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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 55 records · Page 3
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1989

Computerized structural mechanics for 1990's: Advanced aircraft needs

The needs for computerized structural mechanics (CSM) as seen from the standpoint of the aircraft industry are discussed. These needs are projected into the 1990's with special focus on the new advanced materials. Preliminary design/analysis, research, and detail design/analysis are identified as major areas. The role of local/global analyses in these different areas is discussed. The lessons learned in the past are used as a basis for the design of a CSM framework that could modify and consolidate existing technology and include future developments in a rational and useful way. A philosophy is stated, and a set of analyses needs driven by the emerging advanced composites is enumerated. The roles of NASA, the universities, and the industry are identified. Finally, a set of rational research targets is recommended based on both the new types of computers and the increased complexity the industry faces. Computerized structural mechanics should be more than new methods in structural mechanics and numerical analyses. It should be a set of engineering applications software products that combines innovations in structural mechanics, numerical analysis, data processing, search and display features, and recent hardware advances and is organized in a framework that directly supports the design process.

Viswanathan, A. V.↗
NASA NTRS2005

A Common Approach for the Certifying of International Space Station (ISS) Basic Hardware for Ground Safety

In order to support the International Space Station, as well as any future long term human missions, vast amounts of logistical-type hardware is required to be processed through the various launch sites. This category consists of such hardware as spare parts, replacement items, and upgraded hardware. The category also includes samples for experiments and consumables. One attribute that all these items have is they are generally non-hazardous, at least to ground personnel. Even though the items are non-hazardous, launch site ground safety has a responsibility for the protection of personnel, the flight hardware, and launch site resources. In order to fulfill this responsibility, the safety organization must have knowledge of the hardware and its operations. Conversely, the hardware providers are entitled to a process that is commensurate with the hazard. Additionally, a common system should be in place that is flexible enough to account for the requirements at all launch sites, so that, the hardware provider need only complete one process for ground safety regardless of the launch site.

Kirkpatrick, Paul D.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Flight-Tested Hardware Options Currently Available to Support Fruit Fly Science Missions on ISS

The Fruit Fly Lab team at Ames Research Center has developed and flown several versions of hardware to ISS that have been utilized to conduct research using the model organism, Drosophila melanogaster. These sets of hardware vary in complexity and capabilities and can be matched to experiments based on specific aims objectives and considerations for cost, updownmass, and crew time requirements. The team has multiple investigators slated to utilize this hardware on near-term missions to ISS, and is expecting more from future calls for proposals.

Fruit Fly↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Ultrapure Water System at JSC for High Purity Cleaning of Flight Hardware, Astromaterial Handling Tools and Solar Wind Samples

Use of Ultrapure Water (UPW) for cleaning of astromaterial sample handling tools and containers was driven by the discontinuation of Freon 113 as a cleaning solvent, due to environmental concerns. Freon 113, recycled using distillation, was very effective at removing organic residues from sample handling hardware. The initial switch to high purity water for astromaterial tool cleaning was modeled after efforts at White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) and current semiconductor UPW production practices in the early 1990s. JSC curation’s first system was comprised of ion exchange polishing cylinders, 55 gallon PVDF-lined storage tank, a few tens of feet of PVDF piping, UV and particle filtration, and this system supported cleaning for lunar, meteorite and Cosmic Dust collectors lab operations. By 2000 a major expansion and upgrade was providing UPW of quality E-1 (ASTM D5127-90) or better at 10 gpm for cleaning of the Genesis solar wind payload for flight, in addition to sample handling tools for other astromaterials. This expansion included a 1000 gallon storage tank and several hundred feet of PVDF piping located in B. 31 and 31N. An extra reverse osmosis process unit was added to incoming water in 2005. Subsequently several major components were replaced, and in anticipation of adding new labs, an enlarged UPW system was designed in 2018 and completed in 2019. This system produces grade E1.1 UPW at 15 gpm in a continuous 1100 ft. loop with 5000 gal. storage tank, supplying 8 laboratories.

