Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “technology specification”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 577 records · Page 32
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1979

Alternative jet aircraft fuels

Potential changes in jet aircraft fuel specifications due to shifts in supply and quality of refinery feedstocks are discussed with emphasis on the effects these changes would have on the performance and durability of aircraft engines and fuel systems. Combustion characteristics, fuel thermal stability, and fuel pumpability at low temperature are among the factors considered. Combustor and fuel system technology needs for broad specification fuels are reviewed including prevention of fuel system fouling and fuel system technology for fuels with higher freezing points.

Grobman, J.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Wide-Bandgap CIAS Thin-film Photovoltaics with Transparent Back Contacts for Next-Generation Single and Multijunction Devices

Future spacecraft and high-altitude airship (HAA) technologies will require high array specific power (W/kg), which can be met using thin-film photovoltaics (PV) on lightweight and flexible substrates. It has been calculated that the thin-film array technology, including the array support structure, begins to exceed the specific power of crystalline multi-junction arrays when the thin-film device efficiencies begin to exceed 12%. Thin-film PV devices have other advantages in that they are more easily integrated into HAA s, and are projected to be much less costly than their crystalline PV counterparts. Furthermore, it is likely that only thin-film array technology will be able to meet device specific power requirements exceeding 1 kW/kg (photovoltaic and integrated substrate/blanket mass only). Of the various thin-film technologies, single junction and radiation resistant CuInSe2 (CIS) and associated alloys with gallium, aluminum and sulfur have achieved the highest levels of thin-film device performance, with the best efficiency, reaching 19.2% under AM1.5 illumination conditions and on thick glass substrates.(3) Thus, it is anticipated that single- and tandem-junction devices with flexible substrates and based on CIS and related alloys could achieve the highest levels of thin-film space and HAA solar array performance.

Woods, Lawrence M.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Development of Li-Metal Battery Cell Chemistries at NASA Glenn Research Center

State-of-the-Art lithium-ion battery technology is limited by specific energy and thus not sufficiently advanced to support the energy storage necessary for aerospace needs, such as all-electric aircraft and many deep space NASA exploration missions. In response to this technological gap, our research team at NASA Glenn Research Center has been active in formulating concepts and developing testing hardware and components for Li-metal battery cell chemistries. Lithium metal anodes combined with advanced cathode materials could provide up to five times the specific energy versus state-of-the-art lithium-ion cells (1000 Whkg versus 200 Whkg). Although Lithium metal anodes offer very high theoretical capacity, they have not been shown to successfully operate reversibly.

battery↗
NASA NTRS1981

Investigation of air transportation technology at Ohio University, 1980

Specific configurations of first and second order all digital phase locked loops were analyzed for both ideal and additive gaussian noise inputs. In addition, a design for a hardware digital phase locked loop capable of either first or second order operation was evaluated along with appropriate experimental data obtained from testing of the hardware loop. All parameters chosen for the analysis and the design of the digital phase locked loop were consistent with an application to an Omega navigation receiver although neither the analysis nor the design are limited to this application. For all cases tested, the experimental data showed close agreement with the analytical results indicating that the Markov chain model for first and second order digital phase locked loops are valid.

Mcfarland, R. H.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Technology Transfer: Marketing Tomorrow's Technology

The globalization of the economy and the end of the Cold War have triggered many changes in the traditional practices of U.S. industry. To effectively apply the resources available to the United States, the federal government has firmly advocated a policy of technology transfer between private industry and government labs, in this case the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin is a strong proponent of this policy and has organized technology transfer or commercialization programs at each of the NASA field centers. Here at Langley Research Center, the Technology Applications Group (TAG) is responsible for facilitating the transfer of Langley developed research and technology to U.S. industry. Entering the program, I had many objectives for my summer research with TAG. Certainly, I wanted to gain a more thorough understanding of the concept of technology transfer and Langley's implementation of a system to promote it to both the Langley community and the community at large. Also, I hoped to become more familiar with Langley's research capabilities and technology inventory available to the public. More specifically, I wanted to learn about the technology transfer process at Langley. Because my mentor is a member of Materials and Manufacturing marketing sector of the Technology Transfer Team, another overriding objective for my research was to take advantage of his work and experience in materials research to learn about the Advanced Materials Research agency wide and help market these developments to private industry. Through the various projects I have been assigned to work on in TAG, I have successfully satisfied the majority of these objectives. Work on the Problem Statement Process for TAG as well as the development of the Advanced Materials Research Brochure have provided me with the opportunity to learn about the technology transfer process from the outside looking in and the inside looking out. Because TAG covers all of the research efforts conducted at Langley, my studies with TAG were ab!e to provide me an excellent overview of Langley's contribution to the aeronautics industry.

