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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
NASA NTRS2007

Developing Capture Mechanisms and High-Fidelity Dynamic Models for the MXER Tether System

A team consisting of collaborators from Tennessee Technological University (TTU), Marshall Space Flight Center, BD Systems, and the University of Delaware (herein called the TTU team) conducted specific research and development activities in MXER tether systems during the base period of May 15, 2004 through September 30, 2006 under contract number NNM04AB13C. The team addressed two primary topics related to the MXER tether system: 1) Development of validated high-fidelity dynamic models of an elastic rotating tether and 2) development of feasible mechanisms to enable reliable rendezvous and capture. This contractor report will describe in detail the activities that were performed during the base period of this cycle-2 MXER tether activity and will summarize the results of this funded activity. The primary deliverables of this project were the quad trap, a robust capture mechanism proposed, developed, tested, and demonstrated with a high degree of feasibility and the detailed development of a validated high-fidelity elastic tether dynamic model provided through multiple formulations.

Canfield, Steven L.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Recent Progress in Aircraft Noise Research

An overview of the acoustics research at NASA under the Subsonic Fixed Wing project is given. The presentation describes the rationale behind the noise reduction goals of the project in the context of the next generation air transportation system, and the emphasis placed on achieving these goals through a combination of the in-house and collaborative efforts with industry, universities and other government agencies. The presentation also describes the in-house research plan which is focused on the development of advanced noise and flow diagnostic techniques, next generation noise prediction tools, and novel noise reduction techniques that are applicable across a wide range of aircraft.

Envia, Edmane↗
NASA NTRS2008

Active Management of Flap-Edge Trailing Vortices

The vortex hazard produced by large airliners and increasingly larger airliners entering service, combined with projected rapid increases in the demand for air transportation, is expected to act as a major impediment to increased air traffic capacity. Significant reduction in the vortex hazard is possible, however, by employing active vortex alleviation techniques that reduce the wake severity by dynamically modifying its vortex characteristics, providing that the techniques do not degrade performance or compromise safety and ride quality. With this as background, a series of experiments were performed, initially at NASA Langley Research Center and subsequently at the Berlin University of Technology in collaboration with the German Aerospace Center. The investigations demonstrated the basic mechanism for managing trailing vortices using retrofitted devices that are decoupled from conventional control surfaces. The basic premise for managing vortices advanced here is rooted in the erstwhile forgotten hypothesis of Albert Betz, as extended and verified ingeniously by Coleman duPont Donaldson and his collaborators. Using these devices, vortices may be perturbed at arbitrarily long wavelengths down to wavelengths less than a typical airliner wingspan and the oscillatory loads on the wings, and hence the vehicle, are small. Significant flexibility in the specific device has been demonstrated using local passive and active separation control as well as local circulation control via Gurney flaps. The method is now in a position to be tested in a wind tunnel with a longer test section on a scaled airliner configuration. Alternatively, the method can be tested directly in a towing tank, on a model aircraft, a light aircraft or a full-scale airliner. The authors believed that this method will have significant appeal from an industry perspective due to its retrofit potential with little to no impact on cruise (devices tucked away in the cove or retracted); low operating power requirements; small lift oscillations when deployed in a time-dependent manner; and significant flexibility with respect to the specific devices selected.

Greenblatt, David↗
NASA NTRS2010

Figure and Dimension Metrology of Extremely Lightweight X-Ray Mirrors for Space Astronomy Applications

The International X-ray Observatory (IXO) is the next major space X-ray observatory, performing both imaging and spectroscopic studies of all kinds of objects in the Universe. It is a collaborative mission of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States, the European Space Agency, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. It is to be launched into a Sun-Earth L2 orbit in 2021. One of the most challenging aspects of the mission is the construction of a flight mirror assembly capable focusing X-rays in the band of 0.1 to 40 keY with an angular resolution of better than 5 arc-seconds and with an effective collection area of more than 3 sq m. The mirror assembly will consist of approximately 15,000 parabolic and hyperbolic mirror segments, each of which is approximately 200mm by 300mm with a thickness of 0.4mm. The manufacture and qualification of these mirror segments and their integration into the giant mirror assembly have been the objectives of a vigorous technology development program at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Each of these mirror segments needs to be measured and qualified for both optical figure and mechanical dimensions. In this talk, I will describe the technology program with a particular emphasis on a measurement system we are developing to meet those requirements, including the use of coordinate measuring machines, Fizeau interferometers, and custom-designed, and -built null lens. This system is capable of measuring highly off-axis aspherical or cylindrical mirrors with repeatability, accuracy, and speed.

