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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 91 records · Page 5
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2010

UAVSAR Active Electronically-Scanned Array

The Uninhabited Airborne Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) L-band (1.2-1.3 GHz) repeat pass, interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) used for Earth science applications. Using complex radar images collected during separate passes on time scales of hours to years, changes in surface topography can be measured. The repeat-pass InSAR technique requires that the radar look angle be approximately the same on successive passes. Due to variations in aircraft attitude between passes, antenna beam steering is required to replicate the radar look angle. This paper describes an active, electronically steered array (AESA) that provides beam steering capability in the antenna azimuth plane. The array contains 24 transmit/receive modules generating 2800 W of radiated power and is capable of pulse-to-pulse beam steering and polarization agility. Designed for high reliability as well as serviceability, all array electronics are contained in single 178cm x 62cm x 12 cm air-cooled panel suitable for operation up 60,000 ft altitude.

Sadowy, Gregory↗
NASA NTRS2008

SIM PlanetQuest Spectral Calibration Development Unit Beam Combiner

The beam combiner of an astronomical long-baseline interferometer combines the two beams of starlight to form white-light fringes. We describe beam combiner in the SIM PlanetQuest Spectral Calibration Development Unit (SCDU). In addition to forming white light fringes, the beam combiner provides other functions such as separating the light for guiding, fringe tracking, and science measurement. It is designed to function over the optical bandpass 450-950 nm. Coating design is critical to beam combiner as residual dispersion and mismatches affect the ability to accurately measure the position of stars of varying spectral types.

stellar interferometer↗
NASA NTRS0202

Rest architecture for link analysis tools portal

A web portal is under development to improve overall services provided by NASA networks that support near-­‐Earth missions. These networks are managed by Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) Program of NASA and include the following: Deep Space Network (DSN), Space Network (SN), and Near-­‐Earth Network (NEN). DSN is a network of antennas located in three longitudinally separated sites and supports interplanetary spacecraft missions, radio science, and radar astronomy observations. SN consists of a number of geostationary Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS) and associated ground stations. NEN consists of both NASA-­‐owned ground stations and those owned by international, commercial, and academic partners. This study investigates different web access techniques for mission users to use link analysis tools that aid in operating NASA networks. We developed a web portal prototype following principles of Representational state transfer (REST) architecture to leverage scalability, independent deployment of tools, and generic interfaces. In REST architectures, requests and responses between clients and servers are built around transferring representations of resources that can be addressed in memory. We demonstrate the feasibility of using REST architecture to facilitate web-­‐service transactions via web-­‐portal.

Lee, Carlyn-­‐Ann↗
NASA NTRS2021

Ross 19B: An Extremely Cold Companion Discovered via the Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 Citizen Science Project

Through the Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 citizen science project, we have identified a wide-separation (∼10', ∼9900 au projected) substellar companion to the nearby (∼17.5 pc), mid-M dwarf Ross 19. We have developed a new formalism for determining chance alignment probabilities based on the BANYAN Σ tool, and find a 100% probability that this is a physically associated pair. Through a detailed examination of Ross 19A, we find that the system is metal-poor ([Fe/H] = −0.40 ± 0.12) with an age of 7.2 (+3.8, -3.6) Gyr. Combining new and existing photometry and astrometry, we find that Ross 19B is one of the coldest known wide-separation companions, with a spectral type on the T/Y boundary, an effective temperature of 500 (+115, -100) K, and a mass in the range 15–40 M(Jup). This new, extremely cold benchmark companion is a compelling target for detailed characterization with future spectroscopic observations using facilities such as the Hubble Space Telescope or James Webb Space Telescope.

