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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 NTRS2016

Evidence Report: Risk of Performance Errors Due to Training Deficiencies

Substantial evidence supports the claim that inadequate training leads to performance errors. Barshi and Loukopoulos (2012) demonstrate that even a task as carefully developed and refined over many years as operating an aircraft can be significantly improved by a systematic analysis, followed by improved procedures and improved training (see also Loukopoulos, Dismukes, & Barshi, 2009a). Unfortunately, such a systematic analysis of training needs rarely occurs during the preliminary design phase, when modifications are most feasible. Training is often seen as a way to compensate for deficiencies in task and system design, which in turn increases the training load. As a result, task performance often suffers, and with it, the operators suffer and so does the mission. On the other hand, effective training can indeed compensate for such design deficiencies, and can even go beyond to compensate for failures of our imagination to anticipate all that might be needed when we send our crew members to go where no one else has gone before. Much of the research literature on training is motivated by current training practices aimed at current training needs. Although there is some experience with operations in extreme environments on Earth, there is no experience with long-duration space missions where crews must practice semi-autonomous operations, where ground support must accommodate significant communication delays, and where so little is known about the environment. Thus, we must develop robust methodologies and tools to prepare our crews for the unknown. The research necessary to support such an endeavor does not currently exist, but existing research does reveal general challenges that are relevant to long-duration, high-autonomy missions. The evidence presented here describes issues related to the risk of performance errors due to training deficiencies. Contributing factors regarding training deficiencies may pertain to organizational process and training programs for spaceflight, such as when training programs are inadequate or unavailable. Furthermore, failure to match between tasks on the one hand, and learning and memory abilities on the other hand is a contributing factor, especially when individuals' relative efficiency with which new information is acquired, and adjustments made in behavior or thinking, are inconsistent with mission demands. Thus, if training deficiencies are present, the likelihood of errors or of the inability to successfully complete a task increases. What's more, the overall risk to the crew, the vehicle, and the mission increases.

Barshi, Immanuel↗
NASA NTRS2017

Digital Model-Based Engineering: Expectations, Prerequisites, and Challenges of Infusion

Digital model-based engineering (DMbE) is the use of digital artifacts, digital environments, and digital tools in the performance of engineering functions. DMbE is intended to allow an organization to progress from documentation-based engineering methods to digital methods that may provide greater flexibility, agility, and efficiency. The term 'DMbE' was developed as part of an effort by the Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) Infusion Task team to identify what government organizations might expect in the course of moving to or infusing MBSE into their organizations. The Task team was established by the Interagency Working Group on Engineering Complex Systems, an informal collaboration among government systems engineering organizations. This Technical Memorandum (TM) discusses the work of the MBSE Infusion Task team to date. The Task team identified prerequisites, expectations, initial challenges, and recommendations for areas of study to pursue, as well as examples of efforts already in progress. The team identified the following five expectations associated with DMbE infusion, discussed further in this TM: (1) Informed decision making through increased transparency, and greater insight. (2) Enhanced communication. (3) Increased understanding for greater flexibility/adaptability in design. (4) Increased confidence that the capability will perform as expected. (5) Increased efficiency. The team identified the following seven challenges an organization might encounter when looking to infuse DMbE: (1) Assessing value added to the organization. Not all DMbE practices will be applicable to every situation in every organization, and not all implementations will have positive results. (2) Overcoming organizational and cultural hurdles. (3) Adopting contractual practices and technical data management. (4) Redefining configuration management. The DMbE environment changes the range of configuration information to be managed to include performance and design models, database objects, as well as more traditional book-form objects and formats. (5) Developing information technology (IT) infrastructure. Approaches to implementing critical, enabling IT infrastructure capabilities must be flexible, reconfigurable, and updatable. (6) Ensuring security of the single source of truth (7) Potential overreliance on quantitative data over qualitative data. Executable/ computational models and simulations generally incorporate and generate quantitative vice qualitative data. The Task team also developed several recommendations for government, academia, and industry, as discussed in this TM. The Task team recommends continuing beyond this initial work to further develop the means of implementing DMbE and to look for opportunities to collaborate and share best practices.

