Results for “Pathways Program” — Page 14

NASA NTRS2001

Air Traffic Control Decision Support Tools for Noise Mitigation

NASA has initiated a new five year program this year, the Quiet Aircraft Technology (QAT) Program, a program which will investigate airframe and engine system noise reduction. QAT will also address community noise impact. As part of this community noise impact component, NASA will investigate air traffic management (ATM) challenges in reducing noise. In particular, controller advisory automation aids will be developed to aid the air traffic controller in addressing noise concerns as he/she manages traffic in busy terminal areas. NASA has developed controller automation tools to address capacity concerns and the QAT strategy for ATM Low Noise Operations is to build upon this tool set to create added advisories for noise mitigation. The tools developed for capacity will be briefly reviewed, followed by the QAT plans to address ATM noise concerns. A major NASA goal in global civil aviation is to triple the aviation system throughput in all-weather conditions while maintaining safety. A centerpiece of this activity is the Center/TRACON Automation System (CTAS), an evolving suite of air traffic controller decision support tools (DSTs) to enhance capacity of arrivals and departures in both the enroute center and the TRACON. Two of these DSTs, the Traffic Management Advisor (TMA) and the passive Final approach Spacing Tool (pFAST), are in daily use at the Fort Worth Center and the Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) TRACON, respectively, where capacity gains of 5-13% have been reported in recent NASA evaluations. Under the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Free Flight Phase One Program, TMA and pFAST are each being implemented at six to eight additional sites. In addition, other DSTs are being developed by NASA under the umbrella of CTAS. This means that new software will be built upon CTAS, and the paradigm of real-time simulation evaluation followed by field site development and evaluation will be the pathway for the new tools. Additional information is included in the original extended abstract.

Tobias, Leonard↗

DOE OSTI2025

Building a Clean Energy Workforce: Best Practices for State Energy Offices

As federal investments into the clean energy economy are underway, State Energy Offices (SEOs) are engaging in efforts to grow the workforce through the creation and/or funding of workforce initiatives that recruit, train and support pathways into energy efficiency and clean energy jobs. This report provides a summary of clean energy workforce development best practices, supplemented by case studies and lessons learned from several SEOs that showcase these strategies in practice. SEOs can reference this resource as they implement, manage, oversee, and/or evaluate efforts their offices are undertaking through various federally funded programs.

clean energy↗

NASA NTRS2007

Direct UV/Optical Imaging of Stellar Surfaces: The Stellar Imager (SI) Vision Mission

The Stellar Imager (SI) is a UV/optical, space-based interferometer designed to enable 0.1 milli-arcsecond (mas) spectral imaging of stellar surfaces and, via asteroseismology, stellar interiors and of the Universe in general. SI's science focuses on the role of magnetism in the Universe, particularly on magnetic activity on the surfaces of stars like the Sun. SI's prime goal is to enable long-term forecasting of solar activity and the space weather that it drives, in support of the Living with a Star program in the Exploration Era. SI will also revolutionize our understanding of the formation of planetary systems, of the habitability and climatology of distant planets, and of many magneto-hydrodynamically controlled processes in thc Universe. SI is a "Flagship and Landmark Discovery Mission" in the 2005 Sun Solar System Connection (SSSC) Roadmap and a candidate for a "Pathways to Life Observatory" in the Exploration of the Universe Division (EUD) Roadmap. We discuss herein the science goals of the SI Mission, a mission architecture that could meet those goals, and the technologies needed to enable this mission. Additional information on SI can be found at: http://hires.gsfc.nasa.gov/si/.

