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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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NASA NTRS1988

Spacecraft telecommunications system mass estimates

Mass is the most important limiting parameter for present-day planetary spacecraft design, In fact, the entire design can be characterized by mass. The more efficient the design of the spacecraft, the less mass will be required. The communications system is an essential and integral part of planetary spacecraft. A study is presented of the mass attributable to the communications system for spacecraft designs used in recent missions in an attempt to help guide future design considerations and research and development efforts. The basic approach is to examine the spacecraft by subsystem and allocate a portion of each subsystem to telecommunications. Conceptually, this is to divide the spacecraft into two parts, telecommunications and nontelecommunications. In this way, it is clear what the mass attributable to the communications system is. The percentage of mass is calculated using the actual masses of the spacecraft parts, except in the case of CRAF. In that case, estimated masses are used since the spacecraft was not yet built. The results show that the portion of the spacecraft attributable to telecommunications is substantial. The mass fraction for Voyager, Galileo, and CRAF (Mariner Mark 2) is 34, 19, and 18 percent, respectively. The large reduction of telecommunications mass from Voyager to Galileo is mainly due to the use of a deployable antenna instead of the solid antenna on Voyager.

Yuen, J. H.↗

NASA NTRS2015

Hybrid Glacier Inventory, Gravimetry and Altimetry (HIGA) Mass Balance Product for Greenland and the Canadian Arctic

We present a novel inversion algorithm that generates a mass balance field that is simultaneously consistent with independent observations of glacier inventory derived from optical imagery, cryosphere-attributed mass trends derived from satellite gravimetry, and ice surface elevation trends derived from airborne and satellite altimetry. We use this algorithm to assess mass balance across Greenland and the Canadian Arctic over the Sep-2003 to Oct- 2009 period at 26 kilometers resolution. We evaluate local algorithm-inferred mass balance against forty in situ point observations. This evaluation yields a root mean squared error (RMSE) of 0.15 mWE/a ( 0.15 meters (water equivalent) per annum), and highlights a paucity of in situ observations from regions of high dynamic mass loss and peripheral glaciers. We assess mass losses of 212 plus or minus 67 Gigatons per annum to the Greenland ice sheet proper, 38 Gigatons per annum to peripheral glaciers in Greenland, and 42 Gigatons per annum to glaciers in the Canadian Arctic. These magnitudes of mass loss are dependent on the gravimetry-derived spherical harmonic mass trend we invert. We spatially partition the transient glacier continuity equation by differencing algorithm inferred mass balance from modeled surface mass balance, in order to solve the horizontal divergence of ice flux as a residual. This residual ice dynamic field infers flux divergence (or submergent flow) in the ice sheet accumulation area and at tidewater margins, and flux convergence (or emergent flow) in land-terminating ablation areas, which is consistent with continuum mechanics theory.

Altimetry↗

NASA NTRS1986

Automatic probabilistic knowledge acquisition from data

A computer program for extracting significant correlations of attributes from masses of data is outlined. This information can then be used to develop a knowledge base for a probabilistic expert system. The method determines the best estimate of joint probabilities of attributes from data put into contingency table form. A major output from the program is a general formula for calculating any probability relation associated with the data. These probability relations can be utilized to form IF-THEN rules with associated probability, useful for expert systems.

Gevarter, W. B.↗

NASA NTRS2011

Spacecraft Conceptual Design Compared to the Apollo Lunar Lander

Future human exploration of the Moon will require an optimized spacecraft design with each sub-system achieving the required minimum capability and maintaining high reliability. The objective of this study was to trade capability with reliability and minimize mass for the lunar lander spacecraft. The NASA parametric concept for a 3-person vehicle to the lunar surface with a 30% mass margin totaled was considerably heavier than the Apollo 15 Lunar Module "as flown" mass of 16.4 metric tons. The additional mass was attributed to mission requirements and system design choices that were made to meet the realities of modern spaceflight. The parametric tool used to size the current concept, Envision, accounts for primary and secondary mass requirements. For example, adding an astronaut increases the mass requirements for suits, water, food, oxygen, as well as, the increase in volume. The environmental control sub-systems becomes heavier with the increased requirements and more structure was needed to support the additional mass. There was also an increase in propellant usage. For comparison, an "Apollo-like" vehicle was created by removing these additional requirements. Utilizing the Envision parametric mass calculation tool and a quantitative reliability estimation tool designed by Valador Inc., it was determined that with today?s current technology a Lunar Module (LM) with Apollo capability could be built with less mass and similar reliability. The reliability of this new lander was compared to Apollo Lunar Module utilizing the same methodology, adjusting for mission timeline changes as well as component differences. Interestingly, the parametric concept's overall estimated risk for loss of mission (LOM) and loss of crew (LOC) did not significantly improve when compared to Apollo.

