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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 73 records · Page 4
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NASA NTRS1974

Operational aspects of Skylab Student Project experiments

The activities associated with the operational aspects ot the Skylab Student Project experiments began with the participation of flight operations personnel on the National Science Teachers Association Selection Board and ended with the performance of the student experiments by the Skylab flightcrews. The operational criteria used during the compatibility analysis to determine which of the 25 national winners could be flown on board the Skylab vehicle are reviewed, the factors involved in the assignment of the experiments to Skylab missions are discussed, the activities associated with training the flightcrews in the operation of the student experiments are described, and the actual performance of the experiments during the mission and the associated ground operations in the Mission Control Center are detailed.

Macleod, J. B.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Lessons Learned From Ventilation and Glovebox Flooding Via Overfilling of the Wet Vacuum System in a Plutonium Facility

In the summer of 2021, operations personnel requested maintenance personnel to fill a wet vacuum (Wetvac) seal water tank in a plutonium facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). After the filling was finished, the fill valve of the Wetvac seal water tank was left open and a ‘dead-man’ valve on an isolation line failed to close properly. After a series of other failures, the water exited the glovebox and contaminated three rooms of the first floor of the facility and an underlying area in the basement. A retrospective analysis of this event determined that there was no risk of a criticality due to the inherent design features of the ventilation system. This paper will explain the driving factors behind how this event was able to happen, as well as some of the major lessons learned that can be universally applied to other nuclear facilities. One of the main causes of the event was the delegation of work to maintenance personnel that were not qualified for the work being asked of them. Additionally, there was a lack of coordination between criticality safety engineers and facility operations equipment owners regarding equipment and connections present on the seal water tanks for the Wetvac, specifically the presence of overflow drain lines. The respective criticality safety evaluation credited an overflow drain line being present on the seal water tanks that was later found to have not been present. Lastly, there are lessons to be learned regarding equipment configuration and designing systems with safety in mind.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
NASA NTRS2010

The Right Stuff: A Look Back at Three Decades of Flight Controller Training for Space Shuttle Mission Operations

This paper will summarize the thirty-year history of Space Shuttle operations from the perspective of training in NASA Johnson Space Center's Mission Control Center. It will focus on training and development of flight controllers and instructors, and how training practices have evolved over the years as flight experience was gained, new technologies developed, and programmatic needs changed. Operations of human spaceflight systems is extremely complex, therefore the training and certification of operations personnel is a critical piece of ensuring mission success. Mission Control Center (MCC-H), at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, in Houston, Texas manages mission operations for the Space Shuttle Program, including the training and certification of the astronauts and flight control teams. This paper will give an overview of a flight control team s makeup and responsibilities during a flight, and details on how those teams are trained and certified. The training methodology for developing flight controllers has evolved significantly over the last thirty years, while the core goals and competencies have remained the same. In addition, the facilities and tools used in the control center have evolved. These changes have been driven by many factors including lessons learned, technology, shuttle accidents, shifts in risk posture, and generational differences. Flight controllers will share their experiences in training and operating the Space Shuttle throughout the Program s history. A primary method used for training Space Shuttle flight control teams is by running mission simulations of the orbit, ascent, and entry phases, to truly "train like you fly." The audience will learn what it is like to perform a simulation as a shuttle flight controller. Finally, we will reflect on the lessons learned in training for the shuttle program, and how those could be applied to future human spaceflight endeavors.

Dittemore, Gary D.↗
NASA NTRS2011

The Right Stuff: A Look Back at Three Decades of Flight Controller Training for Space Shuttle Mission Operations

Operations of human spaceflight systems is extremely complex, therefore the training and certification of operations personnel is a critical piece of ensuring mission success. Mission Control Center (MCC-H), at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, in Houston, Texas manages mission operations for the Space Shuttle Program, including the training and certification of the astronauts and flight control teams. This paper will give an overview of a flight control team s makeup and responsibilities during a flight, and details on how those teams are trained and certified. The training methodology for developing flight controllers has evolved significantly over the last thirty years, while the core goals and competencies have remained the same. In addition, the facilities and tools used in the control center have evolved. These changes have been driven by many factors including lessons learned, technology, shuttle accidents, shifts in risk posture, and generational differences. Flight controllers will share their experiences in training and operating the Space Shuttle throughout the Program s history. A primary method used for training Space Shuttle flight control teams is by running mission simulations of the orbit, ascent, and entry phases, to truly "train like you fly." The reader will learn what it is like to perform a simulation as a shuttle flight controller. Finally, the paper will reflect on the lessons learned in training for the shuttle program, and how those could be applied to future human spaceflight endeavors. These endeavors could range from going to the moon or to Mars. The lessons learned from operating the space shuttle for over thirty years will help the space industry build the next human transport space vehicle and inspire the next generation of space explorers.

