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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 109 records · Page 6
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1991

Radiation health research, 1986 - 1990

A collection of 225 abstracts of radiation research sponsored by NASA during the period 1986 through 1990 is reported. Each abstract was categorized within one of four discipline areas: physics, biology, risk assessment, and microgravity. Topic areas within each discipline were assigned as follows: Physics - atomic physics, nuclear science, space radiation, radiation transport and shielding, and instrumentation; Biology - molecular biology, cellular radiation biology, tissue, organs and organisms, radioprotectants, and plants; Risk assessment - radiation health and epidemiology, space flight radiation health physics, inter- and intraspecies extrapolation, and radiation limits and standards; and Microgravity. When applicable subareas were assigned for selected topic areas. Keywords and author indices are provided.

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NASA NTRS2011

NASA Tech Briefs, January 2011

The topics include: 1) Distributed Aerodynamic Sensing and Processing Toolbox; 2) Collaborative Supervised Learning for Sensor Networks; 3) Hazard Detection Software for Lunar Landing; 4) Onboard Nonlinear Engine Sensor and Component Fault Diagnosis and Isolation Scheme; 5) Network-Capable Application Process and Wireless Intelligent Sensors for ISHM; 6) Interface Supports Multiple Broadcast Transceivers for Flight Applications; 7) FPGA Sequencer for Radar Altimeter Applications; 8) Miniature Sapphire Acoustic Resonator - MSAR; 9) Process-Hardened, Multi-Analyte Sensor for Characterizing Rocket Plume Constituents; 10) SAD5 Stereo Correlation Line-Striping in an FPGA; 11) Hybrid Composite Cryogenic Tank Structure; 12) Nanoscale Deformable Optics; 13) Reliability-Based Design Optimization of a Composite Airframe Component; 14) Zinc Oxide Nanowire Interphase for Enhanced Lightweight Polymer Fiber Composites; 15) Plasma Igniter for Reliable Ignition of Combustion in Rocket Engines; 16) Wire Test Grip Fixture; 17) A Sub-Hertz, Low-Frequency Vibration Isolation Platform; 18) Carbon Nanofibers Synthesized on Selective Substrates for Nonvolatile Memory and 3D Electronics; 19) Nanoparticle/Polymer Nanocomposite Bond Coat or Coating; 20) High-Resolution Wind Measurements for Offshore Wind Energy Development; 21) Spring Tire; 22) Marsviewer 2008; 23) Mission Services Evolution Center Message Bus; 24) Major Constituents Analysis for the Vehicle Cabin Atmosphere Monitor; 25) Astronaut Health Participant Summary Application; 26) Adaption of the AMDIS Method to Flight Status on the VCAM Instrument; 27) Natural Language Interface for Safety Certification of Safety-Critical Software; 28) Cryogenic Caging for Science Instrumentation; 29) Wide-Range Neutron Detector for Space Nuclear Applications; 30) In Situ Guided Wave Structural Health Monitoring System; 31) Multiplexed Energy Coupler for Rotating Equipment; 32) Attitude Estimation in Fractionated Spacecraft Cluster Systems; 33) Full Piezoelectric Multilayer-Stacked Hybrid Actuation/Transduction Systems; 34) Active Flow Effectors for Noise and Separation Control; 35) Method and System for Temporal Filtering in Video Compression Systems; 36) Apparatus for Measuring Total Emissivity of Small, Low-Emissivity Samples; 37) Multiple-Zone Diffractive Optic Element for Laser Ranging Applications; 38) Simplified Architecture for Precise Aiming of a Deep-Space Communication Laser Transceiver; 39) Two-Photon-Absorption Scheme for Optical Beam Tracking; 40) High-Sensitivity, Broad-Range Vacuum Gauge Using Nanotubes for Micromachined Cavities; 41) Wide-Field Optic for Autonomous Acquisition of Laser Link; 42) Extracting Zero-Gravity Surface Figure of a Mirror; 43) Modeling Electromagnetic Scattering From Complex Inhomogeneous Objects; 44) Visual Object Recognition and Tracking of Tools; 45) Method for Implementing Optical Phase Adjustment; 46) Visual SLAM Using Variance Grid Maps; 47) Rapid Calculation of Spacecraft Trajectories Using Efficient Taylor Series Integration; 48) Efficient Kriging Algorithms; 49) Predicting Spacecraft Trajectories by the WeavEncke Method; 50) An Augmentation of G-Guidance Algorithms; 51) Comparison of Aircraft Icing Growth Assessment Software; 52) Silicon-Germanium Voltage-Controlled Oscillator at 105 GHz; 53) Estimation of Coriolis Force and Torque Acting on Ares-1; 54) Null Lens Assembly for X-Ray Mirror Segments; and 55) High-Precision Pulse Generator.

