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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

A New Direction for the NASA Materials Science Research Using the International Space Station

In 2001 NASA created a fifth Strategic Enterprise, the Office of Biological and Physical Research (OBPR), to bring together physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering to foster interdisciplinary research. The Materials Science Program is one of five Microgravity Research disciplines within this new Enterprise's Division of Physical Sciences Research. The Materials Science Program will participate within this new enterprise structure in order to facilitate effective use of ISS facilities, target scientific and technology questions and transfer results for Earth benefits. The Materials Science research will use a low gravity environment for flight and ground-based research in crystallization, fundamental processing, properties characterization, and biomaterials in order to obtain fundamental understanding of various phenomena effects and relationships to the structures, processing, and properties of materials. Completion of the International Space Station's (ISS) first major assembly, during the past year, provides new opportunities for on-orbit research and scientific utilization. The Enterprise has recently completed an assessment of the science prioritization from which the future materials science ISS type payloads will be implemented. Science accommodations will support a variety of Materials Science payload hardware both in the US and international partner modules with emphasis on early use of Express Rack and Glovebox facilities. This paper addresses the current scope of the flight and ground investigator program. These investigators will use the various capabilities of the ISS lab facilities to achieve their research objectives. The type of research and classification of materials being studied will be addressed. This includes the recent emphasis being placed on radiation shielding, nanomaterials, propulsion materials, and biomaterials type research. The Materials Science Program will pursue a new, interdisciplinary approach, which contributes, to Human Space Flight Exploration research. The Materials Science Research Facility (MSRF) and other related American and International experiment modules will serve as the foundation for the flight research environment. A summary will explain the concept for materials science research processing capabilities aboard the ISS along with the various ground facilities necessary to support the program.

Schlagheck, Ronald A.↗

STS-107 Mission Highlights Resource, Part 2 of 4

This video, Part 2 of 4, shows the activities of the STS-107 crew during flight days 4 through 7 of the Columbia orbiter's final flight. The crew consists of Commander Rick Husband, Pilot William McCool, Payload Commander Michael Anderson, Mission Specialists David Brown, Kalpana Chawla, and Laurel Clark, and Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon. During the video the crew members are at work on a variety of spaceborne experiments, such as the Laminar Soot Processes (LSP) experiment, the Mediterranean Israeli Dust Experiment (MEIDEX), international student experiments, and the Structures of Flame Balls at Low Lewis-number (SOFBALL) experiment. Other crew activities recorded on the video include exercising on a bicycle, drawing blood, and answering questions from the public. A couple of scenes on the video are narrated by Clark, including one in which she gives a tour of the SPACEHAB module in the shuttle's payload bay. The video also includes a scene in which Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon addresses Ramon and the other Red Team crew members (Husband, Chawla, Clark). The Earth views shown include Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf; the Appalachian Mountains; Egypt, the Red Sea, and the Sinai Peninsula, and the east coast of Africa.

Source record↗

Growth and Morphology of Supercritical Fluids Studied in Microgravity on Mir

The Growth and Morphology of Supercritical Fluids (GMSF) is an international experiment facilitated by the NASA Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field and under the guidance of U.S. principal investigator Professor John Hegseth of the University of New Orleans and three French coinvestigators Daniel Beysens, Yves Garrabos, and Carole Chabot. In early 1999, GMSF experiments were operated for 20 days on the Russian Space Station Mir. Mir astronauts performed experiments One through Seven, which spanned the three science themes of near-critical phase separation rates, interface dynamics in near-critical boiling, and measurement of the spectrum of density fluctuation length scales very close to the critical point. The fluids used were pure CO2 or SF6. Three of the five thermostats used could adjust the sample volume with the scheduled crew time. Such a volume adjustment enabled variable sample densities around the critical density as well as pressure steps (as distinct from the usual temperature steps) to be applied to the sample.

