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At least 325 records · Page 18

Emotional-volitional components of operator reliability

Sensorimotor function testing in a tracking task under stressfull working conditions established a psychological characterization for a successful aviation pilot: Motivation significantly increased the reliability and effectiveness of their work. Their acitivities were aimed at suppressing weariness and the feeling of fear caused by the stress factors; they showed patience, endurance, persistence, and a capacity for lengthy volitional efforts.

Mileryan, Y. A.↗

Transverse header heat pipe

A novel variable-conductance heat-pipe approach has been developed that delivers high-capacity loads, while eliminating the problem of artery gas blockage present in conventional designs. The unit, known as a transverse header, uses ammonia as the working fluid and nitrogen as the control gas. Its overall cylindrical shape is 5.1 cm in diameter by 0.61 m long. Under test with a fluid heat source, the maximum load achieved as a VCHP was 3,600W. As with conventional gas-loaded pipes, good temperature control was also obtained. An application of this device as a VCHP header for a heat-pipe radiator is described.-

Edelstein, F.↗

The 4.5 inch diameter IPV Ni-H2 cell development program

Interest in larger capacity Ni-H2 battery cells for space applications has resulted in the initiation of a development/qualification/production program. Cell component design was completed and component hardware fabricated and/or delivered. Finished cell design projections demonstrate favorable specific energies in the range of 70 to 75 Whr/Kg (32 to 34 Whr/Lb) for capacities of 100 to 250 Ah. It is further planned during this effort to evaluate the advanced cell design technology which has evolved from the work conducted at the NASA/Lewis Research Center.

Miller, L.↗

Collison-induced rototranslational absorption spectra of H2-He pairs at temperatures from 40 to 3000 K

The zeroth, first, and second spectral moments of the rototranslational collision-induced absorption (RT CIA) spectra of hydrogen-helium mixtures are calculated from the fundamental theory, for temperatures from 40 to 3000 K. With the help of simple analytical functions of three parameters and the information given, the RT CIA spectra of H2-He pairs can be generated on computers of small capacity, with rms deviations from exact quantum profiles of not more than a few percent. Such representations of the CIA spectra are of interest for work related to the atmospheres of the outer planets and cool stars. The theoretical spectra are in close agreement with existing laboratory measurements at various temperatures from about 77 to 3000 K.

Borysow, Jacek↗

Foil bearing performance in liquid nitrogen and liquid oxygen

Space transfer vehicles and other power and propulsion systems require long-life turbopumps. Rolling-element bearings used in current turbopumps do not have sufficient life for these applications. Process fluid foil bearings have established long life, with exceptional reliability, over a wide range of temperatures and fluids in many high-speed turbomachinery applications. However, actual data on bearing performance in cryogenic fluids has been minimal. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and AlliedSignal Aerospace Systems and Equipment (ASE) have attempted to characterize the leaf-type compliant foil bearing in oxygen and nitrogen. The work performed under a joint internal research and development program between Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and ASE demonstrated that the foil bearing has load capacities of at least 266 psi in liquid oxygen and 352 psi in liquid nitrogen. In addition, the bearing demonstrated a direct damping coefficient of 40 to 50 lb-sec/in. with a damping ratio of .7 to 1.4 in. liquid nitrogen using a bearing sized for upper-stage turbopumps. With the results from this testing and the years of successful use in air cycle machines and other applications, leaf-type compliant foil bearings are ready for testing in liquid oxygen turbopumps.

Genge, Gary G.↗

Ion Exchange Equilibrium and Kinetic Properties of Polyacrylate Films and Applications to Chemical Analysis and Environmental Decontamination

One of the goals of the original proposal was to study how cross-linking affects the properties of an ion exchange material(IEM) developed at Lewis Research Center. However, prior to the start of this work, other workers at LERC investigated the effect of cross-linking on the properties of this material. Other than variation in the ion exchange capacity, the chemical characteristics were shown to be independent of the cross-linking agent, and the degree of cross-linking. New physical forms of the film were developed (film, supported film, various sizes of beads, and powder). All showed similar properties with respect to ion exchange equilibria but the kinetics of ion exchange depended on the surface area per unit mass; the powder form of the IEM exchanging much more rapidly than the other forms. The research performed under this grant was directed towards the application of the IEM to the analysis of metal ions at environmental concentrations.

