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NASA NTRS2016

An Overview of In-Space Propulsion and Cryogenics Fluids Management Efforts for 2014 SBIR Phases I and II

NASA's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program focuses on technological innovation by investing in the development of innovative concepts and technologies to help NASA's mission directorates address critical research and development needs for Agency programs. This report highlights 11 of the innovative SBIR 2014 Phase I and II projects from 2010 to 2012 that focus on one of NASA Glenn Research Center's six core competencies-In-Space Propulsion and Cryogenic Fluids Management. The technologies cover a wide spectrum of applications such as divergent field annular ion engines, miniature nontoxic nitrous oxide-propane propulsion, noncatalytic ignition systems for high-performance advanced monopropellant thrusters, nontoxic storable liquid propulsion, and superconducting electric boost pumps for nuclear thermal propulsion. Each article describes an innovation and technical objective and highlights NASA commercial and industrial applications. This report provides an opportunity for NASA engineers, researchers, and program managers to learn how NASA SBIR technologies could help their programs and projects, and lead to collaborations and partnerships between the small SBIR companies and NASA that would benefit both.

divergent field annular ion engine↗

NASA NTRS2010

Developing Expert Teams with a Strong Safety Culture

Would you like to lead a world renowned team that draws out all the talents and expertise of its members and consistently out performs all others in the industry? Ever wonder why so many organizations fail to truly learn from past mistakes only to repeat the same ones at a later date? Are you a program/project manager or team member in a high-risk organization where the decisions made often carry the highest of consequences? Leadership, communication, team building, critical decision-making and continuous team improvement skills and behaviors are mere talking points without the attitudes, commitment and strategies necessary to make them the very fabric of a team. Developing Expert Teams with a Strong Safety Culture, will provide you with proven knowledge and strategies to take your team soaring to heights you may have not thought possible. A myriad of teams have applied these strategies and techniques within their organization team environments: military and commercial aviation, astronaut flight crews, Shuttle flight controllers, members of the Space Shuttle Program Mission Management Team, air traffic controllers, nuclear power control teams, surgical teams, and the fire service report having spectacular success. Many industry leaders are beginning to realize that although the circumstances and environments of these teams may differ greatly to their own, the core elements, governing principles and dynamics involved in managing and building a stellar safety conscious team remain identical.

Rogers, David G.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA’s Developments in Cryogenic Fluid Management Technology

NASA has been pursuing the development and demonstration of enabling and enhancing technologies for Cryogenic Fluid Management (CFM) in collaboration with the US industry. NASA’s vision for current and future space exploration requires high-performance chemical and nuclear propulsion solutions that utilize cryogens. The Agency will use cryogenic fluids for Earth-to-orbit transportation, human missions to the Moon and Mars, planetary exploration, and in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) production. All these architectures will require state-of-the-art long-duration storage on the surface and in-space transfer for refueling. This paper focuses on key CFM technology developments completed or ongoing by the Cryogenic Fluid Management Portfolio Office within NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate. The CFM Portfolio Office, partnered with US aerospace industry, has invested in CFM technology ground and flight demonstrations, focused on maturing CFM hardware and operations for Artemis and Moon to Mars activities. These demonstrations additionally provide NASA with data to inform numerical modeling activities for verification and validation of design tools and approaches for future missions. This paper includes discussion on remaining high-priority open CFM technology gaps for Mar-forward architectures and initiatives for closure.

Cryogenic Fluid Management↗

NASA NTRS1975

Electrification: Mid-term (1985 - 2000)

Electrification, intended to provide a basis for the mid term period of the energy conservation program, was defined as a set of actions and/or policies that leads to an increasing proportion of total energy used in the form of electricity. The important actions within electrification are those with the greatest impacts (coal and nuclear), the greatest technological requirements (peak shaving and transmission) and the greatest response from the decision makers (economic health and growth of utilities in an era of increasing energy costs). The following areas were discussed: increased power generation from coal action, increased use of nuclear power action, improved operation of public utilities action, actions to be taken in industry, transportation and residential/commercial areas. The various ways in which electrification leads to energy conservation were clarified, and a number of specific recommendations relative to electrification were suggested.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS2011

