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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 NTRSDate not supplied

Effect of Pressure and Oxidation State on Pnictogen Metal-Silicate Partitioning

The partitioning of trace elements between metal and silicate melts serves as the foundation for understanding the differentiation of a planetary body into a metallic core and silicate mantle. Element activity influences metal-silicate partitioning behavior. Activity coefficients are directly dependent on composition and temperature, and can be indirectly dependent on oxygen fugacity and pressure. Distinguishing the effect of pressure from other variables on the activity coefficients and partitioning is important for understanding the chemical evolution of different planetary bodies during differentiation. In this study, we investigated the influence of pressure on the activity coefficients of Cu, Mo, Pd, Pt, As, Sb, and Bi in Fe-Si metallic liquids. All of these elements exhibit moderate to high activity coefficients in Fe-Si liquids at low pressure, which significantly controls their metal-silicate partitioning behavior. Identifying whether this strong dependence persists at higher pressures is critical to modeling and understanding the chemical consequences of core formation. New experiments at 10 GPa were used to derive activity coefficients for these metals which can be compared to activity coefficients determined at 1 GPa. Experiments were conducted at 10 GPa and 2373K using a 10/5 assembly in the 880-ton multi anvil press at NASA Johnson Space Center. The standard 10/5 COMPRES assembly was slightly modified to accommodate a sample capsule machined from single-crystal MgO that minimizes melt percolation out of the sample volume during the experiment. Experiment starting materials were comprised of 70 wt.% Knippa basalt and 30 wt.% metal. The metal mixture (~85 wt.% Fe) was created by adding the elements of interest (Cu, Mo, Pd, Pt, As, Sb, Bi) to Fe metal powder. Varied amounts of Si metal (0-10 wt.% Si) were added to the metal-silicate mixtures to generate a systematic series of starting materials. For each element, an epsilon interaction parameter in Fe-Si liquid was derived from the results of our 0-10 wt.% Si metal series. To investigate whether pressure influences the trace element activity coefficients in the 1-10 GPa pressure range, we compared our results at 10 GPa to those at 1-4 GPa [1-3]. Our results can also be directly compared to interaction parameters for Au, P, V, Mn, Ga, Zn, Cd, Sn, W, Pb, and Nb previously determined at 10 GPa and 2373K following the same methods [4]. Combined, this suite of interaction parameters will directly inform metal- silicate partitioning between 1 and 10 GPa, and assess whether these values can be extrapolated to modeling differentiation processes at pressures >10 GPa. [1] Righter et al. (2018) GCA 232, 101-123 [2] Righter et al. (2019) MaPS 54, 1379-1394 [3] Steenstra et al. (2020) Icarus, 335, 113391 [4] Righter et al. (2020) Geochem. Persp. Let. 15, 44-49

Kelsey Prissel↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA Space Launch System Completes Key Hot Fire Test and Begins Vehicle Integration

NASA and its commercial and international partners are on the way back to the Moon. Significant progress towards that goal was made in 2021, including on the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket – a key part of the Artemis initiative. The SLS core stage for the Artemis I mission – the first launch of SLS and an uncrewed Orion capsule – completed its Green Run test series in early 2021 and was successfully mated with the SLS twin solid rocket boosters on the mobile launcher at Kennedy Space Center (KSC). The launch vehicle stage adapter, interim cryogenic propulsion stage, and the Orion stage adapter structural test article and Orion spacecraft mass simulator were also stacked. The flight Orion spacecraft and Orion stage adapter are being prepared for stacking and launch, targeted for late 2021 following a wet dress rehearsal at Launch Complex 39B. SLS hardware for Artemis II, which will be the first flight of crew on Orion and SLS, is also in work. Work progressed on core stage components, booster segments, and other hardware for Artemis III and future missions. This paper will detail the progress made.

