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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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NASA NTRS1993

Mars Observer Press Conference JPL

The Mars Observer mission spacecraft was primarily designed for exploring Mars and the Martian environment. The Mars Observer was launched on September 25, 1992. The spacecraft was lost in the vicinity of Mars on August 21, 1993 when the spacecraft began its maneuvering sequence for Martian orbital insertion. This videotape shows a press briefing, held after the spacecraft had not responded to attempts to communicate with it, to explain to the press the problems and the steps that were being taken to re-establish communication with the spacecraft. The communications had been shutdown prior to the orbital insertion burn to protect the instruments. At the time of the press conference, the communications system was still not operational, and attempts were being made to re-establish communication. Bob McMillan of the Public Affairs Office at JPL gives the initial announcement of the continuing communication problem with the spacecraft. Mr. McMillan introduces William Piotrowski, acting director of solar system exploration, who reiterates that there is indeed no communication with the Observer spacecraft. He is followed by Glenn Cunningham, the Project Manager of the Mars Observer who speaks about the attempts to re-establish contact. Mr. Cunningham is followed by Satenios Dallas, the Mission Manager for the Mars Observer Project, who speaks about the sequence of events leading up to the communication failure, and shows an animated video presenting the orbital insertion maneuvers. The briefing was then opened up for questions from the assembled press, both at JPL and at the other NASA Centers. The questions are about the possible reasons for the communication failure, and the attempts to restore communications with the spacecraft. Dr. Arden L. Albee, chief scientist for the Mars Observer Mission, joins the other panel members to answer questions. At the end of the press briefing the animation of the Mars orbital insertion is shown again.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2000

Technology Assessment of Doe's 55-we Stirling Technology Demonstrator Convector (TDC)

The Department of Energy (DOE), Germantown, Maryland and the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC), Cleveland, Ohio are developing a Stirling Convertor for an advanced radioisotope power system as a potential power source for spacecraft on-board electric power for NASA deep space science missions. The Stirling Convertor is being evaluated as an alternative high efficiency power source to replace Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs). Stirling Technology Company (STC), Kennewick, Washington, is developing the highly efficient, long life 55-We free-piston Stirling Convertor known as the Technology Demonstrator Convertor (TDC) under contract to DOE. GRC provides Stirling technology expertise under a Space Act Agreement with the DOE. Lockheed Martin Astronautics (LMA), Valley Forge, Pennsylvania is the current power system integrator for the Advanced Radioisotope Power System (ARPS) Project for the DOE. JPL is responsible for the Outer Planets/Solar Probe Project for NASA.

Furlong, Richard↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Objective Structured Clinical Evaluation (OSCE) of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) Tool

