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NASA NTRS2014

Manufacturing Challenges Associated with the Use of Metal Matrix Composites in Aerospace Structures

Metal Matrix Composites (MMCs) consist of a metal alloy reinforced with ceramic particles or fibers. These materials possess a very high strength to weight ratio, good resistance to impact and wear, and a number of other properties which make them attractive for use in aerospace and defense applications. MMCs have found use in the space shuttle orbiter's structural tubing, the Hubble Space Telescope's antenna mast, control surfaces and propulsion systems for aircraft, and tank armors. The size of MMC components is severely limited by difficulties encountered in joining these materials using fusion welding. Melting of the material results in formation of an undesirable phase (formed when molten Aluminum reacts with the reinforcement) which leaves a strength depleted region along the joint line. Friction Stir Welding (FSW) is a relatively nascent solid state joining technique developed at The Welding Institute (TWI) in 1991. The process was first used at NASA to weld the super lightweight external tank for the Space Shuttle. Today FSW is used to join structural components of the Delta IV, Atlas V, and Falcon IX rockets as well as NASA's Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle and Space Launch System. A current focus of FSW research is to extend the process to new materials, such as MMCs, which are difficult to weld using conventional fusion techniques. Since Friction Stir Welding occurs below the melting point of the workpiece material, this deleterious phase is absent in FSW-ed MMC joints. FSW of MMCs is, however, plagued by rapid wear of the welding tool, a consequence of the large discrepancy in hardness between the steel tool and the reinforcement material. This chapter summarizes the challenges encountered when joining MMCs to themselves or to other materials in structures. Specific attention is paid to the influence of process variables in Friction Stir Welding on the wear process characterizes the effect of process parameters (spindle speed, traverse rate, and length of joint) on the wear process. A phenomenological model of the wear process was constructed based on the rotating plug model of Friction Stir Welding. The effectiveness of harder tool materials (such as Tungsten Carbide, high speed steel, and tools with diamond coatings) to combat abrasive wear is also explored. In-process force, torque, and vibration signals are analyzed to assess the feasibility of in situ monitoring of tool shape changes as a result of wear (an advancement which would eliminate the need for off-line evaluation of tool condition during joining). Monitoring, controlling, and reducing tool wear in FSW of MMCs is essential to implementation of these materials in structures (such as launch vehicles) where they would be of maximum benefit. The work presented here is extendable to machining of MMCs, where wear of the tool is also a limiting factor.

Prater, Tracie↗
NASA NTRS2014

3D Additive Construction with Regolith for Surface Systems

Planetary surface exploration on Asteroids, the Moon, Mars and Martian Moons will require the stabilization of loose, fine, dusty regolith to avoid the effects of vertical lander rocket plume impingement, to keep abrasive and harmful dust from getting lofted and for dust free operations. In addition, the same regolith stabilization process can be used for 3 Dimensional ( 3D) printing, additive construction techniques by repeating the 2D stabilization in many vertical layers. This will allow in-situ construction with regolith so that materials will not have to be transported from Earth. Recent work in the NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Surface Systems Office (NE-S) Swamp Works and at the University of Southern California (USC) under two NASA Innovative Advanced Concept (NIAC) awards have shown promising results with regolith (crushed basalt rock) materials for in-situ heat shields, bricks, landing/launch pads, berms, roads, and other structures that could be fabricated using regolith that is sintered or mixed with a polymer binder. The technical goals and objectives of this project are to prove the feasibility of 3D printing additive construction using planetary regolith simulants and to show that they have structural integrity and practical applications in space exploration.

