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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1976

Twelfth Annual Conference on Manual Control

Main topics discussed cover multi-task decision making, attention allocation and workload measurement, displays and controls, nonvisual displays, tracking and other psychomotor tasks, automobile driving, handling qualities and pilot ratings, remote manipulation, system identification, control models, and motion and visual cues. Sixty-five papers are included with presentations on results of analytical studies to develop and evaluate human operator models for a range of control task, vehicle dynamics and display situations; results of tests of physiological control systems and applications to medical problems; and on results of simulator and flight tests to determine display, control and dynamics effects on operator performance and workload for aircraft, automobile, and remote control systems.

Wempe, T. E.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Deep space communication - A one billion mile noisy channel

Deep space exploration is concerned with the study of natural phenomena in the solar system with the aid of measurements made at spacecraft on deep space missions. Deep space communication refers to communication between earth and spacecraft in deep space. The Deep Space Network is an earth-based facility employed for deep space communication. It includes a network of large tracking antennas located at various positions around the earth. The goals and achievements of deep space exploration over the past 20 years are discussed along with the broad functional requirements of deep space missions. Attention is given to the differences in space loss between communication satellites and deep space vehicles, effects of the long round-trip light time on spacecraft autonomy, requirements for the use of massive nuclear power plants on spacecraft at large distances from the sun, and the kinds of scientific return provided by a deep space mission. Problems concerning a deep space link of one billion miles are also explored.

Smith, J. G.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Geostationary Meteorological Satellite-5 (GMS-5)

The Geostationary Meteorological Satellite (GMS-5), which is being developed by the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA), is the fifth geostationary, spin stabilized, weather satellite. Its purposes are to observe cataclysmic events such as hurricanes, typhoons, and regional weather phenomena; to relay meteorological data from surface collection points to the Data Processing Center in Japan; and to transmit processing imaging data for facsimile reproduction. The satellite will be launched from the Tanegashima Space Center (TaSC) in Japan by a type H-II launch vehicle. The Deep Space Network (DSN) will support the transfer and drift orbit mission phases. The coverage will consist of the 26-m antennas as prime and the 34-m antenna at Madrid as backup support for launch through drift orbit. Maximum support will consist of two 8-hour tracks per station for a seven day period, plus 23 days of contingency support from all complexes. Information is given in tabular form for DSN support, frequency assignments, telemetry, command and tracking station responsibility.

Horii, M.↗
NASA NTRS2008

Empirical Accuracies of U.S. Space Surveillance Network Reentry Predictions

The U.S. Space Surveillance Network (SSN) issues formal satellite reentry predictions for objects which have the potential for generating debris which could pose a hazard to people or property on Earth. These prognostications, known as Tracking and Impact Prediction (TIP) messages, are nominally distributed at daily intervals beginning four days prior to the anticipated reentry and several times during the final 24 hours in orbit. The accuracy of these messages depends on the nature of the satellite s orbit, the characteristics of the space vehicle, solar activity, and many other factors. Despite the many influences on the time and the location of reentry, a useful assessment of the accuracies of TIP messages can be derived and compared with the official accuracies included with each TIP message. This paper summarizes the results of a study of numerous uncontrolled reentries of spacecraft and rocket bodies from nearly circular orbits over a span of several years. Insights are provided into the empirical accuracies and utility of SSN TIP messages.

Johnson, Nicholas L.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Launch Condition Deviations of Reusable Launch Vehicle Simulations in Exo-Atmospheric Zoom Climbs

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has proposed a two-stage system to deliver a small payload to orbit. The proposal calls for an airplane to perform an exo-atmospheric zoom climb maneuver, from which a second-stage rocket is launched carrying the payload into orbit. The NASA Dryden Flight Research Center has conducted an in-house generic simulation study to determine how accurately a human-piloted airplane can deliver a second-stage rocket to a desired exo-atmospheric launch condition. A high-performance, fighter-type, fixed-base, real-time, pilot-in-the-loop airplane simulation has been modified to perform exo-atmospheric zoom climb maneuvers. Four research pilots tracked a reference trajectory in the presence of winds, initial offsets, and degraded engine thrust to a second-stage launch condition. These launch conditions have been compared to the reference launch condition to characterize the expected deviation. At each launch condition, a speed change was applied to the second-stage rocket to insert the payload onto a transfer orbit to the desired operational orbit. The most sensitive of the test cases was the degraded thrust case, yielding second-stage launch energies that were too low to achieve the radius of the desired operational orbit. The handling qualities of the airplane, as a first-stage vehicle, have also been investigated.

