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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 415 records · Page 23
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1993

Nucleate pool boiling in the long duration low gravity environment of the space shuttle

The results are presented of an experimental study of nucleate pool boiling performed in the low gravity environment of the space shuttle. Photographic observations of pool boiling in Freon 113 were obtained during the 'Tank Pressure Control Experiment', flown on the Space Transportation System STS-43 in August 1991. Nucleate boiling data from large (relative to bubble size) flat heating surfaces (0.1046 by 0.0742 m) was obtained at very low heat fluxes (0.22 to 1.19 kw/so m). The system pressure and the bulk liquid subcooling varied in the range of 40 to 60 kPa and 3 to 5 C respectively. Thirty-eight boiling tests, each of 10 min duration for a given heat flux, were conducted. Measurements included the heater power, heater surface temperature, the liquid temperature and the system pressure as functions of heating time. Video data of the first 2 min of heating was recorded for each test. In some tests the video clearly shows the inception of boiling and the growth and departure of bubbles from the surface during the first 2 min of heating. In the absence of video data, the heater temperature variation during heating shows the inception of boiling and stable nucleate boiling. During the stable nucleate boiling, the wall superheat varied between 2.8 to 3.8 C for heat fluxes in the range of 0.95 to 1.19 kw/so m. The wall superheat at the inception of boiling varied between 2 to 13 C.

Hasan, M. M.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Observations of Circumstellar Material Around Evolved Stars With the ISI

The U.C. Berkeley Infrared Spatial Interferometer (ISI) is a stellar interferometer operating in the 9-12 micron region and has been in operation from 1988 until the present. It utilizes heterodyne detection using CO2 laser local oscillators and currently includes two 1.65 m movable telescopes mounted in semi-trailers and baselines up to about 65 m in length. A third telescope is being integrated with the other two and within the next year will operate as an imaging interferometer providing data with three simultaneous baselines and a closure phase, and baselines up to about 75 m. During the past twelve years the ISI has been used extensively for studies of circumstellar material around evolved stars. Multi-epoch observations of a sample of prototypical sources have elucidated the location and time scales for dust formation around these stars. These time scales can be as short as approx.10 years for Mira stars and as long as approx. 100 years for supergiants. For stars like Mira itself there is evidence for departure from spherical symmetry and episodes of dust formation and destruction. For some stars motion of dust has been observed -- IK Tau is one example, and NML Cyg is another. The molecules Silane and Ammonia were observed for the extreme carbon star IRC +10216 and the supergiant VY CMa pinpointing their location relative to the inner radius of the dust shell. Somewhat surprisingly, these molecules were found to form many stellar radii away from the inner radius of the dust shell, implying that they form by interactions with the surfaces of dust grains. Last year observations with the longest baselines lead to new precision diameters of $o$ Ceti and $\alpha$ Orionis, and are continuing on a somewhat larger set of Mira variable and supergiant stars.

Danchi, W. C.↗
NASA NTRS2006

General Flow-Solver Code for Turbomachinery Applications

Phantom is a computer code intended primarily for real-fluid turbomachinery problems. It is based on Corsair, an ideal-gas turbomachinery code, developed by the same authors, which evolved from the ROTOR codes from NASA Ames. Phantom is applicable to real and ideal fluids, both compressible and incompressible, flowing at subsonic, transonic, and supersonic speeds. It utilizes structured, overset, O- and H-type zonal grids to discretize flow fields and represent relative motions of components. Values on grid boundaries are updated at each time step by bilinear interpolation from adjacent grids. Inviscid fluxes are calculated to third-order spatial accuracy using Roe s scheme. Viscous fluxes are calculated using second-order-accurate central differences. The code is second-order accurate in time. Turbulence is represented by a modified Baldwin-Lomax algebraic model. The code offers two options for determining properties of fluids: One is based on equations of state, thermodynamic departure functions, and corresponding state principles. The other, which is more efficient, is based on splines generated from tables of properties of real fluids. Phantom currently contains fluid-property routines for water, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, kerosene, methane, and carbon monoxide as well as ideal gases.