Wilkinson, R. Allen↗

Geology of Europa

Europa is a rocky object of radius 1565 km (slightly smaller than Earth s moon) and has an outer shell of water composition estimated to be of order 100 km thick, the surface of which is frozen. The total volume of water is about 3 x 10(exp 9) cubic kilometers, or twice the amount of water on Earth. Moreover, like its neighbor Io, Europa experiences internal heating generated from tidal flexing during its eccentric orbit around Jupiter. This raises the possibility that some of the water beneath the icy crust is liquid. The proportion of rock to ice, the generation of internal heat, and the possibility of liquid water make Europa unique in the Solar System. In this chapter, we outline the sources of data available for Europa (with a focus on the Galileo mission), review previous and on-going research on its surface geology, discuss the astrobiological potential of Europa, and consider plans for future exploration.

Greeley, R.↗

Accelerating Deployment of Distributed Photovoltaics in Partner Countries

There is a significant opportunity to help developing countries quickly augment DPV programs, and a wealth of international experience and expertise to draw upon to do so. USAID has launched a multi-year program to assist countries across the DPV spectrum. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is supporting USAID (and drawing on Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and others) in developing and implementing pilot projects in selected USAID partner countries, collaborating with these countries to accelerate DPV market development.

distributed photovoltaics↗

Feedback from International Decommissioning Planning Projects - 20269

Decommissioning of Nuclear Power Plants is an increasing reality in many countries with nuclear power. Already many years before final shutdown, planning of the decommissioning work is usually started in order to understand for example the costs, waste volume capacity and licensing work needed. In many countries it is required to have a final decommissioning plan before any decommissioning work is allowed to start. Westinghouse has been involved in international decommissioning planning for more than 30 years, where the first 20 years was mostly funding and preliminary plans due to that decommissioning was many years away. However, as many more plants are now moving into decommissioning, the focus has shifted to final decommissioning plans with budgets instead of funding plans, strategic decisions instead of choices, waste volume specifications instead of estimates and a defined approach instead of what ifs. Westinghouse has developed a methodology based on the planning and execution of many decommissioning projects in Europe, America and Asia. That international experience and understanding helps the customers to adopt a systematic planning process where strategy development is done with the end state in mind, where the goals are clearly outlined and the starting point described. The process and steps to reach the desired end state need to be clearly defined and all options/alternatives evaluated from a cost/benefit point of view. This is followed by a thorough and quantitative risk analysis in order to give solid recommendations and credible conclusions. One important feedback has been that real decommissioning experience from reference projects is invaluable for an efficient and timely progress in order not to spend unnecessary time and effort on understanding the barriers and links between different activities in decommissioning. Skilled project managers or engineers can drive the project forward, but without decommissioning experience previously gained, valuable lessons learned are not used and the same mistakes can be made again. Many utilities have invested in knowledge transfer from other decommissioning projects through site visits, exchange programs and supplier meetings, which is a valuable asset and way of implementing lessons learned from performed decommissioning projects into the planning process. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Utility Perspective on Protection Challenges with High IBR Penetration [Slides]

Utilities have seen rapid increase in Solar, Wind, and Battery Energy Storage Resources that interconnect to their electric system through Inverters. Inverter-Based Resources (IBRs) have fault current characteristics that are unlike the fault current response of traditional rotating-machine-based generators, which is well known and repeatable. IBR’s non-traditional fault current behavior is due to the IBR control scheme, which is configured to provide a clean AC output but also protect the inverter’s sensitive power electronics devices from damage, one source of which is overcurrent. This results in low fault current magnitude, low or no negative sequence current injection, the variability of sequence component currents, the variability of voltage with respect to current angles, and the lack of inertia. The control scheme also results in a fault current response that can vary between manufactures and between models of the same manufacturer. High penetration of IBRs can adversely affect the protection schemes applied in areas with high penetration of IBRs. With the proliferation of IBRs, utilities are finding out that conventional protection schemes are not adequately equipped to protect the electric systems. This is mainly because the existing protection elements and practices have been designed based on the fault current response of conventional rotating machines. In several cases, the available literature does not provide any clear solution for the issues when the protection scheme does not operate properly near IBRs. This report identifies various protection challenges due to IBRs that industry is facing, from the utility perspective. Instead of facing on one issue, this report looks broadly on all the challenges that system protection has experienced with high penetration of IBRs. Based on the IBR response from various utilities during real fault events and gathering perspective from different utility SMEs via questionnaire, the report summarizes on gathered data and internal experiences.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE): Overview, Accomplishments and Future Needs

