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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 NTRS1971

Tracer techniques for urine volume determination and urine collection and sampling back-up system

The feasibility, functionality, and overall accuracy of the use of lithium were investigated as a chemical tracer in urine for providing a means of indirect determination of total urine volume by the atomic absorption spectrophotometry method. Experiments were conducted to investigate the parameters of instrumentation, tracer concentration, mixing times, and methods for incorporating the tracer material in the urine collection bag, and to refine and optimize the urine tracer technique to comply with the Skylab scheme and operational parameters of + or - 2% of volume error and + or - 1% accuracy of amount of tracer added to each container. In addition, a back-up method for urine collection and sampling system was developed and evaluated. This back-up method incorporates the tracer technique for volume determination in event of failure of the primary urine collection and preservation system. One chemical preservative was selected and evaluated as a contingency chemical preservative for the storage of urine in event of failure of the urine cooling system.

Ramirez, R. V.↗
NASA NTRS2005

A Simple, Powerful Method for Optimal Guidance of Spacecraft Formations

One of the most interesting and challenging aspects of formation guidance law design is the coupling of the orbit design and the science return. The analyst s role is more complicated than simply to design the formation geometry and evolution. He or she is also involved in designing a significant portion of the science instrument itself. The effectiveness of the formation as a science instrument is intimately coupled with the relative geoniet,ry and evolution of the collection of spacecraft. Therefore, the science return can be maximized by optimizing the orbit design according to a performance metric relevant to the science mission goals. In this work, we present a simple method for optimal formation guidance that is applicable to missions whose performance metric, requirements, and constraints can be cast as functions that are explicitly dependent upon the orbit states and spacecraft relative positions and velocities. We present a general form for the cost and constraint functions, and derive their semi-analytic gradients with respect to the formation initial conditions. The gradients are broken down into two types. The first type are gradients of the mission specific performance metric with respect to formation geometry. The second type are derivatives of the formation geometry with respect to the orbit initial conditions. The fact that these two types of derivatives appear separately allows us to derive and implement a general framework that requires minimal modification to be applied to different missions or mission phases. To illustrate the applicability of the approach, we conclude with applications to twc missims: the Magnetospheric Mu!tiscale mission (MMS), a,nd the TJaser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA).

Hughes, Steven P.↗
NASA NTRS2013

NASA Tech Briefs, October 2013

Topics include: A Short-Range Distance Sensor with Exceptional Linearity; Miniature Trace Gas Detector Based on Microfabricated Optical Resonators; Commercial Non-Dispersive Infrared Spectroscopy Sensors for Sub-Ambient Carbon Dioxide Detection; Fast, Large-Area, Wide-Bandgap UV Photodetector for Cherenkov Light Detection; Mission Data System Java Edition Version 7; Adaptive Distributed Environment for Procedure Training (ADEPT); LEGEND, a LEO-to-GEO Environment Debris Model; Electronics/Computers; Millimeter-Wave Localizers for Aircraft-to-Aircraft Approach Navigation; Impedance Discontinuity Reduction Between High-Speed Differential Connectors and PCB Interfaces; SpaceCube Version 1.5; High-Pressure Lightweight Thrusters; Non-Magnetic, Tough, Corrosion- and Wear-Resistant Knives From Bulk Metallic Glasses and Composites; Ambient Dried Aerogels; Applications for Gradient Metal Alloys Fabricated Using Additive Manufacturing; Passivation of Flexible YBCO Superconducting Current Lead With Amorphous SiO2 Layer; Propellant-Flow-Actuated Rocket Engine Igniter; Lightweight Liquid Helium Dewar for High-Altitude Balloon Payloads; Method to Increase Performance of Foil Bearings Through Passive Thermal Management; Unibody Composite Pressurized Structure; JWST Integrated Science Instrument Module Alignment Optimization Tool; Radar Range Sidelobe Reduction Using Adaptive Pulse Compression Technique; Digitally Calibrated TR Modules Enabling Real-Time Beamforming SweepSAR Architectures; Electro-Optic Time-to-Space Converter for Optical Detector Jitter Mitigation; Partially Transparent Petaled Mask/Occulter for Visible-Range Spectrum; Educational NASA Computational and Scientific Studies (enCOMPASS); Coarse-Grain Bandwidth Estimation Scheme for Large-Scale Network; Detection of Moving Targets Using Soliton Resonance Effect; High-Efficiency Nested Hall Thrusters for Robotic Solar System Exploration; High-Voltage Clock Driver for Photon-Counting CCD Characterization; Development of the Code RITRACKS; and Enabling Microliquid Chromatography by Microbead Packing of Microchannels.

