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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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An experimental investigation concerned primarily with the extension of test data on the drag of revolving disks, cylinders, and streamline rods to high Mach numbers and Reynolds numbers is presented.
An investigation has been conducted in the NASA Langley Research Center 14- by 22- Foot Subsonic Wind Tunnel to obtain the liftoff and transition aerodynamics of the Ares I (A106) Crew Launch Vehicle. Data were obtained in free-air at angles of attack from 10 to 90 at various roll angles and at roll angles of 0 to 360 at various angles of attack. In addition, tower effects were assessed by testing with and without a mobile launcher/tower at all wind azimuth angles and at various model heights to simulate the rise of the vehicle as it clears the tower on launch. The free-air data will be used for low speed high angle of attack flight simulation and as a bridge to the low angle of attack ascent database (0.5 < Mach < 5.0) being developed with data from the Langley Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel and Boeing Polysonic Wind Tunnel. The Ares I Database Development Team will add incremental tower effects data to the free-air data to develop the database for tower clearance.
With assistance from Stennis Space Center, Vexcel was able to strengthen the properties of its Apex Ground Station(TM), an affordable, end-to-end system that comes complete with a tracking antenna that permits coverage within an approximate 2,000-kilometer radius of its location, a high speed direct-to-disk data acquisition system that can download information from virtually any satellite, and data processing software for virtually all synthetic aperture radar and optical satellite sensors. Vexcel is using an Apex system linked to the Terra satellite to help scientists and NASA personnel measure land and ocean surface temperatures, detect fires, monitor ocean color and currents, produce global vegetation maps and data, and assess cloud characteristics and aerosol concentrations. In addition, Vexcel is providing NASA with close-range photogrammetry software for the International Space Station. The technology, commercially available as FotoG(TM), was developed with SBIR funding and support from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Commercially, FotoG is used for demanding projects taken on by engineering firms, nuclear power plants, oil refineries, and process facilities. A version of Vexcel's close-range photo measurement system was also used to create virtual 3-D backdrops for a high-tech science fiction film.
With the development of high-speed networking technology, computer networks, including local-area networks (LANs), wide-area networks (WANs) and the Internet, are extending their traditional roles of carrying computer data. They are being used for Internet telephony, multimedia applications such as conferencing and video on demand, distributed simulations, and other real-time applications. LANs are even used for distributed real-time process control and computing as a cost-effective approach. Differing from traditional data transfer, these new classes of high-speed network applications (video, audio, real-time process control, and others) are delay sensitive. The usefulness of data depends not only on the correctness of received data, but also the time that data are received. In other words, these new classes of applications require networks to provide guaranteed services or quality of service (QoS). Quality of service can be defined by a set of parameters and reflects a user's expectation about the underlying network's behavior. Traditionally, distinct services are provided by different kinds of networks. Voice services are provided by telephone networks, video services are provided by cable networks, and data transfer services are provided by computer networks. A single network providing different services is called an integrated-services network.
We have examined the ISEE-3 distant tail data during three intense (Dst< -100(sub n)T) magnetic storms and have identified the tail response to high speed solar wind streams, interplanetary magnetic clouds, and near-Earth storms. The three storms have a peak Dst ranging from -150 to -220 nT, and occur on Jan. 9, Feb. 4, and Aug. 8, 1993.
Future satellite communications is expected to be fully integrated into National and Global Information Infrastructures (NII/GII). These infrastructures will carry multi gigabit-per-second data rates, with integral switching and routing of constituent data elements. The satellite portion of these infrastructures must, therefore, be more than pipes through the sky. The satellite portion will also be required to perform very high speed routing and switching of these data elements to enable efficient broad area coverage to many home and corporate users. The technology to achieve the on-board switching and routing must be selected and developed specifically for satellite application within the next few years. This report presents evaluation of potential technologies for on-board switching and routing applications.
The multilaboratory Gigawatt Data Center working group was commissioned to identify approaches to rapidly establish federal data centers with scalable capacities up to 1,000 MW. These state-of-the-art facilities will serve as hubs for interdisciplinary collaboration, industry partnerships, and transformative applications of artificial intelligence. The proposed strategic shift includes facilitating multilaboratory collaboration, prioritizing operational efficiency, expanding public–private partnerships, optimizing investments, ensuring long-term contractual flexibility, supporting open science and secure data enclaves, and exploiting high-speed national networks. Owing to their extensive experience and best practices, the US Department of Energy national laboratories are uniquely positioned to lead this initiative. We recommend conducting a feasibility analysis to rapidly identify the optimal sites for this initiative, and the effort will likely involve private industry for design, construction, financing, and operational integration. We also propose establishing multiple geographically diverse sites to ensure energy resilience, high operational reliability, and a diverse user base, thereby effectively addressing the nation’s critical needs.
