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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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NASA NTRS1985

Phase locked loop synchronization for direct detection optical PPM communication systems

Receiver timing synchronization of an optical pulse position modulation (PPM) communication system can be achieved using a phase locked loop (PLL) if the photodetector output is properly processed. The synchronization performance is shown to improve with increasing signal power and decreasing loop bandwidth. Bit error rate (BER) of the PLL synchronized PPM system is analyzed and compared to that for the perfectly synchronized system. It is shown that the increase in signal power needed to compensate for the imperfect synchronization is small (less than 0.1 dB) for loop bandwidths less than 0.1% of the slot frequency.

Chen, C. C.↗

DOE OSTI2020

Correlation approach for quality assurance of additive manufactured parts based on optical metrology

Surface topography and surface finish are two significant factors for evaluating the quality of products in additive manufacturing (AM). AM parts are fabricated layer by layer, which is quite different from traditional formative or subtractive methods. Despite rapid progress in additive manufacturing and associated optical metrology for quality control and in-situ monitoring, limited research has been conducted to investigate the reliability of 3D surface measurement data. The surface topologies scanned by multiple optical systems demonstrated significant differences due to varying sampling mechanisms, resolutions, system noises, etc. The 3D datasets should be trustworthy in order to extract parameters for quality assurance or feedback control from 3D surface measurements. In this paper, we set up new standards to evaluate the reliability of 3D surface measurement data and analyze the variation in the topographical profile. In this study, two non-contact optical methods based on Focus Variation Microscopy (FVM) and Structured Light System (SLS) were adopted to measure the surface topography of the target components. The two optical metrology systems generated two entirely different point cloud datasets. Statistical methods were applied to test the difference between the data obtained from the two systems. By using a data analytics approach for comparison, it was found that the surface roughness estimated from the point cloud data sets of FVM and SLS has no significant difference, though the point cloud data sets were completely different. This paper provides standard validation approach to evaluate the plausibility of metrology data from in-situ real-time surface analysis for process planning of AM.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

NASA NTRS2003

X-Ray Testing Constellation-X Optics at MSFC's 100-m Facility

In addition to the 530-m-long X-Ray Calibration Facility (XRCF), NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) operates a 104-m-long (source-to-detector) X-ray-test facility. Originally developed and still occasionally used for stray-light testing of visible-fight optical systems, the so-called "Stray-Light Facility" now serves primarily as a convenient and inexpensive facility for performance evaluation and calibration of X-ray optics and detectors. The facility can accommodate X-ray optics up to about 1-m diameter and 12-m focal length. Currently available electron-impact sources at the facility span the approximate energy range 0.2 to 100 keV, thus supporting testing of soft- and hard-X-ray optics and detectors. Available MSFC detectors are a front-illuminated CCD (charge-coupled device) and a scanning CZT (cadmium--zinc--telluride) detector, with low-energy cut-offs of about 0.8 and 3 keV, respectively. In order to test developmental optics for the Constellation-X Project, led by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), MSFC undertook several enhancements to the facility. Foremost among these was development and fabrication of a five-degree-of-freedom (5-DoF) optics mount and control system, which translates and tilts the user-provided mirror assembly suspended from its interface plate. Initial Constellation-X tests characterize the performance of the Optical Alignment Pathfinder Two (OAP2) for the large Spectroscopy X-ray Telescope (SXT) and of demonstration mirror assemblies for the Hard X-ray Telescope (HXT). With the Centroid Detector Assembly (CDA), used for precision alignment of the Chandra (nee AXAF) mirrors, the Constellation-X SXT Team optically aligned the individual mirrors of the OAPZ at GSFC. The team then developed set-up and alignment procedures, including transfer of the alignment from the optical alignment facility at GSFC to the X-ray test facility at MSFC, using a reference flat and fiducials. The OAPZ incorporates additional ancillary features --- fixed aperture mask and movable sub-aperture mask --- to facilitate X-ray characterization of the optics. Although the OAPZ was designed to- have low sensitivity to temperature offsets and gradients, analyses showed the necessity of active temperature control for the X-ray performance testing. Thus, the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) implemented a thermal control and monitoring system, designed to hold the OAP2 close to its assembly.

