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All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

DOE OSTI2021

Tailored Fiber Placement for Complex Preforms

Tailored Fiber Placement (TFP) offers a novel approach to optimize fiber architecture for the fabrication of complex, structural parts not traditionally suitable for advanced composites. This technology not only offers new routes for weight reduction via metal substitution, it also offers cost reduction through minimization of material scrap and reduced labor. This reduction in component weight leads to increased fuel efficiency, and reduced production energy consumption, thereby, helping to achieve the stated IACMI technical goals. This technology leverages centuries of manufacturing development in support of the textile and embroidery industry. One major drawback to this technology is the lack of commercial or non- proprietary structural performance data and robust analytical tools used to optimize fiber architecture and predict performance. This project was structured to utilize common sub-element features to validate analytical performance tools, generate performance data, and gather cost and performance data on components of interest. This project was designed to give industry sponsors the confidence and ability to take full advantage of TFP to fabricate primary, highly loaded structure and integrate features such as metallic fasteners. The project focused principally on the use of high strength carbon fiber, such as T700, and the use of aerospace epoxy resin matrix to primarily support development of new composite applications in vehicle, aerospace, and industrial markets. This project applied previously developed analytical tools to predict the performance of TFP produced parts. This work focused on developing the pipeline to characterize material in order to accurately predict component performance when modifying the TFP print paths and stitch density. This focused on experimental characterization via standardized ASTM testing, alongside experimental testing of more representative service components by testing curved beam strength, beam shear performance, a large scale TFP lug, and ultimately designing a fully TFP clip bracket that reduced weight and cost compared to a traditional metallic component. The new knowledge gained from this program included: 1) development and demonstration of novel analytical tools applied to analysis of TFP preforms; 2) development and demonstration of a building block approach using coupons and sub-elements to optimize the design of a more complex component; 3) demonstration that optimized fiber orientation using TFP can exceed performance of conventional textile composite materials and can open new applications currently limited to metallic components; 4) Demonstration of performance and cost benefits of the TFP process as compared to metallic and conventional textile composites. Recommendations for follow-on work include development of design allowables to assess the impact of high temperature/moisture exposure or saturation during loading, tracking the impact of stitching needle wear on the performance of parts and ability to stitch thicker preforms, using TFP preforms as local reinforcement at areas of bearing or complex loading, and topology optimization of components by tow steering. The expertise developed during the course of this project can be leveraged to provide commercial engineering design and fabrication services using TFP. UDRI is in the process of formalizing their partnership with Spintech, who will serve as the commercialization partner for this technology and provide molding services and deliver finished components to the end user. UDRI will continue to produce the preforms until the economics allow Spintech to procure its own TFP equipment or lease UDRI equipment, at which point UDRI will step away from manufacture and serve as the engineering and design lead on product development.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2020

Energy Master Planning for Resilient Public Communities—Best Practices from U.S. Military Installations

Until recently, most planners at military installations addressed energy systems for new facilities on an individual facility basis without consideration of community-wide goals relevant to energy sources, renewables, storage, or future energy generation needs. Building retrofits of public buildings typically do not address energy needs beyond the minimum code requirements making it difficult, if not impossible, to achieve community-level targets on a building-by-building basis. Planning on the basis of cost and general reliability may also fail to deliver community-level resilience. For example, many building code requirements focus on hardening to specific threats, but in a multi-building community, only a few of these buildings may be mission-critical. Over the past two decades, the frequency and duration of regional power outages and water utility disruptions from weather, man-made events, and aging infrastructure have increased. Major disruptions of electric and thermal energy have degraded critical mission capabilities and caused significant economic impacts. In 2016, the U.S. Department of Defense issued guidance that each Service (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines) complete comprehensive energy plans for the installations that consumed 75% of total building energy. Guidance was updated in 2017 to include metrics for energy resilience, and in some cases, water. This paper describes how community level quantitative and qualitative resilience analysis and metrics have been incorporated into community energy and water planning best practices for military installations in three geographically diverse locations. It is based on research performed under the International Energy Agency’s “Energy in Buildings and Communities Program Annex 73,” focusing on development of guidelines and tools that support the planning of Net Zero Energy Resilient Public Communities as well as research performed under the Department of Defense Environmental Security Technology Certification Program project EW18-D1- 5281, “Technologies Integration to Achieve Resilient, Low- Energy Military Installations.” The first case study reviews progress made on an energy and water planning study conducted at Fort Bliss, Texas. The second and third describes planning conducted at Fort Bragg, North Carolina and the Joint Region Marianas, Guam, respectively, under the updated guidance from 2017 regarding energy and water resilience. Analysis methods, key metrics, and key infrastructure and operational constraints are described, as well as technical, economic and business concepts used during the planning process.

