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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1997

Surface Development and Test Facility (SDTF) New R&D Simulator for Airport Operations

A new simulator, the Surface Development and Test Facility (SDTF) is under construction at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. Jointly funded by the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) and NASA, the SDTF will be a testbed for airport surface automation technologies of the future. The SDTF will be operational in the third quarter of 1998. The SDTF will combine a virtual tower with simulated ground operations to allow evaluation of new technologies for safety, effectiveness, reliability, and cost benefit. The full-scale level V tower will provide a seamless 360 degree high resolution out-the-window view, and a full complement of ATC (air traffic control) controller positions. The imaging system will be generated by two fully-configured Silicon Graphics Onyx Infinite Reality computers, and will support surface movement of up to 200 aircraft and ground vehicles. The controller positions, displays and consoles can be completely reconfigured to match the unique layout of any individual airport tower. Dedicated areas will accommodate pseudo-airport ramp controllers, pseudo-airport operators, and pseudo-pilots. Up to 33 total personnel positions will be able to participate in simultaneous operational scenarios. A realistic voice communication infrastructure will emulate the intercom and telephone communications of a real airport tower. Multi-channel audio and video recording and a sophisticated data acquisition system will support a wide variety of research and development areas, such as evaluation of automation tools for surface operations, human factors studies, integration of terminal area and airport technologies, and studies of potential airport physical and procedural modifications.

Dorighi, Nancy S.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Laser-Induced Plasmas of Plutonium Dioxide in a Double-Walled Cell

Plutonium research has been stifled by the significant number of administrative controls and safety procedures, space and instrumentation limitations in radiological gloveboxes, and the potential for personnel and equipment contamination. To address the limited number of spectroscopic studies in Pu-bearing compounds in the current scientific literature, this work presents the use of double-walled cells (DWCs) in “clean” buildings/laboratories as an alternative to research in radiological gloveboxes. This study reports the first laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) experiments of a PuO 2 pellet contained within a DWC, where the formation of elemental (atomic and ionic) species as well as the evolution from elemental to molecular products (Pu x O y ) was measured. Raman spectroscopy was also used to characterize the surface of the ablated pellet and the particulates deposited on the window of the inner cell. The full width half-maximum of the T 2g band enabled us to obtain an estimate of the temperature at the pellet surface after the ablation pulse and the particulates based on the crystal lattice disorder. Particulates deposited on the window of the DWC during laser ablation were characterized using scanning electron microscopy, where molten irregular particulates and spheroids were observed. This exciting research conducted in a DWC describes our initial attempts to incorporate LIBS in the arsenal of spectroscopic tools for nuclear forensics applications.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2026

A dendritic strontium river isoscape for fisheries applications in the Sacramento River basin, California, USA

Objective Understanding the origins and movements of fish is fundamental to effective conservation and fisheries management. Strontium isotope ratios ( 87 Sr/ 86 Sr) in otoliths provide a powerful tracer of natal origin and migratory pathways. However, existing 87 Sr/ 86 Sr isoscapes for the Sacramento River basin, an ecosystem that supports ecologically and economically important salmon populations, rely on discrete classification approaches that overlook unsampled habitats and do not incorporate spatial uncertainty. Our objective was to develop a continuous, network-explicit 87 Sr/ 86 Sr isoscape with quantified uncertainty to fill in data gaps and enable probabilistic assignments of fish origin and movement. Methods We used river water 87 Sr/ 86 Sr data from 106 sites (1997–2021) to develop spatial stream network models that use dendritic connectivity and watershed characteristics (lithology, bedrock age, and land cover) to predict river water 87 Sr/ 86 Sr throughout the basin. Models were fitted using maximum and restricted likelihood and were evaluated via Akaike’s information criterion and leave-one-out cross validation. We produced both historical (pre-dam) and present-day (below-dam) isoscapes, delineated uncertainty-informed isotopic ranges using k -means clustering, and applied a proof-of-concept Bayesian assignment to estimate natal origins and early rearing habitats for two endangered winter-run Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha. Results Cross validation indicated strong performance of the 87 Sr/ 86 Sr model (leave-one-out cross validation: R 2 = 0.91; root mean square error = 0.0005). Uncertainty-informed clustering identified 19 isotopic “suites” (reaches with indistinguishable 87 Sr/ 86 Sr values) in present-day anadromous habitats and 25 suites in the historical network. Example natal and early rearing assignments included predictions that challenged expectations for juvenile salmon migration based on predicted river 87 Sr/ 86 Sr compositions. Conclusions This study developed a continuous, network-explicit 87 Sr/ 86 Sr isoscape that integrates existing river data to predict 87 Sr/ 86 Sr in unsampled reaches and the likely achievable range and resolution of otolith-based origin and life history inference. The resulting river isoscape provides a valuable tool to predict salmon movements and identify habitats supporting their survival and growth that otherwise might remain undetected. Coupling these predictions with complementary approaches that ground-truth juvenile presence (e.g., targeted fish surveys) represents an important step toward science-informed restoration and management of critical habitats throughout the Sacramento River basin.

