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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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Role of spatial imagination in designing and in teaching of drawing in technical schools
Technical analysis and performance of reusable space shuttle systems having multimission capability - Vol. 4
Aging, creativity, inter-speciality mobility, retraining, and technical obsolescence of scientific and engineering personnel - selected bibliography
This grant final report executive summary documents a major, long-term program addressing innovative educational issues associated with the development, administration, evaluation, and widespread distribution of transportable educational programs for scientists and engineers to increase their knowledge of, and facilitate their utilization of automated scientific and technical information storage and retrieval systems. This educational program is of very broad scope, being targeted at Colleges of Engineering and Colleges of Physical sciences at a large number of colleges and universities throughout the United States. The educational program is designed to incorporate extensive hands-on, interactive usage of the NASA RECON system and is supported by a number of microcomputer-based software systems to facilitate the delivery and usage of the educational course materials developed as part of the program.
The abolition of military qualifications gives free scope to new technical possibilities in the development of transport airplanes. This report notes the various considerations that must be made when designing aircraft to meet the needs of commercial passengers. Comfort and safety must be emphasized.
Communication delays are a critical challenge posed by long duration deep space exploration. Space missions historically have relied on an ever-present Mission Control Center (MCC) to direct operations in near real-time. As unanticipated anomalies that defeat fault detection and resolution systems do arise, the lack of real-time communication will significantly weaken what the MCC support represents: a reliable safety net for the flight crew through its deep and diverse areas of expertise and investigative resources. As a consequence, future space vehicles and habitats need to be equipped with capabilities to support the flight crew to operate with little or no ground support. Considerations must be given to vehicle and mission designs that will fortify the traditionally ground-centered safety net and forge new support systems, when communication delays exist. In August 2018, NASA’s Human Research Program, through its Human Factors and Behavioral Performance Element, convened a Technical Interchange Meeting (TIM) on Autonomous Crew Operations at NASA Ames Research Center. The goal of the meeting was to gather input from NASA centers, industry, academia, and branches of the Department of Defense (DoD) to address how intelligent technologies can be applied to augment onboard capabilities to support crew anomaly response. The TIM featured 24 presentations by 29 speakers and hosted a total of 59 attendees, including 43 from 5 NASA centers (Ames, Johnson, Langley, Marshall, and Jet Propulsion Lab) and 4 from the DoD (3 from Army Research Lab and 1 from Naval Postgraduate School), with remaining attendees from academia (e.g., UC Davis, CMU) and industry (e.g., IBM, Siemens). Discussions were centered around three themes: standards and guidelines, lessons learned in analog environments, and technologies. To help provide a framework for discussion, a concept matrix describing anomaly response processes was created prior to the TIM (Figure 1, page 6). The matrix captures the steps involved (monitoring and detection, diagnosis, solution development and evaluation, solution implementation and verification, resolution documentation) as well as the resources and capabilities required to support these steps (data, knowledge, analysis, synthesis, resource management). A wallpaper size printout of the matrix was utilized at the TIM to solicit attendee inputs along the three themes; the activity garnered 108 submissions of ideas. Overall, what emerged from TIM discussions was a picture of mismatch between crew anomaly response needs and support that can be provided by existing intelligent technologies. The needs are broad, spanning multiple steps and processes/resources, with many of which lacking support from existing technologies, such as knowledge management throughout the steps of problem solving (especially in resolution documentation) and manpower management. The solutions provided by existing intelligent technologies are specific to the steps/processes that they are designed to support and constrained to solving only problems similar to those that have occurred before. What is lacking from technologies is typically made up by humans, specifically their complex critical thinking, creative problem solving, and domain expertise. In the end, the TIM highlighted the pressing need to support responses to onboard anomalies during autonomous crew operations, particularly those that have eluded the system tests, inspection, and other assurance processes. Such anomalies can potentially threaten crew and vehicle safety, as well as significantly impact overall operations with additional workload. These fairly rare events are difficult to anticipate and prepare for, given the state-of-the-art in intelligent technologies. This is true even for anomalies that stem from “unknown knowns”—cases in which there is sufficient external information to characterize the problem but the overall pattern fails to be recognized by the problem solver, or in which the internal knowledge needed to solve a problem is held tacitly and potentially accessible by the problem solver but not articulated. It follows that the ability to tackle anomalies lies not only with the availability of relevant information and knowledge but also their accessibility in times of need. To that end, we propose research questions along the following three broad themes: • How intelligent technologies can help make relevant knowledge and information available? • How intelligent technologies can help make relevant knowledge and information accessible? • How intelligent technologies can help support the crew operating as a team in anomaly response processes?
