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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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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2000

The New Millenium Program: Serving Earth and Space Sciences

NASA has exciting plans for space science and Earth observations during the next decade. A broad range of advanced spacecraft and measurement technologies will be needed to support these plans within the existing budget and schedule constraints. Many of these technology needs are common to both NASA's Office of Earth Science (OES) and Office of Space Sciences (OSS). Even though some breakthrough technologies have been identified to address these needs, project managers have traditionally been reluctant to incorporate them into flight programs because their inherent development risk. To accelerate the infusion of new technologies into its OES and OSS missions, NASA established the New Millennium Program (NMP). This program analyzes the capability needs of these enterprises, identifies candidate technologies to address these needs, incorporates advanced technology suites into validation flights, validates them in the relevant space environment, and then proactively infuses the validated technologies into future missions to enhance their capabilities while reducing their life cycle cost. The NMP employs a cross-enterprise Science Working Group, the NASA Enterprise science and technology roadmaps to define the capabilities needed by future Earth and Space science missions. Additional input from the science community is gathered through open workshops and peer-reviewed NASA Research Announcement (NRAs) for advanced measurement concepts. Technology development inputs from the technology organizations within NASA, other government agencies, federally funded research and development centers (FFRDC's), U.S. industry, and academia are sought to identify breakthrough technologies that might address these needs. This approach significantly extends NASA's technology infrastructure. To complement other flight test programs that develop or validate of individual components, the NMP places its highest priority on system-level validations of technology suites in the relevant space environment. This approach is not needed for all technologies, but it is usually essential to validate advanced system architectures or new measurement concepts. The NMP has recently revised its processes for defining candidate validation flights, and selecting technologies for these flights. The NMP now employs integrated project formulation teams, 'Which include scientists, technologists, and mission planners, to incorporate technology suites into candidate validation flights. These teams develop competing concepts, which can be rigorously evaluated prior to selection for flight. The technology providers for each concept are selected through an open, competitive, process during the project formulation phase. If their concept is selected for flight, they are incorporated into the Project Implementation Team, which develops, integrates, tests, launches, and operates the technology validation flight. Throughout the project implementation phase, the Implementation Team will document and disseminate their validation results to facilitate the infusion of their validated technologies into future OSS and OES science missions. The NMP has successfully launched its first two Deep Space flights for the OSS, and is currently implementing its first two Earth Orbiting flights for the OES. The next OSS and OES flights are currently being defined. Even though these flights are focused on specific Space Science and Earth Science themes, they are designed to validate a range of technologies that could benefit both enterprises, including advanced propulsion, communications, autonomous operations and navigation, multifunctional structures, microelectronics, and advanced instruments. Specific examples of these technologies will be provided in our presentation. The processes developed by the NMP also provide benefits across the Space and Earth Science enterprises. In particular, the extensive, nation-wide technology infrastructure developed by the NMP enhances the access to breakthrough technologies for both enterprises.

Li, Fuk K.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Progress and Status of the 2nd Generation Reusable Launch Vehicle Program

Safe, low-cost space transportation is the key enabler of the commercial development and civil exploration of space. Human space flight remains a hazardous endeavor in spite of advances in aerospace technology. NASA intends to reduce the resources devoted to routine space operations, thus enabling additional science research, technology development, and exploration activities. NASA developed the Integrated Space Transportation Plan (ISTP) to address the needs for space access. ISTP is a balanced and comprehensive plan that embodies strategies for achieving goals for earth-to-orbit and in-space transportation operations. ISTP calls for near-term safety related upgrades to the Space Shuttle, development of a Crew Return Vehicle, a new Space Launch Initiative (SLI), and development of an Aero-Space Base to provide foundation technology for future space systems. NASA formed the SLI to coordinate the development of the 2nd Generation Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) architecture, The SLI is implemented by the 2nd Generation RLV Program Office.

