SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Data Communications”

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.

SourceResearch connectionFrom yearThrough year

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 739 records · Page 41

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

NASA NTRS2016

A Global Capacity Building Vision for Societal Applications of Earth Observing Systems and Data: Key Questions and Recommendations

Capacity building using Earth observing (EO) systems and data (i.e., from orbital and nonorbital platforms) to enable societal applications includes the network of human, nonhuman, technical, nontechnical, hardware, and software dimensions that are necessary to successfully cross the valley [of death; see NRC (2001)] between science and research (port of departure) and societal application (port of arrival). In many parts of the world (especially where ground-based measurements are scarce or insufficient), applications of EO data still struggle for longevity or continuity for a variety of reasons, foremost among them being the lack of resilient capacity. An organization is said to have resilient capacity when it can retain and continue to build capacity in the face of unexpected shocks or stresses. Stresses can include intermittent power and limited Internet bandwidth, constant need for education on ever-increasing complexity of EO systems and data, communication challenges between the ports of departure and arrival (especially across time zones), and financial limitations and instability. Shocks may also include extreme events such as disasters and losing key staff with technical and institutional knowledge.

shocks↗

NASA NTRS2017

Management by Trajectory: Trajectory Management Study Report

In order to realize the full potential of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen), improved management along planned trajectories between air navigation service providers (ANSPs) and system users (e.g., pilots and airline dispatchers) is needed. Future automation improvements and increased data communications between aircraft and ground automation would make the concept of Management by Trajectory (MBT) possible.

Leiden, Kenneth↗

NASA NTRS2017

An Advanced Trajectory-Based Operations Prototype Tool and Focus Group Evaluation

Trajectory-based operations (TBO) is a key concept in the Next Generation Air Transportation System transformation of the National Airspace System (NAS) that will increase the predictability and stability of traffic flows, support a common operational picture through the use of digital data sharing, facilitate more effective collaborative decision making between airspace users and air navigation service providers, and enable increased levels of integrated automation across the NAS. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has been developing trajectory-based systems to improve the efficiency of the NAS during specific phases of flight and is now also exploring Advanced 4-Dimensional Trajectory (4DT) operational concepts that will integrate these technologies and incorporate new technology where needed to create both automation and procedures to support gate-to-gate TBO. A TBO Prototype simulation toolkit has been developed that demonstrates initial functionality that may reside in an Advanced 4DT TBO concept. Pilot and controller subject matter experts (SMEs) were brought to the Air Traffic Operations Laboratory at NASA Langley Research Center for discussions on an Advanced 4DT operational concept and were provided an interactive demonstration of the TBO Prototype using four example scenarios. The SMEs provided feedback on potential operational, technological, and procedural opportunities and concerns. After viewing the interactive demonstration scenarios, the SMEs felt the operational capabilities demonstrated would be useful for performing TBO while maintaining situation awareness and low mental workload. The TBO concept demonstrated produced defined routings around weather which resulted in a more organized, consistent flow of traffic where it was clear to both the controller and pilot what route the aircraft was to follow. In general, the controller SMEs felt that traffic flow management should be responsible for generating and negotiating the operational constraints demonstrated, in cooperation with the Air Traffic Control System Command Center, while air traffic control should be responsible for the implementation of those constraints. The SMEs also indicated that digital data communications would be very beneficial for TBO operations and would result in less workload due to reduced communications, would eliminate issues due to language barriers and frequency problems, and would make receiving, loading, accepting, and executing clearances easier, less ambiguous, and more expeditious. This paper describes an Advanced 4DT operational concept, the TBO Prototype, the demonstration scenarios and methods used, and the feedback obtained from the pilot and controller SMEs in this focus group evaluation.

