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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 NTRS2012

Social Semantics for an Effective Enterprise

An evolution of the Semantic Web, the Social Semantic Web (s2w), facilitates knowledge sharing with "useful information based on human contributions, which gets better as more people participate." The s2w reaches beyond the search box to move us from a collection of hyperlinked facts, to meaningful, real time context. When focused through the lens of Enterprise Search, the Social Semantic Web facilitates the fluid transition of meaningful business information from the source to the user. It is the confluence of human thought and computer processing structured with the iterative application of taxonomies, folksonomies, ontologies, and metadata schemas. The importance and nuances of human interaction are often deemphasized when focusing on automatic generation of semantic markup, which results in dissatisfied users and unrealized return on investment. Users consistently qualify the value of information sets through the act of selection, making them the de facto stakeholders of the Social Semantic Web. Employers are the ultimate beneficiaries of s2w utilization with a better informed, more decisive workforce; one not achieved with an IT miracle technology, but by improved human-computer interactions. Johnson Space Center Taxonomist Sarah Berndt and Mike Doane, principal owner of Term Management, LLC discuss the planning, development, and maintenance stages for components of a semantic system while emphasizing the necessity of a Social Semantic Web for the Enterprise. Identification of risks and variables associated with layering the successful implementation of a semantic system are also modeled.

Berndt, Sarah↗
NASA NTRS2021

GA-ASI Final Report and Program Wrap-up for NASA System Integration and Operationalization (SIO)

The NASA SIO demonstration flight of April 3, 2020 represents a successful culmination of 18 months of coordinated effort between GA-ASI, NASA, the FAA, Collins Aerospace, and Honeywell Aerospace to operate a Medium Altitude, Long Endurance (MALE) Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) safely in the National Airspace System (NAS) using industry leading prototype technologies. The GA-ASI team consisted of technical experts, program managers, engineers, mechanics, flight technicians, flight crews, and numerous other subject matter experts. This final report describes the most significant and potentially impactful aspects of the planning, integration, test, and flight aspects of this effort. GA-ASI successfully integrated the key technologies needed for UAS to fly in the NAS onto our prototype SkyGuardian UAS, which was designed to meet the most stringent airworthiness standards applicable to an aircraft of its size category. A proven Detect and Avoid (DAA) system, developed by GA-ASI and utilizing Honeywell Aerospace technology was integrated onto SkyGuardian for the first time, along with datalink radios from Collins Aerospace that meet the new civil standard for Control and Non-Payload Communication (CNPC) links. GA-ASI also obtained approvals from the FAA and FCC to operate the reconfigured UAS. The SIO demonstration flight represented a commercial aerial surveying operation conducted at medium altitude (>10,000ft above mean sea level). The aircraft’s onboard sensors were used to capture photographic, infrared and radar imagery of public and commercial infrastructure and land, and to subsequently produce the types of data products that would provide business value to potential customers. These survey services would supplement or replace services currently provided by manned airplanes and helicopters, small drones or satellites. A “virtual” mission was also planned, to show what additional survey data could have been captured during the flight if additional sensors had been installed on the aircraft’s external hardpoints. This revision of the final report focuses on information of value to the wider UAS community, and avoids propriety data to facilitate broad dissemination. It also includes a description of GA-ASI’s engagement with the FAA following the SIO flight, which led to the award of an updated Special Airworthiness Certificate in the Experimental Category (SAC-EC) and a Certificate of Waiver or Authorization (COA) allowing operation of the SkyGuardian UAS using its DAA system to satisfy right-of-way rules, instead of a chase plane. The associated operational limitations are described to illustrate the further steps that would be needed to remove those limitations for unhindered commercial operations.

