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NASA NTRS1997

A Three-Year Program of Micro- and Nano-System Technology Development for X-Ray Astronomy

For many years the work at MIT aimed at the development of new concepts and technologies for space experiments in high-energy astrophysics, but not explicitly supported by flight programs, has been supported. This work has yielded new devices and techniques for X-ray astronomy, primarily low-noise, deep-depletion charge-coupled devices (CCDS) for spectrally-resolved X-ray imaging, and high-performance transmission gratings for high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy. Among the most significant recent achievements have been the development by G. Ricker and associates of the X-ray CCD camera flying on ASCA, and currently in development for AXAF and Astro-E, and the development by C. Canizares and associates of thick, 200 nm-period transmission gratings employing the phenomenon of phase shifting for high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy up to energies of 8- 1 0 keV that is essential for the operation of the AXAF High Energy Transmission Grating Spectrometer (HETGS). Through the current SR&T grant, the latter technology is now being extended successfully to the fabrication of 100 nm-period transmission gratings, which have twice the dispersion of the AXAF gratings. We note that, among other outcomes, the modest investments of past SR&T Grants at MIT resulted in the development of the key technologies for fully one-half of the scientific instrumentation on AXAF. In addition, NASA flight programs that have benefited from previous SR&T support at MIT include the SAS 3 X-ray Observatory, which carried the first rotation modulation collimator, the Focal Plane Crystal Spectrometer (FPCS) on the Einstein Observatory, the CCD cameras on ASCA and planned for Astro-E, the High Energy Transient Experiment (HETE), the Solar EUV Monitor on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), the Medium Energy Neutral Atom imager (MENA) on the Image for Magnetopause-to-aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE) mission, and the recently-approved Two Wide-Angle Imaging Neutral-atom Spectrometers (TWINS) Mission of Opportunity.

Canizares, Claude R.↗

NASA NTRS1996

Insect Development in Altered Gravitational Environment

When tobacco hornworm (Manduca sexta) larvae burrow underground (25-30 cm) to pupate, they reorient themselves to a relatively horizontal position indicating an ability to sense gravity. To evaluate their sensitivity to gravitational environment during metamorphosis, Manduca (pharate adults) were placed in a vertical (head-up) position. Distinct morphological changes, each one reflecting ensuing phases, were used to follow adult development. Five days after pupation, the vertical group showed accelerated (P less than 0.05) development and were nearly 4 phases ahead (P less than 0.0001) after 10 days. Differences in development in the vertical group were characterized further by increased (7-48%) hemolymph concentrations of 13 amino acids, but a decrease in cys and pro and no change in arg, his, met and val (trp, undetectable). Decreased (36%) turnover of injected H-3 - phenylalanine suggested slower utilization of amino acids contributed, at least partly, to the increased concentrations. Vertically-oriented Manduca also exhibited a greater (20 %, P less than 0.001) protein content in their flight muscles near the end of development. Analysis of hemolymph sugar levels showed a redistribution of sugars from the monosaccharide glucose to the disaccharide trehalose. Since injection of 20-hydroxyecdysone decreased (49%) turnover of H-3- phenylalanine in pharate adults and since ecdysteroids are known to increase flight muscle size and control adult development, these results are consistent with our measuring a greater (+80%, P less than 0.05) ecdysteroid titer in the vertically-oriented insects. These results suggest that gravity environment influences ecdysone output by the pharate adult. When we evaluated hemolymph flow in the head-up and control positions, we found that injected C-14-inulin was distributed somewhat more rapidly in the head-up group irrespective of the sight of injection (head or abdomen) likely because in the head-up position flow of the hemolymph is facilitated throughout the animal. Other experiments showed that an intact prothoracic gland is needed for the response. Hence vertical, head-up orientation affects release of ecdysone from the prothoracic gland.

