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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 NTRS1992

Consulting report on the NASA technology utilization network system

The purposes of this consulting effort are: (1) to evaluate the existing management and production procedures and workflow as they each relate to the successful development, utilization, and implementation of the NASA Technology Utilization Network System (TUNS) database; (2) to identify, as requested by the NASA Project Monitor, the strengths, weaknesses, areas of bottlenecking, and previously unaddressed problem areas affecting TUNS; (3) to recommend changes or modifications of existing procedures as necessary in order to effect corrections for the overall benefit of NASA TUNS database production, implementation, and utilization; and (4) to recommend the addition of alternative procedures, routines, and activities that will consolidate and facilitate the production, implementation, and utilization of the NASA TUNS database.

Hlava, Marjorie M. K.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Analysis of Improved Navigation Data for NASA Near Space Network (NSN) Direct-to-Earth (DTE) Ground Stations

Spacecraft navigation is a complex concept that requires a collaboration between network entities and constant corrective action to be successful in the highly variable environment. NASA’s Near Space Network (NSN), Direct-to-Earth (DTE) ground station team is constantly exploring methods to provide better service to NASA spacecraft, including providing radiometric tracking data, subject to cost constraints. Navigation teams, such as the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Flight Dynamics Facility (FDF), use the tracking data to perform orbit determination to assess where a spacecraft has been, identify where a spacecraft is now, and predict where a spacecraft will be in the future. As NASA plans for more missions beyond low Earth orbit (LEO), there is a need for improved navigation performance which can be directly achieved through improvements in the radiometric tracking data. NASA’s new DTE Ka-band antennas have finer autotrack angle resolution, and the availability of low-cost improved off-the-shelf ground station components, which are involved with producing navigation data. NASA formed a team to provide an assessment of the current NSN, DTE spacecraft navigation service (radiometric tracking) performance baseline with the end goal of defining needed future enhancements to meet the needs for spacecraft above LEO. The communications and navigation community is deriving new techniques in an effort to better service the navigation needs of spacecraft using ground station networks. This paper provides an overview Earth-orbit, direct-to-ground navigation techniques and performance, the development of specifications for new antennas, accuracy of data, spacecraft requirements, accuracy of orbit determination, history of challenges, and considerations for improvements. The discussions in this paper may assist ground station, spacecraft, and mission design teams advance navigation capabilities and more effectively meet requirements.

networks↗
NASA NTRS1982

NASA Deep Space Network operating control

The primary function of the Deep Space Network (DSN) is to provide effective and reliable tracking and data acquisition for planetary and interplanetary space flight missions. This involves providing data to flight project mission operations, accepting commands from mission operations and transmitting the commands to stations and spacecraft, and providing a record of telemetry and command data to mission operations. Also included are network performance monitoring, the generation of predictions for antenna pointing and signal acquisition, network scheduling, and network validation tests. Descriptions are given of the three facilities and six systems of the DSN. Also described are interfaces, automation and standardized procedures, and discrepancy reporting. It is pointed out that the greatest challenge facing the DSN is the implementation of NASA's Network Consolidation Program, which is scheduled to be completed in 1986. The objectives of this program are enumerated.

Weisman, W. D.↗
NASA NTRS2013

Challenges of Integrating NASAs Space Communication Networks

The transition to new technology, innovative ideas, and resistance to change is something that every industry experiences. Recent examples of this shift are changing to using robots in the assembly line construction of automobiles or the increasing use of robotics for medical procedures. Most often this is done with cost-reduction in mind, though ease of use for the customer is also a driver. All industries experience the push to increase efficiency of their systems; National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the commercial space industry are no different. NASA space communication services are provided by three separately designed, developed, maintained, and operated communications networks known as the Deep Space Network (DSN), Near Earth Network (NEN) and Space Network (SN). The Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Program is pursuing integration of these networks and has performed a variety of architecture trade studies to determine what integration options would be the most effective in achieving a unified user mission support organization, and increase the use of common operational equipment and processes. The integration of multiple, legacy organizations and existing systems has challenges ranging from technical to cultural. The existing networks are the progeny of the very first communication and tracking capabilities implemented by NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) more than 50 years ago and have been customized to the needs of their respective user mission base. The technical challenges to integrating the networks are many, though not impossible to overcome. The three distinct networks provide the same types of services, with customizable data rates, bandwidth, frequencies, and so forth. The differences across the networks have occurred in effort to satisfy their user missions' needs. Each new requirement has made the networks more unique and harder to integrate. The cultural challenges, however, have proven to be a significant obstacle for integration. Over the past few decades of use, user missions and network personnel alike have grown accustomed to the processes by which services are provided by the NASA communications and navigation networks. The culture established by each network has created several challenges that need to be overcome in order to effectively integrate the networks. As with any change, there has been resistance, an apprehension to explore automation of existing processes, and a working environment that attempts to indirectly influence change without mandating compliance. Overcoming technical and cultural challenges is essential to successfully integrating the networks and although the challenges are numerous, the integration of the networks promises a more efficient space communications network for NASA and its customers, as well as potential long-term cost savings to the agency. This paper, Challenges of Integrating NASA Legacy Communications Networks, will provide a brief overview of the current NASA space communications networks as well as the an overview of the process implemented while performing the SCaN Trade Studies and an introduction to the requirements driving integration of the SCaN Networks. This paper will describe in detail the challenges experienced, both technical and cultural, while working with NASA space communications network-specific personnel. The paper will also cover lessons learned during the performance of architecture trade studies and provide recommendations for ways to improve the process.

