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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 127 records · Page 7
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NASA NTRS2017

Meal Replacement Mass Reduction and Integration Acceptability Study

NASA, in planning for long-duration missions, has an imperative to provide a food system with the necessary nutrition, acceptability, and safety to ensure sustainment of crew health and performance. The Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) and future exploration missions are mass constrained; therefore the team is challenged to reduce the mass of the food system by 10% while maintaining product safety, nutrition, and acceptability. Commercially available products do not meet the nutritional requirements for a full meal replacement in the spaceflight food system, and it is currently unknown if daily meal replacements will impact crew food intake and psychosocial health over time. The purpose of this study was to develop a variety of nutritionally balanced breakfast replacement bars that meet spaceflight nutritional, microbiological, sensorial, and shelf-life requirements, while enabling a 10% savings in food mass. To date, six nutrient-dense meal replacement bars (approximately 700 calories per bar) have been developed, using traditional methods of compression as well as novel ultrasonic compression technologies developed by Creative Resonance Inc. (Phoenix, AZ). The four highest rated bars were evaluated in the Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA) to assess the frequency with which actual meal replacement options may be implemented. Specifically, overall impact of bars on mood, satiety, digestive discomfort, and satisfaction with food. These factors are currently being analyzed to inform successful implementation strategies where crew maintain adequate food intake. In addition, these bars are currently undergoing shelf-life testing to determine long-term sensory acceptability, nutritional stability, qualitative stability of analytical measurements (i.e. water activity and texture), and microbiological compliance over two years of storage at room temperature and potential temperature abuse conditions to predict long-term acceptability. It is expected that this work will enable a successful meal replacement strategy to be implemented that will maintain crew food consumption and health, while informing exploration missions with appropriate mass savings expectations.

Sirmons, T.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Acoustic Analysis and Design of the E-STA MSA Simulator

The Orion European Service Module Structural Test Article (E-STA) Acoustic Test was completed in May 2016 to verify that the European Service Module (ESM) can withstand qualification acoustic environments. The test article required an aft closeout to simulate the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) Stage Adapter (MSA) cavity, however, the flight MSA design was too cost-prohibitive to build. NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) had 6 months to design an MSA Simulator that could recreate the qualification prediction MSA cavity sound pressure level to within a reasonable tolerance. This paper summarizes the design and analysis process to arrive at a design for the MSA Simulator, and then compares its performance to the final prediction models created prior to test.

acoustics↗
NASA NTRS2016

Liftoff and Time Equivalent Duration Data Evaluation of Exploration Flight Test 1 Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle

The liftoff phase induces high acoustic loading over a broad frequency range for a launch vehicle. These external acoustic environments are used in the prediction of the internal vibration responses of the vehicle and components. There arises the question about time equivalent (Teq) duration of the liftoff phase and similarity to other launch vehicles. Vibroacoustic engineers require the fatigue-weighted time duration values for qualification testing inputs. In order to determine the Teq for the Space Launch System, NASA's newest launch vehicle, the external microphone data from the Exploration Flight Test 1 (EFT-1) flight of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) was evaluated. During that evaluation, a trend was observed in the data and the origin of that trend is discussed in this paper. Finally, the Teq values for the EFT-1 Orion MPCV are presented.

Houston, Janice↗
NASA NTRS2017

Orion Ammonia Boiler System Preflight Test Preparations

The Environmental Controls and Life Support Systems (ECLSS) branch at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is currently undergoing preparations for ground testing of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) to prepare its subsystems for EM-1 (Exploration Mission-1). EM-1, Orions second unmanned flight, is a three-week long lunar mission during which the vehicle will complete a 6-day retrograde lunar orbit before returning to Earth. This paper focuses on the work done during the authors 16-week internship with the Mechanical Engineering Branch of KSCs Engineering Directorate. The authors project involved assisting with the preparations for testing the Orion MPCVs ammonia boiler system. The purpose of the ammonia boiler system is to keep the spacecraft sufficiently cool during the reentry portion of its mission, from service module (SM) separation to post-landing. This system is critical for keeping both the spacecraft (avionics and electronics) and crew alive during reentry, thus a successful test of the system is essential to the success of EM-1. XXXX The author was able to draft a detailed outline of the procedure for the ammonia system functional test. More work will need to be done on the vehicle power-up and power-down portions of the procedure, but the ammonia system testing portion of the procedure is thorough and includes vehicle test configurations, vehicle commands, and GSE. The author was able to compile a substantial list of questions regarding the ammonia system functional test with the help of her mentors. A significant number of these questions were answered in the teleconferences with Lockheed Martin.