Urban, Angela B.↗

NASA NTRS2020

Gila Water Resources II: Using Earth Observations to Identify Wildfire Impacts on Hydrologic Functions and Recovery in the Gila National Forest

Wildfires have the potential to cause devastating and long-lasting impacts on ecological systems. In the Gila NF, wildfire events have occurred with increasing frequency and severity over recent years. These disturbances such as the historic Whitewater-Baldy Complex Fire (2012) and Silver Fire (2013) have raised concerns over post-fire soil erosion, flooding, debris flows, and vegetation recovery. Understanding the connection between burn events and ecological functions is crucial for developing effective land management practices within the Gila NF that ensure the conservation of the watershed. Our Gila Water Resources II team worked in partnership with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) US Forest Service’s (USFS) Gila National Forest and Region 3. This project was designed to provide insight into the influence of wildfires on increased flooding events and to determine if restoration efforts in the Gila NF are having a beneficial and noticeable impact on recovery. The goals of this project included generating data-supported end products to inform land management decisions, including the prioritization of specific regions and time scales for post-fire restoration efforts. To understand recovery trends and hydrologic impact in the Gila NF between 2000 and 2020, this project used NASA EO and ancillary data, including, but not limited to, Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM), Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+), Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI), USGS stream gauge data, and data provided by USDA USFS’s Gila National Forest and Region 3.

Water Resources↗

DOE OSTI2021

A Guide to Updating Interconnection Rules and Incorporating IEEE Standard 1547

The intent of this paper is to support local authorities in adopting the most current technical requirements for interconnecting distributed energy resources (DERs) to the electric distribution system as specified in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Standard for Interconnection and Interoperability of Distributed Energy Resources with Associated Electric Power Systems Interfaces (IEEE Std 1547-2018). To create interconnection rules that successfully address policy goals, market trends, and technical requirements, state regulators need to be well informed of DER integration considerations. Interconnection processes and technical issues often overlap; the two are not easily segregated, and they are often considered and evaluated concurrently within the context of interconnection rulemaking. Accordingly, this paper addresses both the technical issues and related process considerations. A lack of uniform and transparent procedures for addressing interconnection rule changes can result in implementation issues or inefficiencies, such as unclear, lengthy, and complicated interconnection rules that can increase distributed generation "soft costs" (i.e., non-hardware costs). This can further delay the deployment of DERs and jeopardize time-constrained national and state policy goals, such as renewable energy targets, or limit participation in emerging techno-economic trends. Additionally, misconstructed interconnection rules are at risk of becoming mired in stakeholder conflicts. This guide addresses the concerns of electric service regulators from both the process and technical standpoints by presenting a structured, step-by-step approach to developing and updating existing interconnection rules. In this document, the process of developing and updating interconnection rules is subdivided into three steps: (1) determining the context (stakeholders and major drivers); (2) developing the rule, including updating technical requirements; and (3) maintaining and revising the rule over time.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