Tischler, Marc E.↗

NASA NTRS1997

Effects of Spaceflight on Drosophila Neural Development

The major goal from the animal side, however, has been achieved, namely to develop Drosophila lines where we can assay individual neuromuscular endings directly without dissection. This was achieved by means of using the GAL4-UAS system, where we have succeeded in establishing stocks of flies where the key neuromuscular connections can be assayed directly in undissected larvae by means of the expression of endogenously fluorescent reporters in the specific motor endings. The green fluorescent protein (GFP) as a reporter allows scoring of neural anatomy en-masse in whole mount using fluorescent microscopy without the need for either dissection or specific labeling. Two stocks have been developed. The first, which we developed first, uses the S65T mutant form, which has a dramatically brighter expression than the native protein. This animal will use GAL4 drivers with expression under the control of the elav gene, and which will ensure expression in all neurons of the embryo and larva. The second transgenic animal we have developed is of a novel kind, and makes use of dicistronic design, so that two copies of the protein will be expressed per insert. We have also developed a tricistronic form, but this has not yet been transformed into flies, and we do not imagine that this third line will be ready in time for the flight.

Keshishian, Haig S.↗

NASA NTRS1998

LASE measurements of convective boundary layer development during SGP97

The Southern Great Plains 1997 (SGP97) field experiment was conducted in Oklahoma during June-July 1997 to validate the models used for computing remote soil moisture using measurements by microwave radiometers. One of the objectives of SGP97 was to examine the effect of soil moisture on the evolution of the Atmospheric Boundary Layer (ABL) and clouds over the Southern Great Plains (SGP) during the warm season. The LASE (Lidar Atmospheric Sensing Experiment) airborne DIAL (Differential Absorption Lidar) system, which was flown autonomously on the NASA ER-2 aircraft during previous missions, was reconfigured to fly on the NASA P3 research aircraft. During SGP97 LASE was used to study the morning evolution of the ABL, particularly as manifested in the development of the convective boundary layer, and to study the influence of soil moisture variations on the development of ABL. The ABL development is strongly influenced by the surface energy budget, which is in turn influenced by soil moisture, mesoscale meteorology, clouds, and solar insolation. LASE data acquired during this mission are being used to study the ABL water vapor budget, the development of the ABL, spatial and temporal variabilities in the ABL, and the meteorological factors that influence the ABL development. This field experiment also permitted comparisons of LASE water vapor measurements with water vapor profiles acquired by radiosondes launched at the DOE (Department of Energy) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Southern Great Plain (SGP) site and at NASA/Wallops Flight Facility, as well as with measurements from other SGP97 aircraft.

Ismail, Syed↗

NASA NTRS1997

The Package-Based Development Process in the Flight Dynamics Division

The Software Engineering Laboratory (SEL) has been operating for more than two decades in the Flight Dynamics Division (FDD) and has adapted to the constant movement of the software development environment. The SEL's Improvement Paradigm shows that process improvement is an iterative process. Understanding, Assessing and Packaging are the three steps that are followed in this cyclical paradigm. As the improvement process cycles back to the first step, after having packaged some experience, the level of understanding will be greater. In the past, products resulting from the packaging step have been large process documents, guidebooks, and training programs. As the technical world moves toward more modularized software, we have made a move toward more modularized software development process documentation, as such the products of the packaging step are becoming smaller and more frequent. In this manner, the QIP takes on a more spiral approach rather than a waterfall. This paper describes the state of the FDD in the area of software development processes, as revealed through the understanding and assessing activities conducted by the COTS study team. The insights presented include: (1) a characterization of a typical FDD Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS) intensive software development life-cycle process, (2) lessons learned through the COTS study interviews, and (3) a description of changes in the SEL due to the changing and accelerating nature of software development in the FDD.

Parra, Amalia↗

NASA NTRS1995

Development of the Fish Medaka in Microgravity

The goal of these experiments was to determine the effect of microgravity on the early development of the fish medaka. There were two objectives for this flight series. The primary objective was to assess the effects of microgravity on different stages of development and to ascertain whether the relevant developmental questions can be addressed at the gross morphological level or if the issues involve more subtle questions about regulation at the molecular and cellular levels. The secondary objective was the assessment of the utility of flight hardware with the capabilities to perform embryological studies. We have been able to take advantage of the flight testing phase of the STL-B hardware to also study the effects of microgravity on the early development of the fish, Medaka. Our initial studies involved monitoring the early Medaka development and raising flight embryos for breeding. Images of the developing embryos were collected either via video which was either taken by the astronauts or broadcast to Earth. Sample video images were digitized and stored on a hard drive resident within the on-board STL-B unit. Embryos were fixed at specific intervals, returned to Earth and are being analyzed for the timing and location of molecular events associated with controlling the morphological pattern for the onset of adult structures.

