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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 NTRS2017

Gondola for High Altitude Planetary Science (GHAPS) Telescope Secondary Mirror Positioning Hexapod Issues and Alternatives

Active positioning of the GHAPS secondary telescope mirror is desired to correct for rigid body deflections due to temperature variations and gravity sag in the telescope structure that may impact optical performance. The current design concept for the secondary mirror mount uses a Commercial-Off -the-Shelf hexapod for mirror positioning and fine adjustment. The Hexapod specification states that motions as small as 0.1 microns along the optical axis and 2 microns perpendicular to the optical axis will cause optical aberrations that will require correction by repositioning the secondary mirror. In addition, the secondary mirror mount and positioning system must survive a 15g shock of parachute opening and landing during the instrument recovery operation. The secondary mirror positioning system must operate at a minimum specified temperature of -50 C. The telescope operates in the IR and the secondary mirror mount and positioning device is in the metering path between the primary and secondary mirrors. I2R losses in positioning system actuator devices, which may cause heating of the positioning system and secondary mirror, must be minimized due to the previously mentioned alignment sensitivity and the viewing spectrum of interest. The GHAPs project was cancelled on June 30, 2017. The purpose of this study is to address some of the issues identified with the hexapod secondary mirror positioning system and identify alternative approaches. This information may be used if the project is re-started at a later date.

Gondola Mirror Hexapo↗
NASA NTRS1974

An orientable, stabilized balloon-borne gondola for around-the-world flights

A system capable of pointing a balloon-borne telescope at selected celestial objects to an accuracy of approximately 10 arc minutes for an extended period (weeks to months) without reliance on telemetry is described. A unique combination of a sun/star tracker, an on-board computer, and a gyrocompass is utilized for navigation, source acquisition and tracking, and data compression and recording. The possibilities for intelligent activities by the computer are also discussed.

Ricker, G. R.↗
NASA NTRS1974

A stabilized large-aperture far-infrared telescope gondola

Description of a recently developed balloon-borne 1-m far-infrared telescope designed to carry out astronomical observations and to map radiation from selected areas of the sky. The telescope optical system consists of a conventional Cassegrain arrangement with an f/2 aluminum primary mirror, spherically figured, which feeds a pyrex secondary mirror to produce an f/13.8 beam at the focal plane with a scale of 15.2 arc sec/mm. Three focal planes are provided. The infrared detectors consist of an array of four gallium-doped germanium bolometers fitted within a two-liter helium dewar. An altitude-azimuth mount design is used for attitude control, with the pointing objectives being achieved in two steps. The azimuth control system is capable of operation in a position mode, in which the sensing element is a servo-driven null magnetometer always pointed north, and in an inertial mode, in which the gyro is uncaged and becomes the azimuth reference. The elevation system also operates in both position and inertial modes. An auxiliary position control, powered by an independent battery and controlled by a separate tone command system, is provided in case of a primary system difficulty.

Hazen, N. L.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Planetary Balloon-Based Science Platform Evaluation and Program Implementation