Hale, J. P.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Human Factors Throughout the Life Cycle: Lessons Learned from the Shuttle Program

With the ending of the Space Shuttle Program, it is critical that we not forget the Human Factors lessons we have learned over the years. At every phase of the life cycle, from manufacturing, processing and integrating vehicle and payload, to launch, flight operations, mission control and landing, hundreds of teams have worked together to achieve mission success in one of the most complex, high-risk socio-technical enterprises ever designed. Just as there was great diversity in the types of operations performed at every stage, there was a myriad of human factors that could further complicate these human systems. A single mishap or close call could point to issues at the individual level (perceptual or workload limitations, training, fatigue, human error susceptibilities), the task level (design of tools, procedures and aspects of the workplace), as well as the organizational level (appropriate resources, safety policies, information access and communication channels). While we have often had to learn through human mistakes and technological failures, we have also begun to understand how to design human systems in which individuals can excel, where tasks and procedures are not only safe but efficient, and how organizations can foster a proactive approach to managing risk and supporting human enterprises. Panelists will talk about their experiences as they relate human factors to a particular phase of the shuttle life cycle. They will conclude with a framework for tying together human factors lessons-learned into system-level risk management strategies.

human factors↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

From the Knowledge-based Digital Platform (KbDP) Concept for Advanced Air Mobility Research to a Preliminary Prototype

Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) encompasses a range of innovative operational and technological changes to aviation (electric aircraft, increasingly automated aircraft, increasingly automated airspace operations, etc.) that are transforming aviation’s role in everyday movement of people and goods. There are multiple associated concepts and use cases for AAM, all interrelated, including small Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Traffic Management (UTM), Upper-Class E Traffic Management (ETM), Extensible Traffic Management (xTM), Regional Air Mobility (RAM), and Urban Air Mobility (UAM). These AAM operations must integrate with traditional Air Traffic Management (ATM) operations, as well as non-aviation modes of transportation and logistics. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is spearheading an innovative digital engineering approach to integrate, communicate, and facilitate the research of multi-modal transportation systems. The Knowledge-based Digital Platform (KbDP) is a concept being developed that ties the workflows of Project Managers (PM), Principal Investigators (PI), and System Engineers together across organizational boundaries. It does so through the management of an information database defined by mathematical, data science, and system engineering principles. Machine Learning (ML) algorithms play a key role in this concept by extracting meaningful knowledge from the information database, which the human user leverages to greatly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their research. Expected benefits of this concept include improved technology transfers from research to production, improved research portfolio investments, and research outcomes that are more integrated with all aspects of the multi-modal transportation problem. The preliminary KbDP prototype has been realized using UAM as a pathfinder use case and developed by a team of system engineer, software developer, data scientist, and interns.

Systems Engineering↗
NASA NTRS1994

Re-engineering NASA's space communications to remain viable in a constrained fiscal environment

Along with the Red and Blue Teams commissioned by the NASA Administrator in 1992, NASA's Associate Administrator for Space Communications commissioned a Blue Team to review the Office of Space Communications (Code O) Core Program and determine how the program could be conducted faster, better, and cheaper. Since there was no corresponding Red Team for the Code O Blue Team, the Blue Team assumed a Red Team independent attitude and challenged the status quo, including current work processes, functional distinctions, interfaces, and information flow, as well as traditional management and system development practices. The Blue Team's unconstrained, non-parochial, and imaginative look at NASA's space communications program produced a simplified representation of the space communications infrastructure that transcends organizational and functional boundaries, in addition to existing systems and facilities. Further, the Blue Team adapted the 'faster, better, cheaper' charter to be relevant to the multi-mission, continuous nature of the space communications program and to serve as a gauge for improving customer services concurrent with achieving more efficient operations and infrastructure life cycle economies. This simplified representation, together with the adapted metrics, offers a future view and process model for reengineering NASA's space communications to remain viable in a constrained fiscal environment. Code O remains firm in its commitment to improve productivity, effectiveness, and efficiency. In October 1992, the Associate Administrator reconstituted the Blue Team as the Code O Success Team (COST) to serve as a catalyst for change. In this paper, the COST presents the chronicle and significance of the simplified representation and adapted metrics, and their application during the FY 1993-1994 activities.