Source record↗
DOE OSTI2025

Employing MACS/ViBRANT as a Surrogate MARVEL Reactor for Startup Reactivity Tuning and Supervisory Control Processes

Advanced nuclear reactors are a key part of the future of nuclear energy both in the United States and globally. They offer unique benefits for various energy-demanding applications, including use in remote locations, compact size, modular manufacturing, remote monitoring, low and/or variable power rating operation, and reliance on novel technologies to enhance operational safety. To achieve economic feasibility, advanced reactors must significantly reduce their workforces in comparison with the current fleet. Achieving this reduction will occur through reducing staff workloads using technology to achieve autonomous or semi-autonomous operations, demonstrated by comprehensive testing and validation activities. These operations will require both software and hardware platforms during the design and testing phases. While simulations are useful during the design phase, their performance can significantly deviate during actual deployment on hardware. This report presents the outcomes of a collaborative technical initiative between the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Microreactor Program (MRP) and Advanced Sensors and Instrumentation (ASI) Program. The collaboration utilized the Microreactor Automated Control System (MACS) hardware platform to bridge the gap between theoretical reactor design and actual startup and control operations. Two key use cases were investigated: facilitating the startup testing period and demonstrating supervisory control. The first use case details the key Microreactor Applications Research Validation and Evaluation (MARVEL) reactor startup physics testing activities conducted using the MACS platform. These activities included drum worth measurements, shutdown margin assessment, temperature feedback analysis, and scram time evaluation, as well as unique testing that would apply to the MARVEL reactor to demonstrate the testing methodologies in a low-risk environment. The MACS platform, serving as a surrogate representation of the MARVEL reactor, proved instrumental in performing these tests. The exercise revealed aspects that led to optimized processes, refined hardware design, and enhanced base software capabilities. By maturing methods and technologies in this manner, the initiative promises to reduce wasted time in the actual on-site reactor deployment effort, thereby saving significant time and resources. The second use case focuses on the development and implementation of supervisory control methods aimed at managing core tilt, which can result from asymmetrical operations or manufacturing imperfections in fuel rods or reactivity control devices. A key objective was to assess and compare the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for supervisory control. The effort aimed to define the role of supervisory control to enhance performance without risking control instability. This effort explored three distinct approaches: rules-based (RB) methods, optimization techniques, and reinforcement learning (RL) algorithms. Each approach was evaluated for its ease of implementation, its usability, and its effectiveness in responding to asymmetries in neutron flux. Comparative analysis of these approaches provided valuable insights into their applicability and effectiveness, offering a robust framework for advanced reactor operations. Together, these two use cases highlight the potential of hardware test beds to help streamline the design, operation, and control of advanced nuclear reactors. This collaborative effort underscores the importance of continued innovation and experimentation in achieving the next generation of safe, reliable, and economically viable nuclear energy solutions.

