Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Handbook”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 685 records · Page 38

Handbook of X-Ray Astronomy

X-ray astronomy was born in the aftermath of World War II as military rockets were repurposed to lift radiation detectors above the atmosphere for a few minutes at a time. These early flights detected and studied X-ray emission from the Solar corona. The first sources beyond the Solar System were detected during a rocket flight in 1962 by a team headed by Riccardo Giaccom at American Science and Engineering, a company founded by physicists from MIT. The rocket used Geiger counters with a system designed to reduce non-X-ray backgrounds and collimators limiting the region of sky seen by the counters. As the rocket spun, the field of view (FOV) happened to pass over what was later found to be the brightest non-Solar X-ray source; later designated See X-1. It also detected a uniform background glow which could not be resolved into individual sources. A follow-up campaign using X-ray detectors with better spatial resolution and optical telescopes identified See X-1 as an interacting binary with a compact (neutron star) primary. This success led to further suborbital rocket flights by a number of groups. More X-ray binaries were discovered, as well as X-ray emission from supernova remnants, the radio galaxies M87 and Cygnus-A, and the Coma cluster. Detectors were improved and Geiger counters were replaced by proportional counters, which provided information about energy spectra of the sources. A constant challenge was determining precise positions of sources as only collimators were available.

Arnaud, Keith A.↗

High Energy/LET Radiation EEE Parts Certification Handbook

Certifying electronic components is a very involved process. It includes pre-coordination with the radiation test facility for time, schedule and cost, as well as intimate work with designers to develop test procedures and hardware. It also involves work with radiation engineers to understand the effects of the radiation field on the test article/setup as well as the analysis and production of a test report. The technical content of traditional ionizing radiation testing protocol is in wide use and generally follows established standards (ref. Appendix C). This document is not intended to cover all these areas but to cover the methodology of using Variable Depth Bragg Peak (VDBP) to accomplish the goal of characterizing an electronic component. The Variable Depth Bragg Peak (VDBP) test method is primarily used for deep space applications of electronics. However, it can be used on any part for any radiation environment, especially those parts where the sensitive volume cannot be reached by the radiation beam. An example of this problem would be issues that arise in de-lidding of parts or in parts with flip-chip designs, etc. The VDBP method is ideally suited to test modern avionics designs which increasingly incorporate commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) parts and units. Johnson Space Center (JSC) developed software provides assistance to users in developing the radiation characterization data from the raw test data.

Reddell, Brandon↗

The Development of NASA's Fault Management Handbook

Goal: (1) Ameliorate schedule, cost and predictability challenges that often are faced when testing and operating FM systems (2) Improve reliability and safety of NASA s flight and ground systems (3) Coalesce the FM field. Approach: (1) Identify qualified team of FM practitioners and systems engineers (2) Evaluate findings and recommendations from 2008 FM Workshop (3) Initial emphasis on foundational issues; e.g. establish common terminology (1) Capitalize on existing material

Fault Management↗

2012 NASA Cost Estimating Handbook Highlights

The major goal is to ensure that appropriate policy is adopted and that best practices are being developed, communicated, and used across the Agency. -- Accomplished by engaging the NASA Cost Estimating Community representatives in the update. Scheduled to be complete by the end of FY 2012. Document has been through 3 detailed reviews across NASA.

