Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “extreme environment technology”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 163 records · Page 9
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Cultivating Capabilities for Lunar Extreme Environments

Space Directive 1 establishes that NASA is to " return of humans to the Moon for long-term exploration and utilization". Inherent in this direction, there are environmental challenges including ionizing radiation, extreme thermal ranges, and lunar dust. NASA is making significant investments in technologies to address the array of destinations and mission applications inherent in that challenge. As part of commercial, industry, and academic engagement, NASA has established Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium (LSIC) as an open forum to engage a larger community through six focus groups: in-situ resource utilization (ISRU), excavation and construction, power, extreme access, dust mitigation, and extreme environments. A general overview of the investments – both technology and community development – is presented.

technology↗
NASA NTRS2016

NEEMO 21: Tools, Techniques, Technologies & Training for Science Exploration EVA

The 21st mission of the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) was a highly integrated operational test and evaluation of tools, techniques, technologies, and training for science driven exploration during Extravehicular Activity (EVA).The 16-day mission was conducted from the Aquarius habitat, an underwater laboratory, off the coast of Key Largo, FL. The unique facility, authentic science objectives, and diverse skill-sets of the crew/team facilitate the planning and design for future space exploration.

Graff, Trevor↗
NASA NTRS2010

Advanced Flip Chips in Extreme Temperature Environments

The use of underfill materials is necessary with flip-chip interconnect technology to redistribute stresses due to mismatching coefficients of thermal expansion (CTEs) between dissimilar materials in the overall assembly. Underfills are formulated using organic polymers and possibly inorganic filler materials. There are a few ways to apply the underfills with flip-chip technology. Traditional capillary-flow underfill materials now possess high flow speed and reduced time to cure, but they still require additional processing steps beyond the typical surface-mount technology (SMT) assembly process. Studies were conducted using underfills in a temperature range of -190 to 85 C, which resulted in an increase of reliability by one to two orders of magnitude. Thermal shock of the flip-chip test articles was designed to induce failures at the interconnect sites (-40 to 100 C). The study on the reliability of flip chips using underfills in the extreme temperature region is of significant value for space applications. This technology is considered as an enabling technology for future space missions. Flip-chip interconnect technology is an advanced electrical interconnection approach where the silicon die or chip is electrically connected, face down, to the substrate by reflowing solder bumps on area-array metallized terminals on the die to matching footprints of solder-wettable pads on the chosen substrate. This advanced flip-chip interconnect technology will significantly improve the performance of high-speed systems, productivity enhancement over manual wire bonding, self-alignment during die joining, low lead inductances, and reduced need for attachment of precious metals. The use of commercially developed no-flow fluxing underfills provides a means of reducing the processing steps employed in the traditional capillary flow methods to enhance SMT compatibility. Reliability of flip chips may be significantly increased by matching/tailoring the CTEs of the substrate material and the silicon die or chip, and also the underfill materials. Advanced packaging interconnects technology such as flip-chip interconnect test boards have been subjected to various extreme temperature ranges that cover military specifications and extreme Mars and asteroid environments. The eventual goal of each process step and the entire process is to produce components with 100 percent interconnect and satisfy the reliability requirements. Underfill materials, in general, may possibly meet demanding end use requirements such as low warpage, low stress, fine pitch, high reliability, and high adhesion.

Ramesham, Rajeshuni↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Evaluation of Materials and Surfaces for Lunar Regolith Adherence Characterization (RAC) Payload Samples

As the quest for long term lunar exploration and habitation comes closer to reality, widespread efforts are ongoing to effectively mitigate lunar dust surface contamination and infiltration. This dust is hazardous to humans and tends to adhere tenaciously to all exposed surfaces, causing performance issues and ultimately failure. While several active and passive technologies have been developed to address this challenge, assessing the performance of these technologies in the actual lunar environment is extremely important. The regolith adherence characterization (RAC) experiment payload provides an important opportunity for this evaluation. The RAC payload is designed by Alpha Space for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)and scheduled to be flown to the moon in 2023 on the Firefly Aerospace Blue Ghost lander. As there were a limited number of slots available for materials to be chosen for this mission, it was critical to make an informed selection. Two polymers, a carbon fiber reinforced composite and a metal alloy were chosen to be a diverse selection of structural materials from NASA Langley Research Center. Each material was topographically modified using laser ablation patterning. This article briefly describes the selection and testing procedure and some of the results obtained for the passive dust mitigating materials and surfaces selected for this lunar surface experiment.