In-situ monitoring of defect formation remains a significant challenge in the laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) process. Recent advances have enabled real-time defect detection with machine learning and in-situ sensing technologies; however, most studies focus on binary classification of keyhole pores, limiting nuanced multi-class pore differentiation and formation mechanisms. This work introduces a multi-class pore detection framework (no pore, small pores < 15 µm, and large pores > 15 µm) by leveraging photodiode sensor data alongside high-fidelity synchrotron X-ray imaging. The 15 µm threshold is selected to distinguish between two fundamentally different defect mechanisms, following the physical size-mechanism boundary established by prior high-resolution synchrotron X-ray characterization of Al6061 LPBF. Distinguishing these classes is critical because large keyhole pores are structurally detrimental, whereas small gas pores are often benign, requiring different process control strategies. Thermal emission monitoring data collected simultaneously with high-speed X-ray imaging at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL), are correlated with subsurface melt pool dynamics to establish ground truth. Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT) with optimized parameters converts the photodiode time-series signals into time–frequency images, facilitating feature extraction. Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) are then applied for real-time multi-class pore classification in an average inference time of 1 ms per signal window. It achieves 79% accuracy and an Area Under the Receiver Operating Characteristic curve (AUC ROC) score of 0.89 with five-fold cross-validation. The results demonstrate that coupling CWT-based feature engineering with CNN architecture enables reliable multi-class pore detection in Al6061 builds using affordable in-situ sensors. This approach advances scalable and affordable quality assurance in additive manufacturing by moving beyond binary defect detection toward more nuanced classification of porosity mechanisms with in-situ sensors and machine learning.
We present Gaia, a monolithic array of 96 high-purity germanium pixel detectors integrated with a custom low-noise application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) and a field-programmable gate array (FPGA)-based data acquisition system. The sensor operates at ∼100 K using a commercial closed-cycle cryocooler, with the in-vacuum electronics thermally isolated from the cold finger to ensure thermal stability. The system demonstrates an average energy resolution of 711 eV at 122 keV, measured using a 57 Co source, and 253 eV at 5.89 keV, measured with 55 Fe across all channels. The readout architecture incorporates a high-performance FPGA paired with a dual-core ARM processor, forming a complete embedded Linux-based computing platform. Communication between the processor and FPGA is handled via memory-mapped I/O, and data are streamed over high-speed gigabit Ethernet. A full-scale 384-pixel Gaia detector, based on this 96-element module, is currently under fabrication.
Time reduction in performing iterative division results from using a serial-by-parallel divider employing a look-ahead feature that predetermines the sign relationships of several iterations before the computer cycle begins. This method can be employed in any data handling system performing high-speed division.
High speed digital computer program and data handling instructions for problem solving with structural analysis and interpretive system
Time shared computer system providing real time service to multiple laboratory instrumentation, discussing high speed channel, computer control and data abstracting techniques
High-resolution harmonic analysis of the solar magnetic field has been used succesfully to calculate the geometry of open magnetic field lines in the solar corona. Comparison of the loci of open-field-line footpoints with solar X-ray photographs shows that all the coronal holes during two solar rotations are successfully represented, including details of their evolution. Some open magnetic configurations derived in the calculations precede by up to one solar rotation the manifestation of coincident dark areas on the X-ray photographs. The only other areas that contribute open field lines to the corona are separations between active-region loop systems. By varying the radius at which field lines are forced to be open in the calculation, it is possible to reproduce more closely the surface configuration of particular coronal holes. Comparison of the size of X-ray holes with the fraction of the solar surface covered by open field lines leads to the conclusion that a significant part of the area of coronal holes must contain closed magnetic fields. Comparison of open field lines which lie in the equatorial plane of the sun with solar-wind data indicates that eventual high-speed solar-wind streams are associated with those parts of open magnetic structures that diverge the least.
Paper describes a numerical calculation scheme for tangential slot injection (wall-wake) flows; application of the scheme over a wide range of flow conditions indicates increased accuracy compared to previous work. Predictions from the numerical code were in good agreement with experiment (velocity profile, skin-friction, and effectiveness data) for low- and high-speed flows. To achieve improved accuracy, modifications in the turbulence modeling, compared to previous research, were necessary for the imbedded shear layer region in the near field and for the wall region near shear layer impingement. Anomalous behavior was noted for far field experimental velocity profiles in low-speed flow when the slot-to-free stream velocity ratio was near one
Various types of instrumentation for the development of propulsion systems are discussed. For the steady-state measurement of local temperature, pressure and flow velocity in gases the devices include: a multielement probe, calibrated thermocouple probes, thermocouple probes designed for low gas velocities, pressure measuring devices for high-speed rotors, and instruments for data pickup from rotating members. For the dynamic measurements of the same factors attention is given to 2-mm diameter pressure transducers, flush-diaphragm transducers, resistance thermometers or thermocouples, and miniature transducers for velocity measurements. Instruments for compressor and turbine-blade instrumentation are described with reference to a pyrometer for mapping turbine-blade surface temperature, a capacitance method for making rotor clearance measurements, and optical detection procedures for blade vibration amplitude.
NASA is developing massively parallel systems for ultra high speed processing of digital image data collected by satellite borne instrumentation. Such systems contain thousands of processing elements. Work is underway on the design and fabrication of the 'Massively Parallel Processor', a ground computer containing 16,384 processing elements arranged in a 128 x 128 array. This computer uses existing technology. Advanced work includes the development of semiconductor chips containing thousands of feedthrough paths. Massively parallel image analog to digital conversion technology is also being developed. The goal is to provide compact computers suitable for real-time onboard processing of images.
Time-shared interface speeds data processing in distributed computer network. Two-level high-speed scanning approach routes information to buffer, portion of which is reserved for series of "first-in, first-out" memory stacks. Buffer address structure and memory are protected from noise or failed components by error correcting code. System is applicable to any computer or processing language.
A flow visualization technique, referred to as the smoke-wire, was used for visualization of the transition of the free shear layer associated with the laminar separation bubble of a NACA 66 sub 3-018 airfoil section at low Reynolds number (50,000-130,000). The smoke-wire technique allows the introduction of fine smoke streaklines into the flow field through the electrical resistive heating of a very fine wire which has been coated with oil and which is located upstream from the leading edge of the airfoil section. Streakline data were collected using both high speed still and motion picture photography.