This report describes a study evaluating the potential for a balloon-based optical telescope as a planetary science asset to achieve decadal class science. The study considered potential science achievable and science traceability relative to the most recent planetary science decadal survey, potential platform features, and demonstration flights in the evaluation process. Science Potential and Benefits: This study confirms the cost the-benefit value for planetary science purposes. Forty-four (44) important questions of the decadal survey are at least partially addressable through balloon based capabilities. Planetary science through balloon observations can provide significant science through observations in the 300 nm to 5 m range and at longer wavelengths as well. Additionally, balloon missions have demonstrated the ability to progress from concept to observation to publication much faster than a space mission increasing the speed of science return. Planetary science from a balloon-borne platform is a relatively low-cost approach to new science measurements. This is particularly relevant within a cost-constrained planetary science budget. Repeated flights further reduce the cost of the per unit science data. Such flights offer observing time at a very competitive cost. Another advantage for planetary scientists is that a dedicated asset could provide significant new viewing opportunities not possible from the ground and allow unprecedented access to observations that cannot be realized with the time allocation pressures faced by current observing assets. In addition, flight systems that have a relatively short life cycle and where hardware is generally recovered, are excellent opportunities to train early career scientists, engineers, and project managers. The fact that balloon-borne payloads, unlike space missions, are generally recovered offers an excellent tool to test and mature instruments and other space craft systems. Desired Gondola Features: Potential gondola characteristics are assessed in this study and a concept is recommended, the Gondola for High-Altitude Planetary Science (GHAPS). This first generation platform is designed around a 1 m or larger aperture, narrow-field telescope with pointing accuracies better than one arc-second. A classical Cassegrain, or variant like Ritchey-Chretien, telescope is recommended for the primary telescope. The gondola should be designed for multiple flights so it must be robust and readily processed at recovery. It must be light-weighted to the extent possible to allow for long-duration flights on super-pressure balloons. Demonstration Flights: Recent demonstration flights achieved several significant accomplishments that can feed forward to a GHAPS gondola project. Science results included the first ever Earth-based measurements for CO2 in a comet, first measurements for CO2 and H2O in an Oort cloud comet, and the first measurement of 1 Ceres at 2.73 m to refine the shape of the infrared water absorption feature. The performance of the Fine Steering Mirror (FSM) was also demonstrated. The BOPPS platform can continue to be leveraged on future flights even as GHAPS is being developed. The study affirms the planetary decadal recommendations, and shows that a number of Top Priority science questions can be achieved. A combination GHAPS and BOPPS would provide the best value for PSD for realizing that science.

Dankanich, John W.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Venus cloud bobber mission: A long term survey of the Venusian surface

We have examined the Venus Balloon concept in order to further develop the ideas and concepts behind it, and to creatively apply them to the design of the major Venus Balloon components. This report presents our models of the vertical path taken by the Venus Balloon and the entry into Venusian atmosphere. It also details our designs of the balloon, gondola, heat exchanger, power generator, and entry module. A vehicle is designed for a ballistic entry into the Venusian atmosphere, and an atmospheric model is created. The model is then used to set conditions. The shape and material of the vehicle are optimized, and the dimensions of the vehicle are then determined. Equipment is chosen and detailed that will be needed to collect and transmit information and control the mission. A gondola is designed that will enable this sensitive electronic equipment to survive in an atmosphere of very high temperature and pressure. This shape and the material of the shell are optimized, and the size is minimized. Insulation and supporting structures are designed to protect the payload equipment and to minimize mass. A method of cooling the gondola at upper altitudes was established. Power needs of the gondola equipment are determined. Power generation options are discussed and two separate thermoelectric generation models are outlined.

Wai, James↗
NASA NTRS2009

Collecting Ground Samples for Balloon-Borne Instruments

A proposed system in a gondola containing scientific instruments suspended by a balloon over the surface of the Saturn moon Titan would quickly acquire samples of rock or ice from the ground below. Prototypes of a sample-collecting device that would be a major part of the system have been tested under cryogenic and non-cryogenic conditions on Earth. Systems like this one could also be used in non-cryogenic environments on Earth to collect samples of rock, soil, ice, mud, or other ground material from such inaccessible or hazardous locations as sites of suspected chemical spills or biological contamination. The sample-collecting device would be a harpoonlike device that would be connected to the balloon-borne gondola by a tether long enough to reach the ground. The device would be dropped from the gondola to acquire a sample, then would be reeled back up to the gondola, where the sample would be analyzed by the onboard instruments. Each prototype of the sample-collecting device has a sharp front (lower) end, a hollow core for retaining a sample, a spring for holding the sample in the hollow core, and a rear (upper) annular cavity for retaining liquid sample material. Aerodynamic fins at the rear help to keep the front end pointed downward. In tests, these prototype devices were dropped from various heights and used to gather samples of dry sand, moist sand, cryogenic water ice, and warmer water ice.

Jones, Jack↗
NASA NTRS1974

A high sensitivity balloon-borne X-ray telescope system

A high sensitivity X-ray telescope system suitable for photometric type observations from balloon altitudes is described. The balloon gondola system is defined to include the performance requirements and the overall performance requirements of the balloon gondola support system. Diagrams of the gondola and the installed components are provided. The pointing and control system of the telescope is analyzed.

