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At least 73 records · Page 4

NASA's Research in Aircraft Vulnerability Mitigation

Since its inception in 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration s (NASA) role in civil aeronautics has been to develop high-risk, high-payoff technologies to meet critical national aviation challenges. Following the events of Sept. 11, 2001, NASA recognized that it now shared the responsibility for improving homeland security. The NASA Strategic Plan was modified to include requirements to enable a more secure air transportation system by investing in technologies and collaborating with other agencies, industry, and academia. NASA is conducting research to develop and advance innovative and commercially viable technologies that will reduce the vulnerability of aircraft to threats or hostile actions, and identify and inform users of potential vulnerabilities in a timely manner. Presented in this paper are research plans and preliminary status for mitigating the effects of damage due to direct attacks on civil transport aircraft. The NASA approach to mitigation includes: preventing loss of an aircraft due to a hit from man-portable air defense systems; developing fuel system technologies that prevent or minimize in-flight vulnerability to small arms or other projectiles; providing protection from electromagnetic energy attacks by detecting directed energy threats to aircraft and on/off-board systems; and minimizing the damage due to high-energy attacks (explosions and fire) by developing advanced lightweight, damage-resistant composites and structural concepts. An approach to preventing aircraft from being used as weapons of mass destruction will also be discussed.

Allen, Cheryl L.↗

The Application of NASA Remote Sensing Technology to Human Health

With the help of satellites, the Earth's environment can be monitored from a distance. Earth observing satellites and sensors collect data and survey patterns that supply important information about the environment relating to its affect on human health. Combined with ground data, such patterns and remote sensing data can be essential to public health applications. Remote sensing technology is providing information that can help predict factors that affect human health, such as disease, drought, famine, and floods. A number of public health concerns that affect Earth's human population are part of the current National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Earth Science Applications Plan to provide remotely gathered data to public health decision-makers to aid in forming and implementing policy to protect human health and preserve well-being. These areas of concern are: air quality; water quality; weather and climate change; infectious, zoonotic, and vector-borne disease; sunshine; food resource security; and health risks associated with the built environment. Collaborations within the Earth Science Applications Plan join local, state, national, or global organizations and agencies as partners. These partnerships engage in projects that strive to understand the connection between the environment and health. The important outcome is to put this understanding to use through enhancement of decision support tools that aid policy and management decisions on environmental health risks. Future plans will further employ developed models in formats that are compatible and accessible to all public health organizations.

Watts, C. T.↗

Genesis Mission-Enabled Secure AI to Fortify Energy Process Safety (Genesis-SAFE)

Argonne National Laboratory is supporting the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT’s) Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) with collaborative research on development and application of privacy preserving AI frameworks that leverage unmatched AI expertise and secure computing resources made available through the U.S. Genesis Mission1 . This research advances U.S. energy security goals by supporting a safe offshore energy industry with secure, domain-specific AI tools to analyze confidential industry datasets collected by BTS to rapidly improve identification of hazards, precursors, and systemic safety risks in high-risk operational environments. The staged, security-first approach begins with development and testing of Argonne’s Genesis Mission-enabled Secure AI to Fortify Energy Process Safety (Genesis-SAFE) framework within Argonne’s accredited secure computing enclave (ABLE) leveraging Argonne’s AI scientific assistant substrate (AISAC). Methods to build synthetic datasets were developed together with BTS for use in preparing synthetic datasets that can be used to validate data containment, governance, and security controls in the ABLE environment. Future research directions would focus on applying the Genesis-SAFE framework to CIPSEA-protected datasets entirely within ABLE to support confidentiality-preserving analysis of safety risks, trends, and contributing factors.

