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NASA NTRS2009

Monte Carlo Analysis of Pion Contribution to Absorbed Dose from Galactic Cosmic Rays

Accurate knowledge of the physics of interaction, particle production and transport is necessary to estimate the radiation damage to equipment used on spacecraft and the biological effects of space radiation. For long duration astronaut missions, both on the International Space Station and the planned manned missions to Moon and Mars, the shielding strategy must include a comprehensive knowledge of the secondary radiation environment. The distribution of absorbed dose and dose equivalent is a function of the type, energy and population of these secondary products. Galactic cosmic rays (GCR) comprised of protons and heavier nuclei have energies from a few MeV per nucleon to the ZeV region, with the spectra reaching flux maxima in the hundreds of MeV range. Therefore, the MeV - GeV region is most important for space radiation. Coincidentally, the pion production energy threshold is about 280 MeV. The question naturally arises as to how important these particles are with respect to space radiation problems. The space radiation transport code, HZETRN (High charge (Z) and Energy TRaNsport), currently used by NASA, performs neutron, proton and heavy ion transport explicitly, but it does not take into account the production and transport of mesons, photons and leptons. In this paper, we present results from the Monte Carlo code MCNPX (Monte Carlo N-Particle eXtended), showing the effect of leptons and mesons when they are produced and transported in a GCR environment.

Aghara, S.K.↗

NASA NTRS2010

Full Mission Astronaut Radiation Exposure Assessments for Long Duration Lunar Surface Missions

Risk to astronauts due to ionizing radiation exposure is a primary concern for missions beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and will drive mission architecture requirements, mission timelines, and operational practices. Both galactic cosmic ray (GCR) and solar particle event (SPE) environments pose a risk to astronauts for missions beyond LEO. The GCR environment, which is made up of protons and heavier ions covering a broad energy spectrum, is ever present but varies in intensity with the solar cycle, while SPEs are sporadic events, consisting primarily of protons moving outward through the solar system from the sun. The GCR environment is more penetrating and is more difficult to shield than SPE environments, but lacks the intensity to induce acute effects. Large SPEs are rare, but they could result in a lethal dose, if adequate shielding is not provided. For short missions, radiation risk is dominated by the possibility of a large SPE. Longer missions also require planning for large SPEs; adequate shielding must be provided and operational constraints must allow astronauts to move quickly to shielded locations. The dominant risk for longer missions, however, is GCR exposure, which accumulates over time and can lead to late effects such as cancer. SPE exposure, even low level SPE exposure received in heavily shielded locations, will increase this risk. In addition to GCR and SPE environments, the lunar neutron albedo resulting mainly from the interaction of GCRs with regolith will also contribute to astronaut risk. Full mission exposure assessments were performed for proposed long duration lunar surface mission scenarios. In order to accomplish these assessments, radiation shielding models were developed for a proposed lunar habitat and rover. End-to-End mission exposure assessments were performed by first calculating exposure rates for locations in the habitat, rover, and during extra-vehicular activities (EVA). Subsequently, total mission exposures were evaluated for proposed timelines. A number of computational tools and mathematical models, which have been incorporated into NASA's On-Line Tool for the Assessment of Radiation In Space (OLTARIS), were used for this study. These tools include GCR and SPE environment models, human body models, and the HZETRN space radiation transport code, which is used to calculate the transport of the charged particles and neutrons through shielding materials and human tissue. Mission exposure results, assessed in terms of effective dose, are presented for proposed timelines and recommendations are made for improved astronaut shielding and safer operational practice.

Adamczyk, Anne M.↗

NASA NTRS2011

Crew Survivability After a Rapid Cabin Depressurization Event

Anecdotal evidence acquired through historic failure investigations involving rapid cabin decompression (e.g. Challenger, Columbia and Soyuz 11) show that full evacuation of the cabin atmosphere may occur within seconds. During such an event, the delta-pressure between the sealed suit ventilation system and the cabin will rise at the rate of the cabin depressurization; potentially at a rate exceeding the capability of the suit relief valve. It is possible that permanent damage to the suit pressure enclosure and ventilation loop components may occur as the integrated system may be subjected to delta pressures in excess of the design to pressures. Additionally, as the total pressure of the suit ventilation system decreases, so does the oxygen available to the crew. The crew may be subjected to a temporary incapacitating, but non-lethal, hypoxic environment. It is expected that the suit will maintain a survivable atmosphere on the crew until the vehicle pressure control system recovers or the cabin has otherwise attained a habitable environment. A common finding from the aforementioned reports indicates that the crew would have had a better chance at surviving the event had they been in a protective configuration, that is, in a survival suit. Making use of these lessons learned, the Constellation Program implemented a suit loop in the spacecraft design and required that the crew be in a protective configuration, that is suited with gloves on and visors down, during dynamic phases of flight that pose the greatest risk for a rapid and uncontrolled cabin depressurization event: ascent, entry, and docking. This paper details the evaluation performed to derive suit pressure garment and ventilation system performance parameters that would lead to the highest probability of crew survivability after an uncontrolled crew cabin depressurization event while remaining in the realm of practicality for suit design. This evaluation involved: (1) assessment of stakeholder expectations to validate the functionality being imposed; (2) review/refinement of concept of operations to establish the potential triggers for such an event and define the response of the spacecraft and suit ventilation loop pressure control systems; and (3) assessment of system capabilities with respect to structural capability and pressure control. 1 Crew and Thermal Systems Division, NASA Johnson Space Center, Mail Code: AES29, 2101 NASA Parkway, Houston,

