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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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At least 163 records · Page 9
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2008

Achieving Workplace Health through Application of Wellness Strategies

Purpose: 1) Understand and measure JSC workplace health: a) levels, sources, indicators & effects of negative, work-related stress; b) define leading indicators of emerging issues. 2 Provide linkage to outcomes: a) Focus application of wellness strategies & HR tools; b) Increase quality of work life and productivity. 3) Current effort will result in: a) Online assessment tool; b) Assessment of total JSC population (civil service & contractors); c) Application of mitigation tools and strategies. 4) Product of the JSC Employee Wellness Program. 5) Collaboration with Corporate Health Improvement Program/University of Arizona.

Robinson, Judith L.↗
NASA NTRS2008

Sense and Sensibility: The Case for the Nationwide Inclusion of Engineering in the K-12 Curriculum

The competitive status of the United States is inextricably linked to innovation just as innovation is inseparable from science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. To stay competitive in innovation requires that the United States produce a 21st century workforce complete with requisite education, training, skills, and motivation. If we accept a priori that science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education are crucial to competitiveness and innovation and that, in terms of innovation, mathematics, science, and engineering are interdependent, why are mathematics and science uniformly ubiquitous in the K-12 curriculum while engineering is conspicuously absent? We are passionate in our belief that the uniform addition of engineering to the K-12 curriculum will help ensure that the nation has "the right" 21st Century workforce. Furthermore, we believe that a nationwide effort, led by a coalition of engineering academics, practitioners, and societies is required to turn this goal into reality. However, accomplishing this goal necessitates, as we are reminded by the title of Jane Austen's timeless novel, "Sense and Sensibility", a workable solution that seeks the "middle ground" between passion and reason. We begin our paper by making two essential points: Engineers are not scientists. Engineering exists separate from science, has its own specialized knowledge community apart from science, and it is largely responsible for many of the most significant advancements and improvements in the quality of our life. Our workable solution requires that K-12 education, nationwide, accommodate the inclusion of engineering as a stand alone curriculum and we offer three reasons to support our position: (1) workforce development, (2) stimulating interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) courses and careers, and (3) creating a technologically literate society. We conclude with some thoughts on how this important goal can be accomplished.

Lindberg, Robert E.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

In-Time Safety Assessment & Risk Prediction for Unmanned Aerial Systems

One of the critical challenges in emerging autonomous systems is timely mitigation of hazards encountered during operation which may not be known or accounted for at the time of design. Efficient execution of unmanned systems therefore demands a paradigm shift from scheduled periodic maintenance to predictive risk analysis that includes condition-based-monitoring, real-time reliability assessment and hazard mitigation. Particularly, the state-of-health parameters needs to be computed at the component level, unit level as well as the integrated system level. While in the former two levels, the physics of health propagation may be based on underlying electro-mechanical properties, system level prognostics often relies on data-driven models. Further, uncertainty from model, measurements and input sources should be accurately quantified to generate meaningful prediction results that can be fed into reliable decision making processes. Finally, the expected risk and time to failure has to be computed based on the current state-of-health of the overall system. This talk presents a conceptual design of such an in-time safety assurance approach for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) operating at low altitudes near and over populated areas. Typical in-flight hazard incidents include unplanned detour, proximity to obstacles, mid-flight component faults, limited battery life and poor quality of GPS measurements. Safety assessment therefore comprises trajectory generation and re-plan, battery RUL computation, distributed fault diagnostics and uncertainty management of predicted trajectory based on GPS measurement noise. The entire monitoring framework will be demonstrated on simulated as well as real UAV flight experiments conducted at the NASA Langley Research Center. This tutorial will therefore guide the audience through a step-by-step tracking of an autonomous system with focus on in-time risk prediction in the presence of unforeseen hazards and uncertain environment.

diagnostics↗
NASA NTRS2025

Innovative Drug Selection, Storage, and Shelf-Life Strategies for Exploration Spaceflight