Scotty, I Need More Power - The Fission System Gateway to Abundant Power for Exploration

In planning and in crisis, electrical power has been a key consideration when humans venture into space. Since the 1950's, nuclear fission (splitting of atoms) power has been a logical alternative in both fact and fiction, due to its ability to provide abundant power with high energy density, reliability, and immunity to severe environments. Bringing space fission power to a state of readiness for exploration has depended on clearing the hurdle of technology readiness demonstration. Due to the happy coincidence of heritage from prior space fission development efforts such as the Prometheus program, foresight from NASA's Exploration Mission Systems Directorate in the mid-2000's, and relative budget stability through the late 2000's, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Department of Energy (DOE), with their industry partners, are poised to push through to this objective. Hardware for a 12 kWe non-nuclear Fission Power System Technology Demonstration Unit is being fabricated now on a schedule that will enable a low-cost demonstration of technology readiness in the mid-2010s, with testing beginning as early as 2012. With space fission power system technology demonstrated, exploration mission planners will have the flexibility to respond to a broad variety of missions and will be able to provide abundant power so that future explorers will, in planning or crisis, have the power they need when they most need it.

Palac, Donald T.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Future space transport

Prospects for the mastery of space and the basic problems which must be solved in developing systems for both manned and cargo spacecraft are examined. The achievements and flaws of rocket boosters are discussed as well as the use of reusable spacecraft. The need for orbiting satellite solar power plants and related astrionics for active control of large space structures for space stations and colonies in an age of space industrialization is demonstrated. Various forms of spacecraft propulsion are described including liquid propellant rocket engines, nuclear reactors, thermonuclear rocket engines, electrorocket engines, electromagnetic engines, magnetic gas dynamic generators, electromagnetic mass accelerators (rail guns), laser rocket engines, pulse nuclear rocket engines, ramjet thermonuclear rocket engines, and photon rockets. The possibilities of interstellar flight are assessed.

Grishin, S. D.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Electrical power integration for lunar operations

Electrical power for future lunar operations is expected to range from a few kilowatts for an early human outpost to many megawatts for industrial operations in the 21st century. All electrical power must be imported as chemical, solar, nuclear, or directed energy. The slow rotation of the Moon and consequent long lunar night impose severe mass penalties on solar systems needing night delivery from storage. The cost of power depends on the cost of the power systems the cost of its transportation to the Moon, operating cost, and, of course, the life of the power system. The economic feasibility of some proposed lunar ventures depends in part on the cost of power. This paper explores power integration issues, costs, and affordability in the context of the following representative lunar ventures: (1) early human outpost (10 kWe); (2) early permanent lunar base, including experimental ISMU activities (100 kWe); (3) lunar oxygen production serving an evolved lunar base (500 kWe); (4) lunar base production of specialized high-value products for use on Earth (5 kWe); and (5) lunar mining and production of helium-3 (500 kWe). The schema of the paper is to project likely costs of power alternatives (including integration factors) in these power ranges, to select the most economic, to determine power cost contribution to the product or activities, to estimate whether the power cost is economically acceptable, and, finally, to offer suggestions for reaching acceptability where cost problems exist.

