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NASA NTRS1979

Advanced supersonic technology and its implications for the future

A brief overview of the NASA Supersonic Cruise Research (SCR) program is presented. The SCR program has identified significant improvements in the areas of aerodynamics, structures, propulsion, noise reduction, takeoff and landing procedures, and advanced configuration concepts. These improvements tend to overcome most of the problems which led to the cancellation of the National SST program. They offer the promise of an advanced SST family of aircraft which are environmentally acceptable, have flexible range-payload capability, and are economically viable. The areas of technology addressed by the SCR program have direct application to advanced military aircraft and to supersonic executive aircraft.

Driver, C.↗

DOE OSTI2021

Probabilistic Risk Assessment Research Needs and Activities

Probabilistic risk assessments (PRAs) have benefitted the safe operation of the U.S. reactor fleet over many decades. Risk insights from these PRAs have provided information from many different perspectives, from what is most important to maintain at a facility to a better understanding of how to address new information regarding safety issues. The methods and tools that have supported the creation and enhancement of PRA models were established through multiple decades of research, from the 1970s starting with the WASH-1400 Reactor Safety Study through comprehensive plant-specific models in use today. Because PRA models are being used to support such a diverse array of plant decisions, they are now being applied to analyze an increasing number and diverse set of aspects of the plant, which are well beyond the initial efforts envisioned in the 1970s. These demands on PRA methods and tools have led to challenges in terms of further expansion of the use of PRA and raised the potential for future research into how to address these challenges to ensure continued nuclear safety. In addition to the PRA needs, the domain of computer science has led to advances in computational approaches that may serve to help nuclear power plant PRA applications. These newer technologies have great potential to improve the effectiveness and economics of PRA and are being considered for exploration of potential benefits to the PRA and nuclear-power communities.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

NASA NTRS2011

A Framework for Successful Research Experiences in the Classroom: Combining the Power of Technology and Mentors

Authentic research opportunities in the classroom are most impactful when they are student-driven and inquiry-based. These experiences are even more powerful when they involve technology and meaningful connections with scientists. In today's classrooms, activities are driven by state required skills, education standards, and state mandated testing. Therefore, programs that incorporate authentic research must address the needs of teachers. NASA's Expedition Earth and Beyond (EEAB) Program has developed a framework that addresses teacher needs and incorporates the use of technology and access to mentors to promote and enhance authentic research in the classroom. EEAB is a student involvement program that facilitates student investigations of Earth or planetary comparisons using NASA data. To promote student-led research, EEAB provides standards-aligned, inquiry-based curricular resources, an implementation structure to facilitate research, educator professional development, and ongoing support. This framework also provides teachers with the option to incorporate the use of technology and connect students with a mentor, both of which can enrich student research experiences. The framework is structured by a modeled 9-step process of science which helps students organize their research. With more schools gaining increased access to technology, EEAB has created an option to help schools take advantage of students' interest and comfort with technology by leveraging the use of available technologies to enhance student research. The use of technology not only allows students to collaborate and share their research, it also provides a mechanism for them to work with a mentor. This framework was tested during the 2010/2011 school year. Team workspaces hosted on Wikispaces for Educators allow students to initiate their research and refine their research question initially without external input. This allows teams to work independently and rely on the skills and interests of team members. Once teams finalize their research question, they are assigned a mentor. The mentor introduces himself/herself, acknowledges the initial work the team has conducted, and asks a focused question to help open the lines of communication. Students continue to communicate with their mentor throughout their research. As research is completed, teams can share their investigation during a virtual presentation. These live presentations allow students to share their research with their mentor, other scientists, other students, parents, and school administrators. After the initial year of testing this authentic research process, EEAB is working to address the many lessons learned. This will allow the program to refine and improve the overall process in an effort to maximize the benefits. Combined, these powerful strategies provide a successful framework to help teachers enhance the skills and motivation of their students, preparing them to become the next generation of scientists, explorers, and STEM-literate citizens of our nation.

