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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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NASA NTRS2006

NASA Agency Overview Briefing

The briefing opened with Dean Acosta (NASA Press Secretary) introducing Michael Griffin (NASA Administrator) and Bill Gerstenmaier (Associate Administrator for Space Operations). Bill Griffin stated that they would resume the Shuttle Fight to Return process, that the vehicle was remarkably clean and if the weather was good, the Shuttle would be ready to launch as scheduled. Bill Gerstenmaier stated that the preparations and processing of the vehicle went extremely well and they are looking forward to increasing the crew size to three. Then the floor was open to questions from the press.

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NASA NTRS1993

Generic Modeling of a Life Support System for Process Technology Comparison

This paper describes a simulation model called the Life Support Systems Analysis Simulation Tool (LiSSA-ST), the spreadsheet program called the Life Support Systems Analysis Trade Tool (LiSSA-TT), and the Generic Modular Flow Schematic (GMFS) modeling technique. Results of using the LiSSA-ST and the LiSSA-TT will be presented for comparing life support system and process technology options for a Lunar Base with a crew size of 4 and mission lengths of 90 and 600 days. System configurations to minimize the life support system weight and power are explored.

lunar base life support systems processes simulati↗

NASA NTRS2004

Human Space Flight

The first human space flight, in the early 1960s, was aimed primarily at determining whether humans could indeed survive and function in micro-gravity. Would eating and sleeping be possible? What mental and physical tasks could be performed? Subsequent programs increased the complexity of the tasks the crew performed. Table 1 summarizes the history of U.S. space flight, showing the projects, their dates, crew sizes, and mission durations. With over forty years of experience with human space flight, the emphasis now is on how to design space vehicles, habitats, and missions to produce the greatest returns to human knowledge. What are the roles of the humans in space flight in low earth orbit, on the moon, and in exploring Mars?

Woolford, Barbara↗

NASA NTRS2008

Space Human Factors: Research to Application

Human Factors has been instrumental in preventing potential on-orbit hazards and increasing overall crew safety. Poor performance & operational learning curves on-orbit are mitigated. Human-centered design is applied to optimize design and minimize potentially hazardous conditions, especially with larger crew sizes and habitat constraints. Lunar and Mars requirements and design developments are enhanced, based on ISS Lessons Learned.

Woolford, Barbara↗

NASA NTRS2009

International Space Station Research and Facilities for Life Sciences

Assembly of the International Space Station is nearing completion in fall of 2010. Although assembly has been the primary objective of its first 11 years of operation, early science returns from the ISS have been growing at a steady pace. Laboratory facilities outfitting has increased dramatically 2008-2009 with the European Space Agency s Columbus and Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency s Kibo scientific laboratories joining NASA s Destiny laboratory in orbit. In May 2009, the ISS Program met a major milestone with an increase in crew size from 3 to 6 crewmembers, thus greatly increasing the time available to perform on-orbit research. NASA will launch its remaining research facilities to occupy all 3 laboratories in fall 2009 and winter 2010. To date, early utilization of the US Operating Segment of the ISS has fielded nearly 200 experiments for hundreds of ground-based investigators supporting international and US partner research. With a specific focus on life sciences research, this paper will summarize the science accomplishments from early research aboard the ISS- both applied human research for exploration, and research on the effects of microgravity on life. We will also look ahead to the full capabilities for life sciences research when assembly of ISS is complete in 2010.