Woodcock, Gordon↗

NASA NTRS2003

Large-Eddy Simulation of Conductive Flows at Low Magnetic Reynolds Number

In this paper we study the LES method with dynamic procedure in the context of conductive flows subject to an applied external magnetic field at low magnetic Reynolds number R(sub m). These kind of flows are encountered in many industrial applications. For example, in the steel industry, applied magnetic fields can be used to damp turbulence in the casting process. In nuclear fusion devices (Tokamaks), liquid-lithium flows are used as coolant blankets and interact with the surrounding magnetic field that drives and confines the fusion plasma. Also, in experimental facilities investigating the dynamo effect, the flow consists of liquid-sodium for which the Prandtl number and, as a consequence, the magnetic Reynolds number is low. Our attention is focused here on the case of homogeneous (initially isotropic) decaying turbulence. The numerical simulations performed mimic the thought experiment described in Moffatt in which an initially homogeneous isotropic conductive flow is suddenly subjected to an applied magnetic field and freely decays without any forcing. Note that this flow was first studied numerically by Schumann. It is well known that in that case, extra damping of turbulence occurs due to the Joule effect and that the flow tends to become progressively independent of the coordinate along the direction of the magnetic field. Our comparison of filtered direct numerical simulation (DNS) predictions and LES predictions show that the dynamic Smagorinsky model enables one to capture successfully the flow with LES, and that it automatically incorporates the effect of the magnetic field on the turbulence. Our paper is organized as follows. In the next section we summarize the LES approach in the case of MHD turbulence at low R(sub m) and recall the definition of the dynamic Smagorinsky model. In Sec. 3 we describe the parameters of the numerical experiments performed and the code used. Section 4 is devoted to the comparison of filtered DNS results and LES results. Conclusions are presented in Sec. 5.

Knaepen, B.↗

NASA NTRS2004

Research in Support of the Use of Rankine Cycle Energy Conversion Systems for Space Power and Propulsion

This is the report of a Scientific Working Group (SWG) formed by NASA to determine the feasibility of using a liquid metal cooled nuclear reactor and Rankine energy conversion cycle for dual purpose power and propulsion in space. This is a high level technical report which is intended for use by NASA management in program planning. The SWG was composed of a team of specialists in nuclear energy and multiphase flow and heat transfer technology from academia, national laboratories, NASA and industry. The SWG has identified the key technology issues that need to be addressed and have recommended an integrated short term (approx. 2 years) and a long term (approx. 10 year) research and development (R&D) program to qualify a Rankine cycle power plant for use in space. This research is ultimately intended to give NASA and its contractors the ability to reliably predict both steady and transient multiphase flow and heat transfer phenomena at reduced gravity, so they can analyze and optimize designs and scale-up experimental data on Rankine cycle components and systems. In addition, some of these results should also be useful for the analysis and design of various multiphase life support and thermal management systems being considered by NASA.

Lahey, Richard T., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1975

Hydrogen energy systems technology study

The paper discusses the objectives of a hydrogen energy systems technology study directed toward determining future demand for hydrogen based on current trends and anticipated new uses and identifying the critical research and technology advancements required to meet this need with allowance for raw material limitations, economics, and environmental effects. Attention is focused on historic production and use of hydrogen, scenarios used as a basis for projections, projections of energy sources and uses, supply options, and technology requirements and needs. The study found more than a billion dollar annual usage of hydrogen, dominated by chemical-industry needs, supplied mostly from natural gas and petroleum feedstocks. Evaluation of the progress in developing nuclear fusion and solar energy sources relative to hydrogen production will be necessary to direct the pace and character of research and technology work in the advanced water-splitting areas.

Kelley, J. H.↗

NASA NTRS2016

Economical Production of Pu-238: NIAC Phase I Final Report

All space exploration missions traveling beyond Jupiter must use radioisotopic power sources for electrical power. The best isotope to power these sources is plutonium-238 (Pu-238). The US supply of Pu-238 is almost exhausted and will be gone within the next decade. The Department of Energy has initiated a production program with a $10M allocation from NASA but the cost is estimated at over $100M to get to production levels. The Center for Space Nuclear Research (CSNR) has conceived of a potentially better process to produce Pu-238 earlier and for significantly less cost. Potentially, the front end capital costs could be provided by private industry such that the government only had to pay for the product produced. In the Phase I NIAC (NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts) grant, the CSNR has evaluated the feasibility of using a low power, commercially available nuclear reactor to produce 1.5 kg of Pu-238 per year. The impact on the neutronics of the reactor have been assessed, the amount of Neptunium target material estimated, and the production rates calculated. In addition, the size of the post-irradiation processing facility has been established. Finally, as the study progressed, a new method for fabricating the Pu-238 product into the form used for power sources has been identified to reduce the cost of the final product. In short, the concept appears to be viable, can produce the amount of Pu-238 needed to support the NASA missions, can be available within a few years, and will cost significantly less than the current DOE program.

