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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 307 records · Page 17
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1992

Compression of thick laminated composite beams with initial impact-like damage

While the study of compression after impact of laminated composites has been under consideration for many years, the complexity of the damage initiated by low velocity impact has not lent itself to simple predictive models for compression strength. The damage modes due to non-penetrating, low velocity impact by large diameter objects can be simulated using quasi-static three-point bending. The resulting damage modes are less coupled and more easily characterized than actual impact damage modes. This study includes the compression testing of specimens with well documented initial damage states obtained from three-point bend testing. Compression strengths and failure modes were obtained for quasi-isotropic stacking sequences from 0.24 to 1.1 inches thick with both grouped and interspersed ply stacking. Initial damage prior to compression testing was divided into four classifications based on the type, extent, and location of the damage. These classifications are multiple through-thickness delaminations, isolated delamination, damage near the surface, and matrix cracks. Specimens from each classification were compared to specimens tested without initial damage in order to determine the effects of the initial damage on the final compression strength and failure modes. A finite element analysis was used to aid in the understanding and explanation of the experimental results.

Breivik, N. L.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Ar-40-Ar-39 Age of an Impact-Melt Lithology in Lunar Meteorite Dhofar 961

The Dhofar 961 lunar meteorite was found in 2003 in Oman. It is texturally paired with Dhofar 925 and Dhofar 960 (though Dhofar 961 is more mafic and richer in incompatible elements). Several lines of reasoning point to the South Pole-Aitken Basin (SPA) basin as a plausible source (Figure 2): Mafic character of the melt-breccia lithic clasts consistent the interior of SPA, rules out feldspathic highlands. Compositional differences from Apollo impact-melt groups point to a provenance that is separated and perhaps far distant from the Procellarum KREEP Terrane SPA "hot spots" where Th concentrations reach 5 ppm and it has a broad "background" of about 2 ppm, similar to lithic clasts in Dhofar 961 subsamples If true, impact-melt lithologies in this meteorite may be unaffected by the Imbrium-forming event that is pervasively found in our Apollo sample collection, and instead record the early impact history of the Moon.

Impact-Melt Lithology↗
NASA NTRS2006

Track Level Compensation Look-up Table Improves Antenna Pointing Precision

The pointing accuracy of the NASA Deep Space Network antennas is significantly impacted by the unevenness of the antenna azimuth track. The track unevenness causes repeatable antenna rotations, and repeatable pointing errors. The paper presents the improvement of the pointing accuracy of the antennas by implementing the track-level-compensation look-up table. The table consists of three axis rotations of the alidade as a function of the azimuth position. The paper presents the development of the table, based on the measurements of the inclinometer tilts, processing the measurement data, and determination of the three-axis alidade rotations from the tilt data. It also presents the determination of the elevation and cross-elevation errors of the antenna as a function of the alidade rotations. The pointing accuracy of the antenna with and without a table was measured using various radio beam pointing techniques. The pointing error decreased when the table was used, from 1.5 mdeg to 1.2 mdeg in elevation, and from 20.4 mdeg to 2.2 mdeg in cross-elevation.

Rotation↗
NASA NTRS1992

Interplanetary meteoroid debris in LDEF metal craters

The extraterrestrial meteoroid residue found lining craters in the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) aluminum and gold targets is highly variable in both quantity and type. In typical craters only a minor amount of residue is found and for these craters it is evident that most of the impacting projectile was ejected during crater formation. Less than 10 percent of the craters greater than 100 microns contain abundant residue consistent with survival of a major fraction of the projectile. In these cases the residue can be seen optically as a dark liner and it can easily be analyzed by SEM-EDX techniques. Because they are rare, the craters with abundant residue must be a biased sampling of the meteoroids reaching the earth. Factors that favor residue retention are low impact velocity and material properties such as high melting point. In general, the SEM-EDX observations of crater residues are consistent with the properties of chondritic meteorites and interplanetary dust particles collected in the stratosphere. Except for impacts by particles dominated by single minerals such as FeS and olivine, most of the residue compositions are in broad agreement with the major element compositions of chondrites. In most cases the residue is a thin liner on the crater floor and these craters are difficult to quantitatively analyze by EDX techniques because the electron beam excites both residue and underlying metal substrate. In favorable cases, the liner is thick and composed of vesicular glass with imbedded FeNi, sulfide and silicate grains. In the best cases of meteoroid preservation, the crater is lined with large numbers of unmelted mineral grains. The projectiles fragmented into micron sized pieces but the fragments survived without melting. In one case, the grains contain linear defects that appear to be solar flare tracks. Solar flare tracks are common properties of small interplanetary particles and their preservation during impact implies that the fragments were not heated above 600 C. We are investigating the meteoroid fragments in LDEF metal craters to determine the properties of interplanetary dust and to determine if there are meteoroid types that are overlooked or otherwise undetected in cosmic dust collections obtained from the stratosphere and polar ice.