Wolgemuth, Debra J.↗

NASA NTRS1998

Developing Information Power Grid Based Algorithms and Software

This was an exploratory study to enhance our understanding of problems involved in developing large scale applications in a heterogeneous distributed environment. It is likely that the large scale applications of the future will be built by coupling specialized computational modules together. For example, efforts now exist to couple ocean and atmospheric prediction codes to simulate a more complete climate system. These two applications differ in many respects. They have different grids, the data is in different unit systems and the algorithms for inte,-rating in time are different. In addition the code for each application is likely to have been developed on different architectures and tend to have poor performance when run on an architecture for which the code was not designed, if it runs at all. Architectural differences may also induce differences in data representation which effect precision and convergence criteria as well as data transfer issues. In order to couple such dissimilar codes some form of translation must be present. This translation should be able to handle interpolation from one grid to another as well as construction of the correct data field in the correct units from available data. Even if a code is to be developed from scratch, a modular approach will likely be followed in that standard scientific packages will be used to do the more mundane tasks such as linear algebra or Fourier transform operations. This approach allows the developers to concentrate on their science rather than becoming experts in linear algebra or signal processing. Problems associated with this development approach include difficulties associated with data extraction and translation from one module to another, module performance on different nodal architectures, and others. In addition to these data and software issues there exists operational issues such as platform stability and resource management.

Dongarra, Jack↗

NASA NTRS1999

Management of Guidance, Navigation, and Control Technologies for Spacecraft Formations Under the NASA Cross Enterprise Technology Development Program (CETDP)

Breakthrough technology development is critical to securing the future of our space industry. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Cross-Enterprise Technology Development Program (CETDP) is developing critical space technologies that enable innovative and less costly missions, and spawn new mission opportunities through revolutionary, long-term, high-risk, high-payoff technology advances. The CETDP is a NASA-wide activity managed by the Advanced Technology and Mission Studies Division (AT&MS) at Headquarters Office of Space Science. Program management for CETDP is distributed across the multiple NASA Centers and draws on expertise throughout the Agency. The technology research activities are organized along Project-level divisions called thrust areas that are directly linked to the Agency's goals and objectives of the Enterprises: Earth Science, Space Science, Human Exploration and Development of Space; and the Office of the Chief Technologist's (OCT) strategic technology areas. Cross-Enterprise technology is defined as long-range strategic technologies that have broad potential to span the needs of more than one Enterprise. Technology needs are identified and prioritized by each of the primary customers. The thrust area manager (TAM) for each division is responsible for the ultimate success of technologies within their area, and can draw from industry, academia, other government agencies, other CETDP thrust areas, and other NASA Centers to accomplish the goals of the thrust area. An overview of the CETDP and description of the future directions of the thrust area called Distributed Spacecraft are presented in this paper. Revolutionary technologies developed within this thrust area will enable the implementation of a spatially distributed network of individual vehicles, or assets, collaborating as a single collective unit, and exhibiting a common system-wide capability to accomplish a shared objective. With such a capability, new Earth and space science measurement concepts become a reality.

Hartman, Kathy↗

NASA NTRS1999

Management of Guidance, Navigation and Control Technologies for Spacecraft Formations under the NASA Cross-Enterprise Technology Development Program (CETDP)

