Results for “terrain assessment” — Page 5

NASA NTRS2016

Overview of Proposed ISRU Technology Development

ISRU involves any hardware or operation that harnesses and utilizes in-situ resources (natural and discarded) to create products and services for robotic and human exploration: Assessment of physical, mineral chemical, and volatile water resources, terrain, geology, and environment (orbital and local). Production of replacement parts, complex products, machines, and integrated systems from feedstock derived from one or more processed resources. Civil engineering, infrastructure emplacement, and structure construction using materials produced from in situ resources. Radiation shields, landing pads, roads, berms, habitats, etc. Generation and storage of electrical, thermal, and chemical energy with in situ derived materials. Solar arrays, thermal wadis, chemical batteries, etc. ISRU is a disruptive capability: Enables more affordable exploration than todays paradigm. Allows more sustainable architectures to be developed. Understand the ripple effect in the other Exploration Elements: MAV: propellant selection, higher rendezvous altitude (higher DV capable with ISRU propellants). EDL: significantly reduces required landed mass. Life Support: reduce amount of ECLSS closure, reduce trash mass carried through propulsive maneuvers. Power: ISRU drives electrical requirements, reactant and regeneration for fuel cells for landers, rovers, and habitat backup. Every Exploration Element except ISRU has some flight heritage (power, propulsion, habitats, landers, life support, etc.) ISRU will require a flight demonstration mission on Mars before it will be included in the critical path. Mission needs to be concluded at least 10 years before first human landed mission to ensure lessons learned can be incorporated into final design. ISRU Formulation team has generated a (still incomplete) list of over 75 technical questions on more than 40 components and subsystems that need to be answered before the right ISRU system will be ready for this flight demo.

Mars exploration↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Battery State-of-Health Aware Path Planning for a Mars Rover

A rover mission consists of visiting waypoints to gather scientific samples based on set requirements. However, rovers face operational uncertainties during the mission, affecting the performance of its electrical and mechanical components and overall mission success. Hence, it is critical to have a decision-making framework that is aware of the health state of the components when planning the path of the vehicle. In particular, battery degradation, and consequently the battery State of Health (SOH), can affect the optimality of decisions made by the autonomous system in the long term. This paper presents a decision-making system that incorporates information on the energy drawn from the battery (based on the vehicle’s velocity), terrain conditions, and model-based prognostic modules to assess the impact on the battery’s state of charge (SoC). The decision-making system was formulated as a Markov Decision Process (MDP) to reach the goal destination by sending commands in a determined amount of time while maintaining the battery SoC within the policy stated. The MDP problem was programmed using the open-source framework POMDPs.jl, which has a variety of online and offline solvers. To solve the MDP problem online, we used Monte Carlo Tree Search (MCTS). Results from simulations demonstrate the effect that battery degradation and charging plans have on decision-making.

Prognostics↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Efficient and Accurate Terrain Integration & Application to Modeling and Simulation of Planetary Landing Systems

As planetary spacecraft landing system complexity increases, pre-flight performance assessments include correspondingly more detailed and complex models that represent the various environmental elements and vehicle subsystems. Specifically, the relevance and criticality of planetary terrain modeling in the context of precision landing and hazard avoidance (PL&HA) has become evident as both commercial and national agencies return to the Lunar surface and beyond.

Terrain↗

NASA NTRS1995

Mineralogic variations in fluvial sediments contaminated by mine tailings as determined from AVIRIS data, Coeur D'Alene River Valley, Idaho

The success of imaging spectrometry in mineralogic mapping of natural terrains indicates that the technology can also be used to assess the environmental impact of human activities in certain instances. Specifically, this paper describes an investigation into the use of data from the Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) for mapping the spread of, and assessing changes in, the mineralogic character of tailings from a major silver and base metal mining district. The area under investigation is the Coeur d'Alene River Valley in northern Idaho. Mining has been going on in and around the towns of Kellogg and Wallace, Idaho since the 1880's. In the Kellogg-Smelterville Flats area, west of Kellogg, mine tailings were piled alongside the South Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River. Until the construction of tailings ponds in 1968 much of these waste materials were washed directly into the South Fork. The Kellogg-Smelterville area was declared an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Superfund site in 1983 and remediation efforts are currently underway. Recent studies have demonstrated that sediments in the Coeur d'Alene River and in the northern part of Lake Coeur d'Alene, into which the river flows, are highly enriched in Ag, Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd, Hg, As, and Sb. These trace metals have become aggregated in iron oxide and oxyhydroxide minerals and/or mineraloids. Reflectance spectra of iron-rich tailing materials are shown. Also shown are spectra of hematite and goethite. The broad bandwidth and long band center (near 1 micron) of the Fe(3+) crystal-field band of the iron-rich sediment samples combined with the lack of features on the Fe(3+) -O(2-) charge transfer absorption edge indicates that the ferric oxide and/or oxyhydroxide in these sediments is poorly crystalline to amorphous in character. Similar features are seen in poorly crystalline basaltic weathering products (e.g., palagonites). The problem of mapping and analyzing the downriver occurrences of iron rich tailings in the Coeur d'Alene (CDA) River Valley using remotely sensed data is complicated by the full vegetation cover present in the area. Because exposures of rock and soil were sparse, the data processing techniques used in this study were sensitive to detecting materials at subpixel scales. The methods used included spectral mixture analysis and a constrained energy minimization technique.

