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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 235 records · Page 13

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NASA NTRS1995

Microgravity Flight: Accommodating Non-Human Primates

Spacelab Life Sciences-3 (SLS-3) was scheduled to be the first United States man-tended microgravity flight containing Rhesus monkeys. The goal of this flight as in the five untended Russian COSMOS Bion flights and an earlier American Biosatellite flight, was to understand the biomedical and biological effects of a microgravity environment using the non-human primate as human surrogate. The SLS-3/Rhesus Project and COSMOS Primate-BIOS flights all utilized the rhesus monkey, Macaca mulatta. The ultimate objective of all flights with an animal surrogate has been to evaluate and understand biological mechanisms at both the system and cellular level, thus enabling rational effective countermeasures for future long duration human activity under microgravity conditions and enabling technical application to correction of common human physiological problems within earth's gravity, e.g., muscle strength and reloading, osteoporosis, immune deficiency diseases. Hardware developed for the SLS-3/Rhesus Project was the result of a joint effort with the French Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) and the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) extending over the last decade. The flight hardware design and development required implementation of sufficient automation to insure flight crew and animal bio-isolation and maintenance with minimal impact to crew activities. A variety of hardware of varying functional capabilities was developed to support the scientific objectives of the original 22 combined French and American experiments, along with 5 Russian co-investigations, including musculoskeletal, metabolic, and behavioral studies. Unique elements of the Rhesus Research Facility (RRF) included separation of waste for daily delivery of urine and fecal samples for metabolic studies and a psychomotor test system for behavioral studies along with monitored food measurement. As in untended flights, telemetry measurements would allow monitoring of thermoregulation, muscular, and cardiac responses to weightlessness. In contrast, the five completed Cosmos/Bion flights, lacked the metabolic samples and behavioral task monitoring, but did facilitate studies of the neurovestibular system during several of the flights. The RRF accommodated two adult 8-11 kg rhesus monkeys, while the Russian experiments and hardware were configured for a younger animal in the 44 kg range. Both the American and Russian hardware maintained a controlled environmental system, specifically temperature, humidity, a timed lighting cycle, and had means for providing food and fluids to the animal(s). Crew availability during a Shuttle mission was to be an optimal condition for retrieval and refrigeration of the animal urine samples along with a manual calcein injection which could lead to greater understanding of bone calcium incorporation. A special portable bioisolation glove box was under development to support this aspect of the experiment profile along with the capability of any contingency human intervention. As a result of recent U.S./Russian negotiations, funding for Space Station, and a series of other events, the SLS-3 mission was cancelled and applicable Rhesus Project experiments incorporated into the Russian Bion 11 and 12 missions. A presentation of the RRF and COSMOS/Bion rhesus hardware is presented along with current plans for the hardware.

Dalton, Bonnie P.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Microgravity Flight - Accommodating Non-Human Primates

Dalton, Bonnie P.↗

NASA NTRS2000

A Comparison of the Automated Meteorological Profiling System High Resolution Flight Element to the Kennedy Space Center 50 MHz Doppler Wind Profiler

Wind profile measurement and the simulation of aerodynamic loads on a launch vehicle play an important role in determining launch capability and post launch assessment of the vehicle's performance. To date, all United States range certified wind profile measurement systems have been based on balloon tracking. Since the 1960's, the standard used by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Air Force at the Cape Canaveral Air Station (CCAS) for detailed wind profile measurements has been the radar tracked, aerodynamically stabilized Jimsphere balloon system. Currently, the Air Force is nearing certification and operational implementation of the Automated Meteorological Profiling System (AMPS) at CCAS and Vandenburg Air Force Base (VAFB). AMPS uses the Global Positioning System for tracking the Jimsphere balloon. It is anticipated that the AMPS/Jimsphere, named the High Resolution Flight Element (HRFE), will have equivalent, or better resolution than the radar tracked Jimsphere, especially when the balloon is far downrange, at a low elevation angle. By the 1980's, the development of Doppler Wind Profilers (DWP) had become sufficiently advanced to justify an experimental measurement program at Kennedy Space Center (KSC). In 1989 a 50 MHz DWP was installed at KSC. In principal, the 50 MHz DWP has the capability to track the evolution of wind profile dynamics within 5 minutes of a launch. Because of fundamental differences in the measurement technique, there is a significant time and space differential between 50 MHz DWP and HRFE wind profiles. This paper describes a study to quantify these differences from a sample of 50 MHz DWP/HRFE pairs obtained during the AMPS certification test program.

