Results for “Operations coordination plan” — Page 7

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Gateway Autonomy for Enabling Deep Space Exploration

The Gateway spacecraft is an important stepping-stone to exploration of the solar system, integrating commercial and international partners into a tightly coupled system, enabling cislunar activities, and implementing key technologies for missions to Mars. Autonomy is a capability area necessary to handle long communication outages where intervention from Earth is impossible, to prepare to operate with long communication delays that will be common in interplanetary travel, and to make spaceflight more affordable and accessible by reducing sustaining operations costs. The Gateway Concept of Operations states that one of Gateway’s goals is to “focus on infrastructure and systems that will allow autonomous operations aboard the Gateway with robotics, automated systems, advanced communications, and distributed computing.” Gateway’s Vehicle Systems Manager (VSM) and associated Autonomous Spacecraft Management Architecture (ASMA) are key products towards delivering autonomous capability. The primary functions of the control architecture are Mission Management and Timeline Execution, Resource Management, Fault Management, and Vehicle Control and Operation (VCO). In each of these areas, there is an initial level of capability to be delivered at launch, with plans to continue development and grow to greater capability. The initial deployment of VSM will focus on maintaining vehicle safety by focusing on full fault management capabilities and deploying only enough resource and timeline planning functionality to support that. The final deployment of VSM will add significant planning and control optimization functionality to support nominal operations for up to 21 days without ground support, even accommodating fault and failure conditions. While the VSM is the vehicle-level representation of autonomous reasoning, distributed automation is essential to provide the right scope and abstraction of information to process. Module and system support of automation and simplicity of interfaces are two important design paradigms that Gateway is focusing on to garner a systems approach to autonomy. Distribution of reasoning can increase complexity, so Gateway is also taking a strict hierarchical approach to information flow and decision making. VSM is not the only capability necessary to achieve an autonomous spacecraft. Robotics support for maintenance of the spacecraft will be essential to provide continued vehicle functionality even when crew is not present. Technical and programmatic challenges exist when implementing autonomous robotics operations. These challenges include sufficient network flexibility to support data transfer to the rest of the vehicle to coordinate module-to-module robotic walk-offs and finding the proper interfaces to allow sufficient dexterity. Communication system upgrades planned for Gateway include Delay Tolerant Networking to best utilize the complex network of relays that will be part of mature cislunar operations. Distributed computing and management will provide failure tolerance, robustness, and growth of capabilities while still allowing significant reuse of heritage software on heritage systems as well as reuse of common applications across a spacecraft to minimize new development, but this requires adherence to key standards and interfaces. The Gateway program has demonstrated significant progress towards these capabilities and has identified challenges other spacecraft developers should be aware of from the start.

Molly Anderson↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Gateway Autonomy for Enabling Deep Space Exploration

The Gateway spacecraft is an important stepping-stone to exploration of the solar system, integrating commercial and international partners into a tightly coupled system, enabling cislunar activities, and implementing key technologies for missions to Mars. Autonomy is a capability area necessary to handle long communication outages where intervention from Earth is impossible, to prepare to operate with long communication delays that will be common in interplanetary travel, and to make spaceflight more affordable and accessible by reducing sustaining operations costs. The Gateway Concept of Operations states that one of Gateway’s goals is to “focus on infrastructure and systems that will allow autonomous operations aboard the Gateway with robotics, automated systems, advanced communications, and distributed computing.” Gateway’s Vehicle Systems Manager (VSM) and associated Autonomous Spacecraft Management Architecture (ASMA) are key products towards delivering autonomous capability. The primary functions of the control architecture are Mission Management and Timeline Execution, Resource Management, Fault Management, and Vehicle Control and Operation (VCO). In each of these areas, there is an initial level of capability to be delivered at launch, with plans to continue development and grow to greater capability. The initial deployment of VSM will focus on maintaining vehicle safety by focusing on full fault management capabilities and deploying only enough resource and timeline planning functionality to support that. The final deployment of VSM will add significant planning and control optimization functionality to support nominal operations for up to 21 days without ground support, even accommodating fault and failure conditions. While the VSM is the vehicle-level representation of autonomous reasoning, distributed automation is essential to provide the right scope and abstraction of information to process. Module and system support of automation and simplicity of interfaces are two important design paradigms that Gateway is focusing on to garner a systems approach to autonomy. Distribution of reasoning can increase complexity, so Gateway is also taking a strict hierarchical approach to information flow and decision making. VSM is not the only capability necessary to achieve an autonomous spacecraft. Robotics support for maintenance of the spacecraft will be essential to provide continued vehicle functionality even when crew is not present. Technical and programmatic challenges exist when implementing autonomous robotics operations. These challenges include sufficient network flexibility to support data transfer to the rest of the vehicle to coordinate module-to-module robotic walk-offs and finding the proper interfaces to allow sufficient dexterity. Communication system upgrades planned for Gateway include Delay Tolerant Networking to best utilize the complex network of relays that will be part of mature cislunar operations. Distributed computing and management will provide failure tolerance, robustness, and growth of capabilities while still allowing significant reuse of heritage software on heritage systems as well as reuse of common applications across a spacecraft to minimize new development, but this requires adherence to key standards and interfaces. The Gateway program has demonstrated significant progress towards these capabilities and has identified challenges other spacecraft developers should be aware of from the start.