Farrand, W. H.↗

NASA NTRS2014

Assessing the Utility of 3-km Land Information System Soil Moisture Data for Drought Monitoring and Hydrologic Applications

The NASA Short term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) Center in Huntsville, AL has been running a real-time configuration of the Noah land surface model within the NASA Land Information System (LIS) since June 2010. The SPoRT LIS version is run as a stand-alone land surface model over a Southeast Continental U.S. domain with 3-km grid spacing. The LIS contains output variables including soil moisture and temperature at various depths, skin temperature, surface heat fluxes, storm surface runoff, and green vegetation fraction (GVF). The GVF represents another real-time SPoRT product, which is derived from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer instrument aboard NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites. These data have demonstrated operational utility for drought monitoring and hydrologic applications at the National Weather Service (NWS) office in Huntsville, AL since early 2011. The most relevant data for these applications have proven to be the moisture availability (%) in the 0-10 cm and 0-200 cm layers, and the volumetric soil moisture (%) in the 0-10 cm layer. In an effort to better understand their applicability among locations with different terrain, soil and vegetation types, SPoRT is conducting the first formal assessment of these data at NWS offices in Houston, TX, Huntsville, AL and Raleigh, NC during summer 2014. The goal of this assessment is to evaluate the LIS output in the context of assessing flood risk and determining drought designations for the U.S. Drought Monitor. Forecasters will provide formal feedback via a survey question web portal, in addition to the NASA SPoRT blog. In this presentation, the SPoRT LIS and its applications at NWS offices will be presented, along with information about the summer assessment, including training module development and preliminary results.

White, Kristopher D.↗

NASA NTRS2012

RAPID and HTML5's potential

Just as important as the engineering that goes into building a robot is the method of interaction, or how human users will use the machine. As part of the Human-System Interactions group (Conductor) at JPL, I explored using a web interface to interact with ATHLETE, a prototype lunar rover. I investigated the usefulness of HTML 5 and Javascript as a telemetry viewer as well as the feasibility of having a rover communicate with a web server. To test my ideas I built a mobile-compatible website and designed primarily for an Android tablet. The website took input from ATHLETE engineers, and upon its completion I conducted a user test to assess its effectiveness.

All-Terrain Hex-Limbed Extra-Terrestrial Explorer ↗

NASA NTRS1977

The development of a model for predicting passenger acceptance of short-haul air transportation systems

Meaningful criteria and methodology for assessing, particularly in the area of ride quality, the potential acceptability to the traveling public of present and future transportation systems were investigated. Ride quality was found to be one of the important variables affecting the decision of users of air transportation, and to be influenced by several environmental factors, especially motion, noise, pressure, temperature, and seating. Models were developed to quantify the relationship of subjective comfort to all of these parameters and then were exercised for a variety of situations. Passenger satisfaction was found to be strongly related to ride quality and was so modeled. A computer program was developed to assess the comfort and satisfaction levels of passengers on aircraft subjected to arbitrary flight profiles over arbitrary terrain. A model was deduced of the manner in which passengers integrate isolated segments of a flight to obtain an overall trip comfort rating. A method was established for assessing the influence of other links (e.g., access, terminal conditions) in the overall passenger trip.

Kuhlthau, A. R.↗

NASA NTRS2003

Flight Test Comparison of Synthetic Vision Display Concepts at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport

Limited visibility is the single most critical factor affecting the safety and capacity of worldwide aviation operations. Synthetic Vision Systems (SVS) technology can solve this visibility problem with a visibility solution. These displays employ computer-generated terrain imagery to present 3D, perspective out-the-window scenes with sufficient information and realism to enable operations equivalent to those of a bright, clear day, regardless of weather conditions. To introduce SVS display technology into as many existing aircraft as possible, a retrofit approach was defined that employs existing HDD display capabilities for glass cockpits and HUD capabilities for the other aircraft. This retrofit approach was evaluated for typical nighttime airline operations at a major international airport. Overall, 6 evaluation pilots performed 75 research approaches, accumulating 18 hours flight time evaluating SVS display concepts that used the NASA LaRC's Boeing B-757-200 aircraft at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. Results from this flight test establish the SVS retrofit concept, regardless of display size, as viable for tested conditions. Future assessments need to extend evaluation of the approach to operations in an appropriate, terrain-challenged environment with daytime test conditions.

