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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 847 records · Page 47
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2001

Resolution Enhancement of Spaceborne Radiometer Images

Our progress over the last year has been along several dimensions: 1. Exploration and understanding of Earth Observatory System (EOS) mission with available data from NASA. 2. Comprehensive review of state of the art techniques and uncovering of limitations to be investigated (e.g. computational, algorithmic ...). and 3. Preliminary development of resolution enhancement algorithms. With the advent of well-collaborated satellite microwave radiometers, it is now possible to obtain long time series of geophysical parameters that are important for studying the global hydrologic cycle and earth radiation budget. Over the world's ocean, these radiometers simultaneously measure profiles of air temperature and the three phases of atmospheric water (vapor, liquid, and ice). In addition, surface parameters such as the near surface wind speed, the sea surface temperature, and the sea ice type and concentration can be retrieved. The special sensor microwaves imager SSM/I has wide application in atmospheric remote sensing over the ocean and provide essential inputs to numerical weather-prediction models. SSM/I data has also been used for land and ice studies, including snow cover classification measurements of soil and plant moisture contents, atmospheric moisture over land, land surface temperature and mapping polar ice. The brightness temperature observed by SSM/I is function of the effective brightness temperature of the earth's surface and the emission scattering and attenuation of the atmosphere. Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR) is a new instrument that will measure the earth radiation over the spectral range from 7 to 90 GHz. Over the world's ocean, it will be possible to retrieve the four important geographical parameters SST, wind speed, vertically integrated water vapor, vertically integrated cloud liquid water L.

Krim, Hamid↗
NASA NTRS1976

Respiratory Distress

The University of Miami School of Medicine asked the Research Triangle Institute for assistance in improvising the negative pressure technique to relieve respiratory distress in infants. Marshall Space Flight Center and Johnson Space Center engineers adapted this idea to the lower-body negative-pressure system seals used during the Skylab missions. Some 20,000 babies succumb to respiratory distress in the U.S. each year, a condition in which lungs progressively lose their ability to oxygenate blood. Both positive and negative pressure techniques have been used - the first to force air into lungs, the second to keep infant's lungs expanded. Negative pressure around chest helps the baby expand his lungs and maintain proper volume of air. If doctors can keep the infant alive for four days, the missing substance in the lungs will usually form in sufficient quantity to permit normal breathing. The Skylab chamber and its leakproof seals were adapted for medical use.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2005

Lessons Learned from Coordinating Relay Activities at Mars

The Mission Management Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory was tasked with coordinating the relay of data between multiple spacecraft at Mars in support of the Mars Exploration Rover Missions in early 2004. The confluence of three orbiters (Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Odyssey, and Mars Express), two rovers (Spirit and Opportunity), and one lander (Beagle 2) has provided a challenging operational scenario that required careful coordination between missions to provide the necessary support and to avoid potential interference during simultaneous relay sessions. As these coordination efforts progressed, several important lessons were learned that should be applied to future Mars relay activities.

coordination↗
NASA NTRS2010

NASA UAS Update

Last year may prove to be a pivotal year for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) arena, especially in relation to routine UAS access to airspace as NASA accepted an invitation to join the UAS Executive Committee (UAS ExCom). The UAS ExCom is a multi-agency, Federal executive-level committee comprised of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Department of Defense (DoD), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and NASA with the goals to: 1) Coordinate and align efforts between key Federal Government agencies to achieve routine safe federal public UAS operations in the National Airspace System (NAS); 2) Coordinate and prioritize technical, procedural, regulatory, and policy solutions needed to deliver incremental capabilities; 3) Develop a plan to accommodate the larger stakeholder community at the appropriate time; and 4) Resolve conflicts between Federal Government agencies (FAA, DoD, DHS, and NASA), related to the above goals. The committee was formed in recognition of the need of UAS operated by these agencies to access to the National Airspace System (NAS) to support operational, training, development and research requirements. In order to meet that need, technical, procedural, regulatory, and policy solutions are required to deliver incremental capabilities leading to routine access. The formation of the UAS ExCom is significant in that it represents a tangible commitment by FAA senior leadership to address the UAS access challenge. While the focus of the ExCom is government owned and operated UAS, civil UAS operations are bound to benefit by the progress made in achieving routine access for government UAS. As the UAS ExCom was forming, NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate began to show renewed interest in UAS, particularly in relation to the future state of the air transportation system under the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). NASA made funding from the American Recovery and Revitalization Act available in order to continue addressing the issue of routine civil UAS access.

