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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 1,135 records · Page 63
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1999

High-Lift Engine Aeroacoustics Technology (HEAT) Test Program Overview

The NASA High-Speed Research program developed the High-Lift Engine Aeroacoustics Technology (HEAT) program to demonstrate satisfactory interaction between the jet noise suppressor and high-lift system of a High-Speed Civil Transport (HSCT) configuration at takeoff, climb, approach and landing conditions. One scheme for reducing jet exhaust noise generated by an HSCT is the use of a mixer-ejector system which would entrain large quantities of ambient air into the nozzle exhaust flow through secondary inlets in order to cool and slow the jet exhaust before it exits the nozzle. The effectiveness of such a noise suppression device must be evaluated in the presence of an HSCT wing high-lift system before definitive assessments can be made concerning its acoustic performance. In addition, these noise suppressors must provide the required acoustic attenuation while not degrading the thrust efficiency of the propulsion system or the aerodynamic performance of the high-lift devices on the wing. Therefore, the main objective of the HEAT program is to demonstrate these technologies and understand their interactions on a large-scale HSCT model. The HEAT program is a collaborative effort between NASA-Ames, Boeing Commercial Airplane Group, Douglas Aircraft Corp., Lockheed-Georgia, General Electric and NASA - Lewis. The suppressor nozzles used in the tests were Generation 1 2-D mixer-ejector nozzles made by General Electric. The model used was a 13.5%-scale semi-span model of a Boeing Reference H configuration.

Zuniga, Fanny A.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Launcher Systems Development Cost: Behavior, Uncertainty, Influences, Barriers and Strategies for Reduction

This paper will report on the activities of the IAA Launcher Systems Economics Working Group in preparations for its Launcher Systems Development Cost Behavior Study. The Study goals include: improve launcher system and other space system parametric cost analysis accuracy; improve launcher system and other space system cost analysis credibility; and provide launcher system and technology development program managers and other decisionmakers with useful information on development cost impacts of their decisions. The Working Group plans to explore at least the following five areas in the Study: define and explain development cost behavior terms and concepts for use in the Study; identify and quantify sources of development cost and cost estimating uncertainty; identify and quantify significant influences on development cost behavior; identify common barriers to development cost understanding and reduction; and recommend practical, realistic strategies to accomplish reductions in launcher system development cost.

Shaw, Eric J.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Aerospace Flywheel Technology Development for IPACS Applications

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) are cooperating under a space act agreement to sponsor the research and development of aerospace flywheel technologies to address mutual future mission needs. Flywheel technology offers significantly enhanced capability or is an enabling technology. Generally these missions are for energy storage and/or integrated power and attitude control systems (IPACS) for mid-to-large satellites in low earth orbit. These missions require significant energy storage as well as a CMG or reaction wheel function for attitude control. A summary description of the NASA and AFRL flywheel technology development programs is provided, followed by specific descriptions of the development plans for integrated flywheel system tests for IPACS applications utilizing both fixed and actuated flywheel units. These flywheel system development tests will be conducted at facilities at AFRL and NASA Glenn Research Center and include participation by industry participants Honeywell and Lockheed Martin.

McLallin, Kerry L.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Performance of WPA Conductivity Sensor during Two-Phase Fluid Flow in Microgravity

The Conductivity Sensor designed for use in the Node 3 Water Processor Assembly (WPA) was based on the existing Space Shuttle application for the fuel cell water system. However, engineering analysis has determined that this sensor design is potentially sensitive to two-phase fluid flow (gadliquid) in microgravity. The source for this sensitivity is the fact that gas bubbles will become lodged between the sensor probe and the wall of the housing without the aid of buoyancy in l-g. Once gas becomes lodged in the housing, the measured conductivity will be offset based on the volume of occluded gas. A development conductivity sensor was flown on the NASA Microgravity Plan to measure the offset, which was determined to range between 0 and 50%. Based on these findings, a development program was initiated at the sensor s manufacturer to develop a sensor design fully compatible with two-phase fluid flow in microgravity.