Roberts, Barry C.↗

NASA NTRS2020

Tactical Separation and Safety Alerting System for Terminal Airspace

Provision of tactical alerts to aid air traffic controllers in providing separation assurance in terminal airspace is hindered by the complexity of the airspace, its operations, and flight procedures. A prototype automation system is studied that provides controllers with both separation and safety alerts based on or derived from the separation standard for terminal airspace. The system models flight trajectories heuristically, with use of merged intent information from readily available sources: area navigation departure procedures, flight-plan routes, and arrival nominal interior routes used in terminal automation systems. Flight vertical intent is modeled according to standard procedural restrictions except when superseded by controller-issued altitude clearances. Importantly, flight trajectories are modeled for all aircraft, including those conducting visual approaches. New safety-alert thresholds for aircraft conducting visual approaches are studied. Performance of the system is evaluated through fast-time playback of recorded air traffic data from high-fidelity Human-In-The-Loop simulations and real-world operations in two Terminal Radar Approach Control facilities. The prototype system is found to produce a false-alert rate of 8% for separation alerts. The number and validity of safety alerts are studied by comparing with the current Conflict Alert system, showing that the false alerts of Conflict Alert are at 85% and they are avoided in the prototype system.

Air Traffic Management↗

NASA NTRS2014

Range Safety Flight Elevation Limit Calculation Software

This program was developed to fill a need within the Wallops Flight Facility workflow for automation of the development of vertical plan limit lines used by flight safety officers during the conduct of expendable launch vehicle missions. Vertical plane present-position-based destruct lines have been used by range safety organizations at numerous launch ranges to mitigate launch vehicle risks during the early phase of flight. Various ranges have implemented data submittal and processing workflows to develop these destruct lines. As such, there is significant prior art in this field. The ElLimits program was developed at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility to automate the process for developing vertical plane limit lines using current computing technologies. The ElLimits program is used to configure launch-phase range safety flight control lines for guided missiles. The name of the program derives itself from the fundamental quantity that is computed - flight elevation limits. The user specifies the extent and resolution of a grid in the vertical plane oriented along the launch azimuth. At each grid point, the program computes the maximum velocity vector flight elevation that can be permitted without endangering a specified back-range location. Vertical plane x-y limit lines that can be utilized on a present position display are derived from the flight elevation limit data by numerically propagating 'streamlines' through the grid. The failure turn and debris propagation simulation technique used by the application is common to all of its analysis options. A simulation is initialized at a vertical plane grid point chosen by the program. A powered flight failure turn is then propagated in the plane for the duration of the so-called RSO reaction time. At the end of the turn, a delta-velocity is imparted, and a ballistic trajectory is propagated to impact. While the program possesses capability for powered flight failure turn modeling, it does not require extensive user inputs of vehicle characteristics (e.g., thrust and aerodynamic data), nor does it require reams of turn data after the traditional fashion of the Air Force ranges. The program requires a nominal trajectory table (time, altitude, range, velocity, and flight elevation) and makes heavy use of it to initialize and model a failure turn.

