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NASA NTRS2018

Application of Machine-Learning Algorithms for On-Board Asteroid Shape Model Determination

The Application of Machine-learning Algorithms for On-board Asteroid Shape Model Determination project will develop an innovative system for spacecraft navigation to expand the capability of small spacecraft to meet the critical challenges associated with small-body exploration. Such challenges include accurate navigation in a microgravity environment and precision targeting of particular locations on an asteroid surface for sample collection. This on-board system will cut the computational "umbilical" back to Earth-currently necessary for the generation of a global shape model that requires thousands of images with sufficient resolution and adequate variation of incidence and emission angles, processed manually by a team of experts on Earth for several months. Small satellites have limited bandwidth and are unable to downlink the data volume required for this processing, restricting their ability to perform deep-space asteroid exploration.

Machine learning algorithms↗

NASA NTRS2018

Polar Volatiles Exploration in Peary Crater Enabled by NASA's Kilopower Project

For more than 50 years, scientists have discussed the possibility of the existence of water ice and other frozen volatiles at the lunar poles [1]. However, it was not until the 1990s when the polar orbiting spacecraft Clementine and Lunar Prospector collected data supporting these hypotheses [2]. Subsequent missions, including the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission [3], and the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) mission [4], provided further evidence that supports the existence of water ice deposits at the lunar poles. During NASA's Constellation Program, several areas at both lunar poles polar were included in 50 Regions of Interest (ROI) for intensive study by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) [5]. These polar ROI focused on peaks and craters rims that received high amounts of solar illumination, assuming initial missions back to the lunar surface would utilize solar arrays to generate electricity. Recently, the successful demonstration of NASA's Kilopower Project at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Nevada National Security Site makes it possible to consider lunar polar missions at locations other than highly illuminated regions. The Kilopower Project was initiated in 2015 to demonstrate subsystem-level technology readiness of a small space fission power system [6]. This abstract describes the science objectives and operations for a mission concept developed at NASA Glenn Research Center's COMPASS Concurrent Engineering Team for a 1-year exploration of Peary Crater focused on prospecting for lunar polar volatiles.

Gruener, J. E.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

LUNAR REGOLITH:SMALL SCALE ROBOTIC SITE PREPARATION AND GEOTECHNICAL EXPERIMENTSWITH SCOOPS

NASA’s Moon-To-Mars Planetary Autonomous Construction Technology (MMPACT) project seeks to research, develop, and demonstrate lunar surface construction capabilities. Quantification of lunar regolith’s geotechnical properties allows for effective prediction of forces and displacement during excavation and construction and is critical to facilitating regolith sintering capabilities all of which benefit lunar infrastructure plans. Knowledge of shear strength, Mohr-Coulomb cohesion, angle of internal friction, bearing strength, bulk density, etc. is needed. The use of ground-based testing of various lunar simulants with relevant hardware (e.g., robotic arm tools) enables validation of technology choices, tool paths, and lunar surface construction activities. In addition, the use of Taguchi methods will minimize the number of needed experiments to explore critical input parameters.

R. P. Mueller↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Biological Research and Space Health Enabled by Machine Learning to Support Deep Space Missions

A key science goal of the NASA “Moon to Mars” campaign is to understand how biology responds to the Lunar, Martian, and deep space environments in order to advance fundamental knowledge and support human space missions. Through artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), a paradigm shift has begun in space biosciences and engineered astronaut health systems, to enable Earth-independence and mission operations autonomy. We describe current AI/ML methods to support 1) fundamental biology, 2) in situ analytics, 3) high performance computing, 4) automated science, 5) self-driving labs, 6) remote data management, 7) integrated mission biomonitoring, and 8) a Precision Space Health system. AI/ML approaches that can be integrated to support these domains include active learning, explainable AI, adaptive learning, causal inference, knowledge graphs, federated learning, transfer learning, and large language models. Finally, we present results from several current ML projects that are underway in the space biology field to address key challenges of small sample n, high feature count, heterogeneity, and sparse data. These include 1) connecting omics to phenotypic data using an ensemble model to infer causality of rodent liver health disruption, 2) usage of explainable ML to interrogate muscular underpinnings of muscle atrophy, 3) ML models analyzing and determining directed acyclic graphs of human health risk leveraging rodent bone datasets, 4) usage of large pre-trained models connecting biomedical knowledgebases with small spaceflight datasets to understand gene-to-gene interactions, and 5) a suite of benchmarked open science datasets enabling programmers to identify best algorithms to answer space biology questions.

