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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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371 records · Page 8

Impact of End Effector Technology on Telemanipulation Performance

Generic requirements for end effector design are briefly summarized as derived from generic functional and operational requirements. Included is a brief summary of terms and definitions related to end effector technology. The second part contains a brief overview of end effector technology work as JPL during the past ten years, with emphasis on the evolution of new mechanical, sensing and control capabilities of end effectors. The third and major part is devoted to the description of current end effector technology. The ongoing work addresses mechanical, sensing and control details with emphasis on mechanical ruggedness, increased resolution in sensing, and close electronic and control integration with overall telemanipulator control system.

A K Bejczy

Improvement of Odor Control for the UWMS Hard-Sided Fecal Canister and the Alternate Fecal Canister

On longer range exploration missions, the mass and volume of critical hardware and consumables required to support crew will pose a big stowage challenge. This includes the hardware for the collection and storage of human metabolic solid waste. The amount of stowage needed for this hardware both before (empty) and after (full) use will be a significant burden on the overall spacecraft habitable volume, layout, and design. To help with this challenge, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Mars Campaign Office (MCO) Logistics Reduction (LR) Portfolio has developed a collapsible canister for the collection and containment of fecal deposits. The Alternate Fecal Canister (AFC) is a collapsible alternative to the exploration toilet Hard-sided Fecal Canister (HFC). The AFC in its empty state has a volumetric benefit to smaller vehicles on longer missions. The current designs for HFC and AFC were tested with human fecal material for odor containment at White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) where the tests on both were unsuccessful. The source of the lack of containment was isolated to a gasket used on both HFC and AFC. The gasket used was found to be open cell in design. This paper provides a summary of the materials selection and testing process to identify a replacement gasket material with the intention to replace the gaskets on both existing units as well as incorporate it into the designs going forward for future builds for exploration. Details will be provided on the design of the canisters interface with the odor bacteria lid which led to the selection of the thickness of the desired replacement. Finally, the paper will provide an update on the testing in advance of a return to WSTF for final testing and detail plans to complete testing and perform a demonstration on ISS with UWMS.

Toilet

Control of an Axisymmetric Jet Using Vortex Generators

The results of an experimental investigation on the effect of vortex generators, in the form of small tabs at the nozzle exit on the evolution of a jet, are reported in this paper. Primarily tabs of triangular shape are considered, and the effect is studied up to a jet Mach number of 1.8. Each tab is found to produce a dominant pair of counter-rotating streamwise vortices having a sense of rotation opposite to that expected from the wrapping of the boundary layer. This results in an inward indentation of the mixing layer into the core of the jet. A triangular-shaped tab with its apex leaning downstream, referred to as a delta tab, is found to be the most effective in producing such vortices, with a consequential large influence on the overall jet evolution. Two delta tabs, spaced 180 deg apart, completely bifurcate the jet. Four delta tabs stretch the mixing layer into four 'fingers,' resulting in a significant increase in the jet mixing downstream. For six delta tabs the mixing layer distortion settles back to a three finger configuration through an interaction of the streamwise vortices. The tabs are found to be equally effective in jets with turbulent or laminar initial boundary layers. Two sources of streamwise vorticity are postulated for the flow under consideration. One is the upstream 'pressure hill,' generated by the tab, which constitutes the main contributor of vorticity to the dominant pair. Another is due to vortex filaments shed from the sides of the tab and reoriented downstream by the mean shear of the mixing layer. Depending on the orientation of the tab, the latter source can produce a vortex pair having a sense of rotation opposite to that of the dominant pair. In the case of the delta tab, vorticity from the two sources add, explaining the strong effect in that configuration.

Streamwise Vorticity

Dynamic analysis of a photovoltaic power system with battery storage capability

A photovolataic power system with a battery storage capability is analyzed. A dual battery current control concept is proposed, which enables the battery to either supply or accept power depending upon system environment and load conditions. A simulation of the power system, including the battery current control, is developed and evaluated. The evaulation demonstrate the visbility of the battery control concept of switch the battery from a charge to discharge mode and back as required by load and environmental conditions. An acceptable system operation is demonstrated over the entire insolation range. Additionally, system sensitivity, bandwidth, and damping characteristics of the battery control are shown to be acceptable for a projected hardware implementation.

Merrill, W. C.

