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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 487 records · Page 27
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1993

Multi-rate, real time image compression for images dominated by point sources

An image compression system recently developed for compression of digital images dominated by point sources is presented. Encoding consists of minimum-mean removal, vector quantization, adaptive threshold truncation, and modified Huffman encoding. Simulations are presented showing that the peaks corresponding to point sources can be transmitted losslessly for low signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) and high point source densities while maintaining a reduced output bit rate. Encoding and decoding hardware has been built and tested which processes 552,960 12-bit pixels per second at compression rates of 10:1 and 4:1. Simulation results are presented for the 10:1 case only.

Huber, A. Kris↗
NASA NTRS1993

An electromagnetically levitated two-axis gimbaless pointing mechanism

A brief description for a proposed new pointing mechanism which requires no mechanical gimbals, is virtually friction free, and is vibration isolated from a ground support system or vehicle is presented. The device uses electromagnetic forces for support levitation and pointing, both being accomplished from a ground reference thereby leaving the payload virtually free from a remotely located command center. Solid pointing angles of almost 2(pi) steradians are achievable, limited only by structural interference. A third degree-of-freedom tilt axis can be added at will, but will not be elaborated. Although the system is primarily intended for space vehicles in a micro-gravity environment, earth-ground support is possible with superconducting electromagnets.

Volpe, Gerald T.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Space-based astrometric optical interferometry with POINTS

POINTS, a dual space-based astrometric optical interferometer with nominal baseline length of 2 meters and measurement accuracy of 5 microarcseconds, which could be a powerful new multidisciplinary research tool is introduced. The instrument, including the laser gauges which are a central aspect of the instrument, are described. The design of the spacecraft, and the mission operations, including the bias determination and correction, are discussed. As a candidate for the Astrometric Interferometry Mission (AIM) mission, POINTS could open new areas of astrophysical research and change the nature of the questions being asked in some old areas. As a candidate for the TOPS-1 (Towards Other Planetary Systems) mission, it could be used to perform a definitive search for extra solar planetary systems, either finding and characterizing a large number of them or showing that they are far less numerous than now believed. POINTS, which is small, agile, and mechanically simple, would be the first of a new class of powerful instruments in space and would prove the technology for the larger members of that class to follow.

Reasenberg, R. D.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Initial performance improvements due to design modifications for the Pointing Control System on the Hubble Space Telescope

Shortly after Hubble Space Telescope was deployed on orbit it became apparent that the Pointing Control System was experiencing unexpectedly large disturbances during certain portions of the orbit. While these disturbances were most pronounced during transitions of the Earth's shadow, significant disruptions to the pointing occurred at other times in the orbit. Careful analysis of the flight data has lead to the conclusion that the disturbances are caused by a combination of rapid thermal deformations of the Solar Arrays together with striction-friction mechanisms within the array that randomly release stored thermal/mechanical energy. This paper describes the baseline pointing control system design and the flight data that characterized the effects of the extraneous disturbances. The paper goes on to describe the procedure for modifying the onboard controller to attenuate the disturbances to levels consistent with the science operations. Flight data demonstrating the improved performance are shown and are tabulated to compare performance prior to and after phase I of the redesign.

Nurre, G. S.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Linear theory of fast reconnection at an X-type neutral point

A complete analytic theory of dynamic linear reconnection at an X-type neutral point is developed. An eigenmode analysis, using cylindrical coordinates centered on the neutral point, extends the work of Craig & McClymont (1991) to include nonazimuthally symmetric perturbations on the flux function. It is demonstrated that all physically significant disturbances, both reconnective and nonreconnective, decay resistively on a 'fast' time scale. The significance of the linear theory is discussed within the general context of steady state and dynamic reconnection studies. Disturbances can be expected to focus explosively in the vicinity of the neutral point. This suggests the formation of a 'flux pile-up' current layer in which the bulk of the magnetic energy is released as heat rather than kinetic energy of mass motion.

Craig, I. J. D.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Surface hot-film method for the measurement of transition, separation and reattachment points

A real-time method of determining positions of laminar-to-turbulent transition region, separation and reattachment points and stagnation points using an array of simultaneously operated surface-mounted hot-film sensors has been developed and applied to a wind-tunnel test of a multielement airfoil model. Determination of various types of transitions and flow directions in various regimes of flows seen on multielement airfoils are possible without precise sensor calibration or laborious post-test data analysis. The results agree with established method and theoretical methods, but determination of turbulent reattachment points are not yet satisfactory.

