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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 325 records · Page 18
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2019

Surface Biology & Geology Pathfinder Data Analysis Pipeline

NASA's future global orbital mission, currently in development as the Surface Biology and Geology (SBG) Designated Observable study, will acquire relatively high resolution solar-reflected spectroscopy and thermal infrared observations. Innovative processes must be utilized for handling the high volume of data anticipated to be collected, which is anticipated to exceed 100 terabytes/day, greater than NASA's total extant airborne hyperspectral data collection. Collecting, processing/re-processing, disseminating, and exploiting this volume of data presents new challenges. To begin addressing them, NASA is drawing upon the expertise developed from its astrophysics programs to address Earth science and applications. Specifically, NASA is adapting the science processing operations technology developed for the Kepler and TESS planet-hunting missions for imaging spectroscopy data processing. This technology development has been the foundation for the remarkable scientific successes of Kepler and TESS. The Kepler/TESS data processing technology provides a scalable architecture for robust, repeatable, and replicable science and application products while enabling the Earth science community to develop, test, and implement new algorithms. Our effort to leverage this existing capability has begun by ingesting data and applying workflows from the EO-1/Hyperion 17-year mission archive that provides globally sampled visible through shortwave infrared spectra that are representative of SBG data types and volumes. This pathfinding data processing system will help define the solutions to processing SBG data volumes and will enable the scientific community to interact with the data and processing pipeline to create new science products.

Jenkins, Jon↗
NASA NTRS2019

Detector Based Calibration of a Portable Imaging Spectrometer for CLARREO Pathfinder Mission

The Climate Absolute Refractivity and Reflectance Observatory (CLARREO) Pathfinder (CPF) mission is being developed to demonstrate SI-traceable retrievals of reflectance at unprecedented accuracies for global satellite observations. An Independent Calibration of the CPF sensor using the Goddard Laser for Absolute Measurement of Radiance (GLAMR) is planned to allow validation of CPF accuracies. GLAMR is a detector-based calibration system relies on a set of NIST-calibrated transfer radiometers to assess the spectral radiance from the GLAMR sphere source to better than 0.3 % (k=2). The current work describes the calibration of the Solar, Lunar Absolute Reflectance Imaging Spectroradiometer (SOLARIS) that was originally developed as a calibration demonstration system for the CLARREO mission and is now being used to assess the independent calibration being developed for CPF. The methodology for the radiometric calibration of SOLARIS is presented as well as results from the GLAMR-based calibration of SOLARIS. The portability of SOLARIS makes it capable of collecting field measurements of earth scenes and direct solar and lunar irradiance similar to those expected during the on-orbit operation of the CPF sensor. Results of SOLARIS field measurements are presented. The use of SOLARIS in this effort also allows the testing protocols for GLAMR to be improved and the field measurements by SOLARIS build confidence in the error budget for GLAMR calibrations. Results are compared to accepted solar irradiance models to demonstrate accuracy values giving confidence in the error budget for the CLARREO reflectance retrieval.

Aytac, Yigit↗
NASA NTRS2019

Spectral Polarization Distribution Models (PDMs) for NASA CLARREO Pathfinder’s Inter-Calibration Applications

Solar radiation scattered by Earth surfaces of various scene types such as oceans, deserts, tree leaves etc and atmospheric molecules and particles is polarized and the amount of polarization depends on the surface composition and particle physical properties. This can be a source of measurement errors in satellite data if a non-polarimetric radiometric sensor is sensitive to the polarization state of light. To obtain highly accurate spectral solar radiation data from the Earth-atmosphere system for the space-borne inter-calibration studies as proposed in NASA's Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO) mission and the CLARREO Pathfinder (CPF) mission, the spectral polarization state of the reflected solar light at the top of atmosphere (TOA) must be known with sufficient accuracy. The degree of polarization (DOP) and the angle of linear polarization (AOLP) of the light at the TOA as functions of incident and viewing geometry and scene type construct the Polarization Distribution Models (PDMs) for correction of polarization-induced error of satellite data. In this work, algorithms for modeling the spectral polarization state of reflected sunlight from various types of Earth, including oceans, deserts, vegetated land surfaces and these scene types with all kinds of clouds, are developed. By comparing the model results with the PARASOL satellite data, our numerical results demonstrate that the model can provide a reliable approach for making the spectral PDMs for wavelengths between 320 and 2300 nm for satellite inter-calibration applications as proposed in the CLARREO and the CLARREO CPF missions.

