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NASA NTRS2022

Titan In-situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) Sample Return (TISR)

Titan is unique in the outer solar system in that it is the only moon with a thick atmosphere, and the only body in the solar system outside the Earth with liquid seas on its surface. The Titanian oceans, however, are seas of liquid hydrocarbons, and the rocks on the surface are solid water ice. Like other icy Moons of the outer solar system, beneath the ice crust, Titan also has a subsurface ocean. Rodriguez et al. refer to it as the “world with two oceans”, an organic-rich body with interior-surface-atmosphere interactions that are comparable in complexity to the Earth. [1] Titan is scientifically fascinating in many ways [2], [3], [4]. The Compass Team will emphasize just one here: Titan is a high priority target for astrobiology [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]. It is a world with a surface and atmosphere rich in the complex organic compounds known as tholins. A detailed understanding of the nature of these complex compounds will require an analysis using a full laboratory on Earth. Because of its value to understanding the organic compounds of the outer solar system which may be the primordial building-blocks of life, return of samples from Titan to laboratories on Earth will be the primary goal of this mission. While this would give unprecedented science return, returning even a small sample from Titan using conventional technology would be tremendously difficult. Saturn is almost a billion miles from the Earth, about thirteen times farther than Mars. A return mission to Saturn requires such a large total-mission ∆V that, with conventional technology, the mass ratios required are prohibitive. Such a sample return would truly be “mission incredible.” But to date, a sample return mission from so distant a target has been assumed to be, not merely incredible, but mission impossible. The Compass Team has proposed [2] [12] that by manufacturing the propellant for the return to Earth using the resources available on Titan, such a mission becomes possible. The task of this report is to show that it is reasonable with credible space technology.

Titan↗

NASA NTRS2020

Mars Ascent Vehicle Hybrid Propulsion Configuration

As part of a Mars Sample Return (MSR) campaign, two Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) configurations have been designed in parallel. Each ascent vehicle configuration has a different propulsion system which ultimately leads to two unique vehicle designs. As part of a Preliminary Architecture Assessment (PAA), these vehicle designs were developed to the same level of maturity in order to inform the selection of one of the vehicles as the point of departure design for the campaign. The selection will be made in November 2019. The initial MSR architecture called for a hybrid-based propulsion MAV. This type of propulsion system calls for a solid wax motor that would utilize liquid MON-25 as an oxidizer. Hybrid rocket propulsion allows for more flexibility than traditional solid or liquid propulsion options, and typically benefits from the advantages of both. A hybrid motor can be throttled and shut down easily, and avoids significant risk in manufacturing and handling. On a theoretical level, hybrid motors perform at a higher specific impulse (Isp) than solid motors. The primary disadvantage of hybrid motors comes from additional complexity and significantly less flight heritage and low Technology Readiness Level (TRL). This paper describes the design of the hybrid propulsion configuration. An additional paper will be published describing the design of the solid propulsion configuration1. The hybrid propulsion configuration MAV was developed in 2019 by NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in association with NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). It features a Single Stage to Orbit (SSTO) design with an SP7A solid wax fuel and MON-25 liquid oxidizer. The liquid portion of the vehicle allows for a Liquid Injection Thrust Vector Controller (LITVC) as well as hypergolic propellant additives for ignition. The vehicle was designed to deliver approximately 0.31kg of Martian geological samples to a circular orbit at Mars of 343km at a 25o inclination. Although hybrid propulsion in general has been used on launch vehicles in the past, the integrated vehicle subsystems that operate in conjunction with these propulsion elements do not typically operate in a Martian environment, which in this application can get as cold as -40oC. The PAA advanced the maturity of these subsystems by performing detailed design and analysis on the vehicle with respect to structures and mechanisms, Guidance/Navigation/Control (GNC) systems, avionics, Reaction Control System (RCS), LITVC, thermal environments, and advanced Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). This paper will summarize the results of these studies.