Brownlee, D. E.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Multisectoral Climate Impact Hotspots in a Warming World

The impacts of global climate change on different aspects of humanity's diverse life-support systems are complex and often difficult to predict. To facilitate policy decisions on mitigation and adaptation strategies, it is necessary to understand, quantify, and synthesize these climate-change impacts, taking into account their uncertainties. Crucial to these decisions is an understanding of how impacts in different sectors overlap, as overlapping impacts increase exposure, lead to interactions of impacts, and are likely to raise adaptation pressure. As a first step we develop herein a framework to study coinciding impacts and identify regional exposure hotspots. This framework can then be used as a starting point for regional case studies on vulnerability and multifaceted adaptation strategies. We consider impacts related to water, agriculture, ecosystems, and malaria at different levels of global warming. Multisectoral overlap starts to be seen robustly at a mean global warming of 3 degC above the 1980-2010 mean, with 11% of the world population subject to severe impacts in at least two of the four impact sectors at 4 degC. Despite these general conclusions, we find that uncertainty arising from the impact models is considerable, and larger than that from the climate models. In a low probability-high impact worst-case assessment, almost the whole inhabited world is at risk for multisectoral pressures. Hence, there is a pressing need for an increased research effort to develop a more comprehensive understanding of impacts, as well as for the development of policy measures under existing uncertainty.

policies↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Weight and Balance Considerations for Electrified Aircraft Propulsion Applied to the Parallel Electric-Gas Architecture with Synergistic Utilization Scheme (PEGASUS) Concept

The focus of this research was to understand the impact of batteries and electric motors on the weight and balance of the Parallel Electric-Gas Architecture with Synergistic Utilization Scheme (PEGASUS) concept. Because electrified aircraft propulsion components can comprise a large part of an aircraft’s weight, their integration has a significant impact on the center of gravity location and the related stability characteristics of the aircraft. We developed an analysis framework that enabled estimating the weight and volume of electrified aircraft components, their contribution to the center of gravity location, and the stability and performance of the aircraft. Trades were performed on battery placement, wing attachment point, and electric motor power to determine their impact on figures of merit such as maximum takeoff weight and block fuel. We identified batteries, and to a lesser extent electric motors, as having a large impact on aircraft center of gravity and the required horizontal tail size for longitudinal static stability. Placing electric component weight as far forward as possible resulted in reductions in the horizontal tail size required to maintain static stability. Configurations output from this framework were also evaluated using a six-degree-of-freedom simulation to quantify dynamic stability characteristics. Although shifting weight forward reduced horizontal tail size, it negatively impacted dynamic stability. This study confirms that mass property modeling and dynamic simulation, which are usually limited in conceptual design, are important for electrified aircraft concepts.

electrified aircraft propulsion↗
DOE OSTI2026

ObstacleSense: Low-Power Neuromorphic Vision for Corridor Obstacle Awareness in Low-Level ADAS