Dumbacher, Daniel L.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Revealing Relationships among Relevant Climate Variables with Information Theory

The primary objective of the NASA Earth-Sun Exploration Technology Office is to understand the observed Earth climate variability, thus enabling the determination and prediction of the climate's response to both natural and human-induced forcing. We are currently developing a suite of computational tools that will allow researchers to calculate, from data, a variety of information-theoretic quantities such as mutual information, which can be used to identify relationships among climate variables, and transfer entropy, which indicates the possibility of causal interactions. Our tools estimate these quantities along with their associated error bars, the latter of which is critical for describing the degree of uncertainty in the estimates. This work is based upon optimal binning techniques that we have developed for piecewise-constant, histogram-style models of the underlying density functions. Two useful side benefits have already been discovered. The first allows a researcher to determine whether there exist sufficient data to estimate the underlying probability density. The second permits one to determine an acceptable degree of round-off when compressing data for efficient transfer and storage. We also demonstrate how mutual information and transfer entropy can be applied so as to allow researchers not only to identify relations among climate variables, but also to characterize and quantify their possible causal interactions.

Knuth, Kevin H.↗
DOE OSTI2017

How the Geothermal Community Upped the Game for Computer Codes

The Geothermal Technologies Office Code Comparison Study brought 11 research institutions together to collaborate on coupled thermal, hydrologic, geomechanical, and geochemical numerical simulators. These codes have the potential to help facilitate widespread geothermal energy development.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Charging and Repositioning Decision Making for Fully Automated Ride-Hailing Fleet

This is the presentation profile for 2020 DOE Vechicle Technologies Office Annual Merit Review. It introduces the research results in the project "Charging and Repositioning Decision Making for Fully Automated Ride-Hailing Fleet". These results come from the work of developing a framework for integrated dispatching and charging management of an autonomous electric vehicle ride-hailing fleet, and a case study in New York City was conducted to investigate the benefits of systematic optimization approach comparing to a heuristic approach.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2021

Why Plan for Utility-Scale Solar?

The Solar@Scale project is a DOE Solar Energy Technologies Office-funded collaboration between the American Planning Association and International City/County Management Association (ICMA) to provide best practices and guidance for local communities in planning for large-scale PV development. As a member of the Solar@Scale advisory committee, I have been asked to present on trends and land use projections for large-scale solar to demonstrate why local governments will likely see growing demand for solar energy development. These slides represent an introduction to projections from NREL's Standard Scenarios, Cambium, LBNL's Utility-Scale Solar report, and other data sources on the level of solar energy development that can be expected across the country.

48 EE - Weatherization and Intergovernmental Progr↗
DOE OSTI2013

Training and Mentoring the Next Generation of Scientists and Engineers to Secure Continuity and Successes of the US DOE's Environmental Remediation Efforts - 13387