Improvement of Odor Control for the UWMS Hard-Sided Fecal Canister and the Alternate Fecal Canister

On longer range exploration missions, the mass and volume of critical hardware and consumables required to support crew will pose a big stowage challenge. This includes the hardware for the collection and storage of human metabolic solid waste. The amount of stowage needed for this hardware both before (empty) and after (full) use will be a significant burden on the overall spacecraft habitable volume, layout, and design. To help with this challenge, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Mars Campaign Office (MCO) Logistics Reduction (LR) Portfolio has developed a collapsible canister for the collection and containment of fecal deposits. The Alternate Fecal Canister (AFC) is a collapsible alternative to the exploration toilet Hard-sided Fecal Canister (HFC). The AFC in its empty state has a volumetric benefit to smaller vehicles on longer missions. The current designs for HFC and AFC were tested with human fecal material for odor containment at White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) where the tests on both were unsuccessful. The source of the lack of containment was isolated to a gasket used on both HFC and AFC. The gasket used was found to be open cell in design. This paper provides a summary of the materials selection and testing process to identify a replacement gasket material with the intention to replace the gaskets on both existing units as well as incorporate it into the designs going forward for future builds for exploration. Details will be provided on the design of the canisters interface with the odor bacteria lid which led to the selection of the thickness of the desired replacement. Finally, the paper will provide an update on the testing in advance of a return to WSTF for final testing and detail plans to complete testing and perform a demonstration on ISS with UWMS.

ECLSS

Thermal Cycle and Capacitance Testing of Mezzo Industries Phase Change Material Heat Capacitor

A phase change material heat capacitor prototype, designed and built under a NASA Small Business Innovation Research grant by Mezzo Technologies, was tested through coolant thermal cycling within the expected flow rates and temperature range of the Orion spacecraft’s propylene glycol-water mixture coolant system. Testing was performed with the phase change material contained under sealed conditions after a degassing procedure and exposed to atmosphere without prior degassing. The useful heat storage capacitance was measured and compared to Orion spacecraft requirements and theoretical N-Pentadecane storage capacity.

Propylene Glycol Water

Digitally-Engineered Impact Resistant Aerogel Composites for MMOD Protection (DIRAC-MP)

This project implemented a digital-engineering approach to optimize the impact absorption performance of polymer aerogels and aerogel-based composites for Micrometeoroids and Orbital Debris (MMOD) containment. We developed a curated materials database and a machine-learning framework to derive composition-response relationships, enabling predictive design and targeted material selection. In support of experimental validation, a split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) test rig, specifically adapted for low-density aerogel materials, was designed and built in-house. This project accelerates the development of new aerogel formulations, producing candidate materials tailored for enhanced impact-absorption behavior.

Sadeq Malakooti

2005 NASA Seal/Secondary Air System Workshop

The 2005 NASA Seal/Secondary Air System workshop covered the following topics: (i) Overview of NASA’s new Exploration Initiative program aimed at exploring the Moon, Mars, and beyond; (ii) Overview of the NASA-sponsored Propulsion 21 Project; (iii) Overview of NASA Glenn’s seal project aimed at developing advanced seals for NASA’s turbomachinery, space, and reentry vehicle needs; (iv) Reviews of NASA prime contractor, vendor, and university advanced sealing concepts including tip clearance control, test results, experimental facilities, and numerical predictions; and (v) Reviews of material development programs relevant to advanced seals development. Turbine engine studies have shown that reducing high-pressure turbine (HPT) blade tip clearances will reduce fuel burn, lower emissions, retain exhaust gas temperature margin, and increase range. Several organizations presented development efforts aimed at developing faster clearance control systems and associated technology to meet future engine needs. The workshop also covered several programs NASA is funding to develop technologies for the Exploration Initiative and advanced reusable space vehicle technologies. NASA plans on developing an advanced docking and berthing system that would permit any vehicle to dock to any on-orbit station or vehicle. Seal technical challenges (including space environments, temperature variation, and seal-on-seal operation) as well as plans to develop the necessary “androgynous” seal technologies were reviewed. Researchers also reviewed tests completed for the shuttle main landing gear door seals.

Hypersonic

Advanced Materials for the Lunar Surface: Multiscale Computational Design of Refractory Alloys and Carbides

Emerging operational environments, such as the lunar surface, present novel challenges for NASA and drive the need for advanced materials in applications like fission surface power systems. To address these demands, computational materials science is rapidly evolving to augment or replace costly and hazardous empirical testing. Although materials selection at NASA remains predominantly experimentally driven, advanced simulation methodologies are being steadily integrated into the engineering lifecycle. This work details the application of multiscale simulation techniques—including first-principles calculations, CALPHAD, dislocation dynamics, and molecular dynamics—at NASA's Ames Research Center to evaluate advanced materials for extreme environments. First, we present contributions to the Space Nuclear Propulsion Project. Be-cause propellant channel coatings in nuclear thermal rockets must withstand high-pressure, high-temperature hydro-gen, optimizing these materials is critical. First-principles calculations were employed to establish a rigorous quantitative and qualitative understanding of the behavior of the refractory carbides ZrC, NbC, and their mixtures in high-enthalpy hydrogen environments. This necessitated the generation of high-fidelity thermodynamic models for both stoichiometric and carbon-depleted carbides, both with and without the presence of hydrogen. Furthermore, we highlight efforts under the Refractory Alloy Additive Manufacturing Build Optimization (RAAMBO) project, where existing and novel alloy compositions were assessed for additive manufacturing printability and subsequent performance in applications such as heat pipes and rocket nozzle extensions. This was accomplished through a comprehensive multiscale simulation framework that bridged the gap from the nanometer to the millimeter scale. Across both initiatives, rigorous validation against empirical data was prioritized. By systematically employing a verified and validated computational frame-work, we demonstrate how simulation effectively supports multidisciplinary engineering efforts, builds project-wide confidence, and drives critical materials development.

