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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 919 records · Page 51
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NASA NTRS2024

LESSH Lunar Experiment Support System and Handling Battery Charger Module

Beginning with Artemis III, NASA plans to deploy science instruments on the moon near a South Pole landing site. To extend lunar science operations, an EVA compatible LESSH Battery Charger Module (BCM) enables recharging and hard-line data transfer at the modular GFP Interface Bank on the Human Landing System (HLS) or other Artemis vehicles. The LESSH BCM provides an ergonomic interface for astronauts to connect instruments to HLS power and data interfaces. The BCM provides battery charge monitoring and enables data transfer via a flexible harness. LESSH-Placed is an instrument package that can be deployed by astronauts and re-charged via an Artemis vehicle, enabling extended science operations.

LESSH↗
NASA NTRS1984

Telecommunications and data acquisition support for the Pioneer Venus Project: Pioneers 12 and 13, prelaunch through March 1984

The support provided by the Telecommunications and Data Acquisition organization of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to the Pioneer Venus missions is described. The missions were the responsibility of the Ames Research Center (ARC). The Pioneer 13 mission and its spacecraft design presented one of the greatest challenges to the Deep Space Network (DSN) in the implementation and operation of new capabilities. The four probes that were to enter the atmosphere of Venus were turned on shortly before arrival at Venus, and the DSN had to acquire each of these probes in order to recover the telemetry being transmitted. Furthermore, a science experiment involving these probes descending through the atmosphere required a completed new data type to be generated at the ground stations. This new data type is known as the differential very long baseline interferometry. Discussions between ARC and JPL of the implementation requirements involved trade-offs in spacecraft design and led to a very successful return of science data. Specific implementation and operational techniques are discussed, not only for the prime mission, but also for the extended support to the Pioneer 12 spacecraft (in orbit around Venus) with its science instruments including that for radar observations of the planet.

Miller, R. B.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Airborne visible laser optical communication experiment.

A series of optical communication experiments between a high altitude aircraft at 18.3 km (60,000 ft) and a ground station are planned by NASA in the summer of 1972. The basic concept is that an optical tracker and transmitter will be located in each terminal. The aircraft transceiver consists of a 5-mW HeNe laser transmitter with a 30-megabit modulator. The ground station beacon is an argon laser operating at 488 nm. A separate pulsed laser radar is used for initial acquisition. The objective of the experiment is to obtain engineering data on the precision tracking and communication system performance at both terminals. Atmospheric effects on the system performance are of prime importance.

Randall, J. L.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Airborne Visible Laser Optical Communications (AVLOC) experiment

A series of optical communication experiments between a high altitude aircraft at 18.3 km (60,000 ft) and a ground station were conducted by NASA from summer 1972 through winter 1973. The basic system was an optical tracker and transmitter located in each terminal. The aircraft transceiver consisted of a 5-mW HeNe laser transmitter with a 30-megabit modulator. The ground station beacon was an argon laser operating at 488 nm. A separate pulsed laser radar was used for initial acquisition. The objective of the experiment was to obtain engineering data on the precision tracking and communication system performance at both terminals. Atmospheric effects on the system performance was also an experiment objective. The system description, engineering analysis, testing, and flight results are discussed.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1976

Review of V/STOL lift/cruise fan technology

This paper presents an overview of supporting technology programs conducted to reduce the risk in the joint NASA/Navy Lift/Cruise Fan Research and Technology Aircraft Program. The aeronautical community has endeavored to combine the low-speed and lifting capabilities of the helicopter with the high-speed capabilities of the jet aircraft; recent developments have indicated a lift/cruise fan propulsion system may provide these desired characteristics. NASA and the Navy have formulated a program that will provide a research and technology aircraft to furnish viability of the lift/cruise fan aircraft through flight experiences and obtain data on designs for future naval and civil V/STOL aircraft. The supporting technology programs discussed include: (1) design studies for operational aircraft, a research and technology aircraft, and associated propulsion systems; (2) wind-tunnel tests of several configurations; (3) propulsion-system thrust vectoring tests; and (4) simulation. These supporting technology programs have indicated that a satisfactory research and technology aircraft program can be accomplished within the current level of technology.