Lanzi, Raymond J↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Hazard Perception and Avoidance (HPA): Technical Work Overview

This short presentation provides an overview of the technical work that has been performed, and is planned, under the Advanced Air Mobility project's Hazard Perception and Avoidance (HPA) technical area. The presentation starts with a brief overview of the HPA technical area. The brief then covers a recently-completed part task human-in-the-loop simulation and outlines a follow-on simulation that is planned for August. The next portion of the brief outlines HPA's flight test plans, including some details on the Integration of Automated Systems (IAS) flights planned for 2023. The presentation ends with a high level overview of the activies planned in the out years of the HPA project.

advance air mobility↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Hazard Perception and Avoidance (HPA) Technical Work Overview

advanced air mobility↗

NASA NTRS1993

Automating the Training Development Process for Mission Flight Operations

UNKNOWN

Operatons↗

NASA NTRS2015

Bayesian Safety Risk Modeling of Human-Flightdeck Automation Interaction

Usage of automatic systems in airliners has increased fuel efficiency, added extra capabilities, enhanced safety and reliability, as well as provide improved passenger comfort since its introduction in the late 80's. However, original automation benefits, including reduced flight crew workload, human errors or training requirements, were not achieved as originally expected. Instead, automation introduced new failure modes, redistributed, and sometimes increased workload, brought in new cognitive and attention demands, and increased training requirements. Modern airliners have numerous flight modes, providing more flexibility (and inherently more complexity) to the flight crew. However, the price to pay for the increased flexibility is the need for increased mode awareness, as well as the need to supervise, understand, and predict automated system behavior. Also, over-reliance on automation is linked to manual flight skill degradation and complacency in commercial pilots. As a result, recent accidents involving human errors are often caused by the interactions between humans and the automated systems (e.g., the breakdown in man-machine coordination), deteriorated manual flying skills, and/or loss of situational awareness due to heavy dependence on automated systems. This paper describes the development of the increased complexity and reliance on automation baseline model, named FLAP for FLightdeck Automation Problems. The model development process starts with a comprehensive literature review followed by the construction of a framework comprised of high-level causal factors leading to an automation-related flight anomaly. The framework was then converted into a Bayesian Belief Network (BBN) using the Hugin Software v7.8. The effects of automation on flight crew are incorporated into the model, including flight skill degradation, increased cognitive demand and training requirements along with their interactions. Besides flight crew deficiencies, automation system failures and anomalies of avionic systems are also incorporated. The resultant model helps simulate the emergence of automation-related issues in today's modern airliners from a top-down, generalized approach, which serves as a platform to evaluate NASA developed technologies

Ancel, Ersin↗

NASA NTRS2008

UAVSAR Flight-Planning System

A system of software partly automates planning of a flight of the Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) -- a polarimetric synthetic-aperture radar system aboard an unpiloted or minimally piloted airplane. The software constructs a flight plan that specifies not only the intended flight path but also the setup of the radar system at each point along the path.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS1994

Models of Human Information Requirements: "When Reasonable Aiding Systems Disagree"

Aircraft flight management and Air Traffic Control (ATC) automation are under development to maximize the economy of flight and to increase the capacity of the terminal area airspace while maintaining levels of flight safety equal to or better than current system performance. These goals are being realized by the introduction of flight management automation aiding and operations support systems on the flight deck and by new developments of ATC aiding systems that seek to optimize scheduling of aircraft while potentially reducing required separation and accounting for weather and wake vortex turbulence. Aiding systems on both the flight deck and the ground operate through algorithmic functions on models of the aircraft and of the airspace. These models may differ from each other as a result of variations in their models of the immediate environment. The resultant flight operations or ATC commands may differ in their response requirements (e.g. different preferred descent speeds or descent initiation points). The human operators in the system must then interact with the automation to reconcile differences and resolve conflicts. We have developed a model of human performance including cognitive functions (decision-making, rule-based reasoning, procedural interruption recovery and forgetting) that supports analysis of the information requirements for resolution of flight aiding and ATC conflicts. The model represents multiple individuals in the flight crew and in ATC. The model is supported in simulation on a Silicon Graphics' workstation using Allegro Lisp. Design guidelines for aviation automation aiding systems have been developed using the model's specification of information and team procedural requirements. Empirical data on flight deck operations from full-mission flight simulation are provided to support the model's predictions. The paper describes the model, its development and implementation, the simulation test of the model predictions, and the empirical validation process. The model and its supporting data provide a generalizable tool that is being expanded to include air/ground compatibility and ATC crew interactions in air traffic management.

