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At least 577 records · Page 32
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2022

Bringing Planetary Science Mission Outreach to the Deaf and Blind Communities

Introduction: Technology for enhancing outreach, like 3D printing, and science communication products, such as videos and podcasts, can be utilized within the planetary science community, especially for the engagement and excitement of current or upcoming planetary exploration missions. However, these communication products can also be further enhanced for the benefit of the blind and deaf communities. While such products may already be readily available, such projects are not easily accessible to blind and/or deaf certified educators, which often rely on making their own resources or do not have the funds to provide such resources (e.g., cost of 3D printers or cost of braille books). The planetary science community can have better practices to reach these broader audiences. Best practices can include transcripts from podcasts, transcripts in videos, and large-font captions. Images on websites and social media accounts should also include alt-text descriptive captions. 3D printing can also enhance planetary science for the blind community, through tactile posters, maps, and pamphlets. Planetary data can also be augmented by providing different tactile geological maps (e.g., topography or various datasets), and audio-visual videos freely available for educators. Visual Engagement: Visual engagement consists of several avenues to consider, the three main themes includes: 1) swag; 2) videos; 3) interactive exploration. Swag can include the fun visual take-home materials, such as stickers, posters, bookmarks, etc. Videos can include educational-specific videos (available freely via YouTube or by other educational-specific streaming avenues, such as Nebula or Curiosity Stream), provided they have Closed Captioning (CC). The use of QR codes to such videos or websites can also benefit to being added on swag. Interactive exploration can also be sub-divided by different types of engagement. A popular and still fairly new technology for public engagement is the use of virtual reality (VR). While this has been mainly for martian and lunar surface exploration [1], the deaf communities can benefit from VR through a more extensive look at our solar system and beyond (for example, a VR experience of the flight path, or visual map of the heliosphere/dynamics of our Sun). Audio Engagement: Audio tools can also be a useful avenue of communication, especially for the blind communities. Audio archiving can certainly be transcripts from the video engagements, but also the use of podcasts can also be a benefit. Podcasting can take on two forms: 1) interview engagement; and 2) update engagement. For interviews, scientists can communicate with STEM-specific podcast platforms to make other listener-bases aware of what is going on with a specific mission. For update-type communication, missions may opt to have an archived podcast of news, updates, and the teams involved. The most important aspect of such podcasts would be for the need of complimentary transcripts (including descriptive transcripts if sounds are included), and the limited use of jargon. Research Engagement: There have been several examples of involving the blind and low-vision communities in citizen science, such as through the NASA Heliophysics division. Examples include the NASA PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) mission led by the Southwest Research Institute [2], which include blind and visually-impaired citizens to assist in the Sun’s coronal rhythms.” Another example is the Eclipse Soundscapes: Citizen Science Project (ES:CSP), which documents observations of acoustical changes of nature and ecosystems during solar eclipse events [3]. Inclusivity: A major theme that is necessary for public engagement is inclusivity and the awareness of reaching broader audiences. Outreach to include hearing/seeing impaired communities are still lacking in the sciences. There are several opportunities that the planetary sciences could take. Other projects that have emerged from the space sciences include adding transcripts to visual engagement [4], and the use of 3D printing for the visually-impaired [5]. References: [1] Olgin, J. (2020) 51st LPSC, Abstract 2137. [2] https://scitechdaily.com/outreach-for-nasa-punch-mission-embraces-ancient-and-modern-sun-watching-theme/ [3] https://science.nasa.gov/science-activation-team/eclipse-soundscapes [4] NASA International Observe the Moon Night (Blind and Deaf Accessible), Youtube Video ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neHCfg0S3-Q) [5] Richardson, J., et al. (2018) AGU Fall Meeting, Abstract ED23F-0963.

