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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 NTRS2008

Design Study of 8 Meter Monolithic Mirror UV/Optical Space Telescope

The planned Ares V launch vehicle with its 10 meter fairing shroud and 55,000 kg capacity to the Sun Earth L2 point enables entirely new classes of space telescopes. NASA MSFC has conducted a preliminary study that demonstrates the feasibility of launching a 6 to 8 meter class monolithic primary mirror telescope to Sun-Earth L2 using an Ares V. Specific technical areas studied included optical design; structural design/analysis including primary mirror support structure, sun shade and secondary mirror support structure; thermal analysis; launch vehicle performance and trajectory; spacecraft including structure, propulsion, GN&C, avionics, power systems and reaction wheels; operations and servicing; mass and power budgets; and system cost.

Stahl, H. Philip↗
NASA NTRS2008

An 8 Meter Monolithic UV/Optical Space Telescope

The planned Ares V launch vehicle with its 10 meter fairing and at least 55,600 kg capacity to Earth Sun L2 enables entirely new classes of space telescopes. A consortium from NASA, Space Telescope Science Institute, and aerospace industry are studying an 8-meter monolithic primary mirror UV/optical/NIR space telescope to enable new astrophysical research that is not feasible with existing or near-term missions, either space or ground. This paper briefly reviews the science case for such a mission and presents the results of an on-going technical feasibility study, including: optical design; structural design/analysis including primary mirror support structure, sun shade and secondary mirror support structure; thermal analysis; launch vehicle performance and trajectory; spacecraft including structure, propulsion, GN&C, avionics, power systems and reaction wheels; operations & servicing; mass budget and cost.

Stahl, H. Philip↗
NASA NTRS2008

8-Meter UV/Optical Space Telescope

This slide presentation proposes using the unprecedented capability of the planned Ares V launch vehicle, to place a 8 meter monolithic space telescope at the Earth-Sun L2 point. This new capability enables a new design pardigm -- simplicity. The six to eight meter class telescope with a massive high Technical Readiness Level ground observatory class monolithic primary mirror has been determined feasible. The proposed design, structural analysis, spacecraft design and shroud integration, thermal analysis, propulsion system, guidance navigation and pointing control assumptions about the avionics, and power systems, operational lifetime, and the idea of in-space servicing are reviewed.

Stahl, H. Philip↗
NASA NTRS2009

An Algorithm for Obtaining the Distribution of 1-Meter Lightning Channel Segment Altitudes for Application in Lightning NOx Production Estimation

An algorithm has been developed to estimate the altitude distribution of one-meter lightning channel segments. The algorithm is required as part of a broader objective that involves improving the lightning NOx emission inventories of both regional air quality and global chemistry/climate models. The algorithm was tested and applied to VHF signals detected by the North Alabama Lightning Mapping Array (NALMA). The accuracy of the algorithm was characterized by comparing algorithm output to the plots of individual discharges whose lengths were computed by hand; VHF source amplitude thresholding and smoothing were applied to optimize results. Several thousands of lightning flashes within 120 km of the NALMA network centroid were gathered from all four seasons, and were analyzed by the algorithm. The mean, standard deviation, and median statistics were obtained for all the flashes, the ground flashes, and the cloud flashes. One-meter channel segment altitude distributions were also obtained for the different seasons.

