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At least 55 records · Page 3

Battery selection for space experiments

This paper will delineate the criteria required for the selection of batteries as a power source for space experiments. Four basic types of batteries will be explored, lead acid, silver zinc, alkaline manganese and nickel cadmium. A detailed description of the lead acid and silver zinc cells while a brief exploration of the alkaline manganese and nickel cadmium will be given. The factors involved in battery selection such as packaging, energy density, discharge voltage regulation, and cost will be thoroughly examined. The pros and cons of each battery type will be explored. Actual laboratory test data acquired for the lead acid and silver zinc cell will be discussed. This data will include discharging under various temperature conditions, after three months of storage and with different types of loads. A description of the required maintenance for each type of battery will be investigated. The lifetime and number of charge/discharge cycles will be discussed.

Francisco, David R.↗

Leveraging VIPER Geotechnical and Mobility Insights for Endurance Rover and Traverse Development

A new generation of lunar surface rover exploration is rapidly approaching. This is evidenced by the rise of commercially developed rovers from private companies (e.g., Lunar Outpost’s MAPP) and government agencies, like NASA’s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER), the Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV), and the Endurance/Intrepid rover concepts, and the INSPIRE mission concept. The drive distance requirements for off-world vehicles are also rapidly increasing. For example, LTV driving requirements dictate a 20 km range on a single battery charge, with an overall lifetime requirement of 13,000 km over a minimum 10-year service life. Similarly, NASA's Endurance-A mission concept requires a 2000 km vehicle traverse distance, which is nearly 50 times further than the USSR's Lunokhod 2, the longest lunar rover mission to date. Previous planetary surface missions on the Moon and Mars have revealed harsh mobility conditions: aggressive rocky terrains on Mars severely damaged the Curiosity rover’s wheels, soft lunar regolith caused the Lunokhod 2 rover to sink and NASA’s Apollo 15 LRV (Lunar Roving Vehicle) spun out due to poor traction, which required manual correction. This demonstrates that mobility challenges like wheel degradation and soft soil driving performance must be accounted for in a mission’s design phase to meet increasingly aggressive mission durations and mobility goals. The success of these long duration missions requires highly reliable and durable mobility platforms in conjunction with a more developed understanding of the geotechnical properties of the lunar surface. The VIPER mission is uniquely posed to inform future missions about mobility performance, wheel durability, and lunar surface soil mechanics of sunlit and shadowed regions through use of data streams that already exist for other mission purposes. VIPER’s mission to the lunar south pole will provide a new perspective into off-world mobility challenges including traversal into permanently shadowed regions. Mobility data from VIPER’s mission will represent a first glimpse into the surface mobility challenges of the lunar South Pole. Utilization of VIPER’s existing capabilities including cameras, inertial measurement unit (IMU) data, motor currents/torque, drill data, and the rover’s suspension state and kinematics provide the opportunity to determine potentially useful information for future rover and traverse designs, as well as on-Earth testing practices. Data products collected during VIPER’s mission could inform design considerations for the Endurance rover much earlier than NASA’s standard “lessons learned” approach as VIPER has a highly tactical mission operations structure. This work outlines the specific links between possible data products from the VIPER mission and their potential impact on the Endurance/Intrepid mission concepts in their early design phases. From VIPER, we will also gain insights for future development of onboard mobility software as VIPER is a way-point driven rover which requires more constant human operation on Earth than some other rover missions (non-lunar surface). Primary VIPER data products and insights of interest include wheel sinkage, wheel slip, wheel degradation, surface soil shear strength, and terrain slope estimation. VIPER data products will be made available via the Planetary Data System’s Geosciences and Cartography and Imaging Sciences nodes, conforming to the PDS4 standard.

mobility↗

Low Temperature Life-cycle Testing of a Lithium-ion Battery for Low-earth-orbiting Spacecraft