Corker, Kevin↗

NASA NTRS1994

Automating the training development process for mission flight operations

Traditional methods of developing training do not effectively support the changing needs of operational users in a multimission environment. The Automated Training Development System (ATDS) provides advantages over conventional methods in quality, quantity, turnaround, database maintenance, and focus on individualized instruction. The Operations System Training Group at the JPL performed a six-month study to assess the potential of ATDS to automate curriculum development and to generate and maintain course materials. To begin the study, the group acquired readily available hardware and participated in a two-week training session to introduce the process. ATDS is a building activity that combines training's traditional information-gathering with a hierarchical method for interleaving the elements. The program can be described fairly simply. A comprehensive list of candidate tasks determines the content of the database; from that database, selected critical tasks dictate which competencies of skill and knowledge to include in course material for the target audience. The training developer adds pertinent planning information about each task to the database, then ATDS generates a tailored set of instructional material, based on the specific set of selection criteria. Course material consistently leads students to a prescribed level of competency.

Scott, Carol J.↗

NASA NTRS1998

A modernized approach to meet diversified earth observing system (EOS) AM-1 mission requirements

From a flight dynamics perspective, the EOS AM-1 mission design and maneuver operations present a number of interesting challenges. The mission design itself is relatively complex for a low Earth mission, requiring a frozen, Sun-synchronous, polar orbit with a repeating ground track. Beyond the need to design an orbit that meets these requirements, the recent focus on low-cost, 'lights out' operations has encouraged a shift to more automated ground support. Flight dynamics activities previously performed in special facilities created solely for that purpose and staffed by personnel with years of design experience are now being shifted to the mission operations centers (MOCs) staffed by flight operations team (FOT) operators. These operators' responsibilities include flight dynamics as a small subset of their work; therefore, FOT personnel often do not have the experience to make critical maneuver design decisions. Thus, streamlining the analysis and planning work required for such a complicated orbit design and preparing FOT personnel to take on the routine operation of such a spacecraft both necessitated increasing the automation level of the flight dynamics functionality. The FreeFlyer(TM) software developed by AI Solutions provides a means to achieve both of these goals. The graphic interface enables users to interactively perform analyses that previously required many parametric studies and much data reduction to achieve the same result In addition, the fuzzy logic engine enables the simultaneous evaluation of multiple conflicting constraints, removing the analyst from the loop and allowing the FOT to perform more of the operations without much background in orbit design. Modernized techniques were implemented for EOS AM-1 flight dynamics support in several areas, including launch window determination, orbit maintenance maneuver control strategies, and maneuver design and calibration automation. The benefits of implementing these techniques include increased fuel available for on-orbit maneuvering, a simplified orbit maintenance process to minimize science data downtime, and an automated routine maneuver planning process. This paper provides an examination of the modernized techniques implemented for EOS AM-1 to achieve these benefits.

Newman, Lauri Kraft↗

NASA NTRS1998

A Modernized Approach to Meet Diversified Earth Observing System (EOS) AM-1 Mission Requirements

From a flight dynamics perspective, the EOS AM-1 mission design and maneuver operations present a number of interesting challenges. The mission design itself is relatively complex for a low Earth mission, requiring a frozen, Sun-synchronous, polar orbit with a repeating ground track. Beyond the need to design an orbit that meets these requirements, the recent focus on low-cost, "lights out" operations has encouraged a shift to more automated ground support. Flight dynamics activities previously performed in special facilities created solely for that purpose and staffed by personnel with years of design experience are now being shifted to the mission operations centers (MOCs) staffed by flight operations team (FOT) operators. These operators' responsibilities include flight dynamics as a small subset of their work; therefore, FOT personnel often do not have the experience to make critical maneuver design decisions. Thus, streamlining the analysis and planning work required for such a complicated orbit design and preparing FOT personnel to take on the routine operation of such a spacecraft both necessitated increasing the automation level of the flight dynamics functionality. The FreeFlyer(trademark) software developed by AI Solutions provides a means to achieve both of these goals. The graphic interface enables users to interactively perform analyses that previously required many parametric studies and much data reduction to achieve the same result. In addition, the fuzzy logic engine .enables the simultaneous evaluation of multiple conflicting constraints, removing the analyst from the loop and allowing the FOT to perform more of the operations without much background in orbit design. Modernized techniques were implemented for EOS AM-1 flight dynamics support in several areas, including launch window determination, orbit maintenance maneuver control strategies, and maneuver design and calibration automation. The benefits of implementing these techniques include increased fuel available for on-orbit maneuvering, a simplified orbit maintenance process to minimize science data downtime, and an automated routine maneuver planning process. This paper provides an examination of the modernized techniques implemented for EOS AM-1 to achieve these benefits.