Robinson, Julie A.↗

NASA NTRS2009

Arctic and Antarctic Analogs for Planetary Surface Traverses

The proposed paper summarizes the workshop presentations and discusses several of the key findings or lessons including: (1) A recognition that NASA s current approach for long duration planetary surface operations has fundamental differences from any of the operational approaches described by the invited speakers. These approaches drive the crew size and skill mix to accomplish basic objectives and, in turn, drive the logistical pyramid needed to support these operations. NASA will review the operational approaches of the organizations represented to understand the differentiating factors. NASA will then decide if it should alter its current approach to surface exploration. (2) There are potential parallels between key characteristics of the systems used for exploration in these environments, such as heated volume as an analog for pressurized volume or energy usage for various activities. NASA will look at these characteristics to identify which could help with preliminary planning and gather raw data from the presenters to model these characteristics. (3) New technologies are being applied and design approaches are being tailored to take advantage of these technologies on both side. Interactions between these two communities has begun or is expanding to understand how these new technologies are being leveraged: NASA habitation designers are exchanging ideas and approaches with the Antarctic station designers; Antarctic support

Hoffman, Stephen J.↗

NASA NTRS2009

International Space Station Environmental Control and Life Support System Status: 2009 - 2010

The International Space Station (ISS) Environmental Control and Life Support (ECLS) system includes regenerative and non-regenerative technologies that provide the basic life support functions to support the crew, while maintaining a safe and habitable shirtsleeve environment. This paper provides a summary of the U.S. ECLS system activities over the past year, covering the period of time between March 2009 and February 2010. The ISS continued permanent crew operations, with the start of Phase 3 of the ISS Assembly Sequence and an increase of the ISS crew size from three to six. Work continues on the last of the Phase 3 pressurized elements.

Williams, David E.↗

NASA NTRS2010

International Space Station USOS Potable Water Dispenser On-Orbit Functionality Versus Design

The International Space Station (ISS) currently provides potable water dispensing for rehydrating crewmember food and drinking packages. There is one system located in the United States On-orbit Segment (USOS) and one system in the Russian Segment. Shuttle mission STS-126 delivered the USOS Potable Water Dispenser (PWD) to ISS on ULF2; subsequent activation occurred on November 2008. The PWD is capable of supporting an ISS crew of six, but nominally supplies only half this crew size. The PWD design provides incremental quantities of hot and ambient temperature potable water to US food and beverage packages. PWD receives iodinated water from the US Water Recovery System (WRS) Fuel Cell Water Bus, which feeds from the Water Processing Assembly (WPA). The PWD removes the biocidal iodine to make the water potable prior to dispensing. A heater assembly contained within the unit supplies up to 2.0 L of hot water (65 to 93 ?C) every 30 min. During a single meal, this quantity of water supports three to four crewmembers? food rehydration and beverages. The unit design has a functional life expectancy of 10 years, with replacement of limited life items, such as filters. To date, the PWD on-orbit performance is acceptable. Since activation of the PWD, there were several differences between on-orbit functionality and expected performance of hardware design. The comparison of on-orbit functionality to performance of hardware design is discussed for the following key areas: 1) microbial contamination, 2) no-dispense and water leakage scenarios, and 3) under-dispense scenarios.

Toon, Katherine P.↗

NASA NTRS2010

International Space Station Environmental Control and Life Support System Status: 2009 - 2010

The International Space Station (ISS) Environmental Control and Life Support (ECLS) system includes regenerative and non -regenerative technologies that provide the basic life support functions to support the crew, while maintaining a safe and habitable shirtsleeve environment. This paper provides a summary of the U.S. ECLS system activities over the past year, covering the period of time between March 2009 and February 2010. The ISS continued permanent crew operations, with the start of Phase 3 of the ISS Assembly Sequence and an increase of the ISS crew size from three to six. Work continues on the last of the Phase 3 pressurized elements.

Williams, David E.↗

NASA NTRS2010

Behavioral Issues Associated With Long Duration Space Expeditions: Review and Analysis of Astronaut Journals

Personal journals maintained by NASA astronauts during six-month expeditions onboard the International Space Station were analyzed to obtain information concerning a wide range of behavioral and human factors issues. Astronauts wrote most about their work, followed by outside communications (with mission control, family, and friends), adjustment to the conditions, interactions with crew mates, recreation/leisure, equipment (installation, maintenance), events (launches, docking, hurricanes, etc.), organization/management, sleep, and food. The study found evidence of a decline in morale during the third quarters of the missions and identified key factors that contribute to sustained adjustment and optimal performance during long-duration space expeditions. Astronauts reported that they benefited personally from writing in their journals because it helped maintain perspective on their work and relations with others. Responses to questions asked before, during, and after the expeditions show that living and working onboard the ISS is not as difficult as the astronauts anticipate before starting their six-month tours of duty. Recommendations include application of study results and continuation of the experiment to obtain additional data as crew size increases and operations evolve.

