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NASA's Space Launch System: Affordability for Sustainability

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Space Launch System (SLS) Program, managed at the Marshall Space Flight Center, is charged with delivering a new capability for human exploration beyond Earth orbit in an austere economic climate. But the SLS value is clear and codified in United States (U.S.) budget law. The SLS Program knows that affordability is the key to sustainability and will provide an overview of initiatives designed to fit within the funding guidelines by using existing engine assets and hardware now in testing to meet a first launch by 2017 within the projected budget. It also has a long-range plan to keep the budget flat, yet evolve the 70-tonne (t) initial lift capability to 130-t lift capability after the first two flights. To achieve the evolved configuration, advanced technologies must offer appropriate return on investment to be selected through the competitive process. For context, the SLS will be larger than the Saturn V that took 12 men on 6 trips for a total of 11 days on the lunar surface some 40 years ago. Astronauts train for long-duration voyages on platforms such as the International Space Station, but have not had transportation to go beyond Earth orbit in modern times, until now. To arrive at the launch vehicle concept, the SLS Program conducted internal engineering and business studies that have been externally validated by industry and reviewed by independent assessment panels. In parallel with SLS concept studies, NASA is now refining its mission manifest, guided by U.S. space policy and the Global Exploration Roadmap, which reflects the mutual goals of a dozen member nations. This mission planning will converge with a flexible heavy-lift rocket that can carry international crews and the air, water, food, and equipment they need for extended trips to asteroids and Mars. In addition, the SLS capability will accommodate very large science instruments and other payloads, using a series of modular fairings and adapters to configure the rocket for the mission. The SLS affordability plan includes streamlining interfaces, applying risk-based insight into contracted work, centralizing systems engineering and integration, and nurturing a learning culture where the question Why? is often asked and the answer "Because we've always done it that way" is rarely heard. The SLS Program will deliver affordable space transportation solutions for the Orion Multi-Purpose Cargo Vehicle s first autonomous certification flight in 2017, followed by a crewed flight in 2021. As this briefing will show, the SLS will offer a global infrastructure asset for robotic and human scouts of all nations.

May, Todd A.↗

Dry Saliva Development-Artemis

Prior to the deployment of prolonged deep space missions which may carry increased crew health risks, it is essential to determine the effect that missions beyond the Van Allen Belt will have on physiology. Historically the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Human Research Program (HRP) has developed, conducted, and delivered research findings and countermeasures that will maintain the health and safety of crews aboard the International Space Station (ISS) in anticipation of future exploration class missions. To support these objectives, research operations on ISS typically include the collection and storage of human physiological samples and their return to Earth for analysis. Transition to Gateway and Artemis lunar exploration will limit the available up mass and biosample return capability resulting in new challenges to monitor crew health during the mission. The Artemis lunar missions provide a perfect opportunity to assess new technology that could support crew biosample return that is compatible with the severe operational constraints of Artemis mission design. Dried biosample chemistry analysis is a potential technology that can enable the collection of samples and tracking of crew health during these exploration class missions. The development and implementation of dried biosample chemistry technology for tracking immune health, viral reactivation and hormone fluctuations provide a simple alternative strategy for sample collection and sample return (light weight non-conditioned stowage option) for the continuation of human research during Artemis missions. Saliva is established as an informative biosample that has both its own unique available analytes as well as others that are also present in blood. Saliva is already routinely collected from ISS astronauts for the detection of stress hormones and latent virus DNA. The ‘Dry Saliva’ book sample collection/storage protocol, already successfully deployed to ISS, represents a perfect method for collecting biosamples from Gateway and Artemis astronauts because it requires a simple, non-invasive sample collection protocol, minimum volume, and uses non-conditioned storage. We are currently conducting an expanded stability study of the dry saliva analyte platform to include additional stress hormones, cytokines, antimicrobial proteins, and latent virus DNA as well as other markers of immunity and inflammation. Validation testing on parabolic flight will establish collection methods for saliva and blood to dry sampling substrates to finalize the collection protocols for flight. For the new expanded analyte stability study, a short-term stability study with time points out to 14 days has been completed with analysis underway to determine whether additional analytes could be recovered, as well as assessing the best storage conditions for the samples collected. In parallel, a long-term stability study is being conducted out to 1 year to improve the stability of some unstable analytes. To this end, the NASA Johnson Space Center’s Immunology/Virology lab is currently finalizing the saliva dry chemistry platform, including assay compatibility and stability studies. This technology is approved to be implemented, as part of the ‘Biomarkers’ study, during Artemis II through Artemis IV lunar missions.

