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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 379 records · Page 21

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

NASA NTRS1974

Monitoring physical and chemical parameters of Delaware Bay waters with an ERTS-1 data collection platform

The author has identified the following significant results. Evaluation of the probe performances during the initial phase indicates that the dissolved oxygen sensor available as part of the package is not sufficiently reliable for long term operation. The turbidity probe requires frequent visits to the site to maintain it in proper operating condition. The cost of these visits would have to be weighed against the information obtained. The conductivity/salinity, temperature, pH, and depth indicators have worked extremely well over the course of the study. Monthly cleanings would maintain all these probes in top operating condition. Currently the accuracy of each measurement returned via satellite is being compared to the accuracy of the probe reading and water samples analyzed in the laboratory.

Klemas, V.↗

NASA NTRS1980

An advanced terrain modeler for an autonomous planetary rover

A roving vehicle capable of autonomously exploring the surface of an alien world is under development and an advanced terrain modeler to characterize the possible paths of the rover as hazardous or safe is presented. This advanced terrain modeler has several improvements over the Troiani modeler that include: a crosspath analysis, better determination of hazards on slopes, and methods for dealing with missing returns at the extremities of the sensor field. The results from a package of programs to simulate the roving vehicle are then examined and compared to results from the Troiani modeler.

Hunter, E. L.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Impact dynamics instrumentation

One of the tasks specified in the NASA Langley controlled impact demonstration (CID) work package was to furnish dynamic instrumentation sensors. The types of instrumentation sensors required were accelerometers for aircraft structural loads measurements, seat belt load cells to measure anthropomorphic dummy responses to the aircraft impact, and strain gage bending bridges to measure the aircraft fuselage and wing bending during impact. The objective in the selection of dynamic instrumentation for the CID was to provide 352 of the highest quality transducers and remain within budget allocation. The transducers that were selected for the CID evaluation process were each subjected to rigorous laboratory acceptance tests and to aircraft fuselage section drop tests at the LaRC Impact Dynamics Research Facility. Data compiled from this series of tests showed the selected transducers to be best suited for the CID mission requirement. The transducers installation technique on the airframe proved successful. The transducer quality assurance was guaranteed through rigorous acceptance testing. Data acquired was 97.0%.

Mccormck, R. F.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Expert systems for adaptive control of large space structures

It is expected that space systems for the future will evolve to structures of unprecedented size with associated extreme control requirements. A method is necessary that is sufficiently general to initiate stable control of a vehicle and subsequently learn the true nature of the structure. It is suggested that a suitable constructed expert system (ES) would be capable of learning by appending observations to a knowledge base. To verify that an ES can control a large space structure, numerical simulations of a simple structure subjected to periodic vibrations and the performance of a classical controllers were performed. The ES was then exercised to show its ability to truthfully mimic nominal control and to demonstrate its superiority to the classical controller, given sensor failures. An ES generating software package, The Intelligent Machine Model, was employed. It uses the pattern matching technique. Results of this program are discussed.

Gartrell, Charles F.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Adjustable Support For Instrument Package

Strong, lightweight structure designed to support instrument package. Provides choice of attachment locations to accommodate variety of sizes and shapes. Composed of seven webbed metal parts. Honeycomb panels cover vertical sides of structure. Instrumentation package, such as telescope or infrared sensor, bolted to top of structure. Accompanying electronics boxes mounted on inside surfaces of panels. Weight of instrumentation carried in direct paths through webbed members to base plate. Structure used for submillimeter-wave astronomy satellite.

Sneiderman, Gary↗

NASA NTRS1995

Visualization of the electrostatic potential distribution in both polar ionospheres using multiple satellite measurements

During the time from December 1991 through March 1992, there were four operational DMSP satellites in polar orbit. All four satellites carried the Special Sensor-Ions, Electrons, Scintillation (SSIES) plasma package which included an ion drift meter. Data from the drift meter, combined with the magnetic field data, allowed the calculation of the electrostatic potential in the ionosphere along the satellite's path. Simultaneous polar coverage by four satellites was unprecedented, providing researchers with almost continuous monitoring of the potential distribution in both hemispheres for the four month period. Combining the magnitude and location of the potential data from each of the four satellites in order to examine the varying potential distribution pattern in both hemispheres presented a major challenge in data visualization. The problem was solved by developing a three-dimensional presentation of the data where the potentials are color coded and represented by the vertical dimension. This paper presents examples from a computer animation of several days of data demonstrating evolution of the size and shape of the potential distribution, along with how these changes correspond to variations in other geophysical parameters, such as the IMF orientation and the K(sub p) index.

