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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 NTRS1994

McIDAS-eXplorer: A version of McIDAS for planetary applications

McIDAS-eXplorer is a set of software tools developed for analysis of planetary data published by the Planetary Data System on CD-ROM's. It is built upon McIDAS-X, an environment which has been in use nearly two decades now for earth weather satellite data applications in research and routine operations. The environment allows convenient access, navigation, analysis, display, and animation of planetary data by utilizing the full calibration data accompanying the planetary data. Support currently exists for Voyager images of the giant planets and their satellites; Magellan radar images (F-MIDR and C-MIDR's, global map products (GxDR's), and altimetry data (ARCDR's)); Galileo SSI images of the earth, moon, and Venus; Viking Mars images and MDIM's as well as most earth based telescopic images of solar system objects (FITS). The NAIF/JPL SPICE kernels are used for image navigation when available. For data without the SPICE kernels (such as the bulk of the Voyager Jupiter and Saturn imagery and Pioneer Orbiter images of Venus), tools based on NAIF toolkit allow the user to navigate the images interactively. Multiple navigation types can be attached to a given image (e.g., for ring navigation and planet navigation in the same image). Tools are available to perform common image processing tasks such as digital filtering, cartographic mapping, map overlays, and data extraction. It is also possible to have different planetary radii for an object such as Venus which requires a different radius for the surface and for the cloud level. A graphical user interface based on Tel-Tk scripting language is provided (UNIX only at present) for using the environment and also to provide on-line help. It is possible for end users to add applications of their own to the environment at any time.

Limaye, Sanjay S.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Database of proposed payloads and instruments for SEI missions

A database of all payloads and instruments proposed for lunar and Mars missions was compiled by the author for the Exploration Programs Office at NASA's Johnson Sapce Center. The database is an outgrowth of the document produced by C. J. Budney et al. at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 1991. The present database consists not only of payloads proposed for human exploratory missions of the Moon and Mars, but also experiments selected or proposed for robotic precursor missions such as Lunar Scout, Mars Observer, and MESUR. The database consists of two parts: a written payload description and a matrix that provides a breakdown of payload components. Each payload description consists of the following information: (1) the rationale for why the instrument or payload package is being proposed for operation on the Moon or Mars; (2) a description of how the instrument works; (3) a breakdown of the payload, providing detailed information about the mass, volume, power requirements, and data rates for the constituent pieces of the experiment; (4) estimates of the power consumption and data rate; (5) how the data will be returned to Earth and distributed to the scientific community; (6) any constraints on the location or conditions under which the instrument can or cannot operate; (7) what type of crew interaction (if any) is needed; (8) how the payload is to be delivered to the lunar or martian surface (along with alternative delivery options); (9) how long the instrument or payload package will take to set up; (10) what type of maintenance needs are anticipated for the experiment; (11) stage of development for the instrument and environmental conditions under which the instrument has been tested; (12) an interface required by the instrument with the lander, a rover, an outpost, etc.; (13) information about how often the experiment will need to be resupplied with parts or consumables, if it is to be resupplied; (14) the name and affiliation of a contact person for the experiment; and (15) references where further information about the experiment can be found.

Barlow, N. G.↗

NASA NTRS2010

Confidence-Based Feature Acquisition

Confidence-based Feature Acquisition (CFA) is a novel, supervised learning method for acquiring missing feature values when there is missing data at both training (learning) and test (deployment) time. To train a machine learning classifier, data is encoded with a series of input features describing each item. In some applications, the training data may have missing values for some of the features, which can be acquired at a given cost. A relevant JPL example is that of the Mars rover exploration in which the features are obtained from a variety of different instruments, with different power consumption and integration time costs. The challenge is to decide which features will lead to increased classification performance and are therefore worth acquiring (paying the cost). To solve this problem, CFA, which is made up of two algorithms (CFA-train and CFA-predict), has been designed to greedily minimize total acquisition cost (during training and testing) while aiming for a specific accuracy level (specified as a confidence threshold). With this method, it is assumed that there is a nonempty subset of features that are free; that is, every instance in the data set includes these features initially for zero cost. It is also assumed that the feature acquisition (FA) cost associated with each feature is known in advance, and that the FA cost for a given feature is the same for all instances. Finally, CFA requires that the base-level classifiers produce not only a classification, but also a confidence (or posterior probability).

