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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 1,729 records · Page 96
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1995

Other Planetary Systems: The View From Our Neighborhood

The structure and contents of the Solar System offer an initial model for other planetary systems in this and other galaxies. Our knowledge of the bodies in the Solar System and their physical conditions has grown enormously in the three decades of planetary exploration. Parallel to the uncovering of new facts has been a great expansion of our understanding of just how these conditions came to be. Telescopic studies and missions to all the planets (except Pluto) have shown spectacular and unexpected diversity among those planets, their satellites, the asteroids, and the comets. Highlights include the organic-rich crust of comets, volcanic activity on planetary satellites, randomly oriented magnetic fields of the major planets, the existence of a huge population of planetesimals just beyond Neptune, dramatic combinations of exogenic and endogenic forces shaping the solid bodies throughout the Solar System, and much more. Simultaneously, computational, laboratory, and conceptual advances have shown that the Solar System is not fully evolved either dynamically or chemically. The discovery of clearly identified interstellar (presolar) material in the meteorites and comets connects us directly with the matter in the molecular cloud from which the Solar System originated. At the same time, an increased understanding of the chemistry of comets and the impact history of the planets has demonstrated the dependence of the origin and evolution of life on Earth on powerful exogenic factors. This presentation summarizes some of the new knowledge of the Solar System and proposes specific character ist ics that may be observed in (or used as criteria for identification of) extrasolar planetary systems.

Cruikshank, Dale P.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Solar energy system performance evaluation: Seasonal report for IBM System 1B, Carlsbad, New Mexico

A hot solar heating and hot water system's operational performance from April 1979 through March 1980 is evaluated. The space heating and hot water loads were near expected values for the year. Solar energy provided 43 percent of the space heating and 53 percent of the hot water energy. The system did not meet the total system solar fraction design value of 69 percent because of a combination of higher estimated space heating load than was actually encountered and the apportioning of solar energy between the space heating and the domestic hot water loads. System losses and high building temperatures also contributed to this deviation. Total net savings were 23.072 million BTUs. Most of the energy savings came during the winter months, but hot water savings were sufficient to justify running the system during the summer months.

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NASA NTRS1980

Installation guidelines for solar heating system, single-family residence at New Castle, Pennsylvania

The solar heating system installer guidelines are presented for each subsystem. This single family residential heating system is a solar-assisted, hydronic-to-warm-air system with solar-assisted domestic water heating. It is composed of the following major components: (1) liquid cooled flat plate collectors; (2) water storage tank; (3) passive solar-fired domestic water preheater; (4) electric hot water heater; (5) heat pump with electric backup; (6) solar hot water coil unit; (7) tube-and-shell heat exchanger, three pumps, and associated pipes and valving in an energy transport module; (8) control system; and (9) air-cooled heat purge unit. Information is provided on the operating procedures, controls, caution requirements, and routine and schedule maintenance in the form of written descriptions, schematics, detail drawings, pictures, and manufacturer's component data.

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NASA NTRS1984

San Marco D/L solar array system design and performance

The design and performance of the solar array system for the San Marco D/L spacecraft is described in detail. The solar array system design is shown to be suitable for spacecraft which have elastically sensitized outer surfaces to measure aerodynamic forces. However, the performance of this solar array system is shown to be at least 30 percent less efficient than conventional spacecraft solar array designs. An on-board experiment to compare the in-flight performances of Si and GaAs solar cell panels is also described. Preflight performance data show that at beginning-of-life, air mass zero solar illumination, 28 C and peak power output the Si panels are at last 20 percent less efficient than the GaAs panels.

Diruscio, M.↗
DOE OSTI2012

High throughput solar cell ablation system

A solar cell is formed using a solar cell ablation system. The ablation system includes a single laser source and several laser scanners. The laser scanners include a master laser scanner, with the rest of the laser scanners being slaved to the master laser scanner. A laser beam from the laser source is split into several laser beams, with the laser beams being scanned onto corresponding wafers using the laser scanners in accordance with one or more patterns. The laser beams may be scanned on the wafers using the same or different power levels of the laser source.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

High throughput solar cell ablation system

A solar cell is formed using a solar cell ablation system. The ablation system includes a single laser source and several laser scanners. The laser scanners include a master laser scanner, with the rest of the laser scanners being slaved to the master laser scanner. A laser beam from the laser source is split into several laser beams, with the laser beams being scanned onto corresponding wafers using the laser scanners in accordance with one or more patterns. The laser beams may be scanned on the wafers using the same or different power levels of the laser source.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS1994

(abstract) MEASURE-Jupiter: Low Cost Missions to Explore Jupiter in the Post-Galileo Era

