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At least 1,027 records · Page 57
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1993

Commonality of flight control systems for support of European telecommunications missions

This paper is concerned with the presentation of mission-independent software systems that provide a common software platform to ground data systems for mission operations. The objectives of such common software platforms are to reduce the cost of the development of mission-dedicated software systems and to increase the level of reliability of the ground data systems for mission operations. In accordance with this objective, the Multi-Satellite Support System (MSSS) was developed at the European Space Operations Center (ESOC). Between 1975 and 1992, the MSSS provided support to 16 European Space Agency (ESA) missions, among them very demanding science missions such as GEOS, EXOSAT, and Giotto. The successful support of these missions proved the validity of the MSSS concept with its extended mission-independent platform. This paper describes the MSSS concept and focuses on the wide use of MSSS as a flight control system for geosynchronous telecommunications satellites. Reference is made to more than 15 telecommunications missions that are operated from Western Europe using flight control systems with an underlying MSSS concept, demonstrating the benefits of a commonly used software platform. Finally, the paper outlines the design of the new generation of flight control systems, which is being developed at ESOC for this decade, following a period of more than 15 years of MSSS support.

Debatin, Kurt↗
NASA NTRS1995

Spectroscopic data for thermal infrared remote sensing

There has been extensive world-wide use of chloro-fluoro-carbons (CFC's), especially CFC-11 (CFCl3) and CFC-12 (CF2Cl2), hydro-chloro-fluoro-carbons (HCFC's), HCFC-22 (CHFCl2) in particular, and sulphur hexaflouride (SF6) in numerous many industrial applications. These chemicals possess either a strong ozone-depletion potential or a global-warming potential, or both, and pose a threat to the inhabitability of our planet. Recognition of this fact has led to significant curtailment, if not total banishment, of their use globally. However, as recent satellite observations have shown, decline in their atmospheric concentrations may not be immediate. The marked depletion of ozone which has been observed in recent years at high latitudes has made infrared remote sensing of the atmosphere an activity of high priority. The success of any infrared remote sensing experiment conducted in the atmosphere depends upon the availability of accurate, high-resolution, spectroscopic data that are applicable to that experiment. This paper presents a preliminary phase of a multi-faceted work using a Fourier-transform spectrometer (FTS) which is in progress in our laboratory. The concept of how laboratory-borne measurements can be geared toward obtaining a database that is directly applicable to satellite-borne remote sensing missions is the main thrust of this paper which addresses itself to ongoing or planned international space missions. Spectroscopic data on the unresolvable bands of the above mentioned as well as several other man-made gases and on the individual spectral lines of such naturally present trace gases as CO2, N2O, NH3, and CH4 are presented. There is often significant overlap between the isolated lines of better known bands of the more abundant species and the weaker absorption features identifiable as bands of the currently less abundant CFC's, HCFC's, and SF6.

Varanasi, P.↗
NASA NTRS2019

Visualization and Analysis of Solar System Small Bodies with NASA's Solar System Treks Project

In its investigations of Vesta and Ceres, NASA’s Dawn mission has returned spectacular data detailing the surfaces of these two prominent small bodies in our Solar System’s asteroid belt. In order to greatly facilitate dissemination, visualization, and analysis of this data, and public understanding of the mission, the Dawn mission has partnered with NASA’s Solar System Treks Project (SSTP). SSTP has recently released an update to the Vesta Trek online portal (https://trek.nasa.gov/vesta/) and has released a new Ceres Trek portal (https://trek.nasa.gov/ceres/). This presentation will showcase the use of the Ceres Trek and Vesta Trek portals and demonstrate how they can be used to visualize and analyze particularly interesting landforms such as the pitted terrain on Vesta and relic cryovolcanoes on Ceres. We will also demonstrate the new VR capability that has been added to the portals, allowing users to generate their own virtual reality flyovers for any user-defined paths along the bodies’ surfaces. In addition to highlighting the portals for Ceres and Vesta, the presentation will preview additional portals being planned/developed for other small bodies. NASA and JAXA have requested the development of a portal for the asteroid Ryugu to facilitate dissemination, visualization, and analysis of data from Japan’s Hayabusa2 mission, and a portal for Mars’ moon Phobos in support of mission planning for Japan’s MMX mission. We are also planning a portal for the asteroid Bennu with data from the OSIRIS-Rex mission. All of these products are efforts in the NASA Solar System Treks Project (SSTP), available at https://trek.nasa.gov. NASA's Solar System Trek online portals provide web-based suites of interactive data visualization and analysis tools to enable mission planners, planetary scientists, students, and the general public to access mapped data products from past and current missions for a growing number of planetary bodies including the Moon, Mars, Vesta, etc. These portals are being used for site selection and analysis by NASA and a number of its international partners, supporting upcoming missions. In addition to demonstrating the capabilities of selected portals in this presentation, we will solicit input from the community for ideas for future enhancements to the portals.

