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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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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Technology Development Roadmap for Volatile Radionuclide Capture and Immobilization

An “Off-Gas and Waste Forms Strategy Workshop” was held in Washington, D.C. on January 31, and February 1, 2023, to review the current state of the art (baseline) technologies for capturing and immobilizing these volatile radionuclides in waste forms (WFs). The discussions in that workshop were used to develop a roadmap for future research and development to mature technologies that are presently not ready for use in a commercial reprocessing facility and develop and demonstrate technologies that provide more safety, more simplicity, or lower costs compared to the current baseline.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Technology Development Roadmap for Volatile Radionuclide Capture and Immobilization

An "Off-Gas and Waste Forms Strategy Workshop" was held in Washington, D.C. on January 31, and February 1, 2023, to review the current state of the art (baseline) technologies for capturing and immobilizing these volatile radionuclides in waste forms (WFs). The discussions in that workshop were used to develop a roadmap for future research and development to mature technologies that are presently not ready for use in a commercial reprocessing facility and develop and demonstrate technologies that provide more safety, more simplicity, or lower costs compared to the current baseline.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
NASA NTRS1990

Liquid hydrogen turbopump ALS advanced development program. Volume 1: Hot fire unit

The interface criteria for the Turbopump Test article (TPA) and the Component Test Facility located at NASA, Stennis Space Center is defined by this interface Control Document (ICD). TPA ICD Volume 2 is submitted for the Cold Gas Drive Turbopump Test Article, which is generally similar but incorporates certain changes, particularly in fluid requirements and in instrumentation needs. For the purposes of this ICD, the test article consists of the Hot Fire Drive Turbopump mounted on its test cart, readied for installation in the component test facility. It should be emphasized that the LH2 turbopump program is still in its early concept design phase. Design of the turbopump, test cart, and spools are subject to revisions until successful conclusion of the Detail Design Review (DDR).

Lindley, Bruce↗
NASA NTRS1993

Advanced composite fuselage technology

Boeing's ATCAS program has completed its third year and continues to progress towards a goal to demonstrate composite fuselage technology with cost and weight advantages over aluminum. Work on this program is performed by an integrated team that includes several groups within The Boeing Company, industrial and university subcontractors, and technical support from NASA. During the course of the program, the ATCAS team has continued to perform a critical review of composite developments by recognizing advances in metal fuselage technology. Despite recent material, structural design, and manufacturing advancements for metals, polymeric matrix composite designs studied in ATCAS still project significant cost and weight advantages for future applications. A critical path to demonstrating technology readiness for composite transport fuselage structures was created to summarize ATCAS tasks for Phases A, B, and C. This includes a global schedule and list of technical issues which will be addressed throughout the course of studies. Work performed in ATCAS since the last ACT conference is also summarized. Most activities relate to crown quadrant manufacturing scaleup and performance verification. The former was highlighted by fabricating a curved, 7 ft. by 10 ft. panel, with cocured hat-stiffeners and cobonded J-frames. In building to this scale, process developments were achieved for tow-placed skins, drape formed stiffeners, braided/RTM frames, and panel cure tooling. Over 700 tests and supporting analyses have been performed for crown material and design evaluation, including structural tests that demonstrated limit load requirements for severed stiffener/skin failsafe damage conditions. Analysis of tests for tow-placed hybrid laminates with large damage indicates a tensile fracture toughness that is higher than that observed for advanced aluminum alloys. Additional recent ATCAS achievements include crown supporting technology, keel quadrant design evaluation, and sandwich process development.

Ilcewicz, Larry B.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Seeing the Future of Spaceflight: Applications of Extended Reality (XR) Technologies

