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NASA NTRS2000

Aerospace Systems Design in NASA's Collaborative Engineering Environment

Past designs of complex aerospace systems involved an environment consisting of collocated design teams with project managers, technical discipline experts, and other experts (e.g., manufacturing and systems operation). These experts were generally qualified only on the basis of past design experience and typically had access to a limited set of integrated analysis tools. These environments provided less than desirable design fidelity, often lead to the inability of assessing critical programmatic and technical issues (e.g., cost, risk, technical impacts), and generally derived a design that was not necessarily optimized across the entire system. The continually changing, modern aerospace industry demands systems design processes that involve the best talent available (no matter where it resides) and access to the the best design and analysis tools. A solution to these demands involves a design environment referred to as collaborative engineering. The collaborative engineering environment evolving within the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is a capability that enables the Agency's engineering infrastructure to interact and use the best state-of-the-art tools and data across organizational boundaries. Using collaborative engineering, the collocated team is replaced with an interactive team structure where the team members are geographical distributed and the best engineering talent can be applied to the design effort regardless of physical location. In addition, a more efficient, higher quality design product is delivered by bringing together the best engineering talent with more up-to-date design and analysis tools. These tools are focused on interactive, multidisciplinary design and analysis with emphasis on the complete life cycle of the system, and they include nontraditional, integrated tools for life cycle cost estimation and risk assessment. NASA has made substantial progress during the last two years in developing a collaborative engineering environment. NASA is planning to use this collaborative engineering engineering infrastructure to provide better aerospace systems life cycle design and analysis, which includes analytical assessment of the technical and programmatic aspects of a system from "cradle to grave." This paper describes the recent NASA developments in the area of collaborative engineering, the benefits (realized and anticipated) of using the developed capability, and the long-term plans for implementing this capability across Agency.

Monell, Donald W.↗

NASA NTRS1999

Aerospace Systems Design in NASA's Collaborative Engineering Environment

Past designs of complex aerospace systems involved an environment consisting of collocated design teams with project managers, technical discipline experts, and other experts (e.g. manufacturing and systems operations). These experts were generally qualified only on the basis of past design experience and typically had access to a limited set of integrated analysis tools. These environments provided less than desirable design fidelity, often lead to the inability of assessing critical programmatic and technical issues (e.g., cost risk, technical impacts), and generally derived a design that was not necessarily optimized across the entire system. The continually changing, modern aerospace industry demands systems design processes that involve the best talent available (no matter where it resides) and access to the best design and analysis tools. A solution to these demands involves a design environment referred to as collaborative engineering. The collaborative engineering environment evolving within the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is a capability that enables the Agency's engineering infrastructure to interact and use the best state-of-the-art tools and data across organizational boundaries. Using collaborative engineering, the collocated team is replaced with an interactive team structure where the team members are geographically distributed and the best engineering talent can be applied to the design effort regardless of physical location. In addition, a more efficient, higher quality design product is delivered by bringing together the best engineering talent with more up-to-date design and analysis tools. These tools are focused on interactive, multidisciplinary design and analysis with emphasis on the complete life cycle of the system, and they include nontraditional, integrated tools for life cycle cost estimation and risk assessment. NASA has made substantial progress during the last two years in developing a collaborative engineering environment. NASA is planning to use this collaborative engineering infrastructure to provide better aerospace systems life cycle design and analysis, which includes analytical assessment of the technical and programmatic aspects of a system from "cradle to grave." This paper describes the recent NASA developments in the area of collaborative engineering, the benefits (realized and anticipated) of using the developed capability, and the long-term plans for implementing this capability across the Agency.

Monell, Donald W.↗

NASA NTRS2013

Evaluation of Flight Deck-Based Interval Management Crew Procedure Feasibility

Air traffic demand is predicted to increase over the next 20 years, creating a need for new technologies and procedures to support this growth in a safe and efficient manner. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Air Traffic Management Technology Demonstration - 1 (ATD-1) will operationally demonstrate the feasibility of efficient arrival operations combining ground-based and airborne NASA technologies. The integration of these technologies will increase throughput, reduce delay, conserve fuel, and minimize environmental impacts. The ground-based tools include Traffic Management Advisor with Terminal Metering for precise time-based scheduling and Controller Managed Spacing decision support tools for better managing aircraft delay with speed control. The core airborne technology in ATD-1 is Flight deck-based Interval Management (FIM). FIM tools provide pilots with speed commands calculated using information from Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast. The precise merging and spacing enabled by FIM avionics and flight crew procedures will reduce excess spacing buffers and result in higher terminal throughput. This paper describes a human-in-the-loop experiment designed to assess the acceptability and feasibility of the ATD-1 procedures used in a voice communications environment. This experiment utilized the ATD-1 integrated system of ground-based and airborne technologies. Pilot participants flew a high-fidelity fixed base simulator equipped with an airborne spacing algorithm and a FIM crew interface. Experiment scenarios involved multiple air traffic flows into the Dallas-Fort Worth Terminal Radar Control airspace. Results indicate that the proposed procedures were feasible for use by flight crews in a voice communications environment. The delivery accuracy at the achieve-by point was within +/- five seconds and the delivery precision was less than five seconds. Furthermore, FIM speed commands occurred at a rate of less than one per minute, and pilots found the frequency of the speed commands to be acceptable at all times throughout the experiment scenarios.

