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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 253 records · Page 14
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NASA NTRS2009

Partnership for the Revitalization of National Wind Tunnel Force Measurement Capability

Lack of funding and lack of focus on research over the past several years, coupled with force measurement capabilities being decentralized and distributed across the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) research centers, has resulted in a significant erosion of (1) capability and infrastructure to produce and calibrate force measurement systems; (2) NASA s working knowledge of those systems; and (3) the quantity of high-quality, full-capability force measurement systems available for use in aeronautics testing. Simultaneously, and at proportional rates, the capability of industry to design, manufacture, and calibrate these test instruments has been eroding primarily because of a lack of investment by the aeronautics community. Technical expertise in this technology area is a core competency in aeronautics testing; it is highly specialized and experience-based, and it represents a niche market for only a few small precision instrument shops in the United States. With this backdrop, NASA s Aeronautics Test Program (ATP) chartered a team to examine the issues and risks associated with the problem, focusing specifically on strain- gage balances. The team partnered with the U.S. Air Force s Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) to exploit their combined capabilities and take a national level government view of the problem. This paper describes the team s approach, its findings, and its recommendations, and the current status for revitalizing the government s balance capability with respect to designing, fabricating, calibrating, and using the instruments.

Rhew, Ray D.↗
NASA NTRS2009

Ares V: A National Launch Asset for the 21st Century

NASA is designing the Ares V as the cargo launch vehicle to carry NASA's exploration plans into the 21st century. The Ares V is the heavy-lift component of NASA's dual-launch architecture that will replace the current space shuttle fleet, complete the International Space Station, and establish a permanent human presence on the Moon as a stepping stone to destinations beyond. During extensive independent and internal architecture and vehicle trade studies as part of the Exploration Systems Architecture Study, NASA selected the Ares I crew launch vehicle and the Ares V to support future exploration. The smaller Ares I will launch the Orion crew exploration vehicle with four to six astronauts into orbit. The Ares V is designed to carry the Altair lunar lander into orbit, rendezvous with Orion, and send the mated spacecraft toward lunar orbit. The Ares V will be the largest and most powerful launch vehicle in history, providing unprecedented payload mass and volume to establish a permanent lunar outpost and explore significantly more of the lunar surface than was done during the Apollo missions. The Ares V also represents a national asset offering opportunities for new science, national security, and commercial missions of unmatched size and scope. Using the dual-launch Earth Orbit Rendezvous approach, the Ares I and Ares V together will be able to inject roughly 57percent more mass to the Moon than the Apollo-era Saturn V. Ares V alone will be able to send nearly 414,000 pounds into low Earth orbit (LEO) or more than 138,000 pounds directly to the Moon, compared with 262,000 pounds and 99,000 pounds, respectively for the Saturn V. Significant progress has been made on the Ares V to support a planned fiscal 2011 authority-to-proceed (ATP) milestone. This paper discusses recent progress on the Ares V and planned future activities.

Sumrall, Phil↗
NASA NTRS2008

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Biological Specimen Repository

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration Biological Specimen Repository (Repository) is a storage bank that is used to maintain biological specimens over extended periods of time and under well-controlled conditions. Samples from the International Space Station (ISS), including blood and urine, will be collected, processed and archived during the preflight, inflight and postflight phases of ISS missions. This investigation has been developed to archive biosamples for use as a resource for future space flight related research. The International Space Station (ISS) provides a platform to investigate the effects of microgravity on human physiology prior to lunar and exploration class missions. The storage of crewmember samples from many different ISS flights in a single repository will be a valuable resource with which researchers can study space flight related changes and investigate physiological markers. The development of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Biological Specimen Repository will allow for the collection, processing, storage, maintenance, and ethical distribution of biosamples to meet goals of scientific and programmatic relevance to the space program. Archiving of the biosamples will provide future research opportunities including investigating patterns of physiological changes, analysis of components unknown at this time or analyses performed by new methodologies.