Technology Portfolio System↗
NASA NTRS2001

Fretting Wear of Ti-48Al-2Cr-2Nb

An investigation was conducted to examine the wear behavior of gamma titanium aluminide (Ti-48Al-2Cr-2Nb in atomic percent) in contact with a typical nickel-base superalloy under repeated microscopic vibratory motion in air at temperatures from 296-823 K. The surface damage observed on the interacting surfaces of both Ti-48Al-2Cr-2Nb and superalloy consisted of fracture pits, oxides, metallic debris, scratches, craters, plastic deformation, and cracks. The Ti-48Al-2Cr-2Nb transferred to the superalloy at all fretting conditions and caused scuffing or galling. The increasing rate of oxidation at elevated temperatures led to a drop in Ti-48Al-2Cr-2Nb wear at 473 K. Mild oxidative wear was observed at 473 K. However, fretting wear increased as the temperature was increased from 473-823 K. At 723 and 823 K, oxide disruption generated cracks, loose wear debris, and pits on the Ti-48Al-2Cr-2Nb wear surface. Ti-48Al-2Cr-2Nb wear generally decreased with increasing fretting frequency. Both increasing slip amplitude and increasing load tended to produce more metallic wear debris, causing severe abrasive wear in the contacting metals. Keywords

Miyoshi, Kazuhisa↗
NASA NTRS2016

An Approach for Performance Based Glove Mobility Requirements

The Space Suit Assembly (SSA) Development Team at NASA Johnson Space Center has invested heavily in the advancement of rear-entry planetary exploration suit design but largely deferred development of extravehicular activity (EVA) glove designs, and accepted the risk of using the current flight gloves, Phase VI, for exploration missions. However, as design reference missions mature, the risks of using heritage hardware have highlighted the need for developing robust new glove technologies. To address the technology gap, the NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate's Game-Changing Development Program provided start-up funding for the High Performance EVA Glove (HPEG) Element as part of the Next Generation Life Support (NGLS) Project in the fall of 2013. The overarching goal of the HPEG Element is to develop a robust glove design that increases human performance during EVA and creates pathway for implementation of emergent technologies, with specific aims of increasing pressurized mobility to 60% of barehanded capability, increasing the durability in on-pristine environments, and decreasing the potential of gloves to cause injury during use. The HPEG Element focused initial efforts on developing quantifiable and repeatable methodologies for assessing glove performance with respect to mobility, injury potential, thermal conductivity, and abrasion resistance. The team used these methodologies to establish requirements against which emerging technologies and glove designs can be assessed at both the component and assembly levels. The mobility performance testing methodology was an early focus for the HPEG team as it stems from collaborations between the SSA Development team and the JSC Anthropometry and Biomechanics Facility (ABF) that began investigating new methods for suited mobility and fit early in the Constellation Program. The combined HPEG and ABF team used lessons learned from the previous efforts as well as additional reviews of methodologies in physical and occupational therapy arenas to develop a protocol that assesses gloved range of motion, strength, dexterity, tactility, and fit in comparative quantitative terms and also provides qualitative insight to direct hardware design iterations. The protocol was evaluated using five experienced test subjects wearing the EMU pressurized to 4.3psid with three different glove configurations. The results of the testing are presented to illustrate where the protocol is and is not valid for benchmark comparisons. The process for requirements development based upon the results is also presented along with suggested performance values for the High Performance EVA Gloves currently in development.

