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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 NTRS2010

Assessing Space Exploration Technology Requirements as a First Step Towards Ensuring Technology Readiness for International Cooperation in Space Exploration

Advancing critical and enhancing technologies is considered essential to enabling sustainable and affordable human space exploration. Critical technologies are those that enable a certain class of mission, such as technologies necessary for safe landing on the Martian surface, advanced propulsion, and closed loop life support. Others enhance the mission by leading to a greater satisfaction of mission objectives or increased probability of mission success. Advanced technologies are needed to reduce mass and cost. Many space agencies have studied exploration mission architectures and scenarios with the resulting lists of critical and enhancing technologies being very similar. With this in mind, and with the recognition that human space exploration will only be enabled by agencies working together to address these challenges, interested agencies participating in the International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG) have agreed to perform a technology assessment as an important step in exploring cooperation opportunities for future exploration mission scenarios. "The Global Exploration Strategy: The Framework for Coordination" was developed by fourteen space agencies and released in May 2007. Since the fall of 2008, several International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG) participating space agencies have been studying concepts for human exploration of the moon. They have identified technologies considered critical and enhancing of sustainable space exploration. Technologies such as in-situ resource utilization, advanced power generation/energy storage systems, reliable dust resistant mobility systems, and closed loop life support systems are important examples. Similarly, agencies such as NASA, ESA, and Russia have studied Mars exploration missions and identified critical technologies. They recognize that human and robotic precursor missions to destinations such as LEO, moon, and near earth objects provide opportunities to demonstrate the technologies needed for Mars mission. Agencies see the importance of assessing gaps and overlaps in their plans to advance technologies in order to leverage their investments and enable exciting missions as soon as practical. They see the importance of respecting the ability of any agency to invest in any technologies considered interesting or strategic. This paper will describe the importance of developing an appropriate international strategy for technology development and ideas for effective mechanisms for advancing an international strategy. This work will both inform and be informed by the development of an ISECG Global Exploration Roadmap and serve as a concrete step forward in advancing the Global Exploration Strategy.

Laurini, Kathleen C.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Space Exploration Technologies Developed through Existing and New Research Partnerships Initiatives

The Space Partnership Development Program of NASA has been highly successful in leveraging commercial research investments to the strategic mission and applied research goals of the Agency through industry academic partnerships. This program is currently undergoing an outward-looking transformation towards Agency wide research and discovery goals that leverage partnership contributions to the strategic research needed to demonstrate enabling space exploration technologies encompassing both robotic spacecraft missions and human space flight. New Space Partnership Initiatives with incremental goals and milestones will allow a continuing series of accomplishments to be achieved throughout the duration of each initiative, permit the "lessons learned" and capabilities acquired from previous implementation steps to be incorporated into subsequent phases of the initiatives, and allow adjustments to be made to the implementation of the initiatives as new opportunities or challenges arise. An Agency technological risk reduction roadmap for any required technologies not currently available will identify the initiative focus areas for the development, demonstration and utilization of space resources supporting the production of power, air, and water, structures and shielding materials. This paper examines the successes to date, lessons learned, and programmatic outlook of enabling sustainable exploration and discovery through governmental, industrial, academic, and international partnerships. Previous government and industry technology development programs have demonstrated that a focused research program that appropriately shares the developmental risk can rapidly mature low Technology Readiness Level (TRL) technologies to the demonstration level. This cost effective and timely, reduced time to discovery, partnership approach to the development of needed technological capabilities addresses the dual use requirements by the investing partners. In addition, these partnerships help to ensure the attainment of complimenting human and robotic exploration goals for NASA while providing additional capabilities for sustainable scientific research benefiting life and security on Earth.

Nall, Mark↗
NASA NTRS1988

A perspective on space exploration technology catalysis: A rationale for initiating 21st Century expansion of human civilization into outer space

The rationale for human exploration of space is examined. Observations of the technocatalytic potential are presented. Transferability to the terrestrial environment of 21st Century Earth is discussed. The many threats to future survival of this planet's sensitive ecosystem are also discussed in relation to the technoecological harmony that might be achievable due to the extreme demands that are naturally imposed on the development of (civilian/human) space technology. The human attempt to inhabit the inner solar system (the Moon, Mars, etc.) is proposed as the ultimate and most appropriate technology driver for the myriad of socioeconomic, ecological, and technological needs that will accompany 21st Century Earth societies.

Horsham, Gary A. P.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Crime scene investigations using portable, non-destructive space exploration technology

The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASAs) Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) have teamed up to explore the use of NASA developed technologies to help criminal justice agencies and professionals solve crimes. The objective of the program is to produce instruments and communication networks that have application within both NASA's space program and NIJ programs with state and local forensic laboratories. A working group of NASA scientists and law enforcement professionals has been established to develop and implement a feasibility demonstration program. Specifically, the group has focused its efforts on identifying gunpowder and primer residue, blood, and semen at crime scenes. Non-destructive elemental composition identification methods are carried out using portable X-ray fluorescence (XRF) systems. These systems are similar to those being developed for planetary exploration programs. A breadboard model of a portable XRF system has been constructed for these tests using room temperature silicon and cadmium-zinc telluride (CZT) detectors. Preliminary tests have been completed with gunshot residue (GSR), blood-spatter and semen samples. Many of the element composition lines have been identified. Studies to determine the minimum detectable limits needed for the analyses of GSR, blood and semen in the crime scene environment have been initiated and preliminary results obtained. Furthermore, a database made up of the inorganic composition of GSR is being developed. Using data obtained from the open literature of the elemental composition of barium (Ba) and antimony (Sb) in handswipes of GSR, we believe that there may be a unique GSR signature based on the Sb to Ba ratio.

