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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1992

Stratified Charge Rotary Engine Critical Technology Enablement, Volume 1

This report summarizes results of a critical technology enablement effort with the stratified charge rotary engine (SCRE) focusing on a power section of 0.67 liters (40 cu. in.) per rotor in single and two rotor versions. The work is a continuation of prior NASA Contracts NAS3-23056 and NAS3-24628. Technical objectives are multi-fuel capability, including civil and military jet fuel and DF-2, fuel efficiency of 0.355 Lbs/BHP-Hr. at best cruise condition above 50 percent power, altitude capability of up to 10Km (33,000 ft.) cruise, 2000 hour TBO and reduced coolant heat rejection. Critical technologies for SCRE's that have the potential for competitive performance and cost in a representative light-aircraft environment were examined. Objectives were: the development and utilization of advanced analytical tools, i.e. higher speed and enhanced three dimensional combustion modeling; identification of critical technologies; development of improved instrumentation, and to isolate and quantitatively identify the contribution to performance and efficiency of critical components or subsystems.

Irion, C. E.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Stratified charge rotary engine critical technology enablement. Volume 2: Appendixes

This second volume of appendixes is a companion to Volume 1 of this report which summarizes results of a critical technology enablement effort with the stratified charge rotary engine (SCRE) focusing on a power section of 0.67 liters (40 cu. in.) per rotor in single and two rotor versions. The work is a continuation of prior NASA Contracts NAS3-23056 and NAS3-24628. Technical objectives are multi-fuel capability, including civil and military jet fuel and DF-2, fuel efficiency of 0.355 Lbs/BHP-Hr. at best cruise condition above 50 percent power, altitude capability of up to 10Km (33,000 ft.) cruise, 2000 hour TBO and reduced coolant heat rejection. Critical technologies for SCRE's that have the potential for competitive performance and cost in a representative light-aircraft environment were examined. Objectives were: the development and utilization of advanced analytical tools, i.e. higher speed and enhanced three dimensional combustion modeling; identification of critical technologies; development of improved instrumentation; and to isolate and quantitatively identify the contribution to performance and efficiency of critical components or subsystems. A family of four-stage third-order explicit Runge-Kutta schemes is derived that required only two locations and has desirable stability characteristics. Error control is achieved by embedding a second-order scheme within the four-stage procedure. Certain schemes are identified that are as efficient and accurate as conventional embedded schemes of comparable order and require fewer storage locations.

Irion, C. E.↗
NASA NTRS1996

The NASA Electric Propulsion Program

Nearly all space missions require on-board propulsion systems and these systems typically have a major impact on spacecraft mass and cost. Electric propulsion systems offer major performance advantages over conventional chemical systems for many mission functions and the NASA Office of Space Access and Technology (OSAT) supports an extensive effort to develop the technology for high-performance, on-board electric propulsion system options to enhance and enable near- and far-term US space missions. This program includes research and development efforts on electrothermal, electrostatic, and electromagnetic propulsion system technologies to cover a wide range of potential applications. To maximize expectations of technology transfer, the program emphasizes strong interaction with the user community through a variety of cooperative and contracted approaches. This paper provides an overview of the OSAT electric propulsion program with an emphasis on recent progress and future directions.

Callahan, Lisa Wood↗
NASA NTRS2006

Overcoming Present-Day Powerplant Limitations Via Unconventional Engine Configurations

The Army Research Laboratory s Vehicle Technology Directorate is sponsoring the prototype development of three unconventional engine concepts - two intermittent combustion (IC) engines and one turbine engine (via SBIR (Small Business Innovative Research) contracts). The IC concepts are the Nutating Engine and the Bonner Engine, and the turbine concept is the POWER Engine. Each of the three engines offers unique and greatly improved capabilities (which cannot be achieved by present-day powerplants), while offering significant reductions in size and weight. This paper presents brief descriptions of the physical characteristics of the three engines, and discusses their performance potentials, as well as their development status.