Dorney, Daniel↗
NASA NTRS2012

Airport Traffic Conflict Detection and Resolution Algorithm Evaluation

A conflict detection and resolution (CD&R) concept for the terminal maneuvering area (TMA) was evaluated in a fast-time batch simulation study at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research Center. The CD&R concept is being designed to enhance surface situation awareness and provide cockpit alerts of potential conflicts during runway, taxi, and low altitude air-to-air operations. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the performance of aircraft-based CD&R algorithms in the TMA, as a function of surveillance accuracy. This paper gives an overview of the CD&R concept, simulation study, and results. The Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) concept for the year 2025 and beyond envisions the movement of large numbers of people and goods in a safe, efficient, and reliable manner [1]. NextGen will remove many of the constraints in the current air transportation system, support a wider range of operations, and provide an overall system capacity up to three times that of current operating levels. Emerging NextGen operational concepts [2], such as four-dimensional trajectory based airborne and surface operations, equivalent visual operations, and super density arrival and departure operations, require a different approach to air traffic management and as a result, a dramatic shift in the tasks, roles, and responsibilities for the flight deck and air traffic control (ATC) to ensure a safe, sustainable air transportation system.

Jones, Denise R.↗
DOE OSTI2026

Prospects for Astrobiology and Technosignature Searches with the Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) will map sources in multiband colour--variability space. We present a prototype coherence-based framework for astrobiology and technosignature searches, in which candidates are treated as structured departures from natural astrophysical manifolds rather than isolated photometric outliers. We illustrate the framework with three simulated cases: five Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) surface/activity states, a grid of 649 synthetic exoplanet spectra with vegetation-red-edge-like (VRE) perturbations, and 500 synthetic multiband light curves, each projected into LSST-like observable space and analysed through colour geometry, chromatic variability, and cross-band coherence. Key results include a full-colour Mahalanobis distance $D\approx5.1$ for the weak-coma KBO state (${\sim}5σ$ in the five-dimensional colour vector), an indicative VRE coherence threshold at $f_{\rm crit}\approx0.13$, and an idealised stacking forecast reaching $5σ$ under optimistic assumptions. We show, using a small Gaia~DR3 stellar sample, that stellar colour and photometric stability may inform the prioritisation of Galactic regions for applying such coherence diagnostics.

Kovačević, Andjelka B. [Belgrade U.] (ORCID:000000↗
NASA NTRS2012

Using Gravity Assists in the Earth-moon System as a Gateway to the Solar System

For spacecraft departing the Earth - Moon system, lunar flybys can significantly increase the hyperbolic escape energy (C3, in km (exp 2) /sec (exp 2) ) for a modest increase in flight time. Within approx 2 months, lunar flybys can produce a C3 of approx 2. Over 4 - 6 months, lunar flybys alone can increase the C3 to approx 4.5, or they can provide for additional periapsis burns to increase the C3 from approx 2 -3 to 10 or more, suitable for planetary missions. A lunar flyby departure can be followed by additional delta -V (such as that efficiently provided by a low thrust system, eg. Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP)) to raise the Earth - relative velocity (at a ratio of more than 2:1) before a subsequent Earth flyby, which redirects that velocity to a more distant target, all within not more than a year. This paper describes the applicability of lunar flybys for different flight times and propulsion systems, and illustrates this with instances of past usage and future possibilities. Examples discussed include ISEE-3, Nozomi, STEREO, 2018 Mars studies (which showed an 8% payload increase), and missions to Near Earth Objects (NEOs). In addition, the options for the achieving the initial lunar flyby are systematically discussed, with a view towards their practical use within a compact launch period. In particular, we show that launches to geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) as a secondary payload provide a feasible means of obtaining a lunar flyby for an acceptable cost, even for SEP systems that cannot easily deliver large delta-Vs at periapsis. Taken together, these results comprise a myriad of options for increasing the mission performance, by the efficient use of lunar flybys within an acceptable extension of the flight time.

Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP)↗
DOE OSTI2023

Superposition principle and nonlinear response in spin glasses

The extended principle of superposition has been a touchstone of spin-glass dynamics for almost 30 years. Here the Uppsala group has demonstrated its validity for the metallic spin glass, CuMn, for magnetic fields H up to 10 Oe at the reduced temperature T r = T/T g = 0.95, where T g is the spin-glass condensation temperature. For H > 10 Oe, they observe a departure from linear response which they ascribe to the development of nonlinear dynamics. The thrust of this paper is to develop a microscopic origin for this behavior by focusing on the time development of the spin-glass correlation length, ξ(t, t w ; H). Here, t is the time after H changes, and t w is the time from the quench for T > T g to the working temperature T until H changes. We connect the growth of ξ(t, t w ; H) to the barrier heights Δ(t w ) that set the dynamics. The effect of H on the magnitude of Δ (t w ) is responsible for affecting differently the two dynamical protocols associated with turning H off (TRM, or thermoremanent magnetization) or on (ZFC, or zero-field-cooled magnetization). This difference is a consequence of nonlinearity based on the effect of H on Δ (t w ). Superposition is preserved if Δ(t w ) is linear in the Hamming distance Hd (proportional to the difference between the self-overlap q EA and the overlap q[Δ(t w )]). However, superposition is violated if Δ(t w ) increases faster than linear in Hd. We have previously shown, through experiment and simulation, that the barriers Δ(t w ) do increase more rapidly than linearly with Hd through the observation that the growth of ξ(t,t w ;H) slows down as ξ(t,t w ; H) increases. In this paper, we display the difference between the zero-field-cooled ξ ZFC (t, t w ; H) and the thermoremanent magnetization ξ TRM (t, t w ; H) correlation lengths as H increases, both experimentally and through numerical simulations, corresponding to the violation of the extended principle of superposition in line with the finding of the Uppsala Group.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
NASA NTRS1985

Venus gravity - A harmonic analysis and geophysical implications

An improved theoretical model of Venusian global gravity has been obtained by fitting a tenth degree spherical harmonic series to 78 orbital arcs of Doppler tracking data from the Pioneer Venus Orbiter. Maps of the free-air anomaly and its formal error are presented. Isostatic anomaly and 'Geoid' maps are also presented, and their geophysical implications are discussed in details. Comparison with equivalent resolution topographic models reveals a strong correlation between long wavelength gravity and the topography of Venus. Analysis of the second degree harmonics showed two aspects of the orientation of the inertial axes of Venus: (1) a significant (about three degrees) departure of the axis of greatest inertia from the rotational axis; and (2) a near alignment of the axis of least inertia with the location of the subterrestrial point at the time of the next inferior conjunction with earth (December 16, 2101). A series of contour maps of the Venusian free-air anomalies is provided.

Mottinger, N. A.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Requirements for theoretical models of outflows

Recent observational and theoretical investigations of astrophysical mass outflows are reviewed, with a focus on the basic physical principles. Specific limitations on the observational data and their interpretation are listed and discussed. Modeling problems considered include the role of the critical point in determining the mass-loss rate and terminal velocity, the physical processes controlling density at the critical point, the possible coexistence of multiple mass-loss mechanisms, time scales, instabilities and phase changes, multiphase atmospheres and winds, the definition of geometries, the role of the environment, explosive transient events, stochastic phenomena, mode-mode coupling and damping processes, departures from ionization equilibrium, and nonthermal phenomena.

Linsky, Jeffrey L.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Contamination effects of GPS Navstar solar array performance

The solar arrays on Navstars 1 to 6 have been limiting the electrical power capabilities in the extended life (beyond the 5 year design life). The departure from predicted performance consists of an extra 2.5 percent per year degradation beyond the radiation model estimates. This degradation is unusual in showing a linear rather than exponential decay with time. The performance of the arrays on these satellites has been examined in order to predict future behavior and to make refined projections on the Navstar 7 to 11 solar arrays. Evidence obtained from flight experiments on Navstar 5 and 6, and from laboratory experiments, suggests that contamination of the solar arrays while on orbit may be responsible. The evidence for photo-induced contamination of spacecraft surfaces is presented, and the effect on solar array output in the case of the GPS satellites is shown to be consistent with the observed anomalies.

Marvin, Dean C.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Departure solutions of the unsteady thin-layer and full Navier-Stokes equations solved using streamline curvature based iteration techniques

The development of a thorough understanding of the mechanisms for vortex eruptions from viscous layers, which are believed to be associated with phenomena such as dynamic stall onset and transition, is crucial if accurate models of such phenomena are to be formulated. The development of such models may, in turn, allow for the possibility that such effects could be accounted for during the design of various aerodynamic devices such as wings, helicopter rotors, and turbomachinery blading and thus lead to designs which are stall free or stall resistant and which have better stall-recovery properties. The present investigation is being conducted as part of an effort to develop analytical and numerical tools which can be used to help improve our understanding of the vortex-eruption mechanism at high Reynolds numbers. The addition of the normal-momentum equation to the classical unsteady boundary-layer equations is crucial according to recent asymptotic analyses of the vortex-eruption problem and is a key feature of the analyses being developed by the present authors. The purpose of this paper is as follows: to describe departure solution behavior observed when using unsteady, streamline-curvature based solution procedures in which nontrivial transverse pressure gradient effects are included; and to show that special treatment of the time-derivative of the normal velocity is needed to eliminate the ill-posed solution behavior, which is observed when small spatial and temporal step sizes are used.