Tcheng, Erene↗
NASA NTRS1994

Aerogels in Space-Based Applications

Aerogel materials have two major space applications. Aerogels have already been used in Shuttle-based experiments to capture micrometeorites for earth-based investigation of the captured particles. To exploit the well-known low thermal conductivity of these materials, the use of aerogels for thermal insulation of spacecraft is under investigation. This paper will draw on published information about aerogels and other materials, and will include only noncritical technology. No discussion will be included of specific chemical processing techniques or of advanced, technologically critical concepts.

White, Susan M.↗
NASA NTRS2003

The Implementation of Advanced Solar Array Technology in Future NASA Missions

Advanced solar array technology is expected to be critical in achieving the mission goals on many future NASA space flight programs. Current PV cell development programs offer significant potential and performance improvements. However, in order to achieve the performance improvements promised by these devices, new solar array structures must be designed and developed to accommodate these new PV cell technologies. This paper will address the use of advanced solar array technology in future NASA space missions and specifically look at how newer solar cell technologies impact solar array designs and overall power system performance.

Piszczor, Michael F.↗
NASA NTRS2017

An Overview of Communications Technology and Development Efforts for 2015 SBIR Phase I

This report highlights innovative SBIR 2015 Phase I projects specifically addressing areas in Communications Technology and Development which is one of six core competencies at NASA Glenn Research Center. There are fifteen technologies featured with emphasis on a wide spectrum of applications such as novel solid state lasers for space-based water vapor dial; wide temperature, high voltage and energy density capacitors for aerospace exploration; instrument for airborne measurement of carbonyl sulfide; high-power tunable seed laser for methane Lidar transmitter; ROC-rib deployable ka-band antenna for nanosatellites; a SIC-based microcontroller for high-temperature in-situ instruments and systems; improved yield, performance and reliability of high-actuator-count deformable mirrors; embedded multifunctional optical sensor system; switching electronics for space-based telescopes with advanced AO systems; integrated miniature DBR laser module for Lidar instruments; and much more. Each article in this booklet describes an innovation, technical objective, and highlights NASA commercial and industrial applications. space-based water vapor dial; wide temperature, high voltage and energy density capacitors foraerospace exploration; instrument for airborne measurement of carbonyl sulfide; high-power tunable seed laser formethane Lidar transmitter; ROC-rib deployable ka-band antenna for nanosatellites.

space-based water vapor dial; wide temperature↗
NASA NTRS1977

Applications of aerospace technology to petroleum extraction and reservoir engineering

Through contacts with the petroleum industry, the petroleum service industry, universities and government agencies, important petroleum extraction problems were identified. For each problem, areas of aerospace technology that might aid in its solution were also identified, where possible. Some of the problems were selected for further consideration. Work on these problems led to the formulation of specific concepts as candidate for development. Each concept is addressed to the solution of specific extraction problems and makes use of specific areas of aerospace technology.

Jaffe, L. D.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Massively parallel neurocomputing for aerospace applications

An innovative hybrid, analog-digital charge-domain technology, for the massively parallel VLSI implementation of certain large scale matrix-vector operations, has recently been introduced. It employs arrays of Charge Coupled/Charge Injection Device cells holding an analog matrix of charge, which process digital vectors in parallel by means of binary, non-destructive charge transfer operations. The impact of this technology on massively parallel processing is discussed. Fundamentally new classes of algorithms, specifically designed for this emerging technology, as applied to signal processing, are derived.

Fijany, Amir↗
NASA NTRS2000

ACTS: Technology Description and Results

The ACTS Project was originated at NASA Glenn Research Center in the early 1980's to sponsor the development and application of technology that was intended to be used by the private sector. The program was formulated with the underlying philosophy of maintaining US leadership in satellite communications while focusing technology development for efficient use of the frequency spectrum. This report chronicles the execution and results of the program from the perspective of its technology managers, from inception through hardware and system development to on-orbit experiments and demonstrations of the technology. The first eight sections of the report discuss programmatic background, the specific satellite and ground terminal technology and the results generated by the program including industry relevance. A federally funded program of this type attracted strong advocates and adversaries and the resulting impact on the project schedule is also discussed. The last two sections are a list of useful acronyms and extensive references.