cost estimation↗

NGSLR Safety Handbook

NASA's Next Generation Satellite Laser Ranging (NGSLR) station is the prototype for NASA's Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) systems which will be deployed around the world in the coming decade. The NGSLR system will be an autonomous, photon-counting SLR station with an expected absolute range accuracy of better than one centimeter and a normal point (time-averaged) range precision better than one millimeter. The system provides continuous (weather permitting), 24 hour tracking coverage to an existing constellation of approximately two dozen artificial satellites equipped with passive retroreflector arrays, using pulsed, 532 nm, class IV laser systems. Current details on the approved laser systems can be found in the Appendix 1 of this document. This safety plan addresses the potential hazards to emitted laser radiation, which can occur both inside and outside the shelter. Hazards within the shelter are mitigated through posted warning signs, activated warning lights, procedural controls, personal protective equipment (PPE), laser curtains, beam blocking systems, interlock controls, pre-configured laser control settings, and other controls discussed in this document. Since the NGSLR is a satellite tracking system, laser hazards exist outside the shelter to personnel on the shelter roof and to passing aircraft. Potential exposure to personnel outside the system is mitigated through the use of posted warning signs, access control, procedural controls, a stairwell interlock, beam attenuation/blocking devices, and a radar based aircraft detection system.

satellite laser ranging↗

Space Telescope Systems Description Handbook

The objective of the Space Telescope Project is to orbit a high quality optical 2.4-meter telescope system by the Space Shuttle for use by the astronomical community in conjunction with NASA. The scientific objectives of the Space Telescope are to determine the constitution, physical characteristics, and dynamics of celestial bodies; the nature of processes which occur in the extreme physical conditions existing in stellar objects; the history and evolution of the universe; and whether the laws of nature are universal in the space-time continuum. Like ground-based telescopes, the Space Telescope was designed as a general-purpose instrument, capable of utilizing a wide variety of scientific instruments at its focal plane. This multi-purpose characteristic will allow the Space Telescope to be effectively used as a national facility, capable of supporting the astronomical needs for an international user community and hence making contributions to man's needs. By using the Space Shuttle to provide scientific instrument upgrading and subsystems maintenance, the useful and effective operational lifetime of the Space Telescope will be extended to a decade or more.

Carter, R. E.↗

A Meteoroid Handbook for Aerospace Engineers and Managers

At the beginning of the Space Age, spacecraft designers and mission planners were very concerned about meteoroids. They envisioned vehicles being ripped to pieces by streams of fast-moving space rocks, a notion promoted by the science fiction novels and movies of the time. The reality is, of course, different—the meteoroid streams that produce meteor showers are not dense by laypeople’s standards, having spatial densities of just a handful of particles per cubic kilometer, even during meteor outbursts. The ever-present, diffuse, sporadic background, which produces observed meteor rates of only 5 to 8 meteors per hour, makes up 90% of the meteoroid risk to spacecraft that spend at least a year in low Earth orbit (LEO), whereas the visually spectacular but short-lived meteor showers make up the other 10%. Still, meteoroids do pose a significant risk to spacecraft. At Earth, they can travel 12 to 72 km/s. These high speeds cause even small meteoroids to carry enormous kinetic energy, making them capable of doing serious damage to spacecraft. For example, a 1-mm-diameter meteoroid moving at 25 km/s can inflict the same damage as a bullet fired from a 0.357 Magnum pistol. An exterior wire can be severed by a 0.1-mm (100 mm) particle, a spacesuit can be penetrated by a 0.5-mm meteoroid, and an unshielded pressure wall (like the cabin of the Space Shuttle) can be perforated by centimeter-sized particles. Along with mechanical damage, meteoroids can also cause other types of spacecraft anomalies. Meteoroids can transfer their momentum to the spacecraft, which can destroy or damage equipment such as shunt resistors and charge-coupled device (CCD) detectors with a clear view of space. Meteoroid impacts can also generate plasma. The impact vaporizes material, producing a crater and an expanding plasma, which can in turn provide a conductive path for any charge accumulated on the spacecraft. This effect is thought to be responsible for the demise of a satellite in one case: the OLYMPUS communications satellite was sent tumbling out of control during the 1993 Perseid outburst, and a Perseid meteoroid strike has been posited as a possible cause (McDonnell et al. 1993; Caswell et al. 1995). Other researchers have suggested that very fast meteoroids could produce a small electromagnetic pulse capable of disrupting spacecraft function (Close et al. 2010).

Moorhead, A.↗

STI Handbook for Interns

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Ramona Barajas Villar↗