Barnett, M.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Wrapped Multilayer Insulation

New NASA vehicles, such as Earth Departure Stage (EDS), Orion, landers, and orbiting fuel depots, need improved cryogenic propellant transfer and storage for long-duration missions. Current cryogen feed line multilayer insulation (MLI) performance is 10 times worse per area than tank MLI insulation. During each launch, cryogenic piping loses approximately 150,000 gallons (equivalent to $300,000) in boil-off during transfer, chill down, and ground hold. Quest Product Development Corp., teaming with Ball Aerospace, developed an innovative advanced insulation system, Wrapped MLI (wMLI), to provide improved thermal insulation for cryogenic feed lines. wMLI is high-performance multilayer insulation designed for cryogenic piping. It uses Quest's innovative discrete-spacer technology to control layer spacing/ density and reduce heat leak. The Phase I project successfully designed, built, and tested a wMLI prototype with a measured heat leak 3.6X lower than spiral-wrapped conventional MLI widely used for piping insulation. A wMLI prototype had a heat leak of 7.3 W/sq m, or 27 percent of the heat leak of conventional MLI (26.7 W/sq m). The Phase II project is further developing wMLI technology with custom, molded polymer spacers and advancing the product toward commercialization via a rigorous testing program, including developing advanced vacuuminsulated pipe for ground support equipment.

Dye, Scott A.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Wrapped Multilayer Insulation

New NASA vehicles, such as Earth Departure Stage (EDS), Orion, landers, and orbiting fuel depots, need improved cryogenic propellant transfer and storage for long-duration missions. Current cryogen feed line multilayer insulation (MLI) performance is 10 times worse per area than tank MLI insulation. During each launch, cryogenic piping loses approximately 150,000 gallons (equivalent to $300,000) in boil-off during transfer, chill down, and ground hold. Quest Product Development Corp., teaming with Ball Aerospace, developed an innovative advanced insulation system, Wrapped MLI (wMLI), to provide improved thermal insulation for cryogenic feed lines. wMLI is high-performance multilayer insulation designed for cryogenic piping. It uses Quest's innovative discrete-spacer technology to control layer spacing/ density and reduce heat leak. The Phase I project successfully designed, built, and tested a wMLI prototype with a measured heat leak 3.6X lower than spiral-wrapped conventional MLI widely used for piping insulation. A wMLI prototype had a heat leak of 7.3 W/m2, or 27 percent of the heat leak of conventional MLI (26.7 W/m2). The Phase II project is further developing wMLI technology with custom, molded polymer spacers and advancing the product toward commercialization via a rigorous testing program, including developing advanced vacuuminsulated pipe for ground support equipment.

Dye, Scott A.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Assessing Tactical Scheduling Options for Time-Based Surface Metering

This paper presents a parametric analysis of the most recent tactical scheduler design for NASA’s Airspace Technology Demonstration 2 (ATD-2) sub-project, committed to demonstrating time-based surface metering at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT). The tactical scheduler design is implemented in a fast-time simulation model of CLT using NASA’s Surface Operations Simulator and Scheduler. The tactical scheduler is supported by three basic functions: trajectory prediction, runway scheduling, and advisory generation. A key parameter of the advisory generation function is the taxi time delay buffer used when calculating target gate pushback times from runway schedule. Multiple simulations that varied the amount of taxi time delay buffer were analyzed to determine the effect on tactical scheduler performance. The results show an improvement in tactical scheduler performance when the buffer is made sufficiently large to release departures from their gates early enough to maintain scheduler predicted runway throughput.

