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At least 469 records · Page 26

Use of Boundary Layer Transition Detection to Validate Full-Scale Flight Performance Predictions

Full-scale flight performance predictions can be made using CFD or a combination of CFD and analytical skin-friction predictions. However, no matter what method is used to obtain full-scale flight performance predictions knowledge of the boundary layer state is critical. The implementation of CFD codes solving the Navier-Stokes equations to obtain these predictions is still a time consuming, expensive process. In addition, to ultimately obtain accurate performance predictions the transition location must be fixed in the CFD model. An example, using the M2.4-7A geometry, of the change in Navier-Stokes solution with changes in transition and in turbulence model will be shown. Oil flow visualization using the M2.4-7A 4.0% scale model in the 14'x22' wind tunnel shows that fixing transition at 10% x/c in the CFD model best captures the flow physics of the wing flow field. A less costly method of obtaining full-scale performance predictions is the use of non-linear Euler codes or linear CFD codes, such as panel methods, combined with analytical skin-friction predictions. Again, knowledge of the boundary layer state is critical to the accurate determination of full-scale flight performance. Boundary layer transition detection has been performed at 0.3 and 0.9 Mach numbers over an extensive Reynolds number range using the 2.2% scale Reference H model in the NTF. A temperature sensitive paint system was used to determine the boundary layer state for these conditions. Data was obtained for three configurations: the baseline, undeflected flaps configuration; the transonic cruise configuration; and, the high-lift configuration. It was determined that at low Reynolds number conditions, in the 8 to 10 million Reynolds number range, the baseline configuration has extensive regions of laminar flow, in fact significantly more than analytical skin-friction methods predict. This configuration is fully turbulent at about 30 million Reynolds number for both 0.3 and 0.9, Mach numbers. Both the transonic cruise and the high-lift configurations were fully turbulent aft of the leading-edge flap hingeline at all Reynolds numbers.

Hamner, Marvine↗

NASA’s Moon Trek Portal: New Capabilities Supporting Mission Planning and Engagement

Introduction: NASA’s Moon Trek (https://trek.nasa.gov/moon/) is one of a growing number of interactive, browser-based, online portals for planetary data visualization and analysis produced by NASA’s Solar System Treks Project (SSTP). Moon Trek continues to be enhanced with new data and new capabilities enabling it to facilitate the planning and conducting of upcoming lunar missions by NASA, its commercial partners, and its international partners, as well as advancing its role as a valuable outreach tool. A Comprehensive Online Web Portal: Developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and managed as a project of NASA’s Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI) at NASA Ames Research Center, Moon Trek is a browser-based web portal. The portal provides easy-to-use tools for browsing, data layering, data product blending, and feature search among thousands of data products covering topography, mineralogy, elemental abundance, geology, and much more. Visualizations are provided in var-ious map projections, interactive 3D viewing, and in virtual reality. Using an in-house stereo workflow, SSTP is able to produce new NAC-based high-resolution mosaics and DEMs. Diverse Applications for Lunar Exploration: Baseline analytic tools available to all users include dis-tance measurement, elevation profiling, sun angle calculation, and 3D print file generation. More advanced account-level tools allow users to perform more computationally intensive analyses. These include ray-traced lighting analysis for user-specified areas over user-specified time/date ranges and time intervals, electro-static surface potential analysis, subsetting of large data products, slope analysis, and Lunar Laser Ranging geometry calculation. Artificial intelligence (AI) and ma-chine learning (ML) based tools have been implemented for crater detection and hazard analysis, boulder detection and hazard analysis, and rockfall detection. New Tools Facilitating Exploration: Additional, new tools have recently been added and others are in development, offering even greater functionality in con-ducting analyses of potential landing sites and areas of surface operations. The new Line-of-Sight tool facilitates communications planning between locations on the lunar surface, between any given site on the lunar surface and a specified ground station on the Earth, and between a site on the lunar surface and a relay asset in lunar orbit, all taking into account local lunar topography. The new Data Plotter tool provides both tabular and graphical representations of pixel values along a user specified path for a growing number of data products. The new NAC Finder tool will identify and pro-vide access to NAC images that intersect a user-defined path or bounded area. The SSTP development team is looking to leverage the capabilities of its existing AI and ML crater, boulder, and rockfall detection and analysis tools, and extend that technology to a generalized feature detector that can be trained on instances of specific types of landforms and then search the lunar surface for more examples of such features. New traverse planning tools are being developed with use cases in generalized concept studies and specific mission planning in mind. These will facilitate finding optimal traverse paths based on constraints such as slope, lighting, hazard avoidance, and communications. These will be complemented by new traverse visualization capabilities. Users will be able to interactively ride along with a rover, examining 3D views of the terrain while adjusting camera height and viewing angle along with selecting different data layer overlays to drape across the terrain. Engaging the Public: The capabilities being developed for mission planning are being leveraged to further enhance Moon Trek’s proven utility as a valuable public outreach resource. This includes providing multiple lev-els of engagement with different points of entry. At its simplest level, promoting understanding through visualization, media and the public will be able to easily visualize and conduct their own exploration of lunar sites targeted by NASA and its partners. For a more in-depth experience, we are working with our stakeholders to promote understanding through interaction by extend-ing our current landing site and traverse analysis capabilities, making simplified access to these tools available to those who want to explore more deeply key factors in planning a mission through interactive and possibly even gamified experiences. The highest degree of public outreach, focusing on engagement through scientific participation, could be achieved through our work with missions and the NASA Office of the Chief Scientist on Moon Trek’s extension as a tool with specialized capabilities for facilitating citizen science. In such scenarios, participants become members of extended mis-sion science teams, using dedicated and integrated interfaces to analyze mission data to help answer questions key to lunar science and exploration. We are work-ing with NASA’s Office of Communications, museums, planetariums, and the media to help them easily integrate accurate, detailed visualizations of NASA’s lunar destinations and exploration into their content/productions and to engage diverse audiences in diverse venues.

