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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 469 records · Page 26
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2018

Environmental Control System Development

Since before the first men landed on the moon, human beings have aspired to reach farther into space, to discover and answer the great mysteries that exist beyond imagination. To reach where no one has gone before. To able to see all the wonderful things that can be found in space and that only satellites have revealed to us during all this time. Considering the last trip to the moon, mankind has been evolving and improving their technology to reach destinations whose distances had been impossible to transit. To reach that goal, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has designed and developed the largest and most powerful rocket ever created by the human race, the Space Launch System - better known as the SLS. To be able to send this large rocket to space, Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is doing upgrades to their existing facilities and equipment. At Launch Pad 39B, they are setting up a new Environmental Control System (ECS) developed to supply the rocket with the correct gases and mixtures that will be needed for the rocket to launch. The ECS is similar to an air conditioning unit. The main functionality of it is to supply the SLS with the correct gas mixture for it to launch. Also the ECS has been required to reduce or eliminate the possibility of a complete system failure. The system is part of the Ground Support Equipment (GSE) for the SLS that will be going to the Moon and Mars.

Flores Arroyo, Elvin A.↗
NASA NTRS2016

The Astrobiology Primer v2.0

Astrobiology is the science that seeks to understand the story of life in our universe. Astrobiology includes investigation of the conditions that are necessary for life to emerge and flourish, the origin of life, the ways that life has evolved and adapted to the wide range of environmental conditions here on Earth, the search for life beyond Earth, the habitability of extraterrestrial environments, and consideration of the future of life here on Earth and elsewhere. It therefore requires knowledge of physics, chemistry, biology, and many more specialized scientific areas including astronomy, geology, planetary science, microbiology, atmospheric science, and oceanography. However, astrobiology is more than just a collection of different disciplines. In seeking to understand the full story of life in the Universe in a holistic way, astrobiology asks questions that transcend all these individual scientific subjects. Astrobiological research potentially has much broader consequences than simply scientific discovery, as it includes questions that have been of great interest to human beings for millennia (e.g., are we alone?) and raises issues that could affect the way the human race views and conducts itself as a species (e.g., what are our ethical responsibilities to any life discovered beyond Earth?).

Domagal-Goldman, Shawn D.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Next Steps in Planetary Protection for Human Spaceflight

Planetary protection is defined as: a) the prevention of contamination of extraterrestrial bodies by terrestrial microorganisms, and b) biohazard containment of returned samples from bodies in the Solar System that could harbor life.1 While the majority of interplanetary missions to date have involved robotic exploration, future missions will include human explorers. Current planetary protection requirements do not address the unique challenges associated with human exploration. The purpose of this abstract is to review planetary protection efforts for crewed missions and provide a forward plan for implementing them at the systems level. Article IX of the UN Outer Space Treaty of 1967 provides the definition of planetary protection, outlined above.1 COSPAR holds the international standard in line with this treaty2, while NASA's Planetary Protection Policy (NPD 8020.7G) outlines the U.S. implementation of the COSPAR standard. 3;4 NPI 8020.7 groups future human spaceflight planetary protection studies as follows: 1) microbial monitoring, 2) contamination mitigation and control, and 3) environmental effects. Additionally, a NPI 8020.7 outlines a five-step plan for forward work: 1) a literature review, 2) community inputs, 3) completion of recommended studies, 4) developing a draft NPR, and 5) implementation with NASA teams. The literature review was published in 2016.5 Inputs from the community were gathered at the Planetary Protection Knowledge Gaps for Human Extraterrestrial Missions, held in 2015.6 Johnson and Race (2016) outlined notional requirements and prioritized studies needed before final requirements can be produced. This prior work sets the stage for completing the necessary studies and finalizing planetary protection requirements for human spaceflight. We propose a continuation of the systems engineering approach adopted thus far. The challenges associated with the implementation of notional requirements will be quantified in detailed discussions with internal stakeholders. The status and results of high-priority studies that have been completed since 2016 or are ongoing will be incorporated into discussions with stakeholders. In this way, we plan to bridge the gap between the science behind planetary protection and the engineering development that will implement it, allowing finalized planetary protection requirements to be developed for future human space missions.

