Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Futures”

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 289 records · Page 16
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2016

Science Enabling Exploration: Using LRO to Prepare for Future Missions

Discoveries from LRO have transformed our understanding of the Moon, but LRO's instruments were originally designed to collect the measurements required to enable future lunar surface exploration. A high lunar exploration priority is the collection of new samples and their return to Earth for comprehensive analysis. The importance of sample return from South Pole-Aitken is well-established [Jolliff et al., this conference], but there are numerous other locations where sample return will yield important advances in planetary science. Using new LRO data, we have defined an achievability envelope based on the physical characteristics of successful lunar landing sites. Those results were then used to define 1km x 1km regions of interest where sample return could be executed, including: the basalt flows in Oceanus Procellarum (22.1N, 53.9W), the Gruithuisen Domes (36.1N, 39.7W), the Dewar cryptomare (2.2S, 166.8E), the Aristarchus pyroclastic deposit (24.8N, 48.5W), the Sulpicius Gallus formation (19.9N, 10.3E), the Sinus Aestuum pyroclastic deposit (5.2N, 9.2W), the Compton-Belkovich volcanic complex (61.5N, 99.9E), the Ina Irregular Mare Patch (18.7N, 5.3E), and the Marius Hills volcanic complex (13.4N, 55.9W). All of these locations represent safe landing sites where sample returns are needed to advance our understanding of the evolution of the lunar interior and the timescales of lunar volcanism. If LRO is still active when any future mission reaches the surface, LRO's capability to rapidly place surface activities into broader geologic context will provide operational advantages. LRO remains a unique strategic asset that continues to address the needs of future missions.

Lawrence, S. J.↗
NASA NTRS2016

NASA's Radioisotope Power Systems Planning and Potential Future Systems Overview

The goal of NASA's Radioisotope Power Systems (RPS) Program is to make RPS ready and available to support the exploration of the solar system in environments where the use of conventional solar or chemical power generation is impractical or impossible to meet the needs of the missions. To meet this goal, the RPS Program, working closely with the Department of Energy, performs mission and system studies (such as the recently released Nuclear Power Assessment Study), assesses the readiness of promising technologies to infuse in future generators, assesses the sustainment of key RPS capabilities and knowledge, forecasts and tracks the Programs budgetary needs, and disseminates current information about RPS to the community of potential users. This process has been refined and used to determine the current content of the RPS Programs portfolio. This portfolio currently includes an effort to mature advanced thermoelectric technology for possible integration into an enhanced Multi-Mission Radioisotope Generator (eMMRTG), sustainment and production of the currently deployed MMRTG, and technology investments that could lead to a future Stirling Radioisotope Generator (SRG). This paper describes the program planning processes that have been used, the currently available MMRTG, and one of the potential future systems, the eMMRTG.

Radioisotope↗
NASA NTRS2017

SO-QT: Collaborative Tool to Project the Future Space Object Population

Earth orbit gets increasingly congested, a challenge to space operators, both in governments and industry. We present a web tool that provides: 1) data on todays and the historic space object environments, by aggregating object-specific tracking data; and 2) future trends through a collaboration platform to collect information on planed launches. The collaborative platform enables experts to pool and compare their data in order to generate future launch scenarios. The tool is intended to support decision makers and mission designers while they investigate future missions and scholars as they develop strategies for space traffic management.

space debris↗
NASA NTRS2017

Future Exploration Missions' Tasks Associated with the Risk of Inadequate Design of Human and Automation/Robotic Integration

NASA's Human Research Program (HRP) funds research efforts aimed at mitigating various human health and performance risks, including the Risk of Inadequate Design of Human and Automation/Robotic Integration (HARI). As such, within HRP, the Human Factors and Behavioral Performance (HFBP) Element tasked an evaluation of future HARI needs in order to scope and focus the HARI risk research plan. The objective was to provide a systematic understanding of the critical factors associated with effective HARI that will be necessary to achieve the future mission goals for near- and deep-space exploration. Future mission goals are specified by NASA Design Reference Missions (DRMs) that are pertinent to the HRP. The outcome of this evaluation is a set of NASA-relevant HARI tasks, factors, and interactions required for exploration-class missions.

space operations↗
NASA NTRS2017

Human Space Flight and Future Major Space Astrophysics Missions: Servicing and Assembly

Some concepts for candidate future "flagship" space observatories approach the payload limits of the largest launch vehicles planned for the next few decades, specifically in the available volume in the vehicle fairing. This indicates that an alternative to autonomous self-deployment similar to that of the James Webb Space Telescope will eventually be required. Moreover, even before this size limit is reached, there will be significant motivation to service, repair, and upgrade in-space missions of all sizes, whether to extend the life of expensive facilities or to replace outworn or obsolete onboard systems as was demonstrated so effectively by the Hubble Space Telescope program. In parallel with these challenges to future major space astronomy missions, the capabilities of in-space robotic systems and the goals for human space flight in the 2020s and 2030s offer opportunities for achieving the most exciting science goals of the early 21st Century. In this paper, we summarize the history of concepts for human operations beyond the immediate vicinity of the Earth, the importance of very large apertures for scientific discovery, and current capabilities and future developments in robot- and astronaut-enabled servicing and assembly.