Moon Trek↗

Slushy weightings for the optimal pilot model

A pilot model is described which accounts for the effect of motion cues in a well defined visual tracking task. The effect of visual and motion cues are accounted for in the model in two ways. First, the observation matrix in the pilot model is structured to account for the visual and motion inputs presented to the pilot. Secondly, the weightings in the quadratic cost function associated with the pilot model are modified to account for the pilot's perception of the variables he considers important in the task. Analytic results obtained using the pilot model are compared to experimental results and in general good agreement is demonstrated. The analytic model yields small improvements in tracking performance with the addition of motion cues for easily controlled task dynamics and large improvements in tracking performance with the addition of motion cues for difficult task dynamics.

Dillow, J. D.↗

Effects of particle shape on volume and mass estimates of interstellar grains

Mass estimates of interstellar grain materials based on visual extinction characteristics are shown to be insensitive to shape and, so long as the wavelength dependence of extinction is defined well into the infrared, they are also insensitive to size distribution. Spheroidal particles are treated by an approximate analytical method. Spheres and cylinders (core mantle as well as homogeneous) are treated by exact methods.

Greenberg, J. M.↗

Ultra-Pure, High Endurance Liquid Bladder with Volume Sensor for Space Applications

The NASA Portable Life Support System (PLSS) for the Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) incorporates a Feedwater Supply Assembly (FSA) to store consumable cooling water. The FSA accepts pure water prior to each Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA), then supplies this water to a membrane evaporator at ambient suit pressure during the eight hour EVA. The FSA must function reliably for hundreds of EVAs over 15 years of service without introducing contamination that may accumulate and foul the membrane. We present a unique design that combines the benefits of a flexible fluoropolymer bladder with the strength and convenience of a rigid tank, providing an ultra-pure, ambient-pressure reservoir with fill-drain cycle life exceeding 3000, internal pressure tolerance exceeding 100 psi, high volumetric efficiency, near-zero dead volume, optical transparency for visual inspection, simplified mounting, and very low mass. We also incorporate a novel volume sensor suitable for both microgravity and arbitrarily accelerated environments and capable of real-time monitoring with accuracy on the order of 2.5% full scale. Analytical predictions are supported by experimental test data from a mature subscale prototype.

PLSS Portable Life Support System FSA Feedwater Su↗

Extremely Scalable Distributed Computation of Contour Trees via Pre-Simplification

Contour trees offer an abstract representation of the level set topology in scalar fields and are widely used in topological data analysis and visualization. However, applying contour trees to large-scale scientific datasets remains challenging due to scalability limitations. Recent developments in distributed hierarchical contour trees have addressed these challenges by enabling scalable computation across distributed systems. Building on these structures, advanced analytical tasks—such as volumetric branch decomposition and contour extraction—have been introduced to facilitate large-scale scientific analysis. Despite these advancements, such analytical tasks substantially increase memory usage, which hampers scalability. In this paper, we propose a pre-simplification strategy to significantly reduce the memory overhead associated with analytical tasks on distributed hierarchical contour trees. We demonstrate enhanced scalability through strong scaling experiments, constructing the largest known contour tree—comprising over half a trillion nodes with complex topology—in under 15 minutes on a dataset containing 550 billion elements.