BACKGROUND Objective Structured Clinical Evaluations (OSCEs) have long been established as a robust methodology for summative assessment of clinical skills and decision-making during medical education. The recent integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into clinical decision-making processes has prompted the need for novel evaluation frameworks to assess the efficacy and reliability of AI clinical decision support system (CDSS) tools. This abstract outlines the process of quantitatively evaluating a novel CDSS (“Doc in a Box” Google 2024) trained on curated medical spaceflight data in the psychomotor domain as it interfaces with a human volunteer acting as the crew medical officer (CMO). PURPOSE The AI CDSS under review was developed as part of the Lunar Command and Control Interoperability (LuCCI) project, which is intended to address a gap in how Lunar Surface Systems (LSS) would interoperate across multiple programs, commercial partners, and international partners. The project objective is to define, prototype, integrate, and evaluate an interoperable lunar command, control, data, and software reference architecture to enable autonomy and informatics capability through common standards across LSS. A multi-modal AI-based CDSS compatible with Federated LSS will assist clinicians in diagnosing and managing complex medical conditions by providing evidence-based recommendations through predictive analytics. Given the critical role of decision-support as NASA continues to evolve its Earth-independent medical operations (EIMO), it is imperative to ensure that such AI tools perform reliably and align with clinical standards during progressive lunar and Martian exploration class missions. METHODS The OSCE framework, traditionally used for evaluating human clinicians, was adapted to assess the AI tool's decision-making capabilities in simulated clinical scenarios. In this adapted OSCE, the AI CDSS was tested across a series of structured clinical scenarios designed to mimic real-life spaceflight patient cases. These scenarios included a range of conditions and complexities, allowing for comprehensive assessment of the tool's performance. Key evaluation metrics included accuracy of diagnosis, timeliness of decision-making, and appropriate recommendations for therapies. The OSCE was scored by human physician evaluators who assessed the AI's recommendations in comparison with expert clinicians' medical decision making to ensure alignment with best practices and the standard of care. RESULTS Preliminary results indicate that the AI CDSS demonstrated high accuracy in diagnostic recommendations and decision support across various scenarios. However, certain limitations were noted, such as occasional discrepancies in handling complex or nuanced cases that required a more contextual understanding. Additionally, the tool scored higher on the diagnostic portion of the rubric, with lower scores in the therapeutic recommendations. These findings highlight the importance of continuous refinement and validation of AI tools through rigorous evaluation frameworks like the OSCE. The adaptation of OSCEs for AI tools presents several advantages, including a structured and reproducible approach to evaluation, the ability to test AI systems in diverse clinical scenarios, and the opportunity to benchmark AI performance against established clinical standards to permit charting of future progress as aerospace medicine evolves as a discipline. Remaining challenges include ensuring that these evaluations capture the full spectrum of clinical decision-making scenarios that will be confronted by CMOs during missions and adequately reflecting real-world variability of the austere spaceflight environment. CONCLUSION Employing OSCEs to evaluate AI clinical decision support tools offers a promising approach to validating their clinical utility and efficacy. This methodology not only provides insights into the tool's performance but also fosters ongoing improvement and alignment with standard of care practices. Future research should focus on refining these evaluation processes and addressing limitations to enhance the integration of AI tools in clinical spaceflight settings. REFERENCES Scott S, Hearns V, Barker MA. Testing Clinical Skills: A Look at the OSCE and USMLE Clinical Skills Exams. S D Med. 2019 Oct;72(10):451-453. Majumder MAA, Kumar A, Krishnamurthy K, Ojeh N, Adams OP, Sa B. An evaluative study of objective structured clinical examination (OSCE): students and examiners perspectives. Adv Med Educ Pract. 2019 Jun 5;10:387-397. Karam VY, Park YS, Tekian A, Youssef N. Evaluating the validity evidence of an OSCE: results from a new medical school. BMC Med Educ. 2018 Dec 20;18(1):313.

Ariana M Nelson↗
NASA NTRS2024

The Lifetime Surveillance of Astronaut Health Newsletter

Welcome to the October 2024 issue of the Lifetime Surveillance of Astronaut Health (LSAH) Newsletter. In this issue, we will introduce you to the outgoing LSAH/LSDA lead, Mary Van Baalen, PhD; share with you the history of the NASA Electronic Medical Record (EMR) Project, as well as provide you with additional information on the consent to re-use your Astronaut data and the application of the TREAT Act. Be sure to check out the Clinic Corner, HRP Corner, the Publications Corner, and a special Formers Corner where we share Travel Tips for your LSAH Exam travels!

Ronnie Rafanan↗
NASA NTRS2015

Injury Risk Assessment of Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Phase VI and Series 4000 Gloves During Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Hand Manipulation Tasks