Graff, Paige Valderrama↗

DOE OSTI2020

Virtual Pressure Sensor for Electronic Expansion Valve Control in a Vapor Compression Refrigeration System

Virtual sensor technology, which uses simulation models/algorithms to calculate a value to represent an unmeasured variable or replace a directly measured reading, has attracted many studies in the heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC&R) industry. However, most virtual sensor technologies are developed for fault detection and diagnostics (FDD) purposes, which generally compare the virtual sensor values with actual measured values to detect if any fault occurred and identify the causes that led to the fault. It is rare to see studies focus on control performance of virtual sensors after substituting an actual sensor. This is particularly important for the system with no redundant sensor since a virtual sensor is the most effective way to operate the system in the desirable region when any sensor failure occurs. To address this gap, this paper develops a new virtual pressure sensor technology to substitute the actual pressure measurement for electronic expansion valve (EXV) control in a vapor compression refrigeration system by integrating compressor and valve characteristics. The control performance of this proposed virtual pressure sensor technology under various operating conditions is validated with experimental data. Closed loop EXV control simulations with the proposed virtual pressure sensor are conducted, and the results are analyzed.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

DOE OSTI2024

New opportunities in produced water management: A market-based approach to produced water trading

Produced water (PW) is a byproduct of oil and gas (O&G) production. Obtained alongside the more valuable energy products, PW is usually characterized by high levels of salinity and often contains many contaminants (chemicals, soluble and insoluble oil, organics, etc.) making it unsuitable for release without substantial treatment. Couple this with the fact that PW is typically obtained at multiple times the rate of oil or gas, and the added transport, treatment, and disposal costs become a serious challenge for operators. These realities have led to ad-hoc practices including cooperation between industry competitors to recycle, share, or otherwise mitigate PW costs. The National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) in partnership with the Ground Water Protection Council (GWPC) is pursuing novel technology solutions to address PW issues that complement or improve ad-hoc practices adopted by operators. In this paper, we observe that well-established market management practices used in electrical power generation have natural analogues in the PW supply chain. These parallels open up a new line of research where we view PW management as a market equilibrium problem, and explore solutions that foster active and data-based collaboration among operators through market structures similar to power markets, with the ultimate objective of improving PW management costs and recycling rates. Here, we make a case for our observations, present a PW market clearing optimization model that shows how such a market system could operate in the O&G space, and provide an illustrative case study for demonstration.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

NASA NTRS2000

NPSS on NASA's IPG: Using CORBA and Globus to Coordinate Multidisciplinary Aeroscience Applications

Within NASA's High Performance Computing and Communication (HPCC) program, the NASA Glenn Research Center is developing an environment for the analysis/design of aircraft engines called the Numerical Propulsion System Simulation (NPSS). The vision for NPSS is to create a "numerical test cell" enabling full engine simulations overnight on cost-effective computing platforms. To this end, NPSS integrates multiple disciplines such as aerodynamics, structures, and heat transfer and supports "numerical zooming" between O-dimensional to 1-, 2-, and 3-dimensional component engine codes. In order to facilitate the timely and cost-effective capture of complex physical processes, NPSS uses object-oriented technologies such as C++ objects to encapsulate individual engine components and CORBA ORBs for object communication and deployment across heterogeneous computing platforms. Recently, the HPCC program has initiated a concept called the Information Power Grid (IPG), a virtual computing environment that integrates computers and other resources at different sites. IPG implements a range of Grid services such as resource discovery, scheduling, security, instrumentation, and data access, many of which are provided by the Globus toolkit. IPG facilities have the potential to benefit NPSS considerably. For example, NPSS should in principle be able to use Grid services to discover dynamically and then co-schedule the resources required for a particular engine simulation, rather than relying on manual placement of ORBs as at present. Grid services can also be used to initiate simulation components on parallel computers (MPPs) and to address inter-site security issues that currently hinder the coupling of components across multiple sites. These considerations led NASA Glenn and Globus project personnel to formulate a collaborative project designed to evaluate whether and how benefits such as those just listed can be achieved in practice. This project involves firstly development of the basic techniques required to achieve co-existence of commodity object technologies and Grid technologies; and secondly the evaluation of these techniques in the context of NPSS-oriented challenge problems. The work on basic techniques seeks to understand how "commodity" technologies (CORBA, DCOM, Excel, etc.) can be used in concert with specialized "Grid" technologies (for security, MPP scheduling, etc.). In principle, this coordinated use should be straightforward because of the Globus and IPG philosophy of providing low-level Grid mechanisms that can be used to implement a wide variety of application-level programming models. (Globus technologies have previously been used to implement Grid-enabled message-passing libraries, collaborative environments, and parameter study tools, among others.) Results obtained to date are encouraging: we have successfully demonstrated a CORBA to Globus resource manager gateway that allows the use of CORBA RPCs to control submission and execution of programs on workstations and MPPs; a gateway from the CORBA Trader service to the Grid information service; and a preliminary integration of CORBA and Grid security mechanisms. The two challenge problems that we consider are the following: 1) Desktop-controlled parameter study. Here, an Excel spreadsheet is used to define and control a CFD parameter study, via a CORBA interface to a high throughput broker that runs individual cases on different IPG resources. 2) Aviation safety. Here, about 100 near real time jobs running NPSS need to be submitted, run and data returned in near real time. Evaluation will address such issues as time to port, execution time, potential scalability of simulation, and reliability of resources. The full paper will present the following information: 1. A detailed analysis of the requirements that NPSS applications place on IPG. 2. A description of the techniques used to meet these requirements via the coordinated use of CORBA and Globus. 3. A description of results obtained to date in the first two challenge problems.