Plutonium↗

NASA NTRS1975

Selected technology for the gas industry

A number of papers were presented at a conference concerned with the application of technical topics from aerospace activities for the gas industry. The following subjects were covered: general future of fossil fuels in America, exploration for fossil and nuclear fuels from orbital altitudes, technology for liquefied gas, safety considerations relative to fires, explosions, and detonations, gas turbomachinery technology, fluid properties, fluid flow, and heat transfer, NASA information and documentation systems, instrumentation and measurement, materials and life prediction, reliability and quality assurance, and advanced energy systems (including synthetic fuels, energy storage, solar energy, and wind energy).

Source record↗

NASA NTRS1978

A critical review of the state of foreign space technology

A conference was held to exchange technical information in the area of space technology. Soviet system capability and technology both in Intersputnik and in the domestic Ekran system was discussed in detail. The thermonic power conversion system used in the Soviet Topaz nuclear power reactor was described in detail. Other areas of examination included: (1) Bioastronautics; (2) Space based industry; (3) Propulsion; (4) Astrodynamics; (5) Contact with extraterrestrial intelligence; and (6) Space rescue and safety.

Grey, J.↗

NASA NTRS2000

First Generation Least Expensive Approach to Fission (FiGLEAF) Testing Results

Successful development of space fission systems will require an extensive program of affordable and realistic testing. In addition to tests related to design/development of the fission system, realistic testing of the actual flight unit must also be performed. Testing can be divided into two categories, non-nuclear tests and nuclear tests. Full power nuclear tests of space fission systems are expensive, time consuming, and of limited use, even in the best of programmatic environments. If the system is designed to operate within established radiation damage and fuel burn up limits while simultaneously being designed to allow close simulation of heat from fission using resistance heaters, high confidence in fission system performance and lifetime can be attained through a series of non-nuclear tests. Non-nuclear tests are affordable and timely, and the cause of component and system failures can be quickly and accurately identified. MSFC is leading a Safe Affordable Fission Engine (SAFE) test series whose ultimate goal is the demonstration of a 300 kW flight configuration system using non-nuclear testing. This test series is carried out in collaboration with other NASA centers, other government agencies, industry, and universities. The paper describes the SAFE test series, which includes test article descriptions, test results and conclusions, and future test plans.

VanDyke, Melissa↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) - Propelling into the Future

Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) is the exciting advancement of engine system technology that will enable NASA to perform deep space missions previously beyond reach. Since the 1940s, the United States has attempted to mature this technology to fulfill the mission that JFK famously declared in his special address to Congress in 1961 stating our need to “Accelerate development of the Rover nuclear rocket. This gives promise of someday providing a means for even more exciting and ambitious exploration of space… to the very end of the solar system itself.” Today, we are dedicated to realize this mission, embarking on the journey with other government agencies and industry giants to boldly go where no one has gone before…

NTP↗

NASA NTRS1993

Advanced nuclear thermal propulsion concepts

In 1989, a Presidential directive created the Space Exploration Initiative (SEI) which had a goal of placing mankind on Mars in the early 21st century. The SEI was effectively terminated in 1992 with the election of a new administration. Although the initiative did not exist long enough to allow substantial technology development, it did provide a venue, for the first time in 20 years, to comprehensively evaluate advanced propulsion concepts which could enable fast, manned transits to Mars. As part of the SEI based investigations, scientists from NASA, DoE National Laboratories, universities, and industry met regularly and proceeded to examine a variety of innovative ideas. Most of the effort was directed toward developing a solid-core, nuclear thermal rocket and examining a high-power nuclear electric propulsion system. In addition, however, an Innovative Concepts committee was formed and charged with evaluating concepts that offered a much higher performance but were less technologically mature. The committee considered several concepts and eventually recommended that further work be performed in the areas of gas core fission rockets, inertial confinement fusion systems, antimatter based rockets, and gas core fission electric systems. Following the committee's recommendations, some computational modeling work has been performed at Los Alamos in certain of these areas and critical issues have been identified.

