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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 523 records · Page 29
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2011

Operation of a New Half-Bridge Gate Driver for Enhancement - Mode GaN FETs, Type LM5113, Over a Wide Temperature Range

A new commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) gate driver designed to drive both the high-side and the low-side enhancement-mode GaN FETs, National Semiconductor's type LM5113, was evaluated for operation at temperatures beyond its recommended specified limits of -40 C to +125 C. The effects of limited thermal cycling under the extended test temperature, which ranged from -194 C to +150 C, on the operation of this chip as well as restart capability at the extreme cryogenic and hot temperatures were also investigated. The driver circuit was able to maintain good operation throughout the entire test regime between -194 C and +150 C without undergoing any major changes in its outputs signals and characteristics. The limited thermal cycling performed on the device also had no effect on its performance, and the driver chip was able to successfully restart at each of the extreme temperatures of -194 C and +150 C. The plastic packaging of this device was also not affected by either the short extreme temperature exposure or the limited thermal cycling. These preliminary results indicate that this new commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) halfbridge eGaN FET driver integrated circuit has the potential for use in space exploration missions under extreme temperature environments. Further testing is planned under long-term cycling to assess the reliability of these parts and to determine their suitability for extended use in the harsh environments of space.

Patterson, Richard↗
NASA NTRS2008

The Space Systems Environmental Test Facility Database (SSETFD), Website Development Status

The Aerospace Corporation has been developing a database of U.S. environmental test laboratory capabilities utilized by the space systems hardware development community. To date, 19 sites have been visited by The Aerospace Corporation and verbal agreements reached to include their capability descriptions in the database. A website is being developed to make this database accessible by all interested government, civil, university and industry personnel. The website will be accessible by all interested in learning more about the extensive collective capability that the US based space industry has to offer. The Environments, Test & Assessment Department within The Aerospace Corporation will be responsible for overall coordination and maintenance of the database. Several US government agencies are interested in utilizing this database to assist in the source selection process for future spacecraft programs. This paper introduces the website by providing an overview of its development, location and search capabilities. It will show how the aerospace community can apply this new tool as a way to increase the utilization of existing lab facilities, and as a starting point for capital expenditure/upgrade trade studies. The long term result is expected to be increased utilization of existing laboratory capability and reduced overall development cost of space systems hardware. Finally, the paper will present the process for adding new participants, and how the database will be maintained.

Snyder, James M.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Cryogenic leak testing of tube fittings/valves

A high pressure and variable temperature cryogenic leak testing system was conceived and designed in order to conduct leakage testing of pipe fittings/valves in liquid hydrogen supply lines of the Space Shuttle. The system can create a continuous testing environment of variable temperature, 5.5 to about 300 K, and variable pressure, 0.01 to about 70 x 10 exp 5 Pa, with a large sample space, 90 mm diameter x 228 mm length, and at low operating cost. In terms of cryogenic leak testing the system has a special capability for extensive applications. The system comprised a variable temperature cryostat, a high pressure sample chamber, a vacuum pumping station, gas flow control system, pressure and temperature control systems, and leak detecting and measuring systems. A general discussion of cryogenic leak testing methods is also presented.

Jia, L. X.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Popping a Hole in High-Speed Pursuits

NASA s Plum Brook Station, a 6,400-acre, remote test installation site for Glenn Research Center, houses unique, world-class test facilities, including the world s largest space environment simulation chamber and the world s only laboratory capable of full-scale rocket engine firings and launch vehicle system level tests at high-altitude conditions. Plum Brook Station performs complex and innovative ground tests for the U.S. Government (civilian and military), the international aerospace community, as well as the private sector. Popping a Hole in High-Speed Pursuits Recently, Plum Brook Station s test facilities and NASA s engineering experience were combined to improve a family of tire deflating devices (TDDs) that helps law enforcement agents safely, simply, and successfully stop fleeing vehicles in high-speed pursuit

