Mars Pathfinder Battery Program Status
Sections of this discussion include: a mission overview of the Mars Pathfinder Project; battery requirements; Ag-Zn technology assessment; EM battery performance; and summary and conclusions.
Surampudi, S.↗
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Results for “Aging”
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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Stellar Population Properties in the Stellar Streams around SPRC047
Abstract We have investigated the properties (e.g., age, metallicity) of the stellar populations of a ringlike tidal stellar stream (or streams) around the edge-on galaxy SPRC047 (z= 0.031) using spectral energy distribution (SED) fits to integrated broadband aperture flux densities. We used visual images in six different bands and Spitzer/IRAC 3.6μm data. We have attempted to derive best-fit stellar population parameters (metallicity, age) in three noncontiguous segments of the stream. Due to the very low surface brightness of the stream, we have performed a deconvolution with a Richardson–Lucy–type algorithm of the low spatial resolution 3.6μm IRAC image, thereby reducing the effect of the point-spread function aliasedemissionfrom the bright edge-on central galaxy at the locations of our three stream segments. Our SED fits that used several different star formation (SF) history priors, from an exponentially decaying SF burst to continuous SF, indicate that the age–metallicity–dust degeneracy is not resolved, most likely because of inadequate wavelength coverage and low signal-to-noise ratios of the low surface brightness features. We also discuss how future deep visual–near-infrared observations, combined with absolute flux calibration uncertainties at or below the 1% level, complemented by equally well absolute flux-calibrated observations in ultraviolet and mid-infrared bands, would improve the accuracy of broadband SED fitting results for low surface brightness targets, such as stellar streams around nearby galaxies that are not resolved into stars.
Astronomy & Astrophysics↗
AC and DC Fault Management for Megawatt Electrified Aircraft Electrical Powertrains Task 3: Lifetime and Reliability of Electrical Insulators
This research project was a collaborative investigation between researchers at the RTX Technology Research Center (RTRC) and the University of Texas at Austin and made a significant contribution to enabling electric aircraft. The transport of electric power between the points of generation and use requires power cables. These cables must be smaller, lighter and provide a more predictable life than power cables used in stationary applications. Consequently, this investigation provided heretofore unavailable information supporting the safety and reliability of smaller lighter power cables for electrified aircraft. In addition, the research identified key additional engineering data needed to support quantitative reliability assessments. Important advances included: • Demonstrated that at least one manufacturer can make a novel, smaller, lighter power cable that is free from serious defects. • Developed and published an appropriate analytical construct to describe the life of this novel cable. This is a necessary step for use in aviation where the understanding of remaining life is critical. • Demonstrated thermal-mechanical aging that suggested 1000+ flights before the thermal-mechanical processes produced defects large enough that the defect growth was accelerated electrically. • Showed that electrical aging took place at two rates. The first possibly lasting weeks to months and the second possibly days to weeks. If robust, this provides a good diagnostic for cable replacement. • Demonstrated that the traditional electrical testing of cable materials using manufactured voids can be misleading due to the size of the voids. Emerging laser drilling technology permitted demonstration that the physics of failure in realistically small voids is different from that in the unrealistically large voids used in earlier research, which is very important for high-quality, high-performance, small aircraft cables. Although this project represents a significant contribution to the specifics of cable aging in the aircraft environment, important additional research remains to be completed, including: • Non-uniform thermal cycling by applying the heat from the center conductor to maximize thermal stress next to the core area where the electric gradient is the strongest. This builds on the uniform thermal cycling that has been completed. • The augmentation of the thermal-mechanical failure rate by electrical processes. Better understanding of these time constants strongly affects the ability to predict life. • Termination design: Terminations provide not only electrical reflection potential, but a location for a series arc fault and an area where ozone can diffuse into the center conductor and negatively affect cable insulation. • The abrasion and ozone resistance of the cable jacket. • Pressure cycling as an accelerant of thermal, mechanical, and/or electrical aging. • Possible methods for online PD detection and offline PD localization
model↗
Enabling Mission Flexibility to Battery Driven Deep Space Endeavors With Generalized Battery-Health-Monitoring Using Physics-Based and Data-Driven Reduced-Order Models