Yaghoubi, Darius↗

NASA NTRS2014

ECTFE (HALAR) as a New Material for Primary Sample Containment of Astromaterials

Fluoropolymers, such as Teflon® (PTFE, PFA, FEP) and Viton® (FKM), have been used for over 40 years in curating astromaterials at NASA JSC. In general, fluoropolymers have low outgassing and particle shedding properties that reduce cross-contamination to curated samples. Ethylene - Chlorotrifluoroethylene (ECTFE), commonly called Halar® (trademark of Solvay Solexis), is a partially fluorinated semi-crystalline copolymer in the same class of fluoropolymers with superior abrasion resistance and extremely low permeability to liquids, gases, and vapors than any other fluoropolymer (fig. 1). ECTFE coatings are becoming more popular in the nuclear, semiconductor, and biomedical industry for lining isolation containment gloveboxes and critical piping as well as other clean room applications. A study was conducted at NASA JSC to evaluate the potential use of Halar on future sample return missions as a material for primary sample containment.

Calaway, Michael J.↗

NASA NTRS2004

Coarsening in Solid-Liquid Mixtures-2: A Materials Science Experiment for the ISS

A materials science experiment has been developed and readied for operation aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Components of this experiment are onboard ISS and area awaiting the flight of science samples. The goal of the experiment is to understand the dynamics of Ostwald ripening, also known as coarsening, a process that occurs in nearly any two-phase mixture found in nature. Attempts to obtain experimental data in ground-based laboratories are hindered due to the presence of gravity, which introduces material transport modes other than that of the coarsening phenomenon. This introduces adjustable parameters in the formulation of theory. The original Coarsening in Solid-Liquid Mixtures (CSLM) mission, which flew on the Space Shuttle in 1997, produced data from a coarsened eutectic alloy. Unfortunately, both the science matrix and the hardware, while nominally functional, did not account adequately for operations in microgravity. A significantly redesigned follow-on experiment, CSLM-2 has been developed to redress the inadequacies of the original experiment. This paper reviews the CSLM-2 project: its history, science goals, flight hardware implementation, and planned operations and analysis

Hickman, J. Mark↗

NASA NTRS1978

The recombination velocity at III-V compound heterojunctions with applications to Al (x) Ga(1-x)As-GaAs(1-y)Sb(y)

Interface recombination velocity in AlxGa1-xAs-GaAs and A10.85 Ga0.15As-GaAs1-ySby heterojunction systems was studied as a function of lattice mismatch. The results are applied to the design of highly efficient III-V heterojunction solar cells. A horizontal liquid-phase epitaxial growth system was used to prepare p-p-p and p-p-n double heterojunction test samples with specified values of x and y. Samples were grown at each composition, with different GaAs and GaAsSb layer thicknesses. A method was developed to obtain the lattice mismatch and lattice constants in mixed single crystals grown on (100) and (111)B oriented GaAs substrates.

Kim, J. S.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Melt immiscibility in Apollo 15 KREEP - Origin of Fe-rich mare basalts

Silicate liquid immiscibility (SLI) is investigated in terms of chemistry and occurrence in two KREEP-rich Apollo 15 basalts. The two samples have different cooling histories but the same composition. In the first sample, SLI occurred at the time of 58% crystallization. In the second sample, SLI occurred after 20% had crystallized. It is noted that SLI could be initiated as soon as plagioclase (out of a total composition which also included zircon, FeS, SiO2, whitlockite, and ilmenite) alone had crystallized. Attention is given to Fe-rich immiscible melts, and it is suggested that SLI may play an important role in the formation of the source regions of Fe-rich mare basalts. The analytical technique used for the assays was an energy dispersive analysis system with a resolution of 167 eV.

Hollister, L. S.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Visible and infrared linear detector arrays for the Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS)

The Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) instrument uses four separate focal plane assemblies consisting of line array detectors that are multiplexed to a common J-FET preamp using a FET switch multiplexing (MUX) technique. A 32-element silicon line array covers the spectral range from 0.41 to 0.70 microns. Three additional 64-element indium antimonide (InSb) line arrays cover the spectral range from 0.68 to 2.45 microns. The spectral sampling interval per detector element is nominally 9.8 nm, giving a total of 224 spectral channels. All focal planes operate at liquid nitrogen temperature and are housed in separate dewars. Electrical performance characteristics include a read noise of less than 1000 e(-) in all channels, response and dark nonuniformity of 5 percent peak to peak, and quantum efficiency of greater than 60 percent.