NASA NTRS1994

Integrating O/S models during conceptual design, part 3

Space vehicles, such as the Space Shuttle, require intensive ground support prior to, during, and after each mission. Maintenance is a significant part of that ground support. All space vehicles require scheduled maintenance to ensure operability and performance. In addition, components of any vehicle are not one-hundred percent reliable so they exhibit random failures. Once detected, a failure initiates unscheduled maintenance on the vehicle. Maintenance decreases the number of missions which can be completed by keeping vehicles out of service so that the time between the completion of one mission and the start of the next is increased. Maintenance also requires resources such as people, facilities, tooling, and spare parts. Assessing the mission capability and resource requirements of any new space vehicle, in addition to performance specification, is necessary to predict the life cycle cost and success of the vehicle. Maintenance and logistics support has been modeled by computer simulation to estimate mission capability and resource requirements for evaluation of proposed space vehicles. The simulation was written with Simulation Language for Alternative Modeling II (SLAM II) for execution on a personal computer. For either one or a fleet of space vehicles, the model simulates the preflight maintenance checks, the mission and return to earth, and the post flight maintenance in preparation to be sent back into space. THe model enables prediction of the number of missions possible and vehicle turn-time (the time between completion of one mission and the start of the next) given estimated values for component reliability and maintainability. The model also facilitates study of the manpower and vehicle requirements for the proposed vehicle to meet its desired mission rate. This is the 3rd part of a 3 part technical report.

Ebeling, Charles E.↗

NASA NTRS2011

L-Band System Engineering - Concepts of Use, Systems Performance Requirements, and Architecture

This document is being provided as part of ITT s NASA Glenn Research Center Aerospace Communication Systems Technical Support (ACSTS) contract NNC05CA85C, Task 7: New ATM Requirements-Future Communications, C-band and L-band Communications Standard Development. Task 7 was motivated by the five year technology assessment performed for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) under the joint FAA-EUROCONTROL cooperative research Action Plan (AP-17), also known as the Future Communications Study (FCS). It was based on direction provided by the FAA project-level agreement (PLA FY09_G1M.02-02v1) for "New ATM Requirements-Future Communications." Task 7 was separated into two distinct subtasks, each aligned with specific work elements and deliverable items. Subtask 7-1 addressed C-band airport surface data communications standards development, systems engineering, test bed development, and tests/demonstrations to establish operational capability for what is now referred to as the Aeronautical Mobile Airport Communications System (AeroMACS). Subtask 7-2, which is the subject of this report, focused on preliminary systems engineering and support of joint FAA/EUROCONTROL development and evaluation of a future L-band (960 to 1164 MHz) air/ground (A/G) communication system known as the L-band digital aeronautical communications system (L-DACS), which was defined during the FCS. The proposed L-DACS will be capable of providing ATM services in continental airspace in the 2020+ timeframe. Subtask 7-2 was performed in two phases. Phase I featured development of Concepts of Use, high level functional analyses, performance of initial L-band system safety and security risk assessments, and development of high level requirements and architectures. It also included the aforementioned support of joint L-DACS development and evaluation, including inputs to L-DACS design specifications. Phase II provided a refinement of the systems engineering activities performed during Phase I, along with continued joint FAA/EUROCONTROL L-DACS development and evaluation support.

Henriksen, Stephen↗

NASA NTRS2018

Development and Qualification of the Primary Structure of the Orion European Service Module

