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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 595 records · Page 33

Comparisons of three anti-G suit configurations during long duration, low onset, +Gz

Little physiologic data exist on the effects of long duration, low onset, hypergravity (+G). Space shuttle crewmembers are subjected to low +G forces (less than +3G) for upwards of 30 minutes during reentry. A similar reentry profile is predicted for the National Aerospace Plane (NASP). The physiologic effects of this acceleration stress are compounded by the loss of body water experienced during microgravity. Currently, a standard 5 bladder anti-G suit is being used during shuttle reentry. There have been complaints of discomfort using this suit, mainly due to the abdominal bladder. This study compared the effectiveness of three anti-G suit configurations in volume depleted subjects during a simulated space shuttle reentry profile. Methods: Seven male subjects were given intravenous Lasix in a dose from 20-40 mg to induce a total body weight loss of 3 plus or minus 1.5 percent. Approximately six hours after the injection, the subjects donned one of three anti-G suits - a standard 5 bladder anti-G suit, an extended coverage anti-G suit (the advanced technology anti-G suit or ATAGS), or an extended coverage anti-G suit without an abdominal bladder (the reentry anti-G suit or REAGS). All subjects were exposed to a simulated space shuttle reentry profile. Non-invasive eye-level blood pressure (ELBP) was monitored throughout the +G exposure. When systolic ELBP dropped below 70 mmHg, the anti-G suit was inflated in 0.5 psig increments to the pressure required to maintain 70 mmHg ELBP. Each subject rode with all three suits. Comparisons were made between the final pressure required in each suit to maintain ELBP and subjective reports of comfort. Results: The mean final suit pressure required to maintain ELBP was 1.1 psi, in both the ATAGS and REAGS versus 1.8 psi in the standard suit. In addition, the subjects rated the REAGS suit highest on the comfort scale, citing the absence of the abdominal bladder as the main reason. Conclusions: Overall, the REAGS suit was the superior anti-G suit during long duration, low onset +G. This is based on its ability to maintain ELBP and still remain comfortable when inflated for prolonged periods of time.

Stegmann, B. J.↗

High Level Architecture Distributed Space System Simulation for Simulation Interoperability Standards Organization Simulation Smackdown

Modeling and Simulation plays a very important role in mission design. It not only reduces design cost, but also prepares astronauts for their mission tasks. The SISO Smackdown is a simulation event that facilitates modeling and simulation in academia. The scenario of this year s Smackdown was to simulate a lunar base supply mission. The mission objective was to transfer Earth supply cargo to a lunar base supply depot and retrieve He-3 to take back to Earth. Federates for this scenario include the environment federate, Earth-Moon transfer vehicle, lunar shuttle, lunar rover, supply depot, mobile ISRU plant, exploratory hopper, and communication satellite. These federates were built by teams from all around the world, including teams from MIT, JSC, University of Alabama in Huntsville, University of Bordeaux from France, and University of Genoa from Italy. This paper focuses on the lunar shuttle federate, which was programmed by the USRP intern team from NASA JSC. The shuttle was responsible for provide transportation between lunar orbit and the lunar surface. The lunar shuttle federate was built using the NASA standard simulation package called Trick, and it was extended with HLA functions using TrickHLA. HLA functions of the lunar shuttle federate include sending and receiving interaction, publishing and subscribing attributes, and packing and unpacking fixed record data. The dynamics model of the lunar shuttle was modeled with three degrees of freedom, and the state propagation was obeying the law of two body dynamics. The descending trajectory of the lunar shuttle was designed by first defining a unique descending orbit in 2D space, and then defining a unique orbit in 3D space with the assumption of a non-rotating moon. Finally this assumption was taken away to define the initial position of the lunar shuttle so that it will start descending a second after it joins the execution. VPN software from SonicWall was used to connect federates with RTI during testing and the Smackdown event. HLA software from Pitch Technology and MAK Technology were used to edit and extend FOM and provide HLA services for federation execution. The SISO Smackdown event for 2011 was held in Boston, Massachusetts. The federation execution lasted for one hour, and the event was very successful in catching the attention of university students and faculties.