The automotive industry’s pursuit of Level 5 autonomy is constrained by substantial perception-compute power requirements, often reaching 1, 000 + watts in full autonomy stacks. Reducing this energy burden requires rethinking perception not only at the high-end autonomy level, but also at the foundational Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) level where low-power, safety-critical sensing can have broad impact. Neuromorphic vision provides a promising starting point: HD Dynamic Vision Sensors (DVS) can operate below 100 mW at the sensor level by reporting only asynchronous brightness changes. However, low-power sensing alone is insufficient if downstream perception reintroduces dense, energy-intensive computation. In particular, many event-driven object-detection pipelines still rely on CNN backbones, while purely spiking alternatives often trade away accuracy or ignore deployment constraints. We introduce ObstacleSense, a highly compact, CNN-free hybrid ANN–SNN framework for Level 0–1 forward-corridor obstacle awareness. Instead of performing full-scene object detection with a convolutional feature backbone, ObstacleSense targets the safety-critical question of whether the ego corridor is occupied and how far the nearest obstacle is. The architecture combines polarity-conditioned event encoding, lightweight temporal spiking dynamics, axial spatial mixing, and coarse-to-fine range estimation within a regular fixed-grid compute pattern. This design avoids the dense CNN backbone commonly used in event-based detection while maintaining a small state footprint suitable for eventual small-FPGA deployment. Before hardware mapping, we evaluate the software implementation using a model-side power proxy derived from MACs, weight and activation traffic, and spiking state updates under shared FP16 assumptions. On simulated CARLA event corpora, the deployment-oriented model achieves 0.9464 objectness F1, 0.9978 grid-level mAP, and 0.8987 m distance Mean Absolute Error at an estimated 1.92 mW proxy cost, while maintaining performance on unseen generalization test sequences.

Johnson-Scott, Zac [ORNL]↗
NASA NTRS1971

N-type mercury-cadmium-telluride photoconductors in optical heterodyne communication systems.

Discussion of the performance of a photoconductive (Hg,Cd)Te detector/mixer in a carbon dioxide laser heterodyne communication system. The utility of computer simulation of the performance of an optical heterodyne detector/mixer is demonstrated. Certain unusual properties of this device are pointed out that, while having a substantial impact on device performance, have received little previous attention.

Cohen, S. C.↗
NASA NTRS1983

A study of the surface deterioration due to erosion

It is pointed out that materials exposed to particle impacts are eroded and subjected to deterioration of their surface quality. In the case of turbomachinery, this surface deterioration can lead to a significant decrease in engine performance. Tabakoff and Balan (1981) have conducted experiments on the erosion related performance changes in two-dimensional airfoil cascades. It was found that the increase in surface roughness associated with erosion is a major factor in the performance decrease of the cascades. Attention is given to experiments which were conducted on 6061 T6 flat plate aluminum specimens. A series of experiments were carried out in an erosion wind tunnel using a collimated beam of particles. In agreement with existing theories and experiments, erosion ripple generation was observed for the angles of attack up to 60 degrees.

Tabakoff, W.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Control Of Flexible Structures-2 (COFS-2) flight control, structure and gimbal system interaction study

The second Control Of Flexible Structures Flight Experiment (COFS-2) includes a long mast as in the first flight experiment, but with the Langley 15-m hoop column antenna attached via a gimbal system to the top of the mast. The mast is to be mounted in the Space Shuttle cargo bay. The servo-driven gimbal system could be used to point the antenna relative to the mast. The dynamic interaction of the Shuttle Orbiter/COFS-2 system with the Orbiter on-orbit Flight Control System (FCS) and the gimbal pointing control system has been studied using analysis and simulation. The Orbiter pointing requirements have been assessed for their impact on allowable free drift time for COFS experiments. Three fixed antenna configurations were investigated. Also simulated was Orbiter attitude control behavior with active vernier jets during antenna slewing. The effect of experiment mast dampers was included. Control system stability and performance and loads on various portions of the COFS-2 structure were investigated. The study indicates possible undesirable interaction between the Orbiter FCS and the flexible, articulated COFS-2 mast/antenna system, even when restricted to vernier reaction jets.

Fay, Stanley↗
NASA NTRS1993

(abstract) Electron Excitation of the H 2 (...) Continuum in the Vacuum Ultraviolet

Planetary exploration has pointed out the need for accurate electron impact excitation cross sections for H 2 . The quantum yield in the threshold energy region between vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) emission production by the band systems of the singlet and triplet states and dissociative production of fast H(1s) atoms by the triplet states is essential for energy budget modeling in planetary atmospheres and astronomy.

electron↗
DOE OSTI2025

Defect modeling in semiconductors: the role of first principles simulations and machine learning