Carpenter, Kenneth G.↗

DOE OSTI2024

Consequence Management Asset Overview

Presentation summarizing DOE Consequence Management assets available to support state, local, territorial, and tribal partners during a radiological emergency. This presentation will be given at various state engagements, including training and outreach for ingestion pathway exercises, national and regional CM exercises, and trainings for radiological emergency preparedness events as requested.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗

DOE OSTI2024

Rooftop Solar in Lawrence, MA: Community Perspectives, Deceptive Practices, and Financing Options

This report was prepared as part of the U.S. Department of Energy's Communities Local Energy Action Program (Communities LEAP) pilot competitive technical assistance for the Lawrence Massachusetts Stakeholder Coalition (LSC) composed of The City of Lawrence, All In Energy, MassDevelopment, Mill City Community Investments, BlocPower and Groundwork Lawrence, and led by Browning the Green Space. The LSC identified rooftop solar photovoltaics as a top priority for this technical assistance opportunity. Lawrence faces high energy burden and electricity prices, thus rooftop solar can be a tool to help lower those costs. However, the coalition received feedback that some solar companies were using deceptive and unfair practices when marketing, selling, or financing solar energy, costing residents more money than utility rates and increasing the energy burden. This project sought to address rooftop solar community priorities through two pathways: 1. facilitating community engagement to understand community perspectives and experiences with rooftop solar development; and 2. conducting a financial cash-flow analysis highlighting the varying fiscal outcomes for rooftop solar adopters based off rooftop solar leasing, ownership, or buying electricity from the utility (National Grid).

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

NASA NTRS2007

Eastern U.S. Continental Shelf Carbon Budget: Integrating Models,Data Assimilation, and Analysis

The U.S. East Coast Continental Shelf (USECoS) project was initiated in 2004 with the overall goal of developing carbon budgets for Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic regions of the eastern U.S. coast. We addressed this goal through a series of specific research questions that were designed to understand carbon inputs and fates in the two regions, dominant food web pathways for carbon cycling, and similarities/differences in carbon cycling in the two continental shelf systems. The USECoS project represents a major effort to simultaneously synthesize and integrate diverse data sets, field measurements, models, and modeling approaches. We expect that the type of approach taken here will result in more insight than would be possible if each component of the program moved forward independently. The primary significance of this project is in providing a strong quantitative basis for the development of future observational and modeling studies of carbon budgets of continental shelf systems. A strong aspect of the USECoS project is the integration of modeling and extensive physical, chemical, and biological data sets, which provides an opportunity for modeling and data analyses to inform one another from the outset. This research is particularly germane to NASA's carbon cycle research focus and coastal research initiative and the U.S. Climate Change Research Program, all of which support the goals of the North American Carbon Program. We highlight primary approaches that have been used, and some of the challenges and results that have come from interactions among our team of investigators. The global scale and interdisciplinary nature of the science questions that we now face in Earth Science are such that integrated teams of investigators are needed to address them.

Hofmann, Eileen↗

NASA NTRS2018

What is EA?

An enterprise architecture (EA) is a conceptual blueprint that defines the structure and operation of an organization. The intent of an enterprise architecture is to determine how an organization can most effectively achieve its current and future objectives. A single slide PowerPoint, size 36" x 48" has been produced for printing onto a poster board for display in the Pathways Internship showcase November 2018. This poster board presentation is a display of my internship from 2014 to present, to include my NIFS (NASA Interns, Fellowships, Scholarships) internship, ITSS (Information Technology Support Services) contract, and current Pathways internship. The presentation discusses my years producing deliverables for: the ISS (International Space Station) Anomaly Project in 2014, the FJET (Frangible Joint Empirical Test) database project in 2015, the CUI (Compact Unique Identifier) project in early 2016, and various Enterprise Architecture deliverables and contributions such as the Roadmap SQL (Structured Query Language) stored procedure and architectural views of Program data elements.

MySQL↗

NASA NTRS1992

Photodissociation of CH2. I - Potential energy surfaces of the dissociation into CH and H

The possible photodissociation pathways of the CH2 radical are studied using ab initio multireference configuration-interaction methods, and accurate photodissociation cross sections and branching ratios for the production of CH + H and C + H2 are obtained. Potential energy surfaces were calculated using the Wuppertal-Bonn self-consistent field plus a multireference single and double-excitation configuration interaction package of programs. Two-dimensional potential energy surfaces of the ten lowest triplet states correlating with the seven lowest states of CH were calculated as functions of bond angle and one C-H bond distance, keeping the other C-H bond distance fixed at the equilibrium CH2 value.

