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At least 253 records · Page 14

Status of NASA's Space Launch System

NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) continued to make significant progress in 2015, completing hardware and testing that brings NASA closer to a new era of deep space exploration. The most significant program milestone of the year was completion of Critical Design Review (CDR). A team of independent reviewers concluded that the vehicle design is technically and programmatically ready to move to Design Certification Review (DCR) and launch readiness in 2018. Just four years after program start, every major element has amassed development and flight hardware and completed key tests that will set the stage for a growing schedule of manufacturing and testing in 2016. Key to SLS' rapid progress has been the use of existing technologies adapted to the new launch vehicle. The space shuttle-heritage RS-25 engine is undergoing adaptation tests to prove it can meet SLS requirements and environments with minimal change. The four-segment shuttle-era booster has been modified and updated with an additional propellant segment, new insulation, and new avionics. The Interim Cryogenic Upper Stage is a modified version of an existing upper stage. The first Block I SLS configuration will launch a minimum of 70 metric tons of payload to low Earth orbit (LEO). The vehicle architecture has a clear evolutionary path to more than 100 metric tons and, ultimately, to 130 metric tons. Among the program's major accomplishments in 2015 were the first booster qualification hotfire test, a series of seven RS-25 adaptation hotfire tests, manufacturing of most of the major components for both core stage test articles and first flight tank, delivery of the Pegasus core stage barge, and the upper stage simulator. Renovations to the B-2 test stand for stage green run testing was completed at NASA Stennis Space Center. This year will see the second booster qualification motor hotfire, flight and additional development RS-25 engine tests, and completion of core stage test articles and test stands and several flight article sections. This paper will discuss these and other technical and programmatic successes and challenges over the past year and provide a preview of work ahead before the first flight of this new capability.

Honeycutt, John↗

Status of NASA's Space Launch System

NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) continued to make significant progress in 2015, completing hardware and testing that brings NASA closer to a new era of deep space exploration. The most significant program milestone of the year was completion of Critical Design Review (CDR). A team of independent reviewers concluded that the vehicle design is technically and programmatically ready to move to Design Certification Review (DCR) and launch readiness in 2018. Just four years after program start, every major element has amassed development and flight hardware and completed key tests that will set the stage for a growing schedule of manufacturing and testing in 2016. Key to SLS' rapid progress has been the use of existing technologies adapted to the new launch vehicle. The space shuttle-heritage RS-25 engine is undergoing adaptation tests to prove it can meet SLS requirements and environments with minimal change. The four-segment shuttle-era booster has been modified and updated with an additional propellant segment, new insulation, and new avionics. The Interim Cryogenic Upper Stage is a modified version of an existing upper stage. The first Block I SLS configuration will launch a minimum of 70 metric tons (t) of payload to low Earth orbit (LEO). The vehicle architecture has a clear evolutionary path to more than 100t and, ultimately, to 130t. Among the program's major accomplishments in 2015 were the first booster qualification hotfire test, a series of seven RS-25 adaptation hotfire tests, manufacturing of most of the major components for both core stage test articles and first flight tank, delivery of the Pegasus core stage barge, and the upper stage simulator. Renovations to the B-2 test stand for stage green run testing was completed at NASA Stennis Space Center. This year will see the second booster qualification motor hotfire, flight and additional development RS-25 engine tests, and completion of core stage test articles and test stands and several flight article sections. This paper will discuss these and other technical and programmatic successes and challenges over the past year and provide a preview of work ahead before the first flight of this new capability.

Lyles, Garry↗

National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program (ANNUAL REPORT | PLAN YEAR 2023–2024)