Bauer, Jeffrey Ervin↗
NASA NTRS2013

Orion GNC Mitigation Efforts for Van Allen Radiation

The Orion Crew Module (CM) is NASA's next generation manned space vehicle, scheduled to return humans to lunar orbit in the coming decade. The Orion avionics and GN&C architectures have progressed through a number of project phases and are nearing completion of a major milestone. The first unmanned test mission, dubbed "Exploration Flight Test One" (EFT-1) is scheduled to launch from NASA Kennedy Space Center late next year and provides the first integrated test of all the vehicle systems, avionics and software. The EFT-1 mission will be an unmanned test flight that includes a high speed re-entry from an elliptical orbit, which will be launched on an expendable launch vehicle (ELV). The ELV will place CM and the ELV upper stage into a low Earth orbit (LEO) for one revolution. After the first LEO, the ELV upper stage will re-ignite and place the combined upper stage/CM into an elliptical orbit whose perigee results in a high energy entry to test CM response in a relatively high velocity, high heating environment. While not producing entry velocities as high as those experienced in returning from a lunar orbit, the trajectory was chosen to provide higher stresses on the thermal protection and guided entry systems, as compared against a lower energy LEO entry. However the required entry geometry with constraints on inclination and landing site result in a trajectory that lingers for many hours in the Van Allen radiation belts. This exposes the vehicle and avionics to much higher levels of high energy proton radiation than a typical LEO or lunar trajectory would encounter. As a result, Van Allen radiation poses a significant risk to the Orion avionics system, and particularly the Flight Control Module (FCM) computers that house the GN&C flight software. The measures taken by the Orion GN&C, Flight Software and Avionics teams to mitigate the risks associated with the Van Allen radiation on EFT-1 are covered in the paper. Background on the Orion avionics subsystem is provided, as well as an overview of the GN&C software architecture. The measures taken to handle radiation induced failure of the one or both of the FCM's are presented, and finally simulation and actual hardware-in-the-loop (HWIL) results are shown confirming the validity of the implementation. The paper presents an overview of the Orion avionics architecture describing the GNC sensors, onboard data network as well as the flight control computers and their planned restart capabilities. GN&C sensors include two Orion Inertial Measurement Units (OIMU's), a Vision Processing Unit (VPU) to process camera images, three barometric altimeters and a single GPS receiver. All of the sensors communicate to one of two Power and Data Units (PDU's). The PDU's multiplex analog and serial data from the sensors and write the data to the Orion Data Network (ODN). The OIMU s write measurement messages directly as onto the ODN, but they are routed through PDU network switches.

King, Ellis T.↗
NASA NTRS2013

Orion GN and C Mitigation Efforts for Van Allen Radiation

The Orion Crew Module (CM) is NASA's next generation manned space vehicle, scheduled to return humans to lunar orbit in the coming decade. The Orion avionics and GN&C architectures have progressed through a number of project phases and are nearing completion of a major milestone. The first unmanned test mission, dubbed "Exploration Flight Test One" (EFT-1) is scheduled to launch from NASA Kennedy Space Center late next year and provides the first integrated test of all the vehicle systems, avionics and software.