Day, Brian↗
NASA NTRS2019

Building a Data Ecosystem: A New Data Stewardship Paradigm for the Multi-Mission Algorithm and Analysis Platform (MAAP)

New adaptive approaches to Earth observation data stewardship need to be adopted in order to allow for higher data volumes, heterogeneous data and constantly evolving technologies. The data ecosystem approach to stewardship offers a viable solution to this need by placing an emphasis on the relationships between data, technologies and people. In this paper, we present the Joint ESA-NASA Multi-Mission Algorithm and Analysis Platform’s (MAAP) creation of a data ecosystem to support global aboveground terrestrial carbon dynamics research. We present the components needed to support the MAAP data ecosystem along with two data stewardship workflows used in the MAAP and the development of extended metadata for MAAP.

Bugbee, Kaylin↗
NASA NTRS2015

NASA'S Earth Science Data Stewardship Activities

NASA has been collecting Earth observation data for over 50 years using instruments on board satellites, aircraft and ground-based systems. With the inception of the Earth Observing System (EOS) Program in 1990, NASA established the Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) Project and initiated development of the Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS). A set of Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) was established at locations based on science discipline expertise. Today, EOSDIS consists of 12 DAACs and 12 Science Investigator-led Processing Systems (SIPS), processing data from the EOS missions, as well as the Suomi National Polar Orbiting Partnership mission, and other satellite and airborne missions. The DAACs archive and distribute the vast majority of data from NASA’s Earth science missions, with data holdings exceeding 12 petabytes The data held by EOSDIS are available to all users consistent with NASA’s free and open data policy, which has been in effect since 1990. The EOSDIS archives consist of raw instrument data counts (level 0 data), as well as higher level standard products (e.g., geophysical parameters, products mapped to standard spatio-temporal grids, results of Earth system models using multi-instrument observations, and long time series of Earth System Data Records resulting from multiple satellite observations of a given type of phenomenon). EOSDIS data stewardship responsibilities include ensuring that the data and information content are reliable, of high quality, easily accessible, and usable for as long as they are considered to be of value.

metadata↗
NASA NTRS2017

DSN Wide Area Network Architecture, Capacity and Performance

This paper discusses the architecture of the wide area network that connects key communications facilities within the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) Deep Space Network (DSN). Several considerations are given to the design of this wide area network to ensure a timely, reliable, and secure data delivery between the mission users and their spacecraft. The network star configuration simplifies data delivery to users and minimizes operational cost. The dual-path connections maximize the system reliability, with geographical diversity in data routing to avoid single point of failure. Data encryption enhances the protection of mission users’ data. The system bandwidth is determined by balancing the needs to minimize the operating bandwidth cost and to have sufficient bandwidth to be able to deliver data to all users within the required. The DSN uses a class base weighted fair queuing (CBWFQ) method in its data delivery. This scheme guarantees a minimum bandwidth to each class of users and allows users to also access any unused bandwidth by other groups. The paper will also show performance of system reliability and bandwidth margin.

Liao, Jason↗
NASA NTRS2006

Solutions Network Formulation Report. Improving NOAA's Tides and Currents Through Enhanced Data Inputs from NASA's Ocean Surface Topography Mission

The Nation uses water-level data for a variety of practical purposes, including hydrography, nautical charting, maritime navigation, coastal engineering, and tsunami and storm surge warnings (NOAA, 2002; Digby et al., 1999). Long-term applications include marine boundary determinations, tidal predictions, sea-level trend monitoring, oceanographic research, and climate research. Accurate and timely information concerning sea-level height, tide, and ocean current is needed to understand their impact on coastal management, disaster management, and public health. Satellite altimeter data products are currently used by hundreds of researchers and operational users to monitor ocean circulation and to improve scientists understanding of the role of the oceans in climate and weather. The NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) National Ocean Service has been monitoring sea-level variations for many years (NOAA, 2006). NOAA s Tides & Currents DST (decision support tool, managed by the Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services, is the portal to a vast collection of oceanographic and meteorological data (historical and real-time), predictions, and nowcasts and forecasts. This report assesses the capacity of NASA s satellite altimeter data to meet societal decision support needs through incorporation into NOAA s Tides & Currents.