Wagstaff, Kiri L.↗

NASA NTRS1976

Martian albedo feature variations with season - Data of 1971 and 1973

A qualitative and quantitative study of some recent seasonal and secular albedo variations on Mars is presented, based on improved red-filter photographs obtained during the 1971 and 1973 apparitions. The measurement of albedo features showing significant changes and uncommonly bright areas is described in detail. Photographic differential photometry of 21 albedo features in three longitude regions is also discussed. The major findings are: (1) seasonal differences of the mean brightness ratios for most features were consistent with contrast changes shown on photographic maps, (2) seasonal variations of brightness with latitude and region occurred, (3) most albedo features were more variable during southern spring than summer, (4) a general loss of relative contrast was experienced during southern summer, and (5) no systematic dependence on solar phase angle was detected within the range spanned by both sets of photographs. Possible causes of the variations are considered.

Capen, C. F., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS2003

Physical Characteristics, Geologic Setting, and Possible Formation Processes of Spring Deposits on Mars Based on Terrestrial Analogs

Spring formation is a predicted consequence of the interaction of former Martian aquifers with structures common to Mars, including basin margins, Tharsis structures, and other structural deformation characteristics. The arid environment and high abundance of water soluble compounds in the crust will have likewise encouraged spring deposit formation at spring sites. Such spring deposits may be recognized from morphological criteria if the characteristics of formation and preservation are understood. An important first step in the current Mars exploration strategy [10] is the detection of sites where there is evidence for past or present near-surface water on Mars. This study evaluates the large-scale morphology of spring deposits and the physical processes of their formation, growth, and evolution in terms that relate to (1) their identification in image data, (2) their formation, evolution, and preservation in the environment of Mars, and (3) their potential as sites of long-term or late stage shallow groundwater emergence at the surface of Mars.

L S Crumpler↗

NASA NTRS2012

The Gale Crater Mound in a Regional Geologic Setting

The Mars Science Laboratory Rover Curiosity is commencing a two-year investigation of Gale crater and Mt. Sharp, the crater s prominent central mound. Gale is a 155 km, late Noachian / early Hesperian impact crater located near the dichotomy boundary separating the southern highlands from the northern plains. The central mound is composed of layered sedimentary rock, with upper and lower mound units separated by a prominent erosional unconformity (Milliken et al., 2010). The lower mound is of particular interest, as it contains secondary minerals indicative of a striking shift from water-rich to water-poor conditions on early Mars. A key unknown in the history of Gale is the relationship between the sedimentary units in the mound and sedimentary sequences in the surrounding region. We employed orbital remote sensing data to determine if areas within a 1,000 km radius of Gale match the characteristics of sedimentary units in Mt. Sharp. Regions of interest were defined based on: the mound s inferred age (late Noachian to early Hesperian), altitude range (-4,600 m to +400 m), and THEMIS nighttime brightness (a proxy for thermal inertia). This combination of characteristics is matched by two extensive units, the late Noachian subdued cratered unit Npl2 and Noachian / Hesperian undivided material HNu (Greeley and Guest, 1987), located along the dichotomy. Geomorphic units have been mapped within the Gale mound by Thomson et al. (2011) based on albedo, layering and erosional characteristics. Using orbital CTX, MOC and HiRISE images we examined all areas within our regions of interest for analogous geomorphic units in the same altitude ranges as the corresponding units in Mt. Sharp. The most convincing geomorphic analogs to lower mound units, dominated by fine-scale layering and prominent yardangs, were located approximately 200 km northeast and southeast of Gale in late Noachian unit Npl2. The most convincing geomorphic analogs to upper mound layered units are located 250 900 km northwest of Gale in unit HNu, estimated to span the Noachian / Hesperian boundary.

