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At least 253 records · Page 14

TRW - Lunar Descent Engine

As we went through the program, what we determined, and what we all agreed on, was that the thrust coefficient (Cf) of the nozzle, after you get past a certain point, is really an engineering parameter. It s not a fundamental parameter that is going to be highly variable. Once we knew what the contour of the nozzle was, and once we knew what its characteristic was out to 2:1, we could calculate what the 48:1 thrust coefficient was going to be. In every case that we made a test, the calculation was precise. We weren't looking for a problem out at 48:1. Once we crushed the nozzle and said, "Yeah, we can land on the boulder," and once we had the thermal profile of that columbium nozzle, we did not require a lot of effort there. The real characterization was done in throttling over the 10:1 with the injector and controlling the mixture ratio on that - the whole head-end assembly - out to 2:1. I think everybody at NASA and Grumman agreed that flying like you test is great, particularly if you are using an aircraft engine. But, in this case, the thrust coefficient of the nozzle was not an issue. We had the tandem configuration of the service module, the command module, and the LEM sitting out there, and we were to fire the LEM. On Apollo 5, we were firing the LEM to show how it would work. There was a problem. I can t remember where the problem was, but something caused a problem before that engine had finished its burn. It was not in the engine, but there was some other problem, and NASA made a controlled shutdown. Then, they came to us and asked, "Hey, we re up there. We want to finish this test program. Is it okay if we restart that engine again in space with this tandem configuration?" We said, "As long as it has been more than forty minutes since you shut down, our analysis says that you will be okay in terms of the thermal characteristics of the inside of that chamber." They restarted it and pushed that system around in orbit on Apollo 5. It turned out, that when it came to Apollo 13, we went back into the record, and said, "Hey, we have pushed this system around up there on Apollo 5, and we have also restarted this tandem configuration." The requirements on Apollo 13 were to put it back into play. The spacecraft was out of free return to the earth at the time of the accident. It would not have come back. NASA said, "Okay, we ll use the descent engine to put the spacecraft in a free trajectory; it will go around the moon and be on free trajectory back to Earth." Then, as it came around the far side of the moon, the guys found out that they had an oxygen problem. As you remember, things were getting pretty bad in there. They said, "We ve got to get it back as fast as we can. Is it okay if we re-fire the engine? Now, we re in a free trajectory, so we want to put as much delta-v (or change in velocity) in as we can. Can we re-fire right now?" We said, "Yes, the data says it has been this period of time." We could re-fire the engine, run the rest of the duty cycle up as far as we needed while preserving enough fluids to make the final correction as the spacecraft got near Earth, and restart the engine. It was pretty fortuitous that we could give them those answers.

Elverum, Gerard W.↗

Everyone Learns: The Joys of Sharing Your Science with Students and Educators

Have you found yourself asking questions such as: "What needs to be considered when working with students? How can I best communicate my science to the public? I have an idea for an educational project, but how do I get money to make it happen?"? During this presentation, we will present case studies where scientists have engaged in meaningful dialogues and experiences with students, teachers, museum and science center staff, and the general public. We will also present products and programs that are ready-made opportunities for scientists looking to get their feet wet in education and public outreach. As a result of this presentation, attendees will be made aware of existing efforts that enable scientists to get involved in education and public outreach as well as NASA opportunities for scientists to fund their educational projects.

