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At least 775 records · Page 43

Launch Complex 39A Operations Support Building Area SWMU 111 Year 3 Air Sparge System Performance Monitoring Report

This Air Sparge (AS) System Performance Monitoring Report (PMR) presents the findings, observations, and results for Year 3 of operation, maintenance, and monitoring activities for the AS Interim Measure (IM) at the Launch Complex 39A Operations Support Building Area (AOSB) at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida. This report was presented as an Advance Data Package during the October 2024 KSC Remediation Team (KSCRT) meeting. The reporting period for activities covered under this PMR is from August 2023 through October 2024.

Mark P Speranza↗

Data sampling system for monitor and control station

System design is based on development of standardized, interchangeable modules that minimize power dissipation, interconnecting cables and size. Maximum flexibility is achieved by using building block approach where all data modules are identical and are connected at any remote location and addressed in random fashion from central unit.

Source record↗

Lightning Protection System

A new Lightning Protection System (LPS) was designed and built at Launch Complex 39B (LC-39B), at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida, in 2009, for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) program. A comprehensive lightning monitoring system was additionally designed and the LC-39B lightning instrumentation started incremental deployment early 2011. By March 2011, the LC-39B lightning monitoring system was activated with short outages during construction and renovations of the LC-39B. Since 2011, the LC-39B LPS has been directly struck at least once per year. The earliest and latest in a year that the LPS has been directly struck by lightning has been January 7th and October 1st (both 2017), respectively. During the summer of 2018, the Mobile Launcher 1 (ML-1) lightning monitoring system was deployed and partially active during ML-1 construction/testing. Since 2018, the ML-1 has been parked at the LC-39B for different durations of time for integrated testing. Early August 2019 (6th and 9th ) multiple lightning strikes terminated directly on the LPS at three different locations in addition to a nearby strike within the Pad perimeter and multiple nearby strikes outside the Pad Perimeter, triggering both, the LC-39B and the ML-1 lightning monitoring systems. This has been the first time direct lightning strikes have terminated on the LPS or within the LC-39B perimeter while the ML-1 has been at the LC-39B. This paper summarizes direct and close nearby lightning strikes to LC-39B from 2011 until the summer of 2019.

Angel G Mata↗

Automated monitoring of recovered water quality

Laboratory prototype water quality monitoring system provides automatic system for online monitoring of chemical, physical, and bacteriological properties of recovered water and for signaling malfunction in water recovery system. Monitor incorporates whenever possible commercially available sensors suitably modified.

Misselhorn, J. E.↗

NSI operations center

The NASA Science Internet (NSI) Network Operations Staff is responsible for providing reliable communication connectivity for the NASA science community. As the NSI user community expands, so does the demand for greater interoperability with users and resources on other networks (e.g., NSFnet, ESnet), both nationally and internationally. Coupled with the science community's demand for greater access to other resources is the demand for more reliable communication connectivity. Recognizing this, the NASA Science Internet Project Office (NSIPO) expands its Operations activities. By January 1990, Network Operations was equipped with a telephone hotline, and its staff was expanded to six Network Operations Analysts. These six analysts provide 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week coverage to assist site managers with problem determination and resolution. The NSI Operations staff monitors network circuits and their associated routers. In most instances, NSI Operations diagnoses and reports problems before users realize a problem exists. Monitoring of the NSI TCP/IP Network is currently being done with Proteon's Overview monitoring system. The Overview monitoring system displays a map of the NSI network utilizing various colors to indicate the conditions of the components being monitored. Each node or site is polled via the Simple Network Monitoring Protocol (SNMP). If a circuit goes down, Overview alerts the Network Operations staff with an audible alarm and changes the color of the component. When an alert is received, Network Operations personnel immediately verify and diagnose the problem, coordinate repair with other networking service groups, track problems, and document problem and resolution into a trouble ticket data base. NSI Operations offers the NSI science community reliable connectivity by exercising prompt assessment and resolution of network problems.

Zanley, Nancy L.↗

Wide-area, real-time monitoring and visualization system

A real-time performance monitoring system for monitoring an electric power grid. The electric power grid has a plurality of grid portions, each grid portion corresponding to one of a plurality of control areas. The real-time performance monitoring system includes a monitor computer for monitoring at least one of reliability metrics, generation metrics, transmission metrics, suppliers metrics, grid infrastructure security metrics, and markets metrics for the electric power grid. The data for metrics being monitored by the monitor computer are stored in a data base, and a visualization of the metrics is displayed on at least one display computer having a monitor. The at least one display computer in one said control area enables an operator to monitor the grid portion corresponding to a different said control area.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Rocket engine control and monitoring expert system

This paper focuses on the application of expert systems technology to the automatic detection, verification and correction of anomalous rocket engine operations through interfacing with an intelligent adaptive control system. The design of a reliable and intelligent propulsion control and monitoring system is outlined which includes the architecture of an Integrated Expert System (IES) serving as the core component. The IES functions include automatic knowledge acquisition, integrated knowledge base, and fault diagnosis and prediction methodology. The results of fault analysis and diagnostic techniques are presented for an example fault in the SSME main combustion chamber injectors.