Functional Extravehicular Mobility Units (EMUs) with high precision gloves are essential for the success of Extravehicular Activity (EVA). Previous research done at NASA has shown that total strength capabilities and performance are reduced when wearing a pressurized EMU. The goal of this project was to characterize the human-space suit glove interaction and assess the risk of injury during common EVA hand manipulation tasks, including pushing, pinching and gripping objects. A custom third generation sensor garment was designed to incorporate a combination of sensors, including force sensitive resistors, strain gauge sensors, and shear force sensors. The combination of sensors was used to measure the forces acting on the finger nails, finger pads, finger tips, as well as the knuckle joints. In addition to measuring the forces, data was collected on the temperature, humidity, skin conductance, and blood perfusion of the hands. Testing compared both the Phase VI and Series 4000 glove against an ungloved condition. The ungloved test was performed wearing the sensor garment only. The project outcomes identified critical landmarks that experienced higher workloads and are more likely to suffer injuries. These critical landmarks varied as a function of space suit glove and task performed. The results showed that less forces were acting on the hands while wearing the Phase VI glove as compared to wearing the Series 4000 glove. Based on our findings, the engineering division can utilize these methods for optimizing the current space suit glove and designing next generation gloves to prevent injuries and optimize hand mobility and comfort.

Kilby, Melissa↗
DOE OSTI2025

Enhancing carbon storage through proactively managing fire-prone coniferous mountain forests

Mountain ecosystems typically serve as carbon (C) sinks. However, studies also suggest that they could be C sources due to climate warming, drought and insect-related mortality, wildfires, and management actions. We applied the Lund-Potsdam-Jena General Ecosystem Simulator (LPJ-GUESS), a process-based dynamic vegetation-ecosystem model, to investigate the role of ecosystem management in C storage under Mediterranean climate over the 21 st century. We modified LPJ-GUESS to include implementing mechanical thinning by vegetation size classes, components, and types along with a new mechanistic fire-occurrence model that accounts for wind speed and lightning ignition. Simulations show that mechanical thinning or prescribed fire performed 5-20 years in advance of a high-severity wildfire reduced direct wildfire C emissions by 38-66 %. Our results also show that long-term management actions repeated every 5-20 years, including thinning relatively small trees (diameters up to 7 inches or ∼178 mm), can maintain stable C levels in the forest and lower dead-fuel amounts. We found that, although prescribed fire mitigated wildfire severity, ecosystem C storage from reduced wildfire emissions can be outweighed by the added emissions from the prescribed fire themselves. Thinning plus removing and sequestering the thinned biomass can ensure that forests act as net C sinks through the end of the 21 st century. However, addition of prescribed fire is needed to reduce understory and lower the projected extent of high-severity wildfire. Achieving the competing goals of reducing wildfire and making the Sierra Nevada long-term C sink can be advanced through carefully coordinated thinning, sequestration of thinned biomass, and prescribed fire.

Climate solutions↗
DOE OSTI2026

Asi Nuclear Energy Sensors Data Portal Chatbot And Data Structuring Tool

The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is advancing the development of an AI-powered chatbot and data structuring tool specifically designed to accelerate data mining processes for sensor-related information and seamlessly integrate the results into the ASI Sensors Data Portal (https://nes.energy.gov/). By doing so, the software aims to enhance the accessibility, usability, and organization of sensor data for nuclear energy applications. The software initial phase focuses on retrieving comprehensive datasets, prioritizing the past five years of publicly available information from the Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI). These datasets will be meticulously processed to ensure compatibility, employing cleaning and preprocessing steps to eliminate irrelevant, incomplete, or corrupted information, thus establishing a robust foundation for subsequent AI use. The data will serve as the backbone for training an AI model and chatbot, which will act as an interactive tool enabling users to ask complex, context-specific questions and receive accurate, validated answers derived from constrained literature. In parallel, the project incorporates a data structuring process supported by AI to organize sensor information from multiple sources into a standardized format. This structured data will include detailed sensor specifications, such as measurement range, applications, accuracy, and operating conditions, generated and documented with AI. These specifications will be systematically integrated into the sensor portal. To maintain the highest levels of accuracy and relevance, all AI-generated outputs will be reviewed and validated by subject matter experts (SMEs), with additional fields or parameters added as needed. Future stages of the project aim to expand the dataset beyond OSTI to include other sources and potentially incorporate unclassified controlled information (UCI) with restricted access protocols to address security and confidentiality requirements.

