Draft-Radiographic Testing Handbook NDT Handbook 4th edition: Volume 3 Radiographic Testing Chapter 6. Principles of Digital Imaging.
Abstract not provided.
SEARCH · Search NASA
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.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
Abstract not provided.
Transmutation of minor actinides such as Np, Am, and Cm in spent nuclear fuel is of international interest because of its potential for reducing the long-term health and safety hazards caused by the radioactivity of the spent fuel. For this reason, the DOE Fuel Cycle Research and Development (FCRD) Advanced Fuels Campaign (AFC) has been performing research on nuclear fuel technologies that could be used in conjunction with a future actinide transmutation mission. One important approach to transmutation involves incorporating the minor actinides into U-Pu-Zr alloys, which can be used as fuel in fast reactors. It is, therefore, important to understand the properties of U-Pu-Zr alloys. The Idaho National Laboratory has recently published a handbook intended to summarize key properties of these alloys for researchers. This handbook focuses on phases and key thermophysical properties of elements and alloys in the U-Pu-Zr system. It is envisioned as the first of a series, which will serve as a summary of current knowledge about important properties of transmutation fuels. Future volumes will include information about properties and materials not covered in the first edition, as well as updates to information in this edition of the handbook. The handbook is intended to serve two audiences. One audience is researchers, who may find it useful to know what has been measured, where it has been published, and what kinds of information are needed. A second audience is modelers, who need a concise summary of information about specific properties and the accuracy with which they are known. The two audiences have different needs, and the handbook is a compromise intended to be useful to both. Therefore, it includes summaries of research results and needs, but generally does not present the original data. It also includes numerous graphs and, where available, equations that provide convenient approximations to materials properties for modelers. It is important to understand that most of the equations provided in this handbook are derived by fitting polynomials to data and have no physical basis; while they can be used with caution for design studies, fuel modelers will probably want to use the original experimental data to develop or validate their own equations and/or models. Although the handbook includes some citations to research involving development of models, its primary focus is experimental data. Many of the measurements of the U-Pu-Zr system were made before 1980. Where possible, the handbook relies on previous reviews of experimental data rather than presenting new interpretations of the old information. It is expected that researchers will refer to the original literature for details that are not presented in the handbook. Metals and alloys in the U-Pu-Zr system are uniquely difficult to study for a number of reasons. Experimental designs may need to be modified to allow researchers to work with these hazardous materials safely. Kinetics of phase transformations are commonly sluggish, and it is highly unlikely that all of the samples in previous research had equilibrium phases and microstructures. Thermal cycling effects (changes in sample characteristics that are not fully reversed during cooling) are commonly reported and may be significant. Careful control of impurities (particularly oxygen) during sample fabrication and data collection is both crucial and difficult, and concentrations below 100 ppm in samples may significantly affect thermophysical properties. For all of these reasons, differences between measured values for similar alloys are commonly far larger than the estimated errors for individual measurements. Further research on well-characterized materials with careful control of impurities is needed for all of the alloys discussed here. The 2015 FCRD Handbook summarizes currently available information about U, Pu, Zr, and their binary and ternary alloys. It contains information about phase diagrams and related information (including phases and phase transformations); heat capacity, entropy, and enthalpy; thermal expansion; and thermal conductivity and diffusivity. In addition to presenting information about materials properties, it attempts to provide information about how well the property is known and how much variation exists between measurements. Although the handbook includes some references to publications about modeling, its primary focus is experimental data. (authors)
System safety assessment is defined in NPR 8715.3C, NASA General Safety Program Requirements as a disciplined, systematic approach to the analysis of risks resulting from hazards that can affect humans, the environment, and mission assets. Achievement of the highest practicable degree of system safety is one of NASA's highest priorities. Traditionally, system safety assessment at NASA and elsewhere has focused on the application of a set of safety analysis tools to identify safety risks and formulate effective controls.1 Familiar tools used for this purpose include various forms of hazard analyses, failure modes and effects analyses, and probabilistic safety assessment (commonly also referred to as probabilistic risk assessment (PRA)). In the past, it has been assumed that to show that a system is safe, it is sufficient to provide assurance that the process for identifying the hazards has been as comprehensive as possible and that each identified hazard has one or more associated controls. The NASA Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) has made several statements in its annual reports supporting a more holistic