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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 649 records · Page 36
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NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Martian Dust Abrasion Damage on Solar Arrays: HALT Experimental Investigation and Opportunity Rover Performance Analysis

We explored the utility of ground-based highly accelerated life testing (HALT) on epitaxial lift-off (ELO) triple-junction coverglass interconnected cells (CICs) after exposure to simulated Martian dust storms. Dust storm impingement was replicated by sandblasting CICs with Mars dust simulant replicating conditions similar to the weather conditions reported by the Viking landers. We observed that even in cases when there are no observable open circuit voltage (VOC) losses, the minority carrier lifetime is reduced. Short circuit current (JSC) losses can be recovered upon cleaning, suggesting JSC losses are not linked to permanent damage, like cell cracking. This suggests a permanent degradation could be determined by quantifying the difference between recoverable and non-recoverable power loss. We mined field data from the Mars Exploration Rover, Opportunity and extracted a degradation rate to compare to our experimental data. We found exceptional agreement between 4.9 Martian years of mined field data (9.4%) and the irreversible damage observed in our HALT experiment (9.7%). We demonstrate that the laboratory method for exposing CICs to Martian dust storm conditions well represents the physical reality of long duration CIC operation on Mars.

Lyndsey McMillon-Brown↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Feasibility and Performance Analysis of Magnetohydrodynamics Control for Aerocapture at Neptune

NASA’s most recent Decadal Survey posed a mission to one of the Ice Giants as the top priorityfor flagship missionsin the organization’s future. However, current technologieslimit the amount of scientific payload available for future Uranian and Neptunian missions due to the need for fuel for orbit insertion maneuvers. Thus, to maximize the scientific potential of futuremissions, atmospheric aerocapture has been heavily researched. While atmospheric aerocapture simulations have proven enabling for capturing around Neptune, its deep atmospheric pass requiresan aeroshell with thermal protection systems(TPS).Magnetohydrodynamically-controlled aerocapture serves as a potential solution to both fully-propulsive orbit insertion and atmospheric aerocapture. Through NASA Langley’s high-fidelity flight dynamics simulation, the Program to Optimize Simulated Trajectories II, both the atmospheric and magnetohydrodynamic aerocapture methods were simulated and compared for identical missions to Neptune. After applying a guidance algorithm for both methods, the results showed that magnetohydrodynamics has not only the control authority to successfully capture around Neptune, but also the unique advantage of a shallower atmospheric pass which decreases the maximum heat load and the required TPS mass.

Danny N Nguyen↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Feasibility and Performance Analysis of Magnetohydrodynamics Control for Aerocapture at Neptune

NASA’s most recent Decadal Survey posed a mission to one of the Ice Giants as the top priority for flagship missions in the organization’s future. However, current technologies limit the amount of scientific payload available for future Uranian and Neptunian missions due to the need for fuel for orbit insertion maneuvers. Thus, to maximize the scientific potential of future missions, atmospheric aerocapture has been heavily researched. While atmospheric aerocapture simulations have proven enabling for capturing around Neptune, its deep atmospheric pass requires an aeroshell with thermal protection systems(TPS). Magnetohydrodynamically-controlled aerocapture serves as a potential solution to both fully-propulsive orbit insertion and atmospheric aerocapture. Through NASA Langley’s high-fidelity flight dynamics simulation, the Program to Optimize Simulated Trajectories II, both the atmospheric and magnetohydrodynamic aerocapture methods were simulated and compared for identical missions to Neptune. After applying a guidance algorithm for both methods, the results showed that magnetohydrodynamics has not only the control authority to successfully capture around Neptune, but also the unique advantage of a shallower atmospheric pass which decreases the maximum heat load and the required TPS mass.

Danny Nguyen↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Feasibility and Performance Analysis of Magnetohydrodynamic Control for Aerocapture at Neptune

Throughout the past few decades, the demand for farther and more massive missions have increased significantly, especially with the recent push for manned missions to Mars as well as the growing sci- entific interest in the outer giant planets and their re- spective moons. While spacecraft have successfully made it to the surface of Mars and into a flyby of the outer planets, the technologies from these missions are reaching the threshold of their capabilities. These tradi- tional methods are inadequate for higher mass and outer planetary missions due to the inherent propellant mass constraints of using fully-propulsive orbital insertion. Thus, there has been an ongoing effort to introduce new methods of deceleration and flight control during plan- etary EDL to reduce the required orbital insertion pro- pellant mass and enable new missions. One of the most prominently proposed solutions is aerocapture.

Danny Nguyen↗
NASA NTRS2022

Performance Analysis of Terrain Relative Navigation Using Blue Origin New Shepard Suborbital Flight Telemetry

As part of a NASA Tipping Point Partnership with Blue Origin to mature precision lunar landing technologies, two test flights of the Blue Origin New Shepard vehicle carrying a NASA-developed sensor suite were conducted on 10/13/2020 and 08/26/2021 at the West Texas Launch Site (LS-1). Part of the acquired datasets, comprising data from an inertial measurement unit and a downward facing camera, was postprocessed through a JPL-developed prototype Visual Odometry and Map Relative Localization software (TRNVOSIM), and compared against ground truth acquired by the host vehicle navigation system. In this paper, we provide a description of the algorithms, the test setup, and the processed results.

Pedrotty, Samuel M.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Performance Analysis of Magnetohydrodynamic Drag Modulation for Actively Controlled Aerocapture at Neptune

While the Ice Giants are a top priority for flagship missions in the NASA’s near-term future, current technologies limit the scientific payload and mission timeline for future Uranian and Neptunian missions due to the need for fuel for orbit insertion maneuvers. Thus, to maximize the scientific potential of future missions, atmospheric aerocapture has been heavily researched. While atmospheric aerocapture simulations have proven enabling for capturing around Neptune, its deep atmospheric pass requires an aeroshell with robust thermal protection systems (TPS). Magnetohydrodynamically-controlled aerocapture serves as a potential solution to the limitations of both fully propulsive orbit insertion and aerodynamically controlled aerocapture. Through NASA Langley’s high-fidelity flight dynamics simulation, the Program to Optimize Simulated Trajectories II, both the aerodynamic-only and magnetohydrodynamic aerocapture methods were simulated and compared for identical missions to Neptune. After applying an optimized numerical predictor-corrector guidance algorithm for both methods, the results showed that magnetohydrodynamics has not only the control authority to successfully capture around Neptune, but also the unique advantage of a shallower atmospheric pass, decreasing the maximum heat load and the required TPS mass.

Danny N. Nguyen↗