The 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), invests $\$$7.5 billion to build out a national electric vehicle (EV) charging network and created the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation (Joint Office) to “study, plan, coordinate, and implement issues of joint concern between the two agencies.” The BIL represents a historic effort to electrify the U.S. transportation system, which has significant potential to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and help tackle the climate crisis. The U.S. transportation sector accounts for one-third of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions—the largest share of all primary sectors, including electricity production, industry, commercial and residential, and agriculture. The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program, one of the BIL funding programs, was launched in February 2022, providing nearly $\$$5 billion over 5 years to help states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico (hereafter referred to as “states”) create a network of EV charging stations beginning with designated Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Alternative Fuel Corridors (AFCs), with an emphasis on the Interstate Highway System. The funding is made available to the states in allocations each year pending FHWA certification of the state’s annual deployment plan. The NEVI program is in its third year, so there's a lot to celebrate. As of July 2024, 39 states have released solicitations for their NEVI programs and eight states have opened their first NEVI-funded stations (61 ports in total), which have already powered thousands of charging sessions for EV drivers across America. Additional stations are in the pipeline with more than 2,500 additional ports having been awarded or conditionally awarded by the states. All states released their Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 deployment plan updates to reflect the new minimum requirements and guidance, and several states added newly designated EV AFCs in their FY 2024 deployment plan updates, bringing the total AFC network of EV corridors to more than 81,000 miles.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗

Software Construction and Analysis Tools for Future Space Missions

NASA and its international partners will increasingly depend on software-based systems to implement advanced functions for future space missions, such as Martian rovers that autonomously navigate long distances exploring geographic features formed by surface water early in the planet's history. The software-based functions for these missions will need to be robust and highly reliable, raising significant challenges in the context of recent Mars mission failures attributed to software faults. After reviewing these challenges, this paper describes tools that have been developed at NASA Ames that could contribute to meeting these challenges; 1) Program synthesis tools based on automated inference that generate documentation for manual review and annotations for automated certification. 2) Model-checking tools for concurrent object-oriented software that achieve memorability through synergy with program abstraction and static analysis tools.

Lowry, Michael R.↗

Controls and guidance: Space

The Space Controls and Guidance Research and Technology Program is directed toward enabling the next generation of space transportation systems, large future spacecraft, and space systems such as the Space Station to have large communication antennas and high precision segmented reflector astrophysical telescopes. The new generation of transportation vehicles has demanding requirements to provide for an order of magnitude reduction in cost as well as an increase in capability. The future orbital facilities have demanding control requirements for pointing and stabilization, momentum management, build-up and growth accomodation, and disturbance management. To address these advanced requirements, the research and development program is designed to provide the generic technology base to support the implementation of advanced guidance, navigation, and control. The area of computational controls will be stressed in order to develop cost effective, high speed, high fidelity control system simulation and analysis and synthesis tools. The trust of this work will be to develop methods and software to enable analysis and real-time hardware-in-the-loop simulation of complex spacecraft for control design certification. To address future orbital facilities requirements, an advanced technology program is underway in system identification, distributed control, integrated controls/structures design methods, and advanced sensors and actuators. Because the behavior of large, light weight per unit area deployable/assembled spacecraft is greatly influenced by the ground environment, the testing and verification activity is both ground- and space-based.

Dibattista, John D.↗

Tribal Renewable Energy: Bishop Paiute Tribe Youth Solar Job Training Development (Final Report)

This Project provided workshops and hands on opportunities for young tribal adults to gain education,training,and employment in the solar industry; including 1 youth to meet the eligibility requirements for the NABCEP Solar Installer Exam. 10 tribal youth, ages 16-24, attended workshops focused on learning solar fundamentals and then applied those learned skills to hands on training, installing solar on 2 tribal homes. GRID provided certificates authenticating their volunteer hours and skills learned. This program of youth training really excited the tribal leadership as well as the tribal youth. This opportunity was in alignment with the tribe’s Strategic Energy Plan, and supported tribal self-sufficiency, a path to economic development and for the youth it also represented the environmental stewardship the tribe believes in.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Flight Operations reunion for the Apollo 11 20th anniversary of the first manned lunar landing

The following major areas are presented: (1) the Apollo years; (2) official flight control manning list for Apollo 11; (3) original mission control emblem; (4) foundations of flight control; (5) Apollo-11 20th anniversary program and events; (6) Apollo 11 mission operations team certificate; (7) Apollo 11 mission summary (timeline); and (8) Apollo flight control team photographs and biographies.

Source record↗

Effects of Adverse Weather on Aerodynamics

This meeting was organized to provide a timely review of the progress being made in advancing the state of the art in predicting, simulating, and measuring the effects of icing, anti-icing fluids, and various forms of precipitation on the aerodynamic characteristics of flight vehicles. Topics included results from both theoretical and experimental programs and material related to procedures and regulations for certification and operation. International participation for the meeting included authors from eight nations and representatives from most of the 16 NATO nations.