approach. In 2006, it recommended that "... a comprehensive risk assessment, communication and acceptance process be implemented to ensure that overall launch risk is considered in an integrated and consistent manner." In 2009, it advocated for "... a process for using a risk-informed design approach to produce a design that is optimally and sufficiently safe." As a rationale for the latter advocacy, it stated that "... the ASAP applauds switching to a performance-based approach because it emphasizes early risk identification to guide designs, thus enabling creative design approaches that might be more efficient, safer, or both." For purposes of this preface, it is worth mentioning three areas where the handbook emphasizes a more holistic type of thinking. First, the handbook takes the position that it is important to not just focus on risk on an individual basis but to consider measures of aggregate safety risk and to ensure wherever possible that there be quantitative measures for evaluating how effective the controls are in reducing these aggregate risks. The term aggregate risk, when used in this handbook, refers to the accumulation of risks from individual scenarios that lead to a shortfall in safety performance at a high level: e.g., an excessively high probability of loss of crew, loss of mission, planetary contamination, etc. Without aggregated quantitative measures such as these, it is not reasonable to expect that safety has been optimized with respect to other technical and programmatic objectives. At the same time, it is fully recognized that not all sources of risk are amenable to precise quantitative analysis and that the use of qualitative approaches and bounding estimates may be appropriate for those risk sources. Second, the handbook stresses the necessity of developing confidence that the controls derived for the purpose of achieving system safety not only handle risks that have been identified and properly characterized but also provide a general, more holistic means for protecting against unidentified or uncharacterized risks. For example, while it is not possible to be assured that all credible causes of risk have been identified, there are defenses that can provide protection against broad categories of risks and thereby increase the chances that individual causes are contained. Third, the handbook strives at all times to treat uncertainties as an integral aspect of risk and as a part of making decisions. The term "uncertainty" here does not refer to an actuarial type of data analysis, but rather to a characterization of our state of knowledge regarding results from logical and physical models that approximate reality. Uncertainty analysis finds how the output parameters of the models are related to plausible variations in the input parameters and in the modeling assumptions. The evaluation of unrtainties represents a method of probabilistic thinking wherein the analyst and decision makers recognize possible outcomes other than the outcome perceived to be "most likely." Without this type of analysis, it is not possible to determine the worth of an analysis product as a basis for making decisions related to safety and mission success. In line with these considerations the handbook does not take a hazard-analysis-centric approach to system safety. Hazard analysis remains a useful tool to facilitate brainstorming but does not substitute for a more holistic approach geared to a comprehensive identification and understanding of individual risk issues and their contributions to aggregate safety risks. The handbook strives to emphasize the importance of identifying the most critical scenarios that contribute to the risk of not meeting the agreed-upon safety objectives and requirements using all appropriate tools (including but not limited to hazard analysis). Thereafter, emphasis shifts to identifying the risk drivers that cause these scenarios to be critical and ensuring that there are controls directed toward preventing or mitigating the risk drivers. To address these and other areas, the handbook advocates a proactive, analytic-deliberative, risk-informed approach to system safety, enabling the integration of system safety activities with systems engineering and risk management processes. It emphasizes how one can systematically provide the necessary evidence to substantiate the claim that a system is safe to within an acceptable risk tolerance, and that safety has been achieved in a cost-effective manner. The methodology discussed in this handbook is part of a systems engineering process and is intended to be integral to the system safety practices being conducted by the NASA safety and mission assurance and systems engineering organizations. The handbook posits that to conclude that a system is adequately safe, it is necessary to consider a set of safety claims that derive from the safety objectives of the organization. The safety claims are developed from a hierarchy of safety objectives and are therefore hierarchical themselves. Assurance that all the claims are true within acceptable risk tolerance limits implies that all of the safety objectives have been satisfied, and therefore that the system is safe. The acceptable risk tolerance limits are provided by the authority who must make the decision whether or not to proceed to the next step in the life cycle. These tolerances are therefore referred to as the decision maker's risk tolerances. In general, the safety claims address two fundamental facets of safety: 1) whether required safety thresholds or goals have been achieved, and 2) whether the safety risk is as low as possible within reasonable impacts on cost, schedule, and performance. The latter facet includes consideration of controls that are collective in nature (i.e., apply generically to broad categories of risks) and thereby provide protection against unidentified or uncharacterized risks.