Zhang, William W.↗
NASA NTRS2012

RIMAS - Optical Design Development of the Imager/Spectrometer for the Discovery Channel Telescope

The Rapid IMAger - Spectrometer (RIMAS) is a collaborative effort between the University of Maryland at College Park, NASA-GSFC and Lowell Observatory designed for use on the 4.3 meter Discovery Channel Telescope at Lowell. The primary science goal of the instrument is the study of gamma-ray burst (ORB) afterglow appearing in the near-infrared. Continuous operation will allow measurements beginning minutes after the prompt emission. We present the results of the RIMAS optical design development. The instrument consists of two arms separated by a dichroic: the first for the Y and J bands (0.9 - 1.35 microns) and the second for the Hand K-bands (1.5 - 1.8 and 2.0 - 2.4 microns). Each arm will be equipped with two broad band filters for imaging, as well as low resolution and echelle grisms. The imaging modes are designed to be diffraction limited, with one pixel corresponding to approx.0.35 arcseconds, while the diffractive modes have resolving powers of approximately 20 and 4,000. With photometric and spectroscopic capabilities, RIMAS will be well positioned to quickly determine redshifts, followed by high resolution spectroscopic studies of ORB afterglow.

Capone, John↗
NASA NTRS2013

Conceptual Design of a Flight Validation Mission for a Hypervelocity Asteroid Intercept Vehicle

Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) are asteroids and comets whose orbits approach or cross Earth s orbit. NEOs have collided with our planet in the past, sometimes to devastating effect, and continue to do so today. Collisions with NEOs large enough to do significant damage to the ground are fortunately infrequent, but such events can occur at any time and we therefore need to develop and validate the techniques and technologies necessary to prevent the Earth impact of an incoming NEO. In this paper we provide background on the hazard posed to Earth by NEOs and present the results of a recent study performed by the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center s Mission Design Lab (MDL) in collaboration with Iowa State University s Asteroid Deflection Research Center (ADRC) to design a flight validation mission for a Hypervelocity Asteroid Intercept Vehicle (HAIV) as part of a Phase 2 NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) research project. The HAIV is a two-body vehicle consisting of a leading kinetic impactor and trailing follower carrying a Nuclear Explosive Device (NED) payload. The HAIV detonates the NED inside the crater in the NEO s surface created by the lead kinetic impactor portion of the vehicle, effecting a powerful subsurface detonation to disrupt the NEO. For the flight validation mission, only a simple mass proxy for the NED is carried in the HAIV. Ongoing and future research topics are discussed following the presentation of the detailed flight validation mission design results produced in the MDL.

Barbee, Brent W.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Verification of Dosimetry Measurements with Timepix Pixel Detectors for Space Applications

The current capabilities of modern pixel-detector technology has provided the possibility to design a new generation of radiation monitors. Timepix detectors are semiconductor pixel detectors based on a hybrid configuration. As such, the read-out chip can be used with different types and thicknesses of sensors. For space radiation dosimetry applications, Timepix devices with 300 and 500 microns thick silicon sensors have been used by a collaboration between NASA and University of Houston to explore their performance. For that purpose, an extensive evaluation of the response of Timepix for such applications has been performed. Timepix-based devices were tested in many different environments both at ground-based accelerator facilities such as HIMAC (Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator in Chiba, Japan), and at NSRL (NASA Space Radiation Laboratory at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, NY), as well as in space on board of the International Space Station (ISS). These tests have included a wide range of the particle types and energies, from protons through iron nuclei. The results have been compared both with other devices and theoretical values. This effort has demonstrated that Timepix-based detectors are exceptionally capable at providing accurate dosimetry measurements in this application as verified by the confirming correspondence with the other accepted techniques.