John Honeycutt↗
NASA NTRS2015

Embedded Systems Hardware Integration and Code Development for Maraia Capsule and E-MIST

The cost of sending large spacecraft to orbit makes them undesirable for carrying out smaller scientific missions. Small spacecraft are more economical and can be tailored for missions where specific tasks need to be carried out, the Maraia capsule is such a spacecraft. Maraia will allow for samples of experiments conducted on the International Space Station to be returned to earth. The use of balloons to conduct experiments at the edge of space is a practical approach to reducing the large expense of using rockets. E-MIST is a payload designed to fly on a high altitude balloon. It can maintain science experiments in a controlled manner at the edge of space. The work covered here entails the integration of hardware onto each of the mentioned systems and the code associated with such work. In particular, the resistance temperature detector, pressure transducers, cameras, and thrusters for Maraia are discussed. The integration of the resistance temperature detectors and motor controllers to E-MIST is described. Several issues associated with sensor accuracy, code lock-up, and in-flight reset issues are mentioned. The solutions and proposed solutions to these issues are explained.

capsule↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Ceres Planetary Mission Concept Study: Exploration of Ceres' Habitability

Dwarf planet Ceres is a compelling target as an evolved ocean world with recent and potentially ongoing geological activity. As the most water-rich body in the inner solar system after Earth (in absolute abundance), it is a representative of the population of planetesimals that brought volatiles and organics to the inner solar system. And, situated in the Main Belt of Asteroids, it is accessible enough to return a sample from within the resources of a typical medium-class (New Frontiers) NASA mission. Habitability is addressed via a combination of geological, geophysical, and compositional investigations. Past and ongoing activity is addressed via high-resolution imaging and gravity measurements from orbit near landforms interpreted as volcanic structures based on the Dawn observations. The depth of deep brines would be probed via electromagnetic sounding. Sample return would enable a vast range of experimental techniques to be applied with sensitivities and accuracies beyond those feasible with in situ instruments and would benefit from future facilities developments. Sample return could be executed with a single flight system with solar electric propulsion. The baseline design of the sample return capsule is inherited from the OSIRIS-REx mission. This concept also relies on the availability of key technologies: an enhanced landing vision system leveraging investments for Mars 2020; retractable/redeployable solar arrays, which have been demonstrated on the International Space Station but not at Ceres’ gravity; and a new design for sample transfer from the pneumatic sampling system to the sample return capsule based off Honeybee Robotics’ design for the MMX mission. The authors acknowledge support from NASA’s Planetary Mission Concept Study program. The information in this abstract is pre-decisional and is provided for planning and discussion purposes only.

K. E. Miller↗
NASA NTRS2009

International Space Station (ISS) External Television (TV) Camera Shutdown Investigation

In the early morning of January 15, 2006, the Stardust Sample Return Capsule (SRC) successfully delivered its precious cargo of cometary particles to the awaiting recovery team at the Utah Test and Training Range (UTTR). As the SRC entered at 12.8 km/s, the fastest manmade object to traverse the atmosphere, a team of researchers imaged the event aboard the NASA DC-8 airborne observatory. At SRC entry, the airplane was at an altitude of 11.9 km positioned within 6.4 km of the prescribed, preferred target view location. The incoming SRC was first acquired approximately 18 seconds (s) after atmospheric interface and tracked for approximately 60 s, an observation period that is roughly centered in time around predicted peak heating.

Kichak, Robert↗
NASA NTRS1971

Survey of space escape/rescue/survivability capabilities.

Discussion of preventive or remedial systems to achieve safer space flight operations. Escape, rescue, and survival systems are defined by categories: on board, prepositioned aid, and earth-launched concepts. The survey considers separable escape or survival capsules; standby escape or rescue systems; and earth-launched manned and unmanned rescue systems. Reports covering such systems are listed, and the contents are classified as to scope of investigation, space mission, and design approach. Mission classes considered are earth orbit, lunar, and interplanetary. Results of the space escape, rescue, and survivability investigations are summarized in terms of system features and performance, including apparent voids or limitations in rescue capability. Recovery requirements and resources for space rescue are discussed.

Fleisig, R.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Orion Crew Module Aerodynamic Testing

The Apollo-derived Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), part of NASA s now-cancelled Constellation Program, has become the reference design for the new Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV). The MPCV will serve as the exploration vehicle for all near-term human space missions. A strategic wind-tunnel test program has been executed at numerous facilities throughout the country to support several phases of aerodynamic database development for the Orion spacecraft. This paper presents a summary of the experimental static aerodynamic data collected to-date for the Orion Crew Module (CM) capsule. The test program described herein involved personnel and resources from NASA Langley Research Center, NASA Ames Research Center, NASA Johnson Space Flight Center, Arnold Engineering and Development Center, Lockheed Martin Space Sciences, and Orbital Sciences. Data has been compiled from eight different wind tunnel tests in the CEV Aerosciences Program. Comparisons are made as appropriate to highlight effects of angle of attack, Mach number, Reynolds number, and model support system effects.