Firearms↗
NASA NTRS1991

NASA's Office of Aeronautics and Exploration Technology space power flight projects

NASA created a program called In-STEP (in-space technology experiments program) to give the aerospace community an opportunity to validate advanced technologies in space. In-STEP has funded feasibility studies for the following experiments in the power technology arena: a microsphere insulation investigation, a utilized regenerative fuel cell experiment, an inflatable solar collector experiment, a moving belt radiator experiment, and a liquid drop radiator experiment. The following experiments are currently in the experiment definition phase: an integrated two-phase thermal experiment, an electrolysis performance experiment, and a sodium sulfur battery experiment. Three In-STEP experiments are entering the hardware fabrication phase: thermal energy storage technology, solar array module plasma interaction, and heat pipe performance experiments. Each of these experiments is described, with an emphasis on the benefits of technology validation.

Chmielewski, Art B.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Verification, Validation, and Accreditation Challenges of Distributed Simulation for Space Exploration Technology

Throughout its rich history, NASA has invested heavily in sophisticated simulation capabilities. These capabilities reside in NASA facilities across the country - and with partners around the world. NASA s Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD) has the opportunity to leverage these considerable investments to resolve technical questions relating to its missions. The distributed nature of the assets, both in terms of geography and organization, present challenges to their combined and coordinated use, but precedents of geographically distributed real-time simulations exist. This paper will show how technological advances in simulation can be employed to address the issues associated with netting NASA simulation assets.

Thomas, Danny↗
NASA NTRS2011

Swingbed Amine Carbon Dioxide Removal Flight Experiment - Feasibility Study and Concept Development for Cost-Effective Exploration Technology Maturation on The International Space Station

The completion of International Space Station Assembly and transition to a full six person crew has created the opportunity to create and implement flight experiments that will drive down the ultimate risks and cost for human space exploration by maturing exploration technologies in realistic space environments that are impossible or incredibly costly to duplicate in terrestrial laboratories. An early opportunity for such a technology maturation experiment was recognized in the amine swingbed technology baselined for carbon dioxide and humidity control on the Orion spacecraft and Constellation Spacesuit System. An experiment concept using an existing high fidelity laboratory swing bed prototype has been evaluated in a feasibility and concept definition study leading to the conclusion that the envisioned flight experiment can be both feasible and of significant value for NASA s space exploration technology development efforts. Based on the results of that study NASA has proceeded with detailed design and implementation for the flight experiment. The study effort included the evaluation of technology risks, the extent to which ISS provided unique opportunities to understand them, and the implications of the resulting targeted risks for the experiment design and operational parameters. Based on those objectives and characteristics, ISS safety and integration requirements were examined, experiment concepts developed to address them and their feasibility assessed. This paper will describe the analysis effort and conclusions and present the resulting flight experiment concept. The flight experiment, implemented by NASA and launched in two packages in January and August 2011, integrates the swing bed with supporting elements including electrical power and controls, sensors, cooling, heating, fans, air- and water-conserving functionality, and mechanical packaging structure. It is now on board the ISS awaiting installation and activation.

Hodgson, Edward↗
NASA NTRS2015

New NASA Technologies for Space Exploration

NASA is developing new technologies to enable planetary exploration. NASA's Space Launch System is an advance vehicle for exploration beyond LEO. Robotic explorers like the Mars Science Laboratory are exploring Mars, making discoveries that will make possible the future human exploration of the planet. In this presentation, we report on technologies being developed at NASA KSC for planetary exploration.

Energy storage↗
NASA NTRS1991

Enabling the space exploration initiative: NASA's exploration technology program in space power

Space power requirements for Space Exploration Initiative (SEI) are reviewed, including the results of a NASA 90-day study and reports by the National Research Council, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), NASA, the Advisory Committee on the Future of the U.S. Space Program, and the Synthesis Group. The space power requirements for the SEI robotic missions, lunar spacecraft, Mars spacecraft, and human missions are summarized. Planning for exploration technology is addressed, including photovoltaic, chemical and thermal energy conversion; high-capacity power; power and thermal management for the surface, Earth-orbiting platform and spacecraft; laser power beaming; and mobile surface systems.

