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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 91 records · Page 5
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1994

Research on Personal Protective Equipment for Dual-Use Technology and Technology Transfer

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) places highest priority on the safety of its astronauts and support personnel. Because this is so, and to ensure the continuation of this safety, the agency has undertaken to thoroughly research and develop and provide personal protective equipment (PPE) and individual life support systems (LSS) in support of manned spaceflight. It is probable that technology developed for manned spaceflight in the field of PPE and individual LSS can be utilized in certain industrial/commercial endeavors. In an attempt to determine these other uses for this PPE and individual LSS, the Space Suit Systems Branch of the NASA JSC Crew Systems Division initiated a research project designed to access potential common technology that could benefit industry. Such dual-use technology transfer could eventually involve a joint effort by Government and industry. The research project took place over several months and involved discussions with various manufacturers/suppliers/users, as well as regulatory agencies and industries, of PPE and individual LSS. Research data was compiled and evaluated and a summary of significant findings is presented for identifying and establishing opportunities for future cooperation between Government and industry in the field of PPE and individual LSS.

Driggers, Donald C.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Advanced Crew Rescue Vehicle/Personnel Launch System

The Advanced Crew Rescue Vehicle (ACRV) will be an essential element of the Space Station to respond to three specific missions, all of which have occurred during the history space exploration by the U.S. and the Soviets: (1) Mission DRM-1: Return of disabled crew members during medical emergencies; (2) Mission DRM-2: Return of crew members from accidents or as a result of failures of Space Station systems; and (3) Mission DRM-3: Return of crew members during interruption of Space Shuttle launches. The ACRV will have the ability to transport up to eight astronauts during a 24-hour mission. Not only would the ACRV serve as a lifeboat to provide transportation back to Earth, but it would also be available as a immediately available safe refuge in case the Space Station were severely damaged by space debris or other catastrophe. Upon return to Earth, existing world-wide search and rescue assets operated by the Coast Guard and Department of Defense would be able to retrieve personnel returned to Earth via the ACRV. The operational approach proposed for the ACRV is tailored to satisfying mission requirements for simplicity of operation (no piloting skills or specially trained personnel are required), continuous availability, high reliability and affordability. By using proven systems as the basis for many critical ACRV systems, the ACRV program is more likely to achieve each of these mission requirements. Nonetheless, the need for the ACRV to operate reliably with little preflight preparation after, perhaps, 5 to 10 years in orbit imposes challenges not faced by any previous space system of this complexity. Specific concerns exist regarding micrometeoroid impacts, battery life, and degradation of recovery parachutes while in storage.

Craig, Jerry W.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Using Systems Engineering to Develop an Integrated Crew Health and Performance System to Mitigate Risk for Human Exploration Missions

New space exploration missions are currently being designed to take humanity beyond low Earth orbit (LEO) to cis-lunar space, the lunar surface, and eventually to Mars. These missions carry increased risks due to a number of factors, including distance from Earth, exposure to deep space hazards, reduced capacity and ability to resupply and evacuate, and increased communication delays. As distance from Earth grows and mission length increases, a growing proportion of mission risk can be attributed to the “human system.” Almost twenty years ago, the Institute of Medicine in the United States recommended the early and complete integration of the human system into the spacecraft and mission design process to mitigate this increased risk inherent in exploration missions. Exploration missions will require increasing levels of crew self-sufficiency that will challenge the current operational paradigms established in LEO. Enabling progressive Earth independence requires management of the increasingly complex interactions among spacecraft systems and integration of all the data and functions that affect human health and performance into one coordinated system –the Crew Health and Performance (CHP) system. This system is a critical spacecraft system that is analogous to other systems such as propulsion, guidance and navigation, or avionics. Design and integration of the CHP system requires the evidence-based merger of typically disparate disciplines such as medicine, human factors, and life support system design, using systems engineering (SE) practices. SE provides traceability of spacecraft requirements and enables reliable and repeatable trade space analysis of the many competing options for hardware and software to be included in the mission architecture. The approach described here enables spacecraft and mission designers to align the scope of a CHP system with mission specific requirements, decrease risk to the crew, and increase the probability of mission success.