This paper presents an overview of the development and qualification test campaign for the primary structure of the European Service Module of ORION, the NASA spacecraft which will serve the future human exploration missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond. Under an agreement between NASA and ESA, the ORION will be powered by a European Service Module (ESM), providing also water and oxygen for astronauts' life sustainability. The development and qualification of the European Service Module (ESM) is under ESA responsibility with Airbus Defense and Space as the prime contractor. Thales Alenia Space Italia is responsible for design development, manufacturing, assembly and qualification of the Structure subsystem. The European Service Module, installed onto the launch adapter, shall support the crew module with its adapter and a launch abort system. It shall sustain: - A combination of global and local launch loads during lift off and ascent phases, - On orbit loads induced by engine firing for orbital transfers and attitude control. The ESM structure is based on a core made of Composite Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) sandwich panels complemented by aluminum alloy platforms, longerons and secondary structures. A development campaign has been implemented in order to define and validate composite parts' strength allowable values for design: coupon tests at material level, test at component level up to breadboards tests performed on main structural components (composite to metallic joints, and at panels' discontinuities). An incremental approach as defined in [1] has been followed. A qualification static test campaign at primary structure assembly level has been implemented in order to validate the design against static stiffness and ultimate strength as well as to correlate the structural Finite Element Model (FEM) used for sizing and confirm the margins of safety. The tests have been performed successfully by Thales Alenia Space Italia (TAS-I) on two flight representative structural models (STA1, STA2), in Turin facilities (Italy) between August 2015 and March 2017, with engineering support of technical representatives from Airbus, ESA, NASA and LMCO. The main development and qualification test activities and associated results are presented and discussed in the paper

Structural Testing↗

NASA NTRS1990

Coordinating Council. Third Meeting: STI Strategic Plans

The NASA Scientific and Technical Information Program Coordinating Council conducts meetings after which both modified transcripts of presentations and interactive discussions are published. The theme for the November 1990 meeting was 'STI Strategic Plans'. This theme was the focus of recorded discussions by members of the council. The last section of the report presents visuals on strategic goals for the STI Information Division. NASA's vision is to be at the forefront of advancements in aeronautics, space science, and exploration. More specific NASA goals are listed followed by the STI Division mission statement. The Strategic Goals for the STI Division are outlined as follows: Implement effective management strategies, Accomplish rapid deployment of the NASA STI Network, Seek out and develop cooperative partnerships, Establish the STI Program as an integral part of the NASA R&D effort, Enhance the quality of our products and services through a focus on the customer, Build an attitude of quality throughout the enterprise, Expand the existing participant community, Assert a NASA leadership role for STI policy, and Develop a program for information science R&D. The STI division mission statement appears on the document cover as follows 'The mission of the NASA STI Program is to advance aerospace knowledge, contribute to U.S. competitiveness, and become an integral partner in NASA R&D programs to support NASA goals.'

Source record↗

NASA NTRS1989

Project ARGO: The design and analysis of an all-propulsive and an aeroassisted version of a manned space transportation vehicle

The Senior Aerospace System Design class at the University of Michigan undertook the design of a manned space transportation vehicle (STV) that would transport payloads between low earth orbit (LEO) and geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO). Designated ARGO after the ship of the Greek adventurer Jason, two different versions of an STV that would be based, refueled, and serviced at the Space Station Freedom were designed and analyzed by the class. With the same 2-man/7-day nominal mission of transporting a 10,000-kg payload up to GEO and bringing a 5000-kg payload back to LEO, the two versions of ARGO differ in the manner in which the delta V is applied to insert the vehicle into LEO upon return from GEO. The all-propulsive ARGO (or CSTV for chemical STV) uses thrust from its LH2/LOX rocket engines to produce the delta V during all phases of its mission. While the aeroassisted ARGO (or ASTV for aeroassisted STV) also uses the same engines for the majority of the mission, the final delta V used to insert the ASTV into LEO is produced by skimming the Earth's atmosphere and using the drag on the vehicle to apply the required delta V. This procedure allows for large propellant, and thus cost, savings, but creates many design problems such as the high heating rates and decelerations experienced by a vehicle moving through the atmosphere at hypersonic velocities. The design class, consisting of 43 senior aerospace engineering students, was divided into one managerial and eight technical groups. The technical groups consisted of spacecraft configuration and integration, mission analysis, atmospheric flight, propulsion, power and communications, life support and human factors, logistics and support, and systems analysis. Two committees were set up with members from each group to create the scale models of the STV's and to produce the final report.

