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At least 847 records · Page 47
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2012

Extending the International Space Station Life and Operability

The International Space Station (ISS) is in an operational configuration with final assembly complete. To fully utilize ISS and extend the operational life, it became necessary to upgrade and extend the onboard systems with the Obsolescence Driven Avionics Redesign (ODAR) project. ODAR enabled a joint project between the Johnson Space Center (JSC) and Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) focused on upgrading the onboard payload and Ku-Band systems, expanding the voice and video capabilities, and including more modern protocols allowing unprecedented access for payload investigators to their on-orbit payloads. The MSFC Huntsville Operations Support Center (HOSC) was tasked with developing a high-rate enhanced Functionally Distributed Processor (eFDP) to handle 300Mbps Return Link data, double the legacy rate, and incorporate a Line Outage Recorder (LOR). The eFDP also provides a 25Mbps uplink transmission rate with a Space Link Extension (SLE) interface. HOSC also updated the Payload Data Services System (PDSS) to incorporate the latest Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) protocols, most notably the use of the Internet Protocol (IP) Encapsulation, in addition to the legacy capabilities. The Central Command Processor was also updated to interact with the new onboard and ground capabilities of Mission Control Center -- Houston (MCC-H) for the uplink functionality. The architecture, implementation, and lessons learned, including integration and incorporation of Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) hardware and software into the operational mission of the ISS, is described herein. The applicability of this new technology provides new benefits to ISS payload users and ensures better utilization of the ISS by the science community

Cecil, Andrew J.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Eddy current characterization of magnetic treatment of materials

Eddy current impedance measuring methods have been applied to study the effect that magnetically treated materials have on service life extension. Eddy current impedance measurements have been performed on Nickel 200 specimens that have been subjected to many mechanical and magnetic engineering processes: annealing, applied strain, magnetic field, shot peening, and magnetic field after peening. Experimental results have demonstrated a functional relationship between coil impedance, resistance and reactance, and specimens subjected to various engineering processes. It has shown that magnetic treatment does induce changes in a material's electromagnetic properties and does exhibit evidence of stress relief. However, further fundamental studies are necessary for a thorough understanding of the exact mechanism of the magnetic-field processing effect on machine tool service life.

Chern, E. James↗
NASA NTRS1993

Eddy current characterization of magnetic treatment of nickel 200

Eddy current methods have been applied to characterize the effect of magnetic treatments on component service-life extension. Coil impedance measurements were acquired and analyzed on nickel 200 specimens that have been subjected to many mechanical and magnetic engineering processes: annealing, applied strain, magnetic field, shot peening, and magnetic field after peening. Experimental results have demonstrated a functional relationship between coil impedance, resistance and reactance, and specimens subjected to various engineering processes. It has shown that magnetic treatment does induce changes in electromagnetic properties of nickel 200 that then exhibit evidence of stress relief. However, further fundamental studies are necessary for a thorough understanding of the exact mechanism of the magnetic field processing effect on machine-tool service life.

Chern, E. J.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Effect of realistic routing on the social burden metric

The distance people travel to reach critical services is a key input to the Social Burden metric used by Sandia’s Resilient Node Cluster Analysis Tool (ReNCAT) in the optimization’s objective function. By default, ReNCAT utilizes Euclidian distances between population blocks and critical facilities when calculating Social Burden. However, these straight-line distances do not reflect how most residents or goods would travel throughout the area. As distance is a vital input to the burden calculation, a more realistic distance calculation will yield more realistic burden values. This work uses real road networks and calculates the shortest distance path between population centers and critical facilities using a standard graph theory approach. These realistic route distances are then used to compute Social Burden for four areas of study. It was found that distances using real road routes are generally, but not always, longer than the Euclidean distance. The increased length increases the final Social Burden metric, however, the overall burden percent change ranged between 17% and 52%, which means the impact of realistic routes relies heavily upon the area’s road topology. It was found that rural locations within an area may have larger burden increases than urban areas as more dense road networks allow routes to more closely follow a straight-line path. Additionally, using the most straight forward routing algorithms requires high computational effort for areas with large road networks. While it is believed this process can be made more performant, that task is beyond this scope of work.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2022

How Management and Leadership Training Can Impact a Health System: Evaluation Findings From a Public Health Management Training Program in Cambodia

