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At least 307 records · Page 17

Integration of Evidence Base into a Probabilistic Risk Assessment

INTRODUCTION: A probabilistic decision support model such as the Integrated Medical Model (IMM) utilizes an immense amount of input data that necessitates a systematic, integrated approach for data collection, and management. As a result of this approach, IMM is able to forecasts medical events, resource utilization and crew health during space flight. METHODS: Inflight data is the most desirable input for the Integrated Medical Model. Non-attributable inflight data is collected from the Lifetime Surveillance for Astronaut Health study as well as the engineers, flight surgeons, and astronauts themselves. When inflight data is unavailable cohort studies, other models and Bayesian analyses are used, in addition to subject matters experts input on occasion. To determine the quality of evidence of a medical condition, the data source is categorized and assigned a level of evidence from 1-5; the highest level is one. The collected data reside and are managed in a relational SQL database with a web-based interface for data entry and review. The database is also capable of interfacing with outside applications which expands capabilities within the database itself. Via the public interface, customers can access a formatted Clinical Findings Form (CLiFF) that outlines the model input and evidence base for each medical condition. Changes to the database are tracked using a documented Configuration Management process. DISSCUSSION: This strategic approach provides a comprehensive data management plan for IMM. The IMM Database s structure and architecture has proven to support additional usages. As seen by the resources utilization across medical conditions analysis. In addition, the IMM Database s web-based interface provides a user-friendly format for customers to browse and download the clinical information for medical conditions. It is this type of functionality that will provide Exploratory Medicine Capabilities the evidence base for their medical condition list. CONCLUSION: The IMM Database in junction with the IMM is helping NASA aerospace program improve the health care and reduce risk for the astronauts crew. Both the database and model will continue to expand to meet customer needs through its multi-disciplinary evidence based approach to managing data. Future expansion could serve as a platform for a Space Medicine Wiki of medical conditions.

Saile, Lyn↗

Supporting Hazard Analysis for Wildfire Response Using fmdtools and MIKA

The System Wide Safety (SWS) Safety Demonstrator (SD) Series drives development of an increasingly capable In-Time Aviation Safety Management System (IASMS) focusing on humanitarian applications, starting with wildfire response (SD-1). The goals of this report are to (1) provide an early hazard analysis and mitigation evaluation of wildfire response to support these efforts and (2) provide a demonstration of capabilities of the Fault Model Design Tools (fmdtools) and Manager for Intelligent Knowledge Access (MIKA) tools. fmdtools provides a modeling, simulation, and resiliency analysis framework in which a wildfire response model, the System Modeling and Analysis of Resiliency in Scalable Traffic Management for Emergency Response Operations (SMARt-STEReO), is built. MIKA is an intelligent knowledge manager with several capabilities, including assisting in hazard analysis by extracting and analyzing hazards from historical incident reports. The following topics are covered in the report: Understanding Wildfire Hazard Dynamics. We provide a description and simulated examples of how hazards occur in the SMARt-STEReO model of wildfire response and their effect on its outcome. This provides a common mental model and focuses the analysis presented in the remainder of the report. Wildfire Hazard Identification. MIKA identifies wildfire hazards from three relevant datasets: the ICS-209-PLUS, SAFECOM, and SAFENET. Hazards are manually organized into a taxonomy and MIKA analyzes each hazard’s effects, likelihood, severity, and risk. Evaluating Mitigation Strategies. The SMARt-STEReO wildfire response model built in fmdtools evaluates a subset of identified hazards. Specifically, we simulate the effect of communications faults and equipment faults on operator safety, the effect of changing winds and flammability, and a scenario with multiple ignition points and heavy smoke. Tool Limitations and Usage Considerations. We provide a discussion of appropriate tool use cases as well as limitations and considerations for usage. The tool findings are used to synthesize recommendations for wildfire response operations, which can be captured as part of an IASMS. Key recommendations are as follows: Hazards are identified from a broad spectrum of sources including aircraft subsystems, operational sources, and ground crew operations. Highest risk operational environment hazards identified are Evacuations. The highest risk manned aerial operations hazard categorized is Jumper Operations Mishap. Ground crew hazards that are highest risk are Burns, Cargo Operations Overhead, Dehydration, Entrapment, Falling Objects, Heart Attacks, Heat Exhaustion, Inadequate Training or Certification, Vehicle Breakdown, and Vehicle Collision. Modelled containment failures arise from a mismatch between the difficulty of the firefighting scenario and the capacity (e.g., speed, effectiveness, awareness) of the response. In firefighting scenarios where containment is possible (e.g., because the fire does not spread too quickly), these mismatches can occur because of a change in environmental conditions (e.g., wind, flammability, etc) or because of planning, equipment, or communications faults. Improvements to communications increase the capacity of the firefighting response by reducing the time needed to respond to the fire. While surveillance does not increase this capacity by itself, it increases operator safety by increasing state awareness, enabling firefighters to evade approaching fires. Increasing both has a synergistic effect. In general, these performance and resilience increases generalize over fault scenarios as well as unforeseen changes to circumstances (i.e., wind, aridity, etc.). However, these improvements need to be designed so as not to make the system prone to persistent large-scale communications outages, which can reduce performance.

