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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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DOE OSTI2026

Electrostatic‐Attraction‐Driven Self‐Assembled Graphene‐Disordered Rocksalt Composite Cathode for Lithium‐Ion Batteries

Disordered rocksalt cathodes hold promise for achieving high-capacity lithium-ion batteries while using low-cost, earth-abundant elements. However, their electrochemical performance remains critically limited by their poor electronic conductivity. Conventional strategies such as high-energy ball milling with excess carbon additives can improve conductivity but remain challenging to scale and often produce defects and increase surface area, thereby accelerating capacity degradation. Herein, we report an alternative approach of electrostatic-attraction-driven self-assembly to fabricate Li 1.2 Mn 0.6 Ti 0.2 O 1.8 F 0.2 (LMTOF) particles uniformly wrapped with electronically conductive graphene sheets without associated materials degradation. The graphene-wrapped LMTOF demonstrates significantly improved cycling stability (89% capacity retention after 100 cycles) and superior rate capability compared with an LMTOF-carbon composite electrode fabricated using the conventional high-energy ball-milling process. Post-cycling analysis reveals reduced oxygen evolution, suppressed unwanted side reactions, and improved structural integrity for the graphene-LMTOF composite. This work highlights the advantages of solution-based carbon wrapping and offers a scalable strategy to prepare high-performance DRX cathodes for lithium-ion batteries.

carbon composite↗

NASA NTRS1995

CAE for Thermal Management of Aerospace Electronic Boards Using the BETAsoft Program

Aerospace electronic boards require special attention to thermal management due to constraints such as their need to be light, small, and maintain high power densities. Also, cooling is mainly through conductive and radiative modes with minor or negligible convective cooling. Due to these particular requirements, thermal design has become an integrated part of the electronic design process in order to avoid expensive repeat prototyping and to ensure high reliability. To achieve high speed simulations, the BETAsoft code uses semi-empirical formulations and an advanced finite difference scheme that incorporates local adaptive grids. Detailed conduction, convection and radiation heat transfer is considered. Various benchmark verifications of the software simulation compared to infrared images typically prove to be within 10% of each other. The thermal analysis of a sample avionic card in a natural convection environment is shown. Then, the individual effects of attaching metal screws to the casing, increasing radiative emissivities of the casing, increasing the conductance of the wedge lock, adding an aluminum core to the board, adding metal strips in board layers, inserting conduction pads under components, and adding heat sinks to components are demonstrated.

Kimberly Bobish↗

NASA NTRS2011

Exploring the Model Design Space for Battery Health Management

Battery Health Management (BHM) is a core enabling technology for the success and widespread adoption of the emerging electric vehicles of today. Although battery chemistries have been studied in detail in literature, an accurate run-time battery life prediction algorithm has eluded us. Current reliability-based techniques are insufficient to manage the use of such batteries when they are an active power source with frequently varying loads in uncertain environments. The amount of usable charge of a battery for a given discharge profile is not only dependent on the starting state-of-charge (SOC), but also other factors like battery health and the discharge or load profile imposed. This paper presents a Particle Filter (PF) based BHM framework with plug-and-play modules for battery models and uncertainty management. The batteries are modeled at three different levels of granularity with associated uncertainty distributions, encoding the basic electrochemical processes of a Lithium-polymer battery. The effects of different choices in the model design space are explored in the context of prediction performance in an electric unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) application with emulated flight profiles.

Saha, Bhaskar↗

NASA NTRS1991

SHARP: Automated Monitoring of Spacecraft Health and Status

This paper briefly describes the spacecraft and ground systems monitoring process at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and highlights some difficulties associated with the existing technology used in mission operations. A new automated system based on artificial intelligence technology is described which seeks to overcome many of these limitations. The system, called the Spacecraft Health Automated Reasoning Prototype (SHARP), is designed to automate health and status analysis for multi-mission spacecraft and ground data systems operations. The SHARP system has proved to be effective for detecting and analyzing potential spacecraft and ground systems problems by performing real-time analysis of spacecraft and ground data systems engineering telemetry. Telecommunications link analysis of the Voyager 2 spacecraft was the initial focus for evaluation of the system in a real-time operations setting during the Voyager spacecraft encounter with Neptune in August, 1989. The SHARP system will be delivered to the JPL Space Flight Operations Center for regular use by planetary flight projects, including the Galileo and Magellan spacecraft, and will also be applied to monitoring and control applications in the Deep Space Network's Network Operations Control Center.