Ali, Moonis↗

Engineering studies of vectorcardiographs in blood pressure measuring systems, appendix 2

The development of a cardiovascular monitoring system to noninvasively monitor the blood pressure and heart rate using pulse wave velocity was described. The following topics were covered: (1) pulse wave velocity as a measure of arterial blood pressure, (2) diastolic blood pressure and pulse wave velocity in humans, (3) transducer development for blood pressure measuring device, and (4) cardiovascular monitoring system. It was found, in experiments on dogs, that the pulse wave velocity is linearly related to diastolic blood pressure over a wide range of blood pressure and in the presence of many physiological perturbations. A similar relationship was observed in normal, young human males over a moderate range of pressures. Past methods for monitoring blood pressure and a new method based on pulse wave velocity determination were described. Two systems were tested: a Doppler ultrasonic transducer and a photoelectric plethysmograph. A cardiovascular monitoring system was described, including operating instructions.

Mark, R. G.↗

Visual monitoring of autonomous life sciences experimentation

The design and implementation of a computerized visual monitoring system to aid in the monitoring and control of life sciences experiments on board a space station was investigated. A likely multiprocessor design was chosen, a plausible life science experiment with which to work was defined, the theoretical issues involved in the programming of a visual monitoring system for the experiment was considered on the multiprocessor, a system for monitoring the experiment was designed, and simulations of such a system was implemented on a network of Apollo workstations.

Blank, G. E.↗

Microminiaturized, biopotential conditioning system (MBCS)

Multichannel, medical monitoring system allows almost complete freedom of movement for subject during monitoring periods. System comprises monitoring unit (biobelt), transmission line, and data acquisition unit. Belt, made of polybenzimidizole fabric, is wrapped around individual's waist and held in place by overlapping sections of Velcro closure material.

Belasco, N.↗

Protection Against Graph-Based False Data Injection Attacks on Power Systems

Graph signal processing (GSP) has emerged as a powerful tool for practical network applications, including power system monitoring. By representing power system voltages as smooth graph signals, recent research has focused on developing GSP-based methods for state estimation, attack detection, and topology identification. Included, efficient methods have been developed for detecting false data injection (FDI) attacks, which until now were perceived as non-smooth with respect to the graph Laplacian matrix. Consequently, these methods may not be effective against smooth FDI attacks. In this paper, we propose a graph FDI (GFDI) attack that minimizes the Laplacian-based graph total variation (TV) under practical constraints. In addition, we develop a low-complexity algorithm that solves the non-convex GDFI attack optimization problem using ell_1-norm relaxation, the projected gradient descent (PGD) algorithm, and the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM). We then propose a protection scheme that identifies the minimal set of measurements necessary to constrain the GFDI output to high graph TV, thereby enabling its detection by existing GSP-based detectors. Our numerical simulations on the IEEE-57 bus test case reveal the potential threat posed by well-designed GSP-based FDI attacks. Moreover, we demonstrate that integrating the proposed protection design with GSP-based detection can lead to significant hardware cost savings compared to previous designs of protection methods against FDI attacks.

Morgenstern, Gal↗

General Purpose Data-Driven Online System Health Monitoring with Applications to Space Operations

Modern space transportation and ground support system designs are becoming increasingly sophisticated and complex. Determining the health state of these systems using traditional parameter limit checking, or model-based or rule-based methods is becoming more difficult as the number of sensors and component interactions grows. Data-driven monitoring techniques have been developed to address these issues by analyzing system operations data to automatically characterize normal system behavior. System health can be monitored by comparing real-time operating data with these nominal characterizations, providing detection of anomalous data signatures indicative of system faults, failures, or precursors of significant failures. The Inductive Monitoring System (IMS) is a general purpose, data-driven system health monitoring software tool that has been successfully applied to several aerospace applications and is under evaluation for anomaly detection in vehicle and ground equipment for next generation launch systems. After an introduction to IMS application development, we discuss these NASA online monitoring applications, including the integration of IMS with complementary model-based and rule-based methods. Although the examples presented in this paper are from space operations applications, IMS is a general-purpose health-monitoring tool that is also applicable to power generation and transmission system monitoring.

Iverson, David L.↗

Development of a CCTV system for welder training and monitoring of Space Shuttle Main Engine welds

A Weld Operator's Remote Monitoring System (WORMS) for remote viewing of manual and automatic GTA welds has been developed for use in Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) manufacturing. This system utilizes fiberoptics to transmit images from a receiving lens to a small closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera. The camera converts the image to an electronic signal, which is sent to a videotape recorder (VTR) and a monitor. The overall intent of this system is to provide a clearer, more detailed view of welds than is available by direct observation. This system has six primary areas of application: (1) welder training; (2) viewing of joint penetration; (3) viewing visually inaccessible welds; (4) quality control and quality assurance; (5) remote joint tracking and adjustment of variables in machine welds; and (6) welding research and development. This paper describes WORMS and how it applies to each application listed.

