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NASA NTRS2009

Space Transportation System Availability Relationships to Life Cycle Cost

Future space transportation architectures and designs must be affordable. Consequently, their Life Cycle Cost (LCC) must be controlled. For the LCC to be controlled, it is necessary to identify all the requirements and elements of the architecture at the beginning of the concept phase. Controlling LCC requires the establishment of the major operational cost drivers. Two of these major cost drivers are reliability and maintainability, in other words, the system's availability (responsiveness). Potential reasons that may drive the inherent availability requirement are the need to control the number of unique parts and the spare parts required to support the transportation system's operation. For more typical space transportation systems used to place satellites in space, the productivity of the system will drive the launch cost. This system productivity is the resultant output of the system availability. Availability is equal to the mean uptime divided by the sum of the mean uptime plus the mean downtime. Since many operational factors cannot be projected early in the definition phase, the focus will be on inherent availability which is equal to the mean time between a failure (MTBF) divided by the MTBF plus the mean time to repair (MTTR) the system. The MTBF is a function of reliability or the expected frequency of failures. When the system experiences failures the result is added operational flow time, parts consumption, and increased labor with an impact to responsiveness resulting in increased LCC. The other function of availability is the MTTR, or maintainability. In other words, how accessible is the failed hardware that requires replacement and what operational functions are required before and after change-out to make the system operable. This paper will describe how the MTTR can be equated to additional labor, additional operational flow time, and additional structural access capability, all of which drive up the LCC. A methodology will be presented that provides the decision makers with the understanding necessary to place constraints on the design definition. This methodology for the major drivers will determine the inherent availability, safety, reliability, maintainability, and the life cycle cost of the fielded system. This methodology will focus on the achievement of an affordable, responsive space transportation system. It is the intent of this paper to not only provide the visibility of the relationships of these major attribute drivers (variables) to each other and the resultant system inherent availability, but also to provide the capability to bound the variables, thus providing the insight required to control the system's engineering solution. An example of this visibility is the need to provide integration of similar discipline functions to allow control of the total parts count of the space transportation system. Also, selecting a reliability requirement will place a constraint on parts count to achieve a given inherent availability requirement, or require accepting a larger parts count with the resulting higher individual part reliability requirements. This paper will provide an understanding of the relationship of mean repair time (mean downtime) to maintainability (accessibility for repair), and both mean time between failure (reliability of hardware) and the system inherent availability.

Rhodes, Russel E.↗

NASA NTRS2010

Detection of Natural Oil Seeps in the Atlantic Ocean Using MODIS

Natural oil seepage is the release of crude oil into the ocean from fissures in the seabed. Oil seepage is a major contributor to the total amount of oil entering the world s oceans. According to a 2003 study by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), 47 percent of oil entering the world s oceans is from natural seeps, and 53 percent is from human sources (extraction, transportation, and consumption). Oil seeps cause smooth oil slicks to form on the water s surface. Oil seeps can indicate the location of stores of fossil fuel beneath the ocean floor. Knowledge of the effect of oil seepage on marine life and marine ecosystems remains limited. In the past, remote sensing has been used to detect oil seeps in the Gulf of Mexico and off of the coast of southern California. This project utilized sun glint MODIS imagery to locate oil slicks off of the Atlantic coast, an area that had not previously been surveyed for natural oil seeps using remote sensing. Since 1982, the Atlantic Ocean has been closed to any oil and gas drilling. Recently, however, the U.S. Minerals Management Services (MMS) has proposed a lease for oil and gas drilling off the coasts of Virginia and North Carolina. Determining the location of seepage sites in the Atlantic Ocean will help MMS locate potential deposits of oil and natural gas, thereby reducing the risk of leasing areas for petroleum extraction that do not contain these natural resources.

