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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 469 records · Page 26
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2004

Stardust Dynamic Science at Wild 2: First Look

The Dynamic Science investigation on the STARDUST mission has been described previously. The data delivered by the STARDUST Project is multifold, but basically it consists of radio Doppler data from the Deep Space Network (DSN) and attitude control data (ACS) from the spacecraft. Doppler data were successfully recorded by JPL's Navigation System (closed-loop data) and also by its Radio Science System (open-loop data) at DSN stations DSS43 near Canberra Australia and at DSS14 at Goldstone California. Attitude control data were also successfully delivered to the Dynamic Science Team. Here we describe a preliminary analysis of the data. Beyond a closest approach distance of 150 km, a Doppler detection of a the Wild 2 nucleus mass was not expected. The current best estimate of the closest approach distance is 236.4 km, and as expected, any mass signal in the Doppler data is hopelessly buried in the noise. We have attempted to fit the data to a mass model with no success. However, analysis of the Doppler data and the ACS data for particle impacts on the spacecraft's Whipple shields is in progress, and will be reported at the meeting. The DSS43 closed-loop Doppler residuals are plotted as a function of time from the current best estimate of the time of Wild 2 closest approach, 2 January 2004, 19:43:11.7 UTC, Earth-receive time at the station.

Anderson, J. D.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Miniaturized Laser Heterodyne Radiometer (LHR) for Measurements of Greenhouse Gases in the Atmospheric Column

This passive laser heterodyne radiometer (LHR) instrument simultaneously measures multiple trace gases in the atmospheric column including carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4), and resolves their concentrations at different altitudes. This instrument has been designed to operate in tandem with the passive aerosol sensor currently used in AERONET (an established network of more than 450 ground aerosol monitoring instruments worldwide). Because aerosols induce a radiative effect that influences terrestrial carbon exchange, simultaneous detection of aerosols with these key carbon cycle gases offers a uniquely comprehensive measurement approach. Laser heterodyne radiometry is a technique for detecting weak signals that was adapted from radio receiver technology. In a radio receiver, a weak input signal from a radio antenna is mixed with a stronger local oscillator signal. The mixed signal (beat note, or intermediate frequency) has a frequency equal to the difference between the input signal and the local oscillator. The intermediate frequency is amplified and sent to a detector that extracts the audio from the signal. In the LHR instrument described here, sunlight that has undergone absorption by the trace gas is mixed with laser light at a frequency matched to a trace gas absorption feature in the infrared (IR). Mixing results in a beat signal in the RF (radio frequency) region that can be related to the atmospheric concentration. For a one-second integration, the estimated column sensitivities are 0.1 ppmv for CO2, and <1 ppbv for CH4. In addition to producing a standalone ground measurement product, this instrument could be used to calibrate/validate four Earth observing missions: ASCENDS (Active Sensing of CO2 Emissions over Nights, Days, and Seasons), OCO-2 (Orbiting Carbon Observatory), OCO-3, and GOSAT (Greenhouse gases Observational SATellite). The only network that currently measures CO2 and CH4 in the atmospheric column is TCCON (Total Carbon Column Observing Network), and only two of its 16 operational sites are in the United States. TCCON data is used for validation of GOSAT data, and will be used for OCO-2 validation. While these Fourier-transform spectrometers (FTS) can measure the largest range of trace gases, the network is severely limited due to the high cost and extreme size of these instruments (these occupy small buildings and require personnel for operation). The LHR/AERONET instrument offers a significantly smaller (carry-on luggage size) autonomous instrument that can be incorporated into AERONET s much larger (450 instruments) global network.

Steel, Emily↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Performance Analysis of A Dual Quaternion Guidance Algorithm Applicable During Lunar Approach With A Hazard Avoidance Maneuver

There is currently a need for advanced guidance and targeting algorithms that can provide real-time trajectories in the presence of state and vehicle constraints during powered descent. The Safe & Precise Landing Integrated Capabilities Evolution (SPLICE) program aims to mature Hazard Detection (HD) technology along with advanced navigation and guidance algorithms. This paper will report the overall performance of the SPLICE Dual Quaternion Guidance (DQG) algorithm which is a 6-Degree-of-Freedom (6-DOF) convex optimization-based guidance algorithm that can enforce multiple vehicle and state constraints required for Hazard Detection Lidar (HDL) scans during the approach phase. DQG was tested in a closed-loop lunar descent simulation with realistic HDL sensing constraints in a Monte Carlo assessment of 1000 dispersed runs.

