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NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Regolith Simulant Report Cards: A User Friendly Simulant Certification System

As the nation prepares to return to the Moon, there is an increasing need for testing tools, instruments, and equipment in simulated lunar regolith to ensure successful operations during lunar missions. Because of this, it is important to use accurate lunar regolith simulants to prepare for these missions. To address this, we are building an objective certification and reporting system for regolith simulants to ensure suitable simulants are being used for the appropriate use cases. Previous systems like the Figures of Merit (FoM) [1] and the Lunar Regolith Simulant User’s Guide fit-to-use matrices [2] for lunar simulants were not particularly user friendly. Some of the Figures of Merit were not clearly defined and did not include recommended baseline values of lunar regolith properties to compare simulants to, and the fit-to-use matrices are out of date and include simulants that are no longer in production and do not include simulants that have been developed since.

S. R. Deitrick↗
NASA NTRS2022

A review of Carbon Monitoring in Wet Carbon Systems using Remote Sensing

Carbon monitoring is critical for the reporting and verification of carbon stocks and change. Remote sensing is a tool increasingly used to estimate the spatial heterogeneity, extent and change of carbon stocks within and across various systems. We designate the use of the term wet carbon system to the interconnected wetlands, ocean, river and streams, lakes and ponds, and permafrost, which are carbon-dense and vital conduits for carbon throughout the terrestrial and aquatic sections of the carbon cycle. We reviewed wet carbon monitoring studies that utilize earth observation to improve our knowledge of data gaps, methods, and future research recommendations. To achieve this, we conducted a systematic review collecting 1,622 references and screening them with a combination of text matching and a panel of three experts. The search found 496 references, with an additional 78 references added by experts. Our study found considerable variability of the utilization of remote sensing and global wet carbon monitoring progress across the nine systems analyzed. The review highlighted that remote sensing is routinely used to globally map carbon in mangroves and oceans, whereas seagrass, terrestrial wetlands, tidal marshes, rivers, and permafrost would benefit from more accurate and comprehensive global maps of extent. We identified three critical gaps and twelve recommendations to continue progressing wet carbon systems and increase cross system scientific inquiry.

Anthony D. Campbell↗
NASA NTRS2023

Using FRET to Create, Analyze and Monitor Requirements for a Lift Plus Cruise Case Study

In this technical report we provide information on the use of the NASA Formal RequirementsElicitation Tool (FRET) to create requirements for a Lift Plus Cruise (LPC) aircraft case study. Furthermore, we provide details on using FRET to translate these requirements into an appropriate format for the Copilot tool, enabling their usage to perform runtime verification on a synthesized LPC system.

Formal Requirements Elicitation Tool↗
NASA NTRS1998

High-Alpha Research Vehicle Lateral-Directional Control Law Description, Analyses, and Simulation Results

This report contains a description of a lateral-directional control law designed for the NASA High-Alpha Research Vehicle (HARV). The HARV is a F/A-18 aircraft modified to include a research flight computer, spin chute, and thrust-vectoring in the pitch and yaw axes. Two separate design tools, CRAFT and Pseudo Controls, were integrated to synthesize the lateral-directional control law. This report contains a description of the lateral-directional control law, analyses, and nonlinear simulation (batch and piloted) results. Linear analysis results include closed-loop eigenvalues, stability margins, robustness to changes in various plant parameters, and servo-elastic frequency responses. Step time responses from nonlinear batch simulation are presented and compared to design guidelines. Piloted simulation task scenarios, task guidelines, and pilot subjective ratings for the various maneuvers are discussed. Linear analysis shows that the control law meets the stability margin guidelines and is robust to stability and control parameter changes. Nonlinear batch simulation analysis shows the control law exhibits good performance and meets most of the design guidelines over the entire range of angle-of-attack. This control law (designated NASA-1A) was flight tested during the Summer of 1994 at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center.