O'Dell, Stephen↗

NASA NTRS2002

Earth Observing-1 Advanced Land Imager: Imaging Performance On-Orbit

This report analyzes the on-orbit imaging performance of the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on the Earth Observing-1 satellite. The pre-flight calibrations are first summarized. The methods used to reconstruct and geometrically correct the image data from this push-broom sensor are described. The method used here does not refer to the position and attitude telemetry from the spacecraft. Rather, it is assumed that the image of the scene moves across the focal plane with a constant velocity, which can be ascertained from the image data itself. Next, an assortment of the images so reconstructed is presented. Color images sharpened with the 10-m panchromatic band data are shown, and the algorithm for producing them from the 30-m multispectral data is described. The approach taken for assessing spatial resolution is to compare the sharpness of features in the on-orbit image data with profiles predicted on the basis of the pre-flight calibrations. A large assortment of bridge profiles is analyzed, and very good fits to the predicted shapes are obtained. Lunar calibration scans are analyzed to examine the sharpness of the edge-spread function at the limb of the moon. The darkness of the space beyond the limb is better for this purpose than anything that could be simulated on the ground. From these scans, we find clear evidence of scattering in the optical system, as well as some weak ghost images. Scans of planets and stars are also analyzed. Stars are useful point sources of light at all wavelengths, and delineate the point-spread functions of the system. From a quarter-speed scan over the Pleiades, we find that the ALI can detect 6th magnitude stars. The quality of the reconstructed images verifies the capability of the ALI to produce Landsat-type multi spectral data. The signal-to-noise and panchromatic spatial resolution are considerably superior to those of the existing Landsat sensors. The spatial resolution is confirmed to be as good as it was designed to be.

ALI (ADVANCED LAND IMAGER)↗

DOE OSTI2020

The impact of light polarization effects on weak lensing systematics

ABSTRACT A fraction of the light observed from edge-on disc galaxies is polarized due to two physical effects: selective extinction by dust grains aligned with the magnetic field and scattering of the anisotropic starlight field. Since the reflection and transmission coefficients of the reflecting and refracting surfaces in an optical system depend on the polarization of incoming rays, this optical polarization produces both (a) a selection bias in favour of galaxies with specific orientations and (b) a polarization-dependent point spread function (PSF). In this work, we build toy models to obtain for the first time an estimate for the impact of polarization on PSF shapes and the impact of the selection bias due to the polarization effect on the measurement of the ellipticity used in shear measurements. In particular, we are interested in determining if this effect will be significant for Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST). We show that the systematic uncertainties in the ellipticity components are 8 × 10−5 and 1.1 × 10−4 due to the selection bias and PSF errors respectively. Compared to the overall requirements on knowledge of the WFIRST PSF ellipticity (4.7 × 10−4 per component), both of these systematic uncertainties are sufficiently close to the WFIRST tolerance level that more detailed studies of the polarization effects or more stringent requirements on polarization-sensitive instrumentation for WFIRST are required.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2025

Dispersion Leverage Coronagraph: a nulling coronagraph for use on primary objective grating telescopes

Here, we present the Dispersion Leverage Coronagraph (DLC), a variation of the Achromatic Interfero Coronagraph (AIC) that is designed for optical systems featuring large, dispersive primary objective gratings. DLC was originally designed for the Diffractive Interfero Coronagraph Exoplanet Resolver (DICER), a notional 20 m class infrared space telescope utilizing the enhanced one-dimensional angular resolution of large diffraction gratings to discover and characterize near-Earth exoplanets. Here we develop the theoretical foundation for DLC, and apply it to DICER as an example use case. We derive important properties of the DLC system, including focal plane transmission maps, stellar leakage, residual optical path difference tolerance, and pointing error/jitter considerations. Ultimately, we found that DLC effectively nulls an on-axis target across the entire spectrum in the focal plane, allowing for 2D/λ diffraction-limited imaging. It requires asymmetrical fine-guidance tolerances on pointing error/jitter. We work through a benchmark DICER design, explaining the need for a second disperser to reduce background from Zodiacal light, and showing that it could plausibly find and characterize ∼4 nearby, habitable exoplanets around Sun-like stars in a 7-year mission; about 30% of the habitable exoplanets within 8 pc were found in our simulation. The DLC may be useful for any application requiring extremely high-resolution, close companion spectroscopy.