Glaab, Louis J.↗

NASA NTRS2022

Optimizing Lunar Map Partitioning for Multipath Fade Loss Analyses

A methodology is presented pertaining to the run-time optimization of quasi-optical ray-tracing simulations. These shooting-and-bouncing ray methods are used for assessing multipath fade loss in cislunar communication links. Our approach employs partitioning lunar terrain maps in shapes that approximate two-dimensional projections of Fresnel zone cross-sections. This technique drastically reduces computational run-time without causing significant loss of simulation accuracy.

Digital elevation models↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Mars Surface Habitat Concept Design

An initial Mars Surface Habitat (MSH) concept design study was conducted as part of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Habitation Systems Development Office’s effort to inform NASA crewed Mars architecture decisions. The study assessed the unique challenges, risks, and benefits of a surface habitation element within the Mars architecture trade space. The goal of the study was to identify unique functional capabilities necessary to support a crewed mission on the Martian surface, the unique challenges and risks associated with such an architecture, and the areas of further analysis required to make such a mission possible. Continuing NASA’s development and execution of the Moon to Mars lunar surface missions, attention will continue progressing toward the initial crewed Mars mission. To prepare for this, NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate (ESDMD) has established a strategic analysis cycle (SAC) where an architectural trade space is identified and evaluated. Given that the Mars architecture and mission profile are still in this trade space, the architecture and mission considered for this study is SAC21. In addition, reference conceptual designs are being refined for the Mars Transit Habitat (TH) and MSH systems which will enable crew to safely travel to and inhabit the surface of Mars. The NASA Mars architectures trade space includes the use of a Pressurized Rover (PR) to address both crew habitation and mobility needs. This study assesses the use of a dedicated habitat via the MSH and an unpressurized terrain vehicle for crew mobility and exploration in lieu of the PR. Determining the optimum mission architecture will require continued analysis by ESDMD teams and this study is intended to support of such a study. The MSH concept design team aims to explore this area of the Mars habitation trade space, and in doing so, inform and highlight the considerations associated with a MSH in the surface architecture. It is not the intention of this study to make specific habitation or architecture decisions, but instead to provide a habitation element concept compatible with the Mars architecture trade space.

Mars Surface Habitat↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Mars Surface Habitat (MSH) Concept Design

An initial Mars Surface Habitat (MSH) concept design study was conducted as part of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Habitation Systems Development Office’s effort to inform NASA crewed Mars architecture decisions. The study assessed the unique challenges, risks, and benefits of a surface habitation element within the Mars architecture trade space. The goal of the study was to identify unique functional capabilities necessary to support a crewed mission on the Martian surface, the unique challenges and risks associated with such an architecture, and the areas of further analysis required to make such a mission possible. Continuing NASA’s development and execution of the Moon to Mars lunar surface missions, attention will continue progressing toward the initial crewed Mars mission. To prepare for this, NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate (ESDMD) has established a strategic analysis cycle (SAC) where an architectural trade space is identified and evaluated. Given that the Mars architecture and mission profile are still in this trade space, the architecture and mission considered for this study is SAC21. In addition, reference conceptual designs are being refined for the Mars Transit Habitat (TH) and MSH systems which will enable crew to safely travel to and inhabit the surface of Mars. The NASA Mars architectures trade space includes the use of a Pressurized Rover (PR) to address both crew habitation and mobility needs. This study assesses the use of a dedicated habitat via the MSH and an unpressurized terrain vehicle for crew mobility and exploration in lieu of the PR. Determining the optimum mission architecture will require continued analysis by ESDMD teams and this study is intended to support of such a study. The MSH concept design team aims to explore this area of the Mars habitation trade space, and in doing so, inform and highlight the considerations associated with a MSH in the surface architecture. It is not the intention of this study to make specific habitation or architecture decisions, but instead to provide a habitation element concept compatible with the Mars architecture trade space.

