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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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50 records · Page 3
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NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Fine pointing of Laser Beams by using Laser Arrays for Applications to CubeSats

A method of fine pointing of laser beams by using laser arrays has been developed. The telescope system combines a lens system and a VCSEL/Photodetector Array. It does not use moving parts. In computer simulations, it is applied to CubeSats that use body pointing. Body pointing was used by the Aerospace Corporation for CubeSats in LEO in NASA’s Optical Communications and Sensors Demonstration (OCSD) program. Computer simulations of this fine pointing capability have been applied previously to CubeSats in the OCSD program. In this paper, computer simulations of laser pointing using this telescope design are applied to CubeSats in LLO, at 100 km. These CubeSats could form part of the LunaNet, the lunar communications and navigation network, part of the NASA ARTEMIS Program. With more accurate pointing, a laser beam with smaller divergence can be used. For the case of the AeroCube-7B vehicle that was used in the OCSD program, computer simulations will show, for example, that the divergence of the output beam can be reduced from approximately 0.06° FWHM to 0.014°. For the proposed electro-optical system, reaction times to pointing changes and vibrations are on a nanosecond time scale, much faster than those for fine pointing systems that use moving parts such as fast steering mirrors, including MEMS, or that use quad-cell photodetectors to improve the body pointing of the CubeSat. Other possible applications are to Optical Multiple Access (OMA)for simultaneously communicating with ground stations at different locations and to Wavelength-Division Multiplexing (WDM)for increasing data rate transmission.

SMD↗
NASA NTRS2021

Fine Pointing of Laser Beams by Using Laser Arrays for Applications to CubeSats

A method of fine pointing of laser beams by using laser arrays has been developed. The telescope system combines a lens system and a VCSEL/Photodetector Array. It does not use moving parts. In computer simulations, it is applied to CubeSats that use body pointing. Body pointing was used by the Aerospace Corporation for CubeSats in LEO in NASA’s Optical Communications and Sensors Demonstration (OCSD) program. Computer simulations of this fine pointing capability have been applied previously to CubeSats in the OCSD program. In this paper, computer simulations of laser pointing using this telescope design are applied to CubeSats in LLO, at 100 km. These CubeSats could form part of the LunaNet, the lunar communications and navigation network, part of the NASA ARTEMIS Program. With more accurate pointing, a laser beam with smaller divergence can be used. For the case of the AeroCube-7B vehicle that was used in the OCSD program, computer simulations will show, for example, that the divergence of the output beam can be reduced from approximately 0.06° FWHM to 0.014°. For the proposed electro-optical system, reaction times to pointing changes and vibrations are on a nanosecond time scale, much faster than those for fine pointing systems that use moving parts such as fast steering mirrors, including MEMS, or that use quad-cell photodetectors to improve the body pointing of the CubeSat. Other possible applications are to Optical Multiple Access (OMA)for simultaneously communicating with ground stations at different locations and to Wavelength-Division Multiplexing (WDM)for increasing data rate transmission.

HEC↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Quantification of Numerical Uncertainty via Nonlinear Dynamical Approach

Motivations (Ensure a Higher Level of Confidence in the Predictability & Reliability of Numerical Simulation for Multiscale Complex Nonlinear Fluid Problems) - The last two decades have been an era when computation is ahead of analysis & when very large scale practical computations are increasingly used in poorly understood multiscale complex nonlinear physical problems & non-traditional fields (Especially when computations offer the ONLY way of generating this type of data limited simulations). - At present some of the numerical uncertainties can be explained and minimized by traditional numerical analysis and standard CFD practices. However, such practices, usually based on linearized analysis, MIGHT NOT be sufficient for strongly nonlinear and/or stiff problems. - We need a good understanding of the nonlinear behavior of numerical schemes being used as an integral part of code verification, validation and certification.

HEC↗
NASA NTRS2023

Simulation of a Single Rotor and a Quadrotor Hovering in Full and Partial Ground Effect

With the development of urban air mobility, the safety of multirotor vehicle operations in proximity to vertiports must be assessed. This paper examines high-fidelity blade-resolved OVERFLOW simulations and medium-fidelity vortex particle–mesh simulations that capture the aerodynamics of a rotorcraft in full and partial ground effect. Results obtained with each CFD method are compared to verify the consistency of the models introduced in the latter, which include an immersed lifting line for the blade aerodynamics and various boundary conditions to account for solid surfaces such as ground and walls. Satisfactory agreement is obtained for the blade loads and rotorwash velocity profiles in the case of a single rotor, except for small discrepancies at the blade tip. Finally, a quadrotor air taxi is simulated to quantify the load imbalance when the vehicle hovers above a rooftop edge. The combined use of high- and medium-fidelity methods is envisioned to accelerate the workflow when a large number of configurations need to be tested.

HEC↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Comparing Planetary Helicopter Brownout Observations with Numerical Predictions for Ingenuity

Ingenuity is considered the Martian equivalent of the Wright Flyer. Its sustained flights on Mars proved that non-terrestrial powered flight is possible, even on planets with thin atmospheres. However, Ingenuity was small and carried no payload. Future planetary rotorcraft will be bigger and heavier to accomplish new scientific and exploratory goals. On dusty planets, the associated increase in rotor thrust poses a potential challenge well known to helicopter pilots who have flown in desert environments: dust clouds forming during take-off and landing due to rotor wash, referred to as brownout. This work evaluates the effectiveness of existing numerical simulation models in predicting the severity of this phenomenon for planetary rotorcraft. We compare the output of a CFD-based dust mobilization model with data recently gathered using image processing techniques of Ingenuity’s flights. The simulation results suggest that the sensitivity of the wall friction velocity to the rotorcraft height may be lower than previously assessed. We further evaluate the sensitivity of the total mass of mobilized dust to other model parameters such as the sandblasting efficiency and the saltation threshold velocity. Finally, we discuss the limitations of this comparison due to uncertainty in both the observation and the numerical model.

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