Reinert, Jessica M.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Achieving Fast Operational Intelligence in NASA's Deep Space Network Through Complex Event Processing

NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN) is a complex, global project, in which the expertise of human operators remain crucial for its successful operation. To find ways to save costs in operations and to improve its services, a number of modernization efforts are underway in the DSN. One such effort is a research and technology development task at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory that is investigating the use of complex event processing (CEP) for intelligent assessment of situations, trend analysis, and advanced automation. The technology leverages the significant business intelligence (BI) and data science advancements made in the enterprise industries over the last several years. The open source big data processing engine Apache SparkTM and the high-throughput, distributed messaging system Apache Kafka form the core of the DSN Complex Event Processing (DCEP) framework. This paper discusses the system engineering perspective of why achieving efficient, lower-cost operations in the DSN is a challenging problem, how the DCEP system handles the use cases that help realize intelligent operations, and how this solution fits into the overall model of the planned DSN Follow-the- Sun Operations (FtSO).

Choi, Joshua S.↗
NASA NTRS1982

NASA Deep Space Network Operations Scheduling

The functioning of the Deep Space Network Operations Scheduling, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, CA is reviewed. The primary objectives of the Operations Scheduling are: to schedule the worldwide global allocation of ground communications, tracking facilities, and equipment; and to provide deep space telecommunications for command, tracking, telemetry, and control in support of flight mission operations and tests. Elements of the earth set are Deep Space Stations (DSS) which provide the telecommunications link between the earth and spacecraft; NASA Communications Network; Network Data Processing Area; Network Operations Control Area which provides operational direction to the DSS; Mission Control and Computing systems; and Mission Support areas which provide flight control of the spacecraft. Elements of the space set include mission priorities and requirements which determine the spacecraft queue for allocating network resources. Scheduling is discussed in terms of long-range (3 years), mid-range (8 weeks), and short-range (2 weeks).

Enari, D. M.↗
NASA NTRS2019

NASA Near Earth Network (NEN) DVB-S2 Demonstration Testing for Enhancing Data Rates for CubeSat/SmallSat Missions

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) CubeSat/SmallSat missions are expected to grow rapidly in the next decade. As the number of spacecraft on a ground network grows, employing higher data rates could reduce loading by reducing the contact time per day required. CubeSats also need to communicate directly to earth from space from longer distances than low earth orbit (LEO). These challenges motivate the need for bandwidth and power efficient modulation and coding techniques. Today, Digital Video Broadcast, Satellite Second Generation (DVB-S2) is a communications standard for larger satellites. DVB-S2 uses power and bandwidth efficient modulation and coding techniques to deliver performance approaching Radio Frequency (RF) channel theoretical limits. NASA’s Near Earth Network (NEN) conducted a demonstration test at the Wallops Flight Facility in spring of 2019 for CubeSat/SmallSat missions for enhancing data rate performance in NASA’s S-band 5 MHz channel. The goal is to upgrade NEN with DVB-S2 to increase science data return and enable greater numbers of CubeSats. This paper presents the NEN DVB-S2 demonstration testing objectives and performance measurement results. Results of the demonstration testing are compared with evolving SmallSat/CubeSat radios. DVB-S2 S-band transmitter development concepts for SmallSats/CubeSats and use of DVB-S2 by future missions are discussed.

Wong, Yen↗
NASA NTRS1987

NASA JSC neural network survey results

A survey of Artificial Neural Systems in support of NASA's (Johnson Space Center) Automatic Perception for Mission Planning and Flight Control Research Program was conducted. Several of the world's leading researchers contributed papers containing their most recent results on artificial neural systems. These papers were broken into categories and descriptive accounts of the results make up a large part of this report. Also included is material on sources of information on artificial neural systems such as books, technical reports, software tools, etc.

