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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 NTRSDate not supplied

NASA's Small Spacecraft and Distributed Systems: Development and Demonstration of Technologies Enabling Swarms and New Spacecraft Platforms with AI and Edge Computing

NASA’s Small Spacecraft & Distributed Systems (SSDS) within the Research and Technology Mission Directorate (RTMD) expands U.S. capability to execute unique missions through targeted investment, rapid development, and flight demonstration of small spacecraft technologies applicable to exploration, science and the commercial space sector. SSDS strategically invests in technology development and on-orbit demonstrations executed across NASA, other government agencies, industry, and academia. The program’s University SmallSat Technology Partnerships initiative awards academic researchers with the opportunity to collaborate with NASA to mature innovative technology. Capabilities aligned with RTMD’s technology shortfalls and interests - power, processing, propulsion, sensors, communications, autonomous navigation, architectures, and advanced applications like artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and edge computing - are prioritized in SSDS investments. These investments enable distributed, autonomous, and cooperative small spacecraft systems that support swarm missions extending beyond low Earth orbit into cislunar and deep space. This paper highlights representative SSDS flight demonstrations that mature these capabilities to enable a future operational infrastructure needed to support sustained exploration of the Moon and beyond. SSDS’s investment strategy emphasizes rapid development and on-orbit demonstration to validate spacecraft technologies required for swarms and distributed mission architectures. The Starling swarm technology demonstration mission exemplifies this approach by advancing distributed spacecraft autonomy, cooperative operations, and space situational awareness. Extended flight testing and ongoing studies of next generation swarm configurations and on-orbit space traffic monitoring and management continue to inform future swarm designs. DiskSat’s four-spacecraft demonstration mission represents SSDS’s strategic vision to expand the design space for future small spacecraft through its commitment to advance novel platform concepts that can impact how science is performed on orbit. Continuing to invest in future platforms, the notional PY12 concept is a 12-spacecraft swarm hosting neuromorphic processors and is envisioned as an on-orbit testbed for AI, edge computing, and positioning, navigation and timing technologies. SSDS also invests in single-spacecraft technology demonstrations that underpin the success of future swarm missions and accelerate the availability of validated technologies across the small spacecraft ecosystem. Examples of such demonstrations include Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator-3 (PTD-3), which performed high-rate optical communications; PTD-R, which demonstrated a camera capable of simultaneous ultraviolet and short-wave infrared optical sensing; and CAPSTONE, the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology and Operations Navigation Experiment, which validated autonomous navigation in cislunar space. Collectively, SSDS-funded demonstrations advance capabilities across swarms and illustrate a coordinated investment strategy to mature high-impact technologies required for autonomous, distributed, and cooperative small spacecraft systems for low Earth orbit, cislunar, and deep space applications. Technology demonstrations strengthen SSDS partnerships with industry, academia, and other government agencies, and promote small spacecraft community adoption of capabilities required to close technical gaps for swarm missions.

Jan Stupl↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA's Small Spacecraft and Distributed Systems: Development and Demonstration of Technologies Enabling Swarms and New Spacecraft Platforms with AI and Edge Computing

NASA’s Small Spacecraft & Distributed Systems (SSDS) within the Research and Technology Mission Directorate (RTMD) expands U.S. capability to execute unique missions through targeted investment, rapid development, and flight demonstration of small spacecraft technologies applicable to exploration, science and the commercial space sector. SSDS strategically invests in technology development and on-orbit demonstrations executed across NASA, other government agencies, industry, and academia. The program’s University SmallSat Technology Partnerships initiative awards academic researchers with the opportunity to collaborate with NASA to mature innovative technology. Capabilities aligned with RTMD’s technology shortfalls and interests - power, processing, propulsion, sensors, communications, autonomous navigation, architectures, and advanced applications like artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and edge computing - are prioritized in SSDS investments. These investments enable distributed, autonomous, and cooperative small spacecraft systems that support swarm missions extending beyond low Earth orbit into cislunar and deep space. This paper highlights representative SSDS flight demonstrations that mature these capabilities to enable a future operational infrastructure needed to support sustained exploration of the Moon and beyond. SSDS’s investment strategy emphasizes rapid development and on-orbit demonstration to validate spacecraft technologies required for swarms and distributed mission architectures. The Starling swarm technology demonstration mission exemplifies this approach by advancing distributed spacecraft autonomy, cooperative operations, and space situational awareness. Extended flight testing and ongoing studies of next generation swarm configurations and on-orbit space traffic monitoring and management continue to inform future swarm designs. DiskSat’s four-spacecraft demonstration mission represents SSDS’s strategic vision to expand the design space for future small spacecraft through its commitment to advance novel platform concepts that can impact how science is performed on orbit. Continuing to invest in future platforms, the notional PY12 concept is a 12-spacecraft swarm hosting neuromorphic processors and is envisioned as an on-orbit testbed for AI, edge computing, and positioning, navigation and timing technologies. SSDS also invests in single-spacecraft technology demonstrations that underpin the success of future swarm missions and accelerate the availability of validated technologies across the small spacecraft ecosystem. Examples of such demonstrations include Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator-3 (PTD-3), which performed high-rate optical communications; PTD-R, which demonstrated a camera capable of simultaneous ultraviolet and short-wave infrared optical sensing; and CAPSTONE, the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology and Operations Navigation Experiment, which validated autonomous navigation in cislunar space. Collectively, SSDS-funded demonstrations advance capabilities across swarms and illustrate a coordinated investment strategy to mature high-impact technologies required for autonomous, distributed, and cooperative small spacecraft systems for low Earth orbit, cislunar, and deep space applications. Technology demonstrations strengthen SSDS partnerships with industry, academia, and other government agencies, and promote small spacecraft community adoption of capabilities required to close technical gaps for swarm missions.