Kim, Hyekyung [Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), ↗

Autonomous Satellite Operations Via Secure Virtual Mission Operations Center

The science community is interested in improving their ability to respond to rapidly evolving, transient phenomena via autonomous rapid reconfiguration, which derives from the ability to assemble separate but collaborating sensors and data forecasting systems to meet a broad range of research and application needs. Current satellite systems typically require human intervention to respond to triggers from dissimilar sensor systems. Additionally, satellite ground services often need to be coordinated days or weeks in advance. Finally, the boundaries between the various sensor systems that make up such a Sensor Web are defined by such things as link delay and connectivity, data and error rate asymmetry, data reliability, quality of service provisions, and trust, complicating autonomous operations. Over the past ten years, researchers from the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC), General Dynamics, Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL), Cisco, Universal Space Networks (USN), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Naval Research Laboratory, the DoD Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) Office, and others have worked collaboratively to develop a virtual mission operations capability. Called VMOC (Virtual Mission Operations Center), this new capability allows cross-system queuing of dissimilar mission unique systems through the use of a common security scheme and published application programming interfaces (APIs). Collaborative VMOC demonstrations over the last several years have supported the standardization of spacecraft to ground interfaces needed to reduce costs, maximize space effects to the user, and allow the generation of new tactics, techniques and procedures that lead to responsive space employment.

Miller, Eric↗

Advancing International Integration and Strengthening Responsible Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Applications Through Specialized Curriculums

Nuclear technology has been pivotal in addressing some of the most pressing global challenges, ranging from energy production to combatting infectious diseases to agricultural security. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), as a leader in nuclear research and development including in the field of radioisotopes, is well situated to share lessons learned and enhance global collaboration from years of discoveries in the field. Accordingly, the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) sponsors specialized educational programs at ORNL, with support from the IAEA, focused on advancing peaceful nuclear applications and associated industries while upholding strong nuclear safety, security, and safeguards standards. The Joint U.S./IAEA International School on Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Applications, launched in 2024, is a cornerstone of this collaboration. The school provides an opportunity for early-career professionals from around the globe to gain practical knowledge and skills in utilizing nuclear technologies for peaceful purposes. This initiative demonstrates the United States’ commitment to its obligations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), specifically Article IV, which calls on nuclear-weapon states to facilitate access to the peaceful uses of nuclear energy while guarding against the proliferation of nuclear weapons. In this paper, we explore the curriculum, objectives, and global impact of the program. Participants of the ICARST-2025 conference are invited to learn more about this program, contribute to its development, and explore opportunities for collaboration. This school exemplifies how strategic partnerships, and educational initiatives can drive the peaceful and beneficial use of nuclear technology worldwide

Raffo Caiado, Ana [ORNL] (ORCID:0009000239304805)↗

Evaluation of flow-induced plate deflection for University of Missouri research reactor low-enriched uranium fuel element

The University of Missouri Research Reactor (MURR), located on the campus of the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri, is one of the six United States (U.S.) High Performance Research Reactors (USHPRR), including one critical facility, that are actively collaborating with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Office of Material Management and Minimization (M3) Reactor Conversion Program to convert from highly enriched uranium (HEU, ≥20 wt% U-235) fuel to low-enriched uranium (LEU, <20 wt% U-235) fuel. A new type of very high-density LEU fuel based on a monolithic alloy of uranium and 10 wt% molybdenum (U-10Mo) is expected to allow conversion of some USHPRR, including MURR. In the design of its fuel elements, MURR is using thin parallel curved fuel plates separated by coolant channels. In this work, fluid-structure interaction (FSI) analysis of the MURR LEU fuel element is performed at the element level (as compared to the plate level analysis), which models all components of the LEU fuel element, including fuel plates and the supporting structures. Therefore, the effect of supporting structures on the flow distribution within the element and the fuel plate deflection are evaluated. In addition to the element nominal flow rate and dimensions, the tolerances in the geometry of the coolant channel and plate thickness, the effect of a comb on plate deflection, and the uncertainty of the flow rate per element are evaluated. For the LEU fuel plates, which are thinner than the current HEU plates, the predicted plate deflection is found to be small compared to the fabrication and assembly tolerances. Thus, the FSI-induced deflections are not expected to noticeably reduce the coolant flow rate or predicted safety margins in the limiting channels for the MURR LEU fuel element. In addition to the simulation work, a hydraulic performance test of the MURR LEU fuel element is currently being planned to support conversion to the use of LEU fuel.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Regression Analysis with the Directed Infusion of Data

