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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 NTRS1993

Testing of ROMPS robot mechanical interfaces and compliant device

The Robot Operated Materials Processing System (ROMPS) has been developed at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) under a flight project to investigate commercially promising in-space material processes and to design reflyable robot automated systems to be used in the above processes for low-cost operations. The ROMPS is currently scheduled for flight in 1994 as a Hitchhiker payload in a Get Away Special (GAS) can. An important component of the ROMPS is a three degree-of-freedom (DOF) robot which will be responsible for carrying out the required tasks of in-space processing of selected materials. This report deals with testing of the mating capability of the ROMPS robot fingers with its various mechanical interfaces. In particular, the test plan will focus on studying the capability of a compliance mechanism mounted on the robot fingers in accommodating misalignments between the robot fingers and the interfaces during the mating. The report is organized as follows: Section 2 represents the main components of the ROMPS robot and briefly describes its operations. Section 3 presents the objectives of the test and outlines the test plan. The testbed comprising a Steward Platform-based high precision manipulator and associated data acquisition and control systems is described in Section 4. Section 5 presents results of numerous experiments conducted to study the mating capability of the robot fingers with its various interfaces under misalignments. The report is concluded with observations and recommendations based on the test results.

Nguyen, Charles C.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Flight test evaluation of the E-systems Differential GPS category 3 automatic landing system

Test flights were conducted to evaluate the capability of Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) to provide the accuracy and integrity required for International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Category (CAT) III precision approach and landings. These test flights were part of a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) program to evaluate the technical feasibility of using DGPS based technology for CAT III precision approach and landing applications. An IAI Westwind 1124 aircraft (N24RH) was equipped with DGPS receiving equipment and additional computing capability provided by E-Systems. The test flights were conducted at NASA Ames Research Center's Crows Landing Flight Facility, Crows Landing, California. The flight test evaluation was based on completing 100 approaches and landings. The navigation sensor error accuracy requirements were based on ICAO requirements for the Microwave Landing System (MLS). All of the approaches and landings were evaluated against ground truth reference data provided by a laser tracker. Analysis of these approaches and landings shows that the E-Systems DGPS system met the navigation sensor error requirements for a successful approach and landing 98 out of 100 approaches and landings, based on the requirements specified in the FAA CAT III Level 2 Flight Test Plan. In addition, the E-Systems DGPS system met the integrity requirements for a successful approach and landing or stationary trial for all 100 approaches and landings and all ten stationary trials, based on the requirements specified in the FAA CAT III Level 2 Flight Test Plan.

Kaufmann, David N.↗
NASA NTRS1992

A systems approach to water recovery testing for space life support - Initial biomedical results from the ECLSS Water Recovery Test and plans for testbed utilization

Among the challenges of designing and constructing Space Station Freedom is the development of the water system. A review of past efforts in reclaiming waste water in enclosed environments reveals that there are many gaps in the biomedical understanding of this process. Some of the key uncertainties of human interaction with a closed water system include determining potential contaminants and establishing safe levels of multiple compounds in the enclosed system of Space Station. Another uncertainty is the microbial constituency of such a system and what impact it could have on crew health and performance. The use of iodine as the passive biocide may have both an indirect and direct impact on the crew. In this paper the initial results of the Water Recovery Test are reviewed from a biomedical perspective, revealing areas where more information is needed to develop the ECLSS water system. By including the approach of 'man as a subsystem', consideration is given to how man interacts with the total water system. Taking this systems approach to providing the crew with a safe source of water gives useful insight into the most efficient design and utilization of closed system testbeds.

Aten, Laurie A.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Space Flight Requirements for Fiber Optic Components; Qualification Testing and Lessons Learned

"Qualification" of fiber optic components holds a very different meaning than it did ten years ago. In the past, qualification meant extensive prolonged testing and screening that led to a programmatic method of reliability assurance. For space flight programs today, the combination of using higher performance commercial technology, with shorter development schedules and tighter mission budgets makes long term testing and reliability characterization unfeasible. In many cases space flight missions will be using technology within years of its development and an example of this is fiber laser technology. Although the technology itself is not a new product the components that comprise a fiber laser system change frequently as processes and packaging changes occur. Once a process or the materials for manufacturing a component change, even the data that existed on its predecessor can no longer provide assurance on the newer version. In order to assure reliability during a space flight mission, the component engineer must understand the requirements of the space flight environment as well as the physics of failure of the components themselves. This can be incorporated into an efficient and effective testing plan that "qualifies" a component to specific criteria defined by the program given the mission requirements and the component limitations. This requires interaction at the very initial stages of design between the system design engineer, mechanical engineer, subsystem engineer and the component hardware engineer. Although this is the desired interaction what typically occurs is that the subsystem engineer asks the components or development engineers to meet difficult requirements without knowledge of the current industry situation or the lack of qualification data. This is then passed on to the vendor who can provide little help with such a harsh set of requirements due to high cost of testing for space flight environments. This presentation is designed to guide the engineers of design, development and components, and vendors of commercial components with how to make an efficient and effective qualification test plan with some basic generic information about many space flight requirements. Issues related to the ~ physics of failure, acceptance criteria and lessons learned will also be discussed to assist with understanding how to approach a space flight mission in an ever changing commercial photonics industry.

