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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 289 records · Page 16
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1989

Mars surface-based factory: Computer control of a water treatment system to support a space colony on Mars

In a continued effort to design a surface-based factory on Mars for the production of oxygen and water, the Design Group at Prairie View A&M University made a preliminary study of the surface and atmospheric composition on Mars and determined the mass densities of the various gases in the martian atmosphere. Based on the initial studies, the design group determined oxygen and water to be the two products that could be produced economically under the martian conditions. Studies were also made on present production techniques to obtain water and oxygen. Analyses were made to evaluate the current methods of production that were adaptable to the martian conditions. The detailed report was contained in an Interim Report submitted to NASA/USRA in Aug. of 1986. Even though the initial effort was the production of oxygen and water, we found it necessary to produce some diluted gases that can be mixed with oxygen to constitute 'breathable' air. In Phase 2--Task 1A, the Prairie View A&M University team completed the conceptual design of a breathable-air manufacturing system, a means of drilling for underground water, and storage of water for future use. The design objective of the team for the 1987-1988 academic year was the conceptual design of an integrated system for the supply of quality water for biological consumption, farming, and residential and industrial use. The design has also been completed. Phase 2--Task 1C is the present task for the Prairie View Design Team. This is a continuation of the previous task, and the continuation of this effort is the investigation into the extraction of water from beneath the surface and an alternative method of extraction from ice formations on the surface of Mars if accessible. In addition to investigation of water extraction, a system for computer control of extraction and treatment was developed with emphasis on fully automated control with robotic repair and maintenance. It is expected that oxygen- and water-producing plants on Mars will be limited in the amount of human control that will be available to operate large and/or isolated plants. Therefore, it is imperative that computers be integrated into plant operation with the capability to maintain life support systems and analyze and replace defective parts or systems with no human interface.

Brice, R.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Are tropical cirrus brighter than mid-latitude cirrus?

Recent measurements during FIRE II, in the tropics and elsewhere, support an emerging hypothesis about the role of stratospheric mixing in determining the microphysical and radiative properties of cirrus clouds. This is only a working hypothesis, and may change as new measurements become available. This report reviews the conditions under which certain types of ice crystals form.

Mitchell, David L.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Results of the examination of LDEF polyurethane thermal control coatings

This report summarizes the condition of polyurethane thermal control coatings subjected to 69 months of low earth orbit (LEO) exposure on the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) mission. Specimens representing all environmental aspects obtainable by LDEF were analyzed. Widely varying changes in the thermo-optical and mechanical properties of these materials were observed, depending on atomic oxygen and ultraviolet radiation fluences. High atomic oxygen fluences, regardless of ultraviolet radiation exposure levels, resulted in near original optical properties for these coatings but with a degradation in their mechanical condition. A trend in solar absorptance increase with ultraviolet radiation fluence was observed. Contamination, though observed, exhibited minimal effects.

Golden, Johnny L.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Characterization of microgravity effects on bone structure and strength using fractal analysis

The effect of micro-gravity on the musculoskeletal system has been well studied. Significant changes in bone and muscle have been shown after long term space flight. Similar changes have been demonstrated due to bed rest. Bone demineralization is particularly profound in weight bearing bones. Much of the current techniques to monitor bone condition use bone mass measurements. However, bone mass measurements are not reliable to distinguish Osteoporotic and Normal subjects. It has been shown that the overlap between normals and osteoporosis is found for all of the bone mass measurement technologies: single and dual photon absorptiometry, quantitative computed tomography and direct measurement of bone area/volume on biopsy as well as radiogrammetry. A similar discordance is noted in the fact that it has not been regularly possible to find the expected correlation between severity of osteoporosis and degree of bone loss. Structural parameters such as trabecular connectivity have been proposed as features for assessing bone conditions. In this report, we use fractal analysis to characterize bone structure. We show that the fractal dimension computed with MRI images and X-Ray images of the patella are the same. Preliminary experimental results show that the fractal dimension computed from MRI images of vertebrae of human subjects before bedrest is higher than during bedrest.