Reahard, Ross↗

NASA NTRS2018

Modeling of Orbital and Attitude Dynamics of Nanosatellites Controlled via Active Electrostatic Charging

The large-scale exploration of airless bodies, such as asteroids and moons, is gaining interest, however it is limited by mobility issues: the lack of atmosphere, low gravity, and unknown soil properties pose difficult challenges for many forms of traditional locomotion. The environment in proximity of these bodies is also electrically charged due to interactions with solar wind and UV radiation. The EGlider (Electrostatic Glider) concept would be able to overcome these mobility issues by leveraging the natural environment, allowing operations in close proximity of the surface, while enabling long duration missions by minimizing propellant consumption. The EGlider is an advanced concept for small satellite mobility and propulsion, which relies on the electric fields naturally present around airless bodies in order to generate forces and torques useful for maneuvering. It does so by extending electrically charged appendages, which enable it to electrostatically soar above the surface. By differentially charging its electrodes it can also produce torques to control its attitude. The charges are maintained by continuous active ion or electron emission from the spacecraft, in order to cancel out the neutralizing influx of charges from surrounding plasma. An investigation of the spacecraft-plasma interaction was carried out. This included studying the effect of electrode geometry and calculating the charge-to-mass ratios required to enable several mission scenarios. Long, thin wire electrodes were identified to be the most power-efficient and would allow power-to-weight ratios achievable with current nanosatellite technologies. High electrode potential represents the main limiting factor for the system design. In order to test the feasibility of active control by means of differential charging, a simple 2D interaction model was developed, and a feedback controller to stabilize the vehicle was tested in a simulation environment. The results confirmed that good performance could be obtained for both position and attitude control. Finally, a dedicated software was developed for future simulation and testing of control strategies for the EGlider. This software allows to study the trajectory and attitude of an arbitrarily configured spacecraft in the proximity of an arbitrarily defined main airless body. The spacecraft can be assembled from basic parts, each with specified electrical, mass and optical properties. Efficient models allow to calculate gravitational and electrical interactions with the rotating main body and the local plasma field, as well as solar radiation pressure effects. Control models can be implemented as simple plug-in functions and easily tested. The preliminary validation campaign showed good matching with the reference cases that have been analyzed.

Corpino, Sabrina↗

NASA NTRS1996

Uncertainties that flight crews and dispatchers must consider when calculating the fuel needed for a flight

In 1993, fuel accounted for approximately 15 percent of an airline's expenses. Fuel consumption increases as fuel reserves increase because of the added weight to the aircraft. Calculating fuel reserves is a function of Federal Aviation Regulations, airline company policy, and factors that impact or are impacted by fuel usage enroute. This research studied how pilots and dispatchers determined the fuel needed for a flight and identified areas where improvements in methods may yield measurable fuel savings by (1) listing the uncertainties that contribute to adding contingency fuel, (2) obtaining the pilots' and dispatchers' perspective on how often each uncertainty occurred, and (3) obtaining pilots' and dispatchers' perspective on the fuel used for each occurrence. This study found that for the majority of the time, pilots felt that dispatchers included enough fuel. As for the uncertainties that flight crews and dispatchers account for, air traffic control accounts for 28% and weather uncertainties account for 58 percent. If improvements can be made in these two areas, a great potential exists to decrease the reserve required, and therefore, fuel usage without jeopardizing safety.

Trujillo, Anna C.↗

NASA NTRS2016

Auto-Gopher-2 - Wireline Deep Sampler Driven by Percussive Piezoelectric Actuator and Rotary EM Motors

Two of the key purposes of future NASA’s solar system exploration of planetary bodies are the search for potentially preserved bio-signatures and for habitable regions. To address these objectives, a biologically inspired wireline deep rotary-percussive drill, called Auto-Gopher, has been developed. This drill employs a piezoelectric-actuated percussive mechanism for generating impulsive stresses and breaking formations, and an electric motor to rotate the bit to break material and remove the cuttings. Initially, the drill was designed as percussive mechanism for sampling ice and was demonstrated in 2005 at Lake Vida, Antarctica, reaching about 2 meters depth. The lessons learned suggested there is a need to augment the percussive action with bit rotation in order to maximize the penetration rate. The first generation implementation of the rotary augmentation was focused on the demonstration of this capability. In 2012, during the 3-day field test, the drill reached a 3-meter deep in gypsum. A separate mechanism was used to break and remove the cores. The average drilling power consumption was in the range of 100-150 Watts, while the rate of penetration was approximately 2.4 meters per hour. Currently under development is the second-generation drill, called Auto-Gopher-2. The drill will be fully autonomous. In this paper, the capabilities that are being integrated into the Auto-Gopher-2 are described and discussed.

