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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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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1991

The interconnected data directory system and Catalog Interoperability

The Catalog Interoperability (CI) project, designed to enable rapid and efficient identification, location, and access to data of interest to the science community, is considered. The CI goal is to create a worldwide data information network composed of interconnected directory, guide (catalog), and inventory systems. Directories were created to aid in finding data. The directories contain brief information about the data sets, sufficient for determining whether further investigation is warranted. They also provide automated links to other information systems which give more detail on data of interest. A common format for describing data sets has been developed, called the Directory Interchange Format (DIF), which is used as the basis of information to be shared among the directories. These DIF files can be passed among the directories to keep their information up to date.

Thieman, James R.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Architecture Studies Done for High-Rate Duplex Direct Data Distribution (D4) Services

A study was sponsored to investigate a set of end-to-end system concepts for implementing a high-rate duplex direct data distribution (D4) space-to-ground communications link. The NASA Glenn Research Center is investigating these systems (both commercial and Government) as a possible method of providing a D4 communications service between NASA spacecraft in low Earth orbit and the respective principal investigators using or monitoring instruments aboard these spacecraft. Candidate commercial services were assessed regarding their near-term potential to provide a D4 type of service. The candidates included K-band and V-band geostationary orbit and nongeostationary orbit satellite relay services and direct downlink (D3) services. Internet protocol (IP) networking technologies were evaluated to enable the user-directed distribution and delivery of science data. Four realistic, near-future concepts were analyzed: 1) A duplex direct link (uplink plus downlink communication paths) between a low-Earth-orbit spacecraft and a principal-investigator-based autonomous Earth station; 2) A space-based relay using a future K-band nongeosynchronous-orbit system to handle both the uplink and downlink communication paths; 3) A hybrid link using both direct and relay services to achieve full duplex capability; 4) A dual-mode concept consisting of both a duplex direct link and a space relay duplex link operating independently. The concepts were analyzed in terms of contact time between the NASA spacecraft and the communications service and the achievable data throughput. Throughput estimates for the D4 systems were based on the infusion of advanced communications technology products (single and multibeam K-band phased-arrays and digital modems) being developed by Glenn. Cost estimates were also performed using extrapolated information from both terrestrial and current satellite communications providers. The throughput and cost estimates were used to compare the concepts.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2003

Cassini - Huygens: Heavily instrumented flight systems approaching Saturn and Titan

Abstract?? Cassini and Huygens flight systems are described including capabilities, launch, flight path, mission science objectives, and instruments. Interplanetary cruise, Saturn arrival, and science-tour operations are also discussed, including use of JPL's worldwide Deep Space Network for two-way communications. Launched 15 October 1997, Cassini/Huygens will arrive at the Saturnian system on 1 July 2004. The Cassini Orbiter begins a four-year tour of the ringed gas giant, and the Huygens Probe descends through Titan's dense atmosphere on 14 January 2005.

Cassini - Huygens flight systems Titan↗
NASA NTRS2022

Supporting Responsible Machine Learning in Heliophysics

Over the last decade, Heliophysics researchers have increasingly adopted a variety of machine learning methods such as artificial neural networks, decision trees, and clustering algorithms into their workflow. Adoption of these advanced data science methods had quickly outpaced institutional response, but many professional organizations such as the European Commission, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the American Geophysical Union have now issued (or will soon issue) standards for artificial intelligence and machine learning that will impact scientific research. These standards add further (necessary) burdens on the individual researcher who must now prepare the public release of data and code in addition to traditional paper writing. Support for these is not reflected in the current state of institutional support, community practices, or governance systems. We examine here some of these principles and how our institutions and community can promote their successful adoption within the Heliophysics discipline.

Machine learning↗
NASA NTRS2006

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission Operations: Architecture and Approach

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) was launched on August 12, 2005 by an Atlas V launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. MRO will carry a rich set of science instruments to Mars and provide global, regional survey, and targeted observations. In addition, a set of engineering instruments providing optical navigation, Ka band telecommunication and UHF relay services to future Mars missions are part of the MRO payload. During the mission, the MRO operations teams are presented with two major challenges - unprecedented high data rate and data volumes, and complex science planning and resource sharing. MRO has the capability to communicate with earth at a maximum of six Megabits per second (> 50 times any previous Mars missions). With the current Deep Space Network (DSN) contact schedule of 19 eight-hour tracks per week, the baseline mission plan is for MRO to return 34 Terabits of raw science data during the two year primary science phase. Each of the science instruments has its unique requirements for global mapping, regional survey, and targeted observations. Some instruments prefer nadir-only observations, while others require off-nadir observations (especially for stereo viewing). The requirements from these Mars viewing instruments presented a significant challenge for the operations team to design the complex science planning and resource sharing/allocation process. This paper describes what MRO project is implementing to solve these challenges.

