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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 NTRS1990

Nuclear power systems for lunar and Mars exploration

Initial studies of a variety of mission scenarios for the new Space Exploration Initiative, and the technologies necessary to enable or significantly enhance them, have identified the development of advanced space power systems whether solar, chemical or nuclear to be of prime importance. Lightweight, compact, reliable power systems for planetary rovers and a variety of surface vehicles, utility surface power, and power for advanced propulsion systems have been identified as critical needs for these missions. These mission scenarios, the concomitant power system requirements, and the power system options considered are discussed. The significant potential benefits of nuclear power are identified for meeting the power needs of the above applications.

Sovie, R. J.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Preliminary design and analysis of an advanced rotorcraft transmission

Future rotorcraft transmissions of the 1990s and beyond the year 2000 require the incorporation of key emerging material and component technologies using advanced and innovative design practices in order to meet the requirements for a reduced weight-to-power ratio, a decreased noise level, and a substantially increased reliability. The specific goals for future rotocraft transmissions when compared with current state-of-the-art transmissions are a 25 percent weight reduction, a 10-dB reduction in the transmitted noise level, and a system reliability of 5000 hours mean-time-between-removal for the transmission. This paper presents the results of the design studies conducted to meet the stated goals for an advanced rotorcraft transmission. These design studies include system configuration, planetary gear train selection, and reliability prediction methods.

Henry, Z. S.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Versatile dynamic isotope power systems for the exploration of space

Dynamic, isotope-heated power systems are needed to carry out the exploration of space and are major elements identified by NASA for the Space Exploration Initiative (SEI). The Dynamic Isotope Power System (DIPS) Demonstration Program is aimed at establishing the advanced technology as well as the system designs and hardware for the SEI and other exploratory missions. Several conceptual designs of DIPS systems have been developed to provide compact, reliable, and long-lived power systems.

Johnson, Richard A.↗
NASA NTRS1996

Use of CCSDS and OSI Protocols on the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite

Although ACTS (Advanced Communications Technology Satellite) provides an almost error-free channel during much of the day and under most conditions, there are times when it is not suitable for reliably error-free data communications when operating in the uncoded mode. Because coded operation is not always available to every earth station, measures must be taken in the end system to maintain adequate throughput when transferring data under adverse conditions. The most effective approach that we tested to improve performance was the addition of an 'outer' Reed-Solomon code through use of CCSDS (Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems) GOS 2 (a forward error correcting code). This addition can benefit all users of an ACTS channel including those applications that do not require totally reliable transport, but it is somewhat expensive because additional hardware is needed. Although we could not characterize the link noise statistically (it appeared to resemble uncorrelated white noise, the type that block codes are least effective in correcting), we did find that CCSDS GOS 2 gave an essentially error-free link at BER's (bit error rate) as high as 6x10(exp -4). For users that demand reliable transport, an ARQ (Automatic Repeat Queuing) protocol such as TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) or TP4 (Transport Protocol, Class 4) will probably be used. In this category, it comes as no surprise that the best choice of the protocol suites tested over ACTS was TP4 using CCSDS GOS 2. TP4 behaves very well over an error-free link which GOS 2 provides up to a point. Without forward error correction, however, TP4 service begins to degrade in the 10(exp -7)-10(exp -6) range and by 4x10(exp -6), it barely gives any throughput at all. If Congestion Avoidance is used in TP4, the degradation is even more pronounced. Fortunately, as demonstrated here, this effect can be more than compensated for by choosing the Selective Acknowledgment option. In fact, this option can enable TP4 to deliver some throughput at error rates as high as 10(exp -5).

