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Results for “GUIDANCE SYSTEM”

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 253 records · Page 14
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1976

SMS engineering design report

The engineering design for the Shuttle Missions Simulator is presented in sections, with each section representing a subsystem development activity. Subsystems covered include: electrical power system; mechanical power system; main propellant and external tank; solid rocket booster; reaction control system; orbital maneuvering system; guidance, navigation, and control; data processing system; mission control center interface; and image display system.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2006

An Introduction to Rockets - or - Never Leave Geeks Unsupervised

An introduction to rockets along with a brief history Newton's third law is presented. The contents include: 1) What is a Rocket?; 2) A Brief History; 3) Newton's Third Law; 4) A Brief History; 5) Mission Requirements; 6) Some Orbital Measurements; 7) Self Eating Watermelon; 8) Orbital Inclinations; 9) 28.5 Equatorial Orbit; 10) 51.6 Orbit (ISS); 11) Polar Orbit; 12) Geostationary Orbit; 13) Liquid Rocket; 13) Liquids vs. Solids; 14) Liquids; 15) Systems Integration; 16) Integration (NFL!); 17) Guidance Systems; 18) Vectored Thrust; 19) Spin Stabilization; 20) Aerodynamic Stability (Fire Arrows); and 21) Center of Gravity & Center of Pressure.

Mellett, Kevin↗
NASA NTRS2017

Vertical Motion Simulator Experiment on Stall Recovery Guidance

A stall recovery guidance system was designed to help pilots improve their stall recovery performance when the current aircraft state may be unrecognized under various complicating operational factors. Candidate guidance algorithms were connected to the split-cue pitch and roll flight directors that are standard on large transport commercial aircraft. A new thrust guidance algorithm and cue was also developed to help pilots prevent the combination of excessive thrust and nose-up stabilizer trim. The overall system was designed to reinforce the current FAA recommended stall recovery procedure. A general transport aircraft model, similar to a Boeing 757, with an extended aerodynamic database for improved stall dynamics simulation fidelity was integrated into the Vertical Motion Simulator at NASA Ames Research Center. A detailed study of the guidance system was then conducted across four stall scenarios with 30 commercial and 10 research test pilots, and the results are reported.

Schuet, Stefan↗
NASA NTRS1999

Autonomous Intact Abort System for the X-34

Autonomous algorithms are developed which provide trajectory guidance for horizontally landing vehicles such as the X-34 under a variety of abort conditions. The nominal guidance system of the X-34 is incapable of directing the vehicle to a safe landing for many possible situations in which trajectory is far away from nominal conditions (as in the case of an engine failure). To minimize the risk of losing the vehicle, the autonomous intact abort system considers multiple landing sites and redesigns certain guidance inputs in order to adapt to the new conditions presented by the abort. The abort system design is demonstrated in a high-fidelity simulation to prove the feasibility of the concept for various engine-out These abort algorithms are being incorporated into the X-34 vehicle to flight test this new technology as a part of the Future X Pathfinder Flight Demonstration Program.

Tragesser, Steven G.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Spaceborne centrifugal relays for spacecraft propulsion

Acceleration using centrifugal relays is a recently discovered method for the acceleration of spaceborne payloads to high velocity at high thrust. Centrifugal relays are moving rotors which progressively accelerate reaction mass to higher velocities. One important engineering problem consists of accurately tracking the position of the projectiles and rotors and guiding each projectile exactly onto the appropriate guide tracks on each rotor. The topics of this research are the system kinematics and dynamics and the computerized guidance system which will allow the projectile to approach each rotor with exact timing with respect to the rotor rotation period and with very small errors in lateral positions. Kinematics studies include analysis of rotor and projectile positions versus time and projectile/rotor interactions. Guidance studies include a detailed description of the tracking mechanism (interrupt of optical beams) and the aiming mechanism (electromagnetic focusing) including the design of electromagnetic deflection coils and the switching circuitry.

Ouzidane, Malika↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Design, Development, and Use of a Lunar Lander Simulation for NASA's Artemis Program

This paper describes the design, development, and initial use of a generalized and configurable lunar lander simulation to support NASA’s Artemis Program. This simulation is being developed for the Crew Compartment Office (CrewCo) in the Human Landing Systems (HLS) program and is called the HLS CrewCo Lander Simulation (HCLS). The HCLS provides insight into the challenges associated with returning humans to the Moon and the particular difficulties of operating at the Lunar South Pole. The simulation models a generalized integrated lunar landing spacecraft based on a government reference design but can and has been adapted to model vendor specific designs as well. The simulation architecture and tool sets provide a flexible framework that allows for quickly prototyping and evaluating various aspects of a piloted lunar landing system. This includes the modeling of all principal human controlled flight phases: rendezvous and docking with crew transfer systems; docked orbital outpost operations; undocking and lunar transfer; lunar orbital operations; lunar deorbit, descent, and landing (DDL); lunar surface operations; lunar ascent; and return to the orbital outpost. The flexibility of the simulation allows for the integrated evaluation of potential vehicle subsystems, crew displays, guidance and control modes, and trajectory designs. The purpose of the HCLS is not to design the ideal lunar lander, but rather to understand and the strengths and weaknesses of vehicle design choices. This paper describes the basic simulation architecture and discusses the tool sets used to develop the HCLS. This includes a number of open source tool sets and publicly available data sets. This paper also describes some of the early use cases and findings. The primary focus of early HCLS use has been on the manual piloting task to safely get the crew to the desired landing site in case of a failure in the automated guidance system. Several guidance modes and cues have been implemented which allow a pilot to manually fly the vehicle to the targeted landing site starting anywhere from powered descent initiation. It has been a valuable tool for understanding what is required to manually fly a lunar lander as well as giving a sense of the vehicle dynamics, which are much different than anything that is flown on Earth. A number of experienced test pilots have participated in manual piloting evaluations using the HCLS and provided valuable feedback on the piloting task which has been very beneficial to NASA and the HLS program.