Hubble Space Telescope↗
NASA NTRS2018

Projections of Future Sea Level Contributions from the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets: Challenges Beyond Dynamical Ice Sheet Modeling

As Earth's climate warms, rising sea levels are becoming a great concern. Providing substantiated and well-informed guidance on the amount and rate of future sea level rise is important, but remains challenging. Observations of the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets-Earth's largest freshwater reservoirs-reveal their ongoing, rapid, and complex changes in response to an evolving climate. The improved understanding of ice sheet behavior resulting from observations is driving the development of ice sheet models, and is allowing better simulation of past, present, and future ice sheet evolution. However, insight into future changes requires a better understanding of how ice sheets interact with other components of the Earth system and associated feedbacks. As climate models start to include dynamical ice sheet components, our understanding of such interactions and the feedback mechanisms will advance. These new developments in ice sheet modeling and their implementation in climate models are timely, as observations indicate an accelerating contribution of ice sheets to sea level rise.

ice sheet model↗
NASA NTRS2018

Balancing Public & Private Partnerships for Future Human Spaceflight

Privatization is key to America's current and future interests in Space and is consistent with the 2010 Title 51 "National Aeronautics and Space Act" which states "COMMERCIAL USE OF SPACE. - Congress declares that the general welfare of the United States requires that the Administration seek and encourage, to the maximum extent possible, the fullest commercial use of space." With this thought in mind, this paper discusses several key considerations when entering into a Human Spaceflight Public/Private partnership, with particular attention to the engineering team engagement. NASA's historically develops technology and capability in areas that are not commercially profitable but can enable future commercial opportunities. By leveraging the experiences and lessons learned from the past, we can improve our opportunities for success in the future. We have made great strides in these areas, but there is significant room for improvement. This paper intends to highlight many of the thoughts and considerations, which are necessary when developing a public/private partnership for "Human Spaceflight". Although this paper is being developed with an emphasis on "Human Spaceflight", many of the thoughts may have applicability to un-crewed missions. This paper does not attempt to define specific lines between government and private entities, since those lines vary based on many factors such as allocation of roles, responsibilities and accountabilities between participants and risk tolerance for both safety of flight and mission success.

Kennedy, John J.↗
NASA NTRS2019

Algae to Enhance Water Recovery for Future Space Habitats

Bioregenerative technologies have been suggested for human life support in space for decades. Such technologies have not yet been incorporated due to 1) assumed unreliability and 2) bioregeneration rates for given processes are slower when compared to equivalent physical/chemical treatment technologies. Slower treatment capacity for biological system result in larger technology infrastructure (i.e., higher mass, power, and volume requirements), and thus less attractive. Current ISS (International Space Station) life support systems are strictly physical/chemical. However, bioregenerative systems are being suggested for future surface systems (on the Moon or Mars) due to the limited access to resupplied materials and continued need for resiliency and sustainability. In the realm of water reclamation, the ISS system processes only urine, metabolic condensates, and hygiene (i.e., handwash and oral, no shower or laundry) waters with 75 percent closure. For future surface habitats with 4 crew members, approximately 30 liters per day of wastewater will be generated, containing estimated 850 milligrams per liter NH4-N. Conventional algae PBRs (photobioreactors) require dilution to accommodate such high concentrations of ammonium. If dilution is required, resulting technology hardware will increase dramatically in mass. A new approach was explored, whereby high carbon dioxide (1200-2000 parts per million) and light (400-600 micromoles per square meter per second) conditions were provided to treat the undiluted wastewater stream. Daily treatment capacity for Chlorella sorokiniana and Chlorella vulgaris was observed to be 85 and 107 milligrams NH4-N per gram of biomass, respectively. This preliminary study shows that there is capacity to increase ammonium removal rates by algal species, and thus reactor size (mass and volume) for future surface systems. Smaller reactor volumes will help bioregenerative treatment technologies compete with the presently accepted physical/chemical treatment technologies.