The needs and requirements for an electrochemical energy storage for deep space exploration is well explored. It is often understood that different mission sites and environmental conditions require different battery chemistries or technologies. Additionally, various engineering solutions are deployed to overcome specific chemical challenges. One often overlooked need is the “health” monitoring of an electrochemical storage system. The term generalized health monitoring, as envisioned in this work, refers to the monitoring of various aspects such as electrode health, electrolyte health, reaction pathway health, cooling system health, sensor health, and BMS health [1]. Generalized health monitoring allows mission leads, engineers, and scientists to incorporate flexibility in mission designs, make on-the-fly mission changes, and extend the duration of science missions. Moreover, it enables automation and data-driven decision-making without compromising safety and performance. Recently, our group developed a hierarchy of thermal reduced-order models (TROM) by combining a physics-based modeling approach and data-driven model reduction techniques applied to flight data [2]. The resulting TROMs were found to be not only accurate but also identifiable from the flight data. Consequently, the coefficient of variance of the model parameters is small over the course of hundreds of flights, allowing for monitoring the parameter evolution trajectories as the battery ages and degrades. These parameters constitute the metrics of the generalized health of a battery. Monitoring their evolution allows such models to be used for anomaly detection and prognostics, improving early detection of abnormal behavior and thus enabling timely maintenance, longer battery life, and enhanced battery safety. For this presentation, the practicality of the thermal model will be validated on a pack of 14cells under various topology configurations such as 1S14P, 2P7S, 7S2P, and 1P14S. It is well known that manufacturing and non-uniform aging lead to variability in the performance of a cell, which is exacerbated by cell balancing during active load. Additionally, in extreme scenarios, the paramount objective is to complete the mission, regardless of the stresses on the battery. Topology-induced balancing issues further stress the battery. The goal of this study is to determine if the noise (identifiability) in the reduced-order thermal model parameters is sensitive to topology, cell spacing, cooling strategy, and manufacturing or age variability. The variability in cells is considered by assuming a multimodal distribution for microscopic parameters of a cell (such as porosity, tortuosity, reaction kinetics, volumetric thermal conductivity, and volumetric heat capacity). The compounded effect of manufacturing variability, topological selection, cooling strategies, and cell balancing ages each cell in a battery differently. The study aims to clarify whether the challenge in extracting maximum information depends on the minimum number of sensors or models used for data extraction.
Automation↗
Lunar and Planetary Science XXXIV
The 34th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference was held March 17-21, 2003. Topics included planetary exploration, crater research on Mars, Earth, Moon, and other planets or satellites, imaging techniques and image analysis, age determination, albedo studies, petrographic studies, isotope composition studies, instrument design, sampling methods, landform analysis, asteroids, impact analysis, impact melts, and related research.
Lunar and Planetary Institute↗
NASA battery testbed: A designed experiment for the optimization of LEO battery operational parameters
Simulation of spacecraft battery operation is implemented. Robust design experiment to obtain optimum battery operational parameters is performed. It is found that short term tests using robust design of experiments can provide guidelines for optimum battery operation. It is decided to use robust design approach to provide guidelines for battery operation on current spacecraft in orbit as batteries age (GRO, UARS, EUVE, TOPEX).
Deligiannis, F.↗
Draft ASME Code Case to qualify L-PBF 316H material for Section III, Division 5 applications
This report documents the AMMT program’s development and submission of a draft ASME Code Case to qualify Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L PBF) Type 316H stainless steel for Section III, Divi-sion 5 Class A and SM high temperature nuclear applications. It summarizes the technical basis, the comprehensive high temperature mechanical test database assembled between 2023–2026, and the proposed code language and qualification framework submitted to ASME. The work was co-ordinated across multiple national laboratories and leverages prior ASME efforts to integrate additive manufacturing into the Boiler & Pressure Vessel Code. The body of the report describes the experimental database and analysis supporting the Code Case: tensile, creep, fatigue, creep fatigue, and thermal aging tests collected from multiple additive manufacturing sites, machine types, and powder lots, with material processed by a solution anneal heat treatment. The dataset — including both full size and subsized specimens and tests oriented parallel and perpendicular to build direction — shows limited tensile anisotropy, tensile properties comparable to wrought 316H, creep strength within the scatter of wrought material, but markedly reduced creep ductility above about 650 °C associated with rapid σ phase formation in L PBF microstructures. The draft Code Case itself prescribes a staged qualification model (manufacturing process qualification, component qualification, and per build witness testing), treats L PBF components as equivalent to Type 316 weld metal for design and inspection, and requires mechanical, chemical, and metallographic controls tied to ASTM/ISO 52946. Key acceptance criteria include tensile tests within a 90% prediction interval of the AMMT dataset, a creep fatigue screening test adapted from ASME Section III, Division 5, Subsection HB, HBB 2800 but with the cycle acceptance reduced to 100 for L PBF material, and double volumetric inspection of production components. The report concludes that the present data support treating L PBF 316H as analogous to conventional fusion weld metal for Division 5 design and inspection, while highlighting important caveats: the σ phase driven loss of creep ductility above ~650 °C, preliminary indications of enhanced creep fatigue sensitivity in some lots, and remaining gaps in long term aging and additional cyclic testing. Recommended next actions include completing outstanding cyclic and long duration creep/aging tests on the solution annealed condition, supporting inclusion of the 316H chemistry and heat treatment in ASTM/ISO 52946, and continuing engagement with ASME and NRC during balloting and review to enable industry adoption.
