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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 271 records · Page 15
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1974

Life on Jupiter

The possibilities of life on Jupiter are discussed from the point view of life as known on earth. That is, it is assumed that any life on Jupiter would not involve new principles foreign to us. Proteins would be a constituent as would fats and the other building blocks of living organisms on earth. This leads to a set of limiting parameters, such as pressure. Studies in the laboratory have shown that proteins and other essential molecules are denatured by pressures of 4000 atm and higher. Thus, life cannot be expected to exist in the great depths of the Jovian atmosphere. It could exist only at depths of several hundred kilometers in the atmosphere. Since no solid surface could possibly exist at such altitudes, any organisms present must be small enough to be buoyed up by the turbulent atmospheric currents or must fly or both. Such possibilities, however, seem to be real. The necessary nutrients to preserve life and foster growth could be furnished by the Miller-Urey type reactions of ionizing radiation on the reducing atmosphere undoubtedly present.

Libby, W. F.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Overview of Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Environmental Program

This viewgraph presentation is an overview of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) program. The engineering objectives of the program are to create a Mobile Science Laboratory capable of one Mars Year surface operational lifetime (670 Martian sols = 687 Earth days). It will be able to land and operation over wide range of latitudes, altitudes and seasons It must have controlled propulsive landing and demonstrate improved landing precision via guided entry The general science objectives are to perform science that will focus on Mars habitability, perform next generation analytical laboratory science investigations, perform remote sensing/contact investigations and carry a suite of environmental monitoring instruments. Specific scientific objectives of the MSL are: (1) Characterization of geological features, contributing to deciphering geological history and the processes that have modified rocks and regolith, including the role of water. (2) Determination of the mineralogy and chemical composition (including an inventory of elements such as C, H, N, O, P, S, etc. known to be building blocks for life) of surface and near-surface materials. (3) Determination of energy sources that could be used to sustain biological processes. (4) Characterization of organic compounds and potential biomarkers in representative regolith, rocks, and ices. (5) Determination the stable isotopic and noble gas composition of the present-day bulk atmosphere. (6) Identification potential bio-signatures (chemical, textural, isotopic) in rocks and regolith. (7) Characterization of the broad spectrum of surface radiation, including galactic cosmic radiation, solar proton events, and secondary neutrons. (8) Characterization of the local environment, including basic meteorology, the state and cycling of water and C02, and the near-surface distribution of hydrogen. Several views of the planned MSL and the rover are shown. The MSL environmental program is to: (1) Ensure the flight hardware design is capable of surviving all the environments throughout its mission life time, including ground, transportation, launch, cruise, entry decent and landing (EDL) and surface operation environments. (2) Verify environmental testing and analysis have adequately validated the flight hardware's ability to withstand all natural, self-induced, and mission-activity-induced environments. The planned tests to ascertain the capability of the MSL to perform as desired are reviewed.

spacecraft↗
NASA NTRS2009

A Direct Path to Finding Earth-Like Planets

As envisaged by the 2000 astrophysics decadal survey panel: The main goal of Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) is nothing less than to search for evidence of life on terrestrial planets around nearby stars . Here, we consider how an optical telescope paired with a free-flying occulter blocking light from the star can reach this goal directly, without knowledge of results from prior astrometric, doppler, or transit exoplanet observations. Using design reference missions and other simulations, we explore the potential of TPF-O to find planets in the habitable zone around their central stars, to spectrally characterize the atmospheres of detected planets, and to obtain rudimentary information about their orbits. We emphasize the importance of ozone absorption in the UV spectrum of a planet as a marker of photosynthesis by plants, algae, and cyanobacteria.

Heap, Sara R.↗
DOE OSTI2024

ExaWind: Open‐source CFD for hybrid‐RANS/LES geometry‐resolved wind turbine simulations in atmospheric flows

Abstract Predictive high‐fidelity modeling of wind turbines with computational fluid dynamics, wherein turbine geometry is resolved in an atmospheric boundary layer, is important to understanding complex flow accounting for design strategies and operational phenomena such as blade erosion, pitch‐control, stall/vortex‐induced vibrations, and aftermarket add‐ons. The biggest challenge with high‐fidelity modeling is the realization of numerical algorithms that can capture the relevant physics in detail through effective use of high‐performance computing. For modern supercomputers, that means relying on GPUs for acceleration. In this paper, we present ExaWind, a GPU‐enabled open‐source incompressible‐flow hybrid‐computational fluid dynamics framework, comprising the near‐body unstructured grid solver Nalu‐Wind, and the off‐body block‐structured‐grid solver AMR‐Wind, which are coupled using the Topology Independent Overset Grid Assembler. Turbine simulations employ either a pure Reynolds‐averaged Navier–Stokes turbulence model or hybrid turbulence modeling wherein Reynolds‐averaged Navier–Stokes is used for near‐body flow and large eddy simulation is used for off‐body flow. Being two‐way coupled through overset grids, the two solvers enable simulation of flows across a huge range of length scales, for example, 10 orders of magnitude going from O(μm) boundary layers along the blades to O(10 km) across a wind farm. In this paper, we describe the numerical algorithms for geometry‐resolved turbine simulations in atmospheric boundary layers using ExaWind. We present verification studies using canonical flow problems. Validation studies are presented using megawatt‐scale turbines established in literature. Additionally presented are demonstration simulations of a small wind farm under atmospheric inflow with different stability states.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS2007