AIC↗

NASA NTRS1972

Near field antenna patterns of obstructed Cassegrainian telescopes

The near field antenna pattern of an obstructed optical transmitter, such as a Cassegrainian telescope, has been computed using the Fresnel approximation to the scalar diffraction integral. A number of cases have been considered. These include uniformly illuminated, obstructed circular apertures, and apertures coherently illuminated with a divergent gaussian beam wave. Other beam profiles that may be derived by energy redistribution of the laser beam have also been considered. The techniques used for the numerical evaluation of the Fresnel integral are discussed and results for the optical systems to be used on the High Altitude Aircraft Optical Communications Experiment are presented.

Webb, W. E.↗

NASA NTRS1976

Low-reflectivity spectrally selective coating

Mirror, with area of low reflectivity, replaces neutral-density transmission filter in star-tracking system, increasing reliability. It may have applications in other optical systems.

Zaniewski, J. J.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Test Method for X-Ray Telescopes

Telescopes and X-ray telescopes in particular, tested with nearby point sources of radiation. When point-source rays enter telescope through annular entrance pupil (and under conditions of spherical aberration), ring image produced. Deviation of ring image from perfect circular shape reveals misalinements and surface inaccuracies in telescope. Although particularly suited for grazing-incidence types of systems, this test method applied to other types of optical systems.

Korsch, D.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Uprated fine guidance sensor study

Future orbital observatories will require star trackers of extremely high precision. These sensors must maintain high pointing accuracy and pointing stability simultaneously with a low light level signal from a guide star. To establish the fine guidance sensing requirements and to evaluate candidate fine guidance sensing concepts, the Space Telescope Optical Telescope Assembly was used as the reference optical system. The requirements review was separated into three areas: Optical Telescope Assembly (OTA), Fine Guidance Sensing and astrometry. The results show that the detectors should be installed directly onto the focal surface presented by the optics. This would maximize throughput and minimize point stability error by not incoporating any additional optical elements.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS1993

Determination of parameters for hypervelocity dust grains encountered in near-Earth space

Primarily interest was in the determination of the population of micrometeoroids and space debris and interpretation of the hole size in a thin film or in a micropore foam returned from space with theoretical calculations describing the event. In order to augment the significance of the theoretical calculations of the impact event, an experiment designed to analyze the charge production due to hypervelocity impacts on thin films also produced data which described the penetration properties of micron and sub-micron sized projectiles. The thin film penetration sites in the 500 A and 1000 A aluminum films were counted and a size distribution function was derived. In the case of the very smallest dust grains, there were no independent measurements of velocities like that which existed for the larger dust grains (d(sub p) is less than or equal to 1 micron). The primary task then became to assess the relationship between the penetration hole and the particle diameter of the projectile which made the hole. The most promising means to assess the measure of the diameters of impacting grains came in the form of comparing cratering mechanics to penetration mechanics. Future experimentation will produce measurements of the cratering as opposed to the penetrating event. Particles encountered by surfaces while being flown in space will degrade that surface in a systematic manner even when the impact is with small hypervelocity particles, d(sub p) is less than or equal to 10 microns. Though not to a degree which would precipitate a catastrophic failure of a system, the degradation of the materials comprising the interconnected system will occur. It is the degradation of the optical system and the subsequent embrittlement of other materials that can lead to degradation if not to failure. It is to this end that research was conducted to compare the primary consequences for experiments which will be flown to those which have been returned.

Tanner, William G.↗

NASA NTRS2005

Vibrating Optical Fibers to Make Laser Speckle Disappear

In optical systems in which laser illumination is delivered via multimode optical fibers, laser speckle can be rendered incoherent by a simple but highly effective technique. The need to eliminate speckle arises because speckle can make it difficult to observe edges and other sharp features, thereby making it difficult to perform precision alignment of optical components. The basic ideas of the technique is to vibrate the optical fiber(s) to cause shifting of electromagnetic modes within the fiber(s) and consequent shifting of the speckle pattern in the light emerging from the fiber(s). If the frequency of vibration is high enough, a human eye cannot follow the shifting speckle pattern, so that instead of speckle, a human observer sees a smoothed pattern of light corresponding to a mixture of many electromagnetic modes. If necessary, the optical fiber(s) could be vibrated manually. However, in a typical laboratory situation, it would be more practical to attach a vibrating mechanism to the fiber(s) for routine use as part of the fiber-optic illuminator. In experiments, a commercially available small, gentle, quiet, variable- speed vibratory device was used in this way, with the result that the appearance of speckle was eliminated, as expected. Figures 1 and 2 illustrate the difference.