Wang, H.↗

NASA NTRS2008

Reusability Studies for Ares I and Ares V Propulsion

With a mission to continue to support the goals of the International Space Station (ISS) and explore beyond Earth orbit, the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is in the process of launching an entirely new space exploration initiative, the Constellation Program. Even as the Space Shuttle moves toward its final voyage, Constellation is building from nearly half a century of NASA spaceflight experience, and technological advances, including the legacy of Shuttle and earlier programs such as Apollo and the Saturn V rocket. Out of Constellation will come two new launch vehicles: the Ares I crew launch vehicle and the Ares V cargo launch vehicle. With the initial goal to seamlessly continue where the Space Shuttle leaves off, Ares will firstly service the Space Station. Ultimately, however, the intent is to push further: to establish an outpost on the Moon, and then to explore other destinations. With significant experience and a strong foundation in aerospace, NASA is now progressing toward the final design of the First Stage propulsion system for the Ares I. The new launch vehicle design will considerably increase safety and reliability, reduce the cost of accessing space, and provide a viable growth path for human space exploration. To achieve these goals, NASA is taking advantage of Space Shuttle hardware, safety, reliability, and experience. With efforts to minimize technical risk and life-cycle costs, the First Stage office is again pulling from NASA s strong legacy in aerospace exploration and development, most specifically the Space Shuttle Program. Trade studies have been conducted to evaluate life-cycle costs, expendability, and risk reduction. While many first stage features have already been determined, these trade studies are helping to resolve the operational requisites and configuration of the first stage element. This paper first presents an overview of the Ares missions and the genesis of the Ares vehicle design. It then looks at one of the most important trade studies to date, the "Ares I First Stage Expendability Trade Study." The purpose of this study was to determine the utility of flying the first stage as an expendable booster rather than making it reusable. To lower the study complexity, four operational scenarios (or cases) were defined. This assessment then included an evaluation of the development, reliability, performance, and transition impacts associated with an expendable solution. This paper looks at these scenarios from the perspectives of cost, reliability, and performance.

Williams, Thomas J.↗

NASA NTRS2008

Reusability Studies for Ares I and Ares V Propulsion

With a mission to continue to support the goals of the International Space Station (ISS) and explore beyond Earth orbit, the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is in the process of launching an entirely new space exploration initiative, the Constellation Program. Even as the Space Shuttle moves toward its final voyage, Constellation is building from nearly half a century of NASA spaceflight experience, and technological advances, including the legacy of Shuttle and earlier programs such as Apollo and the Saturn V rocket. Out of Constellation will come two new launch vehicles: the Ares I crew launch vehicle and the Ares V cargo launch vehicle. With the initial goal to seamlessly continue where the Space Shuttle leaves off, Ares will firstly service the Space Station. Ultimately, however, the intent is to push further: to establish an outpost on the Moon, and then to explore other destinations. With significant experience and a strong foundation in aerospace, NASA is now progressing toward the final design of the First Stage propulsion system for the Ares I. The new launch vehicle design will considerably increase safety and reliability, reduce the cost of accessing space, and provide a viable growth path for human space exploration. To achieve these goals, NASA is taking advantage of Space Shuttle hardware, safety, reliability, and experience. With efforts to minimize technical risk and life-cycle costs, the First Stage office is again pulling from NASA's strong legacy in aerospace exploration and development, most specifically the Space Shuttle Program. Trade studies have been conducted to evaluate lifecycle costs, expendability, and risk reduction. While many first stage features have already been determined, these trade studies are helping to resolve the operational requisites and configuration of the first stage element. This paper first presents an overview of the Ares missions and the genesis of the Ares vehicle design. It then looks at one of the most important trade studies to date, the "Ares I First Stage Expendability Trade Study." The purpose of this study was to determine the utility of flying the first stage as an expendable booster rather than making it reusable. To lower the study complexity, four operational scenarios (or cases) were defined. This assessment then included an evaluation of the development, reliability, performance, and transition impacts associated with an expendable solution. The paper looks at these scenarios from the perspectives of cost, reliability, and performance. The presentation provides an overview of the paper.

