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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 NTRS2016

Development of Carbon Dioxide Removal Systems for Advanced Exploration Systems 2015-2016

A long-term goal for NASA is to enable crewed missions to Mars: first to the vicinity of Mars, and then to the Mars surface. These missions present new challenges for all aspects of spacecraft design in comparison with the International Space Station, as resupply is unavailable in the transit phase, and early return is not possible. Additionally, mass, power, and volume must be minimized for all phases to reduce propulsion needs. Mass reduction is particularly crucial for Mars surface landing and liftoff due to the challenges inherent in these operations for even much smaller payloads. In this paper we describe current and planned developments in the area of carbon dioxide removal to support future crewed Mars missions. Activities are also described that apply to both the resolution of anomalies observed in the ISS CDRA and the design of life support systems for future missions.

Knox, James↗

NASA NTRS2021

Psyche Science Planning with the Science Opportunity Analyzer

Psyche is a NASA Discovery mission intent on solving mysteries surrounding early planetary formation. The mission spacecraft will journey to (16) Psyche: a metallic asteroid believed to be the exposed core of an early planetesimal. Despite the unique nature of the target asteroid and the mission’s novel science goals, a significant portion of the project’s science planning needs may be met through the use of legacy tools. In particular, the adoption of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s (JPL) Science Opportunity Analyzer (SOA) promises to satisfy mission requirements with minimal development effort. Originally developed as a multi-mission science planning tool, SOA can design and visualize observations, perform geometric flight rule checking, model physical phenomena, and much more. The software has been used by the mission since its proposal phase and is expected to continue providing valuable capabilities throughout operations.

Elkins-Tanton, Linda T.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) and observations of the land surface

The moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) is a NASA facility instrument that is being designed for flight on the Earth Observing System (EOS) series of missions. It is designed to measure biophysical states and dynamics of the land, atmosphere, and ocean. Plans are required for use of other instruments that will be accompanying MODIS on the EOS missions, such as the High-Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (HIRIS) and the Multi-angle Imaging Spectro-Radiometer (MISR). The HIRIS instrument, a spectrometer operating in the visible to shortwave infrared parts of the spectrum, would be employed in combination with the MODIS to understand the impact of sampling the spectrum and the effects of land cover mixtures within the MODIS pixel. The MISR will help in understanding the effects of anisotropy in reflected solar radiation. Both instruments will work in combination with MODIS to better quantify the effects of the atmosphere on observations of surface properties.

Salomonson, V. V.↗

NASA NTRS1975

Preliminary mission planning using Interactive Graphics

The selection of satellite orbits, subject to mission and launch vehicle constraints, can be expedited using the IGOS (Interactive Graphics Orbit Selection) computer program. The program operates in a conversational mode displaying the constraints as shaded areas on a graphics terminal. Mission requirements evaluated include: earth observation coverage, radiation environment, orbit lifetime, and sun synchronization. Launch vehicle constraints consist of injection accuracy and payload capability and include the impact of launch site, and launch azimuth restrictions. Sample output is shown, the hardware and software configurations are described, and details of the mathematical model are summarized.

Rea, F. G.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Celestial Navigation in Cislunar Space with autoNGC

Celestial navigation (CelNav) is a source of navigation observables where images of known solar system bodies are used to locate a spacecraft, beneficial within the solar system for both cislunar and deep space missions. CelNav provides a variety of design benefits to support and enable current and new autonomous space operations- using only a camera and a processor to produce in-situ measurements for navigation. This technology reduces subscription to ground-based tracking during all phases of a mission, freeing up resources for other operational needs. This also supports secure navigation since it eliminates the need for ground contact. CelNav enables missions where the light time delay between Earth and the spacecraft is too long (or the Earth to spacecraft line of sight is obscured) to support critical operations. It also enables smaller mission classes, where Deep Space Network (DSN)time is cost prohibitive, to reduce its cost by focusing primarily on data downlink. Finally, it enables the NASA Artemis program and other cislunar human space flight by providing redundant navigation to traditional radiometric tracking. In this presentation, we discuss the implementation of a CelNav app in autonomous Navigation, Guidance, and Control (autoNGC), a comprehensive flight software suite for onboard autonomy that is built on the core Flight System (cFS). The presentation also summarizes the results of flight software-in-the-loop (SIL) and processor-in-the-loop (PIL) demonstrations. Both are high-fidelity simulations with the use of a camera emulator hosted on a GPU server that simulates images that would be captured by the camera. The CelNav app leverages the use of cGIANT (cFS Goddard Image Analysis and Navigation Tool).Previously developed for the autoNGC software suite, cGIANT is an onboard autonomous image processing and optical navigation (OpNav) tool that performs limb-based OpNav and Terrain Relative Navigation. The added CelNav capability of cGIANT generates bearing measurements to multiple known celestial bodies (planets, moons, asteroids, comets, etc.) in monocular (2D) images. These observables are then fed to the Goddard Enhanced Onboard Navigation System (GEONS)navigation filter app, enabling us to navigate the spacecraft autonomously. In early 2025, the autoNGC CelNav capability is planned to be flight tested as part of the onboard autonomy experiment on the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment(CAPSTONE) spacecraft that is currently in a Lunar Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit(NRHO).

