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At least 37 records · Page 2

Developing the Next Generation of Science Data System Engineers

At Goddard, engineers and scientists with a range of experience in science data systems are needed to employ new technologies and develop advances in capabilities for supporting new Earth and Space science research. Engineers with extensive experience in science data, software engineering and computer-information architectures are needed to lead and perform these activities. The increasing types and complexity of instrument data and emerging computer technologies coupled with the current shortage of computer engineers with backgrounds in science has led the need to develop a career path for science data systems engineers and architects.The current career path, in which undergraduate students studying various disciplines such as Computer Engineering or Physical Scientist, generally begins with serving on a development team in any of the disciplines where they can work in depth on existing Goddard data systems or serve with a specific NASA science team. There they begin to understand the data, infuse technologies, and begin to know the architectures of science data systems. From here the typical career involves peermentoring, on-the-job training or graduate level studies in analytics, computational science and applied science and mathematics. At the most senior level, engineers become subject matter experts and system architect experts, leading discipline-specific data centers and large software development projects. They are recognized as a subject matter expert in a science domain, they have project management expertise, lead standards efforts and lead international projects. A long career development remains necessary not only because of the breadth of knowledge required across physical sciences and engineering disciplines, but also because of the diversity of instrument data being developed today both by NASA and international partner agencies and because multidiscipline science and practitioner communities expect to have access to all types of observational data.This paper describes an approach to defining career-path guidance for college-bound high school and undergraduate engineering students, junior and senior engineers from various disciplines.

Next Generation of Science↗

Integrated Methane Monitoring Platform Design (Final Report)

As the urgency for understanding methane emissions and the number of methane monitoring technologies being deployed have increased in the last two decades, there is an opportunity and a need to integrate the numerous disparate data sources to enable the detection, quantification, contextualization, and reporting of methane emissions along the oil and gas supply chain. Such an integration would enable emissions reductions through early detection of super emitters, data-driven mitigation strategies, and improved greenhouse gas inventories. The GTI Energy (“GTI”) project team (“the team”) worked with a multitude of industry experts, stakeholders, and subject matter experts (SMEs) to collect guidance, insights, and information to inform the requirements and subsequent engineering, design, deployment, and operations of an integrated methane monitoring platform (IMMP). This final report describes the results of the team’s effort to execute the Integrated Methane Monitoring Platform Design project, ultimately providing an engineering, design, deployment, and operating plan (EDDOP) for the IMMP. This final report summarizes and integrates the project tasks' results and outputs.

03 NATURAL GAS↗

Supporting Information for the Integrated Methane Monitoring Platform Design (Final Report)

As the urgency for understanding methane emissions and the number of methane monitoring technologies being deployed have increased in the last two decades, there is an opportunity and a need to integrate the numerous disparate data sources to enable the detection, quantification, contextualization, and reporting of methane emissions along the oil and gas supply chain. Such an integration would enable emissions reductions through early detection of super emitters, data-driven mitigation strategies, and improvedgreenhouse gas inventories. The GTI Energy (“GTI”)project team (“the team”) worked with a multitude of industry experts, stakeholders, and subject matter experts (SMEs) to collect guidance, insights, and information to inform the requirements and subsequent engineering, design, deployment, and operations of an integrated methane monitoring platform (IMMP). This final report describes the results of the team’s effort to execute the Integrated Methane Monitoring Platform Design project, ultimately providing an engineering, design, deployment, and operating plan (EDDOP) for the IMMP. This document provides additional information supporting the findings in the final report.

03 NATURAL GAS↗

NASA Earthdata Forums: An Interactive Venue for Discussions of NASA Data and Earth Science

We demonstrate how students and teachers can register to use the NASA Earthdata Forums. The NASA Earthdata forums provide a venue where registered users can pose questions regarding NASA Earth science data in a moderated forum, and have their questions answered by data experts and scientific subject matter experts connected with NASA Earth science missions and projects. Since the forums are also available for research scientists to pose questions and discuss pertinent topics, the NASA Earthdata Forums provide a unique opportunity for students and teachers to gain insight from expert scientists and enhance their knowledge of the many different ways that NASA Earth observations can be used in research and applications.

user foru↗

NASA's Unsteady Pressure-Sensitive Paint Research and Operational Capability Developments