Medications have been a part of space travel dating back to the Apollo missions. A safe and effective medication formulary is essential to maintaining crew health and performance during long-duration spaceflight outside of low Earth orbit (LEO). Distance from Earth creates four key operational changes that increase medical risks, including communication, resupply, crewmember health, and evacuation. The current spaceflight pharmaceutical formulary consists of medications indicated to treat a variety of anticipated medical events and healthcare needs during spaceflight, but depends on a robust consumables resupply chain, which may be strained for a Lunar, and possibly non-existent for a Mars mission. The specific medications selections for the formulary may change to optimally align with the mission, crew compliment, and spacecraft design. Medical support at long-duration exploration missions will differ from LEO missions due to mission duration, lack of consumables resupply, prolonged exposure to space radiation, and the absence of emergency medical return capability. Loss of medication resupply limits or removes the ability to replace medications that have been exhausted or degraded, potentially exacerbating the medical risk posture. To address these anticipated risks, long-duration missions must consider use of novel medical technologies, treatment modalities, and smart medical systems that offer greater crew autonomy, such as physiologically based pharmacokinetic modeling, drug repurposing, on demand drug synthesis, or wearable drug delivery / monitoring devices. Once an ideal formulary for exploration space is determined, it is essential to establish the chemical and physical stability of each medication compound, as well as its safety by identifying its degradation profiles and products. Although few studies have been conducted to provide evidence on the physicochemical stability of pharmaceuticals during space missions, the data suggests that the spaceflight environment may promote degradation in some pharmaceuticals. Formulary drug purity and efficacy should be verified by pharmaceutical stability assessments, and can be realized non-destructively, and accessed in remote environments. Non-destructive pharmaceutical analysis and statistical modelling techniques could optimize exploration spaceflight medical care by enabling early detection of suboptimal therapeutics. Likewise, novel packaging, storage strategies, and dosage form innovations are promising countermeasures to optimize pharmaceutical shelf life, purity, and quality of exploration spaceflight medications. As we prepare for more distant exploration missions, risk management planning for astronaut healthcare should include the assembly of a medication formulary that is comprehensive enough to prevent or treat anticipated medical events, remains safe and chemically stable, and retains sufficient potency to last for the duration of the mission. Following extensive review of the literature, we will present innovative formulary optimization strategies, pharmaceutical stability assessment techniques, and storage and packaging solutions that could enhance drug safety and efficacy for future exploration spaceflight missions.

Vernie R Daniels↗
NASA NTRS1994

Regularity of daily life in relation to personality, age, gender, sleep quality and circadian rhythms

A diary-like instrument to measure lifestyle regularity (the 'Social Rhythm Metric'-SRM) was given to 96 subjects (48 women, 48 men), 39 of whom repeated the study after at least one year, with additional objective measures of rest/activity. Lifestyle regularity as measured by the SRM related to age, morningness, subjective sleep quality and time-of-day variations in alertness, but not to gender, extroversion or neuroticism. Statistically significant test-retest correlations of about 0.4 emerged for SRM scores over the 12-30 month delay. Diary-based estimates of bedtime and waketime appeared fairly reliable. In a further study of healthy young men, 4 high SRM scorers ('regular') had a deeper nocturnal body temperature trough than 5 low SRM scorers ('irregular'), suggesting a better functioning circadian system in the 'regular' group.

NASA Discipline Regulatory Physiology↗
NASA NTRS1992

The use of mineral crystals as bio-markers in the search for life on Mars

It is proposed that minerals resulting from biologically controlled mineralization processes be utilized as biomarkers because of their favorable qualities. Universal signatures of life (biomarkers) are discussed in terms of their terrestrial forms and hypothetical Martian counterparts including organics, suites of specific inorganic and organic compounds, and isotopic ratios. It is emphasized that minerals produced under biologic control have morphological and isotopic compositions that are not found in their abiotic counterparts. Other biomarkers are not necessarily indicative of biological origin and are therefore unreliable resources for scientific study. Mineral crystals are also stable over long geological periods, and the minerals from Martian fluvial features can therefore be employed to search for fossils and biomarkers of early biological activity.

Schwartz, D. E.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Integration of Product, Package, Process, and Environment: A Food System Optimization

