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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 NTRS1975

The Skylab results; Proceedings of the Twentieth Annual Meeting, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Calif., August 20-22, 1974. Parts 1 & 2

A comprehensive series of papers on the Skylab program, covering integration and testing, operations support, living and working in space, Skylab technology, the role of the Kennedy Space Center in Skylab, the Earth Resources Experiment Package (EREP), the student science program, Apollo Telescope Mount experiments, corollary experiments, and life-sciences data. The topics include: Skylab contamination control; management and control of the missions; extravehicular activity; the repair of major systems elements on Skylab; crew motion disturbances; the design and operation of the Skylab attitude and pointing control system; the performance of solar shields; Comet Kohoutek observations from Skylab; the Skylab food system; and an evaluation of life in Skylab from a medical viewpoint. Individual items are announced in this issue.

Schneider, W. C.↗

NASA NTRS2014

Low-Cost, Class D Testing of Spacecraft Photovoltaic Systems Can Reduce Risk

The end-to-end verification of a spacecraft photovoltaic power generation system requires light! Specifically, the standard practice for doing so is the Large Area Pulsed Solar Simulation (LAPSS). A LAPSS test can characterize a photovoltaic system's efficiency via its response to rapidly applied impulses of simulated sunlight. However, a Class D program on a constrained budget and schedule may not have the resources to ship an entire satellite for a LAPSS test alone. Such was the case with the Lunar Atmospheric and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) program, which was also averse to the risk of hardware damage during shipment. When the Electrical Power System (EPS) team was denied a spacecraft-level LAPSS test, the lack of an end-to-end power generation test elevated to a project-level technical risk. The team pulled together very limited resources to not only eliminate the risk, but build a process to monitor the health of the system through mission operations. We discuss a process for performing a low-cost, end-to-end test of the LADEE photovoltaic system. The approach combines system-level functional test, panel-level performance results, and periodic inspection (and repair) up until launch. Following launch, mission operations tools are utilized to assess system performance based on a scant amount of data. The process starts in manufacturing at the subcontractor. The panel manufacturer provides functional test and LAPSS data on each individual panel. We apply an initial assumption that the per-panel performance is sufficient to meet the power generation requirements. The manufacturer's data is also carried as the performance allocation for each panel during EPS system modeling and initial mission operations. During integration and test, a high-power, professional theater lamp system provides simulated sunlight to each panel on the spacecraft, thereby permitting a true end-to-end system test. A passing test results in a step response to nearly full-rated current at the appropriate solar array switch in the power system. A metal-halide bulb, infrared imagers, and onboard spacecraft measurements are utilized to minimize risk of thermal damage during test. Data is provided to support test results for both passing and marginal panels. Prior to encapsulation in the launch vehicle, each panel is inspected for damage by the panel manufacturer. Cracked cells or other damage is amended on-site. Because the photovoltaic test system is inexpensive and portable, each repaired panel can be re-verified immediately. Post-launch, the photovoltaic system is again characterized for per-panel deviations from the manufacturer's performance test. This proved especially tricky as the LADEE spacecraft performs only one current measurement on the entire array. The algorithm for Matlab tools to assess panel performance based on spacecraft attitude is discussed. While not as precise and comprehensive as LAPSS, the LADEE approach leverages minimal resources into an ongoing assessment program that can be applied through numerous stages of the mission. The project takes a true Class D approach in assessing the technical value of a spacecraft level performance test versus the programmatic risk of shipping the spacecraft to another facility. The resources required are a fraction of that for a LAPSS test, and is easy to repeat. Further, the test equipment can be handed down to future projects without building an on-site facility.

photovoltaic↗

NASA NTRS1976

Agricultural resources investigations in northern Italy and southern France (Agreste Project)

The author has identified the following significant results. The vegetation structure of rice was investigated and interpreted in dynamic terms as a significant factor governing the distribution of solar energy thoughout the canopy and therefore conditions the final yield. Radiometric characteristics of rice culture were described for various stages of development in relation to the vegetation structure in an attempt to establish correlations between data of total biomass and of grain yield. Qualitative classification results were encouraging although the discrimination achieved was far from complete.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS2015

Robotic Missions to Small Bodies and Their Potential Contributions to Human Exploration and Planetary Defense