Mitchell, Julie↗
NASA NTRS2016

Humanoids and the Potential Role of Electroactive Materials/Mechanisms in Advancing Their Capability

Humanoids are increasingly becoming capable biologically inspired robots that are appearing and behaving lifelike. Making humanlike robots is the ultimate challenge to biomimetics and, while for many years they were considered a science fiction, such robots are increasingly becoming engineering reality. Progress in producing such robots are allowing them to perform impressive functions and tasks. In 2012, in an effort to promote significant advances in developing humanoids, DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) posed a Robotic Challenge to produce such robots that operate in disaster scenarios towards making society more resilient. The challenge was focused on the requirements that have been needed after the Fukushima accident in Japan, hoping to advance the field of disaster robotics. This disaster posed significant challenges to emergency responders since radiation prevented people from going into the station and venting the explosive gas. Another significant development in this field is the fact that major US corporations have entered into the race to produce commercial humanoids. As a result, one can expect significant and rapid progress in this field. Developing humanoids is critically dependent of the use of highly efficient, compact, lightweight actuators and electroactive materials are offering great potential. This paper reviews the state-of-theart of humanlike robots, potential applications and challenges, as well as the actuation materials that are used or could be used.

Electroactive Polymer Actuators↗
NASA NTRS2019

Medical Decision Making in the Physician Hierarchy: A Pilot Pedagogical Evaluation

Context: Recently, The American College of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) has included the medical decision making as a core competency in several specialties. To date, the ability to demonstrate and measure a pedagogical evolution of medical judgment in a medical education program has been limited. Objective: In this study we hope to examine differences in medical decision making ability of different physicians across their various stages of post-graduate hierarchy. Method: Physcians spanning a wide spectrum of scientific disciplines were recruited for three catagories: administrative physicians(AP) representing physcians with the most experience but mostly practice administratively; resident physicians completing their postgraduate medical training (RP) and seasoned attending physicians with mastery level experience (MP). Participants completed four medical simulations focused on abdominal pain: cholecystitis (CH) and renal colic(RC) and chest pain; Cardiac ischemia (STEMI) and pneumothorax (PX). Simulation were ordered randomly so that there was no systematic bias due to learning or to fatigue. The Medical judgment metric (MJM) was used to evaluate medical decision-making. Results: There were no significant differences between the AP, RP, and MP groups in the gender, race, ethnicity, education, and baseline heart rate. There was a significant (p=0.002) interaction effect for simulation time and RP group, 6.2 minutes (+/-1.58); MP group, 8.7 minutes (+/-2.46); and AP group, 10.3 minutes (+/-2.78). The RC MJM scores were significantly (P=0.10) worse in the AP group 12.3 (+/-2.66) then the RP 14.7(+/-1.15) and MP17.7 (+/-1.15) groups. In every simulation, the AP group MJM scores were worse on average (no significantly) compared to the MP and RP groups. The AP group was significantly (P=0.040) less likely to stabilize the subject in the RC simulation than MP and RP groups. Conclusion: There remains significant variability in the medical education and skill retention influences medical decision making throughout a physician's career.

Rosasco, John↗
NASA NTRS2016

Humanoids and the Potential Role of Electroactive Materials/Mechanisms in Advancing Their Capability

Humanoids are increasingly becoming capable biologically inspired robots that are appearing and behaving lifelike. Making humanlike robots is the ultimate challenge to biomimetics and, while for many years they were considered a science fiction, such robots are increasingly becoming engineering reality. Progress in producing such robots are allowing them to perform impressive functions and tasks. In 2012, in an effort to promote significant advances in developing humanoids, DARPA posed a Robotic Challenge to produce such robots that operate in disaster scenarios towards making society more resilient. The challenge was focused on the requirements that have been needed after the Fukushima accident in Japan, hoping to advance the field of disaster robotics. This disaster posed significant challenges to emergency responders since radiation prevented people from going into the station and venting the explosive gas. Another significant development in this field is the fact that major US corporations have entered into the race to produce commercial humanoids. As a result, one can expect significant and rapid progress in this field. Developing humanoids is critically dependent of the use of highly efficient, compact, lightweight actuators and electroactive materials are offering great potential. This paper reviews the state-of-theart of humanlike robots, potential applications and challenges, as well as the actuation materials that are used or could be used.

