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NASA NTRS2014

SPHERES National Lab Facility

SPHERES is a facility of the ISS National Laboratory with three IVA nano-satellites designed and delivered by MIT to research estimation, control, and autonomy algorithms. Since Fall 2010, The SPHERES system is now operationally supported and managed by NASA Ames Research Center (ARC). A SPHERES Program Office was established and is located at NASA Ames Research Center. The SPHERES Program Office coordinates all SPHERES related research and STEM activities on-board the International Space Station (ISS), as well as, current and future payload development. By working aboard ISS under crew supervision, it provides a risk tolerant Test-bed Environment for Distributed Satellite Free-flying Control Algorithms. If anything goes wrong, reset and try again! NASA has made the capability available to other U.S. government agencies, schools, commercial companies and students to expand the pool of ideas for how to test and use these bowling ball-sized droids. For many of the researchers, SPHERES offers the only opportunity to do affordable on-orbit characterization of their technology in the microgravity environment. Future utilization of SPHERES as a facility will grow its capabilities as a platform for science, technology development, and education.

Free Flyer↗
NASA NTRS1974

Electric potential on solid spheres in a plasma

Derivation of the general expression for the potential on a solid sphere immersed in a plasma, showing the dependence of the potential on the radius (a) of the sphere and the radius (s) of the plasma sheath that develops around the sphere. In the limit where the radius a is much larger than the sheath thickness s-a, the well-known result for the potential on an infinite wall in contact with a plasma is recovered from this expression. At the other extreme, where s is much larger than a, the result derived by Spitzer (1941) for the potential on spherical grains in the interstellar plasma is obtained. Since the surface of the sphere forms a sink for the charged particles, there is a net drift of the plasma towards the surface. The effect of this drift on the potential is examined. Finally, for very small metallic spheres, an effect leading to a revision of the potential is discussed. This effect consists in a lowering of the potential barrier for the electrons due to the image force. The various effects limiting the potential on spheres are discussed.

De, B. R.↗
NASA NTRS1976

An evaluation of temperature profiles from falling sphere soundings

An evaluation of 30 pairs of high-altitude inflatable falling spheres and independent thermistor soundings with a mean rocket-launch-time separation of 27 min shows average temperature differences within 6 C at 32-70 km, except for an average difference of 10 C at 68 km near Mach 1 in the sphere descent curve. The mean difference is exhibited as a negative bias (sphere temperature colder) for which various explanations are considered. The rms temperature differences are greatest near 50 km (7 C) and 68 km (11 C). From 70 to approximately 87.5 km, confidence in the reliability of the sphere temperature soundings is based on the 'repeatability' of pairs of sphere soundings taken within 20 min, temperature differences generally being less than 10 C. Illustrations of large atmospheric variations measured by the sphere soundings are given along with verification from independent measurements.

Quiroz, R. S.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Aerodynamics of spheres for Mach numbers from 0.6 to 10.5 including some effects of test conditions

Wind tunnel tests were made for spheres of various sizes over a range of Mach numbers and Reynolds numbers. The results indicated some conditions where the drag was affected by changes in the afterbody pressure due to a shock reflection from the tunnel wall. This effect disappeared when the Mach number was increased for a given sphere size or when the sphere size was decreased for a given Mach number. Drag measurements and Schlieren photographs show the possibility of obtaining inaccurate data when tests are made with a sphere too large for the test section size and Mach number. Tests were also made of an oblate spheroid. The results indicated a region at high Mach numbers where inherent positive static stability might occur with the oblate-face forward. The drag results are compared with those for a sphere and those for various other shapes. The drag results for the oblate spheriod and the sphere are also compared with some calculated results.

Spearman, M. Leroy↗
NASA NTRS1991

Method for calculating and observing microwave absorption by a sphere in a single mode rectangular cavity

A new theory of microwave absorption by a lossy dielectric sphere in a single mode rectangular cavity has been recently developed. The absorption was treated in the framework of an electromagnetic scattering problem. That theory is summarized here and calculated results that bear on optimizing the processing of materials are illustrated. Methods for observing power absorption and other results predicted by the scattering model are discussed. Cavity perturbation theory provides a bridge between theoretical calculations and experimental observations, and a special problem that arises when an established version of cavity perturbation theory is applied to spheres is identified, analyzed, and resolved. The direct problem of predicting shifts in frequency and Q from model calculations is discussed for a sphere in a cavity when the sphere's complex dielectric constant is known. Also, the inverse problem of determining the complex dielectric constants from measured values of those shifts is considered. The small sphere limit, where an electrostatic or quasistatic model is valid, is treated in detail, and planned work on parallel problems for larger spheres is described.