Under the objective of regional data collection and helping accelerate deployment, MRCI collaborated with industrial stakeholders in their project planning, characterization, and analysis. Some examples of these collaborations are given below. The data and information shared by the industrial collaborations added to the regional CCS framework development and were incorporated into the overall datasets, while addressing any proprietary data requirements. Three examples of collaborative partnerships with industry that have provided geologic characterization data relevant and beneficial to the MRCI program are discussed below, including: the UIC Class II Injection Facility in Eastern Ohio, the Core Energy CO2-EOR (enhanced oil recovery) operation in Otsego County Michigan, and the Marquis ethanol plant in Hennepin Illinois.
Here, this study reports techno-economic and life cycle analyses to evaluate the economic and environmental impacts of mechanically recycled PE/PP blends in the presence of rheology modifiers. Additionally, fiber-reinforced composites derived from the compatibilized blends were prepared and evaluated for their performance compared with virgin plastics. Results suggest that compatibilized PE/PP blends exhibit a 70% lower selling price compared to virgin PE. Furthermore, these blends achieved a 74% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions or climate change impact compared to the virgin counterpart. Fiber-reinforced composites from compatibilized PE/PP blends demonstrated improved or comparable mechanical properties relative to composites made from virgin PE/PP blends. Based on their favorable cost and environmental impact, along with performance comparable to virgin composites, compatibilized PP/PE composites made from post-consumer plastics can find applications in large-scale composite manufacturing.
The Midwest Tribal Energy Resources Association (MTERA) embarked on a 5-year (extended to 7-year) initiative aimed at advancing Tribal energy resilience and sustainability through intertribal collaboration. By bringing together Tribes in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan (EPA Region 5 Tribes), the project's scope encompassed organizational growth, governance and management formalization and enhancement, and the planning and deployment of energy-related services to Member Tribes. MTERA strategically pursued four key objectives to fulfill its mission: 1. Clearinghouse Development: Creation of a centralized hub offering valuable information, education, and outreach for Tribal communities and their neighbors. 2. Policy Liaison: Serving as a vital link between federal and state agencies to contribute to the formulation of inclusive energy policies that ensure both Tribal and regional energy success. 3. Energy Planning and Research: Providing essential support for energy planning, researching financing opportunities, and exploring effective procurement strategies. 4. Training Support: Facilitating training and apprenticeship initiatives to empower the Tribal workforce and enhance community capabilities.
The objective of the Midwest Regional Carbon Initiative (MRCI) project was to implement a collaborative Regional Initiative to accelerate the deployment of carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) in the Midwest-Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic areas of the United States. This area encompasses a 20-state region with much of the country’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The MRCI project is co-led by Battelle Memorial Institute (Battelle) in Columbus, Ohio, and the Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS) in Champaign, Illinois, and benefitted from the experience these organizations have acquired over the past 10-plus years leading two Department of Energy (DOE) Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships (RCSPs): the Midwestern Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (MRCSP), led by Battelle, and the Midwest Geologic Sequestration Consortium (MGSC), led by the ISGS.
Management tasks associated with preparation and implementation of spacecraft system design, development, launch, and mission support for Voyager project
Two-dimensional machine language and spatial statistics for design and development of geographic information systems
Passive instrumentation and stimuli generation for Saturn IB equipment checkout - nondestructive testing
AROD concept and systems design, and error signal analysis
Weighting factors combined with individual value functions for 350 candidate orbits for Voyager Mars missions to develop computer-determined overall value functions for optimum orbits
Optical communication equipment design and integration - propulsion subsystem - guidance, navigation, and environmental control
Engineering science in space - Conference, Huntsville, Alabama, October-November 1967
Laser absolute gravimeter of falling mass type development and error determination