Bennett, Gary L.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Advanced Optical Technologies for Space Exploration

NASA Langley Research Center is involved in the development of photonic devices and systems for space exploration missions. Photonic technologies of particular interest are those that can be utilized for in-space communication, remote sensing, guidance navigation and control, lunar descent and landing, and rendezvous and docking. NASA Langley has recently established a class-100 clean-room which serves as a Photonics Fabrication Facility for development of prototype optoelectronic devices for aerospace applications. In this paper we discuss our design, fabrication, and testing of novel active pixels, deformable mirrors, and liquid crystal spatial light modulators. Successful implementation of these intelligent optical devices and systems in space, requires careful consideration of temperature and space radiation effects in inorganic and electronic materials. Applications including high bandwidth inertial reference units, lightweight, high precision star trackers for guidance, navigation, and control, deformable mirrors, wavefront sensing, and beam steering technologies are discussed. In addition, experimental results are presented which characterize their performance in space exploration systems.

Clark, Natalie↗
NASA NTRS1991

Enabling the Space Exploration Initiative - NASA's Exploration Technology Program in space power

Space power requirements for SEI are reviewed, including the results of a NASA 90-day study and reports by the National Research Council, AIAA, NASA, the Advisory Committee on the Future of the U.S. Space Program, and the Synthesis Group. The space power requirements for the SEI robotic missions, lunar spacecraft, Mars spacecraft, and human missions are summarized. Planning for the exploration technology is addressed, including: photovoltaic, chemical, and thermal energy conversion; power management; thermal management; space nuclear power; high-capacity power; power and thermal management for the surface, earth-orbiting platform, and spacecraft; laser power beaming; and mobile surface systems.

Bennett, Gary L.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Technology Applications that Support Space Exploration

Several enabling technologies have been identified that would provide significant benefits for future space exploration. In-Space demonstrations should be chosen so that these technologies will have a timely opportunity to improve efficiencies and reduce risks for future spaceflight. An early window exists to conduct ground and flight demonstrations that make use of existing assets that were developed for the Space Shuttle and the Constellation programs. The work could be mostly performed using residual program civil servants, existing facilities and current commercial launch capabilities. Partnering these abilities with the emerging commercial sector, along with other government agencies, academia and with international partners would provide an affordable and timely approach to get the launch costs down for these payloads, while increasing the derived benefits to a larger community. There is a wide scope of varied technologies that are being considered to help future space exploration. However, the cost and schedule would be prohibitive to demonstrate all these in the near term. Determining which technologies would yield the best return in meeting our future space needs is critical to building an achievable Space Architecture that allows exploration beyond Low Earth Orbit. The best mix of technologies is clearly to be based on our future needs, but also must take into account the availability of existing assets and supporting partners. Selecting those technologies that have complimentary applications will provide the most knowledge, with reasonable cost, for future use The plan is to develop those applications that not only mature the technology but actually perform a useful task or mission. These might include such functions as satellite servicing, a propulsion stage, processing lunar regolith, generating and transmitting solar power, cryogenic fluid transfer and storage and artificial gravity. Applications have been selected for assessment for future consideration and are addressed in this paper. These applications have been made available to the various NASA study groups that are determining the next steps the Agency must take to secure a sound foundation for future space exploration The paper also addresses how follow-on demonstrations, as launch performance grows, can build on the earlier applications to provide increased benefits for both the commercial and scientific communities. The architecture of incrementally building upon previous successes and insights dramatically lowers the overall associated risk for developing and maturing the key enabling technologies. The goal is to establish a potential business case that encourages commercial activity, thereby reducing the cost for the demonstration while using the technology maturation in developing readiness for future space exploration with overall less risk.

Henderson, Edward M.↗
NASA NTRS2006

In-Space Propulsion Technologies for Robotic Exploration of the Solar System

Supporting NASA's Science Mission Directorate, the In-Space Propulsion Technology Program is developing the next generation of space propulsion technologies for robotic, deep-space exploration. Recent technological advancements and demonstrations of key, high-payoff propulsion technologies have been achieved and will be described. Technologies under development and test include aerocapture, solar electric propulsion, solar sail propulsion, and advanced chemical propulsion.

Johnson, Les↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Applications of PLIF within Supersonic/Hypersonic Flows relevant to Space Technology and Exploration

We summarize two recent applications of planar laser-induced fluorescence using seeded nitric oxide (NO-PLIF) within two different large-scale facilities for space technology and exploration. The first measurement campaign described is the NO-PLIF measurements performed within the 31-in Mach 10 air tunnel at NASA Langley Research Center for flow visualization, velocity, and temperature measurements of the wake produced by a hypersonic blunt-body. PLIF within this wake-flow was performed to support the developments of HIAD (hypersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerator) technology, including the recent LOFTID flight mission. The second campaign is the NO-PLIF measurements performed within a 20-ft vacuum chamber at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center for flow visualization of a Mach 5 plume impinging on a flat plate under rarefied and continuum conditions. PLIF within this supersonic flow was performed to support future lunar and Martian lander missions by investigating the plume impingement behavior. While both of these measurement campaigns were performed using 10 Hz PLIF laser systems, current efforts include utilization of tunable high-repetition-rate lasers for NO-PLIF measurements up to kHz-MHz rates.

Planar laser-induced fluorescence↗