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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 1,009 records · Page 56

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NASA NTRS2014

The Relationship Between CO2 Levels and CO2 Related Symptoms Reported on the ISS

Medical Operations, Toxicology, and the Lifetime Surveillance of Astronaut Health collaborated to assess the association of CO2 levels on board the International Space Station and USOS crew reported symptoms inflight, i.e. headache and vision changes. Private Medical Conference (PMC) documents and the weekly Space Medicine Operations Team (SMOT) Notes were used to provide a robust data set of inflight medical events. All events and non‐events were documented independent of CO2 levels and other potential contributors. Average (arithmetic mean) and single point maximum ppCO2 was calculated for the 24 hours and 7 days prior to the PMC or SMOT date and time provided by LSAH. Observations falling within the first 7 days of flight (147) were removed from the datasets analyzed to avoid confounding with Space Adaptation Syndrome. The final analysis was based on 1716 observations. For headache, 46 headaches were observed. CO2 level, age at launch, time inflight, and data source were all significantly associated with headache. In particular, for each 1 mmHg increase in CO2, the odds of a crewmember reporting a headache doubled. For vision changes, 29 reports of vision changes were observed. These observations were not found to be statistically associated with CO2 levels as analyzed. While the incidence of headache has was not high (~3%), headaches may be an indicator of underlying increases in intracranial pressure, which may result likely from the synergy between CO2‐induced cerebral vasodilatation and decreased venous drainage in microgravity. Vision changes were inconsistently reported and as a result did not align appropriately with the CO2 levels. Further analysis is needed. Our results support ongoing efforts to lower the CO2 exposure limits in spacecraft.

VanBaalen, M.↗

NASA NTRS1996

Quantification of Gear Tooth Damage by Optimal Tracking of Vibration Signatures

This paper presents a technique for quantifying the wear or damage of gear teeth in a transmission system. The procedure developed in this study can be applied as a part of either an onboard machine health-monitoring system or a health diagnostic system used during regular maintenance. As the developed methodology is based on analysis of gearbox vibration under normal operating conditions, no shutdown or special modification of operating parameters is required during the diagnostic process. The process of quantifying the wear or damage of gear teeth requires a set of measured vibration data and a model of the gear mesh dynamics. An optimization problem is formulated to determine the profile of a time-varying mesh stiffness parameter for which the model output approximates the measured data. The resulting stiffness profile is then related to the level of gear tooth wear or damage. The procedure was applied to a data set generated artificially and to another obtained experimentally from a spiral bevel gear test rig. The results demonstrate the utility of the procedure as part of an overall health-monitoring system.

Choy, F. K.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Global and regional kinematics with GPS

The inherent precision of the doubly differenced phase measurement and the low cost of instrumentation made GPS the space geodetic technique of choice for regional surveys as soon as the constellation reached acceptable geometry in the area of interest: 1985 in western North America, the early 1990's in most of the world. Instrument and site-related errors for horizontal positioning are usually less than 3 mm, so that the dominant source of error is uncertainty in the reference frame defined by the satellites orbits and the tracking stations used to determine them. Prior to about 1992, when the tracking network for most experiments was globally sparse, the number of fiducial sites or the level at which they could be tied to an SLR or VLBI reference frame usually, set the accuracy limit. Recently, with a global network of over 30 stations, the limit is set more often by deficiencies in models for non-gravitational forces acting on the satellites. For regional networks in the northern hemisphere, reference frame errors are currently about 3 parts per billion (ppb) in horizontal position, allowing centimeter-level accuracies over intercontinental distances and less than 1 mm for a 100 km baseline. The accuracy of GPS measurements for monitoring height variations is generally 2-3 times worse than for horizontal motions. As for VLBI, the primary source of error is unmodeled fluctuations in atmospheric water vapor, but both reference frame uncertainties and some instrument errors are more serious for vertical than horizontal measurements. Under good conditions, daily repeatabilities at the level of 10 mm rms were achieved. This paper will summarize the current accuracy of GPS measurements and their implication for the use of SLR to study regional kinematics.

