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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
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1992

Solar system 'fast mission' trajectories using aerogravity assist

Initial analyses of the aerogravity assist (AGA) delivery technique to solar system targets (and beyond) has been encouraging. Mission opportunities are introduced that do not exist with typical gravity assist trajectories and current launch capabilities. The technique has the most payoff for high-energy missions such as outer planet orbiters and flybys. The goal of this technique is to reduce the flight duration significantly and to eliminate propulsion for orbit insertion. The paper will discuss detailed analyses and parametric studies that consider launch opportunities for missions to the sun, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto using AGA at Venus and Mars.

Randolph, James E.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Extended mission life support systems

Extended manned space missions which include interplanetary missions require regenerative life support systems. Manned mission life support considerations are placed in perspective and previous manned space life support system technology, activities and accomplishments in current supporting research and technology (SR&T) programs are reviewed. The life support subsystem/system technologies required for an enhanced duration orbiter (EDO) and a space operations center (SOC), regenerative life support functions and technology required for manned interplanetary flight vehicles, and future development requirements are outlined. The Space Shuttle Orbiters (space transportation system) is space cabin atmosphere is maintained at Earth ambient pressure of 14.7 psia (20% O2 and 80% N2). The early Shuttle flights will be seven-day flights, and the life support system flight hardware will still utilize expendables.

Quattrone, P. D.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Open-Source Science-led Development of the AOS Mission Science Data System (SDS)

The Earth System Observatory (ESO) Atmosphere Observing System (AOS) mission will provide space-based and suborbital observations of collocated cloud, dynamic, precipitation and aerosol processing leading to improved weather, air quality, and climate predictions. The AOS Science Data System (SDS) will be a system of systems developed within the Cloud to manage the research and operational processing of AOS mission orbital and suborbital sensors and curate these data for reprocessing (e.g., in near real-time or by collection) and transfer them to a NASA Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) for long-term storage. Further, AOS SDS will follow guidelines provided by NASA Earth Science Data Systems (ESDS) program including standard conventions for data file formats, naming, and metadata to improve data interoperability, interpretability, usability, discovery, provenance, and spatiotemporal representativeness. The AOS mission follows NASA’s lead in making a commitment to Open-Source Science (OSS) including the sharing of data, software, and knowledge in an open and timely manner. Each of the AOS SDS system components will be developed with open-source concepts including components of SDS itself as well as AOS mission algorithms. Further, the AOS SDS assumes the role to lead and facilitate OSS activities for the AOS mission. This presentation describes the framework of the AOS SDS and its integral part in facilitating OSS within the AOS mission.

David M. Giles↗
NASA NTRS1966

Surveyor mission operations system

Functional description of launch vehicle, tracking and data acquisition, spacecraft, and mission operations of Surveyor mission

LAUNCH VEHICLE↗
NASA NTRS1973

Radio astronomy Explorer-B in-flight mission control system development effort

A description is given of the development for the Mission Analysis Evaluation and Space Trajectory Operations (MAESTRO) program to be used for the in-flight decision making process during the translunar and lunar orbit adjustment phases of the flight of the Radio Astronomy Explorer-B. THe program serves two functions: performance and evaluation of preflight mission analysis, and in-flight support for the midcourse and lunar insertion command decisions that must be made by the flight director. The topics discussed include: analysis of program and midcourse guidance capabilities; methods for on-line control; printed displays of the MAESTRO program; and in-flight operational logistics and testing.

Lutsky, D. A.↗
NASA NTRS1988

A new multi-mission data system for space flight support through the 1990's

The Space Flight Operations Center (SFOC) is described with attention given to historical and technical aspects. The SFOC is designed to support each new JPL mission with all of its mission-unique processing as a ready adaptation of some set of baseline capabilities. Another goal of the SFOC is to allow the migration of current older JPL missions from their current systems that use aging and costly hardware and software to newer systems with similar functionality. Upon its completion, the planned support includes both downlink and uplink processing for a projected six mission set.

Gainsborough, A. J.↗
NASA NTRS1993

The Advanced Technology Operations System: ATOS

Mission control systems supporting new space missions face ever-increasing requirements in terms of functionality, performance, reliability and efficiency. Modern data processing technology is providing the means to meet these requirements in new systems under development. During the past few years the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) of the European Space Agency (ESA) has carried out a number of projects to demonstrate the feasibility of using advanced software technology, in particular, knowledge based systems, to support mission operations. A number of advances must be achieved before these techniques can be moved towards operational use in future missions, namely, integration of the applications into a single system framework and generalization of the applications so that they are mission independent. In order to achieve this goal, ESA initiated the Advanced Technology Operations System (ATOS) program, which will develop the infrastructure to support advanced software technology in mission operations, and provide applications modules to initially support: Mission Preparation, Mission Planning, Computer Assisted Operations, and Advanced Training. The first phase of the ATOS program is tasked with the goal of designing and prototyping the necessary system infrastructure to support the rest of the program. The major components of the ATOS architecture is presented. This architecture relies on the concept of a Mission Information Base (MIB) as the repository for all information and knowledge which will be used by the advanced application modules in future mission control systems. The MIB is being designed to exploit the latest in database and knowledge representation technology in an open and distributed system. In conclusion the technological and implementation challenges expected to be encountered, as well as the future plans and time scale of the project, are presented.

