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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 703 records · Page 39
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1985

A statistical analysis of the Einstein normal galaxy sample. I - Spiral and irregular galaxies

The results of a statistical analysis of 48 spiral and irregular galaxies observed with the Einstein Observatory are reported. It is found that the X-ray luminosity is not directly correlated with the mass of the galaxies, but is strongly correlated with the blue luminosity. This suggests that most X-ray sources, including low-mass binaries, are binary systems belonging to both old disk and young arm Population I components. A real bulge population of X-ray sources exists that can contribute significantly to the X-ray luminosity of early-type spirals. The X-ray emission from a sample of 29 relatively isolated, normal elliptical and S0 galaxies is also studied, and the results are compared to those for the above sample to investigate the origin of the X-ray emission in early-type galaxies and the possible emission mechanisms. The influence of a powerful radio source and the onset of nuclear activity are also examined.

Fabbiano, G.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Phase change water processing for Space Station

The use of a vapor compression distillation subsystem (VCDS) for water recovery on the Space Station is analyzed. The self-contained automated system can process waste water at a rate of 32.6 kg/day and requires only 115 W of electric power. The improvements in the mechanical components of VCDS are studied. The operation of VCDS in the normal mode is examined. The VCDS preprototype is evaluated based on water quality, water production rate, and specific energy. The relation between water production rate and fluids pump speed is investigated; it is concluded that a variable speed fluids pump will optimize water production. Components development and testing currently being conducted are described. The properties and operation of the proposed phase change water processing system for the Space Station, based on vapor compression distillation, are examined.

Zdankiewicz, E. M.↗
NASA NTRS1988

LDR cryogenics

A brief summary from the 1985 Large Deployable Reflector (LDR) Asilomar 2 workshop of the requirements for LDR cryogenic cooling is presented. The heat rates are simply the sum of the individual heat rates from the instruments. Consideration of duty cycle will have a dramatic effect on cooling requirements. There are many possible combinations of cooling techniques for each of the three temperatures zones. It is clear that much further system study is needed to determine what type of cooling system is required (He-2, hybrid or mechanical) and what size and power is required. As the instruments, along with their duty cycles and heat rates, become better defined it will be possible to better determine the optimum cooling systems.

Nast, T.↗
NASA NTRS1991

The upper atmosphere of Uranus

Voyager measurements of the upper atmosphere of Uranus are analyzed and developed. The upper atmosphere of Uranus is predominantly H2, with at most 10 percent He by volume, and the dominant constituent of the exosphere is H. The thermosphere is warm, with an asymptotic isothermal temperature of about 800 K. Atomic hydrogen at this temperature forms an extensive thermal corona and creates gas drag that severely limits the lifetime of small ring particles. The upper atmosphere emits copious amounts of UV radiation from pressures greater than 0.01 microbar. The depth of this emission level imposes a powerful constraint on permissible emission mechanisms. Electron excitation from a thin layer near the exobase appears to violate this constraint. Solar fluorescence is consistent with the observed trend in solar zenith-angle variation of the emissions and is absent from the night side of the planet. On Uranus, it accounts for the observed Lyman beta to H2 bands intensity ratio and an important fraction of the observed intensity (about 55 percent).

Strobel, Darrell F.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Laser power transmission

An overview of previous studies related to laser power transmission is presented. Particular attention is given to the use of solar pumped lasers for space power applications. Three general laser mechanisms are addressed: photodissociation lasing driven by sunlight, photoexcitation lasing driven directly by sunlight, and photoexcitation lasing driven by thermal radiation.

Conway, Edmund J.↗
NASA NTRS1995

High-performance reactionless scan mechanism

A high-performance reactionless scan mirror mechanism was developed for space applications to provide thermal images of the Earth. The design incorporates a unique mechanical means of providing reactionless operation that also minimizes weight, mechanical resonance operation to minimize power, combined use of a single optical encoder to sense coarse and fine angular position, and a new kinematic mount of the mirror. A flex pivot hardware failure and current project status are discussed.

