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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 415 records · Page 23
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NASA NTRS2002

The DS1 hyper-extended mission

The Primary Mission for Deep Space (DS1) was to demonstrate 12 new technologies one of which was the Ion Propulsion System (IPS). After successfully completing its primary mission, DS1 was given a new mission. The objective of this Extended Mission was to fly by the Comet Borrelly. After the successful Borrelly encounter, the ion thruster on DS1 had to be operated for more than 14,000 hours in space. This provided a unique opportunity to investigate the condition of the thruster after long-term operation in space and determine, to the extent possible, if the thruster wear in space is consistent with that observed in long-duration ground tests.

DS1 Deep Space 1 ion propulsion ion thruster↗
NASA NTRS2002

Converging voice and data over mission-critical networks

The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Deep Space Network ?? DSN - is an international network of antennas that supports interplanetary spacecraft missions and radio and radar astronomy observations for the exploration of the solar system and the universe. The network also supports selected Earth-orbiting missions. This paper describes the ground communications network of the DSN and ways network infrastructure costs are being reduced by the introduction of new technology. Fundamentally, the DSN ground network architecture is a star network, and the hub is at JPL in Pasadena, California. Communications to customer sites are designed to minimize NASA costs and may be either shared IP backbone networks or dedicated circuits. One of the primary features of the network is its ability to support real-time data, voice, and video communications among antenna stations, an automated multi-mission operations systems facility at JPL (AMMOS), and mission operations centers (MOCs) at NASA and non-NASA facilities. Funding for advanced engineering to reduce ground network infrastructure costs was provided by the NASA Office of Space Science.

ground communications networks Internet voice VOIP↗
NASA NTRS2000

Interplanetary Shock Triggering of Substorms

We use WIND solar wind data a POLAR UV imaging data to study magnetospheric responses and substorm triggering mechanisms during and after interplanetary (IP) shock events.

wind solar data Polar UV substorms↗
NASA NTRS2006

Mission Benefits of Gridded Ion and Hall Thruster Hybrid Propulsion Systems

The NASA In-Space Propulsion Technology (ISPT) Project Office has been developing the NEXT gridded ion thruster system and is planning to procure a low power Hall system. The new ion propulsion systems will join NSTAR as NASA's primary electric propulsion system options. Studies have been performed to show mission benefits of each of the stand alone systems. A hybrid ion propulsion system (IPS) can have the advantage of reduced cost, decreased flight time and greater science payload delivery over comparable homogeneous systems. This paper explores possible advantages of combining various thruster options for a single mission.

Dankanich, John W.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Performance of a Regional Aeronautical Telecommunications Network

This paper reports the findings of the simulation of the ATN (Aeronautical Telecommunications Network) for three typical average-sized U.S. airports and their associated air traffic patterns. The models of the protocols were designed to achieve the same functionality and meet the ATN specifications. The focus of this project is on the subnetwork and routing aspects of the simulation. To maintain continuous communication between the aircrafts and the ground facilities, a model based on mobile IP is used. The results indicate that continuous communication is indeed possible. The network can support two applications of significance in the immediate future FTP and HTTP traffic. Results from this simulation prove the feasibility of development of the ATN concept for AC/ATM (Advanced Communications for Air Traffic Management).

Bretmersky, Steven C.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Thermal, Radiation and Impact Protective Shields (TRIPS) for Robotic and Human Space Exploration Missions

New concepts for protective shields for NASA s Crew Exploration Vehicles (CEVs) and planetary probes offer improved mission safety and affordability. Hazards include radiation from cosmic rays and solar particle events, hypervelocity impacts from orbital debris/ micrometeorites, and the extreme heating environment experienced during entry into planetary atmospheres. The traditional approach for the design of protection systems for these hazards has been to create single-function shields, i.e. ablative and blanket-based heat shields for thermal protection systems (TPS), polymer or other low-molecular-weight materials for radiation shields, and multilayer, Whipple-type shields for protection from hypervelocity impacts. This paper introduces an approach for the development of a single, multifunctional protective shield, employing nanotechnology- based materials, to serve simultaneously as a TPS, an impact shield and as the first line of defense against radiation. The approach is first to choose low molecular weight ablative TPS materials, (existing and planned for development) and add functionalized carbon nanotubes. Together they provide both thermal and radiation (TR) shielding. Next, impact protection (IP) is furnished through a tough skin, consisting of hard, ceramic outer layers (to fracture the impactor) and sublayers of tough, nanostructured fabrics to contain the debris cloud from the impactor before it can penetrate the spacecraft s interior.