Guest, DeNeice C.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Polar Spin Axis Anomaly

The Global Geospace Science (GGS) Polar Plasma Laboratory (POLAR) spacecraft was launched on February 24, 1996, by a Delta 2. The spacecraft, a major axis spinner, appeared to function nominally throughout the early mission phase, which included several deployments, and orbit and attitude maneuvers. Of particular interest is the fact that the spacecraft was launched with a deliberate dynamic imbalance. During a segment of early orbit operations, a pair of Lanyard Deployed Booms (LDB) were extended. These booms were not identical; the intent was that the spacecraft would be nearly dynamically balanced after they were deployed. The spacecraft contained two dynamic balance mechanisms intended to fine tune the balance on orbit. However, subsequent images taken by the science instruments on the Despun Platform during the dynamic balancing segment indicated an offset of the principal spin axis from the geometric axis. This offset produced a sinusoidal blurring of the science images sufficiently large to degrade science data below mission requirement specifications. In the end, the imbalance encountered in flight was significantly outside the correction capability of the balances. The purpose of this paper is to examine the flight data during the various deployment and maneuver stages of the early orbit operations coupled with analytical simulations to discuss some of the potential causes of the resultant imbalance.

Crouse, Patrick L.↗
NASA NTRS2009

Assessment of Operation of EMK21 MEMS Silicon Oscillator Over Wide Temperature Range

Electronic control systems, data-acquisition instrumentation, and microprocessors require accurate timing signals for proper operation. Traditionally, ceramic resonators and crystal oscillators provided this clock function for the majority of these systems. Over the last few years, MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) resonator-based oscillators began to surface as commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) parts by a few companies. These quartz-free, miniature silicon devices could easily replace the traditional crystal oscillators in providing the timing/clock function for many digital and analog circuits. They are reported to provide stable output frequency, offer great tolerance to shock and vibration, and are immune to electro-static discharge [ 1-2]. In addition, they are encapsulated in compact lead-free packages and cover a wide frequency range (1 MHz to 125 MHz). The small size of the MEMS oscillators along with their thermal stability make them ideal candidates for use in space exploration missions. Limited data, however, exist on the performance and reliability of these devices under operation in applications where extreme temperatures or thermal cycling swings, which are typical of space missions, are encountered. This report presents the results of the work obtained on the evaluation of an Ecliptek Corporation MEMS silicon oscillator chip under extreme temperatures.

Patterson, Richard L.↗
NASA NTRS2009

Feature Detection Systems Enhance Satellite Imagery

In 1963, during the ninth orbit of the Faith 7 capsule, astronaut Gordon Cooper skipped his nap and took some photos of the Earth below using a Hasselblad camera. The sole flier on the Mercury-Atlas 9 mission, Cooper took 24 photos - never-before-seen images including the Tibetan plateau, the crinkled heights of the Himalayas, and the jagged coast of Burma. From his lofty perch over 100 miles above the Earth, Cooper noted villages, roads, rivers, and even, on occasion, individual houses. In 1965, encouraged by the effectiveness of NASA s orbital photography experiments during the Mercury and subsequent Gemini manned space flight missions, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) director William Pecora put forward a plan for a remote sensing satellite program that would collect information about the planet never before attainable. By 1972, NASA had built and launched Landsat 1, the first in a series of Landsat sensors that have combined to provide the longest continuous collection of space-based Earth imagery. The archived Landsat data - 37 years worth and counting - has provided a vast library of information allowing not only the extensive mapping of Earth s surface but also the study of its environmental changes, from receding glaciers and tropical deforestation to urban growth and crop harvests. Developed and launched by NASA with data collection operated at various times by the Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Earth Observation Satellite Company (EOSAT, a private sector partnership that became Space Imaging Corporation in 1996), and USGS, Landsat sensors have recorded flooding from Hurricane Katrina, the building boom in Dubai, and the extinction of the Aral Sea, offering scientists invaluable insights into the natural and manmade changes that shape the world. Of the seven Landsat sensors launched since 1972, Landsat 5 and Landsat 7 are still operational. Though both are in use well beyond their intended lifespans, the mid-resolution satellites, which provide the benefit of images detailed enough to reveal large features like highways while still broad enough for global coverage, continue to scan the entirety of the Earth s surface. In 2012, NASA plans to launch the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM), or Landsat 8, to extend the Landsat program s contributions to cartography, water management, natural disaster relief planning, and more.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2001

