NASA In-Space Propulsion Facility Balloon Payload Test Capability
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Balloon Payload testing↗
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Development Overview of the Revised NASA Ultra Long Duration Balloon
The development of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration s (NASA) Ultra Long Duration Balloon (ULDB) has made significant strides in addressing the deployment issues experienced in the scaling up of the balloon structure. This paper concentrates on the super-pressure balloon developments that have been, and are currently being planned by the NASA Balloon Program Office at Goddard Space Flight Center s Wallops Flight Facility. The goal of the NASA ULDB development project is to attempt to extend the potential flight durations for large scientific balloon payloads. A summary of the February 2005 test flight from Ft. Sumner, New Mexico will be presented. This test flight spurred a number of investigations and advancements for this project. The development path has pursued some new approaches in the design, analysis, and testing of the balloons. New issues have been ideEti6ed throu& both analysis md testing. These have been addressed in the design stage before the next balloon construction was begun. This paper will give an overview of the recent history for this effort and the development approach pursued for ULDB. A description of the balloon design, including the modifications made as a result of the lessons learned, will be presented. Areas to be presented include the design approach, deployment issues that have been encountered and the proposed solutions, ground testing, photogrammetry, and an analysis overview. Test flight planning and considerations will be presented including test flight safety. An extended duration test flight of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration s Ultra Long Duration Balloon is planned for the May/June 2006 time frame. This flight is expected to fly from Sweden to either Canada or Alaska. Preliminary results of this flight will be presented as available. Future plans for both ground testing and additional test flights will also be presented. Goals of the future test flights, which are staged in increments of increasing suspended load and altitude, will be presented. This will include the projected balloon volumes, payload capabilities, test flight locations, and proposed flight schedule.
Cathey, H. M.↗
Leading University Students to the Edge of Space
For over 16 years, the Louisiana Space Grant Consortium (LaSPACE), the NASA Balloon Program Office (BPO), and the NASA Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility (CSBF) have collaborated in a series of high altitude balloon-based programs involving hands-on authentic learning experiences that expose university students and other participants to technical skills, teamwork dynamics, and effective communication methods. Such programs go beyond what is possible to achieve in a normal classroom and help prepare future engineers and scientists for a successful aerospace workforce career. In our collaborative effort, LaSPACE has focused on the program content and student mentoring while NASA BPO and CSBF provide balloon flight support and operations. The entry-level Louisiana Aerospace Catalyst Experiences for Students (LaACES) builds students’ skills in basic electronics, sensor interfacing, real-time programming, mechanical development, and project management. These skills are then applied to the design, development, fabrication, and flight of a small (∼500 gram) balloon payload. Finally, the payloads are flight-tested to an altitude of ∼30 km using a 2 kg latex sounding balloon. The LaACES program includes a set of lectures, activities, and Arduino Mega based electronic kits that are used for skill building and as a core control system for the student payload. The more advanced High Altitude Student Platform (HASP) is designed to carry ∼twelve 3 to 20 kg student payloads to an altitude of about 36 kilometers with flight durations of 10 to 20 hours using a ∼311,500 cubic meter, zero pressure balloon. HASP provides all student payloads with power, downlink telemetry, uplink commanding, and real-time HD video for instrument control and assessment during the flight. While originally developed for university students, these programs have been adapted to projects focused on high school teachers as well as affecting minorities underrepresented in aerospace related science and engineering fields. We are now in the process of adapting the LaACES materials to a pre-engineering curriculum for high school students as well as for widespread access over the internet. During this presentation, we will provide details of both the LaACES and HASP programs, how these programs have engaged participants from all demographic groups, and our current plans for continuing and expanding upon our success.
University↗
Balloon launched decelerator test program: Post-test test report
Balloon Launched Decelerator Test (BLDT) flights were conducted during the summer of 1972 over the White Sands Missile Range. The purpose of these tests was to qualify the Viking disk-gap band parachute system behind a full-scale simulator of the Viking Entry Vehicle over the maximum range of entry conditions anticipated in the Viking '75 soft landing on Mars. Test concerns centered on the ability of a minimum weight parachute system to operate without structural damage in the turbulent wake of the blunt-body entry vehicle (140 deg, 11.5 diameter cone). This is the first known instance of parachute operation at supersonic speeds in the wake of such a large blunt body. The flight tests utilized the largest successful balloon-payload weight combination known to get to high altitude (120kft) where rocket engines were employed to boost the test vehicle to supersonic speeds and dynamic pressures simulating the range of conditions on Mars.