Guerreiro, Nelson M.↗

NASA NTRS2018

Completion of Launch Director Console Project and Other Support Work

There were four projects that I was a part of working on during the spring semester of 2018. This included the completion of the Launch Director Console (LDC) project and the completion and submission of a Concept of Operations (ConOps) document for the Record and Playback System (RPS) at the Launch Control Center (LCC), as well as supporting the implementation of a unit in RPS known as the CDP (Communication Data Processor). Also included was my support and mentorship of a High School robotics team that is sponsored by Kennedy Space Center. The LDC project is an innovative workstation to be used by the launch director for the future Space Launch System program. I worked on the fabrication and assembly of the final console. The ConOps on RPS is a technical document for which I produced supporting information and notes. All of this was done in the support of the IT Project Management Office (IT-F). The CDP is a subsystem that will eventually be installed in and operated by RPS.

Steinrock, Joshua G.↗

NASA NTRS2018

An Implementation Analysis of Communications, Navigation, and Surveillance (CNS) Technologies for Unmanned Air Systems (UAS)

The aviation industry and government agencies face a rapidly-emerging need for integrating large-scale populations of Unmanned Air Systems (UAS) into the worldwide controlled and uncontrolled airspace. Critical components for integration include the Communications, Navigation, and Surveillance (CNS) technologies necessary for ensuring safe UAS operations. Under NASA program NNA16BD84C, our work on CNS architectural concepts for the safe operation of UAS in controlled and uncontrolled airspace has introduced CNS architectures which must be analyzed in terms of implementation readiness.Controlled airspace operations for UAS are consistent with the needs for manned aviation in the worldwide Air Traffic Management (ATM) service. Uncontrolled airspace operations are consistent with the NASA Unmanned (air) Traffic Management (UTM) concept of operations. Implementation readiness is based on the NASA concept of Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) ranging from TRL1 (basic principles observed and reported) to TRL9 (actual system flight proven through successful mission operations). In the architecture concepts, we have introduced a number of new CNS architectural elements which need to be correlated with TRL levels.In this paper, we present our implementation analysis for communications networks, communications data links, navigation, and surveillance. Each area has been under active research and development during the course of the current NASA program which has produced studies on UAS CNS Requirements, UAS CNS Architecture for Controlled Airspace and UAS CNS Architecture for Uncontrolled Airspace. We have published our architecture concepts in major UAS-related conferences (including iCNS2017, IEEE Aerospace 2018, and iCNS2018) and will continue to seek additional publication opportunities. We look forward to continuing our work to realize a full integration testing scenario for both controlled and uncontrolled airspace operation.

Ponchak, Denise↗

NASA NTRS2019

AFRC Wireless Development Plans and Needs

This presentation highlights NASA AFRCs wireless systems development plans as well as technological needs and airworthiness challenges for flight test/research applications. The presentation discusses desired wireless sensing and wireless data communication methodologies for specific aircraft areas such as wings, tail, engines, and landing gears. The presentation also provides information for potential industry partners seeking to collaborate in the development of sensors through various means as well as to verify and validate wireless sensors and systems through flight at AFRC.

telemetry systems↗

NASA NTRS2010

TPSAS-NF1676L-10776-DND

Airborne self-separation (SSEP) among aircraft is proposed as a means for improving air traffic system capacity and safety in the future National Airspace System and for improving the efficiency of flight for all aircraft performing this function. The concept is examined in the U.S. en route domain, in an environment of mixed conventional and SSEP operations. No airspace is set aside for this purpose and the first aircraft equipped to perform the function can receive its benefits. For aircraft operating in the SSEP mode, the Air Navigation Service Provider (ANSP) turns over control and responsibility for all separation tasks to the pilots of SSEP aircraft. This includes separation from all other aircraft, from severe weather hazards and from Special Use Airspace. Connection to the centralized traffic flow management function is retained throughout the flight, however, and compliance with any Required Time of Arrival assignments is maintained. The SSEP function is accomplished in the aircraft through the use of airborne surveillance, data communications and processing equipment, and procedures defined in a new set of operating rules called "Autonomous Flight Rules" (AFR). The technical enablers are Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast (ADS-B), Traffic Information Service - Broadcast (TIS-B), and Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS). This briefing presents an overview of the concept.