Dittemore, Gary D.↗
NASA NTRS2011

The Final Count Down: A Review of Three Decades of Flight Controller Training Methods for Space Shuttle Mission Operations

Operations of human spaceflight systems is extremely complex, therefore the training and certification of operations personnel is a critical piece of ensuring mission success. Mission Control Center (MCC-H), at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, in Houston, Texas manages mission operations for the Space Shuttle Program, including the training and certification of the astronauts and flight control teams. As the space shuttle program ends in 2011, a review of how training for STS-1 was conducted compared to STS-134 will show multiple changes in training of shuttle flight controller over a thirty year period. This paper will additionally give an overview of a flight control team s makeup and responsibilities during a flight, and details on how those teams have been trained certified over the life span of the space shuttle. The training methods for developing flight controllers have evolved significantly over the last thirty years, while the core goals and competencies have remained the same. In addition, the facilities and tools used in the control center have evolved. These changes have been driven by many factors including lessons learned, technology, shuttle accidents, shifts in risk posture, and generational differences. A primary method used for training Space Shuttle flight control teams is by running mission simulations of the orbit, ascent, and entry phases, to truly "train like you fly." The reader will learn what it is like to perform a simulation as a shuttle flight controller. Finally, the paper will reflect on the lessons learned in training for the shuttle program, and how those could be applied to future human spaceflight endeavors.

Dittemore, Gary D.↗
NASA NTRS2011

The Final Count Down: A Review of Three Decades of Flight Controller Training Methods for Space Shuttle Mission Operations

Operations of human spaceflight systems is extremely complex; therefore, the training and certification of operations personnel is a critical piece of ensuring mission success. Mission Control Center (MCC-H), at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, manages mission operations for the Space Shuttle Program, including the training and certification of the astronauts and flight control teams. An overview of a flight control team s makeup and responsibilities during a flight, and details on how those teams are trained and certified, reveals that while the training methodology for developing flight controllers has evolved significantly over the last thirty years the core goals and competencies have remained the same. In addition, the facilities and tools used in the control center have evolved. Changes in methodology and tools have been driven by many factors, including lessons learned, technology, shuttle accidents, shifts in risk posture, and generational differences. Flight controllers share their experiences in training and operating the space shuttle. The primary training method throughout the program has been mission simulations of the orbit, ascent, and entry phases, to truly train like you fly. A review of lessons learned from flight controller training suggests how they could be applied to future human spaceflight endeavors, including missions to the moon or to Mars. The lessons learned from operating the space shuttle for over thirty years will help the space industry build the next human transport space vehicle.

Dittermore, Gary↗
NASA NTRS1991

NSI operations center

The NASA Science Internet (NSI) Network Operations Staff is responsible for providing reliable communication connectivity for the NASA science community. As the NSI user community expands, so does the demand for greater interoperability with users and resources on other networks (e.g., NSFnet, ESnet), both nationally and internationally. Coupled with the science community's demand for greater access to other resources is the demand for more reliable communication connectivity. Recognizing this, the NASA Science Internet Project Office (NSIPO) expands its Operations activities. By January 1990, Network Operations was equipped with a telephone hotline, and its staff was expanded to six Network Operations Analysts. These six analysts provide 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week coverage to assist site managers with problem determination and resolution. The NSI Operations staff monitors network circuits and their associated routers. In most instances, NSI Operations diagnoses and reports problems before users realize a problem exists. Monitoring of the NSI TCP/IP Network is currently being done with Proteon's Overview monitoring system. The Overview monitoring system displays a map of the NSI network utilizing various colors to indicate the conditions of the components being monitored. Each node or site is polled via the Simple Network Monitoring Protocol (SNMP). If a circuit goes down, Overview alerts the Network Operations staff with an audible alarm and changes the color of the component. When an alert is received, Network Operations personnel immediately verify and diagnose the problem, coordinate repair with other networking service groups, track problems, and document problem and resolution into a trouble ticket data base. NSI Operations offers the NSI science community reliable connectivity by exercising prompt assessment and resolution of network problems.

