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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

On-Orbit Performance of the TES Pulse Tube Cryocooler System and the Instrument - Six Years in Space

The Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) instrument pulse tube cryocoolers began operation 36 days after launch of the NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) Aura spacecraft on July 15, 2004. TES is designed with four infrared Mercury Cadmium Telluride focal plane arrays in two separate housings cooled by a pair of Northrup Grumman Aerospace Systems (NGAS) single-stage pulse tube cryocoolers. The instrument also makes use of a two-stage passive cooler to cool the optical bench. The instrument is a high-resolution infrared imaging Fourier transform spectrometer with 3.3-15.4 micron spectral coverage. After four weeks of outgassing, the instrument optical bench and focal planes were cooled to their operating temperatures to begin science operations. During the early months of the mission, ice contamination of the cryogenic surfaces including the focal planes led to increased cryocooler loads and the need for periodic decontamination cycles. After a highly successful 5 years of continuous in-space operations, TES was granted a 2 year extension. This paper reports on the TES cryogenic system performance including the two-stage passive cooler. After a brief overview of the cryogenic design, the paper presents detailed data on the highly successful space operation of the pulse tube cryocoolers and instrument thermal design over the past six years since the original turn-on in 2004. The data shows the cryogenic contamination decreased substantially to where decontamination cycles are now performed every six months. The cooler stroke required for constant-temperature operation has not increased indicating near-constant cooler efficiency and the instrument's thermal design has also provided a nearly constant heat rejection sink. At this time TES continues to operate in space providing important Earth science data.

cryocoolercraft↗

A Comparison of Near Simultaneous Lidar Returns and Particulate Collections on Filters Flown at Six Stratospheric Altitudes

Collections of particulates on both Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL) and National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) filter systems were made from an RB 57F aircraft flown at one tropospheric and six stratospheric altitudes over the Boulder, Colorado, area. This daytime flight was spanned by lidar returns on evenings before and after the flight. Scanning electron microscope examination of the LASL filters showed no evidence of solid particulates greater than 2 micrometers (the instrumental resolving power). Quantitative analysis of the NCAR filters yielded chemical composition and mass. The mass values were normalized to the total air flow through the filters to yield mass mixing ratios at the various altitudes. The lidar returns, normalized to molecular densities obtained from sonde data, were put in the form of particulate scattering divided by molecular scattering, i. e., an optical mixing ratio. A plot of the optical mixing ratio versus mass mixing ratio, in the stratosphere, yielded linear relationship, for five of the six data points, going through the origin.

Schuster, Burton G.↗

Limits On Undetected Planets in the Six Transiting Planets Kepler-11 System

The Kepler-11 has five inner planets ranging from approx. 2 - 1 times as massive Earth in a tightly-packed configuration, with orbital periods between 10 and 47 days. A sixth planet, Kepler-11 g, with a period of118 days, is also observed. The spacing between planets Kepler-11 f and Kepler-11 g is wide enough to allow room for a planet to orbit stably between them. We compare six and seven planet fits to measured transit timing variations (TTVs) of the six known planets. We find that in most cases an additional planet between Kepler-11 f and Kepler-11 g degrades rather than enhances the fit to the TTV data, and where the fit is improved, the improvement provides no significant evidence of a planet between Kepler-11 f and Kepler-11 g. This implies that any planet in this region must be low in mass. We also provide constraints on undiscovered planets orbiting exterior to Kepler-11 g. representations will be described.

Lissauer, Jack↗

Design, Prototyping, and Testing of a Novel Flowpath with an Array of Six 3D Matrix Vitvo Bioreactors for the NASA Bioculture System

The NASA Bioculture System is an advanced cell culture closed-loop system containing highly automated flowpaths designed to conduct long term biology experiments on ISS with earth remote controllable medium flow, temperature, gas composition, medium exchange, cell sampling and fixation. This technology was already demonstrated with successful cardiomyocyte and osteocyte cultures experiments onboard the ISS and is now supporting NASA PI science. The Bioculture System, however, can only support 10 cassettes with disposable flowpaths, each containing a single hollow fiber bioreactor with a culture capacity of about 2ml. This constraint not only severely limits the number of investigators that can conduct experiments in space, but also subjects the experiments to limitations in the number of replicates and conditions that can be studied. To address these limitations, we sought a novel design solution to maximize the number of separate bioreactor cultures and volume that can be conducted simultaneously. To this end we designed, prototyped, and are now testing a six-Vitvo 3D Matrix 2ml bioreactor insert that replaces the conventional Bioculture System hollow fiber bioreactor. This design will allow the Bioculture System to support up to 60 different bioreactors and samples at once. Specifically, the novel gas-tight containment housing insert contains six COTS Rigenerand VITVO bioreactors stacked on each side of a heat sink powered by the existing heating element and pair of temperature sensors. Medium will be distributed into each bioreactor's cell-free chamber via its built-in Luer connector, then across the 3D matrix to the cell chamber, dissipating laminar flow and limiting fluid shear stresses that might mechanostimulate cell cultures. Gas (5% CO2 in air) will be supplied directly to the bioreactor gas-tight housing for exchange via the bioreactor flat-surface gas-permeable membranes, eliminating the need for the existing Bioculture System cassette oxygenator. If successfully implemented on ISS, this new multi-bioreactor insert for the Bioculture System has the potential to make real-time cell science experimentation in space more efficient and accessible to more investigators.