Davidson, John B.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Electronic Design Automation: Integrating the Design and Manufacturing Functions

As the complexity of electronic systems grows, the traditional design practice, a sequential process, is replaced by concurrent design methodologies. A major advantage of concurrent design is that the feedback from software and manufacturing engineers can be easily incorporated into the design. The implementation of concurrent engineering methodologies is greatly facilitated by employing the latest Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools. These tools offer integrated simulation of the electrical, mechanical, and manufacturing functions and support virtual prototyping, rapid prototyping, and hardware-software co-design. This report presents recommendations for enhancing the electronic design and manufacturing capabilities and procedures at JSC based on a concurrent design methodology that employs EDA tools.

Bachnak, Rafic↗
NASA NTRS1997

Satellite Systems Design/Simulation Environment: A Systems Approach to Pre-Phase A Design

A toolset for the rapid development of small satellite systems has been created. The objective of this tool is to support the definition of spacecraft mission concepts to satisfy a given set of mission and instrument requirements. The objective of this report is to provide an introduction to understanding and using the SMALLSAT Model. SMALLSAT is a computer-aided Phase A design and technology evaluation tool for small satellites. SMALLSAT enables satellite designers, mission planners, and technology program managers to observe the likely consequences of their decisions in terms of satellite configuration, non-recurring and recurring cost, and mission life cycle costs and availability statistics. It was developed by Princeton Synergetic, Inc. and User Systems, Inc. as a revision of the previous TECHSAT Phase A design tool, which modeled medium-sized Earth observation satellites. Both TECHSAT and SMALLSAT were developed for NASA.

Ferebee, Melvin J., Jr.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Efficient Hybrid Attack Graph Generation for Cyber-Physical System Resilience Experimentation (Final Project Report)

HAGEN project has developed theory, algorithms, and capabilities to assist cyber physical system modelers and operators to perform system and device-level vulnerability assessment, risk assessment, impact assessment, and mitigation planning. The project generates hybrid attack graphs for Cyber-Physical System (CPS) resilience experimentation at desired scale and speed. The project will produce composite attack datasets, algorithms, and demonstrable prototypical tools, and a library of high-impact attack sequences for a given CPS of interest. This report provided overall summary of research and development performed between FY22-24.

45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEF↗
NASA NTRS2006

Another Approach to Enhance Airline Safety: Using Management Safety Tools

The ultimate goal of conducting an accident investigation is to prevent similar accidents from happening again and to make operations safer system-wide. Based on the findings extracted from the investigation, the "lesson learned" becomes a genuine part of the safety database making risk management available to safety analysts. The airline industry is no exception. In the US, the FAA has advocated the usage of the System Safety concept in enhancing safety since 2000. Yet, in today s usage of System Safety, the airline industry mainly focuses on risk management, which is a reactive process of the System Safety discipline. In order to extend the merit of System Safety and to prevent accidents beforehand, a specific System Safety tool needs to be applied; so a model of hazard prediction can be formed. To do so, the authors initiated this study by reviewing 189 final accident reports from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) covering FAR Part 121 scheduled operations. The discovered accident causes (direct hazards) were categorized into 10 groups Flight Operations, Ground Crew, Turbulence, Maintenance, Foreign Object Damage (FOD), Flight Attendant, Air Traffic Control, Manufacturer, Passenger, and Federal Aviation Administration. These direct hazards were associated with 36 root factors prepared for an error-elimination model using Fault Tree Analysis (FTA), a leading tool for System Safety experts. An FTA block-diagram model was created, followed by a probability simulation of accidents. Five case studies and reports were provided in order to fully demonstrate the usefulness of System Safety tools in promoting airline safety.