CO2-Reduction Primary Cell for Use on Venus

A document proposes a CO2-reduction primary electrochemical cell as a building block of batteries to supply electric power on the surface of Venus. The basic principle of the proposed cell is similar to that of terrestrial Zn-air batteries, the major differences being that (1) the anode metal would not be Zn and (2) CO2, which is about 96.5 mole percent of the Venusian atmosphere, would be used, instead of O2, as the source of oxygen.

West, William↗
DOE OSTI2023

A Time-Gated, Time-Correlated Single-Photon-Counting Lidar to Observe Atmospheric Clouds at Submeter Resolution

Most lidars used for cloud observations have the range resolution of about 10 m, so they are incapable of resolving submeter-scale processes that are crucial to cloud evolution. This article describes a prototype of a ground-based, vertically pointing, time-gated, time-correlated single-photon-counting lidar (referred to as the T2 lidar) developed to explore atmospheric clouds at range resolution two orders of magnitude finer than traditional atmospheric lidars. The T2 lidar emits green-light pulses (532 nm) at a repetition rate of 20.6 kHz and a pulse width of ∼650 ps, which enables the observation of aerosol and cloud layers at heights from a few hundred meters to 7.28 km above the ground level at range resolution down to 10 cm. In addition, a digital delay pulse generator controls the detector to only receive photons for a short period after each laser pulse. This time-gated technique blocks photons arriving from regions outside the target zone, thus significantly reducing the noise level and allowing observation even inside clouds. Initial observations show that the T2 lidar can detect sharp cloud boundaries and fine structures near the cloud base. Such refined measurements of cloud structure could lead to an improved understanding of microphysical processes such as droplet activation, entrainment and mixing, and precipitation.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1986

A lidar instrument to measure H2O and aerosol profiles from the NASA ER-2 aircraft

Plans to develop the Lidar Atmospheric Sensing Experiment (LASE) instrument to conduct scientific experiments aboard a NASA U-2 (ER-2) aircraft are described. The LASE measurement objectives are listed, and the design of the LASE instrument is discussed, including performance criteria for the laser transmitter, wavemeter, telescope, optical receiver, and associated electronics. The instrument function is depicted with a block diagram, and layouts of various components are presented.

Vaughan, W. R.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Statistical analysis of low level atmospheric turbulence

The statistical properties of low-level wind-turbulence data were obtained with the model 1080 total vector anemometer and the model 1296 dual split-film anemometer, both manufactured by Thermo Systems Incorporated. The data obtained from the above fast-response probes were compared with the results obtained from a pair of Gill propeller anemometers. The digitized time series representing the three velocity components and the temperature were each divided into a number of blocks, the length of which depended on the lowest frequency of interest and also on the storage capacity of the available computer. A moving-average and differencing high-pass filter was used to remove the trend and the low frequency components in the time series. The calculated results for each of the anemometers used are represented in graphical or tabulated form.

Tieleman, H. W.↗
NASA NTRS1994

A comparison between general circulation model simulations using two sea surface temperature datasets for January 1979