Bailey, Gary C.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Visible and infrared linear detector arrays for the Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS)

Bailey, Gary C.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Feedback controlled electrostatic and electromagnetic sample positioners

Four different sample positioners are discussed. The four systems share a common operating principle in that the sample positioning is achieved by feedback controlled forces which can be electrostatic, dielectrophoretic, or electromagnetic. The first system is the electrostatic liquid drop positioner which operates at the near ambient position. The second system is the tetrahedral electrostatic positioner which is being developed for the high temperature materials processing in vacuum. The third system is essentially the the same tetrahedral system above except that the position control is achieved by dielectrophoretic forces in the pressurized gas environment. Finally, the feasibility of a feedback controlled electromagnetic positioner is discussed.

Rhim, Won-Kyu↗

NASA NTRS1991

Containerless processing and rapid solidification of Nb-Si alloys of hypereutectic composition

A combination of bulk undercooling in an electromagnetic levitation apparatus and splat quenching between two copper plates is used to process Nb-Si alloys in order to maximize rapid solidification conditions and minimize the effects of recalescence, with emphasis on the solidification of characteristics of alloys in the 21 to 27 at. pct Si range of composition. SEM and TEM as well as X-ray diffraction are used to characterize the microstructures of the processed samples. In the range of compositions studied, the splat-quenched drops always formed the tetragonal Nb3Si phase directly from the liquid. Drops solidified in the coil were characterized by the presence of the primary intermetallic Nb5Si3 and the absence of both peritectic Nb3Si and the equilibrium eutectic. In these cases, a metastable alpha-Nb + beta-Nb5Si3 eutectic formed. The results are discussed in terms of possible metastable configurations of the Nb-Si phase diagram as well as concepts of nucleation and growth kinetics applied to the Nb3Si and Nb5Si3 intermetallics.

Hofmeister, W. H.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Millimeter wave surface resistance of grain-aligned Y1Ba2Cu3O(x) bulk material

Measurements are reported of the millimeter-wave surface resistance of grain-aligned YBa2Cu3O(x) bulk material grown by a liquid-phase process. The measurements were performed by replacing the endplate of a TE(011) cylindrical copper cavity with the superconducting sample. Surface resistance was measured for samples with surfaces oriented perpendicular and parallel to the c-axis of the grains. For the parallel configuration, the surface resistance at 77 K and 80 GHz is given. For a very well-aligned sample with a very low density of Y2BaCuO(y) precipitates, measured in the perpendicular configuration, the transition width (10-90 percent) is about 2 K and the surface resistance is derived at 88 K. The effect of microstructure on surface resistance is discussed.

Wosik, J.↗

NASA NTRS2004

Characterization of Two Microbial Isolates from Andean Lakes in Bolivia

We are currently investigating the biological population present in the highest and least explored perennial lakes on earth in the Bolivian and Chilean Andes, including several volcanic crater lakes of more than 6000 m elevation, in combination of microbiological and molecular biological methods. Our samples were collected in saline lakes of the Laguna Blanca Laguna Verde area in the Bolivian Altiplano and in the Licancabur volcano crater (27 deg. 47 min S/67 deg. 47 min. W) in the ongoing project studying high altitude lakes. The main goal of the project is to look for analogies with Martian paleolakes. These Bolivian lakes can be described as Andean lakes following the classification of Chong. We have attempted to isolate pure cultures and phylogenetically characterize prokaryotes that grew under laboratory conditions. Sediment samples taken from the Licancabur crater lake (LC), Laguna Verde (LV), and Laguna Blanca (LB) were analyzed and cultured using enriched liquid media under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions. All cultures were incubated at room temperature (15 to 20 C) and under light exposure. For the reported isolates, 36 hours incubation were necessary for reaching optimal optical densities to consider them viable cultures. Ten serial dilutions starting from 1% inoculum were required to obtain a suitable enriched cell culture to transfer into solid media. Cultures on solid medium were necessary to verify the formation of colonies in order to isolate pure cultures. Different solid media were prepared using several combinations of both trace minerals and carbohydrates sources in order to fit their nutrient requirements. The microorganisms formed individual colonies on solid media enriched with tryptone, yeast extract and sodium chloride. Cells morphology was studied by optical and electronic microscopy. Rodshape morphologies were observed in most cases. Total bacterial genomic DNA was isolated from 50 ml late-exponential phase culture by using the CTAB miniprep protocol. The 16S rRNA genes were amplified by PCR using both Bacteria- and Archaeauniversal primer sets: 27f and 1492r, 21f and 1492r respectively. Sequences of 16S rRNA gene were determined and initially compared with reference sequences contained in the EMBL nucleotide sequence database by using the BLAST program and were subsequently aligned with 16S rRNA reference sequences in the ARB package (http://www.mikro.biologie.tu-muenchen.de). Aligned sequences were inserted within a stable phylogenetic tree by using the ARB parsimony tool. In this work we report the morphology and phylogenetic characterization of two isolates belonged to Laguna Blanca sediments.