Acharya, Raj S.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Thermostructural Behavior of a Hypersonic Aircraft Sandwich Panel Subjected to Heating on One Side

Thermostructural analysis was performed on a heated titanium honeycomb-core sandwich panel. The sandwich panel was supported at its four edges with spar-like substructures that acted as heat sinks, which are generally not considered in the classical analysis. One side of the panel was heated to high temperature to simulate aerodynamic heating during hypersonic flight. Two types of surface heating were considered: (1) flat-temperature profile, which ignores the effect of edge heat sinks, and (2) dome-shaped-temperature profile, which approximates the actual surface temperature distribution associated with the existence of edge heat sinks. The finite-element method was used to calculate the deformation field and thermal stress distributions in the face sheets and core of the sandwich panel. The detailed thermal stress distributions in the sandwich panel are presented, and critical stress regions are identified. The study shows how the magnitudes of those critical stresses and their locations change with different heating and edge conditions. This technical report presents comprehensive, three-dimensional graphical displays of thermal stress distributions in every part of a titanium honeycomb-core sandwich panel subjected to hypersonic heating on one side. The plots offer quick visualization of the structural response of the panel and are very useful for hot structures designers to identify the critical stress regions.

Ko, William L.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Detection of Obstacles in Monocular Image Sequences

The ability to detect and locate runways/taxiways and obstacles in images captured using on-board sensors is an essential first step in the automation of low-altitude flight, landing, takeoff, and taxiing phase of aircraft navigation. Automation of these functions under different weather and lighting situations, can be facilitated by using sensors of different modalities. An aircraft-based Synthetic Vision System (SVS), with sensors of different modalities mounted on-board, complements the current ground-based systems in functions such as detection and prevention of potential runway collisions, airport surface navigation, and landing and takeoff in all weather conditions. In this report, we address the problem of detection of objects in monocular image sequences obtained from two types of sensors, a Passive Millimeter Wave (PMMW) sensor and a video camera mounted on-board a landing aircraft. Since the sensors differ in their spatial resolution, and the quality of the images obtained using these sensors is not the same, different approaches are used for detecting obstacles depending on the sensor type. These approaches are described separately in two parts of this report. The goal of the first part of the report is to develop a method for detecting runways/taxiways and objects on the runway in a sequence of images obtained from a moving PMMW sensor. Since the sensor resolution is low and the image quality is very poor, we propose a model-based approach for detecting runways/taxiways. We use the approximate runway model and the position information of the camera provided by the Global Positioning System (GPS) to define regions of interest in the image plane to search for the image features corresponding to the runway markers. Once the runway region is identified, we use histogram-based thresholding to detect obstacles on the runway and regions outside the runway. This algorithm is tested using image sequences simulated from a single real PMMW image.

Kasturi, Rangachar↗
NASA NTRS1998

Fabrication and Resistivity of IBr Intercalated Vapor-Grown Carbon Fiber Composites

Composites using vapor-crown carbon fibers (VGCF), the most conductive of the carbon fiber types, are attractive for applications where low density, high strength, and at least moderate conductivity are required, such as electromagnetic interference shielding covers for spacecraft. The conductivity can be enhanced another order of magnitude by intercalation of the VGCF. If a high Z intercalate is used, the protection of components from ionizing radiation can be enhanced also. Thus, the intercalation of VGCF with IBr is reported. Since composite testing is required to verify properties, the intercalation reaction optimization, stability of the intercalation compound, scale-up of the intercalation reaction, composite fabrication, and resistivity of the resulting composites is also reported. The optimum conditions for low resistivity and uniformity for the scaled up reaction (20-30 g of product) were 114 C for at least 72 hr, yielding a fiber with a resistivity of 8.7+/-2 micro-Omega-cm. The thermal stability of these fibers was poor, with degradation occurring at temperatures as low as 40 C in air, though they were insensitive to water vapor. Composite resistivity was 20-30 micro-Omega-cm, as measured by contactless conductivity measurements, about a factor of five higher than would be expected from a simple rule of mixtures. The addition of 1.0 percent Br2, intercalated microfibers increased the resistivity of the composites by more than 20 percent.