Chirieleison, Don↗
NASA NTRS2009

Avionics System Architecture for the NASA Orion Vehicle

It has been 30 years since the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) last developed a crewed spacecraft capable of launch, on-orbit operations, and landing. During that time, aerospace avionics technologies have greatly advanced in capability, and these technologies have enabled integrated avionics architectures for aerospace applications. The inception of NASA s Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) spacecraft offers the opportunity to leverage the latest integrated avionics technologies into crewed space vehicle architecture. The outstanding question is to what extent to implement these advances in avionics while still meeting the unique crewed spaceflight requirements for safety, reliability and maintainability. Historically, aircraft and spacecraft have very similar avionics requirements. Both aircraft and spacecraft must have high reliability. They also must have as much computing power as possible and provide low latency between user control and effecter response while minimizing weight, volume, and power. However, there are several key differences between aircraft and spacecraft avionics. Typically, the overall spacecraft operational time is much shorter than aircraft operation time, but the typical mission time (and hence, the time between preventive maintenance) is longer for a spacecraft than an aircraft. Also, the radiation environment is typically more severe for spacecraft than aircraft. A "loss of mission" scenario (i.e. - the mission is not a success, but there are no casualties) arguably has a greater impact on a multi-million dollar spaceflight mission than a typical commercial flight. Such differences need to be weighted when determining if an aircraft-like integrated modular avionics (IMA) system is suitable for a crewed spacecraft. This paper will explore the preliminary design process of the Orion vehicle avionics system by first identifying the Orion driving requirements and the difference between Orion requirements and those of other previous crewed spacecraft avionics systems. Common systems engineering methods will be used to evaluate the value propositions, or the factors that weight most heavily in design consideration, of Orion and other aerospace systems. Then, the current Orion avionics architecture will be presented and evaluated.

Baggerman, Clint↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Status of the Advanced Oxygen Generation Assembly Design

Future Exploration missions will require an Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) to electrolyze water to supply oxygen for crew metabolic consumption. The system design will be based on the international Space Station (ISS) OGA but with added improvements based on lessons learned during ISS operations and technological advances since the original OGA was designed and built. The goal of these improvements will be to reduce system mass, crew maintenance time and spares mass while increasing reliability. The design team has performed trade studies, tests and analyses to inform the redesign. Upgrades being considered include: redesign of the electrolysis cell stack, redesign of the hydrogen dome, replacement of the hydrogen sensors, redesign of the recirculation loop deionizing bed and redesign of the cell stack Power Supply Module. The ISS OGA will be upgraded to an Advanced OGA (AOGA) configuration and its operation demonstrated in a flight environment.

ECLSS↗
NASA NTRS2017

Thermal cycling testing to failure of a ceramic column grid array package for space applications

Ceramic column grid array (CCGA) packages have been used increasingly in logic and microprocessor functions, telecommunications, flight avionics boards, payload electronics boards, engineering navigational and science cameras, electronic assemblies, and other applications, because of their inherent advantages such as high electrical interconnect density, very good thermal and electrical performance, and compatibility with standard surface-mount technology (SMT) packaging assembly processes. Because these advanced electronic packages tend to have less solder-joint strain-relief than do leaded flat-pack electronic packages, the reliability of CCGA packages in challenging thermal environments is a very important consideration for their short- and long-term use in JPL-NASA space missions. In this study, we assembled daisy chains of polyimide printed wiring boards from CCGA-interconnect packages, inspected the boards nondestructively, and then subjected them to thermal cycling to assess their reliability in thermal environments from +125°C to -40°C±25°C. The test hardware consists of a CCGA 1752 package (CN version). The package was divided into four daisy-chained sections that were electrically monitored for their continuity during thermal cycling. The CCGA 1752 package is roughly 45 mm × 45 mm with a 42-mm × 42-mm array of 80%/20% Pb/Sn columns on a 1.00-mm pitch. The resistance of the daisy-chained CCGA interconnects was continuously monitored during thermal cycling in a gaseous nitrogen environment. Electrical continuity resistance measurements as a function of thermal cycling are reported here; tests to date have shown significant change to an open circuit in daisy-chain resistance as a function of thermal cycling. The change in interconnect resistance becomes increasingly noticeable with increasing number of thermal cycles. This paper describes the experimental thermal-cycling test results of CCGA 1752 package reliability testing under an extremely wide temperature range. The first failure was observed at 1479th thermal cycle. We report the thermal-cycle reliability test data for ~2500 thermal cycles.

Ramesham, Rajeshuni↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Status of the Advanced Oxygen Generation Assembly Design

Future Exploration missions will require an Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) to electrolyze water to supply oxygen for crew metabolic consumption. The system design will be based on the International Space Station (ISS) OGA but with added improvements based on lessons learned during ISS operations and technological advances since the original OGA was designed and built. The goal of these improvements will be to reduce system weight, crew maintenance time and spares mass while increasing reliability. Over the past year, the team has performed additional design reviews, testing and analysis in an effort to optimize upgrade efforts and achieve the best value that meets Exploration mission requirements. Upgrades that will be incorporated include: redesign of the electrolysis cell stack, redesign of the hydrogen dome, replacement of the hydrogen sensors, redesign of the recirculation loop deionizing bed, and incorporation of recirculation loop nitrogen purging and water flushing. The ISS OGA will be upgraded to an Advanced OGA (AOGA) configuration and its operation demonstrated in a relevant flight environment.

