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NASA NTRS2014

Testing Devices Garner Data on Insulation Performance

To develop a test instrument that could garner measurements of the thermal performance of insulation under extreme conditions, researchers at Kennedy Space Center devised the Cryostat 1 and then Cryostat 2. McLean, Virginia-based QinetiQ North America licensed the technology and plans to market it to organizations developing materials for things like piping and storage tank insulation, refrigeration, appliances, and consumer goods.

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NASA NTRS2015

Effective Schedule and Cost Management as a Product Development Lead

The presentation will be given at the 26th Annual Thermal Fluids Analysis Workshop (TFAWS 2015) hosted by the Goddard SpaceFlight Center (GSFC) Thermal Engineering Branch (Code 545). This course provides best practices, helpful tools and lessons learned for staying on plan and day-to-day management of Subsystem flight development after getting Project approval for your Subsystem schedule and budget baseline.

Schedule↗

NASA NTRS2014

EDSN Development Lessons Learned

The Edison Demonstration of Smallsat Networks (EDSN) is a technology demonstration mission that provides a proof of concept for a constellation or swarm of satellites performing coordinated activities. Networked swarms of small spacecraft will open new horizons in astronomy, Earth observations and solar physics. Their range of applications include the formation of synthetic aperture radars for Earth sensing systems, large aperture observatories for next generation telescopes and the collection of spatially distributed measurements of time varying systems, probing the Earths magnetosphere, Earth-Sun interactions and the Earths geopotential. EDSN is a swarm of eight 1.5U Cubesats with crosslink, downlink and science collection capabilities developed by the NASA Ames Research Center under the Small Spacecraft Technology Program (SSTP) within the NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD). This paper describes the concept of operations of the mission and planned scientific measurements. The development of the 8 satellites for EDSN necessitated the fabrication of prototypes, Flatsats and a total of 16 satellites to support the concurrent engineering and rapid development. This paper has a specific focus on the development, integration and testing of a large number of units including the lessons learned throughout the project development.

Technology Demonstration↗

NASA NTRS2002

Program and Project Management Framework

The primary objective of this project was to develop a framework and system architecture for integrating program and project management tools that may be applied consistently throughout Kennedy Space Center (KSC) to optimize planning, cost estimating, risk management, and project control. Project management methodology used in building interactive systems to accommodate the needs of the project managers is applied as a key component in assessing the usefulness and applicability of the framework and tools developed. Research for the project included investigation and analysis of industrial practices, KSC standards, policies, and techniques, Systems Management Office (SMO) personnel, and other documented experiences of project management experts. In addition, this project documents best practices derived from the literature as well as new or developing project management models, practices, and techniques.

Butler, Cassandra D.↗

NASA NTRS2011

Martian Atmospheric Modeling of Scale Factors for MarsGRAM 2005 and the MAVEN Project

For spacecraft missions to Mars, especially the navigation of Martian orbiters and landers, an extensive knowledge of the Martian atmosphere is extremely important. The generally-accepted NASA standard for modeling (MarsGRAM), which was developed at Marshall Space Flight Center. MarsGRAM is useful for task such as aerobraking, performance analysis and operations planning for aerobraking, entry descent and landing, and aerocapture. Unfortunately, the densities for the Martian atmosphere in MarsGRAM are based on table look-up and not on an analytical algorithm. Also, these values can vary drastically from the densities actually experienced by the spacecraft. This does not have much of an impact on simple integrations but drastically affects its usefulness in other applications, especially those in navigation. For example, the navigation team for the Mars Atmosphere Volatile Environment (MAVEN) Project uses MarsGRAM to target the desired atmospheric density for the orbiter's pariapse passage, its closet approach to the planet. After the satellite's passage through pariapsis the computed density is compared to the MarsGRAM model and a scale factor is assigned to the model to account for the difference. Therefore, large variations in the atmosphere from the model can cause unexpected deviations from the spacecraft's planned trajectory. In order to account for this, an analytic stochastic model of the scale factor's behavior is desired. The development of this model will allow for the MAVEN navigation team to determine the probability of various Martian atmospheric variations and their effects on the spacecraft.

