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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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Simple articulating linkage secures solar panels into supporting framework. Five element linkage collapses into W-shape for easy placement into framework, then expands to form rectangle of same dimensions as those of panel.
The 312 square feet of Solaron flat plate air collectors provide for 788 square feet of space heating, an estimated 55 percent of the heating load. Solar heated air is distributed to the 96 cubic foot steel cylinder, which contains two inch diameter rocks. An air handler unit moves the air over the collector and into the steel cylinder. Four motorized dampers and two gravity dampers are also part of the system. A Solaron controller which has sensors located at the collectors, rock storage, and at the return air, automatically controls the system. Auxiliary heating energy is provided by electric resistance duct heaters.
A Kevlar cord and two thermal knives are key components in the Soar Array Restraint and Release System (SARRS) on the Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP) spacecraft at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. The SARRS uses a 25-foot (7.62 m) length Kevlar cord that encircles the spacecraft and secures the solar panels in stowed configuration for launch. Once in orbit, one of two redundantly configured thermal knives severs the Kevlar cord and permits the panels to deploy. The purpose of this paper is to present the details of the design, development test results, and the various innovations that were created during the development of this novel use of the thermal knife and Kevlar cord.
At approximately 63 seconds into the flight of Skylab 1 on May 14, 1973, an anomaly occurred which resulted in the complete loss of the meteoroid shield around the orbital workshop. This was followed by the loss of one of the two solar array systems on the workshop and a failure of the inter stage adapter to separate from the S-II stage of the Saturn V launch vehicle. The investigation reported herein identified the most probable cause of this flight anomaly to be the breakup and loss of the meteoroid shield due to aerodynamic loads that were not accounted for in its design. The breakup of the meteoroid shield, in turn, broke the tie downs that secured one of the solar array systems to the workshop. Complete loss of this solar array system occurred at 593 seconds when the exhaust plume of the S-II stage retro-rockets impacted the partially deployed solar array system. Falling debris from the meteoroid shield also damaged the S-II inter stage adapter ordnance system in such a manner as to preclude separation. Of several possible failure modes of the meteoroid shield that were identified, the most probable in this particular flight was internal pressurization of its auxiliary tunnel which acted to force the forward end of the meteoroid shield away from the shell of the workshop and into the supersonic air stream. The pressurization of the auxiliary tunnel was due to the existence of several openings in the aft region of the tunnel. Another possible failure mode was the separation of the leading edge of the meteoroid shield from the shell of the workshop (particularly in the region of the folded ordnance panel) of sufficient extent to admit ram air pressures under the shield.
Shortly after the NASA Genesis Mission sample return capsule returned to earth on September 8, 2004, the science team discovered that all nine ultra-pure semiconductor materials were contaminated with a thin molecular organic film approximately 0 to 100 angstroms thick. The organic contaminate layer, possibly a silicone, situated on the surface of the materials is speculated to have formed by condensation of organic matter from spacecraft off-gassing at the Lagrange 1 halo orbit during times of solar exposure. While the valuable solar wind atoms are safely secured directly below this organic contamination and/or native oxide layer in approximately the first 1000 angstroms of the ultra-pure material substrate, some analytical techniques that precisely measure solar wind elemental abundances require the removal of this organic contaminate. In 2005, Genesis science team laboratories began to develop various methods for removing the organic thin film without removing the precious material substrate that contained the solar wind atoms. Stephen Sestak and colleagues at Open University first experimented with ultraviolet radiation ozone (UV/O3) cleaning of several non-flight and flown Genesis silicon wafer fragments under a pure flowing oxygen environment. The UV/O3 technique was able to successfully remove organic contamination without etching into the bulk material substrate. At NASA Johnson Space Center Genesis Curation Laboratory, we have installed an UV/O3 cleaning devise in an ambient air environment to further experimentally test the removal of the organic contamination on Genesis wafer materials. Preliminary results from XPS analysis show that the UV/O3 cleaning instrument is a good non-destructive method for removing carbon contamination from flown Genesis array samples. However, spectroscopic ellipsometry results show little change in the thickness of the surface film. All experiments to date have shown UV/O3 cleaning method to be the best non-destructive method for removing organic contamination from the surface of the Genesis materials. The UV/O3 cleaning process can also clean carbon contamination to levels below non-flight standards. This can be seen by comparing sample 60260's carbon 10667 cps with non-flight Si carbon 21675 cps. Therefore, surface carbon contamination should not hinder the analysis of solar wind.
