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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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NASA NTRS2014

Lessons Learned from the Development and Implementation of the Atmosphere Resource Recovery and Environmental Monitoring Project

The Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Program's Atmosphere Resource Recovery and Environmental Monitoring (ARREM) Project have been developing atmosphere revitalization and environmental monitoring subsystem architectures suitable for enabling sustained crewed exploration missions beyond low Earth orbit (LEO). Using the International Space Station state-of-the-art (SOA) as the technical basis, the ARREM Project has contributed to technical advances that improve affordability, reliability, and functional efficiency while reducing dependence on a ground-based logistics resupply model. Functional demonstrations have merged new process technologies and concepts with existing ISS developmental hardware and operate them in a controlled environment simulating various crew metabolic loads. The ARREM Project's strengths include access to a full complement of existing developmental hardware that perform all the core atmosphere revitalization functions, unique testing facilities to evaluate subsystem performance, and a coordinated partnering effort among six NASA field centers and industry partners to provide the innovative expertise necessary to succeed. A project overview is provided and the project management strategies that have enabled a multidiscipinary engineering team to work efficiently across project, NASA field center, and industry boundaries to achieve the project's technical goals are discussed. Lessons learned and best practices relating to the project are presented and discussed.

Roman, Monsi C.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Small Payload Integration and Testing Project Development

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Kennedy Space Center (KSC) has mainly focused on large payloads for space flight beginning with the Apollo program to the assembly and resupply of the International Space Station using the Space Shuttle. NASA KSC is currently working on contracting manned Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to commercial providers, developing Space Launch System, the Orion program, deep space manned programs which could reach Mars, and providing technical expertise for the Launch Services Program for science mission payloads/satellites. KSC has always supported secondary payloads and smaller satellites as the launch provider; however, they are beginning to take a more active role in integrating and testing secondary payloads into future flight opportunities. A new line of business, the Small Payload Integration and Testing Services (SPLITS), has been established to provide a one stop shop that can integrate and test payloads. SPLITS will assist high schools, universities, companies and consortiums interested in testing or launching small payloads. The goal of SPLITS is to simplify and facilitate access to KSC's expertise and capabilities for small payloads integration and testing and to help grow the space industry. An effort exists at Kennedy Space Center to improve the external KSC website. External services has partnered with SPLITS as a content test bed for attracting prospective customers. SPLITS is an emerging effort that coincides with the relaunch of the website and has a goal of attracting external partnerships. This website will be a "front door" access point for all potential partners as it will contain an overview of KSC's services, expertise and includes the pertinent contact information.

report↗
NASA NTRS2014

Gravitational-wave Mission Study

In November 2013, ESA selected the science theme, the "Gravitational Universe," for its third large mission opportunity, known as L3, under its Cosmic Vision Programme. The planned launch date is 2034. ESA is considering a 20% participation by an international partner, and NASA's Astrophysics Division has indicated an interest in participating. We have studied the design consequences of a NASA contribution, evaluated the science benefits and identified the technology requirements for hardware that could be delivered by NASA. The European community proposed a strawman mission concept, called eLISA, having two measurement arms, derived from the well studied LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) concept. The US community is promoting a mission concept known as SGO Mid (Space-based Gravitational-wave Observatory Mid-sized), a three arm LISA-like concept. If NASA were to partner with ESA, the eLISA concept could be transformed to SGO Mid by the addition of a third arm, augmenting science, reducing risk and reducing non-recurring engineering costs. The characteristics of the mission concepts and the relative science performance of eLISA, SGO Mid and LISA are described. Note that all results are based on models, methods and assumptions used in NASA studies

identified the technology requirements↗
NASA NTRS2014

An Overview of High Temperature Seal Development and Testing Capabilities at the NASA Glenn Research Center

The NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC), partnering with the University of Toledo, has a long history of developing and testing seal technologies for high-temperature applications. The GRC Seals Team has conducted research and development on high-temperature seal technologies for applications including advanced propulsion systems, thermal protection systems (airframe and control surface thermal seals), high-temperature preloading technologies, and other extreme-environment seal applications. The team has supported several high-profile projects over the past 30 years and has partnered with numerous organizations, including other government entities, academic institutions, and private organizations. Some of these projects have included the National Aerospace Space Plane (NASP), Space Shuttle Space Transport System (STS), the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV), and the Dream Chaser Space Transportation System, as well as several high-speed vehicle programs for other government organizations. As part of the support for these programs, NASA GRC has developed unique seal-specific test facilities that permit evaluations and screening exercises in relevant environments. The team has also embarked on developing high-temperature preloaders to help maintain seal functionality in extreme environments. This paper highlights several propulsion-related projects that the NASA GRC Seals Team has supported over the past several years and will provide an overview of existing testing capabilities

National Aerospace Plane↗
NASA NTRS2015

Coordination of International Risk-Reduction Investigations by the Multilateral Human Research Panel for Exploration

Effective use of the unique capabilities of the International Space Station (ISS) for risk reduction on future deep space missions involves preliminary work in analog environments to identify and evaluate the most promising techniques, interventions and treatments. This entails a consolidated multinational approach to biomedical research both on ISS and in ground analogs. The Multilateral Human Research Panel for Exploration (MHRPE) was chartered by the five ISS partners to recommend the best combination of partner investigations on ISS for risk reduction in the relatively short time available for ISS utilization. MHRPE will also make recommendations to funding agencies for appropriate preparatory analog work. In 2011, NASA's Human Research Program (HRP) and the Institute of Biomedical Problems (IBMP) of the Russian Academy of Science, acting for MHRPE, developed a joint US-Russian biomedical program for the 2015 one-year ISS mission (1YM) of American and Russian crewmembers. This was to evaluate the possibilities for multilateral research on ISS. An overlapping list of 16 HRP, 9 IBMP, 3 Japanese, 3 European and 1 Canadian investigations were selected to address risk-reduction goals in 7 categories: Functional Performance, Behavioral Health, Visual Impairment, Metabolism, Physical Capacity, Microbial and Human Factors. MHRPE intends to build on this bilateral foundation to recommend more fully-integrated multilateral investigations on future ISS missions commencing after the 1YM. MHRPE has also endorsed an on-going program of coordinated research on 6-month, one-year and 6-week missions ISS expeditions that is now under consideration by ISS managers. Preparatory work for these missions will require coordinated and collaborative campaigns especially in the psychological and psychosocial areas using analog isolation facilities in Houston, Köln and Moscow, and possibly elsewhere. The multilateral Human Analogs research working group (HANA) is the focal point of those planning discussions, with MHRPE coordinating between the national programs and then supporting implementation on ISS. Experience gained during preparations for the 1YM has identified improvements in both American and Russian processes to enable well-integrated investigations on all subsequent ISS expeditions. Among those is that the greatest efficiency is to be gained with investigations that are fully integrated from their conception, with co-principal investigators, a consolidated proposal and integrated plans for crewmember time and other flight-related resources. Analog investigations preceding future ISS expeditions will employ these lessons in efficiency to evaluate the techniques and tools to be validated aboard ISS. In this way, the resources and capabilities of ISS can be applied most efficiently to solving the problems facing astronauts of all nations in missions deep into the solar system.

Charles, John B.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Managing the Development of the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer Mission

The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), a NASA Medium-Class Explorer (MIDEX) mission, is surveying the entire sky in four bands from 3.4 to 22 microns with a sensitivity hundreds to hundreds of thousands times better than previous all-sky surveys at these wavelengths. The single WISE instrument consists of a 40 cm three-mirror anastigmatic telescope, a two-stage solid hydrogen cryostat, a scan mirror mechanism, and reimaging optics giving 6" resolution (full-width-half-maximum). WISE was placed into a Sun-synchronous polar orbit on a Delta II 7320 launch vehicle on December 14, 2009. NASA selected WISE as a MIDEX in 2002 following a rigorous competitive selection process. To gain further confidence in WISE, NASA extended the development period one year with an option to cancel the mission if certain criteria were not met. MIDEX missions are led by the principal investigator who in this case delegated day-to-day management to the project manager. With a cost cap and relatively short development schedule, it was essential for all WISE partners to work seamlessly together. This was accomplished with an integrated management team representing all key partners and disciplines. The project was developed on budget and on schedule in spite of the need to surmount significant technical challenges. This paper describes our management approach, key challenges and critical decisions made. Results are described from a programmatic, technical and scientific point of view. Lessons learned are offered for projects of this type.