Electroactive Polymer Actuators↗
NASA NTRS2020

Nonbinary Systems: Looking Towards the Future of Gender Equity in Planetary Science

Gender equity remains a major issue facing the field of planetary science, and there is broad interest in addressing gender disparities within space science and related disciplines. Many studies of these topics have been performed by professional planetary scientists who are relatively unfamiliar with research in fields such as gender studies and sociology. As a result, they adopt a normative view of gender as a binary choice of ‘male’ or ‘female,’ leaving planetary scientists whose genders do not fit within that model out of such research entirely. Reductive frameworks of gender and an overemphasis on quantification as an indicator of gendered phenomena are harmful to people of marginalized genders, especially those who live at the intersections of multiple axes of marginalization such as race, disability, and socioeconomic status. In order for the planetary science community to best serve its marginalized members as we move into the next decade, a new paradigm must be established. This paper aims to address the future of gender equity in planetary science by recommending better survey practices and institutional policies based on a more profound approach to gender.

Beck E Strauss↗
NASA NTRS2021

Quirky Circling Behavior in Mice Informs Research on Humans in Space

As interest in long duration effects of space habitation increases, understanding the behavior of model organisms living within the habitats engineered to fly them is vital for designing, validating, and interpreting future spaceflight studies. We previously conducted a detailed phenotypic analysis of mouse behavior during long duration (33-day) spaceflight in the NASA Rodent Habitat (Rodent Research-1; RR1 mission). Notably, we documented the emergence within the 8-10 days of launch of spontaneous ambulatory behavior in the form of circling or ‘race-tracking’ behavior in spaceflight but not in an identical ground control condition. Circling is unique to the NASA RH not having been reported to occur in other mouse habitats that provide limited opportunity for grasping, and/or are characterized by smaller habitable volumes viz., Italian Mice Drawer System (MDS) flown on ISS; Russian Block Obespecheniya Soderzhaniya (BOS) flown on Bion M-1, or JAXA Habitat Cage Unit (HCU) flown in the ISS Kibo module. Over time, circling became the primary dark cycle activity of FLT mice, occurring in individuals then as a coordinated group activity. Here we discuss possible interpretations of circling behavior including: (1) Stereotypic or abnormal repetitive behaviors (ARBs) that are unvarying, and apparently functionless behavior patterns documented numerous species in laboratory and zoo settings, possibility related to insufficient environmental enrichment and stress, (2) Rewarding effects of physical activity that are well-documented in terrestrial studies of rodents given the opportunity to run in wheels, and (3) Vestibular self-stimulation, i.e., the generation biologically-relevant amounts of vestibular sensory input to reduce the effects of microgravity. Affording mice the opportunity to grab and run in the RH resembles physical activities that the crew participate in routinely. Our approach is yielding an interesting analogue for better understanding human responses to spaceflight, and providing the opportunity to begin to address how physical movement influences responses to microgravity.

spaceflight↗
NASA NTRS2021

Social Bias in AI and its Implications

Previous studies have documented many different types of biases that exist in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) systems. We reviewed the literature on AI and ML bias with a focus on social implications and found that bias in AI and ML can potentially have harmful social impacts on individuals and/or groups of people. By affecting people differently according to characteristics such as race, gender, or sexual orientation, AI and ML systems may lead to harm by exacerbating social inequities. We recount examples of issues that have occurred in systems that use technology that might be used at NASA and elsewhere so that similar issues might be identified and mitigated in future systems. We also provide interested parties with a gateway into existing work on social bias in AI and ML systems.

artificial intelligence (AI)↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Reduced Cost NiTi-Alloy Bearings Made Via Near Net Shape Powder Metallurgy Processes

NiTi alloys are emerging as an attractive bearing race material for bearings exposed to high static loads and highly corrosive environments. One obstacle yet to be overcome is the intrinsically high relative cost of these materials compared to traditional bearing steels. Traditional net-shape powder metallurgy methods, such as cold-press and sinter, are not applicable to NiTi alloys because they require hot isostatic pressing (HIP) to achieve full density, flaw free microstructures. Recently, innovative powder metallurgy processing has been successful in forming bearing ring blank shapes through the use of geometrically tailored HIP containers. Microstructural evaluations show that ring blanks made from this process are comparable to material made using conventional HIP containers while substantially reducing material usage.

bearings↗
NASA NTRS2021

Yonkers Urban Development: Utilizing NASA Earth Observations to Identify Environmental and Social Drivers of Urban Heat Vulnerability and Model Urban Cooling Interventions in Yonkers, New York