Flight demonstration↗
NASA NTRS1995

NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Paper 55: Career goals and educational preparation of aerospace engineering and science students: An international perspective

Results are presented of a survey of aerospace engineering and science students conducted in India, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The similarities and differences among aerospace engineering and science students from the five countries are examined in the context of two general aspects of educational experience. First, the extent to which students differ regarding the factors that led to the choice of a career in aerospace, their current levels of satisfaction with that choice, and career-related goals and objectives is considered. Second, the importance of certain communications/information-use skills for professional use is examined, as well as the frequency of use and importance of specific information sources and products to meet students' educational needs. Overall, the students who participated in this research remain relatively happy with the choice of a career in aerospace engineering, despite pessimism in some quarters about the future of the industry. Regardless of national identity, aerospace engineering and science students appear to share a similar vision of the profession in terms of their career goals and aspirations. The data also indicate that aerospace engineering and science students are well aware of the importance of communications/information-use skills to professional success and that competency in these skills will help them to be productive members of their profession. Collectively, all of the students appear to use and value similar information sources and products, although some differences appear by country.

Pinelli, Thomas E.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Storage of Physical Sample Metadata in the Astrobiology Habitable Environments Database (AHED)

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has begun an effort to store, curate, and publish information about physical samples collected and analyzed in conjunction with NASA-funded astrobiology research. Astrobiology is a multidisciplinary area of scientific research being conducted by collaborating teams of biologists, chemists, geologists, atmospheric scientists, oceanographers, astrophysicists, astronomers, and other specialists. Astrobiology studies the origin, evolution, and distribution of life in the Universe. NASA uses the results of astrobiology research to focus its future missions on targets of opportunity for the discovery of life off Earth. Astrobiology researchers conduct both field-based and laboratory-based research, during which physical samples are collected, processed, and catalogued. The cataloguing practices employed by different teams of astrobiologists vary widely, and there are no specific standards available to guide the collection and recording of astrobiology sample data. The disparity in data collection approaches and the lack of a centralized sample repository makes it difficult for astrobiology teams to share data and benefit from resultant synergies.To facilitate data sharing within the astrobiology community, NASA is developing a prototype database the Astrobiology Habitable Environments Database (AHED) and an associated set of data collection templates. The database will store information about samples, along with associated measurements and analyses, including information about biological cultures enriched or isolated from samples, and the results of analyses performed on the samples (e.g., via spectrography, microscopy, etc.). In addition, the system will store contextual information about field sites where samples were collected, the instruments or equipment used for analysis, and people and institutions involved in their collection. AHED is being implemented on top of Open Data Repository's Data Publisher [1], an open source software platform for the publication of scientific datasets. The data collection templates under development represent an initial attempt to propose a set of metadata for capture and storage within AHED. The design of these templates is being conducted by a consolidated group of astrobiologists from active research teams at NASA Ames Research Center, assisted by data science and software engineering specialists. These initial templates must be vetted with the broader astrobiology community through a defined process to ensure that they meet community needs. Each template captures a different type of data collection record. For each template, we are developing a list of fields to be captured, including a set of required entry fields, a set of recommended but optional fields, and a set of discretionary fields. A datatype selected from a variety of text and numeric types is specified for each field. Included is a 'choice' type that restricts user input to an enumerated list of values. Many of the fields and field values capture information of particular interest to the astrobiology community, and are intended to facilitate search and retrieval of relevant data across multiple datasets.

Keller, Rich↗
NASA NTRS1972

Recent statistical methods for orientation data

The application of statistical methods for determining the areas of animal orientation and navigation are discussed. The method employed is limited to the two-dimensional case. Various tests for determining the validity of the statistical analysis are presented. Mathematical models are included to support the theoretical considerations and tables of data are developed to show the value of information obtained by statistical analysis.

Batschelet, E.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Vegetation mapping from ERTS imagery of the Okavango Delta

The Okavango is Botswana's major water resource. The present study has been specifically directed at mapping vegetation types within the delta and generally concerned with finding what information of value to plant and animal ecologists could be extracted from the imagery. To date it has been found that. (1) It is possible to map broad vegetation types from the imagery. (2) Imagery of the delta records the state of the system in a manner which will facilitate long-term studies of plant succession. (3) Phenological events can be detected. (4) The imagery can be used to detect and map wild fires. This will be useful in determining the role of fire in the ecology of the region. Using the imagery it is thus possible to map existing vegetation and monitor both short and long-term changes.