The purpose of this handbook is to provide guidance for implementing the Risk Management (RM) requirements of NASA Procedural Requirements (NPR) document NPR 8000.4A, Agency Risk Management Procedural Requirements [1], with a specific focus on programs and projects, and applying to each level of the NASA organizational hierarchy as requirements flow down. This handbook supports RM application within the NASA systems engineering process, and is a complement to the guidance contained in NASA/SP-2007-6105, NASA Systems Engineering Handbook [2]. Specifically, this handbook provides guidance that is applicable to the common technical processes of Technical Risk Management and Decision Analysis established by NPR 7123.1A, NASA Systems Engineering Process and Requirements [3]. These processes are part of the \Systems Engineering Engine. (Figure 1) that is used to drive the development of the system and associated work products to satisfy stakeholder expectations in all mission execution domains, including safety, technical, cost, and schedule. Like NPR 7123.1A, NPR 8000.4A is a discipline-oriented NPR that intersects with product-oriented NPRs such as NPR 7120.5D, NASA Space Flight Program and Project Management Requirements [4]; NPR 7120.7, NASA Information Technology and Institutional Infrastructure Program and Project Management Requirements [5]; and NPR 7120.8, NASA Research and Technology Program and Project Management Requirements [6]. In much the same way that the NASA Systems Engineering Handbook is intended to provide guidance on the implementation of NPR 7123.1A, this handbook is intended to provide guidance on the implementation of NPR 8000.4A. 1.2 Scope and Depth This handbook provides guidance for conducting RM in the context of NASA program and project life cycles, which produce derived requirements in accordance with existing systems engineering practices that flow down through the NASA organizational hierarchy. The guidance in this handbook is not meant to be prescriptive. Instead, it is meant to be general enough, and contain a sufficient diversity of examples, to enable the reader to adapt the methods as needed to the particular risk management issues that he or she faces. The handbook highlights major issues to consider when managing programs and projects in the presence of potentially significant uncertainty, so that the user is better able to recognize and avoid pitfalls that might otherwise be experienced.
Several NASA missions suffered failures and anomalies due to problems in applying space mechanisms technology to specific projects. Research shows that engineers often lack either adequate knowledge of mechanism design or sufficient understanding of how mechanisms affect sensitive systems. The Space Mechanisms Project conducted a Lessons Learned study and published a Space Mechanisms Handbook to help space industry engineers avoid recurring design, qualification, and application problems. The Space Mechanisms Handbook written at the NASA Glenn Research Center details the state-of-the-art in space mechanisms design as of 1998. NASA's objective in developing this Space Mechanisms Handbook was to provide readily accessible information on such areas as space mechanisms design, mechanical component availability and use, testing and qualification of mechanical systems, and a listing of worldwide space mechanisms experts and testing facilities in the United States. This handbook has been expanded into a two-volume CD-ROM set in an Adobe Acrobat format. In addition to the handbook, the CD's include (1) the two volume Space Mechanisms Lessons Learned Study, (2) proceedings from all the NASA hosted Aerospace Mechanisms Symposia held through the year 2000, (3) the Space Materials Handbook, (4) the Lubrication Handbook for the Space Industry, (5) the Structural & Mechanical Systems Long-Life Assurance Design Guidelines, (6) the Space Environments and Effects Source-Book, (7) the Spacecraft Deployable Appendages manual, (8) the Fastener Design Manual, (9) A Manual for Pyrotechnic Design, Development and Qualification, (10) the Report on Alternative Devices to Pyrotechnics on Spacecraft, and (11) Gearing (a manual). In addition, numerous other papers on tribology and lubrication are included.This technical summary of the project provides information on how to obtain the handbook and related information.