Lu, Chien-tsug↗
NASA NTRS1997

Comparison Tools for Assessing the Microgravity Environment of Missions, Carriers and Conditions

The Principal Component Spectral Analysis and the Quasi-steady Three-dimensional Histogram techniques provide the means to describe the microgravity acceleration environment of an entire mission on a single plot. This allows a straight forward comparison of the microgravity environment between missions, carriers, and conditions. As shown in this report, the PCSA and QTH techniques bring both the range and median of the microgravity environment onto a single page for an entire mission or another time period or condition of interest. These single pages may then be used to compare similar analyses of other missions, time periods or conditions. The PCSA plot is based on the frequency distribution of the vibrational energy and is normally used for an acceleration data set containing frequencies above the lowest natural frequencies of the vehicle. The QTH plot is based on the direction and magnitude of the acceleration and is normally used for acceleration data sets with frequency content less than 0.1 Hz. Various operating conditions are made evident by using PCSA and QTH plots. Equipment operating either full or part time with sufficient magnitude to be considered a disturbance is very evident as well as equipment contributing to the background acceleration environment. A source's magnitude and/or frequency variability is also evident by the source's appearance on a PCSA plot. The PCSA and QTH techniques are valuable tools for extracting useful information from acceleration data taken over large spans of time. This report shows that these techniques provide a tool for comparison between different sets of microgravity acceleration data, for example different missions, different activities within a mission, and/or different attitudes within a mission. These techniques, as well as others, may be employed in order to derive useful information from acceleration data.

DeLombard, Richard↗
DOE OSTI2020

Report of the Atmosphere to Electrons Land-Based Mesoscale-to-Microscale Coupling Project (FY2020)

The overall goal of the Mesoscale-to-Microscale Coupling (MMC) project is to improve coupling between mesoscale and microscale simulations via improved guidance and new strategies for setting up simulations and for the development of new tools that can be used across the community. Including the mesoscale forcing is critical to modeling the full energy transfer across scales in the atmosphere. The project-specific objectives include: 1) To apply rigorous verification and validation (V&V) techniques to the new modeling tools that are developed as part of the project to ensure the accuracy of our codes and results and to develop estimates of the relative uncertainty. 2) To improve computational performance of the coupled MMC models through the development of methods that can be used to reduce turbulence spin-up time and hence the size of computational domains. 3) To improve representation of the surface layer in microscale models to enhance simulations of hub-height wind speed. 4) To develop guidance for the community describing the best ways to couple mesoscale and microscale models, including specific spatial scales at which the handoff to the microscale model should occur. 5) To prepare documentation and a suite of software tools that can be used across the community. And 6) To transition MMC research to the offshore environment. Major progress was made in each of these areas during FY20. The land-based portion of the project is reported herein, while the offshore portion will be reported separately. The team continued to advance the MMC tools and methodologies as well as to document their performance in journal papers and conference presentations, although several planned conferences were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Real-Time Optimization Workflow Status Update

Economically optimal and safe operation of integrated energy systems (IES) requires optimization at many different time scales. A real-time optimization (RTO) workflow will attempt to maximize revenue and minimize operational costs on a time scale of minutes to hours. Such a workflow requires the use of a digital twin (DT), which is a virtual representation of a physical system. The DT is updated using real-time data from the physical system, and serves as a model in an optimization framework. The optimization results are then sent back to the physical system to complete the loop. This report details the progress made in developing building blocks for a DT/RTO framework. The Risk Analysis Virtual Environment (RAVEN) platform within the Framework for Optimization of Resources and Economics (FORCE) tool suite can perform many of the tasks required for building a DT and performing RTO. The first item of this report details RAVEN enhancements that enable RAVEN workflows to be run in various environments. Data communication between the physical system and its DT is essential for successful RTO. This includes preprocessing real-time data, loading data into a data warehouse, and querying the stored data. The second section of this report describes the progress made in implementing an adapter in Python in order for Deep Lynx to handle the data communication. Typical dispatch optimization frameworks are built on linear programming (LP). The prototype RTO workflow developed in this report uses an LP problem as a part of a receding-horizon- or economic model predictive control (EMPC) based optimization. The third section of this report details the framework of an RTO workflow in which the system consists of a simple electrical storage device. A DT can be built from a reduced-order model (ROM). Integrating a ROM into a typical LP optimization framework has been challenging because most optimization packages require the user to write algebraic expressions for the system model. The final section of this report shows how an externally built RAVEN ROM can be integrated in an RTO framework by using the Python package Pyomo. This demonstrates the RTO workflow capability from a software-only perspective and is an important step in demonstrating the capability to implement an RTO workflow for a physical system.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2022

