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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 559 records · Page 31
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2016

Launch Lock Mechanism for Resource Prospector Rover

The Resource Prospector Rover is being designed to carry the RESOLVE (Regolith Environment Science, and Oxygen Lunar Volatile Extraction) payload on a mission to the Moon to prospect for water ice. This is a joint project between KSC Swamp Works UB-R1 and JSC. JSC is building the Resource Prospector 2015 (RP15) rover and KSC designed and fabricated a Launch-Lock (LL) hold down mechanism for the rover. The LL mechanism will attach and support the rover on a Lunar Lander during launch and transit to the moon, then release the RP15 rover after touchdown on the lunar surface. This report presents the design and development of the LL mechanism and its unique features which make it suitable for this lunar exploration mission. An EDU (engineering development unit) prototype of the LL has been built and tested at KSC which is the subject of this paper.

Lunar Lander↗
NASA NTRS1999

Gulf of Mexico Helicopter Offshore System Technologies Engineering Needs Assessment

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), in partnership with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), is conducting a research and development program to modernize the National Airspace System (NAS). The mission of NASA's Advanced Air Transportation Technologies (AATT) project is to develop advanced Air Traffic Management (ATM) concepts and decision support tools for eventual deployment and implementation by the FAA and the private sector. One major objective of the NASA AATT project is to understand and promote the needs of all user classes. The Gulf of Mexico (GoMex) airspace has unique needs. A large number of helicopters operate in this area with only limited surveillance and sometimes-severe environmental conditions. Thunderstorms are the most frequent weather hazard during the spring, summer, and fall. In winter, reduced hours of daylight, low ceilings, strong winds, and icing conditions may restrict operations. Hurricanes impose the most severe weather hazard. The hurricane season, from June through October, normally requires at least one mass evacuation of all offshore platforms.

Edmund J. Koenke↗
NASA NTRS1974

Applicability of NASA (ARC) two-segment approach procedures to Boeing Aircraft

An engineering study to determine the feasibility of applying the NASA (ARC) two-segment approach procedures and avionics to the Boeing fleet of commercial jet transports is presented. This feasibility study is concerned with the speed/path control and systems compability aspects of the procedures. Path performance data are provided for representative Boeing 707/727/737/747 passenger models. Thrust margin requirements for speed/path control are analyzed for still air and shearing tailwind conditions. Certification of the two-segment equipment and possible effects on existing airplane certification are discussed. Operational restrictions on use of the procedures with current autothrottles and in icing or reported tailwind conditions are recommended. Using the NASA/UAL 727 procedures as a baseline, maximum upper glide slopes for representative 707/727/737/747 models are defined as a starting point for further study and/or flight evaluation programs.

Allison, R. L.↗
NASA NTRS2004

GFO Altimeter Engineering Assessment Report. Update: The First 65 Cycles Since Acceptance, November 29, 2000 to December 9, 2003, Version 1

The U.S. Navy's Geosat Follow-On (GFO) Mission, launched February 10, 1998, is one of a series of altimetric satellites which include Seasat, Geosat, ERS-1, and TOPEX/POSEIDON (T/P). The purpose of this report is to document the GFO altimeter performance determined from the analyses and results performed by NASA's GSFC and Wallops altimeter calibration team. It is the fourth of an anticipated series of NASA's GSFC and Wallops GFO performance documents, each of which will update assessment results. This report covers the performance from instrument acceptance by the Navy on November 29, 2000, to the end of Cycle 65 on December 9, 2003. Data derived from GFO will lead to improvements in the knowledge of ocean circulation, ice sheet topography, and climate change. In order to capture the maximum amount of information from the GFO data, accurate altimeter calibrations are required for the civilian data set which NOAA will produce. Wallops Flight Facility has provided similar products for the Geosat and T/P missions and is doing the same for GFO.