space biology↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

UTM to AAM

This short presentation is intended to provide a a brief overview of the background of the UAS Traffic Management (UTM) concept and the legacy of work performed in the area of human factors as part of the project's research. The introduction of UTM provides the foundation for presenting the progression of the concept from low altitude airspace with small UAS to an environment with larger passenger and cargo carrying vehicles integrating into more complex airspace as part of the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) concept. Related research and testing plans are presented to illustrate the direction of related project efforts as well as the facilities that are available to support the necessary research ahead.

UTM↗

NASA NTRS1991

Effects of vegetation on soil moisture distribution and flux with implications for the global hydrologic cycle

Recent climate modeling experiments have identified the critical need for a better understanding of land surface - atmosphere interactions. An important issue in global climate modeling is to be able to relate land surface and atmospheric processes. In the past this link has been inadequately represented due to the lack of understanding of the interaction between the processes and also due to the large spatial variability of the hydrological and soil properties. A project was initiated at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in FY-90 under the Center's Directorate Discretionary Fund (CDDF) to study small-scale effects of vegetation on the distribution and fluxes of soil moisture. Installation of a large array of instruments was accomplished during that first year (FY-90). During this second year of the project, the instrumentation and data collection systems were improved and data has begun to be taken. Preliminary analysis of the data show that the equipment has been functioning properly. Some of the preliminary results that have recently been analyzed are given.

Macari, Emir Jose↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Leading University Students to the Edge of Space

For over 16 years, the Louisiana Space Grant Consortium (LaSPACE), the NASA Balloon Program Office (BPO), and the NASA Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility (CSBF) have collaborated in a series of high altitude balloon-based programs involving hands-on authentic learning experiences that expose university students and other participants to technical skills, teamwork dynamics, and effective communication methods. Such programs go beyond what is possible to achieve in a normal classroom and help prepare future engineers and scientists for a successful aerospace workforce career. In our collaborative effort, LaSPACE has focused on the program content and student mentoring while NASA BPO and CSBF provide balloon flight support and operations. The entry-level Louisiana Aerospace Catalyst Experiences for Students (LaACES) builds students’ skills in basic electronics, sensor interfacing, real-time programming, mechanical development, and project management. These skills are then applied to the design, development, fabrication, and flight of a small (∼500 gram) balloon payload. Finally, the payloads are flight-tested to an altitude of ∼30 km using a 2 kg latex sounding balloon. The LaACES program includes a set of lectures, activities, and Arduino Mega based electronic kits that are used for skill building and as a core control system for the student payload. The more advanced High Altitude Student Platform (HASP) is designed to carry ∼twelve 3 to 20 kg student payloads to an altitude of about 36 kilometers with flight durations of 10 to 20 hours using a ∼311,500 cubic meter, zero pressure balloon. HASP provides all student payloads with power, downlink telemetry, uplink commanding, and real-time HD video for instrument control and assessment during the flight. While originally developed for university students, these programs have been adapted to projects focused on high school teachers as well as affecting minorities underrepresented in aerospace related science and engineering fields. We are now in the process of adapting the LaACES materials to a pre-engineering curriculum for high school students as well as for widespread access over the internet. During this presentation, we will provide details of both the LaACES and HASP programs, how these programs have engaged participants from all demographic groups, and our current plans for continuing and expanding upon our success.