Peterson, Harold↗
NASA NTRS2010

8 Meter Advanced Technology Large-Aperture Space Telescope (ATLAST-8m)

ATLAST-8m (Advanced Technology Large Aperture Space Telescope) is a proposed 8-meter monolithic UV/optical/NIR space observatory (wavelength range 110 to 2500 nm) to be placed in orbit at Sun-Earth L2 by NASA's planned Ares V heavy lift vehicle. Given its very high angular resolution (15 mas @ 500 nm), sensitivity and performance stability, ATLAST-8m is capable of achieving breakthroughs in a broad range of astrophysics including: Is there life elsewhere in the Galaxy? An 8-meter UVOIR observatory has the performance required to detect habitability (H2O, atmospheric column density) and biosignatures (O2, O3, CH4) in terrestrial exoplanet atmospheres, to reveal the underlying physics that drives star formation, and to trace the complex interactions between dark matter, galaxies, and intergalactic medium. The ATLAST Astrophysics Strategic Mission Concept Study developed a detailed point design for an 8-m monolithic observatory including optical design; structural design/analysis including primary mirror support structure, sun shade and secondary mirror support structure; thermal analysis; spacecraft including structure, propulsion, GN&C, avionics, power systems and reaction wheels; mass and power budgets; and system cost. The results of which were submitted by invitation to NRC's 2010 Astronomy & Astrophysics Decadal Survey.

Stahl, H. Philip↗
NASA NTRS2010

Metering Gas Strut for Separating Rocket Stages

A proposed gas strut system would separate a liquid-fueled second rocket stage from a solid-fueled first stage using an array of pre-charged struts. The strut would be a piston-and-cylinder mechanism containing a compressed gas. Adiabatic expansion of the gas would drive the extension of the strut. The strut is designed to produce a force-versus-time profile, chosen to prevent agitation of the liquid fuel, in which the force would increase from an initial low value to a peak value, then decay toward the end of the stroke. The strut would include a piston chamber and a storage chamber. The piston chamber would initially contain gas at a low pressure to provide the initial low separation force. The storage chamber would contain gas at a higher pressure. The piston would include a longitudinal metering rod containing an array of small holes, sized to restrict the flow gas between the chambers, that would initially not be exposed to the interior of the piston chamber. During subsequent expansion, the piston motion would open more of the metering holes between the storage and piston chambers, thereby increasing the flow of gas into the piston chamber to produce the desired buildup of force.

Floyd, Brian↗
NASA NTRS2011

Planetary Radar Imaging with the Deep-Space Network's 34 Meter Uplink Array

A coherent uplink array consisting of up to three 34-meter antennas of NASA's Deep Space Network has been developed for the primary purpose of increasing EIRP at the spacecraft. Greater EIRP ensures greater reach, higher uplink data rates for command and configuration control, as well as improved search and recovery capabilities during spacecraft emergencies. It has been conjectured that Doppler-delay radar imaging of lunar targets can be extended to planetary imaging, where the long baseline of the uplink array can provide greater resolution than a single antenna, as well as potentially higher EIRP. However, due to the well known R-4 loss in radar links, imaging of distant planets is a very challenging endeavor, requiring accurate phasing of the Uplink Array antennas, cryogenically cooled low-noise receiver amplifiers, and sophisticated processing of the received data to extract the weak echoes characteristic of planetary radar. This article describes experiments currently under way to image the planets Mercury and Venus, highlights improvements in equipment and techniques, and presents planetary images obtained to date with two 34 meter antennas configured as a coherently phased Uplink Array.

imaging↗
NASA NTRS2004

Hand-Held Color Meters Based on Interference Filters

Small, inexpensive, hand-held optoelectronic color-measuring devices based on metal-film/dielectric-film interference filters are undergoing development. These color meters could be suitable for use in a variety of applications in which there are requirements to quantify or match colors for aesthetic purposes but there is no need for the high spectral resolution of scientific-grade spectrometers. Such applications typically occur in the paint, printing, and cosmetic industries, for example. The figure schematically depicts a color meter of this type being used to measure the color of a sample in terms of the spectrum of light reflected from the sample. Light from a white source (for example, a white light-emitting diode) passes through a collimating lens to the sample. Another lens collects some of the light reflected from the sample and focuses the light onto the input end of optical fiber. Light emerging from the output end of the optical fiber illuminates an array of photodetectors covered with metal/dielectric-film interference filters like those described in Metal/Dielectric-film Interference Color Filters (NPO-20217), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 23, No. 2 (February 1999), page 70. Typically, these are wide-band-pass filters, as shown at the bottom of the figure. The photodetector array need not be of any particular design: it could be something as simple as an assembly containing several photodiodes or something as elaborate as an active-pixel sensor or other imaging device. What is essential is that each of the photodetectors or each of several groups of photodetectors is covered with a metal/dielectric-film filter of a different color. In most applications, it would be desirable to have at least three different filters, each for a spectral band that contains one of the three primary additive red, green, and blue colors. In some applications, it may be necessary to have more than three different color filters in order to characterize subtle differences in color (or in the sensation of color) that cannot be characterized with sufficient precision by use of the primary colors alone.