The City of Yonkers, New York, is located directly north of the Bronx in Westchester County and currently hosts a population of nearly 200,000. In response to increasing hot-weather episodes, the risk of heat-related illnesses and mortality is disproportionately affecting neighborhoods in Yonkers historically subjected to race-based housing segregation. NASA DEVELOP collaborated with Groundwork Hudson Valley to determine regions within Yonkers that are experiencing the most intense urban heat island effects, identify and rank sociodemographic and environmental determinants of increasing community-level vulnerability, map these vulnerabilities as a combined vulnerability index, complete a proximity analysis of walkability to local cooling centers and health facility locations, and model potential cooling strategies. The study area consisted of Yonkers, NY and the analyses used data from 2015-2020 (June through August). The project utilized NASA Earth observation products including Landsat 4 and 5 Thematic Mapper (TM), Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+), Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS), Terra Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER), and ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS). We assessed the benefits of different heat-mitigation scenarios by utilizing the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) urban cooling model. Results from these analyses can be used by Groundwork Hudson Valley, supporting the New York State’s Climate Safe Communities Certifiable Planning Actions, expanding knowledge on the relationship between historic redlining and environmental equity, and informing their Climate Safe Neighborhoods initiative to identify and prioritize mitigation efforts to abate the worst impacts of extreme heat.

Jillian Walechka↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Integrating Earth Observations and Socioeconomic Data to Identify Vulnerable Populations and Support Environmental Justice Initiatives

Part of NASA’s Earth Applied Sciences, DEVELOP is a dual capacity building program that introduces communities to applications of NASA Earth observation data to help inform environmental decision making. These projects are conducted by small teams of students, recent graduates, and early and transitioning career professionals and are tailored specifically to end-user decision making processes. Since 2018, a collaboration between NASA DEVELOP, Groundwork USA and its network of trusts, the AGU Thriving Earth Exchange, and local communities such as the City of Cambridge and the City of San Diego, has culminated in a campaign of 14 projects focused on assessing vulnerability to environmental threats such as extreme heat and flooding. These projects have explored the integration of satellite data and socio-economic data to discern populations at risk of being negatively impacted and align with Groundwork’s Climate Safe Neighborhoods Initiative that explores the relationship between historical race-based housing segregation and current and predicted impacts of climate change. This presentation will introduce an overview of the DEVELOP projects using Earth observations to support vulnerabilities assessments and community resilience, the collaboration with Groundwork USA, and future plans for environmental justice efforts at NASA.

Capacity Building↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Assessing Urban Heat in the Cincinnati and Covington Area to Inform Local Decision-Makers and Environmental Justice Initiatives

The Urban Heat Island effect is a phenomenon characterized by urban areas experiencing temperatures that are, on average, warmer than surrounding suburban and rural regions. Urban Heat Islands are fueled by expansive impervious surfaces, vehicle emissions, and insufficient urban green space. Densely populated urban centers like the Cincinnati, Ohio and Covington, Kentucky area can experience negative health impacts due to the Urban Heat Island. NASA DEVELOP partnered with Groundwork USA and Groundwork Ohio River Valley to combine environmental education and outreach with technical capacity building in NASA Earth observations. The DEVELOP team used Landsat 5 TM and ISS ECOSTRESS to calculate daytime and nighttime land surface temperature anomalies. The team found that the Cincinnati and Covington area was 8.32°F warmer during the day and 4.97°F warmer at night compared to non-urban areas. The team also ran the Natural Capital Project InVEST Urban Cooling Model to map a heat mitigation index for the study area. The heat mitigation index models the cooling capacity of each pixel and the effect of green spaces on the pixel’s ability to mitigate heat. Results show which communities are most vulnerable to impacts of increased urban heat. The team also assessed alternative tree canopy scenarios with the InVEST model to better understand the effectiveness of potential heat mitigation strategies. Increasing tree canopy cover by 25% in urbanized land cover types was found to reduce mean temperature across the study area by 0.87°F. Combining these results with work from Groundwork’s Climate Safe Neighborhoods program highlights the relationship between extreme heat and historical-race based housing practices in the region. Results provide partners at Groundwork with refined methodologies to support future education and outreach, as well as increase future capacity to NASA Earth observations.

