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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 307 records · Page 17

Cosmological perturbation theory for large scale structure in phase space

We develop a framework for Large Scale Structure (LSS) perturbation theory, that solves the Vlasov-Poisson system of equations for the distribution function in full phase space. This approach relaxes the usual apriori assumption of negligible velocity dispersion underlying the Standard Perturbation Theory (SPT). We apply the new method to rederive the usual SPT kernels up to third order in the perturbative expansion. We also show that a counterterm, identical to the one introduced by standard Effective Field Theory (EFT) methods, naturally arises within our framework. We finish by making a precise connection to EFT techniques, which reveals the necessity of the EFTofLSS to self-consistently model the long-wavelength fluid, and illustrates the importance of having theoretical control over short distance fluctuations.

Cosmological perturbation theory in GR and beyond↗

Kepler's Multiple Planet Systems

Among the 1800 Kepler targets that have candidate planets, 20% have two or more candidate planets. While most of these objects have not yet been confirmed as true planets, several considerations strongly suggest hat the vast majority of these multi-candidate systems are true planetary systems. Virtually all candidate systems are stable, as tested by numerical integrations (assuming a nominal mass-radius relationship). Statistical studies performed on these candidates reveal a great deal about the architecture of planetary systems, including the typical spacing of orbits and flatness of planetary systems. The distribution of observed period ratios shows that the vast majority ofcandidate pairs are neither in nor near low-order mean motion resonances. Nonetheless, there are small but statistically significant excesses of candidate pairs both in resonance and spaced slightly too far apart to be in resonance, particularly near the 2:1 resonance. The characteristics of the confirmed Kepler multi-planet systems will also be discussed.

Lissauer, Jack↗

Aerospace Applications of Weibull and Monte Carlo Simulation with Importance Sampling

Recent developments in reliability modeling and computer technology have made it practical to use the Weibull time to failure distribution to model the system reliability of complex fault-tolerant computer-based systems. These system models are becoming increasingly popular in space systems applications as a result of mounting data that support the decreasing Weibull failure distribution and the expectation of increased system reliability. This presentation introduces the new reliability modeling developments and demonstrates their application to a novel space system application. The application is a proposed guidance, navigation, and control (GN&C) system for use in a long duration manned spacecraft for a possible Mars mission. Comparisons to the constant failure rate model are presented and the ramifications of doing so are discussed.

Bavuso, Salvatore J.↗

Tracer gas test in Net-Zero Energy Residential Test Facility

The Net-Zero Energy Residential Test Facility (NZERTF) at NIST was built in 2012 to support the development and adoption of cost-effective net-zero energy designs, technologies, and construction methods. It is two-story, and has four bedrooms, three bathrooms, and an open living room, dining room, and kitchen space. The NZERTF also has a basement and attic, both located within the conditioned space because the thermal and air-moisture barriers encompass the basement walls and attic roof. Transfer grilles link the living spaces to these two zones. The central heating and cooling system includes an air-toair heat pump, which delivers air to the basement, first and second floors. The heat pump has a cooling capacity of 7.6 kW and a heating capacity of 7.8 kW. The indoor unit is in the basement and ductwork runs along the basement ceiling. A balanced heat recovery ventilator (HRV) is installed in the basement and has its own dedicated ductwork. The HRV supplies 47 L/s of outdoor air to the house, with supplies on the first floor (in the kitchen/dining area) and in each of the three second-floor bedrooms. Air from the first-floor bathroom and both second-floor bathrooms is returned to the HRV before being exhausted, though the HRV was turned off during the tests. The house also has a range hood exhaust and a clothes dryer exhaust, both of which were turned off for the tests. The temperature of the house was measured and the operation of the space conditioning system, including its recirculating air distribution fan, were controlled by a commercially available thermostat.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Discovery of a Gamma-Ray Black Widow Pulsar by GPU-accelerated Einstein@Home

