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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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This report describes the activities of the JPL VLBI analysis center for the year 2002. The highlight for the year was the creation of the first sub-milliarcsecond global celestial reference frames at K-band (24 GHz) and Q-band (43 GHz). Our group also continues to do celestial reference frame, earth orientation and spacecraft navigation work at S (2.3 GHz) and X-bands (8.4 GHz).
Transducing materials are being used in many aspects of our daily life serving as actuators, sensors, displays, communications and other components of commercial mechanisms. At JPL, such materials are being used to enable novel space and terrestrial applications. This effort involves mostly the use of piezoelectric, electroactive polymers (EAP), and shape memory alloys (SMA). The piezoelectric based devices and mechanisms that were developed include ultrasonic motors, piezopump, ultrasonic/sonic drilledcorer (USDC), and ferrosource. Further, the electroactive polymers were used to demonstrate a gripper, wiper, lifter and haptic interfaces. The research and develop tasks consists of analytical modeling, experimental corroboration, material characterization as well as devices and mechanisms design, construction and demonstration.
The JPL RAPSO is chartered to divide the limited amount of tracking hours amongst the various missions in as equitable allotment as can be achieved. This paper introduces the concept of the long-range forecasting function, which is performed by the group.
The purpose of this paper is to provide a description of NASA JPL Distributed Systems Technology (DST) section's object-oriented component approach to open inter-operable systems software development and software reuse.
This paper describes some of the software engineering practices that are being used by the Realtime Interferometer Control Systems Testbed (RICST) project at JPL to address integration and integratability issues.
We show how a technology transfer effort was carried out. The successful use of model checking on a pilot JPL flight project demonstrates the usefulness and the efficacy of the approach.
A status of MEMS-based micropropulsion activities conducted at JPL will be given.
Recent accomplishments and programmatic changes in direction of the NASA-funded optical communcations program at JPL are discussed. The applications for the technology are first described. The systems and technologies for both the spapcecraft optical communications terminals and the supporting optical reception infrastructure are covered.
This paper will describe lessons learned in adapting JPL's Multimission Ground Data System (MGDS) to fly the Voyager, Galileo, and Mars Observer missions. We will explain how powerful, existing ground data systems can be adapted and packaged in a cost effective way for operations of small and large planetary missions. We will also describe how the MGDS was adapted to support operations within the Galileo Spacecraft Testbed. The Galileo testbed provided a unique opportunity to adapt MGDS to support command and control operations for a small autonomous operations team with a handful of engineers flying the Galileo Spacecraft flight system model.
This paper provides an overview of some of the recent developments in active microwave systems at JPL. The first section summarizes the engineering and scientific results that were obtained from the two recent flights of the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) on the Shuttle Endeavor. Specific examples of the applications of these data to various scientific disciplines will be discussed. The second section of the paper describes the recent progress in the development of an interferometric SAR system for high-resolution digital topography mapping. Examples of measurements from this technique over areas with earthquakes will be shown. The final section of the paper addresses development of meteorological radars for rain and cloud measurements. The design of an airborne rain mapping radar that was developed to support the Tropical Rain Measuring Mission is summarized. The technical design challenges for this high-frequency radar system will be described.
Three prototypic SP-100 thermoelectric cells, fabricated by Martin Marietta Astro Space in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, were tested in vacuum at prototypic temperatures at JPL. Their thermal and electrical performance were characterized with 200, 300, 400, and 500 degree Celsius temperature gradients across the cell. The latter was representative of prototypic operating conditions with a 1050 degree Celsius hot side temperature and a 550 degree Celsius cold side temperature. The initial thermal and electrical performance of all three cells closely matched predictions.
Within NASA's recent thrust for industrial collaboration, JPL has recently established two technology cooperation agreements in the robotics area: one on virtual reality calibration with Deneb Robotics, Inc., and the other on redundant manipulator control with Robotics Research Corporation (RRC). These technology transfer tasks will enable both Deneb and RRC to commercialize an upgraded version of their products that will greatly benefit both space and terrestrial telerobotic applications.