In the last three years, several advancements have been made to produce a new state-of-the-art capability in the field of Aerosciences. NASA’s Aerosciences Evaluations and Test Capabilities (AETC) Portfolio Office has funded a multi-year project to produce the unsteady Pressure-Sensitive Paint (uPSP) technology as an operational capability in key ground test facilities at NASA. The research and development has primarily been conducted at NASA Ames Research Center’s (ARC) Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel (UPWT) 11-by 11-ft Transonic Wind Tunnel (TWT). The NASA ARC UPWT is one of the ground test facilities under NASA AETC’s Portfolio Office. AETC’s goals are to provide the tools to deliver the technology innovations and breakthroughs necessary to address increasingly complex research and development challenges. AETC’s integrated approach will consider the complimentary high-end compute capabilities necessary to advance analysis in conjunction with ground experimental capabilities. The uPSP Capability Challenge Project is a demonstration of several different technologies: 1) the unsteady Pressure-Sensitive Paint (uPSP) technology, and 2) Project: Red Rover, establishing a secure, reliable, fast connection between experimental and computation facilities, leveraging NASA’s computational resources within the High-End Compute Capability (HECC) Project for processing, storing, and sharing data efficiently. This project demonstrates the technical diversity and technical inclusion need to advance the field of Aerosciences. The approach to combine subject matter experts in experimental methods, optical methods, production wind tunnel testing, network engineering, high-end computing, signal processing, grid generation, and visualization while establishing the required infrastructure for subject matter experts to have access to the data while the wind tunnel test is being conducted. The most recent advancements for the uPSP technology have focused on three key areas: development of data products, robust processing pipeline, operational efficiencies and uncertainty quantification.

buffet↗

A Rapid Assessment of a Lunar Surface Laboratory Module

Johnson Space Center has piloted an innovation team known as the Forge to perform rapid turnaround, concurrent engineering studies. The Forge is intended to be able to pull together a team of strategically selected domain experts to innovatively solve a specified problem within a short period of time. The Forge’s inaugural project was the development of a Lunar Surface Laboratory Module concept. The lab module is intended as an option for the NASA Lunar Architecture Team and may allow for increased science productivity and return on investment than with only the Surface Habitat. The Forge team developed two concepts, a stationary laboratory and a mobile laboratory. Human factors evaluations have been conducted to determine the acceptability of the resulting design concepts. The human factors evaluations conducted include a card sort evaluation of the laboratories by science discipline and the System Usability Scale (SUS). The card sort focused subject matter expert expectations for the relative positioning of the laboratory functional areas, determining whether a given lab area should be adjacent to, or separated from, another. The SUS focused on layout efficiency. Both used human factors personnel and both life and physical scientists as subject matter experts. Each of these evaluations will focus primarily on objective data with limited subjective comments, reducing the time required for processing responses. The results of the card sort and SUS evaluations and their implications will be discussed. Based on the evaluation data, an overall acceptability of the Lunar Surface Laboratory Module produced by the Forge study can be determined. Lessons learned and recommendations for future use of human factors rapid assessment processes in early design trades will also be provided.

Forge↗

Rapid Assessment of a Lunar Surface Laboratory Module

Johnson Space Center has piloted an innovation team known as the Forge to perform rapid turnaround, concurrent engineering studies. The Forge is intended to be able to pull together a team of strategically selected domain experts to innovatively solve a specified problem within a short period of time. The Forge’s inaugural project was the development of a Lunar Surface Laboratory Module concept. The lab module is intended as an option for the NASA Lunar Architecture Team and may allow for increased science productivity and return on investment than with only the Surface Habitat. The Forge team developed two concepts, a stationary laboratory and a mobile laboratory. Human factors evaluations have been conducted to determine the acceptability of the resulting design concepts. The human factors evaluations conducted include a card sort evaluation of the laboratories by science discipline and the System Usability Scale (SUS). The card sort is focused subject matter expert expectations for the relative positioning of the laboratory functional areas, determining whether a given lab area should be adjacent to, or separated from, another. The SUS will focus on layout efficiency. Both will use human factors personnel and both life and physical scientists as subject matter experts. Each of these evaluations will focus primarily on objective data with limited subjective comments, reducing the time required for processing responses. The results of the card sort and SUS evaluations and their implications will be discussed. Based on the evaluation data, an overall acceptability of the Lunar Surface Laboratory Module produced by the Forge study can be determined. Lessons learned and recommendations for future use of human factors rapid assessment processes in early design trades will also be provided.