Analysis of Data Fusion Between Waveform Events and Radionuclide Detections Reported in 2021 by the International Data Centre

During this project, we assessed the percentage of events reported by the International Data Centre (IDC) that are candidates for evaluation using data fusion methods. We calculated the percentage of waveform (seismic, hydroacoustic, infrasound, SHI) events that may be associated with radionuclide (RN) detections and vice versa. For this task, data fusion means identifying RN detections that may be associated with SHI events. The task of producing a fused SHI and RN bulletin is included in the IDC operational manual. As of 2022, the production of a fused event bulletin remains incomplete, largely because methods for producing the bulletin are under development. Nonetheless, simple methods for data fusion have been developed and preliminary software tools are available at the IDC to associate SHI events and RN detections. This report is a first look at the percentage of SHI events that may be candidates for fusion with RN detections or bulletins. One year of IDC bulletin data (2021) is considered in this report. It is important to note that there were no known nuclear explosions during this time period. Hence, we expect that events during this time period would generate SHI and RN signals. If many SHI events are candidates for fusion with RN data, greater priority should be placed on establishing screening procedures before and/or during the fusion process. By contrast, if the number of candidate events is diminishingly small, then data fusion is not a driver for further development of event or detection screening at the IDC. LLNL reviewed the events reported in the Standard Event Bulletin (SEB) and determined which events are candidates for fusion with the Reviewed Radionuclide Reports (RRR). Much of the work involves establishing a metric or metrics for determining whether a Reviewed Event Bulletin (REB) event is a candidate for data fusion.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

MOOSE Reactor Module Meshing Enhancements to Support Reactor Physics Analysis

The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) program develops an integrated suite of advanced reactor physics tools built upon the Multiphysics Object-Oriented Simulation Environment (MOOSE) framework. Each code generally requires an input finite element mesh on which the physics solution is calculated, reported, and transferred to other physics codes. The meshing process is often burdensome for the complex geometries present in reactors due to lack of easy-to-use, open-source meshing tools. To address the bottleneck associated with meshing complex geometries found in nuclear reactors, NEAMS initiated the development of the MOOSE Reactor Module starting in FY21. The Reactor Module builds off the existing MOOSE Mesh System to include targeted meshing capabilities such as the ability to generate hexagonal pin cells, assemblies with ducts, rotating control drums, cores, peripheral zones around a core, as well as the automatic labeling (“reporting IDs”) of pin, assembly, and planar zones to simplify post-processing of results. As a Physics Module in MOOSE, the Reactor Module is open-source, available with any MOOSE installation, directly compatible with MOOSE-based tools, and can be invoked from MOOSEbased applications to generate meshes. Functionality from the Reactor Module has been applied to several advanced reactor concepts to demonstrate user workflow improvements and accuracy. The primary objective of the Reactor Module is to improve useability of MOOSEbased tools by streamlining mesh generation and output inspection processes. During FY22, the functionality of the Reactor Module (and accompanying Mesh System) has been expanded based on user needs. First, the Reactor Geometry Mesh Builder capability developed primarily in FY21 has been refactored and merged to the public MOOSE repository. This capability wraps underlying Reactor Module mesh generators into a “Pin – Assembly – Core” workflow appropriate for conventional Cartesian and hexagonal geometries, and notably assigns material IDs during mesh generation stage and generates only the minimal number of blocks needed in order to reduce computational burden. Biasing and boundary layer options have been added to the base mesh generators as required by thermal hydraulics solvers. The reporting ID functionality has been expanded to differentiate ring-wise and azimuthal sectors within a pin for use with depletion algorithms, and VectorPostProcessor and Reporter objects are now available to integrate solution variables across zones based on ID combinations. Functionality to trim hexagonal meshes along the center or periphery has been developed so users may leverage symmetry and reflective boundary conditions to reduce the mesh size. A flexible and powerful tool to fill the space between two sidesets has been introduced to the framework and can be used for transition layers such as stitching two assemblies together with different numbers of pins, or for complex geometries which do not follow conventional Cartesian/hexagonal patterns. Finally, additional verification problems were performed with NEAMS physics tools in complement with existing NEAMS work.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Integrated Research Infrastructure Architecture Blueprint Activity (Final Report 2023)