Carter, Layne↗
NASA NTRS2005

Large Liquid Rocket Testing: Strategies and Challenges

Rocket propulsion development is enabled by rigorous ground testing in order to mitigate the propulsion systems risks that are inherent in space flight. This is true for virtually all propulsive devices of a space vehicle including liquid and solid rocket propulsion, chemical and non-chemical propulsion, boost stage and in-space propulsion and so forth. In particular, large liquid rocket propulsion development and testing over the past five decades of human and robotic space flight has involved a combination of component-level testing and engine-level testing to first demonstrate that the propulsion devices were designed to meet the specified requirements for the Earth to Orbit launchers that they powered. This was followed by a vigorous test campaign to demonstrate the designed propulsion articles over the required operational envelope, and over robust margins, such that a sufficiently reliable propulsion system is delivered prior to first flight. It is possible that hundreds of tests, and on the order of a hundred thousand test seconds, are needed to achieve a high-reliability, flight-ready, liquid rocket engine system. This paper overviews aspects of earlier and recent experience of liquid rocket propulsion testing at NASA Stennis Space Center, where full scale flight engines and flight stages, as well as a significant amount of development testing has taken place in the past decade. The liquid rocket testing experience discussed includes testing of engine components (gas generators, preburners, thrust chambers, pumps, powerheads), as well as engine systems and complete stages. The number of tests, accumulated test seconds, and years of test stand occupancy needed to meet varying test objectives, will be selectively discussed and compared for the wide variety of ground test work that has been conducted at Stennis for subscale and full scale liquid rocket devices. Since rocket propulsion is a crucial long-lead element of any space system acquisition or development, the appropriate plan and strategy must be put in place at the outset of the development effort. A deferment of this test planning, or inattention to strategy, will compromise the ability of the development program to achieve its systems reliability requirements and/or its development milestones. It is important for the government leadership and support team, as well as the vehicle and propulsion development team, to give early consideration to this aspect of space propulsion and space transportation work.

Rahman, Shamim A.↗
NASA NTRS2006

CIV Vacuum Ultraviolet Fabry-Perot Interferometers for Transition-Region Magnetography

The vacuum ultraviolet region allows remote sensing of the upper levels of the solar atmosphere where the magnetic field dominates the physics. Obtaining an imaging interferometer that observes the transition region is the goal of this program. This paper gives a summary of our instrument development program (1998-2005) for a high-spectral-resolution, piezoelectric tunable Vacuum Ultraviolet Fabry-Perot Interferometer (VUV FPI) for obtaining narrow-passband images, magnetograms, and Dopplergrams of the transition region emission line of CN (155nm). A VUV interferometer will allow us to observe the magnetic field, flows, and heating events in the mid-transition region. The MSFC VUV FPI has measured values of FWHM approx. 9pm, FSR approx. 62pm, finesse approx. 5.3 and transmittance approx. 50% at 157nm. For the measurements, the University of Toronto's F2 eximer laser was used as an appropriate proxy for CIV 155nm. This has provided the first tunable interferometer with a FWHM compatible to VUV filter magnetograph.

Gary, G. Allen↗
NASA NTRS2009

Exploration Life Support Critical Questions for Future Human Space Missions

Exploration Life Support (ELS) is a project under NASA s Exploration Technology Development Program. The ELS Project plans, coordinates and implements the development of advanced life support technologies for human exploration missions in space. Recent work has focused on closed loop atmosphere and water systems for a lunar outpost, including habitats and pressurized rovers. But, what are the critical questions facing life support system developers for these and other future human missions? This paper explores those questions and discusses how progress in the development of ELS technologies can help answer them. The ELS Project includes Atmosphere Revitalization Systems (ARS), Water Recovery Systems (WRS), Waste Management Systems (WMS), Habitation Engineering, Systems Integration, Modeling and Analysis (SIMA), and Validation and Testing, which includes the sub-elements Flight Experiments and Integrated Testing. Systems engineering analysis by ELS seeks to optimize the overall mission architecture by considering all the internal and external interfaces of the life support system and the potential for reduction or reuse of commodities. In particular, various sources and sinks of water and oxygen are considered along with the implications on loop closure and the resulting launch mass requirements.