INTRODUCTION Advances in Earth Independent Medical Operations (EIMO) focused capabilities will be crucial for completing successful beyond low-earth-orbit (LEO) missions, where traditional Earth-based medical support and near real-time communication are limited, intermittent, or absent. In such restricted or limited communication environments, emerging extended reality (ER or XR) technologies may play a vital role in ensuring crew health and safety. Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR) are common terms used to describe technologies that "generate or modify" while “extended reality” (ER or XR) is often used as an umbrella term for these technologies. This review explores how such cutting-edge “extended reality” information delivery systems are currently applied across various disciplines within NASA. The review focuses on their capabilities, limitations, and prospective future applications as they pertain to Earth-Independent Medical Operations and its components of pre-mission planning, medical decision making, resource management, and task load management. METHODS/DESIGN The review began with a literature search to identify relevant disciplines (e.g., medical education, austere environments) where XR technologies have been studied to highlight areas where evidence is lacking. Previous and current NASA XR projects and applications, as well as commercial partnerships, such as those with Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR), were identified. Discussions with technical experts involved in the design, development, and application of these technologies allowed for classification based on their respective spaceflight applications. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION This review highlights current and emerging XR technologies that have been developed, tested, and implemented both terrestrially and in spaceflight by NASA, its international partners, the U.S. Armed Forces, and various relevant commercial entities. While these novel information delivery systems vary in their respective technology readiness levels (TRL), they have the potential to be implemented on Earth, in LEO, and during deep space exploration. These systems have the potential for impacting and optimizing many aspects of EIMO.

Yevgeniy Zhivotovskiy↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Preliminary Design of a Downstream Processing System for Protein Production in Space

Biomanufacturing is a promising technology to convert in situ resources into essential products including enzymes, therapeutics, biopolymers and other chemicals required to support deep-space missions that may not be easily supplied or produced by alternative means. In addition to the biomass production operations, vital down-stream steps including biomass harvesting/concentration, cell lysis, protein capture and purification are needed to produce an application-ready product. Commercially available terrestrial processes commonly require complex, heavy equipment and highly trained operators, which are not practical in deep space environments. In this work, we aim to identify approaches required to produce an intracellular, His-tagged recombinant enzyme using E. coli at 1 L production scales within the constraints of a deep-space mission as a model use-case scenario. Based on extensive literature review and commercially available products, we identified candidate technologies and products that could be integrated for deep space biomanufacturing. Different preliminary designs were then compared in terms of total system impacts on up-mass, processing time, and consumables required. Our analysis indicated that a biomass concentrator would significantly reduce the processing time and consumables required for the overall system without a large increase in the total mass. We also identified viable technologies for other steps such as cell lysis and protein purification. Predictions from our trade study will be validated in the laboratory by testing the most promising products with the results used to optimize the design. This research will help transfer technology that is well developed on Earth to a space-ready format to produce biological products from a wide variety of microorganisms that can support deep-space missions.

Biomanufacturing↗
DOE OSTI2025

5G-TSN Architecture Capable of Providing Real-time Situational Awareness to Fossil-Energy (FE) Generation Systems (Final Technical Report)

This final report highlights the comprehensive achievements of the project focused on developing and validating a 5G-Time Sensitive Networking (TSN) architecture tailored for real-time operational awareness in fossil energy systems. The initiative successfully advanced through a series of technical milestones, including the integration of EMI-aware network models, deployment of advanced simulation frameworks, and real-world performance characterization at key sites such as UTEP and Fabens. Through the strategic use of NetSim® software, the team created and validated network configurations for wired and wireless environments, tested under varying congestion conditions, and verified network slicing implementations for URLLC-specific applications. Major accomplishments include the migration of simulation tools to the latest NetSim® version to support accurate modeling of TSN and network slicing, extensive EMI measurement campaigns, and the development of a robust simulation model for end-to-end SCADA system integration. Simulations compared both TDD and FDD duplexing modes, revealing insights into their performance under congested conditions. The wireless network was benchmarked for throughput, jitter, and delay metrics, aligning with 3GPP Release 15/16 and IEEE 802.1-TSN standards. A peer-reviewed conference paper was accepted and published, contributing to the broader academic and industrial discourse on 5G-TSN integration in energy systems, in addition to a journal article. Despite minor delays due to software limitations, the project achieved its objectives and delivered validated architecture ready for deployment in advanced energy network environments.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
NASA NTRS1982

A Module Experimental Process System Development Unit (MEPSDU)

Restructuring research objectives from a technical readiness demonstration program to an investigation of high risk, high payoff activities associated with producing photovoltaic modules using non-CZ sheet material is reported. Deletion of the module frame in favor of a frameless design, and modification in cell series parallel electrical interconnect configuration are reviewed. A baseline process sequence was identified for the fabrication of modules using the selected dendritic web sheet material, and economic evaluations of the sequence were completed.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2010

Ares Project Technology Assessment: Approach and Tools

Technology assessments provide a status of the development maturity of specific technologies. Along with benefit analysis, the risks the project assumes can be quantified. Normally due to budget constraints, the competing technologies are prioritized and decisions are made which ones to fund. A detailed technology development plan is produced for the selected technologies to provide a roadmap to reach the desired maturity by the project s critical design review. Technology assessments can be conducted for both technology only tasks or for product development programs. This paper is primarily biased toward the product development programs. The paper discusses the Ares Project s approach to technology assessment. System benefit analysis, risk assessment, technology prioritization, and technology readiness assessment are addressed. A description of the technology readiness level tool being used is provided.

