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At least 73 records · Page 4

Testing Asoleyo Decorative Solar Cell and Modules: Cooperative Research and Development, CRADA Number CRD-20-16732 (Final Report)

Team Asoleyo is transforming the utilitarian rectangular grid that dominates the visual style of standard solar panels by re-designing solar cells’ silver contact grid using principles of symmetry, rhythm, and line. Our designs use well-established manufacturing equipment, techniques, and materials, achieving similar manufacturing costs but far superior aesthetic effect- without the need for additional layers or occlusion. This project will test new decorative PV Cell front contact designs, individually and interconnected within modules, for their performance characteristics.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

A longitudinal aerodynamic data repeatability study for a commercial transport model test in the National Transonic Facility

A high Reynolds number investigation of a commercial transport model was conducted in the National Transonic Facility (NTF) at Langley Research Center. This investigation was part of a cooperative effort to test a 0.03-scale model of a Boeing 767 airplane in the NTF over a Mach number range of 0.70 to 0.86 and a Reynolds number range of 2.38 to 40.0 x 10(exp 6) based on the mean aerodynamic chord. One of several specific objectives of the current investigation was to evaluate the level of data repeatability attainable in the NTF. Data repeatability studies were performed at a Mach number of 0.80 with Reynolds numbers of 2.38, 4.45, and 40.0 x 10(exp 6) and also at a Mach number of 0.70 with a Reynolds number of 40.0 x 10(exp 6). Many test procedures and data corrections are addressed in this report, but the data presented do not include corrections for wall interference, model support interference, or model aeroelastic effects. Application of corrections for these three effects would not affect the results of this study because the corrections are systematic in nature and are more appropriately classified as sources of bias error. The repeatability of the longitudinal stability-axis force and moment data has been accessed. Coefficients of lift, drag, and pitching moment are shown to repeat well within the pretest goals of plus or minus 0.005, plus or minus 0.0001, and plus or minus 0.001, respectively, at a 95-percent confidence level over both short- and near-term periods.

Wahls, R. A.↗

X-33 Combustion-Wave Ignition System Tested

The NASA Lewis Research Center, in cooperation with Rocketdyne, the Boeing Company, tested a novel rocket engine ignition system, called the combustion-wave ignition system, in its Research Combustion Laboratory. This ignition system greatly simplifies ignition in rocket engines that have a large number of combustors. The particular system tested was designed and fabricated by Rocketdyne for the national experimental spacecraft, X-33, which uses Rocketdyne s aerospike rocket engines. The goal of the tests was to verify the system design and define its operational characteristics. Results will contribute to the eventual successful flight of X-33. Furthermore, the combustion-wave ignition system, after it is better understood and refined on the basis of the test results and, later, flight-proven onboard X-33, could become an important candidate engine ignition system for our Nation s next-generation reusable launch vehicle.

Liou, Larry C.↗

The March 1985 demonstration of the fiducial network concept for GPS geodesy: A preliminary report

The first field tests in preparation for the NASA Global Positioning System (GPS) Caribbean Initiative were conducted in late March and Early April of 1985. The GPS receivers were located at the POLARIS Very Long Base Interferometry (VLBI) stations at Westford, Massachusetts; Richmond, Florida; and Ft. Davis, Texas; and at the Mojave, Owens Valley, and Hat Creek VLBI stations in California. Other mobile receivers were placed near Mammoth Lakes, California; Pt. Mugu, California; Austin, Texas; and Dahlgren, Virginia. These sites were equipped with a combination of GPS receiver types, including SERIES-X, TI-4100 and AFGL dual frequency receivers. The principal objectives of these tests were the demonstration of the fiducial network concept for precise GPS geodesy, the performance assessment of the participating GPS receiver types, and to conduct the first in a series of experiments to monitor ground deformation in the Mammoth Lakes-Long Valley caldera region in California. Other objectives included the testing of the water vapor radiometers for the calibration of GPS data, the development of efficient procedures for planning and coordinating GPS field exercise, the establishment of institutional interfaces for future cooperating ventures, the testing of the GPS Data Analysis Software (GIPSY, for GPS Inferred Positioning SYstem), and the establishment of a set of calibration baselines in California. Preliminary reports of the success of the field tests, including receiver performance and data quality, and on the status of the data analysis software are given.

Davidson, J. M.↗

Pyrotechnically Operated Valves for Testing and Flight

Pyrovalves still warrant careful description of their operating characteristics, which is consistent with the NASA mission - to assure that both testing and flight hardware perform with the utmost reliability. So, until the development and qualification of the next generation of remotely controlled valves, in all likelihood based on shape memory alloy technology, pyrovalves will remain ubiquitous in controlling flow systems aloft and will possibly see growing use in ground-based testing facilities. In order to assist NASA in accomplishing this task, we propose a three-phase, three-year testing program. Phase I would set up an experimental facility, a 'test rig' in close cooperation with the staff located at the White Sands Test Facility in Southern New Mexico.