Struster, Jack↗

NASA NTRS2010

Human Health and Performance Considerations for Exploration of Near-Earth Asteroids

This presentation will describe the human health and performance issues that are anticipated for the human exploration of near-Earth asteroids (NEA). Humans are considered a system in the design of any such deep-space exploration mission, and exploration of NEA presents unique challenges for the human system. Key factors that define the mission are those that are strongly affected by distance and duration. The most critical of these is deep-space radiation exposure without even the temporary shielding of a nearby large planetary body. The current space radiation permissible exposure limits (PEL) restrict mission duration to 3-10 months depending on age and gender of crewmembers and stage of the solar cycle. Factors that affect mission architecture include medical capability; countermeasures for bone, muscle, and cardiovascular atrophy during continuous weightlessness; restricted food supplies; and limited habitable volume. The design of a habitat that can maintain the physical and psychological health of the crew and support mission operations with limited intervention from Earth will require an integrated research and development effort by NASA s Human Research Program, engineering, and human factors groups. Limited abort and return options for an NEA mission are anticipated to have important effects on crew psychology as well as influence medical supplies and training requirements of the crew. Other important factors are those related to isolation, confinement, communication delays, autonomous operations, task design, small crew size, and even the unchanging view outside the windows for most of the mission. Geological properties of the NEA will influence design of sample handling and containment, and extravehicular activity capabilities including suit ports and tools. A robotic precursor mission that collects basic information on NEA surface properties would reduce uncertainty about these aspects of the mission as well as aid in design of mission architecture and exploration tasks.

Kundrot, Craig↗

NASA NTRS2000

Shuttle and ISS Food Systems Management

Russia and the U.S. provide the current International Space Station (ISS) food system. Each country contributes half of the food supply in their respective flight food packaging. All of the packaged flight food is stowed in Russian provided containers, which interface with the Service Module galley. Each country accepts the other's flight worthiness inspections and qualifications. Some of the food for the first ISS crew was launched to ISS inside the Service Module in July of 2000, and STS-106 in September 2000 delivered more food to the ISS. All subsequent food deliveries will be made by Progress, the Russian re-supply vehicle. The U.S. will ship their portion of food to Moscow for loading onto the Progress. Delivery schedules vary, but the goal is to maintain at least a 45-day supply onboard ISS at all times. The shelf life for ISS food must be at least one year, in order to accommodate the long delivery cycle and onboard storage. Preservation techniques utilized in the US food system include dehydration, thermo stabilization, intermediate moisture, and irradiation. Additional fresh fruits and vegetables will be sent with each Progress and Shuttle flights as permitted by volume allotments. There is limited refrigeration available on the Service Module to store fresh fruits and vegetables. Astronauts and cosmonauts eat half U.S. and half Russian food. Menu planning begins 1 year before a planned launch. The flight crews taste food in the U.S. and in Russia and rate the acceptability. A preliminary menu is planned, based on these ratings and the nutritional requirements. The preliminary menu is then evaluated by the crews while training in Russia. Inputs from this evaluation are used to finalize the menu and flight packaging is initiated. Flight food is delivered 6 weeks before launch. The current challenge for the food system is meeting the nutritional requirements, especially no more than 10 mg iron, and 3500 mg sodium. Experience from Shuttle[Mir also indicated insufficient caloric intake for many crewmembers. Additional thermostabilized and irradiated foods have been developed for ISS to improve the ease of preparation and overall acceptability. Dehydrated foods offer limited advantage, since water must be delivered to ISS. An effort is underway to introduce other International Partner's food into the ISS food system. At first this will be one or two selected foods with the potential for more as the program matures. An increase in the variety of available foods would improve the overall acceptability. Additional galley capability will be required when the crew size increases on ISS. Anticipated improvements include freezers, refrigerators and microwave ovens. All of the ISS food development efforts are devoted to improving the food acceptability and subsequent consumption and mission success

