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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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NASA NTRS2006

Demonstration of Self-Training Autonomous Neural Networks in Space Vehicle Docking Simulations

Neural Networks have been under examination for decades in many areas of research, with varying degrees of success and acceptance. Key goals of computer learning, rapid problem solution, and automatic adaptation have been elusive at best. This paper summarizes efforts at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center harnessing such technology to autonomous space vehicle docking for the purpose of evaluating applicability to future missions.

Patrick, M. Clinton↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

TPSAS-NF1676L-14659-DND

Subsonic fixed wing aircraft dominant the world's air fleet and move people and goods on 24/7 basis. While air travel is an effective, efficient means of transportation providing an unmatched combination of speed and range, future subsonic aircraft must continue to improve substantially to meet energy efficiency and environmental compatibility goals. The NASA Fundamental Aeronautics Program via the Subsonic Fixed Wing (SFW) Project addresses the comprehensive challenge of enabling revolutionary energy-efficiency improvements in subsonic transport aircraft combined with dramatic reductions in harmful emissions and perceived noise to facilitate sustained growth of the air transportation system. Advanced technologies and the development of unconventional aircraft systems offer the potential to achieve these improvements. Multidisciplinary advances are required in aerodynamic efficiency to reduce drag, structural efficiency to reduce aircraft empty weight, and propulsive and thermal efficiency to reduce thrust-specific energy consumption (TSEC) for overall system benefit. Additionally, advances are required to reduce perceived noise without adversely affecting drag, weight, or TSEC and to reduce harmful emissions without adversely affecting energy efficiency or noise. The primary focus of SFW is on the "N+3" generation; that is, vehicles that are three generations beyond the current state of the art, requiring mature technology solutions in the 2025-30 timeframe. Success in overcoming these technical challenges will result in major changes to engine cycle and airframe configurations, which in turn will broaden the technology trade space for vehicles ranging from large transports to very light jets. This presentation provides an overview of SFW-sponsored research targeted at improved aerodynamic and structural efficiency for airframe and integrated vehicle systems.

Richard A Wahls↗

NASA NTRS1987

A view from the AIAA: Introduction of new energy storage technology into orbital programs

The development of new energy storage technology must be heavily weighted toward the application. The requirements for transitioning low risk technology into operational space vehicles must remain the central theme even at the preliminary development stages by the development of efforts to define operational issues and verify the reliability of the system. Failure to follow a complete plan that results in a flight qualified unit may lead to an orphan technology. Development efforts must be directed toward a stable development where changes in design are evolutionary and end items are equivalent to flight units so that life and qualification testing can be used as a vehicle to demonstrate the acceptability of the technology.

Badcock, Charles↗

NASA NTRS2013

Composite Design and Manufacturing Development for Human Spacecrafts

The Structural Engineering Division at the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) has begun work on lightweight, multi‐functional pressurized composite structures. The first candidate vehicle for technology development is the Multi‐Mission Space Exploration Vehicle (MMSEV) cabin, known as the Gen 2B cabin, which has been built at JSC by the Robotics Division. Of the habitable MMSEV vehicle prototypes designed to date, this is the first one specifically analyzed and tested to hold internal pressure and the only one made out of composite materials. This design uses a laminate base with zoned reinforcement and external stringers, intended to demonstrate certain capabilities, and to prepare for the next cabin design, which will be a composite sandwich panel construction with multi‐functional capabilities. As part of this advanced development process, a number of new technologies were used to assist in the design and manufacturing process. One of the methods, new to JSC, was to build the Gen 2B cabin with Out of Autoclave technology to permit the creation of larger parts with fewer joints. An 8‐ply pre‐preg layup was constructed to form the cabin body. Prior to lay‐up, a design optimization software called FiberSIM was used to create each ply pattern. This software is integrated with Pro/Engineer to allow for customized draping of each fabric ply over the complex tool surface. Slits and darts are made in the software model to create an optimal design that maintains proper fiber placement and orientation. The flat pattern of each ply is then exported and sent to an automated cutting table where the patterns are cut out of graphite material. Additionally, to assist in lay‐up, a laser projection system (LPT) is used to project outlines of each ply directly onto the tool face for accurate fiber placement and ply build‐up. Finally, as part of the OoA process, a large oven was procured to post‐cure each part. After manufacturing complete, the cabin underwent modal and pressure testing (currently in progress at date of writing) and will go on to be outfitted and used for further ops usage.

