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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 73 records · Page 4
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1988

Visualization techniques for studying high angle of attack separated vortical flows

Flow visualization techniques can provide information on high angle of attack separated flows around slender aircraft configurations that may be unobtainable otherwise. At large angles of attack the flow field is dominated by vortical structures originating on the forebody wing extension, wing and forward control surfaces. Several techniques that are suitable for tracking vortices in subsonic wind tunnels are introduced. A discussion of visualization photographs and quantitative data obtained from visualization studies on vortex trajectory and breakdown position on both static and dynamic wind tunnel models is presented.

Nelson, Robert C.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Satellite technology

An exposure to satellite design and fabrication techniques used in unmanned satellite programs is provided. Spacecraft configurations of the earth resources technology satellite (ERTS) and the improved ITOS operational satellite, which are typical of the construction and layout techniques presently in use, are discussed. Support and service subsystems are described taking the ERTS subsystems as representative. The subsystems explained comprise: power, attitude control, orbit adjustment, wideband telemetry, tracking-telemetry-command, auxiliary processing, electrical integration, and spaceborne recording devices. A number of photographs, renditions and diagrams illustrates the text.

Branchflower, G. A.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Spinoff 2011

Topics include: Bioreactors Drive Advances in Tissue Engineering; Tooling Techniques Enhance Medical Imaging; Ventilator Technologies Sustain Critically Injured Patients; Protein Innovations Advance Drug Treatments, Skin Care; Mass Analyzers Facilitate Research on Addiction; Frameworks Coordinate Scientific Data Management; Cameras Improve Navigation for Pilots, Drivers; Integrated Design Tools Reduce Risk, Cost; Advisory Systems Save Time, Fuel for Airlines; Modeling Programs Increase Aircraft Design Safety; Fly-by-Wire Systems Enable Safer, More Efficient Flight; Modified Fittings Enhance Industrial Safety; Simulation Tools Model Icing for Aircraft Design; Information Systems Coordinate Emergency Management; Imaging Systems Provide Maps for U.S. Soldiers; High-Pressure Systems Suppress Fires in Seconds; Alloy-Enhanced Fans Maintain Fresh Air in Tunnels; Control Algorithms Charge Batteries Faster; Software Programs Derive Measurements from Photographs; Retrofits Convert Gas Vehicles into Hybrids; NASA Missions Inspire Online Video Games; Monitors Track Vital Signs for Fitness and Safety; Thermal Components Boost Performance of HVAC Systems; World Wind Tools Reveal Environmental Change; Analyzers Measure Greenhouse Gasses, Airborne Pollutants; Remediation Technologies Eliminate Contaminants; Receivers Gather Data for Climate, Weather Prediction; Coating Processes Boost Performance of Solar Cells; Analyzers Provide Water Security in Space and on Earth; Catalyst Substrates Remove Contaminants, Produce Fuel; Rocket Engine Innovations Advance Clean Energy; Technologies Render Views of Earth for Virtual Navigation; Content Platforms Meet Data Storage, Retrieval Needs; Tools Ensure Reliability of Critical Software; Electronic Handbooks Simplify Process Management; Software Innovations Speed Scientific Computing; Controller Chips Preserve Microprocessor Function; Nanotube Production Devices Expand Research Capabilities; Custom Machines Advance Composite Manufacturing; Polyimide Foams Offer Superior Insulation; Beam Steering Devices Reduce Payload Weight; Models Support Energy-Saving Microwave Technologies; Materials Advance Chemical Propulsion Technology; and High-Temperature Coatings Offer Energy Savings.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1975

Cosmic ray particle dosimetry and trajectory tracing

Five pocket mice (Perognathus longimembris) were flown on Apollo XVII, each with a solid-state (plastic) nuclear track detector implanted beneath its scalp. The subscalp detectors were sensitive to HZE cosmic ray particles with a LET greater than or approximately equal to 0.15 million electron volts per micrometer (MeV/micron). A critical aspect of the dosimetry of the experiment involved tracing individual particle trajectories through each mouse head from particle tracks registered in the individual subscalp detectors, thereby establishing a one-to-one correspondence between a trajectory location in the tissue and the presence or absence of a lesion. The other major aspect was the identification of each registered particle. An average of 16 particles with Z greater than or equal to 6 and 2.2 particles with Z greater than or equal to 20 were found per detector. The track density, 29 tracks/sq cm, when adjusted for detection volume, was in agreement with the photographic emulsion data from an area dosimeter located next to the flight package.