Gedney, Richard T.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Multidisciplinary Design Optimization Techniques: Implications and Opportunities for Fluid Dynamics Research

A challenge for the fluid dynamics community is to adapt to and exploit the trend towards greater multidisciplinary focus in research and technology. The past decade has witnessed substantial growth in the research field of Multidisciplinary Design Optimization (MDO). MDO is a methodology for the design of complex engineering systems and subsystems that coherently exploits the synergism of mutually interacting phenomena. As evidenced by the papers, which appear in the biannual AIAA/USAF/NASA/ISSMO Symposia on Multidisciplinary Analysis and Optimization, the MDO technical community focuses on vehicle and system design issues. This paper provides an overview of the MDO technology field from a fluid dynamics perspective, giving emphasis to suggestions of specific applications of recent MDO technologies that can enhance fluid dynamics research itself across the spectrum, from basic flow physics to full configuration aerodynamics.

Zang, Thomas A.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Ceramic Powders

In developing its product line of specialty ceramic powders and related products for government and industrial customers, including companies in the oil, automotive, electronics and nuclear industries, Advanced Refractory Technologies sought technical assistance from NERAC, Inc. in specific areas of ceramic materials and silicon technology, and for assistance in identifying possible applications of these materials in government programs and in the automotive and electronics industry. NERAC conducted a computerized search of several data bases and provided extensive information in the subject areas requested. NERAC's assistance resulted in transfer of technologies that helped ART staff develop a unique method for manufacture of ceramic materials to precise customer specifications.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2007

Exploration of CIGAS Alloy System for Thin-Film Photovoltaics on Novel Lightweight and Flexible Substrates

Thin-film photovoltaics (TFPV) on lightweight and flexible substrates offer the potential for very high solar array specific power (W/kg). ITN Energy Systems, Inc. (ITN) is developing flexible TFPV blanket technology that has potential for specific power greater than 2000 W/kg (including space coatings) that could result in solar array specific power between 150 and 500 W/kg, depending on array size, when mated with mechanical support structures specifically designed to take advantage of the lightweight and flexible substrates.(1) This level of specific power would far exceed the current state of the art for spacecraft PV power generation, and meet the needs for future spacecraft missions.(2) Furthermore the high specific power would also enable unmanned aircraft applications and balloon or high-altitude airship (HAA) applications, in addition to modular and quick deploying tents for surface assets or lunar base power, as a result of the high power density (W/sq m) and ability to be integrated into the balloon, HAA or tent fabric. ITN plans to achieve the high specific power by developing single-junction and two-terminal monolithic tandem-junction PV cells using thin-films of high-efficiency and radiation resistant CuInSe2 (CIS) partnered with bandgap-tunable CIS-alloys with Ga (CIGS) or Al (CIAS) on novel lightweight and flexible substrates. Of the various thin-film technologies, single-junction and radiation resistant CIS and associated alloys with gallium, aluminum and sulfur have achieved the highest levels of TFPV device performance, with the best efficiency reaching 19.5% under AM1.5 illumination conditions and on thick glass substrates.(3) Thus, it is anticipated that single- and tandem-junction devices with flexible substrates and based on CIS and related alloys will achieve the highest levels of thin-film space and HAA solar array performance.

Woods, Lawrence M.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Development and Characterization of High-Efficiency, High-Specific Impulse Xenon Hall Thrusters

This dissertation presents research aimed at extending the efficient operation of 1600 s specific impulse Hall thruster technology to the 2000 to 3000 s range. Motivated by previous industry efforts and mission studies, the aim of this research was to develop and characterize xenon Hall thrusters capable of both high-specific impulse and high-efficiency operation. During the development phase, the laboratory-model NASA 173M Hall thrusters were designed and their performance and plasma characteristics were evaluated. Experiments with the NASA-173M version 1 (v1) validated the plasma lens magnetic field design. Experiments with the NASA 173M version 2 (v2) showed there was a minimum current density and optimum magnetic field topography at which efficiency monotonically increased with voltage. Comparison of the thrusters showed that efficiency can be optimized for specific impulse by varying the plasma lens. During the characterization phase, additional plasma properties of the NASA 173Mv2 were measured and a performance model was derived. Results from the model and experimental data showed how efficient operation at high-specific impulse was enabled through regulation of the electron current with the magnetic field. The electron Hall parameter was approximately constant with voltage, which confirmed efficient operation can be realized only over a limited range of Hall parameters.