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NASA NTRS2007

Testing in Support of Space Fission System Development and Qualification

Extensive data would be required for the qualification of a fission surface power (FSP) system. The strategy for qualifying a FSP system could have a significant programmatic impact. This paper explores potential options that could be used for qualifying FSP systems, including cost-effective means for obtaining required data. three methods for obtaining qualification data are analysis, non-nuclear testing, and nuclear testing. It has been over 40 years since the US qualified a space reactor for launch. During that time, advances have been made related to all three methods. Perhaps the greatest advancement has occurred in the area of computational tools for design and analysis. Tools that have been developed, coupled with modem computers, would have a significant impact on a FSP qualification. This would be especially true for systems with materials and fuels operating well within temperature, irradiation damage, and burnup limits. The ability to perform highly realistic non-nuclear testing has also advanced throughout the past four decades. Instrumented thermal simulators were developed during the 1970s and 1980s to assist in the development, operation, and assessment of terrestrial fission systems. Instrumented thermal simulators optimized for assisting in the development, operation, and assessment of modem FSP systems have been under development (and utilized) since 1998. These thermal simulators enable heat from fission to be closely mimicked (axial power profile, radial power profile, temperature, heat flux, etc.} and extensive data to be taken from the core region. Both steady-state and transient operation can be tested. For transient testing, reactivity feedback is calculated (or measured in cold/warm criticals) based on reactor temperature and/or dimensional changes. Pin power during a transient is then calculated based on the reactivity feedback that would occur given measured values of temperature and/or dimensional change. In this way nonnuclear testing can be used to provide very realistic information related to nuclear operation. Non-nuclear testing can be used at all levels, including component, subsystem, and integrated system testing. Realistic non-nuclear testing is most useful for systems operating within known temperature, irradiation damage, and burnup capabilities.

Houts, Mike↗
NASA NTRS1975

CAMAC and NIM systems in the space program

The CAMAC and NIM instrumentation systems were developed originally to serve the needs of nuclear research institutions in Europe and North America. CAMAC and NIM are currently considered in several studies at the systems level conducted by NASA and ESRO groups. NIM and CAMAC studies for applications related to the space shuttle are discussed along with the advantages provided by aspects of modularization and standardization, a use of NIM and CAMAC equipment in connection with a group of astrophysics experiments, and questions of cost effectiveness.

Trainor, J. H.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Flight test techniques for validating simulated nuclear electromagnetic pulse aircraft responses

An attempt has been made to determine the effects of nuclear EM pulses (NEMPs) on aircraft systems, using a highly instrumented NASA F-106B to document the simulated NEMP environment at the Kirtland Air Force Base's Vertically Polarized Dipole test facility. Several test positions were selected so that aircraft orientation relative to the test facility would be the same in flight as when on the stationary dielectric stand, in order to validate the dielectric stand's use in flight configuration simulations. Attention is given to the flight test portions of the documentation program.

Winebarger, R. M.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Rhenium Redefined

Through a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract with NASA's Glenn Research Center, Rhenium Alloys, Inc., of Elyria, Ohio, developed a new method for producing rhenium combustion chambers. Using room temperature isostatic pressing, Rhenium Alloys, Inc., compacted rhenium powder to a high density and into the approximated end shape and dimension of the rocket thruster. The item was then subjected to sintering and containerless hot isostatic pressing, increasing the density of the powder metallurgy part. With the new manufacturing process, both production time and costs are reduced while quality is significantly increased. The method enabled the company to deliver two chemical rocket thrusters to Glenn Research Center. The company makes rhenium a practical choice in manufacturing fields, including the aerospace, nuclear, and electronic industries, with upcoming opportunities projected in medical instrumentation.

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NASA NTRS2003

ATIC Experiment: Elemental Spectra from the Flight in 2000

The Advanced Thin Ionization Calorimeter (ATIC) had successful Long Duration Balloon flights from McMurdo, Antarctica in both 2000 and 2002. The instrument consists of a silicon matrix charge detector, a 0.75 nuclear interaction length graphite target, 3 scintillator strip hodoscopes, and an 18 radiation length thick BGO calorimeter to measure the cosmic ray composition and energy spectra from approximately 30 GeV to near 100 TeV. In this paper, we present preliminary results from the first flight, which was a test flight that lasted for 16 days, starting on 12/28/00.