The food systems slated for future NASA missions must meet crew nutritional needs, be acceptable for consumption, and use resources efficiently. Although the current food system of prepackaged, moderately stabilized food items works well for International Space Station (ISS) missions, many of the current space menu items do not maintain acceptability and/or nutritive value beyond 2 years. Longer space missions require that the food system can sustain the crew for 3 to 5 years without replenishment. The task "Integration of Product, Package, Process, and Environment: A Food System Optimization" has the objective of optimizing food-product shelf life for the space-food system through product recipe adjustments, new packaging and processing technologies, and modified storage conditions. Two emergent food processing technologies were examined to identify a pathway to stable, wet-pack foods without the detrimental color and texture effects. Both microwave-assisted thermal sterilization (MATS) and pressure-assisted thermal stabilization (PATS) were evaluated against traditional retort processing to determine if lower heat inputs during processing would produce a product with higher micronutrient quality and longer shelf life. While MATS products did have brighter color and better texture initially, the advantages were not sustained. The non-metallized packaging film used in the process likely provided inadequate oxygen barrier. No difference in vitamin stability was evident between MATS and retort processed foods. Similarly, fruit products produced using PATS showed improved color and texture through 3 years of storage compared to retort fruit, but the vitamin stability was not improved. The final processing study involved freeze drying. Five processing factors were tested in factorial design to assess potential impact of each to the quality of freeze-dried food, including the integrity of the microstructure. The initial freezing rate and primary freeze drying temperature and pressure were linked to final product quality in freeze-dried corn, indicating processing modifications that could lead to improved product shelf life. Storage temperatures and packaging systems were also assessed for the impact to food quality. Reduced temperature storage had inconclusive impact to the progression of rancidity in butter cookies. Frozen storage was detrimental to fruit and vegetable textural attributes but refrigerated storage helped to sustain color and organoleptic ratings for plant-based foods. With regard to packaging systems, the metallized film overwrap significantly decreased the progression of the rancidity of butter cookies as compared to the highest barrier non-metallized film. The inclusion of oxygen scavengers resulted in noticeable moisture gains in butter cookies over time, independent of packaging film systems. Neither emergent processing technology nor the freeze dry optimization resulted in compelling quality differences from current space food provisions such that a five-year shelf life is likely with these processing changes alone. Using a combination of refrigeration and PATS processing is expected to result in organoleptically-acceptable fruit quality for most fruits through five years. The vitamin degradation will be aided somewhat by the cold temperatures but, given the labile nature of vitamin C, a more stable fortification method, such as encapsulation, should also be investigated to ensure vitamin delivery throughout the product life. Similarly, significant improvement to the packaging film used in the MATS processing, optimization of formulation for dielectric properties, vitamin fortification, and reduced temperature storage should be investigated as a hurdle approach to reach a five year shelf life in wet-pack entrees and soups. Baked goods and other environmentally-sensitive spaceflight foods will require an almost impenetrable barrier to protect the foods from oxygen and moisture ingress but scavengers and reduced storage temperature did not improve baked good shelf life and are not recommended at this time for these foods.

Cooper, Maya R.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Systems Engineering and Integration for Technology Programs

The Architecture, Habitability & Integration group (AH&I) is a system engineering and integration test team within the NASA Crew and Thermal Systems Division (CTSD) at Johnson Space Center. AH&I identifies and resolves system-level integration issues within the research and technology development community. The timely resolution of these integration issues is fundamental to the development of human system requirements and exploration capability. The integration of the many individual components necessary to construct an artificial environment is difficult. The necessary interactions between individual components and systems must be approached in a piece-wise fashion to achieve repeatable results. A formal systems engineering (SE) approach to define, develop, and integrate quality systems within the life support community has been developed. This approach will allow a Research & Technology Program to systematically approach the development, management, and quality of technology deliverables to the various exploration missions. A tiered system engineering structure has been proposed to implement best systems engineering practices across all development levels from basic research to working assemblies. These practices will be implemented through a management plan across all applicable programs, projects, elements and teams. While many of the engineering practices are common to other industries, the implementation is specific to technology development. An accounting of the systems engineering management philosophy will be discussed and the associated programmatic processes will be presented.

Kennedy, Kruss J.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Testing, Requirements, and Metrics

The criticality of correct, complete, testable requirements is a fundamental tenet of software engineering. Also critical is complete requirements based testing of the final product. Modern tools for managing requirements allow new metrics to be used in support of both of these critical processes. Using these tools, potential problems with the quality of the requirements and the test plan can be identified early in the life cycle. Some of these quality factors include: ambiguous or incomplete requirements, poorly designed requirements databases, excessive or insufficient test cases, and incomplete linkage of tests to requirements. This paper discusses how metrics can be used to evaluate the quality of the requirements and test to avoid problems later. Requirements management and requirements based testing have always been critical in the implementation of high quality software systems. Recently, automated tools have become available to support requirements management. At NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), automated requirements management tools are being used on several large projects. The use of these tools opens the door to innovative uses of metrics in characterizing test plan quality and assessing overall testing risks. In support of these projects, the Software Assurance Technology Center (SATC) is working to develop and apply a metrics program that utilizes the information now available through the application of requirements management tools. Metrics based on this information provides real-time insight into the testing of requirements and these metrics assist the Project Quality Office in its testing oversight role. This paper discusses three facets of the SATC's efforts to evaluate the quality of the requirements and test plan early in the life cycle, thus preventing costly errors and time delays later.