Abstract Point defects in semiconductors dictate their electronic and optical properties. Vacancies, interstitials, substitutional defects, and defect complexes can form in the semiconductor lattice and significantly impact its performance in applications such as solar absorption, light emission, electronics, and catalysis. Understanding the nature and energetics of point defects is essential for the design and optimization of next-generation semiconductor technologies. Here, we provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of research on point defects in semiconductors, focusing on the application of density functional theory (DFT) and machine learning (ML) in accelerating the prediction and understanding of defect properties. DFT has been instrumental in accurately calculating defect formation energies, charge transition levels, and other defect-related properties such as carrier recombination rates and lifetimes, and ion migration barriers. ML techniques, particularly neural networks, have emerged as powerful tools for enabling rapid prediction of defect properties at DFT-accuracy in order to overcome the expense of using large supercells and advanced functionals. We begin this article with a discussion of different types of point defects and complexes, their impact on semiconductor properties, and the experimental and DFT approaches typically used for their characterization. Through multiple case studies, we explore how DFT has been successfully applied to understand defect behavior across a variety of semiconductors, and how ML approaches integrated with DFT can efficiently predict defect properties and facilitate the discovery of new materials with tailored defect behavior. Overall, the advent of ‘DFT+ML’ promises to drive advancements in semiconductor technology, catalysis, and renewable energy applications, paving the way for the development of high-performance semiconductors which are defect-tolerant or have desirable dopability.

Rahman, Md Habibur (ORCID:000000027705984X)↗
DOE OSTI2026

Cooperative Agreement To Analyze variabiLity, change and predictabilitY in the earth SysTem (CATALYST)

CATALYST proposes to perform foundational coordinated research in a team-oriented collaborative effort aimed at advancing a robust understanding of modes of Earth system variability and change using models, observations and process studies. The proposed research will address the DOE/BER mission by exploring the limits to predictability, identifying fundamental underlying mechanisms, quantifying interactions among modes of variability, and discovering tipping points in the Earth system to understand the current and future impacts of these phenomena on regional and global climate. Four fundamental gaps are identified in our knowledge of the Earth system: 1) What are the limits to predictability on various timescales? 2) What are the interactions among modes of Earth system variability? 3) How may modes of Earth system variability change in response to changes in external forcing, and what are the tipping points involved with those changes? 4) How are high impact events connected to modes of Earth system variability and how may they change in the future? Related to those gaps in our knowledge, we formulate four research objectives to address those gaps using a combination of Earth system models (ESMs) and machine learning (ML) methods. Research Objective 1 (RO1) addresses the first gap above and proposes to understand modes of variability and their limits of predictability on subseasonal to decadal timescales using ESMs and ML. Research Objective 2 (RO2) addresses the second gap and proposes to use a hierarchy of models to understand relevant processes and feedbacks related to how modes of variability interact with each other. Research Objective 3 (RO3) is designed to study the third gap and proposes to examine the role of external forcings in changes of modes of Earth system variability and their interactions, and the likelihood and predictability of tipping points and irreversible changes. Research Objective 4 (RO4) will address the fourth gap and proposes to use high resolution ESMs, regionally refined models (RRMs), and ML methods to investigate the relationships between high impact events (e.g. flash droughts and precipitation extremes, atmospheric rivers (ARs), tropical cyclones (TCs), storm surge/sea level rise), the synoptic systems that produce them, and their changes related to modes of Earth system variability. The research will involve the use of the Community Earth System Model (CESM), Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM), CMIP multi-model data sets, a hierarchy of simpler models, and numerous observational data sets. In the course of the proposed research, CATALYST will contribute to metrics and diagnostics that will be integrated in Coordinated Model Evaluation Capabilities (CMEC), particularly with regards to the Quasi-biennial Oscillation (QBO) and its interactions with the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO), high atmospheric pressure blocking, and new precipitation metrics.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2001

STS-99 Shuttle Radar Topography Mission Stability and Control

The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) flew aboard Space Shuttle Endeavor February 2000 and used interferometry to map 80% of the Earth's landmass. SRTM employed a 200-foot deployable mast structure to extend a second antenna away from the main antenna located in the Shuttle payload bay. Mapping requirements demanded precision pointing and orbital trajectories from the Shuttle on-orbit Flight Control System (PCS). Mast structural dynamics interaction with the FCS impacted stability and performance of the autopilot for attitude maneuvers and pointing during mapping operations. A damper system added to ensure that mast tip motion remained with in the limits of the outboard antenna tracking system while mapping also helped to mitigate structural dynamic interaction with the FCS autopilot. Late changes made to the payload damper system, which actually failed on-orbit, required a redesign and verification of the FCS autopilot filtering schemes necessary to ensure rotational control stability. In-flight measurements using three sensors were used to validate models and gauge the accuracy and robustness of the pre-mission notch filter design.