Lopez, Isaac↗

NASA NTRS2011

Self-Cleaning Coatings and Materials for Decontaminating Field-Deployable Land and Water-Based Optical Systems

This technology exploits the organic decomposition capability and hydrophilic properties of the photocatalytic material titanium dioxide (TiO2), a nontoxic and non-hazardous substance, to address contamination and biofouling issues in field-deployed optical sensor systems. Specifically, this technology incorporates TiO2 coatings and materials applied to, or integrated as a part of, the optical surfaces of sensors and calibration sources, including lenses, windows, and mirrors that are used in remote, unattended, ground-based (land or maritime) optical sensor systems. Current methods used to address contamination or biofouling of these optical surfaces in deployed systems are costly, toxic, labor intensive, and non-preventative. By implementing this novel technology, many of these negative aspects can be reduced. The functionality of this innovative self-cleaning solution to address the problem of contamination or biofouling depends on the availability of a sufficient light source with the appropriate spectral properties, which can be attained naturally via sunlight or supplemented using artificial illumination such as UV LEDs (light emitting diodes). In land-based or above-water systems, the TiO2 optical surface is exposed to sunlight, which catalyzes the photocatalytic reaction, facilitating both the decomposition of inorganic and organic compounds, and the activation of superhydrophilic properties. Since underwater optical surfaces are submerged and have limited sunlight exposure, supplementary UV light sources would be required to activate the TiO2 on these optical surfaces. Nighttime operation of land-based or above-water systems would require this addition as well. For most superhydrophilic self-cleaning purposes, a rainwater wash will suffice; however, for some applications an attached rainwater collector/ dispenser or other fresh water dispensing system may be required to wash the optical surface and initiate the removal of contaminates. Deployment of this non-toxic,non-hazardous-technology will take advantage of environmental elements (i.e. rain and sunlight), increase the longevity of unattended optical systems, increase the amount of time between required maintenance, and improve the long-term accuracy of sensor measurements.

Ryan, Robert↗

DOE OSTI2020

Design strategies for nonaqueous multivalent-ion and monovalent-ion battery anodes

The inability of current battery technologies to keep up with the performance requirements of industry is pushing forward developments in electrochemistry. Specifically, the battery's negative electrode, the anode, presents many unique chemical, physical and engineering challenges. Lithium-based battery technologies have dominated the past decade, but concerns about the limited supply of lithium in the Earth's crust have led researchers to look towards alternative metal-ion technologies. Furthermore, various alkali metals (such as sodium and potassium) and alkali earth metals (such as magnesium and calcium) have attracted significant research interest. In this Review, we analyse these technologies in a coherent manner, addressing the problems of each type of anode, rather than those of specific types of metal-ion batteries. Covering direct metal plating and stripping, intercalation-based, alloy-based and conversion-reaction-based anode technologies, this analysis will offer the reader a comprehensive understanding of the behaviour of different metal-ion anodes and of what can be learned by transferring knowledge between these different systems. Increasing demand for energy-storage systems will inevitably stress the Earth's lithium supply; thus, the research focus is shifting towards other alkali and alkali earth metals. In summary, this Review compares and connects strategies to enable different multivalent and monovalent metal-ion battery anodes, including metal anodes and intercalation-based, alloy-based and conversion-reaction-based anodes.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

NASA NTRS2017

Exploring Concepts of Operations for On-Demand Passenger Air Transportation

In recent years, a surge of interest in "flying cars" for city commutes has led to rapid development of new technologies to help make them and similar on-demand mobility platforms a reality. To this end, this paper provides analyses of the stakeholders involved, their proposed operational concepts, and the hazards and regulations that must be addressed. Three system architectures emerged from the analyses, ranging from conventional air taxi to revolutionary fully autonomous aircraft operations, each with vehicle safety functions allocated differently between humans and machines. Advancements for enabling technologies such as distributed electric propulsion and artificial intelligence have had major investments and initial experimental success, but may be some years away from being deployed for on-demand passenger air transportation at scale.