Greenwood, Dan↗
NASA NTRS2007

Advances in Ground Transmitters for the NASA Deep Space Network

The Deep Space Network (DSN), managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA, is equipped with multiple microwave transmitters ranging in average radiated power from 200 W to 400 kW. The transmitters are used for routine or emergency communication with spacecraft, for navigation, and for radio science tasks. The latest advances in transmitter engineering were implemented in a new generation of 20-kW dual-band transmitters developed for the DSN 34-m beam waveguide antennas. Innovations include additional X-band communication capability for near Earth missions, new control algorithms, automated calibration, improved and expanded computerized monitoring and diagnostics, reduced cabling, and improved maintainability. The innovations were very beneficial for the DSN 'overload' during the Mars 2003/2004 missions and will benefit other missions throughout the next decade. This paper describes the current design of the new transmitters and possible future developments.

microwaves↗
NASA NTRS2008

Integrated Network Architecture for NASA's Orion Missions

NASA is planning a series of short and long duration human and robotic missions to explore the Moon and then Mars. The series of missions will begin with a new crew exploration vehicle (called Orion) that will initially provide crew exchange and cargo supply support to the International Space Station (ISS) and then become a human conveyance for travel to the Moon. The Orion vehicle will be mounted atop the Ares I launch vehicle for a series of pre-launch tests and then launched and inserted into low Earth orbit (LEO) for crew exchange missions to the ISS. The Orion and Ares I comprise the initial vehicles in the Constellation system of systems that later includes Ares V, Earth departure stage, lunar lander, and other lunar surface systems for the lunar exploration missions. These key systems will enable the lunar surface exploration missions to be initiated in 2018. The complexity of the Constellation system of systems and missions will require a communication and navigation infrastructure to provide low and high rate forward and return communication services, tracking services, and ground network services. The infrastructure must provide robust, reliable, safe, sustainable, and autonomous operations at minimum cost while maximizing the exploration capabilities and science return. The infrastructure will be based on a network of networks architecture that will integrate NASA legacy communication, modified elements, and navigation systems. New networks will be added to extend communication, navigation, and timing services for the Moon missions. Internet protocol (IP) and network management systems within the networks will enable interoperability throughout the Constellation system of systems. An integrated network architecture has developed based on the emerging Constellation requirements for Orion missions. The architecture, as presented in this paper, addresses the early Orion missions to the ISS with communication, navigation, and network services over five phases of a mission: pre-launch, launch from T0 to T+6.5 min, launch from T+6.5 min to 12 min, in LEO for rendezvous and docking with ISS, and return to Earth. The network of networks that supports the mission during each of these phases and the concepts of operations during those phases are developed as a high level operational concepts graphic called OV-1, an architecture diagram type described in the Department of Defense Architecture Framework (DoDAF). Additional operational views on organizational relationships (OV-4), operational activities (OV-5), and operational node connectivity (OV-2) are also discussed. The system interfaces view (SV-1) that provides the communication and navigation services to Orion is also included and described. The challenges of architecting integrated network architecture for the NASA Orion missions are highlighted.

Bhasin, Kul B.↗
NASA NTRS2013

NASA Facts: Edison Demonstration of Spacecraft Networks (EDSN) Mission

NASA's Edison Demonstration of Smallsat Networks (EDSN) mission will launch and deploy a swarm of 8 cubesats into a loose formation approximately 500 km above Earth. EDSN will develop technology to send multiple, advanced, yet affordable nanosatellites into space with cross-link communications to enable a wide array of scientific, commercial, and academic research. Other goals of the mission include lowering the cost and shortening the development time for future small spacecraft.

Ord, Stephen↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA Delay Tolerant Networks: Operational, Evolving, an Ready for Expansion

