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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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NASA NTRS2015

Systems Engineering Management Plan NASA Traffic Aware Planner Integration Into P-180 Airborne Test-Bed

NASA's Traffic Aware Planner (TAP) is a cockpit decision support tool that provides aircrew with vertical and lateral flight-path optimizations with the intent of achieving significant fuel and time savings, while automatically avoiding traffic, weather, and restricted airspace conflicts. A key step towards the maturation and deployment of TAP concerned its operational evaluation in a representative flight environment. This Systems Engineering Management Plan (SEMP) addresses the test-vehicle design, systems integration, and flight-test planning for the first TAP operational flight evaluations, which were successfully completed in November 2013. The trial outcomes are documented in the Traffic Aware Planner (TAP) flight evaluation paper presented at the 14th AIAA Aviation Technology, Integration, and Operations Conference, Atlanta, GA. (AIAA-2014-2166, Maris, J. M., Haynes, M. A., Wing, D. J., Burke, K. A., Henderson, J., & Woods, S. E., 2014).

Maris, John↗
NASA NTRS1987

Space station System Engineering and Integration (SE and I). Volume 2: Study results

A summary of significant study results that are products of the Phase B conceptual design task are contained. Major elements are addressed. Study results applicable to each major element or area of design are summarized and included where appropriate. Areas addressed include: system engineering and integration; customer accommodations; test and program verification; product assurance; conceptual design; operations and planning; technical and management information system (TMIS); and advanced development.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2014

A Systems Engineering Approach to Quality Assurance for Aerospace Testing

On the surface, it appears that AS9100 has little to say about how to apply a Quality Management System (QMS) to major aerospace test programs (or even smaller ones). It also appears that there is little in the quality engineering Body of Knowledge (BOK) that applies to testing, unless it is nondestructive examination (NDE), or some type of lab or bench testing associated with the manufacturing process. However, if one examines: a) how the systems engineering (SE) processes are implemented throughout a test program; and b) how these SE processes can be mapped to the requirements of AS9100, a number of areas for involvement of the quality professional are revealed. What often happens is that quality assurance during a test program is limited to inspections of the test article; what could be considered a manufacturing al fresco approach. This limits the quality professional and is a disservice to the programs and projects, since there are a number of ways that quality can enhance critical processes, and support efforts to improve risk reduction, efficiency and effectiveness. The Systems Engineering (SE) discipline is widely used in aerospace to ensure the progress from Stakeholder Expectations (the President, Congress, the taxpayers) to a successful, delivered product or service. Although this is well known, what is not well known is that these same SE processes are implemented in varying complexity, to prepare for and implement test projects that support research, development, verification and validation, qualification, and acceptance test projects. Although the test organization's terminology may vary from the SE terminology, and from one test service provider to another, the basic process is followed by successful, reliable testing organizations. For this analysis, NASA Procedural Requirements (NPR) 7123.1, NASA Systems Engineering Processes and Requirements is used to illustrate the SE processes that are used for major aerospace testing. Many of these processes are also implemented for smaller test projects, and this set of processes will also look familiar to those who have participated in launch site activation and flight demonstrations.

Shepherd, Christena C.↗
NASA NTRS1974

A contemporary view of systems engineering

The concept of a 'system' is defined, and the 'systems approach' is discussed. Four contemporary examples of the systems approach are presented: an operations research project, the planning-programming-budgeting system, an information processing system, and aerospace programs.

Miles, R. F., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS2008

Intelligent Engine Systems

A high bypass jet engine fan case represents one of the largest, heaviest single components in an engine. In addition to supporting the inlet and providing the fan flowpath, the most critical function is the containment of a failed fan blade. In this development program, a lightweight, low-cost composite containment case with diagnostic capabilities was developed, fabricated, and tested. The fan case design, containment methods, and diagnostic concepts evaluated in the initial Propulsion 21 program were improved and scaled up to a full case design.

Xie, Ming↗
NASA NTRS2008

Evaluation of Recent Upgrades to the NESS (Nuclear Engine System Simulation) Code

The Nuclear Thermal Rocket (NTR) concept is being evaluated as a potential propulsion technology for exploratory expeditions to the moon, Mars, and beyond. The need for exceptional propulsion system performance in these missions has been documented in numerous studies, and was the primary focus of a considerable effort undertaken during the Rover/NERVA program from 1955 to 1973. The NASA Glenn Research Center is leveraging this past NTR investment in their vehicle concepts and mission analysis studies with the aid of the Nuclear Engine System Simulation (NESS) code. This paper presents the additional capabilities and upgrades made to this code in order to perform higher fidelity NTR propulsion system analysis and design, and a comparison of its results to the Small Nuclear Rocket Engine (SNRE) design.

Fittje, James E.↗
NASA NTRS2009

AP233: An Information Model for Systems Engineering

In today's world, information is abundant. We have no problems generating it. But we are challenged to find, organize, and exchange information. center dot A standardized model of information can help. Such a model nearly completed its development for Systems Engineering. It is referred to as AP233 (AP = Application Protocol).