David J Atkinson↗

DOE OSTI2026

Tetrel Bond-Mediated Photophysical Modulation and Fluoride Recognition in Carbazole-Organosilanes

Silicon-centered orbitals are typically regarded as electronically inert in donor–acceptor systems. Here, we show that silole-based carbazole–silane architectures can render these orbitals electronically relevant, enabling modulation of excited-state behavior and anion-responsive photophysics. Two carbazole–Dipp–silanes exhibit identical carbazole-localized LE singlet emission in solution yet diverge markedly in the solid state: one compound displays a broad long-wavelength emission band in the prompt spectrum and enhanced long-lived emission consistent with a triplet-derived excited state, likely arising from a combination of intramolecular structural locking and solid-state packing effects, whereas the more flexible analogue remains predominantly LE-emissive. Fluoride coordination further differentiates the two systems, producing ratiometric red-shifted emission in one case and fluorescence quenching in the other through a fully reversible coordination process. These results identify σ*(Si–Ar) orbitals as tunable contributors to excited-state landscapes in organosilane luminophores and suggest a broader design strategy for controlling excited-state behavior in tetrel-based photofunctional systems.

Haque, Md Hasanul↗

NASA NTRS1992

The thermal engine of Venus: Implications from the impact crater distribution

Questions concerning the state of Venus' volcanological activity are currently under investigation. These questions were raised by the imaging radar and altimetric data obtained by the Magellan spacecraft, which began mapping Venus in Sept. 1990. Clues about the answers to these questions are provided by the nature and distribution of impact craters on the surface of Venus. Statistical tests show that the distribution of craters on Venus cannot be distinguished from a completely spatially random population. Further, the majority of craters look relatively pristine; only about 5 percent of the observed craters appear to be embayed or flooded by lavas. The simplest interpretation of these observations is a model in which the impact craters lie on a surface that has been undisturbed by volcanological and tectonic processes since the time the surface was formed. Counting up the number of craters and estimating the rate at which meteoroids strike the surface then gives an age for the venusian surface of 500 million years; in this model the volcanic activity since that time has been essentially nil. This scenario is described as a 'production' model, or perhaps more appropriately, a 'catastrophic' model.

Phillips, Roger J.↗

DOE OSTI2026

Aerosol-deep convection interaction based on joint cell-thermal tracking in Large Eddy Simulations during the TRACER campaign

In cumulus clouds, aerosol concentrations control cloud droplet concentrations, modifying cloud radiative properties, precipitation processes, and cloud electrification. However, mechanisms of aerosol-deep convection interactions are not well understood due to complex cloud dynamics and microphysics. We investigate the interaction of aerosols with isolated deep convection using Large Eddy Simulations of two cases during the TRacking Aerosol Convection interactions ExpeRiment (TRACER) near Houston, Texas, using a joint cell-thermal tracking algorithm. Cumulus thermals are droplet generators, since supersaturation and droplet nucleation coincide with thermal centers, where the strongest updrafts occur. Primary ice crystal formation does not take place inside thermals, but at layers where previous thermals detrained moisture. As subsequent thermals containing supercooled droplets penetrate these layers, hail and graupel form at or near these thermals. Higher aerosol concentrations result in higher droplet concentrations that suppress drizzle, delay warm rain processes, and transport more moisture aloft. This increases snow and ice amount, as well as graupel and hail, leading to more lightning. Polluted thermals initiate at slightly higher altitudes, and are slightly larger and faster, suggesting a weak invigoration. We also find more thermals per cell, but fewer isolated cells, since convection is more aggregated and intense, especially near the end of the 24 h simulation. Non-linear mesoscale feedback likely triggered by temperature and moisture responses to aerosol-thermal interactions causes the aggregation. Time-lagged aerosol-reinitialization experiments show that the mesoscale response is the predominant forcing for the invigoration. These changes happen within one day, on a smaller scale than previously suggested.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