Messner, Mark C. (ORCID:0000000200404385)↗
Science questions for the Magellan continuing mission
Magellan has completed two mapping cycles around the planet Venus, returning high resolution synthetic aperture images and altimetry data of over 95 percent of the planet's surface. Venus is dominated by low lying volcanic plains with an impact crater population indicating an average surface age of about 500 million years. Highland regions either tend to be characterized by volcanic shield complexes and rifting or by complex ridged terrain. Successful as the primary mission of Magellan has been, significant scientific questions remain to be addressed with imaging and gravity data that will be collected over the next several years.
Saunders, R. S.↗
International Space Station Lithium-Ion Main Battery Thermal Runaway Propagation Test
In 2010, the ISS Program began the development of Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) batteries to replace the aging Ni-H2 batteries on the primary Electric Power System (EPS). After the Boeing 787 Li-Ion battery fires, the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) Power Technical Discipline Team was tasked by ISS to investigate the possibility of Thermal Runaway Propagation (TRP) in all Li-Ion batteries used on the ISS. As part of that investigation, NESC funded a TRP test of an ISS EPS non-flight Li-Ion battery. The test was performed at NASA White Sands Test Facility in October 2016. This paper will discuss the work leading up to the test, the design of the test article, and the test results.
International Space Statio↗
230Th/234U radiochronometry for uranium materials by alpha spectrometry for nuclear forensics analysis
We have developed an alpha spectrometry method for 230Th/234U radiochronometry to determine the model separation age for uranium materials. This method offers an alternative to the more commonly used, but significantly more resource intensive multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS) while providing similar accuracy and precision. The development included radiochemical separation of uranium and thorium, calibration of the 232U tracer and the alpha spectrometry measurement. The method was validated by analyzing a certified reference material, CRM 125-A, which is a uranium oxide pellet assay, isotopic, and radiochronometric standard. The results were compared to those obtained by our routine MC-ICP-MS 230Th/234U radiochronometry analysis method to assess the performance parameters for alpha spectrometry compared to the state-of-the-art technique.
Macsik, Zsuzsanna [Los Alamos National Laboratory ↗
Electrochemistry-based Battery Modeling for Prognostics
Batteries are used in a wide variety of applications. In recent years, they have become popular as a source of power for electric vehicles such as cars, unmanned aerial vehicles, and commericial passenger aircraft. In such application domains, it becomes crucial to both monitor battery health and performance and to predict end of discharge (EOD) and end of useful life (EOL) events. To implement such technologies, it is crucial to understand how batteries work and to capture that knowledge in the form of models that can be used by monitoring, diagnosis, and prognosis algorithms. In this work, we develop electrochemistry-based models of lithium-ion batteries that capture the significant electrochemical processes, are computationally efficient, capture the effects of aging, and are of suitable accuracy for reliable EOD prediction in a variety of usage profiles. This paper reports on the progress of such a model, with results demonstrating the model validity and accurate EOD predictions.
battery↗
Digital Twin Based Condition Monitoring of LCC-LCC Inductive Power Transfer Systems
Inductive power transfer (IPT) systems provide a flexible, hands-free charging opportunity to electric vehicles (EV). The resonant network components and the transmitter and receiver coils are often subjected to high voltages or currents. Component aging in the compensation network and coils of resonant IPT systems is detrimental to the reliability and power transfer efficiency of the IPT system. Monitoring the component health of such multi-element complex systems requires robust optimization algorithms. This paper discusses condition monitoring of a resonant IPT system for an EV charger using a digital twin model. A hybrid estimation algorithm based on genetic algorithms and adaptive particle swarm optimization is developed to estimate the parameters of the digital twin model. Simulation results are used to verify the monitoring capabilities of the developed algorithm under various operating conditions of the IPT system.