King, Ellis T.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Unique Results and Lessons Learned From the TSS Missions

The Tethered Satellite System (TSS) Space Shuttle missions, TSS-1 in 1993 and TSS-1R in 1996, were the height of space tether technology development in the U.S. Altogether, the investment made by NASA and the Italian Space Agency (ASI) over the thirteen-year period of the TSS Program totaled approximately $400M-exclusive of the two Space Shuttle flights provided by NASA. Since those two pioneering missions, there have been several smaller tether flight experiments, but interest in this promising technology has waned within NASA as well as the DOD agencies. This is curious in view of the unique capabilities of space tether systems and the fact that they have been flight validated in earth orbit and shown to perform better than the preflight dynamic or electrodynamic theoretical predictions. While it is true that the TSS-1 and TSS-1R missions experienced technical difficulties, the causes of these early developmental problems are now known to have been engineering design flaws, material selection, and procedural issues that (1) are unrelated to the basic viability of space tether technology, and (2) can be readily corrected. The purpose of this paper is to review the dynamic and electrodynamic fundamentals of space tethers and the unique capabilities they afford (that are enabling to certain types of space missions); to elucidate the nature, cause, and solution of the early developmental problems; and to provide an update on progress made in development of the technology.

Stone, Nobie H.↗
NASA NTRS2019

High-Resolution, Lightweight, and Low-cost X-Ray Optics for the Lynx Observatory

We describe an approach to build an x-ray mirror assembly that can meet Lynx’s requirements of high-angular resolution, large effective area, light weight, short production schedule, and low-production cost. Adopting a modular hierarchy, the assembly is composed of 37,492 mirror segments, each of which measures ∼100 mm × 100 mm × 0.5 mm. These segments are integrated into 611 modules, which are individually tested and qualified to meet both science performance and spaceflight environment requirements before they in turn are integrated into 12 metashells. The 12 metashells are then integrated to form the mirror assembly. This approach combines the latest precision polishing technology and the monocrystalline silicon material to fabricate the thin and lightweight mirror segments. Because of the use of commercially available equipment and material and because of its highly modular and hierarchical building-up process, this approach is highly amenable to automation and mass production to maximize production throughput and to minimize production schedule and cost. As of fall 2018, the basic elements of this approach, including substrate fabrication, coating, alignment, and bonding, have been validated by the successful building and testing of single-pair mirror modules. In the next few years, the many steps of the approach will be refined and perfected by repeatedly building and testing mirror modules containing progressively more mirror segments to fully meet science performance, spaceflight environments, as well as programmatic requirements of the Lynx mission and other proposed missions, such as AXIS.

Zhang, William W.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Propulsion Options For Interstellar Exploration

NASA is considering missions to explore near-interstellar space (40 - 250 Astronomical Units) early in the next decade as the first step toward a vigorous interstellar exploration program. A key enabling technology for such an ambitious science and exploration effort is a propulsion system capable of providing fast trip times, yet which has low enough mass to allow for the use of inexpensive launch vehicles. Advanced propulsion technologies that might support the First interstellar precursor mission by the end of the first decade of the new millennium include solar sails and nuclear electric propulsion. Solar sails and electric propulsion are two technology areas that may hold promise for the next generation of interstellar precursor missions as well - perhaps a thousand astronomical units traveled in a professional lifetime. Future missions to far beyond the Heliosphere will require the development of propulsion technologies that are only at the conceptual stage today. For years, the scientific community has been interested in solar sail and electric propulsion technologies to support robotic exploration of the solar system. Progress in thin-film materials fabrication and handling, and advancement in technologies that may enable the deployment of large sails in space are only now maturing to the point where ambitious interstellar precursor missions using sails can be considered. Xenon ion propulsion is now being demonstrated for planetary exploration by the Deep Space 1 mission. The primary issues for the adaptation of electric propulsion to interstellar precursor applications include the development of low specific mass nuclear power systems, engine lifetime, and high power operation. Recent studies of interstellar precursor mission scenarios that use these propulsion systems will be described, and the range of application of each technology will be explored.