King, Robert W.↗

NASA NTRS1981

Multispectral scanner flight model (F-1) radiometric calibration and alignment handbook

This handbook on the calibration of the MSS-D flight model (F-1) provides both the relevant data and a summary description of how the data were obtained for the system radiometric calibration, system relative spectral response, and the filter response characteristics for all 24 channels of the four band MSS-D F-1 scanner. The calibration test procedure and resulting test data required to establish the reference light levels of the MSS-D internal calibration system are discussed. The final set of data ("nominal" calibration wedges for all 24 channels) for the internal calibration system is given. The system relative spectral response measurements for all 24 channels of MSS-D F-1 are included. These data are the spectral response of the complete scanner, which are the composite of the spectral responses of the scan mirror primary and secondary telescope mirrors, fiber optics, optical filters, and detectors. Unit level test data on the measurements of the individual channel optical transmission filters are provided. Measured performance is compared to specification values.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS2012

pyam: Python Implementation of YaM

pyam is a software development framework with tools for facilitating the rapid development of software in a concurrent software development environment. pyam provides solutions for development challenges associated with software reuse, managing multiple software configurations, developing software product lines, and multiple platform development and build management. pyam uses release-early, release-often development cycles to allow developers to integrate their changes incrementally into the system on a continual basis. It facilitates the creation and merging of branches to support the isolated development of immature software to avoid impacting the stability of the development effort. It uses modules and packages to organize and share software across multiple software products, and uses the concepts of link and work modules to reduce sandbox setup times even when the code-base is large. One sidebenefit is the enforcement of a strong module-level encapsulation of a module s functionality and interface. This increases design transparency, system stability, and software reuse. pyam is written in Python and is organized as a set of utilities on top of the open source SVN software version control package. All development software is organized into a collection of modules. pyam packages are defined as sub-collections of the available modules. Developers can set up private sandboxes for module/package development. All module/package development takes place on private SVN branches. High-level pyam commands support the setup, update, and release of modules and packages. Released and pre-built versions of modules are available to developers. Developers can tailor the source/link module mix for their sandboxes so that new sandboxes (even large ones) can be built up easily and quickly by pointing to pre-existing module releases. All inter-module interfaces are publicly exported via links. A minimal, but uniform, convention is used for building modules.

Myint, Steven↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Assessment of Crew Time for Maintenance and Repair Activities for Lunar Surface Missions

NASA is currently evaluating different methods to predict how much time crewmembers will spend conducting repair and maintenance activities on future space missions. As mission scope and spacecraft architectures change, understanding how crew repair and maintenance timelines are impacted by mission operations and technology changes is vital for future mission planning. Past work has been done using historical International Space Station (ISS) data to accurately predict crew habitation and operation timelines, resulting in the development of NASA’s Exploration Crew Time Model (ECTM). However, understanding crew maintenance and repair requirements has posed a unique challenge due to the complexity of available datasets, the probabilistic nature of sub-system failures, and the impacts of reliability growth on failure rates. This paper presents a methodology to collect and condition empirical repair and maintenance time data from available datasets, to extrapolate from that data to estimate projected maintenance and repair times for a lunar Surface Habitat (SH), and to assess how uncertainty in repair time could impact utilization time on the lunar surface. NASA ISS maintenance and crew time data are logged into two central databases: the Maintenance Data Collection (MDC) and the Operations Planning Timeline Integration System (OPTimIS). Separately, each of these two datasets capture only portions of the complete set of data required to generate an accurate assessment of crew time spent on maintenance activities at a sub-system level. To create a more useful crew time estimate for maintenance timelines, the authors developed a methodology to capture relevant data from each set and combine and utilize that data by linking crew time requirements to specific components. The authors compare the failure logs in the MDC to crew activity logs pulled from OPTimIS and then process the data to estimate required repair time for each failure and repair event. The entire maintenance activity dataset is then categorized based on the class of failed component to ensure a significant sample size for each class and accurate crew time estimates for any components lacking relevant data. This resultant component repair time data can be used in the future to generate Mean Time to Repair (MTTR) estimates and confidence intervals for each class of component based on a probabilistic distribution of documented maintenance events. These improved MTTR values can then be applied to candidate element sub-system architectures, along with component Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) data to generate distributions for potential required system crew repair time estimates for a given mission. The authors applied these modeling methods to a case study of a crewed mission to the planned SH and produced expected corrective maintenance crew time distributions. The results produced an expected corrective maintenance crew time at over 24 hours per mission, and a maintenance crew time distribution that reflects the importance of planning for sufficient maintenance requirements each mission. Repair time distributions can then be used to develop more accurate crew schedules and to assess potential available utilization time.