Molly Anderson↗

NASA NTRS2019

Prototyping Operational Autonomy for Space Traffic Management

Current state of the art in Space Traffic Management (STM) relies on a handful of providers for surveillance and collision prediction, and manual coordination between operators. Neither is scalable to support the expected 10x increase in spacecraft population in less than 10 years, nor does it support automated manuever planning. We present a software prototype of an STM architecture based on open Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), drawing on previous work by NASA to develop an architecture for low-altitude Unmanned Aerial System Traffic Management. The STM architecture is designed to provide structure to the interactions between spacecraft operators, various regulatory bodies, and service suppliers, while maintaining flexibility of these interactions and the ability for new market participants to enter easily. Autonomy is an indispensable part of the proposed architecture in enabling efficient data sharing, coordination between STM participants and safe flight operations. Examples of autonomy within STM include syncing multiple non-authoritative catalogs of resident space objects, or determining which spacecraft maneuvers when preventing impending conjunctions between multiple spacecraft. The STM prototype is based on modern micro-service architecture adhering to OpenAPI standards and deployed in industry standard Docker containers, facilitating easy communication between different participants or services. The system architecture is designed to facilitate adding and replacing services with minimal disruption. We have implemented some example participant services (e.g. a space situational awareness provider/SSA, a conjunction assessment supplier/CAS, an automated maneuver advisor/AMA) within the prototype. Different services, with creative algorithms folded into then, can fulfil similar functional roles within the STM architecture by flexibly connecting to it using pre-defined APIs and data models, thereby lowering the barrier to entry of new players in the STM marketplace. We demonstrate the STM prototype on a multiple conjunction scenario with multiple maneuverable spacecraft, where an example CAS and AMA can recommend optimal maneuvers to the spacecraft operators, based on a predefined reward function. Such tools can intelligently search the space of potential collision avoidance maneuvers with varying parameters like lead time and propellant usage, optimize a customized reward function, and be implemented as a scheduling service within the STM architecture. The case study shows an example of autonomous maneuver planning is possible using the API-based framework. As satellite populations and predicted conjunctions increase, an STM architecture can facilitate seamless information exchange related to collision prediction and mitigation among various service applications on different platforms and servers. The availability of such an STM network also opens up new research topics on satellite maneuver planning, scheduling and negotiation across disjoint entities.