Hairston, Marc R.↗

NASA NTRS1999

Cryogenic High Pressure Sensor Module

A pressure sensor is provided for cryogenic, high pressure applications. A highly doped silicon piezoresistive pressure sensor is bonded to a silicon substrate in an absolute pressure sensing configuration. The absolute pressure sensor is bonded to an aluminum nitride substrate. Aluminum nitride has appropriate coefficient of thermal expansion for use with highly doped silicon at cryogenic temperatures. A group of sensors, either two sensors on two substrates or four sensors on a single substrate are packaged in a pressure vessel.

Chapman, John J.↗

NASA NTRS2001

Cryogenic, Absolute, High Pressure Sensor

John J Chapman↗

NASA NTRS2007

Status of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's Participation in SNAP

Dr. Rauscher will present programatic status and high-level/summary information on the technical status of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's participation in the SuperNova Acceleration Probe (SNAP). Goddard's participation falls into four areas, and status in each of these will be covered. These areas are as follows: (I) focal plane array and packaging, (2) Teledyne HAWAII-4RG sensor chip assembly, (3) communications studies, and (4) integration and test studies.

Rauscher, Bernard↗

NASA NTRS2011

AXIOM: Advanced X-Ray Imaging of the Magnetosphere

Planetary plasma and magnetic field environments can be studied in two complementary ways by in situ measurements, or by remote sensing. While the former provide precise information about plasma behaviour, instabilities and dynamics on local scales, the latter offers the global view necessary to understand the overall interaction of the magnetospheric plasma with the solar wind. Some parts of the Earth's magnetosphere have been remotely sensed, but the majority remains unexplored by this type of measurements. Here we propose a novel and more elegant approach employing remote X-ray imaging techniques, which are now possible thanks to the relatively recent discovery of solar wind charge exchange X-ray emissions in the vicinity of the Earth's magnetosphere. In this article we describe how an appropriately designed and located X-ray telescope, supported by simultaneous in situ measurements of the solar wind, can be used to image the dayside magnetosphere, magnetosheath and bow shock, with a temporal and spatial resolution sufficient to address several key outstanding questions concerning how the solar wind interacts with the Earth's magnetosphere on a global level. Global images of the dayside magnetospheric boundaries require vantage points well outside the magnetosphere. Our studies have led us to propose AXIOM: Advanced X-ray Imaging Of the Magnetosphere, a concept mission using a Vega launcher with a LISA Pathfinder-type Propulsion Module to place the spacecraft in a Lissajous orbit around the Earth Moon L1 point. The model payload consists of an X-ray Wide Field Imager, capable of both imaging and spectroscopy, and an in situ plasma and magnetic field measurement package. This package comprises a Proton-Alpha Sensor, designed to measure the bulk properties of the solar wind, an Ion Composition Analyser, to characterize the minor ion populations in the solar wind that cause charge exchange emission, and a Magnetometer, designed to measure the strength and direction of the solar wind magnetic field. We also show simulations that demonstrate how the proposed X-ray telescope design is capable of imaging the predicted emission from the dayside magnetosphere with the sensitivity and cadence required to achieve the science goals of the mission.

Branduardi-Raymont, G.↗

NASA NTRS2012

AXIOM: Advanced X-ray Imaging of the Magnetosphere

Planetary plasma and magnetic field environments can be studied in two complementary ways - by in situ measurements, or by remote sensing. While the former provide precise information about plasma behaviour, instabilities and dynamics on local scales, the latter offers the global view necessary to understand the overall interaction of the magnetospheric plasma with the solar wind. Some parts of the Earth's magnetosphere have been remotely sensed, but the majority remains unexplored by this type of measurements. Here we propose a novel and more elegant approach employing remote X-ray imaging techniques. which are now possible thanks to the relatively recent discovery of solar wind charge exchange X-ray emissions in the vicinity of the Earth's magnetosphere. In this article we describe how an appropriately designed and located. X-ray telescope, supported by simultaneous in situ measurements of the solar wind, can be used to image the dayside magnetosphere, magnetosheath and bow shock. with a temporal and spatial resolution sufficient to address several key outstanding questions concerning how the solar wind interacts with the Earth's magnetosphere on a global level. Global images of the dayside magnetospheric boundaries require vantage points well outside the magnetosphere. Our studies have led us to propose 'AXIOM: Advanced X-ray Imaging Of the Magnetosphere', a concept mission using a Vega launcher with a LISA Pathfinder-type Propulsion Module to place the spacecraft in a Lissajous orbit around the Earth - Moon Ll point. The model payload consists of an X-ray Wide Field Imager, capable of both imaging and spectroscopy, and an in situ plasma and magnetic field measurement package. This package comprises a Proton-Alpha Sensor, designed to measure the bulk properties of the solar wind, an Ion Composition Analyser, to characterize the minor ion populations in the solar wind that cause charge exchange emission, and a Magnetometer, designed to measure the strength and direction of the solar wind magnetic field. We also show simulations that demonstrate how the proposed X-ray telescope design is capable of imaging the predicted emission from the dayside magnetosphere with the sensitivity and cadence required to achieve the science goals of the mission.

