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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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At least 667 records · Page 37
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Exploring the Moon: Training Astronauts for Artemis Missions

For the first time in over 50 years, NASA scientists are training astronauts assigned to lunar missions. The successful Artemis 1 test flight in 2022 set the stage for future human missions to the Moon. The Artemis II mission will send astronauts to fly by the Moon, providing the first opportunity since Apollo for humans to directly observe and document the lunar surface from a few thousand kilometers, including the lunar far side. Artemis III will be the first human mission to land and explore the Moon’s surface near the lunar South Pole. To prepare for Artemis exploration, geology training for the Artemis II crew and detailed training plans for Artemis III and beyond are in full swing. NASA scientists have been working for several years with the Flight Operations Directorate (FOD) at the Johnson Space Center on a progressive geology training program that starts with incoming astronaut classes, offers opportunities to maintain the geology proficiency between flight assignments, and trains the broader engineering-operations-management community in geology and field operations. In the spring of 2023, our team developed an introductory week-long class called Lunar Fundamentals and delivered this content to the Artemis II crew, as well as key NASA Flight Control Team members. The Lunar Fundamentals curriculum combines basic geographic and geologic information about the Moon; includes detailed content on major geologic processes, the lunar environment, lunar volatiles, and sample science; provides historical context of our growing knowledge about the Moon; and introduces new lunar data sets and tools for exploring the lunar surface. With the Lunar Fundamentals foundation, we continue development of the advanced planetary science classroom content for the Artemis III crew, together with field training science objectives and plans. Partnering with our FOD colleagues, we are building an integrated training plan for lunar science, exploration field methods, and operational skills to ensure that the Artemis astronauts exploring the Moon will have the necessary foundation in geology and lunar science to achieve mission success.

Astronauts training↗
NASA NTRS2012

Next Generation Simulation Framework for Robotic and Human Space Missions

The Dartslab team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has a long history of developing physics-based simulations based on the Darts/Dshell simulation framework that have been used to simulate many planetary robotic missions, such as the Cassini spacecraft and the rovers that are currently driving on Mars. Recent collaboration efforts between the Dartslab team at JPL and the Mission Operations Directorate (MOD) at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) have led to significant enhancements to the Dartslab DSENDS (Dynamics Simulator for Entry, Descent and Surface landing) software framework. The new version of DSENDS is now being used for new planetary mission simulations at JPL. JSC is using DSENDS as the foundation for a suite of software known as COMPASS (Core Operations, Mission Planning, and Analysis Spacecraft Simulation) that is the basis for their new human space mission simulations and analysis. In this paper, we will describe the collaborative process with the JPL Dartslab and the JSC MOD team that resulted in the redesign and enhancement of the DSENDS software. We will outline the improvements in DSENDS that simplify creation of new high-fidelity robotic/spacecraft simulations. We will illustrate how DSENDS simulations are assembled and show results from several mission simulations.

Dartslab↗
NASA NTRS1974

Lunar gravity analysis results from Explorer-49

An analysis of the lunar gravity field utilizing 234 days of Explorer-49 mean Keplerian elements is presented. A third-degree and third-order gravity model developed at the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) for mission operations is compared with published models derived from Lunar Orbiter data. Improved predictions of e and Omega using the GSFC model are observed. The results suggest that use of Explorer-49 orbital data in a multisatellite solution would lead to improved global estimates of low-order spherical harmonic coefficients of the lunar gravitational potential.

Bryant, W. C., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Flash evaporator systems test

A flash evaporator heat rejection system representative of that proposed for the space shuttle orbiter underwent extensive system testing at the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) to determine its operational suitability and to establish system performance/operational characteristics for use in the shuttle system. During the tests the evaporator system demonstrated its suitability to meet the shuttle requirements by: (1) efficient operation with 90 to 95% water evaporation efficiency, (2) control of outlet temperature to 40 + or - 2 F for partial heat load operation, (3) stability of control system for rapid changes in Freon inlet temperature, and (4) repeated dormant-to-active device operation without any startup procedures.