The DOE Office of Environmental Management (DOE-EM) oversees one of the largest and most technically challenging cleanup programs in the world. The mission of DOE-EM is to complete the safe cleanup of the environmental legacy from five decades of nuclear weapons development and government-sponsored nuclear energy research. Since 1995, Florida International University's Applied Research Center (FIU-ARC) has supported the DOE-EM mission and provided unique research capabilities to address some of these highly technical and difficult challenges. This partnership has allowed FIU-ARC to create a unique infrastructure that is critical for the training and mentoring of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) students and has exposed many STEM students to 'hands-on' DOE-EM applied research, supervised by the scientists and engineers at ARC. As a result of this successful partnership between DOE and FIU, DOE requested FIU-ARC to create the DOE-FIU Science and Technology Workforce Development Initiative in 2007. This innovative program was established to create a 'pipeline' of minority STEM students trained and mentored to enter DOE's environmental cleanup workforce. The program was designed to help address DOE's future workforce needs by partnering with academic, government and private companies (DOE contractors) to mentor future minority scientists and engineers in the research, development, and deployment of new technologies and processes addressing DOE's environmental cleanup challenges. Since its inception in 2007, the program has trained and mentored 78 FIU STEM minority students. Although, the program has been in existence for only five years, a total of 75 internships have been conducted at DOE National Laboratories, DOE sites, DOE Headquarters and field offices, and DOE contractors. Over 85 DOE Fellows have participated in the Waste Management Symposia since 2008 with a total of 68 student posters and 7 oral presentations given at WM. The DOE Fellows participation at WM has resulted in three Best Student Poster Awards (WM09, WM10, and WM11) and one Best Professional Poster Award (WM09). DOE Fellows have also presented their research at ANS DD and R and ANS Robotics Topical meetings. Moreover, several of our DOE Fellows have already obtained employment with DOE-EM, other federal agencies, DOE contractors. This paper will discuss how DOE Fellows program is training and mentoring FIU STEM students in Department of Energy's Office of Environmental Management technical challenges and research. This training and mentoring has resulted in the development of well trained and polished young scientists and engineers that will become the future workforce in charge of carrying on DOE-EM's environmental cleanup mission. The paper will showcase FIU's DOE Fellows model and highlight some of the applied research the DOE Fellows have conducted at FIU's Applied Research Center and across the Complex by participating in summer internship assignments. This paper will also present and highlight other Fellowships and internships programs sponsored by National Nuclear Security Agency (NNSA), DOE-EM, NRC, Energy (NE), and other federal agencies targeting workforce development. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2016

United States Department of Energy severe accident research following the Fukushima Daiichi accidents

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has played a major role in the U.S. response to the events at Fukushima Daiichi. During the first several weeks following the accident, U.S. assistance efforts were guided by results from a significant and diverse set of analyses. In the months that followed, a coordinated analysis activity aimed at gaining a more thorough understanding of the accident sequence was completed using laboratory-developed, system-level best-estimate accident analysis codes, while a parallel analysis was conducted by U.S. industry. A comparison of predictions for Unit 1 from these two studies indicated significant differences between MAAP and MELCOR results for key plant parameters, such as in-core hydrogen production. On that basis, a crosswalk was completed to determine the key modeling variations that led to these differences. In parallel with these activities, it became clear that there was a need to perform a technology gap evaluation on accident-tolerant components and severe accident analysis methodologies with the goal of identifying any data and/or knowledge gaps that may exist given the current state of light water reactor (LWR) severe accident research and augmented by insights from Fukushima. In addition, there is growing international recognition that data from Fukushima could significantly reduce uncertainties related to severe accident progression, particularly for boiling water reactors. On these bases, a group of U. S. experts in LWR safety and plant operations was convened by the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE) to complete technology gap analysis and Fukushima forensics data needs identification activities. The results from these activities were used as the basis for refining DOE-NE's severe accident research and development (R&D) plan. Finally, this paper provides a high-level review of DOE-sponsored R&D efforts in these areas, including planned activities on accident-tolerant components and accident analysis methods.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗
DOE OSTI2019

Data-driven glass/ceramic science research: Insights from the glass and ceramic and data science/informatics communities

Data-driven science and technology have helped achieve meaningful results in areas such as materials/drug discovery and health care, but efforts to apply high-end data science algorithms to the areas of glass and ceramics are still limited. Many glass and ceramic researchers are interested in enhancing their work by using more data and data analytics to efficiently develop better functional materials. Simultaneously, the data science community is looking for a way to access materials data resources to test and validate their advanced computational learning algorithms. To bring together the glass/ceramic and data science communities to address this issue, The American Ceramic Society (ACerS) convened a Glass/Ceramics Data Science Workshop on February 6, 2018, at Nexight Group offices in Silver Spring, Maryland. The workshop, sponsored by the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) Advanced Manufacturing Technologies (AMTech) program, brought together a select group of 20 key leaders in the data science, informatics, and glass/ceramics communities to identify the greatest opportunities and mechanisms for facilitating increased collaboration and coordination between these communities. This article summarizes workshop discussions about the current challenges that limit interactions and collaboration between the glass/ceramic and data science communities, opportunities for a coordinated approach that leverages existing knowledge in both communities, and a clear path toward the enhanced use of data science technologies for functional glass and ceramic research and development.