McGill, Matthew↗

NASA NTRS2018

BioSentinel: An Adaptable Platform for Studying the Biological Effects of Deep Space Radiation

NASA's BioSentinel mission is a 6U nanosatellite with autonomous life support that will utilize the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae to study the DNA damage response to the deep space radiation environment. BioSentinel is planned to launch in 2019 as a secondary payload on the Space Launch System's first Exploration Mission (EM-1), and will undergo a lunar fly-by and enter heliocentric orbit after deployment. As the first biological mission beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO) in nearly half a century, this mission will help fill critical gaps in knowledge about the effects of uniquely composed, chronic, low-flux deep space radiation on biological systems. Yeast is well-suited for this mission due to its desiccation tolerance and space-flight heritage. As a eukaryotic model organism, it also serves as a robust analog for human cells. Data gathered on this mission will thus inform us of the hazards involved in long-duration human exploration in deep space, and the protections necessary to mitigate them. Due to its low-cost, flexible and advanced technology, the 4U BioSensor payload contained within the nanosatellite is adaptable to other model microorganisms, exploration platforms and environments relevant to human exploration, such as the ISS, the Lunar Orbital Platform - Gateway and future lunar landers. In order to query the DNA damage response to deep space radiation, BioSentinel contains a wild type yeast strain as a positive control, and a radiation sensitive rad51 mutant strain that is defective for DNA repair. Yeast cells are desiccated in microfluidic cards, and rehydrated with growth medium and metabolic indicator dye at the desired time points during the mission. A thermal control system supports these stasis and growth states, and an optical system continuously measures cell growth and metabolism. An onboard radiation spectrometer and dosimeter allows us to correlate the dose, energy and particle-type of deep space radiation to the biological response. Data received from the deep space biosensor will be compared to control payloads on Earth and the ISS. Ongoing science testing for the BioSentinel project includes optimization for cell viability, desiccation tolerance, and long-term biocompatibility, as well as radiation experiments to understand the sensitivity and responsiveness of cells to varying radiation doses and particle types.

BioSentinel↗

NASA NTRS1973

Large space telescope engineering scale model optical design

The objective is to develop the detailed design and tolerance data for the LST engineering scale model optical system. This will enable MSFC to move forward to the optical element procurement phase and also to evaluate tolerances, manufacturing requirements, assembly/checkout procedures, reliability, operational complexity, stability requirements of the structure and thermal system, and the flexibility to change and grow.

Facey, T. A.↗

NASA NTRS1998

A 2 THz Heterodyne Array Receiver for SOFIA

We proposed to perform a comprehensive design study of a 16-element heterodyne array receiver for SOFIA. The array was designed to utilize hot-electron bolometers in an efficient, low-cost waveguide mount to achieve low noise performance between approx. 1500 and 2400 GHz. Due to the prevailing physical conditions in the interstellar medium, this frequency range is one of the richest in the FIR portion of the spectrum. An array designed for this wavelength range will make excellent use of the telescope and the available atmospheric transmission, and will provide a new perspective on stellar, chemical, and galaxy evolution in the present as well as past epochs. A few of the most important molecular and atomic species which the instrument will sample are CII, OI, CO, OH, NII, and CH. The system used the most sensitive detectors available in an efficient optical system. The local oscillator was a compact CO2 pumped far-infrared laser currently under development for SOFIA. The backend spectrometer was an array acousto-optic spectrometer (aAOS). The spectrometer utilizes proven hardware and technologies to provide broadband performance (greater than or equal to 1 GHz per AOS channel) and high spectral resolution (1 MHz) with the maximum sensitivity and minimum complexity and cost. The proposed instrument would be the fastest and most sensitive heterodyne receiver ever to operate in the 1.5 - 2.4 THz band. One of the key technologies developed for the proposed instrument is the laser micromachining of waveguide structures. These structures provide both the optical link between the instrument and the telescope (via an array of efficient feedhorns) and the impedance transformation between the detectors and free space. With the assistance of funds provided from this grant, we were able to fabricate and test the world's first laser micromachined feedhorns. Figure 1 is a photograph of the 2 THz double feedhorn structure designed and constructed under the auspices of this grant. The quality of the waveguide structure is far better than that obtainable using any other fabrication technique. Figure 2 is the beam pattern obtained from it. The beam parameters are an excellent match to what is expected from theory. The success of this experiment demonstrates the viability of using laser micromachined components in the development of high performance, large format array receivers. Figure 3 is an illustration of the focal plane array concept we developed lot- SOFIA base upon this work. Un- fortunately, our instrument proposal was not selected as a first generation SOFIA instrument. However, we have continued our development efforts and will propose to build a 2nd generation instrument based on the same design concepts. Our work under NAG 2-1057 was very rewarding and we appreciate the opportunity provided by NASA to pursue it. The research led directly to publishing 2 papers (listed below) and the award of an NSF grant to our group to construct a laser micromachining system on the University of Arizona campus.