Adam C. Schneider↗
NASA NTRS2007

NASA Global Hawk: A Unique Capability for the Pursuit of Earth Science

For more than 2 years, the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center has been preparing for the receipt of two Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration Global Hawk air vehicles from the United States Air Force. NASA Dryden intends to establish a Global Hawk Project Office, which will be responsible for developing the infrastructure required to operate this unmanned aerial system and establishing a trained maintenance and operations team. The first flight of a NASA Global Hawk air vehicle is expected to occur in 2008. The NASA Global Hawk system can be used by a variety of customers, including U.S. Government agencies, civilian organizations, universities, and state governments. Initially, the main focus of the research activities is expected to be Earth science related. A combination of the vehicle s range, endurance, altitude, payload power, payload volume, and payload weight capabilities separates the Global Hawk unmanned aerial system from all other platforms available to the science community. This report describes the NASA Global Hawk system and current plans for the NASA air vehicle concept of operations, and provides examples of potential missions with an emphasis on science missions.

Naftel, J. Chris↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Mineralogical, Elemental, and Tomographic Reconnaissance Investigation for CLPS (METRIC): A Payload Designed for Exploration of Terrestrial Planetary Bodies

Geological materials (indeed, all solid objects) are characterized by their crystal structure, elemental composition, and morphology. The Mineralogical, Elemental, and Tomographic Reconnaissance Investigation for CLPS (METRIC) instrument suite quantifies all three. These measurements address fundamental science questions (e.g., the origin and evolution of planetary bodies) and support the human exploration of space (e.g., the characterization of regolith for ISRU and the constraint of its geotechnical properties). METRIC comprises an X-ray Diffraction/X-ray Fluorescence instrument (XRD: mineral structure and XRF: elemental composition), an X-ray micro-Computed Tomography instrument (XCT: 3D internal micromorphology), and a hyperspectral imaging infrared spectrometer (IRS) to provide local/regional mineralogic context for these measurements. METRIC XRD/F draws heritage from the highly successful Mars Science Laboratory CheMin instrument. The METRIC XRD/F employs two separate sample cells, one optimized for XRD and one for XRF, resulting in more rapid XRD analysis (tens of minutes vs. tens of hours for CheMin) and an orders-of-magnitude improvement in XRF detection. XCT has not been deployed in space, so the METRIC XCT represents a new capability for solar system exploration. The XCT uses the same basic high-TRL components as METRIC XRD/F, decreasing its development cost for flight. The METRIC IRS is a derivative of the NASA Earth Science Technology Office funded Hyperspectral Thermal Imager instrument and utilizes the NASA Technology Transfer Program to incorporate a commercial-of-the-shelf infrared camera ruggedized for space by NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. The IRS spectral range (8–14 µm) and resolution (10.8 cm -1 ) are tailored to quantify mineralogy in rocks using their characteristic Reststrahlen bands and to characterize mineralogy of soils using the position of the Christensen Feature. The METRIC payload is currently designed for deployment to the Moon on a Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) mission, where the XRD/F and XCT would be located on a lander and the IRS would be on deployed on a companion rover to evaluate the mineralogical diversity of the landing site. A pneumatic drill designed by Honeybee Robotics would excavate regolith up to 50 cm below the lander and deliver multiple aliquots of regolith to the XRD/F and XCT. The METRIC payload could also be deployed on a rover. In this case, a sample handling system on a robotic arm could scoop regolith and/or drill rocks and deliver powder to the XRD/F and XCT located in the rover’s interior. Alternatively, METRIC instruments could be used singly or in combination on human space missions. The XRD/F and XCT could be used to characterize samples in a rover or in a science laboratory within a habitat. These data could help astronauts identify resource-enriched rocks and regolith and triage geologic samples to return samples of high interest for analysis in terrestrial laboratories. The IRS could be attached to a human-navigated rover to collect mineralogical data along a traverse and identify high-priority science samples.

E. B. Rampe↗
NASA NTRS2015

Investigations of Physical Processes in Microgravity Relevant to Space Electrochemical Power Systems