Williams, Thomas J.↗

NASA NTRS2012

Principles to Products: Toward Realizing MOS 2.0

This is a report on the Operations Revitalization Initiative, part of the ongoing NASA-funded Advanced Multi-Mission Operations Systems (AMMOS) program. We are implementing products that significantly improve efficiency and effectiveness of Mission Operations Systems (MOS) for deep-space missions. We take a multi-mission approach, in keeping with our organization's charter to "provide multi-mission tools and services that enable mission customers to operate at a lower total cost to NASA." Focusing first on architectural fundamentals of the MOS, we review the effort's progress. In particular, we note the use of stakeholder interactions and consideration of past lessons learned to motivate a set of Principles that guide the evolution of the AMMOS. Thus guided, we have created essential patterns and connections (detailed in companion papers) that are explicitly modeled and support elaboration at multiple levels of detail (system, sub-system, element...) throughout a MOS. This architecture is realized in design and implementation products that provide lifecycle support to a Mission at the system and subsystem level. The products include adaptable multi-mission engineering documentation that describes essentials such as operational concepts and scenarios, requirements, interfaces and agreements, information models, and mission operations processes. Because we have adopted a model-based system engineering method, these documents and their contents are meaningfully related to one another and to the system model. This means they are both more rigorous and reusable (from mission to mission) than standard system engineering products. The use of models also enables detailed, early (e.g., formulation phase) insight into the impact of changes (e.g., to interfaces or to software) that is rigorous and complete, allowing better decisions on cost or technical trades. Finally, our work provides clear and rigorous specification of operations needs to software developers, further enabling significant gains in productivity.

AMMOS↗

DOE OSTI2026

Case Study of Integrating High-Temperature Heat Pump with LiBr-H2O Absorption Chiller for Data Center Liquid Cooling

Data centers (DCs) are physical infrastructures that support artificial intelligence workloads. The rapid growth of artificial intelligence is putting substantial pressure on the US power grid. Most of electricity consumed by IT equipment, accounting for 50%-60% of total DC power, ultimately becomes waste heat. This heat is dissipated by DC’s cooling facilities, accounting for an additional 30%-40% of total DC power. Recovering and repurposing this waste heat offers a significant opportunity to enhance energy efficiency and reduce operating costs of DCs. One potential pathway is converting heat to cold using thermal-driven absorption chillers, therefore, reducing the power consumption in DC cooling facilities. Existing studies mainly demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of repurposing DC’s waste heat for cooling applications but provide limited technical details on how to integrate the thermal-driven absorption chillers with DC cooling systems. In addition, the low-grade waste heat available from DCs must be upgraded to higher temperatures suitable for absorption chillers. This paper presents a case study on integrating high-temperature heat pumps with a LiBr-H2O absorption chiller to use DC waste heat for cooling. A thermodynamic model of single-effect, LiBr-H2O absorption chiller and an empirical model of high-temperature heat pumps were built. The case study considers ASHRAE W17 liquid-cooled DC, with facility service water supplied at 17.0℃ and returned at 25.3℃. The thermal behaviors of absorption chiller components were predicted for the generation temperature ranging from 75.0℃ to 115.0℃. Based on the available waste heat in the integrated system, two waste heat recovery strategies were evaluated: a facility service water-based strategy and cooling water-based strategy. Results indicated that the cooling water-based strategy achieves higher Coefficient of Performance (COPs) than the facility service water-based strategy. The relatively low cooling COPs of single-effect LiBr-H2O absorption chillers could be offset by high heating COP of high temperature heat pumps. The maximum cooling COP of absorption chiller and the overall COP of integrated systems occur at lower generation temperatures, but these conditions also yield lower cooling capacities. In practice, system operation should balance the trade-off between the COP and cooling capacity