Hartman, Kathy↗

NASA NTRS1999

Catalyst Development for Hydrogen Peroxide Rocket Engines

The development of various catalysts of hydrogen peroxide was conducted for the applications of liquid rocket engines. The catalyst development includes silver screen technology, solid catalyst technology, and homogeneous catalyst technology. The silver screen technology development was performed with 85% (by weight) hydrogen peroxide. The results of this investigation were used as the basis for the catalyst design of a pressure-fed liquid-fueled upper stage engine. Both silver-plated nickel 200 screens and pure silver screens were used as the active metal catalyst during the investigation, The data indicate that a high decomposition efficiency (greater than 90%) of 85% hydrogen peroxide can be achieved at a bed loading of 0.5 lbm/sq in/sec with both pure silver and silver plated screens. Samarium oxide coating, however, was found to retard the decomposition process and the catalyst bed was flooded at lower bed loading. A throughput of 200 lbm of hydrogen peroxide (1000 second run time) was tested to evaluate the catalyst aging issue and performance degradation was observed starting at approximately 400 seconds. Catalyst beds of 3.5 inch in diameter was fabricated using the same configuration for a 1,000-lbf rocket engine. High decomposition efficiency was obtained with a low pressure drop across the bed. Solid catalyst using precious metal was also developed for the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide from 85% to 98% by weight. Preliminary results show that the catalyst has a strong reactivity even after 15 minutes of peroxide decomposition. The development effort also includes the homogeneous catalyst technology. Various non-toxic catalysts were evaluated with 98% peroxide and hydrocarbon fuels. The results of open cup drop tests indicate an ignition delay around 11 ms.

Morlan, P. W.↗

NASA NTRS1999

Update of the Development of a Low Cost Data Acquisition System for the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster Program

The space shuttle solid rocket boosters (SRBs) experience a severe environment during their brief flight. During the last few years several SRB's have sustained noticeable structural damage. The environmental characteristics (vibration, structure, and thermal) encountered by the SRB's during ascent, descent and water impact are in most cases unknown. A developmental flight instrumentation (DFI) system collected data from the SRBs' first four flights in the early 1980's, and after the first three flights during the shuttle return-to-flight phase after the Challenger accident. However, the DFI data collected are of low fidelity and do not correlate well with cases of observed structural damage. The DFI system was evaluated for reuse, but the cost to fly it was prohibitive. The space shuttle is presently scheduled to fly until 2030. To support the shuttle flight schedule, avionics on the SRB's will be upgraded. The environments on the different sections of the SRB will need to be defined more completely to properly qualify the avionics for multiple flights. The DFI data previously gathered do not provide enough information to properly qualify the avionics. Marshall Space Flight Center's (MSFC) SRB Project Office requested the Science and Engineering (S&E) Directorate to develop a stand-alone data acquisition system that could collect data from any area of the booster. In answer to this requirement, S&E developed the Enhanced Data Acquisition System (EDAS). To minimize development time and cost, the development team used state-of-the-art commercial off the shelf (COTS) equipment. The first two flights of this system occurred on shuttle mission STS-91 in June 1998 and STS-95 in October 1998. Twenty-one measurements were successfully recorded on the STS-91 right hand booster, providing new accelerometer, strain, temperature, and heating rate data to analysts. Twenty-four measurements were successfully recorded on the STS-95 left hand booster, providing data from the booster and the external tank. This paper summarizes the effort to develop, test, qualify and fly the EDAS to meet SRB flight and data collection requirements.

Crawford, Kevin↗

NASA NTRS1998

Data Mining and Optimization Tools for Developing Engine Parameters Tools

This project was awarded for understanding the problem and developing a plan for Data Mining tools for use in designing and implementing an Engine Condition Monitoring System. From the total budget of $5,000, Tricia and I studied the problem domain for developing ail Engine Condition Monitoring system using the sparse and non-standardized datasets to be available through a consortium at NASA Lewis Research Center. We visited NASA three times to discuss additional issues related to dataset which was not made available to us. We discussed and developed a general framework of data mining and optimization tools to extract useful information from sparse and non-standard datasets. These discussions lead to the training of Tricia Erhardt to develop Genetic Algorithm based search programs which were written in C++ and used to demonstrate the capability of GA algorithm in searching an optimal solution in noisy datasets. From the study and discussion with NASA LERC personnel, we then prepared a proposal, which is being submitted to NASA for future work for the development of data mining algorithms for engine conditional monitoring. The proposed set of algorithm uses wavelet processing for creating multi-resolution pyramid of the data for GA based multi-resolution optimal search. Wavelet processing is proposed to create a coarse resolution representation of data providing two advantages in GA based search: 1. We will have less data to begin with to make search sub-spaces. 2. It will have robustness against the noise because at every level of wavelet based decomposition, we will be decomposing the signal into low pass and high pass filters.