The future of humanity’s presence beyond Earth depends on the successful commercialization of space. For commercialization to succeed, companies need cost-efficient architectures to support their business models and minimize risks for human capital, design, development, and operations. An ongoing challenge to any space enterprise is the reality that terrestrial network technologies are insufficient to provide reliable communications between assets in space. Whether you need to ensure your valuable data is safely transmitted to the ground or reliably delivered between platforms in orbit, ensuring data integrity over intermittent communication links is a necessity. Current solutions to space communications rely heavily on manual recording, storing, and retrieval of data from spacecraft. The current standard in space communication protocols, Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) Space Packet standard, is reliant on inflexible network architectures based around mission-critical infrastructure to ensure data delivery. However, by automating the recording, storing, retrieval, and verification of data with Delay Tolerant Networks (DTN), the operator is freed from the dependence on manual data management and expensive mission critical infrastructure. NASA has been developing delay tolerant systems since the late 1990’s. Multiple DTN implementations have been established during that time, each suited to different use cases. Most notably, the DTN deployment for the International Space Station (ISS) includes demonstration of two DTN technologies: Interplanetary Overlay Network (ION) and Delay Tolerant Network Marshall Enterprise (DTNME). Beyond ISS, there are even more NASA DTN deployments being considered. Now that DTN implementations are maturing, it is appropriate to reflect upon these decades of work, review the integration and performance of the existing ISS deployment, and explore the future possibilities for DTN deployment industry-wide. The ISS DTN deployment is a complex architecture consisting of different DTN implementations for the onboard and ground network environments. The ION DTN implementation is being used in the on-board network. The Huntsville Operations Support Center (HOSC) DTN implementation, DTNME, is used by the ground network supporting ISS and will soon be a second onboard gateway too. The two implementations work cooperatively to provide high fidelity data services to flight operations users and payload developers across the globe. Though the two implementations yield a quality service, limitations are evident. Data rate, data storage, and device management are constrained by the services themselves and the complex nature of the deployment. Evolution of operations concepts will improve system capabilities and stability, but significant improvement will require additional development to the implementations themselves and to the overall deployment architecture. Taking advantage of the ongoing development and operation of the ISS DTN service will be central to the success of the future evolutions of NASA DTN deployments while demonstrating the benefits of DTN’s low-cost reliable data communication protocols for the growing commercial space industry. A broad effort on DTN integration and support is necessary to promote expansion beyond existing applications. NASA is developing several useful DTN implementations across a number of different systems: ION, DTNME, High-Rate DTN (HDTN), Bundle Protocol Library (BPLib), and others. To prevent fragmentation, DTN implementation teams need to communicate, collaborate, and integrate with one another to build a solid operational foundation for new DTN deployments. The establishment of a group that can assist new DTN users with understanding the purpose of each DTN implementation, provide best practices, and serve as a general knowledge base is paramount. Potential use of DTN on Gateway and other future NASA missions further drives the need for streamlined communication between DTN implementation teams. A well-integrated and highly engaged NASA DTN working group should help provide system architects the best DTN solutions for future commercial space efforts. This paper will first review the history of DTN implementations, explore the shortcoming of current space networking solutions given available limits in technology, and therefore establish the need for Delay Tolerant Networking in space communications. Secondly, the authors will explore NASA’s array of DTN implementations and highlight their usefulness to space applications. Thirdly, this paper will establish general DTN implementation distinguishing factors. Fourthly, the authors will discuss attempts to create a generic DTN comparison matrix, and the authors will review potential future topics in DTN innovation and collaboration, highlighting several key future efforts. Finally, this paper will describe how the institution of a NASA DTN Working Group will benefit DTN adoption across the governmental and commercial space sector. The goal of this paper is to encourage enthusiasm for DTN, share strategies for improving DTN on both current and future applications, promote the collaboration of DTN implementation groups within the international space operations community, and open the conversations about DTN, priorities, complexities, and innovation to the wider spaceflight industry.

DTN↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA Delay Tolerant Networks: Operational, Evolving, an Ready for Expansion