A flight-qualified, lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery developed for the Mars Surveyor Program 2001 lander is undergoing life-testing at low temperature under a low-Earth-orbit (LEO) profile to assess its capability to provide long term energy storage for aerospace missions. NASA has embarked upon an ambitious course to return humans to the moon by 2015-2020 in preparation for robotic and human exploration of Mars and robotic exploration of the moons of outer planets. Li-ion batteries are excellent candidates to provide power and energy storage for multiple aspects of these missions due to their low specific energy, low energy density, and excellent low temperature performance. Laboratory testing of Li-ion technology is necessary in order to assess lifetime, characterize multi-cell battery-level performance under aerospace conditions, and to gauge safety aspects of the technology. Life-cycle testing provides an opportunity to examine battery-level performance and the dynamics of individual cells in the stack over the entire life of the battery. Data generated through this testing will be critical to establish confidence in the technology for its widespread use in manned and unmanned mission. This paper discusses the performance of the 28 volt, 25 ampere-hour battery through 6000 LEO cycles, which corresponds to one year on LEO orbit. Testing is being performed at 0 C and 40% depth-of-discharge. Individual cell behaviors and their effect on the performance of the battery are described. Capacity, impedance, energy efficiency and end-of-discharge voltage at 1000 cycle intervals are reported. Results from this life-testing will help contribute to the database on battery-level performance of aerospace Li-ion batteries and low temperature cycling under LEO conditions.

Reid, Concha↗

Low Temperature Life-Cycle Testing of a Lithium-Ion Battery for Low-Earth-Orbiting Spacecraft

A flight-qualified, lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery developed for the Mars Surveyor Program 2001 Landeris undergoing life-testing at low temperature under a low-Earth-orbit (LEO) profile to assess its capability to provide long term energy storage for aerospace missions. NASA has embarked upon an ambitious course to return humans to the moon by 2015-2020 in preparation for robotic and human exploration of Mars and robotic exploration of the moons of outer planets. Li-ion batteries are excellent candidates to provide power and energy storage for multiple aspects of these missions due to their high specific energy, high energy density, and excellent low temperature performance. Laboratory testing of Li-ion technology is necessary in order to assess lifetime, characterize multi-cell battery-level performance under aerospace conditions, and to gauge safety aspects of the technology. Life-cycle testing provides an opportunity to examine battery-level performance and the dynamics of individual cells in the stack over the entire life of the battery. Data generated through this testing will be critical to establish confidence in the technology for its widespread use in manned and unmanned missions.

Reid, Concha↗

Flywheel Technology

Throughout the summer of 2004, I am working on a number of different projects. While located in the Space Power and Propulsion Test Engineering branch, my main area of study is flywheel technology. I have been exposed to flywheels, their components, and their uses in today's society. I have been able to experience numerous flywheels here in the flywheel lab at NASA Glenn. My first main project was to explore the attributes and physical characteristics of a flywheel. Our branch was constructing a flywheel demonstration to be presented at the public open house taking place in June. Our Flywheel Interactive Demo, or FIDO, represents a real life multi-flywheel system here at NASA. I was given the opportunity to learn about how these flywheels store energy and are able to position a satellite. With all of this new knowledge, I was able to create the posters that explained how our demonstration worked. I also composed a step-by-step process made up of four experiments that any visitor could follow and perform on FIDO. By stepping through these experiments, the individual learns how a flywheel works. They not only read the explanation of what is happening, but they are also able to see it happen. Creating these two posters not only taught me, but also helped teach the general public during the open house, how flywheel technology is a very important part of our future. Through my research, I have learned that flywheels are able to store massive amounts of energy. They can be described as an electro-mechanical battery that stores kinetic energy while rotating. The faster it rotates, the more energy it stores. Their lifetime is about triple that of an ordinary battery. Flywheels also have the ability to combine energy storage with attitude control all in a single system. Attitude control is the ability to position a satellite as required. FIDO helps us to understand the rotational force (torque) that is applied upon a turn-table or satellite during wheel acceleration/deceleration. My other main project that I have just begun is to create a flywheel presentation, brochure, and video all explaining the history, applications, early attempts, and working processes of modem flywheels. These items are all usefull tools for educating school children and even adults about flywheels. This task will require a large amount of research and skills in the use of multiple applications. My goal this summer is to learn the dynamics and uses of a flywheel in today s society, and then inform and encourage the public about flywheels. I am able to express my knowledge by creating some effective as well as attractive posters, presentations, brochures, videos, etc. that are able to explain how a flywheel works along with how our FIDO demonstration simulates a real flywheel. My goal is underway, and should be successfully reached with the help of my mentor, other coworkers, and fellow interns.