Allen, Carlton C.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Mars surface properties observed by earth-based radar at 70-, 12.5-, and 3.8-cm wavelengths

In the present paper, the results are summarized of a study aimed at determining the small-scale surface properties of Mars (for the Viking project) from a thorough review of all available Martian radar data for the 1973 opposition. Analysis of the quasi-specular echo component showed changes in apparent reflectivity of at least 5 to 1. If attributed entirely to variations in surface material, these correspond to dielectric constants between 1.6 and 4.0. Values of rms surface slope on 1- to 100-m scales range from as low as 0.5 degrees in tablelands near Valles Marineris to more than 3.0 degrees in certain other areas. There is a weak correlation between the small-scale surface characteristics inferred from radar and those inferred from Mariner 9 images and other remote-sensing data sets.

Simpson, R. A.↗

NASA NTRS2007

Comparison of Integrated Radiation Transport Models with TEPC Measurements for the Average Quality Factors in Spaceflights

The purpose of this work is to test our theoretical model for the interpretation of radiation data measured in space. During the space missions astronauts are exposed to the complex field of radiation type and kinetic energies from galactic cosmic rays (GCR), trapped protons, and sometimes solar particle events (SPEs). The tissue equivalent proportional counter (TEPC) is a simple time-dependent approach for radiation monitoring for astronauts on board the International Space Station. Another and a newer approach to Microdosimetry is the use of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology launched on the MidSTAR-1 mission in low Earth orbit (LEO). In the radiation protection practice, the average quality factor of a radiation field is defined as a function of linear energy transfer (LET), Q(sub ave)(LET). However, TEPC measures the average quality factor as a function of the lineal energy y, Q(sub ave)(y), defined as the average energy deposition in a volume divided by the average chord length of the volume. Lineal energy, y, deviates from LET due to energy straggling, delta-ray escape or entry, and nuclear fragments produced in the detector volume. Monte Carlo track structure simulation was employed to obtain the response of a TEPC irradiated with charged particle for an equivalent site diameter of 1 micron of wall-less counter. The calculated data of the energy absorption in the wall-less counter were compiled for various y values for several ion types at various discrete projectile energy levels. For the simulation of TEPC response from the mixed radiation environments inside a spacecraft, such as, Space Shuttle and International Space Station, the complete microdosimetric TEPC response, f( y, E, Z), were calculated with the Monte Carlo theoretical results by using the first order Lagrangian interpolation for a monovariate function at a given y value (y = 0.1 keV/micron 5000 keV/micron) at any projectile energy level (E = 0.01 MeV/u to 50,000 MeV/u) of each specific radiation type (Z = 1 to 28). Because the anomalous response has been observed at large event sizes in the experiment due to the escape of energy out of sensitive volume by delta-rays and the entry of delta-rays from the high-density wall into the low-density gas-volume cavity, Monte Carlo simulation was also made for the response of a walled-TEPC with wall thickness 2 mm and density 1 g/cm(exp 3). The radius of cavity was set to 6.35 mm and a gas density 7.874 x 10(exp -5) g/cm(exp 3). The response of the walled- and the wall-less counters were compared. The average quality factor Q(sub ave)(y) for trapped protons on STS-89 demonstrated the good agreement between the model calculations and flight TEPC data as shown. Using an integrated space radiation model (this includes the transport codes HZETRN and BRYNTRN, the quantum nuclear interaction model QMSFRG) and the resultant response distribution functions of walled-TEPC from Monte-Carlo track simulations, we compared model calculations with walled-TEPC measurements from NASA missions in LEO and made predictions for the lunar and the Mars missions. The Q(sub ave)(y) values for the trapped or the solar protons ranged from 1.9-2.5. This over-estimates the Qave(LET) values which ranged from 1.4-1.6. Both quantities increase with shield thickness due to nuclear fragmentation. The Q(sub ave)(LET) for the complete GCR spectra was found to be 3.5-4.5, while flight TEPCs measured 2.9-3.4 for Q(sub ave)(y). The GCR values are decreasing with the shield thickness. Our analysis for a proper interpretation of data supports the use of TEPCs for monitoring space radiation environment.

