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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 NTRS2013

Transitioning Resolution Responsibility between the Controller and Automation Team in Simulated NextGen Separation Assurance

As part of an ongoing research effort on separation assurance and functional allocation in NextGen, a controller- in-the-loop study with ground-based automation was conducted at NASA Ames' Airspace Operations Laboratory in August 2012 to investigate the potential impact of introducing self-separating aircraft in progressively advanced NextGen timeframes. From this larger study, the current exploratory analysis of controller-automation interaction styles focuses on the last and most far-term time frame. Measurements were recorded that firstly verified the continued operational validity of this iteration of the ground-based functional allocation automation concept in forecast traffic densities up to 2x that of current day high altitude en-route sectors. Additionally, with greater levels of fully automated conflict detection and resolution as well as the introduction of intervention functionality, objective and subjective analyses showed a range of passive to active controller- automation interaction styles between the participants. Not only did the controllers work with the automation to meet their safety and capacity goals in the simulated future NextGen timeframe, they did so in different ways and with different attitudes of trust/use of the automation. Taken as a whole, the results showed that the prototyped controller-automation functional allocation framework was very flexible and successful overall.

NextGen↗

NASA NTRS2003

Radial Clearance Found To Play a Key Role in the Performance of Compliant Foil Air Bearings

Compliant foil air bearings are at the forefront of the Oil-Free turbomachinery revolution, which supports gas turbine engines with hydrodynamic bearings that use air instead of oil as the working fluid. These types of bearings have been around for almost 50 years and have found a home in several commercial applications, such as in air cycle machines, turbocompressors, and microturbines, but are now being aggressively pursued for use in small and midrange aircraft gas turbine engines. Benefits include higher operating speeds and temperatures, lower maintenance costs, and greater reliability. The Oil-Free Turbomachinery team at the NASA Glenn Research Center is working to foster the transition of Oil-Free technology into gas turbine engines by performing in-house experiments on foil air bearings in order to gain a greater insight into their complex operating principles. A research program recently undertaken at Glenn focused on the concept of radial clearance and its influence on bearing performance. The tests were conducted on foil bearings with different radial clearances. As defined for a foil bearing, radial clearance is a measure of the small amount of shaft radial motion that is present from play that exists in the elastic support structure, such as between the top and bump foils and the bump foils and bearing shell (see the drawing). With an insufficient amount of radial clearance, the bearing imparts a high preload on the shaft, which when excessive, can reduce the loadcarrying capability of the bearing. On the other hand, systems using foil bearings with excessive radial clearance may experience rotordynamic instabilities because of low bearing preload. Therefore, without a more thorough understanding of radial clearance, it is difficult to accurately predict the performance of a given bearing design. The test program demonstrated that there is a direct correlation between radial clearance and the performance of foil air bearings. As shown in the graph, an optimum radial clearance exists that will maximize the amount of load that the bearing is capable of supporting. With respect to this optimum, two different performance regimes were observed that are a function of the amount of radial clearance. Tests showed that bearings with radial clearances below the optimum in regime I were susceptible to sudden seizure, a failure mode indicative of thermal runaway caused by high preload. The high preload is in response to an insufficient amount of radial clearance available to accommodate the thermal growth of the bearing and shaft. However, radial clearances greater than the optimum in regime II resulted in low bearing preloads that did not cause any heat-related problems, and the failure mode was due to fluid-film breakdown. In fact, bearings operating with radial clearances twice as much as the optimum suffered a decrease in the maximum load capacity of only about 20 percent. Therefore, special attention has to be given to the range of operating conditions expected in the bearing/shaft system since changes in temperature, centrifugal, and hydrodynamic effects can all affect radial clearance. This enhanced understanding of foil air bearing behavior will greatly aid our efforts to transition Oil-Free technology to future aircraft engines.

Radil, Kevin C.↗

NASA NTRS2015

Experimental Products Development Team (EPDT) Supporting New AWIPS : Capabilities - Part 2

