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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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Gas generation system, used for recovery of submerged objects, generates hydrogen gas by the reaction of sodium with sea water. The assembly consists of flooded flotation tanks cabled together, equipped with relief valves to equalize pressure as the array ascends and hydrostatic pressure diminishes, and carrying remotely activated welding units.
Radiometric measurements determine thermal inertia for geologic materials. Measurements are correlated with data obtained by remote sensing, for discriminating varieties of rock encountered when exploring for minerals by aircraft or by satellites equipped with infrared scanners.
A space station in a crew-tended or permanently crewed configuration will provide major R&D opportunities for innovative, technology and materials development and advanced space systems testing. A space station should be designed with the basic infrastructure elements required to grow into a major systems technology testbed. This space-based technology testbed can and should be used to support the development of technologies required to expand our utilization of near-Earth space, the Moon and the Earth-to-Jupiter region of the Solar System. Space station support of advanced technology and materials development will result in new techniques for high priority scientific research and the knowledge and R&D base needed for the development of major, new commercial product thrusts. To illustrate the technology testbed potential of a space station and to point the way to a bold, innovative approach to advanced space systems' development, a hypothetical deep space transport development and test plan is described. Key deep space transport R&D activities are described would lead to the readiness certification of an advanced, reusable interplanetary transport capable of supporting eight crewmembers or more. With the support of a focused and highly motivated, multi-agency ground R&D program, a deep space transport of this type could be assembled and tested by 2010. Key R&D activities on a space station would include: (1) experimental research investigating the microgravity assisted, restructuring of micro-engineered, materials (to develop and verify the in-space and in-situ 'tuning' of materials for use in debris and radiation shielding and other protective systems), (2) exposure of microengineered materials to the space environment for passive and operational performance tests (to develop in-situ maintenance and repair techniques and to support the development, enhancement, and implementation of protective systems, data and bio-processing systems, and virtual reality and telepresence/kinetic processes), (3) subsystem tests of advanced nuclear power, nuclear propulsion and communication systems (using boom extensions, remote station-keeping platforms and mobile EVA crew and robots), and (4) logistics support (crew and equipment) and command and control of deep space transport assembly, maintenance, and refueling (using a station-keeping platform).
On the fourth day of STS-112, its crew (Jeffrey Ashby, Commander; Pamela Melroy, Pilot; David Wolf, Mission Specialist; Piers Sellers, Mission Specialist; Sandra Magnus, Mission Specialist; Fyodor Yurchikhin, Mission Specialist) onboard Atlantis and the Expedition 5 crew (Valery Korzun, Commander; Peggy Whitson, Flight Engineer; Sergei Treschev, Flight Engineer) onboard the International Space Station (ISS) are seen preparing for the installation of the S1 truss structure. Inside the Destiny Laboratory Module, Korzun and other crewmembers are seen as they busily prepare for the work of the day. Sellers dons an oxygen mask and uses an exercise machine in order to purge the nitrogen from his bloodstream, in preparation for an extravehicular activity (EVA). Whitson uses the ISS's Canadarm 2 robotic arm to grapple the S1 truss and remove it from Atlantis' payload bay, with the assistance of Magnus. Using the robotic arm, Whitson slowly maneuvers the 15 ton truss structure into alignment with its attachment point on the starboard side of the S0 truss structure, where the carefully orchestrated mating procedures take place. There is video footage of the entire truss being rotated and positioned by the arm, and ammonia tank assembly on the structure is visible, with Earth in the background. Following the completion of the second stage capture, the robotic arm is ungrappled from truss. Sellers and Wolf are shown exiting the the Quest airlock hatch to begin their EVA. They are shown performing a variety of tasks on the now attached S1 truss structure, including work on the Crew Equipment Translation Cart (CETA), the S-band Antenna Assembly, and umbilical cables that provide power and remote operation capability to cameras. During their EVA, they are shown using a foot platform on the robotic arm. Significant portions of their activities are shown from the vantage of helmet mounted video cameras. The video closes with a final shot of the ISS and its new S1 truss.