Gaier, James R.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Case Descriptions and Observations About Cutis Marmorata From Hypobaric Decompressions

There is disagreement about the pathophysiology, classification, and treatment of cutis marmorata (CM), so there is disagreement about the disposition and medical status of a person that had CM. CM is rare, associated with stressful decompressions, and may be associated with serious signs and symptoms of decompression sickness (DCS). CM presents as purple or bluish-red skin mottling, often in the pectoral region, shoulders, chest, or upper abdomen. It is unethical to induce CM in humans so all information comes from retrospective analysis of case reports, or from animal models. A literature search, seven recent case reports from the Johnson Space Center and Brooks Air Force Base Hypobaric DCS Databases, interviews with DCS treatment experts, and responses to surveys provided the factual information used to arrive at our conclusions and recommendations. The "weight of evidence" indicates that CM is a local, not centrally mediated or systemic response to bubbles. It is unclear whether obstruction of arterial or venous blood flow is the primary insult since the lesion is reported under either condition. Any neurological or cardiovascular involvements are coincidental, developing along the same time course. The skin could be the source of the bubbles due to its mass, the associated layer of fat, and the variable nature of skin blood flow. CM should not be categorized as Type II DCS, should be included with other skin manifestations in a category called cutaneous DCS, and hyperbaric treatment is only needed if ground level oxygen is ineffective in the case of altitude-induced CM.

Conkin, Johnny↗
NASA NTRS2004

Evaporation Rates of Brine on Mars

While Mars is now largely a dry and barren place, recent data have indicated that water has flowed at specific locations within the last approx. 10(exp 6) y. This had led to a resurgence of interest in theoretical and experimental work aimed at understanding the behavior of water on Mars. There are several means whereby the stability of liquid water on Mars could be increased, one being the presence solutes that would depress the freezing point. Salt water on Earth is about 0.5M NaCl, but laboratory experiments suggest that martian salt water is quite different. We recently began a program of laboratory measurements of the stability of liquid water, ice and ice-dust mixtures under martian conditions and here report measurements of the evaporation rate of 0.25M brine.

Sears, D. W. G.↗
NASA NTRS2000

What is Success? Evaluating S'COOL, an Educational Outreach Project Focused on NASA's CERES Program

The Students' Cloud Observations On-Line (S'COOL) Project involved students in K-16 as ground truth observers for a NASA Earth-Observing satellite instrument. The Clouds and Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) instrument allows scientists to study the Earth's energy budget and how clouds affect it. Student reports of cloud conditions help scientists verify their algorithms and allow students to be involved in obtaining and analyzing real scientific data. The presentation contains 23 slides.

Chambers, Lin H.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Project S'COOL

The Students Clouds Observations On-Line or S'COOL project was piloted in 1997. It was created with the idea of using students to serve as one component of the validation for the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) instrument which was launched with the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) in November, 1997. As part of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise CERES is interested in the role clouds play in regulating our climate. Over thirty schools became involved in the initial thrust of the project. The CERES instrument detects the location of clouds and identifies their physical properties. S'COOL students coordinate their ground truth observations with the exact overpass of the satellite at their location. Their findings regarding cloud type, height, fraction and opacity as well as surface conditions are then reported to the NASA Langley Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC). The data is then accessible to both the CERES team for validation and to schools for educational application via the Internet. By March of 1998 ninety-three schools, in nine countries had enrolled in the S'COOL project. Joining the United States participants were from schools in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. The project is gradually becoming the global project envisioned by the project s creators. As students obtain the requested data useful for the scientists, it was hoped that students with guidance from their instructors would have opportunity and motivation to learn more about clouds and atmospheric science as well.