Tanner, Stephen P.↗

Transitioning Enhanced Land Surface Initialization and Model Verification Capabilities to the Kenya Meteorological Department (KMD)

Flooding, severe weather, and drought are key forecasting challenges for the Kenya Meteorological Department (KMD), based in Nairobi, Kenya. Atmospheric processes leading to convection, excessive precipitation and/or prolonged drought can be strongly influenced by land cover, vegetation, and soil moisture content, especially during anomalous conditions and dry/wet seasonal transitions. It is thus important to represent accurately land surface state variables (green vegetation fraction, soil moisture, and soil temperature) in Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) models. The NASA SERVIR and the Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) programs in Huntsville, AL have established a working partnership with KMD to enhance its regional modeling capabilities. SPoRT and SERVIR are providing experimental land surface initialization datasets and model verification capabilities for capacity building at KMD. To support its forecasting operations, KMD is running experimental configurations of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF; Skamarock et al. 2008) model on a 12-km/4-km nested regional domain over eastern Africa, incorporating the land surface datasets provided by NASA SPoRT and SERVIR. SPoRT, SERVIR, and KMD participated in two training sessions in March 2014 and June 2015 to foster the collaboration and use of unique land surface datasets and model verification capabilities. Enhanced regional modeling capabilities have the potential to improve guidance in support of daily operations and high-impact weather and climate outlooks over Eastern Africa. For enhanced land-surface initialization, the NASA Land Information System (LIS) is run over Eastern Africa at ~3-km resolution, providing real-time land surface initialization data in place of interpolated global model soil moisture and temperature data available at coarser resolutions. Additionally, real-time green vegetation fraction (GVF) composites from the Suomi-NPP VIIRS instrument is being incorporated into the KMD-WRF runs, using the product generated by NOAA/NESDIS. Model verification capabilities are also being transitioned to KMD using NCAR's Model *Corresponding author address: Jonathan Case, ENSCO, Inc., 320 Sparkman Dr., Room 3008, Huntsville, AL, 35805. Email: Jonathan.Case-1@nasa.gov Evaluation Tools (MET; Brown et al. 2009) software in conjunction with a SPoRT-developed scripting package, in order to quantify and compare errors in simulated temperature, moisture and precipitation in the experimental WRF model simulations. This extended abstract and accompanying presentation summarizes the efforts and training done to date to support this unique regional modeling initiative at KMD. To honor the memory of Dr. Peter J. Lamb and his extensive efforts in bolstering weather and climate science and capacity-building in Africa, we offer this contribution to the special Peter J. Lamb symposium. The remainder of this extended abstract is organized as follows. The collaborating international organizations involved in the project are presented in Section 2. Background information on the unique land surface input datasets is presented in Section 3. The hands-on training sessions from March 2014 and June 2015 are described in Section 4. Sample experimental WRF output and verification from the June 2015 training are given in Section 5. A summary is given in Section 6, followed by Acknowledgements and References.

land surface modeling↗

NASA DEVELOP’s Approach to Experiential Learning

The DEVELOP Program, part of NASA’s Applied Sciences’ Capacity Building Program, connects decision makers and early career individuals through rapid 10-week feasibility studies. These projects utilize Earth observation assets to address environmental issues and are conducted by small, interdisciplinary teams who work autonomously under the guidance of a cohort of science advisors. The teams tailor their research to create end products that support partner decision making processes. The connection to real-world decision making and direct communication with partner organizations drives meaningful experiences for DEVELOP participants that are directly applicable to future work in the geosciences. This poster will share DEVELOP’s model for offering meaningful experiences to its participants, address lessons learned over the past 20+ years, and highlight a variety of testimonials.