Simulations with the UCLA atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) using two different global sea surface temperature (SST) datasets for January 1979 are compared. One of these datasets is based on Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set (COADS) (SSTs) at locations where there are ship reports, and climatology elsewhere; the other is derived from measurements by instruments onboard NOAA satellites. In the former dataset (COADS SST), data are concentrated along shipping routes in the Northern Hemisphere; in the latter dataset High Resolution Infrared Sounder (HIRS SST), data cover the global domain. Ensembles of five 30-day mean fields are obtained from integrations performed in the perpetual-January mode. The results are presented as anomalies, that is, departures of each ensemble mean from that produced in a control simulation with climatological SSTs. Large differences are found between the anomalies obtained using COADS and HIRS SSTs, even in the Northern Hemisphere where the datasets are most similar to each other. The internal variability of the circulation in the control simulation and the simulated atmospheric response to anomalous forcings appear to be linked in that the pattern of geopotential height anomalies obtained using COADS SSTs resembles the first empirical orthogonal function (EOF 1) in the control simulation. The corresponding pattern obtained using HIRS SSTs is substantially different and somewhat resembles EOF 2 in the sector from central North America to central Asia. To gain insight into the reasons for these results, three additional simulations are carried out with SST anomalies confined to regions where COADS SSTs are substantially warmer than HIRS SSTs. The regions correspond to warm pools in the northwest and northeast Pacific, and the northwest Atlantic. These warm pools tend to produce positive geopotential height anomalies in the northeastern part of the corresponding oceans. Both warm pools in the Pacific produce large-scale circulation anomalies with a pattern that resembles that obtained using COADS SSTs as well as EOF 1 of the control simulation; the warm pool in the Atlantic does not. These results suggest that the differences obtained with COADS SSTs and HIRS SSTs are mostly due to the differences in the datasets over the northern Pacific. There was a blocking episode near Greenland in late January 1979. Both simulations with warm SST anomalies over the northwest and northeast Pacific show a tendency toward increased incidence of North Atlantic blocking; the simulation with warm SST anomalies over the northwest Atlantic shows a tendency toward decreased incidence. These results suggest that features in both SST datasets that do not have a counterpart in the other dataset contribute signficantly to the differences between the simulated and observed fields. The results of this study imply that uncertainties in current SST distributions for the world oceans can be as important as the SST anomalies themselves in terms of their impact on the atmospheric circulation. Caution should be exercised, therefore, when linking anomalous circulation and SST patterns, especially in long-range prediction.

Ose, Tomoaki↗
DOE OSTI2020

An Evaluation of the Large‐Scale Atmospheric Circulation and Its Variability in CESM2 and Other CMIP Models

Abstract The Community Earth System Model 2 (CESM2) is the latest Earth System Model developed by the National Center for Atmospheric Research in collaboration with the university community and is significantly advanced in most components compared to its predecessor (CESM1). Here, CESM2's representation of the large‐scale atmospheric circulation and its variability is assessed. Further context is providedthrough comparison to the CESM1 large ensemble and other models from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5 and CMIP6). This includes an assessment of the representation of jet streams and storm tracks, stationary waves, the global divergent circulation, the annular modes, the North Atlantic Oscillation, and blocking. Compared to CESM1, CESM2 is substantially improved in the representation of the storm tracks, Northern Hemisphere (NH) stationary waves, NH winter blocking and the global divergent circulation. It ranks within the top 10% of CMIP class models in many of these features. Some features of the Southern Hemisphere (SH) circulation have degraded, such as the SH jet strength, stationary waves, and blocking, although the SH jet stream is placed at approximately the correct location. This analysis also highlights systematic deficiencies in these features across the new CMIP6 archive, such as the continued tendency for the SH jet stream to be placed too far equatorward, the North Atlantic westerlies to be too strong over Europe, the storm tracks as measured by low‐level meridional wind variance to be too weak and a lack of blocking in the North Atlantic sector.

Simpson, Isla R.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Covariance of greenness and terrain variables over the Konza Prairie

An analysis is made of time-dependent covariance of the greenness vegetation index with mapped terrain variables over the Konza Prarie (Kansas) during the 1987 growing season. The analysis was part of an ongoing project to establish appopriate ground-sampling and data-integration strategies for satellite-based monitoring of land surface climate conditions. Greenness images for six dates between May and October were derived from atmospherically corrected thematic mapper (TM) data and coregistered with maps of woody vegetation, fire, and soils. Local variance in greenness peaked in mid-June, falling rapidly until mid-August, and declining gradually thereafter. Greenness images exhibited positive autocorrelation up to distances of 180-210 m, but the dominant scale of pattern occurred at a block size of 60 m by 60 m throughout the growing season. 40-44 percent of total scene variance in July and August was accounted for by the effects of woody vegetation (8.9 percent of the area), prairie burning, and soil type. The effect of these terrain variables was fairly consistent between June and late August and was manifested as additional high-frequency spatial variation in imagery from that period.

