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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 1,081 records · Page 60
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1989

Centers for the commercial development of space

In 1985, NASA initiated an innovative effort called Centers for the Commercial Development of Space (CCDS). The CCDS program was designed to increase private-sector interest and investment in space-related activities, while encouraging U.S. economic leadership and stimulating advances in promising areas of research and development. Research conducted in the Centers handling the following areas is summarized: materials processing; life sciences; remote sensing; automation and robotics; space propulsion; space structures and materials; and space power.

Walker, Susan E.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Johnson Space Center software reuse activity

There is a strong operational interest in reuse and commonality at the Johnson Space Center (JSC). Although commonality and reuse were not emphasized in the Space Shuttle Orbiter Project, it is a major goal for Space Station Freedom and the Software Support Environment (SSE). Research activities at JSC are generally conducted through the Software Engineering Research Center (SERC) of the University of Houston at Clear Lake. The Life Cycle Model developed by SERC includes reuse at each phase, but reuse is not a principal theme. The SSE is a significant entry point for new reuse technology, and the SERC can provide consultation and possible prototypes. SERC is seen as an interface to other NISE reuse researchers. The AdaNET is managed at JSC through the University of Houston at Clear Lake for the NASA Office of Technology Utilization. It may also be a gateway for reuse research.

Gorman, Steve↗
NASA NTRS1989

NASA Propagation Information Center

The NASA Propagation Information Center became formally operational in July 1988. It is located in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the University of Colorado at Boulder. The Center is several things: a communications medium for the propagation with the outside world, a mechanism for internal communication within the program, and an aid to management.

Smith, Ernest K.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Center for Space Microelectronics Technology 1988-1989 technical report

The 1988 to 1989 Technical Report of the JPL Center for Space Microelectronics Technology summarizes the technical accomplishments, publications, presentations, and patents of the center. Listed are 321 publications, 282 presentations, and 140 new technology reports and patents.

Olsen, Peggy↗
NASA NTRS1989

Research and development activities at the Goddard Space Flight Center for the flight telerobotic servicer project

The Flight Telerobotic Servicer (FTS) is being developed by the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) for performing a variety of assembly, servicing, inspection and maintenance tasks on the Space Station. The Project Office at GSFC has tasked the Engineering Directorate to assemble a robotics research and development program which will support the FTS project. The activities center around support for the Development Test Flight (DTF) on the Space Shuttle and investigations of operational problems associated with the FTS on Space Station Freedom. For the DTF, areas such as control algorithms, safety systems, and end-effectors will be developed. For FTS operations, the emphasis will be to develop a dual-arm bi-lateral force-reflecting teleoperator and use it as an FTS Operational Simulator (FTSOS). The simulator will be used to investigate operational techniques, camera configurations, operator interfacing, orbital replacement unit (ORU) designs, end-effector designs, and training techniques. After a series of test activities, reports will be generated for input to the DTF and FTS designs.

Ollendorf, Stanford↗
NASA NTRS1989

Terrestrial spreading centers under Venus conditions - Evaluation of a crustal spreading model for Western Aphrodite Terra

The model of Reid and Jackson (1981) for terrestrial spreading centers is applied to Venus conditions. On the basis of spreading rate, mantle temperature, and surface temperature, the model predicts both isostatic topography and crustal thickness. The model and Pioneer Venus altimetry and gravity data are used to test the hypothesis of Head and Crumpler (1987) that Western Aphrodite Terra is the location of crustal spreading on Venus. It is concluded that a spreading center model for Ovda Regio in Western Aphrodite Terra could account for the observed topography and line-of-sight gravity anomalies found in the Pioneer data.

Sotin, C.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Venus trough-and-ridge tessera - Analog to earth oceanic crust formed at spreading centers?

The similarity between the morphologies of Venus trough-and-ridge tessera and the earth's ocean floor is discussed. The hypothesis that tessera texture might be related to a crustal fabric produced at spreading centers is examined. It is suggested that the proccesses that produce the ocean floor fabric on earth are good candidates for the origin and production of the trough-and-ridge tessera. To support this hypothesis, the characteristics of the trough-and-ridge terrain in Laima Tessera are described and compared to the seafloor at spreading centers.

