Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Operator Support System”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 325 records · Page 18

Roadmap for Advanced Power System Measurements

Conditions in the electric power grid are changing rapidly. Changes are driven, in particular, by the increased penetration of renewable resources in the generation mix. Part of the solution to dealing with the changing conditions is the better use of measurement systems, taking advantage of the better understanding of measurements that was heralded by digital technology. Another part of the solution is the communication of samples of the directly observable voltages and currents by means of continuous point-on-wave values. The increased bandwidth capability of such a system allows more complicated measurement models to be built at the point of use. Additional measurements and analyses can then be performed. This Roadmap hinges on these two aspects of measuring: improved measurements supported by high-bandwidth (raw data) communications. Following an introduction to the overall subject, the report explores the impact of what can be thought of as the digital revolution in measurement. In essence, that revolution has served to clarify ideas about measurement and is continuing to lead to improved processes. An extensive survey of the relevant literature was performed . Webinars were held to learn from the wider community of practitioners. Based on this information, a number of gaps were identified whose continued existence would hamper the solution of the challenges now facing measurement and communication in the power grid. The underlying value propositions are interoperability (presently not very satisfactory in many measurements); greater (and less challenging) adoption of distributed energy resources; and improved international competitiveness. Underlying all that, of course, is progress toward a more reliable and resilient power system. The identified gaps were addressed in four major thrusts: technology deployment and demonstration, education, instrumentation testing and standards, and analytical methods. For each of the thrusts, multiple goals are defined to guide the implementation. The thrusts were designed to close gaps and unlock high-value use cases. After discussing the literature review, gap analysis, high-value use cases, and research thrusts in chapters 2-5, the report culminates in chapter 6 with a roadmap that links each aspect together to form a unified plan. Developing a research portfolio aligned with this plan will ensure that advanced measurement systems are in place to support reliable operation of the power system as it modernizes.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

UTM UAS Service Supplier Specification

Within the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Traffic Management (UTM) system, the UAS Service Supplier (USS) is a key component. The USS serves several functions. At a high level, those include the following: Bridging communication between UAS Operators and Flight Information Management System (FIMS) Supporting planning of UAS operations Assisting strategic deconfliction of the UTM airspace Providing information support to UAS Operators during operations Helping UAS Operators meet their formal requirements This document provides the minimum set of requirements for a USS. In order to be recognized as a USS within UTM, successful demonstration of satisfying the requirements described herein will be a prerequisite. To ensure various desired qualities (security, fairness, availability, efficiency, maintainability, etc.), this specification relies on references to existing public specifications whenever possible.

UTM↗

UAS Service Supplier Specification

Within the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Traffic Management (UTM) system, the UAS Service Supplier (USS) is a key component. The USS serves several functions. At a high level, those include the following: Bridging communication between UAS Operators and Flight Information Management System (FIMS) Supporting planning of UAS operations Assisting strategic deconfliction of the UTM airspace Providing information support to UAS Operators during operations Helping UAS Operators meet their formal requirements This document provides the minimum set of requirements for a USS. In order to be recognized as a USS within UTM, successful demonstration of satisfying the requirements described herein will be a prerequisite. To ensure various desired qualities (security, fairness, availability, efficiency, maintainability, etc.), this specification relies on references to existing public specifications whenever possible.

Rios, Joseph L.↗

Coupling subsurface and above-surface models for optimizing the design of borefields and district heating and cooling systems in the presence of varying water-table depth. In: Proceedings, 46th Workshop on Geothermal Reservoir Engineering

Dynamic energy simulation is important for the design and sizing of district heating and cooling systems with geothermal heat exchange. Current modeling approaches in building and district energy simulation tools typically consider heat conduction through the ground between boreholes, without flow of groundwater. On the other hand, detailed simulation tools for subsurface heat and mass transfer exist, but these fall short in simulating above-surface energy systems. To support the design and operation of such systems, we have developed a coupled model including a software package for building and district energy simulation, and software for detailed heat and mass transfer in the ground. For the first, we use the open-source Modelica Buildings Library, which includes dynamic simulation models for building and district energy and control systems. For the heat and mass transfer in the soil, we use the TOUGH simulator. TOUGH can model heat and multi-phase, multi-component mass transport for a variety of fluid systems, as well as chemical reactions, in fractured porous media. In previous work, we described the coupling of these software packages, including how time-dependent boundary conditions for the borehole walls are synchronized for use in Modelica and TOUGH. We verified that the coupled Modelica/TOUGH code produced consistent results with the original Modelica code for an idealized problem in which heat transfer was purely by conduction in a uniform geologic medium. Here, we examine less idealized problems for which TOUGH’s advanced capabilities for modeling fluid flow are required. The first problem has a shallow vadose zone, and the second problem has a thicker vadose zone with a water-table depth that varies in time, which requires a fine vertical grid discretization for the TOUGH model.

