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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 289 records · Page 16
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1977

Large space erectable structures - building block structures study

A modular planar truss structure and a long slender boom concept identified as building block approaches to construction of large spacecraft configurations are described. The concepts are compatible in weight and volume goals with the Space Transportation System, use standard structural units, and represent high on-orbit productivity in terms of structural area or beam length. Results of structural trade studies involving static and dynamic analyses of a single module and rigid body deployment analyses to assess kinetics and kinematics of automatic deployment of the building block modules are presented.

Armstrong, W. H.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Preliminary design study of a baseline MIUS

Results of a conceptual design study to establish a baseline design for a modular integrated utility system (MIUS) are presented. The system concept developed a basis for evaluating possible projects to demonstrate an MIUS. For the baseline study, climate conditions for the Washington, D.C., area were used. The baseline design is for a high density apartment complex of 496 dwelling units with a planned full occupancy of approximately 1200 residents. Environmental considerations and regulations for the MIUS installation are discussed. Detailed cost data for the baseline MIUS are given together with those for design and operating variations under climate conditions typified by Las Vegas, Nevada, Houston, Texas, and Minneapolis, Minnesota. In addition, results of an investigation of size variation effects, for 300 and 1000 unit apartment complexes, are presented. Only conceptual aspects of the design are discussed. Results regarding energy savings and costs are intended only as trend information and for use in relative comparisons. Alternate heating, ventilation, and air conditioning concepts are considered in the appendix.

Wolfer, B. M.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Precision slew/settle technologies for flexible spacecraft

Many spacecraft missions in the next decade will require both a high degree of agility and precision pointing. Agility includes both rotational maneuvering for retargeting and translational motion for orbit adjustment and threat avoidance. The major challenge associated with such missions is the need for control over a wide range of amplitudes and frequencies, ranging from tens of degrees at less than 1 Hz to a few micron radians at hundreds of Hz. TRW's internally funded Precision Control of Agile Spacecraft (PCAS) project is concerned with developing and validating in hardware the tools necessary to successfully complete the combined agile maneuvering/precision pointing missions. Development has been undertaken on a number of fronts for quietly slewing flexible structures. Various methods for designing slew torque profiles have been investigated. Prime candidates for slew/settle scenarios include Inverse Dynamics and Parameterized Function Space. Joint work with Processor Bayo at the University of California, Santa Barbara and Professor Flashner at the University of Southern California has led to promising torque profile design methods. Active and passive vibration suppression techniques also play a key role for rapid slew/settle mission scenarios. Active members with local control loops and passive members with high loss factor viscoelastic material have been selected for hardware verification. Progress in each of these areas produces large gains in the quiet slewing of flexible spacecraft. The main thrust of the effort to date has been the development of a modular testbed for hardware validation of the precision control concepts. The testbed is a slewing eighteen foot long flexible truss. Active and passive members can be interchanged with the baseline aluminum members to augment the inherent damping in the system. For precision control the active members utilize control laws running on a high speed digital structural control processor. Tip and midspan motions of the truss are determined using optical sensors while accelerometers can be used to monitor the motions of other points of interest. Preliminary results indicate that a mix of technologies produces the greatest benefit. For example, shaping the torque profile produces large improvements in slew/settle performance, but without added damping settling times may still be excessive. With the introduction of moderate amounts of damping, slew/settle performance is vastly improved. On the other hand, introducing damping without shaping the torque profile may not yield the desired level of performance.

Manning, R. A.↗
NASA NTRS2019

The Application of Advanced Electric Propulsion on the NASA Power and Propulsion Element (PPE)