Celeste Gambino↗
NASA NTRS2021

A Short Glossary of Inclusive Language

Words matter—that old adage that many of us may have heard as children, Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me, is a harmful fallacy. In reality, the language we use has tremendous power to alienate, exclude, deride, humiliate, and wound. On the other hand, thoughtful use of language can signal openness, inclusivity, admiration, and celebration, or simply be an expression of empathy and care for our fellow humans. As part of The Oceanography Society (TOS) Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee’s series of columns in Oceanography, here we provide a glossary of terms that are often used while discussing topics such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and gender identity. It should be explicitly stated that this list is neither definitive nor exhaustive. Indeed, the terms included here are likely heavily influenced by the authors’ own lived experiences and the lenses through which we see the world. Language is a living entity, a fluid social construct subject to rapid changes and overlaid with regional nuances. Indeed, what may be accurate and acceptable terminology for one person may be entirely unacceptable for another. Keeping this in mind, the following glossary is an attempt to group together some of the acronyms and phrases that are most commonly used today in social justice studies and bodies of work and that may have particular relevance to our community of ocean-related scientists, technologists, and stakeholders. We have borrowed heavily from a wide range of excellent existing scholarship and activism and have cited all sources used. We encourage the reader to follow the links to these multimedia resources and, perhaps, use them as teaching and discussion materials with your students, colleagues, and mentees. Finally, it is our hope that this glossary, along with the links provided to more comprehensive definitions and discussions, helps to define terms that you may have heard used, but not understood, and that it will serve to remind us of the power of the words we use in our everyday professional and personal lives. We begin by defining the very words that form the name of our committee: Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI)

Susanne E. Craig↗
NASA NTRS2022

Yonkers Urban Development II: Leveraging NASA Earth Observations to Support Modeling Urban Cooling Interventions and Urban Heat Vulnerability in Yonkers, New York

The City of Yonkers, New York, located in Westchester County, is experiencing rising temperatures which are a growing threat to the health and safety of its residents. Furthermore, the risk of heat-related illnesses and mortality disproportionately affects neighborhoods in Yonkers historically subjected to race-based housing segregation. To better understand these inequities, Groundwork Hudson Valley and NASA DEVELOP collaborated for a second term to evaluate community-level heat vulnerability, landcover distribution, street-level thermal comfort, and modeled urban cooling interventions. This team applied 2019 5-year American Community Survey (ACS) data and social and biophysical heat vulnerability variables established by the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH), along with land surface temperature (LST) data collected from Landsat 8 Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS), and ISS ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) to identify communities in Yonkers in need of prioritized cooling intervention at the census tract level. Data from the Real-Time Mesoscale Analysis (RTMA) provided relevant meteorological data for the ENVI-met model to conduct street-level thermal observations and model tree canopy cooling interventions in the Yonkers neighborhoods of Kimball and Old 7th Ward. The project results will support the prioritization and equitable distribution of cooling infrastructure in identified neighborhoods. Additionally, Groundwork Hudson Valley will use the analyses as a heat literacy tool to improve advocacy efforts and inform both residents and officials about how investment in deliberate modification to tree canopy cover improves the city’s thermal environment and helps mitigate extreme heat.

Tamara Barbakova↗
NASA NTRS2020

Mars 2020 Center Differential Pivot Restraint: Flexurized Spring System Providing Compliance for Rover Mobility Deployment Prior to Landing

The Center Differential Pivot Restraint (CDPR) for the Mars 2020 mission is designed to constrain motion of the rover differential and to dampen out the load response of during rover’s mobility deployment event in Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL) phase of the mission. For Mars 2020, it was required to redesign the mechanism to save minimum 33% of the mass from the previous Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) design. The new mechanism architecture used a monolithic spring-like flexure to act as the system compliance, resulting in 50% mass savings from the MSL design. Along the design and prototype testing process, several mechanism design principles were re-affirmed as well as lessons learned about potential race conditions.

Cameron, Matthew↗
NASA NTRS2020

Continued Discussion of Failure Mode Modeling and Overall Component Reliability: Are the Data Missing or Censored?

This paper is the continuation of a paper presented at the 13th Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management Conference, in which a methodology of modeling failure modes of complex components was presented; see Paulos and Smith (2016). This methodology is not particularly helpful in the space industry where there is a lack of failure data, but is more helpful in industries that see a lot of component repairs and improvements, such as in the aircraft or automotive industries. The previous paper demonstrated how the typical approach of treating failure modes as being exponential in nature may yield optimistic predictions when estimating how improvements to components will perform in the future. It is more accurate to model the failure modes as a race in time; unfortunately, this does not give a closed-form solution. This paper uses simulation to solve for the model of the world, and the results compared to the standard methodology of treating the failure modes as being exponential random failures. The standard method is shown to have optimistic predictions, which will lead to prediction errors when failure modes are removed or “fixed.” The failure mode methodology presented in the first paper treated the data as being censored when the test stopped. In this paper, we will compare the results from treating the data as both censored and missing.

Smith, Curtis↗