In 2012, the Experimental Products Development Team (EPDT) was formed within NASA's Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) Center to create training for development of plug‐ins to extend the National Weather Service (NWS) Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS) version 2. The broader atmospheric science community had a need for AWIPS II development training being created at SPoRT and EPDT was expanded to include other groups who were looking for training. Since the expansion of the group occurred, EPDT has provided AWIPS II development training to over thirty participants spanning a wide variety of groups such as NWS Systems Engineering Center, NWS Meteorological Development Laboratory, and several NOAA Cooperative Institutes. Participants within EPDT solidify their learning experience through hands‐on learning and by participating in a "code-sprint" in which they troubleshoot existing and develop plug‐ins. The hands‐on learning workshop is instructor lead with participants completing exercises within the AWIPS II Development Environment. During the code sprints EPDT groups work on projects important to the community and have worked on various plug‐ins such as an RGB image recipe creation tool, and an mPing (crowd sourced precipitation type reporting system) ingest and display. EPDT has developed a well‐defined training regime which prepares participants to fully develop plug‐ins for the extendible AWIPS II architecture from ingest to the display of new data. SPoRT has hosted 2 learning workshops and 1 code sprint over the last two years, and continues to build and shape the EPDT group based on feedback from previous workshops. The presentation will provide an overview of EPDT current and future activities, and best practices developed within EPDT.

Burks, Jason E.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Crew Autonomy Through Self-Scheduling: Operational Characterization

NASA’s future long-duration exploration missions (LDEMs) will encounter increasing communication transmission delays as they move farther from Earth-based ground stations. This necessitates a new approach, as crews can no longer rely on real-time support from ground planners and must self-schedule their own operational timelines effectively and efficiently. To enable this transition, our team has developed Playbook, a mission planning and scheduling tool. Our research focuses on quantifying scheduling performance using Playbook to inform the design and development of future features to streamline timeline creation. We also aim to propose standards and guidelines for autonomous crews in LDEMs. In the past year, we have focused on further validating and quantifying the effects of countermeasure aids on self-scheduling performance. There are two software aids in Playbook (self-scheduling platform): Suggested Fixes, which propose an edit to resolve violations within a timeline, and No-Go Zones, which highlight where activities should not be scheduled on a timeline. We have made significant progress in HERA Campaign 7 (C7) data collection, increasing the number of days crew must self-schedule from 4 to 8. As a result, almost 20% of the mission is self-scheduled by the analog astronauts. We have also started data collection on a controlled lab experiment designed to quantify performance effects due to the countermeasures. We expect to present the preliminary results from both efforts. Finally, we have conducted an exploratory analysis of NASA’s HERA Campaign 6 (C6), investigating the mission-level impacts of self-scheduling. We derived basic patterns and descriptive statistics to better characterize crew autonomy through self-scheduling. We also assessed if there are any individual indicators of preference for self-scheduling, such as experience or predilection for autonomy. Preliminary analysis indicates that the HERA C6 crew self-scheduled one out of four flexible activities, indicating unprompted adoption of self-scheduling as a concept of operation for crew autonomy.

analog↗

NASA NTRS1993

A research program for improving heat transfer prediction for the laminar to turbulent transition region of turbine vanes/blades

A program sponsored by NASA for the investigation of the heat transfer in the transition region of turbine vanes and blades with the objective of improving the capability for predicting heat transfer is described. The accurate prediction of gas-side heat transfer is important to the determination of turbine longevity, engine performance, and developmental costs. The need for accurate predictions will become greater as the operating temperatures and stage loading levels of advanced turbine engines increase. The present methods for predicting transition shear stress and heat transfer on turbine blades are based on incomplete knowledge and are largely empirical. To meet the objective of the NASA program, a team approach consisting of researchers from government, universities, a research institute, and a small business is presented. The research is divided into the areas of experiments, direct numerical simulations (DNS), and turbulence modeling. A summary of the results to date is given for the above research areas in a high-disturbance environment (bypass transition) with a discussion of the model development necessary for use in numerical codes.

Simon, Frederick F.↗

NASA NTRS2007

A Research Program for Improving Heat Transfer Prediction Capability for the Laminar to Turbulent Transition Region of Turbine Vanes/Blades

A program sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for the investigation of the heat transfer in the transition region of turbine vanes and blades with the object of improving the capability for predicting heat transfer is described,. The accurate prediction of gas-side heat transfer is important to the determination of turbine longevity, engine performance and developmental costs. The need for accurate predictions will become greater as the operating temperatures and stage loading levels of advanced turbine engines increase. The present methods for predicting transition shear stress and heat transfer on turbine blades are based on incomplete knowledge and are largely empirical. To meet the objectives of the NASA program, a team approach consisting of researchers from government, universities, a research institute, and a small business is presented. The research is divided into areas of experimentation, direct numerical simulation (DNS) and turbulence modeling. A summary of the results to date is given for the above research areas in a high-disturbance environment (bypass transition) with a discussion of the model development necessary for use in numerical codes.