Newman, Lauri Kraft↗

NASA NTRS1970

Medical Automation System at the Marshall Space Flight Center

A computer system is reported for scheduling and coordinating physical examinations for groups of people who work with chemicals, lasers, X-rays, isotopic sources, toxic fuels, adhesives, and exotic metals. Complete medical data on the examined population are continuously updated for a broad medical master file. Statistical methods are employed to project progressive changes in the health status of these employees for possible clinical interventions.

Spraul, J. H.↗

NASA NTRS1991

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Robotic Processing System Program Automation Systems, volume 2

Topics related to robot operated materials processing in space (RoMPS) are presented in view graph form. Some of the areas covered include: (1) mission requirements; (2) automation management system; (3) Space Transportation System (STS) Hitchhicker Payload; (4) Spacecraft Command Language (SCL) scripts; (5) SCL software components; (6) RoMPS EasyLab Command & Variable summary for rack stations and annealer module; (7) support electronics assembly; (8) SCL uplink packet definition; (9) SC-4 EasyLab System Memory Map; (10) Servo Axis Control Logic Suppliers; and (11) annealing oven control subsystem.

Dobbs, M. E.↗

NASA NTRS2016

Extended Bright Bodies - Flight and Ground Software Challenges on the Cassini Mission at Saturn

Extended bright bodies in the Saturn environment such as Saturn's rings, the planet itself, and Saturn's satellites near the Cassini spacecraft may interfere with the star tracker's ability to find stars. These interferences can create faulty spacecraft attitude knowledge, which would decrease the pointing accuracy or even trip a fault protection response on board the spacecraft. The effects of the extended bright body interference were observed in December of 2000 when Cassini flew by Jupiter. Based on this flight experience and expected star tracker behavior at Saturn, the Cassini AACS operations team defined flight rules to suspend the star tracker during predicted interference windows. The flight rules are also implemented in the existing ground software called Kinematic Predictor Tool to create star identification suspend commands to be uplinked to the spacecraft for future predicted interferences. This paper discusses the details of how extended bright bodies impact Cassini's acquisition of attitude knowledge, how the observed data helped the ground engineers in developing flight rules, and how automated methods are used in the flight and ground software to ensure the spacecraft is continuously operated within these flight rules. This paper also discusses how these established procedures will continue to be used to overcome new bright body challenges that Cassini will encounter during its dips inside the rings of Saturn for its final orbits of a remarkable 20-year mission at Saturn.

Sung, Tina S.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Autonomous flight and remote site landing guidance research for helicopters

Automated low-altitude flight and landing in remote areas within a civilian environment are investigated, where initial cost, ongoing maintenance costs, and system productivity are important considerations. An approach has been taken which has: (1) utilized those technologies developed for military applications which are directly transferable to a civilian mission; (2) exploited and developed technology areas where new methods or concepts are required; and (3) undertaken research with the potential to lead to innovative methods or concepts required to achieve a manual and fully automatic remote area low-altitude and landing capability. The project has resulted in a definition of system operational concept that includes a sensor subsystem, a sensor fusion/feature extraction capability, and a guidance and control law concept. These subsystem concepts have been developed to sufficient depth to enable further exploration within the NASA simulation environment, and to support programs leading to the flight test.

Denton, R. V.↗