Young, C.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Relict drainages, conical hills, and the eolian veneer in southwest Egypt - Applications to Mars

The fluvial and mass wasting origin of the particles in the eolian deposits, the segregation of these materials on the basis of grain size, and the migration of those particles capable of saltation to areas of accumulation in lowland basins of the Sahara are suggested as analogs for the formation and accumulation of 'sand' sheets and dunes on the northern plains and in the polar erg on Mars. Outliers of the Martian plateau in the fretted terrain are seen as having been dissected, at least initially, by channels whose upstream portions are incised in the uplands. The Martian 'wadis' possess many geomorphic peculiarities similar to those of the Gilf (Gilf Kebir Plateau, southwest Egypt) wadis, and like the Egyptian features they have been attributed to mass wasting. Even though basal sapping and removal of debris by wind have almost certainly modified the Martian features, their deep incision in the plateau and their inferred northward extensions in the northern plains are thought to require not only initial downcutting by fairly energetic streams but also prolonged and long-distance flow of water.

Breed, C. S.↗

NASA NTRS1970

Mass loss by hot stars

Luminous hot stars mass loss attributed to negative effective gravities in outer parts of reversing layers from ionic UV resonance lines

Lucy, L. B.↗

NASA NTRS1976

The behavior of the Mg II doublet features near 2800 A observed in F, A, and B supergiants

The Mg II doublet features near 2800 A were recently observed in F-, A-, and B-type supergiants with a balloon-borne ultraviolet stellar spectrometer. The stars observed are Alpha UMi (F8 Ib), Alpha Per (F5 Ib), Eta Leo (A0 Ib), and Rho Leo (B1 Ib). The Mg II doublet features in Alpha UMi and Alpha Per show emission superposed on photospheric absorption. In the spectrum of Eta Leo, the Mg II lines are in absorption and show shortward-shifted components attributable to mass loss. In the spectrum of Rho Leo, the Mg II lines are primarily a composite of the photospheric and interstellar absorption features. The general behavior of the Mg II lines for supergiants of spectral types M through B are also discussed.

Kondo, Y.↗

NASA NTRS1983

The three micron 'ice' band in grain mantles

Attention is given to the influence of different mantle constituents on extinction and polarization due to H2O absorption in grain mantles, particularly the 3250/cm band. With respect to BN, the simultaneous reproduction of the extinction and polarization band shapes occurs by normal size particles containing mixtures of H2O with other molecules. As regards the 3-micron absorption in OH 231.8 plus 4.2, the data can be best fitted with pure amorphous H2O grains which have been heated to (or created at) about 80 K. The variation in grain mantle composition between young stellar objects and late-type stars loosing mass is attributed to a fundamental difference in grain formation and evolution.

Hagen, W.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Graphite fiber intercalation: Basic properties of copper chloride intercalated fibers

In situ resistance measurements were used to follow the intercalation of copper chloride in pitch-based fibers. Subsequent single fiber resistivity measurements reveal a large range of resistivities, from 13 to 160 micro-ohms cm. Additional density measurements reveal a bimodal distribution of mass densities. The dense fibers have lower resistivities and correspond to the stage III compound identified by X-ray diffraction. Neither resistivity nor density correlate with diameter. Both energy dispersive spectroscopy and mass density data suggest that excess chlorine resides in the intercalated fiber, resulting in a stoichiometry of C4.9n CuCl2.5 (where n is the stage number) for the denser fibers. Finally, thermogravimetric analysis shows a 33 percent loss in mass upon heating to 700C. This loss in mass is attributed to loss of both chlorine and carbon.