Hancock, D. W., III↗
NASA NTRS1997

Director's Discretionary Fund Report for Fiscal Year 1996

Topics covered include: Waterproofing the Space Shuttle tiles, thermal protection system for Reusable Launch Vehicles, computer modeling of the thermal conductivity of cometary ice, effects of ozone depletion and ultraviolet radiation on plants, a novel telemetric biosensor to monitor blood pH on-line, ion mobility in polymer electrolytes for lithium-polymer batteries, a microwave-pumped far infrared photoconductor, and a new method for measuring cloud liquid vapor using near infrared remote sensing. Also included: laser-spectroscopic instrument for turbulence measurement, remote sensing of aircraft contrails using a field portable imaging interferometer, development of a silicon-micromachined gas chromatography system for determination of planetary surface composition, planar Doppler velocimetry, chaos in interstellar chemistry, and a limited pressure cycle engine for high-speed output.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2004

NASA Tech Briefs, June 2004

Topics covered include: COTS MEMS Flow-Measurement Probes; Measurement of an Evaporating Drop on a Reflective Substrate; Airplane Ice Detector Based on a Microwave Transmission Line; Microwave/Sonic Apparatus Measures Flow and Density in Pipe; Reducing Errors by Use of Redundancy in Gravity Measurements; Membrane-Based Water Evaporator for a Space Suit; Compact Microscope Imaging System with Intelligent Controls; Chirped-Superlattice, Blocked-Intersubband QWIP; Charge-Dissipative Electrical Cables; Deep-Sea Video Cameras Without Pressure Housings; RFID and Memory Devices Fabricated Integrally on Substrates; Analyzing Dynamics of Cooperating Spacecraft; Spacecraft Attitude Maneuver Planning Using Genetic Algorithms; Forensic Analysis of Compromised Computers; Document Concurrence System; Managing an Archive of Images; MPT Prediction of Aircraft-Engine Fan Noise; Improving Control of Two Motor Controllers; Electro-deionization Using Micro-separated Bipolar Membranes; Safer Electrolytes for Lithium-Ion Cells; Rotating Reverse-Osmosis for Water Purification; Making Precise Resonators for Mesoscale Vibratory Gyroscopes; Robotic End Effectors for Hard-Rock Climbing; Improved Nutation Damper for a Spin-Stabilized Spacecraft; Exhaust Nozzle for a Multitube Detonative Combustion Engine; Arc-Second Pointer for Balloon-Borne Astronomical Instrument; Compact, Automated Centrifugal Slide-Staining System; Two-Armed, Mobile, Sensate Research Robot; Compensating for Effects of Humidity on Electronic Noses; Brush/Fin Thermal Interfaces; Multispectral Scanner for Monitoring Plants; Coding for Communication Channels with Dead-Time Constraints; System for Better Spacing of Airplanes En Route; Algorithm for Training a Recurrent Multilayer Perceptron; Orbiter Interface Unit and Early Communication System; White-Light Nulling Interferometers for Detecting Planets; and Development of Methodology for Programming Autonomous Agents.

Source record↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

The Gandalf Staff: A Mobile Tool for Lunar Exploration (2nd year of development)