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Transitioning a Flexible and Scalable Satellite Ground Station Observation Network (GSON) Framework to an Operational Environment

Obtaining accurate and timely satellite observations is of paramount importance in fields like disaster management, weather diagnoses/forecasting, and Earth Sciences remote sensing. Stored mission data (SMD), from low Earth orbiting (LEO) satellite sensors, provides important observations for these fields and applications, however data access to SMD can be delayed from one and half hours to three hours from the time the observations were made. This data latency poses a significant impact on data product optimal use. We developed a Ground Station Observation Network (GSON) that utilizes commercial ground station as a service (GSaaS) providers to acquire low latency direct broadcast (DB) data from AQUA, SNPP, and JPSS-1 satellites using antennas located in strategic locations around the world. We will discuss techniques to improve the deployment efficiency and code reliability and quality of the GSON framework. Topics include right-sizing and containerization of the code to facilitate integration and adaptation with continuous delivery (CD) pipeline, locating non-code assets in referenceable repositories separated from code, adaptation of pipelines as code and simplification of CD, intersecting with code quality tests and checks as part of the pipeline execution and deployment, and establishing distributed repositories, registries, and system identities in a way that mitigates compromise to the CD pipeline. These techniques enable deployment of processing systems that are both highly specific but also dynamically modifiable. This new class of system allows for a flexible and scalable deployment while avoiding the “black box” issues that can plague large system deployments.

cluster↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Using Mesh Networking for A Dynamic Lunar Internet of Things (Liot)

The purpose of this project is to evaluate the feasibility of an IEEE 802.11 mesh protocol for lunar surface computing. This standard for wireless networking boosts speed, dependability and range of wireless transmissions. The concept is to integrate sensors (such as deployed science instruments) or Astronaut tools (such as a handheld spectrometer) that communicate with a node on a common cell. The nodes can extend the range of the cell and can dynamically reconfigure the data routing in case of another node failure. All of the data in a cell pass through a modem that communicates with a distant base station across a 4G link. The application of mesh networking to a potential lunar surface network increases robustness and fault tolerance over a traditional single-point modem system. By demonstrating the basic capability of a mesh network, the student team has learned about issues with power, distance, thermal, dust, radiation, data processing, and communication problems applicable to the lunar surface. This knowledge can feed into future NASA requirements to improve the capability of a LunaNET implementation for the Artemis program. This project follows 10 years of successful collaboration between NASA ARES, Texas Space, Technology, Applications and Research (T STAR) and Texas A&M University in a Public, Private, Academic (PPA) Partnership. NASA funds T STAR to mentor undergraduate Capstone teams in the College of Engineering Department to design, built, and test prototypes meeting NASA requirements. TAMU faculty lead the student teams in their academic class, and NASA Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) provide T STAR and students insight on requirements evolution, prior design projects, and future development goals.

Lunar Mesh Networking↗
NASA NTRS1990

A polar orbit for the Mars Global Network Mission

The purpose of the Global Network Mission (GNM) is to deploy simple landers on the Martian surface in late 1998. The objective is to create a globally distributed network of ground stations which will collect environmental data, perhaps for as long as several years. The GNM presents unique mission design challenges, which are addressed by the following essay. The GNM mission concept calls for two carrier spacecraft, each equipped with a number of simple landers. Some of the landers may be deployed from approach, either to reduce carrier mass prior to orbit insertion, or to reach latitudes not available from the carrier orbit. The remaining landers are deployed from orbit. One configuration for the Global Network Mission was proposed in a report from the Exploration Precursors Task Team to the Office of Space Science and Applications. This formed the basis of a previous orbit design for the GNM. This mission scenario is used as a point of reference, but results from the current study are generally applicable to a wide range of GNM mission variants. The analysis concluded that a 1/5 sol, polar orbit with a periapse altitude of 275 km offers the best circumstances for orbital deployment of the Global Network Mission landers. It allows easy polar access at nominal entry angles, and global dispersal of landing sites at lighting angles suitable for descent imaging. The polar orbit allows the option of deploying all the landers from orbit. A wait interval of 160 days after arrival is required before deployment can commence.