Jaworske, D. A.↗

NASA NTRS1985

The subtropical mesospheric jet observed by the Nimbus 7 Limb Infrared Monitor of the Stratosphere

Nimbus 7 Limb Infrared Monitor of the Stratosphere observations of wave-mean flow interactions in the winter 1978-1979 middle atmosphere are surveyed, extending up to 0.05 mbar. These observations describe the evolution of the subtropical mesospheric jet and its polar mixed layer. Quasi-steady mean wind patterns are disrupted by three transitions in this winter: one primarily affecting the mesosphere (December 15, 1978), a minor warming affecting both regions (January 26-February 8, 1979), and a major warming largely confined to the stratosphere (February 22, 1979). The zonally averaged flow is barotropically unstable in the wings of the subtropical mesospheric jet. All the major decelerations of the mean flow are correlated with D(F), the body force per unit mass directly attributable to planetary Rossby waves, indicating that these waves make a significant contribution to the momentum budget in the lower half of the mesosphere.

Dunkerton, T. J.↗

NASA NTRS1936

Status of wing flutter

This report presents a survey of previous theoretical and experimental investigations on wing flutter covering thirteen cases of flutter observed on airplanes. The direct cause of flutter is, in the majority of cases, attributable to (mass-) unbalanced ailerons. Under the conservative assumption that the flutter with the phase angle most favorable for excitation occurs only in two degrees of freedom, the lowest critical speed can be estimated from the data obtained on the oscillation bench. Corrective measures for increasing the critical speed and for definite avoidance of wing flutter, are discussed.

Kussner, H G↗

NASA NTRS2000

The Leonid Meteors and Space Shuttle Risk Assessment

The November 1999 Leonid meteor shower was videotaped on the grounds of the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) and at the JSC Observatory in Cloudcroft, New Mexico. The videotapes were analyzed using a meteor analysis system developed at JSC. The results of the analysis were compared to the Leonid Meteors Mass Distribution Model derived at JSC and used for micrometeoroid and orbital debris risk assessment performed before each Space Shuttle mission. The observed data compared favorably to the model in the .001 to 0.2 gram range but diverged from the model for the smaller masses. We attribute the divergence to optical equipment limitations. These 1999 results will be compared with the 1998 results which were presented at the April 1999 Leonid Multi-Instrument Aircraft Campaign (MAC) Workshop.

Pawlowski, James F.↗

NASA NTRS2007

Submicrometer Organic Grains: Widespread Constituents of the Early Solar System

Primitive meteorites and interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) contain remants of interstellar organic matter, marked by anomalous H and N isotopic ratios. These isotopic anomalies are attributed to mass fractionation during chemical reactions at cryogenic temperatures (10-100K) in a cold molecular cloud. Significant variations in the chemistry and isotopic compositions of organic compounds within and between these samples suggest varying histories of alteration and dilution of the presolar components. Recent studies have reported large H and N isotopic anomalies preserved in sub-m organic inclusions in both meteorites and IDPs. In the Tagish Lake meteorite, the largest H and N isotopic anomalies are associated with sub-m, hollow organic globules. The common physical, chemical, and isotopic characteristics of these globules suggest that they formed before being incorporated into their parent meteorite. These organic globules probably originated as organic ice coatings that formed on preexisting ice or mineral grains in a cold molecular cloud. Radiation driven photochemistry may have processed them into refractory organic grains. This model implies that submicrometer organic grains were widely distributed throughout the solar nebula during the epoch of planet formation. Submicrometer organic particles were detected by the Giotto and Vega encounters with comet Halley, termed CHON particles based on their major element chemistry. The first direct samples of cometary dust (comet Wild-2) were returned by the Stardust spacecraft in January 2006. These samples exhibit widely varying, fine grained mineralogy similar to anhydrous IDPs, including submicrometer carbonaceous grains. The submicrometer organic grains from comet Wild-2 exhibit H and N isotopic anomalies of similar magnitude to those commonly observed in primitive meteorites and IDPs. Isotopically anomalous, submicrometer organic grains have now been observed in meteorites, IDPs, the Oort-cloud comet Halley, and the Kuiper-belt comet Wild-2, suggesting that such grains were prevalent throughout the protoplanetary disk.