Williams, Ellen I.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Tidal Energy Dissipation from Topex/Poseidon

In a recent paper ({\it Nature, 405,} 775, 2000) we concluded that 25 to 30\% of the ocean's tidal energy dissipation, or about 1 terawatt, occurs in the deep ocean, with the remaining 2.6 TW in shallow seas. The physical mechanism for deep-ocean dissipation is apparently scattering of the surface tide into internal modes; Munk and Wunsch have suggested that this mechanism may provide half the power needed for mixing the deep-ocean. This paper builds further evidence for $1\pm 0.2$ TW of deep-ocean dissipation. The evidence is extracted from tidal elevations deduced from seven years of Topex/Poseidon satellite altimeter data. The dissipation rate Is formed as a balance between the rate of working by tidal forces and the energy flux divergence. While dynamical assumptions are required to compute fluxes, area integrals of the energy balance are, owing to the tight satellite constraints, remarkably insensitive to these assumptions. A large suite of tidal solutions based on a wide range of dynamical assumptions, on perturbations to bathymetric models, and on simulated elevation data are used to assess this sensitivity. These and Monte Carlo error fields from a generalized inverse model are used to establish error uncertainties.

Ray, Richard D.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Characterization and In-Situ Monitoring of ZnSe Crystal Growth by Seeded PVT for Microgravity Applications

Crystal growth from the vapor phase continues to play a significant role in the production of II-VI semiconductor compounds (ZnO, ZnTe, CdTe, etc.) and SiC. As compared to melt growth methods (where available) the advantages are: (1) lower growth temperature(s); (2) reduction in defect concentration; (3) additional purification; and (4) enhanced crystal perfection. A powerful tool in determining the mechanism of PVT is microgravity. Under normal gravity conditions the transport mechanism is a superposition of diffusive and convective fluxes. Microgravity offers the possibility of studying the transport properties without the influence of convective effects. Research on the crystal growth of ZnSe by PVT (P.I.: Su of NASA/MSFC) will help to clarify the effects of convection on crystal growth. A crystal growth furnace with in-situ and real time optical monitoring capabilities was constructed and used to monitor the vapor composition and growing crystal surface morphology during the PVT growth of ZnSe. Using photoluminescence and SIMS, ex-situ, the incorporation of point defects (Zn vacancy) and impurities was found to be correlated to the gravity vector due to the influence of the convective flow. A summary of the results to date will be presented.

Feth, Shari T.↗
NASA NTRS2002

The NASA Integrated Vehicle Health Management Technology Experiment for X-37

The NASA Integrated Vehicle Health Management (IVHM) Technology Experiment for X-37 was intended to run IVHM software on-board the X-37 spacecraft. The X-37 is intended to be an unpiloted vehicle that would orbit the Earth for up to 21 days before landing on a runway. The objectives of the experiment were to demonstrate the benefits of in-flight IVHM to the operation of a Reusable Launch Vehicle, to advance the Technology Readiness Level of this IVHM technology within a flight environment, and to demonstrate that the IVHM software could operate on the Vehicle Management Computer. The scope of the experiment was to perform real-time fault detection and isolation for X-37's electrical power system and electro-mechanical actuators. The experiment used Livingstone, a software system that performs diagnosis using a qualitative, model-based reasoning approach that searches system-wide interactions to detect and isolate failures. Two of the challenges we faced were to make this research software more efficient so that it would fit within the limited computational resources that were available to us on the X-37 spacecraft, and to modify it so that it satisfied the X-37's software safety requirements. Although the experiment is currently unfunded, the development effort had value in that it resulted in major improvements in Livingstone's efficiency and safety. This paper reviews some of the details of the modeling and integration efforts, and some of the lessons that were learned.