Murphy, Kelly J.↗
NASA NTRS2019

Paving the Way: The Influence of Early Research and Development Programs on Apollo, Saturn, and Legacy System Development

As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first successful human landings on the surface of the Moon in 1969, it is insightful to review the many historic accomplishments that contributed to this astounding human achievement. While the Apollo Program officially began following the charge by United States President John F. Kennedy in 1961, much of the foundation for Apollo was already underway with early research and development that began as early as the close of the second World War. Innovations and key decisions prior to the formal initiation of the Apollo Program, and even prior to the formation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), enabled the relatively rapid development of the Saturn V rocket, the Apollo capsule, and the Lunar Lander systems needed to achieve the goal of landing humans on the Moon and returning them safely to Earth by the close of the 1960s.

Cockrell, Charles E., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1995

A Simple Space Station Rescue Vehicle

Early in the development of the Space Station it was determined that there is a need to have a vehicle which could be used in the event that the Space Station crew need to quickly depart and return to Earth when the Space Shuttle is not available. Unplanned return missions might occur because of a medical emergency, a major Space Station failure, or if there is a long-term interruption in the delivery of logistics to the Station. The rescue vehicle ms envisioned as a simple capsule-type spacecraft which would be maintained in a dormant state at the Station for several years and be quickly activated by the crew when needed. During the assembly phase for the International Space Station, unplanned return missions will be performed by the Russian Soyuz vehicle, which can return up to three people. When the Station assembly is complete there will be a need for rescue capability for up to six people. This need might be met by an additional Soyuz vehicle or by a new vehicle which might come from a variety of sources. This paper describes one candidate concept for a Space Station rescue vehicle. The proposed rescue vehicle design has the blunt-cone shape of the Apollo command module but with a larger diameter. The rescue vehicle would be delivered to the Station in the payload bay of the Space Shuttle. The spacecraft design can accommodate six to eight people for a one-day return mission. All of the systems for the mission including deorbit propulsion are contained within the conical spacecraft and so there is no separate service module. The use of the proven Apollo re-entry shape would greatly reduce the time and cost for development and testing. Other aspects of the design are also intended to minimize development cost and simplify operations. This paper will summarize the evolution of rescue vehicle concepts, the functional requirements for a rescue vehicle, and describe the proposed design.

Petro, Andrew↗
NASA NTRS2018

NASA: 60 Years and Counting...

Sputnik launched on 4 Oct 1057. On July 29, 1958, Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, the creation of NASA. The Soviets launched the first human into orbit, Yuri Gagarin, on April 12, 1961. On 5 May 1961, Alan Shepard's Freedom 7 Mercury capsule lifted off at 9:34 a.m. from Launch Complex 5 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and flew a suborbital trajectory lasting 15 minutes and 22 seconds, America's first man in space. On 25 May 1961, Kennedy delivered a speech to a joint session of Congress. In that speech, he stated "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth." The rest, as they say, is history. Project Mercury, the first U.S. program to put humans in space, made 25 flights, six of which carried astronauts between 1961 and 1963. The Gemini program primarily tested equipment and mission procedures and trained astronauts and ground crews for future Apollo missions to the Moon. Exactly eight years, one month and 26 days after President Kennedy challenged Americans to reach for the Moon, Project Apollo landed the first humans on the lunar surface and returned them safely to Earth. In 1973, Skylab expeditions paved the way for the International Space Station. Over 30 years, NASA's space shuttle fleet, ”Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour,” flew 135 missions and carried 355 different people to space. The space shuttle carried people into orbit repeatedly; launched, recovered and repaired satellites; conducted cutting-edge research; and built the largest structure in space, the International Space Station. Tragically, NASA lost two crews of seven in the 1986 Challenger accident and the 2003 Columbia accident. The International Space Station is a model for global cooperation and scientific advancements that is enabling growth of private industry in low-Earth orbit and development of new technologies to advance human space exploration. Built between 1998 and 2011, the space station has housed humans continuously since Nov. 2, 2000. NASA has contracted with commercial companies SpaceX, Orbital ATK, and Sierra Nevada Corporation to deliver science investigations, cargo, and supplies to the crews living in space, and soon Boeing and SpaceX will transport astronauts to and from the station. Today, NASA is working on many fronts to advance man's presence in space. NASA's Exploration Campaign will establish U.S. preeminence in cislunar space through the operations and the deployment of a U.S.-led Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway (LOPG). Together with the Orion and SLS Programs, the LOPG is central to advancing and sustaining human space exploration goals, and is the unifying single stepping off point for human cislunar operations, lunar surface access and missions to Mars. As one might expect, EMC for all this activity is challenging, to say the least. In the next half-hour or so, I will talk about some of those challenges and how the different programs are meeting them.