This handbook is intended to provide general guidance and information on systems engineering that will be useful to the NASA community. It provides a generic description of Systems Engineering (SE) as it should be applied throughout NASA. A goal of the handbook is to increase awareness and consistency across the Agency and advance the practice of SE. This handbook provides perspectives relevant to NASA and data particular to NASA. The coverage in this handbook is limited to general concepts and generic descriptions of processes, tools, and techniques. It provides information on systems engineering best practices and pitfalls to avoid. There are many Center-specific handbooks and directives as well as textbooks that can be consulted for in-depth tutorials. This handbook describes systems engineering as it should be applied to the development and implementation of large and small NASA programs and projects. NASA has defined different life cycles that specifically address the major project categories, or product lines, which are: Flight Systems and Ground Support (FS&GS), Research and Technology (R&T), Construction of Facilities (CoF), and Environmental Compliance and Restoration (ECR). The technical content of the handbook provides systems engineering best practices that should be incorporated into all NASA product lines. (Check the NASA On-Line Directives Information System (NODIS) electronic document library for applicable NASA directives on topics such as product lines.) For simplicity this handbook uses the FS&GS product line as an example. The specifics of FS&GS can be seen in the description of the life cycle and the details of the milestone reviews. Each product line will vary in these two areas; therefore, the reader should refer to the applicable NASA procedural requirements for the specific requirements for their life cycle and reviews. The engineering of NASA systems requires a systematic and disciplined set of processes that are applied recursively and iteratively for the design, development, operation, maintenance, and closeout of systems throughout the life cycle of the programs and projects.
Innumerable experiments have been performed worldwide to support criticality safety activities. Those experiments represent significant investments in cost, expertise, and infrastructure; as such, they represent valuable assets as the basis for recording, development, and validation of methods and nuclear data vital for modern and future criticality safety needs. Preservation and evaluation of these experimental data as benchmarks serves to provide for the best interest of the nuclear criticality safety community. High-quality integral benchmark experiments have always been a priority. There is ever growing interest in developing integral benchmark data to increasingly quantify and reduce calculational uncertainties to meet the demands of future criticality safety needs supporting next generation reactors and advanced fuel cycle concepts. The importance of drawing upon existing benchmark data is becoming more apparent be-cause of dwindling availability of critical facilities worldwide and the high cost of per-forming new experiments. Integral benchmark data from the International Handbook of Evaluated Criticality Safety Benchmark Experiments (ICSBEP Handbook) and the International Handbook of Reactor Physics Benchmark Experiments (IRPhEP Handbook) are widely utilized. Significant benchmark data have been added to those two handbooks since the last Nuclear Criticality Safety Division Topical Meeting in Wilmingt on, North Carolina (September-October 2013). This paper highlights those additions. The 2016 edition of the ICSBEP Handbook now includes data for 570 evaluations containing benchmark specifications for 4,913 critical, subcritical, or near-critical configurations, representing contributions from over 20 countries. There are a total of 7 criticality-alarm-placement/shielding evaluations containing a total of 45 benchmark configurations, and 8 fundamental physics benchmark evaluations containing a total of 215 measurements relevant to criticality safety applications. The IRPhEP Handbook now includes data from 151 experimental series (representing 50 reactor facilities) and also represents contributions from over 20 countries. Of the 151 benchmarks, five are draft contributions. Both the ICSBEP and IRPhEP are collaborative efforts that involve numerous scientists, engineers, and administrative support personnel worldwide. Continued contribution to these handbooks is expected to further provide the high-quality benchmark data necessary to compliment criticality safety activities going forward.