Ryan Hughes↗

NASA NTRS2020

Overview and Initial Results of SAND-E: Semi-Autonomous Navigation for Detrital Environments

Unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and automated terrain analysis for science and navigation are new technologies for planetary exploration. The Mars Helicopter will fly with the Mars2020 rover, the Dragonfly quadcopter will explore Titan, and Soil Properties and Object Classification (SPOC) software will be used for path planning and navigation on the Mars2020 rover. Using an Argo J5 rover instrumented with stereo cameras and Autonomous Soil Assessment System (ASAS) software, and an off the shelf quadcopter, SAND-E tested the use of automated terrain analysis and UAS data for science operations in a Mars-analog environment in Iceland during July of 2019. Scientifically, we sought to determine changes in the physical and chemical properties of sediments along a glacial-fluvial-aeolian transport pathway. Operationally, we tested rover mission-like scenarios that included UAS images and classified terrain images. Here, we present the initial results for both the operations and science elements of the study. Site Selection: A goal of SAND-E is examine sorting and alteration of sediments in fluvial and aeolian environments in both mineral-dominated and glass-dominated basaltic settings. During the first year of the project we focused on a mineral-dominated environment. Selection of the location was based on prior publications that indicated our selected region had a greater abundance of crystalline sediments than other areas fluvial-aeolian settings in Iceland. Other criteria included the presence of both fluvial and aeolian landforms along a transport pathway such that the sediments in transport could be linked to their source rocks. We chose the Skjaldbreidauhraun glacial outwash plain, which sits at the base of Thórisjökull glacier. The site is 30 km north of Thingvellir National Park and ~2 hours from Reykjavik. The outwash plain is fed by two small catchments that drain from the base of the glacier and cut through hyaloclastite and shield volcano bedrock. The drainage progresses from steep alluvial fans near the glacier into a low-sloping fluvial braidplain that becomes confined by the Skjaldbreidur shield volcano and creates a shallow canyon cut into lava bedrock. The fluvial system was a typical braided alluvial environment composed pebble- and cobble-bedded longitudinal bars and sandy channel beds. The river remained active and fluctuated in response to diurnal runoff cycles near the glacier before disappearing into the sandy substrate downstream. The high concentration of suspended sediment in the river was evident by the cloudy water and the silt and clay-sized sediments that draped the channel beds after abandonment and created playas in the lowest sloping areas of the catchment. The entire fluvial system was affected by the winds generated by frontal systems and katabatic flows descending the glacier. This resulted in the formation of aeolian lag deposits and a wind-deflation plain where the fluvial system was not active. Wind ripples and drifts formed in abandoned fluvial channels from aeolian reworking of the sand-sized fluvial sediments. The silt- and clay-sized sediments found in fluvial channels, bar tops, and playas generated dust plumes during high wind events. Our operation sought to capture the variability in this system by sampling from the range of fluvial and aeolian features 6.3 km (proximal), 11.3 km (medial), and 14.4 km (distal) along the river from its origin at the base of glacier.

Ewing, R. C.↗

NASA NTRS2003

The Surface Roughness of Terrains on Mars

The RMS roughness measurements produced by Neumann et al. from Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) data provide unique information about surface height variations at an effective length scale of < 75 m. Roughness at this scale is important not only for landing site safety considerations, but also for assessment of landscape evolution, which depends on emplacement mechanisms and erosional/depositional processes. Here we present an examination of the global surface roughness map with discussion of terrain types and potential formation and/or alteration mechanisms. Spatially coherent terrain types were identified based on inspection of the roughness map. These terrains were further characterized through analysis of morphology and geology using MOLA topography, MOC wide-angle, and MOC narrow-angle images as well as the geologic maps produced by Scott & Tanaka and Greeley & Guest. All of these data were used to explore potential formation and modification processes.

K S Deal↗

NASA NTRS1984

Computer program for prediction of the deposition of material released from fixed and rotary wing aircraft

This is a user manual for the computer code ""AGDISP'' (AGricultural DISPersal) which has been developed to predict the deposition of material released from fixed and rotary wing aircraft in a single-pass, computationally efficient manner. The formulation of the code is novel in that the mean particle trajectory and the variance about the mean resulting from turbulent fluid fluctuations are simultaneously predicted. The code presently includes the capability of assessing the influence of neutral atmospheric conditions, inviscid wake vortices, particle evaporation, plant canopy and terrain on the deposition pattern.

