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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
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1998

A Real-Time Telemetry Simulator of the IUS Spacecraft

A real-time telemetry simulator of the IUS spacecraft has recently entered operation to train Flight Control Teams for the launch of the AXAF telescope from the Shuttle. The simulator has proven to be a successful higher fidelity implementation of its predecessor, while affirming the rapid development methodology used in its design. Although composed of COTS hardware and software, the system simulates the full breadth of the mission: Launch, Pre-Deployment-Checkout, Burn Sequence, and AXAF/IUS separation. Realism is increased through patching the system into the operations facility to simulate IUS telemetry, Shuttle telemetry, and the Tracking Station link (commands and status message).

Drews, Michael E.↗
NASA NTRS2010

A Study of Parallels Between Antarctica South Pole Traverse Equipment and Lunar/Mars Surface Systems

The parallels between an actual Antarctica South Pole re-supply traverse conducted by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Office of Polar Programs in 2009 have been studied with respect to the latest mission architecture concepts being generated by the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for lunar and Mars surface systems scenarios. The challenges faced by both endeavors are similar since they must both deliver equipment and supplies to support operations in an extreme environment with little margin for error in order to be successful. By carefully and closely monitoring the manifesting and operational support equipment lists which will enable this South Pole traverse, functional areas have been identified. The equipment required to support these functions will be listed with relevant properties such as mass, volume, spare parts and maintenance schedules. This equipment will be compared to space systems currently in use and projected to be required to support equivalent and parallel functions in Lunar and Mars missions in order to provide a level of realistic benchmarking. Space operations have historically required significant amounts of support equipment and tools to operate and maintain the space systems that are the primary focus of the mission. By gaining insight and expertise in Antarctic South Pole traverses, space missions can use the experience gained over the last half century of Antarctic operations in order to design for operations, maintenance, dual use, robustness and safety which will result in a more cost effective, user friendly, and lower risk surface system on the Moon and Mars. It is anticipated that the U.S Antarctic Program (USAP) will also realize benefits for this interaction with NASA in at least two areas: an understanding of how NASA plans and carries out its missions and possible improved efficiency through factors such as weight savings, alternative technologies, or modifications in training and operations.

Mueller, Robert P.↗
NASA NTRS2002

A Scalable, Out-of-Band Diagnostics Architecture for International Space Station Systems Support

The computational infrastructure of the International Space Station (ISS) is a dynamic system that supports multiple vehicle subsystems such as Caution and Warning, Electrical Power Systems and Command and Data Handling (C&DH), as well as scientific payloads of varying size and complexity. The dynamic nature of the ISS configuration coupled with the increased demand for payload support places a significant burden on the inherently resource constrained computational infrastructure of the ISS. Onboard system diagnostics applications are hosted on computers that are elements of the avionics network while ground-based diagnostic applications receive only a subset of available telemetry, down-linked via S-band communications. In this paper we propose a scalable, out-of-band diagnostics architecture for ISS systems support that uses a read-only connection for C&DH data acquisition, which provides a lower cost of deployment and maintenance (versus a higher criticality readwrite connection). The diagnostics processing burden is off-loaded from the avionics network to elements of the on-board LAN that have a lower overall cost of operation and increased computational capacity. A superset of diagnostic data, richer in content than the configured telemetry, is made available to Advanced Diagnostic System (ADS) clients running on wireless handheld devices, affording the crew greater mobility for troubleshooting and providing improved insight into vehicle state. The superset of diagnostic data is made available to the ground in near real-time via an out-of band downlink, providing a high level of fidelity between vehicle state and test, training and operational facilities on the ground.

Fletcher, Daryl P.↗
NASA NTRS1987

The development and implementation of cockpit resource management in UAL recurrent training

Line Oriented Flight Training (LOFT) for United Airlines started in 1976. At that time it was basically no more than a line-simulated training function conducted in a full-mission simulator with no attention or stress on its human factor content. Very soon after the implementation of the LOFT program concerns were voiced about certain crew behavioral situations they were observing in the flight crew's execution of cockpit duties. These duties involved emergency procedures as well as irregular and normal procedures and situations. It was evident that new information was surfacing concerning crew interaction, or its lack thereof, in the cockpit and its effect on satisfactory performance. These observations naturally raised the question of how this information translated into the safety of aircraft operations. A training system had to be repetitive, the crew interactive, and the training had to be conducted under the crew concept. The foundation had to have two other factors: (1) it was necessary to have adequate human factor content, and (2) an advanced state-of-the-art simulator and appropriate electronic devices were required. These concepts are further discussed.