Kroupa, M.↗
NASA NTRS2016

The CuSPED Mission: CubeSat for GNSS Sounding of the Ionosphere-Plasmasphere Electron Density

The CubeSat for GNSS Sounding of Ionosphere-Plasmasphere Electron Density (CuSPED) is a 3U CubeSat mission concept that has been developed in response to the NASA Heliophysics program's decadal science goal of the determining of the dynamics and coupling of the Earth's magnetosphere, ionosphere, and atmosphere and their response to solar and terrestrial inputs. The mission was formulated through a collaboration between West Virginia University, Georgia Tech, NASA GSFC and NASA JPL, and features a 3U CubeSat that hosts both a miniaturized space capable Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver for topside atmospheric sounding, along with a Thermal Electron Capped Hemispherical Spectrometer (TECHS) for the purpose of in situ electron precipitation measurements. These two complimentary measurement techniques will provide data for the purpose of constraining ionosphere-magnetosphere coupling models and will also enable studies of the local plasma environment and spacecraft charging; a phenomenon which is known to lead to significant errors in the measurement of low-energy, charged species from instruments aboard spacecraft traversing the ionosphere. This paper will provide an overview of the concept including its science motivation and implementation.

Heliophysics↗
NASA NTRS2017

Investigation of the High-Energy Oxidation of FiberForm from DSMC Analysis of Molecular Beam Experiments

A collaborative effort between the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) and Montana State University (MSU) succeeded at developing a new finite-rate carbon oxidation model from molecular beam scattering experiments on vitreous carbon (VC). We now aim to use the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) code SPARTA to apply the model to each fiber of the porous fibrous Thermal Protection Systems (TPS) material FiberForm (FF). The detailed micro-structure of FF was obtained from X-ray micro-tomography and then used in DSMC. Both experiments and simulations show that the CO/O products ratio increased at all temperatures from VC to FF. We postulate this is due to the larger number of collisions an O atom encounters inside the porous FF material compared to the flat surface of VC. For the simulations, we particularly focused on the lowest and highest temperatures studied experimentally, 1023 K and 1823 K, and found good agreement between the finite-rate DSMC simulations and experiments.