Dickinson, D.↗
To sail the skies of Mars - Scientific ballooning on the red planet
Balloons represent a novel approach to exploring the surface of Mars. One promising aerostat system incorporates a solar-powered balloon as a means of generating diurnally varying lift and so can 'hop' across the surface, obtaining detailed information at a large number of sites. Two important areas of research and testing are underway on solar balloon technology and balloon payload design. The solar balloon concept has been demonstrated on earth, but more work is needed on a 'flyable' version for Mars. Particular attention must be paid to radiation heat transfer and aerodynamic effects. A special 'snake' payload concept has been demonstrated that allows for balloon system traverses of the surface and provides a usable instrument platform. A balloon system of this type could obtain unique surface imaging and physical and chemical data. The flight of the balloon also provides in situ atmospheric boundary-layer and circulation measurements.
Gaidos, Eric J.↗
RadBREAD: Radiation Biology Research at an Elevated Altitude through Dosimetry – A student-designed payload
NASA uses extreme environment platforms (ground testing facilities, high-altitude balloons and aircraft, and CubeSats) to provide greater understanding of the conditions and limitations of extra-terrestrial environments. As part of a two-week flight planned for summer 2021, RadBREAD (Radiation Biology Research at an Elevated Altitude through Dosimetry) will fly as a secondary payload consisting of a M-42C (German Aerospace Center, DLR) ionizing radiation dosimeter, UV micro-logger, and multiple desiccated yeast samples. The platform is a novel high-altitude solar-powered aircraft: the Swift Engineering High-Altitude samples. The platform is a novel high-altitude solar-powered aircraft: the Swift Engineering High-Altitude Long-Endurance Unmanned Aircraft System (HALE UAS), which offers significantly longer flight durations than other high-altitude platforms. The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae will provide meaningful biological correlation for the sensor readings, due to its resistance to extremely low temperature and pressure when desiccated, ease of genetic manipulation, and homology to human genes. The RadBREAD team comprises the 2020 cohort of NASA’s Space Life Sciences Training Program (SLSTP) research associates as well as NASA scientists, engineers and radiation experts from NASA and the DLR. Yeast survival, metabolic, and transcriptomic changes will be correlated with environmental data collected during long-term exposure to the upper atmosphere. Additionally, the team will evaluate the upper atmospheric environment (radiation, pressure, and temperature) provided by the HALE UAS platform as a Mars surface analog for biological payloads. We hypothesize that exposure to upper atmospheric conditions during the HALE UAS flight will alter the survival, metabolism, and transcriptome of desiccated wild-type S. cerevisiae upon rehydration compared to sensitive and tolerant yeast strains exposed to the same conditions, and between the flight samples compared to asynchronous ground controls.
radiation exposure↗
Testing a Neural Network Accelerator on a High-Altitude Balloon
The cognitive communications project has been working to re d machine learning approaches to support their deployment and sustained use in space environments. It has historically been difficult to implement such techniques on space platforms, however, due to the computational requirements they levy onto general-purpose avionics hardware. While technologies exist to accelerate the computation of aspects of neural networks, such platforms have not historically been deployed in space environments. Given that testing payloads in such environments can be both cost- and time-prohibitive, high-altitude balloons can be used as a way to approximate a space environment at a much lower cost, thus providing a cost-effective way in which to test newer approaches to hardware acceleration for artificial intelligence which may be deployed onto spacecraft more directly. This paper describes a successful test of a commercial off- the-shelf neural network accelerator on a high-altitude balloon. It begins by explaining our selection criteria when evaluating different commercial neural network acceleration techniques: primary considerations include size, weight, and power (SWaP) as well as ease of integration. Next, the paper describes the development and implementation of an experimental flight test platform: flight and ground components are discussed. Afterward, the paper discusses the experimental payload itself: this includes the experimental procedure as well as the specific image and method used for testing. Finally, the paper concludes with an evaluation of both the experimental device tested at altitude as well as the flight test framework itself, identifying how the existing platform can be used to continue tes g commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) solutions for acceleration.
Clark, Gilbert↗
Measurement of atmospheric density using gamma backscatter techniques.
