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NASA NTRS2005

Facilitating Navigation Through Large Archives

Automated Visual Access (AVA) is a computer program that effectively makes a large collection of information visible in a manner that enables a user to quickly and efficiently locate information resources, with minimal need for conventional keyword searches and perusal of complex hierarchical directory systems. AVA includes three key components: (1) a taxonomy that comprises a collection of words and phrases, clustered according to meaning, that are used to classify information resources; (2) a statistical indexing and scoring engine; and (3) a component that generates a graphical user interface that uses the scoring data to generate a visual map of resources and topics. The top level of an AVA display is a pictorial representation of an information archive. The user enters the depicted archive by either clicking on a depiction of subject area cluster, selecting a topic from a list, or entering a query into a text box. The resulting display enables the user to view candidate information entities at various levels of detail. Resources are grouped spatially by topic with greatest generality at the top layer and increasing detail with depth. The user can zoom in or out of specific sites or into greater or lesser content detail.

Shelton, Robert O.↗

NASA NTRS2011

Lunabotics Mining Competition: Inspiration Through Accomplishment

NASA's Lunabotics Mining Competition is designed to promote the development of interest in space activities and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields. The competition uses excavation, a necessary first step towards extracting resources from the regolith and building bases on the moon. The unique physical properties of lunar regolith and the reduced 1/6th gravity, vacuum environment make excavation a difficult technical challenge. Advances in lunar regolith mining have the potential to significantly contribute to our nation's space vision and NASA space exploration operations. The competition is conducted annually by NASA at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. The teams that can use telerobotic or autonomous operation to excavate a lunar regolith geotechnical simulant, herein after referred to as Black Point-1 (or BP-1) and score the most points (calculated as an average of two separate 10-minute timed competition attempts) will eam points towards the Joe Kosmo Award for Excellence and the scores will reflect ranking in the on-site mining category of the competition. The minimum excavation requirement is 10.0 kg during each competition attempt and the robotic excavator, referred to as the "Lunabot", must meet all specifications. This paper will review the achievements of the Lunabotics Mining Competition in 2010 and 2011, and present the new rules for 2012. By providing a framework for robotic design and fabrication, which culminates in a live competition event, university students have been able to produce sophisticated lunabots which are tele-operated. Multi-disciplinary teams are encouraged and the extreme sense of accomplishment provides a unique source of inspiration to the participating students, which has been shown to translate into increased interest in STEM careers. Our industrial sponsors (Caterpillar, Newmont Mining, Harris, Honeybee Robotics) have all stated that there is a strong need for skills in the workforce related to robotics and automated machines. In 2010, 22 United States (US) universities competed, and in May 2011 the competition was opened to international participation, with 46 Universities attending. There were 12 international teams and 34 US teams. This combined total directly inspired an estimated 544 university students. More students and the public were engaged via internet broadcasting and social networking media. This is expected to be of value for actual future space missions, as knowledge is gained from testing many innovative prototypes in simulated lunar regolith. More information is available at www.nasa.gov/lunabotics/.

Mueller, Robert P.↗

NASA NTRS2011

Deployment of an Advanced Electrocardiographic Analysis (A-ECG) to Detect Cardiovascular Risk in Career Firefighters