We report the discovery of 1.97 ms period gamma-ray pulsations from the 75 minute orbital-period binary pulsar now named PSR J1653-0158. The associated Fermi Large Area Telescope gamma-ray source 4FGL J1653.6-0158 has long been expected to harbor a binary millisecond pulsar. Despite the pulsar-like gamma-ray spectrum and candidate optical/X-ray associations—whose periodic brightness modulations suggested an orbit—no radio pulsations had been found in many searches. The pulsar was discovered by directly searching the gamma-ray data using the GPU-accelerated Einstein@Home distributed volunteer computing system. The multidimensional parameter space was bounded by positional and orbital constraints obtained from the optical counterpart. More sensitive analyses of archival and new radio data using knowledge of the pulsar timing solution yield very stringent upper limits on radio emission. Any radio emission is thus either exceptionally weak, or eclipsed for a large fraction of the time. The pulsar has one of the three lowest inferred surface magnetic-field strengths of any known pulsar with B surf ≈ 4 × 10 7 G. The resulting mass function, combined with models of the companion star's optical light curve and spectra, suggests a pulsar mass gsim 2 M ⊙ . The companion is lightweight with mass ~0.01 M ⊙ , and the orbital period is the shortest known for any rotation-powered binary pulsar. This discovery demonstrates the Fermi Large Area Telescope's potential to discover extreme pulsars that would otherwise remain undetected.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Analysis of three-dimensional unsteady flow around oscillating wings

A method based on the Navier-Stokes equations was developed for determining analytically the three-dimensional unsteady flow patterns around oscillating wings. The Helmholz vorticity transport equations were discretized in three-dimensional finite element form from a variational formulation and integrated numerically. At each time step of the numerical integration the velocity field was calculated from the representation of the three-dimensional wing by a system of optimized distribution of vortices in space. During the numerical integration of the vorticity transport equations the time-dependent boundary conditions on the wing were specified as external constraint conditions. Examples of obtained results describing the three-dimensional unsteady flow around a wing were presented.

Bratanow, T.↗

The TAVERNS emulator: An Ada simulation of the space station data communications network and software development environment

The Space Station DMS (Data Management System) is the onboard component of the Space Station Information System (SSIS) that includes the computers, networks and software that support the various core and payload subsystems of the Space Station. TAVERNS (Test And Validation Environment for Remote Networked Systems) is a distributed approach for development and validation of application software for Space Station. The TAVERNS concept assumes that the different subsystems will be developed by different contractors who may be geographically separated. The TAVERNS Emulator is an Ada simulation of a TAVERNS on the ASD VAX. The software services described in the DMS Test Bed User's Manual are being emulated on the VAX together with simulations of some of the core subsystems and a simulation of the DCN. The TAVERNS Emulator will be accessible remotely from any VAX that can communicate with the ASD VAX.

Howes, Norman R.↗

Space station automation of common module power management and distribution, volume 2

The new Space Station Module Power Management and Distribution System (SSM/PMAD) testbed automation system is described. The subjects discussed include testbed 120 volt dc star bus configuration and operation, SSM/PMAD automation system architecture, fault recovery and management expert system (FRAMES) rules english representation, the SSM/PMAD user interface, and the SSM/PMAD future direction. Several appendices are presented and include the following: SSM/PMAD interface user manual version 1.0, SSM/PMAD lowest level processor (LLP) reference, SSM/PMAD technical reference version 1.0, SSM/PMAD LLP visual control logic representation's (VCLR's), SSM/PMAD LLP/FRAMES interface control document (ICD) , and SSM/PMAD LLP switchgear interface controller (SIC) ICD.

Ashworth, B.↗

Description of the control system design for the SSF PMAD DC testbed

The Power Management and Distribution (PMAD) DC Testbed Control System for Space Station Freedom was developed using a top down approach based on classical control system and conventional terrestrial power utilities design techniques. The design methodology includes the development of a testbed operating concept. This operating concept describes the operation of the testbed under all possible scenarios. A unique set of operating states was identified and a description of each state, along with state transitions, was generated. Each state is represented by a unique set of attributes and constraints, and its description reflects the degree of system security within which the power system is operating. Using the testbed operating states description, a functional design for the control system was developed. This functional design consists of a functional outline, a text description, and a logical flowchart for all the major control system functions. Described here are the control system design techniques, various control system functions, and the status of the design and implementation.