Ewert, Michael K.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Quiet, Efficient Fans for Spaceflight: An Overview of NASA's Technology Development Plan

A Technology Development Plan to improve the aerodynamic and acoustic performance of spaceflight fans has been submitted to NASA s Exploration Technology Development Program. The plan describes a research program intended to make broader use of the technology developed at NASA Glenn to increase the efficiency and reduce the noise of aircraft engine fans. The goal is to develop a set of well-characterized government-owned fans nominally suited for spacecraft ventilation and cooling systems. NASA s Exploration Life Support community will identify design point conditions for the fans in this study. Computational Fluid Dynamics codes will be used in the design and analysis process. The fans will be built and used in a series of tests. Data from aerodynamic and acoustic performance tests will be used to validate performance predictions. These performance maps will also be entered into a database to help spaceflight fan system developers make informed design choices. Velocity measurements downstream of fan rotor blades and stator vanes will also be collected and used for code validation. Details of the fan design, analysis, and testing will be publicly reported. With access to fan geometry and test data, the small fan industry can independently evaluate design and analysis methods and work towards improvement.

Koch, L. Danielle↗
NASA NTRS2011

An Overview of NASA's Current Materials Development Efforts for Mars EDL

Current roadmaps point to landing heavy masses (cargo, followed by manned vehicles) on Mars in the 2030's and the existing entry, descent and landing (EDL) technology will not be sufficient to facilitate such missions. In 2009 the Exploration Technology Development Program (ETDP) established the Entry, Descent and Landing Technology Development Project (EDL TDP), to be managed programmatically at Langley Research Center (LaRC) and technically a Ames Research Center (ARC). The purpose of the project is to further the technologies required to land heavy (approximately 40 metric ton) masses on Mars to facilitate exploration. The EDL TDP contains three technical elements. They are: 1) Thermal Protection Systems (TPS) development 2) Modeling and Tools (MAT) development 3) Supersonic Retropropulsion (SRP) development The primary goals of the EDL TDP TPS element is to design and develop TPS materials capable of withstanding the severe aerothermal loads associated with aerocapture and entry into the Martian atmosphere while significantly decreasing the TPS mass fraction contribution to the entry system. Significant advancements in TPS materials technology are needed in order to enable heavy mass payloads to be successfully landed on the Martian surface for robotic precursors and subsequent human exploration missions. The EDL TDP TPS element is further divided into two different TPS concepts for Mars EDL those being: 1) Rigid TPS for a mid L/D aeroshell with the capability to withstand dual pulsed heating environments as high as 500 W/square cm for aerocapture and 130 W/square cm for entry 2) Flexible TPS for a deployable aerodynamic decelerator with the capability to withstand dual pulsed heating environments as high as 120 W/square cm for aerocapture and 30 W/square cm for entry NASA, along with its vendors, has begun developing and testing materials for each of the deceleration approaches. These include multi-layer rigid ablators and flexible ablative materials. In order to model the response of these types of materials, new and improved modeling techniques will be required. This presentation will outline the types of materials that are under development and illustrate the need for advancement in modeling of ablative materials.

Beck, Robin A.↗
NASA NTRS2013

Solar Array Structures for 300 kW-Class Spacecraft

State-of-the-art solar arrays for spacecraft provide on the order of 20 kW of electrical power, and they usually consist of 3J solar cells bonded to hinged rigid panels about 1 inch in thickness. This structural construction allows specific mass and packaging volumes of up to approximately 70 W/kg and 15 kW/m3 to be achieved. Significant advances in solar array structures are required for future very-high-power spacecraft (300+ kW), such as those proposed for pre-positioning heavy cargo on or near the Moon, Mars, or asteroids using solar electric propulsion. These applications will require considerable increases in both W/kg and kW/m3, and will undoubtedly require the use of flexible-substrate designs. This presentation summarizes work sponsored by NASA's Game Changing Development Program since Oct. 2011 to address the challenge of developing 300+ kW solar arrays. The work is primarily being done at NASA Langley, NASA Glenn, and two contractor teams (ATK and DSS), with technical collaboration from AFRL/Kirtland. The near-tem objective of the project is design, analysis, and testing of 30-50 kW solar array designs that are extensible to the far-term objective of 300+ kW. The work is currently focused on three designs: the MegaFlex concept by ATK, the Mega-ROSA concept by DSS, and an in-house 300-kW Government Reference Array concept. Each of these designs will be described in the presentation. Results obtained to date by the team, as well as future work plans, for the design, analysis, and testing of these large solar array structures will be summarized.