Innumerable experiments have been performed worldwide to support criticality safety activities. Those experiments represent significant investments in cost, expertise, and infrastructure; as such, they represent valuable assets as the basis for recording, development, and validation of methods and nuclear data vital for modern and future criticality safety needs. Preservation and evaluation of these experimental data as benchmarks serves to provide for the best interest of the nuclear criticality safety community. High-quality integral benchmark experiments have always been a priority. There is ever growing interest in developing integral benchmark data to increasingly quantify and reduce calculational uncertainties to meet the demands of future criticality safety needs supporting next generation reactors and advanced fuel cycle concepts. The importance of drawing upon existing benchmark data is becoming more apparent because of dwindling availability of critical facilities worldwide and the high cost of performing new experiments. Integral benchmark data from the International Handbook of Evaluated Criticality Safety Benchmark Experiments (ICSBEP Handbook) and the International Handbook of Reactor Physics Benchmark Experiments (IRPhEP Handbook) are widely utilized. Significant benchmark data have been added to those two handbooks since the last Nuclear Criticality Safety Division Topical Meeting in Wilmington, North Carolina (September-October 2013). This paper highlights those additions. The 2016 edition of the ICSBEP Handbook now includes data for 570 evaluations containing benchmark specifications for 4913 critical, subcritical, or near-critical configurations, representing contributions from over 20 countries. There are a total of seven criticality-alarm-placement/shielding evaluations containing a total of 45 benchmark configurations, and eight fundamental physics benchmark evaluations containing a total of 215 measurements relevant to criticality safety applications. The IRPhEP Handbook now includes data from 151 experimental series (representing 50 reactor facilities) and also represents contributions from over 20 countries. Of the 151 benchmarks, five are draft contributions. Both the ICSBEP and IRPhEP are collaborative efforts that involve numerous scientists, engineers, and administrative support personnel worldwide. Continued contribution to these handbooks is expected to further provide the high-quality benchmark data necessary to compliment criticality safety activities going forward. (authors)
Transmutation of minor actinides such as Np, Am, and Cm in spent nuclear fuel is of international interest because of its potential for reducing the long-term health and safety hazards caused by the radioactivity of the spent fuel. One important approach to transmutation (currently being pursued by the DOE Fuel Cycle Research & Development Advanced Fuels Campaign) involves incorporating the minor actinides into U-Pu-Zr alloys, which can be used as fuel in fast reactors. U-Pu-Zr alloys are well suited for electrolytic refining, which leads to incorporation rare-earth fission products such as La, Ce, Pr, and Nd. It is, therefore, important to understand not only the properties of U-Pu-Zr alloys but also those of U-Pu-Zr alloys with concentrations of minor actinides (Np, Am) and rare-earth elements (La, Ce, Pr, and Nd) similar to those in reprocessed fuel. In addition to requiring extensive safety precautions, alloys containing U, Pu, and minor actinides (Np and Am) are difficult to study for numerous reasons, including their complex phase transformations, characteristically sluggish phasetransformation kinetics, tendency to produce experimental results that vary depending on the histories of individual samples, rapid oxidation, and sensitivity to contaminants such as oxygen in concentrations below a hundred parts per million. Although less toxic, rare-earth elements such as La, Ce, Pr, and Nd are also difficult to study for similar reasons. Many of the experimental measurements were made before 1980, and the level of documentation for experimental methods and results varies widely. It is, therefore, not surprising that little is known with certainty about U-Pu-Zr alloys, particularly those that also contain minor actinides and rare-earth elements. General acceptance of results commonly indicates that there is only a single measurement for a particular property. This handbook summarizes currently available information about U, Pu, Zr, Np, Am, La, Ce, Pr, and Nd and alloys of two or three of these elements. It contains information about phase diagrams and related information (including phases and phase transformations); heat capacity, entropy, and enthalpy; thermal expansion; and thermal conductivity and diffusivity. In addition to presenting information about materials properties, the handbook attempts to provide information about how well the property is known and how much variation exists between measurements. Although it includes some results from models, its primary focus is experimental data. The Handbook is organized in two sections: one with information about the U-Pu-Zr ternary and one with information about other elements and binary and vi ternary alloys in the U-Np-Pu-Am-La-Ce-Pr-Nd-Zr system. Within each section, information about elements is presented first, followed by information about binary alloys, then information about ternary alloys. The order in which the elements in each alloy are mentioned follows the order in the first sentence of this paragraph. Much of the information on the U-Pu-Zr system repeats information from the FCRD Transmutation Fuels Handbook 2015. Most of the other data has been published elsewhere (although scattered throughout numerous references, some quite obscure); however, some data from Idaho National Laboratory is presented here for the first time. As the FCRD programmatic mission evolves, future editions of this handbook will begin to include other advanced reactor fuel designs and compositions. Hence, the title of the handbook will transition to the Advanced Reactor Fuels Handbook.