MEASURE-Jupiter is a new mission concept for the exploration of giant planets, with initial application to Jupiter. By flying sets of lightweight spacecraft with highly focused measurement objectives, it is designed to break the apparent impass in giant planet exploration beyond Cassini. The MEASURE-Jupiter concept is characterized by: 1) intensive exploration of a giant planet system, 2) multiple small missions flown in focused waves using spacecraft costing $100M to $200M, and 3) mission sets launched every 2 to 3 years. Why Jupiter? Jupiter is the most complex planetary system in the Solar System with many scientifically intriguing bodies and phenomena to explore. The Galileo mission will scratch the surface of the exploration of Jupiter, posing many questions for the MEASURE-Jupiter missions to address. Jupiter is also the easiest planet in the Outer Solar System to reach, making possible flight times of 2 years and total mission durations of 3 years or less. Concept design studies have uncovered a number of scientifically rewarding, simple, low-cost mission options. These options have the additional attraction of being able to launch on 2-year trajectories to Jupiter with low-cost Delta II expendable launch vehicles. A partial list of mission concepts studied to date include: Io Very Close Flyby, Jupiter Close Polar Pass, Mini-Orbiters, and Galilean Satellite Penetrators. Key to the realization of the MEASURE-Jupiter missions is the judicious use of the new low power consuming advanced technology and applicable systems from the Pluto Fast Flyby mission spacecraft design. Foremost of the new technologies planned for inclusion are the elements of hybrid solar array/battery power systems which make it possible to perform the identified missions without the need for Radioactive Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs). This relieves the mission design of the attendant programmatic complexities, cost, and constraints attendant with the use of RTGs.

MEASURE-Jupiter Jupiter Pluto Fast Flyby low cost ↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3) Mission Update

The Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3) will be the first practical solar sail for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. [1] ACS3 will also be the first spaceflight demonstration of NASA compact deployable composite boom technology.[2] The primary mission objective of ACS3 will be to deploy and characterize an 80-m2 composite boom structure solar sail technology in low Earth orbit. Extended mission goals will be to demonstrate controlled solar sailing flight via a series of orbit raising and lowering maneuvers. Target mission orbit is a 1000 km x 1000 km midnight-noon sun-synchronous orbit. Launch of ACS3 is scheduled for July 2023 with sail deployment in September 2023. Mission duration is expected to be six to nine months. The ACS3 solar sail vehicle is a 12U Cubesat consisting of a bus module, containing flight and solar sail control avionics, and a solar sail module, containing the composite booms and metallized polymer solar sail membranes of the solar sail structure stowed within a boom deployer mechanism. A four-camera instrument suite for 360-degree imaging of the ACS3 solar sail during and after deployment is also housed within the bus module. The ACS3 80-m2 solar sail design is a sub-scale version of an intermediate-size 500-m2 solar sail using NASA deployable composite boom technology. The sail consists of four metallized 2-m thick polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) 20-m2 triangular quadrants supported by four 7-m long lenticular cross-section composite booms. Booms are flattened and co-coiled for stowage within a tape-spool driven deployer mechanism. Total mass of the ACS3 space vehicle including solar sail is 16 kg. An overview of the ACS3 mission and mission systems will be provided in this presentation. This overview will include descriptions of the solar sail structures and materials technology used with ACS3, and discussion of the scalability and extensibility of the ACS3 solar sail to future larger-scale solar sailing mission requirements. An update on progress towards the launch of ACS3 in July 2023 will also be provided. References [1] https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/small_spacecraft/ACS3 [2] https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/game_changing_development/projects/dcb

Solar sail↗
NASA NTRS1970

Solar electric propulsion system evaluation

Solar electric propulsion system performance consisting of thrustors with thrust vector aligning actuators, switching network and flight type power conditioner

Costogue, E. N.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Similarity Rules for Scaling Solar Sail Systems

Future science missions will require solar sails on the order of 200 square meters (or larger). However, ground demonstrations and flight demonstrations must be conducted at significantly smaller sizes, due to limitations of ground-based facilities and cost and availability of flight opportunities. For this reason, the ability to understand the process of scalability, as it applies to solar sail system models and test data, is crucial to the advancement of this technology. This paper will approach the problem of scaling in solar sail models by developing a set of scaling laws or similarity criteria that will provide constraints in the sail design process. These scaling laws establish functional relationships between design parameters of a prototype and model sail that are created at different geometric sizes. This work is applied to a specific solar sail configuration and results in three (four) similarity criteria for static (dynamic) sail models. Further, it is demonstrated that even in the context of unique sail material requirements and gravitational load of earth-bound experiments, it is possible to develop appropriate scaled sail experiments. In the longer term, these scaling laws can be used in the design of scaled experimental tests for solar sails and in analyzing the results from such tests.