Environmental sciences↗
NASA NTRS2013

Geospatial Modeling of Asthma Population in Relation to Air Pollution

Current observations indicate that asthma is growing every year in the United States, specific reasons for this are not well understood. This study stems from an ongoing research effort to investigate the spatio-temporal behavior of asthma and its relatedness to air pollution. The association between environmental variables such as air quality and asthma related health issues over Mississippi State are investigated using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) tools and applications. Health data concerning asthma obtained from Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) for 9-year period of 2003-2011, and data of air pollutant concentrations (PM2.5) collected from USEPA web resources, and are analyzed geospatially to establish the impacts of air quality on human health specifically related to asthma. Disease mapping using geospatial techniques provides valuable insights into the spatial nature, variability, and association of asthma to air pollution. Asthma patient hospitalization data of Mississippi has been analyzed and mapped using quantitative Choropleth techniques in ArcGIS. Patients have been geocoded to their respective zip codes. Potential air pollutant sources of Interstate highways, Industries, and other land use data have been integrated in common geospatial platform to understand their adverse contribution on human health. Existing hospitals and emergency clinics are being injected into analysis to further understand their proximity and easy access to patient locations. At the current level of analysis and understanding, spatial distribution of Asthma is observed in the populations of Zip code regions in gulf coast, along the interstates of south, and in counties of Northeast Mississippi. It is also found that asthma is prevalent in most of the urban population. This GIS based project would be useful to make health risk assessment and provide information support to the administrators and decision makers for establishing satellite clinics in future.

Kethireddy, Swatantra R.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Achievements of the DOT-NASA Joint Program on Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Technologies: Application to Multimodal Transportation

This report presents three-year accomplishments from the national program on Commercial Remote Sensing and Geospatial Technology (CRSGT) application to transportation, administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) in collaboration with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The joint program was authorized under Section 5113 of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21). This is the first national program of its type focusing on transportation applications of emerging commercial remote sensing technologies. U.S. DOT's Research and Special Programs Administration manages the program in coordination with NASA's Earth Science Enterprise's application programs. The program focuses on applications of CRSGT products and systems for providing smarter and more efficient transportation operations and services. The program is performed in partnership with four major National Consortia for Remote Sensing in Transportation (NCRST). Each consortium focuses on research and development of products in one of the four priority areas for transportation application, and includes technical application and demonstration projects carried out in partnership with industries and service providers in their respective areas. The report identifies products and accomplishments from each of the four consortia in meeting the goal of providing smarter and more efficient transportation services. The products and results emerging from the program are being implemented in transportation operations and services through state and local agencies. The Environmental Assessment and Application Consortium (NCRST-E) provides leadership for developing and deploying cost effective environmental and transportation planning services, and integrates CRSGT advances for achieving smarter and cost effective corridor planning. The Infrastructure Management Consortium (NCRST-I) provides leadership in technologies that achieve smarter and cheaper ways of managing transportation infrastructure assets, operation, and inspection, and integrates CRSGT advances for achieving infrastructure security. The Traffic Flow Consortium (NCRST-F) provides leadership to develop new tools for regional traffic flow management including heavy vehicles and intermodal flow of freight, and integrates CRSGT advances for complementing and extending the reach of ITS user services. The Safety, Hazards and Disasters (NCRST-H) provides leadership for deploying remote sensing technology to locate transportation hazards and improve disaster recovery, and integrates CRSGT advances for application to protect transportation systems from terrorism. The DOT-NASA team is proud to present this report of accomplishments on products and results emerging from the joint program for application to transportation practice.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2007