Guidance↗
NASA NTRS1990

Automatic detection of low altitude wind shear due to gust fronts in the terminal Doppler weather radar operational demonstration

A gust front is the leading edge of the cold air outflow from a thunderstorm. Wind shears and turbulence along the gust front may produce potentially hazardous conditions for an aircraft on takeoff or landing such that runway operations are significantly impacted. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has therefore determined that the detection of gust fronts in the terminal environment be an integral part of the Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR) system. Detection of these shears by the Gust Front Algorithm permits the generation of warnings that can be issued to pilots on approach and departure. In addition to the detection capability, the algorithm provides an estimate of the wind speed and direction following the gust front (termed wind shift) and the forecasted location of the gust front up to 20 minutes before it impacts terminal operations. This has shown utility as a runway management tool, alerting runway supervisors to approaching wind shifts and the possible need to change runway configurations. The formation and characteristics of gust fronts and their signatures in Doppler radar data are discussed. A brief description of the algorithm and its products for use by Air Traffic Control (ATC), along with an assessment of the algorithm's performance during the 1988 Operational Test and Evaluation, is presented.

Klingle-Wilson, Diana↗
NASA NTRS1999

Rapid direct methods for enumeration of specific, active bacteria in water and biofilms

Conventional methods for detecting indicator and pathogenic bacteria in water may underestimate the actual population due to sublethal environmental injury, inability of the target bacteria to take up nutrients and other physiological factors which reduce bacterial culturability. Rapid and direct methods are needed to more accurately detect and enumerate active bacteria. Such a methodological advance would provide greater sensitivity in assessing the microbiological safety of water and food. The principle goal of this presentation is to describe novel approaches we have formulated for the rapid and simultaneous detection of bacteria plus the determination of their physiological activity in water and other environmental samples. The present version of our method involves the concentration of organisms by membrane filtration or immunomagnetic separation and combines an intracellular fluorochrome (CTC) for assessment of respiratory activity plus fluorescent-labelled antibody detection of specific bacteria. This approach has also been successfully used to demonstrate spatial and temporal heterogeneities of physiological activities in biofilms when coupled with cryosectioning. Candidate physiological stains include those capable of determining respiratory activity, membrane potential, membrane integrity, growth rate and cellular enzymatic activities. Results obtained thus far indicate that immunomagnetic separation can provide a high degree of sensitivity in the recovery of seeded target bacteria (Escherichia coli O157:H7) in water and hamburger. The captured and stained target bacteria are then enumerated by either conventional fluorescence microscopy or ChemScan(R), a new instrument that is very sensitive and rapid. The ChemScan(R) laser scanning instrument (Chemunex, Paris, France) provides the detection of individual fluorescently labelled bacterial cells using three emission channels in less than 5 min. A high degree of correlation has been demonstrated between results obtained with the ChemScan and traditional plate counts of mixed natural bacterial populations in water. The continuing evolution of these methods will be valuable in the rapid and accurate analysis of environmental samples.

Review, Tutorial↗
NASA NTRS2000

Robust Fault Detection for Aircraft Using Mixed Structured Singular Value Theory and Fuzzy Logic

The purpose of fault detection is to identify when a fault or failure has occurred in a system such as an aircraft or expendable launch vehicle. The faults may occur in sensors, actuators, structural components, etc. One of the primary approaches to model-based fault detection relies on analytical redundancy. That is the output of a computer-based model (actually a state estimator) is compared with the sensor measurements of the actual system to determine when a fault has occurred. Unfortunately, the state estimator is based on an idealized mathematical description of the underlying plant that is never totally accurate. As a result of these modeling errors, false alarms can occur. This research uses mixed structured singular value theory, a relatively recent and powerful robustness analysis tool, to develop robust estimators and demonstrates the use of these estimators in fault detection. To allow qualitative human experience to be effectively incorporated into the detection process fuzzy logic is used to predict the seriousness of the fault that has occurred.

