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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 325 records · Page 18
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1994

Microgravity Flight - Accommodating Non-Human Primates

Spacelab Life Sciences-3 (SLS-3) was scheduled to be the first United States man-tended microgravity flight containing Rhesus monkeys. The goal of this flight as in the five untended Russian COSMOS Bion flights and an earlier American Biosatellite flight, was to understand the biomedical and biological effects of a microgravity environment using the non-human primate as human surrogate. The SLS-3/Rhesus Project and COSMOS Primate-BIOS flights all utilized the rhesus monkey Macaca mulatta. The ultimate objective of all flights with an animal surrogate has been to evaluate and understand biological mechanisms at both the system and cellular level, thus enabling rational effective countermeasures for future long duration human activity under microgravity conditions and enabling technical application to correction of common human physiological problems within earth's gravity, e.g., muscle strength and reloading, osteoporosis, immune deficiency diseases. Hardware developed for the SLS-3/Rhesus Project was the result of a joint effort with the French Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) and the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) extending over the last decade. The flight hardware design and development required implementation of sufficient automation to insure flight crew and animal bio-isolation and maintenance with minimal impact to crew activities. A variety of hardware of varying functional capabilities was developed to support the scientific objectives of the original 22 combined French and American experiments, along with 5 Russian co-investigations, including musculoskeletal, metabolic, and behavioral studies. Unique elements of the Rhesus Research Facility (RRF) included separation of waste for daily delivery of urine and fecal samples for metabolic studies and a psychomotor test system for behavioral studies along with monitored food measurement. As in untended flights, telemetry measurements would allow monitoring of thermoregulation, muscular, and cardiac responses to weightlessness. In contrast, the five completed Cosmos/Bion flights, lacked the metabolic samples and behavioral task monitoring, but did facilitate studies of the neurovestibular system during several of the flights. The RRF accommodated two adult 8-11 kg rhesus monkeys, while the Russian experiments and hardware were configured for a younger animal in the 44 kg range. Both the American and Russian hardware maintained a controlled environmental system, specifically temperature, humidity, a timed lighting cycle, and had means for providing food and fluids to the animal(s). Crew availability during a Shuttle mission was to be an optimal condition for retrieval and refrigeration of the animal urine samples along with a manual calcein injection which could lead to greater understanding of bone calcium incorporation. A special portable bioisolation glove box was under development to support this aspect of the experiment profile along with the capability of any contingency human intervention. As a result of recent U.S./Russian negotiations, funding for Space Station, and a series of other events, the SLS-3 mission was cancelled and applicable Rhesus Project experiments incorporated into the Russian Bion 11 and 12 missions. A presentation of the RRF and COSMOS/Bion rhesus hardware is presented along with current plans for the hardware.

Dalton, Bonnie P.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Microgravity Flight: Accommodating Non-Human Primates

Spacelab Life Sciences-3 (SLS-3) was scheduled to be the first United States man-tended microgravity flight containing Rhesus monkeys. The goal of this flight as in the five untended Russian COSMOS Bion flights and an earlier American Biosatellite flight, was to understand the biomedical and biological effects of a microgravity environment using the non-human primate as human surrogate. The SLS-3/Rhesus Project and COSMOS Primate-BIOS flights all utilized the rhesus monkey, Macaca mulatta. The ultimate objective of all flights with an animal surrogate has been to evaluate and understand biological mechanisms at both the system and cellular level, thus enabling rational effective countermeasures for future long duration human activity under microgravity conditions and enabling technical application to correction of common human physiological problems within earth's gravity, e.g., muscle strength and reloading, osteoporosis, immune deficiency diseases. Hardware developed for the SLS-3/Rhesus Project was the result of a joint effort with the French Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) and the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) extending over the last decade. The flight hardware design and development required implementation of sufficient automation to insure flight crew and animal bio-isolation and maintenance with minimal impact to crew activities. A variety of hardware of varying functional capabilities was developed to support the scientific objectives of the original 22 combined French and American experiments, along with 5 Russian co-investigations, including musculoskeletal, metabolic, and behavioral studies. Unique elements of the Rhesus Research Facility (RRF) included separation of waste for daily delivery of urine and fecal samples for metabolic studies and a psychomotor test system for behavioral studies along with monitored food measurement. As in untended flights, telemetry measurements would allow monitoring of thermoregulation, muscular, and cardiac responses to weightlessness. In contrast, the five completed Cosmos/Bion flights, lacked the metabolic samples and behavioral task monitoring, but did facilitate studies of the neurovestibular system during several of the flights. The RRF accommodated two adult 8-11 kg rhesus monkeys, while the Russian experiments and hardware were configured for a younger animal in the 44 kg range. Both the American and Russian hardware maintained a controlled environmental system, specifically temperature, humidity, a timed lighting cycle, and had means for providing food and fluids to the animal(s). Crew availability during a Shuttle mission was to be an optimal condition for retrieval and refrigeration of the animal urine samples along with a manual calcein injection which could lead to greater understanding of bone calcium incorporation. A special portable bioisolation glove box was under development to support this aspect of the experiment profile along with the capability of any contingency human intervention. As a result of recent U.S./Russian negotiations, funding for Space Station, and a series of other events, the SLS-3 mission was cancelled and applicable Rhesus Project experiments incorporated into the Russian Bion 11 and 12 missions. A presentation of the RRF and COSMOS/Bion rhesus hardware is presented along with current plans for the hardware.