Meitner, Peter L.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Cargo-Positioning System for Next-Generation Spacecraft

A report discusses a proposed system for mounting loaded pallets in the cargo bay of a next-generation space-shuttle-like spacecraft, such that the center of mass of the cargo would lie within a 1-in. (2.54-cm) cube that would also contain the center of mass of the spacecraft. The system would include (1) an algorithm for planning the locations of the pallets, given the geometric and weight properties of the pallets, and the geometric restrictions of the cargo bay; (2) quick-connect/quick-disconnect mounting mechanisms similar to those now used on air hoses; (3) other mounting mechanisms, comprising mostly spring-loaded pins, in a locking subsystem that would prevent shifting of the pallets under load; and (4) mechanisms for performing fine position adjustments to satisfy the center-of-mass requirement. The position- adjusting mechanisms would be motor-driven lead-screw mechanisms in groups of three - one for positioning each pin of the locking subsystem along each of three mutually perpendicular coordinate axes. The system also would include a triple-threaded screw that would provide compensation for thermal expansion or contraction of the spacecraft.

Holladay, Jon↗
NASA NTRS2016

Free-Space Quantum Key Distribution with a High Generation Rate KTP Waveguide Photon-Pair Source

NASA awarded Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) contracts to AdvR, Inc to develop a high generation rate source of entangled photons that could be used to explore quantum key distribution (QKD) protocols. The final product, a photon pair source using a dual-element periodically- poled potassium titanyl phosphate (KTP) waveguide, was delivered to NASA Glenn Research Center in June of 2015. This paper describes the source, its characterization, and its performance in a B92 (Bennett, 1992) protocol QKD experiment.

photons↗
NASA NTRS1993

Aeronautical engineering: A continuing bibliography with indexes (supplement 294)

This issue of Aeronautical Engineering - A Continuing Bibliography with Indexes lists 590 reports, journal articles, and other documents recently announced in the NASA STI Database. The coverage includes documents on the engineering and theoretical aspect of design, construction, evaluation, testing, operation, and performance of aircraft (including aircraft engines) and associated components, equipment, and systems. It also includes research and development in aerodynamics, aeronautics, and ground support equipment for aeronautical vehicles. The bibliographic series is compiled through the cooperative efforts of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Seven indexes are included: subject, personal author, corporate source, foreign technology, contract number, report number, and accession number.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1993

High speed QPPM direct detection optical communication receivers for FSDD intersatellite links

This final report consists of four separate reports, one for each project involved in this contract. The first report is entitled '325 Mbps QPPM (quaternary pulse position modulation) Direct Detection Free Space Optical Communication Encoder and Receiver,' which was our primary work. The second report is entitled 'Test Results of the 325 Mbps QPPM High Speed Data Transmission GaAs ASICs,' which describes our work in connection with Galaxy Microsystems, Inc. who produced these ASICs for NASA. The third report, 'Receiver Performance Analysis of BPPM Optical Communication Systems Using 1.3 micron Wavelength Transmitter and InGaAs PIN Photodiodes,' was prepared at the request of the NASA/Photonics Branch for their efforts in upgrading the 1773 optical fiber data bus. The fourth report, 'Photomultiplier Tubes for Use at 1.064 micron Wavelength,' was also prepared at the request of the NASA/Photonics Branch as a research project.

Davidson, Frederic M.↗
NASA NTRS1995

AstroNet: A Tool Set for Simultaneous, Multi-Site Observations of Astronomical Objects

