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NASA NTRS1987

Human factors in space station architecture 2. EVA access facility: A comparative analysis of 4 concepts for on-orbit space suit servicing

Four concepts for on-orbit spacesuit donning, doffing, servicing, check-out, egress and ingress are presented. These are: the Space Transportation System (STS) Type (shuttle system enlarged), the Transit Airlock (Shuttle Airlock with suit servicing removed from the pump-down chamber), the Suitport (a rear-entry suit mates to a port in the airlock wall), and the Crewlock (a small, individual, conformal airlock). Each of these four concepts is compared through a series of seven steps representing a typical Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) mission: (1) Predonning suit preparation; (2) Portable Life Support System (PLSS) preparation; (3) Suit Donning and Final Check; (4) Egress/Ingress; (5) Mid-EVA rest period; (6) Post-EVA Securing; (7) Non-Routine Maintenance. The different characteristics of each concept are articulated through this step-by-step approach. Recommendations concerning an approach for further evaluations of airlock geometry, anthropometrics, ergonomics, and functional efficiency are made. The key recommendation is that before any particular airlock can be designed, the full range of spacesuit servicing functions must be considered, including timelines that are most supportive of EVA human productivity.

Cohen, Marc M.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Crew Health and Performance Integrated Data Service Platform (CHP-IDSP): Project Updates

Future human exploration missions introduce a new paradigm as crews move further from the resupply and near real-time ground support typical of Low Earth Orbit missions today. Without immediate support from ground-based personnel, exploration crews will be more reliant on inflight data and technology to respond to emergencies and anomalies. Today, in-flight data is often siloed, unsynchronized, and largely inaccessible in real time. Many data sets require manual entry and/or data transfer between vehicles and the ground. These issues contribute to risks in supporting crew autonomy for future exploration missions. An integrated data services platform is needed to mitigate these risks by supporting a new generation of technologies and employing advanced analytical and predictive modeling techniques to enable crew autonomy for future exploration missions. The Crew Health and Performance Integrated Data System Platform (CHP-IDSP) project is laying a foundation for future in-flight informatics by providing a back-end architecture for collecting, storing, and integrating multiple sources of data generated by and around the crew. This cohesive integration point will streamline the management of CHP data (e.g., environmental, exercise, medical, sleep, performance, etc.) and facilitate situation awareness and decision support required by the crew and remote support of exploration missions. This presentation will describe the ongoing development effort of the path-to-flight CHP-IDSP software and the demonstration of its core capabilities. This includes a brief history of the project, the human-centered process used to identify data needs and workflows feeding the development of scenarios and requirements, and current subsystem development status. Current integrations, including the Chiron exploration electronic health record application, will be discussed. Future work includes collaboration with additional CHP domains and a flight technology demonstration.

Software↗

NASA NTRS2016

Science and Technology (S and T) Roadmap Collaboration between SMC, NASA, and Government Partners

National Security Space (NSS) presents multi-faceted S and T challenges. We must continually innovate enterprise and information management; provide decision support; develop advanced materials; enhance sensor technology; transform communication technology; develop advanced propulsion and resilient space architectures and capabilities; and enhance multiple additional S and T domains. These challenges are best met by leveraging advanced S and T research and technology development from a number of DoD agencies and civil agencies such as NASA. The authors of this paper have engaged in these activities since 2006 and over the past decade developed multiple strategic S and T relationships. This paper highlights the Office of the Space Missile Systems Center (SMC) Chief Scientist (SMC/ST) collaboration with the NASA Office of Chief Technologist (NASA OCT), which has multiple S and T activities that are relevant to NSS. In particular we discuss the development of the Technology Roadmaps that benefit both Civil Space and NSS. Our collaboration with NASA OCT has been of mutual benefit to multiple participants. Some of the other DoD components include the Defense Advanced Research Projects agency (DARPA), Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), The USAF Office of Chief Scientist, the USAF Science Advisory Board (SAB), Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR), and a number of other services and agencies. In addition, the human talent is a key enabler of advanced S and T activities; it is absolutely critical to have a strong supply of talent in the fields of Science Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Consequently, we continually collaborate with the USAF Institute of Technology (AFIT), other service academies and graduate schools, and other universities and colleges. This paper highlights the benefits that result from such strategic S and T partnerships and recommends a way forward that will continually build upon these achievements into the future.

