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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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NASA NTRS2005

NASA's Research in Aircraft Vulnerability Mitigation

Since its inception in 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration s (NASA) role in civil aeronautics has been to develop high-risk, high-payoff technologies to meet critical national aviation challenges. Following the events of Sept. 11, 2001, NASA recognized that it now shared the responsibility for improving homeland security. The NASA Strategic Plan was modified to include requirements to enable a more secure air transportation system by investing in technologies and collaborating with other agencies, industry, and academia. NASA is conducting research to develop and advance innovative and commercially viable technologies that will reduce the vulnerability of aircraft to threats or hostile actions, and identify and inform users of potential vulnerabilities in a timely manner. Presented in this paper are research plans and preliminary status for mitigating the effects of damage due to direct attacks on civil transport aircraft. The NASA approach to mitigation includes: preventing loss of an aircraft due to a hit from man-portable air defense systems; developing fuel system technologies that prevent or minimize in-flight vulnerability to small arms or other projectiles; providing protection from electromagnetic energy attacks by detecting directed energy threats to aircraft and on/off-board systems; and minimizing the damage due to high-energy attacks (explosions and fire) by developing advanced lightweight, damage-resistant composites and structural concepts. An approach to preventing aircraft from being used as weapons of mass destruction will also be discussed.

Allen, Cheryl L.↗
NASA NTRS2006

38th Aerospace Mechanisms Symposium

The Aerospace Mechanisms Symposium (AMS) provides a unique forum for those active in the design, production and use of aerospace mechanisms. A major focus is the reporting of problems and solutions associated with the development and flight certification of new mechanisms. Organized by the Mechanisms Education Association, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company (LMSSC) share the responsibility for hosting the AMS. Now in its 38th symposium, the AMS continues to be well attended, attracting participants from both the U.S. and abroad. The 38th AMs, hosted by the NASA Langley Research Center in Williamsburg, Virginia, was held May 17-19, 2006. During these three days, 34 papers were presented. Topics included gimbals, tribology, actuators, aircraft mechanisms, deployment mechanisms, release mechanisms, and test equipment. Hardware displays during the supplier exhibit gave attendees an opportunity to meet with developers of current and future mechanism components.

Boesiger, Edward A.↗
NASA NTRS2008

39th Aerospace Mechanisms Symposium

The Aerospace Mechanisms Symposium (AMS) provides a unique forum for those active in the design, production, and use of aerospace mechanisms. A major focus is the reporting of problems and solutions associated with the development and flight certification of new mechanisms. Organized by the Mechanisms Education Association, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company (LMSSC) share the responsibility for hosting the AMS. Now in its 39th symposium, the AMS continues to be well attended, attracting participants from both the United States and abroad. The 39th AMS was held in Huntsville, Alabama, May 7-9, 2008. During these 3 days, 34 papers were presented. Topics included gimbals and positioning mechanisms, tribology, actuators, deployment mechanisms, release mechanisms, and sensors. Hardware displays during the supplier exhibit gave attendees an opportunity to meet with developers of current and future mechanism components.

Boesiger, E. A.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Loss of Signal: Aeromedical Lessons Learned from the STS-107 Columbia Space Shuttle Mishap

The editors of Loss of Signal wanted to document the aeromedical lessons learned from the Space Shuttle Columbia mishap. The book is intended to be an accurate and easily understood account of the entire process of recovering and analyzing the human remains, investigating and analyzing what happened to the crew, and using the resulting information to recommend ways to prevent mishaps and provide better protection to crewmembers. Our goal is to capture the passions of those who devoted their energies in responding to the Columbia mishap. We have reunited authors who were directly involved in each of these aspects. These authors tell the story of their efforts related to the Columbia mishap from their point of view. They give the reader an honest description of their responsibilities and share their challenges, their experiences, and their lessons learned on how to enhance crew safety and survival, and how to be prepared to support space mishap investigations. As a result of this approach, a few of the chapters have some redundancy of information and authors' opinions may differ. In no way did we or they intend to assign blame or criticize anyone's professional efforts. All those involved did their best to obtain the truth in the situations to which they were assigned.