Human Factors↗

Identifying Disinformation Using Rhetorical Devices in Natural Language Models

Foreign disinformation campaigns are strategically organized, extended efforts using disinformation – false or misleading information deliberately placed by an adversary – to achieve some goal. Disinformation campaigns pose severe threats to our nation’s security by misinforming decision makers and negatively influencing their actions when they are operating on limited amounts of evidence. Current efforts rely on subject matter experts to manually identify disinformation, or on computers and traditional natural language processing algorithms to identify patterns in data to calculate the probability that something is disinformation or not. While both have their merits and successes, subject matter experts are unable to keep up with the high volumes of global information and traditional natural language algorithms do not do well in identifying “why” something is disinformation or not. Our hypothesis is that we can identify disinformation by looking at the way someone speaks, in the rhetorical devices they use. We have curated and annotated a dataset designed for multiple natural language processing tasks, but specifically useful for disinformation detection algorithms.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Radioisotope Power Systems Reference Book for Mission Designers and Planners

The RPS Program's Program Planning and Assessment (PPA) Office commissioned the Mission Analysis team to develop the Radioisotope Power Systems (RPS) Reference Book for Mission Planners and Designers to define a baseline of RPS technology capabilities with specific emphasis on performance parameters and technology readiness. The main objective of this book is to provide RPS technology information that could be utilized by future mission concept studies and concurrent engineering practices. A progress summary from the major branches of RPS technology research provides mission analysis teams with a vital tool for assessing the RPS trade space, and provides concurrent engineering centers with a consistent set of guidelines for RPS performance characteristics. This book will be iterated when substantial new information becomes available to ensure continued relevance, serving as one of the cornerstone products of the RPS PPA Office. This book updates the original 2011 internal document, using data from the relevant publicly released RPS technology references and consultations with RPS technologists. Each performance parameter and RPS product subsection has been reviewed and cleared by at least one subject matter representative. A virtual workshop was held to reach consensus on the scope and contents of the book, and the definitions and assumptions that should be used. The subject matter experts then reviewed and updated the appropriate sections of the book. The RPS Mission Analysis Team then performed further updates and crosschecked the book for consistency. Finally, a second virtual workshop was held to ensure all subject matter experts and stakeholders concurred on the contents.

Lee, Young↗

Singe Library Review: XCAP Review Report

Singe is a computational library for simulating thermonuclear reactions written in C++14. It was inspired by the earlier Singe library, developed by Joann Campbell. From the beginning of the Singe project, the goal has been to create a library that provides the necessary functionality, runs efficiently, and is flexible enough to connect to a variety of multi-physics host codes. Such a library allows subject-matter experts to focus on development within the library, while library staff can support host-code staff in integrating Singe into their multi-physics codes. A common library used across multiple multi-physics codes allows those subject-matter experts to roll out new features to all host codes simultaneously, and eases the process of code-to-code comparison between codes that are leveraging the same physics in different ways. The Singe effort was established by Joann Campbell, who provided significant guidance on the goals, requirements, and philosophy of the library. It has been developed by Brendan K. Krueger, CJ Solomon, Jesse Canfield, and Terry Adams, with computer science support from Tyler Reddy and Karen Tsai. Discussions with multiple potential stakeholders have been critical to the planning of such a cross-cutting project, including representatives from multiple host codes and Brian Haines who helped define usage and needs for the inertial confinement fusion (ICF) program. This document is based on the XCAP review process. It is an updated version of the initial document distributed to the reviewers, memo XCP-2:21-005. We want to acknowledge the time and effort of the reviewers who participated in this process: Philipp Edelmann, Alan Harrison, Christopher Malone, Edward Norris, Ryosuke Park, Galen Shipman, CJ Solomon, and any others who may have contributed to the feedback that was provided to us.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Augmenting Conceptual Design Trajectory Tradespace Exploration with Graph Theory

Within conceptual design changes occur rapidly due to a combination of uncertainty and shifting requirements. To stay relevant in this fluid time, trade studies must also be performed rapidly. In order to drive down analysis time while improving the information gained by these studies, surrogate models can be created to represent the complex output of a tool or tools within a specified tradespace. In order to create this model however, a large amount of data must be collected in a short amount of time. By this method, the historical approach of relying on subject matter experts to generate the data required is schedule infeasible. However, by implementing automation and distributed analysis the required data can be generated in a fraction of the time. Previous work focused on setting up a tool called multiPOST capable of orchestrating many simultaneous runs of an analysis tool assessing these automated analyses utilizing heuristics gleaned from the best practices of current subject matter experts. In this update to the previous work, elements of graph theory are included to further drive down analysis time by leveraging data previously gathered. It is shown to outperform the previous method in both time required, and the quantity and quality of data produced.