Ahn, H. S.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Fission Surface Power Systems (FSPS) Project Final Report for the Exploration Technology Development Program (ETDP): Fission Surface Power, Transition Face to Face

The Fission Surface Power Systems Project became part of the ETDP on October 1, 2008. Its goal was to demonstrate fission power system technology readiness in an operationally relevant environment, while providing data on fission system characteristics pertinent to the use of a fission power system on planetary surfaces. During fiscal years 08 to 10, the FSPS project activities were dominated by hardware demonstrations of component technologies, to verify their readiness for inclusion in the fission surface power system. These Pathfinders demonstrated multi-kWe Stirling power conversion operating with heat delivered via liquid metal NaK, composite Ti/H2O heat pipe radiator panel operations at 400 K input water temperature, no-moving-part electromagnetic liquid metal pump operation with NaK at flight-like temperatures, and subscale performance of an electric resistance reactor simulator capable of reproducing characteristics of a nuclear reactor for the purpose of system-level testing, and a longer list of component technologies included in the attached report. Based on the successful conclusion of Pathfinder testing, work began in 2010 on design and development of the Technology Demonstration Unit (TDU), a full-scale 1/4 power system-level non-nuclear assembly of a reactor simulator, power conversion, heat rejection, instrumentation and controls, and power management and distribution. The TDU will be developed and fabricated during fiscal years 11 and 12, culminating in initial testing with water cooling replacing the heat rejection system in 2012, and complete testing of the full TDU by the end of 2014. Due to its importance for Mars exploration, potential applicability to missions preceding Mars missions, and readiness for an early system-level demonstration, the Enabling Technology Development and Demonstration program is currently planning to continue the project as the Fission Power Systems project, including emphasis on the TDU completion and testing.

Palac, Donald T.↗
NASA NTRS2019

New Mission Concept: Investigation of the Galactic Center with the Galactic Center Explorer (GalCenEx)

The European Space Observatory INTEGRAL has been providing excellent results on X-ray and γ–ray astronomy since its launch in 2002. Among the most important results are the spectroscopy and imaging measurements of celestial γ-ray sources, including mapping the 511 keV radiation from the Galactic plane. However, the nature of the 511 keV positron annihilation line around the Galactic Center region is still a mystery. Similarly, the structure and nature of the Galactic Center supermassive black hole and its surroundings, as well as the structure of heavily populated sky regions such as Cygnus and Carina in γ-rays, remain unclear. We present a concept of a potential next-generation γ-ray telescope with the major science objectives: a) solve the mystery of the Galactic Center region 511 keV positron annihilation line by mapping the Galactic Center region with high energy (<1% FWHM) and angular (< 10 arcmin) resolution and with line sensitivity <10-5 ph cm-2 s-1; b) understand the nature of the Galactic Center supermassive black hole environment by creating a high-resolution spectral and intensity map of the surrounding region in 0.1 – 20 MeV γ rays; and c) explore Galactic chemical evolution and sites of explosive element synthesis by conducting high-sensitivity measurements of nuclear lines from Type 1a supernovae and other objects. The instrument is based on a novel high energy and position resolution CdZnTe Imager, coded aperture mask, and heavy-scintillator shield, and can be considered for a NASA Explorer mission.

Moiseev, Alexander↗
NASA NTRS1997

Miniature Magnetic Resonance Spectrometers

For the purpose of in-situ planeatry exploration, such as chemical characterization of Martian surface materials by miniature instruments, we have developed miniature Magnetic Resonance Spectrometers (MRS) namely, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) spectrometers at JPL.

Proton-NMR↗
NASA NTRS2020

The Soft State of the Black Hole Transient Source MAXI J1820+070: Emission from the Edge of the Plunge Region?

The Galactic black hole X-ray binary MAXI J1820+070 had a bright outburst in 2018 when it became the second brightest X-ray source in the sky. It was too bright for X-ray CCD instruments such as XMM–Newton and Chandra, but was well observed by photon counting instruments such as Neutron star Inner Composition Explorer (NICER) and Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR). We report here on the discovery of an excess emission component during the soft state. It is best modelled with a blackbody spectrum in addition to the regular disc emission, modelled as either diskbb or kerrbb. Its temperature varies from about 0.9 to 1.1 keV, which is about 30–80 per cent higher than the inner disc temperature of diskbb. Its flux varies between 4 and 12 per cent of the disc flux. Simulations of magnetized accretion discs have predicted the possibility of excess emission associated with a non-zero torque at the innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO) about the black hole, which, from other NuSTAR studies, lies at about 5 gravitational radii or about 60 km (for a black hole, mass is 8Msun). In this case, the emitting region at the ISCO has a width varying between 1.3 and 4.6 km and would encompass the start of the plunge region where matter begins to fall freely into the black hole.