Active disturbance rejection to minimize optical path length error is illustrated by experimental results from the JPL Phase B Test Bed, which incorporates an interferometric sensor and a controllable trolley mounted on a flexible truss structure. The controller actively isolates the optical instruments from structural vibrations induced by external disturbances consisting of linear combinations of sinusoidal signals.
In order to provide a better understanding of the energy balance and ion composition in solar, stellar, and planetary atmospheres, and in the interstellar medium, a new research facility for the study of interactions of multiply-charged ions has been developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
This report is a summary of the work conducted during a ten-week, full-time, undergraduate internship funded by the JPL Summer Internship Program. From May - July, 2021 I worked remotely as a communications intern with the NASA Disasters Program. I am currently entering my fourth year at Occidental College and will receive a B.A. in geology May 2022. This project was done in partnership with two mentors, Abbey Nastan and Dr. Kimberley Miner.
Within NASA’s highly competitive environment for funding, Human Centered Design (HCD) and cybernetics could provide advantages to proposers during the mission formulation phase. Opportunities are limited when it comes to funding new science missions. Proposers are challenged to make a compelling case about the scientific desirability, technical feasibility, and resource viability of their concepts. Organizations follow established processes for proposal development using teams that typically include scientists, engineers, and managers. These team members are highly experienced subject matter experts (SME) in their own disciplines, and can respond to requirements from the solicitation. However, they are typically not trained as designers and communicators. Their approach is rooted within NASA’s science and technology paradigm. How can we improve the proposal development process, refine workflow between team members, and deliver clear and appealing offerings to the stakeholders and evaluators? These questions have been addressed by today’s most innovative companies (e.g., Apple, Google, 3M, Dyson), where the design process is not limited simply to engineering and management, but involves an all-encompassing approach drawing from fields such as social sciences, design, and the arts. Like these commercial enterprises, NASA currently employs systems thinking and integrated design, but can benefit further by moving beyond its current practices, which are mostly driven by rigid engineering, technology, science, and project management considerations. At JPL’s Innovation Foundry and through the Solar System Mission Formulation Office, we broadened this paradigm by including HCD in the mission formulation workflow. Our goal was to create a proposal with improved clarity and appeal, thus helping our team to communicate its message and aid evaluators with their work. In this paper we provide examples and lessons learned from our recent proposal development effort using HCD. We discuss touch points where we infused non-linear designerly approaches and cybernetic circularity into the workflow. Implemented design topics include operational design for team building; process design throughout distinct phases of the proposal development and writing process; communication design for streamlined exchange of information within the team and to stakeholders; interaction design; graphic design; and creating boundary objects. While these approaches may feel new or foreign to SMEs and managers in the aerospace community, they produced significant benefits in this mission formulation effort. We will describe how such approaches can be used to broaden NASA’s technology-driven paradigm through design, thus creating an environment which fosters innovation, improved communication, and strategic advantage for proposers and their organizations.
Saturn’s moon Titan is an enigmatic icy world whose surface is constantly modified by its active, Earthlike precipitation system. Here, we propose the THUNDER (Titan’s Hydrocarbons: Uncovering New Dimensions of Evolutionary pRocesses) mission concept to investigate how Titan’s surface reflects the nature of its interior and its active hydrocarbon cycle. This mission will change our understanding of Titan’s surface through three science objectives: characterizing the heat and material transport properties of Titan’s icy outer layer, tracing surface liquid storage through and across the crust, and assessing the total hydrocarbon budget through time. This New Frontiers-class mission, designed as part of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Planetary Science Summer School, responds directly to the call for a Titan orbiter in the NASA Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey 2023-2032. THUNDER’s focused geology and geophysics mission could achieve full surface mapping to complement both the Cassini-Huygens and Dragonfly missions using gravity science, radar with three operational modes, and a visible-to-infrared spectrometer. These instruments together could give us the first look at Titan as a fully connected and geologically active world , revolutionizing our understanding of icy bodies, fluvial and atmospheric processes, and habitability across geologic time. Here, we summarize goals of the science mission and engineering approaches, as well as challenges and future directions to study before THUNDER can become a viable mission concept.