University↗

NASA NTRS2004

Bioinspired Engineering of Exploration Systems (BEES) - its Impact on Future Missions

This paper describes an overview of our "Bioinspired Engineering of Exploration Systems for Mars" ( "BEES for Mars") project. The BEES approach distills selected biologically inspired strategies utilizing motion cues/optic flow, bioinspired pattern recognition, biological visual and neural control systems, bioinspired sensing and communication techniques, and birds of prey inspired search and track algorithmic systems. Unique capabilities so enabled, provide potential solutions to future autonomous robotic space and planetary mission applications. With the first series of tests performed in September 2003, August 2004 and September 2004, we have demonstrated the BEES technologies at the El Mirage Dry Lakebed site in the Mojave Desert using Delta Wing experimental prototypes. We call these test flyers the "BEES flyer", since we are developing them as dedicated test platform for the newly developed bioinspired sensors, processors and algorithmic strategies. The Delta Wing offers a robust airframe that can sustain high G launches and offers ease of compact stowability and packaging along with scaling to small size and low ReynOld's number performance for a potential Mars deployment. Our approach to developing light weight, low power autonomous flight systems using concepts distilled from biology promises to enable new applications, of dual use to NASA and DoD needs. Small in size (0.5 -5 Kg) BEES Flyers are demonstrating capabilities for autonomous flight and sensor operability in Mars analog conditions. The BEES project team spans JPL, NASA Ames, Australian National University (ANU), Brigham Young University(BYU), DC Berkeiey, Analogic Computers Inc. and other institutions. The highlights from our recent flight demonstrations exhibiting new Mission enabling capabilities are described. Further, this paper describes two classes of potential new missions for Mars exploration: (1) the long range exploration missions, and (2) observation missions, for real time imaging of critical ephemeral phenomena, that can be enabled by use of BEES flyers. For example, such flyers can serve as a powerful black-box for critical descent and landing data and enablers for improved science missions complementing and supplementing the existing assets like landers and rovers by providing valuable exploration and quick extended low-altitude aerial coverage of the sites of interest by imaging them and distributing instruments to them. Imaging done by orbiters allows broad surface coverage at limited spatial resolution. Low altitude air-borne exploration of Mars offers a means for imaging large areas, perhaps up to several hundred kilometers, quickly and efficiently, providing a close-up birds-eye view of the planetary terrain and close-up approach to constrained difficult areas like canyons and craters. A novel approach to low-mass yet highly capable flyers is enabled by small aircraft equipped using sensors and processors and algorithms developed using BEES technology. This project is focused towards showing the direct impact of blending the best of artificial intelligence attributes and bioinspiration to create a leap beyond existing capability for our future Missions.

navigation↗

NASA NTRS2017

An Overview of Materials Structures for Extreme Environments Efforts for 2015 SBIR Phases I and II

Technological innovation is the overall focus of NASA's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. The program invests in the development of innovative concepts and technologies to help NASA's mission directorates address critical research and development needs for Agency projects. This report highlights innovative SBIR 2015 Phase I and II projects that specifically address areas in Materials and Structures for Extreme Environments, one of six core competencies at NASA Glenn Research Center. Each article describes an innovation, defines its technical objective, and highlights NASA applications as well as commercial and industrial applications. Ten technologies are featured: metamaterials-inspired aerospace structures, metallic joining to advanced ceramic composites, multifunctional polyolefin matrix composite structures, integrated reacting fluid dynamics and predictive materials degradation models for propulsion system conditions, lightweight inflatable structural airlock (LISA), copolymer materials for fused deposition modeling 3-D printing of nonstandard plastics, Type II strained layer superlattice materials development for space-based focal plane array applications, hydrogenous polymer-regolith composites for radiation-shielding materials, a ceramic matrix composite environmental barrier coating durability model, and advanced composite truss printing for large solar array structures. This report serves as an opportunity for NASA engineers, researchers, program managers, and other personnel to learn about innovations in this technology area as well as possibilities for collaboration with innovative small businesses that could benefit NASA programs and projects.