Martian atmosphere↗

NASA NTRS2014

Exploration Technologies for Operations

Although the International Space Station (ISS) assembly has been completed, the Operations support teams continue to seek more efficient and effective ways to prepare for and conduct the ISS operations and future exploration missions beyond low earth orbit. This search for improvement has led to a significant collaboration between the NASA research and advanced software development community at NASA Ames Research Center and the Mission Operations community at NASA Johnson Space Center. Since 2001, NASA Ames Research Center has been developing and applying its advanced intelligent systems and human systems integration research to mission operations tools for several of the unmanned Mars missions operations. Since 2006, NASA Ames Research Center has also been developing and applying its advanced intelligent systems and human systems integration research to mission operations tools for manned operations support with the Mission Operations Directorate at NASA Johnson Space Center. This paper discusses the completion of the development and deployment of a variety of intelligent and human systems technologies adopted for manned mission operations. The technologies associated with the projects include advanced software systems for operations and human-centered computing. Human-centered computing looks to the processes and procedures that people do to perform any given job, then attempts to identify opportunities to improve these processes and procedures. In particular, for mission operations, improvements are quantified by specifically identifying how a tool can increase a persons efficiency, enhance a persons functional capability, andor improve the assurance of a persons decisions. The Ames development team has collaborated with the Mission Operations team to identify areas of efficiencies through technology infusion applications in support of the Plan, Train, and Fly activities of human-spaceflight mission operations. The specific applications discussed in this paper are in the areas of mission planning systems, mission operations design modeling and workflow automation, advanced systems monitoring, mission control technologies, search tools, training management tools, spacecraft solar array management, spacecraft power management, and spacecraft attitude planning. We discuss these specific projects between the Ames Research Center and the Johnson Space Centers Mission Operations Directorate, and how these technologies and projects are enhancing the mission operations support for the International Space Station. We also discuss the challenges, problems, and successes associated with long-distance and multi-year development projects between the research team at Ames and the Mission Operations customers at Johnson Space center. Finally, we discuss how these technology infusion applications and underlying technologies might be used in the future to support on-board operations of the crew and spacecraft systems as human exploration expands beyond low earth orbit to destinations in the solar system where communications delays will require more on-board autonomy and planning by the crew. Longer communications delays will require that the ground mission operations support will be primarily strategic in nature, while the tactical level of planning, systems monitoring and control, and failure analysisisolationrecovery will be the responsibility of both the spacecraft autonomous systems and the crew. Our expectation is that the technologies

mission operations↗

NASA NTRS2007

Scheduling Accessory Assists Patients with Cognitive Disorders

Recom Technologies Inc. received initial funding from NASA to research the commercial potential of an artificially intelligent planning reaction model to serve as a tool to help individuals suffering from various forms and levels of brain impairment. In 1993, the chief of the Artificial Intelligence Research Branch at Ames Research Center suggested collaborative research with Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. This partnership led to further development of the technology and funding to support clinical research from the U.S. Department of Education's National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research. In 1996, Attention Control Systems Inc. was founded to market the finished device, called the Planning and Execution Assistant and Trainer (PEAT). PEAT is a pocket-sized PDA-like device with a graphical display, touchscreen controls, an electronic calendar, an address book, and a built-in phone, that cues users to start or stop scheduled activities, monitors their progress, and adjusts schedules as necessary in response to delays or calendar changes. It uses an automatic planning model developed for NASA to adjust daily plans when a situation changes. PEAT is sold as a complete system that includes software, hardware, documentation, and technical support. In addition to the flagship Pocket PEAT device, there is PEAT Phone, PC PEAT, and PEAT Link. Clinical studies of PEAT continue at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center

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NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Attitude Ground System: Recent Experiences in Attitude Sensor Calibration and Upcoming Mission Support for Momentum Unloading

A key component of the mission ground system used for supporting NASA Goddard Space Flight Center space missions, known as the Attitude Ground System (AGS), is used to perform operational and analytical support for the spacecraft attitude con-trol system (ACS). The AGS is comprised of a real-time attitude analysis and moni-toring system, and a tool for performing offline analysis of the ACS system using key sensor telemetry collected and stored onboard and transmitted to the mission operations center. The AGS performs numerous functions, including independent ground attitude determination, attitude slew planning and commanding, attitude sensor calibration, and real-time monitoring of the health and safety of the ACS. The AGS is developed in MATLAB using a core library of utility functions called the Multi-Mission Three-Axis Satellite System (MTASS). The MTASS library has been used to support mission operations for over thirty NASA missions starting in the late 1990s. It is customized for each mission to meet specific mission requirements. In this paper we describe recent operational experience using the AGS to support the launch and early orbit (L&EO) phase of the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud Ocean Ecosys-tem (PACE) and Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) missions. Our summary of L&EO support for PACE and JPSS includes ACS sensor calibration of the alignment and scale factors for the Star Trackers, Inertial Reference Unit, and Three-Axis Magnetometers. We will also describe new capabilities for planning and executing reaction wheel momentum unloading for the Roman Space Telescope (RST) During the spacecraft early orbit phase, the AGS is operated in the mission operations center by a team of subject matter experts that also develop and configure the AGS soft-ware. This unique approach, integrating system development and operation in a sin-gle engineering team, provides valuable expertise for quick assessment of ACS per-formance and safety; critical to anomaly resolution and mission success.

