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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

ACTS Battery and Solar Array Assembly On-Orbit Measured Performance

The Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) is a NASA experimental communications satellite system designed to demonstrate on-orbit Ka-band communications and switching technologies that will be used by NASA and the commercial sector in the 21st century. The ACTS was launched on September 12, 1993, and has performed over 10 years of successful experimental operations. The purpose of this report is to describe the ACTS power subsystem and the ACTS solar array and battery assemblies located within the power subsystem and then to document on-orbit measured performance from launch to mission end on April 28, 2004. Solar array and battery performance data is presented, and respective conclusions are drawn. The total solar array power available to the spacecraft was measured each year at the same time, and battery voltage performance was measured twice per year at the same times during peak solar eclipse. At the highest spacecraft power demand, the ACTS uses approximately 1113 W of electrical power during the low-burstrate experiment to operate all six satellite subsystems. After 10 years of on-orbit operation, solar array available output power normal to the Sun measured 1508 W, which represents 395 W of excess margin. The ACTS batteries have successfully supported the ACTS experiment program for over 10 years and operated in excess of 900 charge and discharge cycles through 21 eclipse seasons.

Hilderman, Don R.↗

Space Station Application of Simulator-Developed Aircrew Coordination and Performance Measures

This paper summarizes a study in progress at NASA/Ames Research Center to develop measures of aircrew coordination and decision-making factors and to relate them to flight task performance, that is, to crew and system performance measures. The existence of some similar interpersonal process and task performance requirements suggests a potential application of these methods in space station crew research -- particularly research conducted in ground-based mock-ups. The secondary objective of this study should also be of interest: to develop information on crew process and performance for application in developing crew training programs.

Murphy, Miles↗

Measured performance of a 3 ton LiBr absorption water chiller and its effect on cooling system operation

A three ton lithium bromide absorption water chiller was tested for a number of conditions involving hot water input, chilled water, and the cooling water. The primary influences on chiller capacity were the hot water inlet temperature and the cooling water inlet temperature. One combination of these two parameters extended the output to as much as 125% of design capacity, but no combination could lower the capacity to below 60% of design. A cooling system was conceptually designed so that it could provide several modes of operation. Such flexibility is needed for any solar cooling system to be able to accommodate the varying solar energy collection and the varying building demand. It was concluded that a three-ton absorption water chiller with the kind of performance that was measured can be incorporated into a cooling system such as that proposed, to provide efficient cooling over the specified ranges of operating conditions.

Namkoong, D.↗

Measured performance of a 3-ton LiBr absorption water chiller and its effect on cooling system operation

A 3-ton lithium bromide absorption water chiller was tested for a number of conditions involving hot-water input, chilled water, and the cooling water. The primary influences on chiller capacity were the hot water inlet temperature and the cooling water inlet temperature. One combination of these two parameters extended the output to as much as 125% of design capacity, but no combination could lower the capacity to below 60% of design. A cooling system was conceptually designed so that it could provide several modes of operation. Such flexibility is needed for any solar cooling system to be able to accommodate the varying solar energy collection and the varying building demand. It is concluded that a 3-ton absorption water chiller with the kind of performance that was measured can be incorporated into a cooling system such as that proposed, to provide efficient cooling over the specified ranges of operating conditions.

Namkoong, D.↗

Calculated and measured performance of a 'near ideal' locally reacting duct liner in grazing incidence

The calculated acoustic response of a nearly ideal (locally reacting and linear) duct liner has been compared with its measured performance. The ceramic honeycomb liner structure was such that the local reaction assumption was well satisfied over the frequency range of interest (0.5-3.0 kHz). In addition, the high repeatability of the measured impedance values over a large SPL range verified the assumption of linearity. A finite element algorithm was used to compute the duct liner transmission properties in terms of the liner's normal incidence impedance and the duct termination impedance using a plane wave source. Very good agreement between theory and experiment was observed in general, but required accurate normal impedance values in the high attenuation frequency bands of the liner's response.

Parrott, T. L.↗

Thermodynamic performance measure for cryogenic vessel insulation

Commonly encountered 'passive' insulation has been improved in recent years using 'dynamic'insulation based on closed cycle cryocoolers attached to photon shields. The paper presents a novel insulation performance measure based on ideal thermodynamic limits. Each floating insulation package has a unique value. In contrast real vessels with vent tube and supports are characterized by an 'effectiveness' less than unity.

Chen, W. E. W.↗

Telerobotic system performance measurement - Motivation and methods

A systems performance-based strategy for modeling and conducting experiments relevant to the design and performance characterization of telerobotic systems is described. A developmental testbed consisting of a distributed telerobotics network and initial efforts to implement the strategy described is presented. Consideration is given to the general systems performance theory (GSPT) to tackle human performance problems as a basis for: measurement of overall telerobotic system (TRS) performance; task decomposition; development of a generic TRS model; and the characterization of performance of subsystems comprising the generic model. GSPT employs a resource construct to model performance and resource economic principles to govern the interface of systems to tasks. It provides a comprehensive modeling/measurement strategy applicable to complex systems including both human and artificial components. Application is presented within the framework of a distributed telerobotics network as a testbed. Insight into the design of test protocols which elicit application-independent data is described.