The future of humanity’s presence beyond Earth depends on the successful commercialization of space. For commercialization to succeed, companies need cost-efficient architectures to support their business models and minimize risks for human capital, design, development, and operations. An ongoing challenge to any space enterprise is the reality that terrestrial network technologies are insufficient to provide reliable communications between assets in space. Whether you need to ensure your valuable data is safely transmitted to the ground or reliably delivered between platforms in orbit, ensuring data integrity over intermittent communication links is a necessity. Current solutions to space communications rely heavily on manual recording, storing, and retrieval of data from spacecraft. The current standard in space communication protocols, Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) Space Packet standard, is reliant on inflexible network architectures based around mission-critical infrastructure to ensure data delivery. However, by automating the recording, storing, retrieval, and verification of data with Delay Tolerant Networks (DTN), the operator is freed from the dependence on manual data management and expensive mission critical infrastructure. NASA has been developing delay tolerant systems since the late 1990’s. Multiple DTN implementations have been established during that time, each suited to different use cases. Most notably, the DTN deployment for the International Space Station (ISS) includes demonstration of two DTN technologies: Interplanetary Overlay Network (ION) and Delay Tolerant Network Marshall Enterprise (DTNME). Beyond ISS, there are even more NASA DTN deployments being considered. Now that DTN implementations are maturing, it is appropriate to reflect upon these decades of work, review the integration and performance of the existing ISS deployment, and explore the future possibilities for DTN deployment industry-wide. The ISS DTN deployment is a complex architecture consisting of different DTN implementations for the onboard and ground network environments. The ION DTN implementation is being used in the on-board network. The Huntsville Operations Support Center (HOSC) DTN implementation, DTNME, is used by the ground network supporting ISS and will soon be a second onboard gateway too. The two implementations work cooperatively to provide high fidelity data services to flight operations users and payload developers across the globe. Though the two implementations yield a quality service, limitations are evident. Data rate, data storage, and device management are constrained by the services themselves and the complex nature of the deployment. Evolution of operations concepts will improve system capabilities and stability, but significant improvement will require additional development to the implementations themselves and to the overall deployment architecture. Taking advantage of the ongoing development and operation of the ISS DTN service will be central to the success of the future evolutions of NASA DTN deployments while demonstrating the benefits of DTN’s low-cost reliable data communication protocols for the growing commercial space industry. A broad effort on DTN integration and support is necessary to promote expansion beyond existing applications. NASA is developing several useful DTN implementations across a number of different systems: ION, DTNME, High-Rate DTN (HDTN), Bundle Protocol Library (BPLib), and others. To prevent fragmentation, DTN implementation teams need to communicate, collaborate, and integrate with one another to build a solid operational foundation for new DTN deployments. The establishment of a group that can assist new DTN users with understanding the purpose of each DTN implementation, provide best practices, and serve as a general knowledge base is paramount. Potential use of DTN on Gateway and other future NASA missions further drives the need for streamlined communication between DTN implementation teams. A well-integrated and highly engaged NASA DTN working group should help provide system architects the best DTN solutions for future commercial space efforts. This paper will first review the history of DTN implementations, explore the shortcoming of current space networking solutions given available limits in technology, and therefore establish the need for Delay Tolerant Networking in space communications. Secondly, the authors will explore NASA’s array of DTN implementations and highlight their usefulness to space applications. Thirdly, this paper will establish general DTN implementation distinguishing factors. Fourthly, the authors will discuss attempts to create a generic DTN comparison matrix, and the authors will review potential future topics in DTN innovation and collaboration, highlighting several key future efforts. Finally, this paper will describe how the institution of a NASA DTN Working Group will benefit DTN adoption across the governmental and commercial space sector. The goal of this paper is to encourage enthusiasm for DTN, share strategies for improving DTN on both current and future applications, promote the collaboration of DTN implementation groups within the international space operations community, and open the conversations about DTN, priorities, complexities, and innovation to the wider spaceflight industry.

DTN↗
NASA NTRS2010

Service Quality Assessment for NASA's Deep Space Network: No Longer a Luxury

When NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN) was established almost a half century ago, the concept of computer-based service delivery was impractical or infeasible due to the state of information technology As a result, the interface the DSN exposes to its customers tends to be equipment-centric, lacking a clear demarcation between the DSN and the mission operation systems (MOS) of its customers. As the number of customers has continued to increase, the need to improve efficiency and minimize costs has grown. This growth has been the impetus for a DSN transformation from an equipment-forrent provider to a provider of standard services. Service orientation naturally leads to requirements for service management, including proactive measurement of service quality and service levels as well as the efficiency of internal processes and the performance of service provisioning systems. DSN System Engineering has surveyed industry offerings to determine if commercial successes in decision support and Business Intelligence (BI) solutions can be applied to the DSN. A pilot project was initiated, and subsequently executed to determine the feasibility of repurposing a commercial Business Intelligence platform for engineering analysis in conjunction with the platform's intended business reporting and analysis functions.

Operations Efficiency↗
NASA NTRS1991

Analysis of NASA communications (Nascom) II network protocols and performance

The NASA Communications (Nascom) Division of the Mission Operations and Data Systems Directorate is to undertake a major initiative to develop the Nascom II (NII) network to achieve its long-range service objectives for operational data transport to support the Space Station Freedom Program, the Earth Observing System, and other projects. NII is the Nascom ground communications network being developed to accommodate the operational traffic of the mid-1990s and beyond. The authors describe various baseline protocol architectures based on current and evolving technologies. They address the internetworking issues suggested for reliable transfer of data over heterogeneous segments. They also describe the NII architecture, topology, system components, and services. A comparative evaluation of the current and evolving technologies was made, and suggestions for further study are described. It is shown that the direction of the NII configuration and the subsystem component design will clearly depend on the advances made in the area of broadband integrated services.

Omidyar, Guy C.↗