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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1992

LIGO - The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory

The goal of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) Project is to detect and study astrophysical gravitational waves and use data from them for research in physics and astronomy. LIGO will support studies concerning the nature and nonlinear dynamics for gravity, the structures of black holes, and the equation of state of nuclear matter. It will also measure the masses, birth rates, collisions, and distributions of black holes and neutron stars in the universe and probe the cores of supernovae and the very early universe. The technology for LIGO has been developed during the past 20 years. Construction will begin in 1992, and under the present schedule, LIGO's gravitational-wave searches will begin in 1998.

Abramovici, Alex↗
NASA NTRS1994

Feasibility study, software design, layout and simulation of a two-dimensional Fast Fourier Transform machine for use in optical array interferometry

The goal of this project was the feasibility study of a particular architecture of a digital signal processing machine operating in real time which could do in a pipeline fashion the computation of the fast Fourier transform (FFT) of a time-domain sampled complex digital data stream. The particular architecture makes use of simple identical processors (called inner product processors) in a linear organization called a systolic array. Through computer simulation the new architecture to compute the FFT with systolic arrays was proved to be viable, and computed the FFT correctly and with the predicted particulars of operation. Integrated circuits to compute the operations expected of the vital node of the systolic architecture were proven feasible, and even with a 2 micron VLSI technology can execute the required operations in the required time. Actual construction of the integrated circuits was successful in one variant (fixed point) and unsuccessful in the other (floating point).

Boriakoff, Valentin↗
NASA NTRS2001

On the Fabrication and Behavior of Diamond Microelectromechanical Sensors (DMEMS)

CVD (chemically vapor deposited) diamond films can be processed similar to "conventional" semiconductor device fabrication and as such can be used to achieve microelectromechanical structures (MEMS) also similar to, for example, silicon technology. Very small cantilever beams, membranes, stripes, tips, etc. can be constructed in doped and undoped diamond films and offer an array of choices in diamond with its known superior properties such as elastic modulus, high temperature semiconduction, high thermal conductivity, very low coefficient of expansion and numerous other diamond parameters. This paper will review the construction and behavior of the second generation DMEMS devices comprised as an accelerometer with a diamond diaphragm for use in very high G applications and a diamond pressure sensor for very high temperature and frequency response.

Holmes, K.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Heart Rate Monitors

Under a NASA grant, Dr. Robert M. Davis and Dr. William M. Portnoy came up with a new type of electrocardiographic electrode that would enable long term use on astronauts. Their invention was an insulated capacitive electrode constructed of a thin dielectric film. NASA subsequently licensed the electrode technology to Richard Charnitski, inventor of the VersaClimber, who founded Heart Rate, Inc., to further develop and manufacture personal heart monitors and to produce exercise machines using the technology for the physical fitness, medical and home markets. Same technology is on both the Home and Institutional Model VersaClimbers. On the Home Model an infrared heart beat transmitter is worn under exercise clothing. Transmitted heart rate is used to control the work intensity on the VersaClimber using the heart rate as the speedometer of the exercise. This offers advantages to a full range of users from the cardiac rehab patient to the high level physical conditioning of elite athletes. The company manufactures and markets five models of the 1*2*3 HEART RATE monitors that are used wherever people exercise to accurately monitor their heart rate. Company is developing a talking heart rate monitor that works with portable headset radios. A version of the heart beat transmitter will be available to the manufacturers of other aerobic exercise machines.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2015

Periodic Cellular Structure Technology for Shape Memory Alloys

Shape memory alloys are being considered for a wide variety of adaptive components for engine and airframe applications because they can undergo large amounts of strain and then revert to their original shape upon heating or unloading. Transition45 Technologies, Inc., has developed an innovative periodic cellular structure (PCS) technology for shape memory alloys that enables fabrication of complex bulk configurations, such as lattice block structures. These innovative structures are manufactured using an advanced reactive metal casting technology that offers a relatively low cost and established approach for constructing near-net shape aerospace components. Transition45 is continuing to characterize these structures to determine how best to design a PCS to better exploit the use of shape memory alloys in aerospace applications.