Johnson, Les↗
NASA NTRS2020

NASA’s Space Launch System: Launch Capability for Lunar Exploration and Transformative Science

Excitement is building for the first launch of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), a unique exploration asset for the agency’s Artemis lunar program as well as for a new generation of science missions. SLS is designed for an array of missions beyond Earth’s orbit. The flexible system, which can be configured for Orion, cargo or Orion with co-manifested payload missions, offers high escape velocities to send more mass to deep space destinations. When configured with an 8.4 m-diameter fairing, SLS offers unmatched payload volume for human exploration and science missions. The initial Block 1 variant will insert at least 26 metric tons (t) to trans-lunar injection (TLI) and the more powerful Block 1B vehicle will launch 34-37 t to TLI using a new-development upper stage. Much of the initial SLS Block 1 vehicle is complete, including the upper stage and payload section, the core stage, engines and the solid rocket boosters. The first mission, Artemis I, launching from modernized and upgraded facilities at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), will be an uncrewed test flight of SLS, Orion and ground processing, with a primary objective of testing Orion’s heat shield at lunar re-entry velocity. Artemis I will have accommodations for 13 6U CubeSat payloads. These CubeSat missions will be deployed along the upper stage disposal trajectory after Orion separates from the vehicle. A rare opportunity for CubeSats to be deployed beyond low Earth orbit (LEO), Artemis I CubeSat missions range from searching for hydrogen and other volatiles on the lunar South Pole to studying the acceleration mechanisms of solar and interplanetary particles from a heliocentric trajectory. With manufacturing of the initial vehicle complete, fabrication and procurement is progressing for the second flight of SLS and Orion, Artemis II. Also an SLS Block 1 and Orion flight launching from KSC, Artemis II will mark the return of American astronauts to deep space with a lunar flyby-free return trajectory mission. With the Artemis III flight, NASA has the goal to land the first woman and the next man on the Moon. Infrastructure beyond SLS will be required for this effort, including elements of the lunar Gateway as well as lunar rovers, landers and additional commercially supplied launch services. SLS, as the only vehicle with the capability to lift 26 t of mass to TLI in its initial Block 1 variant, will remain a key component of this new-era exploration program. Future variants – Block 1B and Block 2 –will lift 34-45 t to TLI. This paper will discuss the status of testing and integration for the Artemis I vehicle, manufacturing progress for the second vehicle and the manifest outlook for primary, co-manifested and secondary payloads in the current deep space exploration environment.

Creech, Stephen D.↗
NASA NTRS2016

NASA's Space Launch System: A New Opportunity for CubeSats

Designed for human exploration missions into deep space, NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) represents a new spaceflight infrastructure asset, enabling a wide variety of unique utilization opportunities. Together with the Orion crew vehicle and ground operations at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, SLS is a foundational capability for NASA's Journey to Mars. From the beginning of the SLS flight program, utilization of the vehicle will also include launching secondary payloads, including CubeSats, to deep-space destinations. Currently, SLS is making rapid progress toward readiness for its first launch in 2018, using the initial configuration of the vehicle, which is capable of delivering 70 metric tons (t) to Low Earth Orbit (LEO). On its first flight, Exploration Mission-1, SLS will launch an uncrewed test flight of the Orion spacecraft into distant retrograde orbit around the moon. Accompanying Orion on SLS will be 13 CubeSats, which will deploy in cislunar space. These CubeSats will include not only NASA research, but also spacecraft from industry and international partners and potentially academia. Following its first flight and potentially as early as its second, which will launch a crewed Orion spacecraft into cislunar space, SLS will evolve into a more powerful configuration with a larger upper stage. This configuration will initially be able to deliver 105 t to LEO and will continue to be upgraded to a performance of greater than 130 t to LEO. While the addition of the more powerful upper stage will mean a change to the secondary payload accommodations from Block 1, the SLS Program is already evaluating options for future secondary payload opportunities. Early discussions are also already underway for the use of SLS to launch spacecraft on interplanetary trajectories, which could open additional opportunities for CubeSats. This presentation will include an overview of the SLS vehicle and its capabilities, including the current status of progress toward first launch. It will also explain the opportunities the vehicle offers for CubeSats and secondary payloads, including an overview of the CubeSat manifest for Exploration Mission-1 in 2018.