Dietz, J. B.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Housing authority of Baltimore City-Public Housing Energy Workshop

The NASA/Baltimore Applications Project operating at the Goddard Space Flight Center was called upon by the Housing Authority of Baltimore City to consider the problems of providing low cost public housing because of increased energy costs and suggest methods for correction and alleviation. The first step chosen was to elicit as many different options for solution as possible through means of a Public Housing Energy Workshop held in Easton, Md. in September 1980. A final role for the Workshop was a listing and qualifying of each alternative as to its suitability and cost. Specific areas were examined by three panels: (1) Systems, (2) Conservation and Motivation, and (3) Fuels. Each panel was made up of persons from differing but appropriate backgrounds; membership was not restricted to housing people alone. A summary of their deliberations is given - it will be used as a stepping stone to further selection and implementation of alternatives.

Golden, T. S.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Doppler wind profile experiment

The data collection phase of a Doppler wind measurement experiment supported by high-resolution Jimsphere/FPS-16 wind data and Windsonde data was carried out at the Kennedy Space Center in February, March and early April of 1985. The Doppler wind measurements were made using a hybrid doppler profiler put in place by the Johnson Space Center and a SOUSY profiler operated by Radian Corporation. Both systems operated at 50 Mhz. Although the doppler profiler systems were located 10 km apart to enable concurrent operation of the systems for data comparison, little concurrent data were obtained due to set-up delays with the SOUSY system, and system problems with the WPL system during the last month of the test. During the test period, special serial Jimsphere soundings were taken at two-hour intervals on six days in March and April in addition to balloon soundings taken in support of the Shuttle launch operations. In addition, there is temperature, moisture and wind information available from the daily morning Radiosonde sounding taken at the Kennedy site. The balloon release point was at the same location as the SOUSY profiler. Vertical resolution of the SOUSY profiler was 150 M to approximately 20 km. The vertical resolution of the WPL profiler was 290 M to 10 km and 870 M to 17 km. Winds determined form the Jimsphere balloon have a vertical resolution of 30 M.

Arnold, J. E.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Compilation and development of K-6 aerospace materials for implementation in NASA spacelink electronic information system

Spacelink is an electronic information service to be operated by the Marshall Space Flight Center. It will provide NASA news and educational resources including software programs that can be accessed by anyone with a computer and modem. Spacelink is currently being installed and will soon begin service. It will provide daily updates of NASA programs, information about NASA educational services, manned space flight, unmanned space flight, aeronautics, NASA itself, lesson plans and activities, and space program spinoffs. Lesson plans and activities were extracted from existing NASA publications on aerospace activities for the elementary school. These materials were arranged into 206 documents which have been entered into the Spacelink program for use in grades K-6.

Blake, Jean A.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Refining, revising, augmenting, compiling and developing computer assisted instruction K-12 aerospace materials for implementation in NASA spacelink electronic information system

The NASA Spacelink is an electronic information service operated by the Marshall Space Flight Center. The Spacelink contains extensive NASA news and educational resources that can be accessed by a computer and modem. Updates and information are provided on: current NASA news; aeronautics; space exploration: before the Shuttle; space exploration: the Shuttle and beyond; NASA installations; NASA educational services; materials for classroom use; and space program spinoffs.

Blake, Jean A.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Space market model development project, phase 2

The results of the prototype operations of the Space Business Information Center are presented. A clearinghouse for space business information for members of the U.S. space industry composed of public, private, and academic sectors was conducted. Behavioral and evaluation statistics were recorded from the clearinghouse and the conclusions from these statistics are presented. Business guidebooks on major markets in space business are discussed. Proprietary research and briefings for firms and agencies in the space industry are also discussed.

Bishop, Peter C.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Toxic substances registry system: Index of material safety data sheets

The Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs) listed in this index reflect product inventories and associated MSDSs which have been submitted to the Toxic Substance Registry database maintained by the Base Operations Contractor at the Kennedy Space Center. The purpose of this index is to provide a means to access information on the hazards associated with the toxic and otherwise hazardous chemicals stored and used at the Kennedy Space Center.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1991

Modeling and Control of the Automated Radiator Inspection Device

Many of the operations performed at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) are dangerous and repetitive tasks which make them ideal candidates for robotic applications. For one specific application, KSC is currently in the process of designing and constructing a robot called the Automated Radiator Inspection Device (ARID), to inspect the radiator panels on the orbiter. The following aspects of the ARID project are discussed: modeling of the ARID; design of control algorithms; and nonlinear based simulation of the ARID. Recommendations to assist KSC personnel in the successful completion of the ARID project are given.

