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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 235 records · Page 13

In-Flight Guidance, Navigation, and Control Performance Results for the GOES-16 Spacecraft

The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R Series (GOES-R), which launched in November 2016, is the first of the next generation geostationary weather satellites. GOES-R provides 4 times the resolution, 5 times the observation rate, and 3 times the number of spectral bands for Earth observations compared with its predecessor spacecraft. Additionally, Earth relative and Sun-relative pointing and pointing stability requirements are maintained throughout reaction wheel desaturation events and station keeping activities, allowing GOES-R to provide continuous Earth and sun observations. This paper reviews the pointing control, pointing stability, attitude knowledge, and orbit knowledge requirements necessary to realize the ambitious Image Navigation and Registration (INR) objectives of GOES-R. This paper presents a comparison between low-frequency on-orbit pointing results and simulation predictions for both the Earth Pointed Platform (EPP) and Sun Pointed Platform (SPP). Results indicate excellent agreement between simulation predictions and observed on-orbit performance, and compliance with pointing performance requirements. The EPP instrument suite includes 6 seismic accelerometers sampled at 2 KHz, allowing in-flight verification of jitter responses and comparison back to simulation predictions. This paper presents flight results of acceleration, shock response spectrum (SRS), and instrument line of sight responses for various operational scenarios and instrument observation modes. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the dual-isolation approach employed on GOES-R. The spacecraft provides attitude and rate data to the primary Earth-observing instrument at 100 Hz, which are used to adjust instrument scanning. The data must meet accuracy and latency numbers defined by the Integrated Rate Error (IRE) requirements. This paper discusses the on-orbit IRE results, showing compliance to these requirements with margin. During the spacecraft checkout period, IRE disturbances were observed and subsequently attributed to thermal control of the Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) mounting interface. Adjustments of IMU thermal control and the resulting improvements in IRE are presented. Orbit knowledge represents the final element of INR performance. Extremely accurate orbital position is achieved by GPS navigation at Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO). On-orbit performance results are shown demonstrating compliance with the stringent orbit position accuracy requirements of GOES-R, including during station keeping activities and momentum desaturation events. As we show in this paper, the on-orbit performance of the GNC design provides the necessary capabilities to achieve GOES-R mission objectives.

Chapel, Jim↗

Evaluation of APREQCFR Coordination Procedures for Charlotte Douglas International Airport

NASA has been collaborating with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and aviation industry partners to develop and demonstrate new concepts and technologies for the Integrated Arrival, Departure, and Surface (IADS) traffic management capabilities under the Airspace Technology Demonstration 2 (ATD-2) project. One of the goal of The IADS capabilities in the ATD-2 project is to increase predictability and increase throughput via improving TMI compliance. The IADS capabilities that will impact TMI compliance are built upon previous NASA research, the Precision Departure Release Capability (PDRC). The proposed paper will evaluate the APREQCFR process between ATC Tower and Center and information sharing between ATC Tower and the airline Ramp tower. Subjective measures collected from the HITL surveys (e.g., workload, situational awareness, acceptability, usability) and performance metrics such as TMI, TMAT, and pushback advisory compliance from APREQCFR flights and will be reported.