Pappa, Richard↗
NASA NTRS2008

Simulating Avionics Upgrades to the Space Shuttles

Cockpit Avionics Prototyping Environment (CAPE) is a computer program that simulates the functions of proposed upgraded avionics for a space shuttle. In CAPE, pre-existing space-shuttle-simulation programs are merged with a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) display-development program, yielding a package of software that enables high-fi46 NASA Tech Briefs, September 2008 delity simulation while making it possible to rapidly change avionic displays and the underlying model algorithms. The pre-existing simulation programs are Shuttle Engineering Simulation, Shuttle Engineering Simulation II, Interactive Control and Docking Simulation, and Shuttle Mission Simulator playback. The COTS program Virtual Application Prototyping System (VAPS) not only enables the development of displays but also makes it possible to move data about, capture and process events, and connect to a simulation. VAPS also enables the user to write code in the C or C++ programming language and compile that code into the end-product simulation software. As many as ten different avionic-upgrade ideas can be incorporated in a single compilation and, thus, tested in a single simulation run. CAPE can be run in conjunction with any or all of four simulations, each representing a different phase of a space-shuttle flight.

Deger, Daniel↗
NASA NTRS1989

A 3D visualization system for molecular structures

The properties of molecules derive in part from their structures. Because of the importance of understanding molecular structures various methodologies, ranging from first principles to empirical technique, were developed for computing the structure of molecules. For large molecules such as polymer model compounds, the structural information is difficult to comprehend by examining tabulated data. Therefore, a molecular graphics display system, called MOLDS, was developed to help interpret the data. MOLDS is a menu-driven program developed to run on the LADC SNS computer systems. This program can read a data file generated by the modeling programs or data can be entered using the keyboard. MOLDS has the following capabilities: draws the 3-D representation of a molecule using stick, ball and ball, or space filled model from Cartesian coordinates, draws different perspective views of the molecule; rotates the molecule on the X, Y, Z axis or about some arbitrary line in space, zooms in on a small area of the molecule in order to obtain a better view of a specific region; and makes hard copy representation of molecules on a graphic printer. In addition, MOLDS can be easily updated and readily adapted to run on most computer systems.

Green, Terry J.↗
NASA NTRS2022

Building a Transdisciplinary, Exascale-Capable Workforce for Geospace Science

Key Points: ●First-principles, self-consistent geospace modeling will require at least exascale-level computing capabilities; however, the technical skills necessary to develop such simulation codes are not taught as part of Heliophysics training/PhD programs. ●Developing exascale Heliophysics codes will require transdisciplinary collaborations between physicists, computer scientists, software engineers, data scientists, and applied mathematics. Such teams must be persistent and formed around specific skills, not specific problems. ●We must have stable, positive long-term career outcomes for Heliophysics scientific developers in order to retain knowledge of and promote future innovation in scientific algorithm development and advanced computing techniques. One such way to do this is by funding long-term scientific programming groups, akin to Heliophysics DRIVE Centers. ●We must have a balance between promoting innovation via funding short-term closed-source development and allowing the open-source community to benefit from and build on the newest scientific modeling techniques.