Bridging the Gap between Earth Science and Students: An Integrated Approach using NASA Earth Science Climate Data

Under the auspices of the Department of Education's No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, beginning in 2007 students will be tested in the science area. There are many techniques that educators can employ to teach students science. The use of authentic materials or in this case authentic data can be an engaging alternative to more traditional methods. An Earth science classroom is a great place for the integration of authentic data and science concepts. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has a wealth of high quality Earth science data available to the general public. For instance, the Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC) at NASA s Langley Research Center houses over 800 Earth science data sets related to Earth's radiation budget, clouds, aerosols and tropospheric chemistry. These data sets were produced to increase academic understanding of the natural and anthropogenic factors that influence global climate; however, a major hurdle in using authentic data is the size of the data and data documentation. To facilitate the use of these data sets for educational purposes, the Mentoring and inquirY using NASA Data on Atmospheric and Earth science for Teachers and Amateurs (MY NASA DATA) project has been established to systematically support educational activities at all levels of formal and informal education. The MY NASA DATA project accomplishes this by reducing these large data holdings to microsets that are easily accessible and explored by K-12 educators and students though the project's Web page. MY NASA DATA seeks to ease the difficulty in understanding the jargon-heavy language of Earth science. This manuscript will show how MY NASA DATA provides resources for NCLB implementation in the science area through an overview of the Web site, the different microsets available, the lesson plans and computer tools, and an overview of educational support mechanisms.

Alston, Erica J.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Software for Simulating Air Traffic

Future Air Traffic Management Concepts Evaluation Tool (FACET) is a system of software for performing computational simulations for evaluating advanced concepts of advanced air-traffic management. FACET includes a program that generates a graphical user interface plus programs and databases that implement computational models of weather, airspace, airports, navigation aids, aircraft performance, and aircraft trajectories. Examples of concepts studied by use of FACET include aircraft self-separation for free flight; prediction of air-traffic-controller workload; decision support for direct routing; integration of spacecraft-launch operations into the U.S. national airspace system; and traffic- flow-management using rerouting, metering, and ground delays. Aircraft can be modeled as flying along either flight-plan routes or great-circle routes as they climb, cruise, and descend according to their individual performance models. The FACET software is modular and is written in the Java and C programming languages. The architecture of FACET strikes a balance between flexibility and fidelity; as a consequence, FACET can be used to model systemwide airspace operations over the contiguous U.S., involving as many as 10,000 aircraft, all on a single desktop or laptop computer running any of a variety of operating systems. Two notable applications of FACET include: (1) reroute conformance monitoring algorithms that have been implemented in one of the Federal Aviation Administration s nationally deployed, real-time, operational systems; and (2) the licensing and integration of FACET with the commercially available Flight Explorer, which is an Internet- based, real-time flight-tracking system.

Sridhar, Banavar↗
NASA NTRS2011

NEEMO - NASA's Extreme Environment Mission Operations: On to a NEO

During NEEMO missions, a crew of six Aquanauts lives aboard the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Aquarius Underwater Laboratory the world's only undersea laboratory located 5.6 km off shore from Key Largo, Florida. The Aquarius habitat is anchored 62 feet deep on Conch Reef which is a research only zone for coral reef monitoring in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. The crew lives in saturation for a week to ten days and conducts a variety of undersea EVAs (Extra Vehicular Activities) to test a suite of long-duration spaceflight Engineering, Biomedical, and Geoscience objectives. The crew also tests concepts for future lunar exploration using advanced navigation and communication equipment in support of the Constellation Program planetary exploration analog studies. The Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) Directorate and Behavioral Health and Performance (BHP) at NASA/Johnson Space Center (JSC), Houston, Texas support this effort to produce a high-fidelity test-bed for studies of human planetary exploration in extreme environments as well as to develop and test the synergy between human and robotic curation protocols including sample collection, documentation, and sample handling. The geoscience objectives for NEEMO missions reflect the requirements for Lunar Surface Science outlined by the LEAG (Lunar Exploration Analysis Group) and CAPTEM (Curation and Analysis Planning Team for Extraterrestrial Materials) white paper [1]. The BHP objectives are to investigate best meas-ures and tools for assessing decrements in cogni-tive function due to fatigue, test the feasibility study examined how teams perform and interact across two levels, use NEEMO as a testbed for the development, deployment, and evaluation of a scheduling and planning tool. A suite of Space Life Sciences studies are accomplished as well, ranging from behavioral health and performance to immunology, nutrition, and EVA suit design results of which will directly support the investigation of open questions and operational concepts that will enable NASA to continue its plan for planetary exploration.