Conley, Edgar G.↗

Progress in Flaps Down Flight Reynolds Number Testing Techniques at the NTF

A series of NASA/Boeing cooperative low speed wind tunnel tests was conducted in the National Transonic Facility (NTF) between 2003 and 2004 using a semi-span high lift model representative of the 777-200 aircraft. The objective of this work was to develop the capability to acquire high quality, low speed (flaps down) wind tunnel data at up to flight Reynolds numbers in a facility originally optimized for high speed full span models. In the course of testing, a number of facility and procedural improvements were identified and implemented. The impact of these improvements on key testing metrics data quality, productivity, and so forth - was significant, and is discussed here, together with the relevance of these metrics as applied to cryogenic wind tunnel testing in general. Details of the improvements at the NTF are discussed in AIAA-2006-0508 (Recent Improvements in Semi-span Testing at the National Transonic Facility). The development work at the NTF culminated with validation testing of a 787-8 semi-span model at full flight Reynolds number in the first quarter of 2006.

Payne, Frank↗

Performance of the Spacecraft Propulsion Research Facility During Altitude Firing Tests of the Delta 3 Upper Stage

The Spacecraft Propulsion Research Facility at the NASA Lewis Research Center's Plum Brook Station was reactivated in order to conduct flight simulation ground tests of the Delta 3 cryogenic upper stage. The tests were a cooperative effort between The Boeing Company, Pratt and Whitney, and NASA. They included demonstration of tanking and detanking of liquid hydrogen, liquid oxygen and helium pressurant gas as well as 12 engine firings simulating first, second, and third burns at altitude conditions. A key to the success of these tests was the performance of the primary facility systems and their interfaces with the vehicle. These systems included the structural support of the vehicle, propellant supplies, data acquisition, facility control systems, and the altitude exhaust system. While the facility connections to the vehicle umbilical panel simulated the performance of the launch pad systems, additional purge and electrical connections were also required which were unique to ground testing of the vehicle. The altitude exhaust system permitted an approximate simulation of the boost-phase pressure profile by rapidly pumping the test chamber from 13 psia to 0.5 psia as well as maintaining altitude conditions during extended steady-state firings. The performance of the steam driven ejector exhaust system has been correlated with variations in cooling water temperature during these tests. This correlation and comparisons to limited data available from Centaur tests conducted in the facility from 1969-1971 provided insight into optimizing the operation of the exhaust system for future tests. Overall, the facility proved to be robust and flexible for vehicle space simulation engine firings and enabled all test objectives to be successfully completed within the planned schedule.

Meyer, Michael L.↗

The Software Element of the NASA Portable Electronic Device Radiated Emissions Investigation

NASA Langley Research Center's (LaRC) High Intensity Radiated Fields Laboratory (HIRF Lab) recently conducted a series of electromagnetic radiated emissions tests under a cooperative agreement with Delta Airlines and an interagency agreement with the FAA. The frequency spectrum environment at a commercial airport was measured on location. The environment survey provides a comprehensive picture of the complex nature of the electromagnetic environment present in those areas outside the aircraft. In addition, radiated emissions tests were conducted on portable electronic devices (PEDs) that may be brought onboard aircraft. These tests were performed in both semi-anechoic and reverberation chambers located in the HIRF Lab. The PEDs included cell phones, laptop computers, electronic toys, and family radio systems. The data generated during the tests are intended to support the research on the effect of radiated emissions from wireless devices on aircraft systems. Both tests systems relied on customized control and data reduction software to provide test and instrument control, data acquisition, a user interface, real time data reduction, and data analysis. The software executed on PC's running MS Windows 98 and 2000, and used Agilent Pro Visual Engineering Environment (VEE) development software, Common Object Model (COM) technology, and MS Excel.

Koppen, Sandra V.↗

Hot gas ingestion testing of an advanced STOVL concept in the NASA Lewis 9- by 15-foot low speed wind tunnel with flow visualization

Advanced Short Takeoff/Vertical Landing (STOVL) aircraft capable of operating from remote sites, damaged runways, and small air capable ships are being pursued for deployment around the turn of the century. To achieve this goal, it is important that the technologies critical to this unique class of aircraft be developed. Recognizing this need, NASA Lewis Research Center, McDonnell Douglas Aircraft, and DARPA defined a cooperative program for testing in the NASA Lewis 9- by 15-Foot Low Speed Wind Tunnel (LSWT) to establish a database for hot gas ingestion, one of the technologies critical to STOVL. Results from a test program are presented along with a discussion of the facility modifications allowing this type of testing at model scale. These modifications to the tunnel include a novel ground plane, an elaborate model support which included 4 degrees of freedom, heated high pressure air for nozzle flow, a suction system exhaust for inlet flow, and tunnel sidewall modifications. Several flow visualization techniques were employed including water mist in the nozzle flows and tufts on the ground plane. Headwind (free-stream) velocity was varied from 8 to 23 knots.