NASA is charged with landing the first American woman and next American man on the South Pole of the Moon by 2024. To meet this challenge, NASA's Gateway will develop and deploy critical infrastructure required for operations on the lunar surface and that enables a sustained presence on and around the moon. NASA's Power and Propulsion Element (PPE), the first planned element of NASA's cis-lunar Gateway, leverages prior and ongoing NASA and U.S. industry investments in high-power, long-life solar electric propulsion technology investments. NASA awarded a PPE contract to Maxar Technologies to demonstrate a 2,500 kg xenon capacity, 50 kW-class SEP spacecraft that meets Gateway's needs, aligns with industry's heritage spacecraft buses, and allows extensibility for NASA's Mars exploration goals. Maxar's PPE concept design, is based directly on their high heritage, modular, highly reliable 1300-series bus architecture. The electric propulsion system features two 13 kW Advanced Electric Propulsion (AEPS) strings from Aerojet Rocketdyne and a Maxar-developed system comprised of four Busek 6 kW Hall-effect thrusters mounted in pairs on large range of motion pointing arms with four 6 kW-class, SPT-140-based PPUs. NASA is continuing to develop the 13 kW AEPS system through a contract with Aerojet Rocketdyne. In addition to the flight demonstration of an advanced electric propulsion system on PPE, a government-furnished plasma diagnostics package is planned to assess on-orbit performance characteristics and vehicle interactions. The paper will present overviews of NASA's Gateway and the PPE Project, the Maxar ion propulsion subsystem, the status of the two electric propulsion system developments, and the implementation of the plasma diagnostics package on the Maxar PPE spacecraft. The project is currently heading into SRR, with the propulsion build scheduled for 2021, and launch in 2022.

Herman, Daniel A.↗
DOE OSTI2021

The Fast Modular Reactor (FMR) - Development Plan of a New 50 MWe Gas-cooled Fast Reactor

General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) will be developing a new 50-megawatt electric (MWe) fast modular reactor (FMR), under the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP), Advanced Reactor Concepts 2020 (ARC-20) development pathway, that provides safe, carbon free electricity, capable of incremental capacity additions. A modular design allows it to be factory-built and assembled on-site to keep the cost of capital low, while the dry-cooling facilitates siting to complement renewables in nearly any location. GA-EMS is committed to commercialization of the proposed reactor, with a demonstration by 2030, and deployment by the mid-2030s. The ultimate goal of the design is to develop flexible and dispatchable carbon-free power source for the 2035 US electricity market. The GAEMS- led team will verify that simplified characteristics (e.g., inert helium gas coolant, pellet-loaded fuel rod, installation-free of heat sink requirements, small and passive heat removal systems) of the FMR will result in a safe, maintainable, cost-effective, distributed, nuclear energygenerating station. Three key specific project objectives for the next three years include: Development of the conceptual design of the 50- MWe FMR plant, Achievement of Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 4 for key system and component technologies through in-pile tests, out-of-pile tests, and numerical experiments; and Development of robust techno-economic analysis (TEA) and pre-application licensing approach necessary for timely demonstration and eventual commercialization.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
NASA NTRS1992

Spaceflight optical disk recorder development

Mass memory systems based on rewriteable optical disk media are expected to play an important role in meeting the data system requirements for future NASA spaceflight missions. NASA has established a program to develop a high performance (high rate, large capacity) optical disk recorder focused on use aboard unmanned Earth orbiting platforms. An expandable, adaptable system concept is proposed based on disk drive modules and a modular controller. Drive performance goals are 10 gigabyte capacity, 300 megabit/s transfer rate, 10 exp -12 corrected bit error rate, and 150 millisec access time. This performance is achieved by writing eight data tracks in parallel on both sides of a 14 in. optical disk using two independent heads. System goals are 160 gigabyte capacity, 1.2 gigabits/s data rate with concurrent I/O, 250 millisec access time, and two to five year operating life on orbit. The system can be configured to meet various applications. This versatility is provided by the controller. The controller provides command processing, multiple drive synchronization, data buffering, basic file management, error processing, and status reporting. Technology developments, design concepts, current status including a computer model of the system and a Controller breadboard, and future plans for the Drive and Controller are presented.

Jurczyk, Stephen G.↗
NASA NTRS1971

A nuclear powered air cushion freighter for the 1980's.

A design for a transoceanic, dry cargo-carrying freighter is suggested; its use and operation in port are discussed. With a gross weight of 4500 metric tons (5000 tons), more than 50 percent of which is cargo, it will cruise at 50 meters per second (100 knots) in waves 2.4 meters (8 ft) high. Its peripheral jet-flexible skirt air cushion concept and air thrustors will let the freighter go over waves 8 meters high at reduced velocity. Power comes from a 1280 megawatt, helium-cooled thermal reactor. It could dock at any major port in the world, but because it needs no surface contact, it could also travel inland to land-locked ports. A modular terminal design and methods of cargo transfer are suggested. The concept of cargo containerization influences both the freighter and terminal design.

