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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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At least 379 records · Page 21

Lunar seismic data analysis

The scientific data transmitted continuously from all ALSEP (Apollo Lunar Surface Experiment Package) stations on the Moon and recorded on instrumentation tapes at receiving stations distributed around the Earth were processed. The processing produced sets of computer-compatible digital tapes, from which various other data sets convenient for analysis were generated. The seismograms were read, various types of seismic events were classified; the detected events were cataloged.

Nakamura, Y.↗

Intermediate power conditioners - Where are we now?

It has been recognized in the photovoltaic (PV) industry that even in the event of a dramatic reduction in the price of generating PV cells, the costs for the other components of the system represent still a major obstacle towards commercialization. A project was, therefore, initiated with the aim to develop baseline and conceptual power conditioner designs which would attempt to meet a specified set of cost and performance goals in the 30 to 200 kW (Intermediate) size. Resulting Intermediate Size Power Conditioner Studies led to a number of conclusions. There is a need for a set of guidelines or standards for utility interconnection. The advent of new devices with more power handling capability will change the desired topology.

Klein, J. W.↗

Deviser - An AI planner for spacecraft operations

The 'Deviser III' automated spacecraft mission planner prototype can plan complete Voyager spacecraft operational sequences consisting of over 100 data capture goals, working 10-50 times faster than a human analyst. The planner generates a loop-free network of actions and events resembling a program evaluation and review technique chart. Actions, events, and inferences are the building blocks from which plans are assembled. It is noted that, for a very large spacecraft mission plan, the backtracking through remembered decision trees entailed by this artificial intelligence system can consume megabite quantities of computer memory.

Vere, S. A.↗

F-15 digital electronic engine control system description

A digital electronic engine control (DEEC) was developed for use on the F100-PW-100 turbofan engine. This control system has full authority control, capable of moving all the controlled variables over their full ranges. The digital computational electronics and fault detection and accomodation logic maintains safe engine operation. A hydromechanical backup control (BUC) is an integral part of the fuel metering unit and provides gas generator control at a reduced performance level in the event of an electronics failure. The DEEC's features, hardware, and major logic diagrams are described.

Myers, L. P.↗

Flow rate and trajectory of water spray produced by an aircraft tire

One of the risks associated with wet runway aircraft operation is the ingestion of water spray produced by an aircraft's tires into its engines. This problem can be especially dangerous at or near rotation speed on the takeoff roll. An experimental investigation was conducted in the NASA Langley Research Center Hydrodynamics Research Facility to measure the flow rate and trajectory of water spray produced by an aircraft nose tire operating on a flooded runway. The effects of various parameters on the spray patterns including distance aft of nosewheel, speed, load, and water depth were evaluated. Variations in the spray pattern caused by the airflow about primary structure such as the fuselage and wing are discussed. A discussion of events in and near the tire footprint concerning spray generation is included.

Daugherty, Robert H.↗

Computer Animation In Perception Research

Artificiality of images apparent to subjects and influences experimental results. Report evalutes computer-generated animation in research on perception of motion. Such research programs not pursued without computer animation, report notes. Computer-generated displays afford variability and control almost impossible to achieve otherwise. Medium limited in that computer-generated images present simplified approximations of dynamics of natural events.

Kaiser, Mary K.↗

BATSE observations of bremsstrahlung from electron precipitation events

The BATSE on-board burst system has been triggered by over 400 terrestrial electron precipitation events. These are the single largest cause of false triggers. Bremsstrahlung is generated as the precipitating electrons interact in the Earth's atmosphere, or in the spacecraft, and this radiation is detected by the Large Area Detectors, often triggering the instrument into burst mode. Several examples of such events are presented here, and the different classes of events are described. A possible correlation of events to strong magnetospheric activity is presented, and the association of a sub-set of events to a powerful VLF transmitter on the western coast of Australia is described.