Bearda, Robert A.↗

NASA NTRS2003

Afferent innervation patterns of the saccule in pigeons

The innervation patterns of vestibular saccular afferents were quantitatively investigated in pigeons using biotinylated dextran amine as a neural tracer and three-dimensional computer reconstruction. Type I hair cells were found throughout a large portion of the macula, with the highest density observed in the striola. Type II hair cells were located throughout the macula, with the highest density in the extrastriola. Three classes of afferent innervation patterns were observed, including calyx, dimorph, and bouton units, with 137 afferents being anatomically reconstructed and used for quantitative comparisons. Calyx afferents were located primarily in the striola, innervated a number of type I hair cells, and had small innervation areas. Most calyx afferent terminal fields were oriented parallel to the anterior-posterior axis and the morphological polarization reversal line. Dimorph afferents were located throughout the macula, contained fewer type I hair cells in a calyceal terminal than calyx afferents and had medium sized innervation areas. Bouton afferents were restricted to the extrastriola, with multi-branching fibers and large innervation areas. Most of the dimorph and bouton afferents had innervation fields that were oriented dorso-ventrally but were parallel to the neighboring reversal line. The organizational morphology of the saccule was found to be distinctly different from that of the avian utricle or lagena otolith organs and appears to represent a receptor organ undergoing evolutionary adaptation toward sensing linear motion in terrestrial and aerial species.

NASA Discipline Neuroscience↗

NASA NTRS1987

Natural abundances of carbon isotopes in acetate from a coastal marine sediment

Measurements of the natural abundances of carbon isotopes were made in acetate samples isolated from the anoxic marine sediment of Cape Lookout Bight, North Carolina. The typical value of the total acetate carbon isotope ratio (delta 13C) was -16.1 +/- 0.2 per mil. The methyl and carboxyl groups were determined to be -26.4 +/- 0.3 and -6.0 +/- 0.3 per mil, respectively, for one sample. The isotopic composition of the acetate is thought to have resulted from isotopic discriminations that occurred during the cycling of that molecule. Measurements of this type, which have not been made previously in the natural environment, may provide information about the dominant microbial pathways in anoxic sediments as well as the processes that influence the carbon isotopic composition of biogenic methane from many sources.

NASA Discipline Exobiology↗

DOE OSTI2026

Cellular signaling within aged skeletal muscle reveals a dysregulated stress-induced remodeling response following volumetric muscle loss in female mice

Severe muscle trauma disrupts endogenous repair mechanisms, producing chronic functional deficits that are incompletely characterized in aged populations. This study investigated inflammatory, molecular, and physiological responses to volumetric muscle loss in young adult and aged female mice. Serum cytokine profiling revealed elevated baseline inflammation in aged animals and a blunted response to injury, with cytokines such as IL-6 increasing 4.4-fold in young versus 1.8-fold in aged mice at day 3 compared to baseline. By day 28 post-injury, histological analyses showed comparable reductions in muscle size and increases in fibrosis across ages. Despite these similar tissue-level outcomes, age-dependent differences emerged in downstream functional and molecular responses. Muscle functional testing demonstrated persistent force deficits independent of age but altered muscle relaxation kinetics in aged mouse muscles (p < 0.001), suggesting dysregulated excitation-contraction coupling. Additionally, mice displayed age-associated differences in post-injury limb loading. Global proteomic analyses further confirmed age-associated enrichment of complement and antigen-processing pathways alongside metabolic dysfunction (p < 0.05). Phosphoproteomic profiling revealed reduced basal kinase activity in the muscles of aged mice yet exaggerated injury-induced phosphorylation of Mapk1-associated phosphosites, indicating a dysregulated stress response. Collectively, these findings suggest that aged murine muscles function within a heightened inflammatory and perturbed kinase-signaling environment that may hinder the coordination of regenerative programs, underscoring the need for regenerative strategies that address age-specific molecular contexts to improve functional recovery across the lifespan.