Simon, Frederick F.↗

NASA NTRS2013

SPoRT Participation in the GOES-R and JPSS Proving Grounds

For the last several years, the NASA Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) project at has been working with the various algorithm working groups and science teams to demonstrate the utility of future operational sensors for GOES-R and the suite of instruments for the JPSS observing platforms. For GOES-R, imagery and products have been developed from polar-orbiting sensors such as MODIS and geostationary observations from SEVIRI, simulated imagery, enhanced products derived from existing GOES satellites, and data from ground-based observing systems to generate pseudo or proxy products for the ABI and GLM instruments. The suite of products include GOES-POES basic and RGB hybrid imagery, total lightning flash products, quantitative precipitation estimates, and convective initiation products. SPoRT is using imagery and products from VIIRS, CrIS, ATMS, and OMPS to show the utility of data and products from their operational counterparts on JPSS. The products include VIIRS imagery in swath form, the GOES-POES hybrid, a suite of RGB products including the air mass RGB using water vapor and ozone channels from CrIS, and several DNB products. Over a dozen SPoRT collaborative WFOs and several National Centers are involved in an intensive evaluation of the operational utility of these products.

Jedlovec, Gary↗

NASA NTRS2008

Use of VIIRS DNB Data to Monitor Power Outages and Restoration for Significant Weather Events

NASA fs Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) project operates from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The team provides unique satellite data to the National Weather Service (NWS) and other agencies and organizations for weather analysis. While much of its work is focused on improving short-term weather forecasting, the SPoRT team supported damage assessment and response to Hurricane Superstorm Sandy by providing imagery that highlighted regions without power. The team used data from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite. The VIIRS low-light sensor, known as the day-night-band (DNB), can detect nighttime light from wildfires, urban and rural communities, and other human activity which emits light. It can also detect moonlight reflected from clouds and surface features. Using real time VIIRS data collected by our collaborative partner at the Space Science and Engineering Center of the University of Wisconsin, the SPoRT team created composite imagery to help detect power outages and restoration. This blackout imagery allowed emergency response teams from a variety of agencies to better plan and marshal resources for recovery efforts. The blackout product identified large-scale outages, offering a comprehensive perspective beyond a patchwork GIS mapping of outages that utility companies provide based on customer complaints. To support the relief efforts, the team provided its imagery to the USGS data portal, which the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and other agencies used in their relief efforts. The team fs product helped FEMA, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and U.S. Army monitor regions without power as part of their disaster response activities. Disaster responders used the images to identify possible outages and effectively distribute relief resources. An enhanced product is being developed and integrated into a web mapping service (WMS) for dissemination and use by a broader end user community.

Jedlovec, Gary↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

MPATH (Measuring Performance for Autonomy Teaming with Humans) Ground Control Station: Design Approach and Initial Usability Results

Envisioned future Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) operations will require a transition of aircraft command and control from onboard pilots to remote operators. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has developed a research ground control station (GCS) software called MPATH (Measuring Performance for Autonomy Teaming with Humans) to study the human factors of remote operators in a representative AAM environment, where small uncrewed aerial systems (sUAS; simulated or real) act as surrogates for larger AAM aircraft. A primary focus of the research being conducted with the MPATH GCS is scalability (i.e., one human managing multiple vehicles). MPATH has demonstrated to be a useful capability for human factors research and remote operations. Two initial usability studies and a multi-vehicle control assessment were recently conducted, and usability data and operator feedback were collected. Generally, participants rated MPATH high on usability and interface quality, whereas information quality was rated slightly lower. These results were supported by specific feedback. Several generalized GCS design recommendations are proposed based on the results and feedback from these flight activities. Future updates to MPATH will incorporate the proposed recommendations. In practice, these recommendations could be used by any GCS software designer or developer to promote usability and safety.

Advanced Air Mobility↗

NASA NTRS1988

An investigation of transitional management problems for the NSTS at NASA, executive summary

