Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “iridium”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 307 records · Page 17
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2011

Current and Future Impact Risks from Small Debris to Operational Satellites

The collision between Iridium 33 and Cosmos 2251 in 2009 signaled the potential onset of the collision cascade effect, commonly known as the "Kessler Syndrome", in the low Earth orbit (LEO) region. Recent numerical simulations have shown that the 10 cm and larger debris population in LEO will continue to increase even with a good implementation of the commonly-adopted mitigation measures. This increase is driven by collisions involving large and massive intacts, i.e., rocket bodies and spacecraft. Therefore, active debris removal (ADR) of large and massive intacts with high collision probabilities has been argued as a direct and effective means to remediate the environment in LEO. The major risk for operational satellites in the environment, however, comes from impacts with debris just above the threshold of the protection shields. In general, these are debris in the millimeter to centimeter size regime. Although impacts by these objects are insufficient to lead to catastrophic breakup of the entire vehicle, the damage is certainly severe enough to cause critical failure of the key instruments or the entire payload. The focus of this paper is to estimate the impact risks from 5 mm and 1 cm debris to active payloads in LEO (1) in the current environment and (2) in the future environment based on different projection scenarios, including ADR. The goal of the study is to quantify the benefits of ADR in reducing debris impact risks to operational satellites.

Liou, Jer-Chyi↗
NASA NTRS2012

Active Debris Removal and the Challenges for Environment Remediation

Recent modeling studies on the instability of the debris population in the low Earth orbit (LEO) region and the collision between Iridium 33 and Cosmos 2251 have underlined the need for active debris removal. A 2009 analysis by the NASA Orbital Debris Program Office shows that, in order to maintain the LEO debris population at a constant level for the next 200 years, an active debris removal of about five objects per year is needed. The targets identified for removal are those with the highest mass and collision probability products in the environment. Many of these objects are spent upper stages with masses ranging from 1 to more than 8 metric tons, residing in several altitude regions and concentrated in about 7 inclination bands. To remove five of those objects on a yearly basis, in a cost-effective manner, represents many challenges in technology development, engineering, and operations. This paper outlines the fundamental rationale for considering active debris removal and addresses the two possible objectives of the operations -- removing large debris to stabilize the environment and removing small debris to reduce the threat to operational spacecraft. Technological and engineering challenges associated with the two different objectives are also discussed.

Liou, J. C.↗
NASA NTRS2013

NASA Orbital Debris Baseline Populations

The NASA Orbital Debris Program Office has created high fidelity populations of the debris environment. The populations include objects of 1 cm and larger in Low Earth Orbit through Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit. They were designed for the purpose of assisting debris researchers and sensor developers in planning and testing. This environment is derived directly from the newest ORDEM model populations which include a background derived from LEGEND, as well as specific events such as the Chinese ASAT test, the Iridium 33/Cosmos 2251 accidental collision, the RORSAT sodium-potassium droplet releases, and other miscellaneous events. It is the most realistic ODPO debris population to date. In this paper we present the populations in chart form. We describe derivations of the background population and the specific populations added on. We validate our 1 cm and larger Low Earth Orbit population against SSN, Haystack, and HAX radar measurements.

Krisko, Paula H.↗
NASA NTRS2013

Advanced Materials and Fabrication Techniques for the Orion Attitude Control Motor