Earth-based, fully automatic "robotic" telescopes have been in routine operation for a number of years. As their number grows and their distribution becomes global, increasing attention is being given to forming networks of various sorts that will allow them, as a group, to make observations 24 hours a day in both hemispheres. We have suggested that telescopes based in space be part of this network. We further suggested that any telescope on this network be capable of asking, almost in real time, that other robotic telescopes perform support observations for them. When a target of opportunity required support observations, the system would determine which telescope(s) in the network would be most appropriate to make the observations and formulate a request to do so. Because the network would be comprised of telescopes located in widely distributed regions, this system would guarantee continuity of observations This report summarizes our efforts under this contract. We proposed to develop a set of data collection and display tools to aid simultaneous observation of astronomical targets from a number of observing sites. We planned to demonstrate the usefulness of this toolset for simultaneous multi-site observation of astronomical targets. Possible candidates or the proposed demonstration included the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE), International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE), and ALEXIS, sounding rocket experiments. Ground-based observatories operated by the University of California, Berkeley, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Fairborn Observatory in Mesa, Arizona were to be used to demonstrate the proposed concept. Although the demonstration was to have involved astronomical investigations, the tools were to have been applicable to a large number of scientific disciplines. The software tools and systems developed as a result of the work were to have been made available to the scientific community.

Chakrabarti, Supriya↗
NASA NTRS2014

NASA's Space Launch System Advanced Booster Development

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) Space Launch System (SLS) Program, managed at the Marshall Space Flight Center, is making progress toward delivering a new capability for human space flight and scientific missions beyond Earth orbit. NASA is executing this development within flat budgetary guidelines by using existing engines assets and heritage technology to ready an initial 70 metric ton (t) lift capability for launch in 2017, and then employing a block upgrade approach to evolve a 130-t capability after 2021. A key component of the SLS acquisition plan is a three-phased approach for the first-stage boosters. The first phase is to expedite the 70-t configuration by completing development of the Space Shuttle heritage 5-segment solid rocket boosters (SRBs) for the initial flights of SLS. Since no existing boosters can meet the performance requirements for the 130-t class SLS, the next phases of the strategy focus on the eventual development of advanced boosters with an expected thrust class potentially double the current 5-segment solid rocket booster capability of 3.88 million pounds of thrust each. The second phase in the booster acquisition plan is the Advanced Booster Engineering Demonstration and/or Risk Reduction (ABEDRR) effort, for which contracts were awarded beginning in 2012 after a full and open competition, with a stated intent to reduce risks leading to an affordable advanced booster. NASA has awarded ABEDRR contracts to four industry teams, which are looking into new options for liquid-fuel booster engines, solid-fuel-motor propellants, and composite booster structures. Demonstrations and/or risk reduction efforts were required to be related to a proposed booster concept directly applicable to fielding an advanced booster. This paper will discuss the status of this acquisition strategy and its results toward readying both the 70 t and 130 t configurations of SLS. The third and final phase will be a full and open competition for Design, Development, Test, and Evaluation (DDT&E) of the advanced boosters. These new boosters will enable the flexible path approach to deep space exploration, opening up vast opportunities for human missions to near-Earth asteroids and Mars. This evolved capability will offer large volume for science missions and payloads, will be modular and flexible, and will be right-sized for mission requirements.

Robinson, Kimberly F.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Interim Measures Report for the Headquarters Building Area Location of Concern (LOC) 2E East SWMU 104 John F. Kennedy Space Center, Florida

The Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendment portion of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Permit issued by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), requires identification and evaluation of all known Solid Waste Management Units (SWMUs) and Locations of Concern (LOCs) located on Kennedy Space Center (KSC) property. The KSC Headquarters Building Area (KHQA) has been identified as SWMU 104 under KSC's RCRA Program. This report summarizes the Interim Measure (IM) conducted by Geosyntec Consultants (Geosyntec) for NASA under Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity Contract NNK12CA13B at the KHQA to mitigate potential exposure to polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)-affected media at the eastern side of LOC 2E. The IM activities were conducted in June and July 2015 to remediate PCBs above the FDEP Residential Direct-Exposure (R-) Soil Cleanup Target Level (SCTL) of 0.5 milligram per kilogram (mg/kg) established by Chapter 62-777, Florida Administrative Code. The IM was performed in accordance with the IM Work Plan (IMWP) approved by the FDEP, dated August 2012. IM activities were conducted in accordance with the KSC Generic PCB Work Plan (NASA 2007).