Hornstein, Rhoda Shaller↗
NASA NTRS1998

Perceptions of Engineers Regarding Successful Engineering Team Design

The perceptions of engineers and scientists at NASA Langley Research Center toward engineering design teams were evaluated. A sample of 49 engineers and scientists rated 60 team behaviors in terms of their relative importance for team success. They also completed a profile of their own perceptions of their strengths and weaknesses as team members. Behaviors related to team success are discussed in terms of those involving the organizational culture and commitment to the team and those dealing with internal team dynamics. The latter behaviors focused on team issues occurring during the early stages of a team's existence. They included the level and extent of debate and discussion regarding methods for completing the team task and the efficient use of team time to explore and discuss methodologies critical to the problem. The discussion includes a comparison of engineering teams with the prototypical business team portrayed in the literature.

Nowaczyk, Ronald H.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Here's the beef: A case study in organizational transformation

The Science and Technology Lab (STL) is tasked with the design, development, and application of the science and engineering services. Formed in the early 1970's STL adhered to many traditional attitudes including barriers to communication, excessive management control, parochial strategies, unclear measures of success, lack of customer focus, underutilization of people, and excessive administrative burdens on scientists and engineers. The challenge for the STL was to maximize customer satisfaction through the effective and efficient application of the notable skills and talents of the STL's workforce. In this way, the Lab would begin its exciting journey toward becoming world class. A discussion of this on-going transformation is presented.

Huseonica, William F.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Developing Concepts of Operations Using Multi-Step Tool Techniques With Large Language Models

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Air Mobility Pathfinders (AMP) project is developing and evaluating concepts of operations (ConOps) for safe, secure, and scalable Urban Air Mobility (UAM) operations. The AMP project’s Operational Concepts, Architecture, and Requirements Integration (OCARI) Team is using a Model Based System Engineering (MBSE) approach for integration, interoperability, and traceability of Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) ecosystems centered around urban air taxi services. The team’s goal is to define structures and behaviors needed for system feasibility, readiness, and interoperability, establish a UAM knowledge base, and trace and validate assumptions and requirements relevant to AAM. NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) is spearheading an innovative digital engineering approach to integrate, communicate, and facilitate the research of multi-modal transportation systems. The Knowledge-based Digital Platform (KbDP) is a concept being developed that ties the workflows of Project Managers (PM), Principal Investigators (PI), and System Engineers together across organizational boundaries. It does so through the management of an information database defined by mathematical, data science, and system engineering principles. Machine Learning (ML) algorithms play a key role in this concept by extracting meaningful knowledge from relational and graph databases, document repositories, and system artifacts, which the human user leverages to greatly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their research. Recent advancements in the field of Large Language Models (LLMs), specifically models trained for tool use, such as Command-R , now allow for the reliable implementation of single-step and multi-step tool-centric systems. These techniques provide the LLM with a set of tools, in our case Python functions, that can be called on to answer a much wider range of questions compared to LLMs implemented using a traditional single-source or Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) approach. Through this method, the LLM can pull information from multiple data sources, such as relational or graph databases, document repositories, application programming interfaces (APIs), and SysML artifacts depending on the user’s question. The LLM can also output the information in a variety of different formats, using output generation tools, such as CSV, UML, or SysML artifacts. Additionally, tools can be assigned roles and can work together to provide answers to queries in an “agent” like approach, similar to that implemented by Microsoft’s AutoGen framework where different agents can converse with each other to accomplish tasks. Previously, our team developed a chatbot system with “agent like” functionality in the form of different “modes” the user could select from a user interface (UI), this architecture can be seen on the left in figure 1. Three different modes were implemented, the first mode allowed the LLM to utilize the structures and algorithms within a graph database to trace UAM requirements. The second mode gave the LLM access to a vector search capable of providing relevant information from thousands of document pages related to UAM ConOps and requirements. The third mode served as a general assistant where users could enter open-ended questions and custom prompts to utilize the LLM for different use-cases. This system improved the process surrounding generating and analyzing information related to UAM requirements, however, the implementation provided a clunky user experience. Users were required to know what mode to select within the UI in advance before entering their question to the selected tool. Moreover, the different tools were isolated from each other, they lacked bidirectional links that would allow for tools to collaborate to generate better responses. Our team is working on a new architecture, seen on the right in the below figure, with the goal to address many of the UX shortcomings of our original system while improving the accuracy and depth of responses from the LLM. This new system will automatically select the appropriate tool to use based off the user’s question. Each tool will be capable of calling on any of the other tools available to the LLM, resulting in a collaborative pipeline where tools can pass data between other tools until enough data is received to generate an answer to the user’s question. Using a locally deployed, open-source, LLM, the NASA OCARI team, in collaboration with Collins Aerospace, will implement a prototype application that will bridge knowledge across multiple sources to assist System Engineers (SEs) with requirements discovery and tracing, research question and use case identification, and assumption validation. Such a system will also allow SEs to more easily, and intuitively, explore the AAM ecosystem, ultimately improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the SE's research and decision-making processes surrounding ConOps development and validation. In this session, our team will provide a video demonstration of our new prototype architecture in action. We will also present an overview of our prototype system architecture and talk about its advantages over traditional LLM deployments along with how those advantages can provide additional value to the field of System Engineering.