Science Technology Collaboration↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Linear Regression Model for Predictive Service Provider Selection

The increasing number of satellites in orbit has led to a growing reliance on third-party service providers for data transfer between Earth and space. Traditional approaches to managing satellite communications require human intervention, which becomes more burdensome with the escalating number of satellites. This research addresses the need for an efficient and automated system to optimize service provider selection for NASA space communication. Previous research has utilized human-operated approaches for service provider management. Our study fills a gap by developing a cognitive algorithm that automates and optimizes the selection process based on various parameters, such as data volume, priority, quality of service and cost. This novel solution reduces user burden, facilitates service management, and contributes to the development of cognitive spaceflight missions, ultimately supporting NASA’s research into Cognitive Communications technology. The algorithm design consists of three major steps: modeling data, developing a Link Selection Algorithm (LSA) based on a grading system, and applying machine learning using linear regression. The LSA evaluates providers based on user-defined constraints, considering factors such as delivery time, cost, and quality of service. We define a suitability metric which allows our algorithm to make a recommendation to a user regarding which commercial service providers to select. The addition of Linear Regression predicts the future suitability value. Our main findings demonstrate that the resulting algorithm can autonomously manage connections between satellites and providers, maximizing communication channel efficiency. This research has significant implications, as it not only addresses a pressing issue in satellite communication management but also advances the field of cognitive spaceflight missions.

Linear regression↗

NASA NTRS2007

Establishing a Near Term Lunar Farside Gravity Model via Inexpensive Add-on Navigation Payload

The Space Communications and Navigation, Constellation Integration Project (SCIP) is tasked with defining, developing, deploying and operating an evolving multi-decade communications and navigation (C/N) infrastructure including services and subsystems that will support both robotic and human exploration activities at the Moon. This paper discusses an early far side gravitational mapping service and related telecom subsystem that uses an existing spacecraft (WIND) and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) to collect data that would address several needs of the SCIP. An important aspect of such an endeavor is to vastly improve the current lunar gravity model while demonstrating the navigation and stationkeeping of a relay spacecraft. We describe a gravity data acquisition activity and the trajectory design of the relay orbit in an Earth-Moon L2 co-linear libration orbit. Several phases of the transfer from an Earth-Sun to the Earth-Moon region are discussed along with transfers within the Earth-Moon system. We describe a proposed, but not integrated, add-on to LRO scheduled to be launched in October of 2008. LRO provided a real host spacecraft against which we designed the science payload and mission activities. From a strategic standpoint, LRO was a very exciting first flight opportunity for gravity science data collection. Gravity Science data collection requires the use of one or more low altitude lunar polar orbiters. Variations in the lunar gravity field will cause measurable variations in the orbit of a low altitude lunar orbiter. The primary means to capture these induced motions is to monitor the Doppler shift of a radio signal to or from the low altitude spacecraft, given that the signal is referenced to a stable frequency reference. For the lunar far side, a secondary orbiting radio signal platform is required. We provide an in-depth look at link margins, trajectory design, and hardware implications. Our approach posed minimum risk to a host mission while maintaining a very low implementation and operations cost.

Folta, David↗

NASA NTRS2015

Holiday in Lights: Tracking Cultural Patterns in Demand for Energy Services

Successful climate change mitigation will involve not only technological innovation, but also innovation in how we understand the societal and individual behaviors that shape the demand for energy services. Traditionally, individual energy behaviors have been described as a function of utility optimization and behavioral economics, with price restructuring as the dominant policy lever. Previous research at the macro-level has identified economic activity, power generation and technology, and economic role as significant factors that shape energy use. However, most demand models lack basic contextual information on how dominant social phenomenon, the changing demographics of cities, and the sociocultural setting within which people operate, affect energy decisions and use patterns. Here we use high-quality Suomi-NPP VIIRS nighttime environmental products to: (1) observe aggregate human behavior through variations in energy service demand patterns during the Christmas and New Year's season and the Holy Month of Ramadan and (2) demonstrate that patterns in energy behaviors closely track sociocultural boundaries at the country, city, and district level. These findings indicate that energy decision making and demand is a sociocultural process as well as an economic process, often involving a combination of individual price-based incentives and societal-level factors. While nighttime satellite imagery has been used to map regional energy infrastructure distribution, tracking daily dynamic lighting demand at three major scales of urbanization is novel. This methodology can enrich research on the relative importance of drivers of energy demand and conservation behaviors at fine scales. Our initial results demonstrate the importance of seating energy demand frameworks in a social context.

