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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 109 records · Page 6
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1981

Shuttle /STS-1/ entry trajectory reconstruction

The methods and data used to reconstruct the Shuttle entry trajectory aerodynamics from 180 km to landing are reviewed. Onboard accelerometer and gyro measurements are used with a weighted least squares filter along with ground tracking data to provide the evolving spacecraft state. The software development is described, noting that computations include linear acceleration and angular rate data, aerodynamic coefficient, and inertial measurement units, sampled at 170 Hz. Ground tracking data was gathered on S- and C-bands; Guam data is considered critical as it was taken during the blackout at the beginning of entry. The generation of a best estimate trajectory, combining flight and ground data, yields inplane parameters of altitude, flight path angle, and velocity for comparison with navigational instrumentation. Predicted lift/drag ratios were found to be accurate from Mach 1-25, and up to 23% low below Mach 1.

Compton, H. R.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Inertial attitude control of Voyager spacecraft using dry tuned rotor gyro

The inertial attitude control system designed for the Voyager spacecraft, which will carry out flybys of Jupiter and Saturn in 1979 and 1981, respectively, is described. The attitude of the spacecraft in three-dimensional space will be measured by a Dry Inertial Reference Unit (DIRU) based on three identical two-degree-of-freedom dry gyros. A software estimation process has been developed to use DIRU data and other information to obtain optimum estimates of spacecraft position, velocity, and acceleration. The attitude of the spacecraft is corrected using these estimates by activating hydrazine thrusters. The operation of dry gyros is discussed, together with the network compensation techniques used in their associated capture loop to obtain a capture capability of 8 deg/sec and a frequency response of 10 Hz (3-dB point). The control law and estimation process are examined. Results of computer simulation studies of the performance of the attitude control system are presented.

Bahrami, K.↗
NASA NTRS1938

Gyroscopic Instruments for Instrument Flying

The gyroscopic instruments commonly used in instrument flying in the United States are the turn indicator, the directional gyro, the gyromagnetic compass, the gyroscopic horizon, and the automatic pilot. These instruments are described. Performance data and the method of testing in the laboratory are given for the turn indicator, the directional gyro, and the gyroscopic horizon. Apparatus for driving the instruments is discussed.

Brombacher, W G↗
NASA NTRS1986

Space Telescope precision pointing control system

The Hubble Space Telescope has the most stringent pointing requirements imposed on any spacecraft to date. The overall HST stability shall not exceed 0.007 arc-seconds rms. The Pointing Control System utilizes fine guidance sensors and rate gyros for attitude reference and rate information. Control torques are provided by reaction wheels. A digital computer collects the sensor data, performs the control law computations, and sends torque commands to the reaction wheels. To attain this precision pointing, improvements were made to the rate gyros to lower their noise characteristics and to the reaction wheels to reduce their emitted vibration levels. The control system design was validated in a test sequence which progressed from model verification tests on an air-bearing to operations-oriented, closed loop testing on the assembled vehicle. A test system is described which allowed the simultaneous production of test case command loads for the flight computer and plots of predicted profiles to assist in test data analysis. Workarounds were required during system test to accommodate gyro biases and noise introduced into the closed loop system. Testing and analysis indicate that the HST will provide the capability to meet the requirements for precision pointing.

Beals, G. A.↗
NASA NTRS1997

The use of magnetic field data to estimate attitude and trajectory for the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE)

A single augmented extended Kalman filter (EKF) is proposed for the simultaneous and autonomous estimation of spacecraft trajectory and attitude with data from the Rossi X-ray timing explorer (RXTE) magnetometer and gyro-measured body rates. The derivation of the EKF is outlined, including the measurement update and the propagation. The results from a 12 hour span of data are processed and compared with operational estimations computed at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (MD). The filter was found to be able to overcome very large initial errors and converge to steady state averages of less than 30 km in position, 0.05 km/s in velocity and 3 deg in attitude.

Deutschmann, Julie↗
NASA NTRS1989

Results of dynamic testing of GP-B spherical gyroscopes

Laboratory tests of the spherical electrostatically levitated cryogenically cooled coated gyroscope being developed for the Gravity Probe B (GP-B) spacecraft (Bardas et al., 1986) are reported. Spin speed and the dc components of the trapped magnetic field are measured with three orthogonal pickup loops attached to SQUID detectors as the levitated gyro is brought up to speed by an He gas jet. Data on the spin-vector time history, mass unbalance, higher rotor-shape harmonics, and spin-vector position are presented in extensive graphs and characterized in detail, and a mathematical model of the electrostatic suspension torques is derived. Prototype gyro 86-4 is found to have mass unbalance within the range required for the GP-B mission (to detect the geodetic and motional effects predicted by general relativity theory).