systems engineering↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Cryogenic Fuel Aviation – Challenges and Opportunities

NASA aeronautics goals include pioneering new technology to increase efficiency and reduce emissions from air travel. The feasibility of using of on-board cryogenic fuels systems in combination with fuel cells, high efficiency engines, and electric motors for high efficiency commercial transport aircraft is being examined at NASA in collaborations with external partners. Growing emphasis on next generation air transportation resulted in the development of strategic investigations into cryogenic fuels aviation, including roadmaps for maturing new technologies, needs to improve testing and manufacturing capabilities, and the requirements for establishing regulatory and certification standards. A NASA cross-organizational multidisciplinary project team is exploring new aircraft architectures, enabling materials, and the engineering challenges associated with cryogenic fuels for aircraft. The engineering challenges include high performance cryogenic, thermal management, and power/propulsion components and subsystems to tackle the challenging problem of development of commercially viable aircraft that would radically transform air transportation.

liquid natural gas↗
NASA NTRS2014

System Engineering of Photonic Systems for Space Application

The application of photonics in space systems requires tight integration with the spacecraft systems to ensure accurate operation. This requires some detailed and specific system engineering to properly incorporate the photonics into the spacecraft architecture and to guide the spacecraft architecture in supporting the photonics devices. Recent research in product focused, elegant system engineering has led to a system approach which provides a robust approach to this integration. Focusing on the mission application and the integration of the spacecraft system physics incorporation of the photonics can be efficiently and effectively accomplished. This requires a clear understanding of the driving physics properties of the photonics device to ensure proper integration with no unintended consequences. The driving physics considerations in terms of optical performance will be identified for their use in system integration. Keywords: System Engineering, Optical Transfer Function, Optical Physics, Photonics, Image Jitter, Launch Vehicle, System Integration, Organizational Interaction