Wilson, Sara R.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Preparation for and Performance of a Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilm Experiment On Board the International Space Station

Biofilms are a problem on Earth given their ability to degrade the materials upon which they grow and due to their relevance to infections. Remarkably, 65% and 80% of infections and chronic diseases on Earth are associated with biofilms, respectively. In space, these problems' impact is higher because the crew's lives and mission success depend on nominal operation of mechanical systems. Furthermore, the isolated confined environment nature of spaceflight may increase the rates of disease transmission. In the case of the International Space Station (ISS), biofilms are an identified problem on the Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS), namely on the water processor assembly (WPA). In late 2019, the Space Biofilms experiment launched towards ISS to (i) characterize the mass, thickness, morphology, and gene expression of biofilms formed in space with respect to matched Earth controls, (ii) interrogate the expression of antimicrobial resistance genes, and (iii) test novel materials as potential biofilm control strategies for future ECLSS components. For this, 288 bacterial samples were prepared prior to the launch of the Northrop Grumman CRS-12 mission from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility. The samples were integrated into the spaceflight hardware, BioServe's Fluid Processing Apparatus (FPA) packed in sets of eight in Group Activation Packs (GAP). Half of these samples were activated and terminated on orbit by NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Christina Koch, while the remaining half were processed equivalently on Earth. The spaceflight bacterial samples of Space Biofilms returned on board SpaceX' CRS-19 Dragon spacecraft, in early 2020. We here describe the test campaign implemented to verify the experiment design and confirm it would enable us to achieve the project's scientific goals. This campaign ended with the Experiment Verification Test (EVT), from which we here present example morphology and transcriptomic results. We describe in detail the sample preparation prior to flight, including cleaning and sterilization of the coupons of six materials (SS316, passivated-SS316, lubricant impregnated surface, catheter-grade silicone with and without a nanotopography, and cellulose membrane), loading and integration of growth media, bacterial inoculum, fixative and preservative to enable experiment termination on orbit. Additionally, we describe the performance of the experiment on board the ISS, including crew activities, use of assets, temperature profile, and experiment timeline; all leading to a successful spaceflight experiment.

Pamela Flores↗

DOE OSTI2021

An Experimental Analysis on the CNS Simulator Comparing Human Performance between Operators and Students

This study, as a previous study of the SHEEP project, aims to identify differences in human performance data through experiments with students and operators using CNS (Compact Nuclear Simulator). To achieve this goal, this experiment seeks to analyze the correlation of measured human performance between students and operators through a randomized factorial experiment design. Five human performances are measured. In addition, several scenarios and related procedures have been developed for the CNS experiments.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

DOE OSTI2025

BOILER Experiment Material Characterization and HFIR Irradiation Status

Pre-oxidized alumina-forming austenitic (AFA) steels have been previously identified as candidate alloys for structural components in lead-cooled fast reactors (LFRs). They offer compatibility with liquid Pb, high-temperature strength, formability, and cost advantages. However, variations in Ni content can affect the formation and stability of the Al 2 O 3 layer, influencing compatibility with liquid Pb. The effect of fast neutron irradiation on Al 2 O 3 stability in liquid Pb also requires evaluation. Therefore, understanding how Ni concentrations impacts pre-oxidized AFAs under combined extremes of irradiation and liquid metal corrosion is essential before safe deployment. The Behavior Of In-situ Lead Environments & Radiation (BOILER) experiment was developed under the Nuclear Science User Facilities (NSUF) program to integrate alloy development, irradiation experiment design, and irradiated materials characterization. In this effort, two pre-oxidized AFA steels with 20 wt% and 25 wt% Ni, hereinafter referred to as GA05-20Ni and GA05-25Ni, were produced. An irradiation experiment was then planned for the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR), designed for passive heating of irradiation rabbit capsules from gamma heating in the HFIR flux trap (1 × 10 15 n/cm 2 ·s, >0.1 MeV). This heating melts Pb and exposes the pre-oxidized AFA steel specimens to nominal temperatures of 400 and 650°C. Detailed neutronics and thermal analyses were performed, though based on nominal design rather than as-built, as-irradiated conditions. This report documents further characterization of the pre-oxidized AFAs in the unirradiated condition. It also includes as-built thermal analysis using measured component dimensions, updated fill gas concentrations, and actual HFIR irradiation positions. Finally, the report summarizes capsule fabrication, current irradiation status, projected completion, estimated damage accumulation, and initial plans for post-irradiation examination plans.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