Rhenium, with its high melting temperature, excellent elevated temperature properties, and lack of a ductile-to-brittle transition temperature (DBTT), is ideally suited for the hot gas components of the ACM (Attitude Control Motor), and other high-temperature applications. However, the high cost of rhenium makes fabricating these components using conventional fabrication techniques prohibitive. Therefore, near-net-shape forming techniques were investigated for producing cost-effective rhenium and rhenium alloy components for the ACM and other propulsion applications. During this investigation, electrochemical forming (EL-Form ) techniques were evaluated for producing the hot gas components. The investigation focused on demonstrating that EL-Form processing techniques could be used to produce the ACM flow distributor. Once the EL-Form processing techniques were established, a representative rhenium flow distributor was fabricated, and samples were harvested for material properties testing at both room and elevated temperatures. As a lower cost and lighter weight alternative to an all-rhenium component, rhenium- coated graphite and carbon-carbon were also evaluated. The rhenium-coated components were thermal-cycle tested to verify that they could withstand the expected thermal loads during service. High-temperature electroforming is based on electrochemical deposition of compact layers of metals onto a mandrel of the desired shape. Mandrels used for electro-deposition of near-net shaped parts are generally fabricated from high-density graphite. The graphite mandrel is easily machined and does not react with the molten electrolyte. For near-net shape components, the inner surface of the electroformed part replicates the polished graphite mandrel. During processing, the mandrel itself becomes the cathode, and scrap or refined refractory metal is the anode. Refractory metal atoms from the anode material are ionized in the molten electrolytic solution, and are deposited onto the cathodic mandrel by electrochemical reduction. Rotation of the mandrel ensures uniform distribution of refractory material. The EL-Form process allows for manufacturing in an inert atmosphere with deposition rates from 0.0004 to 0.002 in./h (10.2 to 50.8 m/h). Thicknesses typically range from microns to greater than 0.5 in. (13 mm). The refractory component produced is fabricated, dependably, to within one micron of the desired tolerances with no shrinkage or distortion as in other refractory metal manufacture techniques. The electroforming process has been used to produce solid, nonporous deposits of rhenium, iridium, niobium, tungsten, and their alloys.

Gorti, Sridhar↗
NASA NTRS2013

Orbital Debris Engineering Model (ORDEM) v.3

A model of the manmade orbital debris environment is required by spacecraft designers, mission planners, and others in order to understand and mitigate the effects of the environment on their spacecraft or systems. A manmade environment is dynamic, and can be altered significantly by intent (e.g., the Chinese anti-satellite weapon test of January 2007) or accident (e.g., the collision of Iridium 33 and Cosmos 2251 spacecraft in February 2009). Engineering models are used to portray the manmade debris environment in Earth orbit. The availability of new sensor and in situ data, the re-analysis of older data, and the development of new analytical and statistical techniques has enabled the construction of this more comprehensive and sophisticated model. The primary output of this model is the flux [#debris/area/time] as a function of debris size and year. ORDEM may be operated in spacecraft mode or telescope mode. In the former case, an analyst defines an orbit for a spacecraft and "flies" the spacecraft through the orbital debris environment. In the latter case, an analyst defines a ground-based sensor (telescope or radar) in terms of latitude, azimuth, and elevation, and the model provides the number of orbital debris traversing the sensor's field of view. An upgraded graphical user interface (GUI) is integrated with the software. This upgraded GUI uses project-oriented organization and provides the user with graphical representations of numerous output data products. These range from the conventional flux as a function of debris size for chosen analysis orbits (or views), for example, to the more complex color-contoured two-dimensional (2D) directional flux diagrams in local spacecraft elevation and azimuth.

Matney, Mark↗
NASA NTRS2013

NASA Orbital Debris Large-Object Baseline Population in ORDEM 3.0

The NASA Orbital Debris Program Office (ODPO) has created and validated high fidelity populations of the debris environment for the latest Orbital Debris Engineering Model (ORDEM 3.0). Though the model includes fluxes of objects 10 um and larger, this paper considers particle fluxes for 1 cm and larger debris objects from low Earth orbit (LEO) through Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). These are validated by several reliable radar observations through the Space Surveillance Network (SSN), Haystack, and HAX radars. ORDEM 3.0 populations were designed for the purpose of assisting, debris researchers and sensor developers in planning and testing. This environment includes a background derived from the LEO-to-GEO ENvironment Debris evolutionary model (LEGEND) with a Bayesian rescaling as well as specific events such as the FY-1C anti-satellite test, the Iridium 33/Cosmos 2251 accidental collision, and the Soviet/Russian Radar Ocean Reconnaissance Satellite (RORSAT) sodium-potassium droplet releases. The environment described in this paper is the most realistic orbital debris population larger than 1 cm, to date. We describe derivations of the background population and added specific populations. We present sample validation charts of our 1 cm and larger LEO population against Space Surveillance Network (SSN), Haystack, and HAX radar measurements.