Knocke, Philip↗
NASA NTRS1995

A NASA/University Joint Venture in Space Science (JOVE)

Most aspects of the JOVE program at Harding University were very successful. The number and quality of students interested in space science areas was increased due to the availability of support funds for JOVE scholars. Both physics faculty associated with the program have continued work in areas associated with the JOVE program. Several additional research grants for student research and scholarship support have been received from the Arkansas Space Grant Consortium since the termination of the JOVE program. The network connection established has been used extensively for educational and research purposes in connection with awarded grants and with science education at Harding University. The major unsuccessful area was in obtaining external funding in the area of solar physics in which Harding's JOVE program was working and in not more aggressively pursuing communication and cooperative effort with our JOVE mentor. This has resulted in all of the associated JOVE faculty no longer working in the solar physics area. The JOVE program has contributed significantly to the success of faculty programs in other areas that were fundable.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2017

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission: Continuing a Record of Exploration from Mars Orbit

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has been on station in its low altitude, sun-synchronous, primary science orbit since September 2006 performing both scientific and Mars programmatic support functions. The spacecraft is a very capable remote sensing science platform carrying six science payloads supporting seven investigations and a UHF telecommunications radio (Electra) for surface relay. Developed to support a mix of nadir mapping and targeted, highresolution surface observations, the spacecraft’s powerful telecommunications and command & data handling (C&DH) subsystems communicate an average of 16 hours a day with the Deep Space Network (DSN). To date, more than 300 TB of scientific data has been returned to Earth. All of the original science payloads are active with standard and new observing modes contributing to the advancement of Mars science through peer-reviewed paper publications and the timely dissemination of their data to the science community as a whole. Results from the science teams have revealed an amazing diversity of ancient aqueous environments and ongoing surface change is evident through gully formation, avalanches, and cratering. Extending the MRO-MGS climate record to a decade of Mars years is contributing to a better understanding of current atmospheric and polar processes. In addition to its fundamental scientific objectives, MRO is a critical element of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program (MEP) providing needed infrastructure support for landed and future missions. Using its Electra telecommunications payload, MRO provides landers and rovers critical event coverage during their entry, descent, and landing (EDL) phases and UHF relay support once they are on the Martian surface. MRO’s high-resolution imagers are used to scout potential landing sites and certify safe zones for landing. As MRO begins its Fourth Extended Mission, the spacecraft remains fully capable of carrying out an ambitious science observing plan and the programmatic tasks assigned to it. In addition to highlighting recent discoveries of the mission, this paper describes recent challenges the spacecraft engineers have faced in flight and the plans for extending spacecraft life well into the 2020’s.

Tamppari, Leslie K.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Experimenter's laboratory for visualized interactive science

The science activities of the 1990's will require the analysis of complex phenomena and large diverse sets of data. In order to meet these needs, we must take advantage of advanced user interaction techniques: modern user interface tools; visualization capabilities; affordable, high performance graphics workstations; and interoperable data standards and translator. To meet these needs, we propose to adopt and upgrade several existing tools and systems to create an experimenter's laboratory for visualized interactive science. Intuitive human-computer interaction techniques have already been developed and demonstrated at the University of Colorado. A Transportable Applications Executive (TAE+), developed at GSFC, is a powerful user interface tool for general purpose applications. A 3D visualization package developed by NCAR provides both color shaded surface displays and volumetric rendering in either index or true color. The Network Common Data Form (NetCDF) data access library developed by Unidata supports creation, access and sharing of scientific data in a form that is self-describing and network transparent. The combination and enhancement of these packages constitutes a powerful experimenter's laboratory capable of meeting key science needs of the 1990's. This proposal encompasses the work required to build and demonstrate this capability.