Chen, Edward Y.↗
NASA NTRS2022

Recommendations on Funding Mission Operations and Historical Datasets

The Heliophysics Low Cost Access to Space (H-LCAS) and Flight Opportunities in Research and Technology (H-FORT) grant budgets primarily fund the development and construction of instrumentation. A side effect of this approach is that mission operations, including data collection and data processing, tend to be severely under budget (or unfunded). In order to satisfy the requirements of modern missions, we recommend a new funding source for mission operations. This funding source is increasingly vital going forward as new missions collect exponentially more data compared to past missions. Similarly, to take full advantage of underutilized historical datasets, we recommend adding another funding source to analyze these valuable datasets. Without these funding sources, mission datasets will, in the best case, be significantly underdeveloped and underutilized, and more likely, will fall dramatically short of their required scope.

Mykhaylo Shumko↗
NASA NTRS2023

National Campaign Development Test Executive Summary

NASA’s vision for Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) is to provide safe, sustainable, accessible, and affordable aviation for transformational local and intraregional missions and includes the transportation of passengers and cargo as well as aerial work missions, such as infrastructure inspection or search and rescue operations. NASA’s technical expertise, intergovernmental relationships, and high level of public trust will help this technology come to market concurrent with infrastructure readiness, public acceptance, and constructive regulation. By advising and integrating disparate AAM efforts across the country and working collaboratively with the FAA, the National Campaign (NC) objective is to motivate industry progress and support the development of policy, regulatory, and technical standards in a manner that best ensures public safety and benefit to the American people. NC began with the Dry Run and Developmental Test (NC-DT), which served as a pathfinder for collaboration and direct involvement with industry partners in integrated simulation exercises and flight tests. NC-DT culminated with an acoustics-gathering flight test in September 2021 with industry partner Joby’s prototype S4 2.0 air vehicle, which delivered the first foundational baseline of noise levels present in Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) vehicles. Through the DT phase, the NC team built and tested the airspace and range infrastructure while assessing the readiness level of industry partners leading up to future NC events. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of NC-DT.

National Campaign↗
DOE OSTI2020

Deterministic assembly of complex, three-dimensional architectures by compressive buckling

Origami- and Kirigami-inspired assembly of predetermined three-dimensional forms is presented in comprehensive theoretical and experimental studies, with examples of a broad range of topologies and material compositions. The resulting engineering options in the construction of functional 3D structures have important implications for advanced microsystem technologies.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Advanced Materials Program Summary

Advanced Reactor Technologies (ART) Advanced Materials Program: Provide material solutions to enable design, construction, and operation of licensable advanced reactors Including Gas-cooled Reactors, Fast Reactors, Molten Salt Reactors (solid or liquid fuel) Could be of modular design, and from 350 to 1 Mwe Conduct developmental R&D on structural materials that are best addressed by the national program Integrate program-directed work at national labs & universities and collaboration with international partners to address advanced reactor developer needs Provide qualification data (to NQA-1 or equivalent) on structural materials and develop & validate improved high temperature design methodology Utilize consensus standards organizations when appropriate (e.g., ASME, ASTM, etc.) Target resolution of issues needed for near to mid-term deployment of advanced reactors

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Wind Energy Accomplishments and Year-End Performance Report: Fiscal Year 2022