The update of this handbook continues the methodology of the previous revision: a top-down compatibility with higher level Agency policy and a bottom-up infusion of guidance from the NASA practitioners in the field. This approach provides the opportunity to obtain best practices from across NASA and bridge the information to the established NASA systems engineering processes and to communicate principles of good practice as well as alternative approaches rather than specify a particular way to accomplish a task. The result embodied in this handbook is a top-level implementation approach on the practice of systems engineering unique to NASA. Material used for updating this handbook has been drawn from many sources, including NPRs, Center systems engineering handbooks and processes, other Agency best practices, and external systems engineering textbooks and guides. This handbook consists of six chapters: (1) an introduction, (2) a systems engineering fundamentals discussion, (3) the NASA program project life cycles, (4) systems engineering processes to get from a concept to a design, (5) systems engineering processes to get from a design to a final product, and (6) crosscutting management processes in systems engineering. The chapters are supplemented by appendices that provide outlines, examples, and further information to illustrate topics in the chapters. The handbook makes extensive use of boxes and figures to define, refine, illustrate, and extend concepts in the chapters.
The International Reactor Physics Experiment Evaluation Project (IRPhEP) was established to preserve and evaluate integral reactor physics experiment data, including separate or special effects measurements for nuclear energy and technology applications. Numerous international experiments have been performed over the past several decades to support reactor operations, safety, measurements, and design. Those experiments represent a significant investment of infrastructure, cost, and expertise that, in many instances, cannot be as easily reproduced. They represent valuable resources of data for present and future research, and provide the basis for recording, development, and validation of methods. Contributors worldwide collaborate to evaluate and review selected benchmark experiments for inclusion in the International Handbook of Evaluated Reactor Physics Benchmark Experiments (IRPhEP Handbook). Several new evaluations, and revisions to existing benchmarks have been prepared for inclusion in the 2018 edition of the IRPhEP Handbook. Additionally, an IRPhEP Uncertainty Guide was discussed to provide further guidance regarding the evaluation of reactor physics measurements besides criticality. Recent changes to the IRPhEP Handbook include five minor revisions, the revision of a previous benchmark evaluation to include new data, publication of a new draft benchmark evaluation, final approval for the formal publication of two formerly draft benchmark evaluations, and the inclusion of ten new benchmark evaluations. The IRPhEP Handbook now contains a total of 159 experimental measurement series from 54 unique reactor facilities. International participants are actively engaged in ongoing evaluation activities to prepare content for future editions of the IRPhEP Handbook. There are numerous experiment and reactor facilities worldwide from which benchmark data can be evaluated. Those interested in serving as evaluators and/or reviewers for the IRPhEP are encouraged to participate.
This handbook is a guide for facilities maintenance managers. Its objective is to set minimum facilities maintenance standards. It also provides recommendations on how to meet the standards to ensure that NASA maintains its facilities in a manner that protects and preserves its investment in the facilities in a cost-effective manner while safely and efficiently performing its mission. This handbook implements NMI 8831.1, which states NASA facilities maintenance policy and assigns organizational responsibilities for the management of facilities maintenance activities on all properties under NASA jurisdiction. It is a reference for facilities maintenance managers, not a step-by-step procedural manual. Because of the differences in NASA Field Installation organizations, this handbook does not assume or recommend a typical facilities maintenance organization. Instead, it uses a systems approach to describe the functions that should be included in any facilities maintenance management system, regardless of its organizational structure. For documents referenced in the handbook, the most recent version of the documents is applicable. This handbook is divided into three parts: Part 1 specifies common definitions and facilities maintenance requirements and amplifies the policy requirements contained in NMI 8831. 1; Part 2 provides guidance on how to meet the requirements of Part 1, containing recommendations only; Part 3 contains general facilities maintenance information. One objective of this handbook is to fix commonality of facilities maintenance definitions among the Centers. This will permit the application of uniform measures of facilities conditions, of the relationship between current replacement value and maintenance resources required, and of the backlog of deferred facilities maintenance. The utilization of facilities maintenance system functions will allow the Centers to quantitatively define maintenance objectives in common terms, prepare work plans, and develop management information in order to statistically identify and analyze variances from those plans. It will also add credibility to the NASA facilities maintenance budgeting process. The key to a successful maintenance program is the understanding and support of the senior Center managers.