cryogenic↗
NASA NTRS2015

Acceptance of Safety and Mission Success Risks

NASA has developed an objectives based hierarchy for guiding Reliability and Maintainability (RM) activities. This presentation overviews the hierarchy and proposes to the international trilateral partners to formulate a task force to consider the elements of the NASA RM framework, as captured in the hierarchy of RM considerations, to identify commonalities and differences in the way RM is addressed by the flight projects among the partners.

safety↗
NASA NTRS2015

Proposal for a Comparison of Reliability and Maintainability Activities Across ESA, JAXA, and NASA

NASA has developed an objectives based hierarchy for guiding Reliability and Maintainability activities. This presentation overviews the hierarchy and proposes to the international trilateral partners to formulate a task force to consider the elements of the NASA RM framework, as captured in the hierarchy of RM considerations, to identify commonalities and differences in the way reliability and maintainability is addressed by the flight projects among the partners.

JAXA↗
NASA NTRS2015

Agency Video, Audio and Imagery Library

The purpose of this presentation was to inform the ISS International Partners of the new NASA Agency Video, Audio and Imagery Library (AVAIL) website. AVAIL is a new resource for the public to search for and download NASA-related imagery, and is not intended to replace the current process by which the International Partners receive their Space Station imagery products.

Grubbs, Rodney↗
NASA NTRS2015

Partnerships and the Future of NASA

Partnerships have become a more integral part of the journey to Mars as NASA continues to lead human space exploration. The current budgetary and political reality requires that partnerships be a key component of moving beyond Low Earth Orbit. This paper will discuss the challenge of finding innovative partnerships that take advantage of the capabilities of the growing commercial space market. Challenges include identifying specific technological needs, recognizing the growing expertise and desires of commercial space to move beyond Low Earth Orbit, incorporating commercial partners into the Mars Roadmap, and working with international partners.

Blome, Elizabeth↗
NASA NTRS2015

Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Mission Products and Services at the NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC)

The NASA Goddard Earth Sciences (GES) Data and Information Services Center (DISC) hosts and distributes GPM data within the NASA Earth Observation System Data Information System (EOSDIS). The GES DISC is also home to the data archive for the GPM predecessor, the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM). Over the past 17 years, the GES DISC has served the scientific as well as other communities with TRMM data and user-friendly services. During the GPM era, the GES DISC will continue to provide user-friendly data services and customer support to users around the world. GPM products currently and to-be available: -Level-1 GPM Microwave Imager (GMI) and partner radiometer products, DPR products -Level-2 Goddard Profiling Algorithm (GPROF) GMI and partner products, DPR products -Level-3 daily and monthly products, DPR products -Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) products (early, late, and final) A dedicated Web portal (including user guides, etc.) has been developed for GPM data (http://disc.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gpm). Data services that are currently and to-be available include Google-like Mirador (http://mirador.gsfc.nasa.gov/) for data search and access; data access through various Web services (e.g., OPeNDAP, GDS, WMS, WCS); conversion into various formats (e.g., netCDF, HDF, KML (for Google Earth), ASCII); exploration, visualization, and statistical online analysis through Giovanni (http://giovanni.gsfc.nasa.gov); generation of value-added products; parameter and spatial subsetting; time aggregation; regridding; data version control and provenance; documentation; science support for proper data usage, FAQ, help desk; monitoring services (e.g. Current Conditions) for applications. The United User Interface (UUI) is the next step in the evolution of the GES DISC web site. It attempts to provide seamless access to data, information and services through a single interface without sending the user to different applications or URLs (e.g., search, access, subset, Giovanni, documents).

precipitation↗
NASA NTRS2015

Conformal Ablative Thermal Protection System for Small and Large Scale Missions: Approaching TRL 6 for Planetary and Human Exploration Missions and TRL 9 for Small Probe Missions