INTRODUCTION: Sudden cardiac death is the leading cause of line of duty death among firefighters, accounting for approximately 45% of fatalities annually. Firefighters perform strenuous muscular work while wearing heavy, encapsulating personal protective equipment in high ambient temperatures, under chaotic and emotionally stressful conditions. These factors can precipitate sudden cardiac events like myocardial infarction, serious dysrhythmias, or cerebrovascular accidents in firefighters with underlying cardiovascular disease. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to deploy and then evaluate the contribution of resting advanced ECG (A-ECG) in addition to other screening tools (family history, lipid profiles, and cardiopulmonary exercise tests, XT) in assessment of an individual fs cardiac risk profile. METHODS: Forty-four career firefighters were recruited to perform comprehensive baseline assessments including tests of aerobic performance, fasting lipids and glucose. Five-min resting 12-lead A-ECGs were obtained in a subset of firefighters (n=21) and transmitted over a secure networked system to a NASA physician collaborator. Using myocardial perfusion and other imaging as the gold standard, A-ECG scoring has been proven useful in accurately identifying a number of cardiac pathologies including coronary artery disease (CAD), left ventricular hypertrophy, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and non-ischemic and ischemic cardiomyopathy. RESULTS: Subjects f mean (SD) age was 43 (8) years, weight 91 (13) kg, and BMI 28 (3) kg/m2. Fifty-one percent of subjects had .3 cardiovascular risk factors. One subject had ST depression on XT ECG, at least one positive A-ECG score for CAD, and documented CAD based on cardiology referral. While all other subjects, including those with fewer risk factors, higher aerobic fitness, and normal exercise ECGs, were classified as healthy by A-ECG, there was no trend for association between risk factors and any of 20 A-ECG parameters in the grouped data.

Dolezal, B. A.↗

NASA NTRS2012

NASA Missions Inspire Online Video Games

Fast forward to 2035. Imagine being part of a community of astronauts living and working on the Moon. Suddenly, in the middle of just another day in space, a meteorite crashes into the surface of the Moon, threatening life as you know it. The support equipment that provides oxygen for the entire community has been compromised. What would you do? While this situation is one that most people will never encounter, NASA hopes to place students in such situations - virtually - to inspire, engage, and educate about NASA technologies, job opportunities, and the future of space exploration. Specifically, NASA s Learning Technologies program, part of the Agency s Office of Education, aims to inspire and motivate students to pursue careers in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines through interactive technologies. The ultimate goal of these educational programs is to support the growth of a pool of qualified scientific and technical candidates for future careers at places like NASA. STEM education has been an area of concern in the United States; according to the results of the 2009 Program for International Student Assessment, 23 countries had higher average scores in mathematics literacy than the United States. On the science literacy scale, 18 countries had higher average scores. "This is part of a much bigger picture of trying to grow skilled graduates for places like NASA that will want that technical expertise," says Daniel Laughlin, the Learning Technologies project manager at Goddard Space Flight Center. "NASA is trying to increase the number of students going into those fields, and so are other government agencies."

Source record↗

NASA NTRS2012

Fatigue Management Strategies for the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy

Operation of the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy entails a great deal of night-time work, with the potential for both acute and chronic sleep loss, as well as circadian rhythm dysynchrony. Such fatigue can result in performance decrements, with an increased risk of operator error. The NASA Dryden Flight Research Center manages this fatigue risk by means of a layered approach, to include: 1) Education and Training 2) Work Schedule Scoring 3) Obtained Sleep Metrics 4) Workplace and Operational Mitigations and 5) Incident or Accident Investigation. Specifically, quantitative estimation of the work schedule score, as well as the obtained sleep metric, allows Supervisors and Managers to better manage the risk of fatigue within the context of mission requirements.