deColstounBrown, Eric↗

Design for the Structure and the Mechanics of Moballs

The moball is envisioned to be a round, self-powered, and wind-driven multifunctioning sensor used in the Gone with the Wind ON-Mars (GOWON) [http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/ marsconcepts2012/pdf/4238.pdf]: A Wind-Driven Networked System of Mobile sensors on Mars. The moballs would have sensing, processing, and communication capabilities. The moballs would perform in situ detection of key environmental elements such as vaporized water, trace gases, wind, dust, clouds, light and UV exposure, temperature, as well as minerals of interest, possible biosignatures, surface magnetic and electric fields, etc. The embedded various low-power micro instruments could include a Multispectral Microscopic Imager (to detect various minerals), a compact curved focal plane array camera (UV/Vis/NIR) with a large field of view, a compact UV/Visible spectrometer, a micro-weather station, etc. The moballs could communicate with each other and an orbiter. Their wind- or gravity-driven rolling movement could be used to harvest and store electric energy. They could also generate and store energy using the sunlight, when available, and the diurnal temperature variations on Mars. The moballs would be self-aware of their (and their neighbors ) positions, energy storage, and memory availability; they would have processing power and could intelligently cooperate with neighboring moballs by distributing tasks, sharing data, and fusing information. The major advantages of using the wind-driven and spherical moball network over rovers or other fixed sensor webs to explore Mars would be: (1) moballs could explore a much larger expanse of Mars in a much faster fashion, (2) they could explore the difficult terrains such as steep slopes and sand dunes, and (3) they would be self-energy- generating and could work together and move around autonomously. The challenge in designing the structure and the mechanics of the moball would be that it should be sturdy enough to withstand the impact of its initial fall, as well as other impacts from obstacles in its way. A mechanism would be needed that could enable hundreds of moballs to be carried while they would be deflated and compact, then would inflate them just after deploying them to their drop site. Furthermore, the moballs should also be light enough to allow them to move easily over obstacles by force of the wind. They also should have some kind of maneuvering mechanism in place to help them avoid very hazardous sharp objects or events, and to enable them to get closer to the objects of interest. The structure of the moballs was designed so that they would have different layers. The outer layer should comprise a sturdy, yet light, polymer that could withstand both the impact of the initial drop, as well as the impact of the different obstacles it would encounter while traversing the surface of Mars. This polymer should not deteriorate with the 100 K daily temperature swings on Mars. The inner layer should consist of a very light gas such as nitrogen or helium. In terms of maneuvering, six very light weights placed at strategic locations would give moballs the ability to turn, or even hop, over hazardous (e.g., sharp) obstacles, or even initiate a movement (before getting more help from the wind to be carried around) when stuck. Maneuvering would be necessary in order to get closer to objects of interest. If the weights would be allowed to move freely, they could also be used to generate energy.

Davoodi, Faranak↗

Full Scale Advanced Systems Testbed (FAST): Capabilities and Recent Flight Research

At the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center research is being conducted into flight control technologies that will enable the next generation of air and space vehicles. The Full Scale Advanced Systems Testbed (FAST) aircraft provides a laboratory for flight exploration of these technologies. In recent years novel but simple adaptive architectures for aircraft and rockets have been researched along with control technologies for improving aircraft fuel efficiency and control structural interaction. This presentation outlines the FAST capabilities and provides a snapshot of the research accomplishments to date. Flight experimentation allows a researcher to substantiate or invalidate their assumptions and intuition about a new technology or innovative approach Data early in a development cycle is invaluable for determining which technology barriers are real and which ones are imagined Data for a technology at a low TRL can be used to steer and focus the exploration and fuel rapid advances based on real world lessons learned It is important to identify technologies that are mature enough to benefit from flight research data and not be tempted to wait until we have solved all the potential issues prior to getting some data Sometimes a stagnated technology just needs a little real world data to get it going One trick to getting data for low TRL technologies is finding an environment where it is okay to take risks, where occasional failure is an expected outcome Learning how things fail is often as valuable as showing that they work FAST has been architected to facilitate this type of testing for control system technologies, specifically novel algorithms and sensors Rapid prototyping with a quick turnaround in a fly-fix-fly paradigm Sometimes it's easier and cheaper to just go fly it than to analyze the problem to death The goal is to find and test control technologies that would benefit from flight data and find solutions to the real barriers to innovation. The FAST vehicle is a flexible laboratory for nascent technologies that would benefit from early life cycle flight research data It provides a robust and safe environment where innovative techniques can be explored in a fly-fix-fly rapid prototyping paradigm IRAC Simple adaptive control technologies can provide real benefits without undo complexity Adverse pilot/adaptive system interactions can be mitigated and tools have been developed to evaluate those interactions ICP Substantial fuel savings can be achieved over a broad range of vehicles and configurations with intelligent control solutions LVAC The AAC design is robust and effective for the SLS mission, and promises to provide benefits to other platforms as well OCLA Hopefully will show that structural feedback can be seamlessly integrated with performance and stability objectives All of these control technologies have been implemented into the same baseline control law and could be combined into one control solution that answers many pressing questions for modern vehicle configurations