Cruty, M. R.↗
NASA NTRS1985

The Nagoya cosmic-ray muon spectrometer 3, part 4: Track reconstruction method

One of the greatest problems in measuring particle trajectories with an optical or visual detector system, is the reconstruction of trajectories in real space from their recorded images. In the Nagoya cosmic-ray muon spectrometer, muon tracks are detected by wide gap spark chambers and their images are recorded on the photographic film through an optical system of 10 mirrors and two cameras. For the spatial reconstruction, 42 parameters of the optical system should be known to determine the configuration of this system. It is almost impossible to measure this many parameters directly with usual techniques. In order to solve this problem, the inverse transformation method was applied. In this method, all the optical parameters are determined from the locations of fiducial marks in real space and the locations of their images on the photographic film by the non-linear least square fitting.

Shibata, S.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Texturing and residual stress in metals as a result of sliding

Pole figures of the texturing produced by friction in the alloys Cu - 10 at. % Sn, Cu - 10 at. % Si, 440 C stainless steel, and AISI 52100 bearing steel were obtained with an energy-dispersive X-ray diffractometer. While the texturing behavior of these alloys is generally similar to that of pure metals, the 52100 steel and the Cu5Si phase of Cu - 10 at. % Si show no texturing at the loads and speeds used in this experiment. Photographic methods were used in an attempt to measure the uniform residual stress in the wear tracks produced on some pure metals. The stress in copper and iron was, however, below the limit of detectability - about 4.3 x 10 to the 7th power N/sq m (6000 psi). Line broadening under all test conditions in the case of copper and at high load and speed conditions in iron is attributed, at least in part, to the reduction of crystallite size and, perhaps, to nonuniform residual stress, as well.

Wheeler, D. R.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Aerial albedos of natural vegetation in South-eastern Australia

Black-and-white low-level 70mm photography was used to record the track of the aircraft, which was then plotted on conventional 1:80,000 23 cm photogrammetric photographs and referenced against simultaneous measurements of the beam albedos of vegetation. Using stereoscopic pairs of the 70mm photographs, the vegetation was classified into sub-formations. Marked differences in the 'sub-formation' albedos were observed. A two-way table using stand height and crown cover of the sub-formations clearly showed a very distinctive trend of albedos. This finding may be important in other vegetal studies.

Howard, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Particle-Displacement Tracking In Particle-Image Velocimetry

Particle images processed rapidly and automatically into velocity-vector maps. This technique requires no processing of photographic plates, no tedious visual recognition and manual designation of large numbers of image features for subsequent processing, little or no interruption by technician and is order of magnitude faster than any of prior techniques.

Wernet, Mark P.↗
NASA NTRS1982

STRAP V - Higher accuracy, lower drift attitude control system

The STRAP V system was developed to provide higher accuracy and lower limit cycle fine pointing (+ or - 7 arcseconds) in all three axes at targets which cannot be tracked by startrackers or solar trackers. The system provides an increase in pointing performance over that obtainable with the STRAP IV (1) Attitude Control System (ACS). The STRAP IV concept of third axis updates is utilized to reduce pointing errors, using the flight-proven STRAP III (2) system as a first stage. Flight aspect photographs and telemetry records show that the STRAP V objectives have been met. The STRAP IV major error contributors have been significantly reduced and the tracking flexibility has been increased with only minor error contributions. Attention is given to the basic STRAP III control modes, major STRAP IV system error sources, tuned restrained inertial gyros (TRIGs), the programmable sequence timer, the STRAP V control box, third axis update, system gyro alignments, and STRAP V operational capabilities.