space traffic management↗

NASA NTRS2000

ISS Payload Operations: The Need for and Benefit of Responsive Planning

International Space Station (ISS) payload operations are controlled through implementation of a payload operations plan. This plan, which represents the defined approach to payload operations in general, can vary in terms of level of definition. The detailed plan provides the specific sequence and timing of each component of a payload's operations. Such an approach to planning was implemented in the Spacelab program. The responsive plan provides a flexible approach to payload operations through generalization. A responsive approach to planning was implemented in the NASA/Mir Phase 1 program, and was identified as a need during the Skylab program. The current approach to ISS payload operations planning and control tends toward detailed planning, rather than responsive planning. The use of detailed plans provides for the efficient use of limited resources onboard the ISS. It restricts flexibility in payload operations, which is inconsistent with the dynamic nature of the ISS science program, and it restricts crew desires for flexibility and autonomy. Also, detailed planning is manpower intensive. The development and implementation of a responsive plan provides for a more dynamic, more accommodating, and less manpower intensive approach to planning. The science program becomes more dynamic and responsive as the plan provides flexibility to accommodate real-time science accomplishments. Communications limitations and the crew desire for flexibility and autonomy in plan implementation are readily accommodated with responsive planning. Manpower efficiencies are accomplished through a reduction in requirements collection and coordination, plan development, and maintenance. Through examples and assessments, this paper identifies the need to transition from detailed to responsive plans for ISS payload operations. Examples depict specific characteristics of the plans. Assessments identify the following: the means by which responsive plans accommodate the dynamic nature of science programs and the crew desire for flexibility; the means by which responsive plans readily accommodate ISS communications constraints; manpower efficiencies to be achieved through use of responsive plans; and the implications of responsive planning relative to resource utilization efficiency.

Nahay, Ed↗

DOE OSTI2024

Laboratory Evaluation of Commercial Utility Microgrid Controller Test Results

The functional requirements of many microgrid controllers (MGCs) are expanding and evolving to meet growing utility and community needs. At a high level, the utility microgrid controller serves resilience and reliability use cases by coordinating transitions between grid-connected and islanded states and by managing the system during island operations. This includes control scenarios that require the microgrid controller to use flexible microgrid boundaries, maintain energy balance, coordinate with peer systems, and manage grid-forming (GFM) and grid-following (GFL) distributed energy resources (DER). In order to evaluate these functional enhancements, microgrid controller test plans must also be developed to ensure that the implemented controllers provide adequate performance. This report provides MGC test plans for both island operation and transition functions. The functions covered in this report include feeder level energy management, island constraint management, secondary voltage and frequency control, black start, and synchronized reconnection. This second edition update also includes results from applying the tests to a commercial utility microgrid controller. These results evaluate the performance and reliability of the controller under various operational scenarios. It identifies specific areas where the controller excels and highlights gaps that need to be addressed for future enhancements. The application of these test plans on real-world system behavior provides insights on commercial equipment readiness for field deployment. These test cases can be applied to utility-managed microgrid controllers that exclusively manage utility-owned equipment; the tests also apply to third-party managed microgrid controllers that coordinate with utility- and customer-owned equipment. The report can also be used by technology developers and project developers in industry to evaluate control strategies and performance characteristics for community microgrid controllers.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

NASA NTRS1971

Feasibility study for automatic reduction of phase change imagery

The feasibility of automatically reducing a form of pictorial aerodynamic heating data is discussed. The imagery, depicting the melting history of a thin coat of fusible temperature indicator painted on an aerodynamically heated model, was previously reduced by manual methods. Careful examination of various lighting theories and approaches led to an experimentally verified illumination concept capable of yielding high-quality imagery. Both digital and video image processing techniques were applied to reduction of the data, and it was demonstrated that either method can be used to develop superimposed contours. Mathematical techniques were developed to find the model-to-image and the inverse image-to-model transformation using six conjugate points, and methods were developed using these transformations to determine heating rates on the model surface. A video system was designed which is able to reduce the imagery rapidly, economically and accurately. Costs for this system were estimated. A study plan was outlined whereby the mathematical transformation techniques developed to produce model coordinate heating data could be applied to operational software, and methods were discussed and costs estimated for obtaining the digital information necessary for this software.