Kaufeler, J.-F.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Space Interferometry Mission: A Systems Perspective

In 2006, NASA's Origins Program will launch the Space Interferometry Mission (SIM), a 10 meter baseline optical interferometry instrument, into a Earth trailing orbit.

SIM interferometry Space Interferometry Mission JP↗
NASA NTRS1991

Navigation of the TSS-1 mission

The Tethered Satellite System Mission was analyzed to determine its impacts on the Mission Control Center (MCC) Navigation section's ability to maintain an accurate state vector for the Space Shuttle during nominal and off-nominal flight operations. Tether dynamics expected on the Shuttle introduces new phenomena when determining the best estimation of its position and velocity. In the analysis, emphasis was placed on determining the navigation state vectors accuracies resulting when the tether induced forces were and were not modeled as an additional acceleration upon processing tracking measurements around a TSS-1 trajectory. Results of the analyses show that when the forces are not modeled in the state vector generation process, the resulting solution state reflects a solution about the center of gravity of the tethered system and not that of the orbiter. The Navigation team's ability to provide accurate state vector estimates necessary for trajectory planning are impeded. In addition to this consequent, is an impact on Onboard Navigation state vector accuracies. These analyses will show that in order to preserve an accurate state onboard the orbiter a new operational procedure would have to be adopted.

Jackson, Timothy C.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Deep Space Network equipment performance, reliability, and operations management information system

The Deep Space Mission System (DSMS) Operations Program Office and the DeepSpace Network (DSN) facilities utilize the Discrepancy Reporting Management System (DRMS) to collect, process, communicate and manage data discrepancies, equipment resets, physical equipment status, and to maintain an internal Station Log. A collaborative effort development between JPL and the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex delivered a system to support DSN Operations.

discrepancy reporting DSN operations web-based too↗
NASA NTRS2010

Heritage and Advanced Technology Systems Engineering Lessons Learned from NASA Space Missions

Use of heritage and new technology is necessary/enabling to implementing small, low cost missions, yet overruns decrease the ability to sustain future mission flight rates The majority of the cost growth drivers seen in the D&NF study were embedded early during formulation phase and later realized during the development and I&T phases Cost drivers can be avoided or significantly decreased by project management and SE emphasis on early identification of risks and realistic analyses SE processes that emphasize an assessment of technology within the mission system to identify technical issues in the design or operational use of the technology. Realistic assessment of new and heritage spacecraft technology assumptions , identification of risks and mitigation strategies. Realistic estimates of effort required to inherit existing or qualify new technology, identification of risks to estimates and develop mitigation strategies. Allocation of project reserves for risk-based mitigation strategies of each individual area of heritage or new technology. Careful tailoring of inheritance processes to ensure due diligence.

Barley, Bryan↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

The Benefit of NASA's Atmosphere Observing System (AOS) Mission Lidar and Polarimeter Observations for Health and Air Quality Applications

The Atmosphere Observing System (AOS) seeks to explore fundamental questions of how interconnections between aerosols, clouds and precipitation impact our weather and climate, addressing real-world challenges to benefit society. AOS will provide key information to enhance the communities’ ability to improve weather and air quality forecasting today, seasonal to sub-seasonal changes in the near future, and societal challenges resulting from climate change in the decades to come. A fundamental component of the AOS mission is ensuring that health and air quality applications are considered to the greatest extent possible in mission design. As a result, the Applications Impact Team (AIT) was implemented to address this objective. The overarching goal of the AIT is to help improve the capacity for transitioning science to applications to make it possible to more quickly and effectively inform decisions that will directly benefit society. We seek to maximize AOS benefit to impact decisions through early engagement in the mission development phase in order to prepare stakeholders to apply observations as soon as AOS mission data becomes available. To support these efforts, we leverage existing and near future mission applications activities and initiatives, such as the NASA CALIPSO, MAIA, TEMPO, and PACE missions to form a framework to enhance health and air quality applications for AOS. The unique synergy between lidar and polarimeter instruments onboard the AOS constellation, as well as diurnally varying observations of aerosol profiles, will provide new opportunities to engage health and air quality stakeholders for forecasting, monitoring, and warning of hazardous events (e.g., wildfire smoke, volcanic ash) that impact human health. Engaging with existing missions helps identify and understand data needs, gaps and opportunities for current and future stakeholders, determine what aerosol data products are of highest value and use, and helps connect stakeholders with current mission data that can serve as AOS proxy data, among others. In this presentation, we provide an overview of AOS aerosol observations relevant for health and air quality applications, AIT activities and initiatives and how existing aerosol satellite missions and their applications activities can play a critical role in AOS applications development during mission design.