NASA NTRS1995

Computation of three-dimensional mixed convective boundary layer flow

The paper presents the numerical solution of heat and mass transfer during cross-flow (orthogonal) mixed convection. In this class of flow, a buoyancy-driven transport in the vertical direction and a forced convective flow in the horizontal direction results in a three-dimensional boundary layer structure adjacent to the plate. The rates of heat and mass transfer are determined by a combined influence of the two transport processes. The equations for the conservation of mass, momentum, energy, and species concentration were solved along with appropriate boundary conditions to determine the distributions of velocity components, temperature, and concentration across the thickness of the boundary layer at different locations on the plate. Results were expressed in dimensionless form using Reynolds number, Richardson number for heat transfer, Richardson number for mass transfer, Prandtl number, and Schmidt number as parameters. It was found that the transport is dominated by buoyancy at smaller vertical locations and at larger distances away from the forced convection leading edge. Effects of forced convection appeared to be very strong at smaller horizontal distances from the leading edge. The cross stream forced convection enhanced the rate of heat and mass transfer by a very significant amount.

Prashandt Gadepalli↗

NASA NTRS2026

The Hyperspectral Microwave Photonic Instrument (HyMPI) and its NEDT Performance

This work presents an overview of a hyperspectral microwave-photonic spectrometer and demonstrates the system end-to-end noise equivalent delta temperature (NEDT) performance. The system aims at augmenting the remote sensing capability from space, with a focus on the Earth’s planetary boundary layer (PBL) thermal microwave (MW) spectral region (0-200 GHz). Combining a Photonic Integrated Circuit (PIC) channelizer and an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) spectrometer, the PIC & ASIC (PICASIC) module is capable of processing 40 GHz spectra at hyperspectral (4 MHz) resolution. The photonic technology is agnostic to the spectral region and multiple photonic modules can cover the entire 200 GHz spectrum. Measured results of the end-to-end system NEDT agree with predicted values confirming that the NEDT is primarily dominated by the noise figure of the MW front-end, with the optical link adding no significant noise. The data also demonstrate that a single module enables simultaneous super- and hyper-spectral resolution channel analysis across a 40 GHz range.

spectrometer↗

DOE OSTI2026

Lake sediment heatwaves under global warming

Lake sediment heatwaves, driven by rising global temperatures, pose emerging threats to freshwater ecosystems by altering sediment thermal regimes and intensifying sediment biogeochemical processes. Here we present a global-scale assessment of lake sediment heatwaves, examining their historical patterns and projecting future trends under various climate scenarios in 41,499 representative lakes worldwide. Using daily simulated lake sediment temperatures from 1981 to 2010 and future (2071-2100) projections under three Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSP126, SSP370, SSP585), we investigate lake sediment heatwave characteristics, including their duration, intensity, frequency, and seasonal timing, worldwide. Our results show that lake sediment heatwaves are generally more persistent and frequent than lake surface heatwaves, with sediment heatwaves in pelagic regions experiencing a significant lag relative to surface conditions. Under future climate scenarios, sediment heatwaves are projected to intensify, with their duration and frequency increasing substantially, particularly under SSP585. These shifts could exacerbate the production of greenhouse gases like methane and increase sediment respiration rates in lakes. This study highlights the need to account for sediment heatwaves in freshwater ecosystem management and climate adaptation strategies to mitigate future impacts.