The complexity of scientific pursuits is increasing rapidly with aspects that require dynamic integration of experiment, observation, theory, modeling, simulation, visualization, machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI), and analysis. Research projects across the Department of Energy (DOE) are increasingly data and compute intensive. Innovative research teams are accelerating the pace of discovery by using high-performance computational and data tools in their research workflows and leveraging multiple research infrastructures. Additionally, several recent high-level U.S. government reports underscore the necessity of a new advanced computing ecosystem for international competitiveness and national security. International competitors are moving forward with major research infrastructure integration efforts that seek to capture a competitive advantage in the global innovation race. Owing to its unparalleled constellation of world-class experimental and observational facilities and high-performance and extreme-scale computational, data, and networking infrastructure, DOE is positioned to be a global leader in this new era of integrated science. However, this new integration paradigm will demand continuing evolution to ensure the U.S. remains a global leader in research and innovation. The DOE Office of Science (SC) has seized on the strategic importance of integration and has adopted a vision for Integrated Research Infrastructure (IRI): To empower researchers to meld DOE’s world-class research tools, infrastructure, and user facilities seamlessly and securely in novel ways to radically accelerate discovery and innovation. To respond to the evolving computational requirements of research and the competitive international innovation landscape, experimental facilities could be connected with high performance computing resources for near real-time analysis, and resources should be provided for merging enormous and diverse data for AI/ML techniques and analysis.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2025

Theory of fluctuating and critical quantum matter (Final technical report: DE-FG02-08ER46524)

The project developed the theory of electronic phenomena in quantum materials in which large fluctuations are present, driven by frustration, strong electronic interactions, topology, or other effects. Theoretical tools and results for specific materials were developed in parallel, allowing the results to be vetted and refined, and providing a resource for experimentalists. The results were reported in 53 publications over the period of the award. The sections below detail the most impactful scientific and technical results.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Structures of a synthetic antibody selected against and bound to the C‐terminal domain of Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin

Abstract Clostridium perfringensenterotoxin (CpE) causes cytotoxic gastrointestinal disease in mammalian epithelium by binding membrane protein receptors called claudins. Claudins direct the formation of cell/cell tight junctions through oligomerization and govern the transport of molecules between individual cells. CpE binds claudins through its C‐terminal domain (cCpE) and induces cytotoxicity through its N‐terminal domain. The non‐toxic cCpE is a useful tool to study claudins, tight junctions, and for translational applications, such as increasing the permeability of restrictive tissues like the blood–brain barrier or selective targeting of claudin overexpressing cancers. Conversely, there are no specialized molecular tools to study CpE or cCpE, or to modulate or inhibit their functions. We previously reported the development of synthetic antigen‐binding fragments (sFabs) that bind cCpE, and low‐resolution structures of them bound to claudin/cCpE complexes. Here, we determine high‐resolution structures of sFab COP‐2 bound to cCpE using X‐ray crystallography and cryogenic electron microscopy. The structures and biophysical findings provide the mechanism of COP‐2 binding to cCpE and the molecular determinants driving their interactions. These insights can advance the design of new antibody‐based tools from our COP‐2 scaffold to study or alter cCpE function and give rise to a “Trojan horse” strategy that exploits cCpE's tight junction barrier disrupting function to selectively deliver conjugated therapeutics through normally impermeable tissues.

