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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 883 records · Page 49

TERSSE: Definition of the Total Earth Resources System for the Shuttle Era. Volume 5: Detailed system requirements: Two case studies

Major resource management missions to be performed by the TERSSE are examined in order to develop an understanding of the form and function of a system designed to perform an operational mission. Factors discussed include: resource manager (user) functions, methods of performing their function, the information flows and information requirements embodied in their function, and the characteristics of the observation system which assists in the management of the resource involved. The missions selected for study are: world crop survey and land resources management. These missions are found to represent opposite ends of the TERSSE spectrum and to support the conclusion that different missions require different systems and must be analyzed in detail to permit proper system development decisions.

Source record↗

Logistics support economy and efficiency through consolidation and automation

An integrated logistics support system, which would provide routine access to space and be cost-competitive as an operational space transportation system, was planned and implemented to support the NSTS program launch-on-time goal of 95 percent. A decision was made to centralize the Shuttle logistics functions in a modern facility that would provide office and training space and an efficient warehouse area. In this warehouse, the emphasis is on automation of the storage and retrieval function, while utilizing state-of-the-art warehousing and inventory management technology. This consolidation, together with the automation capabilities being provided, will allow for more effective utilization of personnel and improved responsiveness. In addition, this facility will be the prime support for the fully integrated logistics support of the operations era NSTS and reduce the program's management, procurement, transportation, and supply costs in the operations era.

Savage, G. R.↗

SEDAC data and applications development plan V(1)

This Data and Applications Development Plan describes how the Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC) at the Consortium for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) is responding to SEDAC's mission to develop new applications and information products that synthesize earth science and socioeconomic data in ways that support decision making. The SEDAC data and applications development effort is a primary means by which the Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) program can help to ensure that the scientific investment embodied in NASA's Mission to Planet Earth (MTPE) program leads to tangible benefits to the American people. The Plan describes the major issues concerned with global climate change, identifies important decision makers and other users who would benefit from improved data and information, and assesses key opportunities for responding to the needs of these users and the scientists who work with them. It then details specific plans for developing selected integrated data products and services and for making them available to the target users on an operational basis. This report provides a summary of the activities performed in connection with NASA/GSFC Letter Contract NAS5-3263 for the period shown.

Chen, Robert S.↗

A Concept for Robust, High Density Terminal Air Traffic Operations

This paper describes a concept for future high-density, terminal air traffic operations that has been developed by interpreting the Joint Planning and Development Office s vision for the Next Generation (NextGen) Air Transportation System and coupling it with emergent NASA and other technologies and procedures during the NextGen timeframe. The concept described in this paper includes five core capabilities: 1) Extended Terminal Area Routing, 2) Precision Scheduling Along Routes, 3) Merging and Spacing, 4) Tactical Separation, and 5) Off-Nominal Recovery. Gradual changes are introduced to the National Airspace System (NAS) by phased enhancements to the core capabilities in the form of increased levels of automation and decision support as well as targeted task delegation. NASA will be evaluating these conceptual technological enhancements in a series of human-in-the-loop simulations and will accelerate development of the most promising capabilities in cooperation with the FAA through the Efficient Flows Into Congested Airspace Research Transition Team.

Isaacson, Douglas R.↗

Source Data Impacts on Epistemic Uncertainty for Launch Vehicle Fault Tree Models

Launch vehicle systems are designed and developed using both heritage and new hardware. Design modifications to the heritage hardware to fit new functional system requirements can impact the applicability of heritage reliability data. Risk estimates for newly designed systems must be developed from generic data sources such as commercially available reliability databases using reliability prediction methodologies, such as those addressed in MIL-HDBK-217F. Failure estimates must be converted from the generic environment to the specific operating environment of the system in which it is used. In addition, some qualification of applicability for the data source to the current system should be made. Characterizing data applicability under these circumstances is crucial to developing model estimations that support confident decisions on design changes and trade studies. This paper will demonstrate a data-source applicability classification method for suggesting epistemic component uncertainty to a target vehicle based on the source and operating environment of the originating data. The source applicability is determined using heuristic guidelines while translation of operating environments is accomplished by applying statistical methods to MIL-HDK-217F tables. The paper will provide one example for assigning environmental factors uncertainty when translating between operating environments for the microelectronic part-type components. The heuristic guidelines will be followed by uncertainty-importance routines to assess the need for more applicable data to reduce model uncertainty.

Al Hassan, Mohammad↗

Long Term Integration and Implementation of ATD-2 Phase 3 Capabilities

Topics include review of recommendations from an earlier Surface CDM (Collaborative Decision Making) Team (SCT) & Flow Evaluation Team (FET) meeting, support of alternative work flows, and software integration in operational systems. The briefing also identifies incorporation of ATD-2 Phase 3 capabilities into the alternative work flows.