APREQ scheduling↗

Gaps in Thermal Design Guidelines in the Goddard Space Flight Center GOLD Rules

The GSFC (Goddard Space Flight Center) GOLD Rules (Goddard Open Learning Design; GSFC-STD-1000) provide a reasonably comprehensive list of guidelines for the design and testing of spacecraft and instruments based on the long heritage of successful GSFC missions. In general, all GSFC missions are required to comply with the GOLD Rules across a number of subsystems or to seek waivers to particular GOLD rules where compliance is not practical, either due to the risk posture of a mission or the cost and/or schedule associated with compliance. In thermal subsystems, GOLD Rules are applied to design margins throughout the project life cycle and include temperature margins, heater power margins, and two-phase transport margins. However, no explicit guidance is provided for two thermal design aspects: heater control authority (for stability requirements) and cryogenic design margins (which are often not reasonable to express in terms of temperatures). This can lead to ambiguity and inconsistency among projects when demonstrating GOLD Rules compliance. Two current GSFC projects, TIRS-2 (Thermal InfraRed Sensor 2) and WFIRST (Wide Field InfraRed Survey Telescope), are both missions with cryogenic aspects and active thermal control for stability. This paper seeks to outline the characterization of cryogenic margins during the design process for TIRS-2 and WFIRST as well as the project derived guidelines for heater control authority margin. This effort serves as potential first steps for updating the GOLD Rules to address these two areas in guiding thermal designs at GSFC.

Modeling↗

NASA biological and physical sciences databases: who’s the FAIRest of them all?

Conceptual models are a key part of the foundation of scientific study. Scientific data discovery and retrieval are often inaccurate and incomplete because these models are not sufficiently well-incorporated into data retrieval systems. Systems often don’t provide the necessary tools to those producing scientific data to fully and unambiguously annotate them and the result is consumers of the data cannot find them efficiently. The capability of data archives to provide these tools to link data to underlying conceptual models is one of dimensions of the recently developed “FAIR” principles (https://www.go-fair.org/fair-principles/ ), and is key to many automated processes being able to operate on these data, particularly analytics involving artificial intelligence. We used an open-source web service to measure the FAIR compliance of the three data archives operated by NASA for the biological and physical sciences: the Life Sciences Data Archive, the Physical Sciences Informatics database, and GeneLab. The service ingests references to data sets in these archives, and then executes domain-non-specific examinations of these data and metadata that test compliance to the FAIR principles. Of the 22 metrics tested, GeneLab passed 11 (50%), and PSI and LSDA each passed 7 (32%). These data were gathered using only one representative data set from each archive and we anticipate variability in results as we continue to apply these metrics to other data. A preliminary study of the failure traces for each metric suggests there is a wide range of effort and complexity in the enhancements required for each system to elevate FAIR compliance, and this is the subject of continued investigation. This information has been and will likely continue to be important information in planning these enhancements, with the goal of increased readiness of the data for automated processes.

database↗

Acquisition of and Access to Research Omics Data

Omics data are essential for understanding the myriad and complex effects of space environments on humans. To assure maximum benefit from these kinds of data, the NASA Human Research Program Data Management Plan stipulates that human omics data should be archived within and accessed through the NASA Life Sciences Portal (NLSP). The NLSP has the capability to acquire and provision access to omics (and other kinds of) research results for individual and ad-hoc groups of subjects at the direction of institutional review boards, or other authorizing bodies or individuals, per institutional, program and investigation-specific policies and procedures. However, because some single-subject omics data, like CT scans and other kinds of large, complex biomedical data, could be used to identify heretofore unknown risks to the subject’s health, or, in certain cases, be used to identify a subject, NASA Policy Directive 7170.1 describes various policies regarding the management of and access to “research genetic testing” data, which includes many kinds of omics data. For example, NPD 7170.1 prohibits access to human research genetic data by NASA personnel who make employment decisions for the subjects from whom the data were obtained. To meet the objective of acquiring research omics data for NLSP in compliance with the policies in NPD 7170.1 and other applicable NASA policies, we designed NOMADS (the NLSP Omics Multimodal Acquisition of Data System), a new component that supports the transfer of large research data files, including research genetic testing data, using one of several different transfer mechanisms. The choice of mechanism is made by the submitter of the data, with guiding information from the system, and is likely to often be determined in large part by the nature and source location of the data. For example, for small files where the source data files are not already stored in a cloud storage system, users are likely to prefer to transfer their data to the NLSP via a web browser. Conversely, for large sets of files already organized and stored in a cloud storage system, users may opt for NOMAD’s cloud-to-cloud transfer method. All omics datasets targeted for the NASA Life Sciences Data Archive must pass a variety of quality checks to ensure data integrity and adherence to the standards defined by the LSDA Data Submission Guidelines (DSG) (see https://nlsp.nasa.gov/explore/lsdahome/datasubmit). These include requirements that data are consistent with open standards established by the omics community. Non-compliant data will not be accepted however archivists are available to advise submitters on how to revise data submissions and re-submit until compliance is achieved. Following compliance with the LSDA DSG, omics data next undergo a variety of additional quality checks to ensure the data meet omics community standards. Domain specific Omics data quality control tools and techniques are continually evolving and linked to the advancements in omics assays utilized and thus, the tools and techniques utilized by the LSDA for data quality control and validation will need to be sustained accordingly. All human omics data will be access controlled according to the policies described above, and requiring IRB approval for any additional access grants once the data are acquired (including access for analysis using the NLSP workspace tools).