Hueter, Uwe↗
NASA NTRS2012

Beamed-Energy Propulsion (BEP) Study

The scope of this study was to (1) review and analyze the state-of-art in beamed-energy propulsion (BEP) by identifying potential game-changing applications, (2) formulate a roadmap of technology development, and (3) identify key near-term technology demonstrations to rapidly advance elements of BEP technology to Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 6. The two major areas of interest were launching payloads and space propulsion. More generally, the study was requested and structured to address basic mission feasibility. The attraction of beamed-energy propulsion (BEP) is the potential for high specific impulse while removing the power-generation mass. The rapid advancements in high-energy beamed-power systems and optics over the past 20 years warranted a fresh look at the technology. For launching payloads, the study concluded that using BEP to propel vehicles into space is technically feasible if a commitment to develop new technologies and large investments can be made over long periods of time. From a commercial competitive standpoint, if an advantage of beamed energy for Earth-to-orbit (ETO) is to be found, it will rest with smaller, frequently launched payloads. For space propulsion, the study concluded that using beamed energy to propel vehicles from low Earth orbit to geosynchronous Earth orbit (LEO-GEO) and into deep space is definitely feasible and showed distinct advantages and greater potential over current propulsion technologies. However, this conclusion also assumes that upfront infrastructure investments and commitments to critical technologies will be made over long periods of time. The chief issue, similar to that for payloads, is high infrastructure costs.

Patrick George↗
NASA NTRS1989

Solid state photomultiplier for astronomy, phase 2

Epitaxial layers with varying donor concentration profiles were grown on silicon substrate wafers using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) techniques, and solid state photomultiplier (SSPM) devices were fabricated from the wafers. Representative detectors were tested in a low background photon flux, low temperature environment to determine the device characteristics for comparison to NASA goals for astronomical applications. The SSPM temperatures varied between 6 and 11 K with background fluxes in the range from less than 5 x 10 to the 6th power to 10 to the 13th power photons/square cm per second at wavelengths of 3.2 and 20 cm. Measured parameters included quantum efficiency, dark count rate and bias current. Temperature for optimal performance is 10 K, the highest ever obtained for SSPMs. The devices exhibit a combination of the lowest dark current and highest quantum efficiency yet achieved. Experimental data were reduced, analyzed and used to generate recommendations for future studies. The background and present status of the microscopic theory of SSPM operation were reviewed and summarized. Present emphasis is on modeling of the avalanche process which is the basis for SSPM operation. Approaches to the solution of the Boltzmann transport equation are described and the treatment of electron scattering mechanisms is presented. The microscopic single-electron transport theory is ready to be implemented for large-scale computations.

Besser, P. J.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Main propulsion system test requirements for the two-engine Shuttle-C

The Shuttle-C is an unmanned cargo carrying derivative of the space shuttle with optional two or three space shuttle main engines (SSME's), whereas the shuttle has three SSME's. Design and operational differences between the Shuttle-C and shuttle were assessed to determine requirements for additional main propulsion system (MPS) verification testing. Also, reviews were made of the shuttle main propulsion test program objectives and test results and shuttle flight experience. It was concluded that, if significant MPS modifications are not made beyond those currently planned, then main propulsion system verification can be concluded with an on-pad flight readiness firing.

Lynn, E. E.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Wireless Instrumentation Use on Launch Vehicles

This slide presentation reviews the results of a study on the use of wireless instrumentation and sensors on future launch vehicles. The use of wireless technologies would if feasible would allow for fewer wires, and allow for more flexibility. However, it was generally concluded that wireless solutions are not currently ready to replace wired technologies for launch vehicles. The recommendations of the study were to continue to use wired sensors as the primary choice for vehicle instrumentation, and to continue to assess needs and use wireless instrumentation where appropriate. The future work includes support efforts for wireless technologies, and continue to monitor the development of wireless solutions.