Introduction: Robotic missions to small bodies will directly address aspects of NASA's Asteroid Initiative and will contribute to future human exploration and planetary defense. The NASA Asteroid Initiative is comprised of two major components: the Grand Challenge and the Asteroid Mission. The first component, the Grand Challenge, focuses on protecting Earth's population from asteroid impacts by detecting potentially hazardous objects with enough warning time to either prevent them from impacting the planet, or to implement civil defense procedures. The Asteroid Mission involves sending astronauts to study and sample a near-Earth asteroid (NEA) prior to conducting exploration missions of the Martian system, which includes Phobos and Deimos. The science and technical data obtained from robotic precursor missions that investigate the surface and interior physical characteristics of an object will help identify the pertinent physical properties that will maximize operational efficiency and reduce mission risk for both robotic assets and crew operating in close proximity to, or at the surface of, a small body. These data will help fill crucial strategic knowledge gaps (SKGs) concerning asteroid physical characteristics that are relevant for human exploration considerations at similar small body destinations. These data can also be applied for gaining an understanding of pertinent small body physical characteristics that would also be beneficial for formulating future impact mitigation procedures. Small Body Strategic Knowledge Gaps: For the past several years NASA has been interested in identifying the key SKGs related to future human destinations. These SKGs highlight the various unknowns and/or data gaps of targets that the science and engineering communities would like to have filled in prior to committing crews to explore the Solar System. An action team from the Small Bodies Assessment Group (SBAG) was formed specifically to identify the small body SKGs under the direction of the Human Exploration and Operations Missions Directorate (HEOMD), given NASA's recent interest in NEAs and the Martian moons as potential human destinations. The action team organized the SKGs into four broad themes: 1) Identify human mission targets; 2) Understand how to work on and interact with the small body surface; 3) Understand the small body environment and its potential risk/benefit to crew, systems, and operational assets; and 4) Understand the small body resource potential. Of these four SKG themes, the first three have significant overlap with planetary defense considerations. The data obtained from investigations of small body physical characteristics under these three themes can be directly applicable to planetary defense initiatives. Conclusions: Missions to investigate small bodies can address small body strategic knowledge gaps and contribute to the overall success for human exploration missions to asteroids and the Martian moons. In addition, such reconnaissance of small bodies can also provide a wealth of information relevant to the science and planetary defense of NEAs.

Abell, Paul A.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

RadLab and the Environmental Data Application Dashboard: Graphical and Programming Interfaces for Interrogation of Space Telemetry Data

Sensors on the International Space Station (ISS) and multiple spacecraft elsewhere in Earth orbit and in deep space continuously monitor and collect environmental data, transmitting this information back to Earth. These data include ionizing radiation and, on the ISS, CO2, relative humidity levels, and temperature, and are of great importance to space biology research. Ionizing radiation in particular has been established in ground-based experiments as being correlated with increased risk of carcinogenesis and cardiovascular and neurological effects. Looking ahead to future long duration crewed missions beyond low Earth orbit, the ability to study how factors including CO2 levels, light cycle, temperature modulate the response to ionizing radiation and microgravity is essential. To date, access to these data has been fragmented across space agencies, spacecraft, and databases. To address this issue, NASA’s Open Science Data Repository (osdr.nasa.gov) has developed two Web applications: the Environmental Data Application (EDA) and a radiation-specific RadLab. Each consists of an API (application programming interface) and an associated GUI (graphical user interface) that provide single points of access to the data. To date, OSDR has focused on the sensors from payloads and radiation detectors located on the ISS. The Web applications process telemetry information and associated data, such as spacecraft location and orientation, from multiple international databases. The applications’ request syntax enables users to interrogate these data by craft, sensor type, time range, radiation type (galactic cosmic rays, solar particle events, the contribution of the South Atlantic Anomaly), facilitating arbitrary comparisons of original source data at varying time resolutions. The applications provide programmatic access for use in computational pipelines and GUIs for data visualization and exploration, making these data FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable), complementing the biological data contained in OSDR, and providing the space science community with a valuable resource for scientific analyses.

radiation↗

NASA NTRS1992

Propellant production and useful materials: Hardware data from components and the systems