Omics↗

Acquisition of and Access to Research Omics Data

Omics data are essential for understanding the myriad and complex effects of space environments on humans. To assure maximum benefit from these kinds of data, the NASA Human Research Program Data Management Plan stipulates that human omics data should be archived within and accessed through the NASA Life Sciences Portal (NLSP). The NLSP has the capability to acquire and provision access to omics (and other kinds of) research results for individual and ad-hoc groups of subjects at the direction of institutional review boards, or other authorizing bodies or individuals, per institutional, program and investigation-specific policies and procedures. However, because some single-subject omics data, like CT scans and other kinds of large, complex biomedical data, could be used to identify heretofore unknown risks to the subject’s health, or, in certain cases, be used to identify a subject, NASA Policy Directive 7170.1 describes various policies regarding the management of and access to “research genetic testing” data, which includes many kinds of omics data. For example, NPD 7170.1 prohibits access to human research genetic data by NASA personnel who make employment decisions for the subjects from whom the data were obtained. To meet the objective of acquiring research omics data for NLSP in compliance with the policies in NPD 7170.1 and other applicable NASA policies, we designed NOMADS (the NLSP Omics Multimodal Acquisition of Data System), a new component that supports the transfer of large research data files, including research genetic testing data, using one of several different transfer mechanisms. The choice of mechanism is made by the submitter of the data, with guiding information from the system, and is likely to often be determined in large part by the nature and source location of the data. For example, for small files where the source data files are not already stored in a cloud storage system, users are likely to prefer to transfer their data to the NLSP via a web browser. Conversely, for large sets of files already organized and stored in a cloud storage system, users may opt for NOMAD’s cloud-to-cloud transfer method. All omics datasets targeted for the NASA Life Sciences Data Archive must pass a variety of quality checks to ensure data integrity and adherence to the standards defined by the LSDA Data Submission Guidelines (DSG) (see https://nlsp.nasa.gov/explore/lsdahome/datasubmit). These include requirements that data are consistent with open standards established by the omics community. Non-compliant data will not be accepted however archivists are available to advise submitters on how to revise data submissions and re-submit until compliance is achieved. Following compliance with the LSDA DSG, omics data next undergo a variety of additional quality checks to ensure the data meet omics community standards. Domain specific Omics data quality control tools and techniques are continually evolving and linked to the advancements in omics assays utilized and thus, the tools and techniques utilized by the LSDA for data quality control and validation will need to be sustained accordingly. All human omics data will be access controlled according to the policies described above, and requiring IRB approval for any additional access grants once the data are acquired (including access for analysis using the NLSP workspace tools).