Topics include: Bioreactors Drive Advances in Tissue Engineering; Tooling Techniques Enhance Medical Imaging; Ventilator Technologies Sustain Critically Injured Patients; Protein Innovations Advance Drug Treatments, Skin Care; Mass Analyzers Facilitate Research on Addiction; Frameworks Coordinate Scientific Data Management; Cameras Improve Navigation for Pilots, Drivers; Integrated Design Tools Reduce Risk, Cost; Advisory Systems Save Time, Fuel for Airlines; Modeling Programs Increase Aircraft Design Safety; Fly-by-Wire Systems Enable Safer, More Efficient Flight; Modified Fittings Enhance Industrial Safety; Simulation Tools Model Icing for Aircraft Design; Information Systems Coordinate Emergency Management; Imaging Systems Provide Maps for U.S. Soldiers; High-Pressure Systems Suppress Fires in Seconds; Alloy-Enhanced Fans Maintain Fresh Air in Tunnels; Control Algorithms Charge Batteries Faster; Software Programs Derive Measurements from Photographs; Retrofits Convert Gas Vehicles into Hybrids; NASA Missions Inspire Online Video Games; Monitors Track Vital Signs for Fitness and Safety; Thermal Components Boost Performance of HVAC Systems; World Wind Tools Reveal Environmental Change; Analyzers Measure Greenhouse Gasses, Airborne Pollutants; Remediation Technologies Eliminate Contaminants; Receivers Gather Data for Climate, Weather Prediction; Coating Processes Boost Performance of Solar Cells; Analyzers Provide Water Security in Space and on Earth; Catalyst Substrates Remove Contaminants, Produce Fuel; Rocket Engine Innovations Advance Clean Energy; Technologies Render Views of Earth for Virtual Navigation; Content Platforms Meet Data Storage, Retrieval Needs; Tools Ensure Reliability of Critical Software; Electronic Handbooks Simplify Process Management; Software Innovations Speed Scientific Computing; Controller Chips Preserve Microprocessor Function; Nanotube Production Devices Expand Research Capabilities; Custom Machines Advance Composite Manufacturing; Polyimide Foams Offer Superior Insulation; Beam Steering Devices Reduce Payload Weight; Models Support Energy-Saving Microwave Technologies; Materials Advance Chemical Propulsion Technology; and High-Temperature Coatings Offer Energy Savings.
Large-scale monitoring of crop growth and yield has important value for forecasting food production and prices and ensuring regional food security. A newly emerging satellite retrieval, solar-induced fluorescence (SIF) of chlorophyll, provides for the first time a direct measurement related to plant photosynthetic activity (i.e. electron transport rate). Here, we provide a framework to link SIF retrievals and crop yield, accounting for stoichiometry, photosynthetic pathways, and respiration losses. We apply this framework to estimate United States crop productivity for 2007-2012, where we use the spaceborne SIF retrievals from the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment-2 satellite, benchmarked with county-level crop yield statistics, and compare it with various traditional crop monitoring approaches. We find that a SIF-based approach accounting for photosynthetic pathways (i.e. C3 and C4 crops) provides the best measure of crop productivity among these approaches, despite the fact that SIF sensors are not yet optimized for terrestrial applications. We further show that SIF provides the ability to infer the impacts of environmental stresses on autotrophic respiration and carbon-use-efficiency, with a substantial sensitivity of both to high temperatures. These results indicate new opportunities for improved mechanistic understanding of crop yield responses to climate variability and change.