C J Ahrens↗
NASA NTRS1995

Rapid Airplane Parametric Input Design (RAPID)

RAPID is a methodology and software system to define a class of airplane configurations and directly evaluate surface grids, volume grids, and grid sensitivity on and about the configurations. A distinguishing characteristic which separates RAPID from other airplane surface modellers is that the output grids and grid sensitivity are directly applicable in CFD analysis. A small set of design parameters and grid control parameters govern the process which is incorporated into interactive software for 'real time' visual analysis and into batch software for the application of optimization technology. The computed surface grids and volume grids are suitable for a wide range of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation. The general airplane configuration has wing, fuselage, horizontal tail, and vertical tail components. The double-delta wing and tail components are manifested by solving a fourth order partial differential equation (PDE) subject to Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions. The design parameters are incorporated into the boundary conditions and therefore govern the shapes of the surfaces. The PDE solution yields a smooth transition between boundaries. Surface grids suitable for CFD calculation are created by establishing an H-type topology about the configuration and incorporating grid spacing functions in the PDE equation for the lifting components and the fuselage definition equations. User specified grid parameters govern the location and degree of grid concentration. A two-block volume grid about a configuration is calculated using the Control Point Form (CPF) technique. The interactive software, which runs on Silicon Graphics IRIS workstations, allows design parameters to be continuously varied and the resulting surface grid to be observed in real time. The batch software computes both the surface and volume grids and also computes the sensitivity of the output grid with respect to the input design parameters by applying the precompiler tool ADIFOR to the grid generation program. The output of ADIFOR is a new source code containing the old code plus expressions for derivatives of specified dependent variables (grid coordinates) with respect to specified independent variables (design parameters). The RAPID methodology and software provide a means of rapidly defining numerical prototypes, grids, and grid sensitivity of a class of airplane configurations. This technology and software is highly useful for CFD research for preliminary design and optimization processes.

Smith, Robert E.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Visualization of International Solar-Terrestrial Physics Program (ISTP) data

The International Solar-Terrestrial Physics Program (ISTP) is a multispacecraft, multinational program whose objective is to promote further understanding of the Earth's complex plasma environment. Extensive data sharing and data analysis will be needed to ensure the success of the overall ISTP program. For this reason, there has been a special emphasis on data standards throughout ISTP. One of the key tools will be the common data format (CDF), developed, maintained, and evolved at the National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC), with the set of ISTP implementation guidelines specially designed for space physics data sets by the Space Physics Data Facility (associated with the NSSDC). The ISTP guidelines were developed to facilitate searching, plotting, merging, and subsetting of data sets. We focus here on the plotting application. A prototype software package was developed to plot key parameter (KP) data from the ISTP program at the Science Planning and Operations Facility (SPOF). The ISTP Key Parameter Visualization Tool is based on the Interactive Data Language (IDL) and is keyed to the ISTP guidelines, reading data stored in CDF. With the combination of CDF, the ISTP guidelines, and the visualization software, we can look forward to easier and more effective data sharing and use among ISTP scientists.

Kessel, Ramona L.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Digital Twin for Chemical Science: a case study on water interactions on the Ag(111) surface

Directly visualizing chemical trajectories offers insights into catalysis, gas-phase reactions and photoinduced dynamics. Tracking the transformation of chemical species is best achieved by coupling theory and experiment. Here we developed Digital Twin for Chemical Science (DTCS) v.01, which integrates theory, experiment and their bidirectional feedback loops into a unified platform for chemical characterization. DTCS addresses a core question: given a set of experimental conditions, what is the expected outcome and why? It consists of a forward solver that takes a chemical reaction network and predicts spectra under experimental conditions, and an inverse solver that infers kinetics from measured spectra. We applied DTCS to ambient-pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements of the Ag–H2O interface as an example. This approach enables real-time knowledge extraction and guides experiments until a stopping condition is met based on accuracy and degeneracy. As a step toward autonomous chemical characterization, DTCS provides mechanistic knowledge in a verified, standardized manner.