Doughtry, Christine↗

Space Station Freedom - Technical and management challenges

The development of the Space Station is reviewed, focusing on the technical and managerial aspects of the program. The optimization of the Space Station configuration, utilization impacts on design, technical aspects of the distribution systems, and the problems of designing for a lifetime of 30 years or more are discussed. In addition, cost reduction studies, testing and verification, determining the assembly sequence, and operational communications and support systems are examined. Managerial aspects of the program include organization, program control, management tools and processes, and the integration of elements from the international partners.

Moser, Thomas L.↗

NASA's Advanced Life Support Systems Human-Rated Test Facility

Future NASA missions to explore the solar system will be long-duration missions, requiring human life support systems which must operate with very high reliability over long periods of time. Such systems must be highly regenerative, requiring minimum resupply, to enable the crews to be largely self-sufficient. These regenerative life support systems will use a combination of higher plants, microorganisms, and physicochemical processes to recycle air and water, produce food, and process wastes. A key step in the development of these systems is establishment of a human-rated test facility specifically tailored to evaluation of closed, regenerative life supports systems--one in which long-duration, large-scale testing involving human test crews can be performed. Construction of such a facility, the Advanced Life Support Program's (ALS) Human-Rated Test Facility (HRTF), has begun at NASA's Johnson Space Center, and definition of systems and development of initial outfitting concepts for the facility are underway. This paper will provide an overview of the HRTF project plan, an explanation of baseline configurations, and descriptive illustrations of facility outfitting concepts.

NASA Discipline Number 61-10↗

General Purpose Data-Driven Online System Health Monitoring with Applications to Space Operations

Modern space transportation and ground support system designs are becoming increasingly sophisticated and complex. Determining the health state of these systems using traditional parameter limit checking, or model-based or rule-based methods is becoming more difficult as the number of sensors and component interactions grows. Data-driven monitoring techniques have been developed to address these issues by analyzing system operations data to automatically characterize normal system behavior. System health can be monitored by comparing real-time operating data with these nominal characterizations, providing detection of anomalous data signatures indicative of system faults, failures, or precursors of significant failures. The Inductive Monitoring System (IMS) is a general purpose, data-driven system health monitoring software tool that has been successfully applied to several aerospace applications and is under evaluation for anomaly detection in vehicle and ground equipment for next generation launch systems. After an introduction to IMS application development, we discuss these NASA online monitoring applications, including the integration of IMS with complementary model-based and rule-based methods. Although the examples presented in this paper are from space operations applications, IMS is a general-purpose health-monitoring tool that is also applicable to power generation and transmission system monitoring.

Iverson, David L.↗

Batching System for Superior Service

Veridian's Portable Batch System (PBS) was the recipient of the 1997 NASA Space Act Award for outstanding software. A batch system is a set of processes for managing queues and jobs. Without a batch system, it is difficult to manage the workload of a computer system. By bundling the enterprise's computing resources, the PBS technology offers users a single coherent interface, resulting in efficient management of the batch services. Users choose which information to package into "containers" for system-wide use. PBS also provides detailed system usage data, a procedure not easily executed without this software. PBS operates on networked, multi-platform UNIX environments. Veridian's new version, PBS Pro,TM has additional features and enhancements, including support for additional operating systems. Veridian distributes the original version of PBS as Open Source software via the PBS website. Customers can register and download the software at no cost. PBS Pro is also available via the web and offers additional features such as increased stability, reliability, and fault tolerance.A company using PBS can expect a significant increase in the effective management of its computing resources. Tangible benefits include increased utilization of costly resources and enhanced understanding of computational requirements and user needs.

Source record↗

Using Visualization in Cockpit Decision Support Systems

In order to safely operate their aircraft, pilots must make rapid decisions based on integrating and processing large amounts of heterogeneous information. Visual displays are often the most efficient method of presenting safety-critical data to pilots in real time. However, care must be taken to ensure the pilot is provided with the appropriate amount of information to make effective decisions and not become cognitively overloaded. The results of two usability studies of a prototype airflow hazard visualization cockpit decision support system are summarized. The studies demonstrate that such a system significantly improves the performance of helicopter pilots landing under turbulent conditions. Based on these results, design principles and implications for cockpit decision support systems using visualization are presented.