Limnology↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

The Habitable Worlds Observatory Technology Development Plan

The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) is NASA’s next large space telescope, selected by the 2020 Decadal Survey in Astronomy and Astrophysics to search for and characterize habitable exoplanets while enabling a broad range of transformative astrophysics. In August 2024, the HWO Technology Maturation Project Office (TMPO) was formed to begin exploring the HWO science, technology, and mission architectures toward a Mission Concept Review (MCR) at the end of the decade. A primary deliverable of this effort is a technology development plan that identifies critical technologies that enable the mission, defines a process for assessing the readiness of those technologies, and outlines a strategy for developing those technologies to a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 5 before the MCR. In this paper we summarize the HWO technology development plan which comprises three “tracks”: Coronagraph System technologies, Ultra-stable Telescope System technologies, and High-sensitivity Ultraviolet and Visible Instrumentation technologies. Each track has completed an initial assessment of technology gaps, prioritized the gaps for investment, and laid out development roadmaps to mature candidate technologies to close those gaps.

Matthew R Bolcar↗

NASA NTRS2026

Prototype Demonstration of Solar-Carbothermal System to Extract Oxygen From Regolith

The Carbothermal Reduction Demonstration (CaRD) project was an effort to develop a prototype system to demonstrate the extraction of oxygen from simulated lunar regolith using concentrated solar energy and a carbothermal reaction. The prototype consisted of a deployable solar concentrator capable of tracking the sun, carbothermal reactor, fluid system, gas analysis, and a solar concentrator control system consisting of avionics and software. These subsystems were developed by multiple NASA centers and a private industry partner, Sierra Space. The various teams worked together to define requirements and interfaces to successfully assemble the complex system and demonstrate an integrated solar carbothermal process. The solar concentrator developed at Glenn Research Center (GRC) was designed to be stowed for a launch environment then deployed on the lunar surface. It utilized a crossed dragone configuration of composite mirrors to direct horizontal sunlight onto a target 90° from the incoming sunlight. The key performance parameters for the solar concentrator were efficiency and power density. The carbothermal reactor was developed by Sierra Space through a separate project called the Carbothermal Oxygen Production Reactor (COPR) where it successfully demonstrated a fully automated process in a thermal vacuum environment [1]. The fluid system needed for the carbothermal reaction was also developed by Sierra Space and successfully demonstrated in the same thermal vacuum test. The gas analysis system was developed at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and was required to determine the amount of oxygen extracted during each test. The gas analysis system was based on the Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations (MSOLO) instrument. Avionics and software for the CaRD prototype were also developed at KSC and based on experience with MSOLO avionics and software. The control system was designed to stow, deploy, track the sun, and perform beam alignment of the concentrated light. The prototype subsystems were integrated and tested at Johnson Space Center’s (JSC) Energy Systems Test Area. A heliostat was used to direct sunlight toward the prototype in a way that is representative of the sunlight conditions at the south pole of the Moon. When concentrated sunlight was focused on simulated lunar regolith within the reactor, the gas analysis team confirmed the presence of carbon monoxide gas, which confirmed that a solar carbothermal reaction took place. The key performance parameter for the integrated prototype was grams of oxygen extracted per kilowatt hour of energy arriving at the concentrator primary mirror. The prototype design successfully demonstrated end-to-end capability and further steps to achieve a flight capable system have been defined. With lunar data, engineers would be able to design a scaled-up system capable of extracting oxygen from regolith at useful quantities for crew life support and rocket propellant. On the long term, this method of In-Situ Resource Utilization could be used to drastically reduce the cost and risk of a sustained human presence on the Moon by reducing the amount of oxygen that would have to be delivered.

Koorosh R Araghi↗

NASA NTRS1990

Interactions Between the Space Station and the Environment: A Preliminary Assessment of EMI

A review of the interactions between proposed Space Station systems/payloads and the environment that contribute to electromagnetic interference was performed. Seven prime sources of interference have been identified. These are: The Space Station power system; active experiments such as beam injection; ASTROMAG; ram and wake density gradients; pick up ions produced by vented or offgassed clouds; waves produced by current loops that include the plasma and structure; arcing from high voltage solar arrays (or possible ESD in polar orbit). This review indicates that: minimizing leakage current from the 20 kHz power system to the structure; keeping the surfaces of the Space Station structure, arrays, and radiators nonconducting; minimizing venting of payloads or systems to non-operational periods; careful placement of payloads sensitive to magnetic field perturbations or wake noise; and designing an operational timeline compatible with experiment requirement are the most effective means of minimizing the effects of this interference. High degrees of uncertainty exist in the estimates of magnitudes of gas emission induced EMI, radiation of 20 kHz and harmonics, ASTROMAG induced interference, and arc threshold/frequency of the solar array. These processes demand further attention so that mitigation efforts are properly calibrated.

