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NASA NTRSDate not supplied

End-User Assessment of the NASA SPoRT Lightning AI Product

The NASA Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) Center has begun to develop products to address operational challenges and enhance safety during the lifecycle of lightning activity, and conduct evaluations in concentrated R2O/O2R efforts. The product evaluated for this study is Lightning Artificial Intelligence (A.I.), which predicts the probability of lightning out to 15 minutes in advance and spatially maps it using filled color contours. Lightning A.I. uses reflectivity, differential reflectivity, and correlation coefficient data from a subset of radars within the NEXRAD network to generate lightning probabilities at approximately 2 km resolution. The domains, spanning 145 x 145 km are centered over NASA-affiliated centers across the CONUS and use radar data which are closest in proximity. Lightning A.I. was developed with intended use by emergency managers at NASA centers. However, National Weather Service (NWS) offices are also often tasked with monitoring and forecasting the threat for lightning within their County Warning Areas for various impact-based decision support services. These forecasts are typically provided for aviation operations and large-scale, outdoor events, which may have varying safety requirements for decision-making based on lightning proximity and recency. The NASA SPoRT center conducted an assessment of the operational uses of Lightning A.I by various collaborative NWS Offices from late July into early September. This assessment included feedback from participants on both the product itself as well as its accessibility within the new, interactive NASA SPoRT Lightning Viewer. This presentation will include background information about Lightning A.I. and highlight results from this assessment. The feedback from the assessment will be used to inform research on any necessary modifications to this and future lightning products to assist end users.

Kelley Murphy↗

NASA NTRS1978

On humanity's role in space

Manned spaceflight is considered within the framework of two broad categories: human exploitation of space for economic or scientific gain, and human habitation of space as a place where man may live, grow, and actualize himself. With the advent of the Space Shuttle, exploitation of space will take the form of new product development. This will continue during the 1990s as the new products are manufactured on a scale large enough to be profitable. The turn of the century should see major industries in space, and large space habitats. Thus, the question of mankind's existential needs arises. In addition to basic physical needs, the spiritual and cultural requirements of human beings must be considered. The impact of man's presence in space upon human culture in general is discussed with reference to international cooperation, public interest in space programs, scientific advancement, the basic urge to explore, and the density of mankind as a whole; which will become free of external constraints as we step into the cosmos.

Von Puttkamer, J.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Electron trapping optical data storage system and applications

A new technology developed at Optex Corporation out-performs all other existing data storage technologies. The Electron Trapping Optical Memory (ETOM) media stores 14 gigabytes of uncompressed data on a single, double-sided 130 mm disk with a data transfer rate of up to 120 megabits per second. The disk is removable, compact, lightweight, environmentally stable, and robust. Since the Write/Read/Erase (W/R/E) processes are carried out photonically, no heating of the recording media is required. Therefore, the storage media suffers no deleterious effects from repeated W/R/E cycling. This rewritable data storage technology has been developed for use as a basis for numerous data storage products. Industries that can benefit from the ETOM data storage technologies include: satellite data and information systems, broadcasting, video distribution, image processing and enhancement, and telecommunications. Products developed for these industries are well suited for the demanding store-and-forward buffer systems, data storage, and digital video systems needed for these applications.

Brower, Daniel↗

NASA NTRS1995

Design protocols and analytical strategies that incorporate structural reliability models

In spite of great improvements in accuracy through the use of computers, design methods, which can be equally critical in establishing the commercial success of a material, have been treated as afterthoughts. Early investment in design and development technologies can easily reduce manufacturing costs later in the product cycle. To avoid lengthy product development times for ceramic composites, funding agencies for materials research must commit resources to support design and development technologies early in the material life cycle. These technologies need not focus on designing the material, rather, the technology must focus on designing with the material, i. e., developing methods to design components fabricated from the new material. Thus a basic tenet that motivated this research effort is that a persistent need exists for improvements in the analysis of components fabricated from CMC material systems. From an aerospace design engineer's perspective the new generation of ceramic composites offers a significant potential for raising the thrust/weight ratio and reducing NOx emissions of gas turbine engines. Continuous ceramic fiber composites exhibit an increase in work of fracture, which allows for 'graceful' rather than catastrophic failure. When loaded in the fiber direction, these composites retain substantial strength capacity beyond the initiation of transverse matrix cracking despite the fact that neither of its constituents would exhibit such behavior if tested alone. As additional load is applied beyond first matrix cracking, the matrix tends to break in a series of cracks bridged by the ceramic fibers. Thus any additional load is born increasingly by the fibers until the ultimate strength of the composite is reached. Establishing design protocols that enable the engineer to analyze and predict this type of behavior in ceramic composites was the general goal of this project.