Auto-Gopher Drill↗

NASA NTRS2006

Automated Antenna Design with Evolutionary Algorithms

Current methods of designing and optimizing antennas by hand are time and labor intensive, and limit complexity. Evolutionary design techniques can overcome these limitations by searching the design space and automatically finding effective solutions. In recent years, evolutionary algorithms have shown great promise in finding practical solutions in large, poorly understood design spaces. In particular, spacecraft antenna design has proven tractable to evolutionary design techniques. Researchers have been investigating evolutionary antenna design and optimization since the early 1990s, and the field has grown in recent years as computer speed has increased and electromagnetic simulators have improved. Two requirements-compliant antennas, one for ST5 and another for TDRS-C, have been automatically designed by evolutionary algorithms. The ST5 antenna is slated to fly this year, and a TDRS-C phased array element has been fabricated and tested. Such automated evolutionary design is enabled by medium-to-high quality simulators and fast modern computers to evaluate computer-generated designs. Evolutionary algorithms automate cut-and-try engineering, substituting automated search though millions of potential designs for intelligent search by engineers through a much smaller number of designs. For evolutionary design, the engineer chooses the evolutionary technique, parameters and the basic form of the antenna, e.g., single wire for ST5 and crossed-element Yagi for TDRS-C. Evolutionary algorithms then search for optimal configurations in the space defined by the engineer. NASA's Space Technology 5 (ST5) mission will launch three small spacecraft to test innovative concepts and technologies. Advanced evolutionary algorithms were used to automatically design antennas for ST5. The combination of wide beamwidth for a circularly-polarized wave and wide impedance bandwidth made for a challenging antenna design problem. From past experience in designing wire antennas, we chose to constrain the evolutionary design to a monopole wire antenna. The results of the runs produced requirements-compliant antennas that were subsequently fabricated and tested. The evolved antenna has a number of advantages with regard to power consumption, fabrication time and complexity, and performance. Lower power requirements result from achieving high gain across a wider range of elevation angles, thus allowing a broader range of angles over which maximum data throughput can be achieved. Since the evolved antenna does not require a phasing circuit, less design and fabrication work is required. In terms of overall work, the evolved antenna required approximately three person-months to design and fabricate whereas the conventional antenna required about five. Furthermore, when the mission was modified and new orbital parameters selected, a redesign of the antenna to new requirements was required. The evolutionary system was rapidly modified and a new antenna evolved in a few weeks. The evolved antenna was shown to be compliant to the ST5 mission requirements. It has an unusual organic looking structure, one that expert antenna designers would not likely produce. This antenna has been tested, baselined and is scheduled to fly this year. In addition to the ST5 antenna, our laboratory has evolved an S-band phased array antenna element design that meets the requirements for NASA's TDRS-C communications satellite scheduled for launch early next decade. A combination of fairly broad bandwidth, high efficiency and circular polarization at high gain made for another challenging design problem. We chose to constrain the evolutionary design to a crossed-element Yagi antenna. The specification called for two types of elements, one for receive only and one for transmit/receive. We were able to evolve a single element design that meets both specifications thereby simplifying the antenna and reducing testing and integration costs. The highest performance antenna found using a getic algorithm and stochastic hill-climbing has been fabricated and tested. Laboratory results correspond well with simulation. Aerospace component design is an expensive and important step in space development. Evolutionary design can make a significant contribution wherever sufficiently fast, accurate and capable software simulators are available. We have demonstrated successful real-world design in the spacecraft antenna domain; and there is good reason to believe that these results could be replicated in other design spaces.