computational materials

Spacecraft Disposal Rosetta Stone: Parametric Tool for Orbital Lifetime, Disposal, and Cost Assessment

This Technical Memorandum documents a simplified, parametric method for evaluating spacecraft orbital lifetime, disposal compliance, and disposal-related cost impacts during early mission formulation and preliminary design. The method captures the dominant drivers of orbital decay—effective ballistic coefficient, operating altitude, and solar-cycle variability—using conservative bounding assumptions. Solar maximum conditions are used to bound achievable mission lifetime, while solar minimum conditions are used to bound disposal timelines and compliance with orbital debris requirements. A single tabulated dataset provides orbital lifetime under both solar-cycle extremes together with representative disposal ΔV required to ensure compliant disposal, enabling rapid assessment of disposal feasibility, cost sensitivity, and system-level impacts prior to committing to higher-fidelity analyses.

Orbital debris mitigation

Research on battery-operated electric road vehicles

Mathematical analysis of battery-operated electric vehicles is presented. Attention is focused on assessing the influence of the battery on the mechanical and dynamical characteristics of dc electric motors with series and parallel excitation, as well as on evaluating the influence of the excitation mode and speed control system on the performance of the battery. The superiority of series excitation over parallel excitation with respect to vehicle performance is demonstrated. It is also shown that pulsed control of the electric motor, as compared to potentiometric control, provides a more effective use of the battery and decreases the cost of recharging.

Varpetian, V. S.

Analysis of Screen Channel LAD Bubble Point Tests in Liquid Methane at Elevated Temperature

This paper examines the effect of varying the liquid temperature and pressure on the bubble point pressure for screen channel Liquid Acquisition Devices in cryogenic liquid methane using gaseous helium across a wide range of elevated pressures and temperatures. Testing of a 325 x 2300 Dutch Twill screen sample was conducted in the Cryogenic Components Lab 7 facility at the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. Test conditions ranged from 105 to 160K and 0.0965 – 1.78 MPa. Bubble point is shown to be a strong function of the liquid temperature and a weak function of the amount of subcooling at the LAD screen. The model predicts well for saturated liquid but under predicts the subcooled data.

Reaction Control System

A Laboratory Breadboard System for Dual-Arm Teleoperation

The computing architecture of a novel dual-arm teleoperation system is described. The novelty of this system is that: (1) the master arm is not a replica of the slave arm; it is unspecific to any manipulator and can be used for the control of various robot arms with software modifications; and (2) the force feedback to the general purpose master arm is derived from force-torque sensor data originating from the slave hand. The computing architecture of this breadboard system is a fully synchronized pipeline with unique methods for data handling, communication and mathematical transformations. The computing system is modular, thus inherently extendable. The local control loops at both sites operate at 100 Hz rate, and the end-to-end bilateral (force-reflecting) control loop operates at 200 Hz rate, each loop without interpolation. This provides high-fidelity control. This end-to-end system elevates teleoperation to a new level of capabilities via the use of sensors, microprocessors, novel electronics, and real-time graphics displays. A description is given of a graphic simulation system connected to the dual-arm teleoperation breadboard system. High-fidelity graphic simulation of a telerobot (called Phantom Robot) is used for preview and predictive displays for planning and for real-time control under several seconds communication time delay conditions. High fidelity graphic simulation is obtained by using appropriate calibration techniques.

A K Bejczy

Harness Thermal Heat Loss Measurement for a Lunar Surface-Deployed LEMS Artemis III Payload

The Lunar Environment Monitoring Station (LEMS) is an autonomous, survive-the-lunar-night seismic suite to be deployed on the Lunar surface by the Artemis III crew and designed to operate continuously for two years. It will see the extremes of the Lunar south pole thermal environment where surface temperatures range from -200°C to +20°C and where nighttime duration is at least 354 hours. Given power and mass constraints, the thermal system is limited to 2.5 Watts of heat during the lunar night. The electrical harnessing named the Signal and Power Passthrough (SAPP) was designed to minimize heat loss while meeting power and signal integrity requirements. To mitigate risk due to uncertainty associated with the harnessing materials, routing, and tie-downs, a flight-like thermal conductance test was performed to measure the heat loss. The test methodology, results, and model correlation are presented.