Bell, M. S.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Local Power Impact Experiment Design for a New Fuel Type for use in the Advanced Test Reactor

The Advanced Test Reactor (ATR), and complimentary zero-power ATR Critical (ATRC) reactor, located at Idaho National Labs (INL), are undergoing conversion from Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) to Low Enriched Uranium (LEU). Both have a variety of testing locations that can receive large variations in flux due to its unique serpentine design, consisting of five lobes (see Figure 1). Initial criticality and power distribution throughout the core are controlled by core-external outer shim control cylinders (OSCCs). Distinct test loops allow for testing at specific temperatures, pressures, and irradiation conditions. The ATR is one of the key nuclear engineering research and testing facilities within the DOE National Laboratory Complex, and the ATRC supports its operation [1]. Currently, the Office of Material Management and Minimization (M3) within the National Nuclear Security Administration of the DOE is working to convert the remaining research reactors, including the ATR, from 93% HEU fuel to 19.75% LEU fuel (LEU) to support non-proliferation [2]. Extensive materials testing at INL and internationally has demonstrated that a high-density uranium molybdenum (U 10Mo) alloy can meet the performance requirements of the remaining high powered research reactors. However, there are many technical challenges to address before the conversion to LEU can be successful, including the accurate characterization of the reactor core physics with LEU fuel. Reactor physics safety evaluations currently use Monte Carlo for the 21st Century (MC21), a continuous-energy Monte Carlo radiation transport code [3]. Existing MC21 models of the ATR and ATRC cores have a validation basis for use in neutronics analyses with HEU fuel. The models are used to support safety analyses that include comparisons to the safety requirements for the reactors. However, the use of the LOWE element in the ATR and ATRC is not currently covered by the current model validation basis. To deploy the new fuel type, extensive computational reactor physics support is necessary to support the use of LOWE in the ATR and ATRC. Therefore, LOWE requires a rigorous validation basis, aligned with that of HEU fuel, that takes advantage of the existing software tools and processes currently used for the ATR and ATRC. The experiment to validate of the MC21 models for determining power, the Power Impact Validation Experiment, will consist of two flux runs in the ATRC, one with fully HEU loading and one with a single LOWE element. Both flux runs will be instrumented with 20 sets of azimuthal fission wires and 3 sets of axial fission wires, as shown in Figure 4. Standard flux run methodology will be used [4]. Power Impact Validation Experiment data will be compared against MC21 calculated data, both for absolute fission rate accuracy and to determine the relative change in fission rates between the two runs. The results of the Power Impact Validation Experiment and subsequent evaluations will provide the validation basis for MC21 for use with LOWE elements. Key features of the Power Impact Validation Experiment include: (1) Two flux runs to allow for LOWE perturbed measurements to be compared to already validated measurements taken from a full core of HEU fuel, (2) Optimization of instrumentation to balance analytical needs with practical considerations (e.g., limited time window to count beta particles from fission products), and (3) Standard ATRC core loading, including both driver positions and flux traps, to minimize cost while remaining representative of typical ATR core loading.