Collins, Emmanuel G.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Identification of Health Events in Astronaut Missions Using Longitudinal Molecular Signature Detection

Individualized health monitoring can now incorporate a precision medicine approach, profiling multiple molecular and physiological measures of health (generalized omics) longitudinally to enable the timely diagnosis and treatment of disease. Such measurements can include blood chemistries, gene expression data, metabolite measurements, and digital device data. We will present our work on extending such an approach to monitoring individual astronaut health for deep space missions. We have developed and implemented novel algorithms to monitor and detect physiolgical state departures from individualized healthy astronaut baselines , utilizing and biologically annotating generalized omics. Our new methods can detect baseline deviations across omics corresponding to potentially adverse medical events. Events pointing to changes in individual health are then compared across individuals to identify common responses and detect changes affecting multiple crewmembers. We show the utility of our methods in detecting temporal health changes across subjects using retrospective Earth and astronaut mission data (metabolite and immune marker data across multiple missions), in order for this technique t o be applicable for future missions.

G I Mias↗
NASA NTRS2019

Machine Learning Approaches to Data Reduction from the MapX X-ray Fluorescence Instrument for Detection of Biosignatures and Habitable Planetary Environments

The search for evidence of life or its processes involves the detection of biosignatures suggestive of extinct or extant life, or the determination that an environment either has or once had the potential to harbor life. In situ elemental imaging is useful in either case, since features on the mm to μm scale reveal geological processes which may indicate past or present habitability. The Mapping X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometer (MapX) is an in-situ instrument designed to identify these features on planetary surfaces. Here we present progress on instrument development, data analysis methods, and element quantification.

Walroth, Richard C.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Combining Particle Filters and Consistency-Based Approaches for Monitoring and Diagnosis of Stochastic Hybrid Systems

Fault detection and isolation are critical tasks to ensure correct operation of systems. When we consider stochastic hybrid systems, diagnosis algorithms need to track both the discrete mode and the continuous state of the system in the presence of noise. Deterministic techniques like Livingstone cannot deal with the stochasticity in the system and models. Conversely Bayesian belief update techniques such as particle filters may require many computational resources to get a good approximation of the true belief state. In this paper we propose a fault detection and isolation architecture for stochastic hybrid systems that combines look-ahead Rao-Blackwellized Particle Filters (RBPF) with the Livingstone 3 (L3) diagnosis engine. In this approach RBPF is used to track the nominal behavior, a novel n-step prediction scheme is used for fault detection and L3 is used to generate a set of candidates that are consistent with the discrepant observations which then continue to be tracked by the RBPF scheme.

Narasimhan, Sriram↗
NASA NTRS2005

Radio and Plasma Wave Observations at Saturn from Cassini's Approach and First Orbit

We report data from the Cassini radio and plasma wave instrument during the approach and first orbit at Saturn. During the approach, radio emissions from Saturn showed that the radio rotation period is now 10 hours 45 minutes 45 k 36 seconds, about 6 minutes longer than measured by Voyager in 1980 to 1981. In addition, many intense impulsive radio signals were detected from Saturn lightning during the approach and first orbit. Some of these have been linked to storm systems observed by the Cassini imaging instrument. Within the magnetosphere, whistler-mode auroral hiss emissions were observed near the rings, suggesting that a strong electrodynamic interaction is occurring in or near the rings.

Gurnett, D. A.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Developing a Genetic Variant Calling Pipeline for Quantifying the Complex Mutagenic Load Accumulated in BioNutrients-1 Production Pack Samples

Microorganisms hold great promise for on demand production of labile nutrients and pharmaceuticals as well recycling and in situ resource utilization. The utilization of microorganisms for such tasks on space missions is hindered by the limited data on how microbes respond to spaceflight. For example, the genetic stability of microorganisms, and the genomic engineered traits added to deliver desired functions, over long-term storage in the spacecraft environment is poorly understood. The BioNutrients-1 (BN-1) mission conducted a 5-year study of desiccated storage in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to evaluate the suitability of eight synthetic biology chassis organisms for long-duration space missions. We are employing high-depth, whole genome sequencing (WGS) to determine the mutagenic load that accumulated during long-term storage. Mutation analysis pipelines are well established for homogenous culture grown from a single colony, but the mutational landscape of the BN-1 samples present a unique analysis challenge, as every cell in the BN-1 samples had a unique genetic journey of DNA damage and repair. Consequently, sequence variants are expected at low allele frequency within samples. To address this genetic complexity, we apply two distinct computational approaches to identify mutations in pre-existing WGS data collected from populations of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii that were exposed to UV mutagenesis and growth in LEO. For reference genome free mutation detection, we utilized DiscoSNP++, which is a de Bruijn graph approach. For reference genome-based mutation detection we utilize GATK for Microbes, which is a Bayesian probabilistic approach. We will benchmark these approaches against the mutations originally identified using CRISP, a method optimized for pooled samples. Ultimately, quantifying the mutation load imposed by storage or growth on the ISS will help identify chassis organisms with both high levels of genome stability and viability, which are desirable traits for implementation of bioproduction in long-duration missions.