The Gandalf Staff is a mobile tool designed to be a flexible device supporting crewed and uncrewed operations on the lunar surface. The core of the device is a 24v battery with communications and data storage systems. Initial optional components supporting crewed Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA) include a LiDAR and 360˚ camera. These provide 3D mapping of the traverse for documentation, and to aid future planning. The mapping also creates outreach opportunities for the public to “stand beside” the astronaut in Virtual Reality (VR). The staff provides external lighting for field site illumination in the south polar region low sun angle environment. Navigation instruments for crew position determination with Lunar Search and Rescue (LunaSAR) are also included. The staff itself can be used as a walking aid or as a splint for Incapacitated Crew Rescue (ICR). As a stand-alone device, the staff operates as a long duration untended science platform collecting environmental data and sending it to a lunar base station. The stand-alone mode requires connection to an auxiliary power source (e.g. solar array) and energy storage system (e.g. battery), so it could become an electrical recharging station. To make rapid progress in the 1st year, and also to demonstrate innovative project management techniques, NASA guided a private industry partner, T STAR, in leading Capstone Engineering student teams at Texas A&M University (TAMU) for proof-of-concept development and testing. These teams developed the power system and demonstrated successful integration of LiDAR, WiFi communications, and external lighting subsystems. Another industry team at Jacobs Technology prototyped a tripod to hold the staff upright. For the 2nd year (FY’22), NASA will again collaborate with partners to prototype enhanced power and lighting concepts. Year 2 will also add new capability for LunaSAR and geophysical science instrumentation using a heat probe. The heat probe is based upon Apollo heritage but modified to measure subsurface volatile ice regimes at the Artemis landing site. Components of the Gandalf Staff can be developed, tested, and deployed independently, or on the integrated staff, rovers, or utility trailers. The project supports crew safety, lunar sample curation, mission science, and public outreach goals of NASA. PLAIN TEST SUMMARY: Gandalf Staff is a 24v battery powered mobile tool for the lunar surface supporting crewed geologic field site exploration, or as a stand-alone science platform. As a tool assisting astronauts conducting field geology, the Gandalf Staff provides external lighting to illuminate shadowed regions on the surface. It also documents the process of collecting rocks and dust samples using a LiDAR (laser range instrument) and cameras. The staff provides a beacon for emergency location of astronauts and augments communications when the astronauts are blocked by large boulders. As a standalone science platform, the Gandalf Staff provides a power system for instruments and sensors to measure the lunar environment over long periods of time. The staff gathers data and sends the results to a lunar base station for analysis.

External Lighting↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Towards Autonomous Lunar Resource Excavation via Deep Reinforcement Learning

To support sustainable infrastructure on the Moon, NASA needs to leverage lunar resources for in-situ processing and construction. NASA’s Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot (RASSOR) is principally designed to mine and deliver regolith for these tasks. To reliably perform these operations on the lunar surface, RASSOR's sensors and control systems need to be robust and maximize information extracted from a reduced sensor payload. Herein, we present our findings from the Intelligent Capabilities Enhanced RASSOR project. We created reduced-order simulation environments in which we applied reinforcement learning algorithms to learn autonomous trenching controllers and produced state estimation architectures. We developed two simulations: a 2D excavation simulation used to facilitate parameter selection, and a 3D simulation developed using a game physics engine to simulate simplified soil interactions and incorporate robotic agents parameterized by dynamic models. Within these simulations, we learned autonomous excavation routines that exceed excavation efficiency measures as compared against RASSOR's existing control and teleoperation-based methods.

RASSOR↗
NASA NTRS2023

Accessing Icy Worlds Using Lattice Confinement Fusion (LCF) Fast Fission

Exploring the oceans of icy moons and planets requires a robust robotic probe powered by an energy source that can operate under icy world ocean conditions and be self-contained. We propose a non-fissile, compact, scalable nuclear energy source to electrically power untethered, autonomous probes to melt or bore through icy world crusts. The probe can be used for planetary (i.e. Pluto, lunar (i.e., Europa), or asteroid exploration (i.e. Ceres) where ice caps are encountered. This new approach may yield a variable output fission power source with a higher performance than 238Pu and a non-fissile alternative to a highly enriched uranium (HEU) core. This approach saves uranium enrichment expense, and both HEU and 238Pu security and launch safety costs. The reactor will produce electrical power with thermal waste heat to melt through the ice crust with possible sonic assistance. This NIAC funded proposal and presentation will introduce the hybrid fusion-fission reactor concept applied to the Saturnian moon, Enceladus, explore the potential for and benefits of this new type of nuclear reactor, and discuss applying this new technology.

