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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 NTRS2017

Aseptic Handling of the MOMA Mass Spectrometer After Dry Heat Microbial Reduction

Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer Mass Spectrometer (MOMA-MS) is an instrument in the larger MOMA instrument suite for the European Space Agency (ESA) ExoMars 2020 Rover. As a life-detection instrument on a Mars landing mission, MOMA-MS has very stringent Planetary Protection (PP) bioburden requirements. Within the MOMA instrument suite, the hardware surfaces of the sample path must be cleaned to a level of 0.03 spore/sq m. To meet this requirement, a process called Dry Heat Microbial Reduction (DHMR) is used to decrease the number of viable spores by 4 orders of magnitude. Before DHMR, the hardware is handled using standard cleanroom practices, while after DHMR, all sample path surfaces must be handled aseptically when exposed. Aseptic handling of the sample path involves a number of strategies and protocols including working only in an aseptic ISO class 5 work space, limiting the amount of time of exposure, using sterile garmenting with sterile gloves, and using sterile tools. Before work begins, the aseptic workspace will be tested for bioburden and particle fallout, and all tools that will contact sample path surfaces must be sterilized. During the exposure activity, sterile garments will be worn, sterile tools will be handled in a 2 person set up so that the operator touches only the sterile tool and not the exterior surfaces of the sterile pouch, and the environment will be monitored with active and passive fallout for bioburden and particle levels. Any breach in the planetary protection cleanliness can necessitate repeating DHMR, which not only has significant cost and schedule implications, it also become a risk to hardware that is not rated for repeated long exposures to high temperatures.

Life Detection↗
NASA NTRS1997

Sample Diluter for Detecting Hypergolic Propellants and Other Toxic or Hazardous Gases

Hardware was developed to dilute vapor samples of purged hypergolic propellants (with air) into the range of existing instruments for detection of such toxic vapors. Since these detectors are normally used to monitor at the threshold limit value (TLV), most do not have quantitative capability at percent levels which relate to lower explosion limit (LEL) and fire hazards. For example, the upper limits of Energetic Sciences (ESI) 6000 series detectors used at KSC are 200 parts per million (ppm) for monomethyl hydrazine (MMH) and 500 ppm for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) arising from decomposition of nitrogen tetroxide (N2O4). Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) personnel servicing Shuttle thrusters need to measure up to 250 ppm MMH and 7,500 ppm NO2 with portable, intrinsically safe instruments. Our objective was to quickly fabricate a sample diluter out of existing materials as a temporary measure while other parallel efforts were conducted to provide a commercial or in-house-developed instrument to detect high propellant levels. A 3 to 1 diluter would bring 500 ppm MMH into the range of the existing fuel ESI, and a 30 to 1 diluter would do the same for NO2. In this way, familiar equipment already available would be used, resulting in minimal paperwork, safety, and training impacts and low cost. An MMH vapor sample-diluter was constructed from a 1/4-inch Kynar tee, along with specially designed lengths of sample and dilution tubing. The sample line was 3 feet of Bev-A-Line 4, 1/4-inch tube leading to the straight run of the tee. The side run of the tee had a 17-inch length of Bev-A-Line 4, 1/4-inch tube, for nominal 3 to 1 dilution. A gas sample bag was prepared and assayed at 113 ppm ppm MMH, and diluted vapor samples were assayed at 39.5 ppm, or a measured dilution of 2.9 to 1. For NO2, a 316 stainless steel (SS) 1/8-inch tee with 49.5 inches of coiled, 1/8-inch outside diameter (OD) 316 SS tubing was used as the sampling end of the dilution system. The side run of the tee was open. The measured dilution ratio, based on the input value of 6,480 ppm NO2, and the average output value of 233 ppm, was 28 to 1. Thus, sample-diluters were successful in diluting concentrated hypergolic propellant vapors, both MMH and N2O4 into the ranges of existing TLV detectors.

