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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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NASA NTRS2008

Experimentation for the Maturation of Deep Space Cryogenic Refueling Technologies

This report describes the results of the "Experimentation for the Maturation of Deep Space Cryogenic Refueling Technology" study. This study identifies cryogenic fluid management technologies that require low-gravity flight experiments bring technology readiness levels to 5 to 6; examines many possible flight experiment options; and develops near-term low-cost flight experiment concepts to mature the core technologies. A total of 25 white papers were prepared by members of the project team in the course of this study. The full text of each white paper is included and 89 relevant references are cited. The team reviewed the white papers that provided information on new or active concepts of experiments to pursue and assessed them on the basis of technical need, cost, return on investment, and flight platform. Based on on this assessment the "Centaur Test Bed for Cryogenic Fluid Management" was rated the highest. "Computational Opportunities for Cryogenics for Cryogenic and Low-g Fluid Systems" was ranked second, based on its high scores in state of the art and return on investment, even though scores in cost and time were second to last. "Flight Development Test Objective Approach for In-space Propulsion Elements" was ranked third.

Chato, David J.↗
NASA NTRS2008

Results of NASA/DARPA Automatic Probe and Drogue Refueling Flight Test

This slide presentation reviews the flight test from the autonomous airborne refueling system. It includes information on the prototype system that can autonomously perform fueling, including during a turn or mild turbulence, and the autonomous rendezvous capability.

Schweikhard, Keith↗
NASA NTRS2015

Cryogenic Autogenous Pressurization Testing for Robotic Refueling Mission 3

A wick-heater system has been selected for use to pressurize the Source Dewar of the Robotic Refueling Mission Phase 3 on-orbit cryogen transfer experiment payload for the International Space Station. Experimental results of autogenous pressurization of liquid argon and liquid nitrogen using a prototype wick-heater system are presented. The wick-heater generates gas to increase the pressure in the tank while maintaining a low bulk fluid temperature. Pressurization experiments were performed in 2013 to characterize the performance of the wick heater. This paper describes the experimental setup, pressurization results, and analytical model correlations.

cryogenics↗
NASA NTRS2019

Robotic Refueling Mission 3: Cryogenic Demonstration Subsystem Operations

The Robotic Refueling Mission 3 (RRM3) payload was installed on the International Space Station (ISS) in December 2018. Its Cryogenic Demonstation Subsystem (CDS) was loaded with 19 kilograms of liquid methane, for demonstration of on-orbit storage and transfer. We provide a short description of the design and ground testing of the CDS, and then discuss the on-orbit operations through the first half of 2019.

Cryogenic Fluid Storage↗
NASA NTRS2019

Flight Servicing of Robotic Refueling Mission 3

The Robotic Refueling Mission 3 (RRM3) payload launched aboard a SpaceX rocket en route to the International Space Station on December 5th, 2018. The Goddard Space Flight Center designed payload carried approximately 50 liters of liquid methane onboard, with a mission to demonstrate long term storage and transfer of the cryogenic fluid in microgravity. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) was tasked to design, fabricate, test, and operate a system equipped to fill an RRM3 dewar with liquid methane prior to launch. Though KSC has a rich history of fueling rockets and payloads, no such operations had previously been accomplished using liquid methane. As such, all of the hardware and processes had to be developed from scratch. The completed ground system design, along with the verification and validation testing will be outlined in this paper. Several challenges that were met and overcome during procurement of the high purity methane are described. In addition, budget restrictions prohibited fueling operations from occurring in traditional processing facilities. The unique and creative solutions which were required to maintain payload cleanliness during cryogenic servicing are also detailed.