In 2017, the National Institute of Public Health in Cambodia collaborated with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to provide management and leadership training for 20 managers and senior staff from 10 health centers. We conducted a mixed methods evaluation of the program's outcomes and impact on the graduates and health centers. From June 2018 (baseline) to January 2019 (endpoint), we collected data from a competency assessment, observational visits, and interviews. From baseline to endpoint, all 20 participants reported increased competence in seven management areas. Comparing baseline and endpoint observational visits, we found improvements in leadership and governance, health workforce, water, sanitation, and hygiene, and health centers' use of medical products and technologies. When evaluating the improvements made by participants against the World Health Organization's key components of a well-functioning health system, the program positively contributed toward building four of the six components—leadership and governance, health information systems, human resources for health, and service delivery. While these findings are specific to the context of Cambodian health centers, we hope this evaluation adds to the growing body of research around the impact of skilled public health management on health systems.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Evaluation of VEGETATION and PROBA-V Phenology Using PhenoCam and Eddy Covariance Data

High-quality retrieval of land surface phenology (LSP) is increasingly important for understanding the effects of climate change on ecosystem function and biosphere–atmosphere interactions. We analyzed four state-of-the-art phenology methods: threshold, logistic-function, moving-average and first derivative based approaches, and retrieved LSP in the North Hemisphere for the period 1999–2017 from Copernicus Global Land Service (CGLS) SPOT-VEGETATION and PROBA-V leaf area index (LAI) 1 km V2.0 time series. We validated the LSP estimates with near-surface PhenoCam and eddy covariance FLUXNET data over 80 sites of deciduous forests. Results showed a strong correlation (R 2 > 0.7) between the satellite LSP and ground-based observations from both PhenoCam and FLUXNET for the timing of the start (SoS) and R 2 > 0.5 for the end of season (EoS). The threshold-based method performed the best with a root mean square error of ~9 d with PhenoCam and ~7 d with FLUXNET for the timing of SoS (30th percentile of the annual amplitude), and ~12 d and ~10 d, respectively, for the timing of EoS (40th percentile).

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
NASA NTRS1985

Satellite services and orbital retrieval

Within the capabilities of the Space Shuttle Orbiter, a broad range of services which can be made available to the satellite user community as summarized. Payload deployment, close proximity retrieval, and a number of other mission related functions are discussed. The focus here is on close proximity retrieval and retrieval of payloads in higher energy low Earth orbits.

Adornato, R. J.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Unique strategies for technical information management at Johnson Space Center

In addition to the current NASA manned programs, the maturation of Space Station and the introduction of the Space Exploration programs are anticipated to add substantially to the number and variety of data and documentation at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC). This growth in the next decade has been estimated at five to ten fold compared to the current numbers. There will be an increased requirement for the tracking and currency of space program data and documents with National pressures to realize economic benefits from the research and technological developments of space programs. From a global perspective the demand for NASA's technical data and documentation is anticipated to increase at local, national, and international levels. The primary users will be government, industry, and academia. In our present national strategy, NASA's research and technology will assume a great role in the revitalization of the economy and gaining international competitiveness. Thus, greater demand will be placed on NASA's data and documentation resources. In this paper the strategies and procedures developed by DDMS, Inc., to accommodate the present and future information utilization needs are presented. The DDMS, Inc., strategies and procedures rely on understanding user requirements, library management issues, and technological applications for acquiring, searching, storing, and retrieving specific information accurately and quickly. The proposed approach responds to changing customer requirements and product deliveries. The unique features of the proposed strategy include: (1) To establish customer driven data and documentation management through an innovative and unique methods to identify needs and requirements. (2) To implement a structured process which responds to user needs, aimed at minimizing costs and maximizing services, resulting in increased productivity. (3) To provide a process of standardization of services and procedures. This standardization is the central theme of the strategic approach. It will allow Division level Data and Documentation Libraries (DDL's) to function independently and optimize efficiency at the Directorate level. This process also facilitates interconnectivity between Division level DDL's and makes them transparent to the users. (4) To implement the process of 'cost savings', and at the same time the objective is to gain substantial improvement in the organization, categorization, and preservation of JSC-generated data and documentation, and (5) To find, locate, retrace, restore, and preserve the Center-generated crucial scientific and technical information that has been and is being provided by the engineers and scientists of JSC. This is important to the preservation of 'lessons learned'. Preliminary estimates of the possible cost savings which will result from the implementation of this process will also be discussed in this paper.