Bendrick, Gregg↗

NASA NTRS2012

Temporal Variability of Observed and Simulated Hyperspectral Earth Reflectance

The Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO) is a climate observation system designed to study Earth's climate variability with unprecedented absolute radiometric accuracy and SI traceability. Observation System Simulation Experiments (OSSEs) were developed using GCM output and MODTRAN to simulate CLARREO reflectance measurements during the 21st century as a design tool for the CLARREO hyperspectral shortwave imager. With OSSE simulations of hyperspectral reflectance, Feldman et al. [2011a,b] found that shortwave reflectance is able to detect changes in climate variables during the 21st century and improve time-to-detection compared to broadband measurements. The OSSE has been a powerful tool in the design of the CLARREO imager and for understanding the effect of climate change on the spectral variability of reflectance, but it is important to evaluate how well the OSSE simulates the Earth's present-day spectral variability. For this evaluation we have used hyperspectral reflectance measurements from the Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Cartography (SCIAMACHY), a shortwave spectrometer that was operational between March 2002 and April 2012. To study the spectral variability of SCIAMACHY-measured and OSSE-simulated reflectance, we used principal component analysis (PCA), a spectral decomposition technique that identifies dominant modes of variability in a multivariate data set. Using quantitative comparisons of the OSSE and SCIAMACHY PCs, we have quantified how well the OSSE captures the spectral variability of Earth?s climate system at the beginning of the 21st century relative to SCIAMACHY measurements. These results showed that the OSSE and SCIAMACHY data sets share over 99% of their total variance in 2004. Using the PCs and the temporally distributed reflectance spectra projected onto the PCs (PC scores), we can study the temporal variability of the observed and simulated reflectance spectra. Multivariate time series analysis of the PC scores using techniques such as Singular Spectrum Analysis (SSA) and Multichannel SSA will provide information about the temporal variability of the dominant variables. Quantitative comparison techniques can evaluate how well the OSSE reproduces the temporal variability observed by SCIAMACHY spectral reflectance measurements during the first decade of the 21st century. PCA of OSSE-simulated reflectance can also be used to study how the dominant spectral variables change on centennial scales for forced and unforced climate change scenarios. To have confidence in OSSE predictions of the spectral variability of hyperspectral reflectance, it is first necessary for us to evaluate the degree to which the OSSE simulations are able to reproduce the Earth?s present-day spectral variability.

Roberts, Yolanda↗

NASA NTRS2012

The Impact of Incentivizing the Use of Feedback on Learning and Performance in Educational Videogames

Educational videogames can be designed to provide instructional feedback responsive to specific actions. However, existing research indicates that students tend to ignore the feedback provided. That is, students often use ineffective help-seeking strategies. Research on the topic of help-seeking in learning environments have primarily focused on the role of cognitive factors, the nature of the help, or issues of timing and frequency. There is a noticeable gap in understanding how to motivate the use provided feedback. This study examined the relation between incentivizing the use of feedback and providing an explanation of the game's scoring rules on math learning in a pre-algebra videogame. A randomized-control design was used, comparing learning outcomes of students who received the incentive with those who did not. Results indicated that students given the incentive to use feedback had significantly higher normalized change scores on math items (d = .53), with stronger effects for students with low academic intrinsic motivation (d = .88 - 1.17).

Delacruz, Girlie C.↗

NASA NTRS2014

Calibration and Validation of a Finite ELement Model of THor-K Anthropomorphic Test Device for Aerospace Safety Applications

The THOR anthropomorphic test device (ATD) has been developed and continuously improved by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to provide automotive manufacturers an advanced tool that can be used to assess the injury risk of vehicle occupants in crash tests. Recently, a series of modifications were completed to improve the biofidelity of THOR ATD [1]. The updated THOR Modification Kit (THOR-K) ATD was employed at Wright-Patterson Air Base in 22 impact tests in three configurations: vertical, lateral, and spinal [2]. Although a computational finite element (FE) model of the THOR had been previously developed [3], updates to the model were needed to incorporate the recent changes in the modification kit. The main goal of this study was to develop and validate a FE model of the THOR-K ATD. The CAD drawings of the THOR-K ATD were reviewed and FE models were developed for the updated parts. For example, the head-skin geometry was found to change significantly, so its model was re-meshed (Fig. 1a). A protocol was developed to calibrate each component identified as key to the kinematic and kinetic response of the THOR-K head/neck ATD FE model (Fig. 1b). The available ATD tests were divided in two groups: a) calibration tests where the unknown material parameters of deformable parts (e.g., head skin, pelvis foam) were optimized to match the data and b) validation tests where the model response was only compared with test data by calculating their score using CORrelation and Analysis (CORA) rating system. Finally, the whole ATD model was validated under horizontal-, vertical-, and lateral-loading conditions against data recorded in the Wright Patterson tests [2]. Overall, the final THOR-K ATD model developed in this study is shown to respond similarly to the ATD in all validation tests. This good performance indicates that the optimization performed during calibration by using the CORA score as objective function is not test specific. Therefore confidence is provided in the ATD model for uses in predicting response in test conditions not performed in this study such those observed in the spacecraft landing. Comparison studies with ATD and human models may also be performed to contribute to future changes in THOR ATD design in an effort to improve its biofidelity, which has been traditionally based on post-mortem human subject testing and designer experience.