Green, Carolyn J.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Advanced Oxide Material Systems for 1650 C Thermal/Environmental Barrier Coating Applications

Advanced thermal and environmental barrier coatings (TEBCs) are being developed for low-emission SiC/SiC ceramic matrix composite (CMC) combustor and vane applications to extend the CMC liner and vane temperature capability to 1650 C (3000 F) in oxidizing and water-vapor-containing combustion environments. The advanced 1650 C TEBC system is required to have a better high-temperature stability, lower thermal conductivity, and more resistance to sintering and thermal stress than current coating systems under engine high-heat-flux and severe thermal cycling conditions. In this report, the thermal conductivity and water vapor stability of selected candidate hafnia-, pyrochlore- and magnetoplumbite-based TEBC materials are evaluated. The effects of dopants on the materials properties are also discussed. The test results have been used to downselect the TEBC materials and help demonstrate the feasibility of advanced 1650 C coatings with long-term thermal cycling durability.

Zhu, Dong-Ming↗
NASA NTRS2006

New Technologies for Reducing Aviation Weather-Related Accidents

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has developed technologies to reduce aviation weather-related accidents. New technologies are presented for data-link and display of weather information to aircraft in flight, for detection of turbulence ahead of aircraft in flight, and for automated insitu reporting of atmospheric conditions from aircraft.

Stough, H. Paul, III↗
NASA NTRS2004

Coordinating Shared Activities

Shared Activity Coordination (ShAC) is a computer program for planning and scheduling the activities of an autonomous team of interacting spacecraft and exploratory robots. ShAC could also be adapted to such terrestrial uses as helping multiple factory managers work toward competing goals while sharing such common resources as floor space, raw materials, and transports. ShAC iteratively invokes the Continuous Activity Scheduling Planning Execution and Replanning (CASPER) program to replan and propagate changes to other planning programs in an effort to resolve conflicts. A domain-expert specifies which activities and parameters thereof are shared and reports the expected conditions and effects of these activities on the environment. By specifying these conditions and effects differently for each planning program, the domain-expert subprogram defines roles that each spacecraft plays in a coordinated activity. The domain-expert subprogram also specifies which planning program has scheduling control over each shared activity. ShAC enables sharing of information, consensus over the scheduling of collaborative activities, and distributed conflict resolution. As the other planning programs incorporate new goals and alter their schedules in the changing environment, ShAC continually coordinates to respond to unexpected events.

Clement, Bradley↗
NASA NTRS2012

Terrestrial Applications of Extreme Environment Stirling Space Power Systems

NASA has been developing power systems capable of long-term operation in extreme environments such as the surface of Venus. This technology can use any external heat source to efficiently provide electrical power and cooling; and it is designed to be extremely efficient and reliable for extended space missions. Terrestrial applications include: use in electric hybrid vehicles; distributed home co-generation/cooling; and quiet recreational vehicle power generation. This technology can reduce environmental emissions, petroleum consumption, and noise while eliminating maintenance and environmental damage from automotive fluids such as oil lubricants and air conditioning coolant. This report will provide an overview of this new technology and its applications.

Dyson, Rodger. W.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Sensitivity of Ocean Reflectance Inversion Models for Identifying and Discriminating Between Phytoplankton Functional Groups

