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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 343 records · Page 19

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NASA NTRS1980

POLAR 5 - An electron accelerator experiment within an aurora. III - Evidence for significant spacecraft charging by an electron accelerator at ionospheric altitudes

The POLAR 5 rocket experiment carried an electron accelerator on a 'daughter' payload which injected a 0.1 A beam of 10 keV electrons in a pulsed mode every 410 ms. With spin and precession, injections were made over a wide range of pitch angles. Measurements from a double probe electric field instrument and from particle detectors on the 'mother' payload and from a crude RPA on the 'daughter' payload are interpreted to indicate that the 'daughter' charges to a potential between several hundred volts and 1 kV. The neutralizing return current to the 'daughter' is shown to be asymmetrically distributed with the majority being collected from the direction of the beam. The additional electrons necessary to neutralize the daughter are thought to be produced and heated through beam-plasma interactions postulated by Maehlum et al. (1980) and Grandal et al. (1980) to explain the particle and optical measurements. Significant electric fields emanating from the charged 'daughter' and the beam are seen at distances exceeding 100 m at the 'mother' payload.

Jacobsen, T. A.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Electromagnetic noise and radio wave propagation below 100 kHz in the Jovian atmosphere. I - The equatorial region

The Galileo satellite program includes the delivery of an entry probe to the Jovian equatorial atmosphere in mid-1985. Optical and RF sensors for a lightning detection system are included as a part of the probe experimental payload. In this paper, calculations of the RF wave propagation and reflection characteristics of the equatorial Jovian atmosphere and ionosphere for frequencies less than 100 kHz are presented. It is shown that wave propagation is limited to line-of-sight and one-hop from the ionosphere. Results are also presented of a statistical treatment of the RF wave power densities for the case of a finite number of events and for the case of a uniformly distributed source. The results can be applied to specific RF experiment configurations concerned with establishing the statistical characteristics of Jovian lightning.

Rinnert, K.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Electrodynamics of the stratosphere using 5000 cu m superpressure balloons

The Electrodynamics of the Middle Atmosphere research project encompasses the design of a microprocessor-controlled payload and the launch of up to eight small superpressure balloons in the 1982-1984 period. The primary payload instrument will measure the vector electric field from dc to 10 kHz, and the payloads will include instruments measuring local ionization, electrical conductivity, magnetic field, and temperature and pressure fluctuations. In addition, optical lightning will be recorded. The simultaneous measurement of these stratospheric parameters by several balloons, for periods extending over several solar rotations, will allow the study of electrical coupling between atmosphere and magnetosphere, of global current systems, and of global response to solar flares and magnetospheric storms.

Holzworth, R. H.↗

NASA NTRS1992

The Coronal Ultraviolet Berkeley Spectrometer (CUBS)

We describe an instrument package to remotely measure thermospheric, exospheric, and plasmaspheric structure and composition. This instrument was flown aboard the second test flight of the Black Brant XII sounding rocket on December 5, 1989, which attained an apogee of 1460 km. The experiment package consisted of a spectrophotometer to measure He I 584 A, O II 834 A, O I 989 A, hydrogen Lyman beta (1025 A), hydrogen Lyman alpha (1216 A), and O I 1304 A transitions, and a photometer to measure the He II 304 A emission. The optical design of the spectrophotometer was identical to that of the Berkeley Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Airglow Rocket Spectrometer payload, flown on September 30, 1988 aboard the maiden flight of the Black Brant XII rocket. We present the initial data analysis and describe directions we will go toward the completion of our study.

Bush, Brett C.↗

NASA NTRS2005

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission operations: architecture and approach

MRO↗

NASA NTRS2006

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission Operations: Architecture and Approach

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) was launched on August 12, 2005 by an Atlas V launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. MRO will carry a rich set of science instruments to Mars and provide global, regional survey, and targeted observations. In addition, a set of engineering instruments providing optical navigation, Ka band telecommunication and UHF relay services to future Mars missions are part of the MRO payload. During the mission, the MRO operations teams are presented with two major challenges - unprecedented high data rate and data volumes, and complex science planning and resource sharing. MRO has the capability to communicate with earth at a maximum of six Megabits per second (> 50 times any previous Mars missions). With the current Deep Space Network (DSN) contact schedule of 19 eight-hour tracks per week, the baseline mission plan is for MRO to return 34 Terabits of raw science data during the two year primary science phase. Each of the science instruments has its unique requirements for global mapping, regional survey, and targeted observations. Some instruments prefer nadir-only observations, while others require off-nadir observations (especially for stereo viewing). The requirements from these Mars viewing instruments presented a significant challenge for the operations team to design the complex science planning and resource sharing/allocation process. This paper describes what MRO project is implementing to solve these challenges.