Ott, Melanie N.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Feasibility Study for Low Drag Acoustic Liners Final Report

This report documents the design and structural analysis as a final deliverable for the Phase 1 contract activity. Also included is a community noise test plan, which is a key deliverable for Phase 2. Finally, a high-level estimate (Phase 3 deliverable) is provided for the work statement of Phases 2-4, which covers the build of two inlet test articles, planning and execution of a flight test with the test inlets, as well as data analysis and final documentation. The two test inlets will be compared to the production baseline inlet configuration. There is also a plan to test one of the inlets "hardwalled" using speed tape or some other similar tape to block the acoustic perforations.

Riedel, Brian↗
NASA NTRS2005

Validation of Commercial Fiber Optic Components for Aerospace Environments

Full qualification for commercial photonic parts as defined by the Military specification system in the past, is not feasible. Due to changes in the photonic components industry and the Military specification system that NASA had relied upon so heavily in the past, an approach to technology validation of commercial off the shelf parts had to be devised. This approach involves knowledge of system requirements, environmental requirements and failure modes of the particular components under consideration. Synthesizing the criteria together with the major known failure modes to formulate a test plan is an effective way of establishing knowledge based "qualification". Although this does not provide the type of reliability assurance that the Military specification system did in the past, it is an approach that allows for increased risk mitigation. The information presented will introduce the audience to the technology validation approach that is currently applied at NASA for the usage of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) fiber optic components for space flight environments. The focus will be on how to establish technology validation criteria for commercial fiber products such that continued reliable performance is assured under the harsh environmental conditions of typical missions. The goal of this presentation is to provide the audience with an approach to formulating a COTS qualification test plan for these devices. Examples from past NASA missions will be discussed.

Ott, Melanie N.↗
NASA NTRS2014

ATLAS LTCS Vertically Challenged System Lessons Learned

Re-planning of LTCS TVAC testing and supporting RTA (Receiver Telescope Assembly) Test Plan and Procedure document preparation. The Laser Thermal Control System (LTCS) is designed to maintain the lasers onboard Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS) at their operational temperatures. In order to verify the functionality of the LTCS, a thermal balance test of the thermal hardware was performed. During the first cold start of the LTCS, the Loop Heat Pipe (LHP) was unable to control the laser mass simulators temperature. The control heaters were fully on and the loop temperature remained well below the desired setpoint. Thermal analysis of the loop did not show these results. This unpredicted behavior of the LTCS was brought up to a panel of LHP experts. Based on the testing and a review of all the data, there were multiple diagnostic performed in order to narrow down the cause. The prevailing theory is that gravity is causing oscillating flow within the loop, which artificially increased the control power needs. This resulted in a replan of the LTCS test flow and the addition of a GSE heater to allow vertical operation.

Loop Heat Pipe↗
NASA NTRS2022

Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Surface Operations Commissioning Phase Overview

This paper presents work done by the Mars 2020 Project to plan, test, and execute the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover surface operations commissioning phase. Immediately after the successful landing of Mars 2020 Perseverance rover at Jezero Crater on February 18, 2021, the rover autonomously initiated mission critical commanding necessary to transition the vehicle from a Cruise/EDL to Surface operations configuration. This began the surface operations commissioning phase, referred to as Surface Operations Transition (SOX). The objective of SOX phase is to establish vehicle health and safety and to verify that the operational characteristics of the vehicle, now operating in the Martian environment, are as-expected and safe to proceed into nominal operations. The SOX commissioning phase is organized into six logical sub-phases occurring in the following chronological order; (1) SOX1a, (2) FSW Transition, (3) SOX1b, (4) SOX2a, (5) Heli, (6) SOX2b. In total, the SOX commissioning phase was expected to take up-to 111 sols (Martian days). The Perseverance rover is an extremely complex, highly-integrated, robotic system-of-systems that requires numerous activities to incrementally and methodically verify their safe operations. This paper will discuss the development process used to plan, test, and execute the SOX commissioning phase for Mars 2020 Perseverance rover surface operations. We will discuss key challenges associated with SOX development as well as actual operations execution experience.