Nneji, Victoria Chibuogu↗

NASA NTRS2024

Cost and Benefit Analysis of Mitigating, Tracking, and Remediating Orbital Debris

Orbital debris may collide with crewed and robotic spacecraft, placing them at risk. The wide range of debris, from 9,000-kilogram rocket bodies to millions of millimeter-size debris, has led to a similarly wide range of proposed actions for addressing the risks posed by debris. However, the costs and benefits of these actions have historically been unknown. This is a challenge for decision makers who are choosing which actions to support through technology development or policy changes. NASA’s Office of Technology, Policy, and Strategy is addressing these technical and economic uncertainties by building a capability to (1) complete rigorous calculations of the net present value of each action, (2) identify an optimal portfolio of actions to reduce risk, and (3) quantitatively analyze policies related to space sustainability. This report describes our progress toward that capability and to solicit feedback from the space and economic communities. Our previous work, referred to here as Phase 1, assessed the costs and benefits of performing debris remediation on operationally relevant timescales. The current analysis contains major updates to the risk model used in Phase 1 and expands the breadth of actions considered to include mitigating the creation of debris, improving the ability to track debris, and more methods for cleaning up existing debris. We demonstrate that our approach of measuring risks in dollars allows for the effectiveness of seemingly incommensurate actions to be compared and generates insights that other approaches to measuring risk have missed.

Jericho Locke↗

NASA NTRS2024

Cost and Benefit Analysis of Mitigating, Tracking, and Remediating Orbital Debris

Presentation accompanying the technical report with the same name. The abstract for the report and the full study is repeated below. Orbital debris may collide with crewed and robotic spacecraft, placing them at risk. The wide range of debris, from 9,000-kilogram rocket bodies to millions of millimeter-size debris, has led to a similarly wide range of proposed actions for addressing the risks posed by debris. However, the costs and benefits of these actions have historically been unknown. This is a challenge for decision makers who are choosing which actions to support through technology development or policy changes. NASA’s Office of Technology, Policy, and Strategy is addressing these technical and economic uncertainties by building a capability to (1) complete rigorous calculations of the net present value of each action, (2) identify an optimal portfolio of actions to reduce risk, and (3) quantitatively analyze policies related to space sustainability. This report describes our progress toward that capability and to solicit feedback from the space and economic communities. Our previous work, referred to here as Phase 1, assessed the costs and benefits of performing debris remediation on operationally relevant timescales. The current analysis contains major updates to the risk model used in Phase 1 and expands the breadth of actions considered to include mitigating the creation of debris, improving the ability to track debris, and more methods for cleaning up existing debris. We demonstrate that our approach of measuring risks in dollars allows for the effectiveness of seemingly incommensurate actions to be compared and generates insights that other approaches to measuring risk have missed.

Jericho Locke↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

A Cost and Benefit Analysis of Orbital Debris Remediation, Mitigation,Tracking, and Characterization

Orbital debris may collide with crewed and robotic spacecraft, placing them at risk. The wide range of debris, from 9,000-kilogram rocket bodies to millions of millimeter-size debris, has led to a similarly wide range of proposed actions for addressing the risks posed by debris. However, the costs and benefits of these actions have historically been unknown. This is a challenge for decision makers who are choosing which actions to support through technology development or policy changes. NASA’s Office of Technology, Policy, and Strategy is addressing these technical and economic uncertainties by building a capability to (1) complete rigorous calculations of the net present value of each action, (2) identify an optimal portfolio of actions to reduce risk, and (3) quantitatively analyze policies related to space sustainability. This report describes our progress toward that capability and to solicit feedback from the space and economic communities. Our previous work(Colvin, Karcz, and Wusk. 2023), referred to here as Phase 1, assessed the costs and benefits of performing debris remediation on operationally relevant timescales. The current paper summarizes the work of Locke and Colvin (2024), which contains major updates to the risk model used in Phase 1 and expands the breadth of actions considered to include mitigating the creation of debris, improving the ability to track debris, and more methods for cleaning up existing debris. We demonstrate that our approach of measuring risks in dollars allows for the effectiveness of seemingly incommensurate actions to be compared and generates insights that other approaches to measuring risk have missed.