Mayra Nelman-Gonzalez↗

What Multilevel Parallel Programs do when you are not Watching: A Performance Analysis Case Study Comparing MPI/OpenMP, MLP, and Nested OpenMP

With the current trend in parallel computer architectures towards clusters of shared memory symmetric multi-processors, parallel programming techniques have evolved that support parallelism beyond a single level. When comparing the performance of applications based on different programming paradigms, it is important to differentiate between the influence of the programming model itself and other factors, such as implementation specific behavior of the operating system (OS) or architectural issues. Rewriting-a large scientific application in order to employ a new programming paradigms is usually a time consuming and error prone task. Before embarking on such an endeavor it is important to determine that there is really a gain that would not be possible with the current implementation. A detailed performance analysis is crucial to clarify these issues. The multilevel programming paradigms considered in this study are hybrid MPI/OpenMP, MLP, and nested OpenMP. The hybrid MPI/OpenMP approach is based on using MPI [7] for the coarse grained parallelization and OpenMP [9] for fine grained loop level parallelism. The MPI programming paradigm assumes a private address space for each process. Data is transferred by explicitly exchanging messages via calls to the MPI library. This model was originally designed for distributed memory architectures but is also suitable for shared memory systems. The second paradigm under consideration is MLP which was developed by Taft. The approach is similar to MPi/OpenMP, using a mix of coarse grain process level parallelization and loop level OpenMP parallelization. As it is the case with MPI, a private address space is assumed for each process. The MLP approach was developed for ccNUMA architectures and explicitly takes advantage of the availability of shared memory. A shared memory arena which is accessible by all processes is required. Communication is done by reading from and writing to the shared memory.

Jost, Gabriele↗

Adaptation of primate vestibuloocular reflex to altered peripheral vestibular inputs. I. Frequency-specific recovery of horizontal VOR after inactivation of the lateral semicircular canals

1. The adaptive plasticity of the vestibuloocular reflex (VOR) following a selective lesion of the peripheral vestibular organs was investigated in rhesus monkeys whose lateral semicircular canals were inactivated by plugging of the canal lumen in both ears. Gain and phase of horizontal, vertical, and torsional slow-phase eye velocity were determined from three-dimensional eye movement recordings obtained acutely after the plugging operation, as well as in regular intervals up to 10 mo later. 2. Acutely after plugging, horizontal VOR was minimal during yaw rotation with gains of < 0.1 at all frequencies. Horizontal VOR gain gradually increased over time, reaching gains of 0.4-0.5 for yaw oscillations at 1.1 Hz approximately 5 mo after lateral canal inactivation. This response recovery was strongly frequency dependent: horizontal VOR gains were largest at the highest frequency tested and progressively decreased for lower frequencies. Below approximately 0.1 Hz, no consistent horizontal VOR could be elicited even 10 mo after plugging. 3. The frequency-dependent changes in gain paralleled changes in horizontal VOR phase. Below approximately 0.1-0.05 Hz large phase leads were present, similarly as in semicircular canal primary afferents. Smaller phase leads were also present at higher frequencies, particularly at 1.1 Hz (the highest frequency tested). 4. Consistent with the afferent-like dynamics of the adapted horizontal VOR, per- and postrotatory horizontal responses to constant-velocity yaw rotations were short lasting. Time constants of the slow-phase eye velocity envelope of the horizontal postrotatory nystagmus were approximately 2 s. Nonetheless, a consistent horizontal optokinetic afternystagmus was evoked in plugged animals. 5. A torsional component that was absent in intact animals was consistently present during yaw rotation acutely after lateral canal inactivation and remained approximately constant thereafter. The frequency response characteristics of this torsional component resembled those of the adapted horizontal slow-phase responses: gain decreased and large phase leads were introduced at frequencies below approximately 0.05-0.1 Hz. Torsional responses elicited by roll oscillations in supine position, on the other hand, were indistinguishable in their dynamics from intact animals. No consistent vertical nystagmus was elicited during yaw rotation. 6. Our results show that there is a slow, frequency-specific recovery of horizontal VOR after selective inactivation of the lateral semicircular canals. Both the spatial organization and the dynamic properties of the adapted VOR responses are distinctly different from responses in intact animals, suggesting complex changes in the underlying vestibuloocular circuitry.