Ultrapure water↗
NASA NTRS2006

Design and Certification of the Extravehicular Activity Mobility Unit (EMU) Water Processing Jumper

The Extravehicular Mobility Units (EMUs) onboard the International Space Station (ISS) experienced a failure due to cooling water contamination from biomass and corrosion byproducts forming solids around the EMU pump rotor. The coolant had no biocide and a low pH which induced biofilm growth and corrosion precipitates, respectively. NASA JSC was tasked with building hardware to clean the ionic, organic, and particulate load from the EMU coolant loop before and after Extravehicular Activity (EVAs). Based on a return sample of the EMU coolant loop, the chemical load was well understood, but there was not sufficient volume of the returned sample to analyze particulates. Through work with EMU specialists, chemists, (EVA) Mission Operations Directorate (MOD) representation, safety and mission assurance, astronaut crew, and team engineers, requirements were developed for the EMU Water Processing hardware (sometimes referred to as the Airlock Coolant Loop Recovery [A/L CLR] system). Those requirements ranged from the operable level of ionic, organic, and particulate load, interfaces to the EMU, maximum cycle time, operating pressure drop, flow rate, and temperature, leakage rates, and biocide levels for storage. Design work began in February 2005 and certification was completed in April 2005 to support a return to flight launch date of May 12, 2005. This paper will discuss the details of the design and certification of the EMU Water Processing hardware and its components

Peterson, Laurie J.↗
NASA NTRS2019

Planetary Protection Technologies for Planetary Science Instruments, Spacecraft, and Missions: Report of the NASA Planetary Protection Technology Definition Team (PPTDT)

Planetary bodies like Mars, Europa, and Enceladus pose the question, "How to study them without contaminating them and destroying future prospects to detect life, if it is there?" The natural trade-off, of course, is that the cleaner your spacecraft, the more you can explore such a body without risk of contaminating it. As chartered by NASA Headquarters, the Planetary Protection Technology Definition Team (PPTDT) was asked to provide a report covering six different areas related to the engineering and technology challenges of implementing planetary protection requirements on solar system exploration missions, including: Assessment of technical and engineering challenges to applying available microbial-reduction methods, including recontamination prevention, to spacecraft hardware and instruments, to meet current NASA requirements on preventing the forward contamination of potentially habitable worlds by future spacecraft missions (orbiters, atmospheric missions, landers, penetrators, and drills); Identification of spacecraft and instrument materials known to be compatible with existing planetary protection protocols; Planetary protection protocols/processes available or which appear promising, and areas ripe for technological development; The technical and engineering challenges in ensuring that spacecraft hardware and instruments can meet organic cleanliness requirements needed to ensure high confidence in differentiating Earth contamination from extraterrestrial signals to avoid false negative as well as false positive results; Approaches for mitigating the identified challenges that would allow instruments to be flown successfully at the required levels of cleanliness and microbial reduction, beginning with identification of commonly used materials and spacecraft hardware that are compatible (or particularly vulnerable) to planetary protection protocols; Engineering, technology, and scientific research and development that could be funded by NASA to provide future capabilities to field scientific instruments and spacecraft on missions that require either subsystem or system-level microbial reduction and recontamination prevention.

John D. Rummel↗
NASA NTRS1995

Investigation of cleanliness verification techniques for rocket engine hardware

Oxidizer propellant systems for liquid-fueled rocket engines must meet stringent cleanliness requirements for particulate and nonvolatile residue. These requirements were established to limit residual contaminants which could block small orifices or ignite in the oxidizer system during engine operation. Limiting organic residues in high pressure oxygen systems is particularly important. The current method of cleanliness verification used by Rocketdyne requires an organic solvent flush of the critical hardware surfaces. The solvent is filtered and analyzed for particulate matter, followed by gravimetric determination of the nonvolatile residue (NVR) content of the filtered solvent. The organic solvents currently specified for use (1,1,1-trichloroethane and CFC-113) are ozone-depleting chemicals slated for elimination by December 1995. A test program is in progress to evaluate alternative methods for cleanliness verification that do not require the use of ozone-depleting chemicals and that minimize or eliminate the use of solvents regulated as hazardous air pollutants or smog precursors. Initial results from the laboratory test program to evaluate aqueous-based methods and organic solvent flush methods for NVR verification are provided and compared with results obtained using the current method. Evaluation of the alternative methods was conducted using a range of contaminants encountered in the manufacture of rocket engine hardware.

