A weak form equation learning approach for identifying closures in optically thin thermal radiation transport
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Research papers and publications (1981-1987): Workload research program
An annotated bibliography of the research reports written by participants in NASA's Workload Research Program since 1981 is presented, representing the results of theoretical and applied research conducted at Ames Research Center and at universities and industrial laboratories funded by the program. The major program elements included: 1) developing an understanding of the workload concept; 2) providing valid, reliable, and practical measures of workload; and 3) creating a computer model to predict workload. The goal is to provide workload-related design principles, measures, guidelines, and computational models. The research results are transferred to user groups by establishing close ties with manufacturers, civil and military operators of aerospace systems, and regulatory agencies; publishing scientific articles; participating in and sponsoring workshops and symposia; providing information, guidelines, and computer models; and contributing to the formulation of standards. In addition, the methods and theories developed have been applied to specific operational and design problems at the request of a number of industry and government agencies.
Hart, Sandra G.↗
A Pacific Ocean general circulation model for satellite data assimilation
A tropical Pacific Ocean General Circulation Model (OGCM) to be used in satellite data assimilation studies is described. The transfer of the OGCM from a CYBER-205 at NOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory to a CRAY-2 at NASA's Ames Research Center is documented. Two 3-year model integrations from identical initial conditions but performed on those two computers are compared. The model simulations are very similar to each other, as expected, but the simulations performed with the higher-precision CRAY-2 is smoother than that with the lower-precision CYBER-205. The CYBER-205 and CRAY-2 use 32 and 64-bit mantissa arithmetic, respectively. The major features of the oceanic circulation in the tropical Pacific, namely the North Equatorial Current, the North Equatorial Countercurrent, the South Equatorial Current, and the Equatorial Undercurrent, are realistically produced and their seasonal cycles are described. The OGCM provides a powerful tool for study of tropical oceans and for the assimilation of satellite altimetry data.
Chao, Y.↗
Cognitive engineering in aerospace applications
The progress that was made with respect to the objectives and goals of the research that is being carried out in the Cognitive Systems Engineering Laboratory (CSEL) under a Cooperative Agreement with NASA Ames Research Center is described. The major objective of this project is to expand the research base in Cognitive Engineering to be able to support the development and human-centered design of automated systems for aerospace applications. This research project is in support of the Aviation Safety/Automation Research plan and related NASA research goals in space applications.
Woods, David D.↗
Ames Research Center Shear Tests of SLA-561V Heat Shield Material for Mars-Pathfinder
This report describes the results of arc-jet testing at Ames Research Center on behalf of Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for the development of the Mars-Pathfinder heat shield. The current test series evaluated the performance of the ablating SLA-561V heat shield material under shear conditions. In addition, the effectiveness of several methods of repairing damage to the heat shield were evaluated. A total of 26 tests were performed in March 1994 in the 2 in. X 9 in. arc-heated turbulent Duct Facility, including runs to calibrate the facility to obtain the desired shear stress conditions. A total of eleven models were tested. Three different conditions of shear and heating were used. The non-ablating surface shear stresses and the corresponding, approximate, non-ablating surface heating rates were as follows: Condition 1, 170 N/m(exp 2) and 22 W/cm(exp 2); Condition 2, 240 N/m(exp 2) and 40 W/cm(exp 2); Condition 3, 390 N/m(exp 2) and 51 W/cm(exp 2). The peak shear stress encountered in flight is represented approximately by Condition 1; however, the heating rate was much less than the peak flight value. The peak heating rate that was available in the facility (at Condition 3) was about 30 percent less than the maximum value encountered during flight. Seven standard ablation models were tested, of which three models were instrumented with thermocouples to obtain in-depth temperature profiles and temperature contours. An additional four models contained a variety of repair plugs, gaps, and seams. These models were used to evaluated different repair materials and techniques, and the effect of gaps and construction seams. Mass loss and surface recession measurements were made on all models. The models were visually inspected and photographed before and after each test. The SLA-561 V performed well; even at test Condition 3, the char remained intact. Most of the resins used for repairs and gap fillers performed poorly. However, repair plugs made of SLA-561V performed well. Approximately 70 percent of the thermocouples yielded good data.