Krishen, Vijay↗
NASA NTRS1997

Alternative Perspectives on Risk

The goal of the commercial air transport system is to provide air transportation to the flying public at an acceptable cost with minimal risk. in an ideal situation these three goals would support each other. In fact, it is sometimes the case that the goals conflict: getting passengers to their destinations on time may conflict with fixing a minor mechanical malfunction that may or may not impact safety; flying a route that will avoid turbulence, thereby providing passengers with a more comfortable ride, may consume more fuel; managing traffic density may mean aircraft are delayed or must use an approach that will result in a long taxi to their gates, costing time and fuel. Various players in the system--pilots, dispatchers, controllers, as well as managers in the airline carriers and traffic management system--make decisions every day that involve trade-offs of benefits and costs. The prospect of revisions in the air traffic management system, with shifts in responsibilities from controllers to users, including airline operations center personnel and pilots, means that individuals may be performing either new jobs or old jobs under new guidance. It will be essential to know how the various players (a) perceive the risks and benefits associated with the decisions they will make under the old and new control structures, and (b) how much risk they are willing to accept in making decisions. Risk is here defined as the probability and magnitude of negative events (after Slovic, 1987). Of primary interest are risks associated with traffic, weather, and operational factors such as schedule, fuel consumption, and passenger service. Previous research has documented differences between groups in perceptions of risks associated with both everyday and aviation related situations. Risk perception varies as a function of familiarity with the situation, degree to which one is potentially affected by the risk, the level of control one has over the situation, and one's level of experience and responsibility in the situation. In our presentation we will consider several factors that may influence differences in risk perception, risk tolerance and risk management among the three major categories of participants in the aviation system (pilots, dispatchers, and controllers). Primary factors that may affect risk attitudes (the collective term we will use for the three components of risk) include: expertise or job-specific knowledge or training, personal involvement or vulnerability to consequences, goals, time horizon (imminence of consequences), span of control and type of control, and information or technology support. These will be considered in the context of five different types of risk (physical threat, economic, social, legal, and ethical). A study designed to study differences between pilots and controllers in their perceptions and responses to traffic risks under the present and a user-preferred control situation will be described. Future studies involving dispatchers' risk perceptions regarding various types of risk will be discussed.

Davison, Jeannie↗
NASA NTRS2007

Autonomous Airborne Refueling Demonstration: Phase I Flight-Test Results

The first phase of the Autonomous Airborne Refueling Demonstration (AARD) project was completed on August 30, 2006. The goal of this 15-month effort was to develop and flight-test a system to demonstrate an autonomous refueling engagement using the Navy style hose-and-drogue air-to-air refueling method. The prime contractor for this Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) sponsored program was Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), Sparks, Nevada. The responsible flight-test organization was the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC), Edwards, California, which also provided the F/A-18 receiver airplane (McDonnell Douglas, now The Boeing Company, Chicago, Illinois). The B-707-300 tanker airplane (The Boeing Company) was contracted through Omega Aerial Refueling Services, Inc., Alexandria, Virginia, and the optical tracking system was contracted through OCTEC Ltd., Bracknell, Berkshire, United Kingdom. Nine research flights were flown, testing the functionality and performance of the system in a stepwise manner, culminating in the plug attempts on the final flight. Relative position keeping was found to be very stable and accurate. The receiver aircraft was capable of following the tanker aircraft through turns while maintaining its relative position. During the last flight, six capture attempts were made, two of which were successful. The four misses demonstrated excellent characteristics, the receiver retreating from the drogue in a controlled, safe, and predictable manner that precluded contact between the drogue and the receiver aircraft. The position of the receiver aircraft when engaged and in position for refueling was found to be 5.5 to 8.5 ft low of the ideal position. The controller inputs to the F/A-18 were found to be extremely small.

Dibley, Ryan P.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Autonomous Airborne Refueling Demonstration, Phase I Flight-Test Results

The first phase of the Autonomous Airborne Refueling Demonstration (AARD) project was completed on August 30, 2006. The goal of this 15-month effort was to develop and flight-test a system to demonstrate an autonomous refueling engagement using the Navy style hose-and-drogue air-to-air refueling method. The prime contractor for this Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) sponsored program was Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), Sparks, Nevada. The responsible flight-test organization was the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC), Edwards, California, which also provided the F/A-18 receiver airplane (McDonnell Douglas, now The Boeing Company, Chicago, Illinois). The B-707-300 tanker airplane (The Boeing Company) was contracted through Omega Aerial Refueling Services, Inc., Alexandria, Virginia, and the optical tracking system was contracted through OCTEC Ltd., Bracknell, Berkshire, United Kingdom. Nine research flights were flown, testing the functionality and performance of the system in a stepwise manner, culminating in the plug attempts on the final flight. Relative position keeping was found to be very stable and accurate. The receiver aircraft was capable of following the tanker aircraft through turns while maintaining its relative position. During the last flight, six capture attempts were made, two of which were successful. The four misses demonstrated excellent characteristics, the receiver retreating from the drogue in a controlled, safe, and predictable manner that precluded contact between the drogue and the receiver aircraft. The position of the receiver aircraft when engaged and in position for refueling was found to be 5.5 to 8.5 ft low of the ideal position. The controller inputs to the F/A-18 were found to be extremely small