Willamson, D. T.↗
NASA NTRS1974

A Simulation Model for Studying Effects of Pollution and Freshwater Inflow on Secondary Productivity in an Ecosystem

A mathematical model of an ecosystem is developed. Secondary productivity is evaluated in terms of man related and controllable factors. Information from an existing physical parameters model is used as well as pertinent biological measurements. Predictive information of value to estuarine management is presented. Biological, chemical, and physical parameters measured in order to develop models of ecosystems are identified.

Johnson, R. W.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Economic evaluation: Concepts, selected studies, system costs, and a proposed program

The more usual approaches to valuing crop information are reviewed and an integrated approach is recommended. Problems associated with implementation are examined. What has already been accomplished in the economic evaluation of LACIE-type information is reported including various studies of benefits. The costs of the existing and proposed systems are considered. A method and approach is proposed for further studies.

Osterhoudt, F. H.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Are sulfur isotope ratios sufficient to determine the antiquity of sulfate reduction

Possible limitations on the use of sulfur isotope ratios in sedimentary sulfides to infer the evolution of microbial sulfate reduction are discussed. Current knowledge of the ways in which stable sulfur isotope ratios are altered by chemical and biological processes is examined, with attention given to the marine sulfur cycle involving various microbial populations, and sulfur reduction processes, and it is noted that satisfactory explanations of sulfur isotope ratios observed in live organisms and in sediments are not yet available. It is furthermore pointed out that all members of the same genus of sulfate reducing bacteria do not always fractionate sulfur to the same extent, that the extent of sulfur fractionation by many sulfate-reducing organisms has not yet been determined, and that inorganic processes can also affect sulfur isotope fractionation values. The information currently available is thus concluded to be insufficient to determine the time of initial appearance of biological sulfate reduction.

Ashendorf, D.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Pattern recognition for remote sensing - Progress and prospects

An overview is given of the current state of automatic image pattern recognition as applied to remote sensing of the earth's resources. The framework for the discussion is provided by four important aspects of the remote sensing problem: scene information content, characterization of scene information, information extraction methods, and the net value of extractable information. Outstanding problems are surveyed, as are the prospects for future developments. The effect of increasingly complex data bases and the rapidly evolving digital computer technology are highlighted.

Swain, P. H.↗
NASA NTRS1982

A discussion of image sharpness

The image sharpness problem is discussed in terms of a scene which is viewed by a sensor. The sensor has some sort of function which is a nonpoint observing function, and it's a function that gathers energy from some region around a point in the scene. That energy is integrated and is contributed to each point or each sample that is taken of the scene. The samples become the pixels, and the pixels are assembled together into the digital image. Each one has some blurr or some of what is called the point's spread function creating the value of information or data that is seen in each pixel. Then the sensor and electronic part of the system acts on that signal out of the sensor and perhaps adds more blurring, more loss of resolution to the system. Finally, sampling and quantization of the data produce their effects. The signal is sampled at some rate and the digital image is created from that. The sampling or digitizing process puts the continuous voltage into a number of discrete binary levels, and another error is introduced there.

Anuta, P.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Displaying Force and Torque of A Manipulator

Display combines bar charts, vector diagrams, and numerical values to inform operator of forces and torques exerted by end effector of manipulator. On voice or keyboard command, eight-channel strip-chart recorder traces force and torque components and claw position of raw measurements from eight strain gage sensors in end effector. Especially helpful when operator's view of end effector is obscured.

Bejczy, A. K.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Thermal-mechanical fatigue crack growth in Inconel X-750

Thermal-mechanical fatigue crack growth (TMFCG) was studied in a gamma-gamma' nickel base superalloy Inconel X-750 under controlled load amplitude in the temperature range from 300 to 650 C. In-phase (T sub max at sigma sub max), out-of-phase (T sub min at sigma sub max), and isothermal tests at 650 C were performed on single-edge notch bars under fully reversed cyclic conditions. A dc electrical potential method was used to measure crack length. The electrical potential response obtained for each cycle of a given wave form and R value yields information on crack closure and crack extension per cycle. The macroscopic crack growth rates are reported as a function of delta k and the relative magnitude of the TMFCG are discussed in the light of the potential drop information and of the fractographic observations.