Mapes, NormanJ. [Idaho National Laboratory (INL), ↗
NASA NTRS1974

Technical evaluation of the Aerospace Medical Panel Specialists Meeting on Escape Problems and Manoeuvres in Combat Aircraft

A technical evaluation of the papers presented at a conference on escape systems for helicopters and V/STOL aircraft was made. The subjects discussed include the following: (1) bioengineering aspects of spinal injury during ejection, (2) aerodynamic forces acting on crewman during escape, (3) operational practicality of fly away ejection seats, (4) helicopter survivability requirements, (5) ejection experience from V/STOL aircraft, and (6) research projects involving escape and retrieval systems.

Jones, W. L.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Maintaining outer space for peaceful purposes through international cooperation

NASA activities in support of international cooperation in space exploration and exploitation are briefly reviewed, with a focus on their compatibility with UN treaties. Particular attention is given to the provisions of the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 and other applicable legislation, the over 1000 bilateral and international agreements NASA has entered into since 1958, international participation in currently ongoing NASA projects (Hubble Space Telescope, Galileo, Ulysses, Rosat, the D-2 Spacelab mission), and plans for the International Space Station.

Reese, George E.↗
NASA NTRS1997

A geostationary satellite system for mobile multimedia applications using portable, aeronautical and mobile terminals

A geostationary satellite system for mobile multimedia services via portable, aeronautical and mobile terminals was developed within the framework of the Advanced Communications Technology Service (ACTS) programs. The architecture of the system developed under the 'satellite extremely high frequency communications for multimedia mobile services (SECOMS)/ACTS broadband aeronautical terminal experiment' (ABATE) project is presented. The system will be composed of a Ka band system component, and an extremely high frequency band component. The major characteristics of the space segment, the ground control station and the portable, aeronautical and mobile user terminals are outlined.

Losquadro, G.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Materials and Processes for the New Millennium

The single greatest threat to material availability over the last decade has been Compliance to New Environmental Regulations. Federal Regulations: a) Clean Air Acts Amendments - 1990 - Titles I, III and VI; b) NASA Interim Policy- 1995 end date; c) Montreal Protocol - 2000 and 2005 end dates; d) Industrial Toxics Project - HAP emissions by 1995; e) Florida DER - VOC limits by 1995 (CA); f) OSHA Health Related Regulations 1) Carcinogens 2) Mutagens 3). Material availability is complicated by local and state regulations and their own compliance schedules.

Hayes, Paul W.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Commercial Orbital Transportation Cargo Services Environmental Control and Life Support Integration

The International Space Station s (ISS) largest crew and cargo resupply vehicle, the Space Shuttle, will retire in 2011. To help augment ISS resupply and return capability, NASA announced a project to promote the development of Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) for the ISS in January of 2006. By December of 2008, NASA entered into space act agreements with SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corporation for COTS development and ISS Commercial Resupply Services (CRS). The intent of CRS is to fly multiple resupply missions each year to ISS with SpaceX s Dragon vehicle providing resupply and return capabilities and Orbital Science Corporation s Cygnus vehicle providing resupply capability to ISS. The ISS program launched an integration effort to ensure that these new commercial vehicles met the requirements of the ISS vehicle and ISS program needs. The Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) requirements cover basic cargo vehicle needs including maintaining atmosphere, providing atmosphere circulation, and fire detection and suppression. The ISS-COTS integration effort brought unique challenges combining NASA s established processes and design knowledge with the commercial companies new initiatives and limited experience with human space flight. This paper will discuss the ISS ECLS COTS integration effort including challenges, successes, and lessons learned.