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Curved Diffractive X-ray Optics for X-ray Astronomy

We report on a concept for curved diffractive X-ray optics (CDXO). CDXO would enable potential new optical designs for X-ray instruments, such as a two element spectrometer, in which the secondary element of an X-ray mirror pair is patterned with an X-ray grating. A two-element spectrometer design eliminates the grating assembly, resulting in decreased instrument mass and reduced power requirements. In addition, a two-element spectrometer may realize cost/schedule savings by eliminating a separate grating alignment effort, and yield increased effective area over three element designs. We present a raytrace concept study of a two-element spectrometer compact enough to fit within a sounding rocket payload. We also review the progress made in electron-beam lithography (EBL) techniques that would enable curved diffractive X-ray optics to be patterned, and outline a procedure by which the accuracy of the EBL patterning process can be measured interferometrically.

Casey T. DeRoo↗

NASA NTRS2022

Evolution of Biological Satellites: From Low Earth Orbit to NASA’s BioSentinel Deep Space Mission

NASA has set its sights on human exploration in deep space with the Artemis missions, with an ambitious plan to put astronauts back on the Moon and to eventually land human missions on Mars. Such missions will require significant countermeasures, likely both technological and biomedical, to protect biology from chronic radiation exposure. Small satellites like CubeSats can inform these countermeasures by querying relevant space environments with model organisms over relevant durations. NASA has launched five biological CubeSats into low Earth orbit (LEO) from GeneSat in 2006 to EcAMSat in 2017. Each one of these missions increased our understanding of the effects of spaceflight, while refining technologies and imparting valuable lessons to the next generation of CubeSats. The Artemis I rocket will carry ten CubeSats, each of them with its own objective. One in particular, BioSentinel, will conduct the first study of the biological response to interplanetary space radiation beyond LEO since Apollo 17. Once it reaches its heliocentric orbit – after a short lunar fly-by – BioSentinel will measure the DNA damage response to ambient radiation in a model organism, the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which will be compared to information provided by an onboard radiation sensor and to data obtained in LEO (on ISS) and on Earth. Once in interplanetary space, fluidic cards containing desiccated yeast cells will be activated by growth medium addition at different time points throughout the mission. Growth and metabolic activity will be tracked continuously via optical density. BioSentinel is a complete, autonomous spacecraft capable of conducting experiments in deep space. Its 4U BioSensor payload is a fully automated and adaptable platform that can perform biological measurements with a range of microorganisms in multiple space environments, including the ISS, free flyers, and other platforms like the Lunar Gateway and lander vehicles.

Sergio R Santa Maria↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Early Results from NASA’s Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) Experiment Program

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) mission began its two-year Experiment Program in June 2022. This experimental phase includes long-term measurement of the effects of the atmosphere (turbulence, weather) on the performance and availability of lasercom. Furthermore, various future operational scenarios including robotic and exploration missions and various network service configurations are being emulated. In addition to experiments and demonstrations proposed by the LCRD Investigator Team, NASA enables individuals and groups from government agencies, academia, and industry to propose experiments under the LCRD Guest Experimenters Program. This conference paper provides highlights of the early LCRD experiments and a preview of the future experiments, including relaying data to and from the Integrated LCRD Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) User Modem and Amplifier Terminal (ILLUMA-T) on the International Space Station. The LCRD geosynchronous payload includes two laser communications terminals interconnected via an onboard electronic switch, and can relay information between two optical ground stations located in California and Hawaii. LCRD is a joint project involving NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory (MIT LL).

lasercom↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Early Results from NASA’s Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) Experiment Program

lasercom↗

NASA NTRS1991

Measured space environmental effects to LDEF during retrieval

The Interim Operational Contamination Monitor (IOCM) is an attached shuttle payload to the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) that was used on 2 earlier flights to quantify the contamination deposited during the course of the missions. The IOCM can characterize by direct measurement the deposition of molecular and particulate contamination during any phase of flight. Also, the IOCM actively measures the optical property changes of thermal control surfaces by calorimetry, the flux of the ambient atomic oxygen environment, the incident solar flux, and the absolute ambient pressure in the payload bay. The IOCM also provides a structure and sample holders for the exposure of passive material samples to the space environment, e.g., thermal cycling, atomic oxygen, and micrometeoroids and/or debris. Some of the more salient results from the flight suggests that the payload bay was slightly contaminated during both the prelaunch phase of the mission and after the deployment of the SYNCOM IV payload. Measurements during the postflight phases, i.e., ferry flight and deintegration processing, show negligible to very low mass deposition. The results of the data are discussed in depth.