Integrated Operations Architecture Technology Assessment Study

As part of NASA's Integrated Operations Architecture (IOA) Baseline, NASA will consolidate all communications operations. including ground-based, near-earth, and deep-space communications, into a single integrated network. This network will make maximum use of commercial equipment, services and standards. It will be an Internet Protocol (IP) based network. This study supports technology development planning for the IOA. The technical problems that may arise when LEO mission spacecraft interoperate with commercial satellite services were investigated. Commercial technology and services that could support the IOA were surveyed, and gaps in the capability of existing technology and techniques were identified. Recommendations were made on which gaps should be closed by means of NASA research and development funding. Several findings emerged from the interoperability assessment: in the NASA mission set, there is a preponderance of small. inexpensive, low data rate science missions; proposed commercial satellite communications services could potentially provide TDRSS-like data relay functions; and. IP and related protocols, such as TCP, require augmentation to operate in the mobile networking environment required by the space-to-ground portion of the IOA. Five case studies were performed in the technology assessment. Each case represented a realistic implementation of the near-earth portion of the IOA. The cases included the use of frequencies at L-band, Ka-band and the optical spectrum. The cases also represented both space relay architectures and direct-to-ground architectures. Some of the main recommendations resulting from the case studies are: select an architecture for the LEO/MEO communications network; pursue the development of a Ka-band space-qualified transmitter (and possibly a receiver), and a low-cost Ka-band ground terminal for a direct-to-ground network, pursue the development of an Inmarsat (L-band) space-qualified transceiver to implement a global, low data rate network for LEO/MEO, mission spacecraft; and, pursue developmental research for a miniaturized, high data rate optical transceiver.

Source record↗
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 NTRS2015

GeneLab: A Systems Biology Platform for Spaceflight Omics Data

NASA's mission includes expanding our understanding of biological systems to improve life on Earth and to enable long-duration human exploration of space. Resources to support large numbers of spaceflight investigations are limited. NASA's GeneLab project is maximizing the science output from these experiments by: (1) developing a unique public bioinformatics database that includes space bioscience relevant "omics" data (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics) and experimental metadata; (2) partnering with NASA-funded flight experiments through bio-sample sharing or sample augmentation to expedite omics data input to the GeneLab database; and (3) developing community-driven reference flight experiments. The first database, GeneLab Data System Version 1.0, went online in April 2015. V1.0 contains numerous flight datasets and has search and download capabilities. Version 2.0 will be released in 2016 and will link to analytic tools. In 2015 Genelab partnered with two Biological Research in Canisters experiments (BBRIC-19 and BRIC-20) which examine responses of Arabidopsis thaliana to spaceflight. GeneLab also partnered with Rodent Research-1 (RR1), the maiden flight to test the newly developed rodent habitat. GeneLab developed protocols for maxiumum yield of RNA, DNA and protein from precious RR-1 tissues harvested and preserved during the SpaceX-4 mission, as well as from tissues from mice that were frozen intact during spaceflight and later dissected. GeneLab is establishing partnerships with at least three planned flights for 2016. Organism-specific nationwide Science Definition Teams (SDTs) will define future GeneLab dedicated missions and ensure the broader scientific impact of the GeneLab missions. GeneLab ensures prompt release and open access to all high-throughput omics data from spaceflight and ground-based simulations of microgravity and radiation. Overall, GeneLab will facilitate the generation and query of parallel multi-omics data, and deep curation of metadata for integrative analysis, allowing researchers to uncover cellular networks as observed in systems biology platforms. Consequently, the scientific community will have access to a more complete picture of functional and regulatory networks responsive to the spaceflight environment.. Analysis of GeneLab data will contribute fundamental knowledge of how the space environment affects biological systems, and enable emerging terrestrial benefits resulting from mitigation strategies to prevent effects observed during exposure to space. As a result, open access to the data will foster new hypothesis-driven research for future spaceflight studies spanning basic science to translational science.