Oxidation↗
NASA NTRS2017

NASA's Space Launch System: Deep-Space Delivery for Smallsats

Designed for human exploration missions into deep space, NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) represents a new spaceflight infrastructure asset, enabling a wide variety of unique utilization opportunities. While primarily focused on launching the large systems needed for crewed spaceflight beyond Earth orbit, SLS also offers a game-changing capability for the deployment of small satellites to deep-space destinations, beginning with its first flight. Currently, SLS is making rapid progress toward readiness for its first launch in two years, using the initial configuration of the vehicle, which is capable of delivering 70 metric tons (t) to Low Earth Orbit (LEO). On its first flight test of the Orion spacecraft around the moon, accompanying Orion on SLS will be small-satellite secondary payloads, which will deploy in cislunar space. The deployment berths are sized for "6U" CubeSats, and on EM-1 the spacecraft will be deployed into cislunar space following Orion separate from the SLS Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage. Payloads in 6U class will be limited to 14 kg maximum mass. Secondary payloads on EM-1 will be launched in the Orion Stage Adapter (OSA). Payload dispensers will be mounted on specially designed brackets, each attached to the interior wall of the OSA. For the EM-1 mission, a total of fourteen brackets will be installed, allowing for thirteen payload locations. The final location will be used for mounting an avionics unit, which will include a battery and sequencer for executing the mission deployment sequence. Following the launch of EM-1, deployments of the secondary payloads will commence after sufficient separation of the Orion spacecraft to the upper stage vehicle to minimize any possible contact of the deployed CubeSats to Orion. Currently this is estimated to require approximately 4 hours. The allowed deployment window for the CubeSats will be from the time the upper stage disposal maneuvers are complete to up to 10 days after launch. The upper stage will fly past the moon at a perigee of approximately 100km, and this closest approach will occur about 5 days after launch. The limiting factor for the latest deployment time is the available power in the sequencer system. Several NASA Mission Directorates were involved in the development of programs for the competition, selection, and development of EM-1 payloads that support directorate priorities. CubeSat payloads on EM-1 will include both NASA research experiments and spacecraft developed by industry, international and potentially academia partners. The Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Division was allocated five payload opportunities on the EM-1 mission. Near Earth Asteroid (NEA) Scout is designed to rendezvous with and characterize a candidate NEA. A solar sail, an innovation the spacecraft will demonstrated for the CubeSat class, will provide propulsion. Lunar Flashlight will use a green propellant system and will search for potential ice deposits in the moon's permanently shadowed craters. BioSentinel is a yeast radiation biosensor, planned to measure the effects of space radiation on deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). Lunar Icecube, a collaboration with Morehead State University, will prospect for water in ice, liquid, and vapor forms as well as other lunar volatiles from a low-perigee, highly inclined lunar orbit using a compact Infrared spectrometer. Skyfire, a partnership with Lockheed Martin, is a technology demonstration mission that will perform a lunar flyby, collecting spectroscopy, and thermography data to address questions related to surface characterization, remote sensing, and site selection. NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) was allocated three payload opportunities on the EM-1 mission. These slots will be filled via the Centennial Challenges Program, NASA's flagship program for technology prize competitions, which directly engages the public, academia, and industry in open prize competitions to stimulate innovation. The NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) was allocated two payload opportunities on the EM-1 mission. The CubeSat Mission to Study Solar Particles (CuSP) payload will study the sources and acceleration mechanisms of solar and interplanetary particles in near-Earth orbit, support space weather research by determining proton radiation levels during Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) events and identifying suprathermal properties that could help predict geomagnetic storms. The LunaH-Map payload will help scientists understand the quantity of H-bearing materials in lunar cold traps (~10 km), determine the concentration of H-bearing materials with 1m depth, and constrain the vertical distribution of H-bearing materials. The final three payload opportunities for the EM-1 mission were allocated for NASA's international space agency counterparts. The flight opportunities are intended to benefit the international space agency and NASA as well as further the collective space exploration goals. ArgoMoon is sponsored by ESA/ASI and will fly along with the ICPS on its disposal trajectory to perform proximity operations with the ICPS post-disposal, take external imagery of engineering and historical significance, and perform an optical communications demonstration. EQUULEUS, sponsored by JAXA, will fly to a libration orbit around the Earth-Moon L2 point and demonstrate trajectory control techniques within the Sun-Earth- Moon region for the first time by a nano spacecraft. The mission will also contribute to the future human exploration scenario by understanding the radiation environment in geospace and deep space, characterizing the flux of impacting meteors on the far side of the moon, and demonstrating the future deep space exploration scenario using the "deep space port" at Lagrange points. OMOTENASHI, also sponsored by JAXA, will land the smallest lunar lander to date on the lunar surface to demonstrate the feasibility of the hardware for distributed cooperative exploration system. Small landers will enable multi-point exploration, which is complimentary with large-scale human exploration. Once on the lunar surface, the OMOTENASHI spacecraft will observe the radiation and soil environments of the lunar surface by active radiation measurements and soil shear measurements. Following EM-1, Space Launch System will evolve to the more-powerful Block 1B configuration, which uses a new Exploration Upper Stage to increase the vehicle's LEO payload capability from 70 t to 105 t. With that transition, the Orion Stage Adapter, which will carry the secondary payloads on EM-1, will be phased out, and a new Universal Stage Adapter will be introduced, creating opportunities for flying larger secondary payloads. This paper will provide a brief status of SLS progress toward first launch; an overview of smallsat accommodations, integration, and operations on EM-1; information about the specific payloads flying on that launch; and a discussion of future accommodations and opportunities for secondary payloads on SLS for Exploration Mission-2 and beyond.

