improve weather forecasting in support of operations of the U.S. space program. The models, methodologies, and results of the evaluations also have potential value for commercial users who could benefit from tailoring their operations and/or marketing strategies based on accurate predictions of local weather. More specifically, the purpose of developing the methodologies for configuring the models to run on computers at KSC and CCAFS is to provide accurate forecasts of winds, temperature, and such specific thunderstorm-related phenomena as lightning and precipitation. The purpose of developing the evaluation methodologies is to maximize the utility of the models by providing users with assessments of the capabilities and limitations of the models. The models used in this effort thus far include the Mesoscale Atmospheric Simulation System (MASS), the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS), and the National Centers for Environmental Prediction Eta Model ( Eta for short). The configuration of the MASS and RAMS is designed to run the models at very high spatial resolution and incorporate local data to resolve fine-scale weather features. Model preprocessors were modified to incorporate surface, ship, buoy, and rawinsonde data as well as data from local wind towers, wind profilers, and conventional or Doppler radars. The overall evaluation of the MASS, Eta, and RAMS was designed to assess the utility of these mesoscale models for satisfying the weather-forecasting needs of the U.S. space program. The evaluation methodology includes objective and subjective verification methodologies. Objective (e.g., statistical) verification of point forecasts is a stringent measure of model performance, but when used alone, it is not usually sufficient for quantifying the value of the overall contribution of the model to the weather-forecasting process. This is especially true for mesoscale models with enhanced spatial and temporal resolution that may be capable of predicting meteorologically consistent, though not necessarily accurate, fine-scale weather phenomena. Therefore, subjective (phenomenological) evaluation, focusing on selected case studies and specific weather features, such as sea breezes and precipitation, has been performed to help quantify the added value that cannot be inferred solely from objective evaluation.

Manobianco, John T.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Near-surface ice on Mercury and the Moon: A topographic thermal model

A thermal model that can be easily adapted to craters of arbitrary shape is developed and applied to high-latitude impact craters on Mercury and the Moon, Chao Meng Fu crater at -87.5 deg L on Mercury, an unnamed bowl-shaped crater at 86.7 deg L on Mercury, and Peary crater at 88.6 deg L on the Moon. For an assumed input topography and grid of surface elements, the model computes for each element the irradiation from direct insolation and reflected and emitted radiation from other elements, taking into account shadowing by walls of the crater, partial obscuration of the solar disk near the poles and the diurnal, orbital, and seasonal cycles. Temperatures are computed over the surface grid as functions of depth and time from the surface to a specified depth and over the pertinent astronomical cycles, including the effects of direct and indirect surface irradiation, infrared radiation, heat conduction, and interior heating. Vapor fluxes and ice recession times are computed as functions of ice depth over the surface grid. Temperatures profiles, vapor fluxes, and ice recession times were computed for flat surfaces not associated with craters near the poles of Mercury and the Moon. It was found that water ice could have existed throughout geologic time within the maximum radar detection depth of recent observation of Mercury (J. K. Harmon and M. A. Slade, 1992, Science 258, 640-643) poleward of approximately 87 - 88 deg L on Mercury and poleward of approximately 73 deg L on the Moon. For Chao Meng Fu crater it was found that approximately 40% of the crater floor is permanently shadowed from direct solar insolation, while the remainder of the crater floor is periodically illuminated by a partially obscured Sun. Temperatures at the upper levels of the south wall can slightly exceed 550 K. Surface temperatures in the permanently shadowed region of the crater floor are under approximately 130 K, which could have allowed water ice to exist throughout geologic time within the radar detection depth of recent observation of Mercury. For small bowl-shaped crater on Mercury, it was found that most of the crater is permanently shadowed from direct solar radiation, except for a narrow semicircular band bordering the north rim. However, temperatures in the permanently shadowed region periodically reach a maximum near approximately 315 K due to efficient heating of the small crater by thermal emission and reflection from the small sunlit region, which periodically reaches temperatures exceeding 630 K. Water ice could not have existed throughout geologic time anywhere in this crater within the radar detection depth. For Peary crater on the Moon, the entire crater floor is permanently shadowed from direct solar insolation with maximum temperature under 120 K. The upper level of the north wall periodically reaches a maximum temperature near 310 K. The low temperatures on the crater floor would have allowed water ice to exist near the surface throughout geologic time, provided that the Moon's obliquity was always as low as it is at present.

