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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 667 records · Page 37
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2004

Desert Research and Technology Study 2003 Trip Report/ICES Paper

The Advanced Extra-vehicular Activity (EVA) team of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Johnson Space Center (JSC) Crew and Thermal Systems Division (CTSD) participated in the Desert Research and Technology Study (RATS) in September 2003, at Meteor Crater, AZ. The Desert RATS is an integrated remote field site te t with team members from several NASA centers (Johnson Space Center; Glenn and Ames Research Centers) and universities (Bowling Green State University, University of Cincinnati, Massachusetts Institute of Technology) participating. Each week of the two-week field test had a primary focus. The primary test hardware for the first week was the I-Gravity Lunar Rover Training Vehicle, or Grover, which was on loan to NASA from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Astrogeology Research Program. The 2003 Grover driving test results serve as a rover performance characterization baseline for the Science, Crew, Operation and Utility Testbed (SCOUT) project team, which will be designing and fabricating a next generation roving vehicle prototype in Fiscal Year (FY) 2004. The second week of testing focused on EVA geologic traverses that utilized a geologic sample field analysis science trailer and also focused on human-robotic interaction between the suited subjects and the EVA Robotic Assistant (ERA). This paper will review the Advanced EVA team's role in the context of the overall Desert RATS, as well as the EVA team results and lessons learned. For information regarding other test participants' results, the authors can refer interested parties to the test reports produced by those Desert RATS teams.

Ross, Amy↗
NASA NTRS2012

Control and Non-Payload Communications Links for Integrated Unmanned Aircraft Operations

Technology for unmanned aircraft has advanced so rapidly in recent years that many new applications to public and commercial use are being proposed and implemented. In many countries, emphasis is now being placed on developing the means to allow unmanned aircraft to operate within non-segregated airspace along with commercial, cargo and other piloted and passenger-carrying aircraft.In the U.S., Congress has mandated that the Federal Aviation Administration reduce and remove restrictions on unmanned aircraft operations in a relatively short time frame. To accomplish this, a number of technical and regulatory hurdles must be overcome. A key hurdle involve the communications link connecting the remote pilot located at a ground control station with the aircraft in the airspace, referred to as the Control and Non-Payload Communications (CNPC) link. This link represents a safety critical communications link, and thus requires dedicated and protected aviation spectrum as well as national and international standards defining the operational requirements the CNPC system. The CNPC link must provide line-of-site (LOS) communications, primarily through a ground-based communication system, and beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) communication achieved using satellite communications. In the U.S., the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is charged with providing the technical body of evidence to support spectrum allocation requirements and national and international standards development for the CNPC link. This paper provides a description of the CNPC system, an overview of NASA's CNPC project, and current results in technology assessment, air-ground propagation characterization, and supporting system studies and analyses will be presented.

Kerczewski, Robert J.↗
NASA NTRS2012

RESOLVE Project

The RESOLVE project is a lunar prospecting mission whose primary goal is to characterize water and other volatiles in lunar regolith. The Lunar Advanced Volatiles Analysis (LAVA) subsystem is comprised of a fluid subsystem that transports flow to the gas chromatograph- mass spectrometer (GC-MS) instruments that characterize volatiles and the Water Droplet Demonstration (WDD) that will capture and display water condensation in the gas stream. The LAVA Engineering Test Unit (ETU) is undergoing risk reduction testing this summer and fall within a vacuum chamber to understand and characterize C!Jmponent and integrated system performance. Ray will be assisting with component testing of line heaters, printed circuit heaters, pressure transducers, temperature sensors, regulators, and valves in atmospheric and vacuum environments. He will be developing procedures to guide these tests and test reports to analyze and draw conclusions from the data. In addition, he will gain experience with preparing a vacuum chamber with fluid and electrical connections. Further testing will include integrated testing of the fluid subsystem with the gas supply system, near-infrared spectrometer, WDD, Sample Delivery System, and GC-MS in the vacuum chamber. This testing will provide hands-on exposure to a flight forward spaceflight subsystem, the processes associated with testing equipment in a vacuum chamber, and experience working in a laboratory setting. Examples of specific analysis Ray will conduct include: pneumatic analysis to calculate the WOO's efficiency at extracting water vapor from the gas stream to form condensation; thermal analysis of the conduction and radiation along a line connecting two thermal masses; and proportional-integral-derivative (PID) heater control analysis. In this Research and Technology environment, Ray will be asked to problem solve real-time as issues arise. Since LAVA is a scientific subsystem, Ray will be utilizing his chemical engineering background to operate the near-infrared spectrometer and GC-MS instruments during ETU testing. Ray will be working with Modified Commercial off the Shelf (MCOTS) instruments and characterizing their analytical behavior for optimization. Ray will be offered the opportunity to suggest testing modifications or configuration changes at any time to improve the experimental effectiveness. He will gain many skills needed for working in a technical team setting requiring flexibility and critical thinking.