Dibley, Ryan P.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Plug-and-Play Environmental Monitoring Spacecraft Subsystem

A Space Environment Monitor (SEM) subsystem architecture has been developed and demonstrated that can benefit future spacecraft by providing (1) real-time knowledge of the spacecraft state in terms of exposure to the environment; (2) critical, instantaneous information for anomaly resolution; and (3) invaluable environmental data for designing future missions. The SEM architecture consists of a network of plug-and- play (PnP) Sensor Interface Units (SIUs), each servicing one or more environmental sensors. The SEM architecture is influenced by the IEEE Smart Transducer Interface Bus standard (IEEE Std 1451) for its PnP functionality. A network of PnP Spacecraft SIUs is enabling technology for gathering continuous real-time information critical to validating spacecraft health in harsh space environments. The demonstrated system that provided a proof-of-concept of the SEM architecture consisted of three SIUs for measurement of total ionizing dose (TID) and single event upset (SEU) radiation effects, electromagnetic interference (EMI), and deep dielectric charging through use of a prototype Internal Electro-Static Discharge Monitor (IESDM). Each SIU consists of two stacked 2X2 in. (approximately 5X5 cm) circuit boards: a Bus Interface Unit (BIU) board that provides data conversion, processing and connection to the SEM power-and-data bus, and a Sensor Interface Electronics (SIE) board that provides sensor interface needs and data path connection to the BIU.

Patel, Jagdish↗
NASA NTRS2006

Power User Interface

Power User Interface 5.0 (PUI) is a system of middleware, written for expert users in the Earth-science community, PUI enables expedited ordering of data granules on the basis of specific granule-identifying information that the users already know or can assemble. PUI also enables expert users to perform quick searches for orderablegranule information for use in preparing orders. PUI 5.0 is available in two versions (note: PUI 6.0 has command-line mode only): a Web-based application program and a UNIX command-line- mode client program. Both versions include modules that perform data-granule-ordering functions in conjunction with external systems. The Web-based version works with Earth Observing System Clearing House (ECHO) metadata catalog and order-entry services and with an open-source order-service broker server component, called the Mercury Shopping Cart, that is provided separately by Oak Ridge National Laboratory through the Department of Energy. The command-line version works with the ECHO metadata and order-entry process service. Both versions of PUI ultimately use ECHO to process an order to be sent to a data provider. Ordered data are provided through means outside the PUI software system.

Pfister, Robin↗
NASA NTRS2012

Software Modules for the Proximity-1 Space Link Interleaved Time Synchronization (PITS) Protocol

The Proximity-1 Space Link Interleaved Time Synchronization (PITS) protocol provides time distribution and synchronization services for space systems. A software prototype implementation of the PITS algorithm has been developed that also provides the test harness to evaluate the key functionalities of PITS with simulated data source and sink. PITS integrates time synchronization functionality into the link layer of the CCSDS Proximity-1 Space Link Protocol. The software prototype implements the network packet format, data structures, and transmit- and receive-timestamp function for a time server and a client. The software also simulates the transmit and receive-time stamp exchanges via UDP (User Datagram Protocol) socket between a time server and a time client, and produces relative time offsets and delay estimates.

Woo, Simon S.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Risk Mitigation Approach to Commercial Resupply to the International Space Station

In August 2006, NASA awarded Space Act Agreements (SAAs) for Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) under the Commercial Crew and Cargo Project Office at Johnson Space Center. One of the goals of the SAAs is to facilitate U.S. private industry demonstration of cargo transportation capabilities, ultimately achieving reliable, cost effective access to low-Earth orbit (LEO). Each COTS provider is required to complete International Space Stations (ISS) Integration activities, which includes meeting the physical and functional interfaces and interface requirements between the ISS and COTS vehicles. These requirements focus on the areas of risk to the ISS during rendezvous and proximity operations, as well as the integration operations while the COTS vehicle is berthed to the ISS. On December 23, 2008, NASA awarded Commercial Resupply Service (CRS) contracts to provide resupply services to the ISS, following the Shuttle retirement. In addition to performing any ISS Integration activities, NASA will be performing independent assessments of the launch vehicle and orbital vehicle to evaluate the readiness of the contractor to deliver NASA cargo safely to the ISS. This paper will address the activities NASA Centers, both JSC and KSC, in the oversight and insight function over commercial visiting vehicles to the ISS.