Budney, T. J.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Earth observation photography: Looking back 20 years after Skylab

A committee of trained classroom teachers, backed by a volunteer team of technical experts and academic advisors has developed a program for earth science based on photographs obtained from low earth orbit. In selecting targeting objectives, immediate note was made of the fact nearly one generation (20 years) has passed since the United States' ambitious SKYLAB program was conducted. A critical part of those missions was the acquisition of earth photography using a six camera, multi-spectral camera system. This objective was systematically furthered through the term of three separate crew visits to the Space Station. Not merely an exercise in randomly photographing the Earth below, the purpose of the Earth Resource Experiment Package (EREP) was to determine what kind, and how much, photographic data could be acquired of the broad variety of Earth features witnessed on the mission's ground track. The collection of 35,000 photos produced by EREP represents the most complete coverage of Earth. However, it remains under used. GAS 324 intends to revisit, and to add a tier of relevancy to this inventory. The photography of GAS 324 should allow a direct examination and comparison of the changes in the globe in the last 20 years. format in both coverage and quality. The photogra phy acquired by CAN DO should allow a direct examination and comparison of the changes that have occured to the Globe in the last twenty years.

Nicholson, James H.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Inflatable Re-Entry Vehicle Experiment (IRVE) Design Overview

Inflatable aeroshells offer several advantages over traditional rigid aeroshells for atmospheric entry. Inflatables offer increased payload volume fraction of the launch vehicle shroud and the possibility to deliver more payload mass to the surface for equivalent trajectory constraints. An inflatable s diameter is not constrained by the launch vehicle shroud. The resultant larger drag area can provide deceleration equivalent to a rigid system at higher atmospheric altitudes, thus offering access to higher landing sites. When stowed for launch and cruise, inflatable aeroshells allow access to the payload after the vehicle is integrated for launch and offer direct access to vehicle structure for structural attachment with the launch vehicle. They also offer an opportunity to eliminate system duplication between the cruise stage and entry vehicle. There are however several potential technical challenges for inflatable aeroshells. First and foremost is the fact that they are flexible structures. That flexibility could lead to unpredictable drag performance or an aerostructural dynamic instability. In addition, durability of large inflatable structures may limit their application. They are susceptible to puncture, a potentially catastrophic insult, from many possible sources. Finally, aerothermal heating during planetary entry poses a significant challenge to a thin membrane. NASA Langley Research Center and NASA's Wallops Flight Facility are jointly developing inflatable aeroshell technology for use on future NASA missions. The technology will be demonstrated in the Inflatable Re-entry Vehicle Experiment (IRVE). This paper will detail the development of the initial IRVE inflatable system to be launched on a Terrier/Orion sounding rocket in the fourth quarter of CY2005. The experiment will demonstrate achievable packaging efficiency of the inflatable aeroshell for launch, inflation, leak performance of the inflatable system throughout the flight regime, structural integrity when exposed to a relevant dynamic pressure and aerodynamic stability of the inflatable system. Structural integrity and structural response of the inflatable will be verified with photogrammetric measurements of the back side of the aeroshell in flight. Aerodynamic stability as well as drag performance will be verified with on board inertial measurements and radar tracking from multiple ground radar stations. The experiment will yield valuable information about zero-g vacuum deployment dynamics of the flexible inflatable structure with both inertial and photographic measurements. In addition to demonstrating inflatable technology, IRVE will validate structural, aerothermal, and trajectory modeling techniques for the inflatable. Structural response determined from photogrammetrics will validate structural models, skin temperature measurements and additional in-depth temperature measurements will validate material thermal performance models, and on board inertial measurements along with radar tracking from multiple ground radar stations will validate trajectory simulation models.

Hughes, Stephen J.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Use of DBMS in Multi-step Information Systems for LANDSAT

Data are obtained by the thematic mapper on LANDSAT 4 in seven bands and are telemetered and electronically recorded at ground station where the data must be geometrically and rediometrically corrected before a photographic image is produced. Current system characteristics for processing this information are described including the menu for data products reports. The tracking system provides up-to-date and complete information and requires that production stages adhere to the inherent DBMS structure. The concept can be applied to any procedures requiring status information.