NASA has performed physical science microgravity flight experiments in the areas of combustion science, fluid physics, material science and fundamental physics research on the International Space Station (ISS) since 2001. The orbital conditions on the ISS provide an environment where gravity driven phenomena, such as buoyant convection, are nearly negligible. Gravity strongly affects fluid behavior by creating forces that drive motion, shape phase boundaries and compress gases. The need for a better understanding of fluid physics has created a vigorous, multidisciplinary research community whose ongoing vitality is marked by the continuous emergence of new fields in both basic and applied science. In particular, the low-gravity environment offers a unique opportunity for the study of fluid physics and transport phenomena that are very relevant to management of fluid - gas separations in fuel cell and electrolysis systems. Experiments conducted in space have yielded rich results. These results provided valuable insights into fundamental fluid and gas phase behavior that apply to space environments and could not be observed in Earth-based labs. As an example, recent capillary flow results have discovered both an unexpected sensitivity to symmetric geometries associated with fluid container shape, and identified key regime maps for design of corner or wedge-shaped passive gas-liquid phase separators. In this presentation we will also briefly review some of physical science related to flight experiments, such as boiling, that have applicability to electrochemical systems, along with ground-based (drop tower, low gravity aircraft) microgravity electrochemical research. These same buoyancy and interfacial phenomena effects will apply to electrochemical power and energy storage systems that perform two-phase separation, such as water-oxygen separation in life support electrolysis, and primary space power generation devices such as passive primary fuel cell.

energy storage↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

The View From Out Here: The Solar System Planets as Exoplanet Analogs

As we begin to characterize planets orbiting other stars, one of the most important tools available to us is the collection of disk-integrated solar system observations. To date, these have been limited in how they match up with expected exoplanet observations in terms of wavelength, time, viewing geometry, and separations. The Interstellar Probe mission could push the boundaries of planetary science by providing a much-needed and unique dataset for the solar system viewed as an extrasolar system in advance of the next generation of ground and space-based telescopes. Viewing the solar system at large separations over a long period serves several purposes. It acts as a practical test directly analogous to exoplanet observations under realistic conditions, including such effects as zodiacal dust (e.g., Roberge et al., 2012). Secondly, it allows for both the validation of forward models (that is, simulating a planet and generating spectra) and retrievals (where some of the planetary properties are not known) (e.g., Robinson et al., 2011; Agarwal and Wettlaufer, 2017). Third, the mission pro le would be able to collect data at both high- and low-phase angles, which are lacking for most of the solar system planets (e.g., Mallama and Hilton, 2018). Lastly, the long duration of the proposed mission would allow not only snapshots, but time resolved observations using the same instrument, highlighting the dynamic nature of the planets (e.g., seasonality, storms). The planets need not be resolved to make these observations, which eases instrumentation requirements. Here, we show simulations of what an Interstellar Probe imager would see, improving on work that was part of a white paper submitted to the Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey. The opportunity for multiple full orbits for most of the solar system planets, including a full phase curve of Saturn, is unique and worth pursuing during the development of the Interstellar Probe mission.

Chester Harman↗
NASA NTRS2014

NASA Global Hawk Overview

The NASA Global Hawk Project is supporting Earth Science research customers. These customers include: US Government agencies, civilian organizations, and universities. The combination of the Global Hawks range, endurance, altitude, payload power, payload volume and payload weight capabilities separates the Global Hawk platform from all other platforms available to the science community. This presentation includes an overview of the concept of operations and an overview of the completed science campaigns. In addition, the future science plans, using the NASA Global Hawk System, will be presented.

unmanned aircraft systems↗
NASA NTRS2010

NASA Global Hawk: Project Update and Future Plans

The NASA Global Hawk Project is supporting Earth Science research customers. These customers include: US Government agencies, civilian organizations, and universities. The combination of the Global Hawk's range, endurance, altitude, payload power, payload volume and payload weight capabilities separates the Global Hawk platform from all other platforms available to the science community. This presentation includes an overview of the concept of operations and an overview of the first two science campaigns. In addition the future science plans, using the NASA Global Hawk System, will be presented.

Naftel, Chris↗
NASA NTRS2011

NASA Global Hawk: Project Overview and Future Plans

The NASA Global Hawk Project is supporting Earth Science research customers. These customers include: US Government agencies, civilian organizations, and universities. The combination of the Global Hawk's range, endurance, altitude, payload power, payload volume and payload weight capabilities separates the Global Hawk platform from all other platforms available to the science community. This presentation includes an overview of the concept of operations and an overview of the first two science campaigns. In addition the future science plans, using the NASA Global Hawk System, will be presented.