Marchand, N.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Thermal-mechanical fatigue crack growth in Inconel X-750

Thermal-mechanical fatigue crack growth (TMFCG) was studied in a 'gamma-gamma' nickel base superalloy Inconel X-750 under controlled load amplitude in the temperature range from 300 to 650 C. In-phase (T sub max at sigma sub max), out-of-phase (T sub min at sigma sub max), and isothermal tests at 650 C were performed on single-edge notch bars under fully reversed cyclic conditions. A dc electrical potential method was used to measure crack length. The electrical potential response obtained for each cycle of a given wave form and R value yields information on crack closure and crack extension per cycle. The macroscopic crack growth rates are reported as a function of delta k and the relative magnitude of the TMFCG are discussed in the light of the potential drop information and of the fractographic observations.

Marchand, N.↗
NASA NTRS1990

[NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Paper 1:] The value of Scientific and Technical Information (STI), its relationship to Research and Development (R&D), and its use by US aerospace engineers and scientists

The relationship between scientific and technical information (STI), its use by aerospace engineers and scientists, and the aerospace R&D process is examined. Data are presented from studies of the role of STI in the performance and management of R&D activities and the behavior of engineers when using and seeking information. Consideration is given to the information sources used to solve technical problems, the production and use of technical communications, and the use of libraries, technical information centers, and on-line data bases.

Pinelli, Thomas E.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Test results on parabolic dish concentrators for solar thermal power systems

This paper presents results of development testing of various solar thermal parabolic dish concentrators. The concentrators were mostly designed for the production of electric power using dish-mounted Rankine, Brayton or Stirling cycle engines, intended to be produced at low cost. Measured performance for various dishes included optical efficiencies ranging from 0.32 to 0.86 at a geometric concentration ratio of 500, and from about 0.09 to 0.85 at a geometric concentration ratio of 3000. Some malfunctions were observed. The tests should provide operating information of value in developing concentrators with improved performance and reduced maintenance.

Jaffe, Leonard D.↗
NASA NTRS1990

An improved approach for flight readiness assessment

An improved methodology for quantitatively evaluating failure risk for a spaceflight system in order to assess flight readiness is presented. This methodology is of particular value when information relevant to failure prediction, including test experience and knowledge of parameters used in engineering analyses of failure phenomena, is limited. In this approach, engineering analysis models that characterize specific failure modes based on the physics and mechanics of the failure phenomena are used in a prescribed probabilistic structure to generate a failure probability distribution that is modified by test and flight experience in a Bayesian statistical procedure. The probabilistic structure and statistical methodology are generally applicable to any failure mode for which quantitative engineering analysis can be employed to characterize the failure phenomenon and are particularly well suited for use under the constraints on information availability that are typical of such spaceflight systems as the Space Shuttle and planetary spacecraft.

Moore, N. R.↗
NASA NTRS1992

An improved approach for flight readiness certification: Methodology for failure risk assessment and application examples, volume 1

An improved methodology for quantitatively evaluating failure risk of spaceflight systems to assess flight readiness and identify risk control measures is presented. This methodology, called Probabilistic Failure Assessment (PFA), combines operating experience from tests and flights with engineering analysis to estimate failure risk. The PFA methodology is of particular value when information on which to base an assessment of failure risk, including test experience and knowledge of parameters used in engineering analyses of failure phenomena, is expensive or difficult to acquire. The PFA methodology is a prescribed statistical structure in which engineering analysis models that characterize failure phenomena are used conjointly with uncertainties about analysis parameters and/or modeling accuracy to estimate failure probability distributions for specific failure modes. These distributions can then be modified, by means of statistical procedures of the PFA methodology, to reflect any test or flight experience. Conventional engineering analysis models currently employed for design of failure prediction are used in this methodology. The PFA methodology is described and examples of its application are presented. Conventional approaches to failure risk evaluation for spaceflight systems are discussed, and the rationale for the approach taken in the PFA methodology is presented. The statistical methods, engineering models, and computer software used in fatigue failure mode applications are thoroughly documented.

Moore, N. R.↗