data science, ceramics, informatics↗
NASA NTRS2003

Multiphase flow and phase change in microgravity: Fundamental research and strategic research for exploration of space

NASA is preparing to undertake science-driven exploration missions. The NASA Exploration Team's vision is a cascade of stepping stones. The stepping-stone will build the technical capabilities needed for each step with multi-use technologies and capabilities. An Agency-wide technology investment and development program is necessary to implement the vision. The NASA Exploration Team has identified a number of areas where significant advances are needed to overcome all engineering and medical barriers to the expansion of human space exploration beyond low-Earth orbit. Closed-loop life support systems and advanced propulsion and power technologies are among the areas requiring significant advances from the current state-of-the-art. Studies conducted by the National Academy of Science's National Research Council and Workshops organized by NASA have shown that multiphase flow and phase change play a crucial role in many of these advanced technology concepts. Lack of understanding of multiphase flow, phase change, and interfacial phenomena in the microgravity environment has been a major hurdle. An understanding of multiphase flow and phase change in microgravity is, therefore, critical to advancing many technologies needed. Recognizing this, the Office of Biological and Physical Research (OBPR) has initiated a strategic research thrust to augment the ongoing fundamental research in fluid physics and transport phenomena discipline with research especially aimed at understanding key multiphase flow related issues in propulsion, power, thermal control, and closed-loop advanced life support systems. A plan for integrated theoretical and experimental research that has the highest probability of providing data, predictive tools, and models needed by the systems developers to incorporate highly promising multiphase-based technologies is currently in preparation. This plan is being developed with inputs from scientific community, NASA mission planners and industry personnel. The fundamental research in multiphase flow and phase change in microgravity is aimed at developing better mechanistic understanding of pool boiling and ascertaining the effects of gravity on heat transfer and the critical heat flux. Space flight experiments conducted in space have shown that nucleate pool boiling can be sustained under certain conditions in the microgravity environment. New space flight experiments are being developed to provide more quantitative information on pool boiling in microgravity. Ground-based investigations are also being conducted to develop mechanistic models for flow and pool boiling. An overview of the research plan and roadmap for the strategic research in multiphase flow and phase change as well as research findings from the ongoing program will be presented.

Singh, Bhim S.↗
DOE OSTI2019

SBIR Phase II Final Report - A Robust Wireless Communication System for Harsh Environments Including Nuclear Facilities

This is the Final Report for the DOE Phase II SBIR project “A Robust Wireless Communication System for Harsh Environments Including Nuclear Facilities.” The topics covered herein include technical progress made, progress against the planned milestones and deliverables, project outcomes, and a discussion on future expectations of deployment and impacts of the results of this work. In brief, all planned work for the project was successfully completed, on or ahead of schedule and on budget. The major accomplishment was the successful development of new sensor/communications systems with wideband (WB)/ultra-wideband (UWB) communications based on the software-defined-radio (SDR) technology to improve sensing and control in nuclear power plants and then a broad range of similar sensing applications. The impacts of these disciplines/focuses of this SBIR include: A new multi-frequency SDR-based architecture with WB/UWB communications integrated with sensors was developed, utilizing 310 MHz, 450 MHz, 915 MHz, and 5 GHz frequencies; Secure communications using Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) algorithm; Sensing possibilities not effectively addressed by previous technologies was addressed; and, The newly developed wireless sensor communications system can adapt its communications parameters to its operational environment for optimal performance. The performance of this system has been evaluated by systematic laboratory and field testing. The field testing was conducted at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)’s Nuclear Test Reactor, and the McClellan Nuclear center at the University of California Davis (UC Davis), as well as at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The success in this project resulted in DSI being awarded “The DOE’s 2018 SBIR/STTR Small Business of the Year”. This technology has attracted interest from The Rolls Royce company with ongoing discussions under NDA for potential strategic partnership between DSI and Rolls Royce in providing wireless sensor communications in nuclear facilities. Furthermore, the success of this project has attracted significant interest from the United Nations International Atomic Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, Austria, as well as other DOE and DOD offices. Currently, per request from IAEA, DOE’s office of International Safeguards has funded DSI to develop a WB/UWB wireless communication system for real-time transmission of images from IAEA’s safeguards cameras in various nuclear facilities. DSI also has received a Phase II and Phase II.5 SBIR awards from ARMY and NAVY for wireless communications capability for various DOD aircraft.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2016