Messenger, Scott↗

NASA NTRS2021

Airborne and Ground-Based Measurements of Aerosol Optical Depth of Freshly Emitted Anthropogenic Plumes in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region

In this work we report the airborne aerosol optical depth (AOD) from measurements within freshly emitted anthropogenic plumes arising from mining and processing operations in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region (AOSR) in the context of ground-based AERONET climatological daily averaged AODs at Fort McMurray (Alberta, Canada). During two flights on 9 and 18 June 2018, the NASA airborne 4STAR (Spectrometers for Sky-Scanning, Sun-Tracking Atmospheric Research) Sun photometer registered high fine-mode (FM, <1 µm) in-plume AODs of up to 0.4 and 0.9, respectively, in the vicinity of the plume source (<20 km). Particle composition shows that the plumes were associated with elevated concentrations of sulfates and ammonium. These high AODs significantly exceed climatological averages for June and were not captured by the nearby AERONET instrument (mean daily AODs of 0.10±0.01 and 0.07±0.02, maximum AOD of 0.12) due possibly to horizontal inhomogeneity of the plumes, plume dilution and winds which in certain cases were carrying the plume away from the ground-based instrument. The average 4STAR out-of-plume (background) AODs deviated only marginally from AERONET daily averaged values. While 4STAR AOD peaks were generally well correlated in time with peaks in the in situ-measured particle concentrations, we show that differences in particle size are the dominant factor in determining the 4STAR-derived AOD. During the two flights of 24 June and 5 July 2018 when plumes likely travelled distances of 60 km or more, the average 4STAR FM AOD increased by 0.01–0.02 over ∼50 km of downwind particle evolution, which was supported by the increases in layer AODs calculated from the in situ extinction measurements. Based on these observations as well as the increases in organic mass, we attribute the observed AOD increase, at least in part, to secondary organic aerosol formation. The in-plume and out-of-plume AODs for this second pair of flights, in contrast to clear differences in in situ optical and other measurements, were practically indistinguishable and compared favourably to AERONET within 0.01–0.02 AOD. This means that AERONET was generally successful in capturing the background AODs, but missed some of the spatially constrained high-AOD plumes with sources as close as 30–50 km, which is important to note since the AERONET measurements are generally thought to be representative of the regional AOD loading. The fact that industrial plumes can be associated with significantly higher AODs in the vicinity of the emission sources than previously reported from AERONET can potentially have an effect on estimating the AOSR radiative impact.

AERONET↗

NASA NTRS2023

Exploration Medical Capability IMPACT Medical Database – Medical Item Database (MedID) Content Development Methods

The Informing Mission Planning via Analysis of Complex Tradespaces (IMPACT) project encompasses a suite of computational tools that are used to inform systematic trade study evaluations and research prioritizations regarding the optimization of spaceflight medical systems, including the provision of risk assessment metrics, for a given design reference mission (DRM). The IMPACT Medical Database (IMPACT-MD) is the component that virtually houses the clinical and engineering data for medical conditions, capabilities, and resources used to support these analyses. In addition, IMPACT-MD also provides data to the associated SysML model to support the Level 2, Level 3, and Level 4 requirements development needed for IMPACT. IMPACT-MD contains an internal Evidence Library (EL) sub-component that hosts the clinical evidence, treatment and outcome metric data, and incidence data for each medical condition identified for exploration-class missions. Furthermore, a separate Medical Item Database (MedID) sub-component hosts the engineering data and physical attributes (e.g., mass, volume, power, etc.) associated with each medical resource item identified to address the requisite medical conditions. The IMPACT project is conducted under the Exploration Medical Capability (ExMC) element of the Human Research Program (HRP) within NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate (SOMD). The reader is referred to the documents in Appendix A for a more complete overview of the IMPACT tool suite and functionality as well as further detail on any associated aspects of the project. The primary purpose of this document is to describe the methods utilized in the collection and verification of engineering data content during the project development phase for the MedID sub-component of the IMPACT-MD project. Engineering content data (both existing and new/future) will be stored in IMPACT-MD for use by the IMPACT project. This document will detail the content development and data credibility for the engineering data housed within the MedID subcomponent of IMPACT-MD, which is used to inform the IMPACT 1.0 project deliverables.