Cryogenics↗
NASA NTRS2019

Flight Servicing of Robotic Refueling Mission 3

The Robotic Refueling Mission 3 (RRM3) payload launched aboard a SpaceX rocket en route to the International Space Station on December 5th, 2018. The Goddard Space Flight Center designed payload carried approximately 50 liters of liquid methane onboard, with a mission to demonstrate long term storage and transfer of the cryogenic fluid in microgravity. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) was tasked to design, fabricate, test, and operate a system equipped to fill an RRM3 dewar with liquid methane prior to launch. Though KSC has a rich history of fueling rockets and payloads, no such operations had previously been accomplished using liquid methane. As such, all of the hardware and processes had to be developed from scratch. The completed ground system design, along with the verification and validation testing will be outlined in this paper. Several challenges that were met and overcome during procurement of the high purity methane are described. In addition, budget restrictions prohibited fueling operations from occurring in traditional processing facilities. The unique and creative solutions which were required to maintain payload cleanliness during cryogenic servicing are also detailed.

Thermal Conductivity↗
NASA NTRS2019

Flight Servicing of Robotic Refueling Mission 3

The Robotic Refueling Mission 3 (RRM3) payload launched aboard a SpaceX rocket en route to the International Space Station on December 5th, 2018. The Goddard Space Flight Center designed payload carried approximately 50 liters of liquid methane onboard, with a mission to demonstrate long term storage and transfer of the cryogenic fluid in microgravity. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) was tasked to design, fabricate, test, and operate a system equipped to fill an RRM3 dewar with liquid methane prior to launch. Though KSC has a rich history of fueling rockets and payloads, no such operations had previously been accomplished using liquid methane. As such, all of the hardware and processes had to be developed from scratch. The completed ground system design, along with the verification and validation testing will be outlined in this paper. Several challenges that were met and overcome during procurement of the high purity methane are described. In addition, budget restrictions prohibited fueling operations from occurring in traditional processing facilities. The unique and creative solutions which were required to maintain payload cleanliness during cryogenic servicing are also detailed.

Cryogenics↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Parametric Cost Analysis of Refueling Options in Cis-Lunar Space

Over the next several years NASA intends to develop and maintain a sustained human presence in cis-lunar space and on the surface of the moon. The sustained lunar presence will then serve as a stepping stone to human Mars missions. To propel the spacecraft taking humans and cargo to and from the lunar surface and to and from Mars will require on the order of hundreds of tons of propellant. Expendable, one-time use refueling elements maybe more cost effective for smaller campaigns, but as the propellant requirement grows, so does the cost benefit of reusable systems. This paper will analyze the cost of several different architectures for delivering propellant to cislunar space to determine the conditions in which each architecture is likely to be more cost effective. The first architecture relies on expendable elements for propellant delivery while the second one reuses every element including launch vehicle stages. In addition to these two basic approaches, trades will analyze alterations to the architectures such as mission design, level of thermal control, and the incorporation of buses,tugs, and depots, each with different propellants, sizes, and reusability assumptions.

Paul D Friz↗
NASA NTRS2021

On-Orbit Cryogenic Refueling: Potential Mission Benefits, Associated Orbital Mechanics, and Fuel Transfer Thermodynamic Modeling Efforts

The placement of cryogenic fuel/propellant depot stations in Earth orbit has the potential to transform the nature and operations for many types of spaceflight missions. Today, spaceflight missions are almost universally required to carry the entire amount of fuel required for the mission, for the entire duration of the mission, from the point of launch. This is the rough equivalent of making a drive from Ohio to California, requiring the traveler to bring along the total sum of gasoline required for the entire trip, without being able to ‘fill-up’ anywhere along the route. Obviously, this framework of travel greatly encumbers the breadth, scope, and efficiency of potential journeys. Cryogenic fuel/propellant depots have not been implemented because many technical, operational, and engineering challenges still exist. These must be overcome prior to the placement of usable on-orbit propellant depots. This thesis investigates three specific engineering challenges related to on-orbit propellant depots, and presents the current state, technological challenges, and ultimate benefits of on-orbit cryogenic refueling.