Zelinski, Shannon↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Keplerian Analysis for Versatile Evaluation of Arbitrary Trajectories

Designing interplanetary missions is an iterative process, with a tight coupling between mission analysis and vehicle design. The ability to simultaneously process both analyses early on can provide significant benefits in both the concept formulation and in overall mission feasibility. To implement such a simultaneous analysis process, there is a need to model interplanetary trajectories rapidly while maintaining an acceptable level of fidelity. Many simple patched conics tools make too many assumptions to satisfactorily address all relevant constraints and objectives, while full-fidelity trajectory design tools often require more time and expertise than is available in early conceptual studies. Hence, some form of middle-ground modeling tool would provide value. This paper introduces the development of such a tool using Python. This tool, Keplerian Analysis for Versatile Evaluation of Arbitrary Trajectories (KAVEAT), implements a patched conics method that enforces continuity of state (time, mass, position, velocity) through all transitions between various spheres of influence on the trajectory. The trajectory is constructed in an object-oriented manner, dynamically assembling unique maneuvers such as departure burns, heliocentric transfers (ballistic or with electric propulsion), and planetary flybys (powered or unpowered). Each maneuver has its own specific set of basic inputs needed to define it. The tool then takes these defined maneuvers, strings them together creating all the interdependencies required, and solves for the ideal trajectory using a gradient-based optimizer.

Katherine T McBrayer↗
NASA NTRS2022

ATD-2 Field Evaluation of Pre-Departure Trajectory Option Set Reroutes in North Texas Metroplex

The NASA Airspace Technology Demonstration-2 Phase 3 capabilities extend Integrated Arrival, Departure and Surface scheduling to a Metroplex environment where multiple airports are interacting and sharing resources along the terminal boundary. The Phase 3 coordinated scheduling provides pre-departure reroute recommendations to flight operators which reduce delay caused by terminal restrictions. This paper reports results of the Phase 3 Stormy 2021 Field Evaluation conducted between November 2020 and September 2021 in the North Texas Metroplex. During the field evaluation NASA partnered with the FAA, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and Envoy Airlines to evaluate Phase 3 capabilities in an operational environment. The benefits results are provided as delay savings metrics measured in time and converted to fuel and emissions savings using detailed fuel flow models provided by flight operators.

ATD-2 Field Evaluation, Trajectory Option Set, Pre↗
NASA NTRS1991

Operator-assisted planning and execution of proximity operations subject to operational constraints

Future multi-vehicle operations will involve multiple scenarios that will require a planning tool for the rapid, interactive creation of fuel-efficient trajectories. The planning process must deal with higher-order, non-linear processes involving dynamics that are often counter-intuitive. The optimization of resulting trajectories can be difficult to envision. An interaction proximity operations planning system is being developed to provide the operator with easily interpreted visual feedback of trajectories and constraints. This system is hosted on an IRIS 4D graphics platform and utilizes the Clohessy-Wiltshire equations. An inverse dynamics algorithm is used to remove non-linearities while the trajectory maneuvers are decoupled and separated in a geometric spreadsheet. The operator has direct control of the position and time of trajectory waypoints to achieve the desired end conditions. Graphics provide the operator with visualization of satisfying operational constraints such as structural clearance, plume impingement, approach velocity limits, and arrival or departure corridors. Primer vector theory is combined with graphical presentation to improve operator understanding of suggested automated system solutions and to allow the operator to review, edit, or provide corrective action to the trajectory plan.

Grunwald, Arthur J.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Use of Data Comm by Flight Crew in High-Density Terminal Areas

This paper describes a collaborative FAA and NASA experiment using 22 commercial airline pilots to determine the effect of using Datalink Communication (Data Comm) to issue messages in busy, terminal area operations. Four conditions were defined that span current day to future flight deck equipage levels (voice communication only, Data Comm only, Data Comm with Moving Map Display, Data Comm with Moving Map displaying taxi route), and each condition was used to create an arrival and a departure scenario at the Boston Logan Airport. These eight scenarios were repeated twice for a total of 16 scenarios for each of the eleven crews. Quantitative data was collected on subject reaction time and eye tracking information. Questionnaires collected subjective feedback on workload and acceptability to the flight crew for using Data Comm in a busy terminal area. 95% of the Data Comm messages were responded to by the flight crew within one minute; however, post experiment debrief comments revealed almost unanimous consensus that two minutes was a reasonable expectation for crew response. Eye tracking data indicated an insignificant decrease in head-up time for the Pilot Flying when Data Comm was introduced; however, the Pilot Monitoring had significantly less head-up time. Data Comm workload was rated as operationally acceptable by both crew members in all conditions in flight at any altitude above the Final Approach Fix in terms of response time and workload. Results also indicate the use of Data Comm during surface operations was acceptable, the exception being the simultaneous use of voice, Data Comm, and audio chime required for an aircraft to cross an active runway. Many crews reported they believed Data Comm messages would be acceptable after the Final Approach Fix or to cross a runway if the message was not accompanied by a chime and there was not a requirement to immediately respond to the uplink message.

Baxley, Brian T.↗