Hornby, Gregory S.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

A Brief Overview of Relevant Silicon Carbide Electronics and Sensor Development for Long Duration Venus Surface Exploration

This presentation concentrates on the potential of long duration Venus surface missions, and the role of Silicon Carbide (SiC) electronics and sensor advancements in such exploration. For example, SiC integrated circuit (IC) electronics have matured to a state where a simple long-life scientific probe is feasible for extended Venus surface operations. These electronics have been demonstrated for more than a year at 500˚C, and 60 days in high-fidelity simulated Venus surface conditions [1-2]. Further, high temperature chemical sensing technology, including SiC-based gas sensors, integrated with SiC electronics can enable future exploration of the Venus surface atmosphere [3]. Continued maturation of these high temperature electronics and sensors has been part of the Long-Lived In-Situ Solar System Explorer (LLISSE) project to provide an operational system for in situ exploration of the Venus surface up to 60 days [4]. A key focus of this work includes increasing the complexity and decreasing the power consumption of the ICs which will pave the way to enhanced capabilities, such as long-duration Venus seismic measurements and other mission capabilities currently under development. This is in parallel to work expanding the capabilities of the sensor technology to provide science measurements on the Venus surface. This presentation will give an overview of possible extended duration Venus surface exploration and some of the SiC-based technologies that can enable this exploration.

high temperature Venus surface electronics sensors↗

NASA NTRS1975

A study of the financial history of the U.S. scheduled airlines and the improvement of airline profitability through technology

The financial history of the U.S. scheduled airline industry was investigated to determine the causes of the erratic profit performance of the industry and to evaluate potential economic gains from technology advances of recent years. Operational and economic factors affecting past and future profitability of the industry are discussed, although no attempt was made to examine the profitability of individual carriers. The results of the study indicate that the profit erosion of the late 1960's and early 1970's was due more to excess capacity than to inadequate fare levels, but airline problems were severely compounded by the rapid fuel price escalation in 1974 and 1975. Near-term solutions to the airline financial problems depend upon the course of action by the industry and the CAB and the general economic health of the nation. For the longer term, the only acceptable alternative to continued fare increases is a reduction in unit operating costs through technological advance. The next generation of transports is expected to incorporate technologies developed under Government sponsorship in the 1960's and 1970's with significant improvements in fuel consumption and operating costs.

Wilcox, D. E.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Low power consumption current transducer

A low power consumption current transducer utilizes a saturable core reactor which includes a pair of opposed gate windings and a control winding. The control winding of the saturable reactor is arranged to receive the current to be measured. A square wave generator is connected to the gate winding of the transformer connected across the square wave generator and the secondary connected in series with the gate windings of the reactor. A full wave rectifier is connected to the gate windings and a resistor is connected across the rectifier to provide a DC voltage to cross it representative of the current flow through the control winding. A DC power supply is provided to supply power to the square wave voltage source. A diode is connected between each end of the primary winding of the transformer and one polarity of the DC power supply to commutate the reactive current resulting from the counter emf generated in the reactor back to the DC supply to eliminate potentially damaging reactive voltage spikes which would otherwise appear at the output of the square wave generator and conserve energy.

W T McLyman↗

NASA NTRS2001

Flow Range of Centrifugal Compressor Being Extended

General Aviation will benefit from turbine engines that are both fuel-efficient and reliable. Current engines fall short of their potential to achieve these attributes. The reason is compressor surge, which is a flow stability problem that develops when the compressor is subjected to conditions that are outside of its operating range. Compressor surge can occur when fuel flow to the engine is increased, temporarily back pressuring the compressor and pushing it past its stability limit, or when the compressor is subjected to inlet flow-field distortions that may occur during takeoff and landing. Compressor surge can result in the loss of an aircraft. As a result, engine designers include a margin of safety between the operating line of the engine and the stability limit line of the compressor. Unfortunately, the most efficient operating line for the compressor is usually closer to its stability limit line than it is to the line that provides an adequate margin of safety. A wider stable flow range will permit operation along the most efficient operating line of the compressor, improving the specific fuel consumption of the engine and reducing emissions. The NASA Glenn Research Center is working to extend the stable flow range of the compressor. Significant extension has been achieved in axial compressors by injecting air upstream of the compressor blade rows. Recently, the technique was successfully applied to a 4:1 pressure ratio centrifugal compressor by injecting streams of air into the diffuser. Both steady and controlled unsteady injection were used to inject air through the diffuser shroud surface and extend the range. Future work will evaluate the effect of air injection through the diffuser hub surface and diffuser vanes with the goal of maximizing the range extension while minimizing the amount of injected air that is required.