Gamma ray backscatter principles for measurement of atmospheric density, using test results from altitude chambers in balloon and sounding rocket payloads
BACKSCATTER↗
Investigation of the electric field below 80 km from a parachute-deployed payload
An experimental investigation of the atmospheric electric field from rocket-boosted parachute-deployed payloads has been conducted. Data from two prototype flights; a drop test from a high-altitude balloon on July 10, 1973; and a rocket test on July 24, 1974, indicate that measurements of the ambient electric field from parachuted payloads are possible under appropriate circumstances. However, intermittent anomalous charging of the payloads, probes, and parachute has sometimes prevented measurement of the ambient field. No good explanation of this anomalous behavior has been found. This charging process needs to be understood or prevented before fully reliable operation of this and other related instruments can be achieved.
Bering, E. A.↗
An aerobot for global in situ exploration of Titan
This paper describes the design and component testing of an aerobot that would be capable of global in situ exploration of Saturn's moon, Titan, over a 6 to 12 month mission lifetime. The proposed aerobot is a propeller-driven, buoyant vehicle that resembles terrestrial airships. However, the extremely cold Titan environment requires the use of cryogenic materials of construction and careful thermal design for protection of temperature-sensitive payload elements. Multiple candidate balloon materials have been identified based on extensive laboratory testing at 77 K. The most promising materials to date are laminates comprised of polyester fabrics and/or films with areal densities in the range of 40-100 g/m2. The aerobot hull is a streamlined ellipsoid 14 meters in length with a maximum diameter of 3 meters. The enclosed volume of 60 m3 is sufficient to float a mass of 234 kg at a maximum altitude of 8 km at Titan. Forward and aft ballonets are located inside the hull to enable the aerobot to descend to the surface while preserving a fully inflated streamlined shape. Altitude changes are effected primarily through thrust vectoring of the twin main propellers, with pressure modulated buoyancy change via the ballonets available as a slower backup option. A total of 100 W of electrical power is provided to the vehicle by a radioisotope power supply. Up to half of this power is available to the propulsion system to generate a top flight speed in the range of 1-2 m/s. This speed is expected to be greater than the near surface winds at Titan, enabling the aerobot to fly to and hover over targets of interest. A preliminary science payload has been devised for the aerobot to give it the capability for aerial imaging of the surface, atmospheric observations and sampling, and surface sample acquisition and analysis. Targeting, hovering, surface sample acquisition and vehicle health monitoring and automatic safing actions will all require significant on-board autonomy due to the over two hour round trip light time between Titan and Earth. An autonomy architecture and a core set of perception, reasoning and control technologies is under development using a free-flying airship testbed of approximately the same size as the proposed Titan aerobot. Data volume from the Titan science mission is expected to be on the order of 100-300 Mbit per day transmitted either direct to Earth through an 0.8 m high gain antenna or via an orbiter relay using an omni-directional antenna on the aerobot.
mobility↗
Project Hermes 'Use of Smartphones for Receiving Telemetry and Commanding a Satellite'
TCPIP protocols can be applied for satellite command, control, and data transfer. Project Hermes was an experiment set-up to test the use of the TCPIP protocol for communicating with a space bound payload. The idea was successfully demonstrated on high altitude balloon flights and on a sub-orbital sounding rocket launched from NASAs Wallops Flight Facility. TCPIP protocols can be applied for satellite command, control, and data transfer. Project Hermes was an experiment set-up to test the use of the TCPIP protocol for communicating with a space bound payload. The idea was successfully demonstrated on high altitude balloon flights and on a sub-orbital sounding rocket launched from NASAs Wallops Flight Facility.
Telemetry↗
Long-Duration, Balloon-Borne Observations of Cosmic Microwave Background Anisotropy
Funds from this grant were used to support the continuing development of BOOMERANG, a 1.3 m, balloon-borne, attitude-stabilized telescope designed to measure the anisotropy of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) on angular scales of 12 min to 10 degrees. By the end of the funding period covered by this grant, the fabrication of most of the BOOMERANG sub-systems was completed, and integration and test of the payload at Caltech had begun. The project was continued under a new grant from NASA and continuing funding from the NSF. Payload integration and test was completed in April, 1997. A campaign to Palestine, Texas, resulted in two test flights during 1997. A flight on August 12, 1997 was terminated on ascent due to a leaky balloon. The payload was successfully recovered, refurbished, and flown again on August 29, 1997. The second flight was completely successful, and qualified the payload for an LDB flight from McMurdo Stn., Antarctica, in December 1998.