Kerry McGuire↗
NASA NTRS1974

MSFC Skylab airlock module, volume 2

System design and performance of the Skylab Airlock Module and Payload Shroud are presented for the communication and caution and warning systems. Crew station and storage, crew trainers, experiments, ground support equipment, and system support activities are also reviewed. Other areas documented include the reliability and safety programs, test philosophy, engineering project management, and mission operations support.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1977

Voice integrated systems

The program at Naval Air Development Center was initiated to determine the desirability of interactive voice systems for use in airborne weapon systems crew stations. A voice recognition and synthesis system (VRAS) was developed and incorporated into a human centrifuge. The speech recognition aspect of VRAS was developed using a voice command system (VCS) developed by Scope Electronics. The speech synthesis capability was supplied by a Votrax, VS-5, speech synthesis unit built by Vocal Interface. The effects of simulated flight on automatic speech recognition were determined by repeated trials in the VRAS-equipped centrifuge. The relationship of vibration, G, O2 mask, mission duration, and cockpit temperature and voice quality was determined. The results showed that: (1) voice quality degrades after 0.5 hours with an O2 mask; (2) voice quality degrades under high vibration; and (3) voice quality degrades under high levels of G. The voice quality studies are summarized. These results were obtained with a baseline of 80 percent recognition accuracy with VCS.

Curran, P. Mike↗
NASA NTRS2006

Mission Control Technologies: A New Way of Designing and Evolving Mission Systems

Current mission operations systems are built as a collection of monolithic software applications. Each application serves the needs of a specific user base associated with a discipline or functional role. Built to accomplish specific tasks, each application embodies specialized functional knowledge and has its own data storage, data models, programmatic interfaces, user interfaces, and customized business logic. In effect, each application creates its own walled-off environment. While individual applications are sometimes reused across multiple missions, it is expensive and time consuming to maintain these systems, and both costly and risky to upgrade them in the light of new requirements or modify them for new purposes. It is even more expensive to achieve new integrated activities across a set of monolithic applications. These problems impact the lifecycle cost (especially design, development, testing, training, maintenance, and integration) of each new mission operations system. They also inhibit system innovation and evolution. This in turn hinders NASA's ability to adopt new operations paradigms, including increasingly automated space systems, such as autonomous rovers, autonomous onboard crew systems, and integrated control of human and robotic missions. Hence, in order to achieve NASA's vision affordably and reliably, we need to consider and mature new ways to build mission control systems that overcome the problems inherent in systems of monolithic applications. The keys to the solution are modularity and interoperability. Modularity will increase extensibility (evolution), reusability, and maintainability. Interoperability will enable composition of larger systems out of smaller parts, and enable the construction of new integrated activities that tie together, at a deep level, the capabilities of many of the components. Modularity and interoperability together contribute to flexibility. The Mission Control Technologies (MCT) Project, a collaboration of multiple NASA Centers, led by NASA Ames Research Center, is building a framework to enable software to be assembled from flexible collections of components and services.

Trimble, Jay↗
NASA NTRS2009

Applying Formal Methods to NASA Projects: Transition from Research to Practice

NASA project managers attempt to manage risk by relying on mature, well-understood process and technology when designing spacecraft. In the case of crewed systems, the margin for error is even tighter and leads to risk aversion. But as we look to future missions to the Moon and Mars, the complexity of the systems will increase as the spacecraft and crew work together with less reliance on Earth-based support. NASA will be forced to look for new ways to do business. Formal methods technologies can help NASA develop complex but cost effective spacecraft in many domains, including requirements and design, software development and inspection, and verification and validation of vehicle subsystems. To realize these gains, the technologies must be matured and field-tested so that they are proven when needed. During this discussion, current activities used to evaluate FM technologies for Orion spacecraft design will be reviewed. Also, suggestions will be made to demonstrate value to current designers, and mature the technology for eventual use in safety-critical NASA missions.

Othon, Bill↗
NASA NTRS1988

Conceptual design of a manned orbital transfer vehicle

With the advent of the manned space station, man now requires a spacecraft based on the space station with the ability to deploy, recover, and repair satellites quickly and economically. Such a craft would prolong and enhance the life and performance of many satellites. A basic design was developed for an orbital tansfer vehicle (OTV). The basic design criteria are discussed. The design of the OTV and systems were researched in the following areas: avionics, crew systems, electrical power systems, environmental control/life support systems, navigation and orbital maneuvers, propulsion systems, reaction control systems (RCS), servicing systems, and structures. The basic concepts in each of the areas are summarized.

Davis, Richard↗
NASA NTRS1988

Two designs for an orbital transfer vehicle

The Orbital Transfer Vehicle (OTV) and systems were researched in the following areas: avionics, crew systems, electrical power systems, environmental control/life support systems, navigation and orbital maneuvers, propulsion systems, reaction control systems (RCS), servicing systems, and structures.