Kim, Myung-Hee Y.↗

NASA NTRS2015

Internship Abstract - Aerosciences and Flight Mechanics Intern

Mars is a hard place to land on, but my internship with NASA's Aerosciences & Flight Mechanics branch has shown me the ways in which men and women will one day land safely. I work on Mars Aerocapture, an aeroassist maneuver that reduces the fuel necessary to "capture" into Martian orbit before a descent. The spacecraft flies through the Martian atmosphere to lose energy through heating before it exits back into space, this time at a slower velocity and in orbit around Mars. Spacecraft will need to maneuver through the Martian atmosphere to accurately hit their orbit, and they will need to survive the generated heat. Engineering teams need simulation data to continue their designs, and the guidance algorithm that ensures a proper orbit insertion needs to be refined - two jobs that fell to me at the summer's start. Engineers within my branch have developed two concept aerocapture vehicles, and I run simulations on their behavior during the maneuver. I also test and refine the guidance algorithm. I spent the first few weeks familiarizing myself with the simulation software, troubleshooting various guidance bugs and writing code. Everything runs smoothly now, and I recently sent my first set of trajectory data to a Thermal Protection System group so they can incorporate it into their heat-bearing material designs. I hope to generate plenty of data in the next few weeks for various engineering groups before my internship ends mid-August. My major accomplishment so far is improving the guidance algorithm. It is a relatively new algorithm that promises higher accuracy and fuel efficiency, but it hasn't undergone extensive testing yet. I've had the opportunity to work with the principal developer - a professor at Iowa State University - to find and fix several issues. I was also assigned the task of expanding the branch's aerodynamic heating simulation software. I am excited to do this because engineers in the future will use my work to generate meaningful data and make design decisions. My internship has taught me to how to teach myself. There are no tutors, study sessions or professor office hours. When I am given an assignment I am expected to figure out how to accomplish it, and I have grown in my problem solving abilities. My summer experience has reinforced my drive to work at NASA, and I can definitely see myself working full time on the aerocapture project, or something similar.

Rangel, John↗

NASA NTRS1994

Spacecraft-spacecraft radio-metric tracking: Signal acquisition requirements and application to Mars approach navigation

Doppler and ranging measurements between spacecraft can be obtained only when the ratio of the total received signal power to noise power density (P(sub t)/N(sub 0)) at the receiving spacecraft is sufficiently large that reliable signal detection can be achieved within a reasonable time period. In this article, the requirement on P(sub t)/N(sub 0) for reliable carrier signal detection is calculated as a function of various system parameters, including characteristics of the spacecraft computing hardware and a priori uncertainty in spacecraft-spacecraft relative velocity and acceleration. Also calculated is the P(sub t)/N(sub 0) requirements for reliable detection of a ranging signal, consisting of a carrier with pseudonoise (PN) phase modulation. Once the P(sub t)/N(sub 0) requirement is determined, then for a given set of assumed spacecraft telecommunication characteristics (transmitted signal power, antenna gains, and receiver noise temperatures) it is possible to calculate the maximum range at which a carrier signal or ranging signal may be acquired. For example, if a Mars lander and a spacecraft approaching Mars are each equipped with 1-m-diameter antennas, the transmitted power is 5 W, and the receiver noise temperatures are 350 K, then S-band carrier signal acquisition can be achieved at ranges exceeding 10 million km. An error covariance analysis illustrates the utility of in situ Doppler and ranging measurements for Mars approach navigation. Covariance analysis results indicate that navigation accuracies of a few km can be achieved with either data type. The analysis also illustrates dependency of the achievable accuracy on the approach trajectory velocity.