Li, Zuqun↗

Mars Pathfinder Spacecraft, Lander, and Rover Testing in Simulated Deep Space and Mars Surface Environments

The Mars Pathfinder (MPF) Spacecraft was built and tested at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory during 1995/96. MPF is scheduled to launch in December 1996 and to land on Mars on July 4, 1997. The testing program for MPF required subjecting the mission hardware to both deep space and Mars surface conditions. A series of tests were devised and conducted from 1/95 to 7/96 to study the thermal response of the MPF spacecraft to the environmental conditions in which it will be exposed during the cruise phase (on the way to Mars) and the lander phase (landed on Mars) of the mission. Also, several tests were conducted to study the thermal characteristics of the Mars rover, Sojourner, under Mars surface environmental conditions. For these tests, several special test fixtures and methods were devised to simulate the required environmental conditions. Creating simulated Mars surface conditions was a challenging undertaking since Mars' surface is subjected to diurnal cycling between -20 C and -85 C, with windspeeds to 20 m/sec, occurring in an 8 torr CO2 atmosphere. This paper describes the MPF test program which was conducted at JPL to verify the MPF thermal design.

Johnson, Kenneth R.↗

Processing of Lunar Soil Simulant for Space Exploration Applications

NASA's long-term vision for space exploration includes developing human habitats and conducting scientific investigations on planetary bodies, especially on Moon and Mars. Processing and utilization of planetary in-situ resources is recognized as an important element of this vision since it can minimize the level of up-mass that will have to be transported from earth to the planetary bodies. Within this scope and context, we have undertaken a general effort aimed primarily at extracting and refining metals, developing glass, glass-ceramic, or traditional ceramic type materials using lunar soil simulants. In this paper we will present preliminary results on our effort on simultaneous carbothermal reduction of oxides for elemental extraction and zone refining for obtaining high purity metals. In additions we will demonstrate the possibility of developing glass fibers as reinforcement agents for planetary habitat construction, glasses for fixing nuclear waste from potential nuclear power generators, and glasses for magnetic applications. The paper will also include initial thermal characterization of the glasses produced from lunar simulant. Compositional analysis of processed samples will be presented.

Sen, Subhayu↗

Documentation of the Recirculation in a Closed-Chamber Rotor Hover Test

A rotor hover test was performed inside the JPL 25-foot-diameter Space Simulator. The 40-inch-diameter rotor was tested at two locations in the chamber-on the chamber centerline and 2m off-axis. The rotor was tested in both upright and inverted configurations for 500 < RPM < 2000. Fluorescent tufts were used to identify regions of recirculation. Velocities on the entrainment side of the rotor were measured. Tabulated values for the mean entrainment velocity components and the corresponding root mean square velocity fluctuations are provided. Unsteady velocity measurements provide a description of the turbulence ingested into the rotor plane and quantify the unsteady velocity field that the Mars Scout Helicopter can expect to encounter during free flight inside the Space Simulator.

Rotor Hover Test↗

Synergistic Development, Test, and Qualification Approaches for the Ares I and V Launch Vehicles

The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration is designing and developing the Ares I and Ares V launch vehicles for access to the International Space Station (ISS) and human exploration of the Moon. The Ares I consists of a first stage reusable five-segment solid rocket booster, a upper stage using a J-2X engine derived from heritage experience (Saturn and Space Shuttle External Tank programs), and the Orion crew exploration vehicle (CEV). The Ares V is designed to minimize the development and overall life-cycle costs by leveraging off of the Ares I design. The Ares V consists of two boosters, a core stage, an earth departure stage (EDS), and a shroud. The core stage and EDS use LH2/LO2 propellants, metallic propellant tanks, and composite dry structures. The core stage has six RS-68B upgraded Delta IV engines while the EDS uses a J-2X engine for second stage ascent and trans-lunar injection (TLI) burn. System and propulsion tests and qualification approaches for Ares V elements are being considered as follow-on extensions of the Ares I development program. Following Ares I IOC, testing will be conducted to verify the J-2X engine's orbital restart and TLI burn capability. The Ares I upper stage operation will be demonstrated through integrated stage development and acceptance testing. The EDS will undergo similar development and acceptance testing with additional testing to verify aspects of cryogenic propellant management, operation of sub-systems in a space simulation environment, and orbital re-start of the main propulsion system. RS-68B certification testing will be conducted along with integrated core stage development and acceptance testing. Structural testing of the Ares V EDS and core stage propellant tanks will be conducted similar to the Ares I upper stage. The structural qualification testing may be accomplished with separate propellant tank test articles. Structural development and qualification testing of the dry structure will be pursued as part of the design and development process. Especially critical is the development test program for the composite structures. The Ares V payload shroud will undergo acoustic, vibration, structural qualification, and deployment testing in a space simulation environment. Similar to Ares I, requirements for full-scale structural dynamic testing are being studied. Both Ares I and Ares V include validation flight testing as part of the qualification programs.