In 2011, NASAs Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) funded an effort to develop an ablative thermal protection system (TPS) material that would have improved properties when compared to Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator (PICA) and AVCOAT. Their goal was a conformal material, processed with a flexible reinforcement that would result in similar or better thermal characteristics and higher strain-to-failure characteristics that would allow for easier integration on flight aeroshells than then-current rigid ablative TPS materials. In 2012, NASAs Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) began funding the maturation of the best formulation of the game changing conformal ablator, C-PICA. Progress has been reported at IPPW over the past three years, describing C-PICA with a density and recession rates similar to PICA, but with a higher strain-to-failure which allows for direct bonding and no gap fillers, and even more important, with thermal characteristics resulting in half the temperature rise of PICA. Overall, C-PICA should be able to replace PICA with a thinner, lighter weight, less complicated design. These characteristics should be particularly attractive for use as backshell TPS on high energy planetary entry vehicles. At the end of this year, the material should be ready for missions to consider including in their design, in fact, NASAs Science Mission Directorate (SMD) is considering incentivizing the use of C-PICA in the next Discovery Proposal call. This year both scale up of the material to large (1-m) sized pieces and the design and build of small probe heatshields for flight tests will be completed. NASA, with an industry partner, will build a 1-m long manufacturing demonstration unit (MDU) with a shape based on a mid LD lifting body. In addition, in an effort to fly as you test and test as you fly, NASA, with a second industry partner, will build a small probe to test in the Interactive Heating Facility (IHF) arc jet and, using nearly the same design, build the aeroshell and TPS, with instrumentation, for a small probe flight test article, due to fly in 2017. At the end of the year, the C-PICA will be at TRL 5+, and with the flight data in 2017, it will be at TRL 9 for missions needs with C-PICA at a small scale (12 diameter). The scale-up and small probe efforts will be de-scribed in this presentation.

Conformal Ablative↗
NASA NTRS2015

Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Mission Products and Services at the NASA Goddard Earth Sciences (GES) Data and Information Services Center (DISC)

On February 27, 2014, the NASA Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission was launched to provide the next-generation global observations of rain and snow (http:pmm.nasa.govGPM). The GPM mission consists of an international network of satellites in which a GPM Core Observatory satellite carries both active and passive microwave instruments to measure precipitation and serve as a reference standard, to unify precipitation measurements from a constellation of other research and operational satellites. The NASA Goddard Earth Sciences (GES) Data and Information Services Center (DISC) hosts and distributes GPM data within the NASA Earth Observation System Data Information System (EOSDIS). The GES DISC is home to the data archive for the GPM predecessor, the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM). Over the past 16 years, the GES DISC has served the scientific as well as other communities with TRMM data and user-friendly services. During the GPM era, the GES DISC will continue to provide user-friendly data services and customer support to users around the world. GPM products currently and to-be available include the following: 1. Level-1 GPM Microwave Imager (GMI) and partner radiometer products. 2. Goddard Profiling Algorithm (GPROF) GMI and partner products. 3. Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) products. (early, late, and final)A dedicated Web portal (including user guides, etc.) has been developed for GPM data (http:disc.sci.gsfc.nasa.govgpm). Data services that are currently and to-be available include Google-like Mirador (http:mirador.gsfc.nasa.gov) for data search and access; data access through various Web services (e.g., OPeNDAP, GDS, WMS, WCS); conversion into various formats (e.g., netCDF, HDF, KML (for Google Earth), ASCII); exploration, visualization, and statistical online analysis through Giovanni (http:giovanni.gsfc.nasa.gov); generation of value-added products; parameter and spatial subsetting; time aggregation; regridding; data version control and provenance; documentation; science support for proper data usage, FAQ, help desk; monitoring services (e.g. Current Conditions) for applications.In this presentation, we will present GPM data products and services with examples.

