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At least 451 records · Page 25
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2011

Advanced Command Destruct System (ACDS) Enhanced Flight Termination System (EFTS)

This presentation provides information on the development, integration, and operational usage of the Enhanced Flight Termination System (EFTS) at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center and Air Force Flight Test Center. The presentation will describe the efforts completed to certify the system and acquire approval for operational usage, the efforts to integrate the system into the NASA Dryden existing flight termination infrastructure, and the operational support of aircraft with EFTS at Edwards AFB.

Tow, David K.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Integrating Multi-agency Data Products in a Cloud-based Platform for Streamlined Discovery, Visualization, and Use

Earth science data users almost always have an interest in utilizing geospatial data from multiple agencies. As computing capability and cloud-based infrastructures accelerate the pace at which scientific research can be done, there is a growing need to enable search, discovery, and use of multi-agency geospatial observations relevant for a common use case - without undergoing the search and discovery process in a less efficient, disparate path with each agency. NASA’s Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) and NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service (NESDIS) both support a wide range of Earth science disciplines’ research, operations, and applications activities. Presently, however, there are few examples of data discovery frameworks supporting an inquiry of both NASA’s and NOAA’s extensive archives of Earth observations that are equally suitable for a particular science scenario, regardless of the agency that “owns” the data. NASA and NOAA are collaborating on a data expedition platform for exploring fire weather using data products from both agencies. Users will be able to search, discover, and visualize NASA and NOAA products in one interface. Each agency will curate metadata for its respective datasets, providing for a rich search experience. The collaboration will pilot a shared search interface into these metadata datastores. Data products will be stored in the cloud in cloud-optimized format(s). These formats will allow for optimized data access and visualization to support the “data expedition”. Avenues for further development and application of this cloud-based, multi-agency data provisioning platform will also be discussed.

cloud-based technology↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA Giovanni: Analyze, Compare, and Visualize 2000+ Earth Satellite and Model Variables Without Downloading Data and Software

Over vast oceans and remote continents, observations are often scarce and discontinuous. Satellite and model data play a critical role in research and applications. However, finding and accessing satellite and model data can be a daunting task for many, especially those outside the community. The NASA Goddard Earth Sciences (GES) Data and Information Services Center (DISC), one of 12 NASA Science Mission Directorate Data Centers, provides Earth science data, information, and services to everyone such as researchers, application users, educators, and students. GES DISC archives and supports datasets applicable to several NASA Earth Science Focus Areas including Atmospheric Composition, Water & Energy Cycles, Carbon Cycle & Ecosystem, and Climate Variability. To facilitate data discovery, evaluation, and exploration, GES DISC has developed the Geospatial Interactive Online Visualization ANd aNalysis Infrastructure (Giovanni), an online tool to analyze and visualize NASA remote sensing and model data without downloading data and software. As of this writing, over 2000 Earth satellite and model variables are available in Giovanni, including several wellknown NASA satellite missions (e.g., TRMM, GPM) and projects (e.g., MERRA-2, GPCP). Giovanni provides twenty-two plots that can be used to analyze, compare, and explore Earth data across different disciplines. Results can be shared with colleagues and downloaded for further analysis. Over the years, Giovanni has helped publish over 3000 referral papers. In this presentation, we will showcase key variables and plot types in Giovanni with examples. In particular, we will present several popular precipitation products from GPM and CPCP for evaluation and comparison.

data analysis↗
NASA NTRS2003

Launch Vehicle Design and Optimization Methods and Priority for the Advanced Engineering Environment

NASA's Advanced Engineering Environment (AEE) is a research and development program that will improve collaboration among design engineers for launch vehicle conceptual design and provide the infrastructure (methods and framework) necessary to enable that environment. In this paper, three major technical challenges facing the AEE program are identified, and three specific design problems are selected to demonstrate how advanced methods can improve current design activities. References are made to studies that demonstrate these design problems and methods, and these studies will provide the detailed information and check cases to support incorporation of these methods into the AEE. This paper provides background and terminology for discussing the launch vehicle conceptual design problem so that the diverse AEE user community can participate in prioritizing the AEE development effort.