Johns, Albert L.↗

Hot gas ingestion testing of an advanced STOVL concept in the NASA Lewis 9- by 15-foot Low Speed Wind Tunnel with flow visualization

Advanced Short Takeoff/Vertical Landing (STOVL) aircraft capable of operating from remote sites, damaged runways, and small air capable ships are being pursued for deployment around the turn of the century. To achieve this goal, it is important that the technologies critical to this unique class of aircraft be developed. Recognizing this need, NASA Lewis Research Center, McDonnell Douglas Aircraft, and DARPA defined a cooperative program for testing in the NASA Lewis 9- by 15-foot Low Speed Wind Tunnel (LSWT) to establish a database for hot gas ingestion, one of the technologies critical to STOVL. Results from a test program are presented along with a discussion of the facility modifications allowing this type of testing at modal scale. These modifications to the tunnel include a novel ground plane, an elaborate model support which included 4 degrees of freedom, heated high pressure air for nozzle flow, a suction system exhaust for inlet flow, and tunnel sidewall modifications. Several flow visualization techniques were employed including water mist in the nozzle flows and tufts on the ground plane. Headwind (free-stream) velocity was varied from 8 to 23 knots.

Johns, Albert L.↗

Zero-G Experiments of the BionicWingsat - A 2U-Cubesat with Deployable, Biologically-Inspired Wings

In this paper, recent testing of a novel deployable structure with several potential applications in space will be described, with the focus on performed deployment experiments in a DLR Zero-g flight campaign and in ground tests. Through a cooperative effort of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), a biologically-inspired structurally-integrated membrane featuring distributed functional elements has been developed and integrated into the 2U CubeSat called BionicWingSat. Such a membrane structure could be useful for all sorts of applications in which a relatively flat area is desirable such as solar sails, drag sails, or solar shades. For SmallSats and CubeSats, the design proposed also has the desirable property of being self-deploying without the need for powered deployment mechanisms. Building on previous work inspired by the wings of earwigs, the research presented in this paper focuses on testing of developed design concepts for such structural systems. To do so 24 fully integrated wings on two BionicWingSats in 2U Cubesat format were experimentally deployed in a microgravity environment during a dedicated DLR Zero-g flight campaign in 2021. The results of these experiments, the built hardware and test articles, the test arrangement, as well as a comparison to ground tests are discussed in this paper.

Spacecraft structures↗

Hot gas ingestion: From model results to full scale engine testing

An overview is presented of a joint NASA Lewis McDonnell Aircraft Co. Hot Gas Ingestion (HGI) test program in NASA Lewis' 9 x 15 foot Low Speed Wind Tunnel (LSWT). Advanced short takeoff vertical landing (ASTOVL) aircraft capable of operating from remote sites, damaged runways, aircraft carriers and small air-capable ships are being pursued for deployment around the turn of the century. To achieve this goal, it is important that technologies critical to this unique class of aircraft be developed. One of the ASTOVL concepts, the vectored thrust, has as its critical technology item, the potential of hot gas ingestion (which occurs during vertical flight operation while in ground effect) as a key development issue. Recognizing this need, NASA Lewis Powered Lift Section and McAir have defined a cooperative program for testing in the Lewis 9 x 15 foot LSWT. This program is described in detail.

Johns, Albert L.↗

Internship Report - Andrew Beathard

This summer, I had the opportunity to work as an intern under Ryan Goldhahn at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Alongside another intern, I was tasked with implementing perception and autonomy algorithms on unmanned aerial systems (UAS) for multiagent cooperative missions and testing their effectiveness at the OS-150 UAS test facility at LLNL. We aimed to engineer a collaborative reaction to a single agent’s identification of an object of interest and test various multiagent algorithms.

42 ENGINEERING↗

High time resolution measurements of rocket potential changes induced by electron beam emission

The transient charging and photon emission from the vacuum chamber testing of the Cooperative High Altitude Rocket Gun Experiment are studied. Graphs of the mother-daughter voltage versus time and high time resolution data related to the return current to the vehicle are examined. It is observed that for average sounding rocket densities of 10 to the -6th torr the slope of the voltage rise of the rocket begins to flatten 40 microsec after the onset of electron beam emission, and for higher gas pressure the rocket reaches a maximum voltage of 25 or 30 microsec after the onset of electron beam emission. The data reveal that the return current mechanism for the higher gas pressure is through the sheath.

