Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “progress update”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 253 records · Page 14

Toward Coupled Data Assimilation in NASA’s GEOS: Developments in the Ocean Context

The Global Modeling & Assimilation Office (GMAO) at NASA GSFC produces analyses and predictions of the Earth system using various configurations of the Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) model and assimilation system. The current sub-seasonal-to-seasonal prediction system (GEOS-S2S) is based on a coupled atmosphere-ocean-land-ice configuration of GEOS which includes the Modular Ocean Model version 5 (MOM5) run at approximately 50-km resolution and a de-coupled OI-based ocean analysis that uses an initialization of MOM5 forced by the MERRA-2 reanalysis. GMAO will soon implement an updated GEOS-S2S system that will run at 25-km resolution and adopt aspects of the hybrid four-dimensional ensemble-variational (H4DEnVar) system already running in the production-version atmospheric analysis system, including a Local Ensemble Transform Kalman Filter (LETKF) to provide initial conditions for the oceanic state. This presentation will focus on developments to sustain the GMAO's systems on longer time horizons, where more radical transformations will be required to adapt to advanced computing environments, higher resolution and more diverse model components, and new observations for the Earth system. Results will describe progress toward a version of the GEOS coupled system that will be based around the Joint Effort for Data assimilation Integration (JEDI) framework being developed within Joint Center for Satellite Data Assimilation (JCSDA) and include an updated ocean model, MOM6. Discussion will focus specifically on the use of a Unified Forward Operator (UFO) for simulating observations and the Object Oriented Prediction System (OOPS) for providing the state estimate. These features are being developed as a multi-agency effort under the auspices of the JCSDA and are being adopted in the GMAO for all its applications of coupled data assimilation including S2S, numerical weather prediction, and reanalysis.

Mahajan, Rahul↗

NASA’s Approach to Lunar Communication and Navigation: Artemis and Beyond

NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program is developing a support structure of networks, partners, and technologies to provide communication, position, navigation, and timing services at the Moon. In this paper, we describe the progress and status of these diverse efforts and the ways in which they will be used during NASA’s crewed lunar exploration program, Artemis. We provide an update on developments at NASA which are targeted to cislunar space, including the Orion Artemis II Optical Communications System (O2O) demonstration mission, planned Lunar Exploration Ground Sites (LEGS) that will offer a dedicated Direct to Earth (DTE) capability servicing the cislunar region, and a recently released RFP for commercial Lunar Communications Relay and Navigation Services as well as Direct to Earth communications capabilities. We also describe the current status and key role of the LunaNet Interoperability Specification (LNIS), a collaborative standards framework developed by NASA, international partner agencies, and commercial stakeholders. A common thread, weaving these efforts together, is the support of commercial enterprises that can meet the Artemis challenge. Together, these projects and activities will enable safe, robust, and reliable communications and position, navigation, and timing (PNT) services for both crewed and uncrewed missions across cislunar space. SCaN and NASA, with our partners, are helping to build the foundation for a long term, sustainable human presence at the Moon –one that will set the stage for similar efforts at Mars.

LunaNet↗

Significant applications of ERTS-1 data to resource management activities at the state level in Ohio

Described are techniques utilized and the progress made in applying ERTS-1 data to (1) detecting, inventorying, and monitoring surface mining activities, particularly in relation to recently passed strip mine legislation in Ohio; (2) updating current land use maps at various scales for multiagency usage, and (3) solving other real-time problems existing throughout the various Ohio governmental agencies. General conclusions regarding current user views as to the opportunities and limitations of operationally using ERTS-1 data at the state level are also noted.