Davis, Richard↗
NASA NTRS2016

Integrated Human-in-the-Loop Ground Testing - Value, History, and the Future

Systems for very long-duration human missions to Mars will be designed to operate reliably for many years and many of these systems will never be returned to Earth. The need for high reliability is driven by the requirement for safe functioning of remote, long-duration crewed systems and also by unsympathetic abort scenarios. Abort from a Mars mission could be as long as 450 days to return to Earth. The key to developing a human-in-the-loop architecture is a development process that allows for a logical sequence of validating successful development in a stepwise manner, with assessment of key performance parameters (KPPs) at each step; especially important are KPPs for technologies evaluated in a full systems context with human crews on Earth and on space platforms such as the ISS. This presentation will explore the implications of such an approach to technology development and validation including the roles of ground and space-based testing necessary to develop a highly reliable system for long duration human exploration missions. Historical development and systems testing from Mercury to the International Space Station (ISS) to ground testing will be reviewed. Current work as well as recommendations for future work will be described.

Henninger, Donald L.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Aviation safety and automation technology for subsonic transports

Discussed here are aviation safety human factors and air traffic control (ATC) automation research conducted at the NASA Ames Research Center. Research results are given in the areas of flight deck and ATC automations, displays and warning systems, crew coordination, and crew fatigue and jet lag. Accident investigation and an incident reporting system that is used to guide the human factors research is discussed. A design philosophy for human-centered automation is given, along with an evaluation of automation on advanced technology transports. Intelligent error tolerant systems such as electronic checklists are discussed along with design guidelines for reducing procedure errors. The data on evaluation of Crew Resource Management (CRM) training indicates highly significant positive changes in appropriate flight deck behavior and more effective use of available resources for crew members receiving the training.

Albers, James A.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Enabling Technologies for Deep Space Imaging

From the beginning of the Space Age, imagery, particularly motion imagery, has been a part of crewed and un-crewed missions. As technologies have evolved the imagery gets better, more compelling, and more useful for operations and monitoring of systems, crew, and spacecraft. As we look forward now to crewed missions beyond low-Earth orbit, such as the Lunar Orbiting Platform-Gateway being considered as a pre-cursor to future crewed Mars missions, there are both opportunities and challenges in implementing a multi-faceted imaging system that advances mission capabilities and technology. This paper will present a vision for an imaging system that is relevant for operations of the ISS and future crewed missions in deep space, with a detailed look at some of the key innovative technologies required to enable such a system. Specific enabling technologies included are: Innovative camera systems capable of providing a 360deg field-of-view without moving parts; Ultra-high Definition (or higher) resolution; High Efficiency Video Coding compression; Compatibility with Delay Tolerant Network protocols; and Intelligent systems capable of monitoring the field-of-view for un-crewed missions. Opportunities where Standardization can enable interoperability are also identified.

Grubbs, Rodney↗
NASA NTRS2011

Crew Health Care System (CHeCS) Design Research, Documentations, and Evaluations

The Crew Health Care System (CHeCS) is a group within the Space Life Science Directorate (SLSD) that focuses on the overall health of astronauts by reinforcing the three divisions - the Environmental Maintenance System (EMS), the Countermeasures System (CMS), and the Health Maintenance System (HMS). This internship provided opportunity to gain knowledge, experience, and skills in CHeCS engineering and operations tasks. Various and differing tasks allowed for occasions to work independently, network to get things done, and show leadership abilities. Specific exercises included reviewing hardware certification, operations, and documentation within the ongoing Med Kit Redesign (MKR) project, and learning, writing, and working various common pieces of paperwork used in the engineering and design process. Another project focused on the distribution of various pieces of hardware to off-site research facilities with an interest in space flight health care. The main focus of this internship, though, was on a broad and encompassing understanding of the engineering process as time was spent looking at each individual step in a variety of settings and tasks.