Duffy, Stephen F.↗

NASA NTRS1996

Manufacturing of Smart Structures Using Fiber Placement Manufacturing Processes

Smart structures research and development, with the ultimate aim of rapid commercial and military production of these structures, are at the forefront of the Synthesis and Processing of Intelligent Cost-Effective Structures (SPICES) program. As part of this ARPA-sponsored program, MDA-E is using fiber placement processes to manufacture integrated smart structure systems. These systems comprise advanced composite structures with embedded fiber optic sensors, shape memory alloys, piezoelectric actuators, and miniature accelerometers. Cost-effective approaches and solutions to smart material synthesis in the fiber-placement process, based upon integrated product development, are discussed herein.

Thomas, Matthew M.↗

NASA NTRS1995

An Analysis of Errors in a Reuse-Oriented Development Environment

Component reuse is widely considered vital for obtaining significant improvement in development productivity. However, as an organization adopts a reuse-oriented development process, the nature of the problems in development is likely to change. In this paper, we use a measurement-based approach to better understand and evaluate an evolving reuse process. More specifically, we study the effects of reuse across seven projects in narrow domain from a single development organization. An analysis of the errors that occur in new and reused components across all phases of system development provides insight into the factors influencing the reuse process. We found significant differences between errors associated with new and various types of reused components in terms of the types of errors committed, when errors are introduced, and the effect that the errors have on the development process.

Thomas, William M.↗

NASA NTRS2000

ACTS Satellite Telemammography Network Experiments

The Satellite Networks and Architectures Branch of NASA's Glenn Research Center has developed and demonstrated several advanced satellite communications technologies through the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) program. One of these technologies is the implementation of a Satellite Telemammography Network (STN) encompassing NASA Glenn, the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. the University of Virginia, and the Ashtabula County Medical Center. This paper will present a look at the STN from its beginnings to the impact it may have on future telemedicine applications. Results obtained using the experimental ACTS satellite demonstrate the feasibility of Satellite Telemammography. These results have improved teleradiology processes and mammography image manipulation, and enabled advances in remote screening methodologies. Future implementation of satellite telemammography using next generation commercial satellite networks will be explored. In addition, the technical aspects of the project will be discussed, in particular how the project has evolved from using NASA developed hardware and software to commercial off the shelf (COTS) products. Development of asymmetrical link technologies was an outcome of this work. Improvements in the display of digital mammographic images, better understanding of end-to-end system requirements, and advances in radiological image compression were achieved as a result of the research. Finally, rigorous clinical medical studies are required for new technologies such as digital satellite telemammography to gain acceptance in the medical establishment. These experiments produced data that were useful in two key medical studies that addressed the diagnostic accuracy of compressed satellite transmitted digital mammography images. The results of these studies will also be discussed.

Kachmar, Brian A.↗

NASA NTRS2002

Failure Mode Identification Through Clustering Analysis

Research has shown that nearly 80% of the costs and problems are created in product development and that cost and quality are essentially designed into products in the conceptual stage. Currently, failure identification procedures (such as FMEA (Failure Modes and Effects Analysis), FMECA (Failure Modes, Effects and Criticality Analysis) and FTA (Fault Tree Analysis)) and design of experiments are being used for quality control and for the detection of potential failure modes during the detail design stage or post-product launch. Though all of these methods have their own advantages, they do not give information as to what are the predominant failures that a designer should focus on while designing a product. This work uses a functional approach to identify failure modes, which hypothesizes that similarities exist between different failure modes based on the functionality of the product/component. In this paper, a statistical clustering procedure is proposed to retrieve information on the set of predominant failures that a function experiences. The various stages of the methodology are illustrated using a hypothetical design example.