NASA NTRS2015

The Rapid Response Radiation Survey (R3S) Mission Using the HiSat Conformal Satellite Architecture

The Rapid Response Radiation Survey (R3S) experiment, designed as a quick turnaround mission to make radiation measurements in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), will fly as a hosted payload in partnership with NovaWurks using their Hyper-integrated Satlet (HISat) architecture. The need for the mission arises as the Nowcast of Atmospheric Ionization Radiation for Aviation Safety (NAIRAS) model moves from a research effort into an operational radiation assessment tool. Currently, airline professionals are the second largest demographic of radiation workers and to date their radiation exposure is undocumented in the USA. The NAIRAS model seeks to fill this information gap. The data collected by R3S, in addition to the complementary data from a NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) atmospheric balloon mission entitled Radiation Dosimetry Experiment (RaD-X), will validate exposure prediction capabilities of NAIRAS. The R3S mission collects total dose and radiation spectrum measurements using a Teledyne μDosimeter and a Liulin-6SA2 LED spectrometer. These two radiation sensors provide a cross correlated radiometric measurement in combination with the Honeywell HMR2300 Smart Digital Magnetometer. The magnetometer assesses the Earth's magnetic field in the LEO environment and allows radiation dose to be mapped as a function of the Earth's magnetic shielding. R3S is also unique in that the radiation sensors will be exposed on the outer surface of the spacecraft, possibly making this the first measurements of the LEO radiation environment with bare sensors. Viability of R3S as an extremely fast turnaround mission is due, in part, to the nature of the robust, well-defined interfaces of the conformal satellite HiSat Architecture. The HiSat architecture, which was developed with the support of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA's) Phoenix Program, enabled the R3S system to advance from the first concept to delivery of preliminary design review (PDR) level documents in 29 calendar days. The architecture allows for interface complexities between the specific devices and the satellite bus to be resolved in a standardized interface control document (ICD). The ICD provided a readymade framework to interface to the modular satellite bus. This modularity allowed for approximately 90% of the R3S system to be designed and fabricated in two months without constraint of the hosting satellite's development cycle. This paper discusses the development of the R3S experiment as made possible by use of the HiSat architecture. The system design and operational modes of the experiment are described, as well as the experiment interfaces to the HiSat satellite via the user defined adapter (UDA) provided by NovaWurks. This paper outlines the steps taken by the project to execute the R3S mission in the 4 months of design, build, and test. Additionally portrayed is the ground work done at LaRC to posture the organization for a fast response and the process by which the opportunity was identified as aligning with key strategic goals. Finally, a description of the engineering process is provided, including the use of facilitated rapid/concurrent engineering sessions, the associated documentation, and the review process employed.

Miller, Nathanael A.↗

DOE OSTI2020

THERMAL SAFETY MARGIN CALCULATION OF THE MP-2 EXPERIMENT IN THE ADVANCED TEST REACTOR

The Mini-Plate 2 (MP-2) irradiation test is a fueled experiment designed for irradiation in multiple test locations in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The experiment is a drop-in test where small aluminum-clad fuel plate samples (mini plates) are cooled directly by the ATR Primary Coolant System (PCS) water. The MP-2 fuel plate experiment will be irradiated in several different irradiation locations of the ATR. This fueled experiment contains aluminum-clad fuel mini plates consisting of monolithic U-Mo. Four different types of fuel plates with fuel meat thickness and cladding are part of the MP-2 test. A thermal analysis has been performed on the MP-2 experiment. A method for calculating Departure from Nucleate Boiling Ratio (DNBR) and Flow Instability Ratio (FIR) during a reactivity transient using the commercial finite element and heat transfer code ABAQUS is discussed. At the start of an ATR cycle the heat generation rate of the fueled experiment is high and the heat rate multiplier from the outer shim control cylinders is low, while the reverse is true at the end of the ATR cycle. Thermal analyses at 10 day increments during the cycle calculate the DNBR and FIR during a reactivity transient. This technique calculates DNBR for the fuel plate surfaces and FIR for all water components for each finite element surface and node at various times during the ATR cycle. Heat rates vary with time during the transient calculation that are provided by a detailed physics analysis. Oxide growth on the fuel plates is also incorporated Results from the transient calculations are displayed with the ABAQUS post processor. By calculating these parameters at each location in the finite element model, conservatism is replaced with accuracy. This allows for a greater margin for the thermal hydraulic safety parameters.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