Duchesne, Stephanie↗
NASA NTRS2012

Cargo Commercial Orbital Transportation Services Environmental Control and Life Support Integration

The International Space Station s (ISS) largest crew and cargo resupply vehicle, the Space Shuttle, retired in 2011. To help augment ISS resupply and return capability, NASA announced a project to promote the development of Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) for the ISS in January of 2006. By December of 2008, NASA entered into space act agreements with SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corporation for COTS development and ISS Commercial Resupply Services (CRS). The intent of CRS is to fly multiple resupply missions each year to ISS with SpaceX s Dragon vehicle providing resupply and return capabilities and Orbital Science Corporation s Cygnus vehicle providing resupply capability to ISS. The ISS program launched an integration effort to ensure that these new commercial vehicles met the requirements of the ISS vehicle and ISS program needs. The Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) requirements cover basic cargo vehicle needs including maintaining atmosphere, providing atmosphere circulation, and fire detection and suppression. The ISS-COTS integration effort brought unique challenges combining NASA s established processes and design knowledge with the commercial companies new initiatives and limited experience with human space flight. This paper will discuss the ISS ECLS COTS integration effort including challenges, successes, and lessons learned.

Duchesne, Stephanie↗
NASA NTRS2019

Photon Sieve Design and Fabrication for Imaging Characteristics Using UAV Flight

The Photon Sieve (PS) team at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) began receiving support for the development and characterization of PS devices through the NASA Internal Research & Development Program (IRAD) in 2015. The project involves ascertaining the imaging characteristics of various PS devices. These devices hold the potential to significantly reduce mission costs and improve imaging quality by replacing traditional reflector telescopes. The photon sieve essentially acts as a lens to diffract light to a concentrated point on the focal plane like a Fresnel Zone Plate (FZP). PS’s have the potential to focus light to a very small spot which is not limited by the width of the outermost zone as for the FZP and offers a promising solution for high resolution imaging. In the fields of astronomy, remote sensing, and other applications that require imaging of distant objects both on the ground and in the sky, it is often necessary to perform post-process filtering in order to separate noise signals that arise from multiple scattering events near the collection optic. The PS exhibits a novel filtering technique that rejects the unwanted noise without the need for time consuming post processing of the images. This project leverages key Langley resources to design, manufacture, and characterize a series of photon sieve specimens. After a prototype was developed and characterized in the Langley ISO5 optical cleanroom and laboratory, outside testing was conducted via the capture of images of the moon by using a telescopic setup. This next goal of the project is to design and develop a telescope and image capture system as a drone-based instrument payload. The vehicle utilized for the initial demonstration was a NASA hive model 1200 XE-8 research Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), capable of handling a 20-pound maximum payload with a 25-minute flight time. This NASA Technical Memorandum (NASA-TM) introduces preliminary results obtained using a PS-based imaging system on the UAV. The next version of the telescope structure will be designed around diffractive optical components and commercially available camera electronics to create a lightweight payload.

Kim, Hyun Jung↗
NASA NTRS1999

The Wallops Flight Facility Model for an Integrated Federal/Commercial Launch Range

Historically, the federal government has been the predominant purchaser of space launches in the United States. The government met its needs through purchase of hardware and services. It also provided the infrastructure necessary to conduct launch operations through federal launch ranges, both military and NASA. Under this model, the government had the complete ownership, responsibility, liability, and expense for launch activities. As the commercial space sector grew, there emerged a corresponding growth in demand for launch range services. However, the expense and complexity of activities has thus far deterred a rapid rise in the establishment of purely commercial launch sites. In this context, purely commercial is defined as "without benefit of capabilities provided by the federal government." Consistent with the Commercial Space Launch Act, in recent years NASA and the Air Force have supported commercial launches from government launch ranges on a cost-reimbursable, non-interference basis. In this mode the commercial launch service providers contract with the government to provide services including use of facilities, tracking and data services, and range safety. As the commercial market projections began to show significant opportunities for economic development, several states established spaceports to provide the services necessary to meet these projected commercial needs. In 1997, NASA agreed to the establishment of the Virginia Space Flight Center (VSFC) at the Wallops Flight Facility. Under this arrangement, NASA agreed to allow Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority (VCSFA) to construct facilities on NASA property and agreed to provide services in accordance with the Space Act of 1958 and the Commercial Space Launch Act of 1984 (as amended) to support VSFC launch customers. The relationship between NASA and VCSFA, however, has evolved beyond a customer supplier relationship. A partnership relationship has emerged which pairs the strengths of the established NASA test range and the state-sponsored, commercial launch facility provider, in an attempt to satisfy the needs for flexible, low-cost access to space. Furthermore, the future of the NASA/Wallops Test Range is closely linked with the success of VCSFA in promoting commercial launches from Wallops. This paper will describe the changing paradigm of the federal launch range and the unique aspects of the NASA/Wallops Facility relationship with VCSFA. Discussion will include institutional cost-sharing, business development and marketing, joint educational programs, and strategic planning.