Stepaniak, Philip C.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Integrating International Engineering Organizations For Successful ISS Operations

The International Space Station (ISS) is a multinational orbiting space laboratory that is built in cooperation with 16 nations. The design and sustaining engineering expertise is spread worldwide. As the number of Partners with orbiting elements on the ISS grows, the challenge NASA is facing as the ISS integrator is to ensure that engineering expertise and data are accessible in a timely fashion to ensure ongoing operations and mission success. Integrating international engineering teams requires definition and agreement on common processes and responsibilities, joint training and the emergence of a unique engineering team culture. ISS engineers face daunting logistical and political challenges regarding data sharing requirements. To assure systematic information sharing and anomaly resolution of integrated anomalies, the ISS Partners are developing multi-lateral engineering interface procedures. Data sharing and individual responsibility are key aspects of this plan. This paper describes several examples of successful multilateral anomaly resolution. These successes were used to form the framework of the Partner to Partner engineering interface procedures, and this paper describes those currently documented multilateral engineering processes. Furthermore, it addresses the challenges experienced to date, and the forward work expected in establishing a successful working relationship with Partners as their hardware is launched.

Blome, Elizabeth↗
NASA NTRS1994

Teams and teamwork at NASA Langley Research Center

The recent reorganization and shift to managing total quality at the NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) has placed an increasing emphasis on teams and teamwork in accomplishing day-to-day work activities and long-term projects. The purpose of this research was to review the nature of teams and teamwork at LaRC. Models of team performance and teamwork guided the gathering of information. Current and former team members served as participants; their collective experience reflected membership in over 200 teams at LaRC. The participants responded to a survey of open-ended questions which assessed various aspects of teams and teamwork. The participants also met in a workshop to clarify and elaborate on their responses. The work accomplished by the teams ranged from high-level managerial decision making (e.g., developing plans for LaRC reorganization) to creating scientific proposals (e.g., describing spaceflight projects to be designed, sold, and built). Teams typically had nine members who remained together for six months. Member turnover was around 20 percent; this turnover was attributed to heavy loads of other work assignments and little formal recognition and reward for team membership. Team members usually shared a common and valued goal, but there was not a clear standard (except delivery of a document) for knowing when the goal was achieved. However, members viewed their teams as successful. A major factor in team success was the setting of explicit a priori rules for communication. Task interdependencies between members were not complex (e.g., sharing of meeting notes and ideas about issues), except between members of scientific teams (i.e., reliance on the expertise of others). Thus, coordination of activities usually involved scheduling and attendance of team meetings. The team leader was designated by the team's sponsor. This leader usually shared power and responsibilities with other members, such that team members established their own operating procedures for decision making. Sponsors followed a hands-off policy during team operations, but they approved and reviewed team products. Most teams, particularly high-level decision-making teams, had little or no authority to carry out their decisions. Team members had few interpersonal conflicts. They monitored each other respectfully about meeting deadlines. Feedback and backup behaviors were seen as desirable aspects of teamwork, wanted by the members, and done appropriately.

Dickinson, Terry L.↗
NASA NTRS2006

The Molecular Ecology of Guerrero Negro: Justifying the Need for Environmental Genomics

The record of life on the only planet where it is known to exist is contained in the biogeochemical processes that organisms catalyze for their survival, in the compounds that they produce, and in their phylogenetic (evolutionary) relationships to each other. We manipulated sulfate and nutrient concentrations in intact microbial mats over periods of time up to a year. The objectives of the manipulations were: 1) characterize the diversity of process-associated functional genes; 2) understand environmental conditions leading to shifts in microbial guilds; 3) monitor/identify competitive responses of organisms sharing a metabolic niche. Characterization of functional genes associated with carbon (mcrA), nitrogen (nifH, nirK) and sulfur (dsrkB) cycling performed to date provided insight into the diversity and metabolic potential of the system; however, we only identified broad scale correlations between gene abundances and changes in mat physiology. For instance, increases in methane production by mats subjected to lowered sulfate and salinity concentrations were correlated with an observed increase in abundance of hydrogenotroph-like mcrA genes. However, due to low sequence similarity to any cultured isolates, phylogenetic associations only allow order level taxonomic commentary, preventing any associations being made on the cellular level. In each of the genes characterized from these experiments, a significant portion of sequences recovered show minimal phylogenetic affiliation to cultured organisms, preventing any understanding of inter-community dynamics and the functional capacities of these unknown organisms. Environmental genomics may provide insight into mat systems by allowing the correlation of functional genes with phylogenetic markers.

