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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 55 records · Page 3
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2005

Three Dimensional Rover/Lander/Orbiter Mission-Planning (3D-ROMPS) System: A Modern Approach to Mission Planning

NASA's current mission planning system is based on point design, two-dimensional display, spread sheets, and report technology. This technology does not enable engineers to analyze the results of parametric studies of missions plans. This technology will not support the increased observational complexity and data volume of missions like Cassini, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), and Mars Sample Return (MSR). The goal of the 3D-ROMPS task has been to establish a set of operational mission planning and analysis tools in the Image Processing Laboratory (IPL) Mission Support Area (MSA) that will respond to engineering requirements for planning future Solar System Exploration (SSE) missions using a three-dimensional display.

Scharfe, Nathan D.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Flight Mechanics of the Entry, Descent and Landing of the ExoMars Mission

ExoMars is ESA's current mission to planet Mars. A high mobility rover and a fixed station will be deployed on the surface of Mars. This paper regards the flight mechanics of the Entry, Descent and Landing (EDL) phases used for the mission analysis and design of the Baseline and back-up scenarios of the mission. The EDL concept is based on a ballistic entry, followed by a descent under parachutes and inflatable devices (airbags) for landing. The mission analysis and design is driven by the flexibility in terms of landing site, arrival dates and the very stringent requirement in terms of landing accuracy. The challenging requirements currently imposed to the mission need innovative analysis and design techniques to support system design trade-offs to cope with the variability in entry conditions. The concept of the Global Entry Corridor has been conceived, designed, implemented and successfully validated as a key tool to provide a global picture of the mission capabilities in terms of landing site reachability.

HayaRamos, Rodrigo↗
NASA NTRS1975

Solid rocket technology advancements for space tug and IUS applications

In order for the shuttle tug or interim upper stage (IUS) to capture all the missions in the current mission model for the tug and the IUS, an auxiliary or kick stage, using a solid propellant rocket motor, is required. Two solid propellant rocket motor technology concepts are described. One concept, called the 'advanced propulsion module' motor, is an 1800-kg, high-mass-fraction motor, which is single-burn and contains Class 2 propellent. The other concept, called the high energy upper stage restartable solid, is a two-burn (stop-restartable on command) motor which at present contains 1400 kg of Class 7 propellant. The details and status of the motor design and component and motor test results to date are presented, along with the schedule for future work.

Ascher, W.↗
NASA NTRS2013

Woven TPS Enabling Missions Beyond Heritage Carbon Phenolic

WTPS is a new approach to producing TPS architectures that uses precisely engineered 3D weaving techniques to customize material characteristics needed to meet specific missions requirements for protecting space vehicles from the intense heating generated during atmospheric entry. Using WTPS, sustainable, scalable, mission-optimized TPS solutions can be achieved with relatively low life cycle costs compared with the high costs and long development schedules currently associated with material development and certification. WTPS leverages the mature state-of-the-art weaving technology that has evolved from the textile industry to design TPS materials with tailorable performance. Currently, missions anticipated encountering heat fluxes in the range of 1500 4000 Wcm2 and pressures greater than 1.5 atm are limited to using fully dense Carbon Phenolic. However, fully dense carbon phenolic is only mass efficient at higher heat fluxes greater than 4000 Wcm2), and current mission designs suffer this mass inefficiency for lack of an alternative mid-density TPS. WTPS not only bridges this mid-density TPS gap but also offers a replacement for carbon phenolic, which itself requires a significant and costly redevelopment effort to re-establish its capability for use in the high heat flux missions recently prioritized in the NRC Decadal survey, including probe missions to Venus, Saturn and Neptune. This presentation will overview the WTPS concept and present some results from initial testing completed comparing WTPS architectures to heritage carbon phenolic.