Dees, Patrick D.↗

Augmenting Conceptual Design Trajectory Tradespace Exploration with Graph Theory

Within conceptual design changes occur rapidly due to a combination of uncertainty and shifting requirements. To stay relevant in this fluid time, trade studies must also be performed rapidly. In order to drive down analysis time while improving the information gained by these studies, surrogate models can be created to represent the complex output of a tool or tools within a specified tradespace. In order to create this model however, a large amount of data must be collected in a short amount of time. By this method, the historical approach of relying on subject matter experts to generate the data required is schedule infeasible. However, by implementing automation and distributed analysis the required data can be generated in a fraction of the time. Previous work focused on setting up a tool called multiPOST capable of orchestrating many simultaneous runs of an analysis tool assessing these automated analyses utilizing heuristics gleaned from the best practices of current subject matter experts. In this update to the previous work, elements of graph theory are included to further drive down analysis time by leveraging data previously gathered. It is shown to outperform the previous method in both time required, and the quantity and quality of data produced.

Dees, Patrick D.↗

NASA Human Research Wiki - An Online Collaboration Tool

In preparation for exploration-class missions, the Exploration Medical Capability (ExMC) element of NASA's Human Research Program (HRP) has compiled a large evidence base, which previously was available only to persons within the NASA community. The evidence base is comprised of several types of data, for example: information on more than 80 medical conditions which could occur during space flight, derived from several sources (including data on incidence and potential outcomes of these medical conditions, as captured in the Integrated Medical Model's Clinical Finding Forms). In addition, approximately 35 gap reports are included in the evidence base, identifying current understanding of the medical challenges for exploration, as well as any gaps in knowledge and/or technology that would need to be addressed in order to provide adequate medical support for these novel missions. In an effort to make the ExMC information available to the general public and increase collaboration with subject matter experts within and outside of NASA, ExMC has developed an online collaboration tool, very similar to a wiki, titled the NASA Human Research Wiki. The platform chosen for this data sharing, and the potential collaboration it could generate, is a MediaWiki-based application that would house the evidence, allow "read only" access to all visitors to the website, and editorial access to credentialed subject matter experts who have been approved by the Wiki's editorial board. Although traditional wikis allow users to edit information in real time, the NASA Human Research Wiki includes a peer review process to ensure quality and validity of information. The wiki is also intended to be a pathfinder project for other HRP elements that may want to use this type of web-based tool. The wiki website will be released with a subset of the data described and will continue to be populated throughout the year.

Barr, Y. R.↗

Toward a machine-guided approach to energetic material discovery

In this article, we trained a machine learning (ML) model to connect microstructural details of an energetic material formulation to its performance for the purpose of guiding the discovery of new explosive formulations. Our hypothesis was that the algorithm would robustly learn the training data and produce an accurate surrogate model. Specifically, the algorithm learned the relationship between details of the void size distribution (VSD), initiating shock pressure, and the energetic material performance. We used realistic constraints on the VSD and a range of cases were ingested by a physically informed reactive flow model working within a hydrodynamic solver running on high-performance computing resources. The ML algorithm produced a surrogate model that accurately predicted known test points around the parameter space. In addition to the utility of the model and the process used for its development, we noted interesting comparisons between what we, the authors—subject matter experts, would heuristically conclude from the training data and the surrogate model predictions. We detected nuanced details that were missed by the surrogate model; however, these details are not important to an energetic material formulator. We concluded that the algorithm did indeed robustly learn the training data and produce an accurate surrogate model. We further concluded that the surrogate model is a powerful tool to guide the formulator in the absence of subject matter experts and limited-access computing resources.

42 ENGINEERING↗

[Determine and Implement Updates to Be Made to MODEAR (Mission Operations Data Enterprise Architecture Repository)]