James Michael Gentile↗
NASA NTRS1981

Guidance and control system research for improved terminal area operations

Several guidance and control system research and development activities aimed at improving the operational capabilities of commercial aircraft in the terminal area are described. The guidance and control systems were designed to improve the capacity and efficiency of terminal area operations, enhance the approach and landing capability of aircraft in adverse weather conditions, and reduce the impact of aircraft noise perceived on the ground. Specific performance features include the ability to capture and track steep glideslopes, use short final approaches, perform flares with reduced longitudinal touchdown dispersion and execute high speed runway rollout and turnoff. Results obtained from simulation studies or flight tests are shown for each of the algorithms.

Hueschen, R. M.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Terminal-area STOL operating systems experiments program

A system study to determine the application of short takeoff aircraft for a high speed, short haul air transportation service was conducted. The study focused on developing information which will aid in choosing system concepts, design criteria, operating procedures, landing guidance systems, air traffic control systems, and airborne avionics and flight control systems. A terminal area STOL operating system experiments program was developed. The objectives, program approach, program schedule, typical experiments, research facilities to be used, and program status are discussed.

Smith, D. W.↗
NASA NTRS1993

21st century space transportation system design approach - HL-20 personnel launch system

This article provides an introduction to and overview of the research that was conducted on the HL-20 lifting body. The concept has been defined as an option for a personnel launch system (PLS) that is intended to carry six to eight Space Station Freedom crew persons. In this role the HL-20 will complement the Space Shuttle operation and ensure the ability to transport people to and from Earth orbit after the year 2000. The research covers a broad range of disciplines, including aerodynamics, aerodynamic heating and thermal protection systems, structural design, subsystem definition, trajectory and guidance system development for entry and abort, production and operations, and human factors. This article also presents the lifting-body heritage, design features of the concept, and HL-20/PLS mission requirements.

Stone, Howard W.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Improved guidance hardware study for the scout launch vehicle

A market survey and evaluation of inertial guidance systems (inertial measurement units and digital computers) were made. Comparisons were made to determine the candidate systems for use in the Scout launch vehicle. Error analyses were made using typical Scout trajectories. A reaction control system was sized for the fourth stage. The guidance hardware to Scout vehicle interface was listed.

Schappell, R. T.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Analysis of navigation and guidance requirements for commercial VTOL operations

The paper presents some results of a program undertaken to define navigation and guidance requirements for commercial VTOL operations in the takeoff, cruise, terminal and landing phases of flight in weather conditions up to and including Category III. Quantitative navigation requirements are given for the parameters range, coverage, operation near obstacles, horizontal accuracy, multiple landing aircraft, multiple pad requirements, inertial/radio-inertial requirements, reliability/redundancy, update rate, and data link requirements in all flight phases. A multi-configuration straw-man navigation and guidance system for commercial VTOL operations is presented. Operation of the system is keyed to a fully automatic approach for navigation, guidance and control, with pilot as monitor-manager. The system is a hybrid navigator using a relatively low-cost inertial sensor with DME updates and MLS in the approach/departure phases.

Hoffman, W. C.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Evaluation of Airborne Precision Spacing in a Human-in-the-Loop Experiment

A significant bottleneck in the current air traffic system occurs at the runway. Expanding airports and adding new runways will help solve this problem; however, this comes with significant costs: financially, politically and environmentally. A complementary solution is to safely increase the capacity of current runways. This can be achieved by precisely spacing aircraft at the runway threshold, with a resulting reduction in the spacing bu er required under today s operations. At NASA's Langley Research Center, the Airspace Systems program has been investigating airborne technologies and procedures that will assist the flight crew in achieving precise spacing behind another aircraft. A new spacing clearance allows the pilot to follow speed cues from a new on-board guidance system called Airborne Merging and Spacing for Terminal Arrivals (AMSTAR). AMSTAR receives Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) reports from an assigned, leading aircraft and calculates the appropriate speed for the ownship to fly to achieve the desired spacing interval, time- or distance-based, at the runway threshold. Since the goal is overall system capacity, the speed guidance algorithm is designed to provide system-wide benefits and stability to a string of arriving aircraft. An experiment was recently performed at the NASA Langley Air Traffic Operations Laboratory (ATOL) to test the flexibility of Airborne Precision Spacing operations under a variety of operational conditions. These included several types of merge and approach geometries along with the complementary merging and in-trail operations. Twelve airline pilots and four controllers participated in this simulation. Performance and questionnaire data were collected from a total of eighty-four individual arrivals. The pilots were able to achieve precise spacing with a mean error of 0.5 seconds and a standard deviation of 4.7 seconds. No statistically significant di erences in spacing performance were found between in-trail and merging operations or among the three modeled airspaces. Questionnaire data showed general acceptance for both pilots and controllers. These results reinforce previous findings from full-mission simulation and flight evaluation of the in-trail operations. This paper reviews the results of this simulation in detail.

Barmore, Bryan E.↗