Barile, R. G.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Sample Diluter for Detecting Hypergolic Propellants and Other Toxic or Hazardous Gases

Hardware was developed to dilute vapor samples of purged hypergolic propellants (with air) into the range of existing instruments for detection of such toxic vapors. Since these detectors are normally used to monitor at the threshold limit value (TLV), most do not have quantitative capability at percent levels which relate to lower explosion limit (LEL) and fire hazards. For example, the upper limits of Energetic Sciences (ESI) 6000 series detectors used at KSC are 200 parts per million (ppm) for monomethyl hydrazine (MMH) and 500 ppm for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) arising from decomposition of nitrogen tetroxide (N2O4). Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) personnel servicing Shuttle thrusters need to measure up to 250 ppm MMH and 7500 ppm NO2 with portable, intrinsically safe instruments. Our objective was to quickly fabricate a sample diluter out of existing materials as a temporary measure while other parallel efforts were conducted to provide a commercial or in-house-developed instrument to detect high propellant levels. A 3 to 1 diluter would bring 500 ppm MMH into the range of the existing fuel ESI, and a 30 to 1 diluter would do the same for NO2. In this way, familiar equipment already available would be used, resulting in minimal paperwork, safety, and training impacts and low cost. An MMH vapor sample-diluter was constructed from a 1/4-inch Kynar tee, along with specially designed lengths of sample and dilution tubing. The sample line was 3 feet of Bev-A-Line 4, 1/4 inch tube leading to the straight run of the tee. The side run of the tee had a 17-inch length of Bev-A-Line 4, 1/4-inch tube, for nominal 3 to 1 dilution. A gas sample bag was prepared and assayed at 113 ppm MMH, and diluted vapor sarnples were assayed at 39.5 ppm, or a measured dilution of 2.9 to 1. For NO2, a 316 stainless steel (SS) 1/8-inch tee with 49.5 inches of coiled, 1/8-inch outside diameter (OD) 316 SS tubing was used as the sarnpling end of the dilution system. The side run of the tee was open. The measured dilution ratio, based on the input value of 6,480 ppm NO2 and the average output value of 233 ppm, was 28 to 1. Thus, sample-diluters were successful in diluting concentrated hypergolic propellant vapors, both MMH and N2O4, into the ranges of existing TLV detectors.

Barile, R. G.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Aqueous Cleaning and Validation for Space Shuttle Propulsion Hardware at the White Sands Test Facility

The NASA White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) has developed an entirely aqueous final cleaning and verification process to replace the current chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) 113 based process. This process has been accepted for final cleaning and cleanliness verification of WSTF ground support equipment. The aqueous process relies on ultrapure water at 50 C (323 K) and ultrasonic agitation for removal of organic compounds and particulate. The cleanliness is verified bv determining the total organic carbon (TOC) content and filtration with particulate counting. The effectiveness of the aqueous methods for detecting hydrocarbon contamination and particulate was compared to the accepted CFC 113 sampling procedures. Testing with known contaminants, such as hydraulic fluid and cutting and lubricating oils, to establish a correlation between aqueous TOC and CFC 113 nonvolatile residue (NVR) was performed. Particulate sampling on cleaned batches of hardware that were randomly separated and sampled by the two methods was performed. This paper presents the approach and results, and discusses the issues in establishing the equivalence of aqueous sampling to CFC 113 sampling, while describing the approach for implementing aqueous techniques on Space Shuttle Propulsion hardware.

Hornung, Steven D.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Microorganisms in the Stratosphere (MIST): In-flight Sterilization with UVC Leds

The stratosphere (10 km to 50 km above sea level) is a unique place on Earth for astrobiological studies of microbes in extreme environments due to the combination of harsh conditions (high ultraviolet radiation, low pressure, desiccation, and low temperatures). Microorganisms in the Stratosphere (MIST) will attempt to characterize the diversity of microbes at these altitudes using a balloon collection device on a meteorological weather balloon. A major challenge of such an aerobiology study is the potential for ground contamination that makes it difficult to distinguish between collected microbes and contaminants. One solution is to use germicidal ultraviolet light emitting diodes (UV LEDs) to sterilize the collection strip. To use this solution, an optimal spatial arrangement of the lights had to be determined to ensure the greatest chance of complete sterilization within the 30 to 60 minute time of balloon ascent. A novel, 3D-printed test stand was developed to experimentally determine viable Bacillus pumilus SAFR-032 spore reduction after exposure to ultraviolet radiation at various times, angles, and distances. Taken together, the experimental simulations suggested that the UV LEDs on the MIST flight hardware should be active for at least 15 minutes and mounted within 4 cm of the illuminated surface at any angle to achieve optimal sterilization. These findings will aid in the production of the balloon collection device to ensure pristine stratospheric microbial samples are collected. Flight hardware capable of in-flight self-sterilization will enable future life detection missions to minimize both forward contamination and false positives.

