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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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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Kilopower - Powering the Future of Space Exploration [Poster]

The Kilopower Project was initiated by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate to demonstrate subsystem-level technology readiness of small space fission power in a relevant environment (TRL 5) for space science and human exploration power needs. The Kilopower Project centerpiece is the Kilowatt Reactor Using Stirling Technology (KRUSTY) test, which consists of the development and testing of a ground technology demonstrator of a 1 kWe class fission power system. The technologies to be developed and validated by KRUSTY are extensible to space fission power systems from 1 to 10 kWe, which can enable modular surface fission power systems for human exploration, as well as higher power future potential deep space science missions.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2020

Kilopower Project: The KRUSTY Fission Power Experiment and Potential Missions

The Kilopower Project was initiated by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate/Game Changing Development Program in fiscal year 2015 to demonstrate subsystem-level technology readiness of small space fission power in a relevant environment (Technology Readiness Level 5) for space science and human exploration power needs. The Kilopower Project centerpiece is the Kilowatt Reactor Using Stirling TechnologY (KRUSTY) test, which consists of the development and testing of a ground technology demonstrator of a 1-kW(electric)–class fission power system (FPS). The technologies to be developed and validated by KRUSTY are extensible to space FPSs from 1 to 10 kW(electric), which can enable modular surface FPSs for human exploration as well as higher-power future potential deep space science missions. The KRUSTY demonstration is cofunded by NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration. The KRUSTY demonstration in the National Critical Experiment Research Center’s Device Assembly Facility was completed in the first quarter of 2018.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Mission Operations Center for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Space Science & Security Program

Space mission operations has grown in line with the development of new space and ground technology. Originally, the philosophy for a space mission was to keep the spacecraft as simple as possible and have as much of the mission complexity on the ground where engineers can fix, control and access things. This was mostly due to immature space technologies and associated risk, as well as cost to develop complex and capable ground stations was relatively cheaper than complex space missions. This led to large room withs multiple computers and an army of engineers and operators sitting at computers and monitoring specific spacecraft information during operations. With development of new space technologies, a lot of functions that were kept and constantly monitored on the ground have been automated and completely integrated into the spacecraft, reducing the number of operators and engineers needed to operate a mission. With the paradigm shift in increasing spacecraft technologies, improved computer technologies, and scaling down space mission size; the mission operations centers have also adapted to changes. More organizations are becoming space-faring institutions and have developed mission operations centers for their unique missions.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2022

Optical atomic clock aboard an Earth-orbiting space station (OACESS): enhancing searches for physics beyond the standard model in space

We present a concept for a high-precision optical atomic clock (OAC) operating on an Earth-orbiting space station. This pathfinder science mission will compare the space-based OAC with one or more ultra-stable terrestrial OACs to search for space-time-dependent signatures of dark scalar fields that manifest as anomalies in the relative frequencies of station-based and ground-based clocks. This opens the possibility of probing models of new physics that are inaccessible to purely ground-based OAC experiments where a dark scalar field may potentially be strongly screened near Earth's surface. This unique enhancement of sensitivity to potential dark matter candidates harnesses the potential of space-based OACs.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

slewpy

slewpy is a Python package that allows the simulation of the science operations of an astrophysics space satellite mission. slewpy allows users to specify an astronomical target list with observing priorities and a satellite configuration (i.e., orbit and various satellite parameters). Taking these inputs, slewpy can be used to run a time-resolved simulation of an astrophysics mission and outputs simulated target observations given constraints such as satellite slewing rates between targets, observing time on a given target, and Sun-, Earth-, and Moon-limb observing constraints. slewpy provides the tools to test astrophysics space satellite mission designs against observing requirements for a given science case.