Baez, Anastacio N.↗

Object-oriented fault tree models applied to system diagnosis

When a diagnosis system is used in a dynamic environment, such as the distributed computer system planned for use on Space Station Freedom, it must execute quickly and its knowledge base must be easily updated. Representing system knowledge as object-oriented augmented fault trees provides both features. The diagnosis system described here is based on the failure cause identification process of the diagnostic system described by Narayanan and Viswanadham. Their system has been enhanced in this implementation by replacing the knowledge base of if-then rules with an object-oriented fault tree representation. This allows the system to perform its task much faster and facilitates dynamic updating of the knowledge base in a changing diagnosis environment. Accessing the information contained in the objects is more efficient than performing a lookup operation on an indexed rule base. Additionally, the object-oriented fault trees can be easily updated to represent current system status. This paper describes the fault tree representation, the diagnosis algorithm extensions, and an example application of this system. Comparisons are made between the object-oriented fault tree knowledge structure solution and one implementation of a rule-based solution. Plans for future work on this system are also discussed.

Iverson, David L.↗

Description of the control system design for the SSF PMAD DC testbed

The Power Management and Distribution (PMAD) DC Testbed Control System for Space Station Freedom was developed using a top down approach based on classical control system and conventional terrestrial power utilities design techniques. The design methodology includes the development of a testbed operating concept. This operating concept describes the operation of the testbed under all possible scenarios. A unique set of operating states was identified and a description of each state, along with state transitions, was generated. Each state is represented by a unique set of attributes and constraints, and its description reflects the degree of system security within which the power system is operating. Using the testbed operating states description, a functional design for the control system was developed. This functional design consists of a functional outline, a text description, and a logical flowchart for all the major control system functions. Described here are the control system design techniques, various control system functions, and the status of the design and implementation.

Baez, Anastacio N.↗

Real-time contingency handling in MAESTRO

A scheduling and resource management system named MAESTRO was interfaced with a Space Station Module Power Management and Distribution (SSM/PMAD) breadboard at MSFC. The combined system serves to illustrate the integration of planning, scheduling, and control in a realistic, complex domain. This paper briefly describes the functional elements of the combined system, including normal and contingency operational scenarios, then focusses on the method used by the scheduler to handle real-time contingencies.

Britt, Daniel L.↗

Analysis of magnetic field levels at KSC

The scope of this work is to evaluate the magnetic field levels of distribution systems and other equipment at Kennedy Space Center (KSC). Magnetic fields levels in several operational areas and various facilities are investigated. Three dimensional mappings and contour are provided along with the measured data. Furthermore, the portion of magnetic fields generated by the 60 Hz fundamental frequency and the portion generated by harmonics are examined. Finally, possible mitigation techniques for attenuating fields from electric panels are discussed.

Christodoulou, Christos G.↗

A family of models for spherical stellar systems

We describe a one-parameter family of models of stable sperical stellar systems in which the phase-space distribution function depends only on energy. The models have similar density profiles in their outer parts (rho propotional to r(exp -4)) and central power-law density cusps, rho proportional to r(exp 3-eta), 0 less than eta less than or = 3. The family contains the Jaffe (1983) and Hernquist (1990) models as special cases. We evaluate the surface brightness profile, the line-of-sight velocity dispersion profile, and the distribution function, and discuss analogs of King's core-fitting formula for determining mass-to-light ratio. We also generalize the models to a two-parameter family, in which the galaxy contains a central black hole; the second parameter is the mass of the black hole. Our models can be used to estimate the detectability of central black holes and the velocity-dispersion profiles of galaxies that contain central cusps, with or without a central black hole.

Tremaine, Scott↗