Urschel, Peter H.↗
DOE OSTI2025

DEMOS (Demographic Microsimulator Tool for Longitudinal Synthetic Population) [SWR-25-135] related to NLR SWR-26-076

The Demographic Microsimulator (DEMOS) is an agent-based simulation framework used to model the evolution of population demographic characteristics and lifecycle events, such as education attainment, marital status, and other key transitions. DEMOS modules are designed to capture the interdependencies between short-term and long-term lifecycle events, which are often influential in downstream transportation and land-use modeling. A key feature of DEMOS is its ability to track changes in an agent’s demographic status from year t to year t + 1. This structure allows the model to evolve populations over any user-defined time horizon. As a result, DEMOS is well suited for analyzing medium- and long-term transportation-related decisions, including household vehicle transactions (e.g., purchasing, selling, or replacing vehicles) and work location choices. Core features of DEMOS include the modeling of more than ten lifecycle events, behaviorally realistic patterns informed by long-running panel data, explicit representation of interdependencies among lifecycle processes, and a flexible, modular simulation architecture. A technical memorandum describing DEMOS is available here. The memorandum provides an overview of the framework’s functionality, model structure, input and output data, and its applications in transportation planning and broader policy analysis contexts. Interested readers are also encouraged to consult the paper listed below for additional details on the DEMOS methodology. Sun, Bingrong, Shivam Sharda, Venu M. Garikapati, Mohamed Amine Bouzaghrane, Juan Caicedo, Srinath Ravulaparthy, Isabel Viegas de Lima, Ling Jin, C. Anna Spurlock, and Paul Waddell. "Demographic Microsimulator for Integrated Urban Systems: Adapting Panel Survey of Income Dynamics to Capture the Continuum of Life." Transportation Research Record (2025): 03611981251333339.

Sun, Bingrong [National Laboratory of the Rockies ↗
NASA NTRS1983

Video Target Tracking and Ranging System

Proposed target tracking and ranging system uses two automatic video target trackers to keep two TV cameras trained on object being tracked. Microcomputer calculates range and range-rate information by triangulation. Input data for calculation are position coordinates of two cameras and pan and tilt aiming angles of two cameras. System is useful for target ranging at distances up to about 1,000 feet (300 m) in such applications as vehicle collision avoidance, traffic monitoring and surveillance. Also substitutes for short-range radar in situations where radar signal can not be tolerated.

Freedman, L. A.↗
NASA NTRS1989

An empirically derived figure of merit for the quality of overall task performance

The need to develop an operationally relevant figure of merit for the quality of performance of a complex system such as an aircraft cockpit stems from a hypothesized dissociation between measures of performance and those of workload. Performance can be measured in terms of time, errors, or a combination of these. In most tasks performed by expert operators, errors are relatively rare and often corrected in time to avoid consequences. Moreover, perfect performance is seldom necessary to accomplish a particular task. Moreover, how well an expert performs a complex task consisting of a series of discrete cognitive tasks superimposed on a continuous task, such as flying an aircraft, does not depend on how well each discrete task is performed, but on their smooth sequencing. This makes the amount of time spent on each subtask of paramount importance in measuring overall performance, since smooth sequencing requires a minimum amount of time spent on each task. Quality consists in getting tasks done within a crucial time interval while maintaining acceptable continuous task performance. Thus, a figure of merit for overall quality of performance should be primarily a measure of time to perform discrete subtasks combined with a measure of basic vehicle control. Thus, the proposed figure of merit requires doing a task analysis on a series of performance, or runs, of a particular task, listing each discrete task and its associated time, and calculating the mean and standard deviation of these times, along with the mean and standard deviation of tracking error for the whole task. A set of simulator data on 30 runs of a landing task was obtained and a figure of merit will be calculated for each run. The figure of merit will be compared for voice and data link, so that the impact of this technology on total crew performance (not just communication performance) can be assessed. The effect of data link communication on other cockpit tasks will also be considered.