Scully, Bob↗
NASA NTRS2016

Path to a UV/Optical/IR Flagship: Review of ATLAST and Its Predecessors

Our recently completed study for the Advanced Technology Large-Aperture Space Telescope (ATLAST) was the culmination of three years of initially internally funded work that built upon earlier engineering designs, science objectives, and technology priorities. Beginning in the mid-1980s, multiple teams of astronomers, technologists, and engineers developed concepts for a large-aperture UV/optical/IR space observatory intended to follow the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Here, we summarize since the first significant conferences on major post-HST ultraviolet, optical, and infrared (UVOIR) observatories the history of designs, scientific goals, key technology recommendations, and community workshops. Although the sophistication of science goals and the engineering designs both advanced over the past three decades, we note the remarkable constancy of major characteristics of large post-HST UVOIR concepts. As it has been a priority goal for NASA and science communities for a half-century, and has driven much of the technology priorities for major space observatories, we include the long history of concepts for searching for Earth-like worlds. We conclude with a capsule summary of our ATLAST reference designs developed by four partnering institutions over the past three years, which was initiated in 2013 to prepare for the 2020 National Academies' Decadal Survey.

exoplanets↗
NASA NTRS2018

The Recent Large Reduction in Space Launch Cost

The development of commercial launch systems has substantially reduced the cost of space launch. NASA’s space shuttle had a cost of about $1.5 billion to launch 27,500 kg to Low Earth Orbit (LEO), $54,500/kg. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 now advertises a cost of $62 million to launch 22,800 kg to LEO, $2,720/kg. Commercial launch has reduced the cost to LEO by a factor of 20. This will have a substantial impact on the space industry, military space, and NASA. Existing launch providers are reducing their costs and so are satellite developers. The military foresees an opportunity to rapidly replace compromised space assets that provided communications, weather, surveillance, and positioning. NASA supported the development of commercial space launch and NASA science anticipates lower cost missions, but human space flight planning seems unreactive. Specifically, it has been claimed that commercial spaceflight has not reduced the cost to provide cargo to the International Space Station (ISS). The key factor is that the space shuttle can provide cargo and crew to ISS while the Falcon 9 must also use the Dragon capsule, which adds cost and reduces payload. The cost of a Falcon 9 and Dragon capsule mission to ISS is about $140 million with a payload of 6,000 kg, $23,300/kg. The shuttle payload to ISS is less than to LEO, 16,050 kg, so its cost is also higher at $93,400/kg. The launch cost to ISS has been reduced by a factor of 4. Calculations that show commercial launch provides no cost reduction to ISS assume half the usually cited shuttle cost and allocate it to the actual delivered payload, about half the full capacity. In a split mission, with crew and pressurized cargo launched separately from hardware and materials, the higher Falcon 9 plus Dragon costs would apply only to a fraction of the launch mass. A 4 to 1 cost reduction saves most, 75%, of the total cost. A further reduction to 10 or 20 to 1 saves 90 or 95%, but this is only a small, 15 or 20%, portion of the original cost. The recently reduced space launch cost can be expected to substantially impact human space flight.