Horack, J. M.↗

Explosive volcanism and associated pressures - Implications for models of endogenically shocked quartz

The nature of explosive volcanic phenomena and associated pressures, both from field and theoretical perspectives, is discussed. An endogenic origin for shocked quartz at the K/T boundary requires impulsive pressures greater than 60 kbars to be generated during explosive volcanism. Explosive volcanic eruptions which are events of sustained decompression may be initiated by impulsive explosions while the magnitudes of the overpressures are small. These maximum overpressures can be controlled mainly by the tensile strength of the rock surrounding the magma chamber-conduit system. Thus maximum overpressures in the volcanic environment are limited to less than 500 bars which are orders of magnitude less than those required for shock quartz (greater than 60 kbars). This observation is found to be consistent with the complete lack of field or petrographic evidence in support of shock metamorphism associated with volcanic eruptions and their products.

De Silva, S. L.↗

Models for classical gamma-ray bursts

The origin of gamma-ray bursts continues to be a great mystery. Here we review some relevant observations and a number of recent models. While no clear solution exists at the present time, the parameter space for Galactic halo models is becoming very constrained. Cosmological models on the other hand require both enormous total energy and the concentration of that energy into a small mass. This implies compact objects, probably accreting black holes of stellar size. We review some of the physics of such accreting black holes and point out that the jet formed from accretion into a rapidly accreting black hole of stellar mass might precess. This precession, coupled to beaming, could impose additional time structure on the burst and its spectrum. In the event of a 'failed' supernova model, the wind of the Wolf-Rayet star prior to the event could provide the beam dump where the jet generates gamma-rays. Enduring emission that grows harder with time might be expected for several hours as the density in the vicinity of the black hole declines.

Hartmann, D. H.↗

Geosat-derived sea level and surface current anomalies in the equatorial Pacific during the 1986-1989 El Nino and La Nina

Equatorial wave dynamics are essential in most oceanic models for reproducing aspects of the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon. Observational evidence of first baroclinic equatorial Kelvin and first symmetric meridional Rossby waves is found in Geosat-derived sea level anomalies (SLA) and surface zonal current anomalies (ZCA) in the equatorial Pacific ocean during the 1986-1987 El Nino and the ensuing 1988-1989 La Nina. This was made possible after extensive quality control and specific processing of the recently improved Geosat geophysical data records pertaining to the 17-day Exact Repeat Mission. In particular, the processing was made so that the Geosat-derived ZCA best fit near-surface zonal currents from three equatorial moorings at 165 deg E, 140 deg W, and 110 deg W. The Geosat-derived SLA and ZCA are decomposed into first baroclinic equatorial Kelvin and gravest Rossby modes. The emphasis is then put on the chronology of the ZCA at the equator where the currents are the most energetic and where Kelvin and first symmetric Rossby waves explain most of the variance in ZCA, in similar proportion. The 1986-1987 El Nino is mostly characterized by a strong downwelling Kelvin wave in December 1986, a series of downwelling Kelvin waves in March-October 1987, and a strong upwelling Rossby wave in March-September 1987. These waves are consistent with wind forcing, and all give rise to notable eastward ZCA for almost an entire year. During El Nino-La Nina transition period there is the occurrence of two downwelling Rossby waves originating from the eastern Pacific at times of favorable wind forcing. These Rossby waves switch the basin-wide ZCA from eastward to westward, terminating the warm event. Then, the 1988-1989 La Nina shows the generation of a series of upwelling Kelvin waves which are clearly identified in March/April and September/October 1988. These upwelling Kelvin waves are apparently related to the enhencement of the trade wind in the western half of the basin. These waves maintain the basin-wide westward ZCA for more than a year, although the ZCA is slightly reduced ba front of upwelling Rossby waves in phase with the normal seasonal cycle. The Kelvin wave forcing and sign of kelvin wave contribution versus Rossby wave contribution to ZCA in the western Pacific are discussed, and we conclude that neither pleads in favor of the delayed action oscillator mechanism.

Delcroix, Thierry↗

Human Mars Mission Performance Crew Taxi Profile

This timeline was generated on the Integrated Mission Program (IMP). All burn events over 2 seconds are finite with IMP solving a two point boundary value setup for begin burn time, burn time and control angles. Perigee and apogee shown above are mean orbital values. Significant events are listed. Each finite thrust event has two lines. The first is the beginning time showing the initial conditions, thrust and ISP used. The second has the end burn conditions and the delta v and time of burn. This case is an abort from the 750 x 750 phasing abort, using the taxi's main engines. An abort using the Reaction Control System (RCS) was also investigated but required a large increase in RCS propellant and was abandoned.