Sweet, D. C.↗

2015 Space Human Factors Engineering Standing Review Panel

The 2015 Space Human Factors Engineering (SHFE) Standing Review Panel (from here on referred to as the SRP) met for a site visit in Houston, TX on December 2 - 3, 2015. The SRP reviewed the updated research plans for the Risk of Inadequate Design of Human and Automation/Robotic Integration (HARI Risk), the Risk of Inadequate Human-Computer Interaction (HCI Risk), and the Risk of Inadequate Mission, Process and Task Design (MPTask Risk). The SRP also received a status update on the Risk of Incompatible Vehicle/Habitat Design (Hab Risk) and the Risk of Performance Errors Due to Training Deficiencies (Train Risk). The SRP is pleased with the progress and responsiveness of the SHFE team. The presentations were much improved this year. The SRP is also pleased with the human-centered design approach. Below are some of the more extensive comments from the SRP. We have also made comments in each section concerning gaps/tasks in each. The comments below reflect more significant changes that impact more than just one particular section.

Steinberg, Susan↗

NASA Environmental Control and Life Support Technology Development for Exploration: 2021 to 2022 Overview

Over the past year, significant progress has occurred in technology development, ground testing, and ISS technology demonstrations within the NASA Environmental Control and Life Support (ECLSS) community. This paper provides a technology development update in the following capability areas: life support, environmental monitoring, fire safety, and logistics. Technologies for exploration missions must be reliable in their operation which support crewed mission phases. However, they also need to be put into a reduced use or dormant states to support uncrewed mission phases and then successfully and reliably returned to a nominal state to support crew. Multi-year demonstration of systems operation across this range of conditions are essential to mission success. Project overviews will include how the current activity supports the goal of multi-year demonstrations, planned follow-on activities, and what type of exploration mission elements are targeted for infusion. Technologies must be demonstrated and validated early enough to inform early exploration element milestone reviews (mission concept reviews, systems requirement reviews and no later than preliminary design reviews) so that supporting vehicle systems can also be matured. Consequently, for low technology readiness activities, it is important to also identify which mission elements they might infuse into and how they may offer potential operational, dormancy, or mass benefits. While low TRL technology timelines may not support initial mission needs, early infusion is still reasonable with sufficient testing to validate performance and reliability.

Life Support↗

X-Hab 2026: LiDAR-Powered Autonomous Charging Service Capability for Surface Rovers and Systems

This document details the timeline of the LiDAR-Powered Autonomous Charging Service Capability for Surface Rovers and Systems project, initiated by the Fall 2025 semester class and completed by the Spring 2026 semester class. This project focuses on developing a fully autonomous system composed of a mobile surface rover and an induction charging station with a robotic arm, both controlled by their own NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano. Structural improvements to the rover suspension system and body eliminated excessive camber, reduced stress and strain on the plexiglass body, and improved maneuverability and durability of the rover. The charging station robotic arm was fully redesigned to increase reach while minimizing weight and increasing misalignment tolerance during docking on uneven terrain. Electrical system improvements addressed previous torque and power limitations of both the rover and charging station arm. High-torque servo motors were selected based on updated calculations which incorporated terrain slope and Factor of Safety, enabling zero-point turning for the rover and increased payload capacity of the charging station arm. Significant progress was made in autonomy and perception. The rover now employs 3D LiDAR and SLAM mapping for localization, mapping, and path planning. The Battery Monitoring System (BMS) was created to coordinate battery management between the rover and charging station. The BMS provides continuous monitoring of battery state of charge, temperature, current, and will enable the autonomous initiation, execution, and termination of the charging cycle via Bluetooth communication. Testing of the WIBOTIC induction charging system demonstrated reliable power transfer under both aligned and misaligned conditions. This project demonstrated the ability of an autonomously navigating surface rover to independently plan a path to the charging station, dock, and the charging station to autonomously deploy a robotic charging arm and initiate charging of the rover. This work details the progress made to demonstrate the feasibility of autonomous surface rover navigation and recharging systems.