integrated reacting fluid dynamics and predictive ↗

NASA NTRS2000

Future Directions in Rotorcraft Technology at Ames Research Center

Members of the NASA and Army rotorcraft research community at Ames Research Center have developed a vision for 'Vertical Flight 2025'. This paper describes the development of that vision and the steps being taken to implement it. In an effort to realize the vision, consistent with both NASA and Army Aviation strategic plans, two specific technology development projects have been identified: (1) one focused on a personal transportation system capable of vertical flight (the 'Roto-Mobile') and (2) the other on small autonomous rotorcraft (which is inclusive of vehicles which range in grams of gross weight for 'MicroRotorcraft' to thousands of kilograms for rotorcraft uninhabited aerial vehicles). The paper provides a status report on these projects as well as a summary of other revolutionary research thrusts being planned and executed at Ames Research Center.

Aiken, Edwin W.↗

NASA NTRS2005

KSC SBIR/STTR 2004 Program Year Report

The Kennedy Space Center Level III SBIR/STTR management staff is under the Technology Transfer Office within the Spaceport Engineering and Technology Directorate. The SBIR and STTR programs provide an opportunity for small high technology companies and research institutions to participate in Government-sponsored research and development (R&D) programs in key technology areas. The SBIR program was established by Congress in 1982 to provide increased opportunities for small businesses to participate in R&D programs, increase employment, and improve U.S. competitiveness. The program's specific objectives are to stimulate U.S. technological innovation, use small businesses to meet Federal research and development needs, increase private sector commercialization of innovations, and foster and encourage participation by socially disadvantaged businesses. Legislation enacted in December 2000 reauthorized the program and strengthened emphasis on pursuing commercial applications of SBIR projects. An SBIR Phase I contract is the opportunity to establish the feasibility and technical merit of a proposed innovation. Selected competitively, the Phase I contract lasts for 6 months and is funded up to $70,000. SBIR Phase II contracts continue the most promising Phase I projects based on scientific! technical merit, expected value to NASA, company capability, and commercial potential. Phase II contracts are usually for a period of 24 months and may not exceed $600,000. NASA usually selects approximately 40 percent of Phase I projects to continue to the Phase II level. Phase III is the process of furthering the development of a product to make it commercially available. The STTR program awards contracts to small business concerns for cooperative R&D with a nonprofit research institution. Research institutions include nonprofit research organizations, Federal laboratories, or universities. The goal of the program established by Congress is to facilitate the transfer of technology developed by a research institution through the entrepreneurship of a small business. The STIR program is smaller in funding than the SBIR program. While the proposal is submitted by the small business concern, at least 30 percent of the funding and work must originate with the research institution. STTR Phase I projects receive up to $100K for a one-year effort, and a Phase II contract receives up to $600K for two years.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS2015

Affordable Development and Demonstration of a Small NTR Engine and Stage: How Small is Big Enough?

The Nuclear Thermal Rocket (NTR) derives its energy from fission of uranium-235 atoms contained within fuel elements that comprise the engine's reactor core. It generates high thrust and has a specific impulse potential of approximately 900 seconds - a 100% increase over today's best chemical rockets. The Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) project, funded by NASA's AES program, includes five key task activities: (1) Recapture, demonstration, and validation of heritage graphite composite (GC) fuel (selected as the "Lead Fuel" option); (2) Engine Conceptual Design; (3) Operating Requirements Definition; (4) Identification of Affordable Options for Ground Testing; and (5) Formulation of an Affordable Development Strategy. During FY'14, a preliminary DDT&E plan and schedule for NTP development was outlined by GRC, DOE and industry that involved significant system-level demonstration projects that included GTD tests at the NNSS, followed by a FTD mission. To reduce cost for the GTD tests and FTD mission, small NTR engines, in either the 7.5 or 16.5 klbf thrust class, were considered. Both engine options used GC fuel and a "common" fuel element (FE) design. The small approximately 7.5 klbf "criticality-limited" engine produces approximately 157 megawatts of thermal power (MWt) and its core is configured with parallel rows of hexagonal-shaped FEs and tie tubes (TTs) with a FE to TT ratio of approximately 1:1. The larger approximately 16.5 klbf Small Nuclear Rocket Engine (SNRE), developed by LANL at the end of the Rover program, produces approximately 367 MWt and has a FE to TT ratio of approximately 2:1. Although both engines use a common 35 inch (approximately 89 cm) long FE, the SNRE's larger diameter core contains approximately 300 more FEs needed to produce an additional 210 MWt of power. To reduce the cost of the FTD mission, a simple "1-burn" lunar flyby mission was considered to reduce the LH2 propellant loading, the stage size and complexity. Use of existing and flight proven liquid rocket and stage hardware (e.g., from the RL10B-2 engine and Delta Cryogenic Second Stage) was also maximized to further aid affordability. This paper examines the pros and cons of using these two small engine options, including their potential to support future human exploration missions to the Moon, near Earth asteroids, and Mars, and recommends a preferred size. It also provides a preliminary assessment of the key activities, development options, and schedule required to affordably build, ground test and fly a small NTR engine and stage within a 10-year timeframe.