Geringer-Sameth, Alex [Lawrence Livermore National↗
DOE OSTI2026

LDRD FY25 Program Overview

As Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL’s) Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) program enters its fifth decade of leading-edge research and development, its impact and importance have never been stronger. The program continues to advance strategic investments in pioneering science, technology, and engineering, ensuring LLNL will be ready to deliver on our mission as it evolves over the coming decades. Investing in LDRD research, and the people who perform this critical work, gives LLNL the ability to sustain our role as a leader in the Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration enterprise. The LDRD program enables high-risk, high-payoff research that anticipates emerging threats and future mission needs. By nurturing the ingenuity of the Lab’s greatest asset, its people, LDRD funding advances not only our research but also grows and nurtures our workforce: engaging future innovators with student mentoring, challenging postdoctoral researchers to apply their skills to support national security, and strengthening the leadership skills of early career staff. This annual report documents how LDRD investments advance LLNL’s science, technology, and engineering across our mission space. To assess LDRD’s impact we track both short and long-term metrics such as peer-reviewed publications, number of students, or professional fellows. In addition to reviewing these metrics, I encourage you to delve deeper into the breadth of science and technology that illustrate the strategic value of this research portfolio. For instance, a recent exploratory research project used advanced manufacturing to construct miniaturized three-dimensional ion traps for a quantum computer with reduced quantum error rates to enable applications that address national security missions and support basic science. Another project has delved into studying detonation by examining deflagration to enhance the safety and security of the nuclear weapons stockpile. LDRD researchers are also deploying AI agents on two of the world’s most powerful supercomputers to automate and accelerate inertial confinement fusion experiments. Other teams are delivering more accurate optical constants to enable improved validation for aluminum to advance atomic and molecular physics models. LDRD-driven discoveries of how metals deform under extreme conditions strengthen our ability to model and design materials for demanding national security environments. National security challenges are increasingly complex and continuously evolving. LDRD focuses our most innovative science and technology on these challenges, ensuring the Laboratory is developing creative, forward-leaning solutions for our nation and the world. The following pages feature highlights of published scientific advances, patents, and honors that stem from LDRD investments. As you read this report, I hope you will understand how these investments position the Laboratory, and our partners, to meet the demands of the decades ahead.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Microgravity crystallization of perdeuterated tryptophan synthase for neutron diffraction

Abstract Biologically active vitamin B 6 -derivative pyridoxal 5′-phosphate (PLP) is an essential cofactor in amino acid metabolic pathways. PLP-dependent enzymes catalyze a multitude of chemical reactions but, how reaction diversity of PLP-dependent enzymes is achieved is still not well understood. Such comprehension requires atomic-level structural studies of PLP-dependent enzymes. Neutron diffraction affords the ability to directly observe hydrogen positions and therefore assign protonation states to the PLP cofactor and key active site residues. The low fluxes of neutron beamlines require large crystals (≥0.5 mm 3 ). Tryptophan synthase (TS), a Fold Type II PLP-dependent enzyme, crystallizes in unit gravity with inclusions and high mosaicity, resulting in poor diffraction. Microgravity offers the opportunity to grow large, well-ordered crystals by reducing gravity-driven convection currents that impede crystal growth. We developed the Toledo Crystallization Box (TCB), a membrane-barrier capillary-dialysis device, to grow neutron diffraction-quality crystals of perdeuterated TS in microgravity. Here, we present the design of the TCB and its implementation on Center for Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) supported International Space Station (ISS) Missions Protein Crystal Growth (PCG)-8 and PCG-15. The TCB demonstrated the ability to improve X-ray diffraction and mosaicity on PCG-8. In comparison to ground control crystals of the same size, microgravity-grown crystals from PCG-15 produced higher quality neutron diffraction data. Neutron diffraction data to a resolution of 2.1 Å has been collected using microgravity-grown perdeuterated TS crystals from PCG-15.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Artificial High-Transition Temperature Superconductors

In this work, we have used the well-understood quantum Hall (QH) stripes in high quality two-dimensional electron gases to mimic charge stripes in high transition temperature (Tc) superconductors. The science question we want to address is “Can QH stripes mimic high Tc superconductor stripes and provide a controlled experimental setup to pin-down the role of stripes in high Tc superconductivity?”. We have observed anomalous superconducting transition like behavior in GaAs double quantum well systems (DQWs) when each quantum well (QW) is tuned to the charge stripe states but with different Landau level fillings. Furthermore, we have shown that the transition like behavior is sharper in the DQWs when the two QWs are more strongly coupled. Our results suggest, for the first time, experimental evidence of the paired charge stripes model, which might lead to room-temperature superconductors that have enormously wide applications in computing, energy, and transportation industries. Advancing the science of high transition temperature superconductivity will have a profound impact in advancing energy technologies, ranging from the next generation microchips, new energy transfer grid to public transportation, and thus is important to nation’s energy security and relevant across the landscape of many mission spaces. Sandia has been a leader in materials science research and development. The proposed research takes advantage of Sandia’s state-ofthe-art MBE facilities at the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT) and utilizes Sandia’s extensive advanced materials characterization resources. We envision a significant impact on the nation’s energy research and security challenges by investing in this research.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Porting a fast-running wildfire plume model for use in national security and climate applications