Fritzemeier, Marilyn L.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Investigation of Cleanliness Verification Techniques for Rocket Engine Hardware

Oxidizer propellant systems for liquid-fueled rocket engines must meet stringent cleanliness requirements for particulate and nonvolatile residue. These requirements were established to limit residual contaminants which could block small orifices or ignite in the oxidizer system during engine operation. Limiting organic residues in high pressure oxygen systems, such as in the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME), is particularly important. The current method of cleanliness verification for the SSME uses an organic solvent flush of the critical hardware surfaces. The solvent is filtered and analyzed for particulate matter followed by gravimetric determination of the nonvolatile residue (NVR) content of the filtered solvent. The organic solvents currently specified for use (1, 1, 1-trichloroethane and CFC-113) are ozone-depleting chemicals slated for elimination by December 1995. A test program is in progress to evaluate alternative methods for cleanliness verification that do not require the use of ozone-depleting chemicals and that minimize or eliminate the use of solvents regulated as hazardous air pollutants or smog precursors. Initial results from the laboratory test program to evaluate aqueous-based methods and organic solvent flush methods for NVR verification are provided and compared with results obtained using the current method. Evaluation of the alternative methods was conducted using a range of contaminants encountered in the manufacture of rocket engine hardware.

Fritzemeier, Marilyn L.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Common modeling system for digital simulation

The Joint Modeling and Simulation System is a tri-service investigation into a common modeling framework for the development digital models. The basis for the success of this framework is an X-window-based, open systems architecture, object-based/oriented methodology, standard interface approach to digital model construction, configuration, execution, and post processing. For years Department of Defense (DOD) agencies have produced various weapon systems/technologies and typically digital representations of the systems/technologies. These digital representations (models) have also been developed for other reasons such as studies and analysis, Cost Effectiveness Analysis (COEA) tradeoffs, etc. Unfortunately, there have been no Modeling and Simulation (M&S) standards, guidelines, or efforts towards commonality in DOD M&S. The typical scenario is an organization hires a contractor to build hardware and in doing so an digital model may be constructed. Until recently, this model was not even obtained by the organization. Even if it was procured, it was on a unique platform, in a unique language, with unique interfaces, and, with the result being UNIQUE maintenance required. Additionally, the constructors of the model expended more effort in writing the 'infrastructure' of the model/simulation (e.g. user interface, database/database management system, data journalizing/archiving, graphical presentations, environment characteristics, other components in the simulation, etc.) than in producing the model of the desired system. Other side effects include: duplication of efforts; varying assumptions; lack of credibility/validation; and decentralization in policy and execution. J-MASS provides the infrastructure, standards, toolset, and architecture to permit M&S developers and analysts to concentrate on the their area of interest.

Painter, Rick↗
NASA NTRS1999

NASA Ames Research Center R and D Services Directorate Biomedical Systems Development

The Ames Research Center R&D Services Directorate teams with NASA, other government agencies and/or industry investigators for the development, design, fabrication, manufacturing and qualification testing of space-flight and ground-based experiment hardware for biomedical and general aerospace applications. In recent years, biomedical research hardware and software has been developed to support space-flight and ground-based experiment needs including the E 132 Biotelemetry system for the Research Animal Holding Facility (RAHF), E 100 Neurolab neuro-vestibular investigation systems, the Autogenic Feedback Systems, and the Standard Interface Glove Box (SIGB) experiment workstation module. Centrifuges, motion simulators, habitat design, environmental control systems, and other unique experiment modules and fixtures have also been developed. A discussion of engineered systems and capabilities will be provided to promote understanding of possibilities for future system designs in biomedical applications. In addition, an overview of existing engineered products will be shown. Examples of hardware and literature that demonstrate the organization's capabilities will be displayed. The Ames Research Center R&D Services Directorate is available to support the development of new hardware and software systems or adaptation of existing systems to meet the needs of academic, commercial/industrial, and government research requirements. The Ames R&D Services Directorate can provide specialized support for: System concept definition and feasibility Mathematical modeling and simulation of system performance Prototype hardware development Hardware and software design Data acquisition systems Graphical user interface development Motion control design Hardware fabrication and high-fidelity machining Composite materials development and application design Electronic/electrical system design and fabrication System performance verification testing and qualification.

Pollitt, J.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Life sciences utilization of Space Station Freedom

Space Station Freedom will provide the United States' first permanently manned laboratory in space. It will allow, for the first time, long term systematic life sciences investigations in microgravity. This presentation provides a top-level overview of the planned utilization of Space Station Freedom by NASA's Life Sciences Division. The historical drivers for conducting life sciences research on a permanently manned laboratory in space as well as the advantages that a space station platform provides for life sciences research are discussed. This background information leads into a description of NASA's strategy for having a fully operational International Life Sciences Research Facility by the year 2000. Achieving this capability requires the development of the five discipline focused 'common core' facilities. Once developed, these facilities will be brought to the space station during the Man-Tended Capability phase, checked out and brought into operation. Their delivery must be integrated with the Space Station Freedom manifest. At the beginning of Permanent Manned Capability, the infrastructure is expected to be completed and the Life Sciences Division's SSF Program will become fully operational. A brief facility description, anticipated launch date and a focused objective is provided for each of the life sciences facilities, including the Biomedical Monitoring and Countermeasures (BMAC) Facility, Gravitational Biology Facility (GBF), Gas Grain Simulation Facility (GGSF), Centrifuge Facility (CF), and Controlled Ecological Life Support System (CELSS) Test Facility. In addition, hardware developed by other NASA organizations and the SSF International Partners for an International Life Sciences Research Facility is also discussed.