Snyder, G. Jeffrey↗
NASA NTRS2011

Planetary Radar Imaging with the Deep-Space Network's 34 Meter Uplink Array

A coherent Uplink Array consisting of two or three 34-meter antennas of NASA's Deep Space Network has been developed for the primary purpose of increasing EIRP at the spacecraft. Greater EIRP ensures greater reach, higher uplink data rates for command and configuration control, as well as improved search and recovery capabilities during spacecraft emergencies. It has been conjectured that Doppler-delay radar imaging of lunar targets can be extended to planetary imaging, where the long baseline of the uplink array can provide greater resolution than a single antenna, as well as potentially higher EIRP. However, due to the well known R4 loss in radar links, imaging of distant planets is a very challenging endeavor, requiring accurate phasing of the Uplink Array antennas, cryogenically cooled low-noise receiver amplifiers, and sophisticated processing of the received data to extract the weak echoes characteristic of planetary radar. This article describes experiments currently under way to image the planets Mercury and Venus, highlights improvements in equipment and techniques, and presents planetary images obtained to date with two 34 meter antennas configured as a coherently phased Uplink Array.

uplink array↗
NASA NTRS2011

Assembly of 5.5-Meter Diameter Developmental Barrel Segments for the Ares I Upper Stage

Full scale assembly welding of Ares I Upper Stage 5.5-Meter diameter cryogenic tank barrel segments has been performed at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). One full-scale developmental article produced under the Ares 1 Upper Stage project is the Manufacturing Demonstration Article (MDA) Barrel. This presentation will focus on the welded assembly of this barrel section, and associated lessons learned. Among the MDA articles planned on the Ares 1 Program, the Barrel was the first to be completed, primarily because the process of manufacture from piece parts (barrel panels) utilized the most mature friction stir process planned for use on the Ares US program: Conventional fixed pin Friction Stir Welding (FSW). This process is in use on other space launch systems, including the Shuttle s External Tank, the Delta IV common booster core, the Delta II, and the Atlas V rockets. The goals for the MDA Barrel development were several fold: 1) to prove out Marshall Space Flight Center s new Vertical Weld Tool for use in manufacture of cylindrical barrel sections, 2) to serve as a first run for weld qualification to a new weld specification, and 3) to provide a full size cylindrical section for downstream use in precision cleaning and Spray-on Foam Insulation development. The progression leading into the welding of the full size barrel included sub scale panel welding, subscale cylinder welding, a full length confidence weld, and finally, the 3 seamed MDA barrel processing. Lessons learned on this MDA program have been carried forward into the production tooling for the Ares 1 US Program, and in the use of the MSFC VWT in processing other large scale hardware, including two 8.4 meter diameter Shuttle External Tank barrel sections that are currently being used in structural analysis to validate shell buckling models.

Carter, Robert W.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Experimental Evaluation of the "Polished Panel Optical Receiver" Concept on the Deep Space Network's 34 Meter Antenna

The potential development of large aperture ground-based "photon bucket" optical receivers for deep space communications has received considerable attention recently. One approach currently under investigation proposes to polish the aluminum reflector panels of 34-meter microwave antennas to high reflectance, and accept the relatively large spotsize generated by even state-of-the-art polished aluminum panels. Here we describe the experimental effort currently underway at the Deep Space Network (DSN) Goldstone Communications Complex in California, to test and verify these concepts in a realistic operational environment. A custom designed aluminum panel has been mounted on the 34 meter research antenna at Deep-Space Station 13 (DSS-13), and a remotely controlled CCD camera with a large CCD sensor in a weather-proof container has been installed next to the subreflector, pointed directly at the custom polished panel. Using the planet Jupiter as the optical point-source, the point-spread function (PSF) generated by the polished panel has been characterized, the array data processed to determine the center of the intensity distribution, and expected communications performance of the proposed polished panel optical receiver has been evaluated.