Pelling, M. R.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Airoscope telemetry system

The AIROscope (Ames Infrared Observatory telescope) telemetry system is described from signal conditioning on the gondola to display and storage at the ground station. All analog and digital data from the systems and experiments on the gondola go to a PCM encoder which formats the data into 10-bit words. Therefore, 0.1-percent resolution is inherently available for experimental data. The coded bit stream directly modulates the carrier of the FM transmitter. To insure reliable transmission over a 650-km range an 11-watt FM transmitter operating at 1483.5 MHz is used on the gondola. Modulation is narrow band FM with a maximum deviation of plus or minus 500 kHz. The maximum modulation frequency is determined by the data bit rate which could be as high as 500 kbps. Presently, a rate of 20.48 kbps is used. The ground station receiving system includes a steerable antenna (19-db gain), preamplifier (21-db gain) and receiver. All data are recorded on a tape recorder. The recorded signal then can be played back through the PCM decommutator unit at a later time for detailed data analysis by the experimenter.

Pitts, K. J.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Summary of system state-of-health measurements STRATCOM 8: A balloon experiment

Various measurements were made to determine the temperature and attitude of the gondola and the status of primary power and control equipment. Bead thermistors were used to measure temperatures at selected points throughout the gondola. A two-axis magnetometer and a two-axis pendulum were used to measure gondola attitude. Voltage and current measurements indicated the status of the primary power sources and associated power converters.

Herrington, P. B.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Calibration and performance of the energetic X-ray imaging telescope experiment

The final integration and testing of the Energetic X-ray Imaging Telescope Experiment (EXITE) are described. The detector and telescope as finally assembled are described, and problems as well as solutions are detailed. The preflight calibration of the position-sensitive NaI detector revealed unanticipated effects in the energy spectra. In particular, an effect due to surface roughness (lack of firm optical polishing) on the crystal was found and calibrated. The radial variation of gain and resolution in the detector was also measured, and so-called flat fielding methods have been derived to analyze the data. The integration of the EXITE detector and gondola systems is described. Several novel features were developed for the EXITE gondola, most notably a shock absorber system. The performance of the detector and gondola systems was evaluated on a first balloon flight from Australia (May 1988) and a second flight from Ft. Sumner, New Mexico (October 1988).

Braga, Joao↗
NASA NTRS1992

Balloon-Borne System Would Aim Instrument Toward Sun

Proposed system including digital control computer, control sensors, and control actuators aims telescope or other balloon-borne instrument toward Sun. Pointing system and instrument flown on gondola, suspended from balloon. System includes reaction wheel, which applies azimuthal control torques to gondola, and torque motor to apply low-frequency azimuthal torques between gondola and cable. Three single-axis rate gyroscopes measure yaw, pitch, and roll. Inclinometer measures roll angle. Two-axis Sun sensor measures deviation, in yaw and pitch, of attitude of instrument from line to apparent center of Sun. System provides initial coarse pointing, then maintains fine pointing.

Polites, M. E.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Mars laser altimeter based on a single photon ranging technique

The Mars 94/96 Mission will carry, among others things, the balloon probe experiment. The balloon with the scientific cargo in the gondola underneath will drift in the Mars atmosphere, its altitude will range from zero, in the night, up to 5 km at noon. The accurate gondola altitude will be determined by an altimeter. As the Balloon gondola mass is strictly limited, the altimeter total mass and power consumption are critical; maximum allowed is a few hundred grams a few tens of mWatts of average power consumption. We did propose, design, and construct the laser altimeter based on the single photon ranging technique. Topics covered include the following: principle of operation, altimeter construction, and ground tests.