G B Murphy↗

NASA NTRS2026

Prototype Demonstration of Solar Carbothermal System to Extract Oxygen from Regolith

The Carbothermal Reduction Demonstration (CaRD) project was an effort to develop a prototype system to demonstrate the extraction of oxygen from simulated lunar regolith using concentrated solar energy and a carbothermal reaction. The prototype consisted of a deployable solar concentrator capable of tracking the sun, carbothermal reactor, fluid system, gas analysis, and a solar concentrator control system consisting of avionics and software. These subsystems were developed by multiple NASA centers and a private industry partner, Sierra Space. The various teams worked together to define requirements and interfaces to successfully assemble the complex system and demonstrate an integrated solar carbothermal process. The solar concentrator developed at Glenn Research Center (GRC) was designed to be stowed for a launch environment then deployed on the lunar surface. It utilized a crossed dragone configuration of composite mirrors to direct horizontal sunlight onto a target 90° from the incoming sunlight. The key performance parameters for the solar concentrator were efficiency and power density. The carbothermal reactor was developed by Sierra Space through a separate project called the Carbothermal Oxygen Production Reactor (COPR) where it successfully demonstrated a fully automated process in a thermal vacuum environment. The fluid system needed for the carbothermal reaction was also developed by Sierra Space and successfully demonstrated in the same thermal vacuum test. The gas analysis system was developed at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and was required to determine the amount of oxygen extracted during each test. The gas analysis system was based on the Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations (MSOLO) instrument. Avionics and software for the CaRD prototype were also developed at KSC and based on experience with MSOLO avionics and software. The control system was designed to stow, deploy, track the sun, and perform beam alignment of the concentrated light. The prototype subsystems were integrated and tested at Johnson Space Center’s (JSC) Energy Systems Test Area. A heliostat was used to direct sunlight toward the prototype in a way that is representative of the sunlight conditions at the south pole of the Moon. When concentrated sunlight was focused on simulated lunar regolith within the reactor, the gas analysis team confirmed the presence of carbon monoxide gas, which confirmed that a solar carbothermal reaction took place. The key performance parameter for the integrated prototype was grams of oxygen extracted per kilowatt hour of energy arriving at the concentrator primary mirror. The prototype design successfully demonstrated end-to-end capability and further steps to achieve a flight capable system have been defined. With lunar data, engineers would be able to design a scaled-up system capable of extracting oxygen from regolith at useful quantities for crew life support and rocket propellant. On the long term, this method of In-Situ Resource Utilization could be used to drastically reduce the cost and risk of a sustained human presence on the Moon by reducing the amount of oxygen that would have to be delivered.

Aaron Paz↗

NASA NTRS1995

Validation of the SINDA/FLUINT Code Using Several Analytical Solutions

The Systems Improved Numerical Differencing Analyzer and Fluid Integrator (SINDA/FLUINT) code has often been used to determine the transient and steady-state response of various thermal and fluid flow networks. While this code is an often used design and analysis tool, the validation of this program has been limited to a few simple studies. For the current study, the SINDA/FLUINT code was compared to four different analytical solutions. The thermal analyzer portion of the code (conduction and radiative heat transfer, SINDA portion) was first compared to two separate solutions. The first comparison examined a semi-infinite slab with a periodic surface temperature boundary condition. Next, a small, uniform temperature object (lumped capacitance) was allowed to radiate to a fixed temperature sink. The fluid portion of the code (FLUINT) was also compared to two different analytical solutions. The first study examined a tank filling process by an ideal gas in which there is both control volume work and heat transfer. The final comparison considered the flow in a pipe joining two infinite reservoirs of pressure. The results of all these studies showed that for the situations examined here, the SINDA/FLUINT code was able to match the results of the analytical solutions.