No vent fill↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Lessons for Future In-Space Telerobotic Servicing from Robotic Refueling Mission

The Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM) was a multi-phased technology development effort by the National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). The program leveraged the existing robotic systems and expertise of the International Space Station (ISS) program and the tool design and satellite servicing expertise of NASA’s Exploration & In-space Services (NExIS) Projects Division at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) to evaluate new hardware and techniques for on-orbit telerobotic servicing. Between 2011 and 2021, two external ISS payloads housed over a dozen robotic tools and adapters designed to service a variety of existing and novel satellite interfaces. Robot operators at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) and CSA used the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) to retrieve and operate these tools for tasks such as cutting wires or multi-layer insulation blanketing, removing valve caps, mating electrical connectors, transferring fluids, and performing visual inspections inside a vehicle. Each phase of RRM involved years of preparation. Tool and interface designs were prototyped and evaluated using both NASA and Canadian ground robotic systems. Procedures were developed by GSFC engineers and vetted in partnership with JSC and CSA robot operators. GSFC engineers were trained to provide real-time support during on-orbit operations. These preparatory efforts and the successful on-orbit evaluations yielded an array of lessons for future in-space telerobotic missions. Designing robotic tools for the space environment requires special consideration of materials, indicators, and differences between ground and flight use cases and environments. When there is a limited window for on-orbit operations, devoting time and high-fidelity hardware to ground testing can be critical. Needs during potential troubleshooting are more essential to camera view quality, frame rate, and position requirements more than nominal operations. Detailed hardware manuals, nominal and contingency procedures, along with clearly defined operations team roles and protocols are vital for efficiency. RRM also demonstrated how the ISS can be utilized to increase the technology readiness levels required for future missions and led to additional technology partnerships between NExIS and the ISS program. The lessons from RRM are currently being applied to designs, operations concepts, and ground test methodology for missions such as On-orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing1(OSAM-1)and Mars Sample Return.

Zakiya Tomlinson↗
NASA NTRS2024

Propulsion System Architecture Refueling Capability Assessment for A Mars Transit Habitat Concept

A pressure-fed hypergolic bi-propellant system is the assumed propulsion approach for the Reaction Control System (RCS) used by the Mars Transit Habitat (TH), an architectural concept being traded within the NASA Moon to Mars architecture. The propellants under consideration are Monomethyl Hydrazine (MMH) and Mixed Oxides of Nitrogen with 3% Nitric Oxide (MON3), with helium pressurant.

Propulsion Architecture↗
NASA NTRS1987

Propellant Tanks for Tethered Orbital Refueling Facility

Thermodynamics, mechanical stability, and mass penalties affect design. Pair of reports presents design study for propellant tanks used in low gravity. Each tank, which most likely contains liquid H2 or O2, part of fuel depot tethered to station in orbit around Earth. Some engineering concepts in study applied to design of tanks for use on Earth in transport and storage of cryogenic liquids and other fluids requiring special handling.

Rudolph, L. Kevin↗
NASA NTRS1987

Orbital Spacecraft Consumables Resupply System (OSCRS): Monopropellant application to space station and OMV automatic refueling impacts of an ELV launch, volume 4

The use of orbital spacecraft consumables resupply system (OSCRS) at the Space Station is investigated, its use with the orbital maneuvering vehicle, and launch of the OSCRS on an expendable launch vehicles. A system requirements evaluation was performed initially to identify any unique requirements that would impact the design of OSCRS when used at the Space Station. Space Station documents were reviewed to establish requirements and to identify interfaces between the OSCRS, Shuttle, and Space Station, especially the Servicing Facility. The interfaces between OSCRS and the Shuttle consists of an avionics interface for command and control and a structural interface for launch support and for grappling with the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System. For use of the OSCRS at the Space Station, three configurations were evaluated using the results of the interface definition to increase the efficiency of OSCRS and to decrease the launch weight by Station-basing specific OSCRS subsystems. A modular OSCRS was developed in which the major subsystems were Station-based where possible. The configuration of an OSCRS was defined for transport of water to the Space Station.

Source record↗