Koch, Justin↗
NASA NTRS1973

Launch vehicle test and checkout plan. - Volume 2: Saturn 1B launch vehicle Skylab R (rescue) and AS-208 flow plan and listings

The launch operations test and checkout plan is a planning document that establishes all launch site checkout activity, including the individual tests and sequence of testing required to fulfill the development center and KSC test and checkout requirements. This volume contains the launch vehicle test and checkout plan encompassing S-1B, S-4B, IU stage, and ground support equipment tests. The plan is based upon AS-208 flow utilizing a manned spacecraft, LUT 1, and launch pad 39B facilities.

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NASA NTRS1967

Solar simulation studies Summary

Solar simulation - paint testing, planning for high altitude tests of spectral irradiance, pressure arc and vortex stabilized radiation systems, and thermal control coating tests

SOLAR SIMULATION↗
NASA NTRS1978

Planned flight test of a mercury ion auxiliary propulsion system. Part 2: Integration with host spacecraft

The objectives of the flight test and a description on how those objectives are in support of an overall program goal of attaining user application were described. The approach to accomplishment was presented as it applies to integrating the propulsion system with the host spacecraft. A number of known interface design considerations which affect the propulsion system and the spacecraft were discussed. Analogies were drawn comparing the relationship of the organizations involved with this flight test with those anticipated for future operational missions. The paper also expanded upon objectives, system description, mission operations, and measurement of plume effects.

Knight, R. M.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Planned flight test of a mercury ion auxiliary propulsion system. II - Integration with host spacecraft

This is part II of a three-part paper describing the approved flight test of a mercury ion auxiliary propulsion system. The objectives of the flight test are summarized with reference to user application. The approach to accomplishment is presented as it applies to integrating the propulsion system with the host spacecraft, USAF's STP P80-1. A number of known interface design considerations which affect the propulsion system and the spacecraft are discussed. Finally, analogies are drawn comparing the relationship of the organizations involved with this flight test with those anticipated for future operational missions. Attention is given to the viewpoint of the project office

Knight, R. M.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Development of robotics facility docking test hardware

Design and fabricate test hardware for NASA's George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) are reported. A docking device conceptually developed was fabricated, and two docking targets which provide high and low mass docking loads were required and were represented by an aft 61.0 cm section of a Hubble space telescope (ST) mockup and an upgrading of an existing multimission modular spacecraft (MSS) mockup respectively. A test plan is developed for testing the hardware.

Loughead, T. E.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Advanced long term cryogenic storage systems

Long term, cryogenic fluid storage facilities will be required to support future space programs such as the space-based Orbital Transfer Vehicle (OTV), Telescopes, and Laser Systems. An orbital liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen storage system with an initial capacity of approximately 200,000 lb will be required. The storage facility tank design must have the capability of fluid acquisition in microgravity and limit cryogen boiloff due to environmental heating. Cryogenic boiloff management features, minimizing Earth-to-orbit transportation costs, will include advanced thick multilayer insulation/integrated vapor cooled shield concepts, low conductance support structures, and refrigeration/reliquefaction systems. Contracted study efforts are under way to develop storage system designs, technology plans, test article hardware designs, and develop plans for ground/flight testing.

Brown, Norman S.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Electromechanical propellant control system actuator

New control mechanism technologies are currently being sought to provide alternatives to hydraulic actuation systems. The Propulsion Laboratory at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is involved in the development of electromechanical actuators (EMA's) for this purpose. Through this effort, an in-house designed electromechanical propellant valve actuator has been assembled and is presently being evaluated. This evaluation will allow performance comparisons between EMA and hydraulics systems. The in-house design consists of the following hardware: a three-phase brushless motor, a harmonic drive, and an output spline which will mate with current Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) propellant control valves. A resolver and associated electronics supply position feedback for the EMA. System control is provided by a solid-state electronic controller and power supply. Frequency response testing has been performed with further testing planned as hardware and test facilities become available.

Myers, W. Neill↗
NASA NTRS1992

In-step Two-phase Flow (TPF) Thermal Control Experiment

The Two-Phase Flow Thermal Control Experiment is part of the NASA/OAST In-Space Technology Experiments (In-STEP) Program. The experiment is configured for the Hitchhiker Shuttle payload system and consists of a capillary pumped loop, heatpipe radiator, and two-phase flow heat exchanger. The flight experiment design approach, test plan, payload design, and test components are described in outline and graphic form.

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