Exobiology↗
NASA NTRS2007

Genesis Radiation Environment

The Genesis spacecraft launched on 8 August 2001 sampled solar wind environments at L1 from 2001 to 2004. After the Science Capsule door was opened, numerous foils and samples were exposed to the various solar wind environments during periods including slow solar wind from the streamer belts, fast solar wind flows from coronal holes, and coronal mass ejections. The Survey and Examination of Eroded Returned Surfaces (SEERS) program led by NASA's Space Environments and Effects program had initiated access for the space materials community to the remaining Science Capsule hardware after the science samples had been removed for evaluation of materials exposure to the space environment. This presentation will describe the process used to generate a reference radiation Genesis Radiation Environment developed for the SEERS program for use by the materials science community in their analyses of the Genesis hardware.

Minow, Joseph I.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Adventitious Carbon on Primary Sample Containment Metal Surfaces

Future missions that return astromaterials with trace carbonaceous signatures will require strict protocols for reducing and controlling terrestrial carbon contamination. Adventitious carbon (AC) on primary sample containers and related hardware is an important source of that contamination. AC is a thin film layer or heterogeneously dispersed carbonaceous material that naturally accrues from the environment on the surface of atmospheric exposed metal parts. To test basic cleaning techniques for AC control, metal surfaces commonly used for flight hardware and curating astromaterials at JSC were cleaned using a basic cleaning protocol and characterized for AC residue. Two electropolished stainless steel 316L (SS- 316L) and two Al 6061 (Al-6061) test coupons (2.5 cm diameter by 0.3 cm thick) were subjected to precision cleaning in the JSC Genesis ISO class 4 cleanroom Precision Cleaning Laboratory. Afterwards, the samples were analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Raman spectroscopy.

Calaway, M. J.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Space station communications and tracking equipment management/control system

Design details of a communications and tracking (C and T) local area network and the distribution system requirements for the prospective space station are described. The hardware will be constructed of LRUs, including those for baseband, RF, and antenna subsystems. It is noted that the C and T equipment must be routed throughout the station to accommodate growth of the station. Configurations of the C and T modules will therefore be dependent on the function of the space station module where they are located. A block diagram is provided of a sample C and T hardware distribution configuration. A topology and protocol will be needed to accommodate new terminals, wide bandwidths, bidirectional message transmission, and distributed functioning. Consideration will be given to collisions occurring in the data transmission channels.

Kapell, M. H.↗
NASA NTRS2001

A Framework for Distributed Rover Control and Three Sample Applications

In order to develop quality control software for multiple robots, a common interface is required. By developing components in a modular fashion with well-defined boundaries, roboticists can write code to program a generic rover, and only require very simple modifications to run on any robot with a properly implemented framework. The proposed framework advances a Generic Rover that could be any rover, from Real World Interface's All Terrain Robot Vehicle Jr. series to the Fido-class rovers from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to any other research robot. Using these generic hardware interfaces, software designers and engineers can concentrate on the actual code, and not have to worry about hardware details. In addition to the hardware support framework, three sample applications have been developed to demonstrate the flexibility and extensibility of the framework.

McGuire, Steve↗
NASA NTRS2023

Preliminary Examination of Returned Samples From Bennu Using Quantitative Particle Analysis in the Scanning Electron Microscope

The sample of regolith collected from asteroid Bennu by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will land in Utah on September 24, 2023. A 100-mg aliquot of fine Bennu dust adhering to the internal surfaces of the sample return capsule and associated hardware will be collected by curation staff during disassembly and analyzed immediately by members of the sample analysis team in a “Quick-Look” (Q-L) procedure. The Q-L objectives are (1) to provide images for release to the public to inform on the nature of the returned sample, and (2) to perform a reconnaissance investigation of the mineralogic characteristics of the returned material for science purposes. We will determine the minerals that occur in the dust, assess their diversity, and determine relative abundances at the >5% level using a combination of optical microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Here we describe the procedures and techniques developed for the Q-L analyses using analog samples analyzed by SEM equipped with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). To test these techniques, we have applied them to several samples, including powders of the Murchison (Fig. 1) and Orgueil meteorites, as well as simulant samples prepared by the mission.