Water Purification↗
NASA NTRS2020

SCAN Space Communications and Navigation: Planning Activities for NASAs Future SATCOM Direction

This presentation provides an overview of NASA's planning activities for future satellite communications support of NASA missions. The focus of this future direction is to leverage the commercial satellite communications infrastructure and develop a transition strategy for future missions to use commercial communications services. During this transition timeframe, the development of a wideband user terminal capable of roaming between NASA and commercial services is the objective of the Space Communications and Navigation program. This presentation discusses this path forward and the demonstrations planned in support of the wideband terminal development.

Nessel, James↗
NASA NTRS2020

Apollo 17 EVA-1 and EVA-2 Task Decomposition: Planning for Artemis and Future Mars Missions

A decomposition of the Apollo 17 mission extravehicular activities (EVA) tasks can be used to prepare for Artemis and future Mars missions. A categorized minute by minute breakdown of the astronauts’ activites could be used to plan future EVAs and determine which scientific tasks or equipment may be prioritized. This is especially relevant in this critical stage for the upcoming Atemis missions and science activity planning. The infographics generated from the decomposition provide a higher level view of actual EVAs and could aid in making future EVAs more efficient and successful.

Haney, N. C.↗
NASA NTRS2019

Baseline Assumptions and Future Research Areas for Urban Air Mobility Vehicles

NASA is developing Urban Air Mobility (UAM) concepts to (1) create first-generation reference vehicles that can be used for technology, system, and market studies, and (2) hypothesize second-generation UAM aircraft to determine high-payoff technology targets and future research areas that reach far beyond initial UAM vehicle capabilities. This report discusses the vehicle-level technology assumptions for NASA’s UAM reference vehicles, and highlights future research areas for second-generation UAM aircraft that includes deflected slipstream concepts, low-noise rotors for edgewise flight, stacked rotors/propellers, ducted propellers, solid oxide fuel cells with liquefied natural gas, and improved turbo shaft and reciprocating engine technology. The report also highlights a transportation network-scale model that is being developed to understand the impact of these and other technologies on future UAM solutions.

Antcliff, Kevin↗
NASA NTRS2018

International Space Station Operational Experience and Its Impacts on Future Mission Supportability

Operational experience gained on the International Space Station (ISS) has enabled significant improvements in failure rate estimates for various Orbital Replacement Units (ORUs). These improved estimates, in turn, allow more efficient and accurate spare parts allocations for future missions, enabling significant reductions in both logistics mass and risk. This paper examines the value of ISS experience to date in terms of its impact on supportability for future missions. A supportability model is presented that assesses the spares required as a function of mission endurance and risk, taking into account uncertainty in failure rate estimates. Changes in ISS Environmental Control and Life Support (ECLSS) ORU failure rate estimates are described and discussed, both in terms of the overall population of ORUs and the evolution of failure rate estimates over time for a particular item. The value of those updated failure rate estimates is assessed by calculating the estimated spares mass requirements for two cases, using the initial, pre-ISS estimates and using the estimates informed by on-orbit experience. Hidden risk resulting from underestimated failure rates is also assessed. These results indicate that, for a 1,200-day Mars mission, ISS experience has enabled a 3.9 t to 6.0 t reduction in ECLSS spares mass required and uncovered failure rate underestimates that would have resulted in an order of magnitude increase in risk had they not been discovered and corrected. The implications of these results for system development and mission planning are discussed, including approaches to accelerate the rate of failure rate refinement and the risks associated with making changes or introducing new systems. Overall, test time is a critical factor that must be carefully considered in system development, and new systems must budget appropriate time for testing in a relevant environment or accept higher risk and logistics requirements on future missions.

Owens, Andrew C.↗
NASA NTRS2020

Technologies for Future Venus Exploration

The purpose of this white paper is to provide an overview to the NRC Decadal Survey Inner Planets Sub-Panel on thermal protection system (TPS) technologies required for future Venus exploration missions. It considers the capability of heritage TPS technology used by the Pioneer Venus and Galileo probe missions and identifies new technologies that could enable greater science value and more ambitious missions in the future. A prime conclusion is that there are important advances regarding the availability of forebody TPS required for Venus entry probes. Specifically, the carbon phenolic flown on the Pioneer Venus probes has been deemphasized and a new 3D woven material system, Heatshield for Extreme Entry Environment Technology (HEEET) has replaced carbon phenolic. Along with the development of HEEET, there have been test facility upgrades and design tool improvements. These new material and test methods are enabling for Venus missions. However, without a mission scheduled in the near future, even these new developments are at risk of becoming unavailable. Therefore, we recommend that NASA invest in a cross-cutting technology program that focuses on sustainment of relevant TPS materials, entry systems, test facilities, design tools, and flight instrumentation.