Demergasso, C.↗

NASA NTRS2011

Expression of Enzymes that Metabolize Medications

INTRODUCTION: Increased exposure to radiation is one physiological stressor associated with spaceflight and it is feasible to conduct ground experiments using known radiation exposures. The health of the liver, especially the activity rate of its metabolic enzymes, determines the concentration of circulating drugs as well as the duration of their efficacy. While radiation is known to alter normal physiological function, how radiation affects liver metabolism of administered medications is unclear. Crew health could be affected if the actions of medications used in spaceflight deviated from expectations formed during terrestrial medication use. This study is an effort to identify liver metabolic enzymes whose expression is altered by spaceflight or by radiation exposures that mimic features of the spaceflight environment. METHODS: Using procedures approved by the Animal Care and Use Committee, mice were exposed to either 137Cs (controls, 50 mGy, 6Gy, or 50 mGy + 6Gy separated by 24 hours) or 13 days of spaceflight on STS 135. Animals were anesthetized and sacrificed at several time points (4 hours, 24 hours or 7 days) after their last radiation exposure, or within 6 hours of return to Earth for the STS 135 animals. Livers were removed immediately and flash-frozen in liquid nitrogen. Tissue was homogenized, RNA extracted, purified and quality-tested. Complementary DNA was prepared from high-quality RNA samples, and used in RT-qPCR experiments to determine relative expression of a wide variety of genes involved in general metabolism and drug metabolism. RESULTS: Results of the ground radiation exposure experiments indicated ~65 genes of the 190 tested were significantly affected by at least one of the radiation doses. Many of the affected genes are involved in the metabolism of drugs with hydrophobic or steroid-like structures, maintenance of redox homeostasis and repair of DNA damage. Most affected genes returned to near control expression levels by 7 days post-treatment. Not all recovered completely by the final time point tested: with 6 Gy exposure, metallothionein expression was 132-fold more than control at the 4 hr time point, and fell at each later time point (11-fold at 24 hrs, and 8-fold at 7 days). In contrast, there were other genes whose expression was altered and remained relatively constant through the 7 day period we tested. One examples is Cyp17a1, which showed a 4-fold elevation at 4 hrs after exposure and remained constant for 7 days after the last treatment. Spaceflight samples evaluated with similar methods and comparisons will be made between the radiation-treated groups and the spaceflight samples. CONCLUSION It seems likely that radiation exposure triggers homeostatic mechanisms, which could include alterations of gene expression. Better understanding of these pathways could aid in optimizing medications doses given to crewmembers who require treatment and eventually, to development of new countermeasures to ameliorate or prevent radiation-induced damage to cells and tissues.

Wotring, V. E.↗

NASA NTRS2014

Lunar Polar Environmental Testing: Regolith Simulant Conditioning

As ISRU system development approaches flight fidelity, there is a need to test hardware in relevant environments. Extensive laboratory and field testing have involved relevant soil (lunar regolith simulants), but the current design iterations necessitate relevant pressure and temperature conditions. Including significant quantities of lunar regolith simulant in a thermal vacuum chamber poses unique challenges. These include facility operational challenges (dust tolerant hardware) and difficulty maintaining a pre-prepared soil state during pump down (consolidation state, moisture retention).For ISRU purposes, the regolith at the lunar poles will be of most interest due to the elevated water content. To test at polar conditions, the regolith simulant must be doped with water to an appropriate percentage and then chilled to cryogenic temperatures while exposed to vacuum conditions. A 1m tall, 28cm diameter bin of simulant was developed for testing these simulant preparation and drilling operations. The bin itself was wrapped with liquid nitrogen cooling loops (100K) so that the simulant bed reached an average temperature of 140K at vacuum. Post-test sampling was used to determine desiccation of the bed due to vacuum exposure. Depth dependent moisture data is presented from frozen and thawed soil samples.Following simulant only evacuation tests, drill hardware was incorporated into the vacuum chamber to test auguring techniques in the frozen soil at thermal vacuum conditions. The focus of this testing was to produce cuttings piles for a newly developed spectrometer to evaluate. This instrument, which is part of the RESOLVE program science hardware, detects water signatures from surface regolith. The drill performance, behavior of simulant during drilling, and characteristics of the cuttings piles will be offered.