Naftel, Chris↗
NASA NTRS2023

NASA Strategy for Technology Development

At the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), foresight is a coordinated, iterative, and continual process for making informed decisions. NASA faces diverse and relatively unique challenges and opportunities as the leading U.S. agency for aeronautics development, cutting-edge scientific discovery, and human space exploration. To address these challenges and leverage opportunities, NASA uses foresight to strategically plan technology development across four mission directorates: Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, Space Technology Mission Directorate, Science Mission Directorate, and Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (recently separated into the new Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate and Space Operations Mission Directorate). The mission directorates leverage a broad community of experts and partners to incorporate technology foresight into mission and program planning. Through this process NASA realizes tangible benefits to the agency’s science, technology, and exploration programs. As an independent office, NASA’s Office of Technology, Policy, and Strategy (OTPS) provides strategic advice, supported by independent assessments and rigorous analysis, to inform NASA senior leadership on key areas to align mission and agency-level activities. OTPS serves as a trusted authority to inform technology strategy at the agency to enable future missions. Specifically, OTPS coordinates and uses inputs from a broad community of experts, both internal and external to NASA, to inform decision making for technology plans, investments, and partnerships. OTPS develops and maintains the NASA Technology Taxonomy to standardize communication across the agency’s diverse technology portfolio and the related Strategic Technology Investment Plan that integrates priorities and informs technology investment. Through these efforts, OTPS has refined elements of foresight-informed strategic planning that may be applicable to other technology-driven industries where foresight is essential for resilience. This chapter describes the processes of foresight for technology development at NASA and provides insight into the value the agency derives from these processes. The chapter further describes the role of OTPS as an independent advisory office that supports NASA’s efforts to capitalize on foresight and strategic technology planning. We present these examples with consideration for how organizations in defense, security, and other technology-driven industries can operationalize foresight in their own strategic technology development.

Erica Rodgers↗
NASA NTRS1992

The lunar community church: Contributions to lunar living and to evolution of ethical and spiritual thinking

Should religious institutions get interested in lunar settlement? Would their participation make positive contributions or would it discourage creative diversity and interfere with science and good technical judgement? Among the spacefaring nations of today, religion is distinctly separated from the governments that plan and pay for space exploration. However, as we move off the Earth, our art and philosophy will follow our science and technology. Spiritual thinking will follow as part of our culture. It is time to consider in what ways this can occur constructively. Transport of religious values to a lunar base may have positive effects in two ways. First, the social structure of a 'community church' as found in today's United States, supports its members psychologically. Mutual psychological and social support will be needed in a lunar community. Second, our space pioneers will experience a unique view of the universe which may, in their philosophical discussions, forge new ideas in the spiritual realm.

Allton, J. H.↗
NASA NTRS2011

COMPASS Final Report: Enceladus Solar Electric Propulsion Stage

The results of the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) COllaborative Modeling and Parametric Assessment of Space Systems (COMPASS) internal Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) stage design are documented in this report (Figure 1.1). The SEP Stage was designed to deliver a science probe to Saturn (the probe design was performed separately by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center s (GSFC) Integrated Mission Design Center (IMDC)). The SEP Stage delivers the 2444 kg probe on a Saturn trajectory with a hyperbolic arrival velocity of 5.4 km/s. The design carried 30 percent mass, 10 percent power, and 6 percent propellant margins. The SEP Stage relies on the probe for substantial guidance, navigation and control (GN&C), command and data handling (C&DH), and Communications functions. The stage is configured to carry the probe and to minimize the packaging interference between the probe and the stage. The propulsion system consisted of a 1+1 (one active, one spare) configuration of gimbaled 7 kW NASA Evolutionary Xenon Thruster (NEXT) ion propulsion thrusters with a throughput of 309 kg Xe propellant. Two 9350 W GaAs triple junction (at 1 Astronomical Unit (AU), includes 10 percent margin) ultra-flex solar arrays provided power to the stage, with Li-ion batteries for launch and contingency operations power. The base structure was an Al-Li hexagonal skin-stringer frame built to withstand launch loads. A passive thermal control system consisted of heat pipes to north and south radiator panels, multilayer insulation (MLI) and heaters for the Xe tank. All systems except tanks and solar arrays were designed to be single fault tolerant.