Frank Bussink↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Towards An Autonomous sUAS Operating in UTM TCL4+ and STEReO Fire Scenario

This study presents two sUAS payload point designs for enabling autonomous BVLOS flight in UTM TCL4+ urban environments and STEReO fire responses. The payload components for the first payload include an onboard computer and a 360 LIDAR. The second payload, which is a continuation of the first, adds a range finder altimeter, downward-facing monocular camera, forward-facing thermal and visible light dual camera, vehicle-to-vehicle radio modem, and Li-ion smart battery. The components are mounted on enclosed structural frames that were designed in-house. Placing the autonomy components onboard leverages the advantages of sUAS over manned aircraft such as low-cost, quick response time, and increased scalability. Autonomous capabilities include embedded processing, SLAM, object and fire detection, and V2V communication. Data processing is conducted onboard the aircraft to eliminate the dependency on a groundstation downlink. The first iteration of the payload is tested in both simulation and flight tests while the continuing iteration is in development.

Autonomous UAS↗

NASA NTRS2005

Efficient electromechanical network models for wireless acoustic-electric feed-throughs

There are numerous engineering design problems where the use of wires to transfer power and communicate data thru the walls of a structure is prohibitive or significantly difficult that it may require a complex design.

Chang, Zenshen↗

NASA NTRS2020

Integration, Test, and On-Orbit Operation of a Ka-band Parabolic Deployable Antenna (KaPDA) for CubeSats

In the past decade, CubeSats have undergone a revolution, moving from universityresearch projects to enabling industry opportunities and government missions. Six yearsago, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology (JPL/Caltech)initiated a research and technology development effort to advance CubeSat communicationcapabilities, with one of the key thrusts being the Ka-band parabolic deployable antenna(KaPDA). This antenna started with the ambitious goal of fitting a 42 dB, 0.5 meter, 35 GHzantenna in a 1.5U canister. At that time, there had been very limited development in the areaof high gain CubeSat antennas which are critical for both high data rate communicationsand remote sensing science. A Ka-band high gain antenna would provide a 10,000 timesincrease in data communication rates over an X-band patch antenna and a 100 timesincrease over state-of-the-art S-band parabolic antennas. This paper discusses the process ofbuilding, integrating, and operating the flight antenna, its final performance and lessonslearned. KaPDA was an enabling technology for RainCube mission, the first Earth ScienceCubeSat to have an active instrument. RainCube was launched in May of 2018, makingKaPDA the second deployable parabolic antenna to fly on a CubeSat and the first of its kindto operate at Ka-band enabling a number of opportunities for high rate, deep space antennacommunications and remote sensing science.

Thomson, Mark W.↗

NASA NTRS2021

An Innovative Approach to Modeling VIPER Rover Software Life Cycle Cost

NASA’s “Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover” (VIPER) will be the first robotic mission to prospect for water ice near the south pole of the Moon in late 2023 on a 100-Earth-day mission. The information that the VIPER rover provides will help improve understanding of the composition, distribution, and accessibility of Lunar polar volatiles and will help determine how the Moon’s resources can support future human space exploration. VIPER, however, represents a radical departure from the way that NASA has traditionally developed planetary robotic missions. A key consequence of these differences is that estimating the cost of VIPER’s rover software is challenging and complex.For example, VIPER is being developed using management procedures typically applied to NASA research and technology projects, rather than space flight programs. In addition, key portions of the rover’s software are being designed as ground software to run on mission control computers (rather than on-board the rover as flight software as with prior planetary missions) taking advantage of continuous, interactive data communications between the Moon and Earth and higher performance computing available on the ground. Moreover, the rover’s software is being engineered using Agile software development practices and incorporates a significant amount of open-source, rather than following traditional (spiral, waterfall, etc.) development methods and in-house code. In this paper, we present an innovative process to estimate the life cycle cost of VIPER’s rover software. We first describe how we modeled the architecture and code counts for three software elements: Rover Flight Software (RFSW), Rover Ground Software (RGSW), and Rover Simulation Software (RSIM). We then discuss key challenges and unique aspects of our approach, such as the lack of Lunar rover analogies, the need to integrate and test large open source software, and the strategies developed to account for use of non-space flight management practices and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. We conclude with a summary of our results, including cumulative distribution, nearest neighbors and cluster analysis, as well as heuristics used to confirm the reasonableness of the cost estimate.