flight controls↗

Systems Development, Data Mining, and Knowledge Discovery

I worked as a NASA OSTEM virtually during the Fall 2020 term. Working in the IT division under my mentor Dr. Ali Shaykhian, our overall goal for the duration of this internship is to get a better understanding of the Visual Basic Language and how it can be used to make forms and collaboration with other workers to be more dynamics. I also worked with 3 other interns throughout this internship, using Microsoft Office to help each other to get a better understanding of how we approached our projects individually. Every week, my mentor Dr. Ali assigned me a task and a goal to finish by the end of each week. My overall project was figuring out a way to make email submissions and emails in general more dynamic for the NASA database. For example, instead of only using the same generic email for hundreds of different workers, a code can be used to send an individual email with more personalization such as each recipient’s name and personal info. I have also been assigned to create an email graphical user interface by the end of this internship. For these tasks to be made possible, I had to learn more about the capabilities of Microsoft Office, such as Macros in Microsoft Excel and Visual Basic in both Microsoft Excel and Word. Although it was challenging at first, I developed new programming skilled in a new language and actually made it possible to create this code along the way. Alongside doing the individual assignments, Dr. Ali also assigned up to replicate other intern’s work to get a better understanding of their approach and learn how to do it ourselves.

Janelisse Morales Gonzalez↗

Remote haze monitoring by satellite: A study to demonstrate the feasibility and determine the optimum method

The author has identified the following significant results. A general purpose flexible computer program for the analysis of ERTS MSS data has been written for the Control Data 7600 computer. By putting all of the analysis operations into a separate subroutine the user may concentrate on the analysis. The problems of getting the information into the computer in convenient format is solved once and need not be tampered with each time a new analysis procedure is desired. The problems of getting information written by the XDS computers in 8 bit byte format into a convenient format for analysis on the 60 bit word format CDC 7600 computer are not trivial. A general purpose program to accomplish this has been written and is available from the investigators upon request.

Rogers, E. H.↗

Minor planets and related objects. XIII - Long-term orbital evolution of /1685/ Toro.

The orbital evolution of (1685) Toro has been investigated over 5000 yr. The asteroid exhibits a locked resonance through an 8:5 commensurability with the earth for the first 3400 yr of integration and a locked resonance with Venus through a 13:5 commensurability for the last 1000 yr. Control of these resonances passes from the earth to Venus as the distance from the earth's orbit gets greater and the distance to Venus' orbit gets closer as a consequence of the precession of the argument of perihelion. The double resonance may give Toro the ability to avoid collisions with the earth and Venus at the present time but this is still uncertain. Mars perturbations could remove Toro from the deepest part of the resonance in about 3,000,000 yrs.

Williams, J. G.↗

Thermal design analysis of shuttle cargo bay payloads

The thermal design analysis methodology, the thermal control philosophy, and preliminary thermal analysis results associated with specific shuttle payloads are presented. The payloads considered are the Get-Away Special canisters being developed by NASA Goddard, which may be flown on a variety of missions, and the six experiments which are mounted on the GSFC pallet to be flown on Operational Flight test No. 4 (OFT-4). The thermal control alternatives currently available to OFT-4 instruments are the use of pallet cold plates (if available) or operational constraints which allow passive thermal control without the use of excessive heater power. The characteristics of a completely passive thermal control design are evidenced by the results of the Get-Away Special canister analysis.