Smith, Jason M.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Speech responses and dual-task performance - Better time-sharing or asymmetric transfer?

The value of speech controls in a dual-task experiment that also evaluated asymmetric transfer effects is considered. There was no evidence of asymmetric transfer in spite of significant effects supporting the advantage of mixing manual and speech responses. The data suggest that speech controls can be used to enhance performance in operational multiple-task environments.

Vidulich, Michael A.↗
NASA NTRS1986

The effects of stimulus modality and task integrality: Predicting dual-task performance and workload from single-task levels

The influence of stimulus modality and task difficulty on workload and performance was investigated. The goal was to quantify the cost (in terms of response time and experienced workload) incurred when essentially serial task components shared common elements (e.g., the response to one initiated the other) which could be accomplished in parallel. The experimental tasks were based on the Fittsberg paradigm; the solution to a SternBERG-type memory task determines which of two identical FITTS targets are acquired. Previous research suggested that such functionally integrated dual tasks are performed with substantially less workload and faster response times than would be predicted by suming single-task components when both are presented in the same stimulus modality (visual). The physical integration of task elements was varied (although their functional relationship remained the same) to determine whether dual-task facilitation would persist if task components were presented in different sensory modalities. Again, it was found that the cost of performing the two-stage task was considerably less than the sum of component single-task levels when both were presented visually. Less facilitation was found when task elements were presented in different sensory modalities. These results suggest the importance of distinguishing between concurrent tasks that complete for limited resources from those that beneficially share common resources when selecting the stimulus modalities for information displays.

Hart, S. G.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Effects of Ionizing Radiation on Murine Gene Expression in Skin and Bone

Long duration spaceflight causes a negative calcium balance and reduces bone density in astronauts. The potential for exposure to space radiation to contribute to lasting decrements in bone mass is not yet understood. Sustained changes to bone mass have a relatively long latency for development, however skin is a radiation sensitive organ and changes in skin gene expression may serve as an early radiation biomarker of exposures and may correlate with adverse effects on skeletal tissue. Previous studies have shown that FGF18 gene expression levels of hair follicles collected from astronauts on the ISS rose over time. In the hair follicle, FGF18 signaling mediates radioresistance in the telogen by arresting the cell cycle, and FGF18 has the potential to function as a radioprotector. In bone, FGF18 appears to regulate cell proliferation and differentiation positively during osteogenesis and negatively during chondrogenesis. Cellular defense responses to radiation are shared by a variety of organs, hence in this study, we examined whether radiation induced gene expression changes in skin may be predictive of the responses of skeletal tissue to radiation exposure. We have examined oxidative stress and growth arrest pathways in mouse skin and long bones by measuring gene expression levels via quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) after exposure to total body irradiation (TBI). To investigate the effects of irradiation on gene expression, we used skin and femora (cortical shaft) from the following treatment groups: control (normally loaded, sham-irradiated), and TBI (0.5 Gy Fe-56 600 MeV/n and 0.5 Gy H-1 150 MeV/n). Animals were euthanized one and 11 days post-IR. Statistical analysis was performed via a Student's ttest. In skin samples one day after IR, skin expression of FGF18 was significantly greater (3.8X) than sham-irradiated controls (3.8X), but did not differ 11 days post TBI. Expression levels of other radiation related genes (Nfe2l2, Trp53, Cdkn1a, FoxO3, Gadd45g, SOD1), was not different due to TBI at either time point. In bone (femora) TBI significantly increased (3.8X) expression of the pro-bone resorption cytokine, MCP-1, one day after TBI. FGF18 expression in skin and MCP- 1 expression in bone were found to be positively correlated (P less than 0.002, r=0.8779). Further, microcomputed tomography analysis of tibae from these animals showed reduced fractional cancellous bone volume (-21.7%) at 11 days post exposure. These results suggest that early radiation induced changes in FGF18 gene expression in skin may have value for predicting subsequent loss of cancellous bone mass.