Aitchison, Lindsay↗
NASA NTRS1990

Aeolian Removal of Dust Types from Photovoltaic Surfaces on Mars

Dust elevated in local or global dust storms on the Martian surface could settle on photovoltaic (PV) surfaces and seriously hamper their performance. Using a recently developed technique to apply a uniform dust layer, PV surface materials were subjected to simulated Martian winds in an attempt to determine whether natural Aeolian processes on Mars would sweep off the settled dust. Three different types of dust were used; an optical polishing powder, basaltic "trap rock", and iron (III) oxide crystals. The effects of wind velocity, angle of attack, height above the Martian surface, and surface coating material were investigated. It was found that arrays mounted with an angle of attack approaching 45 degrees show the most efficient clearing. Although the angular dependence is not sharp, horizontally mounted arrays required significantly higher wind velocities to clear off the dust. From this test it appears that the arrays may be erected quite near the ground, but previous studies have suggested that saltation effects can be expected to cause such arrays to be covered by soil if they are set up less than about a meter from the ground. Particle size effects appear to dominate over surface chemistry in these experiments, but additional tests are required to confirm this. Providing that the surface chemistry of Martian dusts is not drastically different from simulated dust and that gravity differences have only minor effects, the materials used for protective coatings for photovoltaic arrays may be optimized for other considerations such as transparency, and chemical or abrasion resistance. The static threshold velocity is low enough that there are regions on Mars which experience winds strong enough to clear off a photovoltaic array if it is properly oriented. Turbulence fences proved to be an ineffective strategy to keep dust cleared from the photovoltaic surfaces.

Gaier, James R.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Swamp Works: A New Approach to Develop Space Mining and Resource Extraction Technologies at the National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) Kennedy Space Center (KSC)

The first steps for In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) on target bodies such as the Moon, Mars and Near Earth Asteroids (NEA), and even comets, involve the same sequence of steps as in the terrestrial mining of resources. First exploration including prospecting must occur, and then the resource must be acquired through excavation methods if it is of value. Subsequently a load, haul and dump sequence of events occurs, followed by processing of the resource in an ISRU plant, to produce useful commodities. While these technologies and related supporting operations are mature in terrestrial applications, they will be different in space since the environment and indigenous materials are different than on Earth. In addition, the equipment must be highly automated, since for the majority of the production cycle time, there will be no humans present to assist or intervene. This space mining equipment must withstand a harsh environment which includes vacuum, radical temperature swing cycles, highly abrasive lofted dust, electrostatic effects, van der Waals forces effects, galactic cosmic radiation, solar particle events, high thermal gradients when spanning sunlight terminators, steep slopes into craters / lava tubes and cryogenic temperatures as low as 40 K in permanently shadowed regions. In addition the equipment must be tele-operated from Earth or a local base where the crew is sheltered. If the tele-operation occurs from Earth then significant communications latency effects mandate the use of autonomous control systems in the mining equipment. While this is an extremely challenging engineering design scenario, it is also an opportunity, since the technologies developed in this endeavor could be used in the next generations of terrestrial mining equipment, in order to mine deeper, safer, more economical and with a higher degree of flexibility. New space technologies could precipitate new mining solutions here on Earth. The NASA KSC Swamp Works is an innovation environment and methodology, with associated laboratories that uses lean development methods and creativity-enhancing processes to invent and develop new solutions for space exploration. This paper will discuss the Swamp Works approach to developing space mining and resource extraction systems and the vision of space development it serves. The ultimate goal of the Swamp Works is to expand human civilization into the solar system via the use of local resources utilization. By mining and using the local resources in situ, it is conceivable that one day the logistics supply train from Earth can be eliminated and Earth independence of a space-based community will be enabled.

Resource Extraction↗
NASA NTRS2016

Rapid Fabrication Techniques for Liquid Rocket Channel Wall Nozzles

The functions of a regeneratively-cooled nozzle are to (1) expand combustion gases to increase exhaust gas velocity while, (2) maintaining adequate wall temperatures to prevent structural failure, and (3) transfer heat from the hot gases to the coolant fluid to promote injector performance and stability. Regeneratively-cooled nozzles are grouped into two categories: tube-wall nozzles and channel wall nozzles. A channel wall nozzle is designed with an internal liner containing a series of integral coolant channels that are closed out with an external jacket. Manifolds are attached at each end of the nozzle to distribute coolant to and away from the channels. A variety of manufacturing techniques have been explored for channel wall nozzles, including state of the art laser-welded closeouts and pressure-assisted braze closeouts. This paper discusses techniques that NASA MSFC is evaluating for rapid fabrication of channel wall nozzles that address liner fabrication, slotting techniques and liner closeout techniques. Techniques being evaluated for liner fabrication include large-scale additive manufacturing of freeform-deposition structures to create the liner blanks. Abrasive water jet milling is being evaluated for cutting the complex coolant channel geometries. Techniques being considered for rapid closeout of the slotted liners include freeform deposition, explosive bonding and Cold Spray. Each of these techniques, development work and results are discussed in further detail in this paper.