During the past year significant progress included: a major breakthrough in oxygen production through discs (instead of tubes) that resulted in two orders-of-magnitude increase in the yield rates, proving that oxygen production from any iron-bearing silicate (avoiding costly beneficiation) in lunar in-situ resource utilization (ISRU); construction of a half-scale robotic soil processor; production of melt-spun fibers in a solar furnace; and the culmination of first-stage research in the construction (and delivery to NASA LaRC) of a self-contained portable oxygen plant that incorporates the first generation ISRU technologies developed at UA SERC. In addition, further reductions in mass and power needs were achieved in two smaller oxygen plants, which, however, have far greater production rates. SERC continued to attract bright students both at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and several area high school students through the Professional Internship Program (PIP) administered by the local school district. Invited lectures at elementary schools continue to draw enthusiastic response. Another important first was the creation of the Freshman Colloquium, 'Space in Our Future, and Our Future in Space,' geared toward women and minority students. This course proved to be a success, with more than one-half of the enrollment composed of women. In recognition of these important contributions, the author was appointed to the NRC Committee on Space Science Technologies.

Ramohalli, Kumar↗

NASA NTRS2020

Georgia Energy III Project Summary - Identifying Habitat and Solar Site Conflict in Georgia by Developing an Environmental Sensitivity Public Mapping Too

The rapid expansion of the solar industry across the state of Georgia has a detrimental effect on the habitats of keystone and threatened species, such as the gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) and the American black bear (Ursus americanus). NASA DEVELOP collaborated with the Georgia Chapter of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources to continue the research from two previous NASA DEVELOP projects in 2017. The team worked to assess the conflict between solar suitability and environmentally sensitive areas with the Land-Use Conflict Identification Strategy (LUCIS) and to determine how conflict has changed since the 2017 analysis. The project utilized Terra/Aqua Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) satellite data and other ancillary datasets to conduct and compare a general statewide LUCIS analysis from 2017 to 2019 and to complete an in-depth LUCIS analysis of Georgia’s fastest-growing solar counties—Taylor, Twiggs, Decatur, and Brooks. The analysis indicated that between 2017 and 2019, the entire state saw high conflict areas increase by 38%. Project partners will use these findings to target areas for promotion of conservation policy and education efforts. The team also provided the TNC with a publicly available web application, called the Environmental Sensitivity Mapping Tool (ESMT), that can be updated as new data are released. The ESMT will be used to educate interest groups, such as solar developers and conservationists, to help them recognize and mitigate the negative effects of solar development on the environment.

DEVELOP Project Summary↗

NASA NTRS1979

An evaluation of the NASA Tech House, including live-in test results, volume 1

The NASA Tech House was designed and constructed at the NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia, to demonstrate and evaluate new technology potentially applicable for conservation of energy and resources and for improvements in safety and security in a single-family residence. All technology items, including solar-energy systems and a waste-water-reuse system, were evaluated under actual living conditions for a 1 year period with a family of four living in the house in their normal lifestyle. Results are presented which show overall savings in energy and resources compared with requirements for a defined similar conventional house under the same conditions. General operational experience and performance data are also included for all the various items and systems of technology incorporated into the house design.

Abbott, I. H. A.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Regional applicability and potential of salt-gradient solar ponds in the United States. Volume 2: Detailed report

A comprehensive assessment of the regional applicability and potential of salt-gradient solar ponds in the United States is provided. The assessment is focused on the general characteristics of twelve defined geographic regions. Natural resources essential to solar ponds are surveyed. Meteorological and hydrogeological conditions affecting pond performance are examined. Potentially favorable pond sites are identified. Regional thermal and electrical energy output from solar ponds is calculated. Selected pond design cases are studied. Five major potential market sectors are evaluated in terms of technical and energy-consumption characteristics, and solar-pond applicability and potential. Relevant pond system data and financial factors are analyzed. Solar-pond energy costs are compared with conventional energy costs. The assessment concludes that, excepting Alaska, ponds are applicable in all regions for at least two market sectors. Total solar pond energy supply potential in the five market sectors examined is estimated to be 8.94 quads/yr by the year 2000, approximately 7.2% of the projected total national energy demand.