Chambers, Lawrence P.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Efficient Nondestructive Evaluation of Prototype Carbon Fiber Reinforced Structures

Thermography and shearography methods of inspection rely on optic based technologies and can reduce the time and cost required to inspect composite tanks or aerostructures. Usually areas identified as suspect in the initial inspection results are reexamined with ultrasonic methods. This combination of techniques results in a rapid and comprehensive inspection of composite structures. Development of useful defect standards will be discussed. Examples of application of this inspection philosophy to prototype, GSE, and flight hardware will be presented. Methods organizing the inspection and evaluating the results will be considered.

Russell, Samuel S.↗
NASA NTRS2006

The Use of Liquid Isopropyl Alcohol and Hydrogen Peroxide Gas Plasma to Biologically Decontaminate Spacecraft Electronics

Legitimate concern exists regarding sending spacecraft and their associated hardware to solar system bodies where they could possibly contaminate the body's surface with terrestrial microorganisms. The NASA approved guidelines for sterilization as set forth in NPG 8020.12C, which is consistent with the biological contamination control objectives of the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR), recommends subjecting the spacecraft and its associated hardware to dry heat-a dry heat regimen that could potentially employ a temperature of 110(deg)C for up to 200 hours. Such a temperature exposure could prove detrimental to the spacecraft electronics. The stimulated growth of intermetallic compounds (IMCs) in metallic interconnects and/or thermal degradation of organic materials composing much of the hardware could take place over a prolonged temperature regimen. Such detrimental phenomena would almost certainly compromise the integrity and reliability of the electronics. Investigation of sterilization procedures in the medical field suggests that hydrogen peroxide (H202) gas plasma (HPGP) technology can effectively function as an alternative to heat sterilization, especially for heat-sensitive items. Treatment with isopropyl alcohol (IPA) in liquid form prior to exposure of the hardware to HPGP should also prove beneficial. Although IPA is not a sterilant, it is frequently used as a disinfectant because of its bactericidal properties. The use of IPA in electronics cleaning is widely recognized and has been utilized for many years with no adverse affects reported. In addition, IPA is the principal ingredient of the test fluid used in ionic contamination testers to assess the amount of ionic contamination found on the surfaces of printed wiring assemblies. This paper will set forth experimental data confirming the feasibility of the IPA/H202 approach to reach acceptable microbial reduction (MR) levels of spacecraft electronic hardware. In addition, a proposed process flow in which both IPA liquid and HPGP are utilized will be presented in Section 7.0.

microbial reduction↗
NASA NTRS1993

Early lunar rover mission studies

Results of lunar mission studies aimed at developing mission goals and high level requirements are reported. A mission concept to meet the mission requirements was developed and the design of mission hardware was to follow. Mission concepts not only included operations analysis and plans but also fabrication and test planning, quality control measures, and project organization. The design of mission concepts and hardware identified issues that are not easily resolved. Although none of the issues identified appear to be unresolvable, many will be difficult to resolve within Space Exploration Initiative constraints. These issues discussed which appear to have the potential for negative project impact are rover mobility, power, imaging, telemanagment, and remote control.

Gillespie, Vernon P.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Advanced Curation: Solving Current and Future Sample Return Problems