DOE OSTI2024

Data for: Competitive and Cooperative Effects of Chloride on Palladium(II) Adsorption to Iron (Oxyhydr)oxides: Implications for Mobility During Weathering

Data package for manuscript "Competitive and Cooperative Effects of Chloride on Palladium(II) Adsorption to Iron (Oxyhydr)oxides: Implications for Mobility During Weathering" by Emily G. Wright, Xicheng He, Elaine D. Flynn, Daniel E. Giammar, and Jeffrey G. Catalano. The manuscript will be submitted to Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. This dataset contains adsorption results from experiments designed to investigate the effect of chloride on Pd(II) adsorption to hematite and 2-line ferrihydrite. This includes lab experiments reacting suspensions of the minerals with various amounts of Pd and chloride at pH 4. We also characterized adsorbed Pd with X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2024

Targeted Biomining and Machine Learning Approaches in Critical Minerals Revealed by a Biogeochemical Survey of a Coal Mine Drainage Remediation System

Abandoned coal mine drainage (AMD) remediation systems in Pennsylvania can concentrate critical minerals and materials (CMM) at levels comparable to mining-grade ores. Remediation systems have varying engineering features and are open to the environment, resulting in diverse microbial colonization and seasonal climate influences that may impact CMM speciation. The location of CMMs, the types of bacterial communities tolerant of these pollutant conditions, and the influence of localized climate on CMM rich remediation systems are not well characterized. Through a one-year spatiotemporal survey of biogeochemistry at a remediation system, we have initiated the process to address these questions. Rare Earth Elements (REE) ranged 180-1,200 ppm and greater than 1,500 bacterial ASVs were classified via 16S sequencing. Analyses indicate biogeochemical differences are heavily influenced by engineering features. Additionally, REE precipitants correlate strongly with the elements Al, Cu, Zn, Be, and U. Unearthing these trends has refined our line of inquiry to explore biological mining opportunities more closely with these metals. Furthermore, we created a Machine Learning Model for predicting AMD REE content, with 89% accuracy, using the data from this study and several others. Further training data is required to create a more reputable model. Recently, global research efforts have prioritized modeling work or the use of the few historical surveys to design experiments. Through our data, we challenge this approach, emphasizing the importance of expanding fundamental survey efforts prior to advanced product design and experimentation.

critical minerals↗

NASA NTRS1972

Large area silicon solar array development.

Solar array technology has made significant improvements during the past five years in terms of the design and application of multikilowatt systems and in improvements of the specific power output capabilities of the arrays. The progress in array performance has been primarily due to array design. Experience in building, testing, and flying flexible arrays is giving confidence that they can be safely integrated into many spacecraft designs without deleterious coupling with the spacecraft control system.

Goldsmith, J. V.↗

NASA NTRS1975

Pressurization systems for liquid rockets

Guidelines for the successful design of pressurization systems for main propulsion, auxiliary propulsion, and attitude control systems for boosters, upper stages, and spacecraft were presented, drawing on the wealth of design experience that has accumulated in the development of pressurization systems for liquid rockets operational in the last 15 years. The design begins with a preliminary phase in which the system requirements are received and evaluated. Next comes a detail-design and integration phase in which the controls and the hardware components that make up the system are determined. The final phase, design evaluation, provides analysis of problems that may arise at any point in the design when components are combined and considered for operation as a system. Throughout the monograph, the design tasks are considered in the order and manner in which the designer must handle them.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS1978

An experimental investigation of the condensation of silicate grains

Results are presented for a series of laboratory experiments designed to investigate the nucleation of small silicate grains from a vapor of astrophysically significant elements and compounds. In the experiments, magnesium silicate grains were condensed by simultaneously evaporating Mg and SiO solids into an atmosphere of argon or hydrogen at a pressure of a few torr. The results show that at low temperatures (up to a few hundred degrees C) the condensates are amorphous grains and have widely varying stoichiometries. The thermodynamically most stable compounds (Mg2SiO4, MgSiO3, SiO2) do not form readily, but all initial condensates can be converted to crystalline forsterite (Mg2SiO4) by heating to 1000 C in vacuum. At higher temperatures (above 700 K) it becomes more difficult to nucleate any silicates, and those that do form are amorphous, indicating that surface energies and kinetic effects are very important in determining under what conditions condensation will occur. The IR spectra of the experimentally produced magnesium silicates are found to have a strong resemblance to those observed in many astronomical clouds.