Lemay, Moira↗
NASA NTRS1994

Budget estimates: Fiscal year 1994. Volume 1: Agency summary

The NASA FY 1994 budget request of $15,265 million concentrates on (1) investing in the development of new technologies including a particularly aggressive program in aeronautical technology to improve the competitive position of the United States, through shared involvement with industry and other government agencies; (2) continuing the nation's premier program of space exploration, to expand our knowledge of the solar system and the universe as well as the earth; and (3) providing safe and assured access to space using both the space shuttle and expendable launch vehicles. Budget estimates are presented for (1) research and development, including space station, space transportation capability development, space science and applications programs, space science, life and microgravity sciences and applications, mission to planet earth, space research and technology, commercial programs, aeronautics technology programs, safety and mission quality, academic programs, and tracking and data advanced systems; and (2) space operations, including space transportation programs, launch services, and space communications.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2000

Nozomi Cis-Lunar Phase Orbit Determination

Japan's Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) launched Nozomi, its first mission to the planet Mars using the newly developed M-V launch vehicle on July 3, 1998. Scientific objectives of the mission are to study the structure and dynamics of the Martian upper atmosphere and its interaction with the solar wind. Nozomi is a cooperative mission between ISAS and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The NASA contribution includes navigation and tracking services provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The spacecraft also serves as an engineering demonstration of basic technology for planetary exploration. One of the new technologies was a unique trajectory, developed by ISAS, which used solar gravitational perturbations at the weak stability boundary as an aid to achieve an Earth-Mars transfer orbit. This trajectory saves approximately 120 m/s of Delta V compared to direct hyperbolic insertion and is considered an enabling technology for the mission. Nozomi was the first spacecraft to employ this trajectory and provided on-orbit validation of the technique. The trajectory was achieved by initially placing the spacecraft in a highly elliptical cis-lunar phasing orbit. Six maneuvers were performed during this period to correct injection errors and target an outbound lunar swingby in September 1998. The gravity assist from the lunar swingby raised apogee to the vicinity of the weak stability boundary. After three more targeting maneuvers, Nozomi performed an inbound lunar swingby followed immediately by a powered Earth swingby in late December 1998. A 420 m/s Trans Mars Insertion (TMI) burn at the final Earth periapsis was intended to place the spacecraft on a heliocentric trajectory leading to Mars orbit insertion in October 1999. Orbit determination for Nozomi is performed in parallel by both ISAS and the Multi-Mission Navigation (MMNAV) group at JPL. This was an advantage for the mission because each group would generate solutions based on data collected from their respective tracking networks. Spacecraft events, such as sequence uplinks and maneuvers, were generally scheduled during passes at the Usuda tracking station in Japan. As a result, maneuver design and reconstruction was derived from MMNAV solutions based on JPL tracking data obtained immediately prior to or following maneuvers. Data was also exchanged between ISAS and MMNAV so orbit determination could be performed on joint data sets in support of critical targeting late in the cis-lunar phase. In this paper, information regarding the MMNAV orbit determination effort for the first six months of the mission is presented. The spacecraft trajectory is characterized first, followed by a discussion of the orbit determination estimation procedure and models. Results from selected orbit solutions are presented and compared against reconstructed trajectories. One area of emphasis in this paper is orbit determination in the vicinity of the weak stability boundary. Precise navigation was necessary to target the second lunar swingby and the powered Earth swingby. Delivery accuracy of 150 m was required for these critical encounters, but a number of factors contributed to the general degradation of orbit determination accuracy. This included the fact that the spacecraft was at apogee, at a range of 1.7 million km and moving at less than I km/sec perpendicular to the line of sight. Nozomi was also close to zero degrees declination where there are known limitations on orbit determination performance. Finally, S-band tracking data was acquired through the Nozomi backup low gain antenna. This antenna is offset from the axis of this spin stabilized spacecraft and superimposed large signatures in the Doppler and range data. These difficulties were overcome by combining long data arcs, spanning several maneuvers, with a high fidelity solar pressure model. The model included a physically accurate representation of the spacecraft structure and a high time resolution orientation model. Observation modeling included the removal of the spin induced Doppler bias, spin signature and per pass correction of range calibration errors applied for data leading up to critical events. As a result, all orbit determination goals were met. A second area of emphasis in this paper is the JPL tracking and orbit determination effort in support of the TMI maneuver. TMI occurred out of contact with ground stations and the JPL Goldstone tracking complex had the first pass following the bum. As a result, MMNAV had the responsibility to make a rapid assessment of the maneuver performance. MMNAV made the determination that a 100 m/s under bum had occurred and promptly informed ISAS via voice lines. ISAS immediately began preparations for a correction maneuver (TMIc), which had to be performed during the next Usuda pass. The near real time assessment by MMNAV provided accurate antenna frequency and pointing updates for the spacecraft acquisition at Usuda and the close coordination between the two agencies enabled the design and successful execution of the TMc maneuver. Propellant consumption during the correction burn dictated that the mission be redesigned. ISAS developed a new plan which adds 3 full solar orbits, two Earth swingbys and one lunar swingby with arrival at Mars in January 2004. The final Mars orbit will still enable the mission to achieve all of its science objectives.

