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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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At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1985

Evolution of the innermost stable orbits around accreting neutron stars

The surface of most neutron stars with 'soft' equations of state lies within the innermost stable circular orbit predicted by general relativity. In disk accretion onto a weakly magnetized neutron star, the disk will reach the stellar surface for 'stiff' equations of state, but for soft equations of state the matter will hit the surface in free fall at an angle of about 0.001 to 0.1 radians. All calculations are carried out through first order in the angular momentum of the star.

Kluzniak, W.↗
NASA NTRS1990

A computer search for stable orbits between Jupiter and Saturn

The present experiment with test particles placed in orbits at uniform intervals between 5.7 and 8.8 AU, with randomly distributed eccentricities between 0.0 and 0.02 and inclinations between 0.0 and 0.063 rad, leads to the perception that no stable niches exist in the Jupiter-Saturn zone other than the Lagrangian points of Jupiter. These points are populated by at least 26 Trojan asteroids. The primary implication of these results for future investigations of the Saturn-Uranus-Neptune zone is that experimental design should be as selective as the dynamics of the planetary system have been shown to be.

Weibel, W. M.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Mission Analysis for the Don Quijote Phase-A Study

The Don Quijote Phase-A study is a definition study funded by ESA and devoted to the analysis of the possibilities to deflect a Near Earth Object (NEO) in the range of 300-800 m diameter. DEIMOS Space S.L. and EADS Astrium have teamed up within this study to form one of the three consortia that have analyzed these aspects for ESA. Target asteroids for the mission are 1989 ML, 2002 AT4 and Apophis. This paper presents the mission analysis activities within the consortium providing: low-thrust interplanetary rendezvous Orbiter trajectories to the target asteroids, ballistic interplanetary trajectories for the Impactor, Orbiter arrival description at the asteroids, Orbiter stable orbits characterization at the asteroid, deflection determination by means of a Radio Science Experiment (RSE) as well as the mission timelines and overall mission scenarios.

Cano, Juan L.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Stability of inner planetary systems

The stability of inner planetary systems with arbitrary mass ratios is studied on the basis of the model of the plane restricted three-body problem. A quantitative stability criterion is obtained in terms of the difference between the critical value of the Jacobi constants (at which bifurcation can occur) and the critical value corresponding to a planetary orbit. An orbit is stable if it cannot leave a region that contains only the larger central body (Hill). For small values of the mass parameter, the maximum dimensionless radius of a Hill-stable orbit is 1 minus 2.4 times the cube root of the mass parameter.

Szebehely, V.↗
NASA NTRS2010

NASA's New Orbital Debris Engineering Model, ORDEM2010

This paper describes the functionality and use of ORDEM2010, which replaces ORDEM2000, as the NASA Orbital Debris Program Office (ODPO) debris engineering model. Like its predecessor, ORDEM2010 serves the ODPO mission of providing spacecraft designers/operators and debris observers with a publicly available model to calculate orbital debris flux by current-state-of-knowledge methods. The key advance in ORDEM2010 is the input file structure of the yearly debris populations from 1995-2035 of sizes 10 micron - 1 m. These files include debris from low-Earth orbits (LEO) through geosynchronous orbits (GEO). Stable orbital elements (i.e., those that do not randomize on a sub-year timescale) are included in the files as are debris size, debris number, material density, random error and population error. Material density is implemented from ground-test data into the NASA breakup model and assigned to debris fragments accordingly. The random and population errors are due to machine error and uncertainties in debris sizes. These high-fidelity population files call for a much higher-level model analysis than what was possible with the populations of ORDEM2000. Population analysis in the ORDEM2010 model consists of mapping matrices that convert the debris population elements to debris fluxes. One output mode results in a spacecraft encompassing 3-D igloo of debris flux, compartmentalized by debris size, velocity, pitch, and yaw with respect to spacecraft ram direction. The second output mode provides debris flux through an Earth-based telescope/radar beam from LEO through GEO. This paper compares the new ORDEM2010 with ORDEM2000 in terms of processes and results with examples of specific orbits.

Krisko, Paula H.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Application of Solar Electric Propulsion to the Low Thrust Lunar Transit of the Gateway Power and Propulsion Element

NASA has committed to returning to the moon, landing the first woman and the next man on its surface. To support a sustained lunar presence, NASA is designing an orbital platform to be assembled in a semi-stable orbit near the moon called the Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO). This platform is known as the Gateway and its purpose it to support missions primarily to the lunar south pole. As NASA continues to study ways to reduce the cost of lunar exploration, a simplification implemented in 2020 was combining the first two elements of the Gateway together onto a single commercial launch vehicle (CLV). When launched together, the Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) and NASA’s Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) make up the Co-Manifested Vehicle (CMV). The PPE, a high-power Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) Stage, will propel the combined stack from a low elliptical orbit to a semi stable orbit near the moon known as a Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO). A transit of such a large mass, delivered to the moon from a single launch vehicle is only made possible by the use of the highly efficient SEP low thrust propulsion system. Delivering the same mass via more traditional chemical propulsion systems would require multiple launches and significantly more propellant. This paper captures an overview of the PPE’s SEP system, the lunar transit it will perform to deliver these first two elements of NASA’s Gateway to the NRHO with a comparison of a chemical system performing the same lunar transit to illustrate how SEP enables NASA’s Gateway.