Capacity Building↗

Working at the Speed of Innovation: Impedance Mismatch in Rapid and Innovation Projects

In this paper we report on the results of an ethnographic study of a rapid design innovation (RDI) experiment in NASA Aeronautics. This work is based on the study of the Aeronautics Autonomy Testbed Capability (AATC) team in the Convergent Aeronautics Solutions (CAS) project. This paper focuses on and summarizes one of the key over-arching findings from the study: there is a significant mismatch in the organizational culture in the rest of the organization compared with that required for RDI. And, if this organizational cultural mismatch is not addressed, the likelihood of any organization being able to advance a new and different type of work (such as RDI) will be jeopardized. We delineate several aspects of the two different cultures identified in order to enable leaders and practitioners to better understand what contributes to the cultural dissonance and the implications of the differences in the cultures. As well, we identify ways in which those differences can be addressed. Research from organization and other social sciences are incorporated to highlight the differences. The implications of the research suggest that the significant cultural differences trigger a strong and resistive response from the dominant culture that may negate leadership’s strategy to build the new capacity for RDI. While the research results noted the pervasive nature of innovation throughout the workplace, the type of innovation envisioned in RDI is a rare type of innovation that requires significantly new methods, work processes, tools, and skills such that approaches used in the dominate culture cannot be adopted by expediting the existing approaches. Examples include: innovation teaming and leadership; the need for adaptive leadership that changes the relationship of a research leader to the other researchers; and, an interdisciplinary teaming approach which shapes team relationships and activities. Each of these aspects requires new teaming, tools, and skills in order to succeed. Thus, when introducing RDI activities where there is a different dominant culture, teams need to be: well trained; protected; recognized and rewarded. And, team leaders must also be trained in the unique types of teaming and innovation tools used in RDI. Both RDI teaming and team leadership must be sanctioned, supported, and rewarded by leadership. Because of the cultural mismatch, in some organizations looking to add RDI to their existing and established organizations, sep to avoid or mitigate the negative impact of the culture mismatch.

Crain, Cathleen↗

Understanding Customer Dissatisfaction with Underutilized Distributed File Servers

An important trend in the design of storage subsystems is a move toward direct network attachment. Network-attached storage offers the opportunity to off-load distributed file system functionality from dedicated file server machines and execute many requests directly at the storage devices. For this strategy to lead to better performance, as perceived by users, the response time of distributed operations must improve. In this paper we analyze measurements of an Andrew file system (AFS) server that we recently upgraded in an effort to improve client performance in our laboratory. While the original server's overall utilization was only about 3%, we show how burst loads were sufficiently intense to lead to period of poor response time significant enough to trigger customer dissatisfaction. In particular, we show how, after adjusting for network load and traffic to non-project servers, 50% of the variation in client response time was explained by variation in server central processing unit (CPU) use. That is, clients saw long response times in large part because the server was often over-utilized when it was used at all. Using these measures, we see that off-loading file server work in a network-attached storage architecture has to potential to benefit user response time. Computational power in such a system scales directly with storage capacity, so the slowdown during burst period should be reduced.

Riedel, Erik↗

Generalized Software Architecture Applied to the Continuous Lunar Water Separation Process and the Lunar Greenhouse Amplifier

This innovation provides the user with autonomous on-screen monitoring, embedded computations, and tabulated output for two new processes. The software was originally written for the Continuous Lunar Water Separation Process (CLWSP), but was found to be general enough to be applicable to the Lunar Greenhouse Amplifier (LGA) as well, with minor alterations. The resultant program should have general applicability to many laboratory processes (see figure). The objective for these programs was to create a software application that would provide both autonomous monitoring and data storage, along with manual manipulation. The software also allows operators the ability to input experimental changes and comments in real time without modifying the code itself. Common process elements, such as thermocouples, pressure transducers, and relative humidity sensors, are easily incorporated into the program in various configurations, along with specialized devices such as photodiode sensors. The goal of the CLWSP research project is to design, build, and test a new method to continuously separate, capture, and quantify water from a gas stream. The application is any In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) process that desires to extract or produce water from lunar or planetary regolith. The present work is aimed at circumventing current problems and ultimately producing a system capable of continuous operation at moderate temperatures that can be scaled over a large capacity range depending on the ISRU process. The goal of the LGA research project is to design, build, and test a new type of greenhouse that could be used on the moon or Mars. The LGA uses super greenhouse gases (SGGs) to absorb long-wavelength radiation, thus creating a highly efficient greenhouse at a future lunar or Mars outpost. Silica-based glass, although highly efficient at trapping heat, is heavy, fragile, and not suitable for space greenhouse applications. Plastics are much lighter and resilient, but are not efficient for absorbing longwavelength infrared radiation and therefore will lose more heat to the environment compared to glass. The LGA unit uses a transparent polymer antechamber that surrounds part of the greenhouse and encases the SGGs, thereby minimizing infrared losses through the plastic windows. With ambient temperatures at the lunar poles at 50 C, the LGA should provide a substantial enhancement to currently conceived lunar greenhouses. Positive results obtained from this project could lead to a future large-scale system capable of running autonomously on the Moon, Mars, and beyond. The software for both applications needs to run the entire units and all subprocesses; however, throughout testing, many variables and parameters need to be changed as more is learned about the system operation. The software provides the versatility to permit the software operation to change as the user requirements evolve.