Nossaman, G. O.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Global Rescue Response to a Multivehicle Deorbit from the International Space Station

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has been tasked to support rescue efforts in the event of an off-nominal landing of a Commercial Crew Program vehicle transporting NASA crewmembers to or from the International Space Station. The DoD is further tasked to support returning U.S. and International Partner crewmembers on Russian Soyuz spacecraft missions, specifically to ensure aeromedical evacuation capability in the event of a crewmember injury at the time of launch or landing. This DoD mission is primarily considered during planned launch and landing operations, with forces placed in an alert posture to support if needed. However, overall mission concept of operations encompasses a no-notice rescue capability in the event of an on-orbit emergency. Such contingency scenarios are pre-coordinated and simulated to ensure a ready posture of associated DoD assets and to promote coordination of government, commercial, and military stakeholders. To date, planning and simulations have focused on execution of a single rescue mission; the possibility of a multi-vehicle evacuation and rescue scenario has not been adequately explored. This presentation will examine the process of responding to an emergency onboard the International Space Station that results in the early departure and deorbit of multiple docked vehicles to preserve the health and safety of the crew. We will highlight the complexity of this recovery scenario and discuss potential complications that could arise, as well as identify areas in which deliberate planning and simulation can better ensure successful preparation for such a multifaceted recovery operation.

Travis Levon Houser↗

NASA NTRS1979

Global disaster satellite communications system for disaster assessment and relief coordination

Global communication requirements for disaster assistance are analyzed in the light of operationally feasible satellite system concepts and associated system parameters. Present and planned commercially available systems are considered, together with an assessment of the associated global disaster communication yearly service costs. It is concluded that a likely number of transportable terminals required for long distance relief communications activities would be less than 10, with the transportation costs not expected to exceed 25% of the annual systems' cost. Consequently, no sound economic justification is seen for ground terminal development for the global disaster communications system.

Leroy, B. E.↗

NASA NTRS2002

Search and Rescue Operations of Aircraft in Africa: Some Compelling Issues

The world aviation community has felt the compelling need for a well-coordinated global programme for search and rescue operations of aircraft ever since commercial aviation was regulated in 1944. Guidelines and plans of action for search and rescue have therefore been considered critical in the event of an aircraft accident. This fact is eminently brought to bear in the continental regions of Africa and South America in particular, where vast expanses of land are still uninhabited or sparsely populated and controlled flight into terrain (CFIT-where an aircraft may crash on land while still under the control of technical crew) is a common occurrence. There are numerous guidelines that have been adopted under the umbrella of the International Civil Aviation Organization which are already in place for the provision of search and rescue operations pertaining to aircraft. However, when an accident occurs in the territory of a State, there are sensitivities involving the State in which the aircraft concerned was registered and issues of sovereignty which have to be considered. Additionally. issues such as the voluntary nature of the search and rescue services offered. confidentiality, timeliness of such operations, fairness and uniformity all play a critical role. This article addresses the issue of search and rescue operations in Africa and examines in some detail where the world aviation community is right now and where it is headed in this important field of human endeavour.

Abeyratne, Ruwantissa I. R.↗

NASA NTRS2004

Research on International Space Station - Building a Partnership for the Future

As its name implies, the International Space Station is a platform where the research programs of 16 partner nations are conducted. While each partner pursues its own research priorities, cooperation and coordination of the various national and agency research programs occurs at multiple levels, from strategic through tactical planning to experiment operations. Since 2000, a significant number of experiments have been carried out in the Russian ISS utilization program, which consists of the Russian national program of fundamental and applied research in 11 research areas and international cooperative programs and contract activities. The US research program began with simple payloads in 2000 and was significantly expanded with the addition of the US Laboratory module Destiny in 2001, and its outfitting with seven research racks to date. The Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) have made use of international cooperative arrangements with both the US and Russia to implement a variety of investigations in diverse research areas, and in the case of ESA included the flights of crewmembers to ISS as part of Soyuz Science Missions. In the future, ESA and JAXA will add their own research modules, Columbus and Kibo, respectively, to expand research capabilities both inside and outside ISS. In the aftermath of the Columbia accident and the temporary grounding of the Space Shuttle fleet, all ISS logistics have relied on Russian Progress and Sopz vehicles. The Russian national program has continued as before the Shuttle accident, as have international cooperative programs and contract activities, both during long-duration expeditions and visiting taxi missions. In several instances, Russian international cooperative activities with JAXA and ESA have also involved the use of US facilities and crewmembers in successful truly multilateral efforts. The US research program was rapidly refocused after the Shuttle accident to rely on greatly reduced upmass, and for the first time in the ISS program, US research hardware was launched on Progress vehicles and returned with crews on Soyuz spacecraft. It is hoped that these small but significant steps in international cooperation will lead to even greater endeavors once the remaining research modules are added to ISS.