Maag, Carl R.↗

NASA NTRS2006

Mechanically Strong, Polymer Cross-linked Aerogels (X-Aerogels)

Aerogels comprise a class of low-density, high porous solid objects consisting of dimensionally quasi-stable self-supported three-dimensional assemblies of nanoparticles. Aerogels are pursued because of properties above and beyond those of the individual nanoparticles, including low thermal conductivity, low dielectric constant and high acoustic impedance. Possible applications include thermal and vibration insulation, dielectrics for fast electronics, and hosting of functional guests for a wide variety of optical, chemical and electronic applications. Aerogels, however, are extremely fragile materials, hence they have found only limited application in some very specialized environments, for example as Cerenkov radiation detectors in certain types of nuclear reactors, aboard spacecraft as collectors of hypervelocity particles (refer to NASA's Stardust program) and as thermal insulators on planetary vehicles on Mars (refer to Sojourner Rover in 1997 and Spirit and Opportunity in 2004). Along these lines, the X-Aerogel is a new NASA-developed strong lightweight material that has resolved the fragility problem of traditional (native) aerogels. X-Aerogels are made by applying a conformal polymer coating on the surfaces of the skeletal nanoparticles of native aerogels (see Scanning Electron Micrographs). Since the relative amounts of the polymeric crosslinker and the backbone are comparable, X-Aerogels can be viewed either as aerogels modified by the templated accumulation of polymer on the skeletal nanoparticles, or as nanoporous polymers made by remplated casting of polymer on a nanostructured framework. The most striking feature of X-Aerogels is that for a nominal 3-fold increase in density (still a ultralighweight material), the mechanical strength can be up to 300 times higher than the strength of the underlying native aerogel. Thus, X-Aerogels combine a multiple of the specific compressive strength of steel, with the the thermal conductivity of styrofoam. X-Aerogels have been demonstrated with several polymers such as polyurethanes/polyureas, epoxies and polyolefins, while crosslinking of approximately 35 different oxide aerogels yields a range of dimensionally stable, porous lightweight materials with unique combinations of structural, magnetic and optical properties. The main theme in materials development for space exploration is multifunction. For example, use of one material for thermal insulation/structural component will free weight for useful payload. In that regard, X-aerogels are evaluated at NASA for cryogenic fuel storage tanks and for spacesuits. Along the same lines, major impact fro X-Aerogels is also expected in commercial applications for thermal/acoustic insulation, in catalytic reformers and converters, in filtration membranes and membranes for fuel cells, as platforms for optical, electrical and magnetic sensors, and as lightweight structural component for aircraft and satellites.

Leventis, Nicholas↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Developing Autonomous Technologies for Biological Missions to Deep Space

In upcoming biological missions beyond low Earth orbit (LEO), the use of autonomous instrumentation will allow scientists to perform a variety of experiments, including the characterization of the response to different space environments (Moon, Mars, interplanetary space) using biological models like microbes, plants, organoids, and tissue chips. BioSentinel is an ongoing deep space mission, currently at over 50 million kilometers from Earth and the first instrument developed to perform biological experiments beyond LEO. Even though the primary objective of this CubeSat mission was to investigate the effects of the deep space radiation environment on budding yeast, the spacecraft bus (i.e., all the subsystems that support the biological payload like power, thermal, data telemetry, navigation, etc.) can accommodate a variety of biological (and physical) experiments and model organisms. LEIA, an upcoming CLPS mission to the lunar surface, uses a microfluidic and optical instrument based on BioSentinel to study the effects of the lunar environment on different cellular processes and on bioproduction of antioxidants. A new series of science mission concepts are being proposed to be accommodated into platforms like BioSentinel. These missions will investigate the response of a variety of organisms to the deep space environment, including but not limited to single-cell eukaryotes, cyanobacteria, plants (including crops), organoids, and tissue chips. In addition to optical absorbance measurements like the ones performed in BioSentinel (and LEIA), we are investigating the use of fluorescence detection, microscopy, sequencing devices, etc. Thus, instruments like the ones proposed here can be adapted to a variety of platforms like free-flyers, deployable payloads, landers, rovers, and the lunar Gateway. These technologies can be used as steppingstones for establishing a sustained human presence on the Moon and in deep space while providing knowledge for the development of potential countermeasures.