Jackson, H. W.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Aerodynamics of a sphere and an oblate spheroid for Mach numbers from 0.6 to 10.5 including some effects of test conditions

Wind-tunnel tests were made for spheres of various sizes over a range of Mach numbers and Reynolds numbers. The results indicated some conditions where the drag was affected by changes in the afterbody pressure due to a shock reflection from the tunnel wall. This effect disappeared when the Mach number was increased for a given sphere size or when the sphere size was decreased for a given Mach number. Drag measurements and Schlieren photographs are presented that show the possibility of obtaining inaccurate data when tests are made with a sphere too large for the test section size and Mach number. Tests were also made of an oblate spheroid. The results indicated a region at high Mach numbers where inherent positive static stability might occur with the oblate-face forward. The drag results are compared with those for a sphere as well as those for various other shapes. The drag results for the oblate spheroid and the sphere are also compared with some calculated results.

Spearman, M. Leroy↗
NASA NTRS1993

Remote sensing estimates of cirrus particle size for tropical and midlatitude cirrus: Hexagonal crystals and ice spheres

A large discrepancy exists in current estimates of a mean cirrus particle size appropriate for calculations of the effects of these ice clouds on solar and thermal infrared radiative fluxes. For spheres with large size parameter (x = (2 pi r / lambda) is greater than 30, where r is particle radius), and moderate absorption (n(sup i) x less than 1, where n(sup i) is imaginary index of refraction for ice), the optimal effective particle radius is given by: r(sub e) = integral of r(exp 3)n(r)dr / integral of r(exp 2)n(r)dr. For the remote sensing of cirrus particle size at wavelengths of 0.83, 1.65, and 2.21 mu m, a 50 mu m ice sphere would have a size parameter of about 200, and values of n(sup i) x of 0, 0.045, and 0.06, satisfying the above conditions. However, while r(sub e) is a well-defined parameter for spheres, this cross-section area-weighted particle radius can only be extended to non-spherical particles by defining some equivalent sphere, typically an equivalent volume or equivalent cross-section area sphere. Using equivalent volume spheres, values of r(sub e) obtained over Lake Michigan on October 28, 1986, during FIRE phase I varied from 200 mu m (King Air 2D Imaging probes) to 60 mu m (Landsat reflectances at 0.83, 1.65, and 2.2 mu m), to 25 mu m (HIS spectrometer thermal emission between 8 and 12 mu m). Three major uncertainties were identified in this comparison: small ice particles missed by the 2D-C aircraft probes, uncertain ice refractive index, and uncertainties in the single scatter albedos and scattering phase functions used in the radiative calculations. Since the first FIRE cirrus results, advances have been made in all three areas. The present paper reports on improvements in the radiative modeling of ice particles at 0.83, 1.65, and 2.21 mu m wavelengths appropriate for comparisons to Landsat Thematic Mapper data. The paper also includes new results for Landsat observations of ice clouds in the eastern and western tropical Pacific.

Wielicki, Bruce A.↗
NASA NTRS2001

HALOE Temperature Data Comparison with Rocket-Borne Falling Sphere Temperatures

Recent comparison of upper stratospheric and mesospheric temperatures measured with the HALOE instrument on UARS and the rocket-borne passive inflatable falling sphere launched from Wallops Island reveals a temperature bias of up to 10 K between about 66 and 72 km. Falling sphere measurements analyzed between 1991 and 1995 were used in the comparison, however, these measurements were processed with an earlier version of the reduction software that included temperature bias in the region of 70 km. The bias arose from a discontinuity in the falling sphere drag table. This discontinuity occurs when the sphere's fall velocity changes from the supersonic to the subsonic flow regime and has been called the MACH 1 problem. Improvement to the software employed and the availability of a new atmospheric model is now used to initiate reduction of the radar tracking data. It is possible new reduction of the existing data will reduce the bias currently observed. We plan to show changes, if any, in the size of the bias between HALOE and the falling sphere temperatures after reprocessing of the sphere measurements.