Gindl, Heinz↗

NASA NTRS2008

Large Unmanned Aircraft System Operations in the National Airspace System - the NASA 2007 Western States Fire Missions

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC) Ikhana (ee-kah-nah) project executed the 2007 Western States Fire Missions over several of the western United States using an MQ-9 unmanned aircraft system (UAS) in partnership with the NASA Ames Research Center, the United States Forest Service, and the National Interagency Fire Center. The missions were intended to supply infrared imagery of wildfires to firefighters on the ground within 10 minutes of data acquisition. For each of the eight missions, the NASA DFRC notified the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of specific flight plans within three or fewer days of the flight. The FAA Certificate of Waiver or Authorization (commonly referred to as a COA ) process was used to obtain access to the United States National Airspace System. Significant time and resources were necessary to develop the COA application, perform mission planning, and define and approve emergency landing sites. Unique aspects of flying unmanned aircraft created challenges to mission operations. Close coordination with FAA headquarters and air traffic control resulted in safe and successful missions that assisted firefighters by providing near-real-time imagery of selected wildfires.

Buoni, Gregory P.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Future operational plans for the National Space Transportation System

In March 1985, the NASA/DOD Space Transportation System Master Plan was published. This document establishes objectives and plans for operating the Space Transportation System (STS) for the next decade. In the present paper, some key points are discussed, and the significance of the weather forecasting capability is indicated. The STS is to become fully operational by the later 1980's and is to support fully the national needs into the mid-1990's. Attention is given to NASA/DOD STS coordination, NASA/DOD STS Master Plan Traffic Models, the Orbiter Launch-Rate Capability, Launch-Rate Capabilities for Shuttle Processing Facilities at Kennedy Space Center, and Launch-Rate Capabilities for Shuttle Processing Facilities at Vandenberg Air Force Base.

Neubauer, C. H., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS2006

Human-Robot Site Survey and Sampling for Space Exploration

NASA is planning to send humans and robots back to the Moon before 2020. In order for extended missions to be productive, high quality maps of lunar terrain and resources are required. Although orbital images can provide much information, many features (local topography, resources, etc) will have to be characterized directly on the surface. To address this need, we are developing a system to perform site survey and sampling. The system includes multiple robots and humans operating in a variety of team configurations, coordinated via peer-to-peer human-robot interaction. In this paper, we present our system design and describe planned field tests.

Fong, Terrence↗

DOE OSTI2026

Data Interfaces for Automated Vehicle Services - A Municipality Perspective

As Automated Vehicle (AV) services proliferate, data sharing between AV operators and municipal agents is assuming greater importance. Information on the dynamic nature of the road system such as incidents to avoid, weather hazards (such as flooding), construction and detours, as well as active safety concerns (e.g. - riots) is important for AV operators. Such information cannot be directly sensed from a vehicle's sensor array, but instead must be communicated in a timely and trustworthy channel. Municipalities are interested in pushing this information to AV operators to support emergency response efforts, reduce traffic in construction zones, and generally improve operation of the system. Similarly, information on vehicle safety such as disengagements, as well as critical information on the use of roadway system (trips, origin and destination patterns) are important performance factors for municipalities to understand utilization and plan for appropriate infrastructure. As mobility shifts to on-demand options, the need for safe and coordinated pick-up and drop-off zones will increase (potentially reducing parking needs). For all of these reasons, communication flows between AV operators and municipalities are becoming increasingly important. This paper investigates the functions, emerging practices and protocols for sharing of such critical data, and identifies gaps in and challenges in existing practices. Additionally, case studies are used to highlight the impacts of data sharing between AV operators and municipalities.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

NASA NTRS2013

Requirements, Resource Planning, and Management for Decrewing/Recrewing Scenarios of the International Space Station