Habing, Krista M.↗

DOE OSTI2025

Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe Strategic Energy Plan

The Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe's Strategic Energy Plan (SEP) details the outcomes and efforts of a 1.5-year Energy Technology Innovation Partnership Program (ETIPP) project. This collaboration involved the Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe, Spark Northwest, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Project partners supported the Tribe in identifying key energy research focus areas and the Tribe's energy vision. As the technical lead on the project, PNNL led a series of research initiatives to evaluate potential pathways for the Tribe to achieve its energy goals, subsequently providing associated recommendations. The SEP offers a comprehensive analysis encompassing several critical aspects including: -The Tribe's current energy landscape -Availability of renewable resources -Potential microgrid designs, developed by Säzän Group -Critical infrastructure analysis -Electric vehicle integration -An energy workforce development framework, led by Spark Northwest The analysis results come with recommended next steps, categorized by implementation timeframe (short-term, medium-term, long-term) and priority.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

NASA NTRS2024

A Collaborative Vision for Deep Space Human Exploration

Artemis will be the first cooperative campaign among nations for crewed planetary exploration. This paradigm shift reflects a collaborative vision for deep space human exploration that embraces the concept that, “If you want to go fast, go alone; If you want to go far, go together.” This paper elaborates on the way the National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA)is striving to make its Moon to Mars effort a collaborative endeavor for long-term human exploration of deep space and for the international space community. The agency is making great strides in unifying its workforce, mission directorates, technical authorities, and centers behind shared goals and processes. Enhanced communication and a reinvigoration of systems engineering ideals have been a hallmark of that effort, guided by the Moon to Mars Architecture, which defines what NASA aims to accomplish and how it will execute those goals. This interdisciplinary approach ensures the Artemis campaign supports NASA’s engineering, science, and technology development goals. As of September 2024, over 43 nations have signed the Artemis Accords, which establish a common set of principles for peaceful cooperation in civil space exploration. Building off these efforts, NASA has been engaging in separate and distinct discussions about partner contributions to Artemis. International partnerships for the Artemis campaign include long-standing partners as well as agencies with which NASA has only more recently begun collaborating. The Gateway Program is an early example of both –benefitting from partnerships with Canada, Japan, and Europe forged though decades of cooperation on the International Space Station, as well as a new partnership with the United Arab Emirates. The agency’s Moon to Mars Objectives and Architecture unify the NASA workforce with common goals and shared systems-engineering processes. The architecture offers pathways for broader participation from industry, academia, and international partners. The agency evolves this collaborative approach through its annual Architecture Concept Review cycle, seeking input from the NASA workforce, and through workshops, from industry, academia, and the international space community to refine NASA’s roadmap for exploration. Exploring together, NASA and its partners are setting humanity on the path to long-term presence at the Moon and our eventual journey to Mars

Objective↗

NASA NTRS1996

Organizational principles of otolith- and semicircular canal-ocular reflexes in rhesus monkeys

No abstract available

NASA Discipline Neuroscience↗

NASA NTRS2007

Stellar Imager

The Stellar Imager (SI) is one of NASA's "Vision Missions" - concepts for future, space-based, strategic missions that could enormously increase our capabilities for observing the Cosmos. SI is designed as a UV/Optical Interferometer which will enable 0.1 milli-arcsecond (mas) spectral imaging of stellar surfaces and, via asteroseismology, stellar interiors and of the Universe in general. The ultra-sharp images of the Stellar Imager will revolutionize our view of many dynamic astrophysical processes by transforming point sources into extended sources, and snapshots into evolving views. SI, with a characteristic angular resolution of 0.1 milli-arcseconds at 2000 Angstroms, represents an advance in image detail of several hundred times over that provided by the Hubble Space Telescope. The Stellar Imager will zoom in on what today-with few exceptions - we only know as point sources, revealing processes never before seen, thus providing a tool as fundamental to astrophysics as the microscope is to the study of life on Earth. SI's science focuses on the role of magnetism in the Universe, particularly on magnetic activity on the surfaces of stars like the Sun. It's prime goal is to enable long-term forecasting of solar activity and the space weather that it drives, in support of the Living With a Star program in the Exploration Era. SI will also revolutionize our understanding of the formation of planetary systems, of the habitability and climatology of distant planets, and of many magneto-hydrodynamically controlled processes in the Universe. Stellar Imager is included as a "Flagship and Landmark Discovery Mission" in the 2005 Sun Solar System Connection (SSSC) Roadmap and as a candidate for a "Pathways to Life Observatory" in the Exploration of the Universe Division (EUD) Roadmap (May, 2005) and as such is a candidate mission for the 2025-2030 timeframe. An artist's drawing of the current "baseline" concept for SI is presented.