electric propulsion↗
NASA NTRS2016

Orbital Stability Regions for Hypothetical Natural Satellites of 101955 Bennu (1999 RQ36)

The Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Investigation, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-Rex) mission will be orbiting and returning a sample from near-Earth asteroid 101955 Bennu. Ground-based observations have determined that no object greater then 15 m in diameter is orbiting Bennu. This investigation explores the possible size and stability of a natural satellite around Bennu. The focus of this research is soley on the existence of stable orbits for a natural satellite and purposefully places how the natural satellite migrated to this orbit outside the bounds of this research. Numerical simulations modeling J2, third-body dynamics and solar radiation pressue is used on a large set of initial conditions that vary in semi-major axis, inclination, longititude of periapsis and natural satellite diameter. Stable orbital initial conditions for a given natural satellite diameter must remain in orbit for more than a thousand years without escape or collision from Bennu. The data found the possible existence of natural satellites in orbit around Bennu as small as 0.75 cm. Certain mechanisms such as the modified Laplace plane, Kozai resonance and the Sun-terminator plane are explored for yielding stable orbits of a given natural satelllite.

asteroids↗
NASA NTRS2015

Long-Term Stability of Planets in the Alpha Centauri System

The alpha Centauri system is billions of years old, so planets are only expected to be found in regions where their orbits are long-lived. We evaluate the extent of the regions within the alpha Centauri AB star system where small planets are able to orbit for billion-year timescales, and we map the positions in the sky plane where planets on stable orbits about either stellar component may appear. We confirm the qualitative results of Wiegert & Holman (Astron. J. 113, 1445, 1997) regarding the approximate size of the regions of stable orbits of a single planet, which are larger for retrograde orbits relative to the binary than for pro-grade orbits. Additionally, we find that mean motion resonances with the binary orbit leave an imprint on the limits of orbital stability, and the effects of the Lidov-Kozai mechanism are also readily apparent. Overall, orbits of a single planet in the habitable zones near the plane of the binary are stable, whereas high-inclination orbits are short-lived. However, even well within regions where single planets are stable, multiple planet systems must be significantly more widely-spaced than they need to be around an isolated star in order to be long-lived.

stable orbits↗
NASA NTRS2011

Low Altitude Mapping Orbit Design and Maintenance for the Dawn Discovery Mission at Vesta

NASA's Dawn discovery mission will orbit the giant asteroid Vesta beginning in the summer of 2011. Four different near polar science orbits are planned. The lowest planned orbit at Vesta is called the Low Altitude Mapping Orbit or LAMO and is by far the most challenging to design and maintain due to the strong, nonspherical gravity expected there. This paper describes the orbit selection process. The true gravity field of Vesta remains highly uncertain. The proposed orbit selection process will be applied once sufficient gravity knowledge is obtained at higher orbits. The orbit selection process is applied here to a fictitious gravity field based on a Hubble space telescope shape model for Vesta assuming uniform density. The outcome of the process described here is a variety of stable orbits. However, Initially stable orbits at the LAMO altitude are not expected to remain stable operationally due to the unpredictable impulses resulting from the Dawn spacecraft thruster firings to de-saturate its momentum wheels. As a result, orbital maintenance maneuvers will be probably be necessary. This paper also briefly describes the statistical maneuver design process that resulted in the orbit maintenance plan.

orbit stability↗
NASA NTRS2015

Mapping the Region in the Nearest Star System to Search for Habitable Planets

Circumstellar planets within the alpha Centauri AB star system have been suggested through formation models and recent observations, and ACESat (Belikov et al. AAS Meeting #225, #311.01, 2015) is a proposed space mission designed to directly image Earth-sized planets in the habitable zones of both of these stars. The alpha Centauri system is billions of years old, so planets are only expected to be found in regions where their orbits are long-lived. We evaluate the extent of the regions within the alpha Centauri AB star system where small planets are able to orbit for billion-year timescales and we map the positions in the sky plane where planets on stable orbits about either stellar component may appear. We confirm the qualitative results of Wiegert & Holman (Astron. J. 113, 1445, 1997) regarding the approximate size of the regions of stable orbits, which are larger for retrograde orbits relative to the binary than for prograde orbits. Additionally, we find that mean motion resonances with the binary orbit leave an imprint on the limits of orbital stability, and the effects of the Lidov-Kozai mechanism are also readily apparent. Overall, orbits in the habitable zones near the plane of the binary are stable, whereas high-inclination orbits are short-lived.