VIIRS night sky↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Usability of Pre-Flight Planning Interfaces for Supplemental Data Service Provider Tools to Support Uncrewed Aircraft System Traffic Management

Small uncrewed aircraft systems (sUASs) operate in low-altitude, uncontrolled airspace – where support services for their operators (UASOs) are not currently provided. NASA’s System-Wide Safety (SWS) project is identifying the potential risks and hazards to sUAS operations to provide, inform, and improve the designs of In-time Aviation Safety Management Systems (IASMS). The IASMS will include a suite of data-driven tools that compile and analyze data collected from aviation systems and environmental sources to predict hazards, and provide information to allow operators to mitigate these risks (Young et al., 2020). These risk and hazard services can be run and displayed to operators on graphical user interfaces (GUIs), as they relate to a vehicle(s)’ route of flight. These interfaces offer both a means to present hazard service output and offer an opportunity to test user understanding of the information, user decision making, and the best ways to present such data to an operator. Based on these future technologies and intended missions, it is important to investigate interface requirements and evaluate how operators might use these tools. Presenting salient and meaningful risk assessment information to operators is necessary to increase situation awareness and ultimately safety. Building on previous research (Feldman et al., 2022), a usability study comparing two GUIs was conducted to explore how individuals interacted with different styles of information displays. A series of pre-flight hazard and risk-assessment tasks were developed to evaluate participant performance using the Supplemental Data Service Provider Consolidated Dashboard and the Human Automation Team Interface System interfaces. Participants were trained to use both GUIs and their performance was analysed across different scenarios involving multiple sUASs. Performance on simple tasks and the System Usability Scale scores were reported by Feldman et al., 2023. Additional analyses and evaluations on more complex tasks (e.g., risk assessment, prioritization), workload and response times are examined in this paper.

sUAV interfaces↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Usability of Pre-flight Planning Interfaces for Supplemental Data Service Provider Tools to Support Uncrewed Aircraft System Traffic Management

sUAV interfaces↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Planning and Monitoring for Swarm Search and Service Missions

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

swarm↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Lunar Resources Catalog (LRC): Viper Pathfinder Dataset

Introduction: A new era in lunar exploration has recently begun. Through NASA’s robotic Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, international and the human Artemis programs, multiple assets are being deployed to explore the Moon and at a rapid cadence. There will be a huge expanse in lunar surface exploration with mobility (e.g., rovers). Several missions are focused on collecting data for assessing lunar resources for potential In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU). With this expansion in exploration there will be a commensurate expansion in the volume and variety of data. Work has begun on establishing a measurement plan (i.e., what data is needed) for ISRU [1] but how to integrate these data into the broader Planetary Data Ecosystem (PDE) following FAIR (i.e., Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reuse) data practices has not been addressed. The VIPER team intends to engage this challenge.

VIPER↗

NASA NTRS1987

Technology requirements for telerobotic satellite servicing in space

Telerobotic servicer technology requirements were identified for typical on-orbit servicing operations, including: automation requirements and automated system utilization in typical servicing missions; key automation technologies used for servicing; evolution concepts; technology development timetable; and servicing technology drivers. Teleoperation, robotics, and artificial intelligence are needed in the servicing missions investigated. Analysis shows that teleoperation will be used more widely than fully robotic systems, at least during the early space station years because of the diversity and unpredictability of many servicing tasks which call for the human operator's skills, resourcefulness, and decision-making ability. There will be heavy dependence on a sophisticated, flexible, readily accessible, high-speed and high-capacity data management system which can provide the expert system support required in diagnosing, troubleshooting, decision making, task scheduling, and mission planning.

Meissinger, Hans F.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Concepts, requirements, and design approaches for building successful planning and scheduling systems

Traditional practice of systems engineering management assumes requirements can be precisely determined and unambiguously defined prior to system design and implementation; practice further assumes requirements are held static during implementation. Human-computer decision support systems for service planning and scheduling applications do not conform well to these assumptions. Adaptation to the traditional practice of systems engineering management are required. Basic technology exists to support these adaptations. Additional innovations must be encouraged and nutured. Continued partnership between the programmatic and technical perspective assures proper balance of the impossible with the possible. Past problems have the following origins: not recognizing the unusual and perverse nature of the requirements for planning and scheduling; not recognizing the best starting point assumptions for the design; not understanding the type of system that being built; and not understanding the design consequences of the operations concept selected.