Hazard analysis↗

Comparison of NASA's 30-cm Ion Thruster Capabilities with the Dawn Mission Requirements

The Dawn ion thrusters meet all of the performance and life requirements for the Dawn mission. FT001 has two magnets in sideways in the middle magnet ring, but this has only a minor impact on the thruster performance. Electron-backstreaming is the first wear-out failure mechanism for the Dawn ion thrusters - PFA Modeling Indicates: a) The mission cannot be completed with a single thruster; b) The probability for mission success based on accelerator grid wear is > 99% for the worst case thruster usage for nominal thruster beamlet profiles; and c) FT002 has the most peaked beam profile which impacts the thruster s throughput capability. PFA results indicate that this reduces the probability for mission success based on accelerator grid wear to 97% based on the worst case thruster usage. The wear-out probability is zero if all three thrusters are used during the mission.

ion thrusters↗

The Characterization of Deep Convective Cloud Albedo as a Calibration Target Using MODIS Reflectances

There are over 25 years of historical satellite data available to climate analysis. The historical satellite data needs to be well calibrated, especially in the visible, where there is no onboard calibration on operational satellites. The key to the vicarious calibration of historical satellites relies on invariant targets, such as the moon, Dome C, and deserts. Deep convective clouds (DCC) also show promise of being a stable invariant or predictable target viewable by all satellites, since they behave as solar diffusers. However DCC have not been well characterized for calibration. Ten years of well-calibrated MODIS is now available. DCC can easily be identified using IR thresholds, where the IR calibration can be traced to the onboard black-bodies. The natural variability of DCC albedo will be analyzed geographically and seasonally, especially difference of convection initiated over land or ocean. Functionality between particle size and ozone absorption with DCC albedo will be examined. Although DCC clouds are nearly Lambertion, the angular distribution of reflectances will be sampled and compared with theoretical models. Both Aqua and Terra MODIS DCC angular models will be compared for consistency. Normalizing angular geostationary DCC reflectances, which were calibrated against MODIS, with SCIAMACHY spectral reflectances and comparing them to MODIS DCC reflectances will inspect the usage of DCC albedos as an absolute calibration target.

Doelling, David R.↗

Anisotropic Mach Cone Aligned Mesh Adaptation for Low Boom Simulations

An automated off-body Mach cone aligned structured curvilinear grid generation procedure is presented for near-field computational fluid dynamics simulations. This procedure combines output-based indicators and mesh redistribution to perform anisotropic mesh adaptation while maintaining Mach cone alignment. Automation is achieved through a novel direction-based adaptation indicator formulation. The adaptation procedure is demonstrated on the JAXA Wing Body geometry and X-59 C608 demonstrator model from the Second and Third AIAA Sonic Boom Prediction Workshops, respectively. It is demonstrated that anisotropic mesh adaptation may result in a greater than fifty percent reduction in resource usage required to achieve the same level of accuracy as uniform and user constructed Mach cone aligned grids for near-field pressure signatures, ground-level overpressure signatures, and loudness metrics.

CST↗

Anisotropic Mach Cone Aligned Mesh Adaptation for Low Boom Simulations

An automated off-body Mach cone aligned structured curvilinear grid generation procedure is presented for near-field computational fluid dynamics simulations. This procedure combines output-based indicators and mesh redistribution to perform anisotropic mesh adaptation while maintaining Mach cone alignment. Automation is achieved through a novel direction-based adaptation indicator formulation. The adaptation procedure is demonstrated on the JAXA Wing Body geometry and X-59 C608 demonstrator model from the Second and Third AIAA Sonic Boom Prediction Workshops, respectively. It is demonstrated that anisotropic mesh adaptation may result in a greater than fifty percent reduction in resource usage required to achieve the same level of accuracy as uniform and user constructed Mach cone aligned grids for near-field pressure signatures, ground-level overpressure signatures, and loudness metrics.