Gradl, Paul R.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Ocular Coherence Tomography in the Evaluation of Anterior Eye Injuries in Space Flight

While Ocular Coherence Tomography (OCT) is not a first-line modality to evaluate anterior eye structures terrestrially, it is a resource already available on the International Space Station (ISS) that can be used in medical contingencies that involve the anterior eye. With remote guidance and subject matter expert (SME) support from the ground, a minimally trained crewmember can now use OCT to evaluate anterior eye pathologies on orbit. OCT utilizes low-coherence interferometry to produce detailed cross-sectional and 3D images of the eye in real time. Terrestrially, it has been used to evaluate macular pathologies and glaucoma. Since 2013, OCT has been used onboard the ISS as one part of a suite of hardware to evaluate the Visual Impairment/Intracranial Pressure risk faced by astronauts, specifically assessing changes in the retina and choroid during space flight. The Anterior Segment Module (ASM), an add-on lens, was also flown for research studies, providing an opportunity to evaluate the anterior eye in real time if clinically indicated. Anterior eye pathologies that could be evaluated using OCT were identified. These included corneal abrasions and ulcers, scleritis, and acute angle closure glaucoma. A remote guider script was written to provide ground specialists with step-by-step instructions to guide ISS crewmembers, who do not get trained on the ASM, to evaluate the anterior eye. The instructions were tested on novice subjects and/or operators, whose feedback was incorporated iteratively. The final remote guider script was reviewed by SME optometrists and NASA flight surgeons. The novel application of OCT technology to space flight allows for the acquisition of objective data to diagnose anterior eye pathologies when other modalities are not available. This demonstrates the versatility of OCT and highlights the advantages of using existing hardware and remote guidance skills to expand clinical capabilities in space flight.

Fer, Dan M.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Analysis of Potential Glove-Induced Hand Injury Metrics During Typical Neutral Buoyancy Training Operations

Injuries to the hands are common among astronauts who train for extravehicular activity. When the gloves are pressurized, they restrict movement and create pressure points during tasks, sometimes resulting in pain, muscle fatigue, abrasions, and occasionally more severe injuries such as onycholysis. A brief review of NASA's Lifetime Surveillance of Astronaut Health's injury database reveals that 76 percent of astronaut hand and arm injuries from training between 1993 and 2010 occurred either to the fingernail, finger crotch, metacarpophalangeal joint, or fingertip. The purpose of this study was to assess the potential of using small sensors to measure forces acting on the fingers and hand within pressurized gloves and other variables such as skin temperature, humidity, and fingernail strain of a NASA crewmember during typical NBL (Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory) training activity. During the 5-hour exercise, the crewmember seemed to exhibit very large forces on some fingers, resulting in higher strain than seen in previous glove-box testing. In addition, vital information was collected on the glove cavity environment with respect to temperature and humidity. All of this information gathered during testing will be carried forward into future testing, potentially in glove-box- or 1G- (1 gravitational force) or NBL-suited environments, to better characterize and understand the possible causes of hand injury amongst NASA crew.