OSIRIS-REx↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

TO252: Parabolic Flight Demonstration of Fluid Dispensing Tube Performance Limits for Drop Delivery

Ring Shear Drop (RSD) ISS flight hardware failed to pin sample fluid drops between two rings, likely due to dynamic instability inherent to the dispensing tube (D-Tube) design. The first parabolic flight tested 5 D-tube tip designs with two bounding surface tension fluids, enabling an engineering design decision. D-tube Tip Cage Design was selected based on the November 2020 parabolic flight test data. Flight Operations Program (FOP) approved a reflight proposal to include 2 parabolic flight days during the April/May 2021 campaign with following objectives: • Validate ISS hardware flight design with actual flight fluids (test as you fly), demonstrating the ability to deliver 1” fluid drops in near-microgravity conditions. • Demonstrate pinning of 1” flight fluid drops: a secondary pinning ring is planned to be installed in the parabolic flight hardware to meet this objective. Fluid flow rates will also be varied as needed and as possible. • Provide data to validate computational models used to guide ISS operational deployment decisions and demonstrate the viability of the redesigned hardware to accommodate a range of future flight investigations. This presentation introduces highlights and lessons learned during this recent flight campaign for discussion in the Flight Opportunities Program Panel, “Leveraging Suborbital Flight Tests to Advance Science and Technology."

Sridhar Gorti↗
NASA NTRS2000

Microscope-Based Fluid Physics Experiments in the Fluids and Combustion Facility on ISS

At the NASA Glenn Research Center, the Microgravity Science Program is planning to conduct a large number of experiments on the International Space Station in both the Fluid Physics and Combustion Science disciplines, and is developing flight experiment hardware for use within the International Space Station's Fluids and Combustion Facility. Four fluids physics experiments that require an optical microscope will be sequentially conducted within a subrack payload to the Fluids Integrated Rack of the Fluids and Combustion Facility called the Light Microscopy Module, which will provide the containment, changeout, and diagnostic capabilities to perform the experiments. The Light Microscopy Module is planned as a fully remotely controllable on-orbit microscope facility, allowing flexible scheduling and control of experiments within International Space Station resources. This paper will focus on the four microscope-based experiments, specifically, their objectives and the sample cell and instrument hardware to accommodate their requirements.

Doherty, Michael P.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Microbial Characterization Space Solid Wastes Treated with a Heat Melt Compactor

The on going purpose of the project efforts was to characterize and determine the fate of microorganisms in space-generated solid wastes before and after processing by candidate solid waste processing. For FY 11, the candidate technology that was assessed was the Heat Melt Compactor (HMC). The scope included five HMC. product disks produced at ARC from either simulated space-generated trash or from actual space trash, Volume F compartment wet waste, returned on STS 130. This project used conventional microbiological methods to detect and enumerate microorganisms in heat melt compaction (HMC) product disks as well as surface swab samples of the HMC hardware before and after operation. In addition, biological indicators were added to the STS trash prior to compaction in order to determine if these spore-forming bacteria could survive the HMC processing conditions, i.e., high temperature (160 C) over a long duration (3 hrs). To ensure that surface dwelling microbes did not contaminate HMC product disk interiors, the disk surfaces were sanitized with 70% alcohol. Microbiological assays were run before and after sanitization and found that sanitization greatly reduced the number of identified isolates but did not totally eliminate them. To characterize the interior of the disks, ten 1.25 cm diameter core samples were aseptically obtained for each disk. These were run through the microbial characterization analyses. Low counts of bacteria, on the order of 5 to 50 per core, were found, indicating that the HMC operating conditions might not be sufficient for waste sterilization. However, the direct counts were 6 to 8 orders of magnitude greater, indicating that the vast majority of microbes present in the wastes were dead or non-cultivable. An additional indication that the HMC was sterilizing the wastes was the results from the added commercial spore test strips to the wastes prior to HMC operation. Nearly all could be recovered from the HMC disks post-operation and all were showed negative growth when run through the manufacturer's protocol, meaning that the 106 or so spores impregnated into the strips were dead. Control test strips, i.e., not exposed to the HMC conditions were all strongly positive. One area of concern is that the identities of isolates from the cultivable counts included several human pathogens, namely Staphylococcus aureus. The project reported here provides microbial characterization support to the Waste Management Systems element of the Life Support and Habitation Systems program.