Spacecraft design↗

NASA NTRS2019

Design of P-3 Nadir Port

This project details the design and analysis of a structure to replace the interface of the P-3B nadir port with an optimized interface for science installations. A new nadir port plug has been designed to replace the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) plug (Lockheed PN 910169) currently used in Nadir ports 1 and 2 on the NASA P-3B aircraft. The plug consists of a milled frame that can be outfitted with customizable flat plates to meet a broad range of science needs. The frame slides into place using the existing P-3B rail system using a lever and tie-rod assembly. The seal interface will contact the Fuselage skin of the aircraft and consists of a bulb E-seal that is riveted around the perimeter of the frame. The flat plate (20 inches x 31 inches) provides a large profile that can be outfitted based on science mission goals and requirements to attach multiple instruments. This is a significant increase to the aircraft capability. Previously, the OEM plug had to be modified to hold very small plates, windows, or instruments limiting the use of the ports.There were several challenges for this project that included a constrained schedule, lack of historical references, and reverse engineering. The unusually tight schedule for design, manufacture, and install limited potential approaches. In addition, design of a new interface to replace the existing plug, on an aircraft designed in the 1960's by Lockheed for the Navy with little to no documentation, required substantial reverse engineering. In order to accomplish this, a suitable method to determine interface requirements with the aircraft had to be solved. After several iterations, the solution was to implement laser scanning techniques to scan the aircraft and the OEM plug and generate a 3D model to capture the design envelope. The structure is designed to maintain a positive margin of safety when subjected to the inertial, pressure, and aerodynamic load requirements for an external installation on the P-3B, as described in the Wallops' P-3B Design Requirements 548-RQMT-0001 Rev. A . A finite element model is created in FEMAP (Finite Element Modeling And Postprocessing) and is run through NX Nastran solver to analyze the structure. After several iterations of analysis, the structure was enveloped to hold 115 pounds evenly distributed on the plate.

Chance, Monica↗

NASA NTRS1993

The Hubble Space Telescope quasar absorption line key project. I - First observational results, including Lyman-alpha and Lyman-limit systems

Spectra are presented for 37 quasars with small and moderate redshifts; the quasars were observed with the Faint Object Spectrograph of the HST. New higher resolution measurements of the absorption lines in the UV spectra of 11 quasars with emission-line redshifts that lie between 0.3 and 1.0 are reported. Calibrated spectra and continuum fits are shown for each object. A total of 104 extragalactic Ly-alpha systems are identified, nine of which are found at the same redshifts as metal-line systems. The local number density of Ly-alpha systems with rest equivalent widths larger than 0.32 A and without detected metal lines is about 15.1 +/- 4.3 Ly-alpha systems per unit redshift with gamma = 0.30 +/- 0.62 and W* = 0.22 +/- 0.02 A. A total of 10 Lyman-limit systems with an optical depth greater than 0.4 are identified. The paucity of damped Ly-alpha lines at small and moderate redshifts shows that the number density of damped absorption systems decreases with decreasing redshift.