ATD-2, IADS↗

2020 JISEA Annual Report

The Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis (JISEA) provides leading-edge, objective, high-impact research and analysis to guide transformative global energy investment and policy decisions. JISEA research and analysis provided decision-making support to industry, the financial sector, and government with a focus on the following strategic areas: energy systems transformation, circular economy for materials and global supply chains, clean energy for industry and agriculture. The 2020 JISEA Annual Report highlights technical reports, journal articles, and other publications produced by JISEA in 2019, along with key milestones, events, and other highlights.

analysis↗

Machine Learning Based Fracture Network Quantification at the IBDP CO2 Sequestration Site

This poster presents the latest results highlighted in SMART phase II task 4 of fracture network and mapping based on IBDP field data measurement. The results will be coupled into the dynamic modeling and simulation study to insight the impact of the fracture in the reservoir system. Such impacts will be applied to AI/ML development for training and test for science-informed decision making support for CO2 storage.

Kumar, Abhash↗

Integrated System Planning: Emerging Software Requirements in the Power Industry

Power system planning software remains fragmented across organizational boundaries, with specialized tools for capacity expansion, production cost modeling, power flow, and dynamic analysis operating on incompatible data models and assumptions. This article argues that the fragmentation is not merely a technical problem but a predictable consequence of Conway's law: software architectures mirror the departmental structures within which they are developed. Regulatory milestones like Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Order 888 formalized these divisions, but the roots trace back to the distinct engineering disciplines-mechanical, chemical, and electrical-that staffed generation and transmission planning departments in vertically integrated utilities. As the industry moves toward integrated system planning (ISP) that coordinates generation, transmission, and distribution investment decisions, the software ecosystem must evolve accordingly. We identify five categories of software requirements to enable this transition: coherent data inputs decoupled from individual applications, unified and extensible data schemas, modular component representations that support multiple abstraction levels, lifecycle management of planning datasets, and well-defined application programming interface (API) contracts that separate data exchange from algorithmic control. We examine how these requirements interact with three common workflow patterns-serial gate clearing, sequential multiapplication, and convergence oriented-and discuss the interface design principles each demands. We then outline a vision for platform-based planning architectures where specialized analytical services compose through standardized interfaces and where artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML) tools augment decision support within a disciplined software infrastructure. The practices proposed here offer a path from today's siloed tool collections toward collaborative planning ecosystems capable of handling the complexity of modern power system transformation.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Biosensor Integration Development ExMC/Canadian Space Agency Collaboration

In support of the NASA Human Research Program Exploration Medical Capability (ExMC) Element, NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) established a collaborative effort with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). The collaboration focuses on leveraging CSA capability in the areas of biosensors and decision support that will augment future development of such components for Exploration Missions. The CSA advancement of biosensors enables NASA to focus on the integration and data management associated with these types of components through the system currently under development by the Medical Data Architecture (MDA) project. This approach has enabled the establishment of a successful collaborative working relationship between ExMC and CSA.Applying lessons learned from the fiscal year 2016 (FY16) Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA) campaign, CSA and NASA ARC developed a solution to provide real-time feedback to researchers who monitor the collection of vital signs data from a wearable Astroskin garment. The advances in the interfaces included the development of an iPad application (by CSA) to wirelessly forward the vital signs data to the MDA system, which collected the vital signs data through a receiver developed by NASA ARC. The development of these interfaces aims to provide communications between the Astroskin and the MDA system such that data may be seamlessly collected, stored and retrieved by the MDA. The first steps towards this goal were demonstrated in FY16. In FY17, ExMC will complete the first in a series of test beds that establishes a system to automate collection and management of vital sign data from the Astroskin, and other sources of data, to provide information for a crewmember to make medical decisions. In addition, the MDA Test Bed 1 will enable CSA to evaluate and optimize biosensor advancement and facilitate decision support algorithm development.