Exploration Medical Capability↗

NASA NTRS1998

Understanding Skill in EVA Mass Handling: Empirical Developments and Conclusions - Volume 3

Key attributes of skilled mass handling were identified through an examination of lessons learned by the extravehicular activity operational community. These qualities were translated into measurable quantities. The operational validity of the ground-based investigation was improved by building a device that increased the degrees of freedom of extravehicular mobility unit motion on the Precision Air-Bearing Floor. The results revealed subtle patterns of interaction between motions of an orbital replacement unit mockup and mass handler that should be important for effective performance on orbit. The investigation also demonstrated that such patterns can be measured with a variety of common instruments and under imperfect conditions of observation.

Riccio, Gary E.↗

NASA NTRS2003

Direct Drive Hall Thruster System Development

The sta:us of development of a Direct Drive Ha!! Thruster System is presented. 13 the first part. a s:udy of the impacts to spacecraft systems and mass benefits of a direct-drive architecture is reviewed. The study initially examines four cases of SPT-100 and BPT-4000 Hall thrusters used for north-south station keeping on an EXPRESS-like geosynchronous spacecraft and for primary propulsion for a Deep Space- 1 based science spacecraft. The study is also extended the impact of direct drive on orbit raising for higher power geosynchronous spacecraft and on other deep space missions as a function of power and delta velocity. The major system considerations for accommodating a direct drive Hall thruster are discussed, including array regulation, system grounding, distribution of power to the spacecraft bus, and interactions between current-voltage characteristics for the arrays and thrusters. The mass benefit analysis shows that, for the initial cases, up to 42 kg of dry mass savings is attributable directly to changes in the propulsion hardware. When projected mass impacts of operating the arrays and the electric power system at 300V are included, up to 63 kg is saved for the four initial cases. Adoption of high voltage lithium ion battery technology is projected to further improve these savings. Orbit raising of higher powered geosynchronous spacecraft, is the mission for which direct drive provides the most benefit, allowing higher efficiency electric orbit raising to be accomplished in a limited period of time, as well as nearly eliminating significant power processing heat rejection mass. The total increase in useful payload to orbit ranges up to 278 kg for a 25 kW spacecraft, launched from an Atlas IIA. For deep space missions, direct drive is found to be most applicable to higher power missions with delta velocities up to several km/s , typical of several Discovery-class missions. In the second part, the status of development of direct drive propulsion power electronics is presented. The core of this hardware is the heater-keeper-magnet supply being qualified for the BPT-4000 by Aerojet. A breadboard propulsion power unit is in fabrication and is scheduled for delivery late in 2003.

Hoskins, W. Andrew↗

NASA NTRS2005

Computing Gravitational Fields of Finite-Sized Bodies

A computer program utilizes the classical theory of gravitation, implemented by means of the finite-element method, to calculate the near gravitational fields of bodies of arbitrary size, shape, and mass distribution. The program was developed for application to a spacecraft and to floating proof masses and associated equipment carried by the spacecraft for detecting gravitational waves. The program can calculate steady or time-dependent gravitational forces, moments, and gradients thereof. Bodies external to a proof mass can be moving around the proof mass and/or deformed under thermoelastic loads. An arbitrarily shaped proof mass is represented by a collection of parallelepiped elements. The gravitational force and moment acting on each parallelepiped element of a proof mass, including those attributable to the self-gravitational field of the proof mass, are computed exactly from the closed-form equation for the gravitational potential of a parallelepiped. The gravitational field of an arbitrary distribution of mass external to a proof mass can be calculated either by summing the fields of suitably many point masses or by higher-order Gauss-Legendre integration over all elements surrounding the proof mass that are part of a finite-element mesh. This computer program is compatible with more general finite-element codes, such as NASTRAN, because it is configured to read a generic input data file, containing the detailed description of the finiteelement mesh.

Quadrelli, Marco↗