ablators↗
NASA NTRS2013

Woven TPS Enabling Missions Beyond Heritage Carbon Phenolic

NASAs Office of the Chief Technologist (OCT) Game Changing Division recently funded an effort to advance a Woven TPS (WTPS) concept. WTPS is a new approach to producing TPS architectures that uses precisely engineered 3D weaving techniques to customize material characteristics needed to meet specific missions requirements for protecting space vehicles from the intense heating generated during atmospheric entry. Using WTPS, sustainable, scalable, mission-optimized TPS solutions can be achieved with relatively low life cycle costs compared with the high costs and long development schedules currently associated with material development and certification. WTPS leverages the mature state-of-the-art weaving technology that has evolved from the textile industry to design TPS materials with tailorable performance. Currently, missions anticipated encountering heat fluxes in the range of 1500 4000 Wcm2 and pressures greater than 1.5 atm are limited to using fully dense Carbon Phenolic. However, fully dense carbon phenolic is only mass efficient at higher heat fluxes g(reater than 4000 Wcm2), and current mission designs suffer this mass inefficiency for lack of an alternative mid-density TPS. WTPS not only bridges this mid-density TPS gap but also offers a replacement for carbon phenolic, which itself requires a significant and costly redevelopment effort to re-establish its capability for use in the high heat flux missions recently prioritized in the NRC Decadal survey, including probe missions to Venus, Saturn and Neptune. This presentation will overview the WTPS concept and present some results from initial testing completed comparing WTPS architectures to heritage carbon phenolic.

Woven Thermal protection materials↗
NASA NTRS2016

The Space High Angular Resolution Probe for the Infrared (SHARP-IR)

The Space High Angular Resolution Probe for the Infrared (SHARP-IR) is a new mission currently under study. As partof the preparation for the Decadal Survey, NASA is currently undertaking studies of four major missions, but interesthas also been shown in determining if there are feasible sub-$1B missions that could provide significant scientific return.SHARP-IR is being designed as one such potential probe. In this talk, we will discuss some of the potential scientificquestions that could be addressed with the mission, the current design, and the path forward to concept maturation.

Rinehart, S. A.↗
NASA NTRS2019

International Space Station as a Development Testbed for Advanced Environmental Control and Life Support Systems

Since the beginning of human spaceflight, mission durations have steadily increased. Current mission durations onboard the International Space Station are multiple months, but future exploration missions to cislunar space and beyond will require multiple year durations. In addition, missions to cislunar or deep space will encounter a much harsher environment than the current ISS low-earth orbit missions, with relation to radiation, isolation, and lack of timely available support from Earth. To meet the challenges of deep space, so-called "exploration missions" will require Environmental Control and Life Support systems with higher performance, lower mass and logistics requirements, and more endurance than are possible with current operational systems on board the International Space Station. As a currently operational human-occupied platform, the International Space Station presents a unique opportunity to act as a testbed for development of advanced next-generation Environmental Control and Life Support Systems, such that these systems may be tested, proven, and refined for eventual deployment on deep space human exploration missions. This paper will outline the history, progress to date, and future plans for efforts to design, select, build, test and fly Advanced Environmental Control and Life Support Systems on the ISS.

Shaw, Laura A.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

From NASA's EOS to ESO: Advancing Applications of the Future Atmosphere Observing (AOS) Mission

The NASA Earth System Observatory (ESO) Atmosphere Observing System (AOS) is being designed to explore the fundamental questions of how interconnections between aerosols, clouds and precipitation impact our weather and climate, addressing real-world challenges to benefit society. A fundamental component of the AOS mission is ensuring that applications for economic and societal benefit are considered to the greatest extent possible in mission design. As a result, the AOS Applications Impact Team (AIT) was formed to address this objective. The overarching goal of the AIT is to help improve capacity for transitioning science to applications to make it possible to more quickly and effectively inform decisions that will directly benefit society. We seek to maximize AOS benefit to impact decisions through early engagement in the mission development phase in order to prepare stakeholders to apply observations as soon as AOS mission data become available. A critical component of preparing future users of AOS mission data is building on the successes of applications of NASA’s existing Earth Observing System (EOS), A-Train, and sub-orbital campaigns with the goal of advancing current mission applications activities and preparing for innovative AOS mission observations. NASA’s GPM mission forms a framework to enhance AOS precipitation applications while AOS health and air quality applications benefit from the heritage of CALIPSO and MODIS. Additionally, AOS will likely benefit from current and future missions such as TROPICS, MAIA, TEMPO, and PACE which launch before AOS. Additionally, current sub-orbital field campaigns, such as NASA IMPACTS and ACTIVATE, provide rich data sources to highlight future AOS capabilities. Engaging with existing missions and sub-orbital field campaigns helps to identify and understand data needs, gaps, and opportunities for current and future stakeholders, determine what data products are of highest value and use, and connect stakeholders with current mission data that can serve as AOS proxy data, among others. In this presentation, we provide an overview of AOS AIT activities, initiatives, and the AOS Applications Seminar Series to highlight how existing EOS, A-Train, and sub-orbital missions can play a critical role in advancing AOS applications prior to launch.