Icy Worlds↗
NASA NTRS2003

GFO Altimeter Engineering Assessment Report. Update: The First 43 Cycles Since Acceptance, November 29, 2000 to November 30, 2002, Version 1

The U.S. Navy's Geosat Follow-On (GFO) Mission, launched on February 20, 1998, is one of a series of altimetric satellites which include Seasat, Geosat, ERS-1, and TOPEX/POSEIDON (T/P). The purpose of this report is to document the GFO altimeter performance determined from the analyses and results performed by NASA's GSFC and Wallops altimeter, calibration team. It is the third of an anticipated series of NASA's GSFC and Wallops GFO performance documents, each of which will update assessment results. This report covers the performance from instrument acceptance by the Navy on November 29, 2000, to the end of Cycle 42 on November 30, 2002. Data derived from GFO will lead to improvements in the knowledge of ocean circulation, ice sheet topography, and climate change. In order to capture the maximum amount of information from the GFO data, accurate altimeter calibrations are required for the civilian data set which NOAA will produce. Wallops Flight Facility has provided similar products for the Geosat and T/P missions and is doing the same for GFO.

Hancock, D. W., III↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA Advanced Space Suit Pressure Garment System Status and Development Priorities 2023

This paper discusses the current focus of NASA’s Advanced Space Suit Pressure Garment Technology Development team’s efforts, the status of that work, and a summary of longer term technology development priorities and activities. The Exploration Extra-vehicular Activity Mobility Unit (xEMU) has been the team’s primary effort over the past several years. ICES papers in 2022 detailed the design of the xEMU pressure garment components. This paper outlines the design updates to the xPGS since that time. More notably, this paper documents the various tests executed with the xPGS to evaluate its performance, durability, and acceptability for microgravity and Lunar missions. An overview of ongoing and planned xEMU testing and training is provided. The PGS team’s transition from xEMU development and testing, to supporting the Exploration Extravehicular Activity Services (xEVAS) vendors is discussed. In addition, technology development efforts in coordination with the EVA and Human Surface Mobility Program (EHP), the NASA Engineering Safety Council (NESC) and the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program will be discussed in the context of supporting sustaining EVA operations on the Lunar surface over the coming decade. Finally, a brief review of longer-term pressure garment challenges and technology gaps will be presented to provide an understanding of the advanced pressure garment team’s technology investment priorities and needs.

spacesuit↗
NASA NTRS2024

GlennICE Manual 4.2.0

This manual is intended to provide the information necessary for an applications engineer to configure, compile, and execute the GlennICE software. The intent of this document is not to detail the algorithms of the software. The intent of this document is to detail how a user can interact and configure the algorithms of this software in order to produce a desired simulation.

GlennICE↗
NASA NTRS2010

McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica - A Mars Phoenix Mission Analog

The Phoenix mission (PHX; May 25 - Nov. 2, 2008) studied the north polar region of Mars (68deg N) to understand the history of water and potential for habitability. Phoenix carried with it a wet chemistry lab (WCL) capable of determining the basic solution chemistry of the soil and the pH value, a thermal and evolved-gas analyzer capable of determining the mineralogy of the soil and detecting ice, microscopes capable of seeing soil particle shapes, sizes and colors at very high resolution, and a soil probe (TECP) capable of detecting unfrozen water in the soil. PHX coincided with an international effort to study the Earth s polar regions named the International Polar Year (IPY; 2007-2008). The best known Earth analog to the Martian high-northern plains, where Phoenix landed, are the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV), Antarctica (Fig. 1). Thus, the IPY afforded a unique opportunity to study the MDV with the same foci - history of water and habitability - as PHX. In austral summer 2007, our team took engineering models of WCL and TECP into the MDV and performed analgous measurements. We also collected sterile samples and analyzed them in our home laboratories using state-of-the-art tools. While PHX was not designed to perform biologic analyses, we were able to do so with the MDV analog samples collected.