Davis, Frank W.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Insertion Loss of a Multi-Plane Light Conversion Device with Few Mode Fiber Outputs Under Atmospheric Conditions

A key challenge of photon counting optical communication is delivering light with atmospherically distorted wavefronts from the telescope to detectors efficiently. When using fiber coupled single photon detectors, the efficiency of the transmittance is constrained by the modes supported by the fiber. The number of modes supported by a fiber depends on the size of the core. The larger the core, the more modes supported. However, commercial off the shelf superconducting nanowire single photon detectors (SNSPDs) are currently limited in area, which limits the core size of the fibers that can efficiently couple to the detectors. To increase the amount of light that can be delivered to the detectors, NASA Glenn Research Center is considering many different fiber/detector architectures. This paper compares insertion loss of the fiber device for two different architectures: • a multi-plane light conversion device to split the light from a 30 µm core diameter fiber into 7 separate, 15 µm core diameter few-mode fibers butt-coupled to 7 single-element SNSPDs, and • a 30 µm core diameter multimode fiber butt-coupled to a 16 multi-element, SNSPD array. The measured insertion loss for each fiber device under emulated atmospheric conditions with D/r0 between 2 and 30 is presented. The multi-plane light conversion device shows a consistent ~1 dB loss more than the multimode fiber. Also presented is the measured uneven power splitting of the multiplane light conversion device, especially at lower D/r0. How this uneven power splitting contributes to system loss called blocking loss is discussed.

Fiber↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Insertion Loss of a Multi-Plane Light Conversion Device with Few Mode Fiber Outputs Under Atmospheric Conditions

A key challenge of photon counting optical communication is delivering light with atmospherically distorted wavefronts from the telescope to detectors efficiently. When using fiber coupled single photon detectors, the efficiency of the transmittance is constrained by the modes supported by the fiber. The number of modes supported by a fiber depends on the size of the core. The larger the core, the more modes supported. However, commercial off the shelf superconducting nanowire single photon detectors (SNSPDs) are currently limited in area, which limits the core size of the fibers that can efficiently couple to the detectors. To increase the amount of light that can be delivered to the detectors, NASA Glenn Research Center is considering many different fiber/detector architectures. This paper compares insertion loss of the fiber device for two different architectures: • a multi-plane light conversion device to split the light from a 30 µm core diameter fiber into 7 separate, 15 µm core diameter few-mode fibers butt-coupled to 7 single-element SNSPDs, • and a 30 µm core diameter multimode fiber butt-coupled to a 16 multi-element, SNSPD array. The measured insertion loss for each fiber device under emulated atmospheric conditions with D/r0 between 2 and 30 is presented. The multi-plane light conversion device shows a consistent ~1 dB loss more than the multimode fiber. Also presented is the measured uneven power splitting of the multiplane light conversion device, especially at lower D/r0. How this uneven power splitting contributes to system loss called blocking loss is discussed.

Multi-plane light conversion device↗
NASA NTRS2012

Terahertz Radiometer for Outer Planet and Moon Atmospheres (TROPA)

We are developing a prototype instrument platform to demonstrate the feasibility of a wideband spectrometer for planetary applications under a three-year NASA research program. This development focuses on three specific areas needing advancement. First, the terahertz portion consists of an optical bench with dual heterodyne Schottky-mixer based receivers, one for each band. The beams entering the horns of the two receivers are de-multiplexed from the input beam by a polarizing beam splitter. The blocks containing the 560 and 1200 GHz mixer are more highly integrated than previous space instruments to reduce mass and volume. The receivers take a fundamental pump frequency near 30 GHz and multiply up to the submillimeter range. Second, a rapid-tuning, low-phase noise, and low-power 33 GHz range LO synthesizer is being prototyped. The low phase noise requirement is needed because of the factor of 36 multiplication to reach 1200 GHz, giving a requirement that the integrated phase noise from 100 kHz up be less than 0.6 degrees. The synthesizer will require about 6 watts. Finally, we are developing an advanced polyphase filter back-end spectrum analyzer with a bandwidth of 750 MHz, and power consumption of about 3 Watts and 4096 channels. This system is based on a simple three-chip architecture, having a commercial 1.5 GS/s analog-to-digital converter, an ASIC to do the filtering and an advanced FPGA for data processing and control.

spectrometer↗
NASA NTRS2011

LADEE Satellite Modeling and Simulation Development

As human activity on and around the Moon increases, so does the likelihood that our actions will have an impact on its atmosphere. The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE), a NASA satellite scheduled to launch in 2013, will orbit the Moon collecting composition, density, and time variability data to characterize the current state of the lunar atmosphere. LADEE will also test the concept of the "Modular Common Bus" spacecraft architecture, an effort to reduce both development time and cost by designing reusable, modular components for use in multiple missions with similar requirements. An important aspect of this design strategy is to both simulate the spacecraft and develop the flight code in Simulink, a block diagram-style programming language that allows easy algorithm visualization and performance testing. Before flight code can be tested, however, a realistic simulation of the satellite and its dynamics must be generated and validated. This includes all of the satellite control system components such as actuators used for force and torque generation and sensors used for inertial orientation reference. My primary responsibilities have included designing, integrating, and testing models for the LADEE thrusters, reaction wheels, star trackers, and rate gyroscopes.