Perusich, Stephen↗

Computational Approaches for Li-O2 Battery Design

Threshold energy densities for general aviation electric aircraft are 400 Wh/kg with more ambitious air vehicles having significantly higher requirements. Li-O2 batteries, with the highest theoretical capacity, are one of the few “beyond Li-ion” chemistries that might satisfy the extraordinary specific capacity as well as specific power requirements of electric aircraft. However, side reactions at interfaces, in particular at the cathode, over the charge-discharge cycles result in very short cycle-life and dramatic reduction of capacity. Addressing these issues, in addition to others, are crucial for realizing practical, high performance Li-O2 batteries. In this talk, we discuss atomistic computational work to understand and mitigate some of the issues, including those at interfaces, that affect the Li-O2 electrochemistry. To start, we discuss the deposition mechanisms, both surface and solution based, of Li2O2 and their dependence on external potential. Next, we explore molten salt electrolytes as a stable alternative to organic electrolytes and approaches taken to develop new practical molten salt eutectic mixtures. Finally, we address the issue of reactive carbon-cathodes and possible cathode-candidates that were identified throughput high-throughput computations.

Li-Air battery↗

Analysis of the Capacity Potential of Current Day and Novel Configurations for New York's John F. Kennedy Airport

In 2015, a series of systems analysis studies were conducted on John F. Kennedy Airport in New York (NY) in a collaborative effort between NASA and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ). This work was performed to build a deeper understanding of NY airspace and operations to determine the improvements possible through operational changes with tools currently available, and where new technology is required for additional improvement. The analysis was conducted using tool-based mathematical analyses, video inspection and evaluation using recorded arrival/departure/surface traffic captured by the Aerobahn tool (used by Kennedy Airport for surface metering), and aural data archives available publically through the web to inform the video segments. A discussion of impacts of trajectory and operational choices on capacity is presented, including runway configuration and usage (parallel, converging, crossing, shared, independent, staggered), arrival and departure route characteristics (fix sharing, merges, splits), and how compression of traffic is staged. The authorization in March of 2015 for New York to use reduced spacing under the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Wake Turbulence Recategorization (RECAT) also offers significant capacity benefit for New York airports when fully transitioned to the new spacing requirements, and the impact of these changes for New York is discussed. Arrival and departure capacity results are presented for each of the current day Kennedy Airport configurations. While the tools allow many variations of user-selected conditions, the analysis for these studies used arrival-priority, no-winds, additional safety buffer of 5% to the required minimum spacing, and a mix of traffic typical for Kennedy. Two additional "novel" configurations were evaluated. These configurations are of interest to Port Authority and to their airline customers, and are believed to offer near-term capacity benefit with minimal operational and equipage changes. One of these is the addition of an Optimized Profile Descent (OPD) route to runways 22L and 22R, and the other is the simultaneous use of 4 runways, which is not currently done at Kennedy. The background and configuration for each of these is described, and the capacity results are presented along with a discussion of drawbacks and enablers for each.