celestial navigation↗

NASA NTRS1993

Solar imaging vector magnetograph

This report describes an instrument which has been constructed at the University of Hawaii to make observations of the magnetic field in solar active regions. Detailed knowledge of active region magnetic structures is crucial to understanding many solar phenomena, because the magnetic field both defines the morphology of structures seen in the solar atmosphere and is the apparent energy source for solar flares. The new vector magnetograph was conceived in response to a perceived discrepancy between the capabilities of X ray imaging telescopes to be operating during the current solar maximum and those of existing magnetographs. There were no space-based magnetographs planned for this period; the existing ground-based instruments variously suffered from lack of sensitivity, poor time resolution, inadequate spatial resolution or unreliable sites. Yet the studies of flares and their relationship to the solar corona planned for the 1991-1994 maximum absolutely required high quality vector magnetic field measurements. By 'vector' measurements we mean that the observation attempts to deduce the complete strength and direction of the field at the measurement site, rather than just the line of sight component as obtained by a traditional longitudinal magnetograph. Knowledge of the vector field permits one to calculate photospheric electric currents, which might play a part in heating the corona, and to calculate energy stored in coronal magnetic fields as the result of such currents. Information about the strength and direction of magnetic fields in the solar atmosphere can be obtained in a number of ways, but quantitative data is best obtained by observing Zeeman-effect polarization in solar spectral lines. The technique requires measuring the complete state of polarization at one or more wavelengths within a magnetically sensitive line of the solar spectrum. This measurement must be done for each independent spatial point for which one wants magnetic field data. All the measurements need to be done in a time short compared to the time scale for changes of the solar features being observed. Were it possible, one would want to record all the needed data simultaneously, since temporal variation of atmospheric seeing degrades both the image and the polarization sensitivity. Since the measurements must span four dimensions, two spatial plus polarization and wavelength, we had some freedom to design the instrument to favor some dimensions over others in terms of simultaneity. Our earlier instrument, the Haleakala Stokes Polarimeter, records a range of wavelengths spanning two spectral lines in each reading, but requires two seconds to determine the polarization state and obtains spatial information only by assembling a long sequence of measurements at single locations on the sun. The new instrument sacrifices spectral detail and accuracy in favor of greatly improved imaging characteristics. The scientific goals for this instrument were to measure surface magnetic fields with enough accuracy to permit calculations of photospheric currents, but with a field of view covering an entire typical active region, high spatial resolution, and a fast enough temporal cadence for detecting flare-associated changes in magnetic structures.

Canfield, Richard C.↗

NASA NTRS2012

Real-Time Projection to Verify Plan Success During Execution

The Mission Data System provides a framework for modeling complex systems in terms of system behaviors and goals that express intent. Complex activity plans can be represented as goal networks that express the coordination of goals on different state variables of the system. Real-time projection extends the ability of this system to verify plan achievability (all goals can be satisfied over the entire plan) into the execution domain so that the system is able to continuously re-verify a plan as it is executed, and as the states of the system change in response to goals and the environment. Previous versions were able to detect and respond to goal violations when they actually occur during execution. This new capability enables the prediction of future goal failures; specifically, goals that were previously found to be achievable but are no longer achievable due to unanticipated faults or environmental conditions. Early detection of such situations enables operators or an autonomous fault response capability to deal with the problem at a point that maximizes the available options. For example, this system has been applied to the problem of managing battery energy on a lunar rover as it is used to explore the Moon. Astronauts drive the rover to waypoints and conduct science observations according to a plan that is scheduled and verified to be achievable with the energy resources available. As the astronauts execute this plan, the system uses this new capability to continuously re-verify the plan as energy is consumed to ensure that the battery will never be depleted below safe levels across the entire plan.