The increasing interest for the environmental problems and the study of the impact on the environment due to antropic activity produced an enhancement of remote sensing applications. The Italian National Research Council (CNR) established a new laboratory for airborne hyperspectral imaging, the LARA Project (Laboratorio Aero per Ricerche Ambientali - Airborne Laboratory for Environmental Research), equipping its airborne laboratory, a CASA-212, mainly with the Daedalus AA5000 MIVIS (Multispectral Infrared and Visible Imaging Spectrometer) instrument. MIVIS's channels, spectral bandwidths, and locations are chosen to meet the needs of scientific research for advanced applications of remote sensing data. MIVIS can make significant contributions to solving problems in many diverse areas such as geologic exploration, land use studies, mineralogy, agricultural crop studies, energy loss analysis, pollution assessment, volcanology, forest fire management and others. The broad spectral range and the many discrete narrow channels of MIVIS provide a fine quantization of spectral information that permits accurate definition of absorption features from a variety of materials, allowing the extraction of chemical and physical information of our environment. The availability of such a hyperspectral imager, that will operate mainly in the Mediterranean area, at the present represents a unique opportunity for those who are involved in environmental studies and land-management to collect systematically large-scale and high spectral-spatial resolution data of this part of the world. Nevertheless, MIVIS deployments will touch other parts of the world, where a major interest from the international scientific community is present.
We have developed and tested an advanced EVA communications and computing system to increase astronaut self-reliance and safety, reducing dependence on continuous monitoring and advising from mission control on Earth. This system, called Mobile Agents (MA), is voice controlled and provides information verbally to the astronauts through programs called personal agents. The system partly automates the role of CapCom in Apollo-including monitoring and managing EVA navigation, scheduling, equipment deployment, telemetry, health tracking, and scientific data collection. EVA data are stored automatically in a shared database in the habitat/vehicle and mirrored to a site accessible by a remote science team. The program has been developed iteratively in the context of use, including six years of ethnographic observation of field geology. Our approach is to develop automation that supports the human work practices, allowing people to do what they do well, and to work in ways they are most familiar. Field experiments in Utah have enabled empirically discovering requirements and testing alternative technologies and protocols. This paper reports on the 2004 system configuration, experiments, and results, in which an EVA robotic assistant (ERA) followed geologists approximately 150 m through a winding, narrow canyon. On voice command, the ERA took photographs and panoramas and was directed to move and wait in various locations to serve as a relay on the wireless network. The MA system is applicable to many space work situations that involve creating and navigating from maps (including configuring equipment for local topology), interacting with piloted and unpiloted rovers, adapting to environmental conditions, and remote team collaboration involving people and robots.
Force-measuring device both sensitive and rugged. Load-cell assembly placed between manipulator and object being manipulated. Load cells measure forces on object almost directly, without interference by intervening manipulator forces. Developed for use with remote manipulator that bends cryogenic ducts. Device rugged and functions over wide range, having applications in automatic testing equipment, industrial robots, and force-measuring equipment.
Initial-computer-program-loading system provides startup information to all embedded data processors (EDP's) in general-purpose computer system. Remote processors given image of startup diskette so real local diskette and drive unneeded. System less complex and equipment costs less. Additional benefit, initial program loading tests bus. If boot-up program transmitted correctly, bus assumed to be operating properly.
The Landsat resources survey system spawned a number of companies engaged in commercial applications of remote sensing, among them International Imaging Systems (I2S). With initial NASA assistance, I2S has provided remote sensing hardware and software to several foreign countries, developed meteorological analysis systems, medical diagnostic software and scanning equipment for government and commercial use. Latest product is an advanced image-based photogrammetric system employing digital technology - not optical or mechanical systems - to generate terrain elevation data and other processing functions. Called PRI2SM, it compensates automatically for topographic relief displacement, is cheaper, faster, and easier to use and maintain. Company product line includes four major areas: image processing equipment for Earth Resources Management; meteorological analysis systems; satellite ground processing systems; and digital photogrammetric mapping systems.
Fire is an essential component of ecosystems and acts as key driver of biogeochemical cycling with impacts on vegetation structure and composition, soil conditions, and climate feedbacks. Fire behavior and effects vary based on the types of fuel, fuel dryness, and frequency of ignition. Due to changing climate and land use patterns, fire danger is increasing in many regions globally, and fires are having increasingly devastating impacts on human health, infrastructure, and ecosystem services. Recurrent fires help to determine the distribution of trees and grasses, and overall fuel load, which inform the behavior of future fires. Process-based models can be used to capture multi-scale impacts at the forest stand-level up to the landscape level, and across minutes to centuries, but must capture variation in fire behavior and intensity as a function of the fuel and climate, from high intensity forest crown fires within boreal regions to low intensity rapid grass fires of the tropics. Fire model development demonstrates our ability to capture large scale fire influenced biogeography and vegetation distribution at the earth system scale through vegetation traits and fire feedbacks. At the individual stand scale the importance of interactions and feedbacks between above and below ground process is essential to capturing the vegetation dynamics across boreal forest systems. Improving the mechanics of including plant physiology and specifically live fuel moisture content is the next step to advancing the capability of process based models to inform fire research. Advances in the testing and creation of a mechanistic live fuel moisture model demonstrate the foundation for future live fuel dynamics research that can be informed by field and remote sensing information. Improved remote sensing, technological and modeling capabilities support a more comprehensive and cohesive fire response that will be better equipped to overcome current barriers and anticipate the new reality of fires in a warming world.