Loomis, M. P.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Use of Field Programmable Gate Array Technology in Future Space Avionics

Fulfilling NASA's new vision for space exploration requires the development of sustainable, flexible and fault tolerant spacecraft control systems. The traditional development paradigm consists of the purchase or fabrication of hardware boards with fixed processor and/or Digital Signal Processing (DSP) components interconnected via a standardized bus system. This is followed by the purchase and/or development of software. This paradigm has several disadvantages for the development of systems to support NASA's new vision. Building a system to be fault tolerant increases the complexity and decreases the performance of included software. Standard bus design and conventional implementation produces natural bottlenecks. Configuring hardware components in systems containing common processors and DSPs is difficult initially and expensive or impossible to change later. The existence of Hardware Description Languages (HDLs), the recent increase in performance, density and radiation tolerance of Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), and Intellectual Property (IP) Cores provides the technology for reprogrammable Systems on a Chip (SOC). This technology supports a paradigm better suited for NASA's vision. Hardware and software production are melded for more effective development; they can both evolve together over time. Designers incorporating this technology into future avionics can benefit from its flexibility. Systems can be designed with improved fault isolation and tolerance using hardware instead of software. Also, these designs can be protected from obsolescence problems where maintenance is compromised via component and vendor availability.To investigate the flexibility of this technology, the core of the Central Processing Unit and Input/Output Processor of the Space Shuttle AP101S Computer were prototyped in Verilog HDL and synthesized into an Altera Stratix FPGA.

Ferguson, Roscoe C.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Thermal Cycle Lifetest of Swaged Cathode Heaters

This viewgraph presentation reviews the thermal cycling test for the Dawn mission. The flight system, the mission requirements, and the Ion Propulsion System (IPS) are shown. The Dawn mission requires periodic thruster shutdown for data transmission and coast periods. The thermal cycling test is designed to simulate approximately three complete mission profiles. The results of the tests are reviewed.

ion engines↗
NASA NTRS2001

The Lunar L1 Gateway: Portal to the Stars and Beyond

Our Solar System is interconnected by a vast system of winding tunnels generated by the Lagrange Points of all the planets and their moons. These passageways are identified by portals around L1 and L2, the halo orbits. By passing through a halo orbit portal, one enters the ancient and colossal labyrinth of the Sun. This natural Interplanetary Supher highway System (IPS) provides ultra-low energy transport throughout the Earth's Neighborhood, the region between Earth's L1 and L2. This is enabled by an accident: the current energy levels of the Earth L1 and L2 Lagrange points differ from that of the Earth-Moon by only about 50 rn/s (as measured by AV). The significance of this happy coincidence to the development of space cannot be overstated. For example, this implies that Lunar L1 halo orbits are connected to halo orbits around Earth's L1 or L2 via low energy pathways...

lunar gateways↗
NASA NTRS2004

Digital circuits using universal logic gates

According to the invention, a digital circuit design embodied in at least one of a structural netlist, a behavioral netlist, a hardware description language netlist, a full-custom ASIC, a semi-custom ASIC, an IP core, an integrated circuit, a hybrid of chips, one or more masks, a FPGA, and a circuit card assembly is disclosed. The digital circuit design includes first and second sub-circuits. The first sub-circuits comprise a first percentage of the digital circuit design and the second sub-circuits comprise a second percentage of the digital circuit design. Each of the second sub-circuits is substantially comprised of one or more kernel circuits. The kernel circuits are comprised of selection circuits. The second percentage is at least 5%. In various embodiments, the second percentage could be at least 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, or 95%.

Whitaker, Sterling R.↗
NASA NTRS2008

Plasma Cytokine Levels in Astronauts Before and after Spaceflight

Space flight is a unique experience and results in adverse effects on human physiology. Changes have been reported in various physiological systems, including musculoskeletal, neurovestibular, cardiovascular, endocrine, immunity and increased latent viral reactivation as well as others. The potential mechanisms behind these changes are not fully understood. Various cytokines such as IL-1, IL-6, TNF and chemokines have been linked to several of these changes, like muscle loss, bone loss, fatigue, sleep deprivation and viral reactivation. Eighteen astronauts (15 M and 3 F) from 8 spaceflights and 10 healthy age-matched adults (6 M, 4 F) were included in the present study. A panel of 21 plasma cytokines was analyzed with the Luminex 100 to measure the cytokines in these subjects 10 days before the flight (L-10), 2-3 hour after landing (R+0), 3 days after landing (R+3), and at their annual medical exam (AME). IL-10, IL-1, IFN-alpha, MCP-1 and IP-10 increased significantly at L-10 as compared with AME levels. IL-6 and IFN-alpha showed significant increases at R + 0 (P less than .05) over their baseline levels (AME). Cytokine levels at R+3 were not significantly different from R+0. IL-10 and IL-6 have been reported to increase in during viral reactivation. These data show that there was a shift from TH1 to TH2 cytokines L-10 and R+0. We also studied viral reactivation in 10 of the 18 subjects included in the present study before, during, and after space flight. Increased salivary varicella zoster virus (VZV) shedding in these subjects was found either during or after the mission. VZV shedding correlated with the increased levels of cytokines especially IL-10 and IL-6. Overall, our data suggests that cytokines may play an important role in regulating adverse changes in astronauts, and further studies are needed to fully understand the mechanism.