Ritchie, Lisa M.↗

Comparison of electrochemical and thermal storage for hybrid parabolic dish solar power plants

The economic and operating performance of a parabolic point focus array of solar electricity generators combined with either battery or thermal energy storage are examined. Noting that low-cost, mass-producible power generating units are under development for the point focus of distributed dishes, that Zn-Cl battery tests will begin in 1981 and a 100 kWh Na-S battery in 1983, the state of thermal storage requires acceleration to reach the prototype status of the batteries. Under the assumptions of 10,000 units/yr with an expected 30 yr lifetime, cost comparisons are developed for 10 types of advanced batteries. A 5 MWe plant with full thermal or 80% battery storage discharge when demand occurs in conditions of no insolation is considered, specifically for Fe-Cr redox batteries. A necessity for the doubling of fuel prices from 1980 levels by 1990 is found in order to make the systems with batteries economically competitive.

Steele, H. L.↗

Lithium Nucleation of Anode-Free Solid-State Batteries with a Dry Compressible Interlayer

Anode-free lithium batteries offer promising advantages, including increased energy density and the ability to address common mechanistic failures within the cell, thus increasing safety. One way that can make this possible is to control lithium nucleation. This could be achieved by reducing the overpotential required and implanting lithophilic nucleation sites in an anodic interlayer to aid in lithium ion transport and plating. The concept has been utilized in solid-state battery systems where electrolytes are solids with further improved safety and structural longevity. In this presentation, we discuss the use of a silver-holey graphene-based anodic interlayer that can be fabricated via direct dry compression without the use of solvent or binder. The addition of silver to the holey graphene matrix creates a route to lithium plating via a lower-energy intermediate. This idea is supported by the presence of a lithium-silver alloy that forms during the activation step. It is understood that the embedded silver acts as a nucleation site for lithium ions, thereby assisting in even plating. This control, combined with the added cushion of the holey graphene itself, can help reduce dendrite formation, ultimately increasing the safety and lifetime of the solid-state batteries.

Solid state batteries↗

Ultra Long-Lived, Self-Surveying Autonomous Air Quality Sensing - Executive Summary

We set out to evolve ultra-low power air quality sensing technologies developed at JSC to add a highly accurate positioning sensor based on SBIR technology to give a self-surveying air quality monitoring platform with years-long lifetime on a small, disposable coin cell battery. Using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology for data transport, the system can take advantage of RFID-based inventory management systems in place on lunar exploration assets to provide this capability with extremely small SWAP impacts. Years-long operational lifetimes enable flexible, autonomous environmental monitoring during lengthy intervals between and unprecedented situational awareness during crewed missions. Software integration of the localization system into the JSC RFID sensing platform was advanced, but the COVID-19 pandemic complicated and slowed maturation of the localization system SBIR product, and center closure indefinitely deferred a final hardware integration and system demonstration. In the meantime, progress was made to mature the air-quality sensing platform for flight, including hardware, software, antenna, and mechanical improvements. The underlying RFID sensing capability was also adapted to a drawer motion sensing system, which is currently (FY21) being taken toward an ISS flight demonstration as part of the RFID Enhanced Autonomous Logistics Management (REALM)-3 experiment.

Raymond Summers Wagner↗

Heat transfer in space power and propulsion systems

NASA's planned Space Station has projected power requirements in the 75-300 kW range; attention is presently given to the range of power system configurations thus far proposed. These are a silicon solar cell system incorporating regenerative fuel cell or battery storage, with a 10-year lifetime, a solar-dynamic power system with phase-change or regenerative fuel cell energy storage, and a combination of these two alternatives. A development status evaluation is also given for the propulsion systems that may be used by next-generation boosters. These include such novel airbreathing systems as turboramjets, air liquefaction cycle rockets, airturboramjet/rockets, and supersonic combustion ramjets.