Megan Steele↗

Trajectory Engineering with Modular Patched Conics for Entry Systems and TPS (TEMPEST)

Brief Presenter Biography (35 word limit): Bohdan Wesely is an Aerospace Engineer in the Entry Systems and Technology Division at Ames. He has worked on a variety of projects for NASA including integrated TPS (thermal protection system) flight hardware deliveries and testing services for commercial partners. Introduction: TEMPEST is a new trajectory analysis framework that is designed to fill the gap between dedicated flight mechanics tools and aerothermal and TPS sizing tools. The project started as an SJSU master’s thesis and has since evolved into a general conceptual design tool capable of studying a wide variety of entry problems. Development is ongoing in the Entry Systems and Technology Division at NASA ARC. Why TEMPEST: Space missions involving entry into a planetary atmosphere involve a series of unique requirements across multiple disciplines. Whether it is traditional entry descent and landing (EDL), or aerocapture, the vehicle must navigate to its target landing location or orbit state, and the TPS must protect the payload during entry. The design process typically involves iterative handoffs between various flight mechanics, flow solver, and material response level tools. During the early conceptual phase, a wide variety of feasible trajectories are simulated in a Monte Carlo scenario which broadly satisfy the mission or landing requirements. Next, computational fluid dynamics (CFD), direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC), and other flow solver analyses are performed at various key trajectory points to generate an aero-database, heating and TPS design requirements also emerge at this stage. At this point, with updated aerodynamics from the various flow solvers, trajectories can be re-run, this in turn can change the required freestream conditions for the CFD tools, and as a project progresses, these analyses converge, and uncertainty is reduced. However, there is always a “hand-off” occurring between two inherently coupled phenomena. Analysis Description: One of the goals with TEMPEST is to use a variety of first principles estimation methods coupled with an atmosphere model to predict vehicle aerothermodynamics across the entire flight regime while propagating a 3 or 6 degree of freedom (DoF) trajectory. Aerodynamics methods include modified Newtonian, Maxwell and Cercignani- Lampis-Lord (CLL) for continuum, transitional, and free molecular flow regimes. Aerothermodynamics include boundary layer and reference enthalpy methods, and Mutation++ for non-equilibrium chemistry modeling. TEMPEST is also capable of stitching multiple trajectory segments together to study mission scenarios like multi-pass aerocapture and aero-gravity assists. Most of the program is implemented in MATLAB using modern system objects, it relies on several C++ shared libraries for supporting tools like Gmsh, the Global Reference Atmospheric Model (GRAM), and Mutation++. The various first principles aerothermal estimation methods are discretized across either a structured axisymmetric panel mesh or an unstructured tri-mesh generated from an open-source tool such as Gmsh, this allows solutions on the same mesh to be compared across tools such as CB-Aero. CFD Coupling. A physics-aware, gaussian process CFD anchoring scheme is proposed to adjust the various first principles methods as a CFD database is populated. One goal for this anchoring module is to inform the project where CFD should be run. Full knowledge of the entire trajectory, atmosphere, and aerothermodynamics allows for easier identification of high sensitivity areas and uncertainty quantification. While the first principles effects are well known and proven accurate in existing tools such as CB- Aero and Cart3D, a physics aware CFD anchoring scheme increases tool credibility across a project lifecycle. Material Response Modeling. Correct TPS sizing is critical for optimizing mass for science payloads and ensuring mission success. The process typically involves a thermal analysis along the trajectory with surface heating environments as a boundary condition. Several design constraints are maximum bondline temperature and maximum recession with various margining techniques. The material response tool FIAT, developed out of NASA Ames, is currently being integrated into the TEMPEST environment. TPS recession, shape change, mass loss, and mass property alteration are all factors that can perturb an entry trajectory. For missions like Mars 2020, recession was minimal and was safely handled separately as a post process. For missions such as Jupiter Galileo with a high TPS mass fraction or asteroid entries, recession plays a major role. The proposed fully coupled scheme is to use an epoch-based approach where the trajectory integration is halted after a recession threshold, the energy balance and FIAT are solved at each panel, the mesh, aerodynamics, and mass properties are updated, and the trajectory continues. Several computational tradeoffs have been made during the development of TEMPEST to limit the cost of a single trajectory and preserve its utility as a conceptual, rapid iteration tool. Conclusion: Development of TEMPEST is ongoing and the project is still in its infancy. This talk aims to showcase its unique capabilities to support future NASA entry systems missions.