Weldehawaryat, Lidya Mussie [graduate research ass↗
Thermal Data-driven Model Reduction for Enhanced Battery Health Monitoring
Electric aviation faces a major challenge of avoiding potentially catastrophic consequences of the battery’s thermal runaway while keeping the weight of the battery low. Detection of early warning signals of battery failures requires accurate monitoring of the battery’s health throughout its lifespan. However, identifying the parameters of the battery from field data is notoriously difficult. We investigate this problem within the framework of modeling the temperature dynamics of a Li-ion cell during tests simulating loading in electric aircraft flights. It is found that the parameters of a higher-fidelity physics-based thermal model cannot be identified from the simulated flight data. To resolve this issue, we reduce the higher-fidelity thermal model to a model with fewer parameters. The resulting reduced-order model can predict temperature dynamics accurately and is identifiable throughout the cell’s lifespan which allows using the model’s parameters to monitor the state-of-health of the aging cell and detect anomalies in thermal behavior.
Li ion batteries↗
Detection and characterization of detached tidal dwarf galaxies
Tidal interactions between galaxies often give rise to tidal tails, which can harbor concentrations of stars and interstellar gas resembling dwarf galaxies. Some of these tidal dwarf galaxies (TDGs) have the potential to detach from their parent galaxies and become independent entities, but their long-term survival is uncertain. In this study, we conducted a search for detached TDGs associated with a sample of 39 interacting galaxy pairs in the local Universe using infrared, ultraviolet, and optical images. We employed IR colors and UV/optical/IR spectral energy distributions to identify potential interlopers, such as foreground stars or background quasars. Through spectroscopic observations using the Boller and Chivens spectrograph at San Pedro Mártir Observatory, we confirmed that six candidate TDGs are at the same redshift as their putative parent galaxy pairs. We identified and measured emission lines in the optical spectra and calculated nebular oxygen abundances, which range from log(O/H) = 8.10 ± 0.01 to 8.51 ± 0.02. We have serendipitously discovered an additional detached TDG candidate in Arp72 using available spectra from SDSS. Utilizing the photometric data and the CIGALE code for stellar population and dust emission fitting, we derived the stellar masses, stellar population ages, and stellar metallicities for these detached TDGs. Compared to standard mass-metallicity relations for dwarf galaxies, five of the seven candidates have higher than expected metallicities, confirming their tidal origins. One of the seven candidates remains unclear due to large uncertainties in metallicity, and another has stellar and nebular metallicities compatible with those of a preexisting dwarf galaxy. The latter object is relatively compact in the optical relative to its stellar mass, in contrast to the other candidate TDGs, which have large diameters for their stellar masses compared to most dwarf galaxies. The derived stellar population ages range from 100 Myr to 900 Myr, while the inferred stellar masses are between 2 × 10 6 M ⊙ and 8 × 10 7 M ⊙ . Four of the six TDGs are associated with the gas-rich M51-like pair Arp 72, one TDG is associated with a second M51-like pair Arp 86, and another is associated with Arp 65, an approximately equal mass pair. In spite of the relatively low stellar masses of these TDGs, they have survived for at least 100–900 Myrs, suggesting that they are stable and in dynamical equilibrium. We conclude that encounters with a relatively low-mass companion (1/10th–1/4th of the mass of the primary) can also produce long-lasting TDGs.
Astronomy & Astrophysics↗
The thermal engine of Venus: Implications from the impact crater distribution
Questions concerning the state of Venus' volcanological activity are currently under investigation. These questions were raised by the imaging radar and altimetric data obtained by the Magellan spacecraft, which began mapping Venus in Sept. 1990. Clues about the answers to these questions are provided by the nature and distribution of impact craters on the surface of Venus. Statistical tests show that the distribution of craters on Venus cannot be distinguished from a completely spatially random population. Further, the majority of craters look relatively pristine; only about 5 percent of the observed craters appear to be embayed or flooded by lavas. The simplest interpretation of these observations is a model in which the impact craters lie on a surface that has been undisturbed by volcanological and tectonic processes since the time the surface was formed. Counting up the number of craters and estimating the rate at which meteoroids strike the surface then gives an age for the venusian surface of 500 million years; in this model the volcanic activity since that time has been essentially nil. This scenario is described as a 'production' model, or perhaps more appropriately, a 'catastrophic' model.