22 - GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
NASA NTRS2011

Combined Retrievals of Boreal Forest Fire Aerosol Properties with a Polarimeter and Lidar

Absorbing aerosols play an important, but uncertain, role in the global climate. Much of this uncertainty is due to a lack of adequate aerosol measurements. While great strides have been made in observational capability in the previous years and decades, it has become increasingly apparent that this development must continue. Scanning polarimeters have been designed to help resolve this issue by making accurate, multi-spectral, multi-angle polarized observations. This work involves the use of the Research Scanning Polarimeter (RSP). The RSP was designed as the airborne prototype for the Aerosol Polarimetery Sensor (APS), which was due to be launched as part of the (ultimately failed) NASA Glory mission. Field observations with the RSP, however, have established that simultaneous retrievals of aerosol absorption and vertical distribution over bright land surfaces are quite uncertain. We test a merger of RSP and High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) data with observations of boreal forest fire smoke, collected during the Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites (ARCTAS). During ARCTAS, the RSP and HSRL instruments were mounted on the same aircraft, and validation data were provided by instruments on an aircraft flying a coordinated flight pattern. We found that the lidar data did indeed improve aerosol retrievals using an optimal estimation method, although not primarily because of the constraints imposed on the aerosol vertical distribution. The more useful piece of information from the HSRL was the total column aerosol optical depth, which was used to select the initial value (optimization starting point) of the aerosol number concentration. When ground based sun photometer network climatologies of number concentration were used as an initial value, we found that roughly half of the retrievals had unrealistic sizes and imaginary indices, even though the retrieved spectral optical depths agreed within uncertainties to independent observations. The convergence to an unrealistic local minimum by the optimal estimator is related to the relatively low sensitivity to particles smaller than 0.1 ( m) at large optical thicknesses. Thus, optimization algorithms used for operational aerosol retrievals of the fine mode size distribution, when the total optical depth is large, will require initial values generated from table look-ups that exclude unrealistic size/complex index mixtures. External constraints from lidar on initial values used in the optimal estimation methods will also be valuable in reducing the likelihood of obtaining spurious retrievals.

Knobelspiesse, K.↗
NASA NTRS2016

The GPM Combined Algorithm

In this paper, the operational Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission combined radar-radiometer algorithm is thoroughly described. The operational combined algorithm is designed to reduce uncertainties in GPM Core Observatory precipitation estimates by effectively integrating complementary information from the GPM Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) and the GPM Microwave Imager (GMI) into an optimal, physically consistent precipitation product. Although similar in many respects to previously developed combined algorithms, the GPM combined algorithm has several unique features that are specifically designed to meet the GPM objectives of deriving, based on GPM Core Observatory information, accurate and physically consistent precipitation estimates from multiple spaceborne instruments, and ancillary environmental data from reanalyses. The algorithm features an optimal estimation framework based on a statistical formulation of the Gauss-Newton method, a parameterization for the nonuniform distribution of precipitation within the radar fields of view, a methodology to detect and account for multiple scattering in Ka-band DPR observations, and a statistical deconvolution technique that allows for an efficient sequential incorporation of radiometer information into DPR precipitation retrievals.

Grecu, Mircea↗
NASA NTRS2010

CLARREO Cornerstone of the Earth Observing System: Measuring Decadal Change Through Accurate Emitted Infrared and Reflected Solar Spectra and Radio Occultation

The Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO) is one of four Tier 1 missions recommended by the recent NRC Decadal Survey report on Earth Science and Applications from Space (NRC, 2007). The CLARREO mission addresses the need to provide accurate, broadly acknowledged climate records that are used to enable validated long-term climate projections that become the foundation for informed decisions on mitigation and adaptation policies that address the effects of climate change on society. The CLARREO mission accomplishes this critical objective through rigorous SI traceable decadal change observations that are sensitive to many of the key uncertainties in climate radiative forcings, responses, and feedbacks that in turn drive uncertainty in current climate model projections. These same uncertainties also lead to uncertainty in attribution of climate change to anthropogenic forcing. For the first time CLARREO will make highly accurate, global, SI-traceable decadal change observations sensitive to the most critical, but least understood, climate forcings, responses, and feedbacks. The CLARREO breakthrough is to achieve the required levels of accuracy and traceability to SI standards for a set of observations sensitive to a wide range of key decadal change variables. The required accuracy levels are determined so that climate trend signals can be detected against a background of naturally occurring variability. Climate system natural variability therefore determines what level of accuracy is overkill, and what level is critical to obtain. In this sense, the CLARREO mission requirements are considered optimal from a science value perspective. The accuracy for decadal change traceability to SI standards includes uncertainties associated with instrument calibration, satellite orbit sampling, and analysis methods. Unlike most space missions, the CLARREO requirements are driven not by the instantaneous accuracy of the measurements, but by accuracy in the large time/space scale averages that are key to understanding decadal changes.