Raitt, W. J.↗

Artificial intelligence and space power systems automation

Various applications of artificial intelligence to space electrical power systems are discussed. An overview is given of completed, on-going, and planned knowledge-based system activities. These applications include the Nickel-Cadmium Battery Expert System (NICBES) (the expert system interfaced with the Hubble Space Telescope electrical power system test bed); the early work with the Space Station Experiment Scheduler (SSES); the three expert systems under development in the space station advanced development effort in the core module power management and distribution system test bed; planned cooperation of expert systems in the Core Module Power Management and Distribution (CM/PMAD) system breadboard with expert systems for the space station at other research centers; and the intelligent data reduction expert system under development.

Weeks, David J.↗

Experimental and analytical evaluation of the effects of simulated engine inlets on the blade vibratory stresses of the SR-3 model prop-fan

A cooperative wind tunnel test program, referred to as GUN-3, had been conducted previously to assess the effect of inlet configuration and location on the inlet face pressure recovery and inlet drag in the presence of a high-speed advanced turboprop. These tests were conducted with the inlets located just downstream of the SR-3 model Prop-Fan, a moderately swept, eight-bladed 62.2 cm (24.5 inch) diameter advanced, high-speed turboprop model fabricated from titanium. During these tests, two blades of the SR-3 model Prop-Fan were strain gaged to measure the vibratory blade stresses occurring during the inlet aerodynamic test program. The purpose of the effort reported herein was to reduce and analyze the test results related to the vibratory strain gage measurements obtained. Three inlet configurations had been tested. These were: (1) single scoop, (2) twin scoop, and (3) annular. Each of the three inlets was tested at a position just behind the rotor. The single scoop inlet was also tested at a position further aft. Tests were also done without an inlet. These results emphasize the importance of avoiding critical speeds in the continuous operating range.

Bansal, Prem N.↗

Engine inlet distortion in a 9.2 percent scale vectored thrust STOVL model in ground effect

Advanced Short Takeoff/Vertical Landing (STOVL) aircraft which can operate from remote locations, damaged runways, and small air capable ships are being pursued for deployment around the turn of the century. To achieve this goal, NASA Lewis Research Center, McDonnell Douglas Aircraft, and DARPA defined a cooperative program for testing in the NASA Lewis 9- by 15-foot low speed wind tunnel (LSWT) to establish a database for hot gas ingestion, one of the technologies critical to STOVL. Results are presented which show the engine inlet distortions (both temperature and pressure) in a 9.2 percent scale vectored thrust STOVL model in ground effects. Results are shown for the forward nozzle splay angles of 0 degrees, -6 degrees, and 18 degrees. The model support system had 4 degrees of freedom, heated high pressure air for nozzle flow, and a suction system exhaust for inlet flow. The headwind (freestream) velocity was varied from 8 to 23 knots.

Johns, Albert L.↗

Operator assistant to support deep space network link monitor and control

Preparing the Deep Space Network (DSN) stations to support spacecraft missions (referred to as pre-cal, for pre-calibration) is currently an operator and time intensive activity. Operators are responsible for sending and monitoring several hundred operator directivities, messages, and warnings. Operator directives are used to configure and calibrate the various subsystems (antenna, receiver, etc.) necessary to establish a spacecraft link. Messages and warnings are issued by the subsystems upon completion of an operation, changes of status, or an anomalous condition. Some points of pre-cal are logically parallel. Significant time savings could be realized if the existing Link Monitor and Control system (LMC) could support the operator in exploiting the parallelism inherent in pre-cal activities. Currently, operators may work on the individual subsystems in parallel, however, the burden of monitoring these parallel operations resides solely with the operator. Messages, warnings, and directives are all presented as they are received; without being correlated to the event that triggered them. Pre-cal is essentially an overhead activity. During pre-cal, no mission is supported, and no other activity can be performed using the equipment in the link. Therefore, it is highly desirable to reduce pre-cal time as much as possible. One approach to do this, as well as to increase efficiency and reduce errors, is the LMC Operator Assistant (OA). The LMC OA prototype demonstrates an architecture which can be used in concert with the existing LMC to exploit parallelism in pre-cal operations while providing the operators with a true monitoring capability, situational awareness and positive control. This paper presents an overview of the LMC OA architecture and the results from initial prototyping and test activities.

Cooper, Lynne P.↗