Emily B. Berndt↗
NASA NTRS1988

Mars sample return mission: What level of complexity

The complexity of the U.S. Sample Return Mission is ultimately dependent on current mission funding and the projected direction of the U.S. space program. Despite these uncertainties, it is important to examine mission scenarios to address desired scientific objectives that can be summarized in the following list: (1) determine existence of climatic records in geologic records; (2) does Mars have a subpermafrost groundwater system; (3) fundamental questions on the existence of Mars biology; (4) what is the internal structure of Mars; (5) determine the systems for regolith formation; and (6) what is the contribution of meteorites to Martian geology and climate are presented. To address these objectives, the sample size, quantity and location must be established and whether this should be the only data searched for on the Martian surface. With this in mind, three mission scenarios are briefly discussed, in order of increasing complexity.

Ciesla, Thomas M.↗
NASA NTRS2007

General Mission Analysis Tool (GMAT): Mission, Vision, and Business Case

The Goal of the GMAT project is to develop new space trajectory optimization and mission design technology by working inclusively with ordinary people, universities businesses and other government organizations; and to share that technology in an open and unhindered way. GMAT's a free and open source software system; free for anyone to use in development of new mission concepts or to improve current missions, freely available in source code form for enhancement or future technology development.

Hughes, Steven P.↗
NASA NTRS2007

General Mission Analysis Tool (GMAT)

The General Mission Analysis Tool (GMAT) is a space trajectory optimization and mission analysis system developed by NASA and private industry in the spirit of the NASA Mission. GMAT contains new technology and is a testbed for future technology development. The goal of the GMAT project is to develop new space trajectory optimization and mission design technology by working inclusively with ordinary people, universities, businesses, and other government organizations, and to share that technology in an open and unhindered way. GMAT is a free and open source software system licensed under the NASA Open Source Agreement: free for anyone to use in development of new mission concepts or to improve current missions, freely available in source code form for enhancement or further technology development.

Hughes, Steven P.↗
NASA NTRS2008

Automated Data Assimilation and Flight Planning for Multi-Platform Observation Missions

This is a progress report on an effort in which our goal is to demonstrate the effectiveness of automated data mining and planning for the daily management of Earth Science missions. Currently, data mining and machine learning technologies are being used by scientists at research labs for validating Earth science models. However, few if any of these advanced techniques are currently being integrated into daily mission operations. Consequently, there are significant gaps in the knowledge that can be derived from the models and data that are used each day for guiding mission activities. The result can be sub-optimal observation plans, lack of useful data, and wasteful use of resources. Recent advances in data mining, machine learning, and planning make it feasible to migrate these technologies into the daily mission planning cycle. We describe the design of a closed loop system for data acquisition, processing, and flight planning that integrates the results of machine learning into the flight planning process.

Oza, Nikunj↗
NASA NTRS2013

The ISIS Mission Concept: An Impactor for Surface and Interior Science

The Impactor for Surface and Interior Science (ISIS) mission concept is a kinetic asteroid impactor mission to the target of NASA's OSIRIS-REx (Origins-Spectral Interpretation-Resource Identification-Security-Regolith Explorer) asteroid sample return mission. The ISIS mission concept calls for the ISIS spacecraft, an independent and autonomous smart impactor, to guide itself to a hyper-velocity impact with 1999 RQ36 while the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft observes the collision. Later the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft descends to reconnoiter the impact site and measure the momentum imparted to the asteroid through the impact before departing on its journey back to Earth. In this paper we discuss the planetary science, human exploration and impact mitigation drivers for mission, and we describe the current mission concept and flight system design.

cratering experiment↗
NASA NTRS1991

Huntsville Operations Support Center

Information is given in viewgraph form on the Huntsville Operations Support Center (HOSC). The HOSC is a multi-mission control and support facility designed to provide simultaneous support to several diverse missions, using a common set of processing equipment and facilities. Information is given on the missions supported by the HOSC; facility layout; generic system goals; HOSC existing computer architecture; current mission requirements; currently employed hardware and software; front end processing; central processing; peripheral processors; audio and video communications; and upgrading plans.