NASA GES DISC↗
NASA NTRS2014

Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Mission Products and Services at the NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC)

On February 27, 2014, the NASA Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission was launched to provide the next-generation global observations of rain and snow (http:pmm.nasa.govGPM). The GPM mission consists of an international network of satellites in which a GPM Core Observatory satellite carries both active and passive microwave instruments to measure precipitation and serve as a reference standard, to unify precipitation measurements from a constellation of other research and operational satellites. The NASA Goddard Earth Sciences (GES) Data and Information Services Center (DISC) hosts and distributes GPM data within the NASA Earth Observation System Data Information System (EOSDIS). The GES DISC is home to the data archive for the GPM predecessor, the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM). Over the past 16 years, the GES DISC has served the scientific as well as other communities with TRMM data and user-friendly services. During the GPM era, the GES DISC will continue to provide user-friendly data services and customer support to users around the world. GPM products currently and to-be available include the following:Level-1 GPM Microwave Imager (GMI) and partner radiometer productsLevel-2 Goddard Profiling Algorithm (GPROF) GMI and partner productsLevel-3 daily and monthly productsIntegrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) products (early, late, and final) A dedicated Web portal (including user guides, etc.) has been developed for GPM data (http:disc.sci.gsfc.nasa.govgpm). Data services that are currently and to-be available include Google-like Mirador (http:mirador.gsfc.nasa.gov) for data search and access; data access through various Web services (e.g., OPeNDAP, GDS, WMS, WCS); conversion into various formats (e.g., netCDF, HDF, KML (for Google Earth), ASCII); exploration, visualization, and statistical online analysis through Giovanni (http:giovanni.gsfc.nasa.gov); generation of value-added products; parameter and spatial subsetting; time aggregation; regridding; data version control and provenance; documentation; science support for proper data usage, FAQ, help desk; monitoring services (e.g. Current Conditions) for applications.

precipitation↗
NASA NTRS2015

Lunar COTS: An Economical and Sustainable Approach to Reaching Mars

The NASA COTS (Commercial Orbital Transportation Services) Program was a very successful program that developed and demonstrated cost-effective development and acquisition of commercial cargo transportation services to the International Space Station (ISS). The COTS acquisition strategy utilized a newer model than normally accepted in traditional procurement practices. This new model used Space Act Agreements where NASA entered into partnerships with industry to jointly share cost, development and operational risks to demonstrate new capabilities for mutual benefit. This model proved to be very beneficial to both NASA and its industry partners as NASA saved significantly in development and operational costs while industry partners successfully expanded their market share of the global launch transportation business. The authors, who contributed to the development of the COTS model, would like to extend this model to a lunar commercial services program that will push development of technologies and capabilities that will serve a Mars architecture and lead to an economical and sustainable pathway to transporting humans to Mars. Over the past few decades, several architectures for the Moon and Mars have been proposed and studied but ultimately halted or not even started due to the projected costs significantly exceeding NASA's budgets. Therefore a new strategy is needed that will fit within NASA's projected budgets and takes advantage of the US commercial industry along with its creative and entrepreneurial attributes. The authors propose a new COTS-like program to enter into partnerships with industry to demonstrate cost-effective, cis-lunar commercial services, such as lunar transportation, lunar ISRU operations, and cis-lunar propellant depots that can enable an economical and sustainable Mars architecture. Similar to the original COTS program, the goals of the proposed program, being notionally referred to as Lunar Commercial Orbital Transfer Services (LCOTS) program will be to: 1) reduce development and operational costs by sharing costs with industry; 2) create new markets in cis-lunar space to further reduce operational costs; and 3) enable NASA to develop an affordable and economical exploration Mars architecture. The paper will describe a plan for a proposed LCOTS program, its potential impact to an eventual Mars architecture and its many benefits to NASA, commercial space industry and the US economy.

Lunar ISRU↗
NASA NTRS2016

Supporting Hydrometeorological Research and Applications with Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Products and Services

