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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 NTRS1994

Thermoviscoplastic analysis of fibrous periodic composites by the use of triangular subvolumes

The non-linear viscoplastic behavior of fibrous periodic composites is analyzed by discretizing the unit cell into triangular subvolumes. A set of these subvolumes can be configured by the analyst to construct a representation for the unit cell of a periodic composite. In each step of the loading history the total strain increment at any point is governed by an integral equation which applies to the entire composite. A Fourier series approximation allows the incremental stresses and strains to be determined within a unit cell of the periodic lattice. The non-linearity arising from the viscoplastic behavior of the constituent materials comprising the composite is treated as a fictitious body force in the governing integral equation. Specific numerical examples showing the stress distributions in the unit cell of a fibrous tungsten/copper metal-matrix composite under viscoplastic loading conditions are given. The stress distribution resulting in the unit cell when the composite material is subjected to an overall transverse stress loading history perpendicular to the fibers is found to be highly heterogeneous, and typical homogenization techniques based on treating the stress and strain distributions within the constituent phases as homogeneous result in large errors under inelastic loading conditions.

Walker, Kevin P.↗
NASA NTRS1998

MAP stability, design, and analysis

The Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP) is a follow-on to the Differential Microwave Radiometer (DMR) instrument on the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) spacecraft. The design and analysis of the MAP attitude control system (ACS) have been refined since work previously reported. The full spacecraft and instrument flexible model was developed in NASTRAN, and the resulting flexible modes were plotted and reduced with the Modal Significance Analysis Package (MSAP). The reduced-order model was used to perform the linear stability analysis for each control mode, the results of which are presented in this paper. Although MAP is going to a relatively disturbance-free Lissajous orbit around the Earth-Sun L(2) Lagrange point, a detailed disturbance-torque analysis is required because there are only a small number of opportunities for momentum unloading each year. Environmental torques, including solar pressure at L(2), aerodynamic and gravity gradient during phasing-loop orbits, were calculated and simulated. Thruster plume impingement torques that could affect the performance of the thruster modes were estimated and simulated, and a simple model of fuel slosh was derived to model its effect on the motion of the spacecraft. In addition, a thruster mode linear impulse controller was developed to meet the accuracy requirements of the phasing loop burns. A dynamic attitude error limiter was added to improve the performance of the ACS during large attitude slews. The result of this analysis is a stable ACS subsystem that meets all of the mission's requirements.

Ericsson-Jackson, A. J.↗
NASA NTRS1998

MAP Stability, Design and Analysis

The Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP) is a follow-on to the Differential Microwave Radiometer (DMR) instrument on the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) spacecraft. The design and analysis of the MAP attitude control system (ACS) have been refined since work previously reported. The full spacecraft and instrument flexible model was developed in NASTRAN, and the resulting flexible modes were plotted and reduced with the Modal Significance Analysis Package (MSAP). The reduced-order model was used to perform the linear stability analysis for each control mode, the results of which are presented in this paper. Although MAP is going to a relatively disturbance-free Lissajous orbit around the Earth-Sun L2 Lagrange point, a detailed disturbance-torque analysis is required because there are only a small number of opportunities for momentum unloading each year. Environmental torques, including solar pressure at L2, and aerodynamic and gravity gradient during phasing-loop orbits, were calculated and simulated. A simple model of fuel slosh was derived to model its effect on the motion of the spacecraft. In addition, a thruster mode linear impulse controller was developed to meet the accuracy requirements of the phasing loop burns. A dynamic attitude error limiter was added to improve the performance of the ACS during large attitude slews. The result of this analysis is a stable ACS subsystem that meets all of the mission's requirements.

Ericsson -Jackson, A.J.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Closed Loop Software Control of the MIDEX Power System

The Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP) is a follow-on to the Differential Microwave Radiometer (DMR) instrument on the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) spacecraft. The design and analysis of the MAP attitude control system (ACS) have been refined since work previously reported. The full spacecraft and instrument flexible model was developed in NASTRAN, and the resulting flexible modes were plotted and reduced with the Modal Significance Analysis Package (MSAP). The reduced-order model was used to perform the linear stability analysis for each control mode, the results of which are presented in this paper. Although MAP is going to a relatively disturbance-free Lissajous orbit around the Earth-Sun L2 Lagrange point, a detailed disturbance-torque analysis is required because there are only a small number of opportunities for momentum unloading each year. Environmental torques, including solar pressure at L2, and aerodynamic and gravity gradient during phasing-loop orbits, were calculated and simulated. A simple model of fuel slosh was derived to model its effect on the motion of the spacecraft. In addition, a thruster mode linear impulse controller was developed to meet the accuracy requirements of the phasing loop burns. A dynamic attitude error limiter was added to improve the performance of the ACS during large attitude slews. The result of this analysis is a stable ACS subsystem that meets all of the mission's requirements.