Salvail, James R.↗

NASA NTRS2022

Benchmarking and Testing of Qualcomm Snapdragon System-on-Chip for JPL Space Applications and Missions

As some space missions become more challenging due to new environments, greater distances, or more limited size, weight, and power (SWaP) constraints, spacecraft avionics must adapt to allow the spacecraft to be more autonomous and agile---eliminating the Spacecraft-Earth-Spacecraft feedback loop whenever possible. Prime examples of such missions include Aerobots (such as Ingenuity with extremely low SWaP constraints and demanding signal/image processing during flight) and landers in possibly hostile environments (such as a Europa lander mission, with limited communication capacity, high latency, and constrained power budget). To address these challenges, JPL worked with Qualcomm to demonstrate the use of their Snapdragon 801 system-on-chip (SoC) onboard the Ingenuity Helicopter on Mars. The Qualcomm Snapdragon SoC contains various subsystems, including an ARM cluster, a Graphics processing unit, a Digital Signal Processing subsystem, a Neural Processing Engine, Image Signal Processing subsystem, among others. Since the success of Ingenuity, JPL is continuing to work with Qualcomm to address other applications of the Snapdragon SoC technology. This includes the deployment of two 855 Snapdragon development boards onboard the International Space Station (ISS) for successful in-situ benchmarking of applications in space (beyond those tested on Ingenuity). In this paper, we will examine the performance of various applications that have been identified to benefit from greater onboard computational capability. These applications include (among others): machine vision algorithms that are expected to be critical in autonomous entry-descent-and-landing scenarios and real-time Aerobot flight navigation; Hyperspectral compression algorithms; Synthetic Aperture Radar Processing along with various instrument processing algorithms. We discuss how the infusion of Qualcomm's Snapdragon SoC is capable of enabling missions that may not have been able to achieve their goals with traditional flight computing. In addition, we also show that for some algorithms, the software implementation on the Snapdragon SoC outperforms traditional FPGA implementations.

Cretu, Vlad↗

NASA NTRS2011

NASA Tech Briefs, November 2011

The topics include: 1) Flight Test Results from the Rake Airflow Gage Experiment on the F-15B; 2) Telemetry and Science Data Software System; 3) CropEx Web-Based Agricultural Monitoring and Decision Support; 4) High-Performance Data Analysis Tools for Sun-Earth Connection Missions; 5) Experiment in Onboard Synthetic Aperture Radar Data Processing; 6) Microfabrication of a High-Throughput Nanochannel Delivery/Filtration System; 7) Improved Design and Fabrication of Hydrated-Salt Pills; 8) Monolithic Flexure Pre-Stressed Ultrasonic Horns; 9) Cryogenic Quenching Process for Electronic Part Screening; 10) Broadband Via-Less Microwave Crossover Using Microstrip-CPW Transitions; 11) Wheel-Based Ice Sensors for Road Vehicles; 12) G-DYN Multibody Dynamics Engine; 13) Multibody Simulation Software Testbed for Small-Body Exploration and Sampling; 14) Propulsive Reaction Control System Model; 15) Licklider Transmission Protocol Implementation; 16) Core Recursive Hierarchical Image Segmentation; 17) Two-Stage Centrifugal Fan; 18) Combined Structural and Trajectory Control of Variable-Geometry Planetary Entry Systems; 19) Pressure Regulator With Internal Ejector Circulation Pump, Flow and Pressure Measurement Porting, and Fuel Cell System Integration Options; 20) Temperature-Sensitive Coating Sensor Based on Hematite; 21) Standardization of a Volumetric Displacement Measurement for Two-Body Abrasion Scratch Test Data Analysis; 22) Detection of Carbon Monoxide Using Polymer-Carbon Composite Films; 23) Substituted Quaternary Ammonium Salts Improve Low-Temperature Performance of Double-Layer Capacitors; 24) Sustainably Sourced, Thermally Resistant, Radiation Hard Biopolymer; 25) Integrated Lens Antennas for Multi-Pixel Receivers; 26) 180-GHz Interferometric Imager; 27) Maturation of Structural Health Management Systems for Solid Rocket Motors; 28) Validating Phasing and Geometry of Large Focal Plane Arrays; 29) Transverse Pupil Shifts for Adaptive Optics Non-Common Path Calibration; 30) Qualification of Fiber Optic Cables for Martian Extreme Temperature Environments; 31) Solid-State Spectral Light Source System; 32) Multiple-Event, Single-Photon Counting Imaging Sensor; 33) Surface Modeling to Support Small-Body Spacecraft Exploration and Proximity Operations; and 34) Achieving Exact and Constant Turnaround Ratio in a DDS-Based Coherent Transponder.