Lunar Dust↗
NASA NTRS2012

Terrestrial Applications of Extreme Environment Stirling Space Power Systems

NASA has been developing power systems capable of long-term operation in extreme environments such as the surface of Venus. This technology can use any external heat source to efficiently provide electrical power and cooling; and it is designed to be extremely efficient and reliable for extended space missions. Terrestrial applications include: use in electric hybrid vehicles; distributed home co-generation/cooling; and quiet recreational vehicle power generation. This technology can reduce environmental emissions, petroleum consumption, and noise while eliminating maintenance and environmental damage from automotive fluids such as oil lubricants and air conditioning coolant. This report will provide an overview of this new technology and its applications.

Dyson, Rodger. W.↗
NASA NTRS2009

Assessment of SOI AND Gate, Type CHT-7408, for Operation in Extreme Temperature Environments

Electronic parts based on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology are finding widespread applications due to their ability to operate in harsh environments and the benefits they offer as compared to their silicon counterparts. Due to their construction, they are tailored for high temperature operation and show good tolerance to radiation events. In addition, their inherent design lessens the formation of parasitic junctions, thereby reducing leakage currents, decreasing power consumption, and enhancing speed. These devices are typically rated in temperature capability from -55 C to about +225 C, and their characteristics over this temperature range are documented in data sheets. Since electronics in some of NASA space exploration missions are required to operate under extreme temperature conditions, both cold and hot, their characteristic behavior within the full temperature spectrum must be determined to establish suitability for use in space applications. The effects of extreme temperature exposure on the performance of a new commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) SOI AND gate device were evaluated in this work. The high temperature, quad 2-inputs AND gate device, which was recently introduced by CISSOID, is fabricated using a CMOS SOI process. Some of the specifications of the CHT-7408 chip are listed in a table. By supplying a constant DC voltage to one gate input and a 10 kHz square wave into the other associated gate input, the chip was evaluated in terms of output response, output rise (t(sub r)) and fall times (tf), and propagation delays (using a 50% level between input and output during low to high (tPLH) and high to low (tPHL) transitions). The supply current of the gate circuit was also obtained. These parameters were recorded at various test temperatures between -195 C and +250 C using a Sun Systems environmental chamber programmed at a temperature rate of change of 10 C/min. In addition, the effects of thermal cycling on this chip were determined by exposing it to a total of 12 cycles between -195 C and +250 C. Following the cycling activity, measurements were performed again at the test temperatures of -195 C, +21 C, and +250 C.

Patterson, Richard↗
NASA NTRS2016

Simulating the Surface of Venus on Earth

The growing interest in comparative climatology among the terrestrial planets, the explosion of planets being discovered around other stars and the exciting results of recent orbital and remote observations of Venus provide evidence for a growing case to better understand Earths sister planet. The surface of Venus is quite unlike Earths surface conditions, and in fact is rather extreme. Science, technology, and planetary mission communities have a growing interest in the unique physiochemical properties and processes that occur under extreme temperature and pressure conditions in exotic and even hostile chemical environments such as Venus. The steadily growing catalog of exoplanets likely contains many examples of bodies with environments dramatically different than the surface of the Earth. Understanding these properties and processes will help us under-stand the history and present day state of inhospitable and even inaccessible regions of the Earth as well as other solar or extrasolar planets. Additionally, Venus and Saturn targets are prioritized in the current Planetary Decadal Survey, with reference missions that include in-situ investigations of these challenging environments. The fact that two of the five recent Discovery mission proposals selected by NASA for further development are Venus-focused adds additional priority and even urgency to laboratory-based extreme environment investigations. In addition to the importance of science-focused investigations, there is a current and future need for understanding the behavior of advanced technologies and materials in these extreme environments. The materials of course make up instruments and systems in missions and ultimately the success of planetary missions is dependent upon performance testing of instruments and systems in conditions that closely approximate those of the target. Until very recently, there was limited ability to accurately simulate Venus surface-like conditions, especially in vessels large enough to accommodate full-size instruments and components. This gap in capability is being addressed by NASA Glenn's Extreme Environment Rig, called GEER, located in Cleveland, Ohio. This large chamber allows for engineering tests of newly-developed as well as heritage instruments, while simultaneously affording opportunities for geochemical and materials-based science investigations.