Schwabacher, Mark↗
NASA NTRS2004

Assurance Technology Challenges of Advanced Space Systems

The initiative to explore space and extend a human presence across our solar system to revisit the moon and Mars post enormous technological challenges to the nation's space agency and aerospace industry. Key areas of technology development needs to enable the endeavor include advanced materials, structures and mechanisms; micro/nano sensors and detectors; power generation, storage and management; advanced thermal and cryogenic control; guidance, navigation and control; command and data handling; advanced propulsion; advanced communication; on-board processing; advanced information technology systems; modular and reconfigurable systems; precision formation flying; solar sails; distributed observing systems; space robotics; and etc. Quality assurance concerns such as functional performance, structural integrity, radiation tolerance, health monitoring, diagnosis, maintenance, calibration, and initialization can affect the performance of systems and subsystems. It is thus imperative to employ innovative nondestructive evaluation methodologies to ensure quality and integrity of advanced space systems. Advancements in integrated multi-functional sensor systems, autonomous inspection approaches, distributed embedded sensors, roaming inspectors, and shape adaptive sensors are sought. Concepts in computational models for signal processing and data interpretation to establish quantitative characterization and event determination are also of interest. Prospective evaluation technologies include ultrasonics, laser ultrasonics, optics and fiber optics, shearography, video optics and metrology, thermography, electromagnetics, acoustic emission, x-ray, data management, biomimetics, and nano-scale sensing approaches for structural health monitoring.

Chern, E. James↗
NASA NTRS2004

The Challenges Facing Future Conversion Systems for Space Power Applications

High-efficiency, Stirling power convertors have been proposed for space power applications, ranging from relatively low-power radioisotope generators such as the 110 watt SRG110 to the higher-power 100 kWe SP-100. The NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) has been involved in the supporting technology and development for both of these systems. Although the power levels are quite different, many of the challenges faced by both of these dynamic power conversion systems similar. A major challenge is fund in demonstration of the capability for high reliability and long-life of the power system when the wear mechanisms have been eliminated. A review is presented of the past efforts, including the status of current flight development efforts, and a projection of what the future might bring.

Schreiber, Jeffrey↗
NASA NTRS2006

Experimental Results of Thin-Film Photovoltaic Cells in a Low Density LEO Plasma Environment: Ground Tests

Plasma ground testing results, conducted at the Glenn Research Center (GRC) National Plasma Interaction (N-PI) Facility, are presented for a number of thin-film photovoltaic cells. The cells represent a mix of promising new technologies identified by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) under the CYGNUS Space Science Technology Experiment (SSTE-4) Program. The current ground tests are aimed at characterizing the performance and survivability of thin film technologies in the harsh low earth orbital space environment where they will be flown. Measurements of parasitic current loss, charging/dielectric breakdown of cover-slide coatings and arcing threshold tests are performed for each individual cell. These measurements are followed by a series of experiments designed to test for catastrophic arc failure mechanisms. A special type of power supply, called a solar array simulator (SAS) with adjustable voltage and current limits on the supply s output, is employed to bias two adjacent cells at a predetermined voltage and current. The bias voltage is incrementally ramped up until a sustained arc results. Sustained arcs are precursors to catastrophic arc failure where the arc current rises to a maximum value for long timescales often ranging between 30 to 100 sec times. Normal arcs by comparison, are short lived events with a timescale between 10 to 30 sec. Sustained arcs lead to pyrolization with extreme cell damage and have been shown to cause the loss of entire array strings in solar arrays. The collected data will be used to evaluate the suitability of thin-film photovoltaic technologies for future space operations.

Galofaro, Joel T.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Turbofan engine with a low pressure turbine driven supercharger in a bypass duct operated by a fuel rich combustor and an afterburner

A multiple bypass turbofan engine includes a core Brayton Cycle gas generator with a fuel rich burning combustor and is provided with a variable supercharged bypass duct around the gas generator with a supercharging means in the supercharged bypass duct powered by a turbine not mechanically connected to the gas generator. The engine further includes a low pressure turbine driven forward fan upstream and forward of an aft fan and drivingly connected to a low pressure turbine by a low pressure shaft, the low pressure turbine being aft of and in serial flow communication with the core gas generator. A fan bypass duct is disposed radially outward of the core engine assembly and has first and second inlets disposed between the forward and aft fans. An inlet duct having an annular duct wall is disposed radially inward of the bypass duct and connects the second inlet to the bypass duct. A supercharger means for compressing air is drivingly connected to the low pressure turbine and is disposed in the inlet duct. A secondary combustor or augmentor is disposed in an exhaust duct downstream of and in fluid flow communication with the bypass duct and the gas generator.