space radiation↗
NASA NTRS2004

Selective Reinforcement to Improve Fracture Toughness and Fatigue Crack Growth Resistance in Metallic Structures

Experimental and analytical investigations of the fatigue crack growth and fracture response of aluminum selectively reinforced compact tension specimens were performed. It was shown that selective reinforcement significantly improved these responses primarily through load sharing by the reinforcement. With the appropriate combination of reinforcement architecture and mechanical properties, as well as reinforcement to base aluminum interface properties, fatigue cracks can be arrested using selective reinforcement. Maximum load associated with fracture increased up to 20 percent for the cases investigated and crack growth at maximum load increased as much as 150 percent. For both fatigue crack growth and fracture, the three most influential properties identified within the bounds of this investigation that influence this response are reinforcement width, reinforcement stiffness and interface stiffness. Considerable coupling occurs between the different fiber architecture and material properties and how they influence fatigue crack growth and fracture responses.

Farley, Gary L.↗
NASA NTRS1981

ADS pilot methodologies as candidates for ADS standards

Panel presentations and activities aimed at a critical assessment of the completeness and accuracy of a pilot methodology survey for an Applications Data Service are presented. Standards for interconnecting pilot programs for data sharing are outlined. Panel responsibilities and assignments for the session are given.

Giragosian, P.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Microwave properties of a quiet sea

The microwave flux responses of a quiet sea are observed at five microwave frequencies and with both horizontal and vertical polarizations at each frequency--a simultaneous 10 channel receiving system. The measurements are taken from Earth orbit with an articulating antenna. The 10 channel responses are taken simultaneously since they share a common articulating collector with a multifrequency feed. The plotted flux responses show: (1) the effects of the relative, on-axis-gain of the collecting aperture for each frequency; (2) the effects of polarization rotation in the output responses of the receive when the collecting aperture mechanically rotates about a feed that is fixed; (3) the difference between the flux magnitudes for the horizontal and vertical channels, at each of the five frequencies, and for each pointing position, over a 44 degree scan angle; and (4) the RMS value of the clutter--as reckoned over the interval of a full swath for each of the 10 channels. The clutter is derived from the standard error of estimate of the plotted swath response for each channel. The expected value of the background temperature is computed for each of the three quiet seas. The background temperature includes contributions from the cosmic background, the downwelling path, the sea surface, and the upwelling path.

Stacey, J.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Performance Evaluation and Modeling Techniques for Parallel Processors

In practice, the performance evaluation of supercomputers is still substantially driven by singlepoint estimates of metrics (e.g., MFLOPS) obtained by running characteristic benchmarks or workloads. With the rapid increase in the use of time-shared multiprogramming in these systems, such measurements are clearly inadequate. This is because multiprogramming and system overhead, as well as other degradations in performance due to time varying characteristics of workloads, are not taken into account. In multiprogrammed environments, multiple jobs and users can dramatically increase the amount of system overhead and degrade the performance of the machine. Performance techniques, such as benchmarking, which characterize performance on a dedicated machine ignore this major component of true computer performance. Due to the complexity of analysis, there has been little work done in analyzing, modeling, and predicting the performance of applications in multiprogrammed environments. This is especially true for parallel processors, where the costs and benefits of multi-user workloads are exacerbated. While some may claim that the issue of multiprogramming is not a viable one in the supercomputer market, experience shows otherwise. Even in recent massively parallel machines, multiprogramming is a key component. It has even been claimed that a partial cause of the demise of the CM2 was the fact that it did not efficiently support time-sharing. In the same paper, Gordon Bell postulates that, multicomputers will evolve to multiprocessors in order to support efficient multiprogramming. Therefore, it is clear that parallel processors of the future will be required to offer the user a time-shared environment with reasonable response times for the applications. In this type of environment, the most important performance metric is the completion of response time of a given application. However, there are a few evaluation efforts addressing this issue.