Sargusingh, Miriam J.↗

NASA NTRS2011

Ascent Heating Thermal Analysis on Spacecraft Adaptor Fairings

When the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) is launched, the spacecraft adaptor (SA) fairings that cover the CEV service module (SM) are exposed to aero heating. Thermal analysis is performed to compute the fairing temperatures and to investigate whether the temperatures are within the material limits for nominal ascent aeroheating case. The ascent heating is analyzed by using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and engineering codes at Marshall Space Flight Center. The aeroheating environment data used for this work is known as Thermal Environment 3 (TE3) heating data. One of the major concerns is with the SA fairings covering the CEV SM and the SM/crew launch vehicle (CLV) flange interface. The TE3 heating rate is a function of time, wall temperature, and the spatial locations. The implementation of the TE3 heating rate as boundary conditions in the thermal analysis becomes challenging. The ascent heating thermal analysis on SA fairings and SM/CLV flange interface are performed using two commercial software packages: Cullimore & Ring (C&R) Thermal Desktop (TD) 5.1 and MSC Patran 2007r1 b. TD is the pre-and post-processor for SINDA, which is a finite-difference-based solver. In TD, the geometry is built and meshed, the boundary conditions are defined, and then SINDA is used to compute temperatures. MSC Pthermal is a finite-element- based thermal solver. MSC Patran is the pre- and post-processor for Pthermal. Regarding the boundary conditions, the convection, contact resistance, and heat load can be imposed in different ways in both programs. These two software packages are used to build the thermal model for the same analysis to validate each other and show the differences in the modeling details.

Wang, Xiao Yen↗

NASA NTRS2014

Computation of Cosmic Ray Ionization and Dose at Mars: a Comparison of HZETRN and Planetocosmics for Proton and Alpha Particles

The ability to evaluate the cosmic ray environment at Mars is of interest for future manned exploration. To support exploration, tools must be developed to accurately access the radiation environment in both free space and on planetary surfaces. The primary tool NASA uses to quantify radiation exposure behind shielding materials is the space radiation transport code, HZETRN. In order to build confidence in HZETRN, code benchmarking against Monte Carlo radiation transport codes is often used. This work compares the dose calculations at Mars by HZETRN and the Geant4 application Planetocosmics. The dose at ground and the energy deposited in the atmosphere by galactic cosmic ray protons and alpha particles has been calculated for the Curiosity landing conditions. In addition, this work has considered Solar Energetic Particle events, allowing for the comparison of varying input radiation environments. The results for protons and alpha particles show very good agreement between HZETRN and Planetocosmics.

Gronoff, Guillaume↗

NASA NTRS2016

Electromagnetic Dissociation Cross Sections for High LET Fragments

Nuclear interaction cross sections are used in space radiation transport codes to calculate the probability of fragment emission in high energy nucleus-nucleus collisions. Strong interactions usually dominate in these collisions, but electromagnetic (EM) interactions can also sometimes be important. Strong interactions typically occur when the projectile nucleus hits a target nucleus, with a small impact parameter. For impact parameters larger than the sum of the nuclear radii, EM reactions dominate and the process is called electromagnetic dissociation (EMD) if one of the nuclei undergo fragmentation. Previous models of EMD have been used to calculate single proton (p) production, single neutron (n) production or light ion production, where a light ion is defined as an isotope of hydrogen (H) or helium (He), such as a deuteron (2H), a triton (3H), a helion (3He) or an alpha particle (4He). A new model is described which can also account for multiple nucleon production, such as 2p, 2n, 1p1n, 2p1n, 2p2n, etc. in addition to light ion production. Such processes are important to include for the following reasons. Consider, for example, the EMD reaction 56Fe + Al --> 52Cr + X + Al, for a 56Fe projectile impacting Al, which produces the high linear energy transfer (LET) fragment 52Cr. In this reaction, the most probable particles representing X are either 2p2n or 4He. Therefore, production of the high LET fragment 52Cr, must include the multiple nucleon production of 2p2n in addition to the light ion production of 4He. Previous models, such as the NUCFRG3 model, could only account for the 4He production process in this reaction and could not account for 2p2n. The new EMD model presented in this work accounts for both the light ion and multiple nucleon processes, and is therefore able to correctly account for the production of high LET products such as 52Cr. The model will be described and calculations will be presented that show the importance of light ion and multiple nucleon production. The work will also show that EMD reactions contribute most to those fragments with the highest LET.