Dalton, Bonnie P.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Microgravity Flight - Accommodating Non-Human Primates

Spacelab Life Sciences-3 (SLS-3) was scheduled to be the first United States man-tended microgravity flight containing Rhesus monkeys. The goal of this flight as in the five untended Russian COSMOS Bion flights and an earlier American Biosatellite flight, was to understand the biomedical and biological effects of a microgravity environment using the non-human primate as human surrogate. The SLS-3/Rhesus Project and COSMOS Primate-BIOS flights all utilized the rhesus monkey, Macaca mulatta. The ultimate objective of all flights with an animal surrogate has been to evaluate and understand biological mechanisms at both the system and cellular level, thus enabling rational effective countermeasures for future long duration human activity under microgravity conditions and enabling technical application to correction of common human physiological problems within earth's gravity, e.g., muscle strength and reloading, osteoporosis, immune deficiency diseases. Hardware developed for the SLS-3/Rhesus Project was the result of a joint effort with the French Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) and the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) extending over the last decade. The flight hardware design and development required implementation of sufficient automation to insure flight crew and animal bio-isolation and maintenance with minimal impact to crew activities. A variety of hardware of varying functional capabilities was developed to support the scientific objectives of the original 22 combined French and American experiments, along with 5 Russian co-investigations, including musculoskeletal, metabolic, and behavioral studies. Unique elements of the Rhesus Research Facility (RRF) included separation of waste for daily delivery of urine and fecal samples for metabolic studies and a psychomotor test system for behavioral studies along with monitored food measurement. As in untended flights, telemetry measurements would allow monitoring of thermoregulation, muscular, and cardiac responses to weightlessness. In contrast, the five completed Cosmos/Bion flights, lacked the metabolic samples and behavioral task monitoring, but did facilitate studies of the neurovestibular system during several of the flights.

Dalton, Bonnie P.↗
NASA NTRS1999

The Dynamics of Vapor Bubbles in Acoustic Pressure Fields

In spite of a superficial similarity with gas bubbles, the intimate coupling between dynamical and thermal processes confers to oscillating vapor bubbles some unique characteristics. This paper examines numerically the validity of some asymptotic-theory predictions such as the existence of two resonant radii and a limit size for a given sound amplitude and frequency. It is found that a small vapor bubble in a sound field of sufficient amplitude grows quickly through resonance and continues to grow thereafter at a very slow rate, seemingly indefinitely. Resonance phenomena therefore play a role for a few cycles at most, and reaching a limit size-if one exists at all-is found to require far more than several tens of thousands of cycles. It is also found that some small bubbles may grow or collapse depending on the phase of the sound field. The model accounts in detail for the thermo-fluid-mechanic processes in the vapor. In the second part of the paper, an approximate formulation valid for bubbles small with respect to the thermal penetration length in the vapor is derived and its accuracy examined, The present findings have implications for acoustically enhanced boiling heat transfer and other special applications such as boiling in microgravity.