Rolls, L. S.↗
NASA NTRS1980

High-temperature high-pressure magnetic pickup

Magnetic-pickup transducers operate at temperature as high as 1,100 C and pressures in excess of 2.5 kilobars. Transducers obtain simulated seismic data in laboratory experiments at high temperatures and pressure. They also have potential applications in industrial instrumentation for measurements under similarly difficult conditions. Transducers use high-temperature cement to bond parts together and high-temperature-insulated copper or aluminum wire for windings.

Ahlberg, L. A.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Radiometer for the Pioneer Venus Orbiter

The paper outlines the concept of the Venus Orbiter Radiometric Temperature Experiment (VORTEX), its scientific objectives, and the evolution of its hardware. Reasons for various operating modes are given together with a resume of data handling and some typical results. Emphasis is placed on planet-in-view logic, signal channels, and memory.

Delderfield, J.↗
NASA NTRS1984

The NBS data management technology program

The National Bureau of Standards (NBS) Data Management Technology Program is discussed. The NBS Data Management Technology Program addresses major problems encountered during the following stages of an application's lifetime: requirements analysis and data base design, system selection and implementation, operations management and conversion. Products developed include standard software specifications, guides to best practice, standard data elements and representations, and reports documenting the experiences of other organizations as they attempt to improve the management of their computing resources. Data base Laboratory facilities are maintained for the investigation and analysis of state of the art data base technology. These facilities support collaborative testing with researchers, vendors, users, and standards developers.

Wood, H. M.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Intelligent Resource Management for Local Area Networks: Approach and Evolution

The Data Management System network is a complex and important part of manned space platforms. Its efficient operation is vital to crew, subsystems and experiments. AI is being considered to aid in the initial design of the network and to augment the management of its operation. The Intelligent Resource Management for Local Area Networks (IRMA-LAN) project is concerned with the application of AI techniques to network configuration and management. A network simulation was constructed employing real time process scheduling for realistic loads, and utilizing the IEEE 802.4 token passing scheme. This simulation is an integral part of the construction of the IRMA-LAN system. From it, a causal model is being constructed for use in prediction and deep reasoning about the system configuration. An AI network design advisor is being added to help in the design of an efficient network. The AI portion of the system is planned to evolve into a dynamic network management aid. The approach, the integrated simulation, project evolution, and some initial results are described.

Meike, Roger↗
NASA NTRS1988

Expert system for on-board satellite scheduling and control

An Expert System is described which Rockwell Satellite and Space Electronics Division (S&SED) is developing to dynamically schedule the allocation of on-board satellite resources and activities. This expert system is the Satellite Controller. The resources to be scheduled include power, propellant and recording tape. The activities controlled include scheduling satellite functions such as sensor checkout and operation. The scheduling of these resources and activities is presently a labor intensive and time consuming ground operations task. Developing a schedule requires extensive knowledge of the system and subsystems operations, operational constraints, and satellite design and configuration. This scheduling process requires highly trained experts anywhere from several hours to several weeks to accomplish. The process is done through brute force, that is examining cryptic mnemonic data off line to interpret the health and status of the satellite. Then schedules are formulated either as the result of practical operator experience or heuristics - that is rules of thumb. Orbital operations must become more productive in the future to reduce life cycle costs and decrease dependence on ground control. This reduction is required to increase autonomy and survivability of future systems. The design of future satellites require that the scheduling function be transferred from ground to on board systems.

Barry, John M.↗
NASA NTRS1993

NASA's hypersonic flight research program

The NASA hypersonic flight research program is reviewed focusing on program history, philosophy, and rationale. Flight research in the high Mach numbers, high dynamic pressure flight regime is considered to be essential to the development of future operational hypersonic systems. The piggy-back experiments which are to be carried out on the Pegasus will develop instrumentation packages for hypersonic data acquisition and will provide unique data of high value to designers and researchers.