NASA Program Space Physiology and Countermeasures↗

Design of a high-speed digital processing element for parallel simulation

A prototype of a custom designed computer to be used as a processing element in a multiprocessor based jet engine simulator is described. The purpose of the custom design was to give the computer the speed and versatility required to simulate a jet engine in real time. Real time simulations are needed for closed loop testing of digital electronic engine controls. The prototype computer has a microcycle time of 133 nanoseconds. This speed was achieved by: prefetching the next instruction while the current one is executing, transporting data using high speed data busses, and using state of the art components such as a very large scale integration (VLSI) multiplier. Included are discussions of processing element requirements, design philosophy, the architecture of the custom designed processing element, the comprehensive instruction set, the diagnostic support software, and the development status of the custom design.

Milner, E. J.↗

User's guide to the Reliability Estimation System Testbed (REST)

The Reliability Estimation System Testbed is an X-window based reliability modeling tool that was created to explore the use of the Reliability Modeling Language (RML). RML was defined to support several reliability analysis techniques including modularization, graphical representation, Failure Mode Effects Simulation (FMES), and parallel processing. These techniques are most useful in modeling large systems. Using modularization, an analyst can create reliability models for individual system components. The modules can be tested separately and then combined to compute the total system reliability. Because a one-to-one relationship can be established between system components and the reliability modules, a graphical user interface may be used to describe the system model. RML was designed to permit message passing between modules. This feature enables reliability modeling based on a run time simulation of the system wide effects of a component's failure modes. The use of failure modes effects simulation enhances the analyst's ability to correctly express system behavior when using the modularization approach to reliability modeling. To alleviate the computation bottleneck often found in large reliability models, REST was designed to take advantage of parallel processing on hypercube processors.

Nicol, David M.↗

Bidirectional Reflectance of a Macroscopically Flat, High-Albedo Particulate Surface: An Efficient Radiative Transfer Solution and Applications to Regoliths

Many remote sensing applications rely on accurate knowledge of the bidirectional reflection function (BRF) of surfaces composed of discrete, randomly positioned scattering particles. Theoretical computations of BRFs for plane-parallel particulate layers are usually reduced to solving the radiative transfer equation (RTE) using one of existing exact or approximate techniques. Since semi-empirical approximate approaches are notorious for their low accuracy, violation of the energy conservation law, and ability to produce unphysical results, the use of numerically exact solutions of RTE has gained justified popularity. For example, the computation of BRFs for macroscopically flat particulate surfaces in many geophysical publications is based on the adding-doubling (AD) and discrete ordinate (DO) methods. A further saving of computer resources can be achieved by using a more efficient technique to solve the plane-parallel RTE than the AD and DO methods. Since many natural particulate surfaces can be well represented by the model of an optically semi-infinite, homogeneous scattering layer, one can find the BRF directly by solving the Ambartsumian's nonlinear integral equation using a simple iterative technique. In this way, the computation of the internal radiation field is avoided and the computer code becomes highly efficient and very accurate and compact. Furthermore, the BRF thus obtained fully obeys the fundamental physical laws of energy conservation and reciprocity. In this paper, we discuss numerical aspects and the computer implementation of this technique, examine the applicability of the Henyey-Greenstein phase function and the sigma-Eddington approximation in BRF and flux calculations, and describe sample applications demonstrating the potential effect of particle shape on the bidirectional reflectance of flat regolith surfaces. Although the effects of packing density and coherent backscattering are currently neglected, they can also be incorporated. The FORTRAN implementation of the technique is available on the World Wide Web, and can be applied to a wide range of remote sensing problems. BRF computations for undulated (macroscopically rough) surfaces are more complicated and often rely on time consuming Monte Carlo procedures. This approach is especially inefficient for optically thick, weakly absorbing media (e.g., snow and desert surfaces at visible wavelengths since a photon may undergo many internal scattering events before it exists the medium or is absorbed. However, undulated surfaces can often be represented as collections of locally flat tilted facets characterized by the BRF found from the traditional plane parallel RTE. In this way the MOnte Carlo procedure could be used only to evaluate the effects of surface shadowing and multiple surface reflections, thereby bypassing the time-consuming ray tracing inside the medium and providing a great savings of CPU time.