McFarland, Shane↗
NASA NTRS2017

Results of Simulated Galactic Cosmic Radiation (GCR) and Solar Particle Events (SPE) on Spectra Restraint Fabric

Spectra or similar Ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) fabric is the likely choice for future structural space suit restraint materials due to its high strength-to-weight ratio, abrasion resistance, and dimensional stability. During long duration space missions, space suits will be subjected to significant amounts of high-energy radiation from several different sources. To insure that pressure garment designs properly account for effects of radiation, it is important to characterize the mechanical changes to structural materials after they have been irradiated. White Sands Test Facility (WSFTF) collaborated with the Crew and Thermal Systems Division at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) to irradiate and test various space suit materials by examining their tensile properties through blunt probe puncture testing and single fiber tensile testing after the materials had been dosed at various levels of simulated GCR and SPE Iron and Proton beams at Brookhaven National Laboratories. The dosages were chosen based on a simulation developed by the Structural Engineering Division at JSC for the expected radiation dosages seen by space suit softgoods seen on a Mars reference mission. Spectra fabric tested in the effort saw equivalent dosages at 2x, 10x, and 20x the predicted dose as well as a simulated 50 year exposure to examine the range of effects on the material and examine whether any degradation due to GCR would be present if the suit softgoods were stored in deep space for a long period of time. This paper presents the results of this work and outlines the impact on space suit pressure garment design for long duration deep space missions.

Peters, Benjamin↗
NASA NTRS2016

Manufacturing Process Developments for Regeneratively-Cooled Channel Wall Rocket Nozzles

Regeneratively cooled channel wall nozzles incorporate a series of integral coolant channels to contain the coolant to maintain adequate wall temperatures and expand hot gas providing engine thrust and specific impulse. NASA has been evaluating manufacturing techniques targeting large scale channel wall nozzles to support affordability of current and future liquid rocket engine nozzles and thrust chamber assemblies. The development of these large scale manufacturing techniques focus on the liner formation, channel slotting with advanced abrasive water-jet milling techniques and closeout of the coolant channels to replace or augment other cost reduction techniques being evaluated for nozzles. NASA is developing a series of channel closeout techniques including large scale additive manufacturing laser deposition and explosively bonded closeouts. A series of subscale nozzles were completed evaluating these processes. Fabrication of mechanical test and metallography samples, in addition to subscale hardware has focused on Inconel 625, 300 series stainless, aluminum alloys as well as other candidate materials. Evaluations of these techniques are demonstrating potential for significant cost reductions for large scale nozzles and chambers. Hot fire testing is planned using these techniques in the future.

Gradl, Paul↗
NASA NTRS2016

Tribological Studies of Dynamic Thermal Seal Materials

Thermal seals are required on high-speed vehicles in many dynamic applications such as variable inlets in propulsion systems and control surfaces. These seals, often referred to as dynamic thermal seals, must not only mitigate inboard heat transfer, but must also exhibit sufficient durability when scrubbed against mating surfaces. For high-temperature high-speed vehicle applications, the mating surfaces are often made from thermal protection system (TPS) materials, which are typically rougher and more abrasive than TPS materials used at lower temperatures. The high-temperature TPS materials used can include non-ablative (e.g., lightweight porous oxides, ceramic matrix composites) andor ablative systems (e.g., phenolic systems). Due to the increased need for durable high-temperature dynamic seals, researchers working with the NASA Glenn Research Center embarked on an effort to (a) characterize the tribological performance of state-of-the-art thermal seal materials against a variety of TPS materials and (b) develop approaches for improved wear resistance. Tests were conducted using a recently upgraded high-temperature tribometer to assess wear resistance for a variety of tribopairs under multiple conditions. This data will begin to frame the challenges of using these materials and eventually permit an improved ability to design and implement these critical TPS components.

thermal protection↗
NASA NTRS2015

Gear Tooth Wear Detection Algorithm

Vibration-based condition indicators continue to be developed for Health Usage Monitoring of rotorcraft gearboxes. Testing performed at NASA Glenn Research Center have shown correlations between specific condition indicators and specific types of gear wear. To speed up the detection and analysis of gear teeth, an image detection program based on the Viola-Jones algorithm was trained to automatically detect spiral bevel gear wear pitting. The detector was tested using a training set of gear wear pictures and a blind set of gear wear pictures. The detector accuracy for the training set was 75 percent while the accuracy for the blind set was 15 percent. Further improvements on the accuracy of the detector are required but preliminary results have shown its ability to automatically detect gear tooth wear. The trained detector would be used to quickly evaluate a set of gear or pinion pictures for pits, spalls, or abrasive wear. The results could then be used to correlate with vibration or oil debris data. In general, the program could be retrained to detect features of interest from pictures of a component taken over a period of time.