Schmidlin, F. J.↗
NASA NTRS2004

SPHERES as Formation Flight Algorithm Development and Validation Testbed: Current Progress and Beyond

The MIT-SSL SPHERES testbed provides a facility for the development of algorithms necessary for the success of Distributed Satellite Systems (DSS). The initial development contemplated formation flight and docking control algorithms; SPHERES now supports the study of metrology, control, autonomy, artificial intelligence, and communications algorithms and their effects on DSS projects. To support this wide range of topics, the SPHERES design contemplated the need to support multiple researchers, as echoed from both the hardware and software designs. The SPHERES operational plan further facilitates the development of algorithms by multiple researchers, while the operational locations incrementally increase the ability of the tests to operate in a representative environment. In this paper, an overview of the SPHERES testbed is first presented. The SPHERES testbed serves as a model of the design philosophies that allow for the various researches being carried out on such a facility. The implementation of these philosophies are further highlighted in the three different programs that are currently scheduled for testing onboard the International Space Station (ISS) and three that are proposed for a re-flight mission: Mass Property Identification, Autonomous Rendezvous and Docking, TPF Multiple Spacecraft Formation Flight in the first flight and Precision Optical Pointing, Tethered Formation Flight and Mars Orbit Sample Retrieval for the re-flight mission.

Kong, Edmund M.↗
NASA NTRS2019

Time Resolved Irradiance of an Integrating Sphere Illuminated by a Mode-Locked Optical Parametric Oscillator

Tunable laser based illumination sources have been adopted by a number of recent hyperspectral instruments for pre-launch spectral radiometric calibration. Some of these sources use mode-locked cavity configurations, which produce a pulse train and create an undesirable fluctuation in the radiometric source at the mode locking frequency. Although typically this frequency is several orders of magnitude higher than the instrument response, care must be taken to ensure the resultant calibration is not biased due to detector or electronic saturation effects. The temporal averaging properties of an integrating sphere can be used to reduce high frequency fluctuations to an acceptable level. In this work, the time resolved output of an integrating sphere coupled with a mode-locked source was measured. A 76 cm diameter sphere with 30 cm output aperture was illuminated using a mode-locked pulse train at 76 MHz, with single pulse durations of 12 ps. The time constant of the sphere was found to be 36 ns, and the resultant temporal averaging of pulses produced a maximum time varying irradiance at the output of 20% of the mean. The form of this time variance is a sawtooth pattern, with a sharp rise during the introduction of each pulse into the sphere followed by a slower decay between pulses. A comparison of instrument calibration data generated with this integrating sphere using both a mode locked source and a continuous wave source is also given. .

McAndrew, Brendan↗
NASA NTRS1928

Recent researches on the air resistance of spheres

The following conclusions on air resistance of spheres are drawn: 1) disturbances in front of the sphere and even single fine wires affect the critical Reynolds Number; 2) disturbances around the sphere increased the drag of the sphere without martially affecting the value of the Reynolds Number(sub crith); 3) great disturbances of the boundary layer of the sphere likewise change R.N.(sub crith); 4) turbulence of the approaching air stream lowers critical R.N.

AERODYNAMICS↗
NASA NTRS1972

Critical levitation loci for spheres on cryogenic fluids.

The conditions which allow a fluid to support a sphere having a higher specific gravity than its own are investigated. Three basic parameters which together define the maximum floating conditions are considered, including the Bond number, the wetting angle of the interface, and the ratio of solid-liquid specific gravities. The Bond number represents the ratio of buoyancy to surface tension forces. An analysis of the forces at the sphere-liquid interface is conducted to determine the optimum levitation loci, that is, the conditions permitting flotation of a maximum density sphere. Data for glycerine, carbon tetrachloride, and water spheres floating on a liquid nitrogen surface appear to be in good agreement with the analysis. Data for Teflon spheres on water also appear to be in agreement with the analytical results.