Phillips, Roger J.↗
Comparing Thermal Neutron Scintillators for Use With SiPM-Readout Detectors
Scintillator-based thermal neutron detectors for scientific scattering facilities offer an effective combination of large-area coverage and good spatial resolution. At Oak Ridge National Laboratory, silicon photomultiplier (SiPM)-readout Anger cameras using 6 Li glass scintillators have been developed, but the spatial resolution of these detectors is limited by the relatively low light yield of the glass. Recently, several brighter scintillator compositions with sufficient 6 Li concentration have emerged as promising candidates for higher-resolution imaging. Here, in this work, we evaluate five scintillator materials: GS20, LiF/ZnS:Ag, LiF/ZnO:Zn, LiI:Eu, and Cs 2 LiYCl 6 :Ce, each mounted on a SiPM Anger camera. For each scintillator, the neutron detection efficiency, spatial resolution, and count rate capabilities were measured and compared. Each of the new compositions achieved a spatial resolution better than 0.5 mm, compared to 0.66 mm for GS20, with LiI:Eu reaching the best value of 0.32 mm. Although these compositions improve the spatial resolution of the Anger camera, their longer pulse decay times limit their use in high count rate applications, and the camera’s hardware must be optimized for the different properties of the new scintillators.
Neutron detectors↗
High Energy Hydroforming Friction Stir Welded 2050 Al-Li Blanks for Aerospace Domes and Cones
Friction stir welded (FSW) aluminum blanks offer larger preform sizes than available from the mill in single width plates. Large blanks made from aerospace-grade aluminum alloys are essential for making large domes and cones for launch vehicles and crew vehicles. Previous research efforts have demonstrated >5m FSW blanks can be formed into large domes or cones using spin forming, but the subsequent solution heat treatment consistently led to abnormal grain growth (AGG). The AGG phenomenon occurs because the FSW blanks must be spin formed in the -O annealed temper to withstand the high strain process without cracking. Subsequently, the solution heat treatment process leads to the onset of AGG, whereby a small number of grains grow much larger than the surrounding matrix. Ultimately, the large grains and bimodal grain-size distribution leads to unacceptable ductility in the short-transverse direction of the part. Alternatively, explosive hydroforming is a nascent process that can be applied to large and thick aerospace-grade aluminum alloy blanks in the -T3 temper and only require a post-forming artificial aging process to a -T8. Avoiding the solution heat treatment (SHT) process mitigates AGG, and also eliminates the need for very rare drop-furnace quench baths that can accommodate a part size larger than 5m in diameter. This presentation summarizes a Lockheed Martin-led effort that demonstrated explosive hydroforming of a 1.9m diameter, 39mm thick 2050 aluminum lithium FSW blank. Details will be provided on the process flow, mechanical properties, and metallographic analyses. This work was performed in partnership with NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) under a NASA Announcement of Collaboration Opportunities program.
Friction stir welded blank↗
DEPRECATED AI-Batt-OS (Autonomous Identification of Battery Life Models - Open Source) [SWR 21-17]
DEPRECATED. This repository was archived by the owner on Jun 30, 2026. It is now read-only. Open source implementation of some of the methods utilized by AI-Batt, a battery lifetime modeling and analysis toolkit provided by the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR). This software demonstrates the use of bi-level optimization and symbolic regression techniques to semi-autonomously identify algebraic models predicting the capacity fade of lithium-ion batteries during calendar aging. Modeling the degradation of batteries is a complex task, due to the difficulty in separating the time-dependent and time-independent factors impacting cell level degradation, across multiple data series with different numbers of measurements and/or data quality. Bi-level optimization enables model parameters to be optimized to either the entire data set or to individual data series, allowing statistical disambiguation of global behaviors (data series independent) and local behaviors (data series dependent). Symbolic regression is used to automatically search for optimal low-dimesional models predicting the variation of locally optimized parameters versus time-independent experimental variables from millions of possible models, resulting in a more accurate and repeatable model identification process than is possible by a manual search. The provided tools also implement cross-validation and bootstrap resampling schemes, empowering statistical model comparison/selection and quantification of model uncertainties. An example script replicates the results from the manuscript "Challenging Practices of Algebraic Battery Life Models through Statistical Validation and Model Identification via Machine-Learning", submitted to ECS. All code is written in MATLAB. Requires the Statistics and Machine Learning Toolbox. Contact Dr. Paul Gasper at Paul.Gasper@nlr.gov for any questions.
Gasper, Paul [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL↗