Parker, Ray O.↗
NASA NTRS2013

RESOLVE Project

The RESOLVE project is a lunar prospecting mission whose primary goal is to characterize water and other volatiles in lunar regolith. The Lunar Advanced Volatiles Analysis (LAVA) subsystem is comprised of a fluid subsystem that transports flow to the gas chromatograph - mass spectrometer (GC-MS) instruments that characterize volatiles and the Water Droplet Demonstration (WDD) that will capture and display water condensation in the gas stream. The LAVA Engineering Test Unit (ETU) is undergoing risk reduction testing this summer and fall within a vacuum chamber to understand and characterize component and integrated system performance. Testing of line heaters, printed circuit heaters, pressure transducers, temperature sensors, regulators, and valves in atmospheric and vacuum environments was done. Test procedures were developed to guide experimental tests and test reports to analyze and draw conclusions from the data. In addition, knowledge and experience was gained with preparing a vacuum chamber with fluid and electrical connections. Further testing will include integrated testing of the fluid subsystem with the gas supply system, near-infrared spectrometer, WDD, Sample Delivery System, and GC-MS in the vacuum chamber. This testing will provide hands-on exposure to a flight forward spaceflight subsystem, the processes associated with testing equipment in a vacuum chamber, and experience working in a laboratory setting. Examples of specific analysis conducted include: pneumatic analysis to calculate the WDD's efficiency at extracting water vapor from the gas stream to form condensation; thermal analysis of the conduction and radiation along a line connecting two thermal masses; and proportional-integral-derivative (PID) heater control analysis. Since LAVA is a scientific subsystem, the near-infrared spectrometer and GC-MS instruments will be tested during the ETU testing phase.

Parker, Ray↗
NASA NTRS2014

Using Historical Data to Automatically Identify Air-Traffic Control Behavior

This project seeks to develop statistical-based machine learning models to characterize the types of errors present when using current systems to predict future aircraft states. These models will be data-driven - based on large quantities of historical data. Once these models are developed, they will be used to infer situations in the historical data where an air-traffic controller intervened on an aircraft's route, even when there is no direct recording of this action.

trajectory generation↗
NASA NTRS2015

RESOLVE (Regolith & Environmental Science Oxygen & Lunar Volatile Extraction) Project

The RESOLVE Project is a lunar prospecting mission whose primary goal is to characterize water and other volatiles in lunar regolith. The Lunar Advanced Volatiles Analysis (LAVA) subsystem is comprised of a fluid subsystem that transports flow to the gas chromatograph - mass spectrometer (GC-MS) instruments that characterize volatiles and the Water Droplet Demonstration (WDD) that will capture and display water condensation in the gas stream. The LAVA Engineering Test Unit (ETU) is undergoing risk reduction testing this summer and fall within a vacuum chamber to understand and characterize component and integrated system performance. Testing of line heaters, printed circuit heaters, pressure transducers, temperature sensors, regulators, and valves in atmospheric and vacuum environments was done. Test procedures were developed to guide experimental tests and test reports to analyze and draw conclusions from the data. In addition, knowledge and experience was gained with preparing a vacuum chamber with fluid and electrical connections. Further testing will include integrated testing of the fluid subsystem with the gas supply system, near-infrared spectrometer for the Surge Tank (NIRST), WDD, Sample Delivery System, and GC-MS in the vacuum chamber. Since LAVA is a scientific subsystem, the near infrared spectrometer and GC-MS instruments will be tested during the ETU testing phase.