Delgado, Irebert R.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Fabrication of Lightweight Radiation Shielding Composite Materials by Field Assisted Sintering Technique (FAST)

Advances in radiation shielding technologies are needed to protect humans and electronic components from all threats of space radiation over long durations. In this paper, we report on the use of the innovative and novel fabrication technology known as Field Assisted Sintering Technology (FAST) to fabricate lightweight material with enhanced radiation shielding strength to safeguard humans and electronics suitable for next generation space exploration missions. The base materials we investigated were aluminum (Al), the current standard material for space hardware, and Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE), which has high hydrogen content and resistance to nuclear reaction from neutrons, making it a good shielding material for both gamma radiation and particles. UHMWPE also has high resistance to corrosive chemicals, extremely low moisture sensitivity, very low coefficient of friction, and high resistance to abrasion. We reinforced the base materials by adding high density (ie, high atomic weight) metallic material into the composite. These filler materials included: boron carbide (B4C), tungsten (W), tungsten carbide (WC) and gadolinium (Gd).

Prasad, Narasimha↗
NASA NTRS2009

Modeling of Lunar Dust Contamination Due to Plume Impingement

During the Apollo missions it became apparent that lunar dust was a significant hazard. Problems included: surface obscuration during landing sequence; abrasion damage to gouge faces and helmet visors; mechanism clogging; development of space suit pressurization leaks; loss of radiator heat rejection capabilities to the point where vulnerable equipment exceeded maximum survival temperature ratings; temporary vision and respiratory problems within the Apollo Lunar Module (LM). NASA Constellation Program features many system-level components, including the Altair Lunar Lander. Altair to endure longer periods at lunar surface conditions: Apollo LM, about three days; Altair, over seven months. Program managers interested in plume-generated dust transport onto thermal control surface radiators of the first Altair created by its own landing operations.

Woronowicz, Michael↗
NASA NTRS2015

Sulfur and Metal Fertilization of the Lower Continental Crust

Mantle-derived melts and metasomatic fluids are considered to be important in the transport and distribution of trace elements in the subcontinental lithospheric mantle. However, the mechanisms that facilitate sulfur and metal transfer from the upper mantle into the lower continental crust are poorly constrained. This study addresses this knowledge gap by examining a series of sulfide- and hydrous mineral-rich alkaline mafic-ultramafic pipes that intruded the lower continental crust of the Ivrea-Verbano Zone in the Italian Western Alps. The pipes are relatively small (<300 m diameter) and primarily composed of a matrix of subhedral to anhedral amphibole (pargasite), phlogopite and orthopyroxene that enclose sub-centimeter-sized grains of olivine. The 1 to 5 m wide rim portions of the pipes locally contain significant blebby and disseminated Fe-Ni-Cu-PGE sulfide mineralization.Stratigraphic relationships, mineral chemistry, geochemical modeling and phase equilibria suggest that the pipes represent open-ended conduits within a large magmatic plumbing system. The earliest formed pipe rocks were olivine-rich cumulates that reacted with hydrous melts to produce orthopyroxene, amphibole and phlogopite.Sulfides precipitated as immiscible liquid droplets that were retained within a matrix of silicate crystals and scavenged metals from the percolating hydrous melt. New high-precision chemical abrasion TIMS-UPb dating of zircons from one of the pipes indicates that these pipes were emplaced at 249.1+/-0.2 Ma, following partial melting of lithospheric mantle pods that were metasomatized during the Eo-Variscan oceanic to continental subduction (approx. 420-310 Ma). The thermal energy required to generate partial melting of the metasomatized mantle was most likely derived from crustal extension, lithospheric decompression and subsequent asthenospheric rise during the orogenic collapse of the Variscan belt (<300 Ma). Unlike previous models, outcomes from this study suggest a significant temporal gap between the occurrence of mantle metasomatism, subsequent partial melting and emplacement of the pipes.We argue that this multi-stage process is a very effective mechanism to fertilize the commonly dry and refractory lower continental crust in metals and volatiles. During the four-dimensional evolution of the thermo-tectonic architecture of any given terrain, metals and volatiles stored in the lower continental crust may become available as sources for subsequent ore-forming processes, thus enhancing the prospectivity of continental block margins for a wide range of mineral systems.