Tauber, Michael↗
Agent Technology from a NASA Perspective
NASA's drive toward realizing higher levels of autonomy, in both its ground and space systems, is supporting an active and growing interest in agent technology. This paper will address the expanding research in this exciting technology area. As examples of current work, the Lights-Out Ground Operations System (LOGOS), under prototyping at the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), and the spacecraft-oriented Remote Agent project under development at the Ames Research Center (ARC) and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) will be presented.
Truszkowski, Walt↗
Structural Design for a Neptune Aerocapture Mission
A multi-center study was conducted in 2003 to assess the feasibility of and technology requirements for using aerocapture to insert a scientific platform into orbit around Neptune. The aerocapture technique offers a potential method of greatly reducing orbiter mass and thus total spacecraft launch mass by minimizing the required propulsion system mass. This study involved the collaborative efforts of personnel from Langley Research Center (LaRC), Johnson Space Flight Center (JSFC), Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), Ames Research Center (ARC), and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). One aspect of this effort was the structural design of the full spacecraft configuration, including the ellipsled aerocapture orbiter and the in-space solar electric propulsion (SEP) module/cruise stage. This paper will discuss the functional and structural requirements for each of these components, some of the design trades leading to the final configuration, the loading environments, and the analysis methods used to ensure structural integrity. It will also highlight the design and structural challenges faced while trying to integrate all the mission requirements. Component sizes, materials, construction methods and analytical results, including masses and natural frequencies, will be presented, showing the feasibility of the resulting design for use in a Neptune aerocapture mission. Lastly, results of a post-study structural mass optimization effort on the ellipsled will be discussed, showing potential mass savings and their influence on structural strength and stiffness
Dyke, R. Eric↗
Integrated System Health Management (ISHM) Technology Demonstration Project Final Report
Integrated System Health Management (ISHM) is an essential capability that will be required to enable upcoming explorations mission systems such as the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) and Crew Launch Vehicle (CLV), as well as NASA aeronautics missions. However, the lack of flight experience and available test platforms have held back the infusion by NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) of ISHM technologies into future space and aeronautical missions. To address this problem, a pioneer project was conceived to use a high-performance aircraft as a low-cost proxy to develop, mature, and verify the effectiveness of candidate ISHM technologies. Given the similarities between spacecraft and aircraft, an F/A-18 currently stationed at Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC) was chosen as a suitable host platform for the test bed. This report describes how the test bed was conceived, how the technologies were integrated on to the aircraft, and how these technologies were matured during the project. It also describes the lessons learned during the project and a forward path for continued work.
Mackey, Ryan↗
MAPGEN : mixed initiative planning and scheduling for the Mars '03 MER mission
The Mars Exploration Rovers Mars '03 mission is one of NASA's most ambitious science missions to date. The rovers will be launched in the summer of 2003 with each rover carrying instruments to conduct remote and in-situ observation to elucidate the planet's past climate, water activity, and habitability. Science is the primary driver of MER and, as a consequence, making best use of the scientific instruments, within the available resources, is a crucial aspect of the mission. To address this critically, the MER project has selected MAPGEN (Mixed-Initiative Activity Plan GENerator) as an activity planning tool. MAPGEN combines two exiting systems, each with a strong heritage: APGEN the Activity Planning tool from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Europs Planning/Scheduling system from NASA Ames Research Center. This paper discusses the issues arising from combining these tools in the context of this mission.
planning and scheduling↗
The K9 On-Board Rover Architecture
This paper describes the software architecture of NASA Ames Research Center s K9 rover. The goal of the onboard software architecture team was to develop a modular, flexible framework that would allow both high- and low-level control of the K9 hardware. Examples of low-level control are the simple drive or pan/tilt commands which are handled by the resource managers, and examples of high-level control are the command sequences which are handled by the conditional executive. In between these two control levels are complex behavioral commands which are handled by the pilot, such as drive to goal with obstacle avoidance or visually servo to a target. This paper presents the design of the architecture as of Fall 2000. We describe the state of the architecture implementation as well as its current evolution. An early version of the architecture was used for K9 operations during a dual-rover field experiment conducted by NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) from May 14 to May 16, 2000.