Blankson, Isaiah↗
NASA NTRS1993

Making tomorrow's mistakes today: Evolutionary prototyping for risk reduction and shorter development time

In the early days of JPL's solar system exploration, each spacecraft mission required its own dedicated data system with all software applications written in the mainframe's native assembly language. Although these early telemetry processing systems were a triumph of engineering in their day, since that time the computer industry has advanced to the point where it is now advantageous to replace these systems with more modern technology. The Space Flight Operations Center (SFOC) Prototype group was established in 1985 as a workstation and software laboratory. The charter of the lab was to determine if it was possible to construct a multimission telemetry processing system using commercial, off-the-shelf computers that communicated via networks. The staff of the lab mirrored that of a typical skunk works operation -- a small, multi-disciplinary team with a great deal of autonomy that could get complex tasks done quickly. In an effort to determine which approaches would be useful, the prototype group experimented with all types of operating systems, inter-process communication mechanisms, network protocols, packet size parameters. Out of that pioneering work came the confidence that a multi-mission telemetry processing system could be built using high-level languages running in a heterogeneous, networked workstation environment. Experience revealed that the operating systems on all nodes should be similar (i.e., all VMS or all PC-DOS or all UNIX), and that a unique Data Transport Subsystem tool needed to be built to address the incompatibilities of network standards, byte ordering, and socket buffering. The advantages of building a telemetry processing system based on emerging industry standards were numerous: by employing these standards, we would no longer be locked into a single vendor. When new technology came to market which offered ten times the performance at one eighth the cost, it would be possible to attach the new machine to the network, re-compile the application code, and run. In addition, we would no longer be plagued with lack of manufacturer support when we encountered obscure bugs. And maybe, hopefully, the eternal elusive goal of software portability across different vendors' platforms would finally be available. Some highlights of our prototyping efforts are described.

Friedman, Gary↗
NASA NTRS1994

Development of techniques for the in situ observation of OH and HO2 for studies of the impact of high-altitude supersonic aircraft on the stratosphere

This three-year project supported the construction, calibration, and deployment of a new instrument to measure the OH and HO2 radicals on the NASA ER-2 aircraft. The instrument has met and exceeded all of its design goals. The instrumentation represents a true quantum leap in performance over that achieved in previous HO(x) instruments built in our group. Sensitivity for OH was enhanced by over two orders of magnitude as the weight fell from approximately 1500 to less than 200 Kg. Reliability has been very high: HO(x) data are available for all flights during the first operational mission, the Stratospheric Photochemistry, Aerosols, and Dynamics Expedition (SPADE). The results of that experiment have been reported in the scientific literature and at conferences. Additionally, measurements of H2O and O3 were made and have been reported in the scientific literature. The measurements demonstrated the important role that OH and HO2 play in determining the concentration of ozone in the lower stratosphere. During the SPADE, campaign the measurements demonstrated that the catalytic removal is dominated by processes involving the odd-hydrogen and halogen radicals-and extremely important constraint for photochemical models that are being used to assess the potential deleterious effects of super-sonic aircraft effluent on the burden of stratospheric ozone.

Anderson, James G.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Development of techniques for the In Situ observation of OH and HO2 for studies of the impact of high-altitude supersonic aircraft on the stratosphere

This three-year project supported the construction, calibration, and deployment of a new instrument to measure the OH and HO2 radicals on the NASA Er-2 aircraft. The instrument has met and exceeded all of its design goals. The instrumentation represents a true quantum leap in performance over that achieved in previous HO(x) instruments built in our group. Sensitivity of OH was enhanced by over two orders of magnitude as the weight fell from approximately 1500 to less than 200 Kg. Reliability has been very high: HO(x) data are available for all flights during the first operational mission, the Stratospheric Photochemistry, aerosols, and Dynamics Expedition (SPADE). The results of that experiment have been reported in the scientific literature and at conferences. Additionally, measurements of H2O and O3 were made and have been reported in the scientific literature. The measurements demonstrate the important role that OH and HO2 play in determining the concentration of ozone in the lower stratosphere. During the SPADE campaign, the measurements demonstrate that the catalytic removal is dominated by processes involving the odd-hydrogen and halogen radicals-an extremely important constraint for photochemical models that are being used to assess the potential deleterious effects of super-sonic aircraft effluent on the burden of stratospheric ozone.