Chemistry↗
DOE OSTI2023

An investigation of fracture behaviors of NBG-18 nuclear graphite using in situ mechanical testing coupled with micro-CT

Nuclear graphite contains defects spanning from nanoscale basal cracks to sub-mm scale voids. This study aims to establish an experimental method to investigate pre-existing defects and 3-D crack growth inside nuclear graphite, NBG-18. Three-point bending tests were performed on single-edge notched beam specimens with and without coupling with micro-CT. The fracture toughness was measured to be 1.17 ± 0.06 MPa $\sqrt{{m}}$. Cracks were observed to initiate from the pores and thermal cracks on the edge of the notch and then defect or twist to grow along the pre-existing defects. Crack bridging, defection, and twisting were the primary toughening mechanisms. The crack resistance curve exhibited a trend of rising-plateau-rising that can be related to the interaction of crack front and the pre-existing defects. In conclusion, the results highlight the capability of laboratory micro-CT-based experimental method for the visualization of multi-scale defect interactions, which remains to be a challenge in the characterization of nuclear graphite.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Short-wavelength-sensitive 2 (Sws2) visual photopigment models combined with atomistic molecular simulations to predict spectral peaks of absorbance

For many species, vision is one of the most important sensory modalities for mediating essential tasks that include navigation, predation and foraging, predator avoidance, and numerous social behaviors. The vertebrate visual process begins when photons of the light interact with rod and cone photoreceptors that are present in the neural retina. Vertebrate visual photopigments are housed within these photoreceptor cells and are sensitive to a wide range of wavelengths that peak within the light spectrum, the latter of which is a function of the type of chromophore used and how it interacts with specific amino acid residues found within the opsin protein sequence. Minor differences in the amino acid sequences of the opsins are known to lead to large differences in the spectral peak of absorbance (i.e. the λ max value). In our prior studies, we developed a new approach that combined homology modeling and molecular dynamics simulations to gather structural information associated with chromophore conformation, then used it to generate statistical models for the accurate prediction of λ max values for photopigments derived from Rh1 and Rh2 amino acid sequences. In the present study, we test our novel approach to predict the λ max of phylogenetically distant Sws2 cone opsins. To build a model that can predict the λ max using our approach presented in our prior studies, we selected a spectrally-diverse set of 11 teleost Sws2 photopigments for which both amino acid sequence information and experimentally measured λ max values are known. The final first-order regression model, consisting of three terms associated with chromophore conformation, was sufficient to predict the λ max of Sws2 photopigments with high accuracy. This study further highlights the breadth of our approach in reliably predicting λ max values of Sws2 cone photopigments, evolutionary-more distant from template bovine RH1, and provided mechanistic insights into the role of known spectral tuning sites.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2012

Exploratory Climate Data Visualization and Analysis Using DV3D and UVCDAT

Earth system scientists are being inundated by an explosion of data generated by ever-increasing resolution in both global models and remote sensors. Advanced tools for accessing, analyzing, and visualizing very large and complex climate data are required to maintain rapid progress in Earth system research. To meet this need, NASA, in collaboration with the Ultra-scale Visualization Climate Data Analysis Tools (UVCOAT) consortium, is developing exploratory climate data analysis and visualization tools which provide data analysis capabilities for the Earth System Grid (ESG). This paper describes DV3D, a UV-COAT package that enables exploratory analysis of climate simulation and observation datasets. OV3D provides user-friendly interfaces for visualization and analysis of climate data at a level appropriate for scientists. It features workflow inte rfaces, interactive 40 data exploration, hyperwall and stereo visualization, automated provenance generation, and parallel task execution. DV30's integration with CDAT's climate data management system (COMS) and other climate data analysis tools provides a wide range of high performance climate data analysis operations. DV3D expands the scientists' toolbox by incorporating a suite of rich new exploratory visualization and analysis methods for addressing the complexity of climate datasets.

Maxwell, Thomas↗
NASA NTRS1993

Knowledge-based assistance for science visualization and analysis using large distributed databases