Guidance, Navigation, and Control↗

NASA NTRS1988

Analyst-centered models for systems design, analysis, and development

Much has been written about the possible use of Expert Systems (ES) technology for strategic defense system applications, particularly for battle management algorithms and mission planning. It is proposed that ES (or more accurately, Knowledge Based System (KBS)) technology can be used in situations for which no human expert exists, namely to create design and analysis environments that allow an analyst to rapidly pose many different possible problem resolutions in game like fashion and to then work through the solution space in search of the optimal solution. Portions of such an environment exist for expensive AI hardware/software combinations such as the Xerox LOOPS and Intellicorp KEE systems. Efforts are discussed to build an analyst centered model (ACM) using an ES programming environment, ExperOPS5 for a simple missile system tradeoff study. By analyst centered, it is meant that the focus of learning is for the benefit of the analyst, not the model. The model's environment allows the analyst to pose a variety of what if questions without resorting to programming changes. Although not an ES per se, the ACM would allow for a design and analysis environment that is much superior to that of current technologies.

Bukley, A. P.↗

NASA NTRS2000

Wind Tunnel Management and Resource Optimization: A Systems Modeling Approach

Time, money, and, personnel are becoming increasingly scarce resources within government agencies due to a reduction in funding and the desire to demonstrate responsible economic efficiency. The ability of an organization to plan and schedule resources effectively can provide the necessary leverage to improve productivity, provide continuous support to all projects, and insure flexibility in a rapidly changing environment. Without adequate internal controls the organization is forced to rely on external support, waste precious resources, and risk an inefficient response to change. Management systems must be developed and applied that strive to maximize the utility of existing resources in order to achieve the goal of "faster, cheaper, better". An area of concern within NASA Langley Research Center was the scheduling, planning, and resource management of the Wind Tunnel Enterprise operations. Nine wind tunnels make up the Enterprise. Prior to this research, these wind tunnel groups did not employ a rigorous or standardized management planning system. In addition, each wind tunnel unit operated from a position of autonomy, with little coordination of clients, resources, or project control. For operating and planning purposes, each wind tunnel operating unit must balance inputs from a variety of sources. Although each unit is managed by individual Facility Operations groups, other stakeholders influence wind tunnel operations. These groups include, for example, the various researchers and clients who use the facility, the Facility System Engineering Division (FSED) tasked with wind tunnel repair and upgrade, the Langley Research Center (LaRC) Fabrication (FAB) group which fabricates repair parts and provides test model upkeep, the NASA and LARC Strategic Plans, and unscheduled use of the facilities by important clients. Expanding these influences horizontally through nine wind tunnel operations and vertically along the NASA management structure greatly increases the complexity of developing a model that can be used for successfully implementing a standardized management planning tool. The objective of this study was to implement an Integrated Wind Tunnel Planning System to improve the operations within the aeronautics testing and research group, in particular Wind Tunnel Enterprise. The study included following steps: Conducted literature search and expert discussions (NASA and Old Dominion University faculty), Performed environmental scan of NASA Langley wind tunnel operations as foundation for problem definition. Established operation requirements and evaluation methodologies. Examined windtunnel operations to map out the common characteristics, critical components, and system structure. Reviewed and evaluated various project scheduling and management systems for implementation, Evaluated and implemented "Theory of Constraints (TOC)" project scheduling methodology at NASA Langley wind tunnel operations together with NASA staff.

Jacobs, Derya, A.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Space manufacturing systems and the Space Operations Center

For the planned Space Operations Center (SOC) and envisioned space manufacturing and processes systems, the concepts of phased programs, development and operations, station-keeping orbit envelopes, propulsive harbor tugs, and aspects of servicing are discussed. The SOC three-phased program concept includes the servicing of satellites in compatible orbits and in transition to higher energy orbits. Two concepts of a free-flyer satellite are assessed, including the fuel system, and the placement of such a satellite into orbit is discussed. Finally, some services that will be provided by SOC are mentioned.

Louviere, A. J.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Lewis Research Center space station electric power system test facilities

NASA Lewis Research Center facilities were developed to support testing of the Space Station Electric Power System. The capabilities and plans for these facilities are described. The three facilities which are required in the Phase C/D testing, the Power Systems Facility, the Space Power Facility, and the EPS Simulation Lab, are described in detail. The responsibilities of NASA Lewis and outside groups in conducting tests are also discussed.

Birchenough, Arthur G.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Reaction-compensation technology for microgravity laboratory robots

Robots operating in the microgravity environment of an orbiting laboratory should be capable of manipulating payloads such that the motion of the robot does not disturb adjacent experiments. The current results of a NASA Lewis Research Center technology program to develop smooth, reaction-compensated manipulation based on both mechanism technology and trajectory planning strategies are present. Experimental validation of methods to reduce robot base reactions through the use of redundant degrees of freedom is discussed. Merits of smooth operation roller-driven robot joints for microgravity manipulators are also reviewed.