Mishchenko, Michael I.↗

The time and spatial behavior of solar flare proton anisotropies observed in deep space on Pioneers 10 and 11

The anisotropy of solar flare protons from the direction of the 'garden hose' magnetic field line has been analyzed for 24 events observed by the University of Chicago experiment on Pioneers 10 and 11 in 1972 and 1973. The anisotropy versus time profiles during individual events are in general consistent with diffusive propagation, but several cases are observed where the decay is better described by an exponential time decay. The anisotropy amplitude evaluated at the time of maximum intensity for each event shows evidence for a gradual decrease with increasing distance from the sun which is qualitatively consistent with diffusive propagation and suggests that the effective interplanetary diffusion coefficient parallel to the magnetic field increases slowly with heliocentric distance.

Mccarthy, J.↗

Quantitative three-dimensional dynamic imaging of structure and function of the cardiopulmonary and circulatory systems in all regions of the body

The background for, and design of a third generation, general purpose, all electronic spatial scanning system, the DSR is described. Its specified performance capabilities provide dynamic and stop action three dimensional spatial reconstructions of any portion of the body based on a minimum exposure time of 0.01 second for each 28 multiplanar 180 deg scanning set, a maximum scan repetition rate of sixty 28 multiplane scan sets per second, each scan set consisting of a maximum of 240 parallel cross sections of a minimum thickness of 0.9 mm, and encompassing a maximum cylindrical volume about 23 cm in length and up to 38 cm in diameter.

Sturm, R. E.↗

Linearized blade row compression component model. Stability and frequency response analysis of a J85-3 compressor

NASA developed stability and frequency response analysis techniques were applied to a dynamic blade row compression component stability model to provide a more economic approach to surge line and frequency response determination than that provided by time-dependent methods. This blade row model was linearized and the Jacobian matrix was formed. The clean-inlet-flow stability characteristics of the compressors of two J85-13 engines were predicted by applying the alternate Routh-Hurwitz stability criterion to the Jacobian matrix. The predicted surge line agreed with the clean-inlet-flow surge line predicted by the time-dependent method to a high degree except for one engine at 94% corrected speed. No satisfactory explanation of this discrepancy was found. The frequency response of the linearized system was determined by evaluating its Laplace transfer function. The results of the linearized-frequency-response analysis agree with the time-dependent results when the time-dependent inlet total-pressure and exit-flow function amplitude boundary conditions are less than 1 percent and 3 percent, respectively. The stability analysis technique was extended to a two-sector parallel compressor model with and without interstage crossflow and predictions were carried out for total-pressure distortion extents of 180 deg, 90 deg, 60 deg, and 30 deg.

Tesch, W. A.↗

Magnetohydrodynamic models of coronal transients in the meridional plane. I - The effect of the magnetic field

The propagation of coronal transients through the lower corona in the meridional plane is studied on the basis of numerical solutions of the time-dependent MHD equations of motion. The importance of the topology of the initial coronal magnetic field is demonstrated by considering two configurations: one which is essentially radial (open), and another which is essentially parallel to the solar surface (closed). The effect of coronal field magnitude is investigated by using values for the beta parameter of 1 and 0.1 at the coronal base. The consequences of including radiative losses and of varying the polytropic index are also considered. The solar event is simulated by a step-function increase in the pressure at the base of an initially hydrostatic atmosphere by a factor of 5, lasting for a period of 5 min.

Steinolfson, R. S.↗

Monte Carlo simulation of collisionless shocks showing preferential acceleration of high A/Z particles

A collisionless quasi-parallel shock is simulated by Monte Carlo techniques. The scattering of all velocity particles from thermal to high energy is assumed to occur so that the mean free path is directly proportional to velocity times the mass-to-charge-ratio, and inversely proporational to the plasma density. The shock profile and velocity spectra are obtained, showing preferential acceleration of high A/Z particles relative to protons. The inclusion of the back pressure of the scattering particles on the inflowing plasma produces a smoothing of the shock profile, which implies that the spectra are steeper than for a discontinuous shock.