Bohdan O Wesely↗

An Overview of the Current State of the Art on Small Spacecraft Avionics Architectures

This paper will expand on the technological progression of small spacecraft avionicsystems and architectures. The authors will identify modern requirements of avionics systems to meet the need of the modern, complex small spacecraft, expand upon the updated avionics architecture composition, list any challenges this technology may encounter, and highlight activities that are being conducted to develop a new generational small spacecraft avionics system.

Bruce Daniel Yost↗

FLASHFlux Working Group Status: Assessing FF NOAA-20 Products and Future Upgrades

The CERES Fast Longwave and SHortwave radiative Flux working provides low latency data products from the CERES measurements within about 5-6 days of real time. This presentation reviews progress made toward evaluating the current data products and shows some examples of users daily averaged data products. Since the last CERES Science Team meeting the FLASHFlux group has updated it's production to use the GEOS-IT reanalysis from the GMAO. In this presentation the comparisons to surface surface measurements are made through December 2023 constrasting old and new versions for the SSF and TISA products. Also, we provide an update on activities to replace the footprint fluxes and also update our current gridded global products with GEO observations. Lastly, present update plans for the next 6-9 months.

radiation budget↗

From Exploration Flight Test-1 to Artemis II--A NASA Langley's Orion Aerosciences Overview

The Orion Aerosciences program at NASA Langley has played a central role in advancing the aerodynamic and aeroheating prediction capabilities required for the Orion crew vehicle’s return from deep space. This presentation provides a technical overview of aerosciences contributions spanning Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1), Artemis I, and the ongoing post-flight analysis of Artemis II. EFT-1 provided the first high-energy entry dataset for Orion, enabling critical validation of aerodynamic force and moment predictions, static and dynamic stability characteristics, and aeroheating environments at relevant flight Mach and Reynolds numbers. Flight-derived pressure data were used to refine the Flush Air Data System (FADS) methodology for atmospheric density reconstruction and to improve Best Estimated Trajectory (BET) solutions. The EFT-1 data also offered key insights into heat shield performance, including char layer recession, in-depth thermal response, and material retention behavior under flight conditions, informing updates to both thermal response models and uncertainty quantification practices. Building on EFT-1, Artemis I extended the database to true lunar-return conditions. Observations of heat shield performance, including localized char loss, bondline response, and recession variability, provided an unprecedented opportunity to reassess Thermal Protection System (TPS) and aeroheating modeling assumptions. Aerodynamic reconstruction efforts incorporated improved FADS calibration, enhanced atmospheric modeling, and refined force and moment databases to reduce trajectory and load uncertainties. Aeroheating comparisons between pre-flight predictions and flight data enabled targeted model updates, particularly in transitional flow environments and wake heating regions. For Artemis II, these lessons were systematically incorporated into the pre-flight prediction process. Updates included refined aerodynamic databases anchored to flight-validated corrections, improved density estimation and BET methodologies using enhanced database interpolation algorithm and FADS modeling, and revised aeroheating design environments informed by Artemis I material response observations. By the time of the workshop, Artemis II post-flight analysis will be underway, and preliminary findings will be presented where available, including early comparisons of aerodynamic reconstruction, atmospheric density estimation, and thermal protection system performance relative to updated predictions. Collectively, this body of work is a testament to the dedicated and multidisciplinary team whose sustained efforts have contributed to the program’s success and to the progressive maturation of Orion aerosciences modeling through numerical modeling, ground and flight data assimilation. The integrated advancement of aerodynamics, trajectory reconstruction, FADS-based density estimation, and aeroheating analysis has reduced predictive uncertainty and strengthened confidence for future crewed lunar and deep-space missions.