Sager, Eric D.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Artemis Navigation Architecture: Early Capabilities and Long Term Evolvability and Evolution

With the awarding of multiple contracts within the Artemis program and building on the success of Artemis I, NASA is investing in and demonstrating the vehicle capabilities necessary for a return to human crewed Lunar Missions. To support activities on the lunar surface, NASA is also assessing architecture options and approaches to enable high precision in-situ navigation within the lunar sphere of influence. These capabilities build on decades of research and advancements within the field, building and evolving the techniques used during Apollo. To support inter-operability and broad application within its elements, NASA conducted a trade on Orbital and Surface Lunar Architecture for PNT. Time-defined mission requirements were captured across elements to inform a phased approach and deployment of needed capability. The architecture must also address unique aspects of the South Pole lunar environments, specifically in terms of harsh lighting and hazardous terrain. To inform the study, documentation of primary users, operational concepts of operations, driving scenarios, and mission needs were used to define performance constraints and phasing. Multiple technologies were assessed in terms of maturity, applicability, and performance to meet the primary user needs forecast. The results of this study support the utilization of in-situ orbital infrastructure to provide a back-bone for navigation and emphasize the need for a common Lunar Reference System and Lunar Time Reference. This deployment can ensure compatibility and enable a high-accuracy in-situ capability. This provides further justification for the capabilities being invested in and deployed by NASA and other international agencies. In addition to including advancements in terrestrial surface navigation, NASA is also applying lessons learned and innovation in the contractual approach to the individual elements by means of a services-based contract mechanism. This impacts the navigation architecture heavily in terms of government and provider roles, in terms of levels of implementation, interoperability, and verification. These distinctions in roles provide constraints to the architecture approach in terms of implementation and integration and will be discussed. The development, use, and mandate of interoperability standards are being deployed to support cross-element compatibility. This paper will provide a summary of the NASA Lunar Navigation needs across its various elements and the proposed deployment of an integrated navigation architecture to support early mission needs with inherent extensibility towards the future.

Evan Anzalone↗
NASA NTRS1974

Distributed porous throat stability bypass to increase the stable airflow range of a Mach 2.5 inlet with 60 percent internal contraction

The results of an experimental investigation to increase the stable airflow operating range of a supersonic, mixed-compression inlet with 60-percent internal contraction are presented. Various distributed-porous, throat stability-bypass entrance configurations were tested. In terms of diffuser-exit corrected airflow, a large inlet stable airflow range of about 25 percent was obtained with the optimum configuration if a constant pressure was maintained in the by-pass plenum. The location of the centerbody bleed region had a decided effect on the overall inlet performance. Limited unstart angle-of-attack data are presented.

Shaw, R. J.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Design of a very-low-bleed Mach 2.5 mixed-compression inlet with 45 percent internal contraction

A full-scale, mixed-compression inlet was designed for operation with the TF30-P-3 turbofan engine and tested at Mach numbers of 2.5 and 2.0. The two-cone axisymmetric inlet had minimum internal contraction consistent with high total pressure recovery and low cowl drag. At Mach 2.5, inlet recovery was 0.906 with only 0.021 centerbody bleed mass-flow ratio and no cowl bleed. Increased centerbody bleed gave a maximum inlet unstart angle of attack of 6.85 deg. At Mach 2.0, inlet recovery was 0.94 with only 0.014 centerbody bleed mass-flow ratio and no cowl bleed. Inlet performance and angle-of-attack tolerance is presented for operation at Mach numbers of 2.5 and 2.0.