Jan Stupl↗
DOE OSTI2025

Search for resonant pair production of Higgs bosons in the $\textrm{b}\overline{\textrm{b}}\textrm{b}\overline{\textrm{b}}$ final state using large-area jets in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV

A search is presented for the resonant production of a pair of standard model-like Higgs bosons using data from proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, collected by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC in 2016–2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb −1 . The final state consists of two b quark-antiquark pairs. The search is conducted in the region of phase space where at least one of the pairs is highly Lorentz-boosted and is reconstructed as a single large-area jet. The other pair may be either similarly merged or resolved, the latter reconstructed using two b-tagged jets. The data are found to be consistent with standard model processes and are interpreted as 95% confidence level upper limits on the product of the cross sections and the branching fractions of the spin-0 radion and the spin-2 bulk graviton that arise in warped extradimensional models. The limits set are in the range 9.74–0.29 fb and 4.94–0.19 fb for a narrow radion and a graviton, respectively, with masses between 1 and 3 TeV. For a radion and for a bulk graviton with widths 10% of their masses, the limits are in the range 12.5–0.35 fb and 8.23–0.23 fb, respectively, for the same masses. These limits result in the exclusion of a narrow-width graviton with a mass below 1.2 TeV, and of narrow and 10%-width radions with masses below 2.6, and 2.9 TeV, respectively.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Differential cross section measurements for the production of top quark pairs and of additional jets using dilepton events from pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV

Differential cross sections for top quark pair ($\textrm{t}\overline{\textrm{t}}$) production are measured in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV using a sample of events containing two oppositely charged leptons. The data were recorded with the CMS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb −1 . The differential cross sections are measured as functions of kinematic observables of the $\textrm{t}\overline{\textrm{t}}$ system, the top quark and antiquark and their decay products, as well as of the number of additional jets in the event. The results are presented as functions of up to three variables and are corrected to the parton and particle levels. When compared to standard model predictions based on quantum chromodynamics at different levels of accuracy, it is found that the calculations do not always describe the observed data. The deviations are found to be largest for the multi-differential cross sections.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Search for central exclusive production of top quark pairs in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV with tagged protons

A search for the central exclusive production of top quark-antiquark pairs ($t\overline{t}$) is performed for the first time using proton-tagged events in proton-proton collisions at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 29.4 fb -1 . The $t\overline{t}$ decay products are reconstructed using the central CMS detector, while forward protons are measured in the CMS-TOTEM precision proton spectrometer. An observed (expected) upper bound on the production cross section of 0.59 (1.14) pb is set at 95% confdence level, for collisions of protons with fractional momentum losses between 2 and 20%.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Recent advances in combustion science related to hydrogen safety

Hydrogen is a key pillar in the global Net Zero strategy. Rapid scaling up of hydrogen production, transport, distribution and utilization is expected. This entails that hydrogen, which is traditionally an industrial gas, will come into proximity of populated urban areas and in some situations handled by the untrained public. To realize all their benefits, hydrogen and its technologies must be safely developed and deployed. The specific properties of hydrogen involving wide flammability range, low ignition energy and fast flame speed implies that any accidental release of hydrogen can be easily ignited. Comparing with conventional fuels, combustion systems fueled by hydrogen are also more prone to flame instability and abnormal combustion. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive review about combustion research related to hydrogen safety. It starts with a brief introduction which includes some overview about risk analysis, codes and standards. The core content covers ignition, fire, explosions and deflagration to detonation transition (DDT). Considering that DDT leads to detonation, and that detonation may also be induced directly under special circumstances, the subject of detonation is also included for completeness. The review covers laboratory, medium and large-scale experiments, as well as theoretical analysis and numerical simulation results. While highlights are provided at the end of each section, the paper closes with some concluding remarks highlighting the achievements and key knowledge gaps.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2024