Krisco, Paula H.↗
NASA NTRS2013

From Napkin to Orbit in 9 Months; The TechEdSat Spacecraft Mission

The TechEdSat spacecraft mission saw one of the fastest turn around times for concept through launch of a CubeSat. On 26 October 2011, John Hines sketched on a brown paper napkin the outline for which components would be in this 1U CubeSat, and how they would be stacked; 269 days later that spacecraft launched from Tanegashima Space Center aboard the HTV-3 ISS resupply mission, with a total development time of only eight months. TechEdSat was among the first of five CubeSats deployed from the ISS. The goals of the TechEdSat mission were to explore the use of the Space Plug-n-Play Architecture (SPA) in a CubeSat, and to evaluate Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) space-to-space communication solutions. TechEdSat featured an array of processors from ÅAC Microtec including four NanoRTU's and the RTULite main processor, all communicating using the SPA-1 protocol. TechEdSat featured two primary payloads: an Iridium 9602 Modem, and a Quake Global Q1000 OrbComm modem. After a successful deployment on 4 October 2012 from the ISS, over 2000 packets of 122 bytes each (250 kB total) were received in the first four months of the mission. In this paper we discuss the challenges to rapid CubeSat development, the experience of having a CubeSat approved for deployment from the ISS, the ongoing results of the mission and lessons learned.

CUBESAT↗
NASA NTRS2013

Coating Thin Mirror Segments for Lightweight X-ray Optics

Next generations lightweight, high resolution, high throughput optics for x-ray astronomy requires integration of very thin mirror segments into a lightweight telescope housing without distortion. Thin glass substrates with linear dimension of 200 mm and thickness as small as 0.4 mm can now be fabricated to a precision of a few arc-seconds for grazing incidence optics. Subsequent implementation requires a distortion-free deposition of metals such as iridium or platinum. These depositions, however, generally have high coating stresses that cause mirror distortion. In this paper, we discuss the coating stress on these thin glass mirrors and the effort to eliminate their induced distortion. It is shown that balancing the coating distortion either by coating films with tensile and compressive stresses, or on both sides of the mirrors is not sufficient. Heating the mirror in a moderately high temperature turns out to relax the coated films reasonably well to a precision of about a second of arc and therefore provide a practical solution to the coating problem.

Thin Mirror↗
NASA NTRS2014

Solar Effects of Low-Earth Orbit objects in ORDEM 3.0

Variances in atmospheric density are directly related to the variances in solar flux intensity between 11- year solar cycles. The Orbital Debris Engineering Model (ORDEM 3.0) uses a solar flux table as input for calculating orbital lifetime of intact and debris objects in Low-Earth Orbit. Long term projections in solar flux activity developed by the NASA Orbital Debris Program Office (ODPO) extend the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Space Environment Center (NOAA/SEC) daily historical flux values with a 5-year projection. For purposes of programmatic scheduling, the Q2 2009 solar flux table was chosen for ORDEM 3.0. Current solar flux activity shows that the current solar cycle has entered a period of lower solar flux intensity than previously forecasted in 2009. This results in a deviation of the true orbital debris environment propagation in ORDEM 3.0. In this paper, we present updated orbital debris populations in LEO using the latest solar flux values. We discuss the effects on recent breakup events such as the FY-1C anti-satellite test and the Iridium 33 / Cosmos 2251 accidental collision. Justifications for chosen solar flux tables are discussed.

Vavrin, A. B.↗
NASA NTRS2015

TechEdSat - An Educational 1U CubeSat Architecture Using Plug-and-Play Avionics

Mission Objectives: build a 1U cubesat within 6 months from kickoff to launch. Demonstrate and evaluate the Space Plug-and-Play avionics hardware and software from ÅAC Microtec; investigate both Iridium and Orbcomm intersatellite communication as a method of eliminating the requirement for a physical ground station in Nano satellite missions; demonstrate the capabilities of the JAXA J-SSOD aboard the ISS, and be one of the first cubesats to be deployed from the ISS.