Sun, Wenbo↗
NASA NTRS2020

Analysis of the Accuracy of Actuation Electronics in the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna Pathfinder

The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna Pathfinder (LPF) main observable, labelled∆g, is the differential force per unit mass acting on the two test masses in free fall condition, after the contribution of all non-gravitational forces have been compensated. At low frequencies the differential force is compensated by an applied electrostatic actuation force,which then must be subtracted from the measured acceleration to obtain∆g. Any inaccuracy in the actuation force contaminates the residual acceleration. This study investigates the accuracy of the electrostatic actuation system and its impact on the LPF main observable. It is shown that the inaccuracy is mainly caused by the rounding errors in the waveform processing and also by the random error caused by the analog to digital converter (ADC) random noise in the control loop. Both errors are one order of magnitude smaller than the resolution of the commanded voltages. We developed a simulator based on the LPF design to compute the close-to-reality actuation voltages and consequently, the resulting actuation forces. The simulator is applied in post-processing the LPF data.

M. Armano↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

CLARREO Pathfinder: Mission Overview and Current Status

The Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO) Pathfinder (CPF) mission consists of a high accuracy reflected solar spectrometer that will take measurements from the International Space Station for one year starting in 2023. CPF will demonstrate that its novel on-orbit absolute calibration approaches are capable of achieving 0.3% (1-sigma) radiometric uncertainty. Additionally, using its two-axis pointing gimbal which enables nearly-concurrent measurements matching look angles with other orbiting sensors, CPF will demonstrate a novel inter-calibration approach by inter-calibrating CERES and VIIRS. CPF is currently in its Final Design and Fabrication Stage and recently passed its Critical Design Review.

Yolanda Shea↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

CLARREO Pathfinder: Mission Status and Current Status

The Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO) Pathfinder (CPF) mission consists of a high accuracy reflected solar spectrometer that will take measurements from the International Space Station for one year starting in 2023. CPF will demonstrate that its novel on-orbit absolute calibration approaches are capable of achieving 0.3% (1-sigma) radiometric uncertainty. Additionally, using its two-axis pointing gimbal which enables nearly-concurrent measurements matching look angles with other orbiting sensors, CPF will demonstrate a novel inter-calibration approach by inter-calibrating CERES and VIIRS. CPF is currently in its Final Design and Fabrication Stage and recently passed its Critical Design Review.

Yolanda Shea↗
NASA NTRS2017

Mars ISRU Pathfinder Atmospheric Processing and Regolith Operations Modeling, Testing, and Optimization

The Mars Pathfinder project sought to increase the technology readiness level of Mars ISRU technologies being developed at KSC. The ultimate goal of these technologies is to produce propellant on Mars from the carbon dioxide found in the atmosphere and water found in the regolith. This overall system requires many components to collect the resources, prepare them for processing and ultimately to produce methane and oxygen.

Anthony Muscatello↗
NASA NTRS1997

The Mars Pathfinder Atmospheric Structure Investigation/Meteorology (ASI/MET) experiment

The Mars Pathfinder ASI/MET experiment measured the vertical density, pressure and temperature structure of the Martian atmosphere from the surface to 160 km, and monitored surface meteorology and climate for 83 sols. Atmospheric structure and the weather records are similar to those observed by the Viking 1 lander (VL-1) at the same latitude, altitude, and season 21 years ago, but there are differences related to diurnal effects and landing site surface properties.