Ellison, D. C.↗

Ascent performance and abort analysis for a Future Space Transportation System

The Future Space Transportation System (FSTS) study was conducted by the NASA Langley Research Center to identify the technology requirements for concepts that will replace the Space Shuttle in the post 2000 time frame. The configuration chosen for the study is a two-stage, fully reusable, vertical liftoff, and horizontal landing system with a 150,000 lb. payload capability. The two stages are burned in parallel with the booster providing all the propellant until staging, which results in a large lateral c.g. movement. Nominally, the booster stages at Mach 3 and glides back to the launch site. Because of the large lateral c.g. travel, a scheme to trim the vehicle until staging occurred was developed that used both gimballing and throttling of the engines. Preliminary booster aerodynamics were determined, and the booster glideback trajectory was analyzed with and without winds. Finally, a preliminary abort analysis was conducted for each stage.

Naftel, J. C.↗

Turbulent structure in low-concentration drag-reducing channel flows

A two-component laser-Doppler velocimeter was used to obtain simultaneous measurements of the velocity components parallel and normal to the wall in two fully developed well-mixed low-concentration drag-reducing channel flows and one turbulent channel flow. For the drag-reducing flows, the average time between bursts was found to increase. Although the basic structure of the fundamental momentum transport event is shown to be the same in these drag-reducing flows, the lower-threshold Reynolds-stress-producing motions were found to be damped, while the higher-threshold motions were not. It is suggested that some strong turbulent motions are needed to maintain extended polymer molecules, which produce a solution with properties that can damp lower threshold turbulence and thereby reduce viscous drag.

Luchik, T. S.↗

Transmission of gravistimulus in the statocyte of the lentil root (7-IML-1)

The aim of this Biorack experiment is to determine the presentation time (minimum stimulation period to provoke a slight but significant response) of gravireaction of lentil roots cultivated in microgravity for 27 hours. The location of the statoliths in the statocytes will be analyzed in parallel in order to find the cell structure which can transmit the physical effect of the pressure of the statoliths into a biochemical factor leading to an asymmetrical production or release of the inhibitor which is responsible for the gravitropic response. Seeds of Lens culinaris will be used because of their small size. Details of the experimental procedure are given.

Perbal, Gerald↗

Heat transfer in oscillating flows with sudden change in cross section

Oscillating fluid flow (zero mean) with heat transfer, between two parallel plates with a sudden change in cross section, was examined computationally. The flow was assumed to be laminar and incompressible with inflow velocity uniform over the channel cross section but varying sinusoidally with time. Over 30 different cases were examined; these cases cover wide ranges of Re sub max (187.5 to 30000), Va (1 to 350), expansion ratio (1:2, 1:4, 1:8, and 1:12) and A sub r (0.68 to 4). Three different geometric cases were considered (asymmetric expansion and/or contraction, symmetric expansion/contraction, and symmetric blunt body). The heat transfer cases were based on constant wall temperature at higher (heating) or lower (cooling) value than the inflow fluid temperature. As a result of the oscillating flow, the fluid undergoes sudden expansion in one half of the cycle and sudden contraction in the other half. One heating case is examined in detail, and conclusions are drawn from all the cases (documented in detail elsewhere). Instantaneous friction factors and heat transfer coefficients, for some ranges of Re sub max and Va, deviated substantially from those predicted with steady state correlations.

Ibrahim, Mounir↗

Application of multirate digital filter banks to wideband all-digital phase-locked loops design

A new class of architecture for all-digital phase-locked loops (DPLL's) is presented in this article. These architectures, referred to as parallel DPLL (PDPLL), employ multirate digital filter banks (DFB's) to track signals with a lower processing rate than the Nyquist rate, without reducing the input (Nyquist) bandwidth. The PDPLL basically trades complexity for hardware-processing speed by introducing parallel processing in the receiver. It is demonstrated here that the DPLL performance is identical to that of a PDPLL for both steady-state and transient behavior. A test signal with a time-varying Doppler characteristic is used to compare the performance of both the DPLL and the PDPLL.

Sadr, R.↗

Application of multirate digital filter banks to wideband all-digital phase-locked loops design

A new class of architecture for all-digital phase-locked loops (DPLL's) is presented in this article. These architectures, referred to as parallel DPLL (PDPLL), employ multirate digital filter banks (DFB's) to track signals with a lower processing rate than the Nyquist rate, without reducing the input (Nyquist) bandwidth. The PDPLL basically trades complexity for hardware-processing speed by introducing parallel processing in the receiver. It is demonstrated here that the DPLL performance is identical to that of a PDPLL for both steady-state and transient behavior. A test signal with a time-varying Doppler characteristic is used to compare the performance of both the DPLL and the PDPLL.

Sadr, Ramin↗