Head, James W.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Far-infrared, submillimeter, and millimeter spectroscopy of the Galactic center - Radio ARC and +20/+50 kilometer per second clouds

Results are presented from FIR, sub-mm, and mm spectroscopic observations of the radio arc and the +20/+50 km/s molecular clouds in the Galactic center. The results for the radio arc are analyzed, including the spatial distribution of C II forbidden line emission, the spatial distribution of CO emission, the luminosity and mass of C(+) regions, and the CO 7 - 6 emission and line profiles. Model calculations are used to study molecular gas in the radio arc. In addition, forbidden C II, CO 7 - 6, and C(O-18) mapping is presented for the +20/+50 km/x clouds. Consideration is given to the impact of the results on the interpretation of the physical conditions, excitation, and heating of the gas clouds in the arc and near the center.

Genzel, R.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Gamma-ray evidence for a stellar-mass black hole near the Galactic center

An analysis of the time variability of the observed 511-keV line emission from the direction of the Galactic center and the correlation of its variations in the continuum emission above 511 keV from the same direction suggest the existence of a compact object at or near the Galactic center. A possible mechanism of the observed positron annihilation is consistent with a compact interaction region of the order of 10 to the 8th cm. A black hole of several hundred solar masses is favored as a candidate for this compact object; arguments in support of this suggestion are presented.

Ramaty, Reuven↗
NASA NTRS1991

Strain Center For Analysis Of Forces

Concept of strain center introduced to facilitate analysis of forces resulting from eccentric load after elastic limit exceeded. After yielding, forces perpendicular to radii from strain center. Concept useful where loads known and directions of forces being analyzed, such as limiting frictional force between wheel and ground.

Bickler, Donald B.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Geology, geohydrology, and soils of NASA, Kennedy Space Center: A review

Sediments underlying Kennedy Space Center (KSC) have accumulated in alternating periods of deposition and erosion since the Eocene. Surface sediments are of Pleistocene and Recent ages. Fluctuating sea levels with the alternating glacial-interglacial cycles have shaped the formation of the barrier island. Merritt Island is an older landscape whose formation may have begun as much as 240,000 years ago, although most of the surface sediments are not that old. Cape Canaveral probably dates from less than 7,000 years B.P. (before present) as does the barrier strip separating Mosquito Lagoon from the Atlantic Ocean. Merritt Island and Cape Canaveral have been shaped by progradational processes but not continuously so, while the Mosquito Lagoon barrier has been migrating landward. Deep acquifers beneath KSC are recharged inland but are highly mineralized in the coastal region and interact little with surface vegetation. The Surficial acquifer has formed in the Pleistocene and Recent deposits and is recharged by local rainfall. Sand ridges in the center of Merritt Island are important to its recharge.

Schmalzer, Paul A.↗
NASA NTRS1990

NASA propagation information center

The NASA Propagation Information Center became formally operational in July 1988. It is located in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the University of Colorado at Boulder. The center is several things: a communications medium for the propagation with the outside world, a mechanism for internal communication within the program, and an aid to management.

Smith, Ernest K.↗
NASA NTRS1990

A future perspective on technological obsolescenceat NASA, Langley Research Center

The present research effort was the first phase of a study to forecast whether technological obsolescence will be a problem for the engineers, scientists, and technicians at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC). There were four goals of the research: to review the literature on technological obsolescence; to determine through interviews of division chiefs and branch heads Langley's perspective on future technological obsolescence; to begin making contacts with outside industries to find out how they view the possibility of technological obsolescence; and to make preliminary recommendations for dealing with the problem. A complete description of the findings of this research can be reviewed in a technical report in preparation. The following are a small subset of the key findings of the study: NASA's centers and divisions vary in their missions and because of this, in their capability to control obsolescence; research-oriented organizations within NASA are believed by respondents to keep up to date more than the project-oriented organizations; asked what are the signs of a professional's technological obsolescence, respondents had a variety of responses; top performing scientists were viewed as continuous learners, keeping up to date by a variety of means; when asked what incentives were available to aerospace technologists for keeping up to data, respondents specified a number of ideas; respondents identified many obstacles to professionals' keeping up to date in the future; and most respondents expressed some concern for the future of the professionals at NASA vis a vis the issue of professional obsolescence.