Glaab, Patricia↗

Human Perception of Ambiguous Inertial Motion Cues

Human daily activities on Earth involve motions that elicit both tilt and translation components of the head (i.e. gazing and locomotion). With otolith cues alone, tilt and translation can be ambiguous since both motions can potentially displace the otolithic membrane by the same magnitude and direction. Transitions between gravity environments (i.e. Earth, microgravity and lunar) have demonstrated to alter the functions of the vestibular system and exacerbate the ambiguity between tilt and translational motion cues. Symptoms of motion sickness and spatial disorientation can impair human performances during critical mission phases. Specifically, Space Shuttle landing records show that particular cases of tilt-translation illusions have impaired the performance of seasoned commanders. This sensorimotor condition is one of many operational risks that may have dire implications on future human space exploration missions. The neural strategy with which the human central nervous system distinguishes ambiguous inertial motion cues remains the subject of intense research. A prevailing theory in the neuroscience field proposes that the human brain is able to formulate a neural internal model of ambiguous motion cues such that tilt and translation components can be perceptually decomposed in order to elicit the appropriate bodily response. The present work uses this theory, known as the GIF resolution hypothesis, as the framework for experimental hypothesis. Specifically, two novel motion paradigms are employed to validate the neural capacity of ambiguous inertial motion decomposition in ground-based human subjects. The experimental setup involves the Tilt-Translation Sled at Neuroscience Laboratory of NASA JSC. This two degree-of-freedom motion system is able to tilt subjects in the pitch plane and translate the subject along the fore-aft axis. Perception data will be gathered through subject verbal reports. Preliminary analysis of perceptual data does not indicate that the GIF resolution hypothesis is completely valid for non-rotational periodic motions. Additionally, human perception of translation is impaired without visual or spatial reference. The performance of ground-base subjects in estimating tilt after brief training is comparable with that of crewmembers without training.

Zhang, Guan-Lu↗

Effects of Hindlimb Unweighting on Arterial Contractile Responses in Mice

The aim of this work was to determine if hindlimb unweighting in mice alters arterial contractile responses. Sixteen male C57B/6 mice and 16 male Chinese Kunming mice were divided into control and 3 weeks hindlimb unweighting groups, respectively. Using isolated arterial rings from different arteries of mouse, effects of 3 weeks hindlimb unweighting on arterial contractile responsiveness were examined in vitro. The results showed that, in arterial rings from both C57B/6 and Chinese Kunming mice, maximum isometric contractile tensions evoked by either KCl or phenylephrine were significantly lower in abdominal aortic, mesenteric arterial and femoral arterial rings from hindlimb unweighting, compared to control mice. However, the maximal contractile responses of common carotid rings to KCl and PE were not significantly different between control and hindlimb unweighting groups. The sensitivity (EC(sub 50)) of all arteries to KCl or PE showed no significant differences between control and hindlimb unweighting mice. These data indicated that 3 weeks hindlimb unweighting results in a reduced capacity of the arterial smooth muscle of the hindquarter to develop tension. In addition, the alterations in arterial contractile responses caused by hindlimb unweighting in mice are similar as those in rats. Our work suggested that hindlimb unweighting mouse model may be used as a model for the study of postflight cardiovascular deconditioning.

Ma, Jia↗

DEVELOP: Building Capacity in Early Career Individuals to Apply NASA Earth Observations in Health and Air Quality

The NASA DEVELOP National Program builds capacity to use and apply NASA Earth observations to address environmental concerns around the globe. The DEVELOP model builds capacity in both participants (students, recent graduates, and early and transitioning career professionals), who conduct the projects, and partners (decision and policy makers), who are recipients of project methodologies and results. While projects focus on a spectrum of thematic topics, health and air quality related topics made up more than a quarter of DEVELOP’s FY2023 project portfolio. These projects worked in collaboration with over 30 partner organizations throughout the US and internationally to explore how Earth observations could support decision making in areas such as health and air quality, wildland fires, climate, urban development, and transportation and infrastructure. This presentation provides an overview of the DEVELOP model of building capacity to use Earth observation data, environmental decision-making needs identified in health and air quality relevant projects, DEVELOP project case studies, commonly utilized data sources, and lessons learned. Key takeaways include best practices for project development and execution, how to balance learning with delivering impactful results for partners, and water resource relevant decisions guided by project end products.