Wagner, David A.↗

NASA NTRS1973

The space shuttle payload planning working groups. Volume 7: Earth observations

The findings of the Earth Observations working group of the space shuttle payload planning activity are presented. The objectives of the Earth Observation experiments are: (1) establishment of quantitative relationships between observable parameters and geophysical variables, (2) development, test, calibration, and evaluation of eventual flight instruments in experimental space flight missions, (3) demonstration of the operational utility of specific observation concepts or techniques as information inputs needed for taking actions, and (4) deployment of prototype and follow-on operational Earth Observation systems. The basic payload capability, mission duration, launch sites, inclinations, and payload limitations are defined.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS1974

Skylab mission report, third visit

An evaluation is presented of the operational and engineering aspects of the third Skylab visit, including information on the performance of the command and service module and the experiment hardware, the crew's evaluation of the visit, and other visit-related areas of interest such as biomedical observations. The specific areas discussed are contained in the following: (1) solar physics and astrophysics investigations; (2) Comet Kohoutek experiments; (3) medical experiments; (4) earth observations, including data for the multispectral photographic facility, the earth terrain camera, and the microwave radiometer/scattermometer and altimeter; (5) engineering and technology experiments; (6) food and medical operational equipment; (7) hardware and experiment anomalies; and (8) mission support, mission objectives, flight planning, and launch phase summary. Conclusions discussed as a result of the third visit to Skylab involve the advancement of the sciences, practical applications, the durability of man and systems in space, and spaceflight effectiveness and economy.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS1988

High Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (HIRIS)

The High Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (HIRIS), related data system, orbit, and mission operations are described. The pushbroom instrument simultaneously images the terrestrial surface in 192 spectral bands from 0.4 to 2.5 microns. The swath width is 30 km and spatial resolution is 30 m. It is planned to be launched with the Earth Observing System aboard the Space Station Polar Platform in 1995. Array detectors allow concurrent integration of the signals at 192,000 detector elements.

Conley, Joseph M.↗

NASA NTRS1996

Review of Issues Associated with Safe Operation and Management of the Space Shuttle Program

At the request of the President of the United States through the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), the NASA Administrator tasked the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel with the responsibility to identify and review issues associated with the safe operation and management of the Space Shuttle program arising from ongoing efforts to improve and streamline operations. These efforts include the consolidation of operations under a single Space Flight Operations Contract (SFOC), downsizing the Space Shuttle workforce and reducing costs of operations and management. The Panel formed five teams to address the potentially significant safety impacts of the seven specific topic areas listed in the study Terms of Reference. These areas were (in the order in which they are presented in this report): Maintenance of independent safety oversight; implementation plan for the transition of Shuttle program management to the Lead Center; communications among NASA Centers and Headquarters; transition plan for downsizing to anticipated workforce levels; implementation of a phased transition to a prime contractor for operations; Shuttle flight rate for Space Station assembly; and planned safety and performance upgrades for Space Station assembly. The study teams collected information through briefings, interviews, telephone conversations and from reviewing applicable documentation. These inputs were distilled by each team into observations and recommendations which were then reviewed by the entire Panel.

Johnstone, Paul M.↗

NASA NTRS2012

Optical Signature Analysis of Tumbling Rocket Bodies via Laboratory Measurements

The NASA Orbital Debris Program Office has acquired telescopic lightcurve data on massive intact objects, specifically spent rocket bodies, in order to ascertain tumble rates in support of the Active Debris Removal (ADR) task to help remediate the LEO environment. Rotation rates are needed to plan and develop proximity operations for potential future ADR operations. To better characterize and model optical data acquired from ground-based telescopes, the Optical Measurements Center (OMC) at NASA/JSC emulates illumination conditions in space using equipment and techniques that parallel telescopic observations and source-target-sensor orientations. The OMC employs a 75-watt Xenon arc lamp as a solar simulator, an SBIG CCD camera with standard Johnson/Bessel filters, and a robotic arm to simulate an object's position and rotation. The light source is mounted on a rotary arm, allowing access any phase angle between 0 -- 360 degrees. The OMC does not attempt to replicate the rotation rates, but focuses on how an object is rotating as seen from multiple phase angles. The two targets studied are scaled (1:48), SL-8 Cosmos 3M second stages. The first target is painted in the standard government "gray" scheme and the second target is primary white, as used for commercial missions. This paper summarizes results of the two scaled rocket bodies, each rotated about two primary axes: (a) a spin-stabilized rotation and (b) an end-over-end rotation. The two rotation states are being investigated as a basis for possible spin states of rocket bodies, beginning with simple spin states about the two primary axes. The data will be used to create a database of potential spin states for future works to convolve with more complex spin states. The optical signatures will be presented for specific phase angles for each rocket body and shown in conjunction with acquired optical data from multiple telescope sources.