A summary is given of the work of the University of Houston research team for the third quarter of effort in a yearly grant for the National Space Transportation System (NSTS). As such it serves as a resting place for the ideas and concepts developed this quarter with the collaboration of the Management Integration Offices of NASA. Another objective is the hope that the report will help to stimulate the healthy problem solving process already present at NASA. The main goal of the contractual work is to help NASA to find ways and means of moving into a truly operational era with the shuttle program. This work is a continuation of early work and the reader is encouraged to read the final reports of earlier years. Chapter One of the report is an introduction. Chapter Two deals with industrial adaptation and is in two parts: theory and application. In the theory section, impressions of the management system immediately after reflight are discussed. A key issue, in the author's opinion is the seeming lack of purpose of the program. The application section has six appendices: 1988 Demographic Survey, Field Notes of Interview with HL/P South Texas Nuclear Project, a comparison of the Agendas of the current manager with that of a previous manager, a note on compartmentalization to assist in manifesting, a study on launch prediction for STS-26, and a discussion of a statistical decision-making course for upper level managers. Chapter Three deals with theoretical results returned on flow shop scheduling which will be of use downstream. Chapter Four deals with a statistical model developed to predict the flight rate in future years and indicates the program will have trouble making its schedule. Chapter Five covers the constructural effort and shows the work to be on schedule.

Hunsucker, John↗

NASA NTRS2011

Status of the Combined-Cycle Engine Large-Scale Inlet Mode Transition Experiment

The Large-Scale Inlet Mode Transition (LIMX) experiment is currently being conducted in the 10x10 foot supersonic wind tunnel at the NASA Glenn Research Center. The experiment has involved the efforts of a team for over four years to get to the first phase of testing, which is examining the aerodynamic characteristics of the inlet. The LIMX inlet involves dual flowpaths: one to provide flow to a turbine engine and one to provide flow to a dual-mode ramjet/scramjet. A rotating splitter cowl can close off the turbine flowpath, which would occur as the propulsion system transitions from turbine power to ramjet/scramjet power at Mach 4. The first phase of the experiment will simulate the turbine and ramjet/scramjet flows using cold pipes with flow rates controlled by mass-flow plugs. Much of the testing will characterize the performance of the turbine flowpath (total pressure recovery and distortion at the engine face location) as factors such as bleed rates and configuration and vortex generators are varied during the inlet mode transition. The performance of the inlet will also be examined at off-design Mach numbers (2.5-3.0) and at angle-of-attack.

Slater, John W.↗

NASA NTRS2010

Human Research Program: 2010 Annual Report

2010 was a year of solid performance for the Human Research Program in spite of major changes in NASA's strategic direction for Human Spaceflight. Last year, the Program completed the final steps in solidifying the management foundation, and in 2010 we achieved exceptional performance from all elements of the research and technology portfolio. We transitioned from creating building blocks to full execution of the management tools for an applied research and technology program. As a team, we continue to deliver the answers and technologies that enable human exploration of space. While the Agency awaits strategic direction for human spaceflight, the Program is well positioned and critically important to helping the Agency achieve its goals.

Source record↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Trajectory Based Operations (TBO)

Today, the FAA is fully engaged in the development and deployment of TBO for the NAS. To realize TBO, the FAA and NAS user community recognize the importance of systems-of-systems thinking and of greater integration across systems, programs, teams, and between research and the field. The ATD-1 Operational Integration Assessment (OIA), helped blaze the trail for this important transition while moving TBFM Terminal Sequencing and Spacing (TSAS) down the path to deployment. Only a few years later, a comprehensive flight test of Flight Deck Interval Management (FIM) capabilities was executed, complementary and interoperable with traffic flow capabilities that were then emerging for TBO. Together, the ATD-1 tech transfers helped pave the way for the highly integrated systems-of-systems development and acquisition being undertaken for TBO. This session will chart that path to where we are today, and where we are going in the future.

ATD-1, TSAS, FIM, trajectory based operations↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

HERA in the Artemis ERA

As NASA shifts its mission objectives to the lunar surface and the return of humans to the moon in the next few years, analogs that simulate lunar transit or surface exploration are in a unique position to support spaceflight research that is aligned with future Artemis missions, especially a sustained lunar presence. NASA’s spaceflight analogs have historically focused on mission scenarios and operations for Mars exploration, including recent campaigns staged at the Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA) analog at Johnson Space Center. However, beginning in Campaign 8, future HERA missions are planned to mimic lunar operations and support research objectives that directly address knowledge gaps for lunar exploration and habitation. The Research Operations and Integration (ROI) HERA team will present a look-back over HERA mission scenarios and operations supporting NASA’s Human Research Program and international partners’ spaceflight research. An overview of critical capabilities in HERA and other similar analogs will also be presented, such as methods of simulating EVAs. Presenters will then discuss the transition to a high-fidelity lunar surface exploration mission scenario envisioned for Campaign 8, slated to begin in 2026. Operations changes that will be discussed will include simulated lunar surface exploration using a two-person simulated pressurized rover in combination with virtual reality, lunar-relevant communication delays, changes to concepts of how crew communicate with Earth-based mission supports, increased access to family & friends’ communication compared to prior campaigns, and a new mission scenario referencing Artemis mission objectives and tasks. ROI analog mission designs are driven by science objectives. The ROI HERA team will describe how the changes for Campaign 8 support ongoing spaceflight research interests and provide opportunities for investigators to design experiments more closely aligned to lunar missions. A questions and answers session will follow with attendees encouraged to ask questions.