Bartos, James W.↗
NASA NTRS2008

Detection and Characterization of Boundary-Layer Transition in Flight at Supersonic Conditions Using Infrared Thermography

Infrared thermography is a powerful tool for investigating fluid mechanics on flight vehicles. (Can be used to visualize and characterize transition, shock impingement, separation etc.). Updated onboard F-15 based system was used to visualize supersonic boundary layer transition test article. (Tollmien-Schlichting and cross-flow dominant flow fields). Digital Recording improves image quality and analysis capability. (Allows accurate quantitative (temperature) measurements, Greater enhancement through image processing allows analysis of smaller scale phenomena).

Banks, Daniel W.↗
NASA NTRS2007

NASA Enterprise Visual Analysis

NASA Enterprise Visual Analysis (NEVA) is a computer program undergoing development as a successor to Launch Services Analysis Tool (LSAT), formerly known as Payload Carrier Analysis Tool (PCAT). NEVA facilitates analyses of proposed configurations of payloads and packing fixtures (e.g. pallets) in a space shuttle payload bay for transport to the International Space Station. NEVA reduces the need to use physical models, mockups, and full-scale ground support equipment in performing such analyses. Using NEVA, one can take account of such diverse considerations as those of weight distribution, geometry, collision avoidance, power requirements, thermal loads, and mechanical loads.

Lopez-Tellado, Maria↗
NASA NTRS2011

Towards Prognostics of Electrolytic Capacitors

A remaining useful life prediction algorithm and degradation model for electrolytic capacitors is presented. Electrolytic capacitors are used in several applications ranging from power supplies on critical avionics equipment to power drivers for electro-mechanical actuators. These devices are known for their low reliability and given their criticality in electronics subsystems they are a good candidate for component level prognostics and health management research. Prognostics provides a way to assess remaining useful life of a capacitor based on its current state of health and its anticipated future usage and operational conditions. In particular, experimental results of an accelerated aging test under electrical stresses are presented. The capacitors used in this test form the basis for a remaining life prediction algorithm where a model of the degradation process is suggested. This preliminary remaining life prediction algorithm serves as a demonstration of how prognostics methodologies could be used for electrolytic capacitors.

Celaya, Jose R.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Towards A Model-Based Prognostics Methodology for Electrolytic Capacitors: A Case Study Based on Electrical Overstress Accelerated Aging

A remaining useful life prediction methodology for electrolytic capacitors is presented. This methodology is based on the Kalman filter framework and an empirical degradation model. Electrolytic capacitors are used in several applications ranging from power supplies on critical avionics equipment to power drivers for electro-mechanical actuators. These devices are known for their comparatively low reliability and given their criticality in electronics subsystems they are a good candidate for component level prognostics and health management. Prognostics provides a way to assess remaining useful life of a capacitor based on its current state of health and its anticipated future usage and operational conditions. We present here also, experimental results of an accelerated aging test under electrical stresses. The data obtained in this test form the basis for a remaining life prediction algorithm where a model of the degradation process is suggested. This preliminary remaining life prediction algorithm serves as a demonstration of how prognostics methodologies could be used for electrolytic capacitors. In addition, the use degradation progression data from accelerated aging, provides an avenue for validation of applications of the Kalman filter based prognostics methods typically used for remaining useful life predictions in other applications.

Celaya, Jose R.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Physics Based Electrolytic Capacitor Degradation Models for Prognostic Studies under Thermal Overstress

Electrolytic capacitors are used in several applications ranging from power supplies on safety critical avionics equipment to power drivers for electro-mechanical actuators. This makes them good candidates for prognostics and health management research. Prognostics provides a way to assess remaining useful life of components or systems based on their current state of health and their anticipated future use and operational conditions. Past experiences show that capacitors tend to degrade and fail faster under high electrical and thermal stress conditions that they are often subjected to during operations. In this work, we study the effects of accelerated aging due to thermal stress on different sets of capacitors under different conditions. Our focus is on deriving first principles degradation models for thermal stress conditions. Data collected from simultaneous experiments are used to validate the desired models. Our overall goal is to derive accurate models of capacitor degradation, and use them to predict performance changes in DC-DC converters.

Kulkarni, Chetan S.↗