Dhawan, Atam P.↗

NASA NTRS1998

Development and Testing of Automatically Generated ACS Flight Software for the MAP Spacecraft

By integrating the attitude determination and control system (ACS) analysis and design, flight software development, and flight software testing processes, it is possible to improve the overall spacecraft development cycle, as well as allow for more thorough software testing. One of the ways to achieve this integration is to use code-generation tools to automatically generate components of the ACS flight software directly from a high-fidelity (HiFi) simulation. In the development of the Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP) spacecraft, currently underway at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, approximately 1/3 of the ACS flight software was automatically generated. In this paper, we will examine each phase of the ACS subsystem and flight software design life cycle: analysis, design, and testing. In the analysis phase, we scoped how much software we would automatically generate and created the initial interface. The design phase included parallel development of the HiFi simulation and the hand-coded flight software components. Everything came together in the test phase, in which the flight software was tested, using results from the HiFi simulation as one of the bases of comparison for testing. Because parts of the spacecraft HiFi simulation were converted into flight software, more care needed to be put into its development and configuration control to support both the HiFi simulation and flight software. The components of the HiFi simulation from which code was generated needed to be designed based on the fact that they would become flight software. This process involved such considerations as protecting against mathematical exceptions, using acceptable module and parameter naming conventions, and using an input/output interface compatible with the rest of the flight software. Maintaining good configuration control was an issue for the HiFi simulation and the flight software, and a way to track the two systems was devised. Finally, an integrated test approach was devised to support flight software testing at both the unit- and build-test levels using the HiFi simulation to generate data for performance verification. Another benefit of the simulation and code-generation application used on the MAP project is that it supported bringing flight software and test data into the HiFi simulation environment. It was possible to integrate parts of the hand-coded flight software into the HiFi simulation, and also possible to import flight software test data for comparison and performance verification. This capability was used to incorporate the flight software Kalman filter into the HiFi simulation. This enabled us to greatly increase the amount of testing that could be done on the filter, because we could exert a greater degree of control over the software-only simulation than over the flight software test environment. Also, since the simulation could be used to run the Kalman filter faster than real time, our testing efficiency was greatly increased. We will conclude our discussion with a summary of the lessons learned thus far using automatically- generated code for the MAP project, and the spacecraft status as we work towards our scheduled launch in the year 2000.

ODonnell, James R., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1998

Data Mining and Optimization Tools for Developing Engine Parameters Tools

This project was awarded for understanding the problem and developing a plan for Data Mining tools for use in designing and implementing an Engine Condition Monitoring System. Tricia Erhardt and I studied the problem domain for developing an Engine Condition Monitoring system using the sparse and non-standardized datasets to be available through a consortium at NASA Lewis Research Center. We visited NASA three times to discuss additional issues related to dataset which was not made available to us. We discussed and developed a general framework of data mining and optimization tools to extract useful information from sparse and non-standard datasets. These discussions lead to the training of Tricia Erhardt to develop Genetic Algorithm based search programs which were written in C++ and used to demonstrate the capability of GA algorithm in searching an optimal solution in noisy, datasets. From the study and discussion with NASA LeRC personnel, we then prepared a proposal, which is being submitted to NASA for future work for the development of data mining algorithms for engine conditional monitoring. The proposed set of algorithm uses wavelet processing for creating multi-resolution pyramid of tile data for GA based multi-resolution optimal search.