Melanie Follette-Cook↗
NASA NTRS2017

In-Space Assembly Capability Assessment for Potential Human Exploration and Science Applications

Human missions to Mars present several major challenges that must be overcome, including delivering multiple large mass and volume elements, keeping the crew safe and productive, meeting cost constraints, and ensuring a sustainable campaign. Traditional methods for executing human Mars missions minimize or eliminate in-space assembly, which provides a narrow range of options for addressing these challenges and limits the types of missions that can be performed. This paper discusses recent work to evaluate how the inclusion of in-space assembly in space mission architectural concepts could provide novel solutions to address these challenges by increasing operational flexibility, robustness, risk reduction, crew health and safety, and sustainability. A hierarchical framework is presented to characterize assembly strategies, assembly tasks, and the required capabilities to assemble mission systems in space. The framework is used to identify general mission system design considerations and assembly system characteristics by assembly strategy. These general approaches are then applied to identify potential in-space assembly applications to address each challenge. Through this process, several focus areas were identified where applications of in-space assembly could affect multiple challenges. Each focus area was developed to identify functions, potential assembly solutions and operations, key architectural trades, and potential considerations and implications of implementation. This paper helps to identify key areas to investigate were potentially significant gains in addressing the challenges with human missions to Mars may be realized, and creates a foundation on which to further develop and analyze in-space assembly concepts and assembly-based architectures.

Jefferies, Sharon A.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Verifying Correct Functionality of Avionics Subsystems

This project focuses on the testing of the telecommunications interface subsystem of the Multi-Mission System Architecture Platform to ensure proper functionality. The Multi-Mission System Architecture Platform is a set of basic tools designed to be used in future spacecraft. The responsibilities of the telecommunications interface include communication between the spacecraft and ground teams as well as acting as the bus controller for the system. The tests completed include bit wise read\write tests to each register, testing of status bits, and verifying various bus controller activities. Testing is accomplished through the use of software-based simulations run on an electronic design of the system. The tests are written in Verilog Hardware Definition Language and they simulate specific states and conditions in telecommunication interfaces. Upon successful completion, the output is examined to verify that the system responded appropriately.

Meuer, Ben t.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Utilization of the Space Vision System as an Augmented Reality System For Mission Operations

Augmented reality is a technique whereby computer generated images are superimposed on live images for visual enhancement. Augmented reality can also be characterized as dynamic overlays when computer generated images are registered with moving objects in a live image. This technique has been successfully implemented, with low to medium levels of registration precision, in an NRA funded project entitled, "Improving Human Task Performance with Luminance Images and Dynamic Overlays". Future research is already being planned to also utilize a laboratory-based system where more extensive subject testing can be performed. However successful this might be, the problem will still be whether such a technology can be used with flight hardware. To answer this question, the Canadian Space Vision System (SVS) will be tested as an augmented reality system capable of improving human performance where the operation requires indirect viewing. This system has already been certified for flight and is currently flown on each shuttle mission for station assembly. Successful development and utilization of this system in a ground-based experiment will expand its utilization for on-orbit mission operations. Current research and development regarding the use of augmented reality technology is being simulated using ground-based equipment. This is an appropriate approach for development of symbology (graphics and annotation) optimal for human performance and for development of optimal image registration techniques. It is anticipated that this technology will become more pervasive as it matures. Because we know what and where almost everything is on ISS, this reduces the registration problem and improves the computer model of that reality, making augmented reality an attractive tool, provided we know how to use it. This is the basis for current research in this area. However, there is a missing element to this process. It is the link from this research to the current ISS video system and to flight hardware capable of utilizing this technology. This is the basis for this proposed Space Human Factors Engineering project, the determination of the display symbology within the performance limits of the Space Vision System that will objectively improve human performance. This utilization of existing flight hardware will greatly reduce the costs of implementation for flight. Besides being used onboard shuttle and space station and as a ground-based system for mission operational support, it also has great potential for science and medical training and diagnostics, remote learning, team learning, video/media conferencing, and educational outreach.

Maida, James C.↗