Four decades ago, construction was just beginning on experimental turbines at the National Wind Technology Center (NWTC). Today, the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) facility is the centerpiece of the laboratory's Flatirons Campus, a world-class hub for renewable energy research. The nation's shift to 100% clean electricity by 2035 will require a mix of renewable energy sources and strategies - and together, wind and solar energy could account for 60% to 80% of that clean energy resource. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2022, NREL scientists, engineers, and analysts contributed to these visionary goals through their wind energy research. As wind innovations push into new areas, NREL continues to play a vital role in advancing technology and addressing deployment barriers in pursuit of more efficient, reliable, and predictable wind energy systems. FY 2022 wind research and development explored the potential for dramatic growth in land-based systems, the launch of the nation's first commercial-scale offshore installations, and transmission infrastructure buildout. Land-based wind energy is one of the most cost-effective electricity supply options - but utility-scale deployment will require up to 10 times the current number of turbines. An NREL plan addressed this need to accelerate U.S. wind technology rollout at distributed and utility scales. Another project conducted by NREL and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) helps position the nation's first major offshore wind corridor for success. The WETO-funded Atlantic Offshore Wind Transmission Study is evaluating options for balancing electricity supply and demand, while supporting resilience of the grid and marine industries. WETO, NREL, and other partners are working to enable the enormous supply chain and workforce changes the U.S. wind energy industry will need to meet net-zero-carbon-emissions targets. As part of a seminal series of DOE-funded supply chain studies, NREL analysts reported on the trade-offs involved in manufacturing large volumes of wind technologies, while addressing cost, workforce, and logistics issues. All of this research is supported by NREL's outstanding research teams, tools, data, and facilities. A WETO-funded international wind energy field campaign, the American WAKE experimeNt (AWAKEN), has brought together experts from NREL, PNNL, and Sandia National Laboratories to create the world's most comprehensive set of high-resolution data on wind energy atmospheric phenomenon. This study could lead to more accurate predictions of losses from turbine-to-turbine wake interactions, eventually helping wind plants capture more energy and operators save millions of dollars. In addition, NREL researchers developed testing, modeling, and analysis tools to improve the security of power grids by identifying wind power plant dynamic stability problems. A new Stochastic Soaring Raptor Simulator (SSRS) protects golden eagles from turbine encounters by predicting flight paths. This report provides more detail on these top achievements and other accomplishments made by NREL and its partners during FY 2022 (between October 1, 2021, and September 30, 2022).

accomplishments↗
DOE OSTI2020

Life cycle assessment of novel heat exchanger for dry cooling of power plants based on encapsulated phase change materials

Cooling systems in power plants account for approximately 40% of total freshwater withdrawals in the U.S. Due to dwindling access to freshwater resources worldwide, continued operation of wet cooling systems poses a significant engineering challenge. To reduce water consumption, a novel air-cooled heat exchanger has been developed using encapsulated phase change material (EPCM) for dry cooling of power plants. Compared to traditional finned-tube air-cooled condensers, this novel EPCM heat exchanger improves the heat transfer coefficient and power plant efficiency while reducing the pressure drop and cooling system cost. Life cycle assessment (LCA) and techno-economic analysis (TEA) are used to evaluate the environmental and economic performance of EPCM heat exchangers from cradle-to-grave and to compare them to wet cooling and traditional air-cooled condensers. A thermodynamic model is developed to predict the EPCM heat exchanger performance for plant-scale operations. Equipment and construction costs for heat exchangers are estimated based on design parameters obtained from the thermodynamic model. Both process-LCA and economic-input–output LCA are used to simulate and test the sensitivity of EPCM alternatives with commercial wet and dry cooling technologies. We investigate options for EPCM end-of-life management upon retiring the heat exchanger and construct a process-based LCA model to estimate a greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions credit for recycling the EPCM. The life cycle GHG emission of the novel dry cooling technology is 1.16 kg CO 2 eq. /MWh compared with the 1.1–4.3 kg CO 2 eq. /MWh reported for commercial dry cooling technologies and consumes 9.5 L/MWh e of water for cradle-to-gate life cycle, which is significantly lower than that of wet cooling systems. The TEA shows many advantages of EPCM cooling technology over the state-of-art dry cooling solutions. Overall, the EPCM heat exchanger provides a better alternative compared to existing dry cooling and wet cooling technologies.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2022