Kloeris, Vickie↗

NASA NTRS2011

NEEMO 15: Evaluation of Human Exploration Systems for Near-Earth Asteroids

The NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) 15 mission was focused on near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) exploration techniques evaluation. It began with a University of Delaware autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) systematically mapping the coral reef for hundreds of meters surrounding the Aquarius habitat. This activity is akin to the type of "far field survey" approach that may be used by a robotic precursor in advance of a human mission to a NEA. Data from the far-field survey were then examined by the NEEMO science team and follow-up exploration traverses were planned, which used Deepworker single-person submersibles. Science traverses at NEEMO 15 were planned according to a prioritized list of scientific objectives developed by the science team based on review and discussion of previous related marine science research including previous marine science saturation missions conducted at the Aquarius habitat. AUV data was used to select several areas of scientific interest. The Deepworker science traverses were then executed at these areas of interest during 4 days of the NEEMO 15 mission and provided higher resolution data such as coral species distribution and mortality. These traverses are analogous to the "near field survey" approach that is expected to be performed by a multi mission space exploration vehicle (MMSEV) during a human mission to a NEA before conducting extravehicular activities (EVA)s. In addition to the science objectives that were pursued, the NEEMO 15 science traverses provided an opportunity to test newly developed software and techniques. Sample collection and instrument deployment on the NEA surface by EVA crew would follow the "near field survey" in a human NEA mission. Sample collection was not necessary for the purposes of the NEEMO science objectives; however, the engineering and operations objectives during NEEMO 15 were to evaluate different combinations of vehicles, crewmembers, tools, and equipment that could be used to perform these tasks on a NEA. Specifically, the productivity and acceptability of simulated NEA exploration activities were systematically quantified and compared when operating with different combinations of crew sizes and exploration systems including MMSEVs, EVA jet packs, and EVA translation devices.

Chappell, Steven P.↗

NASA NTRS2012

A Study for Mars Manned Exploration

Over the last five decades there have been numerous studies devoted to developing, launching and conducting a manned mission to Mars by both Russian and U.S. organizations. These studies have proposed various crew sizes, mission length, propulsion systems, habitation modules, and scientific goals. As a first step towards establishing an international partnership approach to a Mars mission, the most recent Russian concepts are explored and then compared to NASA's latest Mars reference mission.

Dorney, Daniel J.↗

NASA NTRS2012

Possible Scenarios for Mars Manned Exploration

Dorney, Daniel J.↗

NASA NTRS2015

Potential Mission Scenarios Post Asteroid Crewed Mission

A deep-space mission has been proposed to identify and redirect an asteroid to a distant retrograde orbit around the moon, and explore it by sending a crew using the Space Launch System and the Orion spacecraft. The Asteroid Redirect Crewed Mission (ARCM), which represents the third segment of the Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM), could be performed on EM-3 or EM-4 depending on asteroid return date. Recent NASA studies have raised questions on how we could progress from current Human Space Flight (HSF) efforts to longer term human exploration of Mars. This paper will describe the benefits of execution of the ARM as the initial stepping stone towards Mars exploration, and how the capabilities required to send humans to Mars could be built upon those developed for the asteroid mission. A series of potential interim missions aimed at developing such capabilities will be described, and the feasibility of such mission manifest will be discussed. Options for the asteroid crewed mission will also be addressed, including crew size and mission duration.