Dhawan, Atam P.↗

NASA NTRS1973

Phase 111A Crew Interface Specifications Development for Inflight Maintenance and Stowage Functions

This report presents the findings and data products developed during the Phase IIIA Crew Interface Specification Study for Inflight Maintenance and Stowage Functions, performed by General Electric for the NASA, Johnson Space Center with a set of documentation that can be used as definitive guidelines to improve the present process of defining, controlling and managing flight crew interface requirements that are related to inflight maintenance (including assembly and servicing) and stowage functions. During the Phase IIIA contract period, the following data products were developed: 1) Projected NASA Crew Procedures/Flight Data File Development Process. 2) Inflight Maintenance Management Process Description. 3) Preliminary Draft, General Specification, Inflight Maintenance Management Requirements. 4) Inflight Maintenance Operational Process Description. 5) Preliminary Draft, General Specification, Inflight Maintenance Task and Support Requirements Analysis. 6) Suggested IFM Data Processing Reports for Logistics Management The above Inflight Maintenance data products have been developed during the Phase IIIA study after review of Space Shuttle Program Documentation, including the Level II Integrated Logistics Requirements and other DOD and NASA data relative to Payloads Accommodations and Satellite On-Orbit Servicing. These Inflight Maintenance data products were developed to be in consonance with Space Shuttle Program technical and management requirements.

Carl, John G.↗

NASA NTRS1999

Effects of Space Flight-Associated Stimuli on Development of Murine and Medaka Sensory-Motor Systems

The major goal of these studies was to continue investigations into the influence of altered gravitational fields on the development and function of the vertebrate brain and nervous system. Of major focus during the 18-month finding period of this award was the maintenance of the animals used in the experimental mouse and medaka model paradigms. The experiments focused on characterization of stress-sensitive periods in neural development and immediate or delayed effects on gene expression, physiology and behavior. The hypothesis under investigation was that the environment of space will have biologically significant effects on the development and function of the vertebrate nervous system. We have postulated that these effects will be more significant on certain neural compartments, such as the vestibular-motor system, and that these effects will have greater impact at particular stages of embryonic and post-natal development of the animal. Development of the central nervous system is well known for its vulnerability and sensitivity to environmental stimuli, although the effects of gravitational influences are poorly understood. The long-term goals of this research effort, initiated previously and continued in limited capacity during this interim period, were to provide important new information on the effects of altered environments during these critical periods.

Wolgemuth, Debra J.↗

NASA NTRS2000

Development of Individually Addressable Micro-Mirror-Arrays for Space Applications

We have been developing a 32 x 32 prototype array of individually addressable Micro-Mirrors capable of operating at cryogenic temperature for Earth and Space Science applications. Micro-Mirror-Array technology has the potential to revolutionize imaging and spectroscopy systems for NASA's missions of the 21st century. They can be used as programmable slits for the Next Generation Space Telescope, as smart sensors for a steerable spectrometer, as neutral density filters for bright scene attenuation etc. The, entire fabrication process is carried out in the Detector Development Laboratory at NASA, GSFC. The fabrication process is low temperature compatible and involves integration of conventional CMOS technology and surface micro-machining used in MEMS. Aluminum is used as the mirror material and is built on a silicon substrate containing the CMOS address circuit. The mirrors are 100 microns x l00 microns in area and deflect by +/- 10 deg induced by electrostatic actuation between two parallel plate capacitors. A pair of thin aluminum torsion straps allow the mirrors to tilt. Finite-element-analysis and closed form solutions using electrostatic and mechanical torque for mirror operation were developed and the results were compared with laboratory performance. The results agree well both at room temperature and at cryogenic temperature. The development demonstrates the first cryogenic operation of two-dimensional Micro-Mirrors with bi-state operation. Larger arrays will be developed meeting requirements for different science applications. Theoretical analysis, fabrication process, laboratory test results and different science applications will be described in detail.

Dutta, Sanghamitra B.↗

NASA NTRS1999

Wind Tunnel Test Technique and Instrumentation Development at LaRC

LaRC has an aggressive test technique development program underway. This program has been developed using 3rd Generation R&D management techniques and is a closely coordinated program between suppliers and wind tunnel operators- wind tunnel customers' informal input relative to their needs has been an essential ingredient in developing the research portfolio. An attempt has been made to balance this portfolio to meet near term and long term test technique needs. Major efforts are underway to develop techniques for determining model wing twist and location of boundary layer transition in the NTF (National Transonic Facility). The foundation of all new instrumentation developments, procurements, and upgrades will be based on uncertainty analysis.

Putnam, Lawrence E.↗