A new NASA document entitled "Terrestrial Environment (Climatic) Criteria Handbook for Use in Aerospace Vehicle Development (NASA-HDBK-1001A) has been developed. The Handbook provides terrestrial environment information, data bases, models, recommendations, etc. for use in the design, development, trade studies, testing, and mission analyses for space (or launch) .vehicles. This document is organized into fourteen specific natural environment disciplines of which some are winds, atmospheric models, thermal radiation, precipitation-for-icing, cloud cover, atmospheric electricity, geologic hazards, toxic chemical release by propulsion systems, and sea state. Atmospheric phenomena play a significant role in the design and flight of aerospace vehicles and in the integrity of the associated aerospace systems and structures. Environmental design criteria guidelines in this document are based on measurements and observations of atmospheric and climatic phenomena relative to various aerospace development, operational, and vehicle launch locations. The natural environment criteria guidelines data presented in this Handbook were formulated based on discussions with and requests from engineers involved in aerospace vehicle development and operations. Therefore, they represent responses to actual engineering problems and are not just a general compilation of environmental data. The Handbook addresses the basis for the information presented, the interpretations of the terrestrial environment guideline given in the Handbook, and its application to the development of aerospace vehicle design requirements. Specific examples of the Handbook content and associated "lessons lenmed" are given in this paper.
A new NASA document entitled "Terrestrial Environment (Climatic) Criteria Handbook for Use in Aerospace Vehicle Development (NASA-HDBK-IOO1A) has been developed. The Handbook provides terrestrial environment information, data bases, models, recommendations, etc. for use in the design, development, trade studies, testing, and mission analyses for space (or launch) vehicles. This document is organized into fourteen specific natural environment disciplines of which some are winds, atmospheric models, thermal radiation, precipitation-for-icing, cloud cover, atmospheric electricity, geologic hazards, toxic chemical release by propulsion systems, and sea state. Atmospheric phenomena play a significant role in the design and flight of aerospace vehicles and in the integrity of the associated aerospace systems and structures. Environmental design criteria guidelines in this document are based on measurements and observations of atmospheric and climatic phenomena relative to various aerospace development, operational, and vehicle launch locations. The natural environment criteria guidelines data presented in this Handbook were formulated based on discussions with and requests from engineers involved in aerospace vehicle development and operations. Therefore, they represent responses to actual engineering problems and are not just a general compilation of environmental data. The Handbook addresses the basis for the information presented, the interpretations of the terrestrial environment guideline given in the Handbook, and its application to the development of aerospace vehicle design requirements. Specific examples of the Handbook content and associated "lessons lenmed" are given in this paper.
Disciplined approach to Fault Management (FM) has not always been emphasized by projects, contributing to major schedule and cost overruns: (1) Often faults aren't addressed until nominal spacecraft design is fairly stable. (2) Design relegated to after-the-fact patchwork, Band-Aid approach. Progress is being made on a number of fronts outside of Handbook effort: (1) Processes, Practices and Tools being developed at some Centers and Institutions (2) Management recognition. Constellation FM roles, Discovery/New Frontiers mission reviews (3) Potential Technology solutions. New approaches could avoid many current pitfalls (3a) New FM architectures, including model-based approach integrated with NASA's MBSE (Model-Based System Engineering) efforts (3b) NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist: FM identified in seven of NASA's 14 Space Technology Roadmaps. Opportunity to coalesce and establish thrust area to progressively develop new FM techniques. FM Handbook will help ensure that future missions do not encounter same FM-related problems as previous missions. Version 1 of the FM Handbook is a good start: (1) Still need Version 2 Agency-wide FM Handbook to expand Handbook to other areas, especially crewed missions. (2) Still need to reach out to other organizations to develop common understanding and vocabulary. Handbook doesn't/can't address all Workshop recommendations. Still need to identify how to address programmatic and infrastructure issues.