TVAC

Harness Thermal Heat Loss Measurement for A Lunar Surface-Deployed LEMS Artemis III Payload

The Lunar Environment Monitoring Station (LEMS) is an autonomous, survive-the-lunar-night seismic suite to be deployed on the Lunar surface by the Artemis III crew and designed to operate continuously for two years. It will see the extremes of the Lunar south pole thermal environment where surface temperatures range from -200°C to +20°C and where nighttime duration is at least 354 hours. Given power and mass constraints, the thermal system is limited to 2.5 Watts of heat during the lunar night. The electrical harnessing named the Signal and Power Passthrough (SAPP) was designed to minimize heat loss while meeting power and signal integrity requirements. To mitigate risk due to uncertainty associated with the harnessing materials, routing, and tie-downs, a flight-like thermal conductance test was performed to measure the heat loss. The test methodology, results, and model correlation are presented.

Thermal

Harness Thermal Heat Loss Measurement for A Lunar Surface-Deployed LEMS Artemis III Payload

The Lunar Environment Monitoring Station (LEMS) is an autonomous, survive-the-lunar-night seismic suite to be deployed on the Lunar surface by the Artemis III crew and designed to operate continuously for two years. It will see the extremes of the Lunar south pole thermal environment where surface temperatures range from -200°C to +20°C and where nighttime duration is at least 354 hours. Given power and mass constraints, the thermal system is limited to 2.5 Watts of heat during the lunar night. The electrical harnessing named the Signal and Power Passthrough (SAPP) was designed to minimize heat loss while meeting power and signal integrity requirements. To mitigate risk due to uncertainty associated with the harnessing materials, routing, and tie-downs, a flight-like thermal conductance test was performed to measure the heat loss. The test methodology, results, and model correlation are presented.

TVAC

Development and Validation of a High-Vacuum Thermal Conductivity Testbed for Aerospace Interface Materials

Thermal Interface Materials (TIMs) are critical components in spacecraft thermal management systems, where thermal performance is strongly influenced by vacuum conditions, interface contact resistance, and layered metallic joint behavior. However, manufacturer-reported thermal conductivity values are often derived under idealized conditions and may not accurately represent performance within operational aerospace applications. To address this limitation, the Testbed for Advanced Interface Materials in Vacuum (TAIMV) was developed as a modular vacuum-compatible thermal conductivity characterization platform capable of evaluating aerospace-relevant TIM configurations under both ambient and high-vacuum environments. The testbed was derived from the ASTM C1044-16 guarded hot plate methodology and incorporates interchangeable layers of stainless steel coupon geometries, independently controlled main and guard heaters, embedded resistance temperature detectors (RTDs), thermocouples, multi-layer insulation (MLI), and a temperature-controlled cold plate to characterize through-thickness thermal gradients across layered interfaces. In the current configuration, interface compression is limited to the nominal contact pressure generated by the experimental stack assembly. Initial experimental campaigns were conducted at ambient pressure and below 1×10-5 torr for vacuum cases using multiple interface materials including Braycote 601EF and Krytox-based greases across a range of thermal operating conditions. In parallel, a coupled numerical Python thermal model was developed to predict temperature distribution throughout the stack while accounting for conduction, radiation, and parasitic heat transfer pathways and effective interface resistance effects. Experimental measurements and numerical predictions showed consistent thermal trends across multiple operating conditions and environmental states. Results also revealed measurable differences between ambient and vacuum thermal behavior, demonstrating the importance of interface resistance, parasitic heat transfer mechanisms, and stack geometry in determining effective thermal performance within layered thermal interfaces. The presented work establishes a foundation for future thermal model correlation efforts and expanded characterization of aerospace thermal interface materials under representative environmental conditions. Future work will focus on the integration of a load cell system to enable controlled pressure-dependent characterization of thermal interface materials under compressive loading. This capability will allow investigation of the influence of contact pressure on effective thermal conductivity, interface resistance, and thermal performance within layered aerospace thermal interfaces under representative operational conditions.

Thermal Development Testing

High altitude reconnaissance aircraft design

A Universities Space Research Association (USRA) sponsored (undergraduate) study is presented on the feasibility and design of a high altitude reconnaissance/research aircraft. The aircraft mission was to carry 1,000-3,000 lb of atmospheric pollutant monitoring equipment for 1-5 hr at an altitude of 100,000-130,000 ft. Three configurations subject to the same mission requirements were studied in detail. The three designs analyzed were the tandem-wing-twin-boom, joined wing, and conventional twin-boom configurations. The performance of the three proposed configurations is presented and shows that high altitude flight is possible with current technology. Different possible propulsion systems were investigated and suggestions are made for further investigation and better optimization of the designs.

D Poladian