Hansen, Elaine R.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Experimenter's laboratory for visualized interactive science

The science activities of the 1990's will require the analysis of complex phenomena and large diverse sets of data. In order to meet these needs, we must take advantage of advanced user interaction techniques: modern user interface tools; visualization capabilities; affordable, high performance graphics workstations; and interoperatable data standards and translator. To meet these needs, we propose to adopt and upgrade several existing tools and systems to create an experimenter's laboratory for visualized interactive science. Intuitive human-computer interaction techniques have already been developed and demonstrated at the University of Colorado. A Transportable Applications Executive (TAE+), developed at GSFC, is a powerful user interface tool for general purpose applications. A 3D visualization package developed by NCAR provides both color-shaded surface displays and volumetric rendering in either index or true color. The Network Common Data Form (NetCDF) data access library developed by Unidata supports creation, access and sharing of scientific data in a form that is self-describing and network transparent. The combination and enhancement of these packages constitutes a powerful experimenter's laboratory capable of meeting key science needs of the 1990's. This proposal encompasses the work required to build and demonstrate this capability.

Hansen, Elaine R.↗
NASA NTRS1993

The Telecommunications and Data Acquisition Report

This quarterly publication provides archival reports on developments in programs managed by JPL's Office of Telecommunications and Data Acquisition (TDA). In space communications, radio navigation, radio science, and ground-based radio and radar astronomy, it reports on activities of the Deep Space Network (DSN) in planning, supporting research and technology, implementation, and operations. Also included are standards activity at JPL for space data and information systems and reimbursable DSN work performed for other space agencies through NASA. The preceding work is all performed for NASA's Office of Space Communications (OSC). The TDA Office also performs work funded by another NASA program office through and with the cooperation of OSC. This is the Orbital Debris Radar Program with tile Office of Space Systems Development. The TDA Office is directly involved in several tasks that directly support the Office of Space Science (OSS), with OSC funding DSN operational support. In radio science, The TDA Progress Report describes the spacecraft radio science program conducted using tile DSN. For the High-Resolution Microwave Survey (HRMS), the report covers implementation and operations for searching the microwave spectrum. In solar system radar, it reports on the uses of the Goldstone Solar System Radar for scientific exploration of the planets, their rings and satellites, asteroids, and comets. In radio astronomy, the areas off support include spectroscopy, very long baseline interferometry, and astrometry.

Edward C Posner↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Information Extraction on an Earth Science Knowledge Graphs with Semantic Parsing

Knowledge graphs are an important tool, both for representing knowledge and for retrieving information. Fundamentally, they are semantic networks that represent entities and relationships in the form of nodes and edges. A large corpus of natural language text can bebroken down into discrete entities and relationships to form a useful knowledge graph. Existing research breaks down text into a subject, object, and verb relationship triple. Although this is a useful first step, it loses much of the original contextual information encoded within the text. Our process uses a novel 7-tuple approach, in which elements of sentences are programmatically parsed into seven categories: initiator, impacted, receiver, beneficiary, result, and context. In this presentation, we show a knowledge graph built using this 7-tupleprocessing of an Earth science corpus. We explain the techniques used to create the graph and analyze its information retrieval capability while assessing the accuracy and limitations of the results.

Carson Davis↗
NASA NTRS1996

The Telecommunications and Data Acquisition Report

This quarterly publication provides archival reports on developments in programs managed by JPL's Telecommunications and Mission Operations Directorate (TMOD), which now includes the former Telecommunications and Data Acquisition (TDA) Office. In space communications, radio navigation, radio science, and ground-based radio and radar astronomy, it reports on activities of the Deep Space Network (DSN) in planning, supporting research and technology, implementation, and operations. Also included are standards activity at JPL for space data and information systems and reimbursable DSN work performed for other space agencies through NASA. The preceding work is all performed for NASA's Office of Space Communications (OSC). TMOD also performs work funded by other NASA program offices through and with the cooperation of OSC. The first of these is the Orbital Debris Radar Program funded by the Office of Space Systems Development. It exists at Goldstone only and makes use of the planetary radar capability when the antennas are configured as science instruments making direct observations of the planets, their satellites, and asteroids of our solar system. The Office of Space Sciences funds the data reduction and science analyses of data obtained by the Goldstone Solar System Radar. The antennas at all three complexes are also configured for radio astronomy research and, as such, conduct experiments funded by the National Science Foundation in the U.S. and other agencies at the overseas complexes. These experiments are either in microwave spectroscopy or very long baseline interferometry. Finally, tasks funded under the JPL Director's Discretionary Fund and the Caltech President's Fund that involve TMOD are included. This and each succeeding issue of 'The Telecommunications and Data Acquisition Progress Report' will present material in some, but not necessarily all, of the aforementioned programs.