Reduced-Order Modeling of Hydrogen Releases from Vent Stacks and with Wind

This report describes computational modeling in the HyRAM+ software for study of hydrogen behavior in two common scenarios. First, models of unignited plumes exiting a vent stack were considered. It was shown that entrainment and vent backpressure were major factors in plume physics. Second, HyRAM+ was extended to include wind effects on plumes by modifying the plume momentum balance and entrainment modeling. Use of the model showed that plume shape and length changed with wind speed and direction; in all cases, wind causes a shortening of the plume along the streamline. While the no-wind case in HyRAM+ has been validated and the newly developed wind model was fitted to very limited experimental data, more controlled experimental configurations would help validate the models and ensure accurate simulation of hydrogen plume behavior for vent stack releases or in wind.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2024

Validation of HyRAM+ Version 5.1 Physics Models

The Hydrogen Plus Other Alternative Fuels Risk Assessment Models (HyRAM+) software has seen various improvements and additional physics capabilities since validation against experimental data was last published for HyRAM v3.1. Notably, HyRAM+ now includes four models allowing for the calculation of overpressure resulting from vapor cloud explosions from unconfined jet releases. As with the previous HyRAM validation report, validation data was gathered from available published literature and tested against HyRAM+ capabilities. The validation comparisons include tank blowdown, unignited dispersion jet plume, ignited jet flame, and enclosed accumulation and overpressure. The unconfined overpressure calculations in HyRAM+ v5.1.1 generally show good agreement with many of the experimental data sets for all four unconfined overpressure models, though HyRAM+ overpredicts the experimental data for small and cryogenic hydrogen releases. The comparisons for the other HyRAM+ physics models are largely unchanged from the previously published validation report.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2024

Reference Station Risk Assessment for Refueling Heavy-Duty Vehicles Using HyRAM+

The deployment of heavy-duty (HD) hydrogen fuel cell vehicles that are entering the market now is driving the need for expanded HD hydrogen refueling station infrastructure to meet demand. This expansion must prioritize safety and reliability, necessitating careful consideration of the associated risks. In this study, we use a light-duty (LD) hydrogen refueling station as a comparative tool to quantify the risks for a HD station, which is essentially a scaled-up version of a LD station.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2025

Hydrogen Plus Other Alternative Fuels Risk Assessment Models (HyRAM+) Technical Reference Manual (V.6.0)

The HyRAM+ software is an open-source toolkit that provides publicly available models and default input values to enable straightforward and consistent safety assessments for hydrogen and other alternative fuel systems, such as natural gas and propane. The HyRAM+ quantitative risk assessment calculation incorporates annual likelihood of leaks or failures for both compressed gaseous and liquefied flammable fuels, as well as probabilistic models for the effects of heat flux and overpressure. HyRAM

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2025

Liquid Hydrogen Pooling and Vaporization Experiments

A comprehensive investigation into the pooling and vaporization of liquid hydrogen spills onto concrete and steel surfaces in a steady cross-wind is presented in this work. This is the first instance of liquid hydrogen pooling and dispersion in a steady environment. A high-capacity fan in a large tunnel was used to generate the steady cross-winds while spilling roughly 10-20, or 40 l/min of liquid hydrogen onto substrates. Temperature and extractive concentration measurements were made, in addition to visible and infrared imaging, to understand development of the pool and down-wind dispersion of the vaporized hydrogen. Overall, the results enhance the understanding of liquid hydrogen pooling and dispersion dynamics and provide critical data for validating models of pooling and vapor dispersion under various conditions.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2026

Technical Justifications for Outdoor Bulk Gaseous Hydrogen Storage Setback Distances

Setback distances define a prescribed distance between a potentially hazardous system and different types of other systems, people, buildings, or materials that may be exposed to that hazard. Riskinformed separation distances are not meant to completely eliminate risk, but rather to limit the risk to an acceptable level. A sensitivity study of risk suggested that a leak size of 3% of the pipe cross-sectional area would be a conservative but reasonable basis. Calculation of the setback distances for gaseous hydrogen was done in a deterministic manner, using a selected leak size and harm criteria for each group of exposures. Harm criteria have been updated to better reflect the exposure types under consideration, and to be consistent with setback distances for liquid hydrogen. The resulting setback distance values are primarily driven by radiative heat flux values for all exposure groups. For the typical pipe sizes, the setback distances slightly increase compared to the previous version of NFPA 2.

08 HYDROGEN↗