Kondraske, George V.↗

Reciprocal - MSE and SNR as distinct performance measures in below-threshold communication.

The possible advantages of using algorithms that are minimum mean-square-error (MSE) optimal, or other averaging-type demodulators with frequency position modulation (FPM), are investigated. An attempt is made to describe the performance of the optimal and various suboptimal demodulators in terms of three parameters which depend on SNR and bandwidth expansion. The performance measures investigated are the reciprocal of the normalized mean-square error and the output SNR, which are different in the below-threshold region. The former is compared to the rate-distortion bound. The possible advantage of averaging-type discriminators from the point of view of the threshold is discussed.

Bar-David, I.↗

Generalized variables for controlling Government Transfer Services with respect to performance measures

The term Government Transfer Services is used in reference to any of the organized streams of public resources that flow into private economic activity. This includes such activities as offshore leasing, Social Security, and NASA technology transfer services. This paper describes a performance measure, empirical results, a theory, and a control model for such services. These are illustrated by a specific example (NASA). An agenda for developing this service control method is also presented.

Johnson, F. D.↗

Performance measures for control computers

As real-time systems become more complex, the problem of controlling them safely becomes more difficult. When computers are in control of time-critical systems such as aircraft, nuclear reactors, and life-support systems, they must meet stringent performance requirements. However, these requirements cannot be properly stated without appropriate performance measures. Such measures are reviewed and analyzed in this paper.

Krishna, C. M.↗

Closed-Loop Performance Measures for Flight Controllers Subject to Neutron-Induced Upsets

It has been observed that atmospheric neutrons can produce single event upsets in digital flight control hardware. The phenomenon has been studied extensively at the chip level, and now system level experiments are underway. In this paper analytical closed-loop performance measures for the tracking error are developed for a plant that is stabilized by a recoverable computer system subject to neutron induced upsets. The underlying model is a Markov jump-linear system with process noise. The steady-state tracking error is expressed in terms of a generalized observability Gramian.

Gray, W. Steven↗

Scenarios and performance measures for advanced ISDN satellite design and experiments

Described here are the contemplated input and expected output for the Interim Service Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) Satellite (ISIS) and Full Service ISDN Satellite (FSIS) Models. The discrete event simulations of these models are presented with specific scenarios that stress ISDN satellite parameters. Performance measure criteria are presented for evaluating the advanced ISDN communication satellite designs of the NASA Satellite Communications Research (SCAR) Program.

Pepin, Gerard R.↗

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

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

Advanced Air Mobility↗

Manipulator system performance measurement

Free-flying teleoperator technology for satellite servicing is reported. The rationale for a series of manipulator system tests is presented. Data are reported on movement time in a fine positioning task using two different manipulator systems. The movement time data showed reliable effects of movement direction and index of difficulty. These data were considered to be baseline performance measures for the manipulator system used and modifications to the control and visual systems were suggested for future testing.

Kirkpatrick, M., III↗

SRAG Measurements Performed During the Orion EFT-1 Mission

The Exploration Flight Test 1 (EFT-1) was the first flight of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV). The flight was launched on December 5, 2014, by a Delta IV Heavy rocket and lasted 4.5 hours. The EFT-1 trajectory involved one low altitude orbit and one high altitude orbit with an apogee of almost 6000 km. As a result of this particular flight profile, the Orion MPCV passed through intense regions of trapped protons and electron belts. In support of the radiation measurements aboard the EFT-1, the Space Radiation Analysis Group (SRAG) provided a Battery-operated Independent Radiation Detector (BIRD) based on Timepix radiation monitoring technology similar to that employed by the ISS Radiation Environmental Monitors (REM). In addition, SRAG provided a suite of optically and thermally stimulated luminescence detectors, with 2 Radiation Area Monitor (RAM) units collocated with the BIRD instrument for comparison purposes, and 6 RAM units distributed at different shielding configurations within the Orion MPCV. A summary of the EFT-1 Radiation Area Monitors (RAM) mission dose results obtained from measurements performed in the Space Radiation Dosimetry Laboratory at the NASA Johnson Space Center will be presented. Each RAM included LiF:Mg,Ti (TLD-100), (6)LiF:Mg,Ti (TLD-600), (7)LiF:Mg,Ti (TLD-700), Al2O3:C (Luxel trademark), and CaF2:Tm (TLD-300). The RAM mission dose values will be compared with the BIRD instrument total mission dose. In addition, a similar comparison will be shown for the ISS environment by comparing the ISS RAM data with data from the six Timepix-based REM units deployed on ISS as part of the NASA REM Technology Demonstration.

Gaza, Ramona↗