Adams, Michael↗
NASA NTRS2015

Conjunction Assessment Past, Present, and Future

Since 1957, humankind's reliance on the space domain for military, humanitarian, and commercial applications has continued to increase. 1960 first successful use of a meteorological satellite,1963 first use of a geosynchronous communications satellite, 1985 Block I of GPS fielded, 1998 first module of ISS, 2001 first satellite radio broadcast over North America. What you take into space, stays in space: launch vehicle, rocket-bodies, mission-related debris. Debris can also be generated on-orbit: fuel/battery explosions, collisions. Only naturally-occurring retarding effect is orbital decay due to atmospheric drag: some remediation measures available, active debris removal not yet viable option. Because of our reliance on space and the fact that space really isn't limitless, the Big Sky theory is no longer an acceptable risk posture. There have been eight (8) on-orbit collisions reported to date, half of which occurred in the last 10 years.

Assessment↗
NASA NTRS1990

Radiative transfer based retrieval of reflectance from calibrated radiance imagery measured by an imaging spectrometer for lithological mapping of the Clark Mountains, California

Spectral radiance imagery measured by the Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) are reduced to reflectance through compensation for atmospheric scattering, water vapor absorption, absorption of the well mixed gases, solar irradiance and the solar zenith angle. The LOWTRAN 7 (Kneizys et al., 1989) radiative transfer code form the basis for this retrieal. LOWTRAN 7 is constrained with water vapor determinations from the AVIRIS radiance data through an algorithm operating on the 940 nm atmospheric water band for every spatial element. In situ measurements of atmospheric optical depths are used to constrain the LOWTRAN 7 aerosol models. Accuracy of the retrieved reflectance spectra is evaluated with respect to surface spectra measured at the time of the overflight. The mineral bastnaesite is identified in the analysis of the retrieved reflectance imagery. These reflectance data provide a means to map the subtle mineral gradients in the PreCambrian block of the Clark Mountain range in southeastern California for geological analysis.

Green, Robert O.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Performance Testing of a Lightweight, High Efficiency 95 K Cryocooler

Performance data are presented for a flight-like, lightweight, high efficiency pulse tube cryogenic cooler. The cooler has a mass of less than 4.0 kg, and an efficiency of 12 W/W, which is 18% of Carnot at 95 K, nearly double the efficiency of previous cooler designs, The mass of the cooler has been reduced by approximately a factor of three. The design point cooling power is 10 watts at 95 K at a heat rejection temperature of 300 K. The no-load temperature is 45 K. The compressor is built by Hymatic Engineering, UK, and is of a horizontally opposed piston design using flexure bearings. The vertical pulse tube is built by TRW with the heat exchanger or cold block located approximately mid-way along the tube. The final assembly and integration is also performed by TRW. The inertance tube and dead volume are contained within one of the compressor end caps. The cooler was developed by TRW under a joint NASA-DOD program, and has a goal of 10 yr operating lifetime. Potential NASA applications will focus on using coolers of this type in Zero boil off (ZBO) cryogen storage topologies for next generation launch vehicles. Zero boil off systems will feature significant reductions in tank size and Initial Mass to Low Earth Orbit (IMLEO), thereby significantly reducing the cost of access to space, and enabling future missions. The coolers can be used directly in liquid oxygen (LOx) or liquid methane ZBO systems, as shield coolers in liquid hydrogen tanks, or as first stage coolers in two-stage liquid hydrogen (LH2) ZBO cooler systems. Finally, the coolers could find applications in exploration missions where either propellants or breathable oxygen are extracted from the planetary atmosphere using a Sabatier or similar process. The gases could then be liquefied for storage either directly in return vehicle propellant tanks or on the planetary surface. Data presented were taken with the cooler operating in a vacuum of 10 (exp -5) torr, at controlled rejection temperatures from 300 K down to 275 K using a cold water heat exchanger bolted to the cooler. Heat loads were varied between 0.5 W and 15 W by supplying current to a 50 omega resistor mounted on a copper cold plate which was bolted to the cooler cold block. Silicon diodes mounted on both the cold plate and the heat exchanger provided accurate temperature measurement to within plus or minus 0.25 K and plus or minus 0.5 K respectively, up to 100 K with plus or minus 1% accuracy above 100 K. Input power to the compressor was limited to 180 W, corresponding to a maximum stroke of 80%.

Salerno, Lou↗