Kahn, R. D.↗

NASA NTRS1999

Constraints, Approach and Present Status for Selecting the Mars Surveyor 2001 Landing Site

There are many similarities between the Mars Surveyor '01 (MS '01) landing site selection process and that of Mars Pathfinder. The selection process includes two parallel activities in which engineers define and refine the capabilities of the spacecraft through design, testing and modeling and scientists define a set of landing site constraints based on the spacecraft design and landing scenario. As for Pathfinder, the safety of the site is without question the single most important factor, for the simple reason that failure to land safely yields no science and exposes the mission and program to considerable risk. The selection process must be thorough, defensible and capable of surviving multiple withering reviews similar to the Pathfinder decision. On Pathfinder, this was accomplished by attempting to understand the surface properties of sites using available remote sensing data sets and models based on them. Science objectives are factored into the selection process only after the safety of the site is validated. Finally, as for Pathfinder, the selection process is being done in an open environment with multiple opportunities for community involvement including open workshops, with education and outreach opportunities.

Golombek, M.↗

NASA NTRS2004

NASA/JPL Tumbleweed Polar Rover

The Tumbleweed Rover, currently under development at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, is a large, wind-blown, inflated ball, which carries an instrument payload in its interior. Such rovers offer an effective and simple means of gathering data over large spatial extents of Earth, Mars, and other solar system bodies. Tumbleweeds could prove to be a safe and economical way of deploying instruments such as a ground penetrating radar or a magnetometer in numerous hostile environments. The latest version of the rover was recently deployed in Greenland, where it completed a more than 130 km autonomous traverse across an ice sheet. Communicating via the Iridium satellite network, the rover in question successfully and reliably relayed live GPS, temperature, and pressure data to a ground station at JPL for nearly ten days. The follow-on rover is currently being readied for a traverse from the South Pole to the coast of Antarctica some 2000 km away. The Antarctic test is set to take place in February of 2004 and will serve to verify Tumbleweed as an effective means of harvesting data in extreme and remote settings.

Jones, Jack↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Mars Sample Return Earth Entry System Helicopter Drop Test Reconstruction

The Mars Sample Return campaign conducted four successful helicopter drop tests of the Earth Entry System at the Utah Test and Training Range on October, 2023. The tests acquired data for the 52.5 deg sphere cone geometry that can be used to develop models for the terminal descent aerodynamics and flight dynamics used to model ground impact conditions. The acquired test data included both sensor data outputs from an on-board inertial measurement unit, global positioning system, and video cameras as well as atmospheric measurements from weather balloons. This data was processed using a Kalman filter/smoother to reconstruct the capsule’s trajectory and aerodynamics. An equation-error method was used to reconcile the aerodynamics by solving for a set of dispersions in the aerodynamic database that form a best-fit to the reconstructed aerodynamics. The reconstructed trajectories were compared with flight simulations generated using Program to Optimize Simulated Trajectories II. The results indicate that the simulation underpredicted the vehicle oscillation amplitudes. The reconstruction exhibits a persistent low-amplitude oscillation that does not damp out as predicted.

Chris D Karlgaard↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Mars Sample Return Earth Entry System Helicopter Drop Test Reconstruction

Chris D Karlgaard↗

NASA NTRS1999

Constraints, Approach, and Status of Mars Surveyor 2001 Landing Site Selection

There are many similarities between the Mars Surveyor '01 (MS '01) landing site selection process and that of Mars Pathfinder. The selection process includes two parallel activities in which engineers define and refine the capabilities of the spacecraft through design, testing and modeling and scientists define a set of landing site constraints based on the spacecraft design and landing scenario. As for Pathfinder, the safety of the site is without question the single most important factor, for the simple reason that failure to land safely yields no science and exposes the mission and program to considerable risk. The selection process must be thorough and defensible and capable of surviving multiple withering reviews similar to the Pathfinder decision. On Pathfinder, this was accomplished by attempting to understand the surface properties of sites using available remote sensing data sets and models based on them. Science objectives are factored into the selection process only after the safety of the site is validated. Finally, as for Pathfinder, the selection process is being done in an open environment with multiple opportunities for community involvement including open workshops, with education and outreach opportunities. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.