John R Keller↗

DOE OSTI2026

Single-Nucleon Transfer on Unstable 59 Cu Probes the NiCu Cycle in Astrophysical X-Ray Bursts

Recent models of the rapid proton (𝑟⁢𝑝) capture process indicate that a competition between the 59 Cu⁢(𝑝,𝛾) ⁢60 Zn and 59 Cu⁢(𝑝,𝛼) ⁢56 Ni reactions may result in the formation of a nickel-copper (NiCu) cycle that traps the flux of material between 56 Ni and 60 Zn . Here, in this work, we report the identification of 15 proton-unbound levels in 60 Zn , populated via 59 Cu⁢(𝑑,𝑛) transfer, which govern the rate of the 59 Cu⁢(𝑝,𝛾)⁢ 60 Zn reaction in XRBs. Precise excitation energies for levels in 60 Zn were obtained from observed 𝛾 decays, and spectroscopic factors were determined from angle-integrated cross sections. Incorporating these results into stellar-model calculations, we find that with experimentally constrained uncertainties a NiCu cycle in XRBs is indeed possible, though we limit its branching strength to less than 38%. While modest, such a branching has significant impact on the light curve, motivating further studies of the relevant rates. Our calculations also indicate that a significant NiCu cycle leads to an increase in the amount of odd-𝐴 nuclei in the burst ashes, which may affect Urca cooling processes in neutron star crusts.

direct reactions↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Atmospheric, Non-Combusting Droplet Sizing and Spray Imaging Results From a Non-Proprietary Aero Gas Turbine Engine Pressure Swirl Atomizer using Shadowgraphy and Planar Laser Scatter

Members from industry and federal agencies of the United States have developed a collaborating group focused on improving the understanding of the atomization processes common to gas turbine engines. The group is aimed on providing high quality data using x-ray diagnostics in the internal geometry and the near-field dense spray as well as optical diagnostics in the visible spectrum, downstream of the nozzle. This paper reports results from one of the two non-proprietary injectors designs from the group: the primary-secondary injector. In particular, we characterize the spray from only the primary, pressure-swirl atomizing circuit using water through the nozzle. We observed Sauter mean diameter decreased with increased water pressure drop across the nozzle. SMD was also collected at three axial distances and showed decreased size with distance from the nozzle. Planar laser sheet droplet scattering provided qualitative assessment of the spray. Higher water pressure drops provided better atomization than lower pressure drops. The addition of swirling air flow through the injector alleviates and improves the atomization quality, particularly at the lower water pressure drops.

optical diagnostics↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA Small Spacecraft and Distributed Systems: Recent and Upcoming Technology Demonstrations and Development Efforts

NASA’s Small Spacecraft & Distributed Systems (SSDS) program strengthens U.S. ability to conduct unique missions by rapidly developing and demonstrating capabilities for SmallSat exploration, science, and commercial space. In collaboration with NASA Centers, other government agencies, commercial industry, and academia, SSDS advances next generation SmallSat technologies like power, processing, propulsion, communications, autonomous navigation, architectures (swarms), and applications (AI/ML/Edge Computing)—to extend missions beyond LEO into cislunar and planetary space. Various investment mechanisms exist for SSDS to select and fund projects that will ultimately advance NASA’s Moon to Mars Architecture. Presented here are the latest achievements and findings from recently completed SSDS projects, along with updates from ongoing efforts and planned future work. Successful missions like Starling and CAPSTONE continue to demonstrate their capability after several years on-orbit. Advancements in next generation swarm configurations are being implemented by Starling for space traffic monitoring and management applications. Findings from recent SSDS flight projects are discussed: DiskSat, a unique SmallSat platform alternative to canisterized nanosatellites, launched December 2025 and is gathering data; the PTD series of missions concluded in December 2025. Current SSDS efforts are focused on addressing NASA Shortfalls relating to rendezvous and proximity operations, neuromorphic computing, and space situational awareness.

Roger Hunter↗