Rowell, Lawrence F.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Towards Autonomous Lunar Resource Excavation via Deep Reinforcement Learning

To support sustainable infrastructure on the Moon, NASA needs to leverage lunar resources for in-situ processing and construction. NASA’s Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot (RASSOR) is principally designed to mine and deliver regolith for these tasks. To reliably perform these operations on the lunar surface, RASSOR's sensors and control systems need to be robust and maximize information extracted from a reduced sensor payload. Herein, we present our findings from the Intelligent Capabilities Enhanced RASSOR project. We created reduced-order simulation environments in which we applied reinforcement learning algorithms to learn autonomous trenching controllers and produced state estimation architectures. We developed two simulations: a 2D excavation simulation used to facilitate parameter selection, and a 3D simulation developed using a game physics engine to simulate simplified soil interactions and incorporate robotic agents parameterized by dynamic models. Within these simulations, we learned autonomous excavation routines that exceed excavation efficiency measures as compared against RASSOR's existing control and teleoperation-based methods.

RASSOR↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Towards Autonomous Lunar Resource Excavation via Deep Reinforcement Learning

To support sustainable infrastructure on the Moon, NASA needs to leverage lunar resources for in-situ processing and construction. NASA’s Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot (RASSOR) is principally designed to mine and deliver regolith for these tasks. To reliably perform these operations on the lunar surface, RASSOR's sensors and control systems need to be robust and maximize information extracted from a reduced sensor payload. Herein, we present our findings from the Intelligent Capabilities Enhanced RASSOR project. We created reduced-order simulation environments in which we applied reinforcement learning algorithms to learn autonomous trenching controllers and produced state estimation architectures. We developed two simulations: a 2D excavation simulation used to facilitate parameter selection, and a 3D simulation developed using a game physics engine to simulate simplified soil interactions and incorporate robotic agents parameterized by dynamic models. Within these simulations, we learned autonomous excavation routines that exceed excavation efficiency measures as compared against RASSOR's existing control and teleoperation-based methods.

RASSOR↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Supply and Resource Management to Progressively Enable EIMO

BACKGROUND: Current medical operations in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) allow for real-time audio-video communication with a flight surgeon at mission control, resupply, and medical evacuation to earth on the order of hours. As mission profiles change from LEO to the Moon, Mars, and beyond, medical risk as a contribution to overall mission risk is anticipated to rise substantially. Concurrently, due to the distance, the medical systems on board vehicles proposed for these mission types are expected to have reduced mass and volume allocation. Together, astronaut crews will be at a higher risk of major medical events, be required to perform a broader set of tasks, and have substantially reduced resources and support to do so. Earth Independent Medical Operations (EIMO) aims to identify and fill the gaps present in this progressively changing paradigm. OVERVIEW: Medical supplies, resources, and skills are central to spaceflight medical systems. Vehicles used for non-LEO missions are anticipated to be smaller and thus the medical system will also need to have reduced mass, volume, and power. Medical resources are another form of consumable and may need resupply or pre-deployment to meet crew needs. One particular concern is the degradation of medications which become less efficacious and potentially toxic with time, particularly given environmental conditions such as temperature, humidity, oxygen, and radiation which have not yet been fully studied. Supply and resource management in LEO is dependent on resupply, however the supply chain of transporting equipment does not yet have a clear infrastructure for missions beyond LEO. DISCUSSION: EIMO is intended to systemically identify and fill these gaps with forward-looking solutions. In mission monitoring of resources with technology like RFID, improving medical resource longevity, targeted resupply and careful pre-mission planning will be central to facilitate crew health and performance. One approach to optimizing resources is the Informing Mission Planning via Analysis of Complex Tradespaces (IMPACT) tool, which uses probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) to quantitatively predict medical risk and identify resources and skills that mitigate this risk. This evidence based, quantitative analysis prediction tool and several other approaches to meeting the challenge of supply and resource management are discussed.

Arian Anderson↗
NASA NTRS1996

Support of Helicopter 'Free Flight' Operations in the 1996 Olympics

The microcosm of activity surrounding the 1996 Olympic Games provided researchers an opportunity for demonstrating state-of-the art technology in the first large-scale deployment of a prototype digital communication/navigation/surveillance system in a confined environment. At the same time it provided an ideal opportunity for transportation officials to showcase the merits of an integrated transportation system in meeting the operational needs to transport time sensitive goods and provide public safety services under real-world conditions. Five aeronautical CNS functions using a digital datalink system were chosen for operational flight testing onboard 91 aircraft, most of them helicopters, participating in the Atlanta Short-Haul Transportation System. These included: GPS-based Automatic Dependent Surveillance, Cockpit Display of Traffic Information, Controller-Pilot Communications, Graphical Weather Information (uplink), and Automated Electronic Pilot Reporting (downlink). Atlanta provided the first opportunity to demonstrate, in an actual operating environment, key datalink functions which would enhance flight safety and situational awareness for the pilot and supplement conventional air traffic control. The knowledge gained from such a large-scale deployment will help system designers in development of a national infrastructure where aircraft would have the ability to navigate autonomously.