Hitt, David↗
NASA NTRS2016

Metabolomic and Genomic Markers of Atherosclerosis as Related to Oxidative Stress, Inflammation, and Vascular Function in Twin Astronauts

Background: Future human space travel will consist primarily of long-duration missions onboard the International Space Station (ISS) or exploration-class missions to Mars, its moons, or nearby asteroids. Astronauts participating in long-duration missions may be at an increased risk of oxidative stress and inflammatory damage due to radiation, psychological stress, altered physical activity, nutritional insufficiency, and hyperoxia during extravehicular activity. By studying one identical twin during his 1-year ISS mission and one ground-based twin, this work extends a current NASA-funded investigation to determine whether these spaceflight factors contribute to an accelerated progression of atherosclerosis. This study of twins affords a unique opportunity to examine the spaceflight-related atherosclerosis risk independent of the confounding factors associated with different genotypes. Purpose: The purpose of this investigation is to determine whether biomarkers of oxidative and inflammatory stress are elevated during and after long-duration spaceflight and determine if a relation exists between levels of these biomarkers and structural and functional indices of atherosclerotic risk measured in the carotid and brachial arteries. These physiological and biochemical data will be extended by using an exploratory approach to investigate the relationship between intermediate phenotypes and risk factors for atherosclerosis and the metabolomic signature from plasma and urine samples. Since metabolites are often the indirect products of gene expression, we will simultaneously assess gene expression and DNA methylation in leukocytes. Hypothesis: We predict that the space-flown twin will experience elevated biomarkers of oxidative stress and inflammatory damage, altered arterial structure and function, accelerated telomere shortening, dysregulation of genes associated with oxidative stress and inflammation, and a metabolic profile shift that is associated with elevated atherosclerosis risk factors. Conversely, these will not be observed in the ground-based twin. Methods: We will measure blood and urine biomarkers of oxidative stress and inflammation as well as arterial structure and function (carotid intima-medial thickness and brachial artery flow-mediated dilation) in one twin astronaut before, during, and after long-duration spaceflight and in his twin serving as a ground-based control. Furthermore, we will measure metabolomics (targeted and untargeted approaches) and genomic markers (DNA methylation, mRNA gene expression, telomere length) to elucidate the molecular mechanisms involved. A panel of biomarkers of oxidative and inflammatory stress will be measured in venous blood samples and 24-hour (in-flight) and 48-hour (pre- and post-flight) urine pools twice before flight, early (flight days 15 and 60) and late (2 weeks before landing) during the mission, and early in the post-flight recovery phase (approximately 3-5 days after landing). Arterial structure, assessed from measures of intima-media thickness, will be measured at the same times. Arterial function will be assessed using brachial flow-mediated dilation, a well-validated measure used to assess endothelium-dependent vasodilation and a sensitive predictor of atherosclerotic risk, only before and after spaceflight. Discussion: Pre- and in-flight data collection is in progress for the space-flown twin, and similar data have been obtained from the ground-based twin. Blood and urine samples will be batch processed when received from ISS after the conclusion of the 1-year mission. Results from these individual subjects will be compared to the larger complement of subjects participating in the companion study currently ongoing in ISS astronauts.

Lee, Stuart M. C.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) and the Future of Rainfall Estimation from Space

Tropical rainfall is important in the hydrological cycle and to the lives and welfare of humans. Three-fourths of the energy that drives the atmospheric wind circulation comes from the latent heat released by tropical precipitation. Recognizing the importance of rain in the tropics, NASA for the U.S.A. and NASDA for Japan have partnered in the design, construction and flight of a satellite mission to measure tropical rainfall and calculate the associated latent heat release. The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite was launched on November 27, 1997, and data from all the instruments first became available approximately 30 days after launch. Since then, much progress has been made in the calibration of the sensors, the improvement of the rainfall algorithms and applications of these results to areas such as Data Assimilation and model initialization. TRMM has reduced the uncertainty of climatological rainfall in tropics by over a factor of two, therefore establishing a standard for comparison with previous data sets and climatologies. It has documented the diurnal variation of precipitation over the oceans, showing a distinct early morning peak and this satellite mission has shown the utility of precipitation information for the improvement of numerical weather forecasts and climate modeling. This paper discusses some promising applications using TRMM data and introduces a measurement concept being discussed by NASA/NASDA and ESA for the future of rainfall estimation from space.