Anderson, J. L.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Space processing payloads for the Space Shuttle era

This paper discusses the definition of facilities which will serve the research needs of a large group of users. These facilities (payloads) are derived by several combinations of items from a large inventory of modular, reusable research equipment, enabling us to respond to many flight opportunities. Workable concepts have been laid out and inputted into the Spacelab design activity. These designs permit the flying of either partial or dedicated payloads. Also addressed in this paper are the technical integrity of the modular approach to payload design and integration, and the utility of commercial equipment technology.

Taylor, K. R.↗
DOE OSTI2022

U.S. High Temperature Materials Highlights

U.S. GIF VHTR work is continuing on graphite qualification, Alloy 617 regulatory issues beyond the Code space, Alloy 800H weldments, and ASME Codes and Standards R&D is still considering both pebble bed and prismatic and steam generator and heat exchanger U.S. DOE Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP) Two U.S.-based teams were selected to demonstrate advanced nuclear reactors in the United States that can be operational by 2027 One of the teams is X-energy (Rockville, MD) which will demonstrate a modular gas-cooled reactor design (Xe-100) with four 80 MWe, TRISO fuel, pebble bed reactors A number of U.S.-based teams were selected to design and develop safe and affordable reactor technologies that can be licensed and deployed over the next 10 to 14 years (Risk Reduction) One of the teams is BWXT Advanced Technologies, LLC which will develop a commercially viable transportable microreactor with the design focused on using TRISO fuel particles and silicon carbide (SiC) matrix A number of U.S.-based teams were selected to assist the progression of advanced reactor designs in their earliest phases (Advanced Reactor Concepts-20) One of the teams is Massachusetts Institute of Technology which will mature the Modular Integrated Gas-Cooled High Temperature Reactor (MIGHTR) concept with a horizontal compact design from a pre-conceptual stage to a conceptual stage to support commercialization

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
NASA NTRS2017

Future ATM Concepts Evaluation Tool (FACET) Interface Control Document

This Interface Control Document (ICD) documents the airspace adaptation and air traffic inputs of NASA's Future ATM Concepts and Evaluation Tool (FACET). Its intended audience is the project manager, project team, development team, and stakeholders interested in interfacing with the system. FACET equips Air Traffic Management (ATM) researchers and service providers with a way to explore, develop and evaluate advanced air transportation concepts before they are field-tested and eventually deployed. FACET is a flexible software tool that is capable of quickly generating and analyzing thousands of aircraft trajectories. It provides researchers with a simulation environment for preliminary testing of advanced ATM concepts. Using aircraft performance profiles, airspace models, weather data, and flight schedules, the tool models trajectories for the climb, cruise, and descent phases of flight for each type of aircraft. An advanced graphical interface displays traffic patterns in two and three dimensions, under various current and projected conditions for specific airspace regions or over the entire continental United States. The system is able to simulate a full day's dynamic national airspace system (NAS) operations, model system uncertainty, measure the impact of different decision-makers in the NAS, and provide analysis of the results in graphical form, including sector, airport, fix, and airway usage statistics. NASA researchers test and analyze the system-wide impact of new traffic flow management algorithms under anticipated air traffic growth projections on the nation's air traffic system. In addition to modeling the airspace system for NASA research, FACET has also successfully transitioned into a valuable tool for operational use. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) traffic flow managers and commercial airline dispatchers have used FACET technology for real-time operations planning. FACET integrates live air traffic data from FAA radar systems and weather data from the National Weather Service to summarize NAS performance. This information allows system operators to reroute flights around congested airspace and severe weather to maintain safety and minimize delay. FACET also supports the planning and post-operational evaluation of reroute strategies at the national level to maximize system efficiency. For the commercial airline passenger, strategic planning with FACET can result in fewer flight delays and cancellations. The performance capabilities of FACET are largely due to its architecture, which strikes a balance between flexibility and fidelity. FACET is capable of modeling the airspace operations for the continental United States, processing thousands of aircraft on a single computer. FACET was written in Java and C, enabling the portability of its software to a variety of operating systems. In addition, FACET was designed with a modular software architecture to facilitate rapid prototyping of diverse ATM concepts. Several advanced ATM concepts have already been implemented in FACET, including aircraft self-separation, prediction of aircraft demand and sector congestion, system-wide impact assessment of traffic flow management constraints, and wind-optimal routing.