Underwood, Bruce E.↗
NASA NTRS1999

ACTS Ka-band Propagation Research in a Spatially Diversified Network with Two USAT Ground Stations

Congestion in the radio spectrum below 18 GHz is stimulating greater interest in the Ka (20/30 GHz) frequency band. Transmission at these shorter wavelengths is greatly influenced by rain resulting in signal attenuation and decreased link availability. The size and projected cost of Ultra Small Aperture Terminals (USATS) make site diversity methodology attractive for rain fade compensation. Separation distances between terminals must be small to be of interest commercially. This study measures diversity gain at a separation distance <5 km and investigates utilization of S-band weather radar reflectivity in predicting diversity gain. Two USAT ground stations, separated by 2.43 km for spatial diversity, received a continuous Ka-band tone sent from NASA Glenn Research Center via the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) steerable antenna beam. Received signal power and rainfall were measured, and Weather Surveillance Radar-1998 Doppler (WSR-88D) data were obtained as a measure of precipitation along the USAT-to-ACTS slant path. Signal attenuation was compared for the two sites, and diversity gain was calculated for fades measured on eleven days. Correlation of WSR-88D S-band reflectivity with measured Ka-band attenuation consisted of locating radar volume elements along each slant path, converting reflectivity to Ka-band attenuation with rain rate calculation as an intermediate step. Specific attenuation for each associated path segment was summed, resulting in total attenuation along the slant path. Derived Ka-band attenuation did not correlate closely with empirical data (r = 0.239), but a measured signal fade could be matched with an increase in radar reflectivity in all fade events. Applying a low pass filter to radar reflectivity prior to deriving Ka-band attenuation improved the correlation between measured and derived signal attenuation (r = 0.733). Results indicate that site diversity at small separation distances is a viable means of rain fade compensation, and that existing models underestimate diversity gain for a subtropical climate such as Florida. Also, filtered WSR-88D reflectivity can be used for optimizing diversity terminal placement by comparing derived Ka- band attenuation between the diversity sites.

Kalu, Alex↗
NASA NTRS1975

University research in aeronautics

The contributions which universities can make to aeronautical research projects are discussed. The activities of several facilities are presented to show the effectiveness of the educational and research programs. Reference is made to the Intergovernmental Personnel Act of 1970 which permits an exchange of federal agency personnel with state and local governments and with public and private higher education schools.

Duberg, J. E.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Neural mechanisms by which gravitational stimuli and stress affect the secretion of renin and other hormones

The present goal is to determine by the production of discrete lesions the parts of the hypothalamus and brainstem that are involved in serotonin-mediated increases in renin secretion. A variety of stimuli which act in different ways to increase renin stimuli were developed and standardized. The experiments with p-chloroamphetamine (PCA) demonstrated that there is a serotonergic pathway which projects from the dorsal raphe nuclei to the paraventricular nuclei and the vetromedial nuclei of the hypothalamus; that projection from paraventricular nuclei to the brainstem and spinal cord may be oxytocinergic; and that the pathway from the spinal cord to the renin secreting cells is sympathetic. The demonstration that paraventicular lesions lower circulating renin substrate is important because it raises the possibility that substrate secretion is under neural control, either via the pituitary or by direct neural pathways. The discovery that lesions of the ventromedial nuclei appear to abolish the increase in renin secretion produced by many different stimuli without affecting the concentration of renin substrate in the plasma makes the position of the hypothalamus in the regulation of fluid and electrolyte balance more prominent than previously suspected.

Ganong, William F.↗