Dawson, Darren↗
NASA NTRS1993

SCATHA mission termination report

The SCATHA (Spacecraft Charging at High Altitudes) satellite was operated from the Consolidated Space Test Center in Sunnyvale, California from February 1979 to May 1991. It was a spin stabilized vehicle in a highly eccentric orbit that collected data on spacecraft charging. The purpose of such data gathering was to predict and/or model the effects of the Earth's magnetic field on synchronous and near synchronous satellites. During the majority of its lifetime, attitude precession maneuvers were done every 10-15 days to maintain solar panel orientation. Maneuver planning was difficult due to the structural characteristics of SCATHA. It is cylindrically shaped and has seven booms ranging in length from 2 to 50 meters. These precession maneuvers induced predictable nutation that damped out after a few days. Eventually fuel began running low due to these frequent maneuvers. Experiments that had required the spin axis be in the orbit plane had already been turned off or had collected all their data. To increase the vehicle lifetime, the spin axis was moved to ecliptic normal. While this stopped the need for frequent attitude maneuvering (only two per year required now), this movement of the spin axis caused nutation that would not damp out for the remainder of the mission. This phase of the mission, with the ecliptic normal orientation, lasted for approximately three years. Although nutation never damped, data gathering was uninterrupted. In late 1990, when SCATHA's transmitter became seriously degraded, the Air Force decided to turn SCATHA off. This would only be done after the satellite was made 'safe'. The most difficult part of making the vehicle safe was quickly purging the fuel. Several plans were considered. The selected plan was to perform a series of 20 degree attitude precession maneuvers (3 days apart to allow for the worst nutation to damp) until the fuel was depleted. Although this sounded simple, the actual execution proved difficult. This was due to a nearly complete lack of available telemetry data, large undamped motion of the long booms, inadequacies in attitude determination software, and an error in the fuel level calculation software. This paper discusses the various proposed termination plans and execution of the selected one. Attitude determination methodologies, nutation from maneuvers, and effects of the flexible booms on the termination mission are presented and analyzed from a satellite analyst point of view.

Stakkestad, Kjell↗
NASA NTRS1992

Issues related to waveform computations for radar altimeter applications

An algorithm has been developed to model the average return power waveforms available from general radar altimeter systems, such as the Multimode Airborne Radar Altimeter (MARA) system operated at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center - Wallops Flight Facility. The algorithm is based on a convolutional model comprised of three functions: the average flat surface impulse response (FSIR), the radar system point target response (PTR), and the height pdf of the specular points on the sea surface. The FSIR is modified to account for the asymmetric antenna beam used by the MARA system, and then certain properties of this modified SIR are exploited to obtain closed-form expressions that can be rapidly evaluated. An FFT convolution routine is used to further speed up the computations. The result is an algorithm that can be used to study the effects of pointing errors in surface measurements.

Newkirk, Michael H.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Toxic substances registry system: Index of material safety data sheets

The Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS's) listed in this index reflect product inventories and associated MSDS's which were submitted to the Toxic Substances Registry database maintained by the Base Operations Contractor at the Kennedy Space Center. The purpose of this index is to provide KSC government, contractor, and tenant organizations a means to access information on the hazards associated with these chemicals. The Toxic Substance Registry Service (TSRS) was established to manage information dealing with the storage and use of toxic and otherwise hazardous materials at KSC. As a part of this service, the BOC Environmental Health Services maintains a central repository of MSDS's which were provided to TSRS. The data on the TSRS are obtained from NASA, contractor, and tenant organizations who use or store hazardous materials at KSC. It is the responsibility of these organizations to conduct inventories, obtain MSDS's, distribute Hazard Communication information to their employees, and otherwise implement compliance with appropriate Federal, State, and NASA Hazard Communication and Worker Right-to-Know regulations and policies.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1994