In this project, the code for the fast-running Freitas wildfire plume model was successfully ported into the NARAC system, creating an operations-ready capability for predicting the transport of hazardous smoke from large wildfires. “Porting” refers to copying a section of code from one software package to another while accounting for unique dependencies in each software package. In this case, the code was ported from the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model, which is used extensively by the project team. To verify correct implementation, model results from the updated NARAC system were compared to those from WRF and the High-Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) forecast model, which also employs the Freitas scheme. The NARAC User Interface (UI) and code documentation were also updated to include the new wildfire plume option, and a wildfire case was added to the NARAC test suite. The code was used in a real-time, semi-operational setup to predict smoke transport during the Cerro Pelado fire near Los Alamos National Laboratory in May 2022. The Freitas plume model was also tested for LLNL climate applications. Although the code was not ported into the Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM), it was tested offline using E3SM atmospheric inputs, and results were compared to existing high-resolution plume predictions from large-eddy simulations in WRF. The code implementation and testing completed during this project will enable future work predicting smoke transport from large wildfires in LLNL national security and climate mission spaces.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

The NASA ISRO SAR (NISAR) Mission - Validation of Science Measurement Requirements

The NASA ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) is scheduled for launch early in 2024 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), at Sriharikota, near Chennai, India. This mission is the result of a collaboration between NASA and Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), where NASA has contributed elements of the mission such as an L-band SAR, and ISRO has contributed other elements, such as an S-band SAR. After successful launch, the NISAR mission will collect left-looking L-band SAR data over most of the Earth’s land areas twice during every 12-day exact repeat orbit. (once while in an ascending orbit direction and once while in a descending orbit direction). NASA and ISRO have individual and joint requirements on the mission that include the performance of the imaging radars onboard the spacecraft. For example, NASA must demonstrate that this L-band SAR will achieve a set of identified science measurement accuracy requirements that span Ecosystem science, Solid Earth science, and Cryosphere science disciplines. Likewise, ISRO has several applications objectives on both the L-band and S-band data from NISAR that the ISRO science team and project will be developing and testing. Pre-launch and post-launch activities have been planned to validate that these requirements are met. Here, we will discuss how the NASA plans are being executed and will present any initial results at the conference.

Chapman, Bruce↗
DOE OSTI2022

Achievements and Lessons Learned From Successful Small Satellite Missions for Space Weather‐Oriented Research

Abstract When the first CubeSats were launched nearly two decades ago, few people believed that the miniature satellites would likely prove to be a useful scientific tool. Skeptics abounded. However, the last decade has seen the highly successful implementation of space missions that make creative and innovative use of fast‐advancing CubeSat and small satellite technology to carry out important science experiments and missions. Several projects now have used CubeSats to obtain first‐of‐their‐kind observations and findings that have formed the basis for high‐profile engineering and science publications, thereby establishing without doubt the scientific value and broad utility of CubeSats. In this paper, we describe recent achievements and lessons learned from a representative selection of successful CubeSat missions with a space weather focus. We conclude that these missions were successful in part because their limited resources promoted not only mission focus but also appropriate risk‐taking for comparatively high science return. Quantitative analysis of refereed publications from these CubeSat missions and several larger missions reveals that mission outcome metrics compare favorably when publication number is normalized by mission cost or if expressed as a weighted net scientific impact of all mission publications.