Putnam, J. B.↗

NASA NTRS2014

Usability/Sentiment for the Enterprise and ENTERPRISE

The purpose of the Sentiment of Search Study for NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) is to gain insight into the intranet search environment. With an initial usability survey, the authors were able to determine a usability score based on the Systems Usability Scale (SUS). Created in 1986, the freely available, well cited, SUS is commonly used to determine user perceptions of a system (in this case the intranet search environment). As with any improvement initiative, one must first examine and document the current reality of the situation. In this scenario, a method was needed to determine the usability of a search interface in addition to the user's perception on how well the search system was providing results. The use of the SUS provided a mechanism to quickly ascertain information in both areas, by adding one additional open-ended question at the end. The first ten questions allowed us to examine the usability of the system, while the last questions informed us on how the users rated the performance of the search results. The final analysis provides us with a better understanding of the current situation and areas to focus on for improvement. The power of search applications to enhance knowledge transfer is indisputable. The performance impact for any user unable to find needed information undermines project lifecycle, resource and scheduling requirements. Ever-increasing complexity of content and the user interface make usability considerations for the intranet, especially for search, a necessity instead of a 'nice-to-have'. Despite these arguments, intranet usability is largely disregarded due to lack of attention beyond the functionality of the infrastructure (White, 2013). The data collected from users of the JSC search system revealed their overall sentiment by means of the widely-known System Usability Scale. Results of the scores suggest 75%, +/-0.04, of the population rank the search system below average. In terms of a grading scaled, this equated to D or lower. It is obvious JSC users are not satisfied with the current situation, however they are eager to provide information and assistance in improving the search system. A majority of the respondents provided feedback on the issues most troubling them. This information will be used to enrich the next phase, root cause analysis and solution creation.

Meza, David↗

NASA NTRS2010

Implementation and Comparison of Acoustic Travel-Time Measurement Procedures for the Solar Dynamics Observatory-Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager Time-Distance Helioseismology Pipeline

The Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) instrument onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) satellite is designed to produce high-resolution Doppler-velocity maps of oscillations at the solar surface with high temporal cadence. To take advantage of these high-quality oscillation data, a time - distance helioseismology pipeline (Zhao et al., Solar Phys. submitted, 2010) has been implemented at the Joint Science Operations Center (JSOC) at Stanford University. The aim of this pipeline is to generate maps of acoustic travel times from oscillations on the solar surface, and to infer subsurface 3D flow velocities and sound-speed perturbations. The wave travel times are measured from cross-covariances of the observed solar oscillation signals. For implementation into the pipeline we have investigated three different travel-time definitions developed in time - distance helioseismology: a Gabor-wavelet fitting (Kosovichev and Duvall, SCORE'96: Solar Convection and Oscillations and Their Relationship, ASSL, Dordrecht, 241, 1997), a minimization relative to a reference cross-covariance function (Gizon and Birch, Astrophys. J. 571, 966, 2002), and a linearized version of the minimization method (Gizon and Birch, Astrophys. J. 614, 472, 2004). Using Doppler-velocity data from the Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) instrument onboard SOHO, we tested and compared these definitions for the mean and difference traveltime perturbations measured from reciprocal signals. Although all three procedures return similar travel times in a quiet-Sun region, the method of Gizon and Birch (Astrophys. J. 614, 472, 2004) gives travel times that are significantly different from the others in a magnetic (active) region. Thus, for the pipeline implementation we chose the procedures of Kosovichev and Duvall (SCORE'96: Solar Convection and Oscillations and Their Relationship, ASSL, Dordrecht, 241, 1997) and Gizon and Birch (Astrophys. J. 571, 966, 2002). We investigated the relationships among these three travel-time definitions, their sensitivities to fitting parameters, and estimated the random errors that they produce.