Sandford, Stephen P.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Stray Light Suppression in the Goddard IRAM 2-Millimeter Observer (GISMO)

The Goddard-IRAM Superconducting 2 Millimeter Observer (GISMO) is an 8xl6 Transition Edge Sensor (TES) array of bolometers built as a pathfinder for TES detector development efforts at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. GISMO has been used annually at the Institut de Radioastronomie Millimetrique (IRAM) 30 meter telescope since 2007 under engineering time and was opened in the spring of 2012 to the general astronomical community. The spring deployment provided an opportunity to modify elements of the room temperature optics before moving the instrument to its new permanent position in the telescope receiver cabin. This allowed for the possibility to extend the cryostat, introduce improved cold baffling and thus further optimize the stray light performance for final astronomical use of the instrument, which has been completed and validated. We will demonstrate and discuss several of the methods used to quantify and limit the influence of stray light in the GISMO camera.

Sharp, E. H.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Micro-spec: an Integrated Direct-detection Spectrometer for Far-infrared Space Telescopes

The far-infrared and submillimeter portions of the electromagnetic spectrum provide a unique view of the astrophysical processes present in the early universe. Our ability to fully explore this rich spectral region has been limited, however, by the size and cost of the cryogenic spectrometers required to carry out such measurements.Micro-Spec (μ-Spec) is a high-sensitivity, direct-detection spectrometer concept working in the 450-1000 (micrometers) wavelength range which will enable a wide range of flight missions that would otherwise be challenging due tothe large size of current instruments with the required spectral resolution and sensitivity. The spectrometer design utilizes two internal antenna arrays, one for transmitting and one for receiving, superconducting microstrip transmission lines for power division and phase delay, and an array of microwave kinetic inductance detectors (MKIDs) to achieve these goals. The instrument will be integrated on a approximately 10 sq cm silicon chip and can therefore become an important capability under the low background conditions accessible via space and high-altitude borne platforms. In this paper, an optical design methodology for micro-Spec is presented, with particular attention given to its two-dimensional diffractive region, where the light of different wavelengths is focused on the different detectors. The method is based on the maximization of the instrument resolving power and minimization of the RMS phase error on the instrument focal plane. This two-step optimization can generate geometrical configurations given specific requirements on spectrometer size, operating spectral range and performance.Two point designs with resolving power of 260 and 520 and an RMS phase error less than approximately 0.004 radians were developed for initial demonstration and will be the basis of future instruments with resolving power up to about 1200.

Far-infrared↗
NASA NTRS2014

Micro-Spec: an Integrated, Direct-Detection Spectrometer for Far-Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy

The far-infrared and submillimeter portions of the electromagnetic spectrum provide a unique view of the astrophysical processes present in the early universe. Our ability to fully explore this rich spectral region has been limited, however, by the size and cost of the cryogenic spectrometers required to carry out such measurements. Micro-Spec (u-Spec) is a high-sensitivity, direct-detection spectrometer concept working in the 450-1000 micromillimeter wavelength range which will enable a wide range of flight missions that would otherwise be challenging due to the large size of current instruments with the required spectral resolution and sensitivity. The spectrometer design utilizes two internal antenna arrays, one for transmitting and one for receiving, superconducting microstrip transmission lines for power division and phase delay, and an array of microwave kinetic inductance detectors (MKIDs) to achieve these goals. The instrument will be integrated on a approximately 10 square cm silicon chip and can therefore become an important capability under the low background conditions accessible via space and high-altitude borne platforms. In this paper, an optical design methodology for Micro-Spec is presented, with particular attention given to its twodimensional diffractive region, where the light of different wavelengths is focused on the different detectors. The method is based on the maximization of the instrument resolving power and minimization of the RMS phase error on the instrument focal plane. This two-step optimization can generate geometrical configurations given specific requirements on spectrometer size, operating spectral range and performance. A point design with resolving power of 257, an RMS phase error less than 0.1 radians and four stigmatic points was developed for initial demonstration and will be the basis of future instruments with resolving power up to about 1200.

microwave kinetic inductance detectors (MKIDs)↗
NASA NTRS2016

Infrared Observations of the Orion Capsule During EFT-1 Hypersonic Reentry

High-resolution infrared observations of the Orion capsule during its atmospheric reentry on December 5, 2015 were made from a US Navy NP-3D. This aircraft, equipped with a long-range optical sensor system, tracked the capsule from Mach 10 to 7 from a distance of approximately 60 nmi. Global surface temperatures of the capsule's thermal heatshield were derived from near infrared intensity measurements. The global surface temperature measurements complemented onboard instrumentation and were invaluable to the interpretation of the in-depth thermocouple measurements which rely on inverse heat transfer methods and material response codes to infer the desired surface temperature from the sub-surface measurements. The full paper will address the motivations behind the NASA Engineering Safety Center sponsored observation and highlight premission planning processes with an emphasis on aircraft placement, optimal instrument configuration and sensor calibrations. Critical aspects of mission operations coordinated from the NASA Johnson Spaceflight Center and integration with the JSC Flight Test Management Office will be discussed. A summary of the imagery that was obtained and processed to global surface temperature will be presented. At the capsule's point of closest approach relative to the imaging system, the spatial resolution was estimated to be approximately 15-inches per pixel and was sufficient to identify localized temperature increases associated with compression pad support hardware on the heatshield. The full paper will discuss the synergy of the quantitative imagery derived temperature maps with in-situ thermocouple measurements. Comparison of limited onboard surface thermocouple data to the image derived surface temperature will be presented. The two complimentary measurements serve as an example of the effective leveraging of resources to advance the understanding of high Mach number environments associated with an ablated heatshield and provide unique data for the validation of design tools and numerical flight simulation techniques. Collaborative opportunities and technology investments in support of planned observations of NASA's next Orion flight test in 2018 will be explored in the full manuscript.

Horvath, Thomas J.↗
NASA NTRS1988

A prototype combinatorial scheduler for space-borne observational instruments

A prototype scheduler has been developed for observations to be carried out by the NASA Gamma Ray Observatory. The purpose of the scheduling system is to provide an automated method to determine optimized schedules conforming to all scheduling guidelines. Strategies used in creating COMPTEL/EGRET schedules and in scheduling OSSE targets are examined. It is concluded that the hybrid scheduler creates optimal schedules, or very nearly optimal schedules, and reduces the estimated scheduling time by 18 or 19 orders of magnitude, from about 10 to the 14th years to as few as 561 seconds.

Gilstrap, Lewey O.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Objective Assessment Method for RNAV STAR Adherence