Source record↗

Development and Certification of Pratt and Whitney's Fuel and LOX Pumps

The development testing of the Pratt & Whitney's SSME Fuel and Lox Turbopumps has proven to be extremely valuable in preparation for Certification and Flight Readiness. Design 'lessons learned' from this program highlights the importance of overall systems engineering, including aerodynamic, thermal, mechanical, and materials systems.

Mitchell, William S.↗

Incorporation of EGPWS in the NASA Ames Research Center 747-400 Flight Simulator

The NASA Ames Research Center CAE Boeing 747300 flight simulator is used primarily for the study of human factors in aviation safety. The simulator is constantly upgraded to maintain a configuration match to a specific United Airlines aircraft and maintains the highest level of FAA certification to ensure credibility to the results of research programs. United's 747-400 fleet and hence the simulator are transitioning from the older Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) to the state-of-the-art Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS). GPWS was an early attempt to reduce or eliminate Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT). Basic GPWS alerting modes include: excessive descent rate, excessive terrain closure rate, altitude loss after takeoff, unsafe terrain clearance, excessive deviation below glideslope, advisory callouts and windshear alerting. However, since GPWS uses the radar altimeter which looks straight down, ample warning is not always provided. EGPWS retains all of the basic functions of GPWS but adds the ability to look ahead by comparing the aircraft position to an internal database and provide additional alerting and display capabilities. This paper evaluates three methods of incorporating EGPWS in the simulator and describes the implementation and architecture of the preferred option.

Sallant, Ghislain↗

Status and Trends in the Voluntary Market (2019 Data)

Green power refers to renewable electricity voluntarily purchased by retail electricity customers. Renewable energy sources for green power include solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, and small-scale hydropower. This report summarizes data on the various ways in which voluntary purchasers - including residential, commercial, and institutional customers - purchase green power. We summarize key historic trends in U.S. voluntary green power markets and the current status of green power sales through seven products: utility green pricing programs, utility renewable contracts, competitive suppliers, unbundled renewable energy certificates, community choice aggregations, power purchase agreements, and community solar.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Status and Trends in the Voluntary Market (2020 Data)

Green power refers to renewable electricity voluntarily purchased by retail electricity customers. Renewable energy sources for green power include solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, and small-scale hydropower. This report summarizes data on the various ways in which voluntary purchasers - including residential, commercial, and institutional customers - purchase green power. We summarize key historic trends in U.S. voluntary green power markets and the current status of green power sales through seven products: utility green pricing programs, utility renewable contracts, competitive suppliers, unbundled renewable energy certificates, community choice aggregations, and power purchase agreements. It includes discussion of how the voluntary market may impact the grid.

community choice aggregation↗

Status and Trends in the Voluntary Market (2021 Data)

Green power refers to renewable electricity voluntarily purchased by retail electricity customers. Renewable energy sources for green power include solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, and small-scale hydropower. This report summarizes data on the various ways in which voluntary purchasers including residential, commercial, and institutional customers purchase green power. We summarize key historic trends in U.S. voluntary green power markets and the current status of green power sales through seven products: utility green pricing programs, utility renewable contracts, competitive suppliers, unbundled renewable energy certificates, community choice aggregations, and power purchase agreements. It includes discussion of how the voluntary market may impact the grid.

ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Advanced Simulation and Computing: ASC FY24 Implementation Plan

The DOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Stockpile Stewardship Program (SSP) is an integrated technical program for maintaining the safety, security, and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile. The SSP incorporates nuclear test data, computational modeling and simulation, and experimental facilities to advance understanding of nuclear weapons. The suite of data analyzed comes from activities including previous nuclear tests, stockpile surveillance, experimental research, and development and engineering programs. This integrated national program requires the continued use of experimental facilities and the computational capabilities to support the SSP missions. These component parts, in addition to an appropriately scaled production capability, enable NNSA to support stockpile requirements. The ultimate goal of the SSP, and thus of the Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) program, is to ensure that the U.S. maintains a safe, secure, and effective strategic deterrent. The ASC program is a cornerstone of the SSP, providing simulation capabilities and computational resources to support the annual stockpile assessment and certification process, study advanced nuclear weapons design and manufacturing processes, analyze accident scenarios and weapons aging, and provide the tools to enable stockpile Life Extension Programs (LEPs) and the resolution of Significant Finding Investigations (SFIs). This work requires a balance of resources, including technical staff, hardware, simulation software, and computer science solutions. The ASC program focuses on increasing the predictive capabilities in a three-dimensional (3D) simulation environment while maintaining support to the SSP. The Program continues to improve its unique tools for understanding and solving progressively more difficult stockpile problems (sufficient resolution, dimensionality, and scientific details), and quantifying critical margins and uncertainties. Resolving each issue requires increasingly difficult analyses because the aging process has progressively moved the stockpile further from the original test base. While the focus remains on the U.S. nuclear weapons program, where possible, the Program also enables the use of high-performance computing (HPC) and simulation tools to address broader national security needs, such as foreign nuclear weapon assessments and nuclear counterterrorism. The 2022 Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) calls for NNSA to “deliver a modern, adaptive nuclear security enterprise based on an integrated strategy for risk management, production-based resilience, science and technology innovation, and workforce initiatives.” Furthermore, “NNSA will establish a Science and Technology Innovation Initiative to accelerate the integration of science and technology (S&T) throughout its activities.” Executing this strategy necessitates the continued emphasis on developing and sustaining high-quality scientific and engineering staff, as well as supporting computational and experimental capabilities. These components constitute the foundation of the nuclear weapons program. The continued success of the SSP and LEPs is predicated upon the ability to credibly certify the stockpile, without a return to underground nuclear tests (UGTs). Shortly after the nuclear test moratorium entered into force in 1992, the Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative (ASCI) was established to provide an extensive simulation capability to underpin stockpile certification. While computing and simulation have always been essential to the success of the nuclear weapons program, the program goal of ASCI was to execute NNSA’s vision of using these tools in support of the stockpile stewardship mission. The ASCI program was essential to the successful demonstration of the SSP, providing critical nuclear weapons simulation and modeling capabilities. ASCI officially evolved into the ASC program in fiscal year (FY) 2005, but the mission remains essentially the same: provide the simulation and computational capabilities that underpin the ability to maintain a safe, secure, effective nuclear weapon stockpile, without returning to underground nuclear testing. The capabilities that the ASC program provides at the national laboratories play a vital role in the nuclear security enterprise and are necessary for fulfilling the stockpile stewardship and life extension requirements outlined for NNSA. The Program develops modern simulation tools that provide insights into stockpile aging issues, provide the computational and simulation tools that enable designers and analysts to certify the current stockpile and life-extended nuclear weapons, and inform the decision-making process when any modifications in nuclear warheads or the associated manufacturing processes are deemed necessary. Furthermore, ASC is enhancing the predictive simulation capabilities that are essential to evaluate weapons effects, design experiments, and ensure test readiness. The ASC program continues to improve its unique tools to solve stockpile problems— with a focus on sufficient resolution, dimensionality, and scientific detail—to enable Quantification of Margins and Uncertainties (QMU) and to resolve the increasingly difficult analyses needed for stockpile stewardship. The needs of the Stockpile Management and Production Modernization programs (formerly Directed Stockpile Work) also drive the requirements for simulation and computational resources. These requirements include planned LEPs, stockpile support activities, and mitigation efforts against the potential for technical surprise. All of the weapons within the current stockpile are in some stage of the life extension process. The simulation and computational capabilities are crucial for successful execution of these life extensions and for ensuring NNSA can certify these life-extended weapons without conducting a UGT.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

NASA KSC Internship Experience & Project Report

As part of the Spring 2021 Engineering Student Trainee rotation with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) through the Pathways program at Kennedy Space Center (KSC). I served under KSC’s Engineering directorate as a Pneumatics Engineering Intern for the Environmental and Life support Systems branch (NE-XF). During my Internship, I primarily supported the Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) program under the direct supervision of NE-XF Pneumatics Senior Engineer, Ruben Jaca, and NE-XF matrix supervisor, Stephen M. Anthony. I worked on the completion of a Pressure Vessel and Pressurized System (PVS) certification for a Payload Accommodation Subsystem (PAS) prototype. As part of the Pathways program, I was additionally exposed to various career and skill enhancement activities.

