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At least 1,693 records · Page 94

Thermal Infrared Spectral Imager for Airborne Science Applications

An airborne thermal hyperspectral imager is under development which utilizes the compact Dyson optical configuration and quantum well infrared photo detector (QWIP) focal plane array. The Dyson configuration uses a single monolithic prism-like grating design which allows for a high throughput instrument (F/1.6) with minimal ghosting, stray-light and large swath width. The configuration has the potential to be the optimal imaging spectroscopy solution for lighter-than-air (LTA) vehicles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) due to its small form factor and relatively low power requirements. The planned instrument specifications are discussed as well as design trade-offs. Calibration testing results (noise equivalent temperature difference, spectral linearity and spectral bandwidth) and laboratory emissivity plots from samples are shown using an operational testbed unit which has similar specifications as the final airborne system. Field testing of the testbed unit was performed to acquire plots of apparent emissivity for various known standard minerals (such as quartz). A comparison is made using data from the ASTER spectral library.

QWIP↗

A Vehicle Management End-to-End Testing and Analysis Platform for Validation of Mission and Fault Management Algorithms to Reduce Risk for NASA's Space Launch System

The engineering development of the new Space Launch System (SLS) launch vehicle requires cross discipline teams with extensive knowledge of launch vehicle subsystems, information theory, and autonomous algorithms dealing with all operations from pre-launch through on orbit operations. The characteristics of these spacecraft systems must be matched with the autonomous algorithm monitoring and mitigation capabilities for accurate control and response to abnormal conditions throughout all vehicle mission flight phases, including precipitating safing actions and crew aborts. This presents a large and complex system engineering challenge, which is being addressed in part by focusing on the specific subsystems involved in the handling of off-nominal mission and fault tolerance with response management. Using traditional model based system and software engineering design principles from the Unified Modeling Language (UML) and Systems Modeling Language (SysML), the Mission and Fault Management (M&FM) algorithms for the vehicle are crafted and vetted in specialized Integrated Development Teams (IDTs) composed of multiple development disciplines such as Systems Engineering (SE), Flight Software (FSW), Safety and Mission Assurance (S&MA) and the major subsystems and vehicle elements such as Main Propulsion Systems (MPS), boosters, avionics, Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC), Thrust Vector Control (TVC), and liquid engines. These model based algorithms and their development lifecycle from inception through Flight Software certification are an important focus of this development effort to further insure reliable detection and response to off-nominal vehicle states during all phases of vehicle operation from pre-launch through end of flight. NASA formed a dedicated M&FM team for addressing fault management early in the development lifecycle for the SLS initiative. As part of the development of the M&FM capabilities, this team has developed a dedicated testbed that integrates specific M&FM algorithms, specialized nominal and off-nominal test cases, and vendor-supplied physics-based launch vehicle subsystem models. Additionally, the team has developed processes for implementing and validating these algorithms for concept validation and risk reduction for the SLS program. The flexibility of the Vehicle Management End-to-end Testbed (VMET) enables thorough testing of the M&FM algorithms by providing configurable suites of both nominal and off-nominal test cases to validate the developed algorithms utilizing actual subsystem models such as MPS. The intent of VMET is to validate the M&FM algorithms and substantiate them with performance baselines for each of the target vehicle subsystems in an independent platform exterior to the flight software development infrastructure and its related testing entities. In any software development process there is inherent risk in the interpretation and implementation of concepts into software through requirements and test cases into flight software compounded with potential human errors throughout the development lifecycle. Risk reduction is addressed by the M&FM analysis group working with other organizations such as S&MA, Structures and Environments, GNC, Orion, the Crew Office, Flight Operations, and Ground Operations by assessing performance of the M&FM algorithms in terms of their ability to reduce Loss of Mission and Loss of Crew probabilities. In addition, through state machine and diagnostic modeling, analysis efforts investigate a broader suite of failure effects and associated detection and responses that can be tested in VMET to ensure that failures can be detected, and confirm that responses do not create additional risks or cause undesired states through interactive dynamic effects with other algorithms and systems. VMET further contributes to risk reduction by prototyping and exercising the M&FM algorithms early in their implementation and without any inherent hindrances such as meeting FSW processor scheduling constraints due to their target platform - ARINC 653 partitioned OS, resource limitations, and other factors related to integration with other subsystems not directly involved with M&FM such as telemetry packing and processing. The baseline plan for use of VMET encompasses testing the original M&FM algorithms coded in the same C++ language and state machine architectural concepts as that used by Flight Software. This enables the development of performance standards and test cases to characterize the M&FM algorithms and sets a benchmark from which to measure the effectiveness of M&FM algorithms performance in the FSW development and test processes.