Sherman, Aaron↗
NASA NTRS2010

Scientific Merit Review of Directed Research Tasks Within the NASA Human Research Program

The Human Research Program is instrumental in developing and delivering research findings, health countermeasures, and human systems technologies for spacecraft. :HRP is subdivided into 6 research entities, or Elements. Each Element is charged with providing the Program with knowledge and capabilities to conduct research to address the human health and performance risks as well as advance the readiness levels of technology and countermeasures. Project: An Element may be further subdivided into Projects, which are defined as an integrated set of tasks undertaken to deliver a product or set of products

Charles, John B.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Barriers to adopting artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies in nuclear power

Artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) technologies offer unique opportunities to transform nuclear plant operations and power generation. Benefits will be felt not only within existing analog and digital instrumentation and control, but also within work processes, the integration of people with technology and most importantly, the business case. The application of this new technology can help simplify complex problems and produce more effective decision-making, making nuclear power safer, more efficient, and more economically viable in the current energy market. Nonetheless, there are potential barriers to its adoption that must be overcome. The purpose of this paper is to categorize, review, and discuss barriers to AI/ML adoption within the nuclear power industry, with a focus on existing commercial reactors. Unique considerations for advanced reactors are also offered. Here we provide a comprehensive overview of the historical, technical, and business barriers that the industry faces, as well as stakeholder readiness, and end-user acceptance. We underscore the importance of user experience and offer potential solutions in overcoming each barrier. These include provisions for easier plant data access, a friendly regulatory environment, and investment in user trust and explainable AI.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
NASA NTRS1976

Supersonic variable-cycle engines

The evolution and current status of selected recent variable cycle engine (VCE) studies are reviewed, and how the results were influenced by airplane requirements is described. Promising VCE concepts are described, their designs are simplified and the potential benefits in terms of aircraft performance are identified. This includes range, noise, emissions, and the time and effort it may require to ensure technical readiness of sufficient depth to satisfy reasonable economic, performance, and environmental constraints. A brief overview of closely related, ongoing technology programs in acoustics and exhaust emissions is also presented. Realistic technology advancements in critical areas combined with well matched aircraft and selected VCE concepts can lead to significantly improved economic and environmental performance relative to first generation SST predictions.

Willis, E. A.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Potential for integrated optical circuits in advanced aircraft with fiber optic control and monitoring systems

Fiber optic technology is expected to be used in future advanced weapons platforms as well as commercial aerospace applications. Fiber optic waveguides will be used to transmit noise free, high speed data between a multitude of computers as well as audio and video information to the flight crew. Passive optical sensors connected to control computers with optical fiber interconnects will serve both control and monitoring functions. Implementation of fiber optic technology has already begun. Both the military and NASA have several programs in place. A cooperative program, called FOCSI (Fiber Optic Control System Integration), between NASA Lewis and the NAVY to build, environmentally test and flight demonstrate sensor systems for propulsion and flight control systems is currently underway. Integrated Optical Circuits (IOC's) are also being given serious consideration for use in advanced aircraft systems. IOC's will result in miniaturization and localization of components to generate, detect optical signals and process them for use by the control computers. In some complex systems IOC's may be required to perform calculations optically if the technology is ready, replacing some of the electronic systems used today. IOC's are attractive because they will result in rugged components capable of withstanding severe environments in advanced aerospace vehicles. Manufacturing technology developed for microelectronic integrated circuits applied to IOC's will result in cost effective manufacturing. This paper reviews the current FOCSI program and describes the potential role of IOC's in FOCSI applications.

Robert Baumbick↗
NASA NTRS2016

Interval Management: Development and Implementation of an Airborne Spacing Concept

Interval Management is a suite of ADS-B-enabled applications that allows the air traffic controller to instruct a flight crew to achieve and maintain a desired spacing relative to another aircraft. The flight crew, assisted by automation, manages the speed of their aircraft to deliver more precise inter-aircraft spacing than is otherwise possible, which increases traffic throughput at the same or higher levels of safety. Interval Management has evolved from a long history of research and is now seen as a core NextGen capability. With avionics standards recently published, completion of an Investment Analysis Readiness Decision by the FAA, and multiple flight tests planned, Interval Management will soon be part of everyday use in the National Airspace System. Second generation, Advanced Interval Management capabilities are being planned to provide a wider range of operations and improved performance and benefits. This paper briefly reviews the evolution of Interval Management and describes current development and deployment plans. It also reviews concepts under development as the next generation of applications.

Barmore, Bryan E.↗