Hornstein, Rhoda Shaller↗

NASA NTRS2014

Habitat Concepts for Deep Space Exploration

Future missions under consideration requiring human habitation beyond the International Space Station (ISS) include deep space habitats in the lunar vicinity to support asteroid retrieval missions, human and robotic lunar missions, satellite servicing, and Mars vehicle servicing missions. Habitat designs are also under consideration for missions beyond the Earth-Moon system, including transfers to near-Earth asteroids and Mars orbital destinations. A variety of habitat layouts have been considered, including those derived from the existing ISS designs and those that could be fabricated from the Space Launch System (SLS) propellant tanks. This paper presents a comparison showing several options for asteroid, lunar, and Mars mission habitats using ISS derived and SLS derived modules and identifies some of the advantages and disadvantages inherent in each. Key findings indicate that the larger SLS diameter modules offer built-in compatibility with the launch vehicle, single launch capability without on-orbit assembly, improved radiation protection, lighter structures per unit volume, and sufficient volume to accommodate consumables for long duration missions without resupply. The information provided with the findings includes mass and volume comparison data that should be helpful to future exploration mission planning efforts.

Smitherman, David↗

NASA NTRS2016

State of the Carbon Cycle - Consequences of Rising Atmospheric CO2

The rise of atmospheric CO2, largely attributable to human activity through fossil fuel emissions and land-use change, has been dampened by carbon uptake by the ocean and terrestrial biosphere. We outline the consequences of this carbon uptake as direct and indirect effects on terrestrial and oceanic systems and processes for different regions of North America and the globe. We assess the capacity of these systems to continue to act as carbon sinks. Rising CO2 has decreased seawater pH; this process of ocean acidification has impacted some marine species and altered fundamental ecosystem processes with further effects likely. In terrestrial ecosystems, increased atmospheric CO2 causes enhanced photosynthesis, net primary production, and increased water-use efficiency. Rising CO2 may change vegetation composition and carbon storage, and widespread increases in water use efficiency likely influence terrestrial hydrology and biogeochemical cycling. Consequences for human populations include changes to ecosystem services including cultural activities surrounding land use, agricultural or harvesting practices. Commercial fish stocks have been impacted and crop production yields have been changed as a result of rising CO2. Ocean and terrestrial effects are contingent on, and feedback to, global climate change. Warming and modified precipitation regimes impact a variety of ecosystem processes, and the combination of climate change and rising CO2 contributes considerable uncertainty to forecasting carbon sink capacity in the ocean and on land. Disturbance regime (fire and insects) are modified with increased temperatures. Fire frequency and intensity increase, and insect lifecycles are disrupted as temperatures move out of historical norms. Changes in disturbance patterns modulate the effects of rising CO2 depending on ecosystem type, disturbance frequency, and magnitude of events. We discuss management strategies designed to limit the rise of atmospheric CO2 and reduce uncertainty in forecasts of decadal and centennial feedbacks of rising atmospheric CO2 on carbon storage.

Carbon Cycle↗

NASA NTRS2019

Haystack Ultra-Wideband Satellite Imaging Radar Measurements of the Orbital Debris Environment: 2014-2017

Since the founding of the NASA Orbital Debris Program Office (ODPO) in 1979, the knowledge that orbital debris poses a risk to operational satellites and human spaceflight has been publically available. Services that rely on satellite-based technology such as communications, internet, navigation, and weather forecasting, to name a few, are ubiquitous in modern society. The International Space Station (ISS) has been continuously inhabited by a crew of up to six astronauts since November 2000 and makes, on average, approximately one debris avoidance maneuver per year to avoid objects that are large enough to be tracked by ground-based radars. This places an increased need for understanding the current status of the debris environment (measurements), for the ability to predict the future environment (modeling), and for understanding risk factors for debris creating events (mitigation). For NASA, the measurements, modeling, and mitigation aspects of orbital debris are led by the NASA ODPO at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas.This report summarizes radar measurement data from the Haystack Ultra-wideband Satellite Imaging Radar (HUSIR) operated by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory (MIT/LL) and provided to the NASA ODPO. The time period covered by this report includes data collected during the U.S. government fiscal year (FY) 2014 through FY2017. The U.S. government FY begins on 1 October and lasts through 30 September of a given year (i.e., FY2014 lasts from 1 October 1 2013 through 30 September 30 2014). At this report’s release, processed data was unavailable from the Haystack Auxiliary Radar (HAX) due to errors in the calibration data for the radar and limited transmit power; a decision was made by NASA not to collect low-power HAX radar data. This is being resolved by NASA and MIT/LL and data collected during this time period will be released in a separate report.