Hendricks, R. C.↗

Non-Cooled Power System for Venus Lander

The Planetary Science Decadal Survey of 2013-2022 stated that the exploration of Venus is of significant interest. Studying the seismic activity of the planet is of particular importance because the findings can be compared to the seismic activity of Earth. Further, the geological and atmospheric properties of Venus will shed light into the past and future of Earth. This paper presents a radioisotope power system (RPS) design for a small low-power Venus lander. The feasibility of the new power system is then compared to that of primary batteries. A requirement for the power source system is to avoid moving parts in order to not interfere with the primary objective of the mission - to collect data about the seismic activity of Venus using a seismometer. The target mission duration of the lander is 117 days, a significant leap from Venera 13, the longest-lived lander on the surface of Venus, which survived for 2 hours. One major assumption for this mission design is that the power source system will not provide cooling to the other components of the lander. This assumption is based on high-temperature electronics technology that will enable the electronics and components of the lander to operate at Venus surface temperature. For the proposed RPS, a customized General Purpose Heat Source Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (GPHSRTG) is designed and analyzed. The GPHS-RTG is chosen primarily because it has no moving parts and it is capable of operating for long duration missions on the order of years. This power system is modeled as a spherical structure for a fundamental thermal analysis. The total mass and electrical output of the system are calculated to be 24 kilograms and 26 Watts, respectively. An alternative design for a battery-based power system uses Sodium Sulfur batteries. To deliver a similar electrical output for 117 days, the battery mass is calculated to be 234 kilograms. Reducing mission duration or power required will reduce the required battery mass. Finally, the advantages and disadvantages of both power systems with regard to science return, risk, and cost are briefly compared. The design of the radioisotope power system is considerably riskier because it is novel and would require additional years of further refinement, manufacturing, safety analysis, and testing that the primary batteries do not need. However, the lifetime of the radioisotope power system makes its science return more promising.

planetary↗

A new concept for high-cycle-life LEO: Rechargeable MnO2-hydrogen

The nickel-hydrogen secondary battery system is now the one of choice for use in GEO satellites. It offers superior energy density to that of nickel-cadmium, with a lifetime that is at least comparable in terms of both cycle life and overall operating life. While the number of deep cycles required for GEO use is small, LEO satellites with long lifetimes (5 to 10 years) will require secondary battery systems allowing 30,000 to 60,000 useful cycles which are characterized by an approximately 2C charge rate and C average discharge rate. Recent work has shown that birnessite MnO2 doped with bismuth oxide can be cycled at very high rates (6C) over a very large number of cycles (thousands) at depths-of-discharge in the 85 to 90 percent range, based on two electrons, which discharge at the same potential in a flat plateau. The potential is about 0.7 V vs. hydrogen, with a cut-off at 0.6 V. At first sight, this low voltage would seem to be a disadvantage, since the theoretical energy density will be low. However, it permits the use of lightweight materials that are immune from corrosion at the positive. The high utilization and low equivalent weight of the active material, together with the use of teflon-bonded graphite for current collection, result in very light positives, especially when these are compared with those in a derated nickel-hydrogen system. In addition, the weight of the pressure vessel falls somewhat, since the dead volume is lower. Calculations show that a total system will have 2.5 times the Ah capacity of a derated nickel-hydrogen LEO battery, so that the energy density, based on 1.2 V for nickel-hydrogen and 0.7 V for MnO2-hydrogen, will be 45 percent higher for comparable cycling performance.

Appleby, A. John↗

In Situ, On-Demand Lubrication System Developed for Space Mechanisms

Many moving mechanical assemblies (MMA) for space mechanisms rely on liquid lubricants to provide reliable, long-term performance. The proper performance of the MMA is critical in assuring a successful mission. Historically, mission lifetimes were short and MMA duty cycles were minimal. As mission lifetimes were extended, other components, such as batteries and computers, failed before lubricated systems. However, improvements in these ancillary systems over the last decade have left the tribological systems of the MMAs as the limiting factor in determining spacecraft reliability. Typically, MMAs are initially lubricated with a very small charge that is supposed to last the entire mission lifetime, often well in excess of 5 years. In many cases, the premature failure of a lubricated component can result in mission failure.