TechEdSat↗
NASA NTRS2016

Bumper 3 Update for IADC Protection Manual

The Bumper code has been the standard in use by NASA and contractors to perform meteoroid/debris risk assessments since 1990. It has undergone extensive revisions and updates [NASA JSC HITF website; Christiansen et al., 1992, 1997]. NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) has applied BUMPER to risk assessments for Space Station, Shuttle, Mir, Extravehicular Mobility Units (EMU) space suits, and other spacecraft (e.g., LDEF, Iridium, TDRS, and Hubble Space Telescope). Bumper continues to be updated with changes in the ballistic limit equations describing failure threshold of various spacecraft components, as well as changes in the meteoroid and debris environment models. Significant efforts are expended to validate Bumper and benchmark it to other meteoroid/debris risk assessment codes. Bumper 3 is a refactored version of Bumper II. The structure of the code was extensively modified to improve maintenance, performance and flexibility. The architecture was changed to separate the frequently updated ballistic limit equations from the relatively stable common core functions of the program. These updates allow NASA to produce specific editions of the Bumper 3 that are tailored for specific customer requirements. The core consists of common code necessary to process the Micrometeoroid and Orbital Debris (MMOD) environment models, assess shadowing and calculate MMOD risk. The library of target response subroutines includes a board range of different types of MMOD shield ballistic limit equations as well as equations describing damage to various spacecraft subsystems or hardware (thermal protection materials, windows, radiators, solar arrays, cables, etc.). The core and library of ballistic response subroutines are maintained under configuration control. A change in the core will affect all editions of the code, whereas a change in one or more of the response subroutines will affect all editions of the code that contain the particular response subroutines which are modified. Note that the Bumper II program is no longer maintained or distributed by NASA.

Christiansen, Eric L.↗
NASA NTRS2016

The Germanium Dichotomy in Martian Meteorites

Germanium is a moderately volatile and siderophile element that follows silicon in its compatibility during partial melting of planetary mantles. Despite its obvious usefulness in planetary geochemistry germanium is not analyzed routinely, with there being only three prior studies reporting germanium abundances in Martian meteorites. The broad range (1-3 ppm) observed in Martian igneous rocks is in stark contrast to the narrow range of germanium observed in terrestrial basalts (1.5 plus or minus 0.1 ppm). The germanium data from these studies indicates that nakhlites contain 2-3 ppm germanium, while shergottites contain approximately 1 ppm germanium, a dichotomy with important implications for core formation models. There have been no reliable germanium abundances on chassignites. The ancient meteoritic breccia, NWA 7533 (and paired meteorites) contains numerous clasts, some pristine and some impact melt rocks, that are being studied individually. Because germanium is depleted in the Martian crust relative to chondritic impactors, it has proven useful as an indicator of meteoritic contamination of impact melt clasts in NWA 7533. The germanium/silicon ratio can be applied to minerals that might not partition nickel and iridium, like feldspars. We report germanium in minerals from the 3 known chassignites, 2 nakhlites and 5 shergottites by LAICP- MS using a method optimized for precise germanium analysis.

Humayun, M.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Mirrors for High Resolution X-Ray Optics---Figure Preserving IR/PT Coating

Coating stress of 10 - 20 nm of Ir is sufficiently high to distort the figure of arc-second thin lightweight mirrors. For iridium: --Stress sigma ~ 4 GPa for 15 nm film implies 60 Nm integrated stress-- Need less than 3 N/m (or stress less than 200 MPa) for sub-arcsecond optics. Basic Approaches for Mitigation. A. Annealing the film-- Glass can be heat up to 400 C without distortion. Silicon is even more resistant.-- It was found that recovery is limited by residual thermal stress from taking the mirror down from high T. B. Coating bi-layer films with compressive stress with tensile stress. C. Front-and-back coating with magnetron sputtering or atomic layer deposition-- Sputtering involve spanning of substrates. Geometric difference in setup (convexness/concaveness of curved mirrors) does not permit precise front-and-back matching-- Atomic layer deposition can provide a uniform deposition front and back simultaneously.

MIRRORS FOR HIGH RESOLUTION X-RAY OPTICS↗
NASA NTRS2015

Low-Cost, High-Performance Combustion Chamber

Ultramet designed and fabricated a lightweight, high-temperature combustion chamber for use with cryogenic LOX/CH4 propellants that can deliver a specific impulse of approx.355 seconds. This increase over the current 320-second baseline of nitrogen tetroxide/monomethylhydrazine (NTO/MMH) will result in a propellant mass decrease of 55 lb for a typical lunar mission. The material system was based on Ultramet's proven oxide-iridium/rhenium architecture, which has been hot-fire tested with stoichiometric oxygen/hydrogen for hours. Instead of rhenium, however, the structural material was a niobium or tantalum alloy that has excellent yield strength at both ambient and elevated temperatures. Phase I demonstrated alloys with yield strength-to-weight ratios more than three times that of rhenium, which will significantly reduce chamber weight. The starting materials were also two orders of magnitude less expensive than rhenium and were less expensive than the C103 niobium alloy commonly used in low-performance engines. Phase II focused on the design, fabrication, and hot-fire testing of a 12-lbf thrust class chamber with LOX/CH4, and a 100-lbf chamber for LOX/CH4. A 5-lbf chamber for NTO/MMH also was designed and fabricated.