Terrestrial applications of solar cells and design systems are considered for those applications that show the most promise for becoming practical and accepted by users within the next five years. The study includes the definition, categorization, evaluation and screening of the most attractive potential terrestrial applications for solar cells. Potential markets are initially grouped and categorized in a general sense and are weighted in priority by their business volume, present and future. From a categorized list including marine, transportation, security, communication, meteorological and others, 66 potential solar cell applications have been cataloged. A methodology was formulated to include the criteria for evaluation and screening. The evaluation process covers all parts and components of the complete system required for each application and gives consideration to all factors, such as engineering, economic, production, marketing and other factors that may have an influence on the acceptance of the system.
It has been suggested that the U.S., in concert with private entities and international partners, set itself on a course to accomplish human exploration of the solar system by the end of this century. This is a strikingly bold vision intended to revitalize the aspirations of HSF in service to the security, economic, and scientific interests of the nation. Solar system distance and time scales impose severe requirements on crewed space transportation systems, however, and fully realizing all objectives in support of this goal will require a multi-decade commitment employing radically advanced technologies - most prominently, space habitats capable of sustaining and protecting life in harsh radiation environments under zero gravity conditions and in-space propulsion technologies capable of rapid deep space transits with earth return, the subject of this paper. While near term mission destinations such as the moon and Mars can be accomplished with chemical propulsion and/or high power SEP, fundamental capability constraints render these traditional systems ineffective for solar system wide exploration. Nuclear based propulsion and alternative energetic methods, on the other hand, represent potential avenues, perhaps the only viable avenues, to high specific power space transport evincing reduced trip time, reduced IMLEO, and expanded deep space reach. Here, very long term HSF objectives for solar system wide exploration are examined in relation to the advanced propulsion technology solution landscape including foundational science, technical/engineering challenges, and developmental prospects.
Bennu (101195), target of the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) mission, is a type-B asteroid with abundant spectral evidence for hydrated silicates, low thermal inertia “boulders” and frequent bursts of particle emission. We suggest that Bennu’s parent body formed in the outer solar system before it was perturbed into the asteroid belt and then evolved into a near-Earth object. We show that this is consistent with models of planetesimal evolution. Bennu has many characteristics expected for a dormant comet, and could potentially contain a minimum of 1 wt.% adsorbed water if its gross mineralogy is consistent with the Orgueil meteorite. This is in addition to any ice or water contained within the hydrous minerals themselves. Based on this hypothesis, we predict the properties of the samples that will be returned to Earth by the OSIRIS-REx mission, including abundant phyllosilicate minerals, amorphous hydrated silicates and low-density, very high-porosity aggregates, already observed by the OSIRIS-REx instrument suite. We predict enrichments in D/H and 15N/14N, high C/Mg ratios (>∼7 wt%), and a greater range of organic compositions than found in meteorites, including an organic component poor in aromatics, and a more labile organic fraction. Ammonium salts, ranging from NH4Cl to ammonium–organic acid salts could carry much of the nitrogen in comets, yet only NH4CH3COO and heavier salts are sufficiently stable to be found in these returned samples. Water adsorbed onto highly porous grains should also be detected provided that the sample return capsule remains below 300 K during Earth return, and this water should be isotopically heavy.
The OSIRIS-REx mission (Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith EXPlorer) is an asteroid sample return mission to Bennu (RQ36) that is scheduled to launch in 2016. The planned science operations precluding the small retrieval involve operations in terminator orbits (orbit plane is perpendicular to the sun). Over longer durations the solar radiation pressure (SRP) perturbs the orbit causing it to precess. Our work involves: modeling high fidelity SRP model to capture the perturbations during attitude changes; design a stable orbit from the high fidelity models to analyze the stability over time.