Branstetter, James R.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Precision Time Protocol-Based Trilateration for Planetary Navigation

Progeny Systems Corporation has developed a high-fidelity, field-scalable, non-Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation system that offers precision localization over communications channels. The system is bidirectional, providing position information to both base and mobile units. It is the first-ever wireless use of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Precision Time Protocol (PTP) in a bidirectional trilateration navigation system. The innovation provides a precise and reliable navigation capability to support traverse-path planning systems and other mapping applications, and it establishes a core infrastructure for long-term lunar and planetary occupation. Mature technologies are integrated to provide navigation capability and to support data and voice communications on the same network. On Earth, the innovation is particularly well suited for use in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), as it offers a non-GPS precision navigation and location service for use in GPS-denied environments. Its bidirectional capability provides real-time location data to the UAV operator and to the UAV. This approach optimizes assisted GPS techniques and can be used to determine the presence of GPS degradation, spoofing, or jamming.

Murdock, Ron↗
NASA NTRS2018

A Flexible Control Center Architecture for Support of Diverse Spaceflight Missions

The Ames Multi-Mission Operations Center (MMOC) enables and supports flight and science operations for Ames' spaceflight missions. The MMOC is composed of the facilities, networks, information technology equipment, software, and system administration services needed by flight projects to effectively and efficiently perform all mission functions, including planning, scheduling, command, telemetry processing, and science analysis. The MMOC's ready-to-use services reduce start-up time, shorten procurement and provisioning and allow mission planning efforts to focus more on science and less on infrastructure. The architecture of the MMOC was designed from the start for flexibility, so that it can readily support multiple missions of greatly varying size and complexity while simultaneously keeping costs low.

Differding, Joan C.↗
NASA NTRS2020

GGOS Bureau of Networks and Observations: Network Infrastructure and Related Activities

The GGOS Bureau of Networks and Observations works with the IAG Services (IVS, ILRS, IGS, IDS, IGFS, and PSMSL) to advocate for the expansion and upgrade of space geodesy networks for the maintenance and improvement of the reference frame and other applications, as well as for the integration with other techniques, including absolute gravity and sea level measurements from tide gauges. New sites are being established following the GGOS concept of “core” and co-location sites, and new technologies are being implemented to enhance performance in data yield as well as accuracy. The Bureau continues to meet with organizations to discuss possibilities, including partnerships, for new and expanded participation. The GGOS Network continues to grow as new stations join every year. The Bureau holds meetings frequently, providing the opportunity for representatives from the services to meet and share progress and plans, and to discuss issues of common interest. It also monitors the status and projects the evolution of the network based on information from the current and expected future participants. Of particular interest at the moment is the integration of gravity and tide gauge networks and the forthcoming establishment of the new absolute gravity reference frame. The IAG Committees and Joint Working Groups play an essential role in the Bureau activity. The Standing Committee on Performance Simulations and Architectural Trade-offs (PLATO) uses simulation and analysis techniques to project future network capability and to examine trade-off options. The Committee on Data and Information is working on a strategy for a GGOS metadata system for data products and a more comprehensive long-term plan for an all-inclusive system. The Committee on Satellite Missions is working to enhance communication with the space missions, to advocate for missions that support GGOS goals and to enhance ground systems support. The IERS Working Group on Site Survey and Co-location (also participating in the Bureau) is working to enhance standardization in procedures, outreach and to encourage new survey groups to participate and improve procedures to determine systems’ reference points, a crucial aid in the detection of technique-specific systematic errors. We will give a brief update on the status and projection of the network infrastructure of the next several years, and the progress and plans of the Committees/Working Group in their critical role in enhancing data product quality and accessibility to the users.

Carey Noll↗
NASA NTRS2008

Advances in Molten Oxide Electrolysis for the Production of Oxygen and Metals from Lunar Regolith

As part of an In-Situ Resource Utilization infrastructure to sustain long term-human presence on the lunar surface, the production of oxygen and metals by electrolysis of lunar regolith has been the subject of major scrutiny. There is a reasonably large body of literature characterizing the candidate solvent electrolytes, including ionic liquids, molten salts, fluxed oxides, and pure molten regolith itself. In the light of this information and in consideration of available electrolytic technologies, the authors have determined that direct molten oxide electrolysis at temperatures of approx 1600 C is the most promising avenue for further development. Results from ongoing studies as well as those of previous workers will be presented. Topics include materials selection and testing, electrode stability, gas capture and analysis, and cell operation during feeding and tapping.