Anderson, James G.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Development of Techniques for the In Situ Observation of OH and HO2 for Studies of the Impact of High-Altitude Supersonic Aircraft on the Stratosphere

This three-year project supported the construction, calibration, and deployment of a new instrument to measure the OH and HO2 radicals on the NASA ER-2 aircraft. The instrument has met and exceeded all of its design goals. The instrumentation represents a true quantum leap in performance over that achieved in previous HO(x) instruments built in our group. Sensitivity for OH was enhanced by over two orders of magnitude as the weight fell from approximately 1500 to less than 200 Kg. Reliability has been very high: HO(x) data are available for all flights during the first operational mission, the Stratospheric Photochemistry, Aerosols, and Dynamics Expedition (SPADE). The results of that experiment have been reported in the scientific literature and at conferences. Additionally, measurements of H2O and O3 were made and have been reported in the scientific literature. The measurements demonstrate the important role that OH and HO2 play in determining the concentration of ozone in the lower stratosphere. During the SPADE campaign, the measurements demonstrate that the catalytic removal is dominated by processes involving the odd-hydrogen and halogen radical extremely important constraint for photochemical models that are being used to assess the potential deleterious effects of super-sonic aircraft effluent on the burden of stratospheric ozone. A list of the papers that came from this research are included, along with a copy of the paper, 'Aircraft-borne, laser-induced fluorescence instrument for the in situ detection of hydroxyl and hydroperoxyl radicals'.

Anderson, James G.↗
NASA NTRS1960

Project Vanguard Magnetic-Field Instrumentation and Measurements

The Vanguard III Satellite, 1959 Eta, placed in orbit on September 18, 1959, contained a proton precessional magnetometer for magnetic-field studies of exceptional accuracy. Throughout the 85 days of battery life, the instrumentation functioned according to plan. Measurements of the absolute total field were obtained in the meridian belts of Minitrack stations at altitudes 510 to 3750 kilometers and at latitudes +/- 33.4 degrees. Surface magnetic observatories were operated at eight of the Minitrack stations to furnish correlative information. This paper reviews briefly the instrumentation employed in these experiments, and the data collection and reduction procedures. Emphasis is given to results from a preliminary analysis. Specifically, this analysis bears on the accuracy of computed fields, the stability of the earth's field in space, the Capetown anomaly, and magnetic-storm effects.

Heppner, J. P.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Small Explorer (SMEX) POsitron Electron Magnet Spectrometer (POEMS)

This report covers the activities of Louisiana State University (LSU) under subcontract 26053-EX between LSU and the Bartol Research Institute (Bartol), which began January 1, 1994. The purpose of this subcontract was for LSU to participate in and support Bartol in the work to define the SMEX (Small Explorer)/POEMS (Positron Electron Magnet Spectrometer) spaceflight mission under NASA Contract NAS5-38098 between NASA and Bartol. The conclusions of this study were that for a 1998 launch into a 600km altitude, 98 degrees, approximately sun synchronous orbit, (a) the total radiation dose would be typically a few k-rad per year, certainly less than 20 k-rad per year for the anticipated shielding and potential solar flare environment, (b) detector counting rates would be dominated by the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) and the horns of the Van Allen belts, (c) the galactic electron and positron 'signal' can be extracted from the albedo background and the trapped populations by detailed evaluation of the geomagnetic transmission function (cut-off) for each event, (d) POEMS could make significant contributions to magnetospheric science if sufficient downlink capacity were provided and, (e) a fully functioning, cost efficient, data processing and analysis facility design was developed for the mission. Overall, POEMS was found to be a relatively simple experiment to manifest, operate and analyze and had potential for fundamental new discoveries in cosmic, heliospheric, solar and magnetospheric science.

LHeureux, Jacques↗
NASA NTRS2002

Profiling Tropospheric Winds with the Goddard Lidar Observatory for Winds (GLOW)

The Goddard Lidar Observatory for Winds (GLOW) is a mobile direct detection Doppler lidar system designed to measure wind profiles from the surface into the lower stratosphere. Recently, the GLOW lidar has participated in several field deployments measuring tropospheric winds in a variety of conditions including both daytime and night operation. More than 50 hours of line-of-sight wind profit data were obtained in September, 2000 during a three week intercomparison experiment at the Ground Winds facility in North Glen, NH. Typical clear air lidar wind profiles extended to altitudes of 20 km with a 1 km vertical resolution and 1 minute averaging. An additional 40 hours of lidar profiles of wind speed and direction were obtained during HARGLO-2, an intercomparison experiment held at Wallops Flight Facility, VA in November, 2001. A description of the mobile system is presented along with the examples of validated lidar wind profiles obtained during these experiments.

Gentry, Bruce M.↗