Cowardin, H.↗

DOE OSTI2022

Multi-modal Energy-optimal Trip Scheduling in Real-time (METS-R) for Transportation Hubs (Final Report)

This report summarizes the work performed under the award number EE0008524. The project develops the Multi-modal Energy-optimal Trip Scheduling in Real-time (METS-R) platform as the next-generation transportation solution based on autonomous electric vehicles (AEV) serving passenger trips from and to urban transportation hubs, to substantially reduce transportation energy consumption. Extensive data collection and analyses were first conducted to understand the demand patterns and energy consumption of hub-based on-road trips. Then, a data-driven framework that consists of an analytical module and a simulation module was proposed. For the analytical module, five planning + operation tools were developed to support the planning and energy-efficient operations of urban AEV services: the charging station planning that robotically allocates charging supplies based on the stationary charging demand distribution; the transit planning and demand adaptive scheduling model that efficiently generates\ candidate transit routes from hubs to other places and dynamically adjusts the transit time table to fit the current demand; the online energy-efficient routing that learns the energy-optimal paths from observations of link-level energy consumption in real-time; the hub-based ridesharing that matches trip requests together with account for the uncertainty of future trip demand and vehicle supply; and finally, the integrated demand prediction and anomaly detection pipeline that leverages the flight/train time table and support other planning/operation tools. To demonstrate the performance of these tools, a scalable high-performance agent-based simulator was built. We divided the urban space into multiple service zones where each zone was considered as an agent for passenger generation and vehicle charging. Two types of AEV agents were coded to model two types of mobility services: AEV taxi and AEV transit. For the AEV taxi, the team implemented the functions of pickup/drop-off passengers, energy-efficient routing, ridesharing, fleet rebalancing, and recharging. For the AEV bus, the team implemented the functions of demand-adaptive route scheduling, passenger boarding, and recharging. A high-performance computing framework was introduced to receive various profiling information (such as link energy updates, vehicle speed) from the simulator instances and communicate the operational commands back to the instances. The numerical experiments show that each of the proposed operational algorithms can reduce energy consumption and improve system efficiency. Furthermore, there exists the need to collectively consider multiple planning + operational strategies as multiple strategies can influence each other in terms of performance impacts. Recommendations for future work related to AEV planning and simulation are discussed.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

NASA NTRS2007

Anvil Tool in the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System

Meteorologists from the 45th Weather Squadron (45 WS) and Spaceflight Meteorology Group (SMG) have identified anvil forecasting as one of their most challenging tasks when predicting the probability of violations of the lightning Launch Commit Criteria and Space Shuttle Flight Rules. As a result, the Applied Meteorology Unit (AMU) created a graphical overlay tool for the Meteorological Interactive Data Display Systems (MIDDS) to indicate the threat of thunderstorm anvil clouds, using either observed or model forecast winds as input. In order for the Anvil Tool to remain available to the meteorologists, the AMU was tasked to transition the tool to the Advanced Weather interactive Processing System (AWIPS). This report describes the work done by the AMU to develop the Anvil Tool for AWIPS to create a graphical overlay depicting the threat from thunderstorm anvil clouds. The AWIPS Anvil Tool is based on the previously deployed AMU MIDDS Anvil Tool. SMG and 45 WS forecasters have used the MIDDS Anvil Tool during launch and landing operations. SMG's primary weather analysis and display system is now AWIPS and the 45 WS has plans to replace MIDDS with AWIPS. The Anvil Tool creates a graphic that users can overlay on satellite or radar imagery to depict the potential location of thunderstorm anvils one, two, and three hours into the future. The locations are based on an average of the upper-level observed or forecasted winds. The graphic includes 10 and 20 nm standoff circles centered at the location of interest, in addition to one-, two-, and three-hour arcs in the upwind direction. The arcs extend outward across a 30 degree sector width based on a previous AMU study which determined thunderstorm anvils move in a direction plus or minus 15 degrees of the upper-level (300- to 150-mb) wind direction. This report briefly describes the history of the MIDDS Anvil Tool and then explains how the initial development of the AWIPS Anvil Tool was carried out. After testing was performed by SMG, 45 WS, and AMU, a number of needed improvements were identified. A bug report document was created that showed the status of each bug and desired improvement. This report lists the improvements that were made to increase the accuracy and user-friendliness of the tool. Final testing was carried out and documented and then the final version of the software and Users Guide was provided to SMG and the 45 WS. Several possible future improvements to the tool are identified that would increase the flexibility of the tool. This report contains a brief history of the development of the Anvil Tool in MIDDS, and then describes the transition and development of software to AWIPS.