Oleson, Steven R.↗
NASA NTRS2009

SIM-Lite Instrument Description, Operation and Performance

SIM Lite Astrometric Observatory, a space borne mission to be located in a solar Earth-trailing orbit, will conduct high precision differential astrometry. During the 5-year mission, SIM Lite will search about 60 nearby Sun-like stars for exoplanets of mass down to one Earth mass, in the Habitable Zone of those stars. In addition, SIM Lite will survey the architecture of planetary systems of about 1000 stars of all ages and types. SIM Lite will also build a 4 micro-arc-second astrometric grid and perform global astrometry on a variety of astrophysics objects. The instrument consists of two Michelson stellar interferometers and a precision telescope. The Science interferometer is composed of two 50 cm collectors separated by a 6 meter baseline. The technology development was completed in 2005. The mission is now ready for full flight implementation.

exoplanet↗
NASA NTRS2014

Magnetospheric Multiscale Science Mission Profile and Operations

The Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission and operations are designed to provide the maximum reconnection science. The mission phases are chosen to investigate reconnection at the dayside magnetopause and in the magnetotail. At the dayside, the MMS orbits are chosen to maximize encounters with the magnetopause in regions where the probability of encountering the reconnection diffusion region is high. In the magnetotail, the orbits are chosen to maximize encounters with the neutral sheet, where reconnection is known to occur episodically. Although this targeting is limited by engineering constraints such as total available fuel, high science return orbits exist for launch dates over most of the year. The tetrahedral spacecraft formation has variable spacing to determine the optimum separations for the reconnection regions at the magnetopause and in the magnetotail. In the specific science regions of interest, the spacecraft are operated in a fast survey mode with continuous acquisition of burst mode data. Later, burst mode triggers and a ground-based scientist in the loop are used to determine the highest quality data to downlink for analysis. This operations scheme maximizes the science return for the mission.

Mission Design↗
NASA NTRS1976

Apollo-Soyuz experiments summary

The science and technology program conducted by the Apollo crew during the Apollo Soyuz Test Project consisted of 28 separate experiments including five conducted jointly with the Soyuz crew. Experiments were classified in the broad categories of space sciences (astronomy and earth studies), life sciences (particle radiation effects on living cells, the human immune system, and the vestibular system), and materials processing (electrophoresis and solid processing). Experimental designs and results are summarized.

Giuli, R. T.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Spacecraft Alignment Determination and Control for Dual Spacecraft Precision Formation Flying

Many proposed formation flying missions seek to advance the state of the art in spacecraft science imaging by utilizing dual-spacecraft precision formation flying (PFF) to enable a 'virtual' telescope (VT). Using precision dual-spacecraft alignment, very long focal lengths can be achieved by locating the optics on one spacecraft and the detector on the other. Proposed science missions include astrophysics concepts for X-ray imaging and exo-planet observation with large spacecraft separations (1000 km to 80,000 km), and heliophysics concepts for X-ray or extreme ultra-violet (EUV) imaging or solar coronagraphs with smaller separations (50m - 500m). These proposed missions require advances in guidance, navigation, and control (GN&C) for PFF to enable high resolution science imaging. For many applications, the dual-spacecraft dynamics are coupled through the GN&C system when the relative ranging and position alignment sensor components are not co-located with their respective spacecraft mass centers. We develop a model-based PFF system design approach for the VT application, considering the coupling inherent in precision dual-spacecraft inertial alignment. These systems employ a variety of GN&C sensors and actuators, including laser-based alignment and ranging systems, camera-based imaging sensors, inertial measurement units (IMU), as well as microthruster systems and image motion compensation platforms. Results of a GN&C performance assessment reveal how data from relative position sensors can be employed in a Kalman filter framework to significantly improve alignment estimation performance. The assessment provides a comparison of two different GN&C formation flying architectures, illustrating the performance trades inherent in the choice of PFF system architecture in the VT application.

Formation Flying↗