LAVA↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Progressive Damage Analysis of Post-Buckled Stiffened Panels under Static Compressive Loading

The validation of progressive damage analysis methods requires experimental data that captures the initiation of damage, its evolution with continued loading, and the morphology of damage throughout its evolution. In support of the NASA Advanced Composites Project, several validation specimens of increasing complexity have been tested and characterized in order to provide the data required to assess the capabilities of several progressive damage analysis methods for fiber-reinforced composite materials. The analytical capabilities of interest for this validation program include networks of interacting matrix cracks and delaminations in post-buckled stiffened structures. A series of single stringer compression specimens was tested and characterized at NASA Langley Research Center. The experimental data from these tests are compared with progressive damage finite element analysis results. Test/analysis comparisons are made in terms of load/displacement histories, damage morphology, and damage size versus load metrics.

Frank A Leone↗
NASA NTRS2020

Miniaturized Laser Absorption Spectrometer for Combustion Calorimetry and Process Monitoring

A miniaturized tunable laser absorption spectrometer capable of measuring gas-phase concentrations of CO, CO2, and O2 has been developed for operation in spacecraft environments. As part of the Spacecraft Fire Safety Demonstration (Saffire) project, we previously demonstrated the Combustion Product Monitor (CPM) instrument to characterize pyrolysis of relevant test materials in low gravity aboard a transfer vehicle returning from low Earth orbit. Here, we adapted the CPM instrument design to achieve detection of CO, CO2, and O2 with improved minimum detection limits and dynamic range as well as reduced instrument size and power. The instrument can be operated in either an open or sealed configureation, allowing for ambient gas composition measuremnts or in-line monitoring of gas streams. By accurately monitoring CO, CO2, and O2 with broad pressure/temperature calibration and response time on the order of 1 s, the instrument can be used to characterize the dynamics of combustion reactions in a variety of environments.

Briggs, Ryan M.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Radiation Transport Models in Space: from Supernovae to Cells

Humans embarking on deep space exploration missions will encounter persistent exposure to galactic cosmic rays (GCR) - an energetic and highly complex radiation field that is unlike anything found on Earth. Exposure to such radiation fields is attributed to various adverse health effects, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, and cognitive impairment and is identified by NASA as one of the five main hazards of human spaceflight. It is therefore critical to be able to fully characterize the exposure received by humans behind shielding in space and project consequent health risks. A wide variety of computational models have been developed over the years to help meet this requirement. In this talk, an overview of the GCR environment in deep space is provided. Methods of propagating GCR fields through the shielding that protects humans in space are described along with simulation tools used to assess biological damage at the cellular scale. Finally, the NASA cancer risk model is briefly described, and risk projections are provided for various mission scenarios. Radiation transport models and solution methods pervade many aspects of this talk. For example, the GCR spectrum impinging on spacecraft is determined by solving the Fokker-Planck transport equation to propagate cosmic rays (believed to originate from supernovae) from the edge of the heliosphere to the vicinity of Earth. The Boltzmann transport equation is solved to transport this GCR spectrum through shielding and human tissue. Monte Carlo methods are used to simulate the transport of low energy electrons that dominate biological damage at the cellular scale. Progress and challenges in each of these areas will be highlighted.

Tony C. Slaba↗
DOE OSTI2025

SEM Milestone Report for MARMOT Validation Project

MARMOT is a meso-scale fuel code under development by NEAMS designed to predict the microstructure evolution of fuel materials to determine updated thermal and mechanical property models. These updated models can be used by engineering scale codes such as BISON. To support its development and validation the MARMOT Validation Project (MVP) was initiated and consists of extensive microstructure and thermal characterization of U-10Zr fuel material before and at discreet levels of irradiation. This report summarizes the SEM and EDS characterization of the lowest burnup samples (1.5% FIMA) and how they compare to pre-irradiation SEM and EDS.