Lin, E. I. H.↗

NASA NTRS2018

Calculation Method for Predicting AM0 Isc from High Altitude Aircraft Flight Data

High altitude aircraft have been used by by the space photovoltaic (PV) community to determine the Air Mass Zero (AM0) performance of solar cells for over fifty years. Relative to in-space measurement opportunities, these methods are generally cheaper and more readily available. The data obtained, however, must be corrected for residual atmospheric effects. This paper details the correction method currently being used for the calculation of the AM0 short-circuit current (Isc) for photovoltaic devices flown on the NASA ER-2 (Earth Resources-2) calibration platform. This method would also be applicable to any other high altitude method where Isc data is collected over a sufficiently large range of altitudes.

Myers, Matthew G.↗

NASA NTRS2017

NASA's Solar System Treks: Online Portals for Planetary Mapping and Modeling

NASA's Solar System Treks are a suite of web-based of lunar and planetary mapping and modeling portals providing interactive visualization and analysis tools enabling mission planners, planetary scientists, students, and the general public to access mapped lunar data products from past and current missions for the Moon, Mars, Vesta, and more. New portals for additional planetary bodies are being planned. This presentation will recap significant enhancements to these toolsets during the past year and look ahead to future features and releases. Moon Trek is a new portal replacing its predecessor, the Lunar Mapping and Modeling Portal (LMMP), that significantly upgrades and builds upon the capabilities of LMMP. It features greatly improved navigation, 3D visualization, fly-overs, performance, and reliability. Additional data products and tools continue to be added. These include both generalized products as well as polar data products specifically targeting potential sites for NASA's Resource Prospector mission as well as for missions being planned by NASA's international partners. The latest release of Mars Trek includes new tools and data products requested by NASA's Planetary Science Division to support site selection and analysis for Mars Human Landing Exploration Zone Sites. Also being given very high priority by NASA Headquarters is Mars Trek's use as a means to directly involve the public in upcoming missions, letting them explore the areas the agency is focusing upon, understand what makes these sites so fascinating, follow the selection process, and get caught up in the excitement of exploring Mars. Phobos Trek, the latest effort in the Solar System Treks suite, is being developed in coordination with the International Phobos/Deimos Landing Site Working Group, with landing site selection and analysis for JAXA's MMX (Martian Moons eXploration) mission as a primary driver.

Day, Brian↗

NASA NTRS2008

Spacecraft Design Thermal Control Subsystem

The Thermal Control Subsystem engineers task is to maintain the temperature of all spacecraft components, subsystems, and the total flight system within specified limits for all flight modes from launch to end-of-mission. In some cases, specific stability and gradient temperature limits will be imposed on flight system elements. The Thermal Control Subsystem of "normal" flight systems, the mass, power, control, and sensing systems mass and power requirements are below 10% of the total flight system resources. In general the thermal control subsystem engineer is involved in all other flight subsystem designs.

Jupiter Icy Moon Orbiter (JIMO)↗

NASA NTRS1978

Optical characteristics of the earth's surface and atmosphere from the point of view of the remote sensing of natural resources: Review of the contemporary status of the problem

Widely used remote probing methods, and especially the multispectral method, for studying the earth from aerospace platforms necessitate the systematization and accumulation of data on the relationships between remote observations and measured parameters and characteristic properties and conditions of phenomena on the earth's surface. Data were presented on the optical characteristics of natural objects which arise during observations of these objects over a wide spectral interval which encompasses solar radiation reflected by the object as well as the object's inherent thermal radiation. The influence of the earth's atmosphere on remote measurements and several problems in simulation and calculation are discussed.

Tarnopolskiy, V. I.↗

NASA NTRS2004

A Comparison of Transportation Systems for Human Missions to Mars

There are many ways to send humans to Mars. Credible technical reports can be traced to the 1950's. More recently, NASA has funded major studies that depict a broad variety of trajectories, technologies, stay times, and costs. Much of this data is still valid with direct application to today's exploration planning. This paper presents results comparing these studies with particular emphasis on the in-space transportation aspects of the mission. Specifically, comparisons are made on propulsion systems used for getting the crew and mission equipment from Earth orbit to Mars orbit, descending and ascending from the surface, and returning to Earth orbit. Areas of comparison for each of these phases include crew size, mission mass, propellant mass, delta v, specific impulse, transit time, surface stay time, aero-braking, and others. Data is analyzed to demonstrate either strong trends toward particular technologies or diverging solutions.