Nakayama, Akihiko↗
NASA NTRS1992

SAMPEX science pointing with velocity avoidance

The Solar, Anomalous, and Magnetospheric Particle Explorer (SAMPEX) science pointing mode is presented with the additional constraint of velocity avoidance. This constraint has been added in light of the orbital debris and micrometeoroid fluxes that have been revealed by the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) recovered in January 1990. These fluxes are 50-100 times higher than the flux tables that were used in the September 1988 proposal to NASA for the SAMPEX mission. The SAMPEX Heavey Ion Large Telescope (HILT) sensor includes a flow-through isobutane proportional counter that is susceptible to penetration by orbital debris and micrometeoroids. Thus, keeping the HILT sensor pointed away from the velocity vector, the direction of maximum flux, will compensate for the higher than expected fluxes. Using an orbital debris model and a micrometeoroid model developed at the Johnson Space Center (JSC), and a SAMPEX dynamic simulator developed by the Guidance and Control Branch at the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), an 'optimal' minimum ram angle (the angle between the HILT boresight and the velocity vector) of 90 degrees has been determined. It is optimal in the sense of minimizing the science pointing performance degradation while providing approximately an 89 percent chance of survival for the HILT sensor over a three year period.

Frakes, Joseph P.↗
NASA NTRS1993

On the existence of touch points for first-order state inequality constraints

The appearance of touch points in state constrained optimal control problems with general vector-valued control is studied. Under the assumption that the Hamiltonian is regular, touch points for first-order state inequalities are shown to exist only under very special conditions. In many cases of practical importance these conditions can be used to exclude touch points a priori without solving an optimal control problem. The results are demonstrated on a simple example.

Seywald, Hans↗
NASA NTRS1958

An Analysis of Pressure Studies and Experimental and Theoretical Downwash and Sidewash Behind Five Pointed-Tip Wings at Supersonic Speeds

Flow-angle and pressure surveys behind five, thin, pointed-tip wings of varying plan form have been made at Mach numbers 1.62 and 2.41. Schlieren studies at a Mach number 1.93 for the same five plan-form wings were made to illustrate the behavior of the vortex sheet. The surveys were conducted at 1.5, 3, and 4 root chords behind three triangular wings of 50 degree, 63 degree, and 72 degree leading-edge sweep angle, and behind the 50 degree triangular wing reversed. The flow behind a pointed-tip wing having a sweptback leading edge and a sweptforward trailing edge (both 50 degrees) was also surveyed. Experiment and one of the theoretical methods are compared for the reversed triangular wing and the pointed-tip wing with the 50 degree sweptback leading edge and sweptforward trailing edge.

Boatright, William B↗
NASA NTRS1993

The three-point function as a probe of models for large-scale structure

The consequences of models of structure formation for higher-order (n-point) galaxy correlation functions in the mildly non-linear regime are analyzed. Several variations of the standard Omega = 1 cold dark matter model with scale-invariant primordial perturbations were recently introduced to obtain more power on large scales, R(sub p) is approximately 20 h(sup -1) Mpc, e.g., low-matter-density (non-zero cosmological constant) models, 'tilted' primordial spectra, and scenarios with a mixture of cold and hot dark matter. They also include models with an effective scale-dependent bias, such as the cooperative galaxy formation scenario of Bower, etal. It is shown that higher-order (n-point) galaxy correlation functions can provide a useful test of such models and can discriminate between models with true large-scale power in the density field and those where the galaxy power arises from scale-dependent bias: a bias with rapid scale-dependence leads to a dramatic decrease of the hierarchical amplitudes Q(sub J) at large scales, r is approximately greater than R(sub p). Current observational constraints on the three-point amplitudes Q(sub 3) and S(sub 3) can place limits on the bias parameter(s) and appear to disfavor, but not yet rule out, the hypothesis that scale-dependent bias is responsible for the extra power observed on large scales.

Frieman, Joshua A.↗
NASA NTRS1993

A typical pointed observation in IRAS designed to fit into a 15 minute window

A typical pointed observation in the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) was designed to fit into a 15 minute window. Observing constraints, however, did not always permit targets from the scientific program to be observed on exactly 15 minute centers and a few months into the mission it was realized that the automatic scheduling program left times when no observations were being made. In order to use this potentially wasted observing time, a mode of pointed observations, the 'filler' mode, with shorter observation duration was initiated. Locations were picked on an arbitrary grid, spaced relatively uniformly in ecliptic coordinates, and the telescope was pointed to one of these sites whenever a gap potentially occurred. One of us (GXN) was the coordinator of this effort (the FL sub-group). There are a total of 22 FL fields, 13 of which have more than 50 component observations. These 13 fields cover about 30 square degrees. It was proposed to concentrate on one filler field, FL29, a field with 53 coverages which thus had among the deepest coverage of those observed in this mode. This field was also observed extensively at various non-infrared wavelengths by a variety of techniques. Because the IRAS observations of FL29 were made at the limits of the survey sensitivity and at different twist angles it was necessary to make significant technical advances in the methods used in the processing and analyzing the data. In particular, if normal IRAS coaddition procedures were used, the noise resulting from coaddition of the multiple frames did not decrease in the manner expected once significantly different twist angles were included in the coaddition. The technical effort needed to reduce the observations of FL29 was completed and now the noise behavior is understood and well behaved. The reduction of the field FL29 observations is done.