Crew Time↗

NASA NTRS1976

Real-time video compression algorithm for Hadamard transform processing

A real-time digital video processor using Hadamard transform techniques to reduce video bandwidth is described. The processor can be programmed with different parameters to investigate various algorithms for bandwidth compression. The processor is also adaptive in that it can select different parameter sets to tradeoff spatial resolution for temporal resolution in the regions of the picture that are moving. Algorithms used in programming the system are described along with results achieved at various levels of compression. The algorithms relate to spatial compression, temporal compression, and the adaptive selection of parameter sets.

Knauer, S. C.↗

NASA NTRS1973

Highly reliable processor system for space application.

Description of a redundant processor organization which can be implemented with off-the-shelf processors for fault-tolerant operation. Reconfiguration can be performed automatically in a transientless manner. To support this system configuration and redundancy management concept, an operating system referred to as a synchronous executive has been designed. This system is directed at real-time closed-loop space applications where minimum response time, no degradation of software solution, and system simplicity are of importance. The system is based on a multicomputer organization with each machine solving the same problem based on a common set of inputs. Processor status is fed to a higher-level device which selects a controlling processor for controlling outputs and monitoring computers for fault detection.

Tsou, H. S. E.↗

NASA NTRS1976

Wind shear and turbulence around airports

A two part study was conducted to determine the feasibility of predicting the conditions under which wind/turbulence environments hazardous to aviation operations exist. The computer model used to solve the velocity temperature, and turbulence distributions in the atmospheric boundary layer is described, and the results of a parameteric analysis to determine the expected range of wind shear and turbulence to be encountered in the vicinity of airports are given. The second part describes the delineation of an ensemble of aircraft accidents in which low level wind shear and/or turbulence appeared to be causative factors. This set of accidents, encompassing a wide range of meteorological conditions, should prove useful in developing techniques for reconstructing hazardous wind environments for aircraft safety investigation purposes.

Lewellen, W. S.↗

NASA NTRS1976

Investigation of the effect of atmospheric dust on the determination of total ozone from the earth's ultraviolet reflectivity measurements, 2

Results of a detailed analysis of the simulated measurements for the BUV (Nimbus-4) configuration are described by using a total-ozone estimation procedure. A set of recommendations are discussed for increasing the accuracy and confidence level of the total ozone values estimated from the measurements of the earth's ultraviolet reflectivity at five different wavelengths (BUV configuration). A tentative procedure is also considered for the estimation of total ozone from measurements of reflectivity at six different wavelengths specified in the SBUV/TOMS (Nimbus-G) configuration.

Dave, J. V.↗

NASA NTRS1978

Numerical aerodynamic simulation facility. Preliminary study extension. Executive summary

An optimized functional design of key elements of the Numerical Aerodynamic Simulation Facility was investigated. The following tasks were performed and are discussed: (1) develop, optimize, and describe the functional description of the custom hardware; (2) delineate trade-off areas between performance, reliability, availability, serviceability, and programmability; (3) develop metrics and models for validation of the candidate system's performance; (4) conduct a functional simulation of the system design; (5) perform a reliability analysis of the system design; and (6) develop the software specifications to include a user level high level programming language, a correspondence between the programming language and instruction set, and outline the operating system requirements.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS1978

Numerical aerodynamic simulation facility. Preliminary study extension

The production of an optimized design of key elements of the candidate facility was the primary objective of this report. This was accomplished by effort in the following tasks: (1) to further develop, optimize and describe the function description of the custom hardware; (2) to delineate trade off areas between performance, reliability, availability, serviceability, and programmability; (3) to develop metrics and models for validation of the candidate systems performance; (4) to conduct a functional simulation of the system design; (5) to perform a reliability analysis of the system design; and (6) to develop the software specifications to include a user level high level programming language, a correspondence between the programming language and instruction set and outline the operation system requirements.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS1979

Cost-effective technology advancement directions for electric propulsion transportation systems in earth-orbital missions

The directions that electric propulsion technology should take to meet the primary propulsion requirements for earth-orbital missions in the most cost effective manner are determined. The mission set requirements, state of the art electric propulsion technology and the baseline system characterized by it, adequacy of the baseline system to meet the mission set requirements, cost optimum electric propulsion system characteristics for the mission set, and sensitivities of mission costs and design points to system level electric propulsion parameters are discussed. The impact on overall costs than specific masses or costs of propulsion and power systems is evaluated.