Keiser, G. M.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Calibration of Gyros with Temperature Dependent Scale Factors

The general problem of gyro calibration can be stated as the estimation of the scale factors, misalignments, and drift-rate biases of the gyro using the on-orbit sensor measurements. These gyro parameters have been traditionally treated as temperature-independent in the operational flight dynamics ground systems at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), a scenario which has been successfully applied in the gyro calibration of a large number of missions. A significant departure from this is the Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP) mission where, due to the high thermal variations expected during the mission phase, it is necessary to model the scale factors as functions of temperature. This paper addresses the issue of gyro calibration for the MAP gyro model using a manufacturer-supplied model of the variation of scale factors with temperature. The problem is formulated as a least squares problem and solved using the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm in the MATLAB(R) library function NLSQ. The algorithm was tested on simulated data with Gaussian noise for the quaternions as well as the gyro rates and was found to consistently converge close to the true values. Significant improvement in accuracy was noticed due to the estimation of the temperature-dependent scale factors as against constant scale factors.

Belur, Sheela V.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Implicit Spacecraft Gyro Calibration

This paper presents an implicit algorithm for spacecraft onboard instrument calibration, particularly to onboard gyro calibration. This work is an extension of previous work that was done where an explicit gyro calibration algorithm was applied to the AQUA spacecraft gyros. The algorithm presented in this paper was tested using simulated data and real data that were downloaded from the Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP) spacecraft. The calibration tests gave very good results. A comparison between the use of the implicit calibration algorithm used here with the explicit algorithm used for AQUA spacecraft indicates that both provide an excellent estimation of the gyro calibration parameters with similar accuracies.

Harman, Richard↗
NASA NTRS1982

Space telescope - The next generation

The command handling approach as applied to fine guidance sensor guide star acquisition is described in order to illustrate the flexibility it provides to users of the Space Telescope. User control of pointing operations is detailed, and the pointing control system/fine guidance system interface is depicted along with the guide star acquisition sequence. Reaction wheel interaction with vehicle structural modes and the rate gyro assembly noise level are discussed and some test data are shown.

Dougherty, H.↗
NASA NTRS1994

SCOSII OL: A dedicated language for mission operations

The Spacecraft Control and Operations System 2 (SCOSII) is the new generation of Mission Control Systems (MCS) to be used at ESOC. The system is generic because it offers a collection of standard functions configured through a database upon which a dedicated MCS is established for a given mission. An integral component of SCOSII is the support of a dedicated Operations Language (OL). The spacecraft operation engineers edit, test, validate, and install OL scripts as part of the configuration of the system with, e.g., expressions for computing derived parameters and procedures for performing flight operations, all without involvement of software support engineers. A layered approach has been adopted for the implementation centered around the explicit representation of a data model. The data model is object-oriented defining the structure of the objects in terms of attributes (data) and services (functions) which can be accessed by the OL. SCOSII supports the creation of a mission model. System elements as, e.g., a gyro are explicit, as are the attributes which described them and the services they provide. The data model driven approach makes it possible to take immediate advantage of this higher-level of abstraction, without requiring expansion of the language. This article describes the background and context leading to the OL, concepts, language facilities, implementation, status and conclusions found so far.

Baldi, Andrea↗
NASA NTRS1972

Strapdown platforms using redundant two-degree-of-freedom gyros

A new concept of high reliability strapdown attitude sensing systems for space vehicles is presented. Each system utilizes a set of redundant two-degree-of-freedom gyros. An optimum system configuration is obtained for maximum system reliability and the best measurement accuracy. Improved accuracy of the final data is obtained by using the least-square data reduction technique. Each system possesses a sensor performance management feature which is capable of failure detection, faulty gyro identification, system reconfiguration, and possibly, sensor recalibration. Improvement in reliability as compared to other types of strapdown systems is demonstrated. Details of the development are described in terms of a system containing four gyros.

Hung, J. C.↗
NASA NTRS1973

High-reliability strapdown platforms using two-degree-of-freedom gyros.

This paper presents a new concept of high-reliability strapdown attitude sensing systems for space vehicles. Each system utilizes a set of redundant two-degree-of-freedom gyros. An optimum system configuration is obtained for maximum system reliability and the best measurement accuracy. Improved accuracy of the final data is obtained by using the least-square data reduction technique. Each system possesses a 'sensor performance management' feature which is capable of failure detection, faulty gyro identification, system reconfiguration, and, possibly, sensor recalibration. Improvement in reliability, as compared to other types of strapdown systems, is demonstrated. Details of the development are described in terms of a system containing four gyros.

Hung, J. C.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Small Aircraft Data Distribution System

The CARVE Small Aircraft Data Distribution System acquires the aircraft location and attitude data that is required by the various programs running on a distributed network. This system distributes the data it acquires to the data acquisition programs for inclusion in their data files. It uses UDP (User Datagram Protocol) to broadcast data over a LAN (Local Area Network) to any programs that might have a use for the data. The program is easily adaptable to acquire additional data and log that data to disk. The current version also drives displays using precision pitch and roll information to aid the pilot in maintaining a level-level attitude for radar/radiometer mapping beyond the degree available by flying visually or using a standard gyro-driven attitude indicator. The software is designed to acquire an array of data to help the mission manager make real-time decisions as to the effectiveness of the flight. This data is displayed for the mission manager and broadcast to the other experiments on the aircraft for inclusion in their data files. The program also drives real-time precision pitch and roll displays for the pilot and copilot to aid them in maintaining the desired attitude, when required, during data acquisition on mapping lines.