Zanley, Nancy L.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Knowledge-based operation and management of communications systems

Expert systems techniques are being applied in operation and control of the Defense Communications System (DCS), which has the mission of providing reliable worldwide voice, data and message services for U.S. forces and commands. Thousands of personnel operate DCS facilities, and many of their functions match the classical expert system scenario: complex, skill-intensive environments with a full spectrum of problems in training and retention, cost containment, modernization, and so on. Two of these functions are: (1) fault isolation and restoral of dedicated circuits at Tech Control Centers, and (2) network management for the Defense Switched Network (the modernized dial-up voice system currently replacing AUTOVON). An expert system for the first of these is deployed for evaluation purposes at Andrews Air Force Base, and plans are being made for procurement of operational systems. In the second area, knowledge obtained with a sophisticated simulator is being embedded in an expert system. The background, design and status of both projects are described.

Heggestad, Harold M.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Modeling actions and operations to support mission preparation

This paper describes two linked technology development projects to support Space Shuttle ground operations personnel, both during mission preparation analysis and related analyses in missions. The Space Propulsion Robust Analysis Tool (SPRAT) will provide intelligent support and automation for mission analysis setup, interpretation, reporting and documentation. SPRAT models the actions taken by flight support personnel during mission preparation and uses this model to generate an action plan. CONFIG will provide intelligent automation for procedure analyses and failure impact analyses, by simulating the interactions between operations and systems with embedded failures. CONFIG models the actions taken by crew during space vehicle malfunctions and simulates how the planned action sequences in procedures affect a device model. Jointly the SPRAT and CONFIG projects provide an opportunity to investigate how the nature of a task affects the representation of actions, and to determine a more general action representation supporting a broad range of tasks. This paper describes the problems in representing actions for mission preparation and their relation to planning and scheduling.

Malin, Jane T.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Reflectance measurements

The productivity of spectroreflectometer equipment and operating personnel and the accuracy and sensitivity of the measurements were investigated. Increased optical sensitivity and better design of the data collection and processing scheme to eliminate some of the unnecessary present operations were conducted. Two promising approaches to increased sensitivity were identified, conventional processing with error compensation and detection of random noise modulation.

Brown, R. A.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Development of a Pioneer Venus expert scheduling system

An Expert System has been developed to perform a substantial part of the science planning for NASA's Pioneer Venus spacecraft. The program performs functions that have been traditionally performed by operations personnel ('orbit builders'), and attempts to directly duplicate their methods and techniques. Output from the program is formatted to correspond to the previously hand-generated worksheets, in order to ease program validation as well as operator acceptance. Pioneer Venus mission operations are described in detail followed by a description of the expert system implementation.

Rosenthal, Donald A.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Applied Meteorology Unit (AMU)

Develop climatologies of gridded CG lightning densities and frequencies of occurrence for the Melbourne, FL National Weather Service (NWS MLB) county warning area. These grids are used to create a first-guess field for the lightning threat index map that is available on the NWS MLB NASA KSCIKT website. Forecasters previously created this map from scratch. Having the climatologies as a background field will increase consistency between forecasters and decrease their workload. Delivered all files containing the lightning climatologies, the data, and the code used to create the climatologies to NWS MLB. Completed and distributed a final memorandum describing how the climatologies were created. All the files were installed on the NWS MLB computer system, and then the code was compiled and tested to ensure that it worked properly on their operating system. The climatologies and their descriptions are posted on the NWS MLB website. Forecasting Low-Level Convergent Bands Under Southeast Flow Provide guidance to operational personnel that will help improve their forecasts of cloud bands under large-scale southeast flow. When these bands occur, they can lead to cloud, rain, and thunderstorm occurrences that adversely affect launch, landing, and ground operations at Kennedy Space Center/Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (KSC/CCAFS). Completed the first draft of the final report. The conclusions from this task indicated low-level wind speed and direction, low-level high pressure ridge position, east coast sea breeze front activity and upper-level jet streak position have the greatest influence on convergent band formation and movement during southeasterly flow.