Howe, Steven D.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Space Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (SNTP) program

An overview of the Space Nuclear Thermal Propulsion program is presented in graphic form. A program organizational chart is presented that shows the government and industry participants. Enabling technologies and test facilities and approaches are also addressed.

Bleeker, Gary A.↗

NASA NTRS2000

Electrostatics of Granular Material (EGM): Space Station Experiment

Aggregates were observed to form very suddenly in a lab-contained dust cloud, transforming (within seconds) an opaque monodispersed cloud into a clear volume containing rapidly-settling, long hair-like aggregates. The implications of such a "phase change" led to a series of experiments progressing from the lab, to KC-135, followed by micro-g flights on USML-1 and USML-2, and now EGM slated for Space Station. We attribute the sudden "collapse" of a cloud to the effect of dipoles. This has significant ramifications for all types of cloud systems, and additionally implicates dipoles in the processes of cohesion and adhesion of granular matter. Notably, there is the inference that like-charged grains need not necessarily repel if they are close enough together: attraction or repulsion depends on intergranular distance (the dipole being more powerful at short range), and the D/M ratio for each grain, where D is the dipole moment and M is the net charge. We discovered that these ideas about dipoles, the likely pervasiveness of them in granular material, the significance of the D/M ratio, and the idea of mixed charges on individual grains resulting from tribological processes --are not universally recognized in electrostatics, granular material studies, and aerosol science, despite some early seminal work in the literature, and despite commercial applications of dipoles in such modern uses as "Krazy Glue", housecleaning dust cloths, and photocopying. The overarching goal of EGM is to empirically prove that (triboelectrically) charged dielectric grains of material have dipole moments that provide an "always attractive" intergranular force as a result of both positive and negative charges residing on the surfaces of individual grains. Microgravity is required for this experiment because sand grains can be suspended as a cloud for protracted periods, the grains are free to rotate to express their electrostatic character, and Coulombic forces are unmasked. Suspended grains will be "interrogated" by applied electrical fields. In one module, grains will be immersed in an inhomogeneous electric field and allowed to be attracted towards or repelled from the central electrode of the module: part of the grain's speed will be a function of its net charge (monopole), part will be a function of the dipole. Observed grain position vs. time will provide a curve that can be deconvolved into the dipole and monopole forces responsible, since both have distinctive radial dependencies. In a second approach, the inhomogeneous field will be alternated at low frequency (e.g., every 5-10 seconds) so that the grains are alternately attracted and repelled from the center of the field. The resulting "zigzag" grain motion will gradually drift inwards, then suddenly change to a unidirectional inward path when a critical radial distance is encountered (a sort of "Coulombic event horizon") at which the dipole strength supersedes the monopole strength --thus proving the presence of a dipole, while also quantifying the D/M ratio. In a second module, an homogeneous electric field eliminates dipole effects (both Coulombic and induced) to provide calibration of the monopole and to more readily evaluate net charge statistical variance. In both modules, the e-fields will be exponentially step-ramped in voltage during the experiment, so that the field "nominalizes" grain speed while spreading the response time --effectively forcing each grain to "wait its turn" to be measured. In addition to rigorously quantifying M, D, and the D/M ratio for many hundreds of grains, the experiment will also observe gross electrometric and RF discharge phenomena associated with grain activity. The parameter space will encompass grain charging levels (via intentional triboelectrification), grain size, cloud density, and material type. Results will prove or disprove the dipole hypothesis. In either case, light will be shed on the role of electrostatic forces in governing granular systems. Knowledge so gained can be applied to natural clouds such as protostellar and protoplanetary dust and debris systems, planetary rings, planetary dust palls and aerosols created by volcanic, impact, aeolian, firestorm, or nuclear winter processes. The data are also directly applicable to adhesion, cohesion, transport, dispersion, and collection of granular materials in industrial, agricultural, pharmaceutical applications, and in fields as diverse as dust contamination of space suits on Mars and crop spraying on Earth.

Marshall, J.↗