Spence, Harlan E.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Fermi Large Area Telescope Fourth Source Catalog

We present the fourth Fermi Large Area Telescope catalog (4FGL) of γ-ray sources. Based on the first eight years of science data from the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope mission in the energy range from 50 MeV to 1 TeV, it is the deepest yet in this energy range. Relative to the 3FGL catalog, the 4FGL catalog has twice as much exposure as well as a number of analysis improvements, including an updated model for the Galactic diffuse γ-ray emission, and two sets of light curves (one-year and two-month intervals). The 4FGL catalog includes 5064 sources above 4σ significance, for which we provide localization and spectral properties. Seventy-five sources are modeled explicitly as spatially extended, and overall, 358 sources are considered as identified based on angular extent, periodicity, or correlated variability observed at other wavelengths. For 1336 sources, we have not found plausible counterparts at other wavelengths. More than 3130 of the identified or associated sources are active galaxies of the blazar class, and 239 are pulsars.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Towards satellite tests combining general relativity and quantum mechanics through quantum optical interferometry: progress on the deep space quantum link

The Deep Space Quantum Link (DSQL) is a space-mission concept that aims to explore the interplay between general relativity and quantum mechanics using quantum optical interferometry. This mission concept was formally presented to the United States National Academy of Science Decadal Survey as a research campaign for Fundamental Physics in 2022. Since then, advances have been made in the space-based quantum optical technologies required to conduct a DSQL-type mission. In addition, other research efforts have defined alternative measurement concepts to explore the same scientific questions motivating the DSQL mission. This paper serves as an update to the community on the status of the DSQL mission concept and related research and technology development efforts.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2022

Nuclear and Chemical Sciences Division: Investment Strategy 2023

The mission of the Nuclear and Chemical Sciences (NACS) Division within the Physical and Life Sciences (PLS) Directorate is to advance scientific understanding, capabilities, and technologies in nuclear and particle physics, radiochemistry, forensic science, and isotope systems to support LLNL’s national security mission. NACS Division personnel conduct a diverse range of research activities in particle physics, nuclear physics, radiation detection, nuclear measurements, chemical and nuclear forensic science, nuclear and radiochemistry, isotope geochemistry, and environmental science. These areas are leveraged to address evolving national security challenges. Scientific research provides the foundation for addressing these challenges, and it is also the principal means of attracting, training, and retaining staff scientists who can deliver solutions across the Laboratory’s mission space. The overarching strategy is to position the NACS Division at the nexus between fundamental nuclear and chemical science research and nuclear security applications. This approach will support efforts to recruit, train, and retain top-flight scientists and engineers who will play a key role in executing the Laboratory’s core nuclear security missions, while also enhancing LLNL’s reputation as a center for innovative scientific research. This document describes the strategic vision that will be used to guide key investments aimed at enabling NACS scientists to lead new efforts and meet future challenges.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗
DOE OSTI2026

Custom surface reflectance, shade mask, and equivalent water thickness maps for the Colorado Headwaters Ecological Spectroscopy Study (2025)

This dataset contains land surface reflectance estimates and additional derived products generated from NEON Imaging Spectrometer (NIS) data collected in the Upper Gunnison river basin during June and July of 2025. Data was collected over three domains: the Upper East River (CRBU), Almont Triangle (ALMO), and the Upper Taylor Basin (UPTA). These products were derived from radiance and LiDAR data collected by the NEON Airborne Observation Platform (AOP) campaign funded by the Colorado Headwaters Ecological Spectroscopy Study (CHESS) (doi:10.15485/3017965). Products include per-pixel surface reflectance (rfl) and reflectance uncertainty (rfl_unc), observational data (obs), canopy equivalent water thickness (ewt), and shade masks. Atmospheric correction was performed per flightline using the ISOFIT (Imaging Spectrometer Optimal FITting) optimal estimation framework to estimate surface reflectance and the associated per-band reflectance uncertainty. Reflectance retrievals achieved a mean absolute error of 1.5% across diverse validation surfaces (see validation report.pdf). Equivalent water thickness was calculated from surface reflectance using the Beer–Lambert absorption of liquid water. Shade masks were generated based on the geometry between the sun angle, ground surface, and sensor at the time of flight. Data products are provided per-flightline and as mosaics for each domain. Flightline data products are provided as ENVI-formatted binary files (rfl, rfl_unc, ewt) and GeoTIFFs (shade). Reflectance and uncertainty mosaics are provided as tiled NetCDFs, while all other mosaicked products are provided as cloud-optimized GeoTIFFs. These formats are supported by common geospatial software (e.g., QGIS, ArcGIS, ENVI) and programmatic libraries in Python (e.g., rasterio, xarray, spectral, netCDF4) and R (e.g., terra, ncdf4). Processing workflows were designed to be equivalent to those used to generate the 2018 CHESS campaign airborne imaging spectroscopy data products (doi:10.15485/3013527). All outputs were co-registered to a common spatial grid to support time series analyses. CHESS Project Description: The Colorado Headwaters Ecological Spectroscopy Study (CHESS) comprised a multi-week airborne remote sensing and field observation campaign in the Upper Gunnison Basin, Colorado, conducted in June and July of 2025. Airborne remote sensing was conducted by the National Ecological Observatory Network Airborne Observation Platform (NEON AOP), concurrent with a field campaign run by the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL), the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory Watershed Function Science Focus Area (SFA), and NASA-JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT) program. Between June 10 and July 18, 2025, the NEON AOP flight team collected high-resolution aerial imaging spectroscopy and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data over three domains: the Upper East River (CRBU), Almont Triangle (ALMO), and the Upper Taylor Basin (UPTA). In coordination with the flights, a field campaign acquired ground-truth observations, including observations of vegetation composition, foliar traits, forest demography, and subsurface properties in 18 core sampling areas within the domains. Additional surface water observations were taken at over 380 point locations. All CHESS campaign datasets can be found within the CHESS ESS-DIVE data portal: https://data.ess-dive.lbl.gov/portals/chess. Funding Acknowledgment: Data acquisition was performed under a grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (80NSSC24K1005). Computational research was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (80NM0018D0004) and was funded by EMIT Extended Mission Phase E Science.