Ammonia↗
NASA NTRS2017

Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle Solving and Mitigating the Two Main Cluster Pendulum Problem

The Orion Multi-purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) Orion spacecraft will return humans from beyond earth's orbit, including Mars and will be required to land 20,000 pounds of mass safely in the ocean. The parachute system nominally lands under 3 main parachutes, but the system is designed to be fault tolerant and land under 2 main parachutes. During several of the parachute development tests, it was observed that a pendulum, or swinging, motion could develop while the Crew Module (CM) was descending under two parachutes. This pendulum effect had not been previously predicted by modeling. Landing impact analysis showed that the landing loads would double in some places across the spacecraft. The CM structural design limits would be exceeded upon landing if this pendulum motion were to occur. The Orion descent and landing team was faced with potentially millions of dollars in structural modifications and a severe mass increase. A multidisciplinary team was formed to determine root cause, model the pendulum motion, study alternate canopy planforms and assess alternate operational vehicle controls & operations providing mitigation options resulting in a reliability level deemed safe for human spaceflight. The problem and solution is a balance of risk to a known solution versus a chance to improve the landing performance for the next human-rated spacecraft.

Ali, Yasmin↗
NASA NTRS2017

Examination of the Structural Response of the Orion European Service Module to Reverberant and Direct Field Acoustic Testing

The NASA Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV), comprised of the Service Module, the Crew Module, and the Launch Abort System, is the next generation human spacecraft designed and built for deep space exploration. Orion will launch on NASAs new heavy-lift rocket, the Space Launch System. The European Space Agency (ESA) is responsible for providing the propulsion sub-assembly of the Service Module to NASA, called the European Service Module (ESM). The ESM is being designed and built by Airbus Safran Launchers for ESA. Traditionally, NASA has utilized reverberant acoustic testing for qualification of spaceflight hardware. The ESM Structural Test Article (E-STA) was tested at the NASA Plum Brook Stations (PBS) Reverberant Acoustic Test Facility in April-May 2016. However, Orion is evaluating an alternative acoustic test method, using direct field acoustic excitation, for the MPCVs Service Module and Crew Module. Lockheed Martin is responsible for the Orion proof-of-concept direct field acoustic test program. The E-STA was exposed to direct field acoustic testing at NASA PBS in February 2017. This paper compares the dynamic response of the E-STA structure and its components to both the reverberant and direct field acoustic test excitations. Advantages and disadvantages of direct field acoustic test excitation method are discussed.

Acoustics↗
NASA NTRS2017

Examination of the Structural Response of the Orion European Service Module to Reverberant and Direct Field Acoustic Testing

The NASA Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV), comprised of the Service Module, the Crew Module, and the Launch Abort System, is the next generation human spacecraft designed and built for deep space exploration. Orion will launch on NASAs new heavy-lift rocket, the Space Launch System. The European Space Agency (ESA) is responsible for providing the propulsion sub-assembly of the Service Module to NASA, called the European Service Module (ESM). The ESM is being designed and built by Airbus Safran Launchers for ESA. Traditionally, NASA has utilized reverberant acoustic testing for qualification of spaceflight hardware. The ESM Structural Test Article (E-STA) was tested at the NASA Plum Brook Stations (PBS) Reverberant Acoustic Test Facility in April-May 2016. However, Orion is evaluating an alternative acoustic test method, using direct field acoustic excitation, for the MPCVs Service Module and Crew Module. Lockheed Martin is responsible for the Orion proof-of-concept direct field acoustic test program. The E-STA was exposed to direct field acoustic testing at NASA PBS in February 2017. This paper compares the dynamic response of the E-STA structure and its components to both the reverberant and direct field acoustic test excitations. Advantages and disadvantages of direct field acoustic test excitation method are discussed.

Acoustics↗
NASA NTRS2018

Customer Avionics Interface Development and Analysis (CAIDA): Software Developer for Avionics Systems

The Customer Avionics Interface Development and Analysis (CAIDA) supports the testing of the Launch Control System (LCS), NASA's command and control system for the Space Launch System (SLS), Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV), and ground support equipment. The objective of the semester-long internship was to support day-to-day operations of CAIDA and help prepare for verification and validation of CAIDA software.