Utz, Hans↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Dynamic Channel Assignments for Efficient Use of Aviation Spectrum Allocations

The demand for voice and data communications continues to rise with the emergence of new aerial vehicles into the airspace and the continued growth of aviation operations throughout the National Airspace System (NAS). Recent studies have shown that the anticipated growing demand for spectrum resources will exceed the capacity of existing aviation spectrum allocations. Further, airspace configurations, via assignment of fixed channel allocations within standard service volumes, do not allow for the dynamic and efficient distribution of spectrum resources based on airspace demand; as a result, a new approach to aviation spectrum management is needed to support the forecasted needs of new airspace users. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is investigating applications of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and other advanced concepts to solve a dynamic constraint satisfaction problem which is analogous to the frequency assignment problem faced by aviation. Procedures and strategies for dynamic channel allocation can be borrowed from other large-scale mobile services (i.e., 4G/5G applications) and can provide a novel spectrum management approach that allows for the intelligent utilization of aviation spectrum throughout the airspace while maintaining the strict quality of service prescribed by aeronautical standards.

Communications↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Dynamic Channel Assignments for Efficient Use of Aviation Spectrum Allocations

communications↗

NASA NTRS2023

Toward Accurate Thermal Modeling of Phase Change Material Based Photonic Devices

Reconfigurable or programmable photonic devices are rapidly growing and have become an integral part of many optical systems. The ability to selectively modulate electromagnetic waves through electrical stimuli is crucial in the advancement of a variety of applications from data communication and computing devices to environmental science and space explorations. Chalcogenide-based phase change materials (PCMs) are one of the most promising material candidates for reconfigurable photonics due to their large optical contrast between their different solid-state structural phases. Although significant efforts have been devoted to accurate simulation of PCM-based devices, in this paper, we highlight three important aspects which have often evaded prior models yet having significant impacts on the thermal and phase transition behavior of these devices: the enthalpy of fusion, the heat capacity change upon glass transition, as well as the thermal conductivity of liquid-phase PCMs. We further investigated the important topic of switching energy scaling in PCM devices, which also helps explain why the three above-mentioned effects have long been overlooked in electronic PCM memories but only become important in photonics. Our findings offer insight to facilitate accurate modeling of PCM-based photonic devices and can inform the development of more efficient reconfigurable optics.

Phase change materials↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA Airborne Observations in Support of Wildfire Science and Applications

The NASA Science Mission Directorate Earth Science Division Airborne Science Program enables access to modified aircraft in support of NASA projects. The Program supports researchers and engineers by enabling testing of new instruments, calibration of on-orbit satellite instruments with airborne sensors, and to support process studies and model development. This talk will provide an overview of the Program capabilities, review past NASA flight projects that have focused on wildfires, and discuss how the Program is poised to support the FireSense project and interagency efforts to incorporate new technologies and observations into the wildfire management community. Past missions including the Western States Fire Mission and FIREX-AQ will be discussed, an overview of relevant NASA sensors will be provided, and an introduction to upcoming flight activity will be presented. Data telemetry, communications, and data standards will also be discussed towards improving timely distribution of data products to land managers.