Oxygen Generation Assembly↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Status of the Advanced Oxygen Generation Assembly Design

Future Exploration missions will require an Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) to electrolyze water to supply oxygen for crew metabolic consumption. The system design will be based on the International Space Station (ISS) OGA but with added improvements based on lessons learned during ISS operations and technological advances since the original OGA was designed and built. The goal of these improvements will be to reduce system weight, crew maintenance time and spares mass while increasing reliability. Over the past year, the team has performed additional design reviews, testing and analysis in an effort to optimize upgrade efforts and achieve the best value that meets Exploration mission requirements. Upgrades that will be incorporated include: redesign of the electrolysis cell stack, redesign of the hydrogen dome, replacement of the hydrogen sensors, redesign of the recirculation loop deionizing bed, and incorporation of recirculation loop nitrogen purging and water flushing. The ISS OGA will be upgraded to an Advanced OGA (AOGA) configuration and its operation demonstrated in a relevant flight environment.

Oxygen Generation Assembly↗
NASA NTRS2008

Intelligent Engine Systems: Thermal Management and Advanced Cooling

The objective of the Advanced Turbine Cooling and Thermal Management program is to develop intelligent control and distribution methods for turbine cooling, while achieving a reduction in total cooling flow and assuring acceptable turbine component safety and reliability. The program also will develop embedded sensor technologies and cooling system models for real-time engine diagnostics and health management. Both active and passive control strategies will be investigated that include the capability of intelligent modulation of flow quantities, pressures, and temperatures both within the supply system and at the turbine component level. Thermal management system concepts were studied, with a goal of reducing HPT blade cooling air supply temperature. An assessment will be made of the use of this air by the active clearance control system as well. Turbine component cooling designs incorporating advanced, high-effectiveness cooling features, will be evaluated. Turbine cooling flow control concepts will be studied at the cooling system level and the component level. Specific cooling features or sub-elements of an advanced HPT blade cooling design will be downselected for core fabrication and casting demonstrations.

Bergholz, Robert↗
NASA NTRS2000

Advances in Space Transportation Technology Toward the NASA Goals

NASA has set goals to increase safety by one hundred times while reducing cost tenfold over the next decade. This dramatic increase in safety will come by departing from a past emphasis on cost and performance to a new paradigm of safety and reliability, which, in turn, will drive down cost. To accomplish this, vehicle systems must be inherently reliable, functionally redundant wherever practical and designed to minimize or eliminate catastrophic failure modes. Over the next twenty-five years, NASA has set goals to increase safety ten thousand times while reducing cost one hundred fold. Safety will increase towards today's airline safety and the low price per flight has the potential to enable a 15-fold increase in the size of the current projected space launch market. This level of improvement is comparable to the developments in the 1970s in the computer microprocessor when microchips went from hundreds of thousands to tens of thousands of dollars - hailing the era of the personal computer. In order to achieve such ambitious cost goals, today's partial and fully expendable rockets must be replaced by fully reusable systems. A RLV can eliminate assembly and checkout of the large number of complex interfaces on today's Space Shuttle. Full reusability will eliminate the necessity to throw away expensive hardware and the need for on-going production. Systems in ten years will have to accommodate 50 to 100 missions per year and could be commercially certified for hundreds of flights. In twenty-five years, the number of flights per year could jump to over 1,000, which will require certification for thousands of flights. The large increase in flights per year will demand that current operations and maintenance procedures be revolutionized. Unlike the current shuttle, which requires several thousand personnel over five months to process, the next generation system must be turned around in one week with less than one hundred personnel. In contrast to the rigorous disassembly and inspections required for the Space Shuttle's subsystems, the next generation vehicle's on-board health monitoring systems will could tell the ground crews which systems need replacement before landing. In twenty-five years, vehicles will be re-flown within one with crews numbering less than one hundred. Fully automated ground processing systems must require only a handful of personnel to launch the vehicle. Due to the increased intelligence of on-board systems, only cursory walk-around inspections would be required between flights An assessment of the progress in breakthrough technologies toward these goals by the NASA Advanced Space Transportation Program is presented. These breakthrough technologies include combined rocket and air breathing propulsion, high strength lightweight structures, high temperature materials, vehicle health management, and flight operations.