Chazanoff, Seth L.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Flight-control/navigation inertial reference system

The preliminary design of a redundant strapdown navigation system for integrated flight-control/navigation use has been completed. Based on application of tuned-gimbal gyros, a compact configuration (13 in x 13 in x 14 in) has been achieved for fail-operational/fail-operational redundancy. Test data are presented for strapdown system test programs including flight testing of the LN-50 tuned-gimbal gyro system. Testing of a redundant sensor configuration is currently in process. Strapdown gyro development also includes ring laser and nuclear magnetic resonance techniques.

Ebner, R. E.↗
NASA NTRS1995

A PC-based magnetometer-only attitude and rate determination system for gyroless spacecraft

This paper describes a prototype PC-based system that uses measurements from a three-axis magnetometer (TAM) to estimate the state (three-axis attitude and rates) of a spacecraft given no a priori information other than the mass properties. The system uses two algorithms that estimate the spacecraft's state - a deterministic magnetic-field only algorithm and a Kalman filter for gyroless spacecraft. The algorithms are combined by invoking the deterministic algorithm to generate the spacecraft state at epoch using a small batch of data and then using this deterministic epoch solution as the initial condition for the Kalman filter during the production run. System input comprises processed data that includes TAM and reference magnetic field data. Additional information, such as control system data and measurements from line-of-sight sensors, can be input to the system if available. Test results are presented using in-flight data from two three-axis stabilized spacecraft: Solar, Anomalous, and Magnetospheric Particle Explorer (SAMPEX) (gyroless, Sun-pointing) and Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS) (gyro-based, Earth-pointing). The results show that, using as little as 700 s of data, the system is capable of accuracies of 1.5 deg in attitude and 0.01 deg/s in rates; i.e., within SAMPEX mission requirements.

Challa, M.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Development of a Closed-Loop Strap Down Attitude System for an Ultrahigh Altitude Flight Experiment

A low-cost attitude system has been developed for an ultrahigh altitude flight experiment. The experiment uses a remotely piloted sailplane, with the wings modified for flight at altitudes greater than 100,000 ft. Mission requirements deem it necessary to measure the aircraft pitch and bank angles with accuracy better than 1.0 deg and heading with accuracy better than 5.0 deg. Vehicle cost restrictions and gross weight limits make installing a commercial inertial navigation system unfeasible. Instead, a low-cost attitude system was developed using strap down components. Monte Carlo analyses verified that two vector measurements, magnetic field and velocity, are required to completely stabilize the error equations. In the estimating algorithm, body-axis observations of the airspeed vector and the magnetic field are compared against the inertial velocity vector and a magnetic-field reference model. Residuals are fed back to stabilize integration of rate gyros. The effectiveness of the estimating algorithm was demonstrated using data from the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center Systems Research Aircraft (SRA) flight tests. The algorithm was applied with good results to a maximum 10' pitch and bank angles. Effects of wind shears were evaluated and, for most cases, can be safely ignored.

Whitmore, Stephen A.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Resolution of the COBE Earth sensor anomaly

Since its launch on November 18, 1989, the Earth sensors on the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) have shown much greater noise than expected. The problem was traced to an error in Earth horizon acquisition-of-signal (AOS) times. Due to this error, the AOS timing correction was ignored, causing Earth sensor split-to-index (SI) angles to be incorrectly time-tagged to minor frame synchronization times. Resulting Earth sensor residuals, based on gyro-propagated fine attitude solutions, were as large as plus or minus 0.45 deg (much greater than plus or minus 0.10 deg from scanner specifications (Reference 1)). Also, discontinuities in single-frame coarse attitude pitch and roll angles (as large as 0.80 and 0.30 deg, respectively) were noted several times during each orbit. However, over the course of the mission, each Earth sensor was observed to independently and unexpectedly reset and then reactivate into a new configuration. Although the telemetered AOS timing corrections are still in error, a procedure has been developed to approximate and apply these corrections. This paper describes the approach, analysis, and results of approximating and applying AOS timing adjustments to correct Earth scanner data. Furthermore, due to the continuing degradation of COBE's gyroscopes, gyro-propagated fine attitude solutions may soon become unavailable, requiring an alternative method for attitude determination. By correcting Earth scanner AOS telemetry, as described in this paper, more accurate single-frame attitude solutions are obtained. All aforementioned pitch and roll discontinuities are removed. When proper AOS corrections are applied, the standard deviation of pitch residuals between coarse attitude and gyro-propagated fine attitude solutions decrease by a factor of 3. Also, the overall standard deviation of SI residuals from fine attitude solutions decrease by a factor of 4 (meeting sensor specifications) when AOS corrections are applied.

Sedler, J.↗