Branduardi-Raymont, G.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

A Simulation Architecture for Air Traffic Over Urban Environments Supporting Autonomy Research in Advanced Air Mobility

NASA is conducting investigations into Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) concepts, aircraft, and operations. One of the most challenging scenarios for AAM will be enabling safe routine access into densely populated urban centers. To address challenges in the urban environment, a moderately high-fidelity simulation capability is needed to investigate AAM flight operations over a regional area for the development and evaluation of autonomy technologies. This paper describes a system to simulate flight operations around regions such as the San Francisco-Oakland Bay area at a moderately-high scale (10's-100's of flights) that incorporates detailed vehicle models and control necessary to support research in airborne autonomy. The flight vehicle utilizes NASA AAM concept vehicle dynamics integrated with a custom flight management system and flight control system to accurately simulate all phases of flight. Glass cockpit displays have been developed for monitoring aircraft operation over a detailed simulated urban environment. Simulation models have been integrated to simulate air and ground-based sensors, such as radar and LIDAR. The commercial X-Plane software package is used as a rendering engine to mimic vision-based sensors (such as onboard and ground-based cameras) at various times of day and in various weather conditions over a relatively detailed graphical model of the city. The paper presents a detailed illustration of the simulation and software architecture used for traffic over this urban region. This system is enabling the evaluation of NASA research concepts in autonomy for urban AAM operations on the path toward aircraft flight test evaluation.

Keerthana Kannan↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

LIRA: Probing the Lunar Surface for Resources.

The thermal, compositional and electrical properties of the lunar regolith, such as the triboelectric properties of lunar dust, the volatile content and the thermophysical properties of the polar regolith are essential to understand from a scientific perspective as well as for resource extraction and hazard mitigation. Understanding these properties specifically requires in situ measurement, as these properties are inherent in the ambient environment. With the Lunar In situ Regolith Analyzer (LIRA) we will combine mature surface sensor technologies from previous spacecraft missions (TECP) with new sensors (ClO4- ) and battery capability to achieve a compact in situ analysis package. The surface instrument suite is adapted for lunar conditions from a sensor developed as part of the Microscopy, Electrochemistry, and Conductivity Analyzer (MECA) instrument on the 2007 Mars Phoenix mission, as well as supplemental sensors. • The Thermal and Electrical Conductivity Probe (TECP), flown on MECA/Phoenix, which measures heat capacity, thermal conductivity, electrical resistance, and electrical permittivity between needles inserted into the soil. The TECP also measured atmospheric humidity, a capability that will be retained to search for subsurface H2O ice. The Mars TECP weighed 100-gram and by definition was at TRL 9. The lunar version (LIRA) is TRL 4. • The Perchlorate (ClO4) sensor is based on the fluorescence property of perchlorate (Mg, Fe, Na). We added a light source to excite the perchlorate (ClO4) and a photo diode to collect the emission wavelength. A sun-shade over the photo diode blocks out the ambient light during day light hours. The unifying goal of LIRA is to deliver a complete, integrated experiment suite that investigates properties that must be measured in situ, and provides the capability to power the suite at night or in PSRs, as well as a means to simulate aspects of the diurnal transition by delivering an optical pulse to the surface with intensity comparable to sunlight. We describe the scientific context of LIRA, touching on the electrical state of the near-surface environment, the thermal properties of the undisturbed regolith, and the distribution, geochemistry, and mobility of water. We also address the exploration implications of the work, examining hazards and resources in the context of strategic knowledge gaps (SKGs).

Heather Smith↗

DOE OSTI2012

Acoustics- Version 1.0

This package contains modules that model acoustic sensors and acoustic sources (hearable) in Umbra. It is typically used to represent hearing in characters within Umbra. Typically, the acoustic sensors detect acoustic sources at a given point; however, it also contains the capability to detect bullet cracks by detecting the sound along the bullet path that is closest to the sensor. A memory module, acoustic memory, represents remembered sounds within a given character. Over time, the sounds are removed, as a character forgets what it has heard.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS2007

Hydrogen Gas Sensors Fabricated on Atomically Flat 4H-SiC Webbed Cantilevers

This paper reports on initial results from the first device tested of a "second generation" Pt-SiC Schottky diode hydrogen gas sensor that: 1) resides on the top of atomically flat 4H-SiC webbed cantilevers, 2) has integrated heater resistor, and 3) is bonded and packaged. With proper selection of heater resistor and sensor diode biases, rapid detection of H2 down to concentrations of 20 ppm was achieved. A stable sensor current gain of 125 +/- 11 standard deviation was demonstrated during 250 hours of cyclic test exposures to 0.5% H2 and N2/air.