Arunajadai, Srikesh G.↗

NASA NTRS2016

NASA SNPP SIPS - Following in the Path of EOS

NASA's Earth Science Data Information System (ESDIS) Project has been operating NASA's Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership (SNPP) Science Data Segment (SDS) since the launch in October 2011. At launch, the SDS focused primarily on the evaluation of Sensor Data Records (SDRs) and Environmental Data Records (EDRs) produced by the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS), a National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration (NOAA) Program, as to their suitability for Earth system science. During the summer of 2014, NASA transitioned to the production of standard Earth Observing System (EOS)-like science products for all instruments aboard Suomi NPP. The five Science Investigator-led Processing Systems (SIPS): Land, Ocean, Atmosphere, Ozone, and Sounder were established to produce the NASA SNPP standard Level 1, Level 2, and global Level 3 products developed by the SNPP Science Teams and to provide the products to NASA's Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) for archive and distribution to the user community. The processing, archiving and distribution of data from NASA's Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) and Ozone Mapper/Profiler Suite (OMPS) Limb instruments will continue. With the implementation of the JPSS Block 2 architecture and the launch of JPSS-1, the SDS will receive SNPP data in near real-time via the JPSS Stored Mission Data Hub (JSH), as well as JPSS-1 and future JPSS-2 data. The SNPP SIPS will ingest EOS compatible Level 0 data from the EOS Data Operations System (EDOS) element for their data processing, enabling the continuous EOS-SNPP-JPSS Satellite Data Record.

near real time↗

NASA NTRS2013

The Iterative Design Process in Research and Development: A Work Experience Paper

The iterative design process is one of many strategies used in new product development. Top-down development strategies, like waterfall development, place a heavy emphasis on planning and simulation. The iterative process, on the other hand, is better suited to the management of small to medium scale projects. Over the past four months, I have worked with engineers at Johnson Space Center on a multitude of electronics projects. By describing the work I have done these last few months, analyzing the factors that have driven design decisions, and examining the testing and verification process, I will demonstrate that iterative design is the obvious choice for research and development projects.

Sullivan, George F. III↗

NASA NTRS2002

EMI Standards for Wireless Voice and Data on Board Aircraft

The use of portable electronic devices (PEDs) on board aircraft continues to be an increasing source of misunderstanding between passengers and flight-crews, and consequently, an issue of controversy between wireless product manufacturers and air transport regulatory authorities. This conflict arises primarily because of the vastly different regulatory objectives between commercial product and airborne equipment standards for avoiding electromagnetic interference (EMI). This paper summarizes international regulatory limits and test processes for measuring spurious radiated emissions from commercially available PEDs, and compares them to international standards for airborne equipment. The goal is to provide insight for wireless product developers desiring to extend the freedom of their customers to use wireless products on-board aircraft, and to identify future product characteristics, test methods and technologies that may facilitate improved wireless freedom for airline passengers.

Ely, Jay J.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Object-oriented productivity metrics

Software productivity metrics are useful for sizing and costing proposed software and for measuring development productivity. Estimating and measuring source lines of code (SLOC) has proven to be a bad idea because it encourages writing more lines of code and using lower level languages. Function Point Analysis is an improved software metric system, but it is not compatible with newer rapid prototyping and object-oriented approaches to software development. A process is presented here for counting object-oriented effort points, based on a preliminary object-oriented analysis. It is proposed that this approach is compatible with object-oriented analysis, design, programming, and rapid prototyping. Statistics gathered on actual projects are presented to validate the approach.

Connell, John L.↗

NASA NTRS1992

A recent Cleanroom success story: The Redwing project

Redwing is the largest completed Cleanroom software engineering project in IBM, both in terms of lines of code and project staffing. The product provides a decision-support facility that utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) technology for predicting and preventing complex operating problems in an MVS environment. The project used the Cleanroom process for development and realized a defect rate of 2.6 errors/KLOC, measured from first execution. This represents the total amount of errors that were found in testing and installation at three field test sites. Development productivity was 486 LOC/PM, which included all development labor expended in design specification through completion of incremental testing. In short, the Redwing team produced a complex systems software product with an extraordinarily low error rate, while maintaining high productivity. All of this was accomplished by a project team using Cleanroom for the first time. An 'introductory implementation' of Cleanroom was defined and used on Redwing. This paper describes the quality and productivity results, the Redwing project, and how Cleanroom was implemented.