Robinson, Kimberly F.↗
NASA NTRS2017

NASA's Space Launch System: Deep-Space Opportunities for SmallSats

Designed for human exploration missions into deep space, NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) represents a new spaceflight infrastructure asset, enabling a wide variety of unique utilization opportunities. While primarily focused on launching the large systems needed for crewed spaceflight beyond Earth orbit, SLS also offers a game-changing capability for the deployment of small satellites to deep-space destinations, beginning with its first flight. Currently, SLS is making rapid progress toward readiness for its first launch in two years, using the initial configuration of the vehicle, which is capable of delivering 70 metric tons (t) to Low Earth Orbit (LEO). On its first flight test of the Orion spacecraft around the moon, accompanying Orion on SLS will be small-satellite secondary payloads, which will deploy in cislunar space. The deployment berths are sized for "6U" CubeSats, and on EM-1 the spacecraft will be deployed into cislunar space following Orion separate from the SLS Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage. Payloads in 6U class will be limited to 14 kg maximum mass. Secondary payloads on EM-1 will be launched in the Orion Stage Adapter (OSA). Payload dispensers will be mounted on specially designed brackets, each attached to the interior wall of the OSA. For the EM-1 mission, a total of fourteen brackets will be installed, allowing for thirteen payload locations. The final location will be used for mounting an avionics unit, which will include a battery and sequencer for executing the mission deployment sequence. Following the launch of EM-1, deployments of the secondary payloads will commence after sufficient separation of the Orion spacecraft to the upper stage vehicle to minimize any possible contact of the deployed cubesats to Orion. Currently this is estimated to require approximately 4 hours. The allowed deployment window for the cubesats will be from the time the upper stage disposal maneuvers are complete to up to 10 days after launch. The upper stage will fly past the moon at a perigee of approximately 100km, and this closest approach will occur about 5 days after launch. The limiting factor for the latest deployment time is the available power in the sequencer system. Several NASA Mission Directorates were involved in the development of programs for the competition, selection, and development of EM-1 payloads that support directorate priorities. CubeSat payloads on EM-1 will include both NASA research experiments and spacecraft developed by industry, international and potentially academia partners. The Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Division was allocated five payload opportunities on the EM-1 mission. Near Earth Asteroid (NEA) Scout is designed to rendezvous with and characterize a candidate NEA. A solar sail, an innovation the spacecraft will demonstrated for the CubeSat class, will provide propulsion. Lunar Flashlight will use a green propellant system and will search for potential ice deposits in the moon's permanently shadowed craters. BioSentinel is a yeast radiation biosensor, planned to measure the effects of space radiation on deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). Lunar Icecube, a collaboration with Morehead State University, will prospect for water in ice, liquid, and vapor forms as well as other lunar volatiles from a low-perigee, highly inclined lunar orbit using a compact Infrared spectrometer. Skyfire, a partnership with Lockheed Martin, is a technology demonstration mission that will perform a lunar flyby, collecting spectroscopy, and thermography data to address questions related to surface characterization, remote sensing, and site selection. NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) was allocated three payload opportunities on the EM-1 mission. These slots will be filled via the 2 Centennial Challenges Program, NASA's flagship program for technology prize competitions, which directly engages the public, academia, and industry in open prize competitions to stimulate innovation. The NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) was allocated two payload opportunities on the EM-1 mission. The CubeSat Mission to Study Solar Particles (CuSP) payload will study the sources and acceleration mechanisms of solar and interplanetary particles in near-Earth orbit, support space weather research by determining proton radiation levels during Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) events and identifying suprathermal properties that could help predict geomagnetic storms. The LunaH-Map payload will help scientists understand the quantity of H-bearing materials in lunar cold traps (~10 km), determine the concentration of H-bearing materials with 1m depth, and constrain the vertical distribution of H-bearing materials. The final three payload opportunities for the EM-1 mission were allocated for NASA's international space agency counterparts. The flight opportunities are intended to benefit the international space agency and NASA as well as further the collective space exploration goals. ArgoMoon is sponsored by ESA/ASI and will fly along with the ICPS on its disposal trajectory to perform proximity operations with the ICPS post-disposal, take external imagery of engineering and historical significance, and perform an optical communications demonstration. EQUULEUS, sponsored by JAXA, will fly to a libration orbit around the Earth-Moon L2 point and demonstrate trajectory control techniques within the Sun-Earth-Moon region for the first time by a nano spacecraft. The mission will also contribute to the future human exploration scenario by understanding the radiation environment in geospace and deep space, characterizing the flux of impacting meteors on the far side of the moon, and demonstrating the future deep space exploration scenario using the "deep space port" at Lagrange points. OMOTENASHI, also sponsored by JAXA, will land the smallest lunar lander to date on the lunar surface to demonstrate the feasibility of the hardware for distributed cooperative exploration system. Small landers will enable multi-point exploration, which is complimentary with large-scale human exploration. Once on the lunar surface, the OMOTENASHI spacecraft will observe the radiation and soil environments of the lunar surface by active radiation measurements and soil shear measurements. Following EM-1, Space Launch System will evolve to the more-powerful Block 1B configuration, which uses a new Exploration Upper Stage to increase the vehicle's LEO payload capability from 70 t to 105 t. With that transition, the Orion Stage Adapter, which will carry the secondary payloads on EM-1, will be phased out, and a new Universal Stage Adapter will be introduced, creating opportunities for flying larger secondary payloads. This paper will provide a brief status of SLS progress toward first launch; an overview of smallsat accommodations, integration, and operations on EM-1; information about the specific payloads flying on that launch; and a discussion of future accommodations and opportunities for secondary payloads on SLS for Exploration Mission-2 and beyond.