proteomics↗
NASA NTRS2010

Onboard Processing of Multispectral and Hyperspectral Data of Volcanic Activity for Future Earth-Orbiting and Planetary Missions

Autonomous onboard processing of data allows rapid response to detections of dynamic, changing processes. Software that can detect volcanic eruptions from thermal emission has been used to retask the Earth Observing 1 spacecraft to obtain additional data of the eruption. Rapid transmission of these data to the ground, and the automatic processing of the data to generated images, estimates of eruption parameters and maps of thermal structure, has allowed these products to be delivered rapidly to volcanologists to aid them in assessing eruption risk and hazard. Such applications will enhance science return from future Earth-orbiting spacecraft and also from spacecraft exploring the Solar System, or beyond, which hope to image dynamic processes. Especially in the latter case, long communication times between the spacecraft and Earth exclude a rapid response to what may be a transient process - only using onboard autonomy can the spacecraft react quickly to such an event.

Jupiter↗
NASA NTRS2009

Terrestrial Applications of the Thermal Infrared Sensor, TIRS

Landsat satellites have acquired single-band thermal images since 1978. The next satellile in the heritage, Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM), is scheduled to launch in December 2012. LDCM will contain the Operational Land Imager (OLI) and the Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS), where TIRS operates in concert with, but independently of OLI. This paper will provide an overview of the remote sensing instrument TIRS. The T1RS instrument was designed at National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) where it will be fabricated and calibrated as well. Protecting the integrity of the Scientific Data that will be collected from TIRS played a strong role in definition of the calibration test equipment and procedures used for the optical, radiometric, and spatial calibration. The data that will be produced from LCDM will continue to be used world wide for environment monitoring and resource management.

Smith, Ramsey L.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Future space transportation systems analysis study. Phase 1 extension: Transportation systems reference data, volume 2

Transportation mass requirements are developed for various mission and transportation modes based on vehicle systems sized to fit the exact needs of each mission. The parametric data used to derive the mass requirements for each mission and transportation mode are presented to enable accommodation of possible changes in mode options or payload definitions. The vehicle sizing and functional requirements used to derive the parametric data are described.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2018

Practical Orbit Determination for Aerobraking with Accumulated Accelerometer Data

Navigation during aerobraking missions has historically relied solely on radiometric Doppler data. Accelerometer data, available on all modern spacecraft, has the potential to supplement Doppler data, increasing operational tempos, filling tracking data gaps, and improving the accuracy of orbit determination solutions. However, integration of Doppler and accelerometer data into the batch filter solutions used for operational navigation has proven to be practically challenging, due to the narrow region of adequate linear approximation for acceleration incurred by drag. This work proposes to use the accumulated velocity changes derived from these values as a more compatible data type. Demonstrations of results focus on NASA’s Maven and ESA’s TGO mission, and how this technique can be used to improve operations for the upcoming Maven aerobraking phase with reduced tracking data and lighter staffing requirements.

Young, Brian↗
NASA NTRS2012

Software Analysis of New Space Gravity Data for Geophysics and Climate Research

Both the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) satellites are returning rich data for the study of the solid earth, the oceans, and the climate. Current software analysis tools do not provide researchers with the ease and flexibility required to make full use of this data. We evaluate the capabilities and shortcomings of existing software tools including Mathematica, the GOCE User Toolbox, the ICGEM's (International Center for Global Earth Models) web server, and Tesseroids. Using existing tools as necessary, we design and implement software with the capability to produce gridded data and publication quality renderings from raw gravity data. The straight forward software interface marks an improvement over previously existing tools and makes new space gravity data more useful to researchers. Using the software we calculate Bouguer anomalies of the gravity tensor's vertical component in the Gulf of Mexico, Antarctica, and the 2010 Maule earthquake region. These maps identify promising areas of future research.

Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE)↗