McMonigal, Kathleen A.↗
NASA NTRS2009

Configuring the HYSPLIT Model for National Weather Service Forecast Office and Spaceflight Meteorology Group Applications

For expedience in delivering dispersion guidance in the diversity of operational situations, National Weather Service Melbourne (MLB) and Spaceflight Meteorology Group (SMG) are becoming increasingly reliant on the PC-based version of the HYSPLIT model run through a graphical user interface (GUI). While the GUI offers unique advantages when compared to traditional methods, it is difficult for forecasters to run and manage in an operational environment. To alleviate the difficulty in providing scheduled real-time trajectory and concentration guidance, the Applied Meteorology Unit (AMU) configured a Linux version of the Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) (HYSPLIT) model that ingests the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) guidance, such as the North American Mesoscale (NAM) and the Rapid Update Cycle (RUC) models. The AMU configured the HYSPLIT system to automatically download the NCEP model products, convert the meteorological grids into HYSPLIT binary format, run the model from several pre-selected latitude/longitude sites, and post-process the data to create output graphics. In addition, the AMU configured several software programs to convert local Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model output into HYSPLIT format.

Dreher, Joseph G.↗
NASA NTRS2009

Heavy Lift for National Security: The Ares V

The NASA Ares Projects Office is developing the launch vehicles to move the United States and humanity beyond low earth orbit. Ares I is a crewed vehicle, and Ares V is a heavy lift vehicle being designed to launch cargo into LEO and transfer cargo and crews to the Moon. This is a snapshot of development and capabilities. Ares V is early in the requirements formulation stage of development pending the outcome of the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee and White House action. The Ares V vehicle will be considered a national asset, creating unmatched opportunities for human exploration, science, national security, and space business.

Sumrall, Phil↗
NASA NTRS2009

Using Satellite Data to Evaluate Linkages Between Land Cover/Land Use and Hypertension in a National Cohort

Coincident with global expansion of urban areas has been an increase in hypertension. It is unclear how much the urban environment contributes as a risk factor for blood pressure differences, and how much is due to a variety of environmental, lifestyle, and demographic correlates of urbanization. Objectives/Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between living environment (defined as urban, suburban, or rural) and hypertension in selected regions from the REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) cohort. Methods: REGARDS is a national cohort of 30,228 participants from the 48 contiguous United States. We used data from 4 metropolitan regions (Philadelphia, Atlanta, Minneapolis and Chicago) for this study (n=3928). We used Land Cover/Land Use (LCLU) information from the 30-meter National Land Cover Data. Results: Overall, 1996 (61%) of the participants were hypertensive. We characterized participants into urban, suburban or rural living environments using the LCLU data. In univariate models, we found that living environment is associated with hypertension, but that after adjustment for known hypertension risk factors, the relationship was no longer present at the 95% confidence level. Conclusions: LCLU data can be utilized to characterize the living environment, which in turn can be applied to studies of public health outcomes. Further study regarding the relationship between hypertension and living environment should focus on additional characteristics of the associated environment.

McClure, Leslie↗
NASA NTRS2007

Solutions Network Formulation Report. The Potential Contributions of the Global Precipitation Measurement Mission to Estuary Management in Acadia National Park

This candidate solution suggests the use of GPM precipitation observations to enhance the Acadia National Park NLERDSS. Simulated GPM data should provide measurements that would enable analysis of how precipitation affects runoff and nutrient load in the park?s wetlands. This solution benefits society by aiding park and resource managers in making predictions based on hypothetical changes and in identifying effective mitigation scenarios. This solution supports the Coastal Management, Water Management, and Ecological Forecasting National Applications.