Internship↗

Station Program Note Pull Automation

Upon commencement of my internship, I was in charge of maintaining the CoFR (Certificate of Flight Readiness) Tool. The tool acquires data from existing Excel workbooks on NASA's and Boeing's databases to create a new spreadsheet listing out all the potential safety concerns for upcoming flights and software transitions. Since the application was written in Visual Basic, I had to learn a new programming language and prepare to handle any malfunctions within the program. Shortly afterwards, I was given the assignment to automate the Station Program Note (SPN) Pull process. I developed an application, in Python, that generated a GUI (Graphical User Interface) that will be used by the International Space Station Safety & Mission Assurance team here at Johnson Space Center. The application will allow its users to download online files with the click of a button, import SPN's based on three different pulls, instantly manipulate and filter spreadsheets, and compare the three sources to determine which active SPN's (Station Program Notes) must be reviewed for any upcoming flights, missions, and/or software transitions. Initially, to perform the NASA SPN pull (one of three), I had created the program to allow the user to login to a secure webpage that stores data, input specific parameters, and retrieve the desired SPN's based on their inputs. However, to avoid any conflicts with sustainment, I altered it so that the user may login and download the NASA file independently. After the user has downloaded the file with the click of a button, I defined the program to check for any outdated or pre-existing files, for successful downloads, to acquire the spreadsheet, convert it from a text file to a comma separated file and finally into an Excel spreadsheet to be filtered and later scrutinized for specific SPN numbers. Once this file has been automatically manipulated to provide only the SPN numbers that are desired, they are stored in a global variable, shown on the GUI, and transferred over to a new Excel worksheet for comparison. I managed to get my application to acquire the CSWG (Computer Safety Working Group) and the SPNWG (Space Station Working Group) SPN's with just two mouse clicks for each pull, as opposed to several from the original process. When all three pulls are performed, an Excel sheet containing all three different results will be generated for the user to compare and determine which SPN's will be presented or reviewed the following month. The experience from this internship has been spectacular. As a high school senior who will begin attending college in the fall, this internship has been both educationally and occupationally beneficial. The internship has allowed me the opportunities to learn new programming languages, effectively network with NASA personnel from a variety of departments at JSC, and allowed me to learn new professional skills and etiquette. My internship at NASA's Johnson Space Center has further motivated me to pursue a Master's degree in Software Engineering and strive for a prosperous career with NASA as a civil servant.

Delgado, Ivan↗

Development Status of the J-2X

In June 2006, the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne began development of an engine for use on the Ares I crew launch vehicle and the Ares V cargo launch vehicle. The development program will be completed in December 2012 at the end of a Design Certification Review and after certification testing of two flight configuration engines. A team of over 600 people within NASA and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne are currently working to prepare for the fall 2008 Critical Design Review (CDR), along with supporting an extensive risk mitigation test program. The J-2X will power the Ares I upper stage and the Ares V earth departure stage (EDS). The initial use will be in the Ares I, used to launch the Orion crew exploration vehicle. In this application, it will power the upper stage after being sent aloft on a Space Shuttle-derived. 5-segment solid rocket booster first stage. In this mission. the engine will ignite at altitude and provide the necessary acceleration force to allow the Orion to achieve orbital velocity. The Ares I upper stage, along with the J-2X. will then be expended. On the Ares V. first stage propulsion is provided by five RS-68B engines and two 5-segment boosters similar to the Ares I configuration. In the Ares V mission. the J-2X is first started to power the EDS and its payload. the Altair lunar lander. into earth orbit, then shut-down and get prepared for its next start. The EDS/Altair will remain in a parking orbit, awaiting rendezvous and docking with Orion. Once the two spacecraft are mated, the J-2X will be restarted to achieve earth departure velocity. After powering the Orion and Altair, the EDS will be expended. By using the J-2X Engine in both applications, a significant infrastructure cost savings is realized. Only one engine development is required, and the sustaining engineering and flight support infrastructures can be combined. There is also flexibility for changing, the production and flight manifest because a single production line can support both missions with minimal differences between each engine configuration kit.

Kynard, Mike↗