Orbital Debris↗

DOE OSTI2020

Modernization of Technical Requirements for Licensing of Advanced Non-Light Water Reactors: Risk-Informed and Performance-Based Evaluation of Defense-in-Depth Adequacy

This document supports the work contained in Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) 18-04 “Risk-Informed Performance-Based Technology Inclusive Guidance for Advanced Reactor Licensing Basis Development” Revision 0. NEI 18-04 presents a modern, technology-inclusive, risk-informed, and performance-based (TI-RIPB) process for selection of Licensing Basis Events (LBEs); safety classification of structures, systems, and components (SSCs) and associated risk-informed special treatments; and determination of defense-in-depth (DID) adequacy for non-LWRs. The NEI guidance document provides one acceptable means for addressing the aforementioned topics as part of demonstrating a specific design provides reasonable assurance of adequate radiological protection. This report provides the framework and associated methodology guidelines and discussion for establishing, then evaluating, confirming, and documenting the adequacy of defense-in-depth (DID) for advanced non-light-water reactor technologies. It was developed as part of the Licensing Modernization Project led by Southern Company and cost-shared by the United States Department of Energy and has benefited from considerable NRC formal reviews and public workshops. The methodology converts the DID philosophy into a structured process that is implementable, embraces existing United States and international definitions and philosophies of DID that set the foundation for the process. It builds on the DID framework developed in the Department of Energy Next Generation Nuclear Plant Project and earlier works on this subject. The approach to establishing DID adequacy involves the incorporation of DID attributes into the plant capabilities and programmatic elements of DID. The integrated evaluation of DID adequacy includes both quantitative elements to incorporate risk-informed and performance-based (RIPB) considerations and qualitative elements that address uncertainties and limitations in the quantitative models and supporting data. Demonstration of DID adequacy ensures that there are multiple layers of defense for risk-significant challenges to the design and that the plant capabilities and programs that support each layer are provided in a manner that minimizes dependencies among these layers. The focus of this report is assurance of DID adequacy with respect to protection of the public from radiological exposures resulting from accidental releases of radioactive material. While other hazards are not specifically addressed, this methodology is expected to be beneficial for determining DID adequacy for them as well. Risk-informed evaluation of DID considers the integrated performance of all plant SSCs and associated programs to manage daily operational activities, transients, and accidents, including the evaluation of strategies for accident prevention and mitigation. The RIPB LBE scenario methodology used in this evaluation defines the challenges to the plant safety features included in the plant design basis and beyond, and the scope of all deterministic and probabilistic safety evaluations. By examining event sequences across the whole spectrum of LBEs, a systematic assessment of DID can be accomplished.

42 ENGINEERING↗

NASA NTRS2006

Earth Observations and the Role of UAVs: A Capabilities Assessment

This three-volume document, based on the draft document located on the website given on page 6, presents the findings of a NASA-led capabilities assessment of Uninhabited Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for civil (defined as non-DoD) use in Earth observations. Volume 1 is the report that presents the overall assessment and summarizes the data. The second volume contains the appendices and references to address the technologies and capabilities required for viable UAV missions. The third volume is the living portion of this effort and contains the outputs from each of the Technology Working Groups (TWGs) along with the reviews conducted by the Universities Space Research Association (USRA). The focus of this report, intended to complement the Office of the Secretary of Defense UAV Roadmap, is four-fold: 1) To determine and document desired future Earth observation missions for all UAVs based on user-defined needs; 2) To determine and document the technologies necessary to support those missions; 3) To discuss the present state of the art platform capabilities and required technologies, including identifying those in progress, those planned, and those for which no current plans exist; 4) Provide the foundations for development of a comprehensive civil UAV roadmap. It is expected that the content of this report will be updated periodically and used to assess the feasibility of future missions. In addition, this report will provide the foundation to help influence funding decisions to develop those technologies that are considered enabling or necessary but are not contained within approved funding plans. This document is written such that each section will be supported by an Appendix that will give the reader a more detailed discussion of that section's topical materials.