alpha Centauri AB star system↗
NASA NTRS2006

Stable Satellite Orbits for Global Coverage of the Moon

A document proposes a constellation of spacecraft to be placed in orbit around the Moon to provide navigation and communication services with global coverage required for exploration of the Moon. There would be six spacecraft in inclined elliptical orbits: three in each of two orthogonal orbital planes, suggestive of a linked-chain configuration. The orbits have been chosen to (1) provide 99.999-percent global coverage for ten years and (2) to be stable under perturbation by Earth gravitation and solar-radiation pressure, so that no deterministic firing of thrusters would be needed to maintain the orbits. However, a minor amount of orbit control might be needed to correct for such unmodeled effects as outgassing of the spacecraft.

Ely, Todd↗
NASA NTRS1974

Erosion in radial inflow turbines. Volume 2: Balance of centrifugal and radial drag forces on erosive particles

The particle motion in two-dimensional free and forced inward flowing vortices is considered. A particle in such a flow field experiences a balance between the aerodynamic drag forces that tend to drive erosive particles toward the axis, and centrifugal forces that prevent these particles from traveling toward the axis. Results predict that certain sizes of particles will achieve a stable orbit about the turbine axis in the inward flowing free vortex. In this condition, the radial drag force is equal to the centrifugal force. The sizes of particles that will achieve a stable orbit is shown to be related to the gas flow velocity diagram at a particular radius. A second analysis yields a description of particle sizes that will experience a centrifugal force that is greater than the radial component of the aerodynamic drag force for a more general type of particle motion.

Clevenger, W. B., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1994

High Earth orbit design for lunar assisted small Explorer class missions

Small Expendable launch vehicles are capable of injecting modest payloads into high Earth orbits having apogee near the lunar distance. However, lunar and solar perturbations can quickly lower perigee and cause premature reentry. Costly perigee raising maneuvers by the spacecraft are required to maintain the orbit. In addition, the range of inclinations achievable is limited to those of launch sites unless costly spacecraft maneuvers are performed. This study investigates the use of a lunar swingby in a near-Hohmann transfer trajectory to raise perigee into the 8 to 25 solar radius range and reach a wide variety of inclinations without spacecraft maneuvers. It is found that extremely stable orbits can be obtained if the postencounter spacecraft orbital period is one-half of a lunar sidereal revolution and the Earth-vehicle-Moon geometry is within a specified range. Criteria for achieving stable orbits with various perigee heights and ecliptic inclinations are developed, and the sensitivity of the resulting mission orbits to transfer trajectory injection (TTI) errors is examined. It is shown that carefully designed orbits yield lifetimes of several years, with excellent ground station coverage characteristics and minimal eclipses. A phasing loop error correction strategy is considered with the spacecraft propulsion system delta V demand for TTI error correction and a postlunar encounter apogee trim maneuver typically in the 30 to 120 meters per second range.

Mathews, M.↗
NASA NTRS2000

The Relativistic Iron Line Profile in the Seyfert 1 Galaxy IC4329a

We present simultaneous ASCA and RXTE data on the bright Seyfert 1 galaxy IC4329a. The iron line is significantly broadened, but not to the extent expected from an accretion disk which extends down to the last stable orbit around a black hole. We marginally detect a narrow line component, presumably from the molecular torus, but, even including this gives a line profile from the accretion disk which is significantly narrower that that seen in MCG-6-30-15, and is much more like that seen from the low/hard state galactic black hole candidates. This is consistent with the inner disk being truncated before the last stable orbit, forming a hot flow at small radii as in the ADAF models. However. we cannot rule out the presence of an inner disk which does not contribute to the reflected spectrum. either because of extreme ionisation suppressing the characteristic atomic features of the reflected spectrum or because the X-ray source is intrinsically anisotropic, so it does not illuminate the inner disk. The source was monitored by RXTE every 2 days for 2 months, and these snapshot spectra show that there is intrinsic spectral variability. The data are good enough to disentangle the power law from the reflected continuum and we see that the power law softens as the source brightens. The lack of a corresponding increase in the observed reflected spectrum implies that either the changes in disk inner radial extent/ionization structure are small, or that the variability is actually driven by changes in the seed photons which are decoupled from the hard X-ray mechanism.

Done, C.↗
NASA NTRS2003

High-Frequency Quasi-Periodic Oscillations in the Black Hole X-Ray Transient XTE J1650-500

We report the detection of high-frequency variability in the black hole X-ray transient XTE 51650-500. A quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) was found at 250 Hz during a transition from the hard to the soft state. We also detected less coherent variability around 50 Hz that disappeared when the 250 Hz QPO showed up. There are indications that when the energy spectrum hardened the QPO frequency increased from approx. 110 to approx. 270 Hz, although the observed frequencies are also consistent with being 1 : 2 : 3 harmonics of each other. Interpreting the 250 Hz as the orbital frequency at the innermost stable orbit around a Schwarzschild black hole leads to a mass estimate of 8.2 solar mass. The spectral results by Miller et al., which suggest considerable black hole spin, would imply a higher mass.