11 - NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
NASA NTRS2002

Tracking Avian Reservoirs of Arboviruses using Remote Sensing and Radiotelemetry

Encephalitis is caused by a virus that is transmitted by mosquitoes between mammalian hosts. The virus is closely related to the West Nile virus (WNV), which started in New York in 1999, and has since spread to 25 states. Like encephalitis, WNV is vectored by mosquitoes, and the primary hosts are birds; humans are accidental, or'dead-end' hosts. Very little is understood about the behavior of these bird populations, and how they intersect - both in time and in space - with mosquito populations. Exploring these relationships is the first step in developing models for encephalitis and WNV transmission risk. This project combines remotely sensed data with radiotelemetry to create a spatiotemporal map of encephalitis viral activity in bird and mosquito populations in the Sacramento Valley of California. Specifically, remote sensing (RS) and geographic information system (GIS) technologies were used to characterize habitats utilized by both avian viral reservoirs and the mosquitoes that vector encephalitis. Radiotelemetry and serosurveys (blood) were then used to spatially and temporally track the patterns of infection. The project uses Landsat ETM+ multitemporal satellite data to characterize habitats utilized by both birds and the mosquito vectors. Mist nets were used to sample members of individual flocks of blackbirds and cowbirds over a period of several months; these birds were then bled to assess their viral status, banded, and fitted with transmitters. Radiotelemetry was used to spatially and temporally track the distribution of banded birds and their associated flocks. The movement of these indicator flocks were compared with the location of remotely sensed (adult and larval) mosquito habitats to determine the intersection of bird's and vectors; this is key in understanding where and when transmission occurs from bird to bird, as well as from bird to mammal, via mosquito. The relationships found during the project are being used to generate a model of encephalitis transmission risk in California.

Beck, L.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Enhanced project management tool

A system for managing a project that includes multiple tasks and a plurality of workers. Input information includes characterizations based upon a human model, a team model and a product model. Periodic reports, such as one or more of a monthly report, a task plan report, a schedule report, a budget report and a risk management report, are generated and made available for display or further analysis or collection into a customized report template. An extensible database allows searching for information based upon context and upon content. Seven different types of project risks are addressed, including non-availability of required skill mix of workers. The system can be configured to exchange data and results with corresponding portions of similar project analyses, and to provide user-specific access to specified information.

Maluf, David A.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Properties of Subsurface Soil Cores from Four Geologic Provinces Surrounding Mars Desert Research Station, Utah: Characterizing Analog Martian Soil in a Human Exploration Scenario

The DOMEX program is a NASA-MMAMA funded project featuring simulations of human crews on Mars focused on science activities that involve collecting samples from the subsurface using both manual and robotic equipment methods and analyzing them in the field and post mission. A crew simulating a human mission to Mars performed activities focused on subsurface science for 2 weeks in November 2009 at Mars Desert Research Station near Hanksville, Utah --an important chemical and morphological Mars analog site. Activities performed included 1) survey of the area to identify geologic provinces, 2) obtaining soil and rock samples from each province and characterizing their mineralogy, chemistry, and biology; 3) site selection and reconnaissance for a future drilling mission; 4) deployment and testing of Mars Underground Mole, a percussive robotic soil sampling device; and 5) recording and analyzing how crew time was used to accomplish these tasks. This paper summarizes results from analysis of soil cores

Stoker, C. R.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Gaps in Thermal Design Guidelines in the Goddard Space Flight Center GOLD Rules

The GSFC (Goddard Space Flight Center) GOLD Rules (Goddard Open Learning Design; GSFC-STD-1000) provide a reasonably comprehensive list of guidelines for the design and testing of spacecraft and instruments based on the long heritage of successful GSFC missions. In general, all GSFC missions are required to comply with the GOLD Rules across a number of subsystems or to seek waivers to particular GOLD rules where compliance is not practical, either due to the risk posture of a mission or the cost and/or schedule associated with compliance. In thermal subsystems, GOLD Rules are applied to design margins throughout the project life cycle and include temperature margins, heater power margins, and two-phase transport margins. However, no explicit guidance is provided for two thermal design aspects: heater control authority (for stability requirements) and cryogenic design margins (which are often not reasonable to express in terms of temperatures). This can lead to ambiguity and inconsistency among projects when demonstrating GOLD Rules compliance. Two current GSFC projects, TIRS-2 (Thermal InfraRed Sensor 2) and WFIRST (Wide Field InfraRed Survey Telescope), are both missions with cryogenic aspects and active thermal control for stability. This paper seeks to outline the characterization of cryogenic margins during the design process for TIRS-2 and WFIRST as well as the project derived guidelines for heater control authority margin. This effort serves as potential first steps for updating the GOLD Rules to address these two areas in guiding thermal designs at GSFC.