Omics↗

Applying Generative-AI to NASA Documentation and Processes

This research and development project leverages generative-AI to assist in the generation of software process documentation based on NASA standards. By utilizing fine-tuned AI models, the proposed system will analyze NASA's software guidelines, helping to translate them into well-structured, compliant process documents. This assistance can reduce the manual effort required to produce such documentation, enhance consistency, and assure alignment with NASA's stringent software development and operational requirements. In addition to assisting in the generation of software process documentation, the project explores how generative-AI can help create audit checklists as well as assess the compliance of NASA provider documentation against applicable NASA standards. This approach would support the compliance auditing process, providing real-time insights and assessments. The intended result will be a streamlined process, potentially including a Python-based tool and database, that improves audit efficiency, reduces human error, lowers manpower costs and required manhours, and assures continuous compliance with NASA and industry evolving standards for safety-critical software development. Future task might be to investigate the software industry approach and standards for potential collaboration.

NASA Standards↗

A Transient Hydrodynamic Model of Screen Channel Liquid Acquisition Devices for In-Space Cryogenic Propellant Management

Screen channel liquid acquisition devices (LADs) will play a crucial role in future deep space travel. It is essential that vapor-free delivery of propellants during tank-to-tank transfer is ensured to maximize yield from storage tanks and prevent potential combustion instabilities. The screen channel LAD utilizes a fine screen wire mesh that can separate phases in a low Bond number (i.e. microgravity) environment using surface tension forces. This study presents the development and verification of a new model for transient screen compliance, one of the influential factors for screen channel LAD design. Screen compliance is crucial during LAD channel outflow transients because the slight deflection of the screen can provide needed mass to satisfy rapid outflow demands and reduce the pressure difference across the screen. The model is successfully verified against CFD simulations. In addition, the characteristic speed for the governing screen compliance equations is derived which allows for numerical stability criteria to be established. As shown in this study, the transient maximum pressure difference across the screen can greatly exceed the steady state maximum pressure difference across the screen in many cases.

Hydrodynamics Simulations↗

Electronic Departure Approval Requests in ATD-2 Daily Operations

The NASA Airspace Technology Demonstration 2 project is investigating Integrated Arrival-Departure-Surface air traffic management through progressive refinement of a surface air traffic management system fielded at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport. Among the areas under study are departure release-time approval request (APREQ) traffic management initiatives. Scheduling departures at downstream points and complying with approved departure release times helps flights fit smoothly into busy traffic streams. This paper presents a review of APREQ operations and compliance data from daily electronic APREQ negotiations over fourteen months beginning in January 2018. It describes APREQ-compliance improvements observed as the electronic negotiation process has matured and discusses contributing factors, including renegotiation of departure release times.

Call for release↗

Dynamics of cavitating cascades

Brief accounts of the theoretical research conducted on the unsteady cavitation characteristics of liquid rocket engine turbopumps are reported. The objective is to produce estimates of the cavitation compliance and other unsteady characteristics which could then be used in analysis of the pogo instability. Blade cavitation is the particular pheonomenon which is investigated and line arized free streamline methods were employed in both quasistatic and complete dynamic cascade analyses of the unsteady flow. The simpler quasistatic analysis was applied to particular turbopumps but yielded values of compliances significantly smaller than those indirectly obtained from experiments. Reasons for this discrepancy are discussed. The complete dynamic analysis presents a new problem in fundamental hydrodynamics and, though the basic solution is presented, numerical results have not as yet been obtained.

Acosta, A. J.↗

Analysis of propellant feedline dynamics

An analytical model and corresponding computer program for studying disturbances of liquid propellants in typical engine feedline systems were developed. The model includes the effects of steady turbulent mean flow, the influence of distributed compliances, the effects of local compliances, and various factors causing structural-hydraulic coupling. The computer program was set up such that the amplitude and phase of the terminal pressure/input excitation is calculated over any desired frequency range for an arbitrary assembly of various feedline components. A user's manual is included.

Holster, J. L.↗

The dynamic performance of cavitating turbopumps

The evaluation of the transfer function for an axial cavitating inducer in a high performance turbopump is considered. An approach for the evaluation of the compliance and mass flow gain factor can be used as a basis for the determination of the first nonzero terms in the expansions of all the elements in the transfer function. Applications of the described method to turbopumps are discussed and the theoretical results are compared with test observations in the case of the Saturn J2 engine. It is demonstrated that a dynamic transfer function which includes not only a compliance but also a mass flow gain factor is a satisfactory first approximation for a cavitating turbopump.