Sadoway, Donald R.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Expanding the Spatiotemporal Range of Soil Moisture Analysis Utilizing NASA Earth Observations and In Situ Measurements

Drought can cause immense agricultural and ecological damage resulting in high mitigation and compensation costs. Climate variability in future decades is expected to cause severe drought conditions and threaten necessary water resources. Stakeholders seek to implement effective drought assessments in preparation for potential economic and environmental damage invoked by drought. Although in-situ measurements are accurate, the current infrastructure is spatially limited and costly to maintain. A framework was created to compare modeled, satellite and in-situ data in drought monitoring. Here we show that the comparison of in-situ and remotely sensed soil moisture (SM) measurements can increase the spatiotemporal range of SM assessments. Data collected between 2003 and 2021 by NASA’s SPoRT Land Information System (SPoRT-LIS) and Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission were standardized and compared with in-situ data provided through the Illinois Climate Network (WARM). Statistical analysis results including the Pearson correlation coefficient (r), root mean squared error, mean absolute error and others were calculated to compare the WARM measurements to the SMAP and SPoRT-LIS products. Results indicate that both satellite products demonstrate seasonally variable bias that is not present in the in-situ measurements. Bias was highest in the winter months and lowest in the late summer and early fall months in both satellite datasets. Overall, WARM-SPoRT comparisons resulted in lower seasonal variability. However, on average, the SMAP comparison demonstrated higher correlation values and lower error values. The WARM-SMAP average correlation (r) was 0.61 compared to the WARM-SPoRT average correlation (r) value of 0.54. Average mean absolute error values calculated for the SMAP and SPoRT comparisons were 0.07 and 0.08 percent soil moisture by volume, respectively. These analyses suggest integrating in-situ measurements and those provided by NASA Earth observations can be utilized in a multi-faceted SM evaluation, a valuable contribution to drought monitoring and water resource decision making.

Emma P Myrick↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Milwaukee Urban Development: Assessing the Drivers of Urban Flood Vulnerability in Milwaukee using the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs Urban Flood Risk Mitigation Model (InVEST)

Milwaukee County has experienced an increase in flooding due to climate change and urbanization. The frequency and severity of flooding vary spatially due to differences in land cover, surface permeability, and infrastructure. Marginalized communities tend to experience disproportionately high flooding and damage due to infrastructural inequalities and limited access to resources. To quantify these differences, we used the Natural Capital Project’s Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) Urban Flood Risk Mitigation Model to calculate and create maps of runoff retention, nominal flood depth, and economic damage to buildings in Milwaukee. Our model inputs included land cover, surface permeability, and rainfall. To inform our precipitation inputs, we used NASA’s Integrated Multi-satellite Retrievals for Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM IMERG) and National Weather Service (NWS) data. We assessed the relationship between flood risk and social and environmental spatial data including redlining, racial demographics, greenspace, and community resilience. The data demonstrate that flood risk is higher in historically redlined neighborhoods, majority Hispanic and Black census block groups, areas that lack parks and trees, and areas of low community resilience as measured by the Census Bureau’s Community Resilience Estimates (CRE). These findings will support our partners, Groundwork Milwaukee and Groundwork USA, in their efforts to promote the equitable distribution of resources and support environmental health in urban spaces. The end products of this project provide our partners with tools to assess urban flooding vulnerability, guide future intervention projects, quantify the effects of environmental injustice, and improve stakeholder access to data.

Madeleine Tango↗
NASA NTRS2022

Milwaukee Urban Development: Assessing the Drivers of Urban Flooding Vulnerability in Milwaukee Using NASA Earth Observations

Milwaukee County has experienced an increase in flooding due to climate change and urbanization. The frequency and severity of flooding vary spatially due to differences in land cover, surface permeability, and infrastructure. Marginalized communities tend to experience disproportionately high flooding and damage due to infrastructural inequalities and limited access to resources. To quantify these differences, we used the Natural Capital Project’s Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) Urban Flood Risk Mitigation Model to calculate and create maps of runoff retention, nominal flood depth, and economic damage to buildings in Milwaukee. Our model inputs included land cover, surface permeability, and rainfall. To inform our precipitation inputs, we used NASA’s Integrated Multi-satellite Retrievals for Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM IMERG) and National Weather Service (NWS) data. We assessed the relationship between flood risk and social and environmental spatial data including redlining, racial demographics, greenspace, and community resilience. The data demonstrate that flood risk is higher in historically redlined neighborhoods, majority Hispanic and Black census block groups, areas that lack parks and trees, and areas of low community resilience as measured by the Census Bureau’s Community Resilience Estimates (CRE). These findings will support our partners, Groundwork Milwaukee and Groundwork USA, in their efforts to promote the equitable distribution of resources and support environmental health in urban spaces. The end products of this project provide our partners with tools to assess urban flooding vulnerability, guide future intervention projects, quantify the effects of environmental injustice, and improve stakeholder access to data.