Marchetti, Mario↗

A failure model for sealed nickel-cadmium batteries

A model has been developed to describe failure in electrochemical batteries. The model is based on the concept of the existence and subsequent growth of flaws which ultimately lead to battery failure. This model provides, in a natural way, for the statistical variability of lifetime data. The model as applied to the Crane data indicates that when the effects of temperature and depth of discharge are taken into account, the observed variability in lifetime data is due almost entirely to statistical variability inherent in the battery itself.

Fedors, R. F.↗

Wireless Data-Acquisition System for Testing Rocket Engines

A prototype wireless data-acquisition system has been developed as a potential replacement for a wired data-acquisition system heretofore used in testing rocket engines. The traditional use of wires to connect sensors, signal-conditioning circuits, and data acquisition circuitry is time-consuming and prone to error, especially when, as is often the case, many sensors are used in a test. The system includes one master and multiple slave nodes. The master node communicates with a computer via an Ethernet connection. The slave nodes are powered by rechargeable batteries and are packaged in weatherproof enclosures. The master unit and each of the slave units are equipped with a time-modulated ultra-wide-band (TMUWB) radio transceiver, which spreads its RF energy over several gigahertz by transmitting extremely low-power and super-narrow pulses. In this prototype system, each slave node can be connected to as many as six sensors: two sensors can be connected directly to analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) in the slave node and four sensors can be connected indirectly to the ADCs via signal conditioners. The maximum sampling rate for streaming data from any given sensor is about 5 kHz. The bandwidth of one channel of the TM-UWB radio communication system is sufficient to accommodate streaming of data from five slave nodes when they are fully loaded with data collected through all possible sensor connections. TM-UWB radios have a much higher spatial capacity than traditional sinusoidal wave-based radios. Hence, this TM-UWB wireless data-acquisition can be scaled to cover denser sensor setups for rocket engine test stands. Another advantage of TM-UWB radios is that it will not interfere with existing wireless transmission. The maximum radio-communication range between the master node and a slave node for this prototype system is about 50 ft (15 m) when the master and slave transceivers are equipped with small dipole antennas. The range can be increased by changing to larger antennas and/or greater transmission power. The battery life of a slave node ranges from about six hours during operation at full capacity to as long as three days when the system is in a "sleep" mode used to conserve battery charge during times between setup and rocket-engine testing. Batteries can be added to prolong operational lifetimes. The radio transceiver dominates the power consumption.

Lin, Chujen↗

Laser Calibration Experiment for Small Objects in Space

The Air Force Research Laboratory/Directed Energy Directorate (AFRL/DE) and NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) are looking at a series of joint laser space calibration experiments using the 12J 15Hz CO2 High Performance CO2 Ladar Surveillance Sensor (FU-CLASS) system on the 3.67 meter aperture Advanced Electro-Optics System (AEOS). The objectives of these experiments are to provide accurate range and signature measurements of calibration spheres, demonstrate high resolution tracking capability of small objects, and support NASA in technology development and tracking projects. Ancillary benefits include calibrating radar and optical sites, completing satellite conjunction analyses, supporting orbital perturbations analyses, and comparing radar and optical signatures. In the first experiment, a Global Positioning System (GPS)/laser beacon instrumented microsatellite about 25 cm in diameter will be deployed from a Space Shuttle Hitchhiker canister or other suitable launch means. Orbiting in low earth orbit, the microsatellite will pass over AEOS on the average of two times per 24-hour period. An onboard orbit propagator will activate the GPS unit and a visible laser beacon at the appropriate times. The HI-CLASS/AEOS system will detect the microsatellite as it rises above the horizon, using GPS-generated acquisition vectors. The visible laser beacon will be used to fine-tune the tracking parameters for continuous ladar data measurements throughout the pass. This operational approach should maximize visibility to the ground-based laser while allowing battery life to be conserved, thus extending the lifetime of the satellite. GPS data will be transmitted to the ground providing independent location information for the microsatellite down to sub-meter accuracies.