Regetz, J. D., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Pressure Modulator Radiometer (PMR) tests

The pressure modulator technique was evaluated for monitoring pollutant gases in the Earth's atmosphere of altitude levels corresponding to the mid and lower troposphere. Using an experimental set up and a 110 cm sample cell, pressure modulator output signals resulting from a range of gas concentrations in the sample cell were examined. Then a 20 cm sample cell was modified so that trace gas properties in the atmosphere could be simulated in the laboratory. These gas properties were measured using an infrared sensor.

Odell, E. L. G.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Interactive modeling, design and analysis of large spacecraft

An efficient computer aided design and analysis capability applicable to large space structures was developed to relieve the engineer of much of the effort required in the past. The automated capabilities can be used to rapidly synthesize, evaluate, and determine performance characteristics and costs for future large spacecraft concepts. The interactive design and evaluation of advanced spacecraft program (IDEAS) is used to illustrate the power, efficiency, and versatility of the approach. The coupling of space environment modeling algorithms with simplified analysis and design modules in the IDEAS program permits rapid evaluation of completing spacecraft and mission designs. The approach is particularly useful in the conceptual design phase of advanced space missions when a multiplicity of concepts must be considered before a limited set can be selected or more detailed analysis. Integrated spacecraft systems level data and data files are generated or subsystems and mission reexamination and/or refinement and for more rigorous analyses.

Garrett, L. B.↗

NASA NTRS1981

Evaluation of the CEAS model for barley yields in North Dakota and Minnesota

The CEAS yield model is based upon multiple regression analysis at the CRD and state levels. For the historical time series, yield is regressed on a set of variables derived from monthly mean temperature and monthly precipitation. Technological trend is represented by piecewise linear and/or quadriatic functions of year. Indicators of yield reliability obtained from a ten-year bootstrap test (1970-79) demonstrated that biases are small and performance as indicated by the root mean square errors are acceptable for intended application, however, model response for individual years particularly unusual years, is not very reliable and shows some large errors. The model is objective, adequate, timely, simple and not costly. It considers scientific knowledge on a broad scale but not in detail, and does not provide a good current measure of modeled yield reliability.

Barnett, T. L.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Time controlled descent guidance algorithm for simulation of advanced ATC systems

Concepts and computer algorithms for generating time controlled four dimensional descent trajectories are described. The algorithms were implemented in the air traffic control simulator and used by experienced controllers in studies of advanced air traffic flow management procedures. A time controlled descent trajectory comprises a vector function of time, including position, altitude, and heading, that starts at the initial position of the aircraft and ends at touchdown. The trajectory provides a four dimensional reference path which will cause an aircraft tracking it to touchdown at a predetermined time with a minimum of fuel consumption. The problem of constructing such trajectories is divided into three subproblems involving synthesis of horizontal, vertical, and speed profiles. The horizontal profile is constructed as a sequence of turns and straight lines passing through a specified set of waypoints. The vertical profile consists of a sequence of level flight and constant descent angle segments defined by altitude waypoints. The speed profile is synthesized as a sequence of constant Mach number, constant indicated airspeed, and acceleration/deceleration legs. It is generated by integrating point mass differential equations of motion, which include the thrust and drag models of the aircraft.

Lee, H. Q.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Analysis of a Coded, M-ary Orthogonal Input Optical Channel with Random-gain Photomultiplier Detection

Performance of two coding systems is analyzed for a noisy optical channel with M(=2(L)-ary orthogonal signaling and random gain photomultiplier detection. The considered coding systems are the Reed Solomon (RS) coding with error only correction decoding and the interleaved binary convolutional system with soft decision Viterbi decoding. The required average number of received signal photons per information bit, N sub b, for a desired bit error of 0.000001 is found for a set of commonly used parameters and with a high background noise level. We find that the interleaved binary convolutional coding system is preferable to the RS coding system in performance complexity tradeoffs.

Lee, P. J.↗