Integrating artificial intelligence and machine learning tools into industry necessitates large-scale collaborative efforts that ensure the robust and accurate execution of downstream analytics such as time series prediction, uncertainty quantification, grid optimization, and condition monitoring. However, concerns related to data privacy pervade the nuclear industry due to the proprietary nature of its data and the possibility of data leakage. Legacy techniques such as encryption often require the explicit transmission of data to trustworthy parties, thereby inviting data leakage concerns. The ideal collaboration scenario avoids the explicit dissemination of data/code while maintaining experimental fidelity, which is currently accomplished using various techniques such as trusted execution environments, homomorphic encryption, differential privacy, and multimatrix masking. These techniques, however, often necessitate a trade-off between trust, efficiency, and utility. This article extends a previously proposed technique called the directed infusion of data (DIOD) that ensures data privacy, allows for scalable obfuscation, and combats the risk of data leakage without compromising utility. The experiments discussed in this article examine a regression-type scenario using DIOD with the goal of preserving the inferential link between two variables. Using the point-kinetics equations, regression experiments compare the performance of a model trained using the original data to that of a model trained using the obfuscated data, which produced identical results. Our claim is further strengthened by an information theoretic proof and experiment, which showed that the inferential content between variables remains the same after obfuscation, thereby avoiding the required communication of the proprietary data.

47 - OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

Irradiation Thermo-Mechanical Modeling and Analysis of University of Missouri Research Reactor HEU Fuel Plates

The University of Missouri Research Reactor (MURR) located in Columbia, Missouri is one of six U.S. High Performance Research Reactors (USHPRR), including one critical facility, that is actively collaborating with U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Material Management and Minimization (M3) Office of Reactor Conversion and Uranium Supply to convert from the use of highly enriched uranium (HEU; $\geqslant$ 20 wt% U-235) to low-enriched uranium (LEU; <20 wt% U-235) fuel. A new type of very high-density LEU fuel based on an alloy of uranium and 10 wt% molybdenum (U-10Mo) is expected to allow the conversion to LEU of MURR, as well as four other USHPRR.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Advanced Transmission Technologies – GETs and HPCs Session 1: ATT Foundations and Dynamic Line Ratings (DLRs)

The INL TADA GETs Cohort Session 1, held on November 4, 2025, convened experts to address the integration of advanced transmission technologies, including Grid-Enhancing Technologies (GETs) and High Performance Conductors (HPCs), with a focus on digital assurance challenges. The session highlighted the growing importance of cybersecurity, supply chain transparency, reliability, and business risk management in deploying GETs, especially Dynamic Line Ratings (DLRs). Participants examined how expanded attack surfaces, limited vendor pools, and new regulatory requirements—such as FERC Orders 881, 2023, and 1920—are influencing utilities and technology providers. The workshop underscored the need for cyber-informed engineering, secure-by-design principles, and practical risk management strategies, while fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing among industry peers. Technical discussions covered the evolution from static to dynamic line ratings, complexities of cloud-based architectures, and NERC CIP compliance challenges. The session concluded with a collaborative risk exercise and a preview of future workshops on advanced power flow control and transmission topology optimization, reinforcing the cohort’s commitment to advancing digital assurance in the energy sector.

24 - POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Overview and Commentary on Applying the Coordinated Vulnerability Disclosure Process to Photovoltaic System Devices

The rapid expansion of photovoltaic (PV) systems, particularly inverters, has introduced new cybersecurity challenges that threaten both local operations as well as the broader electrical grid’s stability. PV inverters, integrated into critical energy infrastructure are potential targets for cyber attacks due to vulnerabilities in firmware, remote access systems, and communication protocols. The Coordinated Vulnerability Disclosure (CVD) process, as defined by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), provides a framework for identifying, reporting, and addressing these vulnerabilities in a transparent and collaborative manner. This report outlines the CVD process as it applies to PV systems, detailing the roles of key stakeholders, such as manufacturers, grid operators, and security researchers. The report also highlights specific challenges in managing vulnerabilities for new and legacy PV systems, which includes those introduced by insecure communications and third-party supply chain components. By adhering to the CVD process, the PV industry can mitigate cybersecurity risks, ensure regulatory compliance, and maintain consumer trust, while safeguarding the operational resilience of the energy grid. Ultimately, the effective coordination of vulnerability management is crucial for securing the future of PV systems within the critical electric grid infrastructure landscape.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Transforming Agricultural Productivity with AI-Driven Forecasting: Innovations in Food Security and Supply Chain Optimization