Trevino, Luis↗

4.4 Development of a 30-Year Soil Moisture Climatology for Situational Awareness and Public Health Applications

This paper provided a brief background on the work being done at NASA SPoRT and the CDC to create a soil moisture climatology over the CONUS at high spatial resolution, and to provide a valuable source of soil moisture information to the CDC for monitoring conditions that could favor the development of Valley Fever. The soil moisture climatology has multi-faceted applications for both the NOAA/NWS situational awareness in the areas of drought and flooding, and for the Public Health community. SPoRT plans to increase its interaction with the drought monitoring and Public Health communities by enhancing this testbed soil moisture anomaly product. This soil moisture climatology run will also serve as a foundation for upgrading the real-time (currently southeastern CONUS) SPoRT-LIS to a full CONUS domain based on LIS version 7 and incorporating real-time GVF data from the Suomi-NPP Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (Vargas et al. 2013) into LIS-Noah. The upgraded SPoRT-LIS run will serve as a testbed proof-of-concept of a higher-resolution NLDAS-2 modeling member. The climatology run will be extended to near real-time using the NLDAS-2 meteorological forcing from 2011 to present. The fixed 1981-2010 climatology shall provide the soil moisture "normals" for the production of real-time soil moisture anomalies. SPoRT also envisions a web-mapping type of service in which an end-user could put in a request for either an historical or real-time soil moisture anomaly graph for a specified county (as exemplified by Figure 2) and/or for local and regional maps of soil moisture proxy percentiles. Finally, SPoRT seeks to assimilate satellite soil moisture data from the current Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity (SMOS; Blankenship et al. 2014) and the recently-launched NASA Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP; Entekhabi et al. 2010) missions, using the EnKF capability within LIS. The 9-km combined active radar and passive microwave retrieval product from SMAP (Das et al. 2011) has the potential to provide valuable information about the near-surface soil moisture state for improving land surface modeling output.

land surface modeling↗

Carbon Dioxide Management on the International Space Station

The International Space Station (ISS) is a manned laboratory operating in orbit around the Earth that was built and is currently operated by several countries across the world. The ISS is a platform for novel scientific research as well as a testbed for technologies that will be required for the next step in space exploration. In order for astronauts to live on ISS for an extended period of time, it is vital that on board systems consistently provide a clean atmosphere. One contaminant that must be removed from the atmosphere is carbon dioxide (CO2). CO2 levels on ISS are higher than those on Earth and can cause crew members to experience symptoms such as headaches, lethargy and mental slowness. A variety of systems exist on ISS to remove carbon dioxide, including adsorbent technologies which can be reused and testbed technologies for future space vehicles.

Burlingame, Katie↗

SpaceCubeX: A Framework for Evaluating Hybrid Multi-Core CPU FPGA DSP Architectures

The SpaceCubeX project is motivated by the need for high performance, modular, and scalable on-board processing to help scientists answer critical 21st century questions about global climate change, air quality, ocean health, and ecosystem dynamics, while adding new capabilities such as low-latency data products for extreme event warnings. These goals translate into on-board processing throughput requirements that are on the order of 100-1,000 more than those of previous Earth Science missions for standard processing, compression, storage, and downlink operations. To study possible future architectures to achieve these performance requirements, the SpaceCubeX project provides an evolvable testbed and framework that enables a focused design space exploration of candidate hybrid CPU/FPGA/DSP processing architectures. The framework includes ArchGen, an architecture generator tool populated with candidate architecture components, performance models, and IP cores, that allows an end user to specify the type, number, and connectivity of a hybrid architecture. The framework requires minimal extensions to integrate new processors, such as the anticipated High Performance Spaceflight Computer (HPSC), reducing time to initiate benchmarking by months. To evaluate the framework, we leverage a wide suite of high performance embedded computing benchmarks and Earth science scenarios to ensure robust architecture characterization. We report on our projects Year 1 efforts and demonstrate the capabilities across four simulation testbed models, a baseline SpaceCube 2.0 system, a dual ARM A9 processor system, a hybrid quad ARM A53 and FPGA system, and a hybrid quad ARM A53 and DSP system.