42 ENGINEERING↗
NASA NTRS1995

Anti-dopamine beta-hydroxylase immunotoxin-induced sympathectomy in adult rats

Anti-dopamine beta-hydroxylase immunotoxin (DHIT) is an antibody-targeted noradrenergic lesioning tool comprised of a monoclonal antibody against the noradrenergic enzyme, dopamine beta-hydroxylase, conjugated to saporin, a ribosome-inactivating protein. Noradrenergic-neuron specificity and completeness and functionality of sympathectomy were assessed. Adult, male Sprague-Dawley rats were given 28.5, 85.7, 142 or 285 micrograms/kg DHIT i.v. Three days after injection, a 6% to 73% decrease in the neurons was found in the superior cervical ganglia of the animals. No loss of sensory, nodose and dorsal root ganglia, neurons was observed at the highest dose of DHIT. In contrast, the immunotoxin, 192-saporin (142 micrograms/kg), lesioned all three ganglia. To assess the sympathectomy, 2 wk after treatment (285 micrograms/kg), rats were anesthetized with urethane (1 g/kg) and cannulated in the femoral artery and vein. DHIT-treated animals' basal systolic blood pressure and heart rate were significantly lower than controls. Basal plasma norepinephrine levels were 41% lower in DHIT-treated animals than controls. Tyramine-stimulated release of norepinephrine in DHIT-treated rats was 27% of controls. Plasma epinephrine levels of DHIT animals were not reduced. DHIT-treated animals exhibited a 2-fold hypersensitivity to the alpha-adrenergic agonist phenylephrine. We conclude that DHIT selectively delivered saporin to noradrenergic neurons resulting in destruction of these neurons. Anti-dopamine beta-hydroxylase immunotoxin administration produces a rapid, irreversible sympathectomy.

NASA Discipline Regulatory Physiology↗
DOE OSTI2023

Data-Driven Buy Clean: Decarbonization and Beyond

This report was compiled to provide recommendations on the availability of public background data from the U.S. Federal life cycle assessment (LCA) Data Commons to be conformant with the Association for Life Cycle Assessment (ACLCA) 2022 Product Category Rule (PCR) Open Standard to build technical tools that can assist industry in creating more comparable Type II Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for Federal Buy Clean and sustainability initiatives. The Federal LCA Commons is not only a public data source but also a consistently structured, self-referencing mega-repository for data developed by federal agency experts (in agency repositories) and by academia, nonprofit organizations, and industry (via the US Life Cycle Inventory Database). The Federal LCA Commons Technical Working Group is continuously improving the standardization of data documentation, formatting, and nomenclature to ensure lossless data loading and accurate data representation. This report and appendixes include the following: 1) An introduction to data-driven Buy Clean and decarbonization initiatives at the federal level; 2) The current status and associated challenges with LCA data and EPD standards and comparability; 3) Opportunities for the Federal LCA Commons to support conformance with the ACLCA 2022 PCR Open Standard and provide resources to implement the Federal Sustainability Plan, Buy Clean Program, and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) sustainability goals and objectives. To date, the Federal LCA Commons is the result of coordinated work by National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), the Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Department of Defense (DoD) and the National Institute of Standards and Technologies (NIST). The Federal LCA Commons will continue to combine databases from the collaborating agencies while remaining a public resource. There are several initiatives among the collaborating agencies to expand the Federal LCA Commons and dedicated federal funding and resources could accelerate and strengthen these initiatives.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Freight Analysis Framework Version 5 (FAF5) Base Year 2017 Data Development Technical Report

The Freight Analysis Framework (FAF) integrates data from a variety of sources to create a comprehensive national picture of freight movements among states and major metropolitan areas by all modes of transportation. The latest of this data series is FAF5, which is the fifth generation FAF and is benchmarked on Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) 2017. Except for FAF1 that provided estimates for truck, rail, and water tonnage for calendar year 1998, later generations of FAF (FAF2 through FAF5) were built based on their benchmark year CFS data, for 2002, 2007, 2012, and 2017 respectively. The FAF is produced under a partnership between Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). As a major data product of the FAF program, the FAF regional database provides a national picture of freight flows to, from, and within the United States (among regions and states), by commodity and mode for the base year, as well as for forecasts up to 30 years into the future in a 5-year interval. Additional FAF data products also include FAF network flows database, where truck movements are routed onto the national highway network, estimates of annual projections, and synchronized historical data series. This report is a technical document prepared to describe the data sources and methodologies applied in the process of building the FAF5 base-year 2017 regional database, released as FAF5.0 in February 2021. This report offers a description of the diverse data sources and modeling methods used in constructing the base year FAF5 regional database. The FAF5 base-year database is used as the base for development of forecasts and for assignment of truck flows on highway network. Similarly, the FAF5 base-year database will be used as the base to generate FAF5 annual estimates. In addition to this report, users are encouraged to refer to the FAF5 User’s Guide, which provides basic information of the data, including definitions of the data attributes, information on how to access the data and tool, as well as detailed data dictionary and code tables.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2020