Orion↗

Status and Progress of Observation Usages in the GMAO GEOS Atmospheric Data Assimilation System

The Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) continuously works to enhance the use of observations in the Goddard Earth Observing System – Forward Processing (GEOS-FP) model and analysis system. Updates to GEOS-FP in March 2022 and February 2023 focused on the analysis component, adding new capabilities to ingest radiances and other new observing systems, such as SPIRE GNSS-RO data. Concurrent activities enhance aspects of the radiance assimilation, such as the use of hyperspectral radiances in the stratosphere and lower troposphere, the introduction of microwave radiances over land, and a revised treatment of GMI observations. Furthermore, GMAO has been contributing to the Joint Effort for Data assimilation Integration (JEDI), including development and testing of various components of the observing system and GEOS-specific background error covariances that will allow migration of GEOS-FP from a GSI- to a JEDI-based analysis system. A number of examples are shown.

Y Zhu↗

Implementing the GEOSS Water Strategy: From Observations to Decisions

In 2014, The GEOSS Water Strategy – From Observations to Decisions was published and steps were taken to implement the Strategy’s recommendations. The Strategy highlighted priority areas where the application of Earth observations to water research and water management decisions would have significant scientific and societal benefits. This article reviews the implementation of the Strategy’s recommendations over the past eight years. After a review of the Strategy’s assessment of the needs for water observations and their applications, it then reviews actions taken in response to the Strategy’s recommendations in its four major themes: improved data acquisition for Essential Water Variables, research and product development, interoperability, and capacity development. It highlights significant achievements in the implementation of the Strategy including some motivated by factors beyond this Strategy, reviews actions taken by participating agencies and programs for each of the main themes and summarizes the remaining challenges in achieving the Strategy’s full implementation. The article not only is an update for the Water Community regarding the GEOSS Water Strategy, but it is also an example of how other communities could develop and promulgate a set of strategic recommendations, monitor progress, and carry out assessments of their effectiveness.

Earth observations↗

NASA's Space Launch System Program Update

Hardware and software for the world's most powerful launch vehicle for exploration is being welded, assembled, and tested today in high bays, clean rooms and test stands across the United States. NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) continued to make significant progress in 2014 with more planned for 2015, including firing tests of both main propulsion elements and the program Critical Design Review (CDR). Developed with the goals of safety, affordability, and sustainability, SLS will still deliver unmatched capability for human and robotic exploration. The initial Block 1 configuration will deliver more than 70 metric tons of payload to low Earth orbit (LEO). The evolved Block 2 design will deliver some 130 metric tons to LEO. Both designs offer enormous opportunity and flexibility for larger payloads, simplifying payload design as well as ground and on-orbit operations, shortening interplanetary transit times, and decreasing overall mission risk. Over the past year, every vehicle element has manufactured or tested hardware. An RS-25 liquid propellant engine was hotfire-tested at NASA's Stennis Space Center, Miss. for the first time since 2009 exercising and validating the new engine controller, the renovated A-1 test stand, and the test teams. Four RS-25s will power the SLS core stage. A qualification five-segment solid rocket motor incorporating several design, material, and process changes was scheduled to be test-fired in March at the prime contractor's facility in Utah. The booster also successfully completed its Critical Design Review (CDR) validating the planned design. All six major manufacturing tools for the core stage are in place at the Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana, and have been used to build numerous pieces of confidence, qualification, and even flight hardware, including barrel sections, domes and rings used to assemble the world's largest rocket stage. SLS Systems Engineering accomplished several key tasks including vehicle avionics software and hardware build and testing, scale model acoustic and base heating tests. Construction of the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) began. Advanced development provided a look into the future of SLS. Shell buckling knockdown factor testing refined decades-old design margins that added thousands of pounds to rocket payloads. Adaptive manufacturing and structured light scanning development promised to cut the cost and time associated with manufacturing and testing. This paper will provide an overview of the progress made over the past year and provide a glimpse of 2015 milestones and beyond on the way to the first launch in 2018.