Barrett, Joe, III↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Assimilation of TROPICS Radiance Data in Nasa Geos System and Impact Assessments Through Observing System Experiments

Since the first full-scale weather satellite Television Infrared Observation Satellite (TIROS)-1 was launched in 1960 to measure weather patterns from space, the number of satellites carrying various sensors to measure atmospheric properties has increased rapidly. Data from these meteorological satellites have been crucial to the advancement of the NWP forecasts. Especially, space-borne measurements of atmospheric temperature and moisture information provided by microwave sounders were reported to contribute most to positive impacts on global NWP forecasts. Developing and launching an operational weather satellite is a daunting and tremendously expensive mission that requires many years of planning, developments, and maintenance after the launch. Small satellites with low size, weight, and power requirements can reduce the cost associated with the construction and launch of large bus platforms and draw attention of several space agencies and weather technology companies that started investing their resources to develop small satellites and measure the potential benefits and weaknesses. The NASA Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats (TROPICS) mission is a constellation of small satellites carrying state-of-art microwave temperature and humidity sounders with 12 channels between 91 GHz and 205 GHz frequency. Currently five TROPICS cubsats, including TROPICS-pathfinder, are in space and provide the temperature and humidity data from space to the meteorological community. This study seeks to assess the potential impact that the constellation of TROPICS satellites may bring to the global NWP analysis and forecasts by assimilating all-sky TROPICS data and implementing observing system experiments (OSE) using the NASA GEOS system. Various evaluations metrics including forecast skills, fit to other observations such as radiosondes and microwave and infrared sounder are used. Along with the NWP impact assessment, the quality of the TROPICS data is evaluated by looking at observation minus forecast statistics in comparisons with other conventional satellite temperature and humidity sounders.

Min-Jeong Kim↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Assimilation of TROPICS Radiance Data in NASA GEOS System and Impact Assessments Through Observing System Experiments

Min-Jeong Kim↗

NASA NTRS1978

Feasibility of estimation of surface air temperature from meteorological satellite data test plan

A conceptual system designed to estimate daily surface air temperatures utilizing radiometric data obtained from polar orbiting meteorological satellites is discussed in this memorandum. The Surface Air Temperature Estimation System is an outgrowth of previous developmental and operational systems. The system represents an effort to integrate both satellite and surface meteorological observations into an operational framework which would be usable worldwide.

Phinney, D. E.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Lunar-based optical telescopes: Planning astronomical tools of the twenty-first century

A succession of optical telescopes, ranging in aperture from 1 to 16 m or more, can be deployed and operated on the lunar surface over the next half-century. These candidates to succeed NASA's Great Observatories would capitalize on the unique observational advantages offered by the Moon. The Lunar Telescope Working Group and the LUTE Task Team of the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) have assessed the feasibility of developing and deploying these facilities. Studies include the 16-m Large Lunar Telescope (LLT); the Lunar Cluster Telescope Experiment (LCTE), a 4-m precursor to the LLT; the 2-m Lunar Transit Telescope (LTT); and its precursor, the 1-m Lunar Ultraviolet Telescope Experiment (LUTE). The feasibility of developing and deploying each telescope was assessed and system requirements and options for supporting technologies, subsystems, transportation, and operations were detailed. Influences of lunar environment factors and site selection on telescope design and operation were evaluated, and design approaches and key tradeoffs were established. This paper provides an overview of the study results. Design concepts and brief system descriptions are provided, including subsystem and mission options selected for the concepts.

Hilchey, J. D.↗