Flight crews and air traffic controllers have reported many safety concerns regarding area navigation standard terminal arrival routes (RNAV STARs). Specifically, optimized profile descents (OPDs). However, our information sources to quantify these issues are limited to subjective reporting and time consuming case-by-case investigations. This work is a preliminary study into the objective performance of instrument procedures and provides a framework to track procedural concepts and assess design specifications. We created a tool and analysis methods for gauging aircraft adherence as it relates to RNAV STARs. This information is vital for comprehensive understanding of how our air traffic behaves. In this study, we mined the performance of 24 major US airports over the preceding three years. Overlaying 4D radar track data onto RNAV STAR routes provided a comparison between aircraft flight paths and the waypoint positions and altitude restrictions. NASA Ames Supercomputing resources were utilized to perform the data mining and processing. We assessed STARs by lateral transition path (full-lateral), vertical restrictions (full-lateral/full-vertical), and skipped waypoints (skips). In addition, we graphed frequencies of aircraft altitudes relative to the altitude restrictions. Full-lateral adherence was always greater than Full-lateral/ full- vertical, as it is a subset, but the difference between the rates was not consistent. Full-lateral/full-vertical adherence medians of the 2016 procedures ranged from 0% in KDEN (Denver) to 21% in KMEM (Memphis). Waypoint skips ranged from 0% to nearly 100% for specific waypoints. Altitudes restrictions were sometimes missed by systematic amounts in 1,000 ft. increments from the restriction, creating multi-modal distributions. Other times, altitude misses looked to be more normally distributed around the restriction. This tool may aid in providing acceptability metrics as well as risk assessment information.

Stewart, Michael↗
NASA NTRS2005

A Comparison of High Spectral Resolution Infrared Cloud-Top Pressure Altitude Algorithms Using S-HIS Measurements

This paper presents a comparison of cloud-top altitude retrieval methods applied to S-HIS (Scanning High Resolution Interferometer Sounder) measurements. Included in this comparison is an improvement to the traditional CO2 Slicing method. The new method, CO2 Sorting, determines optimal channel pairs to apply the CO2 Slicing. Measurements from collocated samples of the Cloud Physics Lidar (CPL) and Modis Airborne Simulator (MAS) instruments assist in the comparison. For optically thick clouds good correlation between the S-HIS and lidar cloud-top retrievals are found. For tenuous ice clouds there can be large differences between lidar (CPL) and S-HIS retrieved cloud-tops. It is found that CO2 Sorting significantly reduces the cloud height biases for the optically thin cloud (total optical depths less then 1.0). For geometrically thick but optically thin cirrus clouds large differences between the S-HIS infrared cloud top retrievals and the CPL detected cloud top where found. For these cases the cloud height retrieved by the S-HIS cloud retrievals correlated closely with the level the CPL integrated cloud optical depth was approximately 1.0.

Holz, Robert E.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Techniques for the analysis of data from coded-mask X-ray telescopes

Several techniques useful in the analysis of data from coded-mask telescopes are presented. Methods of handling changes in the instrument pointing direction are reviewed and ways of using FFT techniques to do the deconvolution considered. Emphasis is on techniques for optimally-coded systems, but it is shown that the range of systems included in this class can be extended through the new concept of 'partial cycle averaging'.

Skinner, G. K.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Intelligent Observation Strategies for Geosynchronous Remote Sensing for Natural Hazards

Geosynchronous satellites offer a unique perspective for monitoring environmental factors important to understanding natural hazards and supporting the disasters management life cycle, namely forecast, detection, response, recovery and mitigation. In the NASA decadal survey for Earth science, the GEO-CAPE mission was proposed to address coastal and air pollution events in geosynchronous orbit, complementing similar initiatives in Asia by the South Koreans and by ESA in Europe, thereby covering the northern hemisphere. In addition to analyzing the challenges of identifying instrument capabilities to meet the science requirements, and the implications of hosting the instrument payloads on commercial geosynchronous satellites, the GEO-CAPE mission design team conducted a short study to explore strategies to optimize the science return for the coastal imaging instrument. The study focused on intelligent scheduling strategies that took into account cloud avoidance techniques as well as onboard processing methods to reduce the data storage and transmission loads. This paper expands the findings of that study to address the use of intelligent scheduling techniques and near-real time data product acquisition of both the coastal water and air pollution events. The topics include the use of onboard processing to refine and execute schedules, to detect cloud contamination in observations, and to reduce data handling operations. Analysis of state of the art flight computing capabilities will be presented, along with an assessment of cloud detection algorithms and their performance characteristics. Tools developed to illustrate operational concepts will be described, including their applicability to environmental monitoring domains with an eye to the future. In the geostationary configuration, the payload becomes a networked thing with enough connectivity to exchange data seamlessly with users. This allows the full field of view to be sensed at very high rate under the control of ground infrastructure, resulting in improved efficiencies, accuracy and science benefits. Hence a remote sensing payload and its data may become one of millions of connected objects in the emerging Internet of Things (IoT), and be as easily accessible by a users smart phone as any other smart appliance.