Modeling↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Seasonal, Spectral, and Regional Characterization of Deep Convective Clouds Top-of-Atmosphere Bidirectional Reflectance for Improved Satellite Intercalibration

The NASA CERES project provides the scientific community with regional broadband fluxes designed for long-term climate monitoring. The CERES climate quality dataset requires that the CERES instrument, as well as the MODIS and VIIRS imager records to be radiometrically stable over time. Deep Convective Clouds (DCCs) are spectrally uniform, near-Lambertian natural diffusers offering high signal-to-noise ratio and stable radiometric response in the VIS-NIR spectrum. For shortwave infrared (SWIR) wavelengths greater than 1.2µm, the DCC response is significantly influenced by cloud particle size and atmospheric absorption. Previous studies improved the characterization of the SWIR band DCC radiance, by using channel specific monthly empirical BRDFs as well as using the probability density function mean statistic to track the SWIR band stability. Also, that the DCC radiance is greater over land than over ocean and that the TWP DCC radiance has the lowest tropical DCC radiance. This study confirms and improves upon the previous studies. The study stratified the tropics regionally into land and ocean domains and applied their respective ocean-only and land-only empirical monthly BRDFs and normalized the land DCC BRDF corrected radiances with their ocean counterpart. This approach provided the most stable DCC response. The DCC BRDF corrected radiance monthly standard error was 0.24%, 0.62%, 0.59%, and 0.43% for the 1.24µm, 1.37µm, 1.61µm, and 2.25µm SWIR bands, which reduced the standard error 20%, 13%, 24%, and 26%, respectively when compared with the all-surface approach. The same approach was attempted over the Tropical Western Pacific and found not to be an improvement over the tropical domain. Further stratification of the tropical domain will need to balance sufficient sampling while accounting for regional DCC radiance differences.

Prathana Khakurel↗
NASA NTRS1986

Proceedings of the 26th Project Integration Meeting

Progress made by the Flat-plate Solar Array (FSA) Project is described for the period July 1985 to April 1986. Included are reports on silicon sheet growth and characterization, silicon material, process development, high-efficienty cells, environmental isolation, engineering sciences, and reliability physics. Also included are technical and plenary presentations made at the 26th Project Integration Meeting (PIM) held on April 29 to 30 and May 1, 1986.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1988

NASA Aircraft-Satellite Instrument Calibration Project

Ground based prelaunch calibration of satellite instruments usually is not adequate to provide an accurate characterization of the in-orbit performance of a satellite instrument. This is because the ground calibrations may not simulate the in-orbit environment observations of the satellite sensor, or because the sensor characteristics have changed during launch and in-orbit operations. One technique to obtain a meaningful in-orbit calibration of satellite sensors is to acquire simultaneous observations of an Earth scene with the satellite and a well calibrated aircraft or shuttle sensor which has similar characteristics to the satellite sensor. This is a direct in-orbit calibration technique and is usually called vicarious calibration. The experiment with the control instrument must occur above the sensible atmosphere as measured by the satellite sensor to provide a useful improvement to the calibration of the satellite sensor. Some observations on the experiments are made.

Guenther, B. W.↗
NASA NTRS1996

Experimental Characterization of Gas Turbine Emissions at Simulated Flight Altitude Conditions

NASA's Atmospheric Effects of Aviation Project (AEAP) is developing a scientific basis for assessment of the atmospheric impact of subsonic and supersonic aviation. A primary goal is to assist assessments of United Nations scientific organizations and hence, consideration of emissions standards by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Engine tests have been conducted at AEDC to fulfill the need of AEAP. The purpose of these tests is to obtain a comprehensive database to be used for supplying critical information to the atmospheric research community. It includes: (1) simulated sea-level-static test data as well as simulated altitude data; and (2) intrusive (extractive probe) data as well as non-intrusive (optical techniques) data. A commercial-type bypass engine with aviation fuel was used in this test series. The test matrix was set by parametrically selecting the temperature, pressure, and flow rate at sea-level-static and different altitudes to obtain a parametric set of data.

GAS TURBINES↗