Siebes, Georg↗
NASA NTRS2001

The Use of Human Modeling of EVA Tasks as a Systems Engineering Tool

Computer-generated human models have been used in aerospace design for a decade. They have come to be highly reliable for worksite analysis of certain types of EVA tasks. In many design environments, this analysis comes after the structural design is largely complete. However, the use of these models as a development tool is gaining acceptance within organizations that practice good systems engineering processes. The design of the United States Propulsion Module for the International Space Station provides an example of this application. The Propulsion Module will provide augmentation to the propulsion capability supplied by the Russian Service Module Zvezda. It is a late addition to the set of modules provided by the United States to the ISS Program, and as a result, faces design challenges that result from the level of immaturity of its integration into the Station. Among these are heat dissipation and physical envelopes. Since the rest of the Station was designed to maximize the use of the cooling system, little margin is available for the addition of another module. The Propulsion Module will attach at the forward end of the Station, and will be between the Orbiter and the rest of ISS. Since cargo must be removed from the Payload Bay and transferred to Station by the Canadarm, there is a potential for protrusions from the module, such as thruster booms, to interfere with robotic operations. These and similar engineering issues must be addressed as part of the development. In the implementation of good system design, all design solutions should be analyzed for compatibility with all affected subsystems. Human modeling has been used in this project to provide rapid input to system trades of design concepts. For example, the placement of radiators and avionics components for optimization of heat dissipation had to be examined for feasibility of EVA translation paths and worksite development. Likewise, the location of and mechanism for the retraction of thruster booms was partly driven by available Orbiter, robotic arm, and other module envelopes; worksite analysis was required for early assessment of task success. Since these trade studies included the EVA analysis as part of the decision criteria, the design had a high degree of assurance of EVA supportability from the outset. This approach contributes greatly to mission success.

Dischinger, H. Charles, Jr.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Harnessing Systems Engineering Methodology in Using Earth Science Research Data for Real Applications

For the last three decades, Earth science remote sensing technologies have been providing an enormous amount of useful data and information serving to broaden our understanding of the home planet as a system. NASA's Earth science program has deployed about 18 complex satellites and is in the process of defining and launching multiple observing systems in this decade. At the same time, the European Community and many other countries such as Russia, France, India, Japan, and China have also significantly contributed to Earth science research. To date, the majority of such efforts have concentrated on expanding our scientific understanding of the multiple nonlinear and chaotic processes of Earth's behavior. In recent years, legislators and stakeholders have put serious pressure on the science community to devote more attention to making use of scientific results for societal benefit. For instance, there are a number of areas such as energy forecasting, aviation safety, agricultural efficiency, disaster management, air quality and public health that can directly take advantage of Earth science results to analyze and predict large scale problems and conditions. This is becoming even more important now that we live in a global economy interconnected via the internet and transportation systems; regional environmental conditions can have far reaching impact across continental boundaries. These factors dictate requirements for global data that can help us assess and control the devastating problems of famine, water resources, wildfires, human health and more. To do this requires a serious, organized, and systematic approach that transfers fundamental research products to the applied sciences domain. This paper presents a systems engineering and management process that can effectively make such transfer of data to the user community. Examples are presented on how the above decision making framework can help in solving critical problems such as the spread of vector borne diseases, forecasts of harmful algal blooms as well as forest fires and wildfires, and the intercontinental transport of dust storms and pollution.

Habib, Shahid↗
NASA NTRS2019

Program Promotion Can Distort Space Systems Engineering and Deny Risk

NASA's spectacular success in the Apollo moon landings was achieved against the odds by an obsessive dedication to reducing the great risk. But risk analysis predicted so many astronaut fatalities that it was thought to be unreasonably pessimistic and potentially damaging to the Apollo program. Risk analysis was discontinued, risk was neglected in space shuttle engineering, and so the space shuttle design was unnecessarily dangerous. Since the Apollo era it has been understood that long human space missions would recycle oxygen and water to avoid the very high launch cost of directly supplying them. The development of recycling systems was justified by the need to increase material closure and reduce launch mass. When it was recognized that increasing closure leads to rapidly diminishing returns, the program goal was changed to reducing launch mass and reliability, cost, and risk were considered irrelevant. Systems engineering and especially the discouraging problems of risk and cost have been deliberately ignored because they detract from program promotion, with unfortunate results. Current human launch system design does account for risk and the result strongly resembles Apollo. Current life support design continues to assume recycling, even though the recent great reduction in launch cost now allows direct supply of oxygen and water with significantly better quality, reliability, cost, and risk.