Neudeck, Philip G.↗

DOE OSTI2018

In-situ packaging ultra-uniform 3D hematite nanotubes by polyaniline and their improved gas sensing properties

Highlights: • Ultra-uniform 3D α-Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3} nanotubes were packaged by PANI through the two-stage solution processes. • PANI/α-Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3}-based sensor could detect low concentration of acetone (1 ppm) at lower temperature of 180 °C. • The unique structure of α-Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3} support and its synergetic effect with PANI layers improved the sensor performances. - Abstract: This paper reports the PANI (polyaniline)-packaged three-dimensional (3D) α-Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3} nanotubes P/N heterojunction, which was constructed successfully though a facile hydrothermal reaction without adding any surfactant followed by in-situ chemical polymerization in the liquid phase. The structure and morphology of the products were characterized by means of FESEM, XRD, TEM & HRTEM, TGA and FT-IR. Gas sensing test results found that, the PANI/α-Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3} nanocomposite sensor exhibited obviously higher response, lower working temperature (180 °C), fast response and recovery speeds, good selectivity and excellent stability to acetone gas, indicating its promising application for high-performance acetone sensors. The enhanced gas sensing performances can be attributed to the factors like ultra-uniform 3D nanotube-like structure for α-Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3}, the noticeable advantages of PANI, as well as the construction of heterojunction barrier at their interface. The as-prepared PANI/α-Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3} nanocomposite may be also applied in other areas like photocatalysis, water purification, ion batteries, optical devices, and so on.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗

NASA NTRS1997

A Near Perfect Spin Balance (Measurement in Chaos)

The stringent spin balance requirements arise from the predecessor of SSMIS, the SSMI. The SSMI sensor spinning portion weighed only 85 pounds and contained 7 channels of radiometric data. The Aerospace Corporation recommended to pass on the same requirements from the smaller SSMI to our larger SSMIS (with slight change for increased weight). The SSMIS spinning portion will weigh about 155 pounds and contain 24 channels of radiometeric data. The SSMIS, on orbit, spins a CCW direction at 31.6 RPM its own drive motor. The packaging of this SSMIS is unique, as it combines three sensor into one unit. This combination allows for concurrently reading data in one beam. The unit will have a polar orbit about 500 miles above the earths surface. One of the primary influences for our receipt of the follow-on contract for the next generation sensor, was the ability to package 24 channels of radiometeric data into about the some volume as its predecessor. The data from SSMIS will be used to measure the following: (1) Ocean surface wind speed, (2) Rain over land an ocean, (3) Cloud water over Ocean, (4) Soil moisture, (5) Ice Concentration, (6) Ice age, (7) Ice Edge and snow edge, (8) Water vapor over Ocean, (9) Surface type, (10) Snow water content, (11) Land surface Temperature, (12) Cloud amount over ocean.

Luntz, R. A.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Breaking Barriers: Integrating Geo-Leo Aerosol Data with an Open-Source Approach

The scientific community is still examining the novel data from geostationary satellite observations and evaluating methods for effectively fusing the polar observations with various spatial and temporal resolutions. However, the merged data will present a significant ""Big Data"" challenge, including processing, storage, data discoverability, accessibility, and migration within cloud computing environments. We have developed an open-source package to fuse aerosol optical depths (AOD) products from six satellite sensors in the past four years (2019~2023), and this presentation will update our recent progress. Using this Python-based package, we produced a level 3 global (AOD) product in a quarter-degree spatial resolution every half-hour, fusing the Level 2 AOD data with the Dark Target aerosol retrieval algorithm from six satellites: three geostationary (GOES-16/17 and Himawari-8) with high temporal resolution, and three polar orbiting (TERRA/MODIS, AQUA/MODIS, and SNPP-VIIRS) with global coverage. By integrating these observations, the diurnal cycle of global AOD in this fused product can be characterized at local, regional, and global scales. Furthermore, we are committed to openness and transparency by providing our package and its associated functionalities as open-source. Our dedication to adhering to the FAIR, CARE, and TRUST principles ensures that our users can rely on the integrity and ethical standards of our work. For instance of Interoperability, this package fuses remote sensing products on demand into desired temporal and spatial domains. It can be run in a central processing unit (CPU) or a Graphics processing unit (GPU) mode. This package will empower researchers and practitioners to use satellite and sensor data efficiently in various applications and research.

Xiaohua Pan↗