HMI↗

NASA NTRS2014

Communications Technology Assessment for the Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Control and Non-Payload Communications (CNPC) Link

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Glenn Research Center (GRC) is performing communications systems research for the Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) in the National Airspace System (NAS) Project. One of the goals of the communications element is to select and test a communications technology for the UAS Control and Non-Payload Communications (CNPC) link. The GRC UAS Modeling and Simulation (M/S) Sub Team will evaluate the performance of several potential technologies for the CNPC link through detailed software simulations. In parallel, an industry partner will implement a technology in hardware to be used for flight testing. The task necessitated a technical assessment of existing Radio Frequency (RF) communications technologies to identify the best candidate systems for use as the UAS CNPC link. The assessment provides a basis for selecting the technologies for the M/S effort and the hardware radio design. The process developed for the technical assessments for the Future Communications Study1 (FCS) was used as an initial starting point for this assessment. The FCS is a joint Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Eurocontrol study on technologies for use as a future aeronautical communications link. The FCS technology assessment process methodology can be applied to the UAS CNPC link; however the findings of the FCS are not directly applicable because of different requirements between a CNPC link and a general aeronautical data link. Additional technologies were added to the potential technologies list from the State of the Art Unmanned Aircraft System Communication Assessment developed by NASA GRC2. This document investigates the state of the art of communications as related to UAS. A portion of the document examines potential communications systems for a UAS communication architecture. Like the FCS, the state of the art assessment surveyed existing communications technologies. It did not, however, perform a detailed assessment of the technology necessary to recommend a technology for the UAS CNPC link. The technical assessment process, as shown in Figure 1, consists of the following steps. First, candidate RF communications technologies are identified. An initial review of each of these technologies is then performed to determine if the technology appears to be a good candidate and requires further review. Any technology that can be shown to be inadequate at that point is removed from consideration to allow for more detailed analysis of the remaining technologies. Criteria for the detailed assessments are defined and a scoring methodology is devised. This is followed by the detailed review and scoring of each technology. The least favorable technologies are removed during the process until only the few best candidates remain.

Aircraft Command and Control↗

NASA NTRS2013

Statistical and Hydrological Evaluation of TRMM-Based Multi-Satellite Precipitation Analysis over the Wangchu Basin of Bhutan: Are the Latest Satellite Precipitation Products 3B42V7 Ready for Use in Ungauged Basins?

The objective of this study is to quantitatively evaluate the successive Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) products and further to explore the improvements and error propagation of the latest 3B42V7 algorithm relative to its predecessor 3B42V6 using the Coupled Routing and Excess Storage (CREST) hydrologic model in the mountainous Wangchu Basin of Bhutan. First, the comparison to a decade-long (2001-2010) daily rain gauge dataset reveals that: 1) 3B42V7 generally improves upon 3B42V6s underestimation both for the whole basin (bias from -41.15 to -8.38) and for a 0.250.25 grid cell with high-density gauges (bias from -40.25 to 0.04), though with modest enhancement of correlation coefficients (CC) (from 0.36 to 0.40 for basin-wide and from 0.37 to 0.41 for grid); and 2) 3B42V7 also improves its occurrence frequency across the rain intensity spectrum. Using the CREST model that has been calibrated with rain gauge inputs, the 3B42V6-based simulation shows limited hydrologic prediction NSCE skill (0.23 in daily scale and 0.25 in monthly scale) while 3B42V7 performs fairly well (0.66 in daily scale and 0.77 in monthly scale), a comparable skill score with the gauge rainfall simulations. After recalibrating the model with the respective TMPA data, significant improvements are observed for 3B42V6 across all categories, but not as much enhancement for the already well-performing 3B42V7 except for a reduction in bias (from -26.98 to -4.81). In summary, the latest 3B42V7 algorithm reveals a significant upgrade from 3B42V6 both in precipitation accuracy (i.e., correcting the underestimation) thus improving its potential hydrological utility. Forcing the model with 3B42V7 rainfall yields comparable skill scores with in-situ gauges even without recalibration of the hydrological model by the satellite precipitation, a compensating approach often used but not favored by the hydrology community, particularly in ungauged basins.