Li, Mingzhe [University of Utah]↗

Propfan experimental data analysis

A data reduction method, which is consistent with the performance prediction methods used for analysis of new aircraft designs, is defined and compared to the method currently used by NASA using data obtained from an Ames Res. Center 11 foot transonic wind tunnel test. Pressure and flow visualization data from the Ames test for both the powered straight underwing nacelle, and an unpowered contoured overwing nacelle installation is used to determine the flow phenomena present for a wind mounted turboprop installation. The test data is compared to analytic methods, showing the analytic methods to be suitable for design and analysis of new configurations. The data analysis indicated that designs with zero interference drag levels are achieveable with proper wind and nacelle tailoring. A new overwing contoured nacelle design and a modification to the wing leading edge extension for the current wind tunnel model design are evaluated. Hardware constraints of the current model parts prevent obtaining any significant performance improvement due to a modified nacelle contouring. A new aspect ratio wing design for an up outboard rotation turboprop installation is defined, and an advanced contoured nacelle is provided.

Vernon, David F.↗

Fault diagnosis in orbital refueling operations

Usually, operation manuals are provided for helping astronauts during space operations. These manuals include normal and malfunction procedures. Transferring operation manual knowledge into a computerized form is not a trivial task. This knowledge is generally written by designers or operation engineers and is often quite different from the user logic. The latter is usually a compiled version of the former. Experiments are in progress to assess the user logic. HORSES (Human - Orbital Refueling System - Expert System) is an attempt to include both of these logics in the same tool. It is designed to assist astronauts during monitoring and diagnosis tasks. Basically, HORSES includes a situation recognition level coupled to an analytical diagnoser, and a meta-level working on both of the previous levels. HORSES is a good tool for modeling task models and is also more broadly useful for knowledge design. The presentation is represented by abstract and overhead visuals only.

Boy, Guy A.↗

DEIMoS GUI: An Open-Source User Interface for a High-Dimensional Mass Spectrometry Data Processing Tool

In this paper, we report the creation of a graphical user interface (GUI) for the Data Extraction for Integrated Multidimensional Spectrometry (DEIMoS) tool. DEIMoS is a Python package to process data from high-dimensional mass spectrometry measurements. It is divided into several modules, each representing a data processing step, such as peak detection, alignment, and tandem mass spectra extraction and deconvolution. The inputs for and outputs from DEIMoS can include millions of N-dimensional data points, which can be challenging to visualize in a way that is interactive, informative, and responsive. Here, we used the HoloViz Python data stack, including DataShader and Param, to create an interactive visualization of mass spectrometry data. We believe the GUI will increase the accessibility of DEIMoS, and the visualization methods could be useful for other open-source mass spectrometry tools.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Bringing chemical structures to life with augmented reality, machine learning, and quantum chemistry

Visualizing 3D molecular structures is crucial to understanding and predicting their chemical behavior. However, static 2D hand-drawn skeletal structures remain the preferred method of chemical communication. Here, we combine cutting-edge technologies in augmented reality (AR), machine learning, and computational chemistry to develop MolAR, an open-source mobile application for visualizing molecules in AR directly from their hand-drawn chemical structures. Users can also visualize any molecule or protein directly from its name or protein data bank ID and compute chemical properties in real time via quantum chemistry cloud computing. MolAR provides an easily accessible platform for the scientific community to visualize and interact with 3D molecular structures in an immersive and engaging way.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

ORNL_AISD_DL-HLgap

This dataset provides supplementary molecular dataset of Deep Learning Workflow for the Inverse Design of Molecules with Specific Optoelectronic Properties. The dataset comprises three main directories such as GDB-9_dataset, Low_HL_Gap_dataset, and High_HL_Gap_dataset which individually has csv files, smiles_txt files, pdb files and xyz files containing information of molecular structures, properties and coordinates generated from deep learning workflow using generative model, surrogate model and DFTB calculation results. GDB-9_dataset contains the molecular data extracted from the original GDB-9 dataset with additional data of DFTB HL gap, surrogate HL gap and molecular property analysis. (the number of atoms, aromaticity and double bond equivalent) Low_HL_Gap_dataset and High_HL_Gap_dataset contains series of dataset for different generations with further split to train and test dataset that were obtained from the iterative workflow described in the manuscript. Additional directory Chemiscope_visualization in Low_HL_Gap_dataset directory contains compressed json files to visualize molecules using chemiscope.org page or application to help readers examine generated molecules.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