Bauman, William↗
NASA NTRS2009

Handbook for Designing MMOD Protection

Spacecraft are subject to micro-meteoroid and orbital debris (MMOD) impact damage which have the potential to degrade performance, shorten the mission, or result in catastrophic loss of the vehicle. Specific MMOD protection requirements are established by NASA for each spacecraft early in the program/project life, to ensure the spacecraft meets desired safety and mission success goals. Both the design and operations influences spacecraft survivability in the MMOD environment, and NASA considers both in meeting MMOD protection requirements. The purpose of this handbook is to provide spacecraft designers and operations personnel with knowledge gained by NASA in implementing effective MMOD protection for the International Space Station, Space Shuttle, and various science spacecraft. It has been drawn from a number of previous publications [10-14], as well as new work. This handbook documents design and operational methods to reduce MMOD risk. In addition, this handbook describes tools and equations needed to design proper MMOD protection. It is a living report, in that it will be updated and re-released periodically in future with additional information. Providing effective and efficient MMOD protection is essential for ensuring safe and successful operations of spacecraft and satellites. A variety of shields protect crew modules, external pressurized vessels and critical equipment from MMOD on the International Space Station (ISS). Certain Space Shuttle Orbiter vehicle systems are hardened from MMOD impact, and operational rules are established to reduce the risk from MMOD (i.e., flight attitudes are selected and late inspection of sensitive thermal protection surfaces are conducted to reduce MMOD impacts). Science spacecraft include specific provisions to meet MMOD protection requirements in their design (for example, Stardust & GLAST). Commercial satellites such as Iridium and Bigelow Aerospace Genesis spacecraft incorporate MMOD protection. The development of low-weight, effective MMOD protection has enabled these spacecraft missions to be performed successfully. This handbook describes these shielding techniques. For future exploration activities to the Moon and Mars, implementing high-performance MMOD shielding will be necessary to meet protection requirements with minimum mass penalty. A current area of technology development in MMOD shielding is the incorporation of sensors to detect and locate MMOD impact damage. Depending on the type of sensor the signals from the sensor can be processed to infer the location of the impact and the extent of damage. The objective of the sensors is to locate critical damage that would endanger the spacecraft or crew immediately or during reentry (such as an air leak from crew module or critical damage to thermal protection system of reentry vehicles). The information from the sensors can then be used with repair kits, patch kits, hatch closure or other appropriate remedial techniques to reduce MMOD risk.

Arnold, Jim↗
NASA NTRS1989

Ground data systems resource allocation process

The Ground Data Systems Resource Allocation Process at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory provides medium- and long-range planning for the use of Deep Space Network and Mission Control and Computing Center resources in support of NASA's deep space missions and Earth-based science. Resources consist of radio antenna complexes and associated data processing and control computer networks. A semi-automated system was developed that allows operations personnel to interactively generate, edit, and revise allocation plans spanning periods of up to ten years (as opposed to only two or three weeks under the manual system) based on the relative merit of mission events. It also enhances scientific data return. A software system known as the Resource Allocation and Planning Helper (RALPH) merges the conventional methods of operations research, rule-based knowledge engineering, and advanced data base structures. RALPH employs a generic, highly modular architecture capable of solving a wide variety of scheduling and resource sequencing problems. The rule-based RALPH system has saved significant labor in resource allocation. Its successful use affirms the importance of establishing and applying event priorities based on scientific merit, and the benefit of continuity in planning provided by knowledge-based engineering. The RALPH system exhibits a strong potential for minimizing development cycles of resource and payload planning systems throughout NASA and the private sector.