Koons, Diane S.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Micro Electric Propulsion Feasibility

Miniature, 50 kg class, strategic satellites intended for extended deployment in space require an on-board propulsion capability to perform needed attitude control adjustments and drag compensation maneuvers. Even on such very small spacecraft, these orbit maintenance functions can be significant and result in a substantial propellant mass requirement. Development of advanced propulsion technology could reduce this propellant mass significantly, and thereby maximize the payload capability of these spacecraft. In addition, spacecraft maneuverability could be enhanced and/or multi-year mission lifetimes realized. These benefits cut spacecraft replacement costs, and reduce services needed to maintain the launch vehicles. For SDIO brilliant pebble spacecraft, a miniaturized hydrazine propulsion system provides both boost and divert thrust control. This type of propulsion system is highly integrated and is capable of delivering large thrust levels for short time periods. However, orbit maintenance functions such as drag make-up require only very small velocity corrections. Using the boost and/or divert thrusters for these small corrections exposes this highly integrated propulsion system to continuous on/off cycling and thereby increases the risk of system failure. Furthermore, since drag compensation velocity corrections would be orders of magnitude less than these thrusters were designed to deliver, their effective specific impulse would be expected to be lower when operated at very short pulse lengths. The net result of these effects would be a significant depletion of the on-board hydrazine propellant supply throughout the mission, and a reduced propulsion system reliability, both of which would degrade the interceptors usefulness. In addition to SDIO brilliant pebble spacecraft, comparably small spacecraft can be anticipated for other future strategic defense applications such as surveillance and communication. For such spacecraft, high capability and reliability, minimal detectability and low cost are requirements. All these miniature spacecraft share a common characteristic: because of their on-board electronic equipment they have, by design, solar order 50-100 W. In a relative sense, such spacecraft are power rich when compared to other larger spacecraft. This power rich situation is offset by very tight mass budgets, which make reductions in propellant mass requirements a key issue in meeting overall spacecraft minimum mass goals. In principle, power rich and propellant poor brilliant pebbles class spacecraft can benefit from using high specific impulse electric propulsion to reduce chemical propellant mass requirements. However, at power levels of order 50 W, arcjets cannot be made to function, ion thrusters are too complex and heavy and resistojets have too low a specific impulse. Recognizing these capability limitations in existing electric propulsion technology, the SDIO/IST sponsored the Phase I SBIR Micro Electric Propulsion (MEP) thruster study described in this report. The objective of this study was to examine the feasibility of developing a very simple, low mass and small volume, electric thruster for operation on hydrazine at less than 100 W of input power. The feasibility of developing such a MEP thruster was successfully demonstrated by EPL by the discovery of a novel plasma acceleration process. The sections in this report summarize the approach, test results and major accomplishments of this proof-of-concept program.

Aston, Graeme↗
NASA NTRS1981

The 30/20 GHz communications system functional requirements

The characteristics of 30/20 GHz usage in satellite systems to be used in support of projected communication requirements of the 1990's are defined. A requirements analysis which develops projected market demand for satellite services by general and specialized carriers and an analysis of the impact of propagation and system constraints on 30/20 GHz operation are included. A set of technical performance characteristics for the 30/20 GHz systems which can serve the resulting market demand and the experimental program necessary to verify technical and operational aspects of the proposed systems is also discussed.

Siperko, C. M.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Modular, Multifunction, Multiport and Medium Voltage Utility Scale SiC PV Inverter (Final Report)

This project is to develop and demonstrate a Modular, Multi-function, Multiport and Medium Voltage utility scale SiC solar inverter (M4 Inverter). The M4 Inverter is a next generation utility scale PV + storage inverter that can substantially reduce the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) while providing grid friendly ancillary services. Conventional utility scale solar inverters includes three parts, a megawatt rated solar inverter, a low frequency transformer (LFT) and a medium voltage switch gear. The proposed M4 Inverter directly converts the DC output of solar panels to medium voltage AC, eliminating the bulky and costly LFT. The M4 Inverter also has a DC port to interface with an additional energy storage device. This plus its bidirectional power flow capability, allows multiple functions in addition to PV maximum power tracking be achieved. These additional functionalities include but not limited to reactive power support, peak shaving, fast frequency regulation and synthetic inertia. Predicted LCOE reductions with these added functionalities, improved efficiency and longer lifetime time are more than 30% compared with the 2017 utility scale solar LCOE. A 1MVA SiC M4 Inverter was developed and tested at high power level. The project has also advanced the state of the art in controller hardware in the loop simulation capability. Power electronic innovations introduced in the M4 Inverter includes 1700V SiC MOSFET application in 1500V PV system, soft switching three-port power converters and modular converter architecture.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