Hybrid Flight Architectures↗

PNT Activities at NASA Glenn Research Center

This presentation provides a review of Position Navigation and Timing activities at the Glenn Research Center. Topics include 1) contributions to simulation studies for the Space Service Volume of the Global Navigation Satellite System, 2) development and integration efforts for a Software Defined Radio (SDR) waveform for the Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) testbed, currently onboard the International Space Station and 3) a GPS L5 testbed intended to explore terrain mapping capabilities with communications signals. Future directions are included and a brief discussion of NASA, GRC and the SCAN office.

Time↗

Comparison of High-Fidelity Computational Tools for Wing Design of a Distributed Electric Propulsion Aircraft

A variety of tools, from fundamental to high order, have been used to better understand applications of distributed electric propulsion to aid the wing and propulsion system design of the Leading Edge Asynchronous Propulsion Technology (LEAPTech) project and the X-57 Maxwell airplane. Three high-fidelity, Navier-Stokes computational fluid dynamics codes used during the project with results presented here are FUN3D, STAR-CCM+, and OVERFLOW. These codes employ various turbulence models to predict fully turbulent and transitional flow. Results from these codes are compared for two distributed electric propulsion configurations: the wing tested at NASA Armstrong on the Hybrid-Electric Integrated Systems Testbed truck, and the wing designed for the X-57 Maxwell airplane. Results from these computational tools for the high-lift wing tested on the Hybrid-Electric Integrated Systems Testbed truck and the X-57 high-lift wing presented compare reasonably well. The goal of the X-57 wing and distributed electric propulsion system design achieving or exceeding the required 𝐶 (sub L) = 3.95 for stall speed was confirmed with all of the computational codes.

Deere, Karen A.↗

DVB-S2 Experiment over NASA's Space Network

The commercial DVB-S2 standard was successfully demonstrated over NASAs Space Network (SN) and the Tracking Data and Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) during testing conducted September 20-22nd, 2016. This test was a joint effort between NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) and Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) to evaluate the performance of DVB-S2 as an alternative to traditional NASA SN waveforms. Two distinct sets of tests were conducted: one was sourced from the Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) Testbed, an external payload on the International Space Station, and the other was sourced from GRCs S-band ground station to emulate a Space Network user through TDRSS. In both cases, a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) receiver made by Newtec was used to receive the signal at White Sands Complex. Using SCaN Testbed, peak data rates of 5.7 Mbps were demonstrated. Peak data rates of 33 Mbps were demonstrated over the GRC S-band ground station through a 10MHz channel over TDRSS, using 32-amplitude phase shift keying (APSK) and a rate 89 low density parity check (LDPC) code. Advanced features of the DVB-S2 standard were evaluated, including variable and adaptive coding and modulation (VCMACM), as well as an adaptive digital pre-distortion (DPD) algorithm. These features provided additional data throughput and increased link performance reliability. This testing has shown that commercial standards are a viable, low-cost alternative for future Space Network users.

waveforms↗

Overview of NASA Electrified Aircraft Propulsion Research for Large Subsonic Transports