Holman, Jeroen↗
NASA NTRS2014

Design Concepts for a Small Space-Based GEO Relay Satellite for Missions Between Low Earth and near Earth Orbits

The main purpose of the Small Space-Based Geosynchronous Earth orbiting (GEO) satellite is to provide a space link to the user mission spacecraft for relaying data through ground networks to user Mission Control Centers. The Small Space Based Satellite (SSBS) will provide services comparable to those of a NASA Tracking Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) for the same type of links. The SSBS services will keep the user burden the same or lower than for TDRS and will support the same or higher data rates than those currently supported by TDRS. At present, TDRSS provides links and coverage below GEO; however, SSBS links and coverage capability to above GEO missions are being considered for the future, especially for Human Space Flight Missions (HSF). There is also a rising need for the capability to support high data rate links (exceeding 1 Gbps) for imaging applications. The communication payload on the SSBS will provide S/Ka-band single access links to the mission and a Ku-band link to the ground, with an optical communication payload as an option. To design the communication payload, various link budgets were analyzed and many possible operational scenarios examined. To reduce user burden, using a larger-sized antenna than is currently in use by TDRS was considered. Because of the SSBS design size, it was found that a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket could deliver three SSBSs to GEO. This will greatly reduce the launch costs per satellite. Using electric propulsion was also evaluated versus using chemical propulsion; the power system size and time to orbit for various power systems were also considered. This paper will describe how the SSBS will meet future service requirements, concept of operations, and the design to meet NASA users' needs for below and above GEO missions. These users' needs not only address the observational mission requirements but also possible HSF missions to the year 2030. We will provide the trade-off analysis of the communication payload design in terms of the number of links looking above and below GEO; the detailed design of a GEO SSBS spacecraft bus and its accommodation of the communication payload, and a summary of the trade study that resulted in the selection of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle to deploy the SSBS and its impact on cost reductions per satellite. ======================================================================== Several initiatives have taken place within NASA1 and international space agencies2 to create a human exploration strategy for expanding human presence into the solar system; these initiatives have been driven by multiple factors to benefit Earth. Of the many elements in the strategy one stands out: to send robotic and human missions to destinations beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO), including cis-lunar space, Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs), the Moon, and Mars and its moons.3, 4 The time frame for human exploration to various destinations, based on the public information available,1,4 is shown in Figure 1. Advance planning is needed to define how future space communications services will be provided in the new budget environment to meet future space communications needs. The spacecraft for these missions can be dispersed anywhere from below LEO to beyond GEO, and to various destinations within the solar system. NASA's Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program office provides communication and tracking services to space missions during launch, in-orbit testing, and operation phases. Currently, SCaN's space networking relay satellites mainly provide services to users below GEO, at Near Earth Orbit (NEO), below LEO, and in deep space. The potential exists for using a space-based relay satellite, located in the vicinity of various solar system destinations, to provide communication space links to missions both below and above its orbit. Such relays can meet the needs of human exploration missions for maximum connectivity to Earth locations and for reduced latency. In the past, several studies assessed the ability of satellite-based relays working above GEO in conjunction with Earth ground stations. Many of these focused on the trade between space relay and direct-to-Earth station links5,6,7. Several others focused on top-level architecture based on relays at various destinations8,9,10,11,12. Much has changed in terms of microwave and optical technology since the publication of the referenced papers; Ka-band communication systems are being deployed, optical communication is being demonstrated, and spacecraft buses are becoming increasingly more functional and operational. A design concept study was undertaken to access the potential for deploying a Small Space-Based Satellite (SSBS) relay capable of serving missions between LEO and NEO. The needs of future human exploration missions were analyzed, and a notional relay-based architecture concept was generated as shown in Fig. 1. Relay satellites in Earth through cis-Lunar orbits are normally located in stable orbits requiring low fuel consumption. Relay satellites for Mars orbit are normally selected based on the mission requirement and projected fuel consumption. Relay satellites have extreme commonalities of functions between them, differing only in the redundancy and frequencies used; therefore, the relay satellite in GEO was selected for further analysis since it will be the first step in achieving a relay-based architecture for human exploration missions (see Fig.Figure 2). The mission design methodology developed by the Collaborative Modeling for Parametric Assessment of Space Systems (COMPASS) team13 was used to produce the satellite relay design and to perform various design trades. At the start of the activity, the team was provided with the detailed concept of the notional architecture and the system and communication payload drivers.

Relay Satellites↗