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1990

The Flight Telerobotic Servicer (FTS) NASA's first operational robotic system

NASA has completed the preliminary definition phase of the Flight Telerobotic Servicer (FTS) and is now preparing to begin the detailed design and fabrication phase. The FTS will be designed and built by Martin Marietta Astronautics Group in Denver, CO, for the Goddard Space Flight Center, in support of the Space Station Freedom Program. The design concepts for the FTS are discussed, as well as operational scenarios for the assembly, maintenance, servicing and inspection tasks which are being considered for the FTS. The upcoming Development Test Flight (DTF-1) is the first of two shuttle test flights to test FTS operations in the environment of space and to demonstrate the FTS capabilities in performing tasks for Space Station Freedom. Operational planning for DTF-1 is discussed as well as development plans for the operational support of the FTS on the space station.

Andary, J.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Establishing Standardized Test Methods for Evaluating Space Suit Gloves

The Artemis space suit glove environmental protection garment (EPG) will be the first line of protection used to shield the crewmember’s hands from the environments encountered during extravehicular activity (EVA). As the Artemis missions will include more extreme environments than those experienced on the International Space Station, development, verification, and validation of gloves poses three key challenges. First, there are no standardized tests defined to evaluate the durability of space suit gloves for the extreme lunar environments, particularly the permanently shadowed regions. Second, there is insufficient data on state-of-the-art glove performance in a lunar environment from which to compare new designs. Third, current ISS glove Thermal Micrometeoroid Garment (TMG) fabrics are unlikely to be sufficient to meet Lunar requirements. It is therefore necessary to define tests to evaluate if gloves can meet new, challenging requirements. This paper focuses on the development of a test procedure to characterize lunar EVA glove fabrics using ASTM standardized test methods and the design and validation of a new standardized test procedure for comparing abrasion resistance between fabrics in lunar-like conditions. The results of testing on twelve candidate EVA glove fabrics are presented.

Robert J. Jones↗
NASA NTRS1972

Analysis of thermal environment in the thrustor cavity of space vehicles

Wind tunnel tests to determine the mechanisms involved in producing the high local heating rates in and around the thrustor nozzle in a non-firing condition are reported. The geometry of a typical nozzle installation is described. Procedures for reducing the effects of hypersonic flow interactions in order to prevent excess local heating are explained.

Chiou, J. N.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Design and Fabrication of a Stirling Thermal Vacuum Test

A Stirling Radioisotope Generator (SRG110) is being developed for potential use on future NASA space science missions. The development effort is being conducted by Lockheed Martin under contract to the Department of Energy (DOE). The Stirling Technology Company supplies the free-piston Stirling power convertors, and NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) provides support to the effort in a range of technologies. This generator features higher efficiency and specific power compared to the currently used alternatives. One potential application for the generator would entail significant cruise time in the vacuum of deep space. A test has been conceived at GRC to demonstrate functionality of the Stirling convertors in a thermal vacuum environment. The test article resembles the configuration of the SRG, however the requirement for low mass was not considered. This test will demonstrate the operation of the Stirling convertors in the thermal vacuum environment, simulating deep space, over an extended period of operation. The analysis, design, and fabrication of the test article will be described in this paper.

Oriti, Salvatore M.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Design and Fabrication of a Stirling Thermal Vacuum Test

A Stirling Radioisotope Generator (SRG110) is being developed for potential use on future NASA space science missions. The development effort is being conducted by Lockheed Martin under contract to the Department of Energy (DOE). The Stirling Technology Company supplies the free-piston Stirling power convertors, and NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) provides support to the effort in a range of technologies. This generator features higher efficiency and specific power compared to the currently used alternatives. One potential application for the generator would entail significant cruise time in the vacuum of deep space. A test has been conceived at GRC to demonstrate functionality of the Stirling convertors in a thermal vacuum environment. The test article resembles the configuration of the SRG, however the requirement for low mass was not considered. This test will demonstrate the operation of the Stirling convertors in the thermal vacuum environment, simulating deep space, over an extended period of operation. The analysis, design, and fabrication of the test article will be described in this paper.