Bresina, John L.↗
Robotics Algorithms Provide Nutritional Guidelines
On July 5, 1997, a small robot emerged from its lander like an insect from an egg, crawling out onto the rocky surface of Mars. About the size of a child s wagon, NASA s Sojourner robot was the first successful rover mission to the Red Planet. For 83 sols (Martian days, typically about 40 minutes longer than Earth days), Sojourner - largely remote controlled by NASA operators on Earth - transmitted photos and data unlike any previously collected. Sojourner was perhaps the crowning achievement of the NASA Space Telerobotics Program, an Agency initiative designed to push the limits of robotics in space. Telerobotics - devices that merge the autonomy of robotics with the direct human control of teleoperators - was already a part of NASA s efforts; probes like the Viking landers that preceded Sojourner on Mars, for example, were telerobotic applications. The Space Telerobotics Program, a collaboration between Ames Research Center, Johnson Space Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and multiple universities, focused on developing remote-controlled robotics for three main purposes: on-orbit assembly and servicing, science payload tending, and planetary surface robotics. The overarching goal was to create robots that could be guided to build structures in space, monitor scientific experiments, and, like Sojourner, scout distant planets in advance of human explorers. While telerobotics remains a significant aspect of NASA s efforts, as evidenced by the currently operating Spirit and Opportunity Mars rovers, the Hubble Space Telescope, and many others - the Space Telerobotics Program was dissolved and redistributed within the Agency the same year as Sojourner s success. The program produced a host of remarkable technologies and surprising inspirations, including one that is changing the way people eat
Source record↗
Software for Planning Scientific Activities on Mars
Mixed-Initiative Activity Plan Generator (MAPGEN) is a ground-based computer program for planning and scheduling the scientific activities of instrumented exploratory robotic vehicles, within the limitations of available resources onboard the vehicle. MAPGEN is a combination of two prior software systems: (1) an activity-planning program, APGEN, developed at NASA s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and (2) the Europa planner/scheduler from NASA Ames Research Center. MAPGEN performs all of the following functions: Automatic generation of plans and schedules for scientific and engineering activities; Testing of hypotheses (or what-if analyses of various scenarios); Editing of plans; Computation and analysis of resources; and Enforcement and maintenance of constraints, including resolution of temporal and resource conflicts among planned activities. MAPGEN can be used in either of two modes: one in which the planner/scheduler is turned off and only the basic APGEN functionality is utilized, or one in which both component programs are used to obtain the full planning, scheduling, and constraint-maintenance functionality.
Ai-Chang, Mitchell↗
Open Source Next Generation Visualization Software for Interplanetary Missions
Mission control is evolving quickly, driven by the requirements of new missions, and enabled by modern computing capabilities. Distributed operations, access to data anywhere, data visualization for spacecraft analysis that spans multiple data sources, flexible reconfiguration to support multiple missions, and operator use cases, are driving the need for new capabilities. NASA's Advanced Multi-Mission Operations System (AMMOS), Ames Research Center (ARC) and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) are collaborating to build a new generation of mission operations software for visualization, to enable mission control anywhere, on the desktop, tablet and phone. The software is built on an open source platform that is open for contributions (http://nasa.github.io/openmct).
software engineering↗
An Advanced Mars Helicopter Design
Ingenuity may be the first of many Mars aerial vehicles. Rotorcraft increase the range and speed that can be traveled to locations of interest. This enables mission concepts previously considered not viable on Mars, such as missions performing science investigations in regions of high elevation, steep terrain, caves/lava tubes, and surveys of the lower atmosphere. Recent work done at NASA Ames Research Center and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) show that significant science can be performed by rotorcraft either independently or as assistants to rovers and landers. Small rotorcraft of Ingenuity’s general size can be potentially integrated into missions already scheduled for launch. Additionally, larger rotorcraft can support standalone novel mission concepts but are still be able to be sized and configured for deployment from heritage entry, descent, and landing (EDL) systems. One such mission concept of interest is to determine if organics are associated with clay-bearing or silica-rich soil. For such a mission, a small rotorcraft “robotic assistant” to a lander or rover could help determine if ancient sediment contains biosignatures in regions such as Mawrth Vallis. Ingenuity has demonstrated that rotorcraft can be developed relatively quickly and inexpensively and increase the types and amount of science that can be performed on any given mission. Recent research has suggested that rotorcraft of Ingenuity’s general size can have their performance characteristics significantly enhanced – increasing their range, speed, and payload capacity – by using new generation rotor blade airfoils optimized for Mars operating conditions. Rotorcraft could potentially be a standard adjunct to all future lander and rover missions. This paper presents an advanced Mars helicopter design that leverages significantly the design heritage of the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Technology Demonstrator (MHTD).