Simulation↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Sustaining Thermal Protection Systems Needed for Uranus Probes

Summary: Achieving Uranus in-situ science objectives through deploying probes in the atmosphere requires thermal protection systems capable of withstanding extreme entry environments. NASA’s 3-D Woven based thermal protection systems (TPS), developed specifically to meet this challenge, are mature, efficient, and capable of withstanding such entry. These science-enabling capabilities need to be sustained, otherwise mission implementation risk may increase to the point that the mission is untenable. The heatshield technology has been developed in concert with industry, and manufacturing processes have been technology transferred. Current technology readiness does not guarantee future availability. Sustainment requires maintaining expertise within NASA as well as ensuring that proven industrial expertise and capabilities will be readily available in the future. A constant awareness and risk assessment followed by risk mitigation are required. The scientific community needs to be aware of these challenges. It needs to engage NASA to ensure these capabilities will be available when needed. As was the case with the atrophy of heritage carbon phenolic that led to developing the 3-D Woven capabilities, our vigilance is again needed to sustain these enabling TPS capabilities for Uranus and for other missions. Background: NASA invested in and developed Heatshield for Extreme Entry Environment Technology (HEEET) TPS that was matured to TRL 6 in 2019 as a tiled system with seams and gap-fillers. Manufacturing readiness included development of specialized looms, molding, and infusion processes using commercial partners. In support of the Mars Sample Return mission, a single-layer, seamless, single-piece variant referred to as 3MDCP (3-D woven Mid-Density Carbon-Phenolic) was developed and is limited to a 1.3m maximum diameter scale due to weaving width limitations of 80”. Molding techniques developed to transform a flat, 2”-thick 3-D woven preform into a sphere-cone shape prior to phenolic resin infusion has been demonstrated. A team at NASA Ames is currently working with industry to demonstrate infusion at full-scale. By 2026, 3MDCP will be at a high level of maturity in technical, manufacturing, and integration readiness as well as material characterization. HEEET and 3MDCP for Uranus Entry: Several system studies have evaluated and baselined 3-D Woven TPS for Uranus entry, both HEEET as well as 3MDCP. If the aeroshell carrying the descent probe is 1.3m or less, then 3MDCP is a very capable and the most mass-efficient choice. If the aeroshell is bigger than 1.3m diameter, then HEEET can meet the mission need as it allows for an aeroshell of any diameter. HEEET and 3MDCP are capable of Saturn in-situ science missions prioritized in the New Frontiers-5 draft Announcement of Opportunity (AO) and if Saturn is the mission of choice, there is a pathway for sustaining the capability. Capability Sustainment: Given NASA’s current budgetary constraints, the postponement of the next New Frontiers AO to no earlier than 2026 and the unknown delay in starting the UOP flagship effort point to potential gap years for the HEEET and 3MDCP capabilities. The first step in capability sustainment is to understand the risks as they emerge, assess those risks, and develop plans to mitigate them. Keeping the science community, who are interested in UOP as well as the larger Giant Planet missions, informed of the emerging challenges requires continuous risk assessment/mitigation. Without these steps, atrophy is more likely within the industrial partners with which NASA has partnered. This presentation will provide more details as well as steps NASA can take to minimize the impact to the UOP mission.

Ethiraj Venkatapathy↗
NASA NTRS2000

Propulsion IVHM Extreme Environment Instrumentation Power IVHM

This paper presents propulsion and instrumentation power for integrated vehicle health management technologies. The topics include: 1) Propulsion IVHM Capabilities Research; 2) Projects: X-33 Post-Test Diagnostic System; 3) X-34 NITEX; 4) Advanced Health Monitoring Systems; 5) Active Vibration Monitoring System; 6) Smart Self Healing Propulsion Systems; 7) Extreme Environment Sensors; and 8) Systems Engineering and Integration.