Marek Locmelis↗
NASA NTRS2018

Extraction of Water from Martian Regolith Simulant via Open Reactor Concept

To demonstrate proof of concept water extraction from simulated Martian regolith, an open reactor design is presented along with experimental results. The open reactor concept avoids sealing surfaces and complex moving parts. In an abrasive environment like the Martian surface, those reactor elements would be difficult to maintain and present a high probability of failure. A general lunar geotechnical simulant was modified by adding borax decahydrate (Na2B4O7·10H2O) (BDH) to mimic the ~ 3 percent water content of hydrated salts in near surface soils on Mars. A rotating bucket wheel excavated the regolith from a source bin and deposited the material onto an inclined copper tray, which was fitted with heaters and a simple vibration system. The combination of vibration, tilt angle and heat was used to separate and expose as much regolith surface area as possible to liberate the water contained in the hydrated minerals, thereby increasing the efficiency of the system. The experiment was conducted in a vacuum system capable of maintaining a Martian like atmosphere. Evolved water vapor was directed to a condensing system using the ambient atmosphere as a sweep gas. The water vapor was condensed and measured. Processed simulant was captured in a collection bin and weighed in real time. The efficiency of the system was determined by comparing pre- and post-processing soil mass along with the volume of water captured.

Trunek, Andrew J.↗
NASA NTRS2018

An Improved UAV-Based Fog Collector for Local-Scale Aerobiological Sampling

The use of unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) to passively collect fog for microbiological analysis is being investigated at NASA Ames, contributing to our understanding of the dynamics and limits of the biosphere. Current improvements to a preliminary payload design include physically modifying the mesh of the passive impactor collection unit (PICU) to increase fog-capture efficiency and a quick- mounting system to improve sample turnaround and contamination control. Increasing the water-capture efficiency of the PICU involved changing the surface roughness of the polypropylene mesh by abrasive sanding. Four scale models of the PICU were created, with three of those models sanded with 80-, 150-, and 240-grit sand paper for a minimum of thirty seconds on each side. Each mesh was individually tested in a fog-simulation chamber to measure collection efficiency. Tests showed that sanding the mesh will increase the water-capture efficiency by at least 3-fold for the 150- and 240-grit. Next steps are to determine the scaling laws and minimum amount of exposure time as a function of the fog density, to acquire enough microorganisms for analysis; a light-weight ground module for the PICU has been developed to allow rapid, easy field testing. Developing a mounting system that will ensure sterile deployment, as well as prompt changes of PICUs, for collection of fog water, utilized computational fluid dynamics (CFD) for the UAV to ensure that the location of the impactors will not be contaminated by particulates in the UAV downwash. The original design allowed the impactors to remain within sterile packaging until mounted on the UAV but did not address the concerns of contamination from aerodynamic ground effects and particulate lofting during takeoff. Design for a raised launch pad would allow for the sterile PICU to be attached to UAV and launched from outside the region of projected particulate lofting. California coastal sites have been scouted for appropriate testing locations. The improvements to the PICU design and operations will allow for multiple sampling points within a single fog event. The returned fog samples will undergo ion chromatography, qPCR, ATP quantification, and other tests to characterize microbial species and relevant biochemistry.

Wong, Amber↗