Biochemistry & Molecular Biology↗
NASA NTRS1998

Assessment of the 60 Km Rapid Update Cycle (RUC) with Near Real-Time Aircraft Reports

NASA is developing the Center-TBACON Advisory System (CTAS), a set of Air Traffic Management (ATM) Decision Support Tools (DST) to enable controllers to increase airspace capacity and flight efficiency. A crucial component of the CTAS, or any ATM DST, is the computation of the time-of-flight of aircraft along flight path segments which requires accurate knowledge of the wind through which the aircraft are flying. CTAS currently uses wind information from the Rapid Update Cycle (RUC), a numerical prediction model run operationally by the National Weather Service (NWS) National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). There exists near real-time wind observations from commercial aircraft that can be used to increase the accuracy of the RUC wind forecasts via the FAA Integrated Terminal Weather System (ITWS) Terminal Winds (TW) algorithm. This report presents a study based on the application of the ITWS TW algorithm as an improvement to the baseline RUC product. Terminal Winds generally does not support the full Center airspace; the domain of the prototype MIT/LLITWS TW system was increased to cover the Denver Center airspace to support this study. This study has three goals: 1) determine the errors in the baseline 60-kilometer resolution RUC forecast wind fields relative to the needs of en route DSTs such as CTAS; 2) determine the benefit of using the TW algorithm to refine the RUC forecast wind fields with near real-tlme Meteorological Data Collection and Reporting System (MDCRS) aircraft reports, and 3) identify factors that influence wind field errors in order to improve accuracy and estimate errors in real time. The data for this study were collected over a one-year period for the Denver Center airspace and over one miIlion verification observations were used. This study is part of a larger effort funded by NASA which includes the NOAA/FSL.

Cole, R. E.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Survey of Relevant Data from the MSRP to Guide Development of MSR Chemistry Modeling Benchmarks

The Multiphysics Applications technical area of the Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) program is tasked with assessing, demonstrating, and applying NEAMS tools in solving multiphysics problems of nuclear reactors, such as liquid-fueled molten salt reactors (MSRs), which are the focus of this report. MSRs are actively being pursued as a potential candidate for power and heat generation by the nuclear industry. However, the inherent multiphysics nature of liquid-fueled MSRs, stemming from the strong interrelationship of neutronics, thermal fluids, and chemistry phenomena, provides unique challenges in modeling and simulation (mod/sim). Therefore, it will be important to develop mod/sim tools with varying types of multiphysics coupling that depend on the problem. The current work is focused on the initiation and development of MSR chemistry modeling benchmarks useful for validating current and potential future NEAMS tools. Development of such benchmarks include the following actions: 1) Summarize available chemistry data from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) MSR Program (MSRP) including operation of the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE) and design studies for the Molten Salt Breeder Reactor (MSBR) concept; 2) Recommend simulation problems in MSR chemistry mod/sim based on (1); 3) Assess the current state of NEAMS tools that may support (2); 4) Demonstrate and validate the capabilities of the NEAMS tools in (3) while providing iterative feedback on future code development activities. The objective of this report is to initiate this effort by completing actions (1) and (2), which are discussed in Section 2. An overview of the relevant available MSRE experimental data is provided with examples of how this data may be useful in chemistry mod/sim problems, with the caveat that most of this data is over 50 years old, therefore some problem details as well as uncertainty estimates are often not provided. In Section 3, the current state of NEAMS tools is assessed for potential use in these mod/sim problems, with considerations for future code development activities, supporting action (3). Future work supporting this project under NEAMS may include a deeper dive into the specific phenomena discussed here including tasks such as the compilation of additional available data, updates in code development activities, and ultimately the demonstration and validation of these tools, supporting action (4).

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