Castell, Karen↗
NASA NTRS1998

Recovery of 29 Second Oscillations in Hubble Space Telescope Eclipse Observations of the Cataclysmic Variable UX Ursae Majoris

Low-amplitude (approximately 0.5%) 29 s oscillations have been detected in Hubble Space Telescope Faint Object Spectrograph eclipse observations of the nova-like cataclysmic variable UX UMa. These are the same dwarf nova-type oscillations that were originally discovered in this system in 1972. The 29 s oscillations are seen in one pair of eclipse sequences obtained with the FOS/PRISM in 1994 November but not in a similar pair obtained with the FOS/GI60L grating in August of the same year. The oscillations in the PRISM data are sinusoidal to within the small observational errors and undergo an approximately - 360' phase shift during eclipses (i.e., one cycle is lost). The amplitudes are highest at pre-eclipse orbital phases and exhibit a rather gradual eclipse whose shape is roughly similar to, although perhaps slightly narrower than, LTX UMa's overall light curve in the PRISM bandpass (2000-8000 A). Spectra of the oscillations have been constructed from pre-, mid, and post-eclipse data segments of the November observations. The spectra obtained from the out-of-eclipse segments are extremely blue, and only lower limits can be placed on the temperature of the source that dominates the modulated flux at these orbital phases. Lower limits derived from blackbody (stellar atmosphere) model fits to these data are >or equal to 95,000 K (> or equal to 85,000 K); the corresponding upper limits on the projected area of this source are all less than 2% of the white dwarf (WD) surface area. By contrast, oscillation spectra derived from mid- eclipse data segments are much redder. Fits to these spectra yield temperature estimates in the range 20,000 K approximately greater T and T approximately less than 30,000 K for both blackbody and stellar atmosphere models and corresponding projected areas of a few percent of the WD surface area. These estimates are subject to revision if the modulated emission is optically thin. We suggest that the ultimate source of the oscillations is a hot, compact region near disk center, but that a significant fraction of the observed, modulated flux is due to reprocessing of the light emitted by this source in the accretion disk atmosphere. The compact source is occulted at orbital phases near mid-eclipse, leaving only part of the more extended reprocessing region(s) to produce the weak oscillations that persist even at conjunction. The highly sinusoidal oscillation pulse shape does not permit the identification of the compact comonent in this model with emission produced by a rotating disturbance in the inner disk or in a classical, equatorial boundary layer. Instead, this component could arise in a bright spot on the surface of the WD, possibly associated with a magnetic pole. However, a standard intermediate polar model can also be ruled out since UX UMa's oscillation period has been seen to change on timescales much shorter than the minimum timescale required to spin up the WD by accretion torques. A model invoking magnetically controlled accretion onto differentially rotating WD surface layers may be viable, but needs more theoretical work.

Knigge, Christian↗
NASA NTRS2002

Experimental Analysis of Reduced-Sized Coplanar Waveguide Transmission Lines

An experimental investigation of the use of capacitive loading of coplanar waveguides to reduce their line length and, thus the size, of monolithic microwave integrated circuits is presented. The reduced sized coplanar waveguides are compared to unloaded transmission lines and to lumped element transmission line segments. The phase bandwidth, defined by 2 percent error in S(sub 21), and the return loss bandwidth, defined by a return loss greater than 15 dB, of coplanar waveguides reduced from 0 to 90 percent are compared, and the insertion loss as a function of the size reduction is presented.

Ponchak, George E.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Experimental Progress and Results of a Visible Nulling Coronagraph

The crux of visible exoplanet detection is overcoming significant star-planet contrast ratios on the order of 10(exp -7) to 10(exp -10)-at very small angular separations. We are developing an interferometric nulling coronagraph designed to achieve a 10(exp -6) contrast ratio at a working science bandpass of 20% visible light. Achieving large, broadband suppression requires a pseudo-achromatic phase flip, while maintaining a strict error budget. Recent results from our nulling interferometer testbed yield contrast ratios at the 1.05x10(exp -6) level, with a 15% visible bandpass. This result is at 65% of our final bandpass requirement, although limitations of our current configuration make major hardware changes essential to broadening the bandpass. We make the argument that broadening the bandpass should not necessarily adversely affect the null depth until beyond the 20% visible light level. Using the same setup we are able to reach monochromatic null depths of 1.11x10(exp -7) (?= 638 nm)averaged over three seconds. This paper will describe our experimental approach for achieving deep broadband nulls, as well as error considerations and limitations, and the most recent results for our nulling coronagraph testbed.