Lyles, Garry M.↗
NASA NTRS2018

2.5/3D Daisy Chain Reliability Evaluation

The objective of this task is to evaluate thermal cycle behavior of advanced 2.5/3D electronics — commercial-off the-shelf (COTS) —packages of different configurations assembled onto printed circuit boards (PCBs). Three key approaches were considered for evaluation. The first approach focused on the through-mold via (TMV™) technology at assembly level. The second approach focused on evaluation of 2.5D (also known as, System in Package (SiP)) in fine pitch ball grid array (FPGA). The third approach focused on evaluation of through-silicone-via (TSV) technologies. This report presents the test results for TMV™ and SiP packaging technologies and reliability, and it also provides lessons learned on quality assurance methods. Specifically, the report presents the test matrix for various 3D TMV™ packaging assembly configurations and reliability characterizations performed under two accelerated thermal cycling (ATC) and accelerated thermal shock cycling (ATSC) conditions. The ATC and ATSC were performed in the range of –55°C to 125°C and –100°C to 100°C, respectively. The report also includes assembly of a SiP— a 60-mm fine-pitch ball-grid array (FPGA) interposer with an IC at the center and six chip-scale package (CSP) daisy chains at the periphery—with package assembly characterizations. After assembly, the daisy chains were subjected to ATCs in the range of –40°C to 125°C for reliability evaluation. Finally, for both TMV™ and SiP packaging configurations, characterizations results by X-ray, optical imaging, and daisy-chain resistance evaluations were also presented.

Ghaffarian, Reza↗
NASA NTRS1995

A synthetic design environment for ship design

Rapid advances in computer science and information system technology have made possible the creation of synthetic design environments (SDE) which use virtual prototypes to increase the efficiency and agility of the design process. This next generation of computer-based design tools will rely heavily on simulation and advanced visualization techniques to enable integrated product and process teams to concurrently conceptualize, design, and test a product and its fabrication processes. This paper summarizes a successful demonstration of the feasibility of using a simulation based design environment in the shipbuilding industry. As computer science and information science technologies have evolved, there have been many attempts to apply and integrate the new capabilities into systems for the improvement of the process of design. We see the benefits of those efforts in the abundance of highly reliable, technologically complex products and services in the modern marketplace. Furthermore, the computer-based technologies have been so cost effective that the improvements embodied in modern products have been accompanied by lowered costs. Today the state-of-the-art in computerized design has advanced so dramatically that the focus is no longer on merely improving design methodology; rather the goal is to revolutionize the entire process by which complex products are conceived, designed, fabricated, tested, deployed, operated, maintained, refurbished and eventually decommissioned. By concurrently addressing all life-cycle issues, the basic decision making process within an enterprise will be improved dramatically, leading to new levels of quality, innovation, efficiency, and customer responsiveness. By integrating functions and people with an enterprise, such systems will change the fundamental way American industries are organized, creating companies that are more competitive, creative, and productive.

Chipman, Richard R.↗
NASA NTRS2014

TPSAS-NF1676L-19134-DND

Composite materials and structures are state-of-art enabling technology for modern aerospace vehicles, reducing weight and maintenance requirements, and increasing performance and reliability. Numerical-control manufacturing systems, including automated fiber placement (AFP), are widely used to fabricate these components. However, the challenging weight and performance requirements necessary for the next generation of aerospace vehicles will push the composites state-of-art even further, and require development of even more advanced materials, manufacturing, and structures technologies that are more affordable and more efficient. The Integrated Structural Assembly of Advanced Composites (ISAAC) system is intended to address many of NASA's critical research needs in the field of advanced composites. The baseline ISAAC system, combining a commercial robot with multiple degrees of freedom, a tool changer interface, and a special-purpose AFP end effector, will enable very precise and accurate additive manufacturing of composite structures. One promising area of research enabled by the ISAAC system is advanced composite tow-steered structures that have tailored structural load paths. Several examples are presented that describe these tow-steered composite structures in more detail.