C Bard↗
NASA NTRS2001

Phase 1 research program overview

The Phase 1 research program was unprecedented in its scope and ambitious in its objectives. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration committed to conducting a multidisciplinary long-duration research program on a platform whose capabilities were not well known, not to mention belonging to another country. For the United States, it provided the first opportunity to conduct research in a long-duration space flight environment since the Skylab program in the 1970's. Multiple technical as well as cultural challenges were successfully overcome through the dedicated efforts of a relatively small cadre of individuals. The program developed processes to successfully plan, train for and execute research in a long-duration environment, with significant differences identified from short-duration space flight science operations. Between August 1994 and June 1998, thousands of kilograms of research hardware was prepared and launched to Mir, and thousands of kilograms of hardware and data products were returned to Earth. More than 150 Principal Investigators from eight countries were involved in the program in seven major research disciplines: Advanced Technology; Earth Sciences; Fundamental Biology; Human Life Sciences; International Space Station Risk Mitigation; Microgravity; and Space Sciences. Approximately 75 long-duration investigations were completed on Mir, with additional investigations performed on the Shuttle flights that docked with Mir. The flight phase included the participation of seven US astronauts and 20 Russian cosmonauts. The successful completion of the Phase 1 research program not only resulted in high quality science return but also in numerous lessons learned to make the ISS experience more productive. The cooperation developed during the program was instrumental in its success. c2001 AIAA. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.

short duration↗
NASA NTRS1993

Integrated modeling of advanced optical systems

This poster session paper describes an integrated modeling and analysis capability being developed at JPL under funding provided by the JPL Director's Discretionary Fund and the JPL Control/Structure Interaction Program (CSI). The posters briefly summarize the program capabilities and illustrate them with an example problem. The computer programs developed under this effort will provide an unprecedented capability for integrated modeling and design of high performance optical spacecraft. The engineering disciplines supported include structural dynamics, controls, optics and thermodynamics. Such tools are needed in order to evaluate the end-to-end system performance of spacecraft such as OSI, POINTS, and SMMM. This paper illustrates the proof-of-concept tools that have been developed to establish the technology requirements and demonstrate the new features of integrated modeling and design. The current program also includes implementation of a prototype tool based upon the CAESY environment being developed under the NASA Guidance and Control Research and Technology Computational Controls Program. This prototype will be available late in FY-92. The development plan proposes a major software production effort to fabricate, deliver, support and maintain a national-class tool from FY-93 through FY-95.

Briggs, Hugh C.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Vertical Field of View Reference Point Study for Flight Path Control and Hazard Avoidance

Researchers within the eXternal Visibility System (XVS) element of the High-Speed Research (HSR) program developed and evaluated display concepts that will provide the flight crew of the proposed High-Speed Civil Transport (HSCT) with integrated imagery and symbology to permit path control and hazard avoidance functions while maintaining required situation awareness. The challenge of the XVS program is to develop concepts that would permit a no-nose-droop configuration of an HSCT and expanded low visibility HSCT operational capabilities. This study was one of a series of experiments exploring the 'design space' restrictions for physical placement of an XVS display. The primary experimental issues here was 'conformality' of the forward display vertical position with respect to the side window in simulated flight. 'Conformality' refers to the case such that the horizon and objects appear in the same relative positions when viewed through the forward windows or display and the side windows. This study quantified the effects of visual conformality on pilot flight path control and hazard avoidance performance. Here, conformality related to the positioning and relationship of the artificial horizon line and associated symbology presented on the forward display and the horizon and associated ground, horizon, and sky textures as they would appear in the real view through a window presented in the side window display. No significant performance consequences were found for the non-conformal conditions.

Comstock, J. Raymond, Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Utilities for master source code distribution: MAX and Friends

MAX is a program for the manipulation of FORTRAN master source code (MSC). This is a technique by which one maintains one and only one master copy of a FORTRAN program under a program developing system, which for MAX is assumed to be VAX/VMS. The master copy is not intended to be directly compiled. Instead it must be pre-processed by MAX to produce compilable instances. These instances may correspond to different code versions (for example, double precision versus single precision), different machines (for example, IBM, CDC, Cray) or different operating systems (i.e., VAX/VMS versus VAX/UNIX). The advantage os using a master source is more pronounced in complex application programs that are developed and maintained over many years and are to be transported and executed on several computer environments. The version lag problem that plagues many such programs is avoided by this approach. MAX is complemented by several auxiliary programs that perform nonessential functions. The ensemble is collectively known as MAX and Friends. All of these programs, including MAX, are executed as foreign VAX/VMS commands and can easily be hidden in customized VMS command procedures.

Felippa, Carlos A.↗