Anderson, Daniel↗
NASA NTRS2007

Solutions Network Formulation Report. Visible/Infrared Imager/Radiometer Suite and Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer Data Products for National Drought Monitor Decision Support

Drought effects are either direct or indirect depending on location, population, and regional economic vitality. Common direct effects of drought are reduced crop, rangeland, and forest productivity; increased fire hazard; reduced water levels; increased livestock and wildlife mortality rates; and damage to wildlife and fish habitat. Indirect impacts follow on the heels of direct impacts. For example, a reduction in crop, rangeland, and forest productivity may result in reduced income for farmers and agribusiness, increased prices for food and timber, unemployment, reduced tax revenues, increased crime, foreclosures on bank loans to farmers and businesses, migration, and disaster relief programs. In the United States alone, drought is estimated to result in annual losses of between $6 - 8 billion. Recent sustained drought in the United States has made decision-makers aware of the impacts of climate change on society and environment. The eight major droughts that occurred in the United States between 1980 and 1999 accounted for the largest percentage of weather-related monetary losses. Monitoring drought and its impact that occurs at a variety of scales is an important government activity -- not only nationally but internationally as well. The NDMC (National Drought Mitigation Center) and the USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) RMA (Risk Management Agency) have partnered together to develop a DM-DSS (Drought Monitoring Decision Support System). This monitoring system will be an interactive portal that will provide users the ability to visualize and assess drought at all levels. This candidate solution incorporates atmospherically corrected VIIRS data products, such as NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) and Ocean SST (sea surface temperature), and AMSR-E soil moisture data products into two NDMC vegetation indices -- VegDRI (Vegetation Drought Response Index) and VegOUT (Vegetation Outlook) -- which are then input into the DM-DSS.

Estep, Leland↗
NASA NTRS2010

Update: Partnership for the Revitalization of National Wind Tunnel Force Measurement Technology Capability

NASA's Aeronautics Test Program (ATP) chartered a team to examine the issues and risks associated with the lack of funding and focus on force measurement over the past several years, focusing specifically on strain-gage balances. NASA partnered with the U.S. Air Force's Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) to exploit their combined capabilities and take a national level government view of the problem and established the National Force Measurement Technology Capability (NFMTC) project. This paper provides an update on the team's status for revitalizing the government's balance capability with respect to designing, fabricating, calibrating, and using the these critical measurement devices.

Rhew, Ray D.↗
NASA NTRS2010

NASA Education Activities on the International Space Station: A National Laboratory for Inspiring, Engaging, Educating and Employing the Next Generation

The International Space Station (ISS) National Lab Education Project has been created as a part of the ISS National Lab effort mandated by the U.S. Congress The project seeks to expand ISS education of activities so that they reach a larger number of students with clear educational metrics of accomplishments. This paper provides an overview of several recent ISS educational payloads and activities. The expected outcomes of the project, consistent with those of the NASA Office of Education, are also described. NASA performs numerous education activities as part of its ISS program. These cover the gamut from formal to informal educational opportunities in grades Kindergarten to grade 12, Higher Education (undergraduate and graduate University) and informal educational venues (museums, science centers, exhibits). Projects within the portfolio consist of experiments performed onboard the ISS using onboard resources which require no upmass, payloads flown to ISS or integrated into ISS cargo vehicles, and ground based activities that follow or complement onboard activities. Examples include ground based control group experiments, flight or experiment following lesson plans, ground based activities involving direct interaction with ISS or ground based activities considering ISS resources in their solution set. These projects range from totally NASA funded to projects which partner with external entities. These external agencies can be: other federal, state or local government agencies, commercial entities, universities, professional organizations or non-profit organizations. This paper will describe the recent ISS education activities and discuss the approach, outcomes and metrics associated with the projects.

Severance, Mark T.↗
NASA NTRS2009

Configuring the HYSPLIT Model for National Weather Service Forecast Office and Spaceflight Meteorology Group Applications

The National Weather Service Forecast Office in Melbourne, FL (NWS MLB) is responsible for providing meteorological support to state and county emergency management agencies across East Central Florida in the event of incidents involving the significant release of harmful chemicals, radiation, and smoke from fires and/or toxic plumes into the atmosphere. NWS MLB uses the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model to provide trajectory, concentration, and deposition guidance during such events. Accurate and timely guidance is critical for decision makers charged with protecting the health and well-being of populations at risk. Information that can describe the geographic extent of areas possibly affected by a hazardous release, as well as to indicate locations of primary concern, offer better opportunity for prompt and decisive action. In addition, forecasters at the NWS Spaceflight Meteorology Group (SMG) have expressed interest in using the HYSPLIT model to assist with Weather Flight Rules during Space Shuttle landing operations. In particular, SMG would provide low and mid-level HYSPLIT trajectory forecasts for cumulus clouds associated with smoke plumes, and high-level trajectory forecasts for thunderstorm anvils. Another potential benefit for both NWS MLB and SMG is using the HYSPLIT model concentration and deposition guidance in fog situations.