Mehta, Satish K.↗
NASA NTRS2008

Architecting Communication Network of Networks for Space System of Systems

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Department of Defense (DoD) are planning Space System of Systems (SoS) to address the new challenges of space exploration, defense, communications, navigation, Earth observation, and science. In addition, these complex systems must provide interoperability, enhanced reliability, common interfaces, dynamic operations, and autonomy in system management. Both NASA and the DoD have chosen to meet the new demands with high data rate communication systems and space Internet technologies that bring Internet Protocols (IP), routers, servers, software, and interfaces to space networks to enable as much autonomous operation of those networks as possible. These technologies reduce the cost of operations and, with higher bandwidths, support the expected voice, video, and data needed to coordinate activities at each stage of an exploration mission. In this paper, we discuss, in a generic fashion, how the architectural approaches and processes are being developed and used for defining a hypothetical communication and navigation networks infrastructure to support lunar exploration. Examples are given of the products generated by the architecture development process.

Bhasin, Kul B.↗
NASA NTRS2008

Integrated Network Architecture for NASA's Orion Missions

NASA is planning a series of short and long duration human and robotic missions to explore the Moon and then Mars. The series of missions will begin with a new crew exploration vehicle (called Orion) that will initially provide crew exchange and cargo supply support to the International Space Station (ISS) and then become a human conveyance for travel to the Moon. The Orion vehicle will be mounted atop the Ares I launch vehicle for a series of pre-launch tests and then launched and inserted into low Earth orbit (LEO) for crew exchange missions to the ISS. The Orion and Ares I comprise the initial vehicles in the Constellation system of systems that later includes Ares V, Earth departure stage, lunar lander, and other lunar surface systems for the lunar exploration missions. These key systems will enable the lunar surface exploration missions to be initiated in 2018. The complexity of the Constellation system of systems and missions will require a communication and navigation infrastructure to provide low and high rate forward and return communication services, tracking services, and ground network services. The infrastructure must provide robust, reliable, safe, sustainable, and autonomous operations at minimum cost while maximizing the exploration capabilities and science return. The infrastructure will be based on a network of networks architecture that will integrate NASA legacy communication, modified elements, and navigation systems. New networks will be added to extend communication, navigation, and timing services for the Moon missions. Internet protocol (IP) and network management systems within the networks will enable interoperability throughout the Constellation system of systems. An integrated network architecture has developed based on the emerging Constellation requirements for Orion missions. The architecture, as presented in this paper, addresses the early Orion missions to the ISS with communication, navigation, and network services over five phases of a mission: pre-launch, launch from T0 to T+6.5 min, launch from T+6.5 min to 12 min, in LEO for rendezvous and docking with ISS, and return to Earth. The network of networks that supports the mission during each of these phases and the concepts of operations during those phases are developed as a high level operational concepts graphic called OV-1, an architecture diagram type described in the Department of Defense Architecture Framework (DoDAF). Additional operational views on organizational relationships (OV-4), operational activities (OV-5), and operational node connectivity (OV-2) are also discussed. The system interfaces view (SV-1) that provides the communication and navigation services to Orion is also included and described. The challenges of architecting integrated network architecture for the NASA Orion missions are highlighted.

Bhasin, Kul B.↗
NASA NTRS2008

Lunar Applications in Reconfigurable Computing

NASA s Constellation Program is developing a lunar surface outpost in which reconfigurable computing will play a significant role. Reconfigurable systems provide a number of benefits over conventional software-based implementations including performance and power efficiency, while the use of standardized reconfigurable hardware provides opportunities to reduce logistical overhead. The current vision for the lunar surface architecture includes habitation, mobility, and communications systems, each of which greatly benefit from reconfigurable hardware in applications including video processing, natural feature recognition, data formatting, IP offload processing, and embedded control systems. In deploying reprogrammable hardware, considerations similar to those of software systems must be managed. There needs to be a mechanism for discovery enabling applications to locate and utilize the available resources. Also, application interfaces are needed to provide for both configuring the resources as well as transferring data between the application and the reconfigurable hardware. Each of these topics are explored in the context of deploying reconfigurable resources as an integral aspect of the lunar exploration architecture.

Somervill, Kevin↗