A C Fabian↗
NASA NTRS1975

Nuclear Science Symposium, 21st, Scintillation and Semiconductor Counter Symposium, 14th, and Nuclear Power Systems Symposium, 6th, Washington, D.C., December 11-13, 1974, Proceedings

Papers are presented dealing with latest advances in the design of scintillation counters, semiconductor radiation detectors, gas and position sensitive radiation detectors, and the application of these detectors in biomedicine, satellite instrumentation, and environmental and reactor instrumentation. Some of the topics covered include entopistic scintillators, neutron spectrometry by diamond detector for nuclear radiation, the spherical drift chamber for X-ray imaging applications, CdTe detectors in radioimmunoassay analysis, CAMAC and NIM systems in the space program, a closed loop threshold calibrator for pulse height discriminators, an oriented graphite X-ray diffraction telescope, design of a continuous digital-output environmental radon monitor, and the optimization of nanosecond fission ion chambers for reactor physics. Individual items are announced in this issue.

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NASA NTRS1987

Reactor instrumentation and control design and performance simulation for SP-100

The SP-100 flight system will be launched with all primary and secondary lithium in the solid state. Once in orbit, the reactor will be brought critical and maintained at a low power level while the lithium is thawed out. Once the system is thawed out, the reactor power will be controlled to provide the energy source required by the power conversion system to meet the payload electrical power requirements. The Reactor Instrumentation and Control subsystem which includes the reactor control drives, instrumentation and the digital controller provides for the control of the nuclear subsystem to perform these operating maneuvers as well as providing for automatic shutdown and restart under certain off-normal conditions. The design and performance of this system are described.

Meyer, R. A.↗
NASA NTRS2009

NASA Tech Briefs, February 2009

Tech Briefs are short announcements of innovations originating from research and development activities of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. They emphasize information considered likely to be transferable across industrial, regional, or disciplinary lines and are issued to encourage commercial application. Topics covered include: Measuring Low Concentrations of Liquid Water in Soil; The Mars Science Laboratory Touchdown Test Facility; Non-Contact Measurement of Density and Thickness Variation in Dielectric Materials; Compact Microwave Fourier Spectrum Analyzer; InP Heterojunction Bipolar Transistor Amplifiers to 255 GHz; Combinatorial Generation of Test Suites; In-Phase Power-Combined Frequency Tripler at 300 GHz; Electronic System for Preventing Airport Runway Incursions; Smaller but Fully Functional Backshell for Cable Connector; Glove-Box or Desktop Virtual-Reality System; Composite Layer Manufacturing with Fewer Interruptions; Improved Photoresist Coating for Making CNT Field Emitters; A Simplified Diagnostic Method for Elastomer Bond Durability; Complex Multifunctional Polymer/Carbon-Nanotube Composites; Very High Output Thermoelectric Devices Based on ITO Nanocomposites; Reducing Unsteady Loads on a Piggyback Miniature Submarine; Ultrasonic/Sonic Anchor; Grooved Fuel Rings for Nuclear Thermal Rocket Engines; Pulsed Operation of an Ion Accelerator; Autonomous Instrument Placement for Mars Exploration Rovers; Mission and Assets Database; TCP/IP Interface for the Satellite Orbit Analysis Program (SOAP); Trajectory Calculator for Finite-Radius Cutter on a Lathe; Integrated System Health Management Development Toolkit.

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NASA NTRS2011

Active Neutron and Gamma-Ray Instrumentation for In Situ Planetary Science Applications

We describe the development of an instrument capable of detailed in situ bulk geochemical analysis of the surface of planets, moons, asteroids, and comets. This instrument technology uses a pulsed neutron generator to excite the solid materials of a planet and measures the resulting neutron and gamma-ray emission with its detector system. These time-resolved neutron and gamma-ray data provide detailed information about the bulk elemental composition, chemical context, and density distribution of the soil within 50 cm of the surface. While active neutron scattering and neutron-induced gamma-ray techniques have been used extensively for terrestrial nuclear well logging applications, our goal is to apply these techniques to surface instruments for use on any solid solar system body. As described, experiments at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center use a prototype neutron-induced gamma-ray instrument and the resulting data presented show the promise of this technique for becoming a versatile, robust, workhorse technology for planetary science, and exploration of any of the solid bodies in the solar system. The detection of neutrons at the surface also provides useful information about the material. This paper focuses on the data provided by the gamma-ray detector.

Parsons, A.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Analytical design and performance studies of nuclear furnace tests of small nuclear light bulb models

Analytical studies were continued to identify the design and performance characteristics of a small-scale model of a nuclear light bulb unit cell suitable for testing in a nuclear furnace reactor. Emphasis was placed on calculating performance characteristics based on detailed radiant heat transfer analyses, on designing the test assembly for ease of insertion, connection, and withdrawal at the reactor test cell, and on determining instrumentation and test effluent handling requirements. In addition, a review of candidate test reactors for future nuclear light bulb in-reactor tests was conducted.

Latham, T. S.↗