Bahcall, John N.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Lunar Regolith: Small Scale Robotic Site Preparation and Geotechnical Experiments with Scoops

- NASA’s Moon-To-Mars Planetary Autonomous Construction Technology (MMPACT) project seeks to research, develop, and demonstrate lunar surface construction capabilities. - Quantification of lunar regolith’s geotechnical properties allows for effective prediction of forces and displacement during excavation and construction and is critical to facilitating regolith sintering capabilities all of which benefit lunar infrastructure plans. - Knowledge of shear strength, Mohr-Coulomb cohesion, angle of internal friction, bearing strength, bulk density, etc. is needed. - The use of ground-based testing of various lunar simulants with relevant hardware (e.g., robotic arm tools) enables validation of technology choices, tool paths, and lunar surface construction activities. - In addition, the use of Taguchi methods [1] will minimize the number of needed experiments to explore critical input parameters. - The Jet Propulsion Lab is preparing to fly the COLDarm payload on a CLPS lunar mission with a geotechnical measurement scoop

Regolith↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA Small Spacecraft Technology Program

This presentation provides an overview of current and recent past technology demonstration missions, University SmallSat Technology Partnership projects, and technology interests for future years.

Roger C. Hunter↗

NASA NTRS2001

Code Sharing and Collaboration: Experiences from the Scientist's Expert Assistant Project and their Relevance to the Virtual Observatory

In the Virtual Observatory (VO), software tools will perform the functions that have traditionally been performed by physical observatories and their instruments. These tools will not be adjuncts to VO functionality but will make up the very core of the VO. Consequently, the tradition of observatory and system independent tools serving a small user base is not valid for the VO. For the VO to succeed, we must improve software collaboration and code sharing between projects and groups. A significant goal of the Scientist's Expert Assistant (SEA) project has been promoting effective collaboration and code sharing between groups. During the past three years, the SEA project has been developing prototypes for new observation planning software tools and strategies. Initially funded by the Next Generation Space Telescope, parts of the SEA code have since been adopted by the Space Telescope Science Institute. SEA has also supplied code for SOFIA, the SIRTF planning tools, and the JSky Open Source Java library. The potential benefits of sharing code are clear. The recipient gains functionality for considerably less cost. The provider gains additional developers working with their code. If enough users groups adopt a set of common code and tools, defacto standards can emerge (as demonstrated by the success of the FITS standard). Code sharing also raises a number of challenges related to the management of the code. In this talk, we will review our experiences with SEA - both successes and failures - and offer some lessons learned that may promote further successes in collaboration and re-use.

Jones, Jeremy↗

NASA NTRS2001

Code Sharing and Collaboration: Experiences From the Scientist's Expert Assistant Project and Their Relevance to the Virtual Observatory

In the Virtual Observatory (VO), software tools will perform the functions that have traditionally been performed by physical observatories and their instruments. These tools will not be adjuncts to VO functionality but will make up the very core of the VO. Consequently, the tradition of observatory and system independent tools serving a small user base is not valid for the VO. For the VO to succeed, we must improve software collaboration and code sharing between projects and groups. A significant goal of the Scientist's Expert Assistant (SEA) project has been promoting effective collaboration and code sharing among groups. During the past three years, the SEA project has been developing prototypes for new observation planning software tools and strategies. Initially funded by the Next Generation Space Telescope, parts of the SEA code have since been adopted by the Space Telescope Science Institute. SEA has also supplied code for the SIRTF (Space Infrared Telescope Facility) planning tools, and the JSky Open Source Java library. The potential benefits of sharing code are clear. The recipient gains functionality for considerably less cost. The provider gains additional developers working with their code. If enough users groups adopt a set of common code and tools, de facto standards can emerge (as demonstrated by the success of the FITS standard). Code sharing also raises a number of challenges related to the management of the code. In this talk, we will review our experiences with SEA--both successes and failures, and offer some lessons learned that might promote further successes in collaboration and re-use.

Korathkar, Anuradha↗