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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 829 records · Page 46
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2009

Advanced Sensors Boost Optical Communication, Imaging

Brooklyn, New York-based Amplification Technologies Inc. (ATI), employed Phase I and II SBIR funding from NASA s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to forward the company's solid-state photomultiplier technology. Under the SBIR, ATI developed a small, energy-efficient, extremely high-gain sensor capable of detecting light down to single photons in the near infrared wavelength range. The company has commercialized this technology in the form of its NIRDAPD photomultiplier, ideal for use in free space optical communications, lidar and ladar, night vision goggles, and other light sensing applications.

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NASA NTRS2010

How to Boost Engineering Support Via Web 2.0 - Seeds for the Ares Project...and/or Yours?

The Mission Operations Laboratory (MOL) at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is responsible for Engineering Support capability for NASA s Ares launch system development. In pursuit of this, MOL is building the Ares Engineering and Operations Network (AEON), a web-based portal intended to provide a seamless interface to support and simplify two critical activities: a) Access and analyze Ares manufacturing, test, and flight performance data, with access to Shuttle data for comparison. b) Provide archive storage for engineering instrumentation data to support engineering design, development, and test. A mix of NASA-written and COTS software provides engineering analysis tools. A by-product of using a data portal to access and display data is access to collaborative tools inherent in a Web 2.0 environment. This paper discusses how Web 2.0 techniques, particularly social media, might be applied to the traditionally conservative and formal engineering support arena. A related paper by the author [1] considers use

Scott, David W.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Coating Processes Boost Performance of Solar Cells

NASA currently has spacecraft orbiting Mercury (MESSENGER), imaging the asteroid Vesta (Dawn), roaming the red plains of Mars (the Opportunity rover), and providing a laboratory for humans to advance scientific research in space (the International Space Station, or ISS). The heart of the technology that powers those missions and many others can be held in the palm of your hand - the solar cell. Solar, or photovoltaic (PV), cells are what make up the panels and arrays that draw on the Sun s light to generate electricity for everything from the Hubble Space Telescope s imaging equipment to the life support systems for the ISS. To enable NASA spacecraft to utilize the Sun s energy for exploring destinations as distant as Jupiter, the Agency has invested significant research into improving solar cell design and efficiency. Glenn Research Center has been a national leader in advancing PV technology. The Center s Photovoltaic and Power Technologies Branch has conducted numerous experiments aimed at developing lighter, more efficient solar cells that are less expensive to manufacture. Initiatives like the Forward Technology Solar Cell Experiments I and II in which PV cells developed by NASA and private industry were mounted outside the ISS have tested how various solar technologies perform in the harsh conditions of space. While NASA seeks to improve solar cells for space applications, the results are returning to Earth to benefit the solar energy industry.

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NASA NTRS2012

Thermal Components Boost Performance of HVAC Systems

As the International Space Station (ISS) travels 17,500 miles per hour, normal is having a constant sensation of free-falling. Normal is no rain, but an extreme amount of shine.with temperatures reaching 250 F when facing the Sun. Thanks to a number of advanced control systems onboard the ISS, however, the interior of the station remains a cool, comfortable, normal environment where astronauts can live and work for extended periods of time. There are two main control systems on the ISS that make it possible for humans to survive in space: the Thermal Control System (TCS) and the Environmental Control and Life Support system. These intricate assemblies work together to supply water and oxygen, regulate temperature and pressure, maintain air quality, and manage waste. Through artificial means, these systems create a habitable environment for the space station s crew. The TCS constantly works to regulate the temperature not only for astronauts, but for the critical instruments and machines inside the spacecraft as well. To do its job, the TCS encompasses several components and systems both inside and outside of the ISS. Inside the spacecraft, a liquid heat-exchange process mechanically pumps fluids in closed-loop circuits to collect, transport, and reject heat. Outside the ISS, an external system circulates anhydrous ammonia to transport heat and cool equipment, and radiators release the heat into space. Over the years, NASA has worked with a variety of partners.public and private, national and international. to develop and refine the most complex thermal control systems ever built for spacecraft, including the one on the ISS.

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NASA NTRS2013

Thermal Stability of RP-2 for Hydrocarbon Boost Regenerative Cooling

A series of tests were performed in the NASA Glenn Research Centers Heated Tube Facility to study the heat transfer and thermal stability behavior of RP-2 under conditions similar to those found in rocket engine cooling channels. It has long been known that hydrocarbon fuels, such as RP-2, can decompose at high temperature to form deposits (coke) which can adversely impact rocket engine cooling channel performance. The heated tube facility provides a simple means to study these effects. Using resistively heated copper tubes in a vacuum chamber, flowing RP-2 was heated to explore thermal effects at a range of test conditions. Wall temperature (850-1050F) and bulk fluid temperature (300-500F) were varied to define thermal decomposition and stability at each condition. Flow velocity and pressure were fixed at 75 fts and 1000 psia, respectively. Additionally, five different batches of RP-2 were tested at identical conditions to examine any thermal stability differences resulting from batch to batch compositional variation. Among these tests was one with a potential coke reducing additive known as 1,2,3,4-Tetrahydroquinoline (THQ). While copper tubes were used for the majority of tests, two exploratory tests were performed with a copper alloy known as GRCop-42. Each tube was instrumented with 15 thermocouples to examine the temperature profile, and carbon deposition at each thermocouple location was determined post-test in an oxidation furnace. In many tests, intermittent local temperature increases were observed visually and in the thermocouple data. These hot spots did not appear to correspond with a higher carbon deposition.