Brennen, C.↗

Energy efficient engine preliminary design and integration studies

The characteristics and systems benefits of an energy efficient engine (E3) suitable for use on advanced subsonic transport aircraft were determined. Relative to a current CF6-50C engine, the following benefits were estimated: 14.4% reduction in installed cruise specific fuel consumption, and a reduction in direct operating cost of more than 5%. The advanced technology E3 system would also permit: compliance with FAR 36 (1977) noise limits, and compliance with 1981 EPA emission standards.

Johnston, R. P.↗

Fracture toughness of brittle materials determined with chevron notch specimens

The use of chevron-notch specimens for determining the plane strain fracture toughness (K sub Ic) of brittle materials is discussed. Three chevron-notch specimens were investigated: short bar, short rod, and four-point-bend. The dimensionless stress intensity coefficient used in computing K sub Ic is derived for the short bar specimen from the superposition of ligament-dependent and ligament-independent solutions for the straight through crack, and also from experimental compliance calibrations. Coefficients for the four-point-bend specimen were developed by the same superposition procedure, and with additional refinement using the slice model of Bluhm. Short rod specimen stress intensity coefficients were determined only by experimental compliance calibration. Performance of the three chevron-notch specimens and their stress intensity factor relations were evaluated by tests on hot-pressed silicon nitride and sintered aluminum oxide. Results obtained with the short bar and the four-point-bend specimens on silicon nitride are in good agreement and relatively free of specimen geometry and size effects within the range investigated. Results on aluminum oxide were affected by specimen size and chevron-notch geometry, believed due to a rising crack growth resistance curve for the material. Only the results for the short bar specimen are presented in detail.

Shannon, J. L., Jr.↗

Time-temperature behavior of a unidirectional graphite/epoxy composite

A testing program to determine the time-temperature response of unidirectional T300/934 graphite/epoxy materials is presented. The short-term creep test results of tension specimens with the load at various angles to the fiber direction and at various temperatures are reported, showing that the material is elastic at all temperatures when the fiber is in the load direction. However, when the load is transverse to the fibers, the viscoelastic response varies from small amounts at room temperature to large amounts at temperatures above the 180 C transition temperature. The time-temperature superposition principle or the method of reduced variables were used to determine compliance master curves for each fiber angle, and a viscoelastic analog to the elastic orthotropic transformation equation was used incrementally to predict the master curves for the tensile compliance of the off-axis specimen.

Yeow, Y. T.↗

Accelerated characterization of graphite/epoxy composites

A method to predict the long term compliance of unidirectional off-axis laminates from short term laboratory tests is presented. The method uses an orthotropic transformation equation and the time-stress-temperature superposition principle. Short term tests are used to construct master curves for two off-axis unidirectional laminates with fiber angles of 10 and 90 degrees. Analytical predictions of long term compliance for 30 and 60 degrees laminates are made. Comparisons with experimental data are also given.

Griffith, W. I.↗

Creep and creep rupture of laminated graphite/epoxy composites

An incremental numerical procedure based on lamination theory is developed to predict creep and creep rupture of general laminates. Existing unidirectional creep compliance and delayed failure data is used to develop analytical models for lamina response. The compliance model is based on a procedure proposed by Findley which incorporates the power law for creep into a nonlinear constitutive relationship. The matrix octahedral shear stress is assumed to control the stress interaction effect. A modified superposition principle is used to account for the varying stress level effect on the creep strain. The lamina failure model is based on a modification of the Tsai-Hill theory which includes the time dependent creep rupture strength. A linear cumulative damage law is used to monitor the remaining lifetime in each ply.

Dillard, D. A.↗