Bartoszek, J. T.↗

Propagation and nucleosynthesis of ultraheavy cosmic rays

The observed fluxes of cosmic ray (C.R.) ultraheavy elements depend on their charge and mass spectrum at the sources and on the propagation effects, on the distribution of path lengths traversed by the particles on their way from the sources to the observation point. The effect of different path length distributions (p.l.d.) on the infered source abunances is analyzed. It seems that it is rather difficult to fit a reasonable p.l.d. so that the obtained source spectrum coincides with the Solar System (SS) abundances in more detail. It suggests that the nucleosynthesis conditions for c.r. nuclei may differ from that for SS matter. The nucleosynthesis of ultraheavy elements fitting its parameters to get the c.r. source abundances is calculated. It is shown that it is possible to get a very good agreement between the predicted and the observed source abundance.

Giler, M.↗

Propelling AMPTE into orbit

Three types of propulsion - liquid, solid and cold gas - were used to get the three AMPTE (Active Magnetospheric Particle Tracer Explorers) spacecraft into their operational orbits. The booster, a thrust-augmented DELTA, placed the 1028 kg (2267 lb) international payload into a 555 km x 8.78 Re x 28.7 deg transfer orbit. Solids carried aloft by two of the spacecraft were then fired to tilt one orbit and elevate the other. Cold gas provided two of the spacecraft with torquing capabilities for attitude maneuvering. All told, it took 12 solid, 2 liquid and 2 cold gas propulsion units to get the three AMPTE spacecraft off the ground and into their operational orbits. The relationships between all of them and the manner in which they were utilized on August 16, 1984 the day of the launch - are discussed here.

Smola, J. F.↗

Lithospheric and crustal thinning

In rift zones, both the crust and the lithosphere get thinner. The amplitude and the mechanism of these two thinning situations are different. The lithospheric thinning is a thermal phenomenon produced by an asthenospherical uprising under the rift zone. In some regions its amplitude can exceed 200%. This is observed under the Baikal rift where the crust is directly underlaid by the mantellic asthenosphere. The presence of hot material under rift zones induces a large negative gravity anomaly. A low seismic velocity zone linked to this thermal anomaly is also observed. During the rifting, the magmatic chambers get progressively closer from the ground surface. Simultaneously, the Moho reflector is found at shallow depth under rift zones. This crustal thinning does not exceed 50%. Tectonic stresses and vertical movements result from the two competing effects of the lithospheric and crustal thinning. On the one hand, the deep thermal anomaly induces a large doming and is associated with extensive deviatoric stresses. On the other hand, the crustal thinning involves the formation of a central valley. This subsidence is increased by the sediment loading. The purpose here is to quantify these two phenomena in order to explain the morphological and thermal evolution of rift zones.

Moretti, I.↗

GAS-007: First step in a series of Explorer payloads

As part of the NASA Get Away Special program for flying small, self-contained payloads onboard the Space Shuttle, the Alabama Space and Rocket Center (ASRC) in Huntsville has sponsored three such payloads for its Project Explorer. One of these is GAS-007, which was carried originally on STS mission 41-G in early October 1984. Due to an operational error it was not turned on and was, therefore, subsequently rescheduled and flown on mission 61-C. This paper will review Explorer's history, outline its experiments, present some preliminary experimental results, and describe future ASRC plans for Get Away Special activities, including follow-on Explorers GAS-105 and GAS-608.

Kitchens, Philip H.↗

The IRAS colors of normal galaxies

In the IRAS color-color diagram, galaxies powered only by star formation are distributed in a band such that as systems get cooler at 12/25 microns they get warmer at 60/100 microns. A simple phenomenology is proposed which describes the emission from each galaxy as a combination of two components: cool, relatively constant 'cirrus' emission from the neutral medium, and from 'active' regions warmer emission whose colors depend on mean physical parameters in these regions. The model accounts for the IRAS colors of all galaxies detected as point sources in all four bands. The model implies that a galaxy's far-infrared flux as measured by IRAS is not simply proportional to the recent star formation rate, because only a (variable) fraction of the infrared is due to massive young stars, and only part of these stars' luminosity is reemitted in the infrared.