Litteken, Douglas↗

NASA NTRS1974

Carbon composites in space vehicle structures

Recent developments in the technology of carbon or graphite filaments now provide the designer with greatly improved materials offering high specific strength and modulus. Besides these advantages are properties which are distinctly useful for space applications and which provide feasibility for missions not obtainable by other means. Current applications include major and secondary structures of communications satellites. A number of R & D projects are exploring carbon-fiber application to rocket engine motor cases, advanced antenna systems, and space shuttle components. Future system studies are being made, based on the successful application of carbon fibers for orbiting space telescope assemblies, orbital transfer vehicles, and very large deployable energy generation systems. Continued technology development is needed in analysis, material standards, and advanced structural concepts to exploit the full potential of carbon filaments in composite materials.

Mayer, N. J.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Parametric trade studies on a Shuttle 2 launch system architecture

A series of trade studies are presented on a complementary architecture of launch vehicles as a part of a study often referred to as Shuttle-2. The results of the trade studies performed on the vehicles of a reference Shuttle-2 mixed fleet architecture have provided an increased understanding of the relative importance of each of the major vehicle parameters. As a result of trades on the reference booster-orbiter configuration with a methane booster, the study showed that 60 percent of the total liftoff thrust should be on the booster and 40 percent on the orbiter. It was also found that the liftoff thrust to weight ratio (T/W) on the booster-orbiter should be 1.3. This leads to a low dry weight and still provides enough thrust to allow the design of a heavy lift architecture. As a result of another trade study, the dry weight of the reference booster-orbiter was chosen for a variety of operational considerations. Other trade studies on the booster-orbiter demonstrate that the cross feeding of propellant during boost phase is desirable and that engine-out capability from launch to orbit is worth the performance penalty. Technology assumptions made during the Shuttle-2 design were shown to be approx. equivalent to a 25 percent across the board weight reduction over the Space Shuttle technology. The vehicles of the Shuttle-2 architecture were also sized for a wide variety of payloads and missions to different orbits. Many of these same parametric trades were also performed on completely liquid hydrogen fueled fully reusable concepts. If a booster-orbiter is designed using liquid hydrogen engines on both the booster and orbiter, the total vehicle dry weight is only 3.0 percent higher than the reference dual-fuel booster-orbiter, and the gross weight is 3.8 percent less. For this booster-orbiter vehicle, a liftoff T/W of 1.3, a thrust of about 60 percent on the booster, and a Mach staging number of 3 all proved to be desirable. This modest dry weight increase for a liquid hydrogen fueled Shuttle-2 system should be more than offset by the elimination of the entire hydrocarbon engine development program and the savings in operation cost realized by the elimination of an entire fuel type.

Stanley, Douglas O.↗

NASA NTRS2000

NASA's Advanced Propulsion Technology Activities for Third Generation Fully Reusable Launch Vehicle Applications

NASA's Office of Aeronautics and Space Transportation Technology (OASTT) established the following three major goals, referred to as "The Three Pillars for Success": Global Civil Aviation, Revolutionary Technology Leaps, and Access to Space. The Advanced Space Transportation Program Office (ASTP) at the NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. focuses on future space transportation technologies under the "Access to Space" pillar. The Propulsion Projects within ASTP under the investment area of Spaceliner100, focus on the earth-to-orbit (ETO) third generation reusable launch vehicle technologies. The goals of Spaceliner 100 is to reduce cost by a factor of 100 and improve safety by a factor of 10,000 over current conditions. The ETO Propulsion Projects in ASTP, are actively developing combination/combined-cycle propulsion technologies that utilized airbreathing propulsion during a major portion of the trajectory. System integration, components, materials and advanced rocket technologies are also being pursued. Over the last several years, one of the main thrusts has been to develop rocket-based combined cycle (RBCC) technologies. The focus has been on conducting ground tests of several engine designs to establish the RBCC flowpaths performance. Flowpath testing of three different RBCC engine designs is progressing. Additionally, vehicle system studies are being conducted to assess potential operational space access vehicles utilizing combined-cycle propulsion systems. The design, manufacturing, and ground testing of a scale flight-type engine are planned. The first flight demonstration of an airbreathing combined cycle propulsion system is envisioned around 2005. The paper will describe the advanced propulsion technologies that are being being developed under the ETO activities in the ASTP program. Progress, findings, and future activities for the propulsion technologies will be discussed.