Madeleine Tango↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

A Deeper Dive Into the Meaning and Implications of Interoperability for LunaNet Communications and Navigation Services

As part of planning efforts for cislunar exploration and science missions, space agencies have been collaborating with each other to enable communications, networking, Position, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) systems to exchange information and provide services to spacecraft and space systems in transit, in orbit, and on the surface, thus helping each other to achieve their common goals. To achieve commonality and lower cost for mutual benefit, the strategy of interoperability is being adopted to help all the pieces fit together and function smoothly. Interoperability gives cislunar users the ability to operate in a collaborative environment similar to the terrestrial Internet, allowing them to share information, navigate safely despite increasing radio frequency congestion, and follow common processes and procedures for effective joint operations. Unlike prior government-dominated efforts, this ecosystem is expected to include commercial for-profit businesses, non-profit organizations, and academic institutions. Ultimately, the goal is to enable a cislunar ecosystem of service providers and users to contribute and/or utilize infrastructure and capabilities to accomplish mission objectives spanning the full range of human endeavours while supporting a variety of business models. This paper reports on the results of an effort to assist in efforts to frame the development of the international LunaNet architecture by providing a canonical definition of interoperability broad enough to meet these needs, examine architectural and operational implications of the definition, and explore interoperability strategies and tactics for deploying and evolving these services. It describes key systems-of-systems (SoS) (Network-of-Networks) interoperability concepts in the context of sustainment of the ecosystem over time as systems evolve in technologies, standards and Standards Development Organizations, component and subsystem upgrades, and user applications

LunaNet↗
NASA NTRS2003

PAIRS, The GIS-Based Incident Response System for Pennsylvania, and NASA

Over the past several years the Pennsylvania Departments of Environmental Protection (DEP), Health (DOH), and Agriculture (PDA) built the GIs-based Pennsylvania West Nile Surveillance System. That system has become a model for collecting data that has a field component, laboratory component, reporting and mapping component, and a public information component. Given the success of the West Nile Virus System and the events of September 11, 2001, DEP then embarked on the development of the Pennsylvania Incident Response System, or PAIRS. PAIRS is an effective GIs-based approach to providing a system for response to incidents of any kind, including terrorism because it is building upon the existing experience, infrastructure and databases that were successfully developed to respond to the West Nile Virus by DEP, DOH, and PDA. The proposed system can be described as one that supports data acquisition, laboratory forensics, decision making/response, and communications. Decision makers will have tools to view and analyze data from various sources and, at the same time, to communicate with the large numbers of people responding to the same incident. Recent collaborations with NASA partners are creating mechanisms for the PAIRS system to incorporate space-based and other remote sensing geophysical parameters relevant to public health assessment and management, such as surface temperatures, precipitation, land cover/land use change, and humidity. This presentation will describe the PAIRS system and outline the Pennsylvania-NASA collaboration for integration of space-based data into the PAIRS system.

Conrad, Eric↗
NASA NTRS2017

Synergistic Use of Nighttime Satellite Data, Electric Utility Infrastructure, and Ambient Population to Improve Power Outage Detections in Urban Areas

Natural and anthropogenic hazards are frequently responsible for disaster events, leading to damaged physical infrastructure, which can result in loss of electrical power for affected locations. Remotely-sensed, nighttime satellite imagery from the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi-NPP) Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Day/Night Band (DNB) can monitor power outages in disaster-affected areas through the identification of missing city lights. When combined with locally-relevant geospatial information, these observations can be used to estimate power outages, defined as geographic locations requiring manual intervention to restore power. In this study, we produced a power outage product based on Suomi-NPP VIIRS DNB observations to estimate power outages following Hurricane Sandy in 2012. This product, combined with known power outage data and ambient population estimates, was then used to predict power outages in a layered, feedforward neural network model. We believe this is the first attempt to synergistically combine such data sources to quantitatively estimate power outages. The VIIRS DNB power outage product was able to identify initial loss of light following Hurricane Sandy, as well as the gradual restoration of electrical power. The neural network model predicted power outages with reasonable spatial accuracy, achieving Pearson coefficients (r) between 0.48 and 0.58 across all folds. Our results show promise for producing a continental United States (CONUS)- or global-scale power outage monitoring network using satellite imagery and locally-relevant geospatial data.

da/night band↗