Building Envelope Campaign – Program Design and Stakeholder Engagement

Building envelope technologies impact approximately 30% of the primary energy consumed by residential and commercial buildings. The Building Envelope Campaign (BEC), which is part of the Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Program, is a market transformation effort to help building owners and managers invest in high performance building envelope technologies for both new and existing commercial buildings. The success of the Campaign has depended on constructing a compelling program design plus organizing a technical team with ability to effectively recruit Participants and Supporters from across industry and keep them engaged.The design of the campaign included developing a strategy to leverage other technology campaigns within the Better Buildings program, identifying stakeholders (including diverse member groups that may have been underserved by previous technology campaigns), recruiting Supporters and Participants, and providing technical assistance in the form of a campaign-specific Building Envelope Performance tool and metric to help benchmark various building envelope options.Engagement had to overcome three main challenges – securing the Campaign Supporters/Participants, helping participants to use the envelope tool to evaluate project options, and getting those participants to submit successful envelope projects for evaluation and recognition by the program. The concepts are simple but program design/implementation and, in particular, sustaining stakeholder engagement can be challenging. This paper will highlight the approaches taken in: program design, engaging industry members, identifying and reaching underserved stakeholders, demonstrating benefits of high performance building envelope technologies and making the case for engaging in this campaign.

McLeod, Hayley↗
DOE OSTI2022

Thermal-Mechanical Analysis of an Additive Manufacturing Ceramic Heat Exchanger for High-Temperature Recuperator in a sCO2 Power System

Supercritical CO2 (sCO2) Brayton power cycle can be configured in a closed-loop power system and has a potentially high cycle efficiency. Compactness and high efficiency of a sCO2 power block make the sCO2 Brayton cycle a versatile power cycle in broad applications. While many heat sources are of sufficient intensity to produce high temperature working fluids to achieve high cycle efficiency, the thermal-mechanical stability of traditional materials (e.g., steels and nickel-based superalloys) used in construction of heat exchangers and turbine components limits the operating conditions and thus thermodynamic efficiency of the system. This effort seeks to establish the viability of ceramic heat exchanger technologies for the most extreme operating conditions envisioned for power generation and other high temperature processes. Heat exchangers constructed from ultra-high temperature ceramics, a class of extreme environment materials featuring melting points (Tmp.) above 3000 degrees C, is particularly appealing for sCO2 Brayton cycles given their ultra-low creep rates and very high retained strength at low homologous temperatures (i.e., T < 0.5 Tmp., or at least 1500 degrees C). To translate these materials properties to ultra-high temperature heat exchangers, innovations are required in ceramic manufacturing techniques to realize the complex architectures featured in compact heat exchangers with high power density. With appropriate processing, ZrB2-SiC based compositions can be sintered to near full density and shaped into complex topologies via ceramic additive manufacturing methods. This paper analyzes heat exchanger designs and explores thermal-mechanical implications of the operating environment. Thermal flow, heat transfer, and conjugate mechanical analyses provide insights into benefits and risks associated with the design approach.

additive manufacturing↗
NASA NTRS2017

Design and Development of the CubeSat Infrared Atmospheric Sounder (CIRAS

The CubeSat Infrared Atmospheric Sounder (CIRAS) is a NASA Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO) sponsored mission to demonstrate key technologies used in very high spectral resolution infrared remote sensing of Earth’s atmosphere from space. CIRAS was awarded under the ESTO In-flight Validation of Earth Science Technologies (InVEST) program in 2015 and is currently under development at NASA JPL with key subsystems being developed by industry. CIRAS incorporates key new instrument technologies including a 2D array of High Operating Temperature Barrier Infrared Detector (HOT-BIRD) material, selected for its high uniformity, low cost, low noise and higher operating temperatures than traditional materials. The second key technology is an MWIR Grating Spectrometer (MGS) designed to provide imaging spectroscopy for atmospheric sounding in a CubeSat volume. The MGS is under development by Ball Aerospace with the grating and slit developed by JPL. The third key technology is an infrared blackbody fabricated with JPL’s black silicon to have very high emissivity in a flat plate construction. JPL will also develop the mechanical, electronic and thermal subsystems for CIRAS, while the spacecraft will be a 6U CubeSat developed by Blue Canyon Technologies. This paper provides an overview of the design and acquisition approach, and provides a status of the current development.