Hueter, Uwe↗

DOE OSTI2023

Pseudospectral convex optimization for on-ramp merging control of connected vehicles

It can be a daunting task for human drivers to merge into highways because of the intricate vehicle negotiations and potential risk within limited time and space. Connected vehicle (CV) technologies could be a solution to this problem and offer many benefits to the road safety, traffic mobility, and energy efficiency. However, real-time optimal control of CVs is still an open challenge, due to the nonlinear vehicle dynamics, non-convex fuel consumption model, and highly dynamic uncertain inter-vehicle interactions. To tackle these issues, a novel real-time optimal control approach that balances the computational efficiency and solution optimality is proposed for the purpose of onboard application. To this end, the pseudospectral collocation method is integrated with a sequential convex programming approach to develop two new optimization algorithms, which are implemented within a model predictive control (MPC) framework to allow for real-time generation of optimal merging speed profiles. One algorithm leverages the line search technique to improve convergence, and the other benefits from the trust region method for better computational efficiency. The optimality and convergence process of both proposed algorithms are investigated by comparing their solutions with a popular non-linear solver. Furthermore, simulation results show that the proposed methods outperform the benchmark in terms of computational cost, fuel consumption, and traffic efficiency. In particular, the proposed fuel-economy merging rule can save 57.1% fuel consumption on average on four different traffic volumes. Meanwhile, the proposed optimal control algorithms can reduce 2.2% travel time on average comparing to the “first-in-first-out” merging rule.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗

NASA NTRS1982

NASA Dryden's experience in parameter estimation and its uses in flight test

An explanation of the parameter estimation method used at the Dryden Flight Research Facility is presented, and an overview is provided of experience related to the employment of this method, taking into account the utilization of this experience in flight tests. According to a definition of the aircraft parameter estimation problem, the system investigated is asumed to be modeled by a set of dynamic equations containing unknown parameters. To determine the values of the unknown parameters, the system is excited by a suitable input, and the input and actual system response are measured. The values of the unknown parameters are then inferred, based on the requirement that the model response to the given input match the actual system response. Examples of parameter estimation in flight test are discussed, giving attention to the F-14 fighter, the HiMAT (high maneuverable aircraft technology) vehicle, and the Space Shuttle.

Iliff, K. W.↗

NASA NTRS1985

The WPI space glove design project

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) was one of four colleges and universities awarded NASA grants for student design and development of an improved glove for space suits. This paper traces the design, development and testing of the WPI prototype glove. Test results showed that the glove did not significantly limit hand and finger motion when pressurized at 8 psi, except in the spherical grip mode. This project demonstrated that problems originating from space technology provide excellent vehicles for student learning and can generate creative solutions.

Durgin, W. W.↗

NASA NTRS2000

Spaceport Operations Element

This viewgraph presentation gives an overview of the spaceport operations element, including details on NASA Ames air traffic management technologies, reusable launch vehicles, space transportation of the future, and spaceport flight operations research topics.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS2004

Trajectory Analysis

The Systems Analysis Branch performs trajectory and systems analysis for next-generation launch vehicle and space transportation technologies. Currently the branch is supporting the Project Prometheus with analysis of nuclear electric and nuclear thermal propulsion missions to a variety of destinations. Within Project Prometheus a proposed mission to Jupiter and three of the planet sized icy moons that orbit it is developing. The Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO) as the project is being called will enable detailed scientific investigation of Jupiter's moons Callisto, Ganymede, and Europa. These moons were choose to orbit for intensive study in particular because they are each believed to have water, energy, and organic material. The JIMO mission will utilize nuclear fission power and electric propulsion in order to allow the spacecraft to orbit the moons at close range for long durations of time. My assignment this summer was to assist in developing a trajectory analysis for the spacecraft system the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter by rewriting an inefficient Excel file into a more efficient FORTRAN program. This program has been created for use planning the trajectory of the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter Mission. The program uses a database of thousands of data points representing flight time, burn time, thrust, mass of the propellant used, final mass of the spacecraft, ratio of finals mass to initial mass, and change in velocity that a spacecraft experiences during each phase in the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter Mission. The trajectory program is capable of taking a specific user entered specific impulse (isp), final mass fraction, and thrust (P(sub J)/m0) and through the use of cubic splines to fit specific data curves, the program can locate the exact flight time linked to the user specified values of specific impulse and final over initial mass fraction. Currently, the database used by the program to calculate flight times for a given thrust is only for isps in the range of 2000 to 9000 seconds. Although the program is specific to the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter mission, it can be easily modified to fit any mission with a propulsion system expected isp range between 2000 and 9000 seconds. This program performs the same tasks as the old Excel file but in a more timely fashion. Finally, this FORTRAN program will replace the Excel file as the tool used to calculate trajectory properties in missions and will provide valuable data to mission analysts for years to come.