Mars↗
NASA NTRS1997

The Mars Pathfinder Mission

On July 4th, 1997, Mars Pathfinder became the third spacecraft to successfully land on the planet Mars. The mission's primary objective was to demonstrate a low-cost system for delivering a small science payload to the surface of Mars, and to test the operation of a rover.

composition↗
NASA NTRS1996

Mars Dynamics from Earth-Based Tracking of the Mars Pathfinder Lander

Measurements of Mars' rotational variations can be conducted via Earth-based radio tracking observations of the Mars Pathfinder lander during an extended mission. Two-way range measurements between an Earth antenna and the lander will enable precise monitoring of the planet's orientation and length-of-day variation, allowing details of Mars' internal structure and global surface/atmosphere interactions to be determined with precision for the first time.

two-way↗
NASA NTRS2019

Assessment of VIIRS on-orbit polarization sensitivity and its impact on CLARREO pathfinder inter-calibration

The primary objective of the CLARREO Pathfinder (CPF) mission is to demonstrate essential measurement technologies to enable highly accurate decadal change observations traceable on-orbit to SI standards. Another important objective of the CPF is to demonstrate inter-calibration with the VIIRS sensor and to show that such high-accuracy reference inter-calibration is achievable. To satisfy this requirement, it is important to understand and quantify uncertainties in VIIRS sensor measurements. Based on prelaunch test results, the reflective solar bands of both SNPP and NOAA-20 VIIRS have exhibited polarization sensitivities in the shortest wavelength bands, with an unexpectedly larger sensitivity observed for NOAA-20 VIIRS, particularly in bands M1 to M4. In this study, we use VIIRS Level-1B reflectance data collected over the Pseudo-Invariant Calibration Sites over North African desert region to examine the polarization associated uncertainty for these four bands. Impact due to BRDF on the reflectance data is considered by comparing baseline results obtained from the same viewing and solar zenith angles under relatively low polarization sensitivity. Impact due to detector relative difference in polarization sensitivity is examined by normalizing reflectances by the value of the middle detector. Results of this study provide useful information on VIIRS uncertainty contribution due to polarization when conducting CPF and VIIRS inter-calibration.

VIIRS↗
NASA NTRS2019

The 1997 Mars Pathfinder Spacecraft Landing Site: Spillover Deposits from an Early Mars Inland Sea

The Martian outflow channels comprise some of the largest known channels in the Solar System. Remote-sensing investigations indicate that cataclysmic floods likely excavated the channels ~3.4 Ga. Previous studies show that, in the southern circum-Chryse region, their flooding pathways include hundreds of kilometers of channel floors with upward gradients. However, the impact of the reversed channel-floor topography on the cataclysmic floods remains uncertain. Here, we show that these channel floors occur within a vast basin, which separates the downstream reaches of numerous outflow channels from the northern plains. Consequently, floods propagating through these channels must have ponded, producing an inland sea, before reaching the northern plains as enormous spillover discharges. The resulting paleohydrological reconstruction reinterprets the 1997 Pathfinder landing site as part of a marine spillway, which connected the inland sea to a hypothesized northern plains ocean. Our flood simulation shows that the presence of the sea would have permitted the propagation of low-depth floods beyond the areas of reversed channel-floor topography. These results explain the formation at the landing site of possible fluvial features indicative of flow depths at least an order of magnitude lower than those apparent from the analyses of orbital remote-sensing observations.

J. A. P. Rodriguez↗
NASA NTRS2019

Forbush Decreases and < 2 Day GCR Flux Non-recurrent Variations Studied with LISA Pathfinder

Non-recurrent short-term variations of the galactic cosmic-ray (GCR) flux above 70 MeV n−1 were observed between 2016 February 18 and 2017 July 3 on board the European Space Agency LISA Pathfinder (LPF) mission orbiting around the Lagrange point L1 at 1.5 × 106 km from Earth. The energy dependence of three Forbush decreases is studied and reported here. A comparison of these observations with others carried out in space down to the energy of a few tens of MeV n−1 shows that the same GCR flux parameterization applies to events of different intensity during the main phase. FD observations in L1 with LPF and geomagnetic storm occurrence are also presented. Finally, the characteristics of GCR flux non-recurrent variations (peaks and depressions) of duration <2 days and their association with interplanetary structures are investigated. It is found that, most likely, plasma compression regions between subsequent corotating high-speed streams cause peaks, while heliospheric current sheet crossing causes the majority of the depressions.

M. Armano↗