Dimpsey, Robert Tod↗
NASA NTRS1992

Split torque transmission load sharing

Split torque transmissions are attractive alternatives to conventional planetary designs for helicopter transmissions. The split torque designs can offer lighter weight and fewer parts but have not been used extensively for lack of experience, especially with obtaining proper load sharing. Two split torque designs that use different load sharing methods have been studied. Precise indexing and alignment of the geartrain to produce acceptable load sharing has been demonstrated. An elastomeric torque splitter that has large torsional compliance and damping produces even better load sharing while reducing dynamic transmission error and noise. However, the elastomeric torque splitter as now configured is not capable over the full range of operating conditions of a fielded system. A thrust balancing load sharing device was evaluated. Friction forces that oppose the motion of the balance mechanism are significant. A static analysis suggests increasing the helix angle of the input pinion of the thrust balancing design. Also, dynamic analysis of this design predicts good load sharing and significant torsional response to accumulative pitch errors of the gears.

Krantz, T. L.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Constellation X-Ray Mission and Support

This Fourth Annual Report summarizes work performed by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) for NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) under Cooperative Agreement NCC5-368. The Agreement is entitled Constellation X-ray Mission Study and SAO continues to perform work under the overall direction of Dr. Harvey Tananbaum, the SAO Principal Investigator for the program. Mr. Robert Rasche is the SAO Program Manager and is responsible for day-to-day program management at SAO and coordination with GSFC. The report summarizes the main areas of SAO activity. Most of the work has been done jointly with personnel from GSFC and Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). We describe SAO participation in these efforts. As is appropriate to a Cooperative Agreement, SAO continued to work with GSFC in an integrated team mode. SAO was involved in the overall mission management, technology development, scientific direction, and mission definition. While formal overall management responsibility resides with GSFC, scientific lead and subordinate responsibilities continue to be shared by GSFC and SAO. The work performed by SAO is consistent with the SAO proposal 'Constellation X-ray Mission Study and Optics Development' dated September 1997, which was the basis for establishing the Cooperative Agreement under which SAO is currently funded. Over time, the scope of the effort has expanded somewhat to accommodate the needs of the project. Work, except for meeting support and high priority program tasks, has been at a level of effort. Priorities and work progress have been closely coordinated with the Constellation-X Project Formulation Manager at GSFC. Funding limitations constrained the work accomplished during this period. Nonetheless, a significant amount of work was accomplished. Under the Agreement, SAO performed work in seven major areas of activity. These areas related to: Constellation X-ray Mission Facility Definition Team and Study Management; Science Support; Spectroscopy X-ray Telescope (SXT); Systems Engineering; Travel in Support of the Work Effort; In-house Management and Coordination.

Grady, Jean↗
NASA NTRS2010

Behavioral Health and Performance (BHP) Standing Review Panel (SRP) Final Report

The first meeting of the Behavioral Health and Performance (BHP) Standing Review Panel (SRP) was held in Houston, TX on November 1-3, 2009. Our task was to assess the Integrated Research Plan (IRP) related to the fields covered in the SRP charge (see section VIII). Having considered and discussed the extensive materials distributed prior to the meeting, and the highly informative briefings by the NASA BHP Human Research Program (HRP) personnel during the site visit, the SRP agreed that the IRP is comprehensive and was developed carefully. Question and answer periods with the presenters were particularly productive and helpful to the SRP. The presenters' willingness to share information and positive responses to the SRP's suggestions were greatly appreciated. Although the IRP and related documents are impressive, the SRP does have a number of recommendations regarding both the overall plan and its component parts.

Suedfeld, Peter↗