Campbell, Jonathan↗

STARSAT: A Joint NASA/AF Project for Laser Calibration of Small Objects in Space

The Air Force Research Laboratory/Directed Energy Directorate (AFRL/DE) and the NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center are planning a joint laser space calibration experiments using the HI-CLASS ladar system and the Advanced Electro-Optical System (AEOS) located at Maui Space Surveillance System (MSSS). These experiments will use ladar data to provide accurate range and signature measurements of calibration spheres with known sizes. Ancillary experiment benefits could include calibrating operational sensors, analyzing effects of orbital perturbations on micro-satellites, and correlating radar and optical signatures. In the first experiment, a GPS/laser beacon instrumented micro-satellite about 20 cm in diameter would be deployed from a Space Shuttle Hitchhiker canister. Orbiting in LEO, the micro-satellite would pass over MSSS on the average of two times per 24 hour period. A timing circuit would activate the GPS unit that would in turn activate the laser beacon at the appropriate time. The HI-CLASS/AEOS system will detect and acquire the micro-sat as it rises above the horizon and demonstrate that continuous track can be maintained throughout the pass. Orbital parameters will be obtained. This operational approach should maximize visibility to the ground-based laser while allowing battery life to be conserved thus extending the lifetime of the satellite. GPS data will be transmitted to the ground, providing independent location information down to cm accuracies for comparison and evaluation purposes.

Campbell, Jonathan W.↗

Hand-Held Units for Short-Range Wireless Biotelemetry

Special-purpose hand-held radiotransceiver units have been proposed as means of short-range radio powering and interrogation of surgically implanted microelectromechanical sensors and actuators. These units are based partly on the same principles as those of the units described in "Printed Multi- Turn Loop Antennas for RF Biotelemetry" (LEW-17879-1), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 31, No. 6 (June 2007), page 48. Like the previously reported units, these units would make it unnecessary to have wire connections between the implanted devices and the external equipment used to activate and interrogate them. Like a unit of the previously reported type, a unit of the type now proposed would include a printed-circuit antenna on a dielectric substrate. The antenna circuitry would include integrated surface-mount inductors for impedance tuning. Circuits for processing the signals transmitted and received by the antenna would be included on the substrate. During operation, the unit would be positioned near (but not in electrical contact with) a human subject, in proximity to a microelectromechanical sensor or actuator that has been surgically implanted in the subject. It has been demonstrated that significant electromagnetic coupling with an implanted device could be established at a distance of as much as 4 in. (.10 cm). During operation in the interrogation mode, the antenna of the unit would receive a radio telemetry signal transmitted by the surgically implanted device. The antenna substrate would have dimensions of approximately 3.25 by 3.75 inches (approximately 8.3 by 9.5 cm). The substrate would have a thickness of the order of 30 mils (of the order of a somewhat less than a millimeter). The substrate would be made of low-radiofrequency- loss dielectric material that could be, for example, fused quartz, alumina, or any of a number of commercially available radio-frequency dielectric composite materials. The antenna conductors would typically be made of copper or a combination of chromium and gold. The choice of metal and the thickness of the metal layer(s) would depend on the choice of substrate material. For example, on a quartz or alumina substrate, one would typically use a layer of chromium 150 A thick and a layer of gold 2 m thick. The proposed units and the implanted devices that they would interrogate or activate would be inherently safe to use. They would operate at low radiated-power levels for short interrogation times (typically, milliseconds). Hence, there would be little local heating of tissues surrounding the implanted devices and little absorption of radio energy by such sensitive body parts as the eyes and the brain. Because the implanted devices would not depend on battery power and would be activated only during short interrogation intervals and would otherwise be in the goff h state most of the time, the useful lifetimes of the implanted devices would be greater than those of comparable battery-powered implanted devices. The compactness of the hand-held transceiver units would facilitate transport and storage and would facilitate self-diagnosis by patients able to handle the units while away from medical facilities.

Miranda, Felix A.↗