NASA is investing in Electrified Aircraft Propulsion (EAP) research as part of the portfolio to improve the fuel efficiency, emissions, and noise levels in commercial transport aircraft. Turboelectric, partially turboelectric, and hybrid electric propulsion systems are the primary EAP configurations being evaluated for regional jet and larger aircraft. The goal is to show that one or more viable EAP concepts exist for narrow body aircraft and mature tall-pole technologies related to those concepts. A summary of the aircraft system studies, technology development, and facility development is provided. The leading concept for mid-term (2035) introduction of EAP for a single aisle aircraft is a tube and wing, partially turbo electric configuration (STARC-ABL), however other viable configurations exist. Investments are being made to raise the TRL (Technology Readiness Level) level of light weight, high efficiency motors, generators, and electrical power distribution systems as well as to define the optimal turbine and boundary layer ingestion systems for a mid-term tube and wing configuration. An electric aircraft power system test facility (NEAT - NASA’s Electric Aircraft Testbed) is under construction at NASA Glenn and an electric aircraft control system test facility (HEIST - Hybrid-Electric Integrated Systems Testbed) is under construction at NASA Armstrong. The correct building blocks are in place to have a viable, large plane EAP configuration tested by 2025 leading to entry into service in 2035 if the community chooses to pursue that goal.

hybrid propulsion↗

Development of the Electrostatic Precipitator (ESP) for Mars and Electrodynamic Dust Shield (EDS)

Kennedy Space Center's Swamp Works is a fast-paced and diverse technology development laboratory that aims to advance commercial and government capabilities to colonize extraterrestrial environments. As a part of Swamp Works, the Electrostatic and Surface Physics Laboratory (ESPL) is currently developing new technologies that will further NASA's capabilities to colonize lunar and Martian environments. At the ESPL, the objective of the overall project is to aid in the dust mitigation of robotic and human exploration missions to the moon and Mars. The moon and Mars are covered with layers of dust, which can make long-term exploration missions very difficult. The team at the ESPL is developing an electrostatic precipitator (ESP) to aid in the reduction of interference from airborne Martian dust on equipment. The ESP is designed to mitigate the dust in an intake of CO2-rich dusty gas (i.e., the Martian atmosphere). The ESP is essentially a cylindrical tube with a coaxial wire electrode. Applying a high voltage through this electrode induces a corona discharge (a glowing plasma that envelops the electrode), which is used to charge the inflowing dust. The electric field caused by the corona pushes the charged dust to the walls of the precipitator, preventing the dust to flow out of the tube. Environmental dust can make long-term exploration missions very difficult, and settled dust is no exception. Settled lunar or Martian dust can hinder the performance and lifetime of equipment. For example, dust can settle on the solar panels of a lunar or Martian rover, decreasing its performance while increasing its charging time. To address this, the team at the ESPL is also developing an electrodynamic dust shield (EDS), which is designed to remove lunar or Martian dust from the surfaces of equipment. The EDS uses a non-uniform electric field to generate a dielectrophoretic force, which pushes the particles away from the surface of the shield. A number of dust shields will be tested on the exterior of the International Space Station (ISS) via MISSE-11, a flight payload to the ISS that will test the effects of long-term exposure to space on materials. During my internship at the ESPL, I aided in the development of these technologies. For the ESP, I helped characterize the electrical properties of various geometries and helped redesign the hardware of the testbed (the precipitator used to test this technology in the lab). To characterize the electrical properties of the ESP, I ran various tests of the precipitator, which consisted of varying the environmental conditions and geometry of the testbed. Analyzing the electrical properties of the ESP in various environmental conditions is necessary to characterize its collection efficiency, since it will be used in the dusty Martian environment. For the EDS, I helped analyze the dielectric strength of the surface of the shield via high-voltage testing. A dielectrically strong surface will help the shield survive the harsh environment of space, which will enable it to have both lunar and Martian applications.

Corona Discharge↗

The Wide-Field Spatio-Spectral Interferometer: System Overview, Data Synthesis and Analysis

The Wide-field Imaging Interferometry Testbed (WIIT) is a double Fourier (DF) interferometer operating at optical wavelengths, and provides data that are highly representative of those from a space-based far-infrared interferometer like SPIRIT. We have used the testbed to observe both geometrically simple and astronomically representative test scenes. Here we present an overview of the astronomical importance of high angular resolution at the far infrared, followed by the description of the optical set-up of WIIT, including the source simulator CHIP (Calibrated Hyperspectral Image Projector). We describe our synthesis algorithms used in the reconstruction of the input test scenes via a simulation of the most recent measurements. The updated algorithms, which include instruments artifacts that allow the synthesis of DF experimental data, are presented and the most recent results analyzed.