Noll, C. E.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Apollo-Soyuz pamphlet no. 6: Cosmic ray dosage

The radiation hazard inside spacecraft is discussed with emphasis on its effects on the crew, biological specimens, and spacecraft instruments. The problem of light flash sensations in the eyes of astronauts is addressed and experiment MA-106 is described. In this experiment, light flashes seen by blindfolded astronauts were counted and high energy cosmic ray intensity in the command module cabin were measured. The damage caused by cosmic ray hits on small living organisms was investigated in the Biostack 3 experiment (MA-107). Individual cosmic rays were tracked through layers of bacterial spores, small seeds, and eggs interleaved with layers of AgCl-crystal wafers, special plastic, and special photographic film that registered each cosmic ray particle passed.

Page, L. W.↗
NASA NTRS1994

MSFC inspections of installed polyimide wire

An alert was issued because of the arc-tracking possibilities of installed polyimide wire harnesses. MSFC undertook a program to try to enhance the safety and reliability of these harnesses. Photographs are presented showing the need for inspections of installed wiring harnesses.

Landers, Joe C.↗
DOE OSTI2024

helioLuna: Prospect for cislunar spacecraft and near-earth asteroid detection using heliostat fields at night

We experimentally and computationally investigate a proposed frequency-domain method for detecting and tracking cislunar spacecraft and near-earth asteroids using heliostat fields at night. Unlike imaging, which detects spacecraft and asteroids by their streak in sidereally-fixed long-exposure photographs, our proposed detection method oscillates the orientation of heliostats concentrating light from the stellar field and measures the light’s photocurrent power spectrum at sub-milliHertz resolution. If heliostat oscillation traces out an ellipse fixed in the galactic coordinate system, spacecraft or asteroids produce a peak in photocurrent power spectrum at a frequency slightly shifted from the starlight peak. The frequency shift is on the scale of milliHertz and proportional to apparent angular rate relative to sidereal. Relative phase corresponds to relative angular position, enabling tracking. A potential advantage of this frequency-domain method over imaging is that detectivity improves with apparent angular rate and number of heliostats. Since heliostats are inexpensive compared to an astronomical observatory and otherwise unused at night, the proposed method may cost-effectively augment observatory systems such as NASA’s Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS).

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS2003

Preservation and Enhancement of the Spacewatch Data Archives

In March of 1998, the asteroid 1997 XF11 was announced to be potentially hazardous after being tracked over 90 days. A potential two year wait for confirming observations was shortened to under 24 hours because of the existence of archived photographic prediscovery images. Spacewatch was a pioneer in using CCD scanning and possesses a valuable digital archive of its scans. Unfortunately these data are aging on magnetic tape and will soon be lost. Since 1990, the Spacewatch project gathered some 1.5 Terabytes of scan data covering roughly 75,000 degrees of sky to a limiting magnitude of V = 21.5. The data have not yet been mined for all of their asteroids for scientific studies and orbit determination. Spacewatch's real-time motion detection program MODP was constrained by the computers of the era to use simplified image processing algorithms at a reduced efficiency. Jedicke and Herron estimated MODP's efficiency at finding asteroids to be approximately 60 percent to V=18 and improving somewhat thereafter. This lead to a substantial bias correction in their analyses. Larsen has developed a MODP replacement capable in excess of 90 percent efficiency in the same range and able to push a magnitude fainter in completeness. We propose a program of post-processing and re-archiving Spacewatch data. Our scans would be transferred from tape to CD-ROMs and converted to FITS images -- establishing a consistent data format and media for both past and future Spacewatch observations. Larsen's MODP replacement would mine these data for previously undetected motions, which would be made available to the Minor Planet Center and our ongoing asteroid population studies. A searchable observation record would be made generally available for prediscovery work. We estimate the net asteroid yield of this proposal is equivalent to three full years of Spacewatch operations.

Larsen, Jeffrey A.↗
NASA NTRS1989

A photoelectric technique for measuring lightning-channel propagation velocities from a mobile laboratory

The present device for lightning channel propagation-velocity determination employs eight photodetectors mounted behind precision horizontal slits in the focal plane of a photographic camera lens. The eight photodetector pulses, IRIG-B time, and slow and fast electric field-change waveforms are recorded on a 14-track analog tape recorder. A comparison of the present results with those obtained by a streaking camera shows no significant differences between the velocities obtained from the same strokes with the two systems; neither is there any difference in pulse characteristics or in the velocities calculated from them.

Mach, Douglas M.↗