Vengel, Tony↗
NASA NTRS1978

Historical evidence of importance to the industrialization of flat-plate silicon photovoltaic systems. Volume 1: Executive summary

An analysis is given of the Low-Cost Silicon Solar Array Project plans for the industrialization of new production technologies expected to be forthcoming as a result of the project's technology development efforts. In particular, LSSA's mandate to insure an annual production capability of 500 MW peak for the photovoltaic supply industry by 1986 is critically examined. The examination focuses on one of the concerns behind this goal -- timely development of industrial capacity to supply anticipated demand. Some of the conclusions include: (1) construction of small-scale pilot plants should be undertaken only for purposes of technology development; (2) large-scale demonstrations should be undertaken only when the technology is well in hand; (3) commercial-scale production should be left to the private sector; (4) the 500-MW annual output goal should be shifted to Program Headquarters.

Smith, J. L.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Benefits Of Automated Construction And Energy Efficiency Measures In Modular Homes

This article builds on and adds to a Buildings XV publication that introduced the Transformative Efficiency and Automation in Modular Homes (TEAMH) project. The TEAMH project sought to develop a scalable solution for producing modular homes with 20-50% energy savings and similar cost relative to site-fabricated single-family home construction. A key aspect of the project was assessing the potential for labor cost reductions through automation-assisted construction using light gauge steel (LGS). To quantify the advantages of this approach, side-by-side comparisons were made between traditional wood-framed construction and automation-assisted LGS construction. This demonstration involved constructing one wood-framed wall and several LGS test walls, accompanied by a time-and-motion study. The results indicated that automation assistance could decrease construction time and associated labor costs by as much as 46%. High-performance envelope technologies for exterior insulation and air sealing were evaluated to compare modular homes with site-built homes that meet the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). A key technology considered was vacuum insulation panels (VIPs) with fiberglass cores. Guarded hot box testing of multiple full-scale wall assemblies containing different combinations of exterior continuous insulation systems containing phenolic foam and VIPs. Testing on various full-scale wall assemblies revealed that, with LGS construction, cavity insulation had minimal impact on exterior wall performance. Omitting cavity insulation can reduce labor and material costs while streamlining manufacturing, as its installation is labor-intensive and not easily automated due to the need for precise placement around wiring and other internal components. Guarded hot box tests of multiple LGS test walls with foam and VIP-based exterior insulation systems achieved R-values of up to 31 hr-ft2-°F/Btu. Finally, building energy modeling of multiple modular home designs indicated that the upgraded envelope assemblies can yield heating energy savings of up to 50% and cooling energy savings of up to 30% compared to IECC 2018 standards.

Shrestha, Som [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000183993797)↗
DOE OSTI2025

Packages of Distributed Energy Technologies Demonstrating Demand Flexibility at Community Scale