Prochazka, Ivan↗
NASA NTRS2009

Tethered Pyrotechnic Apparatus for Acquiring a Ground Sample

A proposed alternative design for the balloon-borne ground-sampling system described in the immediately preceding article would not rely on free fall to drive a harpoonlike sample-collecting device into the ground. Instead, the harpoon-like sample-collecting device would be a pyrotechnically driven, tethered projectile. The apparatus would include a tripod that would be tethered to the gondola. A gun for shooting the projectile into the ground would be mounted at the apex of the tripod. The gun would include an electronic trigger circuit, a chamber at the breech end containing a pyrotechnic charge, and a barrel. A sabot would be placed in the barrel just below the pyrotechnic charge, and the tethered projectile would be placed in the barrel just below the sabot. The tripod feet would be equipped with contact sensors connected to the trigger circuit. In operation, the tripod would be lowered to the ground on its tether. Once contact with the ground was detected by the sensors on all three tripod feet, the trigger circuit would fire the pyrotechnic charge to drive the projectile into the ground. (Requiring contact among all three tripod feet and the ground would ensure that the projectile would be fired into the ground, rather than up toward the gondola or the balloon.) The tethered projectile would then be reeled back up to the gondola for analysis of the sample.

Jones, Jack↗
NASA NTRS2010

Advanced Aerobots for Scientific Exploration

The Picosat and Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Systems Engineering (PAUSE) project is developing balloon-borne instrumentation systems as aerobots for scientific exploration of remote planets and for diverse terrestrial purposes that can include scientific exploration, mapping, and military surveillance. The underlying concept of balloon-borne gondolas housing outer-space-qualified scientific instruments and associated data-processing and radio-communication equipment is not new. Instead, the novelty lies in numerous design details that, taken together, make a PAUSE aerobot smaller, less expensive, and less massive, relative to prior aerobots developed for similar purposes: Whereas the gondola (including the instrumentation system housed in it) of a typical prior aerobot has a mass of hundreds of kilograms, the mass of the gondola (with instrumentation system) of a PAUSE aerobot is a few kilograms.

Behar, Alberto↗
NASA NTRS2015

Planetary Science with Balloon-Borne Telescopes

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the planetary science community have recently been exploring the potential contributions of stratospheric balloons to the planetary science field. A study that was recently concluded explored the roughly 200 or so science questions raised in the Planetary Decadal Survey report and found that about 45 of those questions are suited to stratospheric balloon based observations. In September of 2014, a stratospheric balloon mission called BOPPS (which stands for Balloon Observation Platform for Planetary Science) was flown out of Fort Sumner, New Mexico. The mission had two main objectives, first, to observe a number of planetary targets including one or more Oort cloud comets and second, to demonstrate the applicability and performance of the platform, instruments, and subsystems for making scientific measurements in support planetary science objectives. BOPPS carried two science instruments, BIRC and UVVis. BIRC is a cryogenic infrared multispectral imager which can image in the.6-5 m range using an HgCdTe detector. Narrow band filters were used to allow detection of water and CO2 emission features of the observed targets. The UVVis is an imager with the science range of 300 to 600 nm. A main feature of the UVVis instrument is the incorporation of a guide camera and a Fine Steering Mirror (FSM) system to reduce image jitter to less than 100 milliarcseconds. The BIRC instrument was used to image targets including Oort cloud comets Siding Spring and Jacques, and the dwarf planet 1 Ceres. BOPPS achieved the first ever earth based CO2 observation of a comet and the first images of water and CO2 of an Oort cloud comet (Jacques). It also made the first ever measurement of 1Ceres at 2.73 m to refine the shape of the infrared water absorption feature on that body. The UVVis instrument, mounted on its own optics bench, demonstrated the capability for image correction both from atmospheric disturbances as well as some of the residual motion from the gondola that was not addressed by the gondolas coarse pointing systems. The mission met its primary science and engineering objectives. The results of the BOPPS mission will feed into the body of science knowledge but also feed into future planning for more science from balloon-borne platforms. A notional platform called Gondola for High-Altitude Planetary Science (GHAPS) has been explored and this concept platform can address a number of important decadal questions. This paper provides a summary of the assessment of potential balloon borne observations for planetary science purposes including where potential science contributions can be expected, the necessary performance characteristics of the platform, and other features required or desired. The BOPPS mission is summarized including descriptions of the main elements and key science and engineering results. The paper then briefly describes GHAPS, and the salient features that can make it a valuable tool for future planetary observations.

Telescope↗