Kleinhenz, Julie E.↗
NASA NTRS2013

Electric Machine with Boosted Inductance to Stabilize Current Control

High-powered motors typically have very low resistance and inductance (R and L) in their windings. This makes the pulse-width modulated (PWM) control of the current very difficult, especially when the bus voltage (V) is high. These R and L values are dictated by the motor size, torque (Kt), and back-emf (Kb) constants. These constants are in turn set by the voltage and the actuation torque-speed requirements. This problem is often addressed by placing inductive chokes within the controller. This approach is undesirable in that space is taken and heat is added to the controller. By keeping the same motor frame, reducing the wire size, and placing a correspondingly larger number of turns in each slot, the resistance, inductance, torque constant, and back-emf constant are all increased. The increased inductance aids the current control but ruins the Kt and Kb selections. If, however, a fraction of the turns is moved from their "correct slot" to an "incorrect slot," the increased R and L values are retained, but the Kt and Kb values are restored to the desired values. This approach assumes that increased resistance is acceptable to a degree. In effect, the heat allocated to the added inductance has been moved from the controller to the motor body, which in some cases is preferred.

Abel, Steve↗
NASA NTRS2015

3D Endoscope to Boost Safety, Cut Cost of Surgery

Researchers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory worked with the brain surgeon who directs the Skull Base Institute in Los Angeles to create the first endoscope fit for brain surgery and capable of producing 3D video images. It is also the first to be able to steer its lens back and forth. These improvements to visibility are expected to improve safety, speeding patient recovery and reducing medical costs.

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NASA NTRS2016

Silicon-Carbide Power MOSFET Performance in High Efficiency Boost Power Processing Unit for Extreme Environments

Silicon-Carbide device technology has generated much interest in recent years. With superior thermal performance, power ratings and potential switching frequencies over its Silicon counterpart, Silicon-Carbide offers a greater possibility for high powered switching applications in extreme environment. In particular, Silicon-Carbide Metal-Oxide- Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistors' (MOSFETs) maturing process technology has produced a plethora of commercially available power dense, low on-state resistance devices capable of switching at high frequencies. A novel hard-switched power processing unit (PPU) is implemented utilizing Silicon-Carbide power devices. Accelerated life data is captured and assessed in conjunction with a damage accumulation model of gate oxide and drain-source junction lifetime to evaluate potential system performance at high temperature environments.

Ikpe, Stanley A.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Air Launched Vehicle Exergy Analysis During Aircraft Boost Phase

The analysis of air launched vehicles carrying payloads to low earth orbit is complex. The integration of the aircraft flight phase and the launch vehicle flight phase requires the integration of systems functioning from different energy relationships. System exergy balance provides a relationship to integrate the efficiency of the aircraft launcher and the efficiency of the launch vehicle in a single, integrated system assessment. The exergy balance of the aircraft flight phase can be calculated with the launch vehicle included as part of the vehicle mass. As exergy balance allows for separate of the masses, different velocities, and different propulsion systems to continue the mission analysis after separation through payload orbital insertion and aircraft landing. This paper presents the initial assessment of the aircraft launch phase up to separation of the launch vehicle. Showing the method of integration afforded by the system exergy balance relationship.

Lane, Joshua↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Learning From Failure: Boosting Cycling Endurance of Optical Phase Change Materials

Chalcogenide phase change materials (PCMs) are a unique class of compounds whose switchable optical and electronic properties have fueled an explosion of emerging applications in microelectronics and microphotonics. Key to any application is the ability of PCMs to reliably switch between crystalline and amorphous states over a large number of cycles. While this issue has been extensively studied in the case of microelectronic memories, current PCM-based optical devices suffer from much inferior endurance. To understand the failure mechanisms limiting endurance of PCMs specifically in microphotonic devices, we have developed an on-chip resistive micro-heater platform and an automatic multi-modal characterization system to analyze cycling performance of optical PCMs. Reversible switching of large-area PCM devices over 50,000 cycles was demonstrated.

Optical phase change material↗
DOE OSTI2014

Boosting Deuteron Polarization in HD Targets: Experience of moving spins between H and D with RF methods during the E06-101 experiment at Jefferson Lab

Solid HDice targets are polarized by bringing the HD crystal to thermal equilibrium at low temperature and high magnetic field, typically 10-20 mK and 15 Tesla, at Jefferson Lab. In this regime, due to its smaller magnetic moment, the resulting polarization for D is always at least three times smaller than for H. The controlled amount of polarizing catalysts, o-H2 and p-D2, used in the process of reaching a frozen-spin state, further limit the maximum achievable D polarization. Nonetheless, H and D polarizations can be transferred from one to the other by connecting the H and D sub-states of the HD system with RF. In a large target, the RF power needed for such transitions is effectively limited by non-uniformities in the RF field. High efficiency transfers can require substantial RF power levels, and a tuned-RF circuit is needed to prevent large temperature excursions of the holding cryostat. In this paper, we compare the advantages and limitations of two different RF transfer methods to increase D polarization, Forbidden Adiabatic and Saturated Forbidden RF Transitions. The experience with the HD targets used during the recently completed E06-101 experiment in Hall-B of Jefferson Lab is discussed.

Wei, Xiangdong↗