Zakrajsek, June↗
NASA NTRS2013

Human-in-the-Loop Operations over Time Delay: NASA Analog Missions Lessons Learned

Teams at NASA have conducted studies of time-delayed communications as it effects human exploration. In October 2012, the Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Analog Missions project conducted a Technical Interchange Meeting (TIM) with the primary stakeholders to share information and experiences of studying time delay, to build a coherent picture of how studies are covering the problem domain, and to determine possible forward plans (including how to best communicate study results and lessons learned, how to inform future studies and mission plans, and how to drive potential development efforts). This initial meeting s participants included personnel from multiple NASA centers (HQ, JSC, KSC, ARC, and JPL), academia, and ESA. It included all of the known studies, analog missions, and tests of time delayed communications dating back to the Apollo missions including NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO), Desert Research and Technology Studies (DRATS/RATS), International Space Station Test-bed for Analog Research (ISTAR), Pavilion Lake Research Project (PLRP), Mars 520, JPL Mars Orbiters/Rovers, Advanced Mission Operations (AMO), Devon Island analog missions, and Apollo experiences. Additionally, the meeting attempted to capture all of the various functional perspectives via presentations by disciplines including mission operations (flight director and mission planning), communications, crew, Capcom, Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA), Behavioral Health and Performance (BHP), Medical/Surgeon, Science, Education and Public Outreach (EPO), and data management. The paper summarizes the descriptions and results from each of the activities discussed at the TIM and includes several recommendations captured in the meeting for dealing with time delay in human exploration along with recommendations for future development and studies to address this issue.

Rader, Steven N.↗
NASA NTRS2019

Impact of the International Space Station Research Results

The International Space Station (ISS) facilitates research that benefits human lives on Earth and serves as the primary testing ground for technology development to sustain life in the extreme environment of space. To date, investigators have published a wide range of ISS science results, from improved theories about the creation of stars to the outcome of data mining “omics” repositories of previously completed ISS investigations. Because of the unique microgravity environment of the ISS laboratory and the multidisciplinary and international nature of the research, analyzing ISS scientific impacts is an exceptional challenge. As a result, the ISS Program Science Forum (PSF), made up of senior science representatives across the ISS international partnership, uses various methods to describe the impacts of ISS research activities. For the most part, past papers written by PSF members to assess the overall ISS research impact have focused on exhibiting ISS research impact by quantifying ISS research output or its perceived benefits for humanity. This paper proposes a new assessment of ISS impact from the perspective of the end users’ needs. To that end, the authors use visualizations and metrics of scientific publication data to show the ISS research influence on traditional scientific fields, its global reach and the benefits to people across the globe.

Diallo, Ousmane N.↗
NASA NTRS2020

Supervised Autonomy for Communication-Degraded Subterranean Exploration by a Robot Team

The importance of autonomy in robotics is magnified when the robots need to be deployed and operated in areas that are too dangerous or not accessible for humans, ranging from disaster areas (to assist in emergency situations) to Mars exploration (to uncover the mystery of our neighboring planet). The DARPA Subterranean (SubT) Challenge presents a great opportunity and a formidable robotics challenge to foster such technological advancement for operations in extreme and underground environments. Robot teams are expected to rapidly map, navigate, and search underground environments including natural cave networks, tunnel systems, and urban underground infrastructure. Subterranean environments pose significant challenges for manned and unmanned operations due to limited situational awareness. In the first phase of the DARPA Subterranean Challenge (held in August 2019; targeting underground tunnels and mines), Team CoSTAR, led by NASA JPL, placed second among 11 teams across the world, accurately mapping several kilometers of two mine systems and localizing 17 target objects in the course of four one-hour missions. While the main goal of Team CoSTAR at the end of this threeyear challenge (August 2021) is a fully autonomous robotic solution, this paper describes Team CoSTAR’s results in the first phase of the challenge (August 2019), focusing on supervised autonomy of a multi-robot team under severe communication constraints. This paper also presents the design and initial results obtained from field test campaigns conducted in various tunnel-like environments, leading to the competition.

Otsu, Kyohei↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

TPS Technology Status on Enabling New Frontiers Sample Return Missions from Moon, Asteroids and Comets and Probe Missions to Saturn and Uranus

STMD and SMD investment in TPS technology development such as Heatshield for Extreme Entry Environment (HEEET), 3-D woven Mid-Density Carbon Phenolic (3MDCP) and Conformal PICA over the past decade in response the the Decadal Committee Recommendation (2012). 3MDCP, a variant of HEEET, is baselined as the TPS for MSR, HEEET is enabling the Rocket Lab mission to Venus and Conformal PICA enabled VARDA as the heat shield TPS for their sample return capsule Winnebago-1. In the meantime, PICA, the TPS that enabled Stardust and OSIRIS-REx has atrophied. While these are success stories, upcoming NF-5/6 AO is anticipated to have multiple proposals that may be more demanding for sample return missions from Moon, Asteroids and Comets, and in addition probe missions to Saturn and UOP . This poster will address the state-of-the-art TPS for NF-5/6 in-situ and sample return missions, and for the UOP flagship mission. The poster will focus on steps that need to be taken to both advance and sustain NASA developed TPS and be ready to enable NF-5/6 and Flagship missions.