Materials and devices used on the exterior of spacecraft in low Earth orbit (LEO) are subjected to environmental threats that can cause degradation in material properties, possibly threatening spacecraft mission success. These threats include: atomic oxygen (AO), ultraviolet and x-ray radiation, charged particle radiation, temperature extremes and thermal cycling, micrometeoroid and debris impacts, and contamination. Space environmental threats vary greatly based on spacecraft materials, thicknesses and stress levels, and the mission environment and duration. For more than a decade the Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) has enabled the study of the long duration environmental durability of spacecraft materials in the LEO environment. The overall objective of MISSE is to test the stability and durability of materials and devices in the space environment in order to gain valuable knowledge on the performance of materials in space, as well as to enable lifetime predictions of new materials that may be used in future space flight. MISSE is a series of materials flight experiments, which are attached to the exterior of the International Space Station (ISS). Individual experiments were loaded onto suitcase-like trays, called Passive Experiment Containers (PECs). The PECs were transported to the ISS in the Space Shuttle cargo bay and attached to, and removed from, the ISS during extravehicular activities (EVAs). The PECs were retrieved after one or more years of space exposure and returned to Earth enabling post-flight experiment evaluation. MISSE is a multi-organization project with participants from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Department of Defense (DoD), industry and academia. MISSE has provided a platform for environmental durability studies for thousands of samples and numerous devices, and it has produced many tangible impacts. Ten PECs (and one smaller tray) have been flown, representing MISSE 1 through MISSE 8, yielding long-duration space environmental performance and durability data that enable material validation, processing recertification and space qualification; improved predictions of materials and component lifetimes in space; model verification and development; and correlation factors between space-exposure and ground-facilities enabling more accurate in-space performance predictions based on ground-laboratory testing. A few of the many experiment results and observations, and their impacts, are provided. Those highlighted include examples on improved understanding of atomic oxygen scattering mechanisms, LEO coating durability results, and polymer erosion yields and their impacts on spacecraft design. The MISSE 2 Atomic Oxygen Scattering Chamber Experiment discovered that the peak flux of scattered AO was determined to be 45 deg from normal incidence, not the model predicted cosine dependence. In addition, the erosion yield (E(sub y)) of Kapton H for AO scattered off oxidized-Al is 22% of the E(sub y) of direct AO impingement. These results were used to help determine the degradation mechanism of a cesium iodide detector within the Hubble Space Telescope Cosmic Origins Spectrograph Experiment. The MISSE 6 Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) Degradation Experiment measured surface electrical resistance of ram and wake ITO coated samples. The data confirmed that ITO is a stable AO protective coating, and the results validated the durability of ITO conductive coatings for solar arrays for the Atmosphere-Space Transition 2 Explorer program. The MISSE 2, 6 and 7 Polymer Experiments have provided LEO AO Ey data on over 120 polymer and composites samples. The flight E(sub y) values were found to range from 3.05 x 10(exp -26) cu cm/atom for the AO resistant polymer CORIN to 9.14 x 10(exp -26) cu cm/atom for polyoxymethylene (POM). In addition, flying the same polymers on different missions has advanced the understanding of the AO E(sub y) dependency on solar exposure for polymers containing fluorine. The MISSE polymer results are highly requested and have impacted spacecraft design for WorldView-2 & -3, the Global Precipitation Measurement-Microwave Imager, and other spacecraft. The flight data has enabled the development of an Atomic Oxygen Erosion Predictive Tool that allows the erosion prediction of new and non-flown polymers. The data has also been used to develop a new NASA Technical Standards Handbook "Spacecraft Polymers Atomic Oxygen Durability Handbook." Many intangible benefits have also been derived from MISSE. For example, over 40 students have collaborated on Glenn's MISSE experiments, which have resulted in greater than $80K in student scholarships and awards in national and international science fairs. Students have also given presentations and won poster competition awards at international space conferences.