Duaro, Vince A.↗

Distributed network scheduling

Distributed Network Scheduling is the scheduling of future communications of a network by nodes in the network. This report details software for doing this onboard spacecraft in a remote network. While prior work on distributed scheduling has been applied to remote spacecraft networks, the software reported here focuses on modeling communication activities in greater detail and including quality of service constraints. Our main results are based on a Mars network of spacecraft and include identifying a maximum opportunity of improving traverse exploration rate a factor of three; a simulation showing reduction in one-way delivery times from a rover to Earth from as much as 5 to 1.5 hours; simulated response to unexpected events averaging under an hour onboard; and ground schedule generation ranging from seconds to 50 minutes for 15 to 100 communication goals.

planning↗

A Parallel Saturation Algorithm on Shared Memory Architectures

Symbolic state-space generators are notoriously hard to parallelize. However, the Saturation algorithm implemented in the SMART verification tool differs from other sequential symbolic state-space generators in that it exploits the locality of ring events in asynchronous system models. This paper explores whether event locality can be utilized to efficiently parallelize Saturation on shared-memory architectures. Conceptually, we propose to parallelize the ring of events within a decision diagram node, which is technically realized via a thread pool. We discuss the challenges involved in our parallel design and conduct experimental studies on its prototypical implementation. On a dual-processor dual core PC, our studies show speed-ups for several example models, e.g., of up to 50% for a Kanban model, when compared to running our algorithm only on a single core.

Ezekiel, Jonathan↗

BLIMPK/Streamline Surface Catalytic Heating Predictions on the Space Shuttle Orbiter

This paper describes the results of an analysis of localized catalytic heating effects to the U.S. Space Shuttle Orbiter Thermal Protection System (TPS). The analysis applies to the High-temperature Reusable Surface Insulation (HRSI) on the lower fuselage and wing acreage, as well as the critical Reinforced Carbon-Carbon on the nose cap, chin panel and the wing leading edge. The object of the analysis was to use a modified two-layer approach to predict the catalytic heating effects on the Orbiter windward HRSI tile acreage, nose cap, and wing leading edge assuming localized highly catalytic or fully catalytic surfaces. The method incorporated the Boundary Layer Integral Matrix Procedure Kinetic (BLIMPK) code with streamline inputs from viscous Navier-Stokes solutions to produce heating rates for localized fully catalytic and highly catalytic surfaces as well as for nominal partially catalytic surfaces (either Reinforced Carbon-Carbon or Reaction Cured Glass) with temperature-dependent recombination coefficients. The highly catalytic heating results showed very good correlation with Orbiter Experiments STS-2, -3, and -5 centerline and STS-5 wing flight data for the HRSI tiles. Recommended catalytic heating factors were generated for use in future Shuttle missions in the event of quick-time analysis of damaged or repaired TPS areas during atmospheric reentry. The catalytic factors are presented along the streamlines as well as a function of stagnation enthalpy so they can be used for arbitrary trajectories.

Marichalar, Jeremiah J.↗

Safety and Mission Assurance Knowledge Management Retention: Managing Knowledge for Successful Mission Operations

Knowledge Management is a proactive pursuit for the future success of any large organization faced with the imminent possibility that their senior managers/engineers with gained experiences and lessons learned plan to retire in the near term. Safety and Mission Assurance (S&MA) is proactively pursuing unique mechanism to ensure knowledge learned is retained and lessons learned captured and documented. Knowledge Capture Event/Activities/Management helps to provide a gateway between future retirees and our next generation of managers/engineers. S&MA hosted two Knowledge Capture Events during 2005 featuring three of its retiring fellows (Axel Larsen, Dave Whittle and Gary Johnson). The first Knowledge Capture Event February 24, 2005 focused on two Safety and Mission Assurance Safety Panels (Space Shuttle System Safety Review Panel (SSRP); Payload Safety Review Panel (PSRP) and the latter event December 15, 2005 featured lessons learned during Apollo, Skylab, and Space Shuttle which could be applicable in the newly created Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV)/Constellation development program. Gemini, Apollo, Skylab and the Space Shuttle promised and delivered exciting human advances in space and benefits of space in people s everyday lives on earth. Johnson Space Center's Safety & Mission Assurance team work over the last 20 years has been mostly focused on operations we are now beginning the Exploration development program. S&MA will promote an atmosphere of knowledge sharing in its formal and informal cultures and work processes, and reward the open dissemination and sharing of information; we are asking "Why embrace relearning the "lessons learned" in the past?" On the Exploration program the focus will be on Design, Development, Test, & Evaluation (DDT&E); therefore, it is critical to understand the lessons from these past programs during the DDT&E phase.