Day, K. L.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Testing of materials for passive thermal control of space suits

An effort is underway to determine the coating material of choice for the AX-5 prototype hard space suit. Samples of 6061 aluminum have been coated with one of 10 selected metal coatings, and subjected to corrosion, abrasion, and thermal testing. Changes in reflectance after exposure are documented. Plated gold exhibited minimal degradation of optical properties. A computer model is used in evaluating coating thermal performance in the EVA environment. The model is verified with an experiment designed to measure the heat transfer characteristics of coated space suit parts in a thermal vacuum chamber. Details of this experiment are presented.

Squire, Bernadette↗

NASA NTRS1992

Carbonate formation on Mars: History of the CO2 atmosphere from models of diffusion-limited growth in non-aqueous environments

We conducted preliminary experiments designed to measure the amount of CO2 reacted from a simulated Martian atmosphere to form carbonate on silicate grains. Warm experiments at constant T (300-350 K) and with no water (vapor or liquid) yielded no detectable reaction, suggesting the following result. If we are indeed operating in the thermodynamically-favorable regime (supported by Gooding (1978) for the gas-solid reaction), then the lack of a reaction at warm temperatures suggests that a reaction in the 200-300 K regime will be less favored if reaction kinetics dominate. The completely dry scenario is thus not favored. An additional experiment, with abundant water vapor and at T approx. 300 K (constant), yielded a negative result as well. However, this is not inconsistent with Booth's findings, since lower temperatures may be required for the absorption of a monolayer of water. We plan further (lower-T) experiments.

Stephens, Stuart K.↗

NASA NTRS1997

STS-85 Day 10 Highlights

On this tenth day of the STS-85 mission, the flight crew, Cmdr. Curtis L. Brown, Jr., Pilot Kent V. Rominger, Payload Cmdr. N. Jan Davis (Ph.D.), Mission Specialists Robert L. Curbeam, Jr. and Stephen K. Robinson (Ph.D.), and Payload Specialist Bjarni V. Tryggvason watch over an experiment designed to study how cooling systems operate in space. With operating problems resolved on the Two-Phase Fluid Loop Experiment, or TPFLEX (teepee flex), investigators expect to get all the data planned for the mission. Robinson later assisted, where necessary, with the CRISTA-SPAS rendezvous activities.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS2005

Dynamic Dust Accumulation and Dust Removal Observed on the Mars Exploration Rover Magnets

The Mars Exploration Rovers each carry a set of Magnetic Properties Experiments designed to investigate the properties of the airborne dust in the Martian atmosphere. It is a preferred interpretation of previous experiments that the airborne dust in the Martian atmosphere is primarily composed by composite silicate particles containing one or more highly magnetic minerals as a minor constituent. The ultimate goal of the magnetic properties experiments on the Mars Exploration Rover mission is to provide some information/ constraints on whether the dust is formed by volcanic, meteoritic, aqueous, or other processes. The first problem is to identify the magnetic mineral(s) in the airborne dust on Mars. While the overall results of the magnetic properties experiments are presented in, this abstract will focus on dust deposition and dust removal on some of the magnets.

Bertelsen, P.↗

NASA NTRS2016

Experimental Simulations of Lunar Magma Ocean Crystallization: The Plot (But Not the Crust) Thickens

Numerical models of differentiation of a global-scale lunar magma ocean (LMO) have raised as many questions as they have answered. Recent orbital missions and sample studies have provided new context for a large range of lithologies, from the comparatively magnesian "purest anorthosite" reported by to Si-rich domes and spinel-rich clasts with widespread areal distributions. In addition, the GRAIL mission provided strong constraints on lunar crustal density and average thickness. Can this increasingly complex geology be accounted for via the formation and evolution of the LMO? We have in recent years been conducting extensive sets of petrologic experiments designed to fully simulate LMO crystallization, which had not been attempted previously. Here we review the key results from these experiments, which show that LMO differentiation is more complex than initial models suggested. Several important features expected from LMO crystallization models have yet to be reproduced experimentally; combined modelling and experimental work by our group is ongoing.

Draper, D. S.↗