Aragon, Cecilia R.↗

Space Station Freedom ground systems program - A survey

The key facilities identified to support Space Station Freedom Program (SSFP) integrated operations and their SSFP roles are described in detail. The ground infrastructure, which must be able to support both assembly and long-term operations, will consist of ground facilities, support systems, and the associated planning and management procedures. During 1992 the SSFP is conducting a major program review of the ground infrastructure including the definition of all facility and support system functional capabilities, interfaces, and data-flow requirements. Operations functionality and interface verification tests are being identified, and operations readiness dates are being set.

Accola, A.↗

International Space Station Alpha user payload operations concept

International Space Station Alpha (ISSA) will accommodate a variety of user payloads investigating diverse scientific and technology disciplines on behalf of five international partners: Canada, Europe, Japan, Russia, and the United States. A combination of crew, automated systems, and ground operations teams will control payload operations that require complementary on-board and ground systems. This paper presents the current planning for the ISSA U.S. user payload operations concept and the functional architecture supporting the concept. It describes various NASA payload operations facilities, their interfaces, user facility flight support, the payload planning system, the onboard and ground data management system, and payload operations crew and ground personnel training. This paper summarizes the payload operations infrastructure and architecture developed at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) to prepare and conduct ISSA on-orbit payload operations from the Payload Operations Integration Center (POIC), and from various user operations locations. The authors pay particular attention to user data management, which includes interfaces with both the onboard data management system and the ground data system. Discussion covers the functional disciplines that define and support POIC payload operations: Planning, Operations Control, Data Management, and Training. The paper describes potential interfaces between users and the POIC disciplines, from the U.S. user perspective.

Schlagheck, Ronald A.↗

DSN ground communications facility

The Ground Communications Facility (GCF) is one of the three functional elements of the Deep Space Network (DSN) and provides the capability required for the transmission, reception, and monitoring of voice and data communications between the various locations of the DSN. The GCF uses common carrier circuits interconnected to specialized switching, terminal, and monitor equipment, integrated into a world-wide system, and operated in support of space flight missions. The five subsystems of GCF (Teletype, Voice, High-Speed, Wideband, and Monitor) are described. The Office of Tracking and Data Acquisition of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory provides the technical direction and systems management of the GCF and acts as the representative of NASCOM for communications switching functions on the west coast.

Glenn, M. S.↗

Advanced Life Support Systems: Opportunities for Technology Transfer

NASA's future missions to explore the solar system will be of long-duration possibly lasting years at a time. Human life support systems will have to operate with very high reliability for these long periods with essentially no resupply from Earth. Such life support systems will make extensive use of higher plants, microorganisms, and physicochemical processes for recycling air and water, processing wastes, and producing food. Development of regenerative life support systems will be a pivotal capability for NASA's future human missions. A fully functional closed loop human life support system currently does not exist and thus represents a major technical challenge for space exploration. Technologies where all life support consumables are recycled have many potential terrestrial applications as well. Potential applications include providing human habitation in hostile environments such as the polar regions or the desert in such a way as to minimize energy expenditures and to minimize negative impacts on those often ecologically-sensitive areas. Other potential applications include production of food and ornamental crops without damaging the environment from fertilizers that contaminate water supplies; removal of trace gas contaminants from tightly sealed, energy-efficient buildings (the so-called sick building syndrome); and even the potential of gaining insight into the dynamics of the Earth's biosphere such that we can better manage our global environment. Two specific advanced life support technologies being developed by NASA, with potential terrestrial application, are the zeoponic plant growth system and the Hybrid Regenerative Water Recovery System (HRWRS). The potential applications for these candidate dual use technologies are quite different as are the mechanisms for transfer. In the case of zeoponics, a variety of commercial applications has been suggested which represent potentially lucrative markets. Also, the patented nature of this product offers opportunities for licensing to commercial entities. In the case of the HRWRS, commercial markets with broad applications have not been identified but some terrestrial applications are being explored where this approach has advantages over other methods of waste water processing. Although these potential applications do not appear to have the same broad attraction from the standpoint of rapid commercialization, they represent niches where commercialization possibilities as well as social benefits could be realized.