Robinson, Kimberly F.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Flow Boiling and Condensation Experiment (FBCE): From Initial Concept to Full Implementation on the International Space Station

Two phase thermal management systems that capitalize on both latent and sensible heats of the working fluid can yield orders of magnitude enhancements in flow boiling and condensation heat transfer coefficients and reduce size and weight of future space systems. Because the understanding of microgravity influences on two-phase flow and heat transfer is quite limited, there is presently an urgent need for a new experimental microgravity facility to enable investigators to perform long-duration flow boiling and condensation experiments in pursuit of reliable databases. This presentation will discuss evolution of the Flow Boiling and Condensation Experiment (FBCE), a collaborative effort between Purdue University and NASA Glenn Research Center, from initial concept with clearly defined objectives to full implementation on the International Space Station (ISS). It will be shown how this facility will serve as a primary platform for obtaining two-phase flow and heat transfer data in microgravity. By comparing the microgravity data against those obtained in Earth gravity, it will be possible to ascertain the influence of body force on two-phase transport phenomena in pursuit of mechanistic models as well as correlations, and to help determine the minimum flow criteria to ensure gravity independent flow boiling and condensation.

Flow boiling↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Flow Boiling & Condensation Experiment (FBCE): Flow Boiling in Earth Gravity and Onboard the International Space Station

Two phase thermal management systems that capitalize on both latent and sensible heats of the working fluid can yield orders of magnitude enhancements in flow boiling and condensation heat transfer coefficients and reduce size and weight of future space systems. Because the understanding of microgravity influences on two-phase flow and heat transfer is quite limited, there is presently an urgent need for a new experimental microgravity facility to enable investigators to perform long-duration flow boiling and condensation experiments in pursuit of reliable databases. This presentation will discuss results from the Flow Boiling and Condensation Experiment (FBCE), a collaborative effort between Purdue University and NASA Glenn Research Center. Experiments have been performed using the final system with the Flow Boiling Module (FBM) in vertical orientation in Earth gravity (Mission Sequence Tests, MST) and in microgravity onboard the International Space Station (ISS). High-speed-video flow visualization, heat transfer, and critical heat flux (CHF) results from the MST are presented for both subcooled liquid and saturated liquid-vapor inlet conditions. CHF predictions made using the Interfacial Lift-off Model are compared with a consolidated database made by compiling FBM datasets obtained in prior years for different orientations in Earth gravity and on parabolic flights. New explicit correlations for CHF and subcooled flow boiling heat transfer coefficient are developed and shown to be excellent in their predictive accuracies against consolidated experimental databases. Computations are performed for flows in microgravity and horizontal flows in Earth gravity, the results of which show a good predictive accuracy for both void fraction and wall temperature. Finally, similar preliminary results from the recent ISS experiments are presented.