Skoch, Gary J.↗

NASA NTRS2012

Rotary Percussive Sample Acquisition Tool

As part of a potential Mars Sample Return campaign NASA is studying a sample caching mission to Mars, with a possible 2018 launch opportunity. As such, a Sample Acquisition Tool (SAT) has been developed in support of the Integrated Mars Sample Acquisition and Handling (IMSAH) architecture as it relates to the proposed Mars Sample Return (MSR) campaign. The tool allows for core generation and capture directly into a sample tube. In doing so, the sample tube becomes the fundamental handling element within the IMSAH sample chain reducing the risk associated with sample contamination as well as the need to handle a sample of unknown geometry. The tool's functionality was verified utilizing a proposed rock test suite that encompasses a series of rock types that have been utilized in the past to qualify Martian surface sampling hardware. The corresponding results have shown the tool can effectively generate, fracture, and capture rock cores while maintaining torque margins of no less than 50% with an average power consumption of no greater than 90W and a tool mass of less than 6kg.

Sample Acquisition and Caching (SAC)↗

NASA NTRS1998

Aeroservoelastic and Structural Dynamics Research on Smart Structures Conducted at NASA Langley Research Center

An overview of smart structures research currently underway at the NASA Langley Research Center in the areas of aeroservoelasticity and structural dynamics is presented. Analytical and experimental results, plans, potential technology pay-offs, and challenges are discussed. The goal of this research is to develop the enabling technologies to actively and passively control aircraft and rotorcraft vibration and loads using smart devices. These enabling technologies and related research efforts include developing experimentally-validated finite element and aeroservoelastic modeling techniques; conducting bench experimental tests to assess feasibility and understand system trade-offs; and conducting large-scale wind- tunnel tests to demonstrate system performance. The key aeroservoelastic applications of this research include: active twist control of rotor blades using interdigitated electrode piezoelectric composites and active control of flutter, and gust and buffeting responses using discrete piezoelectric patches. In addition, NASA Langley is an active participant in the DARPA/ Air Force Research Laboratory/ NASA/ Northrop Grumman Smart Wing program which is assessing aerodynamic performance benefits using smart materials. Keywords: aeroelasticity, smart structures, piezoelectric actuators, active fiber composites, rotorcraft, buffet load alleviation, individual blade control, aeroservoelasticity, shape memory alloys, damping augmentation, piezoelectric power consumption

McGowan, Anna-Maria Rivas↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Preliminary Assessment of a Distributed Electric Propulsion System for the SUSAN Electrofan

The SUSAN Electrofan is a new hybrid electric large regional jet aircraft concept being studied by NASA that leverages advanced propulsion system technologies such as distributed electric propulsion (DEP) and boundary-layer ingestion (BLI) to reduce fuel consumption and emissions. In order to evaluate the individual benefits of these technologies toward the SUSAN Electrofan’s wing-mounted propulsion systems, three configurations are proposed. The first consists of two underwing pylon-mounted podded propulsors and serves as a baseline, while the second features an underwing pylon-mounted DEP concept with 16 ducted fans in a mail-slot nacelle. The third and final configuration mounts the mail-slot nacelle directly onto the pressure side of the wing to also take advantage of BLI. This paper presents preliminary investigations into the design and performance of the first two propulsion system configurations. This begins with an initial propulsor and mail-slot design where the aeropropulsive design space is explored, and adverse effects are addressed through iterative geometry modifications. The propulsion system configurations are then installed onto a wing–body model to account for integration effects and assess the relative aerodynamic and shaft power performance of each concept. Results indicate the potential benefits of DEP, which come from significant reductions in total drag, provided by operation at much lower propulsor fan pressure ratios.