CLement, Bethany M.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Planning for Crew Exercise for Future Deep Space Mission Scenarios

Providing the necessary exercise capability to protect crew health for deep space missions will bring new sets of engineering and research challenges. Exercise has been found to be a necessary mitigation for maintaining crew health on‐orbit and preparing the crew for return to earth's gravity. Health and exercise data from Apollo, Space Lab, Shuttle, and International Space Station missions have provided insight into crew deconditioning and the types of activities that can minimize the impacts of microgravity on the physiological systems. The hardware systems required to implement exercise can be challenging to incorporate into spaceflight vehicles. Exercise system design requires encompassing the hardware required to provide mission specific anthropometrical movement ranges, desired loads, and frequencies of desired movements as well as the supporting control and monitoring systems, crew and vehicle interfaces, and vibration isolation and stabilization subsystems. The number of crew and operational constraints also contribute to defining the what exercise systems will be needed. All of these features require flight vehicle mass and volume integrated with multiple vehicle systems. The International Space Station exercise hardware requires over 1,800 kg of equipment and over 24 m3 of volume for hardware and crew operational space. Improvements towards providing equivalent or better capabilities with a smaller vehicle impact will facilitate future deep space missions. Deep space missions will require more understanding of the physiological responses to microgravity, understanding appropriate mitigations, designing the exercise systems to provide needed mitigations, and integrating effectively into vehicle design with a focus to support planned mission scenarios. Recognizing and addressing the constraints and challenges can facilitate improved vehicle design and exercise system incorporation.

Moore, Cherice↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

STS-1 Forward RCS Oxidizer Tank Subsystem Failure Assessment

The launch of the Space Shuttle Columbia on STS-1 marked the beginning of a new era in American spaceflight. It was the only crewed first flight of a launch vehicle to date, and was also the first crewed system to use large solid rockets as primary propulsion. A potential disaster was narrowly averted at liftoff when an ignition overpressure pulse swept up the Shuttle stack. The frequency of this transient shock wave exceeded pre-launch predictions, and resulted in high, alternating normal accelerations along the length of the vehicle. Among the results of this unexpected loading was failure of an oxidizer tank support strut in the orbiter’s forward reaction control system module, which could have led to loss of the mission, crew, and vehicle. This particular incident is investigated in more detail using classical structural mechanics, and the results are discussed to provide additional insight.

Space Shuttle↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

STS-1 Forward RCS Oxidizer Tank Subsystem Preliminary Failure Assessment

The launch of the Space Shuttle Columbia on STS-1 marked the beginning of a new era in American spaceflight. It was the only crewed first flight of a launch vehicle to date, and was also the first crewed system to use large solid rockets as primary propulsion. A potential disaster was narrowly averted at liftoff when an ignition overpressure pulse swept up the Shuttle stack. The frequency of this transient shock wave exceeded pre-launch predictions, and resulted in high, alternating normal accelerations along the length of the vehicle. Among the results of this unexpected loading was failure of an oxidizer tank support strut in the orbiter’s forward reaction control system module, which could have led to loss of the mission, crew, and vehicle. This particular incident is investigated in more detail using classical structural mechanics, and the results are discussed to provide additional insight.

Space Shuttle↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

STS-1 Forward RCS Oxidizer Tank Subsystem Structural Failure Assessment

The launch of the Space Shuttle Columbia on STS-1 marked the beginning of a new era in American spaceflight. It was the only crewed first flight of a launch vehicle to date, and was also the first crewed system to use large solid rockets as primary propulsion. A potential disaster was narrowly averted at liftoff when an ignition overpressure pulse swept up the Shuttle stack. The frequency of this transient shock wave exceeded pre-launch predictions, and resulted in high, alternating normal accelerations along the length of the vehicle. Among the results of this unexpected loading was failure of an oxidizer tank support strut in the orbiter’s forward reaction control system module, which could have led to loss of the mission, crew, and vehicle. This particular incident is investigated in more detail using classical structural mechanics and finite element analyses, and the results are discussed to provide additional insight.

space shuttle↗
NASA NTRS2018

Enabling Technologies for Deep Space Motion Imagery

From the beginning of the Space Age, imagery, particularly motion imagery, has been a part of crewed and uncrewed missions. As technologies have evolved the imagery gets better, more compelling, and more useful for operations and monitoring of systems, crew, and spacecraft. Film, video and live television have engaged the public and sparked the imaginations of engineers, scientists, and artists alike. As we look forward now to crewed missions beyond low-Earth orbit, such as the Deep Space Gateway being considered as a pre-cursor to future crewed Mars missions, there are both opportunities and challenges in implementing a multi-faceted imaging system that advances mission capabilities and technology.This paper will present a vision for an imaging system that is relevant for operations of the ISS and future crewed missions in deep space, with a detailed look at some of the key innovative technologies required to enable such a system. In addition, impacts to Space Operations, video distribution to the public and to science investigators, and video system interoperability will be presented. Opportunities where standardization can enable interoperability are also identified for those imagery and communications functions planned for inclusion in the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) Blue Book.

Grubbs, Rodney↗