2018 NEON and 2025 CHESS Campaigns↗
DOE OSTI2020

Updated design of the CMB polarization experiment satellite LiteBIRD

Recent developments of transition-edge sensors (TESs), based on extensive experience in ground-based experiments, have been making the sensor techniques mature enough for their application on future satellite CMB polarization experiments. LiteBIRD is in the most advanced phase among such future satellites, targeting its launch in Japanese Fiscal Year 2027 (2027FY) with JAXA's H3 rocket. It will accommodate more than 4000 TESs in focal planes of reflective low-frequency and refractive medium-and-high-frequency telescopes in order to detect a signature imprinted on the cosmic microwave background (CMB) by the primordial gravitational waves predicted in cosmic inflation. The total wide frequency coverage between 34GHz and 448GHz enables us to extract such weak spiral polarization patterns through the precise subtraction of our Galaxy's foreground emission by using spectral differences among CMB and foreground signals. Telescopes are cooled down to 5Kelvin for suppressing thermal noise and contain polarization modulators with transmissive half-wave plates at individual apertures for separating sky polarization signals from artificial polarization and for mitigating from instrumental 1/f noise. Passive cooling by using V-grooves supports active cooling with mechanical coolers as well as adiabatic demagnetization refrigerators. Sky observations from the second Sun-Earth Lagrangian point, L2, are planned for three years. An international collaboration between Japan, USA, Canada, and Europe is sharing various roles. In May 2019, the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), JAXA selected LiteBIRD as the strategic large mission No. 2.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2020

GeMini: A High-Resolution, Low-Resource, Gamma-Ray Spectrometer for Planetary Science Applications

GeMini is a high-resolution gamma-ray spectrometer designed for planetary-science exploration. GeMini serves as the basis for instruments being flown on three upcoming deep-space missions: NASA’s mission to the M-class asteroid (16) Psyche, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency sample-return mission to the moons of Mars, and NASA’s Dragonfly mission that will land on Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. These science missions require high-resolution spectroscopy in a low-power, low-mass, rugged design that can survive in a variety of environments. GeMini addresses these needs by providing a cryogenically cooled crystal of high-purity germanium that can operate with as little as 10 to 20 watts, depending on the implementation and mission, and has a mass of less than 2 kg. GeMini helps determine the elemental composition of planetary bodies by measuring gamma rays emitted from the surface. This paper describes the mechanical, thermal, and electrical design of GeMini as well as its performance. Further, it describes testing that was performed to validate the design with respect to launch loads and radiation damage. Although the basic design of GeMini is common to all three missions, each planetary body has unique environmental conditions and mission specifications. This paper concludes by describing these upcoming missions and how GeMini is customized for each.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