Golombek, M.↗

NASA NTRS1999

Constraints and Approach for Selecting the Mars Surveyor '01 Landing Site

There are many similarities between the Mars Surveyor '01 (MS '01) landing site selection process and that of Mars Pathfinder. The selection process includes two parallel activities in which engineers define and refine the capabilities of the spacecraft through design, testing and modeling and scientists define a set of landing site constraints based on the spacecraft design and landing scenario. As for Pathfinder, the safety of the site is without question the single most important factor, for the simple reason that failure to land safely yields no science and exposes the mission and program to considerable risk. The selection process must be thorough and defensible and capable of surviving multiple withering reviews similar to the Pathfinder decision. On Pathfinder, this was accomplished by attempting to understand the surface properties of sites using available remote sensing data sets and models based on them. Science objectives are factored into the selection process only after the safety of the site is validated. Finally, as for Pathfinder, the selection process is being done in an open environment with multiple opportunities for community involvement including open workshops, with education and outreach opportunities.

Golombek, M.↗

NASA NTRS2003

Mobile Agents: A Distributed Voice-Commanded Sensory and Robotic System for Surface EVA Assistance

A model-based, distributed architecture integrates diverse components in a system designed for lunar and planetary surface operations: spacesuit biosensors, cameras, GPS, and a robotic assistant. The system transmits data and assists communication between the extra-vehicular activity (EVA) astronauts, the crew in a local habitat, and a remote mission support team. Software processes ("agents"), implemented in a system called Brahms, run on multiple, mobile platforms, including the spacesuit backpacks, all-terrain vehicles, and robot. These "mobile agents" interpret and transform available data to help people and robotic systems coordinate their actions to make operations more safe and efficient. Different types of agents relate platforms to each other ("proxy agents"), devices to software ("comm agents"), and people to the system ("personal agents"). A state-of-the-art spoken dialogue interface enables people to communicate with their personal agents, supporting a speech-driven navigation and scheduling tool, field observation record, and rover command system. An important aspect of the engineering methodology involves first simulating the entire hardware and software system in Brahms, and then configuring the agents into a runtime system. Design of mobile agent functionality has been based on ethnographic observation of scientists working in Mars analog settings in the High Canadian Arctic on Devon Island and the southeast Utah desert. The Mobile Agents system is developed iteratively in the context of use, with people doing authentic work. This paper provides a brief introduction to the architecture and emphasizes the method of empirical requirements analysis, through which observation, modeling, design, and testing are integrated in simulated EVA operations.

Clancey, William J.↗

NASA NTRS2014

Pu'u Poli'ahu, Mauna Kea: A Possible Analog for the Hematite Bearing Layer Located in Gale Crater, Mars.

Hyperspectral data detected by the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) on board Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) indicated the presence of a hematite bearing ridge on Mount Sharp situated in the Gale Crater, Mars. [Fraeman]. The presence of this mineral in high concentrations is indicative of possible aqueous origins. [Fraeman] In 2012, Curiosity Rover landed in Gale Crater on Mars. Curiosity's mission is to determine Mars' habitability and is equipped with an advanced suite of scientific instruments that are capable of conducting analyses on rocks and soil. The hematite bearing ridge on Mount Sharp is thought to be a good candidate of study for Curiosity. To better understand this type of terrain, the study of analog sites similar in geologic setting is of great importance. One site thought to be a comparable analog is a cinder cone called Pu'u Poli'ahu located on the summit of Mauna Kea, Hawaiʻi. Poli'ahu is unique among the tephra cones of Mauna Kea because it is thought to have formed in subaqueous conditions approximately 170,000 to 175,000 years ago. [Porter] Consequently located on the inner flanks of Poli'ahu is a rock outcrop that contains hematite. Samples were collected from the outcrop and characterized using the following instruments: Digital Microscope, Panalytical X‐ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The initial preparation of the rocks involved documenting each sample by creating powdered samples, thick sections, and photo documentation.

Adams, M. E.↗