Hao, Y.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Crystal Quality, the Long and the Short of It

The term "crystal quality" is ambiguous and implies different meanings to different crystallographers. For the physical crystallographer who aims to understand long-range aspects of crystal growth mosaicity is one of the leading measures of perfection. For the structural crystallographer and those seeking to understand growth at a short-range, molecular level, the detail in the resulting structure is a key goal. Different quality measures have been developed due to different needs. Each of the measures has advantages and each has limitations. In this talk a sample of these measures will be discussed with particular emphasis applied to their application in the analysis of microgravity grown crystals. The advantages and limitations of each will be discussed. Ultimately, the choice of crystal quality measurement lies in the nature of the question asked. It is ~scfill to remember that beauty is often in the eye of the beholder.

Snell, Eddie H.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Innovation at the Edge of Space- An Engine for Global Opportunities

Microgravity based commercial opportunities are broad, with applications ranging from fiber optics, device-grade semiconductor crystals, space beads, new materials, cells microencapsulation, 3D tissues and cell cultures, genetic and molecular changes of immune suppression, protein and virus crystal growth, perfume and hair care. To date, primarily the knowledge gained from observing and understanding new end states of systems unraveled in microgravity has been translated into unique technologies and business opportunities on Earth. In some instances existing flight qualified hardware is immediately available for commercial RD for small-scale in-space manufacturing. Overall, products manufactured in microgravity have key properties usually surpassing the best terrestrial counterparts. Commercially, these products have an attractive touch of space which aids in marketing.The talk will addresses the potential benefits of microgravity research for a variety of terrestrial markets by (1) surveying the level of awareness and interest of parties from different commercial sectors (2) assessing the potential of microgravity to stimulate innovation in future product development and (3) formulating a synergistic strategy to use microgravity for economic growth and public benefit.Our findings originating primarily from discussions with 100+ non-aerospace private companies among the high-tech Silicon Valley ecosystem, show that the opportunities and benefits of using the ISS are largely not considered by experts, primarily due to a lack of awareness of the breadth of terrestrial applications that have been enabled or enhanced by microgravity RD. Based on this dialogue, the concept of microgravity verticals is developed to translate the benefits of the microgravity environment into blue ocean business opportunities for various key US commercial sectors.

orbital economy↗
NASA NTRS2015

Industrialization of Space: Microgravity Based Opportunities for Material and Life Science

Microgravity based commercial opportunities are broad, with applications ranging from fiber optics, device-grade semiconductor crystals, space beads, new materials, cell micro encapsulation, 3D tissues and cell cultures, genetic and molecular changes of immune suppression, protein and virus crystal growth, perfume and hair care. To date, primarily the knowledge gained from observing and understanding new end states of systems unraveled in microgravity has been translated into unique technologies and business opportunities on Earth. In some instances existing light qualified hardware is immediately available for commercial RD for small scale in-space manufacturing. Overall products manufactured in microgravity have key properties usually surpassing the best terrestrial counterparts. The talk will address the potential benefits of microgravity research for a variety of terrestrial markets. Our findings originate from discussions with 100+ non-aerospace private companies among the high-tech Silicon Valley ecosystem, show that the opportunities and benefits of using the ISS are largely not considered by experts, primarily due to a lack of awareness of the breadth of terrestrial applications that have been enabled or enhanced by microgravity RD. Based on this dialogue, the concept of microgravity verticals is developed to translate the benefits of the microgravity environment into blue ocean business opportunities for various key US commercial sectors.

technical risk↗
NASA NTRS1993

Application of capillary fluid management techniques to the design of a phase separating microgravity bioreactor

Manned space missions require the development of compact, efficient, and reliable life support systems. A number of aqueous biological conversion processes are associated with bioregenerative life support systems. Vessels, or bioreactors, capable of supporting these processes in microgravity must be developed. An annular flow bioreactor has been conceived. It has the potential to incorporate containment, phase separation, gas exchange, and illumination into a single vessel. The bioreactor utilizes capillary fluid management techniques and is configured as a cylindrical tube in which a two-phase liquid-gas flow is maintained. Vanes placed around the inner perimeter enhance capillary forces and cause the liquid phase to attach and flow along the interior surface of the tube. No physical barrier is required to complete phase separation. It is shown analytically that liquid film thickness is limited only by vane geometry and that an annular flow bioreactor capable of managing 284 liters would occupy 0.7 cubic m, less than half the volume of a Spacelab experiment rack.