Ryne, Mark↗
NASA NTRS2013

Ablator Response Model Development: From Flight Data Back to Fundamental Experiments

The successful Mars atmospheric entry by the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL-Curiosity) combined with the success of the Earth atmospheric entry by the Stardust capsule have established PICA as a major Thermal Protection Systems (TPS) material. We expect that this class of materials will be on the short list selected by NASA for any atmospheric entry missions and that it will be the lead of that list of materials in any planning, feasibility studies or flight readiness studies. In addition to NASAs successes, the Dragon capsule, the successful commercial space vehicle built by SpaceX, uses PICA-X, while the European Space Agency is considering ASTERM for its exploration missions that involve atmospheric entries, both of these materials are of the same family as PICA. In the talk, a high-fidelity model will be detailed and discussed. The model tracks the chemical composition of the gases produced during pyrolysis. As in the conventional models, it uses equilibrium chemistry to determine the recession rate at high temperatures but switches to in-volume finite-rate ablation for lower temperatures. It also tracks the time evolution of the porosity of the material. Progress in implementing this high-fidelity model in a code will be presented. In addition, a set of basic experimental data being supported for model validation will be summarized. The validation process for the model development will be discussed. Preliminary results will be presented for a case where detailed pyrolysis product chemistry is computed. Finally, a wish list for a set of validation experiments will be outlined and discussed.

Mansour, Nagi N.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Navigation Doppler Lidar Performance at High Speed and Long Range

NASA is developing a Navigational Doppler LiDAR (NDL) for use in missions involving robotic and human landing scenarios on solar system bodies. The NDL provides unprecedented accuracy in position and velocity measurement for the guidance, navigation and control (GNC) subsystem of a spacecraft. NDL performance has been characterized over different phases of its development through ground tests, helicopter flight tests, and onboard rocket-powered test vehicles, however, none of these tests provided measurements over its full performance envelope. For this reason, a high speed rocket sled test was recently conducted to resolve both range and velocity up to the maximum limits of the NDL. This test campaign was performed at the Supersonic Naval Ordnance Research Tracks (SNORT) facility, Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, as part of the Safe & Precise Landing and Integrated Capabilities Evolution (SPLICE) project.