May, Todd↗

NASA's Space Launch System Program Update

Hardware and software for the world's most powerful launch vehicle for exploration is being welded, assembled, and tested today in high bays, clean rooms and test stands across the United States. NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) continued to make significant progress in 2014 with more planned for 2015, including firing tests of both main propulsion elements and the program Critical Design Review (CDR). Developed with the goals of safety, affordability, and sustainability, SLS will still deliver unmatched capability for human and robotic exploration. The initial Block 1 configuration will deliver more than 70 metric tons of payload to low Earth orbit (LEO). The evolved Block 2 design will deliver some 130 metric tons to LEO. Both designs offer enormous opportunity and flexibility for larger payloads, simplifying payload design as well as ground and on-orbit operations, shortening interplanetary transit times, and decreasing overall mission risk. Over the past year, every vehicle element has manufactured or tested hardware. An RS-25 liquid propellant engine was hotfire-tested at NASA's Stennis Space Center, Miss. for the first time since 2009 exercising and validating the new engine controller, the renovated A-1 test stand, and the test teams. Four RS-25s will power the SLS core stage. A qualification five-segment solid rocket motor incorporating several design, material, and process changes was scheduled to be test-fired in March at the prime contractor's facility in Utah. The booster also successfully completed its Critical Design Review (CDR) validating the planned design. All six major manufacturing tools for the core stage are in place at the Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana, and have been used to build numerous pieces of confidence, qualification, and even flight hardware, including barrel sections, domes and rings used to assemble the world's largest rocket stage. SLS Systems Engineering accomplished several key tasks including vehicle avionics software and hardware build and testing, scale model acoustic and base heating tests. Construction of the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) began. Advanced development provided a look into the future of SLS. Shell buckling knockdown factor testing refined decades-old design margins that added thousands of pounds to rocket payloads. Adaptive manufacturing and structured light scanning development promised to cut the cost and time associated with manufacturing and testing. This paper will provide an overview of the progress made over the past year and provide a glimpse of 2015 milestones and beyond on the way to the first launch in 2018.

May, Todd↗

NASA's Space Launch System Program Update

Hardware and software for the world's most powerful launch vehicle for exploration is being welded, assembled, and tested today in high bays, clean rooms and test stands across the United States. NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) continued to make significant progress in the past year, including firing tests of both main propulsion elements, manufacturing of flight hardware, and the program Critical Design Review (CDR). Developed with the goals of safety, affordability, and sustainability, SLS will deliver unmatched capability for human and robotic exploration. The initial Block 1 configuration will deliver more than 70 metric tons (t) (154,000 pounds) of payload to low Earth orbit (LEO). The evolved Block 2 design will deliver some 130 t (286,000 pounds) to LEO. Both designs offer enormous opportunity and flexibility for larger payloads, simplifying payload design as well as ground and on-orbit operations, shortening interplanetary transit times, and decreasing overall mission risk. Over the past year, every vehicle element has manufactured or tested hardware, including flight hardware for Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1). This paper will provide an overview of the progress made over the past year and provide a glimpse of upcoming milestones on the way to a 2018 launch readiness date.

May, Todd↗

[Determine and Implement Updates to Be Made to MODEAR (Mission Operations Data Enterprise Architecture Repository)]