Ground control system for the midcourse space experiment UTC clock

One goal of the Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX) spacecraft Operations Planning Center is to maintain the onboard satellite UTC clock (UTC(MSX)) to within 1 millisecond of UTC(APL) (the program requirement is 10 msec). The UTC(MSX) clock employs as its time base an APL built 5 MHz quartz oscillator, which is expected to have frequency instabilities (aging rate + drift rate + frequency offset) that will cause the clock to drift approximately two to ten milliseconds per day. The UTC(MSX) clock can be advanced or retarded by the APL MSX satellite ground control center by integer multiples of 1 millisecond. The MSX Operations Planning Center is developing software which records the drift of UTC(MSX) relative to UTC(APL) and which schedules the time of day and magnitude of UTC(MSX) clock updates up to 48 hours in advance. Because of the manner in which MSX spacecraft activities are scheduled, MSX clock updates are planned 24 to 48 hours in advance, and stored in the satellite's computer controller for later execution. Data will be collected on the drift of UTC(MSX) relative to UTC(APL) over a three to five day period. Approximately six times per day, the time offset between UTC(MSX) and UTC(APL) will be measured by APL with a resolution of less than 100 microseconds. From this data a second order analytical model of the clock's drift will be derived. This model will be used to extrapolate the offset of the MSX clock in time from the present to 48 hours in the future. MSX clock updates will be placed on the spacecraft's daily schedule whenever the predicted clock offset exceeds 0.5 milliseconds. The paper includes a discussion of how the empirical model of the MSX clock is derived from satellite telemetry data, as well as the algorithm used to schedule MSX clock updates based on the model.

Dragonette, Richard↗
NASA NTRS1999

[Component and System Level of the FASTRAC Engine]

The primary activities of Lee & Associates during the period 7/20/99 to 12/31/99 as specified in the referenced Purchase Order has been in direct support of the Advanced Space Technology Program OfFice's Core Propulsion Project. An independent review to assess the program readiness to conduct component and system level testing of the FASTRAC Engine and to proceed into Fabrication has been provided. This was accomplished through the identification of program weaknesses and potential failure areas and where applicable recommended solutions were suggested to the Program Office that would mitigate technical and program risk. The approach taken to satisfy the objectives has been for the contractor to provide a team of experts with relevant experience from past programs and a strong background of experience in the fields critical to the success of the program. The team participated in Test Planning, Test Readiness Reviews for system testing at Stennis Space Center, Anomaly Resolution Reviews, an Operations Audit, and data analysis. This approach worked well in satisfying the objectives and providing the Project Office with valuable information in real time and through monthly reports. During the month of December 1999 the primary effort involved the participation in anomaly resolution and the detailed review of the data from the final H3 and H4 test series performed on the FASTRAC engine in the b-2 Horizontal Test Facility at Stennis. The more significant findings and recommendations from this review are presented in this report.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2000

B218 Weld Filler Wire Characterization for Al-Li Alloy 2195

NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Lockheed Martin Space Systems- Michoud Operations, and McCook Metals have developed an aluminum-copper weld filler wire for fusion welding aluminum lithium alloy 2195. The aluminum-copper based weld filler wire has been identified as B218, a McCook Metals designation. B218 is the result of six years of weld filler wire development funded by NASA, Lockheed Martin, and McCook Metals. The filler wire chemistry was developed to produce enhanced 2195 weld and repair weld mechanical properties over the 4043 aluminum-silicon weld filler wire, which is currently used to weld 2195 on the Super Lightweight External Tank for the NASA Space Shuttle Program. An initial characterization was performed consisting of a repair weld evaluation using B218 and 4043 weld filler wires. The testing involved room temperature and cryogenic repair weld tensile testing along with fracture toughness testing. From the testing, B218 weld filler wire produce enhanced repair weld tensile strength, ductility, and fracture properties over 4043. B218 weld filler wire has proved to be a superior weld filler wire for welding aluminum lithium alloy 2195 over 4043.

Bjorkman, Gerry↗