Precipitation is an important dataset in hydrometeorological research and applications such as flood modeling, drought monitoring, etc. On February 27, 2014, the NASA Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission was launched to provide the next-generation global observations of rain and snow (http:pmm.nasa.govGPM). The GPM mission consists of an international network of satellites in which a GPM Core Observatory satellite carries both active and passive microwave instruments to measure precipitation and serve as a reference standard, to unify precipitation measurements from a constellation of other research and operational satellites. The NASA Goddard Earth Sciences (GES) Data and Information Services Center (DISC) hosts and distributes GPM data. The GES DISC is home to the data archive for the GPM predecessor, the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM). GPM products currently available include the following:1. Level-1 GPM Microwave Imager (GMI) and partner radiometer products2. Goddard Profiling Algorithm (GPROF) GMI and partner products (Level-2 and Level-3)3. GPM dual-frequency precipitation radar and their combined products (Level-2 and Level-3)4. Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) products (early, late, and final run)GPM data can be accessed through a number of data services (e.g., Simple Subset Wizard, OPeNDAP, WMS, WCS, ftp, etc.). A newly released Unified User Interface or UUI is a single interface to provide users seamless access to data, information and services. For example, a search for precipitation products will not only return TRMM and GPM products, but also other global precipitation products such as MERRA (Modern Era Retrospective-Analysis for Research and Applications), GLDAS (Global Land Data Assimilation Systems), etc.New features and capabilities have been recently added in GIOVANNI to allow exploring and inter-comparing GPM IMERG (Integrated Multi-satelliE Retrievals for GPM) half-hourly and monthly precipitation products as well as other precipitation products such as TRMM, MERRA, NLDAS, GLDAS, etc. GIOVANNI is a web-based tool developed by the GES DISC, to visualize and analyze Earth science data without having to download data and software. During the GPM era, the GES DISC will continue to develop and provide data services for supporting applications. We will update and enhance existing TRMM applications (Current Conditions, the USDA Crop Explorer, etc.) with higher spatial resolution IMERG products. In this presentation, we will present GPM data products and services with examples.

GPM↗
NASA NTRS2016

NASA's Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute: Merging Science and Exploration

NASA's Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI) represents a close collaboration between science, technology and exploration, and was created to enable a deeper understanding of the Moon and other airless bodies. SSERVI is supported jointly by NASA's Science Mission Directorate and Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. The institute currently focuses on the scientific aspects of exploration as they pertain to the Moon, Near Earth Asteroids (NEAs) and the moons of Mars, but the institute goals may expand, depending on NASA's needs, in the future. The 9 initial teams, selected in late 2013 and funded from 2014-2019, have expertise across the broad spectrum of lunar, NEA, and Martian moon sciences. Their research includes various aspects of the surface, interior, exosphere, near-space environments, and dynamics of these bodies. NASA anticipates a small number of additional teams to be selected within the next two years, with a Cooperative Agreement Notice (CAN) likely to be released in 2016. Calls for proposals are issued every 2-3 years to allow overlap between generations of institute teams, but the intent for each team is to provide a stable base of funding for a five year period. SSERVI's mission includes acting as a bridge between several groups, joining together researchers from: 1) scientific and exploration communities, 2) multiple disciplines across a wide range of planetary sciences, and 3) domestic and international communities and partnerships. The SSERVI central office is located at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, CA. The administrative staff at the central office forms the organizational hub for the domestic and international teams and enables the virtual collaborative environment. Interactions with geographically dispersed teams across the U.S., and global partners, occur easily and frequently in a collaborative virtual environment. This poster will provide an overview of the 9 current US teams and international partners, as well as information about outreach efforts and future opportunities to participate in SSERVI.

technology↗
NASA NTRS2015

ER-2 High Altitude Solar Cell Calibration Flights

Evaluation of space photovoltaics using ground-based simulators requires primary standard cells which have been characterized in a space or near-space environment. Due to the high cost inherent in testing cells in space, most primary standards are tested on high altitude fixed wing aircraft or balloons. The ER-2 test platform is the latest system developed by the Glenn Research Center (GRC) for near-space photovoltaic characterization. This system offers several improvements over GRC's current Learjet platform including higher altitude, larger testing area, onboard spectrometers, and longer flight season. The ER-2 system was developed by GRC in cooperation with NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC) as well as partners at the Naval Research Laboratory and Air Force Research Laboratory. The system was designed and built between June and September of 2014, with the integration and first flights taking place at AFRC's Palmdale facility in October of 2014. Three flights were made testing cells from GRC as well as commercial industry partners. Cell performance data was successfully collected on all three flights as well as solar spectra. The data was processed using a Langley extrapolation method, and performance results showed a less than half a percent variation between flights, and less than a percent variation from GRC's current Learjet test platform.

ER-2↗