0↗
NASA NTRS2004

An Integrated Optimal Estimation Approach to Spitzer Space Telescope Focal Plane Survey

This paper discusses an accurate and efficient method for focal plane survey that was used for the Spitzer Space Telescope. The approach is based on using a high-order 37-state Instrument Pointing Frame (IPF) Kalman filter that combines both engineering parameters and science parameters into a single filter formulation. In this approach, engineering parameters such as pointing alignments, thermomechanical drift and gyro drifts are estimated along with science parameters such as plate scales and optical distortions. This integrated approach has many advantages compared to estimating the engineering and science parameters separately. The resulting focal plane survey approach is applicable to a diverse range of science instruments such as imaging cameras, spectroscopy slits, and scanning-type arrays alike. The paper will summarize results from applying the IPF Kalman Filter to calibrating the Spitzer Space Telescope focal plane, containing the MIPS, IRAC, and the IRS science Instrument arrays.

optimal estimations↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Small Particle Glovebox Experiments - Preliminary Results

A substantial portion of the asteroid samples returned by the HAYABUSA2 and OSIRIS-REx missions will consist of small (submm) components (due to the collection of those particles on the asteroid surface and due to the fragmenting of larger, friable material post-collection). In order to minimize the alteration/oxidation of asteroid regolith, the bulk collections will be stored and curated in nitrogen purged gloveboxes. The processing of small particles in an N2 glovebox will present challenges that are different from those experienced during lunar and meteorite sample processing. Particles in this size range are susceptible to unpredictable electrostatic charging that can result in sample loss during processing operations. Methods for the handling of sub-mm particles have been well developed for environments with ambient atmospheric conditions and relative humidity (RH) ranges between 40-70%. In such conditions, a number of factors can be successfully employed to minimize the effects of triboelectric charging, including the use of Po-210 sources that neutralize excess charge and the utilization of conductive manipulation tools and sample substrates. However, relative humidity levels above 40% also contribute significantly to dissipation of triboelectric effects. We had not previously investigated our charge mitigation methods in a completely dry, nitrogen-purged environment, or whether they would be sufficient in enabling the successful processing of sub-mm samples. Current glovebox configurations in use in our lunar and meteorite curation laboratories are optimized for the processing of macroscopic samples and tools; these glovebox designs are likely unsuitable for the processing of collections for which the bulk collection is comprised of sub-mm components. Small particle sample preparation requires the use of an optical magnification instrument – typically a stereo binocular microscope with at least 20x magnification. Current glovebox designs are not optimized for the utilization or integration of stereo microscopes; while many current cabinets include microscope viewports that enable the use of small, externally mounted stereo microscopes, the focusing methods (usually involving the use of a lab jack) lack the fidelity and precision required for small particle manipulation and imaging. Working distances of higher (>50x magnification) objective lenses may preclude the external use of a stereo microscope through a viewport; in order to successfully manipulate and image very small (< 20m) particles, stereo and digital microscope systems that are integrated within the glovebox should be investigated. Finally, ergonomic considerations for small particle work within a glovebox must be considered to minimize risk of injury to sample processors. In order to investigate some of the unknown parameters relating to small particle processing within an N2 glovebox, we conducted preliminary, qualitative experiments utilizing a small lunar cabinet that was originally used for film development.

C. J. Snead↗