Kakar, Ramesh↗
NASA NTRS2018

Payload Utilization in NASA's Space Launch System

With Space Policy Directive 1, the United States administration has directed the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA’s) Human Exploration & Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) to return to the Moon with missions and infrastructure designed to support a sustained presence in cislunar space, with robotic and human lunar surface operations. NASA’s new deep space exploration system — the super heavy-lift Space Launch System (SLS), the Orion crew spacecraft and revamped launch facilities at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) — will enable NASA and its commercial and international partners to meet this goal for human exploration of deep space. SLS is the most capable launch vehicle for these efforts, as well as for sending robotic missions deep into the solar system, or even to interstellar space. The vehicle will be available in crew and cargo configurations in progressively more powerful block variants. The initial Block 1 lift capability of at least 26 metric tons (t) to trans-lunar injection (TLI) will be followed by a more powerful Block 1B with the power to loft more than 37 t to TLI. The ultimate Block 2 variant will lift more than 45 t to TLI. For payload accommodation, the Block 1 vehicle can utilize a 5 meter (m) fairing in its cargo configuration with the crew version also able to provide berths for 6U and 12U CubeSats as secondary payloads. The Block 1B crew vehicle will provide as much volume as the space shuttle payload bay in a Universal Stage Adapter (USA) for co-manifested payloads (CPLs). Block 1B cargo vehicles will offer 8.4 m-diameter fairings in 19.1 m and possibly longer lengths, with enough volume to accommodate lunar-orbiting habitat modules and other elements of NASA’s Gateway science outpost. For Mars-class payloads, larger fairings for the Block 2 cargo launcher are under consideration. For missions beyond the Earth-Moon system, SLS offers greater characteristic energy (C3) than any other launch vehicle, enabling shorter transit times or heavier payloads with more robust science packages for missions to the outer solar system. Indeed, the unmatched combination of thrust, payload volume and departure energy that SLS provides opens new opportunities for human and robotic exploration of deep space. This paper will provide an overview of the various vehicle block configurations, their capabilities and payload accommodations for sending primary, co-manifested and secondary payloads to deep space

Creech, Stephen D.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Progress in regenerative life support systems for a lunar laboratory.

Research and development work for application of Environmental and Thermal Control/Life Support System (ETC/LSS) on a lunar base mission is reviewed, covering lunar mission requirements and constraints, a Lunar Base ETC/LSS reliability assessment, food regeneration, the water and waste system, the atmosphere regeneration subsystem, and atmosphere contaminant control. The establishment of detailed system design criteria for the Lunar Surface Base LSS is considered to be premature at this phase of the project. Some recommendations are given instead for guidance in further R & D efforts.

Pecoraro, J. N.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Develop real-time dosimetry concepts and instrumentation for long term missions

The development of a rugged portable dosimetry system, based on microdosimetry techniques, which will measure dose and evaluate dose equivalent in a mixed radiation field is described. Progress in the desired dosimetry system can be divided into three distinct areas: development of the radiation detector, and electron system are presented. The mathematical techniques required are investigated.

Braby, L. A.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Heat Melt Compactor Development Progress

The status of the Heat Melt Compactor (HMC) development project is reported. HMC Generation 2 (Gen 2) has been assembled and initial testing has begun. A baseline mission use case for trash volume reduction, water recovery, trash sterilization, and the venting of effluent gases and water vapor to space has been conceptualized. A test campaign to reduce technical risks is underway. This risk reduction testing examines the many varied operating scenarios and conditions needed for processing trash during a space mission. The test results along with performance characterization of HMC Gen 2 will be used to prescribe requirements and specifications for a future ISS flight Technology Demonstration. We report on the current status, technical risks, and test results in the context of an ISS vent-to-space Technology Demonstration.

ECLSS↗