Neugebauer, G.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Design of a new high-performance pointing controller for the Hubble Space Telescope

A new form of high-performance, disturbance-adaptive pointing controller for the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is proposed. This new controller is all linear (constant gains) and can maintain accurate 'pointing' of the HST in the face of persistent randomly triggered uncertain, unmeasurable 'flapping' motions of the large attached solar array panels. Similar disturbances associated with antennas and other flexible appendages can also be accommodated. The effectiveness and practicality of the proposed new controller is demonstrated by a detailed design and simulation testing of one such controller for a planar-motion, fully nonlinear model of HST. The simulation results show a high degree of disturbance isolation and pointing stability.

Johnson, C. D.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Compliance measurements of chevron notched four point bend specimen

The experimental stress intensity factors for various chevron notched four point bend specimens are presented. The experimental compliance is verified using the analytical solution for a straight through crack four point bend specimen and the boundary integral equation method for one chevron geometry. Excellent agreement is obtained between the experimental and analytical results. In this report, stress intensity factors, loading displacements and crack mouth opening displacements are reported for different crack lengths and different chevron geometries, under four point bend loading condition.

Calomino, Anthony↗
NASA NTRS1992

Acquisition, pointing and tracking performance of the Hubble Space Telescope fine guidance sensors

The three fine guidance sensors (FGSs) on board the HST have been operated extensively since the observatory was launched in April, 1990. The FGSs, each capable of measuring angles as small as 0.003 arcsec, provide required fine pointing information to the HST's pointing control system and are intended to serve as astrometry instruments. On-orbit data have shown that the acquisition, pointing and tracking performance of the FGSs in most cases meets, and of these sometimes exceeds, requirements. The versatility of the FGS digital control electronics to adapt to the unexpected conditions imposed on the sensors by the telescope spherical aberration and by solar panel jitter is discussed. There is encouragement from both on-orbit tests and analytical studies that the FGSs can accommodate the current telescope characteristics. Improvements to guide star acquisitions within the FGSs and to target acquisitions within science instruments have been accomplished with the internal distortion calibration of each FGS and with the alignment calibration between sensors. Techniques used in the calibration process and the resulting improvements in acquisitions are presented.

Eaton, David J.↗
NASA NTRS1994

On the Gibbs phenomenon 5: Recovering exponential accuracy from collocation point values of a piecewise analytic function

The paper presents a method to recover exponential accuracy at all points (including at the discontinuities themselves), from the knowledge of an approximation to the interpolation polynomial (or trigonometrical polynomial). We show that if we are given the collocation point values (or a highly accurate approximation) at the Gauss or Gauss-Lobatto points, we can reconstruct a uniform exponentially convergent approximation to the function f(x) in any sub-interval of analyticity. The proof covers the cases of Fourier, Chebyshev, Legendre, and more general Gegenbauer collocation methods.

Gottlieb, David↗
NASA NTRS1995

Method for the calculation of spacecraft umbra and penumbra shadow terminator points

A method for calculating orbital shadow terminator points is presented. The current method employs the use of an iterative process which is used for an accurate determination of shadow points. This calculation methodology is required since orbital perturbation effects can introduce large errors when a spacecraft orbits a planet in a high altitude and/or highly elliptical orbit. To compensate for the required iteration methodology, all reference frame change definitions and calculations are performed with quaternions. Quaternion algebra significantly reduces the computational time required for the accurate determination of shadow terminator points.

Ortizlongo, Carlos R.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Defining the IEEE-854 floating-point standard in PVS

A significant portion of the ANSI/IEEE-854 Standard for Radix-Independent Floating-Point Arithmetic is defined in PVS (Prototype Verification System). Since IEEE-854 is a generalization of the ANSI/IEEE-754 Standard for Binary Floating-Point Arithmetic, the definition of IEEE-854 in PVS also formally defines much of IEEE-754. This collection of PVS theories provides a basis for machine checked verification of floating-point systems. This formal definition illustrates that formal specification techniques are sufficiently advanced that is is reasonable to consider their use in the development of future standards.

Miner, Paul S.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Cross-correlation of point series using a new method

Traditional methods of cross-correlation of two time series do not apply to point time series. Here, a new method, devised specifically for point series, utilizes a correlation measure that is based in the rms difference (or, alternatively, the median absolute difference) between nearest neightbors in overlapped segments of the two series. Error estimates for the observed locations of the points, as well as a systematic shift of one series with respect to the other to accommodate a constant, but unknown, lead or lag, are easily incorporated into the analysis using Monte Carlo techniques. A methodological restriction adopted here is that one series be treated as a template series against which the other, called the target series, is cross-correlated. To estimate a significance level for the correlation measure, the adopted alternative (null) hypothesis is that the target series arises from a homogeneous Poisson process. The new method is applied to cross-correlating the times of the greatest geomagnetic storms with the times of maximum in the undecennial solar activity cycle.

Strothers, Richard B.↗