Rosenberg, Linda↗
NASA NTRS2008

Extended Operation Testing of Stirling Convertors in Support of Stirling Radioisotope Power System Development

100 We class Stirling convertors began extended operation testing at NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) in 2003 with a pair of Technology Demonstration Convertors (TDCs) operating in air. Currently, the number of convertors on extended operation test has grown to 12, including both TDCs and Advanced Stirling Convertors (ASCs) operating both in air and in thermal vacuum. Additional convertors and an electrically heated radioisotope generator will be put on test in the near future. This testing has provided data to support life and reliability estimates and the quality improvements and design changes that have been made to the convertor. The convertors operated 24/7 at the nominal amplitude and power levels. Performance data were recorded on an hourly basis. Techniques to monitor the convertors for change in internal operation included gas analysis, vibration measurements and acoustic emission measurements. This data provided a baseline for future comparison. This paper summarizes the results of over 145,000 hours of TDC testing and 40,000 hours of ASC testing and discusses trends in the data. Data shows the importance of improved materials, hermetic sealing, and quality processes in maintaining convertor performance over long life.

Lewandowski, Edward J.↗
NASA NTRS2009

Extended Operation Testing of Stirling Convertors in Support of Stirling Radioisotope Power System Development

100 We class Stirling convertors began extended operation testing at NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) in 2003 with a pair of Technology Demonstration Convertors (TDCs) operating in air. Currently, the number of convertors on extended operation test has grown to 12, including both TDCs and Advanced Stirling Convertors (ASCs) operating both in air and in thermal vacuum. Additional convertors and an electrically heated radioisotope generator will be put on test in the near future. This testing has provided data to support life and reliability estimates and the quality improvements and design changes that have been made to the convertor. The convertors operated 24/7 at the nominal amplitude and power levels. Performance data were recorded on an hourly basis. Techniques to monitor the convertors for change in internal operation included gas analysis, vibration measurements, and acoustic emission measurements. This data provided a baseline for future comparison. This paper summarizes the results of over 145,000 hr of TDC testing and 40,000 hr of ASC testing and discusses trends in the data. Data shows the importance of improved materials, hermetic sealing, and quality processes in maintaining convertor performance over long life.

Lewandowski, Edward J.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Space Station Freedom - Configuration management approach to supporting concurrent engineering and total quality management

Some experiences of NASA configuration management in providing concurrent engineering support to the Space Station Freedom program for the achievement of life cycle benefits and total quality are discussed. Three change decision experiences involving tracing requirements and automated information systems of the electrical power system are described. The potential benefits of concurrent engineering and total quality management include improved operational effectiveness, reduced logistics and support requirements, prevention of schedule slippages, and life cycle cost savings. It is shown how configuration management can influence the benefits attained through disciplined approaches and innovations that compel consideration of all the technical elements of engineering and quality factors that apply to the program development, transition to operations and in operations. Configuration management experiences involving the Space Station program's tiered management structure, the work package contractors, international partners, and the participating NASA centers are discussed.

Gavert, Raymond B.↗
NASA NTRS2008

RT-MATRIX: Measuring Total Organic Carbon by Photocatalytic Oxidation of Volatile Organic Compounds

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) inevitably accumulate in enclosed habitats such as the International Space Station and the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) as a result of human metabolism, material off-gassing, and leaking equipment. Some VOCs can negatively affect the quality of the crew's life, health, and performance; and consequently, the success of the mission. Air quality must be closely monitored to ensure a safe living and working environment. Currently, there is no reliable air quality monitoring system that meets NASA's stringent requirements for power, mass, volume, or performance. The ultimate objective of the project -- the development of a Real-Time, Miniaturized, Autonomous Total Risk Indicator System (RT.MATRIX).is to provide a portable, dual-function sensing system that simultaneously determines total organic carbon (TOC) and individual contaminants in air streams.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1983