Johnson, Teresa A.↗

Algorithm That Synthesizes Other Algorithms for Hashing

An algorithm that includes a collection of several subalgorithms has been devised as a means of synthesizing still other algorithms (which could include computer code) that utilize hashing to determine whether an element (typically, a number or other datum) is a member of a set (typically, a list of numbers). Each subalgorithm synthesizes an algorithm (e.g., a block of code) that maps a static set of key hashes to a somewhat linear monotonically increasing sequence of integers. The goal in formulating this mapping is to cause the length of the sequence thus generated to be as close as practicable to the original length of the set and thus to minimize gaps between the elements. The advantage of the approach embodied in this algorithm is that it completely avoids the traditional approach of hash-key look-ups that involve either secondary hash generation and look-up or further searching of a hash table for a desired key in the event of collisions. This algorithm guarantees that it will never be necessary to perform a search or to generate a secondary key in order to determine whether an element is a member of a set. This algorithm further guarantees that any algorithm that it synthesizes can be executed in constant time. To enforce these guarantees, the subalgorithms are formulated to employ a set of techniques, each of which works very effectively covering a certain class of hash-key values. These subalgorithms are of two types, summarized as follows: Given a list of numbers, try to find one or more solutions in which, if each number is shifted to the right by a constant number of bits and then masked with a rotating mask that isolates a set of bits, a unique number is thereby generated. In a variant of the foregoing procedure, omit the masking. Try various combinations of shifting, masking, and/or offsets until the solutions are found. From the set of solutions, select the one that provides the greatest compression for the representation and is executable in the minimum amount of time. Given a list of numbers, try to find one or more solutions in which, if each number is compressed by use of the modulo function by some value, then a unique value is generated.

James, Mark↗

Microencapsulation of Corrosion Indicators for Smart Coatings

A multifunctional smart coating for the autonomous detection, indication, and control of corrosion is been developed based on microencapsulation technology. This paper summarizes the development, optimization, and testing of microcapsules specifically designed for early detection and indication of corrosion when incorporated into a smart coating. Results from experiments designed to test the ability of the microcapsules to detect and indicate corrosion, when blended into several paint systems, show that these experimental coatings generate a color change, indicative of spot specific corrosion events, that can be observed with the naked eye within hours rather than the hundreds of hours or months typical of the standard accelerated corrosion test protocols.. Key words: smart coating, corrosion detection, microencapsulation, microcapsule, pH-sensitive microcapsule, corrosion indicator, corrosion sensing paint

Li, Wenyan↗

MAVEN Observations of Magnetic Flux Ropes with a Strong Field Amplitude in the Martian Magnetosheath During the ICME Passage on 8 March 2015

We present initial results of strong field amplitude flux ropes observed by Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission around Mars during the interplanetary coronal mass ejection (ICME) passage on 8 March 2015. The observed durations were shorter than 5 s and the magnetic field magnitudes peaked above 80 nT, which is a few times stronger than those usually seen in the magnetosheath barrier. These are the first unique observations that MAVEN detected such flux ropes with a strong field at high altitudes (greater than 5000 km). Across these structures, MAVEN coincidentally measured planetary heavy ions with energies higher than a few keV. The spatial properties inferred from the Grad-Shafranov equation suggest that the speed of the structure can be estimated at least an order of magnitude faster than those previously reported quiet-time counterparts. Hence, the space weather event like the ICME passage can be responsible for generating the observed strong field, fast-traveling flux ropes.

8 March 2015↗