Gordon, S. S.↗

System and method for monitoring a reactor system using optical fiber based sensors

A method of monitoring operation of a reactor system includes causing a chemical reaction to occur within an assembly of the reactor system, and measuring a chemical composition of one or more reactants of the chemical reaction with spatial resolution at a plurality of points along a path within the assembly using a sensor system structured to implement distributed sensing. The sensor system includes an optical fiber sensing member provided at least partially within the assembly, wherein the optical fiber sensing member comprises a functionalized optical fiber based sensor device structured to exhibit a change in one or more optical properties in response to changes in the chemical composition of the one or more reactants.

Chen, Peng K.↗

Panel Session 100: An Integrated Systems-Based Monitoring Approach

This panel focused on recent advancements in monitoring and remaining challenges associated with the implementing cost-effective monitoring approaches for complex DOE sites. Monitoring presents one of the largest, long-term costs for environmental remediation and site stewardship within the DOE because contamination at complex sites will likely be present for tens to hundreds of years into the future. Integration of monitoring with predictive modeling is an approach that can reduce long-term monitoring costs as well as support the effective monitoring design and data interpretation for managing a site toward closure and long-term stewardship. Panelists with presentations: Autonomous Electrical Geophysical Monitoring of Contaminated Sites (Tim Johnson); Systems Based Long-Term Monitoring for DOE Legacy Management (David Shafer); Long-Term Systems Based Monitoring (Anderson Ward)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Autonomous System for Monitoring the Integrity of Composite Fan Housings

A low-cost and reliable system assesses the integrity of composite fan-containment structures. The system utilizes a network of miniature sensors integrated with the structure to scan the entire structural area for any impact events and resulting structural damage, and to monitor degradation due to usage. This system can be used to monitor all types of composite structures on aircraft and spacecraft, as well as automatically monitor in real time the location and extent of damage in the containment structures. This diagnostic information is passed to prognostic modeling that is being developed to utilize the information and provide input on the residual strength of the structure, and maintain a history of structural degradation during usage. The structural health-monitoring system would consist of three major components: (1) sensors and a sensor network, which is permanently bonded onto the structure being monitored; (2) integrated hardware; and (3) software to monitor in-situ the health condition of in-service structures.

Qing, Xinlin P.↗

Multileaf collimator performance monitoring and improvement using semiautomated quality control testing and statistical process control

Purpose: High-quality radiation therapy using highly conformal dose distributions and image-guided techniques requires optimum machine delivery performance. In this work, a monitoring system for multileaf collimator (MLC) performance, integrating semiautomated MLC quality control (QC) tests and statistical process control tools, was developed. The MLC performance monitoring system was used for almost a year on two commercially available MLC models. Control charts were used to establish MLC performance and assess test frequency required to achieve a given level of performance. MLC-related interlocks and servicing events were recorded during the monitoring period and were investigated as indicators of MLC performance variations. Methods: The QC test developed as part of the MLC performance monitoring system uses 2D megavoltage images (acquired using an electronic portal imaging device) of 23 fields to determine the location of the leaves with respect to the radiation isocenter. The precision of the MLC performance monitoring QC test and the MLC itself was assessed by detecting the MLC leaf positions on 127 megavoltage images of a static field. After initial calibration, the MLC performance monitoring QC test was performed 3–4 times/week over a period of 10–11 months to monitor positional accuracy of individual leaves for two different MLC models. Analysis of test results was performed using individuals control charts per leaf with control limits computed based on the measurements as well as two sets of specifications of ±0.5 and ±1 mm. Out-of-specification and out-of-control leaves were automatically flagged by the monitoring system and reviewed monthly by physicists. MLC-related interlocks reported by the linear accelerator and servicing events were recorded to help identify potential causes of nonrandom MLC leaf positioning variations. Results: The precision of the MLC performance monitoring QC test and the MLC itself was within ±0.22 mm for most MLC leaves and the majority of the apparent leaf motion was attributed to beam spot displacements between irradiations. The MLC QC test was performed 193 and 162 times over the monitoring period for the studied units and recalibration had to be repeated up to three times on one of these units. For both units, rate of MLC interlocks was moderately associated with MLC servicing events. The strongest association with the MLC performance was observed between the MLC servicing events and the total number of out-of-control leaves. The average elapsed time for which the number of out-of-specification or out-of-control leaves was within a given performance threshold was computed and used to assess adequacy of MLC test frequency. Conclusions: A MLC performance monitoring system has been developed and implemented to acquire high-quality QC data at high frequency. This is enabled by the relatively short acquisition time for the images and automatic image analysis. The monitoring system was also used to record and track the rate of MLC-related interlocks and servicing events. MLC performances for two commercially available MLC models have been assessed and the results support monthly test frequency for widely accepted ±1 mm specifications. Higher QC test frequency is however required to maintain tighter specification and in-control behavior.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