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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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7 records
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NASA NTRS1990

Intrepid: A Mission to Pluto

A proposal for an exploratory spacecraft mission to Pluto/Charon system was written in response to the request for proposal for an unmannned probe to pluto (RFP). The design requirements of the RFP are presented and under the guidance of these requirements, the spacecraft Intrepid was designed. The RPF requirement that was of primary importance is the minimization of cost. Also, the reduction of flight time was of extreme importance because the atmosphere of Pluto is expected to collapse close to the Year 2020. If intrepid should arrive after the collapse, the mission would be a failure; for Pluto would be only a solid rock of ice. The topics presented include: (1) scientific instrumentation; (2) mission management, planning, and costing; (3) power and propulsion subsystem; (4) structural subsystem; (5) command, control, and communications; and (6) attitude and articulation control.

Behling, Michael↗
NASA NTRS1991

Apollo 12: Pinpoint for Science

This video, using historical film footage, photography, and computer animation, describes the launch, flight, lunar landing and exploration, and return flight of Apollo 12, one of the manned lunar missions. The astronauts were Charles Conrad, Richard Gordon, and Allen Bean. Thirty-six seconds into the November 14, 1969 launch, the spacecraft was hit by lightning from the thunderstorm surrounding the launch site. In spite of this mishap, the vehicle and astronauts were not harmed and continued with their mission. The Yankee Clipper (command module) docked with the Intrepid (lunar module) and upon reaching the Moon, the Intrepid disconnected during lunar orbit and descended to the Moon's surface to a landing area previously marked by the Surveyor satellite. After lunar surface exploration, soil sample collection, satellite maintenance, and setting up various lunar surface monitoring equipment (a seismometer and two atmospheric monitors), the Intrepid launched back into lunar orbit, docked with the Yankee Clipper, and returned to Earth. There are both B/W and color photography and film footage, which includes the Earth launch, lunar orbit, descent and ascent of Intrepid on the Moon, return flight, atmospheric reentry, and recovery on the Earth, and ground to air and space communication is shown.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1984

Active microwave measurements of sea ice under fall conditions: The RADARSAT/FIREX fall experiment

A series of measurements of the active microwave properties of sea ice under fall growing conditions was conducted. Ice in the inland waters of Mould Bay, Crozier Channel, and intrepid inlet and ice in the Arctic Ocean near Hardinge Bay was investigated. Active microwave data were acquired using a helicopter borne scatterometer. Results show that multiyear ice frozen in grey or first year ice is easily detected under cold fall conditions. Multiyear ice returns were dynamic due to response to two of its scene constituents. Floe boundaries between thick and thin ice are well defined. Multiyear pressure ridge returns are similar in level to background ice returns. Backscatter from homogeneous first year ice is seen to be primarily due to surface scattering. Operation at 9.6 GHz is more sensitive to the detailed changes in scene roughness, while operation at 5.6 GHz seems to track roughness changes less ably.

Onstott, R. G.↗
NASA NTRS2008

Mars Mapping Technology Brings Main Street to Life

The Red Planet has long held a particular hold on the human psyche. From the Roman god of war to Orson Welles infamous Halloween broadcast, our nearest planetary neighbor has been viewed with curiosity, suspicion, and awe. Pictures of Mars from 1965 to the present reveal familiar landscapes while also challenging our perceptions and revising our understanding of the processes at work in planets. Frequent discoveries have forced significant revisions to previous theories. Although Mars shares many familiar features with Earth, such as mountains, plains, valleys, and polar ice, the conditions on Mars can vary wildly from those with which we are familiar. The apparently cold, rocky, and dusty wasteland seen through the eyes of spacecraft and Martian probes hints at a dynamic past of volcanic activity, cataclysmic meteors, and raging waters. New discoveries continue to revise our view of our next-door neighbor, and further exploration is now paving the way for a human sortie to the fourth stone from the Sun. NASA s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration, utilizes wide-angle stereo cameras mounted on NASA s twin robot geologists, the Mars Exploration Rovers (MERs), launched in 2003. The rovers, named "Spirit" and "Opportunity," celebrated 4 Earth years of exploration on January 3, 2008, and have sent back a wealth of information on the terrain and composition of the Martian surface. Their marathon performance has far outlasted the intended 90 days of operation, and the two intrepid explorers promise more images and data.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2012