Bailey, Darrell G.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Evaluation of Crew-Centric Onboard Mission Operations Planning and Execution Tool: Year 2

Currently, mission planning for the International Space Station (ISS) is largely affected by ground operators in mission control. The task of creating a week-long mission plan for ISS crew takes dozens of people multiple days to complete, and is often created far in advance of its execution. As such, re-planning or adapting to changing real-time constraints or emergent issues is similarly taxing. As we design for future mission operations concepts to other planets or areas with limited connectivity to Earth, more of these ground-based tasks will need to be handled autonomously by the crew onboard.There is a need for a highly usable (including low training time) tool that enables efficient self-scheduling and execution within a single package. The ISS Program has identified Playbook as a potential option. It already has high crew acceptance as a plan viewer from previous analogs and can now support a crew self-scheduling assessment on ISS or on another mission. The goals of this work, a collaboration between the Human Research Program and the ISS Program, are to inform the design of systems for more autonomous crew operations and provide a platform for research on crew autonomy for future deep space missions. Our second year of the research effort have included new insights on the crew self-scheduling sessions performed by the crew through use on the HERA (Human Exploration Research Analog) and NEEMO (NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations) analogs. Use on the NEEMO analog involved two self-scheduling strategies where the crew planned and executed two days of EVAs (Extra-Vehicular Activities). On HERA year two represented the first HERA campaign where we were able to perform research tasks. This involved selected flexible activities that the crew could schedule, mock timelines where the crew completed more complex planning exercises, usability evaluation of the crew self-scheduling features, and more insights into the limit of plan complexity that the crew could effectively self-schedule. In parallel we have added in new features and functionality in the Playbook tool based off of our insights from crew self-scheduling in the NASA analogs. In particular this year we have added in the ability for the crew to add, edit, and remove their own activities in the Playbook tool, expanding the type of planning and re-planning possible in the tool and opening up the ability for more free form plan creation. The ability to group and manipulate groups of activities from the plan task list was also added, allowing crew members to add predefined sets of activities onto their mission timeline. In addition we also added a way for crew members to roll back changes in their plan, in order to allow an undo like capability. These features expand and complement the initial self-scheduling features added in year one with the goal of making crew autonomous planning more efficient. As part of this work we have also finished developing the first version of our Playbook Data Analysis Tool, a research tool built to interpret and analyze the unobtrusively collected data obtained during the NASA analog missions through Playbook. This data which includes user click interaction as well as plan change information, through the Playbook Data Analysis Tool, allows us to playback this information as if a video camera was mounted over the crewmember's tablet. While the primary purpose of this tool is to allow usability analysis of crew self-scheduling sessions used on the NASA analog, since the data collected is structured, the tool can automatically derive metrics that would be traditionally tedious to achieve without manual analysis of video playback. We will demonstrate and discuss the ability for future derived metrics to be added to the tool. In addition to the current data and results gathered in year two we will also discuss the preparation and goals of our International Space Station (ISS) onboard technology demonstration with Playbook. This technology demonstration will be preformed as part of the CAST payload starting in late 2016.

onboard planning↗
DOE OSTI2025

Reference Fuel Development for NonAluminum Spent Nuclear Fuel Management

Background – The L Area Facility was initially constructed as a nuclear reactor for nuclear material production in the 1950s – The reactor was shut down in the late 1980s: in the 1990s the mission changed to storing nuclear material • Current Mission – L Area provides for the safe receipt, storage, handling, and shipping of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and other nuclear materials – Received more than 47,000 SNF assemblies since 1964 from power and research reactors (domestic and foreign)

Sifuentes, Christian A. [Savannah River Nuclear So↗