Cox, Timothy H.↗

NASA NTRS2008

NASA's PEM Fuel Cell Power Plant Development Program for Space Applications

A three-center NASA team led by the Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio is completing a five-year PEM fuel cell power plant development program for future space applications. The focus of the program has been to adapt commercial PEM fuel cell technology for space applications by addressing the key mission requirements of using pure oxygen as an oxidant and operating in a multi-gravity environment. Competing vendors developed breadboard units in the 1 to 5 kW power range during the first phase of the program, and a single vendor developed a nominal 10-kW engineering model power pant during the second phase of the program. Successful performance and environmental tests conducted by NASA established confidence that PEM fuel cell technology will be ready to meet the electrical power needs of future space missions.

Hoberecht, Mark A.↗

NASA NTRS2015

Technology Demonstration Missions

Technology Demonstration Missions (TDM) is in its third year of execution, being initiated in 2010 and baselined in January of 2012. There are 11 projects that NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) has contributed to or led: (1) Evolvable Cryogenics (eCryo): Cyrogenic Propellant Storage and Transfer Engineering Development Unit (EDU), a proof of manufacturability effort, used to enhance knowledge and technology related to handling cryogenic propellants, specifically liquid hydrogen. (2) Composites for Exploration Upper Stage (CEUS): Design, build, test, and address flight certification of a large composite shell suitable for the second stage of the Space Launch System (SLS). (3) Deep Space Atomic Clock (DSAC): Spaceflight to demo small, low-mass atomic clock that can provide unprecedented stability for deep space navigation. (4) Green Propellant Infusion Mission (GPIM): Demo of high-performance, green propellant propulsion system suitable for Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) Secondary Payload Adapter (ESPA)-class spacecraft. (5) Human Exploration Telerobotics (HET): Demonstrating how telerobotics, remote control of a variety of robotic systems, can take routine, highly repetitive, dangerous or long-duration tasks out of human hands. (6) Laser Communication Relay Demo (LCRD): Demo to advance optical communications technology toward infusion into deep space and near Earth operational systems, while growing the capabilities of industry sources. (7) Low Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD): Demo new supersonic inflatable decelerator and parachute technologies to enable Mars landings of larger payloads with greater precision at a wider range of altitudes. (8) Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Entry Descent & Landing Instrumentation (MEDLI): Demo of embedded sensors embedded in the MSL heat shield, designed to record the heat and atmospheric pressure experienced during the spacecraft's high-speed, hot entry in the Martian atmosphere. (9) Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP): 50-kW class spacecraft that uses flexible blanket solar arrays for power generation and an electric propulsion system that delivers payload from low-Earth orbit to higher orbits. (10) Solar Sail Demonstration (SSD): Demo to validate sail deployment techniques for solar sails that are propelled by the pressure of sunlight. (11) Terrestrial HIAD Orbit Reentry (THOR): Demo of a 3.7-m Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (HIAD) entry vehicle to test second generation aerothermal performance and modeling.

McDougal, John↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Characterization Testing of a 20 Kelvin Cryocooler for Space Applications

Future NASA space exploration missions will require long-duration storage and liquefaction of cryogenic liquids, enabled by active cooling provided by cryocoolers. Recent gap analyses of Lunar and Mars transportation systems have identified 20 K-class cryocoolers as a critical enabling technology for chemical and nuclear thermal propulsion architectures using liquid hydrogen propellant. To address this technology gap, NASA has undergone the development of a high-efficiency, high-capacity 20 K cryocooler via an SBIR partnership with Creare. While the January 2025 testing demonstrated functionality and compliance with contractual requirements, the objective of the NASA-led characterization effort was to generate a dataset for supporting future mission designs across a broader operating envelope, including off-nominal conditions. The cryocooler demonstrated strong performance, achieving a peak coefficient of performance of 17.68% relative to Carnot efficiency and a maximum lift capacity of 24.4 W at 21 K. Overall, the results confirm that the 20 W 20 K cryocooler provides a flexible range of capabilities to enable zero boil-off storage of liquid hydrogen for future Lunar and Mars missions. The data collected provide a strong foundation for model validation and future system design efforts.

Cryocooler↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Characterization Testing of a 20 Kelvin Cryocooler for Space Applications

Zero boil-off↗