Finger, Barry W.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Model of ASTM Flammability Test in Microgravity: Iron Rods

There is extensive qualitative results from burning metallic materials in a NASA/ASTM flammability test system in normal gravity. However, this data was shown to be inconclusive for applications involving oxygen-enriched atmospheres under microgravity conditions by conducting tests using the 2.2-second Lewis Research Center (LeRC) Drop Tower. Data from neither type of test has been reduced to fundamental kinetic and dynamic systems parameters. This paper reports the initial model analysis for burning iron rods under microgravity conditions using data obtained at the LERC tower and modeling the burning system after ignition. Under the conditions of the test the burning mass regresses up the rod to be detached upon deceleration at the end of the drop. The model describes the burning system as a semi-batch, well-mixed reactor with product accumulation only. This model is consistent with the 2.0-second duration of the test. Transient temperature and pressure measurements are made on the chamber volume. The rod solid-liquid interface melting rate is obtained from film records. The model consists of a set of 17 non-linear, first-order differential equations which are solved using MATLAB. This analysis confirms that a first-order rate, in oxygen concentration, is consistent for the iron-oxygen kinetic reaction. An apparent activation energy of 246.8 kJ/mol is consistent for this model.

Steinberg, Theodore A↗
NASA NTRS1993

Metals combustion in normal gravity and microgravity

The study of the combustion characteristics of metallic materials has been an ongoing area of research at the NASA White Sands Test Facility (WSTF). This research has been in support of both government and industrial operations and deals not only with the combustion of specific metallic materials but also with the relative flammabilities of these materials under similar conditions. Since many of the metallic materials that are characterized at WSTF for aerospace applications are to be used in microgravity environments, it was apparent that the testing of these materials needed to proceed in a microgravity environment. It was believed that burning metallic materials in a microgravity environment would allow the evaluation of the validity of applying normal gravity combustion tests to characterize metallic materials to be used in microgravity environments. It was also anticipated that microgravity testing would provide insight into the general combustion process of metallic materials. The availability of the NASA Lewis Research Center's (LeRC) 2.2-second drop tower provided the necessary facility to accomplish the microgravity portion of the testing while the normal gravity testing was conducted at NASA WSTF. The tests, both at LeRC and WSTF, were conducted in the same instrumented system and utilized the standard metal flammability test of upward propagation burning of cylindrical rod samples.

Steinberg, Theodore A.↗
NASA NTRS2019

Structural Dynamic Testing Results for Air-Independent Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) Fuel Cell Technologies for Space Applications

In 2016, the NASA Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) project office funded research at the NASA Glenn Research Center to evaluate the maturity of the Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell technology and its viability for supporting launch vehicle and space applications. This technology evaluation included vibration, reactant purity, and vacuum exposure sensitivity testing. The evaluation process did not include microgravity testing. This paper discusses the vibration sensitivity testing of two air-independent fuel cell stacks provided by different vendors to assess the ability of currently available fuel cell stack hardware to survive the projected random vibrational environment that would be encountered in an upper stage launch vehicle. Baseline performance testing was utilized to quantify stack performance and overboard leak rate at standard atmospheric conditions in order to provide a reference for post-test comparison. Both fuel cell stacks were tested at a random vibration qualification level of 10.4 grms for five minutes in each axis. Low-level sinusoidal sweeps were conducted before and after each random vibration level run to see if any significant change in resonances were detected. Following vibration facility testing, the baseline performance testing was repeated. Test results demonstrated no measurable change in fuel cell electrochemical or mechanical performance, indicating that the two evaluated PEM fuel cell stacks may be suitable for space applications pending microgravity testing.

Gilligan, Ryan P.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Effect of Undercooling and Modified Microstructure on the Physical Properties of Material Synthesized in the Drop Tube and Drop Tower

The effects of undercooling and modified microstructure on the physical properties of synthesized materials were investigated. The objectives of this program are: (1) to determine the possible existence of metastable phases and novel physical processes on material prepared in a microgravity environment; and (2) to investigate the feasibility of fabricating advanced electronic devices using material with microstructures obtainable in a microgravity environment. The specific alloys and compounds under study are Au-Ge and immiscible alloys Nb-Ge compounds, and Ga-Bi immiscible alloys, and Ba-Pb-Bi-O. The superconducting and normal state transport properties of the materials under different pressures and in different magnetic fields were determined. The simultaneous study on the physical properties and the microstructure of material will provide information about the potential applications of materials processed in a microgravity environment.