Shroyer, David H.↗
NASA NTRS2003

A Comprehension Based Analysis of Autoflight System Interfaces

This cooperative agreement supported Dr. Peter Polson's participation in two interrelated research programs. The first was the development of the Situation-Goal-Behavior (SGB) Model that is both a formal description of an avionics system's logic and behavior and a representation of a system that can be understood by avionics designers, pilots, and training developers. The second was the development of a usability inspection method based on an approximate model, RAFIV, of pilot interactions with the Flight Management System (FMS). The main purpose of this report is to integrate the two models and provide a context in order to better characterize the accomplishments of this research program. A major focus of both the previous and this Cooperative Agreement was the development of usability evaluation methods that can be effectively utilized during all phases of the design, development, and certification process of modern avionics systems. The current efforts to validate these methods have involved showing that they generate useful analyses of known operational and training problems with the current generation of avionics systems in modern commercial airliners. This report is organized into seven sections. Following the overview, the second section describes the Goal-Situation-Behavior model and its applications. The next section summarizes the foundations of the RAFIV model and describes the model in some detail. The contents of both these sections are derived from previous reports referenced in footnotes. The fourth section integrates these two models into a complete design evaluation and training development framework. The fifth section contains conclusions and possible future directions for research. References are in Section 6. Section 7 contains the titles and abstracts of the papers paper describing in more detail the results of this research program.

Palmer, Everett↗
NASA NTRS2015

Software Development: 3D Animations and Creating User Interfaces for Realistic Simulations

My fall 2015 semester was spent at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center working in the Integrated Graphics, Operations, and Analysis Laboratory (IGOAL). My first project was to create a video animation that could tell the story of OMICS. OMICS is a term being used in the field of biomedical science to describe the collective technologies that study biological systems, such as what makes up a cell and how it functions with other systems. In the IGOAL I used a large 23 inch Wacom monitor to draw storyboards, graphics, and line art animations. I used Blender as the 3D environment to sculpt, shape, cut or modify the several scenes and models for the video. A challenge creating this video was to take a term used in biomedical science and describe it in such a way that an 8th grade student can understand. I used a line art style because it would visually set the tone for what we thought was an educational style. In order to get a handle on the perspective and overall feel for the animation without overloading my workspace, I split up the 2 minute animation into several scenes. I used Blender's python scripting capabilities which allowed for the addition of plugins to add or modify tools. The scripts can also directly interact with the objects to create naturalistic patterns or movements. After collecting the rendered scenes, I used Blender's built-in video editing workspace to output the animation. My second project was to write software that emulates a physical system's interface. The interface was to simulate a boat, ROV, and winch system. Simulations are a time and cost effective way to test complicated data and provide training for operators without having to use expensive hardware. We created the virtual controls with 3-D Blender models and 2-D graphics, and then add functionality in C# using the Unity game engine. The Unity engine provides several essential behaviors of a simulator, such as the start and update functions. A framework for Unity, which was developed in the lab, provided a way to place the different widgets on the virtual console dock and have them resize correctly based on the window dimensions.. My task in this project was to create the controls and visualizations for the data coming in from the simulator for the boat portion of the project. I wrote a class for each control window to handle the functionality of that widget. I implemented 11 widgets that make up the ship portion of the simulator. The members of the lab were each masters of their craft and I'm glad I had the opportunity to learn from them. I learned to plan strategically so I could finish this project on time. I allotted time for storyboarding, development, and refinement. In regards to animating I learned to use modifiers like lattice, boolean and build deformers. I also learned how to animate with drivers, how to use the dope sheet, and how to use the graph editor. In coding I learned to limit the chances for bugs by privatizing functions that should be exclusive to their class. I learned how to use the GIT repository to commit, stash and pull the latest build. I learned a bit of everything because I had the chance to see the entire application development process from the artwork, to the implementation.

Gordillo, Orlando Enrique↗
NASA NTRS1967

Gemini results as related to the Apollo program

The Gemini Program was conceived to provide a space system that could furnish answers to many of the problems in operating manned vehicles in space. It was designed to build upon the experience gained from Project Mercury, and to extend and expand this fund of experience in support of the manned lunar landing program and other future manned space-flight programs. The purpose of this paper is to relate some of the results of the Gemini Program to the Apollo Program, and to discuss some of the contributions which have been made. The objectives of the Gemini Program applicable to Apollo are : (1) long-duration flight, (2) rendezvous and docking, (3) post-docking maneuver capability, (4) controlled reentry and landing, (5) flight- and groundcrew proficiency, and (6) extra vehicular capability. The achievement of these objectives has provided operational experience and confirmed much of the technology which will be utilized in future manned programs. These contributions will be discussed in three major areas : launch and flight operations, flight-crew operations and training, and technological development of subsystems and components. While there is obvious interrelation among the three elements, the grouping affords emphasis and order to the discussion.

structural integrity↗
NASA NTRS1974

Skylab medical technology utilization

To perform the extensive medical experimentation on man in a long-term, zero-g environment, new medical measuring and monitoring equipment had to be developed, new techniques in training and operations were required, and new methods of collecting and analyzing the great amounts of medical data were developed. Examples of technology transfers to the public sector resulted from the development of new equipment, methods, techniques, and data. This paper describes several of the examples that stemmed directly from Skylab technology.