Flight Experiment↗

The Capillary Flow Experiments Aboard the International Space Station: Increments 9-15

This report provides a summary of the experimental, analytical, and numerical results of the Capillary Flow Experiment (CFE) performed aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The experiments were conducted in space beginning with Increment 9 through Increment 16, beginning August 2004 and ending December 2007. Both primary and extra science experiments were conducted during 19 operations performed by 7 astronauts including: M. Fincke, W. McArthur, J. Williams, S. Williams, M. Lopez-Alegria, C. Anderson, and P. Whitson. CFE consists of 6 approximately 1 to 2 kg handheld experiment units designed to investigate a selection of capillary phenomena of fundamental and applied importance, such as large length scale contact line dynamics (CFE-Contact Line), critical wetting in discontinuous structures (CFE-Vane Gap), and capillary flows and passive phase separations in complex containers (CFE-Interior Corner Flow). Highly quantitative video from the simply performed flight experiments provide data helpful in benchmarking numerical methods, confirming theoretical models, and guiding new model development. In an extensive executive summary, a brief history of the experiment is reviewed before introducing the science investigated. A selection of experimental results and comparisons with both analytic and numerical predictions is given. The subsequent chapters provide additional details of the experimental and analytical methods developed and employed. These include current presentations of the state of the data reduction which we anticipate will continue throughout the year and culminate in several more publications. An extensive appendix is used to provide support material such as an experiment history, dissemination items to date (CFE publication, etc.), detailed design drawings, and crew procedures. Despite the simple nature of the experiments and procedures, many of the experimental results may be practically employed to enhance the design of spacecraft engineering systems involving capillary interface dynamics.

Jenson, Ryan M.↗

Effects of Heating Configuration and Operating Parameters on Heat Transfer and Interfacial Physics of Microgravity Flow Boiling With Subcooled Inlet Conditions –Experiments Onboard the International Space Station

This study is part of the Flow Boiling and Condensation Experiment (FBCE), a collaborative effort between the Purdue University Boiling and Two-Phase Flow Laboratory (PU-BTPFL) and the NASA Glenn Research Center. The FBCE fitted with the Flow Boiling Module (FBM) was launched to the International Space Station (ISS) in August 2021 and experiments were successfully performed from February to July 2022 to amass a large microgravity-flow-boiling database. This study is focused on heat transfer and flow visualization of microgravity flow boiling of n-Perfluorohexane in a rectangular channel of 5.0 mm height, 2.5 mm width (heated), and 114.6 mm length, with subcooled inlet conditions. High-speed-video photography is utilized to present flow patterns and temporal interfacial behavior. Heat transfer results are presented in the form of flow boiling curves and both parametric curves and streamwise profiles of wall temperature and heat transfer coefficient. Firstly, the parametric effects of mass velocity (199.4 – 3200.0 kg/m 2 s), inlet subcooling (0.2 – 46.0°C), and inlet pressure (124.2 – 176.7 kPa), on the aforementioned aspects are assessed for double-sided heating to establish them for a microgravity environment. Of these three parameters, mass velocity and inlet subcooling mostly determine the microgravity flow boiling behavior, while inlet pressure plays an insignificant role. Flow patterns for double-sided heating are more complex than those for single-sided heating due to interaction between the two vapor layers. Vapor interaction is minimized at high subcoolings and high mass velocities due to strong condensation offered by the subcooled bulk liquid layer separating them. Despite the different flow patterns, both single- and double-sided heating generally result in similar parametric trends and local heat transfer coefficients for similar operating conditions. Flow instabilities manifest as temporal flow anomalies and temperature oscillations, and their severity increases with increasing boiling number. Secondly, the effects of heating configuration are analyzed by comparing and contrasting several aspects of single- and double-sided heating data. The heat fluxes at which onset of nucleate boiling degradation (ONBD) and critical heat flux (CHF) occur are distinctly different for single- and double-sided heating. There exists a threshold inlet subcooling demarcating the dominance of flow acceleration and condensation effects in vapor removal from the near-wall region and replenishment of fresh liquid for boiling. Above the threshold, condensation from the near-wall region is dominant and single-sided heating yields higher heat fluxes, and below it, acceleration is dominant and double-sided yields higher heat fluxes. At mass velocity in the range of 200 – 2400 kg/m 2 s, the threshold inlet subcooling lies in the approximate range of 20 – 30°C (corresponding inlet quality of roughly -0.40 – -0.20).