Advanced↗
Hybrid propulsion technology development for a potential near-term Mars Ascent Vehicle
A technology development program for a potential hybrid Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) is currently underway to enable its infusion into a potential Mars Sample Return (MSR) campaign as early as 2026. A NASA team from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and Ames Research Center (ARC) is leading and coordinating this program. A new propellant combination: the wax-based fuel, SP7, and MON-30 were proposed for a hybrid option for the MAV propulsion system several years ago. Since that time, hotfire testing with a similar propellant combination (SP7/MON-3) has been completed and a pathway to achieving high performance with the flight propellant combination is currently being pursued. Highlights of the progress to date and plans for risk reduction and the next steps in hybrid technology will be presented.
Zilliac, Greg↗
Rotor Performance Predictions of a Next Generation Mars Science Helicopter
Since Ingenuity took flight and proved aerial capabilities on Mars, the horizon for rotorcraft on the Red Planet has only expanded. One proposed future Martian rotorcraft is the Mars Science Helicopter (MSH). The MSH is a hexacopter capable of carrying scientific payloads. As a part of its joint development by NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), key MSH rotor components will be tested inside the in-development Reduced Atmospheric Pressure Testing Of Rotors (RAPTOR) wind tunnel in the Planetary Aeolian Laboratory (PAL) at NASA ARC. In preparation for the test, the Comprehensive Hierarchical Aeromechanics Rotorcraft Model (CHARM) analysis was utilized to predict the aerodynamic performance for one MSH hexacopter isolated rotor. This paper provides an overview of the planned experiments involving the MSH reference blades, as well as CHARM pretest predictions of rotor performance in hover and forward flight. Additionally, the interference effects of wind tunnel walls on rotor performance will be evaluated to inform the test matrix of the upcoming test in the RAPTOR tunnel.
MHS↗
Aircraft Design Software
Successful commercialization of the AirCraft SYNThesis (ACSYNT) tool has resulted in the creation of Phoenix Integration, Inc. ACSYNT has been exclusively licensed to the company, an outcome of a seven year, $3 million effort to provide unique software technology to a focused design engineering market. Ames Research Center formulated ACSYNT and in working with the Virginia Polytechnic Institute CAD Laboratory, began to design and code a computer-aided design for ACSYNT. Using a Joint Sponsored Research Agreement, Ames formed an industry-government-university alliance to improve and foster research and development for the software. As a result of the ACSYNT Institute, the software is becoming a predominant tool for aircraft conceptual design. ACSYNT has been successfully applied to high- speed civil transport configuration, subsonic transports, and supersonic fighters.
Source record↗
HydroX, a light dark matter search with hydrogen-doped liquid xenon time projection chambers
Experimental efforts searching for dark matter particles over the last few decades have ruled out many candidates led by the new generation of tonne-scale liquid xenon. For light dark matter, hydrogen could be a better target than xenon as it would offer a better kinematic match to the low mass particles. This article describes the HydroX concept, an idea to expand the dark matter sensitivity reach of large liquid xenon detectors by adding hydrogen to the liquid xenon. We discuss the nature of signal generation in liquid xenon to argue that the signal produced at the interaction site by a dark matter–hydrogen interaction could be significantly enhanced over the same interaction on xenon, increasing the sensitivity to the lightest particles. We discuss the technical implications of adding hydrogen to a xenon detector, as well as some background considerations. Finally, we make projections as to the potential sensitivity of a HydroX implementation and discuss next steps.
Experimental particle physics↗