Hofer, Richard R.↗
NASA NTRS2021

Report on Workshop on Artificial Intelligence in Strategic Planning and Science Prioritization

This report details the observations from a two-day virtual workshop, held May 12-13, 2020, focused on whether, and how, artificial intelligence (AI) could assist humans in strategic planning, specifically in science and technology prioritization. The participants identified several “key challenges” that AI might tackle in this area. To further understand the value of these key challenges the workshop then developed related test cases that would demonstrate specifically how AI/machine learning (ML) could provide assistance to humans. Approximately 40 subject matter experts (SMEs), with backgrounds in AI, strategic planning for science, and scientific data, were gathered for the conference. This report collates the details of the output of the workshop. The “best” test cases include (in no particular order):Use of AI to assist in selecting Decadal Survey priorities. * Use of AI to identify new, or previously unidentified, science topics for prioritization. * Using AI to better label and increase discoverability of scientific literature and proposals. * Use of AI to enhance current observation capabilities for scientific missions. * Using AI to mitigate biases in selection of proposal reviewers and membership of advisory committees. Examination of these test cases indicates that Natural Language Processing (NLP) is a common capability found in most of the ”best” (top-rated) test cases and is a valuable, multi-purpose tool which enables ML in this area.

strategic planning↗
NASA NTRS1995

Monolithically interconnected GaAs solar cells: A new interconnection technology for high voltage solar cell output

Photovoltaic linear concentrator arrays can benefit from high performance solar cell technologies being developed at AstroPower. Specifically, these are the integration of thin GaAs solar cell and epitaxial lateral overgrowth technologies with the application of monolithically interconnected solar cell (MISC) techniques. This MISC array has several advantages which make it ideal for space concentrator systems. These are high system voltage, reliable low cost monolithically formed interconnections, design flexibility, costs that are independent of array voltage, and low power loss from shorts, opens, and impact damage. This concentrator solar cell will incorporate the benefits of light trapping by growing the device active layers over a low-cost, simple, PECVD deposited silicon/silicon dioxide Bragg reflector. The high voltage-low current output results in minimal 12R losses while properly designing the device allows for minimal shading and resistance losses. It is possible to obtain open circuit voltages as high as 67 volts/cm of solar cell length with existing technology. The projected power density for the high performance device is 5 kW/m for an AMO efficiency of 26% at 1 5X. Concentrator solar cell arrays are necessary to meet the power requirements of specific mission platforms and can supply high voltage power for electric propulsion systems. It is anticipated that the high efficiency, GaAs monolithically interconnected linear concentrator solar cell array will enjoy widespread application for space based solar power needs. Additional applications include remote man-portable or ultra-light unmanned air vehicle (UAV) power supplies where high power per area, high radiation hardness and a high bus voltage or low bus current are important. The monolithic approach has a number of inherent advantages, including reduced cost per interconnect and increased reliability of array connections. There is also a high potential for a large number of consumer products. Dual-use applications can include battery chargers and remote power supplies for consumer electronics products such as portable telephones/beepers, portable radios, CD players, dashboard radar detectors, remote walkway lighting, etc.

Dinetta, L. C.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Software productivity improvement through software engineering technology

It has been estimated that NASA expends anywhere from 6 to 10 percent of its annual budget on the acquisition, implementation and maintenance of computer software. Although researchers have produced numerous software engineering approaches over the past 5-10 years; each claiming to be more effective than the other, there is very limited quantitative information verifying the measurable impact htat any of these technologies may have in a production environment. At NASA/GSFC, an extended research effort aimed at identifying and measuring software techniques that favorably impact productivity of software development, has been active over the past 8 years. Specific, measurable, software development technologies have been applied and measured in a production environment. Resulting software development approaches have been shown to be effective in both improving quality as well as productivity in this one environment.

Mcgarry, F. E.↗