Source record↗
An aerobot for global in situ exploration of Titan
This paper describes the design and component testing of an aerobot that would be capable of global in situ exploration of Saturn's moon, Titan, over a 6 to 12 month mission lifetime. The proposed aerobot is a propeller-driven, buoyant vehicle that resembles terrestrial airships. However, the extremely cold Titan environment requires the use of cryogenic materials of construction and careful thermal design for protection of temperature-sensitive payload elements. Multiple candidate balloon materials have been identified based on extensive laboratory testing at 77 K.
aerobot↗
Definition and design of an experiment to test raster scanning with rotating unbalanced-mass devices on gimbaled payloads
An experiment designed to test the feasibility of using rotating unbalanced-mass (RUM) devices for line and raster scanning gimbaled payloads, while expending very little power is described. The experiment is configured for ground-based testing, but the scan concept is applicable to ground-based, balloon-borne, and space-based payloads, as well as free-flying spacecraft. The servos used in scanning are defined; the electronic hardware is specified; and a computer simulation model of the system is described. Simulation results are presented that predict system performance and verify the servo designs.
Lightsey, W. D.↗
Suborbital Applications in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Suborbital flights providing access to zero-g in a space environment - Demonstrating new technologies in a relevant environment. - Flight testing of individual elements of a constellation. - Raising the TRL of critical technologies for subsystems on future large missions High-altitude balloons (up to ~10 kg payload) -Access to near-space for wavelengths not observable from the ground. -Raising the TRL of critical technologies for subsystems on future large missions. -UV Detector testing.
rockets↗
Deep Space Test Bed
This viewgraph presentation describes the Deep Space Test Bed (DSTB), a balloon-borne device which can expose multiple payloads to the interplanetary Galactic Cosmic Ray environment on high altitude polar balloon flights. The DSTB is carried by National Scientific Balloon Facility (NSBF) Long Duration Balloons on polar flights so that its balloon-borne experiments can avoid geomagnetic cut-offs.
Milton, Martha E.↗
Planetary Balloon-Based Science Platform Evaluation and Program Implementation
This report describes a study evaluating the potential for a balloon-based optical telescope as a planetary science asset to achieve decadal class science. The study considered potential science achievable and science traceability relative to the most recent planetary science decadal survey, potential platform features, and demonstration flights in the evaluation process. Science Potential and Benefits: This study confirms the cost the-benefit value for planetary science purposes. Forty-four (44) important questions of the decadal survey are at least partially addressable through balloon based capabilities. Planetary science through balloon observations can provide significant science through observations in the 300 nm to 5 m range and at longer wavelengths as well. Additionally, balloon missions have demonstrated the ability to progress from concept to observation to publication much faster than a space mission increasing the speed of science return. Planetary science from a balloon-borne platform is a relatively low-cost approach to new science measurements. This is particularly relevant within a cost-constrained planetary science budget. Repeated flights further reduce the cost of the per unit science data. Such flights offer observing time at a very competitive cost. Another advantage for planetary scientists is that a dedicated asset could provide significant new viewing opportunities not possible from the ground and allow unprecedented access to observations that cannot be realized with the time allocation pressures faced by current observing assets. In addition, flight systems that have a relatively short life cycle and where hardware is generally recovered, are excellent opportunities to train early career scientists, engineers, and project managers. The fact that balloon-borne payloads, unlike space missions, are generally recovered offers an excellent tool to test and mature instruments and other space craft systems. Desired Gondola Features: Potential gondola characteristics are assessed in this study and a concept is recommended, the Gondola for High-Altitude Planetary Science (GHAPS). This first generation platform is designed around a 1 m or larger aperture, narrow-field telescope with pointing accuracies better than one arc-second. A classical Cassegrain, or variant like Ritchey-Chretien, telescope is recommended for the primary telescope. The gondola should be designed for multiple flights so it must be robust and readily processed at recovery. It must be light-weighted to the extent possible to allow for long-duration flights on super-pressure balloons. Demonstration Flights: Recent demonstration flights achieved several significant accomplishments that can feed forward to a GHAPS gondola project. Science results included the first ever Earth-based measurements for CO2 in a comet, first measurements for CO2 and H2O in an Oort cloud comet, and the first measurement of 1 Ceres at 2.73 m to refine the shape of the infrared water absorption feature. The performance of the Fine Steering Mirror (FSM) was also demonstrated. The BOPPS platform can continue to be leveraged on future flights even as GHAPS is being developed. The study affirms the planetary decadal recommendations, and shows that a number of Top Priority science questions can be achieved. A combination GHAPS and BOPPS would provide the best value for PSD for realizing that science.