Within this decade, the growth in complexity of exploratory data analysis and the sheer volume of space data require new and innovative approaches to support science investigators in achieving their research objectives. To date, there have been numerous efforts addressing the individual issues involved in inter-disciplinary, multi-instrument investigations. However, while successful in small scale, these efforts have not proven to be open and scalable. This proposal addresses four areas of significant need: scientific visualization and analysis; science data management; interactions in a distributed, heterogeneous environment; and knowledge-based assistance for these functions. The fundamental innovation embedded with this proposal is the integration of three automation technologies, namely, knowledge-based expert systems, science visualization and science data management. This integration is based on concept called the DataHub. With the DataHub concept, NASA will be able to apply a more complete solution to all nodes of a distributed system. Both computation nodes and interactive nodes will be able to effectively and efficiently use the data services (address, retrieval, update, etc.) with a distributed, interdisciplinary information system in a uniform and standard way. This will allow the science investigators to concentrate on their scientific endeavors, rather than to involve themselves in the intricate technical details of the systems and tools required to accomplish their work. Thus, science investigators need not be programmers. The emphasis will be on the definition and prototyping of system elements with sufficient detail to enable data analysis and interpretation leading to publishable scientific results. In addition, the proposed work includes all the required end-to-end components and interfaces to demonstrate the completed concept.

Handley, Thomas H., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Knowledge-based assistance for science visualization and analysis using large distributed databases

Within this decade, the growth in complexity of exploratory data analysis and the sheer volume of space data require new and innovative approaches to support science investigators in achieving their research objectives. To date, there have been numerous efforts addressing the individual issues involved in inter-disciplinary, multi-instrument investigations. However, while successful in small scale, these efforts have not proven to be open and scaleable. This proposal addresses four areas of significant need: scientific visualization and analysis; science data management; interactions in a distributed, heterogeneous environment; and knowledge-based assistance for these functions. The fundamental innovation embedded within this proposal is the integration of three automation technologies, namely, knowledge-based expert systems, science visualization and science data management. This integration is based on the concept called the Data Hub. With the Data Hub concept, NASA will be able to apply a more complete solution to all nodes of a distributed system. Both computation nodes and interactive nodes will be able to effectively and efficiently use the data services (access, retrieval, update, etc.) with a distributed, interdisciplinary information system in a uniform and standard way. This will allow the science investigators to concentrate on their scientific endeavors, rather than to involve themselves in the intricate technical details of the systems and tools required to accomplish their work. Thus, science investigators need not be programmers. The emphasis will be on the definition and prototyping of system elements with sufficient detail to enable data analysis and interpretation leading to publishable scientific results. In addition, the proposed work includes all the required end-to-end components and interfaces to demonstrate the completed concept.

Handley, Thomas H., Jr.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Direct Visualization of Defect‐Controlled Diffusion in van der Waals Gaps

Abstract Diffusion processes govern fundamental phenomena such as phase transformations, doping, and intercalation in van der Waals (vdW) bonded materials. Here, the diffusion dynamics of W atoms by visualizing the motion of individual atoms at three different vdW interfaces: hexagonal boron nitride (BN)/vacuum, BN/BN, and BN/WSe 2 , by recording scanning transmission electron microscopy movies is quantified. Supported by density functional theory (DFT) calculations, it is inferred that in all cases diffusion is governed by intermittent trapping at electron beam‐generated defect sites. This leads to diffusion properties that depend strongly on the number of defects. These results suggest that diffusion and intercalation processes in vdW materials are highly tunable and sensitive to crystal quality. The demonstration of imaging, with high spatial and temporal resolution, of layers and individual atoms inside vdW heterostructures offers possibilities for direct visualization of diffusion and atomic interactions, as well as for experiments exploring atomic structures, their in situ modification, and electrical property measurements of active devices combined with atomic resolution imaging.

Chemistry↗
DOE OSTI2020

GL Visualization

GLVis is a lightweight tool for accurate and flexible finite element visualization. GLVis uses OpenGL with interactive refinement to accurately represent curved high-order meshes and a wide variety of finite element grid functions defined on them.

Yee, BenC.↗
DOE OSTI2025

pnnl/GeoCLUSTER

GeoCLUSTER is a Python-based web application that provides a collection of interactive methods for streamlining the visualization of the technical and economic modeling of closed-loop geothermal systems.