A disaster mitigation demonstration, designed to integrate remote-piloted aerial platforms, a thermal infrared imaging payload, over-the-horizon (OTH) data telemetry and advanced image geo-rectification technologies was initiated in 2001. Project FiRE incorporates the use of a remotely piloted Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle (UAV), thermal imagery, and over-the-horizon satellite data telemetry to provide geo-corrected data over a controlled burn, to a fire management community in near real-time. The experiment demonstrated the use of a thermal multi-spectral scanner, integrated on a large payload capacity UAV, distributing data over-the-horizon via satellite communication telemetry equipment, and precision geo-rectification of the resultant data on the ground for data distribution to the Internet. The use of the UAV allowed remote-piloted flight (thereby reducing the potential for loss of human life during hazardous missions), and the ability to "finger and stare" over the fire for extended periods of time (beyond the capabilities of human-pilot endurance). Improved bit-rate capacity telemetry capabilities increased the amount, structure, and information content of the image data relayed to the ground. The integration of precision navigation instrumentation allowed improved accuracies in geo-rectification of the resultant imagery, easing data ingestion and overlay in a GIS framework. We focus on these technological advances and demonstrate how these emerging technologies can be readily integrated to support disaster mitigation and monitoring strategies regionally and nationally.
Large quantities of data were collected, stored, and analyzed in connection with research and development programs on wind turbines. The hardware configuration of the wind energy remote data acquisition system is described along with its use on the NASA/DOE Wind Energy Program.
The maintenance data base collected for 15 weeks of recent unattended and automated operation of DSS 13 is summarized. During this period, DSS 13 was receiving spacecraft telemetry while being controlled remotely from JPL in Pasadena. Corrective and preventive maintenance manhours are reported by subsystem for DSS 13 including the equipment added for the automation demonstration. The corrective and preventive maintenance weekly manhours at DSS 13 averaged 22 and 40, respectively. The antenna hydraulic and electronic systems accounted for about half of the preventive and corrective maintenance manhours for a comparable attended DSN station, DSS 11.
A broad range of agricultural, rural development, and other power applications in various regions of Morocco were examined to determine the potential market for photovoltaic products in Moroccan development. The primary focus of the study was the agriculture sector which accounts for approximately 17% of the country's GNP. The country has a clear need for reliable remote power systems, but does not have the financial resources to invest in the relatively high capital cost PV equipment. A modest potential for PV use was identified in nonagricultural rural services, such as refrigerators for rural clinics and rural radio-telephones. The main potential for PV in Morocco in the next five years lies mainly in the telecommunications sector. Applications include rural TV sets, TV repeater stations, microwave relay stations, and railroad, marine, and airline signalling. Market size estimates were derived from development and expansion plans. At an average customer cost for complete installed systems from $18/Wp to $30/Wp the total potential market value is estimated in the range of $6.6 to $11 million over the 1981-1986 period.
This directory lists the technical capabilities, personnel, and program structure for remote sensing activities as they existed in each state in late 1980. The institutional framework, participating agencies, applications, status, equipment, software, and funding sources are also indicated.
Construction was an important facet of the Satellite Power System studies in the late 1970s. Satellite servicing and assembly of the Space Station Freedom are addressing many of the critical issues in construction of large space systems. Design for assembly, capability of construction equipment and interaction with the launch system influence configuration development. The extravehicular capabilities of space-suited crew and remote operating systems like the Flight Telerobotic Servicer will provide an operational experience base for development of future large space power facilities. Economics success may well depend on early consideration of construction requirements and capabilities.
Proposed walking-beam robot simpler and more rugged than articulated-leg walkers. Requires less data processing, and uses power more efficiently. Includes pair of tripods, one nested in other. Inner tripod holds power supplies, communication equipment, computers, instrumentation, sampling arms, and articulated sensor turrets. Outer tripod holds mast on which antennas for communication with remote control site and video cameras for viewing local and distant terrain mounted. Propels itself by raising, translating, and lowering tripods in alternation. Steers itself by rotating raised tripod on turntable.
Small, relatively inexpensive, remotely controlled robot called "tire assault vehicle" (TAV) developed to relieve excess tire pressures to protect ground crew, aircraft equipment, and nearby vehicles engaged in landing tests of CV-990 Landing System Research Aircraft. Reduces costs and saves time in training, maintenance, and setup related to "yellow" and "red" tire conditions. Adapted to any heavy-aircraft environment in which ground-crew safety at risk because of potential for tire explosions. Also ideal as scout vehicle for performing inspections in hazardous locations.