Vital signs↗

Biosensor Integration Development ExMC/Canadian Space Agency Collaboration

In support of the NASA Human Research Program Exploration Medical Capability (ExMC) Element, NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) established a collaborative effort with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). The collaboration focuses on leveraging CSA capability in the areas of biosensors and decision support that will augment future development of such components for Exploration Missions. The CSA advancement of biosensors enables NASA to focus on the integration and data management associated with these types of components through the system currently under development by the Medical Data Architecture (MDA) project. This approach has enabled the establishment of a successful collaborative working relationship between ExMC and CSA.Applying lessons learned from the fiscal year 2016 (FY16) Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA) campaign, CSA and NASA ARC developed a solution to provide real-time feedback to researchers who monitor the collection of vital signs data from a wearable Astroskin garment. The advances in the interfaces included the development of an iPad application (by CSA) to wirelessly forward the vital signs data to the MDA system, which collected the vital signs data through a receiver developed by NASA ARC. The development of these interfaces aims to provide communications between the Astroskin and the MDA system such that data may be seamlessly collected, stored and retrieved by the MDA. The first steps towards this goal were demonstrated in FY16. In FY17, ExMC will complete the first in a series of test beds that establishes a system to automate collection and management of vital sign data from the Astroskin, and other sources of data, to provide information for a crewmember to make medical decisions. In addition, the MDA Test Bed 1 will enable CSA to evaluate and optimize biosensor advancement and facilitate decision support algorithm development.

Astroskin↗

Establishing Hazardous Gas Launch Commit Criteria for the Space Shuttle External Tank Intertank Compartment

Until recently, the simultaneous detection and evaluation of multiple Space Transportation System (STS) element compartments for propellant leakage was not possible during the External Tank (ET) pre-pressurization (pre-press) phase of propellant loading; late in the loading sequence (T-3 min to T-0). There exist launch commit criteria (LCCS) designed to protect against leaks resulting in flammable mixtures in the intertank during the functional life of the ET; start of propellant loading through ET-Orbiter separation. However thus far, leak protection had relied on the premise that if a propellant supply system leak were to exist, it would be a leak of fixed area present at the start of propellant loading (dumb leak mode) and such a leak could be detected earlier in the loading sequence than the pre-press phase. No measures had ever been implemented which would protect against leaks potentially developing late in the loading sequence (smart leak mode), The STS community had baselined this situation as an accepted risk their decision supported by exhaustive hardware acceptance criteria and a history of many successful launches. With the recent development of improvements to the hazardous gas detection system (HGDS), an opportunity arose to monitor the intertank compartment for hazardous gas concentrations beyond the T-3 minute mark. In this timeframe the propellant supply system is pressurized for flight and protection was sought against potential leaks generated by this pressurization process. The challenge at hand was to develop LCCs in this timeframe that were not too conservative to unnecessarily prohibit a launch, yet not too liberal to endanger crew safety and mission success. Since essentially no measurement history existed in this timeframe, the LCCs would have to rely on analysis alone. At NASA's direction, Lockheed Martin Michoud Space Systems (LMMSS) developed requirements that would protect against a smart leak during pre-press. A smart leak protection strategy is noteworthy from an STS main propulsion system (NWS) community perspective. This paper presents the resultant requirements as well as the technical and program issues involved with establishing hazardous gas LCCs for the ET intertank compartment.

Baran, Adam J.↗

STOCHASTIC OPTIMIZATION FOR LONG TERM CAPITAL STRUCTURES, SYSTEMS, AND COMPONENTS REFURBISHMENT AND REPLACEMENT

As commercial nuclear power plants (NPPs) pursue extended plant operations in the form of Second License Renewals (SLRs), opportunities exist for these plants to provide capital investments to ensure long-term, safe, and economic performance. Several utilities have already announced their intention to pursue extended operations for one or more of their NPPs via SLR2. The goal of this research is to develop a riskinformed approach to evaluate and prioritize plant capital investments made in preparation for, and during the period of, extended plant operations to support decisions in NPP operations. In order to prioritize project selection via a riskinformed approach we developed a single decision-making tool that integrates safety/reliability, cost, and stochastic optimization models to provide users with data analysis capabilities to more cost effectively manage plant assets. Both stochastic analysis methods—such as Monte Carlo-based sampling strategies—and multi-stage stochastic optimization strategies are employed to provide priority lists to decisionmakers in support of risk-informed decisions. We applied the proposed method to a trial application of projected replacement/refurbishment expenditures for plant capital assets (i.e., Structures, Systems, and Components [SSCs]). The objective is to optimize the SSC replacement/refurbishment schedule in terms of economic constraints, data uncertainties, and SSC reliability data, as well to generate a priority list for maximizing returns on investment.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Why Near Real-time/Low Latency is Important to Monitor the Changing World