photon counting detection↗
NASA NTRS2014

Modal Test of Six-Meter Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator

A modal test was performed on the six-meter Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (HIAD) test article to gain a firm understanding of the dynamic characteristics of the unloaded structure within the low frequency range. The tests involved various configurations of the HIAD to understand the influence of the tri-torus, the varying pressure within the toroids and the influence of straps. The primary test was conducted utilizing an eletrodynamic shaker and the results were verified using a step relaxation technique. The analysis results show an increase in the structure's stiffness with respect to increasing pressure. The results also show the rise of coupled modes with the tri-torus configurations. During the testing activity, the attached straps exhibited a behavior that is similar to that described as fuzzy structures in the literature. Therefore extensive tests were also performed by utilizing foam to mitigate these effects as well as understand the modal parameters of these fuzzy sub structures. Results are being utilized to update the finite element model of the six-meter HIAD and to gain a better understanding of the modeling of complex inflatable structures.

Abraham, Nijo↗
NASA NTRS2014

Technology Requirements for a Square Meter, Arcsecond Resolution Telescope for X-Rays: The SMART-X Mission

Addressing the astrophysical problems of the 2020's requires sub-arcsecond x-ray imaging with square meter effective area. Such requirements can be derived, for example, by considering deep x-ray surveys to find the young black holes in the early universe (large redshifts) which will grow into the first super-massive black holes. We have envisioned a mission, the Square Meter Arcsecond Resolution Telescope for X-rays (SMART-X), based on adjustable x-ray optics technology, incorporating mirrors with the required small ratio of mass to collecting area. We are pursuing technology which achieves sub-arcsecond resolution by on-orbit adjustment via thin film piezoelectric "cells" deposited directly on the non-reflecting sides of thin, slumped glass. While SMART-X will also incorporate state-of-the-art x-ray cameras, the remaining spacecraft systems have no requirements more stringent than those which are well understood and proven on the current Chandra X-ray Observatory.

Schwartz, Daniel A.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Experimental Evaluation of Optically Polished Aluminum Panels on the Deep Space Network's 34 Meter Antenna

The potential development of large aperture ground?based "photon bucket" optical receivers for deep space communications has received considerable attention recently. One approach currently under investigation is to polish the aluminum reflector panels of 34?meter microwave antennas to high reflectance, and accept the relatively large spotsize generated by state of?the?art polished aluminum panels. Theoretical analyses of receiving antenna pointing, temporal synchronization and data detection have been addressed in previous papers. Here we describe the experimental effort currently underway at the Deep Space Network (DSN) Goldstone Communications Complex in California, to test and verify these concepts in a realistic operational environment. Two polished aluminum panels (a standard DSN panel polished to high reflectance, and a custom designed aluminum panel with much better surface quality) have been mounted on the 34 meter research antenna at Deep?Space Station 13 (DSS?13), and a remotely controlled CCD camera with a large CCD sensor in a weather?proof container has been installed next to the subreflector, pointed directly at the custom polished panel. The point?spread function (PSF) generated by the Vertex polished panel has been determined to be smaller than the sensor of the CCD camera, hence a detailed picture of the PSF can be obtained every few seconds, and the sensor array data processed to determine the center of the intensity distribution. In addition to estimating the center coordinates, expected communications performance can also been evaluated with the recorded data. The results of preliminary pointing experiments with the Vertex polished panel receiver using the planet Jupiter to simulate the PSF generated by a deep?space optical transmitter are presented and discussed in this paper.