coronagraph↗
NASA NTRS2011

The Celestial Reference Frame at X/Ka-band (8.4/32 GHz)

A celestial reference frame at X/Ka-band (8.4/32 GHz) has been constructed using fifty-one 24-hour sessions with the Deep Space Network. We report on observations which have detected 436 sources covering the full 24 hours of right ascension and declinations down to -45 deg. Comparison of this X/Ka-band frame to the S/X-band (2.3/8.4 GHz) ICRF2 shows wRMS agreement of 200 micro-arcsec in a cos delta and 290 micro-arcsec in delta. There is evidence for zonal errors at the 100 micro-arcsec level. Known errors include limited SNR, lack of phase calibration, troposphere mismodelling, and limited southern geometry. The motivations for extending the ICRF to frequencies above 8 GHz are to access more compact source morphology for improved frame stability, to provide calibrators for phase referencing, and to support spacecraft navigation at Ka-band.

reference systems catalog↗
NASA NTRS2015

Neon and Helium in the Surface of Stardust Cell C2028

Previous studies of light noble gases in Stardust aerogel samples detected a variety of isotopically non-terrestrial He and Ne compositions. However, with one exception, in none of these samples was there visible evidence for the presence of particles that could have hosted the gases. The exception is materials keystoned from track 41, cell C2044, which contained observable fragments of the impacting Wild 2 comet coma grain. Here we report noble gas data from a second aerogel sample in which grains are observed, cut from the surface of a cell (C2028) riddled with tiny tracks and particles that are thought to be secondary in origin, ejected toward the cell when a parent grain collided with the spacecraft structure and fragmented. Interestingly, measured 20Ne/22Ne ratios in the track 41 and C2028 samples are similar, and within error of the meteoritic "Q-phase" Ne composition.

Palma, R. L.↗
NASA NTRS2010

The Celestial Reference Frame at X/Ka-band (8.4/32 GHz)

A celestial reference frame at X/Kaband (8.4/32 GHz) has been constructed using fiftyone 24-hour sessions with the Deep Space Network. We report on observations which have detected 436 sources covering the full 24 hours of right ascension and declinations down to -45 deg. Comparison of this X/Ka-band frame to the S/X-band (2.3/8.4 GHz) ICRF2 shows wRMS agreement of 200 micro-arcsec ( mu as) in alpha cos delta and 290 mu as in delta. There is evidence for zonal errors at the 100 mu as level. Known errors include limited SNR, lack of phase calibration, troposphere mismodelling, and limited southern geometry. The motivations for extending the ICRF to frequencies above 8 GHz are to access more compact source morphology for improved frame stability, to provide calibrators for phase referencing, and to support spacecraft navigation at Ka-band.

interferometry↗
NASA NTRS2004

Science camera calibration for extreme adaptive optics

The nascent field of planet detection has yielded a host of extra-solar planet detections. To date, these detections have been the result of indirect techniques: the planet is inferred by precisely measuring its effect on the host star. Direct observation of extra-solar planets remains a challenging yet compelling goal. In this vein, the Center for Adaptive Optics has proposed a ground-based, high-actuator density extreme A0 system (XAOPI), for a large (~10 m) telescope whose ultimate goal is to directly evidence a specific class of these objects: young and massive planets. Detailed system wave-front error budgets suggest that this system is a feasible, if not an ambitious, proposition. One key element in this error budget is the calibration and maintenance of the science camera wave front with respect to the wave-front sensor which currently as an allowable contribution of ~ 5 nanometers rms. This talk first summarizes the current status of calibration on existing ground-based A0 systems, the magnitude of this effect in the system error budget and current techniques for mitigation. Subsequently, we will explore the nature of this calibration error term, it's source in the non-commonality between the science camera and wave front sensor, and the effect of the temporal evolution of non-commonality. Finally, we will describe preliminary plans for sensing and controlling this error term. The sensing techniques include phase retrieval, phase contrast and external metrology. To conclude, a calibration scenario that meets the stringent requirement for XAOPI will be discussed.

MacIntosh, Bruce↗
NASA NTRS1993

Fourier analysis of numerical algorithms for the Maxwell equations

The Fourier method is used to analyze the dispersive, dissipative, and isotropy errors of various spatial and time discretizations applied to the Maxwell equations on multi-dimensional grids. Both Cartesian grids and non-Cartesian grids based on hexagons and tetradecahedra are studied and compared. The numerical errors are quantitatively determined in terms of phase speed, wave number, propagation direction, gridspacings, and CFL number. The study shows that centered schemes are more efficient than upwind schemes. The non-Cartesian grids yield superior isotropy and higher accuracy than the Cartesian ones. For the centered schemes, the staggered grids produce less errors than the unstaggered ones. A new unstaggered scheme which has all the best properties is introduced. The study also demonstrates that a proper choice of time discretization can reduce the overall numerical errors due to the spatial discretization.