Evaluating Age Effects on HEPA Filter Performance

Nuclear grade high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters are routinely employed as the final control element in confinement ventilation systems. The traditional HEPA filter utilizes a pleated filter medium of fibrous glass that has been produced in a manner analogous to manufacturing paper. These filters are the physically weakest element in a containment ventilation system. Containment ventilation systems are designed to condition the air-stream (temperature, relative humidity, moisture, particle size distribution of aerosols, and aerosol concentration) to levels/conditions that fibrous glass HEPA filters can handle. Approximately 6000 nuclear grade HEPA filters are purchased each year for use in the DOE/NNSA complex. Additional filters are purchased for use in commercial nuclear power generation and ventilation systems of other nuclear applications. These filters are designed and tested in accordance with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) AG-1 Code Nuclear Air and Gas Treatment. This code establishes design requirements and qualification procedures. Qualification testing of axial flow filters is described in paragraphs 5000 and following of AG-1. The series of qualification tests are intended to describe the operating envelope of HEPA filters and verify the reliability of a filter design. AG-1 qualification also confirms the pedigree of components used in manufacture for that filter design. The collective set of qualification tests establishes the assumed operating envelope for AG-1 filters. The effects of age on HEPA filter performance have been a concern for at least two decades. A combination of physical evaluation of aged filter media and a review of filter failure records resulted in Appendix C of the Nuclear Air Cleaning Handbook (NACH), Determination of HEPA Filter Life. This states that HEPA filters are not to be used beyond 10 years from the date of manufacture. Additionally, filters put into service in locations where they may become wet are to be taken out of service five years from date of manufacture. Filters that have become wet are to be taken out of service immediately. Finally, it should also be pointed out that filters held in Level B storage are subject to the same 10-year service life. Very limited bench-scale testing in the 1990's raised concern that aging HEPA filters do not have the strength to withstand an accident scenario. In May of 1999, the DNFSB released a Technical Report 23 entitled HEPA Filters Used in the Department of Energy's Hazardous Facilities. This report expressed concerns for the potential vulnerability of HEPA filters in vital safety systems. Concerns and uncertainty associated with degradation of HEPA filter performance over time led the DOE sites to limit HEPA filter service life to 10 years from the date of manufacture or five years in cases where filters may become wet. Establishment of a conservative service life needs to be based on data from a structured series of tests comparing the performance envelope of new and aged full-scale filters. A service life that is insufficiently conservative endangers workers and the public. One that is excessively conservative costs can cause hundreds of otherwise unnecessary filter changes. This increases exposure of employees, disrupts facility operations, and increase disposal costs by millions of dollars annually. Conclusive data are needed to resolve uncertainty associated with the damaging effects of aging on durability of HEPA filters. Therefore, this study needs to provide a sufficient body of evidence to allow DOE and site professionals to make prudent decisions. An updated version of ASME AG-1 Section FC included a non-mandatory appendix that would include the DOE guidance for service life of HEPA filters. Balloting of this revision generated significant resistance to inclusion of any kind of service life language citing the lack of supporting experimental data. Efforts to resolve negative votes failed and resistance to acceptance of the language increased. The result has been to not include service language in Section FC and requests to remove it from sections that already include such language. The recent activity of the ASME AG-1 Committee on Nuclear Air and Gas Treatment effectively de-emphasizes following DoE's service life guidelines. The DOE Office of Nuclear Safety under its NSR and D program provided the Mississippi State University Institute for Clean Energy Technology (ICET) finding to initiate a study to determine the effects of aging on AG-1 axial flow filters just prior to actions taken within the AG-1 committee regarding service life. The NSR and D funding facilitated timely development of a national technical working group comprised of members from the regulatory community, DOE complex, and commercial power to resolve uncertainty associated with effects of aging. The Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (DOE-EM) has been funding the ICET to evaluate the performance envelope for AG-1 HEPA filters. ICET is one of DOE-EM's qualified suppliers. Synergy has been achieved by associating the NSR and D aged filter activities to testing activities evaluating the performance envelopes of separator and separator-less AG-1 HEPA filters funded by DOE-EM. The DOE-EM funded activities establish baseline data for the aged filter study and future EM funding will provide long term support for testing additional aged filters. EM funding of new filters includes analytical evaluation of media tensile strength by thermal analysis to establish baseline values and determine mass loss of moisture resistance and acrylic binders due to use. All of these values can be used for comparison of test results for aged filters. (authors)