lunar regolith↗

NASA NTRS2014

Lunar Polar Environmental Testing: Regolith Simulant Conditioning

in situ resource utilization↗

NASA NTRS2014

Single Piezo-Actuator Rotary-Hammering (SPaRH) Drill

A Single Piezo-Actuator Rotary-Hammering (SPaRH) Drill includes a horn actuator having high power piezoelectric materials and a flexure pre-stress to increase the actuators effectiveness. The drill is a low mass, low power, compact coring drill measuring 20-cm high by 7-cm diameter and having a total weight of 2 kg including drive electronics. Using an average power of 50-Watts, the drill basalt is expected to cut basalt at a rate of 0.2 cm/min down to depth of 10-cm and create cuttings and an intact core. The drill is expected to operate under different environments including Martian ambient (6 Torr and down to -50 degree C), and liquid nitrogen temperatures (77 K) and low pressure (<<1 Torr) to simulate lunar polar and Europa conditions. Materials expected to be sampled include Kaolinite, Saddleback Basalt, Limestone, Volcanic Breccia, Siltstone, ice, permafrost and layered rocks with different hardness.

Sherrit, Stewart↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Acoustic Insights into Flow Condensation Mechanisms

Two-phase thermal management systems, with both boiling and condensation processes, offer great potential and heat transfer coefficients that are orders of magnitude higher than traditional single-phase systems. However, two-phase flows can suffer from a wide range of interfacial instabilities leading to significant thermal performance degradation. In this study, we aim to detect regime transitions and characterize dominating physical mechanisms of flow condensation, such as turbulent diffusion in annular liquid film and interfacial waves, using an integrated system of acoustic, modal, and optical sensing techniques and thermofluidic characterizations. A wideband acoustic emissions sensor and high-sensitivity accelerometer are utilized to capture acoustic and vibrational signatures that signal the onset of liquid film formation and interfacial waves during flow pattern transitions. Compared to optical imaging, wideband acoustic emission sensing allows for higher sampling rates to capture high-frequency interface oscillations critical to the flow regime transitions and works well even for condensation in opaque tubes. Acoustic features (e.g., amplitude, frequency, energy, duration) are correlated with thermofluidic processes (e.g., capillary flows, turbulent flows, boiling, condensation). By relating thermal performance metrics with these dynamic signatures in acoustic and modal regimes, we explore the ability to probe and monitor critical flow regime transitions and transport efficiency in flow condensation.

Acoustic Modal Regimes↗

NASA NTRS2025

Informing Planetary Protection Policies for the Future Exploration of Ceres: State of Understanding after the Dawn Mission

We review the current state of understanding of Ceres as it relates to planetary protection policy for future landed missions, including for sample return, to the dwarf planet. The Dawn mission found Ceres to be an intriguing target for a mission, with evidence for the presence of regional, possibly extensive liquid at depth, and local expressions of recent and potentially ongoing activity. The Dawn mission also found a high abundance of carbon in the regolith, interpreted as a mix of carbonates and amorphous carbon, as well as locally high concentrations of organic matter. Key findings from this review are as follows: (1) outside of the region of Occator crater, Ceres shows no geological evidence for conduits from the surface to the interior; and (2) considering the biological potential of Ceres’ deep interior, a surface sample return mission should be considered Category V restricted, unless it can be demonstrated that evaporites sourced from Ceres’ deep brine region, and recently exposed in Occator crater, have not been scattered to the rest of Ceres’ surface; in that case, the probability of returning an unsterilized particle to an acceptably low value is to be determined by a future study. Key Words: Ceres—Planetary protection—Brines—Future missions.

Julie Castillo-Rogez↗