Cockrell, Charles E.↗

David Florida Laboratory Thermal Vacuum Data Processing System

During 1991, the Space Simulation Facility conducted a survey to assess the requirements and analyze the merits for purchasing a new thermal vacuum data processing system for its facilities. A new, integrated, cost effective PC-based system was purchased which uses commercial off-the-shelf software for operation and control. This system can be easily reconfigured and allows its users to access a local area network. In addition, it provides superior performance compared to that of the former system which used an outdated mini-computer and peripheral hardware. This paper provides essential background on the old data processing system's features, capabilities, and the performance criteria that drove the genesis of its successor. This paper concludes with a detailed discussion of the thermal vacuum data processing system's components, features, and its important role in supporting our space-simulation environment and our capabilities for spacecraft testing. The new system was tested during the ANIK E spacecraft test, and was fully operational in November 1991.

Choueiry, Elie↗

Space Charge Simulations of High Intensity Proton Beams in the AGS Booster

Computer simulation studies have been performed to understand the beam behavior and to explore intensity limitations of proton beams in the AGS Booster at higher beam intensities. During the 100 GeV polarized proton operations of RHIC Run 2024, sPHENIX operated in modes with a crossing angle at collisions in order to mitigate beam-beam effects. Three different running modes were employed: (a) sPHENIX operated with a negative (-2 mrad) crossing angle, and STAR operated with 0 mrad. Both experiments were brought into collisions at the start of the store. (b) sPHENIX was brought into collisions with 0 mrad first. Then STAR was brought into collisions after the beam-beam parameter from sPHENIX reduced to below $10 \times 10^{-3}$. (c) sPHENIX operated with a positive (+1.5 mrad) crossing angle, and STAR operated with 0 mrad. Both experiments were brought into collisions at the start of the store. The collisions with a crossing angle of up to $\pm 2$ mrad, as in running modes (a) and (c), lead to large Piwinski angle in the new sPHENIX detector, which reduces luminosity if other parameters are unchanged. There are two ways to compensate the reduction in luminosity: squeeze $\beta^{*}$ if there is sufficient dynamic aperture, or increase the injected beam intensity. The first part of polarized proton operation during RHIC Run 2024 was dedicated to increasing the intensity. Different configurations were tested with crossing angle and lattice adjustments on RHIC. At the same time, new injector configurations were developed and tested in an effort to push for both higher intensity and better quality of the beam injected into RHIC. When the beam intensity is increased, space charge is a concern particularly in the lower energy stages of acceleration, such as during the injection and the early part of the Booster cycle, which could become a dominant effect in limiting the intensity of the beam that can be delivered to RHIC.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Study-simulation of space station dynamics

Matrix algebra translator and executor /MATE/ takes equations describing structural control system environmental interaction problem for flexible spacecraft components and loads them into self programming computer.

Gaitens, M. J.↗

Preparation, verification, and operational control of a large space-environment-simulation chamber for contamination sensitive tests

A 2-year program to prepare chamber A at the NASA Manned Spacecraft Center for Apollo telescope mount thermal-vacuum tests is discussed. This program covers modification to existing chamber systems, the development of facility and chamber operating procedures, the selection of chamber cleaning and control methods, and the development and evaluation of diagnostic instrumentation. Extensive efforts to ensure a minimum contamination environment for the Apollo telescope mount test series are illustrated. Recent thermal-vacuum tests of this chamber at progressive stages of cleanliness have demonstrated the success achieved in reducing the particulate and molecular contamination levels of the basic chamber interior.

Visentine, J. T.↗