Watson, Michael D.↗
NASA NTRS2013

Automated Generation of Fault Management Artifacts from a Simple System Model

Our understanding of off-nominal behavior - failure modes and fault propagation - in complex systems is often based purely on engineering intuition; specific cases are assessed in an ad hoc fashion as a (fallible) fault management engineer sees fit. This work is an attempt to provide a more rigorous approach to this understanding and assessment by automating the creation of a fault management artifact, the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) through querying a representation of the system in a SysML model. This work builds off the previous development of an off-nominal behavior model for the upcoming Soil Moisture Active-Passive (SMAP) mission at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. We further developed the previous system model to more fully incorporate the ideas of State Analysis, and it was restructured in an organizational hierarchy that models the system as layers of control systems while also incorporating the concept of "design authority". We present software that was developed to traverse the elements and relationships in this model to automatically construct an FMEA spreadsheet. We further discuss extending this model to automatically generate other typical fault management artifacts, such as Fault Trees, to efficiently portray system behavior, and depend less on the intuition of fault management engineers to ensure complete examination of off-nominal behavior.

Spinup and Orient↗
NASA NTRS2001

Identification of Communication and Coordination Issues in the US Air Traffic Control System

Today's air traffic control system is approaching the point of saturation, as evidenced by increasing delays across the National Airspace System (NAS). There exists an opportunity to enhance NAS efficiency and reduce delays by improving strategic communication throughout the ATC system. Although several measures have been taken to improve communication (e.g., Collaborative Decision Making tools), communication issues between ATC facilities remain. It is hypothesized that by identifying the key issues plaguing inter-facility strategic communication, steps can be taken to enhance these communications, and therefore ATC system efficiency. In this report, a series of site visits were performed at Boston and New York ATC facilities as well as at the Air Traffic Control System Command Center. The results from these site visits were used to determine the current communication and coordination structure of Traffic Management Coordinators, who hold a pivotal role in inter-facility communications. Several themes emerged from the study, including: ambiguity of organizational structure in the current ATC system, awkward coordination between ATC facilities, information flow issues, organizational culture issues, and negotiation behaviors used to cope with organizational culture issues.

Davison, Hayley J.↗
NASA NTRS2007

GIS Methodology for Planning Planetary-Rover Operations

A document describes a methodology for utilizing image data downlinked from cameras aboard a robotic ground vehicle (rover) on a remote planet for analyzing and planning operations of the vehicle and of any associated spacecraft. Traditionally, the cataloging and presentation of large numbers of downlinked planetary-exploration images have been done by use of two organizational methods: temporal organization and correlation between activity plans and images. In contrast, the present methodology involves spatial indexing of image data by use of the computational discipline of geographic information systems (GIS), which has been maturing in terrestrial applications for decades, but, until now, has not been widely used in support of exploration of remote planets. The use of GIS to catalog data products for analysis is intended to increase efficiency and effectiveness in planning rover operations, just as GIS has proven to be a source of powerful computational tools in such terrestrial endeavors as law enforcement, military strategic planning, surveying, political science, and epidemiology. The use of GIS also satisfies the need for a map-based user interface that is intuitive to rover-activity planners, many of whom are deeply familiar with maps and know how to use them effectively in field geology.

Powell, Mark↗
NASA NTRS2024

Wildland Fire Management Interim ConOps v1.0

This document outlines a concept of operations (ConOps) for a future state of wildland fire prevention, mitigation, and suppression offered as a recommendation and initial guidance for updating current methodologies, technologies, or standards to fit the growing scope of wildland fire. This document serves to collect and summarize the research and work of NASA and other U.S. federal agencies, partner groups, and private industry in envisioning ways, backed by expertise, that could bolster and increase support for firefighting personnel such that overall effectiveness, safety, and efficiency is drastically increased. This document will start with the background of the joint efforts and methods of research and collaboration, followed by a detailed discussion of the current state of wildland fire efforts. In contrast to the current state, the vision for the future state reveals specific areas of improvement with suggestions for potential emerging technologies. With such changes in mind, there is a brief discussion on the impacts of these changes from the systems, organizational, and procedural perspectives, as well as measures by which the effectiveness of this ConOps could be evaluated upon adoption. This is commenced with a general discussion on the various trade-offs considered and areas of improvements. Note, this is the first iteration of this document intended for initial peer review.