Juanola-Parramon, Roser↗

Development and Testing of a Multi-Transducer System for Measuring Height of Condensed Water in Steam Pipes with Steady-State and Turbulent Flow Conditions

One of the critical requirements for ensuring the safety of a steam pipe is to monitor the condensed water level under operation. For this objective, the authors initially developed methods and obtained preliminary test results based on the use of ultrasonic pulse-echo transducers and enhanced signal-processing tool; however, the methodology needed further development in order to obtain measurements in turbulent dynamic flow conditions. To improve the reliability of measurements taken in turbulent flow conditions, an experimental system was developed using multiple transducers driven by a multiplexer, and a data acquisition module capable of operating in any flow conditions. The system consists of a simulation testbed, which allows testing the performance over a range of flow rates and water levels and to observe flow conditions and patterns, as well as measure actual water level, flow velocities, wave conditions, etc. In this paper, we present the development details that include description of the testbed for simulating the flow of condensed water, the multiple transducers arrangement, the signal processing method, and the test results of both steady state and turbulent flow.

Lih, Shyh-Shiuh↗

A Comparison of System Architectures for a Mechanically Pumped Two-Phase Thermal Control System

The NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory is developing a mechanically pumped two-phase fluid loop thermal control system to enable novel mission designs and greater science return. Pumped two-phase fluid loops have the potential to provide robust and effective thermal control that combine the best aspects of passive two-phase systems (heat pipes) and mechanically pumped single-phase fluid loops. The current program requirements include the development of a system with multiple 1 sq.m evaporators, each of which is capable of remaining spatially and temporally isothermal while accommodating heat loads of up to 500 W and local fluxes of up to 5 W/sq.cm. The goal is to attain this using less than 5 W of power. Such a system would be able to accommodate the next generation of payload and bus electronics while using minimal resources. This paper compares two different mechanically pumped two-phase fluid loop architectures in the context of these requirements. A mixed flow and separated flow architecture are compared on a theoretical and experimental basis. Test data from sub-scale, single evaporator/single condenser, mixed flow and separated flow testbeds are presented. In addition, a model is introduced to better understand separated flow systems and some expressions for the theoretical performance limits of such systems are developed. To date, the investigation suggests that a separated flow architecture is better suited to the program requirements. Separated flow systems have the potential to accommodate an isothermalizing two-phase evaporator while using lower levels of power than would be required for a mixed flow system. In addition, it is argued that separated flow systems are more robust and amenable to analysis than mixed flow systems, since they significantly reduce the occurrence of two-phase flow by separating phases in the evaporator. Future work will include developing a full-scale testbed that includes multiple evaporators and condensers in a representative flight configuration.

Furst, Benjamin↗

Optimizing the Regularization in Broadband Wavefront Control Algorithm for WFIRST Coronagraph

The WFIRST/AFTA 2.4 m space telescope currently under study includes a stellar coronagraph for the imaging and the spectral characterization of extrasolar planets. The coronagraph employs sequential deformable mirrors to compensate for phase and amplitude errors. Using the optical model of an Occulting Mask Coronagraph (OMC) testbed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), we have investigated and compared through modeling and simulations the performance of several actuator regularization-schemes in broadband wavefront control algorithm used to generate dark holes in an OMC, such as a Hybrid Lyot Coronagraph (HLC). Using the concept of a Tikhonov filter constituting the G-matrix, we have explained what the different regularization schemes do to singular-modes during a wavefront control process called Electric Field Conjugation (EFC). In some cases we confirmed the numerical predictions with the testbed measured results. We present our findings in this paper.