DRADIS↗

NASA NTRS2023

Estimating the concentration of total suspended solids in inland and coastal waters from Sentinel-2 MSI: A semi-analytical approach

Inland and coastal waters provide key ecosystem services and are closely linked to human well-being. In this study, we propose a semi-analytical method, which can be applied to Sentinel-2 MultiSpectral Instrument (MSI) images to retrieve high spatial-resolution total suspended solids (TSS) concentration in a broad spectrum of aquatic ecosystems ranging from clear to extremely turbid waters. The presented approach has four main steps. First, the remote sensing reflectance ( R rs ) at a band lacking in MSI (620 nm) is estimated through an empirical relationship from R rs at 665 nm. Second, waters are classified into four types (clear, moderately turbid, highly turbid, and extremely turbid). Third, semi-analytical algorithms are used to estimate the particulate backscattering coefficient ( b bp ) at a reference band depending on the water types. Last, TSS is estimated from bbp at the reference band. Validation and comparison of the proposed method with three existing methods are performed using a simulated dataset ( N = 1000), an in situ dataset collected from global inland and coastal waters ( N = 1265) and satellite matchups ( N = 40). Results indicate that the proposed method can improve TSS estimation and provide accurate retrievals of TSS from all three datasets, with a median absolute percentage error (MAPE) of 14.88 %, 31.50 % and 41.69 % respectively. We also present comparisons of TSS mapping between the Sentinel-3 Ocean and Land Colour Instrument (OLCI) and MSI in Lake Kasumigaura, Japan and the Tagus Estuary, Portugal. Results clearly demonstrate the advantages of using MSI for TSS monitoring in small water bodies such as rivers, river mouths and other nearshore waters. MSI can provide more detailed and realistic TSS estimates than OLCI in these water bodies. The proposed TSS estimation method was applied to MSI images to produce TSS time-series in Lake Kasumigaura, which showed good agreements with in situ and OLCI-derived TSS time-series.

Sentinel-2↗

NASA NTRS2024

Platte River Basin Water Resources II: Predicting Land Cover Change in the Platte River Basin to Select Wetland Protection Sites Vulnerable to Urban Encroachment

The Platte River Basin (PRB) represents a critical dynamic ecosystem where wetlands play a pivotal role as essential habitats for local and migratory birds, as well as various flora and fauna. It also provides many crucial ecosystem services that directly and indirectly benefit human welfare. However, it is threatened by anthropogenic activity, climate change, and urbanization. Our team partnered with Audubon Great Plains, the regional office of a national non-profit organization (NGO), to analyze the future potential development of the region and its potential impact on the wetlands. We utilized remotely sensed data, such as Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Suomi National Polar Orbiting Partnership (NPP) Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), as well as NASA Socioeconomic Data and Application Center (SEDAC) data, to simulate urban growth potential up to 2050 using the open-source model FUTure Urban-Regional Environment Simulation (FUTURES) model. Our results for two proposed scenarios (all wetlands are protected, and no wetlands are protected) revealed that at least 56 counties out of 81 in the PRB would experience growth by the year 2050. The results for the first scenario show that there will be no loss of wetlands in the future. However, the results for the second scenario indicate a basin-wide reduction of 43.22 square kilometers (0.58%) in wetland areas, leading to a significant loss of bird habitat, critical for conservation. The results will help Audubon Great Plains' Urban Woods and Prairies Initiative to lead awareness workshops for communities about wetland protection and to form impactful conservation strategies.

FUTURES↗

NASA NTRS1989

The design of a commercial space infrastructure

Space Services and Logistics, Inc. represents the complete engineering design of a technically and financially viable commercial space company. The final proposal offers an economically sound program of space vehicles and systems designed to substantially affect a variety of space markets and produce a vertically integrated structure within the next 20 years. Throughout this design process, particular stress has been placed on attaining the highest possible levels of safety and reliability. The final program financial design requires a considerable initial outlay, but promises a relatively quick return on invested capital, culminating in large annual profits by the end of the 20-year scope of the cost outlook. The overall design has been extensively researched and was primarily driven by the present and near-term projected market demands for services uniquely or competitively offered only by space-oriented operations. Heretofore, available capabilities, rather than these market demands, have determined the degree and type of commercial market access. Removing this limitation through extensive use of modularity and reconfigurability allows the company to gear itself to the market, while still remaining extremely competitive with existing systems. The markets identified as lucrative, and that have governed much of the design requirements, are: low-cost launch services to LEO over a wide range of payload masses and inclinations; upper stage payload delivery from LEO to GEO; manned space operations and human transport to and from orbit; EVA assembly and maintenance of large space structures; satellite servicing and repair by both humans and telerobotic operations; a line of customized satellites designed for extended life and capable of reconfiguration or technology upgrade on orbit; small-scale microgravity experimentation and manufacturing supported by spacecraft retrieval capabilities for experimental specimens and manufactured goods; and a full-range of payload integration, testing, design, and support services before launch and once in orbit.

Source record↗