Thermal Protection Systems↗
NASA NTRS2017

Supersonic Retro-Propulsion for Future High-Mass Robotic Mars Lander Missions

A feasibility study was conducted to investigate the potential performance advantages of Supersonic Retro-Propulsion in support of future high-mass Mars robotic landing missions. A notional reference architecture for a potential future Mars Sample Return formed the basis for assuming a 4.7 m diameter SRP entry vehicle containing the Mars Ascent Vehicle element. Configuration analysis was conducted to ensure that the payload and required SRP components (including engines and propellant) fit within in the capsule volume. Optimized trajectory analysis highlighted several key performance sensitivities of SRP for ballistic coefficients of 150, 300, and 450 kg/m2. These results indicated a broad SRP ignition envelope (1-4 km altitude, 300-750 m/s velocity), as well as relatively small propellant mass fraction sensitivities to SRP thrust/weight, landing site elevation, and the application of a 4-g entry deceleration constraint (relevant for future crewed mission trajectories). Finally, mass-sizing was performed to assess sensitivities to ballistic coefficient and entry velocity, and showcased the ability of the SRP system to land payload masses on the order of twice that of MSL.

Whetsel, Charles↗
NASA NTRS2019

Satellite Ocean Colour: Current Status and Future Perspective

Spectrally resolved water-leaving radiances (ocean colour) and inferred chlorophyll concentration are key to studying phytoplankton dynamics at seasonal and inter-annual scales, for a better understanding of the role of phytoplankton in marine biogeochemistry; the global carbon cycle; and the response of marine ecosystems to climate variability, change and feedback processes. Ocean colour data also have a critical role in operational observation systems monitoring coastal eutrophication, harmful algal blooms, and sediment plumes. The contiguous ocean-colour record reached 21 years in 2018; however, it is comprised of a number of one-off missions such that creating a consistent time-series of ocean-colour data requires merging of the individual sensors (including MERIS, Aqua-MODIS, SeaWiFS, VIIRS, and OLCI) with differing sensor characteristics, without introducing artefacts. By contrast, the next decade will see consistent observations from operational ocean colour series with sensors of similar design and with a replacement strategy. Also, by 2029 the record will start to be of sufficient duration to discriminate climate change impacts from natural variability, at least in some regions. This paper describes the current status and future prospects in the field of ocean colour focusing on large to medium resolution observations of oceans and coastal seas. It reviews the user requirements in terms of products and uncertainty characteristics and then describes features of current and future satellite ocean-colour sensors, both operational and innovative. The key role of in situ validation and calibration is highlighted as are ground segments that process the data received from the ocean-colour sensors and deliver analysis-ready products to end-users. Example applications of the ocean-colour data are presented, focusing on the climate data record and operational applications including water quality and assimilation into numerical models. Current capacity building and training activities pertinent to ocean colour are described and finally a summary of future perspectives is provided.

ocean colour↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Human Capabilities Assessments for Autonomous Missions: A Multi-Team Research Effort to Reduce Risk in the Human-System Integration Architecture for Future Deep-Space Missions

In future exploration missions beyond low earth-orbit, crew will have to execute complex operations and respond to off-nominal events, without real-time support from Mission Control. It is anticipated that increased reliance on automated systems, including human-centric vehicle and information architecture, will need to be designed to support the crew; increased risk to performance, health, and safety may occur if these are not implemented appropriately. The Human Factors and Behavioral Performance Element (HFBP) in the NASA Human Research Program supports research to characterize and mitigate such human health and performance risks, including the Risk of Adverse Outcome Due to Inadequate Human Systems Integration Architecture (HSIA). The HSIA risk addresses the integration of onboard capability and the crew roles and responsibilities necessary to enable the crew to respond effectively and efficiently in the increasingly autonomous mission operations environment. In 2017, HFBP released the “Human Capabilities Assessments for Autonomous Missions” (HCAAM) research topic to address HSIA related questions. HCAAM is a major NASA research effort that has assembled a multidisciplinary team from seven institutions to work closely with design and engineering efforts on research towards developing and refining human performance standards, guidelines and automation tools. The scientific focus is on quantitative assessment of human capabilities relevant to future deep-space missions during which earth/spacecraft communication is so delayed and intermittent that the crew must be able to function autonomously. The integrated strategy of the HCAAM project characterizes human capabilities and limitations related to potential performance decrements during long duration exploration mission spaceflight as relevant to both routine and complex task performance; defines system characteristics that reduce the likelihood or impact of potential decrements in human performance capabilities; performs integrated assessment of intelligent system responses within the context of an operational environment with relevant NASA tools, systems, and data structures in order to determine positive or negative interactions and validate recommended approaches; and proposes specific updates to existing standards and guidelines for inclusion in NASA handbooks for the design of future spacecraft intelligent systems that provide crew performance assessment/feedback, and to also serve as decision-support aids for the onboard crew (i.e., NASA-STD-3001, and NASA/SP-Human Integration Design Handbook (HIDH)). The scientific research vectors being addressed by the seven HCAAM teams include: - crew task performance (accuracy, efficiency) (crew + automation) - crew performance (accuracy, efficiency) - crew Situation Awareness - procedure design and multi-modal enhancement - concurrent tasking (mixed manual + some level of autonomy) - task handover - crew self-planning and time-lining - task design - trust in automation, real-time calibration - human multi-sensory feedback and guidance - human trust in on-board software-based intelligent assistants - virtual assistants The presentation will highlight plans and progress made in each of these research areas as well as the methods by which surrogate astronaut crews in the NASA JSC HERA spaceflight analog facility will function as human test subjects for all of the HCAAM research projects.