Microgravity↗

A low temperature facility for experiments on the International Space Station

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is currently developing the Low Temperature Microgravity Physics Experiments Facility (LTMPEF), a multiple user and multiple flight facility that will provide a long duration low temperature environment on board the International Space Station. The LTMPEF will be attached to the Japanese Experiment Module (KIBO) Exposed Facility of the International Space Station with an initial flight starting in late 2005. The LTMPF is a self contained, reusable, cryogenic facility containing a 180-liter superfluid helium tank, two experiment packages, and electronics to provide experiment control and telemetry. Two distinct primary experiments will be accommodated during each mission, and secondary experiments requiring no additional hardware beyond that built for the primary experiments will also be accommodated during each mission. Detailed technical capabilities of the Facility will be presented, along with a brief description of the six science investigations currently selected to fly on the first two missions.

International Space Station↗

Human Factors Lessons Learned on the International Space Station

Experience on International Space Station (ISS) provides many important lessons for future space flight. NASA human factors engineers have been systematically collecting lessons learned from crew debriefs, as well as working with ground support teams to continuously improve crew operations. This paper describes the methods for collecting data from debriefs, lessons learned through that process, and an example of a technology development task funded through the Space Human Factors Engineering (SHFE) program element in response to an identified operational need. Each ISS increment crew spends many hours after the flight answering questions from the various subsystem leads. The Flight Crew Integration subsystem lead asks questions specific to human factors and habitability issues. In addition, crew comments on many other subsystems provide insight into interface designs, operability and maintainability. The debrief comments are unique to each crew, and must be categorized to provide operational lessons learned. Personal identifiers are removed and comments aggregated to separate consistent issues from personal preferences. Examples will be given, and the procedure for incorporating the lessons into requirements and guidelines for the next human space vehicle will be described. In flight, very few astronauts are medical doctors. Written medical procedures during flight need to be easy to follow and quick to understand. The problem was analyzed as part of a SHFE task. Organization was analyzed and reorganizations were created and tested. Results will be reported. The ISS is a very important analog for planning future long-term missions. Collection of data from debriefs, studying the lessons learned and focusing on requirements for future missions are examples of the accomplishments through the SHFE program.

Woolford, Barbara↗

Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) 5 Developed to Test Advanced Solar Cell Technology Aboard the ISS

The testing of new technologies aboard the International Space Station (ISS) is facilitated through the use of a passive experiment container, or PEC, developed at the NASA Langley Research Center. The PEC is an aluminum suitcase approximately 2 ft square and 5 in. thick. Inside the PEC are mounted Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) plates that contain the test articles. The PEC is carried to the ISS aboard the space shuttle or a Russian resupply vehicle, where astronauts attach it to a handrail on the outer surface of the ISS and deploy the PEC, which is to say the suitcase is opened 180 deg. Typically, the PEC is left in this position for approximately 1 year, at which point astronauts close the PEC and it is returned to Earth. In the past, the PECs have contained passive experiments, principally designed to characterize the durability of materials subjected to the ultraviolet radiation and atomic oxygen present at the ISS orbit. The MISSE5 experiment is intended to characterize state-of-art (SOA) and beyond photovoltaic technologies.