Advanced Curation is a wide-ranging and comprehensive research and development effort at NASA Johnson Space Center that identifies and remediates sample related issues. For current collections, Advanced Curation investigates new cleaning, verification, and analytical techniques to assess their suitability for improving curation processes. Specific needs are also assessed for future sample return missions. For each need, a written plan is drawn up to achieve the requirement. The plan draws while upon current Curation practices, input from Curators, the analytical expertise of the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) team, and suitable standards maintained by ISO, IEST, NIST and other institutions. Additionally, new technologies are adopted on the bases of need and availability. Implementation plans are tested using customized trial programs with statistically robust courses of measurement, and are iterated if necessary until an implementable protocol is established. Upcoming and potential NASA missions such as OSIRIS-REx, the Asteroid Retrieval Mission (ARM), sample return missions in the New Frontiers program, and Mars sample return (MSR) all feature new difficulties and specialized sample handling requirements. The Mars 2020 mission in particular poses a suite of challenges since the mission will cache martian samples for possible return to Earth. In anticipation of future MSR, the following problems are among those under investigation: What is the most efficient means to achieve the less than 1.0 ng/sq cm total organic carbon (TOC) cleanliness required for all sample handling hardware? How do we maintain and verify cleanliness at this level? The Mars 2020 Organic Contamination Panel (OCP) predicts that organic carbon, if present, will be present at the "one to tens" of ppb level in martian near-surface samples. The same samples will likely contain wt% perchlorate salts, or approximately 1,000,000x as much perchlorate oxidizer as organic carbon. The chemical kinetics of this reaction are poorly understood at present under the conditions of cached or curated martian samples. Among other parameters, what is the maximum temperature allowed during storage in order to preserve native martian organic compounds for analysis? What is the best means to collect headspace gases from cached martian (and other) samples? This gas will contain not only martian atmosphere but also off-gassed volatiles from the cached solids.

Fries, M.↗
NASA NTRS2010

FOD Prevention at NASA-Marshall Space Flight Center

NASA-MSFC directive MID 5340.1 requires FOD prevention for all flight hardware projects, and requires all support organizations to comply. MSFC-STD-3598 implements a standard approach for FOD prevention, tailored from NAS 412. Three levels of FOD Sensitive Area are identified, adopting existing practices at other NASA facilities. Additional emphasis is given to prevention of impact damage and mitigation of facility FOD sources, especially leaks and spills. Impact Damage Susceptible (IDS) items are identified as FOD-sensitive as well as hardware vulnerable to entrapment of small items.

Lowrey, Nikki M.↗
NASA NTRS2020

Medics: Medical Decision Support System for Long-Duration Space Exploration

The Autonomous Medical Operations (AMO) group at NASA Ames is developing a “medical decision support system” to enable astronauts on long-duration exploration missions to operate autonomously. The system will support clinical actions by providing medical interpretation advice and procedural recommendations during emergent care and clinical work performed by crew. The current state of development of the system, called MedICS (Medical Interpretation Classification and Segmentation) includes two separate aspects: a set of machine learning diagnostic models trained to analyze organ images and patient health records, and an interface to ultrasound diagnostic hardware and to medical repositories. Three sets of images of different organs and medical records were utilized for training machine learning models for various analyses, as follows: 1. Pneumothorax condition (collapsed lung). The trained model provides a positive or negative diagnosis of the condition. 2. Carotid artery occlusion. The trained model produces a diagnosis of 5 different occlusion levels (including “normal”). 3. Ocular retinal images. The model extracts optic disc pixels (image segmentation). This is a precursor step for advanced autonomous fundus clinical evaluation algorithms to be implemented in FY20. 4. Medical health records. The model produces a differential diagnosis for any particular individual, based on symptoms and other health and demographic information. A probability is calculated for each of 25 most common conditions. The same model provides the likelihood of survival. All results are provided with a confidence level. Item 1 images were provided by the US Army and were part of a data set for the clinical treatment of injured battlefield soldiers. This condition is relevant to possible space mishaps, due to pressure management issues. Item 2 images were provided by Houston Methodist Hospital, and item 3 health records were acquired from the MIT laboratory of computational physiology. The machine learning technology utilized is deep multilayer networks (Deep Learning), and new models will continue to be produced, as relevant data is made available and specific health needs of astronaut crews are identified. The interfacing aspects of the system include a GUI for running the different models, and retrieving and storing data, as well as support for integration with an augmented reality (AR) system deployed at JSC by Tietronix Software Inc. (HoloLens). The AR system provides guidance for the placement of an ultrasound transducer that captures images to be sent to the MedICS system for diagnosis. The image captured and the associated diagnosis appear in the technician’s AR visual display.

Colombano, Silvano↗
NASA NTRS1981

An approach to real-time simulation using parallel processing

Current applications of real-time simulations to the development of complex aircraft propulsion system controls have demonstrated the need for accurate, portable, and low-cost simulators. This paper presents a preliminary simulator design that uses a parallel computer organization to provide these features. The hardware and software for this prototype simulator are discussed. A detailed discussion of the inter-computer data transfer mechanism is also presented.

Blech, R. A.↗