Advocacy↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Introduction of an Agile Systems Engineering Process to the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center

This paper will provide background on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) ARMD Test Data Portal (ATDP) effort along with the rationale that motivated the ATDP team to consider implementing an agile systems engineering (SE) process. The primary motivation for using this new SE process was based on the desire to mitigate a major risk to project success. Since the agile SE process had never been used before at the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC), utilizing this new SE process required a trailblazing effort to introduce it to NASA AFRC leadership. As a result, the ATDP team chose to adhere to the agile SE process in addition to the trusted classical waterfall SE process on ATDP. Through successful execution of this hybrid SE process during Phase I, along with demonstrating the value and rigor of the agile SE process, NASA AFRC leadership ultimately permitted the ATDP project to solely use the agile SE process for developments beyond Phase I. While it is the opinion of the authors that the classical SE process is more effective for most projects at NASA AFRC, some projects may deem that the agile SE process is more advantageous. Although this paper is focused on introducing the agile SE process to NASA AFRC, lessons learned will be valuable to other organizations as well. Details of how the ATDP team implemented the agile SE process during Phase I will be summarized, along with how the team met all required classical SE milestones. Lessons learned throughout Phase I of this effort will also be highlighted.

Daniel S. Jones↗
NASA NTRS1989

Real-time graphics for the Space Station Freedom cupola, developed in the Systems Engineering Simulator

Among the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center's responsibilities for Space Station Freedom is the cupola. Attached to the resource node, the cupola is a windowed structure that will serve as the space station's secondary control center. From the cupola, operations involving the mobile service center and orbital maneuvering vehicle will be conducted. The Systems Engineering Simulator (SES), located in building 16, activated a real-time man-in-the-loop cupola simulator in November 1987. The SES cupola is an engineering tool with the flexibility to evolve in both hardware and software as the final cupola design matures. Two workstations are simulated with closed-circuit television monitors, rotational and translational hand controllers, programmable display pushbuttons, and graphics display with trackball and keyboard. The displays and controls of the SES cupola are driven by a Silicon Graphics Integrated Raster Imaging System (IRIS) 4D/70 GT computer. Through the use of an interactive display builder program, SES, cupola display pages consisting of two dimensional and three dimensional graphics are constructed. These display pages interact with the SES via the IRIS real-time graphics interface. The focus is on the real-time graphics interface applications software developed on the IRIS.

Red, Michael T.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Model Based Systems Engineering on the Europa Mission Concept Study

At the start of 2011, the proposed Jupiter Europa Orbiter (JEO) mission was staffing up in expectation of becoming an official project later in the year for a launch in 2020. A unique aspect of the pre-project work was a strong emphasis and investment on the foundations of Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE). As so often happens in this business, plans changed: NASA's budget and science priorities were released and together fundamentally changed the course of JEO. As a result, it returned to being a study task whose objective is to propose more affordable ways to accomplish the science. As part of this transition, the question arose as to whether it could continue to afford the investment in MBSE. In short, the MBSE infusion has survived and is providing clear value to the study effort. By leveraging the existing infrastructure and a modest additional investment, striking advances in the capture and analysis of designs using MBSE were achieved. In the process, the need to remain relevant in the new environment has brought about a wave of innovation and progress. The effort has reaffirmed the importance of architecting. It has successfully harnessed the synergistic relationship of architecting to system modeling. We have found that MBSE can provide greater agility than traditional methods. We have also found that a diverse 'ecosystem' of modeling tools and languages (SysML, Mathematica, even Excel) is not only viable, but an important enabler of agility and adaptability. This paper will describe the successful application of MBSE in the dynamic environment of early mission formulation, the significant results produced and lessons learned in the process.

Bayer, Todd J.↗
NASA NTRS2009

Technology Transfer Challenges: A Case Study of User-Centered Design in NASA's Systems Engineering Culture

The Upper Stage (US) section of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Ares I rocket will require internal access platforms for maintenance tasks performed by humans inside the vehicle. Tasks will occur during expensive critical path operations at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) including vehicle stacking and launch preparation activities. Platforms must be translated through a small human access hatch, installed in an enclosed worksite environment, support the weight of ground operators and be removed before flight - and their design must minimize additional vehicle mass at attachment points. This paper describes the application of a user-centered conceptual design process and the unique challenges encountered within NASA's systems engineering culture focused on requirements and "heritage hardware". The NASA design team at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) initiated the user-centered design process by studying heritage internal access kits and proposing new design concepts during brainstorming sessions. Simultaneously, they partnered with the Technology Transfer/Innovative Partnerships Program to research inflatable structures and dynamic scaffolding solutions that could enable ground operator access. While this creative, technology-oriented exploration was encouraged by upper management, some design stakeholders consistently opposed ideas utilizing novel, untested equipment. Subsequent collaboration with an engineering consulting firm improved the technical credibility of several options, however, there was continued resistance from team members focused on meeting system requirements with pre-certified hardware. After a six-month idea-generating phase, an intensive six-week effort produced viable design concepts that justified additional vehicle mass while optimizing the human factors of platform installation and use. Although these selected final concepts closely resemble heritage internal access platforms, challenges from the application of the user-centered process provided valuable lessons for improving future collaborative conceptual design efforts.

Quick, Jason↗