transportation↗
NASA NTRS2003

Intelligent Work Process Engineering System

Optimizing performance on work activities and processes requires metrics of performance for management to monitor and analyze in order to support further improvements in efficiency, effectiveness, safety, reliability and cost. Information systems are therefore required to assist management in making timely, informed decisions regarding these work processes and activities. Currently information systems regarding Space Shuttle maintenance and servicing do not exist to make such timely decisions. The work to be presented details a system which incorporates various automated and intelligent processes and analysis tools to capture organize and analyze work process related data, to make the necessary decisions to meet KSC organizational goals. The advantages and disadvantages of design alternatives to the development of such a system will be discussed including technologies, which would need to bedesigned, prototyped and evaluated.

Williams, Kent E.↗
NASA NTRS1990

[NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Paper 7:] The NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project: The DOD perspective

This project will provide descriptive and analytical data regarding the flow of STI at the individual, organizational, national, and international levels. It will examine both the channels used to communicate information and the social system of the aerospace knowledge diffusion process. Results of the project should provide useful information to R and D managers, information managers, and others concerned with improving access to and use of STI. Objectives include: (1) understanding the aerospace knowledge diffusion process at the individual, organizational, and national levels, placing particular emphasis on the diffusion of Federally funded aerospace STI; (2) understanding the international aerospace knowledge diffusion process at the individual and organizational levels, placing particular emphasis on the systems used to diffuse the results of Federally funded aerospace STI; (3) understanding the roles NASA/DoD technical report and aerospace librarians play in the transfer and use of knowledge derived from Federally funded aerospace R and D; (4) achieving recognition and acceptance within NASA, DoD and throughout the aerospace community that STI is a valuable strategic resource for innovation, problem solving, and productivity; and (5) providing results that can be used to optimize the effectiveness and efficiency of the Federal STI aerospace transfer system and exchange mechanism.

Pinelli, Thomas E.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Unveiling NASA’s Agile Projects, Successes, Challenges, and Transformative Insight

The NASA Agile Community of Practice recently hosted the first NASA Agile Technical Interchange Meeting (TIM). The TIM provided an opportunity for Agile practitioners across the Agency to share their successes, challenges, and recommendations from Agile transformations. NASA has increasingly turned to private industry for collaborative efforts in space exploration, satellite deployment, and other missions. Embracing Agile principles, NASA is adapting its project management strategies to foster more flexible, efficient, and collaborative relationships with commercial partners. This paper provides highlights from the projects presented at the Agile TIM on how those teams have been able to iterate rapidly, respond to changing requirements, and deliver value more effectively.

agile↗
NASA NTRS1990

The Johnson Space Center Management Information Systems (JSCMIS): An interface for organizational databases

The Management Information and Decision Support Environment (MIDSE) is a research activity to build and test a prototype of a generic human interface on the Johnson Space Center (JSC) Information Network (CIN). The existing interfaces were developed specifically to support operations rather than the type of data which management could use. The diversity of the many interfaces and their relative difficulty discouraged occasional users from attempting to use them for their purposes. The MIDSE activity approached this problem by designing and building an interface to one JSC data base - the personnel statistics tables of the NASA Personnel and Payroll System (NPPS). The interface was designed against the following requirements: generic (use with any relational NOMAD data base); easy to learn (intuitive operations for new users); easy to use (efficient operations for experienced users); self-documenting (help facility which informs users about the data base structure as well as the operation of the interface); and low maintenance (easy configuration to new applications). A prototype interface entitled the JSC Management Information Systems (JSCMIS) was produced. It resides on CIN/PROFS and is available to JSC management who request it. The interface has passed management review and is ready for early use. Three kinds of data are now available: personnel statistics, personnel register, and plan/actual cost.

Bishop, Peter C.↗