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

U.S. Offshore Wind Energy Noise Reduction Associated with Installation of Fixed-Bottom Foundations: Workshop Report

As offshore wind energy development grows in the United States, solutions are needed to reduce the underwater noise and substrate vibration generated during fixed-bottom turbine installation to help protect marine life. Monopiles are currently the main turbine foundation type installed globally and impact pile driving, the primary installation method, can be a major source of noise and vibration generation during wind farm construction. Opportunities exist to reduce the amount of noise and vibration produced during future offshore wind farm development. The use of alternative foundation types and installation methods, as well as innovative noise abatement technologies, would help reduce the potential detrimental effects on sensitive marine species. To explore these opportunities, the Department of Energy’s Wind Energy Technologies Office, in collaboration with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, funded the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to organize, host, and facilitate a virtual workshop in December 2022. The goal of the workshop was to gather input from the offshore wind energy community on noise reduction strategies for the installation of fixed-bottom offshore wind turbines in U.S. waters across multiple regions, including the U.S. Atlantic Coast, Gulf of Mexico, and Great Lakes to inform recommendations on future research. The joint lab team convened industry representatives, subject matter experts, and regulators to discuss potential pathways to reduce noise and vibration associated with fixed-bottom turbine installation, including the practicality of using alternative foundations and installation methods, the effectiveness of noise abatement technologies, as well as research and monitoring needs. In preparation for the workshop, the team invited experts to be part of a steering committee and worked with its members to help focus activities to meet the workshop goals. Additional pre-workshop activities included developing the invitee list and workshop agenda, reviewing existing Construction and Operations Plans (COP) for proposed offshore wind projects, distributing a brief questionnaire to industry representatives, and drafting the workshop discussion questions and Mural boards. In total, 128 workshop participants provided over 600 comments in response to the 17 group discussion questions used over two workshop sessions. Overarching recommendations highlighted across themes included future investments to provide data sharing, consistency, transparency, and opportunities for sharing best available science, knowledge, and expertise. The joint lab team synthesized the comments and identified four key research and development themes that could help advance the successful implementation of noise and vibration reduction strategies (see report). This report provides an overview of the workshop goals and scope, reviews the pre-workshop activities, presents brief summaries of participant feedback, and concludes with detailed research themes and recommendations for future investments. Appendix A includes the group discussion questions, Appendix B includes the results of the COP review, and Appendix C includes the results of the industry questionnaire. Overall, there was a high level of interest and engagement in the workshop. The sessions provided an opportunity for significant exchange of information between workshop participants from across sectors. Participants identified a variety of opportunities for next steps towards the noise reduction of offshore wind turbine installation in U.S. waters, including recommendations for future investments to provide certainty in the use of new technologies associated with alternative foundation types, noise abatement systems, and efficacy monitoring.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS2014