Integrated Hydro-Terrestrial Modeling: Development of a National Capability

Water is one of our most important natural resources and is essential to our national economy and security. Multiple federal government agencies have mission elements that address national needs related to water. Each water-related agency champions a unique science and/or operational mission focused on advancing a portion of the nation’s ability to meet our water-related challenges. These diverse mission needs have engendered a rich and extensive base of water-related data and modeling capabilities. While useful for their intended purposes, these capabilities are not well integrated to address complex regional problems and overarching national problems. These major investments by a number of federal agencies, however, lay the foundation for an integrated hydro-terrestrial modeling and data infrastructure that will enhance knowledge, understanding, prediction, and management of the nation’s diverse water challenges. Creating a more seamless national hydro-terrestrial modeling and data capacity presents an enormous opportunity to advance operational as well as research capabilities leading to more effective water management. Advances are necessary not only in operational tools for forecasting but also in research to identify and resolve knowledge and data gaps that lead to unacceptable uncertainties in forecast outcomes. As such, close coordination across scientific, operational, and resource management communities is required. To this end, an interagency workshop on “Integrated Hydro-Terrestrial Modeling: Development of a National Capacity” was held at the National Science Foundation (NSF) headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia in September 2019, led jointly by the NSF, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and with broader interagency support provided through an interagency steering committee. This workshop provided a venue to bring together representatives of water-related agencies and their scientific partners (including university researchers) to initiate and refine a vision for a national Integrated Hydro-Terrestrial Modeling (IHTM) and data infrastructure and advance ideas towards its development. The workshop was designed to address three critical foci to advance the development of a national IHTM capacity: “Priority Water Challenges” around which to motivate and initiate development; Technical and methodological obstacles related to data and modeling; Organizational, structural, and cultural barriers that heretofore have impeded integration of capabilities across the federal and research landscapes. The following “Priority Water Challenge” domain areas represent targets for initiating development of the IHTM and were identified and selected in alignment with priorities of the administration’s Water Sub-Cabinet: (1) Nutrient loading, hypoxia, and harmful algal blooms; (2) Water availability in the western United States; and (3) Extreme weather-related water hazards. These water challenges span agency mission boundaries and encompass a broad range of geographies, complex system dynamics and feedbacks, and critical processes spanning hydrological, climatic, and biophysical systems as well as land-use/land-cover, agricultural, built infrastructure, societal, economic, and decisional environments. These three Priority Water Challenges cannot be fully addressed without leveraging complementary and synergistic capabilities across multiple agencies.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
NASA NTRS2018

Systems Development, Data Mining, and Knowledge Discovery

The primary role of the Technical Integration Office is to provide technical solutions and services to different branches at KSC (Kennedy Space Center) and NASA program customers. The Technical Integration Office helps support KSC's operational needs by providing services such as digital connectivity, data center services, modelling and simulation tools, and communication video services. To learn the necessary technology and processes for my internship, I am working on two projects: learning C# (C Sharp programming language) with SQL and developing requirements for a PX (Communication and Public Engagement) inventory management system. To learn how to efficiently program with C#, my mentor assigned me to complete a sports informatics application that would let users discover facts and rules about various sports. The sports informatics application comes with search capabilities, report generating features, rule lists that users can modify, and diagrams for various sport strategies. To further build upon this project, I also developed a sport simulation game with the application. Once I begin more SQL-based projects, I will have the opportunity to learn how to manage databases and link SQL servers with C# programs. To develop requirements for the inventory management system, I have met with PX representatives and toured their storage facilities to see how they organize and store their items and equipment. I will also be meeting with representatives from the budget office to find out what information must be in a system budget report. The main components the system must have are customer request management, a search feature for items and equipment, report generation capabilities, and automated system warnings when item quantities reach or go below administrator-specified threshold levels. I have drafted questions and shall statements that will ultimately become part of the inventory management system requirements document.