Liu, Yen↗
NASA NTRS1992

Mitigation of multipath in DGPS ground reference stations

Multipath represents one of the most serious threats to accuracy in Differential GPS (DGPS). The theoretical foundations of multipath are presented and several multipath mitigation techniques are reviewed. Special emphasis is placed on signal diffraction methods. Reflections enter peaks and nulls in the distorted antenna pattern in a random manner. This, coupled with the oscillations in relative phase (with respect to the direct signal), results in a multipath error signature which is noise-like. Since it is noise-like, it may be significantly reduced by averaging the code phase measurements against the more stable carrier-phase measurements. Exploitation of this effect to reduce multipath error represents a significant increase in accuracy for real time DGPS. Experiments have been performed which verify these conclusions.

Braasch, Michael S.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Relative tracking of multiple spacecraft by interferometry

An analysis is conducted of earth-based radiometric tracking of one spacecraft relative to an angularly nearby second spacecraft. Two cases are studied: relative positioning between a lander and a rover on the surface of Mars and relative tracking between a Mars lander and a Mars orbiter. All spacecraft signals are simultaneously received in the same beamwidth of an earth tracking antenna. Differential interferometric measurement errors are predicted. Errors which scale with angular separation between sources and errors which scale with temporal separation between measurement epochs are reduced virtually to zero. System thermal noise and systematic phase shifts introduced by receiver electronics typically dominate the error budget. Solar plasma delays become dominant for signal paths which pass close to the sun. Precise line-of-sight range measurements, differenced between stations, are also considered. Meter-level accuracy is obtained for lander/rover relative position by combining interferometric and precise range measurements. Either data type alone, for geometries where earth is not near zero declination as seen from Mars and Mars is not near zero declination as seen from earth, can provide accuracy at the 10-100-m level.

Border, James S.↗
NASA NTRS1973

Study of effects of uncertainties on comet and asteroid encounter and contact guidance requirements. Part 1: Guidance and navigation studies

A guidance algorithm that provides precise rendezvous in the deterministic case while requiring only relative state information is developed. A navigation scheme employing only onboard relative measurements is built around a Kalman filter set in measurement coordinates. The overall guidance and navigation procedure is evaluated in the face of measurement errors by a detailed numerical simulation. Results indicate that onboard guidance and navigation for the terminal phase of rendezvous is possible with reasonable limits on measurement errors.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1973

Solar electric propulsion for terminal flight to rendezvous with comets and asteroids

A guidance algorithm that provides precise rendezvous in the deterministic case while requiring only relative state information is developed. A navigation scheme employing only onboard relative measurements is built around a Kalman filter set in measurement coordinates. The overall guidance and navigation procedure is evaluated in the face of measurement errors by a detailed numerical simulation. Results indicate that onboard guidance and navigation for the terminal phase of rendezvous is possible with reasonable limits on measurement errors.

Bennett, A.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Performance of the Center-Of-Curvature Optical Assembly During Cryogenic Testing of the James Webb Space Telescope

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) primary mirror (PM) is 6.6 meters in diameter and consists of 18 hexagonal segments, each 1.5 meters point-to-point. Each segment has a 6 degree-of-freedom hexapod actuation system and a radius-of-curvature (ROC) actuation system. The full telescope was tested at its cryogenic operating temperature at Johnson Space Center (JSC) in 2017. This testing included center-of-curvature measurements of the PM wavefront error using the Center-of-Curvature Optical Assembly (COCOA), along with the Absolute Distance Meter Assembly (ADMA). The COCOA included an interferometer, a reflective null, an interferometer-null calibration system, coarse and fine alignment systems, and two displacement measuring interferometer systems. A multiple-wavelength interferometer was used to enable alignment and phasing of the PM segments. By combining measurements at two laser wavelengths, synthetic wavelengths up to 15 millimeters could be achieved, allowing mirror segments with millimeter-level piston errors to be phased to the nanometer level. The ADMA was used to measure and set the spacing between the PM and the focus of the COCOA null (i.e., the PM center-of-curvature) for determination of the ROC. This paper describes the COCOA, the PM test setup, the testing performed, the test results, and the performance of the COCOA in aligning & phasing the PM segments and measuring the final PM wavefront error.

JWST↗