Zephyr: A Landsailing Rover for Venus

With an average temperature of 450C and a corrosive atmosphere at a pressure of 90 bars, the surface of Venus is the most hostile environment of any planetary surface in the solar system. Exploring the surface of Venus would be an exciting goal, since Venus is a planet with significant scientific mysteries, and interesting geology and geophysics. Technology to operate at the environmental conditions of Venus is under development. A rover on the surface of Venus with capability comparable to the rovers that have been sent to Mars would push the limits of technology in high-temperature electronics, robotics, and robust systems. Such a rover would require the ability to traverse the landscape on extremely low power levels. We have analyzed an innovative concept for a planetary rover: a sail-propelled rover to explore the surface of Venus. Such a rover can be implemented with only two moving parts; the sail, and the steering. Although the surface wind speeds are low (under 1 m/s), at Venus atmospheric density even low wind speeds develop significant force. Under funding by the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts office, a conceptual design for such a rover has been done. Total landed mass of the system is 265 kg, somewhat less than that of the MER rovers, with a 12 square meter rigid sail. The rover folds into a 3.6 meter aeroshell for entry into the Venus atmosphere and subsequent parachute landing on the surface. Conceptual designs for a set of hightemperature scientific instruments and a UHF communication system were done. The mission design lifetime is 50 days, allowing operation during the sunlit portion of one Venus day. Although some technology development is needed to bring the high-temperature electronics to operational readiness, the study showed that such a mobility approach is feasible, and no major difficulties are seen.

rover↗
DOE OSTI2022

Cooperative Research and Development Agreement between National Energy Technology Laboratory and University of Kentucky (Abstract)

The National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) and University of Kentucky (Participant) will collaborate in the development of “Deep Learning Potential-based Molecular Dynamics Simulation Investigation of Chemical Conversion-Absorption Coupling of CO 2 at Air-Reactive Deep Eutectic Solvent Interface.” This project is supported by DOE-Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) program and managed by Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE). Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) are promising alternative sorbents for direct air capture (DAC) CO 2 due to their low vapor pressure, low corrosion, non-toxicity, relatively low cost, and biodegradable nature. Understanding the CO 2 reaction-transport mechanisms at the interface can help develop cost-effective DAC by DESs with high capacity and stability. The collaboration will investigate the absorption and chemical conversion of CO 2 at the air-DES interface to facilitate the development of novel DAC technology using reactive DESs. The anticipated results will make DAC more efficient, allow more sustainable use of our Nation’s fossil energy resources, and advance NETL’s ongoing CO 2 capture efforts.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2025