Espinosa, Gabriel↗
NASA NTRS2019

SERVIR: Leveraging the Expertise of a Space Agency and a Development Agency to Increase Impact of Earth Observation in the Developing World

SERVIR is a joint initiative of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), in collaboration with leading technical organizations around the world-- called SERVIR hubs--that serve and empower developing countries to use satellite data addressing critical challenges in food security and agriculture; water and water-related disasters; land cover, land use and ecosystems; and weather and climate. Over the past fourteen years, the program has worked with stakeholders in 50 countries across the world, partnered with 390 institutions, and generated and shared over 70 products from 27 satellites and sensors. In that process, around 7,400 specialists have been trained in the application of Earth observation data and technology. In its lifetime, SERVIR has been agile and innovative in shifting from what was essentially an incubator for testing and deploying Earth observation science and technology to making co-development the hallmark of its work, exemplified by both South-South and North-South scientific collaborations. SERVIR’s approach has embodied the concept that to solve really big problems, big, creative solutions are needed. SERVIR represents the world working together to address environmental challenges using spaced-based and geospatial technologies. Aligning with the very meaning of SERVIR, i.e. “to serve,” the program continues to be demand-driven in developing and deploying services (versus one-off products) which address development challenges using geospatial tools and Earth observation science. In 2016, as part of SERVIR’s evolution, USAID and NASA released the ‘SERVIR Service Planning Toolkit,’ a guidance document which provides a framework for how geospatial services can be used to tackle development challenges in a sustained manner. Since then, the Service Planning Toolkit’s systematic approach has begun to catch on in other Earth observation efforts. To improve access and use, SERVIR launched a Service Catalogue in February 2019, a searchable collection of demand-driven geospatial services that use Earth observations to support decision making. SERVIR implementing hub partners –include SERVIR-West Africa at the Agrometeorology, Hydrology and Meteorology (AGRHYMET) Regional Center, in Niamey, Niger; SERVIR-Eastern & Southern Africa at the Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development in Nairobi, Kenya; SERVIR-Hindu Kush Himalaya at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development in Kathmandu, Nepal; SERVIR-Mekong at the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center in Bangkok, Thailand; and SERVIR’ -Amazonia, at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in Cali, Colombia.

Searby, Nancy D.↗
NASA NTRS2006

NASA Balloon Technology Activities

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Balloon Program technology development efforts are fundamental to improving the capabilities of the balloon systems, better understanding of the flight dynamics, and to support the science missions throughout the next decade. Building on the foundations of the 20-year research and development program, a technology roadmap has been generated which identifies specific areas of interest to NASA and the vision of future developments. The major components of the roadmap are: vehicle systems, ballooncraft systems, operational and safety support systems, and planetary vehicles. Within each of these major components, technologies are targeted that will provide both better understanding and foster advancements. The Program's technology thrust areas are directed both in broad efforts that touch on a number of the major components as well as specific tasks that address elements within a specific component. Advances in vehicle systems have focused on producing better balloon designs. This is being attempted through the use of improved inputs into the ba!loon des@ process. Central to this is an increasing the understanding of materials used to fabricate balloons. Testing techniques have been improved with better bi-axial characterization of the balloon materials. More realistic radiative properties of the balloon films and components have also been made. Analytical assessments of the balloon designs are also key in improving balloon designs. These analytical assessments have been accomplished using improving analysis tools and an increased understanding of the float environment. Details of these improvements will be presented. To help improve the operational and flight safety of the balloons, improved flight performance predictions have been made using new analytical tools as well as incorporating the increased understanding of the float environment. These two have combined to allow for improved post-flight balloon performance correlations. A potential to significantly improve the potential safety of a long duration flight can be accomplished using some form of a trajectory modification system. An overview of the development efforts for a trajectory modification system will be presented. A number of efforts will be presented that are focused on the improvement of the ballooncraft systems. Planetary ballooning activities have benefited from a number of separate but related technology advancements made by the NASA Balloon Program's technology developments. The tools, techniques, and advancements made for balloon design and balloon analysis are directly applicable to the processes to develop planetary balloons for either Mars or Venus. An overview of the NASA Balloon Program's role in these efforts and testing will be presented. The technology roadmap, as well as specific projects and recent advancements, will be presented. This overview will demonstrate the technology advancements made by the NASA Balloon Program are focusing on leading balloon developments into the future.