CST↗

A computer program for calculating laminar and turbulent boundary layers for two-dimensional time-dependent flows

A computer program is described which provides solutions of two dimensional equations appropriate to laminar and turbulent boundary layers for boundary conditions with an external flow which fluctuates in magnitude. The program is based on the numerical solution of the governing boundary layer equations by an efficient two point finite difference method. An eddy viscosity formulation was used to model the Reynolds shear stress term. The main features of the method are briefly described and instructions for the computer program with a listing are provided. Sample calculations to demonstrate its usage and capabilities for laminar and turbulent unsteady boundary layers with an external flow which fluctuated in magnitude are presented.

Cebeci, T.↗

Evaluation of various thrust calculation techniques on an F404 engine

In support of performance testing of the X-29A aircraft at the NASA-Ames, various thrust calculation techniques were developed and evaluated for use on the F404-GE-400 engine. The engine was thrust calibrated at NASA-Lewis. Results from these tests were used to correct the manufacturer's in-flight thrust program to more accurately calculate thrust for the specific test engine. Data from these tests were also used to develop an independent, simplified thrust calculation technique for real-time thrust calculation. Comparisons were also made to thrust values predicted by the engine specification model. Results indicate uninstalled gross thrust accuracies on the order of 1 to 4 percent for the various in-flight thrust methods. The various thrust calculations are described and their usage, uncertainty, and measured accuracies are explained. In addition, the advantages of a real-time thrust algorithm for flight test use and the importance of an accurate thrust calculation to the aircraft performance analysis are described. Finally, actual data obtained from flight test are presented.

Ray, Ronald J.↗

Activity Scratchpad Prototype: Simplifying the Rover Activity Planning Cycle

The Mars Exploration Rover mission depends on the Science Activity Planner as its primary interface to the Spirit and Opportunity Rovers. Scientists alternate between a series of mouse clicks and keyboard inputs to create a set of instructions for the rovers. To accelerate planning by minimizing mouse usage, a rover planning editor should receive the majority of inputted commands from the keyboard. Thorough investigation of the Eclipse platform's Java editor has provided the understanding of the base model for the Activity Scratchpad. Desirable Eclipse features can be mapped to specific rover planning commands, such as auto-completion for activity titles and content assist for target names. A custom editor imitating the Java editor's features was created with an XML parser for experimenting purposes. The prototype editor minimized effort for redundant tasks and significantly improved the visual representation of XML syntax by highlighting keywords, coloring rules, folding projections, and providing hover assist, templates and an outline view of the code.

Abramyan, Lucy↗

Mass and Volume Optimization of Space Flight Medical Kits

Resource allocation is a critical aspect of space mission planning. All resources, including medical resources, are subject to a number of mission constraints such a maximum mass and volume. However, unlike many resources, there is often limited understanding in how to optimize medical resources for a mission. The Integrated Medical Model (IMM) is a probabilistic model that estimates medical event occurrences and mission outcomes for different mission profiles. IMM simulates outcomes and describes the impact of medical events in terms of lost crew time, medical resource usage, and the potential for medically required evacuation. Previously published work describes an approach that uses the IMM to generate optimized medical kits that maximize benefit to the crew subject to mass and volume constraints. We improve upon the results obtained previously and extend our approach to minimize mass and volume while meeting some benefit threshold. METHODS We frame the medical kit optimization problem as a modified knapsack problem and implement an algorithm utilizing dynamic programming. Using this algorithm, optimized medical kits were generated for 3 mission scenarios with the goal of minimizing the medical kit mass and volume for a specified likelihood of evacuation or Crew Health Index (CHI) threshold. The algorithm was expanded to generate medical kits that maximize likelihood of evacuation or CHI subject to mass and volume constraints. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS In maximizing benefit to crew health subject to certain constraints, our algorithm generates medical kits that more closely resemble the unlimited-resource scenario than previous approaches which leverage medical risk information generated by the IMM. Our work here demonstrates that this algorithm provides an efficient and effective means to objectively allocate medical resources for spaceflight missions and provides an effective means of addressing tradeoffs in medical resource allocations and crew mission success parameters.