Ma, Kristin R.↗

Assessment of Temperature-Dependent Regression Model Terms of a RUAG Six-Component Block-Type Balance

A metric called the percent contribution was applied to regression models of temperature-dependent calibration data of a RUAG six-component block-type balance in order to assess the influence of temperature-dependent regression model terms on the balance load prediction. Regression models were examined that are needed if either the Iterative or the Non-Iterative Method is used for the load prediction. Computed values of the percent contribution confirmed that the cross-product term defined by a primary load and the temperature difference is the most influential temperature-dependent term of the regression model of a primary output that the Iterative Method needs. Similarly, the analysis showed that the cross-product term defined by a primary output and the temperature difference is the most influential temperature-dependent term of the regression model of a primary load that the Non-Iterative Method needs. Computed results support conclusions that were reported in an earlier theoretical study. This study asserted that the cross-product term defined by a primary load or output and the temperature difference models the temperature-dependent shift of the gage sensitivity. The influence of other temperature-dependent terms used in the regression models of the calibration data of RUAG's balance was negligible. This observation may be explained by the fact that RUAG's block-type balances have highly linear characteristics. Overall, the percent contribution has proven itself to be a reliable and easy-to-implement metric that may also be used for the assessment of the influence of temperature-dependent regression model terms on the load prediction of a six-component strain-gage balance.

Ulbrich, N.↗

Parallelization of a Six Degree of Freedom Entry Vehicle Trajectory Simulation Using OpenMP and OpenACC

The art and science of writing parallelized software, using methods such as Open Multi-Processing (OpenMP) and Open Accelerators (OpenACC), is dominated by computer scientists. Engineers and non-computer scientists looking to apply these techniques to their project applications face a steep learning curve, especially when looking to adapt their original single threaded software to run multi-threaded on graphics processing units (GPUs). There are significant changes in mindset that must occur; such as how to manage memory, the organization of instructions, and the use of if statements (also known as branching). The purpose of this work is twofold: 1) to demonstrate the applicability of parallelized coding methodologies, OpenMP and OpenACC, to tasks outside of the typical large scale matrix mathematics; and 2) to discuss, from an engineer’s perspective, the lessons learned from parallelizing software using these computer science techniques. This work applies OpenMP, on both multi-core central processing units (CPUs) and Intel® Xeon Phi™ 7210, and OpenACC on GPUs. These parallelization techniques are used to tackle the simulation of thousands of entry vehicle trajectories through the integration of six degree of freedom (DoF) equations of motion (EoM). The forces and moments acting on the entry vehicle, and used by the EoM, are estimated using multiple models of varying levels of complexity. Several benchmark comparisons are made on the execution of six DoF trajectory simulation: single thread Intel® Xeon® E5-2670 CPU, multi-thread CPU using OpenMP, multi-thread Xeon Phi™ 7210 using OpenMP, and multi-thread NVIDIA® Tesla® K40 GPU using OpenACC. These benchmarks are run on the Pleiades Supercomputer Cluster at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Ames Research Center (ARC), and a Xeon Phi™ 7210 node at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC).

Green, Justin S.↗

Analysis and Evaluation of NASA's MK40B Six-Component TASK Balance

The paper discusses the physical characteristics NASA's MK40B TASK balance. It is NASA's newest TASK balance that was optimized for the testing of wind tunnel models in the NASA Ames 11-ft Transonic Wind Tunnel. The calibration data of the MK40B balance was obtained in Calspan's Automatic Balance Calibration System. A machine load schedule design was used for the calibration that was developed at the NASA Ames Balance Calibration Laboratory. The calibration data was analyzed using both the Non-Iterative Method and the Iterative Method. Then, the chosen regression models of the calibration data were assessed and compared using the percent contribution, the variance inflation factor, and the calibration load residuals. Interactions of single-component loads were also quantified. In addition, the bi-directional characteristics of the six gage outputs of the balance were assessed by applying a semi-empirical test that was developed at the Ames Balance Calibration Laboratory. It was concluded that four of the six gages of the balance have bi-directional characteristics. Finally, the accuracy of the load prediction equations of the balance was tested by applying the equations to independent check load data that was obtained at the NASA Ames Balance Calibration Laboratory. The standard deviation of the check load residuals met expectations. The check load data also confirmed that the interactions of the forward and aft normal forces on the axial force gage output are very small. - This paper is to be presented in the invited special session titled: "65 Years of TASK Wind Tunnel Balances - Past, Present, and Future".

wind tunnel balance↗

Analysis and Evaluation of NASA's MK40B Six-Component Task Balance

The MK40B balance is NASA's newest balance of Task design. Its load range was optimized for use in the NASA Ames 11-ft Transonic Wind Tunnel. The balance was calibrated in 2019 in Calspan's Automatic Balance Calibration System. The data analysis was performed at the Ames Balance Calibration Laboratory. First, bi-directional characteristics of the six gage outputs of the balance were assessed by applying a semi-empirical test to the calibration data. These tests indicated that four of the six gages have bi-directional characteristics. Therefore, the use of absolute value terms in the regression models of the calibration data is justified. Then, the machine calibration data was analyzed using both the Non-Iterative and the Iterative Method. Analysis results for the two methods were compared using the percent contributions, the calibration load residuals, the primary sensitivities, and the principle linear terms. These results confirmed that the two methods describe bi-directional characteristics of the balance gages correctly. In addition, it was concluded that the load prediction accuracies of the two methods are the same for all practical purposes.

wind tunnel balance↗