Norbury, John↗

NASA NTRS2011

End-of-Life Optical Property Predictions of White Conductive Thermal Control Coatings through Analysis of On-Orbit and Ground Based Testing Data

New system requirements pertaining to thermal optical properties and coating electrical properties are commonly specified on non-low earth orbit missions. An increasing number of projects are specifying coatings with a surface resistivity of less than lE-9 ohm/square to mitigate electrostatic charge buildup events over a range of operational temperatures. There are a limited number of coatings that. meet these electrical property requirements while having flight derived optical properties in representative environments. Goddard Space Flight Center Code 546, Contamination and Thermal Coatings Group has recently explored the variety of electrically conductive white coatings available through domestic vendors to evaluate properties to meet project requirements in a geostationary orbit. The lack of significant flight data in representative environments required the careful selection of samples in ground based tests to establish end of life thermal properties. Attention must be given to the origin and pedigree of samples used on past on-orbit experiments to insure that the present formulations for the materials are similar and will react in similar manner.

Hasegawa, Mark↗

NASA NTRS2018

Characterizations of a KHz Pulsed Laser Detection System

A KHz Pulsed Laser Detection System was developed employing the concept of charge integration with an electrometer, in the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 618 Calibration Lab for the purpose of using the pulsed lasers for radiometric calibration. Comparing with traditional trans-impedance (current-voltage conversion) detection systems, the prototype of this system consists of a UV-Enhanced Si detector head, a computer controlled shutter system and a synchronized electrometer. The preliminary characterization work employs light sources running in either CW or pulsed mode. We believe this system is able to overcome the saturation issue when a traditional trans-impedance detection system is used with the pulsed laser light source, especially with high peak-power pulsed lasers operating at kilohertz repetition rates (e.g. Ekspla laser or KHz OPO). The charge integration mechanism is also expected to improve the stability of measurements for a pulsed laser light source overcoming the issue of peak-to-peak stability. We will present the system characterizations including signal-to-noise ratio and uncertainty analysis and compare results against traditional trans-impedance detection systems.

Ding, Leibo↗

NASA NTRS2018

Characterizations of a KHz Pulsed Laser Detection System

Ding, Leibo↗

NASA NTRS1992

Spacecraft-plasma interaction codes: NASCAP/GEO, NASCAP/LEO, POLAR, DynaPAC, and EPSAT

Development of a computer code to simulate interactions between the surfaces of a geometrically complex spacecraft and the space plasma environment involves: (1) defining the relevant physical phenomena and formulating them in appropriate levels of approximation; (2) defining a representation for the 3-D space external to the spacecraft and a means for defining the spacecraft surface geometry and embedding it in the surrounding space; (3) packaging the code so that it is easy and practical to use, interpret, and present the results; and (4) validating the code by continual comparison with theoretical models, ground test data, and spaceflight experiments. The physical content, geometrical capabilities, and application of five S-CUBED developed spacecraft plasma interaction codes are discussed. The NASA Charging Analyzer Program/geosynchronous earth orbit (NASCAP/GEO) is used to illustrate the role of electrostatic barrier formation in daylight spacecraft charging. NASCAP/low Earth orbit (LEO) applications to the CHARGE-2 and Space Power Experiment Aboard Rockets (SPEAR)-1 rocket payloads are shown. DynaPAC application to the SPEAR-2 rocket payloads is described. Environment Power System Analysis Tool (EPSAT) is illustrated by application to Tethered Satellite System 1 (TSS-1), SPEAR-3, and Sundance. A detailed description and application of the Potentials of Large Objects in the Auroral Region (POLAR) Code are presented.

Mandell, M. J.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Simulating Scenes In Outer Space

Multimission Interactive Picture Planner, MIP, computer program for scientifically accurate and fast, three-dimensional animation of scenes in deep space. Versatile, reasonably comprehensive, and portable, and runs on microcomputers. New techniques developed to perform rapidly calculations and transformations necessary to animate scenes in scientifically accurate three-dimensional space. Written in FORTRAN 77 code. Primarily designed to handle Voyager, Galileo, and Space Telescope. Adapted to handle other missions.