Wang, Pengtao [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000214713429)↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA’s Human Landing System: Enabling the Next Generation of Lunar Science

The Human Landing System (HLS) is the mode of transportation that will take astronauts to the lunar surface as part of NASA's Artemis exploration program. HLS also serves as a research platform both on the surface and in lunar orbit, enabling critical scientific investigations on and of the Moon. With support at NASA centers around the country, the HLS program, based at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, is working closely with its commercial partners throughout the development process to design and build innovative and technically advanced lunar landers – new vehicles designed for the modern era of space travel – leveraging decades of human spaceflight experience and the speed of the commercial sector. In 2019, NASA asked U.S. industry for proposals to design and develop a human lander for the first human mission to the lunar surface under Artemis. Initial contracts were awarded to Blue Origin Federation, Dynetics, and SpaceX to advance their designs. Following the execution of the ten-month Base Period, NASA announced in April 2021 that the agency selected SpaceX to move forward with its human landing system [1] and land the first two astronauts on the lunar surface during the Artemis III mission. Following two protest periods, NASA awarded the contract, known as Option A, to SpaceX in July 2021 and resumed work in November 2021 (Fig. 1). In parallel, the HLS program has been preparing for the acquisition that will procure regular crewed transportation to the lunar surface following Artemis III. NASA released a request for information (RFI) in July 2021 asking U.S. industry for feedback to help inform the future solicitation, known as Lunar Exploration Transportation Services (LETS) [2]. Also in July 2021, NASA released the NextSTEP-2 Appendix N broad agency announcement soliciting new work from U.S. industry to mature their HLS designs and perform risk reduction activities in advance of the LETS procurement [3]. NASA selected Blue Origin Federation, Dynetics, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and SpaceX to participate [4]. This work will also help better inform the LETS procurement and prepare industry to propose. NASA hopes to release a draft request for proposals (RFP) in Spring 2022.

R C Weber↗

NASA NTRS2025

Localization of Ad-Hoc Lunar Constellations in Communication Failure Modes for Distributed Spacecraft Autonomy

As Lunar missions increase in complexity, inspired by NASA’s Artemis Program, they will require reliable and sufficient Position, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) capability to support the upcoming Lunar users. The navigation service should also be compatible with the smaller platforms, like CubeSats, being sent by the public and private sectors. A non-dedicated, ad-hoc Lunar navigation constellation can provide PNT services on-demand using the non-dedicated swarm assets. Swarm members cooperatively and autonomously localize themselves with minimal interaction from Earth, freeing up valuable bandwidth and ground segment resources. The autonomous localization of Lunar constellations utilizes neighbor two-way intersatellite link (ISL) measurements in a distributed extended Kalman filter (DEKF) system to minimize operating costs. Because the decentralized Lunar PNT system relies on relay communication amongst the agents, network failures or loss of assets among ad-hoc Lunar constellations may impact localization performance. This study presents an evaluation of localization performance under increasing levels of network degradation. A simulation of an ad-hoc Lunar PNT swarm is augmented to include system faults and the impacts of intermittent and permanent failures on localization performance are evaluated. We investigate three potential causes of network degradation: single spacecraft loss, multiple spacecraft loss, and antenna failure. The numerical assessments from the simulation show that the LPNT system under study, based on an autonomous decentralized concept of operation, is highly robust and resilient to communication failures. Minor faults, such as single spacecraft loss, solar interference, technical malfunctions, message delays, and antenna outages, have minimal impact on state estimation, with only a 4.47% and 3.75% degradation in median position error for assets and a representative ground user, respectively, compared to an ideal communication scenario. However, major faults, such as hardware failures or meteor strikes leading to the loss of multiple spacecrafts, are more concerning. The permanent loss of three spacecraft results in a more severe performance degradation, with median position error increasing by 23.3% for assets and 11.7% for a representative ground user, despite the Lunar PNT system remaining functional.