Carpenter, Kenneth↗

NASA NTRS1990

Inducing gravitropic curvature of primary roots of Zea mays cv Ageotropic

Primary roots of the mutant 'Ageotropic' cultivar of Zea mays are nonresponsive to gravity. Their root caps secrete little or no mucilage and touch the root only at the extreme apex. A gap separates the cap and root at the periphery of the cap. Applying mucilage from normal roots or substances with a consistency similar to that of mucilage to tips of mutant roots causes these roots to become strongly graviresponsive. Gravicurvature stops when these substances are removed. Caps of some mutants secrete small amounts of mucilage and are graviresponsive. These results indicate that (a) the lack of graviresponsiveness in the mutant results from disrupting the transport pathway between the cap and root, (b) movement of the growth-modifying signal from the cap to the root occurs via an apoplastic pathway, and (c) mucilage is necessary for normal communication between the root cap and root in Zea mays cv Ageotropic.

NASA Discipline Number 29-20↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Space Nuclear Propulsion for Deep Space Science Missions

The use of nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) 1 and nuclear electric propulsion (NEP) 2 systems on deep space science missions to the outer planets and into the interstellar medium 3 can yield significant spacecraft system and mission performance benefits and improvements relative to the use of conventional chemical propulsion systems. Several recent and ongoing programs are developing the technologies and systems required to realize a near-term deep space nuclear propulsion capability. NTP provides improved propulsion efficiencies compared to chemical propulsion, while also providing substantial thrust. This combination of high thrust and increased specific impulse (I_sp) provides high acceleration and extended thrusting periods, enabling greatly reduced trip-times on certain types of missions compared to various propulsive alternatives. For examples, compared to a baseline mission using chemical propulsion, NTP-powered missions to Jupiter or Uranus could deliver approximately 2.4-3.6 times more payload (in the case of Jupiter, the payload delivery is significantly larger than the Juno spacecraft). In this comparison, the higher end of the payload advantage is obtained when the trip time is held equal for the NTP-powered vehicle and a vehicle using a chemical propulsion departure stage. NTP systems are presently under development by multiple government agencies. NASA’s Space Nuclear Propulsion (SNP) project aims to demonstrate a hydrogen-fed NTP engine at 900 s specific impulse (I_sp) and approximately 10-15 klb_f of thrust. DARPA’s Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) program is targeting a demonstration of an NTP system in the cislunar space between the Earth and the Moon. An appropriately phased development plan that applies the development of the reactor technology for an NTP engine in this performance class and leverages mature, existing liquid rocket component hardware provides a path to a lower cost propulsion system that can be realized on a shorter development schedule. NEP, with high Isp in the 2,000-8,000 s range, can also provide advantages over chemical propulsion, including a much greater payload delivery mass and the flexibility for planners to trade between delivered mass and a wider window of mission trajectory options. Electric propulsion (EP) systems have demonstrated great utility, performing notably on the Dawn mission to enable rendezvous and orbital insertion at two separate bodies, Vesta and Ceres. An NEP-powered vehicle would have a similar capability to visit multiple bodies, loitering at each before moving to the next. A 10 kW_e NEP system provides a power- rich environment on the spacecraft that is simply not possible using present radioisotope power systems, giving mission planners more scientific instrument and communication hardware options. Several programs and projects are presently developing NEP systems and subsystems in the 10 kW_e power range, leveraging past reactor work and recent nuclear power generation risk-reduction demonstration activities such as the Demonstration Using Flattop Fission (DUFF) and the Kilopower Reactor Using Stirling TechnologY (KRUSTY). The goal of the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Joint Energy Technology Supplying On-Orbit Nuclear Power (JETSON) program is an in-space demonstration vehicle that has a 10 kW_e -class fission power source. These past and present efforts can be combined with the ongoing development of 10 kW_e -class electric propulsion systems (notably the NEXT-C ion thruster or the Hall-effect thrusters for Power and Propulsion Element of the Lunar Gateway) to provide a pathway to a low-cost, reliable NEP system for deep space science application.