FACET↗
NASA NTRS1985

A modular docking mechanism for in-orbit assembly and spacecraft servicing

A Docking Mechanism concept is described which is suitable for use with autonomous docking systems. The central feature of using simple cylindrical handles on one side and a type of prism seating on the other is offered as a practical method of achieving a standardized structural interface without freezing continued development of the latches, either technically or commercially. The main emphasis in docking mechanism concepts is in two directions: (1) a very simple docking mechanism, involving mainly the latch mechanism to achieve a structural link; and (2) a sophisticated Docking Mechanism, where the latch mechanism is designed for nonrigid spacecraft and the achievement of very low dynamic interactions between spacecraft during the docking process.

Gampe, F.↗
DOE OSTI2021

A Hybrid Heavy-Duty Diesel Power System for Off-Road Applications - Concept Definition

A multi-year Power System R&D project was initiated with the objective of developing an off-road hybrid heavy-duty concept diesel engine with front end accessory drive-integrated energy storage. This off-road hybrid engine system is expected to deliver 15-20% reduction in fuel consumption over current Tier 4 Final-based diesel engines and consists of a downsized heavy-duty diesel engine containing advanced combustion technologies, capable of elevated peak cylinder pressures and thermal efficiencies, exhaust waste heat recovery via SuperTurbo™ turbocompounding, and hybrid energy recovery through both mechanical (high speed flywheel) and electrical systems. The first year of this project focused on the definition of the hybrid elements using extensive dynamic system simulation over transient work cycles, with hybrid supervisory controls development focusing on energy recovery and transient load assist, in Caterpillar’s DYNASTY™ software environment. Three key off-road applications were the focus of the hybrid concept definition with an aim of understanding the system’s modular capability for the diverse off-road heavy-duty market. Core engine performance 1D and 3D simulations isolated the efficiency contributions from the downsized engine, turbocompounding, and in-cylinder thermal barrier coatings. A fuel consumption improvement range of 14 to 24% was predicted, resulting in successful project progression to the design and experimental validation phase. Furthermore, an overview of the experimental engine and hybrid system status concludes the discussion along with the multi-year project’s next steps.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
NASA NTRS1979

Radiator heat rejection options for Shuttle payloads

The paper describes four separate advanced space radiator concepts that have been pursued in an integrated effort to develop multipayload use, low-cost heat rejection systems which can overcome the limitations of current radar systems. These four concepts are the following: (1) a wide heat load range, modularized space radiation system; (2) a heat rejection subsystem designed as a compact self-contained heat rejection module which provides a refrigeration cycle to accomodate a wide variation in payload heat loads and cooling temperature requirements; (3) a lightweight flexible fin radiator system with heat rejection capability; and (4) a radiator which does not require a circulating coolant on the radiator panel with heat pipes and thus particularly applies to very-long-duration free-flying payloads where long life reliability is an overriding design parameter. The Orbiter active thermal control system is briefly described.

Ellis, W. E.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Spaceflight optical disk recorder development

A NASA program to develop a high performance (high rate, high capacity) rewriteable optical disk recorder for spaceflight applications is presented. An expandable, adaptable system concept is proposed based on disk drive modules and a modular controller. Drive performance goals are 10 Gbyte capacity, 300 Mb transfer rate, 10 to the -12th corrected bit-error rate, and 150 msec access time. The preliminary design for an expandable controller is presented. System goals are up to 160 Gbyte capacity at up to 1.8 Gb/sec rate with concurrent I/O, asynchronous data transfer, and 2-5-year operating life in orbit. Projected system environment and operational scenarios based on Polar Orbiting Platform applications are discussed.

Shull, Thomas A.↗