TRMM↗

NASA NTRS2014

MAG4 Versus Alternative Techniques for Forecasting Active-Region Flare Productivity

MAG4 is a technique of forecasting an active region's rate of production of major flares in the coming few days from a free-magnetic-energy proxy. We present a statistical method of measuring the difference in performance between MAG4 and comparable alternative techniques that forecast an active region's major-flare productivity from alternative observed aspects of the active region. We demonstrate the method by measuring the difference in performance between the "Present MAG4" technique and each of three alternative techniques, called "McIntosh Active-Region Class," "Total Magnetic Flux," and "Next MAG4." We do this by using (1) the MAG4 database of magnetograms and major-flare histories of sunspot active regions, (2) the NOAA table of the major-flare productivity of each of 60 McIntosh active-region classes of sunspot active regions, and (3) five technique-performance metrics (Heidke Skill Score, True Skill Score, Percent Correct, Probability of Detection, and False Alarm Rate) evaluated from 2000 random two-by-two contingency tables obtained from the databases. We find that (1) Present MAG4 far outperforms both McIntosh Active-Region Class and Total Magnetic Flux, (2) Next MAG4 significantly outperforms Present MAG4, (3) the performance of Next MAG4 is insensitive to the forward and backward temporal windows used, in the range of one to a few days, and (4) forecasting from the free-energy proxy in combination with either any broad category of McIntosh active-region classes or any Mount Wilson active-region class gives no significant performance improvement over forecasting from the free-energy proxy alone (Present MAG4).

Falconer, David A.↗

NASA NTRS2014

Weather Forecasting Systems and Methods

A weather forecasting system has weather forecasting logic that receives raw image data from a satellite. The raw image data has values indicative of light and radiance data from the Earth as measured by the satellite, and the weather forecasting logic processes such data to identify cumulus clouds within the satellite images. For each identified cumulus cloud, the weather forecasting logic applies interest field tests to determine a score indicating the likelihood of the cumulus cloud forming precipitation and/or lightning in the future within a certain time period. Based on such scores, the weather forecasting logic predicts in which geographic regions the identified cumulus clouds will produce precipitation and/or lighting within during the time period. Such predictions may then be used to provide a weather map thereby providing users with a graphical illustration of the areas predicted to be affected by precipitation within the time period.

Mecikalski, John↗

NASA NTRS2014

MAG4 Versus Alternative Techniques for Forecasting Active-Region Flare Productivity

Falconer, David A.↗

NASA NTRS2015

Can Simulation Credibility Be Improved Using Sensitivity Analysis to Understand Input Data Effects on Model Outcome?

Model and simulation (MS) credibility is defined as, the quality to elicit belief or trust in MS results. NASA-STD-7009 [1] delineates eight components (Verification, Validation, Input Pedigree, Results Uncertainty, Results Robustness, Use History, MS Management, People Qualifications) that address quantifying model credibility, and provides guidance to the model developers, analysts, and end users for assessing the MS credibility. Of the eight characteristics, input pedigree, or the quality of the data used to develop model input parameters, governing functions, or initial conditions, can vary significantly. These data quality differences have varying consequences across the range of MS application. NASA-STD-7009 requires that the lowest input data quality be used to represent the entire set of input data when scoring the input pedigree credibility of the model. This requirement provides a conservative assessment of model inputs, and maximizes the communication of the potential level of risk of using model outputs. Unfortunately, in practice, this may result in overly pessimistic communication of the MS output, undermining the credibility of simulation predictions to decision makers. This presentation proposes an alternative assessment mechanism, utilizing results parameter robustness, also known as model input sensitivity, to improve the credibility scoring process for specific simulations.