Lopez, Pedro, Jr.↗

NASA NTRS2015

Logistics Needs for Potential Deep Space Mission Scenarios Post Asteroid Redirect Crewed Mission

The Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) is currently being explored as the next step towards deep space human exploration, with the ultimate goal of reaching Mars. NASA is currently investigating a number of potential human exploration missions, which will progressively increase the distance and duration that humans spend away from Earth. Missions include extended human exploration in cis-lunar space which, as conceived, would involve durations of around 60 days, and human missions to Mars, which are anticipated to be as long as 1000 days. The amount of logistics required to keep the crew alive and healthy for these missions is significant. It is therefore important that the design and planning for these missions include accurate estimates of logistics requirements. This paper provides a description of a process and calculations used to estimate mass and volume requirements for crew logistics, including consumables, such as food, personal items, gasses, and liquids. Determination of logistics requirements is based on crew size, mission duration, and the degree of closure of the environmental control life support system (ECLSS). Details are provided on the consumption rates for different types of logistics and how those rates were established. Results for potential mission scenarios are presented, including a breakdown of mass and volume drivers. Opportunities for mass and volume reduction are identified, along with potential threats that could possibly increase requirements.

Lopez, Pedro, Jr.↗

NASA NTRS2012

Near Earth Asteroid Human Mission Possibilities Using Nuclear Thermal Rocket (NTR) Propulsion

The NTR is a proven technology that generates high thrust and has a specific impulse (Isp (is) approximately 900 s) twice that of today's best chemical rockets. During the Rover and NERVA (Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Applications) programs, twenty rocket reactors were designed, built and ground tested. These tests demonstrated: (1) a wide range of thrust; (2) high temperature carbide-based nuclear fuel; (3) sustained engine operation; (4) accumulated lifetime; and (5) restart capability - all the requirements needed for a human mission to Mars. Ceramic metal fuel was also evaluated as a backup option. In NASA's recent Mars Design reference Architecture (DRA) 5.0 study, the NTR was selected as the preferred propulsion option because of its proven technology, higher performance, lower launch mass, versatile vehicle design, simple assembly, and growth potential. In contrast to other advanced propulsion options, NTP requires no large technology scale-ups. In fact, the smallest engine tested during the Rover program - the 25 klbf 'Pewee' engine is sufficient for a human Mars mission when used in a clustered engine configuration. The 'Copernicus crewed NTR Mars transfer vehicle design developed for DRA 5.0 has significant capability that can enable reusable '1-year' round trip human missions to candidate near Earth asteroids (NEAs) like 1991 JW in 2027, or 2000 SG344 and Apophis in 2028. A robotic precursor mission to 2000 SG344 in late 2023 could provide an attractive Flight Technology Demonstration of a small NTR engine that is scalable to the 25 klbf-class engine used for human missions 5 years later. In addition to the detailed scientific data gathered from on-site inspection, human NEA missions would also provide a valuable 'check out' function for key elements of the NTR transfer vehicle (its propulsion module, TransHab and life support systems, etc.) in a 'deep space' environment prior to undertaking the longer duration Mars orbital and landing missions that would follow. The initial mass in low Earth orbit required for a mission to Apophis is approximately 323 t consisting of the NTR propulsion module ((is) approximately 138 t), the integrated saddle truss and LH2 drop tank assembly ((is) approximately 123 t), and the 6-crew payload element ((is) approximately 62 t). The later includes a multi-mission Space Excursion Vehicle (MMSEV) used for close-up examination and sample gathering. The total burn time and required restarts on the three 25 klbf 'Pewee-class' engines operating at Isp (is) approximately 906 s, are approximately 76.2 minutes and 4, respectively, well below the 2 hours and 27 restarts demonstrated on the NERVA eXperimental Engine, the NRX-XE. The paper examines the benefits, requirements and characteristics of using NTP for the above NEA missions. The impacts on vehicle design of HLV payload volume and lift capability, crew size, and reusability are also quantified.

Borowski, Stanley↗