Advanced Lithium Ion Venus Explorer (ALIVE)

The COncurrent Multidisciplinary Preliminary Assessment of Space Systems (COMPASS) Team partnered with the Applied Research Laboratory to perform a NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program study to evaluate chemical based power systems for keeping a Venus lander alive (power and cooling) and functional for a period of days. The mission class targeted was either a Discovery ($500M) or New Frontiers ($750M to $780M) class mission. Historic Soviet Venus landers have only lasted on the order of 2 hours in the extreme Venus environment:temperatures of 460 degrees Centigrade and pressures of 93 bar. Longer duration missions have been studied using plutonium powered systems to operate and cool landers for up to a year. However, the plutonium load is very large. This NIAC study sought to still provide power and cooling but without the plutonium. Batteries are far too heavy but a system which uses the atmosphere (primarily carbon dioxide) and on on-board fuel to power a power generation and cooling system was sought. The resuling design was the Advanced Long-Life Lander Investigating the Venus Environment (ALIVE) Spacecraft (S/C) which burns lithium (Li) with the CO2 atmosphere to heat a Duplex Stirling to power and cool the lander for a 5-day duration (until the Li is exhausted). While it does not last years a chemical powered system surviving days eliminates the cost associated with utilizing a flyby relay S/C and allows a continuous low data rate direct to earth (DTE) link in this instance from the Ovda Regio of Venus. The five-day collection time provided by the chemical power systems also enables science personnel on earth to interact and retarget science - something not possible with an approximately 2-hour spacecraft lifetime. It also allows for contingency operations directed by the ground (reduced risk). The science package was based on that envisioned by the Venus Intrepid Tessera Lander (VITaL) Decadal Survey Study. The Li Burner within the long duration power system creates approximately 14000 W of heat. This 1300 degree Centigrade heat using Li in the bottom "ballast" tank is melted to liquid by the Venus temperature, drawn into a furnace by a wick and burned with atmospheric CO2. The Li carbonate exhaust is liquid at 1300 degrees Centigrade and being denser than Li drains into the the Li tank and solidifies. Since the exhaust product is a dense liquid no "chimney" is required which conserves the heat for the stirling power convertor. The Duplex Stirling provides about 300 W of power and removes about 300 W of heat from the avionics and heat that leaks into the 1-bar-insulated payload pressure vessel kept at 25 degrees Centigrade. The Na K radiator is run to the top of the drag flap.The ALIVE vehicle is carried to Venus via an Atlas 411 launch vehicle (LV) with a C3 of 7 km2/s2. An Aeroshell, derived from the Genesis mission, enables a direct entry into the atmosphere of Venus (-10 degrees Centigrade, 40 g max) and 6 m/s for landing (44 g) using a drag ring. For surface science and communication, a 100 WRF (WebEx Recording Format), X-Band 0.6-meter pointable DTE (Direct-to-Earth) antenna provides 2 kbps (kilobits per second) to DSN (Deep-Space Network) 34-meter antenna clusters.Table 1.1 summarizes the top-level details of each subsystem that was incorporated into the design. Cost estimates of the ALIVE mission show it at approximately $760M which puts it into the New Frontiers class.The ALIVE landed duration is only limited by the amount of Li which can be carried by the lander. Further studies are needed to investigate how additional mass can be carried, perhaps by a larger launcher and larger aeroshell.

Exploration↗
NASA NTRS2024

Interstellar Propulsion

As you read this, humanity’s first interstellar probe has left our solar system and is moving at nearly 17 km/s on its journey through interstellar space. Launched in 1977 and carrying a message from Earth on an inscribed golden disk, Voyager 1 completed its grand tour of the outer planets and has since travelled more than 24 billion km on its outward journey; it’s twin probe, Voyager 2, has also left the heliopause and entered interstellar space, traveling over 20 billion km from Earth. Yet even at these speeds and distances, our intrepid Voyagers have barely moved beyond the influence of our local star. If the distance between our Sun and the closest neighboring star system, Alpha Centauri, were scaled to the size of a meter stick, Voyager 1 would be located just over the ½-mm mark, having traveled 0.06% of the way to the next star (assuming it was pointed in the right direction, which it isn’t). At this rate it will take the probe nearly 75 thousand years to cover the equivalent distance to Alpha Centauri.

Interstellar↗