Oriti, Salvatore M.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Storage of solid propellants in space

A test program is described which determines the extent of physical property changes that result from extended space exposure. Primary emphasis was placed on determining the effects of space vacuum. Solid propellants were stored and their physical properties tested in a vacuum and in a dry environment. The storage caused significantly greater increases in the propellants' modulus and maximum tensile strength than occurred in parallel ambient stored samples. The data indicate that the loss of trace amounts of residual moisture from cured propellant is the apparent cause of the observed propellant property changes. Therefore, initial screening tests were carried out under dry storage conditions. Upon completion of the dry storage tests, appropriate propellant samples are exposed to an actual space environment using the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF).

Udlock, D. E.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Avionics and Power Management for Low-Cost High-Altitude Balloon Science Platforms

High-altitude balloons (HABs) have become popular as educational and scientific platforms for planetary research. This document outlines key components for missions where low cost and rapid development are desired. As an alternative to ground-based vacuum and thermal testing, these systems can be flight tested at comparable costs. Communication, solar, space, and atmospheric sensing experiments often require environments where ground level testing can be challenging or impossible in certain cases. When performing HAB research the ability to monitor the status of the platform and gather data is key for both scientific and recoverability aspects of the mission. A few turnkey platform solutions are outlined that leverage rapidly evolving open-source engineering ecosystems. Rather than building custom components from scratch, these recommendations attempt to maximize simplicity and cost of HAB platforms to make launches more accessible to everyone.

Avionics↗
NASA NTRS2016

James Webb Space Telescope Integrated Science Instrument Module Thermal Vacuum Thermal Balance Test Campaign at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

The James Webb Space Telescope is a large infrared telescope with a 6.5-meter primary mirror, designed as a successor to the Hubble Space Telescope when launched in 2018. Three of the four science instruments contained within the Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM) are passively cooled to their operational temperature range of 36K to 40K with radiators, and the fourth instrument is actively cooled to its operational temperature of approximately 6K. Thermal-vacuum testing of the flight science instruments at the ISIM element level has taken place in three separate highly challenging and extremely complex thermal tests within a gaseous helium-cooled shroud inside Goddard Space Flight Centers Space Environment Simulator. Special data acquisition software was developed for these tests to monitor over 1700 flight and test sensor measurements, track over 50 gradients, component rates, and temperature limits in real time against defined constraints and limitations, and guide the complex transition from ambient to final cryogenic temperatures and back. This extremely flexible system has proven highly successful in safeguarding the nearly $2B science payload during the 3.5-month-long thermal tests. Heat flow measurement instrumentation, or Q-meters, were also specially developed for these tests. These devices provide thermal boundaries o the flight hardware while measuring instrument heat loads up to 600 mW with an estimated uncertainty of 2 mW in test, enabling accurate thermal model correlation, hardware design validation, and workmanship verification. The high accuracy heat load measurements provided first evidence of a potentially serious hardware design issue that was subsequently corrected. This paper provides an overview of the ISIM-level thermal-vacuum tests and thermal objectives; explains the thermal test configuration and thermal balances; describes special measurement instrumentation and monitoring and control software; presents key test thermal results; lists problems encountered during testing and lessons learned.

JWST ISIM Thermal↗
NASA NTRS1995

Laboratory electron exposure of TSS-1 thermal control coating

RM400, a conductive thermal control coating, was developed for use on the exterior shell of the tethered satellite. Testing was performed by the Engineering Physics Division to quantify effects of the space environment on this coating and its conductive and optical properties. Included in this testing was exposure of RM400 to electrons with energies ranging from 0.1 to 1 keV, to simulate electrons accelerated from the ambient space plasma when the tethered satellite is fully deployed. During this testing, the coating was found to luminesce, and a prolonged exposure of the coating to high-energy electrons caused the coating to darken. This report describes the tests done to quantify the degradation of the thermal control properties caused by electron exposure and to measure the luminescence as a function of electron energy and current density to the satellite.