Issam Mudawar↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

P-ACTIVE (PCM-Based Actively Tunable Filter) Project at NASA

Phase change material (PCM)-based actively tunable mid-wave IR filters have broad imaging and sensing applications—from probing molecular vibrations in chemical species to detecting radiant thermal signatures. We introduce the Phase-change actively tunable filter (P-ACTIVE) project lead by NASA Langley Research Center with collaborators MIT and the University of Cambridge. It covers background science, experimental and theoretical device performance, as well as recent results obtained from a MISSE-14 mission for space qualification of active metasurface optics and constituent PCM. We conclude with a prospective view of the technology and discuss the potential for these filters to serve multiple NASA missions.

phase change material↗
NASA NTRS2023

Airborne Lightning Observatory for FEGS and TGFs (ALOFT)

The ALOFT campaign is a unique suborbital campaign to advance the science of highenergy radiation emissions from thunderstorms, validate existing spaceborne lightning mappers and evaluate design concepts for next-generation mappers, and study convection from a suborbital platform. ALOFT is a collaboration between NASA, the University of Bergen, and other institutions that will fly the ER-2 aircraft over tropical thunderstorms around the Gulf of Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. The payload will consist of lightning detectors, gamma-ray scintillators, and a mixture of passive and/or active microwave sensors. Supporting the flights will be a diverse groundbased network of lightning instruments spread across the region of interest.

Nikolai Ostgaard↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

The Feasibility of Motion Tracking Camera System for Magnetic Suspension Wind Tunnel Tests

The Entry Systems Modeling (ESM) Program at NASA has actively participated in the re-development of the Magnetic Suspension Balance System (MSBS) at the six-inch subsonic wind tunnel at NASA Langley Research Center. This initiative aims to enhance the MSBS system's capabilities, enabling the testing of stingless entry vehicle models at supersonic speeds. To achieve this, control algorithms are required to ensure magnetic levitation control and stability for models during free-oscillation dynamic responses. Currently, the system relies on electromagnetic position sensors to provide real-time 3 degrees of freedom in a rigid body. While this approach has proven successful for subsonic speeds, expanding testing under higher pressure conditions may necessitate the incorporation of real-time roll and pitch measurements to quantify the dynamic stability characteristics of the models in free-oscillation. In collaboration with Old Dominion University, the team at NASA Langley Research Center proposes the implementation of a motion-tracking camera system. This system will provide real-time five degrees of freedom output, which will be utilized within a closed feedback control system and a two-step system identification model to isolate aerodynamic forces from their corresponding magnetic forces. The motion-tracking cameras will offer precise and accurate control over the levitation system, facilitating precise and repeatable experiments within the wind tunnel. The real-time feedback provided by the cameras enables prompt adjustments to ensure the maintenance of stable levitation throughout the testing process.

Entry Systems Modeling↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

The Feasibility of Motion Tracking Camera System for Magnetic Suspension Wind Tunnel Tests

The Entry Systems Modeling (ESM) Program at NASA has actively participated in the re-development of the Magnetic Suspension Balance System (MSBS) at the six-inch subsonic wind tunnel at NASA Langley Research Center. This initiative aims to enhance the MSBS system's capabilities, enabling the testing of stingless entry vehicle models at supersonic speeds. To achieve this, control algorithms are required to ensure magnetic levitation control and stability for models during free-oscillation dynamic responses. Currently, the system relies on electromagnetic position sensors to provide real-time 3 degrees of freedom in a rigid body. While this approach has proven successful for subsonic speeds, expanding testing under higher pressure conditions may necessitate the incorporation of real-time roll and pitch measurements to quantify the dynamic stability characteristics of the models in free-oscillation. In collaboration with Old Dominion University, the team at NASA Langley Research Center proposes the implementation of a motion-tracking camera system. This system will provide real-time five degrees of freedom output, which will be utilized within a closed feedback control system and a two-step system identification model to isolate aerodynamic forces from their corresponding magnetic forces. The motion-tracking cameras will offer precise and accurate control over the levitation system, facilitating precise and repeatable experiments within the wind tunnel. The real-time feedback provided by the cameras enables prompt adjustments to ensure the maintenance of stable levitation throughout the testing process.

Entry Systems Modeling↗