Brian K Stewart↗
NASA NTRS2012

Integrated Atmosphere Resource Recovery and Environmental Monitoring Technology Demonstration for Deep Space Exploration

Exploring the frontiers of deep space continues to be defined by the technological challenges presented by safely transporting a crew to and from destinations of scientific interest. Living and working on that frontier requires highly reliable and efficient life support systems that employ robust, proven process technologies. The International Space Station (ISS), including its environmental control and life support (ECLS) system, is the platform from which humanity's deep space exploration missions begin. The ISS ECLS system Atmosphere Revitalization (AR) subsystem and environmental monitoring (EM) technical architecture aboard the ISS is evaluated as the starting basis for a developmental effort being conducted by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) via the Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Atmosphere Resource Recovery and Environmental Monitoring (ARREM) Project.. An evolutionary approach is employed by the ARREM project to address the strengths and weaknesses of the ISS AR subsystem and EM equipment, core technologies, and operational approaches to reduce developmental risk, improve functional reliability, and lower lifecycle costs of an ISS-derived subsystem architecture suitable for use for crewed deep space exploration missions. The most promising technical approaches to an ISS-derived subsystem design architecture that incorporates promising core process technology upgrades will be matured through a series of integrated tests and architectural trade studies encompassing expected exploration mission requirements and constraints.

Perry, Jay L.↗
NASA NTRS2012

An Intelligent Strain Gauge with Debond Detection and Temperature Compensation

The harsh rocket propulsion test environment will expose any inadequacies associated with preexisting instrumentation technologies, and the criticality for collecting reliable test data justifies investigating any encountered data anomalies. Novel concepts for improved systems are often conceived during the high scrutiny investigations by individuals with an in-depth knowledge from maintaining critical test operations. The Intelligent Strain Gauge concept was conceived while performing these kinds of activities. However, the novel concepts are often unexplored even if it has the potential for advancing the current state of the art. Maturing these kinds of concepts is often considered to be a tangential development or a research project which are both normally abandoned within the propulsion-oriented environment. It is also difficult to justify these kinds of projects as a facility enhancement because facility developments are only accepted for mature and proven technologies. Fortunately, the CIF program has provided an avenue for bringing the Intelligent Strain Gauge to fruition. Two types of fully functional smart strain gauges capable of performing reliable and sensitive debond detection have been successfully produced. Ordinary gauges are designed to provide test article data and they lack the ability to supply information concerning the gauge itself. A gauge is considered to be a smart gauge when it provides supplementary data relating other relevant attributes for performing diagnostic function or producing enhanced data. The developed strain gauges provide supplementary signals by measuring strain and temperature through embedded Karma and nickel chromium (NiCr) alloy elements. Intelligently interpreting the supplementary data into valuable information can be performed manually, however, integrating this functionality into an automatic system is considered to be an intelligent gauge. This was achieved while maintaining a very low mass. The low mass enables debond detection and temperature compensation to be performed when the gauge is utilized on small test articles. It was also found that the element's mass must be relatively small to avoid overbearing the desired thermal dissipation characteristics. Detecting the degradation of a gauge s bond was reliably achieved by correlating thermal dissipation with the bond s integrity. This was accomplished by precisely coupling a NiCr element with a Karma element for accurately interjecting and quantifying thermal energy. A finite amount of thermal energy is consistently placed in the gauge by electrically powering the NiCr element. The energy will only be temporarily stored before it begins to dissipate into the surrounding structure through the gauge bond. The ability to transmit the energy into the structure becomes greatly inhibited by any discontinuity in the bond s substrate. Therefore, the way the thermal dissipation occurs will reveal even the slightest change in the integrity of the bond.

Jensen, Scott L.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Technology Innovations from NASA's Next Generation Launch Technology Program

NASA's Next Generation Launch Technology Program has been on the cutting edge of technology, improving the safety, affordability, and reliability of future space-launch-transportation systems. The array of projects focused on propulsion, airframe, and other vehicle systems. Achievements range from building miniature fuel/oxygen sensors to hot-firings of major rocket-engine systems as well as extreme thermo-mechanical testing of large-scale structures. Results to date have significantly advanced technology readiness for future space-launch systems using either airbreathing or rocket propulsion.

Cook, Stephen A.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Advance Power Technology Experiment for the Starshine 3 Satellite

The Starshine 3 satellite will carry several power technology demonstrations. Since Starshine 3 is primarily a passive experiment and does not need electrical power to successfully complete its mission, the requirement for a highly reliable power system is greatly reduced. This creates an excellent opportunity to test new power technologies. Several government and commercial interests have teamed up to provide Starshine 3 with a small power system using state-of-the-art components. Starshine 3 will also fly novel integrated microelectronic power supplies (IWS) for evaluation.

Jenkins, Phillip↗