SARS-CoV-2 wastewater variant surveillance: pandemic response leveraging FDA’s GenomeTrakr network

ABSTRACT Wastewater surveillance has emerged as a crucial public health tool for population-level pathogen surveillance. Supported by funding from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, the FDA‘s genomic epidemiology program, GenomeTrakr, was leveraged to sequence SARS-CoV-2 from wastewater sites across the United States. This initiative required the evaluation, optimization, development, and publication of new methods and analytical tools spanning sample collection through variant analyses. Version-controlled protocols for each step of the process were developed and published on protocols.io. A custom data analysis tool and a publicly accessible dashboard were built to facilitate real-time visualization of the collected data, focusing on the relative abundance of SARS-CoV-2 variants and sub-lineages across different samples and sites throughout the project. From September 2021 through June 2023, a total of 3,389 wastewater samples were collected, with 2,517 undergoing sequencing and submission to NCBI under the umbrella BioProject,PRJNA757291. Sequence data were released with explicit quality control (QC) tags on all sequence records, communicating our confidence in the quality of data. Variant analysis revealed wide circulation of Delta in the fall of 2021 and captured the sweep of Omicron and subsequent diversification of this lineage through the end of the sampling period. This project successfully achieved two important goals for the FDA’s GenomeTrakr program: first, contributing timely genomic data for the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic response, and second, establishing both capacity and best practices for culture-independent, population-level environmental surveillance for other pathogens of interest to the FDA. IMPORTANCE This paper serves two primary objectives. First, it summarizes the genomic and contextual data collected during a Covid-19 pandemic response project, which utilized the FDA’s laboratory network, traditionally employed for sequencing foodborne pathogens, for sequencing SARS-CoV-2 from wastewater samples. Second, it outlines best practices for gathering and organizing population-level next generation sequencing (NGS) data collected for culture-free, surveillance of pathogens sourced from environmental samples.

Microbiology↗

Liquid-phase mixing of bipropellant doublets

Experimental results of unlike doublet mixing are correlated with an analytically derived equation predicting fluid cavitation. The correlation relates the minimum orifice pressure drop required to initiate cavitation, with the system back pressure, cold flow simulant vapor pressure, and the orifice flow discharge and contraction coefficients. Stream flow instabilities are also visually correlated with the onset of cavitation and orifice discharge coefficient measurements. The influence of cavitation on the characteristic phenomenon of hydraulic flip is observed for both circular and noncircular shaped orifices. For certain intermediate orifice lengths, some noncircular shapes are shown to produce more fully developed flows (shorter recovery lengths) and therefore a more cohesive jet, which in turn yields slightly higher cold flow mixing uniformities than circular shaped orifices of equal absolute length. The particular noncircular shaped elements evaluated are shown to be more sensitive to liquid stream misimpingement than the corresponding circular orifices.

Hoehn, F. W.↗

A link-segment model of upright human posture for analysis of head-trunk coordination

Sensory-motor control of upright human posture may be organized in a top-down fashion such that certain head-trunk coordination strategies are employed to optimize visual and/or vestibular sensory inputs. Previous quantitative models of the biomechanics of human posture control have examined the simple case of ankle sway strategy, in which an inverted pendulum model is used, and the somewhat more complicated case of hip sway strategy, in which multisegment, articulated models are used. While these models can be used to quantify the gross dynamics of posture control, they are not sufficiently detailed to analyze head-trunk coordination strategies that may be crucial to understanding its underlying mechanisms. In this paper, we present a biomechanical model of upright human posture that extends an existing four mass, sagittal plane, link-segment model to a five mass model including an independent head link. The new model was developed to analyze segmental body movements during dynamic posturography experiments in order to study head-trunk coordination strategies and their influence on sensory inputs to balance control. It was designed specifically to analyze data collected on the EquiTest (NeuroCom International, Clackamas, OR) computerized dynamic posturography system, where the task of maintaining postural equilibrium may be challenged under conditions in which the visual surround, support surface, or both are in motion. The performance of the model was tested by comparing its estimated ground reaction forces to those measured directly by support surface force transducers. We conclude that this model will be a valuable analytical tool in the search for mechanisms of balance control.