An essential factor for remote sensing data products in impacting decision making is latency, or the time between earth observation and data are available to users. In many applications areas, latency plays an important or even decisive role where low latency earth observations help people to make timely, data-based decisions. Within the open and free NASA resources, NASA’s Land, Atmosphere Near real-time Capability for Earth Observing System (EOS) (LANCE) supports users interested in monitoring a wide variety of natural and man-made phenomena using near real-time (NRT) data products that are made available much quicker than routine processing allows. The combination of all available LANCE satellite products provides global coverage at multiple times per day, which makes it possible to meet user needs in various areas of applications including water resources, agriculture, air quality, wildland fire and many other disasters monitoring and management. As one of the prime users of LANCE, NASA’s Earth Science Applied Sciences Program promotes the use of LANCE data products to demonstrate applications in decision making and facilitates the end-user feedback to the science team to improve data products. One of the most critical applications that we expect data to be processed as close to the user as possible is wildland file response and management. User feedback indicates that LANCE NRT fire data products within 3 hours latency would meet the needs of the wildland fire community. Other examples of earth science application areas for which low latency is particularly important include detecting volcanic eruptions, early warning of disasters, tracking extreme weather events, and monitoring air quality.

Tian Yao↗

Modeling Logistics and Supportability for Crewed Missions Beyond Low Earth Orbit

NASA’s future missions aim to establish a sustained human presence on the lunar surface and send humans to Mars. These missions will send crews farther from home than previous missions, limiting the opportunities for resupply missions. Additionally, the use of multiple launches and reusable elements will increase mission and campaign complexity. Logistics and supportability analysis evaluates the link between mission and system characteristics and key metrics such as logistics and spares mass and volume, crew time, and risk. As missions become increasingly complex and crews are logistically isolated for longer periods of time, logistics and supportability will become more powerful drivers of risk and cost and, therefore, more important considerations during system and mission development. When logistics and supportability are considered from the beginning of system and mission development, opportunities arise to create more efficient, lower-risk systems. Design choices made without detailed consideration of logistics and supportability have the potential to result in greater risks and increased costs as all options may not have been analyzed. This paper provides an overview of a methodology used for space mission logistics and supportability analysis, including key metrics, assumptions, and required inputs. Example applications of this methodology to explore the impacts of system architecture, dormancy, and synergies between lunar and Mars missions are also presented. Conducting these holistic analyses enables informed decision-making for mission planning and system design, which can help mitigate the risk of loss of mission, vehicle, or crew. Using the knowledge of historical missions, experiences gained on the lunar surface, and logistics and supportability analyses, NASA can examine and optimize supportability characteristics for safer and more effective operations for future lunar and Mars missions.

Supportability↗

Modeling Logistics and Supportability for Crewed Missions Beyond Low Earth Orbit

NASA’s future missions aim to establish a sustained human presence on the lunar surface and send humans to Mars. These missions will send crews farther from home than previous missions, limiting the opportunities for resupply missions. Additionally, the use of multiple launches and reusable elements will increase mission and campaign complexity. Logistics and supportability analysis evaluates the link between mission and system characteristics and key metrics such as logistics and spares mass and volume, crew time, and risk. As missions become increasingly complex and crews are logistically isolated for longer periods of time, logistics and supportability will become more powerful drivers of risk and cost and, therefore, more important considerations during system and mission development. When logistics and supportability are considered from the beginning of system and mission development, opportunities arise to create more efficient, lower-risk systems. Design choices made without detailed consideration of logistics and supportability have the potential to result in greater risks and increased costs as all options may not have been analyzed. This paper provides an overview of a methodology used for space mission logistics and supportability analysis, including key metrics, assumptions, and required inputs. Example applications of this methodology to explore the impacts of system architecture, dormancy, and synergies between lunar and Mars missions are also presented. Conducting these holistic analyses enables informed decision-making for mission planning and system design, which can help mitigate the risk of loss of mission, vehicle, or crew. Using the knowledge of historical missions, experiences gained on the lunar surface, and logistics and supportability analyses, NASA can examine and optimize supportability characteristics for safer and more effective operations for future lunar and Mars missions.

Supportability↗

Technology Integration 2021 Annual Progress Report

VTO's Technology Integration Program supports a broad technology portfolio that includes alternative fuels, energy efficient mobility systems and technologies, and other efficient advanced technologies that can reduce transportation energy costs for businesses and consumers. The program provides objective, unbiased data and real-world lessons learned to inform future research needs and support local decision making. It also includes projects to disseminate data, information, and insight, as well as online tools and technology assistance to cities and regions working to implement alternative fuels and energy efficient mobility technologies and systems.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Technology Integration (2022 Annual Progress Report)

VTO's Technology Integration Program supports a broad technology portfolio that includes alternative fuels, energy efficient mobility systems and technologies, and other efficient advanced technologies that can reduce transportation energy costs for businesses and consumers. The program provides objective, unbiased data and real-world lessons learned to inform future research needs and support local decision making. It also includes projects to disseminate data, information, and insight, as well as online tools and technology assistance to cities and regions working to implement alternative fuels and energy efficient mobility technologies and systems.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