Fairbrother, Debora A.↗
NASA NTRS2017

ISRU-Based Robotic Construction Technologies For Lunar And Martian Infrastructures

Economically viable and reliable building systems and tool sets are being sought, examined and tested for extraterrestrial infrastructure buildup. This project utilizes a unique architecture weaving the robotic building construction technology with designs for assisting rapid buildup of initial operational capability Lunar and Martian bases. The project intends to develop and test methodologies to construct certain crucial infrastructure elements in order to evaluate the merits, limitations and feasibility of adapting and using such technologies for extraterrestrial application. High priority infrastructure elements suggested by our NASA advisors to be considered include landing pads and aprons, roads, blast walls and shade walls, thermal and micrometeorite protection shields and dust-free platforms utilizing the well-known insitu resource utilization (ISRU) strategy. Current extraterrestrial settlement buildup philosophy holds that in order to minimize the materials needed to be flown in, at great transportation costs, strategies that maximize the use of locally available resources must be adopted. Tools and heavy equipment flown as cargo from Earth are proposed to build required infrastructure to support future missions and settlements on the Moon and Mars. Several unique systems including the Lunar Electric Rover, the unpressurized Chariot rover, the versatile light-weight crane and Tri-Athlete cargo transporter as well as the habitat module mockups and a new generation of spacesuits are undergoing coordinated tests at NASAs D-RATS. This project intends to draw up a detailed synergetic plan to utilize these maturing systems coupled with modern robotic fabrication technologies based primarily on 3D Printing, tailored for swift and reliable Lunar and Martian infrastructure development. This project also intends to increase astronaut safety, improve buildup performance, ameliorate dust interference and concerns, and reduce time-to-commission, all in an economic manner. The goal stated in our Phase I proposal was a high fidelity demonstration at D-RATS to be conducted at the conclusion of the Phase II study. In the course of the Phase I study, however, it became clear that such demonstration was neither possible (due to the maximum Phase II budget limitation and the cost of NASA assets and related overhead expenses to support such demonstrations), nor necessary (due to NASA's low TRL expectation of Phase II results). These important facts were revealed to us only after interacting with the NIAC administrators and meetings with potential future partners at JPL and KSC. Accordingly, it was decided by the team that in order to make best use of resources we should investigate novel directions in the adaptation of our fabrication technologies by using in-house laboratories and to produce truly useful technologies and data, and then proceed with high fidelity demonstration at a later opportunity when sufficient resources become available. Furthermore, we have recognized that in addition to our building scale 3D printing technology called Contour Crafting, variations of some of our other fabrication technologies under development are suitable for construction of infrastructure elements such as regolith based ceramic tiles and hence we have decided to include some related preliminary research in this Phase II proposal.

Extraterrestrial↗
NASA NTRS2010

NASA Spacecraft Fault Management Workshop Results

Fault Management is a critical aspect of deep-space missions. For the purposes of this paper, fault management is defined as the ability of a system to detect, isolate, and mitigate events that impact, or have the potential to impact, nominal mission operations. The fault management capabilities are commonly distributed across flight and ground subsystems, impacting hardware, software, and mission operations designs. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Discovery & New Frontiers (D&NF) Program Office at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) recently studied cost overruns and schedule delays for 5 missions. The goal was to identify the underlying causes for the overruns and delays, and to develop practical mitigations to assist the D&NF projects in identifying potential risks and controlling the associated impacts to proposed mission costs and schedules. The study found that 4 out of the 5 missions studied had significant overruns due to underestimating the complexity and support requirements for fault management. As a result of this and other recent experiences, the NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) Planetary Science Division (PSD) commissioned a workshop to bring together invited participants across government, industry, academia to assess the state of the art in fault management practice and research, identify current and potential issues, and make recommendations for addressing these issues. The workshop was held in New Orleans in April of 2008. The workshop concluded that fault management is not being limited by technology, but rather by a lack of emphasis and discipline in both the engineering and programmatic dimensions. Some of the areas cited in the findings include different, conflicting, and changing institutional goals and risk postures; unclear ownership of end-to-end fault management engineering; inadequate understanding of the impact of mission-level requirements on fault management complexity; and practices, processes, and tools that have not kept pace with the increasing complexity of mission requirements and spacecraft systems. This paper summarizes the findings and recommendations from that workshop, as well as opportunities identified for future investment in tools, processes, and products to facilitate the development of space flight fault management capabilities.

Newhouse, Marilyn↗