Dreher, Joseph↗
NASA NTRS2010

NASA Applied Sciences' DEVELOP National Program: Training the Next Generation of Remote Sensing Scientists

Since its inception over a decade ago, the DEVELOP National Program has provided students with experience in utilizing and integrating satellite remote sensing data into real world-applications. In 1998, DEVELOP began with three students and has evolved into a nationwide internship program with over 200 students participating each year. DEVELOP is a NASA Applied Sciences training and development program extending NASA Earth science research and technology to society. Part of the NASA Science Mission Directorate s Earth Science Division, the Applied Sciences Program focuses on bridging the gap between NASA technology and the public by conducting projects that innovatively use NASA Earth science resources to research environmental issues. Project outcomes focus on assisting communities to better understand environmental change over time. This is accomplished through research with global, national, and regional partners to identify the widest array of practical uses of NASA data. DEVELOP students conduct research in areas that examine how NASA science can better serve society. Projects focus on practical applications of NASA s Earth science research results. Each project is designed to address at least one of the Applied Sciences focus areas, use NASA s Earth observation sources and meet partners needs. DEVELOP research teams partner with end-users and organizations who use project results for policy analysis and decision support, thereby extending the benefits of NASA science and technology to the public.

Childs, Lauren↗
NASA NTRS2003

A National Virtual Specimen Database for Early Cancer Detection

Access to biospecimens is essential for enabling cancer biomarker discovery. The National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Early Detection Research Network (EDRN) comprises and integrates a large number of laboratories into a network in order to establish a collaborative scientific environment to discover and validate disease markers. The diversity of both the institutions and the collaborative focus has created the need for establishing cross-disciplinary teams focused on integrating expertise in biomedical research, computational and biostatistics, and computer science. Given the collaborative design of the network, the EDRN needed an informatics infrastructure. The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, the National Cancer Institute,and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) teamed up to build an informatics infrastructure creating a collaborative, science-driven research environment despite the geographic and morphology differences of the information systems that existed within the diverse network. EDRN investigators identified the need to share biospecimen data captured across the country managed in disparate databases. As a result, the informatics team initiated an effort to create a virtual tissue database whereby scientists could search and locate details about specimens located at collaborating laboratories. Each database, however, was locally implemented and integrated into collection processes and methods unique to each institution. This meant that efforts to integrate databases needed to be done in a manner that did not require redesign or re-implementation of existing system

distributed↗
NASA NTRS2011

ISS National Laboratory Education Project: Enhancing and Innovating the ISS as an Educational Venue

The vision is to develop the ISS National Laboratory Education Project (ISS NLE) as a national resource for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education, utilizing the unique educational venue of the International Space Station per the NASA Congressional Authorization Act of 2005. The ISS NLE will serve as an educational resource which enables educational activities onboard the ISS and in the classroom. The ISS NLE will be accessible to educators and students from kindergarten to post-doctoral studies, at primary and secondary schools, colleges and universities. Additionally, the ISS NLE will provide ISS-related STEM education opportunities and resources for learners of all ages via informal educational institutions and venues Though U.S. Congressional direction emphasized the involvement of U.S. students, many ISS-based educational activities have international student and educator participation Over 31 million students around the world have participated in several ISS-related education activities.