Developed in 2018-2019, NASA-STD-7012 Leak Test Requirements, has been drafted based mostly on the NASA technical requirement documents applicable to the International Space Station (ISS) hardware and payloads that were developed over the years taking into consideration many known references such as Leakage Testing Handbook prepared by General Electric for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the ASTM International standards for leak testing, and last, but not least, the ASNT Nondestructive Testing Handbook for Leak Testing. Thus, NASA-STD-7012 has a reference to the above-mentioned handbook in the leak test method/technique descriptions. However, there are some technical details that are described differently in NASA standard and ASNT Handbook. Those technical details are mostly related to the classification of the leak test methods/techniques, and also to tracer gas to working fluid (gas or liquid) leakage rate conversion methodology, and to some definitions used in the text of both NASA standard and ASNT Handbook. Those differences are going to be briefly described in this paper to let ASNT leak test experts decide if they want to refer to NASA-STD-7012 while working on the next edition of the ASNT Handbook, Volume 2 for Leak Testing.
The Kepler spacecraft was repurposed for the K2 mission a year after the failure of the second of Kepler's four reaction wheels in 2013 May. The purpose of this document, the K2 Handbook (K2H), is to describe features of K2 operations, performance, data analysis, and archive products which are common to most K2 campaigns, but different in degree or kind from the corresponding features of the Kepler mission.The K2 Handbook is meant to be read with the following companion documents, which are all publicly available:1. Kepler Instrument Handbook (KSCI-19033) provides information about the design, performance and operational constraints of the instrument and an overview of the types of pixel data that are available.2. Kepler Data Processing Handbook (KSCI-19081) describes how pixels downloaded from the spacecraft are converted by the Kepler Data Processing Pipeline into the data products available at the MAST archive3. Kepler Archive Manual (KDMC-100008) describes the format and content of the data products and how to search for them.4. Kepler Data Characteristics Handbook (KSCI-19040) describes recurring non-astrophysical features of the Kepler data due to instrument signatures, spacecraft events or solar activity and explains how these characteristics are handled by the Kepler pipeline.5. The Ecliptic Plane Input Catalog describes the provenance of the positions and Kepler magnitudes used for target management and aperature photometry.6. K2 Data Release Notes (DRN) are on-line documents available on the K2 science website which describe the data inventory, instrumental signatures and events peculiar to individual observing campaigns.
The objective of the Knowledge Transfer Workshop is to transfer selected fundamental nuclear energy technology knowledge and experience to the nuclear industry’s next generation of leaders. The course provides the original bases for fundamental safety concepts, design features, and reactor technologies. The course discusses the “why” and the “how” for decisions that led to the current commercial nuclear reactor designs and regulatory framework. Various accidents and their attributes as well as other events that have strongly affected the evolution of the safety case, plant design, and operations are discussed. To prepare the course participant for the topics discussed, this handbook provides a crash course into the current state of commercialized Light Water Reactor technology. The material is introductory for the interested layperson and also serves as a refresher for scientists and engineers that may have studied Light Water Reactors at one time, but are currently not an expert in this field of nuclear engineering. This handbook is a brief tutorial and refresher training material on basic Light Water Reactor (LWR) core physics and plant systems. It is reference material for attendees of the Knowledge Transfer Workshop. There are two types of LWR technologies, Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) and Boiling Water Reactors (BWR). This handbook discusses fundamental design traits of each providing contrasts between performance and safety features. The intent is to provide the participants with an understanding of nuclear terminology associated with LWR technology, including fundamentals, systems, safety, and regulations. This handbook is not an original textbook. Many authors have contributed collegiate level introduction to nuclear engineering texts. Rather, this material is intended to be a graded summary of important aspects of LWR reactor core and plant systems. It draws heavily on other resources. The interested reader is encouraged to follow citations made in this handbook to more thorough or detailed public references.