Tamppari, L. K.↗
NASA NTRS2023

NASA Advanced Space Suit Pressure Garment System Status 2023

This paper discusses the current focus of NASA’s Advanced Space Suit Pressure Garment Technology Development team’s efforts, the status of that work, and a summary of longer term technology development priorities and activities. The Exploration Extra-vehicular Activity Mobility Unit (xEMU) has been the team’s primary effort over the past several years. ICES papers in 2022 detailed the design of the xEMU pressure garment components. This paper outlines the design updates to the xPGS since that time. More notably, this paper documents the various tests executed with the xPGS to evaluate its performance, durability, and acceptability for microgravity and Lunar missions. An overview of ongoing and planned xEMU testing and training is provided. The PGS team’s transition from xEMU development and testing, to supporting the Exploration Extravehicular Activity Services (xEVAS) vendors will also be discussed. In addition, technology development efforts in coordination with the EVA and Human Surface Mobility Program (EHP), the NASA Engineering Safety Council (NESC) and the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program will be discussed in the context of supporting sustaining EVA operations on the Lunar surface over the coming decade. Finally, a brief review of longer-term pressure garment challenges and technology gaps will be presented to provide an understanding of the advanced pressure garment team’s technology investment priorities and needs.

spacesuit↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA Advanced Space Suit Pressure Garment System Status and Development Priorities 2023

This paper discusses the current focus of NASA’s Advanced Space Suit Pressure Garment Technology Development team’s efforts, the status of that work, and a summary of longer term technology development priorities and activities. The Exploration Extra-vehicular Activity Mobility Unit (xEMU) has been the team’s primary effort over the past several years. ICES papers in 2022 detailed the design of the xEMU pressure garment components. This paper outlines the design updates to the xPGS since that time. More notably, this paper documents the various tests executed with the xPGS to evaluate its performance, durability, and acceptability for microgravity and Lunar missions. An overview of ongoing and planned xEMU testing and training is provided. The PGS team’s transition from xEMU development and testing, to supporting the Exploration Extravehicular Activity Services (xEVAS) vendors will also be discussed. In addition, technology development efforts in coordination with the EVA and Human Surface Mobility Program (EHP), the NASA Engineering Safety Council (NESC) and the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program will be discussed in the context of supporting sustaining EVA operations on the Lunar surface over the coming decade. Finally, a brief review of longer-term pressure garment challenges and technology gaps will be presented to provide an understanding of the advanced pressure garment team’s technology investment priorities and needs.

spacesuit↗
DOE OSTI2025

Evaluating the Trustworthiness of Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) Methods Applied to Regression Predictions of Arctic Sea Ice Motion

Abstract Recent advances in explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) methods show promise for understanding predictions made by machine learning (ML) models. XAI explains how the input features are relevant or important for the model predictions. We train linear regression (LR) and convolutional neural network (CNN) models to make 1-day predictions of sea ice velocity in the Arctic from inputs of present-day wind velocity and previous-day ice velocity and concentration. We apply XAI methods to the CNN and compare explanations to variance explained by LR. We confirm the feasibility of using a novel XAI method [i.e., global layerwise relevance propagation (LRP)] to understand ML model predictions of sea ice motion by comparing it to established techniques. We investigate a suite of linear, perturbation-based, and propagation-based XAI methods in both local and global forms. Outputs from different explainability methods are generally consistent in showing that wind speed is the input feature with the highest contribution to ML predictions of ice motion, and we discuss inconsistencies in the spatial variability of the explanations. Additionally, we show that the CNN relies on both linear and nonlinear relationships between the inputs and uses nonlocal information to make predictions. LRP shows that wind speed over land is highly relevant for predicting ice motion offshore. This provides a framework to show how knowledge of environmental variables (i.e., wind) on land could be useful for predicting other properties (i.e., sea ice velocity) elsewhere. Significance Statement Explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) is useful for understanding predictions made by machine learning models. Our research establishes trustability in a novel implementation of an explainable AI method known as layerwise relevance propagation for Earth science applications. To do this, we provide a comparative evaluation of a suite of explainable AI methods applied to machine learning models that make 1-day predictions of Arctic sea ice velocity. We use explainable AI outputs to understand how the input features are used by the machine learning to predict ice motion. Additionally, we show that a convolutional neural network uses nonlinear and nonlocal information in making its predictions. We take advantage of the nonlocality to investigate the extent to which knowledge of wind on land is useful for predicting sea ice velocity elsewhere.