Wasserbauer, J. F.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Dynamics of Liquids in Edges and Corners (DYLCO): IML-2 Experiment for the BDPU

Knowledge of the behavior of fluids possessing free surfaces is important to many fluid systems, particularly in space, where the normally subtle effects of surface wettability play a more dramatic and often surprising role. DYLCO for the IML-2 mission was proposed as a simple experiment to probe the particular behavior of capillary surfaces in containers of irregular cross section. Temperature control was utilized to vary the fluid-solid contact angle, a questionable thermodynamic parameter of the system, small changes in which can dramatically influence the configuration, stability, and flow of a capillary surface. Container shapes, test fluid, and temperature ranges were selected for observing both local changes in interface curvature as well as a global change in fluid orientation due to a critical wetting phenomenon. The experiment hardware performed beyond what was expected and fluid interfaces could be readily digitized post flight to show the dependence of the interface curvature on temperature. For each of the containers tested surfaces were observed which did not satisfy the classic equations for the prediction of interface shape with constant contact angle boundary condition. This is explained by the presence of contact angle hysteresis arising from expansion and contraction of the liquid during the heating and cooling steps of the test procedure. More importantly, surfaces exceeding the critical surface curvature required for critical wetting were measured, yet no wetting was observed. These findings are indeed curious and pose key questions concerning the role of hysteresis for this critical wetting phenomena. The stability of such surfaces was determined numerically and it is shown that stability is enhance (reduced) when a surface is in its 'advancing' ('receding') state, The analysis shows complete instability as the critical wetting condition is reached. The case of ideal dynamic wetting is addressed analytically in detail with results of significant flow characteristics presented in closed form. The solutions indicate a square root of T dependence of the capillary 'rise' rate which is corroborated by drop tower tests. The analysis clearly shows that infinite time is necessary for surfaces to reorient at the critical wetting transition.

Langbein, D.↗
NASA NTRS1964

Study Program to Determine the Acceleration Environment Capability of the GG159C Gas- Bearing Spinmotor Final Report

The goal of this contract was to determine the g environment under which the GC159C Gas-Bearing Spinmotor (GBSM) could reliably operate. This was fulfilled by building and testing of four GBSM's, a test fixture, and a "dummy" gyro. The test program was divided into two phases when a gas bearing improvement was required to withstand JPL shock requirement of 200 g. Phase I determined existing g capabilities and performance of the GC159C GBSM and gimbal-case structure. Phase II increased GBSM capability to meet required JPL g environments. Life tests were run on two GBSM's which were shocked at a high level to obtain bearing contact while rotating at their operating speed of 23,000 rpm. A third (nonoperating) GBSM was exposed to JPL maximum shock levels, and a fourth (nonoperating) GBSM was exposed to random vibration. Both nonoperating GBSM's were then subjected to life testing.

SPIN↗
NASA NTRS1978

Continuous Czochralski growth: Silicon sheet growth development of the large area silicon sheet task of the Low Cost Silicon Solar Array project

The primary objective of this contract is to develop equipment and methods for the economic production of single crystal ingot material by the continuous Czochralski (CZ) process. Continuous CZ is defined for the purpose of this work as the growth of at least 100 kilograms of ingot from only one melt container. During the reporting period (October, 1977 - September, 1978), a modified grower was made fully functional and several recharge runs were performed. The largest run lasted 44 hours and over 42 kg of ingot was produced. Little, if any, degradation in efficiency was observed as a result of pulling multiple crystals from one crucible. Solar efficiencies observed were between 9.3 and 10.4% AMO (13.0 and 14.6% AMI) compared to 10.5% (14.7% AMI) for optimum CZ material control samples. Using the SAMICS/IPEG format, economic analysis of continuous CZ suggests that 1986 DoE cost goals can only be met by the growth of large diameter, large mass crystals.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1980

Summary and evaluation of the parametric study of potential early commercial MHD power plants (PSPEC)

Two parallel contracted studies were conducted. Each contractor investigated three base cases and parametric variations about these base cases. Each contractor concluded that two of the base cases (a plant using separate firing of an advanced high temperature regenerative air heater with fuel from an advanced coal gasifier and a plant using an intermediate temperature metallic recuperative heat exchanger to heat oxygen enriched combustion air) were comparable in both performance and cost of electricity. The contractors differed in the level of their cost estimates with the capital cost estimates for the MHD topping cycle and the magnet subsystem in particular accounting for a significant part of the difference. The impact of the study on the decision to pursue a course which leads to an oxygen enriched plant as the first commercial MHD plant is described.

Staigner, P. J.↗