Burke, Laura M.↗

NASA NTRS2016

Carbon Dioxide Management on the International Space Station

The International Space Station (ISS) is a manned laboratory operating in orbit around the Earth that was built and is currently operated by several countries across the world. The ISS is a platform for novel scientific research as well as a testbed for technologies that will be required for the next step in space exploration. In order for astronauts to live on ISS for an extended period of time, it is vital that on board systems consistently provide a clean atmosphere. One contaminant that must be removed from the atmosphere is carbon dioxide (CO2). CO2 levels on ISS are higher than those on Earth and can cause crew members to experience symptoms such as headaches, lethargy and mental slowness. A variety of systems exist on ISS to remove carbon dioxide, including adsorbent technologies which can be reused and testbed technologies for future space vehicles.

Burlingame, Katie↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

In-Situ Electrochemical Generation and Utilization of Hydrogen Peroxide for Disinfection

Disinfection needs to meet personal hygiene requirements at the International Space Station (ISS) is currently accomplished through the use of pre-packaged, disposable, wetted wipes, which represent an appreciable carry-along mass and disposal burden. However, as human missions travel further into the solar system the availability of resources to resupply will be diminished. Therefore, next-generation system should use onboard utilities to create on demand disinfectants, thereby reducing the dependence on earth-based supplies and further eliminating storage and disposal problems. Accordingly, we are developing an in-situ approach to electrochemically generate hydrogen peroxide disinfecting solution utilizing onboard life support supplies (Air/Water) to neutralize surface microorganisms present in closed living systems. As discussed within our 2019 and 2021 ICES papers (ICES-2019-38 and ICES-2021-273), we have continued to improve our TRL by scaling the electrochemical generation production process and validating the system in a zero-gravity parabolic loop flight test. In this paper we will demonstrate a system that can achieve over 1 L of >2 w/w% peroxide per day with DI water and air feeds. The hydrogen peroxide solutions generated were sent to NASA for microbial control property characterization. Overall, the electrochemical peroxide generation system offers a more economical and practical alternative, with the disinfectant being generated on demand and in-situ (using available life support materials of Air/Water); and applied to reusable cloths. The specific application of interest to this program is crew contact surfaces in space vehicles, but this technology could be utilized for waste water disinfection, heat exchanger biofouling remediation, and laundry applications. The peroxide generation system will also be able to address Earth-based needs in various settings such as field hospitals, restaurants, military, warehouses, movie theatres, among many others.

hydrogen peroxide↗

NASA NTRS1973

Control of a flexible space shuttle vehicle

The application of optimal control technology to the design of a controller for the space shuttle descent was studied using weighting matrices adjusted through iteration to reduce response peaks, which are defined as mean magnitude plus sigma values. The synthesis techniques, and optimal controller design are discussed along with simplified controller design. Quantitative characteristics of the optimal controller, effects of variation of sample rate, and simplified controller data are included.

Harvey, C. A.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Technology issues associated with using densified hydrogen for space vehicles

Slush hydrogen and triple-point hydrogen offer the potential for reducing the size and weight of future space vehicles because these fluids have greater densities than normal-boiling-point liquid hydrogen. In addition, these fluids have greater heat capacities, which make them attractive fuels for such applications as the National Aerospace Plane and cryogenic depots. Some of the benefits of using slush hydrogen and triple-point hydrogen for space missions are quantified. Some of the major issues associated with using these densified cryogenic fuels for space applications are examined, and the technology efforts that have been made to address many of these issues are summarized.

Hardy, Terry L.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Technology issues associated with using densified hydrogen for space vehicles

Hardy, Terry L.↗

NASA NTRS2019

Development of Composite Sandwich Bonded Longitudinal Joints for Space Launch Vehicle Structures

The NASA Composite Technology for Exploration (CTE) Project is developing and demonstrating critical composite technologies with a focus on composite bonded joints; incorporating materials, design/analysis, manufacturing, and tests that utilize NASA’s expertise and capabilities. The project has goals of advancing composite technologies and providing lightweight structures to support future NASA exploration missions. In particular, the CTE project will demonstrate weight-saving, performance-enhancing composite bonded joint technology for Space Launch System (SLS)-scale composite hardware. Advancements from the CTE project may be incorporated as future block upgrades for SLS structural components. This paper discusses the details of the development of a composite sandwich bonded longitudinal joint for a generic space launch vehicle structure called the CTE Point Design. The paper includes details of the design, analysis, materials, manufacturing, and testing of sub-element joint test articles to test the capability of the joint design. The test results show that the composite longitudinal bonded joint design significantly exceeds the design loads with a 2.0 factor of safety. Analysis pre-test failure predictions for all sub-element bonded joint test coupons were all within 10% of the average test coupon failure load. This testing and analysis provides confidence in the potential use of composite bonded joints for future launch vehicle structures.

Segal, Kenneth N.↗