Chu, C. W.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Development of PIV for Microgravity Diffusion Flames

Results are presented from the application of Particle Image Velocimetry(PIV) to the overfire region of a laminar gas jet diffusion flame in normal gravity. A methane flame burning in air at 0.98 bar was considered. The apparatus demonstrated here is packaged in a drop rig designed for use in the 2.2 second drop tower.

Greenberg, Paul S.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Testing of a Spray-bar Thermodynamic Vent System in Liquid Nitrogen

To support development of a microgravity pressure control capability for liquid oxygen, thermodynamic vent system (TVS) testing was conducted at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) using liquid nitrogen (LN2) as a LOX simulant. The spray bar TVS hardware used was originally designed by the Boeing Company for testing in liquid hydrogen (LH2). With this concept, a small portion of the tank fluid is passed through a Joule-Thomson (J-T) device, and then through a longitudinal spray bar mixed-heat exchanger in order to cool the bulk fluid. To accommodate the larger mass flow rates associated with LN2, the TVS hardware was modified by replacing the recirculation pump with an LN2 compatible pump and replacing the J-T valve. The primary advantage of the spray-bar configuration is that tank pressure control can be achieved independent of liquid and vapor location, enhancing the applicability of ground test data to microgravity conditions. Performance testing revealed that the spray-bar TVS was effective in controlling tank pressure within a 6.89 kPa band for fill levels of 90%, 50%, and 25%. Tests were also conducted with gaseous helium (GHe) in the ullage. The TVS operated nominally with GHe in the ullage, with performance similar to the tests with gaseous nitrogen (GN2). Testing demonstrated that the spray-bar TVS design was flexible enough for use in two different propellants with minimal hardware modifications.

Flachbart, R. H.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Approximate analysis of thermal convection in a crystal-growth cell for Spacelab 3

The transient and steady thermal convection in microgravity is described. The approach is applicable to many three dimensional flows in containers of various shapes with various thermal gradients imposed. The method employs known analytical solutions to two dimensional thermal flows in simpler geometries, and does not require recourse to numerical calculations by computer.

Dressler, R. F.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Incipient fault detection study for advanced spacecraft systems

A feasibility study to investigate the application of vibration monitoring to the rotating machinery of planned NASA advanced spacecraft components is described. Factors investigated include: (1) special problems associated with small, high RPM machines; (2) application across multiple component types; (3) microgravity; (4) multiple fault types; (5) eight different analysis techniques including signature analysis, high frequency demodulation, cepstrum, clustering, amplitude analysis, and pattern recognition are compared; and (6) small sample statistical analysis is used to compare performance by computation of probability of detection and false alarm for an ensemble of repeated baseline and faulted tests. Both detection and classification performance are quantified. Vibration monitoring is shown to be an effective means of detecting the most important problem types for small, high RPM fans and pumps typical of those planned for the advanced spacecraft. A preliminary monitoring system design and implementation plan is presented.

Milner, G. Martin↗
NASA NTRS1991

Capillary-Effect Root-Environment System

Capillary-effect root-environment system (CERES) is experimental apparatus for growing plants in nutrient solutions. Solution circulated at slight tension in cavity filled with plastic screen and covered by porous plastic membrane. By adsorptive attraction, root draws solution through membrane. Conceived for use in microgravity of space, also finds terrestrial application in germinating seedlings, because it protects them from extremes of temperature, moisture, and soil pH and from overexposure to fertilizers and herbicides.

Wright, Bruce D.↗
NASA NTRS1992

International Symposium on Magnetic Suspension Technology, Part 1

The goal of the symposium was to examine the state of technology of all areas of magnetic suspension and to review related recent developments in sensors and controls approaches, superconducting magnet technology, and design/implementation practices. The symposium included 17 technical sessions in which 55 papers were presented. The technical session covered the areas of bearings, sensors and controls, microgravity and vibration isolation, superconductivity, manufacturing applications, wind tunnel magnetic suspension systems, magnetically levitated trains (MAGLEV), space applications, and large gap magnetic suspension systems.

Nelson J Groom↗