SNP↗
NASA NTRS2011

The Winter 2010 and 2011 FRONT/NIRSS In-Flight Icing Hazard Detection Project

The NASA Icing Remote Sensing System (NIRSS) deploys a vertically-pointing K-band radar, a lidar ceiliometer, and a profiling microwave radiometer to obtain measurements for diagnosing local inflight icing conditions. RAL is working with NASA GRC to develop algorithms and data ingest and display software for the system. NASA has an ongoing activity to develop remote sensing technologies for the detection and measurement of icing conditions aloft. As part of that effort NASA teamed with NCAR to develop software that fuses data from multiple instruments into a single detected icing condition product. The multiple instrument approach, which is the current emphasis of this activity, utilizes a K-band vertical staring radar, a microwave radiometer that detects twelve frequencies between 22 and 59 GHz, and a lidar ceilometer. The radar data determine cloud boundaries, the radiometer determines the sub-freezing temperature heights and total liquid water content, and the ceilometer refines the lower cloud boundary. Data is post-processed in C++ program with a Java-based web display of resultant supercooled LWC profile and aircraft hazard identification. In 2010, a multi-channel scanning radiometer, designed and built by Radiometrics, Inc. under a SBIR grant,,was added to the system to assess its utility in improving icing diagnoses.

Serke, David↗
NASA NTRS1989

Voyager planetary radio astronomy at Neptune

Detection of very intense short radio bursts from Neptune was possible as early as 30 days before closest approach and at least 22 days after closest approach. The bursts lay at frequencies in the range 100 to 1300 kilohertz, were narrowband and strongly polarized, and presumably originated in southern polar regions of the planet. Episodes of smooth emissions in the frequency range from 20 to 865 kilohertz were detected during an interval of at least 10 days around closest approach. The bursts and the smooth emissions can be described in terms of rotation in a period of 16.11 + or - 0.05 hours. The bursts came at regular intervals throughout the encounter, including episodes both before and after closest approach. The smooth emissions showed a half-cycle phase shift between the five episodes before and after closest approach. This experiment detected the foreshock of Neptune's magnetosphere and the impacts of dust at the times of ring-plane crossings and also near the time of closest approach. Finally, there is no evidence for Neptunian electrostatic discharges.

Warwick, James W.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Wind Tunnel Testing of a One-Dimensional Laser Beam Scanning and Laser Sheet Approach to Shock Sensing

A 15- by 15-cm supersonic wind tunnel application of a one-dimensional laser beam scanning approach to shock sensing is presented. The measurement system design allowed easy switching between a focused beam and a laser sheet mode for comparison purposes. The scanning results were compared to images from the tunnel Schlieren imaging system. The tests revealed detectable changes in the laser beam in the presence of shocks. The results lend support to the use of the one-dimensional scanning beam approach for detecting and locating shocks in a flow, but some issues must be addressed in regards to noise and other limitations of the system.

Tokars, Roger↗
NASA NTRS2022

Bayesian Deep Learning for Segmentation for Autonomous Safe Planetary Landing

Hazard detection is critical for enabling autonomous landing on planetary surfaces. Current state-of-the-art methods leverage traditional computer vision approaches to automate the identification of safe terrain from input digital elevation models (DEMs). However, performance for these methods can degrade for input DEMs with increased sensor noise. In the last decade, deep learning techniques have been developed for various applications. Nevertheless, their applicability to safety-critical space missions has often been limited due to concerns regarding their outputs’ reliability. In response to these limitations, this paper proposes an application of the Bayesian deep learning segmentation method for hazard detection. The developed approach enables reliable, safe landing site detection by i) generating simultaneously a safety prediction map and its uncertainty map via Bayesian deep learning and semantic segmentation, and ii) using the uncertainty map to filter out the uncertain pixels in the prediction map so that the safe site identification is performed only based on the certain pixels (i.e., pixels for which the model is certain about its safety prediction). Experiments are presented with simulated data based on a Mars HiRISE digital terrain model by varying uncertainty threshold and noise levels to demonstrate the performance of the proposed approach.