Global food security is under significant threat from climate change, population growth, and resource scarcity. This review examines how advanced AI-driven forecasting models, including machine learning (ML), deep learning (DL), and time-series forecasting models like SARIMA/ARIMA, are transforming regional agricultural practices and food supply chains. Through the integration of Internet of Things (IoT), remote sensing, and blockchain technologies, these models facilitate the real-time monitoring of crop growth, resource allocation, and market dynamics, enhancing decision making and sustainability. The study adopts a mixed-methods approach, including systematic literature analysis and regional case studies. Highlights include AI-driven yield forecasting in European hydroponic systems and resource optimization in southeast Asian aquaponics, showcasing localized efficiency gains. Furthermore, AI applications in food processing, such as plasma, ozone and Pulsed Electric Field (PEF) treatments, are shown to improve food preservation and reduce spoilage. Key challenges—such as data quality, model scalability, and prediction accuracy—are discussed, particularly in the context of data-poor environments, limiting broader model applicability. The paper concludes by outlining future directions, emphasizing context-specific AI implementations, the need for public–private collaboration, and policy interventions to enhance scalability and adoption in food security contexts.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

MAVEN Information Security Governance, Risk Management, and Compliance (GRC): Lessons Learned

As the first interplanetary mission managed by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) had three IT security goals for its ground system: COMPLIANCE, (IT) RISK REDUCTION, and COST REDUCTION. In a multiorganizational environment in which government, industry and academia work together in support of the ground system and mission operations, information security governance, risk management, and compliance (GRC) becomes a challenge as each component of the ground system has and follows its own set of IT security requirements. These requirements are not necessarily the same or even similar to each other's, making the auditing of the ground system security a challenging feat. A combination of standards-based information security management based on the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Risk Management Framework (RMF), due diligence by the Mission's leadership, and effective collaboration among all elements of the ground system enabled MAVEN to successfully meet NASA's requirements for IT security, and therefore meet Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) mandate on the Agency. Throughout the implementation of GRC on MAVEN during the early stages of the mission development, the Project faced many challenges some of which have been identified in this paper. The purpose of this paper is to document these challenges, and provide a brief analysis of the lessons MAVEN learned. The historical information documented herein, derived from an internal pre-launch lessons learned analysis, can be used by current and future missions and organizations implementing and auditing GRC.

FISMA↗

Securing Safety with Sensors

The Robot Systems Technology Branch at NASA's Johnson Space Center collaborated with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to design Robonaut, a humanoid robot developed to assist astronauts with Extra Vehicular Activities (EVA) such as space structure assembly and repair operations. By working side-by-side with astronauts or going where risks are too great for people, Robonaut is expected to expand the Space Agency s ability for construction and discovery. NASA engineers equipped Robonaut with human-looking, dexterous hands complete with five fingers to accomplish its tasks. The Robonaut hand is one of the first being developed for space EVA use and is the closest in size and capability to a suited astronaut s hand. As part of the development process, an advanced sensor system was needed to provide an improved method to measure the movement and forces exerted by Robonaut s forearms and hands.