Evaluation of GOES encoder lamps

Aging characteristics and life expectancies of flight quality, tungsten filament, encoder lamps are similar to those of 'commercial' grade gas filled lamps of similar construction, filament material and filament temperature. The aging and final failure by filament burnout are caused by single crystal growth over large portions of the filament with the concomitant development of facets and notches resulting in reduction of cross section and mechanical weakening of the filament. The life expectancy of presently produced lamps is about one year at their nominal operating voltage of five volts dc. At 4.5 volts, it is about two years. These life times are considerably shorter, and the degradation rates of lamp current and light flux are considerably higher, than were observed in the laboratory and in orbit on lamps of the same type manufactured more than a decade ago. It is speculated that the filaments of these earlier lamps contained a crystallization retarding dopant, possibly thorium oxide. To obtain the desired life expectancy of or = to four years in present lamps, operating voltages of or = to four volts dc would be required.

Viehmann, W.↗
NASA NTRS1996

What is the minimal vestibular function required for compensation?

Living with an uncompensated, abnormal vestibular system requires oppressive modification of life style and often prevents return to work and activities of daily living. Patients with vestibular abnormalities were studied to determine the minimal residual vestibular function required to achieve compensation. Three groups of patients with (a) complete unilateral loss of vestibular function with normal horizontal canal-vestibulo-ocular (HCVOR) function in the opposite ear, (b) complete unilateral loss with abnormal HCVOR function in the opposite ear, and (c) bilateral reduction of vestibular function from aminoglycoside toxicity underwent vestibuloocular (VOR), optokinetic (OKN), visual-VOR (VVOR), and computerized dynamic posturography (CDP) tests before and after therapeutic procedures. Results suggest that a minimal VOR response amplitude must be present for compensation of VVOR function to occur. The roles of VOR and OKN phase shifts in vestibular compensation are more complicated and require further study. Compensation of vestibulospinal function does not necessarily accompany VOR or VVOR compensation. Ascending and descending vestibular compensatory mechanisms may involve different spatial sensory inputs. Results of these studies have important implications for the diagnosis and treatment of patients with vestibular disorders, including selection and monitoring of patients for therapeutic regimens such as vestibular nerve section and streptomycin therapy.

Non-NASA Center↗
NASA NTRS1990

Toward applied behavior analysis of life aloft

This article deals with systems at multiple levels, at least from cell to organization. It also deals with learning, decision making, and other behavior at multiple levels. Technological development of a human behavioral ecosystem appropriate to space environments requires an analytic and synthetic orientation, explicitly experimental in nature, dictated by scientific and pragmatic considerations, and closely approximating procedures of established effectiveness in other areas of natural science. The conceptual basis of such an approach has its roots in environmentalism which has two main features: (1) knowledge comes from experience rather than from innate ideas, divine revelation, or other obscure sources; and (2) action is governed by consequences rather than by instinct, reason, will, beliefs, attitudes or even the currently fashionable cognitions. Without an experimentally derived data base founded upon such a functional analysis of human behavior, the overgenerality of "ecological systems" approaches render them incapable of ensuring the successful establishment of enduring space habitats. Without an experimentally derived function account of individual behavioral variability, a natural science of behavior cannot exist. And without a natural science of behavior, the social sciences will necessarily remain in their current status as disciplines of less than optimal precision or utility. Such a functional analysis of human performance should provide an operational account of behavior change in a manner similar to the way in which Darwin's approach to natural selection accounted for the evolution of phylogenetic lines (i.e., in descriptive, nonteleological terms). Similarly, as Darwin's account has subsequently been shown to be consonant with information obtained at the cellular level, so too should behavior principles ultimately prove to be in accord with an account of ontogenetic adaptation at a biochemical level. It would thus seem obvious that the most productive conceptual and methodological approaches to long-term research investments focused upon human behavior in space environments will require multidisciplinary inputs from such wide-ranging fields as molecular biology, environmental physiology, behavioral biology, architecture, sociology, and political science, among others.

Review↗
NASA NTRS1975

Selected technology for the gas industry

A number of papers were presented at a conference concerned with the application of technical topics from aerospace activities for the gas industry. The following subjects were covered: general future of fossil fuels in America, exploration for fossil and nuclear fuels from orbital altitudes, technology for liquefied gas, safety considerations relative to fires, explosions, and detonations, gas turbomachinery technology, fluid properties, fluid flow, and heat transfer, NASA information and documentation systems, instrumentation and measurement, materials and life prediction, reliability and quality assurance, and advanced energy systems (including synthetic fuels, energy storage, solar energy, and wind energy).

Source record↗