Wilt, David M.↗

Atomic Oxygen Impacts on Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE)-16 flight Samples

A variety of materials consisting of polyimides, polyethylene terephthalates (PETs), fiber reinforced polymers, and polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS) were on the exterior of the International Space Station (ISS) as part of Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE)-16. Samples on the side of the ISS pointing in the direction of the spacecraft’s motion (the ram direction) were observed for effects due to atomic oxygen (AO). The erosion yield of select materials from MISSE-16 is reported, as well as their variation in surface roughness due to AO erosion. Trade names and trademarks are used in this paper for identification only. Their usage does not constitute an official endorsement, either expressed or implied, by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Samuel A Westrick↗

Analysis of data from the plasma composition experiment on the International Sun-Earth Explorer (ISEE 1)

The Lockheed plasma composition experiment on the ISEE 1 spacecraft has provided one of the largest and most varied sets of data on earth's energetic plasma environment, covering both the solar wind, well beyond the bow shock, and the near equatorial magnetosphere to a distance of almost 23 earth radii. This report is an overview of the last four years of data analysis and archiving. The archiving for NSSDC includes most data obtained during the initial 28-months of instrument operation, from early November 1977 through the end of February 1980. The data products are a combination of spectra (mass and energy angle) and velocity moments. A copy of the data user's guide and examples of the data products are attached as appendix A. The data analysis covers three major areas: solar wind ions upstream and downstream of the day side bowshock, especially He(++) ions; terrestrial ions flowing upward from the auroral regions, especially H(+), O(+), and He(+) ions; and ions of both solar and terrestrial origins in the tail plasma sheet and lobe regions. Copies of publications are attached.

Lennartsson, O. W.↗

Restoration and Archiving of Data from the Plasma Composition Experiment on the International Sun-Earth Explorer One (ISEE 1)

The objective of this project has been to complete the archiving of energetic (10 eV/epsilon - 18 keV/epsilon) ion composition data from the Lockheed Plasma Composition Experiment on the International Sun-Earth Explorer One (ISEE 1) satellite, using a particular data format that had previously been approved by NASA and the NSSDC. That same format, a combination of ion velocity moments and differential flux spectra, had been used in 1991 to archive, at the NSSDC, the first 28 months (the "Prime" period of ISEE investigations) of data from the Lockheed instrument under NASA Contract NAS5-33047. With the completion of this project, the almost 4 1/2-year time span of these unique data is now covered by a very compact set, approximately 1 gigabyte in total, of electronic files with physical quantities, all in ASCII. The files are organized by data type and time of data acquisition, in Universal Time, and named according to year and day of year. Each calendar day has five separate files (five types of data), the lengths of which vary from day to day, depending on the instrument mode of operation. The data format and file structure are described in detail in appendices 1 and 2. The physical medium consists of high-density (6250 cpi) 9-track magnetic tapes, complemented by a set of hardcopy line plots of certain plasma parameters. In this case there are five tapes, to be added to the six previous ones from 1991, and 25 booklets of plots, one per month, to be added to the previous 28. The tapes, including an extra standard-density (1600 cpi) tape with electronic versions of the Data User's Guide and self-guiding VAX/VMS command files, and the hardcopy plots are being boxed for shipment to the NSSDC.

Lennartsson, O. W.↗

The Infrastructure of an Integrated Virtual Reality Environment for International Space Welding Experiment

This study is a continuation of the summer research of 1995 NASA/ASEE Summer Faculty Fellowship Program. This effort is to provide the infrastructure of an integrated Virtual Reality (VR) environment for the International Space Welding Experiment (ISWE) Analytical Tool and Trainer and the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) Analytical Tool study. Due to the unavailability of the MSG CAD files and the 3D-CAD converter, little was done to the MSG study. However, the infrastructure of the integrated VR environment for ISWE is capable of performing the MSG study when the CAD files become available. Two primary goals are established for this research. First, the essential peripheral devices for an integrated VR environment will be studied and developed for the ISWE and MSG studies. Secondly, the training of the flight crew (astronaut) in general orientation, procedures, and location, orientation, and sequencing of the welding samples and tools are built into the VR system for studying the welding process and training the astronaut.

Wang, Peter Hor-Ching↗