Bipropellants↗

NASA NTRS2014

Ionosphere Plasma State Determination in Low Earth Orbit from International Space Station Plasma Monitor

A plasma diagnostic package is deployed on the International Space Station (ISS). The system - a Floating Potential Measurement Unit (FPMU) - is used by NASA to monitor the electrical floating potential of the vehicle to assure astronaut safety during extravehicular activity. However, data from the unit also reflects the ionosphere state and seems to represent an unutilized scientific resource in the form of an archive of scientific plasma state data. The unit comprises a Floating Potential probe and two Langmuir probes. There is also an unused but active plasma impedance probe. The data, at one second cadence, are collected, typically for a two week period surrounding extravehicular activity events. Data is also collected any time a visiting vehicle docks with ISS and also when any large solar events occur. The telemetry system is unusual because the package is mounted on a television camera stanchion and its data is impressed on a video signal that is transmitted to the ground and streamed by internet to two off center laboratory locations. The data quality has in the past been challenged by weaknesses in the integrated ground station and distribution systems. These issues, since mid‐2010, have been largely resolved and the ground stations have been upgraded. Downstream data reduction has been developed using physics based modeling of the electron and ion collecting character in the plasma. Recursive algorithms determine plasma density and temperature from the raw Langmuir probe current voltage sweeps and this is made available in real time for situational awareness. The purpose of this paper is to describe and record the algorithm for data reduction and to show that the Floating probe and Langmuir probes are capable of providing long term plasma state measurement in the ionosphere. Geophysical features such as the Appleton anomaly and high latitude modulation at the edge of the Auroral zones are regularly observed in the nearly circular, 51 deg inclined, 400 km altitude ISS orbit. Evidence of waves in the ion collection current data is seen in geographic zones known to exhibit the spread‐F phenomenon. An anomaly in the current collection characteristic of the cylindrical probe appears also too be organized by the geomagnetic field.

Kramer, Leonard↗

NASA NTRS1973

Evaluation of ERTS-1 data applications to geologic mapping, structural analysis and mineral resource inventory of South America with special emphasis on the Andes Mountain region

The author has identified the following significant results. Segerstrom delineated many grabens (down-faulted blocks) not shown on published maps of Argentina nor of South America. The faults that border the grabens are better appreciated in ERTS-1 imagery than on air photos or on the ground because of the masking affect of alluvial fill deposits. In frame no. 1188-13545 a change in local prevailing wind direction from east to southeast is noted in sand streams. In frame no. 1188-13551 it was surprising to see that Solar del Hombre Muerto was covered with water. In November 1971 the investigator has driven across the salt pan several times without wetting his wheels. It was also possible to differentiate the following rock and soil classes: Granites, metamorphic, volcanic rocks, Tertiary and Quaternary clastic deposits and salt pans. Portions of railroads and highways as well as small towns were identified. In frame no. 1188-13551 the Incahuasi Gold Mine and the Tincalayu Borax Mine were located.

Carter, W. D.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Summary results from the NASA Tech House one year live-in

The NASA Tech House was designed and constructed at the Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va., to demonstrate and evaluate new technology potentially applicable for conservation of energy and resources and for improvements in safety and security in a single-family residence. All technology items, including solar energy systems and a waste water reuse system, were evaluated under actual living conditions for a one-year period with a family of four living in the house in their normal life style. Results are presented which show overall savings in energy and resources compared to requirements for a defined similar conventional house under the same conditions. Also included are general operational experience and performance data for all the various items and systems of technology incorporated into the house design.

Hamlet, I. L.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Planetary science questions for the manned exploration of Mars

A major goal of a manned Mars mission is to explore the planet and to investigate scientific questions for which the intensive study of Mars is essential. The systematic exploration of planets was outlined by the National Academy of Science. The nearest analogy to the manned Mars mission is the Apollo program and manned missions to the Moon, but the analogy is limited. The case is argued here that Mars may have to be explored far more systematically than was the pre-Apollo Moon to provide the detailed information necessary if plans are made to use any of the resources available on Mars. Viking missions provided a wealth of information, yet there are great gaps in the fundamental knowledge of essential facts such as the properties of the Martian surface materials and their interaction with the atmosphere. Building on a strong data base of precursor missions, human exploration will allow great leaps in understanding the Martian environment and geologic history and its evolutionary role in the solar system.

Blanchard, Douglas P.↗