Walker, Christopher K.↗

NASA NTRS2009

Non-invasive Optical End-to-End Test of a Large TMA Telescope (JWST) from the Intermediate Focus

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) requires testing of the full optical system in a cryogenic vacuum environment before launch. Challenges with the telescope architecture and the test environment lead to placing removable optical test sources at the Cassegrain intermediate focus of the Telescope. The Science Instrument suite will be used to align the telescope and to verify the wavefront error. The Science Instruments capture test images that are analyzed using focus diverse phase retrieval. The wavefront sensing algorithms have the large dynamic range required to measure the relatively small wavefronts of interest in the presence of the large aberrations resulting from the off-axis source locations at the intermediate focus. These inherent aberrations of the off-axis design are removed analytically from the measured data. The test design and in-situ wavefront sensing process enables a number of tests to verify the alignment and optical quality of the system.

Whitman, Tony↗

NASA NTRS1981

Multimode solar-heating system--Columbia, South Carolina

Report describes failure of six-mode pyramidal-optics system to reduce winter energy savings. Over 12 month period, control problems, energy dissipation, and high operating-energy requirements undermined system efficiency. Energy savings were maximal when system in direct space-heating or hot-water preheating mode. In least efficient mode, heat pumps alternatively mingled storage or collector energy, and space heating was provided by electric heat strip.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS1998

A 2 THz Heterodyne Array Receiver for SOFIA: Summary of Research

We proposed to perform a comprehensive design study of a 16-element heterodyne array receiver for SOFIA. The array was designed to utilize hot-electron bolometers in an efficient, low-cost waveguide mount to achieve low noise performance between approximately 1500 and 2400 GHz. Due to the prevailing physical conditions in the interstellar medium, this frequency range is one of the richest in the Far-Infra Red (FIR) portion of the spectrum. An array designed for this wavelength range will make excellent use of the telescope and the available atmospheric transmission, and will provide a new perspective on stellar, chemical, and galactic evolution in the present as well as past epochs. A few of the most important molecular and atomic species which the instrument will sample are CII, OI, CO, OH, NII, and CH. The system used the most sensitive detectors available in an efficient optical system. The local oscillator was a compact CO2 pumped far-infrared laser currently under development for SOFIA. The backend spectrometer was an array acousto-optic spectrometer (aAOS). The spectrometer utilizes proven hardware and technologies to provide broadband performance (> 1 GHz per AOS channel) and high spectral resolution (1 MHz) with the maximum sensitivity and minimum complexity and cost. The proposed instrument would be the fastest and most sensitive heterodyne receiver ever to operate in the 1.5 - 2.4 THz band. One of the key technologies developed for the proposed instrument is the laser micromachining of waveguide structures. These structures provide both the optical link between the instrument and the telescope (via an array of efficient feedhorns) and the impedance transformation between the detectors and free space. With the assistance of funds provided from this grant, we were able to fabricate and test the world's first laser micromachined feedhorns. The quality of the waveguide structure is far better than that obtainable using any other fabrication technique. The beam parameters are an excellent match to what is expected from theory. The success of this experiment demonstrates the viability of using laser micromachined components in the development of high performance, large format array receivers. We have continued our development efforts and will propose to build a 2nd generation instrument based on the same design concepts.

Walker, Christopher K.↗