The combination of increased electric load growth across all sectors, deferred electrical infrastructure investment, and other factors resulting in variable electric power supply, has created technical challenges to maintaining a resilient and reliable grid. Many federal, regional, and local efforts are in play to modernize the electric grid, including advancing building technologies and distributed energy resources (DERs) that are utilizing smarter controls to become responsive to both occupant and grid needs. This report reviews ten pilot projects demonstrating how groups of buildings combined with behind-the-meter (BTM) DERs such as electric vehicle (EV) charging, battery storage, flexible HVAC and domestic hot water systems, and photovoltaic systems can reliably and cost effectively provide grid services. Each of the ten pilot projects aim to deliver both energy efficiency and demand flexibility (DF) while supporting load growth. The ten demonstration teams are piloting flexible DER packages across diverse communities of residential and commercial buildings to address a variety of regional grid needs. The outcomes of these pilot projects will be used to inform future scaling through utility program development. This paper characterizes the ten teams, showcasing the decision-making process used by each group to develop their packages (Section 2), the grid services they plan to deliver (Section 3), the types of DER packages selected for deployment within building sectors (Section 4) and trends between building sector, DER types, and grid services In order to achieve community scale benefits, the pilot projects must utilize aggregated control mechanisms for coordinating buildings and DERs together. Several types of coordinated control architectures have evolved amongst the teams, influenced by use type, existing market conditions, and integration type. Three coordinated controls architectures have been characterized, highlighting their use cases, benefits, challenges, and tradeoffs in their design. These insights can aid utilities, control vendors, and developers in scaling community-level energy systems (Paul, 2024). Ultimately, the technology packages selected by the ten teams will be coordinated to provide power system services, also known as grid services. Insights from these demonstrations will be useful for grid operators, regulators, aggregators and other stakeholders as they look to deploy demand flexible resources as grid services in the future. The grid services that each team is targeting for demonstration are described in Section 3 and Section 4. Methods for evaluating the grid services have been described in the paper Metrics for Evaluating Grid Service Provision from Communities of Grid-interactive and Efficient Buildings and other DER (MacDonald, 2023). To identify technology packages for demonstration, Section 2 shows that project teams used a range of analysis approaches, including building energy modeling, AMI data analysis, cost-benefit frameworks, and utility pilot data. Some teams emphasized technical modeling to quantify grid impacts and demand reduction potential, while others prioritized economic evaluations, stakeholder input, or exploratory pilots to inform deployment decisions. This diversity reflects the need to tailor selection methods to project goals, available data, and organizational context. Section 5 discusses trends between the DER technologies deployed and the grid service provisions from each team. Residential buildings (multifamily and single family) lean towards technologies that enhance energy efficiency (e.g. weatherization upgrades, smart thermostats) and onsite power generation integration (e.g. solar PV). Commercial building demonstrations prioritize technologies that ensure operational reliability (e.g. battery storage) and centralized energy management systems and optimization solutions. Teams that are deploying controllable storage-based technologies are more likely to provide grid services that require a near real-time response. Teams incorporating load shifting technologies like smart thermostats with HEMs are likely to include energy markets participation and customer bill management offerings. Campus demonstrations are adopting diverse sets of DERs to emphasize renewable generation, paired with centralized control. This section also describes technologies that were considered during project planning but ultimately excluded from final deployment. These demonstrations reveal that effective DER package design should be tailored to building type, customer segment, and construction vintage. Multifamily buildings benefit from centralized HVAC upgrades and supervisory controls, while single-family homes are well-suited for individualized technologies like solar, storage, and smart home energy monitors. Commercial and campus settings prioritize EMIS integration and load optimization. New construction enables cost-effective integration of DER-ready infrastructure, whereas retrofits require deployments aligned with owner and tenant value streams. For utility program planners, early coordination with developers and building owners, paired with segmented and modular program offerings, can improve adoption, scalability, and grid impact.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
NASA NTRS1991

NASA's flight-technological development program - A 650 Mbps laser communications testbed

A 650 Mbps laser communications testbed under construction for the development of flight qualifiable hardware suitable for near-term operation on geosynchronous-to-geosynchronous crosslink missions is presented. The program's primary purpose is to develop and optimize laser communications unique subsystems. Requirements for the testbed experiments are to optimize the acquisition processes, to fully simulate the long range (up to 21,000 km) and the fine tracking characteristics of two narrow-beam laser communications terminals, and to fully test communications performance which will include average and burst bit error rates, effects of laser diode coalignment, degradation due to internal and external stray light, and the impact of drifts in the optical components.

Hayden, W. L.↗