Melvin, Leland D.↗
NASA NTRS2011

User Centered, Application Independent Visualization of National Airspace Data

This paper describes an application independent software tool, IV4D, built to visualize animated and still 3D National Airspace System (NAS) data specifically for aeronautics engineers who research aggregate, as well as single, flight efficiencies and behavior. IV4D was origin ally developed in a joint effort between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Air Force Research Laboratory (A FRL) to support the visualization of air traffic data from the Airspa ce Concept Evaluation System (ACES) simulation program. The three mai n challenges tackled by IV4D developers were: 1) determining how to d istill multiple NASA data formats into a few minimal dataset types; 2 ) creating an environment, consisting of a user interface, heuristic algorithms, and retained metadata, that facilitates easy setup and fa st visualization; and 3) maximizing the user?s ability to utilize the extended range of visualization available with AFRL?s existing 3D te chnologies. IV4D is currently being used by air traffic management re searchers at NASA?s Ames and Langley Research Centers to support data visualizations.

Murphy, James R.↗
NASA NTRS2011

New Local, National and Regional Cereal Price Indices for Improved Identification of Food Insecurity

Large price increases over a short time period can be indicative of a deteriorating food security situation. Food price indices developed by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) are used to monitor food price trends at a global level, but largely reflect supply and demand conditions in export markets. However, reporting by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)'s Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) indicates that staple cereal prices in many markets of the developing world, especially in surplus-producing areas, often have a delayed and variable response to international export market price trends. Here we present new price indices compiled for improved food security monitoring and assessment, and specifically for monitoring conditions of food access across diverse food insecure regions. We found that cereal price indices constructed using market prices within a food insecure region showed significant differences from the international cereals price, and had a variable price dispersion across markets within each marketshed. Using satellite-derived remote sensing information that estimates local production and the FAO Cereals Index as predictors, we were able to forecast movements of the local or national price indices in the remote, arid and semi-arid countries of the 38 countries examined. This work supports the need for improved decision-making about targeted aid and humanitarian relief, by providing earlier early warning of food security crises.

Brown, Molly E.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Physical, Ecological, and Societal Indicators for the National Climate Assessment

The National Climate Assessment (NCA) is being conducted under the auspices of the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), pursuant to the Global Change Research Act of 1990, Section 106, which requires a report to Congress every 4 years. The current NCA (http://globalchange.gov/what-we-do/assessment/) differs in multiple ways from previous U.S. climate assessment efforts, being: (1) more focused on supporting the Nation s activities in adaptation and mitigation and on evaluating the current state of scientific knowledge relative to climate impacts and trends; (2) a long-term, consistent process for evaluation of climate risks and opportunities and providing information to support decision-making processes within regions and sectors; and (3) establishing a permanent assessment capacity both inside and outside of the federal government. As a part of ongoing, long-term assessment activities, the NCA intends to develop an integrated strategic framework and deploy climate-relevant physical, ecological, and societal indicators. The NCA indicators framework is underdevelopment by the NCA Development and Advisory Committee Indicators Working Group and are envisioned as a relatively small number of policy-relevant integrated indicators designed to provide a consistent, objective, and transparent overview of major variations in climate impacts, vulnerabilities, adaptation, and mitigation activities across sectors, regions, and timeframes. The potential questions that could be addressed by these indicators include: How do we know that there is a changing climate and how is it expected to change in the future? Are important climate impacts and opportunities occurring or predicted to occur in the future? Are we adapting successfully? What are the vulnerabilities and resiliencies given a changing climate? Are we preparing adequately for extreme events? It is not expected that the NCA societal indicators would be linked directly to a single decision or portfolio of decisions, but subsets of indicators, or the data supporting the indicator, might be used to inform decision-making processes such as the development and implementation of climate adaptation strategies in a particular sector or region.

Kenney, Melissa A.↗
NASA NTRS2011

National Institute for Rocket Propulsion Systems (NIRPS)

NIRPS is a responsive solution to the current needs of Nation and the direction of the National Space Policy NIRPS will leverage the capabilities of the entire industry NIRPS is a distributed and low-cost solution for NASA and other Government Departments & Agencies

Thomas, Dale↗