Hausler, Philip A.↗

NASA NTRS2002

Risk-Based Probabilistic Approach to Aeropropulsion System Assessment

In an era of shrinking development budgets and resources, where there is also an emphasis on reducing the product development cycle, the role of system assessment, performed in the early stages of an engine development program, becomes very critical to the successful development of new aeropropulsion systems. A reliable system assessment not only helps to identify the best propulsion system concept among several candidates, it can also identify which technologies are worth pursuing. This is particularly important for advanced aeropropulsion technology development programs, which require an enormous amount of resources. In the current practice of deterministic, or point-design, approaches, the uncertainties of design variables are either unaccounted for or accounted for by safety factors. This could often result in an assessment with unknown and unquantifiable reliability. Consequently, it would fail to provide additional insight into the risks associated with the new technologies, which are often needed by decision makers to determine the feasibility and return-on-investment of a new aircraft engine. In this work, an alternative approach based on the probabilistic method was described for a comprehensive assessment of an aeropropulsion system. The statistical approach quantifies the design uncertainties inherent in a new aeropropulsion system and their influences on engine performance. Because of this, it enhances the reliability of a system assessment. A technical assessment of a wave-rotor-enhanced gas turbine engine was performed to demonstrate the methodology. The assessment used probability distributions to account for the uncertainties that occur in component efficiencies and flows and in mechanical design variables. The approach taken in this effort was to integrate the thermodynamic cycle analysis embedded in the computer code NEPP (NASA Engine Performance Program) and the engine weight analysis embedded in the computer code WATE (Weight Analysis of Turbine Engines) with the fast probability integration technique (FPI). FPI was developed by Southwest Research Institute under contract with the NASA Glenn Research Center. The results were plotted in the form of cumulative distribution functions and sensitivity analyses and were compared with results from the traditional deterministic approach. The comparison showed that the probabilistic approach provides a more realistic and systematic way to assess an aeropropulsion system. The current work addressed the application of the probabilistic approach to assess specific fuel consumption, engine thrust, and weight. Similarly, the approach can be used to assess other aspects of aeropropulsion system performance, such as cost, acoustic noise, and emissions. Additional information is included in the original extended abstract.

Tong, Michael T.↗

NASA NTRS2001

Probabilistic Risk-Based Approach to Aeropropulsion System Assessment Developed

Tong, Michael T.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Photonics for Space Flight Instruments

For the past 25 years, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center’s Photonics Group in the Engineering Directorate has been substantially contributing to the flight design, development, production, testing and integration of many science and navigational instruments. The group has an extensive background in screening, qualifying, development and integration of commercial components for spaceflight applications. They have been willing to communicate lessons learned in packaging, part construction, materials selection, testing, and other facets of the design and production process critical to implementation for high-reliability systems. Summarized here is the last ten years of instrumentation development lessons learned and data collected from the subsystems down to the optoelectronic component level.

Spaceflight↗

NASA NTRS2013

Applying Model Based Systems Engineering to NASA's Space Communications Networks

System engineering practices for complex systems and networks now require that requirement, architecture, and concept of operations product development teams, simultaneously harmonize their activities to provide timely, useful and cost-effective products. When dealing with complex systems of systems, traditional systems engineering methodology quickly falls short of achieving project objectives. This approach is encumbered by the use of a number of disparate hardware and software tools, spreadsheets and documents to grasp the concept of the network design and operation. In case of NASA's space communication networks, since the networks are geographically distributed, and so are its subject matter experts, the team is challenged to create a common language and tools to produce its products. Using Model Based Systems Engineering methods and tools allows for a unified representation of the system in a model that enables a highly related level of detail. To date, Program System Engineering (PSE) team has been able to model each network from their top-level operational activities and system functions down to the atomic level through relational modeling decomposition. These models allow for a better understanding of the relationships between NASA's stakeholders, internal organizations, and impacts to all related entities due to integration and sustainment of existing systems. Understanding the existing systems is essential to accurate and detailed study of integration options being considered. In this paper, we identify the challenges the PSE team faced in its quest to unify complex legacy space communications networks and their operational processes. We describe the initial approaches undertaken and the evolution toward model based system engineering applied to produce Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) PSE products. We will demonstrate the practice of Model Based System Engineering applied to integrating space communication networks and the summary of its results and impact. We will highlight the insights gained by applying the Model Based System Engineering and provide recommendations for its applications and improvements.

Bhasin, Kul↗

NASA NTRS2019

The GPM GV Program

We present a detailed overview of the structure and activities associated with the NASA-led ground validation component of the NASA-JAXA Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission. The overarching philosophy and approaches for NASA’s GV program are presented with primary focus placed on aspects of direct validation and a summary of physical validation campaigns and results. We describe a spectrum of key instruments, methods, field campaigns and data products developed and used by NASA’s GV team to verify GPM level-2 precipitation products in rain and snow. We describe the tools and analysis framework used to confirm that NASA’s Level-1 science requirements for GPM are met by the GPM Core Observatory. Examples of routine validation activities related to verification of Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) products for two different regions of the globe (Korea and the U.S.) are provided, and a brief analysis related to IMERG performance in the extreme rainfall event associated with Hurricane Florence is discussed.

Radar↗