Matthew M Fladeland↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Coupling a Computational Fluid Dynamics Model to a Spacecraft Thermal System Model for the DraMS Instrument Thermal Analysis

The Dragonfly Mass Spectrometer (DraMS) is an instrument on the Dragonfly mission, which will spend 7 years in deep space cruise before landing and operating on the surface of Titan. Vacuum thermal analyses are required for deep space cruise, and convection analyses are required for the Titan surface operations. Model exchanges across multiple thermal teams are needed for all phases of the mission. For DraMS, Thermal Desktop® (TD) has been the main thermal analytical tool of choice due to its capability in modeling complex thermal systems with relatively low computational power and for its availability across thermal teams. However, TD does not have computational fluid dynamics (CFD) capability and struggles to accurately capture complex convective behavior. DraMS has fans operating in tandem and gas flow behaviors are not easily predicted due to its complex flow paths. CFD software, such as Fluent, can model and predict such complex flow behaviors, but CFD models are computationally expensive, and its workflow processes are not tailored towards simulating large and complex systems. Therefore, a coupled modeling approach was chosen for DraMS: A TD model was used for simulating all the conductive, radiative, and source terms, while a Fluent CFD model was added on, as needed, to the TD model to provide the convective boundary conditions using the System Coupling software. The coupling software allows the TD and Fluent models to communicate data and arrive at a co-solved and co-converged solution. Furthermore, Thermal Iso-value Exchange (TIE) method was developed to facilitate and improve the TD-Fluent data exchange process. This paper will discuss the analytical studies that were done to verify the accuracy and usability of the coupled approach and the challenges associated, which lead to the development of the TIE approach. DraMS thermal design and co-solved analysis results will also be discussed.

Heat transfer↗

NASA NTRS2024

The Roman Space Telescope Observatory Build, Test and Verification Status

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (“Roman”) was prioritized by the 2010 Decadal Survey in Astronomy and Astrophysics and is NASA’s next astrophysics flagship observatory. Launching no earlier than 2026, it will conduct several wide field and time domain surveys, as well as conduct an exoplanet census. Roman’s large field of view, agile survey capabilities, and excellent stability enable these objectives, yet present unique engineering and test challenges. The Roman Observatory comprises a Spacecraft and the Integrated Payload Assembly (IPA), the latter of which includes the Optical Telescope Assembly (OTA), the primary science Wide Field Instrument, a technology demonstration Coronagraph Instrument, and the Instrument Carrier, which meters the OTA to each instrument. The Spacecraft supports the IPA and includes the Bus, Solar Array Sun Shield, Outer Barrel Assembly, and Deployable Aperture Cover. It provides all required power, command handling, attitude control, communications, data storage, and stable thermal control functions as well as shading and straylight protection across the entire field of regard. This paper presents the Observatory as it begins integration and test, as well as describes key test and verification activities.

Infrared Missions↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Coupling a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Model to a Spacecraft Thermal System Model for the DraMS Instrument Thermal Analysis

The Dragonfly Mass Spectrometer (DraMS) is an instrument on the Dragonfly mission, which will spend 7 years in deep space cruise before landing and operating on the surface of Titan. Vacuum thermal analyses are required for deep space cruise, and convection analyses are required for the Titan surface operations. Model exchanges across multiple thermal teams are needed for all phases of the mission. For DraMS, Thermal Desktop (TD) has been the main thermal analytical tool of choice due to its capability in modeling complex thermal systems with relatively low computational power and for its availability across thermal teams. However, TD does not have computational fluid dynamics (CFD) capability and struggles to accurately capture complex convective behavior. DraMS has fans operating in tandem and gas flow behaviors are not easily predicted due to its complex flow paths. CFD software, such as Fluent, can model and predict such complex flow behaviors, but CFD models are computationally expensive, and its workflow processes are not tailored towards simulating large and complex systems. Therefore, a coupled modeling approach was chosen for DraMS: A TD model was used for simulating all the conductive, radiative, and source terms, while a Fluent CFD model was added on, as needed, to the TD model to provide the convective boundary conditions using the System Coupling software. The coupling software allows the TD and Fluent models to communicate data and arrive at a co-solved and co-converged solution. Furthermore, Thermal Iso-value Exchange (TIE) method was developed to facilitate and improve the TD-Fluent data exchange process. This paper will discuss the analytical studies that were done to verify the accuracy and usability of the coupled approach and the challenges associated, which lead to the development of the TIE approach. DraMS thermal design and co-solved analysis results will also be discussed.

heat transfer↗