NASA Discipline Neuroscience↗

Uniform secondary current distribution at disk electrodes under Tafel kinetics enabled by concentric current-shielding rings

Non-uniform secondary current distribution at rotating disk electrodes (RDE) is a common problem when using resistive electrolyte media or large applied currents. In a recent publication, we have shown that auxiliary electrodes such as the ring of a rotating ring disk electrode (RRDE) can help suppress current non-uniformities at the disk enabling reliable electroanalytical measurements. However, this previous work considered linear kinetics where current distribution non-uniformities were moderate. In the present contribution, we consider current distribution non-uniformities encountered under Tafel kinetics. We show, for the case of 2,5-dihydroxy-1,4-benzoquinone (DHBQ) reduction, that optimally chosen ring conditions serve to provide effective shielding at the disk edge rendering the overall disk current distribution to be uniform. Numerical modeling and scaling analysis (using the Wagner number) are presented to aid a user in determining the optimal ring current density for achieving uniform disk current distribution under Tafel kinetics. This approach is especially useful when studying soluble-soluble redox transitions for which, unlike deposit distribution in electrodeposition, the current distribution non-uniformity is not visually apparent.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

From Data to Models and Analytics: An Integrated Scientific Computing Platform to Accelerate Environmental Research SBIR Phase I (Final Technical Report)

Phase I research was conducted to investigate the technical feasibility of an integrated open source platform GeoLib to provide turnkey solutions for model-data integration for environmental systems science (ESS), using modern web technologies, advances in HPC and cloud computing and high-performance visualization. A key feature of our platform is that it minimizes and automates data movement between data storage and computing systems. Another critical feature of the design is that it enables users to perform high-fidelity post-processing by performing high-performance visualization server-side and in-situ on the compute cluster close to the data. The investigation, which was performed over a 12-month period ending April 2019, centered on developing prototype software to demonstrate the key enabling technologies required for this system. This included: (i) rapid access to data from multiple remote sources, via a unified data interface; (ii) software for scalable geospatial visualization of raster, vector, and point cloud data on the web; (iii) development of an easy-to-use API for creating simulation and modeling workflows; (iv) remote data visualization and processing on middle-tier servers; and (v) remote data processing on high-performance computing systems. A critical part of this work is that all of these capabilities be accessible to end users through standard desktop tools such as Project Jupyter, which is widely adopted for ESS simulation and modeling.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

GeneLab

GeneLab collects and enables analysis of spaceflight and ground-based spaceflight simulation genomic data, RNA and protein expression, and metabolic profiles. It interfaces with other existing databases containing spaceflight omic data. The 2011 National Research Council (NRC) Decadal Survey on NASA Life and Physical Sciences called for increased opportunities for multi-investigator spaceflight opportunities and greater use of genomic approaches to meet the needs of NASA researchers. To address these recommendations of the NRC Decadal Survey, the Space Life and Physical Sciences Research and Applications Division of NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate has initiated a transition to an Open Science architecture to increase research opportunities, and has developed the GeneLab Platform based on highly leveraged and integrated bioinformatics analytics. GeneLab is an interactive, open-access resource where scientists can upload, download, store, search, share, transfer, and analyze omics data from spaceflight and corresponding analogue experiments. Users can explore GeneLab datasets in the Data Repository, analyze data using the Analysis Platform, visualize high-order data and create collaborative projects using the Collaborative Workspace. Our primary goal is to maximize the utilization of the valuable biological research conducted aboard the International Space Station (ISS) by collecting genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomics data known as “omics”. By providing a portal linking processed data to flight parameters, GeneLab enables exploration of the molecular network responses of terrestrial biology to the space environment. This allows researchers to understand the complex responses of biological systems to the space environment. This technology development activity was transferred from the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate to the Science Mission Directorate Division of Biological and Physical Sciences (BPS) in October 2020.

GeneLab↗

Propeller flow visualization techniques

Propeller flow visualization techniques were tested. The actual operating blade shape as it determines the actual propeller performance and noise was established. The ability to photographically determine the advanced propeller blade tip deflections, local flow field conditions, and gain insight into aeroelastic instability is demonstrated. The analytical prediction methods which are being developed can be compared with experimental data. These comparisons contribute to the verification of these improved methods and give improved capability for designing future advanced propellers with enhanced performance and noise characteristics.

Stefko, G. L.↗