Hamelin, Jennifer L.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Time-dependent Calculations of an Impact-triggered Runaway Greenhouse Atmosphere on Mars

Large asteroid and comet impacts result in the production of thick (greater than tens of meters) global debris layers of 1500+ K and the release through precipitation of impact-injected steam and melting ground ice) of large amounts (greater than tens of meters global equivalent thickness) of water on the surface of Mars. Modeling shows that the surface of Mars is still above the freezing point of water after the rainout of the impact-injected steam and melting of subsurface ice. The energy remaining in the hot debris layer will allow evaporation of this water back into the atmosphere where it may rain out at a later time. Given a sufficiently rapid supply of this water to the atmosphere it will initiate a temporary "runaway" greenhouse state.

T L Segura↗
NASA NTRS2016

Coordinates of Anthropogenic Features on the Moon

High-resolution images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) reveal the landing locations of recent and historic spacecraft and associated impact sites across the lunar surface. Using multiple images of each site acquired between 2009 and 2015, an improved Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) ephemeris, and a temperature-dependent camera orientation model, we derived accurate coordinates ( less than 12 meters) for each soft-landed spacecraft, rover, deployed scientific payload, and spacecraft impact crater that we have identified. Accurate coordinates enhance the scientific interpretations of data returned by the surface instruments and of returned samples of the Apollo and Luna sites. In addition, knowledge of the sizes and positions of craters formed as the result of impacting spacecraft provides key benchmarks into the relationship between energy and crater size, as well as calibration points for reanalyzing seismic measurements acquired during the Apollo program. We identified the impact craters for the three spacecraft that impacted the surface during the LRO mission by comparing before and after NAC images.

Moon↗
NASA NTRS1993

Impactor control of central peak and peak-ring formation

The relation between the depth and diameter of excavation for impacts typically is assumed to be proportional. Such an assumption is consistent with the constant aspect ratio (diameter:depth) observed for simple craters found in a wide range of planetary settings and crater-scaling laws derived from laboratory experiments. Although complex craters exhibit evidence for floor uplift and rim collapse of a transient profile, they are typically thought to resemble initially smaller, simple craters. At large scales, however, early-time processes consume a greater fraction of crater growth and the assumption of late-time equivalence of energy release as a point source becomes inappropriate. The authors propose instead that crater diameter, depth, and impactor penetration represent separable dependent variables that underscore the fundamental difference between impact and point-source explosion excavation processes. An important consequence of this perspective is that central pits, peaks, and rings may represent contrasting target responses to impactor penetration and could provide an important indicator of impactor dimensions.

Schultz, Peter H.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Spacelab 2 pointed experiments

Thirteen experiments have been selected for development for the multidisciplinary Spacelab 2 mission. They include three solar physics instruments and an atmospheric physics investigation mounted on the Instrument Pointing System (IPS), a two-axis gimballed X-ray experiment, an infrared telescope scanned about a single axis, and several fixed instruments. Integration of the IPS with its instruments and integration of the entire experiment complement into a flight mission has been a most demanding, complex task which has evolved as the Shuttle carrier vehicle, Spacelab, the IPS, and the experiments have matured. Mechanical interactions between all of these elements, thermal design restrictions, Shuttle and IPS operational constraints, mission duration, pointed instrument collision avoidance, and many other factors have impacted the scientific and engineering objectives of all of the experiments. Not all of the impacts have been adverse, however, and four types of joint science between previously unrelated experiments have so far been generated. This paper summarizes the current state of mission planning, particularly as it relates to the achievement of the scientific and engineering objectives of the pointed experiments. It discusses some of the compromises that have been made to satisfy the diverse requirements and capabilities of the hardware, the planning to date for joint solar observations from the IPS, and some system problems which remain.

Urban, E. W.↗