Aram Gragossian↗
NASA NTRS2021

Mars 2020 Perseverance Entry Controller Design and Flight Reconstruction

On February 18th, 2021, NASA landed Perseverance on the Jezero crater (on Mars). An entry Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) system delivered the vehicle to the desired landing ellipse. The navigation filter propagated position and attitude states initialized from cruise using Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) measurements. The entry guidance modulated the lift vector through bank commands to reach the parachute deploy conditions. The entry controller commanded the propulsive Reaction Control System (RCS) to track the bank commands while doing rate damping on angle-of-attack and sideslip. This paper describes the design and the as-flown performance of the entry controller.

Way, David W.↗
NASA NTRS1973

Titan 3E/Centaur D-1T Systems Summary

A systems and operational summary of the Titan 3E/Centaur D-1T program is presented which describes vehicle assembly facilities, launch facilities, and management responsibilities, and also provides detailed information on the following separate systems: (1) mechanical systems, including structural components, insulation, propulsion units, reaction control, thrust vector control, hydraulic systems, and pneumatic equipment; (2) astrionics systems, such as instrumentation and telemetry, navigation and guidance, C-Band tracking system, and range safety command system; (3) digital computer unit software; (4) flight control systems; (5) electrical/electronic systems; and (6) ground support equipment, including checkout equipment.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1975

Automated parking garage system model

A one-twenty-fifth scale model of the key components of an automated parking garage system is described. The design of the model required transferring a vehicle from an entry level, vertically (+Z, -Z), to a storage location at any one of four storage positions (+X, -X, +Y, +Y, -Y) on the storage levels. There are three primary subsystems: (1) a screw jack to provide the vertical motion of the elevator, (2) a cam-driven track-switching device to provide X to Y motion, and (3) a transfer cart to provide horizontal travel and a small amount to vertical motion for transfer to the storage location. Motive power is provided by dc permanent magnet gear motors, one each for the elevator and track switching device and two for the transfer cart drive system (one driving the cart horizontally and the other providing the vertical transfer). The control system, through the use of a microprocessor, provides complete automation through a feedback system which utilizes sensing devices.

Collins, E. R., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Rendezvous and docking tracker

A conceptual solid-state rendezvous and docking tracker (RDT) has been devised for generating range and attitude data for a docking vehicle relative to a target vehicle. Emphasis is placed on the approach of the Orbiter to a link with the Space Station. Three laser illuminators ring the optical axis of the lens a directed toward retroreflectors on the target vehicle. Each retroreflector is equipped with a bandpass filter for a designated illumination frequency. Data are collected sequentially over a 20 deg field of view as the range closes to 100-1000 m. A fourth ranging retroreflector 0.3 m from center is employed during close-in maneuvers. The system provides tracking data on motions with 6 deg of freedom, and furnishes 500 msec updates (to be enhanced to 100 msec) to the operator at a computer console.

Ray, Art J.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Evaluation of a Neural Adaptive Flight Controller

The objective of this paper is to present results from the evaluation of a direct adaptive tracking controller. The control architecture employs both pre-trained and an on-line neural networks to represent the non-linear aircraft dynamics in the model inversion portion of the controller. The aircraft model used for this evaluation is representative of the F-15 Advanced Control Technology for Integrated Vehicles (ACTIVE) aircraft. The controller was evaluated for three cases: (1) nominal conditions; (2) loss of control power; and (3) loss of control power in the presence of atmospheric turbulence. The results were compared with the existing F-15 ACTIVE conventional mode controller in all cases. The results indicate extremely desirable airframe stabilization characteristics for case (1) that do not degrade significantly for case (2) or (3) as does the conventional mode controller. It was concluded that this controller exhibits both stable and robust adaptive characteristics when subjected to mild and extreme loss of control power conditions. Integration of this neural adaptive flight controller into the full non-linear six degree-of-freedom F-15 ACTIVE simulation is recommended for evaluation in a real-time high fidelity piloted simulation environment.

Totah, Joseph J.↗