Dankanich, John W.↗
Design and Technology Maturation of the Stratospheric Projectile Experiment of Entry Dynamics
The supersonic and transonic dynamic stability of blunt-body reentry vehicles currently poses large risks in all of NASA’s ongoing entry missions (MSR SRL, MSR EES, and Dragonfly). These projects have allocated millions of dollars to testing and modeling efforts to buy down risk by using the current state-of-the-art (SoA) facilities at NASA’s disposal. While these facilities have heritage in supplying dynamics data to reentry missions, their availability is severely limited – particularly with the high number of concur-rent projects requesting simultaneous testing– and are costly when considering the science density per dollar. None of the current SoA facility methodologies allow the test model to have the dynamics fully develop through a flight relevant free-stream profile and as such require extrapolations with resultant high uncertainties in order to relate the test dynamics to flight expectations. SPEED is a NASA Ames Center Innovation Fund (CIF) project that is developing a highly tailorable and cost-effective test methodology to better assess the dynamic stability of blunt-body reentry vehicles via a stratospheric balloon flight. This is accomplished by dropping a suite of instrumented capsules from a stratospheric balloon to gain a statistically relevant dataset of scaled reentry vehicles in mission relevant free-flight conditions. This presentation will walk through how the test methodology is being implemented specifically for the Mars Sample Return (MSR) Earth Entry System (EES) geometry in an awarded Flight Opportunities Program (FOP) test flight in early CY24. SPEED Application to MSR: SPEED consists of three main mechanical systems: the Drop Platform, the Projectile, and the test Capsule. SPEED is being developed as a set of guidelines and recommendations for how to test with the proposed Concept of Operations (Conops) since the specific design parameters will vary depending on the specific project’s reference trajectory and entry vehicle design. As such, this presentation will walk through the development time-line as shown in Fig. 2. This is meant to serve as a blueprint for further missions as desired. Mechanical and Avionics Design. The SPEED test platform designed for the MSR-EES capsule geometry with nominal entry parameters has the ability to carry 10 Capsules to altitude instrumented with: 1. 3-Axis Accelerometer 2. IMU 3. Gyroscope 4. Magnetometer 5. Pressure Transducer cruciform 6. Uplook and Horizon Cameras To package the avionics/instrumentation suite, the capsule is approximately 1’ in diameter with the Outer Mold Line (OML) centroid-scaled from the full EES design. The internal volume is gutted and custom-shaped to fit the desired instrumentation suite, as well as to allow for the positioning of ballast mass such that the Center of Gravity is analogous to the flight vehicle. All structural components in the Capsule and Projectile are 3D printed, which significantly reduces the cost of each flight unit to around $1500 including all instrumentation, avionics, and structural components. Flight Conops. The test Capsule is accelerated to the desired altitude and Mach number while stowed in the Projectile, a missile-like vehicle consisting of steel ballast in the nose, a low-drag OML, and an Ejection Mechanism to reliably release the Capsule into the free-flow supersonic conditions. For the MSR-EES design, the capsule employs ~3kg of ballast mass at the nose to accelerate the 1.25kg test Capsule to ~Mach 1.7 at 23km altitude. This requires an initial release altitude of 40km, the quoted limit of a 80kg payload by the FOP-contracted balloon provider. Once the Ejection Mechanism avionics detect the proper conditions, the spring-loaded Ejection Mechanism will release and – guided by the sabot – expose the test Capsule to the desired test conditions for ~5 seconds of free-flight in the supersonic/transonic regimes. Dynamics in the subsonic regime will also be captured with the instrumentation suite with post-flight recovery operations aimed at recovering the high-G-load capable SD cards after the planned hard impact landings. Testing and Development: In the few months the SPEED project has worked the development of MSR-EES flight test, the team has performed lab and drone based testing which this presentation will overview. After the first design phase, the team fabricated Engineering Demonstration Units (EDUs) of all subsystems to perform validation testing shown in Fig. 5. After validation was completed on the subsystem level, a drone-drop test was performed at the recreational flight ceiling of 400ft altitude to assess the SPEED systems in a flight environment. Parameters such as in-flight stability, hard impact landing performance, and avionics performance were quantified and qualified. The FY23 CIF will culminate in a helicopter drop test aboard an Air National Guard Blackhawk. This will prepare the team for the CY24 FOP stratospheric balloon flight that should provide the final verification to begin offering the test platform for mission support. Focus of Presentation: This presentation will outline the technology maturation path of the SPEED implementation to the MSR-EES capsule baseline as well as the details regarding the mechanical system, avionics and instrumentation, and flight operations. Note that a complementary presentation is being submitted for a methodology overview of the SPEED test platform, introducing the testing technique and benefits as well as the full application space of the technology.
pitch damping coefficient↗