Canfield, Stephen L.↗
DOE OSTI2015

STABILITY OF THE OUTER PLANETS IN MULTIRESONANT CONFIGURATIONS WITH A SELF-GRAVITATING PLANETESIMAL DISK

We study the effect of a massive planetesimal disk on the dynamical stability of the outer planets in a system representing the early solar system assuming, as has been suggested recently, that these planets were initially locked in a compact and multiresonant configuration as a result of gas-driven migration in a protoplanetary disk. The planetesimal disk is represented by an ensemble of 2000 lunar mass bodies for which the gravitational interaction is calculated self-consistently using the Mercury6.5 code. Several initial multiresonant configurations and planetesimal disk models are considered. Under such conditions a strong dynamical instability, manifested as a rapid giant planet migration and planetesimal disk dispersal, develops on a timescale of less than 40 Myr in most cases. Dynamical disk heating due to the gravitational interactions among planetesimals leads to more frequent interactions between the planetesimals and the ice giants, in comparison to models in which planetesimal–planetesimal interactions are neglected. The number of particles used to represent the planetesimal disk has implications for our results, and although our studies represent the first self-consistent calculations of unstable planetesimal-driven migration, our results point toward the need for using more realistic treatments of the planetesimal disk. Finally, in the framework of our model, we discuss the possible implications of our results on the early evolution of the solar system.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1980

Application of a reversible chemical reaction system to solar thermal power plants

Three distributed dish solar thermal power systems using various applications of SO2/SO3 chemical energy storage and transport technology were comparatively assessed. Each system features various roles for the chemical system: (1) energy storage only, (2) energy transport, or (3) energy transport and storage. These three systems were also compared with the dish-Stirling, using electrical transport and battery storage, and the central receiver Rankine system, with thermal storage, to determine the relative merit of plants employing a thermochemical system. As an assessment criterion, the busbar energy costs were compared. Separate but comparable solar energy cost computer codes were used for distributed receiver and central receiver systems. Calculations were performed for capacity factors ranging from 0.4 to 0.8. The results indicate that SO2/SO3 technology has the potential to be more cost effective in transporting the collected energy than in storing the energy for the storage capacity range studied (2-15 hours)

Hanseth, E. J.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Temperature-Staged Thermal Energy Storage Enabling Low Thermal Exergy Loss Reflux Boiling in Full Spectrum Solar Energy Systems

The efficiency of solar power collection is increased by adding a thermal energy storage stage to a sunlight concentrator and thermodynamic power generator system. The thermal energy storage includes tubes or capsules made of a phase change material that stores thermal energy in different temperature stages through a working fluid. The stored thermal energy is directed to the thermodynamic generator during off-sun periods.

Hendricks, Terry↗
NASA NTRS1993

The Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite (SWAS) solar array system

The SWAS (Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite) solar array system is described. It is an innovative approach to meet the missions requirements. The SWAS satellite provides a three axis stabilized platform to survey a variety of galactic cloud structures. This system includes highly reliable, lightweight launch latch, deployment, and lock mechanisms, and solar array panels that provide the maximum solar cell area. The design of the solar arrays are the result of system trades that included instrument and spacecraft thermal constraints, attitude control system maneuvering rates and pointing accuracies, the power system, and the spacecraft structure.

Sneiderman, Gary↗
NASA NTRS2003

Astrobiology: The Case for Venus

The scientific discipline of astrobiology addresses one of the most fundamental unanswered questions of science: are we alone? Is there life elsewhere in the universe, or is life unique to Earth? The field of astrobiology includes the study of the chemical precursors for life in the solar system; it also includes the search for both presently existing life and fossil signs of previously existing life elsewhere in our own solar system, as well as the search for life outside the solar system. Two of the promising environments within the solar system being currently considered are the surface of the planet Mars, and the hypothesized oceans underneath the ice covering the moon Europa. Both of these environments differ in several key ways from the environments where life is found on Earth; the Mars environment in most places too cold and at too low pressure for liquid water to be stable, and the sub-ice environment of Europa lacking an abundance of free energy in the form of sunlight. The only place in the solar system where we know that life exists today is the Earth. To look for life elsewhere in the solar system, one promising search strategy would be to find and study the environment in the solar system with conditions that are most similar to the environmental conditions where life thrives on the Earth. Specifically, we would like to study a location in the solar system with atmospheric pressure near one bar; temperature in the range where water is liquid, 0 to 100 C; abundant solar energy; and with the primary materials required for life, carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen, present. Other than the surface of the Earth, the only other place where these conditions exist is the atmosphere of Venus, at an altitude of about fifty kilometers above the surface.

Landis, Geoffrey A.↗