Teske, M. E.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Numerical studies of the deposition of material released from fixed and rotary wing aircraft

The computer code AGDISP (AGricultural DISPersal) has been developed to predict the deposition of material released from fixed and rotary wing aircraft in a single-pass, computationally efficient manner. The formulation of the code is novel in that the mean particle trajectory and the variance about the mean resulting from turbulent fluid fluctuations are simultaneously predicted. The code presently includes the capability of assessing the influence of neutral atmospheric conditions, inviscid wake vortices, particle evaporation, plant canopy and terrain on the deposition pattern. In this report, the equations governing the motion of aerially released particles are developed, including a description of the evaporation model used. A series of case studies, using AGDISP, are included.

Bilanin, A. J.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Spatial characterization of acid rain stress in Canadian Shield Lakes

The lake acidification in Northern Ontario was investigated using LANDSAT TM to sense lake volume reflectance and also to provide important vegetation and terrain characteristics. The purpose of this project was to determine the ability of LANDSAT to assess water quality characteristics associated with lake acidification. Results demonstrate that a remote sensor can discriminate lake clarity based upon reflection. The basic hypothesis is that seasonal and multi-year changes in lake optical transparency are indicative of sensitivity to acidic deposition. In many acid-sensitive lakes optical transparency is controlled by the amount of dissolved organic carbon present. Seasonal changes in the optical transparency of lakes can potentially provide an indication of the stress due to acid deposition and loading.

Tanis, F. J.↗

NASA NTRS2023

Assessing the Relocation of Artemis Foundational Lunar Surface Concepts

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has defined a functionally based Moon to Mars (M2M) architecture consisting of four key human exploration segments: human lunar return (HLR), foundational exploration (FE), sustained lunar evolution (SLE), and humans to Mars (H2M). These segments are portions of the architecture which represent a stepwise increase in complexity and achievement of M2M objectives [1]. As systems are deployed during the FE segment, it may be desired or even necessary to relocate these elements on the lunar surface as the architecture transitions into the SLE segment. While some Artemis elements under development, such as rovers, are being designed for mobility during both crewed and uncrewed/dormant periods, other architectural concepts do not currently carry a mobility capability. In preparation for the Agency’s 2023 Architecture Concept Review (ACR), a team was assembled to establish a methodology for assessing the relocation feasibility of normally stationary elements. Such a capability could be applied locally or regionally, and might allow for re-purposing previously occupied terrain, expansion of exploration range, aggregation of habitation elements, or retiring systems at the end of their useful service life. The assembled NASA team investigated the relocation trade space through defining a representative concept of operations (ConOps) and assessing possible system impacts. The team focused predominately on the relocation of medium and large surface habitat architectural concepts through surface-based traverses utilizing separable mobility platforms (SMP). A representative mobility platform model was placed through simulation to analyze the possible energy requirements and dynamic illumination impacts. Preliminary assessment indicated that element relocation might be achievable, however significant system and architectural-level risks still need to be quantified. Future analysis will assist in determining what degree of element relocation provides the greatest benefit to achieving a sustained lunar presence. [1] NASA. (2022). Moon to Mars Objectives. Retrieved from: https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/m2m-objectives-exec-summary.pdf

Artemis↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Assessing the Relocation of Artemis Foundational Lunar Surface Concepts

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has defined a functionally based Moon to Mars (M2M) architecture consisting of four key human exploration segments: human lunar return (HLR), foundational exploration (FE), sustained lunar evolution (SLE), and humans to Mars (H2M). These segments are portions of the architecture which represent a stepwise increase in complexity and achievement of M2M objectives [1]. As systems are deployed during the FE segment, it may be desired or even necessary to relocate these elements on the lunar surface as the architecture transitions into the SLE segment. While some Artemis elements under development, such as rovers, are being designed for mobility during both crewed and uncrewed/dormant periods, other architectural concepts do not currently carry a mobility capability. In preparation for the Agency’s 2023 Architecture Concept Review (ACR), a team was assembled to establish a methodology for assessing the relocation feasibility of normally stationary elements. Such a capability could be applied locally or regionally, and might allow for re-purposing previously occupied terrain, expansion of exploration range, aggregation of habitation elements, or retiring systems at the end of their useful service life. The assembled NASA team investigated the relocation trade space through defining a representative concept of operations (ConOps) and assessing possible system impacts. The team focused predominately on the relocation of medium and large surface habitat architectural concepts through surface-based traverses utilizing separable mobility platforms (SMP). A representative mobility platform model was placed through simulation to analyze the possible energy requirements and dynamic illumination impacts. Preliminary assessment indicated that element relocation might be achievable, however significant system and architectural-level risks still need to be quantified. Future analysis will assist in determining what degree of element relocation provides the greatest benefit to achieving a sustained lunar presence. [1] NASA. (2022). Moon to Mars Objectives. Retrieved from: https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/m2m-objectives-exec-summary.pdf

Artemis↗