Stonesifer, J. C.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Research requirements to improve safety of civil helicopters

Helicopter and fixed-wing accident data were reviewed and major accident causal factors were established. The impact of accidents on insurance rates was examined and the differences in fixed-wing and helicopter accident costs discussed. The state of the art in civil helicopter safety was compared to military helicopters. Goals were established based on incorporation of known technology and achievable improvements that require development, as well as administrative-type changes such as the impact of improved operational planning, training, and human factors effects. Specific R and D recommendations are provided with an estimation of the payoffs, timing, and development costs.

Waters, K. T.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Effectiveness of basic display augmentation in vehicular control by visual field cues

The paper investigates the effectiveness of different basic display augmentation concepts - fixed reticle, velocity vector, and predicted future vehicle path - for RPVs controlled by a vehicle-mounted TV camera. The task is lateral manual control of a low flying RPV along a straight reference line in the presence of random side gusts. The man-machine system and the visual interface are modeled as a linear time-invariant system. Minimization of a quadratic performance criterion is assumed to underlie the control strategy of a well-trained human operator. The solution for the optimal feedback matrix enables the explicit computation of the variances of lateral deviation and directional error of the vehicle and of the control force that are used as performance measures.

Grunwald, A. J.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Heat-shrinkable film improves adhesive bonds

Pressure is applied during adhesive bonding by wrapping parts in heat-shrinkable plastic film. Film eliminates need to vacuum bag or heat parts in expensive autoclave. With procedure, operators are trained quickly, and no special skills are required.

Johns, J. M.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Power Extension Package (PEP) system definition extension, orbital service module systems analysis study. Volume 12: PEP data item descriptions

Contractor information requirements necessary to support the power extension package project of the space shuttle program are specified for the following categories of data: project management; configuration management; systems engineering and test; manufacturing; reliability, quality assurance and safety; logistics; training; and operations.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1982

A gunner model for an AAA tracking task with interrupted observations

The problem of modeling a trained human operator's tracking performance in an anti-aircraft system under various display blanking conditions is discussed. The input to the gunner is the observable tracking error subjected to repeated interruptions (blanking). A simple and effective gunner model was developed. The effect of blanking on the gunner's tracking performance is approached via modeling the observer and controller gains.

Yu, C. F.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Docking simulation analysis of range data requirements for the orbital maneuvering vehicle

The results of an initial study are reported assess the controllability of the Orbital Maneuvering Vehicle (OMV) for terminal closure and docking are reported. The vehicle characteristics used in this study are those of the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) baseline OMV which were published with the request for proposals for preliminary design of this vehicle. This simulation was conducted at MSFC using the Target Motion Simulator. The study focused on the OMV manual mode capability to accommodate both stabilized and tumbling target engagements with varying complements of range and range rate data displayed to the OMV operator. Four trained test subjects performed over 400 simulated orbital dockings during this study. A firm requirement for radar during the terminal closure and dock phase of the OMV mission was not established by these simulations. Fifteen pound thrusters recommended in the MSFC baseline design were found to be advantageous for initial rate matching maneuvers with unstabilized targets; however, lower thrust levels were desirable for making the final docking maneuvers.

Micheal, J. D.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Display comparison for six-degree-of-freedom force/torque control

The experimental design and the results of a study of a force and torque sensing and display (FTSD) system, developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, are presented. The FTSD system was incorporated into the one-g version of the Space Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (RMS). The tests consisted of evaluating alternative graphics formats for presenting force and torque information at the RMS work station, and of testing the utility of the sensor and the display system as an aid to specific RMS tasks. The participating subjects were all trained RMS operators with experience on the one-g version of the system, three of them with previous experience using the Space Shuttle RMS on orbit. The results support the use of the FTSD system as an aid to RMS operations: the system was found to facilitate the control of forces when the RMS is under partially or wholly constrained conditions. The graphics format employed in the present version of the FTSD system was found to be superior to earlier formats.

Baggen, A.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Aiding the operator during novel fault diagnosis

An aid is proposed for the operator who must deal with a novel failure. A novel failure is one that is not covered by the operator's training or procedures or by an expert system (if present). The aid contains a disaggregated model of the system for reasoning causally about the system. It is to work in parallel with the human and interact at various levels of control. It is designed specifically to mitigate some human suboptimalities and biases during decision making.

Yoon, W. C.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Lumped-Parameter Representation of Wind Tunnel

Mathematical model of proposed wind-tunnel facility represents wind-tunnel circuit and associated equipment in terms of lumped-parameter components. Requires less computational effort and computing time than full three-dimensional aerodynamic computer analysis of system with many volume elements. Approximates distributed nature of wind tunnel well enough to simulate steady-state and transient behavior for analysis of proposed control subsystems and for training of operators. Lumped-parameter circuit model represents wind tunnel and associated equipment. Implemented on analog or digital computers to simulate wind-tunnel performance without risk to operators or equipment.

Krosel, Susan M.↗