Fields, B.↗

Adaptive Load Shedding as Part of Primary Frequency Response To Support Networked Microgrid Operations

Global changes in the deployment of distributed energy resources, control and communications technologies, business models, and regulatory policy are increasing the operational options for future distribution systems. One such option is the coordinated operation of distributed resources to form microgrids and networks of microgrids to support traditional bulk power systems during normal operations and critical end-use loads during outages. While individual standalone microgrids have been extensively studied and deployed, the coordinated operation of networked microgrids is operationally more challenging due to the dynamic boundaries and changing mix of generation resources. Here, this paper presents a method of using a distributed control architecture to support primary frequency response in networked microgrids operations. The support of primary frequency response is accomplished using the Open Field Message Bus reference architecture and Grid Friendly Appliance controllers.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Launch Complex 39A Operations Support Building Area SWMU 111 Year 3 Air Sparge System Performance Monitoring Report

This Air Sparge (AS) System Performance Monitoring Report (PMR) presents the findings, observations, and results for Year 3 of operation, maintenance, and monitoring activities for the AS Interim Measure (IM) at the Launch Complex 39A Operations Support Building Area (AOSB) at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida. This report was presented as an Advance Data Package during the October 2024 KSC Remediation Team (KSCRT) meeting. The reporting period for activities covered under this PMR is from August 2023 through October 2024.

Mark P Speranza↗

Preparing for Planetary Surface Exploration by Measuring Habitat Dust Intrusion with Filter Tests During an Analogue Mars Mission

As humans venture deeper into space more issues related to operations will become apparent. While the perils ofdust particles may not be widely recognized, it is one of the major issues astronauts will face on the surface of theMoon and Mars. Dust particles present a problem for both astronaut health and equipment as revealed during theApollo era lunar surface missions. Dust particles cling to spacesuits and field gear, which upon ingress would begincirculating throughout the spacecraft or habitat. An astronaut's health is compromised by the dust particle's potentialto embed in the lungs and cause respiratory illnesses. The extreme abrasiveness and granularity of the particles makeit near impossible to completely shield a spacecraft or habitat from dust related damage. NASA's Glenn ResearchCenter collaborated with Crew 188 at the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in Utah to measure how much dustentered the habitat during a series of extravehicular activities (EVAs), or surface excursions. A NASA GRCdeveloped multistage filter system, coined the Scroll Filter System, was tested, for its effectiveness in removing dustthat entered the airlock and habitat after the EVAs. An optical particle counter measured the ambient airlockparticulates five times including: before the start of operations; after the crew left for EVA; in the middle of the EVAwith the settled air; before the crew entered the airlock after EVA; and finally, after the crew simulated repressurizationand suit brushing off in the airlock. Data was also collected in several of the working environmentlocations around MDRS and outside the habitat in the wind. Data collected from this research will help establishfilter equipment for life support systems and prescribed operations for astronaut transition from a planetary surfaceinto a desired clean habitat. Measurements may aid in updating a baseline expected dust load for a surface habitatand further facilitate the mitigation of astronaut's exposure to dust particles on the surface of celestial bodies.

Kobrick, Ryan L.↗

The Exploration Crew Health and Performance System of the Future - A Shared Mental Model

The challenges involved in vehicle/habitat design and operation for long-duration deep space missions are complex, and the needs of a human crew must be considered in the context of all the system trades required to enable such missions. An exploration Crew Health and Performance (CHP) system complements all the other vehicle/habitat systems to achieve one specific and critical endpoint – ensuring that the astronauts can perform the job that they were sent into space to do. This includes accounting for all aspects of the physiological, psychological, medical, and environmental realities that the human crew must face in deep space. Along with this system complexity comes the additional need for increased autonomy of the crew due to the immense distance from Earth. The design of future systems must respect the real human capabilities and limitations within the context of a mission to the Moon or Mars. The NASA Moon to Mars Objectives document outlines the need for advanced CHP system designs: • Develop systems that monitor and maintain crew health and performance throughout all mission phases, including during communication delays to Earth, and in an environment that does not allow emergency evacuation or terrestrial medical assistance. • Evaluate and validate progressively Earth-independent crew health & performance systems and operations with mission durations representative of Mars-class missions. • Validate readiness of systems and operations to support crew health and performance for the initial human Mars exploration campaign. This presentation will outline the initial work that Exploration Medical Capability is leading on the development of a prototype design for an exploration Crew Health and Performance (CHP) system for future NASA human deep space long-duration missions. This effort will require commitment from all stakeholders to a shared mental model of what a future exploration CHP system should look like, one that will address the needs, goals, and objectives of the Agency and help to ensure mission success in deep space.

K R Lehnhardt↗