Yuen, Joseph H.↗
NASA NTRS2023

Distributed Spacecraft Mission (DSM) Plume Design Reference Mission (DRM) Inter-Satellite Link Modeling, Analysis and Simulation

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Radical Innovation Initiative (RI2) plans to focus intently on DSM capability advancements in FY22-24. A DSM mission involves multiple spacecraft, arranged in a constellation, to achieve one or more common goals via the use of inter-satellite links (ISL) between the satellites. Recently, the GSFC Internal Research & Development (IRAD) program established Enceladus as a design reference mission (DRM) for the current DSM effort to foster the conceptual development of communication architecture, requirements, and solutions for future DSM ISL, as well as being able to push other research areas of interest. Enceladus is an icy moon of the planet Saturn. The DRM Enceladus mission concept involves a constellation of 24 small satellites, orbiting Enceladus around 100 km altitude in 3 planes, as observing nodes for science measurement. The mission science data will be sent back to Earth through a relay orbiting Saturn, using the constellation’s inter-satellite links. A QualNet/STK simulation model of the Relay and constellation ISL optical and RF links is developed for the design and optimization of the link and orbital parameters, as well as the inter-networking protocols. Delay Tolerant Networking (DTN) is utilized in the application layer modeling. This paper describes the plume DRM mission concept of an Enceladus constellation to relay science data to Earth and includes the proposed communication architecture and operation concepts. We present details of the QualNet/STK engineering model for this communication scenario to simulate the end-to-end data traffic through multiple layers (physical, data link, networking, transport and application). A link analysis for the constellation’s ISL, constellation to Relay and Direct to Earth (DTE) optical link is provided and discussed. The results of end-to-end traffic simulation for the data throughout/latency evaluation and assessment of the communication architecture are presented. The investigation of the concept of optical multiple access (OMA) for the Plume DRM is discussed. The modeling and simulation methodology developed in this paper is applicable to other DSMs in near Earth and deep space such as Earth-Moon L1/L2 and Lunar regions.

Distributed Spacecraft Mission (DSM) Inter-satelli↗
NASA NTRS1990

Fault tolerant, radiation hard, high performance digital signal processor

An architecture has been developed for a high-performance VLSI digital signal processor that is highly reliable, fault-tolerant, and radiation-hard. The signal processor, part of a spacecraft receiver designed to support uplink radio science experiments at the outer planets, organizes the connections between redundant arithmetic resources, register files, and memory through a shuffle exchange communication network. The configuration of the network and the state of the processor resources are all under microprogram control, which both maps the resources according to algorithmic needs and reconfigures the processing should a failure occur. In addition, the microprogram is reloadable through the uplink to accommodate changes in the science objectives throughout the course of the mission. The processor will be implemented with silicon compiler tools, and its design will be verified through silicon compilation simulation at all levels from the resources to full functionality. By blending reconfiguration with redundancy the processor implementation is fault-tolerant and reliable, and possesses the long expected lifetime needed for a spacecraft mission to the outer planets.

Holmann, Edgar↗
NASA NTRS2005

Learning Effectiveness of the NASA Digital Learning Network

Student participation in actual investigations which develop inquiry and intellectual skills has long been regarded as an essential component of science instructions (Schwab, 1962; White, 1999). Such investigations give students an opportunity to appreciate the spirit of science and promote an understanding of the nature of science. However, classroom research conducted over the past 20 years describes science teaching as primarily teacher centered. Typical instruction consists of whole class, noninteractive activities in which individual seatwork has constituted the bulk of classroom interactions (Tobin and Gallagher, 1997). Students typically learn science from textbooks and lectures. Their main motivation is to do reasonably well on tests and examinations (Layman, 1999). During the past five years, infrastructure constraints have reduced to the point that many schools systems can now afford low cost, high quality video conferencing equipment (International Society for Technology in Education, 2003). This study investigates the use of interactive video conferencing vs. face to face interaction with hands-on, inquiry based activities. Some basic questions to be addressed are: How does the delivery method impact the students understanding of the goals of the experiment? Are students explanation of the strategies of experimentation different based on the method of instruction that was provided. Do students engaged in a workshop with the instructor in the room vs. an instructor over video conferencing have different perception of the understanding of the subject materials?

Hix, Billy↗