Rohn, Douglas A.↗

NASA NTRS1990

A CDMA architecture for a Ka-band Personal Access Satellite System

A Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) architecture is currently being studied for use in a Ka-band Personal Access Satellite System (PASS). The complete architecture consisting of block diagrams of the user terminal, the supplier station, the network management center, and the satellite is described along with the access methods and frequency/time plans. The complexity of developing this system using the CDMA architecture is compared to that of a Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) architecture. The inherent advantages and disadvantages of the two architectures are compared and their respective capacities are discussed.

Motamedi, Masoud↗

NASA NTRS1990

Reaction-compensation technology for microgravity laboratory robots

Rohn, Douglas A.↗

NASA NTRS1991

A unified approach for composite cost reporting and prediction in the ACT program

The Structures Technology Program Office (STPO) at NASA Langley Research Center has held two workshops with representatives from the commercial airframe companies to establish a plan for development of a standard cost reporting format and a cost prediction tool for conceptual and preliminary designers. This paper reviews the findings of the workshop representatives with a plan for implementation of their recommendations. The recommendations of the cost tracking and reporting committee will be implemented by reinstituting the collection of composite part fabrication data in a format similar to the DoD/NASA Structural Composites Fabrication Guide. The process of data collection will be automated by taking advantage of current technology with user friendly computer interfaces and electronic data transmission. Development of a conceptual and preliminary designers' cost prediction model will be initiated. The model will provide a technically sound method for evaluating the relative cost of different composite structural designs, fabrication processes, and assembly methods that can be compared to equivalent metallic parts or assemblies. The feasibility of developing cost prediction software in a modular form for interfacing with state of the art preliminary design tools and computer aided design (CAD) programs is assessed.

Freeman, W. Tom↗

NASA NTRS2008

The NASA MSFC Earth Global Reference Atmospheric Model-2007 Version

Reference or standard atmospheric models have long been used for design and mission planning of various aerospace systems. The NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Global Reference Atmospheric Model (GRAM) was developed in response to the need for a design reference atmosphere that provides complete global geographical variability, and complete altitude coverage (surface to orbital altitudes) as well as complete seasonal and monthly variability of the thermodynamic variables and wind components. A unique feature of GRAM is that, addition to providing the geographical, height, and monthly variation of the mean atmospheric state, it includes the ability to simulate spatial and temporal perturbations in these atmospheric parameters (e.g. fluctuations due to turbulence and other atmospheric perturbation phenomena). A summary comparing GRAM features to characteristics and features of other reference or standard atmospheric models, can be found Guide to Reference and Standard Atmosphere Models. The original GRAM has undergone a series of improvements over the years with recent additions and changes. The software program is called Earth-GRAM2007 to distinguish it from similar programs for other bodies (e.g. Mars, Venus, Neptune, and Titan). However, in order to make this Technical Memorandum (TM) more readable, the software will be referred to simply as GRAM07 or GRAM unless additional clarity is needed. Section 1 provides an overview of the basic features of GRAM07 including the newly added features. Section 2 provides a more detailed description of GRAM07 and how the model output generated. Section 3 presents sample results. Appendices A and B describe the Global Upper Air Climatic Atlas (GUACA) data and the Global Gridded Air Statistics (GGUAS) database. Appendix C provides instructions for compiling and running GRAM07. Appendix D gives a description of the required NAMELIST format input. Appendix E gives sample output. Appendix F provides a list of available parameters to enable the user to generate special output. Appendix G gives an example and guidance on incorporating GRAM07 as a subroutine in other programs such as trajectory codes or orbital propagation routines.

Leslie, F.W.↗

NASA NTRS2011

X-33 Reusable Launch Vehicle Demonstrator, Spaceport and Range

The X-33 was a suborbital reusable spaceplane demonstrator, in development from 1996 to early 2001. The intent of the demonstrator was to lower the risk of building and operating a full-scale reusable vehicle fleet. Reusable spaceplanes offered the potential to lower the cost of access to space by an order of magnitude, compared with conventional expendable launch vehicles. Although a cryogenic tank failure during testing ultimately led to the end of the effort, the X-33 team celebrated many successes during the development. This paper summarizes some of the accomplishments and milestones of this X-vehicle program, from the perspective of an engineer who was a member of the team throughout the development. X-33 Program accomplishments include rapid, flight hardware design, subsystem testing and fabrication, aerospike engine development and testing, Flight Operations Center and Operations Control Center ground systems design and construction, rapid Environmental Impact Statement NEPA process approval, Range development and flight plan approval for test flights, and full-scale system concept design and refinement. Lessons from the X-33 Program may have potential application to new RLV and other aerospace systems being developed a decade later.

Letchworth, Gary F.↗