My main project was to determine and implement updates to be made to MODEAR (Mission Operations Data Enterprise Architecture Repository) process definitions to be used for CST-100 (Crew Space Transportation-100) related missions. Emphasis was placed on the scheduling aspect of the processes. In addition, I was to complete other tasks as given. Some of the additional tasks were: to create pass-through command look-up tables for the flight controllers, finish one of the MDT (Mission Operations Directorate Display Tool) displays, gather data on what is included in the CST-100 public data, develop a VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) script to create a csv (Comma-Separated Values) file with specific information from spreadsheets containing command data, create a command script for the November MCC-ASIL (Mission Control Center-Avionics System Integration Laboratory) testing, and take notes for one of the TCVB (Terminal Configured Vehicle B-737) meetings. In order to make progress in my main project I scheduled meetings with the appropriate subject matter experts, prepared material for the meetings, and assisted in the discussions in order to understand the process or processes at hand. After such discussions I made updates to various MODEAR processes and process graphics. These meetings have resulted in significant updates to the processes that were discussed. In addition, the discussions have helped the departments responsible for these processes better understand the work ahead and provided material to help document how their products are created. I completed my other tasks utilizing resources available to me and, when necessary, consulting with the subject matter experts. Outputs resulting from my other tasks were: two completed and one partially completed pass through command look-up tables for the fight controllers, significant updates to one of the MDT displays, a spreadsheet containing data on what is included in the CST-100 public data, a tool to create a csv file with specific information from spreadsheets containing command data, a command script for the November MCC-ASIL testing which resulted in a successful test day identifying several potential issues, and notes from one of the TCVB meetings that was used to keep the teams up to date on what was discussed and decided. I have learned a great deal working at NASA these last four months. I was able to meet and work with amazing individuals, further develop my technical knowledge, expand my knowledge base regarding human spaceflight, and contribute to the CST-100 missions. My work at NASA has strengthened my desire to continue my education in order to make further contributions to the field, and has given me the opportunity to see the advantages of a career at NASA.

Fanourakis, Sofia↗

OSCAR-Mike: Why not ATAK?

The Office of Nuclear Smuggling Detection and Deterrence (NSDD) is evaluating methods to increase the probability that international partners will detect radioactive materials. One proposed method to accomplish this goal is to improve communications within teams operating in challenging environments. The goal of these improvements would be to enable remote monitoring of detection equipment, share data among end users in the field and subject matter experts, and integrate data from radiation detectors with other types of sensors and camera systems. Accomplishing this goal has the potential to improve the capabilities of currently deployed NSDD equipment. During FY 2021, Oak Ridge National Laboratory demonstrated some core and expanded capabilities of the Android Team Awareness Kit (ATAK), a situational awareness application developed by the US Department of Defense, to enable precision targeting, navigation, and data sharing. During FY 2022, Oak Ridge National Laboratory developed software requirements for an NSDD team awareness kit–based system. The requirements were developed by liaising with NSDD management and subject matter experts to determine NSDD’s needs and by reviewing available software and hardware solutions with US Department of Defense team awareness kit program managers and developers and radiation detection equipment vendors.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Human-in-the-Loop Evaluation of Dynamic Multi-Flight Common Route Advisories

Flights often experience large delays when they are routed around weather. Multi-flight common route advisories provide delay recovery by suggesting time-saving re-routes for groups of flights whose current weather-avoidance routes have become outdated because the weather has dissipated and/or moved away. A laboratory evaluation of these advisories was conducted by four subject matter experts having extensive experience in traffic flow management operations. These experts provided a total of 120 data points in the airspace of Houston Center. The multi-flight common route tool provides time-saving route change advisories taking into account flight plans, wind fields, and the spatio-temporal evolution of predicted convective weather. It is not designed to account for complex operational factors such as non-standard sector traversal and interactions with local traffic management initiatives; hence a relatively low percentage (37%) of advisories generated by the tool were rated as acceptable. However, a high percentage (81%) of advisories were rated as acceptable after the subject matter experts used the tool's user interface to make route modifications that accounted for relevant operational factors not considered by the tool. The workload associated with using the tool, as measured by the NASA Task Load Index, was quite low (1.1 on a scale of 0 to 10). The results of this evaluation make a good case for human-automation teaming to design operationally valid weather re-routes for delay recovery.

Traffic Flow Management↗

Human-in-the-Loop Evaluation of Dynamic Multi-Flight Common Route Advisories

Flights often experience large delays when they are routed around weather. Multi-flight common route advisories provide delay recovery by suggesting time-saving re-routes for groups of flights whose current weather-avoidance routes have become outdated because the weather has dissipated and/or moved away. A laboratory evaluation of these advisories was conducted by four subject matter experts having extensive experience in traffic flow management operations. These experts provided a total of 120 data points in the airspace of Houston Center. The multi-flight common route tool provides time-saving route change advisories taking into account flight plans, wind fields, and the spatio-temporal evolution of predicted convective weather. It is not designed to account for complex operational factors such as non-standard sector traversal and interactions with local traffic management initiatives; hence a relatively low percentage (37%) of advisories generated by the tool were rated as acceptable. However, a high percentage (81%) of advisories were rated as acceptable after the subject matter experts used the tool's user interface to make route modifications that accounted for relevant operational factors not considered by the tool. The workload associated with using the tool, as measured by the NASA Task Load Index, was quite low (1.1 on a scale of 0 to 10). The results of this evaluation make a good case for human-automation teaming to design operationally valid weather re-routes for delay recovery.

Traffic Flow Management↗