Todd White↗
NASA NTRS2009

High Temperature Piezoelectric Drill

The current NASA Decadal mission planning effort has identified Venus as a significant scientific target for a surface in-situ sampling/analyzing mission. The Venus environment represents several extremes including high temperature (460 deg C), high pressure (~9 MPa), and potentially corrosive (condensed sulfuric acid droplets that adhere to surfaces during entry) environments. This technology challenge requires new rock sampling tools for these extreme conditions. Piezoelectric materials can potentially operate over a wide temperature range. Single crystals, like LiNbO3, have a Curie temperature that is higher than 1000 deg C and the piezoelectric ceramics Bismuth Titanate higher than 600 deg C. A study of the feasibility of producing piezoelectric drills that can operate in the temperature range up to 500 deg C was conducted. The study includes the high temperature properties investigations of engineering materials and piezoelectric ceramics with different formulas and doping. The drilling performances of a prototype Ultrasonic/Sonic Drill/Corer (USDC) using high temperate piezoelectric ceramics and single crystal were tested at temperature up to 500 deg C. The detailed results of our study and a discussion of the future work on performance improvements are presented in this paper.

rock sampling↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Testbed for Lunar Extreme Environment Wear Tolerant Applications

The abrasive dust from lunar regolith poses significant long-term durability and performance challenges to materials, vehicles, mechanisms and structures that will be used for the next generation of lunar exploration. The development of advanced materials, coatings and device technologies that can withstand these abrasive particles and extreme environmental conditions is critical. However, the lack of standardized and accessible methods for evaluating such materials and devices in a facsimile of the harsh lunar environment hinders progress in dust-tolerant technologies. To address this challenge, NASA Langley Research Center is creating an extreme environment testbed. This reconfigurable testbed will allow rapid, repeatable wear testing of material and candidate mechanisms under vacuum conditions, facilitating the development of critical materials technologies for lunar exploration. Preliminary results from exposing an actuating mechanism similar to a pin joint to lunar regolith simulant under high vacuum are reported.

lunar dust↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Testbed for Lunar Extreme Environment Wear Tolerant Applications

The abrasive dust from lunar regolith poses significant long-term durability and performance challenges to materials, vehicles, mechanisms and structures that will be used for the next generation of lunar exploration. The development of advanced materials, coatings and device technologies that can withstand these abrasive particles and extreme environmental conditions is critical. However, the lack of standardized and accessible methods for evaluating such materials and devices in a facsimile of the harsh lunar environment hinders progress in dust-tolerant technologies. To address this challenge, NASA Langley Research Center is creating an extreme environment testbed. This reconfigurable testbed will allow rapid, repeatable wear testing of material and candidate mechanisms under vacuum conditions, facilitating the development of critical materials technologies for lunar exploration. Preliminary results from exposing an actuating mechanism similar to a pin joint to lunar regolith simulant under high vacuum are reported.

lunar dust↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Testbed for Lunar Extreme Environment Wear Tolerant Applications

The abrasive dust from lunar regolith poses significant long-term durability and performance challenges to materials, vehicles, mechanisms and structures that will be used for the next generation of lunar exploration. The development of advanced materials, coatings and device technologies that can withstand these abrasive particles and extreme environmental conditions is critical. However, the lack of standardized and accessible methods for evaluating such materials and devices in a facsimile of the harsh lunar environment hinders progress in dust-tolerant technologies. To address this challenge, NASA Langley Research Center is creating an extreme environment testbed. This reconfigurable testbed will allow rapid, repeatable wear testing of material and candidate mechanisms under vacuum conditions, facilitating the development of critical materials technologies for lunar exploration. Preliminary results from exposing an actuating mechanism similar to a pin joint to lunar regolith simulant under high vacuum are reported.

lunar dust↗