Hoffman, Lauren [Scripps Institution of Oceanograp↗
NASA NTRS1998

Subsurface Structure in the Martian Polar Layered Deposits: The Deep Space 2 Impact Accelerometry Experiment

While primarily a technology demonstration mission, the New Millenium Mars Microprobes (also known as Deep Space 2, or simply DS2)will also provide the first in situ science measurements of the martian subsurface. The DS2 impact accelerometry experiment will provide both engineering data about the depth of probe emplacement and science data about the physical nature of the subsurface at the probes' landing sites. Little is known about the detailed physical properties or small-scale vertical structure of the subsurface at the DS2 landing site in the southern martian polar layered deposits. Imaging data from the Viking Orbiters and Mars Global Surveyor reveal alternating bands of light and dark material in this region with thicknesses at least as small as the limit of resolution, about 10 m. The overall composition of these layers is poorly constrained, but generally thought to be a mixture of dust and ice with the layers being caused by variations in the dust/ice ratio, or perhaps by dust deposits of different densities. Low thermal inertias in the region suggest that the top few centimeters of the surface are composed of a mantling of fine-grained dust. However, 3.5-cm radar returns indicate that the maximum depth of this dust is not greater than a few tens of centimeters. Thermal models generally agree that, while the layered deposits do provide a potential near-surface reservoir for ice, the uppermost few centimeters to meters in these regions are likely to be ice-free because of sublimation losses. Finally, while it is generally agreed that the layered deposits are the product of variations in the martian climate, no direct correlation has been made between band sequences and specific climate changes. Our intention is to shed light on some of these questions about the martian polar layered deposits by using the DS2 accelerometry experiment to determine the physical nature of the layered deposits, and to detect the presence of any subsurface layering of dust, ice, and/or rock. In the process, we will also determine the final resting depth of the two microprobes, an important parameter in the interpretation of other DS2 experiments.

Moersch, J. E.↗
NASA NTRS2011

NASA Lunabotics Mining Competition for Universities: Results and Lessons Learned

Space Mining for resources such as water ice, and regolith, which contain many elements in the form of metals, minerals, volatiles and other compounds, is a necessary step in Space Resource Utilization. One of the primary goals is to extract propellants from the regolith such as oxygen and hydrogen which could then be used for in-space transportation. In addition, the space mining system can be used for various construction tasks that can benefit human and robotic exploration as well as scientific investigations based on the exposed topography. The National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) Lunabotics Mining Competition is a university-level competition designed to engage and retain students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). NASA will directly benefit from the competition by encouraging the development of innovative lunar excavation concepts from universities which may result in clever ideas and solutions which could be applied to an actual lunar excavation device or payload. The challenge is for students to design and build a remote controlled or autonomous excavator, called a lunabot, that can collect and deposit a minimum of 10 kilograms of lunar simulant within 15 minutes. The complexities of the challenge include the abrasive characteristics of the lunar simulant, the weight and size limitations of the lunabot, and the ability to control the lunabot from a remote control center. This paper will present the results of the first and second annual Lunabotics Mining Competitions held in May 2010 and May 2011. In 2010, 22 United States (US) universities competed, and in May 2011 the competition was opened to international participation, with 46 Universities expected to attend. There are 12 international teams and 34 US teams. This combined total directly inspired an estimated 544 university students. More students and the public were engaged via internet broadcasting and social networking media. The various designs will be cataloged and categorized to provide information to future Lunabotics mining robot designers and competitors. It is also expected to be of value for actual future space missions, as knowledge is gained from testing many innovative prototypes in simulated lunar regolith.

Mueller, Robert P.↗