B J Caldwell↗

NASA NTRS2004

Preliminary Results from NASA/GSFC Ka-Band High Rate Demonstration for Near-Earth Communications

In early 2000, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) commenced the Ka-Band Transition Project (KaTP) as another step towards satisfying wideband communication requirements of the space research and earth exploration-satellite services. The KaTP team upgraded the ground segment portion of NASA's Space Network (SN) in order to enable high data rate space science and earth science services communications. The SN ground segment is located at the White Sands Complex (WSC) in New Mexico. NASA conducted the SN ground segment upgrades in conjunction with space segment upgrades implemented via the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS)-HIJ project. The three new geostationary data relay satellites developed under the TDRS-HIJ project support the use of the inter-satellite service (ISS) allocation in the 25.25-27.5 GHz band (the 26 GHz band) to receive high speed data from low earth-orbiting customer spacecraft. The TDRS H spacecraft (designated TDRS-8) is currently operational at a 171 degrees west longitude. TDRS I and J spacecraft on-orbit testing has been completed. These spacecraft support 650 MHz-wide Ka-band telemetry links that are referred to as return links. The 650 MHz-wide Ka-band telemetry links have the capability to support data rates up to at least 1.2 Gbps. Therefore, the TDRS-HIJ spacecraft will significantly enhance the existing data rate elements of the NASA Space Network that operate at S-band and Ku-band.

Wong, Yen↗

NASA NTRS2016

Final Report of the NASA Office of Safety and Mission Assurance Agile Benchmarking Team

To ensure that the NASA Safety and Mission Assurance (SMA) community remains in a position to perform reliable Software Assurance (SA) on NASAs critical software (SW) systems with the software industry rapidly transitioning from waterfall to Agile processes, Terry Wilcutt, Chief, Safety and Mission Assurance, Office of Safety and Mission Assurance (OSMA) established the Agile Benchmarking Team (ABT). The Team's tasks were: 1. Research background literature on current Agile processes, 2. Perform benchmark activities with other organizations that are involved in software Agile processes to determine best practices, 3. Collect information on Agile-developed systems to enable improvements to the current NASA standards and processes to enhance their ability to perform reliable software assurance on NASA Agile-developed systems, 4. Suggest additional guidance and recommendations for updates to those standards and processes, as needed. The ABT's findings and recommendations for software management, engineering and software assurance are addressed herein.

Software Assurance↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA Advanced Space Suit Pressure Garment System Status and Development Priorities 2023

This paper discusses the current focus of NASA’s Advanced Space Suit Pressure Garment Technology Development team’s efforts, the status of that work, and a summary of longer term technology development priorities and activities. The Exploration Extra-vehicular Activity Mobility Unit (xEMU) has been the team’s primary effort over the past several years. ICES papers in 2022 detailed the design of the xEMU pressure garment components. This paper outlines the design updates to the xPGS since that time. More notably, this paper documents the various tests executed with the xPGS to evaluate its performance, durability, and acceptability for microgravity and Lunar missions. An overview of ongoing and planned xEMU testing and training is provided. The PGS team’s transition from xEMU development and testing, to supporting the Exploration Extravehicular Activity Services (xEVAS) vendors is discussed. In addition, technology development efforts in coordination with the EVA and Human Surface Mobility Program (EHP), the NASA Engineering Safety Council (NESC) and the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program will be discussed in the context of supporting sustaining EVA operations on the Lunar surface over the coming decade. Finally, a brief review of longer-term pressure garment challenges and technology gaps will be presented to provide an understanding of the advanced pressure garment team’s technology investment priorities and needs.

spacesuit↗

NASA NTRS2006

Networked Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Teams (NUAVT)

A partnership between the NASA Ames Research Center and the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC) explored the ability of small unmanned aircraft to support forest fire fighting using teaming behavior. The Networked UAV Teams project flight tested mission planning algorithms for multi-UAV cooperative transit, area search, and waypoint time-of-arrival that might someday allow the early detection of developing forest fires and support the gathering of images and atmospheric samples to help improve predictions of the future behavior of established fires.

Ryan, Jack↗