Kento Tomita↗
NASA NTRS1994

Locating buildings in aerial photos

Algorithms and techniques for use in the identification and location of large buildings in digitized copies of aerial photographs are developed and tested. The building data would be used in the simulation of objects located in the vicinity of an airport that may be detected by aircraft radar. Two distinct approaches are considered. Most building footprints are rectangular in form. The first approach studied is to search for right-angled corners that characterize rectangular objects and then to connect these corners to complete the building. This problem is difficult because many nonbuilding objects, such as street corners, parking lots, and ballparks often have well defined corners which are often difficult to distinguish from rooftops. Furthermore, rooftops come in a number of shapes, sizes, shadings, and textures which also limit the discrimination task. The strategy used linear sequences of different samples to detect straight edge segments at multiple angles and to determine when these segments meet at approximately right-angles with respect to each other. This technique is effective in locating corners. The test image used has a fairly rectangular block pattern oriented about thirty degrees clockwise from a vertical alignment, and the overall measurement data reflect this. However, this technique does not discriminate between buildings and other objects at an operationally suitable rate. In addition, since multiple paths are tested for each image pixel, this is a time consuming task. The process can be speeded up by preprocessing the image to locate the more optimal sampling paths. The second approach is to rely on a human operator to identify and select the building objects and then to have the computer determine the outline and location of the selected structures. When presented with a copy of a digitized aerial photograph, the operator uses a mouse and cursor to select a target building. After a button on the mouse is pressed, with the cursor fully within the perimeter of the building, the program scans from the position of the cursor to a perimeter position where a shift in grayscale is detected. Once at the perimeter, the process traces along it, around the building, until it eventually returns to the perimeter starting point. Spatial resolution limits cause the perimeter trace to be somewhat course so that a line straightening algorithm is employed. One result is that the building corner positions become more distinctly defined.

Green, James S.↗
NASA NTRS2021

Multi-Resolution Elevation Mapping and Safe Landing Site Detection with Applications to Planetary Rotorcraft

In this paper, we propose a resource-efficient approach to provide an autonomous UAV with an on-board perception method to detect safe, hazard-free landing sites during flights over complex 3D terrain. We aggregate 3D measurements acquired from a sequence of monocular images by a Structure-from-Motion approach into a local, robot-centric, multi-resolution elevation map of the overflown terrain, which fuses depth measurements according to their lateral surface resolution (pixel-footprint) in a probabilistic framework based on the concept of dynamic Level of Detail. Map aggregation only requires depth maps and the associated poses, which are obtained from an on-board Visual Odometry algorithm. An efficient landing site detection method then exploits the features of the underlying multi-resolution map to detect safe landing sites based on the slope, roughness, and quality of the reconstructed terrain surface. The evaluation of the performance of the mapping and landing site detection modules are analyzed independently and jointly in simulated and realworld experiments in order to establish the efficacy of the proposed approach.

Brockers, Roland↗
NASA NTRS1982

The role of modern control theory in the design of controls for aircraft turbine engines

The development, applications, and current research in modern control theory (MCT) are reviewed, noting the importance for fuel-efficient operation of turbines with variable inlet guide vanes, compressor stators, and exhaust nozzle area. The evolution of multivariable propulsion control design is examined, noting a basis in a matrix formulation of the differential equations defining the process, leading to state space formulations. Reports and papers which appeared from 1970-1982 which dealt with problems in MCT applications to turbine engine control design are outlined, including works on linear quadratic regulator methods, frequency domain methods, identification, estimation, and model reduction, detection, isolation, and accommodation, and state space control, adaptive control, and optimization approaches. Finally, NASA programs in frequency domain design, sensor failure detection, computer-aided control design, and plant modeling are explored

Zeller, J.↗