ARMD↗

NASA NTRS2004

Advanced Signal Conditioners for Data-Acquisition Systems

Signal conditioners embodying advanced concepts in analog and digital electronic circuitry and software have been developed for use in data-acquisition systems that are required to be compact and lightweight, to utilize electric energy efficiently, and to operate with high reliability, high accuracy, and high power efficiency, without intervention by human technicians. These signal conditioners were originally intended for use aboard spacecraft. There are also numerous potential terrestrial uses - especially in the fields of aeronautics and medicine, wherein it is necessary to monitor critical functions. Going beyond the usual analog and digital signal-processing functions of prior signal conditioners, the new signal conditioner performs the following additional functions: It continuously diagnoses its own electronic circuitry, so that it can detect failures and repair itself (as described below) within seconds. It continuously calibrates itself on the basis of a highly accurate and stable voltage reference, so that it can continue to generate accurate measurement data, even under extreme environmental conditions. It repairs itself in the sense that it contains a micro-controller that reroutes signals among redundant components as needed to maintain the ability to perform accurate and stable measurements. It detects deterioration of components, predicts future failures, and/or detects imminent failures by means of a real-time analysis in which, among other things, data on its present state are continuously compared with locally stored historical data. It minimizes unnecessary consumption of electric energy. The design architecture divides the signal conditioner into three main sections: an analog signal section, a digital module, and a power-management section. The design of the analog signal section does not follow the traditional approach of ensuring reliability through total redundancy of hardware: Instead, following an approach called spare parts tool box, the reliability of each component is assessed in terms of such considerations as risks of damage, mean times between failures, and the effects of certain failures on the performance of the signal conditioner as a whole system. Then, fewer or more spares are assigned for each affected component, pursuant to the results of this analysis, in order to obtain the required degree of reliability of the signal conditioner as a whole system. The digital module comprises one or more processors and field-programmable gate arrays, the number of each depending on the results of the aforementioned analysis. The digital module provides redundant control, monitoring, and processing of several analog signals. It is designed to minimize unnecessary consumption of electric energy, including, when possible, going into a low-power "sleep" mode that is implemented in firmware. The digital module communicates with external equipment via a personal-computer serial port. The digital module monitors the "health" of the rest of the signal conditioner by processing defined measurements and/or trends. It automatically makes adjustments to respond to channel failures, compensate for effects of temperature, and maintain calibration.

Lucena, Angel↗

NASA NTRS2016

Feasibility for Orbital Life Extension of a CubeSat in the Lower Thermosphere

Orbital flight of CubeSats at altitudes between 150 and 250 km has the potential to enable a new class of scientific, commercial, and defense-related missions. A study is presented to demonstrate the feasibility of extending the orbital lifetime of a CubeSat in a 210 km orbit. Propulsion consists of an electrospray thruster operating at a 2 W, 0.175 mN thrust, and an specific impulse (Isp) of 500 s. The mission consists of two phases. In phase 1, the CubeSat is deployed from a 414 km orbit and uses the thruster to deorbit to the target altitude of 210 km. In phase 2, the propulsion system is used to extend the mission lifetime until propellant is fully expended. A control algorithm based on maintaining a target orbital energy is presented that uses an extended Kalman filter to generate estimates of the orbital dynamic state, which are periodically updated by Global Positioning System measurements. For phase 1, the spacecraft requires 25.21 days to descend from 414 to 210 km, corresponding to a delta V = 96.25 m/s and a propellant consumption of 77.8 g. Phase 2 lasts 57.83 days, corresponding to a delta V = 119.15 m/s, during which the remaining 94.2 g of propellant are consumed.