Yeji Kim↗

DOE OSTI2022

Advanced Ceramic Membranes/Modules for Ultra Efficient Hydrogen (H2) Production/Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Capture for Coal-Based Polygeneration Plants: Fabrication, Testing, and CFD Modeling

Inorganic membrane-based systems are a promising technology for precombustion CO2 capture with simultaneous H2 production. State-of-the-art packages for high temperature and pressure service consist of multiple tube membrane bundles prepared in a "candle filter" configuration, in which the membrane tubes are open at one end and sealed at the other. This configuration is used for practical reasons, specifically the need to minimize problems due to thermal expansion mismatch between the ceramic tube bundle and the steel housing. However, the primary technical problem with the candle filter format for commercial-scale installations is the inability to purge the tube side (typically the permeate side), a feature that is crucial for high H2 recovery. In this study, the focus is to design and fabricate the first dual-end open full ceramic multiple tube membrane bundle that enables tube side (permeate) purge for gas separation applications. An additional key feature of this design is the simplified module layout, as the membrane bundles can be installed end-to-end with tube side (permeate) flow directly from one bundle to the next. This layout simplifies the membrane to housing seals and yields significant improvement in membrane packing density. Detailed focus areas in our studies include: (i) Materials development and preparation of the tube-to-tube sheet potting for the dual-ended bundle; (ii) the sealing and optimal module configuration design to minimize membrane stress upon module mounting; (iii) the demonstration, via the fabrication of CMS and Pd-alloy membranes supported on full-size, dual-ended ceramic support bundles, of the first example of a purgeable ceramic membrane and module; and (iv) development of a CFD model of the membrane module for calculation of feed flow distribution, and for use in scale-up, and capital cost estimating. The CFD model was validated using experimental data with the multi-tubular membrane system, employing He/N2 as a model gas mixture (surrogate for H2/CO2), and has been shown to be quite accurate. Employing the model, we are able to study the effects of operating pressure and temperature, feed and sweep gas flow rates, and the choice of membrane tube configuration on system performance.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗

DOE OSTI2022

Advanced Ceramic Membranes/Modules for Ultra Efficient Hydrogen (H2) Production/Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Capture for Coal-Based Polygeneration Plants: Fabrication, Testing and CFD Modeling

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗

NASA NTRS2015

Integrated Test and Evaluation Flight Test 3 Flight Test Plan

The desire and ability to fly Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) in the National Airspace System (NAS) is of increasing urgency. The application of unmanned aircraft to perform national security, defense, scientific, and emergency management are driving the critical need for less restrictive access by UAS to the NAS. UAS represent a new capability that will provide a variety of services in the government (public) and commercial (civil) aviation sectors. The growth of this potential industry has not yet been realized due to the lack of a common understanding of what is required to safely operate UAS in the NAS. NASA's UAS Integration into the NAS Project is conducting research in the areas of Separation Assurance/Sense and Avoid Interoperability, Human Systems Integration (HSI), and Communication to support reducing the barriers of UAS access to the NAS. This research is broken into two research themes namely, UAS Integration and Test Infrastructure. UAS Integration focuses on airspace integration procedures and performance standards to enable UAS integration in the air transportation system, covering Sense and Avoid (SAA) performance standards, command and control performance standards, and human systems integration. The focus of Test Infrastructure is to enable development and validation of airspace integration procedures and performance standards, including the integrated test and evaluation. In support of the integrated test and evaluation efforts, the Project will develop an adaptable, scalable, and schedulable relevant test environment capable of evaluating concepts and technologies for unmanned aircraft systems to safely operate in the NAS. To accomplish this task, the Project will conduct a series of Human-in-the-Loop and Flight Test activities that integrate key concepts, technologies and/or procedures in a relevant air traffic environment. Each of the integrated events will build on the technical achievements, fidelity and complexity of the previous tests and technical simulations, resulting in research findings that support the development of regulations governing the access of UAS into the NAS.

Unmanned↗