Remote sensing↗

Toward Global Drought Early Warning Capability - Expanding International Cooperation for the Development of a Framework for Monitoring and Forecasting

Drought has had a significant impact on civilization throughout history in terms of reductions in agricultural productivity, potable water supply, and economic activity, and in extreme cases this has led to famine. Every continent has semiarid areas, which are especially vulnerable to drought. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has noted that average annual river runoff and water availability are projected to decrease by 10 percent-13 percent over some dry and semiarid regions in mid and low latitudes, increasing the frequency, intensity, and duration of drought, along with its associated impacts. The sheer magnitude of the problem demands efforts to reduce vulnerability to drought by moving away from the reactive, crisis management approach of the past toward a more proactive, risk management approach that is centered on reducing vulnerability to drought as much as possible while providing early warning of evolving drought conditions and possible impacts. Many countries, unfortunately, do not have adequate resources to provide early warning, but require outside support to provide the necessary early warning information for risk management. Furthermore, in an interconnected world, the need for information on a global scale is crucial for understanding the prospect of declines in agricultural productivity and associated impacts on food prices, food security, and potential for civil conflict. This paper highlights the recent progress made toward a Global Drought Early Warning Monitoring Framework (GDEWF), an underlying partnership and framework, along with its Global Drought Early Warning System (GDEWS), which is its interoperable information system, and the organizations that have begun working together to make it a reality. The GDEWF aims to improve existing regional and national drought monitoring and forecasting capabilities by adding a global component, facilitating continental monitoring and forecasting (where lacking), and improving these tools at various scales, thereby increasing the capacity of national and regional institutions that lack drought early warning systems or complementing existing ones. A further goal is to improve coordination of information delivery for drought-related activities and relief efforts across the world. This is especially relevant for regions and nations with low capacity for drought early warning. To do this requires a global partnership that leverages the resources necessary and develops capabilities at the global level, such as global drought forecasting combined with early warning tools, global real-time monitoring, and harmonized methods to identify critical areas vulnerable to drought. Although the path to a fully functional GDEWS is challenging, multiple partners and organizations within the drought, forecasting, agricultural, and water-cycle communities are committed to working toward its success.

GDEWS↗

Aerobic Capacity Following Long Duration International Spaces Station (ISS) Missions: Preliminary Results

Maximum oxygen uptake (VO2max) is reduced immediately following space flights lasting <15 d, but has not been measured following long-duration missions. The purpose of this study is to measure VO2max and maximum work rate (WRmax) data from astronauts following ISS flights (91 to 188 d). Methods: Five astronauts [3 M, 2 F: 47+/-6 yr, 174+/-6 cm, 71.9+/-10.9 kg (mean +/- SD)] have participated in the study. Subjects performed upright cycle exercise tests to symptom-limited maximum. An initial test was done approx.270 d before flight to establish work rates for subsequent tests. Subsequent tests, conducted approx.45 d before flight and repeated on the first or second day (R+1/2) and at approx.10 d (R+10) following landing, consisted of 3 5 min stages designed to elicit 25%, 50%, and 75% of preflight VO2max, followed by 25 W(dot)/min increases. VO2, WR, and heart rate (HR) were measured using the ISS Portable Pulmonary Function System [Damec, Odense, DK]. Descriptive statistics are reported. Results: On R+1/2 mean VO2max decreased compared to preflight (Pre: 2.98+/-0.99, R+1/2: 2.63+/-0.56 L(dot)/min); 4 of 5 subjects demonstrated a loss of > 6%. WRmax also decreased on R+1/2 compared to preflight (Pre: 245+/-69, R+1/2: 210+/-45 W). On R+10, VO2max was 2.86+/-0.62 L(dot)/min, with 2 subjects still demonstrating a loss of > 6% from preflight. WRmax on R+10 was 240+/-49 W. HRmax did not change from pre to post-flight. Conclusions: These preliminary results, from the first 5 of 12 planned subjects of an ongoing ISS study, suggest that the majority of astronauts will experience a decrease in VO2max after long-duration space-flight. Interestingly, the two astronauts with the highest preflight VO2max had the greatest loss on R+1/2, and the astronaut with the lowest preflight VO2max increased by 13%. Thus, maintenance of VO2max may be more difficult in astronauts who have a high aerobic capacity, perhaps requiring more intense in-flight exercise countermeasure prescriptions.

Moore, Alan D.↗