Nine Canyon Long-Duration Energy Storage: A Feasibility Study

The Nine Canyon Long Duration Energy Storage (LDES) Feasibility Study explores the technical and economic viability of deploying advanced energy storage technologies at Energy Northwest's (EN) Nine Canyon (9C) Wind Project site in Benton County, Washington. Supported by the Washington State Department of Commerce and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity under its LDES Voucher Program, the study represents a collaborative effort between EN, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), and ARES North America. At the core of this effort is the development of a generalized techno-economic modeling framework and evaluation tool designed to assess the value proposition of LDES projects across a variety of contexts. The modeling tool is technology-agnostic and accommodates user-defined parameters such as rated power, energy duration, round-trip efficiency, capital and operational costs, and dispatch constraints. It also integrates economic inputs, including market prices, energy revenue structures, and financing parameters to evaluate performance through key metrics. The tool provides utilities with a transparent, adaptable platform to support decision-making, investment prioritization, and portfolio planning for various storage technologies. To guide scenario design and interpretation, the study first surveyed the LDES technology landscape, including lithium-ion batteries, flow batteries, non-hydro gravity storage, and thermo-mechanical systems, comparing cost trajectories, technical performance, safety and hazards, materials sourcing and recyclability, and spatial/siting considerations. This literature-grounded review highlights technology trade-offs and reinforces the need to align technology choice with site characteristics, use cases, and project objectives. A companion chapter examines ownership structures (EN ownership, third-party ownership, shared models) and offtake options (energy marketing, capacity/energy PPAs, time-of-use PPAs, block-delivery PPAs, and tolling), where PPAs (power purchase agreements) represent contractual arrangements for buying and selling electricity. The chapter also highlights implications for risk allocation, capital access, operational control, and revenue certainty. The study also evaluates supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) and transmission interconnection pathways, options include upgrading the existing SCADA or deploying a dedicated LDES controller, with attention to protection schemes, data telemetry, cybersecurity, and regulatory coordination with BPA. In addition, an ARES-specific geotechnical and hydrology assessment presented in the appendix screens multiple corridors for slope stability, bearing capacity, cut-and-fill magnitude, and stormwater behavior.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
NASA NTRS1992

The Inner Magnetospheric Imager (IMI): Instrument heritage and orbit viewing analysis

For the last two years an engineering team in the Program Development Office at MSFC has been doing design studies for the proposed Inner Magnetospheric Imager (IMI) mission. This team had a need for more information about the instruments that this mission would carry so that they could get a better handle on instrument volume, mass, power, and telemetry needs as well as information to help assess the possible cost of such instruments and what technology development they would need. To get this information, an extensive literature search was conducted as well as interviews with several members of the IMI science working group. The results of this heritage survey are summarized below. There was also a need to evaluate the orbits proposed for this mission from the stand point of their suitability for viewing the various magnetospheric features that are planned for this mission. This was accomplished by first, identifying the factors which need to be considered in selecting an orbit, second, translating these considerations into specific criteria, and third, evaluating the proposed orbits against these criteria. The specifics of these criteria and the results of the orbit analysis are contained in the last section of this report.

Wilson, Gordon R.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Inflatable Space Structures Technology Development for Large Radar Antennas

There has been recent interest in inflatable space-structures technology for possible applications on U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) missions because of the technology's potential for high mechanical-packaging efficiency, variable stowed geometry, and deployment reliability. In recent years, the DOD sponsored Large Radar Antenna (LRA) Program applied this new technology to a baseline concept: a rigidizable/inflatable (RI) perimeter-truss structure supporting a mesh/net parabolic reflector antenna. The program addressed: (a) truss concept development, (b) regidizable materials concepts assessment, (c) mesh/net concept selection and integration, and (d) developed potential mechanical-system performance estimates. Critical and enabling technologies were validated, most notably the orbital radiation durable regidized materials and the high modulus, inflatable-deployable truss members. These results in conjunction with conclusions from previous mechanical-packaging studies by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Special Program Office (SPO) were the impetus for the initiation of the DARPA/SPO Innovative Space-based Antenna Technology (ISAT) Program. The sponsor's baseline concept consisted of an inflatable-deployable truss structure for support of a large number of rigid, active radar panels. The program's goal was to determine the risk associated with the application of these new RI structures to the latest in radar technologies. The approach used to define the technology maturity level of critical structural elements was to: (a) develop truss concept baseline configurations (s), (b) assess specific inflatable-rigidizable materials technologies, and (c) estimate potential mechanical performance. The results of the structures portion of the program indicated there was high risk without the essential materials technology flight experiments, but only moderate risk if the appropriate on-orbit demonstrations were performed. This paper covers both programs (LRA and ISAT) in two sections, Parts 1 and 2 respectively. Please note that the terms strut, tube, and column are all used interchangeably and refer to the basic strut element of a truss. Also, the paper contains a mix of English and metric dimensional descriptions that reflect prevailing technical discipline conventions and common usage.

Freeland, R. E.↗