Monte Carlo Method↗

Giovanni in the Cloud: Earth Science Data Exploration in Amazon Web Services

Giovanni is an exploration tool at the NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data Information Services Center (GES DISC), providing 22 analysis and visualization services for over 1600 Earth Science data variables. Owing to its popularity, Giovanni has experienced a consistent growth in overall demand, with periodic usage spikes attributed to trainings by education organizations, extensive data analysis in response to natural disasters, preparations for science meetings, etc. Furthermore, the new generation of spaceborne sensors and high resolution models have resulted in an exponential growth in data volume with data distributed across the traditional boundaries of data centers. Seamless exploration of data (without users having to worry about data center boundaries) has been a key recommendation of the GES DISC User Working Group. These factors have required new strategies for delivering acceptable performance. The cloud-based Giovanni, built on Amazon Web Services (AWS), evaluates (1) AWS native solutions to provide a scalable, serverless architecture; (2) open standards for data storage in the Cloud; (3) a cost model for operations; and (4) end-user performance. Our preliminary findings indicate that the use of serverless architecture has a potential to significantly reduce development and operational cost of Giovanni. The combination of using AWS managed services, storage of data in open standards, and schema-on-read data access strategy simplifies data access and analytics, in addition to making data more accessible to the end users of Giovanni through popular programming languages.

Giovanni↗

High temperature superconductors for magnetic suspension applications

High temperature superconductors (HTS) hold the promise for applications in magnetic levitation bearings, vibration damping, and torque coupling. Traditional magnetic suspension systems require active feedback and vibration controls in which power consumption and low frequency vibration are among the major engineering concerns. HTS materials have been demonstrated to be an enabling approach towards such problems due to their flux trapping properties. In our laboratory at TCSUH, we have been conducting a series of experiments to explore various mechanical applications using HTS. We have constructed a 30 lb. model flywheel levitated by a hybrid superconducting magnetic bearing (HSMB). We are also developing a levitated and vibration-dampled platform for high precision instrumentation. These applications would be ideal for space usages where ambient temperature is adequate for HTS to operate properly under greatly reduced cryogenic requirements. We will give a general overview of these potential applications and discuss the operating principles of the HTS devices we have developed.

Mcmichael, C. K.↗

End-of-Discharge and End-of-Life Prediction in Lithium-Ion Batteries with Electrochemistry-Based Aging Models

As batteries become increasingly prevalent in complex systems such as aircraft and electric cars, monitoring and predicting battery state of charge and state of health becomes critical. In order to accurately predict the remaining battery power to support system operations for informed operational decision-making, age-dependent changes in dynamics must be accounted for. Using an electrochemistry-based model, we investigate how key parameters of the battery change as aging occurs, and develop models to describe aging through these key parameters. Using these models, we demonstrate how we can (i) accurately predict end-of-discharge for aged batteries, and (ii) predict the end-of-life of a battery as a function of anticipated usage. The approach is validated through an experimental set of randomized discharge profiles.

batteries↗

Modeling Atmospheric Science Knowledge from Research Publications

NASA Earth Science Data Centers contain enormous amounts of remote sensing digital data. It is often a significant challenge for users to find data suitable for their research topic in these vast archives. One of the approaches is the usage-driven dataset discovery, where users seek publications on projects similar to their intended study. For this approach to be effective, users need a clear connection between the underlying data in the publications and the study objectives; this is not often apparent to non-expert users. Tools and methodologies that can help facilitate and organize these connections are therefore valuable for creating improved knowledge mappings, which can be further used by search engines to suggest data or publications best tailored to a user’s specific research goal. As an illustration of these challenges, in this work we focus on the atmospheric chemistry processes related to Earth environmental impacts such as ozone depletion, aerosols, smog formation, acid rain, and radiative forcing. We further limit our study to publications that use data from the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) instrument flown on the Aura Earth Observing System. To create knowledge representations of science carried out in these publications, we use existing ontologies such as the Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) and Semantic Web for Earth and Environmental Terminology (SWEET). These ontologies together encompass term dictionaries that include measured variables, names of molecules or radicals, mission and instrument names, locations, action words, among many others. Based on these terms acknowledge graph database was populated with the terms retrieved from scientific publications that study atmospheric chemistry. These databases can be used to further enhance the automation of knowledge discovery and facilitate machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms or applications. These tools and methods can also be extended to apply to content from other related Earth science domains.