optical receiver↗
NASA NTRS2016

Comparison of Different Control Schemes for Strategic Departure Metering

Airports and their terminal airspaces are key choke points in the air transportation system causing major delays and adding to pollution. A solution aimed at mitigating these chokepoints integrates the scheduling of runway operations, flight release from the gates and ramp into the airport movement area, and merging with other traffic competing for downstream airspace points. Within this integrated concept, we present a simulation-based analysis of the departure metering process, which delays the release of flights into the airport movement area while balancing two competing objectives: (1) maintaining large enough queues at the airport resources to maximize throughput and (2) absorbing excess delays at the gates or in ramp areas to save on fuel consumption, emissions, noise, and passenger discomfort. Three metering strategies are compared which respectively attempt to control the number of flights that (1) left the gate but did not take off, (2) left the ramp but did not take off, and (3) spent their unimpeded transit time to the runway but did not take off. It was observed that under deterministic and demand uncertainty conditions, the first strategy performed better than the other two strategies in terms of maintaining the runway throughput while transferring a significant average delay of two minutes to the gate. On the other hand, under uncertainties of flight transit time and runway service rate, all the strategies struggled to delay flights at the gate without a significant impact on the runway throughput.

air traffic management↗
NASA NTRS2016

Comparison of Fuel Consumption of Descent Trajectories Under Arrival Metering

This paper compares fuel consumption of descent trajectories from cruise altitude to meter fix when the required time of arrival is later than the nominal time of arrival at the meter fix. The required delay, which is the difference between the nominal and the required times of arrival, is achieved by either slowing down the aircraft in the cruise and descent phases or flying a longer route at a constant altitude. Performance models of ten different Boeing and Airbus aircraft, obtained from the Base of Aircraft Data, are employed for generating the results. It is demonstrated that the most fuel-efficient speed control strategy for absorbing delay is first reducing descent speed as much as possible and then reducing cruise speed. This is a common finding for all ten aircraft considered. For some aircraft, flying at a fixed flight path angle and constant Mach-calibrated-airspeed results in lower fuel consumption compared to standard descent at idle-thrust and constant Mach-calibrated- airspeed. Finally, for the cases examined, it is shown that executing a path stretch maneuver at cruise altitude and descent at a reduced speed is more fuel efficient than inserting an intermediate-altitude cruise segment.

Nikoleris, Tasos↗
NASA NTRS2019

Alternatives for Scheduling Departures for Efficient Surface Metering in ATD-2: Exploration in a Human-in-the-Loop Simulation

Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) simulation was conducted to explore the impacts of various surface metering goals on operations and Ramp Controllers at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT). Three conditions were compared: Baseline, with no surface metering, instructions to meet advisory times at the gate only, and instructions to meet advisory times at the gate as well as the times at the scheduled taxiway spot, where aircraft are delivered to Air Traffic Control (ATC). Results showed increased compliance for taxiway spot times when compliance was first met for gate advisories. Instructing Ramp Controllers to meet advisory times at the gate improves spot time compliance and therefore surface scheduling predictability at CLT. Results also demonstrated there was increased compliance overall with gate and spot times in the second condition. This was likely due to higher Ramp Controller workload in the third condition.

Airport surface scheduling↗
NASA NTRS2019

Deployment mechanisms for high packing efficiency One-MEter Reflectarray Antenna (OMERA)

While the capabilities of CubeSats have greatly increased in the past years, large, deployable high frequency apertures remain a limitation. The goal of this work is to develop a large 1 meter antenna operating at 35.75 GHz for RADAR applications. A reflectarray design was selected, as the flat panels are compatible with the CubeSat form factor. A center-fed, Cassegrain configuration was selected for the feed, to minimize deployed height. The flat panel configuration and Cassegrain feed allowed the entire 1 meter antenna to be compatible with a 6U bus, leaving a little under 4U of volume for remaining instrument and spacecraft components. Several iterations of the design have been built and tested, with an RF test of a fully deployed assembly being completed most recently. Prior to constructing the flight model, another iteration will need to be built and tested. The goal is to have the antenna flight ready before 2020.

Cwik, Tom↗