Mitchell, Sherry L.↗
NASA NTRS2014

AVCOAT Density Characterization for Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle

The Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) will transport four crew members to and from lunar-class orbital destinations. The first orbital Exploration Flight Test (EFT-1) is scheduled for December 2014 and will provide valuable data on several systems, including the heat shield. The heat shield material is AvcoatTM, a mid-density ablator. Specifically, the heat shield contains a fiberglass-phenolic honeycomb structure filled with an ablative epoxy novolac resin. Post-flight characterization of the EFT-1 thermal protection system will be conducted in order to study the material response and measure the char front of the material. Avcoat density profiling will be conducted to study three critical material zones: char, pyrolysis, and virgin states as a function of material depth. As part of a ground test campaign, Avcoat coupons are tested at the NASA Ames Research Center Arc Jet Complex. The test campaign is set forth to study material response based on environments, perform Avcoat material density characterization, and compare the char depths from the HEAT sensor and density profiling studies. These investigations will then be compared to flight data in order to improve upon TPS material response models.

AVCOAT↗
NASA NTRS2012

NASA's Space Launch System: A Flagship for Exploration Beyond Earth's Orbit

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Space Launch System (SLS) Program, managed at the Marshall Space Flight Center, is making progress toward delivering a new capability for exploration beyond Earth orbit in an austere economic climate. This fact drives the SLS team to find innovative solutions to the challenges of designing, developing, fielding, and operating the largest rocket in history. To arrive at the current SLS plan, government and industry experts carefully analyzed hundreds of architecture options and arrived at the one clear solution to stringent requirements for safety, affordability, and sustainability over the decades that the rocket will be in operation. This paper will explore ways to fit this major development within the funding guidelines by using existing engine assets and hardware now in testing to meet a first launch by 2017. It will explain the SLS Program s long-range plan to keep the budget within bounds, yet evolve the 70 metric ton (t) initial lift capability to 130-t lift capability after the first two flights. To achieve the evolved configuration, advanced technologies must offer appropriate return on investment to be selected through a competitive process. For context, the SLS will be larger than the Saturn V that took 12 men on 6 trips for a total of 11 days on the lunar surface over 4 decades ago. Astronauts train for long-duration voyages on the International Space Station, but have not had transportation to go beyond Earth orbit in modern times, until now. NASA is refining its mission manifest, guided by U.S. Space Policy and the Global Exploration Roadmap. Launching the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle s (MPCV s) first autonomous certification flight in 2017, followed by a crewed flight in 2021, the SLS will offer a robust way to transport international crews and the air, water, food, and equipment they need for extended trips to asteroids, Lagrange Points, and Mars. In addition, the SLS will accommodate high-priority science experiments. SLS affordability initiatives include streamlining interfaces, applying risk-based insight into contracted work, centralizing systems engineering and integration, and nurturing a learning culture that continually benchmarks its performance against successful ventures. As this paper will explain, the SLS is making measurable progress toward becoming a global infrastructure asset for robotic and human scouts of all nations by harnessing business and technological innovations to deliver sustainable solutions for space exploration.

May, Todd A.↗
NASA NTRS2013

Modeling Complex Cross-Systems Software Interfaces Using SysML

The complex flight and ground systems for NASA human space exploration are designed, built, operated and managed as separate programs and projects. However, each system relies on one or more of the other systems in order to accomplish specific mission objectives, creating a complex, tightly coupled architecture. Thus, there is a fundamental need to understand how each system interacts with the other. To determine if a model-based system engineering approach could be utilized to assist with understanding the complex system interactions, the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) sponsored a task to develop an approach for performing cross-system behavior modeling. This paper presents the results of applying Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) principles using the System Modeling Language (SysML) to define cross-system behaviors and how they map to crosssystem software interfaces documented in system-level Interface Control Documents (ICDs).

Earth orbit↗
NASA NTRS2012

A Lunar L2-Farside Exploration and Science Mission Concept with the ORion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle and a Teleoperated Lander/Rover

A novel concept is presented in this paper for a human mission to the lunar L2 (Lagrange) point that would be a proving ground for future exploration missions to deep space while also overseeing scientifically important investigations. In an L2 halo orbit above the lunar farside, the astronauts would travel 15% farther from Earth than did the Apollo astronauts and spend almost three times longer in deep space. Such missions would validate the Orion MPCV's life support systems, would demonstrate the high-speed re-entry capability needed for return from deep space, and would measure astronauts' radiation dose from cosmic rays and solar flares to verify that Orion would provide sufficient protection, as it is designed to do. On this proposed mission, the astronauts would teleoperate landers and rovers on the unexplored lunar farside, which would obtain samples from the geologically interesting farside and deploy a low radio frequency telescope. Sampling the South Pole-Aitkin basin (one of the oldest impact basins in the solar system) is a key science objective of the 2011 Planetary Science Decadal Survey. Observations of the Universe's first stars/galaxies at low radio frequencies are a priority of the 2010 Astronomy & Astrophysics Decadal Survey. Such telerobotic oversight would also demonstrate capability for human and robotic cooperation on future, more complex deep space missions.

Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV)↗
NASA NTRS2014

Evolution of MPCV Service Module Propulsion and GNC Interface Requirements

The Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle Service Module Propulsion Subsystem provides propulsion for the integrated Crew and Service Module. Updates in the exploration architecture between Constellation and MPCV as well as NASA's partnership with the European Space Agency have resulted in design changes to the SM Propulsion Subsystem and updates to the Propulsion interface requirements with Guidance Navigation and Control. This paper focuses on the Propulsion and GNC interface requirement updates between the Constellation Service Module and the European Service Module and how the requirement updates were driven or supported by architecture updates and the desired use of hardware with heritage to United States and European spacecraft for the Exploration Missions, EM-1 and EM-2.

spacecraft propulsion↗
NASA NTRS2013

The Multi-purpose Crew Vehicle European Service Module: a European Contribution to Human Exploration

This paper provides an overview of the system and subsystem configuration of the MPCV European Service Module (ESM) at Preliminary Design Review (PDR) stage as well as its perspectives of utilisation within the global space exploration endeavour. The MPCV ESM is a cylindrical module with a diameter of 4500 mm and a total length - main engine excluded - of 2700 mm. It is fitted with four solar array wings with a span of 18.8 m. Its dry mass is 3.5 metric tons and it can carry 8.6 tons of propellant. The main functions of the European Service Module are to bring the structural continuity between the launcher and the crew module, to provide propulsion to the MPCV, to ensure its thermal control as well as electrical power and to store water, oxygen and nitrogen for the mission. The current agreement foresees the development and production by Europe of one flight model, with an option for a second one. This module will be assembled in Europe and delivered to NASA in 2016. It will be used for a flight of the MPCV Orion in December 2017.

Design↗
NASA NTRS2013

The Multi-purpose Crew Vehicle European Service Module: a European Contribution to Human Exploration

This paper provides an overview of the system and subsystem configuration of the MPCV European Service Module (ESM) at Preliminary Design Review (PDR) stage as well as its perspectives of utilisation within the global space exploration endeavour. The MPCV ESM is a cylindrical module with a diameter of 4500 mm and a total length – main engine excluded – of 2700 mm. It is fitted with four solar array wings with a span of 18.8 m. Its dry mass is 3.5 metric tons and it can carry 8.6 tons of propellant. The main functions of the European Service Module are to bring the structural continuity between the launcher and the crew module, to provide propulsion to the MPCV, to ensure its thermal control as well as electrical power and to store water, oxygen and nitrogen for the mission. The current agreement foresees the development and production by Europe of one flight model, with an option for a second one. This module will be assembled in Europe and delivered to NASA in 2016. It will be used for a flight of the MPCV Orion in December 2017.

European Service Module↗
NASA NTRS2011

Feasibility Study of an Airbag-Based Crew Impact Attenuation System for the Orion MPCV

Airbag-based methods for crew impact attenuation have been highlighted as a potential lightweight means of enabling safe land-landings for the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, and the next generation of ballistic shaped spacecraft. To investigate the performance feasibility of this concept during a nominal 7.62m/s Orion landing, a full-scale personal airbag system 24% lighter than the Orion baseline has been developed, and subjected to 38 drop tests on land. Through this effort, the system has demonstrated the ability to maintain the risk of injury to an occupant during a 7.85m/s, 0 deg. impact angle land-landing to within the NASA specified limit of 0.5%. In accomplishing this, the airbag-based crew impact attenuation concept has been proven to be feasible. Moreover, the obtained test results suggest that by implementing anti-bottoming airbags to prevent direct contact between the system and the landing surface, the system performance during landings with 0 deg impact angles can be further improved, by at least a factor of two. Additionally, a series of drop tests from the nominal Orion impact angle of 30 deg indicated that severe injury risk levels would be sustained beyond impact velocities of 5m/s. This is a result of the differential stroking of the airbags within the system causing a shearing effect between the occupant seat structure and the spacecraft floor, removing significant stroke from the airbags.

Do, Sydney↗