Fortini, Arthur J.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Improved Rhenium Thrust Chambers

Radiation-cooled bipropellant thrust chambers are being considered for ascent/ descent engines and reaction control systems on various NASA missions and spacecraft, such as the Mars Sample Return and Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV). Currently, iridium (Ir)-lined rhenium (Re) combustion chambers are the state of the art for in-space engines. NASA's Advanced Materials Bipropellant Rocket (AMBR) engine, a 150-lbf Ir-Re chamber produced by Plasma Processes and Aerojet Rocketdyne, recently set a hydrazine specific impulse record of 333.5 seconds. To withstand the high loads during terrestrial launch, Re chambers with improved mechanical properties are needed. Recent electrochemical forming (EL-Form"TM") results have shown considerable promise for improving Re's mechanical properties by producing a multilayered deposit composed of a tailored microstructure (i.e., Engineered Re). The Engineered Re processing techniques were optimized, and detailed characterization and mechanical properties tests were performed. The most promising techniques were selected and used to produce an Engineered Re AMBR-sized combustion chamber for testing at Aerojet Rocketdyne.

O'Dell, John Scott↗
NASA NTRS2015

Nontoxic Hydroxylammonium Nitrate (HAN) Monopropellant Propulsion

Nontoxic monopropellants have been developed that provide better performance than toxic hydrazine. Formulations based on HAN have superior performance as compared to hydrazine with enhanced specific impulse (Isp), higher density and volumetric impulse, lower melting point, and much lower toxicity. However, HAN-based monopropellants require higher chamber temperatures (2,083 K vs. 883 K) to combust. Current hydrazine-based combustion chamber technology (Inconel® or niobium C103 and silicide coating) and catalyst (Shell 405) are inadequate. In Phase I, state-of-the-art iridium-lined rhenium chambers and innovative new foam catalysts were demonstrated in pulse and 10-second firings. Phase II developed and tested a flight-weight thruster for an environmentally green monopropellant.

McKechnie, Timothy N.↗
NASA NTRS2018

History of On-Orbit Satellite Fragmentations, 15th Edition

The History of On-Orbit Satellite Fragmentations chronicles all known satellite fragmentation events, this 15th edition complete through a suspense date of 4 July 2018. Since the 14th edition breakups, in addition to launch activity, have resulted in an approximately 36% increase in the number of cataloged space objects. More significantly, breakup and anomalous debris accounted for 65% of the catalog growth observed. The reason for these large increases was the first accidental collision of two intact spacecraft, Iridium 33 and Cosmos 2251, and the continued cataloging of debris created by the intentional destruction of the Fengyun 1C spacecraft-the most environmentally harmful fragmentation to date.

Anz-Meador, Phillip D.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Reflective Coatings for the Future X-Ray Mirror Substrates

We present the development of the reflective coating by magnetron sputtering deposition onto precisely-fabricated thin X-ray mirrors. Our goal is to remove distortion induced by the coating and then keep their surface pro les. We first addressed the uniform coating to minimize the distortion by introducing a mask to control the spatial distribution of the coating thickness. The uniformity was finally achieved within 1%. We next tried a platinum single-layer coating on a glass substrate with a dimension of 200 mm 125 mm. The distortion caused by the frontside coating with a thickness of 320 A was found to be at most 1 m, smaller than the previous results obtained from the non-uniform coating. We then carried out the platinum coating with the same amount of the thickness on the backside surface of the glass substrate. The surface pro le of the glass substrate was fully recovered, indicating that the residual stress was successfully balanced by the backside coating. Furthermore, we tried to an iridium single-layer coating with a thickness of 150 Aon the silicon mirrors. The frontside coating caused the degradation of the imaging quality by 7:5 arcsec in half-power width. However, the backside coating with the same amount of the thickness reduced this degradation to be 3:4 arcsec. Finally, an additional backside coating with a thickness of 100 A and the annealing to relax the residual stress were found to eliminate the distortion completely; the final degradation of the imaging quality was only 0:4 arcsec.

Mori, Hideyuki↗