Buchko, Alex [Pacific Northwest National Laborator↗
DOE OSTI2022

VERAView User's Manual

VERAView has been developed as an interactive graphical interface for the visualization and engineering analyses of output data from VERA. The Python-based software is easy to install, intuitive to use, and provides instantaneous 2D and 3D images, 1D plots, and alpha-numeric data from VERA multi-physics simulations. This document provides a brief overview of the software and some description of the major features of the application, including examples of each of the encapsulated “widgets” that have been implemented thus far. VERAView is still under major development and large changes in the software and this document are still anticipated.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2026

CRADA Number NFE-24-10110 with Qubit Engineering Inc. (CRADA Final Report)

Over the past year, the Qubit Engineering team has pushed the frontiers of power‑grid optimization, working in close collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). Their progress is reflected in three newly submitted conference papers, “Unified Relational GNN Architecture for AC Optimal Power Flow Calculations in Electric Grids,” “Graph‑Based Attention Mechanisms for Solving the AC Optimal Power Flow Problem in Electrical‑Power Networks,” and “Enhanced Power‑Grid Maintenance Planning and Quantum‑Inspired Combinatorial Prospects.” These publications showcase state‑of‑the‑art graph‑neural‑network methods for AC‑OPF and novel quantum‑inspired heuristics for maintenance scheduling. Beyond the academic results, the Qubit team has converted the research into two production‑grade tools built on TVA data: Neuro‑Grid, an AI‑driven power‑flow simulator that provides instant, interactive full‑grid load‑flow visualizations, and Quanta‑Grid, a quantum‑inspired maintenance‑scheduling engine to support logistics optimization for power utilities. Together, these advances demonstrate how Qubit’s partnership with ORNL and TVA is delivering practical, physics‑grounded analytics for next‑generation grid management.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2025

PDnetwork

PDnetwork is an interactive online tool designed to visualize the evolution of the co-authorship network in the field of peridynamics. In this network, each node represents a peridynamics author, and each link represents co-authorship between authors. The tool allows users to obtain collaborative measures for authors using selected network metrics and visualize collaborations for specific authors. Additionally, it provides rankings for authors based on selected collaboration metrics and includes links to the author profiles in the Scopus publication database.

Dahal, Biraj [Georgia Institute of Technology, Atl↗
NASA NTRS1975

Individual differences in susceptibility to motion sickness among six Skylab astronauts

Motion sickness was studied in Skylab crewmen. By mission-day 8 (MD 8), astronauts were virtually free of motion sickness symptoms after rotation and linear acceleration tests. None of the Skylab-II astronauts (crewmen 1-3) was motion sick aloft, but astronaut 6 of the Skylab-III crew experienced motion sickness within an hour after transition into orbit. All three astronauts (4-6) of Skylab-III experienced motion sickness in the workshop, where astronaut 6 was most susceptible and astronaut 4 least susceptible. The higher susceptibility of SL-III crewmen in the workshop, as compared with SL-II crewmen, may be attributable to the fact that they were based in the command module (CM) less than one-third as long as were SL-II astronauts. I.e., the unnatural movements permitted in the open spaces of the workshop entrained more complex interactions of unusual vestibular and visual stimuli than did those in the CM. The observed reduced liability to kinetosis relative to earth may be due to absence of the gravity stimulus to the otolith organs.

Graybiel, A.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Propeller/wing interaction

The present experimental investigation of the steady-state and unsteady-state effects due to the interaction between a tractor propeller's wake and a wing employs, in the steady case, wind tunnel measurements at low subsonic speed; results are obtained which demonstrate wing performance response to variations in configuration geometry. Other steady-state results involve the propeller-hub lift and side-force due to the wing's influence on the propeller. The unsteady effects of interaction were studied through flow visualization of propeller-tip vortex distortion over a wing, again using a tractor-propeller configuration.

Witkowski, David P.↗
NASA NTRS1993

PLOT3D/AMES

Interactive graphics program helps scientists visualize computational fluid dynamics grids and solutions. PLOT3D/AMES offers multitude of functions and features and adapted for more types of computers than any other CFD graphics program. Other versions available are: SGI IRIS, UNIX Supercomputer and SGI IRIS, DEC VAX using DISSPLA, Generic UNIX using DISSPLA, and Apollo UNIX using GMR3D.

Buning, Pieter G.↗