Blandino, John J.↗

NASA NTRS2003

Eastern Asian Emissions of Anthropogenic Halocarbons Deduced from Aircraft Concentration Data

The Montreal Protocol restricts production of ozone-depleting halocarbons worldwide. Enforcement of the protocol has relied mainly on annual government statistics of production and consumption of these compounds (bottom-up approach). We show here that aircraft observations of ha1ocarbon:CO enhancement ratios on regional to continental scales can be used to infer halocarbon emissions, providing independent verification of the bottom-up approach. We apply this topdown approach to aircraft observations of Asian outflow &om the TRACE-P mission over the western Pacific (March-April 2001) and derive emissions from eastern Asia (China, Japan, and Korea). We derive an eastern Asian carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) source of 21.5 Gg yr(sup -1), several-fold larger than previous estimates and amounting to -30% of the global budget for this gas. Our emission estimate for CFC-11 from eastern Asia is 50% higher than inventories derived from manufacturing records. Our emission estimates for methyl chloroform (CH3CC13) and CFC-12 are in agreement with existing inventories. For halon 1211 we find only a strong local source originating from the Shanghai area. Our emission estimates for the above gases result in a approximately equal to 40% increase in the ozone depletion potential (ODP) of Asian emissions relative to previous estimates, corresponding to a approximately equal to 10% global increase in ODP.

Palmer, Paul I.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Innovative Features of NASA's Celestial Mapping System to Support Exploration in the Lunar South Pole

Introduction: NASA's Celestial Mapping System (CMS) is developed to address the need for 3D tools for planetary science investigations, mission planning, in-situ operations, in a 3D-first design constructed around a unified view of a planetary globe. At present CMS provides many critical functionalities that include 1) Equipment planning and optimized placement on Lunar surface 2) Line of sight (visibility ) analysis 3) Powerful measurement tools based on 3D terrain with realistic 3D models to represent rovers, astronauts and equipment 4) Visualization of de-rived mapping products (e.g. resource maps), and 5) Data engine for hosting new observations that are not available in other contemporary lunar data tools. CMS is built on the foundation of powerful NASA WorldWind globe engines. In near future, users will be able to simultaneously deploy CMS onto multiple hardware configurations and platforms such as Windows, Linux, iOS and Android. The users will also have the flexibility to update to the latest imagery and terrain datasets as they are being acquired (in real time) before and/or during the exploration mission. CMS is also capable of consumption and analysis of data from locally hosted and external sources. It supports Open Geospatial Consorti-um (OGC) data and file standards, with current integrations of datasets from the Astrogeology Science Center of USGS which include global and local data acquired from NASA (LRO, Clementine, Lunar Orbiter) and JAXA (SELENE/Kaguya) with the capability of integrating more datasets. With development experience in both the end-user application and planetary engine side, CMS is also able to adapt to newer Lunar cartography standards as they develop and become recognized by international geospatial panels. Overcoming Polar Distortions: 3D geospatial applications traditionally suffer from significant distortion of imagery at the poles due to following reasons – 1) distortions in the source imagery 2) Incompatible tessellation algorithm on the poles 3) map projections. In the lunar context, with the focus on the South pole, this is not acceptable. The CMS team is researching ways to address polar distortion of imagery with new tessellation algorithms and by reprojecting the data using projections that are more accurate in polar scenarios. Figure1 shows the potential error introduced by different tessellation methods, represented by the red and green circles for Shoemaker crater. There is ~2 Km difference in the placement of the crater. Line of Sight Analysis and Traverse Planning: We have developed a built-in line of sight analysis (LOS) tool in CMS that analyzes the terrain profile and obstructions and provides the visibility of a given terrain for a remote observer. Figure 2 shows the viewshed analysis on the PSR in Nobile region. The PSR was created with help of HORUS generated images. The yellow pin shows the observer location outside the PSR. The yellow area shows the visible part of PSR. The obstructed area with no visibility for the observer is shown in red. This analysis was ex-tended further to set different heights for various observers and then perform the viewshed analysis. Combining the different visibility profiles can help designing improved traverses within the crater.

Geospatial Mapping↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Innovative Features of NASA's Celestial Mapping System to Support Exploration in the Lunar South Pole

Geospatial Mapping↗