Berner, Carol A.↗
NASA NTRS2014

A Multifaceted Approach to Modernizing NASA's Advanced Multi-Mission Operations System (AMMOS) System Architecture

The Advanced Multi-Mission Operations Systems (AMMOS) is NASA's premier space mission operations product line offering for use in deep-space robotic and astrophysics missions. The general approach to AMMOS modernization over the course of its 29-year history exemplifies a continual, evolutionary approach with periods of sponsor investment peaks and valleys in between. Today, the Multimission Ground Systems and Services (MGSS) office-the program office that manages the AMMOS for NASA-actively pursues modernization initiatives and continues to evolve the AMMOS by incorporating enhanced capabilities and newer technologies into its end-user tool and service offerings. Despite the myriad of modernization investments that have been made over the evolutionary course of the AMMOS, pain points remain. These pain points, based on interviews with numerous flight project mission operations personnel, can be classified principally into two major categories: 1) information-related issues, and 2) process-related issues. By information-related issues, we mean pain points associated with the management and flow of MOS data across the various system interfaces. By process-related issues, we mean pain points associated with the MOS activities performed by mission operators (i.e., humans) and supporting software infrastructure used in support of those activities. In this paper, three foundational concepts-Timeline, Closed Loop Control, and Separation of Concerns-collectively form the basis for expressing a set of core architectural tenets that provides a multifaceted approach to AMMOS system architecture modernization intended to address the information- and process-related issues. Each of these architectural tenets will be further explored in this paper. Ultimately, we envision the application of these core tenets resulting in a unified vision of a future-state architecture for the AMMOS-one that is intended to result in a highly adaptable, highly efficient, and highly cost-effective set of multimission MOS products and services.

Estefan, Jeff A.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Radio-hosted Flight / Ground Interface for Operations Standardization

The interface between a spacecraft and its ground operations segment includes the flow of commands, configuration, and sequencing elements to the spacecraft, and the flow of telemetry and data products from the spacecraft. Creating and implementing a complete definition of this interface simplifies and standardizes mission operations, allowing easy sharing of operations personnel across missions. Early spacecraft featured a simple flight / ground interface (FGI) using hardware command decoding in the radio, driven by technological limitations of the time. Modern spacecraft use command and data handling (CDH) avionics on which flight software executes, which in turn controls and configures the mission, executes subsystem and instrument instructions, and implements critical fault protection actions. Deep space missions feature advanced operations software for running sequenced activities over a period of weeks, which allows them to function with only infrequent ground contact. This approach comes at the cost of increased complexity in the FGI, requiring expensive modifications to heritage flight software and ground systems. By hosting the interface in the radio instead of the CDH avionics, modern missions can approximate the FGI design simplicity of early spacecraft, with significant advantages for vendor competition, lowered costs, standardization of operations, and reduction of implementation risk.

Lock, Patricia D.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Some effects of the atmosphere and microphone placement on aircraft flyover noise measurements

The effects of varying atmospheric conditions on certification-type noise measurements were studied. Tests were made under various atmospheric conditions at two test sites, Fresno, California, and Yuma, Arizona, using the same test aircraft, noise, and weather measuring equipment, and operating personnel. Measurements were made to determine the effects of the atmosphere and of microphone placement on aircraft flyover noise. The measurements were obtained for characterization of not only the acoustic signature of the test aircraft, but also specific atmospheric characteristics. Data are presented in the form of charts and tables which indicate that for a wide range of weather conditions, at both site locations, noise data were repeatable for similar aircraft operating conditions. The placement of microphones at ground level and at 1.2 m over both spaded sand and concrete illustrate the effects of ground reflections and surface impedance on the noise measurements.

Hosier, R. N.↗
NASA NTRS1971

Simulation of Mariner Mars 1971 spacecraft

Preparation for the Mariner Mars 1971 mission is reported, including an extensive training program for operations personnel during which the primary source of spacecraft data was a computer program simulating the spacecraft. The objectives of a simulation model for training purposes differed from objectives appropriate to a design or analysis model. Model subsystems were designed to provide realistic telemetry data reflecting changes due both to commands and environmental parameters affecting the spacecraft at various times during the mission. The spacecraft is modeled along two separate functional lines. Boolean operations are concentrated in the spacecraft logic model, which determines the spacecraft state or mode, while mathematical operations or algorithms are executed in computational subsystem models. Although logic parameters are interrogated as a part of each computational pass, actual logic model processing occurs only when a change-of-state input is generated by the operations organization. The program design, some of the special characteristics of each of the modeled subsystems, and how the model was used in support of mission operations training are presented.

Ausman, N. E., Jr.↗