My main project was to determine and implement updates to be made to MODEAR (Mission Operations Data Enterprise Architecture Repository) process definitions to be used for CST-100 (Crew Space Transportation-100) related missions. Emphasis was placed on the scheduling aspect of the processes. In addition, I was to complete other tasks as given. Some of the additional tasks were: to create pass-through command look-up tables for the flight controllers, finish one of the MDT (Mission Operations Directorate Display Tool) displays, gather data on what is included in the CST-100 public data, develop a VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) script to create a csv (Comma-Separated Values) file with specific information from spreadsheets containing command data, create a command script for the November MCC-ASIL (Mission Control Center-Avionics System Integration Laboratory) testing, and take notes for one of the TCVB (Terminal Configured Vehicle B-737) meetings. In order to make progress in my main project I scheduled meetings with the appropriate subject matter experts, prepared material for the meetings, and assisted in the discussions in order to understand the process or processes at hand. After such discussions I made updates to various MODEAR processes and process graphics. These meetings have resulted in significant updates to the processes that were discussed. In addition, the discussions have helped the departments responsible for these processes better understand the work ahead and provided material to help document how their products are created. I completed my other tasks utilizing resources available to me and, when necessary, consulting with the subject matter experts. Outputs resulting from my other tasks were: two completed and one partially completed pass through command look-up tables for the fight controllers, significant updates to one of the MDT displays, a spreadsheet containing data on what is included in the CST-100 public data, a tool to create a csv file with specific information from spreadsheets containing command data, a command script for the November MCC-ASIL testing which resulted in a successful test day identifying several potential issues, and notes from one of the TCVB meetings that was used to keep the teams up to date on what was discussed and decided. I have learned a great deal working at NASA these last four months. I was able to meet and work with amazing individuals, further develop my technical knowledge, expand my knowledge base regarding human spaceflight, and contribute to the CST-100 missions. My work at NASA has strengthened my desire to continue my education in order to make further contributions to the field, and has given me the opportunity to see the advantages of a career at NASA.

Fanourakis, Sofia↗

Quantitative understanding of the cycles of oxidized and reduced sulfur on Venus

The evolution of the Venus atmosphere is determined by the supply of gases from the interior of the planet and outer space, and by the loss of particles to space over time. In particular, questions pertaining to the initial inventory of water and the current and past rates of outgassing can be addressed by studying the loss rates of H, D, He3 and He4. The photochemistry of the H2SO4 clouds may also have played an important role in regulating the amount of water above the cloud tops, and hence limit the rate of escape of hydrogen from the planet. Thus the problems of evolution and chemistry are intimately related. In our proposal the principal tasks we undertook to advance our understanding of the origin and evolution of water on Venus included: (1) escape of light atoms from Venus and (2) develop a photochemical model of sulfate formation. In the last two years we have made progress on Task 1 regarding how light atoms can escape from the exosphere of Venus with the development of a Monte Carlo program and in Task 2 have developed a thorough update on the SO2 photochemistry that had been previously carried out.

Yung, Yuk L.↗

Analysis and design of a high power, digitally-controlled spacecraft power system

The progress to date on the analysis and design of a high power, digitally controlled spacecraft power system is described. Several battery discharger topologies were compared for use in the space platform application. Updated information has been provided on the battery voltage specification. Initially it was thought to be in the 30 to 40 V range. It is now specified to be 53 V to 84 V. This eliminated the tapped-boost and the current-fed auto-transformer converters from consideration. After consultations with NASA, it was decided to trade-off the following topologies: (1) boost converter; (2) multi-module, multi-phase boost converter; and (3) voltage-fed push-pull with auto-transformer. A non-linear design optimization software tool was employed to facilitate an objective comparison. Non-linear design optimization insures that the best design of each topology is compared. The results indicate that a four-module, boost converter with each module operating 90 degrees out of phase is the optimum converter for the space platform. Large-signal and small-signal models were generated for the shunt, charger, discharger, battery, and the mode controller. The models were first tested individually according to the space platform power system specifications supplied by NASA. The effect of battery voltage imbalance on parallel dischargers was investigated with respect to dc and small-signal responses. Similarly, the effects of paralleling dischargers and chargers were also investigated. A solar array and shunt model was included in these simulations. A model for the bus mode controller (power control unit) was also developed to interface the Orbital replacement Unit (ORU) model to the platform power system. Small signal models were used to generate the bus impedance plots in the various operating modes. The large signal models were integrated into a system model, and time domain simulations were performed to verify bus regulation during mode transitions. Some changes have subsequently been incorporated into the models. The changes include the use of a four module boost discharger, and a new model for the mode controller, which includes the effects of saturation. The new simulations for the boost discharger show the improvement in bus ripple that can be achieved by phase-shifted operation of each of the boost modules.

Lee, F. C.↗