Source record↗

Center of Excellence for Operational Technology

The Center of Excellence for Operational Technology Traditional Presentation Abstract 2025 National Laboratories Information Technology Summit | Denver, CO Traditional Presentation Session Managing cybersecurity risk in Operational Technology (OT) presents a significant challenge across the Department, and critically, at many of the national laboratories. This includes IT-OT convergence, aging OT systems, cost of updating OT systems, and increased Advanced Persistent Threat efforts against OT including the 16 critical infrastructure sectors as listed in Presidential Policy Directive 21. DoE’s Office of Science and NNSA’s Office of the Chief Information Officer are taking the lead in addressing this challenge to include critical systems, by establishing the Center of Excellence (CoE) for Operational Technology. Championed by NNSA Deputy Chief Information Officer Steven McAndrews and the Office of Science Chief Information Officer Shila Cooch, the CoE for OT was chartered in February 2025 to address the challenges of OT cybersecurity and compliance. The CoE for OT will create partnerships and leverage expertise from across the NNSA National Security Enterprise and DOE Labs, Plants and Sites. The CoE will also collaborate with colleagues in other government agencies, industry partners and academia. The CoE for OT discussion at the National Laboratories Information Technology Summit ’25 will include the genesis of the CoE, stated goals, organizational structure, and the effort to attract OT subject matter experts to join the CoE effort to share knowledge and expertise. The discussion will include opportunities to get involved and contribute to this important effort. This session will be led by CoE for OT Co-Chairs Matt Kwiatkowski, Fermi National Laboratory Chief Information Security Officer, and Steven Weldon, Savannah River National Laboratory Cyber Program Director at the Georgia Cyber Center. The session will be of particular interest to CIOs, CTOs, CISOs, as well as IT and OT practitioners.

Kwiatkowski, Matt [Fermilab]↗

Federated learning for 2D synchrotron x-ray diffractometry: a cross-institutional approach for phase quantification of Ti–6Al–4V alloy

High-energy Two dimensional (2D) synchrotron x-ray diffractometry provides important insights into the atomistic structure and phase evolution of materials, yet traditional analysis methods remain complex, knowledge-intensive, and computationally demanding. Deep-learning models offer a powerful alternative for automating their analysis. Institutions that hold these datasets may be unwilling to share their data due to privacy and security policies, as well as the challenges associated with large-scale data transfer. As a result, models trained on local datasets often perform well only on their own data but exhibit bias and poor generalization across different instruments or facilities. To overcome these limitations, we explore federated learning (FL) for 2D synchrotron diffractograms, enabling collaborative model training without exchanging raw data. In this study, 2D synchrotron diffractograms of Ti–6Al–4V alloy collected from two independent facilities are used to train convolutional neural networks for predicting the β-phase volume fraction. Experimental results show that federated global models significantly outperform locally trained models in terms of generalization and achieve accuracy comparable to centralized trained models. These findings demonstrate the potential of FL to enable secure, cross-institutional collaboration and enhance the scalability of deep-learning-based materials characterization.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Controlled environment agriculture: An opportunity to strengthen interagency research collaboration in the US government

Challenges facing food production and agricultural systems are increasingly interconnected with economic, security, health, and equity issues, among others. Threats such as extreme weather, economic volatility, and shrinking water resources and arable land, influence our ability to maintain a safe and resilient food supply. One promising solution to these threats is controlled environment agriculture (CEA). In many cases, CEA can drastically reduce the amount of water and land used in crop production while increasing productivity. Operations may be established in nearly any environment and harvests can take place year-round, supporting food system resiliency and sustainability. CEA sits at the nexus of a number of disciplines and industries, making it well suited for transdisciplinary and multi-institutional research coordination. Herein, authors from multiple US government agencies present CEA as a case study in improving cross-agency research collaboration. The federal government houses a range of scientific expertise and research capabilities, positioning scientists to lead national and global efforts in transdisciplinary, interagency approaches to complex challenges. Navigating cross-agency collaboration can be a challenge, especially coordinating across different scientific disciplines, geographic locations, and funding mechanisms. To enhance multiagency efforts, collaborators could prioritize (i) organizing personnel and resources, (ii) enhancing existing multiagency collaborations, and (iii) focusing on further opportunities for coordination. Adopting these approaches could enable federal researchers to reinforce and advance academic and industry efforts to address current CEA challenges while solidifying the United States as a leader in this arena.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

LLGoMAX : Enhancing Industry-Standard Tools for AC Optimal Unit Commitment

In 2018, the Advanced Research Project Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) launched the Grid Optimization Competition (GOC) [1], a series of competitive challenges intended to accelerate innovation in decision support software used to schedule power grid operations, making them as efficient as possible, while respecting operational constraints of power equipment and operational security. This report covers the participation of the LLGoMAX team—a collaboration of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and ECCO International, Inc.—in Challenge 3 of the competition.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