Hendricks, R. C.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Dual falling sphere determination of density and transition flow parameter

A new approach to the analysis of falling sphere drag data is described in which the data from two trajectories through the same region of the atmosphere are analyzed simultaneously. The analysis provides important aerodynamic information which is used to obtain an improved value of atmospheric density. The technique is applied to a set of falling sphere data in which a sphere transition-flow parameter and atmospheric density results are obtained in the 80-120 km region from published data for falling spheres over Kwajalein. Another set of data for a falling sphere test over Wallops Island is also analyzed with comparable results.

Karr, G. R.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Resonance frequency shift of an acoustic chamber containing a rigid sphere

The resonance frequency shift of an acoustic rectangular chamber due to the presence of a rigid sphere has been measured for l = 1,2 modes as a function of sphere size and position. The frequency shift is the results of volume exclusion and wave scattering. An analytical Green's function calculation was used to explain the data, providing excellent agreement between the measured and the calculated values. Also reported are similar measurements for a thin disk and the ratio of second harmonic to fundamental pressure as a function of sphere position. The measurement shows that the sphere reduces the first harmonic content, with sharply peaked suppression minima at specific sphere positions.

Leung, E.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Evaporative coating of a sphere from a point source

To optimize the procedure for evaporating a metal film onto a sphere, calculations of the film thickness distribution for various motions of the sphere have been carried out. These calculations, including shadowing effects of sphere support rods, are presented in this paper. Also, an apparatus and procedure for the evaporative coating of a sphere are described. A comparison of measured thickness with the calculated values is made for one example of sphere motion. The implications of the calculated results for coating techniques are discussed.

Strayer, D. M.↗
NASA NTRS1985

The importance of precision radar tracking data for the determination of density and winds from the high-altitude inflatable sphere

Analysis of inflatable sphere measurements obtained during the Energy Budget and MAP/WINE campaigns led to questions concerning the precision of the MPS-36 radar used for tracking the spheres; the compatibility of the sphere program with the MPS-36 radar tracking data; and the oversmoothing of derived parameters at high altitudes. Simulations, with winds having sinusoidal vertical wavelengths, were done with the sphere program (HIROBIN) to determine the resolving capability of various filters. It is concluded that given a precision radar and a perfectly performing sphere, the HIROBIN filters can be adjusted to provide small-scale perturbation information to 70 km (i.e., sinusoidal wavelengths of 2 km). It is recommended that the HIROBIN program be modified to enable it to use a variable length filter, that adjusts to fall velocity and accelerations to provide wind data with small perturbations.

Schmidlin, F. J.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Results of wind simulations in the mesosphere using precision C-band radars and the inflatable falling sphere technique

The inflatable sphere technique represents a relatively inexpensive approach for obtaining density and wind data between 30 and 90 km. The procedure in its current form is adequate for operational rocket network type application. However, detailed information is lost because of oversmoothing. The present study had the objective to determine whether more detailed wind profiles could be obtained using the inflatable falling sphere and Hirobin. Hirobin is the name for the sphere reduction program used at NASA Wallops Island, VA. In connection with the aim of the study, information had to be obtained regarding the precision of the radar used to track the sphere. For this purpose, data from three C-band radars, each with a different tracking precision, were simulated. On the basis of the results of the investigation, it is concluded that, given a radar with a known precision and a perfectly performing sphere, the Hirobin filters can be adjusted to provide small-scale wind information to about 70 km.

Schmidlin, F. J.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Evidence for accurate temperatures from the inflatable falling sphere

The experiments performed with the inflatable falling sphere technique, for middle atmosphere studies, are reported. It is shown to be a potentially high accurate and independent source of temperature measurement and an intrinsic method for establishing accuracy of other atmospheric measurement techniques. Theoretical derivation, simulations, and actual measurements show that the sphere's temperature data are accurate. It is demonstrated that retrieved temperatures from falling spheres are not significantly affected by linear bias in density caused by uncertainties in sphere mass, volume, or cross sectional area. Case studies illustrate the sphere's capability to produce accurate temperatures. Comparisons with Datasonde temperature measurements obtained close in time and space are in agreement below 60 km.

Schmidlin, F. J.↗