Mcintyre, Robert M.↗
NASA NTRS1990

The Johnson Space Center management information systems: User's guide to JSCMIS

The Johnson Space Center Management Information System (JSCMIS) is an interface to computer data bases at the NASA Johnson Space Center which allows an authorized user to browse and retrieve information from a variety of sources with minimum effort. The User's Guide to JSCMIS is the supplement to the JSCMIS Research Report which details the objectives, the architecture, and implementation of the interface. It is a tutorial on how to use the interface and a reference for details about it. The guide is structured like an extended JSCMIS session, describing all of the interface features and how to use them. It also contains an appendix with each of the standard FORMATs currently included in the interface. Users may review them to decide which FORMAT most suits their needs.

Bishop, Peter C.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Aircraft measurements of electrified clouds at Kennedy Space Center. Part 1: 1988 flights

During the fall of 1988, a Schweizer 845 airplane equipped to measure electric field and other meteorological parameters flew over Kennedy Space Center in a program to study clouds defined in the existing launch retriction requirements. The special purpose test vehicle for atmospheric research (SPTVAR) was suitable for flights through thunderclouds and was instrumented to measure all three components of the ambient electric vector. The main goals of the project were: (1) to develop and demonstrate techniques for measuring the electric field aloft and locate regions of charge during flight; (2) to characterize the electrical conditions within and near clouds that are presently identified as a threat to space launch vehicles; and (3) to study the correlation between the electric field aloft and that at Kennedy Space Center's ground-based field mill network for a variety of electrified clouds.

Jones, J. J.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Digital optical computers at the optoelectronic computing systems center

The Digital Optical Computing Program within the National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center for Opto-electronic Computing Systems has as its specific goal research on optical computing architectures suitable for use at the highest possible speeds. The program can be targeted toward exploiting the time domain because other programs in the Center are pursuing research on parallel optical systems, exploiting optical interconnection and optical devices and materials. Using a general purpose computing architecture as the focus, we are developing design techniques, tools and architecture for operation at the speed of light limit. Experimental work is being done with the somewhat low speed components currently available but with architectures which will scale up in speed as faster devices are developed. The design algorithms and tools developed for a general purpose, stored program computer are being applied to other systems such as optimally controlled optical communication networks.

Jordan, Harry F.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Three dimensional scattering center imaging techniques

Two methods to image scattering centers in 3-D are presented. The first method uses 2-D images generated from Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar (ISAR) measurements taken by two vertically offset antennas. This technique is shown to provide accurate 3-D imaging capability which can be added to an existing ISAR measurement system, requiring only the addition of a second antenna. The second technique uses target impulse responses generated from wideband radar measurements from three slightly different offset antennas. This technique is shown to identify the dominant scattering centers on a target in nearly real time. The number of measurements required to image a target using this technique is very small relative to traditional imaging techniques.

Younger, P. R.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Overview of the fatigue/fracture/life working group program at the Lewis Research Center

Constitutive and life prediction models are developed and verified for materials typically used in hot gas path components of reusable space propulsion systems over the range of relevant operating environments. The efforts were centered on the development of crack initiation life prediction methods, while the efforts of a counterpart group were centered on the development of cyclic crack propagation life prediction methods. The complexion of the active tasks are presented. A significant new task started this year will incorporate the various material constitutive and life prediction models developed in this program into a comprehensive creep-fatigue damage analysis and life assessment computer code. The program will function as a postprocessor to general structural analysis programs (such as finite element or boundary element codes) using the output of such analyses (stress, strain, and temperature fields as functions of time) as the input to the damage analysis and life assessment code. The code will be designed to execute on engineering/scientific workstations and will feature a windowing, mouse-driven user interface. Current plans call for the code to be finished and made available for use in mid 1991.

Mcgaw, Michael A.↗