Callahan, John D.↗

NASA NTRS1992

NASA. Lewis Research Center Advanced Modulation and Coding Project: Introduction and overview

The Advanced Modulation and Coding Project at LeRC is sponsored by the Office of Space Science and Applications, Communications Division, Code EC, at NASA Headquarters and conducted by the Digital Systems Technology Branch of the Space Electronics Division. Advanced Modulation and Coding is one of three focused technology development projects within the branch's overall Processing and Switching Program. The program consists of industry contracts for developing proof-of-concept (POC) and demonstration model hardware, university grants for analyzing advanced techniques, and in-house integration and testing of performance verification and systems evaluation. The Advanced Modulation and Coding Project is broken into five elements: (1) bandwidth- and power-efficient modems; (2) high-speed codecs; (3) digital modems; (4) multichannel demodulators; and (5) very high-data-rate modems. At least one contract and one grant were awarded for each element.

Budinger, James M.↗

NASA NTRS2009

Solid State Light Evaluation in the U.S. Lab Mockup

This document constitutes the publication of work performed by the Space Human Factors Laboratory (mail code SF5 at the time) at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in the months of June and July of 2000. At that time, the Space Human Factors Laboratory was part of the Space Human Factors Branch in the Flight Projects Division of the Space and Life Directorate. This report was originally to be a document for internal consumption only at JSC as it was seen to be only preliminary work for the further development of solid state illumination for general lighting on future space vehicles and the International Space Station (ISS). Due to funding constraints, immediate follow-on efforts were delayed and the need for publication of this document was overcome by other events. However, in recent years and with the development and deployment of a solid state light luminaire prototype on ISS, the time was overdue for publishing this information for general distribution and reference. Solid state lights (SSLs) are being developed to potentially replace the general luminaire assemblies (GLAs) currently in service in the International Space Station (ISS) and included in designs of modules for the ISS. The SSLs consist of arrays of light emitting diodes (LEDs), small solid state electronic devices that produce visible light in proportion to the electrical current flowing through them. Recent progressive advances in electrical power-to-light conversion efficiency in LED technology have allowed the consideration of LEDs as replacements for incandescent and fluorescent light sources in many circumstances, and their inherent advantages in ruggedness, reliability, and life expectancy make them attractive for applications in spacecraft. One potential area of application for the SSLs in the U.S. Laboratory Module of the ISS. This study addresses the suitability of the SSLs as replacements for the GLAs in this application.

Maida, James c.↗

NASA NTRS2008

Radiation Transport Tools for Space Applications: A Review

This slide presentation contains a brief discussion of nuclear transport codes widely used in the space radiation community for shielding and scientific analyses. Seven radiation transport codes that are addressed. The two general methods (i.e., Monte Carlo Method, and the Deterministic Method) are briefly reviewed.

Cosmic Ray Effects on Micro-Electronics (CREME96)↗

NASA NTRS1994

Design of orbital debris shields for oblique hypervelocity impact

A new impact debris propagation code was written to link CTH simulations of space debris shield perforation to the Lagrangian finite element code DYNA3D, for space structure wall impact simulations. This software (DC3D) simulates debris cloud evolution using a nonlinear elastic-plastic deformable particle dynamics model, and renders computationally tractable the supercomputer simulation of oblique impacts on Whipple shield protected structures. Comparison of three dimensional, oblique impact simulations with experimental data shows good agreement over a range of velocities of interest in the design of orbital debris shielding. Source code developed during this research is provided on the enclosed floppy disk. An abstract based on the work described was submitted to the 1994 Hypervelocity Impact Symposium.

Fahrenthold, Eric P.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Reed Solomon error correction for the space telescope

This paper reports a single 8.2mm by 8.4mm, 200,000 transistor CMOS chip implementation of the Reed Solomon code required by the Space Telescope. The chip features a 10 MHz sustained byte rate independent of error pattern. The 1.6 micron CMOS integrated circuit has complete decoder and encoder functions and uses a single data/system clock. Block lengths up to 255 bytes as well as shortened codes are supported with no external buffering. Erasure corrections as well as random error corrections are supported with programmable corrections of up to 10 symbol errors. Correction time is independent of error pattern and the number of errors.

Whitaker, S.↗

NASA NTRS2001

Deep Space Network turbo decoder implementation

A new decoder is being developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA's Deep Space Network. This unit will decode the new turbo codes, which have recently been approved by the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS). Turbo codes provide up to 0.8 dB improvement in Eb/No over the current best codes used by deep space missions.

turbo codes↗

NASA NTRS1994

Estimating Lives Of Space Shuttle Parts

SSPOC (Space Shuttle Probabilistic Optimization Code) computer program, implements probabilistic mathematical model, accepts defined distributions of parameters controlling life of Space Shuttle main engine. Used to perform tradeoff studies to optimize between service life and acceptable level of risk, with greater accuracy. Also includes probability of removal and failure of parts, along with number of surviving parts for each interval of inspections. Written in FORTRAN 77, and user interface written in PASCAL(R).

Watkins, Tommie, Jr.↗