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NASA NTRS2010

Orion Abort Flight Test

The purpose of NASA's Constellation project is to create the new generation of spacecraft for human flight to the International Space Station in low-earth orbit, the lunar surface, as well as for use in future deep-space exploration. One portion of the Constellation program was the development of the Orion crew exploration vehicle (CEV) to be used in spaceflight. The Orion spacecraft consists of a crew module, service module, space adapter and launch abort system. The crew module was designed to hold as many as six crew members. The Orion crew exploration vehicle is similar in design to the Apollo space capsules, although larger and more massive. The Flight Test Office is the responsible flight test organization for the launch abort system on the Orion crew exploration vehicle. The Flight Test Office originally proposed six tests that would demonstrate the use of the launch abort system. These flight tests were to be performed at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico and were similar in nature to the Apollo Little Joe II tests performed in the 1960s. The first flight test of the launch abort system was a pad abort (PA-1), that took place on 6 May 2010 at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. Primary flight test objectives were to demonstrate the capability of the launch abort system to propel the crew module a safe distance away from a launch vehicle during a pad abort, to demonstrate the stability and control characteristics of the vehicle, and to determine the performance of the motors contained within the launch abort system. The focus of the PA-1 flight test was engineering development and data acquisition, not certification. In this presentation, a high level overview of the PA-1 vehicle is given, along with an overview of the Mobile Operations Facility and information on the White Sands tracking sites for radar & optics. Several lessons learned are presented, including detailed information on the lessons learned in the development of wind placards for flight. PA-1 flight data is shown, as well as a comparison of PA-1 flight data to nonlinear simulation Monte Carlo data.

Hayes, Peggy Sue↗

NASA NTRS2011

NASA Tech Briefs, August 2011

Topics covered include: Miniature, Variable-Speed Control Moment Gyroscope; NBL Pistol Grip Tool for Underwater Training of Astronauts; HEXPANDO Expanding Head for Fastener-Retention Hexagonal Wrench; Diagonal-Axes Stage for Pointing an Optical Communications Transceiver; Improvements in Speed and Functionality of a 670-GHz Imaging Radar; IONAC-Lite; Large Ka-Band Slot Array for Digital Beam-Forming Applications; Development of a 150-GHz MMIC Module Prototype for Large-Scale CMB Radiation; Coupling Between Waveguide-Fed Slot Arrays; PCB-Based Break-Out Box; Multiple-Beam Detection of Fast Transient Radio Sources; Router Agent Technology for Policy-Based Network Management; Remote Asynchronous Message Service Gateway; Automatic Tie Pointer for In-Situ Pointing Correction; Jitter Correction; MSLICE Sequencing; EOS MLS Level 2 Data Processing Software Version 3; DspaceOgre 3D Graphics Visualization Tool; Metallization for Yb14MnSb11-Based Thermoelectric Materials; Solvent/Non-Solvent Sintering To Make Microsphere Scaffolds; Enhanced Fuel-Optimal Trajectory-Generation Algorithm for Planetary Pinpoint Landing; Self-Cleaning Coatings and Materials for Decontaminating Field-Deployable Land and Water-Based Optical Systems; Separation of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes with DEP-FFF; Li Anode Technology for Improved Performance; Post-Fragmentation Whole Genome Amplification-Based Method; Microwave Tissue Soldering for Immediate Wound Closure; Principles, Techniques, and Applications of Tissue Microfluidics; Robotic Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering and Organ Growth; Stress-Driven Selection of Novel Phenotypes; Method for Accurately Calibrating a Spectrometer Using Broadband Light; Catalytic Microtube Rocket Igniter; Stage Cylindrical Immersive Display; Vacuum Camera Cooler; Atomic Oxygen Fluence Monitor; Thermal Management Tools for Propulsion System Trade Studies and Analysis; Introduction to Physical Intelligence; Technique for Solving Electrically Small to Large Structures for Broadband Applications; Accelerated Adaptive MGS Phase Retrieval; Large Eddy Simulation Study for Fluid Disintegration and Mixing; Tropospheric Correction for InSAR Using Interpolated ECMWF Data and GPS Zenith Total Delay; Technique for Calculating Solution Derivatives With Respect to Geometry Parameters in a CFD Code; Acute Radiation Risk and BRYNTRN Organ Dose Projection Graphical User Interface; Probabilistic Path Planning of Montgolfier Balloons in Strong, Uncertain Wind Fields; Flight Simulation of ARES in the Mars Environment; Low-Outgassing Photogrammetry Targets for Use in Outer Space; Planning the FUSE Mission Using the SOVA Algorithm; Monitoring Spacecraft Telemetry Via Optical or RF Link; and Robust Thermal Control of Propulsion Lines for Space Missions.

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