The daily, synoptic images provided by satellite ocean color instruments provide viable data streams for observing changes in the biogeochemistrY of marine ecosystems. Ocean reflectance inversion models (ORMs) provide a common mechanism for inverting the "color" of the water observed a satellite into marine inherent optical properties (lOPs) through a combination of empiricism and radiative transfer theory. lOPs, namely the spectral absorption and scattering characteristics of ocean water and its dissolved and particulate constituents, describe the contents of the upper ocean, information critical for furthering scientific understanding of biogeochemical oceanic processes. Many recent studies inferred marine particle sizes and discriminated between phytoplankton functional groups using remotely-sensed lOPs. While all demonstrated the viability of their approaches, few described the vertical distributions of the water column constituents under consideration and, thus, failed to report the biophysical conditions under which their model performed (e.g., the depth and thickness of the phytoplankton bloom(s)). We developed an ORM to remotely identifY Noctiluca miliaris and other phytoplankton functional types using satellite ocean color data records collected in the northern Arabian Sea. Here, we present results from analyses designed to evaluate the applicability and sensitivity of the ORM to varied biophysical conditions. Specifically, we: (1) synthesized a series of vertical profiles of spectral inherent optical properties that represent a wide variety of bio-optical conditions for the northern Arabian Sea under aN Miliaris bloom; (2) generated spectral remote-sensing reflectances from these profiles using Hydrolight; and, (3) applied the ORM to the synthesized reflectances to estimate the relative concentrations of diatoms and N Miliaris for each example. By comparing the estimates from the inversion model to those from synthesized vertical profiles, we were able to identifY those bio-optical conditions under which the inversion model performs both well and poorly.

Werdell, P. Jeremy↗
NASA NTRS2015

Continued Development of Compact Multi-Gas Monitor for Life Support Systems Control in Space

Miniature optic gas sensors (MOGS) based on luminescent materials have shown great potential as alternatives to NIR-based gas sensor systems for the Portable Life Support System (PLSS). The unique capability of MOGS for carbon dioxide and oxygen monitoring under wet conditions has been reported, as has the fast recovery of MOGS humidity sensors after long periods of being wet. Lower volume and power requirements are also potential advantages of MOGS over both traditional and advanced Non-Dispersive Infrared (NDIR) gas sensors, which have shown so far longer life than luminescent sensors. In this paper we present the most recent results in the development and analytical validation of a compact multi-gas sensor unit based on luminescent sensors for the PLSS. Results of extensive testing are presented, including studies conducted at Intelligent Optical Systems laboratories, a United Technology Corporation Aerospace Systems (UTAS) laboratory, and a Johnson Space Center laboratory. The potential of this sensor technology for gas monitoring in PLSSs and other life support systems and the advantages and limitations found through detailed sensor validation are discussed.

Delgado, Jesus↗
NASA NTRS2014

Thermal Model Predictions of Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generator Performance

This paper presents recent thermal model results of the Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generator (ASRG). The three-dimensional (3D) ASRG thermal power model was built using the Thermal Desktop(trademark) thermal analyzer. The model was correlated with ASRG engineering unit test data and ASRG flight unit predictions from Lockheed Martin's (LM's) I-deas(trademark) TMG thermal model. The auxiliary cooling system (ACS) of the ASRG is also included in the ASRG thermal model. The ACS is designed to remove waste heat from the ASRG so that it can be used to heat spacecraft components. The performance of the ACS is reported under nominal conditions and during a Venus flyby scenario. The results for the nominal case are validated with data from Lockheed Martin. Transient thermal analysis results of ASRG for a Venus flyby with a representative trajectory are also presented. In addition, model results of an ASRG mounted on a Cassini-like spacecraft with a sunshade are presented to show a way to mitigate the high temperatures of a Venus flyby. It was predicted that the sunshade can lower the temperature of the ASRG alternator by 20 C for the representative Venus flyby trajectory. The 3D model also was modified to predict generator performance after a single Advanced Stirling Convertor failure. The geometry of the Microtherm HT insulation block on the outboard side was modified to match deformation and shrinkage observed during testing of a prototypic ASRG test fixture by LM. Test conditions and test data were used to correlate the model by adjusting the thermal conductivity of the deformed insulation to match the post-heat-dump steady state temperatures. Results for these conditions showed that the performance of the still-functioning inboard ACS was unaffected.

radioisotope power system↗