Sidick, Erkin↗

State Predictor of Classification Cognitive Engine Applied to Channel Fading

This study presents the application of machine learning (ML) to a space-to-ground communication link, showing how ML can be used to detect the presence of detrimental channel fading. Using this channel state information, the communication link can be used more efficiently by reducing the amount of lost data during fading. The motivation for this work is based on channel fading observed during on-orbit operations with NASA's Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) testbed on the International Space Station (ISS). This paper presents the process to extract a target concept (fading and not-fading) from the raw data. The pre-processing and data exploration effort is explained in detail, with a list of assumptions made for parsing and labelling the dataset. The model selection process is explained, specifically emphasizing the benefits of using an ensemble of algorithms with majority voting for binary classification of the channel state. Experimental results are shown, highlighting how an end-to-end communication system can utilize knowledge of the channel fading status to identity fading and take appropriate action. With a laboratory testbed to emulate channel fading, the overall performance is compared to standard adaptive methods without fading knowledge, such as adaptive coding and modulation.

Fading↗

Design and Modeling of the Off-Axis Parabolic Deformable (OPD) Mirror Laboratory

Coronagraph-equipped direct imaging missions need an active wavefront control system to cancel out the optical aberrations that degrade the performance of the coronagraphs. A fast steering mirror is used to control Line-of-Sight (LoS) pointing error caused by the telescope jitter. In addition to controlling other low-order aberrations such as astigmatism and coma, high stroke, high actuator density deformable mirrors (DMs) are also used to control the electric field at the required high spatial frequencies. We are designing a testbed to verify a different deformable architecture, where the powered optic in the optical train are controllable and have lower actuator count compared to the existing DMs with flat nominal surfaces. This simplifies the packaging issue for space missions and reduces both cost and risk of having the entire coronagraph instrument's performance depending on one or two high-actuator count DMs. The testbed would also be capable of testing different low-order wavefront sensing algorithms, which focuses in the near-term on a new adaptive Kalman filtering and gradient decent method to estimate the harmonic LoS errors that affect space telescopes. In long run, we would test different machine learning techniques to estimate low-order aberrations and non-linear algorithms for digging the region of high contrast called the dark holes (DH).

Subedi, Hari↗

Advanced Noise Control Fan: A 20-Year Retrospective of Contributions to Aeroacoustics Research

The Advanced Noise Control Fan (ANCF) (formerly the Active Noise Control Fan) was utilized in the design, test, and evaluation for technical risk mitigation of most of the innovative fan noise reduction technologies developed by NASA over the past 20 years (Figure 3). The ANCF is a low-speed ducted-fan testbed for measuring and understanding fan-generated aeroacoustics, duct propagation, and radiation to the far field. It is considered a low technology readiness level (TRL) testbed. The international aeroacoustics research community employed the ANCF to facilitate advancement of multiple noise reduction and measurement technologies and for code validation. From 1994 to 2016, it was located in the NASA Glenn Research Center’s Aero-Acoustic Propulsion Laboratory (AAPL). In 2016, the ANCF was transferred to the University of Notre Dame (UND) where it is expected to continue to positively impact ducted-fan aeroacoustic research. This paper summarizes the capabilities and contributions of the ANCF to the field by documenting its history.

Sutliff, Daniel L.↗

A 20 Year Retrospective of The Advanced Noise Control Fan - Contributions to Turbofan Noise Research

The Advanced Noise Control Fan (neé Active Noise Control Fan - ANCF) was utilized in the design, test, and evaluation for technical risk mitigation of most of the innovative fan noise reduction technologies developed by NASA over the past 20 years. The ANCF is a low-speed, ducted fan, testbed for measuring and understanding fan-generated aeroacoustics, duct propagation, and radiation to the farfield. It is considered a low Technology Readiness Level testbed. The international aeroacoustics research community employed the ANCF to facilitate advancement of multiple noise reduction and measurement technologies, and for code validation. From 1994 to 2016, it was located in the NASA Glenn Research Center’s Aero-Acoustic Propulsion Laboratory. In 2016 the ANCF was transferred to the University of Notre Dame where it is expected to continue to positively impact ducted fan aeroacoustic research and provide STEM support. This paper summarizes the capabilities and contributions of the ANCF to the field by documenting its history. Limited data is presented, focusing on a description of the configurations, goals, and objectives of representative ANCF tests. This provides an overview of the progress of aeroacosustic research as implemented on the ANCF, as well as a background for its continued usage.

Fan Noise↗