Following the failure of 44 Progress (44P) on launch in August 2011, and the subsequent grounding of all Russian Soyuz rocket based launches, the International Space Station (ISS) ground teams engaged in an effort to determine how long the ISS could remain crewed, what would be required to safely configure the ISS for decrewing, and what would be required to recrew the ISS upon resumption of Soyuz rocket launches if decrewing became necessary. This White Paper was written to capture the processes and lessons learned from real-time time events and to provide a reference and training document for ISS Program teams in the event decrewing of the ISS is needed. Through coordination meetings and assessments, teams identified six decrewing priorities for ground and crew operations. These priorities were integrated along with preflight priorities through the Increment re-planning process. Additionally, the teams reviewed, updated, and implemented changes to the governing documentation for the configuration of the ISS for a contingency decrewing event. Steps were taken to identify critical items for disposal prior to decrewing, as well as identifying the required items to be strategically staged or flown with the astronauts and cosmonauts who would eventually recrew the ISS. After the successful launches and dockings of both 45P and 28 Soyuz (28S), the decrewing team transitioned to finalizing and publishing the documentation for standardizing the decrewing flight rules. With the continued launching of crews and cargo to the ISS, utilization and science is again a high priority; both Increment pairs 29 and 30, and Increment 31 and 32 reaching the milestone of at least 35 hours per week average utilization.

Bach, David A.↗

NASA NTRS1981

Data Quality: 1979 Southeastern Virginia Urban Plume Study (SEV-UPS): Surface and Airborne studies

The SEV-UPS field study conducted during August 1979 involved the coordinated air quality data collection efforts of three different organizations operating a total of four aircraft and 12 ground stations. Incorporated into plans for that program were numerous quality assurance activities designed to identify potential hazards for data quality in time for their correction and to take data to allow assessment of the consistency of the data from different stations. The purpose of this study was to document QA procedures that were performed by participating agencies and revise data from all platforms for mutual compatibility. For the latter effort, cases were identified on 21 occasions on seven different days where two or more monitoring systems were operating in the same location at nearly the same time. Data from the systems involved were tabulated in 200 m altitude segments, averaged and compared to detect any bias between measurements made from different systems. The results of these comparisons along with the results of independent performance audits are presented.

White, J. H.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Space Station Freedom Program preliminary design review process

To conduct the Program Requirements Review of the Space Station Freedom, a Preliminary Design Review Board (PDR) has been established. The PDR will assess the preliminary design of the assembled manned base including the assembly process, the launch, and on-orbit stage configuration, the design approach, the on-orbit verification plans, supportability, reliability, safety, interfaces with the NASA infrastructure (the NSTS, TDRSS, and Ground operations) and international partners. Issues such as the coordination of a common interpretation of design requirements, coordination of interfaces, and convergence of design perspectives vs. proper allocation of resources are discussed. The impact of the resolution of the secondary ripple effect of design decisions which may cause programmatic difficulties is also addressed.

Carlise, R. F.↗

NASA NTRS2000

Center for Advanced Computational Technology

The Center for Advanced Computational Technology (ACT) was established to serve as a focal point for diverse research activities pertaining to application of advanced computational technology to future aerospace systems. These activities include the use of numerical simulations, artificial intelligence methods, multimedia and synthetic environments, and computational intelligence, in the modeling, analysis, sensitivity studies, optimization, design and operation of future aerospace systems. The Center is located at NASA Langley and is an integral part of the School of Engineering and Applied Science of the University of Virginia. The Center has four specific objectives: 1) conduct innovative research on applications of advanced computational technology to aerospace systems; 2) act as pathfinder by demonstrating to the research community what can be done (high-potential, high-risk research); 3) help in identifying future directions of research in support of the aeronautical and space missions of the twenty-first century; and 4) help in the rapid transfer of research results to industry and in broadening awareness among researchers and engineers of the state-of-the-art in applications of advanced computational technology to the analysis, design prototyping and operations of aerospace and other high-performance engineering systems. In addition to research, Center activities include helping in the planning and coordination of the activities of a multi-center team of NASA and JPL researchers who are developing an intelligent synthesis environment for future aerospace systems; organizing workshops and national symposia; as well as writing state-of-the-art monographs and NASA special publications on timely topics.

Noor, Ahmed K.↗