Credibility↗

NASA NTRS2016

Food Fortification Stability Study

NASA has established the goal of traveling beyond low-Earth orbit and extending manned exploration to Mars. The length of proposed Mars missions and the lack of resupply missions increases the importance of nutritional content in the food system, which will need a five year shelf life. The purpose of this research is to assess the stability of vitamin supplementation in traditionally processed spaceflight foods. It is expected that commercially available fortification nutrients will remain stable through a long duration exploration mission at sufficient levels if compatible formulation, processing, and storage temperatures are achieved. Five vitamins (vitamin E, vitamin K, pantothenic acid, folic acid, and thiamin) were blended into a vitamin premix (DSM, Freeport, TX) such that the vitamin concentration per serving equaled 25% of the recommended daily intake after two years of ambient storage. Four freeze-dried foods (Scrambled Eggs, Italian Vegetables, Potatoes Au Gratin, Noodles and Chicken) and four thermostabilized foods (Curry Sauce with Vegetables, Chicken Noodle Soup, Grilled Pork Chop, Rice with Butter) were produced, with and without the vitamin premix, to assess the impact of the added fortification on color and taste and to determine the stability of supplemental vitamins in spaceflight foods. The addition of fortification to spaceflight foods did not greatly alter the organoleptic properties of most products. In most cases, overall acceptability scores remained above 6.0 (minimum acceptable score) following six months and one year of low-temperature storage. Likewise, the color of fortified products appears to be preserved over one year of storage. The only exception was Grilled pork Chop and Chicken Noodle Soup whose individual components appear to degrade rapidly over one year of storage. Finally, most vitamins appear to be stable during long-term storage. The only exception was thiamin, which degraded rapidly during the first year of storage at 35˚C. It was previously believed that the imprecise method of fortification would prove problematic for nutrient quantification; however this was only an issue in stored samples of Grilled Pork Chop, Italian Vegetables and Curry Sauce with Vegetables. Year two data may further reveal the extent to which this is a problem, as well as identify overall quality changes over time.

Sirmons, T.↗

NASA NTRS2017

Food Fortification Stability Study

NASA has established the goal of traveling beyond low-Earth orbit and extending manned exploration to Mars. The length of proposed Mars missions and the lack of resupply missions increases the importance of nutritional content in the food system, which will need a five-year shelf life. The purpose of this research is to assess the stability of vitamin supplementation in traditionally processed spaceflight foods. It is expected that commercially available fortification nutrients will remain stable through a long duration exploration mission at sufficient levels if compatible formulation, processing, and storage temperatures are achieved. Five vitamins (vitamin E, vitamin K, pantothenic acid, folic acid, and thiamin) were blended into a vitamin premix (DSM, Freeport, TX) such that the vitamin concentration per serving equaled 25% of the recommended daily intake after two years of ambient storage. Four freeze-dried foods (Scrambled Eggs, Italian Vegetables, Potatoes Au Gratin, Noodles and Chicken) and four thermo-stabilized foods (Curry Sauce with Vegetables, Chicken Noodle Soup, Grilled Pork Chop, Rice with Butter) were produced, with and without the vitamin premix, to assess the impact of the added fortification on color and taste and to determine the stability of supplemental vitamins in spaceflight foods. The addition of fortification to spaceflight foods did not greatly alter the organoleptic properties of most products. In most cases, overall acceptability scores remained above 6.0 (minimum acceptable score) following six months and one year of low-temperature storage. Likewise, the color of fortified products appears to be preserved over one year of storage. The only exceptions were Grilled pork Chop and Chicken Noodle Soup whose individual components appeareddegrade rapidly over one year of storage. Finally, most vitamins appeared to be stable during long-term storage. The only exception was thiamin, which degraded rapidly during the first year of storage at 35˚C. It was previously believed that the imprecise method of fortification would prove problematic for nutrient quantification; however, this was only an issue in stored samples of Grilled Pork Chop, Italian Vegetables and Curry Sauce with Vegetables. Year two data may further reveal the extent to which this is a problem, as well as identify overall quality changes over time.

Sirmons, T.↗