Vaughn, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS2013

Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) Graphics Processing Board (GPB) Radiation Test Evaluation Report

Large round trip communications latency for deep space missions will require more onboard computational capabilities to enable the space vehicle to undertake many tasks that have traditionally been ground-based, mission control responsibilities. As a result, visual display graphics will be required to provide simpler vehicle situational awareness through graphical representations, as well as provide capabilities never before done in a space mission, such as augmented reality for in-flight maintenance or Telepresence activities. These capabilities will require graphics processors and associated support electronic components for high computational graphics processing. In an effort to understand the performance of commercial graphics card electronics operating in the expected radiation environment, a preliminary test was performed on five commercial offthe- shelf (COTS) graphics cards. This paper discusses the preliminary evaluation test results of five COTS graphics processing cards tested to the International Space Station (ISS) low earth orbit radiation environment. Three of the five graphics cards were tested to a total dose of 6000 rads (Si). The test articles, test configuration, preliminary results, and recommendations are discussed.

Salazar, George A.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Vacuum Deployment and Testing of a 4-Quadrant Scalable Inflatable Solar Sail System

Solar sails reflect photons streaming from the sun and transfer momentum to the sail. The thrust, though small, is continuous and acts for the life of the mission without the need for propellant. Recent advances in materials and ultra-low mass gossamer structures have enabled a host of useful missions utilizing solar sail propulsion. The team of L'Garde, Jet Propulsion Laboratories, Ball Aerospace, and Langley Research Center, under the direction of the NASA In-Space Propulsion office, has been developing a scalable solar sail configuration to address NASA s future space propulsion needs. The baseline design currently in development and testing was optimized around the 1 AU solar sentinel mission. Featuring inflatably deployed sub-T(sub g), rigidized beam components, the 10,000 sq m sail and support structure weighs only 47.5 kg, including margin, yielding an areal density of 4.8 g/sq m. Striped sail architecture, net/membrane sail design, and L'Garde's conical boom deployment technique allows scalability without high mass penalties. This same structural concept can be scaled to meet and exceed the requirements of a number of other useful NASA missions. This paper discusses the interim accomplishments of phase 3 of a 3-phase NASA program to advance the technology readiness level (TRL) of the solar sail system from 3 toward a technology readiness level of 6 in 2005. Under earlier phases of the program many test articles have been fabricated and tested successfully. Most notably an unprecedented 4-quadrant 10 m solar sail ground test article was fabricated, subjected to launch environment tests, and was successfully deployed under simulated space conditions at NASA Plum Brook s 30m vacuum facility. Phase 2 of the program has seen much development and testing of this design validating assumptions, mass estimates, and predicted mission scalability. Under Phase 3 a much larger 20 m square test article including subscale vane has been fabricated and tested. A 20 m system ambient deployment has been successfully conducted after enduring Delta-2 launch environment testing. The program will culminate in a vacuum deployment of a 20 m subscale test article at the NASA Glenn s Plum Brook 30 m vacuum test facility to bring the TRL level as close to 6 as possible in 1 g. This focused program will pave the way for a flight experiment of this highly efficient space propulsion technology.

Lichodziejewski, David↗
NASA NTRS2010

Boundary Layer Transition Protuberance Tests at NASA JSC Arc-Jet Facility

A series of tests conducted recently at the NASA JSC arc -jet test facility demonstrated that a protruding tile material can survive the exposure to the high enthalpy flows characteristic of the Space Shuttle Orbiter re-entry environments. The tests provided temperature data for the protuberance and the surrounding smooth tile surfaces, as well as the tile bond line. The level of heating needed to slump the protuberance material was achieved. Protuberance failure mode was demonstrated.

Larin, Max E.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Odor Control Test Report of the Urine Containment Bag (UCB) for Orion Utilization

The purpose of this report is to summarize the conclusions for the odor control test of the Urine Containment Bag (UCB), P/N SDD46107234-306 in an environment simulating a space craft capsule. JSC 65891, Odor Control Test Plan of the Urine Containment Bag (UCB) for Orion Utilization, documents the test plan. The details of the test set-up and data reduction are detailed in the WSTF test report for this test WSTF #10-44500, Odor Control Test Plan of the Urine Containment Bag (UCB) for Orion Utilization,. This document outlines the project conclusions and forward plans with regard to trash containment for Constellation.

Casper, Stephanie↗