Sergio R Santa Maria↗

NASA NTRS2012

Flight Programs and X-ray Optics Development at MSFC

The X-ray astronomy group at the Marshall Space Flight Center is developing electroformed nickel/cobalt x-ray optics for suborbital and orbital experiments. Suborbital instruments include the Focusing X-ray Solar Imager (FOXSI) and Micro-X sounding rocket experiments and the HERO balloon payload. Our current orbital program is the fabrication of a series of mirror modules for the Astronomical Roentgen Telescope (ART) to be launched on board the Russian-German Spectrum Roentgen Gamma Mission (SRG.) The details and status of these various programs are presented. A second component of our work is the development of fabrication techniques and optical metrology to improve the angular resolution of thin shell optics to the arcsecond-level. The status of these x-ray optics technology developments is also presented.

Gubarev, M.↗

NASA NTRS1988

A precision pointing system for space telescope class optical trackers

This paper reports on the results of a study effort whose main objective was to develop a conceptual design for a space based, large-payload (3000 kg) pointing system capable of both rapid slew maneuvers (0.35 rad/sec-squared) and very stable tracking (1 microrad, 1 sigma, each axis). The key features of the resulting solution are: (1) cross elevation over elevation gimbal system, (2) closed cross elevation gimbal ring, (3) graphite-epoxy structure, (4) two-motor reactionless joint torquers, (5) payload mounted vernier reaction wheel, and (6) gyrostabilized model following control system.

Sevaston, George E.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Coordinated rocket and satellite measurements of an auroral event. II - The rocket observations and analysis

A rocket-borne payload launched into an aurora and a simultaneous overpass of the Atmosphere Explorer C satellite yielded measurements of auroral optical emission rates, thermal ion and electron densities, and low-energy electron fluxes. Model calculations of the thermospheric manifestation of the aurora were performed through use of rocket-determined auroral ionization rates and satellite-determined neutral gas densities. Measured oxygen densities provided a means of assessing the quenching rate of an excited state of N2. Energy transfer from this excited state appears to be the major source of 5577-A emission. Optical emission at 6300 A cannot be explained either by electron impact on atomic oxygen or by dissociative recombination of O2(+).

Sharp, W. E.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Mass Driver Two - A status report

The current status of Mass Driver Two, a linear synchronous motor for accelerating payloads or reaction mass, is discussed. Mass Driver Two combines all the essential elements of an operational mass driver with the exception of bucket recirculation and payload handling. These essential elements include: magnetic flight, vacuum environment, superconducting bucket coils, high acceleration (nominally 500 g's), optical position sensing and electronic triggering, power circuitry similar to that of a flight article, and regenerative braking. Mass Driver Two is operated on a single shot basis.

Snow, W. R.↗

NASA NTRS2003

Solar Imaging UV/EUV Spectrometers Using TVLS Gratings

It is a particular challenge to develop a stigmatic spectrograph for UV, EUV wavelengths since the very low normal-incidence reflectance of standard materials most often requires that the design be restricted to a single optical element which must simultaneously provide both reimaging and spectral dispersion. This problem has been solved in the past by the use of toroidal gratings with uniform line-spaced rulings (TULS). A number of solar extreme ultraviolet (EUV) spectrometers have been based on such designs, including SOHO/CDS, Solar-B/EIS, and the sounding rockets Solar Extreme ultraviolet Research Telescope and Spectrograph (SERTS) and Extreme Ultraviolet Normal Incidence Spectrograph (EUNIS). More recently, Kita, Harada, and collaborators have developed the theory of spherical gratings with varied line-space rulings (SVLS) operated at unity magnification, which have been flown on several astronomical satellite missions. We now combine these ideas into a spectrometer concept that puts varied-line space rulings onto toroidal gratings. Such TVLS designs are found to provide excellent imaging even at very large spectrograph magnifications and beam-speeds, permitting extremely high-quality performance in remarkably compact instrument packages. Optical characteristics of three new solar spectrometers based on this concept are described: SUMI and RAISE, two sounding rocket payloads, and NEXUS, currently being proposed as a Small-Explorer (SMEX) mission.

Thomas, Roger J.↗