Jones, Harry W.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Corrosion Protection for Space and Beyond

Florida is home to NASA's Launch Operations Center. Since its establishment in July 1962, the spaceport has served as the departure gate for every American manned mission and hundreds of advanced scientific spacecraft under the Launch Services Program. The center was renamed the John F. Kennedy Space Center in late 1963 to honor the president who put America on the path to the moon. Today, NASA is on the edge of a bold new chaIlenge: the ConsteIlation Program. ConsteIlation is a NASA program to create a new generation of spacecraft for human spaceflight, consisting primarily of the Ares I and Ares V launch vehicles, the Orion crew capsule, the Earth Departure stage and the Lunar access module. These spacecraft will be capable of performing a variety of missions, from Space Station resupply to lunar landings. The ambitious new endeavor caIls for NASA to return human explorers to the moon and then venture even farther, to Mars and beyond. As the nation's premier spaceport, Kennedy Space Center (KSC) will playa critical role in this new chapter in exploration, particularly in the conversion of the launch facilities to accommodate the new launch vehicles. To prepare for this endeavor, the launch site and facilities for the next generation of crew and cargo vehicles must be redesigned, assembled and tested. One critical factor that is being carefuIly considered during the renovation is protecting the new facilities and structures from corrosion and deterioration.

Calle, Luz Marina↗
NASA NTRS1973

Compatibility tests of materials for a lithium-cooled space power reactor concept

Materials for a lithium-cooled space power reactor concept must be chemically compatible for up to 50,000 hr at high temperature. Capsule tests at 1040 C (1900 F) were made of material combinations of prime interest: T-111 in direct contact with uranium mononitride (UN), Un in vacuum separated from T-111 by tungsten wire, UN with various oxygen impurity levels enclosed in tungsten wire lithium-filled T-111 capsules, and TZM and lithium together in T-111 capsules. All combinations were compatible for over 2800 hr except for T-111 in direct contact with UN.

Sinclair, J. H.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Facilities for animal research in space

The animal facilities used aboard or designed for various spacecraft research missions are described. Consideration is given to the configurations used in Cosmos-1514 (1983) and Cosmos-1887 (1987) missions; the reusable Biosatellite capsule flown three times by NASA between 1966 and 1969; the NASA's Lifesat spacecraft that is being currently designed; the Animal Enclosure Module flown on Shuttle missions in 1983 and 1984; the Research Animal Holding Facility developed for Shuttle-Spacelab missions; the Rhesus Research Facility developed for a Spacelab mission; and the Japanese Animal Holding Facility for the Space Station Freedom. Special attention is given to the designs of NASA's animal facilities developed for Space Station Freedom and the details of various subsystems of these facilities. The main characteristics of the rodent and the primate habitats provided by these various facilities are discussed.

Bonting, Sjoerd L.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Space transportation - Reflections and projections

The history of U.S. manned spaceflight and the vehicles used is discussed. The programs began with low budgets and handwritten charts, then proceeded through the Redstone Mercury launch in 1961 and the Atlas Mercury orbital mission in 1962, with the decision to begin the Apollo project coming between those flights. Use of a sole source procurement with a nonprofit institution like the MIT Draper Laboratory for the Apollo guidance system is noted to have expedited the speed of paperwork. A lunar orbital rendezvous was chosen in October 1962 for the Saturn CV-launched Apollo. The Gemini capsule, eliminated early as a lunar module, served to expose problems of operation in a zero-g environment. The benefits of humans in space were made apparent in the process of fixing the Skylab solar panels. The Shuttle capabilities are reviewed, and the necessity for a vehicle for access and return from GEO is emphasized. Finally, attention is given to a single stage to orbit vehicle and launch systems for a Solar Power Satellite.

Disher, J. H.↗
NASA NTRS1976

A versatile system for biological and soil chemical tests on a planetary landing craft. II - Hardware development

A system has been under development which is designed to seek remotely for clues to life in planetary soil samples. The basic approach is a set of experiments, all having a common sensor, a gas analysis mass spectrometer which monitors gas composition in the head spaces above sealed, temperature controlled soil samples. Versatility is obtained with up to three preloaded, sealed fluid injector capsules for each of eleven soil test cells. Tests results with an engineering model has demonstrated performance capability of subsystem components such as soil distribution, gas sampling valves, injector mechanisms, temperature control, and test cell seal.

Martin, J. P.↗