Kurt A. Polzin↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Space Nuclear Propulsion for Deep Space Science Missions

The use of nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) 1 and nuclear electric propulsion (NEP) 2 systems on deep space science missions to the outer planets and into the interstellar medium 3 can yield significant spacecraft system and mission performance benefits and improvements relative to the use of conventional chemical propulsion systems. Several recent and ongoing programs are developing the technologies and systems required to realize a near-term deep space nuclear propulsion capability. NTP provides improved propulsion efficiencies compared to chemical propulsion, while also providing substantial thrust. This combination of high thrust and increased specific impulse (I_sp) provides high acceleration and extended thrusting periods, enabling greatly reduced trip-times on certain types of missions compared to various propulsive alternatives. For examples, compared to a baseline mission using chemical propulsion, NTP-powered missions to Jupiter or Uranus could deliver approximately 2.4-3.6 times more payload (in the case of Jupiter, the payload delivery is significantly larger than the Juno spacecraft). In this comparison, the higher end of the payload advantage is obtained when the trip time is held equal for the NTP-powered vehicle and a vehicle using a chemical propulsion departure stage. NTP systems are presently under development by multiple government agencies. NASA’s Space Nuclear Propulsion (SNP) project aims to demonstrate a hydrogen-fed NTP engine at 900 s specific impulse (I_sp) and approximately 10-15 klb_f of thrust. DARPA’s Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) program is targeting a demonstration of an NTP system in the cislunar space between the Earth and the Moon. An appropriately phased development plan that applies the development of the reactor technology for an NTP engine in this performance class and leverages mature, existing liquid rocket component hardware provides a path to a lower cost propulsion system that can be realized on a shorter development schedule. NEP, with high Isp in the 2,000-8,000 s range, can also provide advantages over chemical propulsion, including a much greater payload delivery mass and the flexibility for planners to trade between delivered mass and a wider window of mission trajectory options. Electric propulsion (EP) systems have demonstrated great utility, performing notably on the Dawn mission to enable rendezvous and orbital insertion at two separate bodies, Vesta and Ceres. An NEP-powered vehicle would have a similar capability to visit multiple bodies, loitering at each before moving to the next. A 10 kW_e NEP system provides a power- rich environment on the spacecraft that is simply not possible using present radioisotope power systems, giving mission planners more scientific instrument and communication hardware options. Several programs and projects are presently developing NEP systems and subsystems in the 10 kW_e power range, leveraging past reactor work and recent nuclear power generation risk-reduction demonstration activities such as the Demonstration Using Flattop Fission (DUFF) and the Kilopower Reactor Using Stirling TechnologY (KRUSTY). The goal of the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Joint Energy Technology Supplying On-Orbit Nuclear Power (JETSON) program is an in-space demonstration vehicle that has a 10 kW_e -class fission power source. These past and present efforts can be combined with the ongoing development of 10 kW_e -class electric propulsion systems (notably the NEXT-C ion thruster or the Hall-effect thrusters for Power and Propulsion Element of the Lunar Gateway) to provide a pathway to a low-cost, reliable NEP system for deep space science application.

Kurt A. Polzin↗