The NASA Technology Utilization House, called Tech House, was designed and constructed at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, to demonstrate new technology that is available or will be available in the next several years and how the application of aerospace technology could help advance the homebuilding industry. Solar energy use, energy and water conservation, safety, security, and cost were major considerations in adapting the aerospace technology to the construction of Tech House.
Following systems and features, which are predicted to save approximately $20,000 in utility costs over twenty year period, are incorporated into single-level, contemporarily designed, energy efficient residential structure: solar heating and cooling; energy efficient appliances; water recycling; security, smoke, and tornado detectors; and flat conductor electrical wiring.
The Technology Utilization House (Tech House) was designed and constructed to demonstrate to the building industry and the public the benefits of aerospace technology and other new technology that are presently available or will be in very near future. Use of solar energy, conservation of energy and of water, safety, and security were incorporated in the design of the house. The terms to be incorporated into the house and to assist in the design of the house were evaluated. An architectural engineering team was employed to investigate energy conservation ideas, determine cost effectiveness of new materials and systems, and prepare specifications and drawings for the house. The Tech House was constructed during the spring of 1976. All the systems were monitored to insure proper operation, and data were collected during a one year occupancy. Results obtained during the family live-in period, comments on the acceptance of the various energy-saving systems by the family, and suggestions for improvement of the systems are presented.
A triangular space station deployable in orbit is described. The framework is comprized of three trusses, formed of a pair of generally planar faces consistine of foldable struts. The struts expand and lock into rigid structural engagement forming a repetition of equilater triangles and nonfolding diagonal struts interconnecting the two faces. The struts are joined together by node fittings. The framework can be packaged into a size and configuration transportable by a space shuttle. When deployed, the framework provides a large work/construction area and ample planar surface area for solar panels and thermal radiators. A plurity of modules are secured to the framework and then joined by tunnels to make an interconnected modular display. Thruster units for the space station orientation and altitude maintenance are provided.
While extraterrestrial scientific research advances to the Moon and Mars, so does the need for secure high-quality video links to capture data and share the experience. This paper describes the space to ground architecture needed to satisfy the cultural mantra challenging “Pictures or it didn’t happen!” as NASA travels beyond Low Earth Orbit. The Marshall Space Flight Center’s Delay Tolerant Network Marshall Enterprise (DTNME) protocol is the framework for video distribution beyond the terrestrial Internet, appropriate for communications across the solar system. Utilizing the International Space Station (ISS) as a test facility, NASA engineers and contractors will demonstrate new technologies and capabilities to transmit high-quality video imagery for NASA’s return to the Moon, Mars exploration, and next generation of explorers.
While extraterrestrial scientific research advances to the Moon and Mars, so does the need for secure high-quality video links to capture data and share the experience. This paper describes the space to ground architecture needed to satisfy the cultural mantra challenging “Pictures or it didn’t happen!” as NASA travels beyond Low Earth Orbit. The Marshall Space Flight Center’s Delay Tolerant Network Marshall Enterprise (DTNME) protocol is the framework for video distribution beyond the terrestrial Internet, appropriate for communications across the solar system. Utilizing the International Space Station (ISS) as a test facility, NASA engineers and contractors will demonstrate new technologies and capabilities to transmit high-quality video imagery for NASA’s return to the Moon, Mars exploration, and next generation of explorers.
While extraterrestrial scientific research advances to the Moon and Mars, so does the need for secure high-quality video links to capture data and share the experience. This paper describes the space to ground architecture needed to satisfy the cultural mantra challenging “Pictures or it didn’t happen!” as NASA travels beyond Low Earth Orbit. The Marshall Space Flight Center’s Delay Tolerant Network Marshall Enterprise (DTNME) protocol is the framework for video distribution beyond the terrestrial Internet, appropriate for communications across the solar system. Utilizing the International Space Station (ISS) as a test facility, NASA engineers and contractors will demonstrate new technologies and capabilities to transmit high-quality video imagery for NASA’s return to the Moon, Mars exploration, and next generation of explorers.