Strayer, Richard F.↗
NASA NTRS2008

Dynamic Method for Identifying Collected Sample Mass

G-Sample is designed for sample collection missions to identify the presence and quantity of sample material gathered by spacecraft equipped with end effectors. The software method uses a maximum-likelihood estimator to identify the collected sample's mass based on onboard force-sensor measurements, thruster firings, and a dynamics model of the spacecraft. This makes sample mass identification a computation rather than a process requiring additional hardware. Simulation examples of G-Sample are provided for spacecraft model configurations with a sample collection device mounted on the end of an extended boom. In the absence of thrust knowledge errors, the results indicate that G-Sample can identify the amount of collected sample mass to within 10 grams (with 95-percent confidence) by using a force sensor with a noise and quantization floor of 50 micrometers. These results hold even in the presence of realistic parametric uncertainty in actual spacecraft inertia, center-of-mass offset, and first flexibility modes. Thrust profile knowledge is shown to be a dominant sensitivity for G-Sample, entering in a nearly one-to-one relationship with the final mass estimation error. This means thrust profiles should be well characterized with onboard accelerometers prior to sample collection. An overall sample-mass estimation error budget has been developed to approximate the effect of model uncertainty, sensor noise, data rate, and thrust profile error on the expected estimate of collected sample mass.

Carson, John↗
NASA NTRS2014

NASA Bioculture System: From Experiment Definition to Flight Payload

Starting in 2015, the NASA Bioculture System will be available to the science community to conduct cell biology and microbiology experiments on ISS. The Bioculture System carries ten environmentally independent Cassettes, which house the experiments. The closed loop fluids flow path subsystem in each Cassette provides a perfusion-based method for maintain specimen cultures in a shear-free environment by using a biochamber based on porous hollow fiber bioreactor technology. Each Cassette contains an incubator and separate insulated refrigerator compartment for storage of media, samples, nutrients and additives. The hardware is capable of fully automated or manual specimen culturing and processing, including in-flight experiment initiation, sampling and fixation, up to BSL-2 specimen culturing, and the ability to up to 10 independent cultures in parallel for statistical analysis. The incubation and culturing of specimens in the Bioculture System is a departure from standard laboratory culturing methods. Therefore, it is critical that the PI has an understanding the pre-flight test required for successfully using the Bioculture System to conduct an on-orbit experiment. Overall, the PI will conduct a series of ground tests to define flight experiment and on-orbit implementation requirements, verify biocompatibility, and determine base bioreactor conditions. The ground test processes for the utilization of the Bioculture System, from experiment selection to flight, will be reviewed. Also, pre-flight test schedules and use of COTS ground test equipment (CellMax and FiberCell systems) and the Bioculture System will be discussed.

Bioculture System↗
NASA NTRS2019

TPSAS-NF1676L-32345-DND

Interest in the use of Raman spectrometers has seen an increase in the fields of geology and planetary sciences due to the non-destructive insight Raman spectra may provide into the molecular makeup of a given sample. Advancements in Raman spectrometer hardware have allowed for compact instruments to have deployment capabilities directly on interplanetary missions, flexible usage conditions requiring no sample collection/preparation, and no need for daylight radiation shielding. As the amount of science which can be collected from a Raman spectrometer in a given amount of time increases, a bottleneck will be created in data analysis which leaves a need for a faster method of spectral data classification. Recent studies have shown that machine learning models are able to solve this problem by achieving high-accuracy classification. Liu et al4 found the convolutional neural network (CNN) held the highest classification accuracy (96% top 5) for single sample Raman data.

A Atkinson↗
NASA NTRS2022

Perseverance Rover Collision Model for a range of Autonomous Behaviors

The NASA Mars 2020 Perseverance rover landed in Jezero crater on Mars on 18 February 2021. It is a science mission to collect and cache sample cores for possible return to Earth in the future. Robot collision modeling is traditionally used in robotics for hardware safety for manipulation and sampling. The Mars 2020 Rover Collision Model (RCM) optimizes and extends collision checking in innovative ways to provide a range of onboard autonomous capability on a computationally constrained system. It provides an example of the benefit of systems and operations cognizant software design and development of autonomous systems.

Klein, Douglas↗
NASA NTRS1985

Satellite laser ranging - Current status and future prospects

The characteristics and capabilities of instruments and operational techniques in the field of satellite laser ranging (SLR) are discussed. Following a brief introduction to the basic concept of SLR, a developmental history of each of the major components of an SLR hardware is given, including the laser transmitter, photomultiplier, discriminator, and time interval unit. The sources of range error in each of the devices are examined, and techniques for reducing error are described. A description of current SLR hardware is summarized using samples of actual satellite data obtained in 1981, which show that orbital fits with a 1.5 single shot rms and normal point rms error of less than 3 mm with 1-6 percent data entering. The development of even more precise measurement techniques in the future with the advent of the Starlette and LAGEOS II SLR system is also discussed.

Degnan, J. J.↗