Helou, George↗

Planet X probe: A fresh new look at an old familiar place

Planet X Probe utilizes a Get Away Special (GAS) payload to provide a large student population with a remote Earth sensing experimental package. To provide a cooperative as well as a competitive environment, the effort is targeted at all grade levels and at schools in different geographical regions. LANDSAT capability allows students to investigate the Earth, its physical makeup, its resources, and the impact of man. This project also serves as an educational device to get students to stand back and take a fresh look at their home planet. The key element is to treat the familiar Earth as an unknown planet with knowledge based only on what is observable and provable from the images obtained. Through participation, a whole range of experiences will include: (1) mission planning; (2) research and pilot projects to train teams; (3) identification and recruitment of scientific mentors and dialogue; (4) selection of a student advisory team to be available during the mission; (5) analysis of data and compilation of findings; (6) report preparation, constucted along sound scientific principles; and (7) presentation and defense of findings before a meeting of competitive student groups and scientist in the field.

Nicholson, James↗

STS safety approval process for small self-contained payloads

The safety approval process established by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for Get Away Special (GAS) payloads is described. Although the designing organization is ultimately responsible for the safe operation of its payload, the Get Away Special team at the Goddard Space Flight Center will act as advisors while iterative safety analyses are performed and the Safety Data Package inputs are submitted. This four phase communications process will ultimately give NASA confidence that the GAS payload is safe, and successful completion of the Phase 3 package and review will clear the way for flight aboard the Space Transportation System orbiter.

Gum, Mary A.↗

The potential of a GAS can with payload G-169

The feasibility of using welding for the construction, expansion and emergency repair of space based structures is discussed and the advantages of gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) over other welding techniques are briefly examined. The objective and design concept for the G-169 Get Away Special payload are described. The G-169 experiment will allow the comparison of a space GTA welded joint with a terrestrial GTA welded joint with all parameters held constant except for gravitational forces. Specifically, a bead-on-plate weld around the perimeter of a 2 inch diameter stainless steel pipe section will be performed. The use of Learjet microgravity simulation for the G-169 and other Get Away Special experiments is also addressed.

Tamir, David↗

Integrated Solar Disk Oscillation Measurements Using the Magneto-Optical Filter: Tests with a Two Station Network

The magneto-optical filter (MOF) was used to get high and intermediate l-modes of solar oscillations. For very low l-modes the imaging capability of the MOF is still attractive since it allows a pixel by pixel intensity normalization. However, a crude attempt to get very low l power spectra from Dopplergrams obtained at Mt. Wilson gave noisy results. This means that a careful analysis of all the factors potentially affecting high resolution Dopplergrams should be accomplished. In order to better investigate this problem, a nonimaging channel using the lock-in amplifier technique was considered. Two systems are now operational, one at JPL and the other at University of Rome. Observations in progress are used to discuss the MOF stability, the noise level, and the possible application in asteroseismology.

Cacciani, Alessandro↗

Self-organization of cosmic radiation pressure instability

Under some circumstances the absorption of radiation momentum by an absorbing medium opens the possibility of a dynamical instability, sometimes called 'mock gravity'. Here, a simplified abstract model is studied in which the radiation source is assumed to remain spatially uniform, there is no reabsorption or reradiated light, and no forces other than radiative pressure act on the absorbing medium. It is shown that this model displays the unique feature of being not only unstable, but also self-organizing. The structure approaches a statistical dynamical steady state which is almost independent of initial conditions. In this saturated state the absorbers are concentrated in thin walls around empty bubbles; as the instability develops the big bubbles get bigger and the small ones get crushed and disappear. A linear analysis shows that to first order the thin walls are indeed stable structures. It is speculated that this instability may play a role in forming cosmic large-scale structure.

Hogan, Craig J.↗