HCAAM VNSCOR↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Role of Cryogenic Aerodynamic Testing for Current and Future Technologies

The motivation for cryogenic wind tunnels originated during the 1960s from an internationally recognized need for a high Reynolds number test capability based on experiences with preflight predictions of aerodynamic characteristics and an anticipated need in support of research and development for future aerospace vehicle systems. More specifically, the motivation for a flight (or near flight) Reynolds number ground test facility was captured in the foreword to reference 1 which states:“...AGARD held a Specialists’ Meeting in Paris on ‘Transonic Aerodynamics’ in recognition of the fact that the absence of adequate theoretical methods and wind tunnels of high enough Reynolds number had already led to costly shortcomings in the transonic performance of certain combat and transport aircraft.” Preflight prediction of flight characteristics is a necessary process for the developer of any aerospace vehicle, and introduces significant risk to the success of the vehicle. Whether the vehicle customer is commercial or governmental, the final full-scale vehicle must meet certain requirements to be certified as safe, and certain performance requirements to be economically successful. Aircraft companies strive to know the flight characteristics and performance of their vehicle with high confidence prior to flight, thus enabling optimal design trades and elimination of any costly modifications to the aircraft during and after initial flight testing. The problems of predicting flight characteristics across the full flight envelope prior to flight have been and continue to be challenging. Much has changed since the US National Transonic Facility (NTF) became operational in the 1980s, followed by the European Transonic Windtunnel (ETW) in 1990s, not the least of which has been the advancement and positive impact of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) on aircraft design and development. Today, the need for integrated CFD and ground-based high Reynolds number test and evaluation capability remains as aerodynamics will always be central to defining an aircraft directly as well as providing critical input to other disciplines. Today the economic stakes of being surprised during flight tests are higher than ever. This oral-only presentation describes the past, current, and future role of high Reynolds number aerodynamic testing in aerospace vehicle design and development. Discussion of relevant flow physics, past experiences with preflight prediction, and future needs, challenges, and opportunities is included. 1.“Facilities and Techniques for Aerodynamic Testing at Transonic Speeds and High Reynolds Number,” AGARD CP-83-71, 1971.

Aerodynamics↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Extensibility of PICA TPS for Future Sample Return Missions

Stardust was the first successful robotic sample return mission delivering samples of the Comet Wild 2 to Earth in 2006. Genesis followed Stardust, in the era of “faster, better, cheaper,” collecting samples of solar wind. The Genesis sample return capsule (SRC) was larger and the program did not have the time nor funding to scale up the Stardust PICA heatshield and so, utilized an alternate heatshield. The successful Stardust mission led to future mission concepts baselining Stardust EDL, especially the entry heatshield. OSIRIS REx, was one such concept and the mission was designed to include build-to-print elements of the Stardust design. The primary scale-up limitation beyond Stardust and OSIRIS REx is the single-piece net cast PICA heatshield. In the past three years, FMI working with NASA Ames, expanded the manufacturing capability of PICA and demonstrated a 1.3 m PICA single piece TPS. This was done in anticipation of the Mars Sample Return mission as well as future Sample Return missions requiring larger-scale SRCs. This effort also identified a sustainable domestic replacement precursor for the PICA preform as the heritage precursor was discontinued in 2016 and FMI has gone through multiple rayon replacements since Stardust. As part of the effort, PICA was also tested at conditions higher than the Stardust or OSIRIS REx entry envelope to establish an expanded performance envelope and enable future sample return missions at higher entry speeds. The poster will highlight PICA sustainability and extensibility as part of the Sample Return to Earth session.

PICA thermal protection↗