Irina Gerasimov↗

A Comparison of Multivariable Control Design Techniques for a Turbofan Engine Control

This paper compares two previously published design procedures for two different multivariable control design techniques for application to a linear engine model of a jet engine. The two multivariable control design techniques compared were the Linear Quadratic Gaussian with Loop Transfer Recovery (LQG/LTR) and the H-Infinity synthesis. The two control design techniques were used with specific previously published design procedures to synthesize controls which would provide equivalent closed loop frequency response for the primary control loops while assuring adequate loop decoupling. The resulting controllers were then reduced in order to minimize the programming and data storage requirements for a typical implementation. The reduced order linear controllers designed by each method were combined with the linear model of an advanced turbofan engine and the system performance was evaluated for the continuous linear system. Included in the performance analysis are the resulting frequency and transient responses as well as actuator usage and rate capability for each design method. The controls were also analyzed for robustness with respect to structured uncertainties in the unmodeled system dynamics. The two controls were then compared for performance capability and hardware implementation issues.

Garg, Sanjay↗

Trajectory Dispersion Control for the Cassini Grand Finale Mission

The Cassini Grand Finale Mission, which consists of 22 ballistic orbits, will begin on April 22, 2017 after the last targeted Titan flyby. It will end on September 15, 2017 when the spacecraft dives into Saturn's atmosphere and be permanently captured. High volumes of unique science data from various onboard instruments are expected from the mission. To ensure its success and facilitate science planning, the trajectory dispersion needs to be controlled below 250 km (root-mean-square spatial deviation at the 68th percentile level) for a few segments of trajectory in the mission. This paper reports the formulation and solution of this dispersion control problem. We consider various sources of uncertainties including flyby error, orbit determination error, maneuver execution error, thruster firing control error, and uncertainty in Saturn's atmospheric model. A non-linear Monte Carlo Trajectory Dispersion tool is developed and employed for the analysis. It is found that a total of three Orbit Trim Maneuvers with a 99% (Delta)V usage of less than 2 m/s will adequately control the trajectory.

orbit determination↗

Developing a Crew Time Model for Human Exploration Missions to Mars

Candidate human missions to Mars require mission lengths that could extend beyond those that have previously been demonstrated during crewed Lunar (Apollo) and International Space Station (ISS) missions. The nature of the architectures required for deep space human exploration will likely necessitate major changes in how crews operate and maintain the spacecraft. The uncertainties associated with these shifts in mission constructs - including changes to habitation systems, transit durations, and system operations - raise concerns as to the ability of the crew to complete required overhead activities while still having time to conduct a set of robust exploration activities. This paper will present an initial assessment of crew operational requirements for human missions to the Mars surface. The presented results integrate assessments of crew habitation, system maintenance, and utilization to present a comprehensive analysis of potential crew time usage. Destination operations were assessed for a short (approx. 50 day) and long duration (approx. 500 day) surface habitation case. Crew time allocations are broken out by mission segment, and the availability of utilization opportunities was evaluated throughout the entire mission progression. To support this assessment, the integrated crew operations model (ICOM) was developed. ICOM was used to parse overhead, maintenance and system repair, and destination operations requirements within each mission segment - outbound transit, Mars surface duration, and return transit - to develop a comprehensive estimation of exploration crew time allocations. Overhead operational requirements included daily crew operations, health maintenance activities, and down time. Maintenance and repair operational allocations are derived using the Exploration Maintainability and Analysis Tool (EMAT) to develop a probabilistic estimation of crew repair time necessary to maintain systems functionality throughout the mission.

Battfeld, Bryan↗

NASA Electronic Parts and Packaging (NEPP) Program: Resources for SmallSats on EEE Parts

From the outside looking in, the NEPP program supports NASA's traditional approach to providing electrical, electronic, and electromechanical (EEE) assurance for space missions. Standards (military and commercial) for EEE parts are based on risk averse methodologies, drive higher costs and schedules, and, in general, provide devices that significantly lag behind commercial devices in performance aspects (speed, power efficiency, etc...). This is NOT the model most small missions realistically can use. However, when you look behind the curtain, NEPP has been considering the risk trade space for small missions for over five years and has consistently provided resources that the small mission regime would find useful. In this paper, we provide a brief overview of these resources as well as NEPP's current research/development efforts that are relevant. While we'll primarily discuss radiation assurance related issues such as data availability and usage, assurances processes for not only the radiation effects side, but also the EEE parts reliability will be touched upon.

Electrical↗